Osama bin Laden was unquestionably within reach of U.S. troops in the mountains of Tora Bora when American military leaders made the crucial and costly decision not to pursue the terrorist leader with massive force, a Senate report says.
The report asserts that the failure to kill or capture bin Laden at his most vulnerable in December 2001 has had lasting consequences beyond the fate of one man. Bin Laden's escape laid the foundation for today's reinvigorated Afghan insurgency and inflamed the internal strife now endangering Pakistan, it says.
Staff members for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Democratic majority prepared the report at the request of the chairman, Sen. John Kerry, as President Barack Obama prepares to boost U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
The Massachusetts senator and 2004 Democratic presidential candidate has long argued the Bush administration missed a chance to get the al-Qaida leader and top deputies when they were holed up in the forbidding mountainous area of eastern Afghanistan only three months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Although limited to a review of military operations eight years old, the report could also be read as a cautionary note for those resisting an increased troop presence there now.
More pointedly, it seeks to affix a measure of blame for the state of the war today on military leaders under former president George W. Bush, specifically Donald H. Rumsfeld as defense secretary and his top military commander, Tommy Franks.
"Removing the al-Qaida leader from the battlefield eight years ago would not have eliminated the worldwide extremist threat," the report says. "But the decisions that opened the door for his escape to Pakistan allowed bin Laden to emerge as a potent symbolic figure who continues to attract a steady flow of money and inspire fanatics worldwide. The failure to finish the job represents a lost opportunity that forever altered the course of the conflict in Afghanistan and the future of international terrorism."
The report states categorically that bin Laden was hiding in Tora Bora when the U.S. had the means to mount a rapid assault with several thousand troops at least. It says that a review of existing literature, unclassified government records and interviews with central participants "removes any lingering doubts and makes it clear that Osama bin Laden was within our grasp at Tora Bora."
On or about Dec. 16, 2001, bin Laden and bodyguards "walked unmolested out of Tora Bora and disappeared into Pakistan's unregulated tribal area," where he is still believed to be based, the report says.
Instead of a massive attack, fewer than 100 U.S. commandos, working with Afghan militias, tried to capitalize on air strikes and track down their prey.
"The vast array of American military power, from sniper teams to the most mobile divisions of the Marine Corps and the Army, was kept on the sidelines," the report said.
At the time, Rumsfeld expressed concern that a large U.S. troop presence might fuel a backlash and he and some others said the evidence was not conclusive about bin Laden's location. It's all Bush's fault!
#1
Once again, the Democrats in Congress show how much of a scumbag they are by throwing blame on the previous administration and the military. Harry Reid, if he had any decency, should resign of being such a ass.
Posted by: Oscar Phung6775 ||
11/29/2009 12:12 Comments ||
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#2
More pointedly, it seeks to affix a measure of blame for the state of the war today on military leaders under former president George W. Bush, specifically Donald H. Rumsfeld as defense secretary and his top military commander, Tommy Franks.
There was, and continues to be NO EASY BUTTON with regard to this topic. Any attempt to blame General Franks is an absolute non-starter with me and anyone else who knew him and served under him. File in the total bullshi* cabinet please.
#5
You mean these same politicians that hysterically opposed going after bin Laden telling us all about the the "Brutal Afghan Winter" and how those folks were supermen just waiting for the poor American hillbillies who were forced into the military because they too poor to go to school. At least Kerry didn't say "too stupid". That moniker is reserved for him.
Posted by: ed ||
11/29/2009 15:29 Comments ||
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#9
If we'd used the AK-47 we'd be able to use the enemy's ammo, in addition to having a weapon that doesn't jam, even if you melt it down. Ever try melting a loaded M-16? The ammo cooks off!
#10
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > REPORT SAYS OSAMA BIN LADEN AND AN ENTOURAGE OF BODYGUARDS [literally] WALKED UNMOLESTED OUT OF TORA BORA AND DISAPPEARED INTO PAKISTAN'S UNREGULATED TRIBAL AREAS [POSTER > appears OBL, etal. went into the FATA + littoral areas, at least at that time]???
* SAME > US NUCLEAR PLANTS LAUGHABLE SECURITY EXPOSED | 33 CUBAN IMMIGRANTS LAND AT FLORIDA'S TURKEY POINT NUCLEAR PLANT, RAISING SECURITY QUESTIONS. ARTIC > IIUC, the Nucplants guard force were unaware of the Cubans' arrival, and allegedly had to be alerted and called in to place same in custody???
[Dawn] The US military will deploy up to 9,000 Marines to Afghanistan's Helmand province, doubling US presence there, in the days after President Barack Obama's war strategy announcement this week, the Washington Post said Saturday.
Citing senior US officials, the daily said the extra Marines won't move to the restive southern province until after Obama's address to the nation Tuesday from the prestigious West Point military academy in New York state.
The aim is to regain a footing in the region that has been a base for a fierce Taliban insurgency in recent months.
Some 1,000 army trainers will follow the Marine's deployment, perhaps by February next year, the Post said.
'The first troops out of the door are going to be Marines,' General James Conway, the top Marine officer, was quoted as telling soldiers in Afghanistan on Saturday.
'We've been leaning forward in anticipation of a decision. And we've got some pretty stiff fighting coming,' he said, according to the Post.
Obama has been weighing requests from his Afghan war commander, General Stanley McChrystal, to send up to 40,000 more troops to join 68,000 US troops already in Afghanistan.
Last week the president, accused of dithering on his decision, said he would make it clear 'the Afghan people ultimately are going to have to provide for their own security,' and would call on allies in Europe and beyond to help.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > US COMMANDER IN AFGHANISTAN HINTS AT DEADLINE FOR US TROOPS EVACUATION [US drawdown may begin in Year 2013, whilst the OBAMA ADMIN sees complete US pullout circa Year 2017-2018].
* SAME > RED ALERT: INDIA PREPARING FOR NUCLEAR WAR [agz PAK]? PAK Army detected moving milfors from western borders to eastern borders after comments of INDIAN ARMY CHIEF DEEPAK KAPOOR, i.e. Kapoor comments that LIMITED [Nuclear?] WAR WID "MUCLEAR OVERHANG" AS WAGED BY INDIA AGZ PAKISTAN IS POSSIBLE???
* WAFF > PAKISTAN ARMY BUILDING "DEFENSIVE BUNKERS" ALONG PAK-INDIAN BORDERS TO "DEFEND AGZ TALIBAN"???
SOMALIAN pirates who are terrorising yachts and cargo ships in the Indian Ocean are being routinely allowed to go free by international naval forces despite being captured with their weapons and even holding hostages.
Pirates who are seized from the skiffs by the Royal Navy and other maritime forces are pleasantly surprised to find themselves being offered life jackets, medical checks and hot food. They are then often set free, either because they have not been captured in the act of piracy or because of the risk that they would claim asylum if prosecuted in Europe.
More than 340 suspected Somalian pirates have been captured in anti-piracy operations over the past year and subsequently released on the advice of lawyers. Some have been disembarked on African beaches because of concerns over the seaworthiness of their vessels.
Julian Brazier, the Conservatives shipping spokesman, is to request a meeting with the European Union anti-piracy operation over the disclosure by The Sunday Times.
The RFA Wave Knight, a Royal Navy support vessel, faced criticism when it was disclosed that it had failed to stop the kidnapping by pirates of Paul and Rachel Chandler from their yacht, the Lynn Rival, last month. The crew witnessed the couple, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, being seized, but did not intervene because they feared they would endanger the Chandlers lives.
It has now emerged that this was not the first time pirates had cause to be grateful to the Wave Knight. In April the support vessel was involved in the pursuit of pirates who had attacked a merchant ship. Another Nato vessel, a Dutch ship, joined the chase and the pirates were successfully captured. Thirteen fishermen, who had been held hostage, were found on the pirate vessel, along with a cache of weapons.
It seemed a coup for the Royal Navy and for Natos anti-piracy operation. There was just one snag the pirates were set free. The Ministry of Defence said: The seven suspected pirates were not captured in the act of piracy so they were released, but they were disarmed and their weapons destroyed.
A few hours after this incident, the Wave Knight received a distress call from a tanker, the Front Ardennes, which was under attack from another group of pirates. Wave Knight repelled the attack and Nato ships joined the chase. The pirates were detained and again they were released.
After the operation on April 18, Captain Ian Pilling, the commanding officer of Wave Knight, said: Our primary role is refuelling and aviation operations, but we are fully capable of conducting anti-piracy operations in and around the Horn of Africa. He did not explain why pirates detained by the Royal Navy were allowed to go free.
These are not isolated incidents. Last Wednesday a Greek warship, which is part of the EUs anti-piracy operation, successfully captured pirates suspected of attacking a French cargo vessel. They have now been released.
In June HMS Portland, a Royal Navy frigate, intercepted two skiffs with weapons that indicated the skiffs had been involved in or were about to conduct an act of piracy.
The skiffs had 10 suspected pirates aboard and were equipped with fuel barrels, grappling hooks, rocket-propelled grenades, machineguns and ammunition. The pirates were set free because it was claimed there was a lack of evidence that they were linked to a specific pirate attack.
It is a myth that pirates have to be caught in the act of piracy if they are to be prosecuted, said Douglas Guilfoyle, a maritime legal expert and law lecturer at University College London. He said that under the United Nations convention on the law of the sea, defendants could be prosecuted for facilitating piracy or being on a vessel intended for a pirate attack.
United States Central Command has revealed that in anti-piracy operations off Somalia between August 2008 and September this year, 343 pirates have been disarmed and released, compared with 212 who have been sent for prosecution. None to date has been sent for prosecution in the UK.
#1
ION CHINESE MIL FORUM > RETIRED ADMIRAL SAYS EUSSIA IS LOSING ITS NAVY. Russ may have to mothball the majority of its vessels come Year 2015 or shortly after???
Victory or martyrdom are the only two options for Saudi Arabia when it defends itself against incursions, said King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, addressing the armed forces at an Eid reception in Mina Friday.
"Those who think that the sovereignty of the Kingdom is a fertile source for their sick thoughts are under an illusion," the King said, citing the Holy Qur'an "And those who do wrong will come to know by what overturning they will be overturned." (Surah 26, verse 227)
"Empowered by your strong faith in Allah, your loyalty to your country comes as a natural and historical extension of your forefathers' [loyalty] to their leader King Abdul Aziz," the King said.
"You have put your trust in Allah to fight those who have betrayed themselves into doing evil," the King said. "Knowledge brings victory and ignorance brings defeat," the King said.
The King described the sacrifice of the armed forces in defending the country as "its shield after Allah's protection."
"We have the great honor of serving the pilgrims and what you have done to secure this year's Haj is highly appreciated," the King said. "May Allah bless you, faithful men and loyal sons," the King said, asking Allah to keep the Kingdom "victorious, safe, and secure."
"The armed forces have responded to Your Majesty's order to clean out the land of the armed infiltration of a deviant and hired group," said Gen. Saeed Al-Qahtani, Chief of General Security and Chairman of the Haj Security Committee, in his speech before the King.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2009 00:00 ||
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#4
Cut King Abdullah some slack, folks. At least he is forming some options with "Victory" in the menu. That is more than our Kowtowist-in-Chief is doing.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/29/2009 16:54 Comments ||
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LONDON The government's chief legal advisor informed then British prime minister Tony Blair in 2002 that deposing Saddam Hussein would contravene international law, a newspaper reported on Sunday. Peter Goldsmith, the Attorney General at the time, wrote to Blair eight months before the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, but the premier ignored the advice, the Mail on Sunday claimed.
The newspaper said a public inquiry into Britain's involvement in the war was in possession of Goldsmith's letter and he and Blair are likely to be questioned about it when they give evidence next year.
Nothing like prolonging the misery. Why not 2011?
The inquiry heard in its first week that Britain's ambassador to the United Nations at the time, Jeremy Greenstock, believed the invasion was "of questionable legitimacy".
According to whom? The UN? Of course they don't support the removal of dictators. The UN is run by dictators for dictators.
The Mail on Sunday reported that Goldsmith was "gagged" after he tried to dissuade Blair from lending Britain's support to the war.
Goldsmith wrote the letter six days after a Cabinet meeting on July 23, 2002, at which ministers were secretly told that the United States and Britain were set on "regime change" in Iraq, the report said. Goldsmith, who attended the meeting, strongly disagreed and on July 29, he wrote to Blair -- a close friend of his -- on a single sheet of headed notepaper.
In the letter, Goldsmith pointed out that war could not be justified purely on the grounds of "regime change", the newspaper reported. He explained that although UN rules permitted "military intervention on the basis of self-defence", they did not apply in the case of Iraq because Britain was not under threat from Saddam's regime.
Goldsmith ended his letter by saying "the situation might change" -- although in legal terms, it never did, the Mail on Sunday said.
Therefore all good people must stand by, hands in pockets, whilst thugs beat and beggar the innocent, because after all, the good people weren't directly threatened. Have the Brits forgotten their Churchill?
An unnamed friend of Goldsmith told the newspaper that Blair went "beserk" when he received the letter because it undermined his case for war. The friend said Goldsmith was subjected to such pressure by Blair's close inner circle over his advice that he threatened to resign and lost weight.
"He is an honourable man and it was a terribly stressful experience," the friend said.
Goldsmith eventually gave qualified legal backing to the conflict days before the war started in March 2003 in a brief, carefully drafted statement.
The inquiry, Britain's third related to the conflict, is looking at its role in Iraq between 2001 and 2009, when nearly all its troops withdrew. The committee, chaired by retired civil servant John Chilcot, will report by the end of 2010.
Yup, rip the bandage off slowly ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/29/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
No mention of the umpteen UN resolutions threatening to kick Saddam's ass if he didn't straighten up? Tony should have strangled one of his lawyers as an example to the others.
#2
Don't forget this is the Euros where if a country rejected the EU Constitution instead of ending the process those in power insisted they keep having elections till they got the results they wanted. The arguments are irrelevant when those who believe they should rule have already declared it is or is not. The 'cease fire' that Saddam agreed to at the cessation of hostilities of the first Gulf War were routinely violated making the cease fire null and void except in the convoluted minds of those who opposed any viable action to end the threat. No amount of resolutions or processes would be recognized by those who are bent to rationalizing their support of such a creature as Saddam.
#3
I'm sure PM Blair was told many things by many people, that he weighed the evidence and made his decision. Former British Attorney General Goldsmith is still miffed that his was not the advice taken. It's a bit cowardly, though, for Mr Goldsmith to wait over six and a half years to go public with this unimportant bit of information, instead of resigning in a huff at the time. In fact, one can take measure of the importance Mr Goldsmith attached to the decision at the time, that he did not indeed step down, but chose to write a carefully drafted statement giving qualified legal support to the project.
[Kyodo: Korea] A group of lawmakers from some 10 countries on Saturday adopted a statement at their annual general assembly calling on North Korea to release people kidnapped by its agents. The International Parliamentarians" Coalition for North Korean Refugees and Human Rights urged Pyongyang to disclose the current status of abduction victims and discuss human rights issues related to the North at meetings of multilateral talks on its nuclear ambitions.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
ION WMF > NORTH KOREA AGAIN DECLARES IT IS A NUCLEAR WEAPONS/POWER STATE RECOGNIZED BY THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY [FAS = Federation of Amer Scientists].
* SAME > KIM JONG-IL VOWS NORTH KOREA WILL DEVELOP, STRENGTHEN ITS NAVAL POWER.
#2
Imagine the EU pressuring the US to allow tapping into money transfers made INSIDE the U.S. AND allowing it to share the data with third nations without oversight.
All this without ever asking Congress.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
11/29/2009 17:09 Comments ||
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Swiss TV projects 59% in favor of the initiative (i.e. against minarets). The Swiss equivalents of CAIR are "shocked".
To put this in context: Nearly the entire cultural, business and political elite in Switzerland has been opposed to the initiative. The "Burqa and Minarets" placard in favor of the initiative was banned in some cities (very unusual for Switzerland).
#4
Lived and worked thee and except for a small percentage, they (unlike the US of Arabia) wanted to preserve their country's values and traditions (not necessarily those of religion since church goers are few), however, they see that Islam is a political moment.
#6
As I understand it the Swiss establishment was against this for the usual PC reasons. The Swiss people had been telling the pollsters they would vote no. Sounds like William Tell's headed to a tea party.
#8
The Saudis are protesting:
This would be like banning church towers in Riad.
Oh wait, there are no churches in Riad.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
11/29/2009 11:51 Comments ||
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#9
Official result: 57.5% for the initiative.
As for the establishment's position against the initiative, it was a strange mixture of PC and abject fear.
One of the placards recommending a 'NO' vote read something like "Für den Religionsfrieden! Nein zur gefährlichen Minarettinitiative!" - "For religious peace! No to the dangerous minaret initiative!". Obviously they did not really believe that Islam is a ROP.
#11
It a start Woozle. Maybe the only demonstration of any spine anywhere in the western world. How about banning immigration next year. Then supporting conversion. Lots of work left to do.
Posted by: ed ||
11/29/2009 15:15 Comments ||
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#12
OT: Re #7- How many people today hear the William Tell Overture and still think of the Lone Ranger? It used to be that was a sign of being an intellectual.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/29/2009 15:23 Comments ||
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#13
#12 OT: Re #7- How many people today hear the William Tell Overture and still think of the Lone Ranger? It used to be that was a sign of being an intellectual.
If you hear the William Tell, think of the Lone Ranger, a rattlesnake, and Tonto in denial.....you're a redneck.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/29/2009 16:50 Comments ||
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#16
No more minarets for the Swiss? Good. More for Britain, France and Belgium.
Posted by: regular joe ||
11/29/2009 18:39 Comments ||
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#17
Woozle, there's maybe four right now in the whole country. It's not like they are overrun with them at this time.
So what? They banned an architectural element LOL! Nothing else! Twenty years ago there were 3 mosques in Switzerland. Today there are 90. And they think a minaret is their problem?? Idiots.
#18
From the Times article: The party also exploited heavily in its campaign a remark by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister, describing minarets as the bayonets of Islam.
Full quote:
The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers
#19
Woozle, if you think they are just "architectural elements", you gots some learning to do.
A damn phallic symbol in the middle of town blaring out a call to prayer five times a day in Arabic is something else besides an "architectural element". It's an in-your-face statement that needs no translation (which is why Swiss women voted for it in greater numbers than Swiss men, IMHO.)
The 90 or so mosques are already built. It's harder to get rid of something that has the proper permits/zoning/whatever they have in Switzerland. As long as they are following the law (at least as far as anyone knows at this time), what legal grounds do they have to shut them down?
A Saturday rally led by anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan at Travis Air Force Base nearly ended in a brawl when a military veteran physically confronted the protesters.
Anti-war group Code Pink demonstrated at the military base Saturday morning in the first of six planned protests against unmanned military drones currently in use in overseas war zones. I guess Cindy would rather that we kill people up close and personal, which leads to more American casualties
Sheehan, a well-known and much ignored
anti-war activist whose son was killed while serving in Iraq in 2004, was leading the demonstration with a megaphone when a man dressed in a formal military uniform stepped up to her and berated her.
Videotape of the incident shows that Sheehan yelled "Get out of my face" through the megaphone at the man, with the megaphone literally in his face
who slapped the device away. Other protesters immediately joined Sheehan and traded insults with the man, and a shoving match broke out.
Military police quickly pulled the two sides apart.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/29/2009 14:08 ||
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#1
Attention whore at Gate 1. Proceed with caution.
#2
"When part of Code Pink's caravan paused in the middle of the road, Sheehan was given a ticket for impeding traffic. "I got assaulted by this old man and I'm the one given a ticket. So, yeah, it's bulls***," Sheehan said.Several members of Code Pink said they wanted charges filed against the man in uniform, but no arrests were made."
Er - so shoving a bullhorn in someone's face and screaming like a demented banshee isn't assault? Nice way to support the troops, beeyotch - damage their hearing!
[Iran Press TV Latest] Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has handed control of command of the country's nuclear arsenal to the prime minister as he faces growing pressure to resign.
The National Command Authority, which is responsible for nuclear weapons, is now under the authority of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
"The president has handed over his power regarding the national command and control authority to me and has issued an ordinance," AFP quoted Gilani as saying.
The handover comes as a new political crisis looms in Pakistan since the immunity against corruption charges President Asif Ali Zardari and his key allies enjoyed expired on Saturday.
The amnesty, known as the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), was issued by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf in October 2007.
In late July, the Pakistani Supreme Court set a November 28 deadline for the NRO to be approved by the parliament.
Although Zardari cannot be prosecuted because of presidential immunity, pundits say the reopening of corruption cases involving people close to him could further weaken his presidency.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2009 00:00 ||
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[7 views]
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[Ma'an] Caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Saturday urged the international community to press Israel on adhering to its obligations under the US-backed Road Map peace plan.
"We need the international community's help to establish our state," he said, speaking alongside Costa Rican President Óscar Arias in Bethlehem.
Fayyad urged the international community to do more to stop Israel's settlement enterprise, including in East Jerusalem, by declaring them illegitimate. He also said the Palestinian Authority would undertake efforts to declare a Palestinian state.
For his part, President Arias, "I am happy to be here in Bethlehem; I came to express solidarity with Palestinians, to share my experiences in Central America, and to offer advice in resolving disputes."
He said negotiations should begin as soon as possible, and offered his support for the Ramallah government.
Following the news conference, Fayyad took Arias to the Church of the Nativity and then had lunch at the presidential headquarters in Bethlehem.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Israel plans to develop tourist magnets in the West Bank despite pledging to temporarily halt settlement construction in the occupied territories. I'm trying to figure how they "reneged." They offered to suspend settlements. The Paleos rejected the offer -- too little, too late, the usual blah blah. Now they expect the Zionist entity to be bound by the offer they rejected? So how's the weather there on Arcturus II?
Israeli Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov announced the plans, hot on the heels of a decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to freeze settlement expansions for 10 months, the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post reported on Saturday.
Misezhnikov said the ban had to exclude construction of public buildings in settlements or construction in Jerusalem Al-Quds.
He went on to say that the areas to be built on include Judea and Samaria, "the stalagmite cave in Ariel, the Herodion in Gush Etzion and Qasr al-Yahud near Ma'aleh Adumim."
He added, "The agreement to freeze construction in Judea and Samaria created an important diplomatic achievement for Israel."
The decision followed another contradictory post-ban move by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak through which he allowed the construction of 28 new public buildings in settlements.
The West Bank has been dotted with Israeli-built dividing walls and checkpoints that severely restrict the Palestinian people's movement, while completely closing off 38 percent of the area to them.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2009 00:00 ||
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[Straits Times] ONE of 57 victims of an election-linked massacre in the southern Philippines made a secret audio recording of the horrifying attack blamed on a local politician, the suspect's bereaved rival said on Saturday.
'Police told me they have recovered the recording device,' said Mr Esmael Mangudadatu, who lost his wife, two sisters and an aunt in Monday's attack in Maguindanao province.
He said he asked one of his sisters to hide the tape recorder in her sock when his wife and female relatives went to a local election office, accompanied by at least 27 journalists, to nominate him for provincial governor in next year's elections.
'I asked her to turn it on as soon as they left,' Mangudadatu, vice-mayor of Buluan town told DZMM radio here. 'It has a capacity of 288 hours or 12 days,' he said.
He said he had not joined the convoy because of a perceived threat to his life.
There was no independent confirmation of the presence of the recording. Police investigators have said they cannot reveal the details of some of the evidence they have collected.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
And a good time is about to be had by all... except the murderer and his powerful daddy, of course.
Mod note: several posts on this topic — posting the one with the earliest time stamp
The Iranian government approved a plan Sunday to build 10 new uranium enrichment facilities, a dramatic expansion in defiance of U.N. demands it halt the program.
The decision comes only two days after the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency censured Iran, demanding it immediately stop building a newly revealed enrichment facility near the holy city of Qom and freeze all uranium enrichment activities.
A Cabinet meeting headed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran to begin building five uranium enrichment sites that have already been studied and propose five other locations for future construction within two months.
In Vienna, spokeswoman Gillian Tudor said the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency would have no comment. But the announcement is likely to stoke already high tensions between Iran and the West over its controversial nuclear activities.
Iran has one industrial-scale uranium enrichment plant near Natanz, in central Iran. The IAEA said earlier this month that about 8,600 centrifuges had been set up in Natanz, but only about 4,000 were enriching uranium. The facility will eventually house 54,000 centrifuges.
The newly revealed enrichment site, known as Fordo, is a small scale site that will house nearly 3,000 centrifuges.
IRNA said the Cabinet ordered that the 10 new sites have a scale equal to Natanz's.
[Asharq al-Aswat] A conservative Iranian legislator warned Saturday that his country may pull out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty after a U.N. resolution censuring Tehran, a move that could seriously undermine world attempts to prevent Iran from developing atomic weapons.
Iran's official news agency quoted a hardline political analyst who made the same point, another indication the idea could be gaining steam.
If Iran withdraws from the treaty, its nuclear program would no longer be subject to oversight by the U.N. nuclear agency. That in turn would be a significant blow to efforts to ensure that no enriched uranium is diverted from use as fuel to warhead development.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Were they ever in it? Oh yeah, only when they didn't stand a chance.
#2
They must figure that they've rung as much out of "membership" as they could, and now it's time to, once again, float a threat (after, of course, the decision to leave has been made.)...
As Sarah Palin begins what at least appears to be a testing - if not a parting - of the waters in anticipation of a potential presidential run, she has waded into the murky stuff that is the Israel/Palestine quagmire.
One of the stops on her Going Rogue book promotional tour last week was ABC's Good Morning America. Noting that the Obama administration doesn't want Israel to build any more settlements on what it considers Palestinian territory, interviewer Barbara Walters asked the former Alaska governor/vice presidential candidate for her view.
Palin's response: "I disagree with the Obama administration on that. I believe that the Jewish settlements should be allowed to be expanded upon because the population of Israel is going to grow. More and more Jewish people will be flocking to Israel in the days and weeks and months ahead*. And I don't think that the Obama administration has any right to tell Israel that the Jewish settlements cannot expand."** *Fleing Obambia for their lives. I'm not kiding. Given the current US economic policies, crash is inevitable---and we all know who will get blamed **Not that the One actually bothered to read 242
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.
[Dawn] The US military will deploy up to 9,000 Marines to Afghanistan's Helmand province, doubling US presence there, in the days after President Barack Obama's war strategy announcement this week, the Washington Post said Saturday.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has handed control of command of the country's nuclear arsenal to the prime minister as he faces growing pressure to resign. 
