#3
Looks like the troopies have the stones. The government doesn't.
But rank-and-file soldiers are angry over the retreat, according to Jan Kleian, president of the Dutch military trade union. "They are not happy to leave. They want to finish what they started. The mission is not completed," he said.
#5
Perhaps the Democrats could congratulate the French and the Spanish for their decision to distinguish themselves by sitting there and just watching their doodles dangle as well.
And alQaeda THANKS them very much.
Remember when the Democrats were saying the war in Iraq couldnt possibly be won and we should all RUN! RUN! Hide ! Flee?
Rumsfeld is gone. He fought. Bush is gone. He fought. Obama got in because everybody knows he will fire anybody who can fight.
And the American people are getting what they wanted, right? If we just hide over here and keep real quiet like little mice maybe the big bad Mooselimbs will go away?
C.O.W.A.R.D.I.C.E. is a common trait with a lot of people in suits. Go for a walk on the street and count the Obama stickers on the cars.
#6
Currently their government coalition formation is in chaos, with no real leadership. So the pullout is probably based more than anything else on budgeted money running out.
This is doing much to reinforce the idea that the Dutch are as stubborn as they come.
He is a stubborn Dutch guy
I'm always in my coveralls
Even at the shopping mall
He is a stubborn Dutch guy
It does not matter what I say
Nobody listens anyway
He is a stubborn Dutch guy
What, what, what, what?
I cannot hear you
A stubborn Dutch guy.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid Karzai said on Thursday that Western allies had the ability to strike at Taliban bases in Pakistain, but questioned their willingness to do so.
"The war against terrorism is not in the villages or houses of Afghanistan ...but in the sanctuaries, sources of funding and training (of terrorism) and they lie outside Afghanistan," he told a news conference in the capital.
"It is a different question whether Afghanistan has the ability to tackle this," he said in response to a question about Pakistan support for the Taliban and why the conflict was dragging on, "... but our allies have this capability the question now is 'why they are not taking action'?"
Islamabad's covert support for the Taliban resurfaced this week with the publication by the whistleblower organization WikiLeaks of tens of thousands of classified documents which point the finger at Pakistan's spy agency.
Karzai condemned as "irresponsible and shocking" the release of informants' names by WikiLeaks, saying it had put their lives in danger.
"It is extremely irresponsible and shocking," Karzai told a news conference in the Afghan capital. "There are lives and these lives are in danger."
The website released more than 90,000 classified U.S. military files from the Afghan war between 2004 to 2009, a period when tens of thousands of U.S. and NATO troops ran into increasing resistance from a Taliban insurgency.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has said the documents were checked for named informants and that 15,000 such documents had been held back.
But the British newspaper The Times reported that after just two hours of combing through the documents it was able to find the names of dozens of Afghans said to have provided detailed intelligence to U.S. forces.
The Pentagon has also said that informants whose names appear in the documents have reason to fear for their lives.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/30/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Why NATO won't hit Pakistan:
1) It has nukes
2) It has more people than Russia
3) It's full of jihadis who don't particularly mind dying
4) Add your pet reasons
People in southern Afghanistan have protested against US-led NATO forces over desecration of the Mohammedan holy book of Koran.
The rally was held in Trinkut city of Oruzgan province on Thursday morning. The protesters rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered real loud and called on the Afghan government to put those who desecrated the Koran to trial. Afghan police opened fire to disperse the demonstrators. There have been no immediate reports of any casualties.
According to protesters, the US-led soldiers tore the holy book when Afghan women brought the book in front of them, asking the soldiers not to attack them.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/30/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Taliban
#3
According to protesters, the US-led soldiers tore the holy book when Afghan women brought the book in front of them, asking the soldiers not to attack them.
What a crock of shiite. All of them have cell phones now. How 'bout using the video camera for what it's intended and capture that next time? Hell, why don't you set some of them up and see how well it works out?
#5
But using snipers and IED/VBIED's against Coalition forces in Oruzgan province is quite alright? There really is no hope for these miserable phuechs! How about leveling the entire region making it uninhabitable for the next 25 years and getting the hell out!
[Al Arabiya Latest] The tiny Pacific archipelago Kingdom of Tonga plans to send 275 soldiers to Afghanistan to help guard a British garrison as part of its plan to reduce unemployment.
An initial contingent of 55 marines will be deployed in November, the first of four six-month rotations of 55 troops who will help guard Camp Bastion in Helmand Province, Tongan Prime Minister Feleti Sevele said Wednesday. Britain will command the troops and pay for the deployment, Sevele said.
He said the deployment would help to ease unemployment in his nation of 104,000 people, and foster closer ties between Tonga and Britain.
Tonga's Parliament approved the deployment 22-0 on Wednesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/30/2010 00:00 ||
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[The Nation (Nairobi)] Relatives of two Kenyans who were arrested in connection with the Kampala bombings want them arraigned in court.
The families have asked the High Court to order Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere to appear before it with the warrant allowing him to arrest the two men and show why he should not release them.
In a suit filed at the High Court criminal registry, the relatives said officers from the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit arrested Mr Hussein Hassan Agade and Mr Christopher Magondu alias Idris Magondu on July 22 and 23, respectively.
Mr Agade was arrested in Mlolongo while Mr Magondu was arrested in Kawangware.
Not in police stations
In a sworn affidavit in support of the families' case, Mr Magondu's wife, Saida Rosemary, said that more than 20 police officers wearing hoods ransacked her home in Kawangware at about 1.30am.
They then handcuffed and blindfolded her husband before driving off with him. The following day, she said, she searched for him at various police stations, in vain.
Ms Rosemary said her husband is entitled to be treated in accordance with the law and the police should not hold him for more than 24 hours unless he is suspected to have committed a capital offence.
More than 70 people died in Kampala, Uganda, on July 11, after bombs went off at two venues where soccer fans were watching the World Cup final.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/30/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Shabaab
#1
As per DAILY TIMES.PK > AL SHABAB/SHABAAB is calling for attacks agz UGANDA + BURUNDI, or more specifically their WORLDWIDE EMBASSIES + DIPLOMAT STATIONS, as the two countries comprise the majority of AFRICAN UNION [AU] troops fighting or oposing Al-Shabab/Shabaab in Somalia.
Google Translate with a hat tip to Nota Roja for additional information. For a map, click here.
A two year long investigation by the Baja California Secretaria de Seguridad Publica Estatal (SSPE) had led to the arrest of at least 62 police officers and police agents in Baja California for drug trafficking, say Mexican press reports.
Arrest sweeps were conducted by elements of the Mexican Army late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning. The rounded up suspects were trundled off to a Mexican Air Force base in 70-76 district.
Fourteen of the arrested are agents of Policia Ministerial, seven with Estatal Preventiva, and 34 are municipal police with Tijuana and Tecate, with the remainder unidentified as to the agency.
The U.S. State Department on Wednesday said it is carefully tracking North Korea's money flow with regard to financial sanctions it will impose against the Stalinist country early next month, and that the additional sanctions will target dealings related to North Korean leaders.
In a press briefing on Wednesday, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said, "Our focus is on transactions that get at specific areas of concern to us related to [weapons of mass destruction] proliferation activities and related to the [North Korean] leadership that promotes the policies that are of greatest concern to us."
"There are existing international sanctions," he also said. "All countries regard have obligations under existing sanctions, including [UN Security Council] Resolution 1874, and we would expect all countries to join us in putting pressure on North Korea through a variety of ways to change their course of action."
Asked about a news report that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is handing over his slush funds stashed away at overseas banks to his third son and heir apparent Jong-un, Crowley said, "On particular thing actions like that, I would probably defer to the Department of Treasury. We clearly are focused on funds as they move to and from North Korea."
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/30/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Boy it sure would be helpful if the NYT hadn't spilled the beans on how we did that a few years back, wouldn't it?
#2
[UN Security Council] Resolution 1874, and we would expect all countries to join us in putting pressure on North Korea through a variety of ways to change their course of action."
Has our astutely "focused" Mr. Crowley been asleep under a large oak tree for the past thirty years or so? Chronic diplomatic denial, there really is no known cure.
* WAFF > [Xinjiang]CHINA: TERRORIST GROUP BROKEN UP. Alleged ETIM Militants rounded up + put in the hoosegow by Beijing.
* WMF > SOUTH KOREAN MEDIAS RAGE: SOUTH KOREA DEVELOPS NUCLEAR WEAPONS TO USE AGZ BEIJING + CHINESE HEGEMONY.
* WMF > "TA KUNG PAO" HONG KONG MEDIA: JAPANESE FUTURE INVASION OF CHINESE TERRITORIES IS INEVITABLE. WHILE THE US CHALLENGES CHINA ON DISPUTED ISLANDS IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEAS, JAPAN + JSDFS [US Ally-Proxy] CHALLENGES CHINA ON ISLANDS IN THE NORTH CHINA SEAS [Taiwan + Yonaguni ADZ north to Okinawa + Daoyus].
* WMF > JAPAN PM KAN'S CALL FOR JAPAN'S ARMED FORCES [JSDFS] TO PROTECT JAPANESE SOVEREIGNTY ON OKINAWA + SOUTHWEST ISLANDS [China-claimed Daoyus] IS A DIRECT THREAT TO CHINA. AS PER THE POST-WW2 US RETURN OF OKINAWA TO JAPAN, JAPAN WAS ONLY GIVEN ADMINISTRATIVE JURISDICTION OVER THE DAOYUS, BUT NOT ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGNTY. CHINA HAS NEVER RECOGNIZED JAPANESE SOVEREIGNTY OVER THE RYUKYUS [Okinawa] + DAOYUS.
#1
For the dems, this is a feature/bug thing.
Or, more precisely, do we think the dems think this is a feature or bug?
Let me think about that for a while.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
07/30/2010 16:06 Comments ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] The e-poll of Alarabiya.net this week, regarding the European campaign against wearing the burka (niqab), has gathered the highest record, with the majority of participants (43%) voting to the choice of the ban being a legitimate right to the countries that imposed it.
Experts and analysts from Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Egypt considered the huge participation in the e-poll as a kind of reflection to the importance of Alarabiya.net and its high traffic. It also reflected the good enlightenment of Alarabiya.net visitors and their interaction with the different cultures as well as their full awareness of the importance of respecting European communities and their laws.
The high number of voters also reflected, according to experts and analysts, the importance of the burka (niqab) issue and how the Arabs pay big attention to it. The e-poll results came as a big and unexpected surprise as it should that the Arab public opinion prefers not making a big deal out of that issue.
A total of 14,117 votes have participated in the e-poll since it was published on Thursday, July 22 until it was changed on Thursday, July 29.
The e-poll went as follows:
The European campaign against the burka (niqab) is:
*A legal right for those countries
*A violation of the personal freedom
*A counter-extremism policy
43% of the voters chose 'a legal right for those countries' and 42% considered it 'a violation of the personal freedom', while 15% saw it as 'a counter-extremism policy'.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/30/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#4
The vote is a lovely thing for unenlightened infidels, so long as they can be induced to vote as their masters desire. Attaining submission costs so little in effort, manpower, and materiel then, you see.
FOXNews had a ticker item last night saying Kyl & McCain had proposed legislation to spend $701B on Border security (to come from unspent "stimu-grab" fund). I haven't been able to find anything on line about it - anyone have a link?
A bipartisan, congressionally mandated defense panel on Thursday challenged the Pentagon to broaden its focus beyond counterinsurgency in Afghanistan and Iraq and expand the Navy to deal with threats from rising powers in Asia.
The panel report also said U.S. maritime power should be increased to deal with "the rise of new global great powers in Asia," an indirect reference to China's growing military and political power. It said the U.S. military must prepare for the "continued struggle for power in the Persian Gulf and the greater Middle East" and "persistent problems from failed and failing states."
To beef up U.S. maritime power in Asia, the report calls for expanding the Navy from its current fleet of 282 ships to 346 ships.
#1
didn't we just have a story here earlier this month about how the navy was pretty much abandoning ship building (cutting WAY back)?
what gives
Posted by: abu do you love ||
07/30/2010 11:32 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Just picture Congress as a Chicken Coop Overflowing with Cackling Chickens and you'll get the "What Gives" pretty accurately.
No chicken talks to any other, just squawks as loud as he/she can(So they are seen as IMPORTAINT, and TEH ONE to talk to).
When they get near a microphone the squawking increases tenfold, and any one is constantly trying to outsquawk the other.
That explains WHY the info is Garbled, and also WHY it's never accurate.
Clear now?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/30/2010 12:06 Comments ||
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#3
Tehy all want the shot at getting a boat named after them; after all Murtha did. Granted that is only an increase of 64 and doesn't cover all 535 Congessional positions, but it's a start.
#4
Even the Navy admits that its shipbuilding program is broken, and for several reasons.
1) There is no design "end date", so countless individuals insert novel changes during construction, resulting in massive cost and timetable overruns, and diminished interoperability. Likewise, those systems that could anticipate upgrades, like computers, are not as modular as they should be.
2) Proven functionality is seen as less important than speculative engineering. Design R&D should be for the ONR, not ships of the line.
3) The quality vs. quantity balance is way too far on the side of quality as far as shipbuilding goes. When even an Arleigh Burke destroyer costs $1.1B for the basic ship, and another $750m for its weaponry, it violates the old naval rule that destroyers are expendable.
Originally, destroyers were "torpedo boat destroyers", designed to thwart torpedo boats attempting to sink larger ships. As such, even today in the Persian Gulf, such ships would be very handy. Not just against small boats, but against threats like Skvall torpedoes. If nothing else, they could just drag torpedo nets.
And such ships can be very cheap and quick to build, as long as they are remembered to be expendable.
#6
Originally, destroyers were "torpedo boat destroyers", designed to thwart torpedo boats attempting to sink larger ships. As such, even today in the Persian Gulf, such ships would be very handy. Not just against small boats, but against threats like Skvall torpedoes. If nothing else, they could just drag torpedo nets.
An Asian Development Bank (ADB) report has accused top Sindhi politicians including President Asif Ali (Ten Percent) Zardari, Sindh Assembly Speaker Nisar Khuhro and other Sindhi landlords of stealing canal water through Direct Outlets (DOs), a major source of water theft that is virtually turning the irrigated lands situated at the tail-end of water courses into barren tracts.
That's taking '10%' a little far ...
Posted by: john frum ||
07/30/2010 13:34 ||
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Exactly how much does the Dhimmi US pay their overlords Pakistan again?
Though terror groups continue to strike in their country, a majority of Pakistanis still consider India as a major threat, view America as an enemy and are far less concerned about Taliban and al-Qaida.
While Pakistanis express serious concerns about the US, they have also deep worries about neighbour and long-time rival India than extremist groups within Pakistan, according to the prestigious Pew Research Centre opinion poll carried out inside Pakistan.
"When asked which is the greatest threat to their country - India, the Taliban or al-Qaida - slightly more than half of Pakistanis (53 per cent) choose India, compared with 23 per cent for Taliban and just 3 per cent for al-Qaida," it said.
However, despite the deep-seated tensions between India and Pakistan, most Pakistanis want better ties with India.
Roughly seven-in-ten (72 per cent ) said it is important for relations with India to improve and about three-quarters support increased trade with India and further talks between the two rivals, it said.
Inspite of pumping in billions of dollars in economic and military aid, the US image in Pakistan was at its lowest ever among the 22 nations included in the poll. Fifty-nine per cent of the respondents described America as an enemy and only eight per cent trusted President Barack Obama.
The Pakistanis saw little threat from Taliban and al-Qaida and only 25 per cent of the people said it would be bad for Islamabad if Taliban takes over again Afghanistan.
While 18 per cent said it would be good for Pakistan 57 per cent were not concerned.
State Department spokesman P J Crowley conceded that there is a huge trust deficit between the US and Pakistan.
"We understand - and the Secretary (of State) in her recent trip and also in her trip last October - understand that there's a deficit in trust in our relationship. There are those in Pakistan who recall and sense that they were abandoned by the US and the international community, going back 20 years or more," he said.
Crowley said the US has worked hard in recent months to try to turn this relationship around.
"I think we recognise that this was not going to occur overnight. We have tried to communicate forcefully to not only the government, but also to the people directly, that the US is committed to the future of Pakistan," he said.
"We are, in fact, a partner. I think we're not surprised that people want to see fruits of this partnership; that's exactly what we're trying to do. It goes back to what the Secretary announced in Islamabad last week - concrete projects that - on energy, on health, on education that will create tangible results so the people of Pakistan can see it. And when they see it, then we would expect to see those poll numbers prospectively improve," he said.
The Foreign Office on Thursday reacted sharply to Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid Karzai's suggestion of a NATO operation inside Pakistan, saying the comments were "incomprehensible". What part about "two-faced bastards" didn't they comprehend?
Talking to reporters, Foreign Office front man Abdul Basit said Pakistain had asked its ambassador in Kabul to seek clarifications from the Afghan government about the remarks. He said during the last two years, Pakistain and Afghanistan had been cooperating closely with each other against terrorism. "We don't see any reason as to why these remarks should have been made by Afghanistan's Caped President," he said. He said the malicious campaign against Pakistain had been going on for years, but at official levels in the West, Pakistain's contribution in counter-terrorism was duly acknowledged.
[Dawn] Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood (Wormtongue) Qureshi has said that the statements made by British Prime Minister David Cameron about Pakistain are surprising.
He said that an official reponse will be sought from the British High Commission about the statement made.
Speaking to the media at Lahore airport, Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the defence agreement made between the United Kingdom and India will not have an effect on Pakistain. He said that Pakistain will take care of its defence interests by itself. "We have took move forward in a realistic and practical manner," he said. ... because Paks are realistic and practical people...
On a question about the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan in 2014, Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that it would all depend upon the capacity of the Afghan government to manage the situation by themselves.
About the issue of the Wikileak intelligence reports, he said that the information about Pakistain in it is nothing new.
He said that the issued to be looked into is whether the source of information is itself credible.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/30/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Dawn] Pakistain said Thursday it was seeking clarification of "incomprehensible" remarks by Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid Karzai calling for tougher Western action against hard boy sanctuaries.
Asked by reporters about remarks made by Karzai and his national security adviser Rangeen Dadfar Spanta, foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said their comments were "incomprehensible".
"We have asked our ambassador in Kabul to seek clarification as to why these remarks have been made," he said.
Karzai did not explicitly mention Pakistain by name, but said the war against terrorism was a war in "the sanctuaries, funding centres and training places of terrorism which are outside Afghanistan".
"Whether we are able to destroy these sanctuaries or not is another question. We will try what we can.... Our international allies have this ability, but the question is why they are not doing it?"
Basit said the Afghan government officials had based their remarks on thousands of secret US military files leaked earlier this week by website WikiLeaks and that the files amounted to raw intelligence and disinformation.
"It is a matter of disinformation so you cannot draw right conclusions from misguided reports," he said.
Kabul has consistently accused Pakistain's intelligence agency of supporting Taliban bad boys - including masterminding attacks against Afghan and US-led targets in the country.
Islamabad denies the claims.
Kabul said information contained in documents released on whistleblowing website WikiLeaks on Sunday backed its long-held position.
A secretive US drone war routinely targets Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked groups holed up in Pakistain's lawless border districts with Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/30/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
The image of the United States remains overwhelmingly negative in Pakistan, according to the 2010 Global Attitudes Project report released by PEW Research Centre. Six in 10 Pakistanis -- 59 percent -- viewed the US as Pakistan's enemy, decreased only slightly from the 64 percent reported in 2009.
Opinions regarding the US-Pakistan relations are mixed, with more than half of Pakistanis saying the relations have improved in recent years, while a significant majority of the Pakistanis believe it is important for relations between the two countries to improve.
More than eight in 10 Pakistanis -- 84 percent -- consider China a partner, saying they have a favourable opinion of the Asian superpower.
However, Punjabis have been seen to be inclined towards anti-American sentiment. Those who live in Punjab are far more likely to consider the US an enemy of Pakistan than those in other regions. About seven in 10 Punjabis -- 69 percent -- express this opinion, compared to 52 percent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 40 percent in Sindh.
PML-N supporters: The opinion that the US is an enemy of Pakistan is also much more prevalent among the Pakistanis affiliated with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) than among those with the Pakistan People's Party (PPP). About 72 percent in the PML-N consider the US an enemy, nine percent say it is a partner, and 12 percent are of the view that it is neither. Less than half -- 46 percent -- in the PPP see the US as an enemy, while 15 percent consider it a partner and 21 percent say it is neither.
Obama: US President Barack Obama receives overwhelmingly low marks in Pakistan. Only eight percent express confidence in the US president doing the right thing in world affairs, falling from the 13 percent in 2009. Forty-eight percent disapprove of Obama's policies, nine percent approve, and 42 percent say they do not know.
The people of Pakistan see India as a greater threat to their country than the Taliban or al Qaeda with 74 percent viewing India as a serious threat, 54 percent considering the Taliban, and 38 percent viewing al Qaeda. However, Pakistanis have become somewhat less concerned about the threat posed by India than they were in the spring of 2009, when 83 percent considered India a serious threat. Seventy-two percent, in fact, support improved relations with their neighbour and also favour greater economic and political ties between the two countries.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/30/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
From last Sunday's White House Security Advisor statement: U.S. support for Pakistan will continue to be focused on building Pakistani capacity to root out violent extremist groups, while supporting the aspirations of the Pakistani people.
The majority of Paks want the US to die, and the current White House is working on that project also.
#4
How about 50 percent of Pakistan is supporting terrorism while the other 50 percent nods its head and does a dog and pony show to show support for anti-terror while the ruling elite are worried about losing power and try to enforce their control creating more internal strife while various parts of the country, through tribal competition and contention, create more strife and other parts accuse each other of being heretics.
#5
%59 eh? pretty surprised that it came in that low. maybe it is %59 actually actively working against US interests, while most of the rest view it as an enemy but are currently unable to contribute to the war effort.
Posted by: abu do you love ||
07/30/2010 7:26 Comments ||
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#6
I wish this article would bein the NYT or WaPo.
A lot of lefties would blame Bush but some of the more naive 'why do they hate us' types might be forced to do some serious thinking.
Posted by: lord garth ||
07/30/2010 10:15 Comments ||
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#9
That's why they are leftists in the first place---you don't have to think.
Quite a few Rantburgers are former leftists, g(r)omgoru -- I've found their "come to Jesus" stories fascinating. Ignorance and unwillingness to think are two very different things.
KIRKUK / Aswat al-Iraq: Kurds have a clear vision that Kirkuk is an indivisible part of the Kurdistan Regional Government although others might have a different viewpoint, according to KRG Prime Minister Burham Saleh on Thursday.
Despite the fact that our Arab and Turkmen brothers oppose our view that Kirkuk is part and parcel of the Iraqi Kurdistan region, the Kurds will eventually be triumphant in finding a legal and constitutional solution that would win them their rights back, said Saleh in a press conference during a brief visit to Kirkuk.
Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution is related to the normalization of the situation in Kirkuk city and other disputed areas.
Kurds seek to include the city in the autonomous Iraqs Kurdistan region, while Sunni Muslims, Turkmen and Shiites oppose the incorporation. The article currently stipulates that all Arabs in Kirkuk be returned to their original locations in southern and central Iraqi areas, and formerly displaced residents returned to Kirkuk, 250 km northeast of Baghdad.
The article also calls for conducting a census to be followed by a referendum to let the inhabitants decide whether they would like Kirkuk to be annexed to the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region or having it as an independent province.
These stages were supposed to end on December 31, 2007, a deadline that was later extended to six months to end on June 30 2008.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/30/2010 00:00 ||
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[Asharq al-Aswat] An informed source has revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that Iran has sent a strongly-worded message to its allies in the Islamic Supreme Council which is led by Ammar al-Hakim and Al-Sadr Trend which is led by Muqtada al-Sadr to the effect that they have no choice but to accept Nuri al-Maliki, the outgoing prime minister and leader of the State of Law Coalition [SLC], as the candidate to head the next government.
The source, which is a leading member in the Iraqi National Alliance [INA] that is led by Al-Hakim, said the Iranian message said "you will accept Al-Maliki even if he hits you on your heads." According to this source, Muqtada al-Sadr "was banned from traveling to Arbil to meet several political parties in the country." Speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, the source added that Al-Sadr wanted to travel to Arbil "but pressures exerted on him by Iran prevented him from traveling because of his recent stands which rejected Al-Maliki and because he was getting close to Al-Iraqiya List which is led by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi." The source refused however to provide more details. Al-Sadr met Allawi in Damascus before two weeks and it was reported that they agreed to meet again in Arbil where they would be joined by Kurdistan Region President Masud Barzani and Al-Hakim.
But a leading member in Al-Sadr Trend asserted to Asharq Al-Awsat that Al-Sadr "does not allow any pressures to be exerted on him by any side and he acts freely in his political approaches." He denied that Iran did actually ban him from traveling to Arbil and said "all the trends are exercising their freedom to act. Even if there are American or Iranian agendas inside the country, they will not be at the expense of the national ones." He stressed that "there is no objection" to the pressures to have Al-Maliki prime minister "but on condition there are guarantees from him that he will change his government's policy. Since Al-Maliki has not done so, therefore his nomination for a second term is unacceptable to the Trend." Asked if pressures were exerted on Al-Sadr before he traveled to Damascus and which he resisted, the source said "no pressures were exerted. Muqtada al-Sadr decided to travel to Damascus in response to an invitation from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and he met Iraqi leaders so as to facilitate the atmospheres and end the political crisis. What he wanted did actually happen. As to Arbil's visit too, Al-Sadr spoke to Barzani who invited him but Al-Sadr has not decided its date yet."
The Iranian position supporting Al-Maliki probably explains his SLC's optimistic stand about his chances of winning the nomination of the National Alliance which is made up of his coalition and the INA. Leaders from the latter are stressing that the alliance is on the verge of collapse because of Al-Maliki's insistence on being the National Alliance's sole candidate for heading the next government. In this context, Hasan al-Shammari, a leading member in Al-Fadilah Party, one of INA's components, said the "collapse of the alliance between the SLC and INA is very likely if the SLC insists on its sole candidate for prime minister which most INA blocs reject."
On his part, Adnan al-Sarraj, a leading SLC member, said the coming few days would see a quick return to negotiations between the two alliances so as to come out with a single candidate from the National Alliance, stressing that the latter would not collapse. He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Alliance "will remain cohesive and nominate Al-Maliki for prime minister."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/30/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
"Or else" what? You'll cull your young male population again?
With Hamas telling tales of deprivation and suffering in Gaza, Egyptian journalist Ashraf Abu al-Houl has added his report to others who were surprised to discover a "prosperous" Gaza in which prices are low and luxury businesses are booming. Al-Houl's story of his trip to Gaza and his realization that "in actual terms, Gaza is not under siege" was written up in the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
Here is the MEMRI link, with photos. These people are most certainly not suffering.
"A sense of absolute prosperity prevails, as manifested by the grand resorts along and near Gaza's coast. Further, the site of the merchandise and luxuries filling the Gaza shops amazed me," he reported.
Concerned that his initial impression of prosperity may have been misleading, "I toured the new resorts, most of which are quite grand, as well as the commercial markets, to verify my hypothesis. The resorts and markets have come to symbolize prosperity, and to prove that the siege is formal or political, not economic," Al-Houl said.
Gaza's markets are filled with a "plethora of goods," he wrote. Prices on many items, particularly food, are much lower than they are in Egypt, he said. With goods entering Gaza from both smuggling tunnels to Egypt and humanitarian aid shipments coming in via Israeli crossings, "supply is much greater than demand," he stated.
The evident prosperity is not enjoyed by all, or even most, of Gaza's residents, according to Al-Houl. The problem is the vast differences in the distribution of wealth. The luxury resorts and wide range of consumer goods are enjoyed by "only a few groups," he said, primarily those who own smuggling tunnels to Egypt and those who work for international organizations such as the United Nations' UNRWA and who do not include or aid the rest of the population.
Most of the new resorts "are owned by members, or associates, of Hamas," he reported. "In addition, the Hamas municipalities charge high fees, in Gaza terms, for the use of public beaches," he added.
Al-Houl quoted political activist Mustafa Ibrahim as saying that while Gaza's rich invest in the leisure industry, 80% of residents rely on UNRWA, and unemployment is approximately 45%. "This creates a distorted picture," Ibrahim explained.
#1
Al-Houl quoted political activist Mustafa Ibrahim as saying that while Gaza's rich invest in the leisure industry, 80% of residents rely on UNRWA, and unemployment is approximately 45%. "This creates a distorted picture," Ibrahim explained.
Plenty of that disposable income around when the international rubes are responsible for taking care of the majority of your people...
[Al Arabiya Latest] King of the Arabians Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz arrived in Syria on Thursday for talks with President Bashar "Pencilneck" al-Assad on the eve of a joint mission to Leb aimed at containing political tensions there.
Assad greeted the king at Damascus airport as the two leaders are to travel to Beirut on Friday as part of a flurry of diplomatic efforts to contain a potentially explosive situation in Leb and fears of a new sectarian conflict.
Assad's visit will be his first since the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafiq al-Hariri -- father of current Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri -- after which relations between Damascus and Beirut took a sharp downturn.
The assassination provoked an international furor led by the United States, France and Saudi Arabia that prompted Syria to end its 29-year military presence in Leb in April 2005 and led to the establishment of the special tribunal.
Syria advises US not to interfere
The Syrian government advised the United States earlier on Thursday against interfering with King Abdullah's visit to Damascus and said the two countries "know better" how to stabilize the Middle East.
U.S. State department official Philip Crowley said on Wednesday Washington hoped Syria would play a constructive role in the region and would respond to the Saudi monarch's concerns about Iranian "threats" to Middle East stability.
"Obviously, King Abdullah has played a significant leadership role in the region. So his prospective travel to Syria and to Leb is consistent with his search for peace," Crowley said.
A Syrian foreign ministry statement said the United States "has no right to define our ties with the countries of the region and interfere in the content of the talks the Saudi monarch will have in Damascus."
"Syria and Saudi Arabia... know better than others the interests of the people of the region and how to achieve them without outside interference and they are able to define their policies to achieve peace and stability in the region," the statement said.
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07/30/2010 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
People in southern Afghanistan have protested against US-led NATO forces over desecration of the 
[Al Arabiya Latest] The tiny Pacific archipelago Kingdom of Tonga plans to send 275 soldiers to Afghanistan to help guard a British garrison as part of its plan to reduce unemployment.
With Hamas telling tales of deprivation and suffering in Gaza, Egyptian journalist Ashraf Abu al-Houl has added his report to others who were surprised to discover a "prosperous" Gaza in which prices are low and luxury businesses are booming. Al-Houl's story of his trip to Gaza and his realization that "in actual terms, Gaza is not under siege" was written up in the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
