#1
No problem - contractors out. Karzai and his minions won't last a fortnight. Contractors can then approach the survivors successors to see if they might want to reconsider.
I'm no great fan of mercenaries - but Karzai and company are past expiration date. He's not strong enough to rule his domain. Maybe no one is - in which case the "nation" needs to be split to coincide with reality.
#5
"Education -- if you make the most of it and you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do marry well, if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq Afghanistan."
[Al Arabiya Latest] As part of a plan to fight the uncontrolled influx of religious edicts, the Algerian Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs launched an online fatwa bank that covers the most common issues that preoccupies Muslims.
And we used to joke about "Fatwas R Us" here at the Burg ...
The recent prevalence of T.V. shows that issue fatwas to callers inquiring about a variety of issues, also called 'satellite fatwas,' raised concerns in the Algerian government about unqualified clerics who issue controversial edicts that often confuse Muslims and at times might incite sedition.
The idea of the online bank came to Algerian Minister of Religious Affairs Bou Abdullah Ghlamallah when he watched one of the religious shows, said ministry spokesman Edda Falahi.
According to Falahi, a woman called the cleric hosted in one of the shows and asked if she could stay with her smoker husband and the cleric issued a fatwa that sanctions divorce if the husband does not quit.
"The minister did not like the fatwa since smoking might not be preferable in Islam, but it should not be the reason for divorce," Falahi told Al Arabiya.
The new website is divided into 25 sections that cover the issues about which Muslims usually inquire when they seek fatwas from clerics hosted in T.V. shows. These include prayer, alms, inheritance, marriage, and ethics.
It is noteworthy that five years have passed since the proposal to hire a mufti for Algeria was frozen.
Several media outlets argued that the reason for the freezing was a dispute between Ghlamallah and Dr. Bou Omran al-Sheikh, head of the Supreme Islamic Council, about the authorities of the mufti and whether he will be affiliated to the Ministry of religious Affairs.
The importance of having a mufti for Algeria started emerging with the political turmoil that swept the country in the early 1990s. Amongst the most common controversies at the time was the abortion of women taken hostage by militant groups and which was sanctioned by the Supreme Islamic Council.
Fatwas the reoccupy Algerians in general include the woman's right to marry without a guardian, organ transplants, cloning, and non-Islamic banking.
According to statistics issued in 2007, the Ministry of Religious Affairs receives more than 2,500 fatwa inquiries per week from both organizations and individuals whether via mail or phone or personal meetings between clerics and inquirers.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] The United Arab Emirates is keen to protect legitimate trade with Iran even though it is enforcing tough new sanctions against its neighbor across the Gulf, media reports said on Tuesday.
Iran is a significant UAE trading partner, with trade volume between it and the emirate of Dubai alone estimated at about 10 billion dollars a year, mostly imports from the Islamic republic.
"I think it is extremely important to have that balance right, between our international commitments on the one hand and also between the fact that a lot of the transactions that we do have are legitimate," the UAE's minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, was quoted as saying in Gulf News.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
the fact that a lot of the transactions that we do have are legitimate
translation = "one or two of the transactions that we do have are legitimate."
Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan agreed to step up joint fight against terrorism and narcotics at a quadripartite summit on Wednesday. I guess Uzbekistan is still suffering from the crazies.
The four countries will intensify joint efforts in combating terrorism and narcotics in the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters after the summit. International Organizations = much talk about little action...
The four leaders discussed undertaking joint economic projects in power generation, transport infrastructure and mining, said Mr. Lavrov. He singled out such projects as restoring the Salang tunnel in northern Afghanistan and rebuilding the country's hydropower plants. It's high time Russia got some skin in the game...
Russia pledged to provide a free shipment of firearms and munitions for the Afghan police and reaffirmed readiness to sell 20 helicopters to Afghanistan.
The two leaders also discussed Ārevitalisation of trade and economic links, and undertaking joint projects in fuel and energy sphere, metallurgy, railway transport, as well as facilitation of investment and development of business-to-business contacts,Ā said the Kremlin press service. Which they will want guarded by US troops for as long as possible. Note also that India wasn't invited.
#1
See TOPIX > WHITHER CSTO, RUSSIAN POWER, ARMENIAN SOVEREIGNTY, + A REGION AT RISK [deeper/worsening instability + turmoil].
* SAME > ARMENIA MUST NOT COMPROMISE [give up] ITS SOVEREIGNTY FOR RUSSIA [Russia's internal problems], espec as facilit by MOSCOW'S = RUSSIA'S PROVISION TO GUARANTEE ARMENIA'S BORDER SECURITY [read, MUSLIM AZERBAIJAN + Nagorno-Karabakh].
North Korea is trying to launch a biochemical attack against the South prior to the G20 Summit in Seoul in November, a conservative activist claimed [last] Thursday citing a North Korean source.
That would be even more than the G20 could take. The G20 includes China, and no way will the Norks slag a high Chinese official, power struggle or no.
Choi Sung-yong of the group Family Assembly Abducted to North Korea said the North is preparing to send 20 different deadly biochemical weapons attached to balloons and parachutes across the border. He said the campaign is led by Gen. Kim Kyok-sik, who commands the North's frontline fourth corps, at the orders of leader Kim Jong-il's heir apparent Jong-un.
Choi said the story came from "an active soldier in the North Korean Army." Kim Kyok-sik was chief of the General Staff of the People's Army before being demoted to his current post and is thought to have masterminded the torpedo attack on the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan.
Choi also claimed a number of North Korean mines found south of the border after recent floods were deliberately floated down the Imjin River by Kim Kyok-sik's men at Kim Jong-un's orders.
That I would believe. It's the low-level, barely deniable attacks that allows Sonny Boy and the generals surrounding him to make their case for power when Pops has the big stroke.
"The source said the frontline fourth corps is collecting mines from all over North Korea, not only in Hwanghae Province where the fourth corps is located but from as far afield as North Hamgyong Province. It floated the mines down intentionally but blamed it on floods," Choi claimed.
Asked about the claim, a National Intelligence Service spokesman was noncommittal, saying, "It's possible to imagine a number of scenarios, but we can't draw any conclusions at the moment." The Joint Chiefs of Staff declined to comment.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/18/2010 00:00 ||
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#2
The Norks have utilized prevailing winds to conduct high altitude releases of propaganda leaflets into the South for many years. The stuff used to float down over K14 quite frequently. The South Koreans are forbidden to pick any of that material up, which follows the standard "if you didn't put it there, don't pick it up" rule. One of my personal favorites.
#3
The NorK factions might not be crazy enough to gas a G20 summit, but framing each other for *planning* such a thing seems highly likely.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
08/18/2010 9:22 Comments ||
Top||
#4
ION WMF > RUSSIAN MIL EXPERTS: DESPITE NORTH KOREA'S BORDER WID RUSSIA, INTER-KOREAN CHAOS + WAR ON THE KOREAN PENINSULA INCLUDING AS PER THE "CHEONAN" AFFAIR IS LIKELY NOT IN RUSSIA'S CORE/NATIONAL INTERESTS UNLESS NUCLEAR WEAPONS OR US, CHINA ARE MILPOL INVOLVED.
* CHINESE MIL FORUM > THE MOOD IN THE PHILIPPINE MILITARY IS PARANOIA ABOUT [potential]CHINESE INVASION OF THE SPRATLYS | [AFP Chief of Staff LTG Ricardo David] REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES LACKS ARMS IN CASE OF WAR IN SPRATLEYS [agz China]. However, LTG David believes that Diploamcy, NOT Mil Conflict, can effec resolve the issue of final sovereignty.
* WMF > USDOD REPORT REVEALS CHINA'S DEV OF LR BOMBERS FOR ACTION IN THE "SECOND ISLAND" CHAIN [includes GUAM-CNMI-WESTPAC-MICRONESIA].
* SAME > DAILY NEWS: CHINESE SCHOLARS SEE NO UNO OR INTERNATIONAL LEGAL OBSTRUCTION, ETC. TO SINO-JAPAN BILATERAL COOPERATION, INTEGRATION ON THE SUBJECT OF OKINAWA + DAOYUS [Consensual
"Joint/Shared Sovereignty, Economic FTAS, etc.].
POSTER > IHO opined, as per OKINAWA-SPECIFIC POPULAR REFERENDUM on issues, THAT LOCAL OKINAWANS ARE PROB MORE LIKELY TO VOTE FOR FULL INDEPENDENCE FROM TOKYO [+ BEIJING?]THAN A RETURN TO HISTORICAL VASSALAGE WID MAINLAND CHINA.
OTHER > Rising China must have direct access to ANy + All Pacific trade routes, BY CONSENT OR BY MIL FORCE.
* SAME > CHINA SUCCESSFULLY TEST-FLIES ITS NEW H-10 STEALTH PROTOTYPE THANKS TO 1998 SHOOTDOWN + WRECK OF US F-117 STEALTH PLANE DURING THE YUGOSLAV CIVIL WAR [Bosnia Crisis + POTUS Billary Clinton].
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday (August 12th) that recent provocations by North Korea against the south were probably tied to ailing leader Kim Jong-il's youngest son seeking to earn his military "stripes."
This makes a lot of sense, especially if a few of the NorK generals decide to throw in with Sonny-Boy, figuring that they could then end up on top and re-slice the boodle to suit themselves.
Gates said one of his biggest worries about the North was that with the succession of the ailing leader's son now apparently underway, there would be more provocations against its neighbor.
Such as Cheonan, which may have been the first shot in this plan.
"I have a sneaking suspicion that Kim Jong-il's son, who wants to take over, has to earn his stripes with the North Korean military," Gates said at the U.S. Marines' Memorial Club in San Francisco.
"My worry is that that is behind the provocation like the sinking of the Cheonan, and so I think we are very concerned that this might not be the only provocation from the North Koreans," he added in response to a question over the threat posed by Pyongyang.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/18/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Nah, the Cheonan was just revenge for losing fights that NK had picked before. The Norks felt they had lost face in front of the world, and needed to even the score. So, they sneak attacked a SK frigate. They felt much better after this. I talked with a real North Korean who pretty much said the same thing.
#2
TOPIX > VARIOUS > [ROK-CHIN Intel]CRASHED NORTH KOREAN PLANE MAY BE DEFECTOR [Pilot believed to had been trying to get to Russia but ended up crashing in China].
ARTIC > IFF TRUE, NK PILOT may had chosen to deliber die in his plane [MIG-15? = no Parachute Bailout]] as CHINA is known for returning Defectors to their home countries].
* MARIANAS VARIETY > GUAM WITHIN [China's]TARGET RANGE.
* DAILY TIMES>PK > PNETAGON REPORT MAY HURT MILITARY RELATIONS:CHINA.
* TOPIX > US PLEDGES LONG STAY IN SOUTH CHINA SEA [milpol presence + influence].
[Al Arabiya Latest] A majority of Danes fear Islam is an obstacle for social cohesion, despite one in two believing that immigration is positive for Danish society, according to a study published Tuesday.
In a survey by the Ramboell institute, some 54.9 percent believe that Islam hinders social harmony, while 39.9 percent disagree and 5.2 percent did not comment.
Yet 49.7 percent of respondents believe that immigration since the 1960s -- and the integration of immigrants, refugees and their offspring -- have been generally positive for Danish society. Some 42.4 percent believe immigrants have been negative for society and 5.9 percent abstained from comment.
"People find it difficult to discern between culture and religion and see honor crimes, forced marriages as a part of Islam," Imran Shah, spokesman for the Danish Islamic community told the conservative Jyllands-Posten newspaper, which published the results of the survey.
He said this attitude means Islam is therefore seen as a problem for Denmark's liberal society.
The results of the study, which interviewed 970 people from August 9-12, were published in Jyllands-Posten as part of a long series on immigration.
Notably, it exposes that people aged 26 and over are more skeptical of Islam, compared to those aged between 18-25.
The ruling conservative-liberal coalition, which came into power in November 2001, backed by the extreme right Danish People's Party, has built a restrictive immigration policy to limit the influx of refugees and immigrants.
According to the survey, 42 percent of Danes are satisfied with this policy, while 29.2 percent deemed it too rigid and 21.4 percent said it is too flexible.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Danish politics is, well, foriegn to me. So I looked up this "extreme right" Danish Peoples Party. Their key policies as listed on wikipedia, and all of these policies seem sensible to me. I don't think of myself as extreme right. I am, if anything, pretty mainsteam, even if I think the left are a fairly silly bunch. In part, that is because anyone who doesn't want to play along with their agenda is labelled as "extreme".
There's a new argument emerging among supporters of the Ground Zero mosque. Distressed by President Obama's waffling on the issue, they're calling on former President George W. Bush to announce his support for the project, because in this case Bush understands better than Obama the connection between the war on terror and the larger question of America's relationship with Islam. It's an extraordinary change of position for commentators who long argued that Bush had done grievous harm to America's image in the Muslim world and that Obama represented a fresh start for the United States. Nevertheless, they are now seeing a different side of the former president.
"It's time for W. to weigh in," writes the New York Times' Maureen Dowd. Bush, Dowd explains, understands that "you can't have an effective war against the terrorists if it is a war on Islam." Dowd finds it "odd" that Obama seems less sure on that matter. But to set things back on the right course, she says, "W. needs to get his bullhorn back out" -- a reference to Bush's famous "the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!" speech at Ground Zero on September 14, 2001.
#2
A nice heaping helping of schadenfreude, well seared on the grill, medium-well-done - it's what's for dinner! (with maybe some grilled mushrooms, a baked potato, and a nice spring green salad with a vinaigrette dressing on the side.)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/18/2010 19:19 Comments ||
Top||
#5
And don't forget the fava beans ... or with the potato, would that be too much starch?
Anyway, it's delicious. I love the smell of schadenfreude in the morning ... it smells like victory! Or the humiliation of brainless celeb-journos, which is almost as much fun.
#6
"It's time for W. to weigh in," writes the New York Times' Maureen Dowd.
Gee, she didn't even spend the effort to construct a statement for Bush as in Dowdification
Dowdification
Used as noun or verb. The willful omission of one or more words so the meaning of the statement is no longer understood but that the statement suits the needs of the writer in launching an ad hominem attack whether or not the construction is truthful or grammatically complete.
Named after Maureen Dowd, based on her manufacture of a quote attributed to President Bush in her May 14, 2003 column (as first reported by Robert Cox on TheNationalDebate.com).
The term and the practice are often found in the Blogosphere.
MoDo must be slowing down in age.
MoDo
Maureen Dowd; standard New York Times lefty fare. Blinded by hatred for anyone who lives outside the Manhattan Membrane, particularly towards those who dare to live in flyover country; she has managed to have a verb/noun named after her, following a particularly dishonest hit piece of hers. See dowdify/dowding/dowdification.
Also an adjective meaning: Lack of stylishness and shabby named of course after Maureen Dowd. A dowdy woman is one who is unfashionably and unattractively dressed; without style as in a "Dowdy woman."
#10
"Please, George W. Bush, come expouse the leftist position so we can use you against the naaaasty conservatives, after we've been calling you a Nazi for eight years!"
Greek Orthodox leaders trying to rebuild the only church destroyed in the Sept. 11 terror attacks expressed shock this week after learning, via Fox News, that government officials had killed a deal to relocate the church.
The St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, once a tiny, four-story building in the shadows of lower Manhattan, was destroyed in 2001 by one of the falling World Trade Center towers. Nobody from the church was hurt in the attack, but the congregation has, for the past eight years, been trying to rebuild its house of worship.
Though talks between the church and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey stalled last year, church leaders say they've been trying to kick-start discussions ever since. But amid debate over whether a proposed Islamic community center should go forward near Ground Zero, government officials threw cold water on the prospect of any deal with the church -- telling Fox News the deal is off the table.
#1
Christians? Where's the white guilt pleasure and diversity superiority in that? Cut off a few heads, kill 3000, and they'll bend over to give you permits
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/18/2010 19:40 Comments ||
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#2
Just imagine what we'd give em if they killed 3Million of us!
A mosque on every corner!
[Al Arabiya Latest] New York Governor David Paterson plans to discuss relocating a proposed Muslim cultural center and mosque to a less emotionally charged location farther from New York City's "Ground Zero" site of the Sept. 11 attacks. How about Bolivia? How about Islamabad?
"We are working with the developers," Paterson's spokeswoman Maggie McKeon said. "There have not been any formal discussions between the governor, the imam or the developer. However, we expect to have a meeting scheduled in the near future."
U.S. Representative Peter King of New York said he discussed the issue with Paterson on Tuesday and the governor told him he would meet this week with Muslim officials to discuss providing state funds to help the center find another location. How about if they sell their expensive downtown Noo Yawk property and move someplace where their money'll go further, like Bangladesh?
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
NYC will move the mosque and tax dollars will end up building it. Someone the other day said,"Watch the money". Well it will be easy now, just open up your wallet and watch it go, if your from NY.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/18/2010 9:01 Comments ||
Top||
#2
NY government are gullible clowns to offer this. Tell them to FO and call it good. Time to vote them out. The thing was only half funded at best. Maybe this was their goal all along, or one of the "Plan B's".
[Arab News] He is also not dismayed that the Senate's top Democrat, Majority Leader Harry Reid, now opposes the idea, deputy Information Minister Bill Burton said.
"This is an issue people are going to come to with strongly held convictions," Burton told reporters aboard Air Force One as Obama flew to an appearance in Seattle.
"He's happy our thriving democracy is continuing to produce vigorous debate."
On Monday, Reid became the highest profile Democrat to call for the mosque to be built someplace else. Current plans are to locate it two blocks from the site of the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks.
On Friday, at a White House dinner marking the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, Obama declared Mohammedans "have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances." A day later, however, he told reporters that was not an endorsement of the specifics of the mosque plan.
Burton told reporters that Obama "respects the right of anybody ... to disagree with his opinion on this." As to Reid's view, Burton said the senator is a "fiercely independent individual," and that's one of his strengths as a leader of his fellow Democrats.
A number of Republicans have portrayed Obama as out of touch with Americans' feelings on the issue, and some Democratic strategists have said they wish he hadn't spoken.
However, Burton said Obama did not consider the politics of his remarks, and felt he had to speak out in defense of key US constitutional values that include freedom of religion.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
However, Burton said Obama did not consider the politics of his remarks, and felt he had to speak out in defense of key US constitutional values that include freedom of religion.
Bullshit flag down on that one. His audience were those gathered at the dinner and the muslim world, not America.
#3
When has Obama's supposed "eloquence" ever defused a major controversy?
When his buffoonish Harvard friend was arrested, Obama inflamed emotions by telling the nation "the police acted stupidly."
When his botchjob of a healthcare bill was causing major opposition prior to the vote, he told a town hall in Maine that greedy US surgeons are the class enemy, with a lurid fairy tale about surgeons amputating diabetic patients' limbs so as to collect $50,000 fees for service.
When he infuriated the nation with his lawsuit against Arizona, he sent his people to China to tell the Chinese that we have no right to criticize their brutality and thuggishness because, hey, we're thugs, too.
Obama is an empty suit. The man doesn't know what the f*** he's talking about half the time. The other half, he's lying.
Diplomatic representatives from Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. Freedom of religion officially carries the death penalty in these countries.
The Yemeni ambassador. The anchor baby islamofascist who's currently residing in Yemen is credibly threatening the life of the initiator of "Draw Mohammed Day". The Yemeni government does not officially allow US military operations in the country.
Representatives of other OIC states. The OIC officially demands that "defamation of Islam religion" be outlawed. To to this the US would have to repeal the 1st Amendment.
There would have been plenty of issues where Obama could have defended constitutional principles before that audience, but he chose not to do so.
[Dawn] Terrorists are planning to target judges, parliamentarians and top military officials in Islamabad, Inspector General of Police Islamabad, Syed Kaleem Imam, told media representatives on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters outside the parliament, he said certain terrorist groups had been issuing death threats to police officials and other key figures in the government.
"On the basis of intelligence information, security has been beefed up at sensitive locations in the federal capital," the IGP said.
Moreover, efforts were underway to capture the accomplices of the terrorist who was killed in a police encounter in Islamabad's G/8 sector, he said.
Imam further said that given the situation in the federal capital, the number of security check posts in the city could not be decreased.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2010 00:00 ||
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[Arab News] Iraq still owes Kuwait $22.3 billion in reparations from its invasion of the Gulf Arab state two decades ago and the Gulf War that liberated it, a Kuwaiti official said in remarks published on Tuesday.
Mansour Hayat, of the state committee that is coordinating the claims with a UN compensation commission, told Al-Seyassah daily in an interview all of the outstanding payments were due to the government and the oil sector.
He said individuals and companies had received a total of $18.78 billion.
Iraq is seeking forgiveness of outstanding compensation, or a reduction in the amount of annual oil revenue it has been setting aside to pay war reparations to Kuwait and other countries affected by the 1990-1991 Gulf crisis.
Baghdad argues it needs the extra cash to help fund rebuilding after the 2003 US invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Kuwait resumed diplomatic ties with Iraq after the invasion but has so far opposed forgiving the reparations. I don't think 'forgive' translates into Arabic ...
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Generational guilt. It's not the same government, let a lone the same leadership, that did the damaged. Obligations should have ended with the perp at the end of the rope. This is one of the causal problems from WWI that led to WWII.
[Ma'an] Gaza government Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh accused the Palestinian Authority on Monday evening of waging a war against religion and Islam.
Haniyeh, speaking to reporters at the rebuilding ceremony of the police station in Al-Shati refugee camp, said "what is happening in the West Bank is a religious war that targets the pious people, particularly the new generation."
The Gaza premier said the PA began taking "several steps" from the beginning of Ramadan, including banning a Hamas-affiliated sheikh from making Friday sermons in the West Bank, turning down the volume on mosque loudspeakers during prayer call , and closing associations for memorizing the Quran, which he said has left many mosques without preachers.
"They won't succeed in their war against Islam, because they are fighting God," Haniyeh said, alleging that the PA was trying to impose "religious normalization."
Haniyeh called on religious men in the West Bank "not to surrender" and protest against the PA's actions.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2010 00:00 ||
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At a gathering late on Monday Hariri called for calm, saying Lebanon should not fear "any political noise, which we hope to calm down and turn into calm speech, and start democratic dialogue".
On Saturday, he said he wanted to know who killed his father but at the same time he wanted stability. "Dialogue cannot succeed with the accusations of treason and with repeated calls for tests of patriotism and nationalism," Hariri said.
Hezbollah, which fought Israel to stalemate in a 2006 war, is determined to deflect any blame for the 2005 assassination.
Hariri's remarks came before a scheduled session of "national dialogue" on Thursday in which rival leaders are trying to agree the country's defence strategy towards Israel.
Political sources said the tribunal was not on the agenda but it was very likely to be brought up during discussions.
The first national dialogue session was held in September 2008 after a Qatari-mediated deal ended an 18-month political crisis which led to a street fighting between Hezbollah and supporters of the pro-Western Hariri which took the country to the brink of renewed civil war.
The fighting broke out when the government tried to shut down a telephone network operated by Hezbollah, which called the move a declaration of war. Some analysts warned that such a scenario could be repeated if Hezbollah figures are indicted.
Hariri formed a national unity government last year which includes Hezbollah ministers. Analysts say if the tribunal does indict Hezbollah members, the group, together with Shi'ite and Christian allies, could decide to collapse the government.
Assafir newspaper said on Tuesday Hariri and Nasrallah's assistant Hussein Khalil held a late night meeting on Sunday. It quoted sources describing the meeting as "positive and very useful".
The Hariri murder triggered an international outcry and led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon in April 2005 after a deployment of almost three decades.
The killing has been widely blamed on Syria, but Damascus has consistently denied involvement.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Israel has "eight days" to launch a military strike against Iran's Bushehr nuclear facility and stop Tehran from acquiring a functioning atomic plant, a former U.S. envoy to the U.N. has said.
Iran is to bring online its first nuclear power reactor, built with Russia's help, next week, when a shipment of nuclear fuel will be loaded into the plant's core.
At that point, former John Bolton warned Monday, it will be too late for Israel to launch a military strike against the facility because any attack would spread radiation and affect Iranian civilians.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
ION ISRAEL NN > UPDATE: JOHN BOLTON SAYS THREE DAYS TO ATTACK IRAN.
and
* SAME > F-35's MIGHT NOT REACH ISRAEL IN TIME TO STOP IRAN [Iran Nukes].
and
* TOPIX > BOLTON: BUSHESHR STARTUP A "SIGNIFICANT VICTORY" FOR IRAN [BUSHESHR = PLUTONIUM for Iran's NucProgs including any Iran Nucweaps].
and
* RENSE/TOPIX > IRAN PLANS MORE MOUNTAIN NUCLEAR SITES.
Again, BOLTON + EAGLEBURGER ARTICS = IRAN MUST EITHER BE INVADED, OCCUPIED, OR MIL ASSISTED AS PER IRAQ + AFPAK; OR ELSE THE US-ALLIES/OWRLD MUST LEARN TO LIVE WID A NUKE-ARMED IRAN + ULTIMATELY NUKE-ARMED RADIC ISLAMIST, INTERNATIONAL MILITANT CELLS, GROUPS, + NETWORKS.
TICKING CLOCK = AIR, COMMANDO-ONLY LIMITED STRIKE OPTIONS ARE OBSOLETE.
IMO also read, COLD WAR US FEARS OF "JUSTIFIED", DENIABLE "CREEPING SOCIALISM/GOVTISM/
TOTALITARIANISM" + RELATED > become OVERT + A "WAVE-OR-STRONGER" come 2012 [2012-2020/2025].
2010-2020/2025 > RISING COMMIE GLOBALISM, versus RISING ISLAMO-GLOBALISM [Nukulaar].
#2
If the Israelis don't have a fully functional Iron Dome defense system until November, then I figure that's a pretty good reason for them to *not* provoke regional hostilities until then. Also give the US domestic political situation time to shake out one way or the other.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
08/18/2010 9:25 Comments ||
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#3
I just have a really bad feeling that nobody's gonna do anything about it.
#5
I never believed for a minute the announcement of when the Iron Dome system was going to be operational. That would be the height of stupid to announce that.
Even among American Muslims who back the idea, there has been grumbling about what they consider the organizers' public relations missteps. A plan to build what would essentially be a local city mosque has now turned into a national confrontation that is roiling Muslim communities nationwide. Rauf's decision to remain overseas without making a statement on the controversy has also caused some frustration. Khan, and developer Sharif El-Gamal of SoHo Properties, which owns the building, have mostly been the public face of Park51.
"The total absence of Feisal Rauf has a `Where's Waldo' quality that is maddening in itself," U.S. Muslim writer Aziz Poonawalla, who supports the center, told the blog ordinary-gentlemen.com. "I'm quite capable of defending Rauf against some of the accusations against him, but am not inclined to carry his water for him while he gallivants about the globe."
Beyond misgivings about the location, some U.S. Muslims have raised concerns about what the mosque could become after Rauf and Khan retire and inevitably turn the center over to new leadership. Like houses of worship in all faiths, Islamic centers can change over time depending on the worldviews of congregants and the imams who lead them.
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.
North Korea is trying to launch a biochemical attack against the South prior to the G20 Summit in Seoul in November, a conservative activist claimed [last] Thursday citing a North Korean source.
[Al Arabiya Latest] A majority of Danes fear Islam is an obstacle for social cohesion, despite one in two believing that immigration is positive for Danish society, according to a study published Tuesday.
[Al Arabiya Latest] New York Governor David Paterson plans to discuss relocating a proposed Muslim cultural center and mosque to a less emotionally charged location farther from New York City's "Ground Zero" site of the Sept. 11 attacks.
[Arab News] He is also not dismayed that the Senate's top Democrat, Majority Leader Harry Reid, now opposes the idea, deputy 
At a gathering late on Monday Hariri called for calm, saying Lebanon should not fear "any political noise, which we hope to calm down and turn into calm speech, and start democratic dialogue".
