David Petraeus, perhaps the most celebrated American general of his generation, is likely to leave his job as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan this summer, multiple defense officials say. Petraeus, who stepped into the post last summer after President Barack Obama fired Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal for comments his aides made to Rolling Stone magazine, is likely to be succeeded by Deputy CENTCOM commander, Marine Corps Lt. Gen. John Allen, defense sources told The Envoy.
Meantime, the deputy U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez, was nominated this week for a fourth star and to take charge of Army Force Command, moving to Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. He is likely to be succeeded in Afghanistan by Lt. Gen. Curtis "Mike" Scaparrotti, currently commander of the I Corps and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, in Washington State, defense sources said.
#2
The rank will have to be Czar since commissioned officer appointments require an act of Congress [another little legacy of the English experience with Cromwell carried over to the Constitution]. Not that these people seem to have an issue with ignoring the Constitution, but there's that little thingy in the small print about obeying 'legal orders'.
#3
Gotta find a moderate Mooslim US Army General, or or order one converted. These buggers are rioting like crazy over here. Something about a holy book being torched. These ignorant phuechs deserve the Taliban.
#4
These buggers are rioting like crazy over here. Something about a holy book being torched.
That'd be that Rev. Jones in Florida, Besoeker, the one President Obama persuaded not to burn a Qoran some months ago. He and his little congregation held a trial a few weeks ago, and voted that the punishment should be ceremonial burning instead of dumping in a rubbish bin. Apparently President Karzai decided to make this his "Mohammed cartoons" moment, and announced his outrage the other day.
It seems to me that General Napier's response to complaints about the prohibition of the local custom of suttee is appropriate: "You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; [then] beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours."
It is, after all, because guests of the Afghans followed their custom of jihad against unbelievers that we followed the American custom of conquering those who threaten us... and now we are engaging in another American custom, of rebuilding those we had to conquer to get the message across. If we have not got across the message that they don't get to try to make us submit to their rules, then perhaps we need to go back to our first custom and engage in another round of conquering until they give it up. Because clearly, staying quietly at home, as we did before 9/11, doesn't work.
(Yes, Besoeker, I know it's easy for me to say. But then, if it were up to me, the ROEs would be very, very different.)
#5
A thought, Besoeker, as I continue to ponder the issue: are the riots and murders (mostly of Afghans by other Afghans, as far as I can tell from this Reuters article, which is well worth reading) exclusively a Pashtun affair, or are are the Tajiks and such also running amok, incited by their imams and President Karzai? How we understand this depends on whether it is only the Pashtuns who are a millennium behind the rest of the world, culturally, or all Afghans.
Two weeks after a dark-of-night barrage of mostly U.S. missiles and bombs opened the international air assault on Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, the American combat role is ending, the rag-tag rebels are reeling and the Pentagon is betting its European allies can finish the job.
Gadhafi is still standing, with a few uncertain signs that his inner circle could crack. The Obama administration is hoping
There is that word again...
that if Gadhafi's government doesn't implode soon, a relentless campaign of airstrikes on his tanks, air defenses and most trusted army units will at least weaken his ability to survive a renewed uprising by a disjointed opposition. The revels initially rattled Gadhafi but in recent days have given up most of their gains.
The bottom line, according to Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: "He's still killing his people."
So the mission remains incomplete, but the U.S. is following through on a pledge to shift the main combat burden to Britain, France and other NATO allies.
Starting Sunday, no U.S. combat aircraft are to fly strike missions in Libya. Also falling silent on Sunday will be the initial workhorses of the military campaign: U.S. Navy destroyers and submarines that launched Tomahawk cruise missiles from the positions in the Mediterranean Sea.
The planes and naval vessels will be on standby in case NATO commanders decide their own forces cannot handle the mission on their own. Combat air missions will continue to be flown by Britain, France and other NATO member countries.
#1
TOPIX/WORLDNEWS/PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > GADDAFI ARMY "NOT AT BREAKING POINT".
Its gonna be a spell, for both the Rebs + the UN Coalition.
IN BEST CASE, GADDAFI IS UNLIKELY TO VOLUNTARILY LEAVE POWER UNTIL THE ABOVE MAKE SERIOUS CONCESSIONS + $$$ COMPENSATIONS TO MATCH HIS EGO = SELF-IMAGE/WORTH. In absence of same, he has no qualms fighting to the bitter end + taking a lot of people wid him, nor as per joining in new Terror, Nuclear alliance wid his Enemies [Frenemies?] just to spite the Coalition.
DA MAN IS AKIN TO A SKILLED PERFORMER WALKING CAREFULLY STEADILY ON A LONG TIGHTROPE WID NO SAFETY NET, + THE US-NATO/EU + UNO ARE GOING TO HAVE TO WALK THAT TIGHTROPE TO GET HIM OR CONVINCE HIM. He likes it dat way.
#2
His aim, he said, was for full, Western-style civil rights, of the kind never before known in Libya, let alone in most of the Arab world and Africa. "My model is South Africa,"
Ahhhg! The African National Congress (ANC) as a democratic model? I'm certain the White House would disagree, but a bit more study of the current state of his "model" may be necessary.
The United States may have officially transferred command of the international Libya operation to NATO on Thursday. But it is unclear if that means the US has indeed retreated to the limited supporting role.
With US forces plying the waters off the Libyan coast, Central Intelligence Agency operatives on Libyan soil, many NATO countries sitting out the operation, and the staying power of the US unmatched by the French, British, or anyone else in the international coalition, it remains to be seen just how secondary the US role will be in the coming days.
[Arab News] Thousands of Egyptians rallied in Cairo and Alexandria on Friday demanding that ousted President Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... and other former officials be put on trial.
Mubarak was removed from power on Feb. 11, but the reformers who drove the protests that brought him down are now concerned about what they see as the lingering influence of some elements of his administration.
The reformers want tougher steps to recover assets they say Mubarak and others took from the state and seek deeper change in Egypt which is now ruled by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, led by the defense minister who served under Mubarak.
"I came because the military has been very slow in putting the people in the old regime on trial. Mubarak has not been charged with murder for the people who were killed," said Alaa Hashim, 28, an engineer, among protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the uprising.
A legal representative for Mubarak has denied media reports the former president amassed enormous wealth in office, saying Mubarak submitted his final financial statement to the judicial bodies concerned as required by law.
About 10,000 gathered in Tahrir, far fewer than the hundreds of thousands who demonstrated at the height of protests to topple Mubarak. About 2,000 also protested in Egypt's second city of Alexandria on the Mediterranean Sea.
Many Egyptians are more concerned about the deterioration in law and order and disruption to their daily lives that they blame on the continued protests.
On Friday, some protested against constitutional amendments that included making it easier to run for president. They said the changes did not go far enough. One banner read: "Oh Supreme Council, the message has not arrived yet, we want a constitution we can trust." Activists called for a large rally "to protect the revolution" to remind the army of the protesters' demands.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Soon come the tumbrels and Madame la Guillotine, I fear.
[Maghrebia] In the face of growing attacks by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) throughout the Sahel-Saharan region, moderate African Mohammedan scholars decided to take action.
They created the "Moderate Islam Forum" which held its second annual conference on Saturday (March 27th) in Nouakchott. Launched in April 2010, the forum comprises a dozen Islamic associations from across the region, including those from Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania. The aim is to promote Islamic principles, which scholars say are often misunderstood and distorted by bully boys.
The forum's charter establishes it as "a framework for consultation and exchanges of views to cultivate tolerance and hope in the face of extremism and violence arising from ignorance of the sacred principles upon which Islam is founded."
"Our Islamic umma really needs our area to be an example for other Islamic countries when it comes to notions of moderate Islam, far removed from extremism and misguided understanding," culture ministry advisor Mohamedou Ould Hdhana said at the event's opening ceremony.
The four-day conference was an opportunity for participants to attend a series of discussions about moderation in Islam.
"The Islamic umma is currently going through a period marked by the emergence of a new generation of young people with aspirations for change," stressed Dr Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Sidi, General Secretary of the Future Assembly for Preaching, Culture and Teaching.
Ould Sidi said that "those who are currently in charge have failed in their duty, ignoring these aspirations, which has resulted in people resorting to extremism as a quick way of bringing about this change".
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2011 00:00 ||
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[Arab News] Soddy Arabia has strongly condemned a statement issued by Iranian authorities that demanded Soddy Arabia to pull its forces out of Bahrain and describing the Saudi policy in the Gulf as playing with fire.
An official source of the Saudi government said, "It condemned in strong terms the irresponsible statement issued in the name of the Committee for National Security and Foreign Policy of the Council of Iranian Islamic Shoura which described the Saudi policy in the Gulf region as playing with fire and demanded the Kingdom to withdraw its forces from Bahrain," the Saudi Press agency reported on Friday.
"The statement (of the Iranian committee) ignores the premeditated interference in the internal matters of the countries in the region violating the illusory sovereignty and independence of those countries. It also attempts to stoke sedition and incite trouble with hostile policies contravening international laws and norms and principles of good neighborliness. The latest instance of Iran's brazen interference was in Kuwait where it used a network, linked to the Iranian mission, to plot against that country," the Saudi statement said.
The source added that the promoters of these lies forget, or pretend to forget, that Iran has no right to violate the illusory sovereignty of the kingdom of Bahrain or poke its nose into Bahrain's or any other country's affairs, or to attempt to deny Bahrain's legitimate right to seek the help of the forces of the Peninsula Shield Force. The right of seeking help of the force is guaranteed to Bahrain as part of the agreements of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states. Bahrain like any other GCC member country has the right to seek the help of the force for the defense of its country, its peace, its security and its people and properties, the statement said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2011 00:00 ||
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SEOUL, April 1 (Yonhap) -- In another unsuccessful attempt to have four of its recent defectors repatriated by South Korea, North Korea on Friday demanded that the two sides hold Red Cross talks to discuss arrangements for their return, the Unification Ministry here said.
The four were among 31 North Koreans who strayed across the inter-Korean border in the Yellow Sea on a wooden boat in early February. The remaining 27 were repatriated to the North by sea earlier this week, in accordance with their wishes. Before the repatriation, North Korea had squared off with South Korea over the defectors, demanding they be returned along with the 27 and accusing the South of forcing them into defection.
In a message to its South Korean counterpart on Friday, the North's Red Cross demanded for the second time this week that the sides hold talks to discuss the repatriation of the four. The message came just hours after the South Korean side sent a formal message of refusal to the North.
"The North Korean side expressed regret for our refusing to hold working-level talks" concerning the defectors, the Red Cross here said in a statement to reporters, adding the South remains unchanged in its position not to negotiate over the fate of four.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/02/2011 00:00 ||
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Seoul and Washington have agreed that the chairman of the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff will command support troops from the U.S. in case of a provocation from North Korea, a government source said Thursday.
"The South Korean and U.S. militaries have recently agreed in principle that the chairman of the Korean JCS will command U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force personnel and equipment that support the South Korean military in case of various provocations from the North," the source said. The two countries are still hammering out the details.
So far the South Korean military has responded North Korean provocations without U.S. military support. The South Korean JCS chairman currently exercises peacetime operational control over the South Korean troops but not over the U.S. Forces Korea.
But a military source said since the North's shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in November last year, the South Korean JCS has persistently called for the option to mobilize USFK support, and the U.S. military agreed. It is an unprecedented measure since the U.S. military is characteristically reluctant to place troops under the command of other countries.
Which U.S. troops and how many will be under the South Korean JCS chairman's command has yet to be decided. Under consideration are reconnaissance aircraft such as U-2s and E-8 Joint-Stars, artillery from the Second U.S. Infantry Division like Multiple Launch Rocket Systems and M-109 self-propelled guns, Apache attack helicopters and medevac choppers, and some U.S. Navy and Air Force personnel. The aim is to supply capacity the South Korean military lacks.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/02/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Methinks this is only for select or certain types of contingencies.
* IIRC YONHAP > NORTH KOREA TELLS SOUTH KOREA TO "CHOOSE BETWEEN WAR, [versus]DIALOGUE"?
ARTIC = DPRK says the ROK must fully understand that they SOKOR are at a [decisve?]CROSSROADS???
Also from YONHAP > JAPAN REPEATS TERRITORIAL CLAIMS OVER DOKDO IN DIPLOMATIC REPORT.
* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > [2010 Chinese Defense "White Paper"] PRC POLICY PAPER POINTS TO KOREANS [Korean Peninsula]+ AMERICANS AS CHINA'S BIGGEST WORRIES. Plus also Afghanistan = read, Islamist threat to China + Central Asia.
ARTIC:
> Asia-Pacific deemed as remaing "highly volatile" as Major Powers increase their strategic investment + involvement in Regional security affairs.
> Growing US,Regional suspicions as per China's intentions, + resultant desire by Same to contain or isolate China AMAP ASAP ALAP.
* TELEGRAPH.UK > RUSSIA TO DEPLOY ARCTIC BRIGADE TO DEFEND OIL + GAS RESOURCES. "Special motorised INF BRIG" of roughly 8000 troops to be based on Pechenga on the Kola Peninsula near Russ-Norwegian-Finnish border.
* PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > PLA SOUTH FLEET [South China Seas Fleet] TO EXPAND CONSTRUCTION OF [Hainan] BASES.
* SAME > CHINA DRIVES DEVELOPMENT OF RUSSIA'S FAR EAST.
#2
BHARAT RAKSHAK > TOP ANALYST OUTLINES POSSIBILITY OF INDIA ABANDONING ITS "STRATEGIC RESTRAINT" DOCTRINE. Histor geopol "Strategic Defense" to switch to "Strategic Offense" in Regional, Global affairs, espec as per China + disputed territories, Pakistan, + International Trade Security.
ARTIC > Despite on-going debate, many in Indjuh's Govt. wanna "go for it".
* SAME >[Russia Diary]WIKILEAKS: "US WANTS TO USE INDIA [+ Japan] IN MISSLE SHIELD AGZ RUSSIA, CHINA".
#3
Technically Joe, they're put under tactical or operational 'direction'. Title 10 has no provisions for 'command and control' to be anything but an unbroken link between the private and the Commander in Chief.
The government said on Thursday it is allowing private South Korean groups to provide humanitarian aid for children and other vulnerable people in North Korea.
They never learn, do they...
"We decided to let private aid groups resume humanitarian aid, which was halted following the bombing of Yeonpyeong Island in November last year," the Unification Ministry said in a press release.
It has already authorized a shipment of W336 million (US$1=W1,097) worth of tuberculosis medication by the Eugene Bell Foundation. The medicine will be delivered to some 500 patients in six tuberculosis clinics in Pyongyang and Pyongan Province.
According to the ministry, seven aid groups have applied for permission to send W1.6 billion worth of thermal underwear, soy bean milk, bread and supplies to combat malaria.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/02/2011 00:00 ||
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The United Nations World Food Programme plans to announce in two weeks plans for humanitarian aid to North Korea.
In an interview with Yonhap News Agency, Kenro Oshidari, the WFP's regional director for Asia said that Pyongyang needs an additional one million tons of food to feed its people.
Which they don't grow for themselves because...
He said the WFP is in the process of finalizing a proposal for international assistance to the North, which will include the amount and most suitable kinds of food needed to feed a certain number of people.
Like the military, for example...
The UN organization also pledged to check that the aid is distributed transparently.
In glass boxes...
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/02/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Why not charge them a few of their mini-nukes for this aid and see if they agree to it?
[Dawn] An Indonesian man held in Pakistain and suspected of being a Death Eater involved in the 2002 bombings on Bali could be extradited to Indonesia if his identity is confirmed, Pak officials said on Friday.
Pak security forces tossed in the clink a man they believe to be Umar Patek, Indonesia's most wanted Death Eater, after a shootout a few weeks ago and are waiting for Indonesian officials to come and identify him.
"An Indonesian team is coming. It is expected to be here soon," a senior intelligence official told Rooters.
"We are going to hand him over to Indonesian authorities. There is no plan to hand him over to the Americans," he said, without giving further details.
Pak Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua confirmed the arrest of an Indonesian man and said he could be Patek.
"Consular access will be given to the Indonesian mission and it will be for them to determine exactly who the person is, but, yes, a person has been tossed in the clink."
Security analysts say Patek is one of the few Indonesian cut-throats who would be able to explain to authorities the connections and extent of cooperation between Death Eater groups in Asia.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2011 00:00 ||
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[Arab News] Israel asked the United Nations ... aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... on Friday to help prevent activists sailing to Gazoo on the first anniversary of the bloody Israeli seizure of a Turkish ship that tried to reach the blockaded Paleostinian enclave.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office quoted him telling UN Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon that a mission of around 15 ships expected in late May "was being organized by jihad boy elements, among others, with the goal of creating a provocation and bringing about a flare-up." The Free Gazoo Movement, a pro-Paleostinian activist umbrella group, said the May flotilla would comprise 15 ships with international passengers including Europeans and Americans.
"We sail not just for Gazoo," the group said in a March 31 posting on its website. "We sail to confront an entire apartheid regime that must be dismantled through citizen action." Citing security needs, the Israeli navy stopped a six-vessel flotilla in international waters on May 31, 2010 as it tried to reach Gazoo.
Marines killed nine Turkish activists in melees aboard the lead ship, fraying Israel's once-strong ties to Ankara.
Israel has since eased commercial traffic over its land crossings with Gazoo, many of whose 1.5 million Paleostinians are aid-dependant, but still keeps close control of the sea access.
Regarding the new sailing, Netanyahu said Israel was "committed to acting firmly against the flotilla," according to the statement. It did not say what the prime minister expected the United Nations to do.
The Free Gazoo Movement has called the blockade illegal and flagged persistent Paleostinian poverty in the territory. It has championed non-violent political action in a comprehensive challenge to Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Once again, I think we all know what the Israelis should do.
First of all, arrange for neutral third country "rescue ships" to be in the area, to either tow disabled flotilla ships to a neutral port, or to rescue passengers from vessels that are taking on water. Again, to be transported to a neutral country.
I'm thinking "Benghazi, Libya".
Under almost no circumstances should Israelis board one of these enemy ships.
[Ma'an] Fatah Central Committee member Nabil Sha'ath said Thursday that a bi-national state was one of "many ideas" being formulated by the Paleostinian leadership.
Paleostinian leaders plan to declare an independent state in September, and to seek UN recognition of that state.
The Middle East Quartet ... The Quartet are the UN (xylophone), the United States (alto), the European Union (soprano), and Russia (shortstop). The group was established in Madrid in 2002 by former Spanish Prime Minister Aznar, as a result of the escalating conflict in the Middle East. Tony Blair is the Quartet's current Special Envoy.... -- the UN, US, EU and Russia -- and US President Barack B.O. Obama set September as the goal for establishing a Paleostinian state. Paleostinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's ...Fayyad's political agenda holds that neither violence nor peaceful negotiations have brought the Paleostinians any closer to an independent state. The alternative to both, violent negotiations, doesn't seem to be working too well, either... two-year state-building plan is due to be completed in September.
However, The all-purpose However... if a Paleostinian state is not established, several alternatives are being discussed by Paleostinian leaders, Sha'ath said.
The senior Fatah official told Ma'an that one option to end the occupation was to form one state across all of historic Paleostine, in which Paleostinians would demand citizenship and equal civil rights.
"Historic Palestine" being all the land from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, between Lebanon/Syria and Egypt, the way it's portrayed on the maps in PA schoolhouses? How clever they are, to be sure.
He said leaders were also considering dissolving the Paleostinian Authority and ending all Paleostinian commitments to Tel Aviv, leaving Israel fully responsible for its occupation.
What'll they do if Israel refuses, as Jordan and Egypt have refused?
Placing Paleostine under the mandate of the UN General Assembly was also being considered, Sha'ath said.
It'd be interesting if France gets control, or China, or Burma. It'd be even more interesting if it were a rotating committee -- all the corruption with none of the personal interest... and a new set to start over with every few years.
There's an idea. Make it like the Office of the Presidency of the EU. A country gets a year to 'lead' the Paleo state: all the responsibility and none of the authority. I'd start with Uruguay...
Israel has warned that Paleostinians will face retaliatory measures if they seek recognition of a Paleostinian state at the UN General Assembly.
Votes in the General Assembly are meaningless, guys. Only Security Council decisions are enforceable.
Israel's Foreign Ministry front man Yigal Palmor told AFP that the ministry was working to ensure that there wouldn't be a vote at the UN.
Meanwhile, ...back at the laboratory the fumes had dispersed, to reveal an ominous sight... a senior advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Moscow to dissuade Russia from supporting the EU's intention to present a plan for the establishment of a Paleostinian state, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.
Israel insists that a Paleostinian state can only be established through talks. The UN's recognition of a state would be "the end of the path of dialogue and negotiation," the foreign ministry front man said.
"If problems can no longer be solved through dialogue we shall also take unilateral measures ... without at the moment threatening anything concrete," Palmor added.
Paleostinian reconciliation
Israel has also warned that national Paleostinian unity would be the end of negotiations with Israel.
Netanyahu said the Paleostinian Authority could not have peace with both Israel and Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,. "It's one or the other, but not both," he told Jewish fundraisers in a speech distributed on Tuesday by the Israeli Government Press Office.
In the wake of mass youth protests across the West Bank and Gazoo demanding an end to the division, Abbas accepted an invitation from Hamas premier Ismail Haniyeh to hold unity talks in the Gazoo Strip.
On Saturday, Abbas met with a delegation of Hamas leaders in Ramallah, the first such meeting in over two years. Both sides described the talks as "positive."
Hamas head of the Paleostinian legislature Aziz Dweik ...Dweik has been associated with The Moslem Brotherhood and Hamas since as early as 1992.... led the delegation, and said he expected his party to accept Abbas' initiative to end the division by forming a unity government to prepare for elections.
Sha'ath said that Abbas told the Hamas leaders that he was willing to give up US aid, worth $475 million annually, to make peace with Hamas.
Following Hamas' victory in 2006 elections, the international community withdrew its funding from the Paleostinian Authority, although it recognized that the elections were free and fair.
A unity government survived for a year without foreign aid, but collapsed when Hamas ousted Fatah from Gazoo in bloody street battles in 2007.
The international community lifted its economic sanctions of the Fatah-led Paleostinian Authority, which retained control in the West Bank. But Israel imposed a tight blockade of Gazoo widely considered to be a form of collective punishment and illegal under international law.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
An agreement between the Baxters and the Rojos?
#4
What the hell is a 'bi-national state'? My advice is forget the whole nation-state thing and just declare International Palestinian Unity Day. Assuming you can agree on a date.
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.
The government said on Thursday it is allowing private South Korean groups to provide humanitarian aid for children and other vulnerable people in North Korea. 
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
Quartet
