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Doctor Who Helped U.S. Find Osama Bin Laden May Hang
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 6: Politix
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Africa Subsaharan
Leymah Gbowee, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf share Nobel
Another poster mentioned only the Yemeni activist, so here is the rest of the story about the Liberian recipients of the Nobel Prize. See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pray_the_Devil_Back_to_Hell. I have seen this film, and I suggest that Rantburgundians see it also.
-- Africa's first democratically elected female president, a Liberian campaigner against rape and a woman who stood up to Yemen's autocratic regime won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in recognition of the importance of women's rights in the spread of global peace.

The 10 million kronor ($1.5 million) award was split three ways between Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, women's rights activist Leymah Gbowee from the same African country and democracy activist Tawakkul Karman of Yemen -- the first Arab woman to win the prize....

...Liberia was ravaged by civil wars for years until 2003. The drawn-out conflict that began in 1989 left about 200,000 people dead and displaced half the country's population of 3 million. The country -- created to settle freed American slaves in 1847 -- is still struggling to maintain a fragile peace with the help of U.N. peacekeepers.

Sirleaf, 72, has a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University and has held top regional jobs at the World Bank, the United Nations and within the Liberian government.

In elections in 1997, she ran second to warlord-turned-president Charles Taylor, who many claimed was voted into power by a fearful electorate. Though she lost by a landslide, she rose to national prominence and earned the nickname, "Iron Lady." She went on to became Africa's first democratically elected female leader in 2005.

Sirleaf was seen as a reformer and peacemaker in Liberia when she took office. She is running for re-election this month and opponents in the presidential campaign have accused her of buying votes and using government funds to campaign. Her camp denies the charges. The election is Tuesday.

"This gives me a stronger commitment to work for reconciliation," Sirleaf said Friday from her home in Monrovia. "Liberians should be proud."

Buttons from her presidential campaign say it all: "Ellen -- She's Our Man."

Gbowee, who organized a group of Christian and Muslim women to challenge Liberia's warlords, was honored for mobilizing women "across ethnic and religious dividing lines to bring an end to the long war in Liberia, and to ensure women's participation in elections."

Gbowee has long campaigned for the rights of women and against rape. In 2003, she led hundreds of female protesters through Monrovia to demand swift disarmament of fighters who preyed on women throughout Liberia during 14 years of near-constant civil war.

Gbowee works in Ghana's capital as the director of Women Peace and Security Network Africa. The group's website says she is a mother of five.
Posted by: mom || 10/07/2011 10:15 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
No evidence Al Awlaki was killed in Yemen
Yemen’s security agencies have no substantial evidence that Al Qaeda leader Anwar al Awlaki was killed in a recent air strike in the eastern province of Mareb, an official security source said yesterday.
“The latest information available to the security agencies is that Al Awlaki was driving in a motorcade of three cars when a US drone targeted them (on September 30),” the source told the Yemeni website Mareb Press on condition of anonymity.
He added that one car had been hit, while the other two escaped. “There is no irrefutable information that Al Awlaki was inside the hit car,” he said.
According to the source, it was hard to identify the remains left after the raid. “There was no actual body. All that was left after the incident were mere remains mixed with wrecked pieces of the targeted car,” he said. “These remains were collected and buried by residents in the area.”
Posted by: tipper || 10/07/2011 10:32 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Time will tell.
Posted by: tipover || 10/07/2011 12:08 Comments || Top||


Yemeni first Arab woman to win Nobel Peace Prize
Tawwakol Karman, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize yesterday, is known as the "mother of the revolution" in Yemen.

In January, she was arrested for a few hours in an effort to intimidate her. Instead, it prompted thousands of women to protest in the streets of Sanaa and other cities. She was released the next day. Hours later, Ms Karman was back protesting. "This was the changing point of the Yemeni revolution," said Mohammed Allow, the president of HOOD, a human right organisation in Yemen.

The first Arab woman to win the peace prize, Karman went to Sanaa University and was a leader in support of the Islah party during her university days. Her outspoken opinions caused controversy in a country where women were taught to remain quiet.

Over time, Karman became one of the few skilled female writers in Yemen. She had organised protests as early as 2007, referring to her gatherings outside government offices as the "Freedom square".

She has campaigned for years for greater rights for women and has been organising smaller-scale protests demanding an end to harassment of journalists and greater freedom of expression. She has secured the release of many journalists who were jailed since 2009.

When Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was forced out of Tunisia in December, Karman led a small protest calling for Saleh to step down. Such chants as "Leave, leave Saleh," and "The people want the fall of the regime" were unprecedented in Yemen.

Observing her role in the continuing protests, the government began to harass Karman, spreading rumours that she was mingling with male protesters. They also indirectly threatened her, telling her brother that if he could not control his sister, she'd be killed. The threats and rumours did not deter her.

A member of Yemen's opposition Islamic fundamentalist Islah Party, Karman, once wore the niqab. But last year, she changed to a headscarf, covering just her hair, saying she wanted to be "face to face with my activist colleagues".

Ms Karman said the time has arrived for women to lead. "Saleh does not want to be overthrown by a woman and that is why he is holding on to power. History will repeat itself and the daughters of Yemen's Queen Sheba are here to stay and rule."

"We laughed at her when she started her weekly protests two years ago. Today through protests, she leads the Yemeni revolution," said Hareth Showkani, an opposition official.

For Karman the revolution will not be complete until Mr Saleh resigns. She said, "The positive winds of change must flow through Yemen and rule must return to the people. This is what the revolution is all about."
Posted by: ryuge || 10/07/2011 09:36 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  unfortunately for Ms. Karman, the prize was diminished and tarnished by its' previous award to Baracky O'bama
Posted by: Frank G || 10/07/2011 9:55 Comments || Top||

#2  But, first, a word from our sponsor...

Posted by: tu3031 || 10/07/2011 10:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Gentlemen: Any woman who stands up for women's rights in hellholes like Yemen deserves recognition. Get your minds off Obama for five minutes and give credit where credit is due.
Posted by: mom || 10/07/2011 10:23 Comments || Top||

#4  Some recent winners: Obama, Gore, El Baradi, Carter, Annan, Arafat.
Don't get on my case for turning the Nobel Peace Prize into a fucking joke, okay? Talk to the nominating committee who put themselves in the position.
Posted by: tu3031 || 10/07/2011 10:41 Comments || Top||

#5  Gentlemen: Any woman who stands up for women's rights in hellholes like Yemen deserves recognition.

One worthy example in a long, long string of politically-induced farces.

One diamond, perched on a high heap of dung.

Pheh.
Posted by: Pappy || 10/07/2011 11:22 Comments || Top||

#6  A member of Yemen's opposition Islamic fundamentalist Islah Party, Karman, once wore the niqab.

Here's a clue. Peace isn't her goal.
Posted by: Eohippus Phater7165 || 10/07/2011 11:34 Comments || Top||

#7  you're not my real mom
Posted by: Frank G || 10/07/2011 12:04 Comments || Top||

#8  How'd you know it's a diamond and not more of the same, Pappy?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/07/2011 12:11 Comments || Top||

#9  Frank, you forgot your little winking emoticon, so that you wouldn't look like a brat.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/07/2011 12:33 Comments || Top||

#10  To paraphrase something that TW said some months back: In dealing with Islamists, some of the military Rantburgundians have looked down the throat of hell. They have good reason to be skeptical of any Muslim.

Meanwhile, creaky old people like me are tutoring individuals, including Muslims. I have known some Saudis who behave like princely brats. I have also seen decent Saudis wrestle with serious cognitive dissonance as they learn something new, and make a real effort to learn more things that challenge their assumptions. These people stand a chance of doing some real good in the world.

The Muslim woman I am tutoring presently has daughters growing up here. I see a real chance for them to make real contributions for good also.

Some people fight evil with guns. Some people fight evil by standing against it in a place hostile to independent thought. Some people do something simple to fight evil in their neighborhoods.

Are you on the front lines--militarily or personally--or just bitching from the sidelines?
Posted by: mom || 10/07/2011 12:57 Comments || Top||

#11  funny pictures of cats with captions
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 10/07/2011 13:02 Comments || Top||

#12  What Tawwakol Karman has been doing takes some real gonads. But there is just something, umm, inspirational about a Nobel Peace Prize thread here. LOL
Posted by: ryuge || 10/07/2011 13:53 Comments || Top||

#13  How'd you know it's a diamond and not more of the same, Pappy?

I don't.
Posted by: Pappy || 10/07/2011 14:45 Comments || Top||

#14  From Commentary:
but perhaps it’s time to ask Karman about Islah, the political party to which news reports say she belongs. Back in 2010, The New York Times’ Steve Erlanger did a feature on Al Eman University in the Yemeni capital of Sana’a:

This university, the size of a village, was founded in 1993 by Sheik Abdul Majid al-Zindani, a revered spiritual leader, theological adviser to Osama bin Laden and co-founder of the main Yemeni opposition party, Islah. In 2004, the United States Treasury put Mr. Zindani on a list of “specially designated global terrorists” for suspected fund-raising for Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 10/07/2011 15:48 Comments || Top||

#15  Occasionally I get jumped and duck-taped to the wicker and forced to watch a channel which used to play music videos. Show was about youngster in the magic kingdom attempting to buck the system - one was a gal who wanted to use a color other than black, one was a guy who was attempting to open government up to women, and another was a group of kids who played death metal. I was agaped, shaking my head. I think there was only one episode, as 2 weeks later I read that they had all been arrested.

With the NPPs record, I think it is appropriate to be skeptical.

Hillarious cartoon.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 10/07/2011 16:24 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Mexican top sailor says judges release criminals
exclusive from Rantburg

By Chris Covert

Mexico's top naval officer told senators Thursday that judges are releasing criminals his naval infantry forces captured in counternarcotics operations and that the navy is suffering for their actions, according to Mexican news accounts.

And in related news, the Chamber of Deputies passed a change to the Mexican Code of Military Justice expanding the list of crimes that can be classified as treason, increasing the penalties for such crimes to between 15 and 60 years.

The change was aimed at current and prior service Mexican military who offer their services to drug cartels, such as the founding members of the Los Zetas drug cartel.

Secretaria de la Marina (SEMAR), Admiral Mariano Francisco Saynez Mendoza said during budget hearings that local judges release organized suspects too early and that the actions of the judiciary are causing morale within the naval service to suffer.

Admiral Saynez Mendoza appeared before senators to discuss his budget request for SEMAR for 2012 to increase from MP $15 billion (USD $106,936,650.00) to MP $19 billion (USD $135,453,090.00).

Admiral Saynez Mendoza has been the most outspoken, most critical of top Mexican military officials, reserving his most heated comments for human rights groups whom he claimed last July were being tricked by criminal organizations to do their bidding.

His remarks were made July, 2011 at a commencement address at the Heroica Escuela Naval Miltar naval academy in Veracruz, Veracruz with President Felipe Calderon and Secretaira Defense Nacional (SEDENA) General Guillermo Galvan Galvan, He said that human rights groups are funded in part by the cartels.
To read the Rantburg reports on Admiral Saynez Mendoza's remarks at the Heroica Escuela Naval Miltar naval academy commencement last July and the fallout, click here and here.
His remarks drew a strong rebuke from several Mexican NGOs, some of which cancelled negotiations with the Mexican government over protections for human rights groups, especially in states such as Guerrero which have not only a strong presence of criminal drug gangs but active hostile and armed insurgencies as well.

The talks were cancelled because of the "lack of respectful dialogue", as they put it. It is unknown if those cancelled talks have been restarted following the July 25th remarks by the Admiral.

In his remarks to senators, Admiral Saynez Mendoz also reiterated his plea to pass the new national security law, which he and other senior Mexican military officials say will strengthen the fight against the cartels.

One deputy identified as Agundis Arias agreed that the effort exerted by the judiciary has not been "consistent with the effort they have made."

SEMAR's 2012 budget increase is meant to address new naval ship building programs and the building of military hospitals in Manzanillo, Sinaloa and Altamira, Tamaulipas, both constant flashpoints in the tactical battle against the cartels.

Admiral Saynez Mendoza also told legislators in a closed door session he has never been confident in SEMAR's efforts to stop arms smuggled from the US.
Posted by: badanov || 10/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  local judges release organized suspects too early

Local judges gotta eat, too.
Posted by: Pappy || 10/07/2011 11:24 Comments || Top||

#2  And to eat, first you gotta keep your head attached.
Posted by: Eohippus Phater7165 || 10/07/2011 12:07 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
UNESCO funding threatened for overture to Paleos
Posted by: ryuge || 10/07/2011 12:41 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Antisocial behavior having adverse consequences---I thought we were beyond this type of DWEM oppression!
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/07/2011 14:59 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Issa's 1:18 Video -- "Holder vs White House: Who Is Accountable?"
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform today released a new video asking a simple question: who is accountable for the Obama Justice Department's failed Operation Fast and Furious?

Oversight Committee Watchdogs and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) have pushed Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department for a full accounting of the deadly program, but this investigation has been meet with silence, stonewalling and spin.

New documents, however, show that Holder received at least five weekly memos - beginning in July 2010 -- that contradict the Attorney General's May 3, 2011 sworn testimony denying knowledge of Fast and Furious until just weeks before.



Posted by: Sherry || 10/07/2011 12:35 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I expect that within a short while, s the heat and spotlight intensity builds on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., that the AG will resign (be fired) and crawl (be thrown) under the Bambi Greyhound.
Grasping at straws, Bambi is, to try to save his sorry, lying, ass.
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 10/07/2011 20:09 Comments || Top||

#2  I would expect that Holder has already revved up the pardon program he initiated on Marc Rich's behalf and researched all the angles for his briefing to Teh One™
Posted by: Frank G || 10/07/2011 21:08 Comments || Top||


Inspire Magazine editor's family hits out at US
The family of a Pakistani-American al-Qaeda propagandist Samir Khan, who died in an air strike in Yemen, speaks out against the US government for killing their "law-abiding son'.
They seem to have completely missed the point of taking a job with al Qaeda.
Not the first time a person was lured by a job's pay and benefits package...
This is the kid whose parents took him to the mosque so the wise men could talk him out of his growing jihadi sentiments and website. It was after that when he took off for jihadi country.
Posted by: Steve White || 10/07/2011 11:52 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I guess we can put the bed those articles in the Arab and Iranian press that we struck a wedding party. Good job boys.
Posted by: Eohippus Phater7165 || 10/07/2011 12:27 Comments || Top||

#2  Maybe we ought to apologize by sending them a nice Christmas Turdogken. That is a deceased dog, pickled in brandy, and stuffed with ground pork blood sausage and scumber.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 10/07/2011 14:41 Comments || Top||

#3  Scumber, huh? I learned a new word today!
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 10/07/2011 16:37 Comments || Top||

#4  One of the beautiful things about being in America is that, unless you are in prison or some other legal restraint, you are always free to leave. (hint, hint)
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 10/07/2011 18:56 Comments || Top||

#5  Hey, at least AQ is hiring, and promotion is rapid.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 10/07/2011 19:30 Comments || Top||

#6  True, Thing, but the long-term benefits and retirement packages suck. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara || 10/07/2011 19:46 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Religious groups stand up for Qadri
[Dawn] More than three dozen religio-political groups assembled under the banner of Tehrik Namoos-i-Risalat on Wednesday rejected the verdict of an anti-terrorism court against Mumtaz Qadri, the assassin of Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, and pledged to oppose it in streets throughout the country.

Tehrik convener and JUP-Noorani president Sahibzada Abul Khair Muhammad Zubair said Raymond Davis, the killer of three Paks, was set free but Qadri was given death "to please Jews and Christians".

Jamaat-i-Islami chief Syed Munawwar Hasan described the verdict against Qadri as an outcome of the secular environment prevailing in the country and announced protests against it all over the country on Friday.

Jamaatud Dawa ameer Hafiz Saeed said the court ruling was part of the global war against Islam and called for national unity to give a strong message to the enemies of Islam.

Dawa leader Maulana Amir Hamza said a committee consisting of Qazis (judges of Islamic law) should be formed to try Qadri in line with the Sharia.

JUI-F information secretary Maulana Amjad Khan said the verdict was aimed at pleasing the US.
Posted by: Fred || 10/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami

#1  All the usual suspects (our Main enemies/possible targets) coming out to play!
Posted by: Boyo || 10/07/2011 3:13 Comments || Top||


US allegations against Pakistan 'appalling', says Hussain Haroon
[Dawn] Pakistain's permanent envoy to the United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
, Abdullah Hussain Haroon, on Thursday criticised the US government for ignoring Pakistain's sacrifices in the war against terrorism and declared allegations against the country as 'appalling', DawnNews reported.

During his interview to an American media outlet, Haroon credited Pakistain as a 'savior' which pulled the US out from the 'Vietnam war swamp' and vowed that his country would do the same in the ongoing war in Afghanistan.

The envoy said Pakistain had put an all out effort in the long war in Afghanistan.

He said Pakistain's role would be vital in restoring peace in Afghanistan as Pakistain's problems would not be resolved until there was stability in the neighbouring country.

Haroon reminded that the US and Pakistain enjoyed friendly ties for over 60 years and that it was a Pak plane which took former US President Henry Kissinger to the negotiating table in Vietnam.

"Pakistain brought US close to China and now China fully supports US views at international fora and is critical for America's economy," said Haroon.

Haroon blamed former US President Ronald Reagan for 'conceiving' the Taiban and the Haqqani network in the White House.

He blamed the Afghan leadership for Pakistain's weakened ties with US and Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred || 10/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Appalling it took 'em so long to figure you out.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/07/2011 3:55 Comments || Top||

#2  It didn't take so long to figure out, but to say it publicly, g(r)omgoru.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/07/2011 7:11 Comments || Top||

#3  :-(
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/07/2011 11:22 Comments || Top||

#4  As per NEWS KERALA, RUSSIA is formally standing agz any US mil presence in Afghanistan after the UN Security mandate expires.

* SAME > GERMAN OFFICIAL believes that Pakistan should had striven to become part of the new INDO-AFGHAN ALLIANCE, instead of criticizing it.

* IIRC WAFF > {Memri = Taliban] TTP VIDEO SHOWS/DEPICTS UIGHUR JIHAD FIGHTERS FREELY SHOPPING FOR GUNS [ + other] IN PAKISTANI TOWN.

No interference from local Pak Govt-Army-Police.

Afghan or Paki, many locals remain convinced that the Taliban, etc. i.e. Radical Islam, will takeover once the US-NATO pullout is fully complete.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/07/2011 20:47 Comments || Top||


Empathy for 'stranded Pakistanis' in Bangladesh
[Dawn] A Bangladeshi civil society activist and scholar has sought an initiative by the Pakistain government to bring its stranded citizens home, who are in United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
camps in his country.

"They were well-off when they migrated from India in 1947 but now some 300,000 of them are living in very bad conditions in refugee camps, which is very tragic and I have sympathy for them," maintains Shahriar Kabir currently on a visit to Pakistain.

After the 1971 liberation war, these non-Bengalis refused to accept Bangladesh's citizenship and had to be shifted to camps set up by the UN. "The older generation are still dreaming to come to Pakistain but the younger lot, especially who were born after 1971, are willing to become Bangladeshi citizens. They don't even understand Urdu and speak the Bengali language.

"In fact, there are very few people in my country who can understand or speak Urdu. It is treated as a foreign language like Hindi and is among the endangered Asian languages in Bangladesh. I asked the younger generation (of stranded Paks) why are you forgetting Urdu? There is a campaign in our country that every one has the right to have primary education in one's mother language but they have not approached the government in this regard yet," said Kabir who is on his third visit to Pakistain and second one to Lahore.

"I have emotional attachment with Lahore. I have visited Minar-i-Pakistain, Badshahi Mosque and the Fort but the old city fascinates me more. It is like old Dhaka and old Delhi. Bloody Karachi is a cosmopolitan city and has characters like Bombay (Mumbai). Lahore has a distinct culture that we have read in Urdu literature. Lahore has become greener and cleaner than it was five years ago -- at least the areas I have visited in 2005 and now," he said.

Lahore had a good film industry during British period and movies produced here had been as good as that of Bombay. "There was A.J. Kardar's Jagga Hua Sawera, the first and only Pak movie that got award at the Moscow Film Festival. To me, it was the best film produced in Pakistain. Ironically, we don't have any print of the maiden colour movie 'Sangam' and the first cinema scope 'Bahana' in Bangladesh," said Kabir who is a senior journalist and a documentary filmmaker.

There was a backlash after the 1965 war and screening of Indian films was stopped here. It was a huge loss to the film industry of Lahore as it artistically suffered a lot. A huge market for films was lost after creation of Bangladesh. "But now good films like Khuda Ke Leay and Bol are being produced here," he said.

Bangladesh, he said, has a vibrant civil society and middle class which Pakistain lacks. In the recent elections in Bangladesh, there were 15 million new registered voters, mostly youth and a majority of them voted for the secular political forces now in power.

"A secular democracy is a distant dream in Pakistain because of a strong kinship or tribal mindset, having its negative and positive aspects. It is stronger than Taliban but is hindering democracy that should be strengthened here," said Kabir.
In Bangladesh, it has become a movement to protect the rights of minorities.

Individuals like Asma Jehangir have been struggling for the right of the marginalised segments in Pakistain. People like Aapa Tahira Mazhar Ali Khan and Naseem Baji struggled a lot against genocide of Bengalis and highlighted their sufferings. The Bangladesh government has decided to honour the two rights activists. "Since Aapa may not make it to Bangladesh owing to her health, our High Commissioner will be visiting Lahore in December next to confer the award.

"Army takeovers are not good but Gen Musharraf attempted to liberalise Pak society by re-introducing cultural activities. Economic activity was seen during his regime and highways were built that even India and Bangladesh don't have.

A road is priority number one to begin social development," he said.

Most countries in South Asia have directly been affected by religious extremism and militancy. An effective network of secular civil society forces at the South Asian level can counter the strong presence of religious extremism in the region. No single government can uproot religious extremism from the region. All should be united to end religious militancy.

"Sufism can also play an important role in countering militancy and creating a peaceful atmosphere. Sufism has deep roots in society of subcontinent and Sufis spread Islam in the region because Sufis never distinguished between a temple and a mosque," said Kabir and suggested holding a regional conference on Sufism in Pakistain.
Posted by: Fred || 10/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


India wants an 'anti-Pakistan' Afghanistan: Musharraf
[Dawn] Pakistain's former president Pervez Perv Musharraf
... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ...
charged Thursday that arch-rival India seeks to "create an anti-Pakistain Afghanistan" as part of a bid to dominate South Asia politically and economically.

Musharraf said Afghanistan sends its intelligence staff, diplomats and soldiers to Pakistain where they are "indoctrinated against Pakistain," something he said India must stop and the United States should be concerned about.

"In Afghanistan, there is some kind of a proxy conflict going on between Pakistain and India," Musharraf told a leadership forum sponsored by the Atlantic media corporation.

"India is trying to create an anti-Pakistain Afghanistan." It's ambition, he said, is to "have a weak Pakistain so that it can be dominated, so that it doesn't have any confrontationist attitude which doesn't go well with India's vision of dominating the region."

Musharraf said he understood that India does not seek to take over Pakistain militarily, but rather it wants to dominate Pakistain in the area of foreign policy, economic policy, trade and commerce.

"That is how you suppress, you control or dominate another country,"according to the former army chief who seized power in a 1999 bloodless coup and resigned as president in 2008.
Posted by: Fred || 10/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  NOT-CLAUDIUS "I, PERV" ...

versus

* LUCIANNE > AFGHANISTAN'S NORTHERN ALLIANCE GIRDS FOR WAR [agz Taliban] IFF US PULLS OUT.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/07/2011 0:53 Comments || Top||

#2  We need to fully back India to pacify the most troublesome country in the world.
Posted by: Boyo || 10/07/2011 3:07 Comments || Top||

#3  So does the West!
Posted by: Paul D || 10/07/2011 13:40 Comments || Top||

#4  DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > TALIBAN CAN'T MOVE A FINGER WIDOUT PAKISTAN: KARZAI [Aghan President].

and

* SAME > INDIA USING AFGHAN SOIL FOR ATTACKS IN BALOCHISTAN: IG FRONTIER CORPS [PAK MGEN Obaidallah Khattak]. NATO + ISAF forces urged to control + restrain Afghan-based Militants.

versus

* SAME > US CONFIRMS ATTACKS [border fire incidents = fired upon by] PAKISTANI MILITARY UNITS.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/07/2011 21:09 Comments || Top||


Pakistan must be mindful of US interests: B.O.
[Dawn] US President Barack B.O. Obama said on Thursday the United States would not be comfortable in a long-term strategic relationship with Pakistain if it felt that Islamabad was not mindful of US interests.

Obama told a news conference the United States remained committed to helping Pakistain confront its own problems despite concern over ties between some elements of the Pakistain intelligence services with jihad boy groups.

"But there's no doubt that we're not going to feel comfortable with a long-term strategic relationship with Pakistain if we don't think that they're mindful of our interests as well," Obama said.
Posted by: Fred || 10/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  UNCOMFORTABLE LT RELATIONSHIPS ...

versus

* TOPIX > ABDULMUTALLAB: MUJAHIDEEN WILL WIPE OUT US CANCER, on Islam + World.

You can just feel the "Peace in Our Time", can't ye?

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > PRESS TV: US IN A REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD, according to Edward Spannous.

ARTIC > SPANNOUS = US is destructively controlled + run by pro-Big Govt, "Spend Spend Spend for the sake of Spending" happy Oligarchy, Economy is a disaster, + national employment is actually closer to 30% [and getting worse?] despite Govt-Media Rhetoric to the contrary.

versus

* TOPIX/WORLD NEWS > ROMNEY ADMIN TO ASSERT US MILITARY, DIPLOMATIC POWER GLOBALLY.

* SAME > ROMNEY: REBUILD DEFENSE, ADD 100,000 TROOPS.

* IIRC SAME > IS THE "OCCUPY WALL STREET" GROUP/PROTESTERS THE TEA PARTY OF THE LEFT?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/07/2011 0:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Why should they be "mindful of US interests", when POTUS & Co aren't?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/07/2011 3:57 Comments || Top||

#3  CHINA DAILY FORUM > GERMAN GENERAL SAYS NATO MISSION [in Afghanistan] HAS FAILED, to stabilize the Country + region.

Ex-Bundeswehr IG Harald Kujat.

* Also from SAME > RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY COMPLAINS ABOUT US WARSHIPS. Basing of BMD-capable = Super-AEGIS USN warships to Rota, Spain, as Moscow did NOT approve of the move + believes said same gives the US-NATO BMD unfair advantages.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/07/2011 21:44 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Abbas Urges Europe to Back 'Palestinian Spring'
[An Nahar] Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...
called on Europe on Wednesday to back the "Paleostinian Spring" by supporting his government's bid to win a place at the United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
"Today we are at the heart of the Arab Spring: we say that the hour of the Paleostinian Spring has struck," he said in a speech to the parliamentary assembly of the 47-nation Council of Europe.

"You supported the Arab Spring which was seeking democracy and freedom," he said.

"Now the Paleostinian Spring has arrived, asking for freedom and an end to the (Israeli) occupation.

"We deserve your support."

Abbas hailed the assembly's decision Tuesday to grant "Partner for Democracy Status" to the Paleostinian National Council, the legislative arm of the Paleostine Liberation Organization (PLO).

The status will enable the PNC to participate in the Europe assembly's proceedings, without voting rights.

In return the parliamentary assembly will monitor Paleostinian moves in several areas, including "refraining from violence, rejecting terrorism (and) recognizing the right of Israel to exist."

Abbas last month made an application to the United Nations seeking full membership status, a move the United States has vowed to block.

Abbas said that "by submitting this request, we are not seeking to isolate Israel or delegitimize it."

"Though there were many attempts at provocation by the Israeli side, we will not let them drive us to extremism, we will not go that way."

The Paleostinian leader again stressed that a halt to Israeli settlement activity was essential for resuming the grinding of the peace processor, and slammed demands by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government for Israel to be recognized as the state of the Jewish people.

"What makes things more complicated is the fact that the Netanyahu government is insisting on laying down new and impossible conditions which have no basis in the terms of reference for peace or the resolutions adopted under international law," he said.

"The demand that the Paleostinians recognize Israel as a 'Jewish' state is an unacceptable precondition, because there is a danger that it will turn the conflict raging in our region into a destructive religious conflict," he warned.

"Faced with the increasing suffering of our people under the occupation" and stalemate in negotiations with Israel, "our only alternative has been to turn to the international community and call on it to take action to open up new horizons for the grinding of the peace processor, through recognition of the state of Paleostine, on the basis of the 4 June 1967 borders, and accept its accession as a full member of the United Nations," he said.

Separately, Abbas told parliamentarians that his Paleostinian Authority continued to support the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, seized by Gazoo gunnies in June 2006, in exchange for the freeing of Paleostinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

"Now there are efforts to have a package deal between Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, and Israel led by Egypt such as Shalit would be released in return for a number of Paleostinian prisoners," he said. "We support such an agreement."

Posted by: Fred || 10/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority

#1  It's a spring when your people sack you and Hamas, Mr. Abbas
Posted by: European Conservative || 10/07/2011 2:13 Comments || Top||

#2 
Europe, things to do.
1. Support 'Palestinian Spring'.
2. Capture Qadaffy.
3. Bail out Greece.
4. Bail out the next.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/07/2011 3:51 Comments || Top||

#3  OK so we head towards an independent Gaza/West Bank state. It will be Europe’s little childish pet project.
Everyone knows that like begets like.

The Arab state will be akin to the retard baby demanding round the clock attention through tantrum pulling. It's their game, it's how they do things. I am definitely against it.

Play with fire, get burned.
Lie with wolves, get bitten.
Posted by: Kojack || 10/07/2011 5:42 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
MILF make first move to revive talks
Posted by: ryuge || 10/07/2011 10:42 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Who read the headline and managed not to giggle?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 10/07/2011 12:26 Comments || Top||

#2  No Mary Louise Parker?
Posted by: john frum || 10/07/2011 17:38 Comments || Top||

#3  Maybe the PR geniuses that came up with Win The Future for the Obamanation could help the MILFs think up a new name. Hey, howsabout Southern Philippines Extremist Warriors?
Posted by: SteveS || 10/07/2011 18:15 Comments || Top||

#4  I like it when the MILF makes the first move...
Posted by: tu3031 || 10/07/2011 18:16 Comments || Top||

#5  I like it when the MILF makes the first move... and some sort of revival happens.....
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 10/07/2011 20:12 Comments || Top||


Thai marines head south
Posted by: || 10/07/2011 09:05 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
March 8 Forces Stand Firm over STL, Refuse 'Targeting' Resistance
[An Nahar] The cabinet avoided on Wednesday discussing the funding of the Special Tribunal for Leb probing the liquidation of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri that is facing controversy over the March 8 forces
... the opposition to the Mar. 14th movement, consisting of Hizbullah and its allies, so-called in commemoration of their Mar. 8th, 2006 demonstration of strength in Beirut ...
' rejection to pay Leb's fees to the STL unless the is amended.

"Nothing has changed, and the funding will not be approved," sources close to the March 8 forces told al-Liwaa newspaper on Thursday.

The sources stressed that the tribunal "will not be an excuse for the Israelis and Americans to target Leb and its resistance... We will not bargain on this."

A western diplomatic source noted to al-Mustaqbal
... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri...
news channel that Prime Minister Najib Miqati asked U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Edward Livingstone ...
during their meeting in New York to urge the U.N. to submit a written request to the Lebanese government to confirm Leb's commitment to the international resolutions.

The source added that the request was to convince Miqati's allies with the importance of committing to the STL and not to confront the international community.

A ministerial source told al-Liwaa that a suggested way out could be through issuing a decree that approves paying Leb's $33 million dues, signed by President Michel Suleiman, the PM, Finance Minister Mohammed al-Safadi and caretaking Justice Minister Walid al-Daouq, since Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi committed himself to the Free Patriotic Movement
Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic...
decision not to approve the funding.

Al-Akhbar newspaper reported that Leb received on Wednesday a formal request from the United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
to pay Leb's share in the STL.

The STL had released arrest warrants against four Hizbullah members, accusing them of being involved in Hariri's Feb. 2005 murder.

The party has announced that it will not cooperate with the tribunal, describing it as an American-Israeli product aimed at destroying it.

A dispute recently rose in Leb on whether the March 8-dominant government would commit to funding the tribunal.

However,
nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits...
Suleiman and Miqati had committed themselves to the funding of the STL during their visit to New York.

Posted by: Fred || 10/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Syrian Salafists Holding 'Secret' Talks with Christian Officials in Lebanon
[An Nahar] Syrian Salafist
...Salafists espouse an austere form of Sunni Islam that seeks a return to practices that were common in the 7th century. Rather than doing that themselves and letting other people alone they insist everybody do as they say and they try to kill everybody who doesn't...
s, who have beat feet their country, are holding "secret" talks with Lebanese Christian officials to explain to them about their vision on a "civil, democratic and plural" state in Syria if President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators. Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...
's regime collapses, informed sources said.

The sources told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat published Thursday that the Salafists have so far held five meetings with Christian parties and Sunni leaderships.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has expressed fear that the rise of the Moslem Brüderbund to power in Syria would threaten the existence of Christians in the region. He has called for allowing Assad to introduce the reforms that he has promised.

The newspaper said that Lebanese Christian politicians have helped the Salafists hold meetings with U.S. and European officials to push them towards taking a decisive stance from the Assad regime.

The Salafists stressed that their vision for a new rule in Syria is not based on extremism. On the contrary, they are hoping that the collapse of Assad would bring a new era of democracy and voting.

The informed source refused to say if the meetings are taking place with representatives of the Phalange Party
The Kataeb (Phalange) party was founded by Pierre Gemayel in 1936, who modeled the party after Spanish and Italian Fascist parties he had observed as an Olympic athlete during the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, then Nazi Germany. The movement's uniforms originally included brown shirts and members used the Nazi salute. Despite the party's uniform, its strong sense of nationalism and dedication to a single charismatic leader, the Lebanese Kataeb was not and never became a fascist party nor did it espouse a totalitarian ideology.
or any other side, only saying: "Mohammedans and Christians are cooperating to make these meetings successful."

The Salafi sect believes most modern Mohammedans follow a corrupted version of Islam that should be abandoned in favor of the practices of the first three generations of Mohammedans, the Salaf.

Posted by: Fred || 10/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  I take it, when Nasrallah Sfeir retired, we traded down?
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 10/07/2011 11:52 Comments || Top||

#2  US SecState HILLARY says that Russia + China should publicly explain their UN Veto vote to the Syrian mainstream, espec as mass street protests are repor starting to break out in Syria denouncing their actions.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/07/2011 21:53 Comments || Top||


Miqati Pledges Lebanese Commitment to Protecting 'Syrian Refugees'
[An Nahar] Leb is committed to providing shelter to Syrians fleeing the unrest in their country, Prime Minister Najib Miqati said on Thursday, responding to concerns expressed by Washington.

"My approach to these refugees coming to Leb is purely humanitarian," Miqati told Agence La Belle France Presse, estimating their number at 5,000.

"We are assisting these people ... providing them with medical assistance, schooling and shelter."

Earlier this week, the U.S. ambassador to Leb Maura Connelly urged Lebanese authorities to protect members of Syria's opposition living in the cohuntry; following reports some were being hunted down and sent back to Syria.

There are also defecting Syrian soldiers crossing the border into Leb.

Asked whether his position on providing shelter to Syrian refugees extended to members of the opposition or defecting soldiers, Miqati would only say that Leb was committed to helping "Syrian citizens."

He told AFP that he had no case before him of anyone incarcerated or sent back to Syria and insisted that Leb's position on the issue was purely humanitarian.

Responding to reports of cross-border incursions by Syrian troops into Lebanese territory, Miqati said a joint Syrian-Lebanese committee was closely following the matter.

"I am not being silent about this, we are dealing with the issue normally," he said, noting the permeability of the border.

"I don't want to blow these incidents out of proportion and I don't want to belittle them either," Miqati stressed.

He also refused to be drawn on his government's position on developments in Syria, saying his goal was to ensure the crisis did not spill over into Leb, where Damascus
...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti...
has traditionally exerted much influence.

"As far as Syria is concerned, we have always said we are trying to isolate ourselves as much as possible from what is going on," said Miqati, whose four-months-old government is dominated Hizbullah and its allies, which support the Syrian regime.

"I cannot do anything today but protect Leb's national unity," the PM noted.

Miqati acknowledged, however, that the seven-month revolt threatening the regime of Bashir al-Assad was having economic repercussions on Leb.

"Exports from Leb to Syria are shrinking and this will affect the Lebanese economy," he said.

Posted by: Fred || 10/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Williams: Threats Made Against U.N. Targets in Lebanon
[An Nahar] Threats have been made against UN targets in Leb in recent weeks, the world body's outgoing envoy to the country said Thursday.

"There were some credible reports that were shared with us, the U.N., by the Lebanese army itself of potential threats" in past weeks, Michael Williams told a presser at United Nations
...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly...
headquarters.

A French U.N. patrol was attacked on July 26 and Italian peacekeepers were targeted on May 27, and Williams stressed that no one has yet been jugged for the attacks.

"The perpetrators of the attacks are still present in Leb and may still have the intent to carry out further attacks against (U.N. mission) UNIFIL or against other U.N. targets," added Williams, who has been U.N. special coordinator for Leb since 2008.

Lebanese authorities have tightened security around the Beirut headquarters of the U.N. economic and social council for West Asia because of the heightened risk of an attack, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said this week.

Williams said the agency would be leaving the building because of its glass facade and added the U.N. had carried out a global review of security since a kaboom on its Nigeria headquarters in August in which 23 people died.

"There are risks as everybody knows," said Williams, who will now take up a seat in the House of Lords, Britannia's upper house.

"There is an abundance of weaponry in Leb," he said. "There has been a history over the years, tragically, of terrorist attacks."

Posted by: Fred || 10/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  Red on red.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/07/2011 3:52 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2011-10-07
  Doctor Who Helped U.S. Find Osama Bin Laden May Hang
Thu 2011-10-06
  Shelling Resumes in Sana'a
Wed 2011-10-05
  Afghanistan foils plot to kill Karzai
Tue 2011-10-04
  Bomb kills at least 65 in Mogadishu
Mon 2011-10-03
  Syrian Opposition Forms United Common Front
Sun 2011-10-02
  Syrian troops battle hundreds of renegade soldiers
Sat 2011-10-01
  Underwear-bomb maker also believed dead in Yemen strike
Fri 2011-09-30
  Anwar al-Awlaki killed in Yemen
Thu 2011-09-29
  US ambassador Robert Ford pelted with tomatoes by Syrian brownshirts
Wed 2011-09-28
  NTC Fighters Capture Sirte's Port
Tue 2011-09-27
  1 injured, 2 missing as Egypt pumps sewage into Gaza tunnel
Mon 2011-09-26
  Missile targets Afghan president palace
Sun 2011-09-25
  French Envoy Targeted with Eggs, Stones in Damascus
Sat 2011-09-24
  Paleostinians ask UN for statehood
Fri 2011-09-23
  President of Yemen returns home


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