[VOA News] As Libya slides deeper into political and military chaos, uncertainty reigns and analysts say it's difficult to anticipate how things will unfold.
Some say Libya needs regional or broader foreign involvement; others say that would only aggravate the situation.
In mid-August, Libya's ambassador to Egypt, Mohammed Jibril, called for international intervention, saying "Libya is unable to protect its institutions, its airports and oil fields."
Last week, the country's ambassador to the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... , Ibrahim Dabbashi, asked the U.N. Security Council to disarm the warring factions. But the council decided against sending a U.N. peacekeeping force to Libya.
Two military coalitions are competing for governmental control. Their power struggles have almost paralyzed the country, leaving it with two de facto parliaments and two prime ministers.
One coalition, Libya Dawn ...aka Fajr Libya, the Islamist operation launched to counter that of General Khalifa Haftar (Operation Dignity). It is made up of the Libya Shield militia (Misrata and Moslem Brotherhood), Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room (Moslem Brotherhood), and Tripoli Brigade (close to Abdul Hakim Belhaj, head of Al-Watan party). Financing and moral support come from Turkey and Qatar... , represents Islamist groups including the hardline Ansar al-Sharia ...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Libyaand Yemen, with the Libyan versions currently most active. Tunisia's Shabaab al-Tawhid started out an Ansar al-Sharia and changed its name in early 2014. It still uses the old name now and then, probably because the stationery's not all used up and the web site hasn't expired yet... h and militias from the coastal city of Misrata. The other coalition includes supporters of former dictator Muammar Qadaffy ... who had more funny outfits than Louis XIV... , ousted in 2011. It's led by retired General Khalifa Haftar ... served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all... , an anti-Islamist. Who also wasn't a Qadaffy supporter, at least not recently.
Retired General Sameh Seif Alyazal, director of Cairo's Algomhuria Center for Strategic Studies, said it's "very difficult, if not impossible now, to disarm more than 1,600 militias and gangs in Libya with millions of pieces of weapon and a variety of heavy weapons and missiles."
Seif Alyazal welcomed the Security Council's resolution to impose sanctions on militias and their political supporters who are fueling Libya's escalating war.
Egypt's former ambassador to Libya, Hany Khallaf, said stabilizing Libya will demand more international cooperation.
"Political and security arrangements are urgently required in Libya and it would take serious efforts from neighboring Arab countries, European and international efforts to be achieved," Khallaf said.
Egypt is committed to helping "the legitimate Libyan government in Tobruk" restore stability and extend its authority, according to Seif Alyazal. He said the two countries' chiefs of staff met to discuss military cooperation, and Egypt offered to train Libyan police and army units, while monitoring the borders to prevent turbans or weapons from crossing.
But Khallaf downplayed any significant role in Libyan politics for Egypt and its Gulf allies.
"Libyan Islamists reject any role by Egypt, Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... or the United Arab Emirates for a settlement in Libya, due to their anti-Islamist positions," he said.
A recent report in the military journal Jane's Intelligence Review said the escalated fighting could yield one of several different scenarios. They include Islamist forces that "gradually expand their control over the country, leading to a high probability of Algerian or Egyptian intervention." Another possibility, Jane's said is that the government could consolidate its control of oil revenues and contain the Islamists in the east.
But if Islamists "succeed in isolating the Tobruk government and secure control of energy revenues," Jane's said, it could divide the more hardline factions and the Moslem Brotherhood, leading to "greater direct foreign military intervention from Algeria and Egypt to secure their respective borders."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
I predict Libya will go from bad to worse. You read it here first.
#8
In reference to Iraq, General Colin Powell used language from one of Tom Friedman's columns in referring to the "Pottery Barn rule" of foreign policy.
That is: "you break it, you own it."
With respect to not only Iraq, but much of the middle east, he certainly appears to be correct.
#9
By the way, the Pottery Barn, at the time, replied that they don't, in fact, have a "you break it, you own it" policy. In any case, people make an incorrect assumption when they claim Libya under Qaddafi and Iraq under Saddam weren't broken. Wars against neighbors (1 million killed in Iran-Iraq War alone), support of global terrorism, liquidation of political opponents, no freedom of speech, assembly, etc. -- yeah, I'd say they were broken before any outside intervention.
[Jihad Watch] Secretary-General of King Abdul Aziz Center for National Dialogue (KACND) Faisal Muammar has said that linking Islam to the events of Sept. 11, 2001 by some Western politicians and media was unfair and obviously aimed at projecting Muslims as terrorists and extremists.
"The goal of these critics was to fight Islam, not terrorism and this made them (terrorists) gain more supporters and sympathizers globally instead" he noted.
Muammar made his remarks recently while receiving US advisers and aides of the Congress members at KACND headquarters in Riyadh. Aides and Congress members nodded dutifully in agreement and stayed on for tea, sweet meats, and scimitar belly dancing.
He said those indulging in terrorism and extremism use the name of religion in conflicts with others, in many parts of the world, especially in the Middle East. "Those terrorists are not related to religion, they simply make use of religion to gain supporters and sympathizers and portray their actions as service to the religion," he said. But the Champ has explained that Islam is not about terrorism. Surely everyone understands this by now.
#1
'It would surely be helpful if you people would stop distracting everyone by bringing up easily observed facts.'
Post-modernist political correctness is, at root, a war against noticing things.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
09/08/2014 7:42 Comments ||
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#2
linking Islam to the events of Sept. 11, 2001 by some Western politicians and media was unfair and obviously aimed at projecting Muslims as terrorists and extremists.
So, all of a sudden the Islamics have become the victims in 911? Go commit some unnatural or unspeakable act on yourselves.
#4
One step away from the "Its Bush's fault" excuse.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/08/2014 10:42 Comments ||
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#5
Ya know, 49 Pan, despite having voted for him twice it this IS in some ways Bush's fault.
He was oh so sympathetic to the RoP and it was all about a war on terror NOT a war on Islam or Muslims. This PC don't blame the "victim" even if the "victims" were the aggressors was what GW kept pushing. Don't forget to go shopping.
#6
Our nation as a whole cant seem to get its heard around the very simple fact that this is a religious war, for them at least. I don't really lay the blame on Bush. We knew it was coming early during the Clinton years. He missed Bin Laden twice when he had the chance. He knew what was going on in the Sudan and Mogadishu, he sent one or two cruise missiles and then allowed Oct 3rd to happen.
But then on a Friday the 13th a few hundred years ago the Catholic church decided PC was more important than ridding the world of the Islamic vermin.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/08/2014 13:10 Comments ||
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#7
He was oh so sympathetic to the RoP and it was all about a war on terror NOT a war on Islam or Muslims.
Do a little history-hunting, say ethnic Germans in the US in WWI or ethnic Japanese in the US in WWII.
#8
#3 When non-Muslims nuke the ummah till they glow
In self-lighting Mecca, the Moors
May scream the Koran out of doors
On a drear, moonless night
By the eerie green light
As they flee from the wee mutant boars.
#10
Muslims of course could of helped solve this perception by turning in the bad Muslims instead of cheering in the streets and funding them through faux charities.
#11
Pappy, ethnic Germans circa WWI? You mean like my Grandparents?
You can only make exceptions if you can define the general case. For WWI & WWII Germans were the general case from which one defined my parents and grand-parents, and others, as exceptions.
Today Muslims are the general case. Terror is a tactic not a foe. Bush needed to state the general case and then allow for exceptions.If you want to make exceptions, define the criteria. My grand-parents had a liberty garden and made Liberty Cabbage. They also imported/bred Alsatians rather than German Shepards (a distinction without a difference). They sent their sons off to war in WWII.
What behaviors can help discriminate the actively evil Muslims and the cheer leaders and silent supporters from the Muslims that don't agree that all infidels should bow to the dominion of Islam?
As best I can tell there's nothing in the Koran that allows for such a thing if you are a "true" Muslim.
#12
I believe Bush was trying to divide and conquer because nobody believed the entire Muslim world was as bad as we now know they are. They follow the strong horse and we have shown to be a confused weak horse the last few years.
Having siad that I always though Osama Bin Laden's taking credit for the attacks on behalf of Islma had a bit to do with linking Islam to 9/11. I mean Palestinians were passing out candy long before any western pols and media said jack.
#13
Actually Michelle Malkin's book "In Defense of Internment" laid out the rationale behind the decision to intern the Japanese.
I think they went a bit too far back then but then there was panic in the streets - particularly along the west coast.
Did it help defer attacks. Possibly. I think it's much like the 'Y2K' crisis. People cite that nothing happened in 2000 and Y2K was overblown. But did nothing happen because there was no crisis or because the problem sucessfully averted?
Still - Sending an entire ethinc group to camps was going too far.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/08/2014 15:51 Comments ||
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#15
Radical Islam was going to spread regardless of whatever Clinton or Bush did. You can't kill an ideology with tactical decisions. Radical Islam grew when we largely ignored it and it grew when we tried to combat it. (Naturally, I read Rantburg because I believe combating it will work a lot better than the ostrich approach; it's just that combating it won't look like it's working in the short run, either.) There are too many factors aiding the rise of radical Islam to mention them all, but prominent is oil money funding madrasses after the oil price booms of the 70s and early 80s, demographics (too many unemployed young males), and general anti-West sentiment cultivated by Marxists, nationalists, and religious zealots alike. It's not Clinton's fault because this global phenomenon would have still happened without Bin Laden or 9/11. It's not Bush's fault because revolution was bound to break out in various Middle Eastern countries (over 100,000 had already dies in Algeria's previous encounter with fundamentalism). Hopefully, it will burn out as most revolutions do eventually. But think of how many died in Europe during the 30 Years War between Catholic and Protestant armies. This is going to get uglier before it gets better.
#16
Well said Ody. With regard to the Japanese internment issue. I'm a bit reluctant to second guess wartime decisions made by our parents and grandparents. As I recall, collectively, those decisions resulted in victory in a fraction of the time we've been wrestling with the current threat.
#17
Thanks, Besoeker. I definitely think the Japanese internment decision was wrong, though I agree with you in general about usually not second-guessing prior decisions made under great stress. One thing that bothers me about current discussions in the US on this subject is that (in school course and museum exhibits) the action is presented in a vacuum with no mention at all of how the Japanese treated non-Japanese during the war. Their atrocities make our actions seem quite modest by comparison.
#18
I'm a bit reluctant to second guess wartime decisions made by our parents and grandparents.
Sooooo... does that mean we won't be hearing about Boer War history, or "Perfidious Albion" any more?
In all seriousness, I agree with Odysseus. It will get uglier, because American history proves the "necessary option" will not take place until every other option has been used.
#19
That's true Ody. Even back in the 60's and 70's I never heard about the rape an Nanking or the sack of Manila, the 'comfort women', and the rest from public school.
But I've heard plenty about how evil we were to drop the bomb and intern the Japanese.
Never mentioned was the killing fields of Cambodia. But plenty of coverage of what we did in Vietnam.
Lets also not forget that often 'Islam' is treated as a race and not a religion and any criticism or negative comments about Islam is labeled as RACIST! (It is not a race - it is a choice).
The only real coverage of Vietnam was by my Computer Science Teacher, Mr. Pietras, who, during one class hour, showed slides taken from his service over there and gave a little narrative. To me it was way different than what I've seen on TV and the news. I still remember that.
#20
Planning to attack + destroy the WTC even as it was being contructed, then doing it on 9-11 + killing 3000 people, as opposed to just halting construction + financing, etc. kinda sorta whoa throws a big monkeywrench into Mainstream + Govt. perceptions.
The Chinese town of Fangchuan at the mouth of the Duman (or Tumen) River that runs through the border with North Korea overlooks both the North's Rajin-Sonbong region and the Russian town of Khasan. The geography has made the North Korean economic zone a hotly contested piece of land between Beijing and Moscow.
North Korea shocked China in 2008 by signing a contract with Russia loaning out a port in Rajin-Sonbong for 50 years, recalls Lee Jong-lim at Yanbian University. "That incident prompted China to take a more aggressive approach in developing the Tumen River region."
In 2009, China produced a blueprint for development of the Changchun, Jilin and Tumen regions along the border with North Korea. "This plan shows that China was not going to wait for multilateral cooperation with South Korea and Russia but take the lead in investing in the region to gain an advantage."
South Korea correctly worried that China was trying to turn North Korea into a northeastern province.
In 2010, China gained the right to use three ports in the Rajin-Sonbong region and in 2011 it built a freeway linking Hunchun and Rajin port. Beijing also agreed with Pyongyang to build a bridge connecting Hunchun and the North across the Tumen River. Construction of the bridge is reportedly still underway.
Not to be outdone, Russia has decided to include the Tumen River region in a $23 billion plan to develop its far eastern provinces. And in September last year, Russia repaired an old railway linking Khasan and Rajin-Sonbong.
Sung Ki-young at the Korea Institute for National Unification said, "North Korea bolstered economic ties with China after sanctions imposed by Seoul, but then cooperation with China came to a standstill" following the execution of former eminence grise Jang Song-taek, "so Pyongyang stepped up cooperation with Moscow."
North Korea is trying to trigger competition between the two big powers. Sung said South Korea too should look into ways of taking part in Tumen River development projects, not only for economic reasons but for political ones as well.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/08/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Don't forget Moscow's new rapprochement wid MONGOLIA, which has also irked China.
OTOH, in the long-run it will come down to China still being able to expand its share of the NOKOR economy, hence to dominate or control NOKOR.
I again remind that China is unlikely to allow any NOKOR-SOKOR reunification to take place unless it formally + permanently gets back Taiwan.
China wants overseas "sole" PLA Milbases - iff it doesn't get them diplomatically peacefully it will get them forcibly. ITS GREATEST SINGLE ADVANTAGE OVER THE MILTECH-SUPERIOR OR DOMINANT USA LIES IN THE LATTER HAVING A OWG GLOBALIST SUCH AS POTUS OBAMA IN THE WHITE HOUSE.
Globalist Obama is #1 at the top of the National Command Authority [NCA], hence is the Political Personage-Leader most responsible for America's direct military response agz any Threat, or for Amerika's lack of same.
#2
South Korea correctly worried that China was trying to turn North Korea into a northeastern province.
Given it once was and given the contemporary Chinese pop culture to recover 'historical' influence, it's a good bet. That leaves Seoul a choice between having the Norks or the Chinese (several hundred miles further south than desired) as neighbors. The latter they'd end up with one way or another. The real question is what is better for the people in 'North Korea' (aka Goguryeo, vassal state to the Heavenly Kingdom).
There are increasing signs that the immediate family of North Korean leader Fat Boy Kim Jong-un are consolidating their positions in the regime, amid hints that his sister Yeo-jong has been promoted to a senior post.
Of course. This is what dynasties do...
The official [North] Korean Central News Agency on Thursday reported that Pudgy Kim Jong-un, his wife Ri Sol-ju and Kim Yeo-jong, watched a performance in Pyongyang on Wednesday. In the status-conscious official media, the order of names speaks volumes, and KCNA named Yeo-jong ahead of Ri Jae-il, a senior official in charge of propaganda at the Workers Party. Previously she was named after Ri Jae-il.
That suggests Kim Yeo-jong, who has reportedly been in charge of an agency known as Room 38 under the Workers Party which manages the regime's coffers and businesses that earn foreign currency, has been promoted.
"Even Suet Face Kim Jong-un was named after Army Chief Ri Yong-ho until he was designated successor to the throne," a source recalls. The source added that it is therefore highly likely the shift in the order of names signifies a promotion.
The fact that Ri Sol-ju was referred to as "comrade" rather than Kim's wife suggests that she also now holds an official position in the Workers Party.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/08/2014 00:00 ||
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[BREITBART] Residents of the German city of Wuppertal have expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... after a group of young radical Islamists started taking to the streets late at night, trying to deter revellers from drinking and gambling.
The self-styled "Sharia Police" have been patrolling an area around the city's main train station, declaring the popular nightlife area to be a "Sharia Controlled Zone". Deutshe Welle reports that witnesses have seen them handing out leaflets urging people not to drink alcohol, attend concerts, gamble, watch pornography or visit hookers.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
As per DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS, a DANISH mosque has given its support or allegiance to the ISIS.
Taken collectively, IMO ISIS-led isolation or containment + ultimately destabilization of [Nuke-armed] Russia, China, + India cannot be discounted, at least ala the Euro side.
#2
Generally no more than a small number of disgruntled misfits from the last war who enjoy political slogans and singing, the wearing of distinctive clothing and carrying banners, flags and the like. Likely nothing to come of it.
[CenterForSecurityPolicy] Mohamed Elibiary, an Islamist with extensive ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and a record of influence operations in the service of its agenda, has announced his departure after five years on the Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council.
We can only hope that " at a moment when the danger posed by shariah-adherent Muslims is becoming more palpable by the day "the Department decided to stop legitimating an advisor who has publicly championed that it was, “ inevitable that "Caliphate's return", contended that the United States is “an Islamic country with an Islamically compliant constitution.”
Posted by: Bov Flimbers ||
09/08/2014 01:38 ||
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#1
Resigns three days before anniversary of 9/11. If nothing else, interesting timing.
[Daniel Pipes] Aug. 29, 2014 update: Nidal Hasan released through his lawyer to Fox News Channel a handwritten, undated, two-page letter addressed to "Ameer, Mujahid Dr. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi," also known as Caliph Ibrahim, stating:
I formally and humbly request to be made a citizen of the Islamic State. It would be an honor for any believer to be an obedient citizen soldier to a people and its leader who don't compromise the religion of All-Mighty Allah to get along with the disbelievers. Once a soldier of Allen, always a soldier of Allen.
(The Islamic State is also known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.) Hasan signed off with his name and the old SoA abbreviation, meaning "Soldier of Allah." Too much 'work place violence' at the Disciplinary Barracks. He just wants to move on, put it all behind him.
[DAWN] Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems... on Sunday said that Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch was elected through rigging and bogus votes.
The PTI chief made the claim while speaking to PTI supporters in Islamabad's D Chowk.
He said that 600 votes of the opposing candidate to Dr Abdul Malik Baloch disappeared, and that the returning officer was changed in the poll to ensure Baloch won the election.
The PTI chief said during his speech that if a proper investigation was conducted on rigging in the election, the first culprit would be Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... , the second former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, while the third culprit would be Najam Sethi, the caretaker Punjab CM during the election.
He also claimed that former prime minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali won the NA 266 seat through vote rigging and that 24,000 bogus votes were among his tally.
Imran Khan also said that the country's rulers were liars who were shifting the cancellation of the Chinese president's visit on him.
He said by allegedly offering him a position as deputy prime minister they put a small price on him.
"I am not the deputy prime minister, but God has given me some dignity...If I wanted power then I would have been a weak opponent of the government," said Imran Khan.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2014 01:14 ||
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[DAWN] AL QAEDA chief Ayman al-Zawahiri ... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is... 's declaration that the global terrorist group has established its subcontinental branch is the realisation of the Islamist Death Eaters' long-standing dream. On the other hand, the formation of Al Qaeda in South Asia is also reflective of other developments taking place among Death Eater circles, particularly with regard to ongoing internal rifts and confrontations.
Islamist Death Eater organizations across the world are undergoing a transformation, which can cause changes in their chemistry and lead to the emergence of a new Death Eater character. Militants in Pakistain and Afghanistan are also passing through a similar phase, leading to new formations among them.
At present, Al Qaeda faces some critical challenges to its survival. The Islamic State (IS), previously the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), has exposed Al Qaeda's political and operational vulnerabilities which may hurt the latter's ideological appeal to its affiliates. The IS has come up with a new approach and model for building an Islamic state. The central and other chapters of Al Qaeda have not been able thus far to capture and hold a territory for the same purpose.
Their previous attempts at gaining territorial control only achieved partial and short-lived success as in 2011 and 2012 when Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and a coalition of North African turbans succeeded in capturing some territories for a short time.
The Al Qaeda strategy to support local Death Eater organizations for bringing about change has failed and in some cases proved counterproductive. Al Qaeda-affiliated local Death Eater groups are only able to create some turmoil in their respective regions. Even if a local group succeeds in capturing territory it finds it difficult to hold on to it. Also, it is relatively easy for counterfaceless myrmidons to challenge a local, isolated group both operationally and ideologically.
However, a lie repeated often enough remains a lie... the IS is inviting Al Qaeda affiliates to become part of a central command which can help them consolidate their gains in their respective regions.
Of course, this will make it more difficult for counterfaceless myrmidons to tackle murderous Moslems using conventional frameworks. For instance, if murderous Moslems launch a massive campaign on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistain border, it will become very difficult for the security forces of the two countries to counter them without evolving joint operational strategies. The emergence of the IS in the Syrian and Iraqi border regions can provide some insights.
It is clear that the IS call for allegiance is addressed to all Moslems and holds attraction and appeal for Islamist turbans and radical individuals and groups. It appears as if Al Qaeda is trying to respond by using its contacts and links with its affiliates and with groups inspired by its ideology. At the same time, it is trying to reach out to those regions and conflict zones where it can extend its influence by appealing to the 'oppressed' Moslem communities. South Asia, a region that is inhabited by 40pc of the global Moslem population, has attraction for both Al Qaeda and the IS.
Al Qaeda sees an opportunity in India-held Kashmire, where a separatist, religio-nationalist movement has been crushed and the religio-nationalist jihadist appeal of Death Eater groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... , Hizbul Mujahideen, and Jaish-e-Mohammad ...literally Army of Mohammad, a Pak-based Deobandi terror group founded by Maulana Masood Azhar in 2000, after he split with the Harkat-ul-Mujaheddin. In 2002 the government of Pervez Musharraf banned the group, which changed its name to Khaddam ul-Islam and continued doing what it had been doing before without missing a beat... has lost its lustre. Al Qaeda is calling radical elements towards 'pure' jihad, which it believes cannot be confined within the boundaries of nationalism or of a state.
The IS, too, is emerging as an inspirational force for radical Moslem populations in India and India-held Kashmire. Though it remains to be seen what impact these two global jihadist groups have there, they will certainly add to the troubles of Moslem communities.
Interestingly, Zawahiri has renewed his pledge of allegiance to Mullah Omar ... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality... which indicates that Al Qaeda has challenged the caliphate of His Supreme Immensity, Caliph of the Faithful and Galactic Overlord, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ...formerly merely the head of ISIL and a veteran of the Bagram jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us... . It indicates that Al Qaeda will firmly stand beside its old allies, which will not only increase the operational strength of the Afghan Taliban but also prevent the latter's erosion due to the IS effect.
The Jamaatul Ahrar ...a splinter group of the Pak Taliban led by Maulana Qasim Khurasani. The group has pledged allegiance to Mullah Omar and has agreed to follow his ideology, such as it is. It's probably the latest incarnation of the splinter group Ahrarul Hind since Khurasani used to head that group... , newly established by some breakaway factions of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain, is ideologically and politically more ambitious than the TTP and largely inspired by the successes of the IS. Even if it completely breaks its links with the TTP and Al Qaeda, the JA will remain ideologically and politically strong. As far as operational capabilities are concerned, the new group has a strong nexus with sectarian terrorist networks and factions of the Punjabi Taliban and the various Jundallah groups in mainland Pakistain.
The phenomenon of Jundallah is important in this perspective. Many groups are operating with the name of Jundallah in Pakistain, similar to Punjabi Taliban groups. While the Punjabi Taliban emerged from the Deobandi and Salafi Death Eater groups, Jundallah groups are breakaway factions of the Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... (JI) and its subsidiary student and Death Eater wings.
With the exception of the Jundallah in Iranian Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... , the remaining identically named groups, active in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... and Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. valley, are of a similar nature. With their Islamist background, they are naturally inclined towards the IS, and like a few commanders of the Hizb-e-Islami -- a JI affiliate in Afghanistan -- apparently intend to announce their allegiance to the IS.
Seen from this perspective, the JA is likely to have a close operational alliance with Jundallah groups inside Pakistain. Conversely, the TTP's operational concentration will increase inside Afghanistan. It appears as if a new formation or alliance of Al Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban, TTP, the local Taliban led by Gul Bahadur and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan will emerge which will be challenged by an alliance of JA and its Pak affiliates, and breakaway factions of the Afghan Taliban and Hizb-e-Islami.
The Haqqanis have not yet indicated which side they will join. Maybe they believe they can play with and manoeuvre both pro- and anti-Pakistain groups. But it will not be possible for them to continue this approach for long because ideological alignments among turbans are becoming clearer and eventually they will have to decide which way to go.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2014 01:14 ||
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#1
Seen from this perspective, the JA is likely to have a close operational alliance with Jundallah groups inside Pakistain. Conversely, the TTP's operational concentration will increase inside Afghanistan. It appears as if a new formation or alliance of Al Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban, TTP, the local Taliban led by Gul Bahadur and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan will emerge which will be challenged by an alliance of JA and its Pak affiliates, and breakaway factions of the Afghan Taliban and Hizb-e-Islami.
Good. Let them kill one another in a quest for dominance, as ISIS and al Nusra do in Syria, using up weapons and ammunition, excess madrassah students and jihad tourists in the process.
[DAWN] Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed anguish at the loss of lives and property caused by floods -- the worst in 60 years -- and said he was ready to provide Pakistain assistance in tackling the disaster.
A report published on the Deccan Chronicle website quoted Modi as saying, "In this hour of distress, the government of India is ready to provide humanitarian assistance to those areas if the Pakistain government needs it."
This humanitarian gesture by Modi comes against the backdrop of his visit to Indian-held Kashmire, following the devastation caused by massive flooding in the Jhelum river. Declaring the Jammu and Kashmire floods a "national level disaster", Modi called upon other states to pitch in with relief assistance.
The Indian prime minister said Rs200,000 (Indian rupees) will be provided to the next of kin of each person whose life has been lost in the calamity and Rs50,000 would be provided to each person who is grievously injured.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... (JI) chief Sirajul Haq ...current head of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. Siraj was born in 1962 and entered politics shortly after that... on Sunday evening said Islamabad's attitude towards smaller provinces was posing a threat to the stability of country rather than Balochi's, Pashtuns, Saraiki's and Sindhi's.
"Smaller provinces should not be ignored by Islamabad," he told flags-waving JI supporters at an anti-Israel rally in Quetta.
A large number of JI supporters turned out to participate in a Gazoo rally where they condemned Israeli atrocities against the Paleostinians.
Sirajul Haq reminded that an arrogant approach caused the Dhaka debacle and the disintegration of Pakistain, which still haunts Moslems of the subcontinent.
He said injudicious distribution of resources was one of the underlying reasons behind the gulf between Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... and Islamabad.
"Balochistan is a resource-rich province, but its people are deprived of basic needs," he added.
The JI chief elaborated that there was no representation from Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... in the bureaucracy of Islamabad, which has developed a sense of deprivation among the people.
"I am visiting Balochistan after 22 years, people are still suffering here...nothing has changed," he said, further stating that the province was still in the stone age.
He urged exiled-Baloch leaders and armed Baloch groups be approached to pave the way for a political settlement of issues relating to the province. "It is their right to rule here," he added.
Siraj ul Haq also strongly condemned the killing of journalists in Balochistan and demanded an immediate arrest of culprits behind the incident.
"Balochistan has become Gazoo for journalists," he said, adding that newsmen were being targeted inside their offices.
Regarding Islamabad protests, he reiterated that the protesters demands were genuine and that both sides need to demonstrate political wisdom to end the crisis.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2014 00:00 ||
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[VOA News] Weeks of mounting anti-government protests in Pakistain had been enough to convince five of the powerful army's 11 Corps Commanders that it was time for them to step in and force embattled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... to resign.
According to a minister close to military circles, top generals met in the garrison city of Rawalpindi at the end of August as demonstrations raged in nearby Islamabad. Thousands of protesters had just tried to storm Sharif's residence.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
sharia law/islam and democracy are two ends of the spectrum and no do not mix/complement each other.
Posted by: Paul D ||
09/08/2014 5:22 Comments ||
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[VOA News] Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri ... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is... 's announcement that a newly launched wing would "liberate Moslems from injustice and oppression" in India has triggered a furious response from Indian Moslem community leaders.
While some Indian Moslems called al-Qaeda a "terrorist outfit" and criticized it for killing innocent people and threatening peace, others said that any action by al-Qaeda would be detrimental to the interests of Indian Moslems and urged communities to ignore the group.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Thus speaks the leadership of a group that is a significant numerical disadvantage... and aware of it.
More than a dozen prominent Washington research groups have received tens of millions of dollars from foreign governments in recent years while pushing United States government officials to adopt policies that often reflect the donors priorities, an investigation by The New York Times has found.
The money is increasingly transforming the once-staid think-tank world into a muscular arm of foreign governments' lobbying in Washington. And it has set off troubling questions about intellectual freedom: Some scholars say they have been pressured to reach conclusions friendly to the government financing the research. NYT Graphic at link.
#1
where's that "Master of the bleedin' Obvious" pic?
This gets typespace in the NYT? Some recent journograd dropped the blinders, thought he/she was onto some Kozmik Revelation, and it got past a lazy editor?
note to journo - Yes, that's how it works - as designed.
Posted by: Bov Flimbers ||
09/08/2014 2:32 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Foreign Powers Buy Influence at U.S. Think Tanks
Not to be confused with hundreds of thousands of dollar in untraceable credit card donations from overseas to a presidential campaign (circa 2008).
#3
I checked out one recipient, the Center for Global Development. A gaggle of nonentities, it seems to comprise leftwing academics and out-of-work government hacks. No wonder it needs Norwegian money to survive. Not surprisingly, the introductory photograph was of the Brookings Institution, a gathering of moneygrubbers if there ever was one.
#5
This gets typespace in the NYT? Some recent journograd dropped the blinders, thought he/she was onto some Kozmik Revelation, and it got past a lazy editor?
#7
Does anyone truly listen to the 'think tanks?'. I know they act as a place politicians recruit from but beyond that I think their influence is limited.
And how much of the foreign power money goes to think tanks that already agree with them? Just like a pro-gun Republican taking donations from the NRA is not exactly bought so much as supported.
Arab League foreign ministers agreed on Sunday to take all necessary measures to confront ISIS and cooperate with all international, regional and national efforts to combat militant groups.
Except for the Arab League foreign ministers who support the ISIS...
It also endorsed in the closing statement of its meeting in Cairo a UN Security Council resolution passed last month calling on member states to act to stem the flow of logistical, military and financial support to extremists in Iraq and Syria.
Earlier, addressing the meeting, Nabil Al Arabi, the Secretary-General of the Arab League, appealed to its member states to confront “militarily and politically” ISIS insurgents, an apparent call to arms as the US launched new airstrikes against the group’s fighters in Iraq.
Al Arabi himself noted that the Arab League’s 22 members have failed to help each other in the past when facing local armed groups, often because of disagreement among each other over what to do or using the pretext of non-interference to avoid accusation of meddling in each other’s affairs. Those challenges include Iraq, as well as the militia violence now tearing Libya apart and other conflicts.
However, expressing frustration at the lack of Arab action, he said some members wouldn’t refuse a Western intervention.
Al Arabi said what is needed from Arab countries is a “clear and firm decision for a comprehensive confrontation” to what he called “cancerous and terrorist” groups.
"Clear and firm" from the Arab League mirrors "clear and firm" from Barack Obama these days, though to be fair the Arabs have had more experience in prevarication, duplicity and in leading from behind...
“What is happening in Iraq, and the presence of an armed terrorist group that not only challenges the state authority but its very existence and that of other countries, ... is one of the examples of the challenges that are violently shaking the Arab world, and one the Arab League, regrettably, has not been able to confront,” he said.
Al Arabi said the League has the mechanism needed to provide the legal and political cover for such joint action “to help any Arab country to face the challenges to its security, safety and territorial integrity,” including military intervention if needed.
And to keep the various current thugs in charge...
A decades-old joint Arab defence agreement states that members states can initiate help alone or collectively to ward off an attack and restore peace and order by all means, including use of force. Elaraby said an agreement to activate that clause in the 1950 agreement is needed.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/08/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Ya da, ya da, ya da. It's only talk until you actually do something.
It's because there's this strip of land on the Arabian Penninsular, about 15 KM wide. It contains a wealth of both oil and Shia Rat. The noble kingdom is living in a state of (LOL, think Paco here) cognitatve dissident.
#4
Other than Jordan and Egypt, maybe Morocco, and maybe now Iraq, legitimately, and Hizbollah and IS, illegitimately, do Arab governments have ability to actually fight? Saud has equipment, but ability to use it effectively in an actual fight, not so. Sauds are pussies outside their domestic police. Others have constabularies, not armies, or chaos. As JohnQC says, Yada Yada Yada. Talk.
[Ynet] Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, has called on its operatives in the west Bank Sunday not cooperate with Paleostinian Authority security forces investigations.
Thus making the guilty look even more suspicious...
Hamas spokesperson Hussam Badran condemned the "escalation in the amount of summons and arrests in the West Bank."
Over the weekend, Hamas officials claimed the PA was arresting its men for no reason.
#4
FYI DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [IBT.com] EGYPT'S AL-SISI OFFERED ABBAS CREATION OF PALESTINIAN STATE IN SINAI DESERT.
Approxi 1600 SQMS of the Egypt-controlled Sinai to be unialter given up by same to the PA as their unique + sovereign land.
AL-SISI warned that iff ABBAS doesn't take Egypt's offer, HIS SUCCESSOR WILL.
* RELATED SAME > ISRAEL WARMS TO PALESTINIAN STATE - CARVED OUT OF EGYPT | WASHINGTON POST.
Sniff, sniff, its about time as I myself had been arguing or supporting this option for the Paleos for many years now, albeit on a larger scale than 1600 SQMS.
[Haaretz] Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... sent Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, a sharp message late Saturday, warning the Islamist organization that it must drastically change its conduct it wanted to continue working with the Paleostinian Authority in a unity government.
"We cannot continue working with Hamas this way," Abbas said upon arrival in Cairo for a three-day visit, where he is scheduled to meet with Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... foreign ministers over the reconciliation agreement with Hamas and attempts to renew peace negotiations with Israel.
"There are 27 undersecretaries of ministries who are running the Gazoo Strip, and the national unity government cannot do anything on the ground," Abbas said, referring to the Hamas officials who continued to hold positions of power in Gazoo, despite the reconciliation agreement which merged the Islamist group into the Paleostinian government. "The Paleostinian Authority must be singular and operate within the framework of one regime, even in the Strip."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
In a statement, he threatened to stand next to them while provoking the Israelis.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
09/08/2014 7:44 Comments ||
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Funny, yesterday Abbie was threatening to tear up the unity accord.
[WASHINGTONTIMES] Al-Jazeera ... an Arab news network headquartered in Qatar, notorious for carrying al-Qaeda press releases. The name means the Peninsula, as in the Arabian Peninsula. In recent years it has settled in to become slightly less biased than MSNBC, in about the same category as BBC or CBS... has retracted a controversial story it published last week that questioned the authenticity of the videos that showed the execution of James Foley and Steven Sotloff, chalking it up to a "Hollywood" fabrication to provoke war.
When accessing the link to the story, deemed by many online commentators as offensive and insensitive, an error page now appears, Al Arabiya News reported. Al-Jazeera English later posted a retraction on its website that called the post "inaccurate."
The story had suggested that Foley likely fabricated the execution video, despite confirmations from the U.S. government that the video was real, and that his masked executioner did "not have the features of common jihadist figures, but he was rather similar to a Hollywood actor," Al Arabiya reported.
The Al-Jazeera report had also claimed that a review of the video in slow motion showed that the beheading hadn't produced any blood.
The Islamic State holy warrior group has released a video purportedly showing the beheading of journalist Steven Sotloff.
The network said in a statement Saturday: "In respect to families of the victims, and as we share their grief, Al-Jazeera Arabic's website decided to retract an inaccurate article that questioned the legitimacy of Foley and Sotloff's beheading videos after a theory surfaced on a number of American social media sites claiming they were produced as a pretext ahead of a U.S. invasion of Syria," translated by Al Arabiya.
The statement also said Al-Jazeera wanted to take the opportunity to "reiterate Al-Jazeera['s] previous position in condemning the kidnapping of the two journalists and condemning their killing as a heinous crime," Al Arabiya reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Al-Jazeera takes on new high in an already existing aura of a lack of credibility in the news business.
Al Jizz purchased Current TV for $500M, which was partially owned by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. Later, Gore and others sued Al Jazeera for $65M when they did not find the payment check in the mail.
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.
[VOA News] As Libya slides deeper into political and military chaos, uncertainty reigns and analysts say it's difficult to anticipate how things will unfold.
Two military coalitions are competing for governmental control. Their power struggles have almost paralyzed the country, leaving it with two de facto parliaments and two prime ministers.
Zawahiri
More than a dozen prominent Washington research groups have received tens of millions of dollars from foreign governments in recent years while pushing United States government officials to adopt policies that often reflect the donors priorities, an investigation by The New York Times has found.
... an Arab news network headquartered in Qatar, notorious for carrying al-Qaeda press releases. The name means 
