So you have a former Weather Underground member who now is pro-military, throwing shoes at the anti-military Socialist Mayor, in a protest that would fall under the "community of sanctuary" protection if the protester still was a member of the Weather Underground and protesting against the Iraq war. Only in Ithaca.
It's shoebox sized, adorned with a union flag and contains the British military's latest weapon against the Taliban.
Dip carefully inside the cardboard box and you will find plastic pouches full of something which is certainly recognisable as food: cold curries or other spicy substances, and garish packets of Oreo cookies.
This is the first update of the military's ration packs since the cold war era - out go traditional brown biscuits and corned beef hash and in come chicken tikka massala, chili con carne, yellow chicken curry, chicken arrabiata and beef and cassava.
Yesterday the Guardian was led into a small terrapin hut at a secret location in Kent, where the army unveiled the new MCR - multi-climate ration - 24-hour pack and was met by a not unpleasant smell of sample rations being cooked.
And, while the army is never going to win a Michelin star for its mess halls, the warmed food certainly did not taste bad.
The packs have been designed to provide the 4,000 calories a fighting fit squaddie is recommended to consume to operate in tough war zones.
Adaptability is of key importance: sometimes troops will be able to warm the food through but other times they will have to take their curries cold. So how do they taste cold? Amazingly, it worked.
Somehow the food scientists have found a way of making cold beef and cassava in a plastic pouch taste good. It's different from the hot stuff, but delicious and there's none of that weird, claggy-palate feeling you get from a petrol-station pasty, more the voluptuous richness of a really premium pie filling.
Captain Paul Cunningham, the Navy officer responsible for the new packs, admits that many of these items are not the kind of thing modern soldiers would ever encounter in civilian life. A lot of the more institutional sounding items were simply being discarded as inedible, which compromised the nutritional balance of the pack.
In the new packs - which are being forwarded to frontline troops for testing from today with feedback forms - there are also halal, vegetarian and Sikh and Hindu ranges, and if that sounds like the menu at your local gastropub then Captain Cunningham is pleased. "The modern soldier's taste is different, far more international. My customers are 18- to 21 year old boys in Afghanistan and they particularly like these spicy tastes."
In the large, multinational bases in Afghanistan, troops eat well-balanced meals created by chefs from raw ingredients but when they move up to the forward operating bases or out into more remote areas they may have to survive on ration packs like these for up to 50 days.
Paul Carpenter, brigade catering warrant officer, 16th Air Assault Brigade, has just returned from Helmand where he was responsible for getting food to troops on the ground. "Recognition is important, he says. One day they can be eating in Colchester, the next in Afghanistan and we want them to feel they're getting the same quality." Other items soldiers will recognise will be energy bars, the Oreo cookies and dental chewing gum.
The history of military cuisine is long and sometimes brutal. While Napoleon observed "an army marches on its stomach", it took another half century and the disasters of the Crimean war, when supply lines collapsed and more soldiers died of disease and want than enemy fire, for the lesson to hit home.
The 19th-century celebrity chef Alexis Soyer not only produced model recipes for simple nourishing food for soldiers, he set up field kitchens at his own expense and designed a camp stove that remained in British army use well into the 20th century. Please note that the rations include McIlhenny Company's nectar of the warrior gods.
A Somali military official says that Sudanese forces may attempt to destroy a Ukrainian vessel which has just been released by pirates.
Somali rebels hijacked the MV Faina and its huge shipment of weaponry last September.
Pirate spokesman Sugule Ali later claimed that the vessel had been carrying arms for Sudanese Christian opposition groups and that they were intended for use the Muslim majority and President Omar al-Bashir's administration.
On Wednesday, following 19 weeks of fear over the misuse of the armament, pirates released Faina in exchange for a $3.2 million ransom. The ship then set sail for the Kenyan port of Mombasa.
After its arrival at the port city, Sudanese soldiers might attempt to blow the ship up in order to eliminate the possibility of the weapons falling into the wrong hands, Press TV's correspondent quoted military official Abdulle Hassan Amin as saying.
Wouldn't that be an act of war against Kenya?
Somali politicians believe Kenya was not the vessel's ultimate destination as Kenyan authorities had not taken necessary security measures to guarantee the cargo's safe arrival.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2009 00:00 ||
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CALI, Colombia (AFP) — Colombia's FARC rebels Thursday freed their sixth hostage in five days, fulfilling a promise they made in December and leaving only 22 police and military among the hundreds of captives they are still holding. Former provincial lawmaker Sigifredo Lopez, 45, was lifted from a jungle location by Brazilian-loaned helicopters to an emotional welcome in Cali by his sons Lucas, 20, and Sergio, 18, after nearly five years in rebel captivity.
"Thank God, I'm alive and healthy," Lopez told reporters after landing.
He was the sixth hostage set free by the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) since Sunday, after three policemen, a soldier and a former mayor.
The releases were promised by the FARC in December to Colombians for Peace, a mediating group headed by Senator Piedad Cordoba, who along with three members of the International Committee of the Red Cross accompanied Lopez on his journey to freedom. Cordoba told reporters she had with her a letter from FARC leader Alfonso Cano, but that she would not disclose its contents until later.
Lopez was the only survivor of a group of 12 Valle department lawmakers who were killed after they were kidnapped by FARC rebels disguised as soldiers in April 2002. The rebels later admitted killing the captives when they mistakenly thought the army was about to close in. "They did not deserve to be murdered like they were by FARC," said Lopez, who survived the massacre because he took ill and was separated from the other captives.
"My suffering isn't worth a damn compared to the pain the massacre inflicted not only on the families (of the victims) but on Colombia's democracy," he added.
Lopez was the last politician in FARC custody, but the rebels are still holding 22 military and police they are seeking to swap for some 500 guerrillas held in Colombian and US jails. The group also holds hundreds of lower-level hostages.
Cordoba said the letter from Cano was a response to a message she sent FARC on Wednesday, when she received from the rebels the fifth hostage, former Meta governor Alan Jara, asking them to set more flexible conditions for the prisoner swap.
President Alvaro Uribe has so far rejected a FARC demand for an extensive demilitarized area where the swap talks can take place.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/06/2009 00:00 ||
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South Korea on Thursday urged North Korea not to launch a long-range ballistic missile amid reports of North Korea's launch plans. ''It is a clear violation of (U.N.) Security Council resolutions if North Korea launches missiles despite resolute messages given by the international community,'' Foreign Ministry Spokesman Moon Tae Young told a press briefing. Yep. That oughta do it.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
ION SOKOR, WORLD MIL FORUM > SOUTH KOREA WILL SET UP A JOINT US-SK AIR COMMAND AT OSAN, for US immediate utility by US Air Assets in case of war wid NOKOR, espec come Year 2012 after end of Combined Forces Command treatise and formal handover of wartime control by the US to SOKOR.
#2
ALso on WMF > IIRC/IIUC TAIWAN REFUSES TO RECOGNIZE NEW XTENDED PHILIPPINE SOVEREIGNTY OVER DISPUTED CHINA SEA ISLANDS, CLAIMING THAT ISLANDS BELONG TO "REPUBLIC OF CHINA"[ROC]; + PHILIPPINE LEGISLATURE IN INTERNAL DISPUTE OVER NEW PHILIPPINE SOVEREIGNTY CLAIMS ON DISPUTED CHINA SEA ISLANDS [A number of Philippine Pols want "softer" Bill language vee CHINA = PRC].
OTOH, SAME > CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY: JAPAN MUST IMMEDIATELY STOP ANY MILITARY-LED/ORIENTED ATTEMPTS TO STRENGTHEN ITS SOVEREIGNTY AND CONTROL OVER DISPUTED DIAOYU ISLANDS/JAPAN HAS NO RIGHT TO STOP CHINESE SURVEY SHIP OR PUT UNDER MILITARY [air]SURVEILLANCE.
North Korean officials have expressed their willingness to normalize relations between their country and the United States, a U.S. scholar who last month met them in North Korea said Wednesday. Selig Harrison, Asia Program director at the Washington-based Center for International Policy, made the revelation in a speech about his visit to the reclusive nation. "Abby Somebody!"
"Abby Who?"
"Abby... Normal!"
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Of course the North Koreans are willing to normalize relations, so long as they needn't give up anything... like their nuclear bomb program or their prison camps. That's always been their position, even a little housewife like me knows that.
#3
ION PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > USAF 13th FIGHTER SQUADRON [12 F-16's] TO DEPLOY TO KOREA [SOKOR]: ANOTHER US THREAT TO CHINA AND ITS ALLIES.
OTOH, also on PDF > PRESIDENT MA-JING-EOU: TAIWAN TO CONSIDER BULDING A CONNECTING BRIDGE TO MAINLAND [Feasibility Study].
* CHINESE MIL FORUM > WHAT IFF CHINA HAD LONG RANGE STRATEGIC BOMBERS, BUT WHAT FOR TO USE?/US B-52's CONDUCT GLOBAL STRIKE DEPLOYMENT [Oper CORONET DRAGON].
Lest we fergit, GUAM > just conducted GROUNDSBREAKING for new USAF-USN JOINT REGION MARIANAS HQ [former NIMITZ HILL USN NAVMAR-NAVACTSMAR/GUAM HIGH SCHOOL complex]. USDOD-USAF also repor desires to make Guam = Andersen AFB into a LONG-RANGE, UAV STRATEGIC/GLOBAL SRIKE AIR BASE???
Greek authorities are holding an Iran-bound ship carrying materials for the manufacture of surface-to-surface missiles, the Elefterotipia newspaper reported Friday. According to the Greek paper, the ship, called the Susanna, left a port in Slovenia more than a month ago.
The Jerusalem Post could not independently confirm the report. Is there any news about this elsewhere?
Separately, last week the Cypriot Navy stopped a Syria-bound Iranian ship, believed to be carrying weapons for Hamas. The US military had previously stopped the vessel in the Red Sea, but allowed it to continue because the US could not legally stop its journey or seize its cargo. The Cypriot-flagged Monchegorsk is currently anchored off the island's southern port of Limassol. Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias said last Friday that the ship had violated UN resolutions.
Organizers of a university seminar say someone hurled a shoe at the Israeli ambassador to Sweden during a discussion about Israel's upcoming elections. It's getting pretty old now, isn't it?
It was not immediately clear if Ambassador Benjamin Dagan was hit in the attack at Stockholm University.
Organizers said Thursday a person in the crowd threw a shoe at Dagan at the seminar Wednesday night. Swedish radio reported a second person threw a book at the ambassador and that both attackers were detained by police.
Stockholm police could not immediately confirm the report and the Israeli Embassy declined to comment.
The incident echoed similar shoe-throwing attacks against former President George W. Bush in December and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Monday.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I've a closet full of old shoes belonging to wife & dau - perhaps some protesters would like to make bids? 50 cents to start?
#4
#3 A paintball? You're too kind, tw.
Posted by: Darrell
I'm not so sure, Darrell. Those paintballs can raise a nasty whelt. The paint doesn't wear off very easily, either. Just grab the marked shoe-throwers, and toss 'em in a cage of half-starved, badly-beaten, rabid Rottweilers. You know you've got the right person by the blue paint all over his face. The dogs will take care of the rest.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/06/2009 13:06 Comments ||
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#5
That paintball idea is fine, he'll think again before trying this shit again.
(It could have just as easily been .40 Caliber Lead)
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/06/2009 13:07 Comments ||
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#6
Thank you for making my point better than I did, Rednek Jim. By the way, what happened to the c you used to have?
#8
Btw, the original shoe-throwing idiot had a cultural background to motivate him doing so... forget the whole "he thew a shoe because iraq is being crushed under the heel of the occupiers" thing, IIUC, judging for example from the falling of the saddam statue, or from shoes-throwing at US troops in demos turning into riots, arabs seem to believe hitting something with the sole of one's shoe is particularly insulting and demeaning. Shoes are UNCLEAN - shoes cooties!
So, all those copycats are actually copying without any idea about its meaning, a pretty generic yet culturally-specific arabic meme, because, well, it's BEEN DONE ON TEEVEE. Next thing you'll know, they'll be cursing moustaches.
#10
Thank you for making my point better than I did, Rednek Jim. By the way, what happened to the c you used to have?
I had an cookie vanish, and retyping had a typo, after looking at it a second I decided to let it stand, after all us Rednex kan't spel nohow.;-)
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/06/2009 19:50 Comments ||
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#11
Before I went to Morocco in 1973 with the Navy, our cultural briefer told us that in Arab countries, the soles of the shoes were considered to be (and probably actually are) unclean because they are often covered with camel and other dung.
Even showing someone the soles of your shoes is considered an insult.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
02/06/2009 22:21 Comments ||
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(AKI) - The European parliament has endorsed President Barack Obama's decision to close the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and called on member states to accept detainees for resettlement. Bruxelles sounds like a odd destination.
Last week European Union foreign ministers said they wanted to help on humanitarian grounds, but would not respond until the US could show that the prisoners were not a security risk. If they at Gitmo they're security risks by definition.
The European parliament on Wednesday adopted a resolution welcoming Obama's decision to close the prison within a year saying that the US bore the prime responsibility for the future of the detainees held there. "The inmates have been denied their fundamental human rights, notably the right of fair trial, and have been subjected to harsh interrogation techniques, such as waterboarding, which amount to torture and cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment," the resolution noted. "Those who are not to be charged and cannot be repatriated - (due to the) real risk of torture or persecution in his home country - should be given the opportunity to be admitted to the United States and afforded redress."
However the parliament called on member states to "be prepared" to accept Guantanamo inmates. The resolution was endorsed with 542 in favour, 55 against and 51 abstentions.
"MEPs also call on the member states, should the United States administration so request, to cooperate in finding solutions, to be prepared to accept Guantanamo inmates in the EU," it said. "Member states have a duty of loyal cooperation to consult each other on possible repercussions on public security throughout the EU," the resolution said.
A US task force has been given 30 days to recommend where the 242 detainees should go - so far no formal request have come from the European Union.
Albania is the only country to have so far accepted Guantanamo detainees on humanitarian grounds, taking in five members of China's Uighur ethnic minority in 2006. Portugal and Ireland are among the countries believed to be considering the prospect of accepting former Guantanamo prisoners.
The controversial prison camp was set up in January 2002 to hold terrorism suspects captured after the 9/11 attacks. Many of the prisoners have been held for years without trial and the US wants to try about 80 of the prisoners on terrorism charges.
Fifty other Guantanamo detainees have been cleared of charges but cannot be returned to their home countries as there are fears they could be persecuted there.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
If I had a vote in this, then I suggest 6 foot under.
#2
should be given the opportunity to be admitted to the United States
I will campaign against Democrats full-time in 2012 if this even almost happens. Regardless, it will be a cold day in hell before I visit Europe again.
#3
I vote that they all be released in the EU Parliament building. Since they are all just misunderstood youths, who happened to be caught firing weapons on a battlefield, the US has no reason to prosecute them. Therefore, the EUniks should be happy to welcome them.
BTW, I second AA5839's motion. All in accordance with the Geneva Convention as it is actually written.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
02/06/2009 22:25 Comments ||
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Yeah, I wanted to start my weekend pissed off...
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama, preparing Friday to meet with families of terror victims, is concerned that Guantanamo Bay detainees have been held for years without trial. Obama wants to close the detention center in Cuba, and has signed an executive order to do so within a year.
He has invited relatives of Americans killed in the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000 and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks the next year to the White House for a meeting Friday afternoon. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says Obama will discuss his plans for Guantanamo Bay with the terror victims' families. Many of those families disagree with the president's plan to close the detention center. ...and I have invited them here, to the White House, to pay them lip service.
Obama "wants to discuss his plan to bring about changes in Guantanamo that he believes will make this country safer and bring about the very same swift justice that they desire on behalf of those that they know that have been killed," Gibbs said. "The main concern that the president has is the military commission's failure to bring those in detention to swift justice," he said. Anybody got any suggestions on the "swift justice" thing?
Obama is now reviewing the system, and likely to scrap it, to make sure the 245 suspects who remain there are given international and U.S. legal rights. Rights that they in fact don't have and don't deserve.
That review largely will determine whether the terror suspects should be tried in courts in the United States or released to other countries.
About 15 victims' relatives are to meet mid-afternoon with Obama, many of whom are upset about over his Jan. 22 order to halt legal action on the Guantanamo cases.
The meeting was scheduled for the day after a senior Pentagon judge dropped charges against an al-Qaida suspect Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who is accused of masterminding the 2000 USS Cole bombing and is being held at Guantanamo. A legal move late Thursday by Susan J. Crawford, the top legal authority for military trials at Guantanamo, marked the last active war crimes case there. Family members say they've already waited too long to see the alleged attackers brought to court.
Retired Navy Cmdr. Kirk S. Lippold, the commanding officer of the Cole when it was bombed in Yemen in 2000, said he would be among family members of Cole and 9/11 victims who are meeting with Obama at the White House on Friday afternoon. "I was certainly disappointed with the decision to delay the military commissions process," Lippold, now a defense adviser to Military Families United, said in an interview. "We have already waited eight years. Justice delayed is justice denied. We must allow the military commission process to go forward."
Seventeen U.S. sailors died on Oct. 12, 2000, when al-Qaida suicide bombers steered an explosives-laden boat into the Cole, a guided-missile destroyer, as it sat in a Yemen port. The Pentagon last summer charged al-Nashiri, a Saudi Arabian, with "organizing and directing" the bombing and planned to seek the death penalty in the case. New charges against al-Nashiri could be brought again later, and he will remain in prison for the time being. Maybe he can get sent to Saudi Fingerpainting School?
Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said he was concerned about the order to suspend charges against al-Nashiri. Smith said al-Nashiri had "orchestrated the mass murder of American soldiers" and must be punished. I urge them to reinstate the charges as quickly as possible and in a manner that ensures justice for the families and victims," Smith said in a statement Friday.
Last year, al-Nashiri said during a Guantanamo hearing that he confessed to helping plot the Cole bombing only because he was tortured by U.S. interrogators. The CIA has admitted he was among terrorist suspects subjected to waterboarding, which simulates drowning, in 2002 and 2003 while being interrogated in secret CIA prisons. Did they pee on his Koran too?
#1
hopefull a senator adds training wheels to the stimulas package for this asshat
Posted by: Dan ||
02/06/2009 17:22 Comments ||
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#2
This little meeting has made it very clear that the Big O looks at terrorism as a criminal matter and not an act of war. He does not have a clue to the implications of what his decisions w/r/t Gitmo closing and trying these terrorists means. It is all about looking good to his gullible adoring public supporters.
We will take our hits and then all this foolishness will be sorted out. Not a pretty picture.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/06/2009 18:17 Comments ||
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#3
Retired Navy Cmdr. Kirk S. Lippold, the commanding officer of the Cole when it was bombed in Yemen in 2000, said he would be among family members of Cole and 9/11 victims who are meeting with Obama at the White House on Friday afternoon.
Shakes The One's hand firmly, leans over with smile and says softly....."now listen to me you silly son of a bitch, you're a phutch'n this GWOT thing up by the numbers, how your copy over?"
#7
#8 the blood of Americans killed by this fool's policies is on his hands. History will not be kind. Posted by: Frank G
Nor will it be kind to the idiots that voted for this empty suit, the newspapers that heaped fawning adoration upon him, and the rest of the lunatic fringe that worships at the Altar of Obama. There's gonna be some blood spilled somewhere - it's just a matter of time.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/06/2009 20:54 Comments ||
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#8
"voted for him and is now totally, totally sorry she did."
There's going to be a lot of this going around.
Morons.
Cliff Cornell fled the U.S. Army four years ago for British Columbia when his Georgia artillery unit was ordered to serve in the Iraq War.
On Wednesday, Feb. 4, Cornell was deported from Canada, arrested in the U.S. and booked into the Whatcom County jail.
Cornell, who is from Arkansas, is going to be released on his own recognizance and ordered to report to Fort Stewart in Georgia, said Gene Marx, a local peace activist and member of the Bellingham Veterans for Peace, Chapter 111. He and other local peace activists are asking officials to make Bellingham a "sanctuary city" so military deserters will not be arrested by locals and handed over to federal officials.
Cornell is the second soldier, along with Robin Long in July 2008, to be deported from Canada and placed in the county jail in recent months. Long was eventually sentenced to serve a 15-month prison sentence in Miramar Naval Consolidated Brig near San Diego.
This article starring:
Cliff Cornell
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
02/06/2009 12:46 ||
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#1
i say give him to the slobbering jihad asshats that his desertion supported... air insertion to the NWFP... maybe even put some basic comm equip in his backpack so he can call his mum.
oh, yeah and a "this is the CIA" information brochure
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
02/06/2009 13:43 Comments ||
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#4
A quick Court Martial and BCD and bus fare to place of entry on to active duty. No unemployment bennies await you lad, and with the CM comes a federal felony conviction you have to put on those job applications you file know with 100k+ other Americans with clean records. Life is tough. Life is tougher if you're stupid.
#6
I wonder when he realizes that this isn't Vetnam. Old hippies seldom, if ever change. Too bad he listened to his elders.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
02/06/2009 17:51 Comments ||
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#7
If Bellingham, WA does become a "sanctuary city", the federal government should cut off ALL federal funds.
The feds won't, especially under teh One. They will probably add another ten billion to the stimulus to cover sanctuary cities.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
02/06/2009 18:36 Comments ||
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#8
I really believe that exile would be a better option.
The mandate of the UN commission that will probe the 2007 slaying of former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto will not exceed six months and will not extend to conducting a criminal investigation, according to a UN letter released Thursday. In a letter to the UN Security Council, UN chief Ban Ki-moon, said that after extensive discussions with Pakistani authorities and members of the Security Council, "it has been agreed that the international commission should be fact-finding in nature and that its mandate would be to determine the facts and circumstances of the assassination." "The duty of determining criminal responsibility of the perpetrators of the assassination would remain with the Pakistani authorities," Ban''s letter said. The UN secretary general made the announcement on the independent panel Wednesday at a banquet hosted by President Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto''s widower, during his first visit to the Islamabad since taking office two years ago. Pakistan had called for a UN commission to probe the assassination of the two-time prime minister who was killed at a campaign rally, after her supporters were angered by conflicting accounts from the then-government of how she died. UN sources said the UN enquiry panel was likely to be headed by Chile''s UN Ambassador Heraldo Munoz.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#2
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > VARIOUS GLOBALRESAERCH.CA Articles > AMERICA'S PLAN FOR THE BREAKING UP OF PAKISTAN CITED IN US SENATE/US-BRITISH "SURGE" IN AFGHANISTAN IS ACTUALLY COVERT WAR AGZ PAKISTAN/ANGLO-AMERICAN AMBITION BEHIND THE DEATH AND ASSASSINATION OF PM BENAZIR BHUTO AND THE DESTABILIZATION OF PAKISTAN.
Artic(s) - USA supports and arms MULTIPLE, LOCAL PROXY "ARMIES/FORCES OF LIBERATION" AGZ LOCAL + REGIONAL SOVEREIGN GOVTS UNDER THE BROAD = SURREAL/SUBJECTIVE LABEL OF FIGHTING AQ + ISLAMIST ANTI-TERROR???
DNA samples drawn from Ajmal Kasab, the only terrorist captured alive, have matched with imprints on a lifejacket found on MV Kuber, the fishing trawler that brought the 26/11 gunmen to Mumbai.
“The sweat analysis from a lifejacket found on the Kuber matched with the DNA samples of Kasab,” a top forensic official said. Kasab and nine others boarded the Gujarat-based fishing vessel in international waters sailed to within a few nautical miles off Mumbai.
DNA analysis of another five terrorists involved in the carnage is being conducted in the Kalina For-ensic Science Laboratory.
In another development, the National Security Adv-iser, Mr M.K. Narayanan was contradicted for a second time in three days on Thursday by the home minister, Mr P. Chidamba-ram, who said that India had not received any response on the dossier given to Pakistan on the Mumbai attacks.
“There is no confusion. Both the external affairs minister and I have said that we have not received any response to the dossier given to Pakistan as yet,” Mr Chidambaram said.
This was in response to Mr NarayananÂ’s remarks in an interview to a private television channel that Pakistan had asked twice for more details on the dossier.
Meanwhile, a report in the Pakistan newspaper Dawn said that Pakistani investigators probing the Mumbai attacks are closing in on a Bangladeshi connection to the terrorist strike.
They are said to have evidence of not only the involvement of a banned militant organisation, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami, Bangladesh (HuJI-B), but also of its role in planning the attack and training the terrorists.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/06/2009 00:00 ||
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In a palatial house replete with guns, flags and other manifestations of tribal power, America's key ally in once-volatile Anbar province explained what he would do if the counting of votes in Saturday's election failed to show his party as the victor.
"We will form the government of Anbar anyway," vowed Ahmed Abu Risha, his voice dipping to a quiet growl. The tribesmen seated in his visiting room, where photos of U.S. generals and Sunni monarchs adorn the walls, nodded in approval. "An honest dictatorship is better than a democracy won through fraud," Abu Risha said.
Here, in the cradle of the Sunni insurgency, tribal leaders nurtured and empowered by the United States appear ready to take control the old-fashioned way -- with guns and money -- if their political ambitions are frustrated.
Abu Risha and other leaders of the Awakening, the U.S.-backed Sunni sheiks who rose up to quell the insurgency, charge that Sunni politicians of the Iraqi Islamic Party have committed electoral fraud, which party officials deny. The allegations, coupled with threats to use arms, have prompted provincewide curfews and strict security measures. Although the United States handed responsibility for the security of Anbar to the Iraqi government in September, U.S. Marines this week returned to Ramadi in observation roles, patrolling areas from which they had largely withdrawn.
Iraqi election monitoring officials have found the allegations serious enough to investigate, and election commission chief Faraj al-Haidari said initial assessments could be released as early as Thursday. But he also suggested that the allegations might have been driven more by the struggle for power than by evidence, saying there would be no need to hold new elections in the province.
"The case of Anbar is taking a political direction," Haidari said. "We don't interfere with politics."
Abu Risha appeared unwilling to countenance a defeat. What would happen if his rivals win? "Disaster," he warned.
Ever since they turned against the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq more than two years ago, a dozen of the sheiks who founded Awakening have considered themselves the saviors of Anbar. Enriched by U.S. contracts and courted by U.S. military commanders eager to preserve security gains, the tribes are more powerful than at any time since the demise of Iraq's monarchy half a century ago.
Now, they seek to transform their anti-insurgency credentials into political power. But democracy is a new concept for the Anbar sheiks, who are participating for the first time in elections. In 2005, they ordered their tribesmen to boycott the polls, allowing the Iraqi Islamic Party, a religious Sunni group, to take control of the province amid paltry voter turnout.
The tribal leaders' inexperience has shown. In a world of byzantine allegiances and fickle loyalties, the original Awakening leaders have split up, bickering over who has the authority to lead them. Several Awakening parties competed in the elections, dividing their vote. At least four founding sheiks were candidates.
Abu Risha reached out to Islamic Party candidates, further alienating him from other Awakening leaders, though he remains the most powerful because of his American support.
On Wednesday, in this oatmeal-colored provincial capital bisected by the Euphrates River, the Awakening sheiks were united, perhaps for the first time in months, by the fraud allegations.
Aswat al-Iraq: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Dawlat al-Qanoon (State of Law) coalition dominated the results of the local council elections in nine out of 14 Iraqi provinces, according to Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission.
"Dawlat al-Qanoon garnered 38% of the votes in Baghdad, 37% in Basra, 23.1% in Thi-Qar, 23.1% in al-Qadissiya, 15.3% in Wassit, 16.2% in Najaf, 17.7% in Missan, 10.9% in Muthanna and 12.5% in Babel," the IHEC said in a statement announcing the results of the provincial council elections on Thursday (Feb. 5).
"Maliki's coalition also ranked 3rd in Kabral with 8.5% of the votes, 5th in Diala with 5% and achieved insignificant results in the provinces of al-Anbar, Salah al-Din and Ninewa," the IHEC said.
The results should allow the coalition to enter into alliances to form provincial councils, which was expected based on the initial results announced by independent observers and organizations.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
"..according to Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission."
Dawlat qanoun dial zabbi!
You keep talking about independance of Iraq while US servicemen are still killing people there!
#2
Curiously, the Iraqis themselves think they are independent and even keep acting that way.
And here our silly Moroccan commenter asserts that the Iraqis are stupid and ignorant, unable to tell for themselves if they are free.
He should take his north African dialect of Arabic, polish it up for use in the Gulf and go tell this to the Iraqis themselves. The evidence is great that most of them would laugh scornfully at his childishness, as they have done in response to similar claims on many Arabic language websites.
#3
January:
191 Iraqis killed by terrorists.
29 terrorists killed. In the lowest death toll since five years, Iraq Defense, Interior and Health Ministries reported that a total of 191 Iraqis were killed including 140 civilians, 27 soldiers and 24 policemen due to violence marked in January 2009. Meanwhile, 300 civilians, 71 policemen and 35 soldiers were wounded.
On the other hand, Iraqi Forces and international coalition troops killed in one month 29 terrorists and arrested 482 others.
Details here.
It's a new day, but you're still full of crap, Midoman.
#4
Oh ouch, lotp. But perhaps Ms. Fiona stamboli is a friend of Mr. Midoman's, equally determined to demonstrate to us Westerners her knowledge and insight about the issues of the day... or is it the same IP address displayed by Mr. Midoman's computer? No worries; Ms. Stamboli clearly will take just as "not that long" as poor Mr. Midoman did. Hopefully she is clever enough to learn from the experience.
but please move quickly, the animals don't like the smell
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/06/2009 19:30 Comments ||
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#8
As if a nation can't be independent if a furrinner kills someone. I'm pretty sure the US was independent while a bunch of Saudis were killing 3,000 of us.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
02/06/2009 19:36 Comments ||
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BAGHDAD | Results from weekend elections released Thursday showed broad backing for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad, Basra and in Shi'ite provinces of the south, but it remains unclear how other candidates will accept defeat.
Ethnic and sectarian tensions continued to beset the country in the aftermath of the vote, with a suicide bomber killing at least 15 people in the Kurdish town of Khanaqin, about 90 miles northeast of Baghdad. At least 15 were injured, Reuters reported. Khanaqin lies in the Diyala province, which stretches from the outskirts of Baghdad to the Iranian border. Its 1.8 million people reflect an explosive mix of Sunnis, Shi'ites and Kurds.
The real test for Iraq's fledgling democracy depends on how the candidates handle the shifts in provincial power, Lt. Col. Kareem Jadoi Hussein said. "Those are problems that come after the results. There will be anger and shouting. We're prepared for trouble," said Lt. Col. Hussein, deputy commander of the 19th Brigade, 5th Iraq Army, in Diyala province.
Results on Thursday showed that the main Sunni bloc's voting list won in Diyala with 21.1 percent, while the Kurds came in second with 17.2 percent, the Associated Press reported.
Sunnis claim to be a majority in Diyala, but Shi'ites dominate the outgoing Provincial Council, which appoints the governor and has influence on the appointment or firing of the provincial police chief, who in turn has say over the hiring of local police officers. Through patronage, council members also fill provincial government agency posts and thus have influence over how money is spent, what projects go forward and who gets contracts for those projects.
Iraqi Security Forces reported little violence in Diyala during Saturday's election. A Shi'ite lawmaker in the provincial capital, Baqouba, survived an assassination attempt Thursday. Salim al-Zeidi escaped injury when a bomb exploded outside his house, a police officer told AP on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.
Nationwide, more than 14,000 candidates vied for 440 Provincial Council seats in 14 of 18 provinces.
In Diyala, 29 seats were up for grabs. Candidates included Awakening Council members -- Sunnis who joined forces with U.S. troops and formed the Sons of Iraq (also known as Concerned Local Citizens) - security volunteers who helped fight terrorists.
"We came here to vote for someone to lead us in a good way, someone honorable," said Yayah Genei, a Sunni, outside a voting place in the village of Hebheb. "We chose the wrong people last time and got nothing.
"We hope everybody understands Iraq is for everybody," Iraqi police Maj. Amad Ahmed Mohammed, who is of mixed sectarian heritage, said before the voting.
Mr. al-Maliki, a Shi'ite, campaigned for local candidates under his State of Law coalition - an effort that was unique because it included almost no references to religion. His candidates won in Baghdad and Basra with 38 percent and 37 percent of the vote respectively. His coalition also won the most votes in eight of 10 predominantly Shi'ite provinces in the south, besting the Iran-backed Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq.
In predominantly Sunni Anbar province west of Baghdad, tensions between rival parties and tribes have surged since the weekend, with some Sunni tribesmen charging that rival Sunnis stole the election. A Sunni party led by Saleh al-Mutlaq won in Anbar with 17.6 percent. The Awakening Council list finished close behind at 17.1 percent.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/06/2009 00:00 ||
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NO SOUP FOR YOU!
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) on Friday said it is suspending humanitarian aid in Gaza until further notice, after Hamas seized control of its warehouses and stole 200 tons of food and supplies. Ah, they've expanded the operation.
The agency said it made the decision after Hamas personnel seized an aid shipment on Thursday. Earlier this week, Hamas police took thousands of blankets and food parcels meant for needy residents. UNRWA said 10 truckloads of flour and rice that had been delivered into Gaza on Thursday were taken away by trucks affiliated with the Hamas-run Ministry of Social Affairs. Earlier this week, Hamas police took thousands of blankets and food parcels meant for needy residents. It appears Hamas has determined that some are more needy then others. Like Hamas...
UNRWA said the suspension would remain in effect until the aid is returned and the agency receives credible assurances from the Hamas government that such thefts will end. There was no immediate reaction from Hamas. We'll get back to you when we stop laughing. It could be awhile.
UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said the agency would continue to distribute aid from its existing supplies in Gaza, but that stocks were running thin. "There is enough aid for days, not weeks," he said. Complicating the situation, he said the agency has not been able to import plastic bags used for food distribution, and that existing supplies will run out early next week. I'd kinda keep that quiet or the brave Resistance™ fighters will be by to grab that...
A UN spokesman on Wednesday said Hamas police in Gaza broke into a warehouse full of UN humanitarian supplies and seized thousands of blankets and food packages, creating a rare public clash between the international agency that feeds much of the territory and the militant group that rules it. Geez, that's gratitude for ya. How about we consider it a UNRWA Dope Slap...
The incident highlighted difficulties facing donors seeking to bypass Hamas while helping Gazans survive and rebuild after Israel's three-week military offensive. So...don't donate.
"Hamas policemen stormed into an aid warehouse in Gaza City Tuesday evening and confiscated 3,500 blankets and over 400 food parcels ready for distribution to 500 families," said UNRWA spokesman Christopher Gunness on Wednesday. "They were armed, they seized this, they took it by force," Gunness said, terming the incident absolutely unacceptable. STOP IN THE NAME OF THE UN!
Yeah...right. C'mon, guys, be serious, will yas.
Police seized the aid after UNRWA officials refused to voluntarily hand it over to the Hamas-run Ministry of Social Affairs, he said. Similar aid packages were distributed to 70,000 residents over the past two weeks, Gunness said. Ahmad Kurd, the Hamas official in charge of the ministry, did not deny the aid was seized. Other Hamas officials defended their actions. Hamas spokesman Taher Nunu demanded an apology and said UNRWA was spreading false news. Oh-oh. Looks like another case of Offended Palistinian Dignity™...
Ihab Ghussein, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said the incident occurred because the UN was storing the blankets in an area not authorized to be distributed. Ah. I knew there was a good reason...
In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum called UNRWA's decision unjustified. He said Hamas supports UNRWA's work, but believes that some of the agency's employees were giving aid to groups attached to rival political parties. "We as Hamas refuse all use of the people's needs for political ends," he said. He called on UNRWA "to put an end to using aid for political means, and to distribute it to all the needy equally." Yeah, that's our gig. Keep ya filthy infidel mitts off it.
UN officials said the aid was kept in a local storage facility because the organization's regular warehouses were full. The UN, human rights groups and Palestinians have often complained that a blockade by Israel and Egypt has left Gaza critically short of vital supplies. Riddle me this Batman. If vital supplies are "critically short", why are the warehouses so full they have to use local ones?
Kurd said the Hamas government had already distributed $50 million in emergency relief to residents and promised additional payments for hardship cases. Wait, make that 50 million billion zillion dollars...
Gunness said this was the first time Hamas seized UNRWA supplies. "Does anyone really think that the Americans, who are our single largest donor, or the Europeans, who are our largest multination donor, would give us aid in the generous way they do if they thought that aid would go to terrorists?" Gunness asked. And I'll bet he said it with a straight face too...
THE UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said it has stopped importing aid into the Gaza Strip after hundreds of tonnes of food assistance were seized by the Hamas government.
The decision came after 10 truckloads of flour and rice brought in by UNRWA were intercepted and taken away yesterday by trucks contracted by the Islamist government's social affairs ministry, the agency said in a statement.
#1
10 truckloads of flour and rice brought in by UNRWA
To be sold on the black market at an inflated price, so Hamass can buy more weapons from Iran. You REALLY have to be a stupid group to get UNRWA mad at you.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/06/2009 17:05 Comments ||
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#2
BETRAYAL! They never complained before...
Posted by: Caesar Slineting4188 ||
02/06/2009 21:28 Comments ||
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Not. Looks like the hawks will win the day in one form or another.
JERUSALEM -- Polls just days before Israel's national election show a close race between front-runner Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
One poll shows Netanyahu's hawkish Likud party winning 25 seats in Israel's 120-seat parliament. Livni's centrist Kadima party gets 23.
The poll also shows that Defense Minister Ehud Barak's moderate Labor party has been pushed out of third place by hard-liner Avigdor Lieberman and his Yisrael Beiteinu party. It also predicts hard-liners winning a clear majority in parliament.
The Dahaf Institute poll was published Friday in the daily Yediot Ahronot. Pollsters surveyed 1,000 people, and the margin of error was 2.6 percentage points.
Polls in Israel's two other major dailies had similar results. Israelis vote on Tuesday.
Benjamin Netanyahu, widely tipped to become Israel's prime minister after next week's election, said on Thursday he would offer a top ministry to ultra-nationalist hawk Avigdor Lieberman if he takes office. Lieberman's party Yisrael Beitenu has emerged as a force in the February 10 election, tipped to become the third largest party in Parliament.
"When I become prime minister, I will reach out to Yisrael Beitenu and I will propose an important ministry to Avigdor Lieberman," Netanyahu told Army Radio.
"I intend to form a government by first of all reaching out to our traditional partners in the national camp, including Yisrael Beitenu," the hawkish politician said.
According to the mass-selling Yediot Aharonot newspaper, Lieberman is seeking the defense portfolio but Netanyahu is unlikely to meet his demand.
The 50-year-old Lieberman is one of Israel's most controversial politicians whose extremist rhetoric about the nation's indigenous Palestian-Israeli population earns him regular charges of racism.
Yisrael Beitenu (Israel is Our Home) is projected to win up to 18 seats in Parliament to become the third-largest party, nudging out center-left Labor.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
So it is racist to want to expel "people"
whose sole aim in life is to kill you.
We sure would not bother with the expulsion part,
we would just kill them...double tap please!!!
Posted by: Ming the Merciless ||
02/06/2009 20:48 Comments ||
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Speaking at solidarity event organized by high-school students, father of captive soldier calls on Hamas leaders to 'stop holding us as hostages of the symbols of yesterday's wars in a world that has changed beyond recognition'
With his son nearing a thousand days in Hamas captivity, Noam Shalit continues his tireless mission to keep Gilad in the public consciousness.
Speaking at an all-night solidarity event organized by students of Blich High School in Ramat Gan on Thursday, Shalit sought to not only emphasize the government's responsibility to see Gilad released but also issued an emphatic plea to his captors.
"I call on the leaders of Hamas, in Damascus and elsewhere, I say loud and clear what many Palestinians in Gaza dare not and cannot say out loud -- stop holding us, the regular citizens, the uninvolved, the families of prisoners who could have been home by now -- stop holding us as political hostages, as hostages of an imaginary resistance," Shalit said.
"Resistance against what? Against whom? Hostages of symbols that at best belong to yesterday's wars, to yesterday's world, which has since changed beyond recognition."
Speaking with Ynet after the event Shalit said the family remained cautiously optimistic. "This is the third year that we are caught between hope and despair," he added.
Asked whether plans were in place to pressure the next government on his son's case, Shalit said: "This government has yet to end its term, and even next Tuesday it will still be the government of the State of Israel for all intents and purposes. Until a new government is sworn in. (And so) We are demanding Shalit's release from the current government."
Earlier in the evening students heard a series of speeches regarding Gilad, and later on they will stay up all night and attend lessons dedicated to both Shalit's particular situation and broader themes such as the right of protest and the redemption of prisoners. In a special literature class they will read from the book Gilad authored.
Chairman of the Blich student council, Dor Gotschel: "Gilad hasn't slept in 956 nights and we decided that tonight we too won't sleep. This isn't about making a political statement, we want to increase awareness of the issue."
'Gilad chose to be a combat soldier'
Prior to addressing Hamas, Noam Shalit first thanked those present for their warm tribute. "This wonderful support has swept those who support Gilad, who for three years has been rotting away in Hamas' captivity in Gaza, in this ongoing nightmare, in the dark, in total isolation from the outside world, with only the thunder of planes and tanks and bombs penetrating the deathly silence of the basement he's being held in for 956 days and 956 long sleepless nights.
"A few months before he was kidnapped to Gaza Gilad was a young boy, like any one of you, a regular boy with friends and hobbies, ambitions and dreams. A boy who was motivated to give, to make sure his military service was meaningful, who went to combat service even though he could have chosen a non-combat unit.
"Gilad was supposed to have been discharged over six months ago. Like all the young people his age, if he were with us, he'd be trekking with his friends in the East or in South America, or just studying for the psychometric exam. But instead he is 'serving time' for the third year now in Hamas' prison in Gaza, and the Israeli government and its leaders have failed to uphold their moral duty towards IDF soldiers sent by their government on a mission -- their duty, which is also a mitzvah, that of redeeming prisoners."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Higgledy Piggledy,
President Jimmy
Decided Hamas is just misunderstood;
Thus showing symptoms
Of pure asinity,
Says, "Good is evil, and evil is good."
The Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth published details regarding the assassination of leading Hizbullah military leader Imad Mughniyeh, explaining that the hands that placed the deadly blow up charge at Mughniyeh's vehicle to the right of the driver's headrest were solely Israeli.
Cheez, the people at the Israeli newspaper are as bad as the New York Times. Keep yer bloomin' mouths shut, ya morons ...
The paper said that operational planning for Mughniyeh's assassination commenced with the arrest of Ali Moussa Daqdouq a Hizbullah 'foreign operations' official by Israeli security close to Karbala, Iraq in January 2007. The Israelis interrogated Daqdouq and later delivered him to U.S. Central Intelligence Agents, which also questioned him regarding Mughniyeh, according to the Israeli daily.
The paper said that Mughniyeh was assassinated because he committed one mistake more than required. The fact that it was common knowledge that he would be visiting Iran's new ambassador to Damascus Hujat al-Islam Mossawi, on the occasion of the 29th anniversary of the Islamic revolution on February 12.
The paper added that the Israeli assassination team sneaked into Syria from Iraqi-Kurdistan in three vehicles and monitored Mughniyeh the night before his assassination.
According to Yedioth Ahronoth, the Israeli team reached Mughniyeh's Mitsubishi Pajero and exchanged the headrest with another loaded with explosives. The Israeli team did not use a time bomb because they feared unforeseen sudden changes. Once Mughniyeh was seen seated next to the driver, the headrest blew up by remote control, the paper said.
Yedioth Ahronoth added that Israel fears Hizbullah and Iran would take revenge for Mughniyeh's killing. The first anniversary of the assassination is soon approaching on February 12.
#4
Y'know, this sounds an awfully lot like wishful thinking on the part of the Israeli newspaper. There are far too many loooonnngg strings hanging out of this narative that don't seem to be reasonable. Begin with the "commenced with the arrest of Ali Moussa Daqdouq a Hizbullah 'foreign operations' official by Israeli security close to Karbala, Iraq in January 2007." I can't see a bunch of Israelis running around the countryside in Iraq, even if they ARE Mossad agents. Secondly, IIRC, Iraqi Kurdistan doesn't have a common border with Syria - Anbar Province does. Frankly, I think the whole thing is a sun-dream. I'm sure the Mossad had a hand in his killing, but I don't believe this fairy-tale.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/06/2009 20:51 Comments ||
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Russia plans to begin operating the nuclear reactor it has been building for Iran before the end of 2009, the Interfax News Agency quoted a top official as saying on Thursday. "If there are no unforeseen events... then the launch will go according to the timetable," Sergei Kiriyenko, chief of Russia's state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, was quoted as saying. "The launch is scheduled for this year."
A Rosatom spokesman said Kiriyenko was talking about the so-called "technical" start-up, which would be the first time the reactor is fully switched on, to test its systems before electricity is supplied to the grid.
Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor project has encountered delays in the past, mainly on the grounds of payment disputes between the Islamic Republic and Moscow.
Russia has already delivered nuclear fuel to Bushehr under a $1 billion contract to build the plant on the Gulf coast in southwest Iran.
#2
ION RUSSIA, WAFF > RUSSIA'S ARMY CAN'T WIN A FULL-SCALE CONVENTIONAL WAR AGZ POLAND OR TURKEY [Polish Analysis as per Russo-Georgian War = Russ Armed Forces'internal, combat opers SNAFUS? FUBARS?]; + OVER 1/3 OF RUSSIAN FIGHTER JETS ARE OLD OR UNSAFE [YAHOO NEWS vee KOMMERSANT Report].
#4
ION RUSSIA, TOPIX > ALEXANDER DUGIN: RUSSIA SHOULD CONSIDER WAR TO HEAD OFF NABUCCO PIPELINE PROJECT [War to stop efforts to stop or limit foreign = EUrozone, etc. dependency on Russ energy]???
Also on TOPIX > ANTI-ISRAELISM: IS TURKEY THE NEXT VENEZUELA?
Iran's president says world powers should learn how to speak the language of logic and to drop the language of threat and enticement. That makes sense. I guess.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
ISRAELI MILITARY FORUM > WSJ: GERMANY PROVIDING MASSIVE ASSISTANCE TO IRAN FOR A [nuclear] BOMB, and to a lessor extent AUSTRIA???
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
North Korean officials have expressed their willingness to normalize relations between their country and the United States, a U.S. scholar who last month met them in North Korea said Wednesday. Selig Harrison, Asia Program director at the Washington-based Center for International Policy, made the revelation in a speech about his visit to the reclusive nation.
(AKI) - The European parliament has endorsed President Barack Obama's decision to close the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and called on member states to accept detainees for resettlement.
In a palatial house replete with guns, flags and other manifestations of tribal power, America's key ally in once-volatile Anbar province explained what he would do if the counting of votes in Saturday's election failed to show his party as the victor. 
BAGHDAD | Results from weekend elections released Thursday showed broad backing for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad, Basra and in Shi'ite provinces of the south, but it remains unclear how other candidates will accept defeat.
