The Canadian government plans to withdraw its combat troops by 2011, feeling the loss of more than 100 troops killed in Afghanistan since 2001. About 2,500 serve there now.
The looming absence of one of its closest allies has left the United States grappling with how to eliminate terror threats and government corruption in Afghanistan with its own troops already stretched thin from years in Iraq.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, the top U.S. military officer, paid homage to Canada's fallen and praised the nation's Afghanistan mission during a daylong visit to Ottawa on Tuesday.
Mullen called Canadian combat forces in fghanistan «absolutely critical» but said the issue of their withdrawal did not come up during his meetings.
"The Canadian force is a great armed force and a great combat force," Mullen told reporters at an Ottawa news conference with Canada's chief of defense staff, Gen. Walt Natynczyk. «And they've made a huge difference. In the fights that we're in, having partners like this is absolutely vital.
"But it is for the government of Canada to make that decision _ not for me or anybody in my country," Mullen said.
Canada is not the only country leaving. The Netherlands also will withdraw troops over the next two years. Last month, NATO commander Gen. John Craddock predicted the global financial crisis would force other nations to scale back in the costly war against al-Qaida and efforts to stabilize Afghanistan's government.
#3
if you read aq game plan (alot taken fromt the muslim brotherhood manifesto) bleeding financially is one of the aims....we need to get down and dirty and nuke pakland and iran..then pull back
Posted by: Dan ||
02/11/2009 19:46 Comments ||
Top||
#4
The Plan by the enemy is to attack our NATO allies and drive them out, leaving only the US on its own. They sense weakness in the Big O, and that he will cut and run when the casualty numbers start climbing. Based upon his performance so far, their assessment and plan may be sound.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/11/2009 20:47 Comments ||
Top||
This information can save your life. The enemy already knows the tactics they are using, but likely not all NATO/ISAF forces are aware.
Any enemy that repeatedly attacks U.S. Marines deserves at least grudging respect. The Marines respect this enemy, and that's saying a lot. Too bad the Marines have to kill so many of these guys; many would probably make good police or soldiers if they were not in cahoots with the enemy.
#1
when tactical weapons fail, use strategic weapons. that worked in Vietnam until the anti-napalm rants began. in the combat zone, wherever there are roads there are IEDs. Grunts said that in the "Bad Voodoo War" documentary. The Brass didn't listen, and years of 24-7-365 suicide patrols droned on. In WW2 "Bomber Command" targeted "built up areas" in Germany. It worked.
A civilian cargo ship drafted by the U.S. Navy to fight high-seas piracy has been equipped as the first U.S. vessel that can temporarily hold captured suspects, officials said.
The USNS Lewis and Clark, usually used to haul cargo and ammunition, has been reconfigured to hold as many as 26 suspected pirates -- signaling a paradigm shift in the Navy's counterpiracy missions, which previously did not allow for the capture of such suspects.
Only 26? Criminy, you could tow a barge and stuff a hundred in right there ...
An agreement between the U.S. State Department and the Kenyan government signed in mid-January supplied "the missing link" that now lets U.S. military and coalition nations capture suspected pirates and then turn them over to Kenya for prosecution, said Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman with U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/5th Fleet.
The Lewis and Clark joined Combined Task Force 151 as "a staging platform," from which the Navy can launch either of the SH-60 Navy helicopters now assigned to the ship, or serve as a temporary holding center for suspected pirates. Currently, no one is being held onboard.
The ship's crew, reduced from 158 to 118 civilian and military mariners to accommodate its new mission, reconfigured part of the ship as a holding area. Crews set down matting and blankets, and the ship's steward set aside foods like rice and beans, the ship's master, civilian mariner Capt. William McCarthy, said Monday in a phone interview. "Although this mission is unique, it's not unique to support a military operation," McCarthy said. "Military Sealift Command operates ships around the world, and we're quite frequently asked to support military missions."
The Lewis and Clark left the States in September for a scheduled 11-month deployment, he said.
#1
But does it have a yardarm? That's the key equipment for fighting pirates - something to hang their carcasses from when you call on their home port.
#3
Should have been a submarine. With the cells outside the pressure hull.
Posted by: ed ||
02/11/2009 10:41 Comments ||
Top||
#4
I know it's fun to put down Navy food, But truthfully, when I was in, we ate very well (And never peeled a single potato, we had a machine that did that).
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/11/2009 10:47 Comments ||
Top||
#5
So, unlimited ice cream bar for the pirates?
Posted by: ed ||
02/11/2009 10:53 Comments ||
Top||
Egyptian security forces on Wednesday morning released a German-Egyptian graduate student and blogger held incommunicado since Friday night, his friends and family reported.
Late on Friday night, officers from Egypt's domestic intelligence agency, State Security Investigations, detained Philip Rizk, a German-Egyptian graduate student, blogger, and film-maker, after he completed a symbolic march in Egypt's Qalubiya province north of Cairo to protest the blockade of Gaza, dpa reported.
"It's true. Philip is at home. We are very happy," Rizk's sister, Jeannette, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) on Wednesday. She said the family was not saying anything else for the moment. In the days since Rizk's arrest, his lawyers, family and friends said they had received no reliable word as to his whereabouts or any charges against him.
Approximately 200 protesters gathered on the steps of Cairo's Press Syndicate on Tuesday evening to call for the release of Rizk and others detained in Egypt for protesting the blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Also on Friday, police took Dia al-Din Gad from his home in Egypt's Gharbiya province, north-west of Cairo. On his blog, An Angry Voice, Gad was often sharply critical of the Egyptian government's policy toward the Gaza Strip. He became especially outspoken during Israel's 22-day offensive in the Gaza Strip.
On February 3, a Cairo administrative court postponed hearing a complaint against the Interior Ministry alleging that a third blogger, Mohammed Adil, had been detained illegally in November for traveling to the Gaza Strip in January 2008. Prosecutors issued a formal arrest warrant for Adil on November 24, four days after his arrest. Adil is charged with belonging to a banned group, a probable reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, and crossing into Gaza illegally.
And on February 5, a military court in the Suez Canal town of Ismailiya began its trial of Magdi Hussein, a fiery orator from Egypt's suspended Labour Party, who faces charges of crossing into the Gaza Strip illegally in January. Hussein chronicled his trip in daily entries posted to the Labour Party's website after he crossed into the Gaza Strip through a hole in the border fence Jan 23. In articles posted on the Labour Party's website, Hussein said he had met with politicians and militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, and that he had preached the virtues of armed struggle in Gazan mosques.
(AKI) - A new message purportedly from Al-Qaeda accuses Algeria's president Abdelaziz Bouteflika (photo) of betraying his country by allowing a CIA agent accused of raping two women while he was stationed there to return home.
"O beloved nation, what more do you want these rulers to do to make you to speak with one voice and say 'enough'!" said the message posted to Islamist websites.
"Doesn't this scandal prove to you that Bouteflika and his government are no different from that of Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan or Nouri al-Maliki's in Iraq?" the message said.
The CIA has said one of its agents has returned to the United States after being accused last September of committing the two rapes in Algeria.
The scandal could take its toll on Bouteflika's prospects in polls taking place on 9 April. He is running for election to a third presidential term.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
#1
You are barbarian. The depths of evil you concieve are beyond all models. You rape women to kill them. Al-Qaeda is an abomination.
#2
Oh, well, bouteflika is a pimp (his original line of work), and a war criminal (his only actual fait de guerre in the algeria war was to come back to algerai after the Evian armistice, and then manage the slaughtering of pro-France Harki troops, with whatever islamic refinement you might imagine). He's also very small, and obnoxious in his scapegoating of France for everything that is wrong with his "country", his claims that France invented the nazi gas chambers when french troops smoked out caves during the conquest of algeria, or that algeria was a country "as developed, with a longer democratic tradition" than France when it was colonized,... all the while getting subsidies from the old Motherlnd and asking for yet more visas to export his population surplus (like the algerian junta did with their berber youth, after the 1997 revolt), and keeping control of said export population on the french territory, through various networks (up to and including the main strain of "french islam", from the grand mosque of Paris, directly controlled by algiers)... but a traitor? To what principles?
#3
Interesting that these people bitch slap 24/7, stone and consider their women breeders and chattel and rarely is there a peep of protest, but once you get a Westerner involved all of the sudden they become honored and Cinderella-esque and have to be protected. Is there a more hypocritical people on earth (not including the Democrat Party and Hollywood)?
Posted by: Jack Salami ||
02/11/2009 9:38 Comments ||
Top||
#4
StrategyPage. Take it FWIW. January 29, 2009: The CIA has removed its station chief in Algeria, Andrew Warren, after he was accused of drugging and raping two women. Warren, a convert to Islam, is one of the more successful CIA counter-terror operatives, because he speaks Arabic and mixes it up with local Moslems in mosques and has a remarkable ability to keep track of local Islamic politics. The charges are a bit murky, and there is suspicion this is a ploy to keep Warren from finding out too much about scandalous behavior by Algerian officials.
Posted by: ed ||
02/11/2009 9:45 Comments ||
Top||
#2
let's see: he can be deprived of liberty, not for the requisite balancing argument, viz security, but because muslims are offended by his beliefs, the truth of same being irrelevant. Who won WW2?
SEOUL (Reuters) - Chinese fishing vessels have moved out of waters near a disputed sea border between the two Koreas, a South Korean military official said on Wednesday, which could signal a North Korean missile test is imminent. North Korea usually orders its vessels to stay out of Yellow Sea waters off its west coast when it conducts short-range missile tests. China is the closest thing the North can claim as an ally and is its biggest benefactor.
"The (Chinese) fishing boats have disappeared, but no other unusual moves have yet been detected," said an official with South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff who asked not to be named. The official would not comment on a possible missile test.
Impoverished North Korea, angry at the hard-line policies of the South's government, in recent weeks has stepped up tension by threatening to reduce its wealthy neighbor to ashes and making moves to test fire its longest-range missile.
Analysts said the steps were aimed at putting pressure on the South and at attracting the notice of new U.S. President Barack Obama, who is sending Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the region next week to discuss regional security concerns. "We are hopeful that some of the behavior that we have seen coming from North Korea in the last few weeks is not a precursor of any action that would up the ante or threaten the stability and peace and security of the neighbors in the region," Clinton said during a new conference in Washington on Tuesday.
It takes weeks for North Korea to prepare a launch of its Taepodong-2 missile, which is eventually supposed to be able to hit U.S. territory. The missile was last launched in 2006, fizzling less than a minute after launch.
The North can easily test-fire short-range missiles, with South Korean government officials telling a leading local daily they suspect such a test may take place soon near the disputed naval border called the Northern Limit Line (NLL).
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/11/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
TOPIX > HILLARY CLINTON: US DEPLOYMENT OF MISSLE DEFENSE TO EUROPE MAY NOT BE NEEDED IFF IRAN CHANGES ITS NUCLEAR POLICIES.
I don't think so, as Radical Islam needs NUCLEARIZATION for PAN-MUSLIM/ISLAMIC PRESTIGE + IDEO-RELIGIOUS CREDIBILITY, GEOPOL, AS WELL AS FOR PRAGMATIC JIHADIC VICTORY AGZ TECH-SUPERIOR FOES.
#4
ION WORLD MIL FORUM/WORLD AFFAIRS BOARD > CHINA THREATENS TO TAKE STRONG ACTION AGZ JAPAN OVER DAOYU ISLANDS.
* CHINA > Iff you escalate, we will escalate; JAPAN [Foreign Ministry] says Okey-Dokey.
WMF POSTER > opined CHINA will likely choose ECON RETALIATION FIRST [see agz FRANCE] OVER ARMED FORCE - REAL ACTION IS TO DEFEAT THE [ANTI-CHINA/IMPERIALIST]STRATEGY OF THE USA???
Also on WMF [GOOGLE Chinglish translation]> IIUC ARTICLE - THE REPOSITIONING OF JAPAN VEE CHINA AND ASIA IS KEY TO RESOLVING THE ESCALATING DAOYU ISLANDS DISPUTE [Prioritize China-Japan Bilater Regional Diplomacy, Japan Repositioning while retaining CHIN/PLA-specific options for military force agz Japan]: + OP-ED > OFFICERS: CHINA MUST BUILD POTENT OFFSHORE MILITARY BASES TO ASSUME THE RESPONSIBILITY OF A GREAT POWER.
#5
WORLD MILITARY FORUM > IIUC US-SOUTH KOREA ANALYSIS: NEW NORTH KOREA MISSLE LAUNCH AND PAST LAUNCH TEST HISTORY SHOW NORTH KOREA HAS MASTERED LONG-RANGE BALLISTIC MISSLE LAUNCH TECHNOLOGY [NOKOR still needs more work on WARHEAD DESIGN, MRV TECHS, + ACCURACY/
TARGETING].
* SAME > IIUC SOUTH KOREAN INTELLIGENCE: NORTH KOREA'S LOOMING MISSLE LAUNCH IS POSSIBLY A TEST OF AN IMPROVED LONG-RANGE TAEPONGDONG-2 ICBM CAPABLE OF STRIKING JAPAN AND CONTINENTAL USA [ western US], + SOUTH KOREAN INTELLIGENCE: STRATEGIC FLIGHT PATH OF ANY NORTH KOREAN MISSLE TEST-LAUNCHED FROM MUSUDAN-RI MISSLE BASE EXTENDS/FLIES DIRECTLY OVER JAPAN AND TOWARDS THE USA.
The controversial policy that bans media coverage of flag-draped caskets arriving from the war theater to Dover Air Force Base, Del., is once again being reviewed with an eye toward reversal, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday. "If the needs of the families can be met, and the privacy concerns can be addressed, the more honor we can accord these fallen heroes, the better," Gates said at a Pentagon news conference. "I'm ... pretty open to, to whatever the results of this review may be."
Gates said he ordered the review after President Barack Obama said Monday night during a nationally broadcast news conference that the White House is "in the process of reviewing those policies." Gates said he has put a "fairly short deadline on that effort," but was not more specific.
Gates, a Bush administration holdover who has served in the Pentagon's top job since December 2006, said he looked into changing the policy a little over a year ago. He said the answer he received, partly the result of talks with family members of fallen troops, was that if reporters and photographers were allowed to view the return of flag-draped caskets at Dover, "many of the families would feel compelled to be there for those ceremonies for their fallen hero."
"For these families, this would delay the return of the remains home," he said. "For others, it would be a financial hardship to get to Dover. And there were some privacy concerns."
But, Gates added, "I think that looking at it again makes all kinds of sense."
Media coverage of military remains arriving at ports of entry was once permitted but came to a halt by Pentagon decree during the 1991 Gulf War, on Feb. 2, 1991. Exceptions have been made over the years, such as when the media photographed a ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., for Americans killed in the 1998 embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. In October 2000, the Pentagon distributed photos of caskets arriving at Dover that contained the remains of sailors killed in the bombing of the USS Cole.
In 2004, a "Sense of Congress" resolution included in the 2005 budget stated that the Pentagon policy "appropriately protects the privacy of the families and friends of the deceased."
Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., has taken the opposite view -- that photos of returning caskets both honor the returning service member and remind the public that the nation is at war. In January, Jones introduced the "Fallen Hero Commemoration Act," legislation that would force the Pentagon to grant the media access when military remains arrive at U.S. military installations. This is a cause the leftists support and very badly want because they think it will destroy Americans' support for the military.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/11/2009 12:24 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I don't understand the logic of either side. I recall when the remains of the Challenger Crew were brought in via barge with the appropriate casket and flag (in the middle of the nighty) and the photos were instantly embargoed. Hell I'd had 5000 sailors maning the lines.
#2
as long as they balance it with photos of fat, lazy Ivy League and Berkley tools who wouldn't lift a finger in defense of their nation, and label them as such, then hokay
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/11/2009 20:51 Comments ||
Top||
Chief of Jamaat-e-Islami Qazi Hussain Ahmed Tuesday stressed the need to further consolidate people to people contacts between Pakistan and China adding Pakistan-China friendship is need of the hour for attaining regional peace. "We have good relations at government level, but there is need to strengthen people to people contacts" the JI Chief told media on Tuesday. The Jamaat delegation is currently visiting China at the invitation of ruling Communist Party of China (CPC). Qazi Hussain Ahmed said the delegation at a meeting held today with Vice-Chairperson of National People's Congress Tali Waldi agreed that the Sino-Pak friendship is immortal and would continue to deepen with the passage of time. He said that the exchanges and contacts between the political parties would bring politicians and parliamentarians of the two countries closer. On the occasion, he also called for further enhancing cooperation in economic field. The delegation, which arrived here on Monday attended a reception the same evening hosted by Ambassador Masood Khan at Pakistan House. On the second leg of their visit to China, the JI delegation will leave here for Xian Wednesday. It will also go to Shanghai on a 3-day visit starting from Feb 14.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
#2
I understand there has been quite a bit of Pak-Chinese trade build-up in recent years. Licit and illicit. On the licit side, in very low cost manufacturing sub-contracting, since the Chinese operating/labor costs have risen with their commercial growth.
#4
ION CHINA > PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > CHINA IN ARABIA [Saudi Arabia]/ CHINA TO BUILD [US$1.8Bilyuhn]MECCA MONORAIL [connect wid MINA, ARAFAT, + MUZDALFAH areas as per Faith-required Muslim Pilgrimages].
Poland has asked the U.S. for support in hunting down the Taliban militants suspected in the beheading of a Polish engineer in Pakistan, the nation's foreign minister said Tuesday. Radoslaw Sikorski said Poland's ambassador in Washington has submitted a note to the U.S. State Department "with a request for support for our efforts to capture the killers." He added that Warsaw has filed the same request with other countries, but did not specify which ones.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said he had not yet heard of the request. "But of course, should they come to us with a request for assistance, we will do whatever we can.''
Sikorski said Poland is also offering a 1 million zloty($290,000) reward for information that would lead to the arrest of those who killed Polish engineer Piotr Stanczak. Warsaw also has plans to issue an international warrant for their arrest. "Today, Poland is going to focus on carrying out its investigation and capturing and putting the culprits on trial,'' Prime Minister Donald Tusk said. "We have enough examples, as well as patience and the means, to bring the case to a just end.''
Authorities received a video Sunday purportedly showing militants beheading Stanczak. Sikorski told reporters that the Pakistani Foreign Ministry officially confirmed Stanczak's death earlier Tuesday, but still had no information on the fate of his body. Speaking at a joint news conference alongside Sikorski, Tusk saidit wasn't clear how the Pakistani authorities were able to confirmthe death without the body. Officials have said that a seven-minute video purporting to showthe 42-year-old's slaying appeared authentic.
Also Tuesday, Polish Senate Speaker Bogdan Borusewicz called off a three-day visit to Warsaw this week by Pakistani lawmakers, but said it should not be seen as an unfriendly gesture. He said its timing would have been inappropriate in the aftermath of the killing, which has horrified the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#3
I concur with SteveS. Give them whatever they need. The Poles are true allies. Spare no expense. As has been previously pointed out on related threads, the Poles saved Western Civ once before back in 1683. We owe them an enormous debt of gratitude. From time to time the USA has been accused of kissing the ass of an enemy at the expense of a friend. Let's not go down that road again.
(AKI/DAWN) - The Pakistani government is reported to have stopped nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan from meeting people, after the United States and Britain expressed serious concern over his release on a court order.
Sources close to A.Q. Khan told Pakistani daily Dawn that after the court had declared him a free citizen, a few people met him, but no one was allowed to enter his residence on Monday.
The Islamabad High Court on Friday declared A.Q. Khan a 'free citizen' but kept secret an agreement reached between him and the government.
Legal experts said that unless the secret agreement was made public, restrictions on Khan's movement could be considered as contempt of court because he had been allowed by the court to meet anyone and go anywhere he wanted to.
The move came a day after Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told reporters that the government had reserved the right to go in appeal against the release of Khan.
"If they have a right to contest, I too reserve the right to ask the court to uphold its decision," Khan told Dawn on Monday.
Brushing aside West's concerns that he could again be involved in nuclear proliferation, Khan said he had nothing to do with his previous department (Khan Research Laboratories). "I have no links with KRL since 2001," he added.
He reiterated that he had nothing to do with the country's nuclear programme and said that due to his bad health he could not resume work. "What I was doing in KRL was very sophisticated work and I cannot resume it because it required continuous involvement," he said.
"Now I am passing my time reading poetry and with my family. I have passed very difficult time in detention, but now I feel relief as my family is with me."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani warns that the US incursions inside Pakistani territories have fueled anti-American feelings across the country.
Gilani said in Islamabad that the "policy of the US incursions" had proved counter-productive, a Press TV correspondent reported Tuesday.
The premier noted that the deadly attacks were severely undermining public support for counter-terrorism measures.
Gilani made the remarks at a meeting with visiting US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke.
Washington "should reconsider... US incursions as such actions have proved counter-productive and are promoting anti-American feeling in the area while severely undermining the public support for the counter terrorism measures," a spokesman for the premier said.
Earlier on Monday, President Barack Obama called for a 'concerted effort' to root out militant safe havens to guarantee success in Afghanistan.
'My bottom line is that we cannot allow al-Qaeda to operate,' Obama said, adding that 'We cannot have those safe havens in that region, and we're going to have to work both smartly and effectively, but with consistency, in order to make sure that those safe havens don't exist.'
The tribal regions along the shared border between Pakistan and Afghanistan have become a safe haven for militants after a US-led invasion in late 2001 toppled Taliban in Afghanistan and sent insurgents to border areas with Pakistan.
The US and its western allies have accused Pakistan of 'not doing enough' to prevent attacks on supply routes as well as cross-border operations carried out by insurgents against foreign troops in Afghanistan.
Pentagon has used the allegation as a pretext to launch drone attacks on Pakistan's tribal regions -- a move that has increased tension between Islamabad and Washington and has triggered anti-American sentiments among the Pakistani people.
Pakistan says that the drone attacks undermine the country's sovereignty and trigger public anger.
Over 500 people -- suspected militants as well as civilians -- have been killed in such attacks, which started under the Bush administration.
Pakistani Foreign Minster Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Holbrooke was visiting Pakistan to observe ground realities and to listen to the view point of country's leadership.
The Pakistani senior official called for a new strategy of dialogue to combat militancy and urged Washington to reconsider military action on its territory in its first talks with US President Barack Obama's envoy.
"The new US strategic policy towards Pakistan and Afghanistan is likely to come out by April 2, as the new US administration is reviewing Bush regime's policies", the minister said.
"I am here to listen and learn," in "this critically important country," Holbrooke said in a US embassy statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#2
Our drone attacks may have fueled Pakistanian anti-American feelings, but their protection of al Quaeda and Taliban terrorists has certainly fueled my anti-Pakistani feelings.
And, since Jan 20, 'feelings' are the most important thing, right?
#8
US incursions inside Pakistani territories have fueled anti-American feelings across the country.
Uh huh. Guess those zillion idiotic demonstrations since, oh, the early 80s were fueled by .... premonitions of strikes by non-existent UAVs against terrorist outfits yet to be formed? Only using the special Inverse Chronological Causation Principle (discovered by Palestinians) that current events can cause things in the past.
Paki anti-Americanism is the pure, idiotic, brainless, drooling, envious, racist thing. And it's worse among the toxic, loathsome "elite" than the unappealing masses. Seen it myself up close in the Beltway. Funny side-notes: the Paki KBR staff in Iraq were wonderfully friendly and seemed to like us just fine (and appreciated the special fundraising for earthquake victims); the only booze I ever got as a Christmas gift was from the Paki embassy, back in the late 80s. Good brandy.
(AKI/Asian Age) - One of India's main political parties, the Indian National Congress, has accused the Pakistani government of being too slow to investigate the Mumbai bomb attacks. A key party leader also warned of repercussions if the attacks were not fully investigated.
"India has not closed any of its options in the war against terrorism, " said party spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
"Nothing will be spared to ensure the security and safety of the country from covert and overt support of terrorism. If Pakistan does not come out with concrete results, it will definitely have to face the consequences."
Referring to an article in published in the international magazine, Granta, the party spokesperson said it gave "telling, revealing and scary" details of terrorist networks in Pakistan.
"The investigative write-up says that Pakistan's Software Export Board recruited a large number of terrorists not only from Pakistan but also American and British citizens, who fought wars in Peshawar and North Western Frontiers," said Singhvi.
Singhvi said the report showed terrorism appeared to have official support.
"Pakistan is the fountain head of terror. Whether it is Spain, Liverpool or Mumbai, the sources of terrorist attacks go to Pakistan," said Singhvi.
Pakistan must come clean on the degeneration of its institutions and its symbols of governance, many of which have shown beyond doubt to be involved in terrorist activities, he added.
New Delhi has blamed the Mumbai attacks on the banned Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba. But LeT, which is active in Indian-ruled Kashmir, has denied any involvement.
While India and Pakistan have each blamed the other for the November assault on Mumbai during which ten gunmen killed 173 people during a three-day siege.
The attacks sharply escalated tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours and put on hold peace talks over the disputed territory of Kashmir.
The Congress party is currently the chief member of the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition that heads the government of India.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
again, Pakistan is saturated with security checkpoints. The Mumbai terrorists made a nationwide dash, with weapons. Then they received papers to take an empty cargo ship into international waters. Even if the leadership isn't implicated, the fact that arrests of other players isn't being made, raises red flags.
Again, Sindh Province complains yearly about Punjab hogging of Indus Source water. India can legally divert more of that. Further, Taliban elements are within hours of the Pakistan reservoirs. Pakistan would be advised to join NATO in a hammer-anvil war on Taliban. But that would require common sense.
(AKI/Asian Age) - Indian army chief General Deepak Kapoor said surgical strikes against terror targets in Pakistan were a "feasible" option after the Mumbai terror attacks.
"Surgical strikes are definitely feasible but whether you wish to take that decision or not is a separate issue," Kapoor said on Sunday.
"Whether you would like to look at doing it (carrying out such strikes) by air or artillery or by another means or physically there," he said.
He said that the armed forces were ready for such strikes if political leaders gave the order. Kapoor's comments are likely to provoke further tension between Pakistan and India.
"We are an army which has been involved in operations in Kashmir and Northern Command on a perpetual and on-going basis. Therefore, the question of not being ready is, frankly, not relevant. And we would have been fully ready to do our task," he said.
"The peaceful diplomatic course adopted by the Indian government so far seems to have provided stimuli to the Pakistan government to act against the terror infrastructure and help bring the guilty to book."
He said that after the Mumbai attack, no deployment of additional troops had taken place on the border.
"However, we are maintaining our utmost vigil and closely monitoring the situation. Our current posture allows us to achieve full operational readiness at short notice," he stated.
During a wide-ranging interview, the Kapoor also sought to dispel the impression that there was no clarity about the nuclear command when prime minister Manmohan Singh was hospitalised for heart surgery last month.
"As far as the army is concerned, there is a clarity on the nuclear command issue and there was no confusion on the issue," he added.
Relations between India and Pakistan have been under renewed strain since the terror attacks that targeted two luxury hotels and other city landmarks in the Indian city of Mumbai last November.
A total of 173 people died and hundreds of others were injured. One gunman survived and Islamabad admitted this month he is a Pakistani citizen.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
We send you a few experts on this type of surgery and you send us Aishwarya Rai, deal?
(AKI) - Pakistan said on Monday it will ask India for more information soon to enable investigators to complete a probe into the terror attacks that struck Mumbai in November.
New Delhi blamed the Mumbai attacks on the banned Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba. LeT, which is active in Indian-ruled Kashmir, has denied any involvement .
"In order to complete the investigation the questions which are arising from the inquiry carried out by the FIA (Federal Investigation Agency) need to be answered by the Indian authorities," said a statement issued after a cabinet meeting chaired by prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani.
"These will be communicated to the Indian authorities shortly," the statement added.
"Without substantial evidence from India it will be exceedingly difficult to complete the investigation and proceed with the case," the statement said.
Top Pakistani army officials also attended the meeting.
India and Pakistan have each blamed the other for the November assault on India's financial capital, when 10 gunmen killed 173 people during a 60-hour siege. The attacks sharply escalated tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours and put on hold peace talks over the disputed territory of Kashmir.
India last Thursday for the first time directly accused Pakistan's military intelligence agency of involvement in the Mumbai attacks. Pakistan rejected the claim accusing India of contributing to a "a global smear campaign" against it.
Gillani's government also denied that information from New Delhi in January linking the Mumbai attacks to 'elements' in Pakistan constituted proof.
Gillani has said that anyone found guilty in Pakistan over the Mumbai attacks will not be extradited but will be punished under Pakistani law.
US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, arrived in Islamabad on Monday for meetings with senior Pakistani government officials, military leaders, business and civil society leaders.
"I am here to listen and learn the ground realities of this critically important country," Holbrooke said.
"The United States looks forward to reviewing our policies and renewing our commitment and friendship with the people of Pakistan."
It is Holbrooke's first visit to Pakistan since US president Barack Obama appointed him special representative last month.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Last month, India celebrated a road-building triumph that went unnoticed in much of the world.
The new highway linked the Afghan towns of Zaranj, on the Iran border, and Delaram, 217 kilometres to the northeast. It was constructed at the cost of six Indian and 129 Afghan lives, victims of attacks by an increasingly muscular Taliban insurgency. And it was hailed as a landmark in co-operation between India and Afghanistan.
Its strategic value -- connecting the Iranian port of Chahabar with major Afghan cities -- set alarm bells ringing in neighbouring Pakistan, whose relations with India are at a low point after Islamic militants carried out a massive attack on Mumbai in November.
An attack yesterday on a Khyber Pass bridge closed down the vital NATO supply line between Afghanistan and the Pakistani port of Karachi, strengthening conviction that it is time to seek an alternative in a country where dirt tracks are more common than paving.
A NATO official hinted that transit through Iran, once condemned as part of the "axis of evil," might be an alternative to the escalating risks of Pakistan's lawless borders.
If the Indian-built road becomes part of a new transit route, it would be an added boost to relations between India and the West, even as the U.S. cools toward Pakistan.
"It's a Pakistani nightmare," said Kamran Bokhari, director of Middle East analysis for the U.S.-based intelligence analysis company Stratfor. "India believes the only way to neutralize Pakistan and keep it in the box, is to have good relations with the Afghans.
"But Pakistan's situation gets worse and worse."
A series of projects that have made India Afghanistan's largest regional supporter. Since the Taliban were defeated in 2001, India has spent $1.2 billion (U.S.) in Afghanistan on projects ranging from dams and roads to backing for international agencies' nutritional campaigns.
It has about 4,000 aid and security officials working in the country, and has trained Afghan police officers.
Indian aid is visible on the ground. Hungry Afghan school children nibble high-nutrition biscuits between classes. Once-parched villages are rejuvenated by newly dug tube wells. Homes that were in the dark are connected to power sources with the construction of transmission lines.
In a hearts-and-minds campaign, India is on the home stretch.
Pakistan, which tried to shore up its security and influence in a hostile neighbourhood after the Soviet invasion of 1979, backed Islamist insurgents who have added to Afghans' misery.
Afghanistan is only one forum for rounds of rivalry between India and Pakistan that began with the partition of India in 1947 and continued through a succession of bloody wars, including conflicts over Muslim-dominated Kashmir.
A nuclear arms race raised the stakes of the conflict. But Pakistan's backing for the militants, including the Taliban, has sparked outbreaks of violence that have killed hundreds of Pakistanis, including former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
Now, says GTA-based security and defence analyst Sunil Ram, "Pakistan is using both Afghanistan and Kashmir as a means to get rid of its more radical elements, sending them on a jihad."
Some are suspected of travelling to India and perpetrating November's Mumbai attack, which has been called "India's 9/11."
But, says Ramesh Thakur, director of the Balsillie School of International Affairs: "Indians find it difficult to accept that the government is serious about tackling what is a common threat -- a threat that is consuming Pakistan from within."
While India ponders how to respond to the attacks amid fierce criticism from its own angry citizens, it is continuing its support for Afghanistan's reconstruction. Meanwhile, says Bokhari, "Pakistan's Islamist project has backfired, they're being attacked by their own creations, the U.S. is on their tail, and Afghanistan still has a hostile regime."
This article starring:
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Posted by: john frum ||
02/11/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
BAGHDAD - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Tuesday that the era of US dominance was over, in a broadside to Washington almost six years after the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. The Shiite premier, boosted by the strong showing by his allies in provincial elections, said Iraq was now taking charge of its own destiny and was making good progress toward rebuilding the war-torn country.
His remarks were a pointed rebuke to US Vice President Joe Biden, who last week said Washington would have to be more aggressive in pushing Baghdad toward faster political reform.
Ah, the Bambi administration, making friends and winning influence around the world ...
The time for putting pressure on Iraq is over, Maliki told reporters, asked about Bidens comments. The Iraqi government knows what are its responsibilities. We are carrying out reform and we are in the last step of the reconciliation.
Biden said the January 31 provincial electionsin which Malikis allies triumphedhad shown that progress was being made, but more needed to be done as Iraqs leaders had not gotten their political arrangements together yet.
The new US administration of President Barack Obama would have to be much more aggressive... forcing them to deal with those issues, Biden said.
Malikis remarks are a strong signal ahead of a general election due to be held in about a year that he is unwilling to allow the United States to dictate how Iraq should rebuild and consolidate its fledgling democracy. We succeeded in solving problems created by Paul Bremer (head of the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority put in place after the 2003 invasion), like the dismantling of the army and other institutions, he added, in another dig at the history of Americas influence in Iraq.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/11/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Hope! And Change! in action.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
02/11/2009 4:24 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Any guesses on how long Maliki will live once US military leaves?
#3
Maliki seemed overconfident last year in hitting Basra, over our warnings, but he was successful. I think that success made him the 'strong horse' in Iraq, strong enough to attract substantial support from the general population. I suspect he can go on without us now, as long as Iran doesn't interfere. Of course, I would not be a bit surprised to see him adopt the old mid-east tactic of getting the US and Russia bidding against each other for his backing. It makes me wonder whether we knew the Iraqi government was stonger than we let on for a while, to try to keep them believing they were dependent on us - and thus keeping them from getting too close to Iran and/or Russia (and/or China, now.)
#7
Oh the hell with the clown Biden and his twink intern boss.
Allowance For Idiotic Internal Politics Circuit On: Maliki's barking for a home audience
Circuit Off: listen, you little twerp, not a single decent or civilized thing going on in your country outside of Kurdistan would be happening, or even possible, without the courage, patience, and seriousness of certain US political leaders now gone from the scene, US and Coalition military personnel, and a few foreign civilians. US "dominance" translates as: payrolls get paid, not stolen; projects (generally) get completed, not derailed; detainees are taken on a reasonable basis and well-treated while in custody; foreign (including sub-human Sunni Arab and Persian IRGC) interlopers are thwarted, hunted, and defeated; the competence and integrity of every process with a US influence is immeasurably greater than anything ever seen in the entire Arab world, or likely to be seen for several generations.
Remember, "honor/shame" culture is a euphemism coined by apologists - such cultures, almost utterly, lack any honor of any sort. In that vein, all Iraqis who fail to show gratitude and respect for the US and what it has done for Iraq can drop dead, as can their children, grandchildren, first and second cousins, clan chiefs, imams, and flocks of sheep.
Eliminating the Ba'athist regime and replacing it with something far better was in our interests, but most Iraqis remain completely unworthy of the sacrifice of one US soldier.
Palestinian professor says if Kadima and Labor fail to win many votes, it will be a sign of victory for Hamas. That makes sense. Not a lot of sense, but sense. Of a sort...
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
(AKI/The Jakarta Post) - An Indonesian medical team is continuing its humanitarian mission in the Gaza Strip, despite a final call issued by the Egyptian government for foreign volunteers to leave the Palestinian territory. Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C) executive Joserizal Jurnalis said four members of the group were carrying on their services at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
"As of today, four of our volunteers are staying in Gaza to continue their mission and work on a project to build a hospital there," Joserizal said Sunday as quoted by Indonesia's state news agency Antara.
Egypt had set a 5 February deadline for all volunteers to return to Egypt through the border town of Rafah, following a 17 January unilateral cease-fire by Israel, after a three week offensive that killed over 1,373 Palestinians.
However, sporadic flare-ups of tit-for-tat violence have continued.
MER-C presidium chairman Sarbini Abdul Murad said the Egyptian government's policy was unclear, particularly for volunteers maintaining a presence in Gaza. "We observed that people were streaming into Rafah from Gaza even after the 5 February deadline," he said.
Arief Rachman, head of the MER-C mission currently serving in Gaza, said his team was helping victims of the war at Al-Shifa Hospital. "We are here to carry on the work of the first team to build a hospital," he said.
During a recent meeting with MER-C representatives, Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said the government would provide Rp 10 billion (850,000 dollars) to help the MER-C build the two-story hospital. With the project estimated at Rp 20 billion, Joserizal said MER-C would cover the rest of the cost through a fund-raising program.
MER-C has sent two teams to Gaza, the first of which, led by Joserizal, arrived back in Indonesia on 31 January and 3 February.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
yah, like Nazi Germany had "volunteers" in Civil War Spain.
JERUSALEM, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- The makeup of Israel's next government remained unclear early Wednesday as votes counted thus far showed the Kadima and Likud parties neck and neck.
Kadima, the party of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, was projected to have won 29 Knesset seats and Likud, headed by Binyamin Netanyahu, 28 with 76 percent of the votes counted as of 2:30 a.m., The Jerusalem Post reported. Israel Beiteinu was projected to pick up 16 seats, Labor 12, Shas 11, Meretz 4, United Torah Judaism 4, National Union 4, Hadash 4, Bayit Hayihudi 3, United Arab List 3 and Balad 2 seats, the newspaper said.
Voter turnout was 65.2 percent, or 2 percentage points higher than in the 2006 national elections.
Though votes were still being tabulated, Netanyahu declared early Wednesday he would be Israel's next prime minister and that talks with other parties would start as early as Wednesday, the Post reported. "With God's help I will stand at the head of the next government," he told the supporters at Tel Aviv's airport.
With a key bloc of seats, Israel Beiteinu were to discuss the electoral situation Wednesday, though party leader Avigdor Lieberman indicated he favored siding with Likud. "It's true that Tzipi Livni won a surprise victory," Lieberman said. "But what is more important is that the right-wing camp won a clear majority ... . We want a right-wing government."
Kadima leaders claimed victory, too, saying Livni would be able to form a government with at least Labor, Meretz and Israel Beiteinu.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/11/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
It ain't over until the military votes are counted.
(AKI) - The United Nations has deplored a suicide attack allegedly carried out by a female bomber on Monday at a registration centre which killed many civilians, including children. The refugees had fled the fierce fighting in northern Sri Lanka between the army and Tamil separatist rebels.
"The UN reiterates that civilians must be distinguished from combatants, and protected from the fighting," the UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator in Sri Lanka said in a statement.
A female Tamil Tiger rebel reportedly blew herself up at a registration centre in the Vishwamadu area of Mullaitivu district. Over twenty civilians died in the attack.
The attack comes amid a growing humanitarian crisis in the northern part of the South-East Asian nation, where some 250,000 civilians are trapped by fighting between Government forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), commonly known as the Tamil Tigers.
"It calls once again on the LTTE to separate its forces from civilians under its control," the UN statement continued, adding that those killed had already been forced from their homes by fighting, and had endured terrible hardship.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other senior UN officials have repeatedly called on both the rebels and the government to do all in their power to ensure safe passage for those fleeing the conflict zone, and to ensure the protection of civilians in accordance with international humanitarian law.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
UN "Deplores" this, UN "Deplores That"Try English, we'll bust your balls if this does not stop.
For that matter ayes the UN is indeed "Deplorable".
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/11/2009 17:14 Comments ||
Top||
Iran gave a strong signal yesterday that it is prepared to start a mould-breaking dialogue with the United States in response to the dramatic call by Barack Obama for the Islamic Republic to "unclench its fist".
Oh goody. Expect 'negotiations' the way Iran handled the EU-3 ...
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's hardline president, used the final rally of celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the 1979 revolution to declare a readiness for talks with the US "based on mutual respect and in a fair atmosphere". Ahmadinejad told a crowd of hundreds of thousands in Tehran that change by Washington would have to be "fundamental and not tactical" - and attacked the former president George Bush, who included Iran in his notorious "axis of evil".
But the Iranian leader reinforced the impression that the Obama administration's emollient signals are being taken seriously - even if the prospects for change remain highly uncertain.
Overnight, Obama had predicted face-to-face discussions with Iran within months. "We will be looking for openings that can be created where we can start sitting across the table face-to-face with diplomatic overtures that will allow us to move our policy in the new direction," he said at his first press conference since taking office.
The timing and location of Ahmadinejad's remarks could hardly have been more symbolic, marking the events - the overthrow of the US-backed shah and the establishment of the Islamic Republic - which opened up a chasm of hostility between the two countries. Underlining the continuing animosity, many in yesterday's crowd in Tehran's Azadi (Freedom) Square carried placards reading "Death to America" or burned US flags. Other slogans included "30 years of freedom, 30 years of pride" and "Death to Israel."
"The new US administration has announced that they want to produce change and pursue the course of dialogue," Ahmadinejad declared. "It is quite clear that real change must be fundamental and not tactical. It is clear the Iranian nation welcomes real changes."
Celebrations of the revolution's anniversary have been relatively lowkey, not least because approximately 70% of the Iranian population was born after 1979 or has no memory of the shah's rule. Iranian state TV has been broadcasting archive footage of the revolution every day since 31 January, the anniversary according to the Persian calendar, of Ayatollah Khomeini's return from exile.
But if disagreements persist over past relations between the US and Iran, dealing with present problems will be even more difficult, with the west locked in confrontation with Tehran over its nuclear programme, which the US claims is an attempt to develop nuclear weapons. Iran insists it is for peaceful purposes.
The US administration must also take internal Iranian developments into account, especially since Sunday's announcement by the reformist former president, Mohammad Khatami, that he will challenge Ahmadinejad in June's presidential elections. Reported attacks on Khatami by stick-wielding demonstrators yesterday were a reminder of how volatile that contest is likely to be.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/11/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
After those completely STUPID comments that the annointed one made in his presser about Iran, the mullahs think they have a live one.
He practically wrapped himself around their ankles like a lost puppy.
We are so screwed if he thinks we can negotiate with meaning with those people.....once they get enough U-235 to cobble together a nuke, I think they will be less willing to negotiate and more willing to committ terror.
I wonder how the Saudis are taking all of this in? After all, one nuke in Iran makes their grip on the reins of power less firm.
Posted by: James Carville ||
02/11/2009 10:49 Comments ||
Top||
Interesting stat:
Saudi Arabia was saved from worse trouble with local terrorists by the growing violence in Iraq between the Sunni Arab minority, and the Shia majority. This attracted many Saudi fanatics, and greatly depleted the number of al Qaeda backers inside Saudi Arabia. Over 5,000 Saudi Islamic radicals are believed to have died in Iraq. From 2003-7, up to half the suicide bombers have been Saudis, and about half the foreigners held in U.S. military prisons in Iraq were Saudis. Back in 2007, American intelligence believed about 45 percent of the foreign fighters (less than ten percent of all terrorists there) were Saudis. The next largest group was Syrians and Lebanese (15 percent), followed by North Africans (10 percent). The other 30 percent were from all over, including Europe.
Posted by: ed ||
02/11/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I think the Saudi school curriculum needs looking at again re teaching their kids to kill infidels!!!!
Saudis are happy as it keeps the unemployent down and the trouble away from their door!!!
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The Canadian government plans to withdraw its combat troops by 2011, feeling the loss of more than 100 troops killed in Afghanistan since 2001. About 2,500 serve there now.
SEOUL (Reuters) - Chinese fishing vessels have moved out of waters near a disputed sea border between the two Koreas, a South Korean military official said on Wednesday, which could signal a North Korean missile test is imminent. North Korea usually orders its vessels to stay out of Yellow Sea waters off its west coast when it conducts short-range missile tests. China is the closest thing the North can claim as an ally and is its biggest benefactor.
Chief of Jamaat-e-Islami Qazi Hussain Ahmed Tuesday stressed the need to further consolidate people to people contacts between Pakistan and China adding Pakistan-China friendship is need of the hour for attaining regional peace. "We have good relations at government level, but there is need to strengthen people to people contacts" the JI Chief told media on Tuesday. The Jamaat delegation is currently visiting China at the invitation of ruling Communist Party of China (CPC). Qazi Hussain Ahmed said the delegation at a meeting held today with Vice-Chairperson of National People's Congress Tali Waldi agreed that the Sino-Pak friendship is immortal and would continue to deepen with the passage of time. He said that the exchanges and contacts between the political parties would bring politicians and parliamentarians of the two countries closer. On the occasion, he also called for further enhancing cooperation in economic field. The delegation, which arrived here on Monday attended a reception the same evening hosted by Ambassador Masood Khan at Pakistan House. On the second leg of their visit to China, the JI delegation will leave here for Xian Wednesday. It will also go to Shanghai on a 3-day visit starting from Feb 14.
(AKI/Asian Age) - One of India's main political parties, the Indian National Congress, has accused the Pakistani government of being too slow to investigate the Mumbai bomb attacks. A key party leader also warned of repercussions if the attacks were not fully investigated.
JERUSALEM, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- The makeup of Israel's next government remained unclear early Wednesday as votes counted thus far showed the Kadima and Likud parties neck and neck.
Iran gave a strong signal yesterday that it is prepared to start a mould-breaking dialogue with the United States in response to the dramatic call by Barack Obama for the Islamic Republic to "unclench its fist".
