NAPLES, Italy -- The Defense Department is taking over training of the Afghan National Police because State Department-hired trainers failed to keep pace with the growing instability in Afghanistan or address the security needs of the civilian population, according to a joint State and DOD Inspector General report released late last week.
"The ANP training program that is in place does not provide the ANP with the necessary skills to successfully fight the insurgency, and therefore, hampers the ability of DOD to fulfill its role in the emerging national strategy," according to the report.
The report, initiated by members of the Senate Appropriations Committee last year, said the State Department failed on a number of fronts, mainly in its ability to provide training that adequately reflected the security needs of the country.
A Clinton administration-era directive gave the State Department responsibility for training civilian police forces around the world. Under that directive, the DOD transferred $1.04 billion to the State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs to support training programs for the ANP.
At the time, according to the IG report, "the security situation in Afghanistan was more stable and suitable for a civilian police force whose sole mission is to enforce the rule of law."
But as average monthly fatality rates for members of the ANP soared from 24 in 2006 to 123 last year, contractors hired by the State Department failed to provide the level of combat training needed to battle the escalating insurgency, the report said.
The report described the training contract as "ambiguous" and said task orders within the contract included no specific information on the type of training required and provided no way to measure its efficacy. DynCorp International, the company that holds the contract, filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office in December, arguing that the DOD takeover of training effectively shut the company out of the bidding process for new contracts.
The current contract, which expired last month, was extended to July pending the outcome of a GAO review.
While the DOD will take over the Americans' part in ANP training, many other countries are also involved. However, a lack of standardization throughout the country is slowing progress, the IG report states.
That's something NATO is looking to change.
"Right now you've got ... the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, run by the [U.S.] Embassy here [in Afghanistan]," said Lt. Col. David S. Hylton, a spokesman for NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan. "At the same time you have several countries that have bi-lateral agreements with Afghanistan that conduct police training.
"We want to set a common standard, so if you're getting trained to be a uniformed policeman up in Herat, you're getting the same standard of training as you do in Kandahar, or Jalalabad or Kabul," Hylton said.
Other issues raised in the report included ensuring there were enough women on the force and maintaining fiscal oversight for supply purchases.
Efforts to train women have fallen woefully short -- even taking into account the cultural mores that make training female police officers difficult in a male-dominated career field and country, the report said.
While more than 172,000 Afghans completed basic and advanced training courses, only 131 are women.
The report also was critical of contracting officers who failed to maintain sufficient invoices for millions of dollars worth of supplies. Nor did they ensure that orders for equipment purchased were considered allowable expenses or that items paid for were actually received.
The State Department took exception to the report's claim that $80 million was unaccounted for and should be returned to the Defense Department, according to Susan Pittman, a State spokeswoman.
"The money in question has been appropriated for the tasks at hand but has not yet been expended," Pittman wrote in an e-mail.
The shift in responsibility doesn't paint the State Department completely out of the picture. The report recommends the department's law enforcement bureau continue in areas such as criminal investigation and professional development.
#1
The State Dept's score so far is 0 for the 21st century. They have been so consistently wrong and/or inept that I wonder which side they're on.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
02/28/2010 14:03 Comments ||
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"I wonder which side they're on"
I don't, Al. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/28/2010 14:26 Comments ||
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Unfortunately, the least incompetent and least corrupt major portion of our national government is becoming our military. That is not good for the long term health of a republic. However, the realistic alternative may well be worse.
#4
They have been so consistently wrong and/or inept that I wonder which side they're on.
Partly it's the general reluctance of State employees to go anyplace 'unsafe'. But mostly it's institutional bias; State pretty much considers the military to be their 'hired help' when it comes to something more strenuous than talking. Albright once made an infamous comment to that effect.
#5
State considers their own Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS) to be a cadre of knuckle dragging cavemen. The schism between State and DoD his is legendary.
British troops will remain in Afghanistan for the next five years, according to the head of the Army. General Sir David Richard expects combat in the country to “trail off in 2011' but said the military would stay to provide training and support for Afghan troops.
Last year Sir David predicted the UK would remain in Afghanistan for 30 to 40 years, however he believes the “tables have turned' on the Taliban since then. Sir David said: "The combat role will start to decline in 2011, but we will remain military engaged in training and support roles for another five years, and we will remain in a support role for many years to come.
"A year ago the Taliban thought they had us on the run, but now the tables have turned. They are under relentless pressure and they are now having some serious thoughts about continuing the fight.'
Speaking to the Telegraph newspaper during a visit to Helmand he claimed the campaign in Afghanistan was now showing some “very optimistic' signs.
Today a senior US General claimed Operation Moshtarak, which has involved US, UK and Afghan troops, was in its final stages after two weeks of fighting. Brigadier General Ben Hodges, who heads operations in the south of the country, said most Taliban fighters in the Marjah area had either been killed or gone into hiding.
He said: "There will be some sporadic fighting, I believe, some tough areas where there are still a few holdouts. I think most of the significant combat operations, though, will have subsided. I think the majority of the enemy has either been killed or driven out or blended back into the population."
Four British troops have been killed in the offensive so far. A soldier from 28 Engineer Regiment, attached to the Brigade Reconnaissance Force, died yesterday after being caught in a blast near a check point in Nad-e-Ali, Helmand.
Tributes were paid yesterday to Rifleman Martin Kinggett from A Company 4 Rifles who was shot dead in Sangin on Thursday and to Senior Aircraftman Luke Southgate who died in an explosion north of Kandahar Airfield on Wednesday.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/28/2010 00:00 ||
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"A year ago the Taliban thought they had us on the run, but now the tables have turned.
On the other hand, the Brits may need to start to redeploy units, or rather the cost,resource,and funding behind those units to cover the cost of defending the Falklands soon. Thus reducing their usefulness and particularly the geographical coverage of the present force.
Yeah, my jaw hit the floor just like yours did ...
Freed from his life sentence, the Lockerbie bomber was sent home by the Scots on compassionate grounds because he had 'just three months' to live.
Yesterday, his elderly father even held out the prospect of him beating the prostate cancer that doctors supposedly said would kill him by last Christmas. Mr Ali al-Megrahi believes that good genes, 'positive thinking' and alternative medicines could explain his son's remarkable survival.
Megrahi, 57, no longer receives hospital treatment after ending a course of chemotherapy.
Last night, the British cancer specialist who gave the three-month prognosis was forced to defend his prediction. He insisted that Megrahi remained gravely ill and was not expected to live much longer. Mind if we see the clinic notes and the X-rays?
He said the patient's survival may be due to his excitement over his reunion with family. Nonsense. If that worked we'd make sure to do reunions for every cancer patient.
But Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski, chairman of the Commons all-party Libya group, yesterday tabled a Parliamentary question demanding Megrahi's medical records be published in full. He said: 'He's still alive and we were told he had no more than three months to live. The Scottish Executive have a lot to answer for.'
Earlier this month it emerged that Libya was on the brink of agreeing £5billion in investment in Britain. Not enough 'pro' in-between the 'quid' and 'quo' ...
Critics believe Downing Street colluded with the Scots to pave the way by having Megrahi freed.
The news of Megrahi's survival has provoked consternation among those relatives of victims of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 who suspect he was never as sick as he claimed to be. They believe it was an unforgivable mistake for the Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill to release him last August.
The Libyan - who days earlier had dropped an appeal against his conviction for the 270 deaths caused when Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie - flew home to a hero's welcome.
It later emerged he had a £2million fortune stashed in a Swiss bank account. Must have saved his laundry coins from the prison ...
His father, who is in his early 80s and keeps a vigil at his son's side in the family's plush villa in the capital Tripoli, still believes a 'miracle' could happen. He said: 'A close relative was diagnosed with a similar disease and he was treated and recovered completely. We hope that Abdelbaset recovers his health as well.
'I think that the sick are not just cured by medicine, but also by having a high morale and a sense of freedom, and these were not available to Abdelbaset in prison.'
Megrahi receives 24-hour nursing care and, though often heavily sedated, receives well-wishers. The relaxed, peaceful atmosphere has enabled him to more than double his original survival prognosis, and he says he is 'inspired and feeling very positive' thanks to the support of family and friends.
This article starring:
Abdelbaset Ali Mohamed al-Megrahi
Posted by: Fred ||
02/28/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
color me surprised....
then again, almost anything has to have a better chance than the UK medical system the one is trying to foist on us in USA. maybe the original prognosis was "won't live 3 months in the care we provide"
Posted by: abu do you love ||
02/28/2010 0:05 Comments ||
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#2
There be a Facebook Hit-squad after this POS yet?
#8
Megrahi receives 24-hour nursing care and, though often heavily sedated, receives well-wishers
Dead within the year
Posted by: john frum ||
02/28/2010 10:13 Comments ||
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He got “excited? Well let’s get the AMA to send male cancer patients to Vegas or Strip Bars and woman to Saks 5th Avenue. This the kind of crappy medicine will occur with O’Slaverycare.
I wonder what sedatives? And its "often", not "completely" sedated. I wonder if his money got him some decent self-administered sedatives in that case.
#12
The relaxed, peaceful atmosphere has enabled him to more than double his original survival prognosis, and he says he is 'inspired and feeling very positive' thanks to the utter stupidity and nativity of UK politicians support of family and friends.
#13
Well I'll be. I guess that article a few months back about drinking goat piss cures cancer. I'll never doubt islamic medicine again..now what was that recipe for curing AIDS?
Kenny has nuts..thats a good one. Now, if its a public health service are the records available to the public? I know the short answer, but think about that.
below is the 6th para in otherwise repeat story
The Dubai police statement issued Wednesday included a striking detail: two of the new suspects, identified as Nicole Sandra McCabe and Adam Marcus Korman and carrying Australian passports, left Dubai on a ship bound for Iran. All the others traveled by plane to European and Asian countries, according to the statement. The statement included no further information about the two suspects or why they would have gone to Iran.
Posted by: lord garth ||
02/28/2010 00:47 ||
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I'm guessing 'Nicole' and 'Adam' don't look exactly Australian ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/28/2010 1:40 Comments ||
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Actually, they do. Google the names and you will find the fake passport pictures.
They are either innocent tourists, or the smoking gun is squarely in Iran's hands.
#3
Nah, this one smells. It's some sort of trial balloon or leak test or something. A ship? Too easy to turn around and the assassins made a quick getaway.
#4
So, how long before everybody (except anti-semites) realizes that Dubai "police" doesn't actually have any idea what's went down and just accuses western tourists on basis of random proximity?
#8
according to this site, there is one ferry that takes only 4 hours to get to BANDAR LENGEH in Iran
That ferry also goes to Abadan. Home to a refinery, shipping, cheap foreign labor and is still strictly segregated. Previous reports said Mabhoud had visited the Iranian consulate and traveled to China. Maybe Nicole and Adam were following up on something:
Rev. 9: They had a king over them, the Angel of the Abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, in Greek, Apollyon—“Destroyer.”
Posted by: Dave UK ||
02/28/2010 15:03 Comments ||
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#13
I still think it's the Russian Mafia, doing a hit on someone who double-crossed them. The Mossad would never send in that many agents where there's a good change of their being compromised. The Russians would do it as a lark.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/28/2010 20:44 Comments ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Yemen's main donors were meeting here Saturday on how best to deploy billions of dollars to strengthen the Sanaa government and stem the rise of violent extremism in the Arabian peninsula country.
Officials from the six Gulf Cooperation Council members, Yemen's largest financial backers, and also from other major international donors began two-day talks at the GCC headquarters on helping fix the economy of the Arab world's poorest country, a GCC official said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/28/2010 00:00 ||
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Voting was brisk Sunday in a parliamentary election that is expected to strengthen the president's nearly two-decade grip on power in Tajikistan, an impoverished country on Afghanistan's border.
But the election also has the potential to increase the influence of the only legally registered Islamic party in former Soviet Central Asia.
More than half of the 3.5 million eligible voters cast their ballots by midday, the Central Elections Commission said.
Many of those voting in the capital, Dushanbe, said they backed the Islamic Revival Party, which currently has only two deputies in the 63-seat parliament.
Posted by: ed ||
02/28/2010 10:14 ||
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Washington's main envoy on North Korean issues says the North appears ready to get talking again about getting rid of nuclear weapons. U.S. Envoy Stephen Bosworth is not disclosing any dates, but says he does expect North Korea will rejoin multinational talks aimed at ending its nuclear capabilities. "We, the United States, and I think I can speak here for the Republic of Korea as well, are convinced that the six party talks will eventually resume... hopefully in the relatively near future," he said.
Bosworth spoke to reporters as he departed South Korea's main airport for Tokyo Friday. He says there is "no higher priority" for the United States and its partners than getting rid of nuclear weapons in North Korea.
"But we also recognize that it will be important to begin discussions on questions regarding the peace treaty, establishment of diplomatic relations, and the issues of economic and energy assistance to North Korea," he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/28/2010 00:00 ||
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[Kyodo: Korea] North Korea provided about 45 tons of ""yellowcake"" uranium to Syria in September 2007 for production of fuel for an undeclared nuclear reactor, diplomatic and military sources knowledgeable on North Korean issues said Saturday. But the shipment was followed shortly by an Israeli air strike targeting the reactor and the uranium involved is believed to have been transferred to Iran around last summer, according to a Western diplomatic source.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/28/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm thinking b.s. The Norks are more than capable of producing weapons grade uranium, likely plutonium, so why sell yellowcake? Even if it was just for the production of power, by selling enriched uranium, the Syrians could slap together a nuke plant overnight and start cranking out energy.
This would mean that the Norks could ship far less cargo, and make a lot more money in the deal. And it also raises the question of why they didn't provide this to Iran. Or maybe they did?
Posted by: ed ||
02/28/2010 11:14 Comments ||
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#5
Does Syria have the ability to fabricate fuel rods?
Posted by: john frum ||
02/28/2010 12:31 Comments ||
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I'd say yes. The NorK reactor is really low temp/tech and doesn't require exotic materials. A little reduction, melting and machining. It's purpose is to produce plutonium, not efficiently produce electricity.
North Korea provided about 45 tons of ""yellowcake"" uranium to Syria
and from the link in comment #4: The Yongbyon reactor is a gas-graphite reactor of some 25 MW thermal output which went into operation in 1986. The reactor has 801 channels for stacking fuel rods (10 fuel rods stuck in each channel) and for guiding control rods. Each fuel rod has diameter of 3cm and length of 50 cm. On an assumption that the 750 of these channels were occupied by fuel, the total fuel would be around 45 tons.
Coincidence?
Posted by: ed ||
02/28/2010 12:52 Comments ||
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NEW DELHI: Damayanti Behn and Sunita Kumari were out when the Taliban assault team burst into their room in Kabul on Friday morning, shooting on the bed, under the bed, and in the wardrobe. They would have shot Basharat Pathan but let him go when they heard his name, thinking he was an Afghan, not aware Pathan is a famous name among Gujarati Muslims.
These three Indians are members of SEWA, a non-profit organisation, and they are in Afghanistan running a project by which they train war widows, orphans and destitutes to become earning members of society. They were lucky. Major Deepak Yadav of the Army Education Corps was not. He was in Afghanistan to teach English to its security personnel, but the Taliban got him.
Major Jyotin Singh, unarmed, of the Army Medical Corps, working in the Indira Gandhi children's hospital, grappled with the suicide bomber forcing him to detonate himself outside the Arya guesthouse. This gave others nearby to run for cover and save themselves. But the Major from Manipur fell.
Bhola Ram, deputy general manager of Power Grid Corporation who was on his last month in Kabul, having completed the high-profile Pul-e-Khumri transmission link, was also killed.
As India brought back the bodies of nine of its citizens from Kabul on Sarturday, there is a growing sense that it is part of a concerted effort by Pakistan and its Taliban proxies to get India out of Afghanistan. The Taliban attack on Arya guesthouse, Park Residence and Safi Landmark Hotel in central Kabul also comes a day after the first foreign secretaries' talks between India and Pakistan.
Meanwhile, PM Manmohan Singh asked President Hamid Karzai on Saturday to ensure safety and security of all Indians in Afghanistan. Karzai had called Singh to condole the attack. A special Indian Air Force plane carrying the bodies of six of the Indians killed in the Kabul terror attack arrived on Saturday evening at the Palam air base, where President Pratibha Patil attended the wreath-laying ceremony.
Who did it and why? Indian and Afghan intelligence are already at work, said sources. India has now suffered three major attacks against it in 20 months. The first attack, in July 2008, was by the Haqqani network, said sources. The second, in October 2009, was by a combination of Haqqani and Lashkar-e-Taiba.
After Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for Friday's attack, the needle of suspicion has pointed to the Haqqani network, and their sponsors, Pakistan's ISI. This was confirmed by the US director of national intelligence, Dennis Blair, on February 2, when he told the US Senate that Pakistan "has continued to provide support to its militant proxies, such as Haqqani Taliban, Gul Bahadur group, and Commander Nazir group."
According to security sources here, the assault was very much India-centric, which has raised many questions among security officials.
In recent weeks, particularly at the Nato conference in Brussels, the London and Istanbul meetings, Pakistan has been relatively clear that it wants to see the back of India in Afghanistan. This message was made clear by the Pakistan army chief on February 2 to foreign journalists.
Former diplomat G Parthasarathy said, "There should be no doubt about ISI involvement, and even incitement of this attack. Sadly, we learn no lessons from our past experience."
It may be too far-fetched to draw a link between the recent India-Pakistan talks and the blast. But it may be part of Pakistan's new mindset that with the US needing it more and more in Afghanistan, they feel they can advance their agenda regarding India without any significant costs. Parthasarathy said, "Pakistani officials are gloating at what they claim is US pressure which compels us to the dialogue table."
But terrorism analyst B Raman points to the possibility of a Pune-Kabul link, whether it could have been a follow-up to the Pune attack of February 13. "The investigation into the Pune blast has not yet made much headway. It has not yet been clearly established who carried it out. The LeT is among the suspects. The possibility of a linkage between the Pune and Kabul incidents has to be kept in view during the investigation. If such a linkage ultimately emerges, that would indicate a new jihadi offensive by LeT against Indian nationals and interests not only in India, but also in Afghanistan and possibly in Bangladesh and the Maldives too in the months to come."
Posted by: john frum ||
02/28/2010 12:24 ||
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CHIN MIL FORUM POSTER > argues that unlike China INDJUH has NO STRATEGIC DEPTH, + that in any new MAJOR SINO-INDIAN WAR ONE PLA SECOND ARTY DF-11 NUKE SRBM ALONE FIRED AGZ NEW DELHI WILL CAUSE SUCH NATIONAL DAMAGE AS TO FORCE INDIA TO SURRENDER QUICKLY???
The Taliban has been forced to undergo a reorganization. For example, the the high command of the terrorist organization is the Quetta Shura (council), consisting of fifteen of the most senior leaders. But so far this year, seven of the fifteen members of the Quetta Shura have been arrested, and most of the others are scattered and on the run.
Decisions are still getting made, but without the consensus that the Shura arrangement delivers. Consensus is important, because too many people in the Taliban believe they should be the boss, or are looking out for family or tribal interests as well. Civil war within the Taliban has been a problem always lurking just beneath the surface. There are already four major factions (two each in the Afghanistan and Pakistan branches, and several further subdivisions.) The current tribulations of the Quetta Shura is likely to lead to even more divisiveness.
Posted by: ed ||
02/28/2010 09:15 ||
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If only we could infiltrate them with Donks....
[Dawn] The Obama administration sent lawmakers a plan for $1.45 billion in aid for Pakistan this year, funding water, energy and other projects as well as a media campaign to counter extremist views.
The 2010 spending plan, obtained by Reuters, was sent to lawmakers late on Thursday as part of the US administration's obligation to consult Congress over the civilian aid package. The aid is aimed at expanding ties with Islamabad beyond military spending, which amounted to more than $10 billion over the past nine years.
"It represents a rebalancing of the military and civilian assistance," Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew told Reuters of the package, part of a $7.5 billion, five-year aid plan passed by Congress for Pakistan last year.
The 15-page spending plan said the Obama administration was working closely with Pakistan's government to design "high-impact" projects in energy, agriculture, water and education and to improve services and economic opportunities for people in areas susceptible to extremism.
The "funding will help build the capacity of the government of Pakistan to provide basic services while extending its writ in poorer areas vulnerable to extremism," said the report.
The biggest chunk of the money -- just over a billion -- covers economic support, including funds to build up weak government capacity at both the local and national levels. Infrastructure projects took up $55 million, with a focus on energy and helping to ease rolling blackouts that have crippled some industry and are a major public irritant.
"Over time, this assistance will strengthen ties between the American and Pakistani people by showing the US commitment to helping Pakistan address its water and energy crises, which are some of the most pressing needs of the Pakistani people," the report said."
There is strong anti-American sentiment in Pakistan and the hope is this new assistance will help ease that tension. Oh sure, danegeld always works that way ...
About $50 million was set aside for a "comprehensive communications strategy" to counter extremist views and strengthen Pakistani institutions and moderate voices, the report to Congress said.
"This effort will reduce the ability of al Qaeda and other extremists to influence public perceptions and attitudes and support Pakistan's people and government as they establish a more secure, prosperous and lasting state," the report said.
This would include a so-called rapid response team to monitor Pakistani and regional media and "swiftly correct inaccurate reporting," of which the United States complains it is often a target.
About $150 million was devoted to health and $335 million for basic and higher education projects, particularly in areas where the government's current capacity was poor, thus increasing its legitimacy as services improved. An additional $130 million was in the budget to help State Department law enforcement and counter narcotics efforts in Pakistan, including the purchase of more helicopters and funds to improve the investigative skills of local law enforcement.
The United States has a difficult relationship with Pakistan and at the end of last year, Islamabad said US funding had slowed despite promises of a big injection of aid.
Washington countered that a refusal by Pakistan to issue visas to US officials needed to oversee aid programs was the cause of the delay. The State Department's Lew said there had been less problems with visas of late as relations improved.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/28/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
there are plenty of ppl where I live needing economic Aid but seems they would have a harder time getting it from the US govt than Pakistain does.
Posted by: chris ||
02/28/2010 11:08 Comments ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says those who have attempted to realize the political resurgence of the outlawed Baath Party are not "friends of Iraq."
In an exclusive interview with Press TV, al-Maliki said, "Those who love Iraq, would believe that with these elections, we will complete the construction a stabilized political system based on national and public will and not ruled by any foreign standards or any foreign troops or any other vested interests."
"And whoever does not like Iraq, which we hope there are none, would definitely try to prevent the success of these elections and would leave a negative effect...by giving the chance to the people who left the political process to return," he added, referring to the former Baath Party members.
Iraq's Accountability and Justice Commission has barred more than 500 political candidates from the March 7 parliamentary vote, charging them with associations with the party that was led by the deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
The Baath is accused of having helped Hussein enforce his ruthless rule over the country, which included mass killings and the use of chemical weapons against the Kurdish population.
The decision coincided with raucous protests by the Iraqi nationals and political figures, most notably President Jalal Talabani, against a Baathist return. Talabani has warned that the Baathists planned to stage a "military coup" and that their reappearance on the Iraqi political stage carried a great hazard.
The move, however, has apparently not gone down well with the White House, which recently sent Vice President Joe Biden on a reported mission of reversing the "de-Baathification" process.
Washington has also claimed that it might "delay" pulling its troops out of Iraq, should "disputed" poll results -- apparently resulting from the purge -- incite more violence across the strife-torn country.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/28/2010 00:00 ||
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A Gaza military prosecutor wants to extend the detention of a British journalist, claiming he poses a security threat, a Hamas government official said Sunday.
Freelance journalist Paul Martin has been held in Gaza since Feb. 14, the first foreigner to be arrested since Hamas seized control of the territory in 2007. Martin's case is being closely watched by international organizations with staff in Gaza as a gauge of how the Hamas government will deal with foreigners.
Hamas officials have not made specific accusations against Martin, but Ghussein has said the journalist poses a threat to Gaza's security.
Martin was arrested in a Gaza military court as he was about to testify on behalf of a Gaza militant who was accused of collaborating with Israel. Hamas security officials routinely round up Palestinians they believe are passing on information about them to Israel.
Posted by: ed ||
02/28/2010 10:19 ||
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Yes, I'm sure this legal procedure is quite complicated in Gaza...
"We want to hold him longer, ya honor."
"Sure. Anything else?"
[Iran Press TV Latest] Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has called on Muslims across the globe to fulfill their obligations and pledge solid support for the Palestinians and their cause in the campaign against the Zionist regime.
"A strongly held belief is that the Palestinian resistance must be properly encouraged. The Islamic Republic of Iran regards supporting the Palestinian nation's struggle against the Zionist enemy as a matter of ideology and duty, so it strives to honor it," Mottaki said in an address to the Conference on National and Islamic Solidarity for the Future of Palestine, which was held in Tehran on Saturday.
He added that a significant proportion of the world population now recognizes the legitimacy of the Palestinian resistance against the brutal, unlawful, and illegitimate nature of the Zionist regime compared to decades ago, when support was much lower.
Mottaki also noted that the failure of the US-brokered deals has proven that resistance is the only viable option for the Palestinians in their struggle against the Zionist regime.
The Conference on National and Islamic Solidarity for the Future of Palestine began on Saturday at the Iranian Foreign Ministry in Tehran.
Ten Palestinian groups, including Hamas (the Islamic Resistance Movement) and Islamic Jihad, are participating in the two-day conference.
A number of Iranian officials and Palestinian resistance figures are also attending the conference.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is scheduled to address the closing ceremony of the event on Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/28/2010 00:00 ||
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[Ma'an] Officials from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) confirmed their support for the Egyptian reconciliation document and called for unity during a celebration marking the movement's 41st anniversary on Saturday at the Palestine Stadium in Gaza.
DFLP Politburo official, Saleh Zidan, said the party supported the document document because it detailed points of national dialogue that were both agreed and disagreed upon, but mostly because it is the direct result of bilateral dialogue between Fatah and Hamas.
Zidan warned of what he called Israeli escalations and attacks against Muslim and Christian holy sites, referring to the recent Israeli cabinet decision to include two sites in the occupied West Bank on a list of Israeli heritage sites. This act, he said, would lead to deadlock in trying to resume negotiations.
Furthermore, the official called for a standstill on resuming talks while settlement expansion continued unabated, and for the implementation of international resolutions that were declared following previous negotiations.
Zidan said more efforts were needed to break the siege on Gaza and open its borders, and called for Arab investment in the coastal enclave to provide the population with employment.
The celebrations was attended by members of the DFLP's politburo, its central committee, and representatives of national forces and civil society institutions.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/28/2010 00:00 ||
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Iran further consolidated its anti-US coalition and honed its hard edge against Israel this week with two important defense treaties signed with Syria (covering Lebanon) and Qatar, home to the biggest US air base outside America. These treaties opened doors for Iranian troops to be stationed in all three countries. According to debkafile's military sources, they are already present in Syria and Lebanon.
On this high note, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Syrian president Bashar Assad and Hizballah chief Hassan Nasrallah, Thursday, Feb. 25, wound up their talks in Damascus - to which Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal was co-opted - on joint military preparations for a Middle East war.
That day too, Israel completed a five-day command exercise against a possible four-front assault by the Tehran-led coalition.
Our sources reveal that after his talks, the Shiite Iranian president make the extraordinary gesture towards the Arab countries he is wooing of attending a two-hour prayer session with Assad at a Sunni mosque in Damascus. Asked about his Shiite sensitivities, Ahmad said, "We are all one Ummah."
Together with Nasrallah, the pair later appeared before the press to scoff at US policies, celebrate their friendship and predict Israel's early annihilation, the day after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a U.S. Senate subcommittee the United States had recently urged Syria to "begin to move away" from Iran following the appointment of its first ambassador to Damascus in five years.
Ultimately, she said, the United States expects Assad to curb his ties with Iran and his support for militant groups like the Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Hamas, based in the Gaza Strip.
Assad drew laughs when he told the correspondents that he and Ahmadinejad had just signed "a separation accord, but because of a bad translation "we ended up signing an accord scrapping visas.
debkafile's military sources report that this clause facilitates the passage of Iranian military into Syria and between Syria and Lebanon.
The Iranian president suggested jocularly that "no-one had enlightened her" about the depth of Iranian-Syrian relations and called on the United States to "pack up and leave the region." "A new Middle East - one without Zionists and imperialists - was quickly emerging," he said.
Assad expressed Syria's full support for Iraq's uranium enrichment activities. "To forbid an independent state the right to enrichment amounts to a new colonialist process in the region," he said.
In Doha, Iran's defense minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi and Qatari chief of staff Gen. Hamad bin Ali Attiya put their signatures Wednesday, Feb. 24 to military contracts providing for "the exchange of technical and expert delegations, the expansion of cooperation in personnel training and joint campaigns against terrorism and elements behind regional insecurity."
This language covers the dispatch of Iranian officers and soldiers to Doha, a sight the US and Saudi Arabia hoped never to witness. The "elements behind regional insecurity" refer to the United States and Israel.
The big US air base was established at Al Udeid, Qatar, to keep the Persian Gulf and its oil resources safe and curb Iranian expansion. That its rulers were now willing to host the Iranian defense minister and establish military ties with Tehran is another landmark in that expansion drive and a serious setback for America's regional standing.
#2
ION WMF > CHINA SHOCKED: IRAN DECLARES IT HAS ADVANCED LASER MANUFACTURING TEHCNOLOGY, APPLICATIONS. SECOND IN ALL ASIA.
* SAME > USDOD SECRETARY SHOCKED: IRAN'S NEW WARSHIPS WILL BE ARMED WID CHINESE MISSLES.
* SAME > DEFENCE MINISTER GENERAL LIANG: CHINA, PLA IS NOT AFRAID OF US-JAPAN MILITARY INTERVENTION IN THE TAIWAN STRAITS AS CHINA CAN DEFEAT ANY ENEMY. CHINA WILL ONLY NEED THREE DAYS TO DEFEAT/OVERWHELM TAIWAN. CHINA WILL UNILATERALLY USE NUCLEAR WEAPONS AGZ INTERVENING US CARRIER GROUPS IFF NEEDED [LR Missle, Bomber, Naval-Sub Strikes].
* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > [paraph]IRAN MODIFIES SSN-4 "SNARK" BALLISTIC MISSLES TO MATCH CHINA'S DF-21C ANTI-SHIP/NAVAL ABILITY [anti-USN Carrier]| IRAN SUCCESSFULLY TESTS ANTI-SHIP VERSION OF SSN-4 "SNARK" MISSLES.
An insurgent group in southeastern Iran announced the selection of a new leader after its founder was captured by Iranian forces, according to the group's Web site. The Jundallah insurgency, which says it's fighting for equal rights for the Sunni minority in southeast Iran, has named al-Hajj Mohammed Dhahir Baluch as the new leader.
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02/28/2010 10:21 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] After the captured leader of the Jundallah terrorist group disclosed his ties with the US, Iran says the support of the so-called advocates of human rights for terrorists shows their dishonest approach.
"Ties between this terrorist group and security services of the so-called advocates of human rights including the US, Britain and certain other countries indicate that they are not honest about their claims of having respect for human rights," Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) on Saturday.
The captured ringleader of the Jundallah terrorist group, Abdolmalek Rigi, has confessed that the US administration had assured him of unlimited military aid and funding for inciting insurgency against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Rigi was captured by Iranian forces on Tuesday. He was aboard a passenger jet flying to Kyrgyzstan from the UAE when his plane was grounded in the Iranian city of Bandar Abbas.
The Jundallah group has claimed responsibility for numerous terrorist attacks in Iran. The group has carried out mass murder, armed robbery, kidnappings, acts of sabotage and bombings inside Iran.
Mehmanparast said it comes as no surprise to Iran that the countries, which claim to be fighting terrorism, are supporting terrorists like Rigi.
"The support of certain so-called human rights advocates for terrorist groups and criminals such as Abdolmalek Rigi has turned into a routine issue," he said.
He pointed to the close cooperation between terrorist groups and the US, Britain and some European countries in the region and said, "We have always witnessed the support of these countries for terrorist groups to continue their moves in the region."
Iranian security forces explained that Rigi was at a US base in Afghanistan 24 hours before his arrest and was carrying a forged Afghan passport issued by the US at the time he was detained.
In one attack Jundallah terrorists killed at least 40 people in the southeastern city of Pishin.
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02/28/2010 00:00 ||
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Iran and Syria will soon lift visa requirements for their nationals, says President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after his two-day visit to the Syrian capital, Damascus.
Talking to reporters upon arrival in Tehran, President Ahmadinejad said Friday that lifting visa requirements, will serve as a positive ground for promotion of mutual cooperation.
In his visit to Syria, Ahmadinejad met with Syrian President Bashar Assad and the Secretary General of Hezbollah Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah.
He discussed the latest developments in the Middle East as well as Israeli threats against Lebanon and Syria with the two.
Ahmadinejad also condemned Israel's move to add two holy sites, sacred to Christians and Muslims, to its national heritage list.
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02/28/2010 00:00 ||
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[Asharq al-Aswat] The Secretary General of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the Syrian capital of Damascus on Friday evening and discussed ways to strengthen and support the resistance in the face of Israeli threats.
Well-informed Iranian sources said to Asharq Al-Awsat that the talks dealt with Israel's threats to Lebanon and Syria. The sources added that the meeting took place at President Ahmadinejad's place of residence at the Syrian Al Shaab Palace. A formal dinner was held by Syrian President Bashar al Assad in honour of President Ahmadinejad.
Sources stated that following the dinner, President Ahmadinejad visited the shrine of Sayyida Ruqaya and on his return he met with Nasrallah again as they held another round of talks that lasted for more than two hours. Iranian sources said that during his meeting with Nasrallah, Ahmadinejad stressed that "the Zionist entity is worried about the resistance in Lebanon and the region." Moreover, Nasrallah affirmed that the resistance was ready to counter any attack.
The Al Manar TV was the only media agency covering the meeting between Ahmadinejad and Nasrallah. The meeting was only filmed by Al Manar and the personal cameraman of President Ahmadinejad.
A source within Hezbollah told Asharq Al-Awsat that the three-way meeting "came as an initial and decisive response to the calls made by the US for Syria to break its alliance with Iran."
Hussein Rahal, a Hezbollah spokesman, said that Syria had never abandoned the option of resistance.
Nasrallah's arrival in Damascus to meet Ahmadinejad and Assad came as a shock to Israel. Reliable sources said that the Israeli government sent a message to Washington asking the US not to send a US envoy to Syria.
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02/28/2010 00:00 ||
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Russia's foreign minister says Moscow will not agree to harsh sanctions against Iran, reasoning that there is nothing to prove Tehran is working on nuclear weapons.
"There is no evidence that Iran has made a decision to produce nuclear weapons," Sergei Lavrov said in a recent interview with RIA Novosti.
Lavrov went on to add hat he did not believe that sanctions were an effective course to take.
"If we go with the sanctions, we'll not go beyond the goal of our purpose of defending the nonproliferation regime.
"We don't want the nonproliferation regime to be used for ... strangling Iran, or taking some steps to deteriorate the situation [and] the living standards of people in Iran," he said clarifing that Moscow did not plan to agree to embargoes that could seriously damage Iran's economy.
Russia's foreign minister, however, said Tehran had to clarify several key issues on its nuclear program to avoid fresh sanctions from world powers.
"I cannot rule out that the UN Security Council will have to consider the situation once again," he said.
Lavrov did urge the Islamic Republic to answer all the questions posed by the International Atomic Energy Agency, but he acknowledged Iran's right to carry out nuclear activities.
He told the reporters that as it said in its latest report, the International Atomic Energy Agency continued to monitor Iran's nuclear activities.
"Of course, the agency also reports traditionally that it cannot be 100% sure that Iran does not have some secret nuclear activities," Lavrov said, implying that the UN nuclear watchdog's latest report was not raising any new suspicions.
World powers, led by the US, accuse Tehran of pursuing military applications under the guise of a civilian nuclear program, despite the fact that IAEA inspectors stationed in Iran have been unable to substantiate their claim.
Last week, the new IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano issued his first report on Iran's nuclear program, once again verifying the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran.
Amano's report, however, did raise some concerns about "the possible existence... of past or current undisclosed activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile."
While the US used that segment of the report to once again threaten Iran with sanctions, Tehran pointed out that the report raised no "new cause for concern", but simply addressed a series of past issues already examined former IAEA Chief Mohamed ElBaradei.
In an interview with Press TV, Iran's Ambassador to the IAEA Ali-Asghar Soltanieh said that he had asked the director general why he had included a reference to past issues regarding Tehran's nuclear program in his first report on Iran.
According Soltanieh, Amano had responded by acknowledging that his reference to the alleged studies was "absolutely nothing new" but simply an attempt to provide a background on all previous issues regarding Iran's nuclear program.
"There is nothing new. The alleged studies were forged... two or three times, Mr. ElBaradei officially announced that there is no authenticity to these materials. Therefore, the director general has already questioned the validity of these materials.
"Mr. Amano only tried to bring a full background on the issues that were discussed before for the reader to understand the background. Of course it unfortunately has created some misunderstandings," said Soltanieh.
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02/28/2010 00:00 ||
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#4
No problem Sergei. Moscow is 1000 closer to Iran than Berlin and already in range of Iran's largest missiles. Sleep tight, don't let the mullahs bite.
Posted by: ed ||
02/28/2010 7:49 Comments ||
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#5
B'CUZZY NORTH KOREA + PAKISTAN, etc. to come, or will, are ala so-called Trans/Multi-State "FRANCHISING".
[Al Arabiya Latest] The Security Council on Friday urged Iraq to ratify an agreement requiring it to accept intrusive inspections by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, which dismantled a covert Iraqi atom bomb program in the 1990s.
The Security Council said it could consider lifting trade restrictions it imposed on Iraq's civilian nuclear program and other industries after its 1990 invasion of neighboring Kuwait if Iraq ratified the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) so-called Additional Protocol, among other steps.
Iraq has already signed the IAEA Additional Protocol, submitted it to parliament for ratification and agreed to implement it provisionally until it enters into force. It has also pledged to never again develop nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.
If the trade restrictions are lifted, diplomats said Iraq would once again be able to buy nuclear materials and technology, as well as dual-use chemicals, such as certain pesticides, which it needs for agriculture.
The restrictions were put in place to stop former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction programs.
The declaration, which was agreed to by all 15 Security Council members, also asked the Vienna-based IAEA to report to the council on Iraq's implementation of the protocol.
Baghdad, a major oil exporter, has said it wants a civilian nuclear program to generate electricity.
Its neighbor Iran is under U.N. sanctions for defying Security Council demands that it halt uranium enrichment, a nuclear fuel program that Tehran began secretly during its 1980-1988 war with Iraq. Iran declared the program to the IAEA two decades later, a year after exiles revealed its existence.
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02/28/2010 00:00 ||
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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.
British troops will remain in Afghanistan for the next five years, according to the head of the Army. General Sir David Richard expects combat in the country to “trail off in 2011' but said the military would stay to provide training and support for Afghan troops.
