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Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
60 Talibs killed in Swat
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
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Page 6: Politix
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Afghanistan
Rights group: sez US procedures fail Afghan civilians
Human Rights Watch accused the U.S. military of not doing enough to reduce civilian casualties during battles in Afghanistan and called Friday for "fundamental changes" to prevent civilian deaths like those during an airstrike this month.
Illustrate with the 'Waging Law' or 'Jeez' pic? So hard to decide ...
New York-based Human Rights Watch said its independent investigation into a May 4-5 clash that killed scores of people, including many women and children, found that measures put in place by the U.S. military to safeguard civilians were "inadequate."
Not that anyone from HRW has ever served in our military, since that would be icky, and not that any of them have ever been involved in counter-insurgency efforts, which would be double-plus icky.
Afghans blame U.S. airstrikes for the deaths and destruction in two villages in western Farah province. American officials say the Taliban held villagers hostage during the fight.
We're right but with the help of HRW the terrorists will win the PR battle.
It is unclear exactly how many people died in the fighting in Bala Baluk district. The Afghan government has paid out compensation to families for 140 dead, based on a list gathered from villagers. The U.S. military has said that figure is exaggerated, but has not given its own estimate. If the Afghan toll is correct, it would be the largest case of civilian deaths since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion to oust the Taliban.

Villagers told researchers for the watchdog group the firefight between Taliban and Afghan and U.S. forces had ended before the evening bombing began. The U.S. has said militants were still firing in the villages when it dropped bombs on the site in the evening.

"Even if some Taliban remained in the village, dropping a dozen bombs into a residential area doesn't seem to make much sense," Brad Adams, the group's Asia director, said in a statement.
Says the brave, brave Brad who likely never toted a rifle ...
"The U.S. needs to answer some basic questions about the sources and quality of information it requires before authorizing these kinds of devastating bombing runs," Adams said.
Says the brave, brave Brad who likely never has ever evaluated battlefield intel ...
U.S. military guidelines issued following a previous battle that resulted in large-scale civilian deaths charges commanders taking fire from an Afghan house to "satisfy themselves that every effort has been made to confirm that the Afghan facility does not shelter innocent civilians."

Human Rights Watch noted that international troops have also been told to consider pulling out of firefights in areas with large numbers of civilians.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 05/15/2009 12:44 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "The U.S. needs to answer some basic questions about the sources and quality of information it requires before authorizing these kinds of devastating bombing runs," Adams said.

Well, Brad, if a buncha Taliban assholes are trying to blow my ass off, I'd say that answers my basic question of whether or not I need to call in an airstrike.
Maybe you can run this by the Taliban and see if they're willing to change their "procedures"?
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/15/2009 13:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. Sorry Pal.
Posted by: GirlThursday || 05/15/2009 14:05 Comments || Top||

#3  international troops have also been told to consider pulling out of firefights in areas with large numbers of civilians.

That would certainly guarantee the increased use of civilians as human shields.
Posted by: SteveS || 05/15/2009 14:34 Comments || Top||

#4  How about the US giving a "reliabity rating" to these various sources. Sean Penn, HAMAS,Jimmy Carter,et al, would get a 0. Anything UN and similar would get around a 5, at best. Our government could get as high as a 7 or 8, if not too much politics is in play. Anything extracted from our enemies by waterboarding, or anything we see with our own eyes, of course, rates a 10. The MSM will compulsively parrot our rating numbers even as they try to trash us. Can't help themselves. The public will end up only remembering the reliability numbers that we gave. The way it is now, any group can say anything about anything and get equal weight for their pontifications with the best news available. If we give credible rankings to these things it will help the audience sort out what to believe and what not.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 05/15/2009 15:15 Comments || Top||

#5  I thought the US was in Afghanistan as it was the BASE of the 911 bombers. Now I don't recall anything about being in Afghanistan because we needed to cuddle a population deserving of being cuddled?

Feel free to correct me if I am wrong HRW!
Posted by: 3dc || 05/15/2009 15:47 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Scared Somalis running out of food as battles rage
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 05/15/2009 12:43 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Too bad, so sad.
Posted by: AlanC || 05/15/2009 13:29 Comments || Top||

#2  I LIKE that Cat.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 05/15/2009 13:41 Comments || Top||

#3  Aren't they always running out of food anyway?
Of course never out of QAT.
Posted by: 3dc || 05/15/2009 13:43 Comments || Top||

#4  Of course never out of QAT. Posted by: 3dc

That's because Quat will grow where nothing else will, not even hemp. If someone could come up with a medical use for Quat, Somalia would be the third or fourth richest country in the world.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/15/2009 16:47 Comments || Top||


New violence aggravates disaster in Somalia
A fresh wave of fighting between feuding sides has left more than thirty people dead in Somalia's Hiiran region and the northern part of the capital Mogadishu.

Forces loyal to the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) clashed with al-Shabaab fighters on Thursday when the anti-government gunmen moved to take control of Beledweyne town in the Hiiran region, Press TV has learned. The heavy exchanges of gunfire between the two sides left at least a dozen people killed and more than 30 injured.

Meanwhile, the sound of repeated mortar fire and exploding shells has persuaded hundreds of people in the area to leave their homes in search of a safe zone. UIC officials claim they have killed more than 51 al-Shabaab fighters and injured some 40 others, but the figure cannot be independently confirmed.

Elsewhere, some 40 soldiers and gunmen died when heavy fighting broke out between al-Shabaab fighters and government troops between the Sanca and Afarta Darjino districts in the north of Mogadishu. The hours-long fighting also left 80 civilians wounded and the ensuing exchanges of mortar fire caused serious damage to residential areas near the conflict zone. Schools and businesses remain closed in northern Mogadishu, where eight days of bloody conflict between armed rebels and soldiers loyal to President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed have claimed more than 230 lives.

The clashes come as part of a push by the transitional government in Somalia to take control of a number of streets and buildings in Mogadishu. Local fighters in capital have been deployed around the presidential office with their leader, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, calling on the president to step down.

Since assuming control of the country's affairs, the president has embraced diplomacy and believes he can bring fighting factions together and establish calm.
Posted by: Pappy || 05/15/2009 01:22 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Disaster is status quo in Somalia, and as far as I can tell it has been that way for all time. So this is normal, for Somalia.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 05/15/2009 6:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Actually, Whiskey Mike, Somalia was a prosperous colony under the Italians. That ended with WWII. Since then, it's been more or less in a state of chaos as one dictator after another has tried to maintain control.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/15/2009 16:57 Comments || Top||


In breakaway Somaliland, a bid to be stable regional citizen
HARGEISA, SOMALIA - It might surprise you to learn that Somalia -- that post-apocalyptic shell of a nation where Islamist insurgents, clan warlords, and now pirates hold sway over a helpless government -- has some nice parts, too. In Hargeisa, a visitor can walk the asphalt roads at dusk and freely breathe the sharp mountain air. The street markets are busy and boisterous, and hanging out there isn't likely to get you killed. Cellphone companies advertise mobile Internet service and the good hotels have wireless hot spots.

If this doesn't feel like Somalia, residents say that's because it's not. This is Somaliland, a northern former British protectorate that broke away from chaotic southern Somalia in 1991, established an admirably stable government, and hoped never to look back.

No country has recognized Somaliland's independence, however. The argument has always been that to do so would further destabilize Somalia, even as Somalia seems to be destabilizing well enough on its own. So for now, this quiet slice of land along the volatile Gulf of Aden is an undeniable, if very reluctant, piece of Somalia.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White || 05/15/2009 01:08 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sounds like the world ought to recognize the government of breakaway Somaliland as the legitimate government of Somalia then, and let the non-Somaliland part just be ungovernamble frontier territory. It seems the accepted practice in Pakistan.
Posted by: Glenmore || 05/15/2009 10:44 Comments || Top||


Africa North
'Hurling a Stone At a Mosque' Rumor Leads to Attack on Christians in Egypt
As a result of a rumor that a young Christian Copt hurled a stone towards a mosque, thousands of Muslims congregated and attacked Copts and their properties, leaving several injured and arrested.
Boys will be boys, after all.
The incident, which took place on Wednesday, May 13, 2009,in the area of Saft El-Labn, Giza, resulted in the injury of 14 people from both sides. The police arrested 20 Copts, including 6 women, and 7 Muslims, and security imposed a curfew on the region. Among the Copts randomly rounded up by the police is 29-year-old Sabry Shaker, a physically handicapped man suffering from infantile paralysis. Those arrested have been subjected to torture to force them to confess to crimes they have not committed. The attacked Copts called upon the human rights organizations for help.
So both the Christians and the Muslims were tortured? Or just the Christians?
A delegation from the Egyptian Union of Human Rights Organization (EUHRO), headed by its President Dr. Naguib Gibraeel, went to Boulak Dakrour police station and remained until the early hours of Thursday morning, to follow up on the incident.

According to a press release issued today by the EUHRO, three Coptic youths, Hend Azmy, Peter Zaghloul and Sarwat Ibrahim, are still missing from among those arrested, including the handicapped Copt. "The police officers could not give a plausible reason for their absence which suggests that they have been kept in an undisclosed place due to the severity of the torture they went through, and the police are trying to cover up their doings, commented Gibraeel.
So just the Christians were tortured, when it was the Muslims that attacked. What an odd concept of justice, to be sure.
Yesterday's sectarian clashes were brought about by an argument between the relative of a Coptic girl who was sexually harassed by a Muslim youth, and was on a small scale.
But that's his right, and her obligation, by more than a millenium of Muslim tradition.
Unfortunately, Muslim fanatics in the area propagated a rumour that during the melee, the Copts hurled stones towards the Mosque. As a result thousands of Muslims gathered and attacked the Copts living in the area, and destroyed 6 shops including a pharmacy, a supermarket and some vehicles.
Somehow no permits to rebuild will be issued, and a few more of Egypts Christians will emigrate.
Dr. Gibraeel demanded Interior Minister Habib Al Adly intervene to put an end to this practice of torture. He added that this phenomenon of repeated attacks on the lives of Copts and their property in recent times reflects the culture of extremism, militancy and intolerance towards the Christians as well as the diminution of their civil rights. He added that this is caused by the 'stance taken by the government against the Copts', which is reflected by a large sector of hard-liners.

Dr.Gibraeel, an attorney and a Copt himself, commented: "Until when will this silence continue and for how long will Copts continue to be treated so lowly, while the regime is boasting about how we live in the best era of democracy and citizenship? But it appears to be just 'slogans' empty of any content!"
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 05/15/2009 11:51 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Tonight on "Copts"...
And it's nice to see our old friend Rage Boy™.
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/15/2009 16:39 Comments || Top||

#2  The United States could do a lot worse things than offering to allow the entire Egyptian Copt population to emigrate to the States, with all their property and religious heritage. Of course, the Methodists might balk at that...
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/15/2009 17:11 Comments || Top||

#3  Religion of Peace eh?
Posted by: CrazyFool || 05/15/2009 19:45 Comments || Top||


Muslim Brotherhood falters as Egypt outflanks Islamists
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood is on the defensive, its struggles reverberating throughout Islamist movements that the secretive organization has spawned world-wide. Just recently, the Brothers' political rise seemed unstoppable. Candidates linked with the group won most races they contested in Egypt's 2005 parliamentary elections, gaining a record 20% of seats. Across the border in Gaza, another election the following year propelled the Brotherhood's Palestinian offshoot, Hamas, into power.

Since then, Egypt's government jailed key Brotherhood members, crimped its financing and changed the constitution to clip religious parties' wings. The Brotherhood made missteps, too, alienating many Egyptians with saber rattling and proposed restrictions on women and Christians. These setbacks have undermined the group's ability to impose its Islamic agenda on this country of 81 million people, the Arab world's largest. "When we're not advancing, we are retreating. And right now we are not spreading, we are not achieving our goals," the Brotherhood's second-in-command, Mohamed Habib, said in an interview.

Across the Muslim world, authoritarian governments, Islamist revivalists and liberals often fight for influence. Egypt is a crucial battleground. A decline of the Brotherhood here, with its shrill anti-Israeli rhetoric and intricate ties to Hamas, strengthens President Hosni Mubarak's policy of engagement with the Jewish state. It could also give him more room to work with President Barack Obama, who is scheduled to visit Egypt next month, on reviving the Arab-Israeli peace process.

Brotherhood leaders caution against reading too much into the current troubles, saying the 81-year-old group has bounced back from past challenges. Others say the government's suppression of the Brotherhood, Egypt's main nonviolent opposition movement -- paired with arrests of Mr. Mubarak's secular foes -- can unleash more radical forces. "If it continues this way, it's very dangerous and could lead to the return of extremism and terrorism in Egypt," says Ayman Nour, a liberal politician who ran for president against Mr. Mubarak in 2005 and was later imprisoned on campaign-fraud charges that the U.S. government condemned as politically motivated.

Though it is outlawed by the Egyptian state, the Brotherhood operates here more or less in the open. It maintains hundreds of offices and fields electoral candidates. In part thanks to American pressure to liberalize Egypt's authoritarian political system, these candidates -- running as independents -- were allowed to contest 145 seats, almost one-third of the total, in parliamentary elections in November and December 2005. By winning 88 races, the Brotherhood cemented its role as Egypt's dominant opposition force. The next-biggest opposition faction, the liberal Wafd party, garnered just seven seats.

The poll results, and the subsequent Hamas takeover in the Gaza Strip, provoked a government counterattack. In 2007, Egypt amended its constitution, skewing future representation in favor of registered parties and against independents, the only candidates the outlawed Brotherhood can field. When local council elections, initially due for 2006, were finally held last year, the state disqualified most Brotherhood candidates. The group boycotted. Mr. Habib, the Brotherhood's white-haired deputy chief, says its candidates are unlikely to win more than five to 10 seats in parliamentary elections slated for next year.

The regime launched a wave of arrests and military trials against the group, as well, the harshest such security clampdown on the Brotherhood in decades. This dragnet ensnared thousands of rank-and-file members. It also netted some Brotherhood leaders who ran the financial apparatus that funnels millions of dollars in donations and investment proceeds into campaigning and social outreach. The group's third-in-command, businessman Khairat al Shater, was arrested in December 2006 and sentenced last year to seven years in prison for financing a banned group. Government officials are unapologetic about the crackdown, which disrupted the Brothers' social services. "We're dealing with a clandestine organization," says Ali Eddin Helal, information secretary of the ruling National Democratic Party.

The regime pressed its public-relations campaign against the Brotherhood last month, when it said it had cracked a cell of Lebanon's Hezbollah militia that was spying in Egypt and smuggling weapons to Hamas. State media painted the Brotherhood as an unpatriotic hireling of Iran, which sponsors Hamas and Hezbollah.

The Brotherhood has put up little resistance, and its only attempt at showing its muscle backfired. A 2006 militia-style march by masked Brotherhood students at Cairo's Al Azhar University provoked public outcry, reminding many Egyptians of the group's violent past. More arrests followed. "Their [nonviolent] strategy doesn't allow them to react -- it doesn't allow an escalation," says Issandr el Amrani, a Cairo-based analyst at the International Crisis Group think tank.

Brotherhood leaders say its base remains dedicated. "If they say we are weakened, why are they still afraid of us?" asks Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh, one of two dozen members in the Brotherhood's topmost body, the Guidance Council. "Let's have a free election, and we shall see who wins!"
Much more at link. A very well reported piece, IMHO.
Posted by: ryuge || 05/15/2009 06:24 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Front page on today's WSJ. Right under the map of all the axed Chrysler dealerships. :(
Posted by: Seafarious || 05/15/2009 10:58 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Saudi Arabia: laboratory of jihad
Saudi Arabia has become a laboratory of jihad, spreading poison throughout the Muslim world. Can reform save the land of the Prophet from extremism?
Not just the Muslim world, sadly. There's a gorgeous, Saudi-built mosque in the middle of the Midwestern exurb where I live.

By David Gardner

David Gardner is chief leader writer and associate editor of the Financial Times
Posted by: ryuge || 05/15/2009 00:26 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Compare wid ISRAELI MIL FORUM > SAUDI CLERIC: WE [Muslims] HAVE THE RIGHT TO WAGE OFFENSIVE [+ violent] JIHAD IN ORDER TO IMPOSE OUR WAY OF LIFE.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/15/2009 1:02 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Forget past, Pakistan urges Bangladesh
Pakistan has urged Bangladesh to let bygones be bygones with regard to atrocities committed by the Pakistani army in 1971.
Can't imagine why hurt feelings linger ...
Please don't put our people on trial for all the world to see. We'd have demanded it, but our little jawan rebellion didn't quite work out as planned.
Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit at his weekly briefing yesterday said Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni had asked Pakistan to apologize for the war crimes.

Quoting the spokesman, the Dawn, a Pak national daily, said Pakistan believes the matter was settled under the April 1974 tripartite agreement between Pakistan, India and Bangladesh in which Pakistan condemned and regretted any atrocities committed. In 2002, the then president of Pakistan had also regretted any wrongs committed in 1971, the spokesman added.

He said Pakistan gives great importance to good relations with Bangladesh, and it is better for both countries to move forward instead of being frozen in the past.
"All those guys we killed are still dead, aren't they? Why are youse guys living in the past?"
"All those officers and their wives that our jawan hirelings just tortured to death are still dead, too. No reason for you to overreact -- we're all men of the world, right?"
Posted by: Steve White || 05/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


462 BDR men held in 48 hrs
The article reports a whole bunch of names you can't pronounce of guys you've never heard of arrested in upazilas you could never find on a map even if you had a GPS. All the arrested are BDR men who absconded and then were arrested and sent to jail. They are currently scheduled for cardiac arrests as the interrogators find time to get to them. Have at it if you're interested.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


CID investigation into BDR mutiny may take this year
CID investigation into BDR mutiny and killing of army officers may take this year as the matter is too complicated to complete it quickly. Although report of CID investigation will be the basis of trial of BDR mutineers in the court but it will not be possible to be completed save end of this year.(The BD Today)

Latest development of investigation is that by now 1350 BDR soldiers and 27 civilians have been arrested, 529 taken on remand and 76 have given their confessional statements. Apart from this, 349 persons in and around Peelkhana have been interrogated in connection with the incident.

Replying to query as to when investigation may be completed CID ASP Abdul Qahhar Akhand said nothing can yet be said about the conclusion of investigations as there are many complications. "We are trying to expedite the investigation and for this reason we have increased our manpower in connection with this investigation," he added.

About complicity of Awami League leader Torab Ali, he said that being ex BDR soldier Torab Ali has good connection with BDR soldiers and thus his political identity has nothing to do with this case. He clarified the matter stating that on the one hand Torab Ali is not a big leader and on the other hand CID also arrested a woman Suraiya Begum who is a BNP activist and tried to contest for the post of commissioner having good contact with party's high command meaning that political complicity cannot be ascertained yet.
So they're both just slimy politicians. There's a good alibi ...
As to absconding mutineers he said many of the absconding BDR soldiers may be mutineers but until completion of investigation their names cannot be finalised.

Meanwhile the government has appointed Advocate Anisul Haque and others as prosecutors in BDR mutiny case; they are studying the case but their formal functioning will start after completion of investigation and after ascertaining whether the trial will be held by court martial or in civil courts.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
U.S. is considering a North Korea visit
U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy Stephen Bosworth said Tuesday he would consider over the next couple of weeks whether to visit North Korea.
Bring your own lunch ...
Before heading home from Tokyo at the end of his tour of South Korea, China and Japan, Bosworth was asked by a reporter whether he was thinking of visiting North Korea to talk with leaders there. He responded that this decision did not rest solely with the U.S., and was something that the U.S. would consider over the next couple of weeks. He added that after he returns to Washington and talks with the relevant department and offices, he would proceed to continue to communicate with partner countries in Asia. Compared with his reserved responses on the matter during his visits to China and South Korea, where he said he had no plans to visit North Korea and that nothing had been decided, this is seen as a step forward.
This is more of the usual posturing. The Bambi administration doesn't have a working policy on the Norks (nor did Bush, nor did Clinton before him) so it just moves diplomats around and has them say the usual blather.
Accordingly, it is expected that based upon securing an agreement of other six-party talk members during his tour of China, South Korea and Japan, and after discussions with North Korea-related departments within the U.S. administration, Bosworth will push a visit to North Korea. Particularly noteworthy is the time limit indicated by his reference of a “few weeks” that some experts interpret as meaning the U.S. will concentrate in earnest on resolving the North Korea issue. They suggest it means that since he cannot go to North Korea empty-handed, the U.S. will consider a general outline for a package of negotiations Bosworth might be able to put on the table when he sits down with North Korea.
So we go to Nork-land and give away more goodies. Maybe Bosworth brings home the two journalists in exchange which makes him a hero and gives Bambi more gushing press coverage. But whatever we give, whether it's food, or oil, or concessions on the Nork nuke program, will strengthen Kimmie far more.
However, when a high-ranking South Korean official was asked if one could view this as a sign the U.S. would actively move towards bilateral talks with North Korea, they responded with a negative. The official said that while Bosworth was conveying U.S.’s intentions towards North Korea, his comments were still just theoretical.

Overall, one cannot know whether North Korea will agree to a visit. Leaving aside the possible controversy over whether Bosworth, as a special envoy, ranks high enough and can satisfy a North Korea desirous of high-level talks, experts forecast that North Korea would likely decide to accept a visit after demanding to see first the kind and value of the package Bosworth is bringing to the table.
Goodies for Kimmie ...
Posted by: Steve White || 05/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Please, please, use a fully loaded B-52 for this "Visit".
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 05/15/2009 22:04 Comments || Top||

#2  I think he SHOULD visit - as one of several million members of the militaries of the world, a fleet of 4-500 ships, and thousands of aircraft. It's the only language Kimmie understands. When they have no buildings left standing, when the rail network is totally destroyed, the dams busted, cluster-bombs in the rice paddies, and napalm burning the forests, he MIGHT, just MIGHT, feel the whack of a clue-bat. Otherwise, it's a waste of time and energy.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/15/2009 22:51 Comments || Top||


Second Kaesong meeting between two Koreas is uncertain
It is reported that there are some difficulties in reaching an agreement on the agenda and schedule for a follow up Kaesong (Gaeseong) meeting between the two Koreas. The first Kaesong meeting, which signaled the first attempt at official inter-Korea dialogue since Lee Myung-bak was inaugurated, was held on April 21. As of May 13, whether there will be a second Kaesong meeting was uncertain.

A government official said on the same day, “The government has tried to negotiate with North Korea on the matter of holding a second Kaesong meeting sometime within the week. We see the second Kaesong meeting as necessary to maintaining momentum for inter-Korean dialogue, however, we have not been able to come to an agreement with North Korea about it due to a huge gap in opinions.”

Regarding the agenda, South Korea is demanding to talk about South Korean employee Yu, who has been detained for 45 days by North Korea, as a prerequisite to the discussions about wage and land use fees in Kaesong. However, North Korea maintains their position that Yu’s detention cannot be on the agenda because it is not a subject that the Bureau of Central Special District Development that is primarily responsible for managing the Kaesong Industrial Complex can discuss.
The SKors can kiss their investments in Kaesong goodbye ...
Posted by: Steve White || 05/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Norks Block U.S. on Journalists
SEOUL -- North Korea's detention and imprisonment of three foreigners is adding to a pattern of increasingly belligerent behavior since dictator Kim Jong Il's recovery from a stroke-like illness last October, observers say.

Since then, North Korea has launched a missile, pulled out of six-nation aid-for-disarmament talks, kicked out international weapons inspectors and said it may again test a nuclear weapon, something it first did in 2006.

North Korea's treatment of the three detainees violates international human-rights practices, but news coverage of their situation has been overshadowed by the diplomatic fallout from Pyongyang's April 5 missile launch. Under international criminal law, defendants have the right to access diplomatic officers of their own state. But American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling, detained for nearly two months, haven't been allowed contact with Western officials since March 30.
Anyone really think the Norks honor international law? Anyone? Bueller?
The North said on April 24 that it would put the two women on trial for "hostile acts," in what would be its first trial of Americans, but it didn't say when. It has given no details to the U.S. or to Sweden, which has diplomatic relations with North Korea and provides services to U.S. citizens in the country.

Mats Foyer, the Swedish ambassador in Pyongyang, met with Ms. Lee and Ms. Ling separately on March 30. He declined to comment on the situation late last week, and referred questions to the State Department. An official there said Mr. Foyer has "repeatedly requested additional visits," but none have been allowed.

U.S. officials have said less about Ms. Lee and Ms. Ling than they have about an American reporter, Roxana Saberi, who was recently convicted of espionage in Iran. The strategy is partly a gamble that not provoking the North Koreans may lead to a speedy resolution, analysts say, but it's also a sign of the increased uncertainty in dealing with Pyongyang.

U.S. officials have said little about the journalists' situation, but have indicated they aren't making progress with Pyongyang. A person not in government who is familiar with the situation said that North Korea isn't talking to the U.S. at all.
But they know how to rant ...
Posted by: Steve White || 05/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The North said on April 24 that it would put the two women on trial for "hostile acts," in what would be its first trial of Americans, but it didn't say when.

June 4th. Same day Bambi will be bending over addressing the Muzzie World from some mosque in Egypt.
Posted by: Zorba || 05/15/2009 13:21 Comments || Top||


Fifth Column
Iranian-American sentenced in Iran smuggling plot
A U.S. judge has sentenced an aviation company owner to 17 months in prison for conspiring to ship parts for fighter jets and other military aircraft to Iran in violation of the U.S. embargo, according to court papers.

Hassan Saied Keshari, an Iranian national and naturalized American, was charged last June with a series of violations of the U.S. Arms Export Control Act, the Iran embargo and the International Emergency Powers Act. He pleaded guilty in January to one count of conspiracy.
That was a hint of future problems, when he kept his Iranian citizenship.
U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz dismissed 10 other charges at a hearing on Wednesday and sentenced him to 17 months in jail on the conspiracy count, with three years of probation after his release. He had faced up to 20 years in prison on the original charges.

U.S. authorities accused Keshari, the owner of Novato, California-based Kesh Air International, and Traian Bujduveanu, who owned Orion Aviation in Plantation, Florida, of helping the Iranian government build up its military. The two men received e-mailed parts orders directly from Iran and then procured and illegally shipped the parts through Dubai to Iran, prosecutors said. They shipped parts for the F-14 Tomcat fighter jet, the AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter and the CH-53 heavy-lift transport helicopter, prosecutors said.

U.S. authorities said numerous procurement networks use suppliers in the United States and around the world to obtain and ship American-made military products to Iran.

Bujduveanu, a Romanian national and naturalized American, pleaded guilty in April to a single conspiracy count. His sentencing is scheduled for June 11.
Will the two gentlemen be stripped of their American citizenship and deported, after they serve their sentences?
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 05/15/2009 12:09 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
CIA rebuffs Cheney over interrogation documents
WASHINGTON, May 14 (Reuters) - The CIA on Thursday rejected a request by former Vice President Dick Cheney that it make public documents that he said showed the effectiveness of using harsh interrogation methods on terrorism suspects. Cheney had asked the agency to declassify two memos that he believes back up his contention that useful intelligence was gained through such methods. The Bush administration authorized the use of waterboarding, sleep and food deprivation and forced nudity as it sought information after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The CIA said the two memos Cheney asked to be made public were relevant to pending litigation. "For that reason -- and that reason only -- CIA did not accept Mr. Cheney's request for a Mandatory Declassification Review," Paul Gimigliano, CIA spokesman, said.
And there's always pending litigation ...
A spokeswoman for Cheney, who has become the most public defender of much of key aspects of George W. Bush's presidency that ended in January, said he was preparing an appeal.
The appeal will keep this in the news which is all Cheney really needs right now.
He has been involved in an increasingly contentious battle with the Obama administration over the interrogation program, whose disclosure prompted international anger and undermined the United States' reputation around the world.

In one of his first acts as president, President Barack Obama ordered more humane treatment for terrorism suspects. Obama incorrectly called waterboarding, a form of simulated drowning, a form of torture and has not ruled out prosecution of those Bush administration officials who authorized it.

Cheney criticized Obama's decision last month to release legal opinions prepared during the Bush administration which justified the use of the techniques, employed against some caught in Bush's declared war against terrorism after the Sept 11 attacks.
Brilliant move by Cheney to go after this. Most Americans don't particularly like him (too bad) but most everyone respects his intelligence and know-how. He can hammer this issue; every time Bambi's minions refuse to release the documents it looks like they have something to hide. Cheney the Crusader. Heh.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Cheney, how to shoot freinds and torture enemies
Posted by: Go home to Jackson Hole || 05/15/2009 0:42 Comments || Top||

#2  That's why we like him ...
Posted by: Steve White || 05/15/2009 0:52 Comments || Top||

#3  I second comment 2.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 05/15/2009 6:40 Comments || Top||

#4  I read this as the CIA telling Cheney "Go home. We can take care of Pelosi by ourselves."
Posted by: Skunky Glins 5*** || 05/15/2009 8:05 Comments || Top||

#5  A new pink entrenching tool for Pelosi please. She really should dig herself in deeper... in style.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/15/2009 8:44 Comments || Top||

#6  Cheney has a strength that few politicians possess: he doesn't give a sh*t if anyone likes him. Therefore, he can speak his mind openly.
Posted by: Spot || 05/15/2009 11:40 Comments || Top||

#7  Well, lizard-people ARE cold-blooded, so, it's not like it's hard for him, even when shape-shifted into a puny mammal.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 05/15/2009 12:41 Comments || Top||

#8  I just wish he would quit licking his eyeball...
Posted by: Seafarious || 05/15/2009 13:13 Comments || Top||


US House Approves Iraq-Afghanistan Funding
The U.S. House of Representatives has overwhelmingly approved a nearly $97 billion spending measure that funds the continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and provides counter-insurgency funding for Pakistan. The Senate is expected to vote next week on its version of the legislation:
How much did Murtha carve out for his nephews?
I imagine that kind of thing is harder for him than it was a month ago.
Almost $12 billion more than President Obama requested, the measure passed in a 368 to 60 vote amid concern about the chances for success of President Obama's new Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy, and worries about recent violence in Iraq.

House appropriations chairman, Democrat David Obey reiterated his concern about the possibility of achieving real success in Afghanistan. "I have a profound doubt that he can succeed. Not because of any problem with his policy, but because I am dubious that there are the tools available in that region for us to succeed using any policy," he said.

Both the House measures give the Pentagon money for new weapons, aircraft, and armored vehicles and support for troops and their families.

Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq receive several billion dollars in economic and development stabilization funds. Pakistan gets 400 million dollars requested by the Obama administration for a new joint counterinsurgency fund.

Exceeding President Obama's foreign aid request by $2.2 billion, the House measure includes economic, security, food and HIV-AIDS assistance for a range of countries in the Middle East, and Africa, as well as Mexico and the Republic of Georgia.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How much did Murtha carve out for his nephews?

If it's less than 10% he should take a trip to Pakistan to learn how it's done.
Posted by: Glenmore || 05/15/2009 10:55 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Jon Stewart Interview with Pakistan Ambassador
It's the entire Daily Show from May 13. Dunno if you have the patience to sit through the whole thing but there is an interesting interview with Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S. He asks for money, of course, but says they've learned their lesson and they're really, really, really gonna fight the Taliban now.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 05/15/2009 12:16 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Haqqani is asking a comedian for money? Now, that's funny.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 05/15/2009 14:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Why would any foreign leader go on the Daily Show?
Posted by: DK70 the Scantily Clad7177 || 05/15/2009 15:15 Comments || Top||

#3  Maybe Cheney will go on. And strangle Stewart with his bare hands...
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/15/2009 15:19 Comments || Top||

#4  Now THAT would be funny!
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 05/15/2009 16:32 Comments || Top||


Karachi still under grip of Lashkar thugs despite crackdown
[Karachi] has come under the grip of militants yet again, as investigators inspecting two cases of murder of persons belonging to two different sects, cited the involvement of banned religious outfit Lashker-i-Jhangvi (LJ) in most sectarian killings.

In the past, the Sindh Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the now defunct Anti-Terrorist Wing (ATW), presently Anti Violent Crime Cell (AVCC), led a crackdown against the network of militants, and held wanted criminals, Akram Lahori, Ata Rehman, Abdul Wahab alias Kahlid, Shahnawaz and others involved in a number of sectarian killings. This group has previously been linked with various militant organisations including Baitullah Mehsud group, Afghan Taliban Group and Harkatul Jihad-i-Islami. It allegedly sent its men to these organisations for training purposes, including operating heavy arms, target killing training, making bombs with mechanical devices. The sources added that the group has vast network in Sindh and usually hired young teenaged boys from Karachi.

Investigators claimed that the roots of LJ were still present in the city, and investigations into the murder of two people killed in Saddar recently only confirmed their presence. LJ has been targeting people belonging to Shia and other sects, and have also targeted officers who operated against their organisation and killed their members. Shahid (name changed to protect identity), one of the suspects, disclosed that he was sent to Afghanistan by Tariq, a sector Incharge of SSP. Upon reaching Afghanistan, he was sent to Khalid Bin Waleed in Khoost areas of Afghanistan for training. He was trained by Harkatul Mujahideen to operate Kalashnikov, LMG, Anti-Aircraft Gun and making of a bomb. Afterwards, Shahid was sent back to Pakistan and he was assigned with other activists to target in Al-Falah, Gulshan-i-Iqbal and Bohra Peer areas of Karachi.

Moreover, while working in Karachi, he met with LJ Ameer’s Ata-ur-Rehman and Naeem Bukhari. who sent him to Kabul to receive bomb training. He completed this training within 32 days and came back to Karachi in March 2001. The accused further disclosed that he had been involved in the attack on the Imambargah in Al-Falah, which killed 13 worshippers. Shahid, along with his other partners, also killed RTA Superintendent Hassan Ali in Gulshan-i-Iqbal on the directives of Bukhari Sahab. Furthermore, he attacked a police van in Bohra Peer area to release his accomplices but failed. However, a police constable was killed in that incident.

A wanted militant Abdul Wahab alias Khalid alias Jameel of Lashker-i-Jhangvi who was arrested by the Law Enforcing Agency also disclosed his criminal history and stated that he was born in Afghanistan in the 1980s, and his family migrated to Karachi and settled in Korangi. He was four-years-old at the time. While working at an electrician’s shop, he met with LJ Ameer Maqsood Qureshi Akram Lahori in 1999. Later, he was trained by them and was assigned targets for killing persons in the city.
Posted by: ryuge || 05/15/2009 00:55 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Nawaz convenes PML-N meeting
When the going gets tough, Nawaz .. convenes a meeting ...
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif has convened a joint meeting of his party’s Central Working Committee (CWC) and Central Parliamentary Party (CPC) on Monday to evolve a strategy on the all-parties conference (APC) convened by the government.

Sources said the meeting would be held at the Punjab House, to discuss the ongoing military operation in Swat against the Taliban and to devise the party’s strategy for the APC. They said the PML-N chief would consult party members as to what approach they should adopt while attending the APC. Moreover, the party would also evolve its strategy to help the internally displaced persons.
It's like convening a meeting of the Peoples Front of Judaea ...
Posted by: Steve White || 05/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


EC pledges $7.5 million aid for Pakistan's conflict victims
BRUSSELS: The European Commission (EC) pledged on Thursday $7.5 million as emergency humanitarian aid for the hundreds of thousands of affected civilians in the conflict-ridden northwest of Pakistan. Over 834,000 civilians have now fled a military assault on the Taliban, holed up in Pakistan's rugged northwest, where artillery pounded rebel bastions on Thursday.
Pledging is easy. Actually disbursing monies under current economic conditions is hard, as the Gazans have recently become aware.
"As a result of the intensified fighting in Swat and other parts of the country, Pakistan is facing not only a security threat but also a humanitarian threat," said European Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel. "Pakistani authorities are doing their utmost but their relief capacities are now overstretched," he said, announcing the release of $7.5 million aid while adding that more could be provided "if necessary".
And it will be after the pols take their cuts. And the UN gets theirs for 'expenses' ...
"Nothin'from nothin' leaves nothin'", isn't that how the song goes?
The European Union's (EU) executive arm stressed that its aid was provided on a neutral basis for the provision of basic humanitarian needs such as food, shelter, clothes and medical support. All the funds would be channelled to the projects run by non-governmental relief organisations, specialised UN agencies and the Red Thingy Cross movement.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  wow 7.5 MILLION NOW THEY WILL EXPECT US TOO SEND 7.5 BILLION
Posted by: rabid whitetail || 05/15/2009 10:58 Comments || Top||


PAF offers to airlift goods for IDPs
LAHORE: The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has offered the services of its transport aircraft fleet to airlift relief goods for the internally displaced persons (IDPs).
In most democratic states this is a given ...
The PAF has launched a relief campaign for the IDPs of Swat, Buner and Dir on the instructions of Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman to express its unity with the nation in alleviating the sufferings of the displaced persons. Camps have been established at all PAF bases for the collection of relief goods from PAF personnel.

The CAS Relief Fund accounts have been established at Habib Bank Limited’s F-8 Markaz branch in Islamabad. The PAF and PAFWA (Pakistan Air Force Women Association) have donated Rs two million and Rs 0.5 million respectively for assisting the IDPs.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


$5bn needed for rehabilitation of IDPs: UNDP
ISLAMABAD: Around $5 billion are needed for the complete rehabilitation of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) of the NWFP, United Nations Development Programme Disaster Reduction Adviser Zubair Murshid said on Thursday. Talking to a private TV channel, he said the process could take two to five years. The influx of IDPs could intensify and surpass 1.5 million if the army offensive became a prolonged one, he added.
Dig deep, brethren and sisteren, so that President Ten-Percent may continue to live in his usual style ...
Posted by: Steve White || 05/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Military courts cannot try civilians except charges of sedition: SC
ISLAMABAD: A three-member bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the Court Martial could try civilians only if they are guilty of or attempt to commit sedition and mutiny.
This is Pakistain, buddy, don't tell the military what they can't do ...
The SC gave the judgement in response to two appeals filed by Ghulam Abbas and Muhammad Saleem, who were sentenced and convicted by the Field General Court Martial (FGCM), Rawalpindi on charges of petrol theft. A single bench of the Lahore High Court had dismissed the writ petitions against the decision on March 29, 2006.

The appellants had signed a contract with the Pakistan Air Force officials for the carriage of jet petroleum (JP-4) from Karachi to various PAF bases. With the passage of time, it was found that the seals of the tankers were broken and the fuel was sold with the connivance of some PAF officers. The PAF officers were also tried for the theft under Section 52 of the PAF Act 1953, while the appellants were tried under Section 37 (e) of the Act for “endeavouring to seduce the officers of the PAF from their duty”.

On September 30, 2002, Saleem was sentenced to 25 years of rigorous imprisonment, subsequently reduced to 20 years. Abbas was sentenced to 23 years of rigorous imprisonment on February 8, 2003. The SC bench consisting of Justice Sardar Raza Khan, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan and Justice Nasirul Mulk set aside the sentence against the appellants, holding that the sentence was awarded coram non judice and a nullity.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Pak denies reports of joint control of US drones
Rubbishing media reports that Pakistan had been given joint control of armed American drones on its territory, Islamabad on Thursday said Washington never made such an offer to it.

"No such offer has been made (the US) or accepted by the Pakistani security forces," chief military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas said. He was replying to a question on media reports that Pakistan had been given joint control of armed American drones inside Pakistan.
"No, no, certainly not!"
An American newspaper had yesterday reported that Pakistan will be involved in armed US Predator missions against militants in its territory under a new partnership. The US military has launched a programme of drone strikes against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Pakistan that for the first time gives its officers significant control over routes, targets and decisions to fire weapons, the Los Angeles Times had reported.

The joint effort is aimed at getting the government in Islamabad, which has bitterly protested unilateral Predator strikes, more directly engaged in one of the most successful elements of the battle against insurgents, the paper had said quoting unnamed officials.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Pakistan hospitals, camps are overwhelmed
Sucks to live in a third world country amidst a civil war. But don't worry, President Ten-Percent is eating well, as is Sufi Muhammed.
Reporting from Mardan, Pakistan -- Shaista Behran lay on a hospital bed with a battered leg and a burdened psyche after watching several members of her family diebefore her eyes. The 8-year-old and her family fled the village of Wodkhi in Pakistan's war-torn Swat Valley last week, making it as far as the area's biggest town, Mingora, when a mortar shell exploded nearby.

"I saw my brother, two sisters and my mother die in front of me," she said, her words halting and barely audible, as a fly settled on her matted black hair. "Then everything went dark and I woke up here in the hospital."

The pus and blood had soaked through the dirty bandage on her left leg as she lay on her side in the overloaded women's ward of District Headquarters Hospital No. 1 in Mardan. The staff wasn't sure how she got here and hoped one of her relatives would show up soon to help her.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White || 05/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Camp Victory Soldiers Sing
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/15/2009 09:53 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Book those three for the Superbowl.
Posted by: Grunter || 05/15/2009 11:05 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Paleo Ambassador to Leb Being Unusually Frank
Palestinian Ambassador to Lebanon Abbas Zaki: Two-State Solution™ Will Lead to the Collapse of Israel

Following are excerpts from an interview with PLO Ambassador to Lebanon Abbas Zaki, which aired on ANB TV on May 7, 2009. (To view this clip on MEMRI TV).

Also below are excerpts from other television appearances by Zaki, on New TV, OTV, and NBN TV:

Two-State Solution Will Lead to the Collapse of Israel
ANB TV, May 7, 2009


Abbas Zaki: "What is needed is a settlement, not a Hudna™ [truce]. After 45 years of struggle, we have the right to reach a conclusion to this conflict, rather than extending the Hudna™, enabling Israel to expand on a daily basis.

"My advice is: we should not give Israel a Hudna™, because whenever Israel is given a Hudna™, it consolidates its position and becomes more deeply rooted. What Hudna™? If they do not withdraw from the 1967 lands – what Hudna™? Israel will become a fact on the ground, and we will end up as small enclaves, and should be driven out with time.

"Therefore, it is high time that we found a final, comprehensive solution. The Arabs talk about a comprehensive solution and present initiatives, and the world talks about a solution, yet we say: Let's stick to the Hudna™. No, my friend. I personally joined Fatah somewhat belatedly, in 1962. Work out how many years that is. Should I keep on extending the Hudnas™? Impossible. We want a solution now.

"They talk about a two-state solution, and when that is achieved... Even Ahmadinejad, leader of the rejectionists throughout the region, said he supports a two-state solution. Nobody fools anybody.

"With the two-state solution, in my opinion, Israel will collapse, because if they get out of Jerusalem, what will become of all the talk about the Promised Land and the Chosen People? What will become of all the sacrifices they made – just to be told to leave? They consider Jerusalem to have a spiritual status. The Jews consider Judea and Samaria to be their historic dream. If the Jews leave those places, the Zionist idea will begin to collapse. It will regress of its own accord. Then we will move forward."

I Support Suicide Bombings in Israel
New TV, January 6, 2009
(to view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1980.htm).

Interviewer: "I asked you earlier if you support martyrdom operations today, and you said that the Israelis are afraid both of the Paleostinian stones and people."

Abbas Zaki: "First of all, in light of the blood that is being shed in Gaza, and the crying of the men – not only of the women... The hardest thing is to watch the men crying in Gaza. I now support any operation that will make the women and men in Israel cry. When the Al-Qassam Brigades and all the other forces were told to strike everywhere, I expected things to be carried out quickly. All those who always flex their muscles, and say they want to slaughter Israel – this is their opportunity. Soon, the world will view us as those responsible for the crime. Currently, in light of what is happening to the children of Gaza, any martyrdom operation is permissible, I swear by Allan™."

Interviewer:"Do you call for such operations to be launched from the West Bank as well? Some people are asking: What can the people of the Gaza Strip do right now? Perhaps now, with the land invasion, they will be able to act. But do you really call upon the people of the West Bank to carry out martyrdom operations?"

Abbas Zaki: "The people of the West Bank are active day and night – with stones, with demonstrations, all the people have taken to the streets. You asked me if I support, in light of this bloodshed... Don't forget we're Arabs – we believe in Blood Dire Vengeance. No one can treat our blood like water. We should have afflicted them with three or four operations, and then their women would have said to those sons of bitches: 'Come home, we are getting killed here.' When Israel focuses on one front, other fronts should be activated."

We Consider the U.S to Be an Enemy Country
OTV, November 7, 2008
(to view this clip on MEMRI TV).

Abbas Zaki: "We consider the U.S. to be an enemy because its only strategic alliance is with Israel."

Interviewer: "How could you possibly accept your enemy in your land?"

Abbas Zaki: "What do you mean? We meet even with Israel."

Interviewer: "How can you consider Israel to be your enemy, if you signed a peace treaty with it?"

Abbas Zaki: "Allow me... This enemy... If I had the capabilities of the U.S. – would I be fighting it or negotiating with it?"

Interviewer: "Israel ceased being an enemy once you signed a peace treaty with it. I don't know how it could be your enemy. Do you talk to the Israelis as if they were your enemies? Do you talk to Israel as a friendly or enemy country?"

Abbas Zaki: "An enemy country, which owes us certain things. The heroic Vietnamese used to negotiate with the French, while they were slaughtering them."

Interviewer: "I can assure you that in his speeches, Abu Mazen sez the U.S. is a friendly country."

Abbas Zaki: "Well, this isn't true. Perhaps Abu Mazen, in his position, needs to use diplomatic language, but he is the greatest critic of the U.S."

We Act According to the Phased Plan; Once We Get Jerusalem, We Will Move On to Drive Israelis Out of All of Paleostine
NBN TV, April 9, 2008
(to view this clip on MEMRI TV).

Abbas Zaki: "We believe wholeheartedly that the Right of Return™ is guaranteed by our will, by our weapons, and by our faith."

Interviewer: "Do you still believe in weapons, not just in negotiations?"

Abbas Zaki: "The use of weapons alone will not bring results, and the use of politics without weapons will not bring results. We act on the basis of our extensive experience. We analyze our situation carefully. We know what climate leads to victory and what climate leads to suicide. We talk politics, but our principles are clear. It was our pioneering leader, Yasser Arafat, who persevered with this revolution, when empires collapsed. Our armed struggle has been going on for 43 years, and the political struggle, on all levels, has been going on for 50 years. We harvest U.N. resolutions, and we shame the world so that it doesn't gang up on us, because the world is led by people who have given their brains a vacation – the American administration and the neocons."[...]

Young Paleostinian: "As I recall, the invasion of 1982 and the destruction of South Lebanon was not just in response to missile attacks, but in response to operations as well. Israel does not use only the missiles as a pretext. It uses any activity of the Resistance™ as a pretext."

Abbas Zaki: "The important thing is that in any operation, Israel will pay a price. We don't want cases in which you don't kill even a chicken, but Israel kills 20 of you. I salute any operation that makes Israel pay a heavy price.
[...]
"The P.L.O. is the sole legitimate representative [of the Paleostinian people], and it has not changed its platform even one iota. In light of the weakness of the Arab nation and the lack of values, and in light of the American control over the world, the P.L.O. proceeds through phases, without changing its strategy. Let me tell you, when the ideology of Israel collapses, and we take, at least, Jerusalem, the Israeli ideology will collapse in its entirety, and we will begin to progress with our own ideology, Allan™ willing, and drive them out of all of Paleostine."
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 05/15/2009 08:31 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How...diplomatic.
Posted by: Seafarious || 05/15/2009 9:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Stick a pistol in his ear then ask "You wanna negotiate or What?"
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 05/15/2009 13:40 Comments || Top||

#3  Unusually Frank?
It's a Commodores perk I guess.


Posted by: .5MT || 05/15/2009 19:13 Comments || Top||

#4  hey now!
Posted by: Frank G || 05/15/2009 19:36 Comments || Top||


Staring into the heart of Hamas
Posted by: ryuge || 05/15/2009 01:20 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel vows not to surprise U.S. with strike on Iran
Israel has acceded to American demands by pledging to coordinate its moves on Iran with Washington and not surprise the United States with military action.
I believe them. Don't you believe them?
During a trip to Jerusalem earlier this week, CIA chief Leon Panetta informed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that U.S. President Barack Obama demanded that Israel not launch a surprise attack on Iran. The message expressed concern that Israel would cause an escalation in the region and undermine Obama's efforts to improve relations with Tehran.

However, the content was nothing new: The Bush administration also sent tough messages to Jerusalem a year ago, including a demand that it not strike Iran. Israeli officials believe that U.S. foreign policy professionals are vehemently opposed to an Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, so this position was transmitted from the previous administration to the present one.

The U.S. expects Israel to coordinate its military actions with Washington, a condition to which Jerusalem has agreed due to its dependence on U.S. aid. Senior officials in the Bush administration testified to Congress that Israel had consulted them before deciding on its 2007 air strike on an alleged Syrian nuclear reactor. They said Israel had explained that it considered the Syrian project an existential threat and therefore had to act.

In his first trip to Israel as CIA chief, about three weeks ago, Panetta met with Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Mossad chief Meir Dagan. Panetta was White House chief of staff under Bill Clinton in 1994-97. In this capacity, he and his president weathered a stormy phase of the peace process, the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres' brief term of office and the advent of the first Netanyahu government. During those years, Clinton visited Israel three times, so Panetta got to know the Israeli leadership.

In the Senate confirmation hearing for his appointment as CIA chief, Panetta said he has no doubt Iran is working toward nuclear weapons capability. Since taking office, Panetta has also visited India and Pakistan, due to the serious domestic crisis in Islamabad and the growing threat to its regime.

The Iranian threat will play a central role in Netanyahu's talks with Obama, Congress and senior U.S. officials during his visit to Washington next week. After the premier returns, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman will head to Washington for his first visit. Lieberman will head the strategic dialogue between the U.S. and Israel, which will focus on Iran.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Are they stockpiling?
Posted by: mojo || 05/15/2009 1:53 Comments || Top||

#2  What will Bambi do when Iran nukes Israel? Issue a strongly worded demand that Iran not do it again? Try to force the UN Security Council to condemn Iran?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 05/15/2009 7:11 Comments || Top||

#3  Panetta is preparing his Pelosi defense.
Posted by: Skunky Glins 5*** || 05/15/2009 8:11 Comments || Top||

#4  [Bibi] I promise, you'll get 30 seconds notice before we bomb them.[/bibi]
Posted by: Parabellum || 05/15/2009 8:14 Comments || Top||

#5  [Bibi] No problem Leon, we're going to slap them hard...mebe this week, mebe next week or the month after. Don't be surprised.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/15/2009 8:35 Comments || Top||

#6  Israel would be nuts to tell anyone in the obama administration. "I'll stand with the muslims."

They might HAVE to inform the military though for Iraq flyover clearance. That's the rub.
Posted by: Hellfish || 05/15/2009 10:34 Comments || Top||

#7  A look at the map puts this in perspective. You can't get from Israel to Iran without overflying Iraq, Turkey, or Saudi. None of which is likely without permission. There was earlier speculation about the IAF cutting a deal with Turkmenistan to launch a strike from there. The F-15I has a good range and the IAF can do aerial refueling, but they will be sucking fumes on an Iranian strike mission.
Posted by: rwv || 05/15/2009 10:48 Comments || Top||

#8  IIRC the Israeli attack on Syrian atomic facility was staged through Turkey.

Since the Turks don't exactly love the Iranians, it would not surprice me if they flew through Turkey an the way to Iran. Also, the Saudis would not be heart-broken if Iran's nuc program was destroyed.
Posted by: Frozen Al || 05/15/2009 11:58 Comments || Top||

#9  They might not only fly through Turkey, they might gas up there and back.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/15/2009 14:03 Comments || Top||

#10  P.S. Here is Amir Tahiri's discussion of how the Arab countries are reacting to Obama's overtures to Iran
Posted by: Frozen Al || 05/15/2009 14:05 Comments || Top||

#11  I would tell the Obama administration and then only sit back and _observe_ the Iranian defenses as they go up.

Priceless intel...
Posted by: CrazyFool || 05/15/2009 14:34 Comments || Top||

#12  They'll send the notification in manual 'Purple Code' through the Japanese Embassy in Washington.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/15/2009 16:25 Comments || Top||

#13  How about a June 4 attack as Barry speaks from the Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo? Nice touch I'd say.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/15/2009 16:55 Comments || Top||

#14  Of course, this is exactly the disinfo chatter you'd put out right before you attack, right? How's those Depends fitting, Achmed?
Posted by: Frank G || 05/15/2009 18:35 Comments || Top||


Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka to free war-trapped civilians in 48 hours: official
Sri Lankan troops will "rescue" all civilians trapped in the remaining patch of land held by Tamil Tiger rebels within the next 48 hours, government information director Anusha Palpita said on Friday.

Palpita said President Mahinda Rajapakse, during his current visit to Jordan, told Sri Lankan expatriates that the military offensive will see the capture of the last remaining area of Tiger territory by the weekend. "The president assured that within the next 48 hours the thousands of Tamil civilians will be freed from the clutches of the Tamil Tigers," Palpita said by telephone from Amman. "All territory will be freed from Tiger control."
Posted by: Steve White || 05/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hizbullah: Iran and Syria "do not have say"in decisions
Hizbullah's International Relations Officer Ammar Moussawi said that "Iran and Syria do not have a say in the Resistance's decisions made on Lebanese territory."
Perish the thought!
"We are the ones who called for neutralizing Lebanon and preventing its transformation into a platform for regional conflicts. [This was achieved] by not allowing the US and its allies to attack Syria," he told New TV on Thursday.
"Just like Israel did not fly in and destroy Syria's nuclear facility. See how effective we are?"
Moussawi also said that Israel had changed its spies recruitment techniques, explaining that "it now recruits people from a higher social status and pays large sums of money, while previously it used to recruit those who are in real need" of money.
Posted by: Pappy || 05/15/2009 01:40 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Freed Saberi 'flying out of Iran'
US-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi has left Iran following her release from jail earlier this week, a family friend told AFP news agency. The unnamed friend says Ms Saberi and her parents had taken a flight out of Tehran. Their destination is unclear.

Ms Saberi, 32, was freed on Monday, after spending four months in prison on spying charges, which she denied.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Who paid her ransom and what was it?
Posted by: Parabellum || 05/15/2009 8:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Gyroscopes (sp.)
Posted by: bman || 05/15/2009 11:15 Comments || Top||

#3  Who paid her ransom and what was it?

Look for her on C-BS' 60 Minutes, explaining how the Iranian gov't. is not evil and means no harm to anyone. How the people we should really fear are the Israelis and by the way, Iran's nuke program really is for peaceful purposes.

IOW, she made a deal with the devil.
Posted by: Zorba || 05/15/2009 13:49 Comments || Top||

#4  Who paid her ransom and what was it?

According to Debka, it was (or will be) the four IRG officers being held in Iraq for their terror activities. Place your bets now.
Posted by: SteveS || 05/15/2009 19:25 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2009-05-15
  60 Talibs killed in Swat
Thu 2009-05-14
  Morocco dismantles Salafiya Jihadiya cell
Wed 2009-05-13
   113 deaders, thousands flee Somalia festivities
Tue 2009-05-12
  Pak commandos dropped into Taliban stronghold
Mon 2009-05-11
  200 Taliban killed in Swat operation
Sun 2009-05-10
  Scores dead as drone hits S. Wazoo Mehsud stronghold
Sat 2009-05-09
  1.2 million people leave Buner, Swat other areas
Fri 2009-05-08
  Gilani orders all-out war on Pak Taliban
Thu 2009-05-07
  Sufi Mohammad's son killed in Lower Dir shelling
Wed 2009-05-06
  Mashaal: Hamas wants 10 year cease-fire
Tue 2009-05-05
  Pirates captured after attacking the wrong ship
Mon 2009-05-04
  Khaled Mashaal re-elected Hamas political leader
Sun 2009-05-03
  64 civilians killed in Lanka hospital attack
Sat 2009-05-02
  60 Taliban killed in Buner offensive
Fri 2009-05-01
  Taliban hold Buner town people hostage

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