THE Red Cross in Afghanistan has been teaching the Taliban basic first aid and giving them medical equipment to help fighters wounded in battles with NATO and Afghani forces.
More than 70 members of the "armed opposition" received training in April, the Red Cross has said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had offered its medical expertise because it was difficult for the wounded to get to hospitals because of battles, landmines and roadblocks, The Guardian reported.
The organisation aims to remain neutral in the conflict. It has also trained Afghan soldiers, policemen and taxi-drivers who act as a make-shift ambulance service in Helmand and Kandahar.
However, a leading figure in Kandahar's local government, who wanted to remain anonymous, expressed outrage over the development. He told the Guardian: "They (the Taliban) are like animals, and they treat the people they capture worse than animals. They kidnapped and killed an American lady and then wouldn't even return her body. These people don't deserve this help."
The Afghan ministries of defence and interior both refused to comment on what they said was a highly controversial issue.
A NATO spokesman said: "NATO has tremendous respect for the humanitarian work carried out by the ICRC and we recognize the need for this work to be carried out impartially."
Injured insurgents are generally accepted at Afghan hospitals but there have been cases of security forces raiding hospitals and arresting staff for treating the Taliban.
#5
With the amount of drone-zappage going on, better to teach body part re-attachment than first aid.
/me notes that the American Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross are two distinct and different organizations. One provides disaster relief and the other is the ICRC.
#3
I see Pravda's recruiting from Counterpunch and Zero Anthropology. I wonder if they miss the old days, when you actually had to go out and find and recruit a source and cultivate it and nurture it and maybe, someday, you get that one big score. Probably harder, but also more satisfying. Now all ya gotta do is a damn Google search.
#4
A little agit-prop against the Human Terrain System? I know the academic world in the US is outraged about it, now apparently the real commies are piling on. I suspect HTS is working.
#5
I wonder if they miss the old days, when you actually had to go out and find and recruit a source and cultivate it and nurture it and maybe, someday, you get that one big score. Probably harder, but also more satisfying.
Nah, it wasn't that hard. Right, Joe?
Posted by: The Ghost of Walter Duranty ||
05/25/2010 19:57 Comments ||
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#1
I do not know why I am commenting because it is very frustating. Americans do not care what harm their stupid foreign policy is doing and what it will be doing to them and their grand children. On the economic front, neither the public nor US government has any idea that they are totally sold to China. If you folks can not think or care what your government and what you need to do for your good way of living then who will. The biggest problem for us now is to buy American produced goods (not only the card box) in order to create the lost American jobs and to preserve the American way of living. Have you ever heard any Tea Party activists to promote sale of American products. So what these Tea party folks are doing, nothing more than to gain political influence same as others have done to benefited from your ignorance. Please. do not let me insult you by telling the truth. I find not much difference bet ween the American Tea party and the stupidity in India where some one smart Allix crook declares himself a leader, gives a slogan and a whole bunch of people there (retired or do not have any thing good to do)will march with that slogan without knowing how and what help that slogan promises to the general public. Is the American Tea Party has descended to the same nonsense level of the stupid, illiterate and crocked level of Indian politics?.
It is your and my life also and much more about the lives of my and your children and grand children that we are are destroying every minute when we buy foreign goods.
#2
The biggest problem for us now is to buy American produced goods (not only the card box) in order to create the lost American jobs and to preserve the American way of living.
I agree with that statement. However, if one goes to Wal-Mart (or other chain stores), nearly all of what is sold is from China, Mexico, Honduras, etc. Part of this is a political problem because of trade agreements our government has made. Part of it is an individual consumer problem; that is of not demanding domestic products. We are indeed shooting ourselves in the foot.
Is the American Tea Party has descended to the same nonsense level of the stupid, illiterate and crocked level of Indian politics?.
I think this is a jaundiced view of the Tea Party. The Tea Party has focused on one maybe two big issues and that is: 1. taxes, spending and an out-of-control federal governmental, and 2. non-responsive, non-representative big centralized government. Remember, the Tea Party has only been in existence a short time. They must be perceived as a threat since they have gotten the attention of the MSM and the leftards in power to the extent the MSM and the left have tried to demonize and destroy the Tea Party. They have forced political change at the State and National level and most likely that will continue.
#3
As the poster of the article I want to know WTF the first comment has to do with an ISI handler for the the Time Square Bomber? Also, with other ISI <-> Talibunny links....
#4
If you want to buy american made goods "Google" american made clothes or whatever it is you want. You may be suprised to see the selection and quality of the goods.
SANAA - A Yemeni umbrella opposition group welcomed a government amnesty for nearly 300 imprisoned rebels and separatists, one of its key demands, but members said on Monday they doubted the government was serious about change.
In a speech on Friday to mark 20 years of unity between north and south Yemen, President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced an amnesty for 298 imprisoned northern Shi'ite rebels, southern secessionists and journalists. He also said he wanted to open up Yemen's political process to all participants.
Just as long as he stays in charge ...
A national dialogue, which also would result in agreement on terms of the first parliamentary election since 2003, has been delayed since last year when Sanaa declined to include northern rebels and southern secessionists in the talks.
Which made it an empty conference room ...
We welcome the release of the prisoners,' Mohammad al-Naimy, spokesman for the al-Liqaa al-Mushtarak umbrella group, told Reuters. As for the participation in the political process, this depends on the outcome of our dialogue with the government'.
Formed in 2003, the organisation brings together Yemen's main opposition parties, including Islamist party al-Islah and the Yemeni Socialist Party.
But speaking on the sidelines of a meeting at the group's headquarters, members said they were not convinced by Saleh's offer for political participation.
He wants to show this to the United States, because they pushed him to have a dialogue with us,' said Mohammed Abdulmalik al-Mutawakkil, leading member of the umbrella group and professor of political science at Sanaa University. After 31 years in power, do you think (Saleh) is going to accept change?'
That's a good point ...
He (Saleh) wants dialogue if the dialogue results in the government staying, but dialogue that results in peaceful change, that is not acceptable to him,' Naimy told Reuters.
No dialogue and no change could have dire consequences for the troubled country, Naimy said.
We could have another Somalia,' he said, referring to the Horn of Africa country that has been in a state of turmoil for almost two decades.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/25/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
The travel agents say it is safe and the state dept is over reachingin its letter. HMMM I would hate to find out the hard way the travel agent was wrong.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
05/25/2010 16:21 Comments ||
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#2
The cops in Mexico are crooks, so this should come as no surprise. As explained to me once by a Mexican, the difference between the US and Mexico is that when you are stopped by as cop in the US he comes to the car frowning because you broke the law; in Mexico he's smiling because he knows he'll be paid.
#3
There are special circumstances here. The short runs to Rocky Point are "protected turf", that the Mexican government wants to be trouble free. But if you go off the main road, you will be surrounded by Mexican army with M-16s and attitudes. That's how they do it--it is basically driving through a military reservation.
The police in Rocky Point have been dealing with annoying Americans for years, so most offenses are a night in jail and a $75-$100 fine. Otherwise they are pretty straight.
What is happening now is that the Mexican government wants to show its displeasure with AZ, by putting up some (legitimate) police checkpoints, as mild harassment. "You hassle Mexicans, we hassle Americans".
They do not, no how, want to stop American tourism, which is very big bucks. Nor are they going allow creeps or gangs to mess with American families.
So the bottom line is the US consulate telling Americans to not be dumbasses and try to run a Mexican checkpoint, or they *will* shoot at you.
Rinsed through babelfish and edited for clarity...
About 600 police of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon were quartered without previous warning during two days and will be put under diverse tests that will try to determine who may have ties with drug trafficking, Monterrey city officials said today.
During that time, they will be put under five different tests to see if they can stay police or will be fired. During this time Mexican Army units and Nuevo Leon state police agents will patrol the city.
The Army has documented that the Monterrey police are infiltrated by organized crime and that many of their members work for the group known as "the Zs".
Recently several Monterrey police agents have been arrested for collaborating with cartels of the drug cartels, trafficking and kidnapping for contract including making payment arrangements and murder.
City officials emphasized that the 14 supervisors of the department and approximately the 600 police will be put under, starting today and until Tuesday, five examinations, including psychometric, antidoping and polygraph.
The test results are expected to be released Friday as well as who will be reinstated and who will be fired.
City officials say officers who refuse any tests will be fired immediately.
During these two days, Mexican soldiers, state police agents and a guard of 140 uniformed policemen will watch the city.
At the moment the police department of Monterrey maintains a deficit of around 100 agents. In addition, in the present administration 180 police have been fired for "loss of confidence".
Muslim leaders in Russia's North Caucasus republic of North Ossetia accepted on Tuesday the resignation of Mufti Ali-Hadji Evteev after an interview in which he admitted militant links.
The row broke out in early May after Evteev gave an interview to the Regnum news agency in which he described himself as a pupil of Ibn Al-Khattab, a notorious Islamist militant who fought against Russia in the Chechen wars. Evteev also said that he wanted to live in an Islamic country, praised jihad and made offensive remarks about Russia's Orthodox Church.
Shortly afterwards, Evteev, who was appointed head of the republic's Muslim religious administration in May 2008, made a public apology to the Church, saying his quotes had been misinterpreted. He also denied knowing Khattab.
"Yesterday evening, a meeting of the Muslim religious administration took place... in which the resignation of the Mufti was accepted," a spokesman for North Ossetia's ministry for national affairs said. Good. Now send him to live in Somalia. It's Islamic.
SEOULNorth Korea said Tuesday it will cut off all ties to South Korea, going well beyond the penalties that Seoul imposed on it a day earlier for its apparent role in the sinking of a South Korean warship two months ago. The statement came several hours after North Korean accused South Korea of sending warships into its territorial waters, a claim the South immediately denied.
North Korea's state news agency announced the move late Tuesday, well after the usual hours when it makes statements from the country's authoritarian government. The decision sharply escalates the tensions between the two countries in the aftermath of the March 26 sinking of South Korea's Cheonan warship.
North Korea said it would expel all South Koreans from a joint industrial complex just inside the North where about 120 South Korean companies employ about 40,000 North Koreans.
Nicely taking care of South Korea's hostage concerns.
The statement also said Pyongyang will "totally abrogate the agreement on nonaggression between the north and the south and completely halt the inter-Korean cooperation." The two Koreas have forged several nonaggression pacts since the 1970s and the North's statement wasn't specific which agreement it meant.
North Korea also said it would ban South Korean ships and planes from its territorial waters and airspace, though that step means little since South Korean planes avoid the country and only ships involved in commerce with the North travel there.
North Korea's state media said "dozens" of South Korea warships crossed the inter-Korean maritime border in the Yellow Sea over the past 10 days. The area, near where the South Korean patrol boat Cheonan sank on March 26, has long been disputed by North Korea.
The statement showed that Pyongyang is intensely focused on the Yellow Sea boundary as part of its broader effort to secure money and security for its authoritarian government. As part of that effort, North Korea for two years has been trying to get South Korea to reverse its stance of linking aid to the North with nuclear disarmament.
The maritime boundary is an area where North Korea can irritate the South Korean military and government without risk of involving many people and a wide conflict. And it's a place where Pyongyang feels economically constrained. On portions of its west coast, North Korean fishing vessels can only go out about five miles before reaching the inter-Korean border, limiting their ability to fish.
In the announcement, North Korea warned of further, unspecified military action in the Yellow Sea. It didn't refer to the Cheonan sinking in the announcement.
Through the years, North Korean military vessels have accompanied fishing boats around the sea border. Last year, North Korea built a rocket base on land that's capable of firing artillery into the border waters. It test-fired several hundred rounds of artillery from the new base in January.
Earlier Tuesday, a defector group in Seoul said that North Korean officials told the country's citizens last week to prepare for confrontation with the South. The order was given on a closed-circuit cable radio system that is maintained by the government and is difficult for outsiders to monitor, said Hyun In-hye of the defector group North Korea Intellectual Solidarity. He said the group is in regular phone contact with people in North Korea.
The North's authoritarian government has long told North Koreans that the country is at risk of invasion from South Korea, the U.S. and Japan. But last week's message said the South may use the Cheonan incident as a pretense for war, Ms. Hyun said.
#1
[NKor]
Our torpedo was trundling along, minding its own business, and they put a ship in its way. That sort of provocation cannot be allowed to stand. No juche for you!
[/NKor]
Posted by: Mike ||
05/25/2010 16:38 Comments ||
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#2
So we reap the fruits of the SKor Sunshine Policy (sucking up NKor in public and sending the NKor VIPs lots of money as bribes/humanitanian assistance).
The guy who initiated the Sunshine Policy in the late Clinton era was SKor Prez, Kim Dae Jung. He leveraged this into a Nobel Peace Prize. Then, in the early W years, Roh Moo-hyun was elected on a 'lets do more Sunshine' promise. Lee Myung-bak took office in 2009 and reduced the bribes (he said he ended them but there were probably different people being bribed for less money).
Posted by: lord garth ||
05/25/2010 17:30 Comments ||
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#3
If I was in the SoKorean Pentagon, I would be cancelling any and all leaves, pushing for emergency ramp-ups on weapons and munition deliveries, and calling "unscheduled practice deployments" of all armor, artillery, and infantry OUT of their respective homebases, immediately.
#4
"I would be cancelling any and all leaves, pushing for emergency ramp-ups on weapons and munition deliveries, and calling "unscheduled practice deployments" of all armor, artillery, and infantry OUT of their respective homebases, immediately." - Shieldwolf
isn't that what's happening...? artillery have been put on high alert and deployed - so has the navel border patrols - just because they are not printing deployment conditions in the blogs, does not mean it is not on the ready
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says evidence is overwhelming that North Korea is responsible for a torpedo attack that killed 46 South Korean sailors. He says he is confident the U.N. Security Council will take appropriate measures in dealing with the incident.
In a monthly news conference Monday, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the March 26 torpedo attack. "The evidence laid out in the joint international investigation report is overwhelming and deeply troubling. I fully share the widespread condemnation of the incident," he said.
He said he expects that U.N. Security Council to take up the measure, but he did not say what, if anything, it could do to rebuke Pyongyang. "I'm confident that the council, in fulfilling its responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, will take measures appropriate to the gravity of the situation," he said.
By definition, whatever the Security Council decide to do will be appropriate to what they judge to be the gravity of the situation. How realistic their assessment will be remains to be seen, especially given that China and Russia are permanent members.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/25/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Shabaab
#1
ION FREEREPUBLIC > REPORT: NORTH KOREAN LEADER KIM PLACES MILITARY ON COMBAT FOOTING.
* TOPIX > UN CONDEMNS NORTH KOREAN ATTACK [on CHEONAN], + SOUTH KOREA SUSPENDS ALL TRADE WITH NORTH, + OBAMA: US IS READY TO FIGHT NORTH KOREA.
* BHARAT RAKSHAK > CHINA'S HIGH SEAS AGGRESSION [ as much for PRO-CHINA GEOPOL = STATE POWER AS MUCH AS ECONOMICS].
#6
I also have faith in the UNSC - I believe that the members will look at this blatant act of war and decide to fund a study. A long study, with lots of sinecures for bureaucrats.
#7
And don't forget the conferences! Got to have lots and lots of conferences and luncheons in exotic locations where the delegates can fly in on their private jets and hold parties and dicussions over drinks. I hear Rio is lovely this time of year....
#11
TOPIX > WHY IS NORTH KOREA MOBILIZING FOR WAR?
ARTIC indics or reminds us that
To wit,
* Up to 100,OOO SK Citizens-Residents of CLOSE-TO-THE-DMZ-ROK-CAPITAL-CITY SEOUL face death in the opening hours of any de facto NK-SK Mil Conlfict.
* As per above, approxi 1/2 of SOKOR-Based USFK Mil Personnel could become CASUALTIES.
* TECHNICALLY, KIMMIE = DPRK had since 2009 already unilaterally + formally abrogated or abandoned the 1950 Armistice Agreement.
* SCENARIO = ESTIMATES OF EARLY US-ROK "VICTORY" does NOT [typically]include or count ANY MIL INVOLVEMENT/INTERVENTION OF CHINA agz US-ROK/ALLIED MILFORS, NOR THE USE OF NUCWEAPS.
* RISK OF EXPANSION OF CONFLICT FROM KOREAS UNTO GLOBAL WW3.
#12
* SAME > DAILY YOMIURI > MORE CHINESE NAVAL AGGRESSION? MEGA-CHINA CHANGING JAPAN-CHINA RELATIONS. CHINA'S NAVY "SHOWING THE FLAG" OFF OKINOTORISHA [04/2010 PLAN Training Cruise Inspection Boat Party, + time later a formal NAVEX includ ASW Sub Drill].
ARTIC GRAPHIC MAP > depicts Okinotorisha as over 1/2-PLUS the distance towards the strategic direction of WESTPAC "SECOND ISLAND CHAIN" = espec GUAM-CNMI/MARIANAS.
AKA, "BREAKOUT" DEEP INTO WESTPAC + PLAN GETTIN' INTO JAPAN'S REAR.
Artic also notes CHIN'S DECISION TO ENFORCE
"CONTINENTAL SHELF" UNDERWATER SOVEREIGNTY.
* SAME > CHINA SAID TO HAD REBUFFED KIM JONG-IL'S AID PLAN, for North Korea.
#13
RIAN.RU > MEDVEDEV CALLS ON SEOUL NOT TO ALLOW ESCALATION ON KOREAN PENINSULA.
and
TOPIX > VARIOUS > HILLARY: US "WORKING HARD" TO PREVENT NEW KOREAN CONFLICT/ESCALATION, + [Koreas Crisis]CHINA MUST CONTROL KIM-JONG-IL.
Remember, 9-11 + GWOT = WAR AGZ THE "STATUS QUO", i.e. AGZ THE CURRENT ESTABLISHMENT + ORDER OF DOING THINGS. KIMMIE = DPRK must find a way to:
To wit,
* END DPRK STARVATION
* Keep FAMILY,PARTY, ARMY in Power
* Validate or "justify" NORKOM DPRK + PAN-KOREAN COMMUNISM-SOCIALISM-GOVTISM, + related - ISMS.
* MODERNIZE THE DPRK-specific NATIONAL ECON [read, NOT VIA COMMIE COMRADE CHINA].
* Keep the US-ROK [ + Japan, Euros] OUT OF DPRK, i.e. NO RETURN TO what occurred to CHINA + KOREAS in the 19th-early 20th Century ["Asia for Asians" anti-Foreigner/"White Devil" Boxer Rebellion, "Korean Annexation" by Japan, WW2]
* Keep CHINA per se out of the DPRK, i.e. NOT lose 2 of 3 ANCIENT KORYE "THREE KINGDOMS" = PAN-KOREAN COMMON HOMELANDS to Beijing due to FAILURES/DEFECTS OF KOREAN LEFTISM-COMMUNISM..
* Ditto RUSSIA + loss of Korean territory to same . RUSS = USSR = TSARIST RUSS + "THE OTHER/ICE-HAPPY NORTHERN, ALMOST-A-EURO, LAND--N-KIMCHEE GRABBY WHITE DEVIL".
Lastly, RISING ISLAMIST NUCLEAR THREAT [State + MilTerr] to DPRK + ALL OF ASIA IN GENERAL.
KIMMIE IS NO IDJUT > ISLAMIST/JIHADIST BOMB + INSURGENCIES = ISLAMISTS/MILTERRS BENT ON [Terror-led]WORLD CONQUEST.
IMO, KIMMIE seeing "GREAT POWER" CONFRONTATION as the only way for his NORKOMS to satisfy all of the above, prevent USSR-STYLE SELF-IMPLOSION WHILE PROTECTING "AS IS"-OR-BETTER DPRK SOVEREIGNTY + PERSONAL,DYNASTIC POWER.
INCREASED ECON AID FROM CHIN, INTERNATIONAL MAY NOT SUFFICE THIS TIME FOR THE DPRK.
ME > Personally, 2010-2012 I'm notsomuch worried about Kimmie attacking the ROK across the KOREAN DMZ as I am about Him = DPRK launching LR Nuke-WMDS agz USFK Milfors, USN CV/CVBGS + MEGS, JAPAN [Cities or US Milbases], or even agz GUAM.
SEOUL, May 24 (Yonhap) -- Japan is considering making its own sanctions against North Korea over the deadly sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan in March, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Monday.
In a telephone conversation with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, Hatoyama said North Korea, which committed the incident, is an obvious threat not only to South Korea but also to Japan, said Lee's spokesman, Park Sun-kyu.
Lee told Hatoyama that putting resolute measures into practice is important to correct North Korea's wrongdoings and asked for Japan's cooperation in future moves, including referring the incident to U.N. Security Council. Hatoyama replied Japan will continue to support the South Korean government's position and cooperate in the future.
Japan's Kyodo News also reported from Tokyo that Japan will consider possible additional sanctions it could unilaterally impose on North Korea after an international investigation concluded last week that a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine in the Yellow Sea on March 26 caused the sinking, which left 46 sailors dead.
Kyodo also reported that Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano told reporters after a high-level national security meeting on Monday that Japan will collaborate with South Korea and the United States, and that if the South Korean government refers the incident to the U.N. Security Council for punitive measures against North Korea, Tokyo will fully back the move.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/25/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
ION TOPIX > NORTH KOREA, CHINA ARE TWO REASONS FOR JAPAN TO KEEP US MARINES ON OKINAWA.
versus
* SAME > JAPAN NEEDS ITS OWN MARINES: LDP LEADER ISHIBA SAYS [to mil recover or protect JAPANESE INTERESTS, ISLANDS, + CITIZENS OVERSEAS in RIGHTEOUS NIPPON JAR/BLOCKHEAD INDIGNATION].
Also read, SSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHH PLUS STRATEGIC NUCLEAR MISSLES, BOMBERS, TACNUKES, ETC.
-----------
* TOPIX > US KOREA EXPERT: NORTH KOREA THREATS DERIVE FROM WEAKNESS, FEAR OF PARTY, NATIONAL COLLAPSE.
versus
FORMER DNI DIRECTOR [John Fingar]: ASIA DOES NOT NEED US [mil power] TO STOP OR DEFEAT NORTH KOREA, US TO STEADILY REDUCE ASIA PRESENCE.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the United States fully supports the measures South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's has announced in response to a North Korean attack on one of the south's warships. Speaking in the Chinese capital Monday, Clinton said if the evidence warrants, the United States could put Pyongyang back on its list of states that sponsor terrorism.
Secretary Clinton says Washington and Seoul are in close consultation on the situation. Echoing a White House statement, she says the steps Lee took were "prudent and entirely appropriate."
Lee announced Monday his country would sever most trade ties with the North and bar its ships from its waters. He also said South Korea would seek to get the issue raised at the United Nations Security Council, where Pyongyang could face new sanctions.
Clinton says the U.S. firmly supports those moves. "First, we endorse President Lee's call on North Korea to come forward with the facts regarding this act of aggression and, above all, stop its belligerence and threatening behavior," said Clinton. "Second, our support for South Korea's defense is unequivocal, and President Obama has directed his military commanders to coordinate closely with their Korean counterparts to ensure readiness and to deter future aggression."
She says the United States and South Korea will explore further enhancements to its joint military posture on the Korean Peninsula. Additionally, she says that President Barack Obama directed U.S. government agencies to review their existing authorities and policies related to North Korea, to ensure that they have "adequate measures in place," and to identify areas where adjustments would be appropriate.
When asked by a reporter if that included possibly re-designating North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, she said the United States will "apply the law as the facts warrant." "If the evidence warrants, the Department of State will take action," she said.
That's not an answer ...
I think the word you're looking for is equivocating.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/25/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
TOPIX > KOREA CRISIS MAY LEAD TO GREATER MILITARY ROLE, in Asia.
versus
* SAME > WHAT WILL OBAMA DO AGZ NORTH KOREA?, + OBAMA LEADS THE US RETREAT FROM WORLD POWER.
North Korea's defense minister on Saturday suddenly recalled an inter-Korean agreement which he said would allow inspectors from Pyongyang to verify evidence in the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan. North Korea had completely neglected and declared null and void the 1992 Basic Agreement between the two Koreas, but now Kim Yong-chun said it obliges the South to "unconditionally allow an inspection group" from the North's National Defense Commission to look into the accusations that Pyongyang sank the ship on March 26.
Kim said in a statement sent to Seoul, "There is no reason for the South not to allow in our inspectors if the findings of its probe are objective and scientific. It is also justified based on Chapter 2 Article 10 of the Basic Agreement and Chapter 2 Article 8 of the Annex."
Chapter 2 Article 10 stipulates that North and South Korea must resolve confrontation and disputes through dialogue. Meanwhile, Chapter 2 Article 8 of the Annex states that North and South Korea will conduct a joint investigation if the agreement is violated to find out who is responsible for the violation and seek ways to prevent a recurrence.
A South Korean security official said North Korea's sudden recollection of the agreement "shows how urgent the situation is."
The North signed the Basic Agreement on nonaggression in 1992 in a bid to avert crisis at a time when the communist regimes of Eastern Europe had toppled. But it has made no effort to comply with it.
"Blowing up the Cheonan itself was a clear violation of Article 5 of the Basic Agreement stipulating observance of the Armistice Agreement and Article 9 on the non-use of arms," a Unification Ministry official said. "They've now turned on us even though they were in the wrong. It's like a thief calling stop thief."
Kim said there is "no justification" for South Korea to invite the Military Armistice Commission, an international body set up to oversee the detente, "because the latest incident was fabricated as an inter-Korean issue by the South." He turned down South Korea's offer to have the MAC conduct a separate probe first and then for UN Command to hold talks with the North.
Prof. Lee Jo-won of Chungang University said the North "is trying to obscure the truth by sending an inspection team before China sides with us at the upcoming Seoul-Beijing-Tokyo summit" this month.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/25/2010 00:00 ||
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SRINAGAR: Human rights watchdog Amnesty International on Monday concluded its first visit to strife-torn Kashmir since an armed insurgency against Indian rule engulfed the region more than 20 years ago.
The visit was aimed at securing a better understanding of the current human rights situation,' the two-member Amnesty team said in a brief statement at the end of its weeklong visit.
The team said it held discussions with senior state government officials, separatist leaders and a host of non-government organisations (NGOs) including local rights groups. It also conducted research' into cases of preventive detention, but a request to visit detainees in the main jail of Srinagar was denied.
Allowing the visit was seen as a concession by the Indian government, which has been accused of a range of human rights violations in Kashmir over the past two decades, including allegations of arbitrary detention, torture and extra-judicial executions.
So does the AI team go to Pakistani 'held Kashmir' next or do they just jet off to New York for a late dinner and a one-sided report?
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/25/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Aqsa Martyrs
ISLAMABAD: A US delegation headed by Daniel Benjamin, State Department's coordinator for counter terrorism for Pakistan and Afghanistan, will arrive in Pakistan next week for talks on joint efforts for combating terrorism, sources told Daily Times on Monday.
The sources said the US delegation would discuss how to better use non-military capabilities to fight extremism in the region. They said Benjamin would discuss the Faisal Shahzad case, as US authorities had alleged that the recent bomb attempt had originated from Pakistan.
According to diplomats, the delegation's visit will be a follow-up of a high-level visit to Pakistan last week by US National Security Advisor General James Jones and CIA Director Leon Panetta. The US delegation will hold talks with the officials of the Interior Ministry in the context of the broader al Qaeda threat.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/25/2010 00:00 ||
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Australia announced yesterday that it intends to expel an Israeli diplomat from Canberra as a result of its investigation into the use of forged Australian passports during the alleged assassination of senior Hamas figure Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai in January.
Seems like the least action possible to express their dismay over their passports being used as part of a scheme to whack a notorious gun runner.
The head of Australia's Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO ), David Irvine, paid a secret visit to Israel earlier this month as part of an investigation into the use of forged Australian passports. Irvine's conclusions swayed the government in Canberra to decide that Israel was behind the passport forgery, and yesterday Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told parliament that the Mossad liaison officer in Australia would be asked to leave the country.
An investigation into the Mabhouh assassination revealed that four of the suspects had carried forged Australian passports. Australia initiated an investigation with the participation of the federal police, the relevant ministries and the country's internal security and intelligence service.
Smith told parliament that police investigators had traveled to Israel from Australia and presented him with a report on the matter on April 9. The police report was not unequivocal as to Israel's involvement in forging the passports, and the country's two intelligence services were asked to offer an opinion.
In his report to parliament, Smith said that Irvine was dispatched to Israel for several meetings with senior figures in Israel's defense establishment. On May 19 a final report was issued by the Australian intelligence services, placing responsibility for the forgeries on Israel. The report concluded that Australian citizens whose passports were forged had not been involved in the assassination of Mabhouh, but had fallen victim to identity theft.
Another conclusion was that the forgery was exceptionally professional and was carried out at a quality level that only a governmental intelligence agency is capable of performing.
Or Pakistanis ...
After receiving the report, the Australian security cabinet met and approved Foreign Minister Smith's recommendation to expel the Mossad liaison officer in the country.
Israel's ambassador to Canberra, Yuval Rotem, was in Israel at the time, so a low-ranking diplomat was invited to the Australian Foreign Ministry, where he was informed that the individual would have to leave the country within a week. Following the decision, Smith informed the foreign ministers of Britain and the United Arab Emirates, as well as those of France, Germany and Ireland, whose passports were also allegedly used during the assassination.
In an unusual act, Australia informed the U.S. administration in advance on the content of its intelligence services' report and the decision to expel the Mossad liaison officer. Smith explained the action by saying that the U.S. has close ties with Israel and is an ally of Australia.
Speaking to reporters, Smith said that relations between the two countries will enter a "cooling-off period," and that cooperation on intelligence and defense matters would be limited. He added that the decision was made more with sadness rather than anger, noting that the two countries are friends but Israel's action was an unfriendly one. The Australian foreign minister said it would be necessary to rebuild confidence and trust.
The Australian announcement was received with shock in Israel, and sources at the Foreign Ministry described it as "a very serious crisis."
"Israel expresses sadness at this Australian step, which is not in line with the nature and quality of ties between the two countries," a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry read.
For its part, Australia appears to be seeking to contain the crisis. Smith stressed that the action against Israel affects only the security-intelligence aspect of the mutual relations, and will not alter Australia's stance toward Israel or the conflict in the Middle East. Smith said that Australia will not stop supporting Israel in UN votes.
This article starring:
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/25/2010 00:00 ||
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ION AUS WMF > THE LAZY WAVY OZ NAVY.
AKA Australia's Navy needs a POTUS BAMMER BAILOUT/STIMULUS becuz it spends too much time tied in port than at sea defending OZLAND FOR NOT-OZZY-OZBOURNE-N-BLACK-SABBATH OZZIES.
This is part of the campaign to convince the rest of the world that Israeli nukes are more dangerous than Iranian nukes. It's almost comical, since the only way the Israelis would use their nukes (if they have them of course) is if their very existence was threatened. Whereas Short Round and the Mad Mullahs will use theirs on Israel, thus creating that same said existential threat. But the NYT is gullible -- their ideology makes them that way. And so this article.
Given the number of physicists over there, they have no excuse not to have an entire series of cutting edge nuclear device.
JERUSALEM -- The office of Israel's president, Shimon Peres, strongly denied Monday that Mr. Peres, as Israel's defense minister, offered to sell nuclear warheads to South Africa in 1975, as reported by The Guardian.
Good lord, The Guardian got their facts wrong about Israel?!? I wish I were shocked.
Dan Meridor, Israel's deputy prime minister and minister of intelligence and atomic energy, told reporters on Monday that he had no particular knowledge of what went on in the 1970s, as he was "not in business" then, but that he believed Mr. Peres.
Yossi Beilin, a former leftist minister, also dismissed the newspaper article and the book on which it was based, "The Unspoken Alliance: Israel's Secret Relationship With Apartheid South Africa," by Sasha Polakow-Suransky.
"The article does not concretely say that Israel wanted to sell nuclear warheads. It is a conclusion," Mr. Beilin told Israel Radio. "The book itself does not say this explicitly, and I think that the president's denial puts an end to the subject."
Israel has a longstanding policy of nuclear ambiguity, neither confirming nor denying that it has nuclear weapons, though it is widely believed to have developed a large arsenal.
The president's denial was unequivocal, stating that "there exists no basis in reality for the claims" that "Israel negotiated with South Africa the exchange of nuclear weapons." The Guardian article, the president's office added, was "based on the selective interpretation of South African documents and not on concrete facts."
The Guardian said its reporting was based on the "top secret" minutes of meetings between senior officials from the two countries in 1975. The documents, it said, were uncovered by Mr. Polakow-Suransky in research for the book, and showed that South Africa's defense minister, P. W. Botha, had asked for nuclear-capable Jericho missiles with the "correct payload," Mr. Polakow-Suransky said in an interview with Al Jazeera, and that Mr. Peres had responded by offering them "in three sizes."
The "three sizes," The Guardian stated, "are believed to refer to the conventional, chemical and nuclear weapons." That, however, was not detailed in any of the documents shown, though Mr. Polakow-Suransky said the documents made clear that the South Africans had interest in Jericho missiles, "only if they carried a nuclear warhead."
"Sure, there was some kind of cooperation, and there was talk about weapons," said Ephraim Asculai, who worked at the Israel Atomic Energy Commission for over 40 years, and who retired in 2001. But to conclude that the "three sizes" necessarily referred to weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear warheads, was a long stretch, he said.
In an interview with the South African Press Association, Pik Botha, who served as South Africa's foreign minister in the waning years of apartheid, also questioned the article's claims. "I doubt it very much," said Mr. Botha, who is not related to P. W. Botha. "I doubt whether such an offer was ever made. I think I would have known about it."
Mr. Peres, an elder statesman, was responsible for establishing Israel's nuclear program with help from France in the 1950s.
Israelis acknowledge that there was cooperation with South Africa -- what Mr. Beilin, the former minister, called "an unholy alliance that Israel, in its isolation, forged with the apartheid regime."
Shlomo Brom, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, said it was well known that there had been cooperation between Israel and South Africa on ballistic missiles. "They paid, we developed them, then they bought," said Mr. Brom, who served as defense attaché at Israel's embassy in South Africa from 1988 to 1990. Mr. Brom said that Israel had also "probably" received uranium from South Africa.
But he said he had a hard time believing that Mr. Peres was trying to sell nuclear warheads to the South Africans in 1975.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/25/2010 00:00 ||
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The South Africans weren't looking to buy, they were looking to build their own. Which they did, with some Israeli help. I agree with Steve's take on it.
#2
A little history here : the uranium that Britain used to make their first bomb came from South Africa; half of the top British bomb scientists were South African; those scientists all went back home to South Africa at the end of the initial British bomb effort.
Also, the South Africans dismantled and destroyed their entire nuke arsenal, and related equipment, in 1993, just before the Afrikaners handed over the country to the ANC.
#5
oops, forgot to mention the choppers Israel sold us, more than half were no good, cannabalised. As allies, they sucked, good for getting their own out. Their lack of interest, along with their bullsh4t masters in the USA have pheucked Africa. And now it's irrelevant, the Chi-Coms are getting their booty.
Feel the love...
Gaza -- Ma'an -- Two hundred Gaza residents were denied re-entry into the UAE and are presently stranded on Kish Island in the Persian Gulf, they told Ma'an on Monday. "We endure complicated and disastrous living conditions as most the young people can't afford to pay for hotel fees or food," said Hammouda Abu Rida, a Gaza resident currently stranded on the Iranian island. Manolo! The violin!
He and 200 Gaza residents are seeking permanent residency status in the UAE, but were denied entry upon arrival, despite many of them holding contracts with UAE firms. Those currently stranded were told to leave the UAE by their employers and would be issued with a permanent residency visa upon their arrival, due to their official work status. Yeeeeaaaah. We'll give ya's...permanent residency! Yeeeeeeaaaah...that's the ticket!
Abu Ridah, who studied Information Technology in Egypt, said it was difficult for him to obtain a visa to the UAE. He eventually obtained a tourist visa after being contracted to work for an international company in the Emirates and was also advised to leave to renew his status. "Given the siege imposed on Gaza, I couldn't go home or to Egypt, so I decided to travel to the nearby Kish Island for a few days and then go back." Upon his arrival, he said, the UAE had informed the Dutch company he works for that he could not re-enter "for security reasons." Hmmmmmmmmm...sounds like somebody's "profiling" here. Not that they don't have a good reason...
The majority of those stranded on the island had not prepared for an extended stay and can no longer afford the hotel fees or purchase food, Abu Ridah said. "Many young people leave the hotel early in the morning, returning at night ... to avoid confrontation with the hotel management who became worried after they learned that we are denied entry to the UAE for security reasons." Geez, that's too bad. Why don't you show them the unicorns and rainbows that you always bring with you to spread that legendary Palestinian sweetness and light?
One of the Gaza residents denied re-entry into the UAE, who introduced himself as Mohammad, said, "We barely managed to leave Gaza because of the siege to seek better opportunities for us and our families," adding that their movement has been restricted by Iranian authorities. "Most of us have become indebted to the hotel owners because we can't afford the fees." Sounds like they think they're home, where somebody else always picks up the tab... The UAE is on the Arabian peninsula, and is allied with the Saudis - who are not generally predisposed toward alignment with Iran. I would think the fact that Iran has an interest in these characters may be part of the reason the UAE finds them suspicious.
Though many displaced Palestinians from the 1948 and 1967 wars live across the Middle East, various governments have restricted their access to civil, economic and residency rights. In the UAE, a Palestinian cannot own property and, like other foreign nationals residing in the Emirates, have limited access to government schools and healthcare. In Lebanon, UNRWA registered Palestinian refugees are barred from working in over 70 professions. Yep, they love their Pali "brothers". But not so much when they show up on their doorstep...
The stranded have appealed to President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to intervene and secure their return, with others complaining that the Palestinian Embassy in the UAE had failed to assist them, describing embassy officials of employing a "nonfeasance" policy toward their case. Why don't they call the UNRWA and have them setup another "refugee camp" for them?
"Are they waiting until the hotel owners take us hostage," Muhammad said. Another possibility, Muhammad? Maybe they don't give a shit.
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.
ISLAMABAD: A US delegation headed by Daniel Benjamin, State Department's coordinator for counter terrorism for Pakistan and Afghanistan, will arrive in Pakistan next week for talks on joint efforts for combating terrorism, sources told Daily Times on Monday.
