[Shabelle] the president of Jubal land Mr. Bare Adan Shire (Bare Hirale) has warned the punt Land leader to stop the blind interference in the Juba regions as this problem was between the federal government and the people living in the Juba regions.
Mr. Bare said Mr. Farole of Punt land was instigating clan and sub clan clashes in the region. However Mr.Bare warned that they will do everything to stop what he termed as naked plans to create conflict in the Juba regions.
The colonel said that it was a disturbing issue and called Farole to be careful in his steps as the conflict in Juba regions will spread in Punt land too.
The presidents words comes as the internal rifts in the Juba regions widens as political analysts blamed the Punt land president of stirring up more problems in the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2013 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Rights campaigners accused Mali's army and different rebel groups Friday of a string of abuses during a French-led operation to liberate the divided west African nation from hard boys.
Amnesia Amnesty International said civilians were among dozens of people tortured, killed and disappeared, including while in detention, since the launch of the French army's intervention in the country in January.
"The Malian security forces' human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. record since January is, simply, appalling. They continue to violate human rights with apparently no fear of being held accountable," said Amnesia Amnesty International researcher Gaetan Mootoo.
The organization accused the French military and African troops of handing over prisoners to the Malian authorities "when they knew or should have known the detainees were at real risk of being tortured or ill-treated".
Amnesty, which began a research mission in Mali in May, said it had collected testimonies of abductions and arbitrary killings of civilians by militias including the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO).
"Armed opposition groups, including MUJAO and the Tuareg National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad were also accused of sexually abusing women and girls and using children to carry weapons, control checkpoints and cook," Amnesty said in a statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2013 00:00 ||
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[Xinhua] South Korean government on Friday accepted the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s talks offer on holding working-level contacts on Sunday, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The government proposed to have a working-level talk with the DPRK at 10 a.m. on Sunday in Panmunjom instead through the inter- Korean communication channel, which was reopened earlier in the day.
The talks will include the normalization of the operation in the Kaesong Industrial Zone and the resumption of tours of Mt. Kumgang.
South Korean Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae sent the proposal to the DPRK around 4:05 p.m. local time after confirming the Panmunjom Red Thingy liaison channel was reopened by the DPRK, reported Yonhap.
The reply came hours after the DPRK proposed holding working- level contacts with South Korea in Kaesong on Sunday earlier in the day.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
See also TOPIX > [Korea Herald] NORTH KOREA COULD FALL FASTER THAN WE THINK.
ARTIC > DPRK = late 1980'S, post-Berlin Wall + Tianenmen Square EAST GERMANY = MAY COLLAPSE IN NUMBER OF WEEKS OR MONTHS, NOT YEARS OR DECADES AS MANY ANALYSTS IN THE WEST BELIEVE. SOUTH KOREA NOT READY FOR ANY NEAR-TERM OR SUDDEN NORTH KOREAN REGIME, STATE COLLAPSE.
The government's broad programs to collect U.S. phone records and Internet traffic helped disrupt a 2009 plot to bomb the New York City subways, a senior U.S. intelligence official said.
But the assertion raises as many questions as it answers because court testimony indicated the subway plot investigation began with an email.
Over the past days, The Guardian newspaper and The Washington Post have revealed classified documents showing how the National Security Agency sweeps up phone records and Internet data in its hunt for terrorists. Those programs have come under criticism from civil libertarians and some in Congress who say they were too broad and collected too much about innocent Americans.
In one of those programs, the NSA's collected daily records of millions of phone calls made and received by U.S. citizens not suspected of any wrongdoing.
On Thursday, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., who leads the House Intelligence Committee, credited that effort with thwarting a terrorism plot. But he did not elaborate.
The senior U.S. intelligence official who asserted Friday that the phone records program together with other technical intercepts thwarted the subway plot would not provide other details. The official was not authorized to discuss the plot publicly and requested anonymity.
Afghan-American Najibullah Zazi pleaded guilty in the 2009 plot, saying he had been recruited by al-Qaida in Pakistan.
On Thursday, Americans learned that since 2007 the National Security Agency (NSA) has operated a top-secret program called PRISM that vacuums up the actual contents--not just so-called metadata, as with the National Security Agencys phone record collections--of emails, video and voice chat, photos, Skype calls, web chats, videos, file transfers, and social networking communications.
PRISM circumnavigates the need for court orders and allows the NSA to directly tap and mine data from Americas biggest technology companies like Google ...contributed $814,540 to the 2008 Obama campaign... , Apple, Facebook, and others.
They quite literally can watch your ideas form as you type, one career intelligence officer told the Washington Post.
A senior Obama Administration official issued a statement stating that the law does not allow the targeting of any U.S. citizen or of any person located within the United States.
But as the Post notes, NSA routinely collects a great deal of American content. Such capturing of Americans content is incidental, claims the government. But the NSAs laxity in determining whether a target is foreign or domestic is alarming. NSA agents merely enter a series of keywords and determine a 51% confidence in a targets foreignness before moving forward.
"The National Security Agencys collection of phone data from all of Verizons U.S. customers is just the tip of the iceberg, says a former NSA official who estimates the agency has data on as many as 20 trillion phone calls and emails by U.S. citizens.
William Binney, an award-winning mathematician and noted NSA whistleblower, says the collection dates back to when the super-secret agency began domestic surveillance after the Sept. 11 attacks.
I believe theyve been collecting data about all domestic calls since October 2001, said Mr. Binney, who worked at NSA for more than 30 years. Thats more than a billion calls a day. (emphasis added - UP)
He called his figures back of the envelope estimates, adding that they include emails as well as telephone calls."
Well, I guess I know what a good chunk of my bi-weekly check is going towards - UP....
#7
I'm sure they do, this sounds like another sushi bar menu to sit next to his morning drone stike a la carte, loose leaf tea party choices, orange juice and waffles.
[Pak Daily Times] US spies are secretly tapping into servers of nine Internet giants including Apple, Facebook, Microsoft ...producers of Windows, Office, and the late Microsoft Bob, contributed $852,167 to the 2008 Obama campaign... and Google ...contributed $814,540 to the 2008 Obama campaign... in a vast anti-terror sweep targeting foreigners, explosive reports said Thursday.
Stung by a dizzying 24 hours of revelations on covert programs, the top US spy James Clapper slammed disclosure of information about the scheme, and warned that leaks about a separate program to mine domestic phone records hurt US national security.
The White House, meanwhile, facing a fast-escalating controversy over the scale and scope of secret surveillance programs, denied spying on Americans but insisted it must use every tool available to keep the US homeland safe.
The Washington Post, citing a career intelligence officer, said the National Security Agency (NSA) had direct access to Internet firm servers, to track an individual's web presence via audio, video, photographs and emails.
Some of the biggest firms in Silicon Valley were caught up in the program, known as PRISM, including Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, Apple, PalTalk, AOL, Skype and YouTube, the reports said.
Internet giants however denied opening their doors for US spy agencies.
In response to the reports, also carried by Britannia's Guardian newspaper, the White House said Americans were not being spied on, but did not deny the program existed.
Congress recently reauthorised the program under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act "after extensive hearings and debate," the official added.
Claims of the Internet spy operation broke as Washington reeled from a Guardian newspaper report on Wednesday detailing an apparent operation by the NSA to capture millions of domestic phone records.
The American Civil Liberties Union branded the program, authorised by a top secret court order, as "beyond Orwellian."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Come on now, lets get real, HOW CAN THIS N-O-T OCCUR GIVEN THE PRE-OBAMA FED'S SUPPORT FOR SO-CALLED "DATA MINING", "DATA SOURCING", + RELATED.
The American people run the United States government, right?
Our Electoral process INSURES our ability to remain a free people whom our government LISTENS to, correct?
You WILL do as you are told, chubby. Now go get me a cup of coffee and then go get your broom.
Plebs and Patricians and money talks. The family Farm has been sold. You don't have a gun on you right now, do you? No? And when you see that flashing light behind you DO reach for your wallet don't you? How much land do you own? Any? Do you even own the place you sleep in?
Tell me about it. You are a Pleb and you step in it every day. And the guy with the Gold Rolex and the entourage shuts the street down when he drives by...and you watch from the sidewalk like a good little boy.
#7
Somehow I'm not feeling safer or more free lately. I wonder if other Americans feel this way also? Moreover, it seems that the surveillance has missed a few recent bombings and attempted bombings. When the country began, people and their neighbors were responsible for their own safety. Freedom was a given.
#8
PC has blinded us. Even the Ft. Hood shooter (workplace violence, sarc) didn't get picked up by the vast surveillance. The military/government didn't want to offend Muslims.
#9
Labeling Fort Hood "workplace violence" takes the attack a step away from terrorism, and two or more steps away from..... PRISM or other programme monitoring of terrorists such as MAJ Nidal Hasan and the late [due to drone zapping] Anwar Al-Awlaki.
The "we simply didn't know" [US Government response]. The principals are all deceased now, "what difference does it make".
#10
If I don't pay my taxes is it acceptable to say to the IRS, "What difference does it make? I don't have any receipts anyway. I don't know what came in and what went out. I got caught up in Easter Egg hunts and forgot to file or pay."
#11
If I don't pay my taxes is it acceptable to say to the IRS, "What difference does it make?
If 30 percent who filed this year alone, don't pay the next year, there's not enough lawyers, court time, or jail space in the country to make a difference.
[Pak Daily Times] Citizens of Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... face immense problems in contacting police as listed telephone numbers of many cop shoppes are not working. Karachi once considered a city of lights is now a city of street crimes and assassinations. However, there's no worse danger than telling a mother her baby is ugly... the police department instead of further building their capacity regarding closer contacts and hassle-free communication with citizens is not even paying attention to keep the telephone lines in working order. A majority of listed landline telephone numbers of more than 100 cop shoppes in 18 towns of the city are currently not working. When any telephone number is dead or not listed, Pakistain Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) automated voice system informs the caller. According to the PTCL telephone inquiry-1217 service, the telephones of many Karachi cop shoppes are dead.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Pakistan, tells all.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/08/2013 7:58 Comments ||
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#2
We worked without telephones for a couple of hundred years, the savages can do the same until they build one.
(I don't recall such at the indian reservations either. THEY didn't build one either.)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/08/2013 8:10 Comments ||
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#3
Forget it, Jake. It's Pakistain.
I wonder if they list the police stations by ethnic/religious affiliation in the phone book.
[Pak Daily Times] An Indian government move to implement blanket eavesdropping of online activities, telephone calls and text messages is "chilling", Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... said on Friday as controversy raged in the US about Internet surveillance.
The Central Monitoring System was announced in parliament late last year and is a so-called "single window" allowing Indian state bodies such as the National Investigation Agency or tax authorities to monitor communications.
New York-based Human Rights Watch demanded a full public debate about "the intended use of the system before proceeding" as the monitoring was created without parliamentary approval.
The Indian surveillance comes as reports emerged that the US National Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been tapping into the servers of Google ...contributed $814,540 to the 2008 Obama campaign... , Yahoo!, Facebook and six other top US Internet companies, stirring a major row in the United States.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2013 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... government has decided to withdraw army from Malakand region, including Swat, gradually enabling the civil administration to take full control of the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas, a ruling party MPA said on Friday. "We have decided to withdraw the army from Swat ...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat... and Malakand region," Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... MPA and party's provincial General Secretary Shaukat Yousafzai confirmed. The previous government of Pakistain People's Party had ordered the army to launch an operation against Mullah Fazlullah ...son-in-law of holy man Sufi Mohammad. Known as Mullah FM, Fazlullah had the habit of grabbing his FM mike when the mood struck him and bellowing forth sermons. Sufi suckered the Pak govt into imposing Shariah on the Swat Valley and then stepped aside whilst Fazlullah and his Talibs imposed a reign of terror on the populace like they hadn't seen before, at least not for a thousand years or so. For some reason the Pak intel services were never able to locate his transmitter, much bomb it. After ruling the place like a conquered province for a year or so, Fazlullah's Talibs began gobbling up more territory as they pushed toward Islamabad, at which point as a matter of self-preservation the Mighty Pak Army threw them out and chased them into Afghanistan... -led Taliban in Swat in June 2009 displacing millions of people from the region.
Shaukat Yousafzai said the withdrawal would be gradual and army would hand over control to civilians in areas where security situation was completely normal now. "Soft places would first be handed over to the civilian administration." The PTI MPA, who is among the hopefuls for ministries, did not say when the withdrawal would begin. Qaumi Watan Party Chairman Aftab Sherpao Khan had been demanding withdrawal of army from Malakand after the region stabilised with the ousting of Mullah Fazlullah-led Taliban who now appear to have taken refuge across the border in Afghanistan.
Shaukat Yousafzai also brushed aside the impression that the differences between PTI and Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... over the issue of Education Ministry might sink the coalition deeper into crisis. "It has been resolved," he said when asked where the controversy was taking the coalition partners. Due to the differences over the Education Ministry between the two parties the cabinet of Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has not yet been able to take oath. "The ministers are likely to take oath either on Monday or Tuesday," Shaukat Yousafzai, who was a career journalist before starting active politics from the PTI platform, said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2013 00:00 ||
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Moscow said it was being forced to send the S-300 system to Syria's president to prevent Western "hotheads" from intervening in the country's civil war.
It came after Britain succeeded in persuading the European Union not to renew an embargo on supplying weapons to Syria's opposition forces. William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, said the late night deal meant Britain could begin arming the rebels from now.
However, the move sparked fury in Russia, which has been implacably opposed to Western efforts to unseat Mr Assad. Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said it could amount to a violation of international law.
"In essence, this is an illegitimate decision and principle - to seriously discuss at an official level the theme of delivering or not delivering weapons to non-state parties contradicts all norms of international law," he said.
Sergei Ryabkov, Mr Lavrov's deputy, declared the EU's decision would force Russia to ship a sophisticated air defence system to Mr Assad's regime.
"I can only say that we are going ahead with it," Mr Ryabkov said. "We believe that such steps go a long way to restraining some 'hot-heads' from exploring scenarios in which this conflict could be given an international character with participation of outside forces."
Syrias government criticised the announcement, denouncing it as an obstruction to peace efforts.
As fears grew of an arms race in the region, Israel added to the growing sense of escalation by saying it would not stand by while the S-300 missiles were deployed.
"As far as we are concerned, that is a threat," Moshe Yaalon, the Israeli defence minister, said. "At this stage I can't say there is an escalation. The shipments have not been sent on their way yet. And I hope that they will not be sent.
"If God forbid they do reach Syria, we will know what to do."
The EU arms embargo on supplying weapons to Syria's rebels had been in place since May 2011. It was due to be renewed at the end of this month, but it was allowed to lapse following late-night negotiations in Brussels on Monday. As part of the deal, Britain and France had apparently agreed to delay any arms shipments until August. However, Mr Hague insisted that Britain could begin supplying weapons much sooner.
"We have said we have made our own commitments that at this stage as we work for the Geneva conference we are not taking any decision to send any arms to anyone," he said. "But that is not related to a date of August 1.
"I don't want anyone to think that therefore there is any automatic decision after August 1 or that we are excluded from doing so beforehand."
Downing Street said the pledge to provide military support to rebels should help force the regime of Mr Assad to negotiate at an international conference due to open next month in Geneva.
"The prime minister's view is that it is right that we have the flexibility to respond if Assad's regime refused to negotiate. What we are doing is sending a signal, loud and clear, to the regime," a spokesman said.
The White House said that it backed the drive by Britain and France to ensure that Syrian rebels were capable of taking on the regime, which has launched an offensive to retake opposition territory in the run-up to an international peace conference next month.
However, Russia said the decision placed the peace conference - and particularly the Assad regime's participation in it - in serious jeopardy. Mr Ryabkov accused the EU of "double standards" while Mr Lavrov said a "whole range of activities" were being undertaken to disrupt the idea of convening the conference. The British Government's strong stance on arming the rebels came under rare criticism from the Labour Party, with Douglas Alexander calling for a promise that MPs would be given a say on shipments.
"Syria is awash with arms, and today it remains unclear how escalating the conflict with British-supplied weapons would help bring about a peaceful political transition after two years of increasing violence," he said.
Meanwhile the Syrian rebels said they were in danger of suffering catastrophic defeats if shipments were delayed until August or later. Any help that eventually comes from London or Paris would be too little, too late, Gen Salim Idris, the head of the Supreme Military Council said.
"We are very disappointed," he said. "They lift the arms embargo and I don't know what they are waiting for."
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/08/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
IIRC this Artic came out on the MSM-Net about the same time other related Artics were describing how Moscow had NOT actually sent the Missles yet.
Anyhoo, by most accounts it appears that Russia's plans to deter any Israeli andor US airstrike(s) on Iran's NucProgs. Iff this move proves correct, it can be said that Russia is covertly counting on Iran BFF Syria to share the Tech.
[An Nahar] A Sunni Mohammedan union headed by influential holy man Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi ...crackpot Egyptian Islamist theologian. He is best known for his program Shariah and Life on Al Jazeera, with an estimated audience of 60 million kindred souls worldwide. He is also well-known for IslamOnline, which occasionally advocates things like slavery and thumping the old lady with a rod no thicker than an inch, and has published more than 120 books, including Islam: The Future Civilization. Joe has long had a prominent role within the intellectual leadership of the Moslem Brüderbund. Some of his views have been controversial in the West, though less so among the rubes of the Mysterious East, and he was refused entry to the United Kingdom in 2008. In 2004, 2,500 Muslim academics from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and from the Palestinian territories condemned Qaradawi, and accused him of giving Islam a bad name.... on Friday called for a "Day of Rage and Support" for rebels fighting Syrian regime troops backed by a Shiite axis.
The Association of Mohammedan Scholars urged its millions of supporters to demonstrate, stage peaceful sit-ins, make speeches and pray for the Syrian rebels on Friday, June 14.
The Qatar-based group strongly condemned "the horrific crimes... committed by the Syrian regime, with support from Iran and its tails in Leb, in Qusayr," the town rebels were ousted from on Wednesday.
Syria's 26-month civil war erupted after forces loyal to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ... , who belongs to the Alawite offshoot of Shiite Islam, waged a bloody crackdown on democracy protests.
The conflict pitting regime forces backed by Hizbullah, including jihadists linked to al-Qaeda, has killed at least 94,000 people.
On Thursday, the grand mufti of Sunni-ruled Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... urged governments and fellow holy mans to punish Hizbullah for its intervention in the war.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Russia on Friday agreed to a U.N. Security Council statement that demanded that its ally Syria allow humanitarian access to the border town of Qusayr.
The British-drafted statement, agreed after Russia had blocked a virtually identical statement at the weekend, called for "immediate, safe and unhindered" access to Qusayr.
It warned that those who violate international law in any humanitarian operation "will be held accountable."
Syrian government and Lebanese Hizbullah fighters took Qusayr, a key town near the Lebanese border, on Wednesday after more than two weeks of bitter fighting.
It is the first time in several months that the 15-member council has agreed a statement on Syria that was not a routine condemnation of a terrorist attack. Russia and China have blocked three Western-proposed resolutions aiming to increase pressure on Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... 's government over the conflict.
Britannia's U.N. ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, U.N. Security Council president for June, said the move was "significant".
"We were obviously disappointed that it didn't prove possible to agree a press statement at the weekend but we are pleased that it has been possible to achieve this humanitarian statement."
"I think it is significant and it's a sign that perhaps the Security Council is coming back together a little bit on the Syrian issue. But it is only a very small step and we will have to see what develops as a result of it."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Timeline please vis-à-vis the UN denying Russia a role in the Golan Peacekeeping mission....
[An Nahar] The United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... said Friday that Russia cannot send troops to the Golan Heights peacekeeping force after President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... said he was ready to bolster the force.
Putin offered troops earlier Friday after Austria decided to withdraw its 377 soldiers from the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) between Syria and Israel because of growing spillover from the Syria conflict.
But U.N. front man Martin Nesirky said Russia was banned from taking part in the force because it is one of five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.
"We appreciate the consideration that Russia has given to provide troops on the Golan. However, corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds... the disengagement agreement and its protocol between Syria and Israel does not allow for the participation of permanent members of the security council in UNDOF," Nesirky told news hounds.
"Considering the difficult situation that is developing today in the Golan Heights, we could replace the departing Austrian contingent in this region separating Israeli forces from the Syrian army," Russian news agencies quoted Putin as saying.
The Kremlin chief stressed that this was only a proposal and that a formal request had to come from the United Nations and be agreed with both Israel and Syria.
"Of course (this will happen) only if the regional powers express an interest in this, if the U.N. secretary general asks us about this," said Putin.
The Russian leader added that he had recently received a request for Moscow's broader participation in U.N. peacekeeping missions during a meeting with U.N. Secretary General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
"But U.N. front man Martin Nesirky said Russia was banned from taking part in the force because it is one of five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council."
[An Nahar] Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Friday urged the Lebanese parties to stop their intervention in the Syrian conflict and abide by Leb's so-called dissociation policy.
"I would like to make a sincere appeal to the Lebanese to stop the increasing involvement in the Syrian conflict and maintain the self-dissociation policy," Miqati said in a speech at the opening of the International Conference of Peace Messengers at the Grand Serail.
"The Lebanese should stay out of what's happening in Syria to prevent strife from spilling over into our territory," Miqati stressed.
"What alternative do we have other than dialogue? No camp can eliminate another and no one can impose their hegemony on the country, as Leb's feature is diversity," he went on to say.
Turning to the issue of the deadly festivities that have been raging in Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... , his hometown, since more than three weeks, Miqati said: "Yesterday (Thursday), security and safety were restored in Tripoli which has become exhausted from the burdens laid on its shoulders."
"Tripoli's residents have always overcome the tribulations and the city will rise above its wounds," Miqati added.
He stressed that the army is a guarantee for civil peace and "the shield of the country" and "it has sided with the principle of the state," urging everyone to "stand by the guardian of the state."
As Miqati delivered his speech, one person was killed and at least five other were maimed in renewed festivities in central Tripoli between armed Salafists ...Salafists are ostentatiously devout Moslems who figure the ostentation of their piety gives them the right to tell others how to do it and to kill those who don't listen to them... and gunnies loyal to Damascus and Hizbullah.
The central Tripoli fighting comes after some three weeks of sectarian fighting in the flashpoint Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhoods, during which around 40 people were killed and more than 200 maimed.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Al-Mustaqbal ... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri... bloc leader Fouad Saniora has called on Hizbullah to withdraw its "militia" form Syria and urged the deployment of the Lebanese army along Leb's border.
During a speech at a graduation ceremony held in the southern city of Sidon on Thursday night, Saniora said: "Hizbullah should pull out its militia from Syria and return the young men of the Bekaa and the South to their homes, villages, businesses and families."
The former premier rejected turning Hizbullah's fighters into the fuel of what he called the "Islamic strife."
Hizbullah has been instrumental in helping Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Horror of Homs... 's forces to seize the town of Qusayr that lies around 10 kilometers form Leb's northeastern border.
Hizbullah has controlled Qusayr and is preparing for other attacks in Syria, Saniora said. "This reveals the intensity of its involvement" in the more than two-year-old conflict.
"The meddling by an armed Lebanese organization has become part of the Iranian military axis in the region and a tool in the hand of a regime that is killing its people and destroying its country," he added.
Saniora called for the deployment of the army on the northern and eastern borders with Syria and prevent the smuggling of arms and infiltration of gunnies from both sides of the boundary.
He said that the assistance of the United Nations ...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly... Interim Force in Leb should be sought in that regard.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] After new festivities between Syrian troops and rebels in the Golan, and Austria's announced withdrawal from a U.N. monitoring force, Israel is concerned about security along its ceasefire line with Syria.
The Israeli army remained on high alert in the region on Friday, bringing up reinforcements of tanks and troops, and readying an anti-tank missile unit, media said.
That came after Austria said it would withdraw peacekeepers from the U.N. force, citing deteriorating security, and the Philippines said it was studying a similar move after one of its soldiers was maimed in the fierce fighting on Thursday.
The Quneitra crossing between the Israeli and Syrian sides of the armistice line was briefly seized by rebels and then recaptured by government troops following small-arms and artillery exchanges, a security source said.
An Agence La Belle France Presse correspondent saw tanks of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Horror of Homs... 's regime approaching the ceasefire line later in the day.
Israeli army front man Captain Arye Shalicar told AFP on Thursday: "We're watching very closely what's happening there, and we have to be ready for any development. We hope there won't be any spillover into Israel.
"It is very worrying because, on the one hand, you have jihadists and Islamists who are fighting there (on the rebel side) and, on the other hand, you also have government forces which are allied with Hizbullah.
"We certainly don't want to have Hizbullah on two fronts," he said, referring to the presence of the group in southern Leb.
Quneitra, the only crossing along the ceasefire line, is used almost exclusively by Druze residents of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights who are allowed to cross over to study, work or get married.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Iff Syria ever does de facto break up, Israel can end up facing the Hezzies + Quds Force in one, Al-Qaeda + Taliban in another, + the Syrian Rebs + Other in the third - where the DPRK = Norkey SPECOPS prefer to be is anyone's guess???
Who has the job of photoshopping Pudgy in a Burqua leading a Muslim charge wid a Scimitar???
[An Nahar] The Army Command pointed on Friday to a series of strict security measures carried out in all Lebanese regions, and urged the Lebanese to be vigilant against any schemes that aim to drag the country into another civil war, or embroil it in the Syria conflict.
The army's leadership said in a communique that it strongly sought in the last past months to deter the transformation of Leb into an arena for regional conflicts and prevent the spillover of the Syrian crisis to its territories,"
It "kicked off a series of pivotal and deterring measures in Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... , Sidon, Beirut, Beqaa and Mount Leb."
"The army is determined, and at all costs, to implement its plan not only in Tripoli but also in any spot intended to be a focus for fighting between sons of the same city. Armed action will be fought with armed response," it said.
"We urge the Lebanese to be vigilant against any scheme that plans to drag Leb into an illogical war. They must be aware of fabrications made by some political and religious figures," it said, urging them to express their stances with peaceful democratic means away from provocations.
The statement concluded by calling on the Lebanese to cooperate with the army to reach the peaceful goals for the interest of the nation and the Lebanese.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2013 00:00 ||
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[Xinhua] Syria's Foreign Ministry hailed Friday the Russian offer to replace Austrian peacekeepers in the Golan Heights after Austria decided to pull out its troops due to the rising tension on the Syrian borders with the Israeli-occupied territory.
While lamenting Austria's decision to withdraw its 377 UN peacekeepers from the occupied Golan Heights due to the tension between rebels and government troops in the area, the ministry hailed Moscow's offer to replace the Austrian UN troops, pledging full cooperation in that regard.
On Thursday, the Syrian rebels briefly overran a border crossing near the Golan Heights, but the Syrian troops later clashed with them and recaptured the border point in al-Quneitra city.
Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann and Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger said the battles for controlling the border point at the Golan Heights pushed them to withdraw their troops. UN Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... said he regretted such a decision by Austria.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... said Friday that his country was ready to replace the Austrian peacekeepers with Russian ones " if the regional powers show interest and if the UN secretary general asks us to do so."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
Russia will think differently when Russians get killed.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/08/2013 8:13 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I think that is the point; probably already know who will kill them.
The Philippines said Friday it was still studying whether to pull its UN peacekeeping force out of the Golan Heights, after the wounding of a Filipino soldier and the withdrawal of Austrian troops there. The Department of Foreign Affairs recommended last month to President Benigno Aquino that the Philippines withdraw because of security concerns, but presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said no decision had yet been made.
The recommendation re (regarding) the deployment of forces is being studied as of the present time, she said in a statement to AFP when asked on Friday about a decision.
Foreign affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said the departments position remained that the 341 Filipino troops should be pulled out. The department made its recommendation last month after Syrian rebels briefly held hostage four Filipino soldiers. The same group abducted 21 Filipino peacekeepers in March. All were released unharmed.
Security concerns in the area rose further this week as Syrian government and rebel fighters battled for a Golan Heights border crossing. A Filipino peacekeeper was wounded in the leg by shrapnel on Thursday and Austria, whose 377 troops make up the largest group in the UN contingent, announced it was withdrawing its men, throwing the force into disarray.
Philippine military chief General Emmanuel Bautista said on Friday the decision to pull out was up to the government, but his soldiers were prepared for the dangers.
We can manage any risk, we have gone to areas where we exposed our people to combat, he said, citing the Filipino troops who fought with the UN force in Korea in the 1950s.
You cant remove the risk. That is why we are there: to prevent conflict, he told reporters.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/08/2013 00:00 ||
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The fox always volunteers to guard the chicken coop...
Russia is ready to replace peacekeepers from Austria in the Golan Heights, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, after Vienna said it would recall its troops from a U.N. monitoring force due to worsening fighting in Syria.
Austria, whose peacekeepers account for about 380 of the 1,000-strong U.N. force observing a four-decade-old ceasefire between Syria and Israel, said it would pull out after intense clashes between Syrian government forces and rebels on the border.
Given the complicated situation in the Golan Heights, we could replace the leaving Austrian contingent in this region on the border between Israeli troops and the Syrian army, Putin said at a televised meeting with Russian military officers.
But this will happen, of course, only if the regional powers show interest, and if the U.N. secretary general asks us to do so, he said.
Russia, a long-time ally and arms supplier to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, supposedly has been trying along with Western powers to bring the warring sides in Syria together into talks on a solution to the more than two-year-old conflict.
The U.N. Security Council will meet on Friday to discuss the Austrian withdrawal after anti-Assad rebels briefly seized the crossing between Israel and Syria, sending U.N. staff scurrying to bunkers before Syrian soldiers managed to push them back.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/08/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
If I were Israel, I'd be getting really really nervous about this.
Will the Rooskies be there to help with targeting and otherwise evaluating the S-300's in an actual battlefield situation...?
Pentagon uses advanced bunker buster bombs to destroy replica of underground facility as part of experiment whose results were relayed to friendly nations
The Pentagon has recently completed a series of field exercises on US soil as part of which a replica of an underground nuclear facility was destroyed, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Friday.
The tests were declared a resounding success having exceeded all expectations.
The results of the experiment were relayed to friendly nations with the aim of reassuring them as to the US's ability to destroy Iranian nuclear facilities in a single strike. It was also meant to convey that the US is serious in its intentions to attack Iran should circumstances allow it.
The experiment included the firing of several bunker buster bombs first introduced by the US Defense Department in July 2012. The GBU-57 B bomb is mounted on a B-2 bomber and as part of the experiment penetrated the underground facility's concrete ceilings.
The US has suggested it will manufacture only a limited amount of such bunker busters. Each bomb is estimated at $3.5 million and the overall cost of developing the new weapon was $500 million.
The size of the munition is six times greater than any other known bunker buster. It weighs 13 tons and its speed of penetration two times faster than the speed of sound at a rate of accuracy of five meters.
Senior US officers have recently stressed in meetings with counterparts in the region that US defense budget cuts will not affect preparations for an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.
Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman told the Senate last month that the US will not spare efforts in undermining Iran's nuclear program. Her statements were reinforced by Secretary of State John Kerry who in a press conference with his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle said that Israel will do whatever its needs to protect itself. It was the first time a senior US official had publically discussed a potential Israeli strike so unreservedly.
Israel defense sources state that the most recent IAEA report showed that US sanctions have yet to discourage Tehran from going ahead with its nuclear program. They believe the upcoming elections will not change the situation.
A European foreign minister who recently visited Israel quoted a senior Israeli official in a foreign ministers conference. The Iranians, the Israeli official had said, do not believe Israeli and US threats to strike Iranian nuclear facilities but are mistaken.
#2
It's a good thing that the results were shared only with friendly nations; would not want the word to get out that the test was a success. Not like anybody would read this presser and understand that they need to beef up the sites so if it really happens it might not be a success.
Is there no limit to the stupidity of this administration? (rhet question, infinity also works in the negative direction on the number line)
#3
Depends. When we were in drawn out negotiations with the Chinese and Norks over the conflict in Korea, Eisenhower let leak the successful test firing of the atomic cannon, May 25, 1953. Armistice agreement 27 July 1953.
"Here is an excerpt from General Powell's memoirs My American Journey, in which Powell discusses his 1964 assignment to Fort Benning, Georgia. In the fall of 1964, of course, the race for president between liberal President Lyndon Johnson and conservative Senator Barry Goldwater was going full steam. LBJ had signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act, noted Powell, and Powell decided he was for LBJ. So, writes Powell:
"I went out and slapped a red-white-and-blue sticker on the bumper of my Volkswagen reading 'All the Way with LBJ', probably violating post regulations on political activity in the process."
#1
For all you IT consultants, make sure you and your clients that Microsoft is under the NSA (Narcistic Snoop Agency) so forget about "Cloud" computing. Their ain't no such thing as proprietary unless you or your clients has data on a flash drive. The Dems will steal the data and hand it off to your competitors who are Democratic donors.
All of your hard work and enginuity is now "open source" if you go cloud.
#3
Winky is quite right. This is the envy of Tony Suprano and a Kathleen Sabelius money raising scheme on steroids. As an IT provider, you either play along or you are properly fok'd. Champ's regime controls the main stream media, now he controls the internets...under the guise of security against "terrorists threats". All of this taking place whilst the Chinese hack away at our national defense infrastructure with a virtual free hand. I am not at all certain we can recover from this. It seems every day brings a new crisis.
Ralph Peters was on the nuus last evening defending the intelligence community and his old colleague General Keith Alexander. Ralph is a great American, but I'm not certain he is aware of just how invasive the tracking of cellie signal "meta-data" can become. Holder's rather evasive response to congress about the tracking of congressional fone calls was also revealing.
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.
[Shabelle] the president of Jubal land Mr. Bare Adan Shire (Bare Hirale) has warned the punt Land leader to stop the blind interference in the Juba regions as this problem was between the federal government and the people living in the Juba regions.
[Xinhua] South Korean government on Friday accepted the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s talks offer on holding working-level contacts on Sunday, Yonhap News Agency reported.
[Pak Daily Times] US spies are secretly tapping into servers of nine Internet giants including Apple, Facebook, 
[Pak Daily Times] Citizens of 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
The Kremlin chief stressed that this was only a proposal and that a formal request had to come from the United Nations and be agreed with both Israel and Syria.
Najib Miqati
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[An Nahar] The Army Command pointed on Friday to a series of strict security measures carried out in all Lebanese regions, and urged the Lebanese to be vigilant against any schemes that aim to drag the country into another civil war, or embroil it in the Syria conflict.
Pentagon uses advanced bunker buster bombs to destroy replica of underground facility as part of experiment whose results were relayed to friendly nations 
