[AnNahar] The campaign team of Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah ... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun... on Sunday released audio recordings which they said contained evidence of fraud against a senior member of the country's Independent Election Commission (IEC).
The accusation came as hundreds of Abdullah's supporters held protests against alleged irregularities for a second day across Kabul, as a political stalemate deepens in the country.
Abdullah won the first round of the poll to succeed President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... , gaining 45 percent of the vote while his nearest rival Ashraf Ghani won 31.6 percent.
But he has boycotted the vote count after the second round run-off, accusing Karzai of interfering to favor his rival.
The dispute threatens to pitch Afghanistan into crisis as NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... combat troops withdraw from a 13-year war against Taliban Death Eaters.
A smooth election was seen as a key benchmark for the U.S.-led coalition that has fought against the Taliban and donated billions of dollars in aid since 2001.
The allegations are centered around the secretary of the IEC, Zia ul Haq Amarkhail, who stands accused of irregularities during the transporting of unused ballots during the June 14 poll.
Abdullah's team at a presser released the recordings, which total 13 minutes of poor-quality audio and purport to be conversations between Amarkhail, other IEC officials and "a member of Ghani's team."
They include Amarkhail allegedly reassuring the member of Ghani's team that staff would be "used" to favor his election.
In one recording, Amarkhail allegedly tells an IEC member from the northwestern province of Faryab to fire his entire staff and change them for Pashtuns and Uzbeks.
Ghani is a Pashtun, Afghanistan's largest ethnic group, which is strongest in the Taliban heartlands of the south and east. One of his running mates, infamous warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum ...ethnic Uzbek warlord who distinguished himself fighting the Soviets and the Taliban. The story that he had a bad guy run over with a tank is an exaggeration. It was an armored personnel carrier... is a popular Uzbek leader.
Abdullah's team has refused to disclose how it obtained the recordings and it is not possible to confirm their authenticity.
Amarkhail could not immediately be reached for comment.
Baryalai Arsalai, Abdullah's campaign manager, on Sunday said the IEC had conspired with "senior members of the government... in supporting one candidate in the election, they have organized rigging, cheating and manipulation."
He promised to release further "proof" of fraud to the media in the coming days.
Earlier, protesters who had gathered by the presidential palace chanted "Long live Abdullah" and called for the death of Afghanistan's electoral commission chief, who is handling the fraud allegations.
A similar-sized gathering in the western city of Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... saw a group largely composed of students burn their voter registration cards in protest at alleged irregularities.
Abdullah, a former foreign minister who says he was also cheated of victory in the 2009 election against Karzai, has alleged that the turnout figure of seven million in the run-off was exaggerated, and that in several provinces there were more votes than eligible voters.
Sunday's protests came a day after more than 1,000 of Abdullah's supporters marched through Kabul in another largely peaceful demonstration.
The two days of "anti-fraud" rallies were not organized by Abdullah's campaign, but the crowds appeared to be made up of Abdullah supporters.
The United Nations ...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... Assistance Mission in Afghanistan on Sunday urged "responsible" use of social media platforms to avoid increasing tensions.
"There has been a disturbing tone in some social media platforms, and we urge supporters of the candidates in the Afghanistan's Caped Presidential elections to refrain from inflammatory statements, hate speech or statements which promote divisive ...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled... ethnic mobilization," said Jan Kubis, head of UNAMA.
Abdullah and Karzai have asked the U.N. to step in to solve the political deadlock.
The threat of ethnic unrest is a grim prospect for Afghanistan, where tribal loyalties are still fierce after the 1992-1996 civil war.
Abdullah's support is based among the Tajik minority and other northern tribes.
Three al-Jazeera journalists accused of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood have been jailed for seven years in Cairo. The court convicted Peter Greste, Mohammed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed of spreading false news and supporting the now banned Brotherhood. The three had denied the charges.
Nine defendants tried in absentia, including three foreign journalists, received 10-year sentences. Correspondents say evidence that had been put forward in court did nothing to support the serious charges. The judge was shown photographs from Greste's family holiday, a Sky Arabia report on cruelty to horses and a video of a press conference in Nairobi.
The three al-Jazeera journalists, who have been detained in Egypt for six months now, were each sentenced to seven years in jail. Mohamed was sentenced to a further three years in jail on a separate charge involving possession of weapons.
#1
[Sowetan] Three Al Jazeera journalists were jailed for seven years in Egypt on Monday after a court convicted them of helping a "terrorist organisation" by spreading lies, in a case that has raised questions about the country's respect for media freedoms. Link
[AnNahar] U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... pressed Egypt's former military leaders Sunday to allow greater political freedoms, warning the nation faced a "critical moment," as he arrived on a surprise visit.
D'you suppose the honourable Secretary of State still carries that hat with him everywhere?
Kerry became the highest-ranking U.S. official to meet President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi since he came to power earlier this month, as part of a rocky transition to democracy since the ousting of long-time leader Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... Continued on Page 49
* RUSSIA TODAY > "US WILL ACCEPT ANY EGYPTIAN AUTHORITY THAT CONTROLS [+ stabilizes] THE TERRITORY" [Country].
UK Professor of ME History Lawrence Donaldson.
Ditto from Libya to Ukraine-Crimea to Iraq + East Asia???
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [CNN] OBAMA: "NO SOLUTION" IFF IRAQI POLITICAL STRUCTURE NOT FIXED.
* SAME > OBAMA: NOTION THAT [newbie] SYRIAN OPPOSITION COULD HAVE OUTLASTED [andor OUTFOUGHT] ASSAD [+ veteran, violent Rival Militant-Opposition Groups] WID US ARMS IS A "FANTASY" - CBS NEWS.
#3
Active suppression of political opposition back home? Matthew 7:3 comes to mind. At least Egypt didn't have much of record of a real republic, something the Secretary can't claim when they do such stuff.
#5
Kerry is such a bloody embarrassment to the US and himself. His diplomatic trips are such a waste o' jet fuel.
Greetings from Glasgow, Rantburgers.
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06/23/2014 12:20 Comments ||
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#6
Greetings from Rantburg, Paul dear. Don't forget to post photos in the O Club so we all can enjoy your wanderings. (And thank goodness for that! Were it only for officers I should never have been allowed in.)
#8
U.S. officials also revealed that $572 million (420 million euros) in aid, which had been frozen since October, was released to the Cairo government about 10 days ago after finally winning a green light from Congress.
I guess I could tolerate the turd-polisher droning on a few hours for 572 rocks.
[AnNahar] Six years after Kenya erupted into ferocious ethnic battles and post-election violence, security guard John Mboya is fearful once again, after twin massacres on the coast brought political rivalries to the surface.
"When the leaders argue, it is people like me who will suffer if a fight starts," bemoaned Mboya, recalling the intensity of 2007-8 violence, when communities in his crowded slum in the capital Nairobi divided along tribal lines and turned on each other after disputed elections.
"People are very worried, they don't understand what will happen," he said.
Attacks last week on the coastal Mpeketoni district left at least 60 dead and were claimed by Somalia's Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab murderous Moslems, though President Uhuru Kenyatta blamed "well-planned, orchestrated and politically motivated ethnic violence" carried out by "local political networks".
The reaction served to highlight the intensity of the rivalry between Kenyatta and his old rival Raila Odinga, a former prime minister who failed in a bid for the presidency last year.
"Kenya is on such a knife-edge that the intensifying prospect of instability has millions of Kenyans deeply worried," The Star newspaper said in an editorial.
Bitter memories are still fresh from 2007, when elections escalated into ethnic conflict in which more than 1,200 people were killed, violence for which Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto face crimes against humanity charges at the International Criminal Court ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... (ICC).
"It is certainly not inevitable the political rhetoric could descend into violence, but it is possible, and that is the worrying part," said Cedric Barnes of the International Crisis Group.
Externally, there are major threats from Somalia's Shabaab, who have carried out a string of Dire Revengeâ„¢ attacks for Kenya's military role in southern Somalia, including last year's siege of the Westgate shopping mall that left 67 people dead.
The Mpeketoni attacks, however, were unprecedented: heavily armed turbans storming an urban center deep inside Kenya, and fleeing before ill-equipped security could react, echoing tactics used by Nigeria's Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... Islamist myrmidons.
Western security officials -- and the Shabaab themselves -- are adamant it was them, albeit with local Kenyan knowledge from recruits or Islamist supporters on the ground.
"The snuffies have us in a bind, divided and inattentive to the larger picture," former deputy president Musalia Mudavadi wrote in Kenya's media.
The gunnies appeared to choose the target and timing of the attack for maximum impact.
"The target was ideal if they wanted to divide Kenyans," one Western security official said, noting it targeted a town settled decades ago by the Kikuyu people, the same tribe as Kenyatta.
"The president took it as an attack on his people," the security source added.
Tensions were already high following Odinga's announcement last month that he planned to stage mass anti-government rallies on July 7, the anniversary of protests for multi-party democracy in the 1990s.
Foreign diplomats say the leadership feels genuinely threatened by Odinga's planned rallies.
Anti-western sentiment has grown in some quarters, over the backing for the ICC trials and Odinga, who has also recently returned from several months in the U.S.
On Wednesday, youths torched effigies of Odinga in central Nairobi along with British and American flags.
Despite efforts to heal the wounds of the ethnic killings, tensions still run deep between communities, with many key grievances that fed into the violence -- most notably land ownership rights and claims that minorities are being marginalized -- still unresolved.
The 2007-8 violence erupted when Odinga accused then president Mwai Kibaki of rigging his way to re-election, but what began as political riots quickly turned into ethnic killings of Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe, the country's largest single group.
In turn, they launched reprisal attacks, plunging Kenya into its worst wave of violence since independence in 1963.
Kenya's influential Daily Nation newspaper has called for leaders to focus on the country, warning that recent attacks should not be "used as an excuse to muzzle the opposition or stifle debate".
"Working together to douse the flames consuming us all is far more urgent than doggedly sticking to our own positions," it warned.
[DAWN] An extension in curfew delayed a ground operation in North Wazoo, which was expected to be launched on Saturday.
The human dimension continued to aggravate as the number of registered displaced people swelled to over 300,000.
According to the ISPR, air strikes against faceless myrmidons have been extended to Khyber Agency. "The ground offensive will begin as soon as the evacuation process is completed," an official told Dawn.
The military operation against faceless myrmidons in North Waziristan was launched on June 15 with air strikes on their hideouts. Security officials claimed that over 200 local and foreign faceless myrmidons had been killed in the bombings.
Fata Additional Chief Secretary Arbab Muhammad Arif said at a press briefing here that the curfew would be relaxed on Sunday to ensure evacuation of civilians. "This is a big human tragedy, especially for those who have fled their homes for the sake of the country," he said.
The ISPR said 30 bad boyz were potted in targeted strikes by jets in Khyber and North Waziristan Agencies in the small hours of Saturday.
Jets destroyed two hideouts close to the Afghan border in Khyber Agency, killing 10 terrorists, it said.
Three hideouts were destroyed in Hassu Khel area of North Waziristan, killing 20 terrorists.
However, if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning... the official claims could not be confirmed from independent sources.
The Fata Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) said 307,501 people, among them 132,973 children, had been registered at Saidgi checkpoint by Saturday afternoon.
Mobile teams of the National Database and Registration Authority have been deployed to provide computerised national identity cards to the displaced people.
A mass exodus from North Waziristan continued and thousands of displaced men, women and kiddies were waiting in scorching heat on the Bannu-Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... road for security clearance. Security personnel give clearance to displaced people to cross into the settled area after verification.
On directives of the government, the FDMA began distribution of Rs7,000 grants for each displaced family on the spot. Another Rs5,000 is given to each family for buying non-food items.
Arbab Arif said the government machinery had been mobilised to facilitate the internally displaced persons (IDPs). He said 20 registration desks, four health mobile units backed by five ambulances and six mobile units of Nadra had been deployed at Saidgi post.
He said health workers were administering polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... vaccine drops to children.
He said only 19 families had reached a relief camp in Bakakhel area of North Waziristan.
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06/23/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Chief Coordinator of Pakistain Mohammedan League-Nawaz (PML-N), Siddiq al-Farooq on Sunday said that last week's incident in Lahore's Model Town, in which 12 'innocent' persons were killed, was a conspiracy against the elected government.
At least 12 people including Pakistain Awmi Tehrik (PAT) supporters were killed when they clashed with local police on Tuesday.
"PAT chief Dr Tahirul Qadri ...Pak politician, founder and head of Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran. He usually resides in Canada, but returns to Pakistain periodically to foam at the mouth and lead demonstrations. Depending on which way the wind's blowing, Qadri claims to be the author of Pak's blasphemy law. Other times he says it wasn't him... , who was a Canadian national, wanted to run the affairs of the country and both the Tehrik-e-Minhajul Koran (TMQ) and Pakistain Mohammedan League (PML-Q) have been exposed," said Farooq.
He claimed that the plot behind the Model Town incident was prepared by Tahirul Qadri and PML-Q leader Pervaiz Ellahi in their London meeting last month.
Siddiq al-Farooq, who was addressing a presser here at PML-N Secretariat, said the conspiracy was hatched at a time when the Pakistain Army under the command of Gen Raheel Sharif, was engaged in the operation against snuffies in North Wazoo.
"Some armed people of TMQ and police personnel faithful to Pervaiz Ellahi were behind the firing," he alleged.
He claimed that due to fear of being exposed, both TMQ and PML-Q had boycotted the judicial commission formed to probe into the incident.
The PML-N leader hoped that the judicial commission would soon complete its investigation and lay bare the facts about the incident before the nation.
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06/23/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Pakistain Awami Tehrik (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri ...Pak politician, founder and head of Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran. He usually resides in Canada, but returns to Pakistain periodically to foam at the mouth and lead demonstrations. Depending on which way the wind's blowing, Qadri claims to be the author of Pak's blasphemy law. Other times he says it wasn't him... on Sunday said that if his supporters are harmed upon his arrival in Pakistain, then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... would be held responsible and the party would hold protests outside the Prime Minister house in Islamabad.
Addressing the media from the passenger seat of an SUV outside Heathrow airport in London, where a large number of PAT supporters including women had gathered to bid farewell to their party chief, Dr Qadri claimed that PAT workers and activist were being locked away You have the right to remain silent... and tortured.
Criticising the Pakistain Moslem League - Nawaz (PML-N) government, he said, "I have even witnessed the Bhutto era but have never seen such oppression by a government."
"People carrying loudspeakers were arrested, Is this what you call politics and democracy? Take me instead of my workers," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif ...Pak dynastic politician, brother of PM Nawaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab... on Sunday said that politics of protest and confrontation hinders and undermines the national ideals of progress and development.
Speaking to a delegation of national and provincial politicians, he said the country has been passing through a critical phase and was facing internal and external challenges, adding that it cannot afford the 'protest politics.'
The statement comes in the wake of Pakistain Awmi Tehrik (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri ...Pak politician, founder and head of Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran. He usually resides in Canada, but returns to Pakistain periodically to foam at the mouth and lead demonstrations. Depending on which way the wind's blowing, Qadri claims to be the author of Pak's blasphemy law. Other times he says it wasn't him... 's expected arrival in the country.
Qadri earlier had said that if his supporters are harmed upon his arrival, then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... would be held responsible and the party would hold protests outside the Prime Minister house in Islamabad.
The chief minister said the elements engaged in politics of agitation were trying to hamper the ongoing process of progress and development, but 180 million patriotic and enlightened people of Pakistain will reject the politics of sabotage and chaos.
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06/23/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] 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.... chairman Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight... on Sunday said the military should temporarily halt bombardments in areas of North Wazoo where the civilian population has not evacuated.
"The operation should not be conducted in villagers where women and kiddies are present as they are currently stranded," Imran said in a presser in the capital.
He also said that according to information available with the party, militancy will spread to areas bordering Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... in the wake of the operation and that the police and security should be beefed up.
He urged the federal government to meet with the provincial government and chalk out a plan to facilitate the influx of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) as well as growing security concerns.
"The prime minister should stop his foreign trips and plan for rehabilitation. This planning should have happened before but the KP government was not informed of the operation."
He also appealed to the Sindh and Punjab provincial governments to facilitate the IDPs. "I appeal to Sindh and Punjab not to stop people who are collateral damage of the operation from entering their provinces."
"These are Paks. It is not their fault. They are angry. They are being shunned."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] With hours left in the expected arrival of Pakistain Awami Tehrik (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri ...Pak politician, founder and head of Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran. He usually resides in Canada, but returns to Pakistain periodically to foam at the mouth and lead demonstrations. Depending on which way the wind's blowing, Qadri claims to be the author of Pak's blasphemy law. Other times he says it wasn't him... in the country, Minister for Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan ...Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz Uncle Fester Sharif. He is noted for his vocal anti-American railing in the National Assembly. However (comma) Khan told the U.S. ambassador that he was in fact pro-American but he and the PML-N would have to be critical of US actions in order to remain publicly credible. Khan cited his wife and children's US citizenship as proof, which means he's lying to one side or the other and probably both. He wears a wig, but you probably guessed that. since hair doesn't grow naturally in that shape or texture... on Sunday night warned against any attempts to disrupt peace through protest march on the federal capital.
"There shouldn't be any doubts … no one will be allowed to march on Islamabad in the disguise of rallies or sit-ins," he was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the interior ministry.
"Despite the fact that holding a political rally is everyone's right, those who claim that they would topple the democratic government illegally will be brought to books," said the minister.
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[AnNahar] Turkey said Saturday it will provide fuel to Iraq's Kurdistan region to make up for a shortage caused by a murderous Moslem offensive that has shut down the country's biggest oil refinery.
Militants led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... (ISIL) have seized a vast swathe of territory in northern Iraq since overrunning the city of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... on June 10.
As a result of the fighting, the Baiji refinery in Salaheddin province has been shut down and the supply route to Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region cut off.
The fuel shortage has caused long queues to form at gas stations in Kurdish cities.
Despite coming under under heavy attack from ISIL in recent days, Iraqi government forces still control the Baiji refinery.
But the festivities caused several storage tanks to catch fire, sending jitters through international energy markets.
Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said Saturday the shutdown of the refinery has created a daily requirement in Iraqi Kurdistan of 4,000 tonnes of gasoline.
"We have received a request that Turkey meet this need," Yildiz said.
Yildiz said Turkey's state-owned Tupras refinery could meet northern Iraq's shortage, but warned that shipping the fuel by tanker would lead to long queues at border crossings.
Iraq, including Iraqi Kurdistan, is the second-biggest producer of oil among OPEC countries, but the recent unrest has sparked fears its exports could be hit.
Turkey was criticized by the central government in Storied Baghdad when it started to facilitate the transfer of oil pumped from Iraqi Kurdistan to world markets last month.
Storied Baghdad, which insists it has the sole right to develop and export the country's natural resources, has lodged an arbitration case against Ankara, accusing the government of being "driven by greed".
Fuel shortages in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region will last for at least another week, government officials said on Sunday, as sweeping advances by Sunni Moslembully boyz further south put a heavy strain on supply lines.
An influx of displaced families, an attack by the bully boyz of the Islamic State of Syria and al Shams on Iraq's largest refinery and fuel smuggling into bad boy-controlled towns have all hit supplies, though government officials say the situation is slowly easing.
#3
I was wondering the same thing. Initially thought it might be to establish some goodwill with the Kurds in anticipation of accessing the proximal oil reserves, but given the history with Abdullah Ocolan PKK etc, the significant Kurdish populations in Turkey/Iran, I now think the Turkish Government is trying to placate those populations in the event total Kurdish independence is established in Iraq, having regional influence over the others.
#5
Thanks Shipman. Working theory is as the Sunni Shiite factions wear each other down, and the semi-autonomous Kurdish state (with cohesive military) and backed by oil funding, now in control of Kirkuk (which was theirs before Sadam intervened), will be a key state and regional player very soon.
#6
Recently, Turkish PM Erdogan has begun to use the word "Kurdistan" in his conversation. This is a seachange. He is perfectly aware that the oil card can be played by energy poor Turkey and energy rich Iraqi Kurdistan to the benefit of both.
[REUTERS] Iran's supreme leader accused the United States on Sunday of trying to retake control of Iraq by exploiting sectarian rivalries, as Sunni forces of Evil drove toward Storied Baghdad from new strongholds along the Syrian border.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's condemnation of U.S. action came three days after President Barack Obama I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody... offered to send 300 military advisers to help the Iraqi government. Khamenei may want to block any U.S. choice of a new prime minister after grumbling in Washington about Shi'ite premier Nuri al-Maliki.
The supreme leader did not mention the Iranian president's recent suggestion of cooperation with Shi'ite Tehran's old U.S. adversary in defense of their mutual ally in Storied Baghdad.
On Sunday, forces of Evil overran a second frontier post on the Syrian border, extending two weeks of swift territorial gains as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... (ISIL) pursues the goal of its own power base, a "caliphate" straddling both countries that has raised alarm across the Middle East and in the West.
"We are strongly opposed to U.S. and other intervention in Iraq," IRNA news agency quoted Khamenei as saying. "We don't approve of it as we believe the Iraqi government, nation and religious authorities are capable of ending the sedition."
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06/23/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Ditto as per Rafsanjani, whom like other Iran bigwigs is also now questionning the Bammer's motives + willingness to defend Iraq from the ISIS.
#2
What about Iran's interference in Iraq? Using Iraqi airspace to resupply Syria? Iran and Maliki bear their share of the blame for what is happening in Iraq. By making Iraq a partner in the civil war in Syria they invited reprisals. So boohoohoo.
Besides, Iran doesn't have a say in how the US acts. I wish 'bamer would get a clue.
#3
* RELATED? BHARAT RAKSHAK > [NSNBC International] US EMBASSY IN ANKARA [ordered + supported] FOR ISIS WAR ON IRAQ - HARIRI INSIDER.
Oh my.
* FYI SAME > [News18 = Uttar Pradesh] INDIA SHIA ORGANIZATION OFFERS YOUNG BOYS [age 15-30 y.o.] RS 140 LAKH TO FIGHT ISIS MILITANTS IN IRAQ.
VERSUS
* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > IRAQI FORCES CAN'T TURN THE TIDE [CAN OBAMAHDI DO WIDOUT "IRAQ WAR III"? WHERE'S IRAN?] | [Kuwait Times] SCANT HOPE SEEN FOR IRAQI FORCES TO TURN THE TIDE.
[AnNahar] On a dusty patch of land off a highway in northern Iraq, Faisal watches his three-week-old son cry in the tent that is now his home.
The temperature hovers around 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), and aid being distributed to those at the camp, including mattresses and fans, has yet to reach Faisal's tent.
He brought his family here days earlier, fleeing the strategic Shiite-majority town of Tal Afar when Sunni bully boyz swept in.
Continued on Page 49
[Beirut Daily Star] The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has become the most prominent religious group in the United States to endorse divestment as a protest against Israeli policies toward Palestinians, voting to sell church stock in three companies whose products Israel uses in the occupied territories. The General Assembly voted Friday by a razor-thin margin — 310-303 — to sell stock in Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola Solutions. Two years ago, the General Assembly rejected a similar divestment proposal by two votes.
Omar Barghouti, a founder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, praised the vote as a "sweet victory for human rights."
He said Presbyterian supporters of Palestinian rights have introduced divestment into the U.S. mainstream and have given Palestinians "real hope in the face of the relentless and intensifying cruelty of Israel's regime of occupation, settler colonialism and apartheid."
The top Presbyterian legislative body has been considering divestment for a decade. Representatives of the Presbyterian socially responsible investment arm told the national meeting in Detroit that their efforts to lobby the three companies for change had failed. Carol Hylkema of the Israel/Palestine Mission Network, a Presbyterian group that advocates for Palestinians and spearheaded the drive for divestment, said their action was modeled on the divestment movement to end apartheid in South Africa. The 2012 assembly had endorsed a boycott of Israeli products made in the Palestinian territories.
"Because we are a historical peacemaking church, what we have done is, we have stood up for nonviolent means of resistance to oppression and we have sent a clear message to a struggling society that we support their efforts to resist in a nonviolent way the oppression being thrust upon them," said the Rev. Jeffrey De Yoe, of the Israel/ Palestine Mission Network.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Carol Hylkema of the Israel/Palestine Mission Network, a Presbyterian group that advocates for Palestinians and spearheaded the drive for divestment, said their action was modeled on the divestment movement to end apartheid in South Africa.
That "ending apartheid" certainly worked out well now didn't it? Perhaps Presbyterians the world over will find the following apology of some comfort:
'To the Previously Disadvantaged'
We are sorry that our ancestors were intelligent, advanced and daring enough to explore the wild oceans to discover new countries and develop them.
We are sorry that those who came before us took you out of the bush and taught you that there was more to life than beating drums, killing each other and chasing animals with sticks and stones.
We are sorry that they planned, funded and developed roads, towns, mines, factories, airports and harbours, all of which you now claim to be your long deprived inheritance giving you every right to change and rename these at your discretion.
We are sorry that our parents taught us the value of small but strong families, to not breed like rabbits and end up as underfed, diseased, illiterate shack dwellers living in poverty.
We are sorry that when the evil apartheid government provided you with schools, you decided they'd look better without windows or in piles of ashes.
We happily gave up those bad days of getting spanked in our all white Schools for doing something wrong, and much prefer these days of freedom where problems can be resolved with knives and guns.
We are sorry that it is hard to shake off the bitterness of the past when you keep on raping, torturing and killing our friends and family members, and then hide behind the fence of 'human rights' with smiles on your faces.
We are sorry that we do not trust the government... We have no reason to be so suspicious because none of these poor "hard working intellectuals" have ever been involved in any form of "corruption or irregularities".
We are sorry that we do not trust the police force and, even though they have openly admitted that they have lost the war against crime and criminals, we should not be negative and just ignore their corruption and carry on hoping for the best.
We are sorry that it is more important to you to have players of colour in our national teams than winning games and promoting patriotism. We know that sponsorship doesn't depend on a team's success.
We are sorry that our border posts have been flung open and now left you competing for jobs against illegal immigrants from our beautiful neighbouring countries. All of them countries that have grown into economic powerhouses after kicking out the 'settlers'.
We are sorry that we don't believe in witchcraft, beet root and garlic cures, urinating on street corners, virginity testing, slaughtering of bulls in our back yards, trading women for cattle and other barbaric practices. Maybe we just grew up differently.
We are sorry that your medical care, water supplies, roads, railways and electricity supplies are going down the toilet because skilled people who could have planned for and resolved these issues had to be thrown away because they were of the wrong ethnic background and now have to work in foreign countries where their skills are highly appreciated.
We are so sorry that we'd like this country to fulfil its potential so we can once again be proud.
PS. In the old regime... we had medical insurance, the Rule of Law, lights, and water !
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#2
the PCUSA fell below 2M in 2011 and has been losing about 70-90k members each year since.
they also allow their clergy to officiate at gay marriages
Posted by: lord garth ||
06/23/2014 8:23 Comments ||
Top||
#3
BDS is a pacifist movement for one side of a fight. In other words, a trick. Their going pacifist is the principle reason so-called mainline churches hemorrhage members: http://theological-geography.net/?p=6397
#4
The Presbyterian Church (USA) has given up on God, so it comes as no surprise they've given up on Israel. Personally, I've given up on the Presbyterian Church (USA). I'd rather be an apostate than someone who belongs to a "church" that denies the Word of God.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/23/2014 14:57 Comments ||
Top||
#5
There are a number of other Presbyterian churches (synods?) about, all of them conservative rather than liberal, all not anti-Israel, and all growing. I looked it up the first couple of times this came up for a vote among the P(USA) lot.
[JPOST] Four days after Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... strongly condemned the kidnapping of the three Israeli teens, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu acknowledged Sunday that the Paleostinian leader's words were "good."
"I think it was good that he said that, and I think it would be tested now by his willingness to stop the incitement against Israel and the glorification of terrorists," Netanyahu said on NBC's Meet the Press.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
[Ynet] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave updates regarding the operation to locate the three missing teens in the West Bank at the opening of the weekly Cabinet meeting and stressed once again that Israel sees Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, as responsible for carrying out the kidnapping.
"We have unequivocal evidence that it is Hamas (that is behind the kidnapping)," the prime minister said, adding that "we are transferring this information to several countries in the world. Soon this information will be in the public's hands and then the words of the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... will be tested regarding his willingness to break the partnership with Hamas that kidnapped the teens and calls for the destruction of Israel."
Reports from Walla on Sunday indicated that the Paleostinian Forgein Minister Riad al-Malki recently commented on the continuing Israeli operation in the West Bank saying that it's possible that Israel staged the kidnapping of three youths as a pretext to launch military operations against Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, and the Paleostinian unity government.
Senior Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, official Ismail al-Ashkar responded to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's accusations that the movement is behind the kidnapping of the three teens in the West Bank. "The kidnapping is a great honor we can neither confirm nor deny," al-Ashkar said in an official statement to the Hamas weekly al-Risala.
He added: "The statements made by leaders of the occupation and their claims about the movement's involvement in the incident do not interest us." Al-Ashkar further said that Israel is helpless in its efforts to search for the kidnapped teens.
[AnNahar] Sri Lanka's media showed rare unity in condemning police Sunday for their failure to control anti-Moslem Buddhist hard boyz as religious tensions grow in the wake of riots in the island's south.
A day after a Moslem-owned shop was burnt down outside the capital Colombo, the privately-run The Nation weekly took the unusual step of publishing its editorial as the main story on its front page, with the blunt headline: "The IGP (Inspector-General of Police) must resign".
Other media joined in blasting police for failing to rein in a hardline Buddhist group known as the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS or the Buddhist Force), blamed for much of the unrest.
They pointed the finger at the bully boy monks for the anti-Moslem riots that erupted a week ago, leaving four people dead, 80 maimed and hundreds of homes and shops destroyed.
"Arrest him," the Sunday Leader newspaper demanded in a headline, referring to the head of the BBS, Galagodaatte Gnanasara, who has publicly denied causing trouble.
Sri Lanka's Sunday Times said the burning down of a Moslem-owned clothing store outside Colombo on Saturday "is an indication that some people might want this violence to spread".
Sri Lankan police were investigating the cause of the blaze, which Justice Minister Rauf Hakeem, the most senior Moslem in President Mahinda Rajapakse's cabinet, described Saturday as an arson attack.
The Sunday Times said a majority of Buddhists in the country did not support the bully boy views of the few monks who were behind the hate campaign, and that they should be dealt with before the unrest escalates further.
Some media reports also suggested that patronage by senior government figures may have held police back from acting against the BBS.
Justice Minister Hakeem has asked the government to order an independent probe into the riots since last week.
Hakeem, in a statement issued on Saturday night, blamed the government for failing to control the BBS.
"Irrespective of who is responsible for the terrible events that unfolded... none would dispute that it was a serious dislocation of the ability of the state to maintain the rule of law," Hakeem said after an emergency meeting Saturday with Rajapakse.
The president has said he is ordering a probe into "recent disturbances".
Moslems account for about 10 percent of Sri Lanka's 20 million population, who are mainly Buddhist.
[AnNahar] Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... official Mohammed Raad called on Saturday for further coordination between security agencies in the fight against terrorism, stressing that jihadists of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... (ISIL) will not find safe haven in Leb.
"The security developments in Leb require discreet, accurate and serious followup," MP Raad, the head of Hizbullah's Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc said.
He praised the efforts exerted by the security agencies, in particular the army intelligence, to apprehend "terrorist Death Eater groups."
On Friday', a suicide kaboom targeted an Internal Security Forces check point in Dahr al-Baydar, killing an officer and wounding several others.
General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim had driven past the site of the kaboom in his convoy shortly before the blast.
The attack also coincided with a series of raids in the Lebanese capital following reports of a plot to target security posts.
"Had we not interfered in battles in Syria at the appropriate moment, ISIL would have done the same" in Beirut, Raad said, reiterating Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah's stance.
"There is no place in Leb for ISIL or those who are supporting it," Raad noted.
ISIL, which grew from the ranks of al-Qaeda before splitting with the global terror network, is active in both Syria and neighboring Iraq and seeks to set up an Islamic state that straddles both countries.
[AnNahar] The United Arab Emirates urged its citizens on Saturday to refrain from traveling to Leb citing the country's "shaky security situation" as a cause.
"Emiratis currently present in Leb must leave the country immediately," UAE's charge d'affaires Hamad Mohammed al-Junaibi said.
He called on UAE's citizens to contact their embassy in Leb or reach out to their country's Foreign Ministry "for coordination and to facilitate their departure."
"The warning was issued out of the (foreign) ministry's keenness on its citizens' safety while abroad," a statement released by the charge d'affaires explained.
"We urge citizens to abide by this warning until another notice is released, and to take precautions," al-Junaibi stressed.
The warning comes one day after a deadly kaboom rocked the Bekaa's region of Dahr al-Baydar on Friday, killing Chief Warrant Officer Mahmoud Jamaleddine and wounding 33 others.
The attack also coincided with a series of raids in the Lebanese capital following reports of a plot to target security posts.
The last kaboom to hit Leb occurred on March 29, when a jacket wallah in a boom-mobile targeted a Lebanese army checkpoint near the Syrian border, killing three people. Earlier in the year, a series of boom-mobiles struck Shiite areas across Leb, killing and wounding hundreds of people.
The French embassy in Leb on Friday also advised its resident nationals to limit their movements on Lebanese territories.
[AnNahar] Investigations in Friday's boom-mobileing in the Dahr al-Baydar region are underway with the concerned authorities looking into telephone calls linked to the incident, as well as surveillance camera footage, reported the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Sunday.
It revealed that the authorities have obtained the telecom data connected to the attack.
The data will help uncover the activities prior to the bombing and the route taken by the attacker.
The data may also lead to other potential attacks, said the daily.
The security forces have meanwhile been conducting searches for potential jacket wallahs.
They have carried out sweeps of several regions where suspected bully boyz may be hiding, added al-Hayat.
The security forces did not however disclose the areas they have been searching.
A member of the Internal Security Forces was killed and at least 30 people were maimed in a boom-mobileing that targeted an ISF checkpoint in the Dahr al-Baydar area in the eastern Bekaa region on Friday.
The Champ administration justified using drones to kill Americans suspected of terrorism overseas by citing the war against al-Qaida and by saying a surprise attack against an American in a foreign land would not violate the laws of war, according to a previously secret government memorandum released Monday.
The memo provided legal justification for the September 2011 killing in Yemen of Anwar Al-Awlaki, an al-Qaida leader who had been born in the United States, and another U.S. citizen, Samir Khan. An October 2011 strike also killed Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, al-Awlaki's teenage son and also a U.S. citizen.
The memo, written by a Justice Department official, said the killing of al-Awlaki was justified under a law passed by Congress soon after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. The law empowered the president to use force against organizations that planned, authorized and committed the attacks.
Al-Awlaki had been involved in an abortive attack against the United States and was planning other attacks from his base in Yemen, the memo said. It said the authority to use lethal force abroad may apply in appropriate circumstances to a U.S. citizen who is part of the forces of an enemy organization. Rather vague and unspecific I'd say. No mention of his contacts with Nidal Hasan.
#1
An October 2011 strike also killed Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, al-Awlaki's teenage son and also a U.S. citizen.
Contrast that with President Obama willingness to ignore US laws for young illegal aliens on the basis they were brought to the US through no fault of their own.
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.
Three al-Jazeera journalists accused of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood have been jailed for seven years in Cairo. The court convicted Peter Greste, Mohammed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed of spreading false news and supporting the now banned Brotherhood. The three had denied the charges.
Unless you're facilitating terrorism. 
[AnNahar] U.S. Secretary of State 
[AnNahar] Six years after Kenya erupted into ferocious ethnic battles and post-election violence, security guard John Mboya is fearful once again, after twin massacres on the coast brought political rivalries to the surface.
International Criminal Court
Wazoo
[DAWN] Chief Coordinator of Pakistain 
Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz 
[AnNahar] On a dusty patch of land off a highway in northern Iraq, Faisal watches his three-week-old son cry in the tent that is now his home.
[Beirut Daily Star] The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has become the most prominent religious group in the United States to endorse divestment as a protest against Israeli policies toward Palestinians, voting to sell church stock in three companies whose products Israel uses in the occupied territories. The General Assembly voted Friday by a razor-thin margin — 310-303 — to sell stock in Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola Solutions. Two years ago, the General Assembly rejected a similar divestment proposal by two votes.
in the world. Soon this information will be in the public's hands and then the words of 
[AnNahar] The United Arab Emirates urged its citizens on Saturday to refrain from traveling to 
[AnNahar] Investigations in Friday's 
