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Today: 92 articles and 418 comments as of 15:06.
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Eight terrorists killed, 40 suspects detained in Coalition operations
Today's Headlines
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Afghanistan
East Asia ministers demand Taliban free hostages
Foreign ministers from 16 Asian nations called on Tuesday for the unconditional release of Korean hostages being held by the Taliban in Afghanistan and offered condolences for the deaths of the two already executed. “The foreign ministers expressed their deepest sympathy to the bereaved families, people and government of South Korea,” said a statement issued by the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations, as well as Japan, South Korea, China, India, Australia and New Zealand after a meeting in Manila. “They issued an appeal for the immediate and unconditional release of the remaining hostages to enable them to reunite with their loved ones.” The 18 women and five men, all from South Korea, were kidnapped nearly two weeks ago south of Kabul. Two of them have been killed.
Posted by: Fred || 08/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  The word is "murdered," not "executed."
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 08/01/2007 13:39 Comments || Top||


Africa North
French FM says nuclear deal with Libya is only a hypothesis
The French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner said here Tuesday that supplying Libya with a nuclear reactor for the desalination of sea water is only a "hypothesis".
"S'il vous plais, what is the French word for "Mulligan"?
Kouchner made this announcement before the parliamentary foreign affairs commission as he was explaining the nature of the memorandum of understanding his country signed with Libya during the visit of President Nicolas Sarkozy to Tripoli last week. The agreement was signed a day following the release of the six Bulgarian medics in Libya, in which France played a major role in their release and they were taken back home on a French plane.

According to reports, the memorandum of understanding between France and Libya was also criticized by the left-wing and green opposition as it is considered "a potential proliferation risk." Meanwhile, Germany expressed its anger over the proposed nuclear deal between France and Libya, where Kouchner said that "some decisions do not make everyone happy," the media reported.
"Merde," the media left out of its report.
Posted by: Seafarious || 08/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Middle East: Saudis show interest in regional peace with Israel
Riyadh, 1 August (AKI) - Saudi Arabia has indicated in may attend a Middle East peace conference including Israel - a move which would represent a breakthrough in relations between Riyadh and the Jewish state. back US Middle East plans. The Washington-sponsored conference is aimed at revive the stalled peace process and would include Israel, the Palestinians and Arab states viewed as moderate by the US. "We welcome this initiative," Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia has no diplomatic relations with Israel, saying previously it would only establish them at the culmination of an Arab-Israeli peace settlement.

Prince Saud was speaking during a joint visit to Riyadh by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defence Secretary Robert Gates. "When we get an invitation from the minister [Rice] to attend, when this takes place, we will study it - and we will be keen to attend," he said, speaking in Arabic.

Saudi Arabia has recently re-launched a peace plan it first put forward in 2002, which calls on Israel to return Arab land occupied since 1967 in return for full diplomatic recognition. The Saudi foreign minister also announced that Saudi Arabia - the cradle of Sunni Islam - would soon explore the possibility of diplomatic ties with the Shia-led government in Iraq, a move long sought by the US.

Prince Saud said he was "astounded" by recent remarks by US ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad, in which he accused Saudi Arabia of undermining efforts to stabilise war-ravaged Iraq.
"By the beard of the Prophet, these are lies, all lies!"
Saudi Arabia has not had an embassy in Baghdad since the first Gulf War in 1990, despite pressure from the US after its forces led the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Hmmm ... let us read the fine print in that latest US-Saoodi arms agreement [mega-heh]
Posted by: mrp || 08/01/2007 09:10 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Better the Jews than the Shi'a!"
Posted by: mojo || 08/01/2007 11:48 Comments || Top||

#2  Just using the Great Satan to eliminate the little one.
Posted by: gromgoru || 08/01/2007 11:55 Comments || Top||

#3  Hopefully this not a example of Taqyiaa. Actions will speak louder than words. Interesting change of events in Saudi Arabia if true. I am sure the more learned Imam's are trying to find out if the is Haraam or not.
Posted by: Delphi || 08/01/2007 13:09 Comments || Top||

#4  I think this is an indication of a growing weariness with the issue and a desire to finally come to grips with it in a logical manner that is sustainable over the long haul.

Posted by: crosspatch || 08/01/2007 14:44 Comments || Top||

#5  Actually, Delphi, I got an email from Jonathon Falwell (Jerry's son) after his father's death in which he described a "Huge" meeting between evangelical Christian leaders and some Muslim leaders and politicos.

Basically, his take was that Saudi (through their Reps. here in D.C.) state that they want to change their country and become more open to the outside world, but they have to do it SLOWLY in order to not tweek the jihadi's noses in country. I actually take news of that meeting, as well as this sign about Israel as VERY positive steps for the Saudis. However, I also realize that we must "trust, but verify" especially with them.

The proof will be in the pudding. If they actually take steps to open up, become more "Western", etc., that's got to be good news. However, until they completely STOP funding madrassahs in Paki-Waki, stop preaching Wahabbism, jihadism, etc., they will still be an enemy to me.
Posted by: BA || 08/01/2007 15:02 Comments || Top||

#6  I agree with you, BA. They are changing. And the kids growing up today are much more tolerant and open than their parents. When those kids are in positions of power, their kids will be even more open, etc. It is going to take time. It will take two or three generations. The time it takes to change a culture is on a much different scale than US domestic political campaign cycles.
Posted by: crosspatch || 08/01/2007 15:45 Comments || Top||

#7  However, until they completely STOP funding madrassahs in Paki-Waki, stop preaching Wahabbism, jihadism, etc., they will still be an enemy to me.

Bottom line, BA. No matter what they say, it's all taqiyya until they do something about wahabbist radicals in country.

When those kids are in positions of power, their kids will be even more open, etc.

The only way "those kids" will ever get within a country mile of "power" in Saudi Arabia is if the House of Saud is deposed. The royals will thwart all efforts to remove them or establish any sort of democracy. History shows a distinct dearth of kings that ever willingly abdicated their power in favor of representative government.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/01/2007 15:58 Comments || Top||

#8  perhaps more like hudna than taqqiya
Posted by: Albemarle Creng7019 || 08/01/2007 16:33 Comments || Top||

#9  I think this is an indication of a growing weariness with the issue and a desire to finally come to grips with it in a logical manner that is sustainable over the long haul.

That is much too logical for them, crosspatch.
Posted by: Abu Uluque6305 || 08/01/2007 16:37 Comments || Top||

#10  I mean, this whole War on Terror would have never even started if the Soddies were capable of advanced thought processes like that. They are the ones who set the whole, big, ugly ball in motion and I don't believe they're even beginning to think about how to stop it yet. If anything, they might be looking for help against the Mad Mullahs but I wouldn't trust them any further than I could spit.
Posted by: Abu Uluque6305 || 08/01/2007 16:43 Comments || Top||

#11  Anyone believing that "generations" of time will fix this problem overlooks the obvious: the adherents of Islam are incapable of waiting that long--they will cause their own destruction by continuing their attacks on the west long before "generations" pass.

Islam is the problem. Islam has always been the problem.
Posted by: Crusader || 08/01/2007 18:15 Comments || Top||

#12  eh... Methinks the headline misleads. The Sauds (*spi*) have shown a willingness to sit down at a table and sip tea with the Israelis present. This isn't even a baby step, it is a fart in their general direction. It would be nice if it were otherwise, but as posters above have said, taqqiya's the word.
Posted by: Free Radical || 08/01/2007 18:51 Comments || Top||

#13  Saudis promoted no peace with oil at $10 or less a barrel. Why now when they're raking in the dough? Remember when the Nazis bargained Jews for trucks while simultaneously killing millions? Same b.s. here...
Posted by: borgboy2001 || 08/01/2007 23:23 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russia getting worried about security of Pak nukes or just yapping?
Posted by: 3dc || 08/01/2007 01:08 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  We should all "worry."
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/01/2007 4:18 Comments || Top||

#2  DOH!
Posted by: newc || 08/01/2007 5:58 Comments || Top||

#3  Decent article. It covers core issues about the security of Pakistan's arsenal:

What if extremists come to power in Pakistan who prefer nuclear jihad to sane policies? That is just as improbable. First, however hotly such people might call on others to carry out acts of suicide terrorism, they are in no hurry to set an example.

I'm not sure about this. Khomeini was fine with Iran being incinerated if Islam would emerge victorious. You can be sure Pakistan has more than a few hotheads like Khomeini running around.

Second, Pakistan has a powerful army drilled and organized along Western lines, which keeps the radical clergy in check and will never let fanatics make major policy decisions, especially nuclear ones-suffice it to recall the tough action at the Red Mosque.

This is the same army that is hopelessly in bed with the ISI so that does not lend anyone with a brain very much assurance.

Can the Pakistani authorities tolerate nukes smuggled out in secret or sold to other countries or non-state actors? That is hardly probable, with the danger it implies for Pakistan. The world's leading powers-terrorists' main targets-will surely launch an armed intervention if things take that turn.

Just as with Khan not being made available for interrogation by Western agencies, Pakistan has refused IAEA representatives any interviews with their other nuclear scientists. It's pretty safe to assume that Pakistan has not submitted specimens of its bomb grade nuclear materials for cataloging.

Lack of an isotopic fingerprint might embolden some extremists with the notion of plausible deniability. Current world leadership in no way exhibits the spine needed to let Pakistan know that any terrorist nuclear attack will result in their immediate immolation. Only this sort of unconditional retaliation can serve as the slightest deterrent to these rogue regimes.

Is there any chance of Pakistani nukes being stolen or accidentally blowing up? Here, the answer is not so clear-the world knows too little about the Pakistani arsenal's storage and maintenance. We have nothing but the reassurances repeatedly coming from the country's leaders.

Those "reassurances" simply are not enough. The only guaranteed solution is to confiscate Pakistan's nuclear weapons. Nothing less will eliminate the problem.

It is essential to rule out the possibility of nuclear weapons blowing up by accident or being tampered with demand. Otherwise, they will be suicidal weapons and targets for terrorists. The developed nuclear countries have always paid tremendous attention to safety, with sophisticated codes, safety interlocks, and so on, leaving no chance of using stolen weapons or obtaining fissionable substances from them. A unified comprehensive safety network leaves nothing to chance in manufacturing, transporting and stockpiling nuclear arms, to say nothing of decision-making on their use.

"One Point" safety—whereby accidentally triggering one part of the warhead's explosive lenses will not yield a full detonation—is a methodology and technology that is probably well beyond the engineering capabilities of Pakistan's scientists. Political instability, doctrinal motivation for aggressive use, compromised arsenal security and inadequate fusing safety interlocks all converge to pose the threat of a perfect nuclear firestorm.

What's the situation in Pakistan? That is the crucial question as we assess its nuclear threat. It took the developed countries decades and huge amounts of money to get their safety system going. Such systems demand the latest technologies in many fields of science and production. Pakistan is not known, with any certainty, to possess such technologies.

As mentioned above, "inshalla" isn't an adequate substitute for One Point safety. An excerpt from SDA Vol. 4, NO. 2:
Hydronuclear and hydrodynamic testing

Nuclear weapons designers have been using hydrodynamic testing as well as full-scale testing for designing new weapons, which includes ensuring their safety. Since full-scale testing would be ended by a comprehensive test ban, some scientists claim that testing at some level, such as hydronuclear testing, is essential for determining the safety of nuclear weapons. In particular, such testing can be important for helping to determine what is called "one-point safety" or "single-point safety" of warheads in the absence of full-scale testing. One point safety means ensuring a nuclear explosion will not result if any point on the conventional explosive that surrounds the fissile material were accidentally detonated. The purpose of determining one-point safety is to help prevent accidental detonations of nuclear weapons. The United States has used nuclear tests extensively to determine one-point safety since 1955. During the 1958-1961 moratorium, Los Alamos put together a program for hydronuclear testing for studying one-point safety. The risks of a failure to determine one-point safety prior to putting a warhead into production have therefore been recognized for well over three decades.
[emphasis added]

Pakistan's highly-enriched-uranium weapons are rather simple to handle. So, if stolen, their uranium could be used in homemade explosive devices.

Without an isotopic fingerprint, there would be no way to attribute the source of the radiological material. The rogue nature of Pakistan's nuclear weapons arsenal represents an intrinsic threat to global security and should be treated as such. It is vital to remember that rogue nations and tyrannies have no sovereign rights.

[snip]

The starting point lies where Pakistani interests coincide with those of the world-which means the technical safety of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal must be guaranteed.

Without IAEA compliance and a more determined effort to obliterate Islamic terrorist indoctrination within its borders there is no way that Pakistan can provide the least assurances to the global community. Long before any significant threat is allowed to materialize, it would be far better to declare Pakistan a failed state and give it the option of surrendering its nuclear arsenal or face total destruction at the hands of a coalition of free countries.

Posted by: Zenster || 08/01/2007 13:47 Comments || Top||

#4  well beyond the engineering capabilities of Pakistan's scientists.

Pakistan probably doesn't have scientists capable of actually designing nuclear weapons.

Note their so called tests in 98 - hurried emplacement in a tunnel and detonation. No real attempt to record data according to US intel sources.

These are not scientists. They are technicians - capable of following detailed Chinese instructions to assemble Chinese designed weapons.

Likewise for North Korea which only last year began building bicycles using imported Chinese technology.

MD Nalapat asks a good question: since neither Pakistan nor North Korea has ever built a tractor, a motorcycle or a high speed lathe, why do we all assume they can design nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles?
Posted by: john frum || 08/01/2007 15:23 Comments || Top||

#5  Thank you for the confirmation, John Frum. This only serves to concrete my position that Pakistan must be given an ultimatum regarding further proliferation and abandonment of its nuclear weapons. They cannot be trusted with a fountain pen, much less atomic bombs.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/01/2007 15:45 Comments || Top||

#6  The downstream problem is that even if marginal countries like Pakistan don't use their nukes, they are so susceptible to regular overthrow that you never know who's going to end up with a couple of dozen A-bombs
Posted by: Skunky Omins9743 || 08/01/2007 16:31 Comments || Top||

#7  Marginal countries do not have the technical/scientific or industrial capacity to build these types of weapons.

This is a Chinese origin problem...
Posted by: john frum || 08/01/2007 17:52 Comments || Top||

#8  Does anybody have an idea of what the lifetime of Chinese design nukes is?
Posted by: James || 08/01/2007 22:59 Comments || Top||


Down Under
Australian police want new powers to secretly bug people's homes
Posted by: Oztralian || 08/01/2007 19:07 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
Hillary Clinton Unreleased College Thesis (.pdf file)
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/01/2007 18:47 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I recommend downloading this for later. It is pretty long, at over 90 pages, about Hillary's take on a famous radical Moonbat.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/01/2007 18:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Dinosaur pee.
Posted by: E Wood || 08/01/2007 19:38 Comments || Top||

#3  EW__ if you were to change the nature of the effluvia in your comment you could apply a technical term, coprolite, to her product which of course opens up a whole arena of related analysis, starting with coprophagia...
Posted by: Ebbavise Johnson6329 || 08/01/2007 20:13 Comments || Top||

#4  EWW
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 08/01/2007 20:18 Comments || Top||

#5  She deeply admired this guy, in a way approaching hero worship. Political beliefs start young and stay in place, all other things being equal. No matter what persona she puts on to gain power, keep your eye on the ball: she was a radical when her beliefs were being formed and she'll be a radical in office.
Posted by: Jonathan || 08/01/2007 22:25 Comments || Top||


Rumsfeld Defends Himself in Tillman Case
WASHINGTON (AP) - Former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld defended himself and took no personal responsibility Wednesday for the military's bungled response to Army Ranger Pat Tillman's friendly-fire death in Afghanistan.

Rumsfeld, in his first public appearance on Capitol Hill since President Bush replaced him with Robert Gates late last year, reiterated previous testimony to investigators that he didn't have early knowledge that Tillman was cut down by fellow Rangers, not by enemy militia, as was initially claimed.

He told a House committee hearing that he'd always impressed upon Pentagon underlings the importance of telling the truth.

"Early in my tenure as secretary of defense, I wrote a memo for the men and women of the Department of Defense," Rumsfeld told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. "You will note that principle number one - the very first - was: 'Do nothing that could raise questions about the credibility of DOD.'"

Rumsfeld gave the committee a copy of that memo.

Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., charged that unanswered questions surrounding Tillman's death reach into the highest ranks of the Pentagon and beyond.

"The concealment of Corp. Tillman's fratricide caused millions of Americans to question the integrity of our government, yet no one will tell us when and how the White House learned the truth," said Waxman.

Tillman's mother, Mary Tillman, and other family members watched from the back row.

Before the hearing started, Rumsfeld entered smiling and shook hands with retired Gen. Richard Myers, former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and retired Gen. John P. Abizaid, former commander of the U.S. Central Command.

Both joined him at the witness table.

Two activists held signs reading "war criminal."

"Are you not ashamed?" one said. Rumsfeld didn't react.

"This is not a rally or demonstration, let's keep that in mind," Waxman chided, before delivering his opening statement.

The congressional inquiry comes a day after the Army laid most of the blame for the response to Tillman's death on Philip Kensinger, a retired three-star general who led Army special operations forces after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The Army censured Kensinger for "a failure of leadership" and accused him of lying to investigators probing the aftermath of Tillman's death. For five weeks the Army knew Tillman was cut down by his fellow Army Rangers, but told the public and Tillman's own family that he died in a fire fight with enemy militia.

I couldn't read anymore
Posted by: Sherry || 08/01/2007 11:36 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad

#1  He was killed in a firefight with enemy militia. That is a true statement.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 08/01/2007 16:37 Comments || Top||


Dupe URL: 'Obama might send troops into Pakistan
Trailing wife and I posted at about the same time, so I've combined her comments into this post. AoS.
WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Wednesday that he would possibly send troops into Pakistan to hunt down terrorists, an attempt to show strength when his chief rival has described his foreign policy skills as naive.
Like she wuz jes' sayin' ...
The Illinois senator warned Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf that he must do more to shut down terrorist operations in his country and evict foreign fighters under an Obama presidency, or Pakistan will risk a U.S. troop invasion and losing hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. military aid.
Does Candidate Obama realize this is an overt act of war according to international law and custom?
No.
"Let me make this clear," Obama said in a speech prepared for delivery at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. "There are terrorists holed up in those mountains who murdered 3,000 Americans. They are plotting to strike again. It was a terrible mistake to fail to act when we had a chance to take out an al-Qaida leadership meeting in 2005. If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will."
Sure you will, uh-huh, and your fellow travellers in the progressive movement will let you 'invade the sovereignty' of Pakistan. Check with the Kos Kiddies in advance?
The excerpts were provided by the Obama campaign in advance of the speech.
ABC News offers an interesting, adjective filled analysis.
Obama said that as commander in chief he would remove troops from Iraq and putting them "on the right battlefield in Afghanistan and Pakistan." He said he would send at least two more brigades to Afghanistan and increase nonmilitary aid to the country by $1 billion.
We don't need two more brigades in Afghanistan. We have the Talibunnies sufficiently on the run to let the Afghans figure out how to run their country. They're not doing a great job, but there's no evidence that another billion in aid would change that. Karzai and his fellow warlords have to settle down and make the country work, doing all the mundane things that are generally not in the job description of a warlord -- schools, roads, sewers and blue-light districts as examples. This is just posturing from someone who has no real clue whatsoever about how our military works, how to use military force, and how to think strategically. And it shows.
He also said he would create a three-year, $5 billion program to share intelligence with allies worldwide to take out terrorist networks from Indonesia to Africa.
More posturing. This is what you do as a clueless Dhimmi -- throw money around and hope to impress the rubes at the Daily Kos that you're somehow serious. The Dhimmis do the same thing in domestic programs: if you spend one billion dollars you're serious, if you spend five billion you're really serious.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/01/2007 10:32 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad

#1  Obama said that as commander in chief he would remove troops from Iraq

Never mind that al Qaida says Iraq is the central battlefield in the war on terror. Never mind what giving up there would mean to America and to the Middle East. You may not be interested in war, Obama, but war in interested in you.
Posted by: SteveS || 08/01/2007 11:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Pure political posturing: Hillary! nailed him during the last candidate debate when she refused to commit (as Obama did), to a series of one-on-one meetings with various dictators, if elected president.

Since the debate, Clinton has significantly widened her approval margin over Obama. This indicates to me that the Dems are, despite the party's endemic BDS contagion, receptive to a pro-active foreign policy that is not entirely amenable towards totalitarian potentates.

The "over the border" statement is an attempt by Obama to out-flank Hillary! on the right; and it is rather indicative of the problems facing the Dems in 2008 - on the foreign policy front, there is no room to maneuver on the left. Moreover, the move seems to be confirmation that the President's policies in the ME and SW Asia are bearing fruit.
Posted by: mrp || 08/01/2007 11:12 Comments || Top||

#3  He also said he would create a three-year, $5 billion program to share intelligence with allies worldwide to take out terrorist networks from Indonesia to Africa.

Identify the key words and phrases in the above para.

Too late on the "troops in Pakland" donk! Others are way ahead of you.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/01/2007 11:26 Comments || Top||

#4  This clown thinks Iraq is a mess, but yet he is wants to invade Pakistan.

*Shakes head*
Posted by: Mike N. || 08/01/2007 11:28 Comments || Top||

#5  Remember who you're dealing with here.
Just cuz he says it, doesn't mean he means it.
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/01/2007 11:57 Comments || Top||

#6  Yeah, you guys, but when I was watching the Senate debate the withdrawal bill on C-Span this is exactly the impression I was getting from them. They want to redeploy to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Or, at least, they give that impression to try to make it look like they are not total surrender monkeys.
Posted by: Abu Uluque6305 || 08/01/2007 16:56 Comments || Top||

#7  Thanks for the ABC-Tapper link, Fred.
Posted by: mrp || 08/01/2007 17:30 Comments || Top||


Shut down Guantanamo, says US senator
A leading US senator has described the administration’s attempts to hold and process detainees at Guantanamo as another example of its efforts to expand presidential authority.
Yup, that's what happens in a war. You see, in a 'war' we take 'prisoners'. If we fight an honorable opponent (hah, find me one of those today), we put the prisoners in a POW camp and notify the Red Thingy. If we fight a dishonorable opponent (aka al-Qaeda) we need to house them in a suitable location. Gitmo wins unless you prefer San Quentin.

And since we've noticed the inability of youse guys and gals in the Senate to make decisions, let alone good ones, we'll let the executive make this work. You know, in a 'war'.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, writes in the San Francisco Chronical that a system that sets a double standard for detainees, holding them indefinitely on flimsy or nonexistent evidence, is inherently unfair and highly suspect. This is damaging, because it goes against America’s legal traditions and values, which are a model for the rest of the world. Such a system does nothing to make America safer. In fact, it makes the world a more dangerous place for Americans, increasing the odds our troops will be denied their rights when captured on foreign battlefields.
Name a single opponent we've fought since May, 1945 who has honored the rights of American prisoners of war. Name a single one.
Posted by: Fred || 08/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad

#1  Dianne, if we use the inmates as bait on senatorial shark hunts.... I have no trouble seen it shut down after all the bait variants have been sampled by the sharks....

Keelhauling in 5 4 3 2 1....

Posted by: 3dc || 08/01/2007 0:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Let me guess... you want them moved to a facility which your husband will build (for a fee of course)....
Posted by: CrazyFool || 08/01/2007 1:09 Comments || Top||

#3  Yet another senatorial oxygen thief and a corpse like thinker who talks of war but has never marched.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/01/2007 4:17 Comments || Top||

#4  Send ALL detainees to Washington DC and San Francisco Immediately.

This woman is a crack baby. No respect intended.
Posted by: newc || 08/01/2007 6:08 Comments || Top||

#5  The solution to this ongoing problem is to take no prisoners. Except a few mortally-wounded ones for interrogation.
Posted by: Glenmore || 08/01/2007 7:34 Comments || Top||

#6  House them in the Hart Senate Building. (Hint: that's where Dianne's office is.) Leftovers can go to SF City Hall.
Posted by: sofia || 08/01/2007 9:02 Comments || Top||

#7  Wait a minute. Let's give credit where credit's due. At least she recognizes we're in a war, whereas others say that's just a bumper sticker (/sarcasm).
Posted by: BA || 08/01/2007 9:11 Comments || Top||

#8  Works for me. We'll just eject the remaining detainees over the Atlantic from the back of a C-130 at 30,000ft. Then we will shut down the senate and do the same to the traitors there.
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/01/2007 10:02 Comments || Top||

#9  What strikes me the most about this speech, is not the closing of Gitmo, but Di's "administration’s attempts to hold and process detainees at Guantanamo as another example of its efforts to expand presidential authority."

Congress has fought with Bush from day one about this. I've attempted to mention these thoughts before.

Bush, since the beginning, has been in a battle with Congress over the real separation of powers between Congress and the executive branch. Cheney had watched this happening, and if I remember correctly, he would even mention it. So, when a commenter at Bill Riggio wrote this, I kept it, and so sorry I didn't also copy the name and date. If the author reads it, email me!


From day one, the Bush administration's political strategy (authored, I believe, by VP Cheney)has been to re-establish executive parity with Congress that was lost during Nixon, Ford and Carter Administrations.

By aggressively asserting executive privilege, reclaiming the constitutionally exclusive role of the POTUS as CINC, etc., Bush has flexed executive powers like few before him, bringing congress to heel.

In the case of Gonzales, he has defied enormous pressure to jettison his AG- at great political cost- thus rolling back the perceived powers of Congress to influence the executive cabinet.

Brilliant strategy, stubbornly executed, with far-reaching results. The next POTUS will owe this administration a huge debt.

Posted by: Sherry || 08/01/2007 10:38 Comments || Top||

#10  Cheney has been preoccupied with EXPANDING executive branch power for years, since he regarded Pres. Ford as a wimp in this arena. Ford had many years in Congress and surely understood this balancing act better than Cheney ever will. And, know that the worm turns. When Hillary is Potus, with expanded powers and her own sense of righteousness and dominance, how accepting will everyone be then ?
Posted by: Woozle Elmeter2970 || 08/01/2007 10:58 Comments || Top||

#11  When Hillary is Potus, with expanded powers and her own sense of righteousness and dominance, how accepting will everyone be then ?

...The difference is that THEN it will be for our own good. (Sarcasm off)

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 08/01/2007 12:23 Comments || Top||

#12  "I remember years ago when Dianne was a prostitute at an Arabian market, she was good for it then and she's good for it now", said Ibrahim Hooper

Ha!
Posted by: Icerigger || 08/01/2007 13:17 Comments || Top||

#13  Gitmo policy arose after the issue of the status of foreign enemy combatants who were captured in the "failed state of Aghanistan" was put before the DOJ. It was felt proper to hold them under military law, and under secure conditions. There is no legal obligation to put them in US federal penitentiaries because they didn't violate US laws on US soil.
Posted by: McZoid || 08/01/2007 13:57 Comments || Top||

#14  Name a single opponent we've fought since May, 1945 who has honored the rights of American prisoners of war. Name a single one.

Hell, even our WWII foes didn't treat American POWs properly. The dramatic decline since then is adequate reason to hold all hostiles in any damned way we please. While we may be using military force to fight terrorism, that does not confer any military status upon the terrorists. This one simple fact seems to elude nearly everyone. It also poses a more important question.

Isn't it time we change our prosecutorial doctrine with respect to fighting terrorism? There should be a shift away from strictly overt military action over to covert targeted assassinations of Islam's clerical aristocracy and the major players in global terror. No extra prisoners to pose any added legal difficulties and far more bang for the buck, so to speak.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/01/2007 14:57 Comments || Top||

#15  the San Francisco Chronical

That's the wrong spelling, Khalid, but it is an accurate summation...
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/01/2007 14:59 Comments || Top||

#16  Fill Guantanamo with Senators says pissed off Citizen.
Posted by: jds || 08/01/2007 16:40 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Padilla lawyers won't call witnesses
MIAMI - Attorneys for Jose Padilla told the court they will not put on a defense case, meaning the jury could soon be deciding the fate of the former "enemy combatant" and two co-defendants charged with supporting al-Qaida and other Islamic extremists. "At this point, we're not calling any witnesses," Padilla attorney Anthony Natale told U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke on Tuesday.

Cooke recently rejected the lawyers' request to acquit Padilla based on lack of government evidence.

Only a handful of witnesses remain for Padilla's co-defendants, Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi. Jayyousi attorney William Swor indicated he could finish with his witnesses as early as Thursday, meaning prosecutors could put on brief rebuttal testimony next week. Closing statements are expected to take about two days, then the case goes to the jury.

Hassoun's and Jayyousi's attorneys have struggled at times to refute the prosecution's claims that the two provided recruits, money and supplies for Islamic extremist causes around the world. They have called six witnesses since July 23, with none producing major bombshell evidence. One, FBI agent John T. Kavanaugh, had already spent three weeks on the stand for the prosecution and seemed to rehash the same FBI wiretap intercepts that form the backbone of the U.S. case.

Padilla is accused of being one of the cell's recruits and completing a form in 2000 to attend an al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan. He initially was accused of plotting to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" inside the United States and was held as an enemy combatant for 3 1/2 years, but the "dirty bomb" allegation is not part of the Miami trial. All three men face life in prison if convicted on all charges.

The trial had dragged on for 12 weeks, with the jury spending almost as much time out the courtroom as in the jury box. The jurors often have been sent out of the room or dismissed early as prosecutors and defense lawyers battle intently over evidence admissibility and the way witnesses are questioned.

One such argument grew so heated late Monday that Cooke ordered a recess, prompting an apology Tuesday from Swor. "I was, I would say, close to being totally out of control," he said. "I would like to apologize to the court."

Cooke then made Swor say he was sorry to prosecutor John Shipley, the object of his ire, "to complete your atonement process." "I do apologize to Mr. Shipley. It was unprofessional," Swor said.

Shipley accepted.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/01/2007 10:29 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  Warm up the chair the gurney at Terre Haute...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/01/2007 12:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Your honor.......nah, I got nuthin.
Posted by: Natale: Attorney at Law || 08/01/2007 15:42 Comments || Top||

#3  Cooke recently rejected the lawyers' request to acquit Padilla based on lack of government evidence.

Lemme get this straight. The defendant's lawyer will not attempt to provide any witnesses that refute the government's case but still contends that the prosecutor has insufficient evidence. The guy's bluffing with a busted flush.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/01/2007 16:08 Comments || Top||


Kurdish gangs emerge in Nashville
Posted by: Seafarious || 08/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad

#1  Does anyone know if there is a Wahabi mosque in the area?
Posted by: Throger Thains8048 || 08/01/2007 0:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Time to send them home.
Posted by: newc || 08/01/2007 6:01 Comments || Top||

#3  Historically most ethnic gangs have not come from the immigrants themselves, but from their children (occassionally) or grandchildren (more common), and as such they are citizens and cannot be sent 'home'. This pattern may be changing as the shear number of immigrants and porosity of borders increases.
Posted by: Glenmore || 08/01/2007 7:38 Comments || Top||

#4  20-30 out of 10,000 is not what I'd call an alarming percentage. Plus it sounds like they have the majority of the Kurdish community on their backs. They'll never quash out all the rats, but they sound like they don't want the bad press.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/01/2007 8:24 Comments || Top||

#5  Yes, bigjim, but IT'S AN EPIDEMIC according to the MSM. Much like yesterday's "news" that gangs are rampant in the military, when the numbers just don't show a big trend.

Maybe these guys were p!ssed off at the lack of a country music career. Personally, I'm a lot more worried about illegal immigrants and the coming of gangs in Hispanic areas than the Kurds.
Posted by: BA || 08/01/2007 9:20 Comments || Top||

#6  "Kurdish gangs emerge in Nashville"

I wonder if they formed any bluegrass bands yet.
Posted by: Penguin || 08/01/2007 10:02 Comments || Top||

#7  My brother lives in Nashville and has some dealings with members of the Kurdish community there (soccer league, I believe), and he says theres no more grateful-to-be-in-America immigrant community to be found. As in any community you're going to have bad apples - especially among young males. And gang culture has a twisted self-perpetuating dynamic of its own: boys are pressured to join and have to do bad stuff to get in, at which point they're tainted if they stay and marked for retribution if they leave.
Posted by: xbalanke || 08/01/2007 15:34 Comments || Top||

#8  You're fucking up our narrative xblanke.
Posted by: E Wood || 08/01/2007 19:40 Comments || Top||

#9  Take your foot off the record pedal.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 08/01/2007 20:22 Comments || Top||

#10  And what would Hank Williams say about all this?
Posted by: borgboy2001 || 08/01/2007 23:16 Comments || Top||


Dems Want to Keep GOP From Votes on Iraq
In which AP tries to paint itself back out of the very uncomfortable corner it just painted itself into. This article deserves a fair amount of parsing and a heavy-grit sandpaper fisking.
House Democratic leaders are intent on sidetracking bipartisan attempts to change course in Iraq at least until fall, officials said Tuesday, rather than allow nervous Republicans to vote for legislation that lacks a troop withdrawal deadline.
Also a fan to blow away all the paint fumes. I'm feeling a bit light-headed.
Try painting a door into the wall next to you. Always works for me.
Several lawmakers and aides said the goal was to deny members of the GOP rank and file a chance to proclaim their independence from President Bush by voting for a limited measure - after months of backing his policy in an increasingly unpopular war.
Then again, there have been signs that even some Dhimmicrats are figuring out that we're winning the war. Most disturbing if the Blue Dogs and the Repubs team up to force through a resolution supporting the war effort. And that's the motivation here. San Fran Nan is counting noses and getting nervous.
Polls have long shown the war to be unpopular, and a survey released during the day by the Democracy Corps, which advises Democrats, reported that 61 percent of those polled want their lawmaker to begin requiring a reduction of troops. By contrast, the survey found that 35 percent want their representative not to undermine the president.
And if you can't believe a poll from the 'Democracy Corps', what can you believe?
In a challenge to his own leadership, Abercrombie (D-HI) said, "I would hate to be in a situation where the Democratic Party was trying to explain that it wants to score political points rather than end the war."
One strategist, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Democrats had concluded Republicans "want to put some daylight between themselves and the president" and should not be allowed to do so "after voting in lockstep for the past four years." All officials spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss the issue publicly.
And because the Repubs would challenge them on the floor of the House.
One such bill requires the Pentagon to provide Congress with plans for a troop redeployment within 60 days. The measure cleared the House Armed Services last week on a bipartisan vote of 55-2.

Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, one of the sponsors, said in an interview that he was hoping for a vote before Congress begins a vacation at week's end. "The one thing that would actually advance the agenda would be to get a redeployment plan," said Abercrombie, a self-described progressive who has voted for far stronger legislation, including a fixed troop withdrawal deadline.

In a challenge to his own leadership, Abercrombie said, "I would hate to be in a situation where the Democratic Party was trying to explain that it wants to score political points rather than end the war."
Posted by: Seafarious || 08/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  Fools. You cannot "end the war". Wars are won or lost, and Democrats are the losers. Keep voting them in and you ALL shall be losers.
Posted by: newc || 08/01/2007 6:05 Comments || Top||

#2  "Polls have long shown the war to be unpopular,..."

That wouldn't have anything to do with your own non-stop efforts to undermine public support for the war, would it? You started yelling "Quagmire!" and "It's Vietnam all over again!" back in March of 2003 even before the last of our invasion force crossed over into Iraq, and you haven't let up for a moment since.

"I would hate to be in a situation where the Democratic Party was trying to explain that it wants to score political points rather than end the war."

But you have no problem at all with scoring political points rather than helping us win the war, do you?

We've got a stark, either-or choice in front of us: we can either win this war, or we can let these scumbags continue to run around loose undermining our every effort to defend this country. But not both.

Want to win the war? Then round these assholes up and get them out of the way. NOW.

Posted by: Dave D. || 08/01/2007 6:51 Comments || Top||

#3  Can anyone think of a single 'Popular' war in the entire history of the world?
Posted by: CrazyFool || 08/01/2007 8:09 Comments || Top||

#4  Those that end in victory.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 08/01/2007 8:10 Comments || Top||

#5  NS, actually, even WWII was getting unpopular in the US near the end, especially after some of the horrific battles in the Pacific. There was some concern that the public would not support an invasion of the Japanese home islands, due to the projected bloodbath that would ensue.
Posted by: Rambler || 08/01/2007 9:03 Comments || Top||

#6  Good point, Rambler, but how much more "unpopular" would WWII have been if the "Democracy Corps" took the polls back then, lol?
Posted by: BA || 08/01/2007 9:16 Comments || Top||

#7  The real reason the Dems don't want to vote on the issue is to avoid being on record come Nov. '08. They want to "end the war" without being pegged with losing it. Wankers. The more progress is made in Iraq, the smaller the corner they paint themselves into.
Posted by: Spot || 08/01/2007 9:41 Comments || Top||

#8  The last popular war was the Spanish-American war. All since then have had a good bout of unpopularity with a significant portion of the population. Most before that too.

Ok, almost all wars have a good chunk of unpopularity. But the dhimocrats have taken it to outright treason and selling America's safety downriver for power.
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/01/2007 9:46 Comments || Top||

#9  #5 -- I'm sure the growing revulsion on the US electorate over US casualties in the Pacific theater of operations by 1945 had a great deal to do with the decision to nuke the Empire of Japan - twice. Elsewhere I read some leftist snark that "we did the Japanese a favor" by dropping the atomic bomb on them. Perhaps we did after all.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 08/01/2007 13:45 Comments || Top||

#10  Depends on what Polls who is looking at: The ones who KNOW how to read polls, and detect the self-serving ones, know that the public is unsatisfied by the current progress of the war, but that they also want us to WIN that war.
Posted by: Ptah || 08/01/2007 14:39 Comments || Top||

#11  Darth,
Actually, the Spanish American war got pretty unpopular once malaria season kicked in. And if you count the Philippine Insurection (that cost more than the war with the Spaniards), you wound up with a mess.

Pretty much every war in America has been unpopular from the French and Indian war forward.

Americans have an unofficial time limit of 3 years to win our wars, and George Bush hasn't even tried to get the GWOT done in that time frame. Taking any longer provides the Dems with a temptation that they just can't resist.

Al
Posted by: Frozen Al || 08/01/2007 18:11 Comments || Top||

#12  Democracy Corps is a dem pressure group. They whine about being non partisan but everything they do is donk-driven. Set lasers to .
Posted by: Free Radical || 08/01/2007 18:56 Comments || Top||

#13  One such bill requires the Pentagon to provide Congress with plans for a troop redeployment within 60 days. The measure cleared the House Armed Services last week on a bipartisan vote of 55-2.

Since when does the Pentagon do planning at Congress' bidding? Is there any precedent for that?
Posted by: KBK || 08/01/2007 19:58 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Two fallen soldiers cremated unnoticed while State Gov't fawns over Dr Haneef Mohammad
While the whole of Bangalore including the State government kept a track on Dr Haneef Mohammad, the bodies of two soldiers who died in a militant attack were flown into Bangalore and cremated almost unnoticed.

While Colonel Vasant was killed in the Uri sector, Timmaiah died in an ambush at the J&K valley last week. Both of them were barely 40 years of age.

The bodies of Colonel Vasant and K Timmaiah, a soldier were flown into Bangalore without a whisper. Ironically the body of Timmaiah reached Bangalore the same day Dr Haneef arrived (Sunday, July 29).

The case of Colonel Vasant was no different. His body reached Bangalore on Tuesday night and there was not a word of condolence from the men in power.

The question that the general public is asking is why the Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy did not react to the deaths of the two soldiers?

"He had the time to greet Haneef and even offer him a job as though he was some kind of national hero," questions Colonel R P Singh.

The army personnel who waited to receive the body spoke with disgust about the manner in which the state machinery treated the soldiers. "These are people who died fighting for us and look at the manner in which they are treated," said a jawan.

Timmaiah was cremated in his hometown two days back while the last rites of Vasant were conducted in Bangalore on Wednesday morning. The minister for Health, R Ashok however realised that the government had gone wrong on this issue and rushed in the nick of time for the cremation of Colonel Vasanth.

The families of the two soldiers are shattered. "Timmaiaha's family members say no one from the government had even a word of condolence. They should be offering the next of kin the jobs they need it the most.

While Dr Haneef continues to hog the limelight, the families of the two Indian soldiers only continue to weep silently.

Sources in the government however say that it is unfair to criticise the chief minister. He cannot be at 100 places at the same time. The government will surely do something for the family.
Posted by: John Frum || 08/01/2007 10:48 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad

#1  The death of Col Vasanth V — a “thoroughbred soldier” and “an officer and a gentleman” for his dear ones — engulfed his family with inconsolable grief on Tuesday. However, a palpable sense of pride in his endeavour also prevailed in their hour of mourning. Col Vasanth, the Commanding Officer of 9 Maratha Infantry, was killed in an encounter with militants in Uri sector, Jammu and Kashmir, on Tuesday.

Col Vasanth, a recipient of the Vishisht Seva Medal, was born on March 25, 1967. He was commissioned into the Army in 1989. He underwent commando training in Belgaum and was trained at the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington, following which he was promoted to the rank of Colonel in 2006. The officer was posted in Jammu and Kashmir in October, 2006.

His wife, Subhashini, a renowned dancer, remembered him as “a thoroughbred soldier” whom she was proud about. As an Army man, he used to say, “you never know what might happen”, she recollected. Their children Rukmini (10) and Yashoda (eight) are finding it hard to believe that their father is really gone, she said.

Col Vasanth’s mother Prabhala said they had lost their elder son Pradeep to pneumonia and this was a second blow. “I would always ask him why a Colonel should participate in certain operations and he would reply ‘Where my men go, I will go too’,” she said.

He was a caring son, who would always call to enquire about his father’s heath as my husband has cancer, she said.

The Colonel’s father Venugopal, sat huddled near the television waiting for any news to flash on news channels about the incident. Venugopal reminisced that Col Vasanth harboured the wish to join the Army since childhood.

After his graduation, he was even willing to disobey his reluctant parents to join the forces. “I had a brave son who would always be at the frontline. I am so proud of him,” he said.
Posted by: john frum || 08/01/2007 11:01 Comments || Top||

#2  Colonel, jawan, three militants killed on LoC

In a point-blank face-to-face exchange of heavy volume of fire, Col Vasanth V, his radio operator Lance Naik Bachav Shahkant Ganapat and Lance Havildar Ramanna RB were injured and three to four militants were believed to be killed, the spokesman said.

Col Vasanth V and Lance Naik Bachav Shahkant Ganapat later succumbed to their injuries in the hospital.

Col Vasanth V, CO 9 Maratha LI, along with reinforcements, rushed to the site to personally supervise the operation and surrounded the militants in a difficult and thickly wooded forest area. Heavy firefight ensued in which Colonel Vasanth personally flushed out militants who got entrapped as all their escape routes had been blocked. The entrapped militants, believed to be three to four, were killed in the encounter that ensued.
Posted by: john frum || 08/01/2007 11:03 Comments || Top||

#3  The question that the general public is asking is why the Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy did not react to the deaths of the two soldiers?

"He had the time to greet Haneef and even offer him a job as though he was some kind of national hero," questions Colonel R P Singh.


Do you have any insights on this, John Frum? Why is Dr. Haneef being treated as anything but a national disgrace? It is obvious he had direct ties to terrorists and was most likely complicit in their acts—at least—as an accessory before the fact. More than any other nation, India has suffered the constant predations of Muslim terrorists. How is it possible that Dr. Haneef is viewed as anything other than a potentially dangerous criminal?
Posted by: Zenster || 08/01/2007 13:59 Comments || Top||

#4  On the night of his release, Muslim youth set off firecrackers in various Indian cities.

The allies of the Islamists, namely the left wing media have been portraying him as innocent victim.

The fact that the Aussie DPP didn't have evidence to charge him sets him up as the poster child for all the Muslims who think they are oppressed and are victims of an unjust world.

And of course politicians have been falling over themselves trying to be seen with Muslim constituents.

B. Raman has pointed out that not one terror case has been solved since the UPA government has been in power in Delhi because of their pressure on the Police to lay off the Muslims.

Now this all creates great resentments in the general Indian population. This constant pandering to Muslim sentiment is building a great rage among many quite docile Hindus.

Posted by: john frum || 08/01/2007 14:37 Comments || Top||

#5  This constant pandering to Muslim sentiment is building a great rage among many quite docile Hindus.

Thank you so much for your valuable insights as to the subcontinent's machinations. I dread to think that America will only be brought to a similar "great rage" after the same hundreds—if not thousands—of Muslim terrorist attacks India has had to endure. India's tolerance of its Muslim population's constant aggression—while at one time laudable—may eventually become regarded as inadvertent sheltering of a terrorist constituency, much as with Britain today. America and all Western nations must eventually confront the basic fact that Muslims have no intention of peacefully coexisting with anyone.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/01/2007 15:05 Comments || Top||

#6  Zen,

Fear not. America won't be as patient as India. We don't have as many Mook voters here. And we just aren't as patient.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 08/01/2007 20:36 Comments || Top||

#7  we just aren't as patient

Agreed. However the problem still remains that Islam is perennially far less patient than even us. Their habitual overreaching will lead them to commit such an atrocity on our shores that those here who argued against pre-emption will likely be dangling from lamp posts.

While our patience will thus be ended—and Islam obliterated—there will also have been catastrophic damage to our economy and—most likely—the loss of a major east coast city along with its heritage landmarks.

This is simply unacceptable in light of how merited pre-emption is, even as of now. Islam already has more than earned its comeuppance and our hesitation only increases the butcher's bill.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/01/2007 20:52 Comments || Top||


Baloch appointed MMA's leader in NA
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal’s deputy parliamentary leader in National Assembly (NA) Liaquat Baloch was made parliamentary leader of the religious parties’ alliance here on Tuesday. NA Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain was notified of Baloch’s appointment following the resignation of MMA parliamentary leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed from the assembly. Riaz Pirzada, who chaired the NA session on Tuesday, read the notification and greeted Baloch to his appointment.
This article starring:
LIAQUAT BALOCHMuttahida Majlis-e-Amal
NA Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain
QAZI HUSEIN AHMEDMuttahida Majlis-e-Amal
Riaz Pirzada
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
Posted by: Fred || 08/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal


SC adjourns appeal against Lahori's acquittal
A bench of the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan put off on Tuesday the hearing of the State’s appeal against the acquittal of Mian Muhammad Ajmal alias Akram Lahori, the alleged chief of his own faction of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.

The bench comprised Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, Justice Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi and Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad. When the appeal, challenging the order of an Anti-Terrorism Appellate Bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC) was brought up, the bench questioned why Police Constable Shamim, who was the most important eyewitness (EW), had not been examined and the prosecution had relied on chance witnesses who were stated to be EWs. The judge also enquired about the findings of the trial court that had also recorded the acquittal of the accused Lahori.

The counsel appearing for the State was going through police papers to answer the questions when the bench decided to adjourn the hearing of the appeal till the next session with the observation that, “This is not an ordinary case”.
Posted by: Fred || 08/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Jhangvi


MQM-MMA clash causes ruckus in NA
The National Assembly on Tuesday witnessed rowdy scenes as Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) members exchanged harsh words after MQM Parliamentary Leader Dr Farooq Sattar blamed the religio-political grouping for using the dead of the Lal Masjid operation to serve its political ends. The rumpus later led the MMA MNAs to walk out of the House shouting loud slogans against the MQM.

Dr Sattar first accused the religious parties especially Jamaat-e-Islami of opposing the creation of Pakistan and confronting Quaid-e-Azam, and then, blamed the MMA for pitching Lal Masjid clerics and students against the government and later doing politics over their dead bodies. The MMA is using the Lal Masjid issue to gather people’s sympathies for the next elections, he alleged. But, he went on, this is no politics but hypocrisy and a failed bid on the MMA’s part to conceal its government’s poor governance in the Frontier.

Sattar’s straight talking was enough to anger the MMA MNAs who got back at the MQM by levelling charges which were expunged from the proceedings by Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain for being un-parliamentary. Led by Liaquat Baloch, the MMA lawmakers later staged a walkout amidst high-pitched sloganeering against the MQM.

Earlier, the house continued debating country’s overall security situation especially the Lal Masjid operation and subsequent suicide bombings in Islamabad and NWFP for the second consecutive day. Like the previous day, the MMA criticised Musharraf-Benazir Abu Dhabi meeting for striking a power-sharing deal. Without naming the PPP, Maulana Ghafoor Haidri and Hanif Abbasi said that those trying hard to do a deal with the military dictator were serving no national interest and rather, leading the country to more chaotic circumstances.
Posted by: Fred || 08/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal

#1  The MQM has long supported the banning of Jamaat-i-Islami, the real power in the MMA. It was JI members of the Balochi and NWFP parliaments who held a minute of silence in their provincial assemblies, in honor of the murderer of CIA agents on American soil. The occasion: the killer had just been executed. However, the State Department continues to oppose grant of visas to MQM officials while handing them out like candy to MMA leaders.
Posted by: McZoid || 08/01/2007 12:50 Comments || Top||


Re-elect Musharraf to avoid martial law: Fazl
Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, said on Tuesday that General Pervez Musharraf should be given “safe passage” through his re-election as president in uniform, to save the country from another bout of martial law. “I think once again we should all deliberate on this option to avoid a repeat of the East Pakistan tragedy,” Maulana Fazl told Daily Times in an exclusive interview. He was referring to the secession of East Pakistan in 1971 to form Bangladesh.

Maulana Fazl, who is also head of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-Fazl) party and secretary general of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), said that Gen Musharraf could impose another martial law if he failed to win political support for his re-election as president in uniform. He said the support of the international community, particularly the United States, to Gen Musharraf could embolden him to go ahead with this plan. “I think history should not repeat itself and there should be no 1969-like marital law in the country,” he said.

He voiced tacit support for a power-sharing deal between Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairwoman, and Gen Musharraf, provided “it was done in all sincerity”. He claimed the deal was backed by the US and the UK. The president and former prime minister reportedly met in Abu Dhabi last week to work out the details of a deal. Though the government has only confirmed “indirect contacts” between the two, federal ministers Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and Sher Afgan Niazi have confirmed their meeting.

As far as the presidential elections are concerned, Maulana Fazl said nobody from the presidency had so far contacted the MMA in this regard. He warned that the opposition would not let any general seize power at the behest of Gen Musharraf. “Gone are the days when the masses™ pinned their hopes on the generals for solution of the country’s problems. Democracy is the ultimate option for the solution of political issues,” he said.

Maulana Fazl did not rule out the possibility of a future coalition government of the PPP and PML at the centre. He predicted that the MMA would win a greater number of seats in NWFP and Balochistan and “sweep the polls” in Punjab and Sindh in the upcoming elections. He ruled out any rift in the six-party religious alliance, and asserted that his JUI-F would continue to be a major part of the alliance in the upcoming election. He again offered the MMA’s unconditional support to NWFP Governor Ali Jan Orakzai and the Centre for settlement of the Waziristan imbroglio by striking another peace deal with tribal militants.
Posted by: Fred || 08/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami


Iraq
Iraq Envoy Slams US Over Arms Supplies
Posted by: 3dc || 08/01/2007 01:05 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  We might be more willing to increase arms supplies if so much that we already supplied wasn't being diverted to either black market resale or directly to the bad guys.
Posted by: Glenmore || 08/01/2007 7:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Glenmore, news flash: Iraqi army/police are mostly bad guys.
Posted by: gromgoru || 08/01/2007 8:12 Comments || Top||

#3  Guy sounds just like the head of a US teachers' union - Give us more, and we'll get someone to graduate...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/01/2007 12:39 Comments || Top||

#4  We need to tell this guy to go piss up a rope. Nour al-Maliki recently threatened General Petraeus that he would turn over American donated weapons to Shiite militants if we did not suspend our cooperation with Sunni militias. Iraq's government is nothing but a horserace between various tribal warlords vying for domination instead of some real concensus. All of them need to be dragged out and shot.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/01/2007 14:07 Comments || Top||

#5  We need to start seriously working toward having a good relationship with the Shia dictatorship that is eventually going to run Iraq, whoever it may consist of.

We've already led the horse to water and it refuses to drink.
Posted by: Mike N. || 08/01/2007 14:43 Comments || Top||

#6  We need to start seriously working toward having a good relationship with the Shia dictatorship that is eventually going to run Iraq, whoever it may consist of.

An Iraqi dictatorship creates way too many unwanted variables. Even another instance of Iranian-style theocratic Islam is reason enough to avoid such an outcome. Far better that we declare Iraq a failed state and establish it as a suzerain or protectorate of America. Enforce martial law at gunpoint, extract enough oil to compensate us for our trouble and use Iraq as a forward base for continued operations against other MME (Muslim Middle East) nations. Iraq is rapidly proving itself worthy of anything more than this.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/01/2007 15:13 Comments || Top||

#7  What did you do with the Democrats, Zenster?
Posted by: Bobby || 08/01/2007 17:59 Comments || Top||

#8  Zen, that option is not viable with our political climate and lacking some sort of unforeseen event will not be in any reasonable time frame. Likewise the political climate will not allow for the decades long occupation required to make a healthy transition to democracy.

There is no way to get around this, the Shia are too many and will control the country. Perhaps they will hold on to a democracy, I'm just not very positive about that. At this point, it looks like it all hinges on what the Iraqi military decides to support after America is gone.

If we can park a few dozen thousand troops there for a couple decades, Iraq has a shot, but in order to do that, Zen, we need your party to do what's in Americas best interest, for once.
Posted by: Mike N. || 08/01/2007 18:28 Comments || Top||

#9  we need your party to do what's in Americas best interest, for once.

My "party"?!? I haven't voted democrat for many years and probably will never vote that way again in my lifetime.

As to the infeasibility of simply taking over Iraq: If we do not dismantle Iran first, backing out of Iraq will be a huge mistake. Whatever dislikes the Iraqis have for Iran, you can be confident that such enmity is trumped entirely by Shiite solidarity as opposed to any pan-Arab or co-religionist filiality with the Sunnis.

None of that bodes well if Iran's theocracy isn't smashed first. It will only encourage the same sort of political Islam in Baghdad that has already shown itself to be so deadly in Tehran. There is little hope that Iraq's corrupt military will exert any moderating force in that respect. Nonexistent separation of church and state represents such a fundamental bedrock of Islamic political consciousness that even a military coup would still see the installation of theocratic rule.

Theocratic Islam is the West's greatest enemy. All forms of it must be eradicated if there is to be any hope of ending global terrorism. It would be far easier to remain in Iraq as an occupying force than to return and smash yet another hostile regime in Baghdad.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/01/2007 19:15 Comments || Top||

#10  He's not a Democratic for sure Mike N, his party is one hell of a lot older and better organized.
Posted by: Speash Dingle8237 || 08/01/2007 19:45 Comments || Top||

#11  Fact is, Zen, the nation doesn't have the atomech to maintain the current operation in Iraq. The nature of our involvement is going to change. Unless we get a POTUS that can sell the war properly, a big draw down will happen. If it does, we had better be on good terms with whoever is going to be in charge.

All that talk about Iran is almost another issue. The issue of taking on a ME nation that isn't one of the big terror growers. Ie Iran, SA, Pakistan.
Posted by: Mike N. || 08/01/2007 22:22 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Terrorism doesn't pay?
On the first day of her Middle East tour, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday signed a joint statement with Egypt, Jordan and six Persian Gulf states, endorsing the 2002 Arab peace initiative as one of the foundations for Middle East peace.
Dear Condi, dear George
Posted by: gromgoru || 08/01/2007 18:37 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Russia to keep ties with Hamas for 'dialogue'
Posted by: Fred || 08/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  And weapons sales.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/01/2007 8:39 Comments || Top||


Sri Lanka
'One person from each family': Tamil Tigers engaged in 'forced recruitment'
Sri Lanka’s Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are accused of forcing young people to join their ranks, ahead of a possible battle with government forces for the north of the country.

People in rebel-held Kilinochchi say that Tamil Tigers have introduced a policy of demanding one person from each family. In Kilinochchi market, farmers bring in their produce from surrounding areas to sell. Bunches of green bananas, rice and orange-coloured king coconuts are weighed on a large set of industrial scales. Here, as elsewhere in the rebel-held territory, Tamil Tiger posters are pasted to the walls. They show fighters carrying assault rifles, and slogans urging recruits to join.

We have brought in some practical regulations, because there were many cases of two, three or even four people joining from single families, says Tamil Tiger political leader, SP Thamilselvan. But now there is new evidence that the organisation is forcing civilians into its ranks. “I went home, but I lost my house,” says one man in his 20s who cannot be named for his own safety. “They asked me if my family had any LTTE members. When I said no, they said that I must join the LTTE, because each family must have one LTTE member.” The man said he was abducted and forced to become a Tamil Tiger fighter. But he escaped, and is still in hiding now.
Posted by: Fred || 08/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  OK, everybody pick one of your family members to die. I wonder what the desertion rate is.
Posted by: gorb || 08/01/2007 0:20 Comments || Top||

#2  A good sign, one would hope, that the enemy is reduced to conscripting unwilling peasants into its ranks.
Posted by: gromky || 08/01/2007 3:57 Comments || Top||

#3  g-ky,
We've won several wars by conscripting unwilling 'peasants' into our ranks - Civil War, WWI, WWII, (and Korean War, for practical purposes.)
Posted by: Glenmore || 08/01/2007 7:46 Comments || Top||

#4  And the Tamil Tiger brainwashing regimen is effective... the whole "elder brother" thing is quite unsettling..
Posted by: John Frum || 08/01/2007 8:32 Comments || Top||

#5  But we trained and paid our conscripts Glenmore. Not just put the whip to em.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/01/2007 8:38 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Lebanon Braced for Electoral Showdown After Court Appeal Failed
Lebanon will face an electoral showdown on August 5 after intense efforts failed to postpone parliamentary by-elections in Metn and Beirut for the two seats vacated by the murders of Pierre Gemayal and Walid Eido failed. Former President Amin Gemayel, who announced he will run in the disputed by-elections to replace his slain son, met for two hours on Wednesday with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir.

Gemayel confirmed that the electoral battle in Metn was underway. Sfeir on Tuesday intensified his efforts in a bid to forge a compromise between Gemayel and Gen. Michel Aoun, who announced that he and his allies the Tashnag Party and MP Michel Murr would jointly contest the Metn seat.

MP Ibrahim Kanaan from Aoun's parliamentary bloc met Sfeir on Tuesday at the patriarch's summer mansion in north Lebanon. Sfeir also met March 14 Forces MP Samir Franjieh and former legislators Mansour Ghanem al-Bon and Fares Soueid. "If they want a battle, let it be a battle," Aoun told supporters at Dbayeh. "We are ready."

Gemayel, however, told supporters in Bikfaya that the election showdown in Metn was a "battle aimed at preventing Syrian influence from returning to Lebanon."

The daily An Nahar said Wednesday that an initiative launched from Rabieh calling for the withdrawal of the electoral contestants was turned down by Gemayel.
Posted by: mrp || 08/01/2007 09:51 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iran upset with Kouchner over Lebanon comments
Iran on Monday expressed dismay at comments made by the French foreign minister over Tehran's role in Lebanon, saying it feared the remarks showed a lack of understanding.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Sunday that pressure had to be exerted on Iran and its main regional ally Syria to avoid a "war" from breaking out in Lebanon. "We hope that his comments were not correctly translated, because otherwise doubt would be cast over his realistic understanding of Lebanese affairs," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said. "Mr. Kouchner surely is aware that it is the Americans and some of their approaches that have become an obstacle to finding a solution and not any other sides," he said, according to the state-run IRNA agency.
Posted by: Fred || 08/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Jumblatt: Hezbollah chief has Iranian agenda not Lebanese
In an interview with Al Jazeera Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt accused Hezbollah chief sayeed Hassan Nasrallah of having an Iranian agenda not Lebanese and that he is being used by Iran to improve its negotiating position with Israel and the west .
Posted by: Fred || 08/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Inside Iran's nuclear nerve centre: halfway house to an atomic bomb
The rush to process uranium is to generate electricity, officials tell Julian Borger in Isfahan. But there are no power stations

In the bowels of Iran's uranium conversion facility in Isfahan strands of black and red wire stretch from the concrete wall to giant white tanks full of a volatile uranium compound. It is by these slender cords that the international community hopes to hold Iran's atomic ambitions in check. The wires pass through a brass seal that has been soldered and marked in such a way that any attempt to divert the fuel to making a bomb would be spotted by UN inspectors. It is a nuclear trigger the world hopes will never be pulled.
Black wire, red wire, or was it the blue wire?
With global tensions rising over Iran's nuclear intentions, the doors of the Isfahan plant were opened last week to a small group of journalists from Europe and America in a rare bid for transparency by the embattled but determined government in Tehran. Ten miles south-east of the tiled mosques of Isfahan, Persia's old capital, the conversion plant is a cluster of squat yellow-brick buildings at the foot of some weathered sandstone crags, and ringed by anti-aircraft batteries dug into the surrounding semi-desert. Inside the plant, a dense network of shining vats, pipes and gauges perform the alchemy of turning processed uranium ore, "yellow cake", into uranium hexafluoride (UF6), an elusive gas which is a halfway house to making both nuclear fuel and nuclear bombs. Iranian officials insist they just want to make fuel, and presented the Isfahan plant as a display of scientific prowess and peaceful endeavour. "You'll be able to see for yourselves the purity of our work, and you'll be able to tell the outside world the good news," Hossein Simorg, the spokesman for Iran's nuclear industry, promised before a guided tour of the facility. As far as the much of the outside world is concerned, however, Isfahan is a nuclear flashpoint. Almost exactly two years ago, the seals on the tanks of uranium hexafluoride were broken in front of inspectors from the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in an act of defiance by the Iranian government - a blunt signal Tehran was not going to halt its nuclear progress in return for the incentives Europe was offering. The order was given for uranium conversion to resume at Isfahan after a two-year ga
It's for nuclear fuel. Our oil don't work anymore. The purity of our work will soon be seen. Sure, in Israel.
Posted by: JohnQC || 08/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Terror Networks
make your own custom terror research maps.....
Posted by: 3dc || 08/01/2007 11:05 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Counterterriosm Blog: Buried Videos and Documents in Backyard Show HAMAS Links
The Holy Land Foundation (HLF) trial resumed this Monday with hours of video evidence, some of which had been buried in the backyard of unindicted co-conspirator Fawaz Mushtaha, a former resident of a Northern Virginia suburb of Washington DC.

The videos show HLF fundraising festivals (involving singing, lectures and sermons, presumably for charitable purposes), including one in which defendant Muhammad El Mezain is sandwiched between two leaders of HAMAS at that time, Mahmoud al Zahar and Jamil Hamami. Along with Mezain, several other defendants in the trial are clearly visible.

Mufid Abdulqader, a member of the musical troupe al-Sakra can be seen performing at these festivals where crowds chanted slogans such as “Khaybar, Khaybar ya yahud. Jaish Muhammed soufa ya’oud.” (“O Jews of Khaybar, the army of Muhammad is returning!”) ***

Skits were performed on stage at the festivals, including one that portrayed Israeli soldiers shooting at Palestinian children as well a skit starring defendant Abdulqader as a HAMAS activist who chokes a Jew in one skit and stabs a soldier in another.

One such festival in Los Angeles makes reference to Sheikh Abdullah Azzam, the charismatic Palestinian cleric who was close with and greatly influenced Osama Bin-Laden in the 1980s. (Azzam was also a popular speaker at Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP) conferences; IAP is an unindicted co-consopirator in this case).

Several of the videos also praise the military wing of HAMAS, the Izz ad-Din al Qassam Brigades, as well as Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

At the end of two of these fundraising videos, a flashing banner rose from the bottom of the screen urging people to donate to The Occupied Land Fund, the name used by HLF until the early 1990s.


*** Khaybar, an oasis near Medina inhabited mainly by Jews in the 7th century. In the year 628, Muhammad led the Muslims against it, defeating the Jews in battle and subjugating the survivors, who would later be expelled from Arabia. Chant implies that history will repeat itself.
This article starring:
FAWAZ MUSHTAHAHoly Land Foundation
JAMIL HAMAMIHamas
MAHMUD AL ZAHARHamas
MUFID ABDULQADERHamas
MUHAMAD EL MEZAINHoly Land Foundation
Sheikh Abdullah Azzam
SHEIKH AHMED YASINHamas
Holy Land Foundation
Islamic Association for Palestine
Izz ad-Din al Qassam Brigades
Occupied Land Fund
Posted by: 3dc || 08/01/2007 01:14 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  'Khaybar' - sounds like a good name for a knife to be used on deze guyz (but then my pronounciation may be wrong, seeing as I don't speak Arabic.)
Posted by: Glenmore || 08/01/2007 7:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Gosh, I thought it was just another fund raiser for Hillary.
Posted by: Rich G. || 08/01/2007 22:54 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
44[untagged]
10Iraqi Insurgency
8Global Jihad
5Taliban
3al-Qaeda in Iraq
3Govt of Iran
2Hamas
2Hezbollah
2al-Qaeda
2Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
1Thai Insurgency
1TNSM
1al-Qaeda in Britain
1Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
1Hizbul Mujaheddin
1HUJI
1IRGC
1Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami
1Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh
1Lashkar e-Jhangvi
1PFLP

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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2007-08-01
  Eight terrorists killed, 40 suspects detained in Coalition operations
Tue 2007-07-31
  Taleban kill second SKorean hostage
Mon 2007-07-30
  ISAF: Chairman of Taliban military council banged in Helmand
Sun 2007-07-29
  Perv to retire as Army Chief, stay as President, Bhutto to be PM
Sat 2007-07-28
  New PA platform omits 'armed struggle'
Fri 2007-07-27
  50 Iraq football fans killed in car bombs
Thu 2007-07-26
  Iraq: Khalis tribal leaders sign peace agreement
Wed 2007-07-25
  U.S., Iranian envoys meet in Baghdad
Tue 2007-07-24
  Abdullah Mehsud: Dead again
Mon 2007-07-23
  Summer Offensive: More than 50 Talibs killed in Afghanistan
Sun 2007-07-22
  N. Wazoo Peace Jirga Rocketed
Sat 2007-07-21
  Afghan Talibs kidnap 23 S. Koreans
Fri 2007-07-20
  6 dead in rocket attack on Somali peace conference
Thu 2007-07-19
  Hek declares ceasefire
Wed 2007-07-18
  Qaida in Iraq Big Turban Captured

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