[Tolo News] Support for the Taliban among Afghans has steadily decreased in recent years and people strongly back a government peace initiative, according to a survey conducted by Asia Foundation. But it doesn't matter whether Afghans support the Taliban or not. They'll do what they're told or they'll be killed, usually in manners unpleasant...
Unless they fight back, of course. Is that possible?
The survey was released by the nonprofit San Francisco-based Asia Foundation on Tuesday and it indicates that the majority of Afghans are weary of insecurity and corruption, and distressed by poverty and corruption.
The survey has found that majority of Afghan adults, 82 percent, are in favour of reconciliation and reintegration efforts of the Afghan government.
The number of those who have said they sympathised with the aims of the Taliban has dropped to 29 percent compared to 40 percent last year and 56 percent in 2009, it said.
The survey has also found that there is some confidence in Afghanistan's economic development, but it showed dissatisfaction with the state's ability to deliver both security and clean government.
It has identified a lack of security as the biggest problem in the country by 38 percent of those polled, especially in the south and eastern region where insurgency has been at its highest.
Seventy one percent of those polled have said they did not feel safe travelling from one part of Afghanistan to another.
Although roughly half of those polled thought the Afghan police and army were "unprofessional and poorly trained," a growing number of people thought they were steadily improving, the survey showed.
The number of those who feel Afghan cops can operate without international help has reduced, but the majority of people think they can't.
Foreign troops started security transition to Afghan forces in July and it will be completed by the end of 2014. Afghan cops have taken over security responsibility of seven areas in the first phase.
There are around 130,000 foreign troops, 90,000 of them US forces, fighting hard boyz in the country.
The report says that nearly half of those asked, or 46 percent, thought the country was moving in the right direction. Reconstruction and rebuilding, good security in some areas and improvements in the education system were the main reasons.
But for the first time since the survey began in 2004, a rising number now think that Afghanistan is moving in the wrong direction - an increase to 35 percent from 27 last year, it says.
Those who thought the country was moving in the right direction, Forty percent who thought the country was moving in the right direction highlighted reconstruction as the primary reason.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/16/2011 00:00 ||
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(Bloomberg) -- Afghanistan's Caped PresidentHamid 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... will today convene a meeting of more than 2,000 of the country's leaders and elders as he attempts to garner support for an extended security agreement with the U.S.
The traditional loya jirga gathering brings together provincial and ethnic representatives who will also consider peace talks with the Taliban following the September liquidation of envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani ... the gentlemanly murdered legitimate president of Afghanistan... . Insurgents threatened to attack the council and Karzai's chief rival, 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... , vowed to boycott it.
With the U.S. planning to withdraw most of its 98,000 combat soldiers by 2014, Karzai wants a mandate to broker a longer-term security arrangement that includes commitments to maintain a troop presence and fund and train military and police forces. Afghanistan's army isn't ready to face the Taliban alone, leaving Karzai with little choice, said S. Chandrasekharan, director of the South Asia Analysis Group.
"Afghan forces have shown they'll be unable to manage in the near future," New Delhi-based Chandrasekharan said yesterday. Still, a continued U.S. presence means "the chances are slim for a negotiated agreement with the Taliban, who have demanded that all foreign soldiers leave. There's a basic contradiction."
The security forces, which have taken control of some districts and cities, continue to have high attrition rates and lack sufficient strength in leadership, logistics, intelligence and surveillance, according to a U.S. Defense Department assessment released Oct. 28.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/16/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
If they choose to side with the taliban, and they are all in one place... Oh, the possibilities.
#2
Only one goof in Afghanistan wears that indonesian cap. We should have set up a Northern Alliance security state, and let them do the dirty on Karzai's Pashtos.
Posted by: Harry Elmomose7129 ||
11/16/2011 15:13 Comments ||
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#3
ION DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > HAMID KARZAI SPELLS OUT CONDITIONS FOR LONG-TERM US MILITARY BASES [in Afghanistan], namely ...
> end to nightime US = US-NATO raids in the countryside. D *** NG IT, AMERICA = AMERIKA, WHAT ARE YOUSE TRYING TO DO - FIGHT + DESTROY THE TALIBAN + AL-QAEDA!
> US must cease-n-desist from building "parallel institutions" in the country, which I interprete to mean NO SECULAR OR NON-MUSLIM/ISLAMIST, US OR WESTERN-STYLE DEMOCRACY FOR AFGHANISTAN???
Because WINNING TOTAL VICTORY is just not nice Leftism - LEFTIES CAN DO IT, BUT NOT + NEVER NON-LEFTISTS.
versus
* SAME > SPECULATION: PAKISTAN'S ENVOY [Hussain Haqqani] TO US TO BE RECALLED?, oer role in alleged possible post-Abbottabad, Kayani-led? military coup agz President Zardari frowned upon by the US + POTUS Obama???
* SAME > HUSSAIN HAQQANI OFFERS TO RESIGN: SOURCES.
[Tripoli Post] Former Libyan leader Muammar Al Qadaffy ...a proud Arab institution for 42 years... broke his promise and misled former British Prime Minister Tony Blair by keeping chemical weapons hidden from the rest of the world. Qadaffi .. lied?
In 2004 the former Libyan leader had promised to destroy most of his chemical weapons, but now it turns out that he kept them hidden from the rest of the world.
The new Libyan leaders, the National Transitional Council informed the current British Prime Minister David Cameron ... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... it had identified that a stockpile of arsenal that had been 'kept hidden from the world'.
Some of the sites discovered across the country are thought to contain mustard gas agent and other chemicals. They are now under armed guard.
Britannia is now sending officials to Libya to help the government to investigate the scale of the former dictator's secret chemical weapons stockpile that were retained by the Libya
If as expected, the find will be confirmed by international inspectors, it would mean that Al Qadaffy had fooled Britannia and other countries by claiming that he had given up the country's weapons of mass destruction.
When Al Qadaffy made the promise in 2004, he did so in return for being brought back in from the diplomatic cold. During Blair's visit to Tripoli in the 'Deal in the Desert' closer ties between the countries were agreed.
Blair had insisted that he was not embarrassed to have forged links with Al Qadaffy. "We were used to him being a threat, sponsoring terrorism. He was developing a nuclear and chemical programme. He gave it all up," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/16/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Surprise Meter?
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
11/16/2011 13:12 Comments ||
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To the secularists and Copts, this must seem like aliens vs predators but apparently, current polls indicate that the Moslem brotherhood and the Salafist Party (Nour)are leading.
The Moslem brotherhood accuses the Salafists of taking funds from Saudi Arabia, the Salafists say, 'so what - all we want is to purify our land'.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
11/16/2011 00:00 ||
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A military attack on Iran aimed at halting its nuclear program could have catastrophic consequences and only strengthen Tehran's determination to make an atomic weapon, the former head of Soddy Arabia's intelligence services said on Tuesday.
"Such an act I think would be foolish and to undertake it I think would be tragic," Prince Turki al-Faisal said at a Washington, D.C., appearance.
"If anything it will only make the Iranians more determined to produce an atomic bomb. It will rally support for the government among the population, and it will not end the program. It will merely delay it if anything," he said.
[Yemen Post] UN special envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar met with defected General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar on Monday as well as others high ranking military officers loyal to the revolution in a bid to push through the withering GCC brokered proposal which if signed would enounce Yemen transfer-power starting with Saleh's resignation from office.
Benomar who on many occasions stressed the importance for all parties involved to move swiftly along as the country was in danger of literally imploding, said it was time to "speed up change in Yemen and begin a power transfer".
General Mohsen reaffirmed his support of the GCC proposal and the operational mechanism prepared by Benomar stating that it was the safest way forward.
"Transfer of power from President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... to his deputy Abdu rabu Mansour Hadi is inevitable and is supported by international law," said al-Ahmar after the meeting.
Most importantly, the General criticized the regime continuous stalling policy as in his opinion president Saleh ws simply playing with the country's future, risking to tip it off into oblivion as rumors of civil war were growing stronger.
He finally emphasized the fact that the international community had already sided with the revolution as proved by the 2014 UN Security Council resolution.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/16/2011 00:00 ||
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Attorney General Eric Holder's Justice Department sought to manipulate reporters' coverage of Operation Fast and Furious during the days preceding a November 1 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, new emails obtained by The Daily Caller indicate.
Emails between senior Justice Department officials and investigators in the office of Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley show that congressional staffers leading the investigation into Operation Fast and Furious requested information about Operation Wide Receiver -- a Bush administration program -- and other similar cases, more than a full month before the DOJ leaked information to selected media outlets on October 31. That Halloween document dump from the DOJ seemed calculated to depict Grassley's investigation as partisan in nature.
The emails show Grassley staffers inquiring about the Bush administration program as early as mid-September.
"Mr. Newell told us in his interview that there were 2 or 3 cases other than Fast and Furious where there were unsuccessful controlled deliveries at the border," wrote a Grassley investigator on September 13, to a Holder staffers handling congressional inquiries on Operation Fast and Furious. "He said these examples occurred in the 2007 to 2008 timeframe." Bill Newell was the lead Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agent tasked to Fast and Furious.
"In one case," the Grassley staffer wrote, "he said the guns actually crossed the border but through some miscommunication they were not interdicted on the other side by the Mexican authorities. In the other case, the trafficker did not actually cross the border, but evaded U.S. law enforcement surveillance on this side of the border.
"You indicated today that there was an effort at the Department to get an understanding of previous controlled delivery cases that might raise similar issues in Fast and Furious. Were the two cases Newell described among them? Has the Department put together a detailed timeline of the sort you had today on each of the other unsuccessful controlled delivery cases? Is something like that in the works? Has the Department received inquiries about these other cases by the OIG?"
It appears Holder's team didn't answer any of the investigator's questions. Instead, the Justice Department held the information and related documents until the night before Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer was scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Those documents showed Breuer was at least partially responsible for Fast and Furious. Breuer subsequently issued a statement apologizing for not stopping the ATF agents leading Fast and Furious from implementing the same failed tactics used in Operation Wide Receiver -- information he confirmed he had in April 2010.
The DOJ selectively picked which news outlets received the leaked documents, and which documents were released.
This new information comes as several of the 40 members of Congress who have openly called for greater accountability from Holder and the Justice Department plan a Tuesday afternoon press conference. The group, including Reps. Allen West, Paul Gosar, Raul Labrador, Joe Walsh, Tim Huelskamp, Blake Farenthold, Trent Franks and Diane Black, are scheduled to gather and call for Holder's immediate resignation. Rep. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania will also be there. He is the most recent member of Congress to call for Holder's resignation.
"The Fast and Furious gunwalking scheme carried out by the Department of Justice at the direction of Attorney General Eric Holder has resulted not only in numerous violent crimes against American citizens but even the death of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry," Murphy told The Daily Caller in an email Tuesday.
"Beyond the inconsistencies in Mr. Holder's testimony before Congress about what he knew and when he knew it, this investigation raises troubling questions about his judgment and ability to remain at the helm of our nation's top law enforcement agency. The appropriate and necessary action is for Holder to voluntarily resign. And if he doesn't do so voluntarily, I call on the President to remove him."
North Korean violations of the Northern Limit Line, the de-facto maritime border, have decreased to one-sixth the frequency of last year since January.
According to data the Joint Chiefs of Staff submitted to Future Hope Alliance lawmaker Song Young-sun on Tuesday, violations of the NLL by North Korean patrol and fishing boats grew from 21 in 2006 to 95 times in 2010. But there have been only 16 so far this year.
North Korean patrol boats crossed the NLL 11 times in 2006 and 13 times in 2010 but only five times this year. The first trespass by a patrol boat was on April 26 this year, and a South Korean Navy speedboat fired eight warning shots from a 40-mm gun.
The North violated the NLL in the West Sea 226 times and in the East Sea eight times over the past five years.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/16/2011 00:00 ||
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The South Korean military's artillery firefinder radar systems failed to detect the North Korean artillery shells when they fell in waters near the Northern Limit Line close to Yeonpyeong Island on Aug. 10.
The Seoul area is threatened by about 340 long-range artillery pieces with a range of 54-65 km, including 170 mm self-propelled howitzers and 240 mm multiple rocket launchers, which the North has deployed along the western frontline near the demilitarized zone. This means large parts of the metropolitan area lie within the range of the North's long-range artillery, which is reportedly capable of raining up to 7,000 shells per hour on the area.
Which is why the Norks really don't need nuclear weapons from a strictly military standpoint: they can already turn Seoul into rubble whenever they wish.
The North usually hides its artillery pieces in caves to pull them out and fire shells when necessary. It then may put them back in their original positions in the caves within some five minutes to keep them safe from counterattacks.
That means the South must locate the source of artillery fire immediately after a North Korean attack either to fire at the weapons before they are put back into the caves or destroy the mouths of the caves so they cannot be pulled out again.
The artillery firefinder radar is a device capable of tracing the trajectory of enemy artillery shells. The South cannot launch a preemptive strike on the North's long-range artillery, and the artillery firefinder radar can detect enemy shells only after they are fired. The only option is to neutralize artillery immediately after an attack.
South Korea has a total of 20 artillery firefinder radar systems, including the American-made AN/TPQ-36 and 37 firefinders and the Swedish-made Arthur. The TPQ-36 is also called "mortar-locating radar" due to its short detection range of 24 km. The TPQ-37 has a coverage range of 50 km. The military has bought six Arthur firefinders since 2009 to complement the TPQ radars.
But there are fears that that is not enough since the radar systems are in short supply and break down often. According to data the Defense Acquisition Program Administration submitted to Future Hope Alliance lawmaker Song Young-sun of the National Assembly's Defense Committee, the six new Arthur firefinders deployed at the Third Army headquarters and its five corps broke down a staggering 78 times between November 2009 and November 2010.
According to data released by Grand National Party lawmaker Kim Ok-lee of the same committee, the TPQ-36 were repaired 98 times and the TPQ-37 60 times over the past five years. Last November, when the North shelled Yeonpyeong Island, the military failed to locate the source of the fire at first because a TPQ-37 broke down.
On Aug. 10, when the North fired artillery shells into waters off Yeonpyeong Island, an Arthur also failed to detect them because they were in the radar's blind spot, and experts say this could happen again.
A military source said, "The artillery firefinder radar can detect objects at a 60-90 degree angle. We can cover target areas around the clock only when we operate all radar systems in rotation, so it's hard to carry out watertight detection of long-range artillery fire only with about 20 radar systems."
The South has fewer than 10 TPQ-37s, and the U.S. Forces Korea has concluded it needs about 20 TPQ-37s to watch the frontline areas adequately. The TPQ-36 costs W3.7 billion apiece and the TPQ-37 W14.7 billion.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/16/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
I seem to remember that Seoul is also within the umbrella of Nork air defense, from units staged north of the DMZ. Without turning Seoul to rubble, the airport could simply be shutdown by the insurers of international carriers.
#2
I don't suppose it matters that they couldn't spot rounds falling in the ocean. It doesn't even matter if they can track the rounds back. To deal with the NORK arty, they need to get counterbattery going before the guns are pulled back into their caves.
See Redleg rumba for how fast a good crew can fire a 155. They could burn out the barrel before the counterbattery guys got out of bed.
Unless the counterbattery units are on permanent, crew in the pit drinking coffee, twenty-four seven, alert.
Once it gets to swapping rounds, the SKORs will probably be outgunned and out outshot.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
11/16/2011 10:34 Comments ||
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#3
The ROK's defense of Seoul is for nationalist - socio-cultural purposes only - their real HQ, Govt-plex for fighting off a DPRK invasion is much further south.
#4
ION DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > NORTH KOREA TEST-FIRES MISSLES [anti-Naval = Air-to-Ship] IN YELLOW SEA: REPORT [Yonhap News].
versus
CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > [SecState Hillary] CLINTON USES WARSHIP TO PUSH PHILIPPINES ALLIANCE, i.e. strong US-PHIL, Regional = Pacific-wide Alliance.
* SAME > AMERICAN'S AIRSEA BATTLE PLAN |[People's Daily] AIRSEA BATTLE PLAN RENEWS OLD HOSTILITY.
* SAME > OBAMA SAYS US WILL BOOST AUSTRALIA MILITARY TIES.
POSTER = argues that US plan to have US Marines train alongside AUS forces, 250 Marines to start next year + rising up to 2500 oer next six years [2018? = USMC Air-Ground Task Force size], is merely MORE ANTI-CHINA 2012 RE-ELECTION HYPE TO HELP A WEAK-N-GETTING WEAKER? OBAMA ADMIN. CHINA DOESN'T CARE ABOUT THESE "PAMPERED" MARINES AS IT WAS ABLE TO PUSH THEM BACK FROM THE YALU DURING THE FIRST KOREAN WAR, + HOW CAN THESE SAME HOPE TO DEFEAT CHINA IFF THEY CAN'T DEFEAT GOAT-HERDING, BACKWARD MUSLIM JIHADISTS IN AFGHANISTAN WHOSE KABUL GOVT OPERATES ON AN ANNUAL BUDGET 10x LESS???
versus
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > CHINA WARNED AUSTRALIA OVER US MILITARY BASE | [Global Times] AUSTRALIA COULD BE CAUGHT IN SINO-US CROSSFIRE.
* SAME > AUSTRALIA TO HOST US SOLDIERS PERMANENTLY | [ABC.Net] AUSTRALIA TO HOST PERMANENT US TRAINING BASE.
* SAME, YPOX > PHILIPINES REJECTS CHINESE NEW TERRITORIAL CLAIMS. "Areas 3, 4" 50 miles from the Phillipines' PALAWAN PROVINCE [island].
Again, Rising China wants "sole" or "joint" [PLA-dominated/controlled] Basing Rights throughout the "First Island Chain", to which AFAIK it is having little to no luck achieving.CONSEQUENTLY,
IT IS NOT COMPROMISING OR GIVING UP ITS CLAIMS OF ABSOLUTE NATIONAL = "CHINA-ONLY" SOVEREIGNTY TO VARIOUS DISPUTED SOUTH + EAST CHINA SEA ISLES, + BULK [NLT 70%] OF SOUTH CHINA SEA REGION PER SE, IS PREPARED TO MILITARILY DEFEND ITS FORESAID CLAIMS, + WILL NOT ENGAGE OR SHARE IN MULTILATERAL OR "JOINT" ECON DEV OF THESE DISPUTED ISLES WID SMALLER NATIONS [e.g. ASEAN States] UNLESS ITS ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGNTY OVER DISPUTED ISLES, REGION IS FORMALLY ACKNOWLEDGED.
Beijing's idea of engaging in "joint" or multi-national dev of the SCS Region, etc, is BUILDING PLA MILFACS + [armed?]OIL-GAS RIGS RIGHT NEXT TO THOSE OF ASEAN STATES IN DISPUTED ISLES OR ENERGY FIELDS.
Yes, it is true that in poo there are often nuggets that burn hot, but they are still poo.
The Skors have tons of counter battery radars. Most of the time they are working great. Yes, sometimes there are some gaps. These systems do not cost billions of dollars. Six million should buy a TPQ-36 system plus some for support and spares. There are also smaller systems than those in the article that go for less than a million that do the job. They are easily affordable and can be massively deployed.
Whoever wrote this article has access to some kind of facts, and has augmented it with lots of bull-shit to seem important. May he roast in hell for confusing you. Sadly I cannot help you sort out which is which.
Just understand that the Sorks know where the Norks party places might be. Do a terrain analysis off of Google Earth and you can do it yourself. And understand that knowing most of the Nork's party places, the Sorks are ready to kick their commie butts.
If you are a Nork reading this know that you will quickly die if you are in a party place and doing wrong to the Sorks. Really. So dead. And I mean quickly. Not like you get to check your watch and stuff like the Nork Colonel, way far away, on the radio said.
To paraphrase from Nike, Just don't do it. Take a sickie that day. It could save your life.
[Dawn] Federal Minister for Interior Rehman Malik Pak politician, current Interior Minister under the Gilani administration. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. He later joined the Pak Peoples Party and was chief security officer to Bhutto. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Näwaz Shärif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. on Tuesday blamed foreign elements and sectarianism for murders and terrorist activities in Balochistan. ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
RAW working with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, are they?
Talking to Pakistain Peoples Party MNA Nasir Ali at Parliament House, who is boycotting the National Assembly session to protest the killing of innocent people in the province, Malik said that security forces had found evidences that banned ...the word banned seems to have a different meaning in Pakistain than it does in most other places. Or maybe it simply lacks any meaning at all...
organization Lashkhar-e-Jangvi was involved in murders in Quetta.
He said that security forces had recovered mobiles phones and data of conversation between jailed forces of Evil of the organization and their accomplices. Probably the same terr they recently sprung for lack of evidence..
He said security forces had succeeded to reducing incidents of murder in the Balochistan and hoped that soon peace would be restored in the entire province.
Malik further said meeting of chief secretaries and IGPs of all provinces would be convened soon to chalk out foolproof security plan during the month of Moharram.
He said that all stakeholders should work together to eliminate terrorism from the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/16/2011 00:00 ||
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There is confusion among the police about the killing of five intelligence officials at the hands of a combined band of criminals and hardened sectarian hard boyz who lived at Pir Chambal shrine located in one of the remotest parts of the Chakwal district.
This lack of clarity was also reflected in the media coverage of the incident.
Some reports claimed that the intelligence officials were killed after a shootout between them and the criminals in which a proclaimed offender, `Dr Arshad`, was also eliminated. However, Switzerland makes more than cheese... during a visit to the scene on Monday, it was impossible to find any trace, evidence or testimony of any shootout. In fact, many locals expressed astonishment over the killing, some even saying the movement of the intelligence officials appeared odd.
Pir Chambal is a perfect hideout for criminals who in this case became linked to the hard boyz belonging to Lashkar-i-Jhangvi who possibly came to the area after escaping the army operation in tribal areas.
"The men had been moving around for about a year and had local contacts; they even used cellphones for maintaining food and water supplies to the hilltop," said a police official at Pind Dadan Khan.
Regarding the intelligence officials, he said the police were never taken into confidence by federal intelligence agencies.
"But it is strange to note that the officials were reportedly going up in a double cabin. Even if the hard boyz did not have any prior information, such movement can be seen from a safe distance due to the terrain," the police official said. Respected by locals for generations, many come to pay homage at the saint. The shrine is so remote that it is not even listed in the records of the revenue department. "Undoubtedly, it is a very old place but there is no mention of it in our records," said the local patwari.
The place also allowed the hard boyz to operate in a mafia-like manner, collecting money and supplies from the adjoining coal and salt mines.
Pir Chambal is located at the hilltop overlooking Pind Dadan Khan, a tehsil of Jhelum district, but the hills fall under the jurisdiction of Chakwal district and it takes hours for the coppers from Choa Syedan Shah to reach the shrine. Only half of the long unpaved way to the hilltop is possible in a four-wheeler and the remaining part has to be covered by foot or on a donkey.
A local from the Gharibwal village said the men were involved in extortion and even kidnapping for ransom. "Some six months back, one of them came on a cycle of violence demanding heavy amount from a local businessman but the meeting ended in a brawl and the man took out a gun," said A. Gondal.
"As the market people gathered, the man had to flee by firing in the air, leaving the cycle of violence behind which was set on fire."Police officials from Pind Dadan Khan in Jhelum and Choa Syedan Shah in Chakwal said they did not have the manpower, equipment and even the authority to launch an operation against such men holed up in the hills.
"Had these criminals/hard boyz not killed police personnel, nobody would have taken the issue seriously," said a police officer from Pind Dadan Khan.
The police officials said the last reported contact by the intelligence officials was at 11am on Friday and the bodies were recovered from the scene at 3pm on Saturday.
"It leaves enough time for the criminals and beturbanned goons to disappear and may be not all the some three dozen men are at one place; they might be moving individually."
Several arrests have been made and the authorities are also using the support of mobile companies to trace the escapees.
However, it's easy to be generous with someone else's money... the locals are also angry at the men not only due to their criminal activities but also for desecrating the shrine. A vast majority of the locals belong to the Barelvi faith with a sizable minority of Shias also living in the adjoining tehsils. Both the groups respect shrines and there is negligible sectarian tension in the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/16/2011 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta rejected accusations at a heated Senate hearing on Tuesday that U.S. politics helped drive the decision to completely withdraw from Iraq this year without leaving any troops behind as trainers.
The October 21 drawdown announcement by President Barack Obama followed fouled up failed negotiations with Baghdad to secure an immunity deal that the Pentagon made a precondition for keeping any U.S. military trainers in the country. Panetta put the blame squarely on Iraqi politics, with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki unable to push an immunity deal through parliament.
al-Maliki may not have pushed it through, but Obama clearly didn't push hard, nor did he understand Iraqi politics.
But prominent Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee questioned whether U.S. politics also played a role, with Obama - an early opponent of the Iraq war who campaigned on a promise to end it - facing a re-election battle in 2012.
In a particularly heated exchange, Senator John McCain flatly told Panetta he did not believe his version of events. He suggested that the Obama administration failed to provide Iraq the facts and figures it needed to make a decision. "The truth is that this administration was committed to the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. And they made it happen," said McCain.
Panetta responded forcefully: "Senator McCain, that's just simply not true. I guess you can believe that ... but that's not true."
General Martin Dempsey, who as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the top U.S. military officer, said he and others at the highest level of the Pentagon had been encouraged by Panetta and Panetta's predecessor, Robert Gates, to lobby Iraqi military leaders to accept some sort of training mission. "We were all asked to engage our counterparts, encourage them to accept some small permanent footprint," Dempsey said.
The Iraq withdrawal announcement followed a June decision by Obama to bring a third of American troops home from Afghanistan by the end of next summer - a faster pace than the U.S. military had recommended. During both announcements, Obama assured Americans that, after a decade of constant conflict, the tide of war was receding.
The two decisions have fueled criticism by Republicans that Obama is ignoring battleground realities in order to bring the two costly, bloody wars to a conclusion.
"I think it's no accident that the troops are coming home (from Afghanistan) two months before his (2012) election," said Senator Lindsey Graham. "And if you believe that to be true, as I do, I don't think it's an accident that we got to zero (in Iraq)."
Asked by Graham whether questions about fallout from Obama's Democratic base ever came up in discussions on Iraq, Panetta replied: "Not in any discussions that I participated (in)."
That's not a 'no'.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/16/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
I thought the 2011 EoY drawdown was a Bush initiative?
#3
Agree wid #2 - my read of MSM-Net Artics as per the IGA's intentions says that they = Iraq consider any post-2014 US Milfors, includ Mil-Civilian Advisors, staying behind in Iraq as wholly subject to new + separate bilateral agreement from "withdrawal/pullout".
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ION DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > US GOVERNMENT [Super-Committee] MAY CANCEL ITS F-35 JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER PROGRAM, unless Congress comes up wid a "credible deficit reduction" plan.
KIRKUK / Aswat al-Iraq: Iraq's Interior Ministry has approved Monday the formation of another battalion, to be added to the 3 emergency battalions of northern Iraq's oil-rich city of Kirkuk, the Commander of Kirkuk Police stated on Tuesday.
"The Interior Ministry has agreed for the formation of another battalion, to be added to the three emergency battalions of Kirkuk and the Ministry shall appoint necessary staff to fill in the forms of appointment, existing on the Ministry's electronic position," Major-General Jamal Taher told a news conference today (Tuesday), adding that the appointments shall be chosen from among graduates of primary schools and above.
He pointed out that "another company had been added to the so-called Golden Lion Forces, formed by the Iraqi Army, Kurdish Peshmerga and Kirkuk Police, who had started its training to protect leading positions."
"Kirkuk Police has had a joint coordination with the Iraqi Army and other security bodies, who have plans to fight terrorism before the withdrawal of the US forces, scheduled to take place at the end December next," Major-General Taher said, adding that "all security bodies in Kirkuk Province would be under the administration of Kirkuk Police Directorate, according to an order by the Iraqi Interior Ministry."
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/16/2011 00:00 ||
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The Left is up in arms. Two bills that aim to clamp severe restrictions on foreign government funding of Israeli human rights NGOs were approved for government support Sunday by a committee of cabinet ministers in a 11-5 vote.
...European governments spend more on left-wing NGOs operating in Israel between $75 million and $100m. a year than their total contributions to nonprofit human rights groups in other Middle East countries, according to NGO Monitor.
A senior Iranian official said on Tuesday that Tehran was willing to share its controversial nuclear technology with neighboring countries, suggesting it could help Turkey build an atomic power plant.
"Iran developed a very sophisticated nuclear science and technological capability, which we are quite ready to share with ... neighboring countries and friendly countries in the region," the official, Mohammad Javad Larijani, said.
"Turkey is for years trying to have a nuclear power plant but no country in the West is willing to build that for them," Larijani told reporters. "This is true for our Arab (neighbors) in the region."
"We are ready to cooperate with them in this regard, while within the NPT." He was referring to the 1968 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which aims to prevent the spread of atomic weapons technology.
"This is an avenue that we are going to open," he said, adding that Iran was also willing to cooperate in the nuclear field with Brazil. "In some areas Brazil is ahead of us, in some areas we are ahead of Brazil," he said. "So we can cooperate as well."
Both Turkey and Brazil voted against a fourth round of UN Security Council sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program in June 2010.
Turkey has ambitious plans to build up a civil nuclear production capability and has been in talks with Russia and Japan about it. Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is is among the firms interested in a Turkish deal.
Last year Turkey awarded Russia's Atomstroyexport a contract for the country's first nuclear power plant at Akkuyu on the country's Mediterranean coast.
Larijani is head of the Iranian High Council for Human Rights, an adviser to Iran's chief justice, and head of a mathematics and physics institute. He is also the brother of parliament speaker Ali Larijani.
He made clear, however, that Tehran's position on the crackdown against pro-democracy demonstrators in Syria, Iran's principal Arab ally, was very different from Turkey's. Ankara has sharply condemned the crackdown, which began in March and has killed over 3,500 civilians according to UN figures.
"The best way is to leave the Syria affair to the Syrian people themselves," he said. "We are against international meddling in this affair."
He accused the United States and other Western countries of supporting the opposition in Syria with weapons, an accusation that Damascus has also hurled at Washington and its allies.
Larijani rejected Saudi accusations that Iran was fomenting unrest in Bahrain and reiterated Tehran's denial of US and Saudi allegations last month that Tehran was behind an alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington.
A senior Iranian official said on Tuesday that Tehran was willing to share its controversial nuclear technology with neighboring countries, suggesting it could help Turkey build an atomic power plant.
"Iran developed a very sophisticated nuclear science and technological capability, which we are quite ready to share with ... neighboring countries and friendly countries in the region," the official, Mohammad Javad Larijani, said.
"Turkey is for years trying to have a nuclear power plant but no country in the West is willing to build that for them," Larijani told news hounds. "This is true for our Arab (neighbors) in the region."
"We are ready to cooperate with them in this regard, while within the NPT." He was referring to the 1968 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which aims to prevent the spread of atomic weapons technology.
"This is an avenue that we are going to open," he said, adding that Iran was also willing to cooperate in the nuclear field with Brazil. "In some areas Brazil is ahead of us, in some areas we are ahead of Brazil," he said. "So we can cooperate as well."
Both Turkey and Brazil voted against a fourth round of UN Security Council sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program in June 2010.
Turkey has ambitious plans to build up a civil nuclear production capability and has been in talks with Russia and Japan about it. Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is is among the firms interested in a Turkish deal.
Last year Turkey awarded Russia's Atomstroyexport a contract for the country's first nuclear power plant at Akkuyu on the country's Mediterranean coast.
Larijani is head of the Iranian High Council for Human Rights, an adviser to Iran's chief justice, and head of a mathematics and physics institute. He is also the brother of parliament speaker Ali Larijani.
He made clear, however, that Tehran's position on the crackdown against pro-democracy demonstrators in Syria, Iran's principal Arab ally, was very different from Turkey's. Ankara has sharply condemned the crackdown, which began in March and has killed over 3,500 civilians according to UN figures.
"The best way is to leave the Syria affair to the Syrian people themselves," he said. "We are against international meddling in this affair."
He accused the United States and other Western countries of supporting the opposition in Syria with weapons, an accusation that Damascus ...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti... has also hurled at Washington and its allies.
Larijani rejected Saudi accusations that Iran was fomenting unrest in Bahrain and reiterated Tehran's denial of US and Saudi allegations last month that Tehran was behind an alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington.
[Iran Press TV] Hundreds of Iranian students have held a demonstration outside a uranium conversion facility in the central province of Isfahan.
The students formed a human chain around Isfahan's Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF) on Tuesday to express support for Iran's right to develop civilian nuclear technology, IRNA reported.
The protesters condemned the latest report by the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency, which accuses Iran of conducting nuclear weapons research.
The report, produced under the auspices of IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano, was circulated among the 35 members of the agency's Board of Governors on November 8, ahead of the board's seasonal meeting, which is scheduled to be held in Vienna on November 17 and 18.
Iran dismissed the report as "unbalanced, unprofessional, and prepared with political motivation and under political pressure, mostly by the United States."
The United States, Israel, and some of their allies accuse Iran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program and are using the charge as a pretext to push for the imposition of new sanctions on Iran and to beat the drums of war for an attack on the Islamic Theocratic Republic.
Iran argues that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the IAEA it has the right to develop and acquire nuclear technology meant for peaceful purposes.
Iranian officials have promised a crushing response to any military strike against the country, warning that such a measure could create a war that would expand beyond the Middle East.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/16/2011 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] An Iranian politician says any form of military action against Iran will cause serious oil supply problems for the West and bring Western industries to complete halt.
Mehdi Mehdizadeh, member of the Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said on Tuesday that Iran has advanced and fortified facilities in the Persian Gulf and is capable of closing the Strait of Hormuz.
"If Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz this will cause an increase in oil prices and under such circumstances Western industries will be grounded," Majlis official news agency, ICANA, quoted him as saying.
Pointing to widespread protests in the United States and some European countries, the politician said any military attack against Iran would take a heavy toll on these nearly bankrupt economies and add to their economic woes.
Referring to recent claims by the UK about an imminent Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, Mehdizadeh said Britannia has sought to undermine Iran's position and has spared no effort in this regard since the 1979 Revolution.
"After popular revolutions in the region and losing allies such as [the former president of] Egypt, Israel is in no condition to talk [to others] from a position of power unless it has decided to commit suicide," the politician added.
On November 6, Israeli President Shimon Peres threatened that an attack against Iran was becoming 'more and more likely.'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Military Affairs Ehud Barak have also reportedly been lobbying the Israeli cabinet to approve of a military strike on Iran.
Iranian officials have promised a crushing response to any military strike against the country, warning that any such measure could result in a war that would spread beyond the Middle East.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/16/2011 00:00 ||
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#2
Wait and see what a Western attack will do to Iranian industries. They might be back in the seventh century sooner than they expected.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/16/2011 7:55 Comments ||
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#3
We don't even really have to attack. An embargo of Iranian oil would put serious heat on the Mullahs very quickly. Could even be done using Somali pirates to take the heat.
#4
Let's do what we should have donne after the '73 Oil Embargo; namely, become indepndent at all cost of ME oil. Odd that the "War for Oil" crowd doesn't want us to drill, which leads to more of our young men and women to loose their lives.
Posted by: jack salami ||
11/16/2011 10:31 Comments ||
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#5
Who was it that said: "Drill baby Drill", they must not have been educated in a Ivy League school.
[An Nahar] Free Patriotic Movement Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic... leader MP Michel Aoun ...a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah... slammed on Tuesday the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... 's suspension of Syria's membership.
He said after the Change and Reform bloc's weekly meeting: "The Arab countries have chosen the wrong and losing path by deciding to boycott Syria."
"These states have limited themselves to a certain axis and there is something that is steering them away from historic paths," he added.
Commenting on his statements last week that the situation in Syria will be over in a week, meaning this week, the MP said: "The Syrian crisis ended overnight."
"The Arab initiative was announced in a provocative manner and it was phrased in a way that would force Syria to reject it," Aoun remarked.
"Someone caused the failure of the Arab initiative and the escalation was clear on the ground," he added.
"No country can implement reform without stability and stability cannot last without reform," stressed the FPM leader.
Furthermore, he noted that King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands #65;bdullah ... Fifth out of 37 sons of King Abdulaziz to ascend to the throne. He is, after his half-brothers Bandar and Musa'id, the third eldest of the living sons of Abdul Aziz ibn Saud. Abdullah's mother is from the Rashid clan, longtime rivals of the Saud. He has 6 sons and 15 daughters and about $20 billion. His youngest son is just seven years old... can "save the situation in Syria if he exerted all his efforts on its internal scene."
Asked if sanctions on Syria may affect Leb, Aoun replied: "Sanctions affect the poor and poverty teaches us wisdom."
"Sanctions against Iran transformed it into a major power in all fields," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/16/2011 00:00 ||
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Awww...just a misunderstood little puppy dog!
Osama Bin Laden has been described as both "tender" and "kind" in a video released by the new head of al-Qaeda.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, who took over at the head of the network after Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan in May, said the former leader was a sensitive man.
The video, entitled Days with the Imam: Part One, lasts about 30 minutes. It has been posted on jihadist websites.
Zawahiri said he had created the video to show Bin Laden's "human side" and tell people about his great loyalty.
"People don't know that this man was tender, gentle, kind, with refined feelings, even when life was hard," Zawahiri says in the video, dressed in a white robe and turban and sitting in front of a green curtain.
"We never saw a man like him."
Zawahiri, who met Bin Laden in Pakistan in the mid-1980s when both were supporting fighters battling Soviet forces in Afghanistan described his time spent with Bin Laden as an "honour".
He recalls how Bin Laden reacted when he received the news that some members of Zawahri's family had been killed. With tears in his eyes, Bin Laden came to see him and hugged him.
He adds that Bin Laden was devoted to his children, paying great attention to ensuring that they were well-educated, despite constantly moving from place to place.
"Everyone close to him saw the fine and noble education in his children," he said, adding that Bin Laden employed a teacher who would threaten to beat the children with a stick to teach them the Koran.
Bin Laden, he said, did not want those who carried out the September 11 attacks - which killed nearly 3,000 people - to be forgotten.
"The sheikh would remember with goodness and gratitude and be moved by the memory of the 19 brothers who attacked the idol of our age, America," Zawahiri said. "He would remember these brothers with extreme fidelity."
Once, when the pair were hiding in the Afghan mountains of Tora Bora, he said Bin Laden wrote death certificates for each one of the hijackers, fearing he would be killed "without remembering these heroic martyrs".
Analysts suggest that the fond memories of the terror group's former leader have been shared in part to try and boost his own popularity with al-Qaeda followers, by emphasising his closeness to the charismatic leader.
#5
"it wasn't personal, just bizness, Mikey Osama"
we need to really play up the fact the we found Osama via following couriers from Ayman. He knew they were compromised and led us to Osama so he'd be Number 1
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/16/2011 14:24 Comments ||
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#6
I'd play up the fact that Zawariri knew the courier was compromised. But then again I suspect this little tribute is in response to that already.
#9
As someone whom knew + fought the Soviets beside OBL, I agree with Ayman - the man appeared to be able to separate warfare from family or personal life. At war, though, OBL could be a murderous, violent bastard iff the right buttons were pushed.
AND YET, HIS FAVORITE MTV BABE WAS WHITNEY HUSTON???
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.
(Bloomberg) -- 
[Tripoli Post] Former Libyan leader Muammar Al 
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
Attorney General Eric Holder's Justice Department sought to manipulate reporters' coverage of Operation Fast and Furious during the days preceding a November 1 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, new emails obtained by The Daily Caller indicate.
The South Korean military's artillery firefinder radar systems failed to detect the North Korean artillery shells when they fell in waters near the Northern Limit Line close to Yeonpyeong Island on Aug. 10. 
.
There is confusion among the police about the killing of five intelligence officials at the hands of a combined band of criminals and hardened sectarian 
Regarding the intelligence officials, he said the police were never taken into confidence by federal intelligence agencies.
A senior Iranian official said on Tuesday that Tehran was willing to share its controversial nuclear technology with neighboring countries, suggesting it could help Turkey build an atomic power plant.
Turkey has ambitious plans to build up a civil nuclear production capability and has been in talks with Russia and Japan about it. Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is is among the firms interested in a Turkish deal.
Michel Aoun
King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands #65;bdullah
