I thought they were talking about pakistan...
AFGHAN President Hamid Karzai and the NATO chief yesterday led strong criticism of a European think-tank report that said the Taliban were installed in more than half of Afghanistan.
NATO secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said The Senlis Council report released yesterday "should not be considered as realistic". "Of course there are parts of Afghanistan where the going is tough from time to time," he said after talks with Mr Karzai. "We all know that and we all know that NATO forces are in combat in certain parts of Afghanistan."
He added: "The analysis the council makes on the situation in Afghanistan, I simply do not share."
But soon after, news came from the south of the country that Taliban militants had beheaded seven policemen after overrunning their checkpoints in the strategic area of Arghandab, 25km north of Kandahar city. Six other officers were missing after the Taliban attack, said Abdul Hakim Jan, a police officer.
The Senlis report called for NATO's International Security Assistance Force to be doubled in size to 80,000, saying a study had found that 54 per cent of Afghan territory had a permanent Taliban presence.
Earlier, The Netherlands announced it would extend the stay of its soldiers in Afghanistan by about two years, public broadcaster NOS reported.
Speaking about the Senlis report, ISAF spokesman Brigadier General Carlos Branco said it was unclear where the 80,000 figure came from. "We have shortfalls and more troops would be most welcome," he said. But, "we have not identified a need for 80,000 troops," he said, adding that the report was "sensationalist".
Mr Karzai was also dismissive, saying there had been progress in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban government in late 2001. "There are certain areas in southern parts of Afghanistan, especially close to our border with Pakistan, that see attacks from Taliban elements from time to time," he said. And "there are parts of Afghanistan that fall to the Taliban", he said, but "I do not share the analysis".
General Branco said the claim that insurgents controlled vast areas of unchallenged territory and that 54 per cent of Afghan territory had a permanent Taliban presence was baseless. "They control not more than a handful of districts, even less," he said, adding these were "very small pockets without territorial continuity". The insurgents also only moved into areas with limited security presence and had often left before troops arrived to reassert control, he said.
On a statement in the report that "the question now appears not to be whether the Taliban will return to Kabul, but when this will happen", General Branco said: "The shops are open, people are on the streets. It is a normal city.
"It does not seem like a city on the eve of being overtaken by the Taliban."
The Senlis Council, a policy think tank with offices in all the posh places Kabul, London, Paris, Brussels, Ottawa and Rio de Janeiro, has been pushing for the legalisation of Afghanistan's opium production, which is 93 per cent of world production.
In The Netherlands, the Dutch public broadcaster said the parties in the centre-left coalition Government had agreed to extend the mandate of the Dutch troops in Oruzgan province, which expires in August next year, until 2010. The Dutch cabinet will discuss the extension today and thrash out the details. The NOS said one point that remains to be determined is exactly how long the soldiers will stay, but it is expected to be around two years.
The Government of Christian Democrats, Labour and protestant Christian Union is expected to announce its decision next Friday.
There are about 1650 Dutch soldiers in Afghanistan. Dutch and Australian troops make up the bulk of the force in Oruzgan.
#1
AFGHAN President Hamid Karzai and the NATO chief yesterday led strong criticism of a European think-tank report that said the Taliban were installed in more than half of Afghanistan.
He's a politician, his job is to ignore the obvious, and lie.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/25/2007 13:48 Comments ||
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#2
Shouldn't there be less western forces and more Tajiks, Uzbecks and Hazaras chopping off Pushtoon heads?
Posted by: ed ||
11/25/2007 17:27 Comments ||
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Pay attention, here. Our financial future is being mapped out without our permission.
Experts and scholars believe that new Islamic investment tools must be invented to cope with the rapid development of the global economy. The prominent Kuwaiti religious scholar, Sheikh Ajeel Al-Nashmi, called in a statement during the second "fiqh" (jurisprudence) conference for Islamic financial institutions that started on Saturday for taking measures to lure back Islamic funds invested abroad. Investments, including those abroad, should serve this purpose, said the cleric, who also called for innovating new Islamic-complying investment vehicles and forms for sake of competition and realising domestic development.
No mentions of mutual funds, Class B stocks or short trading are in the Koran or the Sira or the Ahadith, AFAIK. But deceipt in the way of warfare is, so the Learned Elders of Islam can live out their golden years in a secure luxury flat in Londonistan or Geneva, watching the infidels scuttling to fulfill their every whim, and occasionally wiring funds to Tripoli or Jersey City.
The Islamic institutions should compete with the convential ones on the basis of Islamic norms and moralistic values, he elaborated.
"No booze, no flooze, no damn dirty Jooze."
Osama Ibrahim Al-Saleh, Deputy Chief Executive of Investment Dar, urged decision-makers in the business sector, clerics and scholars to help in efforts for expanding Islamic-style businesses and creating "new Islamic investment products that can be kept abreast of global economic development." On his part, Deputy Chairman of Aayan Leasing and Investment Co. Hisham Al-Awadhi confirmed that Islamic transactions had become widely spread, with leaders and clerics investing in billions of dollars.
This form of businesses has become widely spread and needed by the market, he added.
Another participating eminent scholar, Sheikh Mohammad Al-Salami, called for upgrading the methods of Islamic financial investments and compliance by the basics of the Islamic Shariaa (law) to compete robustly in the business market.
When do we behead the first hedge fund manager?
The conference, due to end on Sunday, addresses various economic and financial issues in light of the Islamic jurisprudence.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
11/25/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Only the communist Chinese come anywhere near Muslims in terms of the strenuous syntactical gymnastics they contort themselves with to avoid using the dreaded "C' word (i.e., Capitalism). Much like the Frenchwho are legally obliged to coin a Gallic-sounding word if native Français does not possess a similar termIslam would sooner reinvent the entire financial wheel than borrow a single free-market lug nut.
Our one great hope is that Islam manages to create so many obstructive and burdensome layers of superfluous regulatory legalese that they will continue to cripple their ability to compete just as they have for so many previous centuries. The never ending Muslim quest for ever greater Islamic "purity" would seemingly guarantee this, so here's hoping.
#4
Another participating eminent scholar, Sheikh Mohammad Al-Salami
Mmmmmm... Salami!
Somebody should tell this Learned Elder that his name makes him haram.
The second "fiqh" (jurisprudence) conference for Islamic financial institutions wrapped up its sessions today and would resume tomorrow.
Not to be confused with the Second Vatican Council or the Second Continental Congress.
The conference will discuss tomorrow how to determine wages and applications in labor contracts and contemporary leases, in addition to the leasing of gold and silver through a lease contract that is preconditioned to be owned afterwards. In the morning session today, Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Ghoddah spoke about the difference between the protection of capital and its guarantees, in addition to the types of investment risks, including those related to assets, impediments to capital and currency at different currency amounts and Bonds and the currency obtained by conversion of employment.
He added that risks facing investments include credit risks, market risks, risk of inflation and risks of contract formulas.
The conference, due to end on Sunday, addresses various economic and financial issues in light of the Islamic jurisprudence.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
11/25/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
The outfit's leader Kazi Morshedul Haque told the rally that every Bangladeshi had come forward to help cyclone victims along with the army, navy and air force, 'so it is a shame on us, Muslims, that we are allowing the US on our land'.
Is that Kazi Morshedul Haque or Hague, or does it matter?
#3
Every time I read shit like this I become more convinced The West* need to overcome our addiction to oil. I won't pretend I know the answer but their has to be one. The reason is aside from oil just WTF does the Islamic world** have that any sane person would want.
*The US, Europe, Japan, SoKor, Canada and parts of South America
#4
The amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge is in Bangladeshi waters to assist the authorities and another U.S. ship, USS Essex, was due to arrive soon, a U.S. statement said.
Each ship carries about 20 helicopters, which will help in delivering water, food and medical supplies to remote areas in the south and southwestern regions, officials said.
The 750 gallon (3,410 litres) shipment of water was delivered to a relief-supply distribution hub in Barisal, a city in southern Bangladesh, a U.S. embassy statement said.
Six C-130 aircraft from Pakistan's Air Force carrying several mobile hospital units including paramedics have arrived in Bangladesh over the last three days.
The United Nations increased its emergency fund allocation to $14.7 million to pay for international relief assistance.
This brings the total U.N. response to about $35 million. The figure will continue to rise over the next few weeks, a U.N. statement said.
Including the U.N. allocation, the government has so far received aid pledges of some $200 million, disaster management ministry officials said.
The government of India is continuing with Operation Sahayata in the cyclone-hit areas. A third IL-76 aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) arrived at Zia International Airport yesterday.
The Operation Sahayata was launched by India to provide assistance to the cyclone-battered people of Bangladesh by providing relief materials to enable them to recover and resume their normal lives, says a press release.
Under Operation Sahayata relief assistance worth Tk 5.2 crore is being provided.
The IL-76 aircraft which reached Bangladesh yesterday carried relief assistance of 41.07 tonnes. This included 21.2 tonnes of Meals Ready to Eat (MRE) consisting of rice, Suji halwa, dal, chapattis, tea rations including milk and suger, hexamine tablets for heating and small cookers, 5000 portable water purifiers weighing 0.5 tonne, 100 tents weighing 11 tonnes, 2,250 blankets weighing 6.9 tonnes and 1,500 kilograms of medicines of various types such as antibiotics, anti-histamines, syrups, anti-vomiting, anti-diabetes tablets, antacids, pain killers, anti-tetanus medicines and antidote for snake venom.
Medical equipment such as thermometers and stethoscopes as well as dressings are also included.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/25/2007 10:32 Comments ||
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#5
Okay. So pick the devil you follow over the God you won't. Come home guys. Time for another Cyclone for this place.
#6
Much like with Hamas in Gaza, perhaps it's time to let the average Muslim experience everything that their jihadi brethern have in store for them. Only then might they learn to quickly slit the throat of those who unanimously reject all Western kindness.
We cannot possibly hope to convince Muslims of our good intentions amidst such lies and filth that are spread about the West. Let us instead make them finally get a glimpse of what is intended by their terrorist co-religionists. If the clean oats we wish to donate are so horribly tainted by infidel hands, let them get a taste of those that have gone through the jihadi horse.
#7
Just seems to me that the Jihadis know that the US is there to provide relief and are hoping they go away so that their insane jihadist arguments are bolstered and they can get on with their business of recreational killing and ruling the world.
#8
I believe that we are sending ships there on speculation that they *might* want assistance. This makes it an even better win-win for us. Either we get to make friends, or the jihadis force the government to tell us no thanks. Which will make them a lot of enemies.
THE army has suffered an unprecedented exodus of more than 1,300 officers in the past six months amid anger about government cost-cutting and equipment shortages. The number quitting is more than double the rate in the previous 12 months and will add to pressure on Gordon Brown about the way his government is funding the armed services.
Many of those who have resigned their commissions are from frontline units. Most are captains or majors with invaluable experience of battle. The loss of a whole swathe of middle-ranking officers will leave us struggling to find the top quality generals of the future, said one senior officer. But it is clear the government does not care and would be happy to see the army reduced to a token force.
One officer, who put in his 12-months notice last month, said the reason most were leaving was that the army felt undermanned, undervalued and underfunded. I'd say this is the EUtopia's treatment of national armies in a nutshell.
We are overstretched and quite clearly underfunded, said 31-year-old Captain Will Richards. Its not a lack of job satisfaction that still exists but the incentive to stay in is no longer there. The forces no longer get the public appreciation and recognition, or the funding, they used to.
Last week Brown had to defend his record after five former chiefs of the defence staff accused him of treating Britains fighting forces with contempt.
The new figures, released last week by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), show the criticisms are shared by serving officers. A total of 1,344 army officers have left in the past six months alone, more than 100% up on last years rate and close to three times the figure for 2004-05. Since the Iraq war, the army has lost 5,790 officers, recruiting only 4,500 to replace them. It now has more than 200 too few majors a rank in which it was traditionally overstaffed.
The Parachute Regiment has lost nine officers in the past few months, all quitting in disgust at the lack of resources and poor treatment of soldiers and their families.
The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, another infantry regiment, has lost a dozen officers in the past year, according to one former member of the regiment. They have lost a complete peer group, he said. Many of the young captains have left. Derek Twigg, junior defence minister, claimed last week that the newly released figures show the overall numbers for personnel across the three services remain broadly stable.
However, the latest MoD performance report suggests there is little chance of the armed forces meeting their manpower targets by next April. Government cost-cutting has left the forces fighting far more often but with an ever-decreasing number of troops, the report says. Those leaving cite extreme overstretch and undermanning and the poor treatment of soldiers and their families. Well, if you want to give welfare and free healthcare to all those peace-loving islamic preachers and all, you've got to prioritize, haven't you?
#4
I am wondering what is going to happen to the US military if Hillary is elected. Not only are the wartime bonuses going to evaporate, but the Dems are going to want to slash the budget as punishment and general hatred of the military.
When Bill was in charge, Madeline Albright sent detachments of soldiers, without support, to every corner of the planet, just to sit there. If Hillary tries crap like that, the resignations will turn into a flood. In fact, if she tries to do anything to or with the military, the resignations will turn into a flood.
How does a peacetime draft sound? Blaming Bush, of course.
#6
According to General P these officers are quitting because they have more combat experience than their bosses do and their bosses aren't listening to them. The higher level commanders are not trusted by the more junior officers that now have more combat experience than their superiors.
That is one of the reasons General P is participating in the selection of new Generals. He wants to promote some of those guys, get the general officer ranks filled with bright officers with good experience (rather than ones that have all the right punches in their tickets) in order to keep some of the more junior officers from leaving.
British Secretary of State for Justice Jack Straw said in Istanbul Saturday London would exert efforts to cease activities of companies working in the European Union (EU) and were offering financial support for outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Straw, lecturing in a university in Istanbul about "Turkey and the EU - cooperation to strengthen security and prosperity," said Britain would continue backing Turkey in its fight against PKK's terrorist actions.
The British official, who arrived in Ankara yesterday and met with Foreign Minister Ali Babacan and Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin before heading to Istanbul, said Britain was not in favor of seeing the north of Iraq as a base for PKK. He said Uncle Sugar the US was the party which could help Turkey cracking down on PKK militants.
Britain is in constant contact with EU countries to stop companies and organizations funding PKK, said Straw. There is a solid cooperation between Turkey and Britain in the fight against crime and narcotics, said Straw.
THE Archbishop of Canterbury has said that the United States wields its power in a way that is worse than Britain during its imperial heyday. Rowan Williams claimed that Americas attempt to intervene overseas by clearing the decks with a quick burst of violent action had led to the worst of all worlds. Interesting. I'd have said that al Qaeda's "quick burst of violent action" has led to the "worst of all worlds", but then, Rowan Williams has proven himself to be a hater of Western civilization, a self-loather embracing cultural, perhaps physical, suicide.
In a wide-ranging interview with a British Muslim magazine, the Anglican leader linked criticism of the United States to one of his most pessimistic declarations about the state of western civilisation.
He said the crisis was caused not just by Americas actions but also by its misguided sense of its own mission. He poured scorn on the chosen nation myth of America, meaning that what happens in America is very much at the heart of Gods purpose for humanity. Without the United States of America, there would be NO Church of England today.
Sure there would, but high Mass would be in German.
Williams went beyond his previous critique of the conduct of the war on terror, saying the United States had lost the moral high ground since September 11. He urged it to launch a generous and intelligent programme of aid directed to the societies that have been ravaged; a check on the economic exploitation of defeated territories; a demilitarisation of their presence. The United States of America, for better or for ill, has saved the lives of more Muslims than any other country on Earth.
He went on to suggest that the West was fundamentally adrift: Our modern western definition of humanity is clearly not working very well. There is something about western modernity which really does eat away at the soul. "Mirror, Mirror on the wall ..."
Williams suggested American leadership had broken down: We have only one global hegemonic power. It is not accumulating territory: it is trying to accumulate influence and control. Thats not working.
He contrasted it unfavourably with how the British Empire governed India. It is one thing to take over a territory and then pour energy and resources into administering it and normalising it. Rightly or wrongly, thats what the British Empire did in India, for example. Oh, my, God. And when the British ceased their "administering" and left the subcontinent, one of the greatest bloodbaths in history took place. The British Jimmy Carter
It is another thing to go in on the assumption that a quick burst of violent action will somehow clear the decks and that you can move on and other people will put it back together Iraq, for example.
In the interview in Emel , a Muslim lifestyle magazine, Williams makes only mild criticisms of the Islamic world. He said the Muslim world must acknowledge that its political solutions were not the most impressive. He commends the Muslim practice of praying five times a day, which he says allows the remembrance of God to be built in deeply in their daily rhythm. This is leadership?
The complete interview can be found HERE (PDF)
Posted by: mrp ||
11/25/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
He commends the Muslim practice of praying five times a day, which he says allows the remembrance of God to be built in deeply in their daily rhythm.
John 14:6 "No one comes to the Father except through me..."
This Archbishop is either a Muslim or Athiest. These "Bishops" are vultures feasting on what dead remains of what was once a living, Christian church.
#3
There's something about that Archbishophric that drives men mad. George Carey, who used to hold that post, once asked Colin Powell at a World Economic Forum meeting,
And would you not agree, as a very significant political figure in the United States, Colin, that America, at the present time, is in danger of relying too much upon the hard power and not enough upon building the trust from which the soft values, which of course all of our family life that actually at the bottom, when the bottom line is reached, is what makes human life valuable?
Secretary Powell replied,
The United States believes strongly in what you call soft power, the value of democracy, the value of the free economic system, the value of making sure that each citizen is free and free to pursue their own God-given ambitions and to use the talents that they were given by God. And that is what we say to the rest of the world. That is why we participated in establishing a community of democracy within the Western Hemisphere. It's why we participate in all of these great international organizations.
There is nothing in American experience or in American political life or in our culture that suggests we want to use hard power. But what we have found over the decades is that unless you do have hard power — and here I think you're referring to military power — then sometimes you are faced with situations that you can't deal with.
I mean, it was not soft power that freed Europe. It was hard power. And what followed immediately after hard power? Did the United States ask for dominion over a single nation in Europe? No. Soft power came in the Marshall Plan. Soft power came with American GIs who put their weapons down once the war was over and helped all those nations rebuild. We did the same thing in Japan.
So our record of living our values and letting our values be an inspiration to others I think is clear. And I don't think I have anything to be ashamed of or apologize for with respect to what America has done for the world.
We have gone forth from our shores repeatedly over the last hundred years and weve done this as recently as the last year in Afghanistan and put wonderful young men and women at risk, many of whom have lost their lives, and we have asked for nothing except enough ground to bury them in, and otherwise we have returned home to seek our own, you know, to seek our own lives in peace, to live our own lives in peace. But there comes a time when soft power or talking with evil will not work where, unfortunately, hard power is the only thing that works.
#5
WTF??? Is this guy mad? Is he and Jimmah sharing the same crack pipe? And you wonder why people are not going to church there any more like they used to? Well, the spirochetes of Radical Islam have burrowed deep into his melon, for sure. Un-believable......
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/25/2007 3:17 Comments ||
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#6
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,"
Very first words of the Bill of Rights. The Founding Fathers knew what they were about.
The CoE is a decaying relic from the Middle Ages, serving only as a refuge for goebbelist lefty vultures like this lying buffoon. The UK should abolish the established church and let these shamans fend completely for themselves.
#10
The Anglican communion is splitting over a number of issues, precipitated by the ordination of openly gay, sexually active priests and bishops in the US and Britain. In the US, the Episcopal church is suing parishes and dioceses who seek to affiliate with doctrinally traditional provinces in the Global South. Rowan has shown less than prophetic leadership during this time.
#11
Would anyone be surprised if he converted to Islam?
I am reminded of an episode of the British comedy, "Yes, Prime Minister", entitled 'The Bishop's Gambit', in which the PM needs to fill a Bishopric.
Sir Humphrey Appleby explains that the Church is always seeking to maintain the balance of bishops between those who believe in God and those who don't.
"We cannot leave the appointment of Bishops to the Holy Ghost, because no one is confident that the Holy Ghost would understand what makes a good Church of England bishop."
"An atheist clergyman could not continue to draw his stipend, so when they stop believing in God they call themselves 'modernists'."
"The Church of England is primarily a social organization not a religious one."
#18
What a waste of 400,000 American lives and trillions of dollars.
Posted by: ed ||
11/25/2007 16:09 Comments ||
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#19
Al, I think Dr. Williams wants to retire, and by stepping all over the Government's feet., this event might do it. The CoE is the established religion of England; the Queen is the Supreme Governor and twenty-six bishops sit in the House of Lords.
Destruction of the CoE would have far-reaching consequences not limited to England.
Famine victims, India, late nineteenth century.
Death toll from famine in Victorian India about 7 million in the 1876-78 famine alone
The Bengal famine of 1943 is one amongst the several famines that occurred in British administered Bengal. It is estimated that 1.5-3 million people died from starvation and malnutrition during the period.
During the British rule in India there were approximately 25 major famines spread through states such as Tamil Nadu in South India, Bihar in the north, and Bengal in the east; altogether, between 30 and 40 million Indians were the victims of famines in the latter half of the 19th century
Though malnutrition and hunger remain widespread in India, there have been no famines since the end of the British rule in 1947 and the establishment of a democratic government.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/25/2007 16:17 Comments ||
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#21
Starving Irish family during the potato famine
The Great Irish Famine or The Great Hunger reduced the population of Ireland by 20 to 25 percent between 1845 and 1852
no issue has provoked so much anger or so embittered relations between the two countries (England and Ireland) as the indisputable fact that huge quantities of food were exported from Ireland to England throughout the period when the people of Ireland were dying of starvation.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/25/2007 16:21 Comments ||
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#22
I'll freely acknowledge all sorts of American policy failures, and downright evil idiotic actions, at various levels of government, but it apparently takes a special level of "churchly" experience and head-banging ignorance to uncork a quote about the islamic world such as this, "political solutions were not the most impressive.
Aside from the subject-verb construction and passive voice, its semantically risible to speak of "politics" in the muslim world. The compulsion, coercion and force encompassed in "sharia" scarcely begins to explain the mob-rule, irrationality and literally masochistic behavior of great swaths of the uncivilized remnants of the cradle of mankind's original home.
#23
The New Nationalist Movement in India by Jabez T. Sunderland
Atlantic Monthly; October, 1908
The people of India are taxed more than twice as heavily as the people of England and three times as heavily as those of Scotland. According to the latest statistics at hand, those of 1905, the annual average income per person in India is about $6.00, and the annual tax per person about $2.00.
Great Britain wanted India's markets. She could not find entrance for British manufactures so long as India was supplied with manufactures of her own. So those of India must be sacrificed. England had all power in her hands, and so she proceeded to pass tariff and excise laws that ruined the manufactures of India and secured the market for her own goods. India would have protected herself if she had been able, by enacting tariff laws favorable to Indian interests, but she had no power, she was at the mercy of her conqueror.
A third cause of India's impoverishment is the enormous and wholly unnecessary cost of her government. The amount of money which the Indian people are required to pay as salaries to this great army of foreign civil servants and appointed higher officials, and then, later, as pensions for the same, after they have served a given number of years in India, is very large.
For such foreign wars and campaigns -- campaigns and wars in which the Indian pcople had no concern, and for which they received no benefit, the aim of which was solely conquest and the extension of British power -- India was required to pay during the last century the enormous total of more than $460,000,000.
In the form of salaries spent in England, pensions sent to England, interest drawn in England on investments made in India, business profits made in India and sent to England, and various kinds of exploitation carried on in India for England's benefit, a vast stream of wealth ("tribute" in effect) is constantly pouring into England from India.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/25/2007 17:22 Comments ||
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#24
which explains why the Hindi word "loot" entered the English language...
Posted by: john frum ||
11/25/2007 17:24 Comments ||
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#25
He is destroying the Anglican Communion. Its dying, the churches are shrinking, with gay bishops, etc in the US. The AFRICAN Church is very conservative - and is the one that is growing, and gaining many AMERICAN congregations who are abandoning the Archdruid.
Vanguards of the Chinese engineering units arrived in the western Sudanese region of Darfur on Saturday to take part in the hybrid peacekeeping force of the United Nations and the African Union (AU). The 135 Chinese peacekeepers, upon arrival in South Darfur State capital Niyala, were warmly welcomed by UN, AU and Sudanese officials at the Niyala International Airport.
The Chinese vanguards were also joined in the airport by five Chinese officers who had arrived in Niyala in August in order to receive the equipment of the Chinese peacekeepers, some of which have been transported there since September.
This is the first batch of the UN peacekeepers arriving in the region to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1769 adopted on July 31, which authorizes the deployment of a 26,000-strong hybrid peacekeeping force in Darfur.
Posted by: gromky ||
11/25/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
The 135 Chinese peacekeepers, upon arrival in South Darfur
More must be sent immediately! Two, maybe 3 hundred thousand more.... long term, 40-50 years.
#2
Ima waitin' to see if a Chinese commandant comes unglued when he gets his own taste of a "Blackhawk Down". It would almost be amusing to watch the some communists go totally Mongol on the Sudanese riffraff.
#3
This seems like too few, far too late.
When I read resolution 1769, I thought it was passed in 1769. No matter, the dead will not complain for very long.
#5
If they are engineering units they are probably not doing a whole lot of peacekeeping. More likely helping find oil reserves, something that helps the Sudanese dictatorship and the Chinese government.
#7
If they are engineering units they are probably not doing a whole lot of peacekeeping.
I seem to recall some Chinese engineers that didn't have it too peaceful in Pakistan. Never underestimate the ability of Muslim populations to express ingratitude. It's almost like they have a genetic predisposition for it.
#8
Now, let's see.... this would be the same China reported here a year or two ago as loaning their cargo planes to the Gov't for use as make-shift bombers against Darfur villagers.... um hmmmmm
AUSTRALIAS new prime minister Kevin Rudd will mark his arrival on the international stage by announcing the withdrawal of his countrys combat troops from Iraq and signing the Kyoto treaty on climate change. Rudd, a republican and former diplomat, swept to power as his Labor party stormed to a landslide victory in yesterdays elections. From the comments : "53% to 47% is a "landslide"?????"
When the right people win, sure.
Official figures showed Labor had won more than 53% of the vote, compared with just under 47% for the ruling Liberal coalition of John Howard, who had served four terms as prime minister but lost his seat. Computer projections forecast that Labor would secure 86 seats in the 150-seat lower house of parliament.
Rudd, 50, who has been called a Tone Clone for his similarities to Tony Blair on policy, told cheering supporters that the electorate had decided to write a new page in our nations history.
Howard, who dominated Australias political scene for more than a decade, was accused of misreading the mood of voters who wanted change despite a booming economy. Clearly shaken by the scale of the defeat Howard, 68, told demoralised supporters that he may soon retire. This is a great democracy and I want to wish Mr Rudd well, Howard said. We bequeath to him a nation that is stronger and prouder and more prosperous than it was 11 years ago.
While Howard is a monarchist, Rudd favours a plebiscite on the question of whether the Queen should remain head of state. As one of his first acts, Rudd plans to bring home most Australian troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, both deeply unpopular wars. I thought afghanistan was the "good war", "we're all americans" and all?
Gordon Brown telephoned from the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Kampala, the Ugandan capital, to congratulate Rudd, who emphasised his determination to reverse Australias long-standing resistance to the Kyoto treaty and told Brown he would work hard to achieve a fresh agreement at an international climate change conference in Bali next month.
Rudds deputy prime minister will be Julia Gillard, 46, who emigrated with her parents from Barry, South Glamorgan, 41 years ago. The daughter of a retired policeman, she trained as a lawyer and first came to public attention as leader of the Australian Union of Students. She is now the most powerful woman in Australian politics.
#3
Sounds like he has some catching up to do. Signing on to Kyoto now, is like after the Titanic hit the iceberg, asking if there are vacancies in First Class, could you upgrade?
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a strong appeal Saturday for expanding the democratic rights of the Kurdish community to erode support for separatism and finish off rebels. Erdogan stressed that Turkey had reached a very critical stage in its struggle against the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and that the rebels were besieged from all sides with international support. The climate of freedoms is an enemy of violence and terrorism, he said in a televised speech at a meeting of his Justice and Development Party in Kizilcahamam, near Ankara.
So, lets maintain pluralistic democracy and strengthen the climate of freedoms in order to secure the ultimate result in the struggle against terrorism... All experience shows that there is no other way out, he said. Lets look together for ways of winning over the people instead of alienating them, he added. Erdogan has also faced mounting calls to back the military struggle with political, social and economic measures to boost the freedoms and the prosperity of the sizeable Kurdish community. The prime minister stressed Saturday that Turkey should convince the Kurds to seek their rights through politics and not violence.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/25/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under:
#1
He's right of course. And credit to him for coming out and saying it. Just because someone is an Islamicist/Socialist doesn't mean the lightbulb doesn't go on sometimes.
#3
Broken clock's right twine a day...
Of course, that IS the way to go. Had Turks go over heir puffed up bufoonery years ago, they'd have no problem with PKK today.
#4
me thinks the statement is right on. He's to be given credit, not disparaged for making it. If he's lying as politicians might, than everything changes. Until then, applause is in order.
The Saturdays suicide bombings in Rawalpindi were the third strike by suicide bombers on armed forces in the city in the last three months. On Sept 4, a suicide attacker blew himself up after boarding a bus carrying armed forces employees, while a roadside bomb went off near General Headquarters (GHQ) in RA Bazaar in Rawalpindi minutes, killing at least 25 people and wounded 66. On Oct 30, a suicide explosion near Army House killed eight people and injured around 18.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/25/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
The APDM on Saturday announced that it would boycott the elections unless the government restores the country to pre-November 3 situation by Wednesday. We give a four-day ultimatum to the government to revert to the pre-November 3 situation, otherwise the APDM will boycott the elections, PML-N Chairman Raja Zafarul Haq told a news conference after the meeting. Haq asked other opposition parties, including the PPP, to endorse the APDM decision and boycott the polls. The JUI-F boycotted the meeting.
That would seem to violate Nawaz' agreement with Perv within moments of its coming into existence.
The PML-N leader demanded that the government withdraw the PCO, lift emergency, reinstate judges and release all detained political activists, besides annulling amendments to the PEMRA Ordinance. He told reporters that all component parties would separately get the APDM decision endorsed by their respective executive committees within four days. He said that if any party took part in the elections, it would be evicted from the APDM. MMA President Qazi Hussain Ahmed said the final decision on boycott would be taken on the platform of the six-party religious alliance.
This article starring:
MMA President Qazi Hussain Ahmed
PML-N Chairman Raja Zafarul Haq
Posted by: Fred ||
11/25/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Former premier Nawaz Sharif has reached an understanding with the government, whereby he and possibly Shahbaz Sharif may not destabilise the Musharraf regime or boycott the elections, according to sources in government. Also, while Sharif may not personally contest the upcoming general elections, Kulsoom Nawaz and Hamza Shahbaz would be allowed to contest the elections from Lahore, sources told Daily Times on Saturday.
Given the parties to the agreement, I'd guess it will be broken substantially within a week.
Nawaz, following a meeting with Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, met with senior Pakistani officials and close associates of President General Pervez Musharraf, and agreed that the Sharif family could return to Pakistan as long as the PML-N did not boycott the elections, PML-Q sources told Daily Times. They said the understanding also involves the restoration of some of Nawazs business interests in the country and his Model Town residence. ISI DG Gen Nadeem Taj and Brig (r) Niaz, a mutual friend of Gen Musharraf and Nawaz, mediated the negotiations in Jeddah. The sources said that Nawaz had also agreed not to destabilise Gen Musharrafs transition to democracy or try to overthrow him.
Conviction: According to the understanding, as revealed by PML-Q sources, Nawaz cannot contest the election because of his conviction, as has been stated by Attorney General Qayyum Malik. Shahbaz does not face any conviction but theres a case of a plea bargain in which he is party as director of Hudaibia Mills and according to some legal experts, this is equivalent to a conviction and hence makes him ineligible.
However, caretaker Information Minister Nisar Memon has said that everyone is free to contest the polls, which is causing confusion and all sorts of rumours are being spread about the new understanding between the Sharifs and the government.
This article starring:
Brig (r) Niaz
Gen Nadeem Taj
Hamza Shahbaz
Information Minister Nisar Memon
Kulsoom Nawaz
Nawaz Sharif
Qayyum Malik
Shahbaz Sharif
Posted by: Fred ||
11/25/2007 00:00 ||
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Indian High Commissioner to the UK -- Kamlesh Sharma -- was Saturday unanimously chosen Secretary General of the 53-nation Commonwealth grouping at the Ugandan capital Kampala.
It is the first time that an Indian will be heading any major international organisation. Sharma, 66, has been India's representative on the board of governors of the Commonwealth since 2004. "I am delighted that the Commonwealth heads of government have selected Kamlesh Sharma as the next secretary general of the Commonwealth," Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in a statement in Kampala today, the news agency Indo Asian News Service reported.
"His long record of public service in the international community has been capped by this recognition of his capability and his inclusive vision of the Commonwealth. I am confident that he will acquit himself well in his higher responsibilities as the first servant of the entire Commonwealth," Dr Singh said. Sharma will hold the post for two years beginning March 2008 when the present Secretary General Don Mckinnon's two-time term ends. A member of the Indian diplomatic service, Sharma was India's Permanent Representative to the UN and spokesperson for developing countries in the UNCTAD during the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations. Sharma was engaged in the process that led to the formulation and adoption of the Millennium Development Goals. He was the first Special Representative of the UN Secretary General to independent East Timor.
The former U.S. commander of multi-national troops in Iraq says President Bush's strategy there is failing because it relies too much on military force and not enough on political reconciliation.
Too bad they didn't put Sanchez in charge of Iraq operations, since he seems to have the answers... Oh. Wait. He was.
VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, President Bush says Iraqi leaders are making political progress. As commander of multi-national forces in Iraq shortly after the fall of Baghdad, retired Army Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez says he saw first hand the consequences of what he calls the Bush administration's failure to properly coordinate American political, economic, diplomatic, and military power. "That failure continues today," he said. "At its base is the mistaken belief, despite years of evidence to the contrary, that victory can be achieved through the application of military power alone."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/25/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
By any chance is Sanchez related to Gen. George McClellan?
#3
Political reconciliation? The Sunni, Shiite conflict has been going on for 1400 years. So which side is the apostate, Ricki? Maybe Condi can settle that at Annapolis.
If he would just keep hiz mouth shut he'd recognize that there is a SEASON for all things.. and who the hell woulda guessed that the Sunnis woulda been so short sided, so lacking in savvy, that it took them getting their A$$ BEAT DOWN terrifically for the last 4 years to finally get a clue.
GENERAL SANCHEZ JUST STFU! you didn't do such a bad job... wait and then take some well deserved measured credit for your efforts.
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
11/25/2007 6:51 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Sanchez is obviously bitter as all hell. He did try to implement policy based on what was believed at the time. The trouble was that there was still too much instability for it to work then.
Ironically, General Petraeus is positively brilliant with counterinsurgency tactics, which makes the contrast noticeable. Otherwise, with what Petraeus is accomplishing, when he was done, it would be the time for what Sanchez had been doing.
In other words, they went into Iraq in the wrong order. Petraeus should have gone first, then Sanchez.
As it is, however, Sanchez was just embarrassed. And he is not helping the situation by reminding everybody of the fact.
#6
General officers can be recalled back to active duty by the direction of the Secretary. The older contract which was probably in force when Sanchez signed the bottom line stipulated that if you accepted a Regular Army commission technically you were obligated for life. Then the little known but still active part of the UCMJ kicks in about disparaging remarks of prez., vp, Senators and governors of states you're serving in, etc. I'm sure Hillary the First wouldn't hesitate a second to have the dudes up before a courts martial.
The problem Moose is that they continued the 'peacetime' personnel management system. So Petraeus had to get his boxes filled, joint assignment requirements of the Goldwater-Nichols Act [that little gift of Desert One], and the like. There are provisions for Presidential waivers and one would have thought that in 'wartime' a lot of business as usual practices would have been relooked if not outright modified. The entire promotion system is still peacetime. How many of the known best performers in Iraq were jumped ahead of the usual 'year group' promotion machine? None that I'm aware of. The entire bureaucracy suffers from peacetime lock step processes. The best measure of a military leader is on the battlefield, all else should have been pushed aside.
#9
"That failure continues today," he said. "At its base is the mistaken belief, despite years of evidence to the contrary, that victory can be achieved through the application of military power alone."
It's certainly true that Sanchez was utterly incapable of winning via the application of military power alone.
An Iraqi court has issued "three" death sentences against each of the two murderers denounced with several civilian killings; among their victims was the two sons of MP Mithal Al-Allusi. Al-Allusi told the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the Central Criminal Court "had sentenced each of the two killers of my sons Ayman and Gamal to death three times each." Jurist Tareq Harb, speaking for the victims at court, said the Central Court had sentenced the so-called Jafaar and Ali Mohammad Hafez from the Islamic Army of Iraq group to death three times each, for killing Al-Allusi's sons and a companion. Ten perpetrators remain at large.
Meanwhile, a judiciary source said among the fugitives were Munqiz Adnan Al-Dulaimi, son of MP Adnan Al-Dulaimi, and Minister of Culture Asaad Al-Hashemi. Al-Allusi urged Al-Hashemi to hand himself in to the police, saying Al-Hashemi was not sentenced in absentia.
Ayman and Gamal Al-Allusi, 22 and 30, and their companion, Haider Habib Habib Hussein, were killed in an attack near their house in Baghdad on February 8, 2005.
"This time the Iraqi court did not issue an in absentia sentence against the fugitive minister ... the verdicts were based on clear charges, but the minister escaped among others involved in the crime," Al-Allusi said. He noted that some witnesses had been assassinated so as not to testify in court.
Harb said that during the trial, the killers owned up to committing more than 10 terrorist attacks and "physical liquidation" since February, 2005.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
11/25/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
#2
Also from WND/FREEREPUBLIC > TOP SCOTS POLICE OFFICER SAYS NUCLEAR TERROR ATTACK IS INEVITABLE. Paraph > Unless World [Scotland] can get its act together to stop proliferation for any reason, Islamists-Terrorists will inevitably, undoubtedly acquire potent nucmats for nuke devices - there will be NUKE-WMD MUSHROOM CLOUDS GOING OFF IN THE UK-WORLD.
Ma'an Israel will start to reduce its power supply to the Gaza Strip on December 2 the Israeli Attorney General Menachem Mazuz told the Israeli High Court of Justice on Thursday. The measure is meant to stop the flow of homemade projectiles from the Gaza Strip into Israeli towns.
Finally, someone is showing some sense.
Mazuz was initially against the decision because of the criticism of several humanitarian organizations which have constantly argued that it would create a humanitarian disaster. However Israeli authorities insist that a minor reduction of power will not cause humanitarian hardship.
Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups had petitioned the High Court on Sunday to issue an interim injunction to delay the reduction of fuel and electricity supplies to Gaza, saying the move constitutes "the collective punishment of a million-and-a-half Palestinians."
Which is sort of the idea, so that the Gazooks will then stop their hard boyz from launching rockets.
Following Israel's declaration of the Gaza Strip as an "enemy entity" on September 19, the decision was then taken to reduce fuel and electricity supplies to the coastal enclave in a bid to stop the Palestinian resistance brigades from attacking neighbouring Israeli communities.
Israeli and Palestinian political echelons have recently been talking about goodwill gestures ahead of the Annapolis conference. The Israeli government announced the decision to release 431 Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli jails. This is seen as a move to bolster local support for the Palestinian Authority and President Mahmoud Abbas, whom the Israelis and the West see as moderate.
The decision to reduce power supplies to the besieged Gaza Strip appears to be a hostile act which contradicts any Israeli pledges of goodwill.
Launching rockets is also a hostile act which contradicts pledges of Paleo goodwill.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/25/2007 00:00 ||
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[0 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
The world, and quite a few in Israel, have gone stark raving mad. The Israeli govt is committing suicide on the installment plan by letting Olmert stay in power.
You want to know what the consequences of the halfway followed through action in Lebanon are? Hizb'Allah, with money from Iran, is doing massive reconstruction of bombed out places in Lebanon. Just like Al Capone's soup kitchens in Chicago. Hizb'Allah and Hamas are like a metastasizing cancer, going through Lebanon, Gaza, and even the west bank, surrounding Israel.
Israel is in big big trouble, and so are we in the US. Every goodwill gesture by Israel will just be followed by more demands. Release of prisoners is seen as a victory for the Paleos, and an action of weakness by Israel.
God help us all and that includes the mindless Paleos. The Paleos, Syria, and Iran will push and this whole thing will become a Roentgen Soupbowl, when Israel has to retaliate with Nukes or be overrun.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/25/2007 3:29 Comments ||
Top||
#2
The Israeli govt is committing suicide on the installment plan by letting Olmert stay in power.
AP I couldn't agree with you more. "committing suicide on the installment plan"
Unfortunately too many Israelis blame every one & everything else but their OWN.
[example: g(paleo)omgoru], pointing his fingers at everyone else.. the USA, Condie, the Y'urp-peons, the Catholics, "World" etc.
Instead of KISS & Bearing down.. That means individuals investing $$$, Backing [shoe leather, time] & voting *Rightist* and voting for *Conservatives*, in the smaller rightist parties, & the Conservatives in the Likud Party [Netanyahu + cronies] and the Kadima Party.
Enough Conservatives & Righties at least to CHANGE the coalition so Olmert can finally get the God Damn BOOT and forcing him to get a real job, Vote him out of the coalition,
IMHO
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
11/25/2007 6:31 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Poor Red Doggy---big nasty Gromgoru have hurt his by pointing out some inconvinient facts about Afghanistan, Iraq, and Lebanon.
Don't worry Doggy---once Mama Hillary is President, she'll fix everything.
p.s. Have you started learning Spanish yet? You really should.
#8
Did Aris hijack gromgoru's IP address? I just don't recall this nastiness in the distant past. But it is becoming more and more frequent and obnoxious. Perhaps it's a digestive malady.
#9
As I pointed out before, some people confuse patriotism with loyalty to the chief. Too bad. That's how wars are lost---and we just cannot afford to lose that one.
#10
I thought all Israelis studied both Arabic and English in school. Perhaps I'm mistaken. But it would be a bit difficult for the Israeli Army to operate in the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, etc if the troops couldn't read the street signs...
#11
gr(0)mgoru, I agree with NS - your tone is nastier and nastier of late and the overwhelming majority of your targets are Americans and US policy rather than the mess in Israel.
I can understand your worry and your anger. This is a very dangerous time for Israel and for the world. And you understandably don't like the pressure for a negotiated settlement in the middle East.
But anger at your allies is less than helpful. For one thing, such anger can go both ways -- I personally have a number of deep angers about actions of Israel in the not too distant past myself, based on direct experience supporting Israeli defense projects and being lied to and deeply manipulated by my Israeli counterparts.
None of which matters. What matters is that we work together to deal with the realities facing us today. You snipe at Americans and US actions, but seldom offer any effective alternative solutions. Moreover, one suspects that those you would offer are either not being pursued by Israel or have proven ineffective.
It was not the Americans who elected Olmert. It is not the Americans who form the hard left in Israel, it is not the Americans who have engaged in political corruption in Israel. And it was not the Americans who formed the policies that set up the unfinished business in your part of the world that has persisted in one way or another for 60 years.
But neither are we free of responsibility for the actions we *have* taken. Be specific in criticisms and offer solutions. But stop alienating those who would be your strongest allies.
#13
#7 Should stop & think before you open your mouth Red---you're giving your biggest secret away.
Posted by g(r)omgoru 2007-11-25 07:59|| Front Page|| ||Comments Top
Yes you're almost there g(r)omgoru... and by all means spit it out, come on share your paranoid secret about my "secret"!
:)
I thought all Israelis studied both Arabic and English in school. Perhaps I'm mistaken. But it would be a bit difficult for the Israeli Army to operate in the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, etc if the troops couldn't read the street signs...
yes dear TW, i'm sure they do.. as they should. Now if we can just encourage the Israelis in any language, to turn all the power off until every rocket and rocketeer is destroyed!
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
11/25/2007 14:14 Comments ||
Top||
#14
Democracies get the governments that they deserve. This Israeli government stands in stark contrast to the governments of Menachem Begin and Golda Mier, but Olmert is there because a majority of Israelis put him there and tolerate his administration's fecklessness.
How are we different? 9-11 has become a dim memory. The intelligence and state departments are permeated with partisans and penetrated with Muslim moles. At least the corruption in Israel is financial. How does one explain the corruption on our southern border? Not likely to be financial with Sr. Busheron, but something for sure. If American tolerate business as usual, the outcome will be the same for us as for Israel. We had all better learn Arabic, or have a hideout in the hills, because we will loose everything
Ma'an Deposed Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Saturday called on all the Arab foreign ministers attending the Annapolis summit to unite in demanding the "lifting of the blockade" on the Palestinian people.
In a speech delivered on behalf of Haniyeh by Dr Mohammed Al-Madhoun, head of Haniyeh's office, said those who go to the summit without points of reference and without institutions are disabling the Palestinian Legislative Council. "They are going according to the American and Israeli vision. An Israeli model of a Palestine will be marketed only in the area of the territories occupied in 1967," he said.
Haniyeh also stressed the need for a national dialogue to reassert national unity. He added that no one is authorized to concede any inch of Palestinian land or waive Palestinian rights.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/25/2007 00:00 ||
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[2 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
The dismissed PM apparently hasn't heard the story of "Henny penny"
Hamas on Saturday condemned a decision by Arab powers to endorse next weeks US-hosted Israeli-Palestinian peace conference, saying the talks would favour the Jewish states policies rather than Palestinian demands. Hamas, which refuses to recognise Israel and broke with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas after seizing control of the Gaza Strip in a June civil war, is excluded from the Nov. 27 conference in Annapolis.
Arab League ministers agreed on Friday to attend the conference in the hope of promoting the creation of a Palestinian state and pushing for Israel to return the occupied Golan Heights to Syria as part of a regional peace process.
Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri called the announcement a great shock for Palestinians because it opened the door for direct normalisation with the occupier Israel amid its continued escalation and aggression.
The Palestinian people had awaited an Arab consensus for breaking the siege, Abu Zuhri said in a statement, referring to a Western aid embargo and Israeli military crackdowns on Gaza since Hamas swept to power in 2006 elections. This meeting will only achieve more failure and more harm to the Palestinian cause and to Arab and Palestinian rights.
The Arab League has offered Israel recognition if it quits lands captured in a 1967 Middle East war and agrees to solve the problem of Palestinian refugees. Israel has balked at discussing core issues like refugees and borders at this stage.
Human rights: The talks on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must match peace pledges with clear and concrete steps to end grave rights abuses such as killings, Amnesty International said on Saturday.
If the talks are to make progress towards a just and durable solution, peace pledges must be accompanied by clear and concrete steps to halt and redress the grave human rights abuses and serious violations of international humanitarian law that continue to destroy lives on both sides, Amnesty said.
The group called for the Annapolis parties to agree on deploying international human rights monitors in Israel and the Palestinian territories to check compliance and then report publicly.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/25/2007 00:00 ||
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Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah on Saturday blasted a forthcoming US-hosted summit, which aims to revive long-stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations.
Neither has the words "striving for peace" on their logo, do they?
At a conference in Tehran, representatives of the two groups lashed out at the US move and predicted it would fail. "This conference wants to destroy the Palestinian issue. This conference will fail," said Mussa Abu Marzuq, top aide to Hamas supremo Khaled Meshaal. "This conference is a fantasy and propaganda and it aims to attract the so-called moderate Arab nations to their side and part them from the Palestinian issue," he added.
The conference takes the Arab world at its word, to whit, that the Paleostinian issue is the paramount issue in that part of the world, perhaps in the entire world. Conferences are held to discuss thing, to reach agreements, possibly even solutions. One way to solve problems is to break them down into smaller, more manageable pieces and solve each separately. In an ideal situation, Israel, the Paleos, and the participating Arab and Muslim governments would all reach agreement on all the pieces under discussion, with both sides giving here or there. When the conference was over, the pieces that were solved wouldn't be problems anymore, and the participants could turn their attention to the remaining pieces, to whit, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran, each noted for their propensity for making faces and calling names.
The conference will be held on Tuesday in Annapolis, Maryland. Hezbollah's foreign relations chief, Sheikh Ali Daghmush
There are too damned many Dogmushes involved in all this for my taste. I'd as soon see al-Ghamdis.
... said: "Israel (in this conference) aims to normalise ties with the Arab nations, so prevention of this Zionist plot should be carried out."
I was just talking about that sort of thing, wasn't I? The whole idea is to remove areas of contention and allow normalized relations.
Hamas insists that Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has no mandate to negotiate on behalf of all the Palestinians.
So he's negotiating on behalf of his own Paleostinians.
Iran, which does not recognise Israel, owns is one of the most vocal backers of Hamas and Hezbollah, and pledged millions of dollars in 2006 to the then Hamas government crippled by a Western aid cut. US officials have pointed a finger at Iran, which they say helped Hamas fighters to seize control of the Gaza Strip in June, and of sponsoring Hezbollah. Tehran denies supplying arms to either group, saying its support is a "moral" one.
Right. We believe Hezbollah builds its rockets and missiles in its members' basements and garages.
Rocketing Sderot *is* a moral issue, deserving of support. Ask anyone.
Hamas, which has slated a "counter-conference" in Gaza on Monday, said earlier in the day it will step up attacks against Israeli troops there and in the West Bank after the Annapolis meeting. "The period that will follow the Annapolis conference will witness an increase of the resistance against the Zionist occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip," Marzuq said on the group's website. "The Annapolis conference has two objectives: to help shore up (Israeli Prime Minister) Ehud Olmert after his defeat in the south of Lebanon and secondly to cover up for American plans of a war against Iran," he said.
This article starring:
Khaled Meshaal
Hamas
Mussa Abu Marzuq
Hamas
Sheikh Ali Daghmush
Hezbollah
Posted by: Fred ||
11/25/2007 00:00 ||
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Lebanon awoke without a president Saturday, but despite the vacuum, people appeared to be going about business as usual. The country's pro-Western Prime Minister Fuad Siniora met with Lebanon's Maronite Christian Patriarch and moved to assure the public by insisting that the situation is under control and there is no danger of violence. He said there is no state of emergency and no need for Lebanese to be concerned about security. He said the army is in full control of the situation on the ground. He also said that, under the country's constitution, the powers of the presidency devolve to the Cabinet.
What if they declared a state of emergency and nobody emerged?
On Friday, within hours of leaving office, outgoing president Emile Lahoud said the country was in a state of emergency. For months, parliamentarians from rival political blocs have failed to reach an agreement on who would replace Mr. Lahoud, a Maronite Christian. On Friday, on the fifth attempt in more than a month, parliament failed again after the Hezbollah-led opposition boycotted a parliamentary session. Parliament is scheduled to meet on November 30 to try once again to elect a president, although many observers doubt it will be able to do so.
Former Army Commander General Michel Aoun, the candidate of the pro-Syrian Hezbollah, continues to insist that he is the only viable candidate. Pro-government Christian leader Samir Geagea has disputed the General's claim while insisting that holding the presidential election is the only solution to the current crisis. He says that continuing Mr. Siniora's government is not a viable solution, even if it is legal according to the constitution.
Former President Lahoud and Hezbollah have repeatedly insisted that Mr. Siniora's government is illegal and unconstitutional, at times threatening to set up a rival government. Lebanon is without a president for the second time in its history. The first time was in 1988, when the country was torn by two rival governments amid a bloody conflict that left hundreds dead. The U.S. State Department is urging Lebanese leaders to elect a new president quickly, but has warned U.S. citizens about the possibility of unrest.
Light me a cigarette. I just had an anticlimax.
This article starring:
Emile Lahoud
Fuad Siniora
Michel Aoun
Samir Geagea
Posted by: Fred ||
11/25/2007 00:00 ||
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Closing the Strait of Hormuz, a strategically important passageway for most of oil tankers worldwide, is not on the table of the Iranian navy, a senior Iranian officer said Saturday.
"Closing the Strait of Hormuz is not listed on our agenda," Commander of the Army Naval Force, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, said in a statement. He said Iran "does not pose a threat to the countries of the region but carries a message of peace and friendship to all these countries. Instead of defending its borders, Iran is capable of maintaining regional security through help of countries of the Middle East," said Sayyari who noted that the Iranian navy has good cooperation links with regional countries.
He played down importance of threats of Western countries against his country. Sayyari said the Iranian navy was following closely the movements of the "enemy" in the Gulf waters and Sea of Oman.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
11/25/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#5
DEBKA > IRAN reports production of "home-produced" "URANIUM FUEL PELLETS" for its ARAK REACTOR, said nucmats produced/derived from Arak also being poten useful for the manufacture of PLUTONIUM??? Also from DEBKA, IRAN'S NAVY ANNOUNCES PRODUC OF MISSLE-CARRYING PT BOATS IN ADDITION TO NEW NAVAL WARSHIPS.
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.
THE Archbishop of Canterbury has said that the United States wields its power in a way that is worse than Britain during its imperial heyday. Rowan Williams claimed that Americas attempt to intervene overseas by clearing the decks with a quick burst of violent action had led to the worst of all worlds.
Former premier 
An Iraqi court has issued "three" death sentences against each of the two murderers denounced with several civilian killings; among their victims was the two sons of MP Mithal Al-Allusi. Al-Allusi told the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the Central Criminal Court "had sentenced each of the two killers of my sons Ayman and Gamal to death three times each." Jurist Tareq Harb, speaking for the victims at court, said the Central Court had sentenced the so-called Jafaar and Ali Mohammad Hafez from the Islamic Army of Iraq group to death three times each, for killing Al-Allusi's sons and a companion. Ten perpetrators remain at large.
Ma'an Deposed Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Saturday called on all the Arab foreign ministers attending the Annapolis summit to unite in demanding the "lifting of the blockade" on the Palestinian people.
Hamas on Saturday condemned a decision by Arab powers to endorse next weeks US-hosted Israeli-Palestinian peace conference, saying the talks would favour the Jewish states policies rather than Palestinian demands. Hamas, which refuses to recognise Israel and broke with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas after seizing control of the Gaza Strip in a June civil war, is excluded from the Nov. 27 conference in Annapolis. 
Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah on Saturday blasted a forthcoming US-hosted summit, which aims to revive long-stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations.
