An adviser to Egypt's military rulers said in a newspaper interview published on Thursday that a brutal attack on a female protester by Egyptian soldiers on Saturday was justified because the woman had insulted the army. No matter how much lipstick you put on a pig, it's still a pig.
Thousands of Egyptian women took to the streets of Cairo this week to protest the beating of the woman, whose black abaya was stripped back to reveal her underwear during the attack. Stripped and beat an unarmed woman. My, what noble behavior.
Asked about video and photographs of soldiers hitting and kicking the woman, Gen. Abdel Moneim Kato, a retired officer who advises the ruling military council in Cairo, told the Arabic-language newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat that the female activist "had been insulting the army through a megaphone" before she was stripped and beaten. I wonder if the US military could get away with that one.
That justification for the brutal beating comes eight months after the generals put in power by President Hosni Mubarak sentenced another activist, Maikel Nabil, to three years in prison for "insulting the armed forces" on Facebook.
According to an English-language summary of the general's comments published by The Egypt Independent, a Cairo daily, the adviser also defended the use of live ammunition against protesters, which he claimed was permitted by the terms of the Geneva Conventions. But, as another retired general told The Independent, the conventions that govern the rules of war between states or militias contain no such provision permitting attacks on civilian protesters. Yeah, we know, but these provisions don't apply to any armed forces who might feel insulted, didn't you know?
In fact, one protocol, adopted in 1977 to govern the conduct of armies during civil wars, states clearly that even then, "the civilian population as such, as well as individual civilians, shall not be the object of attack." The same protocol also bars soldiers from engaging in "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment, rape, enforced prostitution and any form or indecent assault." It's not indecent if the armed forces felt insulted, I guess.
General Kato -- who called protesters delinquents "who deserve to be thrown into Hitler's ovens" in another interview this week -- also claimed that activists calling for an end to military rule were agents of foreign governments who had paid children to attack soldiers. Might work in Arabia, but not in the rest of the world.
While the woman whose beating sparked such outrage has yet to speak publicly, a woman who attempted to come to her aid, and was then pummeled by soldiers herself, spoke to CNN from her hospital bed on Thursday. "The Egyptian armed forces treated me so well because I didn't insult them."
The second woman, Azza Hilal Suleiman, told CNN: "There's no justice. I don't know how long we'll go without justice. We didn't ask for anything but to be free in our own country. We've been oppressed by the military, by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, and by the police. I don't know how much longer they will continue to kill us."
Ms. Suleiman, who said her father was an army general, added: "My family isn't like the men in the military now. My family was very decent and pure. What's happening in the military now is dirty. Humans without conscience or mercy or humanity, what right do they have to do this to people?" Well, they've got the guns, don't they?
Another female activist gave this account of the beating and sexual assault she endured on Saturday after she was captured by soldiers to Mosireen, a Cairo film collective.
Since Egyptians without access to the Internet or satellite television might not have seen the video of the attack on the women, and on other protesters, activists took to the streets of Cairo with portable projectors to screen the footage on Thursday. The activist and blogger Lilian Wagdy reported that supporters of the army had tried to stop one such screening by destroying the projector, which sparked an impromptu protest march in the Cairo district of Heliopolis.
Some of the activists also painted graffiti images of the attack on the pavement and asked Egyptians to consider whether they would accept such an assault if the victim was their mother. Depends. Did she insult the military?
[An Nahar] Tunisia's Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali on Thursday announced his new cabinet lineup, with key ministerial posts allotted to his dominant Islamist Ennahda party.
The list of 41 cabinet members was drawn up two months after Tunisia's first free elections on October 23, which chose an assembly tasked with writing a new constitution following the ousting of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January.
The constituent assembly is to meet Friday to approve the premier's list of appointees, the subject of weeks of negotiations between the moderate Islamist Ennahda and its two left-leaning allies.
The selection of a new government is a major milestone in Tunisia, following the country's protests against Ben Ali that began in December 2010.
In Tunisia's first free elections, Ennahda won the largest bloc of seats, gaining 89 out of 217 available, and Jebali, the party's number two, was designated premier earlier this month.
Moncef Marzouki of the Congress for the Republic (CPR) became state president and the Ettakatol party's Mustapha Ben Jaafar was chosen as speaker of the assembly.
The north African nation is in the midst of a major economic crisis, with observers saying it's vital for the new government to get up and running as soon as possible. Faced with economic and political uncertainty, some foreign investors have already quit. Japanese group Yazaki, a major maker of automobile electrical cables, on Tuesday shut one of its Tunisia factories following a strike.
The new government, however, may now be able to persuade companies the business environment is improving.
"The Ennahda Islamists are theoretically in a good place to convince investors and operators, both foreign and Tunisian," French-language daily newspaper La Presse said in a Thursday editorial.
Ali Larayedh, a former political prisoner and Ennahda party bigwig was picked for interior minister.
Nourredine Bhiri, currently the party front man, was appointed justice minister and Rafik Ben Abdessalem, son-in-law of Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi, was named to head the foreign ministry.
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12/23/2011 00:07 ||
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CAIRO: Egypt's ruling military has escalated its tone against pro-democracy activists, warning of an attempt to "topple the state" as government media said a plot had been uncovered to use upcoming protests to throw the country into a civil war.
Wednesday's statements stepped up a campaign by the military that has seemed intended to demonize protesters in the eyes of the Egyptian public. The warnings could signal a heavier crackdown on activists who demand that the generals who took power after the fall of Hosni Mubarak in February step down to let civilians rule.
They come after more than four days of heavy clashes as soldiers tried to break up protests outside parliament and the Cabinet headquarters in a crackdown that killed 14 people and left hundreds injured. The fighting eased Tuesday, but the atmosphere in Egypt's already stormy transition has become even more bitter and confused.
The generals and the pro-democracy activists who led the 18-day uprising that toppled Mubarak are locked in a worsening confrontation. Some activists have put forward proposals to try to defuse the clash by having the military hand over power in January, either to the head of the next parliament or by holding early presidential elections to choose a new head of state to replace the generals.
Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the ruling military council, announced that parliament would convene January 23, just two days before the one-year anniversary of the start of Egypt's uprising, according to the state news agency. It appeared to be a move aimed at blunting an expected mass demonstration on January 25.
Meanwhile, the country's other power player, the Muslim Brotherhood, which took part in the uprising that toppled Mubarak, has stayed out of the fray, refusing to join protests or to back demands that military move up its planned handover of power in June. Their stance weakens the political pressure on the military and bolsters the generals' hands -- even though the Brotherhood insists it wants the army to eventually step aside.
Instead, the fundamentalist Brotherhood has been focused on ongoing, multistage parliamentary elections, which it is dominating. Its main concern is to try to ensure the power of the new legislature, in which it will be the biggest faction, giving it a strong hand in writing the next constitution.
"We don't get into conflict with anybody. We don't believe in this policy (of protests). Any clash is a pure evil. We don't have any interest in confrontation," said Sobhi Saleh, a leading Brotherhood figure who won a parliament seat in an earlier round of the elections.
The army's crackdown has drawn heavy US criticism, particularly after soldiers beat women protesters and stripped one half naked in the streets. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called treatment of the women a "disgrace," and on Wednesday the State Department said she spoke by phone to Egypt's prime minister to register deep US concerns.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr said Egypt "won't accept any foreign interference ... whether from the United States or anybody else."
On Wednesday, the ruling military council issued a statement on its Facebook page saying more protests are aimed at "toppling the state."
A harsher warning came from an unidentified high-ranking intelligence official quoted in the state news agency as saying authorities uncovered a plot to "drag the pure youth and losers in the parliamentary elections into foiling the parliament elections and toppling the army and the state."
The official said authorities tracked down "communications and moves" aimed at throwing the country into a "civil war between the people and the army" to give foreign forces justification to intervene. In an implicit warning against protests, the official urged young people not to "get involved in this plot."
At the same time, Justice Minister Adel Abdel-Hamid accused around 300 non-governmental organizations of receiving unauthorized foreign funding and using the money to encourage protesters.
Hossam El-Hamalawy, a prominent activist who long campaigned against Mubarak and has been highly critical of the military rulers, said the statements could signal a new arrests against revolutionary groups.
His group, the Revolutionary Socialists, which organizes labor movements, has come under criticism in state media after footage of a group meeting showed a member saying popular pressure must be built against the military to remove Mubarak's loyalists.
"We saw this coming a while ago. It is increasing as other political forces are withdrawing from the streets. We are more on the ground," he said. "That is not going to intimidate us."
"The military is the backbone of the dictatorship. They are the ones who have run this country since 1952," he said.
In recent days, a number of pro-revolutionary groups put forward proposals that the military council cede its position as head of state in January. Under one initiative, it would surrender its powers to the speaker of parliament. Under another, presidential elections would be moved up to January.
The Brotherhood's political party, the Freedom and Justice Party, issued a statement rejecting both options. Instead, it called for "full-throttle efforts to complete the legislative elections."
The Brotherhood worries that moving up presidential elections could undermine its efforts to concentrate future power in the parliament.
After two rounds of voting, the Brotherhood is on track to gain around 40-50 percent of the parliament's seats, and the more conservative Salafi movement's main Al-Nour Party has so far won more than 20 percent, setting the stage for an Islamist majority in the new legislature. On Wednesday, voting was held in a run-off for the second of the election's three rounds to determine the winner in districts where no candidate won 50 percent.
The Brotherhood is counting on the new parliament to have considerable political power to eclipse the military until its handover. In the drafting of the new constitution, the Brotherhood wants to curtail the powers of the president, which were nearly unlimited under Mubarak, and give parliament greater authority.
The group fears that electing the president before rewriting the constitution will bring a head of state with the same overwhelming power.
"Will (the president) have the same pharaonic powers as Hosni Mubarak had? How do we guarantee that this doesn't impact the transition to democracy?" said Wahid Abdel-Meguid, leading member of the Brotherhood-led alliance.
But Islam Lutfi, a former Brotherhood member whose political party backs the initiatives for an early military exit, said the Brotherhood has no clear plan for ensuring the army steps down.
"They are scared of the military," said Lutfi, a founder of the Egyptian Current Party. "They are only hungry for the parliament."
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12/23/2011 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Sunday's street violence in and outside the capital was part of a Tk 30-crore deal signed by BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... leaders with a foreign intelligence agency in Nepal "to destabilise the country," Awami League leader Tofail Ahmed alleged yesterday.
Two groups of opposition leaders have met the intelligence agency officials several times in Nepal recently, he claimed.
Tofail was speaking at a meeting of the AL-led 14-party ruling alliance at the AL central office in the capital's Bangabandhu Avenue.
On Sunday, a series of homemade bombs went off in central Dhaka as hundreds of activists of BNP and Jamaat clashed with police, smashed more than a dozen vehicles and set some of those on fire.
A 24-year-old youth was killed in a bomb kaboom in the capital's Motijheel while another man died when some unruly people torched two vehicles in Sylhet, police said.
The government and the opposition blamed each other for the incident.
Leaders of the alliance yesterday alleged that BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... was out to create instability in the country to bring an evil force to power through unconstitutional means and to save her "corrupt" sons and the war criminals.
The meeting decided to form committees in 100 wards and 19 unions in the city soon to resist the "subversive activities of BNP and Jamaat to protect the war criminals".
It also decided to organise a mass gathering at Suhrawardy Udyan in the city later this month to drum up public support in favour of the war crimes trial.
BNP and its key ally Jamaat are detached from the people, and are trying to foil the trial of the war criminals by creating unrest, they said.
Speaking as the chief guest, veteran AL leader Amir Hossain Amu said the war crimes trial was a national issue and that the 14-party alliance would prevent all the BNP-Jamaat conspiracies to hinder it.
Khaleda is against the ideology of the freedom fighters. Therefore, freedom fighters involved with BNP politics should quit the party and join the "progressive forces", he said.
AL acting general secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif and party leader Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya also spoke on the occasion.
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12/23/2011 00:14 ||
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North Korea's state-run media have been broadcasting images of Pyongyang residents weeping in sorrow following the death of their leader Kim Jong-il, playing up the atmosphere of sadness.
"Aaaaiiiiii! Me meal ticket!!"
But defectors from the Stalinist state claim that the atmosphere is quite different outside of the capital. They said many residents of Pyongyang, where the North Korean elite live, may well be genuinely sad at the passing of their cherished leader. But those in the rural provinces, who have not been receiving state food rations, are probably shedding "crocodile tears," they said.
North Korea can be divided into Pyongyang, whose residents continue to receive state food rations, and areas outside of the capital, where people have to fend for themselves.
"We can even say there are two different countries, rich Pyongyang and poor provincial areas," said one high-ranking North Korean defector. Food rations are an effective means used by communist regimes to win the loyalty of the public, he added.
According to another North Korean defector and former state official, "When Kim Il-sung died in 1994, the food distribution system was still functioning and the majority of North Koreans paid condolences to their leader."
"But at this point, when the food rations are not available anywhere except Pyongyang, just how many people do you think are truly sad about the death of Kim Jong-il?" he added.
The 2.5 million residents of the capital, who are often referred to as the "heart of the revolution," enjoy special benefits. According to defectors who used to live in Pyongyang, ID cards showing where they live are the only documents needed to travel around the country. For them, the biggest danger is betraying signs of ideological deviation -- a sin punishable by eviction from the city of privilege.
In contrast, provincial folks require special travel permits to visit Pyongyang. Additionally, they are only permitted to watch state-run Korean Central Television, whereas residents of Pyongyang can view two more channels: Mansudae TV and the [North] Korean Education and Culture Arts Television.
Pyongyang residents stay loyal to the state due to such benefits, an argument supported by the paucity of defectors in South Korea from the capital. According to the Unification Ministry, only two percent of North Korean defectors are from Pyongyang. The residents of the capital account for only 10 percent of the North's 24 million population.
In February of last year, North Korea implemented administrative reforms by shrinking the area of Pyongyang by 40 percent. As a result, the outskirts of the capital south of the Daedong River, which are mainly rice paddies, were ceded to North Hwanghae Province. With the reforms, the official population of Pyongyang shrank by around 500,000, which meant fewer mouths to feed. One source familiar with North Korean affairs said, "You can say that the residents living on the outskirts of Pyongyang, who were not part of the elite, were removed." Meanwhile, the elite status of those living in the capital was raised even higher.
Experts say that living conditions worsened outside of Pyongyang. One former state official said, "Focusing limited resources entirely on Pyongyang led to increased shortages in other parts of the country."
"Most of the people shedding tears are residents of Pyongyang," said another defector from Chongjin. "The reason why it is difficult to see scenes of sorrow outside of the capital is because such feelings are a lot less intense there."
Middle class residents of regions outside of Pyongyang became destitute following the failed currency reform around the end of November in 2009. They had made money by selling goods in open-air markets following the collapse of the state food distribution system. But their assets declined in value overnight when the currency was revalued, which effectively lopped off two zeroes from the value of the North Korean won.
In contrast, most of the residents of Pyongyang were reportedly tipped off beforehand about the looming currency reform, giving them time to exchange the North Korean currency into Chinese yuan or U.S. dollars.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/23/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
probably shedding "crocodile tears,"
Sorry, not a single tear was shed in the video. Just prostrations, ululations, and gnashing of teeth.
Kremlinologists Observers are wondering whether dead North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's estranged half-brother Pyong-il and his eldest son Jong-nam will return from overseas to attend the funeral next week.
Kim Pyong-il, who looks much like his father Kim Il-sung, was once considered a rival to Jong-il for the leadership but was sidelined and has lived in virtual exile as the North's perpetual ambassador to Poland. Kim Jong-nam was believed to be the likely heir but fell from favor and was replaced by his half-brother Pudgy Jong-un. He leads an itinerant existence in Hong Kong and Macau.
Wonder how much longer he gets money from China...
A government official said Wednesday both, as family members, may attend the funeral but no intelligence suggests they are on their way to Pyongyang.
Observers believe Pyong-il is more likely to attend the funeral than Jong-nam. Radio Free Asia on Tuesday quoted a source in Poland as saying Kim Pyong-il seems to have left Warsaw and is highly likely to attend.
But given Kim Jong-nam's open criticism of the hereditary succession to the Japanese press, new leader Jong-un may want to keep his half-brother away, or Jong-nam may decide it is unsafe for him to return.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/23/2011 00:00 ||
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-il collapsed on Dec. 15, two days before North Korea says he died, according to intelligence the South Korean government has received from Japan. The collapse was grave enough for top North Korean officials to convene an emergency meeting, though whether he died then or later is not known.
Seoul apparently received the information from Japan after his death was announced at noon on Monday.
A source on Thursday said a Japanese official attended an international seminar in Pyongyang hosted by North Korea's Asia Pacific Peace Committee, and on the morning on Dec. 15, he met with the North's nominal No. 2 official Kim Yong-nam. Everything went as scheduled, but Won Tong-yon, the deputy director of the United Front Department and vice chairman of the Asia Pacific Peace Committee, arrived 40 minutes late to the dinner scheduled to start at 7 p.m., looking distressed and telling the guests that he had to attend an emergency meeting.
Won then went to Sunan Airport in Pyongyang on Friday morning to see off the guests, who were scheduled to board a 7:30 a.m. flight for Beijing. He was apparently enraged by the sight of a Christmas tree in the airport lobby and ordered airport officials to dismantle it, telling them, "This is no time to light this up."
"It appears that Kim Jong-il suffered a serious health problem on Thursday afternoon, prompting an emergency among the Norths top officials, but his condition improved a little, causing Won to come to the dinner late," the source said. "Maybe the reason he got angry at the airport on Friday morning was that Kim Jong-il had died."
That would square with an account by Liberty Forward Party lawmaker Park Sun-young, who claimed intelligence suggests that Kim did not die aboard his train on Saturday but around 1:30 a.m. on Friday at a villa around 40 km from his home in Pyongyang.
The summer villa has hospital facilities and is connected by underground tunnel to Kim's official residence, according to Park. Japan's Asahi TV reported that Kim died near the villa at around 1 a.m. on Saturday and asked his bodyguard for some water before he died.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/23/2011 00:00 ||
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Military officials on Wednesday said they concur after all with the view of the National Intelligence Service that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's armored train never left Pyongyang's main train station on Saturday, when he is believed to have died. The military previously said the train did leave the station, confirming the official North Korean account that Kim died on his train en route to one of his on-the-spot guidance tours.
But when the press picked up on the discrepancy, the military apparently changed its mind. Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said, "There is only one source who is shared by [South] Korea and the U.S. and the military and NIS. The military and NIS share necessary information and meet every day so there can be no differences in views."
A military source said, "The NIS and military intelligence appear to have taken different views in the initial stage of analyzing satellite photos of Kim's train at Yongsung Station in Pyongyang." The source said there are three trains that were believed to be for Kim Jong-il's official use. Two move at the same time in order to prevent terror attacks, while the third one serves as back-up. The source added, "To my knowledge, the whereabouts of one of the three trains was unclear between Friday and Sunday. While the NIS placed more weight on those that were spotted, military intelligence did not rule out that the one that was not accounted for may have been moving, leading to the discrepancy."
But since then the military and NIS have tentatively concluded that none of the trains moved. "Maybe the military and NIS formed different opinions in the course of analyzing data," a government official said. "And when media reports made the difference of opinion appear to be a conflict, the military seems to have decided to clarify the matter."
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12/23/2011 00:00 ||
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Officials in Jerusalem have decided to cancel a $141 million defense deal with Turkey, saying they were concerned that Ankara could hand over cutting-edge intelligence equipment to third parties hostile to Israel.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday accused France of committing "genocide" in Algeria after French lawmakers voted a bill criminalising the denial of Armenian genocide.
"France massacred an estimated 15 per cent of the Algerian population starting from 1945. This is genocide," Erdogan told a news conference after the French move on the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman-era forces.
The Turkish premier accused French President Nicolas Sarkozy of "fanning hatred of Muslims and Turks for electoral gains."
"If the French President Mr. Sarkozy does not know about this genocide, he can ask his father Pal Sarkozy... (who) had served in the French legion in Algeria in the 1940s," Erdogan said in his televised remarks.
"I am sure he has many things to tell his son about the French massacre in Algeria," Erdogan said.
France is home to around 500,000 citizens of Armenian descent and they are seen as a key source of support for Sarkozy and his UMP ahead of presidential and legislative elections in April and June next year.
On Thursday, France's National Assembly voted the first step towards passing a law that would impose a jail term and a 45,000 euro fine on anyone in France who denies that the 1915 massacre of Armenians constitutes genocide.
An interesting side note: The movie 'The Battle of Algiers' (1966) was groundbreaking in its realistic, gritty portrayal of violent revolution, and is a 'must see' for depicting both brutal police state tactics and ruthless terrorism. And oddly enough, its soundtrack was done by none other than Ennio Morricone, and was one of his first soundtrack hits.
[An Nahar] Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a raft of political and military sanctions on Thursday after French politicians approved a bill making it a crime to deny Armenian genocide.
Turkey will recall its ambassador from Gay Paree and suspend mutual political visits as well as joint military projects, including joint exercises, Erdogan said.
"From now on we are revising our relations with La Belle France."
Most of the sanctions imposed on La Belle France, a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization.... ally, will be in the military sphere.
Turkey will now decide on a case-by-case on every military demand made by EU member La Belle France to use Turkish airspace and military bases, Erdogan said, and will from now on reject any French demand for its military vessels to dock at Turkish ports.
Erdogan said Turkey would boycott a joint economic committee meeting in Gay Paree in January and would not take part in twinning projects with La Belle France.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2011 00:00 ||
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#2
boy, the Turks are sure hypersensitive over the truth. Dirtbags
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/23/2011 9:58 Comments ||
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#3
I wonder about the rumor that Erdogan has rectosigmoid cancer, and how far along it is.
Typically, colon cancer is pretty deadly, because it remains undetected until too late, which is why there is such emphasis on colonoscopy screening.
However, rectosigmoid cancer is so low in the colon that it tends to give itself away earlier on, improving treatment odds. But as with many other cancers today, with improved treatment techniques, the most dangerous thing is procrastination. Those who delay treatment die.
Connecticut independent Sen. Joe Lieberman has directed the staff of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, which he chairs, to examine miscommunication between law enforcement agencies related to the Justice Department's Operation Fast and Furious. This adds months to the investigation.... moving into the height of the election season, and Joe ain't no right wing extremist
A spokesperson told The Daily Caller Wednesday that Lieberman "believe[s] that the lack of interagency coordination along the border merits further examination, and as Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, he has directed his staff to follow up with the relevant federal agencies on that topic."
At least 300 people in Mexico were killed with Fast and Furious weapons, as was Border Patrol agent Brian Terry. The identities of the Mexican victims are unknown.
Some reports suggest that the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Agency and Immigration and Customs Enforcement were also involved in some manner or another with the operation.
For instance, Pajamas Media reported that the night Terry was killed, an FBI informant was in the drug cartel rip crew that used Fast and Furious weapons to murder him. Rip crews are armed groups of bandits who work for specific drug cartels and try to rob rival cartel shipments and illegal immigrants as they're crossing the border.
Pajamas reports that the DEA also had some knowledge of that drug cartel rip crew's whereabouts. Assuming the reports are true, the DEA and the FBI failed to "deconflict," or warn other agencies including the Border Patrol about potentially deadly risks. Joe's expanding the investigation to other departments.....
Posted late enough last night that it seemed right to roll over to today.
-- tw at 9:34 a.m. ET
Joltin' Joe Lieberman announces a Senate Homeland Security investigation on F&F "inter-ageny miscommunication" and the head of Border Patrol runs away the very same day.
Statement from Alan D. Bersin, Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Earlier today, I notified the President of my intent to resign as Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection effective Dec. 30. I have expressed my deep gratitude and appreciation to President Obama and Secretary Napolitano for the opportunity to have led such an exceptional organization and for the confidence they have shown in me.
#2
Alan was a US Atty, Supt of San Diego City Schools, et al, and a RECESS APPOINTMENT. That alone should tell you he was damaged goods, like much of Obama's political apppointments
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/22/2011 20:08 Comments ||
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#3
OK, I understand cockroaches fleeing from the light, but it seems a little early in the game to be falling on your sword. Also, as head of the BP, doesn't he have some government immunity and access to DOJ legal resources?
#4
The resignation wouldn't give him immunity from a Senate subpoena, would it? He still knows what he knew and was responsible for what took place at the time in question, though he won't be after the 30th, right?
#5
Correction these guys do not fall on their sword, they fall into a big pile of money. Onto a lucrative paycheck in the private sector for his import/export "expertise."
But at least he will no longer be gun-running for the Cartels on the taxpayer's dime.
Posted by: regular joe ||
12/23/2011 9:52 Comments ||
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#6
He has no immunity whatsoever, whether a government employee or a private citizen, unless the DoJ specifically grants him immunity.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/23/2011 10:10 Comments ||
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#7
*cough* Presidential pardon *cough*
Was it wrong of me to think 'British Petroleum' when I saw BP? Or is this just a shorthand that 'those in the know' already are aware of?
#8
Cynic that I am, I can't help wondering if Lieberman is more interested in sweeping this thing under the rug than he is in exposing it. My impression of Bersin is that he is a climber always on the lookout for newer, bigger opportunities. Maybe he'll run for a state wide office. I doubt if the LA Times would look too hard for any complicity on his part with F&F. Could also be that he just wants to get away from the stink.
[Dawn] Responding to intriguing questions being raised from right and left, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... made a strong assertion of parliamentary supremacy in the National Assembly on Thursday, declaring that all state organs, including the military, were answerable to parliament and none could claim to be "a state within the state". Y'know, if they raised bananas they'd be a banana republic...
His sharp comments in the lower house -- as well as in a speech earlier in connection with the birthday of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah -- followed some dire speculations relating to a defence ministry reply to a Supreme Court query and some challenging remarks by opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan about the state of the government's control over the military.
"All institutions of the country are answerable to parliament and nobody is above law," the prime minister said at the fag-end of his second intervention in the house during the day that was greeted by a standing ovation from the treasury benches and supportive statements from allied parties.
The obvious provocation was some divergent interpretations of a two-paragraph letter sent by the defence secretary to the Supreme Court registrar stating that his ministry "only exercises administrative control over the Pakistain Army and the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and it does not exercise any operational control over these organizations".
This was not a new position taken by the ministry, stated even by Defence Minister Ahmad Mukhtar in a speech to the National Assembly some time back, but had been reiterated apparently to support the ministry's contention in its letter dated Dec 16 that it had "no knowledge, interaction or information worth submission" in the court vis-a-vis replies submitted by former ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani and an American businessman of Pak origin, Mansoor Ijaz, about a controversial anti-army memorandum sent by Mr Mansoor in May to the then US military chief.
Chaudhry Nisar said media reports about the ministry's letter indicated the army General Headquarters and ISI were not under the government's control and blamed Mr Gilani's government for bringing the situation to this pass.
But the prime minister rejected this assertion, saying no organ of the state could say "I am a state within the state" and, in a reference to his position as the chief executive representing parliament, added: "Decision-making is done only by parliament."
He recalled his oft-repeated statement that he had made the military leadership accountable to parliament as had happened in military briefings given to joint sittings of the lower and upper houses, including last held after the May 2 US commando raid that killed Al Qaeda chief the late Osama bin Laden ... who abandoned all hope when he entered there... at his Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... hideout, and said "they are answerable to parliament" and that any statement to the contrary could be a "misunderstanding".
In his earlier speech at an exhibition of rare photographs and papers of the Quaid-i-Azam organised by the Pakistain National Council of the Arts, the prime minister claimed credit for bringing unity in the country in support of the army's fight against terrorism and said:
"Therefore, my army, my military is disciplined and follows the Constitution of the country.
"If some individuals think they are not under the government, they are mistaken. They are under the government and they will remain under the government because we are the elected, chosen representatives of the people of Pakistain."
In emphasising the government-military cooperation, Mr Gilani referred to parliamentary support for anti-terrorism operations, support to the security establishment after the November 2008 Mumbai attacks and the anti-Osama raid, and a strong position taken on the recent NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization.... attack on two border posts in Mohmand ... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar... tribal area that killed 24 Pak soldiers, as well as the doubling of military salaries, and said: "We have enhanced the image of the military... and they know what were the issues under (former president) Gen Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... and what are issues now."
But the prime minister appeared piqued over objections being raised over the number of Pak visas issued to American intelligence personnel in connection with a probe of the Osama affair. "Now they are asking about how those visas were issued and we ask on what visa he (Osama) had come here?"
In both his speeches, Mr Gilani spoke of "conspiracies" being hatched to "pack up" his government and said there would be "no use sitting in this house if we cannot protect the interests of the people".
Chaudhry Nisar reiterated PML-N's position to stand by the government against any undemocratic move to topple it -- contrary to the past tradition of opposition parties seeking GHQ's help against a government -- and, while criticising the government for allowing what he called a bad situation to develop, said all was not lost and there was still time for the government to "mend itself and control the situation".
Earlier, the prime minister informed the house that an inquiry had shown that a government reply to a question in the last session had wrongly stated that 30,000 pounds had been paid to PML-N leader Javed Hashmi for medical treatment abroad and offered his regrets for the error over which some members of the opposition party had tabled a privilege motion.
The sitting, which ended with a six-day adjournment, was also marked by criticism of intelligence agencies from almost all parties for allegedly threatening telephone calls made to an anchor of a television channel and a token walkout by journalists from the press gallery before the house authorised Speaker Fehmia Mirza to constitute a special committee to probe the matter.
A motion moved by PPP chief whip Khurshid Ahmed Shah and adopted by the house said the committee, likely to be headed by an opposition politician, would have 15 days to make a report.
Chaudhry Nisar had said his party was ready to chair the committee which would consist of members from all parties in the house.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Pak military Thursday rejected the conclusions of a US investigation into a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization.... Arclight airstrike that killed two dozen Pak soldiers last month along the Afghanistan-Pakistain border.
US officials, unveiling the results of their investigation into the Nov. 25-26 incident that has enraged Paks, said both sides were to blame and said the soldiers' deaths were partly rooted in miscommunication and misunderstandings.
Mighty Pak Armyfront manMajor General Athar Abbas ... who is The Very Model of a Modern Major General... said Pakistain does not agree with the US findings because they are "short on facts."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] The United States has offered to send a team to Pakistain to brief the military on the findings of its investigation into the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... raid, the State Department said on Thursday.
"We accept responsibility for mistakes committed by the US side in the NATO air strike incident" that led to the death of 24 Pak soldiers, the department's deputy front man Mark Toner told a briefing.
The US, he said, was prepared to offer compensation to the families of troops who bit the dust.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2011 00:00 ||
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Following Palestinian Media Watch's exposure of the Palestinian Authority funded Zayzafuna magazine's presenting Hitler as a role model for youth, and the Wiesenthal Center's protest to UNESCO, UNESCO has announced it is no longer funding the magazine:
Letter from the office of UNESCO's Director-General:
"UNESCO is shocked and dismayed by the content of the February issue, and has requested more detailed information and clarification from the editors of the magazine and to Palestinian Authority. UNESCO strongly deplores and condemns the reproduction of such inflammatory statements in a magazine associated with UNESCO's name and mission and will not provide any further support to the publication in question." "But we'd like to extend our subscriptions. You guys have any specials going?"
[An Nahar] Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party.... vowed on Thursday that the bombers would not be allowed to have any impact on the political process, after a wave of attacks in Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... that killed 57 people.
"The timing of these crimes and their locations confirm once again to any doubters the political nature of the goals that those criminals want to achieve," Maliki said in a statement.
"The criminals and those who stand behind them will not succeed in changing events or the political process, or in escaping punishment."
Parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi condemned attacks, which he said "threaten national unity."
The Parliament called an urgent meeting of politicians for Friday, the Mohammedan day of prayer and rest.
The Storied Baghdad attacks, the deadliest in more than four months, mostly targeted Shiite neighborhoods and coincided with the morning rush hour. Security forces quickly cordoned off bomb sites, Agence La Belle France Presse correspondents and officials said.
Health ministry front man Ziad Tariq put the toll at 57 dead and 176 maimed in 10 attacks. An interior ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... , said 63 people were killed and 185 maimed.
Thursday's violence was the worst since August 15, when 74 people were killed and more than 200 maimed in a series of attacks across 17 Iraqi cities.
The attacks come with Iraqi politicians at loggerheads over a warrant issued for the arrest of Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, with Maliki demanding that Kurdish authorities hand over the Sunni Arab leader, who is holed up in their autonomous region. Hashemi denies the charges.
Maliki has also called for his Sunni deputy Saleh al-Mutlak, who belongs to the same Iraqiya bloc as Hashemi, to be sacked after he described the Shiite-led government as a "dictatorship".
Iraqiya, meanwhile, has boycotted parliament and the cabinet, and Maliki has threatened to replace their ministers in the year-old unity government.
At a news conference in Storied Baghdad on Wednesday, Maliki called for Kurdish officials to transfer Hashemi, and warned Iraqiya that he would replace its nine cabinet ministers if they continued to boycott government sessions.
Hashemi denied the terror charges against him after the warrant was issued for his arrest on Monday, and insisted he is willing to stand trial on condition that it be held in the autonomous Kurdish region.
Maliki and other leaders have called for talks to resolve the crisis, but the premier's front man told AFP he would not accept any mediation over the charges against Hashemi.
Violence is down from its peak in Iraq in 2006 and 2007, but attacks remain common. A total of 187 people were killed in violence in November, according to official figures.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2011 00:09 ||
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Officials in Jerusalem have decided to cancel a $141 million defense deal with Turkey, saying they were concerned that Ankara could hand over cutting-edge intelligence equipment to third parties hostile to Israel.
#3
East Jerusalem is, or was, directly connected to the West Bank, until Israel created a ring of urban settlements in the West Bank, effectively encircling it. They are now closing the ring, effectively making East Jerusalem a Paleo enclave, cutting it off from the West Bank.
Without easy traffic between the two, the East Jerusalem Paleos will be deprived of any non-Israeli logistical support.
#4
Excellent, a slow-motion siege operation that will make it more likely that the Arab population will slowly but surely be drained from East Jerusalem. And with the Israeli factional politics in play, the more insistent of the settler factions can be permitted to buy up any building sold there and move in.
Israel has canceled a $141 million defense deal with Turkey, a reflection of the steep deterioration in relations between the former allies, Today's Zaman reported.
Israeli officials said Thursday they are concerned that Turkey could deliver the state-of-the-art airborne intelligence units to third parties hostile to Israel. They said the deal was signed in 2008.
Officials in Israel's Defense Ministry and Elbit Systems, the manufacturer of the system, confirmed the deal was called off. There was no immediate comment from Ankara.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/23/2011 00:00 ||
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met in Ankara Tuesday with 11 Palestinians who were released by Israel as part of the agreement that secured the release of Gilad Shalit from Hamas captivity.
Among the prisoners Abbas met during his visit to Turkey was Amna Muna, who lured teenager Ofir Rahum to his death in 2001. According to photos aired by Palestinian television, Abbas met with Muna privately.
She was eventually deported to Turkey along with several other Palestinian prisoners.
An official in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said it was "shocking to see a man who tells the entire world he wants to make peace with Israel fly all the way to Turkey to meet a despicable murderer."
The Palestinian president also met with Jihad Ya'amur, who took part in the kidnapping and murder of Nachshon Wachsman in 1994. During the meeting Abbas said the release of the remaining Palestinian prisoners was at the top of the Palestinian leadership's agenda.
As the civil war in Syria continues and the ethnic tension is rising, the countrys Sunnis are threatening the Alawite minority against their continued support of President Bashar Assad, who is an Alawite himself.
Mamoun al-Homsy, a former Syrian MP and one of the countrys opposition leaders, has reportedly recently distributed a recorded message to the Alawite community in Syria, in which he warns its members against supporting Assad.
In the message, al-Homsy called on the Alawites to immediately renounce Assad, warning them that if they do not do so, Syria will become the graveyard of the Alawites.
He also stressed that Syrias Sunni Muslims will not remain silent over Assads crimes, adding that they intend to abide by the rule of an eye for an eye and will teach you (Alawites) a lesson that you will not forget.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese-based As-Safir newspaper has reported that the U.S. government is well aware of the danger of widespread revenge against the Alawite minority in Syria after the expected downfall of the Assad regime.
According to the newspaper, this issue was the focus of the talks that were held between U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and Syrian opposition leaders in Switzerland on December 6.
#1
This would be quite unfair, as only Assad's Alawite tribe has benefited from his reign, and the rest of the Alawites have been as oppressed and starved as the Sunnis.
However, guilt by association, and Arabs have never been ones to neglect persecuting minorities of any kind.
[An Nahar] German's foreign ministry said Thursday it had summoned Syria's ambassador to Berlin to demand an immediate halt to the "brutal" repression of anti-regime demonstrators by government forces.
"The brutal acts by the security forces against the Syrian population are absolutely unacceptable and a flagrant violation of Syria's agreement with 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... said Boris Ruge, in charge of Middle East affairs at the foreign ministry.
"Given the crimes that have come out into the open, everyone should be asking himself if he can morally serve such a regime," he said in a statement.
The Germany government will continue to exert pressure on Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... 's regime to meet its international obligations, the statement said.
Germany's move came as an Arab League team was headed to Syria to launch an observer mission to oversee a plan to end the nine months of bloodshed after the opposition accused regime forces of "massacring" hundreds in two days.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2011 00:05 ||
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Wonder if this is worth a 3 am phone call in Hawaii...
Picked this up from the public broadcast, issued last night as an ONI Special Advisory.
REPORTS FROM MARITIME FORCES AND COMMERCIAL MARITIME INTERESTS INDICATE CONCERN WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR LOCALIZED DISRUPTION TO SHIPPING IN CONJUNCTION WITH FUTURE IRANIAN NAVAL EXERCISES. DURING PREVIOUS EXERCISES IRANIAN MARITIME FORCES CONDUCTED BOARDINGS AND INSPECTIONS OF MERCHANT SHIPS, INCLUDING THOSE FLAGGED TO EUROPEAN NATIONS. THE POSSIBILITY EXISTS THAT IRAN WILL ATTEMPT TO CONDUCT BOARDINGS AND INSPECTIONS DURING EXERCISES BETWEEN DECEMBER 2011 AND MARCH 2012. THE MOST LIKELY LOCATION FOR THIS ACTIVITY WOULD BE IN THE VICINITY OF THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ, PARTICULARLY IN AREAS CLOSER TO IRANIAN TERRITORIAL WATERS.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/23/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
looks like he'll get his very own Iranian Hostage Crisis
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/23/2011 10:05 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Decisive action? Odds are 50-50.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/23/2011 17:39 Comments ||
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#3
It was a big mess the last time Galrahn warned about anything.
[An Nahar] Hizbullah denied on Thursday U.S. allegations of involvement in a $300 million laundering scheme and drugs trafficking, saying they are aimed at targeting the resistance and tarnishing its image.
"Hizbullah categorically denies the false accusations of its involvement directly or indirectly in money laundering or drug trafficking or banking transactions as claimed by the New York Times," ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... the party said in a statement.
It slammed what it called attempts to cover up the operations of the spy networks backed by the U.S. to gather information on Hizbullah in favor of Israel.
The U.S. government said in a lawsuit filed in a Manhattan federal court last week that it seeks nearly a half-billion dollars in money-laundering penalties from some Lebanese financial entities, 30 U.S. car buyers and a U.S. shipping company.
Prosecutors said the $300 million was wired from Leb to the United States and used to buy used cars and ship them to West Africa. They said Hizbullah money-laundering channels were used to ship proceeds from the car sales and narcotics trafficking back to Leb.
The U.S. accusations came after an indictment in federal court in Virginia accused runaway Ayman Joumaa of leading a drug conspiracy that provided income for Hizbullah.
The New York Times also provided further insight into the issue saying the Lebanese Canadian Bank was one of the major entities laundering money for an international cocaine ring with ties to Hizbullah.
"The accusations marketed by the American administration against Hizbullah of funding its activities through illegitimate means are nothing but a new attempt aimed at targeting the resistance in Leb and tarnishing its image," the party said.
It added that the U.S. allegations came against the backdrop of the "failure" of the American "security" scheme to target Hizbullah through its spying networks in Leb.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Resistance? That's a funny way to spell 'Terrorist'....
TEHRAN: Iran's Navy chief said Thursday his forces plan to hold a 10-day drill in international waters beyond the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf, an exercise that could bring Iranian ships into proximity with US Navy vessels.
Suits us...
The drill will be Iran's latest show of strength in the face of mounting international criticism over its controversial nuclear program, which the West fears is aimed at producing atomic weapons charges that Tehran denies, insisting the program is for peaceful purposes only.
Iranian hard-liners have come out with occasional threats that Tehran would seal off the key waterway if the US or Israel moved against the country's nuclear facilities.
Adm. Habibollah Sayyari told Iranian state TV that the maneuvers, dubbed Velayat-90, will begin Saturday, He said they will be held in a 2,000-km stretch of sea off the southern edge of the Arabian Peninsula and into the Gulf of Aden, near the entrance to the Red Sea.
Sayyari denied an Iranian media report from last week that the drill would close the Strait of Hormuz. "There has been no decision yet on this," he was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
Oh yes there has...
However, he stressed that Iran's Navy and the Revolutionary Guards have the capability to close the strait but that "any decision on this will have to come from the leader," referring to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Sayyari said the Iranian Navy would use submarines, warships, missiles and torpedoes as well as unmanned planes during the drill but that it would take place "within the framework of international norms."
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/23/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Iranian hard-liners have come out with occasional threats that Tehran would seal off the key waterway if the US or Israel moved against the country's nuclear facilities.
I suppose the hulls of sunken Iranian warships could cause a problem in some places.
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.
An adviser to Egypt's military rulers said in a newspaper interview published on Thursday that a brutal attack on a female protester by Egyptian soldiers on Saturday was justified because the woman had insulted the army.
Khaleda Zia
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il collapsed on Dec. 15, two days before North Korea says he died, according to intelligence the South Korean government has received from Japan. The collapse was grave enough for top North Korean officials to convene an emergency meeting, though whether he died then or later is not known.
Responding to intriguing questions being raised from right and left, Prime Minister 
Mohmand
[Dawn] Pak military Thursday rejected the conclusions of a US investigation into a 
Nouri al-Maliki
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met in Ankara Tuesday with 11 Palestinians who were released by Israel as part of the agreement that secured the release of Gilad Shalit from Hamas captivity.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
