July 28, 2006: Apparently the Taliban has lost some 1000-1200 fighters killed in Afghanistan over the past 8-10 weeks. Despite this, there's only been a slight dip in the number of attacks, mainly because there's so much money being offered for those willing to fight. Apparently the Taliban recruited a lot of folks over the winter. Many Pakistani Pushtuns have been identified among the dead. Several hundred of these Taliban fighters have been captured as well, and some report that morale is getting shaky as the string of Taliban defeats continues.
The most discouraging thing for these Pakistani Taliban is the hostile reception they often get from Afghans. Some remote villages show fresh graves indicating a recent firefight, as villagers who don't want their school burned down, or daughters kept from learning how to read, will resist with force if they think they can muster sufficient numbers. Some of the tribes have agreed to tell the Taliban to stay away, or take on the entire tribe or clan. Since the Taliban have to operate in smaller groups (to avoid being detected by UAVs or Afghan army scouts), there are many more instances of local tribesmen mustering sufficient force to scare the Taliban away.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/28/2006 12:08 ||
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"there are many more instances of local tribesmen mustering sufficient force to scare the Taliban away"
Boo!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/28/2006 14:15 Comments ||
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The Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan is backed by foreign money, terror networks and fighters coming over the border from Pakistan, the top UN envoy in Afghanistan said on Wednesday. But Tom Koenigs, the special UN representative, said the Pakistan government was not backing the Taliban, as it once did, because the militant Islamists were a threat to its stability as well. "We face a Taliban movement, which has apparently recovered and has to be answered by a series of measures, political as well as military," he told reporters after briefing the UN Security Council.
Koenigs called the Taliban an insurgency that had taken hold in five Afghan southern provinces rather than just carrying out "some isolated terrorist acts." In the past three months, hundreds of people have been killed in hit-and-run raids and suicide bombings by Taliban guerrillas and their Islamic allies in the most intense period of the insurgency since the Taliban were removed from power in 2001 for harbouring Osama bin Laden.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2006 00:00 ||
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Gee, I bet the UN never saw that coming
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/28/2006 1:48 Comments ||
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Seems rather an occasion for the "Master of the Obvious" graphic. Where'd he think they were going to return from, Oz?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
07/28/2006 8:18 Comments ||
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Thanks Tom! Where would we be without timely intelligence updates and assessments from the UN envoy in Afghanistan?
Egypts Muslim Brotherhood, one of the largest Islamist political movements in the Arab world, rejected on Thursday sectarian fatwas by Saudi clerics against supporting Hizbollah in its fight against Israel.
Several Saudi clerics have issued religious opinions or fatwas banning support for the Lebanese guerrilla group. It is not allowed to support this Shia party, to operate under its control or to pray for their victory, one Wahhabi authority, Sheikh Abdullah bin Jabreen, said. Our advice to Sunnis is to have nothing to do with them.
Mohamed Habib, the deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is also Sunni but not Wahhabi, told Reuters: This is not the time for it (issuing such fatwas) and this is not the right circumstance. This fatwa gives the impression that there is a Shia danger that threatens the region and introduces division at the level of the Arab and Muslim world.
A statement by Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Mahdi Akef on Wednesday referred obliquely to the Saudi fatwas, saying that some people were trying to revive old sectarian divisions. Some governments are trying to disguise their failure to assist the resistance and even support for the Zionist aggression and American arrogance by bringing up matters such as the differences between the Shia and the Sunna and by saying that the Lebanese resistance is working for Iran, it said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2006 00:00 ||
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I'll see your fatwa and raise you one fatwa
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/28/2006 1:57 Comments ||
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well, duh! if you weren't so f!@#$ing crazy we could deal with you like normal people!
#3
This Sunni turn began the second that Congress let Iraq's Shiite leader present himself to them as a WOT hero after he praised Hizbollah back home. Catastrophic errors like that must not be made. Look before you leap.
RIYADH - A Saudi television appeal has raised at least 120 million riyals ($32 million) for Lebanon, where Israeli forces and Hezbollah guerrillas have been fighting for more than two weeks, state media said on Thursday. The money gathered during the day-long telethon, which lasted until the early hours of Thursday, included 10 million riyals from King Abdullah and 5 million riyals from Crown Prince Sultan, the state news agency SPA said.
Toss a little money in the kitty and the rubes will follow along ...
Saudi Arabia said earlier this week it had placed $1 billion in Lebanons central bank, in an effort to prop up the Lebanese pound, and made a separate donation of $500 million to help rebuild the battered country. The kingdom, the worlds largest oil exporter, last week also donated $50 million for urgent humanitarian aid, taking its total financial help so far to $1.582 billion.
Saudi Arabia has played a key role in supporting the Lebanese economy since 1990 and made clear it wants to maintain that role once the fighting has ended, partly to challenge the influence Iran exerts through its funding of Hezbollah.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/28/2006 00:00 ||
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$1.582 billion? That's what we're paying at the pump of a gallon of gas.
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/28/2006 1:58 Comments ||
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Anyone heard of a telethon for those Afghans who had been starving due to Taliban and Al Quaida? of a telethon for Darfur? For the victims of the tsunami and of Pakistan's earthquake?
#3
Auhhh yes, our friends the Soodi's again. Interesting how many of the financial matters concerning the GWOT eventually trail back to the majic kingdom.
July 28, 2006: China has sent three more battalions of infantry to the North Korean border, where problems with North Korean refugees, and aggressive North Korean border guards, continue. Over the last three years, China has added 30,000 troops to border security duty along the Yalu River, which separates the two countries. In that part of northern China, ethnic Koreans have long been a significant minority. But since the famines of the 1990s, over a million North Koreans are believed to have slipped across the border and sought refuge with the local Korean community. The Korean refugees work cheap, and many have moved on to other parts of China. An increasing number have made their way to South Korea. North Korean border guards have become less disciplined, and more active in robbing North Koreans and Chinese.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/28/2006 12:20 ||
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tu, I don't imagine the Chinese put up with crap from the likes of AI/HRW/ACLU/etc. Need I say more. I guess it would be one of the "benefits" of communism, lol!
Posted by: BA ||
07/28/2006 15:20 Comments ||
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North Korea Thursday refused to rejoin nuclear talks until the United States drops financial sanctions, dimming hopes of reviving the stalled discussions at a security meeting here. The communist state's announcement comes despite days of hectic diplomacy aimed at dragging Pyongyang back to the negotiating table on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2006 00:00 ||
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Not a problem. Go ahead and starve. Nobody out here cares--in fact, we hope it happens sooner. Start any trouble, however, and you'll be a charcoal briquette in a major-league hurry.
Posted by: mac ||
07/28/2006 1:05 Comments ||
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Meanwhile, CHINA is a'stillin repos or concentrating mil units down TAIWAN, VIETNAM, THAILAND and PHILIPINES wayz, SE ASIA + WESTPAC!? Looks like MOther Cindy's + Mother Hillary's Commie Airborne hopes to "liberate" several sovereign Asian nations at one time.
July 28, 2006: European counter-terror efforts continue in high gear, although without much publicity. In the last week. Italian police rounded up at least ten Algerian members of the GSPC. This Islamic terrorist organization was run out of Algeria after it's policy of slaughtering large numbers of civilians, made it too unpopular, and informed on, to survive there. Apparently the reputation of the GSPC in the Algerian expatriate community was not so great. The Islamic terrorists who flee to Europe usually bring their brutal methods with them. While these guys can be warm and fuzzy with like minded Moslems, they tend to be nasty with Moslems who disagree with them, or their methods. Worse, there are a lot more cell phones in Europe, and cell phones are definitely not the Islamic terrorists friend.
The GSPC cell that the Italians broke up was sustaining itself via the manufacture and sale of false documents for illegal immigrants. Most of these crooks tend to be Moslem, and many of them are fleeing Islamic terror in their home countries. Europe is one of the few places Islamic terrorists can flee to for refuge. But Europe is not a risk-free haven.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/28/2006 12:22 ||
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Keep rounding them up. Don't take them back. Your fishing fleets need fresh cut bait.
#1
The risk is that a violent, confrontational version of Islam finds resonance in a population alienated from mainstream values and progress. If the French government fails to take effective measures to promote the practice of a moderate form of Islam in prisons, it runs the risk of breeding a new generation of terrorists.
#2
The Ffrench government has not to encourage moderate islam but to discourage islam altogether on the guise of sacrosaint laicite (who is sternely enforced agiant anyone else). Actually people from Algerian origin who fought against Islam have been fired from left-controlled cities for "racism". The cities who did this should be struck with such heavy fines they would no longer be tempted to do it anew.
#3
In 2004, the Islamic Society of North America discussed "prison dawah (indoctrination)" as the main topic of its annual convention. They want: minority recruitment to Islam; majority indulgence of jihadism. And they are getting it.
ROME: Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi's government on Thursday called a parliamentary vote of confidence on measures to keep Italian troops in Afghanistan. The centre-left government called an open roll-call confidence vote in the upper house Senate to push through the measures, which have been contested by far-left pacifists in his coalition who want the troops to return home.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2006 00:00 ||
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Sad to see this, though they've stood by us far longer than I thought they would...
The Bush administration and GOP leaders on Thursday renewed their push for Senate approval of John Bolton as U.N. ambassador. Democrats maintained he is too brash and ineffective to be confirmed.
The sharp division all but guaranteed that lawmakers were headed toward another partisan showdown in the full Senate, although Democrats would not say whether their opposition would amount to a filibuster, as it did last year. A Senate vote on Bolton could come as early as September, just as election season heats up with Bush's foreign policy a major issue for voters. The United Nations has been at the forefront of international discussions on North Korea's missile tests, Iran's nuclear program and the crisis in the Middle East.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2006 00:00 ||
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Boxer doesn't want Bolton, she want's strap-on
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/28/2006 2:00 Comments ||
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If you haven't seen John Bolton Embarrasses a Confused Senator Kerry (Video)
Ambassador John Bolton totally outclassed Senator John F. Kerry in the Senate hearings on Thursday,
Video HERE http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2006/07/john-bolton-embarrasses-confused.html
#4
To those who still haven't realized the truth: The dems do not care one whit about the welfare of the US. Their sole concern is to score political points, assassinate character, obstruct, obfuscate, attack and divide. It's got nothing to do with a difference of opinion. It has only to do with hatred of what is good and right. At the risk of repeating myself for the umpteenth time, I say it again: These people have no soul.
Mobile phone traders in Pakistan have moved to dispel concerns that Indian made Nokia handsets could end up being sold in the country. Pakistan has a limit on the items which can be traded with India, and mobile phones are not on the permitted list.
An executive of one of the largest mobile phone distribution companies (authorised distributor of Nokia handsets), who asked not to be named, told the local Dawn newspaper that the government of Pakistan had not allowed the entry of the Indian-made mobile phones and it may not allow it in future.
Most distributors in Pakistan order their handsets via Nokia Middle East Africa, importing handsets manufactured in Finland, Hungary, Germany and China.
Chief Operating Officer of United Mobile, Azad Lalani said "I do not see future of the Indian-made Nokia phones in Pakistan because the Chinese-made Nokia phones have started arriving," adding that the Indian-made cell phones might be cheaper in terms of lower transportation cost, cheaper raw materials etc but the Pakistani customers had already developed a taste for handsets made elsewhere owing to their quality and reliability.
Nokia recently started manufacturing low-end handsets at a facility at Sriperumbudur, India. Due to the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan, trade between the two countries is heavily restricted.
Posted by: john ||
07/28/2006 17:35 ||
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Nokia India has started exporting mobile handsets from its plant at Sriperumbudur, about 50 km west of Chennai. The company now produces 10 different models at the plant and has started exports of some to Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. Nokia India employs about 2,700 people, 80 per cent of them involved in production. At the end of 2006, the plant is likely to employ more than 3,000. The Chennai plant, Mr Lehtela said, was close to becoming on par with any other Nokia facility in other parts of the world, in terms of key performance indicators.
Posted by: john ||
07/28/2006 17:49 Comments ||
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Maybe they could just put little Israeli flag stickers over the "Made in India" label...
Kuwait has demanded that Pakistan take immediate measures to stop the massive heroin smuggling from Pakistani airports into the country as the drug poses a serious threat to its internal security and stability.
"Or at least cut us in on a little of the action."
The Kuwaiti government is concerned that the drug has gained popularity among the rich tribal section of society, according to official documents of the Ministry of Labour and Overseas Pakistanis, seen by Daily Times, that will be discussed by a National Assembly standing committee on Friday.
The Amir of Kuwait, during a recent visit to Pakistan, told a delegation of senators headed by Senate Chairman Muhammadmian Soomro that the Kuwaiti government had restricted the issuance of visas to Pakistani workers because they were smuggling heroin into the country.
Top level sources confirmed that after receiving the reports from Kuwait, President General Pervez Musharraf directed Narcotics Minister Ghous Bux Mehar to rush to Kuwait and meet with the first deputy prime minister to remove their apprehensions. During their discussions, Kuwaits first deputy prime minister told Mr Mehar that drug smuggling from Pakistan had become a major threat to the security and satiability of the state. All the heroin available in Kuwait was coming from Pakistan, he said. Sources said Mr Mehar briefed the Kuwait official on Pakistans efforts to eradicate poppy cultivation and assured him that Pakistan would address Kuwaits concerns.
Posted by: john ||
07/28/2006 00:00 ||
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But what are the poor Pakistanis expected to export?
How unfair of Kuwait, Ummah OIC member and all that..
Posted by: john ||
07/28/2006 15:55 Comments ||
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GENEVA - A UN human rights body told Washington on Friday that any secret detention centres the United States was operating abroad violated international law and should be shut immediately.
Saying it had credible and uncontested reports of such jails, the Human Rights Committee said the United States appeared to have been detaining people secretly and in secret places for months and years. The state party should immediately abolish all secret detention, it said, echoing a similar demand in May by the UN Committee Against Torture.
What secret detention? Oh, that secret detention? No problem, it's closed! Hokay boys, close Guantanamo and open up Ice Station Zebra, quick!
In its findings on US observance of the UNs main political rights treaty, the committee said that the International Committee of the Red Cross must be given access to anybody held during armed conflict.
It could not accept Washingtons argument that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights does not apply to anyone not held on US soil, it added.
It doesn't accept anything we say, and why should they? It's not like they're accountable to anyone.
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, plane hijackings, the United States has been accused by human rights groups of operating secret detention centres in its so-called war on terrorism.
All based on the reports of terrorists, but if you can't trust an al-Qaeda dope on torture, who can you trust?
A report last month for the Council of Europe, the European human rights watchdog said more than 20 European states had colluded in a web of secret CIA jails and flight transfers of terrorism suspects from Asia to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
He didn't have any proof, but he's sure it happened.
In an initial reply to the committees 39-paragraph report, Washington stuck to its view about territorial limits and said the committee had spent too much time on the United States. The recent committee conclusions on North Korea were about half the length of that on the United States, the US mission to the United Nations in Geneva said in a statement.
And they're embarrassed about how much time they spent on the NKors.
The state party (the United States) should review its approach and interpret the covenant in good faith, said the committee, in its first US review for 11 years. The US report to the committee, submitted in October, was seven years late.
Good.
We consider that the major violations were to do with the fight against terrorism, said French magistrate Christine Chanet, who chairs the committee which is made up of 18 internationally recognised independent experts.
The committee asked the United States to respond to its comments within a year. Asked what would happen if Washington took no notice, Chanet, speaking in French, said: There is a strong chance that they will ignore many of the recommendations. They are so certain about their position (but) we can always hope for a change of attitude. The next US review is not due until 2010.
And we shouldn't respond until 2017.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/28/2006 23:10 ||
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BAGHDAD - Deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein will know on October 16 whether he is to be found guilty of crimes against humanity and executed, the judge said on Thursday on the last day of his trial.
Judge Rauf Abdel Rahman brought a day of turbulent proceedings to a close after court-appointed lawyers completed the defence arguments, saying: The trial will adjourn until October 16 to check over the files of this case.
On Thursday, the last defendant to make his case, Awad Ahmed al-Bandar, had to be physically pushed back into his chair by court bailiffs after the glowering former judge denounced his counsel and tried to defend himself. Rahman told him to shut up and a furious al-Bandar later exclaimed: If you were to execute me, that would be better than what you said to me before.
"Hokay. Where's the rope?"
Bandars stand-in lawyer made a brief statement in his defence, arguing that as a judge in a Saddam-era revolutionary court, his client had only done his duty in signing the Dujail residents death warrants. He was a man applying the law and all the defendants were transferred to the revolutionary court legally, the lawyer said.
Just following orders.
While the verdict in the Dujail case is awaited, attention will turn to Saddams next trial. On August 21, he is due to face prosecution for his role in his regimes bloody Anfal campaign against Iraqi Kurds in the early 1980s.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/28/2006 00:00 ||
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Let him await his hanging in the spider hole he hid in.
what's the holding facility like that he's in? plush?
Posted by: Jan ||
07/28/2006 0:43 Comments ||
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This crap has dragged on long enough! I don't suppose there's any hope he'll be strung up on October 17? Let's get it over with already!
I will be willing to wait a few more weeks if they'll be using a plastic shredder on him though...
Posted by: Dar ||
07/28/2006 17:12 Comments ||
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Quite a lively bunch over at YouTube.
Love the cartoon. Especially the end with the droopy Uncle Sam.
Definitely going to give RugRats a run for the money.
Ooops sorry. There's Jews in RugRats.
No RugRats for you.
Posted by: J. D. Lux ||
07/28/2006 17:30 Comments ||
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Israel insists it has been given the green light from the world to press on with its deadly assault on Lebanon and called up more troops, after suffering its biggest single-day military loss in the conflict. But Israel says it will limit its ground offensives after the killing of nine troops, including an Australian, in pitched battles with Hezbollah guerrillas yesterday.
"Yesterday in Rome we in effect obtained the authorisation to continue our operations until Hezbollah is no longer present in southern Lebanon," Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon told Army Radio. He was referring to a 15-nation conference in the Italian capital on Wednesday.
World powers remain at odds over how to end the conflict, despite the mounting death toll and warnings that Lebanon is facing a humanitarian catastrophe. Much of Lebanon's infrastructure is in ruins, hundreds of thousands have fled their homes and there are increasing shortages of food and medicines.
The US, Israel's closest ally, infuriated Arab opinion by blocking calls at the Rome meeting for an immediate cease-fire and instead calling for efforts to reach a "sustainable" truce. US President George W Bush says he is "troubled" by the destruction Israeli strikes have left in Lebanon but rejects any "fake peace" that does not tackle the conflict's root causes.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit say Arab countries are disappointed that the Rome conference has "failed to meet Arab demands" for an immediate truce.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice insists there has been agreement in Rome on the need for a multinational UN-mandated force for Lebanon and says the world body plans to hold a meeting this week or next.
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said yesterday the bloc would be willing to contribute peacekeeping forces to Lebanon if a UN resolution allowed it.
A diplomatic source in Paris says France is to propose to its UN Security Council partners a resolution that would see the creation of a buffer zone on both sides of the border as part of a strategy to end the conflict.
That won't fly -- Israel will never allow 'peacekeepers' on their side of the border.
Israel is already planning a buffer zone in Lebanon to protect its border, while insisting there is no question of another occupation - memories of the quagmire that resulted from its 1982 invasion are still raw.
The US also prevented adoption of a UN Security Council draft resolution critical of Israel after its warplanes killed four UN observers in a raid in a south Lebanon town that UN chief Kofi Annan said was "apparently deliberate".
Mr Ramon says Israel no longer regards the border town of Bint Jbeil, a Hezbollah military stronghold where the nine soldiers were killed, as a civilian area after ordering people to leave. "Everyone who is still in south Lebanon is linked to Hezbollah, we have called on all who are there to leave," he said.
#1
I am always amazed by Israel politicians ineptitude. That is the kind of things that you know but you dont say unless you want to sabotage the whole mlitary operation and want a reaction.
#3
Kudos to GWB for sticking to the no ceasefire without a sustainable solution position.
Not that I think we will get one, but it will at least get the appeasers to propose alternatives rather than just call for a ceasefire. We will see how laughable some of those alternatives are.
#4
Israel insists it has been given the green light from the world to press on with its deadly assault on Lebanon and called up more troops,
LOL! Could there be a more perfect example of the MSM's miguided opinion of themselves? Ah, yes, ABC, they can't proceed without a green light from you. Being that you are so mighty with your pens. Problem is than in a real war, where there is an army (good or evil) that chooses to act without your approval, the pen actually is NOT mighter than the sword.
The light has been 'green' for so long the bulb has rusted solid into its socket. About the only real upside to recent events is the near-obligatory Arab stupidity of finally unmasking the extent of how entrenched their government authorized anti-Semitic terrorism actually is. The Palestinian election of Hamas epitomizes this to perfection. All that remains is for Israel to force-feed them unlimited quantities of cordite-laced sand.
#7
Well, let the "World" know that this action by the army of Satan (Hezbollah) Must FOREVER be quelled. Srew the world. The light is greener than ever and Bekaa is next.
Defense Minister Amir Peretz declared on Thurday that the IDF was to establish a "special security zone" in southern Lebanon in order to keep Hizbullah from approaching the Israeli-Lebanese border.
The decision - reminiscent of the 40 kilometer security zone established during the 1982 Lebanon War - was reached in order to "create a territory that is clean of Hizbullah outposts."
"They will no be able to return," Peretz asserted in a joint press conference with Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz, adding "we will not agree to the raising of the Hizbullah flag over Israel's [border]."
The defense minister stated that when the two soldiers, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, were kidnapped, Israel decided to launch the offensive.
"No longer will a terrorist organization threaten the State of Israel," he insisted, "No longer will there be such a threat without a determined response."
Peretz expressed great appreciation at the northern residents, whose daily lives have been disrupted, but, as the defense minister said, even from the bomb shelters and secured rooms they call upon the State to continue the fighting. "Do not relent, do not stop until you have change the situation," he quoted the northern residents as saying.
He turned to both the Lebanese and Palestinian public, assuring them that Israel's attack was not directed at them, but at the terrorist organizations operating from their midst. He told them extremist elements in the region were using them in a completely irresponsible manner to serve Iranian interests.
Halutz summarized the bloody battle in Bint Jbail on Wednesday in which eight soldiers were killed, saying that Israel had paid a heavy price, but the Hizbullah paid more dearly.
The chief of staff asserted that the IDF knew of hundreds of Hizbullah operatives - including senior officers - who were killed by the Israeli offensive, though he would not mention any names.
#3
Reality dictates: in order for Israel to survive, the missile threat has to end for all time. And that can only happen if Iran is wiped out. Any status quo peace will only permit revamped missile preparations, and new missiles will be advanced.
The Sunni majority states who were hoping for the crushing of Shiite power, are now venting at Israel after Iraq's Shiite controlled leader was allowed to present himself to the US Congress as a champion of counter-terror. And he did that after his Parliament praised Hizbollah.
#4
Griper - how apropos. Was that just frustration speaking? If so, fine. Dumb and foolish, implies everyone else is an idiot if they don't agree, but fine. I hope you feel better, now. Please ignore the rest of this comment.
If not, then you must have a personally gratifying plan and schedule, right? Nuke Qom? When, President Griper? Today, before lunch? Sure thing - you can get that knee examined in the afternoon.
You blather about reality, yet you ignore it utterly.
The Iranians aren't getting away with anything. In fact, they've miscalculated on a scale that's quite impressive. Even the MSM tools are openly acknowledging the puppet status of Hezbollah and Syria - pointing the finger directly at Iran. I'd say this is helping us immeasurably in resolving the political necessities to take them down.
If Maliki's not completely different from every other muslim in the world he's just shit, is he? How idiotic. You don't know much about Islam, either. If you claim to, you're a liar, pure and simple.
Such witlessness and lack of appreciation for the efforts, sacrifice and achievements of so many so far is both disgusting and disheartening. As for future US actions, thank God it will receive precisely the attention it merits.
#7
Jons. Calm down, have some dip. Griper did not say that everything done in the WoT so far is meaningless. Get off your horse. What he does say is that effort so far are not extreme enough. If something isn't done about Iran, these smaller battles will continue, and continue, and continue... He advocates dealing with Iran via the technology they so much wish to have, so what? How about disagreeing in a civil manner? Do you wonder why Dems have a reputation for not being able to debate ideas in a civil manner?
SPoD. NS. I'm with you there.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
07/28/2006 11:15 Comments ||
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#8
yeah!! that coming from an idiot that functionaly helped the terrorist getting the upper hand.
Even the MSM tools are openly acknowledging the puppet status of Hezbollah and Syria - pointing the finger directly at Iran. I'd say this is helping us immeasurably in resolving the political necessities to take them down.
Bingo. Problem is, Israel has to win this one, too, or Iran's tools/apologists will also be emboldened.
The armed wing of the Hamas militant group on Thursday dismissed comment from President Mahmoud Abbas, during a visit to Rome, that a solution could be imminent to the case of a captured Israeli soldier. The Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades was among three factions that captured Corporal Gilad Shalit on June 25 in a cross-border raid from Gaza. Israel rejected demands for a prisoner swap and launched an offensive that has killed 148 Palestinians.
"Nothing has changed in the case of the Israeli soldier," said Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades. "The file remains in the hands of the resistance factions and not in the hands of any politician even if that politician is Abu Mazen," Ubaida said, using Abbas's nickname.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2006 00:00 ||
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Some of the Arab League money recently transferred to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has been paid out to Hamas ministers this week, according to PA sources. The United States has been leading a campaign to keep international funds from paying Hamas officials' salaries ever since the Islamic militant group won parliamentary elections this winter.
The freezing of international money to the PA for this end has kept some 165,000 civil servants, about half of them armed thugs police officers, from receiving wages this spring, helping plunge the Palestinian areas into financial crisis. The Arab League raised money to help the Palestinians in March but was unable to transfer it until earlier this month. America has pressured banks not to allow money to flow to the PA, lest they be held in violation of US anti-terror laws, which forbid sending money to organizations that the government has designated terrorist groups, as Hamas has been. At the time of the transfer, the Arab League declined to specify how the $100 million provided by it and Saudi Arabia had reached Abbas.
"Go away."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2006 00:00 ||
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At the time of the transfer, the Arab League declined to specify how the $100 million provided by it and Saudi Arabia had reached Abbas.
That's ok. The FBI is really good at tracing ill-advised money flows through the banking system. They should find the results amusing.
#2
They'll change their minds once the Hezzies, Hizzies, Jihis, Jiglies and Hammies, etal. start firing the bigger, long-distance stuff. Bigger + Longer Distance > higher likelihood of "Dual-use", including but not limited to nukes.
Israel's UN ambassador on Thursday ruled out major UN involvement in any potential international force in Lebanon, saying more professional and better-trained troops were needed for such a volatile situation.
Dan Gillerman also said Israel would not allow the United Nations to join in an investigation of an Israeli air strike that demolished a post belonging to the current U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. Four UN observers were killed in the Tuesday strike. "Israel has never agreed to a joint investigation, and I don't think that if anything happened in this country, or in Britain or in Italy or in France, the government of that country would agree to a joint investigation," Gillerman said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
hell the UN seems to be working right along side the Hezbollah.
Posted by: Jan ||
07/28/2006 0:31 Comments ||
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#2
They dont seem, they are.
Remember that Peter Hansen, the head of the UNWRA, said, on CBC, in 2004: "I am sure that there are members of the Hamas among our employees, and I dont see any problem with it".
Employing Hamas' terrorists, helping Hezbollah, same dirty job.
#6
Canal Hotel bombing August 19, 2003, and the death of Sergio Vieira de Mello. Notice Kofi blamed no one directly.
United Nations Secretary-General, commented that the bombing would not stop the organization's efforts to rebuild Iraq, and said: "Nothing can excuse this act of unprovoked and murderous violence against men and women who went to Iraq for one purpose only: to help the Iraqi people recover their independence and sovereignty, and to rebuild their country as fast as possible, under leaders of their own choosing."
#7
That bombing was probably the luckiest thing that could have happened for the Americans. Can you imagine if we'd and a UNeuch on every street corner in Fallujah?
When the bomb exploded from the plane. I felt I was in hell. Real hell, shouts 31-year-old Ghassan stabbing the air with his finger and straining over the side of his grubby hospital bed. Professing allegiance to Palestinian national security, Ghassan went to Gazas Maghazi refugee camp last week to fight the Israelis during a particularly bloody incursion. I feel chemicals. I feel high heat, I feel high pain, he elaborates in English, both legs heavily bandaged, as patients and visitors brush past in a crowded corridor of Gazas Al-Shifa hospital. They found shrapnel with test written on it, he shouts.
Accusations abound that the Israelis, pressing a nearly five-week offensive in which 130 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, are using a new weapon. Doctors say they have never before seen such specific burn injuries, concentrated so much on the lower body and causing such a high propensity of amputations. The Health Ministry has already called for an independent inquiry.
A French humanitarian group reported unusually severe injuries. One of its doctors reportedly raised the possibility that Israel used cluster bombs. In response to a query about use of a new type of weapon possibly containing chemicals, the army said only that specific claims are being checked.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Again the same old ridiculous antisemitic slanders. Those Arabs mentionned in this article are still living in the darkest Middle Age. Tiring.
#2
I see opportunity here. The Israelis need to start rumors that their new bombs:
$bull; Cause penises to fall off
$bull; Cause Arab girls to lose their virginity
$bull; Have pages from the Koran mixed in the explosive
$bull; Are full of shrapnel with passages from the Torah printed on them
I wish I could write in Arabic. I would start a website and spew this stuff all day.
#5
High-explosive cause death and pain? Who knew? Btw, the lci channel had the same claim made by a lebanese physician taking care of refugees claiming his two main problems were stress and skin diseases caused by the "strange weapons" Isreal uses; of course, this was given casually and en passant, the usual anti-israeli innuendo by french media.
#7
"They found shrapnel with test written on it"
Do share! I'm sure some neutral doctors would like to see a few of these patients as they come in for themselves!
I'm guessing the Brave Lions of Hezb'Allah are hiding under the bed with their little leggies sticking out.
Another common injury reported is many of them show up missing a thumb. Happens a lot when bombs go off nearby and their mouths reflexivly clamp shut. :-)
#12
All ordinance should be dipped in pig shit prior to using. Oh, and be sure to scratch 'pig shit' on the outside. This little trick overcomes the will to survive among Arab men. Many die after sucessful operations from infections.
#20
Gromgoru, your high esteem of the french will go up YET an another a notch : the liberal-limousine I-télé continous news channel is having a reportage expressing the exact same claims... french propaganda SOP : letting the arab witnesses do the talking about the chemical weapons, the weird wounds, the "old uranium used to enhance bombs",...without any counterbalancing, using NGO sources which have "photographed clusterbombs", saying the Un will investigate,... nothing said at face value, just innuendo.
Of course, this is aired every 30 minutes.
Isn't that nice, when the leftists join the quai d'Orsay in a love embrace?
This astounding new ornance often causes bleeding, dermal burns, over-pressure hemmorhaging, concussion and, quite frequently, enemy deaths. Rather unlike the enemy's weapons.
In the United States, key legislators are joining in the growing call for smaller, cheaper carriers, and the use of armed UAVs sooner, rather than later. This debate is hot right now because design work is currently underway for the next generation of American carriers.
The first ship of new CVN 21 class, is expected to cost nearly $14 billion. About 40 percent of that is for designing the first ship of the class, so the actual cost of first ship (CVN 21) itself will be some $9 billion.
Against this, the navy expects to reduce the carriers lifetime operating expenses by several billion dollars because of greatly reduced crew size. Compared to the current Nimitz class carriers (which cost over $5 billion each to built), the CVN 21s will feel, well, kind of empty. Lots more automation, computer networking and robots.
CVN 21 doesn't start building until 2008, and won't go to sea until about 2014. By that time, many of the warplanes operating off the carrier will be robotic. By 2014, even more of the crew will be replaced by robots. The CVN 21 will be about the same size as current carriers, but will about half as many sailors on board. The last of the current Nimitz class carriers entered service three years ago.
There have been calls for smaller carriers before, but the large size of jet aircraft created a strong case for large (90-100,000 ton) carriers. That trend, however, is now going into reverse.
The next generation of aircraft will include the vertical take-off version of the F-35, the 25 ton F-35B, and several, smaller, UAV designs. The carrier based UAVs are no fantasy. Work on flight control software for carrier operations is well underway. Combat UAVs (UCAVs) weight about 20 percent less than manned aircraft, and cost 20-30 percent less. They use less fuel as well.
While the navy would prefer to design and build the first generation UCAVs for use on existing carriers, these smaller and cheaper aircraft go together well with smaller and cheaper carriers. That's because UCAVs mean you can get more aircraft on a carrier, and that creates a traffic jam type situation.
Moreover, the widespread use of smart bombs means you need fewer bombers over the target. A 50-60,000 ton carrier, with three dozen F-35Bs, UCAVs, UAVs and support aircraft, can be as effective as a Nimitz with 70 F-18s and support aircraft.
#2
Another concept, not yet considered, would hearken back to the WWII-era Japanese idea of submarines capable of carrying and launching aircraft.
The idea is to create what amounts to high survivability submarine-carriers that could penetrate deeply into hostile waters, quickly launch their pre-programmed drone aircraft, then submerge and depart the AO.
A wing of heavily armed drone aircraft appearing without warning in the middle of enemy waters could severely disrupt enemy naval operations.
#4
Don't count on that. These will be big powerful ships that will be able to defend themselves. Plenty of lasers on board. Plenty of sensors in the air.
Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lanka's Army Commander who was seriously hurt in a failed assassination bid by the Tamil Tigers returned to office Wednesday to resume work in the position, the defense ministry spokesman said. Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe told reporters that General Fonseka who was badly hurt in the suicide assassination attempt by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels on April 25 had fully recovered from the near fatal injuries he had received.
A woman suicide squad member of the LTTE jumped at Fonseka's motorcade and blew herself up as the Sri Lankan military commander was being driven to lunch inside the tightly guarded Army headquarters here. At least 11 people were killed while 25 others including the Army Commander were injured in the blast. Samarasinghe said Fonseka had returned to the island Tuesday afternoon having received urgent medical treatment in Singapore. Fonseka, a battle hardened soldier was a key member of the island's military in the height of the separatist war with the LTTE rebels where more than 64,000 people have been killed since the conflict escalated in the mid 1980s.
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The small group of Ghanaian soldiers manning UNIFIL Position 6-52, to the west of the village of Maroun a-Ras, less than a kilometer from the border, hasn't left its base in the last two weeks.
"Those are the orders of our superior officers," explains one of them who presents himself as commander of the post, but refuses to give his name. "We have been visited by our officers three times since the fighting began and a supply truck arrives here every three or four days."
On the wall nearest to the gate of the white-washed building is an "Alert State" board with the arrow pointed to black. But none of their information on the current situation has come from their own sources. "We know what's going on from the television," says the commander.
Even the deaths of four UNTSO members on Tuesday night in an IAF bombardment, at a base not so far away, wasn't communicated to them from headquarters. That, too, they learned from TV.
The current contingent from Ghana has been in Lebanon for three months. The soldiers at the post are charged with patrolling and monitoring, with their single jeep, the area where the heaviest fighting has been going on for the last 10 days. The fact that Hizbullah has been well entrenched in the area ever since Israel's withdrawal six years ago - with hundreds of fighters, well stocked ammunition depots and extensive fortifications - seemed to have escape the Ghanaians notice. "I have never seen one of them," says the soldier. "You cannot easily identify them in the population."
The UNIFIL soldiers have "zero contact" with the Lebanese living in the surrounding towns and villages. All their supplies are brought by UNIFIL, and they never go out for recreation, aside from periods of leave in Beirut.
The supply of "peacekeeping" troops to the various blue-helmet forces of the UN is a major source of income for Ghana's army; they have soldiers in Ivory Coast, Liberia and Congo. The troops operate in rotations of six months. Those currently serving on the border profess to have never heard of the accusations that the force has cooperated with Hizbullah in the past and allowed the organization to build its posts next to UNIFIL bases.
However, they are aware of the ongoing debate over the force's future and the growing support for a new multinational force to replace UNIFIL.
"The problem is not UNIFIL," says the soldier at the gate. "It's the mandate we have from the UN. That is what decides our job. In my personal opinion, if UNIFIL's mandate was changed and the force increased, it would be more efficient."
At the beginning of the fighting, a number of bombs exploded around the UNIFIL post, including one 150 meters from the gate. Two weeks later, the area around the post is quiet, except for the distant thud of artillery fire. Hizbullah has been banished from this small part of Lebanon. IDF Merkava tanks roar through a nearby opening in the border fence. There isn't even a guard at the border and Israeli and foreign journalists pass in and out unhindered.
The Ghanaian soldiers weren't even aware of the breach in the fence they are supposed to monitor, by mandate of the United Nations.
Lebanese leader says Tehran trying out its weapons, intel in Hizbullah conflict
Aaron Klein, WND
Tehran is using Hizbullah's confrontation with the Jewish state to test the abilities of Iranian weapons and to observe Israeli military capabilities, Lebanon's Druze leader Walid Jumblatt charged in a WorldNetDaily interview yesterday.
Jumblatt also said he fears Syria will take advantage of the growing crisis in Lebanon to reassert its influence in the country and convince the international community Syrian domination of Lebanon is crucial to the stability of the Middle East.
He warned Damascus might initiate a wave of terror in Lebanon following Israel's military campaign there to further destabilize the country, including by assassinating the Lebanese prime minister.
"Iran is bringing in (to Lebanon) sophisticated weaponry," said Jumblatt who is head of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party and is largely considered the most prominent anti-Syrian Lebanese politician. "The Iranians are actually experimenting with different kinds of missiles in Lebanon by shooting them at the Israelis. Iran is using this violence to test certain of (Israel's) abilities,"
Iran is accused of supplying Hezbollah was thousands of rockets the terror group has launched the past three weeks into northern Israeli population centers, including Haifa, the country's third largest city. Many of the fired rockets have been Katyushas he says were upgraded by Iran. Hizbullah is also in possession of Iranian Zelzal missiles, with a range of about 125 miles, making Tel Aviv vulnerable.
Earlier this month, an Iranian Silkworm C-802 radar-guided anti-ship cruise missile struck an Israeli naval vessel, killing four soldiers. It was the first time the missile had been introduced in the battle with Israel. Military officials here say the Israeli ship's radar system was not calibrated to detect the Silkworm, which is equipped with an advanced anti-tracking system.
The Syrian connection
Jumblatt said he is worried Syria might try to gain more control of Lebanon following Israel's military campaign.
"Syria will likely try to tell the world, 'Look, see, since we left Lebanon the Cedar Revolution and the forces in Lebanon that got our military out through popular support, those forces are not able to control Lebanon. While we (the Syrians) were in control, Lebanon was a safe place. Now it's not. We need to come back in,'" said Jumblatt.
"I would not be surprised if they even try to wiggle their way into a deal by convincing the Americans that Syrian influence in Lebanon will stabilize the region," Jumblatt said.
Syria originally sent forces into Lebanon in 1976 during the Lebanese Civil War. It militarily occupied the country until Syrian troops withdrew last year under intense international pressure following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, for which Damascus was widely blamed.
Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese, led by Jumblatt and other anti-Syrian politicians, had staged a "Cedar Revolution" of popular protests demanding freedom from Damascus.
Jumblatt predicted Syria will attempt to further destabilize Lebanon to advance the argument of asserting its influence in the country.
"I would not be surprised if the Syrians try to overthrow our government and assassinate Siniora. Assad made comments last month about al-Qaida infiltrating Lebanon. Now Assad can send into our country the same extremists he has been sending into Iraq to blow themselves up and wreak havoc here and blame it on al-Qaida. No one can prevent him from doing this."
Asked if he feared another full-scale Syrian military occupation of Lebanon, Jumblatt replied, "Another? In truth the Syrians never left Lebanon. They triggered this war through their proxy Hizbullah. They continue to hold us hostage."
#3
During the Israeli occupation and subsequent withdrawal of Lebanon in 1982 and 1983, Jumblatt's militia, backed by Soviet weaponry from Syria and possibly with the aid of Palestinian guerillas, overran sixty Maronite villages, killing thousands, as a retaliation for Maronite hostilities that occurred earlier in the war. Maronite hostilities included forced evacuations and a systematic burning of Druze villages and shrines in addition to thousands of killings and imprisonments that attempted to ethnically cleanse Mount Lebanon of its Druze inhabitants. [citation needed] He secured a Druze victory and solidified his position as leader of the Druze.
The BBC describes Jumblatt as "being seen by many as the country's political weathervane." He has a successful record of changing allegiances to ensure that the sectarian interests of the Druze emerge on the winning side of the political issues and conflicts shaping Lebanon, from the turmoil of the 1975-1990 civil war to Lebanon's reconstruction. Like several other sectarian leaders, he was a supporter of the Syrian military presence (described as an occupation by anti-Syrian elements) in Lebanon after the civil war, but since the death of former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad in 2000, he has campaigned for the end of Syrian influence in Lebanon. This has pitted him against President Emile Lahoud and the Lebanese Shiite party Hezbollah, both strong supporters of Syria. It has also been argued that his previous support for Syrian intervention was compelled.
#4
All in effort to allow Syrian forces to re-enter Lebanon, Hence to infect it again. NO. Lebanon will beome clean. Nothing like treating Israel as a gunnea pig to test weapons on no matter who may be hurt. If this evil intent is not seen, what is it worth pleading a case? Stand down Iran. Stand down Syria. Damascus looks good today, but it may not tomarrow and it is a beautiful city.
Protracted negotiations again held up the completion on Wednesday of a draft resolution on how the UN Security Council demands that Iran halt its uranium enrichment, diplomats said. Ambassadors from the major powers had expressed hope on Tuesday that a text of a resolution would be ready to distribute to all 15 nations on the UN Security Council on Wednesday. But a text that was referred back to the British, Chinese, French, German, Russian and US governments by the ambassadors had still not been fully agreed by late Wednesday, diplomats said.
Many of the ministers involved were at a meeting in Rome on Wednesday on the Lebanon crisis. They have set a new target of Thursday for agreeing a draft, the diplomats said. Ministers from the six powers decided earlier this month to send the Iran nuclear dossier back to the Security Council after Tehran failed to respond to a package of Western security and economic incentives in exchange for suspending its enrichment activities, which many Western capitals believe hides efforts to develop a nuclear bomb.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
tick...tick....tick.....tick....K-BOOM!
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/28/2006 16:44 Comments ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
How about:
Arabs want their Lebanese "brothers" to get the short end of the stick again for some reason known only to Arabs, and use the Rome meeting to make Washington the scapegoat.
#2
Well, this is just really disappointing. I'm afraid the Israeli politicians have that "deer in the headlights: look. Opportunity missed. Had hope Bush was sending Condi back to stiffen them up and get the job done. But this? World will force them to accept.
Al-Qaeda second in command Ayman Al-Zawahiri vowed yesterday that the network would carry out attacks against Israel and its US backers to avenge the Israeli offensives against Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. In a videotape aired by Arabic television channel Al-Jazeera, Osama Bin Ladens right-hand man also called for an alliance of Sunni and Shiite Muslim fighters transcending sectarian animosities and extending from Afghanistan to the Palestinian territories in order to liberate the whole of Palestine.
We cannot watch these rockets raining down their fire on our brothers in Gaza and Lebanon and remain inactive and submissive, Zawahiri said in the footage. It was the first reaction by Al-Qaeda to the onslaughts that started in late June in Gaza and on July 12 in Lebanon, triggered by the capture of Israeli soldiers by Hamas and Hezbollah respectively. The rockets and missiles tearing apart the bodies of Muslims in Gaza and Lebanon are not purely Israeli. They come from and are funded by all the countries of the crusader alliance, Zawahiri said in a reference to the United States and Western allies.
Hence, everyone who took part in the crime must pay the price ... The whole world is an open field for us. Like they attack us everywhere, we too attack them everywhere. Zawahiris comments indicated that Al-Qaeda was prepared to help Hezbollah despite differences with the Shiite sect. These events (in Lebanon and Gaza) show the importance of the jihadi fronts in Afghanistan and Iraq. All Muslims must assist them so that Americas forces get out of them crippled ... and pay the price of its aggression against Muslims and its support for Israel, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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A fleeing Al Qaida Guerilla, desperate for water, was plodding through the Iraqi desert when he saw something far off in the distance. Hoping to find water, he walked toward the object, only to find a little old Jewish man at a small stand selling neckties. The Arab asked, "Do you have water?" The Jewish man replied, "I have no water. Would you like to buy a tie? They are only $5.00. The Arab shouted, "Idiot Jew! Israel should not exist! I do not need an overpriced tie. I need water! I should kill you, but I must find water first. "OK", said the old Jew, "it does not matter that you do not want to buy a tie and that you hate me. I will show you that I am bigger than that. If you continue over that hill to the east for about two miles, you will find a lovely restaurant. It has all the water you need. Shalom. Muttering, the Arab staggered away over the hill. Several hours later he staggered back, near collapse. "Your brother won't let me in without a tie."
#3
Aww, poor widdle Zawahire baby not gettin' enuff attention lately? Feeling a widdle irrelevant and impotent these days? Do what I do, release yet another false Fatwa for the mindless masses to seethe over or start yet another "immoral conflict" that you like to legitimize using the word "Jihad".
And what is this "inactive and submissive" crapola? Need to drum up some more cannon fodder to legitimize your murderous view on life? Gotta keep things moving or it gets boring!
Attention whore. Crawl back in your cave, draw the camoflage over the opening, take your turn at the goat after Bin Laden is done with it, and dream of what it would be like to take a bath, wear clean clothes, and eat a home-cooked meal with all your kids (even the "martyred" ones) and 13-year old wives. But there's no turning back now, is there?
#4
We cannot watch these rockets raining down their fire on our brothers in Gaza and Lebanon and remain inactive and submissive, Zawahiri said in the footage.
How about all those rockets raining down their fire on Israel, launched by your Hamass 'brothers'? Got anything to say about that, asshole?
#6
How the hell is this a "new" policy? AQ has been preaching combat across the whole world for quite a while. Ayman just doesn't want to be forgotten when all the attention is focussed on Lebanon.
#7
Hence, everyone who took part in the crime must pay the price ... The whole world is an open field for us. Like they attack us everywhere, we too attack them everywhere.
Maybe this just another opportunity to boost enlistment or possibly its the AQ old guard feeling irrelevant? But if recent history is a guide, the world cannot be ambivalent to these threats and has no choice but to take these pricks at their word.
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.
July 28, 2006: Apparently the Taliban has lost some 1000-1200 fighters killed in Afghanistan over the past 8-10 weeks. Despite this, there's only been a slight dip in the number of attacks, mainly because there's so much money being offered for those willing to fight. Apparently the Taliban recruited a lot of folks over the winter. Many Pakistani Pushtuns have been identified among the dead. Several hundred of these Taliban fighters have been captured as well, and some report that morale is getting shaky as the string of Taliban defeats continues. 
The Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan is backed by foreign money, terror networks and fighters coming over the border from Pakistan, the top UN envoy in Afghanistan said on Wednesday. But Tom Koenigs, the special UN representative, said the Pakistan government was not backing the Taliban, as it once did, because the militant Islamists were a threat to its stability as well. "We face a Taliban movement, which has apparently recovered and has to be answered by a series of measures, political as well as military," he told reporters after briefing the UN Security Council. 
Egypts 
RIYADH - A Saudi television appeal has raised at least 120 million riyals ($32 million) for Lebanon, where Israeli forces and Hezbollah guerrillas have been fighting for more than two weeks, state media said on Thursday. The money gathered during the day-long telethon, which lasted until the early hours of Thursday, included 10 million riyals from King Abdullah and 5 million riyals from Crown Prince Sultan, the state news agency SPA said.
North Korea Thursday refused to rejoin nuclear talks until the United States drops financial sanctions, dimming hopes of reviving the stalled discussions at a security meeting here. The communist state's announcement comes despite days of hectic diplomacy aimed at dragging Pyongyang back to the negotiating table on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum.
ROME: Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi's government on Thursday called a parliamentary vote of confidence on measures to keep Italian troops in Afghanistan. The centre-left government called an open roll-call confidence vote in the upper house Senate to push through the measures, which have been contested by far-left pacifists in his coalition who want the troops to return home.
The Bush administration and GOP leaders on Thursday renewed their push for Senate approval of John Bolton as U.N. ambassador. Democrats maintained he is too brash and ineffective to be confirmed.
GENEVA - A UN human rights body told Washington on Friday that any secret detention centres the United States was operating abroad violated international law and should be shut immediately.
BAGHDAD - Deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein will know on October 16 whether he is to be found guilty of crimes against humanity and executed, the judge said on Thursday on the last day of his trial.
The armed wing of the Hamas militant group on Thursday dismissed comment from President Mahmoud Abbas, during a visit to Rome, that a solution could be imminent to the case of a captured Israeli soldier. The Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades was among three factions that captured Corporal Gilad Shalit on June 25 in a cross-border raid from Gaza. Israel rejected demands for a prisoner swap and launched an offensive that has killed 148 Palestinians.
Some of the Arab League money recently transferred to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has been paid out to Hamas ministers this week, according to PA sources. The United States has been leading a campaign to keep international funds from paying Hamas officials' salaries ever since the Islamic militant group won parliamentary elections this winter. 
When the bomb exploded from the plane. I felt I was in hell. Real hell, shouts 31-year-old Ghassan stabbing the air with his finger and straining over the side of his grubby hospital bed. Professing allegiance to Palestinian national security, Ghassan went to Gazas Maghazi refugee camp last week to fight the Israelis during a particularly bloody incursion. I feel chemicals. I feel high heat, I feel high pain, he elaborates in English, both legs heavily bandaged, as patients and visitors brush past in a crowded corridor of Gazas Al-Shifa hospital. They found shrapnel with test written on it, he shouts.
Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lanka's Army Commander who was seriously hurt in a failed assassination bid by the Tamil Tigers returned to office Wednesday to resume work in the position, the defense ministry spokesman said. Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe told reporters that General Fonseka who was badly hurt in the suicide assassination attempt by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels on April 25 had fully recovered from the near fatal injuries he had received. 
Tehran is using Hizbullah's confrontation with the Jewish state to test the abilities of Iranian weapons and to observe Israeli military capabilities, Lebanon's Druze leader Walid Jumblatt charged in a WorldNetDaily interview yesterday.
Protracted negotiations again held up the completion on Wednesday of a draft resolution on how the UN Security Council demands that Iran halt its uranium enrichment, diplomats said. Ambassadors from the major powers had expressed hope on Tuesday that a text of a resolution would be ready to distribute to all 15 nations on the UN Security Council on Wednesday. But a text that was referred back to the British, Chinese, French, German, Russian and US governments by the ambassadors had still not been fully agreed by late Wednesday, diplomats said.
Al-Qaeda second in command 
