Pakistan will fence and land mine parts of its border with Afghanistan to prevent cross-border militancy, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. Afghanistan quickly rejected the plan. Pakistan will also deploy tribal lashkars additional paramilitary troops at the frontier, Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammed Khan told a news conference. "Rather than beating around the bush, we must confront terrorists in a real manner," said Khaleeq Ahmed, a spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai. "Fencing or mining the border is neither helpful or practical. That's why we are against it. The border is not where the problem lies." Not protecting the borders? Bush would be proud. Maybe someone else can figure this out.
The Paks will define and fortify the border where they say it is.
#1
It's obvious. The Afghani government knows that Pakistan would use this as an excuse for not personally stopping the madrassaniks and al-Quedans. After all, Pakistan would say that they couldn't get over the border, so why should Pakistan do any work?
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
12/26/2006 10:01 Comments ||
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#2
Most of the terrorists use the main passes anyway. One of their tricks is for several hundred of them to show up at a border checkpoint at the same time, which overwhelms the ability of the guards to do more than spot check them.
So they pinch one or two, and the rest get through.
MOSCOW - Russia may write off about $10 billion of AfghanistanÂ’s Soviet-era debt in February, local news agencies quoted Russian Foreign Ministry sources as saying on Monday.
How about the debt to all the crippled Afghan children from your war?
A decision to write off the debt piled up during MoscowÂ’s 9-year-long invasion in the Asian state, which ended in a withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989, was reached at an international conference on Afghanistan in January.
But debates on the precise size of the debt and conditions of the deal have slowed the talks. ‘The sides have effectively finalised the document and expressed readiness to sign it in February,’ Itar-Tass quoted its source as saying.
RIA quoted a similar source as saying access for Russian businesses to contracts in Afghanistan was a condition for writing off the debt.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Not to mention all the Afghans who died at the hands of the Soviets, from what I remember reading at the time the Soviets stole everything they could find of any value while they were in Afghanistan.
#2
SOP for the Russians:
1 Steal everything that isn't nailed down.
2 Steal everything that is nailed down.
3 Steal all the nails.
A Russian occupying force would make a locust plague seem restrained and compassionate.
NAIROBI, Dec 25 (Reuters) - Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi said Islamists at war with his Ethiopian-backed government had 8,000 foreign fighters in their ranks but would never capture the administration's base in Baidoa. "My confidence is very high. We have enough military forces to defeat any invasion, any attack by the terrorists of the so-called Islamic Courts," Gedi told Reuters in an interview by telephone from Baidoa on Sunday night.
"The Ethiopians have my back so I'm free to lip off once again!"
The town is the government's sole base, which the Islamists are seeking to encircle after nearly a week of heavy fighting between the two sides.
Saying government troops inflicted a major defeat on the Islamists near the town of Dinsoor on Sunday, Gedi predicted the government, which now has overt military support from Ethiopia, would be victorious. "We will definitely remain in Baidoa. If we go anywhere, it will be to (the capital) Mogadishu," he said. "Once they get defeated, they will run away. Then we will move to Mogadishu, where the people are waiting for us."
Gedi said foreign Muslim militants were pouring into Somalia and this he said confirmed the government's accusations the Islamists were led by terrorists. "Their numbers have doubled in just the last few weeks to about 8,000," he said. "Only in the Dinsoor area on Sunday, where we had the worst fighting yet, there were more than 4,000 foreign fighters."
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
This Jedi has gone over to the dark side. But Yoda is training the Ethiopians.
#4
Hopefully, a bunch of these 8,000 unconventional fighters will try to fight the conventional forces of Ethiopia in a conventional fight. And then there will be 8,000 dead foreigners.
(SomaliNet) The Arab League envoy to Somalia, Samir Husni called on Monday for the Ethiopian government to pull its troops out of Somalia immediately. In an interview with the Al-Jazeera TV channel, Samir Husni said it was too important that Ethiopian government should stop interfering Somalia and withdraw its troops from that country.
"Cheez, they're clobbering our boys!"
He urged the transitional federal government and Islamic Courts Union to stop the renewed war and resume peace dialogue in Sudan.
About time for the offer of a hudna?
Posted by: Fred ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Anytime they face off, they get their ass kicked good. then, they slink away and want to start "talking". Same M.O. While they talk, we hunt them down and finish them.
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Egypt rebuked Iran's president on Monday for claiming his state is "a nuclear country" - a comment that touched a nerve among Iran's neighbors in the Middle East.
Iran has consistently denied it seeks to build nuclear weapons, saying it aims to use its nuclear technology only to produce electrical power. But President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's ambiguous statement stirred fears about its nuclear ambitions. "Iran is a nuclear country" whether the world likes it or not, he told a gathering Sunday in Tehran.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit responded Monday by saying only states that possess atomic bombs should claim to be nuclear powers. "Nuclear states are only those that have military nuclear capabilities," he said in a statement. "The possession by some countries of peaceful nuclear technology or some of stages of the nuclear cycle or carrying out some peaceful nuclear activities does not mean by any means that it can call itself a nuclear state."
Iran's decision to declare itself a nuclear power could undermine Egypt's campaign to get the Middle East to declare itself a zone free of nuclear weapons.
Thinking wishfully that this will cause Israel to give up its nukes. Then again, Olmert's still in charge ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Freeing the entire Middle East of nuclear weapons wouldn't change how present day Islam still encourages the distinct possiblilty of their swift arrival.
#5
bigjim-ky, first they would go after Israel, then only after the Jews were erased would they go after each other until none were left. Not acceptable.
(IsraelNN.com) Arab women in Judea and Samaria give birth "in startlingly similar conditions to those suffered by Mary 2000 years ago," and are "21st century Marys," the London Independent newspaper has reported.
Johann Hari wrote that Mary was a "Palestinian refugee in Bethlehem," and he charged that Israel has left Arabs with conditions that have put them "back into the Stone Age." The reporter also charged "Israeli settlements with pumping raw sewage on to Palestinian land." Feel the love. Btw, the "christianization" of paleos, and the arabization/suppression of the jewish roots of Christianity is part and parcel of the Eurabia strategy, according to Bat Ye'or.
#6
Oh, for the love of... this is stretching a similie way, way beyond any useful point.
Frankly, after a couple of the more brutal murders committed during the current intifada, I stopped giving a damn about the Paleos at all. And I really am beginning to despise twats like this for banging on endlessly and endlessly about how we really ought to care so deeply about them at all.
I don't, I won't and Johann Hari can go to hell with all of his Poor, Persecuted Paleos, as far as I am concerned. And if he could take George Monbiot with him, that would icing on the cake.
#8
Hell, I mostly don't so much worry about handing over the reins of civilization, except I don't want to hand it over to these idiots. Can't we be beaten by someone better? See dummery below.
#9
When a corrupt ideology is in a "Death Spiral", the stories get taller and taller until all falls under the weight of truth. Such a calamity!
All they will have lived are fables (and not very good ones). Living through dead mens eyes.
Waders recommended... Better yet, wear a full-body condom.
LONDON (AFP) - A Muslim woman in a full-face veil went head-to-head on television with Queen Elizabeth II, delivering an alternative Christmas Day message on religious integration.
At the same time the 80-year-old monarch's Christmas message to Britain and the Commonwealth was broadcast, a woman known only as Khadijah spoke on Channel 4 television Monday about why she wore the niqab in public and called for tolerance. "We are seen as oppressed. Since I've started covering I feel much more liberated, which I know a lot of people possibly won't be able to understand," she said. "I don't wear the niqab to separate myself from society. I want to be part of this society -- this is where I choose to live. I hope that society is more accepting of my personal choice. It's not about separation."
Khadijah's appearance comes amid a debate about the extent of religious and ethnic integration following last year's home-grown Islamist extremist suicide attacks in London.
The row intensified in October when former foreign secretary Jack Straw said he asks Muslim women to remove their veils when they visit him in his constituency, saying it helped communication. Prime Minister Tony Blair then called the veil a "mark of separation" between communities.
Khadijah -- who converted to Islam a decade ago and said she is the great-granddaughter of a suffragette who fought for women's right to vote -- said Straw's comments were not helpful. But she also said that Britain was the best country for people to practise their religion freely.
On other subjects, she said the row over Danish cartoons satirising the prophet Mohammed that sparked outrage and violence across the world showed the need for tolerance of other religions. She also revealed she was concerned for a relative serving in Afghanistan with the British army and her own approach to the Christian festival.
She said it was important to stress the links between faiths, in particular that Jesus is a prophet in Islam, and that she liked to celebrate Christmas like anyone else -- with a traditional turkey meal followed by mince pies."My alternative Christmas message this year is peace on earth and good will to all humankind, regardless of race, colour or creed," she said.
Asked what she would say to Straw, she replied: "Merry Christmas, Jack, and a happy new year! Would you like a mince pie?"
Earlier Monday, the Church of England's second most senior cleric, Archbishop of York John Sentamu, said community cohesion in Britain would only come through an end to talk about multi-culturalism and cultural diversity. "We, as citizens of this nation, must agree to build our dwelling tent together," said Uganda-born Sentamu, the Church of England's first black archbishop.
#1
Boggle Alert: HotAir video of the performance is here.Listen to the voice and then try to connect it to the wraith. The words, themselves, make it a classic.
#2
On other subjects, she said the row over Danish cartoons satirising the prophet Mohammed that sparked outrage and violence across the world showed the need for tolerance of other religions.
Ummmm ... no. False premise. Islam is the one that needs to change and become more tolerant of things like creative license and ridicule. If it can't, it needs to go away.
#3
Especially since she fails to note that the "Danish cartoons controversy" was completely manufactured by Muzzies. They added cartoons which were more offensive and then started the Muzzy rumor mill - a marvel of insanity in itself.
Muzzies will believe anything - absolutely anything - they're told, if the messenger has the proper Muzzy credentials. This cow is a Taqiyya agent and should not have been given the equivalency platform by Channel 4. Fuck them, fuck her (no, not with mine), and fuck the insanity of Muzzies calling for tolerance.
#4
fuck the insanity of Muzzies calling for tolerance.
Tolerance is the last thing that should be shown for Islam. It has been over five years since 9-11 and all the progress at thwarting terrorism has been ours. Muslims have made nothing even remotely resembling significant strides that are needed to assure the Western world of their ability to integrate. Be it Southeast Asia, Europe, Iran, Australia, Africa or anywhere else for that matter, the consistent and almost overwhelming response by Muslims indicates an abject refusal to integrate or assimilate.
#5
Heh, since you italicized the whole thing, you erased the emphasis on Muzzies calling for it. My point was the massive CogDis aspect - the fucking NERVE of the bastards, lol.
#9
Funny how it's always us that have to do the tolerating...
It's an essential part of Dhimmitude.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/26/2006 9:04 Comments ||
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Taqiyya 101
I'd promote her and Channel 4 to Taqiyya 201. Two weeks ago, Kahdijah announced that she would not deliver the scheduled alternative Christmas Day message due to pressure. Somehow, it was "re-scheduled".
#12
A direct slap in the face of the Queen and monarchy. A direct subversion of English culture. When will the counter speech be given that anyone walking around in a bag in public is considered a direct target?
#16
She should have been introduced afterwards to a Druid who would explain his religion's take on Christmas as a pagan festival co-opted by Christians.
#17
I figured that zillions of people, over the years, had wanted to give an alternative Christmas message. What made Channel 4 decide that this woman was the one who gets to do so?
Turns out that this is some crap Channel 4 has pulled every year since 1993. Other alternative messages have been delivered by such luminaries as Jesse Jackson, Brigitte Bardot, Marge Simpson, and "Barry and Michelle Seabourn, a Merseyside couple who appeared on [the] Channel 4 reality show Wife Swap."
So in other words it's just another dumb stunt in a long line of same.
#19
Not only that, SpecOp35, she's pissing on the grave of her supposed great-grandmother. Her ancestor fought hard to be counted as a man's equal, and she's voluntarily decided to become some man's property. Worthless twit.
#21
I just finished watching Khadijah's "alternative" Christmas message.
Per Khadijah, her bottom line "alternative" message is: "peace on earth and good will toward all human kind". Human kind?
Human kind? Well, yeah!!! Khadijad is hip and liberated. We know this because she says so herself. The niqab is NOT oppressive, it's liberating. Khadjiad is as liberated as any fem studies major at Berkley or Oxford, the U of Wisconsin or U of Michigan or wherever.
For the "alternative" muzzie message it's all: "Peace on earth and good will toward human kind". It's not "peace on earth and good will toward MAN" like it has been for the past 600 years and for all writers at the Hallmark card corporation. Certainly not. Only judeo-christian culture/religion forget that WOMEN are important, too, at this special time of year. Muslims know it, bit the infidel do not. Is that part of the message from Khadijah?
I thought of Old Spook (PBUH) when the bitch spokesperson mentioned that muzzies revered Jesus (correction...ISA) and were looking forward to the day of his RESURRECTION. Here's hoping OS didn't have a mug of piping hot chocolate in his hand when he heard/read that. Disgusting beyond words and not deserving of comment.
(Was it someone on this thread that coined the phrase "the niqab is the chasity belt for the face"? (Perfect. Perfect. Perfect.)
Someone else mentioned Khadijah's shoes. Check 'em out ladies: black boot, very stylish, very hip 2 to 2 1/2 inch heels. Oh, and look at how you women can ACCESSORIZE your niqab with a colorful scarf at this festive time of year. So very VOGUE...so COSMO sexy...so Glamour magazine. You might not even be slapped down by the religious police in your district until after the Haj for wearing the colorful scarf.
I'm sure this has been mentioned before but it does bear repeating: the only tolerance that should be shown to muslims is the precise minimal amount of tolerance muslims are willing to show to jews and christians in the least tolerant muslim majority country. Gosh, that doesn't give muslims much wiggle room, does it?
Trivia question: Who said:
"Show them no mercy for they will show you none".
Posted by: Mark Z ||
12/26/2006 14:06 Comments ||
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#22
Ummmm, that's carved over the door at Allan's Snackbar ?
Note: The original article has numerous embedded links to substantiate the points being made. I'm to lazy to replicate them all, er, any.
Since taking office in 2000, former KGB chief-turned Russian President Vladimir Putin has built strong personal, political and military ties to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il.Putin has sold Iran and North Korea billions of dollars worth of arms and even nuclear technology. He is arming America's worst enemies for war, and in so doing, Russia has joined the "Axis of Evil." Yet on this critical issue, official Washington seems to be in a true state of denial.
In December 2005, Russia signed a $1 billion arms deal with Iran, providing the radical Islamic regime in Tehran high-speed missile and other high-tech weaponry, despite Ahmadinejad's call to annihilate the U.S. and Israel two months earlier. Russia is building nuclear facilities for Iran, has trained over 1,000 Iranian nuclear scientists, and running political interference for Iran at the U.N. to prevent us for imposing economic sanctions that could slow down Ahmadinejad's feverish bid for nuclear weapons.
Continued on Page 49
#1
In 2005, Putin actually personally awarded a medal of honor to the North Korean dictator who is starving his own people and threatening the world with nuclear war.
He had to give Kim something nicer than just a toaster for opening that big account.
#3
Have the rooskies joined (rejoined?) the Axis of Evil or are they just in "We'll sell our grandmothers for hard cash" mode? Maybe we can bribe them to be nice. Buy lots of sardines or sumthin'. Or a bunch of T-34s for the Ethiopians.
#4
"Have the rooskies joined (rejoined?) the Axis of Evil or are they just in "We'll sell our grandmothers for hard cash" mode?"
False dilemma fallacy
Posted by: E. Brown ||
12/26/2006 11:04 Comments ||
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#5
From Putin's point of view, making Russia the world's #1 power is his main goal. To do this he has to increase Russia's power and decrease the US's, and maybe China's. Or at least increase the realpolitik by enabling the military rise of other powers.
Think of it as "anti-globalization".
Putin hopes that by arming Nork, he will weaken the US in the Pacific, and by arming Iran, he will weaken the US in the ME. He has the full support of Chirac in doing this, as he wants the same thing; except on behalf of France.
Importantly, he thinks the US is trying to do this to Russia, too!
Despite Russian protests, the US was all over Central Asia after the Soviet Union broke up. From the Russian point of view, this was the US expanding its power at Russia's expense. And this is why Russia is so pissy about the Ukraine and Georgia--they think we plotted the overthrow of their governments to make them more pro-western.
Actually, we may have been involved more than a little bit in that.
So the bottom line might well be that the world powers are still playing the game that was well played in the 19th Century, before and after.
#8
Didn't PUTIN read NEWSMAX Xmas weekend > the "Father of [revolutionary] Russian Socialism" is more akin to FASCISM = NAZI GERMANY than Stalinist, Leninist, or Troskyite Communism. As before, CLINTONISM > NEW COMMUNISM, at least until America is defeated + suborned under OWG, or de facto destroyed. *FREEREPUBLIC/OTHER > PAKISTAN's "FRONTIER POST" NEWS > WHICH [Muslim/Islamist]NATION [Nations?]WILL SUPPLANT AMERICA article. Move along boyz, obviously no war for survival = war to the death of the USA-West here.
Contrary to the shallow stupidity that passes for "liberal" thought (hijacked that bitch, they did) these days is that Justice is a process, not just a limp symbol wearing a blindfold and holding the scales... in the other hand is the sword that enforces justice, that gives substance to the process. It is defined in that Constitution thingy - and they must not be allowed to hijack that any further.
Defense lawyers who had hoped that the public disclosure a year ago of the National Security Agency's wiretapping program would yield information favorable to their clients are being rebuffed by the federal judiciary, which in a series of unusually consistent rulings has rejected efforts by terrorism suspects to access the records.
In at least 17 criminal cases, federal district judges nominated to the federal bench by presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, and George W. Bush have ruled against requests to force the government to tell defendants, most accused of terrorism-related crimes, whether the NSA eavesdropped on them without a court warrant.
The rulings indicate that even as public support for the war in Iraq has eroded in polls and as the NSA program has come under criticism from congressional Democrats, and even some Republicans, federal judges may be a bulwark that the Bush administration can rely on to defer to at least some aspects of its wartime policies.
That's far rosier than I would describe the situation...
The judges' decisions have come after defense attorneys filed motions requesting access to relevant surveillance intercepts that the government obtained without a warrant. Defense attorneys claim they are entitled to such information and that evidence obtained from warrantless wiretaps is tainted and inadmissible at trial. In many, but not all instances, the motions were filed after a conviction.
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#1
I imagine it is also being used against drug dealers and even copyright violators, too. And that is the problematic part of it.
The NSA should go back to its primary mission, National Security. This does not include ordinary criminal activities unrelated to terrorism. The FBI was quite adept at policing that up already, with ordinary court-ordered wiretaps, and even it didn't need any more special authority beyond the secret judicial oversight panel.
This has proven to be one of the worst drawbacks of Patriot Act and related provisions. The government just seems to be incapable of keeping its scope limited to terrorists.
Little old white ladies searched in airports, using advanced unwarranted surveillance techniques to bust a $500 pot deal, keeping dossiers and sending agents provacateur to investigates otherwise harmless fruitbats, not even Moonbats.
I wouldn't be surprised if that DA wouldn't try to assert some Homeland Security act against the Duke lacrosse team. And just because he can.
#2
I'm skeptical there's actually been much of what Moose is alleging (I didn't say none, but "much"), but even if there were, I don't see how we can avoid negative unintended consequences in domestic war policies any more than we can avoid the occasional civilian casualty in Iraq. Hell, there's a raft of outrageous state misbehavior/incompetence in law enforcement daily having nothing to do with NSA or surveillance of any kind. Of course we should build in checks to minimize mistakes or abuses, but I think singling out NSA or Patriot Act-related stuff is unwarranted and I've seen no evidence presented that liberty is endangered.
Counting on the support of the new Democratic majority in Congress, Democratic lawmakers and their Republican allies are working on measures that could place millions of illegal immigrants on a more direct path to citizenship than would a bill that the Senate passed in the spring.
The lawmakers are considering abandoning a requirement in the Senate bill that would compel several million illegal immigrants to leave the United States before becoming eligible to apply for citizenship. The lawmakers are also considering denying financing for 700 miles of fencing along the border with Mexico, a law championed by Republicans that passed with significant Democratic support.
Details of the bill, which would be introduced early next year, are being drafted. The lawmakers, who hope for bipartisan support, will almost certainly face pressure to compromise on the issues from some Republicans and conservative Democrats.
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Posted by: Karl Rove ||
12/26/2006 2:26 Comments ||
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#2
The Commonwealth of Mexico won't need a fence.
We're going to get all the problems anyway, let's just trade one set for another. At least we can get the good stuff for all that this is costing us now.
#3
Maybe Bush kept Rumsfeld until after the election hoping enough Donks would get into Congress to allow this to happen. That way Republicans let the Donks take the blame for something they all want but which is instinctively feared by the eloctorate. Maybe all these people who think Bush is an idiot don't appreciate how subtle the man really is. Either way, you better brush up on your Spanish.
#4
Personally, I'm going to stock up on guns and ammunition, something else I think the current set of donkeys (and donkeys in Repug clothing) want to attack. We'll end up having to have a civil war to eliminate the problem, and I want to be able to do my part.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/26/2006 22:24 Comments ||
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#5
I'm with you, OP. The emergency closet does not live by water and canned goods alone.
PT is going fairly well; next time I see the doctor I'm going to stop asking him when I can go back on rescue squad duty and ask when I can go to the range.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/26/2006 22:28 Comments ||
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Not much new for RB'ers in this article, but notable for being published in Frontier Post, the National Daily Published form Peshawar and Quetta.
At a time when the Taliban are making their strongest push in years to regain influence and territory across the border in Afghanistan, this mountain-ringed provincial capital has become an increasingly brazen hub of activity by the Islamist militia. Quetta serves as a place of rest and refuge for Taliban fighters between battles, a funneling point for cash and armaments, a fertile recruiting ground and a sometime meeting point for the group's fugitive leaders, say aid workers, local officials, diplomats, doctors and Pakistani journalists, Los Angles Time reported on Sunday. "Everybody is here," said Mahmood Khan Achakzai, a Quetta-based member of Pakistan's National Assembly. Quetta is the capital of the Pakistani province of Baluchistan. The apparent ease of Taliban movement in and out of Quetta comes against a backdrop of increasingly bitter squabbling by authorities in Afghanistan and Pakistan over who bears the responsibility for the militia's use of tribal areas in Pakistan as a staging ground for attacks that have killed at least 180 NATO and allied troops this year. Afghan President Hamid Karzai earlier this month blamed Pakistan for orchestrating Taliban activity. Pakistan, a key ally in President Bush's war on terrorism, in turn accused Karzai of seeking a scapegoat for his own failures. Pakistani authorities in Quetta insist they keep a tight lid on Taliban activity - a claim derided by many residents of this city of about 1.5 million people, and one backed by little evidence. Residents described nerve-racking random encounters with Taliban convoys bristling with weaponry, and volleys of automatic-weapons fire echoing from within some walled-off madrasahs. Taliban recruitment videos sell briskly. "For the Taliban, this is considered to be a safe haven," said Syed Ali Shah, a journalist. "They come here, they regroup and retrain." At a local madrasa, or Islamic seminary, black-turbaned young men gathered around a makeshift fountain on a recent day, making ablutions before noon prayers. One, then two, then half a dozen of them aimed steely glares at outsiders lingering near the rusty green gate of the mud-brick compound. Taliban ideology is openly preached at dozens of madrasahs in and around Quetta. From these schools, willing foot soldiers emerge by the hundreds to join the fight against Western forces in Afghanistan. The Taliban presence in Quetta is helped by the insular and secretive nature of Pashtun tribal society, the virtually unsecured border with Afghanistan and the city's large population of Afghan refugees, with whom the militia's members can readily blend. The city also has close historic, ethnic and cultural ties to the Taliban's birthplace, the Afghan city of Kandahar. Afghan provinces lying close to Baluchistan have been the scene of some of the heaviest fighting this year between Taliban and allied forces. The bulk of more than 115 suicide attacks against coalition troops have taken place in and near Kandahar, which was once the seat of Taliban power. Today in Quetta, it's almost as if the Taliban never left. Some Taliban-affiliated madrasas operate almost in the shadow of police and military installations. Pakistani police in Quetta say they have rounded up hundreds of suspected Taliban militants in the past year.
#3
I've frequently said that nuking Quetta would end 3/4 of the Taliban, and 90% of their support. Telling the Pashtuns that anyone else that "chose" to support the Taliban would get the same treatment would end the rest. These people may be fanatical, but they're not TOTALLY suicidal - not on the tribal level.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/26/2006 22:33 Comments ||
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KARACHI — President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz yesterday assured the nation that the country was heading in the right direction and was capable of meeting of external and internal challenges. They made these observations during an unscheduled visit to the mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah to pay homage to the founder of Pakistan on his 130th birth anniversary.
Shaukat Aziz called upon people to join hands with the government to make Pakistan a stronger, better and developed country as visioned by the founder of the nation.
Hands Across Pakistan!
Speaking on the occasion, Musharraf said Pakistan's nuclear and missile installations were safe enough to withstand any nuclear strike. "I want to declare that the security and safety of our nuclear and missile power is so much that if, God forbid, there is a nuclear attack on Pakistan, this would not be affected."
Prob'ly doesn't realize we can take his toys from him when we wish.
He said Pakistan has tested the accuracy and capability of every missile. The president said: "I am confident that the country does not face any external threat. The armed forces and the nation are fully capable of facing any external threat. I am saying with authority that our defence power is increasing in comparison to the external threat to the country. Inshaallah, it will continue to increase."
However, he noted that some internal threats and elements were trying to harm and destablise the country. He vowed that the armed forces and the nation will face with full strength those elements whether Al Qaeda, militant Taleban or any element in Balochistan and defeat them. "No one will be allowed to challenge the writ of the government," he added.
"We'll change the writ before they get here!"
Referring to the economic revival, Musharraf declared that the singular achievement of his government during the past seven years was the "turnaround of the economy" which was in a very bad shape when he assumed power in 1999. "Our singular and biggest success during the past seven year is the turnaround of the economy," he observed. During this period Pakistan, which was earlier termed as a failed state, has gone far ahead.
Musharraf also talked about the empowerment of people, women, minorities, opposition and parliamentarians, media and judiciary, which he said went to the credit of present government.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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He still lives a Damocles life, but with time and a lot of US help, he is becoming more secure in his power, the unity of his country, and the smiting of the Islamists.
Come to think of it, once the border with Afghanistan is mined, it he were to send the army into North Waziristan, there would be no place for the Talibs and al-Qaeda to run. They could butcher 90% of them.
Excerpt:
Another war is Irans attempts to dominate the country. Iran is doing this through Shia Arab factions it has influenced, or bought. While the majority of Shia Arabs oppose Iran pulling strings in Iran, there is a realization that Iran is a natural ally against Sunni Arab efforts to put Iraqi Sunni Arabs back in charge of Iraq. This, oddly enough, is where the United States come in. Iraqi Shia Arabs look to the U.S. as a guarantor of Shia Arab dominance in the country. The U.S. is expected to keep both Iran, and foreign Sunni Arab, influence from interfering in Iraq. That, in effect, is U.S. policy. But that does not stop Iran from trying to stir up pro-Iranian trouble inside Iraq. Saudi Arabia has recently come out and said, publicly, that it would come to the aid of Iraqi Sunni Arabs if the situation got much worse. Well, it is going to get much worse. But since the U.S. also protects Saudi Arabia from Iran, the Saudis are not going to send much more than guns and money to their fellow Sunnis in Iraq. And those Iraqi Sunnis already have lots of guns and money, so the Saudi pledge is more for morale purposes, than for material effect. Fighting the Iranian influence is tricky, because the pro-Iranian political parties control about a third of the seats in parliament, and are more united than any of the other factions. The Iranians are religious fanatics who believe they are on a roll. Recently, Iran has told the West to back off when it comes to Iran's nuclear weapons program. Iran has also asserted that Shia, not Sunni, should control the Moslem holy places at Mecca and Medina. This goes to the heart of the Saudi family rationale for controlling most of the Arabian peninsula. This brings us right back to the reason why the Saudis need the United States so much. The U.S. is also supporting the Iraqi factions that resist Iranian influence. These factions are the majority in parliament, but are not as well armed, organized or determined as the pro-Iran groups. Iran is willing to back a coup in Iraq, which is a nightmare scenario for the Sunni Arab nations of the region.
Posted by: ed ||
12/26/2006 08:09 ||
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Add SOMALIA + whole of CENTRAL AFRICA, etc. [read-Oil Fields/Awwwl Felds] to the list. SPACEWAR > USA DEBATING NEED FOR AFRICAN COMMAND. In addition, as argued before one of the [several]Chicom premises for GWADAR + new China-Tibet western railway > NEW LAND-SEA "SILK ROAD" FOR CHINESE PRODUCTS GOING WESTWARD, ergo reducing need for Pacific sea routes. See CHINA STUDY GROUP article > Summation CAPITALISM WITH CHINESE CHARACTERISTICS [i.e. FASCISM?].
The New York Times of Dec. 24 disclosed the capture of a group of Iranians in Baghdad. This, according to our military sources, is an opening shot in the Baghdad salvation operation at the center of the revised strategy for Iraq which President George W. Bush promised to unveil in the New Year.
DEBKA-Net-Weekly 283, reporting on this operation on Dec. 22, disclosed that two of its key elements are a crackdown on Shiite militias and death squads and cleansing the capital of IranÂ’s military and intelligence presence.
According to The New York Times, the American military in Baghdad is holding at least four Iranians, including senior military officials, seized in two raids last week in central Baghdad, in circumstances highly embarrassing to top Iraqi leaders. Two Iranian diplomats in the group were turned over to the Iraqi authorities and released to the Iranian embassy; a number of suspected members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards al Quds force remain in custody and under US interrogation. They were captured with people involved in terrorist attacks.
Al Quds is responsible for TehranÂ’s training projects for Hizballah and other terrorists groups.
One of the US raids took place in the Baghdad compound of the powerful Shiite SCIRI leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, who visited the White House three weeks ago. At least two of the captured Iranians were invited by Iraqi president the Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani during a visit to Tehran earlier this month.
An official in Washington said the US military, acting on information that the people detained in Baghdad had been involved in attacks on Iraqi security and coalition forces, did not know what they were going to find. The arrests in HakimÂ’s compound were made inside the house of Hadi al-Ameri, chairman of the Iraqi parliamentÂ’s security committee and leader of SCIRIÂ’s armed wing, the Badr Organization.
DEBKAfileÂ’s military sources report that these were not the first Iranian RG and intelligencer officers caught by US forces in Iraq - only the first time that such detentions have been published. This indicates that the Bush administration has decided finally to crack down on years of Iranian subversion in Baghdad.
According to our Iranian sources, officials in Tehran were so preoccupied with firing off derisive comments on the UN Security Council sanctions against their nuclear program that they were caught unawares. The ayatollahs had not bargained on a swift US second-strike action in Baghdad. Now, they must now decide whether to pick up the American gauntlet or let it ride until an opportunity presents itself in Iraq or elsewhere in the Middle East.
Our Washington sources reveal too that the White House has changed Iraqi partners for its new strategy. Instead of the present political incumbents in Baghdad, the US has brought on board the most influential Shiite and Sunni religious leaders for the effort to stabilize the capital and end sectarian warfare. The White HouseÂ’s hopes rest now with Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani in Najef, and more controversially with the noted Sunni authority, Sheik Harith al-Dari, head of the Association of Muslim Scholars (also called the Muslim Ulema Council), from which the Sunni insurgency derives its religious legitimacy.
With backing of this caliber, US forces finally staged a raid - previously unthinkable - on the SCIRI leaderÂ’s compound in Baghdad.
According to the latest information reaching DEBKAfile from Iraq, US forces are in intensive preparations for the Baghdad offensive. Military sources report Iraqi forces are in the process of rotation: two divisions of 20,000 men are being brought into the capital from other parts of the country, to replace the military and police which are heavily infiltrated by Shiite militias. American reinforcements are also streaming into Baghdad. Altogether, an extra 50,000 Iraqi and US troops are planned for the Baghdad clean-up operation.
#2
No, it makes sense. First of all, most of the Iranian infiltration has been in the South, in the British held territories. At intervals, we have been policing up a lot of their rank and file, with some 2-3,000 currently in Iraqi prisons.
However, recently, the Iranians have gotten bold in shipping both personnel and war materials into the South and Baghdad, which is more and more Shiite.
So by having a "Night of the Long Knives", and rounding up hundreds, even thousands, of Iranians, we will essentially arrest a heck of a lot of their "elite" forces, with far fewer casualties than if they back a second Mahdi revolt, and set up a serious defense.
BAGHDAD - Iraq’s beleaguered police force has had 12,000 officers killed as it battles insurgents and death squads to restore law and order to the war-torn country, the interior minister said Sunday. ‘Since the fall of the dictatorial regime of Saddam Hussein we have presented 12,000 martyrs to the Iraqi people,’ Jawad Bolani told reporters,’The officers of the Iraqi police have done glorious work.’
The force now numbers 188,000 officers with varying degrees of training and equipment, and still faces daily attack by insurgent groups opposed to the US-backed regime, and by criminal gangs and sectarian militias.
While some of the police are clearly thugs controlled by various factions and thugs, a fair number of them are just cops: trying to do a decent job in difficult circumstances. If Iraq is going to pull it together these are the guys who have to help make it happen.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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I presume they are calling police even those who were just standing in line to sign up when suicide bombers hit. That's a pile of dead police though - I had no clue the AIF were so efficient in their killing.
JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday said he would like to renew peace talks with Syria, but insisted that Damascus first end its support of anti-Israel militant groups.
Syria has recently indicated it would like to resume negotiations with Israel. Olmert has rejected the offers, citing SyriaÂ’s support for Hamas, Hezbollah and other militant groups. 'I hope that we will be able to arrive at some point at a dialogue with Syria if Syria upholds the most basic commitment: the cessation of violence, the same commitment we demand of anyone we talk to,Â’ Olmert said at a meeting of lawmakers from his Kadima party.
I'd like to think Olmert is being clever about this; show the Euros he's willing to 'negotiate' whilst simultaneously pointing out how thuggish the Syrians are. I'm not sure he's that clever.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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I'm not sure he's that clever.
He was just clever enough to be in the right place at the right time when Sharon stroked out. Now he's the Peter Principle Poster Boy.
Reports that Israel is considering allowing a group of gunmen who were deported in 2002 after hiding inside the Church of the Nativity to return home have left some Christian residents here seriously concerned for their safety. Thirteen of the gunmen were deported to different European countries, while another 26 were expelled to the Gaza Strip. The gunmen, belonging to both Fatah and Hamas, were holed up in the church for 39 days before European mediators reached a deal with Israel according to which the fugitives would be permitted to walk out unharmed.
On Saturday, Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat announced that the deportees would soon be allowed to return to Bethlehem. The announcement was made following the summit between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Jerusalem. While most Muslim residents here welcomed the news about the impending return of the gunmen, some Christian families expressed fear that the deportees would once again impose a reign of intimidation and terror in the city. "What a wonderful Christmas gift from Father Christmas, Ehud Olmert," commented a local businessman. "These men were responsible for a spate of attacks on Christians, including extortion and confiscation of property." He said the biggest threat came from those gunmen belonging to Fatah's armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, whose members often targeted "peaceful" Christians. "I'm aware that most Christians living here are afraid to speak publicly about the issue, but the overwhelming majority was not unhappy when these thugs were deported from the city," he added. "Now some people here are once again worried because of the reports that they will return. They remember all the bad things that happened to the Christians when these gunmen were roaming the streets. People also remember how the gunmen mistreated the monks and nuns who were held hostage during the raid."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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Reports that Israel is considering allowing a group of gunmen who were deported in 2002 after hiding inside the Church of the Nativity to return home have left some Christian residents here seriously concerned for their safety. Thirteen of the gunmen were deported to different European countries, while another 26 were expelled to the Gaza Strip. The gunmen, belonging to both Fatah and Hamas, were holed up in the church for 39 days before European mediators reached a deal with Israel according to which the fugitives would be permitted to walk out unharmed.
While recognizing Islam's pre-existing obsession with anti-Semetic genocide, the terrorist desecration (and that is what it was), of the The Nativity in 2002 was an Islamic Kristallnacht against all Christianity as well. I will even go so far as to say this is positive proof that the threat of destroying Mecca and Medina may need to end up being part of some final sword of Damocles forever held above the head of unreformed Islam.
Even the United States' wholly justified and laudable military efforts against Islamism are woefully insufficient compared to what eventually will be required. The only thing you can count on is that the longer this is put off, the more horrible the resolution of it will be. Islam, as it stands, will force it to be that way.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, currently visiting Jordan, declined on Monday King Abdullah II's offer to mediate between the warring Palestinian Fatah and Hamas factions. Abbas was also expected to meet with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh while in Jordan, Army Radio reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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The Foreign Ministry instructed Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Gillerman on Monday to file a complaint regarding the continuing Kassam rocket attacks against Israel. Gillerman passed a strongly-phrased letter to the acting president of the security council and UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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Litmus test for incoming UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Fail this one and be consigned to oblivion as any sort of great world leader. We'll see if this is one South Korean with any sense of gratitude for being saved from totalitarianism.
JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ehud OlmertÂ’s cabinet on Monday approved the removal of 27 Israeli roadblocks in the occupied West Bank, a move officials said was meant to bolster ineffectual Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
If ever there's a man who needs bolstering ...
An Israeli source said removal of the 27 roadblocks would allow goods to be transported more freely in the West Bank, which has hundreds of roadblocks and checkpoints in all. Israeli officials said removing the roadblocks would take time and they did not provide a start date.
I'd start shortly after hell freezes over myself ...
‘The removal ... is a step in the direction of ending all internal closures in order to ensure the free movement of goods and people in the West Bank and East Jerusalem,’ senior Abbas aide Saeb Erekat said. He estimated the number of roadblocks and checkpoints in the West Bank at 400.
Saeb can't admit to the world why the checkpoints are there, can he? Wouldn't be right to complain how effective the roadblocks have been in stopping the splodydopes.
OlmertÂ’s cabinet also agreed on Monday to make improvements at the Karni commercial crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip in order to speed the flow of cash goods. The Israeli source said travel restrictions on senior Palestinian officials and medical crews would also be eased.
Oh yes, can't slow the Red Crescent ammo carriers ambulances!
‘We reached the conclusion that we must certainly begin relieving (pressure) at the checkpoints, especially in areas that do not pose a threat -- to ease movement a little inside the villages and between the villages,’ Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz said earlier.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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I'm going out on a limb here, but can this offer now be made without harm to Israeli security because of upgrades to Pal-Israeli border crossings, surveillance, etc.
I mean, they have been working on the fence for the last couple of years.
For a guy who's s'posed to be mouldering in durance vile, this guy sure gets around a lot...
Thousands of supporters of Moro leader Nur Misuari have called for the unconditional release of the detained Moro National Liberation Front chair so he could lead the MNLF delegation to the tripartite meeting with the Philippine government and the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) scheduled in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Feb. 6 to 8 next year. The call was made by participants of the series of consultative “Bangsamoro Peoples Congress” held in the Lanao provinces, Pikit in North Cotabato, Parang in Shariff Kabunsuan, Ampatuan in Maguindanao, Koronadal City, Palimbang in Sultan Kudarat, and in Sarangani Province from November to December. Organizers say the same gathering will also be held in Davao, Cagayan de Oro and Sulu next month.
The OIC, which brokered the GRP-MILF peace talks concluded in the 1996 final peace agreement, has invited the government and the MNLF for a meeting in Jeddah to review the implementation of the peace agreement, recommend proposals and set up monitoring mechanisms. Congress participants said they would not allow any MNLF leader to represent the Bangsamoro in the Jeddah meeting without Misuari heading the delegation.“Part of the resolution drawn from that consultative congress is to allow Prof. Misuari to select who will comprise the MNLF delegation,” Haji Gapul Hadjirul, MNLF national coordinator, said in an interview. He added that not one from the “Council of 15” who bolted the MNLF mainstream is included in the draft list of MNLF delegation.” The 15, he said, “allowed themselves to be used by the government in order to weaken the MNLF.”
The government, Hadjirul said, claims that it implemented 80 percent of the 1996 agreement. In reality, he stressed, only the integration of the MNLF forces to the Armed Forces and the Philippine National Police have been almost completely complied with. Hadjirul explained that the 1996 peace agreement is the “mechanism” to implement the 1976 Tripoli Agreement which called for the establishment of an “autonomous Bangsamoro Homeland” having 13 provinces in the island of Mindanao, Sulu, Palawan and Basilan. He said he was tasked by Misuari to supervise the conduct of the series of congresses during a meeting with the chair early in November in New Manila, Quezon City where Misuari is now under house arrest.
Hadjirul accused the government of being “insincere” when it “unilaterally, and without giving us our own pony reconciling with the Tripoli Agreement, passed into law Republic Act 9054, which killed the 1996 peace agreement.”
In his speech in Davao City last Sept. 2, the 10th year anniversary of the signing of the 1996 settlement, Misuari said the “agreement” is already dead and must thus be “exhumed and revived” if the government wants peace to prevail in Mindanao. Misuari has been detained since January 2002 on rebellion charges for the November 2001 uprising of his men in Sulu and Cabatangan in Zamboanga City. During the Pikit consultative congress last Dec. 9, Misuari thanked his supporters through a mobile phone call. He said he will seek a special meeting with the OIC secretary-general and the King of Saudi Arabia during the tripartite meeting February next year. Hadjirul called on the Bangsamoro people to pray for the success of the tripartite meeting. “Or else, we may again go back to square one,” he warned.
#1
Nur Baby was a Mujahadin fighter in Afghanistan, he brought back all that extreem muzzy bull with him and Islamisized the Bangasomoro peoples issues, changing the Moro National Lib Front to the Moro Islamic Lib Front. The MNLF agreement, the Tripoli agreement, was executed so his claims of otherwise are bull. Nur was the leader of the ARMM until Nov 2001 when he was voted out by the Muzzies. He refused to give up power and the Philippine government stepped in and removed him. Once removed the elected leader took power, Paruk Hussain-another mujahadin. During the stand-off his Nur's men took a couple of schools full of women and kids and used them as hostages and human shields against the military. This guy ahould have been shot on sight.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/26/2006 8:36 Comments ||
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In these days of fear and distrust in Lebanon, there may be no man who inspires more venom than General Michel Aoun. Since returning from 15 years of exile to the joyful cheers of his followers last year, the Christian leader known simply as "the General" has overturned this fragile country's intricate network of allegiances. First he formed a surprising political alliance with Hezbollah. Then he sent his followers into the streets for massive antigovernment demonstrations.
With rising religious and political tensions threatening to pitch the country into fighting, many of his embittered countrymen hold Aoun squarely to blame. But after decades of war and exile, Aoun is in no mood to apologize. Watching from a fortified perch in Beirut's well-heeled Christian suburbs as the country unravels, he is calm and self-assured. He politely acknowledges his many, vociferous critics -- and describes himself as a misunderstood savior of Christians and Lebanon. "A leader must be a leader. Sometimes he could make choices against the opinions of his followers because he has to go through a crisis and to save them. The vision is not for everybody," says Aoun, peering over his desk through round eyeglasses. "He has to make a choice, and maybe after, the people will understand why he has done what he has done."
It's no secret that Aoun would like to emerge from Lebanon's political paralysis as president, a post reserved for a Christian under Lebanon's system of setting up the government according to religion. Many Lebanese believe that he made a Faustian bargain with Hezbollah in hopes of assuring his ascendance. His rivals say he is so blinded by ambition that he's willing to destabilize the country -- and turn Christians against one another -- to get the power he wants. But Aoun insists that he is working to secure a better government for Lebanon, and that the presidency is an afterthought.
Whatever his motives, he has boosted Hezbollah's fortunes at a delicate time: As it pushes to topple the government, Hezbollah has minimized its image as an armed Islamist party of Shi'ite Muslims. Hezbollah now speaks of itself as a mainstream movement with a populist, cross-sectarian appeal.
Critics fear Aoun is being used by Hezbollah, and warn that his newfound allies will toss him aside when they no longer need him. They call him a traitor to Christians, and a tool of Syria and Iran, Hezbollah's main backers. "He's a destructive figure in recent Lebanese history," said Michael Young, opinion editor for Lebanon's Daily Star newspaper. "Lebanon has never been so divided, and the Christian community, since his return, has never been so divided. Like many a demagogue, he lives off division."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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I've been wrong about a hell of a lot over the last 25 years (prior to that I had a hold-harmless clause in my life-contract), but thinking this guy was on the right side of history is a top tenner. Right there with the Chris Rixx fiasco and the grilled Mallard catastrophe.
Iran is suffering a staggering decline in revenue from its oil exports, and if the trend continues income could virtually disappear by 2015, according to an analysis published Monday in a journal of the National Academy of Sciences. Iran's economic woes could make the country unstable and vulnerable, with its oil industry crippled, Roger Stern, an economic geographer at Johns Hopkins University, said in the report and in an interview. Iran earns about $50 billion a year in oil exports. The decline is estimated at 10 to 12 percent annually. In less than five years exports could be halved and then disappear by 2015, Stern predicted.
For two decades, far longer than its designation by President Bush in January 2002 as part of the "axis of evil," the United States has deployed military forces in the region in a strategy to pre-empt emergence of a regional superpower. Iraq was stopped in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, but a hostile Iran remains a target of U.S. threats. The U.S. military exercises have not stopped Iran's drive. But the report said the country could be destabilized by declining oil exports, hostility to foreign investment to develop new oil resources and poor state planning, Stern said.
Stern's analysis, which appears in this week's edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, supports U.S. and European suspicions that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons in violation of international understandings. But, Stern says, there could be merit to Iran's assertion that it needs nuclear power for civilian purposes "as badly as it claims." He said oil production is declining and both gas and oil are being sold domestically at highly subsidized rates. At the same time, Iran is neglecting to reinvest in its oil production. "With an explosive demand at home and poor management, the appeal of nuclear power, financed by Russia, could fill a real need for production of more electricity."
Iran produces about 3.7 million barrels a day, about 300,000 barrels below the quota set for Iran by the oil cartel, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The shortfall represents a loss of about $5.5 billion a year, Stern said. In 2004, Iran's oil profits were 65 percent of the government's revenues. "If we look at that shortfall, and failure to rectify leaks in their refineries, that adds up to a loss of about $10 billion to $11 billion a year," he said. "That is a picture of an industry in collapse."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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But the report said the country could be destabilized by declining oil exports, hostility to foreign investment to develop new oil resources and poor state planning, Stern said.
Yet somehow, amid the untold billions of dollars, no factories were set up, no universities were built, no hospitals provided to the communities, just billions and billions spent on terrorist aggression.
Isn't this a crime against humanity, against the Iranian people specifically? How many, like those in Bam, are dying due to lack of better conditions from all the diverted wealth? Aren't ongoing crimes against humainty the case almost without exception wherever Sharia law is active? Just askin'.
#3
...And as the Iranian economy is NOT in good shape now, we need to remember Galtieri's Law: When things get really bad, start a war against somebody we THINK won't shoot back.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/26/2006 9:49 Comments ||
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Iran is suffering a staggering decline in revenue from its oil exports,
Bullshit. The Sept. 11 atrocity and the weak American response has been the best thing to ever happen to muslim oil exporters.
http://www.house.gov/jec/studies/rr109-31.pdf
Iran oil exports:
2002 $18.5 billion
2003 $23.7 billion
2004 $32 billion
2005 $46.6 billion
2006 $60+ billion (my est. 2.7M barrels at $60+)
So Iranian oil income (and every other muslim oil tick) has tripled since Sept 2001.
Posted by: ed ||
12/26/2006 10:11 Comments ||
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#5
Thanks for that link ed.
For Iran if power is the problem, oil and gas would be a lot cheaper then nuclear.
#7
here is some more from an Israeli research site
http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=32159
they get their numbers from a variety of sources (and they do the kind of extrapolation that ed did also).
----------------------------
One of the main reasons why spending from the OSF has been so high has been the need to import uel. Iran's imports of mineral products, fuel, oil
products, and their derivatives (including gasoline) have increased rapidly. In FY 2000-2001, the cost of imports came to $330 million and during FY 2004-2005 they totaled just over $3 billion.[13] In May 2005, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying that gasoline imports were costing $5 billion per year. Domestic production was 42 million liters per day, and imports were 25-26 million liters per day.[14] This meant that imports accounted for almost 38 percent of domestic demand. The International Energy Agency (IEA) stated that in 2003, Iran's gasoline output met only 40 percent
of domestic demand. It also stated that gasoline imports in 2003 were 95 kb/d, costing $1.1 billion, and in 2004 they totaled 160 kb/d, costing $4.5 billion.[15]
Iran has to import petroleum products, because its refineries are inadequate both qualitatively and quantitatively. In January 2005, Iran had nine oil refineries, most of which were built before the 1979 revolution. In 2005, they had a combined capacity of 1.684 million barrels per day (b/d).[16]
#8
Yeah, but even if $5 billion is a lot for gas imports, $45 billion w/ $20-some billion of *that* being increases since 2001 more than makes up for the increasing costs. Even if the trend lines are converging, one of the basic economic rules of thumb is "don't extrapolate trend lines beyond the limits of common sense".
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
12/26/2006 14:14 Comments ||
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#9
if the trend continues income could virtually disappear by 2015
#11
It could decrease and die, or it could be bolstered by billions of Chicom and Russian $ as an ace in the hole for them. We should move on this if we want a taste.
According to the Mufti of Mount Lebanon, Hezbollah has transformed itself from a resistance group to a Mafia organization, trying to force its will on the Lebanese people by using Mafia tactics . Mohammad Ali Jozu said of Hezbollah that they are in the middle of a coup against the government in which they were a major partner for one and a half years. He added “ they are threatening to close roads , airports, ports etc….this is no more a peaceful demonstration , but a coup against the state” .
Jozu went on to say that under the cover of a national unity Government , Hezbollah has destabilized the country , divided the nation and planted the seeds of a religious civil war. He said Hezbollah is making sure that the International tribunal for trying the killers of Hariri never takes place , in order to protect the criminals of their allies in Syria and their Lebanon counterparts. Jozu said with the kidnapping of the Israeli soldiers that led to the 33 day war Hezbollah has kidnapped Lebanon to serve the interest of Syria and Iran .
About Hezbollah ally president Lahoud he said “ this guy represents the interests of Syria in Lebanon and has destabilized the country and its institutions to serve Syria’s interest." He asked “ isn’t this a mafia tactic ?" Jozu insisted that Lebanon government should be the only authority and its army the only army and should make sure that the coup does not succeed.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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This maybe surprises you half-asses ? Enjoy your coming paradise. You supported these bastards. Enjoy your domination.
Pub and restaurant owners in downtown Beirut have been angered by pro-Syrian opposition protestors who have been camping out since December 1 in their street, accusing them of bothering their clients and stopping their businesses.
Businessmen who own restaurants or pubs which serve alcohol decided last week to defy the open-ended protests by the opposition, which are led by the radical Islamic Hezbollah and their allies the Shiite Amal movement, and started to open their doors for their regular clients.
When the opposition decided to camp out in the streets of the two main squares in the luxurious downtown area of Beirut to force the anti-Syrian government to resign, most pubs and restaurants in the area were forced to close.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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It's an old trick devised to starve out the non-muslim out. Why the locals haven't hired their own "Security Force" is beyond me.
Members of Hamas are debating whether to carry out attacks against the United States and may hit American targets if the U.S. continues to support Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' call for new elections, Hamas leaders told WND in a series of interviews.
"There is no doubt that Abu Mazen (Abbas) was encouraged to decide early elections after receiving American promises to support him politically and military," Abu Abdullah, a leader of Hamas' Izzedine al-Qassam Martyrs Brigades, the group's declared "resistance" department, told WND.
The terror leader accused the U.S. of instigating a Palestinian civil war. "Here the Americans did not support the elections, they actually gave their support and their encouragement to a Palestinian civil war. It is our duty to prove to the Americans that they chose the wrong policy exactly like it is the case in Iraq," said Abu Abdullah, considered one of the most important operational members of Hamas' so-called military wing.
Abu Abdullah told WND Hamas has not yet decided to attack the U.S., "but one cannot guarantee that this will be the situation if the conspiracy of chasing our government succeeds."
Asked which U.S. targets Hamas would hit, Abu Abdullah replied, "Do you think that I can give you an answer to this question? I can say that the Middle East is full of American targets and the world has had the occasion to learn what are the weapons of the anti-American forces in the region."
...
Several Hamas leaders told WND meetings were held in recent weeks in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank to discuss the possibility of targeting the U.S. due to its perceived support of Fatah against Hamas.
Abu Abdullah told WND Hamas' political decision for now is to try to convince the international community, including the U.S., they must "recognize and respect the democratic choices of the Palestinian people and to respect its government." But, he said, if new elections indeed are held, "I would not be surprised if a change takes place in our present policy regarding attacks against American targets in the region."
"We are saying that in case of a scenario where elections are something concrete and not a political threat like it seems to be now, there is a real possibility that resistance forces in the region will hit American targets. The U.S. is maintaining its support to the idea of the elections and so is the American servant (British Prime Minister) Tony Blair," Abu Abdullah said. Rest at link.
Posted by: ed ||
12/26/2006 10:34 ||
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#1
Great idea. Then we can stomp your asses good and proper.
#11
Thats what Dem Congresses [+ Dem Potuses]are for -FORTRESS IRAQ, ISRAEL, etal. scenarios > Radical Iran will have to either forswear ambitions of empire, i.e. risk domestic/internal destabilizations wid in Iran; or else intensify Govt-suppor terror attacks throughout ME + World. In any case, won't occur until after new Dem Congress is sworn in. MOUD = BILL CLINTON > OWN PUBLIC COMMENTS/RANTS HAVE PRE-CONDEMNED HIM, which for Moud means the UNSC is already technically "justified" in resorting to [US-led?] mil action to remove him from de facto state power.
#12
Thats what Dem Congresses [+ Dem Potuses]are for -FORTRESS IRAQ, ISRAEL, etal. scenarios > Radical Iran will have to either forswear ambitions of empire, i.e. risk domestic/internal destabilizations wid in Iran; or else intensify Govt-suppor terror attacks throughout ME + World. In any case, won't occur until after new Dem Congress is sworn in. MOUD = BILL CLINTON > OWN PUBLIC COMMENTS/RANTS HAVE PRE-CONDEMNED HIM, which for Moud means the UNSC is already technically "justified" in resorting to [US-led?] mil action to remove him from de facto state power.
#13
Thats what Dem Congresses [+ Dem Potuses]are for -FORTRESS IRAQ, ISRAEL, etal. scenarios > Radical Iran will have to either forswear ambitions of empire, i.e. risk domestic/internal destabilizations wid in Iran; or else intensify Govt-suppor terror attacks throughout ME + World. In any case, won't occur until after new Dem Congress is sworn in. MOUD = BILL CLINTON > OWN PUBLIC COMMENTS/RANTS HAVE PRE-CONDEMNED HIM, which for Moud means the UNSC is already technically "justified" in resorting to [US-led?] mil action to remove him from de facto state power.
#15
Didn't they blow up a convoy of trainers in SUV's with an IED a few years ago? Trainers who tried to help these animals establish a rule of law? I recall they did.
Almost 100 students, faculty, and alumni of Brandeis University have signed a petition calling for campus officials to bring President Jimmy Carter to Waltham to discuss his controversial new book about Israel without requiring him to debate. Jimmy Carter, back by popular demand!
The former president told The Boston Globe this month that he declined an invitation from a university trustee to speak at Brandeis, because it came with the suggestion that he debate Alan Dershowitz , a professor at the Harvard Law School who has criticized Carter's book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." "How dare anyone criticize a former President! The nerve of you!"
A student who started the online petition -- which calls for "neither censoring nor filtering [Carter's] content" -- said the group has received about $1,000 in pledges from faculty to help sponsor the visit. They plan to invite Carter in a letter by the end of the week. Check this paragraph out:
"I think there's a basic lack of debate here about Israel and Palestine," said Kevin Montgomery , 22, a senior majoring in politics who started the petition. "My belief is debate doesn't have to happen face to face. It can happen over time. Most speakers brought to Brandeis are pro-Israel, and I think it feeds a lack of understanding of the other side." "So we can have a 'debate' and not actually debate! Ain't I clever?"
In response, the Brandeis president, Jehuda Reinharz, sent an e-mail message to Montgomery, saying he had never made Carter's visit conditional on debating Dershowitz. Jehuda Reinharz, you're busted!
He added that the former president had made an unrealistic request, saying he would come to Brandeis only if the university sent a plane to pick him up at his home in Georgia. Just raising the stakes, good on ya, Jimmy...
"The university does not contract private planes to bring speakers to campus for a book tour," Reinharz wrote. Like the debate was going to happen anyway...
"Given the bad press attention this issue has received in the press and over the Internet, and the fact that President Carter has twice declined to consider a visit to Brandeis, I do not think it would be fitting for me, on behalf of the university, to pursue this matter with him further." He's dead, Jim!
Reinharz could not be reached yesterday. Something to do with Christmas, maybe?
Lorna Miles, a university spokeswoman, said the president would not object to additional efforts to bring Carter to Brandeis.
"The president has already said that the faculty may invite whomever they wish," said Miles, noting Reinharz wrote to Montgomery that if Carter chooses to accept their invitation, "he would be received with the courtesy we extend to all guests and visitors."
Carter could not be reached yesterday. Deanna Conglileo , his spokeswoman, said he has not received a formal invitation from the university, and generally does not comment on speaking engagements until receiving an invitation.
Students, faculty, and alumni who signed the petition were miffed that university officials were not doing more to bring the winner of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize to Brandeis. Petition can be found here. Vote Early and Often!
"We're missing an opportunity to have an American president speak to us," said Kenny Fuentes , 20, a junior majoring in history. "It's something I think I can learn a lot from." Invite Clinton instead - learn about the latest blowjob jokes!
Among unsigned comments on the petition, someone wrote: "If dissenting voices are blocked from campus, then what is Brandeis worth anymore? Isn't that what we pride ourselves on?" No one's blocking anything, Ace - Carter backed down rather than getting his ass handed to him by Dershowitz. Not big on reading comprehension at Brandeis, are they?
Others said student and faculty questions would suffice as a variation of slow-pitch softball means of probing Carter's views.
"I would like to see Carter in a long Q & A session with Brandeis students and faculty, rather than bring in an outside opponent," another petitioner wrote. I would like to see Carter and Dershowitz in a steel cage match...
Montgomery said he found Reinharz's response to the petition "disappointing, condescending, and almost juvenile." What else would you expect from a university president?
#6
So how many of those brave petition signers are going to pony up even $10 so this poverty stricken ex-president (snicker) doesn't have to cash one of his pension checks to pay for airfare? After all, he's a senior citizen living on a fixed income, kids.....it's not like 180k+ goes very far nowadays....
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.
MOSCOW - Russia may write off about $10 billion of AfghanistanÂ’s Soviet-era debt in February, local news agencies quoted Russian Foreign Ministry sources as saying on Monday.
NAIROBI, Dec 25 (Reuters) - Somali Prime Minister 
KARACHI — President General 
BAGHDAD - Iraq’s beleaguered police force has had 12,000 officers killed as it battles insurgents and death squads to restore law and order to the war-torn country, the interior minister said Sunday. ‘Since the fall of the dictatorial regime of Saddam Hussein we have presented 12,000 martyrs to the Iraqi people,’ Jawad Bolani told reporters,’The officers of the Iraqi police have done glorious work.’
JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday said he would like to renew peace talks with Syria, but insisted that Damascus first end its support of anti-Israel militant groups.
JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ehud OlmertÂ’s cabinet on Monday approved the removal of 27 Israeli roadblocks in the occupied West Bank, a move officials said was meant to bolster 
In these days of fear and distrust in Lebanon, there may be no man who inspires more venom than General Michel Aoun. Since returning from 15 years of exile to the joyful cheers of his followers last year, the Christian leader known simply as "the General" has overturned this fragile country's intricate network of allegiances. First he formed a surprising political alliance with Hezbollah. Then he sent his followers into the streets for massive antigovernment demonstrations.
Iran is suffering a staggering decline in revenue from its oil exports, and if the trend continues income could virtually disappear by 2015, according to an analysis published Monday in a journal of the National Academy of Sciences. Iran's economic woes could make the country unstable and vulnerable, with its oil industry crippled, Roger Stern, an economic geographer at Johns Hopkins University, said in the report and in an interview. Iran earns about $50 billion a year in oil exports. The decline is estimated at 10 to 12 percent annually. In less than five years exports could be halved and then disappear by 2015, Stern predicted.
According to the Mufti of Mount Lebanon, Hezbollah has transformed itself from a resistance group to a Mafia organization, trying to force its will on the Lebanese people by using Mafia tactics . Mohammad Ali Jozu said of Hezbollah that they are in the middle of a coup against the government in which they were a major partner for one and a half years. He added “ they are threatening to close roads , airports, ports etc….this is no more a peaceful demonstration , but a coup against the state” .
Pub and restaurant owners in downtown Beirut have been angered by pro-Syrian opposition protestors who have been camping out since December 1 in their street, accusing them of bothering their clients and stopping their businesses.
