CAIRO - The Arab League on Wednesday called on Ethiopia to withdraw its troops from neighbouring Somalia, where Islamist fighters are clashing with government troops backed by Addis Ababa. After an emergency meeting of permanent representatives in Cairo, the 22-member body warned the conflict could threaten the peace and stability of the Horn of Africa.
In a statement, the Arab League called for the withdrawal of all foreign presence from Somali territory. (The Arab League) calls on all Somali parties and Ethiopian forces for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire, the statement said, urging the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution urging a cessation of hostilities.
And the Ethiops, for some strange reason, don't seem to be listening. Fancy that!
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/28/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
After a brief discussion with a burly man in cammies called "Mr. White", the Ethiopian general responded "Nuts!"
#2
After an emergency meeting of permanent representatives in Cairo, the 22-member body warned the conflict could threaten the peace and stability of the Horn of Africa.
UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security Council failed on Wednesday for a second day to agree on a statement calling for a quick end to the war in Somalia after Qatar again insisted it also urge Ethiopian troops to leave.
The 15-nation council remained split 14 to one against the Qatari position, as it had been on Tuesday, so further deliberations were called off with no expectation they would resume any time soon, diplomats said.
So Qatar is hanging the Council, no doubt at the request of the Arab League and good jihadis everywhere.
During the two days of closed-door negotiations, Qatar had pushed hard for a council statement demanding that all foreign forces immediately withdraw from the territories of Somalia and cease their military operations inside Somalia.
U.S. Ambassador Alejandro Wolff said it was too simplistic to think that an Ethiopian withdrawal would solve the problem. The solution to the Somalia problem is going to require a broader perspective and approach that will include direct negotiations between the transitional government authorities the legitimate government of that country and the Union of Islamic Courts, Wolff said.
The Ethiopians arent the only foreign force in the country. There is a consensus in the council not to deal with this issue by names, said Wolff, whose government has signalled support for the Ethiopian offensive in Somalia.
Mr. Wolff may be a worthy successor to John Bolton.
Asked if Washington was simply stalling in the council until Ethiopia could complete its military mission, Wolff responded: I dont think that the United States is the one blocking this at this point.
Somalias deputy UN ambassador, Idd Beddel Mohamed, said Ethiopia had intervened at the invitation of the transitional federal government.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/28/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
IMO how the Arab League reacts will depend on what the new 2007 Congress does agz Dubya in Iraq - iff the Dems tie Dubya's hand or succeed in mandating US withdrawal, the impetus for non-Radicalist Muslim nations will then become self-survival > may mean appeasing nuclearizing Iran by providing forms of local support for new Islamist effort agz Ethiopia. ETHIOPIA =ISRAEL =JAPAN-SK, etc > JUST ANOTHER DEMOCRATIC OR MODER NATION FOR ANTI-US/WESTERN RADICALS TO WIPE OUT. Iff USDOD WANTS TO DEBATE NEED FOR NEW AFRICAN COMMAND, ANSWER IS YES. WOT > WAR FOR THE WORLD + NATIONAL SURVIVAL -Remember, the USA is dealing wid enemies whom had already decided long ago to destroy the entire world iff Amer does NOT adopt anti-US OWG + SOCIALISM. E.G. MOUD > sees paradise, 12TH IMAM, + Islamist OWG in terms of the AFTERLIFE, AFTER THE WORLD = CURRENT ORDER IS DESTROYED. AT LEAST FOR MOUD HE'S PUBLIC + OVERT ABOUT IT, WHILE THE COMMIES-GOVTISTS-SECULARIST TOTALITARIANS, ETC HIDE IN THE PC SHADOWS/DARKNESS, WAFFLING EVERYHWRE ANYWHERE AND NOWHERE.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/28/2006 8:56 Comments ||
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#4
Frank G it's the same as when the MSM were reporting that only 15 of Iraq's provinces were considered safe enough for people to vote. What they failed to reveal is that Iraq has only 18 provinces. Make it sound as bad as you can!
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/28/2006 16:22 Comments ||
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Mogadishu 27, Dec.06 ( Sh.M.Network) Authorities in the semiautonomous regional government of Puntland have denied they were involved in the killing of 55 Islamists held as prisoners by the Ethiopian military troops.
"Never happened!"
Puntland information minister Abdirahman Mohammed Bangah has told Shabelle Radio by the phone that his regional government was not involved in the massacre reportedly committed by the Ethiopian troops.
"It was .. um .. someone else."
He said they arranged a mass burial for the dead in Galkayo where Puntalnd and warlord Abdiqeybdid control, reiterating his government was not involved. He said Puntland forces were confined to Galkayo, and did not fight in central Somalia where the prisoners were captured.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/28/2006 00:00 ||
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Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/28/2006 8:51 Comments ||
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#4
Too bad they can't call their human rights lawyers to hide behind, seeing how they're dead and all.
Oh, you mean that only works with the Americans?
#7
Headline: Puntland denies it killed 55 Islamist prisoners.
Of course not. They fell in battle. Kinda. Sorta. "In battle" meaning around the time of a battle. Interestingly enough, the Ethiopians are practicing reciprocity against the Islamic Courts, who had a policy of killing prisoners.
#8
If these "Islamist prisoners" were illegal combatants, they deserved what they got, according to time-honored tradition as opposed to MSM BS. Not a massacre but an execution.
(KUNA) -- The United Nations High Commmissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour expressed Wednesday her deep concern for civilian victims of the hostilities between forces of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and militia of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) in Somalia. In a staement issued today, Arbour added that the conflict, which broke out near Baidoa on 20 December, is reported to be escalating and has resulted in the displacement of local populations in many parts of south and central Somalia. She spoke too soon. It's actually ending.
Arbour urged the parties to respect international humanitarian law protecting civilians in conflict, and expressed particular concern that civilian casualties and fatalities due to the fighting may increase in the coming days. In response to recent reports of aerial bombardments by Ethiopian forces in the Mogadishu and Baidoa areas, Arbour insisted that the laws of war must be respected at all times. Arbour noted that it is unacceptable that the people of Somalia are again facing an upsurge in violence, displacement and human rights violations . She reiterated the call of the Secretary-General that both sides cease the hostilities immediately. Arbour also reminded all concerned of the need to fully respect humanitarian law during conflict and of the duty to protect the human rights of civilians at all times.
As Rummy noted when similar concerns were raised about civilians and the 'brutal winter' as we opened the campaign in Afghanistan, the best way to take care of the civilians is to win quickly.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2006 00:00 ||
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I seem to remember UN blue hats casually watching the Hutu-Tutsi slaughter, while tossing rhetoric-bombs at the Ruanda government. The UN record on assistance to innocent civilians, stinks.
Kenya plans to hold talks with Somalia's embattled Islamic leaders in a bid to end escalating fighting with Ethiopian forces backing government, said diplomats on Wednesday. The Aethiops are actually accomplishing something. I'm not sure how helpful more jaw-jaw's gonna be, other than to maybe pull the Islamist back from the brink of dissolution.
The talks in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Thursday "will seek ways to urgently end the conflict", said a diplomat, requesting to remain anonymous. Killing all the Islamists would do just that.
The diplomat said that the Islamic courts leadership has confirmed participation. A week ago they were too ferocious for talks. They were jumping up and down and waving guns and making faces and declaring jihad.
Asked if Ethiopia and the Somali government would participate in the talks, the diplomat said: "We will deal with only those whom we can manage." Kinda hard to hold talks when you're not one of the participants in the festivities, isn't it?
On Tuesday, the Kenyan government urged Ethiopia to halt military operations against Somali Islamist forces, warning that that violence could complicate, instead of solve, the problem in Somalia. That's one of those diplostatements that makes no sense on its face, but when you examine it more deeply you discover that it's totally nonsensical.
Kenya, which mediated the convoluted peace talks that ended in the creation of the Somali interim government in 2004, faces the prospects of receiving additional Somali refugees should the situation escalate in the lawless African nation. About 160 000 Somali refugees, who fled the 15-year conflict in Somalia, are currently hosted by Kenya.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2006 00:00 ||
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The first phase in getting ICS basing rights in Kenya.
#1
Idiots. If Muslims were allowed to think independently, they would be able to understand that Mohammad (pig crap be upon him) concocted his hearsay visitations from some Angel he heard about from Nestorian traders. The entire Koran brain vomit was calculated to put loot in Mohammad's pockets and multiple wives (13 plus 9 known concubines) in his bed.
Mohammad was a pig and a pubescent girl lover to boot. His followers are piglets, prone to the same voracious plundering and terror of the founding beast of Mecca.
Now I am really angry. N-n-n-n-n-u-u-u-k-k-k-k-e-e-e-e M-m-m__________________
#13
Hmm, I think the Iranians and Somalis will be extra-specially Islamic this year, with lots of fist-raising and Allahu-ackbaring, so I think we'll have a high crushee count this year. I estimate 2150 pancakes before the hajj is over this year.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
12/28/2006 9:34 Comments ||
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#15
MSM says 2-3 million of these useless assturds gathered in one locale. If Bush wants to gain ground, an airblast a couple thousand feet above would be ideal. No statements. No comments.
#21
Wow. For once, thanks BBC! This will make things much easier...
2004: 251 pilgrims are trampled to death in a 27-minute stampede during the stoning ritual in Mina. Saudi officials said many of the victims had not been authorised to participate in the ceremony, after new procedures were introduced following previous stampedes.
2003: 14 people are crushed to death when pilgrims returning from the stoning ritual run into pilgrims coming the other way.
2001: 35 pilgrims are killed when a huge crowd surges towards one of the three giant pillars representing the devil.
1998: 118 pilgrims are trampled to death after panic erupts when several people fall off an overpass during the stoning.
1997: At least 340 pilgrims are killed and 1,500 injured when fire fuelled by high winds sweeps through a tent city in Mina.
1994: 270 pilgrims die in a stampede during the stoning ritual.
1990: 1,426 pilgrims, mainly Asian, die in a stampede in an overcrowded tunnel leading to holy sites.
1987: 402 people, including 275 Iranians (according to Saudi figures), die when security forces break up an anti-US demonstration by Iranian pilgrims.
We won't count the fire, or that...ummmmmmmm... little Iranian thing, so its
#24
I dont have an answer, but I would challenge the readers of this blog to consider whether there are any other ways to break the knot ones that dont actually involve the deaths of tens of thousands and a nuclear holocaust in the Middle East.
I'll risk moderator wrath and repost what I put up on Tuesday. Please note how the Baron dismisses a nuclear attack upon Mecca. I will maintain that such an attack must be held in reserve as massive retaliation for any sort of nuclear terrorist atrocity, but initial use of atomic weapons for this purpose is exceptionally counterproductive.
Here we have 1.6 MILLION people gathered. Projections call for some 3 MILLION people to attend. While it represents only 10%-20% of this globe's Muslim population, here is one of the few ways of impacting a sufficient number of Islam's followers, all at once.
Islam's life needs to be made extremely unpleasant if it is ever to see the wisdom of changing its ways. Launching military attacks against all centers of Islam without massive multinational support is not viable. Just as Islam uses asymmetrical force against us, we must begin considering what avenues there are to apply massive leverage against Islam.
To wit: (From last Tuesday)
And if just those three million Muslims alone found out they were not allowed to make that pilgrimage due to terrorism, do you think it could be arranged for a few jihadist imams to receive some negative feedback about it?
Because this may well be what it takes. Closing the Islamic shrines by military force is one of the few real fundamental levers that can be held against Islam as a whole. Arguments about collective punishment do not apply. Existing Islamic doctrine is predicated upon collective punishment of the kufir and is therefore not entitled to protest about retaliation in kind.
One way or the other, the negative consequences of opposing Islamic reform must be impressed upon around ONE BILLION Muslims before the ummah will perceive any significant pressure. Militarily interdicting and proscribing the Haj may well represent one of the few ways to collectively punish a sufficiently large portion of Islam for its refusal to reform in a way that will filter up to the jihadist clergy with the necessary impact.
I know it seems almost as likely that such a policy might create even more terrorism. The point still remains that more terrorists are being made every day, regardless. Islamism is already spreading, giving Muslims extra rallying points really does not matter, as the Koran provides an endless supply of them anyway.
If action continues to be delayed, it is almost guaranteed that many more than just three million Muslims will perceive some sort of real negative impact involving far more suffering than just a missed Haj. The number could expand by hundreds of that amount. In its obsession with death, Islam steadfastly ignores this ominous prospect, very much to its extreme danger.
One way or the other, we are going to need to reach out and touch almost a billion Muslims. How would you propose we do it? Remember, time is of the essence. America must not experience even another single 9-11 type atrocity. We need a library of genuine threats involving overwhelming consequences in order to deal with present day Islam. Holding the shrines hostage may be one of them. Far more moral to do that and preserve such priceless heritage than lamentably obliterate them with nuclear bombs. Suddenly the geographical hostage alternative looks a whole lot more humane.
Last but not least, the Haj is Disneyland meets Jonestown. They come for the thrill and end up with their minds poisoned by Wahabbism. The Haj is one vast programming school for the Islamic Sharia death meme. Ending or regulating it prunes a huge branch from terrorism's indoctrination process.
----------------------------------------
Soon enough we are going to need some real-world solutions in dealing with Islam. joking about mega-tramplings and over-unders is all well and fine, but what are the real measures that can be taken? I don't claim that my shrine hostage scenario is the best or even totally feasible. I DO maintain that we are going to have to come up with something along these lines and of this scale if there is to be any hope for peacefully coercing Islam into reformation.
Neglecting any effort to find such alternative approaches almost guarantees the West resorting to nuclear annihilation. Unreformed Islam's continued existence points to this same exact outcome as well. Repugnant as it may be, if we do not wish to bear the moral burden of having snuffed between 5%-10% of this world's population, we will need to find some other forms of resolution. What are they? Either we find them or resign ourselves to merely launching ICBMs by the dozens when the tipping point is reached.
The tipping point is coming soon. A lot sooner than most people think. I firmly believe that the West possesses enough fine minds whereby we can arrive at some sort of leveraged solutions to this rather intractable problem.
#26
"Here we have 1.6 MILLION people gathered. Projections call for some 3 MILLION people to attend. While it represents only 10%-20% of this globe's Muslim population,"
Huh? Your percentages are off by a factor of a hundred. Do the math.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
12/28/2006 16:26 Comments ||
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#27
I feel rather strongly that Rantburg's arsenal of well-educated and clever minds can come with some truly innovative solutions. I'd love to see them and I think others here would really benefit from open discussion of the subject.
Most important of all is that we cut through the crap and begin identifying what really needs to be done. All of us should carry around a solid set of talking points on how to solve this problem. It will better enable us to begin persuading the vast public we encounter every day as to what is going to be required. I have made good use of talking points derived from Rantburg in swaying the opinions of those around me. I want all of us to be armed with these philosophical weapons.
Over the holidays, I persoanlly came to the conclusion that we may need to simply return the last 50 years' worth of Muslim immigrants back to their nations of origin and Qua'rntine the entire Middle East. Allow no outgoing movement or change in borders. Attempts to build nuclear weapons would be interdicted but much of everything else would center on simply letting these idiots go about killing each other in the largest possible numbers.
We can joke about this stuff all we want, but some hard and fast decisions are staring us in the face. I'd really enjoy seeing what we can come up with.
#28
Your percentages are off by a factor of a hundred. Do the math.
Thank you for the correction. The point does remain that somehow affecting those who participate in the Haj represents one of the few ways to non-violently impact a large number of Muslims. How else can we reach MILLIONS of Muslims all at once? Hijacking al-Jazeera's broadcast frequencies is one of the only other ways.
You, especially, David D. know what I am talking about. Posting your list of options would be rather appropriate at this time. We're currently at number seven on your list of eleven. Numbers 8-11 get pretty nasty. Are there any other alternatives and what are they? That is my question.
#29
The real problem is oil dependence and the massive sums that flow to groups that do nothing to earn the money.
The world will get off it's oil dependence at some point, almost certainly as a result of a disruptive event of some kind. I think a Yugoslav style dismemberment of Iran is the most likely disruptive event (with spillover to neighbouring states).
The Baron is right, nuking Mecca is just magical thinking.
#30
"I'll risk moderator wrath and repost what I put up on Tuesday.
[...]
To wit: (From last Tuesday)"
[432-word essay snipped]
Zenster, please don't do that. Use a link instead.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
12/28/2006 16:54 Comments ||
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#31
No problem. As you can probably tell, I'm just a little concerned that so much time is spent making fun of Islam, which is admittedly a very large target, while we do not as often sort out just how to go about dealing with it in a realistic fashion.
I try to do my part here in arguing against first use of nuclear weapons in the Middle East. If only to solely preserve the badly needed moral authority America is going to need if and when the time for nuclear retaliation ever comes.
Saddest of all is how Islam thrusts their own survival into our hands, trusting upon weaponizing our finest sentiments against us and disarming our will to survive. This is why I am trying to find some way of placing the ball in Islam's court so that it must begin to take measures towards reform. We CANNOT reform Islam, it must do so itself or die. Absolutely nothing is pointing towards reform right now. If I wasn't so fed up with all things Islamic I'd say it was pretty pathetic. Instead, I just get this especially grim feeling about the potential for a Muslim holocaust.
#32
IMNSHO - Ridicule is something Islam and its' humorless minions are most afraid of, and one of the only things they've truly earned. Your "we MUST..." rants do little except get that particular load off your chest. Just saying....
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/28/2006 17:30 Comments ||
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#33
Nuking Mecca is a ridiculous idea, not to say an evil one. Nuking the oil fields controlled by Islamists, now that's an idea that would work, and very quickly. Of course millions would starve in the ensuing world economic collapse, but that's a very small price to pay...
#34
#24: I dont have an answer, but I would challenge the readers of this blog to consider whether there are any other ways to break the knot ones that dont actually involve the deaths of tens of thousands and a nuclear holocaust in the Middle East.
The solution is simple, send the shuttle to get a sizable rock from the nearest availible place, dispatch this rock on an impact trajectory to take out the Big Biack Rock.
Presto, the effects of a nuclear blast with NO radioactivity. (And no proof whatsoever that it was anything but natural)
Hint (Very Loudly)
ALLAH DOESN'T LIKE YOU,
ALLAH HAS TAKEN HIS REVENGE
Etc.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/28/2006 18:55 Comments ||
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#35
Nuking Mecca is a ridiculous idea, not to say an evil one.
Really? 9-11 ring a bell? Was if evil to blow a couple of Axis cities off the map? No. It's called total war and the meteor worshipping sand people started it in 570 AD.
Let's be blunt, the only real answer is to completely outlaw Islam, qurans. Its call of conversion or death makes the cold war look pale by comparision. It worked for the British, the "Thugs" are gone, dead history. Put it another way, it's us or them and yes it's that simple. Time to wake up people and smell the burned bodies in New York, at the Pentagon and in the hole Flight 93 left.
Nuking Mecca may be a good starting point but don't forget Medina where the bastard Muhamhead is buried. The only thing really in Mecca is the Immam's brewery in the Kaaba where Allah's Swine Sprem beer made. Hand harvested by Saudi Princes. Look for the "Pagan Moon Goddess" on the label. The prefered drink of Mooslimbs everywhere. Distributed by CAIR and Keith Ellison followers in a Mosque near you.
#36
I would challenge the readers of this blog to consider whether there are any other ways to break the knot ones that dont actually involve the deaths of tens of thousands and a nuclear holocaust in the Middle East.
I say this without glee but with resignation and disgust. No population has confronted the Modern era with out massive upheaval and death, whether entry into the modern was successful or not.
This was certainly true of Europe. The Thirty Years War led to deaths of upwards of 20% of Europe's population. The indigenous populations of the New World did not fare well. WWII lead to deaths above 10% in the Soviet Union and near that in Japan and Germany.
I doubt Islam's confrontation with modernity will come at a cost less thousands of times more deaths than you specify. Particularly as it will also inevitably involve China and India in a cataclysm that will end up making the Second World War look like child's play.
Sorry, this will not end well and there is really little we can do about it except to minimize its impact upon us.
#38
We are entitled and required by our children's welfare to do all that is required to save ourselves, our nation, our civilization. That said, because of who we are and what we believe in, we are also required to do no more than necessary to achieve that end. whether we have to kill 100 or 100 million, we should do the best we can to make that number as small, yet effective, as possible. None of us, nor our leaders, yet have that strategy and consequence figured, but to shake and bake them all is bboth unnecessary, and self-destructive. I would argue that Dresden, Hiroshima, Tokyo, et all were and are still, justified in light of teh allied casualties prevented. The same calculus should apply in the future. If it comes down to shake and bake, well then, I'm all for it, but if not, we diminish ourselves. My 2 cents...
Also....I don't think the Ethiopian practice of executing illegal combatants is wrong, and we should be doing it as well. On the spot, where info through interrogation is not to be obtained. After the interrogation, if info is available. No f*cking Jihadis left alive
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/28/2006 20:32 Comments ||
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#39
typed fast - forgive the typos - mea culpa
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/28/2006 20:34 Comments ||
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#40
I don't think the Ethiopian practice of executing illegal combatants is wrong, and we should be doing it as well.
I agree as far as HVT, but not the run of the mill Mo. It is much better to take prisoners than not. Compare war on the Western Front to that in the Pacific. Otherwise, you get soldiers who will fight to the death. Those kill more of our guys. Ultimately, I could go with whatever the commanders in the field want.
Where I think we make a real error is in letting concern over collateral damage stop us from taking effective military action. Too many civilians are going to die in this, one way or another. That's the prime target of the enemy now because they know it's a hot button. The sooner the civilians figure out it is better to be far from the hadjis rather than close to them, the better for us and the fewer civilians killed in the long run.
Tornado fighter jets are regularly being scrambled to monitor passenger planes flying into British airspace, the head of the RAF has revealed. Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy, the Chief of the Air Staff, said counter-hijacking operations by the RAF have been launched every month since the September 11 attacks.
Sir Glenn said: "The Tornados have been launching pretty regularly for any aircraft that appear to be behaving oddly: for instance, where airline pilots fail to communicate with flight control or take an unexpected route. We're pretty acutely aware of the short time that we have to respond to these incidents. If there is any doubt at all about an aircraft, we launch the Tornados."
Last month an RAF fighter was called upon to shadow a plane flying from Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris to Detroit in the US. Sir Glenn said the pilot of the North West Airlines plane asked to divert to Prestwick, near Glasgow, because of fears over a passenger's behaviour. The RAF was alerted and a Tornado F3, which was already airborne, shadowed the aircraft as it flew into the airport.
In an interview with The Times, Sir Glenn also said that during the Cold War fighters were regularly scrambled to chase away Soviet aircraft but there had been a long period of "zero" quick-reaction alerts until September 11.
Four quick-reaction alert Tornado F3 planes, which can reach speeds of 1,500mph, are now permanently on standby. Two are based at RAF Marham in Norfolk and two are at RAF Leuchars in Fife, eastern Scotland. If an airliner in British airspace was hijacked by terrorists intending to fly it into a building, the Tornados could shoot it down. Pilots have a "hijack" button in the cockpit which would alert the London joint area operations air traffic control centre at West Drayton of what was happening.
A senior politician such as the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Home Secretary or Transport Secretary would have to give the authorisation for a commercial airliner to be shot down, according to defence sources. Such a decision would be made by Cobra, the Cabinet Office emergency committee, and would be based not on the hijack itself but on the perceived intent of the hijackers.
#2
I am not certain a full Cobra meeting would be called for; the reaction time is too short for many flights. I would not be surprised if several senior ministers had authority to order a shoot-down.
Thanks too, to the MSM once again; this time for letting us know there are four alert fighters on standby. Now AQ and the like know how many planes it takes to overwhelm the system. It is time to start hanging editors.
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese president and commander-in-chief Hu Jintao urged the building of a powerful navy that is prepared "at any time" for military struggle, state media reported on Thursday.
At a meeting of delegates to a Communist Party meeting of the navy on Wednesday, Hu said China, whose military build-up has been a source of friction with the United States, was a major maritime country whose naval capability must be improved. "We should strive to build a powerful navy that adapts to the needs of our military's historical mission in this new century and at this new stage," he said in comments splashed on the front pages of the party mouthpiece People's Daily and the People's Liberation Army Daily. "We should make sound preparations for military struggles and ensure that the forces can effectively carry out missions at any time," said Hu, pictured in green military garb for the occasion.
Those missions include grabbing each and every bit of land that was ever once part of imperial China. And the lands next to those. And all the water in-between.
China's naval expansion includes a growing submarine fleet and new ships with "blue water" capability, fuelling fears in the United States that its military could alter the balance of power in Asia with consequences for Taiwan.
To which we should be paying attention.
Analysts say China sees a stronger navy as a way to secure energy supplies and seaborne trade routes to help ease security fears over supplies of resources and oil it needs to feed its booming economy.
That's understandable in a power-politics way: every country (until recently, as witness the EU) that has had a strong trade policy and that has depended on overseas goods has built a navy to protect those interests. If China indeed needs more oil from the Middle East and Africa, it's going to build a navy to reflect that.
Hu also called for the "strict management of the navy according to law", a possible reference to a scandal in which a vice admiral was jailed for life on a charge of embezzlement. Wang Shouye was convicted by a military court earlier this month, Hong Kong's Wen Wei Po reported, making him the most senior Chinese military officer to be jailed for corruption. Earlier this year, Wang was sacked as navy deputy commander for bad morals and using his position to demand and accept bribes and violate laws and discipline, the report said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/28/2006 12:45 ||
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#3
Combat-ready against whom? Are our politicians and military even paying attention to this? We really need to impose some tariffs that implode China now before it can steady itself enough to begin asserting military power. In terms of worst possible outcomes in this new century only Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons will exceed the monumental mistake of allowing China an uninhibited military buildup.
#4
One other goal of THE MISSION: the imbedding of DOLLAR STORES within every nation of the world. Commies fist tried floride in the 1950's, and now cheap merchandise to help us destruct from within. Only half joking...I'm damn sick of seeing "made in China" on everything. Yesterday at an upscale retro oriented toy store, I saw a bag of plastic soldiers. Half were in khaki U.S. military uniforms and the other half in bright red. The clear plastic bag was labeled something to the effect: "U.S. Military vs. Red Commies". And, you guessed it, the label on the back of the bag read "Made in China"!
#6
gromky: Want to torpedo the Chinese? Make them fight amongst one another. China alternates between being (mostly) unified and being divided.
The Chinese empire will occasionally break up and re-form. I don't think we can actually make them fight each other. But every so often, they will fight each other. Not for the heck of it, but just as during the Roman empire, various secondary power holders would look at the ruler's perks and think - "Hey! I could do that job". If we're lucky, some contenders might even think of a north east Asian mainland that doesn't necessarily include a single large country. A dozen countries in what is now China would introduce a healthier power balance in Asia.
#7
The biggest vulnerability of the US with respect to the PRC is financial/economic. The author Jerry Pournelle said it best:
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were intended to make it easier for people to own houses. By putting so much money into the system they created an artificial boom, a bubble. The whole darned thing is fueled with money borrowed from China. The result is a bubble that has been a big boon to property tax collectors, but saddles the middle class with enormous debts. More debts come from college loans. We are a nation of debtors.
Of course one "solution" is to confiscate the foreign investments and debts and money loaned. That has been done before. Kings and Emperors used to do it with aplomb.
The housing "boom" has been pure inflation: my house is worth 25 times what I paid for it 40 years ago. That makes no sense whatever. To think that a housing boom is fueling an expanding economy, particularly when many of the construction jobs go to illegal immigrants and unskilled labor, is a form of insanity only an economist could exhibit. Most of us know better.
The US doesn't MAKE very much. We have a booming economy based on exporting jobs and importing the stuff the people whose jobs were exported used to make. And paying for it by borrowing from China. Water always runs downhill. Eventually it hits bottom.
#9
Time to deploy the "flying crowbars" defense system. A half-dozen of them could take out ANY Chinese naval vessel, including shallow-running (I.E., missile) submarines.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/28/2006 19:40 Comments ||
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#10
One of the values a stronger navy would have for China is that it would serve as a very strong deterrent against the seizure or manipulation of Chinese assets in the USA in the event of financial/economic difficulties between the two countries, a conflict far likelier than a military one.
#11
Don't sweat the small stuff. Every capital ship they build will cost them billions to equip and operate and for what? The opportunity to see the USN put them all on the bottom in two days if they ever tried to use them?
The world's second largest navy is a waste of money if opposed by the largest. Look back to WWI and ask what value was the huge investment in the German fleet of capital ships? The Soviet navy was also large and now sits rusting in its ports. Instead of ships, worry about air lifters, marine brigades, and nuclear missiles. Those actually matter.
#12
China's PLAN remains, for the time being, predomin a LITTORAL NAVY with minor or Work-In-Progress/Dev "Blue Water" capabilities. The greatest threat from China is its internal, Gubmint = National historical dedication to fighting and winning a war REGARDLESS OF LEVELS OF CASUALTIES. China remembers how the high casualties from fighting agz US-led UN Command forces in KOREAN WAR 1 nearly came to threatening the new CCCC's hold on post-Civil War/1949 mainland China - this is a major reason why under ASSASSIN'S MACE + "LOCAL/WAR ZONE" concepts China's conventional forces will be protected under the cover of "TAKE-AND-HOLD", NUCLEARIZED LOCAL "ACTIVE DEFENSE" AND BACKED UP BY GEOPOL/MILPOL, STRATEGIC IMMEDIATE NUCLEAR ESCALATION, i.e. threat of nuclear mutual = worldwide self-destruction. POST 9-11 AYSMMETRIC WARFARE > priority is to induce = force the USA unto geopol isolationism and anti-sovereign, anti-Amer OWG + National-Global Socialism. It matters not to America's enemies whether Amer ultimately is destroyed by the world via violent warfare = globally expands and expands unto self-implosion like the USSR.
A citizens' group in Berlin turned out this week for a candlelight vigil to protest plans for a new mosque in their neighborhood. It will be the first to be built in the former East Berlin, where almost no Muslims live -- but no one can quite explain why it shouldn't be there.
The problem isn't that no one can quite explain it, it's that the authors are a couple of disingenuous agenda bitches who select their "facts" and quotes with care and apply the bludgeon of guilt - works like a champ on the Germans.
At the end of a rundown suburban street lined with bare trees and flaking apartment facades, a small group of people hold candles or colored Glo-sticks. A few hold signs -- "Democracy yes! Caliphate no!" -- and some carry German flags.
"The mosque is supposed to go up right here," says Günter Bronner, a blustery white-haired man with glasses pushed up on his forehead who's lived in the neighborhood for 42 years. He points to a drab piece of land at the end of the street where a defunct sauerkraut factory stands. "They want to have a minaret with a muezzin who gives the call to prayer five times a day. Can you imagine? Five times a day over our rooftops."
Officials gave the go-ahead last Friday for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association to build a new mosque in Heinersdorf, an eastern neighborhood of Berlin where very few Muslims live. It will be the first mosque on the once-Communist eastern side of the city, and an organization of locals turned out Wednesday to protest. "It was pretty brazen to hand this (approval) to us as a Christmas present," quipped Joachim Swietlik, head of the citizens' group, who claims that 90 percent of Heinersdorf doesn't want the mosque.
Continued on Page 49
Welcome to the Ummah. Please be sure to pay your Jizya promptly. Remember to be good Dhimmis and don't do ANYTHING that could possibly offend us. Or else.
#4
He believes marriage is "God's will" and wants to protect his community from the easy morality of modern Europe as much as the Interest Group wants to keep Heinersdorf free of Ahmadiyya.
In other words, if these Muslims don't come to Europe in the first place, they won't have to protect themselves "from the easy morality of modern Europe". Doesn't this fall into the "let's not and say we did", category?
While the Ahmadiyya Muslims are among the most peaceable, I've had quite enough of this colonization rubbish. From the imam's own statements, it is quite clear that he seeks to avoid any integration or assimilation. If that is the case, he should get the hell out and return to someplace where those issues are of no concern.
#7
GERMANY = WEST > needs to "trust but verify" which Muslims = moderate Muslims an be worked with. There are Pro-democracy Muslims in the world working to justify, reform and modernize their faith and societies from within Islam, by and for Islam - iff Absolutism-Totalitarianism , e.g. ULTRA-CONSERVATIVE TOTALITARIAN STATUS QUO, didn't work wid the Commies + Lefty Secularists, why would it work for "God/Faith-based Commies-Marxists-Bolsheviks-Leftists", etal.???
#3
Turning lights from white to gold sounds like a celebration of each death sentence. Apart from that, nice to see how socialists are consistently in favor of preserving and protecting tyrants.
Congress' new leaders aim to thwart Bush's call for a troop increase. Hearings are planned. What a pity they don't fight the country's wars as well as they do battle politically.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Ala NORTH VIETNAM, as long as the USA promises to not interfere in NVM affairs which SSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC, DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDeniable, includes the VC war in the South, North + South VM's will have peace in our time.
#2
But the way the troop increase plans will be framed will be to increase spending in various congressional districts. When pork is involved, the Dems will fold like cheap suits.
Posted by: john ||
12/28/2006 7:56 Comments ||
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#3
Oh, were is the Constitutional separation of powers?
Shove back right into their faces. Article II is Commander in Chief authority not Article I. Article I allow Congress to provide or cut funds. It does not give them authority over the operational employment of those troops so funded.
#5
To be clear, Congress does have a role in this. Bush is the CinC but Congress votes the money.
So let the Dems propose to cut the funding. Let them carry that to the public, and let's see them try to override the veto that would surely occur. Might be a very educational process for the American people.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/28/2006 10:41 Comments ||
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#6
I think we should make it clear to the donks that they are our enemy. They are so out of touch that they are not aware of the reality of the situation.
It's sad, really. The macaca have been living in their dream world, and the donks think it's real.
#7
Winning in '06 will end up being a curse in disguise for the donks. It will force them to go on the record when they are responsible for the result.
#8
To follow up on Nimble's post, it will be a curse for the Hildebeast. She's trying to play both the left and the center as she runs for the nomination. A Dhimmicratic-controlled Congress is going to put lots of silly stuff out there on which she'll have to make a public stand, and that doesn't suit her style at all.
Funding the war? Impeachment? Investigations on all sorts of stuff? Universal health care? Etc, etc., and if the Hildebeast votes against the wishes of the nutroots, they'll hammer her far better than Romney or McCain ever could.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/28/2006 13:00 Comments ||
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#9
Bastards! The Donks want to cut funds for your Johnnys body armor!
Posted by: Carl R ||
12/28/2006 13:39 Comments ||
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This is a Rep wet dream. Deploy the troops then show them stuck in the war because congress cut their funding for fuel, bullets and food. One good story of running out of gas and bullets will free up the funding like there's no tomorrow. The republican strategists must be jumping for joy!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/28/2006 14:18 Comments ||
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#11
I have full confidence that the Democrats will find a way to fuck this up...
#12
I think we should make it clear to the donks that they are our enemy.
I'm sure they realize that already, and feel the same way about us. The real problem is how do we get the majority of Americans to realize that the donks are their enemy.
Posted by: Chuck Darwin ||
12/28/2006 17:25 Comments ||
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A High Court in Pakistan delayed a lower court's ruling that dropped terrorism charges against a British man suspected in a plot to bomb trans-Atlantic passenger jets out of Britain, a lawyer said.
The British Muslim, Rashid Rauf, of Pakistani origin, was arrested in August and Pakistani officials identified him as a "key person" in the airline terror plot. The uncovering of the alleged plot by British police, triggered a pre-emptive security alert that saw mass cancellations of flights to and from London's Heathrow Airport for several days in August.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2006 00:00 ||
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Usual Roooters hand-wringing and lots of unnamed, quoted 'senior officials'. Lots o' salt required, and don't lose faith.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein may not hang this coming month, senior officials said on Thursday, casting doubt on how government factions may interpret an appeal court ruling that appeared to say he should die within 30 days. The officials indicated it seemed unlikely the former Iraqi president's sentence would be carried out before late January, despite a court statute that says executions must take place within 30 days after the sentence is confirmed.
Two days after the appeals court upheld his conviction for crimes against humanity and referred to the rule setting the apparent 30-day deadline, the cabinet and president have repeatedly declined formal comment on when Saddam may hang, fueling speculation that rival parties are divided on the issue.
A deputy justice minister told Reuters his department would not carry out the sentence for at least a month. The chief court spokesman said there was a "misunderstanding" on the statute and said Saddam might not hang until February or later.
Only if Iraq's three-man Presidency Council issues a decree ordering the execution sooner would the Justice Ministry execute the ousted leader before January 26, the court's Raed Jouhi told Reuters. If there were no decree, he would be hanged any time after that, at a date to be set by the Justice Ministry.
"The Justice Ministry will not implement it before one full month is up," Deputy Justice Minister Bosho Ibrahim, from the Kurdish minority, said when asked about a tribunal statute which states that the punishment must be carried out within 30 days of the date when the judgment becomes "final and non-appealable."
Analysts say the Shi'ite-led coalition government appears divided over the impending execution, which has angered some in Saddam's rebellious Sunni minority and may disappoint many Kurds who want to see him also convicted of genocide against them.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, from the dominant Shi'ite majority, has previously said the former president should die this year for killings, torture and other actions against the Shi'ite population of the town of Dujail in the 1980s.
But analysts say some in government, and Washington, may be concerned that the execution should not hamper efforts to draw members of Saddam's banned Baath party into national reconciliation talks in the coming weeks that aim to avert all-out civil war.
Under Iraq's Saddam-era penal code, no execution should take place during religious holidays. A public holiday for Eid al-Adha runs from Thursday to January 6.
President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, has refused personally to sign death warrants in other cases but has delegated his powers to his Shi'ite and Sunni vice presidents. In any event, both the constitution and High Tribunal statutes deny the presidency the power to block executions ordered for such serious crimes.
Tribunal spokesman Jouhi said: "In death sentences issued by our court, if there is a presidential decree within 30 days, then they can carry it out at any time. But if there is no decree, then after these 30 days it becomes obligatory in any case and it will be up to the Justice Ministry to decide when it wants to carry it out."
Asked if that could be after 30 days, on January 26, or later than that, for example in February, he said: "Yes, any time."
On Tuesday, appeals court head Aref Abdul-Razzaq al-Shahin announced the failure of Saddam's appeal against the November 5 verdict and sentence and said the government had "the right to choose the date starting from tomorrow up to 30 days".
"After 30 days, it will be an obligation to implement the sentence," Shahin told a news conference.
Ibrahim said on Thursday: "The Justice Ministry is going to carry out the execution. It does not need the signature of the president. After one full month the Justice Ministry can decide when it will carry out the execution."
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/28/2006 12:50 ||
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#1
If they are worried about mass-seething at the site, they can leak "3 weeks from now" then do it the following morning without fanfare....
...Well, without fanfare until the body's cold, dead and swinging and the shoes start coming out to hit it.
#2
I have read that Iraqi law forbids execution of anyone older than 70. Saddam gets there on 28 April next year, in just 4 months. None of the MSM have seen fit to mention this. Can't find the link at the moment to this law.
I think he wants Sammy handed over to the editorial board of the Boston Globe...
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Saddam Hussein's chief lawyer implored world leaders on Thursday to prevent the United States from handing over the ousted leader to Iraqi authorities for execution, saying he should enjoy protection from his enemies as a "prisoner of war." ...but what about (shudder)...Abu Ghraib!!!
Iraq's highest court on Tuesday rejected Saddam's appeal against his conviction and death sentence for the killing of 148 Shiites in the northern city of Dujail in 1982. The court said the former president should be hanged within 30 days. "According to the international conventions, it is forbidden to hand a prisoner of war to his adversary," Saddam's lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi said. I thought we were his adversary?
"I urge all the international and legal organizations, the United Nations secretary-general, the Arab League and all the leaders of the world to rapidly prevent the American administration from handing the president to the Iraqi authorities," he told The Associated Press. Calling all moonbats! Calling all moonbats!!
An official close to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said Saddam would remain in a U.S. military prison until he is handed over to Iraqi authorities on the day of his execution. Nope. Sorry, Sam. No Doritos today...
Al-Dulaimi warned that turning over Saddam to the Iraqis would increase the sectarian violence that already is tearing the country apart."If the American administration insists in handing the president to the Iraqis, it would commit a great strategic mistake which would lead to the escalation of the violence in Iraq and the eruption of a destructive civil war," he said. Yes, yes. I'm sure this is his main concern...
In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said there was concern about the potential for violence in carrying out the execution. "I'm sure the Iraqi government is thinking through that and working with the coalition in terms of the impact that could have," he said. Everybody would've been better off if somebody tossed a few grenades down that rathole they found him in.
Against the backdrop of sectarian killings that have dragged Sunni Arabs and Shiite Muslims into civil warfare, Saddam urged Iraqis in a letter posted on a Web site Wednesday to "remember that God has enabled you to become an example of love, forgiveness and brotherly coexistence." But he also voiced support for the Sunni Arab-dominated insurgency, saying: "Long live jihad and the mujahedeen." Looks like they'll live longer then you, Sammy...
An official from Prime Minister al-Maliki's Dawa Party, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said Wednesday that "the government wants Saddam executed as soon as possible." So what's the holdup?
Issam Ghazzawi, another member of Saddam's defense team, said there was no way of knowing when the former dictator's execution would take place. "The only person who can predict the execution of the president ... is God and (President) Bush," Ghazzawi said Thursday.
why yes I am a vulture, why do you ask?
CBS/AP) Saddam Hussein's final moments will be videotaped by the Iraqi government, reports CBS News correspondent Randall Pinkston. National Security adviser Mouffak al Rubaie says the date of the deposed dictator's execution will not be made public, to avoid possible unrest from Saddam's supporters, but everything from the signing of the final orders by the judge, to the hanging itself will be recorded. it's offical then?
Iraqis, members of the coalition, and international representatives will witness the execution. It's not clear whether the videotape will be broadcast on Iraqi television. awwww sheeeech! [kicks can acrosss the road]
An Iraqi government official says efforts are under way to carry out the death sentence by the end of this month, indicating that they want to do the execution before the Muslim celebration of Eid, which coincides with the New Year. Hot Diggity Dog... ima sick
#4
What is the current bidding on prime advertising spots? why the cross bar for the gallows must be at least as much as the quarter panel on Tony Stewart's race car......
i personnally thing Ernest and Julio should buy it for their wine: The Gallos Brothers Gallows.....
Iraq was preparing for the rapid execution of former dictator Saddam Hussein, with the US-backed government eager to bring his chapter in the country's bloody history to an end.
Justice Minister Hashem al-Shibli said Saddam's death sentence for crimes against humanity -- upheld by an Iraqi appeal court on Tuesday -- would be rubber stamped by the presidency and the prison service would hang him.
In a defiant open letter to his former subjects, the man who ruled Iraq with an iron first from 1979 until the 2003 US-led invasion said he would go to the gallows as a "sacrifice" and urged Iraqis to unite against their enemies. "I sacrifice myself. If God wills it, He will place me among the true men and martyrs," wrote Saddam in the letter, which his lawyer said was penned last month for release if his death sentence was upheld.
Judges have ordered that Saddam die within 30 days but, while Shibli said the execution process will get underway rapidly, it could be delayed by the onset of the four-day Eid al-Adha holiday, due to start at the end of the week. Saddam and two regime cohorts were convicted of crimes against humanity on November 5, after a court heard they ordered the deaths of 148 Shiite men from the village of Dujail in an act of collective punishment.
Shiite politicians welcomed Saddam's imminent demise as a blow to his remaining supporters that could take the heat out of the Sunni-led insurgency. Shiite lawmaker Baha al-Araji from radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's bloc called for Saddam to be hanged this week as an "Eid present for Iraqis".
But Sheikh Khalaf al-Ilayan, whose National Dialogue Council is part of the main Sunni alliance in parliament, accused Iran and the United States of putting pressure on the court and predicted more bloodshed.
Saddam's disbanded Baath Party also threatened to attack US interests and "retaliate by any means, anywhere in the world, if the US administration undertakes its crime" of dispatching the 68-year-old to the gallows.
#1
It is an under-reported fact that many of Saddam's former officers in the Baathist elements of the insurgency have continued to entertain serious hopes of restoring the dictator to power. My experience with Baathist sympathizers was that this is even more widespread among the rank and file. Saddam himself has referred to this several times during his trial and his American quisling lawyers have supported the assertion.
The standard media response was simply to laugh this off as a doomed psychopath's delusions, something like Hitler's last-days ravings about "secret weapons" that would turn the tide of war. (And let us not forget that there was a lot of substance to Nazi claims of super-weapons, though the allies had them trumped with the atomic bomb.)
The reason for the lack of emphasis on this desire to restore Saddam is obvious: media shills would not want anyone to think that something as simple as hanging one criminal could derail a large part of the insurgency. It just does not fit with the media-left worldview that terrorism and insurgency could spring from anything but the most deep-rooted and legitimate motives; poverty, oppression, colonialism, etc.
At the risk of belaboring the obvious (often necessary with LLL lurkers about), just stringing the bastard up will not end the Baathist insurgency entirely, especially in the short run. They will pander to the media and the Democratic Congress, for example, by representing all of their subsequent attacks as Dire Revenge for the hanging. Of course, these are attacks they would have carried out whether Saddam swung or not, but the usual suspects are desperately willing to be taken in by the claim.
It fits their "cycle of violence" meme perfectly and they are loathe to even consider other possibilities, even very obvious ones.
In the longer term, support for the Baathist elements will decline, probably at a precipitous rate. This will not eliminate AQ and the Tater Tots, though AQ may have a hard time of it in some areas without Baathist support, but it will allow our resources to be concentrated better.
#2
Speaking of secret weapons, there are some new technology applications that really could swing the tide dramatically against the insurgents. The technology itself is well understood and available but contractor bungling and bureaucratic inertia have resulted in a glacial pace for the deployment cycle.
Part of this is because the lead agency is the dread DoE, even worse than DoD in getting new ideas to the field where they are needed. Nevertheless, there is some real hope for a dramatic improvement in counter-insurgency technique during the next few months.
#3
Speaking of secret weapons, there are some new technology applications that really could swing the tide dramatically against the insurgents. The technology itself is well understood and available but contractor bungling and bureaucratic inertia
The imminent prospect of Saddam Hussein's execution divided Arabs Wednesday, with some opinion-makers predicting it would inflame the conflict in Iraq and others saying it would be a warning to other dictators. Saddam's Ba'ath Party threatened to retaliate if the ousted Iraqi leader is executed; warning in a posting on its Web site that it would target US interests anywhere.
"The Ba'ath and the resistance (fighters) are determined to retaliate, with all means and everywhere, to harm America and its interests if it commits this crime," the statement said, referring to the execution. "The American Administration will be held responsible for any harm inflicted on the president because the United States is the decision-maker (in Iraq) and not the puppet Iraqi government," said the statement, which appeared on a Web site known to represent the Ba'ath and which is believed to be run from Yemen.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2006 00:00 ||
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All that we're sayin-n-n, is give Appeasement, Surrender, Honour Killings + Dem Congress a cha-a-a-nce.
#3
Hmph. As if they are not doing just that as much as they are capable of anyway.
Let him hang: the Sunnis are more pissed about the loss of their power and privileges than about their leader. He was merely a vehicle for getting that to them. When he's gone, someone else will take up the cause.
LOD, Israel (Reuters) - Immigration to Israel hit its lowest in 18 years in 2006 due to a drop in the number of Jews arriving from former Soviet states, although immigration from North America edged higher, figures showed on Wednesday.
Some 21,000 made "aliya", the Hebrew word for immigrating to Israel, according to the Jewish Agency, which promotes immigration. The 2006 figure was the lowest since 13,000 in 1988. A total of 22,657 people moved to Israel in 2005.
The agency said it was getting harder to bring immigrants out of countries that made up the former Soviet Union, from where more than one million people moved to Israel in the 1990s. The number for 2006 was 7,300 -- about 23 percent down on 2005. "These people are no longer running away from something," said Michael Jankelowitz, a spokesman for the Jewish Agency, explaining the decline.
And they're not sure what they'd be going to.
The agency played down suggestions that the war with Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas during the summer had a negative impact on immigration -- which had grown recently after a sharp drop following the start of a Palestinian uprising in 2000.
The government places great significance on immigration amid concerns in Israel that without an influx of foreign Jews the country's Arab minority, which has a higher birth rate, could eventually outnumber the Jewish population. Jews constitute 76 percent of Israel's population of just over 7 million people, while Arabs make up nearly a fifth.
No figures were immediately available for the number of people emigrating from Israel in 2006.
With the decline in numbers of immigrants from elsewhere, the Jewish Agency has made particular efforts to bring immigrants from Europe and North America. That means trying to persuade people to move on ideological grounds rather than as a way to flee economic hardship or repression.
Aliya from North America rose to 3,200 in 2006 from 2,900 in 2005 and just 1,700 four years ago. Immigration from Britain rose to 720 this year from 481 last year. About 2,900 came from France, slightly down on 2005. "We would love bigger numbers but we have to live in reality," Jankelowitz said.
On Wednesday, about 220 North Americans landed in Israel. Another group landed from London. Among those who arrived were Simcha and Rachel Gluck from New York, who gave up a thriving knife sales business. "Life is not all about money," said Simcha Gluck. "It's about quality of life. America is awesome but we are Jews first."
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/28/2006 00:00 ||
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If a million former Soviet Jews immigrated in the 1990s, those who wanted to get out have done so. The numbers coming to the US have trailed off, too -- it's been years since our congregation had any newcomers to help transition.
Vice Premier Shimon Peres held a meeting with former Palestinian Authority security commander Jibril Rajoub and Muhammed Shatiya, advisor to the PA chairman in Seville, Spain on Wednesday. Prior to the meeting, Peres was updated on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's decision to persist with the Gaza cease-fire while still targeting Kassam rocket launching cells.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2006 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- The Israeli Army asserted Wednesday it decided to put off execution of what he termed "proposals to ease restrictions of movement for the Palestinians" in the West Bank for a week. The army said the removal of barriers was pushed back a week on account of bad weather, as quoted by Radio Israel. Israeli Army leaders in yesterday's session decided to remove the barriers along the West Bank by next week, according to the radio.
They decided, however, to keep the fences around Nablus City north of the West Bank due to the "terrorist organizations' activities" in this area in particular. According to army figures, Israel built more than 400 barriers that snaked through the different villages of the West Bank, 27 of which only will be removed.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2006 00:00 ||
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Sounds like the meeting couple days ago with advisors must have told Olmert just how close he was to getting thrown out of office.
Posted by: Charles ||
12/28/2006 0:11 Comments ||
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Hizbullah is paying Palestinian splinter groups "thousands of dollars" for each Kassam rocket fired at the western Negev, The Jerusalem Post has learned. According to Israeli intelligence information, Hizbullah is smuggling cash into the Gaza Strip and paying "a number of unknown local splinter groups" for each attack.
Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) sources said the Islamist organization paid several thousand dollars for each attack, with the amount dependent on the number of Israelis killed or wounded. "We know that Hizbullah is involved in funding terrorist activity in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank," a security official said. "Palestinian terrorists get thousands of dollars per attack. Sometimes they are paid before the attack and sometimes they submit a bill to Lebanon afterward and the money gets transferred a short while later."
According to the officials, while Islamic Jihad was behind most recent rocket attacks - including the one on Tuesday night that critically wounded 14-year-old Adir Basad in Sderot - several splinter terrorists groups are also involved and have received direct funding from Hizbullah. Islamic Jihad gets the money via its headquarters in Damascus while Fatah's Tanzim terror group and the Popular Resistance Committees receive payment from Hizbullah in Lebanon. All of the money originated in Iran, the officials said.
Government officials said Hamas was not currently involved in firing missiles, but was doing nothing to stop those who were.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2006 00:00 ||
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And any money that Hizbollah is paying, comes from the Iran terror fund.
Palestinians from across the political spectrum warned Wednesday that Israel's decision to target Kassam cells in the Gaza Strip will lead to the total collapse of the current cease-fire. If you're blowing off rockets every day, you haven't ceased firing.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas proposed holding "backdoor" negotiations with Israel over final-status issues such as the status of Jerusalem, the future borders of a Palestinian state and the "right of return" for Palestinian refugees. Abbas made the proposal after meeting in Cairo with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. "Some time ago we proposed the idea of backdoor talks with Israel with the participation of one or all members of the Quartet to discuss all the issues of the final status," Abbas said.
He had proposed backdoor negotiations to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during their meeting last Saturday, he said, adding that Olmert had no immediate objection and promised to consider the proposal. Abbas said he planned to discuss the idea with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during her visit to the region in mid-January. "There will be a need to revive this idea and discuss it seriously when Rice comes to the Middle East," he said. "These are not secret negotiations, therefore, they would help more than they would harm," Abbas said. "The Americans are also not opposed to the idea. We're not talking about secret negotiations, but an undeclared channel."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2006 00:00 ||
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The Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants last June is still alive, Egypt's foreign minister said Wednesday during a visit to Jerusalem. Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Egypt is mediating between Israel and Hamas to win the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit, who was captured last June by militants linked to the ruling Hamas faction who tunnelled into Israel and then fled back to Gaza. Cpl. Shalit has not been seen or heard from since then, though Israeli officials have said they believe he is alive.
This is a very sensitive issue, Aboul Gheit told a news conference in Jerusalem. I hope and believe that he will be released ... but I emphasize that we are working hard for his release and we are sure that he is still alive. Of course it's a very sensitive issue. When you come right down to it, Egypt's aiding and abetting the crime of kidnapping.
However, he said he could not guarantee Cpl. Shalit's release. Aboul Gheit spoke in Arabic and his comments were translated into Hebrew. The news conference was held after a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. The militants holding Cpl. Shalit have demanded a large-scale prisoner release by Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said this week he would consider releasing some of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel before Cpl. Shalit is freed, softening his long-standing opposition to such a gesture. Might as well go a head and release them all. Otherwise they'll just kidnap somebody else to get the rest.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2006 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON - The Iraq Survey Group is calling for open negotiations with Syria, but new reports show that Damascus is up to no good. Indeed, while world attention is rightly focused on the nuclear capabilities of Iran and North Korea, Syria has been quietly but quickly advancing its own secret nuclear program.
The first signs appeared in 2003 when the Russian Foreign Ministry inadvertently revealed that a Russian-Syrian agreement for the delivery of a nuclear power plant in an undisclosed Syrian location had been signed.
In 2004, Syrian President Bashar Assad made a point to say that Syria would not dispose of its WMD program until Israel did the same. Since some of my country is occupied, Assad added, Syria can legitimately use all the necessary means to liberate its territories.
German magazine Der Spiegel revealed in March 2004 that Swedish authorities and the CIA were investigating a very likely Syrian nuclear program secretly developed in Homs in the northern part of the country. That July, investigators looking into the Pakistani nuclear network of A.Q. Khan pointed out that Syria may have procured centrifuges capable of enriching uranium to produce a bomb.
This fact was confirmed in May 2006 in a declassified report to the U.S. Congress on the acquisition of technology relating to weapons of mass destruction. Before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Syria also got help from Saddam Husseins regime.
Keep in mind that Syrias economy was very dependent on Iraqs trade, especially oil-smuggling revenues. Sunday Telegraph journalist Con Coughlin affirmed in a September 2004 article that 12 Iraqi nuclear scientists who were transferred to Syria and given new identities before the war were on their way to Iran to assist their counterparts there in building a nuclear weapon. The results of the research would then be shared with Syria, Coughlin added.
But what really broke the camels back was a recent report from the well-informed Kuwaiti daily newspaper Al Seyassah. It quoted European intelligence sources as saying that Syria has an advanced nuclear program in a secret site located in the province of Al Hassaka, close to the Turkish and Iraqi borders. British sources quoted by the paper believe that it is President Assads brother, Colonel Maher Assad and his cousin Rami Makhlouf, who supervise the program.
This nuclear weapons program is based on material that Saddam Husseins two sons shipped to Syria before and during the U.S. war against Iraq. According to the Kuwaiti newspaper, this explains why international investigative teams found no proof of Husseins nuclear program.
Furthermore, British sources in Brussels affirm that Iranian nuclear experts contribute to the Syrian program along with 60 Iraqi experts who had taken refuge in Syria since 2003 and experts from the ex-Soviet republics. British intelligence says this information is validated by their German counterparts, who were well established in the countries close to the ex- Communist block, including Syria.
Europeans fear that a focus solely on the Iranian nuclear program might facilitate a much quieter joint Iranian-Syrian program of uranium enrichment in Hassaka. The geographical choice for the Syrian nuclear site is very meaningful. Because it is located in an area with a Kurdish majority, the program evades Western suspicions. And striking against these installations would initially hurt the Kurds who historically have sided with the West against the Baathist regimes in both Baghdad and Damascus.
In light of all these facts, it is not surprising that Syria might actually turn out to be Plan B for the mullahs regime in Tehran. This is, in fact, quite a smart strategy: While the world community focuses on Iran, Syria can continue its own nuclear program without unwelcome attention.
But because of the close links between Tehran and Damascus, sealed by an important defense agreement signed over the summer and the fact that Syria would do anything to please its benefactor, Syria getting the bomb would be exactly like Iran getting it. For proof, Al Seyassah reported on Dec. 13 that top Syrian leaders had transferred $3 billion to the Iranian central bank.
Need we say more?
Olivier Guitta is a foreign affairs and counterterrorism consultant in Washington, D.C.
#2
If I recall, weren't Russian advisors in Iraq pre 2003 OIF. And all those reports about the KGB/FSB famous clean up crew heading west to Syria w/ SF in pursuit.
VIENNA - The United Nations atomic agencys 35-nation board of governors may meet in January to discuss the UNs levying of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, diplomats told AFP.
Then again, they may not.
The UN Security Council resolution which on Saturday imposed the sanctions also requested a report from International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei within 60 days on whether Iran has suspended uranium enrichment, which makes nuclear reactor fuel but also atom bomb material, and cooperated fully with an ongoing IAEA investigation.
It is not completely clear that there will be a board meeting in January. But I believe that if there was, it would be procedural and short. The board as the governing body may need to instruct the (IAEA) secretariat to implement the resolution, a senior European diplomat said.
But the diplomat added that an emergency board meeting, probably in mid-January, could be extended or another called at any moment if the Iranians do anything silly.
Define silly. That should be good for a laugh.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/28/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
The United Nations atomic agencys 35-nation board of governors may meet in January
#4
Not crackers, rounds of good Russian black bread. Possibly melba toast style if the soul cries out for something hard and stiff with which to carry the chilled caviar to one's lips.
Iran's parliament voted Wednesday to urge the government to "revise" ties with the UN nuclear agency in a move seen as likely to reduce the country's cooperation with the international atomic authority. The vote came four days after the UN Security Council decided to impose limited sanctions on Iran for its refusal to cease enrichment of uranium - a process that produces the material for either nuclear reactors or bombs.
Members of Iran's ruling hierarchy had repeatedly urged the government to cut ties with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear watchdog, if the Security Council imposes sanctions. "The bill gives a free hand to the government to decide on a range of reactions - from leaving the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty to remaining in the International Atomic Energy Agency and negotiating," speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel said during the debate, which was broadcast live on state radio.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2006 00:00 ||
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I'm so proud of my local paper...
THERE ARE DIVERSE reasons for discontent with Tuesday's decision of an Iraqi appeals court upholding a death sentence for Saddam Hussein for the 1982 massacre of 182 men and boys in the Shi'ite town of Dujail. The independence of the judges who found him guilty of crimes against humanity has been questioned, as has a blatant lack of security for defense lawyers. Human-rights groups have lamented the rapidity of the judicial review conducted by the nine-judge appeals panel. And we those who oppose the death penalty in all circumstances would prefer that Saddam serve a life sentence for his crimes.
But if the work of the Iraqi High Tribunal is viewed as an opportunity to establish historical truth, then the principal objection to carrying out the death sentence within 30 days, as the tribunal's charter mandates, is of a different order. Once Saddam is hanged for the single circumscribed crime against humanity he perpetrated in Dujail, his other, genocidal crimes against the Kurds, Shi'ites, and marsh Arabs cannot be tried and judged properly in a court of law.
Guess we'd have to leave it to the historians then, wouldn't we? Darn. Tisk. A shame.
The current Iraqi government claims that even after Saddam is put to death, his trial for the mass murder of some 180,000 Kurds in what he called the Anfal campaign of the late 1980s will continue. But there can be no true trial if the despot is not present in the courtroom to answer charges for the killing of Kurdish villagers with nerve gas and mustard gas, the executions by firing squads of Kurdish men and boys, and the herding of Kurdish women and children into lethal concentration camps.
Without a living Saddam to confront his accusers in court -- to answer for the slaughters of Shi'ites he commanded in 1991; his assassinations of leading Shi'ite clerics and political figures; and the draining of the southern marshes that destroyed an ancient way of life for 500,000 marsh Arabs -- justice will be cheated. Iraqis will lose their best chance to sift, challenge, and judge the evidence of Saddam's major crimes against humanity. They will lose the only opportunity they will ever have to prove a crucial historical truth by legal means.
Justice is cheated, how exactly? Is there really any doubt about this? Will the marsh Arabs curse the hangman and say that they've been cheated out of justice? Not hardly.
That Iraqis need to have that truth validated is evident in each day's tragic toll of Sunnis killed for being Sunnis and Shi'ites for being Shi'ites. Saddam wrapped his Ba'ath Party in an ideological veil of Arab nationalism, but the reality of his regime was known to Iraqis. There was a racist contempt behind his slaughter of Kurds, and a sectarian scorn in his massacres of Shi'ites.
Keeping Saddam around for all the trials that could be had would mean that he'd escape his rightful punishment: like Slobodan Milosevic, he'd die of old age in a comfy chateau. He'd continue to mock the courts and hatch dark plots to be carried out by his lawyers and minions.
Hang him now and let the historians settle the details of what he did.
During his reign, Saddam sowed seeds of sectarian fear and hatred. That is a truth that both the Sunni Arabs and Shi'ites of Iraq need to recognize and accept if they are to escape the inferno of their civil war.
#4
The Boston Globe is still being published? Who knew?
Posted by: Mike ||
12/28/2006 9:52 Comments ||
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#5
So El Globo takes pains to point out what they consider to be a flawed justice system, yet want him to remain alive to face justice from the same flawed justice system?
How...Globian!!!
Too bad it ain't gonna happen.
#6
Will the marsh Arabs curse the hangman and say that they've been cheated out of justice?
I have a solution. After he's hanged for crimes against humanity, they can take the corpse on a nation-wide tour, and any aggrieved parties can hang him again. May get messy after a while, but if they're determined, I'm sure they can find a way.
#7
I vote to hang him and would do so myself for the crimes that he has committed and the raw brutality.
There is one possible exception. I would trade his life and give him freedom in exchange for all the information on WMDs, China, Russia, Syria, various treasonous Americans, France, enabling Euro-companies, the UN, Hans Brix, and the IAEA.
Still bigger fish to fry. It would be worth paying the very high price. Saddam is a big enough coward that the trade would probably work for him too.
#8
We should have the Iraqi's say that if everyone that wants Saddam to live, they can take his place at the hanging. So the entire staff of the Boston Globe and all the other traitors and Tranzi's can hang instead. I'll be willing to make that deal.
#9
Yeah, haul the remains around Iraq until next season in the Saddam Cup. Every little 'ville between Basra and Kirkuk could get a piece of the ummmmmm action.
#10
Put Saddam's remains in the bottom of a Baghdad outhouse, and then make it a pay toilet to raise funds for widows & orphans relief. Auction off the concession for the on-site Ex-Lax and diuretic kiosk. I imagine the queue for this attraction would be longer than that for the Hajj.
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.
Mogadishu 27, Dec.06 ( Sh.M.Network) Authorities in the semiautonomous regional government of Puntland have denied they were involved in the killing of 55 Islamists held as prisoners by the Ethiopian military troops.
(KUNA) -- The United Nations High Commmissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour expressed Wednesday her deep concern for civilian victims of the hostilities between forces of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and militia of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) in Somalia. In a staement issued today, Arbour added that the conflict, which broke out near Baidoa on 20 December, is reported to be escalating and has resulted in the displacement of local populations in many parts of south and central Somalia. 
Kenya plans to hold talks with Somalia's embattled Islamic leaders in a bid to end escalating fighting with Ethiopian forces backing government, said diplomats on Wednesday. 
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese president and commander-in-chief Hu Jintao urged the building of a powerful navy that is prepared "at any time" for military struggle, state media reported on Thursday.
A High Court in Pakistan delayed a lower court's ruling that dropped terrorism charges against a British man suspected in a plot to bomb trans-Atlantic passenger jets out of Britain, a lawyer said. 
Only if Iraq's three-man Presidency Council issues a decree ordering the execution sooner would the Justice Ministry execute the ousted leader before January 26, the court's Raed Jouhi told Reuters. If there were no decree, he would be hanged any time after that, at a date to be set by the Justice Ministry.
But analysts say some in government, and Washington, may be concerned that the execution should not hamper efforts to draw members of Saddam's banned Baath party into national reconciliation talks in the coming weeks that aim to avert all-out civil war.
Vice Premier Shimon Peres held a meeting with former Palestinian Authority security commander Jibril Rajoub and Muhammed Shatiya, advisor to the PA chairman in Seville, Spain on Wednesday. Prior to the meeting, Peres was updated on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's decision to persist with the Gaza cease-fire while still targeting Kassam rocket launching cells.
Hizbullah is paying Palestinian splinter groups "thousands of dollars" for each Kassam rocket fired at the western Negev, The Jerusalem Post has learned. According to Israeli intelligence information, Hizbullah is smuggling cash into the Gaza Strip and paying "a number of unknown local splinter groups" for each attack. 
Palestinians from across the political spectrum warned Wednesday that Israel's decision to target Kassam cells in the Gaza Strip will lead to the total collapse of the current cease-fire. 
The Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants last June is still alive, Egypt's foreign minister said Wednesday during a visit to Jerusalem. Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Egypt is mediating between Israel and Hamas to win the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit, who was captured last June by militants linked to the ruling Hamas faction who tunnelled into Israel and then fled back to Gaza. Cpl. Shalit has not been seen or heard from since then, though Israeli officials have said they believe he is alive.
VIENNA - The United Nations atomic agencys 35-nation board of governors may meet in January to discuss the UNs levying of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, diplomats told AFP.
Iran's parliament voted Wednesday to urge the government to "revise" ties with the UN nuclear agency in a move seen as likely to reduce the country's cooperation with the international atomic authority. The vote came four days after the UN Security Council decided to impose limited sanctions on Iran for its refusal to cease enrichment of uranium - a process that produces the material for either nuclear reactors or bombs. 
