BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Unions envoy to Afghanistan on Tuesday acknowledged that the 160-strong police-training mission the EU launches next month falls well short of his initial hopes and barely exceeds the minimum needed for the task. 'I think that the EU has decided to play as big a role as possible, unfortunately not as big as I would have liked, EU Special Representative Francesc Vendrell told a news conference.
Just wait til you try to get the French and Belgians to do their share ...
He said the small scale of the mission was due to the EU commitment to send up to 1,600 police officers to Kosovo _ if an agreement is found on the future of the breakaway Serbian province. 'I would have liked it (the Afghan mission) to be as large as the one going to Kosovo. That, of course, was unrealistic and unachievable, he said.
They don't have enough police and military police trainers in all of the EU? Continent of 400 million people? 26 countries each with a military? Reeeeally?
The launch of the mission follows calls from NATO for a greater international effort to train Afghan security forces that can back up the 36,000 NATO-led international troops patrolling the country. It is scheduled to start June 17 with around 110 officers, then be expanded to at least 160 later this year.
'I said that the mission should not be established unless it had 160 police, Vendrell said. We have reached that number and in fact probably surpassed it and so I think we can play a very honorable role. He said the EU mission would work closely with a separate US police training mission comprising 500 experts.
So once again Uncle Sugar is carrying the larger share of the load.
The commander of the EU mission, Brig. Gen. Friedrich Eichele of the German police, said the EU would offer advice and mentoring to Afghan authorities, as well as direct training to police officers. Several non-EU nations, including Norway and Canada, are expected to join the mission which is has a three-year mandate and a first-year budget of Ð43.6 million (US$58.9 million).
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/30/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
The French and Belgians cops are too damn busy fightingwatching with their hands in their pockets the local muzzy population burn cars and stone hasidic jews.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
05/30/2007 11:45 Comments ||
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ADDIS ABABA - Ethiopian police have arrested five suspects thought to be behind a blast in the countrys volatile Ogaden region that killed 11 people and wounded the local president, state media reported on Tuesday. Five people were killed by at least one explosion and six others, mostly children, were crushed to death in a stampede after Mondays attack tore through crowds celebrating a national holiday in the eastern regions capital Jijiga, witnesses said.
The government blamed the strike on the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), separatist rebels who last month raided a Chinese-run oil exploration field in the area, also known as the Somali region, killing 74. The Somali State Police Commission ... has apprehended five alleged Eritrean regime-sponsored terrorists that threw (a) hand grenade on the residents of Jijiga, the official Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) said.
The choice, and remember, death is not an option: a Turkish prison or an Ethiopian prison? Discuss.
The ONLF has denied involvement in Mondays attack, saying the movement does not target civilians, only Ethiopian troops.
"Wudn't us. It was .. someone else."
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/30/2007 00:00 ||
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A group of LRA rebels raided two villages in western Equatoria province, including the home of the information minister of South Sudan, killing four people, abducting 12 others and looting livestock. The group, under the command of Thomas Kwoyello, was heading to Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, said Lt Chris Magezi, a spokesman of the Ugandan army.
"We have received reliable information that a group of LRA rebels led by Kwoyello crossed to Garamba on around 23 May. On their way, they caused extensive damage in Tore, Lairya and Ondruba in western Equatoria," Magezi told journalists. "A total of four people were killed, 12 abducted and up to 100 goats and cows were stolen. They also raided the home of the information minister Samson Kwaje and disarmed 13 local militiamen."
The army publicist said the furious militiamen have demanded that the Ugandan army replaces their guns since they were taken by their enemies.
"We told them that the LRA rebels are not our enemies but are enemies of all peace-loving people," Magezi added. He said they had also received credible information that some pockets of LRA rebels were still roaming in eastern Equatoria under the command of two or three captains, terrorising the local population.
"All these are serious violations of the cessation of the hostilities agreement and go against the spirit of the Juba peace talks. Nevertheless, the peace we have attained in the north will never be reversed," the army spokesman stated.
Magezi said that since the period given to the LRA to assemble at Ri-Kwangba had elapsed, there should be no more rebels in the area and the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army would respond appropriately to anybody who tried to disrupt the peace in South Sudan.
The latest deadline for the LRA fighters to assemble expired on 26 May. An addendum, signed on 14 April, had given them six weeks to move to Ri-Kwangba. Asked for a reaction, Internal Minister Ruhakana Rugunda said he had received the same reports. He condemned the harassment of civilians. Rugunda, who heads the government delegation at the Juba negotiations, is scheduled to travel back to Juba on Thursday for the resumption of the talks.
A TERROR suspect on the run for a week after breaking his Home Office curfew appeared in his school yearbook as the kid most likely to be . . . a TERRORIST. Ibrahim Adam, 20, was given the mock accolade by classmates, who also branded him the rudest boy in their year. The 2003 book compiled by pupils when Adam was 16 sees one ex-pal sum him up with the chilling phrase: Known by many, understood by few.
The fugitives form teacher at Seven Kings High School in Ilford, Essex, brands him Mr Argumentative. Another jokey award given to him and a girl he is pictured with dubs them the most gorgeous couple. The yearbook pictures Adam in his school uniform at age 11 and 16 and includes a retort from him slamming classmates as sados. He blasts in badly-written English: Its me the one who terrorized our form teacher! Hope you all remember me. Adam whose entry contrasts with other pupils tipped to be future Prime Minister or superstar signs off by declaring: Good luck in the future. IBZ.
Cops fear Adam may be heading to Iraq to wage war on British troops along with his brother Lamine, 26, and a third man. All three are terror suspects who scarpered last Monday after breaking Home Office control orders. Adam is the younger brother of Anthony Garcia, 25 jailed for life as one of the Bluewater bomb plotters. Adam and third brother Lamine were made the subject of control orders over alleged plots to blow up troops abroad. They vanished after failing to call a private monitoring firm from their home in Barkingside, East London. Two days later Home Secretary John Reid released their names and that of fellow fugitive Cerie Bullivant, 24.
Adam, who was born in Algeria, left school in 2005. Yesterday a former classmate insisted the terror suspect was always popular with teachers. The ex-pal said: No one can believe whats happened.
Police have distributed posters featuring a new picture of missing Bullivant. The CCTV snap shows him with his long hair shaven. It was taken a week ago when he last reported to Dagenham Police Station in East London. Cops are warning the public not to approach any of the three but to dial 999.
The disappearance of the trio has fuelled fresh controversy over control orders which are used to keep tabs on terror suspects. Three others have also done a runner. On Friday one was named as Iraqi Bestun Salim. He is accused of links with Iraqs slain al-Qaeda mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
#1
Adam is the younger brother of Anthony Garcia, 25 jailed for life as one of the Bluewater bomb plotters.
I'm shocked, shocked I tell you!
Yesterday a former classmate insisted the terror suspect was always popular with teachers.
Especially the imams down at Finsbury Park mosque! They thought the world of him. Always bending over at just the right time. Splendid lad, used to bring his mother flowers and all that ...
The ex-pal said: No one can believe whats happened.
Especially everyone who sits on the Queen's Bench!
They're not retiring anymore, just because they left key bits on the battlefield. Some are even running toward the sound of the guns again. Heroes, all.
In the blur of smoke and blood after a bomb blew up under his Humvee in Iraq, Sgt. Tawan Williamson looked down at his shredded leg and knew it couldn't be saved. His military career, though, pulled through. Less than a year after the attack, Williamson is running again with a high-tech prosthetic leg and plans to take up a new assignment, probably by the fall, as an Army job counselor and affirmative action officer in Okinawa, Japan.
Williamson, a 30-year-old Chicago native who is missing his left leg below the knee and three toes on the other foot, acknowledged that some will be skeptical of a maimed soldier back in uniform. "But I let my job show for itself," he said. "At this point, I'm done proving. I just get out there and do it." Williamson did not want to return to combat, and it is not clear he could have met the physical qualifications anyway.
The military planned to discharge him on disability, but he appealed, hoping to become a drill instructor. The Army ruled that would be too physically demanding for Williamson, a human resources officer before being sent to lead convoys in Iraq, but it agreed to let him return to active duty in some other capacity.
He is regaining his strength and balance at the new $50 million Center for the Intrepid, built to rehabilitate military amputees. A hurdler in high school, he ran the Army minimum of two miles for the first time in mid-May, managing a 10-minute-per-mile pace on his C-shaped prosthetic running leg decorated with blue flames. He is working out five days a weekrunning, lifting weights and doing pool exercisesand just got his first ride on a wave machine used to improve balance.
In an about-face by the Pentagon, the military is putting many more amputees back on active dutyeven back into combat, in some cases. Previously, a soldier who lost a limb almost automatically received a quick discharge, a disability check and an appointment with the Veterans Administration. But since the start of the Iraq war, the military has begun holding on to amputees, treating them in rehab programs like the one here at Fort Sam Houston and promising to help them return to active duty if that is what they want.
"The mindset of our Army has changed, to the extent that we realize the importance of all our soldiers and what they can contribute to our Army. Someone who loses a limb is still a very valuable asset," said Lt. Col. Kevin Arata, a spokesman for the Army's Human Resources Command at the Pentagon.
So far, the Army has treated nearly 600 service members who have come back from Iraq or Afghanistan without an arm, leg, hand or foot. Thirty-one have gone back to active duty, and no one who asked to remain in the service has been discharged, Arata said.
Most of those who return to active duty are assigned to instructor or desk jobs away from combat. Only a fewthe Army doesn't keep track of exactly how manyhave returned to the war zone, and only at their insistence, Arata said. To go back into the war zone, they have to prove they can do the job without putting themselves or others at risk.
One amputee who returned to combat in Iraq, Maj. David Rozelle, is now helping design the amputee program at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington. He has counted seven other amputees who have lost at least part of a hand or foot and have gone back to combat in Iraq. The 34-year-old from Austin, Texas, said he felt duty-bound to return after losing his right foot to a land mine in Iraq. "It sounds ridiculous, but you feel guilty that you're back home safe," he said. "Our country is engaged in a war. I felt it was my responsibility as a leader in the Army to continue."
Rozelle commanded a cavalry troop and conducted reconnaissance operations when he returned to Iraq, just as he had before the mine blast. Other amputees who have returned to combat, ranging from infantry grunts to special forces soldiers, have conducted door-to- door searches, convoy operations and other missions in the field. "Guys won't go back if it means riding a desk," Rozelle said.
He said his emotions at the start of his second tour in Iraq, which lasted four months, were a lot like those during his first stint: "I was going back to war, so it was as heart-pounding as the first time."
Mark Heniser, who worked as a Navy therapist for 23 years before joining the amputee program at Fort Sam Houston in 2005, said both the military and the wounded benefit when amputees can be kept on active duty: The military retains the skills of experienced personnel, while the soldiers can continue with their careers.
Staff Sgt. Nathan Reed, who lost his right leg a year ago in a car bombing, is 2 1/2 years from retirement and has orders to head in July to Fort Knox, where he expects to be an instructor. "My whole plan was to do 20 years," said the 37-year-old soldier from Shreveport, La. "I had no doubt that I would be able to go back on active duty."
#1
I heard a suggestion that some amputees want replacement parts *better* than human parts, so they can not only return to their unit, but be a unique asset.
For example, a "spring loaded" running leg so they can cover distances faster than normal men already exists.
Who knows what prosthetics DARPA could think up that would be real useful on the battlefield?
#3
I can see a not too distant future where some of our soldiers are going to look a lot like the borg, or refugees from a warhammer 40K picture.
Resistance is futile!
Posted by: N guard ||
05/30/2007 21:43 Comments ||
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#4
A great big WIN WIN for both our people and the Armed Forces. Love to see this development on many levels, from a personal one [wounded buddies] to the future for our GREAT men and women.
President George W. Bush would like to see a lengthy U.S. troop presence in Iraq like the one in South Korea to provide stability but not in a frontline combat role, the White House said on Wednesday. The United States has had thousands of U.S. troops in South Korea to guard against a North Korean invasion for 50 years.
"The Korean model is one in which the United States provides a security presence, but you've had the development of a successful democracy in South Korea over a period of years, and, therefore, the United States is there as a force of stability," White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters. One key difference is that the intra-Korean border is so heavily mined and heavily guarded that the area has perforce turned into a wildlife refuge... although occasionally one of the larger animals discovers a mine with a bang! and a spray of pink mist. The Iraqi security situation will settle down considerably when that border thingy is properly set up. I b'lieve another difference is that the South Koreans were not given the option of rescinding the invitation, at least for the first four or five decades.
#1
However, we were still fighting in Korea in the 60's. It is a nice political device placing the Donks in the position of justifying why they've kept troops in Korea [Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Clinton] and are not for keeping troops in Iraq. I'll enjoy the convoluted rationales that's going to generate.
#2
Except in the case of Iraq, we won't be fighting. A better comparison would be with Germany, and it's very interesting why Bush did not use them for comparison.
#3
Let me follow up on that: There is some major, major reason he used Skor instead of Germany as his example. But why? He is sending a big-time message but this is about as enigmatic a way of doing it as possible.
#4
While there hasn't been an active combat in Korea in quite a number of years, there is a constant threat from the northern half of the nation. The threat to Iraq is from its neighbors - Iran, Syria and even Turkey. Just as US troops in Korea were also a threat to China's Taiwan aspirations, US troops in Iraq would be a threat to Iran's and Syria's aspirations in Lebanon and Israel. The long-term presence of US troops would also be a slap in al-Sadr's ugly puss, and would probably lead to his doing something utterly stupid and life-threatening. Call it "suicide by US troops". Just as US troops provided stability in which Korea became an economic power-house, a US presence in Iraq may prove equally as productive for the West in the long run, and a clandestine threat to the mind-control of radical islam.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/30/2007 19:21 Comments ||
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#5
While there hasn't been an active combat in Korea in quite a number of years, there is a constant threat from the northern half of the nation. The threat to Iraq is from its neighbors - Iran, Syria and even Turkey. Just as US troops in Korea were also a threat to China's Taiwan aspirations, US troops in Iraq would be a threat to Iran's and Syria's aspirations in Lebanon and Israel. The long-term presence of US troops would also be a slap in al-Sadr's ugly puss, and would probably lead to his doing something utterly stupid and life-threatening. Call it "suicide by US troops". Just as US troops provided stability in which Korea became an economic power-house, a US presence in Iraq may prove equally as productive for the West in the long run, and a clandestine threat to the mind-control of radical islam.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/30/2007 19:23 Comments ||
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#6
While there hasn't been an active combat in Korea in quite a number of years, there is a constant threat from the northern half of the nation. The threat to Iraq is from its neighbors - Iran, Syria and even Turkey. Just as US troops in Korea were also a threat to China's Taiwan aspirations, US troops in Iraq would be a threat to Iran's and Syria's aspirations in Lebanon and Israel. The long-term presence of US troops would also be a slap in al-Sadr's ugly puss, and would probably lead to his doing something utterly stupid and life-threatening. Call it "suicide by US troops". Just as US troops provided stability in which Korea became an economic power-house, a US presence in Iraq may prove equally as productive for the West in the long run, and a clandestine threat to the mind-control of radical islam.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/30/2007 19:24 Comments ||
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#7
I agree with OP ...all three times
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/30/2007 20:42 Comments ||
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#8
Germany (and the Soviet threat)has already passed from Demcrats and their cohorts' collective memory.
#9
Though Germany was against a very powerful threat, the Soviet Union, and Iraq will have a Command level HQ, like EUCOM. Skor implies a limited threat, with our forces acting in a defensive, or even just a trigger role.
I just don't believe in inferior analogies from this administration. So I really have a suspicion that they said Skor on purpose, to convey a deeper meaning. But what that meaning is, I'm still guessing.
#10
Anonymoose, you're looking for a meaning that isn't there. This isn't intended to be an accurate analogy. It's intended to remind the Norks that we're still there and that we aint leavin.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
05/30/2007 23:10 Comments ||
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#11
Also, the better analogy is Skor exactly because we didn't fight in Germany.
We will be fighting in Iraq.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
05/30/2007 23:13 Comments ||
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#12
Call it "suicide by US troops".
Ima thimkin' that this is what Islam has wanted all along.
The Pakistan Senate has moved a motion to summon Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz over allegations that he tried to charm US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during talks.
Twice as Good: Condoleezza Rice and her Path to Power, a new biography of the American leader, claims Aziz tried his "seductive baritone on Rice during her first visit to Pakistan in March 2005.
News agency DPA reports Marcus Mabry, a senior Newsweek journalist and author of the biography, writes that Aziz "tried his Saville Row-suited gigolo kind of charm on Rice but ended up babbling and embarrassed.
"There was this test of wills where he was trying to use all his charm on her as a woman and she just basically stared him down. By the end of the meeting, he was babbling," the book claims.
According to the Pakistani paper Daily Times, Mabry writes when Rice sat down with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, who fancies himself as ladies man, Aziz puffed himself up and held forth in what he obviously thought was his seductive baritone.
According to the book, Aziz bragged to Western diplomats that he could conquer any woman in two minutes.
The Senators, who signed the motion on Tuesday, asked Aziz to explain his conduct before the House. "The matter, as published, was shameful for the entire nation and needs discussion," the motion said.
Azizs office on May 26 had said that the books claims against him were trash. "There is nothing more we could offer to such a nonsensical script, it is a trash" the Prime Minister's Secretariat's has said.
Posted by: John Frum ||
05/30/2007 12:06 ||
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This is an excerpt from a large article about China taking advantage of the US geopolitical situation
A defector from Musharraf's camp has informed U.S. authorities the Pakistani leader's "agonizing reappraisal" about the future of Afghanistan stems from his perception the United States cannot pull a victory rabbit out of the Iraqi hat. Hence, his perception neither the United States nor NATO can muster what it takes to complete their mission in Afghanistan. Hence, in turn, Musharraf's decision to authorize his all-powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency to assist Taliban "moderates" in their bid to reconquer power in Kabul. ISI greatly assisted the original victory of Taliban in 1996.
Islamabad, 30 May (AKI/DAWN) - The Pakistan government has approved a comprehensive plan to repatriate an estimated three million Afghan refugees from Pakistan and close all refugee camps by 2009, official sources told the Pakistani daily Dawn. The plan, based on a two-pronged approach, has been worked out by an inter-ministerial committee headed by Pakistan's interior minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao in consultation with all the parties concerned.
Pakistan has been hosting millions of Afghan refugees for more than two decades. About 2.9 million Afghan refugees are still in the country despite the fact that an even number had already been repatriated to Afghanistan by 2002.
According to sources, the plan urges the government to apply, as a first step, gradual and increasing pressure on the refugees to go back to their country. Under the next phase, the government has been asked to provide incentives to the refugees who are ready to return to their homeland and help the Afghan government to create a conducive environment for the returning refugees.
The plan makes registration of refugees mandatory and suggests forcible repatriation of those avoiding it. However, it suggests to encourage cross-border visits of locals and Afghan elders.
The plan rules out integration of Afghans into Pakistans population and urges the government to demonstrate a greater political will to repatriate them. It seeks enforcement of strict border control and suggests promoting and encouraging group repatriation especially of the refugees living in urban areas of the country.
According to the plan, the success of the repatriation policy will depend on the willingness of the Afghan government and the restoration of peace and security in Afghanistan. I knew there was a catch.
A bearded man exhorting people to recite the Kalama-e-Shahadat caused further panic in the courtroom of Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Tariq Parvez Khan after a car blast just outside the building on Tuesday. Why are you lawyers and government officials afraid? Do not be afraid and recite Kalama-e-Shahadat now, the man shouted out in the courtroom.
Others in the courtroom tried to keep their distance from the man, fearing he was a suicide bomber. The man was eventually let out of the court, without being searched or detained. I was one hundred percent sure that the man was a suicide bomber, said Advocate Nasrullah, who was in the room.
#3
The man was eventually let out of the court, without being searched or detained. I was one hundred percent sure that the man was a suicide bomber, said Advocate Nasrullah, who was in the room.
#2
The tribunal will be established under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which deals with threats to international peace and can be militarily enforced.
A top Iranian official has called on Turkey to provide Iran with information about the fate of missing former Iranian Deputy Defense Minister Alireza Asgari. Head of Iran's Strategic Defense Research Center Rear Admiral Ali Sha'mkhani made the remarks on the sidelines of the 17th International Symposium on the Persian Gulf on Tuesday. "Turkey has not responded to Iran's calls," he added. The former defense minister also noted that there is no clear evidence in this regard except media rumors.
Alireza Asgari, 45, retired from office two years ago. He was on a business trip to Syria and then Turkey for his olive oil business when he checked in at the Hotel Ceyran in Istanbul on 7 December. He disappeared two days later.
Iran has accused the CIA, Mossad, and the British MI6 of a joint plot to kidnap Asgari in order to fabricate unfounded charges against Tehran.
#1
"A top Iranian official has called on Turkey to provide Iran with information about the fate of missing former Iranian Deputy Defense Minister Alireza Asgari."
Here's an idea, dipshit: They. Don't. Know.
[Because we didn't tell them. :-D]
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/30/2007 20:34 Comments ||
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UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The United States Tuesday called for a vote this week to set up an international tribunal to prosecute suspects in the assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister, despite opposition from Russia, China and other Security Council members.
The draft resolution would unilaterally create a tribunal outside Lebanon under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which deals with threats to international peace and can be militarily enforced.
The Russians, Chinese and South Africans have publicly called for the Chapter 7 reference to be dropped, saying it's unnecessary. But the three main sponsors - the U.S., France and Britain - have refused, and France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said Tuesday ``I'm very hopeful that this resolution could pass now in the council'' despite the opposition.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, the current Security Council president, told reporters Tuesday after a closed council discussion of a revised text of the resolution that ``our decision of the sponsors ... is to go for a vote tomorrow.''
``There are still some differences of view but I believe there are now sufficient votes in the council to move forward,'' he said.
In order to be adopted, the resolution needs at least nine ``yes'' votes in the 15-member council and no veto by a permanent member - the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France. Council diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said they don't expect a veto, but they do expect at least five abstentions - Russia, China, Qatar, Indonesia and South Africa.
I bet Russia vetoes. A beer of your choice at the O-Club. Any takers?
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/30/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
The big news is that France, with thousands of troops deployed in Lebanon, now supports a tribunal created with Chapter 7 enforcement powers. A Russian veto would upset the two major EU powers with permanent UNSC seats.
#3
mrp - the Russkies must be shaking in their boots at the thought of France and Britain being mad. I wouldn't be surprised to see both Russia and China veto it if there's a chance that it will pass. Anything to be obstructionists.
#5
This is something important to KSA, does Vlad really piss off the Saudis at this point? Is he really willing to stake that much on alliance with Syria and Iran?
Iran yesterday formally charged three Americans with espionage and endangering national security, the government's judicial spokesman said, signaling a widening clampdown against U.S. citizens in Iran. The three individuals charged are prominent Washington scholar Haleh Esfandiari, social scientist Kian Tajbakhsh of the New York-based Open Society Institute, and correspondent Parnaz Azima of U.S.-funded Radio Farda. Iran announced over the weekend that it had uncovered U.S. spy networks and protested to the Swiss ambassador, who represents U.S. interests in Iran.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called the charges a "perversion of the rule of law," while a State Department spokesman yesterday said that the charges are "absurd" and appealed to Tehran to immediately free the Americans. En route to Europe, Rice said she did not see a link between the charges against the three Americans and the fate of five Iranian Revolutionary Guard members detained by U.S. troops in January in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil. Iran has acted against two other dual U.S.-Iranian citizens, including California businessman Ali Shakeri. The fifth American has not been named.
The charges came one day after landmark talks between U.S. and Iranian diplomats in Baghdad over the future of Iraq. The talks ended a 28-year diplomatic freeze.
Human Rights Watch criticized Iran's actions. "The charges announced by the judiciary are politically motivated, and the only evidence they have are professional activities, such as organizing or attending international conferences. This is truly a witch hunt," said Hadi Ghaemi, Iran analyst of Human Rights Watch.
Iran's intelligence ministry and state-controlled television reported last week that Esfandiari, a Potomac resident and director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, was charged with "crimes against national security." But the new charges are more specific and serious. Spying is a capital crime in Iran.
The Wilson Center said it is "extremely disheartened" over the news from Iran. "Haleh is a scholar," said Lee H. Hamilton, Wilson Center president and a former Democratic congressman from Indiana. "The work she does at the Wilson Center is open, nonpartisan, and includes a broad range of views. At the Wilson Center, we do not take positions on issues, but rather, we bring all sides of an issue together for dialogue." Esfandiari had been under virtual house arrest since December, during which she was interrogated about $75 million in U.S. government funding for pro-democracy programs in Iran. But Hamilton said the think tank receives no U.S. government funds to promote democracy.
Esfandiari and Tajbakhsh have both been in solitary confinement in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison since the second week of May. Azima, whose passport was confiscated in January, is free in Tehran on bond, her family said.
In New York, a spokeswoman for the Open Society Institute -- established by philanthropist George Soros -- said the charges against Tajbakhsh are "without merit. We are very concerned for Dr. Tajbakhsh's safety and urge the Iranian authorities to release him immediately," said Laura Silber.
A Radio Farda spokesman said Parnaz's attorney believes she has not been charged with espionage but with spreading anti-government propaganda. Shakeri, a fourth Iranian American, was arrested on May 8 at an airport on his way back to the United States, according to friends and colleagues. Iran's judiciary denied yesterday that he has been arrested or charged.
Belgian troops with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon organized a series of games and activities at Tibnine Palace in the South last week in a bid to build warm relations between the Belgian contingent and the local population. More than 400 people, mostly children, gathered at the palace to take part in an array of games and activities, including "wild ride" and cat-crawl games and face-painting. A delegation from the Red Cross of Tibnine also took part in the event.
#1
For all the derision that Belgium receives for being the headquarters of the EU-tranzi nightmare misadventure, there are many people in Africa who could tell you that the presence of Belgian paratroopers was either cause for great relief or great anguish (dependin' on which side you were on). Wild ride, indeed...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/30/2007 7:57 Comments ||
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U.S. Cyber-security specialists have been examining an encryption software package released earlier this month by the Global Islamic Media Front, a Web forum for supporters of Islamic terrorists. The software package, dubbed "Mujahedin Secrets" by its authors, is an executable file that can be installed on removable media, like a thumb drive, and used on computers in libraries other public places to encrypt e-mail or other files being sent over the Internet.
According to iDefense, an Internet security consultancy which is analyzing the program "the program's 'portability' as an application (not requiring installation on a personal computer) will become an increasingly desirable feature, especially considering the high use of Internet cafes worldwide by pro-terrorist Islamic extremists," said iDefense Middle East analyst Andretta Summerville.
"Mujahedin Secrets," which can be downloaded for free, offers "the five best encryption algorithms, with symmetrical encryption keys (256 bit), asymmetrical encryption keys (2048 bit) and data compression," according to a translation of a Global Islamic Media Front's announcement about the software on Jan. 1, provided by Middle East Media Research Institute.
The package does not offer any capabilities not available in commercial encryption programs, according to ZDNet blogger Mitch Ratcliffe. "The difference is an Islamist skin," he wrote, "which seems more a gimmick to inspire confidence in the software than a guarantee it will be effective."
iDefense Director of Threat Intelligence Jim Melnick told UPI that "Mujahedin Secrets" was being "heavily promoted" on forums and other Web sites used by supporters of Islamic terror groups. The program "will make it easier and more comfortable for those Arabic speakers who may have been wary of using English-based encryption programs to use a program developed by 'their own' people," Melnick said.
The package is "likely to reach a broad audience of pro-terrorist supporters online and Arabic-speaking hackers," he said.
Melnick added that "Mujahedin Secrets" included a PDF file of instructions in Arabic, which noted that the developers of the package had been working on the code "for years."
Melnick said another unusual, though not unique feature of the software, in addition to its portability, was that it did not supply so-called "public keys." Keys are the code that allows encryption users to talk to each other. Possessing a key does not allow anyone to decrypt messages sent using it, but does mean the user can set up a secure session with anyone else using the same key.
"Most encryption packages are designed to be interoperable," he said, but this program is not. As a result, users "must get the key to decrypt email (or other files) from the person who sent it or through other private means."
Compiled from other sources as well
University of Colorado president in a letter of a school tenute committee has recommended leftist faux Indian professor Ward Churchill be fired, according to the Associated Press. Citing problems with Churchill's research activities, Hank Brown sent a ten page letter to the committee. The letter has not been publically released, but the recommendation has been confirmed by university officials, according to the AP.
Currently AP and other sources make mention of Churchill's post-911 remark that the workers in the World Trade Center were "Little Eichmanns" who deserved to be attacked by hostile Islamists. In the intervening time revelations have surfaced which questioned Churchill's research, including charges of plagerism, likely center to the issues which led to the termination recommendations. Churchill also suffers from a number of other apparent credibility problems including his education and his ethnicity. Churchill is the head of the Native American studies program at Colorado, but has not shown any definitive proof of his professed Indian heritage.
According to news reports, Churchill has ten days to appeal the recommendation.
The AP reports the university regents will have the final say as to Churchill's final disposition.
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.
BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Unions envoy to Afghanistan on Tuesday acknowledged that the 160-strong police-training mission the EU launches next month falls well short of his initial hopes and barely exceeds the minimum needed for the task. 'I think that the EU has decided to play as big a role as possible, unfortunately not as big as I would have liked, EU Special Representative Francesc Vendrell told a news conference.
ADDIS ABABA - Ethiopian police have arrested five suspects thought to be behind a blast in the countrys volatile Ogaden region that killed 11 people and wounded the local president, state media reported on Tuesday. Five people were killed by at least one explosion and six others, mostly children, were crushed to death in a stampede after Mondays attack tore through crowds celebrating a national holiday in the eastern regions capital Jijiga, witnesses said.
A group of LRA rebels raided two villages in western Equatoria province, including the home of the information minister of South Sudan, killing four people, abducting 12 others and looting livestock. The group, under the command of Thomas Kwoyello, was heading to Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, said Lt Chris Magezi, a spokesman of the Ugandan army.
A TERROR suspect on the run for a week after breaking his Home Office curfew appeared in his school yearbook as the kid most likely to be . . . a TERRORIST. Ibrahim Adam, 20, was given the mock accolade by classmates, who also branded him the rudest boy in their year. The 2003 book compiled by pupils when Adam was 16 sees one ex-pal sum him up with the chilling phrase: Known by many, understood by few.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The United States Tuesday called for a vote this week to set up an international tribunal to prosecute suspects in the assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister, despite opposition from Russia, China and other Security Council members.
