The head of Interpol said Monday that Britains anti-terrorist efforts are in the wrong century, pointing out that authorities in London had not shared any information from the investigation of three failed car bomb attacks and had not made good use of a passport database.
We have received not one name, not one fingerprint, not one telephone number, not one address, nothing, from the UK, about the recent thwarted terrorist attacks, Ronald Noble, Interpols secretary general, said in an interview with British Broadcasting Corp. television.
My view is that the UKs anti-terrorist effort is in the wrong century, Noble said.
It is not aware of what we are able to do today globally, and they should do more. We dont have one Metropolitan police officer from the anti-terrorist unit assigned to Interpol - not one. Can you explain to me why that is?
Detectives on three continents are working to piece together details of the failed attacks on two London nightspots and the airport in Glasgow, Scotland.
In Britain, Prime Minister Gordon Brown received a preliminary report from the security minister, Alan West, on his review of the National Health Services procedures for investigating the credentials of physicians. All of the suspects in the car bomb investigation were employees or past employees of the health service.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: al-Tawhid
#4
I suspect that the reason the Brits aren't sharing information is because there's a huge hole in Interpol's security. That's been obvious from several high-level terrorism cases being blown in Europe over the last year. I think Interpol needs to clean house before it starts complaining about the Brits.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/10/2007 17:00 Comments ||
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#5
The Brits have apprehended all the perps. As damaging to Interpols collective EGO, nobody uses GPS to drive the kids to school.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/10/2007 17:03 Comments ||
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#6
Steve McGarret is probably rolling over in his grave...
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Wasting their time, kimmie's got his 25 mil, now it's back to stall, stall, stall again.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/10/2007 16:49 Comments ||
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#2
NORTH KOREA + IRAN will cover each other's backs.
IONews, RIAN > Russia - US Missle defense plan is destabilizing and a threat to all of Asia; STRATEGYPAGE > a major reason, but not the only one, for the Nork's economic probs is that patriotic, pro-NK ex-pats living in Japan are no longer sending bilyuhns of vital $$$ + investments to North Korea; + CHOSUNILBO > US General says NK's new missle is intended to target South Korea, NOT Japan, + US EIGHTH ARMY LIKELY TO STAY IN SOUTH KOREA, despite looming end of US-SK Combined Forces Command; and TAIPEITIMES > JAPAN to have only ONE-MINUTE DECISION to decide on North Korea's intentions and retaliate in case of any missle-rocket launches from North Korea, be the latter for war or only peaceful space ventures. TAIWAN > may buy 30 APACHE gunships.
#2
Who are they targeting, Poles? But first you have to have the proper uniform. Something in black, with riding boots.
Posted by: ed ||
07/10/2007 19:26 Comments ||
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#3
First "internment camps" and now "targeted killings". Wolfgang Schäuble is one of only a few people to have the courage in broaching these awkward topics. Like it or not, the man is attempting to address a problem which most people are desperately trying to ignore.
While Nazi and communist ideology had quasi-religious overtones, they in no way approached the overall fanaticism of Islam. Especially so in light of the clerical sanctification and absolution with which they consecrate terroist atrocities. None of that even begins to encompass the doctrinal basis or afterlife rewards that are all intertwined in this shitpot of a creed.
While Schäuble's suggestions may seem repugnant, I'd ask that those who think so compare them to another looming alternative: Nuclear annihilation of the entire MME (Muslim Middle East). Suddenly such notions seem almost humane by comparison.
Whether or not the West is even considering nuclear attacks against the MME, rest assured that Muslims are dreaming of doing just that to us. Iran's mullahs and Pakistan's jihadis are drooling over the prospect of using nuclear weapons against Western nations in their quest for a global caliphate.
Law enforcement methods and limited military engagement simply do not have the required scope to avert Islam's malignant intentions. It is pretty clear that Iran requires some abrupt and catastrophic dismantling of its nuclear program. Only a very few continue to argue against that here.
Similarly destructive measures will be required to discourage Islam's further predations upon the West. Mirroring this may well be exceptionally unconventional methods in dealing with seditious Muslim populations in Western countries. I believe that Wolfgang Schäuble recognizes this and is acting accordingly by bringing them into general discussion.
Soon enough internment camps and targeted killings will be options that have been stripped away by lack of timely action as we are backed further and further into the nuclear corner by Islam's maniacal obsession with world domination.
#4
Wolfgang Schäuble is one of only a few people to have the courage in broaching these awkward topics.
But the article did not even once mention the words muslim or islamic terrorism. Hence my comment on Poles.
Posted by: ed ||
07/10/2007 19:54 Comments ||
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#5
Ya got to like a guy with the name Wolfgang. It is so German. The Europeans are starting to wake up and think of the dangers of the rampant spread of islam and the threats to their freedoms and culture. Some of Europe is making a right turn away from the left. But hey, leave our CIA spooks alone.
#9
I posted this because it shows even the pansy-assed Germans are now considering the folly of their prior positions as Eurabia approaches. For the leading MSM publication in Germany to publish reasons to off the assholes, even if they are still unable to actually say the name. But they are thinking about it now. How to survive, how to win.
A German prosecutor's request for the arrest of 10 US men suspected of forming a CIA rendition team has split the German government, the news magazine Der Spiegel reported. A parliamentary inquiry in Berlin has heard Lebanese-born German national, Khaled el-Masri, testify that he was detained in Macedonia and held in a jail in Afghanistan for several months in 2004 on suspicion of terrorism.
The Munich prosecutor has asked Berlin to formally request US police to arrest and extradite 10 alleged agents.
Der Spiegel said senior ministers debated the issue in Chancellor Angela Merkel's office on Wednesday, with Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble opposed and arguing that the request would ruin German-US intelligence cooperation.
Yup, sure would.
Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries had argued that the request should be passed on to Washington to formally complete the inquiry. An official of her ministry, which has the final say, confirmed Saturday that the issue was still the subject of "intense discussion."
Der Spiegel said US diplomats have objected vocally to the whole German inquiry into el-Masri's ordeal.
The practice of extraordinary rendition - arresting people outside the United States and holding them abroad beyond the reach of US courts - has caused fierce controversy in Europe. German law allows prosecution of crimes against German nationals anywhere in the world, though no German officials really expect the US to actually extradite its own agents for trial.
#3
perhaps we need to downgrade our presence in Germany, dramatically. The Czechs, Slovacks, Poles, Bulgarians, Hungarians, et al, are a LOT more friendly and cheaper support costs.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/10/2007 18:12 Comments ||
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A call from Germany's Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble for legal powers to intern terrorists before they struck set off a storm of criticism Sunday. Suggesting that Germany might have to introduce a US-style criminal offence of conspiracy to commit a crime, he said: "Another question is whether one can treat such dangerous people as combatants and intern them."
The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) official's remarks were to be published in the news magazine Der Spiegel on Monday. Schaeuble added on ZDF television Sunday: "You must take risks to defend liberty, but you can't just sit back and do nothing either." Social Democrats, who share power in Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition, rejected the call. Kurt Beck, the Social Democrat leader, told ZDF Sunday: "We mustn't kill liberty in an effort to defend it."
Sebastian Edathy, a senior Social Democrat, said: "One cannot defend the rule of law from terrorism by weakening principles of the rule of law."
Posted by: lotp ||
07/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#1
When the Germans begin talking about "internment" their Muslims had better start listening very, very carefully. These are just the bare glimmerings of what awaits Europe's Muslim population. I'm also rather curious about how the concept of "pre-emptive internment" is supposed to work.
#2
You couldn't cut this irony with a diamond bladed chainsaw.
Let's see, wasn't it the Germans who used pre-emptive internment as a prelude to genocide?
And aren't these same Germans now part of an EU which condemns America for having "secret prisons" and for operating a "gulag" at Guantanamo Bay?
Now that the reality of the grave threat from enemies in their midst has finally sunk in, the same Euros who are loath to even utter the phrase "Islamic extremists" or to publicly link Muslims to terrorism are floating trial balloons about concentration camps.
#3
Hey, KT2328, I have long maintained that Europe's plan of action is to sit around and do nothing until things finally get so bad that they fall back upon their typical last resort of reopening the charnel house for business as usual.
European denial is a thing of wonder. Like you said about a "diamond bladed chainsaw" ...
#4
I'm also rather curious about how the concept of "pre-emptive internment" is supposed to work.
Ve quietly stop by ze internees home in ze vee hours of ze morning so zat ze streets are less crowded und provide zem an escort to ze railroad siding..."
Posted by: Wolfgang ||
07/10/2007 7:17 Comments ||
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#5
Where would the world be today if 70 years ago the Germans had selected a different group of Semitic people for the Final Solution?
#6
Glenmore: How many muzzies lived in Germany or Eastern Europe in 1930-40? Zip. Only after WW2 did the Turkish, Moorish, et.al. invasion begin for the reconstruction, reindustrialization.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/10/2007 10:16 Comments ||
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#7
Muzzies esp Arabs and white people, esp christians DO NOT MIX, dont they get it?
#1
Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, proposed legislation with Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., that would order President Bush to begin pulling out troops in 120 days and end combat by April 30, 2008.
I doubt they have the votes to pass this legislation. Bush will veto the legislation. They will not be able to override the veto. However, they are taking the path of death by a thousand cuts--like during the Nixon Presidency.
#4
Order? Since when does the Legislative branch issue orders to the Executive? They can cut off funding, they can hold hearings till the cows come home, but they cannot ORDER a damn thing.
#7
Many Netters still believe that the most ideal time for Iran to have a war agz the USA is post-2008 elex, under POTUS = CO-POTUS Hillary. Its getting to the point that the only way for Radical Islam to stop or contain Dubya = US entrenchment is to attack the USG-NPE, i.e. kill Dubya + Admin. Their altern option is to attack and inflict a catastrophic, severe defeat on US milfors inside Iraq, inducing a US invasion agz Iran proepr and hopefully anti-US foreign mil intervention. *Iff Radical islam = Iran choose to wait until after Dubya leaves office, IMO they can't wait for 2012 - this means anti-US US-Iran conflict must roughly occur during the Years 2009-2010. THE LONGER THE TIME, THE MORE MOUD = IRAN RISKS ANTI-AMER AMERICAN POLS, ETC. PREFERRING THE STATUS QUO OF PERSONAL POWER-PROFIT, i.e. TO ABANDON RADICAL IRAN + ANTI-US GLOBALISM TO ITS OWN FATE.
#3
I heard about this on the radio, can in to work, and dashed off the following e-mail to the Senator from my (present)home state: I heard on the radio this morning, Senator, that you were introducing a bill relating to rest periods for the troops. How thoughtful. Were it at another time, I would appreciate your concern for the brave men and women your son and mine included - who lay their lives on the line to keep us free.
At this time, however, it appears to be another play in the Schumer-Reid plan to lose the war so that more Democrats can get elected, no matter how many dead Americans and Iraqis it takes.
The enemy knows they can not defeat us on the field of battle, only in the halls of Congress. Some days, it seems only Senator Lieberman understand that. I want to win the war, Senator. To give it away is to waste our blood and treasure, as we did in 1975.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/10/2007 6:36 Comments ||
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#4
Maybe Ollie North can challenge him to a rematch of their Brigade Boxing bout.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/10/2007 7:36 Comments ||
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#5
Just a ploy on the part of Webb and Reid to prematurely stop the war. A loss in Iraq plays into dhemmi hands. They care little for the troops.
#6
He is turning out to be a bigger disappointment than Wes Clark.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/10/2007 10:18 Comments ||
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#7
This is insane! We need to start a WIN THE WAR campaign or something like that. Start a group that promotes honorable victory in Iraq instead of this constant drumbeat of defeat and shame.
I wonder how popular something like that would actually be. Does something like this already exist?
#9
ABCNEWS/AP/COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG > Al Qaeda cell on way to USA or already here - US govt oficials fear possible/potential for "summer attack" this year. Reports of WH calling emergency meeting over news reports. ALso, WAFF.com > ATTACKS ON SUPPLY CONVOYS INCREASE, espec for US private contractors. RENSE.com > PRISON PLANET article > did Rick Santorum "let cat out of the bag" [Pre-Planned Terror? WMD-Nuke?]by stating that within the coming year, new terror attacks inside the USA will cause mainstream Americans to change any anti-war sentiments they may have, o'er US milfors in Iraq and US policies in the WOT in general.
A Shiite imam accused of plotting to blow up fuel tanks at John F. Kennedy International Airport wanted to seek Iranian backing for the terrorist plot.
The disclosure came yesterday in a court decision denying bail to the Trinidadian-based cleric, Kareem Ibrahim.
Mr. Ibrahim, 62, is one of four men arrested last month on charges connected to the plot. At the time, American law enforcement officials said Mr. Ibrahim encouraged his co-conspirators to seek funding for the attack from outside their home countries of Trinidad or Guyana. While American authorities have not provided more details, a judge in Trinidad wrote that evidence, including tape recordings, suggests Mr. Ibrahim intended to seek backing for the plot from individuals in Iran or Britain.
In those recordings, Judge Prakash Moosai wrote, Mr. Ibrahim "refers to an Iranian brother' passing through Trinidad and Tobago, and of sending a trusted brother' to Iran to speak to the top men of the revolutionary movement there about the plan." The judge's decision does not clarify whether "the revolutionary movement there" refers to the government of the Islamic Republic. Nor does Judge Moosai state whether the plotters actually disclosed the plan to contacts in Iran or simply considered doing so. Mr. Ibrahim also spoke of contacting "brothers in England," the decision said.
Mr. Ibrahim's alleged efforts to find foreign backing mark the second Iran connection to surface in a case that initially appeared confined to the Western Hemisphere. At the time of his arrest, another of the defendants, Abdul Kadir of Guyana, was preparing to travel to Iran to attend an Islamic conference, according to news reports. Two of Mr. Kadir's children were studying in Iran at the time of his arrest, according to reports.
The extent of Mr. Ibrahim's own international contacts is unclear. He has not left Trinidad since 1979, according to the court decision. But one lead under investigation by Trinidadian law enforcement is whether Mr. Ibrahim had ties to Shiite organizations in southern Iraq and Iran through an Islamic discussion group he hosted, the Trinidad Express reported last month.
#1
So the USA-Allies are building up evidences agz Iran; whilst Iran per se intensifies its materiel, advisory, command, and combat support for pan-Islamists insurgents inside Iraq and while prepping anti-US asymmetric defense networks inside its interior. Whether "Amer Hiroshima" or an alleged Iran-led deadly attack on US milfors = convoys, IRAN WILL WANT THE USA -ALLIES TO ATTACK/INVADE IT. Moud can no longer rely of anti-GOP, anti-US Politicos or even the MSM.
Seems rather suspiciously like a Lockheed marketing plan to me.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States could deploy a system to protect an area ranging from Washington to Boston from sea-based cruise-missile attacks within 14 months at a cost of "several billion dollars," a top Lockheed Martin Corp. executive said on Monday.
David Kier, who formerly was deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office, said the technologies needed to track, identify and destroy any such missiles launched from ships off the U.S. coastline already existed or were under development. "It just requires a will to do it," he told congressional aides at a briefing.
Subsonic cruise missiles are not difficult to destroy, Kier said. But it is essential to track them quickly, as they can reach a target within 11 minutes, and to destroy them over water to avoid damage from the debris, he added. Short-range cruise missiles are easy to hide, relatively cheap, and can carry a variety of warheads such as biological or chemical weapons, according to some experts.
Lockheed has long lobbied for a program to defend against cruise missiles and short-range ballistic missiles, a market valued by some analysts at upwards of $10 billion. The company had high hopes for its $148 million High Altitude Airship program, for airships priced at just under $40 million apiece that can hover and monitor a 500-square-mile area for about two months.
But the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency cut the program's budget sharply in fiscal year 2007 and requested no funding at all for 2008. Lockheed convinced lawmakers to reinstate the 2007 funds, and there is an amendment to provide a small sum in 2008, but the program's outlook is grim at this point.
Christopher Bolkcom, defense specialist at the Congressional Research Service, said cruise missiles were difficult to track and that Lockheed's forecast about deploying a wide-area defense was "optimistic." "It's sort of like border security. You can put some useful measures in place, but you can never afford a fool-proof system," he said. Bolkcom said U.S. policymakers had likely done "the mental calculus that it's too expensive, too hard, on the one hand, and the threat is not big enough to justify it, on the other."
Another speaker at the briefing, Jeff Kueter, president of the Washington-based George C. Marshall Institute, underscored the urgency of the threat. Tens of thousands of cruise missiles are available globally and 20 countries can build them, he said. North Korea fired up to two short-range missiles from its west coast last month, following a series of long- and short-range missile tests last year. He called for greater efforts to defend against cruise missiles, which he said were becoming the "weapons of choice" for potential competitor states and terrorist groups.
Cruise missiles were first fired at U.S. troops during the war in Iraq. But the United States itself, with 12,000 miles of coastline, provides ample targets for extremist groups, especially since cruise missiles can be easily be stowed inside a standard cargo container.
The U.S. military has plans to protect troops, ships and overseas bases from cruise missile attacks, but it has no plan and no budget to protect the U.S. coastline, Kueter said.
Lockheed's Kier said the United States needed an integrated plan to guard against attacks by cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and other manned and unmanned aircraft.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Rusia's dev of UW hypervelocity torpedoes bears high potential for LR, "pop-up" SLCM-IRBM's capable of remote or independent UW maneuver.
#2
Its application of "look down shoot down" radar technology. Its doable.
And we could apply other sensors to the platform for maritime tracking and interdiction.
Plus: Putting a few over Mexico with JSTARS type of tie-ins (at a much less expensive ground station instead of on an aircraft) would immensely help secure that border in combination with fences in key areas, and vehicle barriers to slow traversal of terrain.
This is a threat - think about Chavez, modern diesel electric submarines, and submarine launched cruise missiles via the torpedo tubes.
#3
I think Chavez would understand that shooting a single cruise missile at the US would have some very real consequences. I don't think that there is much of a cruise missile threat from anyone except Russia or China. Does the aircraft include the munitions to shoot down the missile? The ability to track a missile into its target is not a selling point to me. The system would seem to require the remmanning of all the WW II coastal defense redoubts.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/10/2007 7:49 Comments ||
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Posted by: Senator Carl Levin ||
07/10/2007 8:50 Comments ||
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#6
Very doable. I just wonder if it is really worth it. Countries don't want to be on the receiving end of a US counterstrike and the terrorists really can't launch a cruise missile from a sub. I think this would be better employed in Israel, Taiwan and Japan.
#7
I think Chavez would understand that shooting a single cruise missile at the US would have some very real consequences.
What? How long before the firm of Pelosi-Reid in conjunction with the NYT-WP-LAT would move to surrender? The darling would lead the socialist one party agenda they so dream of.
#8
Christopher Bolkcom, defense specialist at the Congressional Research Service, said cruise missiles were difficult to track and that Lockheed's forecast about deploying a wide-area defense was "optimistic." "It's sort of like border security. You can put some useful measures in place, but you can never afford a fool-proof system," he said. Bolkcom said U.S. policymakers had likely done "the mental calculus that it's too expensive, too hard, on the one hand, and the threat is not big enough to justify it, on the other."
Well, then, Mr. Fancy-Pants, let's just not do it at all. I mean, it's too hard/threat not big enough/etc. UNTIL that cruise missile hits your pad on the Upper West Side, eh? To put this in perspective, the total DoD is well over $400 billion/year (not including war-time funding for actual deployments). This is a measely $10 billion to protect our homeland. Not that I think Osama's gonna pull up in a sub and launch one, but if we just sit back and wait for them to strike, it's too late. What's the financial cost of just being hit again, much less if they actually took out the NYSE, or the Mercantile Exchange, or half of Boston. Oh well, that last one's not so bad.
This quote above explains what's wrong with our current generation (myself included). If something's too hard, let's just forget about it. If it costs a little too much, just have someone else pay for it. Jeebus, the mind boggles at this type attitude. We would've never stormed the beaches of Normandy, much less put a man on the moon if this type attitude had been prevalent back in the early 20th century.
Posted by: BA ||
07/10/2007 9:40 Comments ||
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#9
Question, is there anyway to fire a cruise missile from a smaller vessel. Say a P-T boat or large yacht? or do you need a sub/warship sized thing?
Because we can trace sub/warships back to a government in nearly all cases.
#10
rjschwarz - It could be done, although I think the vessel it would be launched from would be toast. The easiest way for the terrorists to get a warhead in is to float it in on a large yacht, put it in a large flat panel truck, drive to the highest point of a city and set off the nuke.
Getting a cruise missile, rigging up said missile to boat and getting it here without mishap or discovery, firing said missile without fizzle is fairly implausible I would say.
#11
And Darth, that is why this is an idiotic waste of money. If we were going to war with China, and they had a credible navy and we could not stop them from getting to our shores...THEN this would make sense. It does not make sense in a counter-terror application IMO.
#12
Cruise Missiles are a huge threat and CHEAP compared to a comparably accurate and with equal warhead throw weight Ballistic Missile.
In addition Ballistic missiles need a much more expensive ship to carry and launch them than Cruise Missiles would require.
A rogue Nation or a rogue Terrorist Entity could steal a Liberian Freighter and launch a Cruise Missile from it. But technologically that would be almost impossible to do with a Ballistic Missile.
#13
Most small patrol boats can carry harpoon like missiles. The Manama Class in the Navy of Bahrain carry Exocet, for instance.
I still see this as an unlikely terrorist threat. The attack on the USS Cole was pretty effective on the second try. In the first try the dingy sank. While extrapolating this to an offshore cruise missile attack is possible (especially if you are an engineer working for Lockheed.) We have limited assets, let's work on making our guys less suceptable to IED's.
My technical question stands. It is possible to mount a nice radar on a ballon and let it detect cruise missile launches. How does Lockheed boy intend for us to deal with the detected missile ... or is that a seperate purchase order with more money required. I have always found engineers to be thoroughly enthusiastic about spending cash on cool toys.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/10/2007 16:58 Comments ||
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#14
The easiest way for the terrorists to get a warhead in is to float it in on a large yacht, put it in a large flat panel truck, drive to the highest point of a city and set off the nuke.
Darth,
you dont even need to get it ashore... detonate a nuke in the hold of a cargo ship, below the waterline close to shore in a busy harbor, and there will be far tremendous destruction and the dirty fallout from the sea-water coupled with the tidal wave hitting port facilities...
you get the idea.
shoot, just set of your nuke in a boat in the gulf of mexico in the middle of the oil field. the shock wave will break every wellhead for miles and miles and disrupt oil production far more than katrina did. wanna hurt america? make thier gas cost more. and drive up the price of oil so the petrodollars really keep flowing to the terrorist states like iran and chavez land.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
07/10/2007 17:54 Comments ||
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#16
It is possible to mount a nice radar on a ballon and let it detect cruise missile launches.
Yes. The US has had the ability to detect and kill cruise missiles for over 30 years (look down, shoot down radars and missiles). The problem is that F-15s are very expensive and low density assets and was not worth the cost for this role. In addition, radars have been on aerostats for a long time. What's new is that with agile AESA radars, the probability of detection and tracking goes up. With cooperative engagement, the shooter can be a SAM guided in by the airborne radar.
But why build and maintain specialized high density asset when multiple problems should be addressed at the source? Spend the resources to keep possible launchers away from our shores and subvert (CIA is useless, need to create another alphabet agency) and overthrow nations who would base them (e.g. Castro, Hugo). Nation leaders and their proxies have realized US leadership have lost their collective gonads for over a generation and the cost of attacking or threatening Americans is very low or even beneficial (aid, trade, political concessions). Until the American voters elect people who will take severe action and make examples of those who would kill us, the threats will proliferate.
Posted by: ed ||
07/10/2007 18:25 Comments ||
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#17
Frankly, I would like to see the politicians and their families protected LAST among Americans, particularly Carl Levin's. Might provide some incentive to get the rest of the nation protected FIRST
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/10/2007 18:43 Comments ||
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#18
I think RD has a good point. I'm not so worried about Al Queda launching a cruise missile, as Iran or North Korea, through cut-outs, renting a freighter and launching something, to the extent of then blowing up the ship to leave no witnesses.
And, the monitoring system would be a good second layer against ICBMs if Levin dies and we get some more BMD.
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds ||
07/10/2007 21:45 Comments ||
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President George W. Bush reaffirmed his confidence Tuesday in Pakistan's president as a strong ally in the war against extremists.
"I like him and I appreciate him," Bush said in Cleveland. The president also called President Gen. Pervez Musharraf a partner in promoting democracy. Sometimes I get this, highly uncomfortable, feeling that the staff in In My World is literal truth.
Major (r) Ahmad Maqsood vehemently denied religious minister Ejazul Haqs allegations about Maulana Maqsood Ahmad (son of Ahmad Maqsood) having any Al Qaeda connections.
In a press conference held at a local hotel, Maqsood claimed that the suicide attacks on Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had nothing to do with his [Maqsoods] family since they were all residing in Karachi, and there had been no warrants ever issued against them.
Major Maqsood also said his son, the deceased Maulana Maqsood, used to write a column titled Naqsh-e-Qadam for the Urdu daily Jinnad and had been an active member of the Federal Union of Journalists. He said he was quite against violent riots and damage to public property, and declared he fully agreed with Ulema over the Lal Masjid issue.
He further disclosed that Maulana Maqsood also published the monthly Achey Bachey, adding that he[Maulana Maqsood] had also and also authored more than a dozen religious publications, and also participated in the Afghan jihad.
He expressed his deep regrets if his son had ever issued clarion calls for wrecking public property, and said that he was ready to condemn the act, and vowed to accept any summons from Supreme Court if asked.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
The Lal Masjid standoff is a calculated attempt by the government to divert public attention from other issues and to achieve political advantages, said participants of a seminar on Lal Masjid Episode: Lessons and Repercussions.
The Pakistan Peoples Partys Fahatullah Babar and the SAFMAs Prof Ashfaq Saleem Mirza were the main speakers at the seminar orgainsed by the SDPI on Monday. Babar questioned the timing, manner and changing strategy of the operation against Lal Masjid. The government has staged and re-engineered the issue to overshadow important matters and win an international support, which was wearing down, Babar said.
On the domestic front, it is a skillful effort to divert the public attention from the all parties conference, the chief justices case and the governments failure to handle the flood situation and the presidential re-election, he said.
The PPP leader said the mosque standoff would help lessen the pressure from America and its Western allies, who had demanded that the Pakistani government do more in the war on terror. Military governments have a tradition of staging such artificial crises to eclipse the main issues, he added. In 1981, opposition parties joined hands under the umbrella of the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) against the dictatorship of Ziaul Haq and the Balochistan High Court had admitted a petition challenging the martial law. Lawyers and teachers went on a strike. The MRD set March 2 as the deadline for lifting the press censorship and March 23 for the complete restoration of democracy. But on March 2, a PIA plane was hijacked and all issues were deflated, Babar said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2007 00:00 ||
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A Pakistani man on Monday was reunited with his teenage son who claimed he had come to Afghanistan to carry out a suicide attack before reporters at the headquarters of the secret services here. An emotional Mati-Ullah hugged his 14-year-old son, Rafiq-Ullah, and told reporters he did not know the boy had joined the Taliban until he was captured in the eastern Afghan province of Khost in May. He said the teenager had gone missing from his religious school in Waziristan, adding that he had tracked him down to Khost. The boy claimed he had been sent to the country to carry out a suicide attack against the provincial governor, whom he was told was an infidel. The intelligence agency said Rafiq-Ullah, along with a man who had allegedly been issuing suicide bombing vests, were arrested on May 7 in a house in Khost. Against all the values of human beings, terrorists are using such young boys to achieve their evil targets, intelligence agency spokesman Sayed Ansary told journalists. The authenticity of the account could not be verified. The Afghan intelligence agency, which is keen to show a Pakistan link to the insurgency, often produces alleged militants who confess in front of the media.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"terrorists are using such young boys to achieve their evil targets"
That's likely not the only way they're 'using' the young boys.
Except that at 14, they aren't young boys anymore. They're old enough to know the desire for a woman, and also to know that a female goat is as close as they are likely to ever get. Makes martyrdom and blowing up infidels exciting and attractive.
Tribal elders and local Taliban leaders on Monday pledged their support to Lal Masjid deputy chief cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi and urged him to prefer martyrdom to surrendering himself to the government. The leaders condemned the Lal Masjid operation at a large public gathering held on the call of local Siddiqabad Taliban in the Bajaur Agency. Thousands of tribesmen and around 400 armed local Taliban attended the gathering.
Addressing the participants, Maulana Inayatur Rehman, Salar Malik Abdul Aziz Mehsud, Farooq Abdullah, Maulana Said Muhammad and local Taliban commander Faqir Muhammad said President General Pervez Musharraf had ordered the Lal Masjid operation to appease the Americans and prolong his rule. They said innocent children had been killed in the Lal Masjid operation, adding that law and order in Pakistan was deteriorating because of President Musharrafs flawed policies. The tribal elders also defended the Lal Masjid administrations policies and assured them their full support. The speakers said it was obligatory upon all Muslims to wage jihad, adding that it would continue in Kashmir, Afghanistan and Iraq. They urged the government to change its policies before the situation spiralled further out of control.
Maulana Faqir Muhammad said the Taliban and tribal elders would honour the agreement with the government and the peace accord would stay intact. He said the Bajaur mujahideen had defeated the former Soviet Union and would also defeat America. Outraged tribesmen also burnt an effigy of President Musharraf and shouted slogans against him.
AFP adds: The gathered tribesmen, numbering around 20,000, vowed to take revenge on President Musharraf for the siege on Lal Masjid. We beg Allah to destroy Musharraf and we will seek revenge for the atrocities committed at Lal Masjid, Maulvi Faqir Mohammed said. Mujahideen commander Inayatur Rehman said, You [tribesmen] must all be trained for jihad because it is binding on every Muslim, just like prayers and fasting. The gathering also passed resolutions in which Friday was declared a weekly holiday instead of Sunday, and demanded the closure of all music shops in the tribal district.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Following an attack on a military convoy that killed four troops, including a major and a lieutenant, army contingents have moved to Swat to apparently launch a military operation against the banned Tehrik Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi, Daily Times learnt on Monday.
The military is moving ahead from bunker to bunker to search for the militants, sources said.
The deployment of troops will be completed within two days and an operation against the Tehrik Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) is expected within a week, they added.
For the first time we have seen such a huge army deployment in the Swat valley, Ali Zaman, a resident of Chakdara, told Daily Times by phone. According to him the entire valley and Dir district were in the grip of fear.
Swat District Coordination Officer Syed Muhammad Javed said the army had been called in to maintain law and order. The district administration was left with no option but to call the army to curb growing militancy and attacks on officials of the law-enforcement agencies, Javed said. The army has been deployed at the airport, bridges and at government installations, the DCO said. TNSM activists led by their acting Ameer Maulana Fazlullah have called the army deployment a violation of the peace deal signed by the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA)-led NWFP government and TNSM on May 22, 2007.
The government had allowed Fazullah to continue to run his FM radio station. Fazlullah in return had agreed to support a polio vaccination campaign, education for girls and government efforts to maintain law and order in the district. He also agreed to shut all weapon-manufacturing units and training facilities for the militants.
Recently, the maulana asked his followers through his illegal FM radio station to carry out my mission in case I die in a military operation. We are not supporting the militants in Swat and will retaliate if the army attacks us, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2007 00:00 ||
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The Supreme Court on Monday took suo motu notice of the Lal Masjid situation and formed a committee of ulema to negotiate with the mosques administration to reach a peaceful solution to the crisis. The court directed the government to help the committee which consists of Maulana Mufti Rafi Usmani, Rai Bashir Ahmed, Mufti Abdul Hameed, Dr Adil Khan, Qari Hanif Jullundhari, Mufti Muhammad Naeem and Qari Abdul Rasheed get in touch with the Lal Masjid deputy chief cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi. The court also directed Attorney General Makhdoom Ali Khan to get information from the government on how it plans to recover the women and children held hostage inside the mosque. We are concerned with the safety and liberty of the innocent children and women who have been reportedly made hostage in Lal Masjid. It is the duty of the government to ensure their safe recovery, said Justice Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi, who was hearing the case with Justice Faqeer Khokhar. The bench declined a request for the operation to be halted on the grounds that the court had no control over Lal Masjid. The court also asked the interior secretary under what law the armed forces had been called in for the operation and why Lal Masjid was allowed to hoard ammunition and explosives. The case continues today.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2007 00:00 ||
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FOR most of the afternoon, soldiers at the Nanak Post at Uri in Baramulla district had stared out through the mist at four brightly coloured specks winding their way towards the Line of Control (LoC). At first sight, it seemed as though a group of militants was crossing over and, as such, preparations to ambush them were put in place. But soon it became clear that there was something unusual about the spectacle. One of the members of the group was a woman with two crying infants in her arms; and the man beside her was urging two exhausted children to take the last steps to complete the savage climb into India.
"My name is Nasir Ahmad Pathan, and I want to come home," the bedraggled man shouted when he finally reached the rolls of barbed wire that mark Jammu and Kashmir's border with Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK).
At least 138 residents of the State have returned from across the LoC since the Great Kashmir Earthquake of October 2005 - five of them with the families they built during their stay in Pakistan. Most of them had left to train at camps run by Islamist terror groups; others were among the estimated 35,000 refugees who fled the State fearing war and ethnic cleansing following the jehad of 1989.
In 2002, though, the world began to change. In the wake of the September 11, 2001, Al Qaeda bombing in New York and Washington D.C., the world woke up to the threat posed by Islamist terror groups operating out of Pakistan. Soon after, India and Pakistan almost went to war - and Islamabad came under intense pressure to scale back support to its secret armies in Jammu and Kashmir.
Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) started squeezing funding to militant groups, and the jehad in the State began to disintegrate.
Hundreds of men are thought to be waiting in jehad camps for a chance to return to their old lives. Thousands of refugees, too, believe the time has come to resume their war-interrupted lives and build a new future. But the road back home is proving both long and perilous.
Pathan was a sixth-grade student when he began his journey from the impoverished mountain hamlet of Sultan Dhakki to Pakistan. His brothers Javed and Mubassir were to join the Indian Army; Pathan, however, turned to the jehad in search of adventure, self-esteem and a living.
One summer evening in 1989, Pathan traversed the minefields along the LoC with the help of a Hizbul Mujahideen recruiter. By that evening, he was on a truck to a training camp near Muzaffarabad. But unlike thousands of other recruits, Pathan's stay in the training camp was brief. His father Saifuddin Pathan contacted relatives in Pakistan and sought help. Within six days, Pathan's relatives pulled him out of the camp.
Since there was no way of returning to his family, Pathan began living with his Lahore-based uncle, Mohammad Mamoon Khan. He trained as a driver and later purchased a mini-bus. Soon Pathan had saved enough to own a small plot of land in Rasoolpura. In 1994, he married a Pakistani national, Naseema Akhtar. The couple had four children - Uzma, who is now 12, Umar (10), Ishrat (six), and Aqib (four). Pathan had built the life he had always wanted. Which side of the border had been the site for the dream to come true seemed to matter little.
No one is certain just what provoked Pathan to leave his apparently picture-perfect life. "My father had visited us just before the earthquake and begged me to come home. My wife and I felt obliged to respect his wishes. After my father passed away, we decided that we had to make the passage to India, even if it meant risking our lives," Pathan said. Police records dispute this account. The police believe Pathan had long worked for the Jammu and Kashmir Islamic Front, a feared militant group responsible for a series of murderous urban bombings between 1995 and 1998.
According to the police version of the events, Pathan was coerced to resume offensive tasks on the Indian side of the LoC - and used the opportunity provided by the earthquake to break free of his handlers, and escape.
Like Pathan, Sopore resident Abdul Hamid Rather was among the hundreds of young people who crossed the border in the first months of the Jammu and Kashmir jehad. He makes no secret of his motives for returning home.
In 1990, Rather crossed the LoC as part of a group of 135 young men from Sopore. After three months of combat training, he returned to serve with a Hizbul Mujahideen combat unit in the Sopore area. Abdul Rather claims to have been disgusted by what he saw. "Most of our leaders were from the Jamaat-e-Islami," he says, "and their main interest was in killing leaders of the National Conference and the Congress. They did not want freedom; they wanted power and wealth." In 1992, Rather lost a brother who had sought to follow in his footsteps - he was shot by Indian troops before he could make it across the LoC. "I had got my own brother killed," he says bitterly, "and I had to ask the question: for what? The answer was loud and clear: for nothing."
Rather returned to POK in 1994, and began the precarious life of a refugee. His wife Reshma soon joined him along with their sons Khalid Hamid and Irfan Hamid. The family survived on a dole of Indian Rs.3,500 a month, made up of assistance both from the provincial government of POK and the Hizbul Mujahideen.
Life, however, was hard, and Rather began searching for a way out. In 2000, he joined supporters of the pro-peace Hizbul Mujahideen dissident Abdul Majid Dar. "We were sending men to death each day," he said, "for a cause we knew was lost. We wanted peace." When Dar's peace effort was opposed by the Hizbul Mujahideen command, Rather was among those who rebelled. Supporters of the dissident commanders exchanged fire with their one-time comrades on at least two occasions. Peace returned after the dissidents were given a camp of their own. But without official patronage and funding, their future was tenuous.
In 2004, Rather's father Ghulam Ahmad Rather travelled on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus, bearing an offer that held out new hope: If Rather wished to return home the police were willing to facilitate his rehabilitation. Using contacts in Muzaffarabad, Rather succeeded in obtaining Pakistani passports for himself and his family. A travel agent arranged for tickets on the Lahore-New Delhi bus service, along with Indian visas to visit non-existent relatives in Kolkata and New Delhi.
"It cost me some Rs.25,000 in bribes to get the travel documents, but I wasn't willing to risk the lives of my family crossing the Line of Control," Rather recalls. Released on June 21 after six weeks in jail, Rather hopes to help his father operate the family's three grocery stores and chicken farm.
Many of those who have returned have similar dreams for their new lives. Manzoor Ahmad Awan left the mountain hamlet of Kundi Barzala for Muzaffarabad in 1989 when he was just 10 years old. His father Zafar Khan had decided to leave India, fearing that the jehad in the State would lead to war or a pogrom against residents of hamlets close to the LoC. Soon after Khan died. Awan continued to live with relatives in Muzaffarabad. He married a Muzaffarabad resident, Asfat Mir, in 1999, and the couple had three children. Interestingly, Asfat Mir's family had been residents of Kundi Barzala until 1947; her father Amiruddin Mir fled the region in the midst of the first India-Pakistan war.
Although Awan was entitled to a refugee's dole, he could only make ends meet by doing odd-jobs on construction projects and roads. It was, he felt, a humiliation.
"We have a few acres of land," he says, "and I knew my family would have a much better life there. It was, however, just too dangerous to risk the journey home." After the earthquake, however, there were no job options for Awan in Muzaffarabad. Facing starvation, Awan and his family decided to risk crossing the mountains.
Munir Ahmad was born to the Awans in March: an event that is tempting to read as a metaphor for hope and healing. Reality, though, is rarely poetic. As India maintains that Pakistan-controlled Jammu and Kashmir is part of the Republic of India, Asfat Mir is not a foreigner. However, her crossing of the LoC, like that of her husband's, is an offence under the Egress and Movement Control Act. She, like all of those who have returned, face prosecution, and possible prison sentences.
While a wide spectrum of politicians in the State have been calling for the Act to be waived and an amnesty to be put in place, officials note that the jehadists who have returned pose genuine security concerns. In May, the police arrested Hajan resident Riyaz Ahmad Rather, who surrendered to Indian troops on the LoC in March, for his alleged role in a plot to assassinate Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. Riyaz Ahmad, the police claim, had hoped to use his credentials as a Hizbul Mujahideen dissident to penetrate a Congress rally in Bandipora and plant an explosive device.
Yet, there is little doubt that the ranks of the home comers are set to swell. Increasingly, relatives of militants who are still in camps are using the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service to persuade their loved ones to return home; hundreds of families have contacted the Military Intelligence Directorate to secure safe passage for their kin across the LoC.
Some have chosen not to wait, and, on occasion, with tragic consequences. On June 23, for example, troops shot dead Hizbul Mujahideen operatives Irfan Ahmad Ganai, Fayyaz Ahmad Bhat and Javed Ahmad Khan, when they were attempting to cross the LoC near Uri.
Mohammad Siddiq Ganai, Irfan Ganai's father, says the three began planning their escape from the training camp last year after hearing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's offer of rehabilitation to all those who returned to India. Plans for their attempted crossing were finalised when Mohammad Siddiq Ganai visited Muzaffarabad last year - but errors in communication, as well as the inevitable risks involved in border crossing, meant that their hopes of a new life were shattered in blood.
The Jammu and Kashmir government needs to find ways to make the journey safe - not just for those who seek to return, but also for those who live in the State. For all the passionate polemic their problems have provoked, there has been little serious discussion on just how this might be achieved.
Posted by: John Frum ||
07/10/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
These Indians left and went to Pakistan to train as Islamist terrorists: why on earth should India want to take them or their spawn back? Does making a dangerous trek across the mountains restore his trustworthiness? Not bloody likely.
And this is curious: "Pathan turned to the jehad in search of adventure, self-esteem and a living;" not only is he an Islamist terrorist, he has 'self-esteem' issues! 'Home' shouldn't be India, it should be Massachusetts!
#2
The self esteem bit is a huge deal for most young Muslim males. That's why it's the engineers and doctors who are the real threat to us, starting with Khan and his generation.
They came west, not only were lonely for their culture and friends but also measured what we have against what they've (failed to) accomplish.
Add in few women available for settling down with, plus an ideology that promises rewards for 'martyrdom', plus outside people funding your widow and kids .....
#3
I read an interesting thing recently (Pscyhology today I believe) that talked about the pitfalls of Polygamy if you aren't amung the elites. How women would rather be one of a hundred wives of a wealthy person than married to a loser.
The middle east is filled with losers with esteem issues. They are blowing themselves up every day.
Iran is trying to cement its ties with neighboring Iraq, and the offers of help include plans to train Iraqi diplomats, a senior Iranian foreign ministry official said.
Mohammed Omrani, deputy director of the Iranian Foreign Ministry's Special Headquarters for Iraq, spoke over the weekend at a seminar focusing on the revival of "revolutionary Islam" and the challenges Iraq currently faces. According to the Iranian Fars News Agency, Omrani said that Iran has succeeded in playing a "correct and positive role" in the "new conditions of the region."
...
A year ago, the Iranians signed a deal with the Iraqis to train the Iraqi intelligence corps, said Prof. Amatzia Baram from the University of Haifa. The U.S. told the Iraqis to scrap the idea, he said in an interview. By offering to train the Iraqi diplomats, Iran may be hoping that the Iraqis will spy for them one day, Baram said.
Posted by: ed ||
07/10/2007 19:44 ||
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#1
thanks. no.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/10/2007 19:51 Comments ||
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#2
In other news: Fox volunteers to train henhouse watchdog.
The U.S. navy has sent a third aircraft carrier to its Fifth Fleet area of operations, which includes Gulf waters close to Iran, the navy said on Tuesday. The Fifth Fleet area of operations includes the Arabian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman and parts of the Indian Ocean.
"Enterprise (aircraft carrier) provides navy power to counter the assertive, disruptive and coercive behaviour of some countries, as well as support our soldiers and marines in Iraq and Afghanistan," a U.S. Navy statement said.
The move comes weeks after a flotilla of U.S. warships sailed through the narrowest point in the Gulf to hold exercises off Iran's coast in a major show of force.
#2
I think the Navy has been paying attention to the recent events in Syria and Lebanon, and has drawn the correct conclusion as to where the orders originated.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/10/2007 16:49 Comments ||
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#4
KOMMERSANT/ROBONEXPORT > Russia to acquire six aircraft carrying groups in next 20 years, with additional forces and one aircraft carrier per group. Carrier construx will begin within the next 10 years. Iff I read it correctly, circa three CV's will based in the Russ Northern banner fleet + another three CV's in the Russ Pacific Fleet. The Russ Fleet in sum will comprise about 300 "battleships" = warships??? ALSO in KOMMERSANT, Russ will build a new sub base on Kamchatka for its new classes of strategic submarines. RUSS AIR FORCE > Russia will also increase its levels/numbers of LR modern bombers in both North Atlantic + North Pacific-Arctic and increase their anti-naval and strategic missle attack capabilities.
Four pages of questions and answers. Here are two of them. Go read the whole thing. Hattip Lucianne.com
GEN. David Petraeus, our nation's senior soldier in Iraq and the commander of Coalition forces, this week took the time to ex plain to Post readers where he believes we are right now - and where Iraq is headed.
Ralph Peters: The current military operations in Iraq appear comprehensive and tenacious, part of a long-term, integrated plan. What can we realistically expect to achieve?
Petraeus: Our primary goal is to work with our Iraqi counterparts to improve security for the Iraqi people. This is intended to give Iraqi leaders the time to resolve the tough political issues they face and to pursue internal reconciliation.
We're working to eliminate the capability for al Qaeda and any other extremist groups to plan, assemble forces and mount attacks. We're clearing extremist sanctuaries in Baghdad, as well as in the belts around the city and in Diyala Province - while pursuing terrorist and extremist leaders throughout Iraq.
As to reasonable expectations, we can expect a reduction in sectarian deaths and the gradual spread of Iraqi government authority. The level of sectarian deaths in Baghdad in June was the lowest in about a year. Nonetheless, extremists still have been able to carry out car bomb and other attacks. Obviously, there's considerable work to be done to reduce that ability.
Q: The performance of Iraqi security forces still seems to be a mixed bag. What are their strengths and weaknesses? Do they really have a national identity?
A: There is a national identity in the Iraqi security forces, though it varies in intensity and some units still exhibit the sectarian behavior that was so destructive in late 2006.
The Iraqi security forces often reflect the quality of their leaders. There are some very good units that are largely operating on their own, and there are some that need considerable Coalition assistance.
Of course, their strengths include a level of cultural awareness that no amount of training can give us. They have knowledge of the local areas that's particularly helpful, and their human intelligence networks can be of considerable value. Beyond that, they've been willing to fight - especially when their leaders set the example. Their losses in June were three times ours.
Their key weaknesses are a lack of logistical self-sufficiency, heavy weaponry shortages (improving) and the lack of the infrastructure so important in modern warfare - all of which we're helping them build up.
In the case of the local police, recruits and their families can be vulnerable to intimidation and coercion, if the situation where they live gets tough.
#1
Dhimmicrats are trying to derail General Petraeus even before he submits his report in September. They are racing to pull out and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. They do not want to win. A win will not fit into their play book. They will hang a defeat on the Republicans. They will hammer this home repeatedly during the 2008 elections.
#2
The lefty losers will build their margin in Congress on the backs of dead American and Iraqi soldiers and civilians. Then when al Qaeda comes here, it will still be Bush's fault.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/10/2007 9:44 Comments ||
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#3
This is insane! We need to start a WIN THE WAR campaign or something like that. Start a group that promotes honorable victory in Iraq instead of this constant drumbeat of defeat and shame.
I wonder how popular something like that would actually be. Does some thing like this already exist?
#4
Q: Now that the surge is fully in place, what's your sense of the positives and negatives thus far? If you could have more of any one item, what would it be? Troops? Time? Iraqi unity?
A: I can think of few commanders in history who wouldn't have wanted more troops, more time or more unity among their partners; however, if I could only have one at this point in Iraq, it would be more time. This is an exceedingly tough endeavor that faces countless challenges.
None of us, Iraqi or American, are anything but impatient and frustrated at where we are. But there are no shortcuts. Success in an endeavor like this is the result of steady, unremitting pressure over the long haul. It's a test of wills, demanding patience, determination and stamina from all involved.
You don't need anywhere near this many for border snatches of PKK types. And twice this many wouldn't work against what the US has over there (until the Rats in Congress force us to lose).
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds ||
07/10/2007 21:46 Comments ||
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BAGHDAD - A delegation of senior Iraqi security, defence and diplomatic officials will go to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to seek increased cooperation in dealing with terrorism, Iraqs foreign minister said. Its a very positive step. It will help the government in its fight to combat terrorism, which is of mutual interest between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, Hoshyar Zebari told reporters in Baghdad on Monday.
For example, the Saoodis could stop exporting young men to Iraq. That would be a very positive step.
Saudi Arabia, a power among the Sunni states of the Middle East, has been suspicious of the Shia-led government in Baghdad, fearing it is under the influence of its Shia regional rival Iran. Some leading Saudi clerics have criticised the Iraqi government for failing to protect the Sunni minority there, and there have been unproven reports of Saudi money financing militant groups.
Zebari insisted, however, the the countries could find enough common ground to build a security relationship designed to protect both from extremists. No doubt they will talk about all the security issues in both countries, he said. I think they are affected by terrorism juts as we are.
On the anti-Iraqi statements of the clerics, he said: These calls are not issued by the official government, we dont blame them for that.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Iraqs foreign minister warned on Monday that a quick American military withdrawal from the country could lead to civil war and the collapse of the government, as pressure on the Bush administration for a pull-out grows.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Iraqis understand the huge pressure that will increase more and more in the United States ahead of the progress report by the US ambassador and top commander in Iraq. We have held discussion with members of Congress and explained to them the dangers of a quick pull out from Iraq and leaving a security vacuum, Zebari said. The dangers could be a civil war, dividing the country, regional wars and the collapse of the state.
In our estimations, until Iraqi forces are ready, there is a responsibility on the United States to stand with the government as the forces are being built, he said.
You could help us out by getting some the political stuff done -- the oil revenue sharing agreement, the reapproachment with Sunni tribal chiefs, etc. Give Bush some political cover here and it will be easier to keep the troops in place.
Zebari also alleged that the Turkish army has 140,000 soldiers along its border with northern Iraq as part of a great mobilisation.
Turkeys armed forces have urged its government to allow an incursion into neighbouring, mainly Kurdish, northern Iraq to crush Turkish Kurdish militants who use the region as a base to attack security and civilian targets inside Turkey. While Turkey has not said how many troops had been sent to the border, it had been believed to be in the tens of thousands.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2007 00:00 ||
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#3
SHHHH, Mr. Foreign Minister. You're not supposed to state the obvious! You're ruining my attempt at absolute power! D@mn you, d@man you and that confounded Cindy Sheehan to Berkley!
Posted by: San Fran Nan (D-Looneyville) ||
07/10/2007 9:31 Comments ||
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#4
140,000 Turkish soldiers aren't going to come into Iraq and gum up what we are trying to do. There are maybe only 4000-5000 armed PKK members.
Civil war will ensure if we pull out? Maybe, maybe not.
Zebari is trying to create a threat for propaganda value? Smoke screen.
Conclusion: The existing Iraq government doesn't want us to pull out.
Seriously though, I am extremely disappointed and singularly unimpressed by this Administration's handling of this war/battle/whatever you want to call it. Seems like only the generals and commanders on the ground have any idea about how to fight it. The soldiers are doing a great job and could do better if the idiots in Washington would just get the hell outta' the way and stop trying to micromanage this crap.
If I were an Iraqi government official I'd be scared to death about what's going to happen when our troops are pulled out (and it ain't that far off IMO). There's an old American saying that they should take to heart that goes something like,
"If we do not all hang together we shall most assuredly all be hanged separately."
The Iraqi's have got to sh&t or get off the pot - as a people and as a government. There's only so far the conservatives in this country are willing to go to help them out. They have to show some signs of progress, of pushing forward to lift their country out of the hole that it's in along with our forces.
This isn't like the post-WW2 reconstruction of Europe and Japan. Those days are over.
#6
Our military is doing a wonderful job in perhaps the most complex mission in history. They are engaged in warfare, nation-building, training, infra-structure building, and diplomacy with an overlay of very tough ROEs that are aimed at limiting collateral damage and civilian deaths. Kudos to the greatest military on earth. Thank God they are professional and well-motivated.
At the same time we have a Democratic Congress that is leftish and has declared that we have lost. We have a House Speaker cozying up to a terror-supporting Syrian nation and giving comffort to our enemies. They seem to care little for our nation or our troops--only political advantage over the opposition party. They are aided and abetted by a liberal fourth estate that is dedicated to shaping world events rather than reporting the news honestly and accurately. The MSM is hoping for the kind of influence they had a shaping events as they did during the Viet war. They are arrogant, self-important elitists.
I am not telling Rantburgers anything they don't know. I am just disgusted with the dhimmi party and the liberal press. The trunks aren't much better. The trunks have squandered their political capital with abandon and missed opportunities. They have done a poor job of communicating the need for the mideast war and what happens if we don't address it. They lack spine when it comes to the issues of the day.
Things have got to change. One day we will end up with a war that we can't fight because we won't have sufficient military to show up. Constant abuse by Washington and the MSM is an incentive killer. When the military has been destroyed, we will be defenseless. Is this what the liberals want? It will affect them as well as everyone else. Do they really want Western women wearing burqas and the West enslaved? Freedom is not free. Freedom does not come easy.
First the left/MSM complained when Bush didn't accept the opinion of Gen. Shinseki and add several hundred thousand troops to Iraq. Later, they complained bitterly and threatened to terminate the war when he added a measly 30,00 troops to support a more aggressive strategy. The point being that whatever George Bush wants to do is wrong.
Yes, the left wants us to look like the EU, which, as we know, can no longer show up for a fight even if it wanted to do so. That is how they assure that their anti-war policies will be implemented, even to the point where self-defense is no longer possible.
A newly formed influential Sunni Muslim insurgent coalition on Monday denounced a truck bombing that blasted a Shiite town north of Baghdad on Saturday killing more than 100 people, according to an Internet posting. "Such acts are in contrast with God's Book (the Koran) and the example of the Prophet (Muhammad) ... and without any rational or logical base," the Jihad and Reform Front said in an unusual critical statement posted on an Islamic Web forum usually used by Iraqi insurgents.
In Saturday's attack - among the deadliest this year in Iraq - the truck detonation ripped through a market in the farming Turkoman Shi'ite town of Armili as crowds had gathered for morning shopping. The attack killed more than 160 people, according to the latest toll from police and officials. Though no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, it reinforced suspicions that al-Qaida extremists were moving north to less protected regions beyond the US security crackdown in Baghdad and on the capital's northern doorstep.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
"Such acts are in contrast with God's Book (the Koran) and the example of the Prophet (Muhammad) ... and without any rational or logical base, unless we think of them first"
SDEROT, Israel - Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi on Monday played down the prospects of deploying an international peacekeeping force in the Gaza Strip, saying conditions were not suitable. Prodis comments during a visit to the southern Israeli town of Sderot came after his foreign minister, Massimo DAlema, had suggested Italy was prepared to consider sending troops to the coastal strip if requested by the Palestinian government.
While in Lebanon we sent international troops because there was a common request from the parties, here (in Gaza) certainly, for now there are not the conditions to do the same thing, Prodi told reporters near the Gaza border with Israel.
"No, no, certainly not!"
Prodi toured Sderot, a town that is frequently hit by makeshift rockets fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza, with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Give us a ring when the cafes open again and we'll talk. Ciao!
Releasing Palestinian prisoners who are anyway scheduled to be released soon would be an "insult to the Palestinians," Prime Minster Ehud Olmert said at a Kadima faction meeting Monday afternoon. However, Olmert said that freeing 250 prisoners with longer jail sentences would contribute to securing the release of the captured IDF soldiers.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
#4
It his job NOW, to give SOMETHING to Abbas. He is explaining why he couldnt JUST release short term prisoners in fulfillment of his promise to releaste 250. Note well, the Fayed govt has arrested quite a number of Hamasniks.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said Monday night that Fatah would not renew contact with Hamas, citing the group's move to allow al-Qaida to become established in the Gaza Strip. Abbas was scheduled to meet Tuesday with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
'Come to Jerusalem to talk' was the message of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Syrian President Bashar Assad, in an historic interview to Saudi satellite station Al Arabiya, aired by Channel 10 Monday evening.
In his first appearance on a major Arabic news station in over six years, Olmert, speaking in an office adorned with the blue and white Israeli flag, told his Hebrew-speaking interviewer: "Bashar Assad, you know You know I am ready to hold direct negotiations with you and you also know that it's you who insists on speaking to the Americans. The American president says: 'I don't want to stand between Bashar Assad and Ehud Olmert. If you want to talk, sit down and talk."
Assad has "heard many things from me already," Olmert added. When asked where he would hold such talks with Assad, Olmert said "any place he [Assad] would agree to meet," hinting that Assad would even be welcome in Jerusalem.
Channel 10 analyst Zvi Yehezkeli remarked that Al Arabiya's broadcasts are transmitted following approval from the Saudi government. He added the network was planning to follow up on Olmert's interview with interviews with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas Damascus-based leader Khaled Mashaal and eventually, Assad himself.
Several weeks ago, during Olmert's visit to the US, American President George W. Bush, in Olmert's presence, was asked if he would mediate between Israel and Syria in an attempt to warm the truce the two countries observe since 1973 into a full-blooded peace treaty. Bush's response was that Olmert "is plenty capable" of achieving such a goal without US help. The Syria Accountability Act, isolating Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism, was passed during Bush's tenure. Despite visits to Damascus by house speaker Nancy Pelosi and other congressmen earlier this year, Bush keeps contacts with Syria cool. However, the US still keeps an embassy in Damascus.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
In case you ever wondered why Ahmadinejad is a paranoid nutcase...
According to IRNA, the official Islamic Republic news agency, the national Police chief has implicitly verified the news about the confiscation of a number of squirrels, equipped with eavesdropping devices, on the Iranian borders. He has declined to give any more details, but, reportedly, when asked about the confiscation of 14 spy squirrels, he stated, I have heard about it, but I do not have precise information. IRNA adds, These squirrels were equipped by foreign intelligence services, but were captured two weeks ago by the Police. Give it up, Infidel Squirrel! Ya haven't got a chance, me boyo!
Come and get us, Muzzie copper! Bullwinkle cover the back!!
The Iranian blogger Gameeron reports that he has heard on a state-run radio station that a cleric has been talking about the twelfth Imam, who is supposed to rise and make earth all Godly. He has reportedly mentioned, It is not like Imam will use his sword to defeat the enemies. Have you not heard about the occasional news about the UFOs which are spotted in the sky? We know nothing about the passengers of those objects. Maybe, Imam will use UFOs to attack his enemies. Because, when the time comes, he will call you guys and will tell you, You! Go and become the governor of London, You! Go and become the governor of Shicago. You! Go and become the governor of Berlin. You have to be ready for the time, when he calls on you to become the governor of Paris. Maybe the UFO has a big vacumn cleaner on it to suck the 12th Imam out of the well...
Posted by: tu3031 ||
07/10/2007 10:45 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#5
Iranian blogger Gameeron; is the prototypical mouthpiece for delusion, get a clue would ya? before you can become govenor or mayor or even sanitation manager, you need skills , take a look around you Gameeron, you country is a disaster of bad policy, bad economics, and worse, you let oligarchs & kleptocrats have a full reign. Your as transparent as plastic wrap.And yes, the rest of the world can see through Plastic wrap.
Whatever drug your taking get some help, the rest of us are not interested in being administerd by boobs claiming divine rights....get this and you might be on the way to getting well yourself.
#7
If I had a mischievous inclination, I'd be over there crazy-gluing 18 cent integrated circuits to squirrels, pigeons and any other critter that came in reach. Sure, it may say 741 op amp on the package and might not appear connected to anything, but you know how tricky the Great Satan's minions are!
#9
Everybody know the best spy hidey holes are in them turbans, especially the black ones. The only way to counter it is to shoot the base of the turbans. But this only works while the turbans are on the hosts.
You! Go and become the governor of London, You! Go and drive a taxi in Shicago. You! Go and become the gas station attendent.
Posted by: ed ||
07/10/2007 18:42 Comments ||
Top||
Rome and Jerusalem are speaking in sync when it comes to opposing Iran acquiring a nuclear capability. This was the message that emerged from the joint news conference given by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his visiting Italian counterpart Romano Prodi after the two held talks at the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem on Monday. "Iran cannot and should not have a military nuclear capability," Prodi said, adding that Iran's refusal to abide by the requests of the United Nations Security Council increased chances of stronger sanctions, which, he said, was "a path that no one wants to take."
The Italian premier, on his first visit to the region since taking office in May 2006, noted that Iran has been a major trading partner for Italy since the days of the Shah, but promised that Rome would fully abide by any new sanctions. Olmert reiterated Jerusalem's position that a country which threatened to destroy the state of Israel could not be allowed to manufacture a nuclear weapon.
The Italian premier also met with opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud), who urged stepped-up sanctions against Iran. Asked about a report in the Italian La Stampa newspaper claiming that the Italian secret services came close to bringing about the release of kidnapped IDF reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, Prodi said he could not confirm the story because he did not know the facts.
According to the La Stampa report, "a wrong move" by the Italian government thwarted the release. Prodi said that Italy "has applied pressure in the matter and asked for information on their whereabouts, but has never had specific data that could have triggered their release." He promised that Rome would continue to work towards the release of the two soldiers.
On Tuesday morning, before he travels to Ramallah for talks with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and PA Prime Minister Salaam Fayad, Prodi will meet with Goldwasser's wife, Karnit.
Olmert and Prodi also discussed ways of strengthening the new Palestinian government and agreed that despite the Hamas takeover of Gaza, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank remained a single Palestinian entity. The Italian prime minister also called on Hamas to release Gilad Schalit without further delay, saying "he has been in captivity for too long."
After his talks with Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni escorted Prodi on a visit to Sderot. "It is hard to imaging the daily suffering of residents here. It is an impossible way to live," said Prodi, referring to hundreds of Kassam rockets that have rained down on the western Negev town. Indeed, during Prodi's visit, a Kassam rocket fired from Gaza landed near a western Negev neighborhood. No one was wounded and no damage was reported.
Prodi visited a Sderot synagogue that had suffered a direct hit from a Kassam rocket and met the town's mayor, Eli Moyal. Earlier in the day, he met with Defense Minister Ehud Barak who thanked him for Italy's role in the UNIFIL peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon. Italian troops make up the largest element in the international force.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
Widespread media reports of Syria warning its nationals to flee Lebanon ahead of a major outbreak of violence and civil war there are "unfounded," contended Lebanon's Druze Leader Walid Jumblatt in an interview today.
Jumblatt insisted instead of evacuating its citizens, Syria has been sending "thousands of so-called workers and tourists per day," possibly ahead of an attempt to destabilize the country. "There is no evacuation of Syrian workers. Instead, thousands are coming a day, including so-called tourists. I am worried, because our working sector is paralyzed, our economy is down, we have no tourism and yet you have this strange influx of many Syrians and also many Iraqis into Lebanon," said Jumblatt."
"I am not dismissing that Syria will start major trouble for us to delay the tribunal," said Jumblatt, referring to a special tribunal set up by the U.N. Security Council to try any indicted suspects in the assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister Rafiq Hariri in a car bombing in 2005.
Jumblatt is head of the Progressive Socialist Party and is widely considered one of Lebanon's most prominent anti-Syrian politicians.
His concern for a civil war in Lebanon comes after weeks of intermittent fighting that continued yesterday with the purportedly al-Qaida-connected group Fatah al-Islam in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian camp, near the northern town of Tripoli. The clashes, which resulted in mass casualties, were described as the worst internal fighting since the Lebanese civil war, 17 yeas ago.
Jumblatt said Fatah al-Islam is aided by Syria. "Fatah al Islam has a well known Syrian affiliation. Their camp not far from the Syrian border. While Lebanon was under Syrian control, the Syrians were able to present Fatah al Islam with a military infrastructure. Currently, I have no doubt of weapons smuggling from Syria (to the camp)," he said.
Jumblatt's comments follow Arab and Iranian media reports Syria has warned its citizens to leave Lebanon by July 15 ahead of an expected "eruption" in Lebanon. The media reports were translated and made available by the Middle East Media Research Institute Arabic news translation organization in a special dispatch Sunday. "In the past few days, Arab and Iranian media reports have pointed to the possibility that Lebanon's current political crisis may become a violent conflict after July 15, 2007," the MEMRI dispatch said.
July 15 comes one day before the special U.N. meeting to discuss stationing international monitors on the Syria-Lebanon border.
MEMRI said in its report: "On July 5, 2007, the Iranian news agency IRNA reported that Syrian authorities had instructed all Syrian citizens residing in Lebanon to return to their country by July 15, 2007. The next day, the Israeli Arab daily Al-Sinara similarly reported, on the authority of a Lebanese source close to Damascus, that Syria was planning to remove its citizens from Lebanon. Also on July 5, the Lebanese daily Al-Liwa reported rumors that Syrian workers were leaving Lebanon at the request of the Syrian authorities. In addition, the Syrian government daily Al-Thawra reported that Syrian universities would accept Syrian students who were leaving Lebanon due to the instability there."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Fatah al-Islam
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.
The head of Interpol said Monday that Britains anti-terrorist efforts are in the wrong century, pointing out that authorities in London had not shared any information from the investigation of three failed car bomb attacks and had not made good use of a passport database. 
A German prosecutor's request for the arrest of 10 US men suspected of forming a CIA rendition team has split the German government, the news magazine Der Spiegel reported. A parliamentary inquiry in Berlin has heard Lebanese-born German national, 
The Lal Masjid standoff is a calculated attempt by the government to divert public attention from other issues and to achieve political advantages, said participants of a seminar on Lal Masjid Episode: Lessons and Repercussions.
BAGHDAD - A delegation of senior Iraqi security, defence and diplomatic officials will go to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to seek increased cooperation in dealing with terrorism, Iraqs foreign minister said. Its a very positive step. It will help the government in its fight to combat terrorism, which is of mutual interest between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, Hoshyar Zebari told reporters in Baghdad on Monday.
Rome and Jerusalem are speaking in sync when it comes to opposing Iran acquiring a nuclear capability. This was the message that emerged from the joint news conference given by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his visiting Italian counterpart Romano Prodi after the two held talks at the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem on Monday. "Iran cannot and should not have a military nuclear capability," Prodi said, adding that Iran's refusal to abide by the requests of the United Nations Security Council increased chances of stronger sanctions, which, he said, was "a path that no one wants to take." 
