Afghanistan's last king, Mohammed Zahir Shah, died in Kabul on Monday aged 92, mourned by the war-torn country where he had spent his final years after returning from three decades of exile. President Hamid Karzai declared three days of mourning for the "Father of the Nation," whose 40-year rule until 1973 is remembered as a time of peace and stability in the Central Asian country before its descent into chaos.
Afghan flags flew at half mast and state-run and private television channels alike replaced scheduled programmmes with recitations of the Koran and sombre religious chanting.
Zahir Shah ended Afghanistan's centuries-old monarchy when he abdicated while on holiday in Italy in 1973, after hearing his former premier Mohammad Daud, who was also his cousin, had staged a coup. He stayed in exile during the 1979-89 Soviet occupation and ensuing civil war but returned home months after the 2001 collapse of the ultra-Islamist Taliban regime brought by the US-led invasion after the 9/11 attacks.
Karzai announced the king's death in the presidential palace, saying: "I want to inform all my compatriots that his majesty, the Father of the Nation, Mohammed Zahir Shah, passed away today at 5:45 am." The former king died in his Kabul residence after a long illness, he said.
"We announce three days of national mourning over the death of the father of the nation, and the Afghan flag will be at half mast for three days," Karzai added. "Prayer ceremonies will be held across the country, in the capital, in the provinces, by Afghan refugees overseas and in Afghan embassies."
Prayers for the late king will be held on Wednesday, and the funeral will take place the following day to allow time for foreign guests, including prime ministers and foreign ministers, to attend, a government official told AFP.
Zahir Shah was awarded the title "Father of the Nation" at a constitutional assembly after his return home from exile. Despite pressure from tribal leaders and fellow Pashtuns, Zahir Shah repeatedly said he had no desire to again lead his country.
He was in poor health for the last years of his life.
His wife Homaira, whom he married in 1931, died as preparations were under way for her to return to Afghanistan to join her husband in 2002. The couple had five sons and two daughters.
Born on October 15, 1914, Zahir Shah took the throne at age 19 after being at the side of his father, king Nadir Shah, when he was shot dead in 1933 by a teenager at a school awards ceremony on the lawns of a Kabul palace.
Under his reign, a 1964 constitution turned Afghanistan into a modern democracy with free elections, a parliament and civil rights. However there were underlying problems, as the king was considered weak, there was widespread nepotism and a faltering economy. The tensions boiled over into the 1973 coup.
From Europe, Zahir Shah watched his country unravel, wracked by the Soviet occupation, an ensuing civil war and the hardline rule of the Taliban.
The Taliban paid tribute to the king's earlier years but said that he was used by the United States to serve its own interests after his return -- a five-year period that has seen the militants intensify a bloody insurgency. "The father of the nation was a known figure in the history of Afghanistan and enjoyed a lot of credibility," Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP in a telephone call from an unknown location. "Unfortunately, recently the Americans used him for their interests -- from his return to Afghanistan until the day he died, he served US interests and became a stooge in recent years," Ahmadi said.
BERLIN (AP) - Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday defended Germany's troop deployment in Afghanistan, even as a kidnapped German was found dead there and government officials warned the country is facing a higher risk of terrorist attacks.
Some 3,000 German soldiers are serving in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. Merkel's government is committed to keeping them there under a series of mandates passed by parliament. But those mandates are up for renewal later this year, and opposition politicians have called on the government to withdraw the troops.
Thus demonstrating the hollow lie of the left that they'd be committed to fighting terrorism if only it were done in a 'smarter' way.
Merkel stressed Germany's commitment to the NATO mission in Afghanistan, especially its efforts to rebuild civilian infrastructure. She said Germany would not respond to Taliban militants' demands that it withdraw its troops, which are situated in Afghanistan's relatively peaceful north. ``We will do everything responsibly, and we will not be blackmailed,'' the chancellor said on ARD public television.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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Top Pentagon officials are considering whether they should halt the drawdown of US troops stationed in Europe, a plan that may be outdated because of the war in Iraq and other world developments.
A Defense Department official said Monday some defense leaders are studying whether the 2002 plan to cut troops on the continent by nearly half still makes sense today with America's two ongoing wars, worsening relations with Russia and Iran and a recent plan to grow the Army.
I wonder if this would also include U.S. citizens with dual citizenship.
Highly sensitive information about the religious beliefs, political opinions and even the sex life of Britons travelling to the United States is to be made available to US authorities when the European Commission agrees to a new system of checking passengers.
The EC is in the final stages of agreeing a new Passenger Name Record system with the US which will allow American officials to access detailed biographical information about passengers entering international airports. The information sharing system with the US Department of Homeland Security, which updates the previous three-year-old system, is designed to tackle terrorism but civil liberty groups warn it will have serious consequences for European passengers. And it has emerged that both the European parliament and the European data protection supervisor are alarmed at the plan.
In a strongly worded document ...
ohhhhh, a strongly worded document!
... drawn up in response to the plan that will affect the 4 million-plus Britons who travel to the US every year, the EU parliament said it 'notes with concern that sensitive data (ie personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, and data concerning the health or sex life of individuals) will be made available to the DHS and that these data may be used by the DHS in 'exceptional cases'.
For example, if the passenger in question consorts with terrorists. We're funny about that sort of thing.
Under the new agreement, which goes live at the end of this month, the US will be able to hold the records of European passengers for 15 years compared with the current three year limit. The EU parliament said it was concerned the data would lead to 'a significant risk of massive profiling and data mining, which is incompatible with basic European principles and is a practice still under discussion in the US congress.'
Peter Hustinx, the European Data Protection Supervisor, has written to the EC expressing his 'grave concern' at the plan, which he describes as 'without legal precedent' and one that puts 'European data protection rights at risk'. Hustinx warns: 'Data on EU citizens will be readily accessible to a broad range of US agencies and there is no limitation to what US authorities are allowed to do with the data.'
He expresses concern about 'the absence of a robust legal mechanism that enables EU citizens to challenge misuse of their personal information'. Hustinx concludes: 'I have serious doubts whether the outcome of these negotiations will be fully compatible with European fundamental rights, which both the Council and the Commission have stated are non negotiable.'
The new agreement will see US authorities gain access to detailed passenger information, from credit card details to home addresses and even what sort of food may have been ordered before a flight. In addition, US authorities will be free to add other information they have obtained about a passenger, leading to concerns about how the information will be shared.
It has emerged that neither Hustinx nor the European parliament were aware of the final draft of the plan.
'If you are going to have this kind of agreement it should involve parliament and the data protection supervisor,' said Tony Bunyan of Statewatch, the civil liberties organisation that campaigns against excessive surveillance. He warned that under the new system the data will be shared with numerous US agencies. 'The data protection supervisor and the European parliament are angry that they were not consulted,' Bunyan said. 'But they are also angry with a number of elements of the plan such as giving the US the absolute right to pass the data on to third parties.'
Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, another group that campaigns against state surveillance, said the new agreement gave huge powers to the US authorities. 'We have no guarantee about how this data will be used,' Davies said.
A spokeswoman for the Information Commissioner's Office in England and Wales said it would be discussing the matter with European counterparts shortly. 'We are working with the European Data Protection Supervisor and our other EU data protection colleagues to come to a joint opinion on the level of data protection set out in the final agreement,' the spokeswoman said.
#1
the EU parliament said it 'notes with concern that sensitive data (ie personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, and data concerning the health or sex life of individuals) will be made available to the DHS and that these data may be used by the DHS in 'exceptional cases'.
Ummmmmmm...and who has this sensitive data to give up in the first place?
#5
Went to Canada (Blaine WA truck crossing) this past weekend and another US citizen joined our little group; while Mrs. RET and I were waved through, Bill was pulled over for a 'short-arm' insp: they had a complete printout of his entire police record and asked him extensively about every item on it. (his word, not mine) he said that had never happened before.
Posted by: Welcome to the 21st Century ||
07/23/2007 21:04 Comments ||
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#8
Hopefully, this incovenience will scare off all the right people.
Send us your tired and downtrodden. The whiners and tranzies can stay at home. It goes without saying that you can keep your shoe bombers, Hamas fundraisers and Lebanese traditional band members that want to queu up for the port-o-let in some kind of bizarre dry run.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/23/2007 23:14 Comments ||
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Concerned about reports of German Islamists being trained in terrorist camps in Pakistan and an increased danger level, security officials and politicians are pushing to expand the catalogue of anti-terrorism measures.
Security officials voiced concern over the weekend about a growing terrorism threat after a newspaper reported that German Islamists, who had been trained in camps in Pakistan, had returned to Germany in June.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung said the German interior ministry knew about 14 Islamists from Germany who had been in Pakistan or were still there. It added that authorities were calculating that more individuals from Germany would be trained in al Qaeda-run terrorist camps.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: mrp ||
07/23/2007 08:52 ||
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IS TURKEY ISLAMIFYING? Not so much, according to InstaPundit's Istanbul correspondent, Claire Berlinski, who writes:
Hi Glenn,
Does this look like Iran to you? David took these a few hours ago at the AKP headquarters in Istanbul. Lots of women in headscarves were dancing arm-in-arm with women who looked like this, lots of women were dancing arm-in-arm with men, and lots of people -- of all ages and both sexes and in various degrees of undress -- were dancing, period, which is hardly an activity commonly associated with Islamist tyranny. I felt completely welcome and comfortable even though I was wearing the shortest skirt in my wardrobe. I don't at all dismiss concerns about the AKP, and I think my credentials as someone who takes the rise of Islamic extremism seriously are well-established, but what I saw tonight was utterly benign. Here's a short video. It won't win any cinematography awards (I took it with my digital camera and the light wasn't good) but you can definitely see that this looks nothing like Iran. Again: This is the AKP headquarters.
The images do look pretty non-Iran-like to me.
Photos at the link.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/23/2007 06:49 ||
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#1
There were a lot of women amongst the "students" that occupied the U.S. embassy in Iran as well. Unfortunately for them the definition of good muslim got increasingly radical.
Note that the French revolution didn't start with terror and the Russian revolution wasn't initially Stalinist. They both devolved to it.
Both Hitler and Chavez were elected before becoming dictators.
I don't know where Turkey will end up, but its current direction is more Islamic. The fact that there are women dancing is nice, but Islamic societies tend more to crushing that sort of thing than promoting it.
#3
From snips from articles in Austin's Statesman on Sunday
ISTANBUL, Turkey A general election on Sunday in this mostly Muslim nation might help answer a divisive question: whether women should be allowed to wear head scarves in official settings and state institutions.
It was a tempest over a head scarf that helped trigger the elections in the first place. Secularists reacted with outrage when the Islamic-oriented ruling party proposed a presidential candidate whose wife covered her head.
The opposition boycotted the presidential vote in Parliament and secularists held massive rallies in several cities to protest the nomination of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.
A key element of the opposition's position was that it would be a disgrace for a headscarf-clad first lady to live in the mansion once occupied by Turkey's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who established the modern secular state from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire. The government was eventually forced to withdraw Gul's candidacy and called the July elections.
The ban imposed on Islamic-style headscarf is a long running problem that has increasingly dominated the agenda here, in parallel to the rise of the country's political Islamic movement.
Ataturk carved the Republic of Turkey from the tatters of the Ottoman Empire after World War I. He declared religion to be a backward force that contributed to the Turks' defeat in the war and he changed the country's identity from Islamic to secular. Turkish law bans students, teachers, judges and state employees from wearing head scarves to work or class or exhibiting religious symbols in public buildings.
That legacy has fostered a Turkish sense of nationalism divorced from Islam, with Turkey's military seeing itself as defender of the secular order. The military has staged four coups in the past 40 years, suppressed political dissidents and, in 1982, imposed a new constitution on the country.
Push for women's rights
In Izmir, Hotar Goksel, a self-described secular Turk who favors linen pantsuits and diamond earrings, and wears her light-brown hair straight down her back, heads the AKP's list of candidates. She spent 20 years teaching social policy at Izmir's leading university before accepting Erdogan's offer to join his team. Elected to parliament in 2002, she is a member of the party's executive committee, which meets weekly with Erdogan to shape legislative policy.
Erdogan's government has become known for furthering women's rights more than any other after Ataturk pushed for a woman's right to vote in 1925. Husbands are no longer officially heads of households, and wives do not need their consent to work. Laws that used to dismiss rape charges if the man married his victim have been rewritten.
Goksel says supporting religion is not anti-Turkish. If re-elected today, she plans to push for an end to the head scarf ban in universities. Such a move, she said, will increase the number of women seeking higher education, especially from rural areas.
#4
When the Shah was toppled, one of the chief complaints the Islamicists had against him was that he was educating girls -- and in co-ed schools, to boot.
#5
Sorry, clicked on that prematurely. What I meant to say is that the hijab was a symbol of traditions which many villagers in Iran felt were under seige by the Shah's government.
I suspect some of that is at play in Turkey as well, with the austere secularism of Kemal rubbing some who are otherwise not Islamicist.
With more than half the votes counted, two secularist parties crossed the 10 percent threshold to enter parliament -- the leftist CHP on around 18 percent and the ultra-nationalist MHP on 16. Polls closed an hour earlier in eastern Turkey where the Republican Peoples Party (CHP) and far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) are relatively weak, so the early figures might not be entirely representative of the final results.
If both the CHP and MHP clear the 10 percent hurdle the AK Party might end up with fewer seats than in the outgoing assembly, despite winning a much bigger share of the vote than in 2002, when the MHP failed to get into parliament. The respected Konda polling agency said the partial results would give the AK Party 334 seats -- down from 352 before -- the CHP would gain 94 and the MHP 88 seats.
Electoral commission officials estimated turnout at around 80 percent in the large Muslim country of 74 million people.
#4
If we go into Pakistan, the last thing we're going to do is announce it. Second is that Perv, if not the ISI, would be more than happy to be "rid of his turbulent priests"; though things would be nicer if his army could take credit for it.
But third, the reaction from taking down the Red Mosque was important, in that even a year or two ago, Pak would have been in full civil war by now. So hopefully this will give Perv more confidence to start seriously screwing with his enemies.
#10
Yeah, who sez it wuz us? Coulda been Allah tossing down some big ass laser guided lighting bolt or something. Maybe they wasn't Muslim enough?
You know how he is.
Inshallah...
#13
US troops in Pakistan is a VERY bad idea. Far better to nuke the major cities, ARCLIGHT the smaller cities, napalm the villages, and drop cluster munitions on all the roads and trails except those needed by US and Afghan troops for supply runs. Let nature take its course after that. Whoever is left will become smart enough to not pull the tiger's tail, or they'll get eaten.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/23/2007 19:24 Comments ||
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By Ben Feller, The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The U.S. would consider military force if necessary to stem al-Qaida's growing ability to use its hideout in Pakistan to launch terrorist attacks, a White House aide said Sunday. The Senate's top Democrat endorsed that approach.
The president's homeland security adviser, Fran Townsend, said the U.S. was committed first and foremost to working with Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, in his efforts to control militants in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region. But she indicated the U.S. was ready to take additional measures.
"Just because we don't speak about things publicly doesn't mean we're not doing things you talk about," Townsend said, when asked in a broadcast interview why the U.S. does not conduct special operations and other measures to cripple al-Qaida.
"Job No. 1 is to protect the American people. There are no options off the table," she said. Townsend also said, "No question that we will use any instrument at our disposal" to deal with al-Qaida and its leader, Osama bin Laden.
Responding to earlier comments by Townsend, Pakistan's foreign minister, Khurshid Kasuri, said Sunday that the country's military was in the best position to attack al-Qaida, if the U.S. provided intelligence.
The national intelligence director, Mike McConnell, said he believed that bin Laden was living in the tribal, border region of Pakistan. Bin Laden is the leader of the al-Qaida network and mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
McConnell said Musharraf's attempt at a political solution to peace in the region had backfired by giving al-Qaida a place and time to regroup.
"Al-Qaida has been able to regain some of its momentum," McConnell said. "The leadership's intact. They have operational planners, and they have safe haven. The thing they're missing are operatives inside the United States."
In the volatile northwest tribal region of Pakistan, Islamic militants detonated bombs close to military convoys and attacked government positions on Sunday, leading to gunfights that left 19 insurgents dead, government officials said. The fighting was the latest since militants announced the termination of a peace agreement with the government last week following a deadly military raid on a radical mosque in the Pakistani capital.
In the National Intelligence Estimate released last week, analysts stressed the importance of al-Qaida's increasingly comfortable hideout in Pakistan that has resulted from a hands-off accord between Musharraf and tribal leaders along the Afghan border.
That 10-month-old deal, which has unraveled in recent days, gave al-Qaida new opportunities to set up compounds for terror training, improve its international communications with associates and bolster its operations.
Since then, U.S. officials have said they expect Pakistan to launch more military strikes on Islamic militants while the Bush administration pumps hundreds of millions of dollars in development aid into lawless tribal regions to fight extremism.
On Sunday, Townsend reiterated the importance of Musharraf's efforts.
"We should also be clear that we believe Pakistan has been a very good ally in the war on terrorism," she said. "Musharraf has been the subject of numerous assassination attempts. Al-Qaida's trying to kill him. They get what the problem is. And we're working with them to deny al-Qaida and the Taliban the safe haven."
McConnell also sought to bolster the leader of Pakistan, a key U.S. partner in its fight against terrorism. "President Musharraf is one of our strongest allies," McConnell said.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he agreed with Townsend that the U.S. should consider going after al-Qaida militarily "wherever they are."
"We have the NIE report, which just came out, that says al-Qaida during this administration is stronger than ever. I don't think we should take anything off the table. Wherever we find these evil people we should go get them," Reid said.
But Kasuri said Pakistan was ready to act on any intelligence from the U.S. "Let the United States provide us with actionable intelligence and you will find that Pakistan will never be lacking," he said. "Pakistan's army can do the job much better and the result will be that there will be far less collateral damage."
#1
In the National Intelligence Estimate released last week, analysts stressed the importance of al-Qaida's increasingly comfortable hideout in Pakistan that has resulted from a hands-off accord between Musharraf and tribal leaders along the Afghan border.
They figured that out, did they? I wonder how many millions of taxpayer dollars it took.
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan on Sunday denied a US claim that Osama bin Laden is in the countrys tribal areas, saying that if Washington knows the Al Qaeda leaders whereabouts then it should inform Islamabad.
US intelligence chief Mike McConnell told American television on Sunday that he believed bin Laden is alive and sheltering in lawless parts of Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan. Our stance is that Osama bin Laden is not present in Pakistan, the countrys Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao told AFP. If anyone has the information he should give it to us, so that we can warn apprehend him.
McConnell also blamed the government of President Pervez Musharraf for allowing Al Qaeda to regroup through a controversial peace pact last year in the troubled border region. My personal view is that hes alive, the director of national intelligence said on NBC television when asked about bin Laden. I believe he is in the tribal region of Pakistan.
A new report by the US intelligence community last week said that Al Qaeda had regrouped in its Pakistani safe haven and was determined to inflict mass casualties through new attacks on the United States. McConnell said that had been made possible by a September peace accord between the Pakistani government and pro-Taleban tribal leaders in the ill-governed region bordering Afghanistan. A week ago, the tribal militants seethed tore up the pact, stoking tensions as deadly violence erupted across Pakistan after the military crushed a pro-Taleban uprising at the Red Mosque in Islamabad.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Pakistan denies Osama bin Laden on its soil
How about IN your soil?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/23/2007 6:14 Comments ||
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#2
"Pakistan denies Osama bin Laden on its soil" Can't prove a negative except by a counter-example.
#3
"Pakistan on Sunday denied a US claim that Osama bin Laden is in the countrys tribal areas, saying that if Washington knows the Al Qaeda leaders whereabouts then it should inform Islamabad."
If only to tell Binny to relocate before the bombs fall
Suicide attacks are un-Islamic and unlawful, declared a jirga held by ulema in Swat on Sunday, reported Aaj News.
The jirga announced that suicide attacks on police and army personnel were un-Islamic, the channel reported. The ulema demanded the army retreat from Swat and decided they would use mosques in the area to spread the message of peace. For this purpose, the jirga constituted a peace committee consisting of clerics and peoples representatives, the channel reported. Addressing the jirga, the ulema said the situation in Swat had worsened after the armys arrival in the area, adding that military operations in Swat would not be tolerated.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Swat ulema declare suicide attacks un-Islamic
How cute. Now that Islam's own tit is in the wringer suddenly those bomb vests aren't quite so glorious after all. Maybe they should put out a death fatwa on Yusuf Qaradawi for pronouncing official sanctions upon martyrdom operations. Suck it up you psychotic cretins. The fun is just beginning.
Taliban militants in North Waziristan have demanded the government abolish security check-posts before further talks for the revival of a peace deal with the government. A jirga trying to revive the peace deal in its report to local political officials said the condition had been put forth in talks between the local Taliban and Usmanzai tribesmen, a private TV channel reported on Sunday. Jirga sources said that the governments reply was now awaited. They said the report had been submitted to Political Agent Aurangzeb Khan, and would soon be forwarded to NWFP Governor Ali Jan Orakzai. Earlier on the first day of two-day talks, members of the Grand Jirga formed various committees which held talks with Taliban, Atmanzai elders and ulema in Dattakhel and Razmik in the vicinity of Miranshah.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Y'mean... THE "Political Agent Aurangzeb Khan"?
Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri said in a CNN interview on Sunday that Pakistan is on the frontline in the war on terrorism and is capable of doing an effective job in the restive tribal areas where some US officials, backed by the US media, have been recommending direct and unilateral US military action.
He told Wolf Blitzer from Lahore that Pakistan has one of the worlds largest and most experienced armies, which is best equipped to deal with the situation. He expressed Pakistans resentment at being constantly targeted in the American media for not doing enough. He recounted the heavy casualties that Pakistans security forces have suffered, and complained that these sacrifices have been downplayed or have gone unacknowledged in the American media. He said Pakistan resents the tone of criticism that is levelled at it from the US, despite all that it has done, and is doing, in fighting terrorism and extremism.
Kasuri said he would like to see the US media accord just one-tenth of the coverage to Pakistans sacrifices that it does to the performance of US troops in Iraq. Asked for his reaction to a senior US officials recent statement that Washington might strike areas in Pakistan in the hunt for Al Qaeda, Kasuri said if the US has hard, actionable intelligence on Al Qaeda in areas under Pakistans control, it should provide such intelligence to Pakistan, which will do whats necessary. He did not, however, reject the idea of US operations in Pakistan with or without Pakistans consent.
Agencies add: Appearing on CNNs Late Edition, Kasuri criticised talk of US forces attacking Al Qaeda on Pakistani territory, warning that any incursion would alienate opinion in the predominantly Muslim US ally against terrorism. We are committed to controlling terrorism, and people in Pakistan get very upset when despite all the sacrifices that Pakistan has been making you get all these criticisms in the press, he said.
Part of the National Intelligence Estimate made public last week found a persistent and evolving threat to the United States from Islamic militant groups, especially Al Qaeda, which is said has become entrenched in Pakistans tribal region near Afghanistan. US President George W Bush, in his taped weekly radio address on Saturday, said the reports assessment that Al Qaeda was gaining strength in the tribal region of Pakistan was one of the most troubling.
Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, a staunch critic of Bushs war in Iraq, told CBS Face the Nation that, I dont think we should take anything off the table. Wherever we find these evil people, we should go get them.
Kasuri, however, maintained that a US raid into Pakistan would be a mistake. When you talk of going after targets, you will lose the battle for hearts and minds, he said. The Pakistan Army can do the job much better, he added. The Pakistan Army said on Sunday that security forces killed six pro-Taliban militants in fighting in North Waziristan, after overnight battles left 13 rebels dead.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
He told Wolf Blitzer from Lahore that Pakistan has one of the worlds largest and most experienced armies, which is best equipped to deal with the situation.
Oh yeah? When was the last time they won a war? And weren't they getting their asses handed to them the last time they tried to fight in the tribal areas?
#2
I seem to remember the discussion about the "dreaded" Iraqi Army, especially the Revolutionary Guards. I watched with great amusement as they were ground to dust under the might of the US military. Having a huge army in the MME and peripheral areas doesn't mean anyone can FIGHT.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/23/2007 19:28 Comments ||
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#3
'Revolutionary Guards' is Iranian. 'Republican Guards' was Iraqi.
#4
If Pakistan has one of the worlds largest and most experienced armies, which is best equipped to deal with the situation, then GETTER DONE.
Don't whine about criticism. It's not like the American press has singled out Pakistan for special criticism. They criticize everybody except Castro, Kim, Mugabe and Chavez. If Kasuri wants favorable treatment from the American press, he should declare Pakistan a socialist utopia.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/23/2007 22:59 Comments ||
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Punjab Police Inspector General (IGP) Ahmed Naseem on Sunday directed the police to monitor banned militants and ensure security across the province. He asked city police officers to deploy more security personnel at public places, especially parks, railway stations, bus stands and airports in the province. The IGP also said that transporters should deploy private security guards to check all passengers for their safety.
The meeting was told that in the last six months, Punjab police had arrested 7,334 cattle lifters and recovered cattle worth millions of rupees from their possession. Meanwhile, the capital police on Sunday arrested 14 people on various charges and seized two stolen cars, five mobile phones and other valuables from their possession.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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The US will consider the use of military force, if necessary, to stem Al Qaedas growing ability to use its hideout in Pakistan to launch terrorist attacks, a White House aide said on Sunday.
US President George W Bushs homeland security advisor Frances Fragos Townsend said the US was committed, first and foremost, to working with President General Pervez Musharraf in his efforts to control militants in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region. But, she indicated the US was ready to take additional measures.
Just because we dont speak about things publicly doesnt mean were not doing things you talk about, Townsend told interviewers on Fox News Sunday and Late Edition on CNN when asked why the US does not conduct special operations and other measures to cripple Al Qaeda. Job No 1 is to protect the American people. There are no options off the table, she said.
In the National Intelligence Estimate released last week, analysts stressed the importance of Al Qaedas increasingly comfortable hideout in Pakistan that has resulted from a hands-off accord between Musharraf and tribal leaders along the Afghan border. That 10-month-old deal, which unravelled recently, gave Al Qaeda new opportunities to set up compounds for terror training, improve its international communications with associates and bolster its operations.
Since then, US officials have said they expect Pakistan to launch more military strikes on Islamic militants while the Bush administration pumps hundreds of millions of dollars in development aid into lawless tribal regions to fight extremism. We should also be clear that we believe Pakistan has been a very good ally in the war on terrorism, she said. Musharraf has been the subject of numerous assassination attempts. Al Qaeda is trying to kill him. They get what the problem is. And were working with them to deny Al Qaeda and the Taliban their safe haven.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
No havens can be allowed for AQ evil spawn to exist.
The safety of Iraq's pre-eminent Shiite cleric is in question after one of his close aides was stabbed to death in the Muslim leader's compound in the holy city of Najaf, a place beset by unsolved murders and believed to be infiltrated by insurgents.
Quagmire?
Najaf's police chief, Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim al-Mayahi, said late Sunday that authorities had arrested the alleged killera security guard at the compound of the much-revered cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. An official at the Iranian-born cleric's office said the person arrested may have only played a supporting role in the weekend killing of Sheik Abdullah Falak al-Basrawi. His death came a little over a month after another al-Sistani aide was killed in a drive-by shooting. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said al-Sistani's office will launch an independent investigation into the killing of Al-Basrawi, a confidante of al-Sistani who was in his late 30s.
According to different police accounts, al-Basrawi was slain late Friday or early Saturday at his office, which is approximately 30 to 40 yards away from where al-Sistani works and lives.
That a killer was able to reach the heart of the compound, kill al-Basrawi and escape undetected has raised serious concern among al-Sistani's aides. But the official said al-Sistani refuses to move to a safer residence. Security at al-Sistani's compound has been stepped up, with more armed guards posted at the entrance, which lies off the city's storied Rasoul street close to the gold-domed shrine of Imam Ali, Shiism's most revered saint. Routine body searches of visitors were markedly more thorough Sunday, and identity documents were examined more carefully, witnesses said.
It was immediately clear whether al-Basrawi's killing was part of internal Shiite disputes or the work of Sunni insurgents opposed to the vast influence enjoyed by al-Sistani over Iraqi Shiites and politics. The official at al-Sistani's office also said theft may have been a motive.
They stabbed the finance minister. Theft. Sure, yeah, yew betcha.
Al-Basrawi ran an office that collected a Shiite religious tax known as "khoms," which is paid to al-Sistani and used to run his seminaries and charities.
Al-Sistani, who rarely leaves his compound and doesn't grant media interviews, has been the target of at least one assassination attempt since 2003. The cleric, who is in his 70s, commands the deep respect of Iraq's majority Shiites. A death other than one of natural causes could spark riots by millions of his followers and fuel more sectarian violence.
Najaf has been relatively safe compared to the violence in Baghdad or other cities in the volatile center and north of Iraq, but a series of unsolved murders in recent months have struck clerics, academics and security officials. None of the killings had an obvious motive or could be linked to tribal, personal or religious disputes. Najaf's deputy provincial governor, Abdul-Hussein Abtan, recently announced the arrest of nine leaders of what he called terrorist groups in the city, suggesting the overwhelmingly Shiite city has been infiltrated by Sunni insurgents who have been targeting Shiite civilians with bombings.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
07/23/2007 00:49 ||
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Top|| File under: Mahdi Army
#1
I think sistani has been much oversold as the solution to anything in Iraq.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/23/2007 8:19 Comments ||
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#2
How did Mookie get to his position of power? Could this be more of the same? With Iran's backing, to get rid of the more Iraq-focussed clergy?
#3
The way I understand it, Sistani and the Najaf establishment come from the Shia school of thought that says no man may rule in the name of the Mahdi while he's 'away', a fact which results in a (more or less) separation of church and state. Khomeini and the Qom establishment reinterpreted things in a way that lets clerics take the helm until 'the man' comes back, conveniently giving them the right to control all aspects of religious/political life. So Sistani/Najaf represent an existential threat to Iran/Qom. Get rid of Sistani and Mookie's your man in Iraq (he's got the lineage, a militia with matching black shirt/pants, nice teeth to boot), *if* you can get him to tow the party line... Given the amount of time Mookie's been spending in Iran lately, I'd say he's in the bag. I'd also bet it's only a matter of time until Sistani gets whacked, courtesy of the IRGC, but blamed on Sunnis. No Sistani = unfettered access to the Iraqi Shia, big hit to alternative (anti-Iran) view of Shiism.
BAGHDAD - The Iraqi parliament is likely to pass the countrys divisive US-backed oil law only following its return from the month-long summer recess which begins August 1, a number of parliamentarians said on Sunday.
Illustrating the chaotic nature of the debate surrounding the key legislation, lawmaker Jaber Khalifa of the Fadhila Party, who hold 15 seats in the Shiite alliance of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, said: The parliamentary Oil and Gas Committee has been officially given by the cabinet two different versions of the bill.
The law is a source of division as a majority of Kurdish and Shiite lawmakers want to see regional politicians play a more important role in the exploitation of oil resources. This is however rejected by many Sunnis, who fear that they will be left empty-handed due to the lack of oil fields in their regions.
Meanwhile nationalist politicians in the countrys parliament oppose the granting of exploration and exploitation rights for decades to foreign firms. Their opponents however contend that this is the only way to secure the foreign investment necessary for the modernisation of Iraqs ramshackle oil installations.
The US government has repeatedly insisted that the law be passed in an amended form in order to appease Sunni fears and thereby perhaps calm insurgent violence.
Rising oil incomes for Iraq would necessitate less US funds being diverted to the country. US oil firms have also already expressed interest in Iraqi oil contracts. Iraq has the third largest oil reserves in the world. However, many of the existing oil fields have not been utilized since the 1970s. The current oil reserves are estimated to be equivalent to 115 billion barrels. But local experts estimate it might cost at least 30 billion dollars to renovate and revitalize the oil construction and refinery facilities.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Check's in the mail. I'll still respect you in the morning, etc.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/23/2007 8:20 Comments ||
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The health of Saddam Hussein's foreign minister, Tariq Aziz, is said to be "normal" after an incident at the jail where he is being held near Baghdad.
He was moved to a hospital in Balad for a scam scan after falling on Tuesday and sent back to prison on Thursday, the US military said.
His son Ziad said the 71-year-old ex-minister should not be in custody at all, having never been charged. Mr Aziz had been due to face questioning by a judge on Wednesday. He was being investigated over the murder of Muslim clerics following the first Gulf War in 1991.
"And now, Mr. Aziz, we wish to ask you some questions."
"Oh my stars, I feel .. faint!"
Ziad Aziz said his father had told him by telephone that he was in "intensive care" while his lawyer, Badie Arif Ezzat, said that he had fainted repeatedly on Tuesday.
Wonder if he cracked his head when he 'fainted'. Genuine faints generally do have a head-thump as part of the drill, whereas the fake 'pirouettes' generally set the noggin down easily on the hard cement.
In January last year, Mr Ezzat told the BBC that his client had suffered a stroke and had barely a month to live.
In a statement released to the BBC News website on Saturday, the coalition said he had fallen during a walk. "All studies came back normal for a person Mr Aziz's age... and [he] is currently in the same health and with the same functional status as he was prior to his fall," it added.
"Until we hang him," it added.
Posted by: lotp ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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[2 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Baath Party
#9
suffered a stroke and had barely a month to live.
Bullshit, strokes cause permanent damage immediately either you recover or you're crippled, it does NOT mean you'll have "A month to live" I speak from personal experience, I had one, I've recovered about 98%, that's good enough
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/23/2007 18:07 Comments ||
Top||
#10
I speak from personal experience, I had one, I've recovered about 98%, that's good enough
I believe this is called "betting with house money"...
Gaza Ma'an Deposed Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Sunday stated his approval of the intervention of former US President Jimmy Carter in the Palestinian domestic crisis. What's the deal Jimmy? They gonna cough up Yasser's Nobel Peace Prize so you'll have the matching set?
Haniyeh's comments were made during a meeting with director of the Carter Centre in the West Bank, Scott Caster, in Haniyeh's office in Gaza City. Jimmy send an emissary over? Wasn't that big of him?
Caster conveyed to Haniyeh Carter's willingness to mediate in the domestic Palestinian dispute. Haven't whored yourself out in awhile, Jimmy? Getting bored?
Haniyeh said that any mediation should be just and based on Palestinian legitimacy. Wink, wink...
#3
The fix is in. His solution will be for the Israelis to withdraw to Tel Aviv and for the U.S. to admit its completely at fault and to rain money on Hamas.
#4
It must be difficult for Carter to remain so impenetrable that even Haniyeh's approval of him isn't a source of burning shame. I wonder when Jimmy's finally going to enlist as a human shield for the terrorists.
#15
Carter doesn't understand that the same mediator can't broker one deal between Begin and Sadaat as well as one between Fatah and Hamas. The first deal is based on the recognition of the state of Israel. The second deal will be an agreement by two parties to destroy Israel. Only Jerry Springer would try to broker both deals ... and he wouldn't do it either unless ther were cross-dressers involved or people sleeping with their cousins and as far as I know the Saudis are not a stakeholder.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/23/2007 23:24 Comments ||
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The Knesset approved Wednesday a bill to extend Tal Law by five years, legalizing the exemption of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students from service in the Israel Defense forces.
The move passed with a majority of 56 to nine votes. It was supported by the coalition and the right-wing factions, and opposed by members of Meretz and Labor. MK Ran Cohen of Meretz announced he would appeal the law in the High Court in order to prevent its implementation.
MK Cohen called the law unconstitutional, saying it endorsed en masse evasion of responsibility, and that five years was an unreasonably long period to extend it. "Enough was said in the High Court's previous ruling on the law to reject it this time," he said, referring to the May 2006 High Court decision on the law.
The ruling stated that the law "gravely affronted the honor of the masses who are required by law to complete military service." At that time, the High Court ruled that if significant improvement in the implementation of the law was not effected, the court was concerned it would become unconstitutional.
MK Haim Oron of Meretz said that exemption from the IDF had reached monstrous proportions.
Chairman of the Knesset Committee on Legislation, Law and Justice, Tzachi Hanegbi said that even in five years there was a serious concern that the law would not be implemented correctly, meaning that very few Haredi youths would complete national service as required.
He added that the committee had decided to strictly supervise the law's implementation, and had demanded periodic reports on it from the government.
#2
Personally, I would NOT count on the Ultra Orthodox to do anything other than stand around and criticize. They have stated that the nation of Israel is illegitimate since it is formally secular, they refuse to serve in the military, and they tend to have troubles with all of their neighbors, including the highly armed settler types. I would count the Ultra Orthodox in Israel in the same category as the Code Pink in the US : whining, bitching, and complaining is their forte - and nothing else.
#3
Neturei Karta is only a small part of the Orthodox in Israel, Shieldwolf. But the rest of them are selfish about letting others defend them. They're also afraid of letting their women be 'corrupted' by serving in the military too. In fact, many of them don't have the general education levels to do well in the IDF. No, 2x4, this is not very smart.
This is what happens when one has a deadlocked Parliamentary system of government.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
07/23/2007 8:14 Comments ||
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GAZA, July 22 (KUNA) -- The Palestinian Legislative Council on Sunday failed to achieve quorum for a special session aimed at debating whether or not a vote of confidence should be given to a new cabinet headed by Prime Minister Salam Fayad.
The failure stemmed from the fact that the Fatah group of legislators boycotted the session, which was attended by 34 MPs, most of whom came from Hamas. Up to 48 MPs failed to turn up while 44 others are in Israeli jails.
That certainly makes it hard to have a quorum.
Acting Speaker of the National Assembly (NA), Dr. Ahmad Bahr (Hamas) said the new government (headed by Fayad) has not secured a vote of confidence by the Legislative Council within the constitutional time limit allowed.
For his part, the head of the Fatah bloc of MPs Legislator Azzam Al-Ahmad accused the Hamas-led NA of being superseded, violating the constitution by backing down to the "rebels" (in Gaza). "The Fatah group is not after political posts in the parliament but is concerned about the loss of the homeland itself," Al-Ahmad said. He accused the Hamas MPs of turning the NA "into a joke."
The Israeli government has approved a school textbook that for the first time presents the Palestinian denunciation of the creation of Israel in 1948. The book, to be used only in Israeli Arab schools, notes that Palestinians describe the event as a "catastrophe". "Both the Israeli and Palestinian versions have to be presented," education minister Yuli Tamir said.
The book was condemned by right-wing politicians but hailed by Arab Israelis who say all schools should use it.
The book was condemned by right-wing politicians but hailed by Arab Israelis who say all schools should use it.
The new textbook notes that "some of the Palestinians were expelled following the War of Independence and that many Arab-owned lands were confiscated", the education ministry said.
Palestinians refer to Israel's creation in 1948 - in which hundreds of thousands of Arabs fled in the wake of the independence war - as "al nakba", or the catastrophe. They blame the Jewish state for usurping their land. The new textbook also says Arab leaders rejected a UN partition plan for Palestine to be split into Israeli and Palestinian states, and that Jewish leaders accepted it.
Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman denounced the book on army radio, blaming "the masochism and defeatism of the Israeli left, which constantly seeks to apologise, while we did what we had to". Former Education Minister Limor Livnat of the right-wing Likud party said it would encourage Arabs to take up arms against Israel.
Posted by: lotp ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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[4 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#4
Albeit the world think Machiavel is dead,
Yet was his soul but flown beyond the Alps;
And, now the Guise is dead, is come from France,
To view this land, and frolic with his friends.
To some perhaps my name is odious;
But such as love me, guard me from their tongues,
And let them know that I am Machiavel,
And weigh not men, and therefore not men's words.
Admir'd I am of those that hate me most:
Though some speak openly against my books,
Yet will they read me, and thereby attain
To Peter's chair; and, when they cast me off,
Are poison'd by my climbing followers.
I count religion but a childish toy,
And hold there is no sin but ignorance.
Birds of the air will tell of murders past!
I am asham'd to hear such fooleries.
Many will talk of title to a crown:
What right had Caesar to the empery?
Might first made kings, and laws were then most sure
When, like the Draco's, they were writ in blood.
TEHRAN--World Forum for Proximity Among Islamic Schools of Thought has strongly condemned a fatwa (religious decree) by Wahhabi muftis allowing the destruction of Shiite holy shrines in Iraq and Syria.
According to Fars, in a statement here on Sunday, the Tehran-based forum said the fatwa is against the unity and national interests of Muslim states, especially those of war-shattered Iraq. It noted that the move gives a pretext to foreign forces to prolong their presence in the region.
Earlier, the mufti of Saudi Arabia and other leading Wahhabi clerics endorsed the decree and asked for destruction of the holy shrines of Imam Hossein (AS) and his brother Hazrat Abbas (AS) in Karbala, Iraq, and of their sister Hazrat Zeinab (SA) in Damascus, Syria.
The fatwa has inflamed Muslim anger around the world. In the decree first released before the second attack on Samarra shrines, Wahhabis are asked to destroy all signs of polytheism in Iraqi cities, an implicit reference to the Shiite shrines.
The shrine of (Imam) Hossein in Karbala, as one of the main symbols of Shiites, should be destroyed, the decree said.
Following the decree, a number of university students at Mohammad bin Saud University formed voluntary committees with the aim of attracting members from the Persian Gulf neighboring states for destroying these shrines in the near future.
The fatwa has given rise to expressions of protest and disgust from all over the world, especially Muslim authorities.
Posted by: anonymous5089 ||
07/23/2007 06:51 ||
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Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#1
This is actually major news, in that it amounts to a religious semi-declaration of war of a lot of the Sunnis against the Shiites. What is most interesting are the *limitations* of the fatwa--just against the highest value targets of the Shiites, not "everything Shiite".
Also note that they didn't make all sorts of other attacks against Shiites they could have, such as prohibiting them from the Hajj, calling for forcible conversion, or armed violence against Shiite leaders or rank and file.
By limiting it to Iraq and Syria, as well, just the two of three Shiite ruled nations, also is interesting for several reasons. Why omit the Shiite mosques in Iran?
#4
If it weren't for the specter of Muslim WMDs, it would more than a little gratifying to sit back and watch these Neadertals butt heads until they both concuss. It is difficult to imagine an upper limit upon internecine Muslim antagonism and violence. In so many different respects, Islam is truly its own very worst enemy. We really need to figure out some better way of helping them along in this escalating spiral of Muslim-on-Muslim slaughter.
#5
Consider ourselves warned. They may start with Iraqi Shiite shrines, but it won't end there. How long until they start on the infidel's shrines within the greater Ummah, extending from Spain to the Phillippines?
#6
How long until they start on the infidel's shrines within the greater Ummah, extending from Spain to the Phillippines?
This is something that really worries me. However much France deserves harsh punishment for facilitating the Eurabian invasion, losing Notre Dame Cathedral in a terrorist attack upon Western religious shrines would be a loss to the entire world. European fecklessness is placing priceless pieces of our global heritage at risk. If there's one thing you can be sure of, it is that Islam has ZERO reluctance over demolishing such egregious affronts to its own delusions of self importance.
JERUSALEM (AP) - Hezbollah guerrillas have moved most of their rockets in south Lebanon among civilians in villages, an apparent attempt to avoid detection by Israel and U.N. troops, Israeli military officials said Sunday.
The new moves are part of Hezbollah's reorganization after last summer's war, the officials said. During that 34-day conflict, Hezbollah fired almost 4,000 rockets at Israeli population centers, and Israeli land and air assaults caused heavy damage to Lebanese towns and neighborhoods.
Lebanon criticized Israel for targeting civilian areas, while Israel said Hezbollah was to blame for operating among civilians and putting them at risk.
Last summer, many of Hezbollah's rocket batteries were located in unpopulated rural areas, where the guerrillas dug networks of tunnels and fortifications, the officials said. But the army's new intelligence indicates that those positions have now largely been abandoned in favor of populated villages, which provide better cover for the group's activities. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject.
The U.N.-brokered cease-fire that ended the war expanded UNIFIL, the international peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, to 13,000 troops, entrusting it with ensuring that Hezbollah is not rearming near the Lebanon-Israel border.
Yasmina Bouziane, a UNIFIL spokesman in Lebanon, refused to comment on the Israeli charges.
A Hezbollah official in Beirut also refused to comment on the allegations. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity, said only that in the past Hezbollah guerrillas fired rockets at Israel from valleys and mountainous areas and not from inside villages. "Who are you gonna believe, me, or your own lying eyes?"
The Israeli officials said Hezbollah's postwar efforts also include the construction of new fortifications north of the Litani River, farther from the Israeli border and out of UNIFIL's jurisdiction.
#5
Frank's got it. If Lebanese civilians willingly allow offensive bases to be set up in their midst then they are hostiles and become legitimate targets. Not much is going to change with respect to Islamic aggression until the terrorists earn a solid reputation for getting everyone around them killed. I hope that Israel blankets the entire area with cluster bombs to a depth of several inches. Muslims must somehow be taught that killing terrorists is their only hope for survival. Their continuing reluctance to do so has as yet not carried anywhere near the sort of penalties it should. Any complicity with terrorism should bring about vast quantities of suffering and death.
Iran denied Sunday any pact with Syria to buy Russian weapons as long as Damascus does not initiate peace talks with Israel. During a press conference, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini rejected the claim against Tehran, terming it "a media game and propaganda" The claim targeted the good ties between Iran and Syria that agree on many critical issues, such as Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon, he added.
On Saturday, Asharq Alawsat newspaper said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promised Syrian counterpart Bashar Al-Assad to fund a deal worth USD one billion of Russian and North Korean weapons, as well as supply a mid-range missile complex in Syria as long as Damascus pledges not to go through the peace process with Israel. In addition, Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth claimed that Ahmadinejad had asked Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mishal to postpone the deal to release imprisoned Israel soldier Gilat Shalit until this summer's end.
Hosseini showed his nation's desire to benefit from these talks to release Iranian diplomats held in Iraq by US forces since last January, adding that Tehran will utilize all available opportunities to release those officials.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
The Lebanese mission at the UN is preparing a response to the statement made by Syrian ambassador to the UN , Bashar el Jaafari, in which he claims that Lebanon has agreed prior to last summer war to delay the border demarcation until Golan Heights are liberated , An Nahar newspaper was told.
The mission spokesman told, An Nahar that there is no truth to the Syrian statement , since Lebanon is adamant on implementing UN resolution 1701 and is trying to get the Sheba farms transferred from Israel to the UN to enable Lebanon at a later stage to reclaim them.
According to the Lebanese mission at the UN , the Frenchman that drew the maps under UN supervision was able to revert to the original French documents ( when Lebanon was under the French mandate ) and was able to substantiate the fact that these farms belong to Lebanon and not Syria. The French expert will be visiting Beirut soon to re-confirm that the farms belong to Lebanon.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
I think Israel should claim all of Lebanon below Beirut as part of King David's ancient kingdom, now to be restored. THAT would certainly set the fox among the chickens! King David also controlled both sides of the Jordan River, and most of the Sinai.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/23/2007 20:03 Comments ||
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WASHINGTON (AP) - Liberal Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold said Sunday he wants Congress to censure President Bush for his management of the Iraq war and his "assault" against the Constitution. But Feingold's own party leader in the Senate showed little interest in the idea. An attempt in 2006 by Feingold to censure Bush over the warrantless spying program attracted only three co-sponsors.
Attaboy Russ, keep trying, you might get five this time.
Feingold, a prominent loon war critic, said he soon plans to offer two censure resolutions - measures that would amount to a formal condemnation of the Republican president. The first would seek to reprimand Bush for, as Feingold described it, getting the nation into war without adequate military preparation and for issuing misleading public statements. The resolution also would cite Vice President Dick Cheney and perhaps other administration officials.
Funny, the Dhimmicrats all thought we had an adequate military in 2002. And where are their votes to increase and improve our military since that time? As to 'misleading' statements, everyone in 2002 seemed to understand the true nature of Saddam Hussein. Did that change?
The second measure would seek to censure Bush for what the Democrat called a continuous assault against the rule of law through such efforts as the warrantless surveillance program against suspected terrorists, Feingold said. It would also ask for a reprimand of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and maybe others.
Because we shouldn't keep track of suspected terrorists. Might violate their rights.
"This is an opportunity for people to say, let's at least reflect on the record that something terrible has happened here," said Feingold, D-Wis. "This administration has weakened America in a way that is frightful."
At the White House, spokesman Trey Bohn said, "We realize that Senator Feingold does not care much for the president's policies." Bohn said Bush wants to work with Feingold and other Democrats on such matters as supporting U.S. troops, improving energy choices and securing health care and tax cuts for families. "Perhaps after calls for censure and more investigations, Congress may turn to such things," Bohn said.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he wished this would all go away would not go along with them and said the Senate needs to focus on finishing spending bills on defense and homeland security.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
14% and falling
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/23/2007 7:25 Comments ||
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#2
If I were Bush I would demand a vote TODAY. When it goes down in flames, that will be the end of that argument.
#4
That this snarky little jerk (Dennis Kucinich physically on steroids; psytropically subdued) continues to get elected is beyond me. I'm a former WI resident and have to shake my head to think that Ripon WI is the home of the Republican Party.... Mr. Feingold doesn't understand his place in the line if the Mussies should take control. Wonder how he and Mr. Ellison, D-TALIBAN MN, are getting along?
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.
Afghanistan's last king, Mohammed Zahir Shah, died in Kabul on Monday aged 92, mourned by the war-torn country where he had spent his final years after returning from three decades of exile. President Hamid Karzai declared three days of mourning for the "Father of the Nation," whose 40-year rule until 1973 is remembered as a time of peace and stability in the Central Asian country before its descent into chaos. 
BERLIN (AP) - Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday defended Germany's troop deployment in Afghanistan, even as a kidnapped German was found dead there and government officials warned the country is facing a higher risk of terrorist attacks.
By Ben Feller, The Associated Press 
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan on Sunday denied a US claim that Osama bin Laden is in the countrys tribal areas, saying that if Washington knows the Al Qaeda leaders whereabouts then it should inform Islamabad.
Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri said in a CNN interview on Sunday that Pakistan is on the frontline in the war on terrorism and is capable of doing an effective job in the restive tribal areas where some US officials, backed by the US media, have been recommending direct and unilateral US military action.
Punjab Police Inspector General (IGP) Ahmed Naseem on Sunday directed the police to monitor banned militants and ensure security across the province. He asked city police officers to deploy more security personnel at public places, especially parks, railway stations, bus stands and airports in the province. The IGP also said that transporters should deploy private security guards to check all passengers for their safety.
BAGHDAD - The Iraqi parliament is likely to pass the countrys divisive US-backed oil law only following its return from the month-long summer recess which begins August 1, a number of parliamentarians said on Sunday.
The health of Saddam Hussein's foreign minister, Tariq Aziz, is said to be "normal" after an incident at the jail where he is being held near Baghdad. 
TEHRAN--World Forum for Proximity Among Islamic Schools of Thought has strongly condemned a fatwa (religious decree) by Wahhabi muftis allowing the destruction of Shiite holy shrines in Iraq and Syria.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Liberal Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold said Sunday he wants Congress to censure President Bush for his management of the Iraq war and his "assault" against the Constitution. But Feingold's own party leader in the Senate showed little interest in the idea. An attempt in 2006 by Feingold to censure Bush over the warrantless spying program attracted only three co-sponsors.
