The Algerian interior minister on Tuesday ruled out any possible return to national politics by the former leaders of a militant group that played a major role in the country's bloody insurgency.
The government's Charter for Peace and Reconciliation, a voter-approved effort to come to terms with the insurgency of the 1990s, would not allow for such a return, Interior Minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni said. "The law on the national reconciliation and that political parties are very clear" on the matter, he said, adding the Charter's Article 26 bans from politics those who use religion as a political tool.
Zerhouni was speaking in response to recent Algerian media reports suggesting a former leader of the militant Islamic Salvation Army, or AIS, was forming an Islamist political party.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/05/2007 00:00 ||
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A British current affairs magazine has compared the Marva and Gadna IDF youth summer programs to Islamic Jihad "summer camps," and questioned what the difference would be if the participants were British Muslims.
In the latest edition of New Statesman, journalist Matthew Holehouse begins his article, entitled "The British children who train to fight in Israel," by stating that Israel denounced the Islamic Jihad summer camps in Gaza, which trained Palestinian adolescents to become suicide bombers, after hearing about them in 2001. However, he continues, "what went unreported was that at a purpose-built barracks in the Negev desert, every summer, hundreds of Jewish teenagers from Europe, Mexico and America pay to spend nine weeks saluting, marching, firing guns and otherwise pretending to be soldiers."
Holehouse then asks what would happen if these were young British Muslims who had trained in Yemen or Pakistan. "There's not much to be won in games of moral equivalence and assertions as to which side's indiscriminate attacks on civilians are the more reprehensible," he says. "But ask yourself this question: If these were British Muslim 19-year-olds firing machine guns and running assault courses in Pakistan or Yemen, would we not have them all arrested at the airport?"
Holehouse says the increasing number of Jewish youth signing up to the program is due to the "security situation improving" and notes that they were facilitated by Jewish youth organizations such as the Federation of Zionist Youth (FZY) and the Reform Synagogue Youth (RSY). He adds that "one half [of the participants] are girls, and large numbers come from public schools in Manchester and North London."
Michael Freeman, director of FZY in Israel, said in a statement released Tuesday that his group was "appalled" by Holehouse's article. "The outrageous, unsubstantiated and unconnected headline, introduction and conclusion reflect a poorly researched piece of journalism. ... FZY is rightly proud of our year program and the work that it does to foster understanding and our aim to see peace in the region."
He continued: "Mr. Holehouse attempts to make the spurious connection between a terrorist training camp - designed to indoctrinate children with hate and encourage them to become suicide bombers whose aim is to kill and maim innocent civilians - with a program that aims to allow youth from abroad to understand the Israel army's role in society and meet their Israeli peers, who are all conscripted at 18 due to the existential threat that Israel faces."
FZY is also considering legal action, Freeman said. In the article, Holehouse calls FZY "one of the largest and most hard-line organizers" of post-high school programs, and quoting their Web site, which says that "FZY feels that you cannot truly understand Israel and the people living there if you do not understand the army," he says, "And that, for many Jews, must be rather depressing."
Holehouse adds that Marva "demonstrates how some Zionists have inadvertently come to mimic their opponents in defining Israel solely by its militarism." In his response, Freeman said: "For FZY to be described as 'hard-line' in an article that talks of suicide bombers and Islamic Jihad is outrageous. In light of this, FZY is currently taking advice and considering its legal position."
In response to discussions on the New Statesman Web site, Holehouse said, "The article makes it quite clear that the Israeli army does not intend to use its Marva recruits as soldiers and does not regard them as such ... My understanding of it is ... that this is a case of teenagers 'playing at soldiers' and that Marva aims to give people a 'fun taste' of the IDF." He continues, "Given the statistics available on injuries and deaths sustained by children as a result of suicide bombings and IDF operations ... I think I can be forgiven for finding such a 'summer camp' a rather depressing and inglorious project."
Posted by: ryuge ||
09/05/2007 07:28 ||
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#1
questioned what the difference would be if the participants were British Muslims.
Bloodlust, raving imams, weapons training, chanting death to name just a few
Posted by: Boss Craising2882 ||
09/05/2007 8:23 Comments ||
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#2
Antisemitism has so permeated the fabric of British culture, it has become invisible.
#3
And we don't have probably hundreds of schools with Combined Cadet Force cadres attached? Matthew Holehouse you have a very apt name. The distinction is that Jewish teenagers like British teenagers in CCF are not exposed to a murderous, hateful ideology like political Islam.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
09/05/2007 8:36 Comments ||
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#4
"But ask yourself this question: If these were British Muslim 19-year-olds firing machine guns and running assault courses in Pakistan or Yemen, would we not have them all arrested at the airport?"
If only. And if young Israelis carried out multiple suicide bombings against the British public I imagine the security services would be expected to keep an eye on them too.
#5
One can certainly understand why many of us hold England partly accountable for the mass slaughter of Jews in the 1940s. Not a finger lifted to help, and refugees turned away.
#6
It's the same self loathing and hatred of one's own nation and culture that permits SCOUTS Justice Kennedy to equate those clearly operating outside of the requirements specifically detailed in the Geneva Convention with legitimate compliant military personnel entitled to GC protections.
FDR's America was just as bad, Perfesser. Recall the voyage of the St. Louis. More personally, mother and her parents went into hiding in Holland during the war because their visa number wouldn't come up for ten years -- the only reason they were able to come over in 1946 was because so many other European Jews neglected to claim their places.
#10
"One can certainly understand why many of us hold England partly accountable for the mass slaughter of Jews in the 1940s. Not a finger lifted to help, and refugees turned away."
Perfesser, that's the most outrageous load of bullshit I've read in a long while. I'll let Wikipedia do the talking:
In 1939 a Roper poll found that only thirty-nine percent of Americans felt that Jews should be treated like other people. Fifty-three percent believed that "Jews are different and should be restricted" and ten percent believed that Jews should be deported. [13] The United States tight immigration policies were not lifted during the Holocaust, news of which began to reach the United States in 1941 and 1942 and it has been estimated that 190 000 - 200 000 Jews could have been saved during the Second World War had it not been for bureaucratic obstacles to immigration deliberately created by Breckinridge Long and others.[14]
Rescue of the European Jewish population was not a priority for the US during the war, and the American Jewish community did not realize the severity of the Holocaust until late in the conflict. Despite strong public and political sentiment to the contrary, however, there were some who encouraged the U.S. government to help victims of Nazi genocide. In 1943, just before Yom Kippur, 400 rabbis marched in Washington, D.C. to draw attention to the plight of Holocaust victims. (See "The Day the Rabbis Marched.") A week later, Senator William Warren Barbour (R; New Jersey), one of a handful of politicians who met with the rabbis on the steps of the U.S.Capitol, proposed legislation that would have allowed as many as 100,000 victims of the Holocaust to emigrate temporarily to the United States. Barbour died six weeks after introducing the bill, and it was not passed. A parallel bill was introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Samuel Dickstein (D; New York). This also failed to pass. [7] Even after the Holocaust, the US did not change its immigration policies until 1948.
I can't find a reference online, but I'm sure the UK admitted more Jews during the Nazi period that the USA did: does that mean that we can all hold the USA partly accountable for the mass slaughter of Jews in the 1940s? Does that make good sense?
That's before pointing out that Britain declared war on, and was doing all she could to defeat, the Nazis for over two years before the USA was declared war on by Germany.
Everything the Guardian, a low-circulation left-wing paper, prints does not reflect British mainstream public opinion. Only an ignoramus or an idiot would think as much.
#11
(Sorry if previous post was duplicated.) I will admit that Britain did admit a fair number of refugees, if only temporarily. It is hardly surprising that Britain admitted more refugees than the U.S. -- transportation costs must have been far lower. So it's a complicated story.
#15
the only reason they were able to come over in 1946 was because so many other HORRIBLY MURDERED European Jews neglected to COULD NO LONGER claim their places.
Apologies, trailing wife, but your phrasing was a bit too demure for my tastes. I bought a copy of Anne Frank's Diary yesterday and this hits home just a little too much.
Matthew Holehouse's contemptible moral equivalency is emblematic of those who simply refuse to comprehendor far worse, wilfully ignoreIslam's threat. This sort of relativism symbolizes a new form of Holocaust denial by painting the Jews as Nazis. Israel has not declared an avowed goal of killing all Arab Muslims. They have not included genocide as an element of their nation's charter.
By electing Hamas, the Palestinians have done so such that comparing the two represents the very lowest form of intellectual dishonesty and moral bankruptcy. In light of Islamic aggression, Holocaust denial has taken on a much more ominous aspect than it might have retained were it only perpetuated by benighted neo-Nazis. Works like Anne Frank's Diary are now being portrayed as Jewish propaganda for the sole purpose of falsely substatianting or exaggerating the Holocaust's dimensions. Islam uses this corrupt and vile revisionism to paint Israeli remembrance of the Holocaust as a Zionist plot aimed at giving Jews undue sympathy and allowing them to serve as a pole in humanity's moral compass.
Several years before his death, Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal was sitting in an Austrian cafe and overheard some anti-Semitic young men repeating to each other this lie about Anne Frank. He vowed to refute such horrible revisionist filth and proceeded to spend a few years tracking down Gestapo officer Karl Silberbauer who had personally arrested Anne Frank in her Amsterdam hideout. Thanks to their tireless efforts, the lives of heroic individuals like Simon Wiesenthall and Ellie Wiesel will forever shine as beacons to guide humanity away from any forgetting or forgiving of such monstrous crimes against humanity.
Once again, we are confronted by those who seek to plumb the showers and relight the ovens. Only a slight change of names from Hitler to Allah has been required. Smarmy liberal assholes like Holehouse stand at the forefront of enabling Islamic scum to go unquestioned regarding their true intent. They gleefully facilitate Islam's genocidal agenda under the guise of moral relativism. The man should be horsewhipped for it, repeatedly.
#16
Both the US State Department and the British Foreign Service were rampant with anti-Semites, and deserve every ounce of condemnation that can be mustered against them. So do those who fail to understand that the same situation exists today. The British actions to keep Jews out of Palestine following WWII should be considered attrocities. The failure to allow more Jews into the United States during WWII and the immediate aftermath should be strongly denounced, as well. The failure of anyone who refuses to acknowledge or denounce evil is in itself evil, regardless of who does it. Both Britain and the US are filled with such people, not all on the left.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/05/2007 17:10 Comments ||
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#17
OTOH, LUCIANNE/WORLDNEWS > Milyuhns and Zilyuhns, or at least scores of 0,000's, of Chinese youths attended PLA Youth camps this year. Are taught to be friends of USA = World by being told China will have to war agz USA one day.
#19
All those nice young Chinese men will be the better for a few months marching about in all that Chinese fresh air and sunshine. With the way the market for Chinese goods is going, that may be as close as they get to real soldiering.
Apologies, trailing wife, but your phrasing was a bit too demure for my tastes.
That, Zenster dear, is because you have spent time with advertising and marketing, whereas I never got closer than some brief exercises in technical support before I retired. Please enjoy your book with the thought that my mother was in class with Anne's sister Margot in Amsterdam, before the Jewish children were expelled from the schools.
Perfesser, you might want to do a bit more research on your second reference in post #11. While it reviews the same book as your final, to me quite interesting, cite, the PPU describes itself as
The Peace Pledge Union came into being in a climate of growing anxiety about the likelihood of another major war. Following a huge response to a letter published in the Manchester Guardian (now the Guardian) by Dick Sheppard in 1934 a mass meeting in the Albert Hall of the people who responded to the letter agreed to form an organisation to be known as the Peace Pledge Union. Its membership grew quickly tens of thousands, then hundreds of thousands by the start of the Second World War.
Why Peace Pledge Union? The letter, written by Dick Sheppard that started it all, invited people to send him a postcard giving an undertaking - making a pledge - to 'renounce war and never again to support another'.
...It is linked with similar organisations throughout the world through the War Resisters International.
Not, I'm certain, your usual sort of source.
Oh, and I do apologise. On going back through the thread, I wasn't clear: Mama and her parents had visas to the U.S., not to England. I assume they'd originally planned to join my mother's older sister, who by then had passed through England on her way to the States shortly before the others escaped from Germany to Holland. An English translation of the tale, as told from my grandmother's perspective, is archived in the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC and in Yad Vashem, along with copies of the original letters in German. Lots of appendices, too; Mama retains yet the habits of a lifetime in the ivory tower. ;-)
Posted by: Fred ||
09/05/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
See also STRATEGYPAGE > THE POISON article. Ordinary Norkies have discovered "Dissent and Disobey", besides also decadent capitalist Amerikanski MMMMMUUUUUUTTTTIIIIPPPPAAAAASSSSS, or was it MultiPlus?, ala THE FIFTH ELEMENT.
#1
I shan't comment, because I remember being awfully annoyed when foreigners told me how to vote (unless we agreed!). But Australia's military have gallantly carried more than their fair share since the beginning, and Prime Minister Howard's government have started saying and doing the things necessary to fight the incursions at home. May the best man win.
Israeli intelligence about Palestinian groups that a US-based Muslim charity aided was often unreliable, a former senior US diplomat testified at the organization's trial on terrorism-support charges.
Edward Abingdon, who served as US consul-general in Jerusalem during the 1990s, said the Israelis had an "agenda" and provided "selective information to try to influence US thinking."
Abingdon's testimony Tuesday took dead aim at prosecutors' claims that the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development was knowingly funding terrorists instead of providing humanitarian aid. Now that Bolton left, are there any senior US diplomats not owned by the Saudis?
#1
I see nothing particularly questionable about Abingdon's statement. Of COURSE the Israelis had and agenda; of COURSE they tried to influence US thinking through 'selective' information. Doesn't everybody?
#2
His comments about how clean a Hamas run hospital was in comparison to an Israeli military hospital left me doubting his credibility and/or intelligence.
#3
Abingdon spent 30 years in the State Department. He resigned in 1999 and spent seven years at a Washington lobbying firm that represented the Palestinian Authority for as much as $750,000 a year. He said he never worked for Hamas.
And I feel that he probably did.
Seriously, if there is one thing that we can rely on it is that our State Department will act like an arm of the U.N. or Saudi Arabia within our government. We have dozens of George Galloways running around there.
#4
the Israelis had an "agenda" and provided "selective information to try to influence US thinking."
So what if they did? If it is true, then I'm sure they weren't trying to get somebody taken out who didn't deserve it. This concern isn't worth a second look in my mind, except as political hay. I would trust the Israelis' judgment here.
Along those lines, Israel has been telling the US flat out for years and years that Iran was the problem, not Iraq. Any comments about that, Al-Abingdon?
#5
As I've said many, many times, our State Department is part of the problem with the Muddled East, and needs a thorough housecleaning. I'm beginning to doubt that can be done without firing everyone and starting over from scratch. The only way to do that is with a massive change in government at the grass-roots level.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/05/2007 17:15 Comments ||
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#6
The only way to do that is with a massive change in government at the grass-roots level.
One or two more of those "immigration" bills and that just may happen.
The system is on-track and moving forward. The Dhimmicrats are bound and determined to cut it.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Boeing Co. executive on Tuesday warned that proposed budget cuts by U.S. lawmakers could delay the completion of an anti-missile aircraft by two years. Both the Senate and House Armed Services committees have slashed the president's fiscal 2008 proposed budget request of $549 million for the airborne laser program, or ABL, that will be used to thwart enemy missiles in the sky. In July, the House Appropriations committee agreed to a smaller cut of $51 million from the program.
Boeing and its teammates Northrop Grumman Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp. are awaiting the Senate Appropriations committee to finalize its budget by the end of the month. Greg Hyslop, a Boeing vice president, told reporters in a conference call that the level of cuts by both committees would delay the company's ability to complete the program by at least two years. Hyslop said in order to stay on track it will need the full funding of the president's budget request.
The airborne laser program, which is being installed on a modified Boeing 747 aircraft, is designed to detect, track and engage a ballistic missile from a rogue state in the sky. On Friday, the Missile Defense Agency said the Boeing-led team sailed through initial testing of the anti-missile aircraft on Aug. 23 at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The aircraft completed 48 flight test missions and fired its laser more than 200 times, according to the agency.
The next phase of testing will begin in late 2008 using Northrop's high-energy laser. The companies have already begun to install the upgraded laser at Edwards Air Force Base, according to Boeing.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/05/2007 00:00 ||
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FREEREPUBLIC > Russia moves closer to making military claim on Arctic.
#4
Nope. Missile defense is impossible and unworkable. If we have to slash the budget to prove it, so be it.
Posted by: Senator Carl Levin ||
09/05/2007 8:57 Comments ||
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#5
It used to be the Dhimmis would oppose any weapon system on the grounds that we would only be provoking our foes. Now they have abandoned even this kindergarten logic and oppose without knowing why they do so.
#6
The Democrats who voted for this need to be brutally punished with an advertising campaign:
"If America is attacked with nuclear missiles, here is a list of Congressmen and Senators to be blamed for leaving us defenseless. They want millions of Americans to DIE, they HATE America so much:..."
#7
They know why they oppose it. Defense cuts into the slush funds for buying votes back home. The Trunks try using graft/pork that approach and get heat. The Donks do it regularly and get votes. Guess who controls Congress?
#8
US budget cuts may delay US anti-missile laser but we aren't the only player in the field. If Fwance or Israel or India come up with something I'm sure we could make a deal, but we might not like that price, and I would certainly not trust that I received a 'clean' product.
Cairo, Egypt (AHN) - The Egyptian Foreign Ministry stated Sunday that Egyptian officials are to meet with the two Egyptian students charged with transporting explosives in the United States. The students were arrested on August 4 in South Carolina. A federal grand jury in Tampa, Florida has indicted them on charges of illegally transporting explosives over state lines.
"Officials from the Egyptian embassy in Washington will meet the two students at their place of detention on Wednesday," the ministry said Sunday. "The Foreign Ministry will spare no efforts in defending the interests of Egyptians abroad as long as they respect the laws of the countries they are in."
That's their right, and the indicted men have the right to counsel from their embassy.
Egypt's official news agency MENA reported Saturday that Washington denied Cairo's request to meet with the two men.
Got another wrong, did they?
The two University of South Florida, Ahmed Abdel Latif Sherif and Youssef Samir Megahed were arrested after being stopped for speeding in Goose Creek, South Carolina and police say they found "pipe bombs" in their car. Sherif is a graduate engineering student and teaching assistant at the University of South Florida in Tampa, while Megahed is a civil engineering student.
Just a couple of misunderstood students, that's all ...
Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit met Sunday with Ahmed's father, the ministry added. Megahed's father, who lives in the U.S., said Saturday he and his son have cooperated with federal investigators, but the situation is worsening. "They want us to say what they want to hear," the father told The Tampa Tribune Saturday. "They want the stories they have in mind. It's all in their imagination."
How much imagination do we need after 9/11?
If they are taken to trial and found guilty, the two men could face up to 20 years in prison on the charges that can be considered an act of terrorism.
"The charges in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless they are proven guilty," a Justice Department official said Friday.
Yup. Let's see what the evidence looks like in open court.
Posted by: ||
09/05/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
OT, something's odd here with RB, I see only one post. Tried diff browsers--the same story.
#2
No other news? All the world's troublemakers and terrorists must be dead or something. Except for these two. Liberals are clamoring to let them out so they can start the whole process again.
#6
"The Foreign Ministry will spare no efforts in defending the interests of Egyptians abroad as long as they respect the laws of the countries they are in."
Now I haven't been exactly followin this one very closely...
But it's astounding to me up front that the Egyptian Government I know would even entertain the notion of helping an Egyptian citizen unless that Egyptian citizen's family was of VIP status back home. Or the Egyptian citizen in trouble was doing some dirty deeds for the Egyptian SS when discovered.
/2¢ & keep the change
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
09/05/2007 20:36 Comments ||
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A South Waziristan senator demanded on Tuesday the withdrawal of troops from the areas inhabited by the Mehsud tribe, saying deteriorating law and order was linked to the armys presence in the area. Meanwhile, no headway was reported in talks for the release of kidnapped soldiers. What is the point of keeping security forces in the Mehsud areas when security is deteriorating because of their presence?, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) Senator Saleh Shah told Daily Times as the South Waziristan chief administrator called jirga members for consultations in Wana. He said Political Agent Hussainzada Khan had called the jirga members holding talks with Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud - who claims he is holding around 200 soldiers - for a meeting in Wana. The government accepted two out of four key Taliban demands by releasing more than 100 arrested tribesmen and opening the Wana-Tank highway for heavy traffic bringing food to the Mehsud areas, where the missing soldiers are believed to be kept.
Baitullah have said that he would behead five soldiers every day if troops are not pulled out from the area. When asked how optimistic he was about the troops release, the senator said, If Baitullah uses wisdom instead of sentiments the jirga can be successful and if sentiments overshadow wisdom and sanity then I have doubts about the jirgas success.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/05/2007 00:00 ||
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NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani has called for Pakistans withdrawal from the war on terror for the good of the people and the country.
"I mean, nobody's actually sure which side we're on, anyway. They might not even notice if we quit."
He said segregation of society into extremists and moderates would pave the way for martial law.
"It's simple, really, if everyone becomes an extremist, we'll have a caliphate and won't need martial law. See how easy that is?"
Durrani told a delegation of senators who called on him at Frontier House that the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) supported the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution in the larger national interest, adding that some people wanted to bring an eighteenth amendment to secure their loot deposited in foreign accounts and get rid of cases pending against them.
Acknowledging tribal people as patriots, he said their patriotism was evident from their participation in the wars of 1948, 1965 and 1971. The people in the tribal area were aware that foreigners were behind the chaos that was created in the area because of the countrys wrong foreign policy, he said, adding that these foreigners were also against Chinese engineers working in the province. He also told the senators of the evidence against foreign agents who were caught red handed recently.
About minorities rights in the province, he said the MMA government was serving them well, adding that he had laid the foundation stone for a church in the Peshawar University. Minority members of the NWFP Assembly were given Rs 1 million worth of development funds in the past, the CM said, but the MMA government had provided Rs 10 million each to all provincial assembly members, including minority members. On the other hand, he said, no opposition parliamentarians in the National Assembly (NA), including Opposition Leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman, were given development funds.
He said if the MMA were to form government it would not harm world peace by adopting a hardline approach towards the use of nukes.
Separately, in a lunch hosted in honour of the police officers who recovered an abducted industrialist, the CM praised the NWFP police for safely recovering Dr Saeed Khan and arresting the kidnappers within 28 hours of the abduction. He said work on the Northern Bypass would start within 15 days, adding that the bypass would connect Charsada Road with Ring Road.
The MMAs democratic approach was evident from the NWFP advocate generals stance in the Sharif brothers return case in the Supreme Court.
He said the MMA government had prepared an industrial-friendly policy according to industrialists recommendations. The MMA government had conducted the first-ever industrial conference in the 55-year-old history of the province, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/05/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Sounds like the Tribal Areas want full autonomy, with no consequences. Life doesn't work that way. If Pakistan won't control the areas, the US will - with high explosives. We have no other choice.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/05/2007 21:45 Comments ||
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#2
Pakistan must withdraw from war on terror
That'd be nice. Terrorism already has enough sponsors as it is.
April may become the new September when it comes to deciding whether to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq, if President Bush's senior advisers have their way. But Congress might not stand for it.
Since Bush ordered the deployment of some 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq in January, he urged Congress to give the new plan until at least September to work. Accordingly, this month became a deadline among lawmakers for substantial progress, including several Republicans who said they were wary of Bush's military strategy but agreed for the most part to bite their tongues until then.
Now, administration officials are recommending Bush stand by his war strategy until the spring, and Bush is considered unlikely to order more than a symbolic cut in troops before the end of the year. Officials familiar with the assessment spoke on condition of anonymity to describe decisions not yet publicly released. Read that last sentence again.
The suggestion is a bold one, considering Republicans lost control of Congress last year because of voter dissatisfaction on the war and polls show Americans overwhelmingly oppose the war. There could be a revolt. On the other hand, we might win the war.
Also, in recent months, leaving out the month of August GOP support for the war deteriorated with the latest challenge coming from Sen. Norm Coleman. Coleman, R-Minn., said pulling out a small number of troops by the end of the year would prove to Iraqi leaders that U.S. aid was not a blank check. Yeah. Like we proved it to the Germans, Japanese, and Koreans, right?
"I've been searching - is there another way to kind of hammer the point? I think the message has to be sent," he told reporters Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday during a trip to Australia, Bush restated his view that decisions about troop levels should be based on recommendations from military commanders. He noted that Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker would be delivering progress reports soon enough.
"Whether or not that's part of the policy I announce to the nation ... why don't we see what they say and then I'll let you know," Bush said.
Republican support likely will hinge on Petraeus' testimony next week. If he can convince lawmakers that the security gains won in recent months are substantial and point toward a bigger trend - and a promise of major troop reductions soon - GOP members might be willing to hold out until spring.
They also might be persuaded to wait until April if Bush agrees to a small, symbolic drawdown of troops by the end of the year, as is suggested to the White House by Coleman and Sen. John Warner, an influential Republican on security matters.
But that would be the best case scenario we could envision in our tiny, little AP minds for Bush in a Congress already gearing up for the 2008 election season. For their part, Democrats will use the previous unpopularity of the war against Republican candidates, including in the presidential election. Support for cutting off money for the war also is likely to grow, says the AP crystal ball if Bush insists on keeping troops in Iraq at heightened levels through spring. Page 2 of the prognostications at link.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/05/2007 06:03 ||
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Hey! How could it be a dupe? It was datelined 5:35 a.m., September 5, and posted less than 30 minutes later, whilst it was still hot and fresh!
Unless, of course, the AP relabels its' meat.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/05/2007 8:12 Comments ||
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Its no secret that mainstream/ordinary Amers like short wars - by this scope Amers want Iran + Radical Islam-Terror defeated quickly = imploded/regime changed quickly. US ENTRENCHMENT > IMO Dubya's probs here are notsomuch the Dems, but the desires [ read - policy timelines] of Amers = Amer voters for short wars. AS LONG AS THE USA IS "WINNING" THE WOT, AND NO NEW 9-11's OCCUR, ANTI-US/GOP POLS, etal. WILL MOSTLY SUPPOR DUBYA - PCORRECTNESS RULES THE USG-NPE AND THAT MEANS "USA/DUBYA FOREVER" [read -for now} - you know, TREASON + GLOBAL NEPOTISM. As said times before, the only real issue here is minor redux-in-force levels in the ME as per [flux]USG budgeted appropriations.
Evening News Anchor Says Police Finally Making Inroads
Iraq One week before Gen. David Petraeus is expected to give his report on U.S. progress in Iraq, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric says she has already seen dramatic improvements in the country. "We hear so much about things going bad, but real progress has been made there in terms of security and stability," Couric said Tuesday. "I mean, obviously, infrastructure problems abound, but Sunnis and U.S. forces are working together. They banded together because they had a common enemy: al Qaeda."
Couric traveled to the city of Fallujah in Anbar province, which U.S. forces entered in April 2003 and again in November 2004. That is the same city where, in house-to-house fighting, American forces uncovered nearly two-dozen torture chambers. "We found numerous houses, also, where people were just chained to a wall for extended periods of time," U.S. military intelligence officer Major Jim West said back on Nov. 22, 2004.
"The face of Satan was here in Fallujah, and I'm absolutely convinced that that was true," said Marine Lt. Col. Gareth Brandl.
It is also the city where four American military contractors were set on fire, mutilated and hanged from a bridge by insurgents.
Now Fallujah is "considered a real role model of something working right in Iraq," Couric said.
Many more Iraqis have joined the Iraqi Security Forces in the overwhelmingly Sunni Anbar province. Despite mutual distrust, stemming from the power shift after Saddam Hussein's Baathist government fell, Sunnis and Shiites are working together in the ISF to fight al Qaeda in Iraq.
While Hussein was in power, Sunnis were in positions of authority over the Shiites, and now are fearful that the majority of Shiites will seek revenge. Iraqi Shiites fear a return of Sunni power in Iraq. However, Sunnis in Anbar continue to join the ISF. "The spike in police has really been significant," Couric said. "The incidents in Iraq have gone down dramatically."
Security and stability have improved in Iraq, but basic services remain in disrepair. "I think everyone I talk to agrees that restoring basic services is really an imperative step in bringing stability and some kind of sense of society to Iraq," Couric said.
#1
Why the sudden change of heart? Katie desperate for ratings?
Posted by: ed ||
09/05/2007 7:57 Comments ||
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#2
I believe that's it, ed - the same reason she went there in the first place.
But who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/05/2007 8:14 Comments ||
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#3
Nice pic of the pom pom girl. Couric is maybe a nanometer less annoying instead of totally and unredeeminglly annoying. Like the dhimmicrats these news rats will do anyting to increase their ratings (poll numbers).
#4
"I mean, obviously, infrastructure problems abound, but Sunnis and U.S. forces are working together. They banded together because they had a common enemy: al Qaeda."
But...but...but...Katie, didn't you and your staff get the NYT's talking points that there is no al Qaeda in Iraq? You know the al Qaeda that brought the Twin Towers down at your figurative doorstep. This means Katie has got to go.
#6
"I mean, obviously, infrastructure problems abound, but Sunnis and U.S. forces are working together. They banded together because they had a common enemy: al Qaeda."
OMG KATIE! You've just used the MAGIC WORD, "BUT", against a liberal leftist democrat party idea! The Kos Kidz will have your head for using it on behalf of the Real America and George Bush!
A Sunni insurgent coalition that includes Al Qaeda in Iraq said on Tuesday it was forming several battalions to intensify suicide attacks against US and Iraqi government targets. In a statement posted on an Islamic Web site, the Islamic State of Iraq said the War Ministry decided to form special battalions for martyrdom seekers to pound the bastions of the crusaders and their renegade tails in Iraq.
These battalions, with Gods help, will perform their duties in an excellent manner during the month of Ramazan and the enemies of God will suffer a lot, the statement said. Last Ramazan, Al Qaeda also urged its followers to step up attacks against US and Iraqi forces. The statement said most of the martyr seekers of these blessed battalions will be from the Ansar (Iraqi) brothers.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/05/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
the link doesn't work... can you post a link under, I didn't see it on the frontpage.
It's curious they spelled Ramadan that way. It's mostly pronounced with a hard z in Afghan dialect.
Just wanted to check out who wrote it....Also, Sunnis have been working with CF recently to save their ass, so I wonder which group will take the lead....
Thanks
Posted by: NOLA ||
09/05/2007 2:45 Comments ||
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#2
link for NOLA
A Daily Times of Pakistan article, datelined Cairo, of all places.
Only the establishment of a Palestinian state will solve the refugee problem and end terror attacks, Army Radio quoted Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni as saying Tuesday.
#1
I dunno, Tzipi. I mean, there was a time when I too had some sympathy for the Palestinians. If they had managed Gaza like mature adults and stopped trying to kill you I might still have some hope and sympathy for them. That "land for peace" idea was a pleasant pipe dream but now it's pretty clear they will never be satisfied until they have killed all of you Joooos. So for you to come out with a dumbass statement like this truly qualifies you to become Today's Idiot.
Here's hoping that most of your countrymen are smarter than you are because if they're not a Palestinian state is likely to be established on your graves.
#2
Only the establishment of a Palestinian state will solve the refugee problem and end terror attacks
This is complete and total bullshit. The Palestinians seek nothing less than the destruction of Israel. Any inability to do so will represent absolute failure on both a physical and religious level. Therefore, even the establishment of a "Palestinian state" will bring no cessation to the hostilities.
Far better that Israel begin announcing this loud and clear as a precursor to evicting all Palestinians from Jerusalem and Israeli territory. The farce is over. The Palestinians have lost all rights to any homeland or even simple respect from the global community. They have lied, cheated, stolen billions in aid and broken every single promise ever made during any and all negotiations. End this agonizing charade now.
Despite the recent escalation on the Gaza front and Monday's bombardment of Sderot, the defense establishment will not recommend a large-scale invasion into the Strip at a security cabinet meeting on Wednesday, defense officials said. The army plans to present the cabinet with a number of possible responses to the increase in Kassam rocket fire, including an incursion that could involve thousands of IDF infantry and Armored Corps soldiers.
Defense officials said the likelihood of a large operation being approved was slim and that the cabinet would most likely order the IDF to slightly step up strikes against Kassam rocket squads. Other possibilities include allowing the army to operate deeper inside the Strip; until now it has restricted to within two kilometers of the security fence.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/05/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Just refuse to stop Jewish civilians firing rockets into Gaza.
#6
The IDF does not want to prevent a major Hamas putch against ex-Fatahites nor a major Fatah bombing of Hamas assets.
However, teams of IDF are working undercover in Gaza. Such teams have not been super successful yet but one assumes they will eventually get more so. The IDF undercover teams working in the West Bank have been very successful with kill ratios in the range of 100-500 to 1.
(PIC)-- Palestinian sources in Ramallah confirmed on Monday that the Israeli government handed two days ago the PA chief, Mahmoud Abbas, and Egypt a detailed report on its intention to carry out a large-scale incursion into the southern Gaza Strip, including the borderline with Egypt at the pretext of destroying tunnels allegedly used to smuggle large quantities of arms into the Strip.
In a press statement, the sources added that Israel is deeply concerned about the growing strength of Hamas in the Gaza Strip in view of its full control over Gaza, which constitutes a clear threat to the security of the Zionist state that fears that Gaza could turn into another South Lebanon.
For his part, Abu Ubaida, the spokesman for the Qassam Brigades, highlighted that the Israeli threat of a large-scale invasion of the Strip comes as a result of the internal crisis inflicted on the IOA after its successive defeats in Gaza and previously in south Lebanon.
Abu Ubaida added that any aggression on Palestinian people is intended to cover up for the ongoing failures of Israeli premier Ehud Olmert's government, especially in important and sensitive issues such as the issue of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit as well as the failure to stop the Palestinian resistance homemade missiles.
Abu Ubaida warned the IOF troops of the consequences of carrying out any aggression on Gaza, underlining that the Qassam Brigades is more ready than ever to repel any incursion into the Strip.
In another context, a Hebrew newspaper reported that Israel has decided to invest more hundreds of millions of dollars to fortify Sderot against the Palestinian rockets fired from Gaza, but it confirmed at the same time that the fortification cannot be dependable and will not deter upgraded rockets.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/05/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
If Israel was going to invade Gaza she CERTAINLY wouldn't tell Abbas!
successive defeats in Gaza and previously in south Lebanon
Lovely. Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, an overture towards peace, was instead a "defeat." Maybe Israel SHOULD invade Gaza for that reason alone.
#5
Lovely. Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, an overture towards peace, was instead a "defeat." Maybe Israel SHOULD invade Gaza for that reason alone.
Agreed, PlanetDan. We need to apply the wrecking ball to all such Muslim propaganda. While we may laugh off such abject spewing, it is swallowed whole by the ummah. It's long overdue to show just how mistaken these cretins are when they crow over supposed "victories".
(PIC)-- Senior Hamas political leader Dr. Osama Al-Muzaini has affirmed Monday that his Movement has no knowledge at all on the alleged Egyptian rejection to resume mediation on prisoner swap deal between Hamas and the Israeli occupation government.
In the past, the Israeli occupation government had aborted several Egyptian efforts to conclude a swap deal with Hamas Movement in order to secure the safe release of IOF serviceman Gilad Shalit in return for freeing Palestinian children and women captives in Israeli jails. "In fact, what we know is that the Israeli occupation government was persistently urging Egypt to resume that role again although Egypt was apparently fed up with the Israeli stubbornness that jeopardized their efforts in the past", affirmed Muzaini in press statement he made Monday.
In addition, the Hamas's political leader unveiled that the information his Movement has is that the return of the Egyptian security delegation to Gaza Strip was a matter of time only.
The delegation had left the tiny Strip in the peak of the armed clashes between Hamas's armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, and elements of the mutiny trend in the PA security apparatuses that ended with Hamas's victory and subsequent control of the Strip last June. "I dont think they (the Egyptians) will block the return of their security delegation as Hamas's leadership was and still is engaging in continuous contacts with the Egyptian officials over the matter in addition to a number of matters of mutual concern", Muzaini underlined.
He also denied that Hamas would choose an alternative mediator in case Egypt indeed refused to mediate again, saying that "Hamas wasnt in hurry to conclude a swap deal", and that the Movement could keep the captured Shalit for long time.
The Hebrew Haaretz newspaper revealed Sunday that the Egyptian government had turned down an Israeli request to resume the mediation with Hamas over Shalit's freedom. The paper also alleged that the refusal was out of Egypt's fears that any mediation and possible release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, in case the swap deal succeeded, will be a credit for Hamas, and would add to its already wide popular base and support in the Palestinian arena.
Shalit was captured from inside his tank in June last year in a qualitative military operation carried out by three armed wings of the Palestinian resistance factions, including that of Hamas. Since then, the IOF corporal was kept in Palestinian captivity as his captors offered the Israeli occupation government the safe release of its soldier in exchange for the release of Palestinian women and children in Israeli jails, which many observers affirmed it was humanistic condition. Israel rejected the offer so far.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/05/2007 00:00 ||
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(PIC)-- MP Dr. Mustafa Al-Barghouthi has strongly criticized the statement of EU foreign relations coordinator Javier Solana in which he refused to have talks with the Hamas Movement. He told Quds Press that the EU position in refusing to have talks with Hamas and the national unity government was partially to blame for the Palestinian internal crisis.
Barghouthi, who is also the secretary general of the Mubadara party, doubted that the EU would adopt any independent political decisions over Middle East issues away from the American administration and the Hebrew state. The lawmaker stressed that such a position would not allow the EU to play any effective role in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, Barghouthi refused PA chief Mahmoud Abbas's edict on the elections, especially setting political conditions for each candidate. Abbas is entitled to propose whatever he likes but the PLC must approve it before its final endorsement, the MP underscored.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/05/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
The EU is almost 100% percent responsible for funding the phakestinians.
#2
Barghouthi, who is also the secretary general of the Mubadara party, doubted that the EU would adopt any independent political decisions over Middle East issues away from the American administration and the Hebrew state.
Perhaps that's because "the American administration and the Hebrew state" have adopted the correct stance for dealing with Hamas' election. After so many years of prolonging the Palestinain farce one would hope the EU has finally realized that it is only Israeland Israel alonewho actually seeks peace. No other Arab agency anticipates any mutual resolution of the conflict as that would involve recognition of Israel's existence. This is but one of many reasons why Islam as a whole must eventually be regarded as a force inimical to world peace.
The lawmaker stressed that such a position would not allow the EU to play any effective role in the Middle East.
"You gonna roll over and let Uncle Sam and The Jews tell you how to run your candy shop with the busted lock foreign aid programs?"
#3
I've a request for the moderators.
Should somebody post an article wherein some Palestinian accepts that some part, no mater how small, of Palestinian problems is Palestinians' own fault---please incorporate a warning into the title. I'm no longer young, not sure I'll be able to handle the surprise.
(PIC)-- The Hamas Movement on Tuesday lashed out at Javier Solana, the EU foreign relations coordinator, for affirming that he would not have contacts with Hamas, describing it as a European denial of democracy.
Sami Abu Zuhri, speaking for Hamas in the Gaza Strip, said that Solana's statement was serving one party against the other and did not reflect the real situation as a number of European parties were already having direct contacts with Hamas while others were calling for such contacts such as Italy and Norway in addition to Russia.
Continuing to refuse dialogue with Hamas would not isolate it and would not wipe it off the political map of the region, he said, asserting that the West would ultimately recognize Hamas. He said that Europe should have respected the outcome of the democratic elections in Palestine in which Hamas won more than 60% of votes.
Abu Zuhri finally reiterated his Movement's rejection of the international quartet committee's conditions, which he described as "oppressive" and only served occupation. Solana said that there would be no talks with Hamas as long as it did not meet the committee's conditions.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/05/2007 00:00 ||
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Israel unveiled a comprehensive plan on Monday for overhauling its armed forces in the wake of last year's bruising Lebanon war, and ahead of a possible showdown with Iran or Syria. Buoyed by the Bush administration's pledge last month to boost U.S. defense grants to Israel to $3 billion annually, military chief Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi outlined upgrades and retraining for Israeli air, ground and naval units.
The plan, which awaits government approval, "will bolster the Israel Defense Forces and their suitability for dealing with security challenges that will face the country in the next five years," Ashkenazi said in a statement.
Israel spends around 10 percent of its gross domestic product, or $15 billion, on a military long reputed to be the Middle East's mightiest. But setbacks in the offensive against Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas spurred calls for a major review.
Israel describes Iran and its nuclear program as an "existential threat", though the Islamic republic denies seeking an atomic bomb. The rhetoric has stoked international fears of war between Israel, which is assumed to have the region's only atomic arsenal, and Iran, with Syria possibly being drawn in.
Ashkenazi said Israel would order an unspecified number of the U.S.-made F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, expected out in the next decade. Until then, Israel will upgrade its fleet of jets, combat helicopters, and drones. Israel also plans to complement its Arrow II units, built to shoot down ballistic missiles, with Iron Dome, a system designed to tackle short-range rockets like those favoured by Iranian-backed Hezbollah and Palestinian militants in Gaza.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/05/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
The rhetoric has stoked international fears of war between Israel, which is assumed to have the region's only atomic arsenal, and Iran, with Syria possibly being drawn in.
Apparently it is rhetoric and not Iran's atomic bomb program which threatens peace. This mistake is at the heart of the left's fantasy ideology. To them, words have magic power and the world is only an incidental back-drop against which our good intentions are meant to play out.
(KUNA) -- Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake Tuesday said that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is planning to use chemical weapons against government soldiers.
"The government has evidence that the LTTE has plans to use chemical weapons against the Sri Lankan security forces. During the past several weeks our security forces have detected LTTE cadres transporting large quantities of acid," Wickramanayake told Sri Lankan Parliament today, news agency Indo Asian News Service reported. He said this was a violation of the international military warfare law. There was no immediate reaction from the LTTE to this charge.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/05/2007 00:00 ||
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Lebanon's war on terror is not yet over, despite the army's crushing defeat of Fatah Islam in a Palestinian refugee camp this week, according to the defense minister and senior military commanders. They reiterated claims that the militant Islamic group had close links to al-Qaida.
Defense Minister Elias Murr told a news conference that 222 Fatah Islam militants were killed in the three-month battle, which ended after the Lebanese army staged a final assault Sunday as the militants attempted a breakout from the Nahr el-Bared camp. The fighters were soon locked in a fierce battle with the troops who took over the camp unopposed within hours.
Murr said some 202 militants had been captured. The army lost 163 soldiers in the fighting that began May 20. At least 20 civilians were also killed in the three-month standoff, which forced the camp's more than 30,000 refugees to flee.
Murr said the militants who hailed from various Arab countries had planned to cut off northern Lebanon from the rest of the country and create a "terrorist state" there, using Nahr el-Bared as a "refuge and center to export terrorism to the world, relying on the worst criminals and terrorists of different nationalities."
Lebanon's military intelligence chief, Brig. George Khoury, also told reporters that large quantities of weapons and ammunition, including machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and explosives were seized. "Al-Qaida was in constant contact with Fatah al-Islam... Fatah al-Islam was totally linked to al-Qaida," Khoury said, without elaborating. "We shall continue the war on terror," despite the collapse of Fatah al-Islam, he said.
People lining the main north-south highway near the camp cheered and waved the Lebanese flag on Tuesday as the army's combatant units withdrew from the camp to their bases.
Backing Lebanese suspicions that Fatah Islam has ties to al-Qaida, an Islamist Web site that usually carries al-Qaida statements has opened a special page to receive "congratulations on the martyrdom of the holy warrior Sheik Shaker al-Absi."
"The Islamic nation is bidding farewell to one of the greatest holy warriors," said a contributor, calling himself Abu Bilal Seif.
"May God let down those who betrayed Fatah Islam," wrote another commentator.
Murr said Fatah al-Islam's defeat was "a victory for every near and friendly country." He added that the international community should make a point of better arming the Lebanese military. "After this victory, arming and modernizing (the army) is a national priority and an international duty. It is not acceptable after today that it (the army) suffers from lack of weapons and equipment," said Murr. "We stress our determination to continue confronting terrorism," he added.
Murr said the destroyed camp would remain under the authority of the Lebanese state. Under a 1969 Arab League agreement, Lebanon's 12 Palestinian refugee camps have been off limits to the Lebanese army and are run by armed Palestinian factions.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/05/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
God has nothing to do with Fatah Islam, dumba**.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem has accused Washington of playing an unconstructive role in divided Lebanon where he said upcoming presidential polls would be a chance for reconciliation. There are parties such as the United States which are still playing an unconstructive role concerning Lebanon, Muallem told the Lebanese opposition newspaper Al-Akhbar while on a visit to powerful regional ally Iran.
Both Iran and Syria, under fire by the United States for their alleged meddling in Lebanon and Iraq, are close regional allies with their leaders meeting regularly. Lebanese leaders should put the interests of Lebanon and the Lebanese people as a first priority, and if this happens - and we hope it does - the presidential elections will be a chance for reconciliation in Lebanon, Muallem said.
Muallem, whose country was the main power broker in Lebanon until it was forced under international pressure to end 29 years of military domination in 2005, said any solution in Lebanon should not be imported.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/05/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Yeah, we don't consider Hezballah a valid political party and would rather see them all dead. I don't think we're alone in that sentiment.
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.
NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani has called for Pakistans withdrawal from the war on terror for the good of the people and the country. 
Since Bush ordered the deployment of some 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq in January, he urged Congress to give the new plan until at least September to work. Accordingly, this month became a deadline among lawmakers for substantial progress, including several Republicans who said they were wary of Bush's military strategy but agreed for the most part to bite their tongues until then.
Evening News Anchor Says Police Finally Making Inroads
Now Fallujah is "considered a real role model of something working right in Iraq," Couric said. 
(PIC)-- Palestinian sources in Ramallah confirmed on Monday that the Israeli government handed two days ago the PA chief, Mahmoud Abbas, and Egypt a detailed report on its intention to carry out a large-scale incursion into the southern Gaza Strip, including the borderline with Egypt at the pretext of destroying tunnels allegedly used to smuggle large quantities of arms into the Strip. 
(PIC)-- The Hamas Movement on Tuesday lashed out at Javier Solana, the EU foreign relations coordinator, for affirming that he would not have contacts with Hamas, describing it as a European denial of democracy.
Israel unveiled a comprehensive plan on Monday for overhauling its armed forces in the wake of last year's bruising Lebanon war, and ahead of a possible showdown with Iran or Syria. Buoyed by the Bush administration's pledge last month to boost U.S. defense grants to Israel to $3 billion annually, military chief Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi outlined upgrades and retraining for Israeli air, ground and naval units.
Lebanon's war on terror is not yet over, despite the army's crushing defeat of Fatah Islam in a Palestinian refugee camp this week, according to the defense minister and senior military commanders. They reiterated claims that the militant Islamic group had close links to al-Qaida.
