It is envisaged that at least 20,000 fully trained fresh men from at least 16 entry points along the Durand Line that separates Pakistan and Afghanistan will be sent into Afghanistan. Rest of article says after Ramadan
According to people who spoke to Asia Times Online and who are familiar with the planning, the main points will be Noshki (in Balochistan province), Ghulam Khan (North Waziristan), Angur Ada (South Waziristan), Shawal (North Waziristan), and Chitral and Bajuar agencies.
The new forces will go to the front lines in Afghanistan in the southeastern provinces of Ghazni, Khost, Gardez, Paktia and Paktika, and many of them will be trained suicide bombers. Gentlemen, prepare the buffs!
#1
So let me get this straight, they are announcing a major trans-Durand Line offensive ... to commence sometime after 10 October? That would be the best thing since they invented rolled toilet paper! A group camped in a frozen landscape in the dark of night sticks out like a neon sign in the infrared. It would be like target practice. Bring it on!
#2
"Yes...on October 13th, Achmed is going to step out of the cave and fire -TWO- not just one but -TWO- full magazines in the direction of the infidels."
"But your cave is more than a hundred miles from the nearest Coalition base."
"Well, if we got any closer, they might shoot back."
#3
Sounds like disinformation to me. Nobody can be that stupid. Maybe hoping to infiltrate beforehand & try to ambush supplylines for the inevitable reception deployments?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
10/04/2007 12:52 Comments ||
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#4
UAVs with Hellfires. Lots of them. Loitering over the border after Ramadan. Is there some compelling reason why we don't just mine the hell out of all passes on Afghanistan's entire eastern border?
#9
We need to have a mountain lion breeding program and , in future years, release thousands along the Afghan/Paki mountain borders creating a living smart mine barrier.
#10
Wut? There's a border surveyed by Roger Roger Vadim?
Posted by: Thomas Woof ||
10/04/2007 17:06 Comments ||
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#11
They have the financing, from Saudi Arabia. They have the numbers, from UN terror "refugee" camps.
They have the Collabos, in the Karzai government and its heroin industry backers. They have the human shields, that NATO won't touch. They have the explosives, manufactured in Iran.
#12
Iff true, this article IMO again shows me that its indeed premature to label Radical islam as defeated. THE ONLY REALISTIC OR PRAGMATIC
"MARKER" OF DEFEAT WOULD BE SUCCESSFUL DEMOCRATIC REGIME CHANGE + GOVERNANCE IN THESE REGIONS.
(SomaliNet) Somalia's president rebuked his top security aides on Saturday after insurgent attacks on police stations that killed five people overnight highlighted precarious security in the capital Mogadishu.
President Abdullahi Yusuf called the meeting to deal with persistent violence by remnants of a militant Islamist group his government ousted with Ethiopian military help in the New Year. "The president called the cabinet ministers, the head of the police force and mayor of Mogadishu to discuss about the security of Mogadishu," an aide who declined to be named told Reuters.
A legislator close to the president who confirmed the meeting said Yusuf was not pleased with the performance of his security forces. In some cases, newly trained policemen or soldiers have fled their positions after coming under attack. "He is not happy with the lack of coordination and accountability," the legislator told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Yusuf, whose interim government is struggling to impose its authority on the Horn of Africa nation since it routed the sharia courts groups, also wanted a full accounting of all soldiers and their pay. "The president said he wants a thorough census of the exact number of the government troops to be aware of their payments," the aide said.
The meeting came after insurgents attacked police stations across Mogadishu overnight, killing at least two police officers and three civilians, witnesses said. Officials denied any officers were killed. The worst-hit was the police station in Hodan in northern Mogadishu, an insurgent stronghold. "They torched the police station and escaped. We are chasing them. We have the names of people involved in that attack and we will seize them," Mogadishu Deputy Mayor Abdifitah Ibrahim Shaweye said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Hang on President Yusuf! The new Africa Command and untold billions of US AID dollars will soon tidy all of this up for you.
A Turkish teen will spend more than 10 years in prison for killing a Catholic priest as the man knelt in prayer, state-run media reported Thursday. The 16-year-old, identified only as O.A., had pleaded guilty to shooting the Rev. Andrea Santoro at a church in the Black Sea port city of Trabzon in February 2006.
The killing occurred at a time of widespread anger in the Islamic world over the publication in European newspapers of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.
The teen was sentenced to more than 18 years in prison a decision upheld Thursday, the news agency Anatolia said. However, legal experts said he will not serve the entire sentence and is expected to be released after about 10 years.
Is this because the Turks are adopting a Y'urp-peon penal code which forbids imprisoning people for longer than 10 years (because it's cruel and unusual, you know), or is the kid getting a break because, after all, he only murdered an infidel?
Posted by: ed ||
10/04/2007 13:25 ||
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#1
So he pulls eighteen, but he might do ten?
Where do they apply his Ramadan bonus points, the eighteen or the ten? Because, if it's the ten, he might be out next week...
A team of experts from the United States will head to North Korea within two weeks to oversee preparations for disabling the communist country's main nuclear programs by year end, under a six-nation disarmament agreement released Wednesday. As part of the agreement, North Korea will provide a complete list of its nuclear programs and disable its facilities at its main reactor complex by December 31, said Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, Beijing's chief nuclear envoy to disarmament talks which also involve the United States, the two Koreas, Japan and Russia.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
DISABLEMENT > PC diplo-speak for store away for later - DISABLEMENT DOTH NOT DESTRUCTION MAKETH.
D *** NG IT, "PEACE IN OUR TIME"!
*RIAN > WILL KOREA EVER REUNITE ONE DAY, or title to that effect.
#5
The list of sites provided by North Korea had damn well better correspond with all of the coordinates we've gathered by satellite. If they balk at even a single inspection request, shut down the operation and all further aid for the entire winter.
#8
Actually, Joe, Disabled is diplo-speak for "You keep the buildings, we get all the equipment, raw materials, plans, and documents related to this". Khadaffi did not destroy his WMD buildings when he gave up those programs, he simply handed over all the relevant items and the buildings remain standing. Magnesium cutting bars introduced to the sensitive portions of high-tech nuclear equipment tends end their utility very quickly.
#2
One colonel in Kandahar is said to have been so fond of alcohol that American officers were forced to complain about his presence at mission briefings, during which he was clearly intoxicated.
Wonder if he was Bavarian? Isn't that a natural state for Bavarians?
#4
vigorous trading of beer for United States military intelligence
Sounds like a win-win.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
10/04/2007 13:41 Comments ||
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#5
Germany's caveat was they would only deploy troops to areas of Afghanistan that were safe. Note map inset posts them to the Northern Alliance areas. Maybe these guys have too much time on their hands?
Ayaan Hirsi Ali is not in any specific danger in the US, Only non-specific dangers, they're very inexpensive.
Dutch justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin told the former MP in a letter at the end of last year, according to media reports. A copy of the letter is in the hands of TV station RTL.
Hirsi Ali returned to the Netherlands on Monday after the Dutch state stopped funding her round-the-clock protection in the US. The state is paying for her security in the Netherlands.
Posted by: ryuge ||
10/04/2007 07:45 ||
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#1
Nope. Not in any danger at all. Until she's killed.
#3
In the old days when someone like Ernst Hirsch Ballin would say that kind of thing, he'd become a hostage to the health of Ms. Ali. She dies, he dies. Consider it 'quality assurance'. Amazing how guarded one's own words become in that circumstance.
#5
Why isn't the American government paying for her security in the USA?
Posted by: Peter ||
10/04/2007 11:56 Comments ||
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#6
I imagine because she's a private citizen, Peter. Other people concerned about their safety spend their own money for bodyguards -- all those celebrities, for instance -- or their employers do. Depending how much she's being paid by that think tank she joined, she'll either have to pay out of pocket, or the think tank will decide it's worth the extra cost to have her thinking for them. I imagine she's making a lot more there than she was as a member of the Dutch parliament, and no doubt the neighbors are more congenial.
#7
Ok thank you. Hirsi Ali is now starting a campaign to raise money to finance the security herself. According to the justice minister it costs 2 million euros a year.
Posted by: Peter ||
10/04/2007 20:42 Comments ||
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#8
Thank you for the information, Peter dear. I wouldn't be surprised if it were cheaper in America. The Netherlands can be quite expensive (although beautiful and full of friendly people!).
A day before embarking on his first trip to Russia on Tuesday, President Nicolas Sarkozy is to hold talks with the leaders of Poland and the Czech Republic, two countries that are as openly suspicious of their large Eastern neighbor as they are pro-American, diplomats and officials said. The meetings will almost certainly raise eyebrows in Moscow It took a crane to raise Brezhnev's back in the day.
at a time when French foreign policy appears to be shifting from the views of Sarkozy's predecessor, Jacques Chirac, shared with successive Russian leaders, toward a warming of relations with East European countries.
French officials said the separate meetings in Paris with the Polish president, Lech Kaczynski, and the Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolanek, were not deliberately scheduled ahead of the Moscow visit. But they said that Russia and a number of topics that have strained relations between Moscow and the European Union - from energy security to US plans to deploy an antiballistic system in Poland and the Czech Republic - are likely to feature in the talks. "You cannot talk to these countries without talking about Russia," said a diplomat, who declined to be identified because the president's office had not announced the visits.
With Sarkozy seeking to establish himself as the new leader of Europe, challenging the position of the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, Poland in particular wants to use the visit Monday to establish much closer contact with Paris.
Kaczysnki, who has had strained relations with Russia and Germany since taking office in January 2006, intends to seek French support in three main areas, according to Polish officials. They are French backing in the US missile defense plan, Georgia's ambitions to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and an 18-month dispute in which Moscow banned meat imports from Poland.
Signs that France is changing its tone toward Russia from the days when a Paris-Moscow-Berlin axis emerged in opposition to the Iraq war have emerged in the first three months of Sarkozy's term. When the president outlined his foreign policy priorities a month ago, he spoke of a "certain brutality" with which Russia used its energy resources. Two weeks ago, his foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, went to Moscow where he met not only his Russian counterpart but also with political dissidents and paid homage to the journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who Putin had executed was killed.
Pristina and Mitrovica, 3 Oct. (AKI) - Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch from the famous children's TV series, Sesame Street, are 'going to kindergarten' in Serbia's ethnically split province of Kosovo to teach pre-schoolers tolerance and mutual understanding.
Working with an international non-profit organisation, the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF) has launched ethnic Albanian and a Serbian editions of the show's story and picture books for kindergarten pupils, their parents and teachers in Pristina and Mitrovica, "bringing a message of diversity and understanding." With separate Serb and Albanian editions.
The local editions of the Sesame Street publications are being distributed free of charge by UNICEF and the Sesame Workshop non-governmental organisation. A local edition of the US TV programme has already been on the air for some time in Kosovo.
The breakaway 90 percent ethnic Albanian province, Kosovo, has been run by the UN since 1999 when NATO airstrikes drove out Yugslav troops amid ethnic fighting and gross human rights abuses.
Most ethic Albanians want independence from Serbia - an outcome backed by many world powers but opposed by Serbs and Serbia's key ally Russia.
In a region rich with diversity, but challenged by conflict, our mission is to reach as many children as possible with meaningful content, said Anita Pasha, content director for the ethnic Albanian editions of the Sesame Street books, 'Rruga Sesam'.
Like the Rruga Sesam television series, the outreach materials are designed to better prepare children for school and encourage them to develop a lifelong love of learning.
Jelena Ravnjak, content director of the Serbian version of the books, 'Ulica Sezam', was also enthusiastic.
"The beauty of the Muppet characters resides in the fact that theyre multi-coloured, tall and short, wide and skinny, furry and feathered, and incredibly different from one another, yet all the same learning to live and laugh together." Diversity, eh? Then where in the hell is Miss Piggy? Are you telling me that it isn't easy to be porcine in Greater Albania?
"We are thrilled to extend their reach from the television directly into the classrooms and homes, she said. Feel the Muppet love. Sense the sound of NGO cash being slushed.
All the materials will be distributed free of charge to preschools, family healthcare centres and womens literacy centres.
#2
Muslims believe the unholy koran to be the transmitted word of their deity. The koran tells Muslims not to take Jews and Christians as friends. Therefore...
WATERLOO, Iowa - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, D-Ill., said he will no longer wear an American flag lapel pin because it has become a substitute for true patriotism since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
He commented on the pin in a television interview Wednesday and then again on Thursday at a campaign appearance in Independence, Iowa.
My attitude is that Im less concerned about what youre wearing on your lapel than whats in your heart," he told the campaign crowd Thursday. "You show your patriotism by how you treat your fellow Americans, especially those who serve. You show your patriotism by being true to our values and ideals. Thats what we have to lead with is our values and our ideals.
He had been asked about the pin Wednesday in an interview with KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids.
The truth is that right after 9/11 I had a pin, Obama said. Shortly after 9/11, particularly because as were talking about the Iraq war, that became a substitute for I think true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security.
Obama was campaigning Thursday on the third day of a four-day trip to the early voting state.
#3
D *** NG, I forgot whom, but didn't a well-known national Pundit write an OP-Ed last week stating that the message of the MALE DEMS RUNNING FOR POTUS IN 2008 is coming off as more REPUBLICAN-ESQUE AND MEANINGFUL THAN THE MESSAGE OF THE GOP'S CANDIDATES, THAT THE GOP COULD LOSE 2008 IFF HILLARY ABSTAINS = DOESN'T WIN THE DEM NOMINATION???
#4
My attitude is that Im less concerned about what youre wearing on your lapel than whats in your heart," he told the campaign crowd Thursday. "You show your patriotism by how you treat your fellow Americans, especially those who serve. You show your patriotism by being true to our values and ideals. Thats what we have to lead with is our values and our ideals.
Note that: "the evacuation of 162,000 troops in 23 ground combat brigades and millions of tons of equipment would take some 20 months" ergo - all to all the Dems saying pull out today...IT IS NOT POSSIBLE!
Watching them drive by at 30 mph would take 75 days. Bumper-to-bumper, they would stretch from New York City to Denver. That's how U.S. Air Force logistical expert Lenny Richoux described the amount of vehicles that would have to be shipped back from Iraq when the current deployment is over. These include, among others, 10,000 flatbed trucks, 1,000 tanks and 20,000 Humvees.
Even in an emergency, Col. Richoux said in Defense News, the evacuation of 162,000 troops in 23 ground combat brigades and millions of tons of equipment would take some 20 months. Military shipping containers, end to end, would stretch from New York City to the gates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
The main resupply route for convoys that runs 344 miles from Kuwait (skirting Basra to the north) to Baghdad is already under the constant threat of hit-and-run insurgency attacks, including improvised explosive devices. Driving empty on their way back to pick up another load in Kuwait, convoys are just as vulnerable.
According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the military has some 300,000 "heavy" items that would have to be shipped back, such as ice-cream machines that churn out different flavors upon request at a dozen bases throughout the California-sized country. And before it can be loaded onto ships, equipment has to be scrubbed clean to conform to U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations. The United States maintains some 200 wash points in Kuwait. Helicopters have to be shrink-wrapped.
Clearly any major withdrawal from Iraq would have to be a phased operation, and some of the equipment would have to be destroyed or transferred to the new Iraqi army. Since the first Gulf War (1990-91), the U.S. Military Sealift Command has acquired a fleet of 18 large, roll-on/roll-off ships, each nearly the size of an aircraft carrier, capable of carrying more than 300,000 square feet of cargo. Eight of these ships are normally assigned to MSC's Afloat Prepositioning Ship Squadron, loaded with Army equipment and supplies in the Indian Ocean theater ready to meet up with troops flown in to an emergency situation in the Gulf region.
MSC cargo ships make regular runs to Iraq from San Diego and Jacksonville, Fla. For the first two years of the war, units were rotated in and out of theater with all their equipment. Thus, the 5,200-strong 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment's equipment -- 300 armored vehicles, 57 aircraft, 900 trucks and Humvees -- made the trip from Fort Carson to Kuwait three times before the Pentagon changed back to the Gulf War I and Vietnam War system of leaving the heavy stuff in place for the incoming replacement unit.
The constant movement of some 100 freighters and thousands of railroad cars has cost almost $30 billion. After a year of use in Iraq's desert climate, the Army's 70-ton M1A2 tank morphs from an awesome fighting machine to a repair nightmare as sand infiltrates everything down to electronics. These can only be overhauled stateside where 25-ton turrets can be lifted off the rest of the tank. Major overhauls cannot be done either in the field or in rear echelon bases in Kuwait. Later ...
"The time for half-measures and experiments is over," they argue. Now's the time "for a logistically sound strategic redeployment." Ignored was how the possible bombing of Iran before President Bush leaves the White House would affect the timetable.
#1
I shouldn't comment like this on an article I posted but for the sake of a good time by all.....
We could strategically withdraw from Iraq in a forward manner slowly through IRAN and then link up with NATO forces in Afghanistan. From there the withdraw could proceed through Waristan and NWFP with a link up with Indian forces in Islamabad. Then all could be present for the waterboarding interviews with Khan and the ISI leadership. If the harbor at Karachi still functioned our troops and equipment could be loaded up there. Otherwise they could return through Iran and Iraq forward through Syria and into Israel. At that point equipment not worth shipping back could be turned over to Israel and the rest shipped out along with the troops.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/04/2007 14:56 Comments ||
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#3
3dc, you should always feel free to comment.
I like your withdrawal plan but would change the direction: I'd withdraw through Syria to Tarsus and Latakia, nice ports on the Med that can take our big ships. I'd donate some of the equipment we don't need to the Iraqi Army, a little to the Lebanese Army (personal delivery via the Bekaa Valley, of course), and some of the choicer bits to the Israelis -- COD at the Shebaa Farms.
Just a thought.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/04/2007 15:06 Comments ||
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#4
This reminds me of that wacky, hubris-filled media statement by an insurgent group that was posted here weeks ago, with the conditions set for the US withdrawal being that the american soldiers had to leave the country carrying only their rifle, and that any kind of building, vehicle and heavy weaponry had to be left in place for the new mudjahideen army to collect. Total, abject surrender, nothing less.
See? If the dems conform to this, the withdrawal can be made very quickly!
#5
You fools are thinking about an orderly retreat. The Donks aren't thinking about supply routes.... they're thinking about routs. Run Baby Run!
Posted by: Thomas Woof ||
10/04/2007 17:20 Comments ||
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#6
The US Army could always redeploy to Washington, DC. I'm sure there's a need for 168,000 troops there. Of course, no other traffic of any kind would be able to move AROUND them, which would be a feature, not a bug.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/04/2007 23:27 Comments ||
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Ten months of surrender have taken their toll on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi:
If there was any doubt before, which there wasn't, it's gone now. Watching Nancy Pelosi on The View yesterday morning provided the final proof that the backbone of the House is only as strong as its speaker. Her body language said it all. There she sat in the center of the table, sandwiched between Elizabeth Hasselbeck and the "Is the world flat? I don't know" lady, looking anxious and devoid of stately confidence. She could barely look in the eyes of America's Favorite True Believer on her left, who immediately smelled fear and pounced on her prey. "If the violence in Iraq had gone up," she started in (I'm paraphrasing), "you would be insisting that the surge was a failure. Now that the reports say it's gone down drastically, aren't you willing to admit that the surge is a success?"
Good question!
So what does Pelosi do? Does she make like Bill Clinton versus Chris Wallace, lean into her face and retort "La la la! I can't hear you! young lady, don't try that little conservative hit job on me. You obviously don't know fudged numbers when you see them"? No. Instead she looks somewhere in Hasselbeck's general direction and squeaks meekly, "But that's still a lot of deaths." (I'm not paraphrasing). She then quickly changes the subject as she spends the rest of the interview leaning away from Hasselbeck and focusing on the three women on her right, wishing to God they had sat her down beside whacked-out bisexual stalker Whoopi.
War tests men and women. It ages them, drains them. Some will rise to the challenge of their time, others will fall by the way. This is something different, though. It wasn't war that did a number on P. She was beaten down by her mighty struggle, and ultimately her failure, to quit.
A commenter at Crittenden's site adds this delightful extract from the underlying Huffasnuffaluffagus Post article:
Man, if this lady cant hold her own at a table full of gossiping hens who care more about the future of Britneys babies then that of their country, no wonder impeachment is off the goddamn table!
Posted by: Mike ||
10/04/2007 12:26 ||
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#1
Actually, it makes sense. They expect backbone from somebody who loathes, or is even afraid of fighting for a just cause, or for any cause, for that matter?
Spinelessness isn't limited in those who are afraid of the bad, harsh, or noisy things in life. They prefer to curl up in a little ball, or live under tyranny, to asserting themselves. They barely have enough chutzpah to survive, much less thrive.
Does anyone expect bravery from sheep? Of course not. So why should anyone expect bravery from human herd animals? If nothing else, it is a warning that you should never let such people "watch your back", because they will invariably run away and hide, trying to save their own sorry asses.
It is almost a pleasure to see a wolf in their midst, tearing each apart in turn, in a frenzy of violence. The wolf at least has chutzpah.
Originally in the New York Times and written by NYT reporters, including James Risen. Just so you know (as if you couldn't guess).
Two dozen prisoners were cleared for transfer from Guantanamo Bay last year even though U.S. military panels found they still posed a threat to the United States and its allies. Dozens more were cleared even though they didn't show up for their hearings. One Saudi arrested in Afghanistan was approved for release after offering a peculiar account that he had gone to the Taliban-controlled country to lose weight.
Pentagon documents obtained by The Associated Press show seemingly inconsistent decisions to release men declared by the Bush administration to be among America's most-hardened enemies. Coupled with accusations that some detainees have been held for years on little evidence, the decisions raise questions about whether they were arbitrary.
Human rights groups contend the documents show the military panels, known as Administrative Review Boards, often are overridden by political expediency at Guantanamo, where about 340 men are still held. "What it says on your passport is more important than what it says in your ARB," said Ben Wizner, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, noting that European citizens at Guantanamo were among the first to get out amid intense lobbying by their countries. "It's all about diplomatic pressure."
The Pentagon created the Administrative Review Board process in 2004 as the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was filling up with men captured around the world in the war on terrorist groups. It said the boards would "help ensure no one is detained any longer than is warranted, and that no one is released who remains a threat to our nation's security."
The boards hold sessions in an air-conditioned trailer, hearing testimony from shackled detainees and making recommendations on whether to transfer, release or continue to hold the men. The final decisions are made by Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England, who is not bound by the recommendations, but who officials say usually follows them.
The Pentagon, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from AP, released transcripts and memos last month from last year's hearings. Based on those sessions, England ordered 273 inmates kept at Guantanamo and 55 transferred to authorities in other nations. He didn't order any outright releases, but most detainees transferred from Guantanamo have been freed soon after arriving home.
The heavily censored documents indicate testimony before the panels often had little effect on the outcome. Of the 55 detainees cleared for transfer to their homelands or countries of residence, only 14 participated in their hearings. And 24 found to still pose a threat were ordered transferred by England anyway.
Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, a military spokesman, said "a great majority of detainees who left Guantanamo have been a threat," but added that many factors are considered in deciding their fate. "There are mitigating factors that the deputy secretary of defense can take into account in deciding whether to approve a transfer of a detainee," Gordon said by phone from the Pentagon. U.S. officials say those include whether the receiving country can confiscate the detainee's passport and monitor or detain him.
The military has kept secret much of the case files, so there is no way for the public to judge the quality of the evidence against each detainee. But defense attorneys say that while classified evidence is often used to justify holding a detainee, it rarely comes into play in decisions to let people go from Guantanamo.
Lt. Col. Stephen Abraham, an Army reservist who served as a liaison between Guantanamo tribunals and intelligence agencies, criticized the process used to decide which detainees are sent home. "The decisions are not orderly nor analytic and only rational if you accept the premise that they are made for political and not legal reasons," Abraham said in an e-mail to AP.
And the problem with that is ....? Our response to terrorism is more than just a legal proceeding, and brings the full weight of our state onto the terrorists. That includes political considerations, and while we sometimes might find that unseemly, there are legitimate political considerations in housing and returning the mooks at Gitmo. That's what we pay our leaders to consider.
One of the men who was transferred was Mohammad Akhtiar, an Afghan who told the panel he had worked for the U.S.-allied Karzai government in Afghanistan and that he was steadfastly opposed to the Taliban. He listed several senior Afghan officials, including the minister for refugees and repatriation, who he said could vouch for him. In December, Akhtiar was flown to Afghanistan and immediately released, said his U.S. lawyer, Dicky Grigg. Grigg considered it a happy ending, saying: "I believed that Mohammed Akhtiar was not a terrorist."
And if they tossed his file completely and decided it was safe, I have no problem with that.
But some of the Administrative Review Board results were murkier.
Of course they are to the journalists.
Abdul Rahman Mohammed Hussein Khowlan, a Saudi, said he went to Afghanistan to lose weight and to find the Prophet Muhammad's clothing even though the founder of Islam had never been in that country. A board member asked Khowlan to explain the search, but the detainee, who allegedly was carrying a Kalashnikov assault rifle when he was captured, responded: "There's nothing to add."
Smart boy, kept his mouth shut after telling a whopper.
England ordered Khowlan sent home to Saudi Arabia, whose government is a key U.S. ally in the Middle East.
Pro'ly because the Saoodis promised to thump him for us.
During the Administrative Review Board hearings, the transcripts show, military officers painstakingly questioned detainees to gauge the truth of their accounts. The panel's recommendations are censored from the Pentagon memos, however, meaning only England's final decisions are publicly known. But the military said those decisions differed from the panels' recommendations only occasionally.
So everyone's working together. Nice when that happens.
Human rights groups say the documents bolster their suspicions the review board hearings are window dressing and that the panels aren't really the mechanism for determining who gets out of Guantanamo and who stays. "The findings suggest the transfer and release determinations were made independently based on security risks, relations with other countries and other factors that are independent of the ARB process, and that the ARB process may be for show," said Jennifer Daskal, senior counterterrorism counsel for Human Rights Watch.
Again, Jenny, that isn't a problem for us. Of course there are a number of considerations going into the final decision. That's a more 'nuanced' position than you're used to.
Lawyers said lobbying by detainees' home countries is a major factor in release decisions. Of the 55 men slated for transfer last year, 30 were from Saudi Arabia, which has a reintegration program that provides former detainees with guidance from psychiatrists, clerics and sociologists.
And a number seven truncheon in case the psychiatrist is unsuccessful.
Wizner, the ACLU attorney, said he did not feel dangerous men were being released from Guantanamo, but rather that the Pentagon was labeling them as threats to avoid accusations it had imprisoned innocent men.
One lawyer said the U.S. even sent away two detainees who "failed" their hearings. England determined last year that both Isa al-Murbati and Jumah al-Dossari should continue to be held, but both got out of Guantanamo this summer, said their New York attorney, Joshua Colangelo-Bryan.
Navy Capt. Lana Hampton, a military spokeswoman, said England on occasion "may change his decision, based on the receipt of additional information or for other reasons," even without another hearing.
Colangelo-Bryan said al-Murbati was released upon arrival in his native Bahrain, an island state in the Persian Gulf that is home to the U.S. 5th Fleet. Al-Dossari, who holds dual Bahraini-Saudi citizenship, is in the Saudi reintegration program and will be home soon, the lawyer said. "If a government is on good terms with the United States and presses for a detainee's release, the release will happen regardless of the ARB findings," Colangelo-Bryan said. "I believe that is what happened with Isa and Jumah."
This article starring:
Abdul Rahman Mohammed Hussein Khowlan
Isa al-Murbati
Jumah al-Dossari
Mohammad Akhtiar
Posted by: ed ||
10/04/2007 13:13 ||
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Forty-one Republicans, more than 20 percent of the caucus, and one Democrat voted present on a resolution recognizing the commencement of Ramadan on Tuesday. The 42 lawmakers make up more than 10 percent of the members voting on the resolution. There were zero no votes, and 14 members did not vote.
The resolution recognized the Islamic faith as one of the great religions of the world, rejected hatred, bigotry and violence directed against Muslims, both in the United States and worldwide and [commended] Muslims in the United States and across the globe who have privately and publicly rejected interpretations and movements of Islam that justify and encourage hatred, violence and terror.
Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) dismissed the resolution as political correctness gone too far.
This resolution is an example of the degree to which political correctness has captured the political and media elite in this country, Tancredo said. I am not opposed to commending any religion for their faith. The problem is that any attempt to do so for Jews or Christians is immediately condemned as breaching the non-existent line between church and state by the same elite.
Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) said, I voted present because I read somewhere that Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion.
Joining Tancredo in his present vote were Republican Reps. Robert Aderholt (Ala.), Todd Akin (Mo.), Gresham Barrett (S.C.), Jo Bonner (Ala.), Mary Bono (Calif.), Paul Broun (Ga.), Ginny Brown-Waite (Fla.), Michael Burgess (Texas), Steve Buyer (Ind.), John Carter (Texas), Mike Conaway (Texas), Nathan Deal (Ga.), Terry Everett (Ala.), Mary Fallin (Okla.), Randy Forbes (Va.), Trent Franks (Ariz.), Scott Garrett (N.J.), Louie Gohmert (Texas), Virgil Goode (Va.), Kay Granger (Texas), Robin Hayes (N.C.), Sam Johnson (Texas), Jim Jordan (Ohio), Steve King (Iowa), Doug Lamborn (Colo.), Kenny Marchant (Texas), Jeff Miller (Fla.), Randy Neugebauer (Texas), Tom Price (Ga.), Mike Rogers (Ala.), Mark Souder (Ind.), Mac Thornberry (Texas), Todd Tiahrt (Kan.), Tim Walberg (Mich.), Zach Wamp (Tenn.), Dave Weldon (Fla.), Lynn Westmoreland (Ga.), Don Young (Alaska) and Bill Young (Fla.), as well as Democrat Mike McIntyre (N.C.).
#4
Doesn't Ramadan corespond almost exactly to Yom Kippur? I should think an addendum could have been added to this to really sour the anti-semites and Jihadist propoganda machine.
#5
GREAT point, rjs. It is about this time of year. And, I've gotta add this is gonna p!ss off the amigos, as this is supposed to be "Hispanic American" month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15).
Posted by: BA ||
10/04/2007 20:55 Comments ||
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Posted by: ed ||
10/04/2007 12:41 ||
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#1
Americans must continue to bear in mind that this WOT is a de facto WAR FOR SURVIVAL = WAR TO THE DEATH, and that as per vari Radical Mullahs Amer's enemies have no qualms about inducing MilPol Confrontation = Geopol Anarchy/Chaos amongst the major world powers. MULTILATERAL GLOBAL NUCLEAR WAR > AS VALID AS UNILATERAL AYMMETRIC WARFARE aka PEOPLE'S WAR iff it means the defeat of the USA-West.
#1
When DHS was first formed I began an application to work on the design of their computer systems but quickly changed my mind when it became obvious that the place was being staffed by longtime Washington hacks.
The Dallas trial of a charity accused of financing Middle Eastern terrorists took a twist Wednesday when jurors indicated that a member of the panel was refusing to vote. refusing out of fear?
Jurors in the case against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development were called back into the courtroom of U.S. District Judge A. Joe Fish, who told panelists they had a duty to try to reach a decision. The judge ordered jurors to resume their deliberations, which were in their ninth full day after a two-month trial.
Holy Land and five of its former leaders are accused of illegally aiding the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which the U.S. government designated a terrorist organization in 1995. Holy Land was the largest U.S. Muslim charity when the government shut it down in December 2001.
None of the jurors spoke during the brief hearing in open court, and the judge did not identify which one was refusing to deliberate.
#5
Does the judge know about dismissing the joker, and seating an alternate?
I'm sure he/she does, but liberal appellate courts have set enough precedent that the judge also knows that doing so without exhausting every other possibility is just asking for problems.
Hat tip Gateway Pundit. Read a little and you'll find an astonishing admission by the AP.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Crowds at antiwar rallies in Washington have dwindled even as U.S. opinion has turned against the war in Iraq, as organizers feud and participants question the effectiveness of the street protests.
Rival antiwar groups, which in years past jointly sponsored massive rallies on the National Mall, have promoted separate protests recently or decided to steer clear of the capital altogether. The thinning crowds stand in contrast to the antiwar protests of the Vietnam era, which grew as the war progressed.
Activists and experts say divisions among peace groups, along with other factors like the lack of a draft, fatigue about the war and the rise of the Internet, have all contributed to the declining turnout.
Not to mention that Americans generally like winners, and we're winning in Iraq.
Sparse turnout -- fewer than 1,000 at a rally on Saturday, according to local media reports -- could undermine the goal of forcing an end to U.S. involvement in Iraq, participants say. "When you have demonstrations in which the turnout is not terribly impressive, that gives politicians the sense that people may oppose the war but nobody's really going to pay a price," said Peter Kuznik, an American University history professor and antiwar protester.
The 2006 elections didn't send a message about getting out of Iraq. The message instead was, get serious about winning or get out. Bush got serious: he moved Gates in, started the surge, and got the right leadership in the region. Americans are responding to that.
Antiwar rallies drew hundreds of thousands of people at the war's start in 2003, although only 23 percent of Americans then said the invasion was a mistake, according to a USA Today/Gallup Poll. That figure is now 58 percent.
Depending on how you ask the question, of course.
Saturday's protest, sponsored by the Troops Out Now Coalition, came two weeks after an antiwar event sponsored by the ANSWER Coalition, which drew roughly 10,000 people. ANSWER also sponsored a rally in March.
The groups' agendas are similar, opposing what they call "imperialist" U.S. policy not only in Iraq but toward countries like Cuba and Iran -- which has alienated some supporters. "There's all of these peripheral issues that you're going to be associated with, whether you want to or not," said Hamilton College history professor Maurice Isserman.
And here's the amazing AP revelation:
Both groups' leaders were associated with the Workers World Party, which advocates a shift toward a Soviet-style planned economy. But a 2004 dispute prompted some members to form the splinter Party for Socialism and Liberation. Members of the splinter group stayed active in the ANSWER Coalition, and the remaining members of the Workers World Party formed the Troops Out Now Coalition, Troops Out Now spokesman Dustin Langley said.
Whoa! You mean the people pushing hardest for defeat in Iraq are communists?
Another antiwar group, United for Peace and Justice, has refused to work with ANSWER since a joint rally in 2005. The event drew well over 100,000 people, media reports said, but the two groups clashed over speaking time and other issues.
UPJ is no prize, either, being funded by the usual Soros-influenced foundations and the like.
United for Peace and Justice, which has tried to focus on ending the Iraq war, drew 100,000 people to a January protest. The group plans 11 regional demonstrations later this month, but none in Washington. "The base that we work with was saying to us, 'We've been to Washington a lot in the last four years, we don't want to go to Washington again,"' national coordinator Leslie Kagan said.
Because Washington is only the national capital.
ANSWER has called for antiwar groups to join forces for a large rally in the spring, but Kagan and Langley said their groups have not decided whether to participate.
Antiwar leaders say recent smaller protests reflect new tactics, not disorganization. Smaller activist groups like Code Pink have been a colorful, disruptive and useless presence at congressional hearings and appearances by Bush administration officials.
And remember, Code Pink was founded by Medea Benjamin, a hard-line communistStalinist type. She's a nasty piece of work who's managed to 'coordinate' the anarchist plunder (if one can coordinate anarchists) of the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle. She has lots of nice things to say about Cuba but none about her own country.
"There's times when we've had half a million people out in the streets, and there's times when it's important just to be there," Langley said.
But others said it is less likely they'll head to Washington at all. "People are tired, they are frustrated because they didn't expect this to go on so long," said Laura Bonham, a spokeswoman for Progressive Democrats of America, which lobbies lawmakers to support a withdrawal. "It's like, well, we can stay home."
They didn't expect Bush to fix things and get us back on track, either.
Largely absent from the actions are young people, who were the majority of Vietnam-era protesters -- perhaps because they do not risk being drafted into the military or from a sense that they can express their opposition to the war on the Internet, rather than on the streets, Isserman said.
And the young people have more sense than their moonbat elders.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Let's see ... United for Peace and Justice ... affiliated with Win Without War ... who coordinates their PR? ... Fenton Communications. Code Pink ... who coordinates their PR? Fenton Communications. Troops Out Now Coalition? Fenton Communications. ANSWER Coalition? Fenton. United for Peace and Justice? Fenton. They are all basically being operated by the same puppet master. Fenton specializes in creating a large number of groups to give the impression of greater grass roots support. It is astro-turfing. Fenton Communications is the master of it.
#3
IRANIAN.WS > IRAN COULD STRIKE USA BY 2015, wid long range missles [ICBMS] given current pace.
Also, see WEEKLY STANDARD > THE ABCS OF IRAQ AND AL QAEDA.
#5
Whoa! You mean the people pushing hardest for defeat in Iraq are communists?
During the build up to the OIF, you'll recall there were massive demonstrations in EUrope (formerly known as Europe) some EUro-pundits hailed as the birth of an EUropean consciousness... and maybe you'll recall commenters (really can't remember the names, sorry, just the general idea) here at RB who made a rather credible point by showing how these demonstrations were not spontaneous, but rather the work of the old commie networks, in Italy, France, the UK,... allied with the antiglobo mvt (same difference) and the arab/pro-arab lobby (like a London demonstration being co-ordinated by a fellow named al tikriti...).
And I'll bet that the underlying force behind the whole "9/11 Trooth" movement is in fact communist, even with rightwing (?) useful idiots like alex jones, and is a variation on the ongoing process of soviet demoralization and cultural marxism "cultural pessismism", by showing the western Elites to be the ultimate ennemy (that's the whole premise of the NWO conspiracy theories... not that the tranzi western Enlightened Elites are not ennemies of the West by themselves, but just, not in that fashion).
Cf this 1985 interview (made for the JBS, but, after all, despite their paranoia, they were right on the money, overall).
#7
Doc, Americans "like winners", same as everybody. But way too many Americans don't like winning enough to fight for it. It is (or seems) easier and safer to protest against the fight - I think psychologically it lets them 'win' either way. If the nation wins, then they win because they are part of it; if the nation loses, then they win because they were part of the opposition. They don't understand that 'losing' has VERY real negative consequences, even (especially) for them.
#11
Crowds at antiwar rallies in Washington have dwindled even as U.S. opinion has turned against the war in Iraq..
As always the Al Reuters can't tell the difference in the numbers of people who were 'against the war' and those against its bungled management but who want, crave, victory for the payment made. Americans, God love them, believe the boys blood should be for something rather than standing around just as targets for someone to shoot or blast. They get upset when senior management appears to treat 'their boys' as mindless cogs in a production line. They want, demand that the return is worth their 'investment'. However, the igits at Al Reuters can't fathom that point or, gasp, are being dishonest on it.
Now if someone can out the evil SOB Soros and all the money he is spending to warp American politics. Or, better yet, find a way to get to his money - or just kill the evil bastard.
#13
My Fantasy: Soros will get deported to some $hit-hole muzzie country. Unfortunately, he is a naturalized citizen of US. None of the dhimmis want to criticize him and moveon.org because they have taken campaign money from him or one of his organizations.
#15
At some time, returning troops may just decide to act out against those forces and groups that have been undercutting their efforts overseas. Indeed, all enemies foriegn and domestic may discover they are quietly being dispatched to no-return zone.
WASHINGTON -- The Senate has scrapped its bid to obtain the archive of daily intelligence briefings given to the president on Iraq prior to the 2003 invasion. That request was among several controversial provisions dropped from an intelligence bill, leading to the measure's unanimous Senate passage Wednesday.
George Bush has been some lame duck President, hasn't he? It's getting to the point where he's piling up wins against the Dhimmicrats like the Marines are piling up wins against the Taliban ...
The provision sought to give the Senate and House intelligence committees access to all presidential daily briefs between 1997 and 2003 that referred to Iraq _ an attempt to determine whether the White House mischaracterized intelligence prior to the war. Senate Republicans objected, saying the documents had already been reviewed by an independent commission, according to a congressional official.
That would be the 9/11 Commission. The Dhimmis might have just asked their own Jamie Gorelick; she was front and center in the doings up until 2001.
The final version of the bill also dropped a requirement that the director of national intelligence conduct an assessment of the effects of global climate change on national security.
Because we couldn't possibly fight al-Qaeda if it meant sacrificing the polar bears ...
The overall legislation would give Congress' approval for the whole range of intelligence programs over the coming year, including spy satellites and eavesdropping, human spying and battlefield collection, along with recommended spending levels. Most of the bill is secret.
The House approved its own version of the bill in May, and the two chambers now must work out differences between the two versions.
The Senate bill also gives new power to the inspector general in the office of the director of national intelligence to conduct investigations into Pentagon programs, which consume about 80 percent of the nation's intelligence budget. The bill also requires the director of national intelligence to alert Congress when the cost of any major intelligence acquisition program grows by 20 percent or more. If it increases by as much as 40 percent, the president has to certify the program is necessary to national security and that there are no viable alternatives. Similar requirements already apply to major defense acquisition programs.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
Might as well drop it. Nobody cares about last season's losing scores or strategies.... if your WINNING this season, and next season looks even more promising!
Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, who has been holding about 300 soldiers hostage in South Waziristan Agency since August 30, has warned the government that he will put the men in khaki on trial if 10 of his captured comrades are not freed in exchange for the safe release of the army personnel, a tribal senator told Daily Times on Wednesday.
Senator Saleh Shah said Baitullah had made two demands for the release of the soldiers: withdrawal of security forces from the Mehsud areas in South Waziristan and the release of his 10 men.
"We want Mehsudistan to be independent and our people to be immune from laws and stuff."
He said the tribal jirga negotiating the release of the soldiers was informed of these demands and was handed over the names of the militants. Just as the government has put my people on trial and sentenced them to imprisonment, I will put the soldiers on trial. I have my own courts and they will try the soldiers for violating the agreement, Shah quoted Baitullah as telling him on Tuesday. Baitullah maintains that the army has violated the Sararogha deal, agreed between the government and tribes in the area on February 2005, by setting up security posts in Mehsud-controlled areas of South Waziristan.
This article starring:
Baitullah Mehsud
Taliban
Senator Saleh Shah
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2007 00:00 ||
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Benazir Bhutto has said the US should be watchful of radicals who are trying to infiltrate the US military and intelligence establishment in pursuit of their objectives. The PPP chairwoman was quoted in a column by Cal Thomas published by the Washington Times, as saying of radicals, They are infiltrating (the US and England). What I am hearing is that they now want to buy people off (and) plant people in intelligence and the military.
According to the columnist, Mrs Bhutto described the radicalisation of Islam, which she said is virtually unchallenged in Islamic world, When I was a young girl, my Islamic teachers said everybody can have their own religion. Now they say you cannot (even) talk to others about their religion.
This article starring:
Benazir Bhutto
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#5
Bhutto ought to know. Her father was a KGB confidential contact, and her older brother was a radical terrorist based out of Communist-occupied Kabul. Of course, they were on the other side of the Commie/Jihadi pissing match, but you know, common tactics...
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
10/04/2007 9:11 Comments ||
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The district administration opened Lal Masjid in compliance with the orders of the Supreme Court on Wednesday, three months after it was closed following an operation against militants who had holed up inside the mosque. Hundreds of students from the Jamia Faridia and Jamia Hafsa gathered at the newly painted and repaired mosque to offer Zuhr prayers.
Commandoes raided the mosque to oust the militants, and this appeared to have sparked a wave of suicide bombings and other attacks by Islamic extremists in the country that have left nearly 300 people dead.
The capital and Punjab police were deployed at the mosque to avoid any kind of re-capture of the mosque by the militants. The forces were asked by authorities to remove their pickets to allow the general public to enter the mosque.
The madrassa students took responsibility for security at the mosque and the administration of the mosque had issued special security cards to the students deputed at the gates.
The madrassa students took responsibility for security at the mosque and the administration of the mosque had issued special security cards to the students deputed at the gates of the mosque.
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal leader Shah Abdul Aziz said no politics would be carried on in the mosque. He also asked the students to congregate peacefully at the mosque. He said that the administration of the mosque would cooperate with the local authorities in the interest of the general public.
Abdul Aziz speaks: A recorded statement by former Lal Masjid imam, Maulana Abdul Aziz, who has been detained on various charges, was aired at the occasion. Our movement for the enforcement of Sharia has been stained with our blood and it must continue, Aziz said in the message. The problems of this country can only be overcome with Islamic law, he said. Aziz asked the students and other followers to remain calm.
Ume Hassan, principal of the demolished Jamia Hafsa, asked the students of the madrassa to focus on their studies instead of indulging in politics. She prevented students from heading towards the site of the demolished madrassa.
The Pakistan government, Western and Pakistani security officials are quoted as saying, is losing the war against emboldened insurgent forces. A report filed from Peshawar and appearing in the Washington Post on Wednesday claims that the depth of the problem has become clear only in recent months, as regional peace deals have collapsed and the government has deferred developing a new strategy to defeat insurgents until the political crisis involving President Pervez Musharraf is resolved.
I wouldn't say it's only become clear in recent months. We've been aware of it all along here at Rantburg, and as far as I know none of us is psychic except for Frank G. Though I think RD can levitate, so I might be wrong...
Military officials say the insurgents have enhanced their ability to threaten not only Pakistan, but the US and Europe as well.
Pakistain's been providing the muscle for AQ from the first. What surprises me is how much of the brains they're supplying. For the most part, it's not top quality gray matter, which accounts for the amount of success we in the West have had.
Military pulling back: Theyve had a chance to regroup and reorganise, according to an unnamed Western military official in Pakistan. Theyre well equipped. Theyre clearly getting training from somewhere.
AQ is capable of training the locals, mostly to one-shot standards, but I'm sure the actual bright boys there will be a few, despite the locals' love of inbreeding are being brought along for more complicated tasks, too.
"And theyre using more and more advanced tactics. The Pakistan military is said to be considering pulling back from the fight, at least partially, because of mounting losses.
I think the Pak military's been demonstrated to be not very good at much besides feathering their own nests. Certainly they're not up to the standards of the Afghan army. By this point the Indians probably have them so far outclassed as to rule out any real contest not involving nukes.
A Pakistani official told the newspaper, [Pakistani security forces] are not trained for a counterinsurgency. Its not their number one priority. Its not even their number two priority. These are the reasons things arent going their way.
This, despite the fact that their country's crawling with insurgents of one stripe or another. That tells me the Pak officer corps is pretty useless. I know they don't feel shame like we do - they've demonstrated that often enough, too - but apparently they don't feel it at all, under any circumstances.
New strategy unlikely: Pakistani military officials concede they are scratching their turbans and searching for a new strategy now that the old one has gone awry. But with Gen Musharraf struggling to stay in office and expected to soon step down as army chief, no decisions are likely until the question of who is to rule Pakistan is settled.
It's really important that the right person's standing at the helm when the ship goes down.
The main criticism of the deals, both in Pakistan and in the West, had been that they gave Al Qaeda and the Taliban sanctuary in which to train, plot and launch attacks.
No! Reeeeeeeally? Who'da ever guessed that? Never saw that one coming, did we?
Now, security experts say Pakistan is paying the price for not confronting the problem head-on, with insurgent groups capitalising on their newfound strength.
We may have mentioned the principle of "pay me now, pay me later" here a time or two in the past...
The surrender of 250 troops to the insurgents without firing a bullet has called into question the armys commitment to fighting an unpopular war that requires Pakistanis to kill their countrymen.
... but allows their countrymen to kill Pakistanis. My mind's not built for that sort of logic.
It has also exposed the army to ridicule, says the report.
Really? You mean they do feel shame? Or do they just accept the ridicule as their due and kind of vaguely regret being ridiculous?
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
We've been aware of it all along here at Rantburg, and as far as I know none of us is psychic except for Frank G.
I knew you were going to say that
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/04/2007 4:25 Comments ||
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The bombing of a girls school and a deluge of threatening letters issued to numerous other girls schools by militants in Swat district have forced girls and their teachers to stay away from school premises, Daily Times learnt on Wednesday.
A Swat district Education Department official told Daily Times that girl schools in the area were receiving a deluge of threatening letters and menacing people kept roaming around the schools. He said attendance at girls schools had dropped to nearly 20-25 percent and was dropping further. The government has officially closed only one school, he said: the Government Girls Higher Secondary School Kabal which was bombed.
In the other schools, teachers and students had stopped attending after receiving threats, but the administration had asked them to reopen the schools, he added. Officially, a school is closed when the department issues a notice, but in this case the teachers and students have stopped attending out of fear, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Look for a few copycats here, around exam time.
Zamir Akram, foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, defended on Tuesday Pakistans efforts to engage tribal leaders living on the rugged Pakistani-Afghan border as crucial to fighting terrorists operating in that lawless region.
US officials have criticised a failed peace deal between Pakistan and pro-Taliban tribes for allowing Al Qaeda fighters to regroup and have urged the country to do more to fight terrorists. Akram said Pakistan must win over the frontier tribes. If you lose support of the tribes, theres no way you can control those territories, Akram told an audience at the Middle East Institute. Relying on a military approach, he said, would lead to airstrikes and civilian deaths, which would make the people living in the region enemies of the Pakistani government and the US. Akram also warned against increased pressure on Pakistan to step up fighting along the border.
When we hear people in Washington or London say that Pakistan needs to do more, the question is: Do you understand what youre asking us to do? Would you in the US or in Britain or wherever else be prepared to do the same thing against your own people? Would you go into Texas or wherever on the border areas and actually kill Americans?
Akram in his comments criticised another cause of tension: a new US law that requires the US president to confirm that Pakistan is making progress toward combating terrorists inside its territory before the US will provide aid. Such a law, he said, angers Pakistanis and reminds them of previous sanctions by the US against Pakistan. Akram urged the US, rather than focusing on military action in Pakistan, to boost support for social programmes meant to end unemployment and ease anger in poor areas where terrorists try to recruit young people.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Has Zamir Akram ever visited Waco, Texas?
Has he ever visited Manassas, Sharpsburg, Fredricksburg, Chancellorsville, Spotsylvania, the Wilderness, or Gettysburg?
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
10/04/2007 8:54 Comments ||
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#1
I'd love to see these guys go round robin on him with civil suits till the day he dies. Class action may actually be better, more expensive to fight.
#4
The case against Staff Sgt. Wuterich is simply not strong enough to conclude he committed murder beyond a reasonable doubt, Ware wrote. Almost all witnesses have an obvious bias or prejudice. Instead of drafting resolutions condemning Rush Limbaugh, Congress ought to be drafting a resolution condemning the slandering John Murtha.
Sounds like more than one Marine is champing at the bit to have proceedings begin against Murtha.
*Charges dropped against Capt. Lucas McConnell
*Charges recommended dropped against Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum
*Charges dropped against Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt
*Charges dropped against Sergeant Sanick Dela Cruz
How is it that charges have not been dismissed against Sgt. Wuterich?
#4
For phuechs sake! I believe we've got quite enough to keep FBI investigators busy right here at home. Hows about the Bureau investigating (finding and prosecuting) illegals coming across our US borders and state lines committing felony crimes right here at home.
#5
Regardless of whether or not Blackwater is guilty of any wrongdoing, this is a legally prudent move by their organization. For them to be tasked with protecting those who are investigating their putative culpability represents a potential and possibly profound conflict of interest. Still, it remains somewhat amusing to speculate upon exactly who will end up providing security for the FBI investigators. Unless the military diverts some extremely skilled cover, these bureau wonks will have less-than-seasoned protection. Curious, that.
#1
If I understood it correctly the conclusion is The more terrorized Baghdad Sunnis are, the less assistance they can give to suicide boomers in targeting Shia---seems reasonable.
#2
ISN [International Security Watch] > IRGC OR SEPAH PREPARING FOR A "HOT WAR". National-Govt mobilization + changes in command. Asymmetric warfare thru Second-Strike Missle Capability, Utilization of Proxy Groups anywhere in ME and World, etal.
#3
I find the "Rogue Elements" spin to be disingenuous at best, and giving Sadr and Iran a pass at worst. Either they are under his control, or he was never that powerful to begin with
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/04/2007 7:12 Comments ||
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Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas understands that the time is not yet ripe for a final status agreement with Israel, the Prime Minister's Office said following a meeting between Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Wednesday afternoon.
The Palestinians, Olmert's office said, know that they have a long road ahead before they are ready for such an agreement. However, the PMO expressed satisfaction with the meeting, at which the two leaders agreed to present a joint declaration of principles, rather than a framework agreement, at a US-sponsored peace parley in November.
The compromise drew fire from both ends of the political spectrum. The Likud criticized the meeting, saying in a statement released early Wednesday evening that current government policy could lead to the establishment of a "second Hamastan" in the West Bank that could pose a missile threat to Gush Dan.
No wording [of the agreement] can hide the fact that the Olmert government has promised the Palestinians to withdraw to the 1967 borders and divide Jerusalem, the statement said.
Peace Now also expressed its dissatisfaction with the watered-down plan, saying that unless the issues at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were addressed at the November meeting, the parley would turn into a "useless media show."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2007 00:00 ||
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Most residents of the Gaza Strip are afraid to openly express their political views following Hamas' takeover of the area in June, according to a poll released Wednesday, the latest sign of public discontent with Gaza's Hamas rulers.
No! Afraid to reveal their most innermostest thoughts to a crazed band of homicidal thugs?
The poll found that a majority of Gazans oppose rocket attacks on Israel, favor a peace agreement with the Jewish state, and do not consider the Hamas authority in Gaza to be the legitimate Palestinian government. It also concluded that Hamas would lose elections if a new vote were held today.
But they aren't going to have a new vote today, are they.
The poll was conducted by Near East Consulting, a research firm based in the West Bank. The firm said it surveyed 470 Palestinians in Gaza by telephone on September 25-27. It did not give a margin of error.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
But they aren't going to have a new vote today at all, are they.
#5
"The poll found that a majority of Gazans oppose rocket attacks on Israel, favor a peace agreement with the Jewish state, and do not consider the Hamas authority in Gaza to be the legitimate Palestinian government"
Well here's and idea - stop firing rockets, get rid of Hamas, and sign an agreement. Do they dope the water with "stoopid" or something?
There's a certain irony in the silence, especially among self-described progressives, on the Iranian crackdown. I don't know of any serious policymaker who thinks that military strikes are a good thing, or that a nuclear-armed Iran wouldn't bring us into real crisis. An active union movement in Iran would strengthen civil society there. If the Iranian regime were more accountable to its people and their demands for better living conditions, more schools, hospitals, etc., the leadership would likely not be able to invest so much in terrorist groups and nuclear adventurism. A real union movement might help the U.S. avoid the worst-case scenarios and, at the same time, be embraced by Iranians.
Some progressives may honestly believe that U.S. support would backfire; they counsel doing nothing and often cite not dissidents but rather the so-called reformists who remain committed to theocracy, just not when it's guided by their factional rivals. It is telling now, though, that the family members of imprisoned labor leaders are seeking international support. Congress listened; but neither the White House nor major presidential contenders have.
Likewise, while a crackdown did come after the bipartisan embrace of Lech Walesa and Solidarity in Poland, Walesa subsequently won the Nobel Peace Prize and, upon the crumbling of the dictatorship, became Poland's president. I had the pleasure of meeting him a few years back on the 25th anniversary of Solidarity's founding; neither he nor his colleagues at the time complained of U.S. support, even if the Soviet authorities and their Polish clients might have sought to tarnish them as compromised. . . .
Congress does something right for once.
Posted by: Mike ||
10/04/2007 12:55 ||
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Link ||
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#1
Why is Ron Paul (the lone dissenting vote) still stealing my oxygen?
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
10/04/2007 14:40 Comments ||
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A recently formed Syrian guerrilla group modeling itself after the Lebanese Hezbollah militia is preparing for "resistance attacks" against the Jewish state, leaders of the purported group stated during in-person interviews released in a new book.
The information comes as Israel yesterday broke its nearly four-week silence and admitted officially the Jewish state's warplanes struck a "military installation" in Syria last month, prompting some officials in Damascus to call for retaliation, including guerrilla raids against Israel.
In his new book, "Schmoozing with Terrorists: From Hollywood to the Holy Land, Jihadists Reveal their Global Plans to a Jew!" WND Jerusalem bureau chief obtained access to the leadership of the new purported Syrian group, calling itself the Committees for the Liberation of the Golan.
"If an agreement is not quickly forged between Israel and Syria [for an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan], we will begin attacks," a senior leader of the Committees told Klein, speaking on condition his name be withheld.
The Golan Heights is strategic mountainous territory looking down on Israeli and Syrian population centers captured by Israel after Damascus twice used the territory to attack the Jewish state.
The Committees leader stated Syria watched as Israel "lost" a war against the Lebanese Hezbollah militia in the summer of 2006 and noted the Syrian leadership learned that "fighting" is more effective than peace negotiations with regard to gaining territory.
The leader explained in "Schmoozing" his group will initiate rocket attacks and Hezbollah-like raids against Israeli troop positions and Golan-based Jewish communities in hopes of eventually provoking a conflict or generating domestic Israeli pressure for Israel to vacate the Golan.
Much of the Israeli sections of the Golan look down on Syria, and there are U.N. posts at international buffer areas between the Israeli and Syrian sides of the territory, but the Committees leader explained there are multiple points of vulnerability along the Syria-Israel border that can be exploited, including many Israeli sections of the Golan that are at level with the Syrian sides.
The Committees for the Liberation of the Golan Heights consists of Syrian volunteers, many from the Syrian border with Turkey and from Palestinian refugee camps near Damascus, the Committees leader stated. He said Syria held registration for volunteers to join the Committees last June.
Israel is taking seriously the claims of formation of the Committees.
Amos Yadlin, head of the IDF's intelligence branch, stated Syria is indeed in the early stages of forming a Hezbollah-like group.
Israeli security officials speaking to WND said Syrian President Bashar Assad is under heavy pressure from Iran and from senior elements within his military to retaliate for the Israeli aerial strike, especially since the Israel Defense Forces yesterday officially confirmed a raid in Syria took place.
The security officials said if pressure continues to escalate or if the IDF conducts other operation inside Syria, Assad, realizing his army it not prepared for a direct confrontation with Israel, may respond by launching guerrilla attacks against the Golan Heights.
Yesterday, Mohammad Habbash, a member of the Syrian parliament, told reporters Syria may resort to a guerrilla war: "If the Israeli side launches attacks, believe me we will be very harsh in our response," stated Habbash. "It will be a guerrilla war. There will be guerrilla warfare coming from Lebanon and Syria, and it will be very harsh."
In an interview with the BBC Monday, Assad said Syria is still considering an "appropriate" response to the Israeli aerial attack. He said it wouldn't have to be "missile-for-missile" but could be a political reaction.
Assad claimed Israeli jets hit an unmanned military facility in the Sept. 6 raid.
The IDF has not announced the exact target of its missile strike except that it was a military installation, but multiple newspapers reports have alleged Israel destroyed a facility at which North Korea was transferring nuclear technology to the Syrians.
Posted by: Granter Jolung7182 ||
10/04/2007 03:29 ||
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#1
Looks like these tembelim are asking for a can of whupass.
#2
So, syria will retaliate by letting a sock puppetgroup launch missiles into Israel, aka Resistance, and pretend it's not its doing? Brilliant! If they really want to start a war, that is. I hope for them the israelis will repeat exactly the same leadership issues than for the hizbollah thumping (Israel claimed to have killed 500 and identified about 100-200 "militants" in its belated ground advances alone, not to mention the busted defense infrastructures in south lebanon and the totalled hizb real estate in beyrouth, plus various attempted or succesful zapping of hizb biggies in the bekka valley and elsewhere), but again, basing your whole Plan on the premise the ennemy will be incompetent in the exact way you want is not very forward-looking.
#4
VARIOUS ISRAEL NEWS > SYRIAN Parliament Member > ISRAEL must make changes to its policies. Else, there will be conflict wid Israel facing HEZBOLLAH in the North, HAMAS to the South [Gaza-West Bank?], and the SYRIAN ARMY which is allied with IRAN.
Posted by: 3dc ||
10/04/2007 01:11 ||
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[4 views]
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#1
I wanna see lefties' faces when they appear in the same form as these in RB's sour grapes image. They' been had. Not the first time, not the last. Tools are for use.
{glad to se that my invention "Ahmadinutjob" and it's shorter variants (like Nut Job) are spreading wide and far}
Lebanon's Maronite Bishops noted Wednesday that "time has come" for Beirut's city center and its environs to be "liberated", stressing that renewed prosperity of the sector would be an "appreciated national move."
The statement was released after the Bishop's monthly meeting presided over by Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir. The statement came two days before a scheduled address by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Jerusalem Day.
News reports predicted that Nasrallah, in his Friday address, would call off the 10-month sit-in staged by the Hezbollah -led opposition in downtown Beirut's Riyadh Solh Square. The sit-in, now referred to as Tent City, was launched on Dec. 1 with the declared objective of toppling Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government, which remains in office.
The bishops, in their monthly statement, criticized the ongoing rhetoric regarding who should be president, terming it "unjustified."
"More important is holding presidential elections within the constitutional schedule and in line with the constitution to avoid political vacuum and the serious chaos that would follow," the statement noted.
The statement also said "questions have been raised" about the chain of fires that spread across Lebanon's once green woods. "Who can provide answers to these questions? Would any one compensate for the losses?" the statement asked.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
But EUROPE? WAFF.com articles > ITALY TURNS TO ISLAM + MANY GERMANS CONVERTING TO ISLAM + 1000 YEARS OF ISLAM IN BRITAIN.
Syrian President Bashar Assad reiterated Damascus' denial of any involvement in the series of assassinations and assassination attempts that have hit Lebanon. "We don't know. We are not in Lebanon," Assad told BBC radio in response to a question. "Before these assassinations, many friends of Syria were assassinated, but they were not mentioned. Who killed them?"
Friends such as...?
Assad acknowledged Syria's influence on Lebanon. "We have good relations since we are neighbors of Lebanon," Assad said. "Therefore, it's normal to have influence." He said, however, that this "influence is different from committing crime in Lebanon."
"Influence could be negative or positive," Assad said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Considering Iran's = Moud's absolutely overwhelming national military response to Israel after 9/6, as per the Syrian-Iran alliance, why would Assad = Syria wanna go out on his own???
#3
Maybe we can just get Western news agencies to spell his name Asshat instead ... that should go a long way towards putting things in their proper perspective.
#5
SYRIA > Hezbollah-type new guerilla group claims its "ready for attacks" agz Israel. Also says willing to attack US interests, troops, etc. in Iraq and entire ME.
Irans Foreign Ministry summoned a senior French diplomat on Wednesday to protest at extreme remarks by Frances Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, in a deepening nuclear standoff between Tehran and the West. Kouchner last month sparked controversy by saying the world should prepare for a war with Iran. On Tuesday he said the situation in Iran was dangerous and that a nuclear-armed Iran would make the Middle East situation even more complicated. IRNA said the Foreign Ministry lodged Wednesdays protest after provocative and unrealistic comments by French political officials, especially the extreme remarks by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. Frances charge daffaires in Tehran, in the absence of that countrys ambassador, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, IRNA said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2007 00:00 ||
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[4 views]
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#1
But NOT Germany or Russia for making similar remarks???
#2
Well, Iranian FM think that French are cheese eating surrender monkeys (only partially true and mayhaps they're even on the way to recovery), while Germans (am torn) and Russians aren't. As simple as that.
#5
Where does it say that you have to respond to invitations? he can just send his regrets, " Sorry, but I am having the air in my tyres changed. perhaps some other time."
Iran's foreign minister said Wednesday the United States is not in a position to launch a war against Iran because American taxpayers are already saddled with the very costly war in Iraq. Nonetheless, Manouchehr Mottaki accused US President George W. Bush's administration of engaging in a "psychological war" and raising the option of a military strike every six months over the last two years.
At some point during each six-month period, he said, "we were receiving information which looked very exact - in some specific hour and date the strike will take place." While the US maintains that all options including a military attack remain on the table, Mottaki said "Our analysis is clear. US is not in a position to impose another war in our region against their taxpayers."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2007 00:00 ||
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[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Wel-l-l now, iff memory and legend is correct, during WW2 US private companies helped built the entire Manhattan Project for the total profit of ONE US DOLLAR, so that the USA [and Free World]can win something called a "World War".
#3
FREEREPUBLIC Poster > reminds that Iran back in 2006 had publicly/overtly warned that 40,0000 [50K?] suicidists will strike back at the USA via terror iff the USA went after Iran's nukes = nucprogs militarily.
#7
At some point during each six-month period, he said, "we were receiving information which looked very exact - in some specific hour and date the strike will take place."
In the vitally important disinformation game, it's always a huge plus when you can get valid confirmation of receipt. Thank you Manooooouch'r, so thoughtful of you!
#8
More 'whistling past the cemetery' for the Mad Mullahs, and that's getting more frequent!
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/04/2007 7:13 Comments ||
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#9
well, getting them turbans and panties unknotted every time does keep em busy
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/04/2007 7:15 Comments ||
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#10
I mean, because after all, the Mighty Mad Mullah Mighty Military Machine would destroy all attackers in femtoseconds, anyway, so like, why are they worried about an attack? Their latest invention sees all, hears all, and knows all - why, attackers couldn't even get close! Just ask Syria!
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/04/2007 7:16 Comments ||
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#11
It's gonna feel great to finally bust these bastards. I hope it's a surprise, like when you come home and turn on Foxnews and go Whoa!!! Coool!!!
#12
Oh, well, the dollar is going down the loo, and world economy is headed to collapse eventually, so, I say, let's forget the cost issue, and let's do it anyway! Someone should inform that guy that two things are unescapable : death (to the MM, hopefully), and taxes (to the US taxpayers), it's all part of the Cycle of life.
#13
it's gonna be real expensive to bring all those heavy JDAMs and cruise missiles home, let's just leave them in Iran there
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/04/2007 7:43 Comments ||
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#14
At the beginning of the 20th century a Russian economist pointed out that the countries of Europe couldn't afford to go to war either. As demonstrated in two world wars, that didn't stop them from happening. Somethings are considered more important by people than just plain economics, like national survival. Of course, that implies you believe in something like a 'national identity', something often vacant in and around campuses and extremists political gatherings where we get way too much noise from in our national discussion. It confuses the outsiders leading to misconceptions and bad policy choices.
#16
Back in 1941-44, we had War Bonds to help defray the cost of the war. Also President Roosevelt and Congress agreed that the war took priority over domestic programs like the WPA.
Citizens would buy the bonds; the government used the money and then after the war, the bonds were cashed with interest. Given the Democrats in Congress today, a program like this would probably not fly because, they would be viewed as endorsing a war and the president, the Left and Far Left would not like this kind of endorsement. Then the politicans would have to worry about re-election. ANSWER and Move-On have too much influence with the Oprah , Rosie and Whoopie crowds. And unfortunately these people vote.
#17
Ammonium nitrtae is $.020/lb. Napalm made from Iranian crude is a money maker. Revenge is priceless. It all depends on what level of destruction is desired.
Posted by: ed ||
10/04/2007 12:26 Comments ||
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#3
Yup, time to get busy and take em down. We owe the Iranians big time for our embassy and all the other terrorist activities they have supported. a$$holes.
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.
A Turkish teen will spend more than 10 years in prison for killing a Catholic priest as the man knelt in prayer, state-run media reported Thursday. The 16-year-old, identified only as O.A., had pleaded guilty to shooting the Rev. Andrea Santoro at a church in the Black Sea port city of Trabzon in February 2006.
WATERLOO, Iowa - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, D-Ill., said he will no longer wear an American flag lapel pin because it has become a substitute for true patriotism since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
WASHINGTON -- The Senate has scrapped its bid to obtain the archive of daily intelligence briefings given to the president on Iraq prior to the 2003 invasion. That request was among several controversial provisions dropped from an intelligence bill, leading to the measure's unanimous Senate passage Wednesday.
The district administration opened Lal Masjid in compliance with the orders of the Supreme Court on Wednesday, three months after it was closed following an operation against militants who had holed up inside the mosque. Hundreds of students from the Jamia Faridia and Jamia Hafsa gathered at the newly painted and repaired mosque to offer Zuhr prayers.
The Pakistan government, Western and Pakistani security officials are quoted as saying, is losing the war against emboldened insurgent forces. A report filed from Peshawar and appearing in the Washington Post on Wednesday claims that the depth of the problem has become clear only in recent months, as regional peace deals have collapsed and the government has deferred developing a new strategy to defeat insurgents until the political crisis involving President Pervez Musharraf is resolved. 
Lebanon's Maronite Bishops noted Wednesday that "time has come" for Beirut's city center and its environs to be "liberated", stressing that renewed prosperity of the sector would be an "appreciated national move."
Syrian President Bashar Assad reiterated Damascus' denial of any involvement in the series of assassinations and assassination attempts that have hit Lebanon. "We don't know. We are not in Lebanon," Assad told BBC radio in response to a question. "Before these assassinations, many friends of Syria were assassinated, but they were not mentioned. Who killed them?" 
Irans Foreign Ministry summoned a senior French diplomat on Wednesday to protest at extreme remarks by Frances Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, in a deepening nuclear standoff between Tehran and the West. Kouchner last month sparked controversy by saying the world should prepare for a war with Iran. On Tuesday he said the situation in Iran was dangerous and that a nuclear-armed Iran would make the Middle East situation even more complicated. IRNA said the Foreign Ministry lodged Wednesdays protest after provocative and unrealistic comments by French political officials, especially the extreme remarks by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. Frances charge daffaires in Tehran, in the absence of that countrys ambassador, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, IRNA said.
