Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Thursday that NATO countries were playing a significant and powerful role in Afghanistan, after some of Washingtons closest European allies assailed him for comments cited in a news report about their counterinsurgency operations in the volatile south.
Speaking at a news conference in Washington, Mr. Gates said that the allies had stepped up to the plate in Afghanistan.
Mr. Gates was quoted, in an interview this week with The Los Angeles Times, as saying that most of the European forces are not properly trained in counterinsurgency. He added, referring to the operations in southern Afghanistan, that he was worried we have some military forces that dont know how to do counterinsurgency operations.
The interview hit a nerve inside the 26-member NATO alliance, which is debating its future role in fighting terrorism, particularly in Afghanistan.
The Dutch government, seeking clarification, on Wednesday summoned the American ambassador. The government only recently agreed to extend its mandate in the south, where it has 1,600 troops.
On Thursday, Mr. Gates called the Dutch defense minister, Eimert van Middelkoop.
Mr. Gates telephoned Eimert van Middelkoop and apologized, Joop Veen, a Dutch Defense Ministry spokesman, said, Agence France-Presse reported.
Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, confirmed that Mr. Gates had made the call but said there was nothing for which Mr. Gates needed to apologize. The secretary called his Dutch counterpart this afternoon and tried to clear up any misunderstanding caused by the article and expressed regret for any consternation it has caused the Dutch government, Mr. Morrell said.
NATO went to Afghanistan in August 2003 with a focus on providing security and carrying out peacekeeping missions, while American troops focused on counterinsurgency.
Last year, NATO became much more involved in heavy combat missions in the south. Until now, there was little public criticism over the way the two missions cooperated.
Gates seemed to have forgotten or does not know that the Dutch armed forces have been completely changed since the end of the cold war. We have become an expeditionary force with wide experience, said Maj. Gen. Kees Homan, a security expert at Clingendael, the Netherlands Institute of International Relations.
By singling out those countries that are doing most of the fighting in Afghanistan, Gates has committed a tactical error, both politically and among Dutch public opinion, he said. Why did he not criticize those NATO countries which stay well away from the fighting?
#2
You could shorten that to "NATO Can't do" and it still works.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/18/2008 13:01 Comments ||
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#3
Well, certain MEMBERS of NATO "can do", but it's 90% US "can do". No other NATO nation actually trains or practices counterterrorism or counter-insurgency. The Brits used to, but quit after leaving Malaysia. Secretary Gates' criticism is justified in that regard. The US should set up a counter-insurgency training center in Afghanistan, and train all NATO forces, as well as Afghan and Pakistani troops. It would supposedly get all the forces fighting the Taliban on the same sheet of music, at least.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/18/2008 14:02 Comments ||
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Spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry raised his eyebrows at a para in the European resolution, criticizing Egypt over tunnels used in the alleged frontier running of weapons to Gaza. A mere mentioning of such a topic sends the resolution into question, he said.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit condemned here Thursday a European Parliament resolution criticizing the status of human rights in Egypt. Abul Gheit made the remarks after the European Parliament already passed a resolution in this respect earlier in the day even after Cairo summoned EU ambassadors to complain about the text.
Emphatically rejecting the resolution, the Egyptian foreign minister said the European Parliament was ignorant about Egypt or even about how to deal with it and its political, economic and social reforms over recent years. "Egypt needs no lessons from any party, especially if this party is marked by a high measure of arrogance associated with ignorance," he criticized.
He called on European members of parliament to hail Egypt's political and social reforms instead of flatly rapping obstacles which the Egyptian government seeks determinedly to remove. Abul Gheit hailed the Egyptian People's Assembly, lower house of Egyptian parliament, for boycotting the Euro-Mediterranean Parliament in response to the European gadfly resolution.
In a related development, Spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry raised his eyebrows at a para in the European resolution, criticizing Egypt over tunnels used in the alleged frontier running of weapons to Gaza. A mere mentioning of such a topic sends the resolution into question, he said. At a sparsely attended plenary session, 52 of the 59 deputies present voted for the resolution, while seven abstained. The parliament seats 784 deputies.
The text criticizes Egypt over the status of religious minorities, alleged torture practices and Egypt's decades-long state of emergency. It also calls for the immediate release of jailed former member of parliament and former Al-Ghad Party leader Ayman Nur, who was a rival to President Hosni Mubarak in the 2005 presidential elections. He has been in jail for fraud.
Ahead of the vote in Strasbourg, France, senior E.U. lawmakers vowed not to bow to Egyptian pressure, after the parliament in Cairo announced it would sever links with the European assembly.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry summoned the ambassadors of European Union countries in Cairo to express its "complete rejection" of the European Parliament resolution.
#2
It does seem odd that the EU Parliament would chastise Egypt. After all, they've praised the Palestinians, castigated Israel, and kowtowed to Iran. The message is a bit muddled.
#3
It does seem odd that the EU Parliament would chastise Egypt.
Egypt, has no oil. It haven't been supporting "Palestinian fight for freedom" as much as EU would like.
Most importantly, Egyptians haven't flown even a single plane into USA skyscraper in the last six years.
Egypt on Thursday summoned 27 EU ambassadors in Cairo to notify them of its objection to a looming European Parliamentary bill condemning alleged human rights violations in the country.
"Bad dhimmis!"
"Today, the ambassadors of the 27 European Union countries have been summoned to inform them about Cairo's emphatic opposition to a draft resolution tabled to the European Parliament on human rights in Egypt," Hosam Zaki, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, said in news remarks. Such a bill, if adopted, would unfavorably affect Egyptian-European relations, he said.
He also voiced Egypt's objection to bids by any state or agency to comment on the country's human rights. "Egypt can not allow any state or agency to give lessons to other countries on their international conditions, regardless of its remarks on the performance of such countries, especially in the field of human rights," Zaki added. "It is better for those countries to pay attention to their citizens' sufferings from systematic human rights abuses before they judge other countries' human rights conditions," he emphasized.
Bilateral cooperation, coordination and consultations will be overshadowed by such a bill, he warned.
Egyptian parliament has decided to boycott the meetings of the Euro-Mediterranean Parliament in response to a potential draft law by the European Parliament, condemning alleged human rights violations in Egypt. It has also warned that it will sever relations with the European Parliament and Euro-Mediterranean Parliament for what he calls "blatant interference in Egypt's domestic affairs under the guise of human rights violations."
MiniTruth Ministers have adopted a new language for declarations on Islamic terrorism. In future, fanatics will be referred to as pursuing "anti-Islamic activity".
Could you say that again? I couldn't understand you with all that meal in your mouth.
Newspeak Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said that extremists were behaving contrary to their faith, rather than acting in the name of Islam.
That's why they holler "Allahu Akbar!" before they go kaboom.
Security officials believe that directly linking terrorism to Islam is inflammatory, and risks alienating mainstream Muslim opinion. We shall cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. - Koran 3:151
In her first major speech on radicalisation, Miss Smith repeatedly used the phrase "anti-Islamic". In one passage she said: "As so many Muslims in the UK and across the world have pointed out, there is nothing Islamic about the wish to terrorise, nothing Islamic about plotting murder, pain and grief. Allah inspired the angels with the message: "I will terrorize the unbelievers. Therefore smite them on their necks and every joint and incapacitate them. Strike off their heads and cut off each of their fingers and toes." - Koran 8:12
"Indeed, if anything, these actions are anti-Islamic'. Another section referred to enlisting the Muslim community against "anti-Islamic activity". The infidels should not think that they can get away from us. Prepare against them whatever arms and cavalry you can muster that you may strike terror in the enemies of Allah, and others besides them not known to you. - Koran 8:59-60
Her words were chosen to reflect new Government strategy on labelling the terrorists and their recruiting agents. The shift follows a decision taken last year to stop using the phrase "war on terror", first adopted by U.S. President Bush. They long that ye should disbelieve even as they disbelieve, that ye may be upon a level (with them). So choose not friends from them till they forsake their homes in the way of Allah; if they turn back (to enmity) then take them and kill them wherever ye find them, and choose no friend nor helper from among them - Koran 4:89
Rest at link. Also heartwarming photo of NHS doctor (of indeterminate religion) flambé.
Posted by: ed ||
01/18/2008 06:49 ||
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[7 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#1
Just call it the Jihad. Everybody will agree on that.
#2
Yeah, the good old "Don't piss off the people that want to conquer/kill us" routine. And we all know how well that worked out before that little incident called WWII.
#5
Actually, this may unintentionally be amusing. For example, "Imam accused of un-Islamic activities".
If you think about it, it essentially says that the *state* determines what is Islamic or not, not those that practice or believe in Islam. In turn, this is not too far removed from the *state* issuing licenses for Imams. Or taking away those licenses because the Islam they preach is not in conformity to what the *state* defines as Islamic.
Britain's top law-and-order official wants extremist content off the Web, saying Thursday she intends to deny Islamist ideologues the use of a key recruitment tool.
British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, giving the keynote speech at a conference on radicalization and political violence, said "the Internet is not a no-go area for government." She compared her government's plan to counter extremism on the Internet to its long-standing campaign against pedophiles and child pørnography online. "If we are ready and willing to take action to stop the grooming of vulnerable young people on social-networking sites, then I believe we should also take action against those who groom vulnerable people for the purposes of violent extremism. Where there is illegal material on the Net, I want it removed."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/18/2008 00:00 ||
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[8 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Britain
#1
Paper copy sales of the Koran will not be effected.
#2
One senior western diplomat said: "The British have demonstrated that they have a better understanding of the Afghan people than the Americans."
"Understanding" may in fact be quite accurate, but please tell me once again how both the first and second Anglo-Afghan Wars ended? Yes indeed, the Poms certain put the "P" in the term asymmetric warfare.
#4
Read Pundita's explanation of the British approach (multiculti to keep a thin veneer of control over the natives/colonies) vs. the US understanding that we need to defeat the insurgents & transform the country.
As she points out, the British approach is by far the easiest and least expensive --- in the short run, and when the natives don't acquire, for instance, nuclear weapons.
#10
The US general Dan McNeill, commander of Nato troops in Afghanistan, called the British ambassador in Kabul as soon as the story broke to assure him Mr Gates was speaking out of turn.
#11
The Brits have a damnable belief that they *understand* Muslims, and especially Arabs. This is a very bad habit, and self-delusional. It leads to several nasty mistakes.
First of these is encouraging them to do things "their way". "Their way" sucks, and is the reason they have been an utter mess for so long. They desperately need a "new way" of doing things.
Part and parcel to this is trying to support their failed and repressive regimes, tribalism, and Sharia law, instead of offering them better alternatives. This is reinforcing defeat instead of giving them the tools to extricate themselves from the morass.
Americans come in acting like they know nothing about the locals and their customs, and in many cases, they don't. But this means that Americans treat *everyone* objectively. If they behave, they are friends, if they attack, they are enemies. What the locals say is meaningless, compared to what they do.
They treat everybody, from the "High Potentate and Poobah, descended from the Prophet Himself", to the filthy street beggar, equally. They each have to justify themselves to the Americans, before the Americans will give a hoot. And truthfully, it is a lot easier for the beggar to do so, because he is just a victim of the problem, not part of it, like the HPaP.
Americans also note that if the filthy street beggar can muster a hundred more filthy street beggars, all of whom have AK-47s, he has more *juice* than the HPaP who *promises* 10,000 soldiers, but can't deliver 100.
Americans also point out the glaringly obvious, usually stupid things the locals do, that they don't even know why they do them, and just need some outsider to point out that they are stupid.
This may not sound like a whole lot on the surface, but it is a cultural difference between the Brits and the US in how they do business. It permeates their ranks, from the top to the bottom.
And though the Brits point to Basra as a great success story, Gates looks at it as a lot of wasted opportunity for productive change that would have helped Iraq in the long term. The Brits just shrug and say, "It's the Arab way".
#15
You're happy with the way "Washington insiders" run the World, Pappy?
No. What part of 'duplicitous' did you miss?
What I mean by 'insider' is that Gates is not a neophyte. His remarks weren't amateurish, off-the-cuff or I-want-to-be-friends-with-the-press. He said what he did because he intended to.
It was Christmas week in the Colombian city of Villavicencio and the events, as they were set to unfold, had all the makings of a Hollywood blockbuster. If only the "heroes" hadn't been exposed as liars.
A 3-year-old boy, his mother and another woman, all hostages of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), were about to be freed. Credit for their release was to go to Hugo Chávez, president of Venezuela. Former Argentine President Néstor Kirchner had flown up from Buenos Aires to take part in the show. Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone was on hand too, eager to document the Christmas spirit of the revolutionary killers and their socialist sympathizers. The child, as luck would have it, was called Emmanuel...
...Finally, on Dec. 31, Mr. Uribe held a press conference to give his "hypothesis" of why the liberation hadn't occurred: The FARC had lied when it said it had the child, and it had been trying to buy time to find him. In fact, the boy was in a foster home in Bogotá. The suggestion was a bombshell, but after DNA tests confirmed the fact, Mr. Uribe was vindicated.
Among the more shocking revelations was the FARC's inhumane treatment of the infant. His mother, Clara Rojas, who had been Ms. Betancourt's vice presidential running mate, was kidnapped in 2002. The child was born in a rebel camp in 2004, and was less than one year old when he was left with a local peasant. After about a month, his humble caretaker realized he could not treat the child's serious illnesses and took him to a local clinic, which transferred him to a hospital.
Press reports say that doctors diagnosed the baby with anemia, malaria, a parasitic skin disease, malnutrition and an arm that had been broken at birth and not treated. "Anyone would have fallen apart before this child, with so many diseases," the hospital director told the Miami Herald. "He didn't raise his eyes. He got toys but did not pick them up. He did not stand but dragged himself on his butt. He cried but no tears came because of the malnutrition."
When the news of the child's whereabouts broke Mr. Stone went away spitting mad, not at his FARC heroes, who had been exposed as child abusers, but at Mr. Uribe and Mr. Bush. Of the FARC he said, "Grabbing hostages is the fashion in which they can finance themselves and try to achieve their goals, which are difficult. I think they are heroic to fight for what they believe in and die for it, as was Castro in the hills of Cuba."
#2
Of the FARC he said, "Grabbing hostages is the fashion in which they can finance themselves and try to achieve their goals, which are difficult. I think they are heroic to fight for what they believe in and die for it, as was Castro in the hills of Cuba."
So walk into the jungle and turn yourself over, Ollie. Big movie star guy like you oughta bring big bucks for The Cause. I'm sure the studios would be falling all over themselves to open up their wallets to buy your freedom. Especially after "Alexander" and "Commandante"...
On second thought, why don't you just stay down there, shoot off your mouth, and let somebody else do the heavy lifting.
#5
Stone is a poser scumbag. An ex girlfriend of mine did some press materials for his 9/11 movie and he never paid her the agreed amounts. We're talking small change. WE're talking agreements in person and not through agents/lawyers and managers and he didn't pay her.
One would think a Marxist would try to help the little guy.
#6
Actually, I thought it worked the other way around, that the Marxists think because they're the "good" guys they therefore have a right to screw over the proletariat.
Where would you rather have been a proletariat? The US or the Soviet Union?
The Dutch government has held crisis talks over the possible fallout of a planned film by far-right MP Geert Wilders that attacks Islam as an inspiration for murder, media reports said Friday. Wilders, the head of the far-right Freedom Party, announced in November that he planned to release a 10-minute film this month that will show that Islams holy book, the Koran, is an inspiration for intolerance, murder and terror.
The reports said the government had compiled a secret document on how best to deal with reactions to the film. The Hague fears a repeat of the Danish cartoon riots when thousands took to the streets in Muslim countries to protest cartoons of the prophet Mohammed that appeared in a Danish newspaper. The protests left some hundred people dead, Danish embassies were attacked and Danish goods were boycotted.
According to the De Volkskrant newspaper and RTL-news, the government has already prepared for a possible evacuation of Dutch embassies and citizens from the Middle East. But Foreign Ministry spokesman Bart Rijs told AFP Friday that there were no special emergency measures for Wilders film. We always have scenarios for possible calamities at our embassies, consulates and other Dutch representations abroad. They are regularly updated, he said. There is no reason to believe the Dutch government is now implementing an emergency scenario and there is no reason now to evacuate anybody, Rijs stressed.
Wilders, whose party holds nine of the 150 seats in parliament, insists he will go ahead with his movie despite the uproar. Now that everybody is already in a state (over the film) I see it as a confirmation that I should go ahead. I would not be worth a button if I were to capitulate now, he told the HP/De Tijd magazine.
Wilders is known for his harsh anti-Islam stance and has been under round-the-clock protection since the November 2004 murder of outspoken Dutch columnist Theo van Gogh by a radical Muslim. He has received a number of death threats.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier strongly called Thursday on Syria to make a positive and constructive role regarding the peace process in the Middle East.
Syria's role is especially constructive, Frank-Walter. The only question is, for which entities?
Oh! Oh! I know! Pick me! Pick me!
Steinmeier said at a joint press conference with Syrian Minister Walid Al-Mo'allem that the international community is anticipating a more effective role regarding Hamas which as he said is blocking peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis. The German Minister noted that Syria must use its influence to end the political standoff there.
On a different front, Steinmeier indicated that the year 2008 can be a decisive year for peace in the Middle East. The German Minister made his comment during the 11th seminar that was organized by the Bertelsmann-Stiftung foundation in the city of Kronberg.
The Israelis and Palestinians showed seriousness and commitment to reach an agreement during their last meeting, the minister noted, however, he added "if the two sides are working toward an end to the conflict based on establishing a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel, then Israeli settlements must be halted in Jerusalem and the West Bank." Steinmeier also stressed importance on boosting and strengthening the Palestinian economy, in which he also pointed out that the Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Sayad will be visiting Germany on the 23rd of this month to highlight those issues with German officials.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
01/18/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
The commander of Camp Lejeune, N.C., ordered her leathernecks to stay away from an anti-military and anti-gay group that has promised to demonstrate at the base following the death of a pregnant Marine.
The Topeka, Kan.-based Westboro Baptist Church, which frequently pickets the funerals of military members, said it will demonstrate at the base at noon Saturday.
God hates the U.S. Marines, the group said in a statement.
Col. Adele Hodges, base commander, told her troops to leave the area immediately if they came into contact with the group.
Do not attempt to engage in any verbal taunting or physical altercation with this group, Hodges said, in a written message to the Marines. We believe they want to generate additional publicity by provoking such a confrontation. Do not help them in this effort by engaging in any provocative behavior.
Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, 20, was seven months pregnant when she was reported missing from the base Dec. 19. The burned remains of Lauterbach and her baby were found Friday in the backyard of Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean, who is accused of killing her. A preliminary autopsy found the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.
Laurean is the subject of an international manhunt. He is a naturalized American citizen with ties to Mexico, where he was born.
The church group announced the planned demonstration on its Web site.
The wonderful, spit-and-polish Marine [Lauterbach] is over eight months pregnant and says another wonderful Marine raped her, and now she turns up dead, the statement reads. Based on our extensive experience with Marines for over a decade, we can testify that these are typical Marines.
The fundamentalist church has received national attention in recent years for picketing military funerals, claiming that God is punishing the U.S. for allowing homosexuality.
In October, a Baltimore jury awarded the father of a Marine killed in Iraq $10.9 million in damages after finding that the church had inflicted emotional distress and invaded his familys privacy by picketing the funeral of his son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder of York, Pa.
The church has appealed the case, and one of its leaders, Shirley Phelps-Roper, said members would continue to picket military funerals.
#2
That Commander would be wise to temporarily restrict the sale of alcoholic beverages at the enlisted clubs on post, and to set up an "invisible perimeter" of NCOs to keep observation of the area around the protesters throughout the demonstration.
Not just to protect these people from their Marines, but to protect them from Marine families and Marine friends.
#3
Sometime these yahoos are going to run into a group of people that for reasons of stress will not be able to restrain themselves. They will then get the living crap beat out of them. And the persons who get into trouble will be the beaters. What surprises me is that it hasn't happened yet
#5
Col. A. Hodges has no authority with former Marines. (Hint hint) Too bad she forgot the good old days, when Camp Pendleton decided they had had enough of Tijuana police bogus harassment and...
#6
It's an election year and this case has high national profile. Not the time or place to beat the living shit out of those turds. Somewhen/where, just not now/there.
#7
I hope she has video cameras rolling and watching the protesters who may well start something of their own (attacking a marine walking by for example) in order to generate headlines.
#9
I hope she has video cameras rolling and watching the protesters who may well start something of their own
Now there's something friends and supporters of the Corps can do. Just follow the Westboro crew silently videoing them from all angles, from the moment they arrive until they sputter out. No words, no threats, keep a legal distance ... and keep videoing each one of them from every angle the whole time.
U.S. authorities recommended a life sentence for a Canadian al Qaeda member who pleaded guilty to plotting to bomb American embassies in Singapore and the Philippines, records of the secret case show.
Mohammed Mansour Jabarah, a Canadian citizen of Iraqi descent, pleaded guilty in July 2002 to participating in the disrupted bomb plots on orders from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, according to case records unsealed on Thursday. Jabarah had initially agreed to cooperate in the investigation, but changed his mind months later after a childhood friend was killed trying to attack U.S. Marines in Kuwait. He vowed revenge, and planned while in jail to kill FBI agents and prosecutors assigned to his case, the records show. "Jabarah's offense conduct and post-plea jihadist scheming justify a life sentence," prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo. They said he hid steak knives and bomb instructions in his cell and quoted him as writing "If they release me ... then I will kill them until I am killed."
Jabarah is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Rest at link.
This article starring:
MOHAMED MANSUR JABARAH
al-Qaeda
Posted by: ed ||
01/18/2008 08:39 ||
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[3 views]
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#2
steak knives? Is this now common practice in prison? As long as they all get the same size shanks/knives, I'm ok with that
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/18/2008 9:46 Comments ||
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#3
He would have had a little hammer too, but he showed up late to the cafeteria on the prison's surf and turf night. By then all the lobster was gone.
Posted by: ed ||
01/18/2008 10:16 Comments ||
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A Syrian jeweler was sentenced to six months in jail and fined $5,000 (3,400) for falsely reporting that five Arab men were plotting to bomb the subway system, a scheme meant to cause trouble for his former business associates. The judge, who could have sentenced Rimon Alkatri to seven years in prison, said Wednesday that only the professionalism of the city's police prevented the men named by the defendant from spending at least a few days in jail. "I believe your conduct does deserve punishment, does deserve imprisonment," State Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley told Alkatri, 35.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/18/2008 00:00 ||
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[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
LA TIMES [01/6/08]> HOW THE US AVERTS NUCLEAR TERROR. Every three = few days a US counterterror team hist the streets as part of a budding, organized nationwide US CT effort.
Islamabad : Rejecting the charge that the Pakistani economy was in doldrums, President Pervez Musharraf Thursday said commodities of daily use were cheaper and wages higher here compared to India and Bangladesh.
He said that mutton was available in Pakistan at Rs.260 per kg, in India also at Rs.260, but at Rs.300 in Bangladesh.
He, however, did not clarify the currency he was referring to in case of India and Bangladesh. The Indian rupee and the Bangladeshi taka are higher in parity against the Pakistani rupee.
"The minimum salary of a labourer in Pakistan is Rs.4,600, in India it is 3,700 and in Bangladesh it is just 3,000," he said, again without specifying the currency in the two cases.
"Every one says that Pakistan's economy is in bad shape but it is not - see the difference. Our wages are much better than the countries in the region. I can't understand why the politicians are making statements on poverty in the country," he said.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/18/2008 05:32 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#2
This wouldn't actually surprise me. India has a tiny sliver of its economy devoted to IT outsourcing which employs maybe hundreds of thousands of people. Pakistan has a big chunk of its economy devoted to textiles - probably tens of millions, based on the amount of Pakistani-made clothing I see in stores. You hear a lot about Bangladeshi illegal immigrants in India, but not much about Pakistani ones. The fact is that Pakistan really doesn't have to do much to outpace India in economic growth - all it has to is free up its economy a little more than India.
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani delegation will visit Kuwait, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Saudi Arabia to seek uninterrupted oil imports on deferred payments, and reduced rates for public sector consumers to counter the current energy crisis.
A five-member delegation will leave on a week-long visit to the three Arab countries on Saturday, sources in the Petroleum Ministry told the Kuwait News Agency on Thursday. Sources said the delegation would also seek the revival of a special Saudi Oil Facility, under which Pakistan was provided free oil after nuclear tests in 1998, that later became a credit facility. According to oil companies, Pakistans oil reserves plummeted to the lowest level early in January because of the fall in stocks and non-payment of price differential claims by the government that exceeded $40 billion last month. The government expects the oil import bill to reach $11 billion by the end of the current fiscal year, almost 40 percent more than last years $7.9 billion. It estimates an extra burden of nearly Rs 100 billion on the budget as a result of skyrocketing oil prices in the international market, which was not passed on to consumers
Posted by: john frum ||
01/18/2008 05:21 ||
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The military is planning an operation to take the Sararogha Fort in South Waziristan Agency, which the Taliban abandoned after briefly taking control of it in a Wednesday siege, military officials said on Thursday. Hopefully, it will be retaken by the troops tonight, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Athar Abbas told Daily Times on Thursday.
Seven FC soldiers and 40 miscreants were killed when hundreds of militants stormed the paramilitary fort on Wednesday. The militants have, however, abandoned the fort since.
Fifteen soldiers are still missing after the rebel attack, AFP cited army sources as saying. An ISPR statement said five soldiers missing after the clash had reached a nearby village.
Saklatoi Fort attacked: An Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said miscreants fired several rockets and small arms at Ladha Fort in South Waziristan on Thursday. Security forces retaliated, but no loss of life or damage to property was reported.
AP reported Maulvi Muhammad Umar, a purported militant spokesman, as saying troops surrendered after 500 fighters surrounded the post. We released them (the troops) under the spirit of Islam, he said. The Taliban have now hoisted their white flag at the fort.
An army spokesman, however, immediately denied that the Saklatoi post had been evacuated. I strongly contradict this news, this post is in our control, said Major General Abbas in Islamabad.
Separately, three rockets fired at an air force base in Kamra on Thursday fell near a residential area, but caused no damage, the military said. Meanwhile, troops continued targeting militant hideouts in Sararogha, Khewra, Makeen, Barwand, Spinkai, Kotkai, Chagmalai, Saplatoi and other areas. Four citizens a one-year-old baby, a girl and two men were injured. They were taken to a North Waziristan hospital, where their condition was said to be stable.
No peace efforts till shelling stops: Meanwhile, Mehsud tribe elders on Thursday refused to facilitate peace efforts in South Waziristan Agency until troops stop pounding areas. A jirga, called by the political agent, spelled out their demands that troops stop the artillery fire, the road leading to South Waziristan be opened and that peaceful citizens picked up by the authorities be released. The elders were told that the political administration was in touch with senior military officials and the jirga would be called again after a positive response from them.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/18/2008 00:00 ||
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[8 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
The military is planning an operation to take the Sararogha Fort in South Waziristan Agency, which the Taliban abandoned
Planning an operation to retake an empty fort. Nice. Wonder if the officers leading this 'battle' will get shiny medals?
Posted by: john frum ||
01/18/2008 5:31 Comments ||
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#2
This is the same dreaded Pakistani army that threatens the United States any time suggests hot pursuit across the "border". The same Pakistani army that has been handed $11b and counting since 9/11.
President Pervez Musharraf has said that a few misguided lunatics are attempting to force their way of life on the majority, but vowed that such elements will not succeed, APP reported. There is no place for Al Qaeda in Pakistan ... we cannot allow Al Qaeda to operate and commit acts of terrorism here or elsewhere, he said on PTVs weekly interactive programme Aiwan-e-Sadr Sey on Thursday. Neither can we allow the Taliban here or any support to them. No militants can be allowed here, he added.
Musharraf blamed internal and external elements for conspiring to destabilise the country but said the nation had the resilience to defeat them all. He said a multi-pronged strategy comprised of military, political and socio-economic was required to bring the countrys Tribal Areas on par with the rest of the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/18/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) Vice President and Tehreek-e-Islami leader Allama Sajid Ali Naqvi, along with Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) ex-MNA and candidate for NA-89, Jhang, Sheikh Waqas Akram are on the hit list of terrorists, sources in intelligence agencies said. According to details, Punjab Home Secretary Khusro Bakhatyar said intelligence agencies had informed the provincial government that terrorists of an outlawed organisation had prepared a plan for targeting the two leaders and their names were included in the hit list. The two leaders have increased their security arrangements.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/18/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
One of the grim legacies of the war in Iraq is the vast number of torture victims. One in five Iraqi refugees has been tortured or has suffered from other violence, according to data collected by United Nations in Syria. Allegations of torture have surfaced since the war began reportedly committed by Iraqi security forces, militia groups, insurgents and U.S. guards at the Iraqi prison Abu Ghraib. U.S guards put panties on heads, AQ cut heads off.
We should ask the libs: if it was your head, which would you prefer?
Victims can heal from the physical wounds, but the long-term psychological damage can be profound.
Naseer's Story
Nibras Naseer is a rail-thin 18-year-old. He fled Iraq more than a year ago, he says, after spending 10 days in a hospital for injuries that resulted from severe beatings. He now lives in a fifth-floor walk-up in Damascus, a spare space he shares with his uncle's family. The only decoration is a picture of Jesus on the wall. The apartment building fills up with the laughter of children when school lets out, but even when his nephew bounds into the apartment, Naseer does not smile.
What happened to Naseer has happened to many Iraqis, but very few are willing to talk about it. "I am just trying to forget what happened to me," Naseer says. "I can't say that I can sleep. Sometimes I can, sometimes I can't. I am trying my best to forget what happened to me."
In 2006, Naseer was kidnapped from his Baghdad neighborhood, shoved into the trunk of a car and subjected, he says, to weeks of so-called investigation, along with six other Iraqi men and an 11-year-old boy. His kidnappers identified themselves as members of al-Qaida in Iraq, Naseer says; they made it clear that for any of the captives who worked for the U.S. military or the Iraqi government, the punishment would be beheading.
So it wasn't the U.S. conducting torture, it was Al-Qaeda.
After more than a week of repeated interrogations and beatings, three of the Iraqis were executed, Naseer says. "I told you we were together when they took the three guys away from us. They forced us to watch the whole procedure," Naseer says. "For me, I couldn't watch the whole thing. I started to cry; maybe I prefer to die at that moment."
Naseer spent the nights talking to his fellow prisoners, Iraqis who shared their life stories and their terror. A few days later, the jailers condemned three more prisoners men he had come to know to the same gruesome death. "I remember the names: Hammed, Ali, Omar," Naseer says. "When I watched the second time, I was thinking, 'I'm the next,' and I didn't have any hope in life like even less than 1 percent."
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC ||
01/18/2008 02:37 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
WASHINGTON - Five brigade combat teams, equal to 2007's troop surge, should be home by July, Defense secretary Robert M. Gates said today. "All the evidence available to me now suggests that we will be able to complete the drawdown of the five brigade combat teams ... by the end of July," the secretary said at a briefing with the Pentagon press corps.
"It's going to change a province at a time, a local area at a time, and I think that's what we're seeing"
The first brigade has already left the country, but no specific timeline has been released for the redeployment of the others. Beyond that, additional troop movements will be based on assessments by military commanders in March and, ultimately, the president's decision, Gates said. But, Gates said, he hopes that the pace of the drawdown can continue after July, which would mean five more brigade combat teams would leave the country by the end of the year.
Gates said that Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of forces in Iraq, will submit his recommendations based on conditions and needs in theater. Simultaneously, U.S. Central Command officials and the Joint Chiefs of Staff also will submit independent recommendations based on their respective responsibilities, taking into account stress on the force and regional and global requirements. The president will hear all three proposals.
This is the same process that happened in September, when Petraeus first recommended the five brigades begin leaving Iraq, Gates said. "As it happened last September, each of them came at the problem with a different perspective and a little different emphasis," Gates said. "I want to make sure that the president has the opportunity to hear from these different perspectives and to ensure that his senior military advisors and commanders have the opportunity to present their views directly and unvarnished to the president."
Gates said the departure of the first brigade already has signaled the transition of the mission in Iraq to that of a "strategic overwatch."
Ultimately, Iraqi troops will be operationally in the lead, with U.S. soldiers providing only support such as training and equipping. Right now it is a mix across Iraq, with some provinces under Iraqi control and others still heavily reliant on coalition forces. "This is a dynamic process that, if you're doing a graphic, Iraq is not going to change from one color to another all at once. It's going to change a province at a time, a local area at a time, and I think that's what we're seeing," Gates said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/18/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
It's about time you listened to us, Mr. President. Now we can end this foolish, unjust, and unpopular war before we have to blame Hillary.
Hamas estimated that the condolences offered by Fatah officials to Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar following his son's death in an IDF operation would pave the way for an accord between the two groups. Ahmad Youssef, political advisor to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah, called on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to visit Gaza for talks and expressed hope that the blood split in the Strip would lead to a reconciliation in the Palestinian arena. Former Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad said that the telephone conversation between Abbas and Zahar proved that the Palestinians were still united, Israel Radio reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/18/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
Israel tested a missile on Thursday, prompting Iran to vow retaliation if the Jewish state carried out recent veiled threats to launch strikes, possibly atomic, against Tehran's nuclear facilities.
Israel is widely assumed to have nuclear warheads and missiles able to hit Iran. It gave no details of the trial. A defense official said it was "not just flexing its muscles", three days after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert pledged to consider "all options" to prevent Iran building nuclear weapons.
As oil prices rose almost 1 percent on the new Middle East tension, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who says his country wants only atomic energy, said Israel would hold off: "The Zionist regime ... would not dare attack Iran," he said. "The Iranian response would make them regret it. They know this," he told Al Jazeera in remarks translated into Arabic.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni urged the West to work harder to prevent "the appearance of a nuclear Iran", a message Olmert and his team rammed home to George W. Bush when the U.S. president visited Jerusalem a week ago on a regional tour aimed partly at rallying Arab states against Tehran.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/18/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
...Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who says his country wants only atomic energy...
Nice, glowing, mushroom-shaped clouds of atomic energy (first) demonstrated over Israel... I'm getting a real bad feeling, and hope Israel has the ability to buck up and take this POS out. Our (USA) gutless and mislead "leaders" probably will not.
#2
As oil prices rose almost 1 percent on the new Middle East tension, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who says his country wants only atomic energy, said Israel would hold off
Am I the only one who finds it amusing that those who were all over "no blood for oil" and global warming are now the ones who are criticizing Bush because his gross mismanagement of diplomacy abroad has caused the price of oil to go up?
#4
Anyways, it's not intended for Iran. The successful test of a propulsion system for the dual-stage missile from the Palmahim base Thursday, Jan. 17, was a breakthrough. Western military experts report the new system can propel the missile to any point on earth an intercontinental capability
Lots of other folks around the World who think that Jewish lives are expendable.
#5
ION, CHINESE MIL FORUM > ASAHI.com - CHINA'S SUDDEN SHOW OF FORCE SENT SDF JETS [Japan] SCRAMBLING. Milyuhns and Tilyuhns of Chin PLAAF H-6 strategic bombers versus Japanese fighter jets in sorties + countersorties since Sept 2007 near disputed CHUNXIAO gas field [China] = SHIRAKABA gas field [Japan].
Aslo from CMF > WASH TIMES > BILL GERTZ - CHINA'S SUBMARINE ASAT WEAPON [JL-2 SLBM/DF-21 = 31's? on Type 094 JIN-class FBM Subs]. China PLAN's equivalent of 1960's GEORGE WASHINGTON/ETHAN ALLEN FBM classes.; + SINODAILY > CHINA WARNS USA OVER TAIWAN PRESIDENT'S STOPOVER.
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here on Thursday that his country had cooperated fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
DJ added in statements carried by the Iranian news agency that the report of the Director General of the IAEA Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, as well as the report of the American Intelligence proved that all that was said in the past about the existence of a nuclear arms programme in Iran was "unfounded." DJ considered the position of the west particularly the American one about the Iranian nuclear file as "political and is not based on legal grounds."
He added that Iran has become a nuclear power despite all western attempts which were aimed at depriving the Iranian people of their legitimate rights.
The Iranian president stressed that "Iran's nuclear dossier from our point of view has been closed".
DJ said that the Security Council had issued two resolutions against Iran because of its nuclear program in accordance with wrong information, adding that "the time has come for the Security Council to correct its erroneous decisions towards Iran".
The president reaffirmed that "the Iranian people will not renounce its rights and will not be frightened by the resolutions of major countries."
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The Dutch government has held crisis talks over the possible fallout of a planned film by far-right MP Geert Wilders that attacks Islam as an inspiration for murder, media reports said Friday. Wilders, the head of the far-right Freedom Party, announced in November that he planned to release a 10-minute film this month that will show that Islams holy book, the Koran, is an inspiration for intolerance, murder and terror.
The military is planning an operation to take the Sararogha Fort in South Waziristan Agency, which the Taliban abandoned after briefly taking control of it in a Wednesday siege, military officials said on Thursday. Hopefully, it will be retaken by the troops tonight, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Athar Abbas told Daily Times on Thursday. 
President Pervez Musharraf has said that a few misguided lunatics are attempting to force their way of life on the majority, but vowed that such elements will not succeed, APP reported. There is no place for Al Qaeda in Pakistan ... we cannot allow Al Qaeda to operate and commit acts of terrorism here or elsewhere, he said on PTVs weekly interactive programme Aiwan-e-Sadr Sey on Thursday. Neither can we allow the Taliban here or any support to them. No militants can be allowed here, he added.
One of the grim legacies of the war in Iraq is the vast number of torture victims. One in five Iraqi refugees has been tortured or has suffered from other violence, according to data collected by United Nations in Syria. Allegations of torture have surfaced since the war began reportedly committed by Iraqi security forces, militia groups, insurgents and U.S. guards at the Iraqi prison Abu Ghraib. 
