Afghan security forces knew Taliban militants were planning an offensive near the southern city of Kandahar last week but were distracted by a mass prison break, a senior army officer said on Saturday.
The Taliban have seized the initiative around Kandahar in the past two weeks, freeing up to 400 comrades from the city jail, then occupying villages outside the town. Afghan and foreign troops have launched an offensive to drive them out.
The Taliban had been gathering in the outlying district of Khakrez, planning to move from there to Arghandab, an area of rich orchards just 20 km northwest of Kandahar city. "We were planning to conduct an operation in Khakrez but unfortunately the incident that happened in the city changed all the programmes," Afghan army chief of operations Lieutenant General Shir Mohammad Karim told a news conference.
The incident he mentioned was one of the biggest jail breaks in modern history. A suicide truck bomber rammed the gates of Kandahar jail on June 13 and militants stormed the building, setting free up to 400 Taliban and about 700 criminals.
The Afghan army, stationed 30 km outside Kandahar, was told of the jail break an hour after it took place, Karim said. "By the time we got there, there was no use controlling or taking over or searching the jail because the people had gone already," he said.
Fearing a Taliban attack on Kandahar, the army began securing the city, abandoning plans to forestall the attack on Arghandab.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
TOPIX > TODAY'S ZAMAN [Turkey] - IRAQI GOVT ORDERS RELEASE OF 200,000 PRISONERS.
CAIRO - Dozens of Egyptian writers on Sunday condemned Culture Minister Faruq Hosni, a candidate to head UNESCO, for saying in an Israeli newspaper interview that he was prepared to visit the Jewish state. The interview itself angered a group of 26 intellectuals, authors and poets, who consider Israel the enemy almost three decades after Egypt signed the first Arab peace treaty with Israel.
Granting an interview to an Israeli paper is a form of normalisation with the enemy, they said in a statement, adding that having Hosni at the head of UNESCO will not be an honour for Egyptians and Arabs.
The minister's remarks amounted to a humiliating surrender to Israeli demands for the sake of personal gain, the signatories charged.
In an interview with Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot, the candidate to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation reiterated he would not allow distribution of Israeli books or movies in Egypt. I'm not willing to have a cinema burned down in Cairo or Alexandria because an Israeli film is shown there, Hosni said. Israeli works are rarely available in Egypt where a total boycott of Israeli artists is imposed.
But he also told the mass-selling Israeli paper that he would visit Israel if invited. If you send me an invitation, I will come, the minister said, warning however that it should be carefully prepared because of the outcry it would create in Egypt.
"Please don't let them kill me!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The poor man sees his UNESCO candidacy disappearing into the mists. For Egyptian consumption he said he would burn any Israeli books found in Egyptian shops and libraries. But book burning is explicitly against UNESCO policy, so he claimed it was a common Egyptian idiom, but had to go further and make kissy-face with Israel... which the Israeli newspapers called him on, getting him to say so in formal interviews, albeit phoned in. Now he's in trouble back in Egypt, so it all goes round again -- and this time the Israeli papers are getting inside his decision loop, poor man. I wonder who will take the UNESCO slot instead, knowing that he's second choice?
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/23/2008 12:49 Comments ||
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#4
"who consider Israel the enemy almost three decades after Egypt signed the first Arab peace treaty with Israel"
Lessee - they consider Israel "the enemy" while Israelis (if they think of these clowns at all) consider them "the idiots" and "the whiny sore losers."
I know which one I'd rather be....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/23/2008 13:55 Comments ||
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Abu Qatada is to receive almost £8,000 a year in benefits because he has a bad back. The fanatical cleric, said to be Osama Bin Ladens ambassador in Europe, will get £150 a week of taxpayers cash after being released from jail last week.
He was granted the incapacity benefit because his condition makes him unfit to work even though a curfew allows him out of his home for only two hours a day, meaning it would be almost impossible for him to get a job.
Qatada left Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire after the Appeal Court blocked his deportation to Jordan. He is now living in an £800,000 four-bedroom Edwardian semi in a tree-lined street in West London.
Paid for by whom?
His incapacity allowance will push the familys total annual handouts to more than £50,000. His wife has been claiming £45,000 a year in child benefit, income support, housing benefit and council tax credit for the past four years.
That's over $90K a year. You can live nicely on $90K a year.
Steve Pound, Labour MP for Ealing North, which borders Qatadas West London home, said: This is adding insult to injury. He abuses us and bleeds us dry at the same time. The sooner he gets back to Jordan the better. I for one would put him in the boot of my car and drive him there myself.
Taxpayers are also footing an estimated £500,000 a year bill to provide round-the-clock surveillance on Qatada, who has been described by a judges as a truly dangerous individual.
He arrived in Britain 14 years ago on a forged passport and was granted asylum the following year. He was convicted in his absence in Jordan of involvement with terror attacks in 1998, and of plotting to plant bombs during the Millennium-celebrations. Last week a judge freed the cleric on bail after ruling he would face an unfair trial if deported to Jordan.
But the Special Immigration Appeals Commission imposed un-precedented conditions on his release, including a 22-hour curfew and wearing an electronic tag.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Capt. Hook - a permanent resident of welfare housing (Council Flats) - received a brand new van to transport his huge family on public support. Said van was modified so that it could be operated by one hand. He lost that after a trip to Yemen. Subsidized jihadism is an Orwellian concept. Why not give them suitcase nukes; that is equally depraved. The system is truly f@#$ed up.
#3
This is the most f*cked up thing I've read all morning. You are paying these assholes to wage holy war on you. Wake up and raise some hell or it will only get worse.
#4
If the man is house bound, surely a job stuffing envelopes while sitting in a supportive chair would be a nice opportunity for him? It's piecework, after all, which means that when he felt stronger or it wasn't nice out he could do more, and when busy with guests or in severe pain he could do less. Or, I knew a lovely lady who tied flies for one of the fishing shops... I helped her one day -- it was quite interesting.
Reporting success might leave the perception the MSM is a Cheerleader for Bush.
Getting a story on the evening news isnt easy for any correspondent. And for reporters in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is especially hard, according to Lara Logan, the chief foreign correspondent for CBS News. So she has devised a solution when she is talking to the network.
Generally what I say is, Im holding the armor-piercing R.P.G., she said last week in an appearance on The Daily Show, referring to the initials for rocket-propelled grenade. Its aimed at the bureau chief, and if you dont put my story on the air, Im going to pull the trigger. The Daily Show, now there's a beacon of journalistic excellence.
Ms. Logan let a sly just-kidding smile sneak through as she spoke, but her point was serious. Five years into the war in Iraq and nearly seven years into the war in Afghanistan, getting news of the conflicts onto television is harder than ever. If I were to watch the news that you hear here in the United States, I would just blow my brains out because it would drive me nuts, Ms. Logan said. This is not news, Ms. Logan, it has been driving us nuts for years.
According to data compiled by Andrew Tyndall, a television consultant who monitors the three network evening newscasts, coverage of Iraq has been massively scaled back this year. Almost halfway into 2008, the three newscasts have shown 181 weekday minutes of Iraq coverage, compared with 1,157 minutes for all of 2007. The CBS Evening News has devoted the fewest minutes to Iraq, 51, versus 55 minutes on ABCs World News and 74 minutes on NBC Nightly News. (The average evening newscast is 22 minutes long.)
CBS News no longer stations a single full-time correspondent in Iraq, where some 150,000 United States troops are deployed.
Paul Friedman, a senior vice president at CBS News, said the news division does not get reports from Iraq on television with enough frequency to justify keeping a very, very large bureau in Baghdad. He said CBS correspondents can get in there very quickly when a story merits it. Good news is not of any particular merit.
In a telephone interview last week, Ms. Logan said the CBS News bureau in Baghdad was drastically downsized in the spring. The network now keeps a producer in the country, making it less of a bureau and more of an office. Basra, Sadr City, and Mosul a success, casualties lowest of the war, violence down 80%, Surge troops going home by the thousands, refugees coming home, nope, no story here, move along, keep moving, nothing to see here folks.
Interviews with executives and correspondents at television news networks suggested that while the CBS cutbacks are the most extensive to date in Baghdad, many journalists shared varying levels of frustration about placing war stories onto newscasts. Ive never met a journalist who hasnt been frustrated about getting his or her stories on the air, said Terry McCarthy, an ABC News correspondent in Baghdad. The Ugliest Dog and Paris Hilton are using up all the airtime. ( That sounds redundant.)
By telephone from Baghdad, Mr. McCarthy said he was not as busy as he was a year ago. A decline in the relative amount of violence is taking the urgency out of some of the coverage, he said. Still, he gets on ABCs World News and other programs with stories, including one on Friday about American gains in northern Iraq. How did that ever get past the editors and producers?
Anita McNaught, a correspondent for the Fox News Channel, agreed. The violence itself is not the story anymore, she said. She counted eight reports she had filed since arriving in Baghdad six weeks ago, noting that cable news channels like Fox News and CNN have considerably more time to fill with news than the networks. CNN and Fox each have two full time correspondents in Iraq.
Richard Engel, the chief lacky foreign correspondent for NBC News, who splits his time between Iraq and other countries, said he found his producers very receptive to stories about Iraq. He and other journalists noted that the heated presidential primary campaign put other news stories on the back burner earlier this year.
Ms. Logan said she begged for months to be embedded with a group of Navy Seals, and when she came back with the story, a CBS producer said to her, One guy in uniform looks like any other guy in a uniform. In the follow-up phone interview, Ms. Logan said the producer no longer worked at CBS. And in both interviews, she emphasized that many journalists at CBS News are pushing for war coverage, specifically citing Jeff Fager, the executive producer of 60 Minutes. CBS News won a Peabody Award last week for a 60 Minutes report about a Marine charged in the killings at Haditha. One Asshat reporter looks like any other Asshat reporter.
Figures, CBS considers Haditha to be 'war news' ...
On The Daily Show, Ms. Logan echoed the comments of other journalists when she said that many Americans seem uninterested in the wars now. Mr. McCarthy said that when he is in the United States, bringing up Baghdad at a dinner party is like a conversation killer. Seen one war, you've seen them all.
Coverage of the war in Afghanistan has increased slightly this year, with 46 minutes of total coverage year-to-date compared with 83 minutes for all of 2007. NBC has spent 25 minutes covering Afghanistan, partly because the anchor Brian Williams visited the country earlier in the month. Through Wednesday, when an ABC correspondent was in the middle of a prolonged visit to the country, ABC had spent 13 minutes covering Afghanistan. CBS has spent eight minutes covering Afghanistan so far this year.
Both Ms. Logan and Mr. McCarthy noted that more coalition soldiers were killed in Afghanistan in May than in Iraq. No American television network has a full-time correspondent in Afghanistan, although CNN recently said it would open a bureau in Kabul.
Its terrible, Ms. Logan said in the telephone interview. She called it a financial decision. We cant afford to maintain operations in Iraq and Afghanistan at the same time, she said. Its so expensive and the security risks are so great that its prohibitive.
Mr. Friedman said coverage of Iraq is enormously expensive, mostly due to the security risks. He said meetings with other television networks about sharing the costs of coverage have faltered for logistical reasons. Since, by and large they all report the same crap, sharing should be a no brainer.
How does Michael Yon manage ...
Journalists at all three American television networks with evening newscasts expressed worries that their news organizations would withdraw from the Iraqi capital after the November presidential election. They spoke only on the condition of anonymity in order to avoid offending their employers. That says it all!
#1
Iraq movies are box office poison. Face it: it is another no-win war. How much Vietnam coverage was there is 1975? Little. The public didn't want it. But they dumped the no-win party in favor of the disastrous Soviet-winning-streak of the Carter fiasco. Then it was win-win with Reagan.
#2
As if we needed any more proof that the sons of bitches who run the MSM hate the United States with an undying passion.
I can't remember which 'Burger keeps writing, "First the traitors, then the enemy," but he's absolutely spot on. I'd like nothing better than to be a juror in a treason trial for Keith Olbermann or Dan Rather.
Posted by: Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707 ||
06/23/2008 7:12 Comments ||
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#3
No sensationalism there, the MSM wants BLOOD and GORE (pardon the pun). Truth be known, more GI's are slain in motorcycle and car accidents each month in CONUS. It's much safer being deployed. The "war" is over, it's a mop up exercise now thanks to General Petraeus leadership and his officers and men.
#4
Unfortunately the MSM and Democratic party has tied their wagon to the 'Another Vietnam' and, as a result, for them (MSM+DNC) to 'win' American must lose the WOT. Lose and Lose big. Just ask Harry "The war in lost " Ried.
No the MSM wants DEAD AMERICANS to paste over the network and blame Bush for - the more the better.
#7
Actually 40% or so of the American populace believe the war is going "badly or very badly" - and the press wants to keep it that way for Obama and the Dems.
So after relentless negative coverage, they refuse to print th truth - the truth being thatt he war is going well, that casualties are down, that the Iraqis seem to be making military and political progress -- and most of all, that the press and their political allies were WRONG when they screamed quagmire and painted a false picture of gloom and defeat in order to gain political power.
#9
I saw that Daily Show interview. Ms. Logan was scathing, and openly opposed every one of Mr. Stuart's MSM memes based on her own experience and statistics. The poor man really doesn't know how to handle a beautiful, intelligent, informed, and passionate woman.
#10
The truth is that in balance it is actually better for the MSM to leave Iraq and Afghanistan alone.
To start with, so much good news *does* mean that things are becoming more stable and normal. And that is worth more than any amount of emotional gratification.
Second, it also puts our military personnel under less pressure. They can just do their jobs instead of fretting about how what they are doing will be misinterpreted in the news. And it also means that enemy propaganda also gets ignored.
Third, it will mean that there will be less opposition to the US staying there for a while in leased bases, like Germany after WWII. Hopefully the public will forget that the military is even over there, like in Korea.
The bottom line is that the MSM doesn't help the US military. It just doesn't. So out of sight, out of mind.
#11
What's the point? If you can't use it to skewer the Bushitler Regime or Haliburton, you might as well be reporting on, like, boring current events and stuff.
#12
McCarthy's a good man. Though I watch barely any network "news" at all since coming back, I've caught two of his stories (including the one the other night about US forces playing soccer with locals in a formerly hostile Sunni area) - the first was one of the very first network pieces to talk about the change in tone in Baghdad once the surge got under way. He made a two-year commitment to Iraq and I find it very credible that he'd like to get more stories - including mostly positive ones - on the air. The bosses in New York? Well I refer you to some of the intemperate comments above.
As for Lara Logan, glad to hear she slapped Stewart around a bit. While some of her instincts did seem a bit default MSM, she is a brave and passionate reporter, who's almost been killed several times by insisting on being in the thick of the s**t when she can. To a great extent she overcomes her truly stunning beauty - which isn't her fault, after all - with passion and courage.
The CBS bureau wasn't particularly large. Thing is, both explanations here are correct: the networks (and news agencies in general) are struggling businesses, and their Iraq operations are hugely expensive, AND for many reasons (mostly bad) they simply don't want to cover the good news.
I think the commenter here who noted that the public doesn't care to hear about Iraq is also correct. In fact the disinterest - usually accompanied with lots of negative feelings and not much understanding - in Iraq has been very discouraging. Combined with the astonishing cowardice (GOP) and irresponsibility/cluelessness (DEM) of the political class and the AWOL White House, it's outrageous and disgusting.
I think Anonymoose has a point - on balance, out of sight and out of mind may be the best combo for a country where a huge and influential minority are uninformed and hobbled by silly misconceptions (think NPR listeners and coastal, urban MSM drones).
#13
Performers often take a stage name because their real name is considered unattractive, dull, unintentionally amusing or difficult to pronounce or spell, or projects the wrong image.
Historically, Lefties in Hollywood were encouraged to anglicize their names to avoid possible stereotyping of a particular ethnic background.
Jon Stewart
VITAL STATISTICS
Date of Birth: November 28, 1962
Birthplace: New York, NY
Raised: Lawrence Township, New Jersey (near Trenton)
Current Residence: Downtown Manhattan, New York, New York
Name at Birth: Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz. Note: Most sources incorrectly list Jon's middle name as Stewart. We have confirmed that Stuart is the correct spelling.
Name Change: Filed petition for legal name change to Jon Stewart on June 19, 2001. Cited several reasons for making the change. Pick which one you believe:
- To protect loved ones from embarrassment (they signed a petition)
- Too many syllables
- Too Hollywood
- Too mispronounceable
- Slight leftover family resentment
Height: 5' 7"
FAMILY
Parents:
- Donald Leibowitz, Physicist
- Marian Leibowitz, Educational Consultant (former elementary special education teacher)
Spouse:
- Tracey Lynn Stewart (formerly Tracey McShane)
- Publicly announced engagement on June 1999.
- Married since approximately November 1999.
Height: 5' 7" - So many Hollywood lefties are little (as in short or petty, you choose) men with BIG egos.
#14
Affirmative Gulf Bravo, consider the line-up of Charlie Sheen (Estevez), Tom Cruise, Al Franken, et.al. - all midgets or vertically challenged.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/23/2008 12:58 Comments ||
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#15
Funny thing is that now its the REPORTERS whoa re being silenced by lefty editors. The reporters who have been there done that - and have seen the change. They want to report on it - thats how impressive a job our military has done.
Yest the a-hole elitists in the editorial positions refuse to balance out their previous tsunami of reporting negative events.
They are dishonest ideologues who are damaging the fabric of our democracy by DELIBERATELY mis-informing the public that relies on them - the same public that needs to make INFORMED judgments when voting.
Dereliction of duty is the charge against the press.
ROOFTOP snipers, scores of police and concrete barriers protected a downtown Ottawa courthouse today, as the trial got underway for the first defendant charged under Canada's Anti-Terrorism Act. Mohammed Momin Khawaja, 29, faces seven criminal charges of conspiracy to commit terrorist acts in Britain, including developing bomb detonators, possession of explosives, financing terrorism, and training as a terrorist.
The Ottawa software developer of Pakistani descent was arrested in March 2004, in connection with a foiled bomb plot against several British targets, including a popular London nightclub, a shopping mall and a gas network.
Today, he pleaded not guilty to the charges.
'Given the nature of the charges Mr Khawaja is facing, we thought it would be prudent to boost security,' Ottawa police inspector Joan McKenna said.
The prosecution is considered a key test of Canada's anti-terrorism legislation, which was tweaked last year after a judge threw out a portion of it that defined terrorism. The judge had found the new act unconstitutional because it attempted to define terrorism by what motivated it, and so wrongly attempted to police people's thoughts, religious beliefs or opinions.
Even so, the prosecution was allowed to proceed while the government amended the bill that was originally rushed through parliament in late 2001, following the September 11 attacks in the US.
'We passed a law in record time in response to 9/11, and Momin was the first person charged in Canada under that law,' said Khawaja's lawyer Lawrence Greenspon, who spent much of the past four years arguing for the government to grant the defence access to secret intelligence documents in the case. 'Just about everything we've done to this point has been for the first time,' he said.
Inside the courthouse, heavily-armed police herded officials, journalists and others through metal detectors and a maze of metal-fenced aisles to the courtroom. There, Khawaja sat quietly behind bullet-proof glass as the court listened to the charges read by the prosecutor, describing him as a key player in the foiled British bomb plot.
The devout Muslim was born in Canada of Pakistani immigrant parents and once worked as a computer expert at Canada's Foreign Affairs Department.
The prosecution alleged he sought out the fanatic group of British Muslims, also of Pakistani descent, and designed for them a remote detonator to set off a fertilizer bomb. The detonator was found in Khawaja's Ottawa house along with an arsenal of guns during a police raid in 2004, the court heard.
The prosecution also laid out emails, and descriptions of video and wiretap surveillance that purportedly tie him to the bomb plot. In one email sent from a Foreign Affairs computer, according to prosecutors, Khawaja was said to have discussed using a courier to send the detonator to his contacts in London.
Five of Khawaja's alleged abettors were convicted in the case and given lengthy prison terms in April 2007 in Britain. Two others were acquitted.
Khawaja's lawyers have disputed any link between Khawaja and the arrests in Britain.
Later today, a man being held in the US who testified at the British trial of his alleged co-conspirators is expected to appear as a prosecution witness against Khawaja.
If convicted, Khawaja faces possible life in prison.
#1
The judge had found the new act unconstitutional because it attempted to define terrorism by what motivated it, and so wrongly attempted to police people's thoughts, religious beliefs or opinions.
Um, did anyone tell the Human Rights Tribunal about this decision?
Expanded Deterrence I always opposed both proportionate retaliation and reducing genocide advocacy to mere politics. I would treat Hamas, Taliban, Hizbollah, and the Ayatollahs like the cockroaches that they are. Hopefully this article signals a new wave of thinking. Again, only Senator McCain could implement policies promoted here. Of course, the content is vague; strategists don't write the way they think.
We are facing a threat that is catastrophic in its scale.1 The damage that even a single attack with weapons of mass destruction would wreak could run into the millions of lives, and do egregious damage to American economic, political, and social structures. There is no graver threat to the United States. Translation: the danger threat is so high, that pre-emption is warranted.
This threat is only going to get more serious. The progress of technology and the increasing interconnectedness of global systems are driving both productive and destructive power down, to lower and lower levels of agency, and outwards, to the fringes of society. Accelerating advances in computing, biotechnology, nanotechnology have democratized destructive power up to the point at which a single individual may have the power to do enormous damage.2 Today we see this peril most plainly in the justified fears about the use of the first and greatest absolute weapon the nuclear bomb. But the threat of biological and biotechnological weaponry, powered by the highly diffused and swiftly advancing progress of the life sciences, may be even graver. Similar dangers are growing in the fields of nanotechnology, computing, and the like.
The proliferation of massively destructive technologies can and should be retarded, but it cannot be prevented. We must accept both that the threat is very real and that it cannot be solved, only managed. Translation: talk of a disproportionate response to a proven threat means there is ample scope for subjective danger perception, and pre-emption (that is already US policy; it has yet to be implemented in practise). Hell, it is lifeboat ethics time; if the enemy can't coexist, then they can't exist.
The United States has begun to respond to this grave threat through a layered defense that includes military, intelligence, diplomatic, political, public diplomacy, homeland defense, and humanitarian components. This policy commendably seeks to integrate all elements, hard and soft, of American and allied power to stave off disaster. And all elements of this layered defense are important in preventing attacks, including efforts to stem proliferation and soft power strategies designed to address real root causes of terror...
... The world needs to be put on notice about what a catastrophic terror attack against U.S. vital interests would mean, how responsibility would be apportioned, and what kind of retaliation could be expected. Such an anticipatory announcement would be necessary from both a pragmatic and moral viewpoint, the former in order for the threat actually to have a chance of working and the latter in order to comport with the moral principle that people must have reasonable warning if they are to be held liable in new ways. Demarches and official releases, however, are insufficient for these purposes. The message must make its way downwards and outwards, and therefore requires dissemination through the media, internet, and other outlets. The silence following Hadleys excellent February 2008 speech leaves much to be desired. Translation; that is veiled Council on Foreign Relations attack on nation-building strategies in enemy states, in favor of assured destruction. Nation building worked in Germany and Japan; can't work with Muslims. Assured Destruction worked with the Soviets; could leverage Muslim majority states. Reagan never warned anyone. McCain could always claim, 'I couldn't warn, because that would allow the enemy to escape.' Social solutions present more problems; this enemy needs a military wallop, other than 24-7-365 patrols through sniper and IED pits. Spare the rod; spoil the arab and persian.
This done, the United States would present the world with a relatively simple and eminently reasonable expanded deterrent stance against catastrophic attacks. We would hope that the very fear the credible threat inspired would entail that it would never have to be realized, as was our fortunate experience during the Cold War. But we would have to be prepared to follow through on our pledges if we did suffer a catastrophic attack. Beyond real considerations of justice, the continuing peril of a catastrophic terrorist attack would demand that we show decisively that such strikes would meet with a severe response, a response that would demonstrate that a catastrophic attack against the United States can never be consistent with any rational strategy, whatever its aims. Our response following a catastrophic terror attack should prove that all concerned would be far better off doing all in their power to frustrate any future such attacks then to let a single additional one go through. Perceiving veiled and covert threats should be like breathing to a Presidential administration. Where do I sign the Petition?
#1
Won't make any difference in the world of realpolitik western style. Even OIF was a provocation for pre-emption such as locking in on our fly-over missions, snubbing the UN resolutions, posturing as if WMD's were for real and SH was getting ready to use them (again). A true preemptive strike is 12/7/41 and Hitler's march into Poland. But think about it - what democratic western state of American ally has ever preemptively struck out at another country in the last 100 years? Hell, even the sinking of the Maine was a provocation even if promoted by Hearst and his ilk - The Press!!
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/23/2008 13:04 Comments ||
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#3
REDDIT > WIRED NEWS = NATION'S SPIES: GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE MAY SPARK WARS. Ala the USGovt's new "US NATIONAL SECURITY IMPLICATIONS OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE THRU 2030" Report. US is also facing global/worldwide, intensive, MULTI-NATION/REGION INSTABILITIES DUE TO EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING.
US will likely also be facing a MORE MALIGNANT/MALICIOUS FORM OF ISLAMIST RADICALISM-TERRORISM THAN AT PRESENT.
ION TOPIX > EARTH MAY SEE INTENSE SOLAR DISPLAY IN 2012 [due to present inactivity = lack of Sunspots via Sunspot/Solar Cycle 24].
An anti-terrorism court on Saturday disposed of a case filed by three suspected terrorists seeking bail in Benazir assassination case, and decided to conduct the trial of a juvenile accused separately.
ATC-I Judge Chaudhry Habibur Rehman, who is conducting the trial, rejected the bail applications of the three arrested accused Aitzaz Shah, Sher Zaman, Abdul Rasheed after the special public prosecutor maintained that the bail to the accused could not be granted as they were involved in a heinous crime.
The lawyer of the accused had maintained in the petition that the charges levelled against the accused were bailable as the accused were not involved in the murder. The judge would now take up the murder case for hearing on July 14.
The court also formally decided to initiate separate trial of Aitzaz Shah who was declared juvenile as according to a medical he is under 18 years of age.
Charges could not be framed formally against the five arrested accused Aitzaz Shah, Sher Zaman, Abdul Rasheed, Mohammad Rafaqat and Hasnain Gul. Five other accused in the case Baitullah Mehsud, Ikramullah, Abadur Rehman, Abdullah alias Saddam, and Faiz Mohammad alias Kaskat had been declared as proclaimed offenders by the court.
Rafaqat and Hasnain are also allegedly involved in two other suicide attacks one in R A Bazaar and the other in Civil Limes police area last year. The police failed on Saturday to present the challan (charge sheet) against them in the two cases and the judge adjourned the hearing till July 14.
Meanwhile the judge extended the judicial remand of the four suspected terrorists involved in the incident of a rocket attack on air force complex at Kamra Attock till July 14 and Attock police submitted challan (charge sheet) against Abdul Rasheed also involved in the attack.
The judicial remand of the suspects Syed Arab alias Tariq, Gul Roze, Tehseen Ullah and Mohammad Shafique was extended. They are suspected for their role in the rocket attack on the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex at Kamra.
In the attack, four rockets were fired at the complex on January 17, 2008 one of rockets landed on the roof of senior non-commissioned officers mess and two others hit airmens residences inside the Mirage Rebuild Factory. The fourth rocket exploded in a field near the Qutba village, close to the Kamra Cantonment. No casualty was reported.
In the charge sheet the police said Abdul Rasheed confessed to carrying out the attack in Kamra in his statement under section 164 of criminal procedure code after he was arrested by Rawalpindi police for his involvement in the murder of Benazir Bhutto.
In another case the ATC-II Judge Sakhi Muhammad Kahot remanded a man in the physical custody of FIA after he was arrested from Rawalpindi for hurling threats to destroy the FIA headquarters.
Zeeshan Ahmed was arrested from Dhoke Khabba area after he was traced through his mobile set number by the FIA. The special investigation group of FIA registered a terrorism case against him.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
This is the way Obama, Kerry and Richard Clarke want to handle the WoT - first comes the act of crime (in this case 164 deaths), then super-duper policing including a CSI:Karachi caseload that leads to the arrests of dozens of criminals terrorists. Then we give these terrorists certain 'inalienable' rights like trial by jury, cross-examination, etc. Why, if it can work in a hell-hole like Pakistan - then why can't it work in America (the home of the brave and land of the free)??
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/23/2008 13:09 Comments ||
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The rented building from where 16 Christians were kidnapped in the Banarasabad area of Academy Town last night had previously been a madrassa, sources told Daily Times on Sunday.
A visit to the compound reveals fading Quranic verses written on the walls.
Local sources told Daily Times that the madrassa was named Madrassa Salman Farasi, and had in the past been run by an Arab.
The sources said the kidnapping could be linked to the use of a madrassa as a residence for Christians.
The occupants of the madrassa closed the school 15 years ago and left the area for good, the sources said.
They said the property was still owned by the Arab who was married to a woman from nearby village. Haji Siraj, who had rented the building to a group of the Christians several years ago, had in turn rented the building from the relatives of the Arab for Rs 6,000 per month.
They said that Siraj had further rented it to the Christians and up to eight families were now living in the compound.
They said that Siraj, still held by militants, was a clerk at the Pakistan Tobacco Board.
Many of those abducted are poor and work as sweepers in different government departments, and said that they had not received any previous threats to vacate the building.
NWFP Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain said that the abductees had been living in the building for years and kidnapping them was a challenge to the writ of the State, which would not be tolerated.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2008 00:00 ||
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Advisor to the Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik said that a hidden hand is involved in the sectarian unrest in Parachinar and hoped that the issue would be resolved through a tribal jirga, a private television channel reported on Sunday. According to Dawn News, Malik told media outside Parliament House that the government wanted to involve local clerics and tribal elders in the process to restore peace in the Kurram agency.
He disclosed that Jamaat-e-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman had assured the government of their complete support in this regard. Malik said that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led government wanted a UN investigation into the assassination of slain PPP Benazir Bhutto because of the suspected involvement of a foreign hand in the incident. He said Benazirs assassination was a national loss, adding that the government would not rest until those responsible were found.
This article starring:
Jamaat-e-Islami
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl
Maulana Fazlur Rehman
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl
Qazi Hussain Ahmad
Jamaat-e-Islami
Rehman Malik
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
The keepers of the Al-Dura myth were caught off balance by the May 21 appellate court acquittal of Philippe Karsenty, convicted of libel by a lower court for declaring that the Al-Dura "death scene" was staged.
Had they swallowed the verdict with pained silence, the affair might have dropped back into limbo. But they went public in what looked like a desperate attempt to "settle out of court" or, more exactly, settle without the court by pleading the case in friendly media - at a safe distance from judges, lawyers, and the defendant.
...Here is Enderlin's defense in a nutshell: "I'm the journalist, you're a nobody. I know everything, you know nothing. If you criticize me, it's slander." The damage already done
The antisemites believed other blood libels before, this changes nothing with regard to them. But if it's being discussed, and those who fancy themselves intellectuals decide they've been made fools of by Enderlin, et al -- which they have -- the balance of power shifts even further away from the left-wing antisemites and more to the European Liberal right that swept Sarkozy, Merkel and whatsisname in Italy into power, and the world becomes a trifle saner.
#2
Tide is turning? Nah. Do a search on Google News or Yahoo News. The only media picking up the story are Israeli or Jewish. No AP. No Reuters. No AFP. Certainly no BBC. They were all quick to get the original "Israel killed a child" story, but in this case, don't get your hopes up. There's no turning tide. The mainstream media has too much to lose by publishing a story about a biased journalist, because it hits too close to home. And proof of their bias against Israel is their reticence to pick up a story that exonerates Israel!
I'm still waiting for them to cover the fake Ambulance-hit-by-Israeli-missile or the fake-badly-shopped-smoke stories. Or even the faked-koran-flushed-down-the-toilet story. That would take integrity and honor.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday extended the tenure of the Mossad intelligence chief for a second time, testament to the hawkish spymasters role in crafting policy on Iran and other regional foes. Meir Dagan, an army ex-general, took over Mossad in 2002 with what security sources described as a mandate to step up Israels monitoring of Irans nuclear programme, Syrias military moves and the countries ties to Islamist factions. Meir Dagan is doing his job with exceptional success and the list of Mossads achievements over the last six years is most impressive, Olmert told his cabinet at its weekly meeting.
Many in the Arab world believe Mossad has been behind several high-profile assassinations in Lebanon and Syria, most recently of Hezbollah military chief Imad Moughniyah, who died in a February 12 car bombing in Damascus. Israel denied involvement. Israeli pundits have also credited Mossad with locating a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor that Olmert ordered bombed last September. Prior to the sortie, Dagan came out against holding peace talks with Damascus, but indirect negotiations have since begun. Syria denied ever having a secret nuclear facility. Israel, which is assumed to have the regions only atomic arsenal, says Iran could enrich enough uranium for a bomb by 2010, though Tehran describes it nuclear plans as peaceful. Dagan has been conferring regularly with Western counterparts while Mossad prepares for possible pre-emptive military action by Israeli against Iran, said security sources.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
This cannot be good news for Iran...maybe they are about to see if the Madhi really wants a new, but fixer-upper, condo in Tehran!
(Xinhua) -- A senior official of the Arab League(AL) on Sunday warned the United States not to use its veto power to abort an Arab draft resolution calling for halting Israeli settlement activities, the Egyptian state MENA news agency reported.
A possible U.S. veto to reject the Arab draft, which is expected to be discussed by the UN Security Council this week, would result in "catastrophic consequences" on the Mideast peace process, AL Assistant Secretary General for Palestinian Affairs Mohammed Sobaih was quoted as saying.
The Israeli settlement practices had "exceeded all limits and was an affront to all international resolutions," said Sobaih.
According to earlier reports, Arab countries referred the draft resolution to the UN Security Council after Israeli Housing Minister Zeev Boim announced a tender for establishing more than 800 housing units in east Jerusalem earlier this month.
Sobaih expressed his hope that Washington would not go ahead with that veto "because using it will help flare up extremism and anarchy in the region."
The Israeli settlement move was supposed to have stopped after last November's Annapolis conference, but instead it "escalated at an extremely critical rate," said Sobaih.
According to statistics, Israel has approved the construction of about 2,000 homes in disputed lands since renewing peace talks with the Palestinians at the U.S.-sponsored Annapolis conference.
Few tangible results of the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks have so far been achieved. The Palestinian side considers Israel's settlements activities a major obstacle that obstructs any development in the peace process.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
#1
The Palestinian side considers Israel's settlements activities continued existence a major obstacle that obstructs any development in the peace process.
There, fixed it to reflect the reality on the ground.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
06/23/2008 0:35 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Let me see: Arabs can live in Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East; but it is okay to exclude Jews and Christians from their Holy Lands, all of which existed when the Arabs were worshipping meteorites.
Again: Europe must allow spread out Euro-Muslims to establish states - Bosnia and Kosovo - that prohibit construction of churches and synagogues.
Again: the largest Muslim inter-government group - Organization of the Islamic Conference - supports self-determination for minority Muslim groups; but invokes territorial-integrity where Muslims oppress a minority religious group.
All the above makes sense to the State Department. Those bozos must be on dope.
#4
ION STRATEGYPAGE > CHRISTIAN TRIBES UNDER ATTACK [Papua-West Papua New Guinea] Due to heavy immigration from Indonesia, etc. in past 20 years, over 1/4 of PNG's 3.0Milyuhn people [circa 400,000] are now Muslim. More and more CHRISTIAN-Muslim CLASHES are occurring, a situation which is affected by most of the local POLICE being PRO-MUSLIM MALAY WHOM ARE VIEWED AS PREFERRING TO SIDE WID THEIR FELLOW MUSLIMS?
Also from SP > ALGERIA:DEADLIER THAN ISLAMIC TERRORISM. Govt preference to persecute and prosecute Christians over stopping CORRUPTION IN PUBLIC GOVT.
#5
Israel should (1) build settlements along the Jordanian border and attempt to move refugees there. (2) Gentrify Jerusalem by moving troublemakers out and Jews and/or Israeli-Arabs in depending upon the neighborhood. (3) Build suburbs around Jerusalam and zone them for whatever businesses need Arab workers so said workers could live and work outside of Israel but have something worth defending and close enough to Israel that the Israel's could defend it. (4) Extend a loop of hte fence around Jerusalem in additionan to the one defending Israel so they could absorb the entire area if/when needed.
#8
...the Arab League(AL) on Sunday warned the United States not to use its veto power to abort an Arab draft resolution calling for halting Israeli settlement activities.
And just what are you gonna do about it, porky?
Last time I saw, the Israel kicked your asses with authority and that $2 billion a year, plus military stuff you get from us could disappear real quick.
#10
Drive gasoline prices up to $6/gallon ahead of the US elections.
Dump US stocks to drive down values ahead of the election - absorbing the losses incurred and buffering them with oil profits.
And it would only screw them in the long run. Think the push for nuclear and alternative fuels is big now? We would have a 5 year recession, then be back on our feet. They would have killed the golden goose.
What do you think they are doing with the 4.50/gal money they are making? Burying it in the sand? Nope, they are buying up every American company, university, presidential library, stock and bond they can get their greedy little hands on. Then when we start to push the envelope of independence they pull the levers that drops the big curtain down on us.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/23/2008 13:14 Comments ||
Top||
#12
If Soodies have a lot of property in USA, JIB, that means judges can award a lot to the families of terror victims who sue Soodies for financing terrorism (that includes families of US servicemen killed by Al Qaeda Iraq).
TEL AVIV - Israel eased its blockade of the Gaza Strip Sunday, allowing more goods into the impoverished salient three days after a six-month truce with Palestinian militants went into effect.
An Israeli military spokesman in Tel Aviv said 90 trucks loaded with humanitarian goods entered the Strip Sunday via the Sufa crossing, a greater number than the amount transferred on an almost daily basis before the truce went into effect.
The Nahal Oz crossing, used to transfer fuel to the Strip, was also operating, the spokesman said, as were the Erez and Karni crossing points, but the Kerem Shalom terminal, which was attacked by Palestinian militants in April, remained shut. Israel had imposed a blockade on the Strip in response to near- daily rocket and mortar attacks from the enclave at its southern towns and villages.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/23/2008 00:00 ||
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Sri Lankas military has launched a campaign to track down and arrest up to 12,000 army deserters who failed to take advantage of a government amnesty, a spokesman said Sunday.
About 5,000 responded to the general amnesty we had from May 2 to the 30th, Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said. We are now trying to get at 11,000 to 12,000 deserters who did not respond to the amnesty. He said most of the desertions had taken place several years ago, and asserted that there had been no exodus in recent years despite heavy fighting with separatist Tamil Tiger guerrillas.
In 2003, the government moved to legally discharge from the security forces some 51,000 deserters if they agreed to pay any money they owed the military, while those wanting to rejoin were considered for fresh enlistment. However, military officials said despite that offer, thousands were still listed as deserters in the ranks of Sri Lankan security personnel numbering about 200,000.
Violence: Two Sri Lankan policemen were killed in a roadside bomb explosion in the islands east on Sunday, a day after 13 combatants died in clashes across the volatile north, the military said.
It was the latest violence in Sri Lankas intensifying civil war that has seen fierce battles between troops and Tamil rebels, plus stepped-up bombings blamed on the insurgents. The roadside bomb exploded Sunday morning in Kaludawalai village in the eastern Batticaloa district, according to a military statement.
On Saturday, 11 rebels and two soldiers died in several battles across the islands restive north, in Jaffna, Vavuniya, Mannar and Welioya districts, the military statement said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2008 00:00 ||
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(Xinhua) -- Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najar Sunday warned of a "limitless" response to any military strike, and considered reported Israel's drill in the eastern Mediterranean and Greece as "psychological operations".
"It seems that parallel efforts and psychological warfare are underway to dissuade the Iranian nation from realizing its inalienable right," Najar told Iranian Fars news agency. "Iran will not initiate any conflict but will punish any aggressor with the greatest possible force. With determination and using all the options -- without limits in terms of time and space-- we will give a crushing response to any hostile action," he said, adding that Iran will not be intimidated by these threats and will not renounce its right.
U.S. daily The New York Times reported on Friday that U.S. military believed Israel's military exercise earlier this month was a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran's nuclear sites. More than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighter jets participated in the maneuvers in the eastern Mediterranean and Greece during the first week of June, U.S. officials said. Commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari Saturday said his troops would counter any attack against the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
HMMMM, IRAN > FUEL, NOKORS > FOOD.
E.g. CNN NEWS SUNDAY > Taliban Commander being interviewed claims that the Pakis Army has been successfully penetrated and compromised, and as such doesn't really intervene in Taliban control/affairs of local areas.
SAVING THE JIHAD + PAN-ISLAMIST NUCLEARIZATION > it will likely be the various Militant-Terr groups which will conduct the bulk of the violence for the time being. IRAN's FOCII WILL PREDOMIN BE ON INTERNATIONAL DIPLO-POLITIX, PR + MEDIA CORRECTNESS UNLESS IRAN IS DIRECTLY OPENLY ATTACKED BY US ANDOR ISRAELI MILITARY FORCES.
This is the way you write in Guam. All the road signs at Anderson are written the same way.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/23/2008 13:15 Comments ||
Top||
#6
I do pray that enough people will see the folly of electing a hair-brained idiot, and McCain will be our next president. I'd like him to tell the mullahs they have 30 days to back off and shut up, or there won't be enough eft of Iran for the 30,000 supposed Christians that live there to survive.
Jack: They have road signs at Anderson?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/23/2008 13:31 Comments ||
Top||
#7
OP:
When I was there we had only one - (Hanoi---->2, 650 miles):)
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/23/2008 14:47 Comments ||
Top||
#8
#2 McZoid - that was completely uncalled for. I thought you were better than that; my apologies for misjudging you.
If you don't like the way Joe writes, skip his posts. It's not like there aren't any others....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/23/2008 15:38 Comments ||
Top||
#9
McZoid, pretend that JosephM is extremely bright with an old-fashioned liberal education (lots of math and science), and a military/political background who has met everybody worth knowing who passed through Guam in the past half century. Now pretend you are reading his untranscribed shorthand notes responding not only to the particular post at the top of the thread, but many other things he's read around the subject.
You aren't the first to get frustrated with JosephM's posts. With time, though, you may suddenly discover your subconscious has found a way to translate it. Kind of like those two-way pictures: either you can see the witch or the young lady, but not both at the seem time. Or perhaps it's like those colour blindness tests.
Barbara dear, I think you're being a bit hard on McZoid. JosephM is an acquired taste. Surely you remember how hard we were on him when he first showed up? Back then he had an email link, and I once or twice wrote to him asking for a clarification, although I never got one.
#10
MZ- I only had to read JosephMendiola's comment twice to get what he was talking about.
He is a RANTBURG institution... if you don't like how he writes, then stay quiet. Personally, I think you own him an apology.
#11
I imagine Joe to be like Jim on the old series "Taxi". I think if I ever get back out that way, I'd like to look him up and have a few drinks together.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/23/2008 20:18 Comments ||
Top||
#13
TOPIX > STUDY: US MUST IMPROVE COOPERATION WITH ISRAEL FOR IRAN STRIKE. The ability of the US-West to effectively wage war and peace, INCLUDING VV ARAB-MUSLIM ME STATES, may in future depend on how IRAN'S NUCLEAR AMBITIONS-AGENDUMS ARE DEALT WITH NOW.
IOW, ONCE IRAN GOES NUKULAR AND HAS NUCWEAPS, "UNILATERALISM" GOES OUT THE WINDOW, + CO-EXISTENCE, DETENTE, etc. IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THE NEXT NUCLEAR-WMD TERRORIST [read, NOT Iran = State Mil Attack] ATTACK ON MAJOR US CITY(s).
#14
Pragmatically, while it INDIGENOUSLY NUCLEARIZES IRAN 2008-2010 will likely remain MILITARY WEAK/DEFICIENT vv BOTH THE US + NUCLEAR ISRAEL.
CONVENTIONAL WISDOM > NO US-IRAN WAR 2008-JAN 2009 > Post-Dubya, Iran will covertly nuclearize unto nucweapons while PC engaging in "PRO-PEACE" international diplomacy. ISLAMIST MILITANTS will continue to attack and engage in various destabilization TO PROTECT IRAN BY DIVERTING US-ALLIED MILECON RESOURCES ALA ANTI-MILITANT-TERR "REGIONAL-GLOBAL SECURITY".
Ultimately, then, Post- JAN 2009 > it will be Dubya's successor as POTUS that will decide the final success or failure of Iran's nuclear ambitions, as well as the ISLAMIST JIHAD.
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.
Abu Qatada is to receive almost £8,000 a year in benefits because he has a bad back. The fanatical cleric, said to be Osama Bin Ladens ambassador in Europe, will get £150 a week of taxpayers cash after being released from jail last week. 
ROOFTOP snipers, scores of police and concrete barriers protected a downtown Ottawa courthouse today, as the trial got underway for the first defendant charged under Canada's Anti-Terrorism Act. 
Advisor to the Prime Minister on Interior 
TEL AVIV - Israel eased its blockade of the Gaza Strip Sunday, allowing more goods into the impoverished salient three days after a six-month truce with Palestinian militants went into effect.
