FORT RILEY, Kan. Standing next to a screen illuminating a long list of tips, Maj. Anthony Nichols looked out at the classroom of neophyte military trainers and began a lecture about the ways that fellow soldiers will look down at them while they serve in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Other soldiers will call them "undesirables," sent in because they had no other place on the battlefield, the instructor said. Some units will kick military advisers out of security briefings. One recommendation: to "patch swap," carry alternative military insignia for their uniforms so they can pretend to be members of other units. It will help them get supplies and equipment more easily. Or at least more respect.
"I came armed with a stack of patches. . . . Who am I going to be today?" Nichols said about his time in Iraq.
Nichols' depiction is in stark contradiction with Pentagon rhetoric. Top Pentagon officials say that developing a new corps of military advisers is a priority as part of the new emphasis on counterinsurgency. But the military, which continues to use the Army Special Forces to train foreign troops for combat in Iraq and elsewhere, hasn't fully embraced the program to train trainers in counterinsurgency.
At Fort Riley, former military advisers are building the curriculum ad hoc, and their place in the military's pecking order is ambiguous. Advisers don't get promoted as fast as their combat counterparts do, according to soldiers at Fort Riley. And the work of advisers in the field depends on the will of the brigade commander who's securing the area, they say.
Resolving the role of advisers has never been timelier. The U.S. military is considering a drawdown in Iraq. As brigades leave, advisers will stay behind to deter corruption and abuse among the Iraqi forces, track weapons confiscated by Iraqi soldiers and monitor the state of the local forces.
Troops in Afghanistan are stretched thin, and military advisers often are the sole presence in isolated communities. Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said that the military needs at least 3,000 more advisers there. Last year, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates called training Afghan security forces "arguably the most important military component."
In Iraq, trained advisers are serving with Iraqi combat brigades. As the Iraqi forces are increasingly capable, traditional U.S. brigades are supporting their Iraqi counterparts and monitoring how they take the lead. American soldiers who came expecting combat are watching their Iraqi counterparts take charge. At one base in the southern city of Amara, a U.S. soldier told McClatchy, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to talk candidly: "I keep looking around, wondering what I am supposed to be doing here."
Regardless, there's a pushback throughout the ranks from those who think that the next wars won't demand such cerebral officers, Nichols said. The Army should train to kill enemies, not train large militaries. That job should stay with the special forces, soldiers often complain.
One soldier returning to Fort Riley from a yearlong rotation in Iraq's restive Diyala province told McClatchy of his experience: "I didn't join the Army to be an adviser." He asked not to be identified so that he could speak about his experiences without fear of retribution.
At Fort Riley, some of the Army's best-known innovators are fighting for the advising program. Retired Lt. Col. John Nagl, who helped craft the counterinsurgency manual with current Iraq commander Gen. David Petraeus, has proposed that the military develop a permanent 20,000-member "advisory corps."
Here, soldiers who worked as advisers in Iraq and Afghanistan have developed an in-depth training program. Soldiers learn basic Arabic or Dari one of the Afghan languages along with the fundamental tenets of Islam and cultural norms of Iraqis and Afghans. Near the end of two months of training, they're sent to a mock town, where native Iraqi and Dari speakers pose as residents and local forces and test the U.S. soldiers on what they've learned.
Col. Jeffrey Ingram, the commander here, has been building the military adviser training program since 2006. Before that, soldiers such as Nichols learned on the job.
In his office, among books such as "Islam for Dummies" and the Quran, Nichols keeps a photo of Col. Yahya Hameed al Zubaidi, an Iraqi police officer he was training near the Syrian border in 2006. Nichols is convinced that tribal leaders killed Zubaidi because the police commander didn't include them enough in his security efforts.
Nichols said that had he known the importance of the tribal system to Iraqis, he would've encouraged officers such as Zubaidi to reach out more.
"He represents the effect you are having on your counterparts," Nichols said, holding the flier that announced the colonel's death. "We push them very hard, and they become vulnerable. I could have been a better transition leader if I had known that then."
Fort Riley trains roughly 40 percent of Army, Navy and Air Force military advisers, and the rest train with their units. Marines train their troops at Twentynine Palms, their base near San Diego. The Army training center is scheduled to move to Fort Polk, La., sometime next year.
Trainers are slowly getting respect. Last month, Gen. George Casey, the Army chief of staff, said that advisory work by senior officers would be taken into account at promotion boards. The test, Ingram said, is if the promotions come through.
#1
Pity party at fort Riley! Training and advising other countries troops is tough. So what! Any time a hand full of guys can get some other countries troops to fight instead of using ours its a bonus. Advisor work is hard, its misunderstood, and not appreciated. Welcome to the Special Forces world at a very micro level. And this guys needs a real B&*ch slapping for patch swapping! Just plain dumb.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/23/2008 10:48 Comments ||
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#2
Advisers don't get promoted as fast as their combat counterparts do
Welcome my friend, to the role of the Special Forces advisor, warts and all!
#4
is this an Army thing? We took care of our MTT/BTT/SPTT teams like it was going out of style. Whatever those dudes needed we coughed up the best we could.
#7
There are several divisions in the military. Conventional and unconventional is one; combat and combat support is another; front line and REMF is another; active duty and reserve is another; and "big picture" vs. "tacticals".
Within these, you get personality types; the "by the book" vs. "casual" types; the militants vs. the militarists; the religious vs. the secular; and intolerant vs. the tolerant.
What makes it livable is that you can usually migrate to where you want to fit in. This is a trade off with the regimental system where you were stuck for your whole career in just one unit.
A hardline Somali Islamist accused of ties to Al-Qaeda claimed leadership of the country's fractured opposition on Tuesday, highlighting a bitter power struggle within the movement. Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, an influential cleric designated as a terrorist by Washington, was elected head of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) in a meeting in the Eritrean capital, an ally to Aweys said.
"We have elected Aweys as the head of the alliance," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. "The appointment of the new leaders will enhance the liberation of Somalia from the occupation of Ethiopia and the puppets proclaimed by Addis Ababa," he added, referring to the Ethiopian-backed interim government in Somalia.
But ARS leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who was chairing the group's meeting in Djibouti, dismissed the move. "What they have said is null and void," said his spokesman Suleiman Olad Roble told AFP in Djibouti.
The ARS central committee, led by Ahmed, endorsed over the weekend in Djibouti a June 9 cease-fire agreement reached with the Somali government. But Aweys rejected the truce, insisting the ARS was committed to driving out Ethiopian forces who entered Somalia in late 2006 and ousted an Islamist movement from the country's south and central region.
The ARS was formed in September 2007 in Asmara and delegates chose Ahmed as its new leader. The two fell out after Ahmed decided to participate in UN-sponsored peace talks in Djibouti to seek an end the Somali fighting that has raged since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
This article starring:
Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia
Mohamed Siad Barre
Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys
Islamic Courts
Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed
Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia
Suleiman Olad Roble
Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic Courts
#1
Good. He can paint a nice henna bullseye on his forehead.
So you'll be flying across The Pond, Abu? Two words: "traumatic decompression"...
LONDON, England (CNN) -- A British judge ruled Wednesday that radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza may not appeal an order for his extradition to the United States, where he faces terrorism-related charges, the judge's office said.
The move clears the way for the Egyptian-born cleric's transfer to the U.S., where he faces 11 charges including conspiracy in connection with a 1998 kidnapping in Yemen and conspiring with others to establish an Islamic jihad, or holy war, training camp in rural Oregon in 1999. High Court Justice Igor Judge on Wednesday turned down Abu Hamza's request for permission to appeal his extradition order to the House of Lords, which is Britain's highest court, Judge's office said. Buh bye. Don't forget to write. Oh, that's right, you can't...
Abu Hamza has one legal avenue left to appeal -- the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, a British Home Office spokesman said. He has 28 days in which to launch an appeal there. That's okay, Abu. Supermax ain't going anywhere...
Abu Hamza's lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment. From now on, Abu, cash up front. Oh, that's right. You don't pay me, the government does.
The one-eyed, hook-handed cleric is one of the highest-profile radical Islamic figures in Britain. He is already serving a seven-year sentence there for inciting racial hatred at his north London mosque and other terrorism-related charges. Hamza has previously denied any wrongdoing, saying, "They have no evidence against me whatsoever apart from me trying basically to open the people's eyes about certain principles." And what might those be? Killing Infidels, maybe?
If Abu Hamza is extradited his British sentence could be interrupted so he could stand trial in the U.S., the Home Office has said. If he receives a prison sentence in the U.S., Abu Hamza would be returned to England to complete his sentence there before serving time in the United States, the Home Office said.
Abu Hamza, who is also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, formerly preached at the Finsbury Park Mosque in London. His followers included the so-called "shoe bomber" Richard Reid, who was convicted of trying to light a bomb in his shoes on a trans-Atlantic flight and Zacarias Moussaoui, who was charged over the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Both MENSA candidates. And Moussaoui was "convicted" too in case CNN forgot.
Abu Hamza was also convicted of possessing eight video and audio recordings that prosecutors said he intended to distribute to stir up racial hatred. In all, police seized some 2,700 audio tapes and about 570 video tapes from two addresses -- one his home -- during raids in 2003. He's addicted to jihadi porn, your honor.
The material included a 10-volume "encyclopedia" of Afghan jihad, which prosecutor David Perry described as "a manual for terrorism." The texts discussed how to make explosives, explained assassination methods and detailed the best means of attack.
Both non-Muslims and Muslims condemned his preaching, which include praising the September 11, 2001, attacks, calling al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden a hero, and describing the 2003 Columbia shuttle disaster as punishment from Allah because the astronauts were Christian, Hindu and Jewish. He would've clapped...if he could.
The U.S. accuses Abu Hamza of helping kidnappers who abducted 16 Western tourists in Yemen in December 1998. Four hostages were killed and two injured in a rescue operation. The U.S. also accuses Hamza of trying to set up terrorist training camps in Bly, Oregon, and charge that he supported militants fighting in Afghanistan.
Ah, yes. Spain...
IsraelNN.com) The National Court in Spain has accepted a Palestinian Authority courtsuit that was filed less than a month ago, and orders the arrest of Binyamin Ben-Eliezer. The explanation: He oversaw the killing of arch-Palestinian terrorist Salah Shehada.
The Spanish court has also ordered the arrest of former IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon and other IDF officials, both past and present, for the same reason. The arrest orders are to be executed immediately upon the officials' setting foot on Spanish soil.
Shehada was killed in an Israel Air Force strike in July 2002, shortly before his plans to send a truck loaded with 600 kilograms of explosives to a Jewish celebration in Gush Katif were to be implemented. Slated to succeed Sheikh Ahmed Yassin as leader of Hamas, Shehada was responsible for hundreds of attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers, and the deaths of dozens of Israelis. Geez, there's a real loss for humanity... More important to persecute prosecute those who remove the scum of the earth ...
Ben-Eliezer of the Labor Party, currently Minister of Infrastructures, was Minister of Defense at the time of the successful liquidation of Shehada. Spain also seeks to arrest then-IDF chief Lt.-Gen. (res.) Moshe Yaalon, then-IAF chief Lt.-Gen. (res.) Dan Halutz (also a former Chief of Staff), then-Southern District Commander Gen. (res.) Doron Almog, then-National Security Council head Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland, and Ben-Eliezer's military advisor Mike Herzog.
The PA suit was filed in Spain by the Palestinian Committee for Human Rights (PCHR), which claimed that the one-ton bomb was too powerful to be dropped on a residential neighborhood. He was gonna use a 600kg. bomb, so I'd say they were a little light. But it did the job...
Arutz-7's Shimon Cohen notes, however, that it had been widely known during the period of the attack that Shehada and other terrorist leaders often took refuge behind children and other civilians in order to avoid being targeted by Israel. The IDF made it clear afterwards that the bombing of the building in which Shehada was hiding was done only after it was ascertained that no civilians - except possibly the terrorist's wife and daughter - were in his vicinity. The mission had been postponed numerous prior times when it was feared that civilians would be hurt.
In the event, however, 14 civilians were killed, and Israel was widely criticized from all quarters. Gen. Halutz's statement at the time, that all he felt when dropping a bomb was "a small bump in the side of the plane" - designed to express support for his pilots - added to the poor international perception of Israel's humanitarian image at the time. The PCHR often works in tandem with left-wing organizations in Israel, and refers to the IDF (Israel Defense Force) as the Israel Occupation Force.
#2
Jim, at one time, Spain had this really big empire. True, most of it was in South America, but anyway...
So, they are just acting like the empire they used to be.
The only thing more ridiculous is Belgium.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
07/23/2008 12:19 Comments ||
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#3
Maybe longing for the days of Andalusia and dhimmitude.
#6
If Spain gets too obnoxious, the Jews will press charges in the International Criminal Court for all the torture the Spanish Jews suffered during the Inquisition. They may even decide that it wouldn't hurt Madrid much to be placed on Israel's long list of possible nuclear targets. The Spanish are fools, doing the bidding of fools.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/23/2008 22:07 Comments ||
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Hattip Instapundit. A taste from one of our best independent reporters. Go read the whole thing.
I understood already why the KLA [Kosovo Liberation Army, presumably]
told the mujahideen, the radical Arab Islamists, to stay out during the war, but I wanted to hear a local person explain it from his or her perspective.
"The KLA," I said. "Why did they say no to the mujahideen?"
"In Bosnia," he said, "the mujahideen called the war a holy war, and they wanted to call the war here a holy war. But it was not a holy war, it was a war against the Serbian regime and paramilitary forces. So to prevent this we told them No. You can't have an attitude like that. You can send money to buy guns, but you cannot be with us in the war. That was a good idea. They destroy everything they touch."
#1
Totten is an obsessed snake oil vendor. What you read from him is not expertise; it is apologism, worthy of loathsome medieval Jesuits. There have been several documented liberal and secular periods in the history of islam; 100% of same faded out, as fundamentalists revive - again and again - the confrontation with the West.
When the Communists had to explain un-socialist aspects of their tyrannies, they spoke of "non antagonistic contradictions." Only the morally bankrupt denied that visible benign phenomenon, was purely transient. During the Cold War, thousands of pseudo intellectuals attributed lapses in communist legality, to peaceful intentions. To this day, I doubt that the communist doctrine of "protracted war" could impact on Chomsky's warped brain. Similarly, the muslim enemy benefits from cartoonish characterizations of their attitudes to the despised disbeliever (kaffir).
All muslims are inherent belligerent to external enemies and internal shirkers. They are conditioned to believe that their deity needs 5 prostrations per day from believers, and perma war against disbelievers. All muslim polities degenerate into malignant forms. They are passive when they are small in number, and aggressive when they have the force of numbers to effect sharia perversities. There is no such thing as a loyal muslim; ALL their patriotic efforts are either directed at a Caliph (leader of Muslims) or Calipha movements. Muslims are the termites of Western Civilization.
Totten skates around an explicit defense of Clinton's savageries against Serbs in Bosnia and Kosovo. While he was writing, a Kosovo Assembly leader was caught with a pound of Afghan Heroin. Are Kosovo/Albania the carriers of Central Asia poison to Europe? What do Americans get from defending Clinton's Heroin Republics?
Totten regurgitates lies about nominal muslim tolerance of Christians, without admitting a fact: Christians CANNOT construct new churches in either Bosnia or Kosovo or Albania. Even getting permits to renovate is difficult. In contrast, Wahabi mosques are going up all over the Ottoman rat-holes of Europe. One report disclosed 20% Kosovan support for the Wahabi ideology.
Lastly, Totten the Clintonist liar promotes indulgence of Ottoman gutter entities in Europe. Exactly how many muslims support a Judaeo-Christian presence in the Middle East? ZERO!!! Over 2,000,000 Christians have been cleansed from their Holy Lands since 1948. And you know how much respect there is for Jews in the muslim tyrannies. I don't see NATO protecting Egyptian Copts and Lebanese Maronites or Chaldeans or Mandeans.
Its too bad that free peoples crave reports on happy, liberal muslims. Lies can comfort, but they hardly contribute to understanding. Totten can drop dead.
Do any Rantburg regulars deny the "Clash of Civilization" thesis? If so, I would like to see what could be dredged up as evidence of latent amity.
#2
Yup, we did a good a job bombing the Serbs out of their homeland so that Islamists could have a base in Europe. If I was an indigenous citizen of a small European country I'd be very, very worried by this precedent.
#3
Oh and while we're at it, we can't just blame Clinton for this insane policy, since Bush and the EU are doing pretty much the same thing with Turkey, smoothing its transition from secularism to Islamism.
#5
You got a little bit of spittle in your beard, there, McZoid.
How was your last trip to Albania, by the way? See a lot, talk to a lot of people?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
07/23/2008 9:20 Comments ||
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#6
Bravo McZoid! Not for your sentiments---which I fully share, but for managing to remain civil. When I think of Totten and his "moderate Muslim" Pravda, I just can't help reverting to the Russian profanity of my youth.
#7
Totten is a good guy but unfortunately he has taken at face value everytning his contacts havce told him. To begin with he know little of region's history be it the genocide of Serbs during WWII (I advice reading abit ovout the SS Hanschar division ) or the silent ethnic cleansing of Serbs after Tito's death.
Now he has a point: in his phtos it looks like it is harder to find a hijab in Kosovo than in Paris.
#9
Totten is a good guy but unfortunately he has taken at face value everytning his contacts havce told him. To begin with he know little of region's history be it the genocide of Serbs during WWII (I advice reading abit ovout the SS Hanschar division ) or the silent ethnic cleansing of Serbs after Tito's death.
And here's a little bit of global historical context: within ten years of the defeat of the Nazis the Soviets were operating a totalitarian empire of their own, running from central Germany to China, killed tens of millions of people, enslaved hundreds of millions, and stopping them at South Korea cost the US some 50,000 war dead of our own. I am disinclined to accept "...but they were victims of the nazis 50 years ago" as a reason for their pogrom-of-the-week, especially from close allies of the Russians who are (as we speak) profiting from selling breeder reactors to the Iranians.
#10
Yugoslavia was neutral in the cold war. Ptoblem is: Yugoslav Muslims weren't little saints and Serbs had perhaps some reasons to be unwilling to live under Muslim domination in Bosnia. Did you know that Itzbegovitch, the Muslim presdient was told to havbe been a Hanschar? That his propganda depicted turbanned horsemen crushing christains under the roofs of their horses? What did ypu expect from the Serbs? That they waited patiently until they were exterminated?
About genocide. First do you really think MSM lied only in Irak and Vietwnam?
#11
The girls in the pix at the link certainly don't look like your typical burqa babes and the availability of liquor is always a good thing.
But I couldn't help getting the feeling that MSM coverage of the 1990's Balkans wars was indeed one sided. Wasn't Serbia's loss of Kosovo somewhat like if the US lost California? Oh, that's right, we're letting California go too.
Memo to third world countries contemplating invading their neighbors: Don't send an army of guys with guns, tanks and warplanes. Send families with plenty of women and children who are willing to do the work your neighbor's people won't.
Then there are new reports of ethnic Albanians causing trouble in Macedonia. Is it a pattern? Is Albania in an expansionist mode? I dunno but if you Google "Greater Albania" it sure returns a lot of hits.
#12
McZoid and others in this thread need to get back on their meds, stat.
Obviously none of you have any freaking clue what the hell you are talking about. As it happens, I took the same tour (Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albana, Kosovo) last summer as Totten is doing right now.
Yeah, Albania and Kosovo are Muslim areas. That's like saying that Canadians are Christians - meaning, in name only. Hell, in Shkoder, Albania, I had a group of these wild-eyed savages with scimitars buy me beer and pizza all afternoon, which they also shared.
I'd take them rather than say, Belgium, any day to watch my back.
#13
I'm not ready to go McZoid, but I wonder what kind of reception you'd get in 60 years. And I'd observe that Turks weren't burka babes a generation ago.
That's not to say that anything will happen but that things do change and Islam, supported by Saudi Wahabi money, seems to change things in the wrong direction.
I do believe that in order to bring this trend to am end, a lot of people are going to have to die one way or the other.
#15
If the Serbs committed "genocide" when they killed "8000" Muslim "civilians" in Srebenica, then we also committed "genocide" when we bombed Serbian civilians in Belgrade.
#16
I am disinclined to accept "...but they were victims of the nazis 50 years ago" as a reason for their pogrom-of-the-week, especially from close allies of the Russians who are (as we speak) profiting from selling breeder reactors to the Iranians.
So the fact that the Serbs are allied with the Russians proves that they're the bad guys. By that logic, the killers at Beslan are the good guys.
#17
So the fact that the Serbs are allied with the Russians proves that they're the bad guys. By that logic, the killers at Beslan are the good guys.
No, but it doesn't mean we have to pretend you're the good guys while they're are killing every adult male and pretending that using the word civilian with scare quotes makes it ok.
OTTAWA - The prosecution closed its case against Momin Khawaja Tuesday, its final witness testifying the young Muslim was angry over Iraq and Afghanistan but showed no sign he was a terrorist intent on bombing London.
"Just because he supports them (violent jihadists) in theory is not actually proof of his involvement as such . . . it's not the same as blowing up London," Zeba Khan, Khawaja's former finance, told the court via video link from Dubai. "Jihad and terrorism are different things."
Of course. Anyone can see that. Terrorism involves killing people and blowing stuff up. Jihad is .. something else. Entirely.
"You will not meet a young Muslim man in the world who is not angry about something. Anyone who watches the news, if he wasn't mad then: a) there's something wrong with him or: b) he's ignorant."
Another clear definition of a Moose-limb, though not the way they intended ...
Though she was called as a Crown witness, prosecutor David McKercher did not ask Khan any significant questions in an examination-in-chief that lasted less than 10 minutes. Instead, he entered into evidence lengthy transcripts of two interviews she gave to the RCMP in 2004, a move Judge Douglas Rutherford called "unorthodox."
During the first interview at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad that July, Khan referred to one of several e-mails from Khawaja expressing his plan to join the mujahedeen fight against western military in Afghanistan.
"I never thought that he would ever take it seriously, that he would do anything, see. This is all just talk. My sister was like, 'You know what? This guys seems like, really extreme, you know? He seems like he's very much supporting of like blowing things up and stuff.'
"And my response to her was, 'I bet he's not gonna do it. And I bet that if we got married and he tried to do it, I would stop him.'"
Her testimony Tuesday, most solicited during cross-examination by defence lawyer Lawrence Greenspon, expressed confidence in Khawaja's innocence in the London bomb plot. Not once, she said, in all their e-mails and two brief visits he made to her home, did he mention anything about the London plot or any other terrorist activity,
But her credibility with the court likely suffered when she said the nearly 3,000 people murdered on 9/11 were unintentional victims - "collateral damage" - of what was intended as an economic assault against the United States and an act she compared to the Allied bombing of Dresden, Germany during the Second World War. The Dresden bomber crews were not terrorists, she said. "Some things happen in war, innocent people get killed. In America you call it collateral damage, I don't see this as much different."
Now 27, married and living in Dubai, Khan was then a 23-year-old American living in Pakistan when she entered into an e-mail courtship with Khawaja in 2003. She later admitted to police it was more about trying to escape from her parents' home in Islamabad than love. "He wasn't the brightest crown in the box . . . not the handsomest guy in the world . . . thick mentally. My sister described him as a blowhard, somebody who like to talk a lot, and just listen to the sound of his own voice."
Khawaja broke off the engagement a few months later.
For nearly an hour, the poised, intelligent and well-spoken woman in a light pink hijab insisted Khawaja had a strong moral compass, had shown no signs of wanting to harm innocent people and had never talked of a plot to bomb public sites around the British capital in 2004.
She said they shared a belief in jihad - struggle - that fell far short of terrorism. "I do believe in jihad, but my belief in jihad is vastly different from what many believe it to be. To say that I believe in jihad does not mean I believe in terrorism, that I believe in blowing things up. When I say I support this, I do not support blowing up miscellaneous things in Britain and the U.S."
But death to the Joooz, most definitely ...
In her July 2004 statement to police, she said fighting U.S. troops in Muslim lands, "is not an act of terrorism."
She said she believes Khawaja felt the same.
I'll bet he did ...
When her sister showed her a newspaper story about the March 29, 2004 arrest of a Canadian named Momin Khawaja for an alleged role in the London bomb plot, Khan was stunned. "It can't be him," she recalled saying. "It's got to be someone else, it didn't line up, it's crazy. How he was acting, in my view, did not in any way line up to the terrorist situation."
#6
If this is blunt and to the point I am sorry but I wanted you all to know what kind of caliber of person he really is. What you see in the news is all fake.
In service,
CPT J
Bagram, Afghanistan
Thanks CPT J. We pretty much had the bugger pegged, but from your report he's just created new lows.
#7
If I recall correctly, the latest polls have McCain and Obama within statistical variation in Michigan, and McCain leading slightly in Ohio. Oh, and something like 70% of those asked believe the media are significantly biased in favour of Obama. Perhaps Cpt. J is not the only one reporting in from this Tour.
#9
"Tour of Duty" sounds better than "Tour of Sucking Up and Trying to Look Important While Not Admitting You Were Wrong About Everything". Shorter, too.
#11
Next thing you know they will give BO a Nobel Peace Prize for his "Tour of Duty." That will be followed by an Academy Award for his acting.
Geez, do these MSM types have no shame? Calling this media blitz a Tour of Duty is an insult to anyone who has served a real tour of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan. The MSM has pulled out all the stops to try get the Messiahman elected.
NBC's "Today" called Obama's visit to Iraq "picture-perfect."
Obama also met with senior U.S. military commanders, including Gen. David Petraeus, who gave Obama a helicopter tour of Iraq and a briefing on the situation on the ground. Although their encounter was described as friendly, and photos show the two smiling and shaking hands, observers said Obama and Petreaus "agreed to disagree" about the feasibility of Obama's withdrawal timeline in an "animated" conversation.
David Gergen: "I think it was the first -- Barack Obama made the first mistake of his trip, in my judgment, in releasing a statement in which he said exactly what Maliki had said in those conversations. We have a long tradition in this country that we only have one president at a time. He's the commander in chief and the negotiator in chief. I cannot remember a campaign which a rival seeking the presidency has been in a position negotiating a war that's under way with another party outside the country. I think he leaves himself open to the charge tonight that he's meddling, that this is not his role, that he can be the critic, but he's not the negotiator. We have a president who does that. So, I think the underlying facts support him, but I think it would be a real mistake -- and I think it was a mistake -- to get into these conversations and let it be used politically."
#1
In other words, Obama, with his 145 days of duty in the senate, illinois state legislator, and community organizer, believes he know more than the man who has made his career in the military, and who has writtne books on foreign policy.
#3
In other words, Hussein Messiah will pay no regard to the military whatever, as he already knows all he needs to know. If this f**ker is elevated to the top, which I really can't comprehend, the military is going to suffer even more than under Buffoon Bill. Neither have any knowledge of the military mission or how the nations of the world interact. This dimwit will do some damage and allow Pubs to regroup, but it's going to be be a hard grind.
#4
Heh, coming from the guy who does not understand the logistical nightmare of suddenly choosing Invesco Field as the venue of his presumed corronation.
#5
In other words, Hussein Messiah will pay no regard to the military whatever, as he already knows all he needs to know.
Essentially. Obama can't say "Petraeus was successful" because that would imply that Bush's decision to put Petraeus in command was right. But most importantly, he'd be saying "My stance on the surge was wrong".
I guess why he said what he said depends on whether his fact-finding trip and subsequent comment was:
1. a campaign stunt,
2. an information-gathering to establish or revise his policies and the comment was made to keep the supporters happy,
3. an expedition to figure out how the facts on the ground will conflict with his already established policies (rather, the policies his 300 experts have come up with) or,
4. it was just to take his ego on a tour.
If it's from the first two, then his commentary, while flat-out wrong, is understandable in a political sort of way.
If it's from the second two, that doesn't bode well with him as President.
#9
We're hearing what the media outlets interpret Obama's visit to be instead of reporting the actual substance.
This embellishment crap has to be nipped in the butt and these guys punished publicly.
Why don't folks see this as the trash that it is?!
I'm losing patience with our citizens that have joined the sheeple herd.
I just discovered a new beer, Moose Drool, quite tasty, I think it's time.
Posted by: Jan ||
07/23/2008 14:45 Comments ||
Top||
#10
the problem
It almost certainly IS quiet enough in Iraq for Obamas 16 month withdrawl to work, with a residual force of 50k or so left. Problem is, that leaves everyone reliant on the Iraqi army, and gives Maliki a free hand against the Sunni awakening types and the Kurds. Which makes it less likely we will get a truely pluralist democratic and prowestern Iraq, and more likely we get a Shiite quasidemocracy playing teh US and Iran against each other. Petraeus et al cant publicly say that, cause that would be undiplomatic to Maliki. Even Sunni pols cant say it, cause the whole Sunni world has been so hostile to the US position in Iraq so long (ironically in many cases cause they feared a shiite dominated Iraq) The Kurds want us to stay, but who will listen to them?
#13
It almost certainly IS quiet enough in Iraq for Obamas 16 month withdrawl to work, with a residual force of 50k or so left. Problem is, that leaves everyone reliant on the Iraqi army, and gives Maliki a free hand against the Sunni awakening types and the Kurds.
A secondary issue already raised is that the next president will also have to is continuing to assist Iraq's infrastructure and economic development; something that is also a factor in achieving "a truely pluralist democratic and prowestern Iraq".
Obama's remarks don't give me the warm and fuzzies on that.
#14
EVERY damned time I read something about Obama I see him screwing up yet again. This character isn't smart enough to get elected dogcatcher, much less POTUS. If the press treated him fairly he'd be back "community organizing."
If he gets elected, I predict that both taxes and the number of anti-black racists in America will rise exponentially.
Guess he'd better get in line. And be prepared to wait, because it's a long one...
IsraelNN.com) Muslim Americans are furious over remarks made by Col. Bud Day, a former comrade in war of Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain. "The Muslims have said either we kneel or they're going to kill us," Day said in a Florida conference all with reporters. "I don't intend to kneel and I don't advocate to anybody that we kneel, and John doesn't advocate to anybody that we kneel.''
A Republican Party spokeswoman explained that Day meant to refer to "terrorists" and not to Muslims. However, Arab-American groups denounced the comments as bigotry.
Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama has called for withdrawing troops from Iraq, a policy that Day condemned, ''I think it's incredible that he would make up his mind before he ever got the facts,'' Day told reporters. Col Day's resume:
George "Bud" Day is the most decorated officer in the modern history of the U.S. military, having won (this is a chest seriously full of medals and ribbons) the Medal of Honor, Air Force Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star Medal for Valor with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Bronze Star Medal for Merit, Purple Heart with three Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Medal with nine Oak Leaf Clusters, National Order of Vietnam, Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm, and Prisoner of War Medal.
#1
Glad to hear it. Glad Ole John Boy thinks it. Ass kicking well beyond what has already occurred is what is required. F**k arab-Americans. Don't like the medicine, pack your asses back to the desert. We don't need ya.
#3
It would be helpful to know what percentage of Muslims offended by Col. Day's comments are offended by the suggestion that Muslims want to kill those who won't kneel and what percentage are as offended by his outspoken refusal to kneel.
DUKE FIELD, Fla. (AFPN) -- Duke Field Airmen from the 711th Special Operations Squadron dropped the last operational Bomb Live Unit-82 from an MC-130E Combat Talon I July 15 at the Utah Test and Training Range. Nicknamed "Commando Vault" in Vietnam and "Daisy Cutter" in Afghanistan, the BLU-82 is a 15,000-pound bomb, and because of its size, the bomb was dropped by parachute from the aircraft.
"We in the Air Force Reserve Command feel fortunate to have been chosen to drop the last operational Daisy Cutter," said Col. Jon Weeks, the 919th Special Operations Wing vice commander and mission commander on the drop. "Our people in the 711th Special Operations Squadron dropped several BLU-82s during the first few months of Operation Enduring Freedom with significant psychological and tactical effect." Oh, I'll bet...
When originally designed, the BLU-82 was the largest conventional bomb in existence. It could instantly clear jungles for helicopter landing zones in Vietnam. Later, the military used the bomb as an antipersonnel weapon because of its large lethal radius combined with the psychological effects of the flash and sound. The warhead contains 12,600 pounds of GSX slurry (ammonium nitrate, aluminum powder and polystyrene). A 38-inch fuse extender detonates the bomb, allowing maximum destruction at ground level without leaving a crater. "The power of this weapon is overwhelming," Colonel Weeks said. "Even flying the chase plane at 6,000 feet above ground level and approximately three-quarters of a mile away from the bomb's detonation point, we felt a shock wave that shook the aircraft. As former commander of the 711th SOS and a traditional reservist, I feel especially proud to have been part of this historical event."
The crew determines the accurate delivery of the weapon. The navigator positions the aircraft and calculates ballistic and wind computations. The pilot keeps the plane on course with precision instrument flying. "As far as aircraft loads go, the delivery of the BLU-82 was nothing unusual," said Lt. Col. Mike Theriot, the aircraft commander and pilot on the mission. "Our aircraft routinely drop loads much larger and heavier."
Wing officials said they believe there are no plans, at this time, to produce BLU-82s in the future. The only remaining inactive bombs are used for loadmaster training and for static displays in museums. Pics at the link.
#2
"No plans ... to produce BLU-82's in the future" > AFRICA, BALKANS redux, + SOUTH/SE ASIA = AUSTRALESIA, VV POST-OSAMA, ZAWI, OMAR, etc + next generation of Jihadist leaders [Nukular?] E.G. OSAMA's SON(S), etal???
FLINTSTONES episodes > D *** NG IT, I HAVE A GOOD MIND TO TURN THE AIR FORCE IN TO THE OWG DAISY CUTTERS UNION ..........I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU IN THE MILITARY CALL IT, GENERAL, BUT I'M GLAD ITS ON OUR SIDE"!
#3
Well, there goes our hole-card. Daisy Cutters and MOABs define a certain style in American war-blogging. Still got a few MOABs left to keep us going for a bit, until Teal-Rabbit is revealed.
HMMMMM, iff my old Afghan War cohort OSAMA was truly intent on attacking and destroying the WH + Congress, SUICIDE TRUCKS OR SUIC COMMANDO-SAPPER TEAH COULD HAD ACHIEVED IT AND AT HIGHER PAN-SUCCESS PROB THAN USING AIRLINERS. IMB the only pragmatic utility of using commercial airliners in that fashion on 9-11-2001 would be as a HIGH-PROFILE, SELECT POLITICAL-MEDIA STATEMENT.
As a WAR/ATTACK METHOD, many of the CIVILIAN deaths at the WTC may arguably be UNAVOIDABLE, BUT IMO OSAMA's CREDIBILITY + PRESTIGE, INCLUD FOR RADICAL ISLAM, WOULD HAD BEEN GREATER IFF THE AIRLINER CIVILIANS WERE NOT INVOLVED.
Not solely. It disrupted an industry, placed constraints on the freedom of travel, forced a government to take actions that impinged on its citizens liberty and placed a brake on several nations' economies.
Sounds like was an attack in a guerrilla-warfare campaign to me.
Deputy Speaker Sindh Assembly Shehla Raza said that the killing of Khalid Shahenshah might be linked to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, Dawn News reported on Tuesday. Raza said Shahenshah was an eyewitness to the murder of Benazir Bhutto and his statement was likely to be recorded before the United Nations-led team that would possibly probe the incident. She termed the killing a great loss to the party.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Raza said Shahenshah was an eyewitness to the murder of Benazir Bhutto and his statement was likely to be recorded before the United Nations-led team that would possibly probe the incident.
If that's the case, they probaby could've waited at least a coupla years...
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Maulvi Umar said the deadline given to the NWFP government to resign had already ended but the Taliban would await the provincial government's response until Wednesday morning, a private television channel reported on Tuesday.
Apparently nobody in Pakiwakiland is ever on time ...
According to Geo News, Maulvi Umar asked for a halt to military operation in Hangu and Swat, as their deadline for the NWFP government to resign expired on Tuesday.
NWFP govt squealed like Islamic piggies and pressured the government to cease and desist, which it did, rather than risk either the Talibs beating up the mighty Pak army -- both India and NATO are watching with professional interest -- or the converse, the mighty Pak army actually hurting the oligarchy's tool for maintaining Strategic Depth.
He said they would launch attacks against the government if operation was not stopped in the two districts.
Presumably these would be boomers and kidnapping of enlisted men, that sort of thing.
The channel quoted Umar as saying that important decisions were taken at a Taliban Shura meeting held on Tuesday. According to the channel, TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud chaired the Taliban Shura and discussed with his colleagues a future course of action, adding that important decisions regarding the ultimatum to the provincial government were taken.
The Talibs have begun referring to themselves as an "emirate." It's kinda hard to maintain the fiction of Islamabad's writ applying when they have Islamic "princes" strutting around ordering people's heads chopped off. At the same time, the myth of the "ungovernable" tribal areas is evaporating, since the "emirate" doesn't seem to have much trouble.
Maulvi Umar welcomed the NWFP government's announcement that it is willing to resolve all problems through negotiations.
You could also call that a spade, or even a surrender.
He said that despite the use of force in Swat and Hangu, the government has failed to redress any of the region's problems. He went on to say that the TTP preferred talks over confrontation.
But of course you can't have talks without first having confrontation. That's the way the game is played.
NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar had told a press conference on Monday that his party was against violence. They would however be "compelled" to use force if the other side continued to challenge the writ of the government.
But they'll keep denying the obvious whenever they can get away with it.
Mehsud had on July 18 given the NWFP government a five-day ultimatum to either resign "or else face dire consequences", inviting strong reactions from the provincial government. The NWFP government responded the next day, saying they would not resign, nor become hostage to any militant group.
This article starring:
BAITULLAH MEHSUD
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
MAULVI OMAR
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2008 00:00 ||
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[4 views]
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#1
Pakistan is worthless and weak. Drop and give me twenty
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/23/2008 19:30 Comments ||
Top||
Pakistan is working with Iran on a joint strategy to stem the flow of militants through their territory to and from Iraq, Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik said on Tuesday. "From Iran, they go to Iraq and then come back," Malik told reporters after talks with his Iranian counterpart. "We are preparing a joint strategy to control it." Iran's Acting Minister for Interior Syed Mehdi Hashemi is on an official visit to Pakistan to hold negotiations about militancy and sectarianism in the region. Malik said Iran, which is predominantly Shia Muslim, and Pakistan, mainly Sunni Muslim, had agreed to set up a joint commission of clerics and scholars to reduce sectarian strife in Pakistan. "It will send a good message to Shia and Sunni Muslims that they should stop cutting each other's throats," Malik said. He said the commission would help improve relations between both the two sects. The two officials discussed human trafficking and smuggling of POL products across the Iran-Pakistan border. "We have agreed to set up focal points at the Pak-Iran border to stop it (trafficking and smuggling)," Malik said. The government nominated Federal Investigation Agency Director General Tariq Pervez to take up the issue with Iranian officials.
Swap: The issue of exchange of prisoners between the neighbouring countries was also discussed. The Iranian minister requested for release of 16 Iranians held in Pakistan. Hashemi termed the meeting as "positive". Malik said that the minister had met with the prime minister and conveyed a message from Iranian President.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2008 00:00 ||
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[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Is the Daily Times like the Weekly World News of Pakistan?
#2
Which country is the bigger threat to the West?
Posted by: Paul ||
07/23/2008 12:52 Comments ||
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#3
"It will send a good message to Shia and Sunni Muslims that they should stop cutting each other's throats," Malik said.
But cutting American or Joooos throats is OK.
A jirga comprising Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leaders began negotiations on Tuesday with Mullah Mehboob's Ansarul Islam (AI) -- a rival group of Mangal Bagh's Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) -- for a ceasefire between the two militant outfits. A first round of talks with the LI in Bara has ended, with the jirga -- headed by Mullah Shujaul Mulk -- beginning a second round of talks with AI leaders at an undisclosed location in Peshawar. Sources privy to the jirga meeting revealed that LI leaders were adamant over their demand not to include Pir Saifur Rehman's group at the talks. AI leaders did not attend the Bara negotiations with the LI leaders for security reasons. Sources quoted AI leaders as saying that they were ready to disassociate themselves from Pir Saifur Rehman's group but not willing to disown Haji Khanzada from the AI.
This article starring:
HAJI KHANZADA
Ansarul Islam
MANGAL BAGH
Lashkar-e-Islam
MULLAH MEHBUB
Ansarul Islam
MULLAH SHUJAUL MULK
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl
PIR SAIFUR REHMAN
Ansarul Islam
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2008 00:00 ||
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[4 views]
Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami
The government on Tuesday said the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections would be held in "time" and any attempt by terrorists to disrupt the process would be dealt with firmly. "The government and security forces have a single-point agenda to ensure that elections are held peacefully and fairly," Defence Minister A.K. Antony said in the backdrop of a sharp increase in infiltration attempts from across the Line of Control in the past three months.
"We have reports that more attempts would be made in the next few months, in the run-up to the elections," Mr. Antony told journalists on the sidelines of an Army seminar here. "We would spare no effort to defeat these attempts of anti-national forces."
The troops had been asked to be pro-active, keeping in mind human rights. Mr. Antony said security experts held meetings to take stock of the situation and frame a strategy to counter the threat of terrorists.
Infiltration attempts
Army authorities have said April and May this year accounted for almost 90 infiltration attempts, most of which were foiled. But Home Ministry officials claimed that nearly 100 terrorists had entered the Kashmir valley. Cumulative figures for the last six months show a staggering 161 infiltration bids after a dip in the past two years, with most of the attempts reported from the Uri, Machail and Keran sectors in northern Kashmir, say Army sources.
Based on radio intercepts of militants, they said, the bulk of those attempting to cross were from the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed, with instructions to enforce a poll boycott at gunpoint.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2008 00:00 ||
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(Xinhua) -- The attack on Denmark embassy in Islamabad in June was made by al-Qaeda, said an al-Qaeda commander in an interview with Pakistan's private TV channel late Monday night. A car bomb was detonated in front of the Danish Embassy in Islamabad on June 2, killing at least eight people and injuring 24 others.
The commander of al-Qaeda Mustafa Abul Yazid, 53-year-old commander also known as Sheikh Saeed, made the remarks in an exclusive talk with journalist Najeeb Ahmed in a Geo TV program. The text story about the interview, considered as the first detailed one of any al-Qaeda leader during the last five years, was posted on the Geo's website on Tuesday.
The al-Qaeda commander's interview with Geo was said to have been conducted at an undisclosed location in Afghanistan. Yazid told the TV channel that his organization is being organized in Afghanistan and would very soon capture all Afghanistan. Al-Qaeda is doing jihad against America as it is murdering the innocent Muslims, Yazid said.
Yazid is an Egyptian Islamic militant and the current al-Qaeda commander of operations in Afghanistan.
This article starring:
MUSTAFA ABUL YAZID
al-Qaeda
Najeeb Ahmed
SHEIKH SAID
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2008 00:00 ||
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[2 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
See WAFF.com > STRATEGYPAGE - THE NEW TALIBAN TACTICS HAVE A CATCH; + WASHINTON TIMES - PAKISTAN'S TERROR, INC.; + DER DPIEGEL - TERROR, NUKES, AND PAKISTAN'S UNCERTAIN FUTURE.
The local Taliban will not hinder anti-polio campaigns in Swat, as long as lady health workers (LHWs) do not accompany the anti-polio teams, Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan told Daily Times on Tuesday. Khan said that teams, with male workers, were free to visit any area. However, he added, the teams would not be allowed to 'force' parents to administer polio drops or to vaccinate their children. "What they have to do is to inform people through mosques about vaccinating their children and then it depends on the parents whether they want to bring children or not."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2008 00:00 ||
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[5 views]
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#1
Because, as we all know, icky girls cause polio...
Pakistan is committed to fighting terrorism, which is clearly in its own interest and the government would never compromise with militants, Prime Minister (PM) Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Tuesday.
He was talking to US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne W Patterson who visited Prime Minister's House ahead of Gilani's United States tour. "The upcoming visit to the US is very important and it will help enhance the existing close ties between the two countries," he said.
Expand relations: The PM said that Pakistan accords high priority to its strategic relationship with the US and is keen to further expand its relations in various fields. "Pakistan is also eager to enhance co-operation in the fields of education, health, energy, science and technology," he said.
He said that his government would not talk to militants, but would keep the doors of dialogue open for those who have laid down arms.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Pakistan is committed to fighting terrorism...and the government would never compromise with militants,
Yeah. My wife...Morgan Fairchild, told me.
Posted by: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ||
07/23/2008 10:39 Comments ||
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Obama's Withdrawal Policy Could Lead to U.S. Fighting Wider War in Iraq, McCain Says
Sen. John McCain warns that Sen. Barack Obama's troop withdrawal plan could reverse progress in Iraq, forcing Americans to return to Iraq to fight a wider war.
"We have succeeded but it's still fragile. Sen. Obama's strategy could easily reverse all the hard fought gains we made," McCain told ABC News' David Wright on Wednesday in an interview that will air in part on "World News with Charles Gibson."
"If we do what Sen. Obama wants us to do, we will risk having to come back and risk a wider war and defeat in the first major war since 9/11," McCain said. "and that could be, have, is fraught with consequences of the United States of America's security."
McCain's comments come a day after the Republican presumptive nominee unveiled new, harsh language in his attacks on his Democratic rival for not supporting Presidenft Bush's 2007 troop "surge" policy in Iraq -- a policy advocated by McCain. The policy is credited in part with helping to reduce violence in Iraq in the last year.
"I Was Right" on Iraq SurgeWho Will Be McCain's Second-In-Command?" I had the courage and the judgment to say I would rather lose a political campaign than lose a war. It seems to me that Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign," McCain told a crowd of 400 Tuesday in Rochester, New Hampshire. Mccain repeated the line Wednesday at a campaign event in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Asked today whether he believes Obama would actually prefer losing in Iraq so that he could win the White House, McCain pointed to Obama's comments made to ABC News' Terry Moran Monday, in which he acknowledged that the surge succeeded in providing greater security, but that he stands by his original opposition to it.
"I cannot believe that any objective observer can conclude that the surge did not work and is not succeeding," McCain told Wright." It has succeeded and it is and we are winning this war and we will come home with victory and with honor."
"We are responsible for our records. I was right. Sen. Obama was wrong. So therefore, I think I have more credibility about what the future should be as opposed to Sen. Obama, who if he had had his way, we would very likely be involved in a wider war today if we had done what he wanted to do," McCain told Wright.
#1
ION DEBKA > OLMERT TO OBAMA: BY END OF YEAR 2009 TO EARLY 2010, IRAN COULD ASSEMBLE A NUCLEAR BOMB; + OBAMA: A NUCLEAR IRAN WID A BOMB WOULD BE A SITUATION-CHANGING SITUATION.
US forces could be stationed permanently in Kurdistan as part of a long-term security agreement, top Kurdish political sources revealed to Gulf News.
The Iraqi government and head of northern Iraq's regional Kurdish administration, Massoud Barzani, along with the leadership of US forces in Iraq have started to suggest that American forces be permanently based in Kurdistan.
These ideas are welcomed by Democratic US Presidential candidate Barack Obama who believes the survival of US combat forces in Kurdistan does not pose any real danger to the lives of US troops and therefore it would be appropriate to redeploy US troops there in the future, added the sources.
Iraqi and US negotiations continued in Baghdad to conclude a memorandum of understanding to sign this agreement, which will allow the US military to stay permanently in Kurdistan, and Iraqi and US negotiators agreed to focus these negotiations on the issue of determining a timetable for the agreement.
There are currently no military airports or airbase installation in any of the three provinces in Kurdistan and these may need to be established. It may take two to three years to clear US forces from Iraqi cities.
Protection
"A permanent US military presence in the Kurdistan region is welcome and is necessary to defend Iraq from internal and external risks and is important to protect the region, but this presence must be within an Iraqi-Kurd-American agreement," Jabar Al Yawir, spokesman for the Protection Forces of the Kurdistan Region, told Gulf News.
"Permanent US forces remain in the Al Hurria Air Base in the province of Kirkuk and the Al Gizlani Air Base in Mosul, close to the Kurdistan Region, but this will not be a solution because such a permanent presence in those cities is fuelling the armed resistance. I therefore believe that the relocation of US forces inside the region is the solution," Emad Al Hamadani, an Iraqi army officer told Gulf News.
While US and Kurdish sources denied any intention of building a US air base near the town of Halabja in the governorate of Sulaymaniya, near Iran, some independent Kurdish sources said if the US decides to establish a permanent presence in the Kurdistan Region they will certainly be closer to the Iraqi-Iranian border.
"Kurdish leaders are among the most prominent US allies in Iraq and the region, and with this permanent US presence not one neighbouring country would dare to threaten the sovereignty of the region and its federal experience, and the Kurdish population will not to take up arms against the presence if this happens, because much of them are have a message of thanks and gratitude for the Americans," Abdul Razzaq Al Saadi, a strategic analyst told Gulf News.
#3
I been talling you guys, the Kurds want and need us there on a permanent basis. One Stryker brigade, one support brigade (including Army aviation units), an SF unit, and an airfield with USAF and UAVs would be enough.
#7
ION WAFF.com > CHAVEZ OFFERS RUSSIA MILITARY BASES IN VENEZUELA, as part of major arms deal.
WAFF Poster opines/predicts that GAZPROM will come and invest in Venezuela and hence will need protection [from America?]; + that one day Amer may even buy fuel from a Venzuela-based GAZPROM ENERFAC???
Also from WAFF > THE INDO-CHINESE WAR AT SEA [Naval competition, espec vv SUBS].
The head of the Israel Security Agency (ISA) on Tuesday reiterated to cabinet ministers his warning that the current ceasefire deal with Gaza's Hamas rulers is only going to result in more severe violence in the future. During his weekly briefing, ISA chief Yuval Diskin said that Hamas is now planting minefields in the Gaza Strip, and has imported longer-range rockets capable of striking Israeli cities previously unthreatened by Palestinian forces based in the coastal territory. Diskin said the quiet along the Gaza border, which has lasted for over a month, is deceptive, as Hamas' long-term goals have not changed. He said the terror group is only maintaining the calm so that it can strengthen its hold on Gaza, further reducing the chances that Hamas will be ejected from power in the near future.
#1
Not cleaning Arabs from within the "Green line" in 1948 was a mistake.
Not cleaning Arabs from the liberated territories (all part of Palestinian Mandate given to Brits to establish Jewish homeland) in 1967, was a mistake.
Not giving Fatah a hand with conquest of Jordan (part of the Palestinian Mandate set aside by Brits to be an Arab (Palestinian) Homeland), and then shoving the Arabs from Judea and Samaria there, was a mistake.
Not finishing Egypt in 1973 was a mistake.
Not responding to Saddam's Scuds in 1991, was a mistake.
Giving in to USA pressure on Oslo Accords, was a mistake.
Giving in to USA pressure on Lebanon two year ago, was a mistake.
Within minutes of the bulldozer attack in central Jerusalem, many locals and tourists on the city's King David Street were debating whether the terrorist's actions were inspired by the expected arrival of U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama, or if it was simply an imitation of the similar incident two weeks ago.
"I don't think the terrorist cares who sleeps here tonight, all he wanted to do is kill Jews," said Paul Packer, of Long Island, New York. Packer had come to Jerusalem for a business trip and stayed in an apartment near the site where an East Jerusalem resident rammed a bulldozer into passing vehicles, injuring at least 24 people, mere yards from the hotel where Obama was to stay later in the day.
Watching the scene being cleared, he added, "I think they should leave the truck here so Obama can see what Jews and Israelis are facing every day."
"It was just a matter of time until there is a copy cat," said James Kennedy, a student at Tufts University in Boston who currently studies at the Hebrew University. His friend Jacob Abolafia believes the location of the attack was no accident: "We're between the King David and the Inbal hotel, where all the important people stay. Maybe there was a message that the terrorist wanted to send us."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
whether the terrorist's actions were inspired by the expected arrival of U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama
Notice how the "reporter" plants the seed right in the first paragraph.
He came to send a message to the holy one.
It's not just another nutcase on a jihad rampage, but a tormented soul attempting to communicate with The Savior. Gotta give the reporter extra points for turning an non-Obama story into a biblical event.
#2
He is mistaken on both counts. The #1 thing the terrorists want is the land of Israel. Killing Jews is just a bonus, and they would forget about it if they could drive the Jews off the land.
Just as importantly, they will want to drive *anybody* who is non-Muslim off what they think are their lands. Which in the final analysis, are ALL lands.
Senator Obama should have very clear eyes about this, that any illusion about him being loved by Muslims is dangerous.
In truth, they see him as first, an apostate. Second, they see him, as black, as being inherently inferior to Arabs. Any fondness for him they are showing is because they feel superior to him an every way, and that his ascendancy will bring a feared enemy down.
But the most radical don't even think that far. For them, they see him only as an apostate, who must die.
And when he opens his mouth, hoping that buttered inanities will persuade them otherwise, they will only be convinced he is a fool.
#3
Actually, Anonymoose, consider that the situation in Israel would be right now if---following Oslo---Paleos could control their lust for Jewish blood for, say, a decade?
I am unsure about if yoau are an useful or an useless idiot. Palestinians have been saying loud and clear for decades they want the extermination of Israelis. They have been educating their children not merely to become suicide bombers but also to level of hate who exceeds even the one Hutu children were raised.
If Palestinians ever gain the upper hand there will be a Holocaust and the model will not be Auschwitz, envision Babi-Yar multiplied 500 times or a Rwanda-like genocide when people and even children were on purpose merely wounded so their agony would take hours or even days.
#5
JFM: You are right in that is what they say, but it is their *means* to their end, not the end in itself. Paleo, Arab and other Muslim leaders have said, repeatedly, that if the Jews would just leave Israel, and go somewhere else, so that their lands would be owned by the Paleos, then they would ignore Jews altogether.
The reason, over and over, is that they want the land, and the Jews are in the way. They want to kill the Jews, just like they would want to kill Christians, if Christians lived in Israel. Land is the Muslim obsession.
For heaven's sake, they are now claiming part of Spain, because in the distant past, it was Muslim. Do you for one second think that if they focused on *that* land, that they would want to slaughter the Spanish any less than they now want to slaughter the Jews?
By their twisted logic, the *major* reason the Muslims hate America is *solely* because they think that without American support, the Israelis would have to leave. So it is America's fault that Jews occupy Israel. What they believe is Muslim land stolen from the Paleos.
#6
Personally I've been waiting for them to claim the WTC site as moslem land by conquest.
Posted by: bruce ||
07/23/2008 15:36 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Anonymoose
Koran is full of imprecations against the Jews (far more than against Christaians), Muhammad spent mots of its post-Hegira life perpetrating atrocities agsint the Jews and remeber alos that Hadith were at end of times stones and trees reveal the location of hiding Jews and tell Muslims to kill them.
Abyway America is not hated because it hemps Israel it is hated because it usurpates leaderdhip of the world friom the master race.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday lauded the civilian and the Border Police officer who "acted quickly" and killed a Palestinian who rampaged through central Jerusalem on a bulldozer earlier in the day, injuring at least 24 people. Barak stressed that this incident "exposes the complex reality facing us: war in Gaza, also with Hezbollah in Lebanon and even with Iran. We are a strong people."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
In the first "Robocop" movie, the thing warns at one point, "put down your arms or I will commence firing." They don't and it blows them away. Unless you are a robot, warnings could get you killed.
#2
In Israel, gun licenses are available to every adult on demand. For their part, the government should do a lot more to encourage more of their citizens to be armed, preferably with concealed carry, which gives a strong tactical advantage.
Ironically, Israel for the most part is so peaceful, despite the MSM news, that the illusion is created that most Israelis don't need guns.
The way around this is to create the social idea equating gun ownership with adulthood. It would be a small expense to offer a "birthday present" to young men and women on reaching perhaps their 18th birthday, that for a nominal cost they would receive a gift of a handgun, engraved with the symbols of Judaism.
Perhaps the Star of David and a religious blessing in Hebrew.
Not offered by the government, since it would not be offered to Arab citizens, but indirectly, through a secular Jewish organization.
Many would want it, even though some would reject it. But it would strongly increase the number of armed Israelis.
In fact, something like this would be a good idea in the United States, as well.
#3
There is a local restaurant business out this way with a sign on the door:
(yellow stick figure with smiley face head arms in surrender position with the circle-cross-through around it)
"This is a victim free zone. Legally allowed carried weapons are welcome and encouraged."
U.S. presidential contender Barack Obama arrived in Israel Tuesday night, facing a full schedule of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders after pledging to work for peace as soon as he takes office.
Obama flew to Israel late Tuesday from Jordan, where he condemned an attack a few hours earlier by a Palestinian man from East Jerusalem who rammed a bulldozer into passing cars in central Jerusalem, injuring at least 24 people before being shot dead by a civilian and a Border Police officer. "Today's bulldozer attack is a reminder of what Israelis have courageously lived with on a daily basis for far too long," Obama said.
Obama said he would plunge into Mideast peacemaking, where efforts have failed for decades, warning there were no quick solutions.
Earlier Tuesday, at a press conference in Amman, Jordan, the Democratic senator promised to work toward achieving a breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations "starting from the minute I'm sworn into office."
Obama added that any U.S. involvement in peace talks must recognize "not only Israel's security concerns but also the economic hardships facing Palestinians."
He said he would continue to "regard Israel as a valued ally. That policy is not going to change," he said. "What I think can change is the ability of the United States government and a United States president to be actively engaged with the peace process and to be concerned and recognize the legitimate difficulties that the Palestinian people are experiencing right now." I'll translate, "Make room under the bus".
Obama, in the midst of a weeklong high visibility foreign trek, also acknowledged the long history of Middle East tensions that would confront him if he were to become president. "It's unrealistic to expect that a U.S. president alone can suddenly snap his fingers and bring about peace in this region," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
He said he would continue to "regard Israel as a valued ally..."
Translation: "Kinda like South Vietnam. Hope your small boats aren't quite so leaky."
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
07/23/2008 1:35 Comments ||
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#2
Him and olmert ought to get along jsut fine - both are slimy, emptyheaded machine politicians.
#3
I dunno, OS...what worries me most about the Obamessiah is that he might be the opposite of emptyheaded. I think he's a hard-left radical with a very firm agenda and a roadmap of how to get there. And he has a cadre of supporters who've been waiting for this moment since 1968. Not the gasping hordes that show up at his rallies - I'm talking about the Sixties radicals, leftist financiers, poverty pimps and rabble rousers who form his braintrust. If he gets elected, he'll know he has two years to set his plans in concrete with the aid of what's likely to be an overwhelmingly Quislingcrat Congress. If he succeeds, the US becomes a de facto one-party state.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
07/23/2008 2:17 Comments ||
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#4
I came to the same conclusion as Ricky about two months ago. When he appeared to be an empty suit, he was bad enough. When I figured out that he was the great Gramscian bullet aimed at the heart of authentic America, I really got worried.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
07/23/2008 5:41 Comments ||
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#5
Yah, with a sweep of his hands he will rid Gaza, south Lebanon and the West Bank of all missiles.
#6
He will make sure the Jews can't defend themselves and feel all guilty if they try, starting a new holocaust. But afterwords there would be peace, right? I mean, the Arabs are only violent because of the Jews and before Israel was created they lived in harmony and held hands and sang Kumbiah, right?
#8
Obama said he would plunge into Mideast peacemaking, where efforts have failed for decades, warning there were no quick solutions.
Plunge: Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source
1. to cast or thrust forcibly or suddenly into something, as a liquid, a penetrable substance, a place, etc.; immerse; submerge: to plunge a dagger into one's heart.
2. to bring suddenly or forcibly into some condition, situation, etc.: to plunge a country into war; to pull a switch and plunge a house into darkness.
verb (used without object)
3. to cast oneself, or fall as if cast, into water, a hole, etc.
4. to rush or dash with headlong haste: to plunge through a crowd.
5. to bet or speculate recklessly: to plunge on the stock market.
6. to throw oneself impetuously or abruptly into some condition, situation, matter, etc.: to plunge into debt.
7. to descend abruptly or precipitously, as a cliff, road, etc.
8. to pitch violently forward, as a horse, ship, etc.
noun 11. act of plunging.
9. a leap or dive, as into water.
10. a headlong or impetuous rush or dash: a plunge into danger.
11. a sudden, violent pitching movement.
Praising U.S. participation in the weekend nuclear talks with Tehran in Geneva as a "positive step forward," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said it was a step toward recognizing his country's right to acquire nuclear technology.
The hard-line president said Wednesday that the U.S. decision to attend the talks in Geneva, Switzerland, would help refurbish Washington's tarnished image in the world.
Addressing supporters in the southern Iranian town of Yasouj, he said Tehran will not "retreat one iota" in its nuclear activities -- in his first reaction to a new call from the U.S. allies for it to end uranium-enrichment.
The remarks came close on the heels of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accusing the Islamic Republic of not being serious in Saturday's talks despite the presence of a senior U.S. diplomat. She also said the regime has two weeks time to respond positively or face more punitive sanctions.
The meeting in Geneva Saturday was the first time U.S. and Iranian officials held face-to-face talks about Iran's controversial nuclear program.
Envoys from U.S., E.U, and the U.N are hoping that Iran would respond to a so-called "freeze-for-freeze" offer, under which a freeze of Iran's uranium-enrichment program at its current levels would be matched by a Western pledge not to strengthen sanctions against Tehran.
The U.S. and its western allies accuse Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, and demand that it freeze uranium-enrichment. Iran, on the other hand, insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
#1
TOPIX > NORTH KOREA DEMANDS RESPECT AS A NUCLEAR STATE.
As argued or inferred times before, GEOPOLITICAL IRONY FOR US-WEST > NUCLEAR NOKOR = IRAN, etc. is useful as hedge agz the anti-US ambitions of Russia + China, besides also openning the door for NOKOR per se to both escape from CHINESE-specific domination and influence, + reunify wid SOKOR.
A University of Illinois law professor says he has offered to represent Iran if it decides to sue the United States over threatened nuclear program sanctions. Iran's Press TV reported Tuesday that Francis Boyle, an international law expert, is urging Iranian leaders to sue Israel and the United States through the International Court of Justice in The Hague over their ultimatum that Iran freeze its nuclear enrichment program in a matter of weeks or face further sanctions.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I offer the US government some copper covered lead circular objects for dealing with this poopy butt. Of course they will be free too.
#8
Is this guy a poster boy for a$$ clown of the moment or what????
No. He has much higher ambitions. Seems to me that I'd heard something else about this guy in the last year or so, something that wasn't listed at the link. Can't think what, though.
Between 1988 and 1992 Boyle was a member of the board of Amnesty International USA. Boyle also charged that Amnesty's staff had been infiltrated by US and UK security services (see Covert Action interview below) a claim hotly disputed by many in the human-rights community.
From 1991 to 1993, Boyle was a legal advisor to the Palestine Liberation Organization. Boyle is currently a member of the Nobel Peace Prize for Governor George H. Ryan Committee.
Corrupt former governor of Illinois who shitcanned the death penalty so as not to piss off a potential cellmate.
Professor Boyle is a controversial figure at the University of Illinois. He advocated for warmer US relations with Libya in the 1990s, and speaks fondly of his interactions with Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi. Professor Boyle has also made comments about the Middle East, accusing Israel of committing "Nuremberg offenses" against the Palestinians, an allusion to the actions of Nazi Germany.
Boyle has also taken a strong stand in favor of Hawaiian independence, and in support of this effort uses a resolution signed by former U.S. President Bill Clinton apologizing for U.S. involvement in the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy.
Locally, Boyle is outspoken against a University of Illinois "pub crawl" which celebrates Saint Patrick's Day days prior to March 17th. This "celebration" consists of excess drinking as well as increased vandalism on campus, which Boyle argues is offensive to persons of Irish nationality.
I'll bet that pissed off the boyos...
In 2002, Boyle protested a speech by Ruth Wedgwood, a law professor performing consulting work for the Bush administration, by equating her advocacy of military tribunals in the War on Terror to kangaroo courts. He appeared with an individual dressed in an anthropomorphic kangaroo costume to underline this point. More recently Boyle has been on the vanguard of movement to impeach U.S. President George W. Bush. He had previously called for the impeachment of former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
Well, nobody's all bad I guess. Sounds like he likes the sound of his own voice.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday released details of a letter he received from Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah outlining his group's conditions for further prisoner deals with Israel.
Last week the leader of the Lebanese guerrilla group made a rare public appearance in Beirut to welcome five Lebanese released from captivity in Israel after Hezbollah returned the bodies of two captured Israeli soldiers.
Israel is also due to release Palestinian prisoners in the future as a gesture to the U.N. secretary-general. Nasrallah said he had written to Ban asking him to use his good offices.
In a letter to the current president of the U.N. Security Council, Vietnamese Ambassador Le Lunong Minh, Ban said that Nasrallah "declared his readiness for participation in the remaining humanitarian cases of Israeli MIA (missing in action) of the 1980s."
But Ban said Nasrallah was "conditioning his positive attitude to the nature and extent of Israeli humanitarian moves on behalf of Palestinian and Arab victims."
Ban quoted Nasrallah's letter saying the Hezbollah chief informed him that further prisoner releases by Israel should "be adequate to the high level of government commitment to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and to the importance of results achieved under the U.N. facilitation."
In other direct quotes from Nasrallah's July 7 letter, Ban said he referred to "the high number of innocent victims caused by the war of 2006," adding that he considered it "as a minimum requirement that the releases comprise a maximum number of minors, women and elderly people being held in ... detention."
These cases "go into the hundreds" according to non-governmental organizations, Ban quoted Nasrallah's letter as saying.
These must be resolved immediately in order to secure Hezbollah's support in other humanitarian cases, Nasrallah wrote to Ban.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
But Ban said Nasrallah was "conditioning his positive attitude to the nature and extent of Israeli humanitarian moves on behalf of Palestinian and Arab victims."
Jesus. How brain dead do you have to be to be UN Secretary General?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
A hardline Somali Islamist accused of ties to Al-Qaeda claimed leadership of the country's fractured opposition on Tuesday, highlighting a bitter power struggle within the movement. 
A jirga comprising 
The local Taliban will not hinder anti-polio campaigns in Swat, as long as lady health workers (LHWs) do not accompany the anti-polio teams, Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan told Daily Times on Tuesday. Khan said that teams, with male workers, were free to visit any area. However, he added, the teams would not be allowed to 'force' parents to administer polio drops or to vaccinate their children. "What they have to do is to inform people through mosques about vaccinating their children and then it depends on the parents whether they want to bring children or not."
Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday lauded the civilian and the Border Police officer who "acted quickly" and killed a Palestinian who rampaged through central Jerusalem on a bulldozer earlier in the day, injuring at least 24 people. Barak stressed that this incident "exposes the complex reality facing us: war in Gaza, also with Hezbollah in Lebanon and even with Iran. We are a strong people."
U.S. presidential contender Barack Obama arrived in Israel Tuesday night, facing a full schedule of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders after pledging to work for peace as soon as he takes office. 
A University of Illinois law professor says he has offered to represent Iran if it decides to sue the United States over threatened nuclear program sanctions. Iran's Press TV reported Tuesday that Francis Boyle, an international law expert, is urging Iranian leaders to sue Israel and the United States through the International Court of Justice in The Hague over their ultimatum that Iran freeze its nuclear enrichment program in a matter of weeks or face further sanctions.
