A U.S. investigation into U.N. and Afghan allegations that dozens of civilians were killed during an operation in a small village found Tuesday that up to seven civilians died but that the overwhelming majority of the dead were Taliban.
An Afghan government commission concluded that 90 civilians were killed in the Aug. 22 fighting in Azizabad a claim backed by a preliminary U.N. report. The U.S. report Tuesday said 30 to 35 of those killed were Taliban fighters.
The civilian death claims in Azizabad has caused new friction between President Hamid Karzai and his Western supporters. Karzai has long castigated Western military commanders over civilian deaths resulting from their raids.
The U.S. report said American and Afghan forces took fire from militants while approaching Azizabad. The incoming fire "justified use of well-aimed small-arms fire and close air support to defend the combined force," the report said.
The U.S. said its range in casualty numbers was determined by observation of enemy movements during the engagement and on-site observations immediately after the battle. It said a known Taliban commander, Mullah Siddiq, and five to seven civilians were among the dead. Two civilians were wounded. Five Taliban were detained, the report said.
The report left open the possibility that evidence could emerge to prove that more people died in Azizabad. "No other evidence that may have been collected by other organizations was provided to the U.S. Investigating Officer and therefore could not be considered in the findings," the report said.
No conclusive photos or video have been made public to back the claim of 90 civilians killed. However, Nek Mohammad Ishaq, a provincial council member in Herat and a member of the Afghan commission, has said photographs and video of the victims were with Afghanistan's secretive intelligence service.
The U.S. report said that investigators discovered evidence that the militants planned to attack a nearby coalition base. Evidence collected included weapons, explosives, intelligence materials and an access badge to the base, as well as photographs from inside and outside the base, the report said.
The report said that the investigating officer watched video of the engagement and looked at topographic photo comparisons of the area before and after, including burial sites.
Karzai ratcheted up pressure on Western militaries after the fighting in Azizabad by ordering a review of whether the U.S. and NATO should be allowed to use airstrikes or carry out raids in villages. Karzai also called for an updated "status of force" agreement between the Afghan government and foreign militaries.
Claims of civilian deaths can be tricky. Relatives of Afghan victims are given condolence payments by Karzai's government and the U.S. military, providing an incentive to make false claims. U.S. officials also say Taliban militants force civilians to make false claims as part of their propaganda war against the West.
And Taliban militants have increasingly adopted the tactic of firing from civilian homes or hiding among normal Afghans.
"The enemy knowingly hides behind women and children, they dress in burqas," Maj. Gen. Jeffery J. Schloesser told The Associated Press on Monday. "The enemy makes it extraordinarily difficult to avoid civilian casualties. We don't even know it (civilian casualties occurred) until they fighting is over."
The top NATO spokesman in Afghanistan, Brig. Gen. Richard Blanchette, told The Associated Press on Saturday that the U.S.-led coalition, Afghan government and U.N. would investigate the raid. No Afghan officials have confirmed that the Afghan government would take part in a three-way investigation.
A member of Afghanistan's investigating commission, Mohammad Iqbal Safi, a member of parliament, said the U.S. report would not change the finding of the Afghan body. He said many Afghan households have weapons, but that doesn't make them militants.
"Again I want to emphasize that all the victims were civilians, and there were no Taliban among the dead," Safi said. "All the men killed in the operation were the employees of the private security company working at the coalition base. So how could they be Taliban?"
Ahmad Nader Nadery, the head of Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission, has said that a villager named Reza, whose compound bore the brunt of the attack, had a private security company that worked for the U.S. military at nearby Shindand airport.
Villagers and officials have said the operation was based on faulty information provided by Reza's rival, Nader Tawakal. Attempts to locate Tawakal have failed. Aziz Ahmad Nadem, a member of parliament from Herat, has told the AP that Tawakal is now being protected by the U.S. military.
Afghan officials say U.S. special forces and Afghan commandos raided the village while hundreds of people were gathered in a large compound for a memorial service honoring a tribal leader, Timor Shah, who was killed eight months ago by Tawakal. Reza, who was killed in the Aug. 22 operation, is Shah's brother.
Posted by: ed ||
09/02/2008 13:49 ||
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#1
A few days old:One American military official, who has seen photographs taken at the scene as troops went house to house assessing damage and casualties, said there was no evidence to support the higher civilian death toll. Nor was there any evidence of a large number of recently dug graves or large number of injuries reported in local hospitals, the official said.
...
American commanders said that even before the shooting started, allied troops saw women and children fleeing the compound into the night.
By dawn, the fighting had ended. Combat photographers documented the scene, according to the Americans. In addition to the 25 militants, including Mullah Sadiq, two women and three children were killed, possibly in the cross-fire, American officials said. One woman and one child who were wounded in the fighting were flown on American helicopters to receive medical attention, the Americans said.
The allied forces seized several dozen men in the compound, eventually releasing all but about half a dozen. There were no women or children left in the compound, American officials said.
The Afghan and American forces seized several assault rifles, 4,000 rounds of ammunition, mines, bomb-making materials, grenades, $4,000 in American and Afghan currency, as well as photographs of the exterior of American bases in the area, the Americans said.
Posted by: ed ||
09/02/2008 14:04 Comments ||
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#2
Hmm. Should have provided a separate the link and italicized the text. PIMF.
Done. No charge.
Posted by: ed ||
09/02/2008 14:05 Comments ||
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#3
However, Nek Mohammad Ishaq, a provincial council member in Herat and a member of the Afghan commission, has said photographs and video of the victims were with Afghanistan's secretive intelligence service.
Why would they classify this kind of information? I call BS.
Especially in light of the fact that someone(s) is just dying to pin a good one on the Coalition. If they had evidence, it would be all over the news in a heartbeat, and probably through official sources. Again, someone got overexcited about the prospect of finally getting the evidence they've been having wet dreams about and now has to backpedal to cover their terrorist a$$, and it looks like once again the Coalition gets to play the role of scapegoat because they know we won't pound their primitive/worthless a$$ and/or kill their family.
In terms of PR value and manpower, I'm beginning to think that perhaps it would be cheaper and easier to just park a surveillance drone then a satellite over these scenes and watch to see if Paleo Productions shows up to stage another massacre scene (probably 10 seconds after the obvious drone flies off). If they don't react in 72 hours I figure we can call it a done deal, since they seem to be so anxious about burying their dead in a secret location within ten minutes so they can run down and turn in their pre-filled bereavement claim forms. That would put that kind of $hit to rest once and for all. Even if Paleo Productions didn't show up, it would be interesting to hear the locals explain how they buried their dead without it showing up on the satellite surveillance. And if activity does show up, go there with some forensic teams and see what they really buried there.
MOSCOW - The recent events in Afghanistan have again called into question the effectiveness and professionalism of NATO and the anti-terrorist coalition in that country.
First, a French task force from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was ambushed, and lost 10 soldiers. On Aug. 22, more than 70 civilians were killed during an operation in the Shindand District in the Herat Province. The media reported that this operation was conducted by the coalition forces, that is, the U.S. Air Force. This event set the whole country in turmoil. Now Afghan President Hamid Karzai insists on revising the status of international forces in the country.
They are represented in Afghanistan by the U.S.-led international anti-terrorist coalition and the U.N.-mandated ISAF mission under NATO's general command. The goal of the former is to destroy al-Qaeda and Taliban commandos, while the latter is designed to guarantee stability on the territories from which they are ousted.
Operations conducted by these two missions are incomparable. The coalition is much more prone to make mistakes, and it has to prepare thoroughly for each operation. But what prevents the United States from doing so, all the more so since it already has some bitter experience?
During a similar operation in the Deh Raud District in the Uruzgan Province in July 2002, a U.S. aircraft bombed a wedding. Ironically, the bomb
This was the first blunder, and the sides did not give it too much publicity. But this time, Karzai has expressed strong displeasure with the U.S. army and accused it of inability to coordinate its actions with the Afghan army. In turn, the U.S. command blamed the Afghan army for insisting on the bombing and indicating targets.
This is a familiar situation. Actions seem to have been coordinated but there is no one-man rule, or responsibility. The Afghan government is certainly right in insisting on a change in the status of the coalition troops. Judging by everything, it would like the coalition not only to coordinate its operations against al-Qaeda with the Afghan side, but have them endorsed by the latter.
What happened with the French soldiers is quite different. They were ambushed 31 miles from Kabul. Never before has NATO sustained such losses in a single combat, especially near the capital.
The French public had a predictable and immediate reaction. One French newspaper put it bluntly: "Faut-il partir?" (Is it time to leave?)
It is also alarming that Kabul was rocketed for the first time in nearly five years. Perhaps the central government is losing its contacts with the population in the Kabul Province. This is all but the only province where NATO more or less controls the situation. But Herat was also considered a safe province until recently.
Maybe, it is indeed time to go. But then what was the point of going into Afghanistan?
It seems that NATO has been extremely unlucky in Afghanistan recently, and I feel sorry for the troops. I remember the appearance of the first ISAF units in that country in early 2002. Without any delay, NATO started persistently building the Afghan National Army. I spent almost 15 years in Afghanistan in the field of military-technical cooperation alone and took direct part in the Afghan army's development, and I can spot the difference.
I think that NATO is conducting its mission in Afghanistan professionally. The current trouble was easily predictable. The two international missions consist of 60,000, which is obviously not enough to destroy al-Qaeda commandos, guarantee reliable stability in the entire country, and actively contribute to the recovery effort.
However, both NATO and the United States repeated the Soviet mistake in Afghanistan by carrying out missions that should be fulfilled by the Afghans themselves. They planned a 70,000-strong ANA, which is not adequate at all. Now they are talking about 120,000 and even more, but the time has been lost.
Meanwhile, the current Russian Ambassador Zamir Zakirov emphasized many times that stability in Afghanistan directly depends on its army and that its strength was obviously inadequate.
Now the United States and NATO will probably change their attitude to Russia's Afghan experience and advice. After all, cooperation with Moscow on Afghanistan should not be limited to the transit of NATO cargoes through Russian territory.
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ABOUT THE WRITER
Pyotr Goncharov is a political commentator for the Russian News and Information Agency Novosti; Web site: http://en.rian.ru/.
#5
One day, G(r)om, you're going to get your wish and there will be an American administration that doesn't like long, difficult tasks or make hard decisions.
And Israel's defense budget is going to go "POOF!" in a cloud of smoke.
#6
As far as I've heard, there are not tens of thousands of US or NATO troops hooked on heroin, something that happened to Soviet troops. US equipment isn't suffering 50% failures due to poor maintenance and a very hostile natural environment. Goncharov is full of it.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/02/2008 13:55 Comments ||
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#7
what NS said. Theres got to be a way of expressing a middle point between "its all hunky dory in Afghanistan" and "its just like the Soviet intervention" The russians are really big on not quite apt comparisons lately.
WRT Israels defense budget. Israel gets $3billion a year. They could probably get along with out it, and its the right (to which Grom belongs, I guess) which is eager to wean from it. Partly cause they prefer the freedom of action to the money. Partly cause the money helps center left govts build coalitions by giving funds to religious parties that otherwise would be more natural allies of the right. So its not all cut and dried.
OTOH I do agree that American greatness is based on the ability to stick to things and achieve the difficult.
#8
But the one thing the Soviet did have that we don't is a direct line of supply. We are very vulnerable and our vulnerability increases geometrically as our troop count increases arithmetically.
#10
Hold on, I thought they were _your_ friends, dude, I've seen the news reports of Assad falling all over himself to support Russia in invading Georgia.
"WAR OUTSIDE OF IRAQ" > The US is winning in Iraq but lost ASIA + AFRICA, wid ISRAEL being steadily surrounded by FUTURE NUCLEAR STATES + POL FACTIONS + TERROR GROUPS.
Radical Islam is also deliber targeting and prioritizing attacks agz non-US Allied/NATO troops as they know via the MSM-NET THAT RUSSIA = VLADVEDEV VIEWS AL-QAEDA + TALIBAN, ETC. AS US PROXIES FOR US-LED/CENTRIC, PDENIABLE COVERT DESTABILIZ, DOMINATION AND IMPERIALISM IN ASIA, as per OWG-NWO. Also good for ANTI-US ASYMMETRIC ECON WARFARE > to intentionally induce the USA-USGovt to "BUST THE BUDGET" unto UNRECOVERABLE PRO-HYPERINFLATIONARY OVERSPENDING AND OSAMA/ISLAMIST DESIRED NATIONAL ECON COLLAPSE, as per MSM-NET reports of US Budget probs.
As times before, MILPOL DIALECTICISM + PRAGMATISM-REALISM, ETC. IS NOT SOLELY A WESTERN OR EVEN SECULAR INTELLECTUALIST METHOD.
SHENANDOAH [James Stewart}] > future Sheriff ROSCOE COLTRANE = JOHNNY REB SOLDIER [paraph] > "In case no one told you yet, boy, the South doesn't stand a chance in hell of winning this Civil War ... I swear to God I never saw two Armies = Americans get so bloodily/
bloodthirstily hyped up and violent over a Cow before"!
(AKI) - A United Nations team has delivered emergency relief to some 900 people who were affected by recent military operations in Afghanistan's western Herat province. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said that an investigation by its human rights team found that 90 civilians - including 60 children were killed - during operations carried out by international and Afghan military forces on 21 August in Herat's Shindand district.
This weekend a UN emergency relief team, accompanied by local government officials, delivered three truckloads of essential food, cooking utensils, medicines and other items to around150 families in the area.
"At this point in time the primary concern of all of us has to be the welfare of the people of Shindand district," said Kai Eide, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA. "I have asked all UN agencies working in Afghanistan to step up support to the local authorities as they work to help the survivors. We will continue to monitor this situation closely and stand ready to assist with all ongoing efforts to support those who need our help the most," he stated.
The UN team also met village elders to listen to their needs and concerns as recovery efforts continue. Eide has called on the international and Afghan military forces to "thoroughly review" the conduct of the operation to ensure that such a tragedy does not happen again.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/02/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
This weekend a UN emergency relief team, accompanied by local government officials, delivered three truckloads of essential food, cooking utensils, medicines and other items to around150 families in the area.
And there you have you one motivation to throw out the wildest numbers possible and see if some rubes or willing accomplices take the bait and shower them with gifts.
Posted by: ed ||
09/02/2008 1:13 Comments ||
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#2
Eide has called on the international and Afghan military forces to "thoroughly review" the conduct of the operation to ensure that such a tragedy does not happen again.
Somali Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein survived a no-confidence vote on Monday. Only seven of the 200 MPs present in Parliament voted against Hussein, who had been accused by some legislators of embezzling state funds, Speaker Aden Mohammed Nur announced. Two abstained.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/02/2008 00:00 ||
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Recognition of the fine job he's doing I'm sure...
U.S. 5th Fleet in Bahrain announced the establishment of a maritime security patrol area in the waters between the coasts of Somalia and Yemen; the area will be patrolled by allied naval forces under Combined Task Force 150.
A natural chokepoint for maritime traffic, pirates have stepped up commercial ship hijacking in the area. The Yemeni port of Aden was where the Norfolk-based destroyer Cole was bombed by suicide terrorists Oct. 12, 2000, and nearly sunk; the explosion killed 17 sailors and wounded 39. Since then, U.S. warships have mixed it up regularly with pirates, many operating out of lawless Somalia.
Cmdr. Jane Campbell, public affairs officer at 5th Fleet, said the patrol area could be described roughly as a rectangular shape over the Gulf of Aden, with a constant allied naval presence. The number will vary, but well have ships on station, she said. This is not a long-term solution; its a short-term, focused operation.
Along with surface patrols, shore-based aircraft, shipborne helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles also will keep a weather eye on the Gulf of Aden.
CTF 150, set up under Operation Enduring Freedom in October 2001, includes naval forces from France, Germany, Pakistan, the U.S., the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and other allied nations. The task force is responsible for maritime security from the Red Sea down the east coast of Africa and into the Arabian Sea toward Pakistan and India, until the area of responsibility shifts to Pacific Fleet forces. Operations focus on combating piracy and interdicting weapons smuggling, human trafficking and drug-running.
The new campaign will provide a concentrated look at who comes and goes in the area, Campbell said, with forces constantly on watch for hijackers.
In June 2007, the dock landing ship Carter Hall chased down the pirated Danish cargo ship Danica White, destroying several towed skiffs. But the crew was unable to stop the ship before it slipped out of international waters into Somali territory, a country lacking a viable national government. Its that sort of complication that the new patrol aims to overcome, Campbell said. The campaign also focuses on what happens ashore in those situations, such as how money is transferred for ransoms.
The International Maritime Bureau, which tracks piracy at sea around the world, issued to mariners an Aug. 26 warning of increased activity in the Gulf of Aden because four ships had been hijacked in the previous two days. There have been 176 pirate incidents in 2008 around the world, according to the IMB; 19 took place in the Gulf of Aden.
#1
Hunting pirates off Somalia would be a fine job for the Russian Navy now that they can afford both fuel and Rustoleum(tm). Step right up and help yourselves, boys. There's plenty to go around.
#2
Wouldn't it be a fine thing to see PT boats plying the waves again, opening fire with twin 40mm Bofors or quad 20's on any Somali who looks at them cross eyed.
Posted by: ed ||
09/02/2008 2:00 Comments ||
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#3
What's been set up is a traffic zone toward the Yem side of the Gulf, in which CTF 150 will patrol. Any merchant vessels outside this are on their own.
What will hinder CTF 150 is the current restictive ROE. Hopefully that will be changed, and soon.
Textbook Appeasement: The State Department and the Islamic Saudi Academy
Pop quiz: Murder is permissible if the victim is:
(a) An apostate
(b) An adulteress
(c) A polytheist
(d) All of the above
If you answered (d), then you are either a hardened Islamist hunkered down for a last stand in Mosul or a twelfth-grade student at the Islamic Saudi Academy (ISA) in Arlington, Virginia. While the above quiz is fictional, it reflects the actual teachings of some of the textbooks used at the ISA.
As a result of the violent exhortations contained in ISA textbooks, Fairfax County has appealed directly to the U.S. Department of State for assistance in determining whether ISA's curriculum is "offensive to the interests of the United States."[1] So far, the State Department has refused to intervene, claiming it lacks jurisdiction.[2]
Under the Foreign Missions Act (FMA), the State Department has an obligation to review the ISA's textbooks and determine whether such texts contain violent teachings which would run "contrary to protection of the interests of the United States."[3]
A Violent Curriculum
In 2007, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)--the independent, bipartisan federal agency mandated to recommend policies promoting religious freedom in U.S. foreign policy--launched an investigation into language contained in official Saudi textbooks used at the ISA. Although Saudi officials eventually provided the State Department with copies of ISA textbooks, the State Department has so far refused to issue a statement on the content of the materials, let alone make the texts public.[4]
Nevertheless, USCIRF was able to independently obtain several copies of ISA textbooks. The contents were troubling, as USCIRF's June 11 report documented with the following two representative examples:
"In a twelfth-grade Tafsir ([Quranic] interpretation) textbook, the authors state that it is permissible for a Muslim to kill an apostate (a convert from Islam[to another religion]), an adulterer, or someone who has murdered a believer intentionally: 'He (praised is He) prohibits killing the soul that God has forbidden (to kill) unless for just cause...' Just cause is defined as 'unbelief after belief, adultery, and killing an inviolable believer intentionally.'"[5]
"A twelfth-grade Tawhid (monotheism) textbook states that '[m]ajor polytheism makes blood and wealth permissible,' which in Islamic legal terms means that a Muslim can take the life and property of someone believed to be guilty of this alleged transgression with impunity."[6]
ISA officials charge that alarm over the contents of students' textbooks is being fueled by mistranslation and misinterpretation.[7] However, if the above-cited passages contained non-violent nuances lost in translation, why don't the ISA and the State Department publicize all Arabic language textbooks currently in use at the ISA? Instead, neither organization has complied with USCIRF's request for full public disclosure.
#1
If anything, these students should be provided the "responsible opposing viewpoint" that if they murder, they will most likely be sent to a horrible place where they will be abused, sodomized, and otherwise forced to endure unending agony for the rest of their lives as slaves to non Muslims.
Or, if they are lucky, strapped to a gurney and have their veins pumped full of drugs until they die, to be buried alongside Christians and Jews in the prison cemetery.
And that this is the penalty all people face, be they Muslims or Jews or Christians, or even Atheists, if they murder.
And that they were following their religion is never an excuse, but will cause all men to hate and despise their religion as a religion of murderers.
#2
This has been going on for years. The State Department isn't going to do anything to upset their Saudi drinking buddies unless forced from the very top.
#4
They have a school in Fairfax and another in Arlington. The Fairfax school is the pre-K through 1st grade campus. I found their website in a 10 second Google search.
#5
Ive never googled them. Ive driven by the fairfax campus (its hard to see from the road) and my impression has always been that was not pre-K plus grade 1 only.
#6
"ISA is a prominent member of the Mt. Vernon community and values its relationship with its neighbors. The school regularly coordinates with members of the business community, as well as the local police and fire departments. The school also participates in local community service projects, such as the annual Mt. Vernon Community Spring Clean-up. "
As info, the Mt Vernon area is in Fairfax County, though it has an Alexandria mailing address, which must be why they refer to the main campus in Alexandria.
Even if it the main campus was within the Alexandria city limits though, Alexandria isnt in Arlington County - its an independent city.
But I admit, the campus I had in mind was the one out on Shirley Gate Road, which has a Fairfax mailing address.
So I have learned something - but I still havent learned of an ISA campus in Arlington.
US Senator and vice presidential hopeful Joe Biden reportedly told Israeli officials three years ago that sooner or later they would have to reconcile themselves to the reality of a nuclear-armed Iran.
Israel's Army Radio reported on the remarks, which Biden is said to have made to visiting Israeli officials in his capacity as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. And he's on the ticket to provide adult supervision? It's impossible to understate just how dangerously naive the Obama / Biden ticket really is.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
09/02/2008 0:42 Comments ||
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#3
Yeah, Joe. Stand on the sideline and make suggestions on Israel's survival. Throw Israel under the bus. No problem. How many more countries will you throw under the bus? How about your own? Would you do that too? Where do you draw the line, O fearless VP candidate?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/02/2008 1:49 Comments ||
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#4
Is that Joe "Chamberlain" Biden?
He needs to go to Tehran and come back waving a paper
Posted by: European Conservative ||
09/02/2008 1:55 Comments ||
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#5
Well, between Obama's kissing up to Castro and this move by Biden, I think that Florida may got Repub this year. The Cuban and Jewish communities may not be the largest populations in the state, but they tend to be the most active politically.
#6
JERUSALEM, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- U.S. Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden never said Israel would have to accept Iran obtaining nuclear weapons, his spokesman said Monday.
Army Radio in Israel reported Biden, the chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Jerusalem officials three years ago he opposed an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities and Israel would likely have to come to grips with a nuclear-armed Iran, The Jerusalem Post reported.
"This is a lie peddled by partisan opponents of Senators (Barack) Obama and Biden and we will not tolerate anyone questioning Senator Biden's 35-year record of standing up for the security of Israel," Biden press secretary David Wade said in a statement. "Senator Biden has consistently stated -- publicly and privately -- that a nuclear Iran would pose a grave threat to Israel and the United States and that we must prevent a nuclear Iran."
Israel's Army Radio, which provided no sources for its report and did not name the Jerusalem officials to whom Biden allegedly spoke, contended the Delaware senator had expressed doubt about the effectiveness of economic sanctions against Iran.
so now its a question of who Army Radio (which I just associate with playing lots of Beatles tunes when I was there in '81) sourced.
I guess I'm in a unique position having actually heard the Army Radio (a.k.a, Galei TzaHa"L) report live, and I see the J.Post left out some critical info.
The meeting took place some years ago between some (unnamed, I think, Israeli gov't & security officials and Biden. Present at the meeting was then-Israeli ambassador to Israel Danny Ayalon (this important point was omitted by the J.Post), who was interviewed (live) as part of the Galei TzaHa"L report. Ayalon confirmed the gist of the story, that Biden told Israel to forget about a US attack on Iran and that he was doubtful that economic sanctions would work against Iran (unspecified was whether sanctions would not work in and of themselves or because the EUniks may talk a tough line but will still run to do big business with Iran as is happening now). As such, Israel will just have to learn to live with a nuclear Iran.
After confirming these basic points, Ayalon (ever the professional diplomat) tried to excuse Biden by saying that 3 years ago when Americans were getting blown up in Iraq at every turn, Biden couldn't see the US also taking on Iran militarily, but maybe now that Iraq is going much better, particularly after the "surge" (force works), Biden might see things a bit differently.
#8
He's going to leave them no choice but to blow them to hell and gone. Or maybe that's how the Dems always had if figured, let Israel do the dirty deed and we'll be the good guys.
Cmon, I dont give any pol the benefit of the doubt. But Im not going to assume this is true either. I want to wait and see who in Israel confirms this (looks like Ayalon will) and what Biden says in response.
Also for the context. Biden apparently said in essence, dont count on sanctions working. Well thats something alot of RBers would agree with, I guess. And then, given that dont count on the US destroying the Iranian nuke program. Well, given that at the time the Bush Admin had over 3 years to run, thats really a statement about the Bush admin, no? And a statement thats been true so far, no? I mean I havent noticed that the Bush admin has attacked Iran.
#8 ive seen buzz that thats the Bush admin approach as well. Let teh Israelis do it. Though not just yet.
I wonder if it would be possible to have a good calm discussion of whether, strategically, it makes more sense for the Israelis to do it or the US, the main issues being the amount of blowback and how it plays out. HArd to do that with the left, where youre a warmonger for suggesting an attack may be necessary. Maybe hard to discuss with some folks here, where the idea that a clash of civs is something to be avoided, rather than accepted and embraced, is rejected.
While sanctions haven't forced the mullah-cleptocrasy from power, it has prevented or hindered Iran from achieving a number of goals (e.g., upgrading military equipment, increasing refining capacity, upgrading the power grid).
A bit more squeeze, a bit more failure by the mullahs and the centrifuges (which are their pride and joy) may have to be taken off line to conserve electricity.
#12
I think VP Candidate Biden's first response, that Israel is lying, rings true to a series of responses from the head of his ticket, which then had to be walked back when the evidence showed whow was actually telling the truth. That said, the TNR commenter quote makes sense as well, given the different circumstances that held in 2005. BUT, I would disagree with the conclusion Senator Biden drew then, and that is being drawn even now, that Israel may only act as the hand at the end of the American arm.
mhw, the nuclear bomb program is the pride and joy of almost the entire Iranian nation, as far as I've been able to gather, because in one fell swoop it will make them the equal of the Big Boys, Israel, America, Russia and the EU. Remember that almost Persia's entire history they were ruled an empire as big as Rome's, and both preceded and outlasted her. They will actually sacrifice for that, where they would not sacrifice to bring back the Twelfth Imam or for President Ahmadenijad's friends' fortunes. Sanctions that actually cut into the huge trade Iran has with the EU will indeed prevent the mullahcracy from doing many things necessary to remain in power, but the Iranian nuclear program will have to be physically to stop it, as Israel did at Osirik and Syria. If the President Bush doesn't have it done in the days following the election, I think Israel will simply have to send out bombers with bunker busters. Otherwise they will end up living with a nuclear Iran... which will mean the better part of six million dead, because the mullahs have painted themselves into a places where they can do no less.
#13
Israel is lying, rings true to a series of responses from the head of his ticket,
he didnt say "Israel is lying" he said (by implication) that Army Radio is lying (or its unnamed source is) IIUC Army Radio is independent and does not speak for the Govt of Israel.
I AM concerned with Bidens response so far. The accusation against him is that he has ruled out a military attack on Iran. His response is that he loves Israel, and that an Iranian Bomb would be a Bad Thing. He neatly dances around the question of what he would do if it became clear that economic sanctions were failing (I myself am not 100% convinced they will, but thats another debate, really) that time was almost run out and only an attack could stop Iran from possessing a bomb. Now its clear from things hes said that he thinks TALK about bombing Iran is counterproductive (again, I think arguments could be made either way on that) But when youre running to lead a country that doesnt trust you on for policy, Im not sure thats good enough. The question of what the Dems will DO if worst comes to worst and diplomacy and sanctions fail, can certainly be hammered home.
#14
BTW, I aint a repub, but if I wuz, Id pursue the Conoco angle - an oil company, in Delaware, that has a history of opposition to sanctions on Iran (IIUC) and ties to Biden.
No. I'm suggesting that what Biden is alleged to have said regarding the inevitability of a nuclear-armed Iran is in keeping with his longstanding tradition of being on the wrong side of nearly every imaginable foreign policy issue. As such the statement is entirely believable.
I also dont find it credible that Israeli Army Radio would be acting as a surrogate of the McCain campaign as Sen. Bidens response implies. Biden is a longtime supporter of Israel, they wouldnt cut him off at the knees without *VERY* good reason to do so.
Biden asks us to believe that the account is untrue based on his word but historically Bidens word has been worth little and his judgment less.
#16
...Biden resigned himself to the idea of a nuclear-armed Iran and told the Israelis that they, too, would have to accept that outcome.
Ah, yes. I recall that Harry Reid in 2007 said "The war in Iraq is lost" too. If we followed the admonitions of these dhimwits, we end up going down the road of Chamberlain and appeasement or worse surrender.
#19
And this doofus is supposed to be their foreign policy expert?
Keep this one in the public eye and it may even wake up those Palm Beach Jews who are currently oblivious to the holocoaust Obama/Biden will bring if they follow this stupid policy.
#20
IMO a "NUCLEAR ARMED IRAN" is why RUSSIA = VLADVEDEV really fought its war agz Georgia. Post-Cold War Russ is struggling to maintain Regional-Global influence and relevance agz newfound dynamic competitors. RUSSIA IS RELUC DENIABLY "ASKING" US-NATO/EU, VIA MILACTION IN GEORGIA, TO HELP CONTAIN A NUCLEAR IRAN/ISLAMISM WHICH IT HELPED EMPOWER VEE "THE GREAT GAME" OF GEOPOLITICS = SUBSTITUTION OF NATIONS AND POWER.
* KOMMERSANT > MEDVEDEV: RUSSIA WILL NOT YIELD TO A WORLD ORDER WHERE ALL IS DECIDED BY THE US; + HIS ALLIES LET HIM DOWN [SCO refuses to support Russia vv Georgian Conflict]. CHINA + SCO COVERTLY ORALLY GAVE SUPPOR TO RUSS ACTION BUT PUBLICLY/OVERTLY DISSED RUSS BY FORMALLY DECLARING THAT MIL FORCE IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE WAY FOR WORLD NATIONS TO RESOLVE ANY INTERNATIONAL ISSUES. China + SCO Members feared that overtly legitimizing Russ decision to use force in Georgia and declare South Ossetia and ABkhazia as sovereign from Georgia will have MULTI-REGIONAL RIPPLE/DOMINO EFFECTS on Minority-and mostly Muslim-led sectarian strifes or insurgencies within their own countries. IOW, SCO's MUSLIM MEMBERS WILL SSSSHHHHHHH NOT HELP RUSS FIGHT THE SPREAD OF FUTURE ANTI-RUSS, PRO-NUCLEAR ISLAMISM IN CENTRAL ASIA/ASIA.
*IRNA > IRAN HAS ADOPTED AN INDEPENDENT STAND ON CAUCASUS CONFLICT.
*IRNA > INDIA's MAOISTS [Naxalites] MOVE INTO JIMMU AND KASHMIR. Maoist support of "Azadi" Separatism = People's Liberation Guerilla Army/PLGA militant campaign]; + FM MOTTAKI:US SOUGHT TO HUMILIATE RUSSIA IN CAUCASUS STANDOFF. WEST MAKING INTENSIVE BUT VAIN EFFORTS TO SAVE [Zionist] ISRAEL.
NUKE-ARMED IRAN = NUKE-ARMED ISLAMIST CENTRAL ASIA = NUKE-ARMED ASIA = NUKE-ARMED ASIA-PACIFIC, etc. ............= OWG CALIPHATE-JIHADIST STATE!
*INTERFAX > GERMANY WILL DEFEND ESTONIA FROM ARMED ATTACK
* IRNA > GERMANY SEEKS INCREASED COOPER WID UZBEKISTAN.
* TOPIX > RUSSIA: GEORGIAN WAR WILL NOT AFFECT RELATIONS WITH GERMANY, + GEORGIA DEMANDS EXPEDITED NATO MEMBERSHIP.
IRAN as SCO "Observer" only was the only one formally suppor Russ action in Georgia. YOU JUST KNOW RUSS = VLADVEDEV IS TRYING HARD NOT TO SAY TO IRAN, "THANKS, IRAN, BUT SSSSHHHHH NO THANKS -STAY AWAY, D *** YOU, OR ELSE"!
Israr Ullah Zehri, who represents Baluchistan province, told a stunned parliament that northwestern tribesman had done nothing wrong in first shooting the women and then dumping them in a ditch.
"These are centuries-old traditions, and I will continue to defend them," he said. "Only those who indulge in immoral acts should be afraid."
The women, three of whom were teenagers and whose "crime" was that they wished to choose who to marry, were still breathing as mud and stones were shovelled over their bodies, according to Human Rights Watch.
The three girls, thought to be aged between 16 and 18, were kidnapped by a group of men from their Umrani tribe and murdered in Baba Kot, a remote village in Jafferabad district. According to some reports, Baluchistan government vehicles were used to abduct the girls, and the killing was overseen by a tribal chief who is the brother of a provincial minister from the ruling Pakistan People's Party.
Some accounts said that two older relatives had tried to intervene, but they too were shot and buried alive with the teenagers.
#5
Mr Zehri told parliament that a fuss should not be made over the killings, however several politicians stood up in protest, describing the so-called honour killings as "barbaric".
Hundreds of enraged protestors warned the government on Monday that if the eight-month long siege and economic blockage in Kurram Agency (Parchinar) by the Taliban is not ended, they will issue a call for a long march toward Kurram Agency to free the besieged people by force.
Different Shia organizations staged a four-hour sit-in at Numaish Chowrangi on M.A. Jinnah Road in front of the Quaid's mausoleum. The protestors chanted slogans against the government over its failure to stop the aggression of the Taliban against the Shia community in Kurram Agency and D.I. Khan.
Addressing the protesters, the leaders of various Shia organizations, including Imamia Students Organization (ISO) Karachi President Raza Abidi, Jafferia Alliance (JA) Vice President Allama Aftab Jafferi, Shia Ulema Council (SUC) Leader Maulana Shahan Shah Naqvi, Zehra Academy Chief Maulana Shabir Messami, Maulana Sadiq Raza Taqvi and others demanded that the government to fulfill their demands and arrest the killers of the Shia community in D.I. Khan and Kurram Agency.
They alleged that foreign players and some local agencies were involved in the ongoing sectarian violence and added that banned outfits were involved in the D.I. Khan bomb blast and target killing of innocent Shias.
They urged the government to take the stern action against the Taliban and release the Peshawar Parchinar Road from the occupation of the Taliban.
The Shia Ulema warned the government that this is the second phase of their movement and if the government does not fulfill their demands, they will convert the mourning procession of the martyrdom of Hazrat Ali (RA) on 21st Ramadan into a sit-in protest against the government.
The sit-in caused a traffic blockade in the center of city and thousands of commuters were held up, despite efficient steps taken by police officials. The police blocked all the roads connected to the Numaish Chowrangi.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/02/2008 00:00 ||
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The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan is "an extension of Al Qaeda" and the organisations have close ties, Interior Adviser Rehman Malik said on Monday.
No! Reeeeally? Who'da ever thunk that?
"We have certain evidence that there is a close connection [and] links, and that there are similarities between Al Qaeda and the TTP," he told reporters in Islamabad.
Kinda like, every time a big-time Qaeda turban gets banged there are at least one or two TTP turbans within close proximity?
Asked if Al Qaeda's deputy chief Ayman Al-Zawahiri is directly or indirectly talking to the TTP, Malik said: "If Al Qaeda is to move in a tribal area, they have to look to the TTP to get a refuge."
It'd probably be more accurate to say that TTP rents the room where al-Qaeda lives.
"The TTP is a host to Al Qaeda and is their mouthpiece," Malik said, adding that there was evidence that foreign fighters are operating in Pakistan.
Gorsh. That cert'nly comes as a surprise. We'da never guessed that!
The federal government had banned the TTP last month.
After it's gobbled up a considerable portion of NWFP and FATA.
According to Reuters, Malik said the security forces had missed a chance to capture Zawahiri.
The question is whether they missed it intentionally or through ineptitude. I'm thinking intentionally.
Rehman Malik did not say when that was or give any more detail about the incident. He also did not say where Osama Bin Laden might be.
You mean where he is in Chitral? That's the question, isn't it?
Malik said Zawahiri was moving between Pakistan's Tribal Areas and the eastern Afghan provinces of Kunar and Paktia.
More the former than the more dangerous latter.
"We certainly had traced him at one place, but we missed the chance. So he's moving in Mohmand and, of course, sometimes in Kunar, mostly in Kunar and Paktia," he said. "We have also found traces of militants from the Uzbek and... Chinese militant movements in the tribal regions," he said.
"It wuz the chopsticks that gave them away."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/02/2008 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD Come Oct. 1, the Iraqi government will take over responsibility for paying and directing the Sunni-dominated citizen patrols known as Awakening Councils that operate in and around Baghdad, American and Iraqi officials said Monday.
The transfer will involve 54,000 Awakening members who are now paid by the American military to guard neighborhoods or, in some cases, simply to refrain from attacking American and Iraqi forces.
Once the transfer takes place, the Iraqi government will have full administrative control of the Awakening cadres, said an American military official who asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the subject.
It was not clear whether the Iraqi government, which is dominated by Shiites, had given the Americans or the Awakening forces assurances about how long, or even whether, it would keep the patrols intact. Some senior Iraqi officials have expressed reservations about paying armed Sunni militias, which draw from the ranks of former insurgents.
Awakening members have complained in turn that the Iraqi government has been far too slow in making good on promises to bring them into the Iraqi security ranks.
A senior American military official said Monday that persuading the Iraqi government to absorb the Awakening forces had gone in fits and starts and had been far from smooth. But he noted that Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki had now made a commitment to incorporate about 20 percent of the men into the Iraqi Army, national police or other security forces.
He conceded, however, that if the Iraqi government decided to disband the Awakening patrols, the American government would have little leverage to dissuade it other than by diplomacy or by applying pressure at senior levels.
Mowaffak al-Rubaie, Iraqs national security adviser, confirmed that the Iraqi government would issue its first paychecks to the Awakening members on Oct. 1. He added that his government was still vetting the individuals to make sure they were not working with the insurgency.
Once we finish and start paying them, we will do whats appropriate to do, Mr. Rubaie said. Some will go to the police and some to the army and some to civilian jobs and some will stay at their regular stations.
Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of American forces in Iraq, has said that the American military pays approximately 99,000 Awakening members across Iraq stipends of about $300 a month. About 5,200 others have been absorbed into the Iraqi security forces. Another 15,000 or so were given civilian jobs or accepted into training programs.
The American military says the Awakening movement has been critically important in helping reduce violence in the capital and around Iraq, including in Anbar Province, where control was returned to Iraq on Monday. In fact, some American officers contend that the patrols have done more to quiet the country than the American troop increase known as the surge. They worry that any weakening of the movement could lead to greater instability.
The American military official who discussed the payroll shift said no date had been set to transfer control of Awakening groups in other parts of Iraq.
On Monday, few Awakening leaders in Baghdad seemed aware of the impending shift in status. Some said they had only recently signed six-month contracts with the American military. Many expressed concern that the Iraqi government would dissolve their units.
I dont think that well have a contract with the Iraqi government because they consider us as militias, said Said Malik, who heads the Awakening security council in several neighborhoods in southwest Baghdad. The Iraqi government wont give the same prerogatives as the Americans do with us.
Some leaders also said they feared the transfer would give the Iraqi government further opportunity to drive out Awakening leaders whom the government considered active or former insurgents. In Diyala Province, the Iraqi military was ordered to arrest hundreds of Awakening members, Iraqi and American military officials have said.
The American forces put us in a dilemma, said Sheik Salah al-Egaidi, commander of an Awakening cadre in the Dora neighborhood of Baghdad. The Awakening is the reason for the security improvement in Baghdad, after finishing Qaeda and the militias, but they have sold us now. Our choices now are either to be killed or to be arrested or to leave Iraq. His reference was to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the homegrown extremist group that American intelligence agencies says is foreign-led.
Late last month, American military officials said that they hoped to shift as many as 58,000 Awakening members to the Iraqi payroll this year but that important issues, including how to vet them and what kinds of jobs and training they would receive, would have to be resolved beforehand.
Mr. Malik, the Awakening official in Baghdad, said that so far, only 1,000 to 1,500 patrol members in his area had been given jobs in the security forces.
Ali Bahjet, commander of the citizen patrols in the Sunni-dominated Adhamiya neighborhood, said one United States Army officer had assured him that our contracts will be renewed for the next six months, beginning Sept. 1.
We are sure that the Americans will continue financing our program because this program provided security to the American soldiers and not for the Iraqi ones, Mr. Bahjet said. But we are still worried about this development. If this handing over takes place, our fate will be unknown.
Sheik Ali Hatem al-Suleiman, leader of one of the largest tribes in Anbar Province, said the Iraqi government must bring all the Awakening members into its security forces. If it cannot, he said, then its not a real government.
As Washington and Baghdad hammer out an agreement on the future of US troops in Iraq, Crispin Thorold meets some of the Sunni militiamen at the heart of the new security policy.
Adhamiyah was once at the heart of the Sunni insurgency but this area has been transformed in the past year. The US forces in this Baghdad district now spend most of their time patrolling rather than fighting. A major shift in security came when local tribesmen began policing the area. The Sons of Iraq - also known as the Tribal Awakening - once fought against the Americans but now they are challenging al-Qaeda.
In the heart of Adhamiyah is the Abu Hanifa mosque, one of the most important shrines for Sunni Muslims in Iraq. Since the fall of Saddam Hussein it has also been the scene of several clashes between insurgents and US forces.
Now a tribal awakening group mans the nearby checkpoints. The group is heavily armed with an array of weapons. One man has a pistol tucked into his belt. It is cocked, ready to fire in an instant.
As we speak to the group they appear nervous and constantly eye the nearby streets. Despite a relative improvement in security, their caution is understandable.
"A suicide bomber came here last week," said a senior tribesman. "He was dressed as a woman. He killed my brother and his bodyguards".
Fifteen people died in the explosion, which is widely presumed to have been the work of Sunni insurgents sympathetic to al-Qaeda.
In the immediate aftermath of the attack, US troops swept into the area to try and restore calm. US soldiers say that as well as combating bombings they have to ease tensions between the ten different tribal awakening groups in Adhamiyah.
"Speaking to key leadership personalities and assessing them is critical to what happens inside Adhamiyah," said Lieutenant Eric Kuylman. "It is a lot of people-management. We spend a lot of the day walking on the street to get a picture from the locals. We sit down with the key leaders and from there it is a question of co-ordinating them."
There are now more than 100,000 Sons of Iraq across the country, the vast majority of them Sunni. In the medium-term these tribesmen are supposed to be integrated into the Iraqi security forces but that process has been painfully slow. According to a senior coalition source, only 5,189 have been transferred so far.
Most of the Sunnis we met in Adhamiyah blame this on the Shia-dominated central government. There is great suspicion of the administration led by Prime Minister Nouri Maliki. There are also fears about what will happen when US troops withdraw.
"I think that the government will come after us and there will be chaos," said Tahir Abu Ayer.
The Adhamiyah security wall is a constant reminder of the recent chaos in Baghdad. Some 4.8km (3 miles) long and 3.7m (12ft) high, this barrier was built by the American military in April 2007 to separate Adhamiyah from nearby Shia neighbourhoods.
"They don't come to hurt us and we don't go to their place," said one man. "All of them are from the [Shia militia] the Mehdi Army. "They are dangerous. We don't go there and they don't come to us."
As we continue to drive through the heart of Adhamiyah an American sergeant points out the reconstruction that is being carried out. "Back there, there was a wall that they had painted," he said. "Over here on the left and right of the road you can see that it is pretty torn up. What they are trying to do is lay cables to try to get the infrastructure back."
However, there is still much work that remains to be done. Rubbish is piled up on the streets and sewage runs through the gutters. There is a constant whir of generators - like so many other areas of Baghdad, Adhamiyah has little electricity.
Outside one shop, a group of men had gathered to complain about what they believe is a lack of interest from the central government. "For the last three days we have not electricity in this area," said one man. "The people who are in charge of the area are thieves."
When we ask if the slow pace of reconstruction and the lack of services could lead to another round of violence the answer is a resounding yes.
As we return to the US base at Camp Apache, we pass through many more checkpoints, all of them manned by groups of fighters from the Sons of Iraq. While these militias wait to be integrated into the Iraqi armed forces, Adhamiyah is being carved up into fiefdoms - something that could mean more violence once the Americans leave.
RAMALLAH - Some 2.35 million Palestinians currently live in the West Bank, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said Monday, basing the number on a census conducted in 2007. This represents an increase from 1.87 million ten years ago when the first census was conducted, PCBS director Loai Shabaneh said in a statement.
He said annual growth rate between the two census periods was 2.6 per cent, which means the Palestinian population in the West Bank will double after 27 years and not after 23 years, as was previously predicted. This is a direct result of a decline in fertility rate and of emigration, he added.
Off to Mauritania ...
The number of persons per household has also dropped between 1997 and 2007, from 6.1 people per household to 5.5 people, which also indicates a decline in the fertility rate and a change in living style from the more traditional extended family to the nuclear family. At the same time, while 45 per cent of the Palestinian society in the West Bank is defined as young - between the ages of 0 and 14 years, - this rate dropped to 41.3 per cent in 2007. The PCBS attributed this decline to a drop in the overall fertility rate which it said had dropped from 5.6 births in 1997 to 4.6 births in 2007.
It said that the illiteracy rate for people 10 years and older dropped from 11.8 per cent in 1997 to 5.8 per cent in 2007.
The number of Palestinians in the West Bank listed as refugees, and their families, increased from 26.6 per cent in 1997 to 28.1 per cent in 2007, indicating a rise in the fertility rate among refugees, or a decline in migration, said the PCBS.
The employment rate dropped from 37.7 per cent in 1997 to 33.6 per cent in 2007 reflecting the difficult economic conditions the Palestinian areas have been facing in the last decade, the PCBS said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/02/2008 00:00 ||
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#4
re the post - shows that the demographic transition marches on even in the occupied territories.
A. Pals aint as odd as people say - at least on this
B. Pal steadfastness strategy may not work
C. How does this compare to Gaza? Where social conditions are worse
How do you improve social conditions enough to encourage lower birth rates yet without lowering the incentive to emigrate? Ideal would be to focus on female education and employment, but control over local admin in PA hands, Israel doesnt have direct leverage. OTOH PA - as secularists, have an incentive to encourage that to shift society away from the classes and tendencies most likely to support Hamas.
Israel's High Court on Monday rejected an application to revoke the citizenship of Arab former MP Azmi Bishara, who fled Israel last year amid claims he had spied for Lebanon's Hezbollah militia.
The court also rejected a bid to stop parliament from paying out state pension benefits to Bishara, Israeli media reported.
The petition was filed by Danny Danone, a senior member of the right-wing opposition Likud party, who accused Bishara of "treason."
The court argued it had no legal standing to revoke Bishara's citizenship or to block his pension benefits. But it noted that parliament is currently considering draft legislation that would make it possible to revoke the nationality of any MP "suspected of harming state security."
The law was approved in a preliminary vote in June, causing an uproar among Arab-Israeli MPs who called it "racist." It has to pass three more votes to be adopted.
Bishara, who headed the small National Democratic Assembly (Balad) party, fled Israel in April 2007 amid allegations he advised Hezbollah and directed its rocket fire against Israel during the Second Lebanon War in 2006.
Bishara has denied spying for Hezbollah but acknowledged criticizing its rocketing of Arab villages in Israel. Before leaving Israel, he had campaigned for the rights of the 1.5 million-strong Arab minority who account for 20 percent of Israel's population and are descended from those who remained in Israel after the 1948 war.
This article starring:
Azmi Bishara
Posted by: Fred ||
09/02/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Probably won't revoke Bishara's government pension either.
Posted by: ed ||
09/02/2008 1:24 Comments ||
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As most of the rest of the Islamic world welcomes Ramadan with festive treats and family get-togethers, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip wearily brace for another holiday under a crippling Israeli blockade. Israel has sealed off the impoverished territory from all but a trickle of humanitarian aid since the Islamist Hamas movement seized power in June 2007.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/02/2008 00:00 ||
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#4
Israel asks checkpoint soldiers to stop eating in front of fasting Palestinians during Ramadan
Bethlehem Maan With the Monday morning start of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, Israeli forces gave directives to soldiers manning 470 checkpoints in the west Bank to avoid eating in front of Palestinian citizens when they pass through checkpoints.
Whadda ya want on your burger, Moshe?
The directives also instructed soldiers to avoid smoking and drinking in front of Palestinians as a sign of respect for those who fast as a religious act.
#5
In a way, its too bad that Jews also do not eat pork. What better way to "torture" the Palestinians who are fasting than by chowing down on a nice, juicy slice of ham.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
09/02/2008 13:36 Comments ||
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#9
Israeli forces gave directives to soldiers manning 470 checkpoints in the west Bank to avoid eating in front of Palestinian citizens when they pass through checkpoints.
Pretty much similar to instructions given US personnel in Bahrain and KSA during Ramadan.
They do tend to get a bit cranky...
(We created a minor diplomatic incident at KANB Jubail by standing on the deck in the morning drinking our coffee and smoking cigars, thus pissing off the mutaween assigned to 'guard' the end of our pier. After that we had to stay on the side of the ship, out of sight of our 'minders'.)
Pakistan Opens Investigation Into 'Honor Killings' of Five Women
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan Pakistan opened an investigation Monday into the killings of five women who tried to choose their own husbands, after a provincial lawmaker defended their deaths as a "centuries-old tradition."
The women, three of whom were teenagers, were shot, thrown into a ditch and buried alive more than a month ago in what authorities have said they suspect were "honor killings." Authorities say they have arrested three relatives of the women in connection with their deaths.
It is considered an insult in some conservative regions of Pakistan for women to have affairs or marry without consent, and rights groups say hundreds are killed by male relatives every year.
The killings which apparently occurred after the women defied tribal elders and asked a civil court to marry at least three of them were raised in Parliament on Friday, prompting a lawmaker from Baluchistan province to claim that "only those who indulge in immoral acts should be afraid."
"These are centuries-old traditions and I will continue to defend them," Israr Ullah Zehri, who represents the province where the women died, told the chamber on Saturday.
His remarks even more than the killings themselves outraged his fellow lawmakers and spurred protests as well as promises of an investigation.
The highest court in the largely tribal region ordered an inquiry Monday as Parliament demanded that the perpetrators be brought to justice. Asif Warraich, Baluchistan's police chief, announced the same day that three suspects were arrested, adding they were related to the victims and had allegedly confessed.
About 60 activists demonstrated outside the federal Parliament in Islamabad on Monday, shouting "Burying women alive is no honor!"
"We condemn this barbaric act," said Mohammed Ibrahim, a senator for the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami party. "This is against Islam, against humanity and against civilized culture."
Sanaullah Baloch, a nationalist leader from Baluchistan, denied that such brutal justice was embedded in local culture.
He blamed the government for failing to provide better health and education services to women and girls in the southwestern province, which remains impoverished despite rich mineral resources.
"Socially and economically marginalized society is always frustrated," Baloch told Dawn News television Monday.
Human rights groups say the women were abducted at gunpoint by six men in the remote village of Baba Kot, forced into a vehicle and taken to a field, where they were beaten and shot. Rights activists say they were then covered with rocks and mud while they were still breathing.
The deaths took so long to investigate, rights groups allege, because members of a powerful political family in the province were involved.
Though many honor killings are believed to go unreported, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said at least 174 women were victims of such crimes nationwide in 2005, 270 in 2006 and 280 in 2007.
The figure in the first five months of 2008 alone stands at 107, it said. Rights groups complain that few of the culprits are convicted.
September 1, 2008: The government insists that it has not bought S-300 long-range anti-aircraft missile systems from Russia. This despite many reports coming out of Iran over the last year about preparations (training of operators and building of bases) for these systems. Now Russia has offered to not deliver S-300s to Iran if NATO membership is refused for Ukraine and Georgia. This despite Iran's enthusiastic backing of the Russian dismemberment of Georgia via an invasion and occupation last month.
September 2, 2008: The governments growing closeness with leftist Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez had led to hundreds of Iranian intelligence and special warfare (terrorism) operatives being dispatched to South America. It was only a decade ago that such Iranian operations were shut down there, in the wake of terror attacks against Jews in Argentina. One truck bomb attack in 1994 killed 85 Argentinians, most of them Jewish. This horrified people throughout the region, and the backlash caused Iranian diplomats and terrorism operatives to run for cover. But with Venezuela as a safe, and hospitable, base, Iranian death squads are again up and running in South America.
Posted by: ed ||
09/02/2008 07:54 ||
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Beirut - Environment Minister Antoine Karam on Monday said "friendly fire kills exactly as enemy fire does." Karam was commenting on the martyrdom of Air Force 1st. lt. Samer Hanna in an attack on his chopper in the southern Hezbollah stronghold of Sojud. "Does the army need memorandum of understanding so that its soldiers wouldn't get killed?" Karam asked in an apparent criticism of the memorandum of understanding between Hezbollah and Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement. "Does it mean that those who did not sign a memorandum of understanding are subject to getting killed anywhere?" Karam added. He said "the problem is that weapons are not strictly in the hands of the legal forces."
The problem is that weapons are not strictly in the hands of the legal forces.
In a related development the Hezbollah gunman that was handed over by Hezbollah to the judiciary claims that he thought the helicopter he shot at was Israeli and he also claimed he did not see the Lebanese flag when he opened fire at the plane and killed officer Samer Hanna. The 20-year-old Hezbollah gunman (Moukaddem) according to sources close to Hezbollah took independent initiative in the helicopter shooting.
Yesterday defense minister Elias Murr was quoted as saying the helicopter was less than 1 foot from the ground when subjected to the shooting . But observers that spoke to Ya Libnan ridiculed the statement by the Hezbollah gunman , specially since the Lebanese flag is clearly displayed on the helicopter and the fact that the plane was within a very close range from the gunman... Add to that the fact the Hanna was shot in the head and in his chest from within a very close range.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/02/2008 00:00 ||
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I doubt they'll ever see the money, but it's fun to see the assholes sweat.
Jerusalem District Court Judge Aharon Farkash ruled on Monday that it was possible to implement a 2004 US court ruling, according to which the Palestinian Authority must pay compensations of more than $116 million to terror victims' families. That's 116 and 6 zeroes, Mahmoud.
In July 2004, a US court ruled that the Palestinian Authority was to pay some $116 million to the relatives of Yaron and Efrat Unger who were killed in a 1996 terror attack. But when the family asked authorities to enforce the court ruling in Israel, the Palestinian Authority objected, saying that paying the high compensations would lead to its financial collapse. Awwwwwww, that's too bad.
The Jerusalem District Court rejected the appeal made by the Palestinian Authority not to enforce the American ruling because the implementation would destroy it financially. The Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority said that payment of such high sums would have public, political, financial and security implications for Israeli citizens. ...youze people get my drift?
They claimed paying the high sum would empty the Palestinian Authority's coffers and would lead to more lawsuits against the Palestinian Authority. Geez, ya mean they'd have to stop killing people?
The petition, filed in the US because the victims were American citizens, argued that the Palestinian Authority was responsible for the attack carried out by Hamas because the terrorists were controlled by the Palestinian Authority and were assisted by the Palestinian security apparatuses. But...we're the "good" terrorists!
Judge Farkash said that legally, the US court ruling qualified as a verdict that was enforceable in Israel. He added that the Palestinian claim that the ruling would lead to its financial collapse was not proven, and seemed unrealistic. So cough it up, Mahmoud.
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli security forces have foiled at least five attempts by the Lebanese Hezbollah militia to abduct Israeli businessmen in Africa, Asia, and South America, Israeli newspapers reported on Tuesday.
Each time, Hezbollah -- which fought a bloody war against Israel in the summer of 2006 -- tried to use "sleeper cells" embedded in far-flung Shiite Muslim communities, the mass-selling Yediot Aharonot reported. Yediot and other newspapers cited unnamed Israeli security officials and said further details about the plots remain under official censorship.
Israel has been on high alert since senior Hezbollah commander Imad Mughnieh was assassinated in a car bombing in Damascus in February in an attack welcomed by the Jewish state but for which it denied any responsibility. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah blamed Israel for the attack and has repeatedly vowed to avenge the killing.
Last month, Israel issued a warning to its citizens living and travelling abroad to take extra precautions against possible Hezbollah attacks or abductions. Israel's counter-terror bureau issued the warning at a peak travelling season for Israelis, calling on tourists and businessmen to take special precaution in hotels, restaurants and recreational spots. Israelis were also urged to turn down "unexpected and alluring proposals in both business and recreation" and to alter routines and habits.
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.
Pop quiz: Murder is permissible if the victim is:
US Senator and vice presidential hopeful Joe Biden reportedly told Israeli officials three years ago that sooner or later they would have to reconcile themselves to the reality of a nuclear-armed Iran. 
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan is "an extension of Al Qaeda" and the organisations have close ties, Interior Adviser Rehman Malik said on Monday.
As most of the rest of the Islamic world welcomes Ramadan with festive treats and family get-togethers, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip wearily brace for another holiday under a crippling Israeli blockade. Israel has sealed off the impoverished territory from all but a trickle of humanitarian aid since the Islamist Hamas movement seized power in June 2007.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan Pakistan opened an investigation Monday into the killings of five women who tried to choose their own husbands, after a provincial lawmaker defended their deaths as a "centuries-old tradition."
Beirut - Environment Minister Antoine Karam on Monday said "friendly fire kills exactly as enemy fire does." Karam was commenting on the martyrdom of Air Force 1st. lt. Samer Hanna in an attack on his chopper in the southern Hezbollah stronghold of Sojud. "Does the army need memorandum of understanding so that its soldiers wouldn't get killed?" Karam asked in an apparent criticism of the memorandum of understanding between Hezbollah and Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement. "Does it mean that those who did not sign a memorandum of understanding are subject to getting killed anywhere?" Karam added. He said "the problem is that weapons are not strictly in the hands of the legal forces."
