The United States has asked Japan and NATO allies who have refused to send troops to Afghanistan to pay the estimated $17 billion needed to build up the Afghan army, according to U.S. defense officials. The push to quickly increase the size of Afghanistan's army and spread the cost of the initiative underscores the financial and military strain the war has placed on the United States and NATO members, many also operating in Iraq and elsewhere.
"The faster we get the (Afghan army) to the size and strength they need to be, the less they depend on us for providing security, and God knows we operate far more expensively than the Afghan national security forces do," said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell.
"At a minimum it's going to cost $17 billion. That's a hefty price-tag and someone's got to pay it," Morrell said. "This may be one of those cases where countries that have had a reluctance to contribute forces, in particular combat forces, may be able to take part in this mission through a financial contribution to the development of the Afghan National Army."
The new Pentagon push to share costs more widely reflects a realization among U.S. officials that some allies simply will not put troops into the war despite heavy pressure from Washington - something Europe has been telling the United States for more than a year. But it also threatens to create just the type of two-tiered NATO alliance that U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned against early this year.
Posted by: ed ||
10/06/2008 08:49 ||
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#1
The U.S. is not making NATO a two-tiered force. Those that choose the benefits of alliance while trying to avoid the costs have made it what it is.. or perhaps made obvious what it always was. We put US $850 billion into stabilizing the world; I think it fair that together they put in $17 billion or so.
#4
Is this a joke ? Do they really believe anyone but US taxpayers are going to pony up ? Freakin' good luck. At least the players in the pentagon are realizing the US is bankrupt and big changes in their funding are coming soon. They'd better shit or get offa the pot. Quit holding hands. Get it done.The entire effort in WWII took less time. If these jokers want to have it their own way, let them. I'm in favor of cutting the umbilical cord. Let them be on their own. Shut down all US funding of UN, Nato, plato, etc. Tell them to vacate our territory in NY. I'm sick and tired of these free loaders.
#5
Better yet; either pay up or we will institute OP's Arclight idea and don't let us hear one whimper out of all you freeloaders.
Get the job done quicker; messier maybe but if its our dime it is our way and y'all can just STFU!
WASHINGTON -- When Afghan security forces found an enormous cache of heroin hidden beneath concrete blocks in a tractor-trailer outside Kandahar in 2004, the local Afghan commander quickly impounded the truck and notified his boss.
Before long, the commander, Habibullah Jan, received a telephone call from Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of President Hamid Karzai, asking him to release the vehicle and the drugs, Mr. Jan later told American investigators, according to notes from the debriefing obtained by The New York Times. He said he complied after getting a phone call from an aide to President Karzai directing him to release the truck.
Two years later, American and Afghan counternarcotics forces stopped another truck, this time near Kabul, finding more than 110 pounds of heroin. Soon after the seizure, United States investigators told other American officials that they had discovered links between the drug shipment and a bodyguard believed to be an intermediary for Ahmed Wali Karzai, according to a participant in the briefing.
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#2
What's the point of being president of the top opium producing country in the world if you can't make a little money from it? When he finally retires he's got to pay for that villa in Nice somehow.
#3
That Karzai's brother was a major player in the heroin market widely known piece of information, nothing new. People ... the war in Afghanistan from the perspective of the tribes is about protecting the opium and heroin trade that brings in more money per year than the entire legitimate economy of Pakistan.
Yeah, we've heard that before...
MOGADISHU, Somalia -- A group of Somali pirates who have hijacked a tanker loaded with military supplies say they will fight to the death before giving in to Russian and U.S. authorities.
We can only hope ...
The superpowers have been unable to end the standoff and remain concerned that the ship's cargo of 33 tanks and other weapons could fall into enemy hands.
But a local official reported that the pirates turned down a demand from Islamist insurgents for some of the arms.
The tense situation off the coast of Somalia began 11 days ago when the pirates took control of the Ukrainian vessel MV Faina. They have asked for a ransom of about $22 million, or 11 million British pounds, to release the 21 Ukrainian, Latvian and Russian hostages and the cargo.
"If we are attacked we will defend ourselves until every last one of us dies," Sugule Ali, a spokesman for the pirates, said in an interview over satellite telephone from the ship. "We only need money and if we are paid, then everything will be OK," he said. "No one can tell us what to do."
US to attack pirates?
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 07:53
The Unites States Navy has its eye on the land bases of Somali pirates, a US commander warned on Sunday.
Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, commander of US naval forces in Europe and Africa, was speaking to media on board the cruiser USS Monterey, in Cape Town harbour. He said 20 000 ships passed the Somali coast every year, and to defend them all would require a naval force that did not exist any more.
"That said, we know where the pirates live on land, and... I guess we won't go any further," he said with a laugh. "I can't predict, nor do I have knowledge of any operations there. But it's pretty clear where these people are coming out of. We'll see what happens."
#6
I still say the US MUST hit somewhere in the Muddled East with an ARCLIGHT strike to be taken seriously. I do recommend one or more of the pirate ports as an initial pounding. When it's about 4/5 over, hit the ships with Navy SEALS. The pirates won't know what hit them.
Until you've witnessed an ARCLIGHT strike, you cannot understand the sheet terror they instill in the recipients. Until the United States shows that it's not only the biggest, baddest dude on the block, but that it's got the biggest booms, we won't be taken seriously. It's time to put an end to all this nonsense and show the Somalis that they are messing with something far larger than they're capable of.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/06/2008 14:33 Comments ||
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#7
What's a MOAB worth?
Posted by: ed ||
10/06/2008 14:35 Comments ||
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I presume an ARCLIGHT is some kind of shell, probably one that lights up the sky and sends the cockroaches scurrying. Any further information for those of us not in the know about military hardware?
Carpet bombing is sooo last millennium. Nowadays the hot thing is a teensy dragonfly-sized guided munition that flies in your ear and makes your head explode. Instant death and no collateral damage. At least none that can't be fixed with a roll of paper towels and some Spray-n-Wash.
#12
As I have said before. The reason HOA did not attack the pirates, or deter piracy was a strategic policy that forced the HOA operational commander to shape his ROE's. Now the strategic policy has changed, and so are the ROE's. Look for Max Pain infliction at the source in the near future.
#13
Steve, big difference in cost; ARCLIGHT and other related dumb bombs are cheaper, much cheaper than the precision ordnance that is so in vogue with all the MBA-oriented warfighters ( oxymoron).
Since all ordnance has a shelf life ( yeah it might blow up! imagine that) we might as well test it for effectiveness on the mussie rach motels.
never saw John Wayne or Clint Eastwood count the shells when they were loading their gun and only putting in 1 bullet for each bad guy.
#16
I remember reading that during WWII, when Russians would catch a German soldier, they would pound shell casings into his kneecaps, and then ask him questions. They weren't really interested in what he had to say, they just enjoyed the idea that he was hoping for an easy death if he told them something interesting.
#17
The devil's in the details. You'd have to time your arclight for when there weren't any hostages around.
Posted by: James ||
10/06/2008 20:37 Comments ||
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#18
Old Patriot's answer to everything is ARCLIGHT. Its starting to get old.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
10/06/2008 22:37 Comments ||
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#19
On the subject of ARCLIGHT strikes. Would it be possible to have the load out be all JDAMS with their impact point pre-programmed? I think this would allow for some interesting effects above and beyond the sheer awesomeness of just dropping iron bombs.
LONDON, England (CNN) -- In a groundbreaking meeting, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia recently hosted talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban militant group, according to a source familiar with the talks. King Abdullah of Saudia Arabia hosted meetings between the Afghan government and the Taliban, a source says. The historic four-day meeting took place during the last week of September in the Saudi city of Mecca, according to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the negotiations.
King Abdullah broke fast during the Eid al-Fitr holiday with the 17-member Afghan delegation -- an act intended to show his commitment to ending the conflict.
Taliban leader Mullah Omar was not present, the source said.
That's no surprise. He doesn't like being in any location with known GPS coordinates ...
It marks a significant departure by the Saudi leadership to take a direct role in Afghanistan, hosting some delegates who have until recently been their enemies. In the past, Saudi Arabia has generally dealt with Afghanistan through Pakistan.
The current round of talks is anticipated to be a first step in a long process. According to the source close to the talks, it has taken two years of behind-the-scenes meetings to get to this point.
The talks took place between September 24 and 27 and involved 11 Taliban delegates, two Afghan government officials, a representative of former mujahadeen commander and U.S. foe Gulbadin Hekmatyar, and three others. It was the first such meeting aimed at bringing a negotiated settlement to the Afghan conflict and for the first time, all parties were able to discuss their positions and objectives openly and transparently, the source said.
Saudi Arabia was one of only three countries that recognized the Taliban leadership during its rule over Afghanistan in the 1990s, but that relationship was severed over Mullah Omar's refusal to hand over al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. While Mullah Omar was not present at the talks in Mecca, the source said the Taliban leader has made it clear he is no longer allied with al Qaeda -- a position that has never been publicly stated but emerged at the talks. It confirms what another source with an intimate knowledge of the Taliban and Mullah Omar has told CNN in the past.
During the talks, all parties agreed that the only solution to Afghanistan's conflict is through dialogue, not fighting. The source described the Mecca talks as an ice-breaking meeting where expectations were kept necessarily low. Further talks are expected in Saudi Arabia involving this core group and others.
The reasons for Saudi Arabia's involvement are numerous, including having the trust of the United States and Europe to play a positive role at a time when the conflict appears to be worsening and the coalition's casualty toll is climbing. Also, Saudi Arabia may fear that Iran could take advantage of U.S. failings in Afghanistan, as it is seen to be doing in Iraq.
'failings'? We're killing them as fast as we find them ...
Several Afghan sources familiar with Iranian activities in Afghanistan have said Iranian officials and diplomats who are investing in business and building education facilities are lobbying politicians in Kabul. The Afghan sources wish to remain anonymous due to their political roles.
Coalition commanders regularly accuse Iran of arming the Taliban, and Western diplomats privately suggest that Iran is working against U.S. interests in Afghanistan, making it harder to bring peace. Saudi sources say perceived Iranian expansionism is one of Saudi Arabia's biggest concerns.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/06/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Lets not forget 9/11 they started this and we should finish it not this king abdulh from saudi. That is all I have to say!!!
#2
so by the end of this year the loop will be closed, the talibans will be forgiven, the iraquis never had WMD, Al-Qaeda leaders turn up peaceful, Osama will be found innocent, all the conflicts that began in 2001 will be closed, and someone steps down and walks away as if nothing ever happened... what a chapter in history...
Posted by: Don Vito ||
10/06/2008 7:52 Comments ||
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#3
Saudi/Taliban -- not a dime's worth of difference.
#4
I rather the US were chasing Saudis in Arabia than Pakistanis in Afghanistan.
Posted by: ed ||
10/06/2008 10:21 Comments ||
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#5
The US should NEVER put ground troops or anything else in Saudi Arabia. I prefer the Soddies be on the receiving end of natural disasters, such as 300m spheres of titanium steel at 150,000 km/h impacting the top ten inhabited points in Saudi Arabia, but large thermonuclear weapons would work just as well, I suppose.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/06/2008 14:37 Comments ||
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Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Kurbi called on Saturday for the immediate release of two nationals whose convictions on terrorism charges have been overturned by a US federal appeals court. The minister said that his government would "continue its efforts to secure the release, at the earliest opportunity" of the two Yemenis whose convictions for Al-Qaeda membership were quashed on Thursday.
The Second United States Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the convictions of Sheikh Mohammad Ali al-Moayad and Mohammad Zayed, who had been sentenced to 75 and 45 years in jail respectively. After the ruling, the two - who were arrested in Germany in 2003 and extradited to the US for trial- were put under the jurisdiction of another judge and could be retried at a later date.
The appeals court said that the convictions against Moayad, 60, and Zayed, 34, for giving financial support to Al-Qaeda and Hamas were based on "highly inflammatory and irrelevant" testimony from third parties who had unfairly influenced the jury.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2008 00:00 ||
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Phil Woolas, previously an Environment Minister, was handed the brief despite infuriating the Pakistani community earlier this year by warning they were fuelling birth defects by inter-marrying. He also caused anger following the Oldham race riots by calling for 'the reality of anti-white racism' to be acknowledged. His appointment was part of a raft of junior ministerial changes announced by Gordon Brown yesterday.
A senior official of the Turkish military on Sunday criticized the Iraqi Kurds for aiding the outlawed PKK militants against Ankara. He made criticism following a PKK Friday attack that killed some 15 Turkish soldiers.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2008 00:00 ||
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A federal judge is considering whether to order a group of detainees held at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay released into the United States, in what would instantly become a landmark legal decision in the years-long battle over the rights of terrorism suspects there.
The men, a small band of Chinese Muslims who have been held for nearly seven years, are no longer considered enemy combatants by the U.S. government, but they are caught in a well-documented diplomatic bind. Unlike other captives, they cannot be sent to their home country because Beijing considers them terrorists, and they might be tortured. The government released five of the detainees, known as Uighurs (pronounced "WEE-gurz"), to Albania in 2006, but no other country wants to risk offending China by accepting the others.
The Uighurs' attorneys argue that the men have been confined for too long on flimsy evidence and pose no security threat to the United States. The lawyers want them released into this country -- most likely into the Washington area, where there is a Uighur community -- suggesting that authorities could supervise them much as they monitor criminal defendants released pending trial. Later, the government could find the Uighurs another home, the lawyers say.
At a hearing in August, U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina spoke at length about the case's complex issues and hinted that he was intrigued by the detainees' proposal. "I don't understand why that would not be a viable option," he said.
I don't understand why they can't come and stay a at Hizzoner's house. I'll bet he's got plenty of room in his basement.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I would like to send 'em back to the ChiComs. I think what the Chinese do with them is no concern of ours. These guys weren't captured on the battlefield by accident.
#2
After all, we all here just loves it when the mexican government won't send a murder or rapist back to the US because we might, GASP!, execute the miscreant...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
10/06/2008 11:41 Comments ||
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#3
This group of Uighurs has managed to convince the judge (and maybe themselves and maybe the Justice Dept.) that they are idiosyncratic jihadists who hate the Chicoms but love the US evne both countries are ruled by infidels.
Its a tough case and I can't bring myself to condemn Judge Urbina because I can't figure out what to do either. Furthermore, the model where they go into the US civilian population and are eventually relocated to a country which can deny knowing about their jihadist belief may actually work -- of course it is more likely to fail with the failure being either criminal activity while being in the US civilian population or going anti US jihadist when they get to their destination country.
President Asif Ali Zardari has backtracked on his remarks describing militants in Jammu and Kashmir as "terrorists" saying there is no change in Pakistan' Kashmir policy, a day after his comments triggered an outcry in this country.
The Pakistan government clarified Zardari's stand in an official statement asserting that the President has never called the legitimate struggle of Kashmiris "an expression of terrorism."
Former premier Nawaz Sharif's PML-N was among other parties which had slammed the President for his remarks in an interview to 'Wall Street Journal' which was welcomed by India as a good step.
In the statement, Information Minister Sherry Rehman said Pakistan was committed to the Kashmiri people's right for self-determination.
The President, she said, had "made it very clear that the just cause of Kashmir and its struggle for self-determination has been a consistent central position of the (ruling) Pakistan People's Party for the last 40 years".
"There has been no change in this policy," Rehman said. "The President has never called the legitimate struggle of Kashmiris an expression of terrorism, nor has he downplayed the sufferings of the Kashmiris. All his statements on India should be viewed in the context of Pakistan's current bilateral relations with that country," she added.
The government "is firmly committed to extending moral and diplomatic support to the just cause of Kashmiris for their right of self-determination," Rehman said.
Posted by: john frum ||
10/06/2008 16:00 ||
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Srinagar, October 6: Defying curfew, protesters on Monday set fire on an effigy of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in Baramulla town of Jammu and Kashmir for terming militants operating in the state as terrorists.
More than 400 protesters defied curfew, which has been imposed in the valley since Sunday, gathered in Baramulla town and raised slogans against Zardari for his remarks on Kashmiri militants in an interview to the Wall Street Journal recently, official sources said.
Upset that Zardari seemed to be giving up on them ...
The agitators burnt an effigy of the Pakistani president before dispersing peacefully, they said.
This is for the first time that an effigy of a Pakistani ruler has been set ablaze in Kashmir valley since April 1979.
Posted by: john frum ||
10/06/2008 13:31 ||
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(PTI) Rattled by a string of audacious suicide bombings across Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari has called a joint session of parliament where lawmakers will get a rare briefing by top military and intelligence officials on efforts to take "head-on" the raging militancy.
Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani today also approved a comprehensive plan to heighten security for the top leadership in the wake of an unsuccessful attempt on the life of Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan, a key leader of the Pakistan People's Party-led ruling coalition.
The two also finalised the agenda for the special in-camera joint session on Wednesday during a meeting at the presidential palace.
It was the second meeting between the two leaders since yesterday, when Zardari decided to call the joint session of parliament after talks with the Prime Minister and the army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.
Kayani, Director General of Military Operations and chiefs of the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) and Military Intelligence are expected to take part in the briefing.
At the meeting, Zardari and Gilani exchanged views on "matters of national importance, including the prevailing security situation as well as the challenges facing the country", state-run APP news agency reported.
TV channels quoted official sources as saying that the government had decided to "tackle the issue of militancy head-on" and wanted to take elected representatives into confidence during the joint session of parliament.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2008 00:00 ||
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The Taliban are unusually angry about the latest suspected U.S. missile strike in Pakistan, a sign a top militant may have died in the attack, officials and residents said Sunday amid reports the death toll rose by two to 24.
Elsewhere in Pakistan's northwest, an official said some 15,000 Afghans had left a tribal region the military is trying to wrest from insurgents, but that tens of thousands more had yet to meet a government ultimatum to get out by Sunday.
The U.S. has ramped up cross-border strikes on alleged al-Qaida and Taliban targets along Pakistan's side of the border with Afghanistan, straining the two nations' anti-terror alliance.
The U.S. says pockets of Pakistan's border region, especially in its semi-autonomous tribal areas, are bases for militants attacking American and NATO forces in Afghanistan. It has pushed nuclear-armed Pakistan to eliminate the safe havens.
The frontier region is believed to be a possible hiding place for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, and several Arab militants were said to be among the dead in Friday's strike in North Waziristan tribal region.
Two Pakistani intelligence officials said that over the weekend two people wounded in the attack died at a hospital in Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan. The officials sought anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.
Based on information from informants and agents in the field, the intelligence officials said the Taliban appeared extra-perturbed over the latest strike. The anger was a signal that a senior militant may have been killed, but that has yet to be confirmed, the officials said.
The insurgents were moving aggressively in the area while using harsh language against locals, including calling them "saleable commodities" a reference to people serving as government spies, the officials said.
Two local residents said Taliban fighters had warned people not to discuss the strike, including with the media, or to try inspecting the rubble at the site. The residents asked not to be named for fear of Taliban retaliation.
The strike in Mohammadkhel appeared to be the deadliest of 11 reported cross-border operations by U.S.-led forces since Aug. 20. The area is a stronghold of Jalaluddin Haqqani, a veteran Taliban commander regarded by the U.S. as one of its most dangerous foes.
The U.S. rarely acknowledges such attacks, 1st Lt. Nathan Perry, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, said he had "no information to give" about the reported attacks. He did not deny U.S. involvement.
The information is nearly impossible to verify independently because of the remote, dangerous nature of the areas.
Taliban spokesmen could not immediately be reached for comment Sunday. Neither could Pakistani government and military spokesmen.
Earlier, however, Pakistan army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said initial reports indicated that 20 or more people were killed. He said there was "speculation" that many were foreign militants, but cautioned that the army was still awaiting a detailed report.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
angry, are they? Wow, our bad
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/06/2008 4:08 Comments ||
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#2
And the winners of eternal paradise are...
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/06/2008 8:08 Comments ||
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Intelligence Bureau -- which has come under flak for its failure to keep tabs on tech savvy jihadis -- is set for major revamp with the government recruiting 6,000 more spies to strengthen its existing cadre of nearly 25,000 personnel. The IB will also get modern gadgets to monitor cyber communication.
The idea is to turn the internal spy agency into a potent force to fight terrorists through effective intelligence in the age of modern communication systems. While new-age gadgets will give IB an edge through technology, the increased manpower will widen the scope for human intelligence (humint) -- which played an important role in cracking recent terror attack cases.
The home ministry also plans to set up an exclusive "research & technology centre" within IB to keep a complete databank of terrorists and suspicious persons under one umbrella. The job of the new centre will also be to "research and analyse" the technological aspects of threats which have, of late, multiplied due to extensive use of the Internet by the new breed of educated terrorists.
"Widespread use of cyber technology -- like Wi-Fi system -- in the recent terror attacks, where terrorists of Indian Mujahideen (IM) had not only used it for sending emails but also for networking among their cadres for planning and execution of their operations, has forced us to rethink our strategy," said a senior home ministry official.
The plan for modernisation and increasing the strength of IB -- which has already got Cabinet nod -- came up for review recently when home minister Shivraj Patil asked the agency to complete the recruitment process of 6,000 additional spies, including technical and cyber experts, by next year. The emphasis in the meeting -- attended by IB chief P C Haldar and home secretary Madhukar Gupta among others -- was on impressing upon states to strengthen their special branches (intelligence wing) with the Centre helping them out with funds and expertise.
Referring to how new technologies were increasingly being used by jihadis for assembling bombs (using integrated chips for the first time in Bangalore and Surat operations) and networking among themselves through Internet, the official said, "Since terrorists the world over are using new communication technologies as 'weapon of mass influence' for the warfare, we cannot afford to function in the traditional way -- even though it has its own importance."
Though the official did not disclose the kind of methodology being adopted to fight tech savvy jihadis, he mentioned the possibility of bringing certain changes in the Information & Technology Act to widen the scope of cyber intercepts, including snooping on text messages.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2008 00:00 ||
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India's minister of state for external affairs welcomed Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari's statement that Kashmiri militants are terrorists, but Kashmiri political parties reacted sharply.
"President Zardari's statement describing militants in Jammu and Kashmir as terrorists, a statement made, perhaps, for the first time by a top Pakistani leader which is in contrast with its earlier position of terming militants as jehadis, is confirmation of India's assertions all these years," minister of state for external affairs Anand Sharma told reporters in Shimla. "Zardari's statement is a welcome step. President Zardari and Pakistan should honour the words with action in curbing terrorism."
However, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said Zardari needs to be updated about the situation in Kashmir. "The violence in the Valley is on decline. It's Pakistan and India which are confronted with terror attacks. The people of Kashmir have never approved of any kind of violence, particularly against civilians. The movement for permanent settlement of Kashmir issue is peaceful as evident from peaceful demonstration over a period of three months in Kashmir."
Hurriyat leaders, too, slammed Zardari for his statement. Fazal Haq Qureshi, a senior Hurriyat leader, told TOI that Kashmiri militants have always behaved within the parameters of humanity.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2008 00:00 ||
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A Maoist leader has claimed responsibility for the death of a Hindu holy man whose murder sparked savage anti-Christian riots in India, news reports said Sunday.
Hardline Hindus had blamed Christians for the killing of Swami Laxamananda Saraswati, which led to widespread rioting and the death of at least 33 people in Hindu-Christian clashes in eastern Orissa state. The Hindu leader had been associated with a radical group opposed to Hindus converting to Christianity. But the Maoists said they killed Saraswati because he was forcing tribal people to convert to Hinduism. "We ordered the death penalty for him," Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda told reporters on Saturday.
Panda said his group had left letters at the killing in August claiming responsibility but that local authorities hid the evidence. "They suppressed the evidence so that they could get an excuse to attack Christians," Panda told the NDTV news network. Hindu groups have attacked churches, prayer halls and homes of Christians in the state, forcing tens of thousands of people to seek shelter in state-run refugee homes.
On Friday, the Orissa government said police had arrested four people for the alleged rape of a nun during the riots. The attacks have been condemned by the Vatican and described as "a national shame" by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2008 00:00 ||
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Turkey pressed neighboring Iraq on Saturday to take action against Kurdish rebels after they killed 15 Turkish soldiers near a border outpost, in the rebels' single deadliest attack against Turkish forces this year.
Retaliatory strikes by Turkish warplanes, helicopter gunships and heavy artillery into northern Iraq killed at least 23 of the Kurdish rebels, Brig. Gen. Metin Gurak, a Turkish military spokesman, told reporters in Ankara, the capital.
Turkey said its forces were seeking two soldiers abducted during the fighting. A local civilian official at the scene said helicopters were patrolling the skies over the border.
Most of Turkey's casualties occurred in fighting Friday near an army post in the village of Aktutun, six miles from the border, Gurak said.
Emin Sari, a city councilman in Semdinli, the town nearest Aktutun, said by telephone that the rebels attacked soldiers in the mountains around the outpost around 1 p.m. Friday. The rebels were equipped with rocket launchers, rocket-propelled grenades and what appeared to be antiaircraft artillery, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2008 00:00 ||
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Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit made a surprise visit to Iraq on Sunday in the latest signal that Arab nations are slowly reviving relations after years of violence, his office said.
That sounds like he turned out the national lights, then flipped them on and hollered "suprrise" when they walked into the Fertile Crescent.
The one-day visit, the first such trip since 1990, is aimed at restoring formal ties between the two countries, a foreign ministry official said in a statement.
Cairo has had no official diplomatic representative in Iraq since the July 2005 abduction and murder by al-Qaeda of its charge d'affaires in Baghdad, Ihab al-Sharif.
Iraqiya television also reported that Egypt's energy Minister, Sameh Fahmi, had arrived in Baghdad.
The foreign minister said in May that Cairo was ready to send a fact-finding delegation to Baghdad to evaluate security conditions for opening an embassy. "When we set up an embassy in Iraq we want to guarantee that conditions will be favorable and that its security will not be undermined," he said at the time.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The smell of money attracts many. Trust is slower to grow.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/06/2008 8:17 Comments ||
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Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told her French counterpart Bernard Kouchner that she opposes the agreement in principle that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has offered Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. "I do not believe in far-reaching proposals and an attempt to expedite matters, especially in light of the political situation," Livni, the prime minister-designate, told Kouchner yesterday.
In the morning, Kouchner met with Olmert, who said he was frustrated that Abbas had not accepted his proposal. "You've read what I said in the interview," Olmert told Kouchner, referring to his statements in Yedioth Ahronoth favoring concessions. "Still, the Palestinians do not want to sign."
Kouchner raised the matter later when he met with Livni and asked why she objects to Olmert's proposal. Olmert's plan proposes a comprehensive solution on borders and refugees and postpones a decision on Jerusalem.
Livni's explanation was a criticism of Olmert. "Abu Mazen [Abbas] in his present political situation cannot accept such an agreement," she said. "The political situation in Israel also does not allow it to be signed."
Livni also argued that blaming the Palestinians for refusing to accept Olmert's offer does no good. "We can say this is their fault - but what will that do?" she said. "We had the same thing after Camp David in 2000 and look where that got us."
So figure out where the border is going to be, build the wall as high as is needed, and make sure the Paleos understand that you'll lob back three missiles to the location of each Qassam firing ...
Also yesterday, Livni, in her first foreign policy address since winning the Kadima party primary, voiced her commitment to continue peace negotiations with the Palestinians. "Annapolis will continue," she said, referring to the U.S.-sponsored peace conference last November that restarted negotiations on a Palestinian state.
"Let us not allow dates or political changes to stand in our way," she said, in her address to a three-day Foreign Ministry conference on policy and strategy in Jerusalem. "The point is to understand the required concessions in order to conduct a proper process."
How about getting the Paleos on record as to some concessions?
This conference is the first such event of its kind; the ministry hopes to make it an annual affair. Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki attended, along with several of his international counterparts.
Israeli and Palestinian leaders have expressed doubts about meeting Washington's goal of reaching a peace deal by the end of the year, before U.S. President George W. Bush leaves office.
"We see that the next months are maintaining a level of uncertainty, and that level of uncertainty is getting higher and higher," Malki said in his English-language address. "We are waiting to see who will be the next president, [Barack] Obama versus [John] McCain, and believe me, there is a big difference between the two vis-a-vis the situation in the Middle East" Malki said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/06/2008 00:00 ||
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Choked off from the outside world under a tight Israeli blockade; Gaza smugglers boast about the hundreds of tunnels breaking the siege and connecting the impoverished strip to neighboring Egypt.
Gazans in desperate need of goods, such as food and medicine, say their city is rife with tunnels and smuggling has now become a lucrative business in the densely populated area. "The ground at Rafah is a real Swiss cheese. If there were an earthquake the whole lot would cave in," the boss of one of the tunnels told AFP.
Paging the Halliburton Earthquake/Tsunami division to the white courtesy phone ...
"People come from everywhere to find work: Gaza, Jabaliyah, Deir al-Balah ... This tunnel alone keeps 15 families alive," he said.
The exact number of tunnels is impossible to verify but the rapid growth of excavation work is plain for all to see.
At 10 in the morning in Rafah, the only sounds come from the nearby border, where the grinding of motors draws attention to smugglers busy digging more passages beneath this sandy frontier. The presence of scores of tunnels is revealed by plastic huts camouflaging their entrances and by the heaps of earth visible along the 14-kilometre (8.5-mile) demarcation line. "It is a growth industry because of the blockade of Gaza and the closure of frontiers," said Abu Khaled, in charge of one of the sites, where tunnelling began 10 days ago.
Around his tent alone, three more tunnels are under construction.
Not very long ago it was difficult to meet smugglers or talk to them, but now they operate openly and with everyone's knowledge and they are not bothered by anyone except, they say, when it comes to paying taxes to the Hamas government, which controls Gaza.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Another episode in the making of Meerkat Manor.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/06/2008 1:48 Comments ||
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#2
Any chance of the sea entering the tunnel systems and sinking Gaza?
#4
Earthquake? Hmmm...
Wonder how 200 155mm cannon firing high explosive shells would affect the works. I'm sure there's not a part of the Gaza/Egyptian border Israel couldn't hit. While they're shelling, sneaking in a few cannon-deployed acoustical mines that won't become active until two or three days after the shelling. Might have quite a bit of fun before it's all over.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/06/2008 14:46 Comments ||
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#5
Didn't Ariel Sharon, or someone, advocate building a canal along the border - not very wide, but very deep. Obviously, nothing will stop a truly committed smuggler, but having to dig an extra 50 or 100 feet down would slow them down.
And of course, all the existing tunnels would be immediately filled with water. (Not that there is anything wrong with that.)
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
10/06/2008 20:34 Comments ||
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(Xinhua) -- A senior Hamas leader stressed on Saturday that his movement rejects holding early legislative elections and forming a new technocrat Palestinian government.
"Hamas welcomes forming a unity government as part of the comprehensive dialogue, as well as reforming the security apparatus on professional basis," Ismail Radwan, a senior Hamas leader in Gaza said in a statement. He added "the reason why Hamas rejects forming a technocrat government is that it will be rootless and not publicly supported, therefore, it won't succeed in implementing the Palestinians' national goals."
Hamas movement, which took control of the Gaza Strip by force in mid-June last year, has overwhelmingly won the last legislative elections in January 2006. "We reject discussing the idea of holding early legislative elections because it will be an over-jump to the will of the Palestinian people and a replacement of the legally elected leaders," said Radwan.
Ineffectual Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had earlier stated that the success of the comprehensive dialogue due to be held in Cairo early November depends on implementing a Yemeni initiative of reconciliation. The Yemeni initiative, which calls for forming a new Palestinian government that prepares for early presidential and legislative elections, was adopted by the Arab summit which was held in Damascus in late March.
"If we assume that early legislative elections were held in the Palestinian territories and Hamas won again, would the world stance towards the movement be changed? For sure, it won't," said Radwan.
Earlier on Saturday, Jamil al-Majdalawi, a senior Popular Front to Liberate Palestine leader told reporters that there are indications that Hamas might accept holding early presidential and legislative elections at the same time. He said that through a series of meetings his group had held with Hamas leaders recently, he felt that Hamas may finally accept early elections.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2008 00:00 ||
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(PTI) Not ruling out the possibility of V Prabhakaran fleeing the embattled north as troops advance into the rebel-held territory, Sri Lankan Army Chief Sarath Fonseka has said the LTTE supremo could not survive from his hideouts for long. "If Prabhakaran has a wee bit of brains left in him he should give up the battle now. He will soon realise that fighting with us is useless. Otherwise he has to remain in fighting, sacrificing over 20 to 30 LTTE cadres daily while constructing more graves to honour the dead cadres," Fonseka told the state-run 'The Sunday Observer' newspaper.
On whether the Tiger leader will try to escape, Fonseka said "yes, he can escape." "But I do not know whether he can just escape leaving his cadres and people at this stage. But as a person who loves his life more than anything he is not going to sit and die." Prabhakaran "will disguise and flee to somewhere," the army chief said, adding "the LTTE might have various connections with all terrorist groups in the world and some would lend a helping hand for him."
The army chief claimed the LTTE has lost about 11,000 cadres during the last two years and said the troops moved 60 kilometres deep into the Tiger stronghold of Wanni since March 2007. "The LTTE is now left with 4,000 cadres and they can conscript more, but how long can they do that?" Fonseka said. "This is a decisive period of the LTTE and Prabhakaran needs to decide not only his fate, but also the fate of his cadres soon."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2008 00:00 ||
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French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner warned in comments published yesterday that Israel would strike archfoe Iran before it was able to develop nuclear weapons.
"I honestly don't believe (a nuclear weapon) will give any immunity to Iran," Kouchner said in an interview conducted in English with Israel's Haaretz newspaper during a two-day visit to the region.
"First, because you will hit them before. And this is the danger. Israel has always said it will not wait for the bomb to be ready. I think that (the Iranians) know. Everyone knows."
The newspaper's print edition quoted Kouchner as saying that Israel would "eat" Iran, but in a written statement the foreign minister said he had used the word "hit," and that he regretted any "phonetic confusion".
Kouchner told Haaretz he hoped tough diplomacy and sanctions would persuade Iran to halt its uranium enrichment programme, which Israel and many Western countries believe is aimed at developing nuclear weapons. "Iran with an atomic bomb is unacceptable at all... Talking, talking talking, and offering dialogue, sanctions, sanctions, sanctions. Is the alternative to bomb first -- I think not."
Kouchner is set to meet outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni -- who is trying to form a new coalition government to succeed Olmert's administratin -- on Sunday.
France currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, which has been sponsoring Israeli-Palestinian peace talks as part of the Middle East Quartet, which also includes the United States, the United Nations, and Russia.
On Saturday Kouchner toured the West Bank town of Jenin, the focus of a months-old Palestinian security crackdown that has been praised by Israel and the United States -- and met ineffectual Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
Kouchner hailed the peace talks, which were formally relaunched last November but said they were unlikely to meet their stated goal of a comprehensive agreement by the end of the year.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2008 00:00 ||
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Hezbollah officials have dismissed Israeli threats of massive destruction in a future conflict in Lebanon as "media war," speaking to the United Arab Emirates newspaper Al Ittihad.
"You can't hurt us! Only pain hurts us!"
The officials said the Lebanon-based militant group is ready for any Israeli assault, including a surprise attack. They told the paper that Israel is a "cardboard state" that will collapse in a conflict with Hezbollah. "Israel is wrestling with its many problems and has no capability to start a war over Lebanon," Al Ittihad quoted them as saying.
The Hezbollah officials were responding to recent comments by senior Israel Defense Forces officers who intimated that the next war will appear very similar to the last one. In particular, GOC Northern Command Gadi Eisenkot spoke of the IDF using of "disproportionate power" as it did in 2006 Second Lebanon War.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
ION IRAN > IRANIAN.WS - IRAN'S MULLAH REGIME BELIEVES THE USA "CANNOT FIGHT ANY NEW WAR".
#7
Debkafil, so salt to taste:Damascus is plotting a large-scale terror attack or the assassination of a Lebanese figure to drum up another pretext for invading northern Lebanon, according to Lebanese prime minister Fouad Siniora. Reporting this, DEBKAfiles Beirut sources disclose that two senior US officials, deputy secretary of state David Hale and assistant defense secretary Mary Beth Long, were sent post haste to Beirut in response to this warning, arriving on Oct. 5.
Sinora told them that Syria is turning the Al Kebir River (which marks the Syrian-North Lebanese border) from a Blue Line to a Red Line.
He was joined by Lebanese president Michel Suleiman in charging that Washingtons efforts to draw Damascus out of the Iranian orbit threatened to throw Lebanon to the wolves and the loss of Americas foothold in Beirut. The prime minister said the tip-off he received uncovered a Syrian conspiracy to stage a major terrorist operation or assassinate a Lebanese figure of equal rank to the former prime minister Rafiq Hariri whose murder in 2005 left Damascus under grave suspicion. This time, Syria might be cunning enough to single out a pro-Syrian Lebanese politician to avoid suspicion. The consequent turmoil in Beirut would be the trigger for the Syrian incursion.
Two brigades of the 4th Syrian Mechanized Division, numbering up to 10,000 men, have been poised on the Lebanese border since last month and are now on combat readiness.
(DEBKAfile first disclosed this Syrian troop concentration on Sept. 20 and again on Sept. 27. For the second article,
Click HERE))
Damascus has complained to Beirut and Washington that the pro-Western majority leader Saad Hariri (son of the dead politician) has organized 45 extremist Islamic organizations, most Salafi, in northern Lebanon and established similar fronts in Sidon and the Ain Hilwa Palestinian camp in the south. Bashar Assads emissaries claim that these fronts were established to threaten Syrias national security and curb Hizballahs burgeoning strength.
Adding to the rising tension around Lebanon, the UNIFIL commander in south Lebanon has alerted the commanders of the multinational contingents to prepare for Israel to pull out on Nov. 21 from the northern part of Ghajar, the village split in two by the Lebanese-Israeli border.
Exiled Hamas supremo Khaled Meshaal has called for a thaw in ties between Saudi Arabia and Syria during a recent visit to Gulf kingdom, an Arab diplomat said on Sunday. "During meetings with Saudi officials, Meshaal raised the issue of Saudi-Syrian relations, which have long been tense, and stressed the importance of improving those ties," the diplomat told AFP, requesting anonymity.
Relations between Riyadh and Damascus have been tense since the February 2005 assassination of Lebanese former Premier Rafik Hariri, a close Saudi ally, in a bombing widely blamed on Syria. Meshaal, who lives in exile in Syria, visited the Saudi holy city of Mecca in September to perform the umrah, or lesser pilgrimage, and to meet with Saudi officials. Fresh tensions between Syria and Saudi Arabia surfaced after a deadly car bombing in Damascus last month that killed 17 people, with Syrian official media complaining that the Saudi authorities did not condemn the attack. Syrian authorities blocked the distribution of the Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat after the September 27 car bombing, the paper's Beirut bureau chief told AFP on Thursday.
The head of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas also met in Mecca with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, the Arab diplomat said. Meshaal also met with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman for talks on Cairo's efforts to broker a reconciliation between Hamas and the rival Fatah party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the diplomat added.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
"Supremo". Heh. What's that mean, he's like the disco king of Damascus?
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 federal judge is considering whether to order a group of detainees held at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay released into the United States, in what would instantly become a landmark legal decision in the years-long battle over the rights of terrorism suspects there. 
The Taliban are unusually angry about the latest suspected U.S. missile strike in Pakistan, a sign a top militant may have died in the attack, officials and residents said Sunday amid reports the death toll rose by two to 24.
A Maoist leader has claimed responsibility for the death of a Hindu holy man whose murder sparked savage anti-Christian riots in India, news reports said Sunday.
Choked off from the outside world under a tight Israeli blockade; Gaza smugglers boast about the hundreds of tunnels breaking the siege and connecting the impoverished strip to neighboring Egypt. 
Hezbollah officials have dismissed Israeli threats of massive destruction in a future conflict in Lebanon as "media war," speaking to the United Arab Emirates newspaper Al Ittihad. 
Exiled Hamas supremo Khaled Meshaal has called for a thaw in ties between Saudi Arabia and Syria during a recent visit to Gulf kingdom, an Arab diplomat said on Sunday. "During meetings with Saudi officials, Meshaal raised the issue of Saudi-Syrian relations, which have long been tense, and stressed the importance of improving those ties," the diplomat told AFP, requesting anonymity. 
