In a bow to public outrage over a recent spate of U.S.-led airstrikes in Afghanistan that resulted in more than 100 civilian deaths, NATO officials have ordered commanders to try to lessen their reliance on air power in battles with insurgents, NATO and Afghan officials said Wednesday.
Brig. Gen. Richard Blanchette, NATO's chief spokesman in Afghanistan, said commanders are now under orders to consider a "tactical withdrawal" when faced with the choice of calling in air support during clashes in areas where civilians are believed to be present. The goal of the order is to minimize civilian casualties, encourage better coordination with Afghan troops and discourage overreliance on air power to repel insurgent attacks, Blanchette said. "We'll do anything we can to prevent unnecessary casualties, and we'll ensure that we'll have safe use of force. That includes not only airstrikes but ground operations," Blanchette said.
Confusion and controversy over airstrikes have bedeviled the U.S.-led military mission in Afghanistan in recent months. This summer, three U.S. airstrikes in separate parts of the country that killed more than 100 Afghan civilians provoked sharp criticism from Afghan government officials, the United Nations and international humanitarian groups.
According to the U.N. mission in Afghanistan, more than 1,400 Afghan civilians were killed in the first eight months of this year. Of those, 395 were killed in airstrikes by Western forces. The number of civilians killed by U.S.- and NATO-led airstrikes has risen by 21 percent this year, a recent U.N. report said.
U.S. Gen. David D. McKiernan, top commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, issued the new order early last month. The revised approach came only days after U.N. officials said an investigation into an Aug. 21 airstrike on the town of Azizabad, in the western province of Herat, had revealed that at least 90 civilians were killed when U.S. jets bombarded a suspected Taliban compound there. The U.N. allegations conflicted with accounts initially given by U.S. military officials in Afghanistan, who said their investigation found only five civilians had been killed.
U.S. military officials reversed course, however, after McKiernan called for a reinvestigation of the incident when new evidence emerged. A subsequent independent probe conducted by a top U.S. general concluded that at least 30 civilians were killed in the strike.
The Azizabad attack prompted widespread outrage in Afghanistan and led Afghan President Hamid Karzai to call for a review of the rules of conduct for foreign troops operating in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/17/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
in other words they where working too well
Posted by: chris ||
10/17/2008 8:17 Comments ||
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#2
So how many of our guys is this policy change gonna kill?
#5
Which one outranks the other, between Generals Petraeus and McKiernan? I ask because General Petraeus is conducting a review of the Afghanistan situation even now. Surely, regardless of rank, his conclusions will have some weight, even given how political NATO is.
#6
Afghanistan puts the weakness of NATO on display for all to see. Our NATO allies don't have the choppers needed to support the ground troops and perform very selective firing with minimum collateral damage. So they have to depend on aircraft using heavier weapons. This is going to get our guys killed, plain and simple.
(AKI) - Germany's lower house of parliament on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to increase by 1,000 the number of troops it can send to Afghanistan and extended the mission's mandate by 14 months.
Under a previous parliamentary mandate, Germany was allowed to send up to 3,500 troops to Afghanistan. Thursday's vote increases that number to 4,500. Germany is one of nearly 40 countries that have deployed troops to Afghanistan within the 50,000-strong NATO-led peacekeeping mission (ISAF).
But the move by Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition to extend Berlin's participation in a NATO peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan is unpopular with German voters, who are mindful of the rising violence in the war-torn country.
Morale among German soldiers is at a record low as they face mounting attacks from a resurgent Taliban.
Maybe if they were allowed to defend themselves ...
During the past year, the security situation has deteriorated across Afghanistan, including the north, where German soldiers are stationed. German soldiers in northern Afghanistan daily run the risk of "being caught in an explosion or being shot at," said an unnamed officer, quoted by Germany's DPA news agency.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/17/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Still Barney Fife, only one bullet and must be kept in their pocket.
#2
Not the Army, those who send them with arms attached
Posted by: European Conservative ||
10/17/2008 0:37 Comments ||
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#3
Definitely not the troop's fault. Blame the politicians. Ditto for French, Brit, Dutch, etc. troops. These guys would all kick ass if permitted. Don't paint the troops the piss yellow coward color of their politicians.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
10/17/2008 7:54 Comments ||
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#4
Whiskey Mike: that is a good thing to keep in mind.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
10/17/2008 11:38 Comments ||
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A two-day meeting of the Pak-Afghan 'mini jirga' would be held on October 27 and 28 in Islamabad in which representatives from the two countries would exchange views on the on-going war on terror. Sources said the grand jirga had decided to institute a 'mini jirga' to meet regularly, but its meeting was delayed due to various issues. They said the forthcoming meeting was extremely important, as relations between Kabul and Islamabad have improved after the new government took over in Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/17/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
So, if a "jirga" is a big meeting, a "mini jirga" is like, a regular meeting? Sounds fair.
Gen. David H. Petraeus has launched a major reassessment of U.S. strategy for Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq and the surrounding region, while warning that the lack of development and the spiraling violence in Afghanistan will probably make it "the longest campaign of the long war." The 100-day assessment will result in a new campaign plan for the Middle East and Central Asia, a region in which Petraeus will oversee the operations of more than 200,000 American troops as the new head of U.S. Central Command, beginning Oct. 31.
The review will formally begin next month, but experts and military officials involved said Petraeus is already focused on at least two major themes: government-led reconciliation of Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the leveraging of diplomatic and economic initiatives with nearby countries that are influential in the war.
The review comes as Petraeus, who led a counterinsurgency effort credited with drastically reducing attack levels in Iraq, faces widespread expectations that he will find a way to arrest escalating violence and U.S. troop casualties in Afghanistan, fueled by growing militant havens in Pakistan.
It also coincides with the Bush administration's own urgent reassessment of Afghanistan strategy amid pessimism that the situation there is rapidly deteriorating. Indeed, some senior administration officials have expressed concern that Petraeus is casting his net too widely with a regional review at a time when Afghanistan and western Pakistan desperately need rescuing.
In appearances this month in Washington, however, Petraeus has sought to manage expectations of any repeat of the Iraq performance in Afghanistan -- often suggested by Republican presidential candidate John McCain -- stressing that Afghanistan is not Iraq, and that while some concepts are "transplantable," Afghanistan has daunting challenges likely to require a far lengthier effort. "The effort in Afghanistan is going to be the longest campaign of the long war," Petraeus said in a meeting yesterday with Washington Post reporters and editors.
Parts of Afghanistan have "actually been spiraling downward throughout the course of this year," Petraeus said last week at the Heritage Foundation. "The biggest lesson of counterinsurgency is that every situation is unique. You have to be very careful to have that nuanced understanding . . . of the circumstances on the ground," he said.
Petraeus is recruiting a brain trust of advisers, much as he did for Iraq, taking the studious approach that has become the hallmark of the four-star general who holds a doctorate in international relations from Princeton University.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/17/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
If has a bit of extra time, could he assemble a "brain trust of advisors" and have a look at the US economy? Current and former politicians of either political party need not apply.
Somali Islamists say they will attack Kenya if it goes ahead with plans to train 10,000 government troops. "We will order all our holy warriors to start the jihadi war inside Kenya," said spokesman Sheikh Muktar Robow.
Who remains alive because ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula has been quoted recently offering the training to beleaguered government forces.
The warning comes as insurgents have again battled government troops and peacekeepers in the capital, Mogadishu. At least five people have been killed, residents and doctors say.
A witness told the BBC there were clashes near an African Union peacekeeping base at the strategic K-4 junction and that mortars were used. The Islamists have increasingly targeted the AU peacekeeping force in recent months, as well as the government and their Ethiopian allies.
The K-4 junction is strategically placed in the south of the city linking the airport and the presidential palace, and some AU peacekeepers are based there. The witness said he could see houses on fire, and heavy gunfire could be heard in the background.
On Thursday, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said Ethiopia would review its position in the coming months, but would stay longer if Somali politicians showed "readiness for peace".
Even if Ethiopian troops left, he said, they could still return if the powerful Islamist militia al-Shabab threatened to take power. "Whenever there's a threat posed, we will come back to break their backs," he said. "Any government is preferable to the Shabab. It's in the interest of Ethiopia and the Somali people to prevent them from coming to power."
Mr Meles said Ethiopian troops would remain in Somalia "at least until the African peace force is fully deployed."
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/17/2008 00:00 ||
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Blackwater Worldwide today announced that its 183 foot ship, the McArthur, stands ready to assist the shipping industry as it struggles with the increasing problem of piracy in the Gulf of Aden and elsewhere.
The dramatic increase of pirate attacks on merchant vessels in the Gulf of Aden has led to parallel cost increases for the shipping industry. Shipping insurance has risen tenfold this year alone. With the added danger pay offered to crews willing to make the journey, pirate ransom demands that reach into the millions, and lengthy negotiations for hijacked ships, if left unaddressed the cost of the piracy boom to the shipping industry -- and consumers buying their goods -- will only increase.
"Billions of dollars of goods move through the Gulf of Aden each year," said Bill Matthews, Executive Vice President of Blackwater Worldwide. "We have been contacted by ship owners who say they need our help in making sure those goods get to their destination safely. The McArthur can help us accomplish that."
Some shippers have taken the step of arming their crews, or hiring private security to ride onboard cargo ships. Rather than having armed guards on a cargo vessel, the McArthurs ability to accompany a ship and deploy helicopters to patrol the area provides a safer option for the shipping industry.
The McArthur was reconfigured and modified in 2006 and is now a Blackwater Worldwide Maritime Security Support Craft. The McArthur is a multi-purpose maritime vessel designed to support military and law enforcement training, peacekeeping, and stability operations worldwide. It is fully equipped with a helo deck and can store 4,100 gallons of helo fuel. Blackwaters aviation affiliate can provide the helicopters, pilots, and maintenance required to support escort missions in the Gulf of Aden. The Full Meal Deal™.
As a company founded and run by former Navy SEALs, with a 50,000-person database of former military and law enforcement professionals, Blackwater is uniquely positioned to assist the shipping industry in the Gulf of Aden and elsewhere.
The International Maritime Bureau estimates that more than 70 ships have been attacked off Somalia since January. As of October 15, 2008, 11 ships and 200 crew members were still being held for ransom.
The US Navy and Royal Navy have both advised shipping companies to protect their ships. The French are already using private contractors for these purposes. This is the next logical step based on those calls. Unless the citizens of the US are ready to push the US Navy to make this a top priority, something that requires political action, this is seen as one of the limited but cost effective ways for the shipping industry to respond. Go to the link for a pic of the McArthur.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/17/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
ION NOT-PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, TOPIX > ISRAEL: HIJACKED IRANIAN CARGO SHIP WAS A GIANT DIRTY BOMB!?
#7
I would tell Blackwater to leave the villages to NATO so nothing messy could be filmed/used as propaganda. But otherwise I didn't want to see any prisoners.
#8
This whole thing got blown out of proportion when the pirates actually got some booty. Disfunctional Euros at work again. They don't seem to learn that no ransom is the only sensible, compassionate solution.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/17/2008 10:25 Comments ||
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#9
The pirates use normal people's sense of humanity as a tool against them for profit, by threatening harm if they are not paid ransom. But once their victims turn against them and they or their families are harmed, they usually back off. They understand violence, so give it to them.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/17/2008 11:17 Comments ||
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#10
"stands ready"... so no one has actually hired them yet.... well another couple of captures and I'm sure they'll have some business.
#11
good too hear, maybe some pirate ass will finally get kicked like it should have been in the first place. Hell it would be cheaper for the US gov. just too hire them too do it instead of having our damn ships just sit their and watch for a month at a time
Posted by: chris ||
10/17/2008 17:12 Comments ||
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The trial of the alleged leader of a radical Islamist cell accused of plotting a series of killings and links to al-Qaeda has begun in Morocco. Abdelkader Belliraj was one of more than 30 people, including six Islamist politicians, arrested in February. Mr Belliraj is also accused of killing members of the Jewish community and an imam in Belgium in the late 1980s.
His lawyer said he would plead not guilty. He said his client was employed by the Belgian secret services.
Which means what, exactly ...
The BBC's James Copnall reports from Rabat that the lawyer, Mohamed Ziane, made an impassioned plea for improved conditions for his client, who he said had been held in solitary confinement since his arrest in February.
The heart (urp) bleeds ...
Mr Belliraj and others arrested in February have been accused by the government of plotting a series of killings within Morocco.
Mr Ziane accepted that his client was found with weapons originally sent to Islamists in Algeria, and that these had later returned to Morocco. But he also said he had been working for Belgian intelligence services.
"Belliraj says he visited the world, and terrorist organisations, in concert with the Belgian authorities, including military security," he said. "He says this, and I will repeat it: Belliraj defended Belgium, now it's up to Belgium to defend him."
Family members and friends of the six politicians demonstrated outside the court, chanting: "We're all against political arrests."
Several of the politicians came from moderate Islamist parties. The son of one of the politicians, Mustapha Moatassim, said his father was not guilty. "[He] doesn't believe in violence or terrorism, and he loves his country very much," said Abdesalam Moatassim.
Thanks son ...
Some political parties and human rights groups have sprung to the defence of the politicians, our correspondent says.
There was widespread concern when two ministers appeared to suggest in February that all those arrested were guilty. For this reason the trial is expected to be closely followed, though a verdict is unlikely before next year.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/17/2008 00:00 ||
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Imams of Saudi mosques have failed in guiding young Saudis away from extremist ideologies that pose a serious threat to the security and stability of the country, according to Interior Minister Prince Naif.
"The more than 15,000 mosques in the country constitute the best forums for guidance, but the imams have failed miserably in discharging their duties," Prince Naif said after opening a seminar on Human Rights in Higher Education and Intellectual Security at Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah on Wednesday night.
"Frankly speaking, I would like to say that the imams of mosques, with the exception of the two holy mosques, have not played their desired role (in the fight against extremism)," Prince Naif said.
"The introduction of topics related to human rights in the education or any other area of life does not mean that our society is ignorant or deficient in human values as some quarters have been portraying," Prince Naif told an audience that included Minister of Higher Education Khaled Al-Anqari and Rector of Umm Al-Qura University Adanan Wazzan.
The prince stressed the significant role universities had to play in keeping the young Saudis away from the dangers of destructive ideologies. "Since universities are centers of research, it is their duty to study ways to root out ideas that distort religion and defame the nation," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/17/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Religious Guys whether in Pakistan,Saudi or Iran are the at the core of our problem ie TrueISLAM!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
10/17/2008 5:38 Comments ||
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#2
Maybe they should stick to setting up "pleasure marriages"?
London, Oct 15 (ANI): Islam should be treated more sensitively by the media than Christianity, according to the director general of the BBC. Mark Thompson claimed that because Muslims are a religious minority in Britain and also often from ethnic minorities, their faith should be given different coverage to that of more established groups.
Given church attendance, wouldn't Christianity be considered a minority in today's Britain?
His comments come after the comedian Ben Elton accused the BBC of being scared of making jokes about Islam, while Hindus have claimed it favours Muslims over other religions, the Telegraph reported.
But Thompson, speaking at the annual public theology lecture of the religion think-tank Theos, insisted the state broadcaster would show programmes that criticised Islam if they were of sufficient quality.
And who decides 'sufficient quality'?
The director general, whose corporation faced accusations of blasphemy from Christians after it allowed the transmission of the musical Jerry Springer -The Opera, also said his Christian beliefs guided his judgments and disclosed that he had never watched the Monty Python film Life of Brian which satirises the story of Jesus.
In his speech last night, Thompson claimed there are now more programmes about religion on BBC television and radio than there have been in recent decades, whereas coverage has declined on ITV. But asked whether it was correct that the BBC "let vicar gags pass but not imam gags", as Elton claimed, he admitted it did take a different approach to Islam, which has 1.6 million followers in Britain, compared to its approach to the Church of England or the Roman Catholic Church.
Thompson said: "My view is that there is a difference between the position of Christianity, which I believe should be central to the BBC's religion coverage and widely respected and followed." (ANI)
Posted by: john frum ||
10/17/2008 17:56 ||
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#1
I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that Islamists tend to explode or behead people when angered whereas Christians write stern letters to the editor.
"Funnily enough", in the 90's, several big police operations that targeted (homosexual) pedophile rings in France and in neighbouring countries ended up rounding up neo-nazis, I remember that for two at least, the "Ado 71" and "Toro Bravo" operations.A link between terrorism plots and hardcore child pornography is becoming clear after a string of police raids in Britain and across the Continent, an investigation by The Times has discovered. Images of child abuse have been found during Scotland Yard antiterrorism swoops and in big inquiries in Italy and Spain.
Secret coded messages are being embedded into child pornographic images, and paedophile websites are being exploited as a secure way of passing information between terrorists.
British security services are also aware of the trend and believe that it requires further investigation to improve understanding of terrorists' methods and mindsets. Concerns within the Metropolitan Police led to a plan to run a pilot research project exploring the nature of the link. One source familiar with the proposal said that this could eventually lead to the training of child welfare experts to identify signs of terrorist involvement as they monitor pornographic sites.
Concerns have already been expressed at Cabinet minister level about the risk of vulnerable Muslim youths being exploited by older men. Officers have noted that child sex abuse images have been found during investigations into some of the most advanced suspected plots. However, it is understood that the proposed research project was never implemented because the AntiTerrorism Branch was overwhelmed by the sheer number of cases it was having to deal with.
It is not clear whether the terrorists were more interested in the material for personal gratification or were drawn to child porn networks as a secure means of sending messages. In one case fewer than a dozen images were found; in another, 40,000.
British security sources confirmed that such a link had been discovered in several cases. They noted the contradiction between people supposedly devoted to theocracy and Islamic fundamentalism and their use of child pornography. "It shows that these people are very confused," a source said. "Here they are hating Western decadence but actually making use of it and finding that they enjoy this stuff."
Baroness Neville-Jones, Conservative security spokeswoman and former chairwoman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, said: "The information about a possible link between extremism and child pornography potentially provides useful insight into three things: the methods that extremists use to communicate; the methods they use to target vulnerable people in society; and the techniques they seek to use to conceal their online activities." She added: "There is no doubt that these possible linkages should merit further research."
Andrew Dismore, the Labour MP and chairman of the parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, said: "This is an important development. We have to do more than just the police work. It needs child protection, criminological and psychological work. It could become a very important weapon in the fight against terrorism." He urged researchers to review cases where terrorists had been convicted to look for this link.
The first British suspicions of a link between child sex abuse and jihadis emerged in London in 2006 when antiterrorism police in two unrelated investigations were shocked to find computerised images of hardcore child pornography. The key case that tipped off the security services to a plausible link involved the "White-chapel Rapist", Abdul Makim Khalisadar. A former Mujahidin and a preacher at the East London Mosque, he was being examined for his links to a hardcore Islamic militant who was later convicted of terrorism. Khalisadar was never convicted of terrorist offences. The other investigation involved a young religiously observant Muslim.
The Times has learnt that a criminal investigation also found child pornography on computers after a raid in 2001 at a mosque run by an al-Qaeda recruiter in Milan. Italian police believe that the images were encoded with messages. At a forthcoming terrorism trial in Spain, the alleged mastermind of a Muslim cell has also been accused of downloading hundreds of child sex abuse pictures and videos.
Meanwhile, police uncovered a right-wing terrorist plot when they raided a home after being tipped off about pornographic images. This June, the Nazi sympathiser Martyn Gilleard was jailed for 16 years after being found guilty of terrorism. Police found 39,000 indecent images of children at his flat in Yorkshire.
Invisible ink for the internet age
-- Messages may be concealed within digital images and audio, video or other files. The method is called steganography, derived from the Greek for "covered writing"
-- Although the average person will not be able to detect the hidden messages by either listening to or viewing a file, the intended recipients can use applications to reverse the steganography process and gain access to the information
-- Experts say that the advancement in encryption technology is outpacing the authorities' abilities to monitor suspected terrorists and paedophiles
-- Italian authorities uncovered files of child abuse images that had been manipulated by a terrorist cell after a raid on the Via Quaranta mosque in Milan in November 2001. Investigators claimed that the terrorist cell encoded the images before sending them to each other
#6
Hiding secrets into the kind of sites who are likely to be scrutinized by the police? Pleaaaaaaaase! They do it because they like it and we should be broadacasting it 24/7 not sweeping it under the rug like the author does.
Propaganda is terror's main weapon and we are doing nothing on this field.
#7
Indeed. Like the tales of serious drug use by captured jihadis in Iraq, this confirms that jihadis are perverted in all aspects of their lives,not merely well-meaning but misguided religious enthusiasts.
#8
They checking the goat breeder sites too?? Sure to be messages there (maybe only love notes, but messages still!)
OT/ any RB'ers seen that Carl's Jr. ad where the guy says he'll marry a goat if can get some such meal for $5. Then they show him and his buddy at the restuarant with the goat in a wedding gown. You just know it gets muzzie boys hard watching it.
#9
More exposed help from the IRA is showing here. The IRA was known to have helped in the initial training of Muzzies in developing road side bombs, specifically detonating techniques. The IRA were the experts in all thing going boom. Then it was uncovered the IRA used pron sites with secure chat rooms to communicate. Finding out the Muzzis are duplicating this is no suprise, except they are too stupid and do it on their favorite pron sites. They should have done it on an all things pork web page.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
10/17/2008 16:11 Comments ||
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#10
The Micks have always liked mischief and explosives.
#11
When I was in N. Ireland years ago, the Brits and the Irish law enforcement broke up an IRA cell that used to launch rockets made from oxygen cylinders across the border, originating in the Republic. A
Nasty hunks of iron they were. Sorta Qassim precursors. The provos were rat ba$tards.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/17/2008 16:18 Comments ||
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#12
The provos were rat ba$tards.
I thoroughly agree. The Brits badly mishandled those scum; they should have been brutally interrogated, tortured and "disappeared" to a man. A "clean" firing squad would have been a far better end than they deserved.
Funny how, when the Loyalist gangs started being better at violence than the provos were, the provo violence rapidly wound down. All those bastards ever understood was force and when they realized they were up against hard boys who weren't going to be constrained by any rules other than the law of the jungle, they suddenly didn't want to play anymore. Cowards.
BBC prints this day after Obama and McCain bring up Columbia at the debate.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused the Colombian government of blocking investigations into alleged links between paramilitaries and politicians.
HRW was curiously absent when average people were getting gunned down by FARC ...
Thousands of demobilised fighters have given evidence implicating more than 60 of President Alvaro Uribe's supporters, including his cousin Mario.
HRW said Mr Uribe's government was "sabotaging" the investigation - a claim he has denied. The HRW report, entitled "Breaking the Grip? Obstacles to Justice for Paramilitary Mafias in Colombia," claims that Mr Uribe's administration was "jeopardising efforts to secure justice".
"Colombia's justice institutions have made enormous progress in investigating paramilitaries and their powerful friends," said Jose Miguel Vivanco, one of the authors. "But the Uribe administration keeps taking steps that could sabotage these investigations."
'Could'? That doesn't mean that they 'are' doing so. HRW is already weaseling the report.
HRW said such measures included making baseless accusations against members of the Supreme Court, which is running the investigation, and blocking efforts to reform Congress to eliminate paramilitary influence.
The group also said the extradition to the US of 14 paramilitary leaders in May this year had interrupted ongoing investigations.
But it facilitated other investigations into the drug trade.
Mr Uribe has denied any obstruction and said his government had "combated the paramilitaries with more force, effectiveness and decisiveness than any other in Colombia's history".
Several dozen Congressmen, all of them supporters of Mr Uribe, are already being investigated over alleged links with paramilitaries. They were named in the testimonies of demobilised fighters who agreed to confess in exchange for reduced jail terms.
So Hector the Weasel decided name names to get a reduced sentence ...
Mr Vivanco said international pressure was crucial to ensure that efforts made by prosecutors were not "squandered". "The burden is now on the Uribe administration and Colombia's institutions of justice to ensure that paramilitaries, as well as their accomplices, are held accountable," he said.
The BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Colombia says the failure so far to uncover the true nature of the paramilitary activity could be one of the reasons behind a recent growth in such groups. A new generation of paramilitary groups dedicated to drugs trafficking has sprung up, with up to 8,000 members, our correspondent says.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/17/2008 00:00 ||
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Is the word of the Human Rights Watch reliable?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/17/2008 11:40 Comments ||
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#2
in a word, "No"
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
10/17/2008 12:12 Comments ||
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Two 20-something Obama supports get beatup but some little old ladies -- and then whine about it. See Video at link
(Boston Globe) Two Obama supporters told police they were kicked and harrassed when they expressed anti-McCain sentiments at a Sarah Palin rally in Laconia, N.H. By Scott LaPierre, Globe staff
#5
If I were some young "stud" I wouldn't be talking about how I got beat up by some old ladies. I would be keeping my mouth shut & hoping nobody was watching or taking photo's.
Can you imagine if they tried to take this to court?
Travellers from Japan, western Europe and a number of other countries must request authorization to enter the United States on the Internet from January 2009, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Thursday.
These countries are currently exempt from visa requirements to enter the United States for short visits under the Visa Waiver Program, and the new program will keep travel to the United States "visa free" for travelers from VWP countries.
Instead of travellers filling out paper I-94 visa waiver cards en route to the United States, the new measure requires online registration. In a statement, the DHS said mandatory prior visa authorization is required for travelers from January 12, 2009. The service has accepted voluntary visa applications for over two months, since August 1.
"Over 200,000 travelers have sought electronic travel authorization in the weeks since the site went live, and 99.6 percent of them have been approved the vast majority in under one minute," said DHS assistant secretary for policy Stewart Baker. "Obtaining this advance information makes visa-free travel more secure, an enhancement that allows us to expand the valuable Visa Waiver Program."
The new measure is among the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, which sought to promote laws that tighten border security in the wake of the September 11 attacks in 2001. The DHS recommends that applications are submitted as soon as an applicant begins making travel plans. Upon authorization, travelers can enter the United States for 90 days for business or pleasure. The website is https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov.
Instructions on how to obtain travel authorization are available on the website in English and 13 other languages -- Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Slovene, Spanish and Swedish. No Arabic. Good.
Citizens of 27 nations -- including several EU member states as well as Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Brunei -- are covered by the Visa Waiver Program.
Posted by: ed ||
10/17/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Also: Sources: US to waive visa rules for 7 countries President Bush will announce Friday that Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and South Korea will be added to the U.S. visa waiver program as early as next month, the aides told The Associated Press.
Posted by: ed ||
10/17/2008 0:18 Comments ||
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#2
B) Have you ever been arrested or convicted for an offense or crime involving moral turpitude or a violation related to a controlled substance; or been arrested or convicted for two or more offenses for which the aggregate sentence to confinement was five years or more; or been a controlled substance trafficker; or are you seeking entry to engage in criminal or immoral activities?
Bureaucrats never change
Posted by: European Conservative ||
10/17/2008 0:33 Comments ||
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#3
New method also requires them to identify themselves electronically. Heh.
#5
On-line applicants can begin waiver submission immediately and will automatically be registered to vote in Ohio, which can also be done via the internet or US Postal service.
Posted by: Jennifer Brunner ||
10/17/2008 9:02 Comments ||
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ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government has granted permission to the chief of the Pakistan-based terrorist group, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, to import a duty free bullet-proof Land Cruiser, worth Rs 25 million.
According to the interior ministry sources in Islamabad, the LeT chief, who fears a possible attempt on his life by his “external enemies”, had sought the government permission to import a duty free bullet proof Land Cruiser in view of the rising number of terrorist acts across Pakistan.
The sources said that after some lengthy deliberations on the issue, the government has decided to give him a go ahead to import a fully armoured Land Cruiser for his use from Dubai. It was for the first time that the leader of a banned jehadi group had made such a request to the government and it is also for the first time that the government has acceded to such a request.
Posted by: john frum ||
10/17/2008 17:51 ||
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There is some recent reason to be cautiously optimistic of Pakistani action starting in the Tribal Areas, US General David McKiernan told Reuters on Thursday.
He said the outcome in Afghanistan would also be tied to FATA. "Ultimately the outcome in Afghanistan will not be a military outcome, it will be a political outcome."
He said foreign militants had imported sophisticated tactics to invigorate the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan but Western pessimism over the conflict was unwarranted.
The increase in violence over the last year was due to the resurgent Taliban being forced to shift tactics to "small scale, asymmetric, more complex attacks", on soft targets like civilians, aid workers and government officials, he said, adding while there was "uneven progress" around Afghanistan, "to say we are losing or the Taliban are winning is simply not true".
Posted by: Fred ||
10/17/2008 00:00 ||
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Fazlur Rehman, the chief of his own government-allied faction of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, criticised the government's counterterrorism efforts during Thursday's in-camera parliamentary sitting on national security -- coming out as a spokesman for Taliban.
Calling for a truce, he offered to mediate between the government and the Taliban "if the government sincerely wants to resolve the issue".
Sources familiar with the proceedings said Fazl criticised the government for 'blindly following US policies' and strongly opposed the military operation in Swat and the Tribal Areas.
"Of the government's policy of three Ds (dialogue, development and deterrence), our party believes in the first two," a Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl legislator quoted him as saying.
He came down hard on the government's statement that seminaries were breeding terrorism, saying the previous regime had adopted the stance to malign religious schools at America's behest. Talking about the increasing incidents of US incursions into Pakistan, he said the government had compromised the country's sovereignty.
PML-N: Earlier, opening the debate, Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Nisar Ali Khan grilled the government for pursuing former president Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf's policies on the war on terror. He demanded that Musharraf and his officials who formulated the policy be summoned in parliament.
He repeated the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's demand that the government make public any secret agreements between the former president and the US, and formulate a 'national policy' to fight terrorism through parliament.
He said law and order could worsen if the government did not change its policies including its counterterrorism strategy.
Opposition leader in Senate Kamil Ali Agha proposed forming a committee with equal representation from the opposition and the government to hold dialogue with all stakeholders in FATA, 'including militants'.
The committee should then put together a joint resolution for the parliament to adopt.
He admitted that the policy framed by Pervez Musharraf had failed, but claimed the present government was following it 'more vigorously'. He also demanded parliament be briefed on the agreements and dialogue with militants so far.
FATA legislator Munir Khan Orakzai asked the government to stop the military operation and engage tribal elders to restore peace in the troubled areas.
Leader of the House in the Senate Raza Rabbani defended the government's three-pronged strategy and rejected the allegation that his government had been following Musharraf's policies, saying it had instead called the parliamentary session to develop national consensus on dealing with terrorism.
The debate will resume as the house meets again at 10am today (Friday).
Posted by: Fred ||
10/17/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
In lieu of money, he'll take his payment in doughnuts.
Mr. 'Ten Percent' just figured out what ten percent of zero is ...
China has promised to do all it can to help longtime ally Pakistan overcome its financial difficulties. Reports from Beijing Thursday say Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao made the promise during a meeting with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, who is visiting China.
A spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry, Qin Gang, told reporters after the meeting that China is ready to support Pakistan "within its capability." He did not specify what kind of assistance Beijing would provide.
On Wednesday, Pakistan's president and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao signed more than 10 deals on cooperation in areas including economy, trade, mining and agriculture.
Mr. Zardari is seeking economic agreements and assistance in an effort to save Pakistan from economic collapse. The Financial Times newspaper reported that Pakistan's president was to seek more than $500 million in loans from China and a nuclear energy accord. But Chinese state media did not mention any agreements in these areas.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/17/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
WORLD MILITARY FORUM > PAKISTAN PRAISES CHINA SUPPORT: A POWERFUL CHINA IS A POWERFUL PAKISTAN.
Also from WMF > BRITISH THINK TANK: CHINA, NOT US, IS THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE US FINANCIAL CRISIS + CHINA'S COMING GREAT DEPRESSION.
#2
SAME > PATTEN: THE FUTURE OF THE US AND CHINA IS "INEVITABLE CONFLICT", as due to China's growing modernization and global influence. EUROPE, however, will still be World No.2 behind the the USA, whose role as ABSOLUTE OR UNCONDITIONAL WORLD/GLOBAL SUPERPOWER WILL CONTINUE -Europe will be sovereign vee US but under variable duress e.g. loss of 20% of Population by end of the century; + INDIA, PAKISTAN, AND CHINA WILL BE VALUABLE NUCLEAR STRIKE TARGETS [ i.e. REGIONAL NUCLEAR POWER]. India rising.
* BRITAIN > FINANCIAL TIMES - THE WEST MUST TAKE THE SOCIALIST ROAD; + REDDIT/TOPIX: US CRISIS THE END OF WESTERN CAPITALISM? + KEENAN: WESTERN CAPITALISM [21st Century -ISM]MUST BE UNDERPINNED BY SOCIALISM, in times of chaos or serious crisis.
#5
China will just counterfeit our money too fund them
Posted by: chris ||
10/17/2008 17:07 Comments ||
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#6
Hey, China, knock yourself out. Try to fill a financial black hole. Good luck t'ye.
On another note, China will finance stuff, like mines, extract the minerals, give Paks a bit of coin for it, and leave an ecological disaster, just like dealing with a cheap whore.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/17/2008 17:33 Comments ||
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#7
Nah, the Chinese won't be contributing any money. They'll just say that they will, and then never pay anything. It's getting scary how well I can predict these attitudes these days...
Al-Qaeda in Iraq's alleged No. 2 leader, who the U.S. military said died this month after a gun battle with American forces in northern Iraq, was a Swedish citizen designated as a terrorist by the United States, the United Nations and the European Union, a U.S. official said Thursday.
The intelligence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Muhammad Moumou, 43, a Moroccan native, was the man U.S. military officials in Baghdad identified Wednesday as Abu Qaswarah.
U.S. officials say Moumou, who was born in the Moroccan city of Fez and obtained Swedish citizenship in 1994, was a close associate of al-Qaeda in Iraq founder Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in 2006.
Moumou was the Sunni insurgent group's top commander in northern Iraq, where violence has continued to rage even as al-Qaeda in Iraq has suffered significant setbacks in Baghdad and other former strongholds.
He appears to be the first European citizen to have held a top role within al-Qaeda in Iraq, a largely Iraqi insurgent group that U.S. intelligence officials say is led by non-Iraqi Arabs. He played a key role in recruiting and deploying foreign fighters in Iraq, the U.S. military said.
Posted by: ed ||
10/17/2008 0:20 Comments ||
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#2
Just shows you the whole sorry mess western national identities have became over the last few decades. He was not a swedish citizen, for crying it out loud, he was a moroccan who lived in Sweden, and was given ID papers by the swedish STATE. He certainly WAS NOT a citizen, and even less a swedish man.
#8
StrategyPage Oct 9: A man killed during a raid on the 5th was revealed as Abu Qaswarah, the number two al Qaeda leader in Iraq. Qaswarah is a Moroccan who migrated to Sweden in the 1980s and had a Swedish passport. He has a wife and five kids in Sweden, and has long been active in Islamic radical activities. But he never did anything illegal in Sweden, so the police there could only keep an eye on him. But two years ago, the deteriorating (al Qaeda) situation in Iraq prompted Qaswarah to go to the front, where he was useful recruiting and moving terrorist recruits into Iraq. He proved an able terrorist leader, and rose through the ranks, until a U.S. Special Forces operator put a bullet into him. Qaswarah then detonated his suicide vest, killing several nearby women and children.
Posted by: ed ||
10/17/2008 23:29 Comments ||
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Iraqi Interior official on Thursday said his ministry would announce the names of individuals implicated in killing a lawmaker loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, in upcoming days. "The arrested wanted individuals admitted their involvement in killing MP Saleh al-Eikili", Maj. Gen. Abdelkarim Khalaf, chief of National Command Centre in the Interior Ministry, told Aswat al-Iraq.
However, the interior official stressed the Ministry "would not announce the names until al individuals involved in the killing operation are arrested".
PM Nouri al-Maliki ordered setting up a commission of inquiry headed by Interior Minister to probe the killing of MP Saleh al-Eakili from the Sadrist bloc and to bring the perpetrators to justice". Al-Eikili died of his wounds after his car was hit with a roadside bomb on the perimeters of Shiite slum Sadr City. The MP was a senior member of al-Sadr's political bloc, which has 30 seats in the 275-member parliament. The Shiite cleric's cease-fire order to his militia has been a key factor in a sharp decline in violence over the past year.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/17/2008 00:00 ||
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In the auditorium at the Joint Staff College at Camp Rustumiya, Baghdad, 64 new Iraqi army officers gathered for their graduation ceremony. One by one they marched to the front, stamped to attention and received their new badges, as well as a gift-wrapped mobile telephone.
Chief of Staff Gen Badurkhan Zebari Babakir was there, and with him the commander of the Nato Training Mission in Iraq, Gen Frank Helmick.
Gen Babakir told the graduates that the new armed forces were "proud to provide a safe environment for the Iraqi people".
Gen Helmick cautioned the new officers "not to revert back to the way it used to be - but do things they way they should be".
He emphasised an essential difference between the new Iraqi army and the military that served under Saddam Hussein, always fearful of their mercurial leader. He said officers were now "free to express their opinions, free to suggest better ways of doing things".
I asked the general if he was confident that the new army was ready to take full responsibility for security in Iraq. "We're not where we want to be," he replied, "and we're not where we need to be, but thank goodness we're not where we used to be."
One of the new officers, Maj Basim, joined the Iraqi army 15 years ago. He spent the 2003 war in the elite Republican Guard, much of the time in and around Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit. But now, Maj Basim assured me, "the army works for the people, not against them".
In addition to military training, the officers have had courses in international relations, human rights and the law. The civics tutor at the staff college is Prof Assam Munad. As the Iraqi army becomes a large disciplined force, Prof Munad is concerned about the "lack of civilian control" over the military. "It's very risky," he said, "the army may put their noses into politics - and they shouldn't".
But if they do, there is much better organised potential opposition to the military here than there ever was under the tightly controlled regime of Saddam Hussein. The Shia militias might see the new well-trained officers as a Trojan Horse - a way of levering supporters of the old regime back into power.
The militias are quiet at the moment, but they have not been disbanded, and if suspicions about the Iraqi army are nourished, it isn't hard to imagine a new phase of violent confrontation.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/17/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
the army works for the people, not against them
If they manage to pull this off, it will be the ONLY Arab Army to do so in the hsitroy of the region.
#3
Ah, there's the danger of the persistence of the ancient regime. For all the fine words of the Constitution which would eventually be ratified, little note is made of the departure of tens of thousands of Tory Crown Loyalists hounded and driven from the newly independent United States. There is a difference between tolerant and stupid.
BAGHDAD (AP) - A looming split between the two Shiite parties that dominate Iraq's government threatens efforts to win parliamentary approval for a security pact with the U.S. and could set the stage for a major struggle for power in the oil-rich Shiite southern heartland.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa Party and the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council led by Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim have been allies since the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein's Sunni-led regime. Now they are rapidly turning into bitter rivals, raising the specter of a weakened Shiite front ahead of two key elections next year.
The security agreement, reached after months of tortuous negotiations, would allow U.S. troops to remain here after their U.N. mandate expires Dec. 31. It is critical to ensuring Iraq's security until government forces are capable of taking charge of the fight against insurgents. A draft has been completed and the government is preparing to submit it to parliament for final approval - which U.S. officials believe is by no means certain.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/17/2008 00:00 ||
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The Israel Air Force is developing a computerized system to predict where a missile will land with considerable accuracy, very shortly after it is launched. That would enable the Home Front Command to order people into shelters only in a relatively small area, rather than in broad regions of the country.
Currently the country is divided into 10 large districts for the purpose of missile alerts, and at every missile launch, everyone in the relevant district is ordered into shelters. But when the new system is completed, in an estimated 18 months, the country will instead be divided into about 100 districts.
As an interim step, the army hopes to be able to divide the country into 27 districts by next year.
The idea behind the system is that if fewer people have to run for shelter every time a missile falls, the country will be better able to endure prolonged missile barrages, as most people will be able to continue with life as usual. In light of the army's assessment that any future war will include sustained missile attacks, bolstering Israelis' ability to live with such attacks was considered essential.
However, the system is designed mainly for use against medium- and long-range missiles, such as the Syrian Scud or the Iranian Shihab.
Until recently, Israel relied on a system that was developed during the 1991 Gulf War, which could predict a missile's landing site only in very general terms. A slightly more sophisticated system was improvised and put into use during the Second Lebanon War in 2006, but later, the IAF decided to develop a whole new system that would enable relatively precise predictions.
According to army sources, the new system will collect data from numerous sources, including both radar and electro-optic sensors. Inter alia, it will make use of the sophisticated American radar currently being installed in the Negev, which is slated to become operational next month. The data will then be analyzed to determine the missile's path and where it is likely to land, both in order to try to intercept it, and to warn those who will be in danger if the interception fails.
Meanwhile, the Home Front Command has also been working to upgrade its siren system, which warns of incoming missiles. It now says that almost 100 percent of the country is within audio range.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/17/2008 11:27 ||
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(AKI) - Attacking American and Israeli websites by hacking and sabotage is allowed under Islamic law and is a form of 'Jihad' or holy war, top Muslim scholars have decreed.
The religious edict (fatwa) issued by a committee from the highest authority in Sunni Islam, Egypt's Al-Azhar University in Cairo, was published on the website of the Islamist Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood movement on Thursday.
"This is considered a type of lawful Jihad that helps Islam by paralysing the information systems used by our enemies for their evil aims," said the fatwa. "This Jihad is not different from the armed one. In fact, it might be more important if you consider the global dimensions of the Internet. Whoever wins this war will become the strongest in the realm of information," the fatwa continued.
The Muslim Brotherhood praised the fatwa, which comes in response to dozens of questions from radicals asking to be allowed to destroy Israeli and United States websites.
Last week, the news website of Dubai-based Arabic TV network al-Arabiya was attacked by suspected Shia hackers, who posted a burning Israeli flag to the site.
Beneath the flag, a message in Arabic and English read: 'Serious Warning - if attacks on Shia websites continue, none of your websites will be safe.'
Posted by: Fred ||
10/17/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Time for another "accidental" cable cut in the southern Med.
Posted by: ed ||
10/17/2008 0:44 Comments ||
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If an islamic holey man sez it, it must be true. An Indonesian Islamic cleric linked to the three extremists awaiting execution for the Bali bombings said the 2002 attack which killed more than 200 people was the work of the CIA.
Abu Bakar Bashir told AFP the US intelligence agency had fired a nuclear missile at the Bali tourist strip from a ship off the coast. "It has been mentioned as being a micro-nuclear bomb, not a regular bomb... The bomb was made by the CIA, it could be no one else," he said in his house at the Al-Mukmin Islamic boarding school on Indonesia's Java island.
He said the attack was a conspiracy between "America, Australia and the Jews" and the three convicted bombers - Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Ali Ghufron - had been framed.
"The bomb Amrozi set off, the first one, at most it shattered glass and didn't wound people, or at most wounded them a little," he said, sitting on the floor and wearing the white robes and scull-cap of a religious man. Amrozi had been "used by the CIA in coordination with America, Australia and the Jews. The police and the prosecutors aren't brave enough to prove it."
The coordinated October 12, 2002, bomb attacks ripped through packed nightspots at the holiday island's main tourist strip and killed 202 people, mostly foreign visitors including 88 Australians.
Radical Islamist preacher Bashir, aged about 70, served almost 26 months for conspiracy over the attacks before being cleared and released.
Posted by: ed ||
10/17/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
...The same bomb we dropped on Iraq during the Gulf War, no doubt.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/17/2008 5:28 Comments ||
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#2
It's not the first time he's mentioned the micro-nuke, and funny thing is, IIRC last time he did I pointed to that (Christian) Conspiracy website; seems like even that bit was lifted from the western anti-NWO crowd (which would make for a great study by people interested in and savyy in detecting memetic warfare, from domestic & foreign players).
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.
In a bow to public outrage over a recent spate of U.S.-led airstrikes in Afghanistan that resulted in more than 100 civilian deaths, NATO officials have ordered commanders to try to lessen their reliance on air power in battles with insurgents, NATO and Afghan officials said Wednesday. 
(AKI) - Germany's lower house of parliament on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to increase by 1,000 the number of troops it can send to Afghanistan and extended the mission's mandate by 14 months.
A two-day meeting of the Pak-Afghan 'mini jirga' would be held on October 27 and 28 in Islamabad in which representatives from the two countries would exchange views on the on-going war on terror. Sources said the grand jirga had decided to institute a 'mini jirga' to meet regularly, but its meeting was delayed due to various issues. They said the forthcoming meeting was extremely important, as relations between Kabul and Islamabad have improved after the new government took over in Pakistan.
Gen. David H. Petraeus has launched a major reassessment of U.S. strategy for Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq and the surrounding region, while warning that the lack of development and the spiraling violence in Afghanistan will probably make it "the longest campaign of the long war." The 100-day assessment will result in a new campaign plan for the Middle East and Central Asia, a region in which Petraeus will oversee the operations of more than 200,000 American troops as the new head of U.S. Central Command, beginning Oct. 31. 
Somali Islamists say they will attack Kenya if it goes ahead with plans to train 10,000 government troops. "We will order all our holy warriors to start the jihadi war inside Kenya," said spokesman Sheikh Muktar Robow.
Blackwater Worldwide today announced that its 183 foot ship, the McArthur, stands ready to assist the shipping industry as it struggles with the increasing problem of piracy in the Gulf of Aden and elsewhere.
The trial of the alleged leader of a radical Islamist cell accused of plotting a series of killings and links to al-Qaeda has begun in Morocco. 
Fazlur Rehman, the chief of his own government-allied faction of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, criticised the government's counterterrorism efforts during Thursday's in-camera parliamentary sitting on national security -- coming out as a spokesman for Taliban.
In the auditorium at the Joint Staff College at Camp Rustumiya, Baghdad, 64 new Iraqi army officers gathered for their graduation ceremony. One by one they marched to the front, stamped to attention and received their new badges, as well as a gift-wrapped mobile telephone.
(AKI) - Attacking American and Israeli websites by hacking and sabotage is allowed under Islamic law and is a form of 'Jihad' or holy war, top Muslim scholars have decreed. 
An Indonesian Islamic cleric linked to the three extremists awaiting execution for the Bali bombings said the 2002 attack which killed more than 200 people was the work of the CIA.
