Feb. 2 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama has made clear he is counting on AmericaÂ’s NATO allies for greater military contributions in Afghanistan. He may be in for a disappointment.
No kidding. The Euros wouldn't pony up for Bush and they're sure not going to pony up for President Featherweight ...
Most European leaders have either ruled out sending more troops to buttress the fight against a resurgent Taliban, or talked about increases that number only in the hundreds.
In encountering such reluctance, the U.S. is paying a price for its past errors, says Anthony Cordesman, a military analyst at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies. “We asked NATO to join us in a peacemaking, post-conflict reconstruction effort when we hadn’t won the war, and let the insurgency grow to where it threatened to take over the country,” Cordesman says. “Now we’re dissatisfied because these countries that signed up for something different aren’t willing to bail us out of our own mistakes.”
CSIS is full of the usual progressive clap-trap. If everything was going well in Afghanistan the Euros still wouldn't help. We needed them to help in the south and east and, except for the British, Dutch and Danes, the Euros haven't and won't help. And, mostly, can't ...
With the U.S. preparing to deploy as many as 30,000 additional troops, the result is likely to be a growing Americanization of a military effort that was supposed to mark the North Atlantic Treaty OrganizationÂ’s first significant out- of-area operation.
The issue will be an early test of Obama’s international leadership. The new president highlighted the war in a Jan. 22 letter to alliance members, in which he said NATO “has much to be proud of, but also much work to do,” including “helping the people of Afghanistan build a better future.”
NATOÂ’s contributions to the Afghan effort will be spotlighted in a series of international meetings, starting later this week at the annual Munich Conference on Security Policy.
Munich -- always a great place to ask Euros to show a spine ...
The U.S. delegation in Germany will include Vice President Joe Biden; White House National Security Adviser James Jones; the new envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke; and Army General David Petraeus, the commander of all American forces in the Middle East and Central Asia. Jones, a retired Marine Corps general, is the former NATO supreme commander in Europe.
The discussion of Afghan strategy will continue at meetings of NATO defense ministers in Krakow, Poland, later this month and alliance foreign ministers in Brussels early next month. It will culminate in April at a summit of NATO heads of government in Strasbourg, France, marking the 60th anniversary of the alliance.
U.S. officials say they are hopeful that Obama’s international popularity will spring loose new troop contributions that European leaders were unwilling -- or politically unable -- to make during George W. Bush’s presidency. “My sense is, from some of the information and diplomatic comments and public comments that some leaders have made in Europe, that they are prepared to be asked and that they are prepared to do something,” Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Jan. 27. “In fact, there’s some indication that a few of our allies have been sitting on a capability so that they could give the new president something when he asks,” Gates said.
But recent statements by European leaders donÂ’t support such expectations.
Of course not. The Euros care nothing for Bambi's popularity -- something that's going to disappear anyway over the coming months. The larder is mostly empty. The Euros have their hands full with their own economies. And they simply don't believe in using their military, be it for 'peacekeeping' or anything else.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel signaled on Jan. 20 -- the day Obama was inaugurated -- that her government would resist a new troop commitment. “Nothing will change in the short term for Germany because we’ve really embraced our responsibilities in the past,” she said in an ARD television interview.
French Defense Minister Herve Morin -- whose country has the fourth largest contingent in Afghanistan behind the U.S., U.K. and Germany -- also ruled out more troops in a Jan. 21 interview with Europe1 Radio.
A British Defence Ministry spokesman said Jan. 30 that while the U.K. may bolster its Afghan force when its mission in Iraq ends later this year, it wonÂ’t be a one-for-one swap. That means the increase in Afghanistan will be less than the 4,000 to be pulled out of Iraq.
The U.K. has 8,910 troops in Afghanistan, Germany 3,405 and France 2,890, according to NATO. Italy, which has 2,350 troops in the country, according to NATO, agreed last month to add 300 and isnÂ’t planning any additional increases. Poland is considering increasing its presence to 2,000 from its current 1,600. A substantial NATO troop contributor outside Europe is Canada, which has more than 2,500 soldiers in Afghanistan.
Christine Fair, an analyst at the RAND Corp. policy- research organization in Arlington, Virginia, said there is “debate among German military officials that they could do more -- and they could. But they don’t call those shots. I don’t see in European capitals any desire to increase their exposure in Afghanistan.”
Correct: no desire, no money, no manpower, and no logistics.
Meanwhile, the U.S. has 23,220 in the NATO force, according to the alliance, and about 36,000 troops in Afghanistan altogether, according to the Pentagon.
While the new administration is in the midst of a strategy review and hasnÂ’t made any final decisions about Afghanistan, Admiral Michael Mullen said in a Jan. 29 interview that close to 30,000 additional U.S. forces will likely go to Afghanistan over the course of 2009. Mullen is chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and ObamaÂ’s most senior uniformed military adviser. If that level of reinforcements comes to pass, the current ratio of U.S.-to-European forces in Afghanistan, about 1 to 1, will grow to 2 to 1. And because some NATO members, such as Germany, wonÂ’t allow their troops to be deployed in areas where combat is most intense, the U.S. will carry the military burden to an even greater degree than the numbers indicate.
The upshot may be a slow-motion reversal of the decision during the Bush administration to let NATO take over responsibility for security in Afghanistan as the U.S. became increasingly preoccupied with Iraq.
Still, as Gates indicated in his Senate testimony, there are ways apart from adding combat troops for NATO members to contribute. One, he said, would be for countries to lift restrictions on how their forces can be deployed. Another would be to send civilian specialists in economic development, governance and drug control. Yet another would be to help meet the estimated $17 billion cost of expanding Afghan security forces.
For example, Merkel may be willing to send police trainers to Afghanistan, even if she isnÂ’t prepared to deploy more troops in an election year, says Karl-Heinz Kamp, director of research at the NATO Defense College in Rome. German national elections are scheduled for September.
Such initiatives may provide an opportunity for crafting a face-saving compromise, says Shada Islam, an analyst at the European Policy Centre in Brussels. “Nobody wants the NATO summit in Strasbourg in April to turn into a shouting match,” Islam says. “So these are the kinds of things that are being considered and may be announced there.”
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/02/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Cordesman's clap-trap is entirely correct. The Euros can hardly help themselves. Oh wait, that's precisely what we were asking them to do! Hat tip to the Obama geopolitical analysis cell. Your grade on this paper came back a D- but you're still in the game.
#3
Wow, seems Tony 1,000 Annexes And Charts Cordesman has really gone off the shallow end here.
Our "mistakes"? Right, Tony. Those savvy, responsible, capable, experienced Euros just won't involve themselves with those bumbling Americans and all their mistakes.
Steve has it right. The failures of most Euros (moral, material, intellectual) here are exactly the same as in all other areas of international security - there is no question of them altering their behavior due to perceived "mistakes". Cordesman is trying to sound like an idiot just to fit in with the current (and not brand-new) Beltway fashion, or what?
#4
It aint over till the fat lady sings. The Euros arent going to roll for Obama after the first hints from staffers. He is going to have to USE his political capital. And hes going to have to decide what he wants to use his euro-specific political capital FOR = help on taking gitmo dwellers, troops in afghanistan, spine on Iran, cover for protectionist stuff from congress, whatever.
#5
He is going to have to USE his political capital.
WHAT political capital?
There is nothing for Bambi to use to try to get the EU to do what he wants. If there was, Bush would have used it already. There are no leverage points, there is nothing we can do except plead. And the only result that will bring is more EU scorn for the US.
Oh we could do a financial tit-for-tat, but when it comes down to it, it will cost more both in money and political points to the EU politicians to bow to US pressure. Simply put, it ain't worth their time or political jobs to help out the US.
We have a better chance getting Chinese troops to help out than NATO.
#7
LH, your fantasy that Obama will have any influence in Europe at all is just that - fantasy. Watch how Le Monde responds when he pushes them to do anything they didn't already want to do, if you don't believe me.
#8
The Obama's appeal to Europe is that He is the anti-Bush, all Kumbaya and Ain't Gonna Study War No More. Once he asks them to go and fight terrorists, the honeymoon is over.
A Greater Manchester couple accused of publishing a leaflet encouraging terrorism are to go on trial.
Amjad Mahmood, 29, and his wife Shella Roma, 28, are accused of circulating a document telling others to go abroad to fight a jihad or holy war. They allegedly designed and printed the pamphlets and distributed them outside a mosque in Oldham. The couple, who have a baby, face a joint charge of dissemination of terrorist publications between October 2007 and January 2008.
The couple, of Chester Street, Oldham, deny the charge, brought under Section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006. They are on bail. The trial is due to begin at Manchester Crown Court.
Posted by: ryuge ||
02/02/2009 06:14 ||
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North Korea warned Sunday that South Korea's confrontational policies may trigger a war on the divided peninsula, a message coming two days after the communist country vowed to abandon all peace agreements with its southern neighbor.
Relations between the two Koreas have been strained since conservative President Lee Myung-bak took office nearly a year ago in Seoul, pledging to take a harder line on the North. Tension heightened Friday when the North said it was ditching a nonaggression pact and all other peace accords with South Korea.
The tension may lead to "an unavoidable military conflict and a war," North Korea's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary carried Sunday by the country's official Korean Central News Agency.
"The policy of confrontation" by the South Korean government is "the very source of military conflicts and war" between the Koreas, it said.
The North has accused Lee's government of preparing to stage a war, which South Korea denies. Earlier this month, the North's military declared it adopted an "all-out confrontational posture" to defeat any southern aggression.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
They sense a week US President who would not stand behind South Korea at a time when the US is going to begin gutting the military financially.
#3
NK has two powerful weapons - bluffing and the fact that SK is scared that they may have to absorb NK after a war, a la, West Germany's absorptin of East Germany.They may be enough to get SKJ to back off for awhile.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
02/02/2009 7:57 Comments ||
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#4
How would the Nkor's sustain an offensive that would bog down almost immediately in a orgy of looting and eating?
#5
Bomb them with twinkies and watch the desertion rate go past 90%.
Seriously, all the South needs to do is to hold fast for a month. There's no food, no fuel, and only the uniforms on the soldiers' backs. What reserves they have would be exhausted within a month, and they'd be nothing but a force in being, ready to be picked off.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/02/2009 10:39 Comments ||
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#6
dunno, OP. That could be a mistake, Twinkies make you crazy and vicious__ at least that's what Dan White said after he capped Moscone and Milk. Missed Feinstein though.....
Posted by: Andy Whaiger9218 ||
02/02/2009 12:14 Comments ||
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#7
The US and China should sign some kinda treaty promising too stay out of it and let em get it on. I know i'm not the only one tired of hearing this shit
#12
FREEREPUBLIC/TOPIX > BREAKING: NORTH KOREA PREPARING FOR BALLISTIC MISSLE [Test?] LAUNCH [ ALASKA = FORT GREELY BMD Base, GET READY FOR INCOMING]??? "Object" believed to be a TAIPONGDONG-2 - PROB A TEST LAUNCH BUT NOT YET CONFIRMED.
* ION NOKOR, WORLD MIL FORUM [paraph = GOOGLE Chinglish translation] > KORAN MEDIAS: NEW OBAMA ADMINISTRATION FAVORS CHINA, JAPAN OVER KOREAN PENINSULA [ SOKOR/Pan-KOREAN ISSUES]???
SAME > ASIA REDRAWN: MOST LIKELY NEW ASIA ORDER SCENARIOS -
To wit,
* CLOSER US-JAPAN COOPER = MILPOLECON BI-NATION ALLIANCE? POLITICAL UNIFICATION [Future US State in ASIA???
* CHINA-TAIWAN UNIFICATION [including CHIN-CONTROL OF NORTH KOREA?
* ISOLATED SOVEREIGN SOUTH KOREA?
* ISOLATED SOVEREIGN RUSSIA, or in the ALTERN LOSS OF RUSS FAR EAST = SIBERIA, ETC. BY A WEAK RUSS TO CHINA???
A CIA official on Monday warned that the US intelligence agency had received indications al Qaeda was planning to launch terrorist attacks in Germany with the aim of influencing the country's general election this autumn.
The anonymous official from the Central Intelligence Agency told German news agency DDP that Washington’s intermediaries in Pakistan had supplied information on German Muslims plotting to return from training camps in northwestern Pakistan just a few weeks before the parliamentary election in September to prepare attacks on “high-ranking targets” in Germany. The official said it is highly likely the attacks would be carried out by suicide bombers, who could move unnoticed among society. Al Qaeda wants to use "massive violence" to influence the German voters to push the next government to withdraw German troops from Afghanistan.
Referring to concerns recently mentioned by German security services about the increasing number of threats directed at Germany, the official said US intelligence agencies believe that al Qaeda could be planning an attack in Germany “along the lines of the attacks in Spain” in 2004. The danger in Germany, unlike Spain, is that a considerable number of Muslim terrorists are living there covertly – some of them Germans who have converted to Islam. These people offer considerable support to those returning from training camps. “We know from our German colleagues how difficult it is to detect Islamist terrorists with a German background and who even look German,” explained the CIA official.
Bekkay Harrach, a German with Moroccan roots who is reportedly the head of strategy for al Qaeda, has threatened attacks in Berlin, Cologne and Bremen shortly before the elections on 27th September if Germany does not withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.
Amid growing terrorist threats against Germany, the police union GdP warned on Monday of poor security across the country. “The situation is very serious,” GdP head Konrad Freiberg told the Dortmund paper. “Everyone is talking about bailouts for banks and companies. We finally need a functioning protective shield against terrorism,” he said. Since September 11, 2001, some 10,000 more police posts have been filled in Germany, but it is still not enough, he said. “We are not at all in the position to conduct around the clock surveillance on the so-called 'threats,' a group of some 60 to 100 people,” Freiburg told the paper. “We don’t have the personnel.”
But Germany, as the third largest contributor of troops to Afghanistan, is a major target, he said. “The terrorism danger is there, but not ubiquitous,” he said. “As long as nothing happens, awareness of the problem is missing.”
#1
Awww. What happened to the fruits of popularity and vigorous diplomacy of the empty suit president? No magic protection from idiot jihadists? I'm stunned.
Still unlikely I'd read beyond the headline if any Euro country were hit with a mass-casualty attack. I would look for hilarious gymnastics from the idiots now passing as journalists and pundits and analysts, however, between bicycle and handgun shopping errands.
#3
Report: Barack Obama's Al Qaida initiative began months before his election Barack Obama was working with Arab intermediaries to establish an unofficial dialogue with Al Qaida long before his election as the 44th U.S. president, according to a report in the upcoming weekly edition of Geostrategy-Direct.com.
Al Qaida has offered what has been described as a truce in exchange for a U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, according to the report.
Obama has deemed the U.S. reconciliation with the Muslim world, including Iran, as his main foreign policy goal, sources quoted in the report said. The president has been aided by several Persian Gulf Arab Muslims with ties to Al Qaida's leadership in Pakistan, they said.
On his first day in office, Obama ordered the shutdown of the U.S. Navy prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which where 245 suspected Al Qaida members are detained.
Posted by: ed ||
02/02/2009 12:49 Comments ||
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#4
Yes, he pretty much lied when this was raised during the election, didn't he Ed?
A deafening silence from the left on such things, of course.
#6
The terrorists had better watch out. The German police have no tolerance for terrorists committing unlicensed acts of terrorism. There are rules for everything in Germany.
Terrorists who break the rules probably wake up with their head surgically attached to the body of a pig.
Lucas Oil Stadium became a sea of camouflage this afternoon as Indiana National Guard soldiers paraded around the floor waving to their family and friends in the stands.
"Because of you and men and women like you, you have made the world a better place," said Linton Mayor Tom Jones, representing all mayors in Indiana. "Your communities felt pride while you were in Iraq, but couldn't wait for your homecoming. Thank you for a job well done."
The celebration, free and open to the public, honored those soldiers who returned from service overseas in 2008. The two-hour event began with a parade of soldiers on the floor of the stadium, and continued with speeches, a tribute to fallen and wounded soldiers and a short concert.
"We just want this to be fun and festive to give the community a chance to say thank you to the troops, and the troops to show their appreciation back," said Sgt. Maj. Jodie Newby.
Most of the Indiana soldiers left in January 2008 in one of the biggest deployments for any state in the nation last year. Those soldiers began returning gradually to the United States around Thanksgiving, Newby said.
"This is all kind of surreal to me because this stadium wasn't even here when we left," said Sgt. 1st Class Ross Williams Sr., while standing on the floor of Lucas Oil Stadium prior to today's event. "It is a great feeling to know people are going to come out and show their appreciation.
"It means an awful lot."
Thank you, each and every one of you.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/02/2009 00:01 ||
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I'm very proud of my fellow Hoosiers. Welcome home.
Carrying heavy combat loads is taking a quiet but serious toll on troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, contributing to injuries that are sidelining them in growing numbers, according to senior military and defense officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2009 00:00 ||
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It's a problem older than you can imagine. Once you get over 35 lbs, it starts to wear down the body if done for sustained periods. Equipment may come and go, but no one has engineered new knees, ankles, or feet in several hundred thousand years.
#2
I read the "combat load and the mobility of the soldier" as a new 2ndLt many moons ago. Basically said the same things 35-40 lbs for the avg male is a good max wt to put on them. Most people don't have the frames for anything more. I was fortunate having lifted lots of weights and playing football growing up to have decent lower body and core strength. Females got it even worse due to the difference in pelvic girdle and bone density. They get far more lower leg injuries and hip problems then the males due to the weight of the gear.
#3
I'm sorry I mis-remembered it, P2K has it on his link thingy. "Soldiers load and the Mobility of a Nation." That was it. I read it at 29 Palms about a decade ago during a combined arms exercise. I remember giggling sarcastically to myself while reading this book while perched on my 80lb mountain ruck sack.
#4
Females got it even worse due to the difference in pelvic girdle and bone density. They get far more lower leg injuries and hip problems then the males due to the weight of the gear.
Wimin hating, sexist male trash talk! More of these factoids and it will be the Bidet Trap for YOU!
#5
"Individual Marine combat loads -- including protective gear, weapons, ammunition, water, food and communications gear -- range from 97 to 135 pounds, well over the recommended 50 pounds.
In Afghanistan, soldiers routinely carry loads of 130 to 150 pounds for three-day missions"
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
02/02/2009 14:14 Comments ||
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#6
An interesting zinger is that those "always experimental" exoskeleton soldier suits make no sense in using traditional materials like thick aluminum bars. However, we now have incredibly strong advanced materials that are just the fraction of the size and weight.
Why nobody has put two and two together just mystifies. Of course, the biggest obstacle are the hybrid power supplies. Most likely these will be a blend of advanced capacitor, fuel cell, hydrogen peroxide piston, battery, and who knows what all else.
#7
Why nobody has put two and two together just mystifies.
That's probably because you aren't aware of research in just those areas that has been funded by the Army for the last several years.
As early as 2001 the Army had concept videos that included suits that not only could provide some emergency exoskeleton support to a wounded soldier but could also monitor blood pressure, apply emergency pressure to staunch bleeding etc.
OTOH, suits that are primarily aimed at carrying gear aren't necessarily the right solution. That's one reason that the Army has developed prototype ground robots to serve as pack mules for solders. The mature ones are tracked, but DOD has also funded major work in robots with articulated legs that could carry loads in e.g. mountainous terrain. Google Big Dog for one example from a few years ago.
Noise and power generation are the main bottlenecks now before those can be put into serious testing.
Pakistan People's Party-Sherpao (PPP-S) Chairman Aftab Sherpao on Sunday demanded immediate implementation of the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation in Malakand to improve law and order in the area.
Sherpao said a year had passed since the army operation began in Swat but failed to solve the problem and was not effective.
"The army and the civil administration have both failed to achieve success to date in the troubled areas," said the PPP-S chief while addressing a press conference. Sherpao said the lawlessness had been limited to Matta tehsil consisting of 13 union councils. "Now, it has spread to Swat district consisting of 52 union councils and other districts and the situation is getting from bad to worse," he said.
The PPP-S chairman said the provincial government reached a peace agreement with the Swat Taliban in haste but could not implement it as the government had a non-serious approach and wanted to gain political mileage out of the peace accord.
He said it seemed the federal and provincial governments had no strategy on how to handle the Swat problem and the people had lost confidence in them.
The former chief minister and federal minister said the civil administration should return to the troubled areas and the governor, the chief minister, ministers and public representatives should visit Swat and other affected areas to restore the people's confidence.
Sherpao said at a meeting held before the press conference, his party decided to form a committee to contact all political parties to hold a joint conference to find a solution to the Swat issue.
The PPP-S chairman proposed formation of an independent body to assess 'collateral damage' in Swat, adding that the affected families should be compensated through a special fund.
Loan: The PPP-S chairman demanded the federal government waive the NWFP loans as it did in Balochistan's case. He called on the federal government to focus on the NWFP security problem on priority and not limit it to the closed-door meetings. He said statements by the president and the prime minister on the continuing drones strikes in the Tribal Areas showed the government was incompetent and its foreign policy flawed.
He said if the government had any agreement on US drone strikes it should be made public, adding that summoning the US ambassador to protest the attacks would not solve the problem. He said his party would not demand mid-term elections, but added if the government felt it had failed in solving the crisis it should itself announce the polls. PPP-S Central Secretary General Senator Aneesa Zeb and other central working committee members from NWFP were also present.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
So we're not the only one with a fifth column in our government.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/02/2009 10:47 Comments ||
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Pakistan's prime minister promised a quick solution to the brutal insurgency in the country's former tourism haven Sunday, even as hundreds of residents fled toward newly opened relief camps.
Carrying the sick and elderly on their backs, residents of the Swat Valley hurried from fighting that left at least 16 suspected militants, one soldier and 19 civilians dead.
Residents say militants now control most of the northwestern valley, despite an army operation that began more than a year ago.
They valley is less than 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the Pakistani capital and lies outside the tribal regions along the Afghan border where the Taliban and al-Qaida have long had strongholds. Militant gains in recent months have prompted worries that the violence will spread to other parts of Pakistan -- and that the government lacks the power to stop it.
The military recently vowed to increase its efforts in the valley, where Taliban fighters have set up Islamic courts, destroyed scores of girls' schools and used beheadings to terrorize the population.
The premier tried to dispel fears. "As far as Swat, we have the ability and will to bring peace there," Yousuf Raza Gilani told reporters. "We are all concerned about the life and property of the people. We are also concerned about those who are migrating."
Military action is not the only solution, he said _ an indication that negotiations may still be an option despite a failed peace deal.
Security officials have blamed the mid-2008 peace deal with the Swat Taliban for the current chaos, saying the pause let the insurgents regroup. The U.S. has criticized Pakistani government attempts to strike deals with militants for the same reason.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2009 00:00 ||
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Pakistan plans on prosecuting a group of as many as 125 militants connected to last year's terror attacks on the Indian port city of Mumbai. I'll believe they're serious when Omar Saeed Sheikh is dead.
"The group, which includes anyone who made any suspicious contacts inside India as the attacks began, will be charged under the country's cyber crimes laws because suspects used Internet phones to communicate," ABC News quoted a senior Pakistani intelligence official as saying on the condition of anonymity.
The official added that Pakistani investigators have completed their probe into the alleged links between some of the 125 militants following November terror raids on the Indian financial hub.
The developments come after, India on January 5 provided Pakistan with data from satellite phones used by the attackers as well as what it describes as the 'confessions of a sole surviving gunman', who participated in the attacks.
Pakistan's Interior Ministry Chief Rehman Malik announced on January 17 that the dossier was being seriously examined and the initial probe would be completed within 10 days, a deadline that has passed.
Malik, however, held a meeting on January 27 to review the investigation progress. Following the meeting the deadline was extended by two days.
New Delhi expects Islamabad to officially share the outcome of its investigations with India through diplomatic channels rather than announcing it through the media.
"We assure India if somebody is found guilty, we'll proceed according to our own laws of Pakistan," Prime Minsiter Yousuf Gilani said on Sunday.
Washington, New Delhi, and London hold Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a Pakistan-based militant group responsible for the Mumbai attacks - in which 179 people were killed, including nine militants.
Indian authorities are frustrated at what they see as Islamabad's slow response in arresting and prosecuting those allegedly involved in the case.
Islamabad has been angered by Indian claims that Pakistani state agencies were engaged in the incident as well as India's repeated hints at a military option against Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2009 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON (AFP) — President Barack Obama said that the United States is in a position to place more responsibility in the hands of the Iraqis following provincial elections and a reduction in violence there.
As he works to nudge George Bush away from the credit ...
"In conversations that I've had with the joint chiefs, with people, the commanders on the ground, I think that we have a sense now that the Iraqis just had a very significant election, with no significant violence there, that we are in a position to start putting more responsibility on the Iraqis," Obama told NBC television. "And that's good news for not only the troops in the field but their families who are carrying an enormous burden."
Asked about his campaign promise to end the Iraq war and bring combat troops home within 16 months, and whether he could "say that a substantial number of them will be home in time for next Super Bowl Sunday," Obama replied: "Yes."
"We're going to roll out in a very formal fashion what our intentions are in Iraq as well as Afghanistan," he added in the interview which aired just before the start of the Super Bowl.
Obama on Saturday praised the elections as an "important step forward" after millions of Iraqis went to the polls to elect councils in 14 or Iraq's 18 provinces. Saturday's election is seen as a key test of Iraq's steadily improving security and political system as Obama seeks a withdrawal from the country in order to shift more troops to Afghanistan.
Last year, Obama put forward a 16-month timetable for the withdrawal of US combat troops, but he has not restated that commitment since taking office on January 20, when he said the United States would "begin to responsibly leave Iraq."
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/02/2009 00:00 ||
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#3
Well then you, for one, LH, don't understand much about politics or policy. Or the lightweights and worse now in charge. They won't initiate needed policies, they won't sustain them against unwarranted opposition, and by flip-flopping on all sorts of crucial matters without paying a price they confirm the robustness of the orwellian inversion of information that brought them to power.
We're talking here about their need to instantly jettison ridiculous positions that materially damaged the national interest for years - because of their fear of something going wrong. Being "politically correct" is to be mindless and misinformed, not to mention obsessively self-righteous in embrace of the accepted bigotries. You welcome what is a temporary and superficial boost to the atmospherics, when the threat to the substance is undiminished, and will only grow so long as facts are not faced honestly.
#4
LH, it'll be difficult to credit the mirrorball until he and his minions cut out the prefatory throat-clearings about the evils of the prior administration. Like Cordesman's crap today about Afghanistan, it seems as if they can't address policy questions any more without a ritual denunciation of prior practice - even if the policy to be mooted is just a continuation of the prior policy.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/02/2009 13:04 Comments ||
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Aswat al-Iraq: Basra's Khour al-Zubeir port on Sunday received two ships with varied cargo, according to the Iraqi ports department's relations & information chief. "Today, Khour al-Zubeir port received two ships from Liberia and Freetown carrying varied cargo," Abdelkareem al-Basri told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Um, why is this news? Is this the *first* dockings at newly-renovated or newly-opened port facilities or something? Because that article doesn't say so, and it would seem that would be something that should be explained if it were the case.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/02/2009 13:06 Comments ||
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The biggest Shiite party in Iraq once appeared to hold all the political sway: control of the heartland, the backing of influential clerics and a foot in the government with ambitions to take full control.
But the days of wide-open horizons could be soon ending for the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, and replaced by important shifts that could be welcomed in Washington and scorned in Tehran.
The signs began to take shape Sunday with hints of the voter mood from provincial elections. The broad message _ built on Iraqi media projections and postelection interviews _ was that the eventual results would punish religious-leaning factions such as the Supreme Council that are blamed for stoking sectarian violence, and reward secular parties seen capable of holding Iraq's relative calm.
The outcome of the provincial races will not directly effect Iraq's national policies or its balance between Washington's global power and Iran's regional muscle. But Shiite political trends are critically important in Iraq, where majority Shiites now hold sway after the fall of Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime.
"There is a backlash from Iraqis against sectarian and religious politics," said Mustafa al-Ani, an Iraqi political analyst based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Although official results from Saturday's provincial elections are likely still days away, the early outlines are humbling for The Supreme Council. The group had been considered a linchpin in Iraqi politics as a junior partner in the government that had near seamless political control in the Shiite south.
Some forecasts point to widespread losses for the party across the main Shiite provinces. The blows could include embarrassing stumbles in the key city of Basra and the spiritual center of Najaf _ hailed as the future capital in the Supreme Council's dreams for an autonomous Shiite enclave. In their place, the big election winners appear to be allies of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, according to projections and interviews with political figures who spoke on condition of anonymity because official results are not posted.
It's a vivid lesson in Iraq's fluid politics.
A year ago, al-Maliki looked to be sinking. Shiite militiamen ruled cities such as Basra and parts of Baghdad and rockets were pouring into the protected Green Zone, which includes the U.S. Embassy and Iraq's parliament.
Al-Maliki _ with apparent little advance coordination with the U.S. military _ struck back. An offensive broke the militia control in Basra and elsewhere in the south. His reputation turned around. And many voters appeared happy to reward his political backers in the elections for seats on provincial councils, which carry significant clout with authority over local business contracts, jobs and local security forces.
"Al-Maliki ended the militiamen's reign of terror," said Faisal Hamadi, 58, after voting in Basra. "For this he deserves our vote."
The Supreme Council, meanwhile, appeared to stagger under the weight of negative baggage. It was accused of failing to deliver improvements to public services in the south. Also, its deep ties to Iran began to rub against Iraqis' nationalist sentiments.
The Supreme Council's leader, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, spent decades in Iran during Saddam's rule and was allowed an office-villa in downtown Tehran. After Saddam's fall, the Supreme Council was Iran's main political conduit into Iraq even though the group also developed ties with Washington.
Iran now could face limits on its influence in the south with the Supreme Council forced into a coalition or second-tier status _ and also confront resistance from a stronger al-Maliki government seeking to curb Tehran's inroads.
A Supreme Council lawmaker, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, acknowledged the election mood was against them. "We controlled most provinces in the south, so we were blamed for whatever went wrong there," he said. "The elections gave us an indication of what will happen in the general election late this year," said the analyst al-Ani. "Those who lost in this election have nearly a year to learn their lesson and change their strategy. They know now where the Iraqis stand."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2009 00:00 ||
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Um, last time I checked, al-Maliki is the banner-carrier for a religious Shi'ite party with roots, funding, and a Hussein-era period of exile in Iran. Or is Da'wah now claiming to be secularized? They haven't dropped the name yet ("the Call", a Muslim term of art) and it's called "the Islamic Dawa Party" on al-Maliki's Wiki entry.
Way to toe the party line, dude. But since Da'wah's largely fielded the official armed forces as their "militia", I suppose this particular line of propaganda isn't entirely pernicious. But really, try to garnish the press release with a *little* independent research. I'm a moron on the internet, and I can do better with ten minutes thought, Google & a Wikipedia entry.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/02/2009 13:23 Comments ||
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THE prosecutor of the International Criminal Court was conducting a "preliminary analysis" of alleged crimes committed by Israelis during the recent offensive in the Gaza Strip, his office said today.
Any chance they'll investigate how all the Fatah boys got whacked?
Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has received communications on this issue from Palestinian justice minister Ali Kashan, the Palestinian National Authority, and more than 200 other individuals and non-governmental bodies, his office said. "The office of the prosecutor will carefully examine all relevant issues, including on jurisdiction."
"The preliminary analysis conducted by the office of the prosecutor is not indicative that an investigation will be opened."
Mr Moreno-Ocampo's office said he had met Mr Kashan in The Hague on January 22, when "they discussed allegations of crimes committed in Gaza".
The same day, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) lodged a declaration with the ICC registrar, recognising the court's jurisdiction over the alleged crimes, the nature of which the prosecutor's office did not divulge. It also did not say which Israeli individuals have been fingered.
Mr Moreno-Ocampo's office has to date insisted the ICC - which started work in 2002 as the world's first permanent tribunal on war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide - had no competence over the Gaza situation. The court can try an individual if the alleged crime was committed on the territory of, or by a national of, a signatory to the Rome Statute which created the court, or if requested by a state party - which Israel is not.
The prosecutor can also start an investigation into the Gaza situation at the request of the United Nations security council, or if a non-party state accepts the court's jurisdiction - the road the PNA has now sought to take. But the Palestinian territories are not recognised as an independent state.
A high-level delegation from Hamas arrived in Tehran early on Sunday as part of a regional push to reinforce support for the Palestinian group after the Israeli invasion of Gaza, a Hamas official said. The delegation, headed by Hamas leader Khalid Mesha'al, will meet Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Izzat Al Rishq told Reuters by telephone from Tehran.
Hamas was in close contact with Iran, its main backer along with Syria, during the 22-day Israeli offensive against Gaza, which was halted last month, with the two sides declaring separate ceasefires.
Hamas views the war as resulting in regional diplomatic gains for the group, with Turkey criticising Israel and Qatar convening a high profile meeting with the participation of Hamas that supported Hamas's objectives.
Mesha'al visited Qatar last week. Five other Hamas politburo members are accompanying Meshaal on the visit to Tehran.
Hamas said it would intensify its post-war diplomatic efforts to lift the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip, imposed with the help of Egypt. The group has kept a line open with Cairo, which is mediating a deal for a more solid truce that tries to meet Israel's demands for stopping arms flows into Gaza and Hamas's demands for lifting the blockade.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2009 00:00 ||
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Hamas has accepted an Egyptian proposal for a year-long truce with Israel in Gaza starting on Thursday, Al-Arabiya TV Sunday quoted sources in the Islamist militant group as saying.
A Hamas delegation is expected to arrive in Cairo on Monday in order to give the group's final answer to the initiative.
The official spokesman for Egypt's foreign ministry, Hossam Zaki, refused to confirm or deny the report on the Dubai-based Arabic satellite television station.
According to the report, Hamas has agreed to the deployment along Gaza's border crossings of forces under the control of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the rival Fatah movement. The deal stipulates that the PA forces will coordinate their activities with Hamas.
Hamas' acceptance of the deal apparently led Abbas to cancel a trip to the Czech Republic and travel to Cairo instead.
Al-Arabiya reported that while in Egypt, Abbas discussed mechanisms that would enable the Gaza-Egypt border crossing at Rafah to be opened on Thursday, in parallel with an announcement by Hamas of the year-long truce in Gaza.
Israel, according to the report, has agreed not to interfere in the running of the Egypt-Gaza border crossing.
Meanwhile, Palestinian militants fired at least four Qassam rockets and four mortar shells from the Gaza Strip into the western Negev on Sunday, with one rocket hitting between two kindergartens.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
See also FREEREPUBLIC > TURKEY MAY BE THE NEXT IRAN?
#2
#1 See also FREEREPUBLIC > TURKEY MAY BE THE NEXT IRAN? Posted by: JosephMendiola
I don't think so, Joe. I'm pretty sure that Erdogan has overplayed his hand, and the military is about ready to dump him - hard. It's the MILITARY, not the politicians, that have kept Turkey secular for the last 40 or so years, and they're not going to give up that authority without a fight.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/02/2009 11:00 Comments ||
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#4
The Koran says that truces started on days that end in 'y' are invalid.
Posted by: Bob ||
02/02/2009 15:39 Comments ||
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#5
If Hamas agrees without strings to PA control of Rafah and other crossings it will be major blow to their prestige (since they have stated many times that they wouldn't do this) and also something of a blow to their budget (because of a loss of some extortion leverage).
However, I still think this deal will likely fail this week because of the Hamas demands for 'no arresting our guys in the West Bank; no fair returning fire when the PLF sends mortars over the border; no fair stopping any merchandise that gets to the crossing, etc.
Military Intelligence Chief Amos Yadlin said Sunday that while Israel's offensive on the Gaza Strip had indeed deterred Hamas, other radical groups in the coastal territory were still looking to escalate hostilities. Local Hamas is deterred, kinda sorta maybe. Its Beirut/Damascus leadership, which didn't take any casualties and didn't miss any meals, isn't. Hamas' owners in Teheran are even less deterred. The usual practice has been to have Hamas (or which ever other organization's signed the paper) adhere to its letter most of the time, while all the other groups that ostentatiously didn't sign continue with business as usual.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2009 00:00 ||
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The acting Palestinian authority chief blames Hamas for putting Gazan lives in danger, a day before Palestinian groups discuss a Gaza ceasefire in Cairo.
Mahmoud Abbas lashed out at Hamas saying the resistance group has taken risks with the 'blood of Palestinians, with their fate, and dreams and aspirations for the independent Palestinian state'.
Talking to the press in Cairo on Sunday, Abbas also blamed Hamas of trying to destroy the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). He also rejected dialogue with any group 'which does not recognize the PLO'.
Abbas claimed that "today Hamas emerges upon us with a destructive project, which we have heard before ... and which has went to the rubbish bin of history", AFP quoted him as saying.
Abbas ruled out dialogue with Hamas unless it recognizes the supremacy of the PLO, saying, "They must admit without equivocation or ambiguity that the organization is the sole and only representative of the Palestinian people. Then there will be dialogue."
Abbas was responding to last week's statement by the head of the Hamas politburo, Khaled Mashaal, from exile in Damascus, that the PLO had become obsolete and that Palestinians need a 'new, national authority.'
PLO was founded by Egypt in 1964 and Fatah took over it in 1968.
Abbas is scheduled to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Monday before Palestinian groups, who have gathered in Cairo, begin Gaza ceasefire talks.
Egypt has been mediating a truce after Hamas and Israel announced ceasefires on January 18, ending Israel's devastating 22-day war on the Gaza Strip that killed more than 1,330 Palestinians and injured over 5,400 Gazans, mostly civilians.
A Hamas delegation was due to arrive in Cairo on Monday, to join another delegation already in the country, a Hamas official said. An advisor to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, Ahmed Yusef, who heads the Hamas government in Gaza City, told AFP that the group was awaiting Israel's response to the Egyptian truce proposal.
"We can speak with details about the truce after our delegation examines the Israeli response," Ahmed Yusef said, adding that Hamas expected the response by Monday.
Hamas says that Abbas is desperate to maintain his hold on power, although his legal term as president is over, and has chosen to forgo national unity and is relying on support from the US and Israel to tighten his hold on the West Bank and target Gaza.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2009 00:00 ||
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Hamas political leader Khalid Mashaal says the movement is determined to remain armed as long as the Israeli occupation continues.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in Tehran, Mashaal ruled out the possibility of a "permanent ceasefire" with Israel, unless Tel Aviv ends its 19-month-long blockade of the Gaza Strip.
"While the occupation continues, a permanent ceasefire has no meaning," said the Hamas official who arrived in Iran earlier on Sunday. He is scheduled to deliver a speech at Tehran University on Monday.
"We believe that as long as the blockade continues, the (Israeli) aggression will also continue," he added.
Israel has enforced a blockade on the coastal enclave since Hamas took power in Gaza in mid-June 2007. Despite international calls for lifting the imposed siege on over 1.5 million residents of the strip, Israel continues the blockade while threatening a new war on the region.
Earlier in the day, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert threatened Gaza with another 'disproportionate' war after a 23-day-long offensive on the region killed almost 1,400 Palestinians, including women and children.
Israel launched the three-week offensive in a bid to prevent the democratically-elected government of Hamas from arming its fighters. Tel Aviv, however, failed to achieve the objective as the movement resumed rearmament as soon as Israel halted the onslaught on January 18, announcing a unilateral ceasefire.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2009 00:00 ||
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India's large Tamil population is demanding that New Delhi ensure the safety of 250,000 of their brethren boxed into the battle zone in Sri Lanka's north. Protesters have poured into the streets in Tamil Nadu state, home to 62 million Indian Tamils, in the past week to call for a ceasefire in the conflict and assurances about the safety of their fellow Tamils in the island nation.
"Our prime concern is the safety of the Tamils" in Sri Lanka, said K Anbazhagan, a senior leader of Tamil Nadu's ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK) party and state finance minister. The DMK has been spearheading the campaign to ensure the estimated 250,000 Tamil civilians trapped in the war zone are protected and is pushing for a ceasefire.
It was at the party's insistence that Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee rushed to Colombo last week to seek safety guarantees for the Tamils. "Mukherjee's trip was a first step but New Delhi must do more to bring about sustained peace for the Tamil people" and end the hostilities, DMK Chief Minister M Karunanidhi said in Chennai, Tamil Nadu's capital. The regional opposition All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) party has joined ranks with the DMK and other pro-Tamil regional groups to back the cause of the trapped civilians. "All of us want this war to come to an end," said Tamil Nadu's Congress chief Peter Alphonse. An Indian Tamil man committed suicide in Chennai Thursday to protest against civilian casualties in Sri Lanka by pouring petrol on his clothes and setting himself ablaze after distributing anti-war pamphlets, police said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2009 00:00 ||
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Sri Lanka's top defence official has threatened to expel aid agencies, diplomats and foreign journalists seen as supportive of Tamil rebels cornered by troops in the island's north, a report said Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2009 00:00 ||
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The Leader of the Islamic Revolution calls for serious progress in investigations into Israel's criminal acts committed in the Gaza Strip.
"It is important to follow up on the issue of bringing leaders of the Zionist regime [of Israel] to trial because they committed war crimes [during their recent military campaign against the besieged Gaza]," Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said in a Sunday meeting with Hamas political leader, Khaled Mashaal, in Tehran.
Ayatollah Khamenei praised the victory of Gazans and the Islamic resistance against Israel in the 23-day onslaught on the Gaza Strip.
The Leader further said that the war on Gaza was not over yet, adding that the western-backed media have waged a psychological war on the costal strip in an attempt to distort the truth about Hamas and the Islamic resistance.
"Explicit expression of the Islamic resistance and the Palestinian people's adamant stance is the only way to confront enemies," Ayatollah Khamenei said.
The Leader called on the Palestinians to remain vigilant and be prepared for all possibilities - even the possibility of new attacks that could come at any time.
Ayatollah Khamenei urged the swift reconstruction of the war-torn Gaza and expressed Iran's readiness to help Palestinians and to contribute to the rebuilding efforts.
During the meeting Mashaal briefed the Leader on Israel's 23-day incursion into the Gaza Strip and hailed the Islamic Republic and the Iranian nation for their political and moral support for Palestinians.
On December 27, 2008 Israel launched an operation against the Gaza Strip killing more than 1,330 Palestinians and wounding almost 5,500 others.
Israel declared a unilateral truce on January 18, without achieving the objectives set by Tel Aviv. Hamas also announced an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, declaring victory over Israel.
Also on Sunday, a number of former captives - held by oppressive powers like Israel and the former Baath regime of Iraq - also met with the Leader of the Islamic Revolution.
Ayatollah Khamenei praised the former prisoners for enduring bitter and arduous condition in captivity, and added that "you made a big achievement through your resistance and patience."
The Leader also said that the US and Israel, which once thought they were the strongest powers in the world, are now weakened and their hegemony nears its end.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
ION IRAN, WAFF.com > IRAN ACCUSES PAKISTAN OF FAILING TO GUARD ITS BORDERS [deaths of 12 Iranian Border Guards near SISTAN-BALOCHISTAN region].
Also, SAME > OBAMA SAYS MOST US TROOPS IN IRAQ TO COME BACK HOME WITHIN ONE YEAR [EOY 2009 - Feb 2010]???
IOW, MUSLIM MIL HISTORY > A NEW BATTLE FOR IRAQ COULD BEGIN AGAIN IN 2010 OR SHORTLY AFTER [Appearance of islamist Hidden Imam-Mahdi]???
#2
Does the Ayatollah Khamenei have the morals of an alley cat? Or does the Ayatollah Khamenei not have the morals of an alley cat? The one thing he can count on is that he's not going to heaven.
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.
Feb. 2 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama has made clear he is counting on AmericaÂ’s NATO allies for greater military contributions in Afghanistan. He may be in for a disappointment.
North Korea warned Sunday that South Korea's confrontational policies may trigger a war on the divided peninsula, a message coming two days after the communist country vowed to abandon all peace agreements with its southern neighbor.
Lucas Oil Stadium became a sea of camouflage this afternoon as Indiana National Guard soldiers paraded around the floor waving to their family and friends in the stands.
