PARIS - NATO members fighting in Afghanistan need to lift restrictions on where and how their troops are deployed or risk hindering the mission, French Defence Minister Herve Morin said on Tuesday.
As the United States prepares to send more troops to Afghanistan to battle a growing Taliban insurgency, Morin said France would not commit additional soldiers or equipment.
France has lost 27 men in the conflict and operates in some of Afghanistans most dangerous areas, while allies such as Germany have limited their troops exposure with so-called caveats to placate public opinion at home.
Just the type of pressure needed, since the Germans certainly aren't going to listen to Bambi.
We need the caveats to be lifted because they are a source of complications in the alliance, Morin said in his Paris office, the room where former Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau helped plot the allied victory in World War One.
Morin welcomed what he described as a more comprehensive approach by U.S. President Barack Obama and said an increase in U.S. troops could encourage broader peace-building efforts. The idea is we are in a situation where we are not making considerable progress, he said of the strategic shift. And rather than stay there for 20 years with the same level of troops, (the U.S. is) putting together a package with all the restgovernance, development, national reconciliation.
There has been pressure on European nations to commit more forces, but governments are reluctant to alienate their voters by pouring additional resources into the unpopular war. We have to talk to those who want to talk, Morin said. Within the Taliban, there are those who are on Jihad, who are in a war against the West ... there are also students who want the strict application of Sharia law.
A presidential election slated in Afghanistan for August could provide an opportunity for such a dialogue, Morin said.
A clear timetable and milestones marking the missions progress would help allay public concerns. Many French people find it difficult to understand that part of their security is at stake 11,000 km from their home, he said, stressing that pulling out was not an option. To do whatleave Afghanistan in the hands of the Taliban, with Iran and Pakistan, a nuclear power, as its neighbours? he said.
So maybe you need to explain this to your people. Perhaps Le Monde could write something.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
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Many French people find it difficult to understand that part of their security is at stake 11,000 km from their home
The French, of all people should be aware of the grobal reach of Islamic terrorists.
In the 90's Algerian terrorists took over a French 747. The plan was to fly it over downtown Paris, then detonate it in mid-air, showering wreckage and passengers on the city below.
The airplane war recaptured while it was on the ground refueling. All these animals need is a quiet place to plan and rehearse.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
03/18/2009 15:37 Comments ||
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Last month, Omar Hassan said goodbye to Somalia, a country so violently polarized that his job in the capital of Mogadishu finally became too controversial. He is a veterinarian.
Over the past two years, Hassan stopped making vaccination rounds at the animal market, for fear of being associated with the warlords who had taken it over. He stopped working with the government, for fear of being targeted by Islamist insurgents. He had confined himself to inspecting meat at places within two blocks of his home when a group of young Islamist assassins spotted him chatting with a Western aid worker -- a taboo activity.
"They decided to kill me," he said, sitting in the lobby of a Nairobi hotel recently. "To be famous, they have to kill someone with status -- especially professionals. I left that night."
In the past year, more than 100,000 Somalis have fled the conflict in the Horn of Africa nation, a figure that includes a crucial subset of people who have been deliberately chased away -- the professional class.
During the past several years, professors, lawyers, doctors, engineers, journalists, businessmen, and human rights and peace advocates have joined an exodus that began when Somalia's last central government fell in 1991 and has continued unabated. Even the newly elected president of Somalia's fragile interim government, Sharif Ahmed, has spent more time outside the country than inside, mainly because of security concerns.
Members of the educated elite have been hounded by all sides in the conflict. The government of former president Abdullahi Yusuf, backed by the military of neighboring Ethiopia, frequently accused them of supporting the insurgency. Young Islamist insurgents have accused them of backing the government or of being pawns for the United States and other foreign powers whose policies the insurgents often blame for wrecking the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
And now they'll come to the West and become Jihadis.
A defiant Sudanese president rallied Arab supporters in Darfur Wednesday by saying no war crimes court or the U.N. Security Council can touch even "an eyelash" on him despite an international order for his arrest.
Speaking to thousands at a rally in the southern Darfur town of Nyala, Omar al-Bashir denounced the West for allegedly seeking to "create chaos in Sudan" and trying to split Darfur from the rest of the country.
This was al-Bashir's second visit to Darfur since the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest on March 4 on charges of war crimes in the western Sudanese region.
The Netherlands-based court accuses al-Bashir of orchestrating atrocities against civilians in Darfur, where his Arab-led government has been battling ethnic African rebels since 2003. Up to 300,000 people have been killed and 2.7 million have been driven from their homes.
Many fear the warrant could unleash violence against civilians and the joint U.N.-African Union mission in Darfur.
The Sudanese government responded to the warrant by expelling 13 large foreign aid agencies, most of them operating in Darfur, as al-Bashir accused them of spying for the ICC. The U.N. estimates that the expulsion threatens more than 3 million people with the loss of food aid, health care or suitable drinking water.
Posted by: ed ||
03/18/2009 09:16 ||
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Omar al-Bashir, meet the late Gerald Bull. Gerald Bull, please meet Omar al-Bashir.
Portuguese police say they have captured more than 7.7 tons (7 metric tonnes) of hashish from Morocco with an estimated street value of more than euro70 million (US$91 million). Six men of British, Belgian and Moroccan nationalities are under arrest. Police said in a statement Tuesday they netted the drug in a series of coordinated operations over three days beginning last weekend. Five boats carrying the hashish were seized in Lisbon and in the southern Algarve region. Police say the arrested men are suspected of belonging to an international drug-smuggling ring.
Authorities say the Iberian peninsula is a main entry point to Europe for North African hashish.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
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Seizure officers unable ti answer the telephone, maybe after the munchies wear off.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/18/2009 11:26 Comments ||
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A Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) member died yesterday at Pilkhana and seven other BDR personnel with 'various diseases' were admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH). The BDR man who died was identified as Sepoy Monir Hossain, 32.
Earlier, two BDR members allegedly committed suicide -- one at Pilkhana and the other at Joypurhat BDR barracks-- while the pesh imam of BDR headquarters mosque died of a cardiac arrest during interrogation over the carnage and mutiny at Pilkhana.
"Cheez, Chaudry, a little easier with that truncheon next time!"
"Yes sir, sorry sir."
"That's a number seven! You can't swing it like you do a number six!"
The seven BDR personnel admitted to the DMCH yesterday are Nayek Mohammad Selim Abedin, 42, Subedar Abdul Karim, 53, Sepoy Lal Miah, 35, Sepoy Abdullah Al Mamun, 35, Nayek Matiur Rahman, 56, driver Kabiruddin, 55, and cook Abdul Hakim, 50.
They are undergoing treatment for 'various diseases', hospital sources said.
Fractures, bruises, sucking chest wounds ...
Some army personnel rushed Monir Hossain, Matiur Rahman and Abdullah Al Mamun to the DMCH, where doctors declared Monir dead at about 4:30pm, the sources mentioned.
Earlier, police had rushed the five other BDR men to the hospital at about 12:30pm
DMCH officials quoted army personnel who rushed Monir to the hospital as saying Monir fell down on the ground all of a sudden and lost consciousness.
Fell down the stairs again?
On Sunday, BDR member Waheduzzaman, 38, of Joypurhat 3 Battalion committed suicide at the barracks of the battalion.
Jumped off the toilet with the shower curtain wrapped around his neck ...
Joypurhat police said BDR men found Waheduzzaman hanging from the ceiling of their bathroom after breaking open its door. Police however could not ascertain the motive behind the suicide.
No, no, certainly not, he'd been arrested and 'questioned' by the RAB ...
Besides, Nayek Subedar Mozammel Haq, 45, allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a bathroom at the BDR 44 Battalion building at Pilkhana headquarters on March 9.
On March 11, Pesh Imam of the BDR central mosque Mohammad Siddiqur Rahman, who was a witness to the carnage at Pilkhana, died at the DMCH. He was admitted to the hospital following a cardiac arrest during interrogation, said his son Mohammad Naim.
This is assuming he had a heart, of course ...
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON, March 17, 2009 Iran is increasing its presence in Latin America, and Hezbollah, a terrorist organization it sponsors, is making inroads in drug trafficking in Colombia, the commander of U.S. Southern Command told Congress today.
Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis told the House Armed Services Committee he shares concerns expressed by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates about Iranian activity in Central and South America. Iran has opened six embassies in the region during the past five years and is promoting Islamic activities in the region. That is of concern, principally because of the connection between the government of Iran, which is a state sponsor of terrorism, and Hezbollah, Stavridis said today. We see a great deal of Hezbollah activity throughout South America, in particular. Much of that activity takes place in the tri-border area of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, and in the Caribbean.
Stavridis noted in his written statement that Southcom supported a Drug Enforcement Administration operation in the tri-border area last August that targeted a Hezbollah-connected drug trafficking organization. Two months later, Southcom supported another interagency operation in which several dozen people were arrested in Colombia for ties to a Hezbollah-connected drug trafficking and money laundering ring.
Despite big successes in professionalizing the Colombian military and helping it deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, Southcom has witnessed a direct connection there between Hezbollah and drug trafficking in Colombia, Stavridis told the committee.
He noted the direct link between the illicit drug trade and the terrorist groups it bankrolls, noting the threat posed by Islamic radical terrorism. Indentifying, monitoring and dismantling the financial, logistical and communication linkages between illicit trafficking groups and terrorist sponsors are critical to not only ensuring early indications and warnings of potential terrorist attacks directed at the United States and our partners, but also in generating a global appreciation and acceptance of this tremendous threat to security, he said.
Stavridis called Colombia the major global source of cocaine and home of the FARC pivotal in the fight to stop illicit traffickers at the source. Continued support to Colombia to help it in this endeavor will pay big dividends for the region and for the United States, he said. Providing resources and investments to improve the Colombian military, along with enhancing our interagency capabilities, will build the capacity to integrate and share information with U.S. and international counter-narcotic organizations, he said. Our interagency support efforts will directly improve regional and hemispheric security.
Russian news agencies cited a top defense official Wednesday as confirming that a contract to sell powerful air-defense missiles to Iran was signed two years ago, but saying no such weapons have yet been delivered.
Russian officials have consistently denied claims the country already has provided some of the S-300 missiles to Iran. They have not said whether a contract existed.
The state-run ITAR-Tass and RIA-Novosti news agencies and the independent Interfax quoted an unnamed top official in the Federal Military-Technical Cooperation Service as saying the contract was signed two years ago. Service spokesman Andrei Tarabrin told The Associated Press he could not immediately comment.
Supplying S-300s to Iran would change the military balance in the Middle East and the issue has been the subject of intense speculation and diplomatic wrangling for months.
Israel and the U.S. fear that, were Iran to possess S-300 missiles, it would use them to protect its nuclear facilities including the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz or the country's first atomic power plant, which is now being built by Russian contractors at Bushehr.
That would make a military strike on the Iranian facilities much more difficult.
It was not clear why the missiles have not been delivered, but the reports cited the defense official as saying "fulfillment of the contract will mainly depend on the current international situation and the decision of the country's leadership."
That could indicate that Russia intends to use the contract as a bargaining chip before next month's meeting between President Dmitry Medvedev and President Barack Obama.
But the defense official said Russia does not intend to abandon the contract, estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, ITAR-Tass said,
A prominent Russian analyst, Ruslan Pukhov of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, said the missile contract was seen by the Kremlin as primarily a political rather than commercial matter.
"The S-300 contract, and cooperation with Iran in general, is regarded by Moscow only as an instrument of political bargaining with the West and not as a way of realizing the fundamental defense and commercial interests of Russia," he was quoted as saying by RIA-Novosti.
Posted by: ed ||
03/18/2009 14:53 ||
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(RIA Novosti) - Customs officials in Tajikistan detained a Filipino woman at Dushanbe airport on Tuesday attempting to smuggle more than three kilograms of heroin stuffed into fabric buttons to Turkey.
"During an individual baggage search of passengers, customs authorities detained Milagros Nolasko, 48, who was attempting to smuggle some 3,300 grams (7 pounds 4 ounces) of heroin on a flight from Dushanbe to Istanbul," a customs agent told RIA Novosti.
The agent said that the woman had stuffed the drugs into 758 fabric buttons stitched onto 33 Tajik national robes. An investigation is ongoing.
During 2008, some 20 kilograms of heroin were seized on flights from Dushanbe to Istanbul, leading to the arrest of five smugglers from South Africa, Uganda, the Philippines and Turkey.
Tajikistan is a major smuggling route for heroin from neighboring Afghanistan, the world's largest heroin producer.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
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(RIA Novosti) - Uzbek National Security Forces seized 140 kilograms (309 lbs) of Afghan heroin near the Uzbek-Kazakh border on Tuesday, a security spokesman told RIA Novosti.
The narcotics were discovered in a truck loaded with agricultural products during an inspection at the border between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The driver of the vehicle admitted that he was supposed to deliver the heroin to a town in southern Kazakhstan, the spokesman said.
"Among the boxes with fresh greens, 129 packages of powdered narcotic substance were discovered," he said, adding "An on-site analysis showed that the substance was 140 kilograms of heroin."
He also added that the vehicle inspection was carried out after information was received about a drug trafficking ring in Tajikistan who planned to smuggle drugs into Russia via Uzbekistan.
Most of the heroin and hashish coming into Russia originates in Afghanistan and is then trafficked into the country through the former Soviet republics of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Most of the drugs are then sold in Russia's largest cities, or shipped onto Europe.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
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A ruling Liberal Democratic Party task force compiled a proposal Tuesday for Japan to impose additional economic sanctions on North Korea in light of lack of progress on the issue of the North''s past abductions of Japanese nationals, party members said. The LDP plans to soon give to Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura the six-point proposal, including a total ban on exports to North Korea and prohibiting foreign crew of ships from landing in Japan if they had a hand in imports and exports between Japan and North Korea.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
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(RIA Novosti) - South Korean activists on Tuesday floated around 100,000 propaganda leaflets and 2.16 million North Korean won ($15,430) to their communist neighbors, angering Pyongyang, South Korean media reported.
According to the reports, 10 packages loaded with North Korean currency and leaflets criticizing the North's leader, Kim Jong-il, were launched from a bridge near the border using balloons made from polyethylene plastic used for covering hothouses.
Pyongyang considers the act a breach of inter-Korean agreements on halting all "attacks" on the government. Seoul ignores such acts as they are not organized by the government, but it has said the unsanctioned sending of foreign currency over the border is illegal.
The South Korean government stopped official propaganda against the North in 2004, in line with a bilateral agreement. However, while discouraging activists from launching leaflets across the border, the government has refused to take action against them, citing freedom of speech.
Relations between Seoul and the communist North have deteriorated since South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office in February 2008, rolling back the so-called Sunshine Policy of the previous 10 years.
There are intense international concerns over North Korea's announced April launch of what it says is a satellite, but what is widely suspected in the West as a cover-up for testing of ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
Tensions on the peninsula have also been raised by South Korean-U.S. military exercises due to end on Friday. North Korea earlier said it could not guarantee the safety of civilian aircraft near or over its airspace, because of the exercises.
North Korea said recently it would scrap all political and military agreements with South Korea, including a non-aggression pact, over its neighbor's "hostile intent." The two countries are still technically at war as their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
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Can your balloons lift a loaded AK-47? maybe a grenade and instructions, or a loaded pistol. that's what will work.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/18/2009 11:35 Comments ||
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North Korea has refused to accept food aid from the United States despite facing chronic food shortages, a US state department spokesman has said. No skin off my fore. We've got enough po' folks here at home.
The decision came amid mounting tensions over a planned rocket launch by North Korea, as also its speed of nuclear disablement. "North Korea has informed the United States that it does not wish to receive additional US food assistance at this time," Robert Wood, a US state department spokesman, said on Tuesday. Let them eat dirt.
He said that Washington would work with non-governmental groups "to ensure that food that is already in North Korea is distributed to the intended recipients". Precisely why do we care?
Pyongyang has relied on outside aid to help feed its 23 million people since famine reportedly killed as many as two million in the 1990s, a result of natural disasters and mismanagement. There was no immediate comment from Pyongyang on the reasons for refusing the aid.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
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This is just sick. We should put up an air corridor and have C-17's dump those air droppable MREs all over the place, and deeply punish anything foolish enough to attempt to interfere.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/18/2009 07:21 ||
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How about an exit visa to all those who want one and their relatives? Leave the passports at the TSA screening station.
Posted by: ed ||
03/18/2009 8:41 Comments ||
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"It's not necessarily the FBI's fault but it has raised the level of anxiety in the community."
Yes, Sherif, imagine the anxiety on the part of US citizens who are view as the infidel by Somalis; e.g., those who refused to allow alcohol or dogs in their taxis.
#3
"I haven't seen anything that leads me to believe there is any kind of concerted effort here to recruit them," Sherif said. If that were the case, it would take a mass conspiracy to cover it up, he said, and that just isn't happening.
The military will phase out its "stop loss" program, the contentious practice of holding troops beyond the end of their enlistments, for all but extraordinary situations, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Wednesday.
Instead, the military will use incentives programs to encourage personnel to extend their service. Starting this month, the department will provide "special compensation of $500 per month" to troops whose tour has been extended, Gates said. "This special compensation will be applied retroactively to October 1, 2008, the date when Congress first made it available."
The stop-loss program was put into place to ensure that units remained intact during deployment. Tours of duty could be extended for those whose enlistment was due to end in the middle of their unit's deployment.
Currently, the Army is the only service that uses the stop-loss program. As of January, 13,217 soldiers had tours extended under the stop-loss policy. The Army used the stop-loss policy during Operation Desert Shield in 1990 and reinstated it after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
#1
Technically speaking, just running a selective stop loss program is a viable alternative to the full authority under the law, Title 10 USC -
Subtitle A > PART II > CHAPTER 39 > 671a
671a. Members: service extension during war
Unless terminated at an earlier date by the Secretary concerned, the period of active service of any member of an armed force is extended for the duration of any war in which the United States may be engaged and for six months thereafter.
A former 1970s radical associated with the group that kidnapped newspaper heiress Patty Hearst finished her California prison sentence Tuesday, ending a legal drama that harkened back to a violent era of social unrest.
Sara Jane Olson, 62, was freed from the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla shortly after midnight and was allowed to serve her yearlong parole in Minnesota, the state she adopted during her 24 years as a fugitive.
Olson served seven years half her sentence after pleading guilty to helping place pipe bombs under Los Angeles Police Department patrol cars and participating in the deadly 1975 robbery of a bank in a Sacramento suburb.
The crimes took place while she was a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army, a relatively short-lived but violent group that sought to overthrow the government while engaging in killings, robberies and gun battles with police. Then she was Kathleen Soliah; she changed her name after fleeing to Minnesota.
Among the group's victims was 42-year-old Myrna Opsahl, a mother of four who was gunned down during the bank robbery.
Posted by: ed ||
03/18/2009 09:13 ||
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So which cabinet post do you think she will be offered?
#3
Myrna Opsahi is still dead, correct? And they released Olson anyway. Boggle.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/18/2009 11:15 Comments ||
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Kaliphornia doesn't have room for all of its prisoners, especially since most of them are illegal aliens who are technically, morally the responsibility of the federal government. It is a problem that results all too often in dangerous felons like Olsen being released long before their entire sentences are finished.
President Barack Obama and his top aides are considering expanding covert operations against Taliban leaders in Pakistan to southwestern Baluchistan province, the New York Times reported Wednesday.
Boy howdy, there's nothing, nothing that the NYT won't leak ...
Two reports sent to the White House call for broadening the target area to include the region in and around the Pakistani city of Quetta, the Times reported, citing unnamed senior administration officials.
And as usual, not a single named, on the record source ...
In Islamabad, foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Basit downplayed the report. "We have seen the report. It appears to be speculative and we cannot comment on speculations," Basit told AFP.
Quetta, located some 70 kilometers (43 miles) from the border with Afghanistan and with a population of about one million, is the capital of Baluchistan province.
Up to now missile strikes launched by US drones against insurgents who carry out attacks in Afghanistan have been limited to Pakistan's northwestern tribal areas, the Times reports. "It is fair to say that there is wide agreement to sustain and continue these covert programs," an unnamed senior US administration official told the newspaper. "One of the foundations on which the recommendations to the president will be based is that we've got to sustain the disruption of the safe havens."
On the issue of Baluchistan however, top Obama advisers however are split. Some fear that such strikes could increase tensions with Pakistan, which said in late February it wanted to discuss ending controversial US drone attacks inside its territory.
Mullah Muhammad Omar, who led the Taliban government ousted by the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan, has operated with near impunity out of the region for years, along with many of his deputies, the newspaper said.
Unlike the semi-autonomous tribal belt, Baluchistan -- which borders Iran and Afghanistan -- is under the authority of the central government. Baluchistan province has rich energy resources but is rife with regional insurgency and sectarian violence involving Sunni and Shiite Muslim extremists. Hundreds of people have died in insurgent unrest in the province since 2004, when rebels began demanding political autonomy and a greater share of profits from Baluchistan's natural resources.
In February John Solecki, a US citizen who heads the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in Quetta, was kidnapped in the city. A Baluch rebel group claims to be holding him.
Thirty-five such strikes have killed more than 340 people since August 2008. Six have been blamed on unmanned US aircraft since Obama came to power, dashing Pakistani hopes that his administration would abandon the policy. The New York Times quoted administration officials as saying that Predator and Reaper drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal areas have been effective in killing nine of Al-Qaeda's top 20 leaders.
The campaign was recently expanded to focus on Pakistan's most wanted militant, Baitullah Mehsud, as well as his fighters and training camps. Mehsud heads the much feared Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and is accused of plotting the 2007 assassination of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto, the wife of President Asif Ali Zardari.
This article starring:
Baitullah Mehsud
Mullah Muhammad Omar
Posted by: ed ||
03/18/2009 10:12 ||
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See also WAFF > US GENERAL: MILITANTS' SANCTUARIES IN PAKISTAN MUST BE ELIMINATED.
ISLAMABAD: The interior ministry has received a 400-page report comprising answers of 30 queries sent by Pakistan to India into Mumbai attacks.
The sources told that Interior Adviser presided over a high-level meeting to review the Indian report and forwarded it to the investigation team of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
Pakistan will give its response through diplomatic sources after complete evaluation of Indian replies.
The DNA reports of long surviving gunman Ajmal Kasab and seven other attackers are also included in the report.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
ION INDIA, PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > [Noted/Reputable] INDIAN MUSLIM SCHOLAR [Zakir Naik] SAYS INDIA IS THE BATTLEFIELD [for JIHAD + new Islamism].
Also on PDF > INDIRA GRANDSON [BJP LEADER VARUN GANDHI] VOWS TO CUT OFF MUSLIM HEADS, CLAIMS MUSLIMS HAVE SCARY NAMES ........
Ole' VARUN also repor famously claimed that ANY AND ALL HINDUS/HINDIS SHOULD STAY IN INDIA = INDIAN BORDER SIDE WHILST ALL OTHERS [MUSLIMS; SIKHS?] SHOULD BE SENT PACKING TO PAKISTAN.
#2
ION SOUTH ASIA, TOPIX/PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > TENSIONS CONTINUE TO RISE BETWEEN MYANMAR AND BANGLADESH, + MYANMAR [unilaterally] MOBILIZES ITS MILITARY FORCES, ERECTS NEW GUARDED WIRE FENCE ALONG BANGLA BORDER.
Dramatic advances in public attitudes are sweeping Iraq, with declining violence, rising economic well-being and improved services lifting optimism, fueling confidence in public institutions and bolstering support for democracy.
The gains in the latest ABC News/BBC/NHK poll represent a stunning reversal of the spiral of despair caused by Iraq's sectarian violence in 2006 and 2007. The sweeping rebound, extending initial improvements first seen a year ago, marks no less than the opportunity for a new future for Iraq and its people.
Click here for PDF of analysis with charts and full questionnaire.
Click here for charts on the results.
Click here for photos from the field.
While deep difficulties remain, the advances are remarkable. Eighty-four percent of Iraqis now rate security in their own area positively, nearly double its August 2007 level. Seventy-eight percent say their protection from crime is good, more than double its low. Three-quarters say they can go where they want safely triple what it's been.
Few credit the United States, still widely unpopular given the post-invasion violence, and eight in 10 favor its withdrawal on schedule by 2011 or sooner. But at the same time a new high, 64 percent of Iraqis, now call democracy their preferred form of government.
Remaining challenges are serious. Many views have not recovered to their pre-2006 levels. Violence continues, even if much abated. Basic services such as medical care and clean water, though better, are still in short supply. Even with their confidence vastly improved, Sunni Arabs remain far more vulnerable personally and skeptical politically. Sunni/Shiite segregation has increased sharply. Kurdish-Arab relations are tense. And issues from corruption to suspected vote fraud and political gridlock cloud the horizon.
Still, the number of Iraqis who call security the single biggest problem in their own lives has dropped from 48 percent in March 2007 to 20 percent now. Two years ago 56 percent called it the single biggest problem for the country as a whole; that's down to 35 percent now, including a 15-point drop in the last year alone. Fifty-nine percent now feel "very" safe in their communities, up 22 points from last year and more than double its lowest. Recent local fighting among sectarian forces is reported by 6 percent, compared with 22 percent a year ago.
Optimism and confidence have followed. Sixty-five percent of Iraqis say things are going well in their own lives, up from 39 percent in 2007 (albeit still a bit below its 2005 peak). Fifty-eight percent say things are going well for Iraq a new high, up from only 22 percent in 2007. Expectations for the year ahead, at the national and personal levels, also have soared, after crashing in 2007. And the sharpest advances have come among Sunni Arabs, the favored group under Saddam Hussein, deeply alienated by his overthrow, now re-engaging in Iraq's national life.
Confidence in the national government, local governments, the army and police all are at new highs. And the growth in support for democracy, bolstered by successful provincial elections in January, is critical a 21-point gain from March 2007 to a new high in polls since 2004. As Sunni Arabs have stepped back from their preference for strongman rule, so have many Shiites dropped their preference for an Islamic state.
#1
Just look at the wonderful things Obama has done since he took office! /sarcasm
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
03/18/2009 19:19 Comments ||
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He's already doing wonders for Bush's historical record.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/18/2009 19:46 Comments ||
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Note the continued pathological dysfunction that prevents the US getting the credit. It's important not to let Iraqis off easy for this. Our interest is served by their freedom and prosperity - imagine that - but we do them no favors if we indulge their ingratitude, whether it springs from humiliation, ignorance, racism, or a mix.
For your orwellian nugget of the day (or is it hour?), howz about Few credit the United States, still widely unpopular given the post-invasion violence?
Uh, excuse me, Achmed, the "post-invasion violence" was 100% the work of Iraqis and their respective foreign collaborators (when innocents were targeted) and 99% the work of Iraqis and their respective foreign collaborators (when there was some sort of actual fire-fight or the like).
But to answer the question - uh, no, this story would never have received much attention when Bush was in office.
Hat tip One Free Korea, who has a long, detailed take down of Mr. Hill with regard to North Korea here.
President Barack Obama's pick as the nation's top diplomat to Iraq was "a choice I wouldn't have made," former Vice President Cheney said. "He is not the man I would have picked for that post," Cheney said of Christopher Hill. "He has none of the skills and talents that Ryan Crocker has."
Hill's appointment ran into Republican resistance for what they describe as his lack of experience in the Middle East and his eagerness to strike a deal in inconclusive disarmament talks with North Korea.
Four Republican senators - Sam Brownback of Kansas, John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John Ensign of Nevada - have said Obama should reconsider.
Apparently Liebermann also is concerned. If the concerns about Hill pan out he should be given a nice safe office in the Department of the Interior.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
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Posted by: ed ||
03/18/2009 10:29 ||
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#1
Hmmm, no one wants to buy what you are selling at the offered price, so you raise the price to make the deal more attractive. That makes sense - in a Bizzaro World sort of way. Although it does explain why the Islamic world has roughly the same GDP as San Francisco's Chinatown.
#3
Prime Minister Olmert announced yesterday he was walking away from negotiations at the previous price. I think the relatives' promise to go hunting got his attention.
#4
Olmert should thank his lucky stars he's probably not on the relatives' list....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/18/2009 15:16 Comments ||
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#5
Hamas is fond of 100 to 1 prisoner exchanges. It might be interesting if Israel were to extend that to bodies. For example, if all Hamas has to offer is Shalit's corpse, then it should be exchanged for the corpses of 1,000 or so Hamas prisoners.
Israel vowed on Tuesday to keep its blockade of Gaza Strip in place until Hamas agreed to free a captured Israeli soldier, following the failure of negotiations mediated by Egypt yesterday, a senior government official said Tuesday.
"There will be no expansion of the opening of the Gaza crossings until they release Gilad Shalit," the official said.
Shalit was captured in a 2006 cross-border operation by Gaza fighters, including members of the Islamist Hamas movement which has ruled the Palestinian enclave since June 2007.
"The crossings ... are operating at a minimum to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Gaza," an Israeli political source added. "And they (the crossings) will remain so until Gilad Shalit is released."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Or until there's a phone call from either Hildi or Himself Himself.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/18/2009 11:31 Comments ||
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#3
Anybody else watched Bruce Willis in "The fifth Element"?
Who's the negotiator"
I am.
BLAM (Between the eyes).
Anybody else want to Negotiate?
(Every thug shaking their heads no.)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/18/2009 11:42 Comments ||
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#4
Israel really should require that Shalit be released alive and unharmed. That would really put Hamas in a bind, since I reluctantly believe that he is dead (and probably has been for a long time). And that trick of people rising from the dead happened a long time ago in Jerusalem.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
03/18/2009 19:24 Comments ||
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#5
"And that trick of people rising from the dead happened a long time ago in Jerusalem."
And a Jooooooooooo did that, Rambler.
GFL on Ham-Ass finding another to do it again....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/18/2009 21:02 Comments ||
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#6
I'd of added one or two targeted hits per day/week as the price paid for continued absence of Shalit (immediately, when he was nabbed). That or snatch missions to jug Hamas types - killing as many as needed to ensure the team got its target and got away safely.
But Iz'rl seems to have lost its way on deterrence, going back a few years. Their verminous enemies did not feel the sting of retaliation for their evil deeds, and thus we have seen a continued string of them.
Sri Lanka has rejected a European Union call for an immediate ceasefire in fighting between government troops and the rebel Tamil Tigers in the north of the island. The EU had urged the two sides to halt fighting to allow humanitarian aid to reach a so-called "safe zone" in the thin sliver of territory where fighting is continuing.
"What are we going to achieve with a ceasefire other than giving in to the demands of the LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam]?" Palitha Kohona, Sri Lanka's foreign secretary, said on Tuesday. He said that the Tamil Tigers would use any interruption in the fighting to acquire weapons and regroup.
Sounds like someone who's been there before ...
Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the EU's external relations commissioner, said on Monday that the ceasefire was needed as the situation for civilians trapped in the war zone was "very dangerous". "Approximately 170,000 people ... are being trapped in the northern part of Sri Lanka and neither the Sri Lanka government or the LTTE has until now accepted our appeal," she said. Ferrero-Waldner said that an EU delegation would travel to the country to push for the ceasefire.
I wouldn't let the delegation land. Send them home, finish off the LTTE and take care of the true civilians.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
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JERUSALEM, March 17 (Reuters) - Ballistic missiles could be Israel's weapon of choice against Iranian nuclear facilities if it decides on a pre-emptive attack and deems air strikes too risky, according to a report by a Washington think-tank.
Israel is widely assumed to have Jericho missiles capable of hitting Iran with an accuracy of a few dozen metres (yards) from target. Such a capability would be free of warplanes' main drawbacks -- limits on fuel and ordnance, and perils to pilots.
Extrapolating from analyst assessments that the most advanced Jerichos carry 750 kg (1,650 lb) conventional warheads, Abdullah Toukan of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said 42 missiles would be enough to "severely damage or demolish" Iran's core nuclear sites at Natanz, Esfahan and Arak. "If the Jericho III is fully developed and its accuracy is quite high then this scenario could look much more feasible than using combat aircraft," he said in the March 14 report, titled "Study on a Possible Israeli Strike on Iran's Nuclear Development Facilities".
Israel, whose jets bombed Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981 and mounted a similar sortie over Syria in 2007, has hinted that it could forcibly deny Iran the means to make an atomic bomb.
But many experts believe the Iranian sites are too distant, dispersed and protected for Israel's warplanes to take on alone.
Israel neither confirms nor denies having Jerichos, as part of an "ambiguity" policy veiling its own assumed atomic arsenal.
Sam Gardiner, a retired U.S. air force colonel who runs war games for various government agencies in Washington, cast doubt on the usefulness of ballistic missiles against Iran, noting, for example, the robust fortification at Natanz. This, he said, would required that attackers "burrow" into the targets using multiple, precision-guided bombs dropped by plane: "The American conclusion is that the only way to get deep enough is to put a second warhead into the hole of the first."
Loath to see further destabilisation of a combustible region, the Obama administration has championed engaging Iran diplomatically. Some U.S. officials have signalled unhappiness at the idea of Israel going it alone against its arch-foe.
Toukan, whose 114-page report frowns on the prospect of unilateral Israeli action, said a Jericho salvo could draw an Iranian counter-attack with Shehab missiles. Other reprisal scenarios include Iran choking off oil exports, hitting U.S. Gulf assets, or ordering proxy attacks on Jewish targets abroad.
Some Israeli experts have been dismissive of the Shehab threat, citing intelligence assessments that Iran has deployed fewer than 100 of the missiles and that, if fired, most would be destroyed in mid-flight by Israel's Arrow II interceptor. "Under such circumstances, we would expect little more than a repeat of the Gulf war," said one ex-general, referring to Iraq's firing of 40 Scud missiles at Israel during the 1991 conflict. Those attacks inflicted damage but few casualties.
The Arrow II also provides some protection for Jordan, an Arab neighbour of Israel and which Toukan saw becoming "Ground Zero if a ballistic missile exchange takes place".
He noted that any Jericho strikes on Iran -- which has denied seeking nuclear weapons but vowed to retaliate if attacked -- would be complicated should Tehran obtain the most sophisticated version of Russia's S-300 air-defence system, which can tackle ballistic missiles as well as invading planes.
Israel could face a further difficulty in mounting a sneak Jericho attack because its strategic air bases are located near population centres. The unannounced test launch of what was believed to be a Jericho III outside Tel Aviv last year became public knowledge within minutes.
But that may be the extent of Iran's forewarning. According to an Israeli defence consultant, only the United States and Russia have put up satellites capable of spotting ballistic missile launches in real time, "and it's highly unlikely that the Iranians would get access to that information".
The consultant, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, played down the notion of ballistic missiles being used for conventional attacks: "You look at any major Western military, and you'll see that such strikes are the purview of manned warplanes, while ballistic missiles are reserved for nuclear-strike scenarios." That anonymous consultant, probably the barkeep at the nearest pub, is full of it.
I have speculated about this possibility for quite some time. The Jericho rocket family has an interesting history, and a lengthy one. The original version goes all the way back to the "French connection" era in IDF history, before the 1967 war, when France was Israel's top arms supplier. The original Jericho was apparently based on the French SSBS-1 missile. This in turn incorporated quite a bit of licensed and highly sensitive American technology, most notably solid propellant formulations and guidance hardware. In the years since, the family has developed as an exclusively Israeli program and now includes Israel's Shavit space launcher.
One crucial advantage of ballistic missiles is the warhead's potentially very high impact velocity and the resulting potential for deep penetration. Unlike the Space Shuttle or the Soyuz, missile warheads are designed to slow down as little as possible before impact or detonation. With modern aerodynamics and certain other influences, a high fraction of the warhead's maximum velocity can be retained all the way to the ground. This allows for phenomenol penetration against hardened structures if the warhead is designed to survive the impact (and some are). With the addition of GPS updating for the inertial guidance, the necessary accuracy is relatively simple.
On another point, there has been a lot of speculation about how and where Israel's Jericho missiles are based. I have seen some uninformed types suggest that they are on Israel's submarines. This is quite impossible, Jericho II is a large missile, and Israeli subs are quite small by comparison with American or other SSBNs.
Various experts have scoured satellite images for missile silos or similar installations in Israeli, and have yet to find any.
My guess is that the Jericho is land-mobile and I have a good idea of the specific method, but it is not wise to speculate further in a public forum.
#1
"Extrapolating from analyst assessments that the most advanced Jerichos carry 750 kg (1,650 lb) conventional warheads, Abdullah Toukan of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said 42 missiles would be enough to "severely damage or demolish" Iran's core nuclear sites at Natanz, Esfahan and Arak."
Toukan is right. With a forged steel case, the penetrator warhead could still contain a few hundred pounds of explosive. Set that off in a deeply buried facility, and Iran's nuke program is over, to say nothing of the impact effects themselves, which would be considerable.
#3
No link handy but I recall debate around 2002/2003 regarding tackling the deep bunker problem with conventional deep penetration warheads on US SSBN launched missiles. I believe it was abandoned as Rumsfeldian craziness as it was potentially destablizing. Same with 'low yield' nuclear weapons.
This makes some sense if Russia or China detected a launch and assumed it was a nuke. I still think it was worthy of consideration for certain scenarios in which we could inform Russia and China in advance and use liasson officers to prevent any misunderstandings while we take out the Iranian, North Korean or Pakistani arsenal.
Israel has no such constraints for a number of reasons. This scenario had not occurred to me until AC posted this. But, now that I understand it, I draw the opposite conclusion of CSIS, a leftish think tank. I do hope Israel can do it this way. The pending sale of S300s is the real point of no return with Iran. After that point a barrage of Jerichos is by far the most benign way this conflict could play out.
As for Iran retailiating against US assets in the Gulf should Israel attack: they can hurt us but we know how it would end and so do they. Obama or not, there would be tremendous political pressure in the US to destroy that regime utterly if they attack our forces or disrupt our economy. If they use WMD, there will be no more Iranians but we will have to restock some warheads on boomers after all. Missiles too.
If Iranians are smart they'll take to the streets to turn this year's sham election into something resembling a real one and elect a 'reformer' who should take Obama up on offer to 'talk' so they can walk back their nuke and air defense plans in exchange for some sort of fig leaf and normalization of relations with the west. If the mullarchy remains in control, there is no good way out for their country.
#4
It's highly likely that Iran will respond to an Israeli attack by disrupting oil traffic through the Gulf. This will bring the hammer down on them, because no one can afford to have their oil supplies cut off.
Israel's problem then becomes making sure the USA, the Euros and the Gulf states are properly prepared.
#5
Also there have been rumours of Israel producing a very long range UAV capable of carrying bombs.
Then the missile/UAV distinction is arbitrary based on pre-unmanned thinking. There is no reason why you couldn't turn a UAV into one big bomb and use it like a cruise missile.
#8
No link handy but I recall debate around 2002/2003 regarding tackling the deep bunker problem with conventional deep penetration warheads on US SSBN launched missiles. I believe it was abandoned as Rumsfeldian craziness as it was potentially destablizing. Same with 'low yield' nuclear weapons.
Wasn't really craziness..it actually is realisticaly feasible in engineering and physics sense. Relatively costly but not very compared to some options. The problem comes in how to figure out your SSBN is launching a conventional instead of a nuke? One idea tossed around was to have a dedicated launch facility somewhere in the US to launch only conventional warheads..still relatively a feasible idea.
The part that has killed this idea however is physics, namely the fact that no matter how fast the penetrator is going you can only dig to a depth 4 times the length of the rod before sheer forces rip the rod apart. To give a comparison also for a steel rod to penetrate concrete at any depth it must be moving at least a half kilometer per second.
Faster speed doesn't help either in this case because you'll simply deform any type of penetrator or even melt it upon impact.
#9
The part thats realistic from the above being that you have a "15 minute" response solution to a high priority target that needs to be taken out ASAP. Not necessarily a deep bunker however.
#10
Another discussion we had a while back was the feasibility of attacking deep bunkers by targetting multiple missiles at the same location. Essentially, each subsequent missile digs a deeper hole and eventually the bunker is breached.
#11
I don't see why a warning courtesy of Russia would be "highly unlikely". Russia is after all a sponsor and diplomatic protector of the Iranian nuclear program.
Likewise the Obama administration might share intelligence on Israel with Iran as a confidence building measure to open up a dialogue.
Would that make a big difference for Israel militarily?
As for Iranian retaliation, do they have the capability to launch non-conventional warheads with their Shahab missiles?
What would the Israeli reaction be?
#12
turn a UAV into one big bomb and use it like a cruise missile.
Germany called such a craft the V-1 back in the 1940's. They were not accurate enough but that limitation is gone now. The Japanese solved that problem by installing disposable biologic guidance units (kamikaze pilots) in their version of the cruise missile - a technique we might anticipate from the Iranians.
#13
As for Iranian retaliation, do they have the capability to launch non-conventional warheads with their Shahab missiles?
Shahab-3: 1300-2000 km range (Israel in range)
Shahab-4: (NorK Taep'o-dong 1): 2000-3000 km
Israel would be on the losing end of that exchange. Iran has more missiles, is much bigger with 13X the population, has fewer high value targets and can absorb more damage.
Posted by: ed ||
03/18/2009 8:51 Comments ||
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#14
The Japanese solved that problem by installing disposable biologic guidance units (kamikaze pilots) in their version of the cruise missile - a technique we might anticipate from the Iranians.
Would the Iranian pilots be able to get off the ground unobserved and unharmed? I thought that was why Iraq buried their air force in the sand before the 2003 invasion.
#15
I think by now the Jericho II or IV has been MIRVed. If so, Israel might have enough to take out both the Nuke sites, the ballistic cammand site and the missile sites at the same time (assuming the Jericho are supplemented by some less fancy sub launched missiles.
#17
I think they would rather chance it with Iran striking back with a much larger conventional missile force than going ahead and letting them keeep building the nukes though. there woul;d be alot more collateral damage if a nuke hit anywhere near a city, unlike when Saddam fired his SCUDs into Israel with little effect
#18
Good point on the physics. You go deep enough with the right mix of materials and it just won't work even with an ICBM. The Norks and Iranians have learned to dig.
Israel has good Civil Defense and ABM capabilities. They'd hold up OK to whatever Shahab's come their way.
But it's all about the strategic targets. If they can take them out with 42 Jerichos it is likely to happen. If not, they won't shoot.
Physics of bunker penetration and delivery of S300s are the 2 unknowns.
#19
Refining fissile material takes a s***load of power. That's why Oak Ridge was built in TVA country and Hanford near the Columbia River dams. Power plants are a lot bigger and harder to hide and bury than weapons bunkers. No power, no bombs. Doesn't work after the bombs are finished, though. Draw your own conclusions.
#20
Refining Uranium is power-intensive because you are limited to using the small mass difference between isotopes to sort them. Hanford was the Plutonium fuel plant, and that process created Plutonium by nuclear reaction, and then separated it from the other reaction products by chemical processes, which are considerably 'easier' from a power use perspective.
Which path is Iran following? We hear about the Uranium centrifuges (which were not an option in 1944, so I don't know their level of power use).
#21
One source I read had about 40 watts/centrifuge. I think the most power hungry step is keeping the machinery and piping hot enough to keep the uranium hexaflouride gaseous (>65°C ).
Iran is pursuing both enriched uranium and plutonium bomb processes. Try and claim this is for fuel production: Arak
Posted by: ed ||
03/18/2009 19:10 Comments ||
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#22
Maybe Israel could hit them around April 4th when the NORKs are grabbing the worlds attentions with their launch...
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
03/18/2009 21:45 Comments ||
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#23
brilliant! What's another "peace rocket" or 47?
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/18/2009 21:52 Comments ||
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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told regional leaders meeting in Tehran on Wednesday to discuss the global economic crisis that the capitalist system was close to collapse.
Opening a one-day summit of the 10-nation Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) including Turkey, Pakistan and other neighbours, he also suggested a "single currency" should be used in trade between the group's members. "After the collapse of the closed socialist economy, the capitalist economy is also on the verge of collapse," Ahmadinejad said in his televised speech. "The liberal economy and the free market have failed," said Ahmadinejad, who often rails against the West.
Iran, Turkey and Pakistan are the founding members of the organization, which was set up in 1985 and now includes seven other regional nations, Afghanistan among them.
The Tehran meeting is expected to discuss ways to boost trade and economic cooperation in a region which boasts major energy resources.
Ahmadinejad made a series of recommendations, including the creation of an ECO development and trade bank and currency cooperation. "The process of obtaining one single currency in the trade and exchanges among members, and in the next stages with other countries and neighbours, should be designed," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
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Lebanon's Minister Nassib Lahoud responded to the attacks of the Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun's during a press conference on Tuesday, by telling the retired general "to stop cheating and misleading the Lebanese people."
Lahoud, who appeared to have had enough with Aoun told reporters : Aoun has reached a new low, which does not suit the Lebanese and the Christian communities.
In response to Aoun's allegations that he was with Saiqa, Lahoud said : " The Lebanese people will decide who is right. Everyone knows that I was never a member of the "Saiqa" organization. I was an adherent to the National Liberal Party not to the 'Saiiqa' as Aoun claimed." He added : "what Aoun said about the issue is fabricated. Let the Lebanese people judge who is the ignorant amongst us." He continued " General [Michel] Aoun's rhetoric is based on rumors. Misleading information cannot fool the Lebanese."
In response to Aoun's attacks against the Church Lahoud said : " Who forgets the campaigns against Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, the Maronite bishops and the Patriarchy?"
" I tell Aoun: Stop fooling and misleading the people, enough forgery, enough cheating . You deceived people too many times and we won't let you cheat them again." He added
With regards to the elections in the Metn , Lahoud said : "I believe that the Lebanese and the Metn residents will abide by the Maronite Patriarchy's recommendations." He added " June 7 would witness the response to General Aoun personally."
Lahoud stressed that : "The March 14 alliance would be unified in the Metn district and a unified list will be announced in the forthcoming weeks."
Lahoud criticized Aoun's campaign style : " Attacks and campaigns are Aoun's style to run in the elections. Aoun's campaigns also targeted prominent journalists, the spirit of the martyrs." Lahoud warned: " We will not remain silent to these attempts."
With regards to Aoun's former ally MP Michel Murr, Lahoud said : "There used to be a disagreement with MP Michel al-Murr in the past, but I previously announced that there are some common points between us."
In response to allegations that March 14 leaders are behind his defeat in 1990 Ladoud responded
" Those responsible for October 13, 1990 are not only those who were present at BIEL on Saturday, but also some were Aoun's allies. I have nothing to do with the Presidential Palace's invasion in Baabda in 1990 as Aoun claimed."
Aoun "should have remembered Oct. 13 during his visit to Damascus," Lahoud proclaimed
For the record on 13 October 1990 Aoun was defeated by the Syrian army and forced into exile. He returned to Lebanon on May 7, 2005, eleven days after the March 14th Cedar Revolution forced the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.
Lahoud concluded: "I remind Aoun that I was within the opposition for 15 years. If he wants to hold me accountable for participating in governance, this would be for the past six months when I became minister of state."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
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Gordon Brown, Britain's prime minister, has said Iran has the right to civil nuclear power, but could face tougher sanctions if it refuses to co-operate with the international community over its atomic programme.
At a nuclear energy conference in London on Tuesday, Brown also revealed he and the United States hope to rid the world of nuclear weapons.
The prime minister said he and Barack Obama, the US president, shared "the ultimate ambition of a world free from nuclear weapons", adding that Britain would reduce its nuclear arsenal if the US and Russia also agree to reductions.
But he said Iran could prove to be key in showing whether countries can share enriched uranium peacefully, as the world tries to become less dependent on fossil fuels to lessen the impact of climate change.
"Iran is a test case for this new philosophy of the right to civil nuclear power with sanctions for rule breakers," Brown said, adding it had "the same absolute right to a peaceful civil nuclear programme as any other country. "Indeed the UK and the international community stand ready to help Iran achieve it."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2009 00:00 ||
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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.
Portuguese police say they have captured more than 7.7 tons (7 metric tonnes) of hashish from Morocco with an estimated street value of more than euro70 million (US$91 million). Six men of British, Belgian and Moroccan nationalities are under arrest. Police said in a statement Tuesday they netted the drug in a series of coordinated operations over three days beginning last weekend. Five boats carrying the hashish were seized in Lisbon and in the southern Algarve region. Police say the arrested men are suspected of belonging to an international drug-smuggling ring.
(RIA Novosti) - Uzbek National Security Forces seized 140 kilograms (309 lbs) of Afghan heroin near the Uzbek-Kazakh border on Tuesday, a security spokesman told RIA Novosti.
A ruling Liberal Democratic Party task force compiled a proposal Tuesday for Japan to impose additional economic sanctions on North Korea in light of lack of progress on the issue of the North''s past abductions of Japanese nationals, party members said. The LDP plans to soon give to Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura the six-point proposal, including a total ban on exports to North Korea and prohibiting foreign crew of ships from landing in Japan if they had a hand in imports and exports between Japan and North Korea.
North Korea has refused to accept food aid from the United States despite facing chronic food shortages, a US state department spokesman has said.
