PARIS (AP) -- France is ready to quadruple its civilian aid to Afghanistan to shore up schools and other nonmilitary institutions -- but is not ready to send any more troops despite U.S. pressure, an official said Thursday.
The new French pledge comes as representatives of 70 nations were meeting in the Netherlands to discuss Afghanistan's future in hopes of creating a new impetus to quash the growing Taliban insurgency.
France will boost its aid this year to Afghanistan's civilian institutions including schools and hospitals to $53 million from the current euro10 million, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier said in Paris on Tuesday. France is seeking to bring its aid to the levels of its European counterparts, he said.
But he reiterated France's resistance to providing more troops. "There is no prospect of increasing our military presence," Chevallier told a news conference. He insisted however that France was not backing off its Afghanistan commitment.
"There is no set date for our withdrawal from Afghanistan," he said. "There is still work to be done."
France's opposition to bigger troops numbers puts it at odds with the United States, which is pouring thousands more troops into the Afghan theater, just as France and Germany are set to host a NATO summit on Friday and Saturday.
President Barack Obama has urged European allies to come up with more firepower for Afghanistan, while France is seeking to use its "flaccid soft power" instead, seeking to build infrastructure and train police.
France has 3,300 troops in Afghanistan. Of those 2,800 are in ISAF, the NATO-led force -- a third of the level of Britain's ISAF troops and one-tenth the size of the American force.
France's envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Pierre Lellouche, was quoted as saying that the French military force would be "reshuffled" after the Afghan presidential elections in August to make it "more robust and more coherent."
He gave no signal however of an increase in troop numbers, and has insisted in the past that they wouldn't been raised. Lellouche was quoted in the daily La Croix as saying Europeans "have not really taken the baton" in Afghanistan because of anger over the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
And tomorrow it will be another excuse ...
Lellouche was quoted as saying the new French aid would go to fighting drugs and encouraging farmers to plant alternative crops to opium poppies.
Kenyan officials have deported hundreds of thousands of Somalis fleeing violence, demanding bribes and inflicting sexual abuse on them, Human Rights Watch said Monday. The refugees'' plight has been aggravated by the 2007 closure of the Kenya-Somalia border and authorities are turning a blind eye to police corruption and abuses.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2009 00:00 ||
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The home ministry probe committee investigating last month''s BDR carnage got 30 more working days to submit its report. This is the fourth time the ministry extended time for the probe body.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2009 00:00 ||
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A woman who wrote a leaflet encouraging people to carry out jihad, or holy war, has been sentenced to a community order at Manchester Crown Court.
Shella Roma, 29, of Oldham, had pleaded guilty to dissemination of a terrorist publication, and received a three-year order, with supervision for two years. Roma was arrested after a photocopy shop employee was alarmed by a document she had produced, and alerted police.
The pamphlet contained an essay, "The Call", encouraging jihad. The eight-page essay mentioned the 9/11 attacks and the war on terror, and repeatedly asked: "Will you go to Jihad (holy war)?" It ended: "Jihad: the choice is yours."
The staff member at the business in Ashton-under-Lyne contacted police, who arrested Roma - a mother-of-one - on 31 January, 2008. Officers searching Roma's home found 137 of the 200 documents that were copied, but the remaining 63 have never been recovered.
Judge Clement Goldstone QC said Roma had "sought to distribute them in two ways, by leaving them in your home for anyone who wanted to help themselves too, and, more significantly, by giving them to your husband to distribute outside the mosque to which normal, practising Muslims had gone to pray".
Det Ch Supt Tony Porter, of the Greater Manchester Police Counter Terrorism Unit, said: "Roma was an isolated, self-motivated person, and not a professional propagandist, but in the hands of vulnerable people, this document could have inspired them to cause harm. This case shows how important it is for people to come forward and report any concerns about suspicious activity."
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says his government isn't considering restoring diplomatic ties with Israel. Chavez told the pan-Arab TV station Al-Jazeera that he would only reconsider the matter if Israel's leaders stop being a "Genocidal elite subordinated to the United States."
Venezuela broke off relations with Israel in January to protest its offensive in the Gaza Strip. The Venezuelan state news agency reported that Al-Jazeera asked Chavez about restoring ties and that Chavez replied: "We haven't thought about that, and nothing is seen on the horizon to re-establish relations."
Clips from the interview were shown Sunday on Venezuelan state TV as Chavez prepared to attend a summit of South American and Arab leaders in Qatar.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2009 00:00 ||
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The U.S. and South Korean intelligence organizations have obtained information North Korea has two nuclear warheads that could be mounted on mid-range Rodong missiles, a senior analyst at an international nongovernmental group said Tuesday. Daniel Pinkston, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, told Kyodo News he got the information from a government official whose country he declined to specify.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
combines with the news that the missles could reach Hawai'i and the fact that the US doesn't plan to do anything about the launch, all I can say is "aloha oi"
#2
Related PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM Artic claims NOKOR has "SEVERAL" WARHEADS FOR ITS RODONGS CAPABLE OF HITTING JAPAN, + that NOKOR doesn't need too many to fundamentally alter the regional equation = balance of power, espec as per psychological deterrance.
(Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) lashed out at a UN human rights resolution condemning its human rights abuses, the official KCNA said on Monday.
The DPRK "resolutely and categorically rejects such 'resolution' cooked up by the charlatans keen to selectively pull up those countries antagonized by their master, while keeping mum about his human rights abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan," a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said.
The resolution adopted at the 10th meeting of the UN Human Rights Council was aimed at achieving a sinister political aim, he said, adding that the DPRK opposed the attempt to breach its sovereignty under the name of human rights.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Too bad Kimmie. Guess you'll have to covert to Islam to get off the hook.
Two US journalists detained in North Korea are to face trial on charges of illegal entry and hostile acts, a state-run news agency has reported.
Euna Lee, a Korean-American, and Laura Ling, a Chinese-American, were seized along the Chinese border on March 17. The two journalists were working for Current TV, an online media company run by Al Gore, the former US vice-president, when they were detained.
"The illegal entry of US reporters into the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] and their suspected hostile acts have been confirmed by evidence and their statements," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Tuesday.
So the 'smart diplomacy' that Bambi brought to Washington hasn't unclenched the Nork fists ...
The KCNA report did not specify what was meant by "hostile acts" and did not say when they might appear in court. "The organ is carrying on its investigation and, at the same time, making a preparation for indicting them at a trial on the basis of the already confirmed suspicions," it said.
The US said on Monday that a Swedish envoy acting on behalf of Washington had visited the two journalists, but gave no details of their condition.
Were the two reporters just being stoopid when they were captured, or were they lured over to the Nork side of the border? It's an awfully convenient time for the Norks to pinch two Americans.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I'd put it on reporters being stupid. They were liberals, and undoubtedly thought they were surrounded by a golden halo of "I'm an American". They're probably cursing the US government now for doing nothing to help, ha ha.
#5
Some reports I've read are that they were on Chinese territory when the NorKs grabbed them.
At any rate, Kimmie's got his human shields to ensure America won't do jack shit when he fires his whatever next week.
A person more cynical than myself might entertain the possibility that these two journos were dispatched specifically to get caught and for that precise purpose, but I am probably not quite that cynical.
A person that would be about as skeptical as myself, however, would certainly question the timing.
#7
Send in an extraction team- model it after the Unit episode where Jonas and the boyz swoop in by submarine to extract...drumroll, this time.......the ladeez.
That could make for some really journalishy journalism.
Bottom line though, is that Norks shouldnt be phunking with Americans, no matter what their politics. God, I hate North Korea.
#8
Whoa I just hada crazy idea! Create an A-Team: Commander: JF Kerry
XO: John Murtha
Weapons: Al (1k yard stare) Gore
Intel: Valerie Plame
Driver: Teddy (waterboard) Kennedy
Add more if you can think of them.....
They should be able to rescue those poor women.
This reports is from Serbianna, a partisan pro-Serbian site. Take with as many grains of salt as necessary.
Former al-Qaeda officer and a one time member of the Bosnian Muslim Army, Ali Hamad has been deported today to his native Bahrain. Ali Hamad will be escorted with officers from the Service with dealings with foreigners to Bahrain, said Dragan Mektic from that service.
Serbia was recently interested in Ali Hamads testimony in regards to the atrocities the al-Qaeda units and the Bosnian Muslim Army units committed against Serbs. Last year, Hamad was willing to trade his testimony about those atrocities for an asylum in Serbia.
In 1998 Hamad and two other Muslims planned a terror attack in Mostar for which he was convicted and jailed for 12 years. While in jail, Hamad wrote a book, In the Network of Evil, where he describes in great detail how he became the top al-Qaeda officer dispatched to Bosnia to wage Jihad on behalf of Bosnian Muslims.
Ali Hamad testified at the war crimes court against the Bosnian Muslim general Rasim Delic where he described that the al-Qaeda units were under the direct control of the Bosnian Muslim government. At that time, current Bosnian Muslim presidency member Haris Silajdzic was in government, and Serbia has recently issued a warrant for his arrest.
Meanwhile, the constitutional court in Bosnia has rejected the deportation of another Bosnian Muslim al-Qaeda officer, Imad al Hussein known as Abu Hamza. The court ruled that Abu Hamza must stay in Bosnia until a lower court rules in line with the constitutional court that declared Abu Hamzas deportation a violation of human rights. Abu Hamza is wanted in Syria for terrorism and claims that being deported there would violate his human rights because Syria will torture him.
While in Bosnia, Abu Hamza was part of the Bosnian Muslim Army and committed atrocities against Serbs and Croats. Hamza claims that US wanted him to go to Kosovo to organize the al-Qaeda among Albanians but after a brief visit he left that job to another al-Qaeda member. Abu Hamza is married to a local Bosnian Muslim woman.
As the only Muslim member of NATO and a candidate to join the EU, Turkey has come to be seen as a bridge between East and West held up by Washington as a shining example of how Islam is compatible with modern democracy. But as U.S. President Barack Obama prepares to come here next week in a trip some herald as a milestone in ties, Turkish leaders are grappling with a formidable challenge: radical Islamic groups preaching jihad and vowing to unravel Turkey's democratic achievements.
The conundrum is twofold: A real threat from Muslim radicals intent on destabilizing the government, and the perception by many that by cracking down, Turkey is betraying the very democratic principles that have helped win it much trust and acceptance in the West. Listening to the radicals, it's easy to fathom Turkey's difficulties.
Yilmaz Celik, a spokesman for the shadowy radical Islamist group Hizb-ut Tahrir, was released from prison last month after serving a five-month sentence on terrorism charges. He says he despises the U.S., finds the "Alliance of Civilizations" conference Obama is attending a joke, and believes Turkey's moderate, Islamist-leaning leadership is a stooge of the West.
But while Celik explicitly urges Islamic nations to wage jihad to "liberate" Muslims and laces his rhetoric with venom, he insists his group does not itself support or carry out terror attacks. "We're full of grudges and hatred against the United States and Britain for exporting their ideology and giving 'soft messages' to deceive the Islamic world, for example in the shape of an olive branch to Iran," said Celik, whose group has attracted a following in dozens of countries.
Celik accuses the United States of waging what he said a "fourth crusade" against the Muslims. "For us, neither (former U.S. president George W.) Bush nor Obama is any different. They are given the same mission. When you look from the outside, Obama might be using a softer language," Celik said. "But Obama is certainly not sincere." Celik said Obama's arrival in Turkey is aimed at "strengthening the United States' influence in Muslim lands through soft messages."
Turkey and Germany are among countries that ban Hizb-ut Tahrir, but others such as Britain, Australia and the United States see no hard evidence of terrorist activity and just monitor it closely. Washington sees Turkey as a key player in its fight against terrorism. As such, it appears inclined to give implicit backing to the Turkish government's anti-terror strategy even though it doesn't itself ban groups like Hizb-ut Tahrir.
Some activists say the government has gone too far in its crackdown on radical Muslim groups. "The state has no right to ban any group which is not involved in violence, whether it is an Islamic or Marxist one," said Ayhan Kucuk of the Mazlum-Der, an Islamic-oriented human rights organization in Turkey. "Otherwise, it must prove that they pose a security threat."
Celik, the official spokesman of the Turkey branch of Hizb-ut Tahrir, or Liberation Party, said the only way to liberate Muslims from the thoughts, systems and laws of nonbelievers is to create a global Islamic state and resurrect the Caliphate to govern with strict Islamic rule, or Shariah. "We're calling on armies and leaders of Islamic countries to wage jihad against forces that have seized the lands of Islam in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Chechnya," said Celik, released from prison on Feb. 20 after being convicted of attempting to overthrow the secular republic and replace it with an Islamic state.
Celik, 40, still faces trial on terror-related charges in five separate cases and could be imprisoned again. He has served a total of 2 1/2 years in prison on different occasions since 2003. He insists his group does not advocate terrorism.
"Hizb-ut Tahrir does not believe that the group itself, as an organization, should commit violence or terrorism," James Brandon of the Quilliam Foundation, a research center in London, wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "However, it believes that if individual Muslims want to carry out attacks of defensive jihad, for instance in Iraq or Afghanistan, then they should be allowed to do so."
Some experts say the group has tens of thousands of supporters around the world. Turkish police accelerated a crackdown on the group after it held a demonstration in 2005. Celik says he does not post a sign outside his office because he knows the police will tear it down.
The group's Turkish members were not swayed by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's scolding of Israeli President Shimon Peres at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland over the killings of civilians in Gaza. Celik's deputy, Haluk Ozdogan, described the incident as "a mere tactic to raise the profile of moderate Islamists at the cost of deviating from the purity of Islam."
TORONTO -- A court decision Monday upholding a ban on George Galloway from entering the country amid allegations he engaged in terrorist acts will see the British MP deliver speeches to Canadian audiences via a live video link from New York. We could ban him too, couldn't we?
Following the Federal Court ruling, organizers of Mr. Galloway's now aborted speaking tour said the maverick politician would not attempt to enter Canada. "We're not interested in doing anything illegal whatsoever," said James Clark, a peace activist and one of the speaking tour's organizers. "Our expectations were such that we were already implementing Plan B, which was to make sure that he can still deliver the speech from a live broadcast."
Mr. Galloway had been set to visit Toronto on Monday, the first of four scheduled speaking engagements in Canada.
The Canada Border Services Agency advised Mr. Galloway, in a letter dated March 20, that he had been deemed inadmissible to Canada on the grounds he allegedly engaged in terrorist activities. The MP has denied such links although he has openly voiced support for the Palestinian cause and was part of a group that delivered financial and other assistance to Gaza.
Mr. Galloway and supporters asked Federal Court on Sunday for an emergency injunction allowing him to come, pending the possibility of a judicial review of the government's position.
However, Justice Luc Martineau ruled Monday he was not in a position to allow Mr. Galloway into the country although he did say there were "serious issues to be tried" if the judicial review occurs. "The arguments raised by the applicants are not frivolous or vexatious," Martineau ruled. "However, a proper factual record and the benefit of full legal argument . . . are lacking at the present time."
The decision represented a "partial victory" in that the court did recognize there was a serious issue at stake, Mr. Clark said.
"We want to pursue and examine all the questions that have come up about how and why the (border agency) preemptorily issued this ruling of inadmissibility to Mr. Galloway," Mr. Clark said.
Mr. Galloway planned to deliver his speeches to Toronto, Mississauga, Ont., Montreal and Ottawa this week from a studio in New York City.
In the letter to Mr. Galloway, the government said he had given $45,000 to Hamas, which is a banned terrorist organization in Canada. His supporters say Mr. Galloway had given money to the head of the government in Gaza but not to the head of Hamas, even though they are the same person. What a buncha idiots...
#3
Yep, I agree, deny entry to the Uk if the fok tries to get back in.
For Besoeker and Glenmore, this...
email -- dawie, Fri, 27 Mar 2009, 5:35:46 just too busy here staying alive chinas. west of joberg there was a 20 strong armed robbery they working in platoon force now should get to company level soon.
#5
Send him to Gaza. Muslims do not take kindly to male kafirs who marry their own. He could be murdered for marrying a paleo woman. And the wife would get the same.
#6
Eight of the buggers are dead. Two policemen killed, possibly Scorpions. It was a Pick'n Pay (supermarket) heist in the Gauteng area gone bad. Armed with AK's Details HERE.
A ransom offered by the Pakistan government for the release of a Canadian woman kidnapped by the Taliban more than four months ago has been rejected, sources close to the negotiations say. Failure of officials to gain the release of Beverly Giesbrecht, a West Vancouver woman who also calls herself Khadija Abdul Qahaar, has raised fears that she might not survive captivity much longer. She has said she would be decapitated if a settlement wasn't made by today. Go ahead and chop her had off. She's on their side anyway.
"Khadija's rapidly deteriorating health may render any negotiation meaningless. You can't abuse a frail, elderly woman indefinitely without consequence," Glen Cooper, a long-time friend of hers in British Columbia, said yesterday in a brief statement. Mr. Cooper said Ms. Giesbrecht, 53, has looked frail and exhausted in two videos that have been released by the Taliban since she was seized at gunpoint in the Bannu region of northern Pakistan, in November. In one of those videos she says her health is deteriorating, she has pneumonia and needs to go to hospital.
According to two sources, one a Taliban spokesman and the other a tribal elder who has been negotiating for the release of Ms. Giesbrecht, the recent ransom offer by the local Pakistan administration was rejected by the kidnappers as "too little to be considered." Although Pakistan government officials in the volatile North Waziristan tribal area where she is being held have refused to acknowledge the ransom offer, the sources confirmed "some money" has been offered.
Earlier this month the Taliban asked for $375,000 (U.S.) to secure the release of Ms. Giesbrecht and two Pakistani assistants who were kidnapped with her. In a video that was released a few weeks ago, and in a recent telephone call to The Globe and Mail, Ms. Giesbrecht said she would be killed she wasn't released by the end of this month.
Backed by the local government administration, a three-member tribal committee has been shuttling between the kidnappers and the administration to try to broker her release. The Canadian embassy in Islamabad has been working behind the scenes with Pakistani authorities. "We are in contact with all the concerned Pakistani authorities. And it is the prime responsibility of the host country to protect the lives and properties of guests," said an official of the Canadian embassy who asked not to be identified. An official with the local government administration in North Waziristan said they were "making all out efforts to get her out from their [Taliban] captivity at every cost."
Ms. Giesbrecht, publisher of a pro-Islamic website, Jihad Unspun, went to Pakistan last summer to conduct research as a freelance journalist. Her visa application in Canada was supported by two letters from Al-Jazeera television, verifying she was doing freelance work for the network. In a video message released by her captors, she said she was seized at gunpoint when she returned to the Bannu region of Pakistan to pick up some antique coins from a local man who wanted them sold in England.
She was kidnapped by gunmen who reportedly work for the Taliban commander, Gul Bahadur. A close aide of Mr. Bahadur told The Globe and Mail he would request a deadline extension in order to continue negotiations over the size of the payment. "But one thing, which I want to make clear is that they [Taliban] are serious," said Qari, who asked to be identified by one name only. "They [the Pakistani and Canadian government] demonstrate stubbornness to pay ransom and get her released," he said. "Now we will reciprocate with the same attitude."
#1
A close aide of Mr. Bahadur told The Globe and Mail he would request a deadline extension in order to continue negotiations over the size of the payment. "But one thing, which I want to make clear is that they [Taliban] are serious," said Qari, who asked to be identified by one name only. "They [the Pakistani and Canadian government] demonstrate stubbornness to pay ransom and get her released," he said. "Now we will reciprocate with the same attitude."
#2
Keep her. In one piece or two, doesn't matter. Keep her
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/31/2009 10:11 Comments ||
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#3
"They [the Pakistani and Canadian government] demonstrate stubbornness to pay ransom and get her released," he said. "Now we will reciprocate with the same attitude."
Fine with me. Enjoy the Islamic comradeship, hon...
#6
The US should offer to pay it - in pennies, dropped by a pair of B-52s. Drop 'em from 40,000 feet over any NWFP town of the terrorists' choice. The terminal velocity of a copper penny from 40k is about the same as the velocity of an AK-47 round at 50 feet. They'll spread out over quite an area, and do some serious damage to crops, livestock, people, and structures. It's kind of difficult to drive a vehicle that's been hit with about 40¢ worth of pennies.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/31/2009 16:36 Comments ||
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#7
See ya next week and we'll do this all over again...
Vancouver woman said she'd be beheaded today, but Taliban militants holding her give authorities until April 5 to pay ransom
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN The Islamic militants holding a Canadian hostage in the Afghan-Pakistani border region have extended the deadline for their ransom demands to be met, according to an associate of the Taliban commander thought to be in control of her.
"But there will be no more extension in the deadline," said Qari, a close associate of Taliban commander Gul Bahadur, who asked to be identified by one name only. "They [the Taliban] are serious," he told The Globe and Mail today.
In a video released last month, West Vancouver resident Beverly Giesbrecht, 53, said her captors would behead her if their demands for $350,000 (U.S.) weren't met by the end of March. She was seized at gunpoint in the Bannu region of northern Pakistan in November.
The local government in the Pakistani region where we was captured offered the captors a lower amount in exchange for her release, but that was rejected as "too little to be considered," according to the Taliban source and a tribal elder negotiating her release.
When asked what her captors would do if they did not get an increased ransom offer by the new deadline, Qari said: "In this case, the old ransom offer will be considered by our shura [meeting of leaders], which will decide her fate once and for all."
NEW DELHI: The Army is geared up for skirmishes in the digitised battlefield as well. The force is quite confident that its information systems are quite "secure'' from hostile strikes in the backdrop of China-based hacker groups increasingly mounting attacks on computer networks across the globe.
"We have put in place a very secure network and I can confidently say that it cannot be tampered with,'' said signal officer-in-chief Lt-General P Mohapatra on Monday. He's just asking for it.
#1
Nah, it's possible to build a pretty secure network if you know what you're doing, and listen to the right people. The US unfortunately has far too much politics involved when making computer security decisions, so our networks leak like a sieve, and in the next big shooting war, our cruisers are all going to come to a stop at the same time while staring at garbage on their computer screens.
#2
Whenever I call hardware or software support for some problem I'm having--I don't get some guy or gal in the States, I get some guy or gal with an anglicized name in India.
President Obama plans to propose spending roughly $2.8 billion in aid for the Pakistani military, as he steps up the U.S.-led campaign to battle extremists along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. That money would be in addition to the civilian aid -- $1.5 billion a year for five years -- that the president called for Friday.
A defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told FOX News the money will be dedicated exclusively to "equipping, training, and building infrastructure directly related to counterinsurgency operations." Gen. David Petraeus told FOX News in an interview Monday the plan will be called the "Pakistani Counterinsurgency Capability Fund".
Officials were quick to point out that U.S. commanders would have control over how the money is spent, and that none of it would be spent in a way that would give Pakistan a greater capacity to attack another country, such as India.
The money would be distributed over five years, with the first $400 million of it added to the fiscal year 2009 supplemental request for war fighting. Another $700 million would be in the fiscal 2010 base budget. Then $575 million would be spent each year from fiscal 2011 through 2013.
#3
It would make a hell of a lot more sense to give it to Americans, 300 million citizens divide into 208 billion that divides out to .0093 million per citizen, or about 9 thousand each,
Order a price freezem to stave off wild inflation, award each CITIZEN 9 grand, and watch the economy surge, most will put it in banks. Instant solvency, spend some (Not all) and BOOM instant prosperity.But without a price freze, also instant inflation.
There's two in my family, so 18 grand means a new car, a shopping run on Walmart (Stock the pantry) and some in the bank to live on.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/31/2009 11:40 Comments ||
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#4
Officials were quick to point out that U.S. commanders would have control over how the money is spent
Just no more complete control. Senator Kerrys wheelin-n-dealin has already signaled that the Paks will have much greater autonomy on how the money is distributed. Which is just fine with him based on his lifelong proxy engagement philosophy. Who says bribes cant be renegotiated?
The U.S. military will reserve the "right of last resort" to take out threats inside Pakistan, but it would prefer to enable the Pakistani military to do the job itself, Gen. David Petraeus said Monday in an exclusive interview with a US television channel.
The commander of U.S. Central Command was interviewed as the Obama administration prepares to step up the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Asked about lingering concerns that Pakistan is not fully on board, Petraeus told media that the U.S. military is putting "additional focus" on rooting out ties between Pakistan''''s intelligence service and the Taliban.
One incident of obvious cooperation between the Pakistani intelligence community and extremists has already been uncovered, he said. "There is a case in the past year or so that we think was unambiguous. There appears to have been a warning prior to a Pakistani operation," Petraeus said.
But he said trust between the two countries will be key as President Obama seeks more Pakistani cooperation and calls for billions in aid to the country.
"I think we are building that kind of trust. And that''''s the way I think is the best description for that. And it''''s hugely important that that trust be built," Petraeus said, pointing to "gradually increasing intelligence sharing" among Afghan, Pakistani and U.S. forces along the border.
Obama, in unveiling his regional plan for Afghanistan and Pakistan on Friday, said the U.S. will "insist that action be taken, one way or another, when we have intelligence about high-level terrorist targets."
He added on Sunday that "we''''re going after" such targets, though the U.S. will need to work with Pakistan''''s government to do so. He did not specifically say U.S. troops could be sent into the country.
Asked about the president''''s comments, Petraeus signaled that all options would be on the table.
"I think we would never give up, if you will, the right of last resort if we assess something as a threat to us, noting that what we want to do is enable the Pakistanis, help them, assist them to deal with the problem that we now think, and their leaders certainly now think, represents the most important existential threat to their country, not just to the rest of the world," he said.
The Pakistanis have expressed frustration over unmanned U.S. drone strikes to take out terrorist targets inside their border.
But Petraeus said the U.S. is mindful of perceptions in the region.
"It''''s hugely important that we be seen as good neighbors, as friends, certainly fierce warriors who will go after the enemy and stay after them -- but also as individuals who try to avoid civilian casualties whenever possible and are seen again as supporting the people and trying to help them achieve a better life," Petraeus said, specifically referring to the fight on the Afghan side of the border.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Reading between the lines. This is cover for a reduction or elimination of drone strikes in Pakland.
All credit to the Bush administrations arm twisting that allowed them to continue as long as they did. They were deeply unpopular in Pakland and not to mention an act of war on a sovereign state.
#2
They were deeply unpopular in Pakland and not to mention an act of war on a sovereign state.
Hague Convention of 1907 - "a neutral country has the obligation not to allow its territory to be used by a belligerent. If the neutral country is unwilling or unable to prevent this, the other belligerent has the right to take appropriate counteraction."
Pakistan is allowing its territory to be used for belligerent actions in Afghanistan, a sovereign state, and could be indeed construed as an act of war.
#5
Sovereignty is not invocable where a state is harboring belligerents that act against another country. I believe that a majority of Punjabis would support US operations against Pak based Pashtuns. And the rest of the ethnics do not matter.
#6
Nothing will be resolved as long as there is still a "Pakistan". The United States and India need to form a joint strike command, and take out the Pakistani nukes and military. It would all be over in about two weeks, with the Pak army shredded, the US in Rawalpindi and India in Lahore. China may bitch and scream, but they're not going to go to war over Pakistan (neither will anyone else, except maybe Bangladesh, and that would be suicide). With Afghanistan (US proxy) on the west bank of the Indus and India on the right bank, a lot of long-term problems would be eliminated, including 400,000+ fake passports.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/31/2009 16:44 Comments ||
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#7
Good plan OP. Only problem would be the outrage over putting the entire Pak population to the sword, which exactly what would be required.
(APP): Interior Advisor Rehman Malik Monday said that perpetrators of Manawan Police Training Center terrorist attack wanted to destabilize the country to portray its negative image abroad. In a telephonic interview to a private television channel after the successful completion of operation at the Police Training Center the Adviser said that a number of terrorists have been arrested in the operation. He said that 4 of the terrorists were killed during the operation while the rest have been nabbed by the law enforcing agencies.
The first terrorist arrested was a 19‑20 year old pushto speaking youth who is being interrogated now, he said.
He said that some of the terrorists were dressed in police uniform and the investigation is going on to know the exact number of the gang who have been arrested.
There number would become public very soon, he added.
He said a high level investigation team has already been formed which has been given three days' time to probe the incident.
As a number of terrorists have been arrested , their investigation would help reach the masterminds whosoever they are, he said.
To a question the Adviser said the investigators of the Sri Lankan Team attack incident have gathered valuable information about the terrorists but at the time details cannot be made public.
He said apparently the method of Monday's attack was different than that on the Sri Lankan Team but real facts would come on surface after the investigation.
Rehman Malik said that whosoever the terrorist are, one thing is clear that they are playing in the hands of Pakistan's enemy who want to create instability in the country.
To another question the Advisor said that earlier the Police force in the country was not trained to deal with the terrorist attacks' phenomena adding but the President and the Prime Minister have taken the initiative under which 100,000 trained personnel would be given to each province to deal in this menace.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Ending a four-month suspense over legal representation to the lone surviving Mumbai attacker, Mohammad Ajmal Amir, the special sessions court on Monday appointed Anjali Waghmare his lawyer.
Judge M.L. Tahaliyani announced her name, from the legal aid panel list, to Ajmal via videoconferencing. The accused will get to meet his lawyer on April 6 during the next hearing in the Arthur Road jail here.
Introducing her to Ajmal, Mr. Tahaliyani said: "She is your lawyer, Mrs. Anjali Waghmare." To this, Ajmal gave an acknowledging smile. The judge told the terrorist that the defence lawyer was well versed in English and Marathi and would explain the charge sheet to him. Therefore, there was no need for Urdu translation, which Ajmal demanded earlier. "You can brief her when you are produced in court."
An overwhelmed Ms. Waghmare told journalists that she expected the court's decision. "I am confident. I am an Indian. I know what I am doing for the people."
Ms. Waghmare said appointing a lawyer for Ajmal was a legal requirement for the case to proceed. It was also the government's decision. "So, my role is as good as representing the government."
Despite past attacks on lawyers who expressed a willingness to take up Ajmal's case, Ms. Waghmare denied that she had any concerns over her safety. "The citizens, my Mumbaikars and Maharashtrians understand the situation. I am also among them. I want them to support me. I am sure people will extend their cooperation and allow the trial to run smoothly."
According to Ms. Waghmare, there were seven lawyers on the legal aid panel. None else turned up in court on time. Ms. Waghmare has been practising in Mumbai since 1996 and has appeared briefly for a 1993 Mumbai blast accused Karimulla. In the November 26, 2008 Mumbai attack case, she will be assisted by a junior lawyer as the charge sheet runs into 11, 280 pages. While no order on the junior lawyer has come so far, she has named K.P. Pawar.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba
KARACHI: Inspector General Sindh police (IGP) Sallahuddin Babar Khatak has ordered to put security on high alert across Sindh province late on Monday after the terrorist attack on Police Training Center in Manawan.
The orders were passed during a high level meeting chaired by IGP himself here at Central Police Office.
According to the security measures, police colleges, police lines, headquarters and police training centers have been equipped with heavy troops for security.
He ordered of stringent search of people coming and exiting from police training centers and headquarters.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
The political administration of the Khyber Agency, while holding neighbouring country responsible for the Jamrud suicide blast and other terrorist activities, has said foreign countries were providing financial and logistic support to the local militants.
Addressing a press conference at the Frontier Corps Forte in Jamrud on Monday, Political Agent Khyber Agency Tariq Hayat Khan and Brigadier Frontier Corps Fayaz Qamar briefed media persons about the Jamrud operation and the current situation in the area.
The heavy and small arms recovered from the militants, light artillery, mortar guns, huge cache of hashish and explosive material with an Indian insignia was put on display. Apart from displaying Indian origin explosive material and 30 tonnes of hashish, the authorities also exhibited light machine guns, light artillery, Kalashnikovs, rocket launchers, mortar guns, cartridges and shells.
According to the officials, the operation would continue till the last militant and anti-state element was flushed out of the area, adding that the security personnel were equipped with all types of weapons.
During the operation 39 saboteurs were apprehended and many houses were razed to ground.
Tariq Hayat said the operation was launched for the stability and protection of the country and vowed that it would continue till the objective was achieved. He asked the militants to lay down arms or fight openly adding that the militants were supported by neighbouring country and they were being used for their vested interest and were taking the country towards destruction.
"The weapons taken from their custody was clear evidence of the fact that these militants were working for foreign elements," he added.
Tariq Hayat said some important militants were arrested by security forces and investigation was underway. However, he added that nothing could be said about these suspected elements at this stage as this was premature and could affect the operation.
He said according to the report of the laboratory experts and other investigation agencies it was a suicide attack in which 56 people were killed. Moreover, he vowed to bring perpetrators to justice saying that it was the worst example of barbarism and cruelty wherein innocent people were targeted.
According to the investigation of our technical experts, the incident was planned by Taliban and the neighbouring country was its perpetrator, he said. Tariq Hayat said the administration has evidence about the perpetrators of Jamrud suicide blast, adding that unfortunately they were made puppets in foreign hands.
Brigadier Fayaz Qamar said the calls of Taliban commander Nazeer were tapped during which he inquired about the number of dead in the incident. He said the house of commander Nazeer has been demolished and efforts were underway to arrest him. Brig Fayaz said the Pak-Afghan road was completely safe for travel, adding that the lives of innocent people were made safe due to this operation purging the area of suspected militants.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
The Lahore High Court Bar Association has condemned the terrorist attack at the Manawan Police Training Centre, saying some foreign powers do not want Pakistan getting political and economic stability.
In a statement, LHCBA Secretary Muqtadir Akhter Shabbir called for holding an All Parties Conference to reframe counter terror strategy and press on the US to immediately stop drone attacks.
He said foreign elements behind the Manawan attack to push Pakistan into chaos and destruction. He stressed the need for forging unity to defeat the conspiracies. He said lawyers wanted the authorities to find out causes behind the terror attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Monday's terrorist attack on the Manawa Police Training School in Lahore was part of the pressure tactics used by the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), led by Baitullah Mehsud, to secure release of eight of its militants arrested after the assault on the Sri Lankan cricket team earlier this month.
"It was the third attack as part of the TTP campaign to press the government for the release of eight of its members who were arrested in connection with the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team on March 3," a Peshawar-based security official told this correspondent over the telephone.
"Earlier, two attacks were launched by the TTP - one on a mosque in Khyber Agency and the other on a police office in Sitara Market of Islamabad - as part of the same campaign," said the official who wished not to be named.
The source disclosed that 20 attackers, aged between 18 and 20 years, were sent to Islamabad and Lahore by the TTP following the arrest of its members. Apparently, he said, the suicide bombers had been tasked with targeting the Punjab police.
The assault on the Police Training School on the outskirts of Lahore led to an eight-hour joint operation by police, Rangers and army, which ended in the arrest of four terrorists and killing of another four.
"Intelligence outfits have also received a report about the possibility of an attack on the Police Training College in Hangu district of the NWFP.
The college high-ups were informed by various intelligence agencies during the past two weeks of a possible terrorist strike," the official revealed. "The terrorist have so far failed to attack the Hangu Police College but they did it in Lahore," he remarked.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: TTP
#1
Why does South and Noth Waristan not get bombed by the Pakis/Nato and teach these feckers a lesson not to mess with Nato/Pak Army!!!!
#2
Because we can't risk killing any baby harp seals that might be there.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2009 9:54 Comments ||
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#3
My comment on the dastardly attack on the police training school is that the taliban is all set to attack the Urban areas in the pakistan.. which is of great concern as to take control of the pakistan they have to dismantle the civic fabric and the institutions of lahore, Islamabad and karachi. The NWFP is almost in their kitty and sindh is too poor in resources and as well as intellectually to resist.Once the elitist areas are hit and the chaos is spread the task would be easy.As a neighbour i am concerned and pity the pakistan as it the same frankenstein which they resurrected against india which now has turned on them.
An international conference on Afghanistan to be held this week is a sign the world is still interested in the country, Richard Holbrooke, special US envoy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, said on Monday.
Talking to reporters here, he said the men who planned 9/11, who attacked London or Madrid, who killed Benazir Bhutto and attacked the hotels in Mumbai were still in western Pakistan planning further attacks. "The Taliban are their protective cordon."
The meeting in The Hague on Tuesday (today) is a "signal that the world hasn't forgotten Afghanistan and now acknowledges that Pakistan is part of the issue," Holbrooke said.
He was speaking at a joint press conference with Dutch Foreign Minister Maxine Verhagen after the two had met for talks.
"It is also a message to the extremists... that they can give up," Verhagen added.
About 90 states and international organisations involved in Afghanistan will be present at the conference, being held under the auspices of the United Nations.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrived in the Netherlands on Monday, the Dutch foreign ministry reported. Among those also attending will be US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Muhammad Mehdi Akhoundzadeh.
"The presence of Iran here is obvious," said Holbrooke. "How can we talk about Afghanistan and exclude a boundary neighbouring state? This is absolutely clear, the most logical thing in the world."
But he would not say whether there would be contacts between the US and Iran. "We will see, I can't predict... this is a work in progress."
Holbrooke said the conference marked the transition from the policy formulation phase to the policy implementation phase, following US President Barack Obama's announcement of his new strategy for Afghanistan on Friday. The conference "is already a success," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
#1
Iran may be the next on the hit list for a terror plot? I thought surely they would be safe from these killers... G*D willing - innocents everywhere will be spared from the wickedness of International Terror ®
#3
ION WORLD MILITARY FORUM > IIUC THE DAY THE WAR AGZ ISLAMIST MILITANCY ENDS IN AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN, WILL BE THE DAY ISLAMIST MILITANCY BEGINS IN CHINA AND XINJIANG PROVINCE [China destabilization-breakup]???
Interior Adviser Rehman Malik has said an Afghan involved in attack on the police training centre at Manawan has been arrested, and involvement of foreign hand in the incident cannot be ruled out.
The adviser disclosed this while addressing a press conference at the headquarters of Pakistan Rangers (Punjab) on Monday. Director-General, Pakistan Rangers (Punjab) Maj-Gen Yaqub Khan, Punjab IG Khwaja Khalid Farooq and Lahore CCPO Habibur Rehman were also present on the occasion.
Rehman said six policemen lost their lives in the attack whereas two more bodies have been recovered, one of which has yet to be identified.
He said it has been revealed during preliminary investigation that the terrorist, a Pashto speaking Afghan national who couldn't speak Urdu, arrested by the forces, belongs to Paktika province of Afghanistan and was living in a rented house in Lahore.
He said the terrorists involved in Monday's incident have links to the tribal areas, particularly South Waziristan where the entire planning of the incident had been done.
"Foreign hand may be behind the attack," said Rehman Malik while answering a question about the involvement of foreign hand in the Manawan incident. However, detailed results would come during next three days.
Earlier, during his visit to Manawan, Rehman Malik, while talking to the media, said having failed in their activities in Fata, the terrorists have turned to other cities of Pakistan. He said the operation against the terrorists was successful due to the assistance of security forces and the soldiers deserved all praise. To a query about the attack on the Sri Lankan team, Rehman Malik said the investigation into the matter has been completed and the report would come to surface soon.
Agencies add: Meanwhile, Malik told a private TV channel that the terror strike in Lahore was similar to the Nov 26 carnage in Mumbai. He said Pakistan has been hit by a "wave of terrorism", adding the terrorists were trained and "used terror as a weapon". Malik admitted the police training centre was not secure and was not designed to prevent terror strikes. "New buildings will have enhanced security."
Talking to Geo News channel, he said security has been put on high alert across the country and more contingents of Rangers have been sent to Manawan. The incident is part of the terror wave which has begun from the NWFP.
In a telephonic interview to another television channel after successful completion of operation at the police training centre, he said a number of terrorists have been arrested in the operation. He said four of the terrorists were killed during the operation while the rest have been nabbed by the law enforcement agencies.
He said some terrorists were dressed in police uniform and the investigation is going on to know exact number of the gang. Their number would become public very soon, he added.
He said a high-level investigation team has already been formed. As a number of terrorists have been arrested, their interrogation would help reach the masterminds, he said.
To a question, the adviser said the investigators of the Sri Lankan team attack incident have gathered valuable information about terrorists but at the time details cannot be made public. He said the method of Monday's attack was different from that on the Sri Lankan team, but facts would come on surface after the investigation.
Meanwhile, the interior advisor visited the Services hospital to inquire after the injured. Talking to newsmen on the occasion, Rehman said Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani would soon announce a compensation package for the martyrs and injured. "The media should not guess about the incident of Manawan terrorist attack and we will present preliminary report about the incident in three days," he said.
"We had information that the terrorist could attack police installations and information was passed to the quarters concerned," he said, adding law enforcement agencies were alert and had reached the spot within no time after they were called to counter the terror incident.
The adviser said 95 policemen and two passers-by were injured while a suicide jacket was also recovered. He said three terrorists blew themselves. He said the president and the prime minister have approved sanctioning of 25,000 officials with best possible training to face acts of terrorism in every province. He said the injured will not be discharged from hospitals before their complete identification, so as to arrest the terrorists, if any, among them.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
DOHA: Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi stormed out of an Arab summit on Monday after denouncing the Saudi king for his long ties to the West.
Gadhafi disrupted the opening Arab League session in Qatar by taking a microphone and criticising Saudi's King Abdullah, calling him a "British product and American ally".
Gadhafi has harboured a grudge against Abdullah since exchanging harsh words during a summit in early 2003 shortly before the US-led invasion of Iraq. "Now after six years, it has proved that you were the liar," Gadhafi said, adding that he now considered their "problem" over and was ready to reconcile.
But when the emir of Qatar tried to quiet Gadhafi, the Libyan leader insisted on speaking to the summit. "I am an international leader, the dean of the Arab rulers, the king of kings of Africa and the imam (leader) of Muslims and my international status does not allow me to descend to a lower level," Gadhafi said before getting up and walking out of the hall.
A Libyan delegate said Gadhafi went to the Islamic museum in Doha for a tour.
Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir won strong support against his international arrest warrant over Darfur from an Arab summit on Monday that also warned Israel that an Arab peace offer was not open-ended. While Sudan emerged with the most gains, a surprise tirade by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi against Saudi King Abdullah.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan
#1
Yep, that was a real surprise.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
03/31/2009 10:40 Comments ||
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#2
Qadafi sort of apologized today.
Also, Mubarak didn't show up at all as he is angry with the Qutaris for being too pro-Hamas.
People in the Iraqi city of Basra fear the US troops taking over from departing British forces, whose relatively light touch contrasts with the US military's fearsome, and sometimes trigger-happy, reputation.
Those interviewed in Iraq's second city said British forces understood Iraq better, given Britain drew up and ran modern Iraq early in the 20th century, and that British troops had treated them relatively well since they invaded in 2003.
"The British have studied Iraq and understand our culture and religion. Americans kill and do what they want. We've seen the British get attacked ... but they respect the citizen, and do not fire back randomly," said student Uday Jaffer.
Iraqi forces are responsible for security in the south, but Britain has been helping with training and other support. British soldiers are a common sight in Basra.
"We hope that the US forces are like the British. There is fear unfortunately ... We've all seen Vietnam war films. Their military operations are frightful," said Abdul Aali al-Moussawi, one of Basra's respected Shia clerics.
Some 850 US military police have been in Basra since August training Iraqi police, but they are little noticed.
So don't let facts dispel your fears, Abdul ...
US Major General Michael Oates, who from yesterday will command US and British troops in all of Iraq's nine southern provinces, said the people of Basra had nothing to fear. "We don't have a more heavy-handed approach ... There's a misperception about American forces, and when you work with us you'll see we're very kind people," he said.
#2
If the dateline is wrong (it should be the town of Karma not "Garma"), what else could be wrong in this article?
Anyways....Karma is full of thugs and thieves, so there is nothing new here. Route Chicago (irony?) used to run right to it. Always a pleasant Sunday afternoon drive.
#3
I read elsewhere that the Iraqis are really stepping up the pace of executions via hanging. They are now doing it in batches of 10-20 at a time, several times a week.
#5
Keep and eye out for the nice Mr. Sniper hanging out near you, Mo.
Posted by: ed ||
03/31/2009 13:34 Comments ||
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#6
typical McClatchy puke: "There are about 13,400 detainees in U.S.-run prisons, and on average 50 are released each day. Some are guilty of crimes, others are innocent, many have never been afforded due process and some have become radicalized by their time in prison."
I blame Bush
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/31/2009 13:45 Comments ||
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#7
Be glads they don't plan to join Bambi's Treasury or car advisory board.
Seeking to head off an explosion of ethnic violence, the United Nations will call for a power-sharing system of government for Iraq's deeply divided region of Kirkuk in the oil-rich north.
A draft UN plan, outlined to The Associated Press by two Western officials, aims to defuse dangerous tensions. Kurds, a majority in the region, have been trying to wrest control from Arabs, Turkomen and other rival ethnic groups. If open warfare breaks out, it could jeopardise the US goal of stability across Iraq before elections at year's end.
The UN has played only a minor role in Iraq since 2003, when its Baghdad headquarters was destroyed by a truck bomb. Now, officials in Kirkuk say the UN efforts may be the last chance for a peaceful outcome.
Without a resolution, "I think Kirkuk will be like a TNT barrel and explode and burn everybody," Iraqi parliament lawmaker Mohammad Mahdi Ameen Al Bayati, a Turkoman, said in an interview.
Deputy Governor Rakan Saeed Al Jubouri, a Sunni Arab, agreed. "Violence is very easy to start in Iraq," he said in a separate interview.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
ISRAELI MIL FORUM > NEW BALAD MK [Arab Member. Israeli KNESSET] PRAISES IRAN'S QUEST FOR NUCLEAR WEAPONS, proclaiming that IRAN had been more useful to the PA cause than EGYPT or JORDAN, these two latter Muslim Nations-Govts fearing a free and democratic Palestinian State.
* ALso on IMF > VIDEO NEWS = USA: CHICAGO LEADER SAYS US WILL BECOME A MUSLIM COUNTRY.
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who has submitted his resignation to President Mahmoud Abbas, will stay on until a new government is formed, Palestinian officials said on Monday.
The former World Bank economist tendered his resignation on March 7, effective March 31, in order to help rival Palestinian factions to reach a deal on an interim government.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Following a military investigation, Israel rejects the allegations that its soldiers committed war crimes in Gaza during the 22-day war.
A military police investigation had been launched to address the claims that the army had intentionally killed civilians and damaged property after Israeli soldiers who fought in Gaza told a symposium of lax rules of engagement that often denied logic, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.
Military advocate general Brig. Gen. Avichai Mendelblit on Monday ordered the unit to close the investigation.
In the wake of the speedy probe, the military said the soldiers' accounts were false and "based on hearsay."
"The military police investigation found that the crucial components of their descriptions were based on hearsay and not supported by specific personal knowledge," the military said in a statement released on Monday.
Gen. Mendelblit said the soldiers at the conference had "purposely exaggerated" to make a point.
One squad leader had recounted an incident where the company commander ordered that an elderly Palestinian woman, who was walking on a road about 100 meters from a house the company had commandeered, be shot and killed.
The military, however, said "the soldier witnessed no such thing, and was only repeating a rumor he had heard."
Another soldier at the conference had described how a sniper shot dead a mother and her two children from the roof of a house, after soldiers on the ground floor had failed to inform him he should hold his fire because they were ordering the families living in the building to leave.
According to the military statement, the soldier had not witnessed such incident. "After checking the claim, it was found that during this incident a force had opened fire in a different direction, towards two suspicious men who were unrelated to the civilians in question," read the statement.
At least 1,300 Palestinians were killed during the all-out offensive.
Israeli human rights groups condemned the speed the military had concluded the probe. "The speedy closing of the investigation immediately raises suspicions that the very opening of this investigation was merely the army's attempt to wipe its hands of all blame for illegal activity during Operation Cast Lead," as the Gaza operation was called, nine human rights groups said in a joint statement, CNN reported.
In accounts published by Haaretz, Israeli soldiers said the rules of engagement in Gaza had left the impression that "inside Gaza you are allowed to do anything you want."
Military Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, however, has denied such charges, saying Israel has "one of the world's most moral armies."
Meanwhile, international authorities have yet to address issues surrounding the Gaza war, such as the alleged use of controversial white phosphorous shells in the populated territory and the alleged use of human shields.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Incoming Premier Benjamin Netanyahu pledged on Monday to make every effort to achieve peace with Israel''s neighbors and the Arab world, but again made no mention of Palestinian aspirations to statehood. "The government I am forming will do its utmost to achieve a just and lasting peace with all our neighbors and the Arab world in general," Netanyahu said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
to make every effort to achieve peace with Israel''s neighbors and the Arab world
A new report from a New York-based think tank and delivered to US President Barack Obama by a signatory who is also an adviser recommends that Washington forcefully reinsert itself into the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, calling for "a more pragmatic approach to Hamas." Even by its title, the report from the US/Middle East Project (USMEP) alludes to the urgency of US involvement: "A Last Chance for a Two-State Israel-Palestine Agreement."
"[T]he next six to 12 months may well represent the last chance for a fair, viable and lasting solution," said the paper. "[I]t is essential that the incoming administration make Arab-Israeli peace a high national-security priority from the beginning." Taking on the frank realism of several of the group's signatories, the statement lays out specific policy recommendations, debunks arguments against robust engagement, and offers calculations of the benefits of action - including allowing for the engagement of Hamas by international actors in the peace process.
Hamas currently rules the Gaza Strip despite the beating the group took during a three-week war launched by Israel during the winter.
In his March 26 Op-Ed for the website of the New York Times, columnist Roger Cohen calls the report's signatories a group of "former senior officials whose counsel [Obama] respects," and says he believes their views to be largely in line with the thinking of National Security Adviser General Jim Jones and the administration's Middle East envoy, former Senator George Mitchell.
Former Council on Foreign Relations fellow, former longtime president of the American Jewish Congress, and University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies professor Henry Siegman convened the group under the auspices of USMEP, where he is president.
Other signatories, experts and statespersons of US foreign policy include USMEP chairman General Brent Scowcroft; former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski; former members of Congress Chuck Hagel, Lee Hamilton, and Nancy Kassebaum-Baker; Ambassador Thomas Pickering; and, notably, former Federal Reserve chairman and current Obama administration Economic Advisory Group chair Paul Volcker.
The authors acknowledge what has become obvious to many in the US, Israeli, and Palestinian pro-peace crowd: that Hamas may be the last, best hope for saving the two-state solution.
The paper, while not calling for direct US engagement with Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by the State Department, says that "Hamas is simply too powerful and too important to be ignored."
"A legitimate, unified and empowered Palestinian side to negotiate with Israel is of importance if any agreement is to be reached and implemented," says the report. "Direct US engagement with Hamas may not now be practical, but shutting out the movement and isolating Gaza has only made it stronger and Fatah weaker." Fatah rules the West Bank and has control of the Palestinian Authority (PA). Many international actors consider PA President Mahmoud Abbas to be a palatable negotiator for Palestinians, but his Fatah faction is widely considered corrupt and ineffectual by Palestinians. After winning elections in 2006, Hamas was briefly in a national unity government with Fatah, which much of the international community opposed with vigor - especially the US, which boycotted the government, withdrew aid, and reportedly aided Fatah in preparations for a coup d'etat.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
Hamas's takeover of the Palestinian Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip last week may lead to the deaths of Palestinians who require immediate medical care in Israel and Egypt, the United Nations warned on Monday.
On March 22, Hamas took control of the PA Health Ministry's Referral Abroad Department, which oversees the process by which Palestinians in Gaza receive approval from the PA to travel to Israel and Egypt for medical treatment.
The World Health Organization and the UN humanitarian coordinator said Monday that the PA Health Ministry in Ramallah was refusing to approve and fund applications. As a result, the patients are not allowed to travel to Israeli or Egyptian hospitals.
Defense officials said they were aware of the situation and that it was not surprising.
"This is another example of the effect Hamas's takeover has on the Palestinian people without any connection to Israel," one official said. "This is a political dispute between the PA in Ramallah and Hamas in Gaza, and unfortunately the Palestinian people in Gaza are caught in the middle."
Tony Laurance, acting head of WHO in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, warned that patients would die if not allowed out of Gaza.
"Around 900 patients a month were being referred outside of Gaza for treatment at hospitals in Israel, east Jerusalem, Egypt and Jordan in the first half of 2008," he said. "Some of the cases are urgent and require immediate treatment. We have already seen referrals affected, and patients will die if they do not receive the treatment they require."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
The inhabitants of Gaza voted for a Hamas takeover. Now, they should live with the consequences. As Egypt and Israel have cut off their relation, perhaps the Gaza Arabs can find a friendly Arab nation to come to their aid. Oh, I forgot, most Arab nations hate the Palestinians and want nothing to do with them.
THE HAGUE -- Iran on Tuesday dismissed President Obama's decision to send 17,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan as an "ineffective" strategy to improve security, but it offered to help in efforts to combat drug-trafficking in the war-torn country.
Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Mehdi Akhoundzadeh also said Tehran plans to play an active role in Afghanistan's reconstruction. "The presence of foreign forces has not improved things in the country, and it seems that an increase in the number of foreign forces will prove ineffective, too," he said in prepared remarks to an international conference on Afghanistan at The Hague.
More than 80 countries and organizations gathered for the hastily arranged conference, which was proposed by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton three weeks ago.
"Iran is fully prepared to participate in the projects aimed at combating drug-trafficking and the plans in line with developing and reconstruction of Afghanistan," said Mr. Akhoundzadeh, who was sent to the ministerial-level meeting instead of Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
Mrs. Clinton said she had no plans to hold a substantive meeting with the Iranian diplomat. In her remarks, she backed Afghan President Hamid Karzai's plan to reconcile with those Taliban and al Qaeda members who renounce violence.
"We must also support efforts by the government of Afghanistan to separate the extremists of al Qaeda and the Taliban from those who joined their ranks not out of conviction, but out of desperation. This is, in fact, the case for a majority of those fighting with the Taliban," the secretary said. "They should be offered an honorable form of reconciliation and reintegration into a peaceful society, if they are willing to abandon violence, break with al Qaeda, and support the constitution," she added.
#3
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > PAKISTAN MEDIA [PK Spectator]: NATO, US, AND PAKISTAN SHOULD ATTACK UZBEKISTAN [B. Mehsud's MilTerr Training Ground agz AFPAK]???
The Syrian president said Monday that he is still interested in pursuing peace with Israel but insisted that 'resistance' by militants must continue to force the incoming Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu to negotiate.
Bashar Assad has repeatedly expressed his readiness to reach a peace deal with Israel over the past year. His speech Monday to a summit of Arab leaders suggested Assad still hopes for talks but was taking a tougher tone to confront what he expects to be a hard-line stance from Netanyahu's government coalition, dominated by right-wing parties.
The 'real aim of Israel's recently elected government is against peace' and that the composition of the incoming Cabinet is a 'clear, unsurprising message to us,' Assad said.
'This doesn't demand we change our strategic option regarding peace,' Assad said. 'But (our) tactics and mechanisms must change, not with the changing the governments of Israel but with ... the aggressiveness Israel shows toward us.'
Assad underlined the need for continued 'resistance,' a reference to anti-Israeli militant groups like the Palestinian Hamas, which Damascus supports.
Resistance is a 'national and patriotic and moral duty and it is the only option,' he said. 'Peace cannot be achieved with an enemy who does not believe in peace without it being imposed on him by resistance.'
Israel and Syria held four rounds of indirect talks mediated by Turkey last year, but Syria cut off the negotiations in protest over Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza in December and January.
In any peace deal, Syria demands the return of the Golan Heights, seized by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel in turn demands Damascus ends its alliance with Iran and its support for the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.
Assad has said in interviews since that the Turkey-mediated talks had stalled because Israel wouldn't make an unambiguous commitment to return all the territory captured in 1967. The outgoing Israeli government of Ehud Olmert has not commented on details of the talks.
Direct talks between the countries broke down in 2000 over a similar issue of the extent of an Israeli withdrawal.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Assad's speech Monday showed that Damascus' intentions on peace remain unclear.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2009 00:00 ||
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The Lebanese Army said in a statement on Monday that that some citizens were still violating a hunting ban in the south Litani River zone. It reiterated that the Litani zone is an area of operation for both the Lebanese army and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon under UN Resolution 1701.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
"We've cancelled all your elk and duck stamps. So don't even try!"
Hizbullah vowed on Monday that it would deter any possible Israeli aggression but would not carry out any military operation outside the country. "We will not carry out any operation outside our Lebanese territories, but we will not accept after today that the Israeli enemy stages any assault against our land," head of Hizbullah's Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc MP Mohammad Raad said at a funeral in the southern town Sujod.
Hizbullah abducted two Israeli troops in July 2006 from the Israeli side of the border, prompting Israel to launch a devastating 34-day war on Lebanon.
But Raad stressed that "Israel will pay the price for any possible attack on Lebanon, and will receive the proper response."
As for the Western attempts to open dialogue with Hizbullah, Raad said "Hizbullah welcomes this gesture," but "it is a mistake if we assume the United States will abandon Israel for the sake of the Arabs."
"The United States' interest is with Israel, and the US foreign policy will not change," he said.
Britain announced earlier in March that it is willing to open dialogue with the political wing of Hizbullah, while the United States reaffirmed that it still considers the Lebanese party a terrorist organization.
Raad also commented on the parliamentary elections in June, criticizing the attempts of the March 14 Forces to marginalize a large segment of the Lebanese society.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2009 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.
A woman who wrote a leaflet encouraging people to carry out jihad, or holy war, has been sentenced to a community order at Manchester Crown Court. 
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says his government isn't considering restoring diplomatic ties with Israel. Chavez told the pan-Arab TV station Al-Jazeera that he would only reconsider the matter if Israel's leaders stop being a "Genocidal elite subordinated to the United States."
The U.S. and South Korean intelligence organizations have obtained information North Korea has two nuclear warheads that could be mounted on mid-range Rodong missiles, a senior analyst at an international nongovernmental group said Tuesday. Daniel Pinkston, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, told Kyodo News he got the information from a government official whose country he declined to specify.
As the only Muslim member of NATO and a candidate to join the EU, Turkey has come to be seen as a bridge between East and West held up by Washington as a shining example of how Islam is compatible with modern democracy. But as U.S. President Barack Obama prepares to come here next week in a trip some herald as a milestone in ties, Turkish leaders are grappling with a formidable challenge: radical Islamic groups preaching jihad and vowing to unravel Turkey's democratic achievements.
TORONTO -- A court decision Monday upholding a ban on George Galloway from entering the country amid allegations he engaged in terrorist acts will see the British MP deliver speeches to Canadian audiences via a live video link from New York.
A ransom offered by the Pakistan government for the release of a Canadian woman kidnapped by the Taliban more than four months ago has been rejected, sources close to the negotiations say. Failure of officials to gain the release of Beverly Giesbrecht, a West Vancouver woman who also calls herself Khadija Abdul Qahaar, has raised fears that she might not survive captivity much longer. She has said she would be decapitated if a settlement wasn't made by today. 
President Obama plans to propose spending roughly $2.8 billion in aid for the Pakistani military, as he steps up the U.S.-led campaign to battle extremists along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. That money would be in addition to the civilian aid -- $1.5 billion a year for five years -- that the president called for Friday. 
Monday's terrorist attack on the Manawa Police Training School in Lahore was part of the pressure tactics used by the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), led by Baitullah Mehsud, to secure release of eight of its militants arrested after the assault on the Sri Lankan cricket team earlier this month.
An international conference on Afghanistan to be held this week is a sign the world is still interested in the country, Richard Holbrooke, special US envoy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, said on Monday.
Interior Adviser Rehman Malik has said an Afghan involved in attack on the police training centre at Manawan has been arrested, and involvement of foreign hand in the incident cannot be ruled out. 
Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir won strong support against his international arrest warrant over Darfur from an Arab summit on Monday that also warned Israel that an Arab peace offer was not open-ended. While Sudan emerged with the most gains, a surprise tirade by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi against Saudi King Abdullah.
THE HAGUE -- Iran on Tuesday dismissed President Obama's decision to send 17,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan as an "ineffective" strategy to improve security, but it offered to help in efforts to combat drug-trafficking in the war-torn country. 
The Syrian president said Monday that he is still interested in pursuing peace with Israel but insisted that 'resistance' by militants must continue to force the incoming Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu to negotiate.
