Notice the Paks never kill civilians?
KABUL (AFP) -- The United States deeply regrets the deaths of civilians in Afghanistan, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday after reports that US-led air strikes against insurgents had killed 100 people.
"I wish to express my personal regret and certainly the sympathy of our administration on the loss of civilian life in Afghanistan," Clinton told a joint meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.
"We deeply regret it. We don't know all of the circumstances or causes. And there will be a joint investigation by your government and ours," Clinton said. "But any loss of life, any loss of innocent life, is particularly painful," the chief US diplomat said.
"And I want to convey to the people of both Afghanistan and Pakistan that ... we will work very hard with your governments and with your leaders to avoid the loss of innocent civilian life," Clinton said. "And we deeply, deeply regret that loss," she added.
It's her job to say stuff like that, and the job of our military and CIA to keep whacking the Taliban.
Police in Afghanistan said Wednesday that US-led air strikes against insurgents had killed 100 people including civilians, in one of the deadliest attacks in nearly eight years.
The US military opened an investigation into strikes late Monday and Tuesday in the remote western province of Farah, as Karzai ordered his government to probe reports of high civilian casualties.
#1
Understand that the Taliban not only employ human 'shields', they have also used human 'sacrifices' - purposely causing innocent civilians to be killed for PR purposes.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/06/2009 13:56 Comments ||
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#3
I saw a news report of farmers slitting poppies, so that they could extract raw opium. Some interviewees were open about returning to join the annual Taleban Summer Offensive. The Taleban share of the heroin industry, allows them to pay $200-$300 per month for jihadi terrorists. And each year they can afford even better weapons. But...NATO refuses to annihilate Helmand opium farming. That is suicidal to the point of homicidal.
#6
Strategy Page Sez: The latter includes the smart bombs. However, these weapons have become a problem for Afghan forces. For example, a recent battle between the Afghan Army and the Taliban led to the army commander calling in a smart bomb attack on a large Taliban force that had taken shelter in a group of buildings. But the Taliban had forced dozens of civilians to remain in the buildings, to serve as human shields. Unfortunately, this does not work if you don't let the guy with the smart bombs know you have human shields. Incidents like this are seen as prime propaganda opportunities for the Taliban, even when its Afghan commanders ordering the air strikes.
Take it FWIW on who initiated the airstrike.
Posted by: ed ||
05/06/2009 19:38 Comments ||
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Today, as the two leaders meet in the White House, that skepticism drives the administration's evolving policy toward Afghanistan and the battle against Taliban insurgents, a conflict whose outcome will in part define Obama's presidency.
In assessing the nearly eight-year struggle from Washington, senior members of Obama's national security team say Karzai has not done enough to address the grave challenges facing his nation. They deem him to be a mercurial and vacillating chieftain who has tolerated corruption and failed to project his authority beyond the gates of Kabul.
"On all fronts," said a senior U.S. official, "Hamid Karzai has plateaued as a leader."
At the same time, the consensus view among State Department, Pentagon and CIA officials is that Karzai almost certainly will win reelection to another five-year term this August. Vexed by the challenge of stabilizing Afghanistan with a partner they regard as less than reliable, Obama's advisers have crafted a two-pronged strategy that amounts to a fundamental break from the avuncular way President George W. Bush dealt with the Afghan leader.
Obama intends to maintain an arm's-length relationship with Karzai in the hope that it will lead him to address issues of concern to the United States, according to senior U.S. government officials. The administration will also seek to bypass Karzai by working more closely with other members of his cabinet and by funneling more money to local governors.
'It's going to be different'
For Karzai, an elegant and engaging politician renowned for his ability to forge compromises between warring factions, the new American coolness is unlikely to be a surprise. Ten days before Obama's inauguration, Karzai told Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. during a private meeting in Kabul that he looked forward to building with Obama the same sort of chummy relationship he had with Bush, which included frequent videoconferences and personal visits.
"Well, it's going to be different," Biden replied, according to a person with direct knowledge of the conversation. "You'll probably talk to him or see him a couple of times a year. You're not going to be talking to him every week."
Obama advisers believe the relationship that Bush developed with Karzai masked the Afghan leader's flaws and made it difficult to demand accountability. Obama has not held a videoconference with Karzai, and the two have spoken by phone just twice. The administration rebuffed Karzai's request for a bilateral visit to Washington this spring, telling him he could come only as part of this week's tripartite summit with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, according to U.S. government officials. Karzai's meeting with Obama today is scheduled for 20 minutes, as is Zardari's.
The classified version of the recent White House review of Afghanistan strategy, according to two officials who have read it, criticizes Karzai. "It takes him to task for not meeting even the most basic Afghan expectations," one of the officials said. "The implication is clear: Karzai is not our man in this upcoming election." Like many of the two dozen current and former officials interviewed for this story, these sources spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the leaders candidly.
In a discussion at the Brookings Institution yesterday, Karzai acknowledged "bumps and ups and downs" in his relationship with the United States, but he insisted that "the fundamentals are strong and steady."
Karzai's aides contend that he alone is not to blame for Afghanistan's ills -- and Obama administration officials readily agree. Advisers to both leaders, as well as many diplomats who have served in Kabul, maintain that the U.S. approach to dealing with Afghanistan since 2001 -- a lack of troops and reconstruction dollars, periods of intense diplomatic engagement followed by stretches of inattention, and constantly shifting priorities -- whipsawed and weakened Karzai.
His defenders also point to decisions by the Bush administration not to send more forces to Afghanistan. As Taliban activity has increased in recent years, overwhelmed soldiers have increasingly resorted to calling in airstrikes, resulting in numerous civilian casualties. When complaints in private failed to diminish the use of air attacks, Karzai started to denounce the U.S. military in his speeches, prompting consternation in Washington.
"The Karzai that gives Washington such a headache today is, in large part, a product of how we dealt with him," said Robert Finn, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan during the first two years of Karzai's presidency. "We didn't give him the resources he needed -- be it money or troops."
#5
I have a huge problem with the phrase Afghan Ally, it just plain stinks of "Hopenchangium".
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/06/2009 14:10 Comments ||
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#6
Just another example of how our boy-president is nowhere near ready to actually GOVERN. He couldn't handle Andorra, much less the United States.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/06/2009 15:43 Comments ||
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#7
OP,
Zero may not have any Executive/Administrative skills but he is doing an amazing job of getting his basic social policies enacted into law. We underestimate at our peril.
#9
OTOH, PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUMS > POSTER Thread - OSAMA BIN LADEN TO ANNOUNCE NEW ISLAMIC EMIRATE IN PAKISTANI NWFP!?
* Also from PDF > FORMER US AMBASSADOR BLACKWELL [RAND Corp]: PAKISTAN THREAT [Fall of Govt; Nukulaar MilTerrs] WORST US FOREIGN POLICY CRISIS SINCE THE CUBAN MISSLE CRISIS/PAKISTAN'S ELITES DO NOT HAVE THE WILL TO RESIST SPREADING ISLAMISM.
US-World on the threshold of possible NUCLEAR CRISIS + ultimat [MILTERR-LED] NUCLEAR WAR???
President Hamid Karzai chose a powerful warlord accused of rights abuses as one of his vice presidential running mates hours before leaving for meetings in Washington with President Barack Obama and Pakistan's president. The selection Monday of Mohammad Qasim Fahim, a top commander in the Jamiat-e-Islami during Afghanistan's 1990s civil war, drew immediate criticism from human rights groups. A 2005 Human Rights Watch report, "Blood-Stained Hands," found "credible and consistent evidence of widespread and systematic human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law" were committed by Jamiat commanders, including Fahim. Karzai was "insulting the country" with the choice, the New York-based group said Monday.
Fahim served as Karzai's first vice president during the country's interim government put in place after the ouster of the Taliban in the 2001 US-led invasion.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] AfghanistanŽs President Hamid Karzai Tuesday said a White House summit with his Pakistani counterpart will discuss closing militant ŽŽsanctuariesŽŽ in Pakistan. Karzai said that Afghans overwhelmingly opposed Taliban extremists but said that the militants enjoyed bases across the porous border with Pakistan. ŽŽThe return of the Taliban is because we did not address the question of sanctuaries in time. Unfortunately, today, Pakistan is suffering with us massively as a consequence of that,ŽŽ Karzai said. Karzai is set to meet Wednesday with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and US President Barack Obama, who has put a new focus on rooting out extremism from the region.
ŽŽTomorrow we will have an occasion between us -- Afghanistan, Pakistan and America -- to address this very question,ŽŽ Karzai said at the Brookings Institution think-tank. ŽŽAfghanistan will do all that it can, in immense friendship and brotherhood with Pakistan and alliance and friendship with America, to address it,ŽŽ he said.
Pakistan was the main backer of AfghanistanŽs hardline Taliban regime until the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, which then invaded and paved the way for Karzai to take office in Kabul. Karzai said that Afghans remained deeply grateful to Pakistan for helping fight the Soviet Union and then playing host to millions of Afghan refugees. But he said Afghanistan had ŽŽdifferences of opinionŽŽ with ŽŽcertain elements of the Pakistani policy,ŽŽ such as the use of religious radicalism.
He also dismissed PakistanŽs concerns about rival IndiaŽs influence in Afghanistan, saying his country was free to make its own friends. ŽŽWe are a very jealous country when it comes to that. We love our independence like hell and our sovereignty,ŽŽ Karzai said. ŽŽThatŽs why we have fought everybody.ŽŽ
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is not considering the redeployment of its troops to Afghanistan, a spokesman said Monday, dismissing a media report that the United States is pressing for a redispatch.
Thanks for being there for us.
"The U.S. government has presented no such demand to South Korea," Foreign Ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said in a press briefing.
Quoting an unidentified government official, the Hankyoreh newspaper said Washington has requested Seoul to redispatch its troops and expand financial support for U.S.-led reconstruction projects in the war-torn country. The report said the U.S. request came shortly after Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, visited Seoul on April 16 on his way to an international forum in Tokyo to meet with President Lee Myung-bak and Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan.
What forces do we have in South Korea that can re-deploy?
Seoul officials said South Korea promised it would consider increasing its practical assistance to Afghanistan but that the troop redeployment was not on table. The Hankyoreh report said the two countries will further discuss the issue when Lee holds a summit with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington on May 16.
"Our government is not considering the issue of redeploying troops to Afghanistan," Moon said.
South Korea withdrew a group of 200 non-combat troops -- mostly engineers and medics -- from Afghanistan in December 2007, ending its six-year contribution to the U.S.-led campaign to fight terrorism and rebuild the war-ravaged country.
The ministry spokesman said Seoul was considering expanding its role in the NATO-led provincial reconstruction team projects in Afghanistan. Officials have said Seoul plans to quadruple the number of its civilian volunteers there to over 90. Seoul contributed a total of US$66 million towards the reconstruction efforts and plans to offer $30 million more from 2009-2011.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
What forces do we have in South Korea that can re-deploy?
#2
FREEREPUBLIC > US ARMY WAR COLLEGE STUDY: CHINA MAY [militarily]INTERVENE IFF NORTH KOREA COLLAPSES. Want a CHIN-CONTROLLED BUFFER STATE = COUNTRY-SIZED DMZ BWTN IT + US-SK-JAPAN.
#3
What? Are people thinking other countries would put their butts on the line to stop the Norks? We are the buffer. Take us away, you have none. War ensues.
Send troops to the reporter's Office and make a very public arrest, charge is Obtaining government secrets outside of official chanels.
Hold him until the "Unidentified" oficial is revealed, arrested and then charge them both with (Your choice)Treason, Dissimating official info Causing false info to be disseminated. (Etc) About 5 years each and banning from previous office, should suffice.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/06/2009 14:20 Comments ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] The Chadian government has accused neighboring Sudan of launching a military assault that could jeopardize a recent reconciliation agreement.
The charges on Tuesday came just two days after both sides agreed in a Doha meeting to resume fragile diplomatic ties severed in May over Khartoum's allegations that Chadian President Idriss Deby had backed an attack on the Sudanese capital by the Darfur rebels.
"While the ink has yet to dry on the Doha accord, the Khartoum regime has just launched several armored columns against our country," government spokesman, Communications Minister Mahamat Hissein, said on national radio.
He added that N'Djamena saw this 'planned aggression' as Sudan's reneging on the agreement.
The minister did not elaborate on the exact position of Sudanese forces but the French Foreign Ministry said reports suggested armed groups had begun crossing into Chad on Monday.
Sudan insists it is fully committed to the agreement signed in Doha, under which both sides agreed to end hostilities and arrange a summit between their leaders.
The reconciliation efforts were widely seen as a vital step for the peace-making efforts in Darfur, a western Sudanese region torn by a six-year-old brutal civil conflict.
The neighbors have a long history of spats over alleged support of insurgent groups and rebel attacks inside their territories.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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[Maghrebia] Algeria, Mali, Niger and Mauritania will soon co-operate on a massive military operation in their common Sahara border area targeting al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, El Khabar reported on Tuesday (May 5th). Mali and Niger reportedly sent lists of their logistical needs to Algeria. Supplies began to arrive in Mali on Monday, the paper noted, adding that the Algerian army also agreed to provide air support for the offensive. Aid includes fuel, weapons and supplies for special operations forces, AFP quoted a Malian military source as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Law Minister Shafique Ahmed yesterday said the government would complete formation of tribunals and appointment of investigators and prosecutors by the end of June for holding trial of 1971 war criminals maintaining international standards.
The government is delaying the trial for ensuring international standard that no chance is left to doubt its fairness and transparency, he said, adding that the government was moving cautiously in taking steps for holding the trial.
He, however said, the appointment of prosecutors will be made within this month.
Talking to newsmen at his secretariat office yesterday afternoon, the law minister said time is needed for designating courts, recruiting manpower and setting up offices of prosecutors.
He said the government is gathering experience of holding trial of the war criminals from Nuremberg and Cambodia that held trial of war criminals.
Asked about the government's move to amend the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Act 2004, Shafique said this law was misused to harass politicians in most cases in the past and therefore the government is bringing the amendment to this law for avoiding its further misuse.
He said the ACC will continue to take legal steps on corruption allegations against government and semi-government officials and employees under section 409 of the Penal Code.
Responding to a proposal of the ACC, section 408 of the Penal Code that was used to deal with corruption allegations against officials and employees of private companies was dropped to ensure transparency of the ACC, he said.
He said the cabinet has approved the proposal in principle and it would be tabled as a bill before the parliament and sent to the parliamentary standing committee for examination.
About the new chairman of ACC, Shafique said Golam Rahman is an honest man and hoped that the ACC would be stronger under his leadership.
The government will assist the ACC so that it can work independently under its own laws, the law minister said, adding that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has also warned against harassing innocent people and abusing the ACC's powers.
Replying to a query, he said the ACC can withdraw cases, which were filed for 'political harassment.'
About the cases filed against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and her sons Tarique Rahman and Arafat Rahman Koko, the minister said "It's not the question of any individual. Those who will feel that their cases are political can apply for withdrawing those cases."
Shafique Ahmed, however, said all the cases were not filed with political motives.
"The cases which have merit and evidence should continue and genuine political cases should be withdrawn," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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Abu Izzadeen, a radical Muslim preacher who was jailed after footage was uncovered of him calling for the beheading of any Muslim in the British army, has been freed early from jail. Izzadeen, 34, whose real name is Trevor Brooks, led a group of Islamic radicals who stormed the moderate Regents Park Mosque in central London and then forced back police who tried to evict them. He also publicly shouted down John Reid when he was Home Secretary.
A second generation Jamaican, Izzadeen, walked out of jail on Saturday because of the amount of time he has already spent in prison. He had one year cut off his sentence by the Court of Appeal, reducing it from four-and-a-half to three-and-a-half years. A number of his fellow activists could also immediately walk free.
Douglas Murray, director of the Centre for Social Cohesion, said the men were a danger to society. "Abu Izzadeen and his organisation publicly call for attacks against those whom they see as enemies of Islam," he said. "Their ideology not only glorifies violent jihad but teaches their followers that taking part in suicide bombings is their duty as Muslims.
"The early release of a hate preacher like Abu Izzadeen demonstrates that the British courts are still far away from understanding the very clear and present danger that this country is facing from militant Islamists."
Supporters of Izzadeen have celebrated his release on extremist Islamic websites. One supporter wrote: "This is absolutely wonderful news. May Allah reward you for sharing this with us.
"'The man is a modern day Muslim hero! Just look at the wisdom and generosity of Allah - he really does relieve those who stand up and are firm in his cause."
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice confirmed that Izzadeen and five others had all received lower tariffs from the Court of Appeal but insisted that they would all be closely monitored in the outside world. Simon Wheeler, another high profile activist jailed at the same time, still has several months to serve.
#1
Much easier to kill him on the streets of London than in prison, and less chance he'll become a martyr. I hope someone at MI6 has issued a contract on him. It would be best if he were killed by a fellow "Jamaican" with a knife in some dark alley, away from prying eyes, in the dark of a typically foggy London night.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/06/2009 16:01 Comments ||
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[Kyodo: Korea] The U.S. special representative for North Korea policy and his team will travel to Asia and Russia for nine days from Wednesday, the State Department said Tuesday. The team led by Stephen Bosworth and including special envoy for six-party nuclear talks Sung Kim will discuss with officials from China, South Korea, Japan and Russia ways to bring North Korea back to the stalled disarmament negotiation table.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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SEOUL, May 5 (Yonhap) -- North Korea operates a cyber warfare unit that seeks to disrupt South Korean and U.S. military networks and visits U.S. military sites more frequently than any other country, intelligence sources in Seoul said Tuesday.
The General Staff of the North's Korean People's Army has been operating for years a "technology reconnaissance team," which is exclusively in charge of collecting information and disrupting military computer networks in South Korea and the U.S., the sources said on condition of anonymity. Roughly 100 hackers, mostly graduates of a leading military academy in Pyongyang, work on the team, hacking into South Korean and U.S. computer networks, withdrawing classified information and establishing combat simulations, they said.
"This unit tries to hold control of South Korean and U.S. military information system by hacking into their computer networks and taking out classified data. When necessary, they may spread computer viruses to disrupt the networks," one of the sources said.
After years of tracking which countries access U.S. military Web sites and networks, the U.S. military has found that users inside North Korea logged on most frequently. The North Korean unit has also set up simulated war training softwares and extensive data on South Korean high-ranking military personnel, according to the sources.
South Korea and the U.S. signed a memorandum of understanding on April 30 to bolster cooperation in fighting cyber terrorism against their defense networks.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#6
South Korea and the U.S. signed a memorandum of understanding
I'm not sure this action will inspire North Korea to shut down the project.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
05/06/2009 23:00 Comments ||
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#7
WORLD MIL FORUM > IIUc CHINA SHOULD ABOLISH/GET RID OF ALL ITS BUFFER STATES, NORTH KOREA + MONGOLIA + LAOS + VIETNAM + TIBET, INSTEAD AND ESTABLISH DIRECT FORMAL BORDERS.
Also on WMF > OKINAWA INDEPENDENCE IS BEST OPTION: THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION OF THE FORMER RYUKYU KINGDOM OF OKIN IN 1879 WAS ILLEGAL. OKINAWA HAD STRONG TIES TO CHINA SINCE THE QING DYNASTY. OKINAWA IS THE CURRENT AND FUTURE CENTRE OF SEVERAL SINO-JAPANESE POINTS OF REGIONAL AND GEOPOL CONFLICT AND COMPETITION. STRUGGLE AND POSSIBLE WAR BWTN CHINA AND JAPAN OVER CONTROL OF OKINAWA IS INEVITABLE UNLESS ALL SIDES CAN AGREE TO INDEPENDENCE. Surrender by China of claims or links to Okinawa + surrounding China Sea(s) areas means CHINA WOULD HAVE SURRENDERED ANY AND ALL STRATEGIC ADVANTAGES TO JAPAN, WHICH MANY CHIN FIND UNACCEPTABLE [prefer War wid Nippon to surrender of Oki].
It appears that many WMF'ers = CHIN are upset over JAPAN's claim that the "STATUS OF TAIWAN REMAINS UNDETERMINED", wid Nippon accused of desiring a return of Japanese-led sovereignty o'er TAIWAN???
First TAIWAN INDEPENDENCE to resolve multinational claims of sovereignty, NOW INDEPENDENCE FOR OKINAWA for same???
WASHINGTON, May 5 (Yonhap) -- A U.S. congressman urged the Obama administration to address human rights in North Korea in future nuclear and other negotiations with the reclusive communist state. Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) was discussing a lack of concrete steps by U.S. President Barack Obama since taking office in January to address North Korea's "dismal" human rights record.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in February that human rights violations should not serve as a hurdle to improvements in relations with China, triggering concerns the new U.S. president might follow his predecessor in skipping over the thorny issue to avoid provoking either Pyongyang or Beijing, key players in the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear disarmament.
The U.S. State Department issued an annual human rights report in February expressing concerns about human trafficking and repatriation of North Korean refugees, and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom last week again listed North Korea among 12 nations where freedoms are squashed.
In a statement last week to mark North Korea Freedom Week, sponsored by human rights groups based in Washington, the State Department pledged to make efforts to improve human rights conditions in North Korea and help North Korean defectors settle in the United States. The statement denounced the North for continued human rights violations, but stopped short of raising China's repatriation of North Korean refugees under a secret agreement with North Korea.
"Injecting human rights can't make the six-party talks go any worse than they are now," Royce said in a forum sponsored by the Heritage Foundation on Thursday. "After all, this morning we read that North Korea is threatening more nuclear and missile tests. The transcript of his remarks were posted on Tuesday."
"But that misses the larger point. North Korea will keep or rid itself of its nuclear weapons based upon a reading of its own interests -- not how loudly or softly we protest how it mistreats its people," Royce said. "But why not shake up negotiations? The human rights plank is untested. Several versions of the 1994 Agreed Framework model have failed to produce results."
All versions have failed.
Royce deplored Obama's appointment of Stephen Bosworth as part-time representative to North Korea. Bosworth concurrently serves as the dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Boston. "A part-time Special Envoy for North Korea doesn't signal a willingness to confront Pyongyang in a meaningful way," he said. "It tells me they are looking to simply keep the lid on North Korea for as long as possible, hoping it doesn't get worse."
The congressman also expressed displeasure with Obama's failure to appoint someone to replace Jay Lefkowitz, the U.S. special envoy for human rights in North Korea. In his final report wrapping up a four-year term, Lefkowitz in January urged Obama to emphasize human rights in the multilateral nuclear talks and proposed that the U.S. and its allies link any aid with human rights improvements.
"Given the link between security and human rights, many members of Congress have endorsed pursuing a Helsinki Process for Pyongyang," Royce said. "Lefkowitz endorsed this approach. Key to the Helsinki model was the linkage between security, economic and human rights issues, with progress on all three as a condition for aid and recognition."
The congressman said that the Helsinki process "forced the Soviets to deal with these issues, and the fine cracks in the vase became bigger."
He noted similar cracks in North Korea. "The North Korean state may not be as ironclad as it once was," he said. "Defectors tell us of a functioning black market and smuggling ... an explosion of corruption and an erosion of the state's ability to control information and an increasing tendency to blame the government for their plight."
"Given these fine cracks in the vase, now seems like the time to have a coordinated human rights push on North Korea," he said. "Doing so is not only a moral imperative, but it's fundamentally linked to our security."
Add this to the list that we recently noted from The Weekly Standard:
1) rebuild alliance with Japan
2) shift our military focus in South Korea to counter-battery systems
3) thwart Nork proliferation (Operation Lemony Snickett)
4) target Nork finances
5) remind the world that China isn't cooperating
6) go after Nork nuclear partners
7) push more information to Nork people
Add to that --
8) push human rights
9) re-arm Taiwan, and let China know why
10) stop all food aid to the Norks -- it's just stolen by their military
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
As if. They will continue now to bare babies to eat in NORK, and feed people poisened cabbage in their concentration camps. Cabbage.
You may see the camp on google. Nevermind Darfur. CINC mentions nothing about that yet that may be tomorrow.
I AM angry. Very angry.
What is better than having a hard stance is having no stance. You suck as a warrior obama.
#4
"Defectors tell us of a functioning black market and smuggling ... an explosion of corruption and an erosion of the state's ability to control information and an increasing tendency to blame the government for their plight."
AHAH, CounterThuggery raises it's head or "PEOPLE GOTTA EAT" REGARDLESS OF LAWS AGAINST IT.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/06/2009 14:35 Comments ||
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#5
Obambi is the typical perpetual teenager. He has no gravitas, because he's never felt any pressure or faced any true tests of character. He's like the extremely rich 55-YO rap singer that can't balance his checkbook. No wonder the Donks want direct elections of the President - it helps getting such idiots elected.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/06/2009 16:07 Comments ||
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WASHINGTON (AP) Bush administration lawyers who approved harsh interrogation techniques of terror suspects should not face criminal charges, Justice Department investigators say in a draft report that recommends two of the three attorneys face possible professional sanctions.
Won't last. The baying hounds on the left have to be fed ...
The recommendations come after an Obama administration decision last month to make public legal memos authorizing the use of harsh interrogation methods but not to prosecute CIA interrogators who followed advice outlined in the memos. That decision angered conservatives who accused President Barack Obama of selling out the CIA for releasing the memos, and liberals who thought he was being too forgiving of practices they and Obama call torture. The president's rhetoric, if not actual policy, shifted on the matter as the political fallout intensified.
Officials conducting the internal Justice Department inquiry into the lawyers who wrote those memos have recommended referring two of the three lawyers John Yoo and Jay Bybee to state bar associations for possible disciplinary action, according to a person familiar with the inquiry. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was not authorized to discuss the inquiry.
Of course. No one ever speaks on the record ...
The person noted that the investigative report was still in draft form and subject to revisions. Attorney General Eric Holder also may make his own determination about what steps to take once the report has been finalized.
The inquiry has become a politically loaded guessing game, with some advocating criminal charges against the lawyers and others urging that the matter be dropped.
In a letter to two senators, the Justice Department said a key deadline in the inquiry expired Monday, signaling that most of the work on the matter was completed. The letter does not mention the possibility of criminal charges, nor does it name the lawyers under scrutiny. The letter did not indicate what the findings of the final report would be. Bybee, Yoo and Steven Bradbury worked in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel and played key roles in crafting the legal justification for techniques critics wrongly call torture.
The memos were written as the Bush administration grappled with the fear and uncertainty following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Over the years that followed, lawyers re-examined and rewrote much of the legal advice.
When that inquiry neared completion last year, investigators recommended seeking professional sanctions against Bybee and Yoo, but not Bradbury, according to the person familiar with the matter. Those would come in the form of recommendations to state bar associations, where the most severe possible punishment is disbarment.
Vincent Warren, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, called the decision not to seek criminal charges "inconceivable, given all that we know about the twisted logic of these memos."
Warren argued the only reason for such a decision "is to provide political cover for people inside the Obama White House so they don't have to pursue what needs to be done."
The CCR is a twisted, hateful leftie-fringe group. They've pro'ly contributed dozens of their nasty colleagues to the new administration ...
Bybee is now a judge on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Yoo is a professor at the University of California-Berkeley. Bradbury returned to private practice when he left the government at the end of President George W. Bush's term in the White House.
Asked for comment, Yoo's lawyer, Miguel Estrada, said he signed an agreement with the Justice Department not to discuss the draft report. Lawyer Maureen Mahoney, who is representing Bybee, also declined to comment.
"The former employees have until May 4, 2009 to provide their comments on the draft report," states the letter from Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich to Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill. Whitehouse has scheduled a hearing on the issue next week.
Now that the deadline has passed, there is little more for officials to do but make revisions to it based on the responses they've received, and decide how much, if any, of the findings should be made public.
Both Whitehouse and Durbin have pressed the Justice Department for more information about the progress of the investigation by the Office of Professional Responsibility. The office examines possible ethics violations by Justice Department employees. On rare occasions, those inquiries become full-blown criminal investigations.
The language of the letter, dated Monday, indicates the inquiry will result in a final report.
The letter notes that Holder and his top deputy will have access to any information they need "to evaluate the final report and make determinations about appropriate next steps."
The results of the investigation were delayed late last year, when then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey and his deputy asked investigators to allow the lawyers a chance to respond to their findings, as is typically done for those who still work for the Justice Department.
Investigators also shared a draft copy with the CIA to review whether the findings contained any classified information. According to the letter, the CIA then requested to comment on the report.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Help me out here. How can you prosecute a lawyer for providing advice? The advice may be wrong, but is it a crime? Does that make lower court judges criminals when their rulings are overturned by the Supreme Court?
#2
What DoJ investigators say or recommend is actually quite irrelevant. If Holder, Pelosi, and Barry think that additional political mileage can be made by pursuing this issue further, they'll do it.
#5
CF, that's why this inquisition won't go any further.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/06/2009 8:50 Comments ||
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#6
Hope you are correct Deacon. After Darth Cheney played the "show me card" regarding end results, things appeared to quiet down a bit. No sense in highlighting a Bush Administration success story or let Darth Cheney rant during prime network news time now is there?
#7
I think the argument is along the lines of, a lawyer can't offer advice that is immoral, or illegal, or encourages others to bring the law. At least I think that's the argument being offered by the other side (who can tell given their hysteria?).
If you've been following the story, one of the accusations is that Yoo and Bybee pretty much asked the CIA what opinion they wanted and then wrote their briefs to match. I think it's nonsense, as both men (IMHO) have too much class and intelligence to do that.
If the disbarment argument goes forward, and it might, it'll be along these lines; the state bars will have to decide whether the lawyers offered immoral advice.
It's a clever way to shut good, hard-working, intelligent, patriotic people up. Who wants to work for government if your opponents will come back and destroy your career in response?
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/06/2009 9:40 Comments ||
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#8
and most State Bar organizations are controlled by progressives. That is why Kansas, a conservative state, has a progressive Supreme Court because the candidates are choosen by the State Bar Association.
The actual wearer of the bejeweled turban has not yet announced himself, but the leadership discussions promise to be...robust.
PESHAWAR: Authorities in northwestern Pakistan battling a Taliban insurgency announced on Saturday the establishment of an Islamic court.
Dar-ul-Qaza, an Islamic appellate court, was set up for the Malakand division of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). NWFP authorities agreed in February to enforce Islamic sharia law there in the hope that militants would shun violence.
"Dar-ul-Qaza was the main demand and it has been met. Now there is no justification to take up arms," provincial information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told a news conference. "But if they take up arms even after this announcement, keep on challenging the government and try to run a parallel government, then the government will stop them at all costs."
#1
SUFI MOHAMMED: PAKISTANI TALIBAN NOT INTERESTED IN CAPTURING KASHMIR [J-K LOC from INDIA iff PK collapses], ONLY THE PREEMINENT GLORY OF ISLAM [priority].
Read, D *** NG IT, THEY'LL TAKE J-K FROM INDIA IFF THEY WANT TO, BUT REST ASSURED THEY really Really REALLY R-E-A-L-L-Y RRREEEAALLLLYY
REEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLYYY .......@WON'T LIKE IT!
#2
The following needs to impact on the Western brain: the purpose of a muslim's depraved life is to create a shariah state. Circumstantial factors alone, frustrate building on that architectural design.
Even where they obey secular law, they recognize their subversive religious community (ummah) as a provisional government.
The muslim quran imposes an absolute obligation on the slaves of allah, dictating that they - as inherent supremacisits - do not take Jews and Christians as friends. They may work with us co-operatively and appear friendly, but the muslim MUST hate us. Think of them as imperialist savages with smiles on their faces, and knives in their back pockets.
Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice (CJ) Khawaja Muhammad Sharif has formed a three-member full bench to hear a habeas corpus petition, challenging the detention of Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed and another leader Col (r) Nazeer Ahmad. The bench comprising Justices Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry, Hasnat Ahmad Khan and Zubdatul Hussan will hold the proceedings on Wednesday (today).
Earlier, a single bench comprising Justice Ijaz Chaudhry was hearing the case. He had referred the case to the CJ after the state counsel argued that a larger bench should hear the case. Petitioner's counsel AK Dogar had objected to it on the plea that the bench should decide the petition immediately as referring the matter to a larger bench would cause a delay.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday re-constituted the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) and also appointed 12 new members. The members are: Muhammad Siddique Hazarvi, Mufti Ghulam Mustafa Rizvi, Khawaja Sharif Amir Koreja, Mufti Ibrahim Qadri, Syed Saeed Shah Gujrati, Muhammad Khan Sherani, Dr Muhammad Idrees, Fazl Ali, Abu-al Fateh Yousuf, Shahida Akhtar Ali, Dr Anwar Hussain and Prof Dr Sabiha Qadri. Under the constitution, the council consists of not less than eight and not more than 20 members. At least one member should be a woman. A member of the council holds office for three years. A member can resign from the office or the president can remove him or her after a majority of members pass a resolution against him or her. The president also appoints the chairman of the council.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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Our religious clerics talk about referring matters to the Council of Islamic Ideology established by General Ziaul Haq. There is an interesting case of what kind of work they were engaged in. Once on my way from Karachi to Islamabad. I was sitting next to the then chairman of the Islamic Ideology Council (CII) in the plane. When I asked him what was the issue presently being undertaken by the CII, he told me that they were working on the issue of whether transplanting a non-Muslims kidney into a Muslim person is permitted in Islam.
Posted by: john frum ||
05/06/2009 18:00 Comments ||
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KARACHI: Two men convicted of the Sheraton hotel 2002 bomb blast have been freed.
Asif Zaheer and Rizwan were sentenced to death 15 times by an anti-terrorism court. The car bomb went off on May 8, 2002 outside the Sheraton Hotel in the southern city of Karachi, killing 14 people, including 11 French engineers.
The Sindh High Court's Justice Faisal Arab ruled that there was a lack of evidence and that they were wrongly convicted.
"Go forth, an' whatever it was you didn't do, don't do it no more neither."
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/06/2009 9:42 Comments ||
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#4
Tony Upazilla was a bouncer at the Bada Bing in Season Three, IIRC. He came to a bad end when he turned police informant and tried to rat out Uncle Joon. The cops took him for a long walk behind the cannery one night, Christopher and his posse opened fire and then fled into the shadows, leaving poor Tony with three rounds of bullet in his noggin. One behind each ear and one in the base of the skull.
At least it was sweeps and the ratings were real high for the epi. So that's something.
#6
Sea's contribution would HAVE to be better than most of the crap that's on public television these days.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/06/2009 16:13 Comments ||
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#7
Thanks, but then I'd have to pay royalties to "Tales From the Crossfire Gazette", or else risk being labeled a lowdown dirty plagiarizer and would have to settle for becoming Vice President or a Pulitzer prize-winning author.
Frankly, I aspire to greater things - namely, a pixel-stained scribe on the night desk of the Rantburg Defender-Scimitar and Times-Picayune.
A top Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader from Sindh has revealed that the US wants a national government in Pakistan with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif as prime minister and President Asif Ali Zardari to continue as president, a private TV channel reported on Tuesday.According to the channel, the PPP leader, asking not to be named, said Nawaz had become the 'blue-eyed boy' of the US and the rest of the West. The PPP leader, who is considered close to President Zardari, said the issue might come be discussed during President Zardari's visit to Washington, the channel said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I thourght Sharif was good mates with the Islamists/terrorist????
Ahl-e-Sunnah parties on Tuesday demanded the government restore its writ in Swat and asked it to register a treason case against Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi chief Sufi Muhammad. A private TV channel said a declaration issued at the conclusion of 'Stability of Pakistan Convention' in Rawalpindi, the Ahl-e-Sunnah parties declared Sufi Muhammad a "rebel of sharia and the constitution". They also called upon the government to restore its writ in the country without yielding to the terrorists and condemned the killings of innocent civilians, demolition of shrines and insult of religious clerics in the name of Islam.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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An Anti-Terrorism Appellate (ATA) bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday acquitted two of the accused in the 2002 suicide car bombing outside Karachi's Sheraton Hotel, which had killed 11 French engineers.
The bench -- consisting of Justice Qaiser Iqbal and Justice Mehmood Alam Rizvi -- had reserved its judgement after hearing detailed arguments by the defence and prosecution lawyers.
The two appellants, Asif Zaheer alias Asadullah alias Shuja alias Abid and Rizwan Ahmed alias Bashir, challenged their conviction and sentence awarded to them by ATC-II, Karachi on June 30, 2003.
The prosecution examined 41 witnesses before the trial court, including a witness who had seen the alleged suicide bomber, Rashid, with the convicts.
The ATC-II had awarded death sentences to the accused for the murders of 11 French engineers and two Pakistanis, besides awarding them life terms for causing injuries to 10 French engineers and 12 Pakistanis and 14 years imprisonment for possessing and detonating explosives.
The two convicts pleaded their innocence and claimed that they had been convicted due to misinterpretation of evidence. The counsel for the appellants submitted that the prosecution had failed to produce any concrete evidence of the appellants' connection with the suicide bomber.
Allowing the appeal, the bench set aside the conviction and sentence awarded to the accused by the trial court and ordered their release unless they were required in any other case.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] The United States supports ŽŽunambiguouslyŽŽ President Asif Ali Zardari and rejects talk that Pakistan is becoming a failed state, US envoy Richard Holbrooke said Tuesday. ŽŽPakistanŽs of such immense importance to the United States, strategically and politically, that our goal must be to support unambiguously and help stabilize a democratic Pakistan headed by its elected president, Asif Ali Zardari,ŽŽ Holbrooke told US lawmakers.
Rejecting US media reporting that President Barack ObamaŽs administration is seeking a deal with ZardariŽs political rival Nawaz Sharif, the special envoy added: ŽŽWe do not think Pakistan is a failed state. We think it is a state that is under extreme test. We have the same common enemies.ŽŽ
His appearance before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs came a day before Obama was to host Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the White House. Holbrooke said: ŽŽOur most vital national security interests are at stake.ŽŽ But the US administration had absolutely no interest in seeing the Pakistani military return to power in place of ZardariŽŽs shaky government. ŽŽWe are strongly opposed to any such event. We have made that unambiguous and made it clear to all parties, publicly and privately,ŽŽ Holbrooke said. ŽŽWe think this would be a terrible event.ŽŽ
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#2
´´Pakistan´s of such immense importance to the United States"
(Motions hand) "These are not the droids you're looking for..."
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
05/06/2009 7:52 Comments ||
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#3
I think I see where he's going: since Pakistan is an army with a "state" rather than a state with an army, it can't be a failed state;) Damn my head hurts whenever I decipher Holbrooke. That must be his strategery with the Paks, too.
#5
Actually, most failed states are in better shape than Pakistan. Even Nork has only ONE functioning government, not three or four acting against one another.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/06/2009 16:16 Comments ||
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#6
IIRC, the BAMMER = USA is planning to give PAKIS US$1.50BILYUUUHN in annual assistnce over five years, or US$7.50B tote.
IOW, FOR THAT KIND OF $$$, IN A TIME OF MSM-VERIFIED OFFICIAL "NATIONAL RECESSION/
DEPRESSION", IT BETTER NOT BE A "FAILED STATE" lest POTUS Bammer wants to be a de facto one-termer.
Sources close to the administration said the policy, which is the only direct means the US has of targeting terrorist leaders, was being "re-evaluated" because of its adverse affect on public opinion and its value to the Taliban as a propaganda tool.
Remember, Obama was the tough guy who openly talked about invading Pakistain.
"I have no doubt there is a change of mood," said a Washington source. "The administration recognises that the political challenges are so immense for Pakistan's government that the US has to re-evaluate what it has regarded as an otherwise successful programme."
Killing a whole bunch more of the Talibs would make the job of the Pak military marginally easier, wouldn't it?
Mr Obama has increased the rate of drone attacks operated by the CIA after his predecessor George W Bush approved a previous escalation last summer. The agency has carried out at least 16 Predator strikes in Pakistan in the first four months of this year, compared with 36 strikes in 2008, killing about 161 people since Mr Obama was inaugurated on Jan 20. Exploiting improved intelligence on the ground, the missile attacks, launched from 20,000 feet, have succeeded in killing leading militants in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas where the militancy is based.
The increased use of hi-tech missiles by a foreign power against mountain villages has inflamed public opinion as many of the dead have been civilians.
Which unfortunately happens since the brave,brave Lions of Islam hide amongst the civilians. And then denounce us for going after them. This is standard terrorism 101.
Several protests have been staged against the use of drones, with the Zardari government denouncing the US even as it gave tacit approval for the air strikes.
With the Pakistani military belatedly fighting back against the Taliban, influential voices in Washington have urged the White House to stop or dramatically scale back the use of drones.
Col David Kilcullen, formerly a senior adviser to Gen David Petraeus, the US commander in the region, told a Congressional hearing: "We need to call off the drones."
"I realise that they do damage to the al-Qaeda leadership, but... the drone strikes are highly unpopular. They are deeply aggravating to the population and they've given rise to a feeling of anger that coalesces the population around the extremists and leads to spikes of extremism. The current path that we are on is leading us to loss of Pakistani government control over its own population."
As if the government ever had control ...
Col Kilcullen, who has also informally advised the Obama administration and British government, said yesterday: The Pakistani population sees the drones as neo-colonial, and they are especially unpopular in the Punjab, where there is a rising militancy.
Steve Coll, president of the New America Foundation, said the administration was "acknowledging that there is an interaction between the attacks and political instability and are re-evaluating the costs and benefits of these attacks".
He said the Obama administration decided to intensify the attacks in the hope they would reach the top of al-Qaeda quickly. He added: "My sense is they were looking at their watches trying to finish the job but they have run out of time."
A temporary cessation in air assaults would offer a considerable reprieve to their main targets such as al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, his deputy Ayman al Zawahiri and Beitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban held responsible for the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the former president, last year.
Political sensitivities prevent the presence of US troops on the ground in Pakistan, while counter-insurgency training of Pakistan's forces has yet to begin in earnest. The Obama administration is planning to accelerate funds for night vision equipment, helicopters and a training programme but delivery would still take several months.
The White House said that it offered its unequivocal support to both foreign leaders, signaling that after weeks of criticism it has realized that it is US interests to support both men.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I agree, Dave. Even a Clown Act need some direction.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/06/2009 12:00 Comments ||
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#2
Steve,
I can't find the reference but I recall at least one case where an Afghan supposedly 'on our payroll' and trusted by us gave information to target a specific building/compound where AQ (or Tali) had taken cover from a battle, and we called in an air strike, destroying the building, which contained only the local civilians who had been directed to take cover there by the AQ/Tali as they were vacating the battle space. It was believed the whole operation went as intended by the AQ/Tali leadership. The goal is to get us to withdraw and the sacrifice of a few civilians to the cause is a small price and very practical investment, from AQ/Tali perspective. And the sacrificed get fast-tracked to Heaven in the process.
#3
Sounds like it might be time for us to sign a "peace" treaty with the Taliban.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
05/06/2009 15:31 Comments ||
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#4
And then kill them all, I'll go for it.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/06/2009 20:05 Comments ||
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#5
Stop using the only weapon that has had a significant impact on the Talib leadership because a bunch of prehistoric tribesmen have a knot in their snikers...that's a winning strategy. Praise be to the nOne.
Taking the Kishanganga dam issue a step further, Pakistan has termed India's initiative to build a dam on the Indus River as 'Indian water terrorism' and said the issue posed a bigger threat to country than the Taliban.
Chairman Indus Water Council Pakistan, Zahoorul Hassan Dahir said India is trying to establish its full control over the Indus River and deprive Pakistan from its share of water. "After Chenab and Jhelum now India is pursuing a plan to get complete control over Indus River," The Nation quoted Dahir,as saying.
Dahir said the problems of terrorism, insurgency and Talbanisation were created intentionally to divert attention from 'Indian water terrorism'.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] In his final days, ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein complained of torture and severe "beatings" as well sleep deprivation in a series of letters penned during his time in American captivity, press reports said on Tuesday.
The handwritten letters, obtained by the New York Daily News, poured out complaints of mental and physical abuse by the "detention gang" of the United States military jailers.
In one letter Hussein wrote: "not a single part of my body was spared of the severe harm inflicted by the detention gang," adding, "some of the traces are still visible on my body."
Hussein described his detention center -- believed to be inside Baghdad International Airport -- as a nightmarish chamber where sleepless nights echoed the screams of prisoners being tortured.
"My opportunity to sleep in this place is limited and almost scarce," Saddam wrote. "I don't think there is anyone with a sensitive and humanitarian heart who can sleep amidst the screams of the tortured and the many blows of the doors and the squeaking sounds of the chairs."
In one letter written on Christmas day 2003, the former Iraqi leader claimed that in the past three days, the "total hours of sleep did not exceed four to five hours."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#6
I, for one would be proud to be asked to run the tapes of screaming at odd nightly intervals in his cell, sleep deprivation mimics insanity, (But he already was, so How could you tell?)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/06/2009 13:49 Comments ||
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#7
"Now industrial shredders - I could fall asleep listening to those!"
#8
Really! So, when will Michael Moore have the movie out?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
05/06/2009 15:36 Comments ||
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#9
The screaming only keeps him awake when he is aware that he could be the one screaming next. I bet he rather enjoyed the screaming while he was the one in charge of the torturing.
...not that I actually believe that flushing the Koran down the toilet or wearing women's underwear on ones head actually amounts to torture...
#10
Let him and all his cronies sleep in a corner, with one foot tied to a pully in the ceiling. Every thirty minutes, crank the rope up another six inches until he's hanging upside down from the ceiling. THEN he can complain about "not getting any sleep".
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/06/2009 16:19 Comments ||
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#11
"total hours of sleep did not exceed four to five hours."
Napoleon never slept more than 4 hours.
But sure Napoleon you weren't
Posted by: European Conservative ||
05/06/2009 16:57 Comments ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad slammed Zionism as "occupation" and "aggression" Tuesday as he delivered his latest diatribe against the Jewish state on a visit to key Middle East ally Syria.
"The Zionist occupiers are destructive microbes, because Zionism itself is occupation, aggression, the use of assassination and annihilation," he told a joint news conference with President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian capital.
"Zionism was created to threaten us. To support the Palestinian resistance is a humanitarian and popular obligation," Ahmadinejad said in remarks in Farsi that were translated into Arabic.
The Iranian president's comments came barely two weeks after he sparked a European walkout from a U.N. anti-racism conference in Geneva by equating Zionism with racism.
Ahmadinejad asked why it was the Islamist Hamas movement which controls Gaza that is blacklisted by the European Union and the United States, and not Israel after its devastating offensive against the territory at the turn of the year.
"They've attacked Gaza, killing people in their own land and massacring women and children... and yet it's the Palestinians they accuse of terrorism," he complained.
Ahmadinejad, whose visit to Damascus came as Defense Secretary Robert Gates toured U.S. allies in the region to reassure them about overtures to the Tehran regime by President Barack Obama, hit out at the continuing U.S. military presence on Iran's borders.
"They weren't invited in. They're unwelcome visitors who should leave Afghanistan and the borders of Pakistan," the Iranian president said. "We don't want honey from bees that sting us. Efforts must be made to rid the region of the presence of foreigners... and to reform the unjust global political and economic system."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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Israel should join the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a pact intended to limit the spread of nuclear weapons, a top US official said Tuesday.
"Universal adherence to the NPT itself, including by India, Israel, Pakistan and North Korea...remains a fundamental objective of the United States," Assistant Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller was quoted by Reuters as saying at a meeting of NPT signatories. Drop dead, shiksa
#1
because Israel has been selling or trading nukes so much, right?
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/06/2009 8:14 Comments ||
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#2
So when do we get to talk to AQ Kahn? That would interest me MUCH more that Israel signing the NPT- Israel has more reasons NOT to proliferate nuke knowledge than any other country on Earth.
[Al Arabiya Latest] United States Vice President Joe Biden addressed the closing session of the leading American pro-Israeli lobby on Tuesday and called on Israel to accept a two-state solution and allow Palestinians "freedom of movement" but not before he told the lobby his obligation to Israel began early in his childhood. And if you can't believe Joe Biden who can you believe?
After sticking to standard declarations about the "non-negotiable" U.S. commitment to Israel's security and the allies' special relationship, Biden reiterated President Barack Obama's stance on Israel, Iran and the Palestinians to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
Bden opened his speech by talking about "the basic responsibility of the United States to be a partner in ensuring that there will always be a place for the Jews to go and that place always must be Israel."
The vice president declared Obama's support of Israel and the president's "personal connection to the Zionist idea" before he went on to say that peace could best be achieved by taking a new direction in U.S. foreign policy, which included responsibly pulling out of Iraq and stabilizing Afghanistan.
After speaking about the grave danger of a nuclear armed Iran, Biden stressed Obama's administration would continue to push for diplomacy based on "mutual respect" but said if diplomacy failed "all options remain on the table."
Biden also called for a two-state solution that would include a Jewish national state side by side with a Palestinian state but said in the meantime Israel's security was not debatable and that Israel had the right to defend itself and "make its own judegements about what it needs to do to defend itself," a possible reference to the 22-day Gaza assault that left 1,300 Palestinians dead.
"You're not going to like my saying this but not build more settlements, dismantle existing outposts and allow Palestinians freedom of movement," Biden said. "Israel has to work toward a two-state solution."
The vice president also called on Palestinian armed groups to halt violence and said Arab states should build on their 2002 peace initiative by starting now to make "meaningful gestures" toward ending Israel's isolation.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
They're letting him talk? Maybe just out of the country...? Leno had him taped up.
#5
Commited as long as Isreal makes Obama look good I'm sure. AIPAC members may be having buyers remorse. Even if they aren't, give it another year and they will be moving to Canada.
Posted by: Charles ||
05/06/2009 5:55 Comments ||
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#9
If Clinton was the first black president,
Hussein Melonhead is the first "muslim"
in the White House and Joe Biden is doing
his best to give fellow 'slimes a hot
burning heart ache...
Have another swig of Slap Ya Mama Cajun
Seasoning, Akhmed...
Posted by: Ming the Merciless ||
05/06/2009 18:37 Comments ||
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[ADN Kronos] The European Union has paid allowances to 1,000 of the poorest Gazan families three months late, according to the Palestinian news agency Maan. The EU made the quarterly 200 dollar payments to more than 24,600 Gazans on behalf of the Italian government, the agency said.
The European external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner's spokeswoman Cristiane Hohmann confirmed to Adnkronos International (AKI) that the payment was late.
But she said it was because of Israeli restructions on cash flow into the coastal strip. "We had problems paying out the allowances because we couldn't get the cash into Gaza," she said.
"This is an ongoing problem - we already had it in autumn last year," Hohmann added. "It's very difficult for the families - it has exacerbated their situation."
The heart [urp] bleeds ...
The payments followed months of cash shortages in the Gaza Strip as Israeli authorities continue to refuse the regular shipment of cash into the territory's financial system.
The payments were from the European Commission in coordination with the Palestinian Authority's social affairs ministry. The allowances are paid four times a year to the poorest families.
The December 2008 payment was also delayed because of the cash shortage, and was not handed out to families until March 2009.
The Italian government made available 9.16 million euros to the PA for the social allowances which are part of an earlier Italian contribution of 20 million euros.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#2
in other news "Taliban collects 250 from each poor Gazan", if you don't "Share", they'll ask your remaining living relatives for the cash.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/06/2009 14:30 Comments ||
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#3
Ouch! That has to hurt EU's credit rating.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
05/06/2009 15:33 Comments ||
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#4
Where the hell does all the money go? The EU, US and various Arab countries have been pouring billions of dollars into Gaza for years. Gaza should be drowning in money by now.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
05/06/2009 20:56 Comments ||
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[Jerusalem Post Middle East] In a bid to improve its image and counter Hamas propaganda, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction is about to launch its own satellite TV station.
The new station will be located in Ramallah, headquarters of the PA and Fatah leadership, and will have offices in Cairo, Beirut and Amman.
It's not clear where the funding for the Fatah TV is coming from. However, a Fatah official told The Jerusalem Post that at least two Gulf countries have agreed to fund the station.
The official also revealed that several EU and other donor countries had turned down Fatah's request for funding under the pretext that the Palestinians don't need another TV station.
The new station is expected to start its broadcasts in the coming weeks, said Nabil Amr, former PA information minister who has been entrusted with establishing the new station, which will be called Falastinia (Palestinian).
In the past few days, the station's management published advertisements in the Palestinian media seeking presenters and journalists.
The decision to launch the new station was taken a few months ago by the Fatah Central Committee, a key decision-making body headed by Abbas and other veteran members of the ruling faction. The decision came in the wake of increased criticism of the performance of the PA-controlled media, especially Palestine TV and The Voice of Palestine radio station.
Fatah representatives have long complained that the PA-controlled media were incompetent and ineffective in confronting Hamas's propaganda machine. Hamas has two TV stations which are more popular than the PA's media outlets.
Fatah leaders are hoping that the new station will help them restore the Palestinian public's confidence in the corruption-riddled faction. Fatah has lost much of its credibility largely due to the fact that it has failed to reform itself following its defeat to Hamas in the January 2006 parliamentary election.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Palestinian movement Hamas says it will never recognize Israel, insisting that the regime is the only enemy in the region. Hamas political leader Khalid Mashaal told The New York Times that the movement "has not and will not" recognize Israel but it might conditionally accept the creation of a Palestinian state.
He reiterated that the borders of a future Palestinian state must be the 1967 borders and it must include the east Jerusalem (al-Quds). "We are with a state on the 1967 borders, based on a long-term truce," the Hamas leader said. "This includes al-Quds, the dismantling of settlements and the right of return of the Palestinian refugees."
Mashaal added the movement is "part of any solution" to the Middle East conflict.
The status of East Jerusalem and the refugees' right of return have been among the thorny issues in the currently stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
The new administration in Israel headed by hawkish politician Benjamin Netanyahu has hinted that it would not remain committed to the two-state solution.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#2
After all look what is occupying the White House, thus we should expect an anti-Israeli agenda, and a disgraceful official promotion of Islamic and communist enemies, which Obama Inc do view as enemies, but 'comrades'.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
05/06/2009 5:13 Comments ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] A UN report has found Israel responsible for six major crimes committed against Palestinians during the three-week offensive in the Gaza Strip.
The report released on Tuesday blamed Israel for six serious incidents leading to death, injuries, or damage during the Gaza War, AFP reported.
"In six of the nine incidents the board concluded that the death, injuries and damage involved were caused by military actions, using munitions launched or dropped from the air or fired from the ground, by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)," the report said.
United Nations Headquarters Board of Inquiry launched a probe into nine incidents after Israel bombed several UN schools and buildings in December's war against Palestinians.
Two UN schools were bombed in a single day which led to the death of at least 50 people most of them women and children who took refuge in the buildings. The 22-day war left at least 1,350 people killed in the strip.
Israel, however, denounced the UN report on its performance in Gaza and termed it biased and misleading.
The report now waits for the UN Security Council's decision.
The US has so far vetoed all but one Security Council's anti-Israeli resolutions.
Washington's reaction to the recent report could be considered as a test to determine whether the United States has changed its policy in the Middle East.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#3
The only folks who will ever kick the UN out of NY is "We the People". Not enough of us are hurting hard enough to do that, since it will also require kicking our current government into the sewers where they belong.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/06/2009 16:22 Comments ||
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#4
Did the UN investigate the war crimes perpetrated by Hamas? You know, firing missiles at civilians, hiding out in hospitals and among civilians, and so on.
I thought not.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
05/06/2009 18:34 Comments ||
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[Jerusalem Post Middle East] Hamas has stopped launching rockets at Israel and is looking to establish a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, the Islamist group's political leader Khaled Mashaal told The New York Times in an interview published Monday. He went on to say that Hamas supported "a state on the 1967 borders, based on a long-term truce. This includes east Jerusalem, the dismantling of settlements and the right of return of the Palestinian refugees," specifying that by a "long-term" agreement he meant 10 years.
Mashaal, who was re-elected as the leader of the movement's political bureau for the fourth time earlier this week, called the firing of rockets from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel "a method, not a goal," and said that the cessation of such aggression was "part of an evaluation from the movement which serves the Palestinians' interest."
The Times also quoted the Damascus-based leader as saying that Hamas sought to agree to a truce with Israel, as well as an agreement to swap captured IDF soldier Gilad Schalit with multiple Palestinian prisoners.
He did not, however, stray far from the group's previous statements, reiterating, "There is only one enemy in the region, and that is Israel," and opining that pushing Hamas to recognize Israel was merely "a pretext by the United States and Israel to escape dealing with the real issue and to throw the ball into the Arab and Palestinian court."
RELATED
Mashaal re-elected Hamas political chief
Addressing US President Barack Obama's administration, he vowed that Hamas would be "part of the solution, period." He praised Obama for using "different and positive" language in his recent overtures to the region, but said that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was using words which "reflect the old administration policies."
On the Iranian regime's support for Hamas, Mashaal told the Times, "Iran's support to us is not conditioned. No one controls or affects our policies."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
specifying that by a "long-term" agreement he meant 10 years
By which he means the longest period of hudna permissible in the Big Book of Mo.
Al-Sadr, who leads the Mahdi Army militia, also met both Recep Tayyip Erodgan, the Turkish prime minister, and president Abdullah Gul in Ankara.
Radical Iraqi Shia cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr, is reported to have assumed the title of Grand Ayatollah after concluding his studies in the holy city of Qom in Iran. Sources close to the cleric's faction released the news to the Arab daily, al-Sharq al-Awsat.
Around 70 supporters of al-Sadr on Sunday concluded a conference in Sadr City the Turkish city of Istanbul where they elected new leaders and mapped out their future.
Al-Sadr, who leads the Mahdi Army militia, also met both Recep Tayyip Erodgan, the Turkish prime minister, and president Abdullah Gul in Ankara on Friday during his visit to Turkey.
Al-Sadr joined his supporters after completing two years of study in Iran and was expected to return to Iraq this week to resume his religious leadership.
During the Shia conference entitled 'The Al-Sadr faction and future challenges', Al-Sadr's supporters renewed their commitment to fight the occupation of their country and demand the removal of all foreign troops, while seeking greater collaboration with other Iraqi political parties.
#4
Really you aren't suppose to 'assume' the title of Grand Ayatollah, it's something that you earn when you achieve a certain critical mass of supporters and respect. Also it usually takes a few decades of study and numerous books before one could hope to have the term applied to them.
Posted by: Gaz ||
05/06/2009 3:40 Comments ||
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#5
Al-Sadr joined his supporters after completing two years of study in Iran and was expected to return to Iraq this week to resume his religious leadership.
I guess it's just dumb luck that the US is withdrawing about the same time he's returning to Iraq.
#14
Not wishing to inflame or futher alienate the 'wonderful faith of Islam' our military forces declined numerous opportunities to aerate with bullet old Moqtada and his cadre. The infestation continues.
Posted by: lord garth ||
05/06/2009 9:49 Comments ||
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#16
"See, I got my Associate's Degree in Grand Ayatollahship from the Qom online school of Air Conditioner Repair, Dental Hygiene, Business Administration, Grand Ayatollahship, and Cosmetology. I also got an MBA in Islamic Hedge Fund Management, Marriage Counseling, Chiropractic and Aromatherapy."
Posted by: mehdi ||
05/06/2009 11:37 Comments ||
Top||
#18
Al-Sadr, who leads the Mahdi Army militia, also met both Recep Tayyip Erodgan, the Turkish prime minister, and president Abdullah Gul in Ankara on Friday during his visit to Turkey.
This Turkish guy Erodgan needs to be overthrown,Has many Islamist enemies of the West as pals.Come on the Turkish Army act before its too late!!!
[ADN Kronos] A group of British MPs has travelled to Sri Lanka to discuss the future of tens of thousands of civilians affected by the conflict in the north of the country. Former defence secretary Des Browne, whose appointment as Britain's special envoy to Sri Lanka was rejected by Colombo, is taking part in the visit which includes visiting camps for displaced people in the north.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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The refugee camp witnessed growling battles in 2007 between the Lebanese Army and the Fatah Al-Islam militants
The Saudi Fund for Development had donated USD 25 million to UNRWA to help rebuild Nahr El-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon, said a statement on Tuesday. The deal was signed by the fund's Deputy Treasurer Yousif Al-Bassam and UNRWA Director General Karen AbuZayd.
Al-Bassam told the press after signing the deal that the donation would help bring back 500 displaced families to the camp. On her part, Abuzayd lauded the Saudi donation for the rebuild of the camp, saying that Saudi Arabia was always on the front in terms of helping the needy.
The refugee camp witnessed growling battles in 2007 between the Lebanese Army and the Fatah Al-Islam militants which led the deaths and injuries of many.
The rebuilding budget for the camp was estimated at USD 450 million.
[Al Arabiya Latest] United States Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday said Arab allies had no cause for concern over a possible U.S.-Iran rapprochement and promised Washington would be "tough-minded" with Tehran if its overtures were rebuffed.
Gates, who visits Egypt and Saudi Arabia this week, said U.S. allies had no cause for concern and promised Washington would be "tough-minded" with Tehran if its overtures were rebuffed.
The possible shift in U.S. policy toward Iran has stirred unease among Gulf allies of the United States, who fear they could lose out if Washington builds a better relationship with Tehran.
There were "some exaggerated concerns, some notion here in the region that there might be some grand bargain between the United States and Iran that would suddenly be sprung on them," he told reporters in Cairo.
Such concerns were "completely unrealistic," Gates said before arriving in Riyadh to meet Saudi leaders.
"One important message will be, particularly for the Saudis, that any kind of outreach to Iran will not be at the expense of our long-term relationships with Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states that have been our partners and friends for decades," he said.
"We will deal with this in a sensible way and in a way that hopefully increases the security of everybody in the region, not just us," Gates told reporters.
He promised that Washington would consult closely with its allies and that no deal would be hatched in secret. "We will keep our friends informed about what is going so that nobody gets surprised," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Cause Iranians swore on a stack of Korans that they only want to wipe out Israel?
[ADN Kronos] There was "absolutely no foundation" to rumours that the Islamist Hamas movement had asked its exiled political leader Khaled Meshal to end the group's activities in Syria, a source has told Adnkronos International (AKI). In an interview, the source said the news had "no link to reality" and was an attempt to generate confusion about political goals.
According to the source, "all Palestinian forces without exception continue to play a political and informative role among the Palestinians who live in Syria, starting with Fatah to all the other factions".
Ali Badwan spokesman for the Palestinian National Council said "the causes and rights of the Palestinians are not something to be traded by Syria".
Badwan also said that Damascus was not looking to renew relations with the United States at the expense of Hamas and other Palestinian resistance movements.
"The fact that Palestinian forces have a real range of action in Syria is a positive factor in the sense of reinforcing the Syrian role," he told AKI.
As for suggestions from the Syrian ambassador to Washington that a peace accord would be reached between Syria and Israel and that Palestinian groups could no longer remain, Badwan said this had to be seen "in context".
"For 20 years the Syrian position has remained the same," he said. "There are more than 700,000 Palesinian refugees in Syrian territory."
Badwan said whatever position that Syria adopts, a just solution was needed to resolve the Palestinian problem, based on the right to return to their homeland, something that Israel has categorically rejected.
Mashal heads the Syrian branch of the political bureau of Hamas.
He is reportedly playing a key role in negotiating a prisoner exchange with Israel that would include the return of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who was kidnapped by Palestinian militants in 2006.
Israel has agreed to release more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, but there is ongoing disagreement over a number of more serious prisoners.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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Iran's supreme leader publicly rebuked the president over his removal of a top official, a rare show of discontent with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by the country's most powerful figure.
The rebuke, issued in the press on Monday, quickly raised questions whether the supreme leader is backing off support of Ahmadinejad in the president's tough battle for a second term in June 12 elections. If so, that could be a heavy blow to Ahmadinejad. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei holds ultimate power in Iran, at the top of the clerical hierarchy above elected figures. If he is seen as moving away from Ahmadinejad, the president's conservative base could take it as a signal to back an alternative candidate.
The flap centered around control of a body that organises the annual Hajj pilgrimage, which traditionally comes under Khamenei's vast powers. The supreme leader overturned the government's removal of the head of the organisation. The dispute may appear like a minor turf battle. But some observers saw it as a sign of Khamenei distancing himself from Ahmadinejad, whose popularity has fallen among some Iranians because of the ailing economy. Political analyst Saeed Leilaz called the rebuke "unprecedented" and said it "clearly means that Khamenei doesn't insist that Ahmadinejad deserves to remain as president. That's the message."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#2
Skid, that Vietnam picture is, IIRC, deceptive. It had the intended effect of ginning up the anit-war feelings, but the shooting itself was pretty much defendable. (Wish this old brain could pull forward the details.)
The 'victim' had killed a one of Loan's (the shooter) officers and his entire family. Also note that the 'victim' is out of uniform - an illegal combatant. According to the Geneva Convention illegal combatant can be summarily executed.
And what the hell does that picture have to do with the article anyway?
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.
SEOUL, May 5 (Yonhap) -- North Korea operates a cyber warfare unit that seeks to disrupt South Korean and U.S. military networks and visits U.S. military sites more frequently than any other country, intelligence sources in Seoul said Tuesday.
KARACHI: Two men convicted of the Sheraton hotel 2002 bomb blast have been freed.
[Geo News] The United States supports ŽŽunambiguouslyŽŽ President Asif Ali Zardari and rejects talk that Pakistan is becoming a failed state, US envoy Richard Holbrooke said Tuesday. ŽŽPakistanŽs of such immense importance to the United States, strategically and politically, that our goal must be to support unambiguously and help stabilize a democratic Pakistan headed by its elected president, Asif Ali Zardari,ŽŽ Holbrooke told US lawmakers. 
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad slammed Zionism as "occupation" and "aggression" Tuesday as he delivered his latest diatribe against the Jewish state on a visit to key Middle East ally Syria.
[Al Arabiya Latest] United States Vice President Joe Biden addressed the closing session of the leading American pro-Israeli lobby on Tuesday and called on Israel to accept a two-state solution and allow Palestinians "freedom of movement" but not before he told the lobby his obligation to Israel began early in his childhood.
[Jerusalem Post Middle East] Hamas has stopped launching rockets at Israel and is looking to establish a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, the Islamist group's political leader Khaled Mashaal told The New York Times in an interview published Monday. He went on to say that Hamas supported "a state on the 1967 borders, based on a long-term truce. This includes east Jerusalem, the dismantling of settlements and the right of return of the Palestinian refugees," specifying that by a "long-term" agreement he meant 10 years.
Iran's supreme leader publicly rebuked the president over his removal of a top official, a rare show of discontent with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by the country's most powerful figure.
