KABUL (AFP) President Hamid Karzai defended Wednesday his pick of vice-president for his bid for re-election, saying Mohammed Qasim Fahim was a choice for unity and an Afghan government not influenced from "outside".
A former anti-Soviet and anti-Taliban military commander, Fahim has been accused by Human Rights Watch as well as Afghan and other international critics of abuses including murder during Afghanistan's nearly three decades of war. Western officials, some close to the United Nations, have alleged that he is also linked to gangs that are today involved in crimes such as kidnapping and drugs smuggling.
There were "too many allegations in Afghanistan against our personalities, against our people," Karzai said. "Look, in America during their war of liberation and during the civil war and afterwards, a lot of people were celebrated as heroes. Afghanistan has heroes of its own, and so has Europe heroes of its own," he said.
Karzai dropped Fahim from his ticket in the first-ever presidential election in 2004 reportedly under pressure from Western allies. But since the ouster of the extremist Taliban regime in 2001, Afghanistan has become home for people from former communists to mujahedeen and villagers.
"That is the Afghanistan I want to continue to preserve and take us to a next stage of stability," Karzai said. "So the choosing of Fahim as my vice-president was a decision that I made for the good of the country, for the unity of the country, for the strength of Afghanistan, in which it has a government that is Afghan and not influenced from outside."
The president also reflected allegations of rights abuses by figures in his government back onto the thousands of Western troops here to fight insurgents. The troops have killed hundreds of civilians in error in their operations against insurgents, but the militants kill more ordinary Afghans in their attacks.
Human rights groups must "also begin to pay attention to the plight of the common people in Afghanistan who are suffering every day at violence perpetrated against them by various military forces, by various accidents," Karzai said.
Karzai has been the de facto leader of Afghanistan since the ouster of the Taliban in a US-led invasion. He is among 41 candidates for the August 20 presidential elections, the second in Afghanistan's turbulent history. The signs are that he has a good chance of success despite his failure to rein in a Taliban-led insurgency and rampant corruption.
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06/18/2009 00:00 ||
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In an interview with Dutch magazine Vrij Nederland, NATO's Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer argued that the alliance's approach to the reconstruction of Afghanistan was misguided. He believes that making individual member states responsible for specific provinces hindered international cooperation.
De Hoop Scheffer, who is stepping down from his position on 31 July, added "the fact that all countries think they are champions of reconstruction obstructed actual civil and military cooperation. Every country was out for itself. Looking back, I would have gone for a closer combination of military effort and reconstruction. Perhaps I should have judged that better five years ago."
Perhaps.
De Hoop Scheffer was appointed head of NATO in 2004, not long after it took over leadership of the allied campaign in Afghanistan.
Despite what he calls 'Herculean' challenges, he insists that NATO has made significant improvements in Afghanistan. "There are schools, economic activity and roads are being built." He believes NATO has successfully managed to respect Afghan culture and religion.
Integrity
The NATO chief defends himself against claims that his appointment was a reward for Dutch support for the US-led invasion of Iraq. "That is patent nonsense," he said. "Do you really think President Chirac or Chancellor Schröder would have approved my appointment because the Netherlands supported George Bush's policies? That would be an enormous overestimation of my and the Netherlands' importance."
Asked whether his appointment can be regarded separately from Dutch support for the war, he admitted "if the Netherlands had been against the invasion of Iraq that would not have improved my chances. But the insinuation that it supported the war to ensure my appointment is an insult to my integrity and I resent that. It was a political decision made in the Netherlands at the time, one which I still support."
De Hoop Scheffer said he is certain that the parliamentary committee investigating the decision-making process behind the Netherlands' support for the invasion of Iraq will agree with him. The Davids' committee was set up in January 2009 by Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.
I, too, always readdress decisions taken the better part of a decade ago, which I believe were correct.
The NATO chief also talked about his future and his relationship with presidents Bush and Obama. "I think you'll be seeing my face pop up again on the international stage."
A gap-year student who vowed to battle British soldiers with a Koran in one hand and a Kalashnikov in the other has been jailed. Mohamed Abushamma, 21, was intercepted by anti-terror police in Turkey as he attempted to travel to Afghanistan to join pro-Taliban fighters. The youth hoped to enter Afghanistan via its northern border with Tajikistan, after trekking over the mountainous border between the two countries. Once there, he hoped to join mujihadeen fighters engaged in bloody fighting with coalition troops.
At Croydon Crown Court yesterday, Judge Mr Justice Bean sentenced Abushamma to three-and-a-half years' imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to preparing for acts of terrorism. His friend Qasim Abukar, 21, who travelled with him to Turkey, was cleared of the same offence by a jury earlier this month, despite going on the run in the middle of his trial.
Mr Justice Bean told Abushamma: "You have pleaded guilty to preparing for acts of terrorism. You decided to travel to Afghanistan to join the mujihadeen. In that country, you were seeking to overthrow the government by force, fighting against the government and the coalition forces, assisting them in order to advance the ideological cause of militant Islamism. Fortunately, you were intercepted in Turkey before you could reach your destination. I accept that what you have done is nothing like as grave as actually committing a terrorist outrage, or even attempting one, but it is a grave and serious offence."
The court heard that in April last year, British anti-terror police received intelligence that Abukar and Abushamma were going to try to reach Afghanistan. As there are few direct flights to Kandahar, Abushamma was attempting to reach it by flying to Turkey, then taking a connecting flight to Tajikistan before trekking overland. The pair flew to Ankara on April 17, but were intercepted near the Turkish capital by police the following day. When they returned to Britain on April 21, both men were arrested, with Abushamma admitting in November last year that he had hoped to pursue violent jihad in Afghanistan. Prosecutor Alison Morgan told the court than in an email sent to his father and sister before his departure for Turkey, Abushamma "clearly indicated that he would be fighting with a Koran in one hand and an AK47 in the other."
Abushamma, who was due to start a course at University College London in September last year, decided to fight violent jihad after being radicalised by reading extremist websites. His lawyer Imran Khan told the court his client was from an illustrious' family - his grandfather was a general and his great-grandfather was the first president of the Sudan. His parents had sent him to study medicine in the Sudan, after he failed to get into medical school in Britain when he only got an A and two Bs at A-level, but he refused to stay there and returned to Britain. He had also spent a year studying Arabic in Egypt. Mr Khan urged the judge to give his client a suspended sentence, telling the court that he had repented of his actions and was now working to try and dissuade other young people from extremism.
Abushamma, of Britannia Row, Islington, North London, admitted engaging in conduct in preparation for committing acts of terrorism. Abukar, of Dartmouth Park Hill, Upper Holloway, North London, denied the same charge. He was acquitted after claiming he thought he was going on a trekking holiday' when he travelled to Turkey, and that he had been deceived by his co-defendant. He absconded halfway through his trial and has not been seen since.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea may fire a long-range ballistic missile toward Hawaii in early July, a Japanese news report said Thursday, as Russia and China urged the regime to return to international disarmament talks on its rogue nuclear program.
The missile, believed to be a Taepodong-2 with a range of up to 4,000 miles (6,500 kilometers), would be launched from North Korea's Dongchang-ni site on the northwestern coast, said the Yomiuri daily, Japan's top-selling newspaper. It cited an analysis by the Japanese Defense Ministry and intelligence gathered by U.S. reconnaissance satellites.
The missile launch could come between July 4 and 8, the paper said.
While the newspaper speculated the Taepodong-2 could fly over Japan and toward Hawaii, it said the missile would not be able to hit Hawaii's main islands, which are about 4,500 miles (7,200 kilometers) from the Korean peninsula.
A spokesman for the Japanese Defense Ministry declined to comment on the report. South Korea's Defense Ministry and the National Intelligence Service - the country's main spy agency - said they could not confirm it.
The independent International Crisis Group think tank, meanwhile, said the North's massive stockpile of chemical weapons is no less serious a threat to the region than its nuclear arsenal. It said the North is believed to have between 2,500 and 5,000 tons of chemical weapons, including mustard gas, phosgene, blood agents and sarin. These weapons can be delivered with ballistic missiles and long-range artillery and are "sufficient to inflict massive civilian casualties on South Korea."
"If progress is made on rolling back Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, there could be opportunities to construct a cooperative diplomatic solution for chemical weapons and the suspected biological weapons program," the think tank said in a report released Thursday.
Because that's what's been missing so far, a cooperative diplomatic solution by gum!
It also called on the U.S. to engage the North in dialogue to defuse the nuclear crisis, saying "diplomacy is the least bad option." The think tank said Washington should be prepared to send a high-level special envoy to Pyongyang to resolve the tension.
Of course they want a diplomatic solution. That's all they can think of because the use of force, subterfuge or coercion, especially by the U.S., is icky. And if another few hundred thousand Nork citizens die of starvation, well you can't make an omelette, etc ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/18/2009 09:26 ||
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#1
Well, since Alaska isn't part of the US "homeland", then I guess Hawaii isn't either...
Posted by: George Ebbetle5594 ||
06/18/2009 11:58 Comments ||
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#3
I suspect this reporter is more clueless than usual. For example, any missile fired from North Korea East almost has to fly over Japan. Towards Hawaii would be right over Tokyo. However, this missile is being fired from the northwest. So they might as well say that it is targeted to New Guinea.
on 9/11/01, I was treated to one of our local "Hawaiian Sovreignty" types holding forth about how it was too bad the Americans got hurt, but it was no skin of their nose.
a couple of years ago they raised the age of legal consent - all the way up to 16, over the outraged screams of the locals (male variety of course).
So if Kimmie get's lucky it not like he hit the US or something.
#10
All the enemies are playing up as they see Barry as weak!!!! paul2
Obama is not weak. He is definintely taking it on as his responsibility to destroy America's future. The America that started with British colonies. The same nation, Britain that imprisoned and tortured his grandfather and briefly imprisoned his father in the Kenyan Mau Mau uprising.
Regarding their combativeness against British Colonial Rule and their subsiquent imprisonment by the British, Mrs Onyango said that the combative spirit shown by her husband and her son, Obama's Grandfather and father, during Kenya's bloody independence struggle had passed down through the generations to the future president. "This family lineage has all along been made up of fighters," she said. "Senator Barack Obama is fighting using his brain, like his father, while his grandfather fought physically with the white man." The President of the United States, born according Mrs Sarah Onyango in Mombasa, Kenya.
#11
WASHINGTON The United States has positioned more missile defenses around Hawaii as a precaution against a possible North Korean launch across the Pacific, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday. "We do have some concerns if they were to launch a missile to the west in the direction of Hawaii," Gates said.
Gates told reporters at the Pentagon he has sent the military's ground-based mobile missile system to Hawaii, and positioned a radar system nearby. Together the systems theoretically could detect and shoot down a North Korean missile if it came to that.
"Without telegraphing what we will do, I would just say ... we are in a good position, should it become necessary, to protect Americans and American territory," Gates said.
#12
GUAM K57 > seems SECDEF GATES has approved the deployment of a US THAAD MislSys to the ALOHA STATE = HAWAII as just-in-case protection agz any NOKOR missle. JAPANESE MEDIA also repors that Nokor's test missle, likely an IMPROV LR TAEPONGDONG-II, may also be flown agz OKINAWA [read, JAPAN] + GUAM, + that CHINA will prob be angered iff any FAILED ENGINE SECTION OF NOKOR'S MISSLE FALLS INTO THE CHINA SEAS???
The ethnic Korean guide who accompanied two American journalists sentenced to a labor camp in North Korea last week has been arrested by the Chinese security authorities, said a South Korean pastor who organized the reporters' trip in March.
Chun Ki-won, a Christian pastor and human rights activist, said the guide, Kim Seong-cheol, was arrested in China after he managed to evade North Korean guards on March 17, the day Euna Lee and Laura Ling were caught near the China-North Korea border on the Tumen River while reporting on North Korean refugees.
"I believe the Chinese arrested Kim to question him about the journalists' situation," said Chun, who declined to provide further, personal details on Kim.
Or to shut him up, or at least to stash him away. He's not going to do well.
Chun said he introduced Kim to Lee and Ling, journalists for the San Francisco-based Current TV, upon their request in January. "Current TV wanted to send Caucasians on this reporting trip," Chun recalled. "But I told them reporting on refugees had to be carried out in secret and having Caucasians would make them stand out."
This smells to high heaven. Euna Lee is ethnically Korean -- born and raised for part of her life near Seoul. Her parents still live there. It's pretty clear that she was on this trip for her language skills, since she's a film editor without other obvious reporting experience, and CurrentTV is a small operation with a tight budget. She's NOT caucasian. Kim may have been there to help with translations and to serve as a gofer and fixer, but the statement above is odd.
And furthermore, why NOT send caucasians? For example, send Katie Couric. She isn't going to skulk around, and skulking around is overated anyways -- the big blonde American can still get the story while in full view. And Katie will certainly be cautious with her well-toned skin and not do something stupid like cross the border to pick up a pebble.
Chun said he arranged meetings with refugees for the journalists. "I told them never to cross the border," he said.
The pastor added Lee, who was "fluent in Korean,"
see ...
... called him twice a day to provide him with updates.
More and more it's looking like the Norks knew the two reporters were in Yanji and decided to grab them: Ling because of the reporting her sister had done that had embarrassed the Norks, and Lee because she's South Korean. Kim they let go, and the remaining question about personnel was how Mitch Koss, the CurrentTV producer who was in the vehicle with the other three that day, managed to get away. Did the Norks not care about him? Not see him? Or did he do a Sir Robin? And if he ran, that meant they were on Chinese soil -- if they were on the Nork side, there was a river between him and China.
Late Tuesday, North Korea charged the two journalists were trying to stage a "smear campaign." "At the trial the accused admitted that what they did were criminal acts prompted by a political motive to isolate and stifle the socialist system of the DPRK [North Korea] by faking moving images aimed at falsifying its human rights performance and hurling slander and calumny at it," a report on the official Korean Central News Agency said. "We are following with a high degree of vigilance the attitude of the U.S. which spawned the criminal act against [North Korea]."
I have an idea: why don't we have our Secretary of State send the Norks a message that they release the reporters or we find and close each and every foreign bank account they have?
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/18/2009 00:00 ||
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Japan has decided to ban all exports to North Korea. The move comes in response to the North's latest nuclear and missile activities.
Starting June 18 until April next year, all exports to North Korea will be banned, along with an entry ban for foreigners who violate laws restricting trade and money transactions to the North. The measure comes on top of an earlier ban on exports of luxury goods following the North's first nuclear test in 2006.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said the sanctions may be removed if the North renounces its nuclear pursuits and addresses the issue of North Korea's abductions of Japanese citizens back in the 1970s and 80s.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/18/2009 00:00 ||
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North Korea is rushing to withdraw money from its overseas bank accounts after the United Nations imposed financial and other sanctions for its nuclear test, a report said. South Korea's Dong-A Ilbo newspaper, quoting sources in Beijing, said the North had begun withdrawing funds from accounts in Macau and elsewhere for fear they would be frozen. The paper said funds were being pulled out of almost all the communist state's foreign accounts held either by individuals or trading firms.
It's awfully hard to engage in any sort of non-criminal trade without a bank account.
It gave no details.
The mere threat of sanctions is enough to make the rats scurry ...
But when you are one of the rats trying to leave a sinking ship in the middle of the ocean...
"As the sanctions are in place, the possibility exists. We are trying to verify the news report," a National Intelligence Service spokesman told AFP.
Security Council Resolution 1874 passed last Friday calls on UN member states to expand sanctions first imposed on the North after its initial nuclear test in 2006. It calls for tougher cargo inspections, a tighter arms embargo and new targeted financial restrictions to choke off revenue for Pyongyang's nuclear and missile sectors.
Last week, before the resolution was passed, South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper said Seoul had given Washington details of 10-20 bank accounts held by North Koreans in China, Switzerland and elsewhere. It said the accounts were suspected of being used for transactions related to counterfeiting, drug dealing and money laundering.
It does make it difficult for the current #1 son to party in Geneva without a bank account... and not every venue takes a forged American Express card.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/18/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I shall not wish NORKS success this time. The game is over. I call their bluff now. What do you say Bambi?
#3
Macau and nork again. I recall that Macau is an SEA banking center, but not the primary one. Just enough 'off' to attract/not be put off by nork business? Maybe the parentage of any $100 bills secured in macau vaults should be looked into. And where did the billions in bonds come from (the recent Switzerland seizure)? Pure conjecture on my part, but there is an odor.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
06/18/2009 7:18 Comments ||
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#4
Don't be hard on those Nork $100 bills. I suspect starting next year, the Treasury will need a lot of help in printing the suckers. You know the time before the Treasury just gives up and tells everyone that producing them on your color laser printer is actually more expensive than they're worth. 1.6 Trillion served /sarc off
#5
Could this be a prelude to the missile test and a possible attack on South Korea?
If the North Koreans were to attack, they would want their money in-hand, and in dollar denomination or else in gold, to avoid monetary consequences for failure.
SEOUL, June 17 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean advance team left for the North on Wednesday to prepare for upcoming inter-Korean talks over a joint industrial venture, but prospects for any meaningful settlement are low following a stern message from President Lee Myung-bak. The working-level officials will settle procedural matters, such as schedule and facilities, with their North Korean counterparts, said Lee Jong-joo, a ministry spokeswoman.
Friday's talks are a follow-up to an earlier round last week, during which North Korea demanded a four-fold wage increase for its workers at the complex and a 31-fold raise in rent. The demand would lift the wages to US$300, from the current $70~80, and the rent to $500 million, from the $16 million South Korean developers paid when the park opened in 2004. It remains to be seen how North Korea will respond to Lee's flat rejection.
"We urge North Korea not to make any unacceptable demands because we really do not know what will happen if they keep on this path," Lee said, with Obama at his side in the White House Rose Garden on Tuesday (Washington time).
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/18/2009 00:00 ||
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Closing Kaesong would be a good start; the SKor industrialists can afford to lose the money; the Chinese investors and the Norks can't.
WASHINGTON, June 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and U.S. President Barack Obama strongly urged North Korea to immediately halt its provocative actions, saying threats and belligerent behavior will only result in serious consequences.
The leaders said a peaceful coexistence is still an option for the communist North, but that it can only be obtained through peaceful negotiations.
"I want to be clear that there is another path available for North Korea. A path that will lead to peace and prosperity," the U.S. president said in a joint press conference with Lee shortly after their summit talks at the White House. "That destination can only be reached through peaceful negotiation and denuclearization."
The South Korean president said North Korea must understand that "they will not be able to gain compensation by creating crisis."
"President Obama and I urge the North Koreans to fully give up their nuclear ambitions and become a responsible member of the international community," he added. The South Korean head of state arrived here Monday on a three-day official visit.
Obama said Seoul, Washington and the rest of the world will begin "serious enforcement" of sanctions already placed on the North by U.N. Security Council resolutions if Pyongyang continues to be provocative and belligerent. "I want to emphasize something President Lee said, that there has been a pattern in the past where North Korea behaves in a belligerent fashion and, if it waits long enough, it is rewarded. I think that is the pattern they have come to expect. The message we are sending them is that we are going to break that pattern," the U.S. president said.
The South Korean president hinted that Seoul could become the first to break the pattern, noting that his country could be forced to shut down a joint industrial complex in North Korea if the communist nation continues what he called "unacceptable" demands for wage increases and fees.
"We urge North Korea not to make any unacceptable demands because we really do not know what will happen if they keep on this path," Lee told the press conference, adding that more than 40,000 North Koreans currently working for South Korean firms will also lose jobs if the industrial park closes.
Lee called for close cooperation between Seoul and Washington in dealing with Pyongyang, saying a firm alliance between the two will make North Korea think twice before taking any steps it might regret.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/18/2009 00:00 ||
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The U.S. Army has ordered 38.4 million rounds of .300 Winchester magnum ammunition for its newly modified M-24 sniper rifles, as well as similar SOCOMs Mk13 models.
The new ammo will cost about $1.30 per round. The .300 Winchester magnum will be ordered in minimum lots of 56,160 rounds (117 boxes of 480 rounds each). The entire 38.4 million rounds will last a while.
All this is in response to requests from snipers for a longer range weapon, but not one as bulky and heavy as the 30 pound .50 caliber rifle (which is good to about 2,000 meters).
Thus the army is modifying existing M24 rifles to fire the more powerful .300 Winchester Magnum round. It was felt that this gave the snipers all the additional range they needed, without requiring a much heavier rifle. SOCOM has been using this approach since the early 1990s.
The calls were loudest from snipers operating in Afghanistan, where U.S. Army and Marine Corps shooters wanted a sniper rifle that can consistently get kills out to 1,800 meters. The current 7.62mm round was good only to about 800 meters.
The 300 Winchester magnum is a more powerful, but not much larger, round than the current 7.62mm one. By replacing the barrel and receiver of the $6,700 M24 sniper rifle, for about $4,000, you can fire the .300 Winchester Magnum round.
This is longer (at 7.62 x 67mm) than the standard 7.62x51mm round, and is good out to 1,200 meters. An improved version of the round is expected to extend that range another 200 meters or so.
There was another option, and that was to replace the barrel and receiver of the M24 sniper rifles to handle the .338 (8.6mm) Lapua Magnum round. Thus you still have a 17 pound sniper rifle, but with a round that can hit effectively out to about 1,600 meters.
British snipers in Iraq, and especially Afghanistan, have found the Lapua Magnum round does the job at twice the range of the standard 7.62x51mm round. The 8.6mm round entered use in the early 1990s, and became increasingly popular with police and military snipers.
Dutch snipers have used this round in Afghanistan with much success, and have a decade of experience with these larger caliber rifles. British snipers in Afghanistan are also using the new round, having converted many of their 7.62mm sniper rifles.
Recognizing the popularity of the 8.6mm round, Barrett, the pioneer in 12.7mm sniper rifles, came out with a 15.5 pound version of its rifle, chambered for the 8.6mm. But the U.S. preferred the lighter .300 Winchester magnum solution. This also speaks volumes about the quality of our shooters. Most good riflemen are hesitant about targets over 500m. 1800m is Tiger Woods.
#3
The .300 is the gold standard. Nice to see them get what SOCOM has had for years. They deserve to be able to reach out like this.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/18/2009 12:32 Comments ||
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#4
The Dutch have snipers?
I suppose all of you knew?
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/18/2009 12:40 Comments ||
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#5
U.S. Army and Marine Corps shooters wanted a sniper rifle that can consistently get kills out to 1,800 meters. The current 7.62mm round was good only to about 800 meters.
I call BS. What sort of rifle sighting system is good for a mile? Come on, the guy in the crosshairs is almost invisible at that range, even with a magnified scope.
#6
10X magnification is typical for 7.62x51mm. At 1600m I imagine they will want to upgrade the scope to 16X. That's a view of 75m at 1200m. I have seen 20X scopes on civvie .50cal Barretts.
Spotting scopes typically are 60X. That's what would be used to find targets at long range. At that mag, the spotter can determine just how pious the target is from beard length.
Posted by: ed ||
06/18/2009 14:56 Comments ||
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#7
Gromky, longest confirmed kill is 2430 meters in Afghanistan on the .50 cal BMG McMillan Tac-50. Note the word 'confirmed'. Multiple witnesses, not just the sniper team. Many unconfirmed (except by shootee) at 2000 to 1000 range. No one bothers to keep score.
I think the 2430 kill was with a 16x scope, but can verify if you want.
Tac-50 is too heavy to hill hump though; currently going on a diet to about 16-18 pounds. Carbon fiber enhanced barrel cut the weight by more than 7 pounds, improved accuracy, plus reduced mass stock.
300 Win Mag is ok, too much muzzle blast/flash for a small improvement in range. Everyone should have a 16 pound .50 cal. 7.62x51 doesn't have the range. 338 Lapua has same blast problem as 300 Win Mag (only more so) but has more reach.
Look for a 2800 meter .50 in the near future. :)
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
06/18/2009 15:21 Comments ||
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#8
Carbon fiber enhanced barrel
Now that is interesting. I think that carbon fiber wrapped barrel liners are used in the latest tank cannons to keep weight down and increase stiffness.
Posted by: ed ||
06/18/2009 15:35 Comments ||
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#9
A lot of my buddies who hunt combination large (elk, moose) and medium (deer, antelope) game at ranges of 200 to 400 yds with some regularity find the 300 Win Mag to be the ideal round, and it's hard to argue against it. A round which delivers 3200 fps with a 200-220 grain pill is pretty devastating and flat shooting at the same time, better than the 30-06 family and defintely better than the 308 family. At ranges under 300 yds, it's good for any animal on the planet. If I chased a lot of the bigger critters at long range I'd move up from my assorted and beloved 7mm calibers to this one.
Three downsides - it does kick like a mule, it's loud as hell (but no worse than a BMG), and the brass is expensive - it's a belted case which works in a slightly longer action, vs the nonbelted 308 and 30-06 families.
I second those who praise shots over 1000 yards. For those who've never shot much, it's hard to explain what an achievement that is.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
06/18/2009 15:41 Comments ||
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#10
longest confirmed kill is 2430 meters
Mother of Pearl! At that range, the bullet drop must be feet rather than inches.
#11
My Canadian military buddies have related that there have been a few detached retinas from shooting the 50. Too much recoil too many times = retina problems.
#13
Canadians use .338 for a lot of their work, or so I was led to believe (due to some personal dislike of the .50, and the 338 Lapua being "designed" for long range sniper work)
#14
Original bolt .50 cals had a reasonable probability of detaching retina, some sooner than others. Worst effect on shooter (rarely seen) was tearing of connective tissue to heart and aorta rupture. Typically, the shooter is 'displaced' 8-12 inches; not conducive to maintaining concealment (but hey, that big plume of flame from the barrel isn't either).
Most recent news: using advanced materials like acoustic to optical phonon shifting materials, recoil-reducing hydraulic couplers (think howitzer actions), and other stuff, the energetic impulse has been/is being changed from a 'spike' to a broader, time-longer hillock-shaped curve. Energy is still the same, except it is 'felt' over a longer period of time. Net result is almost pleasant to shoot; experienced .50 shooters (not me) equate it to feeling like a .243 now. I hesitate to put forth the actual numbers, but the instrumented gun reduces felt recoil by more than 75%. Oh, and that is without a brake (they help with recoil but were always tough on the spotters). No more 'displacement' effects, etc unless you weigh 90 pounds. The plume can/will be whipped as well. 16 pounds is the goal; not there yet. A breakdown gun is in the works so the weight can be distributed among team members. Stand by.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
06/18/2009 17:47 Comments ||
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#15
"the drop was 8 feet and the windage adjustment 15 feet"
Good grief, AB!
How do you even do that?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/18/2009 17:54 Comments ||
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#16
Drop at 1000 yards is 300 plus/minus 10 inches, depending on bullet BC.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
06/18/2009 17:54 Comments ||
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#17
A friend of mine is a game warden over in the southwestern part of the state. He's been asked several times to kill dangerous bears. He tries to get as close as he can, but there have been times he's shot from 400-500 meters away. Firing a weapon in the plateaus and gullies of southwestern Colorado is a chore at any time. He's estimated that he's had to offset as much as ten feet from his target on many occasions. He says it's the worst when you have 800 feet elevation difference between you and the target. His advice: NEVER shoot UP at a target - missing isn't the worst thing that can happen.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/18/2009 19:00 Comments ||
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#18
What caliber, OP?
Posted by: no mo uro ||
06/18/2009 19:29 Comments ||
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#19
CO? 300WinMAg or else 308Win (7.62 NATO) is likley
The United States may hold 50 or more trials of detainees being held at the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Attorney General Eric Holder told lawmakers Wednesday. US Attorney General Eric Holder detailed the plan before the Senate Judiciary Committee, as the Obama administration pushes to meet a year-end deadline to close the controversial prison.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss ...
Under the plan, about 56 inmates would face trial by US authorities, while a separate group of detainees would be transferred abroad. A third group would not be released or face trial, Holder said officials were working on how to handle these inmates, including possibly crafting new legislation to hold them.
Gee, this sounds so-o-o-o-o familiar ...
Senate Republicans had mixed remarks of Holders plans, with one republican, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, at the hearing criticizing Holder as "too soft" on terrorism after releasing several of the Bush administration memos authorizing harsh interrogation techniques, and another, Senator Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, backing the proposed plan to bring about 25 percent of the current 229 inmates to a civilian or military trial.
Graham told Holder "I think you're on the right track," endorsing an independent trial to review and validate military and intelligence information used to as the basis of holding the detainees.
A cheque for Rs 75,000, given by the government to one of the victims of a suicide attack on the Rescue 15 building in Lahore, has bounced, with the bank citing shortage of money in the national exchequer, a private TV channel reported on Wednesday. Muhammad Azhar, who was injured in the attack, told the channel a representative of the Lahore district commissioner's officer visited the hospital and gave cheques to those injured in the attack. He said he was also given a cheque for Rs 75,000, but bounced. The bank claimed there was no money in the national exchequer.
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The recent wave of attacks on mosques and clerics, who are vocal against terrorists, aims at scaring them, Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer said on Wednesday. Talking to Dunya News, Taseer said clerics had united against the Taliban. "The ulema are in agreement now and have declared these people terrorists who have nothing to do with Islam." He said he had told President Asif Zardari and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to set up a 'joint central command' to curb terrorism across the country. The governor said that this was not the time to blame each other, but to unite against terrorism.
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A former close aide to Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud has said the US, India and Israel are behind the Taliban commander, who he termed the biggest enemy of Islam, Dunya News reported on Wednesday. Qari Turkistan told Dunya News that the cause of his differences with Mehsud was his attacks on mosques and madrassas, explosions in markets and the slaughtering of religious scholars and troops -- "which is not Islam".
He said jihad was being fought in Afghanistan, Kashmir and Iraq but there was no jihad in Pakistan. He said he hoped the operation launched against Baitullah would succeed within a month. Qari claimed he had the support of a majority of the Mehsud tribes, adding that Baitullah is only supported by Chechens, Uzbeks and between 300 to 400 Mehsud tribesmen.
#4
G(r)om - don't you know? Everything that happens anywhere in Muzzie-land is the fault of the US, India, and Israel, whether any of them had even a whiff of an idea of supporting it or not.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/18/2009 19:05 Comments ||
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Taliban commander Qari Zainudin Mehsud has said he is not in favour of attacks against the Pakistan government and blames Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud for all terrorist acts in the country. Talking to a private TV channel on Wednesday, Zainudin said Islam did not permit attacks inside Pakistan, adding it was the issue of attacks inside Pakistan, which was the basis of his differences with Baitullah Mehsud. He said they had allied with Baitullah against non-Muslims and not for attacks inside Pakistan.
In response, TTP commander Hafiz Saeed, while also talking to a private TV channel, said Zainudin was not part of the TTP and as such was not authorised to speak for them. "He does not belong to the TTP and is working at the behest of the government," he said.
The Interior Ministry has advised the home departments of all four provinces to beef up security, while revealing that suspected terrorists are planning to stage suicide attacks on places of worship in Lahore. Based on intelligence reports, the Interior Ministry has claimed that suspected terrorists are planning to stage suicide attacks on mosques, imambargahs, churches and other places of worship in Lahore. Sources said the ministry has also claimed that Qari Zafar from Miranshah is planning to abduct senior army officers residing in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The intelligence report has revealed that a three-to-four member group is planning to conduct the abductions. Since the government launched a security operation in Malakand division and Swat on May 2, the Taliban have staged suicide attacks on a hotel in Peshawar, a mosque in Nowshera and a madrassa in Lahore.
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The United States has stepped up pressure on Israel regarding the Gaza Strip: Three weeks ago it sent Jerusalem a diplomatic note officially protesting Gaza policy and demanding a more liberal opening of the border crossings to facilitate reconstruction.
U.S. and Israeli sources say the note was followed by a verbal communication clarifying that the Obama administration thinks Israel's linkage of the case of abducted soldier Gilad Shalit and the opening of the crossings was not constructive.
#1
since the Gazan representative government (i.e.: Hamas) is involved in the continued holding of his remains, linking for purposes of collective punishment is totally appropriate
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/18/2009 15:24 Comments ||
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#2
Maybe if Obama and friends (Carter, Clinton, etc) are nice enough to hamas and the arabs and the iranians, that will stop the price of gasoline from continuing to rocket upwards. Oh wait - I forgot - they Like seeing it rocket upwards - it benefits their good friends AND fights global warming at the same time.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, on his first official visit to Washington on Wednesday, said Israel will not accept an "complete freezing of settlement" as part of direct talks with the Palestinians.
Following a meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Lieberman told reporters that Israel has no "intention to change the demographics balance" in the West Bank cities of Judea and Samaria, and "so we cannot accept this vision about absolutely, completely, freezing of settlements."
"I think we must keep natural growth," Lieberman added. Israel had some "understanding with the previous George W. Bush administration and we tried to keep this direction. Israel is ready for immediate direct talks with the Palestinians," Lieberman, leader of the ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, said.
Clinton,standing next to Lieberman, expressed differences on whether communication between Israel and then-Bush administration committed the Obama administration to allow some settlements activities to continue. "In looking at the history of the Bush administration, there were no informal or oral enforceable agreements," she said, repeating earlier statements on the matter. Clinton reiterated President Barack Obama's call a put a stop to all settlement activity on occupied land, stressing it as "an essential part of pursuing the efforts leading to a comprehensive peace agreement and the creation of a Palestinian state next to an Israeli Jewish state that is secure in its borders and future."
The US announced today Obama administration Mideast envoy Senator George Mitchell will travel to Paris, France on June 25th to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to work on an agreement on the settlements and address other concerns on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
"There are a number of critical concerns, many of which overlap in their impact and significance, that will be explored in the coming weeks as Senator Mitchell engages more deeply into the specifics as to where the Israelis and the Palestinians are willing to go together," Clinton said. Clinton added that past negotiations have shown that Israels stance is lively to evolve into something that can lead to the creation of a Palestinian state, as Israeli leaders "have moved to positions they never would have thought they could have advocated."
Al-Rooters goes into full-bore useful idiot mode for this outrageously unbalanced bit of "reporting"
In the rustic villages of Thailand's Muslim south, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's promise of large-scale development aid to tackle a brutal insurgency sounds all too familiar. "Money can't change what's happening, no one can buy an end to the problems here," said Yousuf, referring to a shadowy five-year rebellion that has claimed nearly 3,500 lives in the southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat. "It's the policies of Thai governments that are to blame," he said in a village tea shop in Pattani. "They have to understand that our way of life is different to other Thais and money won't make a difference".
Other villagers gave similar views on Abhisit's three-year plan to win "hearts and minds" by pouring 54 billion baht ($1.58 billion) into the region bordering Malaysia. They are ethnic Malay Muslims who speak Thai as a second language, and dismiss the plan to boost fisheries, rubber and palm oil industries as another example of Buddhist Bangkok's failure to understand a region more than 1,000 kms away. "Corrupt officials will keep the money for themselves. This is a useless idea," Arware said. "It could end up in the hands of the militant groups. Investment won't stop the violence."
Bearmah, a burly Muslim with teeth stained by sickly-sweet tea, said a better idea would be to withdraw the 30,000 soldiers deployed in the region and scrap an emergency decree that grants them broad powers of arrest with immunity from prosecution. "The rebels are fighting the military. We don't need them here because we can protect ourselves," he said, smoking a hand-rolled cigarette. "The emergency laws let them arrest innocent people, jail them for a month, and sometimes they torture them -- how can this win hearts and minds?," he said. No quote from any of the teachers who make it to school alive each day because of the soldiers, nor from any parents who want their children educated. Otherwise people would get the impression that surrender might not be a great idea.
The three provinces were part of an independent Malay Muslim sultanate annexed by Buddhist Thailand a century ago, and its people have long resisted Bangkok's attempts to assimilate them. A separatist insurgency from the 1970s and 1980s resurfaced in 2004, and attempts by successive Thai governments to quell the unrest with military force, investment and even free cable television have all failed.
The violence has intensified in the last two weeks, with Buddhists and Muslims among the 31 people killed and more than 50 wounded in the all too familiar gun and bomb attacks, for which no credible group has claimed responsibility. The unrest has heaped more pressure on Abhisit's coalition government as it struggles to revive an economy hit by a global downturn and protracted political strife since a 2006 coup removed ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
Nestled in the jungles of Pattani, villages like Ban Taluboh have been traditional strongholds of Abhisit's Democrat Party. But few here believe his government, or any other, is capable of ending the violence. "Each government is the same," said Abdulloh, who like many southern Muslims wears a traditional "kapiyoh" skullcap and checked sarong. "They have never listened to the people. Our culture is a Malay culture and we follow the rules of Islam."
Bearmah said the failure to arrest the gunmen who shot dead 10 Muslims at prayer in a Narathiwat mosque on June 8 had intensified peoples' feelings of injustice and resentment. "If they really want to end this violence, they have to arrest these killers," he said, rejecting Bangkok's denials security forces were involved in the mosque attack. "I suspect the authorities are behind it, because no one has been arrested," he said. "Muslims don't kill other Muslims praying in a mosque." he said with a straight face
Some useful nuggets here, but watch out for NYT bias.
With Iran's political establishment at war with itself, a central question lurking behind the post-election tumult is which side the country's highly influential clerics will back. So far the mullahs -- a potentially critical swing vote -- have remained largely silent, with the notable exception of a few prominent grand ayatollahs, including one who attacked the vote count as "a gross injustice" on Wednesday.
The clerics and their thousands of pupils, concentrated in the holy city of Qum, are a generally conservative lot,
No, they're not 'conservative'. They're Khomeinist, which makes them radical islamicists and totalitarian. That's not conservative, though the NYT reporter would like to think that.
... who have been known to jump into the political fray en masse only when a clear winner starts to emerge. And few religious leaders have yet to join the tens of thousands of Iranians expressing their fury by marching through the streets of Tehran and other cities.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/18/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
NY Times ceased being a news source years ago. It is hard to record history without them but I manage quite well. I prefer to not even traffic their site.
#3
Im not sure what you mean when you say Qom isnt 'conservative'. Do you mean they are activists violating the Shiite traditions of quietism? Or that they arent supporters of what we in the US call conservative? If the former, I agree, and perhaps a better word would be reactionary. Khomeinism is paradoxical - its a revolutionary movement, and a mass mobilization movement (and thus modern) but its a reaction against the disruption of traditional conservative society by secularist modernization under the Shah - in that sense it is VERY much like Western fascism. And, I would add, without going all nutjob on you, it is, IF you discount for totalarianism, terror support (Huge IF, I know), etc at least distanly related to certain fundamentalist movements in the US. Like fascism, Khomeinism uses modernist mobilization techniques and war against foreign enemies to assuage the anxieties of a conservative population threatened by change.
As for Moussavi not being liberal - again, are you making the banal (and generally useless) quible between "classical liberalism" and "progressive liberalism" - its not uncommon in the blogosphere for "classical liberals" to get jealous about a word whose meaning had evolved by the time of Lloyd George (let alone FDR) Or that the Teherhan protestors arent really liberal in either sense since the majority are likely to accept SOME from of legal islamism that violates our view of seperation of religion and state? Or are you asserting that Moussavi is really closer to Rafsanjani "pragmatic khomeinism" than to the Teherean strett? The latter is an interesting and complex issue - I think its clear that even during the campaign Moussavis public position was different from that when he last held office, and his position may have evolved further due to his movement. Politicians are sometimes captives to their supporters, and their enemies. I think especially of the biographies of both Gorby and Yeltisn in this regard.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
06/18/2009 11:40 Comments ||
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#4
Im not sure what you mean when you say Qom isnt 'conservative'. Do you mean they are activists violating the Shiite traditions of quietism? Or that they arent supporters of what we in the US call conservative? If the former, I agree, and perhaps a better word would be reactionary. Khomeinism is paradoxical - its a revolutionary movement, and a mass mobilization movement (and thus modern) but its a reaction against the disruption of traditional conservative society by secularist modernization under the Shah - in that sense it is VERY much like Western fascism. And, I would add, without going all nutjob on you, it is, IF you discount for totalarianism, terror support (Huge IF, I know), etc at least distanly related to certain fundamentalist movements in the US. Like fascism, Khomeinism uses modernist mobilization techniques and war against foreign enemies to assuage the anxieties of a conservative population threatened by change.
You are relying on two big straw-men in this supposition: that western conservatives are the way they are because they're a bunch of frightened country mice hiding from societal change, and that the only difference between conservatism and fascism is in degree or the volume of the megaphone.
Both of these arguments have been very useful for the left over the last half-century, especially in getting people to _stop thinking_ and vote for the left, but that doesn't mean the rest of us believe in them.
#5
"that western conservatives are the way they are because they're a bunch of frightened country mice hiding from societal change"
I said no such thing. I did not generalize about conservatives, of whom there are many varieties. I did state that there are right wing movements in this country whose social roots are analogous to those in other countries where people feel threatened by change. We can argue about exactly which movements those are and what their relations are to mainstream conservatives, or whether their specific explicit grievances are justified but I think its undeniable that they exist.
"and that the only difference between conservatism and fascism is in degree or the volume of the megaphone." I did not say that either. Again, I was not speaking about conservatives in general. I WAS attempting to distance MYSELF from folks like Andrew Sullivan who sometimes elide the profound moral distintion between say, someone in the US whose fear of gay rights leads them to support a referendum on marriage, and someone in Saudi Arabia whose fear leads him to support hanging gays.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
06/18/2009 12:18 Comments ||
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#6
I did state that there are right wing movements in this country whose social roots are analogous to those in other countries where people feel threatened by change. We can argue about exactly which movements those are and what their relations are to mainstream conservatives, or whether their specific explicit grievances are justified but I think its undeniable that they exist.
Please be more specific if you could LH. I generally find your positions to be well thought out, but I think that if you're going to make this assertion you should name names.
Not trying to bait you. I'm curious what you think.
#7
"whose fear of gay rights leads them to support a referendum on marriage, and someone in Saudi Arabia whose fear leads him to support hanging gays."
actually supporting a state referendum is constitutional & w/in the law. Many libs love state referendums, especially if it endorses a cause they believe in. It's when they lose at the referendum ballot box (cali gay marriage three times) that those conservatives (and blacks and hispanics) who supported the referendum are all now homophobes or whatever.
#8
Now nothing shakes up a pitch man like getting what he thinks is a good throw hit right back at'em and into center field.
In many ways continued negotiations, what seems to be the preferred method of relations with Iran, will now be even more difficult as either dinner jacket will be shown as a totalitarian, a new leader with a tenative grasp of power, or civil uprising with no official figurehead to deal with other than the clerics.
If that is what the administration meant by dealing with Iran anyways it isn't articulated very well. In any case real decisions with real consequences are imminant, and where salesmen and managers are seperated.
#9
OK. I'll take your word for it that you were trying to distance yourself from those similar arguments people like Sullivan were making.
As for the whole 'social movement' thing... I think it underestimates the degree to which radical islam borrows from other radical movements of the 20th century, whether the communsits or the real fascists of Italy or Spain.
I may write something on this later on in the week in opinion, but I'm gonna get ready to turn in now.
Of course they do. They're thugs, and we are their worst nightmare ...
ISTANBUL, TURKEY -- Five days into the vast and sometimes violent street demonstrations over Friday's contested presidential election, Iran blamed the United States for "intolerable" interference in its domestic affairs.
President Barack Obama had specifically said he was avoiding being seen as meddling, saying it was "not productive, given the history of US-Iranian relations."
And you can see how well that worked. It's far better to take a stand because you're going to be blamed anyways ...
State television has portrayed the violence at rallies supporting defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi as the act of "hooligans." But as more video footage and news of peaceful daytime rallies and violent nighttime clashes break out through the restrictions placed upon the foreign media in Iran (most of it reaching the world anonymously through YouTube and Twitter), the contours of the power struggle have been coming clearer.
The protests are turning into an outlet for the myriad frustrations of Iranians, beyond rejecting the election result. State news services reported that the Revolutionary Guards had acted against "deviant news sites" backed by the US, Britain, and Canada that were encouraging unrest.
Grainy footage showed protesters carrying a wounded comrade as they raced from a clash. Another scene show a young man with a bleeding arm, and others rushing to bandage him.
The magnitude of the protests have prompted Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei -- who will reportedly give the sermon himself at this week's Friday prayers -- to call for calm.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/18/2009 00:00 ||
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A top Republican US lawmaker called Wednesday for Congress to pass tough new sanctions targeting Iran and condemned Tehran's crackdown on post-election protests as "a horrible human tragedy."
"We are witnessing, in Iran, a horrible human tragedy. You've got a government there that has been seen crushing its people in the streets of Tehran," Republican Representative Eric Cantor told AFP.
"How do you expect to trust, to engage with, a regime like that? How could we ever tolerate a regime like that having nuclear weapons?" said Cantor, the number two Republican in the House of Representatives.
Cantor said the US Congress should quickly pass legislation aimed at choking off Iran's gasoline imports and foreign investments in its energy sector to break its defiance of global demands to freeze its suspect nuclear program.
"We can send a message very quickly to our allies and the rest of the world that we mean to live by our commitments that we do not want Iran to become a nuclear power," said the lawmaker, whose home state is Virginia.
US efforts to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons must hold firm whether or not Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ultimately prevails in his disputed electoral bout with rival Mir Hossein Mousavi, said Cantor.
"It's very clear that democracy in Iran is somewhat of a mystery and that clearly the clerics in that country are the ones that control the levers of power. And our policy vis-a-vis Iran needs to reflect that reality," he said.
Cantor also said the Obama administration had not sufficiently criticized the official crackdown on protests by Mousavi supporters.
"Their silence on the issue of human rights violations is very troubling to me. America has a moral responsibility to stand up for human rights around the world and to condemn the abuses that are occurring in Tehran today," he said.
Obama has said he is "deeply troubled" by the violence in Iran, but that Washington cannot be seen as "meddling" in the Islamic Republic's affairs, and said that he will continue his policy of reaching out to Tehran.
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#1
"Their [the Obama administration] silence on the issue of human rights violations is very troubling to me."
This sniping of the O-Teams tepid response to Iranian election seems eerily reminiscent of the ankle biters that couldnt resist criticizing Bush at every turn. In fact, there is a cogent argument to be made that a measured reaction is the best course in the early stages of such events. Lets face it - an Iranian Peaceful Protest is an anomaly and more likely an oxymoron. So it would seem that if there are any more of those fire-bomb your way into a military facility thingies it might be best if the motivations were viewed as strictly domestic.
#2
This sniping of the O-Teams tepid response to Iranian election seems eerily reminiscent of the ankle biters that couldnt resist criticizing Bush at every turn
Would that be the same Bush who freed 50 million people in Iraq and Afghanistan from thugocracies? The one who said in his inaugural address
"All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you."?
SteveS, I think you would agree that The President should be more circumspect when it comes to statements about rapidly evolving events as opposed to an inaugural address but point taken. I was thinking more along these lines. When it came apparent that Raul Castro was about to ascend to Grand Poobah of Cuba, Bush broadcasted an address urging the people of the island to rise up to demand their liberty.'' Good for him! Not surprising, instantly there was some critical of the President's speech. They called it a stale approach and said it would threaten to make the United States irrelevant on the island.'' And guess what they all had an agenda.
It seems to me most of the criticism of Obama on this one is less about righteous indignation and more about political carping.
(Crumbled cookie)
#4
At this point we dont know obamas motives (I will discount the "barry hates freedom" folk)
Is he A. staying quiet cause he genuinely thinks speaking out more strongly would hurt the protestors?
or B. Staying quiet cause he expect dinnerjacket to win, and he is afraid that speaking out would interfere with talking to dinner jacket
or C. He hasnt yet figured out how to say what he wants to say
If B, thats really bad. For one, its at some level highly cynical. Sacrificing Iranians for O's diplomacy. Maybe thats the only realistic course, but its still so at odds with O's optimism about the world, his "We can change" etc, its way too embarassing to admit. Its also probably wrong. For one thing, there is a real chance Dinnerjacket is on the way out. And even if he isnt, does it matter. On the one hand theres no guarantee diplomacy with dinner jacket is going anywhere anyway. On the other hand we have managed arms deal with folks we've criticized on human rights (reagan and the USSR)
if the motive is A, is a different story. Without a MUCH clearer picture of the situation in Iran, I cant say whether it is right or not. Ive seen reasonable arguments both ways. I suspect that O could go much further without doing harm, but his position, if incorrect, does not strike me as unreasonable.
I also think the motive is in part C. O isnt an off the cuff guy. Look at how he fumbled on the russian invasion of Georgia. He likes to take several weeks, examine all the angles, and then do a tour de force speech that purports to understand every side, and reconcile them all in his wisdom.
BUt the situation in Iran MAY be moving too fast for that.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
06/18/2009 12:35 Comments ||
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#5
atour de force speech that purports to understand every side, and reconcile them all in his wisdom.
#6
i hope the many levels I mean are visible in that
I find his intelligence quite real, and his rhetoric sometimes really quite good - unfortunately he is all to well aware of that, and I think often it shows.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
06/18/2009 16:38 Comments ||
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#8
I'd like to throw a couple more takes on the deal.
() He may have been taken by surprise.
() He must continue to push the domestic policies while the window is still open; anything else would be a distraction.
() Supporting protests against the government would be counter to the attempts to demonize the spend-then-tax protests in the US.
His track record shows his great confidence in the uncontested layups and hesitent in dynamic situations while he figures how to make a situation work for him. In a word predictable.
What might be more telling is dinner jacket's Russian trip a la Frankin to Senate in order to validate claim and control, legitimacy. Meanwhile, the centrifuges continue to churn so a bit of controlled civil discourse would work in favor of the bomb wanters, help in identifying dissent leaders, and work as a sort of pressure release. A risky game sure, like those people at parties who use a lighter to put gas in their closed hand then light it to make a fireball - its a great party trick unless it blows up in their face.
#9
Pat Buchannan agrees w/letter (A) as per his discussion on hannity today. I'm not sure what O's doing, he might end up moving closer to W's original position or he'll deal w/dinnerjacket and take more flak for tacitly supporting a fraudulently elected leader. Either way can't be good for him. Not that mousavi was going to be any better. I doubt O will do anything covert to help the protestors but I could be wrong.
#10
Buchanan's an isolationist and IMHO a closet antisemite. When he speaks so lovingly of Arab dictatorships at times, I can't take his sudden care for the Iranian People seriously. I heard him on Hannity, and it still pisses me off PMSNBC puts him on as the "house conservative". F*ck Pat Buchanan. Also IMHO O is voting "present" because he doesn't want to answer that 3AM call.
Iowahawk has his version of Obama's speech to teh Iranians - I'll post it in Opinion page
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/18/2009 19:24 Comments ||
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#11
liberalhawk, you left out the strong possibility that Obama doesn't know WHAT he thinks (not just how to say it). He has a strong ideology, but not much in the way of inconvenient principles, from the looks of it.
An Iranian provincial prosecutor has warned that the "few elements" behind post-election unrest could face the death penalty under Islamic law, an Iranian news agency reported Wednesday.
Mohammadreza Habibi, prosecutor-general in the central province of Isfahan, said these elements were controlled from outside Iran and urged them to stop "criminal activities," Fars News Agency said.
"We warn the few elements controlled by foreigners who try to disrupt domestic security by inciting individuals to destroy and to commit arson that the Islamic penal code for such individuals waging war against God is execution," Habibi said.
"So before they are stricken with the law's anger they should return to the nation's embrace and avoid criminal measures and activities," he said.
It was not clear if his warning applied to just Isfahan or the country as a whole.
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06/18/2009 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea may fire a long-range ballistic missile toward Hawaii in early July, a Japanese news report said Thursday, as Russia and China urged the regime to return to international disarmament talks on its rogue nuclear program.
North Korea is rushing to withdraw money from its overseas bank accounts after the United Nations imposed financial and other sanctions for its nuclear test, a report said. South Korea's Dong-A Ilbo newspaper, quoting sources in Beijing, said the North had begun withdrawing funds from accounts in Macau and elsewhere for fear they would be frozen. The paper said funds were being pulled out of almost all the communist state's foreign accounts held either by individuals or trading firms. 
A former close aide to Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud has said the US, India and Israel are behind the Taliban commander, who he termed the biggest enemy of Islam, Dunya News reported on Wednesday. Qari Turkistan told Dunya News that the cause of his differences with Mehsud was his attacks on mosques and madrassas, explosions in markets and the slaughtering of religious scholars and troops -- "which is not Islam". 
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, on his first official visit to Washington on Wednesday, said Israel will not accept an "complete freezing of settlement" as part of direct talks with the Palestinians. 
