I was shocked at the positive, nay enthusiastic NPR reportage from Afghanistan yesterday morning. Also photos, 12 minutes of radio interviews, maps, links to related stories. It's amazing what NPR reporters can discover when they believe in a story. Some instinctive slanting (the poor dears just can't help themselves), but well worth clicking on the headline to read the whole thing.
The counting is under way after millions of wary Afghan voters turned out to cast ballots Thursday in the country's second-ever presidential election despite sporadic militant attacks that killed 26 people. After the polls closed, President Hamid Karzai hailed the election, saying "the Afghan people dared rockets, bombs and intimidation and came out to vote." But threats of violence apparently kept many people from the polls, prompting election officials to keep voting centers open for an extra hour.
Despite a massive military and police presence to protect the balloting, security officials say eight Afghan soldiers, nine police and nine civilians died in bombings and other attacks, according to The Associated Press.
Analysts say a weak turnout could keep Karzai from getting more than 50 percent of the vote. Karzai needs a majority of the vote to avoid an Oct. 3 runoff with his nearest rival, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah.
Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission says preliminary results could be available by Saturday, although the official results won't be complete until early September.
Not everyone was scared away. "One of my professors told me it was my responsibility to vote," Mariam Waheedeearh, a 20-year-old law student, told Northam. Waheedeearh came to the polling station with her sisters, brothers and parents. "The Taliban are trying to scare people, but everyone should come to vote," she said. Waheedeearh came to the polling station with her sisters, brothers and parents. "The Taliban are trying to scare people, but everyone should come to vote," she said.
Some 17 million people were reportedly registered to take part in the balloting, in which they also chose members of the country's 34 provincial councils.
In the southern city of Kandahar, NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reported that voters were trickling into polling places despite "about a dozen" explosions heard in various parts of the city. Kandahar is known as the birthplace of the Taliban, and many of the surrounding southern provinces are strongly influenced or controlled by militants, who threatened to attack anyone attempting to vote. The Associated Press reports that election officials in the city said voter turnout appeared to be about 40 percent lower than it was during the last presidential election in 2004.
Nelson said security was tight in the central part of Kandahar, with many Afghan police and army checkpoints. She said there was very little sign of U.S. or NATO troops. "The foreigners want to make sure they don't appear to be part of this election. They really want this to be about Afghans, for Afghans," she said.
Despite that concern, The Associated Press reported that U.S. Marines delivered presidential ballots by helicopter to the town of Dahaneh, in Helmand province, which was recently recaptured from Taliban fighters. International monitors generally disapprove of foreign military personnel having any involvement in the custody of ballots.
Nelson noted that although Afghan election officials said most polling places were open, those assertions were suspect, given the government's attempt to suppress reports of violence. She reported visiting one polling center for women, where she saw very few people. "It's interesting to note that the ballot boxes were very full," Nelson said, "which raises the question of whether there is in fact the transparency and fairness and honesty that the Afghan government says it wants to see in this election."
Turnout was reported to be stronger in the northern parts of Afghanistan, where security is generally better.
NPR's David Gilkey, reporting from a market town in northeastern Badakhshan province, said eager voters congregated outside one polling place an hour before it was scheduled to open. Gilkey said the vote posed thorny logistical problems in remote areas, where unusually heavy snowfall and rains this spring virtually obliterated many recently built roads. Hundreds of donkeys were used to carry election materials and ballots to villages that aren't accessible by road. Those logistical problems are likely to slow efforts to get voting results back to the capital city.
Hundreds of thousands of Afghans had no hope at all of voting in this election. They are part of the estimated 1.7 million Afghan refugees still living in Pakistan. During the last presidential election, in 2004, arrangements were made to allow the refugees to cast their ballots from Pakistan. NPR's Phillip Reeves reported that this time, Afghan election officials decided that it would be too expensive. The Independent Election Commission estimated that it would have cost $50 million to bring the election to the refugees, and that international donors couldn't come up with the money.
Thephotos reveal, to me at least, a determination by many to vote despite the threats... and pride in the opportunity demonstrated by bringing children along to see their parents doing so, again despite the the threats. I'm very proud that my country helped make this happen. Freedom and democracy are very, very addictive.
A FORMER British special forces commander has been appointed to mastermind a programme of reconciliation with members of the Taliban, General David Petraeus, the US military chief, said overnight.
Lieutenant-General Sir Graeme Lamb, who retired recently from the British Army, was personally requested by General Stanley McChrystal, the US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, to take on the role, which is considered crucial to reduce the impact of the insurgency.
General Lamb would work at "local level reconciliation and reintegration", General Petraeus said at a briefing at the US Embassy in London.
General Petraeus, the commander of US Central Command, which embraces Iraq and Afghanistan, was full of praise for General Lamb, a former Director Special Forces, when he worked with him in Baghdad. He played a similar role there, persuading Sunni insurgent leaders to give up fighting.
General Petraeus said that the Nato forces faced a tough time before the election overnight, especially in Helmand, where British troops had lost many soldiers in the last two months. "Our soldiers have shed blood side by side," he said.
He would not predict how long he expected British and other Nato troops to be engaged in fighting the Taliban, but said that the alliance needed to maintain a "sustained and substantial commitment".
"I wouldn't hazard the number of years this will take. But the coalition was facing an industrial-strength insurgency.
"We can pursue local reconciliation, this has already been done, but we have to kill, capture or run off the irreconcilables (the top tier of Taliban leaders)," General Petraeus said.
"Let us not forget why we are in Afghanistan. It's because we want to ensure that this country cannot become once again a sanctuary for al-Qaeda and the other transnational extremists to carry out more attacks in the US and Britain and elsewhere."
He described the main threat as a "syndicate of extremist insurgent elements in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which had a loose affiliation with al-Qaeda headquarters in FATA (the Federally Administered Tribal Area in Pakistan)".
There are about 62,000 US troops in Afghanistan, with another 6,000 to be deployed by the autumn. General Petraeus admitted that the size of the Afghan national security forces was too low and he expected General McChrystal, in his review of future strategy, to call for a substantial increase in Afghan troops and police.
Posted by: ed ||
08/21/2009 11:54 Comments ||
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#3
There are times when the Brits have an uncanny ability to get inside the heads of Muslims. Unfortunately, many are the times when they just think they do.
THE head of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's re-election campaign said the incumbent was decisively leading the count and there would be no need for a second-round run-off.
"From what we have obtained so far, we can claim that there is no need for a run-off and we can claim that we're in the lead," campaign chief Din Mohammmad said.
"We have got this figure from our observers at the (voting) sites," he added.
Attempted preemption. They won't have results until early September. In the meantime, this kind of thing is vain chatter.
Switzerland admits wrongdoing prior to any judgment by the "tribunal".
Switzerland may punish Geneva judiciary and law enforcement for upholding the law.
A Swiss law professor commented that the 6th paragraph gives blanket immunity to Libyan citizens and institutions.
According to Swiss television TSR the man who filed the criminal complaint against Gaddafi has vanished without a trace.
My impression is that the Swiss Federal Government acted under major, major duress, some threat that went far beyond harming two hostages. There's just no other explanation for this anomalous behavior, which is not only a surrender but also a blatant violation of the Swiss constitution.
Is the Lockerbie surrender on the same day a coincidence?
Libya has won a formal apology from Switzerland for the arrest last year of Colonel Gaddafi's son.
President Hans-Rudolf Merz flew to Tripoli hoping to draw a line under a dispute which saw oil supplies disrupted and Libyan funds withdrawn from Swiss banks. Some related items I read in german language news reports from Switzerland but couldn't find on the net:
"Merz lowered his pants before Gaddafi!" a politician commented (i.e. he "b*nt over and spread the ch**ks").
"Swiss territorial sovereignty is gone."
"Equality before the law is gone."
Geneva canton authorities are furious. Merz as an officer of the Swiss Federation is interfering with cantonal law enforcement.
This together with the Lockerbie surrender completes Gaddafi's triumph. In all likelihood Gaddafi did not engineer 9/11 but nonetheless 9/11 was of great benefit to him.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/21/2009 12:37 Comments ||
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The Swiss Prez figuratively bent over for Kadaffy. A supposedly much more powerful president did so literally.
Posted by: ed ||
08/21/2009 12:44 Comments ||
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Some additional information I gleaned from Swiss media:
Merz signed a formal treaty that will empower a presumably international "Panel of Arbiters" to adjudicate "guilt" and "innocence" in this affair.
The hostages are not mentioned in the treaty, however Merz has promised their release next week.
Like the states in the US each Swiss canton has its own code of criminal law, and law enforcement is a cantonal matter.
The canton of Geneva is now trying to rally the other cantonal governments to protest this infringement of their constitutional sovereignty.
The lawyer who represented Hannibal Gaddafi's victims has stated that the Libyan government had assassinated the brother of one of the victims.
Prior to today I had not heard of that claim, so I don't know any details.
As to the moral judgment of Swiss behavior:
The Swiss (across the political spectrum) are very critical of Israel so there was some irony to Switzerland suddenly being treated like Israel by an Arab regime.
However, the Swiss got into this pinch because they did something that was right, morally and legally. Their sovereignty was challenged by one of the vilest regimes in the Arab world. They were openly threatened with a WMD attack.
The western world's reaction to this was the release of the Lockerbie, not to a "Death Panel", but to a hero's welcome in Libya.
What the Swiss showed may be realism, not cowardice. 9/11 has ended the Pax Americana and by electing Obama the American electorate has ratified that development.
Everyone has to readjust now, maybe the Swiss made some sacrifice to gain time for building up some minimal nuclear deterrent. Who knows?
[Maghrebia] New Mauritanian Foreign Minister Naha Mint Hamdi Ould Mouknass on Wednesday (August 19th), called for a "fresh strategy in the fight against poverty and ignorance" as a way to counter the "cancer" of al-Qaeda, AFP reported. The terrorism of al-Qaeda is a "behaviour completely unrelated to the Mauritanian people", the minister told France 24. On Tuesday, al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for Mauritania's first-ever suicide bombing: the August 8th attack on the French embassy in Nouakchott.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/21/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Political and security analysts advise the government set up a new, strong investigation body to unravel the mysteries behind the major terrorist attacks.
The suggested organisation would be comprised of experts from a wide spectrum of professions to analyse an incident from different angles.
It would work alongside the existing criminal investigation agencies that seem inadequate to crack sensational cases and unable to withstand pressure not to track down the political elements involved.
The suggestion came in conversation with The Daily Star yesterday, on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the August 21 grenade attack.
The probe into the grenade blasts had been politicised like that into many other terror strikes, which had the nation on edge over the last few years.
The way investigation officials had worked under the last BNP-led government threw into question the credibility of their findings.
Prof Imtiaz Ahmed, professor of international relations at Dhaka University, said, "The perpetrators seem to have tried to achieve many goals through the August 21 blasts. They might be some quarters at home with links abroad.
"Their motives might have been keeping the country under-developed, destroying its secular spirit, hampering its economic growth, etc. The government should form a separate investigation organisation to unearth the motives and unmask the masterminds."
He added that every detail must come out if measures to stop recurrence of violence were to succeed.
Socio-political analyst Prof Sirajul Islam Chowdhury, historian Prof Syed Anwar Hossain and former inspector general of police ASM Shahjahan too emphasise forming a national body to solve assassinations, terrorist attacks and arms hauls.
On this day in 2004, terrorists hurled grenades at the then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina on an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue.
Hasina survived the attempt on her life but saw 23 of her party leaders and workers killed and scores injured.
President Zillur Rahman's wife Ivy Rahman was among those who died.
Three former investigation officers in the August 21 blasts case now face criminal proceedings for carrying out misleading probe during the four-party rule.
Besides politicisation, limited purview of the probe and lack of efficient investigators have long kept the nation in the dark about the conspiracy behind the attack.
From a court's verdict based on charge sheet, people can at best know who executed the attack. The masterminds, motives and the entire conspiracy would still elude them.
Former caretaker government adviser ASM Shahjahan, who was CID chief twice, suggested the government form a committee to delve into the conspiracies behind the terror attacks and assassinations since criminal investigation has its limitations in that regard.
All findings except those that may hamper national security should be let out in the open in the public interest, he continued.
"The whole truth must be uncovered for the sake of justice and the rule of law."
Referring to the recent US revelations about Bangabandhu killing, the analysts said the criminal investigation in this case could not dig up such aspects, which are too vital for the nation to miss.
Syed Anwar observed, "In cases like August 21 blasts, trial and execution of verdict are never enough. We need to know everything about the plots behind.
"The government should set up an enquiry commission that would bring out the truth and publish it in white papers."
Sirajul Islam Chowdhury said, "For special probes, we cannot depend solely on police. Because they cannot go after the political leaders with links to terrorism and organised crime, or they do not even try."
In light of these limitations, experts from different sectors should be engaged to conduct a strong and credible judicial enquiry.
Prof Chowdhury said the August 21 attack was aimed at not merely an individual but the secular principles of the state. He said it was a continuation of the August 15 bloodbath in 1975.
In most cases, the non-communal force has been the target of the attacks, he added.
Prof Anwar said it is obvious that the country's enemies, mostly rightists and extremists, do not bother to follow political norms and values while dealing with political adversaries.
Prof Imtiaz said whoever--Huji or JMB--had staged the August 21 blasts are non-state elements.
They had network in and outside the country and carried out the attack by outfoxing the intelligence agencies. They might have gone to the expense of infiltrating operatives into AL, he continued.
The perpetrators were well prepared and disciplined. They might have been aided and abetted by some other organised forces. Even a part of the state machinery might have a hand in the carnage, observed the DU professor.
"The non-state elements responsible for subversive activities can stay untouchable only if the democratic structure of a country is weak."
Imtiaz suggested the government assign think-tanks to conduct research or probe to find out facts behind such attacks and form a body like "Public Security Council".
STATUS OF AUGUST 21 CASES
After years of drama over investigation during the tenure of BNP-led coalition government, charges were pressed against 22 people in two August 21 cases on June 11 last year.
Huji boss Mufti Abdul Hannan and BNP leader and former deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu are among the charge-sheeted accused.
A Dhaka court on August 3 issued an order for further probe into the incident as the earlier one failed to identify the collectors and suppliers of grenades used in the attack.
Abdul Kahar Akand, senior ASP of CID, was given charge of the probe into the carnage after the court asked the police chief to submit report within two months.
"I have just reviewed the case documents and started investigation," Kahar told The Daily Star yesterday.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/21/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] The government will formally submit petitions on August 23 seeking cancellation of the bails granted to two Harkatul Jihad (Huji) members in connection with the August 21 grenade attack cases.
Meanwhile, detained former deputy minister and BNP leader Abdus Salam Pintu yesterday filed a bail petition with the High Court (HC) in the same cases against a rejection order by a lower court.
Earlier on August 12, Judge Masdar Hossain of the Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 of Dhaka granted bails to Munshi Mohibullah, brother of Huji chief Mufti Abdul Hannan and one of his accomplices Arif Hassan Sumon.
Senior assistant superintendent of police (ASP) of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Abdul Khar Akond yesterday submitted the two petitions to Advocate Syed Rezaur Rahman, chief prosecution counsel, for action.
The cases were earlier sent back from speedy trial tribunal to the previous courts on August 18, as the trial of the cases would not be completed in 135 workdays under the Speedy Trial Tribunal Act.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/21/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Amid the easing of tensions between the two Koreas, the North hints that it will lift cross-border restrictions and facilitate the access of workers from the South to a joint industrial zone.
We need a steady supply of South Koreans to jail on trumped up charges.
Seoul's unification ministry, which is in charge of cross-border relations, said that the move would take effect on Friday.
The hint will take effect? I'm confused.
"North Korea told our side that it would lift cross-border restrictions tomorrow," Ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo said on Thursday.
That's not a hint. That's a statement.
The easing of border restrictions could lead to the travelling of goods and the normalization of the flow of workers to the joint factory complex in Kaesong, located just inside North Korea.
Could means a probability greater than zero. It does not necessarily imply a probability very much greater than zero, though.
Pyongyang placed restrictions on workers and cargo in protest since the new government came to power in December 2008.
Relations between the two Koreas deteriorated after the conservative government of President Lee Myung-bak came to power in Seoul last year.
"We need a steady supply of South Korean workers to convict of talking to our citizens."
The developments come after North Korean leader Kim Jong-il made a number of conciliatory gestures toward the South over some past weeks.
Pyongyang has also announced that it would allow the reunion of divided families and the reopening of its border to South Korean tourists.
The announcement also comes just weeks after former US president Bill Clinton and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il held a meeting on the issue in Pyongyang.
Tensions between North Korea and the US have been on the rise following Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests in May. Officials in Washington now say they are willing to hold direct talks with Pyongyang over its nuclear program.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/21/2009 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON, Aug. 20 (Yonhap) -- The United States Thursday called on North Korea to return to the six-party talks on ending its nuclear ambitions, repeating that bilateral negotiations are possible only through the six-party format. "We are perfectly willing to have bilateral talks, you know, with North Korea, as we've said many times, within the larger framework of the six-party process," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said. "We believe that the six-party process remains the best mechanism to resolve the questions that we have, the tensions that we have, the issues that we have with North Korea."
You can tell that Mr. Crowley is a professional; his lips remain attached no matter what he says ...
Surgical superglue, no doubt.
Crowley said that the U.S. will continue imposing sanctions on North Korea under U.S. resolutions adopted after North Korea's nuclear and missile tests in recent years until Pyongyang returns to the six-party talks and take denuclearization steps.
"We will continue to vigorously enforce sanctions to convince them that the path that we have outlined is preferable to the path that they desire," Crowley said. "If North Korea comes back to the six-party process, demonstrates that they are willing to take the kinds of affirmative steps the international community has laid out, then in fact they can have a number of bilateral discussions and address the concerns that they have, the concerns that we have."
The spokesman's remarks came as North Korean diplomats called on New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson Wednesday to convey the message that the Obama administration should begin a two-way dialogue for the North's denuclearization.
I was waiting for Bill to stick his nose into Korean affairs again. Guess the political scandals at home in New Mexico make a Korean trip more palatable ...
Richardson, once nominated by Obama as commerce secretary, ...
... say, whatever did happen to that, Bill ...
... met with Kim Myong-gil, deputy chief of the North Korean mission to the United Nations in New York, in Santa Fe Wednesday. After the meeting, he said the North Koreans wanted to "resume a dialogue" and that he would convey that to the Obama administration.
Richardson, former U.N. ambassador, urged Washington to talk to Pyongyang. "My point here is this is the time to negotiate with them, in a tough way, possibly bilaterally, face-to-face, but within the six-party talks, which is consistent with our policy," Richardson told Fox News. "I think they were just sending a signal. And the signal is the atmosphere for talks is a lot better. They felt the Clinton visit, to get the two Americans out, went well."
Because they got exposure and a promise of something in return. Of course they thought it went well, you idiot ...
"They've been recently sending signals, the North Koreans, like allowing a delegation of North Koreans to pay their respects to the South Korean president who just passed away," he said. "They released a South Korean detainee from North Korea. You know, there's just a lot of positive steps that are taking place."
Because releasing hostages is always a positive step when dealing with a genocidal, crazed, dying thug ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/21/2009 00:00 ||
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So the Hyundai chief promised them something big ...
North Korea is lifting restrictions on overland travel across the border which it imposed on Dec. 1 last year. The North informed South Korea of the decision on Friday. It also told the South that a delegation of six officials is attending the funeral of former President Kim Dae-jung, who died on Tuesday. A direct telephone line was opened temporarily between Seoul and Pyongyang at the North's request, the Unification Ministry said.
North Korea apparently decided to lift the restrictions in view of government-level talks which could happen on the sidelines of the funeral.
A ministry official said, "A senior working-level military officer sent us a fax saying it will lift overland traffic restrictions as of Friday. This seems to be in accordance with an agreement reached last week between Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun and North Korean officials." In the agreement, the North promised to revert to the "status quo ante" regarding overland traffic and the stay in North Korea by South Korean workers "according to the spirit of the summit declaration of October 4, 2007," the official added.
Since Dec. 1, the North reduced the frequency of travel across the border by South Korean workers from 12 entries and 7 exits per day to 3 entries and 3 exits. It also cut the number of workers and vehicles for each travel from 500 people and 200 cars to 250 and 150.
It remains to be seen whether the move brings only normalization of overland travel or an overall lifting of the restrictions it imposed on Dec. 1, which also cover the limit on the number of South Korean personnel who can stay permanently at the joint Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex, the closure of the office of inter-Korean economic cooperation talks, and the suspension of service of the Seoul-Shinuiju Railway.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/21/2009 00:00 ||
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Video footage shot by two TV journalists who were detained in North Korea after filming on the Chinese border was used by China to round up on North Korean refugees. China also deported one South Korean human rights activist who is seen in the footage and closed five orphanages that had protected North Korean children.
The two reporters were sentenced to 12 years hard labor but freed after a visit to North Korea by former U.S. president Bill Clinton on Aug. 5.
Chinese police also confiscated related materials including list of activists working for North Korean refugees in China, data on North Korean orphans, and video footage showing North Korean women who were sold into the Chinese countryside or appeared in porn videos.
The claims were made Thursday by Lee Chan-woo (71), a pastor with the Durihana Mission, a South Korean organization that aids North Korean defectors. Lee was caught and deported by Chinese police for helping the two reporters, who worked for former U.S. vice president Al Gore's Internet news channel Current TV.
Lee said Laura Ling, Euna Lee and a man named Mitch Koss met him at a hotel in Yanji, in China's Jilin Province, on March 14. They said they wanted to gather information about North Korean women who were working in adult videos at the North Korean-Chinese border area and on other North Korean women who were sold into the Chinese countryside. They also wanted to know about children born to North Korean women and Chinese men. At the time, Lee was protecting some 21 children who had been abandoned by their Chinese families after their mothers were taken back to the North at five orphanages.
"I allowed them to collect information about the children on condition that they would not film their faces," he said.
The three visited an orphanage the following day. Euna Lee, who speaks fluent Korean, asked children to send video messages to their mothers who had been deported to the North, and to bow to their mothers in front of the camera. But Lee said he stopped them from filming the scene.
So Euna Lee isn't exactly up to speed on journalistic ethics, at least as far as honoring her word. I'm beginning to think that she shouldn't have been a prisoner in North Korea, she should have been an employee ...
The next day, the journalists filmed North Korean women at the border. They crossed the border and were arrested by North Korean soldiers on March 17. Ling and Lee were taken to North Korea, but Koss made it back and was arrested by Chinese border guards and handed over the video footage he was carrying.
On the early morning of Mar. 19, Chinese police raided Lee's house and confiscated his computer, camera and various documents. "The documents contained the personal information of 25 North Korean orphans in addition to the children staying at the orphanages, and the phone numbers and addresses of human rights activists and their future plans," he said. "I was interrogated intensively by three Korean-Chinese police officers until March 26. It was during interrogation that I found out that Chinese police had confiscated the video."
And used it ...
Lee was deported to South Korea on April 8 after paying a fine of 20,000 yuan (approximately W4 million). "The five orphanages were forced to close down one by one," he said. "I found Chinese relatives for 17 of the 21 orphans and a safe shelter for the remaining four, who have no relatives there."
So a good man can't do quiet, life-saving work, the children have vanished, and the world feels sorry for Euna Lee. How typical ...
Koss declined to comment, and it was not possible to contact Euna Lee.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
ION SINA WMF > US WAR AGZ CHINA, RUSSIA, AND CENTRAL ASIA HAS ALREADY BEGUN: US CONTINUES ITS MILITARY, BASES BUILDUP ALL AROUND CHINA; + US CONTINUES TO FORTIFY ITS OWN FIRST, SECOND ISLAND CHAINS OF BASES AND ALLIES AGZ CHINA.
SAME > US VS CHINA IN ASIA: IFF PAKISTAN LEARNS TO SPEAK AMERICAN, THEN JAPAN CAN LEARN TO SPEAK CHINESE, VOLUNTARILY OR BY BY MIL FORCE > Poster believes CHINA to its detriment cannot allow the US = US-ALLIES to engage in subtle MILPOL-LED POLICIES OF "STRATEGIC DENIAL" AGZ CHIN ACROSS MAINLAND ASIA, PACIFIC REGIONS.
#2
Denmark cracked down on 'refugees' and asylum seekers and as a result large numbers moved to Sweden. Now Sweden is cracking down. I guess next stop is Oslo.
#3
Wow, what fucking business is it of the UN's? As for UNHCR, ship 'em all to UNRWA, lock the whole bureaucracy in Gaza, and let the locals eat 'em when the smuggling tunnels don't bring in enough protein.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
08/21/2009 9:19 Comments ||
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#4
Isn't this the desired result of transnational socia1ism as pushed by the Swedes? Chickens, home, roost.
Posted by: ed ||
08/21/2009 11:48 Comments ||
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The head of the Polish army has resigned after a dispute in which he accused the government of failing to properly equip troops in Afghanistan. Lt Gen Waldemar Skrzypczak also said ministry officials' knowledge of war was limited to the movies.
Lt Gen Waldemar Skrzypczak said ministry officials' knowledge of war was limited to the movies.
He made his comments after the death of a Polish officer earlier this month in an ambush in Afghanistan. Poland has 2,000 troops in the country as part of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force.
The dispute involving Gen Skrzypczak became public following this month's battle between Polish troops and insurgents. Four soldiers were wounded in the clash. Initial inquiries found that the unit had not received prompt back-up owing to equipment shortages. Gen Skrzypczak publicly accused the defence ministry of incompetence and failing to provide his troops with modern helicopters and other military hardware. He resigned after the defence minister, Bogdan Klich, told a news conference that the general had admitted his criticisms were a mistake. Gen Skrzypczak said he stood by his remarks.
Byron York
In an appearance August 18 on WLS radio in Chicago, ABC News anchor Charles Gibson was asked about anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan's plans to travel to Martha's Vineyard next week, where she will protest the Iraq and Afghanistan wars while President Obama is vacationing there. Gibson, whose newscast and network featured Sheehan when she led anti-war protests outside President Bush's Texas ranch in 2005, answered, "Enough already."
That's a remarkably different stance from the one Gibson took four years ago. On August 9, 2005, the ABC anchor conducted an extensive on-air interview with Sheehan. "Cindy Sheehan is her name," Gibson began. "She says she's not moving until the president meets with her, and I had a chance to speak with her a few minutes ago. Cindy Sheehan, bottom line, what do you hope to accomplish with all this?" During the next week, Gibson and ABC continued to cover Sheehan. On August 17, 2005, when Sheehan left Crawford, Gibson reported, "We're going to turn next to the standoff that is playing out near President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. Cindy Sheehan, you know, the mother who lost a son in Iraq, is now on the move, but she's still standing her ground. ABC's Geoff Morrell is in Crawford with the details..." The next day, Gibson reported, "All across the country last night, people held candlelight vigils in support of Cindy Sheehan..." Sheehan was mentioned in several other ABC newscasts, as well.
This week, after the Washington Examiner reported that Sheehan will be protesting on Martha's Vineyard (see here and here), WLS radio host Don Wade, noting all the coverage that Sheehan received in 2005, asked Gibson "whether we're going to see some coverage of Cindy Sheehan...do you suppose Cindy is going to make the news again?"
Gibson's answer was sympathetic but clear: No. "I gather she's going back to Martha's Vineyard," Gibson began.
It's such a sad story. Martha Raddatz [of ABC News] wrote a terrific book about one battle that took place in Iraq, and it was the battle in which Cindy's son was killed. And you look at somebody like that and you think here's somebody who's just trying to find some meaning in her son's death. And you have to be sympathetic to her. Anybody who has given a son to this country has made an enormous sacrifice, and you have to be sympathetic. But enough already.
This week a number of observers have wondered whether the press will cover Sheehan now that she is protesting a war run by Barack Obama as opposed to George W. Bush. Gibson's interview strongly suggests it won't happen.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/21/2009 09:12 ||
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#1
"but enough already."
In fairness, ideology aside, some things just get old. I mean lets say the teabaggers keep on teabagging for the next 3 years. Suppose then, say, Tim Pawlenty is elected POTUS. Suppose his tax policy doesnt thrill the teabaggers (a real possibility) and they keep on teabagging. Will Fox news keep covering them? Or will they just say, rightly, this isnt "news" anymore?
OTOH, Cindy can probably get NPR to do an anniversary piece, if she can wait till 2010.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
08/21/2009 9:43 Comments ||
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#2
In fairness, ideology aside, some things just get old.
Only a liberal would preface comments by saying "ideology aside" and then launch into an ideological tirade.
But you are right liberalhawk. Some things get old.
#5
and as far as "teabaggers"? F*ck off, LH. Your Liberal is showing
Posted by: Frank G on the road ||
08/21/2009 11:01 Comments ||
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#6
I'll never get tired of teabagging. Only a Beta Male could ge tired of that.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
08/21/2009 11:49 Comments ||
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#7
I didnt launch an ideological tirade, I just showed an exactly parallel possibility.
As for me, I never had any use for Cindy Sheehan, and I think I made that abundanty clear. Anyone who wants to search RB for examples of me praising her, is free to do so.
If you mean not me, but the press, well again, their job is to report news. IE stuff thats new and novel. You may find it new and novel that Sheehan is protesting against a Democrat. Anyone who remembers the nasty things Sheehan et al said about Hillary, Feinstein, and other democrats, wont find that nearly so novel. And as for her antics per se, yes, those are old.
Except NPR of course. They tend to resuscitate old stuff thats convenient to them when theres an anniversary or other hook. So if you are criticizing NPR or similar, go for it. But the networks, that really do have short memories and want to cover whats novel now, I just dont see the basis for complaint.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
08/21/2009 12:17 Comments ||
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#8
Boys, boys ...
AoS
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/21/2009 14:56 Comments ||
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#11
For me, the Cindy Sheehan mess is a tragedy because it completely drowns out the story of what her son Casey did. He volunteered to go on a rescue mission, a heroic choice that cost him his life. That is what the name Sheehan should mean to us.
#2
Wasn't this the groups who had their panties all in a knot because someone may have 'revealed' that Valerie Plame was a 'CIA Covert Agent'.
I'm sure the MSM, which was all a-titter over the Plame non-case for a couple of years, will shed as much light on the revealation of the identities of REAL agents.
Amid calls for the US to provide the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology, Pakistan launched on Thursday the production of its own version of drones at its leading aeronautical factory in Kamra. The rollout of Pakistan's first UAV -- called Falco and being be co-produced in collaboration with an Italian company -- at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) is scheduled for the near future.
"Falco is an advanced, tactical UAV designed by Selex Galileo Italy ... it would address current and future surveillance and reconnaissance needs of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF)," said a PAF spokesman. A simple ceremony was held at the complex on Thursday to launch the production.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
good, so you'll not be needing any of our technology or drones
Posted by: Frank G on the road ||
08/21/2009 0:09 Comments ||
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#2
The rollout of Pakistan's first UAV -- called Falco
...And it plays great covers of "Rock Me Amadeus" and "Der Kommissar"...
(hoping SOMEBODY here gets this)
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/21/2009 1:50 Comments ||
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#4
Well Frank , actually , they still *need* our cash , our UAVs , our intel , our airforce , ground troops , cov-ops and some more of our cash and lest we forget the cash .
A joint Italian / Pak business plan is sure to cut a few corners . Mazetta de baksheesh !
Posted by: Oscar ||
08/21/2009 4:15 Comments ||
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#5
Get with the program.
If Pakistan has rc model planes drones, the State Department can send a notification to Congress that the sale of Predator drones to Pakistan (a) does not materially affect the military balance on the Indian subcontinent (b) contributes to peace since such drones will not be used against India
The Pakistanis believe if they beg for long enough, some of their buddies in the SD will push this through.
Posted by: john frum ||
08/21/2009 8:12 Comments ||
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#6
Cool! Targets for our new Drone-to-drone Combat Upgrade(tm).
[Al Arabiya Latest] The Iraqi government on Thursday officially accepted the resignation of one of its two deputy prime ministers, Barham Saleh, who plans to become premier of the autonomous region of Kurdistan.
"Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki emphasized the brotherly relations and good work which will be the basis for (future) contacts with Barham Saleh in the interests of Iraqi people," said a government statement confirming Saleh's departure.
Saleh has been seen by Western diplomats as one of the most progressive and professional members of the Iraqi government in which he has been a central part of a recent push to attract foreign investment to the war-torn country.
However, a deal struck before July 25 elections in Kurdistan, which saw Iraqi Kurdish president Massud Barzani comfortably re-elected to his post, has paved the way for Saleh to become the northern region's prime minister.
The Kurdish alliance composed of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Barzani and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, won parliamentary polls held on the same day as presidential voting.
Saleh is a leading figure in the PUK and played a key role in campaigning in last month's elections.
A statement from Saleh said he was proud to have worked with the government and was sorry to be leaving but "national and political duty" had pulled him back to Kurdistan.
"I hope that my transition from Baghdad to Kurdistan will be a new opportunity to contribute... to serve the best interests of our homeland, and to face the challenges," it added.
Iraqi premier Maliki is a member of the country's Shiite Arab majority. Prior to Saleh's resignation he had two deputies -- Saleh for the Kurds and Rafa al-Essawi for the Sunni Arabs.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/21/2009 00:00 ||
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Asharq Al-Awsat- At a time when Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki denied that he held talks with Iraqi tribal leaders when he visited Damascus, President of the Council of the Iraqi Tribal Leaders Aziz Nazhan al-Sadid affirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the Iraqi tribal leaders who reside in Damascus refused to meet Al-Maliki.
He said: "We categorically refused to meet Al-Maliki because he does not represent the Iraqi people in an occupied country that enjoys no sovereignty."
He added: "Some people think that we are sad over the former regime, while in fact we are sad for Iraq and the difficult situation in Baghdad."
Asked why he refused to meet Al-Maliki, the senior chief of the Shammar Tribe said: "Al-Maliki seeks to dictate to us what he wants at a time when he puts his hand in Iran's hand and defends Iran. The elections are approaching, and we will see what Al-Maliki will do."
Explaining the Iraqi tribes' stand, he added: "We are against killing, arrests, and the terrorism, which is practiced by Al-Qaeda and Islamic organizations that target the Iraqis. But we support the honorable Iraqi resistance that resists the occupation."
When asked who is meant by the "honorable resistance", Sheikh Al-Sadid said: "It is the resistance, which is represented by the Political Council of the Resistance with which the Americans began to negotiate. It is this council that represents the resistance and the Iraqi people. This resistance exists in the field, not abroad."
He emphasized that reconciliation with Al-Maliki is very difficult "because Al-Maliki extends his hand to the occupation and to a neighboring country (reference to Iran) to take his decisions from it."
He said: "We will support him if he extends his hand to Syria, Jordan, and any other Arab country. However, we do not support him when he takes his decisions from a neighboring country, which claims to be a friend while it is an enemy in disguise."
Clarifying his opinion of the establishment of an Iraqi-Syrian strategic cooperation council under the government of Al-Maliki, Al-Sadid said "it is a protocol cooperation."
He likened the status of Al-Maliki and Iraq as the elections approach to "a person ill with cancer at its final stages where chemical dozes are no longer useful."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/21/2009 00:00 ||
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Asharq Al-Awsat- A high-ranking Iraqi government source has affirmed that Tehran is behind the proposal that was put forward by a prominent leader of the Iraqi Islamic Supreme Council[IISC], led by Abdulaziz al-Hakim, to host Yemeni Al-Huthi figures in Iraq. He noted that the proposal was justified on the ground that it would "embarrass" the Yemeni authorities who are currently hosting Iraqi Baath Party members and officials of the former Iraqi regime.
In a telephone interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, the Iraqi government source said that Hammam Hammudi, who is a leading member of IISC "has actually made a request for hosting Yemeni Al-Huthi figures in Iraq in response to Yemen's hosting of Iraqi figures."
The source, who insisted on anonymity, added: "At first, we thought that the proposal was merely intended for electioneering purposes, particularly because the date of the election is approaching. However, we were surprised to learn that the request was serious and that it was justified on the grounds that its goal was to embarrass the Yemeni authorities who host Iraqi academics, officials, and prominent members of the Baath party." He added that "Iran was behind this request, taking into account the fact that the Al-Huthists are affiliated with the Shiite creed and they receive direct support from Iran." He pointed out that "Tehran, where Abdulaziz al-Hakim is currently receiving medical treatment in one of its hospitals, is the leader of IISC with which Hammudi is affiliated. Al-Hakim is known for his close ties with Iran, the party behind putting forward the proposal for the hosting in Baghdad of leading figures of Al-Huthists, who are a Shiite minority in Yemen."
This government pointed out that "putting forward such a proposal at this point in time is strange, particularly because Iraq is currently facing security problems. In addition, Baghdad is calling on the Arab countries to send ambassadors, so why should we place obstacles in the way of our diplomatic efforts by embarrassing the Yemeni government?" He added: "The Iraqi government may play an informal role in helping the Yemeni government to solve the Al-Huthists crisis through non-governmental parties," which he did not name. He stressed that the Iraqi government "would not get involved in such issues."
For his part, Rida Jawad Taqiyy, official in charge of political relations in the IISC, has denied any knowledge of this proposal. He said: "I have heard nothing about such a proposal by Sheikh Hammam Hammudi." In a statement by telephone from Baghdad to Asharq Al-Awsat, he said: "We are currently busy setting up the United Iraqi Coalition and preparing for lengthy meetings toward this goal. Hammudi is now abroad, and I personally have not heard about such a requestor proposal."
Hammudi could not be reached for comment.
Asharq Al-Awsat called Iraqi writer Salah al-Mukhtar, who resides in Yemen, and who is a Baath party member and previously held the post of chief editor of the official Iraqi newspaper Al-Jumhuriyah in the era of the former regime. He said: "The Iraqi nationals who are residing in Yemen are university professors and former officers and pilots." He denied that Baath Party leaders or former Iraqi government officials live in Yemen. He said that "Al-Huthists receive support and financial aid from Iran." He expressed his belief that the Yemeni government "would not be embarrassed if Al-Huthist figures were hosted in Iraq; there is already an office for Al-Huthists in al-Najaf." He revealed that "the Iraqi government had earlier demanded the extradition of Iraqi nationals living in Yemen, but this request was rejected by the Yemeni authorities." He said that such a proposal was "an indication that views, opposite views, and the freedom of others are not respected." He said: "Why did the Iraqi opposition, which now rules Iraq, previously consider its presence in any country of the world as legal, whereas it now rejects the presence of Iraqi nationals in Yemen, where they lead a normal life?"
Posted by: Fred ||
08/21/2009 00:00 ||
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YANGON (Reuters) - Army-ruled Myanmar urged Western countries on Thursday to lift economic sanctions and allow the country to modernize and achieve its non democratic goals. A commentary in three official newspapers, which serve as mouthpieces for the reclusive junta, ...
... sorta like the NYT here at home ...
... praised "visionary" United States officials who were critical of sanctions, which it said would not bring the downfall of the government. "The more anti-government groups exercise economic sanctions as a means to put pressure on the government, the further the goal of democracy aspired by the people will divert from its route," the newspapers said.
It urged "all political forces to give up the tactic of economic sanctions and collectively open the golden door to a modern, developed and peaceful democratic nation."
Sad thing is, Bambi will likely do this and ignore the canoodling of the Burmese generals and the Norks ...
The comments came days after a visit by Jim Webb, a U.S. senator who favors engagement with the generals. On Tuesday state media hailed his trip as a success. Webb was the first U.S. official to visit Myanmar in more than a decade and met both junta supremo Than Shwe and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was returned to her home on August 11 to serve 18 months' house arrest for breaking a security law.
Webb was allowed to leave with American John Yettaw, whose visit to Suu Kyi's home in May had led to her latest conviction and who had himself been sentenced to seven years' hard labor.
Suu Kyi, of course, remains under house arrest ...
"Fortune has somewhat smiled on Myanmar's people as there are several visionary officials in the U.S.'s top political area like Senator Webb," the commentary said.
The papers said the collapse of the regime was "far from a possibility" because trade with its neighbors had increased and the country had prospered in the past two decades of army rule.
And the people are so happy they just take to the streets ...
The United States and European Union have used sanctions to try to force the regime to carry out reforms, but critics say Myanmar's thriving trade with China, India and Thailand have limited their effect.
Webb met Suu Kyi for 45 minutes on Friday and told reporters later that she was "not opposed" to the lifting of some sanctions, but he refused to elaborate.
Myanmar plans to hold multi-party elections next year, which critics have dismissed as a sham to entrench nearly half a century of army rule.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
WMF > INDIA FORESEES COLLAPSE OF CHINA'S "CHAIN OF PEARLS/ISLANDS" STRATEGY WID ITS PROPOSED MALDIVES BASE [Gan island]. Ditto for SRI LANKA which is repor considering giving India NAVAL-AIR BASING RIGHTS.
Ahmad Vahidi, nominated Thursday by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to serve as Iran's defense minister, is a suspected international terrorist sought by Interpol in connection with a deadly 1994 attack on a Jewish community center in Argentina.
Mr. Vahidi, a former commander of the elite unit of the Revolutionary Guard known as the Quds Force, was one of 15 men and three women named to Cabinet posts by Mr. Ahmadinejad as he begins his second term in office. The choice is likely to further chill relations between Iran and the international community, especially Israel.
Interpol, the international police agency based in Lyon, France, placed Mr. Vahidi and four other Iranian officials on its most-wanted list in 2007 at the request of Argentine prosecutors, who say the men played a role in planning the July 1994 attack on the seven-story community center in Buenos Aires.
The bombing, which killed 85 people, is thought to have been carried out by members of Hezbollah, a Lebanese militia and political party with close links to Iran.
Kenneth Katzman, a senior analyst on Iraq and Iran at the Congressional Research Service, said that Mr. Vahidi is also suspected of having played a role in a 1996 attack on the U.S. Air Force barracks in Saudi Arabia known as Khobar Towers.
Mr. Vahidi is not the first prominent Iranian to be wanted in connection with terrorist attacks. Presidential candidate Mohsen Rezai, a former revolutionary guard commander, was among the five Iranians identified by Interpol in 2007, as was former President Hashemi Rafsanjani.
But Mr. Vahidi's ascension to the high-profile post of defense minister suggests that Mr. Ahmadinejad will continue his policy of defiance toward the West.
"This sends a signal that the Iranians are unconcerned with anybody's sensibilities about the regime's prior record of terrorism," said Kenneth Piernick, a former chief of the FBI's Iran-Hezbollah unit.
"His reputed intimate involvement in various acts of terrorism, particularly against Argentina and the United States, makes his selection especially flagrant. This does not look like an unclenched fist."
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran has lifted a yearlong ban and allowed U.N. inspectors to visit a nearly completed nuclear reactor as well as granting greater monitoring rights at another atomic site, a diplomat said Thursday. Iran has allowed inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect the nuclear reactor at Arak for the first time in a year, the diplomat said.
"The inspectors were able to visit Arak last week," the diplomat told AFP. "It was the first time that they had been authorized to do so for a year."
IAEA spokesman Ayhan Evrensel refused to comment on the matter.
Tehran had also allowed the U.N. nuclear weapons watchdog to step up surveillance of another key site at Natanz, said the diplomat. "The containment and surveillance measures were updated as the agency wanted," said the source.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/21/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has unveiled a cabinet boasting 11 new faces, including three women, in a line-up on Thursday slammed as inexperienced by leading lawmakers.
The president was due to address the nation to present the new cabinet including a relative novice as oil minister, but is expected to face a tough battle to win parliament's approval.
The outcome will be another test of how secure the hardliner's grip is on power in the major oil exporter after his disputed re-election in a June poll that led to street protests and political turmoil.
Iranian media reported that Ahmadinejad had submitted a list of 18 ministers to the assembly the previous evening, meeting a midnight deadline, but there was no immediate confirmation of this from parliament.
The nominated ministers included current Commerce Minister Massoud Mirkazemi as the new oil minister, a key position since crude sales account for most state revenue. He is seen as an Ahmadinejad ally but has little known oil industry experience.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki would retain his job and three women would become ministers for health, social welfare and education respectively. It would be the first time a woman becomes minister in the conservative Islamic Republic.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/21/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] The Iranian Ambassador to Kabul says Iran is ready to hold talks with the US and other countries on Afghanistan if the Obama administration adopts a "unified and single" approach toward Tehran.
Welcoming President Barack Obama's overtures toward the Islamic Republic after his election, Fada Hossein Maleki criticized US approach regarding post-election developments in Iran.
"Unfortunately after the victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad we saw inconsiderate interferences by the Americans (in Iran's domestic affairs)," Maleki told Press TV as the Afghans went to polling stations to elect a new president on Thursday.
The envoy said the White House had not adopted a single and unified approach toward Iran yet.
"It is natural that if a unified and single approach is adopted, our officials would review it and there are many issues in Afghanistan that we can cooperate with other countries on," he said.
Maleki said Iran had "favorable relations with the Karzai government" and would promote its good interaction with the new Afghan administration.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Western officials pronounced the country's election a success, after voting passed off largely peacefully.
Maleki believes Iran's close ties with Afghanistan would lead to stability in the war-torn country, saying the Afghans share a long history with the Iranians.
Commenting on claims that some countries are trying to influence the election in Afghanistan, the envoy said that some Afghan officials were concerned with the possible interferences that also have been reflected in certain media outlets.
Maleki said that some media outlets had created "a scenario" about the Afghan election over the past few days to assert the interests of their countries in Afghanistan, adding that Afghan leaders had, however, realized the threat and taken measures to deal with the issue.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Iran is ready to hold talks with the US and other countries on Afghanistan if the Obama administration adopts a "unified and single" approach toward Tehran
Correct me if I'm wrong, but this sounds like linkage by the red team. They will let up a bit in Afghanistan if we ease up more than a bit all over.
In a move aimed at further enhancing Iran's shipbuilding industry, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says he will ban the purchase of foreign ships by Iranian organizations.
"In the first cabinet meeting, I will declare that the manager of any public organization who 'goes after' foreign ships will be relieved from his duties and dismissed from the state-run bodies," Ahmadinejad warned on Thursday.
He was speaking in a ceremony held in the southern province of Hormozgan to launch Iran's first indigenous ocean-going container ship, dubbed "Iran-Arak."
"Iran's shipbuilding experts are committed to meet all public organizations' needs for any kind of ships in the shortest time," Fars news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.
Iran Shipbuilding and Offshore Industries Complex Co. (ISOICO) has manufactured the 7,500-ton container ship, which can accelerate to 32 knots (59.3 Km/h) and is able to sail 25 days non-stop.
Iran has spent USD 50 million on the construction of the new vessel, which is 185 meters (607ft) long, 30 meters (98.4ft) wide, and has 10 meters (32.8 ft) of draft.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/21/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Iranian juche. Super.
Let us know how that works out.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
08/21/2009 9:22 Comments ||
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#2
When in the navy My ship could travel from Norfolk to Rota Spain without stopping to refuel,
Big deal, she was built in 1942 (Older than Me)
It was a refrigerated freighter.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/21/2009 12:08 Comments ||
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An Iranian court has temporarily suspended a controversial presidential aide from work, over a case of financial misconduct, a report says.
The Supreme Audit Court of Iran has convicted Esfandyar Rahim-Mashaei of a series of financial charges, sentencing him to two months suspension from his government post, the Jomhuriye Eslami daily reported on Thursday.
The paper did not give further detail on the nature of the charges, but said they were in connection with the period that Rahim-Mashaei served as the head of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handcrafts and Tourism Organization.
Jomhuriye Eslami also said that the administration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was trying to reverse the ruling. The daily said efforts were underway to change the verdict, although the deadline for overturning it has passed.
Rahim-Mashaei turned into a controversial figure last year over a series of comments about friendship between the Iranian people and Israelis.
Controversy was raised again in July this year when Ahmadinejad named him as Iran's new vice president.
However, Rahim-Mashaei was forced to resign following an official decree by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and a wave of criticism from several political groups and parties.
He currently serves as an advisor to the president.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/21/2009 00:00 ||
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Iran's defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi has taken the first steps toward setting up a satellite TV network, called Saba, a report says.
Karroubi had plans to launch the Saba satellite network since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office four years ago, the Etemad daily reported on Thursday.
The Reformist Political figure had plans to set up Saba with the help of the renowned Iranian film director Behrouz Afkhami, who was considered for managerial position at the station.
Etemad said that several other Iranian film directors have also announced that they are ready to work with Karroubi on his new project.
The network's offices are expected to open somewhere in the Middle East.
News of Karroubi's efforts to set up a satellite TV network outside of Iran come just days after Iranian authorities closed down the Etemad-e-Melli daily -- the official newspaper of the former candidate's political party.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I watched his election debate with Ahmadinejad. He rambled for 10 minutes about the tyrant's claim of an angelic presence at a UN speech. He didn't have much to say about mass suffering at the hands of Iran's parasitic elites.
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the world has realized that "Western theories" have failed and this has provided Iran and Syria with new opportunities. "Today, the world countries have realized that Western theories are at the end of the road and this is why they need cooperation and support from Iran and Syria," Ahmadinejad said in a meeting with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad in Tehran on Wednesday. The Syrian president arrived in Tehran on Wednesday for a two-day visit to discuss the latest regional developments. "All that 'cause and effect' stuff, that's just piffle..."
"The West is struggling to stop the resistance in the [Middle East] region but thanks to God's support, the resistance of the regional nations has won and they [Western countries] have suffered a heavy defeat," Ahmadinejad said. "Scientific method is nothing against a man with a Koran in one hand and a cheap, mass-produced Soviet-era weapon in the other!"
The new situation in the world "has created new opportunities and we should use them to serve the interests of the regional countries," Fars news agency quoted the Iranian President as saying. "I say to youse, Brethren and Sistern, the past is mankind's future!"
Assad, for his part, congratulated Ahmadinejad on his re-election, adding that "what happened in Iran taught the enemies a big lesson and this is why they are desperately unhappy." "The fact that the misery of millions makes them unhappy reveals them as effete and weak!"
The Syrian President also condemned foreign meddling in Iran's internal affairs. "The main reason behind the enemies' meddling is that they do not want to witness the repeated victories of Iran and Syria over the next four years again," Assad said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
ION IRAN PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > THE STRIKING SIMILARITIES BETWEEN CHINESE, PAKISTANI, AND IRANIAN SOLID FUEL ROCKETS.
HMMMMM but of coursez mes amis - 'tis purely simply co-incidental???
[Al Arabiya Latest] The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 2004 hired contractors from the private security firm Blackwater as part of a secret program to track and assassinate senior al-Qaeda members, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.
Blackwater helped with planning, training and surveillance in a program on which the CIA spent several million dollars without capturing or killing any militants, the newspaper reported, quoting former and current American officials.
Good! As I recall, even Bambi wants al-Qaeda leaders dead. Least that's what he said last year ...
The CIA hired contractors from Blackwater to track and assassinate al-Qaeda figures reports, say The Times said it was not clear whether the CIA had planned to use Blackwater executives to capture or kill al-Qaeda operatives or limit the contractors to help with training and surveillance.
The North Carolina-based contractor, which recently changed its name to Xe Services, was enmeshed in controversy in Iraq in 2007 when Blackwater employees hired to guard U.S. diplomats were accused of using excessive force in a Baghdad shooting in which 17 Iraqi civilians were killed.
The CIA's use of an outside company for a covert program prompted the intelligence agency's director, Leon Panetta, to inform Congress in June that the agency had withheld details of the program for seven years, the Times said.
Smart move, CIA, see what happened as soon as you told Congress?
Citing government officials, the Times said the CIA had separate agreements with top Blackwater executives for the outsourcing, as opposed to a formal contract with the whole firm.
The State Department cut ties with Blackwater following ongoing allegations of abuse in Iraq.
Blackwater had been given "operational responsibility" for the targeting program, according to the Washington Post, which noted the covert effort was canceled before any missions were conducted. Before the program was cut, however, the private security firm had already been awarded "millions of dollars for training and weaponry," according to the Post.
"Outsourcing gave the agency more protection in case something went wrong," said an unnamed intelligence official close to program, quoted by daily.
That's what intel agencies do by the way ...
Lawmakers from the majority Democratic Party have accused former vice president Dick Cheney of abusing his power by ordering the CIA to withhold information from Congress about the program.
Panetta told members of Congress that Cheney ordered the agency not to share details of the program with legislators, according to Senate Intelligence Committee head Dianne Feinstein, who in July described the program as being "outside the law."
Blackwater protected U.S. government personnel in Iraq since the 2003 invasion and has had around 1,000 staff in the violence-wracked country, making it among the largest security firms operating there.
The House of Representatives Intelligence Committee is investigating why lawmakers were never informed about the program, the report said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/21/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
Whether you do it one-on-one, by drone-zap or MOAB them en masse, I really don't care. Just do it. And faster, please.
#2
Testing--updating my computer gave me a new nym.
One report I heard was that bounty hunters were legally contracted to hunt down wanted terrorists. I assume putting out a reward to hunt them down was the intent of the State Department offering $$$ in the first place--don't know why the NYT's and Feinstein think this is an illegal and diabolical plot of CIA. Could this be the millions Blackwater was awarded, rightfully if so?
#4
In an Embassy overseas there will be a senior CIA Officer assigned to oversee and manage CIA operations within that particular country. He may have a Staff but it is likely he is simply a Liaison to the Ambassador to keep him informed at his discretion of CIA activities in that country.
In practice the CIA Officer will not be a Field Officer he will be primarily a politician and his job is to keep the Ambassador informed"just enough" to keep the Embassy "informed" and out of trouble.
Field Officers dont go near the Embassy. They have very quiet contact( and a plausible Cover which they maintain "plausibly") with the CIA Liaison Officer who handles the politicians and approves or disapproves of CIA ops in the country. Nobody knows any more than he "needs" to know to do his job. This is sometimes difficult, but necessary. Trust is not a good feature in a CIA personality. Smile a lot and dont trust anybody. You are not a gentleman you just act like you are.
You get results or you get lost. You get away with it and cover up the mess using your hat. You stick it to someone else, that's your job. And you move fast enough not to get any on your shirt.
And some people are expendable. The farther down the food chain you go the more expendable you are.
The trick is to go up the food chain.
There are never enough CIA to do all the work. You arrange for the work to be "outsourced" as much as possible. The locals or hired professionals with specialties get these jobs. You queer people as a matter of routine. You are always looking for fools.
Your job is looking for information and vulnerabilities are how you find the buttons to push. You have lots of "friends" who dont really know you ,but think they do. You use your friends, and get new ones when the old ones wear out.
You develop good acting skills and lie a lot. It doesnt bother you at all. You stay away from giving your real name and make a practice of being as un-noticed as the wallpaper in the toilet. It was him, not me. And stay away from anything with your pants down.
#7
While not briefing Congress is a violation of law, so is revealing covert agents(like ACLU lawyers at Gitmo) and leaking secret locations of their bases(NYT's). Aiding the enemy is also treason.
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.
Libya has won a formal apology from Switzerland for the arrest last year of Colonel Gaddafi's son.
[Maghrebia] New Mauritanian Foreign Minister Naha Mint Hamdi Ould Mouknass on Wednesday (August 19th), called for a "fresh strategy in the fight against poverty and ignorance" as a way to counter the "cancer" of al-Qaeda, AFP reported. The terrorism of al-Qaeda is a "behaviour completely unrelated to the Mauritanian people", the minister told France 24. On Tuesday, al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for Mauritania's first-ever suicide bombing: the August 8th attack on the French embassy in Nouakchott.
Byron York
