The U.S. Marines were tense looking for bombs buried near a mud compound in this remote farming town in southern Afghanistan. Their new Afghan police colleagues were little help, joking around and sucking on lollipops meant for local kids.
The government had sent the new group of 13 police to live and train with the Marines just a few days earlier. Most were illiterate young farmers with no formal training who had been plucked off the streets only weeks before.
Building a capable police force is one of the keys to President Barack Obama's new Afghan strategy. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul on Tuesday to discuss how to recruit more Afghan police to meet Washington's goal of expanding the force from about 94,000 today to 160,000 by 2013.
The Marines' experience in Khan Neshin, once a key Taliban stronghold in volatile Helmand province, shows just how difficult the task will be.
Posted by: ed ||
12/11/2009 10:11 ||
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The top U.N. official in Afghanistan said Friday he will not renew his contract when it expires in March after a two-year tenure marred by controversy over his handling of the country's fraud-marred presidential election and a deadly attack on U.N. workers.
Posted by: ed ||
12/11/2009 10:00 ||
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#1
Plus, the quality of the cuisine has just SO fallen off, as IF it ever was that good. Sniff.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
12/11/2009 10:12 Comments ||
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[Quqnoos] Kabul mayor, Abdul Ahad Sahebi, still runs the Afghan capital despite being sentenced to four years imprisonment for grafts.
The mayor was sentenced to jail after he was found guilty on Monday of awarding a contract for a city project without competition. He was also ordered to repay the $16,000 delivered for the contract.
"I am mayor, and I continue my job, I don't accept the court's decision," Mr Sahebi told journalists on Wednesday, "There is conspiracy against me."
"I am mayor, and I continue my job, I don't accept the court's decision," Mr Sahebi told journalists on Wednesday, "There is conspiracy against me." Try that one next time you get a traffic ticket.
The decision comes days after Karzai pledged to fight the rampant corruption in the Afghan government, as he comes under intense pressure from the international community to take strong measures against misappropriation of funds in Afghanistan.
Mr Sahebi also said that he asked President Karzai, MPs, the Attorney General and the head of the Supreme Court to launch an inquiry into this case.
Meanwhile, UN officials in Kabul said that it was tremendously important for the new government to fight the corruption.
"I believe this is tremendously important that the new Afghan government, when in place, makes it clear that there is a determined nation to fight corruption on the broad basis," Kai Eide, UN Special Envoy for Afghanistan, told a news conference on Wednesday.
"It is important, not only for the fighting of corruption today, but it is important for setting the values of the young generation," he said, "if they see that corrupt practices continue to be accepted then it will have important negative impact on the values that these young generation base their life in the future on it."
Earlier, US President Barack Obama called on his Afghan counterpart to stem corruption within six months or risk losing international support.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
What's the big deal. Similar things have happened in DC, Detroit and Baltimore...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/11/2009 11:12 Comments ||
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Ayman Raafa, an Egyptian born a Christian, was nine months old when the father he never knew converted to Islam. Now 23, Raafa is fighting to get the Christian faith he professes recognized by the state and registered on his identity documents vital to daily life.
Raafa was raised a Christian but the state says children automatically become Muslim on a father's conversion, a policy that places dozens of people in limbo in a society that does not -- in practice -- recognize conversion away from Islam.
Posted by: ed ||
12/11/2009 11:16 ||
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The Islamic Republic of Iran says that no state has the right to interfere in Yemen's internal affairs as the country's crisis in the north has been claiming the lives many people. Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, in a joint press conference with his Sudanese counterpart Deng Alor in Khartoum, said that all countries should respect territorial integrity of Yemen.
"Nobody 'cept us, anyway."
The conflict in northern Yemen began in 2004 between Sana'a and Houthi fighters. The conflict intensified in August when Yemen's army launched Operation Scorched Earth against Sa'ada.
The Houthis accuse the Yemeni government of violation of their civil rights, political, economic and religious marginalization as well as of large-scale corruption.
The Saudi air force has further complicated the conflict during the past month by launching its own operations against the Shia resistance fighters. Saudi Arabia joined the operation after it alleged attacks by Yemeni fighters on its border guards.
The Houthi fighters say that Riyadh has been allowing Yemeni government troops to pound their positions and Saudi forces strike Yemeni village and indiscriminately target civilians there. According to the fighters, Saudis are using toxic materials including white phosphorous bombs against civilians in north Yemen.
But the fighting has incurred headaches for the Kingdom who has lost soldiers as well as military vehicles and ammunitions amid a strong resistance from the Houthi fighters.
Iranian officials have admonished the Saudi government for entering the Yemen conflict. Mottaki also said that his county is trying to restore peace and security in Yemen, adding the Tehran- Sana'a relation is cordial.
The Iranian top diplomat arrived in Khartoum on Wednesday to discuss issues of mutual interests with Sudanese officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
two axes solidifying
Which side will Sudan take - this statement made in Khartoum makes it look like sudan is sideing with Iran and against KSA, but Sudan relies for diplomatic support, and presumably much else, on Egypt.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
12/11/2009 8:56 Comments ||
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It happened again on Wednesday, December 9, 2009, less than a month after the incident aboard AirTran Flight 297. United Airlines Flight 227, scheduled to depart Denver International Airport at 1:50 pm Wednesday for Los Angeles was disrupted when several passengers who were described as Middle Eastern in appearance, confirmed by this investigator to be a group of Muslims traveling together, were removed from that aircraft due to suspicious behavior that originated in the terminal and continued to the airplane. Their behavior was consistent in some respects to the behavior of the Muslim passengers aboard AirTran Flight 297 on November 17, 2009 that caused a flurry of controversy over its legitimacy, and the now infamous case of the “Flying Imams” of 2006.
According to information obtained by this investigator, seven men of Middle Eastern appearance, boarded flight 227. Two took their seats in coach, while five took their seats in the first class section of the plane. At a critical pre-flight point, the individuals appeared to act in concert with one another, changing seats and moving stowed luggage to very specific areas of the aircraft, often having to move the stowed bags of other passengers to do so. They disobeyed or otherwise ignored the admonitions of the flight attendants to remain seated.
Their behavior was so overt and so apparently choreographed, according to our sources, that the flight crew demanded the passengers be removed from the aircraft. One report found on 9News in Denver quoted John Sloan, a passenger aboard that flight: “I have never seen flight attendants so scared in my life. Everything turned out OK, but it was not a very good feeling..”
Following the removal of the passengers, officials brought a bomb-sniffing dogs aboard the aircraft, focusing of the first class section of the plane. Subsequent to the search that found nothing, the offending passengers were removed from the flight and rebooked on another aircraft to their destination. According to federal officials, no criminal investigation is being launched into this incident, which was described as a “customer service” matter.
Early this morning, this investigator spoke to a law enforcement source in Denver who is intimately familiar with the incident. Many details have not been publicly reported about this incident, although it is clear that there is an agenda at play. Based on information obtained from this source and others relating to the previous flights disrupted by the deliberate behavior of Muslim passengers, it is clear that the airline industry, as well as the sensibilities of normal Americans, is under attack through Islamic ideological jihad. Additional information will be provided once our investigation is complete.
#5
compare the 9news story to the "canadianfreepress" story.
9news says
"Sloan says the men were attempting to change seats with other passengers. Another passenger, who doesn't want his name used, says the men were also trying to move luggage while the plane was getting ready to push back"
Leads to
6)Rude middle easterners violating aircraft etiquette, for their own convenience, thus creating the patter our security folks are supposed to look for.
My smoke alarm went off cause I burned the roast, there was no fire, but I was still happy with my smoke alarm.
#6
Just once I'd like the "Jihadis" to pull something like this on a flight full of SF troops in mufti. The airport would likely have to be shut down until the FOD (foreign objects/debris) is cleared from the runways, but a good time would be had by all (except the "jihadis").
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/11/2009 4:10 Comments ||
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#7
My "Rule of Three":
The first time is happenstance (OK, you've got my attention).
The second time is coincidence (It has become more interesting).
The third time is enemy action (And time for me to do likewise)....
The Department of Homeland Security has initiated unspecified actions against personnel involved in the bungled online posting this spring of a government document that revealed airport screening secrets, Secretary Janet Napolitano told senators Wednesday.
A contract employee was responsible for not properly redacting a 93-page Transportation Security Administration operating manual that was put on a government procurement Web site, allowing computer users to recover blacked-out information by copying and pasting it into other documents, Napolitano said. TSA supervisors were also involved, she said. I know, let's draw and quarter the contract employee! And make sure to hire a few more to use as human shields for next time we screw up.
"The security of the traveling public has never been put at risk," Napolitano assured the Senate Judiciary Committee at an oversight hearing, repeating earlier TSA statements that the document was out of date, never implemented and had been revised six times after the breach. So why is it a classified document, and why were you still playing with it? And why all the fuss?
She said DHS Inspector General Richard Skinner is conducting an independent review of the incident, in addition to TSA's Office of Inspections.
"We have already initiated personnel action against the individuals involved in this," she Napolitano told panel Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), without elaborating. "We have already instituted an internal review to determine what else needs to be done to make sure this incident never recurs." How about having a department that deals with document security? Works for everyone else.
The TSA confirmed Tuesday that the document was posted online as part of a contract solicitation. The manual details procedures for screening passengers and checked baggage, such as technical settings used by X-ray machines and explosives detectors.
"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."
So:
Missteps lead to discipline. Lack of discipline leads to missteps...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/11/2009 11:05 Comments ||
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#2
Napolitano could offer up the Head of the TSA as a sacrificial goat. Except that there hasn't been anyone in the top-slot at the TSA for nearly a year.
#3
SSI isn't a classification, it's a handling label, and it requires more security in any form of electronic transmission, including encryption and transmission of the keyword in a separate email for example, and it has need to know criteria. Thats about handling not content.
Based on content, even at the FOUO/SSI level, posting this is an amzing screwup. Even without the redacted portions that were later recovered, it is a daily ops manual that is a perfect diagnostic tool for opposition forces to use to defeat the TSA systems. Amazing level of stupidity and naive judgement!
The UN no longer has any reason to wait to consider new sanctions on Iran if it does not respond to concerns over its nuclear programme, France says. If Iran continued to ignore demands, "we must draw all of the necessary conclusions" and move to sanctions, French Ambassador Gerard Araud said. Mr Araud spoke after a report said Iran was trying to defy some of the curbs.
The head of the UN panel which monitors a 2007 ban on Iranian arms exports told the Security Council there was "an apparent pattern of sanctions violations" by Iran over the past three months.
"If Iran continues to do everything it can to violate five Security Council resolutions, if it continues to refuse the slightest confidence measures, to refuse dialogue, transparency after the major revelations that have just been made, we must draw all of the necessary conclusions and that means we must move on to a new resolution involving sanctions," said Mr Araud. Should Iran continue to fail to meet its obligations, the international community will have to consider further actions
US ambassador Susan Rice said that while her country still sought a diplomatic solution to the crisis through engagement with Iran, "time is short".
"Should Iran continue to fail to meet its obligations, the international community will have to consider further actions," she said. British ambassador Mark Grant said discussions about fresh sanctions would start "at the beginning of the new year" unless Iran responded positively before then.
Russia however reiterated its position that it was not seeking further punitive measures against Iran.
"This language of sanctions, it is not our language. It has already been said many times," foreign ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.
#4
It will likely be real, if not crippling, economic sanctions, maybe even a gasoline embargo? If it were not, the Russians wouldn't be so exercised about it.
Is Putin willing to cast a veto, backed up only by China?
"This language of sanctions, it is not our language" Seems to me that could be reconciled with abstaining on the UNSC vote.
If Putin DOES veto, and blocks sanctions, that would call into question the US reset on Russia policy. I don't know that there is really a plan B on Russia.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
12/11/2009 9:01 Comments ||
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#5
You'll know it's serious if it's delivered by B-2.
Iran sanctions are clearly the core of what we want out of the reset, at least in the short term, and there was almost zero chance the admin would push for sanctions on Iran before December, since they were committed,rightly or wrongly, to trying engagement first.
We will soon see what the result is, I think. If Russia does not come through, then those who said the whole reset was a mistake, will be entitled to say they were right on this issue.
Iraq announced plans Thursday to move members of an Iranian opposition group to a former desert detention camp in a sharp escalation of pressure on a faction that poses complications for both Baghdad and Washington.
The group, the People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran, strongly denounced the plans as "unlawful and disgraceful" and said they were part of efforts to force its members to leave Iraq. Having them leave does seem preferable to just shooting them ...
About 3,500 members of the group -- which was hosted in Iraq for years by Saddam Hussein -- have been under watch at a camp in northeastern Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. But Iraqi authorities have increasingly taken a hard line toward Camp Ashraf, including a raid by security forces in July that touched off a melee in which 11 people were reportedly killed. Supported by Saddam, influenced by religion, walking around with guns ... what could possibly go wrong?
The group would first be housed in Baghdad before eventual transfer to the desert site, Neqrat al-Salman, about 200 miles (120 kilometers) west of the southern city of Basra. The transfer could begin as early as next Tuesday, when Iraqi officials have invited media to visit Camp Ashraf.
The Iraqi statement claimed the shift was necessary because of the group's "historical relations" with factions including Saddam's regime and members of al-Qaida. The government has accused al-Qaida and members of Saddam's banned Baath Party of carrying out recent bombings, including Tuesday's blasts around Baghdad that killed 127 people.
A statement from the Iranian opposition group called the allegations of al-Qaida ties "ridiculous" and accused Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of bowing to demands from Iran to crack down on the group.
Posted by: ed ||
12/11/2009 10:16 ||
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Senior military officials in Iraq are pointing their fingers at Saudi Arabia over the recent bomb attacks in Baghdad which claimed scores of lives. The head of the ordnance department of Iraq's Interior Ministry said the terrorists behind the deadly attacks had used explosives that came from other countries like Saudi Arabia.
The Iraqi government is well aware that the vehicle used in the bombing was carrying 850 kilograms of explosives, an amount which cannot have been produced inside Iraq, said Major Gen. Jihad al-Jabiri.
Like hell, how many of Saddam's old arms dumps are still less than completely secure?
"It must have come from abroad," he stressed.
In a televised speech on Wednesday, Prime Minster Nouri al-Maliki, said the terrorists had infiltrated Iraq using the support and financial backing of a neighboring country. The Iraqi premier did not mention any specific country, but informed sources believe he was referring to Saudi Arabia.
Some of the princelings running a private foreign policy, perhaps?
At least 127 people were killed and many others wounded in a series of coordinated bomb blasts that struck the Iraqi capital on Tuesday.
Baghdad's security chief Lieut. Gen. Abboud Qanbar was sacked following sharp criticism of Iraqi MPs who demanded an explanation from the country's leaders over Tuesday's blasts.
Maliki and his interior minister, Jawad al-Bulani, are also to appear before a special parliamentary session on Thursday to explain how the attacks jeopardized security in the heavily guarded central Baghdad.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
OTOH TOPIX > US SAYS IRAN STILL ARMING IRAQI SHIITE MILITIAS.
Human Rights Watch has warned about cluster munitions that the US military left in Iraq during the invasion of the country in 2003 and the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
The rights group warned that there were over 61-thousand cluster bombs which can kill people for years to come in the country, calling on Middle East and North African countries to sign The International Treaty Banning Cluster Munitions.
"Iraq has experienced first-hand the devastating effects of cluster munitions, and its government has promised never to use this weapon," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East Director of Human Rights Watch.
"Civilians, often children, are the victims of cluster munitions, which to this day continue to kill and maim innocent people throughout the Middle East from conflicts long since ended," Whitson added.
"Whatever excuses Middle East governments have given for not signing this treaty, Iraq's example shows they won't hold up," she added.
She called on Iraq, Lebanon, and Tunisia to "persuade neighboring governments to help create a Middle East free from these vicious weapons."
According to the rights group, the US, France and the United Kingdom dropped over 61,000 cluster bombs containing 20 million submunitions in Iraq and Kuwait in 1991. Almost 13,000 cluster munitions containing an estimated 1.8 to 2 million submunitions dropped on Iraq's soil during the US-led invasion of the country in 2003, the report said.
A total of 103 countries have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which opened for signature in December 2008. Twenty four including Britain and France have ratified it but 30 more ratifications are needed for the convention to become a binding international law.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
over 61-thousand cluster bombs
Oh, yeah? I heard from some guy at The Lancet it was like 61 million cluster bombs. In fact, it's gotten so bad, you can't even open your sock drawer without finding a cluster bomb. HRW & PressTV, it's a match made in heaven.
#2
Aren't cluster bomblets meant to explode during an action? Or are they little 'mines' meant to explode in the undetermined future? If the former, then what's the difference between their duds and the Nazi bomb dug up in England not long ago? Duds have been around since explosives were invented. If the latter, then they should be included in the efforts (whether misguided or not) to ban land mines rather than starting a whole new treaty effort.
#3
A total of 103 countries who can't afford cluster bombs have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions
Posted by: Formerly Dan ||
12/11/2009 13:18 Comments ||
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#4
More white noise from the left. 1991 we invaded Iraq to drive them from Kuwait, where Iraqi's were raping and pilaging that small country. But thats not on the left's agenda today. I'm suprised this whole thing is not blamed on Bush/Cheney and further suprised they did not blame Cheney for Diana's death...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/11/2009 3:34 Comments ||
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#5
What a crock of bull. Cluster munitions are large bombs filled with little bombs. They're dropped in areas where infantry troops are either massing or dug in, not anywhere and everywhere. There is a known 'dud' factor of about 10%. Let's say that Allied forces dropped 80,000 weapons since 1991. Each 'weapon' contains up to 72 sub-munitions (or as low as 24). 80,000*72 = 5,760,000 sub-munitions. Ten percent of that if 576,000 possible 'duds' that haven't exploded.
Duds have a habit of exploding whenever they're disturbed, or when weather factors are significant (extreme heat/cold). In addition, most US cluster munitions manufactured since the mid-70's have a "delayed destruction" mechanism that causes them to detonate within a certain period after being dropped. That delay seldom exceeds three months, and is 99% accurate. HRW, as usual, is blowing smoke, trying to make war as hard as possible so "sensible" people won't be able to wage it.
Such "sensible" people are usually the first ones attacked by barbarians that exist in every nation. Look to Sudan, Venezuela, "Myanmar" (Burma), and the Philippines for examples.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/11/2009 4:38 Comments ||
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[Straits Times] INDONESIA will escalate its war against violent extremism by setting up a new agency to coordinate counter-terrorism work by a variety of agencies.
Officials said the Badan Koordinasi Pemberantasan Terrorisme, or Counter-Terrorism Coordinating Agency, will go into action next month, fulfilling a campaign promise made by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
'The agency will be the supreme body for counter-terrorism that reports directly to the President,' said retired police inspector-general Ansyaad Mbai, head of the anti-terror desk at the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs.
While rooting out terrorists and routing their cells remain its key tasks, the new agency will put greater emphasis on prevention.
This will include rehabilitating detained terrorists so that they do not return to their old ways after leaving prison, and clamping down on religious radicalism.
'Besides law enforcement work, the new outfit will work closely with civil society groups in preventing terrorism,' said Mr Ansyaad. 'Counter-terrorism work must not be left to the police alone.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Members of the Non-Aligned movement (NAM) have expressed support for Iran's nuclear energy program, rejecting double standards on the issue.
During a meeting at the United Nations in New York on Friday, NAM members rejected double standards on the nuclear rights of signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
They said that all NPT members should enjoy equal rights to nuclear energy technology.
Addressing the meeting, Iran's Ambassador to the United Nations Mehdi Khazaii said Tehran is prepared to continue talks with the P5+1 group on its package of proposals.
He stressed Iran will not abandon its inalienable right to peaceful nuclear technology.
Khazaii said Iran strongly adheres to its international commitments, but will not bow to political and economic threats.
Iran has allowed regular inspections of its nuclear installations by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors.
The IAEA has asserted that Tehran's nuclear program is aimed at the civilian applications of the technology. Western countries, however, accuse it of seeking nuclear weaponry.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2009 19:21 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Lebanon's parliament overwhelmingly approves the country's new cabinet that has said it would permit Hezbollah to keep its weapons.
The 128-member parliament, which began a three-day debate on Tuesday ended late Thursday and overwhelmingly approved the national unity government of Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, which included three Hezbollah ministers.
Prime Minister Saad Hariri formed his 30-member Cabinet a month ago, and last week it permitted Hezbollah to remain armed under the new government's policy platform.
Hezbollah legislator Nawaf al-Moussawi asked those who criticized his group's weapons that, "What is the alternative and how will the government face Israeli aerial violations?"
He cited news reports that on Independence Day last month, Israeli warplanes were flying over Beirut as senior officials were attending a military parade. "The whole state was there. What is your answer?" he asked.
Israeli warplanes fly over Lebanon almost daily in violation of UN resolutions.
Of the 128 members of parliament, 122 voted yes, one abstained and four were absent. The new government was formed after almost five months of political standoff.
Prior to the vote, Hariri, who won parliamentary elections in June, told the parliament that the government has but one choice and that is success in achieving and reviving citizens' confidence in the government.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2009 00:00 ||
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[6 views]
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#1
What, they want to display the new China Dinnerware?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/11/2009 7:10 Comments ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Lebanon says Syria has asked it to extradite 25 Lebanese officials to be tried in Damascus in connection with the murder of former premier Rafik al-Hariri.
The extradition demand came after Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, the assassinated premier's son, said on Tuesday that he will visit Damascus, and hold talks with President Bashar al-Assad to discuss his father's assassination.
Hariri's coalition, the March 14, accuses Syria and its Lebanese allies of being behind the assassination of Rafik al-Hariri in February 2005, a claim which Syria denies.
Among those on the Syrian list include former ministers Marawan Hamadeh, Charles Rizk and Hasan al-Sabaa as well as State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza and the former head of Lebanon's military intelligence, Johnny Abdo, the Lebanese ministry of justice said on Thursday.
The Lebanese judicial officials have described the Syrian demand as a "clear violation" of the law.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Now that's chutzpah! The Iranians are positively green with envy.
Posted by: ed ||
12/11/2009 7:47 Comments ||
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#2
What's even the rationale? We were bribing them, therefore they're our problem? They're Lebanese nationals, accused of killing a Lebanese prime minister, in Beirut! Is the claim that the conspiracy was planned on Syrian soil, therefore it's in Syrian jurisdiction?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
12/11/2009 9:21 Comments ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Former chief of the UN nuclear agency has said that Iran's nuclear issue can only be resolved through diplomacy.
"Sanctions are not the solution," Mohammed ElBaradei told the Austrian newspaper Kurier.
He also called on Western countries to keep patience on the Iran issue, saying Tehran presents no threat to their security.
"Some people want to show that Iran will have a nuclear bomb tomorrow. It will not, we have not seen, at least," he said.
The comment came as the Obama administration says it is reaching out to its European allies as well as Russia and China to win support for imposing UN sanctions against Iran.
The Tehran government, however, rejects the Western claims about the nature of its nuclear drive, arguing that its activities are not in breach of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
ElBaradei also stressed that any new sanctions will only create more friction rather than solutions to the problems.
"There is no reason for hasty decisions," he said, adding imposing new embargo on Tehran "will lead to more conflicts."
Iran says its nuclear work is peaceful and is aimed at generating electricity for its growing domestic demand.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
To El Baradei and Iran's satisfaction.
Posted by: ed ||
12/11/2009 7:49 Comments ||
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#2
"Sanctions are not the solution," Mohammed ElBaradei told the Austrian newspaper Kurier.
#5
The only "weapon" in El Baradei's arsenal is talk, so every problem "can only be solved by talk". Otherwise, he's a useless UN POS, and everyone in the world will know it. The old saw, "when the only tool you have is a hammer, all problems look like a nail" fits here perfectly.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/11/2009 6:53 Comments ||
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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.
It happened again on Wednesday, December 9, 2009, less than a month after the incident aboard AirTran Flight 297. United Airlines Flight 227, scheduled to depart Denver International Airport at 1:50 pm Wednesday for Los Angeles was disrupted when several passengers who were described as Middle Eastern in appearance, confirmed by this investigator to be a group of Muslims traveling together, were removed from that aircraft due to suspicious behavior that originated in the terminal and continued to the airplane. Their behavior was consistent in some respects to the behavior of the Muslim passengers aboard AirTran Flight 297 on November 17, 2009 that caused a flurry of controversy over its legitimacy, and the now infamous case of the “Flying Imams” of 2006.
The Department of Homeland Security has initiated unspecified actions against personnel involved in the bungled online posting this spring of a government document that revealed airport screening secrets, Secretary Janet Napolitano told senators Wednesday. 
[Iran Press TV Latest] Former chief of the UN nuclear agency has said that Iran's nuclear issue can only be resolved through diplomacy. 
