President of the Association of Victims of Terrorism (AVT) in Spain, Juan Antonio García Casquero accused on Tuesday Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez of being a "sponsor" of terrorism in Latin America.
In a press conference together with the head of a group called Democratic Platform of Venezuelans in Madrid and the leader of the Ibero-American Front for Freedom (FIAL), García Casquero described as "intolerable mockery of the Spanish people" the fact that Hugo Chávez refuses to extradite to Spain several members of Basque terrorist group ETA whom he "shelters" in his country.
García Casquero also urged the Latin American leaders gathered on Tuesday in the EU-LAC Madrid Summit to destroy terrorist "sanctuaries" in the Americas, Efe reported.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/19/2010 00:00 ||
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The severed heads in a gray light truck found in the Mexican state of Durango hours after a massacre in a bar in Torreón, Coahuila, may be the shooters, Coahuila state officials revealed today, according to a Mexican news account.
The Juanas bar in Torreón was the site of a massacre where eight people died and another 19 were wounded Sunday. A gray light pickup truck was spotted leaving the scene and was found in neighboring Durango a few hours later with four severed heads aboard.
Officials now think the four may be the shooters.All were from Gómez Palacio, Durango.
Authorities said 106 expended casings of various weapons were counted at the scene of the massacre in Torreón:
45 .223;
16 7.62;
32 9mm;
12 .40;
1 .45;
Some of the murdered at the bar were students of the Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM), Laguna campus, Coahuila state officials said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il appears to have stepped up a campaign to pave his son Jong-un's way for the succession, the New York Times reported last month. Until late last year, Jong-un was rarely mentioned by name, but sources in North Korea say since January Kim junior has been publicized to the entire population beginning with the military.
Pyongyang in January launched a major publicity campaign on behalf of Kim Jong-un for civilian security units defending the de-militarized zone. The slogan is: "Young general Comrade Kim Jong-un is our leader, upholding the succession of the generations." A song has been written that now everyone is meant to learn by heart.
People are openly calling Kim Jong-un "an immature little bastard" who is "more savage than his father."
The campaign has expanded to regional administrative cadres and ordinary military units since February and the entire population since March. A senior official said Kim Jong-un may be presented formally in an October ceremony marking the anniversary of the Workers' Party, adding that the succession campaign is progressing "faster than expected."
The problem is public discontent since a botched currency reform late last year sent prices skyrocketing and aggravated a food crisis. The publicity campaign could provoke similar indignation. Premier Kim Yong-il apologized in an early March meeting of senior members of the Pyongyang municipal committee. "Nothing was wrong with the currency reform itself, but confusion has ensued due to errors committed by the administrative agencies," he said. He also called on them to persevere a little longer as efforts were being made to increase food imports.
Nonetheless, starving families are said to have swarmed local party headquarters and protested, and even local party officials are openly complaining. Provincial party officials in Chongjn, North Hamgyong Province, and Hamhung, South Hamgyong Province, effectively stopped working, telling party headquarters there is nothing they can do if there is nothing to eat.
With rumors spreading that Kim Jong-un led an unpopular "100-day struggle" and "150-day struggle" that pressed people into service on the farms and even the currency reform, public disaffection is reaching critical mass.
A recent North Korean defector said people are openly calling Kim Jong-un "an immature little bastard" who is "more savage than his father." Anti-government sentiment prevails among college students in Pyongyang and other major cities, who say the dynastic succession is a feudal practice and a betrayal of socialism.
Kim junior has become a sort of lightning rod for discontent, and earlier hopes for change seem to have been abandoned, the defector said. The current campaign for Kim Jong-un's succession looks hasty and slapdash compared to the long years it took to establish Kim Jong-il as his father's heir, a senior North Korean defector said.
But given Kim senior's bad health, the issue apparently cannot be delayed further. The senior defector added the North's "control tower" seems to have crumbled. Instead of mapping out a succession campaign taking public opinion in account, the process is so awkward that it looks almost like a deliberate attempt to bungle it.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/19/2010 00:00 ||
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Doesn't kimmie senior have pancreatic cancer? He'll be dead soon.
But just because the people might hate Kimmie junior doesn't mean that country will change.
A dynasty is a figurehead for a powerful military elite. The people who have enjoyed the fruits of Kimmie's despotism will simply throw someone else to the fore and continue as before.
Those people are so beaten, starved and brainwashed they are incapable of uprising. Give them another couple of centuries, the survivors may evolve.
Kimmie could have signed it with his blood and it wouldn't matter ...
Investigators have found at the 11th hour found a desperately needed smoking gun linking North Korea to the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan, a government official claimed Tuesday. Investigators apparently discovered a propeller from the torpedo that likely sank the ship in relatively good condition in waters where it sank and the serial number inscribed on it is North Korean.
"U.S., Australian and other foreign experts who took part in the investigation agree that a North Korean torpedo caused the Cheonan to sink and that this is the smoking gun following various pieces of the torpedo and traces of gun powder that had been gathered so far," the official said.
Another government source said fishing trawlers deployed in gathering evidence found a fairly intact torpedo propeller buried in the mud at the bottom of the ocean over the weekend. "It's a double propeller that obviously comes from a torpedo," the source added. Investigators apparently compared the propeller to one attached to a North Korean training torpedo that the South Korean military obtained seven years ago and proved that the two were made of similar materials.
Torpedoes are powered by two sets of propellers that rotate in opposite directions. Investigators are said to have conducted a computerized simulation and reached a tentative conclusion that a 250 kg, mid-sized sonar-tracking torpedo exploded 3 m below the gas turbine room of the vessel. They have apparently proved that the traces of explosives found on the Cheonan are similar to some of the propellants used in the sample North Korean torpedo.
The military has transported to a Navy base in Pyeongtaek the diesel engine of the Cheonan, which had been separated from the vessel during the explosion, and is looking for traces of gunpowder. The gas turbine has also been found on the sea floor and authorities are planning to hoist it out of the water.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/19/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Congratulations guys, you finally figured it out. The North Koreans! Whoda thunk it, eh?
I can only HOPE that is what is going on. However, the realist in me thinks SK will do nothing and just try to forget about this...I mean, we wouldn't want to start a war or anything.
#8
Pragmatically, wid RADICAL ISLAM expanding + escalating their JIHAD, INSURGENCIES EVERYWHERE, INCLUD THREATS OF TERRSTRIKES AGZ BOTH CHINA + CONUS, ETC. 2010-2012 is likely an opportune time for Kimmie + DPRK NORCOMS/KORCOMS to instigate a "GREAT POWER" MIL CONFRONTATION BETWEEN US + CHINA on the Korean Peninsula.
Again, NOKORS > facing the LT prospect of MORE CHIN ENTRENCHMENT = CONTROL OF NORTH KOREA, + ORDINARY NORTH KOREANS INEVITABLY BECOM AN IMPOTENT STILL-STARVING MINORITY IN THEIR OWN LAND VEE HAN CHINESE + OTHER MIGRANT GROUPS.
2010-2012 BEIJING > ISLAMIST-LED MILITANT TRUUUBLES + JAPAN, CENTRAL ASIAN FORMER SSRS quietly moving towards dev or acquiring NUCLEAR WEAPONS.
#9
ION CORYEA WMF > NUCLEAR FUSION FOLLY: NORTH KOREA HAS NO SUITABLE GROUND/LAND AREA, PROPER EQUIPMENT, OR REINFORCED SPECIAL FACILITIES, ETC. TO SAFELY TEST ANY KIND OF HYDROGEN OR THERMONUCLEAR ADVANCED BOMB. NORTH KOREAN-MADE SUPER "CHERNOBYL" [radioactive clouds, lands] IN NORTHEAST ASIA.
and
* SAME > PERSEPECTIVE: FULL-SCALE OR LIMITED, THE SMALL SIZE OF A NORTH KOREAN NATIONAL HYDROGEN OR THERMONUCLEAR BOMB TEST IS INHERENTLY DANGEROUS TO BOTH NORTH KOREA AND CHINA. MILITARY AND GEOPOL IMPLICATIONS. THREAT OF PYONGYANG-APPROVED BLACK MARKET PROLIFERATION TO MILITANT GROUPS AND CRIME SYNDICATES.
#10
Also from WMF > PLA/CHIN TO BUILD A 1500-KM MILITARY RAILROAD FOR THE EFFECTIVE RAPID DEPLOYMENT OF GROUND TROOPS, SOVIET-STYLE STRATEGIC MISSLE TRAINS [Rail-mobile ICBMS] AGZ THE US, INDIA, AND JAPAN. SUPPORT FOR CHINA'S SOUTH ASIAN GEO-STRATEGIC POLICIES.
* SAME > JAPANESE INTENTIONS TO SEIZE AND DEV DAOYUS [Senkaku Islands], OKONOTORISHIMA AS PART OF ITS EXTENSION OF "CONTINENTAL SHELF" SOVEREIGNTY AND MIL BLOCKADE AGZ CHINA IN THE EAST CHINA SEAS. EXPANSION OF YONAGUNI GARRISON, SELECTION OF OKONOTORISHIMA DUE TO PROXIMITY TO US BASE ON GUAM. EXPANSION/DOUBLING OF JAPAN'S SOVEREIGN JURISDICTION IN SEA AREAS TO OVER 420,000-SQUARE KMS.
* SAME > NEW PHILIPPINES PRESIDENT-ELECT AQUINO HOPES TO EXPAND BILATERAL SINO-PHILIPPINES TRADE AND COOPERATION, RESOLVE SOVEREIGNTY DISPUTE OER THE NANSHAS AND PARACEL ISLANDS.
(Reuters) - South Korea will formally blame North Korea for sinking one of its navy ships in March, killing 46 sailors, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
We know this. The issue is and remains, what will South Korea do about it? Sinking another country's warship is an act of war. There's no other reason to do it. North Korea wants either to provoke a war, or attack the South Koreans with the knowledge that the latter will not strike back.
Why provoke a war? It would seem insane, wouldn't it; South Korea has an economy that is 25 times the size of the North. The South has a military that particularly in the last decade has become well equipped, well trained and assured in its leadership. You'd think that the last thing the North wants is a war, unless it's insane.
While we shouldn't discount insanity, the North has likely made a very fine calculation: either 1) the South will back down and not strike back (most likely) or 2) the South will want to strike but will be restrained by the US and Japan (next most likely) or 3) they can prevail against retaliation or even all-out war by the South. The North's leaders may have judged their own military to be stronger than we think it is, or the South to be less strong. Or, they may feel that they can fight an 'asymmetrical' war that negates the strengths of the South, and as a last resort they may have the assurance that come what may, the Chinese will remain in their corner. As a result of these calculations, the North has attacked a warship.
So far, they've gotten away with it. Who thinks the South will go to war? Who thinks Obama will let that happen? Who thinks China will let the North lose?
Look for another big attack on the South sometime later this year. It's coming.
Citing unidentified U.S. and East Asian officials, the newspaper said on its Web site Seoul had reached the conclusion that North Korea was responsible for the torpedo attack after investigators from Australia, Britain, Sweden and the United States pieced together portions of the ship.
The navy ship Cheonan sank on March 26 after an explosion on the vessel as it sailed in the Yellow Sea off South Korea's west coast. The Post said the officials said analyses showed the torpedo was identical to a North Korean torpedo previously obtained by South Korea.
The formal accusation is expected to be announced on Thursday and South Korea will ask the U.N. Security Council to take up the matter, Post sources said.
The White House said President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myong-bak spoke about the Cheonan incident by telephone Monday night but did not disclose details of the investigation. Lee thanked Obama for U.S. help in the investigation and Obama repeated the U.S. commitment to South Korea's security, a White House statement said.
South Korean officials had made little secret of their belief that Pyongyang, which has raised concerns around the world with its nuclear tests, was behind the attack.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/19/2010 00:00 ||
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Or MAYBE some generals in the North WANT to provoke a war with the South...
Knowing it would be a walkover
Knowing they would lose
Because then they would be occupied and their families would be able to eat at last.
Their country could get rid of the dynastic despot crazypants.
Easier to let the south do it than to risk doing it from within.
PARIS: French police on Tuesday arrested 14 alleged militants suspected of plotting to help in the escape of the author of a bloody bomb attack on the Paris metro from jail, a judicial official said on Tuesday.
Separately, the domestic intelligence service had earlier over the weekend picked up 12 more alleged militants, these being suspected of running a network funnelling French militants to fight in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Anti-terrorist police swooped on several addresses in Paris and its suburbs and in the central region of Cantal on Tuesday, an unidentified official said.
The 14 are suspected of having planned to break out Smain Ait Ali Belkacem, an Algerian who was jailed for life in 2002 after being found guilty of a 1995 bomb attack on a Paris underground station, which wounded 30 people.
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The Obama administration is looking for ways to build up "moderate elements" within the Lebanese Hezbollah guerrilla movement and to diminish the influence of hard-liners, a top White House official said on Tuesday.
Those would be the one who are content to let the armed wings and splinter groups attack Israelis using arms and funds provided by the political wing of Hezb'allah, instead of the ones who want Hezb'allah to get credit for the attacks.
John Brennan, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, met with Lebanese leaders during a recent visit.
"Hezbollah is a very interesting organization," Brennan told a Washington conference, citing its evolution from "purely a terrorist organization" to a militia to an organization that now has members within the parliament and the cabinet.
That is to say, a terrorist organization which has made the long march through the institutions, and now owns the nation of Lebanon as well as the Shiite areas of Lebanon. Brilliant, Mr. Brennan.
It's what a successful group of terrorists do on their way to owning the place. Mao went from the Long March to becoming the top dog, too ...
"There is certainly the elements of Hezbollah that are truly a concern to us what they're doing. And what we need to do is to find ways to diminish their influence within the organization and to try to build up the more moderate elements," Brennan said.
Kill 'em. That's about the only thing that'll do it. Oh, and cut them off completely from Iran's Revolutionary Guard, which trains, finances, and provides them arms smuggled by Syria. That part will be a bit harder, and cannot be accomplished by a conference of leading nations in Washington, DC -- properly catered, of course.
He did not spell out how Washington hoped to promote "moderate elements" given that the organization is branded a "foreign terrorist organization" by the United States.
"We don't deal with them," he acknowledged.
Last month, the United States and Israel accused Syria of arming Hezbollah with increasingly powerful missiles and weapons technology. Brennan said he raised those concerns during his recent visit to the region.
Really? With whom did he raise those concerns, and under what terms? Expressing concern to a mid-level Israeli diplomatic corp assistant is not at all the same as mentioning to President Bashar al-Assad that the next shipment crossing the Lebanese border will result in American missiles hitting key targets in Damascus, including his bed.
#9
He's just using 'moderate' to validate and provide cover for all of the hezbies. I a year or so he'll be 'surprised' they weren't so moderate after all.
If he was really an enemy of the US and the West what would he do differently?
#10
Zero policies jump from this to that. It is almost like following an indecisive phatass ordering take-out from a La-Z-Boy recliner. Seriously, wherever his finger lands on the takeout menu, thats what he picks to order. Where is the rhyme or reason behind any of his lurching policies?
Here's Zero on the phone now:
"Ummm, ahhh, Yes, for the appetizer, I'll take a large order of Deep dish Debt with extra Debt, some fried terrorist extremist, but only the small order, Ummmmmm, uuuuuuh, and plenty of the... Okay I'll take a large order of the Moderate. And, uhh, fries with the low salt ketchup. What's that, you don't have low sodium Ketchup? I thought my food Czar took care of that. Well, Gimme a large order of your Mexican Beans, those are cheap and plentiful.
#12
ION WAFF > BEFOREITSNEWS.com > THE SYRIAN-HEZBOLLAH OPERATIVE [War Strategy] TO DEFEAT AND CONQUER ISRAEL.
Also from BEFOREITSNEWS > ISRAEL OFFERED TO WITHDRAW FROM GOLAN [Heights] FOR DEAL [wid SYRIA] ON IRAN [ + Lebanon Militants > Hezbollah]. Gener, for DAMASCUS = SYRIA to stop Any and All Suppor-Aid for IRAN + MILITANTS, + STOP BEING A MEMBER OF THE MIDDLE EAST "AXIS OF EVIL" AGZ ISRAEL.
WBZ has learned that one of the men arrested during an FBI sweep related to the Times Square bombing scare wrote on the application for his cabbie license that he entered the US illegally.
Pir Khan wrote on his application that he came to the US in 1991. On a renewal application in 2009, he stated that he came to the US through a "border."
Several months before that, on the application where it asks "How did you enter the US?" Khan wrote "illegal" on his renewal form. Khan's alien registration expired in February.
Boston police tell WBZ that even though Khan revealed he arrived in the country illegally he had the appropriate alien registration when he applied for his taxi driver's license.
Khan and his Watertown roommate, Aftab Khan, were arrested last week on immigration charges during an FBI sweep of their apartment and Pir Khan's workplace.
They are accused of giving money to Faisal Shahzad, who is accused of trying to blow up an SUV in Times Square on May 1.
Pakistan's consul general met with Pir Khan Tuesday and said Khan does not know Shahzad. The consul general said Khan is being treated as a terrorist when he's being charged with immigration violations.
Shahzad went before a judge Tuesday. He's charged with attempting to use weapons of mass destruction. Investigators say he admits packing an SUV with explosives and leaving it parked in Manhattan.
Washington (CNN) -- A Senate Intelligence Committee report released Tuesday sharply criticized the National Counterterrorism Center for failing to properly coordinate intelligence activities to detect the botched Christmas Day airline bombing.
The report said the center, created after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to coordinate U.S. intelligence efforts, was "not organized adequately to fulfill its missions."
In addition, the report said other problems allowed suspect Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab to board a flight bound for Detroit, Michigan, in December with an explosive device that failed to detonate. AbdulMutallab was detained when other passengers noticed his clothes burning from his attempt to set off the device.
Two Republican committee members, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia and Richard Burr of North Carolina, wrote an additional section to the report in which they accused the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) of failing to carry out its basic mission.
The center's "failure to understand its fundamental and primary missions is a significant failure and remains so today," the two senators wrote.
Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair responded to the report by noting changes made in response to the Christmas incident, including creation of a National Counterterrorism Center analytical unit dedicated to following up on terrorist threat information. However, Blair's statement noted that "institutional and technological barriers remain that prevent seamless sharing of information."
In the main report, released by committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-California, and ranking Republican Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond of Missouri, the panel cited a series of breakdowns in the run-up to the attempt to blow up a United Airlines flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands, on Christmas Day.
"The committee found there were systemic failures across the intelligence community, which contributed to the failure to detect the threat," the report said.
Although the center was set up to analyze and integrate all intelligence regarding terrorism gathered or possessed by the government, the panel said, it found that no one agency considered itself responsible "for tracking and identifying all terrorism threats."
The report also called technology across the intelligence community inadequate, contributing to the failure to detect the Christmas Day attack. It identified 14 "points of failure" in the incident, most of which have been raised previously by intelligence officials, including the failure of the State Department to revoke the suspect's U.S. visa, a breakdown in disseminating all information to key agencies and the failure to conduct necessary searches for information.
In their addendum, Burr and Chambliss said the center "failed to organize itself in a manner consistent with Congress' intent or in a manner that would clearly identify its roles and responsibilities necessary to complete its mission."
They specifically disagreed with what they called the center's assertion that tracking terrorists should be a team effort without a clearly identified "lane of responsibility."
Burr and Chambliss noted that both the CIA and the National Counterterrorism Center had necessary information to determine a threat existed, but neither identified their specific information as a "threat stream."
"Overlapping efforts can help reduce the risk of one agency overlooking at threat, but these additional efforts cannot replace the need for one primary agency to have ultimate responsibility for this mission," the two senators wrote.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/19/2010 00:00 ||
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It identified 14 "points of failure" in the incident including the failure of the State Department to revoke the suspect's U.S. visa
Here we go again. Spread the manure so evenly so no one agency stinks more then the other. The intelligence community should not take a hit for the DoS failure to keep a U.S. visa away from a terrorist. Abdulmutallab had his visa application denied in 2004. Yet four years later some consular officer decided Abdulmuttalab's father was too much of a Nigerian muckity-muck to upset any diplomatic relations. In other words, it wasnt the State Departments' failure to revoke the suspect's U.S. visa. Abdulmutallab should have never been granted one in the first place! Maybe the US should reexamine whether the State Department should continue to take the lead regarding visa issuance. Or would that hurt Hildess feelings?
#3
I sat on an Embassy's Country Team right after 9/11, and the State Department came out with their 5 priorities for the next 4 yr cycle and none related to Counter-terrorism until myself and the DAO objected. The USDS is replete with a bunch of wish-bubble living boobs.
Plans for the "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" contest drew an angry reaction, provoking street demonstrations in the Muslim majority country.
On Wednesday, Lahore High Court responded to a petition by the Muslim Lawyers Movement, ordering Pakistan's internet regulator to block the entire site. Users lost access to Facebook about two hours later.
Rai Bashir, a lawyer involved in the case, said the site was blasphemous. "There are so many insults to the Prophet on the internet and that's why we felt we had to bring this case," he said. "All Muslims in Pakistan and the world will be supporting us."
The court in Lahore ordered Facebook to be blocked until May 31 after the date of the contest when a longer hearing is expected. Lawyers for the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority had argued that only the offending page be removed, but Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry ordered the whole social networking site to be barred on Wednesday.
#7
Facebook sucks. All of you who use it are giving your life's data for free to that bastard Zuckerberg. He then sells you to the highest bidder. Feel dirty yet?
#9
Beso,
How does Facebook steal my identity? I set up a Yahoo e-mail just for it. I don't enter birthdate, address, etc. I set the access tight. I don't join any of their games or such. I use it to find and communicate with friends and exchange pictures with them.
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday called for former president Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf's appearance in the court, referring to the former's statement on the same.
Say, anyone hear anything about a bombing in New York?
In a telephonic conversation, both the leaders vowed to work out a strategy for strengthening democracy and democratic institutions in the country as soon as Nawaz returned to Pakistan from London. They maintained that they would soon hold a meeting in this regard. The PML-N chief also gave a number of proposals for strengthening democracy in the country.
During the discussion, both the leaders agreed to unite in protecting democracy at all costs, for which both the Pakistan People's Party and the PPP have rendered
great sacrifices. They agreed that democracy would not be allowed to be derailed since it was the only way forward to ensure prosperity and welfare of the common man.
Who better to defend democracy than Gilani and Nawaz?
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/19/2010 00:00 ||
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Seems to me Mushy was a whole lot better at his job than these two halfwits
Its quite feasable to assume that dictatorships work better in Pakistan than democracy. But thats just my opinion .
Posted by: Oscar ||
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It was on Musharref's watch that the terror groups that trained the Times Square bomber (Faisal the Fizzlebomber) and so many others were expanded. Not to mention turning their sights on taking over Pakistan as well as Afghanistan and Indian Kashmir. Musharref was a creature of the ISI, and did much to support their continued support of jihadi groups as a matter of Pakistani policy.
ISLAMABAD: In the wake of the failed bombing attempt at New York's Times Square, two top national security lieutenants of US President Barrack Obama have arrived in Islamabad to drum up Washington's do more' mantra.
The two officials will also deliver Obama's message to the Pakistani government to do away with its India-centric policies and concentrate more on the war on terror.
US National Security Advisor General James Jones and CIA Director Leon Panetta arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday evening to engage in meetings with high-ranking military and civilian leadership today (Wednesday), US embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire confirmed. Calling the visit pretty routine' and in the line of duty', the embassy spokesperson said Gen Jones and Panetta would be discussing the progress on recently held strategic dialogue, defence issues, security cooperation and the impact of the failed bombing attempt at New York's Times Square bombing.
A Pakistani official seeking anonymity confirmed that top of the agenda of the US delegation would remain the Times Square bombing attempt, however, he said demands to end Islamabad's India-centric approach might also be taken up strongly by the US officials.
Recently, the US administration has been emanating mixed signals, including warnings of severe repercussions', which have befuddled many a strategist in Pakistan in recent weeks. Following the tirades from the Obama administration, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was quoted in the media as saying that the relationship between the two countries stood severed because of the Times Square attempt.
Statements by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the US demand of a full scale operation in North Waziristan, ending peace accords with tribes have forced the president, prime minister and the army chief to mull a course of action in the last two weeks.
Round up a few of the usual suspects boys, and Hilde and Bambi will be content ...
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THE Palestinian diaspora in Australia is facing an unexpected catastrophe. Normally, May 15, Israel's Independence Day, is the most important day of their year for celebrating their victimhood: the catastrophe, as they see it, of the founding of Israel.
But, this year, visiting fresh from the streets of Gaza, Ramallah and Jerusalem is Khaled Abu Toameh, an Israeli Arab Muslim journalist, who declares: "I'd rather be a second-class citizen in Israel than a first-class citizen in any Arab country."
And some in the diaspora are not happy about his visit. Ali Kazak, a former ambassador for the Palestine Liberation Organisation, circulated an email this week accusing Abu Toameh of being an "Israeli propagandist" on the "Israeli payroll" and warning people not to be misled by him.
Continued on Page 49
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cracking story. shows why The Australian is Australia's finest newspaper.
The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) asked police Tuesday to track down the persons who had uploaded a sermon by the late Noordin M. Top that called for Muslims to wage jihad against the enemies of Islam' to a Facebook account.
It's the state's obligation to find who put the sermons online,' MUI chief Amidhan said as quoted by detik.com. The MUI has issued an edict making terrorism haram. The call for a jihad war is against the edict and we appeal to the public to ignore the sermon,' he said.
In his recorded sermon, Noordin says that anyone who dies in the name of Islam will go straight to heaven, where they will be served fine drinks and food and receive beautiful women.
#1
LOL not the virgins again.
it's virgin on the ridiculous.
Good to see Indonesia responding to the billions in bribes aid money by issuing religious edicts in our favour
Militants teach students to fire rockets after tour of south Lebanon. 'It's like Disneyland,' says one
Just days before the tenth anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon, Hezbollah hosted hundreds of students at what it called 'The Land of Islamic Resistance'.
For many of the Muslim and Christian young people it was the first visit to southern Lebanon. "We want our students, whether they are Hezbollah members, supporters or rivals, to see the land that Israel occupied for 22 years," said group member Mohammad Taleb. "We want young people to know of the achievements made by the resistance and show them how wrong Israeli occupation is. This land was liberated by thousands of resistance fighters who fought every day in order to return the land to their people."
Many of the students were wide-eyed at a meeting with Hezbollah's militants. "It was like being in a movie," said Grace, a Christian Lebanese student. "I respect these young men, who liberated my land. I don't see them as terrorists, as the West describes them."
The militants, on their side, showed their guests how to fire rockets and anti-aircraft missiles. "These young people give us strength," said one gunman after the demonstration. The students also toured the area of the Beaufort, and planted a Hezbollah flag near the village of Maroun al-Ras, the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the Second Lebanon War. "It's surreal," said a French student who took part in the tour. "It's like Disneyland. I never expected to see such things."
Responding to claims that Syria had provided the group with Scud missiles, Taleb was unapologetic and said Hezbollah would never lay down its arms. "We will keep our weapons because they will help us deal with Israel if it attacks Lebanon again," he said.
The security council is set to impose tough sanctions on Iran next month after a surprise shift by Russia and China in favour of punitive action against Tehran's military and financial institutions, according to a security council source.
The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, described the draft UN resolution as "strong".
The proposed sanctions, which would be the fourth round of measures against Iran, are aimed at persuading it to abandon what the US, Britain, France and Israel claim is an attempt to secure a nuclear weapons capability.
The sanctions will target the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, which control a business empire including hotels and other commercial projects, a huge military complex, shipping and insurance. An existing arms embargo will be expanded. The 10-page draft resolution also calls for stopping Iranian ships suspected of containing cargo related to Iran's nuclear or missile programmes.
Such a policy could create potentially dangerous stand-offs between US naval ships and Iranian vessels.
A draft security council resolution was agreed early today by the five permanent members of the security council the US, Britain, China, Russia and France. The resolution was sent to the other 10 members of the council this afternoon.
The imposition of sanctions may help delay Israel's long-threatened air strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.
Russia and China have long held out against fresh sanctions and their turnaround appeared to catch US, British and French diplomats off guard. The White House has, for months, sought to win over Moscow and Beijing to the imposition of fresh measures.
The deal is a rare foreign policy success for Barack Obama, who faced domestic scepticism about securing the backing of China, which imports oil from Iran, and Russia, which also has extensive trade with Iran.
The security council move came less than 24 hours after Brazil and Turkey announced their own deal with Iran, under which Tehran would ship out more than a tonne of enriched uranium in return for fuel rods for a nuclear research reactor. The US and Britain were cool about this deal, saying it did not go nearly far enough.
Brazil and Turkey will be upset that their diplomatic effort has been scuppered so quickly. Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, had said yesterday the deal made sanctions unnecessary. What will add to the Brazilian and Turkish anger is that their deal is similar to one that the US, France, Russia and the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, agreed with Tehran last October, from which Iran withdrew earlier this year.
The White House was yesterday dismissive of the Brazil-Turkey deal, portraying it as a delaying tactic on the part of Tehran. "We weren't surprised Iran was doing something that could forestall sanctions against them," the White House's spokesman, Bill Burton, said. He added: "We're going to continue to apply pressure in every way we can We're going to continue until Iran lives up to its international obligations."
Clinton, giving evidence to the Senate foreign relations committee, also interpreted the Brazil-Turkey deal as a delaying tactic on the part of Iran. "We don't believe it was any accident that Iran agreed to this declaration as we are preparing to move forward in New York," she said. Confirming the security council deal, she said: "We have reached agreement on a strong draft with the co-operation of both Russia and China."
With all five permanent members of the security council on board, negotiations with the 10 temporary members would normally take two to four weeks. The US, Britain and France would like a unanimous resolution but Brazil and Turkey, after the rebuff of their initiative, may be hard to persuade.
Western diplomats say sanctions alone will not bring Tehran round but, combined with other pressures, might lead to change. Israel has supported the push for sanctions while not ruling out an eventual military strike. It has already described Iran's possession of a nuclear weapon as a "red line".
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/19/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
ION VARIOUS > TURKISH PRESIDENT GUL: IRAN HAS ALWAYS DESIRED NUCLEAR WEAPONS, since the Days of the Shah, Ayatollah Khomeini, Saddam War, now Ahmadinejad] | IRAN NUKE BOMB A MATTER OF NATIONAL PRIDE.
versus
BHARAT RAKSHAK > Let GULF ARM [includ SIMI Group Cadres] FUNDED 26/11 [Mumbai], BANGALORE BLASTS; + LeT RECRUITING INDIAN MUSLIM YOUTHS FOR PAK-TRAINED TERROR ATTACKS AGZ INDIA.
* ALso from BHARAT RAKSHAK > MILITANTS REGROUPING IN PAK TO CROSS OVER INTO INDIA
[Indian side of HIMALAYAS = NEELUM VALLEY along LOC].
#2
ION RUSS WAFF > STRATEGYPAGE - RED GENERALS DEMAND REVIVAL OF RED ARMY. Criticize and lament post-Cold War Russia's lack of mil wares + probs in comparison to Soviet past.
ARTIC > RUSS cannot be S de facto Superpower again as long as it doesn't have, nor can econ support, the VITAL NON-NUCLEAR = CONVENTIONAL FORCES REQUIRED TO UNILATER THROW ITS WEIGHT AROUND. "MUTUALLY DESTRUCTION" NUCLEAR MISSLES, BOMBS + WARHEADS, ARE GREAT FOR DEFENSIVE RETALIATION, BUT NOT FOR ROUTINE OR HAPHAZARD INTIMIDATON OF VARIOUS MAJOR, MINOR WORLD STATES, + MILTERR GROUPS VIA GROUND, CONVENTIONAL MIL ACTIONS IN SUPPOR OF GOVT DECISIONS OR POLICIES.
#3
WMF > US EXPERTS: OBAMA STRATEGIC PLAN FOR USDOD WILL LIKELY LEAD TO LARGE-SCALE PROXY WARS TO CONTAIN OR DESTROY CHINA AND RUSSIA
ARTIC > US success in FUTURE WARS will depend on its milpol success in AFPAK + general GWOT in current.
* US GOVT must be potent enough to effectively fight and prevail in TWO-FRONT WAR, espec as per AFPAK; + agz Any and All other possible Threats; + be able to keep and maintain its position as GLOBAL SOLE LEADER = SOLE SUPERPOWER despite ANY LINGERING DEBILITATING US-GLOBAL DEBT CRISES, UNEMPLOYMENT CRISES, OTHER DOMESTIC TROUBLES. OBAMA + US RECOGNITION OF RUSSIA ANDOR CHINA AS ITS ONLY RIVAL(S) FOR GLOBAL SOLE HEGEMONY OR DOMINANCE.
* SAME > NORTH KOREA "NUCLEAR FUSION" MAY UPSET THE NUCLEAR, GEOPOL BALANCE IN NORTHEAST ASIA.
* SAME > HAN CHINESE/KOREAN READERS IN CHINA: WILL "CHEONAN" INCIDNET LEAD TO NEW DRPK-ROK KOREAN WAR + ULTIMATELY WORLD WAR? REGARDLESS OF WHOM STARTED CHINA + PLA WILL BECOME MIL INVOLVED IN THE END.
* SAME > CHINA'S OFFICIAL STANCE: BEIJING DETERMINED TO STOP KIM JONG-IL'S THIRD NUCLEAR TEST.
* SAME > HUNGRY/STARVING ANGRY TIGER ON NUCLEAR HUNT: INTENT OF NORTH KOREA AND KIM JONG-IL TO TEST NORTH KOREA'S CAPACITY FROM URANIUM TOWARDS DEV OF HYDROGEN AND PLUTONIUM NUCLEAR BOMBS. HOW FAR CAN CHINA TOLERATE A NUCLEAR NORTH KOREA?
* SAME > CHINA NERVOUS: NORTH KOREA'S LACK OF HIGH-TECH SUPERCOMPUTERS, EQUIPMENT FOR PROPER RADIOACTIVE ANALYSIS AND MEASUREMENT MAY FORCE IT TO CONDUCT PROBLEMATIC OR UNWIELDY HIGH-YIELD GROUND EXPLOSIONS IN ORDER TO TEST DESIGNS FOR ADVANCED FUSION-BASED BOMBS.
#4
Lest we fergit, NORTH KOREA like IRAN also got R-27 LR "DUAL-USE" BALLISTIC MISSLES.
"Dual Use" = NHE, NUCLEAR, BIOWAR + CHEMWAR.
IOW, RISING CHINA > has NUCLEAR WANNABE IRAN on its WESTERN FLANK, AGNI-HAPPY NUCLEAR INDJUH on its SOUTHERN FLANK, + now NUCLEAR WANNABE? NORTH KOREA on its EAST FLANK. And lets not fergit JAPAN + NUCENERGY WANNABE [NucWeaps?] SOUTH KOREA, + Other.
#5
OOOOPSIES, forgot WMF > MASSIVE PURCHASES OF CHINESE ARMS BY SADDAM HUSSEIN BEFORE, DURNG AND AFTER THE 1980's IRAN-IRAQ WAR SAVED THE PLA AND ECONOMICALLY IMPOVERISHED CHINA [State Industries].
* ALANIS MORISSETTE + song "IRONIC" > ADOLF HITLER for a time stood agz JAPAN'S WAR in CHINA, whilst STALIN simul suppor JAPAN.
#6
And how many concessions given to Russia and China for this on the sly ?..
An unreasonable disposition i feel
Over the years one thing I have learned is that a security council resolution does nothing over and over again . Why not rename the UN back to League of Nations , both are/were toothless tigers, ineffective and unaffordable
I cant beleive Im still groaning about the UN , I should be used to their ineptness by now
Posted by: Oscar ||
05/19/2010 5:00 Comments ||
Top||
#9
You could blockade the country entirely and I doubt it would make a difference. It's too late. And whatever the case, the Russians and the Chinese will probably trade with them under the table. Or with Syria, which is their puppet. Venezuela would be more than happy to give Iran whatever they feel it needs.
University of California, Irvine (UCI) Chancellor Michael Drake condemned remarks endorsing terrorism made by Amir Abdel Malik Ali while the Oakland-based pro-Palestinian activist spoke on campus last week. Drake's May 15 statement decried Ali's claim to support terrorist groups who call for Israel's destruction as a breach of UCI's commitment to values and civility.
Ali gave a noontime address at the Orange County campus on May 14 as part of Israeli Apartheid Week,' an annual program sponsored by UCI's Muslim Student Union (MSU) that calls Israel an apartheid state while claiming to support Palestinians in their conflict with Israel. During a Q-and-A period that followed Ali's address, Roz Rothstein, founder and CEO of StandWithUs, asked Ali if he supports Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad. Ali replied yes' to all three. When she asked if he supports jihad on the UCI campus, Ali said yes, insofar as it pertains to speaking truth to power.'
Let me be clear: We condemn the speaker's endorsement of terrorism,' Drake said in a statement posted on his Web site. Nothing could be more contrary to our fundamental values and our commitment to dialogue and democratic rule. ... We are an educational institution that promotes, practices and teaches tolerance; these remarks supporting terrorism were deplorable.'
Drake's statement did not refer to Ali by name but made clear reference to the date, time and context in which Ali made his comment. The chancellor did not attend Ali's address, though several university administrators were present, according to UCI spokeswoman Cathy Lawhon. The purpose of the statement was to reaffirm the university's values, not to engage on a personal level with a speaker who goes to many campuses, which would be inappropriate for a university chancellor, Lawhon said.
A frequent guest at UCI at the behest of the MSU, Ali has been accused of making anti-Semitic statements on campus in the past. Speaking to a crowd on May 14 that included several hundred students of diverse backgrounds along with many Jewish students and pro-Israel community activists, Ali said the Zionist mentality' of perpetuating war in Iran, Afghanistan and elsewhere is the cause of financial ills facing society today.
The Zionist mentality wants war, and the more war we have in society, the more poverty we have. That's why the [college] fees are going up, because they're pulling more money into war. Pulling more money into war while more people are losing their jobs, losing their housing.' He went on to call Jews the new Nazis.'
In a statement released Monday, the MSU said it joins Drake in condemning terrorism, even as it qualified Ali's comments as having been made in the context of leading resistance against a state that continues to function based on genocidal and apartheid-like politics.'
Excerpt: During his two years in the military, Klawonn said he has filed more than 20 complaints of harassment for being Muslim.
....the enemy within....
I'm going to disagree.
In the Algerian civil war, one of the several reasons why the French lost (other than DeGaulle, feckless leadership and stupidity) was that the French tended to view every brown-skinned person in Algeria as an enemy, and acted accordingly. After a while, most brown-skinned people there were their enemy.
The quickest way to turn all American Muslims into enemies is to treat them as enemies.
If an American of Muslim faith joins our military, he/she is a soldier with exactly the same obligations, responsibilities and rights as any other soldier. Prudence demands that such individuals demonstrate their loyalty to our country, but we expect loyalty from every soldier.
This particular soldier has a valid complaint: he was moved off base for his safety but then was treated poorly. The chain of command should fix that, in part because it's right and in part to demonstrate that loyalty and respect are two-way streets.
This soldier also has a responsibility not just to do his job, but to bear witness to what he believes is his personal faith by demonstrating that a Muslim can be an American soldier. Sometimes that means buttoning your lip and leading by example.
But this man has done nothing to suggest that he's disloyal. Unless and until he does, he has the respect I give to every member of our military.
#1
And I am going to disagree with you. 20 complaints in two years of service? What kind of complaints? Also cultural sensitivity cuts both ways. Not saying that threats were warranted but what brought them on? What did his squad and platoon leaders do? I don't think we are getting the whole story here.
#2
said Klawonn, who has retained an attorney through the Military Religious Freedom Foundation to prepare a lawsuit against the military.
Oh, you mean the same Military Religious Freedom Foundation that wants the military to remove the emblem of Evans Army Community Hospital at Fort Carson because they say its a reference to the Crusades and could embolden U.S. enemies who want to portray the war on terror as a Christian war on Islam? The same MRFF whose president said, Were fighting al-Qaeda, were fighting the Taliban, and were turning our own military into the exact same thing? Yeah Ok so that Koran desecration thingey Klawonn alleges may need to be further investigated just sayin.
#4
Thanks Cyber Sarge. My take is that this Muslim Soldier is acting as a cancer on his squad and platoon.
Affirmative Action is preventing his C/O and others from effectively dealing with, what I surmise is, a malcontent who has figured out that he can be a pain in the ass without a downside....
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.
PARIS: French police on Tuesday arrested 14 alleged militants suspected of plotting to help in the escape of the author of a bloody bomb attack on the Paris metro from jail, a judicial official said on Tuesday. 
The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) asked police Tuesday to track down the persons who had uploaded a sermon by the late Noordin M. Top that called for Muslims to wage jihad against the enemies of Islam' to a Facebook account.
Militants teach students to fire rockets after tour of south Lebanon. 'It's like Disneyland,' says one
The security council is set to impose tough sanctions on Iran next month after a surprise shift by Russia and China in favour of punitive action against Tehran's military and financial institutions, according to a security council source.
University of California, Irvine (UCI) Chancellor Michael Drake condemned remarks endorsing terrorism made by Amir Abdel Malik Ali while the Oakland-based pro-Palestinian activist spoke on campus last week. Drake's May 15 statement decried Ali's claim to support terrorist groups who call for Israel's destruction as a breach of UCI's commitment to values and civility.
