British troops are to be issued with a new 'super-bullet' to fight the Taliban as their current ammunition does not have the punch to kill the enemy at long range.
The high-performance round will be fired from standard-issue SA80 assault rifles. Nicknamed the 'Dirty Harry round' after the powerful bullets used by Clint Eastwood in the 1971 movie, it is expected to be on the front line in Afghanistan by 2011.
Its development by UK defence firms BAE Systems and QinetiQ follows Army concern in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, last year that the standard 5.56mm SA80 round was failing to hit its target at distances of more than 400 yards.
The Taliban use more powerful rounds in Russian-designed AK-47 rifles to hit British forces at a range of 600 yards. Now the British troops' new round will even up the odds.
The new bullet gives greater range and force against human targets and light vehicles. Because it is the same calibre as the standard bullet, the SA80 rifle will not need modification.
So it's a 5.56 mm bullet still. The cartridge will be more powerful, but it's still a 22. That may even up the odds some, but if I were a Tommy, I wouldn't want even odds, I'd want the odds all in my favor.
Military sources say initial trials have been successful. Pending formal approval, the MoD is expected to order up to one million rounds.
A senior Royal Marines officer just back from Afghanistan said the new bullet would be welcomed on the front line.
He said: 'It will give our infantry soldiers an edge which at present we are lacking.' An MoD spokeswoman said: 'We work closely with industry to ensure equipment is continuously improved.'
#2
The AK-47 may be able to propel a round 600 yards with dangerous velocity but most such rifles and/or shooters are not able to do so with dangerous accuracy - though sometimes they get 'lucky.'
#8
"AK-47 rifles to hit British forces at a range of 600 yards"
Are they superman? 7.62x39 is crap past 300m. It simply doesn't have the velocity that a 7.62x51 (NATO) does. Its a matter of physics, you simply cannot get enough powder into that cartridge, and the barrel isnt long enough to add that kind of accuracy.
That's why the 7.62x54 (Dragunov) is out there.
I call BS on the article. 600 yards for 7.62x39 is horse crap
[Arab News] A top leader in Southern Sudan warned Friday that the Sudanese government risks the collapse of a peace accord that ended a war that killed more than 2 million people if it stalls an independence referendum for the south scheduled for January.
Southern Sudan is eagerly awaiting the vote, which could turn the arid region into the world's newest nation and split Africa's largest country in two. A 2005 peace agreement that ended four decades of on-and-off war between Sudan's north and south called for the referendum for southern Sudanese. But negotiations have barely begun and tensions are rising.
It took months of talks between the north and south before the commission charged with organizing the vote was in place. Now it's deadlocked over the appointment of the secretary general of the commission.
Pagan Amum, a top negotiator and official for the southern Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement -- a former rebel group -- said the south will reject any attempt to delay the Jan. 9 referendum. He stressed the importance of negotiations to ensure that Sudan "does not return to conflict." He told a news conference that he wants amicable relations between the two regions.
Posters and billboards that blanket Juba -- the former war-devastated garrison town turned upstart capital city -- champion secession.
"It's very clear for all southern Sudanese -- we want separation," said Mabior Achiek, a soldier who was wearing a "Referendum Now" T-shirt. "What I know is that we had war ... and we may have to fight again to get our referendum because the NCP doesn't want it to happen." He was referring to the ruling National Congress Party, based in Sudan's capital Khartoum.
A northern official on the referendum commission has warned that there is not enough time to prepare for the referendum. But the chairman of the commission, Mohammed Ibrahim Khalil, a northerner, said this week that the commission only deals with legal and constitutional issues and is not empowered to delay the vote.
Marial Benjamin, the south's minister of information, accused the NCP of "trying to make obstacles so everyone will think it should be postponed. But the government of Southern Sudan thinks it should be on time." Many in the hot , dusty town of Juba say the northern government ignored the south for years -- one of the reasons southerners widely back secession. Trash fills the streets, most of which are unpaved. Some aid workers reside in shipping containers while residents on the outskirts live in mud huts.
"If the NCP had developed the south, then maybe we could have gone for unity," said university student Andrew Juach.
The United Nations Mission in Sudan, a $1 billion-a-year peacekeeping operation, helped monitor and implement the complex 2005 accord and aided Sudan's April presidential, parliamentary and local elections. David Gressly, the top UN official in the south, says the world body is prepared to play a "very expansive" role in the independence referendum.
"We are not yet to the point where it can't occur on time," Gressly said. "But some practical decisions will need to be made quickly. If we did the elections, we can do this one." Voter registration still needs to take place and it's not yet clear if southerners living in the north can cast ballots.
A central dispute between the northern NCP and southern SPLM is whether the contested, 1,300-mile (2,100 kilometer) border must be demarcated before the referendum.
Amum insists the secession vote is not conditional on border demarcation, but Sudanese Foreign Minister and NCP member Ali Karti says the border must be set first to establish where people live and which nation will control natural resources like oil.
The peace agreement also promises a separate referendum for the people of Abyei -- a long-contested, oil-rich area that straddles part of the expected north-south border and was the site of a clash between the northern and southern armies in 2008. Abyei residents will vote to decide whether they join the north or south but an Abyei commission hasn't been formed yet.
A top official in Abyei recently accused the Khartoum government of resettling tens of thousands of Arab nomads in the area to alter the population and tip the vote in the north's favor.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2010 00:00 ||
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Libya will mark the first anniversary of the release of the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Al Megrahi by thanking God for Gordon Brown and Kenny MacAskill, the two men who let him go.
Colonel Gaddafi, the countrys dictator, has ordered prayers to mark Fridays anniversary of the decision to free Al Megrahi from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds.
The Libyan leader is keen to avoid a repeat of the international condemnation sparked by the decision to give the convicted terrorist a heros welcome when he returned to Libya on August 20, 2009, allegedly with just three months to live.
#1
Gadaffi does this to wind up the US nation creating division between UK and USA.I blame Gordon for letting this slimy Western enemy getting his way!
Never trust Gadaffi he will never be a friend of the West alongside Short round and Turkish PM
Posted by: Paul D ||
08/15/2010 6:43 Comments ||
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#2
I blame Gordon for letting this slimy Western enemy getting his way!
The current US administration didn't exactly protest the decision, Paul.
Google Translate. For a map, click here.
A contingent of 300 Mexican Federal police troops arrived in Ciudad Lerdo and Gomez Palacio, Durango Thursday night, deployed to reinforce Federal Police presence in nearby Torreon, Coahuila, say Mexican news reports.
An additional 200 Mexican Federal agents were deployed to Torreon, Coahuila in late July shortly after it was learned that federal prisoners and guards in the Centro de Readaptacion Social (CERESO) Number Two in Gomez Palacio had been used at the alleged behest of prison officers to commit a series of massacres in Torreon.
The new deployment is probably the strongest Federal Police presence in any area currently in northern Mexico.
Aside from routine patrols of the area, Federal Police are expected to help monitor the Gomez Palacio CERESO No. 2, still under investigation with the Mexican Procuraduria General de la Republica, the national attorney general's office.
Google Translate. For a map, click here.
Officials in Baja California say every employee of a prison failed a unscheduled drug test administered last week, according to Mexican press accounts.
Baja California Seguridad Publica del Estado conducted a surprise drug test on all 246 employees of the La Mesa, Baja California Centro de Readaptacion Social de (CERESO) testing for marijuana and synthetic drugs. The tests were administered by the agency's internal affairs division.
So far in 2010 nine prison custodians in Baja California have been removed one for cocaine and eight for other reasons.
Two Lebanese men convicted of conspiring to blow up the Israeli embassy in Baku may have been released in a prisoner swap between Azerbaijan and Iran. The weekend media reports were conflicting.
Last week, the Al-Arabiya satellite channel reported that Ali Hassin Najam Adin and Mohammed Karaki and 12 Iranians were swapped for two diplomats and an Azeri nuclear scientist, who were sent to Azerbaijan. A spokesman for the Azerbaijan prison service said Thursday that all 14 will continue serving their sentences there.
Meanwhile, the Trend news service in Iran quoted a figure from the Azerbaijan justice ministry, Zafar Gabarov, as saying his government released Iranian citizens who will continue serving their sentences in Iran, but denied Lebanese prisoners were released.
The two Lebanese were arrested in 2008, along with four local residents, on suspicions of security offenses. Last year, they were convicted of planning to blow up the Israeli embassy in Baku in revenge for the assassination of senior Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh. They also planned to destroy a strategically placed radar installation in the north of the country and were convicted of spying for Iran.
The two Lebanese were sentenced to 15 years in prison, while the locals received eight to 14 years in prison. Their release reportedly reflected a deal that saw the release of an Azeri nuclear scientist, Rashid Alayev, convicted in Iran of espionage, and two Azeri diplomats convicted of drugs trafficking. Hezbollah did not comment on the exchange.
SEOUL, Aug. 14 (Yonhap) -- Details of fresh U.S. sanctions on North Korea are expected to be announced late this month at the earliest as it will take more time than expected to finalize procedural preparations, government sources said Saturday.
Other than putting the Norks back onto the terrorism list, there shouldn't BE any other sanctions left that are currently unimplemented. In particular, every possible financial sanction ought to be in place now, and every bank around the world should understand that we're going to get them if they do business with the Norks.
Robert Einhorn, a senior State Department official overseeing sanctions on North Korea and Iran, said in Seoul early this month that the new measures will be carried out in the next several weeks and target North Korean companies and individuals involved in illicit activities.
But Seoul's Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said in a media interview last week that the new sanctions are expected to come in two weeks, raising speculation that they would be unveiled as early as this week.
Einhorn had been expected to travel to China late this month to seek Beijing's cooperation in carrying out the new sanctions. But the planned trip is also expected to be put off until early next month as the announcement of new sanctions is delayed.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/15/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
DAILY TIMES.PK > NORTH KOREA + SOUTH KOREA EXCHANGE [new] WARNINGS AHEAD OF [upcoming US-ROK]WAR GAMES.
and
* CHINESE MIL FORUM CPLA GENERAL [Gen. Luo Yuan] WARNS US OVER FRESH MILITARY DRILL IN REGION [Yellow Sea]| CPLA is demanding a TOUGH RESPONSE to same.
VERSUS
* TOPIX > SOUTH KOREA/PRESIDENT LEE MYUNG-BAK PROPOSES TAKEOVER TAX FOR NORTH KOREA.
* NEWS KERALA > SOUTH KOREA PROPOSES THREE-STAGE UNIFICATION PLAN WID NORTH [Stages = Peace, Economic, Unification].
* PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > FIJI WANTS TO REPLACE PACIFIC ALLIES [US, NZ, + Aussies] WID CHINA. Fiji says to forget about the "PACIFIC FORUM" Regional Org - its time to TRADE = $$$ + DEV, NOT POLITICS.
* PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > [PLAAF LTG + PLAAF Political Commissar LIU YAZHOU] CHINA MUST REFORM OR DIE! Chin must embrace US-style democracy or else suffer the LT consequences includ possible USSR-style implosion + breakup.
* WMF > THE HIGH MILITARY VALUE OF VIETNAM'S CAM RANH BAY CAN BE HIRED/LEASED TO THE USA BY VIETNAM [new anti-China US BFF]. US-CONTROLLED OR ACCESSED PORTS AT CAM RANH BAY, SINGAPORE'S CHANGI, JAPAN'S YOKUSUKA, SOUTH KOREA'S BUSAN, DIEGO GARCIA + GUAM ISLAND ARE STRATEGIC KNIVES AIMED AT CHINA'S THROAT IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEAS. HISTORICAL USE OF CAM RANH BAY BY CZARIST RUSSIA, COLONIAL FRANCE, JAPAN'S IJN + COMBINED FLEET, + US DURING THE VIETNAM WAR IN SUPPORT OF FOREIGN IMPERIALISM.
* PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > ASIA'S SMALLER NATIONS ARE FINALLY STANDING UP TO CHINA - WID US HELP!?
US President Barack Obama has endorsed the plan for building a mosque near Ground Zero, saying Muslims' "religious freedom" should be respected.
Obama made the remarks at a White House Iftar meal for Muslims breaking their Ramadan fast on Friday.
"As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country," he said.
"That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances," Obama stated, adding that "this is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable."
It isn't whether they have the right. Of course they do.
It's whether it is appropriate. Which it isn't.
We wouldn't build a Shinto shrine next to the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. Nor should we build a mosque next to WTC.
The plan to build the "Cordoba House" -- a 100-million-dollar Islamic center and mosque -- near New York City's Ground Zero, where the Twin Towers were destroyed on September 11, has evoked uproar from some parties in the US.
Obama's support for the plan comes at a time that confidence in him has plummeted in the Muslim world.
According to surveys released by the Pew Global Attitudes project in June, people in seven countries with substantial Muslim populations -- Indonesia, Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey and Pakistan, Nigeria and Jordan -- say their confidence in Obama has dropped since last year.
More than eight out of ten people in Egypt, Turkey and Pakistan don't trust the United States and its president at all, according to the poll.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
I don't trust this doubletalking liar either. He and his Islamo-sycophants are due for an electorate whooping
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/15/2010 0:27 Comments ||
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With this statement Obama took ownership of this specific project, connected himself to this specific Imam. That's likely a big mistake.
Obama stated, adding that "this is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable."
This is an obvious and unnecessary lie. If "religious freedom" was that important to this administration it would not be an ally/protector/sponsor of regimes like the Saudi Entity or the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
#4
Do muslim countries believe in religious freedom?
Posted by: Paul D ||
08/15/2010 6:35 Comments ||
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#5
"this is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable."
Except in the cultural wars to keep mangers off the city square for generations, where teachers are admonished for wearing a small cross on a necklace, where the Supreme Court under a mural which includes a depiction of Moses and the 10 Commandants routinely has denied the public portray of one of the foundations of Western Law, etc, etc, etc. The Elitist mantra - one set of rules for me, another set of rules for thee. Tell them knuckle draggin', Bible thumpin', gun tottin' bigots to back off. /sarc off
#6
The fifth column frames this discussion around religious freedom. They know that US law will not allow that freedom to be eroded. However, it isn't about religious freedom at all.
It is about an ideology, a political system, painted over with the veneer of a religion, that, having won what was by their standards a notable victory, now wants a memorial to that victory. They want bragging rights.
A better response would be to say, "Islamists, this is a propaganda ploy. Piss off".
A longer version, more suited to a presidential speech, might be; "To any muslims out there who think, like we do, that the mass murder on 9/11 was cowardly and utterly without honour, you are free to express you religion within the law and I am sworn to defend the constitution that gives you that freedom. To islamists, and to any other muslims that see 9/11 as a victory, and so want to build a memorial to your side, at this place, at this time, I say to you that you have no decency. You have two choices. Recant, or fill your hands you sons of bitches"
#10
Nix on the national day of prayer, because its Judo Christian, the the ass is happy to do a big ramadon speech! I think in 2012 I will take a leave from my job and work the elections. I will go to blue states and work to get the votes out against him. I would campaign for mickey mouse befpre I would let this ass destroy out nation any further...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/15/2010 13:25 Comments ||
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#11
Cordoba House....as in Muslim conquest of Cordoba Spain? Islamic symbolism?
#12
Got it in one, Besoeker. The Great Mosque of Cordoba was built over the Church of St. Vincent to celebrate the Islamic victory over the infidel in Cordoba.
7th CavDemocrat, your original headline somehow got chopped off, so I improvised.
Just so people can see who in Congress actually "walked the walk" not just "talks the talk" about the Military and War matters.
Here is a list of all members of the current U.S. Senate that Served in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Democrats: 13
Republicans: 11
Here is a list of all members of of the current House of Representatives that Served in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Current House Leadership (None are Veterans)
Democrats: 25
Republicans: 18
The lists at both sites make for very interesting reading (click on each "Here is a list" to go to each site). Thank you for pulling this together for us, 7thCavDemocrat. A good and useful first post!
#3
Where is Rep Duncan D. Hunter, my congresscritter (and a damn good one, like his Dad)? He is a former U.S. Marine Captain who served in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2002 and 2007 and is the only combat veteran of the war on terror currently serving in the U.S. House of Representatives. Artillery, his specialty.
this list is suspect if they left him off
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/15/2010 14:07 Comments ||
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#4
They also left off Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) who is running for the Senate. He may be a RINO, but he also is/was a Navy Intell officer.
Saudi Cleric Muhammad Al-Arifi: The Desire to Shed Blood, Smash Skulls, and Sever Limbs for the Sake of Allah Is an Honor for the Believer. and B Hussein Ohmyallah welcomes you with open arms to lower Manhattan. He's confused freedom with submission. and he loves all Muslims equally. Even threw an "annual Ramadan dinner" (annual? did i miss the Bush Ramadan dinners?) Anyhoo, B invites you to set up shop in Manhattan. Be not afraid, he supports your struggle. He thinks you don't mean it. But he's Muslim, so it's all good.
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met in Baghdad on Saturday with Jeffrey Feltman, Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs, and his accompanying delegation to disucss recent developments regarding the formation of a new government in Iraq.
Recent developments? Did we miss something?
Maliki asserted that the dialogues are going on in the right direction and expressed optimism about reaching a solution satisfactory to all partners soon, according to a government statement received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Maliki stressed the need to have a purely Iraqi solution, welcoming any role that would back Iraqis efforts and not to replace it.
All well and good, but get on with it.
There is a common space for all views offered to form a government. I hope this space would act as a basis on which a new genuine national partnership government would be formed, the Iraqi premier said.
For his part, Feltman voiced the United States readiness to back Iraqis efforts, praising the Iraqi blocs negotiations to form a government as soon as possible.
So that Bambi can cut and run ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/15/2010 00:00 ||
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Hamas and 10 Damascus-based Palestinian organizations played their parts in the Kabuki theater around the resumption of direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority on Sunday. The Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front -- General Command and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine were among the groups represented in the statement.
Palestine must have the highest per-capita concentration of 'revolutionary' groups in the world.
They're like amoebas, they just keep budding off ...
"The Palestinian refusal movements confirm their objection to direct or indirect talks and warn against the dangerous consequences of a policy which undermines national Palestinian rights. Return to direct negotiations is capitulation to the demands of the US and the Zionists, who seek to abolish these rights," said the joint statement.
"We put the refuse in refusal", they added.
The groups criticized US policy, which they claimed seeks to "mask Israel's plan to expand the settlements, Judaise the land, gain control of Jerusalem and kick fluffy kittens maintain the Gaza Strip blockade."
Meanwhile, Israel continues to promote direct talks together with the Quartet and moderate Arab states. Hillary Clinton spoke to Netanyahu and Egypt's and Jordan's foreign ministers over the weekend in an effort to promote agreements prior to a Quartet statement to be issued later.
The main bone of contention is the question of pre-conditions to the negotiations. Paleos are adamant that there should be an immediate and full settlement construction freeze in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
0's 'smart diplomacy' at work.
Israeli state officials pointed out that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas may plan on stalling direct talks until the construction freeze will no longer be in effect, on September 26.
Police and local government officials joined forces with a Muslim mob to close a church in North Sumatra Province on July 30, with church leaders forced to promise never to hold services at the site. If you don't stop fighting, I'll turn this church around and head home!
The Rev. Leritio Panjaitan of the Binanga HKBP (Huria Kristen Batak Protestant) Church on the Gunung Tua-Sibuhan Highway in Siboris Dolok Village, Sipirok, North Sumatra Province said government officials and mobs threatened to burn the facility if worship continued there.
Pastor Panjaitan said rejection of the church was aided by the presence of a Quranic boarding school, Darul Hasnah Madrassa, which appeared in the vicinity six months ago. Islamists having a problem with Christians. Who knew?
"I have received information that the leader of that madrassa [Islamic school], Dr. Gong Matua Siregar, has incited citizens to reject the presence of the church," Pastor Panjaitan said.
She said that a local government official admitted to her that the head of the madrassa had pressured him to close the church.
Pastor Panjaitan added that the church had applied for a building and worship permit long ago but that authorities had not acted on it, and that all necessary administrative requirements had been fulfilled.
The head of the Sipirok Majelis Ulama Indonesia (Assembly of Indonesian Muslim Clerics, or MUI), Haji Fahri Harahap, has said it is clear that the residents of the area, long predominantly Muslim, do not want a church there.
The closure means 80 people have lost their worship place.
"At this time, we haven't decided if we are going to move to another place," Pastor Panjaitan said. "But temporarily, the congregation will worship by moving from house to house."
Threat
The congregation had first used the building in 2005. After several months, objections began from a Muslim group called the Congregation of the Binanga Sipirok Islamic Forum.
They wrote a letter to church officials requesting that the congregation no longer hold worship services in the area, as the majority in the area were Muslim and there was a fear of "Christianization."
With no answer from the church, the Islamic group asked the local government to apply pressure, and local government officials wrote to the church requesting that all worship activities cease in order to avoid disturbances with area Muslims. The church leaders and congregation agreed and did not use the building from March 2006 through 2009.
During that time, the congregation worshipped in another building at a distant location, requiring members to incur travel expenses. As the area Christians were largely poor, they asked church leaders to consider using the building again. The elders questioned local residents about the reopening of the church building, and in February the congregation began using it again.
On July 23, however, Regent Basyrah Lubis warned the church to stop worship activities.
Up to that point there had been no problems with the local people, church leaders said, noting that the village leader had no objection to the presence of the church.
With pressure building, however, church leaders met with regional government officials and the MUI, who said many groups opposed the presence of the church and ordered that all Christian activities in the area cease. Otherwise, the officials and Muslim clerics said, the local government would not be responsible if protestors came and burned the church.
In spite of this brazen threat, church officials decided to continue worship services. Pastor Panjaitan said worship is a human right.
"This is a matter concerning human relations with God, and government should not interfere," she told Compass.
Noting that their threat was not heeded, government officials again called church leaders to a meeting on July 29. This meeting included the MUI, the district officer, the head of the Department of Religion, and demonstrators who objected to the presence of the church. They forced elder L. Situmorang to sign a letter pledging not to use the building and not to hold worship services on the property, church leaders said.
Excerpt:
Once the fuel rods are loaded, Bolton told Fox News on Friday afternoon, "it makes it essentially immune from attack by Israel. Because once the rods are in the reactor an attack on the reactor risks spreading radiation in the air, and perhaps into the water of the Persian Gulf."
Posted by: Uncle Phester ||
08/15/2010 00:00 ||
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[10 views]
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#1
It seems to me that if Iran has chosen to take that risk, Iran has chosen to live with the result. Were I Israeli, I would not let the possibility of a few mutated fish keep me from protecting the existence of my people. After all, the residents of Nagasaki and Hiroshima seem to be doing ok.
#2
After all, the residents of Nagasaki and Hiroshima seem to be doing ok.
The present day ones, you mean ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/15/2010 2:01 Comments ||
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#3
The present day ones, you mean ...
Yup. There's a price to be paid for being on the losing side. I strongly desire to see Iran on the losing side, as soon as possible or next week, whichever comes first.
#4
there is a rather compelling argument that residents of Nagasaki and Hiroshima as well as those in the rest of Japan are significantly better today as the result of the bombings 65 years ago this month than they would be if those bombings had not taken place and conventional invasion had taken place instead.
Posted by: abu do you love ||
08/15/2010 2:30 Comments ||
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#5
What you mean, abu, is that the Japanese would have gone the way of the Ainu they shamed or killed into near extinction. Okinawa was just the tip of the iceberg to what would happen on the main island. The bombings were horrible, but forced even the Military in Japan to accept there was no chance of winning.
Posted by: Charles ||
08/15/2010 3:49 Comments ||
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#10
The question remains does Netanyahu and his party have the brass or does B.Hussain own him...?
IMHO if they do not react - Iran eventually will.
Isn't that what they have promised for years...
[Al Arabiya Latest] Lebanon said on Saturday it was setting up a fund for Lebanese to help arm its under-equipped military, days after lawmakers in Washington blocked U.S. military aid.
"I announce the launching of a fund to support and equip the army," the official news agency NNA quoted Elias Murr as saying.
Defense Minister Elias al-Murr said the fund hoped to attract donations from the millions of Lebanese living abroad as well as local residents. Murr said he was making the first contribution, of 1.0 billion Lebanese pounds ($670,000).
Two Democrat lawmakers have said they were holding up a $100 million approved package of U.S. military aid to Lebanon over concerns that the army was working closely with Hezbollah. The move came after a deadly cross-border clash between Lebanese and Israeli troops last week.
Murr has criticized the announcement, saying that any party that wished to help the military had to do so without conditions.
He said on Saturday the new fund was part of an initiative launched by Lebanese President Michel Suleiman to build up the army.
A week ago, following the August 3 border clash with Israel in which four people were killed, Michel Sleiman announced he had "launched a national, Arab and international campaign" to equip the army.
His statement called on "neighboring and friendly states to supply all kinds of arms" to allow him to defend the country.
Suleiman's announcement prompted Iran's ambassador to Lebanon to offer Iran's support to the military.
The U.S. State Department said the statement by Iran, which is likely to alarm Western countries who fear Tehran is increasing its influence near Israel's northern border, demonstrated the need for continued U.S. support to Lebanon.
The Lebanese military has an ill-equipped 60,000-strong army, outdated weapons and no air power.
Also, the United States has provided more than $720 million in assistance to the army since 2006 to Lebanon.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Human Rights Watch has expressed "grave concerns" that Iran will soon execute a woman sentenced to death by stoning after she made a televised confession.
The "televised confession by Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani heightens the already grave concern that Iran will soon execute the 43-year-old woman," the New York-based watchdog said in a statement issued here late on Friday.
On Wednesday, a woman dressed in a face-covering chador and said to be Mohammadi-Ashtiani confessed on Iranian television to being an accomplice in her husband's murder in 2006.
"The men who run Iran apparently have no shame at all, first pronouncing the barbaric sentence of death by stoning and then resorting to a televised confession," HRW's Nadya Khalife said in the statement.
"Under the circumstances there is every reason to believe that this so-called confession was coerced," said Khalife, HRW's researcher for women's rights in the Middle East.
Mohammadi-Ashtiani's lawyer, Javid Kian, told HRW that the televised confession was coerced by authorities in the Islamic republic.
"It's obvious that she (was under pressure). We should only be surprised if this were not the case," said Kian, who described the confession as a "pantomime."
The lawyer, who said Iranian authorities have prevented him from seeing his client, added he expected the Supreme Court to make its final ruling in the next few days on whether her execution will go ahead.
On July 11, state news agency IRNA reported that Iran's judiciary chief Sadeq Larijani temporarily halted the execution, after the case attracted international condemnation.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
"The men who run Iran apparently have no shame at all, first pronouncing the barbaric sentence of death by stoning and then resorting to a televised confession," HRW's Nadya Khalife said in the statement.
Isn't it about time then for HRW to issue another fatwah against Israel, since Iran really doesn't give a $hit?
Syrian Premier Mohammad Naji al-Otri says Israel lacks US backing for an attack on Iran in fear of potential consequences of an ensuing conflict, a report says.
"It is unlikely that there will be a future war and I doubt America would give Israel the permission" for a strike on Iran over the country's nuclear program "because the reaction from Iran would be unexpected," Syrian media reported the prime minister as saying in a recent interview with Yemen's September 26 weekly.
"Any such attack," said al-Otri, "will blow up the whole region."
He called Israel "the main enemy of the Arab and Islamic nations" and pointed out that Tel Aviv works in collusion with its western allies to achieve its goals in the region.
On November 7, Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon claimed that Tel Aviv's persistent threats of military action against Iran were not just bluffs.
Iranian officials, on the other hand, have issued stern warnings that any military action against its territory will entail "extreme costs" to the aggressors.
"In case of an attack on Iran by the Zionist regime, the region's political equation will be entirely altered," Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said recently.
The West has portrayed Iran's nuclear enrichment program as a threat despite assurances from the International Atomic Energy Agency on the non-diversionary nature of the country's nuclear activities.
Iran, as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, argues that it is entitled to develop a nuclear program to meet the state's growing electricity needs, as well as radio-isotopes used in nuclear medicine.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Maybe this Syria dude hasn't seen Obumber's poll numbers.
#2
Krauthammer had a great take on this abt 5-6 months ago--might as well back the Israelis if they bomb the Iranians...the muslim world is gonna think we backed them no matter what we say. Might as well be strong and say "hell yes we backed them, we even sent a flight of raptors as escort...kiss our ass the great satan is back baby!"
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
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SEOUL, Aug. 14 (Yonhap) -- Details of fresh U.S. sanctions on North Korea are expected to be announced late this month at the earliest as it will take more time than expected to finalize procedural preparations, government sources said Saturday.
Hamas and 10 Damascus-based Palestinian organizations played their parts in the Kabuki theater around the resumption of direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority on Sunday. The Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front -- General Command and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine were among the groups represented in the statement.
Police and local government officials joined forces with a Muslim mob to close a church in North Sumatra Province on July 30, with church leaders forced to promise never to hold services at the site.
