ROME - The Afghan city of Herat could be under Afghan control by the end of 2011, Italian Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa said on Saturday after talks with US General David Petraeus, Ansa news agency reported.
I think that by the end of 2011 several districts in the western zone could be handed over. Herat, for example, is already a zone that could be ready, La Russa said at the meeting in an air force base in Milan in northern Italy.
Our objective is to give back the territory to the Afghan government and army so that they can continue the action against terrorism and launch a process of normalisation of that territory, La Russa said.
He seems to be rather insistent ...
After the end of 2011 combat soldiers can be reduced but trainers will remain. 2011 could be an important year, he added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/17/2010 00:00 ||
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WSJ - When Taliban militants invaded the towering Kunduz villa of an American development agency in July, employees say they were trapped, besieged and soon were dodging indiscriminate rocket fire from their would-be rescuers--the Afghan army and police.
Four of the roughly 13 staff and security guards in the compound were killed, and five more seriously injured. Survivors blame the Afghan forces, and the German military for leaving the rescue effort to the locals.
"The Germans kept saying: 'The Afghan army has the situation under control,' " one Western survivor recounted. "And I kept saying the Afghan army is part of the ...
The rest of the article is behind the subscription wall. But this and other reports strongly suggest that the Afghans will not ready to take care of themselves by July 2011, no matter how many times President Obama closes his eyes and clicks his heels together. How long, after all, did it take Iraq to be ready for self-care, once we started actively training their military and police? And don't let's forget they had a real tradition of army and police before we got there, however corrupt. Afghanistan has pretty much been starting from scratch, although apparently they have a crackerjack Special Forces unit out in the field somewhere, and I've heard really good reports about the East Point Military Academy.
#1
But this and other reports strongly suggest that the Afghans will not be ready to take care of themselves by July 2011, no matter how many times President Obama closes his eyes and clicks his heels together.
Teh One doesn't care if they can take care of themselves or not. It's all about taking care of himself in 2012
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/17/2010 10:53 Comments ||
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#2
Since Afghanistan is not a Nation, it can't have a national army.
GAZA CITY -- Hamas on Friday accused Cairo of planning to bar a number of the movement's leaders from crossing into Egypt on their way to the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
"A senior Egyptian official informed a Hamas official in Gaza about a list of Hamas leaders who are to be banned from travelling, including Salah Bardawil, Sami Abu Zuhri and myself, without explaining why," said Fawzi Barhum, a spokesman for Gaza's Hamas rulers.
Barhum said the decision was politically motivated and "unjustified."
Gazans wanting to take part in next month's hajj pilgrimage have to cross via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt before travelling on to Islam's holiest cities of Mecca and Medina in western Saudi Arabia.
But Egyptian security sources denied any such ban was in place, telling AFP that Hamas leaders had yet to request permits to travel via Egypt, despite an official request for a list of names.
There's the rub, the list of names, and the necessity of printing new ID cards for each man ...
Last month, a top Hamas security official was arrested on arrival at Cairo airport and held for nearly two weeks, in an incident which ramped up tensions between Egypt and the Islamist rulers of Israeli-blockaded Gaza.
Cairo has blamed Hamas for the failure of Egyptian mediation efforts to reconcile the Islamist group with the secular Fatah party of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. It has also implied Hamas was linked to a deadly rocket attack on Israel and Jordan in August launched by militants in Egypt's Sinai peninsula.
They launched missiles against Jordan from the Sinai?
Not quite. We had the reports here at Rantburg at the time, because the missiles were aimed at Israel, but missed. Twice. (Yes, Palestinian artillery is so bad they actually miss the country they're aiming for, never mind hitting the broadside of a barn.)
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/17/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Israel is also that thin at places. Why do you think they don't want an armed adversary at their old borders?
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
10/17/2010 7:00 Comments ||
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Gotta love Hamas spitting and demanding from Egypt. Be nice if they continue to piss them off.Paleo stategery: alienate the only land border open besides the Juice
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/17/2010 10:56 Comments ||
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A recent report said that 300 Internet websites are dedicated to the propagation of 'deviant ideology' compared to only five challenging extremist views.
Only 300?
The sites opposing extremist ideology are few and far between compared to the increasing number of 'takfeeri sites,' said author of the study Fayez Al Shehri, a researcher specialising in the press and Internet.
"Sites that preach moderation number only 80, and most statistics and reports monitoring radical websites are published by Israeli or Jewish organisations in America," he said.
According to Al Shehri's report, the 300 'takfeeri' websites which incite to killing are run by unidentified persons or groups who follow deviant thought and promote terrorism.
Only last week Majed Al Mursal, advisor to the Minister of Islamic Affairs and Al Munasaha member, said that the Communications and Information Technology Commission's failure to monitor the Internet was leading to an increase in the number of extremists.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/17/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
How many websites are dedicated to pointing out that Saudi Wahabism is itself considered deviant and rather twisted.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. can do more to help Mexico battle drug cartels that have started operating more like terrorists and insurgent groups.
"It is one of my highest priorities," Clinton said Friday during a speech in San Francisco at the nonpartisan Commonwealth Club. "This is one of the most difficult fights that any country faces today. We saw it over the last couple of decades in Colombia."
"We are watching drug traffickers undermine and corrupt governments in Central America, and we are watching the brutality and barbarity of their assaults on governors and mayors, the press, as well as each other, in Mexico," she added.
Clinton said the U.S. can do more than sending the Blackhawk helicopters it promised Mexico. Done that. Blackhawks were used in the air/ground assault that killed 22 Los Zetas in Tamaulipas last month.
She said the U.S. is helping Mexico create an anonymous tipline to report drug cartels. Done that, too. Nearly every state attorney general has an anonymous hotline; some even for cattle rustling which is a huge problem in rural Mexico, as do most police corporations.
However, she said, it can also help Mexico rebuild its criminal system and train its police force. Doing that now, except I would argue it's the wrong thing to do: further central police functions, as they already are.
The Mexicans know what to do. Mexico lacks the political will to do it. The Mexican 'Forty Families' like Mexico the way it is.
We've done the training thingy. I think they're now called Los Zetas.
She likened recent drug cartel violence to terror groups. "For the first time, they are using car bombings," Clinton said. "You see them being much more organized in a kind of paramilitary way."
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/17/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Back a few years ago when SOCOM called the drug cartels out #1 threat we should have done what Ms Clinton is talking about. But NO, we did little more than toss the political football around over SB1070 and the fence. Now that the drug cartels have placed execution teams in Arizona she wants to send Mexico training and Blackhawks??? WTF??? We need counter insurgency teams in Pima country and intel nets set up to counter this war that is about to happen here. I believe in the next 24 months we will see the exact same violence here in Arizona that you see across the border. It is too late to stop it, if you try you will be called racist and Holder will come after you, IE Sheriff Joe. All I can say is ammo up and carry everywhere, it wont be long.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
10/17/2010 0:36 Comments ||
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Tell local law enforcement to start learning/developing counter-sniper tactics because if Los Zetas cross the border you can bet they will bring snipers with them.
Survey probable firing points and fields of fire because Los Zetas will already have that information in hand before they start crossing the border.
#4
If it seems so, just look at the same old crowd in the Beltway who manage both.
We have to protect our phoney baloney jobs here, gentlemen! We must do something about this immediately! Immediately! Immediately! Harrumph! Harrumph! Harrumph! - Governor William J. Le Petomane
#5
Well, we were pretty successful in Columbia and that was a very long hard slog. Just as you stated, it takes political will and that does not come from a country that must have the Inauguration ceremony of it's chief executive behind closed doors.
#6
#4 If it seems so, just look at the same old crowd in the Beltway who manage both.
We have to protect our phoney baloney jobs here, gentlemen! We must do something about this immediately! Immediately! Immediately! Harrumph! Harrumph! Harrumph! - Governor William J. Le Petomane Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-10-17 10:05
#7
One solution that citizens on both sides of the border agree on, but the political leaders of both countries refuse to do is to seal the border. Mexicans seem to think that were the border sealed traffickers have nowhere to go, and that were the Mexican government to issue one modern weapon per head if household, their problem,and therefore America's would be cleared up inside of two years.
And I believe them.
And I also believe that the Mexican government had better get in front of this tsunami, because whether or not Mexicans get issued modern weapons, the pushback is coming. Mexicans as no other national identity know they don't need modern weapons for a revolution.
THE Pentagon is scouring an Iraq war database to prepare for potential fallout from an expected release by WikiLeaks of some 400,000 secret military reports.
Officials set up the taskforce several weeks ago in order to prepare for tonight's anticipated release of sensitive intelligence on the US-led Iraq war.
They have been told to comb through the database and "determine what the possible impacts might be", Pentagon spokesman Colonel David Lapan said.
The Department of Defense is concerned the leak compiles "significant activities" from the war, or SIGACTS, which include incidents such as known attacks against coalition troops, Iraqi security forces, civilians or infrastructure in the country.
The data was culled from an Iraq-based database that contained "significant acts, unit-level reporting, tactical reports, things of that nature," Col Lapan said.
He noted that Pentagon officials did not know how many and which documents would be released.
The massive release is set to dwarf the whistleblower website's publication of 77,000 classified US military documents on the war in Afghanistan in July, including the names of Afghan informants and other details from raw intelligence reports.
Another 15,000 are due out soon.
That release, while gaining enormous media coverage and publicity for Wikileaks and its Australian founder Julian Assange, was largely ignored by a war-weary public.
However, aside from the further unrest it could ignite in Iraq and added discomfort for the 50,000 US troops and diplomats still stationed there, the Iraq files have much more explosive potential than the Afghanistan release.
Wired has pinpointed several areas of interest, such as the possibility of Iran's involvement in developing Improvised Explosive Devices, the loss of 200,000 US rifles and pistols in 2007 and evidence of ethnic cleansing.
Col Lapan urged WikiLeaks to return the documents to the US military, which he said found no need to redact them in the interim.
"Our position is redactions don't help, it's returning the documents to their rightful owner," he said.
"We don't believe WikiLeaks or others have the expertise needed.
"It's not as simple as just taking out names. There are other things and documents that aren't names that are also potentially damaging."
For the Iraq leak, Wikileaks is believed to be teaming up with the same news outlets as it did for the Afghanistan document dump - The New York Times, Britain's Guardian and Der Spiegel of Germany.
Newsweek magazine has reported that all partners would release the material simultaneously.
The one-eyed al-Qaeda commander behind the recent terrorism alert over Mumbai-style attacks in Europe, sent a terrorist operative to Britain last year to seek money, weapons and manpower, it can be disclosed.
Ilyas Kashmiri, one of the world's most wanted terrorists, sent an associate to Britain to meet two men from Derby in August 2009, security sources have told The Daily Telegraph.
The British contacts were supposed to assist the associate, a US citizen called David Coleman Headley, with plans for a truck-bomb attack on the Danish newspaper behind cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. Kashmiri said contacts in Europe would provide "money, weapons and manpower" for Headley, according to US documents.
It is feared the network has now been re-tasked to support Kashmiri's plans for Mumbai-style attacks in Europe. Intelligence suggesting Kashmiri boasted that he had already sent terrorists to Britain and Germany as part of the plot, sparked an alert across the continent two weeks ago.
It is understood that MI5 has been aware of Kashmiri's network for more than a year but has not discovered active plans for attacks.
But the Security Service did uncover Headley, who was arrested at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on October 3 last year on his way to Pakistan to deliver surveillance videos to Kashmiri.
Headley, 50, Daood Sayed Gilani, dubbed the plan to blow up the offices of the Jyllands Posten newspaper, the "Mickey Mouse Project" because it was all about cartoons.
The project began in October 2008 when Headley travelled to Pakistan to meet with a member of the terrorist group Lashkar e-Taiba (LeT) to discuss surveillance work, according to US documents.
The LeT man allegedly provided Headley with a USB thumb drive containing information about Denmark, the city of Copenhagen, and the newspaper.
Headley returned to the US, from where he travelled to Denmark in January 2009 to conduct surveillance of the Jyllands-Posten newspaper offices in Copenhagen and Aarhus, filming the surrounding areas on video.
He also posed as a representative for a visa company to gain access to the newspaper's offices by claiming he wanted to place adverts.
Headley then returned to Pakistan to discuss the planning separately with a retired Pakistani army officer called Major Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed, also known as "Pasha,"and the LeT terrorist. The following month Abdur Rehman took him to meet Kashmiri in Waziristan in the tribal areas of Pakistan, according to a US indictment.
During the meeting, Kashmiri allegedly said he had reviewed the surveillance videos and suggested using a truck bomb in the operation.
The al-Qaeda commander also told Headley that he could provide manpower for the operation and that no participation from LeT was necessary.
At a second meeting in May 2009, along with Abdur Rehman, Kashmiri allegedly directed Headley to meet with his "European contacts" who could provide Headley with "money, weapons and manpower for the newspaper attack" according to the US indictment. It is understood that this refers to the contacts in Derby.
The indictment adds that in late July and early August 2009, Headley travelled from Chicago to "various places in Europe", including Copenhagen, but also thought to include Britain, attempting to obtain assistance from Kashmiri's contacts.
On his trip he allegedly made 13 surveillance videos which he was on his way to deliver to Abdur Rehman and Kashmiri when he was arrested at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on October 3 last year. He pleaded guilty to all charges in March this year.
The somalian community is another that needs watching.
I hear we have the biggest Somalian community outside Somalia for whatever reaon ie Benefits system.Pakistan is part of the Commonwealth unfortnately but why we have thousands of Somalians is beyond me!
Posted by: Paul D ||
10/17/2010 16:25 Comments ||
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Federal officials acknowledged Saturday that David Coleman Headley, the U.S. businessman who confessed to being a terrorist scout in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, was working as a Drug Enforcement Administration informant while training with terrorists in Pakistan. The sort of news best released on a weekend in the hopes none pay attention.
The Indian government accused Mr. Headley of being a double agent shortly after he was picked up. There was an article in the Times in December 2009 which said
He came to the attention of the US security services in 1997 when he was arrested in New York for heroin smuggling. He earned a reduced sentence by working for the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) infiltrating Pakistan-linked narcotics gangs.
Indian investigators, who have been denied access to Mr Headley, suspect that he remained on the payroll of the US security services -- possibly working for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) -- but switched his allegiance to LeT.
#1
Similarly, a federal official described the 2005 tip from Headley's U.S. wife to the Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York City as "general in nature." "The JTTF could not link the information to a specific threat, plot or terrorist group," the official said.
Can't "link" anything to MAJ Hasan at Fort Hood either. We know thier dirty as hell, we'll just keep paying them and harvest the reporting eh?
A young Moroccan woman went to American authorities in Pakistan to warn them that she believed her husband, David C. Headley, was plotting an attack, less than a year before terrorists killed at least 163 people in Mumbai.
It was not the first time American authorities were warned about Headley, a longtime informer in Pakistan for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration whose roots in Pakistan and the United States allowed him to move easily in both worlds. Two years earlier, in 2005, an American woman who was also married to Headley told investigators that she believed he was a member of the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba created and sponsored by Pakistans powerful intelligence agency.
Despite the warnings by two of his three wives, Mr. Headley travelled far and wide on Lashkars behalf between 2002 and 2009, receiving training in small-caliber weapons and countersurveillance, scouting targets for attacks, and building a network of connections that extended from Chicago to Waziristan.
In 2008, it was his work as chief reconnaissance scout that set the stage for Lashkars strike against Mumbai. An examination of Headleys movements in the years before the bombing shows that he had overlapping, even baffling, contacts among divergent groups Pakistani intelligence, terrorists, and American drug investigators.
Those ties demonstrate that the Mumbai bombings represent another communications breakdown in the war on terror, and are raising the question of whether US officials were reluctant to investigate Headleys movements because he had been an informant for the DEA Perhaps more significantly, they may indicate American wariness to pursue evidence that some officials in Pakistan were involved in planning an attack that killed six Americans.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
10/17/2010 14:20 ||
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sounds like Bwaney Fwank's hometown
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/17/2010 17:45 Comments ||
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ION PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUMS > MYANMAR [Burma] BUILDING RAILROAD LINE TO CHINA. Rail links to, from potential deep-water, major econ Hub.
ARTIC > also reminds of Myanmar Junta's desire for massive Chin assistance in dev VARIOUS DEEP-WATER PORTS [ + SSSSHHHHH likely also NEW MAJOR AIRPORTS, etc].
Pakistan on Saturday defended its military policy in the northwest of the country, an alleged hotbed of Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgency, amid tensions in its relationship with the United States. In a statement issued by the foreign ministry, Islamabad declared that there was no lack of Pakistani resolve to fight terrorism.
The comments come as a wave of US drone strikes in the area continues, having killed more than 150 people and raising tensions between Washington and Islamabad, which condemns the operations as a violation of its sovereignty.
A leaked White House report to Congress earlier this month also accused Pakistani forces of avoiding direct conflict in North Waziristan, while ground operations in South Waziristan were only progressing slowly.
Militants fighting against more than 150,000 US and Nato troops of the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Afghanistan are believed to be holed up in the tribal region, as are operatives at war with Pakistani security forces. Pakistan last year sent 30,000 troops into South Waziristan to destroy Taliban strongholds in the area, but no similar offensive has been mounted in North Waziristan.
But the foreign ministry said in a statement: While we understand Isaf concerns, any question relating to when, how and what is to be done in North Waziristan is based on judgment, keeping in mind our capacities, priorities and overall national interest. This in no way should be interpreted as lack of Pakistani resolve to fight terrorism.
Part of the tribal belt on the Afghan border, North Waziristan is home to 350,000 people but considered a stronghold for the most dangerous militants in the world and largely impenetrable. Washington has branded the rugged area a global headquarters of al-Qaeda.
Pakistani commanders have not ruled out an offensive in North Waziristan, but argue that gains in South Waziristan and the northwestern district of Swat need to be consolidated to prevent their troops from being stretched too thin.
The ministry said that the Pakistani army had conducted calibrated operations against terrorist and extremist forces to establish the writ of the state and disrupt al-Qaeda and its affiliates.
Recently North Waziristan has been under sharp focus. Despite battling with the worst floods in 100 years, (the) Pakistan army continues to maintain a presence of over 34,000 troops in North Waziristan, the ministry said. Constant pressure and squeeze, without going in for a large scale ground operation, has been applied on the terrorists, with success, gaining better control of the area, it added.
Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani called on President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday and deliberated on matters relating to the forthcoming Pak-US strategic dialogue. Defence Minister Ch. Ahmed Mukhtar and Finance Minister Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh were also present during the meeting besides Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and Finance Secretary Salman Siddique.
Briefing the media, Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar said that the meeting was held to deliberate upon the forthcoming Pak-US strategic dialogue that is scheduled to be held in Washington soon. He said that the last round of Pak-US Strategic Dialogue was held in Islamabad in July last to intensify strategic engagement and pursue comprehensive sectoral track cooperation.
Spokesperson said, democratic government wanted to pursue multi-faceted comprehensive cooperation between two countries while at same time address issues like access to drone technology, reimbursement of coalition support fund arrears and RoZ legislation. He said that the challenges being faced by the two countries vis-à-vis the security situation and promotion of intelligence sharing mechanism and the capacity enhancement of the security forces would also come under discussion during the strategic dialogue.
The President has all along maintained that Pakistan had suffered a colossal loss, both in human and material losses due to the ongoing fight against militancy and the recent devastating floods which further added to the economic woes. He said the situation calls for the help of the international community especially the US to support Pakistan and advocate its case for having greater access to its products in the international markets.
The President said that he had been urging US visitors to use their influence in expediting ROZs legislation and for helping Pakistan in creating new vistas of opportunities for the flood-affected people.
The President expressed hope that discussions during the forthcoming dialogue would be productive and help carry forward the progress made so far in the mutually agreed areas of cooperation in which Pakistan needs more help from the United States.
LAHORE: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Saturday congratulated the nation and Kashmiri people on international acceptance of demands of Pakistan on the issue and said people would hear good news soon.
He's got long arms, that's how he pats himself on the back like that ...
He said Pakistan is committed to resolving the Kashmir issue and it would not compromise on its principles regarding the Kashmir policy.
"Recognition by the international community of this long-standing demand of Pakistan for resolution of the Kashmir issue augurs well for the cause and Kashmiris will soon receive good news in this regard," he said during a meeting with AJK Prime Minister Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan who had called on Gilani.
The AJK PM briefed Gilani on his participation in high-level meetings in Brussels for resolution of the Kashmir issue. He also briefed the PM about his input at the United Nations, European Union and Organisation of Islamic Conference meeting.
Sardar Attique said adoption of the Kashmir dispute as an international issue by the European Union Parliament after 63 years was the Pakistan government's greatest achievement on the foreign affairs front.
So true. Pakistan's very greatest achievement. But then, the list is short.
He said the EU had started a hearing in its parliament for resolution of the long-standing issue.
Apparently the EU Parliament doesn't have anything to do in, you know, Europe ...
Imagine if the EU had an activist parliament, like the U.S. has had recently... Let us all be thankful for small favours.
The AJK PM said the UN, EU and OIC had included the Kashmir issue in their official businesses after adopting a common mechanism for its resolution. He told Gilani that this success was an outcome of a dedicated struggle of the present Pakistani government based on a principled stance.
Sardar Attique extended the Kashmiris' gratitude to Gilani for highlighting Indian atrocities against the Kashmiris in Indian-held Kashmir before the international community as well as providing timely assistance to them at the time if the 2005 earthquake and floods.
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Hundreds of members of the Awakening Councils, a collection of United States-allied Sunni sheiks and their militia forces, have quit or been dismissed from their positions in the past few months, the New York Times reported Saturday.
Iraqi government officials say that the fighters, known as Sahwa, have left as a result of an intensive recruiting campaign by the Sunni insurgency and rejoined Al Qaeda. Many have extensive knowledge of the U.S. military, the Times said, adding that it is possible that thousands of the fighters who are working for the government are simultaneously assisting the insurgency.
#2
I suspect this is more about protection of Sunni minority rights from a majority Shia Iraq, rather than a true AQ resurgence. Depending on how well they learned their US military lessons it could provide the basis for a very bloody civil war - or broader war between Iran and KSA etc.
#3
I saw this in Mrs. Bobby's WaPo several weeks ago - I guess I shoulda posted it then. Must be at a low boil or a slow news day if it took the Slimes that long to pick up on it.
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/17/2010 15:37 Comments ||
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#4
This was to be expected, the moment the US started handing over the Kit Carson Scouts, called Sons of Iraq in the case, to the locals. The US treated them with respect, made sure that they were paid on time, and got medical attention when needed. The locals have basically f**ked the Scouts at every turn, and they wonder why now some are taking money from Al-Q to kill Shias again?
BAGHDAD - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is fighting to keep his job after an inconclusive March 7 general election, is to visit neighbouring Iran soon, a close aide said on Saturday.
The prime minister will visit Iran soon but I cannot confirm when, the official from Malikis office told AFP.
Irans Mehr news agency said Malikis visit had been set for Monday and that he would hold high-level regional and international talks and also discuss developments in Iraq.
The visit comes as Maliki is locked in a protracted battle for the premiership with former prime minister Iyad Allawi. Malikis Shiite-led State of Law bloc finished a narrow second behind Allawis Sunni-dominated Iraqiya group but neither came close to securing a parliamentary majority. Drawn-out coalition talks since the election have seen both sides courting the third-placed Iraqi National Alliance, a coalition of Shiite religious factions.
Moqtada al-Sadr, whose radical movement controls 40 of the INAs 70 seats, has thrown his support behind Maliki but the incumbent still needs the support of another INA faction, the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council of Ammar al-Hakim, which controls 17 seats and is seen as close to Tehran.
Maliki is on a tour of Middle East capitals aimed at winning support for his premiership. He already visited Iran ally Syria on Wednesday and is to visit Jordan on Sunday. He also plans to visit several Gulf Arab states, where support for his rival has been strong, his close aide said.
Allawi was in Saudi Arabia last Sunday to bolster support from his leading champion which regards Maliki as too close to Iran.
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10/17/2010 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: A member from al-Iraqiya said on Saturday that no government would be formed without his bloc, adding statements otherwise are neither rational nor in line with the current state of affairs in Iraq.
Whoever calls for forming a government without the participation of al-Iraqiya bloc are simply not respecting the will of the Iraqi people. Furthermore, this practically impossible, otherwise the political blocs could have done that long ago, Jamal al-Bateekh told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
The other possibility is that it's just the way things are done there ...
The Dawlat al-Qanoon (State of Law) bloc is trying to monopolize power by not seriously taking the paper our negotiation panels have offered, he said.
Bateekh noted that his bloc has shown enough flexibility during all the previous stages with all blocs, noting the ball is now in their courts if they ever want to resume negotiations with us based on respect for the results of the legislative elections.
Al-Iraqiya, a political bloc led by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, has won 91 out of a total 325 parliamentary seats in the March 7 general elections in Iraq, followed by incumbent Nouri al-Malikis Dawlat al-Qanoon (State of Law) with 89 seats, the Iraqi National Alliance (INA) with 70 seats and the Kurdistan Alliance (KA) with 43 seats.
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10/17/2010 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: An important report that had announced a large increase in Iraqs national oil reserves from 115 to 143 billion barrels offered a vision about the possibility of reaching such a huge figure as well as the time of its achievement.
The report reiterated that when Iraq announced a huge increase in its oil reserves, the announcement was not taken by surprise, as Iraq has been boasting for years that it possesses the third largest oil reserves in the world. In addition, Iraq noted that it had reached such figures despite using an antiquated technology that allowed it to excavate a limited part of its territories in search of its oil reserves.
The report also pointed out that along with the foreign investments and the worldwide experience, the Iraqi oil reserves should have been raised to a comparatively high level, but the increase that was announced did not reach more than 143 billion barrels, from the previously announced 115 billion.
The Director General of Oil Reserves and Development of Oil Fields in the Iraqi Oil Ministry, Abdul-Aal Al-Dabbaj, said that the surge had been achieved from two oilfields that were given to foreign oil companies as part of last years oil tenders based on a new concept regarding the old oilfields.
He noted that Iraqs confirmed oil reserves would increase more than that, when a third partys seismological survey will be carried out for other giant oilfields that were assigned to other international oil companies.
Answering another question regarding the sites of other excavated oil sites, Dabbaj expected that they would take place in al-Anbar Province, pointing out that this matter shall need further excavations in that sector.
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10/17/2010 00:00 ||
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New Israeli settlement plans have thrown a wrench into the faltering Middle East peace process.
Israel's Housing Ministry has announced plans to build 238 Jewish homes in disputed East Jerusalem, despite opposition from the United States and Palestinians. Israel had unofficially frozen construction in East Jerusalem under a 10-month building moratorium in the West Bank that expired last month. When Israel refused to extend the moratorium, the Palestinians suspended peace talks.
The international community sees the settlements as an obstacle to peace because they are built on land claimed by the Palestinians for a future state. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been under pressure from his hawkish coalition partners to resume building.
"For many years we had a clear policy, left- and right-wing governments: Jerusalem is united; we can build everywhere in all parts of Jerusalem," said Danny Danon, a parliamentarian from the ruling Likud party.
Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat says Mr. Netanyahu has chosen settlements over peace. "So what's left for the peace process, what is left? This is a formula for disaster, not a formula for peace," he said.
Sucks to lose wars, doesn't it ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/17/2010 00:00 ||
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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - A senior Hamas official says a German mediator trying to broker the release of an Israeli soldier held for four years in Gaza recently visited the Palestinian territory after months of deadlock.
Unfortunately I don't think Israel will ever get Sergeant Shalit back alive, so they'd better have a shock and awe plan B ...
Osama Mazeini said Saturday the mediator made a feeler visit, suggesting a renewed attempt to push forward negotiations to swap Sgt. Gilad Schalit for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Mazeini did not say when the mediator came to Gaza. A London-based Arabic newspaper said he visited two weeks ago.
Hamas-backed militants seized Schalit in a cross-border raid in 2006.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/17/2010 00:00 ||
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U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed "grave concern" at Burma's refusal to free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi ahead of elections in November. Mr. Ban said Burma's military government should release the opposition leader if it wants the November elections to have international credibility. He said this would be the clearest signal that the government is committed to a free vote.
In a report on Burma's human rights, Mr. Ban also described himself as frustrated by the Burmese government's lack of engagement with the international community. He said he is disappointed that Burma has failed to meaningfully discuss the issues.
Gee, no kidding. Could it be because the Burmese government is a thugocracy ruled by corrupt generals backed by a venal Chinese foreign policy?
The secretary-general urged Burma to make progress in overcoming what he called its legacies of political deadlock and armed conflict.
Yeah, make progress guys, good idea. Particularly when one side has all the guns. Cheez, wotta maroon ...
The country is scheduled to hold its first elections in 20 years on November 7. The new legislature is likely to include critical voices for the first time in decades, but harsh restrictions on opposition parties have virtually ensured victory for a military-backed party.
The election is the nation's first since Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy won in a landslide in 1990. The military did not recognize the results of that election.
And they won't recognize this one if they don't like the result ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/17/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Frustrated, eh? Go there, get nose to nose, and tell them who's the boss. Or. Shut up, sit down, and go back to your canapes.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
10/17/2010 7:50 Comments ||
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#2
Frustrated. But not enough to do anything about it but a sharply worded letter.
Congress put a hold on $100 million annually for Lebanese army; State Department pressing for funding to resume.
Because State likes going native.
The recent visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is complicating the administration's efforts to get American aid to the Lebanese military back on track, according to Capitol Hill sources.
Two members of Congress put a hold on the $100 million annually allocated to the Lebanese army over concerns that American assistance and equipment could make their way to Hizbullah. The hold comes amidst signs of possible cooperation between the Islamic militant group and some elements of the Lebanese Armed Forces.
The administration, which requested the aid for the LAF but can't disburse the money until the congressional holds are lifted, sees aid to the LAF as a major way of bolstering those elements in Lebanon which are opposed to Hizbullah.
Except that the Lebanese army has long since been thoroughly infiltrated by Hizb'allah's men. Giving anything to the Lebanese army is merely a polite way to give it to Hizb'allah.
The LAF funding was put on hold this summer by House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Howard Berman (D-California) and Nita Lowey (DNew York), chairwoman of the House appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations.
Lowey spokesman Matt Dennis said Thursday that there had been no change in the status of her hold following the Ahmadinejad visit Wednesday, and indicated that Lebanese press reports that she had taken further action in the wake of his trip were incorrect.
Berman's office also successfully shepherded two additional measures bolstering Israeli security through Congress as part of a larger act dealing with cooperation on security issues. The act was recently signed into law by US President Barack Obama.
The first of Berman's measures classifies Israel as a major non-NATO ally entitled to an expedited process -- 15 days down from the standard 30 -- for congressional review of defense exports. The move puts Israel on par with Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and other key non-NATO countries.
The second provision extends the Pentagon's ability to store surplus weapons in Israel for a reserve stockpile which could be transferred to Israel in the case of an emergency.
#2
Who's got a handle on just how much aid is being given away? I think it should be in the published budget. Isn't there also a State Department document?
An Iranian court has condemned a man convicted of robbing chocolates and cocoa from a Tehran pastry shop to have a hand chopped off, Fars news agency reported on Saturday.
Judge Mohammad Reza Giyuki, quoted in the report, also sentenced the 21-year-old man, whose identity was not revealed, to six months in prison for damaging the shop and another six months for "disobeying police."
Fars said police arrested him on May 29 and found in his possession 900 dollars worth of cash, three pair of gloves, chocolate and cocoa.
The Islamic sharia laws of Iran lay down amputation as punishment for repeated thefts.
Cases of amputation have been increasing due to a rise in robberies on the back of growing poverty in Iran. Last week, Tehran amputated a hand of a man found guilty of two robberies in the northeastern holy city of Mashhad
#1
IIRC YOUTUBE > Video from Indonesia? showed a poor Muslim retarded man having his arm chopped off by machete for bicycle theft - he had in past already lost his other arm for the same reason. His family tried to argue that he didn't know any better as he was born mentally reatrded, but that they were too poor to get him the proper psychological treatment he needed. Unfortunately, IIRC the thief's family were told Muslim Sharia law + local Muslim tradition made no exceptions for habitual offenders just because of birth defect. The Owner of the [cheap]bike refused to forgive him for his theft.
Iff he still engages in theft = criminal conduct despite the loss of both arms, the next time he will lose one of his legs.
The chief negotiator on the Iranian nuclear program, Said Jalili, assured on Monday that his country will soon publish documents showing that the U.S. is supplying Israel with nuclear material. To Jalili, the main issue in the Arab world is how the Zionist regime can get those weapons.
Israel is considered the sole nuclear power in the Middle East, while both the Jewish state and several Western countries suspect Iran is trying to make an atomic bomb, which Tehran denies.
On Lebanon's southern border with Israel on Thursday, Iranian President ShortRound Mahamoud Ahmadinejad spoke to tens of thousands of supporters in a town that was badly damaged during Israel's 2006 war with Hezbollah.
On one side of the massive, packed stadium, boys in school uniforms waved flags, and sang along with music blaring in Arabic and Farsi. On the other side, veiled women carried posters of their dead sons, casualties of the war with Israel. In between, tens of thousands of fans whistled and cheered, every time a speaker mentioned Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's name.
Four years ago, much of Bint Jbeil was flattened in the month-long war. And Iranian money helped rebuild parts of the area. Many Lebanese considered the war a victory for Hezbollah. Several of the organization's leaders are now members of the Lebanese parliament and cabinet. The U.S. State Department correctly designated the Shi'ite militant group a terrorist organization.
In Mr. Ahmadinejad's speech in the Hezbollah-controlled south, he praised Bint Jbeil for its resilience, and Hezbollah for its fight with Israel. The Iranian leader also railed against Israel and predicted it would, in his words, "disappear."
In Beirut Wednesday, Mr. Ahmadinejad criticized Israel, accusing it of violating Palestinian rights.
Analysts say the Iranian president's visit to Lebanon is a sign of Iran's growing influence in the country.
After the rally, on Bint Jbeil's dirt streets, people said they were thrilled by Mr. Ahmadinejad's stance toward Israel.
Abdul, a 36-year-old Lebanese-Australian, said the Iranian leader's speech shows that Lebanon, Syria and Iran are united against Israel.
"Israelis, they are very scared. Israelis, if they wanted to do something they would have done it now," Abdul said. "But they are scared and they can't do nothing at all. I'm sure Ahmadinejad, he will do something for Lebanon."
Oh yeah, we're real confident about that ...
But when asked whether accusations of human rights abuses in Iran lessened his admiration for Mr. Ahmadinejad, Abdul asked reporters to turn off their recorders.
"Please don't kill me!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/17/2010 00:00 ||
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* SAME > TALKS ONLY OPTION FOR WORLD POWERS: AHMADINEJAD.
* NEWS KERALA > IRAN WELCOMES NUCLEAR TALKS, BUT [will make = not ready] NO COMPROMISE: AHMADINEJAD.
Which is weirdly + mysteriously, but of course only PCorrectly + coincidentally, ditto as per NORTH KOREA + ITS NUCPROGS.
The DPRK's new "MUSUDAN" BM repor can reach as far away as my home island of GUAM -WESTPAC > IOW, ANY CPLA-LED MIL BATTLE PER SE OER TAIWAN + YELLOW SEA + SOUTH CHINA SEA, ETC. WILL BE DECIDED, WON OR LOST, FAR FAR AWAY IN GUAM [+ Hawaii + US West Coast, etc. as required], away from the actual theater of combat.
In similar, IRAN as a matter of Strategeery has decided or linked the success of its NUCLEAR + 1979 REVOLUTIONARY AMBITIONS + US-ISRAEL ATTACK ON IRAN with the ISRAEL-PA STRUGGLE; + also US-BASE-TOO-FAR-QATAR, REGARDLESS OF HOW MANY MUSHROOM CLOUDS GO BOOM INSIDE IRAN PROPER. Any US-ISRAEL-IRAN WAR will be won or lost by both sides far away from Iran per se.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has proposed reconvening long-stalled talks between world powers and Iran over its controversial nuclear programme in a months time, her spokesman said Saturday. It is from 15th to 18th of November, spokesman Darren Ennis said, if possible in Vienna.
But if not the Euros will crawl to any venue ...
Ashton, who represents world powers in the nuclear dialogue with Iran, won a favourable response from Teheran after proposing November talks in the Austrian capital on Thursday.
We have always said that dialogue on cooperation with the Islamic republic of Iran is the only option, top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili told state television.
Dialogue between Iran and the group of 5+1 nations which Ashton representsBritain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germanyhas been stalled since October 1, 2009, when the two groups met in Geneva.
Faced by deadlock, the United Nations Security Council on June 9 reinforced international economic sanctions, with the United States and EU taking separate measuresall of which Teheran brushed off as having no impact.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/17/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
EU + IRAN
versus
* PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > TURKISH PM ERDOGAN: US BACKING INTERNATIONAL TERRORISTS.
ARTIC > The US is allegedly backing "COMMON ENEMIES" OF PAKISTAN + TURKEY; PAK + TURKEY + AFGHANISTAN + IRAN have a COMMON FUTURE including desire for SECURITY..
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.
A recent report said that 300 Internet websites are dedicated to the propagation of 'deviant ideology' compared to only five challenging extremist views.
A young Moroccan woman went to American authorities in Pakistan to warn them that she believed her husband, David C. Headley, was plotting an attack, less than a year before terrorists killed at least 163 people in Mumbai.
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: An important report that had announced a large increase in Iraqs national oil reserves from 115 to 143 billion barrels offered a vision about the possibility of reaching such a huge figure as well as the time of its achievement.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - A senior Hamas official says a German mediator trying to broker the release of an Israeli soldier held for four years in Gaza recently visited the Palestinian territory after months of deadlock.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has proposed reconvening long-stalled talks between world powers and Iran over its controversial nuclear programme in a months time, her spokesman said Saturday. It is from 15th to 18th of November, spokesman Darren Ennis said, if possible in Vienna.
