[DPA] - Washington - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called Friday for the Taliban to cut ties with al-Qaeda or face increased military pressure from the United States and its allies.
'The escalating pressure of our military campaign is sharpening,' Clinton said in a speech in New York.
Clinton said the Taliban's only choice is to renounce violence, end relations with al-Qaeda and join a political reconciliation process, which she said will gain steam in the years ahead.
'Refuse, and you will continue to face the consequences of being tied to al-Qaeda as an enemy of the international community,' Clinton said, noting the Taliban paid a 'heavy price' for siding with al- Qaeda after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The Taliban 'cannot wait us out, they cannot defeat us, and they cannot escape this choice' of political reconciliation, Clinton said.
#4
Taliban 'cannot wait us out, they cannot defeat us, and they cannot escape(the consequences) of this choice'.....has a nice ring to it.
How would YOU like to be a member of the Taliban or al-Qaeda right now? The Arab world with you on this, the hour of your need? How IS Zawahiri and Osama DOING at the present moment? And are any of Zarquawi's friends EVER coming back?
Looking at Afghanistan and Iraq right now,911 was worth it, right? Islam is in great shape and Peace and Prosperity and a donkey's dick in every pot? It couldn't BE better. Its a great time to be proud of being an Arab again , I can tell 'ya. I'd like to just rub Islam all over my body. What comes next?
How many shaheeds are deliquescing out there in the sands?
And Palestine Shall be Ours? That capturing the whole worlds focused attention, is it?
And you are "proud" to be an Arab again? Or a Libyan or an Egyptian? Whatever. What? you WEREn't proud before? Before what?
And things are going to "change". You can trust the Military Junta in Egypt? They are going to safeguard your peaceful "transition" to representative Democracy? Yeah?
You have "hope" and you are painting the curbs in Tahrir Square and picking up the trash. And the cockroaches in the pay toilets of Cairo are waving little flags, right?
Ah yes, "Hope and Change", where would we be without that?
Hillary Clinton, we need a lot more of that, I can tell'ya.
What else 'ya got? You ever had your butt swabbed with a camelshair brush soaked in Lysol and handed a little white towel?
#8
Thanks Hillary for the tip. Actually, we had an epiphany about this and we thought we'd begin tomorrow or the next day. Well actually it might take a little longer to get the message to the various Stone Age tribes out there. Well on second thought, forget all that, actually we hate the U.S.
#9
Taliban without al-qaeda? that's like Laurel without Hardy, Lucy without Rickey, Briggs without Stratton; just ain't a happening thing, Shut up Billary.
#12
Sometimes known as the Smartest Woman in the World?
Really?
Not no more!
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/19/2011 15:02 Comments ||
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#13
Islam is in great shape and Peace and Prosperity and a donkey's dick in every pot?
Islamic countries are in better shape since 9/11. The US has managed to pump in $1 trillion into their economies, foreign aid is way up, and their only export, oil, has tripled in price. The Islamic countries are getting more Islamic with takeovers and revolution breaking out, Sharia written into Afghan and Iraqi constitutions w/ US consent, and Islamic Settlement of infidel lands is at an all time high.
Compare that with the economic and political decline in the West, especially the US, since 9/11.
Posted by: Pearl Gleaper1127 ||
02/19/2011 19:47 Comments ||
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[Tolo News] The International Monetary Fund has recommended that Kabul Bank should be sold off to recover from current crisis.
Kabul Bank is the biggest Afghanistan's bank that was on the brink of collapse last year following a change in its leadership. That was when the old leadership took all the money...
The IMF recommended to the Afghan government to implement several "immediate measures" to deal with Kabul Bank, including prosecuting fraud and placing it under receivership. "This will be followed by a process where the bank will be rapidly sold or wound down and the central bank is recapitalised with government resources as needed," a statement by IMF said.
Whoa! How often do you see them junk a bank?
The Afghan Attorney General's Office and the Central Bank (DAB) have been investigating the bank and attempting to find out what went wrong.
I believe it was looted. That'd be pretty wrong, right?
The monetary fund has postponed its approval of a line of credit because of the problems at Kabul Bank. A report published by Rooters on Tuesday said European donors will have to review their commitments to Afghanistan if a fraud crisis Kabul Bank is not resolved satisfactorily.
At least $579 million has been put at risk in Kabul Bank and it has added banking crisis to Afghanistan's troubles.
In many cases aid from donor countries is mandated based on an IMF programme.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2011 00:00 ||
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Somaliland is the former British portion which has broken away (although it is not recognised by any other country) from Somalia, the former Italian portion.
A new central prison for persons convicted to long sentences has been made use of in Somaliland's capital Hargeisa. The prison, partially financed by Norway, was today visited by Somaliland Home Affairs Minister, Maxamed Cabdi Gabboose, accompanied by Norway's Deputy Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide.
The Hargeisa prison is to be formally inaugurated later this month, but already houses over 70 Somali pirates that had been arrested by international marine forces in the Bay of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
Just the sort of thing that should make the US want to recognize Somaliland as a nation-state.
Many pirates so far have had to be released as there were no courts ready to sentence them or prisons ready to accommodate them. The Hargeisa "pirates' prison" comes as an international response to this vacuum, with Somalilanders happy to extend their international relations by hosting the new facilities.
According to Norwegian Deputy-Minister Eide, the new facilities - starring as the most modern building in run-down Hargeisa - "appeared effective and moderns, both regarding prisoners' conditions and security." High standards had been a condition to extradite captured pirates by many of the nations participating in the anti-piracy operations.
Consequently, Mr Eide also announced further Norwegian cooperation and funding for Somaliland's justice sector, "including police, courts and correctional services, and also for the development of more modern legal codes," according to a statement by the Oslo Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"When we know that nine out of ten pirates are released after being caught, it is obvious that the only answer to this problem cannot be sending more marine troops," said Mr Eide, who back in Norway faces critics because his maritime nation is not participating in the naval anti-piracy operations.
[Ennahar] According to corroborating sources, President of the Republic Abdelaziz Bouteflika, will announce officially next Thursday, the lifting of emergency rule in Algeria.
The same sources which reported the information to Ennahar, added that the decision to lift state of emergency after 19 years will be announced at a cabinet meeting scheduled for next Thursday, to be chaired by the President of the Republic.
Measures have been taken, concerning the fight against terrorism after the lifting of emergency rule. These measures include the intervention of security services.
President Bouteflika, at that meeting, will sign an ordinance that will define the conditions and areas of intervention for security services.
The presidential Order will provide security services the right to immediate intervention in other exceptional cases, the fight against terrorism, corruption and organized crime.
The state of emergency was declared under a Presidential Decree number 4492 of February 9, 1992, signed by the late president Mohamed Boudiaf as extraordinary security measures after the first terrorist attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2011 00:00 ||
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[Arab News] The Swiss government says it has frozen tens of millions of Swiss francs belonging to leading figures in Egypt's former regime who have assets stashed in Switzerland.
The government last week said only that it froze "any possible assets" in the country belonging to former geriatric President Hosni Mubarak, his wife, their two sons and their wives, Mubarak's brother-in-law and five senior politicians belonging to the ousted leader's NDP party.
At the time the government insisted there was no confirmation such assets actually existed, even though they have been widely reported.
The Swiss Foreign Ministry on Friday night, however, specified that "several dozens of millions of francs belonging to persons mentioned in last Friday's government order have been blocked." It had no further comment.
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02/19/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ma'an] Egypt's ruling military junta said in a statement on Friday that it will not tolerate protests that disrupt the country's economy and will confront them, state television reported. ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ennahar] The Italian tourist kidnapped in Algeria on Feb. 2 said to be alive and in the hands of Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in an audiotape released Friday at dawn by the television channel Al-Arabiya, based in Dubai.
"I'm Italian and I was kidnapped Wednesday, February 2 in Algeria. I am still held by Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb, Tarek ibn Ziyad battalion. I call on Al-Arabiya to broadcast this communication," said in hesitant French the hostage presented as Maria Sandra Mariani.
The recording begins with the voice of a man speaking in Arabic who says: "We, Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb, declare to hold the woman since Wednesday, February 2 and hope she can address her chief of State".
On 7 February, the Ténéré agency's director of tourism told the Algerian daily El-Watan, citing the guide briefly jugged by the kidnappers, the men who kidnapped the Italian in southern Algeria on board two 4X4, was speaking "the Mauritanian Arabic".
"A group of 13 to 14 gunnies, speaking a Mauritanian Arabic, came aboard two 4X4 invested the scene at sunset in the day of Wednesday," had told Kheirani Ahmed, referring to Alidéna, place of kidnapping in the Saharan region of Tadrart.
A tribal leader in southern Algeria had told AFP that the Tuareg of Niger, Mali and Mauritania "all speak the same Mauritanian Arabic, an Arab different from that spoken by the Tuareg of Algeria."
The tourist, Maria Sandra Mariani, 53, first Westerner kidnapped since 2003 in this area of the Algerian Sahel, w s 90 km from the border with Niger, said Rome on February 4.
"The attackers were seeking a group of tourists, before confiscating phones and paper of the guide, the guardian and a shepherd and pick everyone including the tourist to an unknown destination," stated the Director of the Ténéré agency.
The three Algerians had been abandoned a long way toward midnight, near the border between Algeria and Niger," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
I am still held by Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb, Tarek ibn Ziyad battalion
AKA eight guys with two SUVs
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/19/2011 8:19 Comments ||
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#2
Do you think they can't fit eight guys in one SUV?
[Ma'an] The United States on Friday urged Egypt to investigate an alleged sexual assault on star CBS News foreign correspondent Lara Logan while she was covering the fall of president Hosni Mubarak.
Anyone think Reagan or W would 'urge' the Egyptian government to find the attackers?
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
"Hey, Abdul. It seems the Yankee pigs want us to see if we can find who molested that blond woman."
"Yeah, Omar. I remember her. I'll take a look around and see what I can find."
#5
'moose, it's not a funny subject, but that's funny. Takes the lead for Snark O' the Day.™
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/19/2011 9:46 Comments ||
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#6
We (Thee new Police Force in Egypt) would like to ask you Ms. Logan a few preliminary questions to determine whether an investigation is warranted:
1) What is your religion?
2) Were you covered in a hijab when the alleged attack took place?
3) Were the alleged attackers Muslims?
4) Do you have a 4/1 witness ratio against the men who say it "never happened"?
5) Were you a virgin before this alleged attack?
6) Are you Jew or could the men have mistaken you for a Jew?
That will be all Infidel, I mean, Ms. Logan. If we have anymore questions, we'll call you, but be sure not to leave Egypt since that may adversely affect your chances to seek justice.
Posted by: Jack Salami ||
02/19/2011 10:00 Comments ||
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#7
Word Jack. She's lucky she wasn't raped in Saudia: 100 lashes + a year of jail minimum.
[Arab News] Imam and Khatib at the Grand Mosque in Makkah Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais has warned Mohammedans against endangering the safety, stability and better interests of their countries.
"True patriotism is not shouting slogans but sincerity, positive approach, transparency and credibility. Real patriots should not trade national pride for the dictations of intruders," said Sheikh Al-Sudais in his sermon at the Grand Mosque on Friday.
The sheikh also stressed the need for healthy national sentiments to protect the dignity, security, justice, discipline and peace of a country.
Al-Sudais urged Mohammedans to make concerted efforts to defend their nations and judiciously solve their issues.
The imam warned people against the designs of the enemies of Islam to destabilize their countries, and called on believers to fear Allah in a world roiled with sedition, crises and radical alterations.
He demanded worshipers adhere to religious laws and avoid schism and disputes, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday.
He stressed the need to strengthen family ties so that family life is not wrecked by vicious influences.
He concluded the sermon with a prayer calling on Allah to protect the land of the two holy mosques and other Mohammedan countries from all forms of sedition and disturbances.
In the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah, Sheikh Husain Al-Asheikh said the failure of rulers and administrators to discharge their duties with justice is a great calamity that leads to the degeneration of political, economic and social systems. Al-Asheikh said rulers should enforce total justice in all levels of administration. Injustice is one of the most abhorrent evils in the Islamic administrative system, he added.
"A ruler should listen to the needs of people and inquire about their conditions, and should never create a barrier between him and the people so that he becomes unaware of the true state of people," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
" Arab Dignity" I am sure we all need that. And "Arab Security" yay team.
"arab Justice" too? How true. How true.
" Arab Discipline" and "Peace", I read all about that in Protocols of the Elders of Zion in my highschool class in Riyadh as I was growing up. Its brings back such nostalgic memories. That was back before the Ayatollah overthrew the Shah, of course (PBUH).
PBUH whom? Why on BOTH the dead bastids, of course. I remember seeing the massive swarming crowds all around the Ayatollah's coffin as they tipped it over and tore the corpse apart for blessed souvenirs, those were the days. And the Shah died in a Mexican pay toilet waiting for a Taxi to carry him to Gringo Pass and the US Border.
Pass the Sheikh some Mahjoum and bring in another Dutch hooker for His Eminence.
There is SUCH a need to strengthen"family ties" not already wrecked by vicious outside influences. Did somebody just fart? t must be the Dates and the sheep's eyes I had for Lunch.
[Arab News] Global arms manufacturers will vie for deals worth billions of dollars at the Middle East's largest military expo as unrest sweeping across the region pushes countries to beef up security.
The International Defense Exhibition & Conference (IDEX) opens on Sunday in the capital of the United Arab Emirates with some 1,060 companies participating including Lockheed Martin Corp., Boeing Co., Dassault Aviation and Italy's FinMakkahnica.
At the last IDEX in 2009 more than 900 firms showcased their wares when the UAE, the biggest Gulf Arab spender there, announced deals worth 18.5 billion dirhams ($5 billion).
The UAE is in the final stages of negotiating arms deals worth billions of dollars, said Maj. Gen. Obaid Al-Ketbi, front man for IDEX.
"Most of the large projects are in the final tuning stage. We hope the amount will be within the range of last time's deals," he said.
Heightened security concerns due to turmoil in the Arab world and escalating tensions between the West and Iran could see wealthy oil-producing Gulf states ramp up their defense spending.
Crowds have taken to the streets in Libya, Yemen, Iran and Bahrain in recent days, inspired by popular revolts in Tunisia and Egypt that saw veteran leaders of both countries driven out of office.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
(a) Exactly how multi-billion packages of advanced military equipment help dealing with civic unrest?
(b)Shouldn't MME regimes be buying food instead of arms?
North Korea has halved the size of the Pyongyang administrative area and handed some southern parts over to a provincial government, the Unification Ministry said on Monday.
With the areas incorporated into North Hwanghae Province, the capital has shrunk to about half its size of 2,630 sq. km and lost some 500,000 of its 3 million population. Nampo has been turned into a special city. Administrative areas increased from 11 to 12, with Pyongyang under the direct control of the central government, two special cities (Rajin-Songbong and Nampo) and nine provinces, according to the ministry.
"North Korea probably had economic difficulties maintaining the special privileges of Pyongyang residents," a government source said. The North's rationing system has almost completely collapsed elsewhere, but the 3 million residents of Pyongyang and its 1.19 million troops still receive food rations. The remaining 20 million are believed to depend on open-air markets for food, a senior government official said recently.
North Korea watchers like Cho Young-ki of Korea University believe there is a close relationship between the food shortage and the reduction of Pyongyang. According to the South Korean government, North Korea needs 5 million tons of food annually but is short by more than a million tons a year. In the past it made up for that shortfall with aid from South Korea and the U.S., but since the launch of the Lee Myung-bak administration aid shipments of around 400,000 tons of food have stopped, and the U.S. has also sent no food since 2008 citing a lack of transparency in distribution.
A high-ranking government official said, "Until last year North Korea overcame the food shortage by tapping into some of its rice reserves, but even this appears difficult this year."
"The downsizing of Pyongyang is evidence that North Korea is unable to feed the 2.6-3 million residents of the city," a North Korean defector said.
Some experts believe Pyongyang was downsized to allow more effective management of the sprawling city, whose area is four times the size of Seoul's 606 sq. km. "It looks like residents on the outskirts of Pyongyang, who are not considered part of the core class, have been dumped," said a source familiar with North Korean affairs. A defector from Pyongyang said, "The four areas that have been separated from Pyongyang are virtually farm areas and Kim Jong-il has nothing to lose from cutting them out."
Pyongyang residents enjoy various perks. According to North Korean defectors, a person with a residence permit in Pyongyang is free to travel throughout neighboring regions while residents elsewhere need travel permits to visit Pyongyang. Only broadcasts of the North's Korean Central Television can be watched outside Pyongyang, but in the capital, residents can see three channels.
Pyongyang residents also get more electricity. A government source said, "Pyongyang residents continued to receive food rations even at the height of the famine in the late 1990s" when more than a million people starved to death.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/19/2011 00:00 ||
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Methinks Kimmie + Pyongyang Boyz know the score -THERES GOING TO BE MAJOR WAR IN NE ASIA IFF CHINA DOESN'T GET ITS "FIRST-ISLAND CHAIN" WARM-WATER PORTS = BASE RIGHTS. Econ integration + reunification wid SOUTH KOREA will not be allowed by Beijing + thats bad for Kimmie + Pyongyang.
"LIMITED" IS NO LONGER ENUFF FOR NORTH KOREA GIVEN THE MAGNITUDE OF ITS ECON PROBLEMS.
and
* PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > CHINA SHOULD NOT BE OFFENDED/FEAR KURILES DEVELOPMENT, wid Russia nor iff Russia invites other Third-Party States [SSSSSHHHHHH...CCCCCCCorrectness other than JAPAN]. BOTH CHINA + RUSSIA HAVE COMMON INTERESTS IN THE KURILES + DAOYUS [Japan = SENKAKUS].
* SAME > JAPAN TO SLAP CHINA'S FACE AFTER BEING SLAPPED BY RUSSIA?
* SAME > CHINA CALLS ON RUSSIA, JAPAN TO SETTLE TERITORIAL ROW [South Kuriles] PROPERLY.
* SAME > US: TROOPS' MOVE UP TO JAPAN. US Marines' Relocation.
SECDEF GATES = denoted that the US CONGRESS/GOVT has already chosen to withhold/frstall US-specific $$$ allocations in support of the Marines' move until a final decision is made by Japan. US MARINE RELOC TO GUAM by 2014 MAY, OR MAY NOT BE, DELAYED PENDING ON JAPAN'S DECISION.
* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > POSTER THREAD > WHAT IS THE NAME OF THIS UAV? PLAAF H-6 Bomber carrying CJ-10 ALMS.
CMF POSTER = THE "GUAM SMASHER"???
* NEWS KERALA > CHINA: FREQUENT DROUGHTS POSING PROBLEMS TO ITS FOOD SECURITY.
CHINESE MIL FORUM > CHINA TO BUILD 1350 NEW WATER WELLS TO EASE DROUGHT, ENSURE GRAIN PRODUCTION.
CMF POSTER = opined that THERE GOES [whats left of]CHINA'S NATURAL FRESHWATER???
HMMMM, HMMMMM, Beijing saved the country's food grains in order to die of thirst???
* PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > RUSIAN BOMBERS PATROL IN THE AIRSPACE OF [Russo-Japanese]DISPUTED TERRITORY [South Kuriles].
And then some.
* SAME > RUSSIA: TALKS ON DISPUTED ISLANDS "MEANINGLESS" IFF JAPAN TAKES RADICAL [hardline]STANCE.
* SAME > [Russian AD Deputy Chief] S-400 MISSLES ON RUSSIA'S KURIL ISLANDS "OVERKILL". Deployment of its S-400 "SPACE DEFENSE MISSLE SYSTEM" to the disputed South Kuriles is "excessive" + inherently [MilPol]dangerous as the same can reach [into] JAPANESE TERRITORY.
OTHER = RUSSIA is intent on deploying its S-400 throughout its FAR EAST REGION [RFE].
IMO read, CHINA but in future may include JAPAN + NORTH KOREA???
The North Korean authorities are apparently on full alert as news trickles in about pro-democracy protests in the Middle East despite an official blackout. According to a source, security agents have banned all gatherings, especially of university students, as news spreads about the public revolts in Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere in the Arab world.
Might be contagious...
The source added that partitions have been removed in restaurants across the country, and security agents break up even small gatherings in open-air markets.
"This is the first time I saw even partitions removed from restaurants in North Korea," a recent defector said. Students in Pyongyang have begun whispering that the Kim Jong-il regime, which has ruled for 50 years, needs to change, and news about the ouster of dictators in North Africa is spreading in open-air markets.
North Korea's state-run media have either blacked out news of the protests completely or are reporting falsely that they are being staged by anti-American forces. News about the protests in Egypt, which ousted president Hosni Mubarak, is nonetheless spreading because hundreds of North Koreans visit China each month to make money, and what they learn there is quickly disseminated throughout the wealthier classes in the North.
The shock of Mubarak's ouster is strong since he maintained a close relationship with fellow dictator Kim Jong-il, observers say. Mubarak had tapped his son Gamal as his successor, much as Kim Jong-il is handing over the baton to his son Jong-un.
Egyptian telecom firm Orascom provides mobile phone services in North Korea.
North Koreans have been restive since a failed currency reform in late 2009 and they suffer acute food shortage and bitterly cold weather.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/19/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
What a quandary for Kimmie! Pro-democracy protests threaten his families' regime and his only fascist Arab friends may go Islamist...and a caliphate threatens the Hennessy, girlies, and whatever other decadent "pollutions" he happens to into at the moment. You're damned either way, Kimmie!!! Let your people go--maybe you'll get a degree cooler in hell.
The United States on Friday voted against a UN resolution that would condemn settlements in the West Bank as "illegal."
The vote at the UN Security Council saw 14 states vote in favor with no abstentions. The vote was not adopted because of the opposition of a permanent member state.
That would be us!
Nice going, Bambi. You anger the Arab states with the veto and anger/insult/worry Israel by threatening not to veto. You got the worst of both positions. Takes some real B+ diplomacy to do that.
Under high congressional pressure, U.S. vetoes controversial Israel resolution
The U.S. vetoed a controversial Palestinian Authority resolution at the United Nations Security Council as pressure on the administration mounted in the House.
A letter urging Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to stand up against the resolution condemning Israel quickly racked up signatures in the House on Friday.
Reps. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) and Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) circulated the letter, which had been signed by at least 110 members, making the rounds beginning Thursday afternoon and again later on Friday.
The letter came on the same day that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) renewed their effort to secure a veto of the resolution, which the U.S. can do as one of the five permanent members of the Security Council.
"As we wrote to the president last month, the Palestinian leadership's decision to reject the difficult but vital responsibility of making peace with Israel through direct negotiations, and instead to advocate for anti-Israel measures by the United Nations Security Council, is counterproductive and unacceptable," Cantor and Hoyer said in a joint statement Thursday.
The United States vetoed a U.N. resolution Friday that would have condemned "illegal" Israeli settlements and demanded an immediate halt to all settlement building, a move certain to anger Arab countries and Palestinian supporters around the world.
The 14 other Security Council members voted in favor of the resolution, reflecting the wide support for the Palestinian-backed draft which had over 100 co-sponsors.
U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said the United States agrees with the rest of the council and the wider world "about the folly and illegitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity." But she said the U.S. believes "it is unwise" for the U.N.'s most powerful body to attempt to resolve key issues between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Iraqi officials likely will request thousands of U.S. troops remain in that country into next year to provide security and train indigenous forces, a senior lawmaker said Thursday. House Armed Services Committee ranking member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said he expects most House Democrats to be amenable to such an arrangement, which would require a revised U.S.-Iraqi security pact.
Under the current agreement between Baghdad and Washington, virtually all American military forces are set to leave Iraq by the end of 2011.
But some defense officials, experts and lawmakers are questioning whether the progress made on security there in recent years can be maintained once U.S. troops are gone. U.S. forces have made progress in creating stability in Iraq, Smith said, but the question is: Is that sustainable? I worry about that a great deal.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Israeli settlements "illegitimate" shortly before the United States vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning continued Israeli settlement expansion as illegal.
More B+ diplomacy from the smartest administration evah...
In an exclusive interview with the execrable "This Week" loudmouth anchor Christiane Amanpour taped on Friday afternoon, Clinton said, "I think it is absolutely clear to say, number one, that it's been American policy for many years that settlements were illegitimate and it is the continuing goal and highest priority of the Obama administration to keep working toward a two-state solution with both Israelis and Palestinians."
Even though neither want a two-state solution.
"It is the Israelis' and Palestinians' conflict, and even the best-intentioned outsiders cannot resolve it for them," Rice said after the vote at U.N. headquarters in New York City. "Therefore, every potential action must be measured against one overriding standard: Will it move the parties closer to negotiations and an agreement?
That's worked well these past sixty years. You can see how we've moved both parties together. Why there's no separation between them at all now...
"Unfortunately," she added, "this draft resolution risks hardening the positions of both sides. It could encourage the parties to stay out of negotiations and, if and when they did resume, to return to the Security Council whenever they reach an impasse."
You noticed. Wonder why you were willing to support it initially?
In December 2010, Clinton took a similarly harsh line against continued Israeli settlements.
Hilde is nothing if not consistent...
"We do not accept the legitimacy of continued settlement activity," she said in a speech at the Brookings Institution. "We believe their continued expansion is corrosive not only to peace efforts and two-state solution, but to Israel's future itself."
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/19/2011 00:00 ||
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#5
Ever looked at a detailed map of "Palestine" and/or the West Bank? Its a lot of little islands surrounded by a Sea of Israel...and lots of Cement block lane dividers and dead end roads and Freeways for Jews headed to the Mall.
And they have this thing called "The WALL" which is really interesting and actually rather effective.
And the "settlements" are springing up all OVER the place. Its like a rapidly spreading erosion of "Palestine". Give THAT erosion another decade or two of steady and relentless application and (can you guess?) there wont be enough "palestine" left to scatter your piss if you take a leak on Arafat's grave.
You want to know WHY "some" people dont like the "settlements"? Because given twenty years and the rate they are going there isn't going to BE any more "Palestine"...and you will have one side wins and the other loses.
What do you get when you dont get nuthin'? You lose.
Somebody's gotta win.
The name of the game is WIN. Winner's get Peace because they dont have to make a deal...they won.
You DO want "Peace" dont you? Well then, you want it to be over? No more "conflict". Crowd the little bastids till they fall off their chairs and then.... crush them.
Someday the "Palestinians" will be a footnote on p.50 or live in Brazil.
Do it.
#6
All with the word "it" what's the meaning of "illegitimate?" Doesn't seem like there is too much too see here other than to watch Hillary walking a tightrope between appeasement of the Palestinians and not completely tossing the Israelis under the bus.
[Arab News] The United States vetoed a UN resolution Friday that would have condemned Israeli settlements as "illegal" and called for an immediate halt to all settlement building.
The 14 other Security Council members voted in favor of the resolution.
The B.O. regime's veto is certain to anger Arab countries and Paleostinian supporters around the world. An abstention would have angered the Israelis, the closest US ally in the region, as well as Democratic and Republican supporters of Israel in the US Congress.
The US opposes new settlements but says taking the issue to the UN will only complicate efforts to resume stalled negotiations between Israel and the Paleostinians on a two-state solution.
The Paleostinians have said repeatedly that they will not resume peace talks until Israel halts settlement building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which the Paleostinians want as their capital.
Israeli-Paleostinian peace talks collapsed just weeks after they restarted in September because Israel ended a 10-month moratorium on settlement construction.
The UN vote came a day after Obama and Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas spoke by telephone, according to Paleostinian Authority front man Nabil Aburdeneh. They discussed the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia and the resolution on settlements, he said.
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[An Nahar] The process of the government formation has gone back to "square one" although the speeches of March 14 Those are the good guys, insofar as Leb has good guys... officials on ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's liquidation anniversary made it clear that the coalition won't take part in Premier-designate Najib Miqati's cabinet, informed political sources told An Nahar daily.
The newspaper ruled out the possibility of having a cabinet line-up ready by the end of February, saying Free Patriotic Movement Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic... leader Michel Aoun's ...a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah... demands are crippling the government formation process despite efforts by some teams from the March 8 forces ... the opposition to the Mar. 14th movement, consisting of Hizbullah and its allies, so-called in commemoration of their Mar. 8th, 2006 demonstration of strength in Beirut ... to facilitate Miqati's task.
Furthermore, Aoun's latest verbal attack on President Michel Suleiman created another obstacle to the government formation process, leading the head of state to hold onto the interior ministry more than before.
The FPM leader is insisting on getting the interior portfolio in addition to 11 other ministries.
The March 8 efforts to mediate between Aoun and Miqati materialized in a meeting between Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri's ... the Hizbullah sock puppet ... advisor, MP Ali Hassan Khalil, and the FPM leader on Wednesday night.
Caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil was delegated by Aoun to meet with Miqati again on Thursday.
Furthermore, As Safir daily said that Miqati met with Khalil, Bassil and Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's advisor, Hussein Khalil, at his residence in Verdun Thursday night.
The conferees agreed that Bassil would inform Aoun about the different point of views, including the possibility of giving the FPM leader's bloc the foreign ministry in return for keeping the interior ministry with Caretaker Minister Ziad Baroud and giving Berri the defense portfolio instead of the foreign ministry.
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[Iran Press TV] A senior Iranian holy man has praised the Egyptian Revolution against Western-backed geriatric President Hosni Mubarak, but warned against replacing a puppet leader with another.
"Egyptian people felt humiliated for being a subsidiary to Israel and could not take it any longer and thus the youths took action," Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said during a Friday sermon in Tehran, IRNA reported.
Ayatollah Jannati criticized the "imprudent" US policy to adopt an ambiguous stance in support for Mubarak despite their better knowledge that the countdown had started for the dictator's rule.
"Our concern is that lest only pawns might be replaced," he said, warning of an "enemy" plot to sweep new US puppet into power to parry the pro-democracy uprising in Egypt.
"The Egyptians should listen to our message. Many such acts were carried out in our country but resistance and reliance on God stopped them all."
The Iranian holy man expressed dismay at the Egyptian clergy's failure to "move ahead of people and side by side with them."
Recalling the holy manal leadership in the 1979 Islamic theocracy in Iran, Ayatollah Jannati called on the Egyptian holy mans to play a more active role and have share in the formation of the government in-the-making.
"Act like in Iran, do not sit on your hands," he urged.
Tehran's interim Friday Prayers leader also criticized the Western-backed Arab leaders especially in Bahrain and Yemen.
In January, a popular uprising in Tunisia sent President Zine El Abedine Ben Ali fleeing to Soddy Arabia after 23 years of authoritarian rule.
Egyptians followed suit to oust geriatric President Hosni Mubarak -- widely viewed as Israel's closest regional ally.
The revolutions have inspired popular protests in Bahrain, Jordan, Libya, Soddy Arabia, Yemen and other Arab and North African nations.
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[Iran Press TV] Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman has condemned the violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Bahrain, calling on Manama to exercise restraint.
Mehmanparast expressed concerns over "the Bahraini Army's use of excessive violence against protesters" and called on the government to "avoid violence in its confrontation with demonstrators," read a Foreign Ministry statement on Friday.
He expressed hope that the Bahraini people's demands will be taken into consideration in the kingdom's process of political reform and that their right to freely express their opinion will be respected.
On Friday, the Bahraini military opened machinegun fire on protesters trying to reach hospitals in what appeared to be an attempted massacre.
Army forces also prevented ambulances and medics from reaching those maimed amid massive pro-democracy protests in Bahrain.
The Friday shooting came after a funeral procession, held for those killed on Thursday, turned into pro-democracy protests with a turnout of tens of thousands, which is unprecedented over the past few weeks.
Four pro-democracy protesters were killed and 231 others maimed after riot police raided the protest camp in the early hours of Thursday, when most of the demonstrators were sleeping, in an attempt to clear capital's main square from demonstrators.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... Bahrain's crown prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa promised to start a national dialogue, once calm returns.
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Tolo News] The International Monetary Fund has recommended that Kabul Bank should be sold off to recover from current crisis. 
The North Korean authorities are apparently on full alert as news trickles in about pro-democracy protests in the Middle East despite an official blackout. According to a source, security agents have banned all gatherings, especially of university students, as news spreads about the public revolts in Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere in the Arab world. 
Michel Aoun's
