Proverbs 18:24 - A man that hath friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
A dog handler and his springer spaniel, who died within hours of each other in Afghanistan, are to be flown home to Britain together.
Lance Corporal Liam Tasker was shot dead on Tuesday while the pair were on patrol in southern Helmand province. His spaniel Theo died of a seizure shortly afterwards.
The Ministry of Defence said on Friday the 22-month-old dog's ashes would be brought back to Britain on the same flight as L/Cpl Tasker.
"A dog can not be repatriated, but they will be returned to the UK on the same day, in the same plane," a defence department spokesman said.
They will be flown into RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire next week.
Three weeks ago, Theo had been praised by the Ministry of Defence for finding 14 hidden bombs and weapons caches in just five months - a record for a dog and handler.
The spaniel, on his first tour of duty in Afghanistan, had uncovered so many improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that his time in the country was extended by a month.
Major Caroline Emmett, the officer commanding 104 Military Working Dog Squadron, paid tribute to a handler and dog that were "made for each other".
"Lance Corporal Tasker was an Arms Explosive Search dog handler and trainer of the highest calibre," she said.
"He and his dog had more operational finds than any individual team has had in Afghanistan to date and he saved many lives as a result of this. He was so proud of his achievements and I was so proud of him."
L/Cpl Tasker, 26, from Kirkcaldy, Fife, was the 358th member of the British armed forces to be killed since operations in Afghanistan began in 2001.
He died from injuries sustained in a fire fight with the Taliban, while Theo died after returning to the main British military base Camp Bastion.
Theo is the sixth British military dog killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001.
[Tolo News] Pakistain has apologised over its rocket attacks striking a district in eastern Nangarhar province in the past 20 days, a bigwig in Afghan ministry of interior said Sunday.
At a presser Interior Ministry Spokesman Zemarai Bashari called on Pakistain to stop such attacks targeting Afghan soil.
In the past twenty days, Goshta district in eastern Nangarhar province came under rocket attacks for six times.
Mr Bashari declined to provide details on casualties and damages left by the attacks.
"During the trilateral talks between Afghanistan, Pakistain and Isaf, the Pak side expressed apologies and said the missiles were fired mistakenly. We hope this is never repeated again," Mr Zemarai said.
But a bigwig in eastern Afghanistan said the attacks have forced more than 580 families to evacuate their houses.
Afghan forces have taken a different approach in the fight against faceless myrmidons that has helped to decrease civilian deaths by 61 percent in the past one week, Mr Bashari said.
He said in the past one week five drug laboratories have been destroyed and some drug caches have also been seized by security forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/07/2011 00:00 ||
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[Tolo News] More than 330 acres of land grasped by power brokers in Ghazni province came under the ownership of government, officials in agriculture department of Ghazni province said on Sunday.
The lands were grasped by power brokers and influential people in the province, but were retaken with the cooperation of judicial organisations, officials said.
Efforts are still in underway to free all the other government lands in the province.
Officials in the agriculture department see flash floods and some other natural disasters as the main factors hampering agricultural progress.
"Ghazni has the capacity of more dams to be built. If a number of dams are made, agriculture won't face any water shortage," provincial agriculture department chief, Sultan Hossain Abasyar, said.
Ghazni agriculture department is planning to provide agricultural trainings to farmers and to plant more than one million saplings as part of the department's efforts to expand green zones in the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/07/2011 00:00 ||
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Gromky, if you look at the top of each Rantburg article you will see a solid colored bar with a topic category. This is usually the country or region to which the story applies. In this case it says "Afghanistan".
[The Nation (Nairobi)] Kenya will not send its security forces to fight in Somalia. Internal Security minister George Saitoti said on Sunday the government will instead beef up security at the border with Somalia to prevent the fighting from spilling over to Kenya.
This comes only a week after a group of al-shabbab forces of Evil spread a series of attacks against the Somali Transitional Government in Mandera town killing one person and injuring several civilians.
The al-Shabaab ... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban. The organization's current leader is Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad, also known as Ibrahim al-Afghani. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a Kenyan al-Qaeda member, is considered the group's military leader... accuses Kenya of allowing Ethiopian soldiers to operate from its border towns to launch attacks at the militia group. But Kenya denies this. (Read: Kenya alert over Shabaab threats)
Last week, the government announced an indefinite closure of its border with Somalia following the terrorism threats from al-shabaab.
"We will guard our borders and will not accept people to come and fight from our country. If they want to fight, they should remain there (in Somalia)," said Prof Saitoti.
Calm is slowly returning to Mandera town after eight days of fighting in Somalia disrupted business on the Kenyan side.
On Sunday, residents started returning to their homes in upper sections of the town, which borders the Somali town of Bullahawa.
Security agencies have been urging the residents to return to their homes, which were destroyed by bombs and bullets in exchanges between the cut-throats and Transitional Federal Government soldiers on the Somali side.
More than 300 families in Mandera had decamped their homes after stray bullets injured five Kenyans and destroyed about four homesteads.
Mandera police boss Stephen Ruto said two Kenyans -- an elderly man and a 14-year-old boy were maimed by the stray bullets fired from Somalia side but the old man has since been treated and discharged.
"Some Kenyans living close to the border decamped their homes out of fear but no Kenyan was attacked by cut-throats during the fight. Some people were maimed by stray bullets," said Mr Ruto.
And Mandera town has been under 8pm to 5am curfew over the past four years when the sanction was introduced following a security operation by the military and the police conducting disarmament exercise.
But area police boss said the curfew was not official, but a temporary security measure. "When we stop people at night to ask what they are up to, that is what they call a curfew,' said the OCPD, Mr Ruto.
The border between Kenya and Somalia remains closed as security personnel patrol the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/07/2011 00:00 ||
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Desperate to avoid US military involvement in Libya in the event of a prolonged struggle between the Gaddafi regime and its opponents, the Americans have asked Saudi Arabia if it can supply weapons to the rebels in Benghazi. The Saudi Kingdom, already facing a "day of rage" from its 10 per cent Shia Muslim community on Friday, with a ban on all demonstrations, has so far failed to respond to Washington's highly classified request, although King Abdullah personally loathes the Libyan leader, who tried to assassinate him just over a year ago.
It might actually be true, but then again, it's Fiskie, and he's been irrelevant for a long, long time.
Washington's request is in line with other US military co-operation with the Saudis. The royal family in Jeddah, which was deeply involved in the Contra scandal during the Reagan administration, gave immediate support to American efforts to arm guerrillas fighting the Soviet army in Afghanistan in 1980 and later -- to America's chagrin -- also funded and armed the Taliban.
So even though it was a completely different situation, Fiskie thinks the House of Saud will respond the same way.
But the Saudis remain the only US Arab ally strategically placed and capable of furnishing weapons to the guerrillas of Libya. Their assistance would allow Washington to disclaim any military involvement in the supply chain -- even though the arms would be American and paid for by the Saudis.
That would require Bambi to show some guile and opportunism in conducting foreign affairs, something neither he nor his foreign policy expert Joe Biden have ever demonstrated.
The Saudis have been told that opponents of Gaddafi need anti-tank rockets and mortars as a first priority to hold off attacks by Gaddafi's armour, and ground-to-air missiles to shoot down his fighter-bombers.
Supplies could reach Benghazi within 48 hours but they would need to be delivered to air bases in Libya or to Benghazi airport.
I'm sure the mighty Saoodi Air Force C-5Bs will be lumbering into Benghazi any moment now.
If the guerrillas can then go on to the offensive and assault Gaddafi's strongholds in western Libya, the political pressure on America and Nato -- not least from Republican members of Congress -- to establish a no-fly zone would be reduced.
US military planners have already made it clear that a zone of this kind would necessitate US air attacks on Libya's functioning, if seriously depleted, anti-aircraft missile bases, thus bringing Washington directly into the war on the side of Gaddafi's opponents.
Fiskie sez that like it's a bad thing...
For several days now, US Awacs surveillance aircraft have been flying around Libya, making constant contact with Malta air traffic control and requesting details of Libyan flight patterns, including journeys made in the past 48 hours by Gaddafi's private jet which flew to Jordan and back to Libya just before the weekend.
That's called 'good intel', or 'being prepared'. It's the sort of thing we Great Satans like to do...
Officially, Nato will only describe the presence of American Awacs planes as part of its post-9/11 Operation Active Endeavour, which has broad reach to undertake aerial counter-terrorism measures in the Middle East region.
We Great Satans even give these operations fancy names.
The data from the Awacs is streamed to all Nato countries under the mission's existing mandate. Now that Gaddafi has been reinstated as a super-terrorist in the West's lexicon, however, the Nato mission can easily be used to search for targets of opportunity in Libya if active military operations are undertaken.
You mean there's actually a point to flying AWACS planes around?
Al Jazeera English television channel last night broadcast recordings made by American aircraft to Maltese air traffic control, requesting information about Libyan flights, especially that of Gaddafi's jet.
An American Awacs aircraft, tail number LX-N90442 could be heard contacting the Malta control tower on Saturday for information about a Libyan Dassault-Falcon 900 jet 5A-DCN on its way from Amman to Mitiga, Gaddafi's own VIP airport.
Nato Awacs 07 is heard to say: "Do you have information on an aircraft with the Squawk 2017 position about 85 miles east of our [sic]?"
Malta air traffic control replies: "Seven, that sounds to be Falcon 900- at flight level 340, with a destination Mitiga, according to flight plan."
The mighty Fiskie is reduced to casting sinister aspersions on our ability to monitor flights over Libyan air space.
But Saudi Arabia is already facing dangers from a co-ordinated day of protest by its own Shia Muslim citizens who, emboldened by the Shia uprising in the neighbouring island of Bahrain, have called for street protests against the ruling family of al-Saud on Friday.
After pouring troops and security police into the province of Qatif last week, the Saudis announced a nationwide ban on all public demonstrations.
Shia organisers claim that up to 20,000 protesters plan to demonstrate with women in the front rows to prevent the Saudi army from opening fire.
You would think this would cause the Royal House of Saud to consider its own backyard first...
If the Saudi government accedes to America's request to send guns and missiles to Libyan rebels, however, it would be almost impossible for President Barack Obama to condemn the kingdom for any violence against the Shias of the north-east provinces.
Really? Bambi has no problem at all being duplicitous. Ask all those folks under the bus...
Thus has the Arab awakening, the demand for democracy in North Africa, the Shia revolt and the rising against Gaddafi become entangled in the space of just a few hours with US military priorities in the region.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/07/2011 00:00 ||
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And of course somehow this does not count as an attack on Libya.
#2
Why oh why Lord can we not keep our yaps shut and stay the hell out of other people's business. It will only go bad for us in the end, whomever wins.
#4
Funny. If Bummer hadn't been so quick to push Mubarak out the door he might have gotten some help from Egypt. But then, he really does need to learn to mind his own damn business.
[Arab News] A large number of young Saudis as well as religious holy mans have rejected the plan to hold anti-government protests in the Kingdom. Speaking to Arab News, they commended the government's open-door policy enabling the public to meet with authorities and express their views.
They also emphasized that freedom is guaranteed in the Kingdom, which follows the teachings of the Qur'an and Sunnah. They believed that demonstrations would not bring the desired results and would cause only chaos and destruction.
Saleh Al-Mustadi, 33, who works for a service firm in Jeddah, said he was not happy with developments in many Arab countries where hundreds have been killed in demonstrations. "I hope peace and stability returns to these countries," he said.
Al-Mustadi believed that demonstrations have done more harm than good.
"In Soddy Arabia, we have many other alternative means to express our views. For example, every week King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah receives members of the public and takes quick measures to solve their problems," he said. "I don't agree with the idea of demonstrations, although some Arab countries allow them, because they are more harmful to the public."
Fahd Al-Sahli, 29, a teacher, also rejected the idea of demonstrations saying it is not a solution. "The Saudi government has been promoting dialogue between officials and the general public as well as between the various groups to resolve problems," he said, adding that Islam does not allow violence and destruction of properties.
"Demonstrators may demand unreasonable things and the governments may not be convinced. So it is always better to have some sort of dialogue to reach agreeable solutions."
On Saturday, the Interior Ministry issued a statement underscoring the Kingdom's long-standing prohibitions on public demonstrations, saying demonstrations and calls for demonstrations "go against the principles of Shariah and Saudi customs and traditions."
Al-Sahli commended the Kingdom's dialogue experiment initiated by King Abdullah.
"The national dialogue forums set the stage for constructive dialogue between various segments of society, realizing public interests and safeguarding national unity," he said.
The King Abdul Aziz National Dialogue Center has been organizing dialogue forums on social, cultural, economic, educational and other pressing issues. "This is a unique experiment that cannot be seen in other parts of the Arab world," he pointed out.
Faris Al-Harbi, 22, who works for a car company, said that freedom of expression is guaranteed in the Kingdom within the framework of Islamic teachings.
"Citizens can either approach the court or meet the authorities to solve their problems. Some regional governors meet citizens weekly to look into their problems."
Khaled Al-Ghamdi, 21, a university student, also emphasized the importance of constructive dialogue between the authorities and citizens. "It's a better alternative to destructive demonstrations," he said.
"Poverty, corruption and unemployment are issues all over the world, not just in Arab countries. The Saudi government has taken steps to fight these problems. Following the Jan. 26 floods in Jeddah, the authorities are now questioning 55 government officials and businessmen for causing the deluge."
He also spoke about the government's efforts to fight corruption by taking action against corrupt officials. "In Soddy Arabia we have a system called administrative intelligence to monitor corruption in government departments," Al-Ghamdi said.
King Abdullah recently beefed up the Kingdom's monitoring agencies by adding 1,200 employees, he added.
Faisal Al-Subaie, 26, who works in the oil sector, pointed out that Saudi Islamic scholars including the late Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Baz have opposed demonstrations as un-Islamic practice.
Sheikh Muhammad Othaimeen, another prominent scholar who died in 2000, also rejected demonstrations saying it would cause chaos and confusion and harm the public.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... the Council of Senior Islamic Scholars issued a statement on Sunday, forbidding demonstrations and public protests.
"The council affirms that demonstrations are forbidden in this country. The correct way in Shariah of realizing common interest is by consultation, which is what the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) established," said the council, which is chaired by Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh.
"Reform and advice should not be via demonstrations and ways that provoke strife and division and this is what the religious scholars of this country in the past and now have forbidden and warned against," the council said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/07/2011 00:00 ||
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[Arab News] Political unrest in the region has eroded $140 billion in market capitalization from stock markets in the Middle East and North Africa over the past five weeks.
The market capitalization of 16 Arab bourses was valued at $862 billion on March 4, compared with $1.002 trillion on Jan. 25, a day prior to the political crisis in Egypt that triggered unrest across the Middle East, Rooters quoted a report from the Arab Monetary Fund on Sunday.
Arab stock markets gained about 9 percent in 2010 with their market capitalization touching $983.8 billion, the report from the Abu Dhabi-based fund said.
"The current situation offers uncomfortable echoes of the post-Lehman Brothers period when a bout of investor panic led to significant value destruction that bore little relation to economic fundamentals in a region that was soon to emerge from the crisis far more unscathed than its peers," said Jarmo T. Kotilaine, chief economist at the National Commercial Bank.
Once again, he said, we are seeing investor behavior thon the lamly disregards the underlying strength of the regional economy due to an overreaction to uncertainty. From the perspective of the GCC bourses, this continues a frustrating pattern of relative under-performance as attractive fundamentals are countered by investor malaise, whether as a result of economic or socio-political anxieties.
The risk, of course, is that the malaise lingers for an extended period, continuing in some ways a structural downtrend that began after the 2005-2006 bubble corrected. "The challenge for the region is to redouble efforts to address both the temporary and the structural causes of this underperformance," Kotilaine added.
He said right now there is an acute need for effective communication of the attractive fundamentals and the solid economic prospects of the region, as well as of the various policy efforts underway to boost development. Most of them are ongoing and of relatively long standing, rather than merely reactions to the crisis. In structural terms, the crisis highlights the risks of retail investor-dominated bourses and a lack of investor education.
These problems do not have immediate solutions but that only increases the urgency of intensifying the efforts currently underway to foster the maturation of these markets.
The losses in just over a month are far more than what the markets gained in 2010, an AMF official said.
Initial public offerings (IPOs) resumed a slow recovery in the Arab markets with 27 issues in 2010, raising $2.75 billion compared with 17 issues valued at $1.98 billion the previous year, the report said without giving details.
Foreign investors have been net sellers in the Arab stock markets in the first-quarter this year as most shied away in the last few weeks due to the regional turmoil, the report added.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/07/2011 00:00 ||
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Great post Fred. Everyone is gathering on one side of the boat. Calmer heads will take advantage now.
Water and food will return as primary issues after this distraction is over.
Photo can be found here.
The front cover of the upcoming issue of Rebeldia magazine, will have a photo montage showing the image of Commandantes Ramona and Hugo.
Rebeldia is a publication of the Mexican Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional (EZLN). the indigenous communist movement in southern Mexico.
Photos showing the faces of senior leaders of the EZLN are rare. The face of subcommandante Marcos, the group's leader have never been shown except showing him wearing a black balaclava.
The EZLN has been inactive since its last combat operations in 1994.
Commandante Ramona died of kidney cancer in 2006 after an 11 year fight with the disease. Like Marcos, her face has never been shown in photos and was even then usually masked by a black balaclava.
Francisco Gomez Hernandez or Commander Hugo, died in the Battle of Ocosingo, Chiapas in early January, 1994.
The new publication, the first since December 2010, was published in March.
What a relief that Nelly Furtado has decided to give away the $1-million fee she received for performing for the loathsome Gadhafi clan. Now that blood is running in the streets of Tripoli, other entertainers are rushing to follow her example. Mariah Carey says she feels "horrible and embarrassed" by her New Year's Eve performance for the Gadhafis three years ago, and although she has refused to donate her rumoured $1-million fee to charity, she's promising to give away the proceeds from a new single to human rights. "I was naive and unaware of who I was booked to perform for," she explained.
The same excuse cannot be made for other Westerners who've profited from cozying up to Moammar Gadhafi and his ill-gotten gains. In fact, an astonishing number of them wittingly or unwittingly participated in his rehabilitation....
It's nauseating enough to see fellow dictators (Hugo Chavez) and nutty Nation of Islam types (Louis Farrakhan, to whom Colonel Gadhafi tried to transfer $1-billion back in the 1990s) sucking up to the Libyan loon. It's even worse to see leading statesmen (Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Silvio Berlusconi, Nicolas Sarkozy) kiss him on both cheeks. Worst of all was the 2009 British deal to release the Lockerbie bomber on compassionate grounds. (The bomber allegedly had terminal cancer, from which he seems to have made a remarkable recovery as soon as he arrived back home in Libya.) It was a snub to victims of terrorism everywhere....
At least Nelly and Mariah, along with Beyoncé, Lionel Richie, Jay-Z and Usher -- who've also performed for the Gadhafi clan -- held out for decent sums of money. I suspect the intellectuals came far more cheap. Nor have they (so far) admitted remorse for their shameless behaviour as the Loon of Libya's useful dupes. Perhaps they mistook a taste for Western pop music and a little window dressing for a sincere desire for reform....
Go read the rest of it.
Posted by: Mike ||
03/07/2011 12:55 ||
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How the Loon of Libya won the West
Simple, he bought them off the discount rack at Toys R Us.
#4
No need to read the rest of it. Just remember that Gaddafy has ever been much friendlier to Soviet Union and the left than to the United States and the Right. Just remember that when Reagan tried to bomb him out, socialist governments in Europe vetoed the US planes netry of their space that some of them had mechanical problems and had to abort mission without releasing their bombs, that had they been able to take a shorter route Khadaffi would have been killed over twenty five years ago. That is what we knew but that is not all: minister of Foreign Affairs of former French president Mitterrand has revealed that Mitterrand told Khaddaffi about the incoming raid.
And that is not all, let's remember how those who are faulting us for Khaddaffi did their utmost to save Saddam Hussein a dictator who maes Khadafio a nice man by comparison.
#5
Certainly money plays a role, as we have seen from the principled and nuanced objections of our euroWeenie betters to whacking Saddam; objections that turned out to consist mainly of having a nice juicy piece of the Oil For Palaces pie. But has there been *any* hero of Left in the past century or so who does not have a huge pile of corpses to his credit, who has not afflicted economic misery on his fellow citizens based on some fatally flawed theory, who has not built up a brutal network of secret police and enforcers to remain in power?
It is not surprising that entertainers fall under the spell of these theatrical "men of the people" but that Western intellectuals (/mega-snort!) not only swallow but promote this rotten nonsense is nearly beyond belief.
Better make sure he leaves his gun on the plane .... :-)
During Mondays trip to the U.S. Navy base in southeast Cuba, West will "tour the military prison there, investigate detainee treatment and review the process by which suspected terrorists are tried through the military court system," said West spokeswoman Angela Sachitano.
The identity of the other congressional members on the trip will be revealed once they return, according to a committee spokesman.
#2
And they thought the IG inspection was tough. D&P will be utterly useless against West, so they had better be very transparent, good and bad. If they are square, he will treat them square.
#3
I don't even think they have too be trying too hide anything. I watched a docu about Guantanamo and their jail was nicer than the ones in the US for American citizens. (and yes i have visited a few of them)
Posted by: chris ||
03/07/2011 19:07 Comments ||
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Aaay-Peee article, so fair use here carved from the story at the link.
WASHINGTON Muslims in the America arent cooperating enough with law enforcement to counter the radicalization of young followers by al-Qaeda-linked groups, said a House leader on terrorism issues, renewing debate about religions role in motivating extremists and what the United States can do without alienating the Islamic world.
Rep. Peter T. King, New York Republican, who is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, asserted that al Qaeda terrorists are targeting Muslim youth in this country, previewing his hearing Thursday on the extent of the problem and the Muslim communitys response.
Problem is, Rep. King is better at being a demagogue than he is at elucidating and solving problems. That's true of a lot of Congress-critters, of course, but loud, splashy remonstrations aren't needed. We need a lot of quiet education of the law-abiding Muslims in this country that giving money to the Widows Ammunition Fund is just like the Irish-American community giving money to NorAid: and must eventually be dealt with in the same way. Bambi has his head in the sand, which is equally wrong.
The overwhelming majority of Muslims are outstanding Americans, but at this stage in our history theres an effort to radicalize elements within the Muslim community, he said in an interview broadcast Sunday.
Its there, and thats where the threat is coming from at this time, Mr. King said.
I dont believe there is sufficient cooperation by American Muslims with law enforcement, Mr. King said. Certainly my dealings with the police in New York and FBI and others say they do not believe they get the same they do not give the level of cooperation that they need.
Sounding off about that is of marginal help, at best. We need an FBI that can quietly go to religious and community leaders and educate them on the true score. That's how we'll get help in the end. Blustering looks good in the press but just turns off the people in the community who would otherwise help us.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/07/2011 00:00 ||
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I dont believe there is sufficient cooperation by American Muslims with law enforcement, Mr. King said.
Thus far, Rep. King has resisted his political urges and, for the most part, wisely maintained a narrow focus. He's kept to the factual and steered away from debates that illicit emmotional opinions designed to obfuscate. King has also shrugged off sniping from the other end that insist his witness list is too limited and should include expert tesitmony regarding motivation. But if the answer to the primary question, is there sufficient cooperation by American Muslims to suppress homegrown terrorism, is No - the follow up has to be Why. And if, at that point, King can maintain discipline while navigating through the cultural weeds the answers will be illuminating. Maybe people will finally begin to view so-called "social justice" groups like CAIR and DRUM differently once they understand that not only are they not assisting law enforcment they are actually working to suppress cooperation within the community .
#2
We need an FBI that can quietly go to religious and community leaders and educate them on the true score.
Maybe it's the cynic in me, but, I believe that the majority of "leaders" know exactly what the score is and approve whole heartedly. It is the tenets of the religion and all of the supporting groups from the Mad Mullahs to CIR that are driving this.
Hundreds of Christians have taken to the streets of Pakistan in protest at the assassination of the minorities minister, Shahbaz Bhatti, who was gunned down outside his home on Wednesday.
As the government declared three days of mourning, demonstrations were held across Punjab, where the Christian community is concentrated, with protesters burning tyres and demanding justice.
Such a show of anger is rare among Pakistan's Christian minority, who enjoy little political power and are more often in the news as victims of violence from Muslim extremists. One of the largest crowds gathered in Gojra, in Punjab, where nine Christians were killed seven of them burned alive in 2009.
"The killers may have escaped the scene of the crime but the real culprit is known to all: an extremist mindset that has, with the sponsorship of some institutions of the state, spread far and wide," wrote Dawn newspaper.
References to "institutions" are usually a euphemism for the military's powerful intelligence agencies that nurtured select jihadist groups in the 80s and 90s and, according to western officials, still do today.
When the prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, led a two-minute silence in parliament, three members of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam party
One of the Muslim religious parties, clearly.
remained seated.
Pakistani society is nominally caste-free, but anti-Christian prejudices run deep, with Christians largely confined to low-paying jobs. Some Muslims refuse to eat food cooked by Christians, considering it unclean.
Haitian President Rene Preval has expressed gratitude to the Islamic Republic of Iran for its humanitarian aid to the earthquake-hit people of the country.
According to IRNA, the Haitian chief executive made the remark in a Saturday meeting to receive the credentials of the new Iranian ambassador to Port-au-Prince.
Preval thanked the Iranian government and nation for their medical and food aid over the devastating January 2010 quake, which killed 316,000 people and left the Haitian capital in ruins.
The calamity in the country also made more than two million people homeless.
Iran dispatched about 30 tons of humanitarian aid, including food, tents, and medicine to Haiti a few days after the 7.3 Richter scale earthquake. Thirty tons of fertilizer personally donated by Dinnerjacket and the mad mullahs themselves? I'll bet most of the time it took that "aid" to be delivered was related to logistics.
The Islamic Republic also sent a group of 30 doctors and rescuers to the tremor-stricken country.
Preval further called for strengthening ties between Iran and Haiti, particularly trade and transfer of technology. Transfer of technology? Haiti? Perhaps you hope to learn construction techniques from the Haitians?
Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi has unveiled the country's first domestically-made self-propelled wheeled Howitzer cannon.
The self-propelled wheeled 155mm Howitzer cannon has been made with the aim of increasing the mobility of the Armed Forces' artillery, Vahidi said in the unveiling ceremony on Sunday.
The upgraded Howitzer cannon has been designed and made by the innovative experts of Iran's defense Industries to meet the strategic and tactical needs of Iran's Armed Forces, Vahidi added.
The Iranian defense minister described enhanced operational radius, latency and mobility as well as easier maintenance as the Howitzer cannon's features.
With the mass production of these cannons in the near future, the Armed Forces will be able to prepare the military for operation in the desired location in the shortest time possible and relocate after the mission is accomplished in the shortest time [possible] and with minimum manpower.
In recent years, Iran has made important breakthroughs in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing important military equipment and systems.
In January, Iran successfully test-fired surface-to-air mid-range Hawk missile and the Iranian Defense Ministry delivered new naval cruise missile systems to the Navy.
The systems, designed and manufactured by Iranian experts, are capable of spotting and destroying different targets at sea.
The Navy has successfully test-fired a range of powerful missiles mounted with laser technology, which display high precision and have a range of 45 km (28 miles) to 300 km (186 miles).
In 2010, Iran inaugurated the production lines of the Seraj high-speed vessel and a new generation of the high-speed Zolfaghar. The Iranian vessel is capable of launching missiles, and sailing at a speed of 70 knots (82 mph).
Iran has repeatedly assured that its military might poses no threat to other countries, saying Tehran's defense doctrine is solely based on deterrence. In the form of blowing up oil shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
#3
Iamadinnerjacket says "Just ignore those North Korean instruction manuals, our innovative experts will write new ones"
Posted by: Steven ||
03/07/2011 17:19 Comments ||
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#4
So I guess Press TV Iran doesn't know yet about our super secret technology that we got from the aliens after we rescued them from their disabled starship?
Oh...damn!
Matches the new CIA national intelligence estimate, which is fairly ugly. Everyone involved in writing, vetting, and signing off on that 2007 travesty should be summarily fired for playing politics when they had sworn to be unbiased professionals.
#2
Any sane person reading that report ought to be worried.
Talk about the great Islamic conspiracy!?!?! Dang we get a closet Islamic Brotherhood advocate inspecting Iran and issuing a series of vacuous reports about tut tutting the Mullahs about not playing nice with their nuclear program and NOW we get someone who essentially says Iran is knuckles to the fire wall full speed ahead with developing a nuclear weapon.
Why do I think there is a connection between ElBaradei's recent advocacy of the Islamic Brotherhood and his culpability in helping the Iranians disguise their nuclear program?
Makes we want to go out to the garage and find the keys to the padlock on my fallout shelter.
Yep a nuclear disaster/terrorist act coming to a city near you...Thanks UN you've @#$@! it up again.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
03/07/2011 12:36 Comments ||
Top||
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.
al-Shabaab
By Robert Fisk, Middle East "Correspondent"
Margaret Wente, Toronto Globe & Mail
Haitian President Rene Preval has expressed gratitude to the Islamic Republic of Iran for its humanitarian aid to the earthquake-hit people of the country. 
