The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states. The Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves, and reach their potential, in a sovereign and contiguous state.
Anything else you need to know?
Posted by: Matt ||
05/19/2011 13:27 Comments ||
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#2
...contiguous state.
And how pray tell does the WB & Gaza become contiguous?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu swiftly rejected President Obama's call Thursday for Israel to pull back to the borders that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War, calling those lines militarily "indefensible."
Obama, in a sweeping address tackling the uprisings in the Middle East and the stalled peace process, stunned Washington and Jerusalem by endorsing Palestinians' demand for their own state based on the pre-1967 borders. The break with longstanding U.S. policy appeared to immediately aggravate the Israelis, who want the borders of any future Palestinian state determined through negotiations.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabeel Arabi told Italian newspaper La Republica on Wednesday he had brokered the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation deal in the hopes of creating "a true partner" for peace.
"With this united Palestinian [government] Israel can negotiate for real, can carry through the implementation of UN Resolution 181 of 1947 which called for an Israeli and a Palestinian state," Arabi said in the interview.
During the interview Arabi dismissed concerns that Hamas, being a terrorist organization, would actually hurt the peace process. "Even George Washington was considered a terrorist, Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir, as well," he said.
Arabi, scheduled to become secretary-general of the Arab League in July, said Hamas would agree to negotiate with Israel, despite the fact that some of the organization's members called for violence against the Jewish State.
Hamas co-founder Mahmoud al-Zahar said Wednesday he rejected peace talks with Israel and that Hamas would not allow Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to pursue them. Last week al-Zahar said any peace agreement with Israel would be a prelude to war.
"Egypt is ready to organize negotiations together with the United States and do what Clinton, Bush and Obama have asked, to create an Israeli and a Palestinian State," Arabi said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/19/2011 00:00 ||
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CAIRO The Muslim Brotherhood said on Wednesday the party it formed to contest elections has chosen a Christian intellectual as vice president and numbers almost 100 Coptic Christians among its founding members. The Freedom and Justice Party also has close to 1,000 female members, party official Saad al-Katatni said on the Islamist groups website.
The number of founding members has reached 8,821 ..., including 978 women and 93 Copts. Coptic thinker Rafiq Habib has been chosen as the partys vice president, Katatni said.
He said Habib was chosen not just because he is Christian but because he is a great intellectual and adds value to the party.
The presence of Copts among the partys founders shows the Muslim Brotherhood does what it says it will do, and that our Coptic brothers are partners in the nation, said the party official.
Katatni described the Freedom and Justice Party as a civilian (movement) based on the principles of (Islamic) Sharia law. Its activities are to kick off on June 17 after the formation of a political bureau, he said.
The formerly banned Muslim Brotherhood, Egypts best-organised movement, announced on April 30 the formation of a non-theocratic party to contest up to half of parliaments seats in a September election. The Brotherhood has also pledged not to field a candidate in a presidential poll to be held in November.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/19/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Meet Token, remember Token from South Park? This is another Token
#4
Safety first. A strongman should pick a #2 who cannot possibly lead a successful revolt against him. And who he can safely blame in case something goes wrong.
Posted by: James ||
05/19/2011 13:13 Comments ||
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#5
Remember that one of Saddam's top guys was a Christian as well, the red-headed one. The point being, the religious minorities in the Muslim world will often work with the strongest Muslim party that will offer them protection.
Despite their deepening political divide, the United States and Saudi Arabia are quietly expanding defense ties on a vast scale, led by a little-known project to develop an elite force to protect the kingdom's oil riches and future nuclear sites.
In a ruling sure to enrage large swaths of the Mexican left, the Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nacion (SCJN) ruled Wednesday that soldiers involved in deaths of civilians do not have to be tried in civilian courts, according to Mexican press accounts.
The issue was a central objection by leftist politicians to the new Mexican National Security Law (La Ley de Seguridad Nacional) currently languishing in the Chamber of Deputies. A coalition of leftist political parties including Partido Revolucion Democratica (PRD), Partido de Trajabadores (PT) and independent leftists stopped progress of the law until a court determination of the issue could be made.
Last week's March for Peace and Justice in central Mexico led by leftist writer Javier Sicily made several demands of the Mexican national government, one of which was to stop the new national security law, and the issue of trying Mexican soldiers in civilian courts for civilian deaths.
Sicily lost a son to a drug related murder in March and has been crusading against Mexican president Felipe Calderon Hinojosa's war on the drug cartels. Sicily is closely aligned with the independent Mexican left, and is a contributor with at least two leftist publications including Proceso.
The court ruling now removes one contentious issue off the table and makes passage of the new controversial law easier.
As matters stand now, a special session will be called for in July, when the new law is expected to be passed.
The new national security law has provisions that allows the Mexican military greater autonomy in dealing with armed drug cartel suspects, including interrogation of suspects and independently following its own intelligence, developed and otherwise, which currently gets filtered through the local legal establishment, mainly the states attorneys general
Objections by the Mexican left over this proposed greater autonomy has led to fears that more civilians could be killed by Mexican Army operations against the drug cartels. It was contended that forcing the military to turn over soldiers to civilian legal authorities in the event of civilian deaths could provide a restraint on future human rights violations by the army.
Past behavior by the army in dealing with civilian deaths has been no indicator that restraint is needed.
Of the five civilians deaths involving the Mexican Army mentioned in the April, 2011 release of the US State department Human Rights report, three were deliberate shootings made in error, which the other two are still under investigation. Of those three cases, two of them are already either underway or resolved in Mexican military courts, while the April shooting may not even be a shooting but a killing by drug cartel gangsters. To see a detailed report on the issues with the Mexican Army and human rights, click here and here. Follow the links for additional information.
China has warned in unequivocal terms that any attack on Pakistan would be construed as an attack on China.
Posturing. China isn't anywhere near ready to fight a war with America. And if they dump their U.S. Treasuries, we'll put tariffs on their products... which are already starting to lose market share due to lower cost manufacturers.
Beijing has advised Washington to respect Pakistan's sovereignty and solidarity and this was formally conveyed to the United States at last week's China-US strategic dialogue and economic talks.
The Chinese foreign minister, who represented his country in the talks, conveyed the Chinese feelings to the United States. Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao disclosed this during his two-hour-long formal talks with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani at the Great Hall of the People. The two prime ministers also held a 45-minute one-to-one meeting before beginning the talks with their respective delegations.
Highly-placed diplomatic sources told The News here in Beijing that the Chinese leadership was extremely forthcoming in assuring its unprecedented support to Pakistan for its national cause and security and discussed with PM Gilani all subjects of mutual interests.
The Chinese prime minister announced that the Chinese leadership was sending a special envoy to Islamabad to express solidarity with Pakistan at this crucial period in its history. The envoy, a senior level minister, will also take part in the celebrations for the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Sources disclosed that China had also agreed to provide Pakistan 50 new JF-17 Thunder multi-role fighter planes for its air force. The Block-58 planes would be produced in Pakistan under a co-production agreement. It is likely that the production of the planes would start in June next year and till then China will complete the supply of 50 JF-17 planes for which an agreement was signed earlier.
#2
in actual fact if our intelligence agencies were at all "intelligent" we would have made out like Iran and swiftly turned China and the Islamists against each other.
China has the ability to be riled at them easily look at the Uighers. Look how they treat Falun Gong/Falun Dafa.
We could have easily stirred up trouble and sat back, let them fight each other and wear themselves out.
#10
China has warned in unequivocal terms that any attack on Pakistan would be construed as an attack on China.
Wishful thinking by this Pakistani paper. Now, if this editorial had been published in the People's Daily... Besides, Uncle Sam attacks Pakistan daily via drone strikes, and it's not as if the Chinese are sending the PLAAF up to shoot the drones down.
#12
During the 1971 war, Pakistani commanders were told that China was coming to their aid. One Pakistani unit, surrounded by Indian troops, saw the air filled with white parachutes. The Pakistani came out of their bunkers cheering for their Chinese allies. Problem was, the men on the parachutes were Indian paratroops, who promptly captured them all.
Posted by: john frum ||
05/19/2011 21:02 Comments ||
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[An Nahar] U.S. President Barack B.O. Obama will Thursday seek to sketch a plausible policy response to the sudden, complex and often contradictory demands thrown up by an "Arab Spring" of popular revolt.
In a major speech, Obama will seek to quell domestic criticism and uncertainty in the Middle East and North Africa about the exact nature of U.S. policy.
Obama sees "an opportunity to sort of step back and assess what we've all witnessed, the historic change we've seen," front man Jay Carney said.
"He'll talk specifically about ways that we can best support that positive change while focusing on our core principles: nonviolence, support for human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... and support for political and economic reform."
Carney said that the speech would make "news" and promised some "specific new ideas" about new U.S. policy towards the region.
What Obama will not do, it appears, is use the speech to re-launch his stalled drive for Israeli-Paleostinian peace -- even though Jordan's King Abdullah II on Tuesday called the struggle the "core" regional issue.
The gentleman has learnt that much wisdom, at least.
Though Obama hopes to focus on Arab uprisings, simply restating failed approaches to the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict could undercut his message, causing some analysts to question the timing of the speech.
"The metric by which many in the Arab world will continue to view the United States is what we do on the Arab-Israeli conflict," said Steven Cook, of the Council on Foreign Relations.
"There really doesn't seem to me to be a tremendous opportunity here to strike out on a different course that's going to be productive."
From the first murmurings of discontent in Tunisia to the revolt that toppled Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... the crackdowns in Syria and Bahrain, and the full-scale war in Libya, Obama has struggled to frame a coherent U.S. message.
The breathtaking speed, historical scope and complexity of change sweeping the region caught Washington, like the leaders it challenged, unawares.
Uprisings against U.S.-allied leaders like Mubarak and Yemen's President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh, ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower... a key anti-terror ally, exposed a Faustian pact with leaders who oppressed their people but delivered decades of stability.
It left Obama, who ran for president as a prophet of hope, torn between ageing autocrats and youthful demands for change in a region primed with U.S. vital interests and oil supplies.
For many Americans, the most significant foreign event of the year is the U.S. killing of the late Osama bin Laden ... who knows that it's like to live in the belly of a whale only he's not living... in Pakistain, a fact pointing to a key domestic audience for Thursday's speech at the State Department.
Obama may argue that bin Laden's death is a sign that al-Qaeda's jihad is being overtaken by more positive trends encapsulated by the "Arab Spring."
Framing policy on the hoof, when unrest boiled across the Arab world, Obama said America would always support the rights of protest and free expression.
But he also sought to avoid the United States, with its tattered regional reputation, being seen as puppet master in a region scarred by colonialism and conspiracy theories.
With key U.S. allies threatened, he also stressed that each nation was different, rejecting a doctrinal policy that might limit room for maneuver.
Obama explained his rationale in February -- after the ouster of Mubarak.
"What we didn't do was pretend that we could dictate the outcome in Egypt, because we can't," he said.
"We were very mindful that it was important for this to remain an Egyptian event that the United States did not become the issue."
Often, however, U.S. statements only provoked other questions, and analysts are keen to see Obama explain logical contradictions.
Many observers have asked why Washington joined a military effort in Libya, on the side of anti-Moammer Gadhafi forces, but stayed on the sidelines when ferocious crackdowns took place in Bahrain -- a key military ally.
Others wonder whether fears of regime change and chaos that would threaten Israel have caused Obama to soften the line against Syria's crackdown.
When Obama did back protestors when the tide turned against U.S.-backed leaders -- as in Egypt and Yemen -- he ran into trouble.
Soddy Arabia was furious at Mubarak's treatment -- and along with Gulf nations appears to be stiffening its resistance to political change.
But Riyadh remains an ally Washington can ill afford to lose and is one of a number of Gulf states backed by billions of dollars of U.S. military spending -- as a bulwark against a rising Iran.
The president must also deal with lowered expectations following his address to the Mohammedan world in Cairo in 2009.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/19/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Often, however, U.S. statements only provoked other questions, and analysts are keen to see Obama explain logical contradictions.
CIA Director Leon Panetta, concerned by leaks about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, sent a letter to CIA employees on Wednesday warning them to protect classified information.
Since the al Qaeda leader was killed May 1 in a U.S. special operations forces raid on a compound in Pakistan, numerous details about the raid and materials confiscated at bin Laden's home have been leaked to the media.
In Panetta's letter, obtained by CNN,
But don't leak anything, it's secret. Sheesh...
he says the operation, "has led to an unprecedented amount of very sensitive -- in fact, classified -- information making its way into the press."
"Disclosure of classified information to anyone not cleared for it -- reporters, friends, colleagues in the private sector or other agencies, former agency officers -- does tremendous damage to our work. At worst, leaks endanger lives," the letter said.
Panetta said leaking information violates the law and "seriously undermines our capability to do our job." Panetta said leaks will be investigated and turned over to the Justice Department for prosecution if warranted.
He closed the letter with congratulations: "We have every reason to be proud of the bin Laden operation. Let's live up to our secrecy oath in protecting it so that our agency can look forward to even greater accomplishments in the future."
Panetta and Robert Gates are the only two adults in the entire administration.
#1
"Disclosureof classified information to anyone not cleared for it -- reporters, friends, colleagues in the private sector or other agencies, former agency officers -- does tremendous damage to our work.
Hey Leon, don't worry about us out here. WE can keep secrets. Worry about keeping your own pie holes shut.
The First Three to Five Seconds: Arab and Muslim Cultural Awareness for Law Enforcement is an outrageous example of the U.S. government appeasing the very worst elements of Islam, even at the expense of our own laws and values. This training film not only instructs law enforcement officers to obey Sharia gender rules when conducting investigations, its also a flagrant piece of pro-Islamic propaganda that presents Muslim gender discrimination as proof of Islams strong connection to God.
The First Three to Five Seconds was initially developed by the Department of Justice, and its now used by both the DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security to train all of their law enforcement personnel. The First Three to Five Seconds is described on the DHS website as a film that introduces law enforcement officers to basic principles of the Arab American and Muslim American cultures. However, the DHS description hardly does this instructional film justice.
To begin with, there is the outright pro-Islam propaganda. Naturally, all religions see their tenets and customs in a positive light. But its not the job of the United States government, in a taxpayer-funded film, to produce religious propaganda which claims that one particular religions tenets and customs somehow make that faith closer to God.
The First Three to Five Seconds opens with the Muslim call to prayer. The narrator proclaims, In order to keep a strong connection with God, Islam prescribes that believers pray five times a day. The narration continues, instructing law enforcement officers:
#1
Given the way the Moslems treat Christians, witness the latest ranting and raving in Maylaysia and the indiscriminate mayhem in Egypt, I am almost inclined to say "to heck with it" and just beat every one we apprehend with a rubber trucheon.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
05/19/2011 10:38 Comments ||
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China has agreed to provide 50 more JF-17 fighter jets to Pakistan on an "expedited" basis, a spokesman for the Pakistani air force said, one of the most concrete illustrations yet of how China could fill the vacuum if the U.S. scales down its aid to Pakistan following the raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
The agreement to accelerate supply of the jointly developed jets, the first 50 of which are being assembled in Pakistan, came as Pakistan's Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani held talks in Beijing during a visit that he has used to portray China as an alternative source of military and civilian aid.
The air-force spokesman, a high-ranking officer who declined to be identified by name, said the deal had been reached during Mr. Gilani's four-day visit to China, which concludes Friday following a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao.
"We're getting the 50 jets, on top of the ones we already have. Something has been agreed in Beijing, so they'll be expedited," he said, declining to give further details.
#3
That expedited fifty -- how expectedly will they fall out of the sky? American military material costs more and arrives less quickly, but won't lose bits on the runway.
After dealing with Chinese suppliers of manufactured goods, I can say I would never, ever fly in a chinese-designed, and Paki-built aircraft. It will crash so much, it will be called the 'Shaheed 1'.
#5
@ trailing wife, don't underestimate. Put it this way, most computer hardware is built in Asia, whilst software developed in the USA. Why does my computer crash but not blow up.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday that the U.S. raid on Pakistan to eliminate Osama Bin-Laden had humiliated Karachi. Speaking at a news conference together with Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gates said that too many details of the raid had become public that should have been kept quiet, and that the revelations could hurt future operations.
"If I were in Pakistani shoes, I would say I've already paid a price," Gates said. "I've been humiliated. I've been shown that the Americans can come in here and do this with impunity. I think we have to recognize that they see a cost in that and a price that has been paid."
#2
I am beginning to think that Pakistain is the world's largest insane asylum and every nut job and kook in Islam resides there...well maybe most of them.
Now if we can just get Achmendinut to move to Pakistain.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
05/19/2011 10:35 Comments ||
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#3
"Walking hurts their pride.
Your watching will hurt it worse." - Captain Nathan Brittles, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949)
#4
Pakistan humiliated itself by double dealing all these years.
Fred was right in covering Pakistan all these years. It is a main center of gravity of terrorism. It also shows what happens when you play footsies all these years, rather than dealing with the problem from the git go. We have been mucking about in Afghanistan for 10 YEARS wasting troops and treasure on the symptoms of the problem.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/19/2011 11:01 Comments ||
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#5
Gates provides more diversion and cover for the PAK gov't and military by poking the Pak little people squrely in the eye. Sorry Rob ole boy, some of us aren't buying it, nor or we buying the tough talk from the Chinese communists over the issue of PAK sovereignty.
#6
Pakistain sometimes makes me pine after the good old days of John Foster Dulles. He would have told Gilani that if he didn't fix the problem in Pakistain that we would. And we would have, in our own quaint heavy handed overwhelming military force way with lots of bombs and napalm.
Sigh, I really wish we had some real men running our foreign policy. We always get sold down the river by the pantywaists at State.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
05/19/2011 13:21 Comments ||
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#7
Sigh, I really wish we had some real men running our foreign policy. We always get sold down the river by the pantywaists at State.
We should apply a generous serving of bombs and napalm on Foggy Bottom first, then we can visit the other trouble spots.
You know, if Sparky keeps screwing with the Israelis, they may take care of the problem for us.
[Dawn] American and Pak experts have laid out a road map for Pakistain to establish stability and move from military dominance toward civilian rule in the next decade.
The 31 experts call for overhauling the country's education and judicial systems, investing $5 billion in energy production, taking steps to end its conflict with India, and joining with neighbors to confront terrorism.
Their report, published Wednesday by the Asia Society, says Pakistain has stumbled from one crisis to another in recent years and faces serious challenges including terrorism, religious extremism, underdevelopment and chronic political instability.
Earlier this month, US military forces killed al-Qaeda chief the late Osama bin Laden ... who is no more... at his house in Pakistain near a military academy in the volatile northwest.
The experts say Pakistain, the US, and other international partners must make a long-term commitment to "genuine reform."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/19/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao ...Wen has a professional background in geology and engineering. Unlike most American politicians, he actually knows things. ... assured his Pak counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... of China's "all-weather friendship" on Wednesday, at the start of a visit that sharply contrasts with the intense strain at present between Washington and Islamabad.
"I wish to stress here that no matter what changes might take place in the international landscape, China and Pakistain will remain forever good neighbours, good friends, good partners and good brothers," Wen told Gilani, according to a pool report.
"I do believe that this visit will give a strong boost to the friendship and cooperation between our two countries and take that friendship and cooperation to a new high," he added, during a meeting in central Beijing's Great Hall of the People.
Gilani's four-day trip to China began on Tuesday to mark 60 years of diplomatic ties, but has also given the neighbours a chance to display their steadfast friendship, which stands at odds with US anger at Pakistain's inability to catch the late Osama bin Laden. ... who sleeps with the fishes... "I would like to thank your Excellency for the warm welcome and hospitality accorded to me and my delegation since our arrival in China," Gilani told Wen.
Pakistain's brittle relationship with the United States, its major donor, was intensely strained after US forces on May 2 killed bin Laden, the world's most wanted man, in Pakistain. He appears to have hidden there for years, prompting anger and questions in Washington about why he was not found sooner.
"ALL-WEATHER FRIENDS"
China and Pakistain praise each other as "all-weather friends" and their close ties reflect long-standing shared wariness of their common neighbour, India, and a desire to hedge against US influence across the region.
On Wednesday, official Chinese media kept up that theme.
"Currently, China and Pakistain both regard each other as diplomatic cornerstones and important backers," said a commentary in the overseas edition of the People's Daily, China's main government newspaper.
Beijing's support for Pakistain reflects its worries about instability spilling into its own western regions, especially heavily Mohammedan Xinjiang. Just a word of advice: Don't go loaning them the national lawn mower. You won't get it back.
But the mutual vows of Sino-Pak friendship only go so far in balancing US influence, several analysts told Rooters.
Pakistain's government and military are too reliant on US security and economic aid to risk that alliance.
Nor does Beijing want to risk deep entanglement in volatile Pak politics, risking its own interests and alienating India, a big but wary trade partner.
"Pakistain has high hopes for China, because its relations with the United States are so tense," said Hu Shisheng, an expert on South Asia at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, a think tank in Beijing.
"But nonetheless the US-Pak anti-terror alliance isn't going to rupture."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/19/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Which in turn means that China wants an upper hand on India.
[Dawn] US senators have urged Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Edward Everett ... and Defense Secretary Robert Gates to make sure Pakistain is doing its utmost to battle Death Eaters before disbursing more US security aid.
The politicians, all Democrats, wrote Clinton and Gates a letter Tuesday in the wake of the raid in which elite US commandos found and killed Al-Qaeda chief the late Osama bin Laden ... who no longer exists... in a Pak military town not far from the country's capital.
"We recognize the strategic importance of Pakistain," wrote the group, which include Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus.
"However, The ever-popular However... we cannot overlook the logical conclusion of recent events, which is to question whether the Pak security establishment is ardently working to prevent terrorist groups from operating on Pak soil," they said.
The senators called for reviewing Pakistain's efforts to end its support for orc groups, prevent Al-Qaeda, the Taliban and others from operating on Pak soil, and bolster its counter-terrorism and anti money-laundering laws.
"We believe that conducting this assessment will be crucial for the Congress to determine whether to provide the full range of security assistance," they said in the letter.
Pakistain received a total of $2.7 billion dollars in aid and reimbursements from Washington in fiscal year 2010, which ended on October 1, making it the third-largest recipient of US aid after Afghanistan and Israel.
Finding bin Laden in a Pak military town "indicates, at a minimum, a lack of commitment by the Pak military to aggressive cooperation with the United States," the senators said.
"This is particularly concerning as the Congress again considers increasing security assistance to Pakistain," they said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/19/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
I bet that in private you would hear terms like "pissed down a rat hole" used to describe US aid to Pakistain.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
05/19/2011 10:32 Comments ||
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[Iran Press TV] The US operation that allegedly killed the late Osama bin Laden ... who had a brief but splitting headache... in Pakistain has actually led to the death of a clone of the al-Qaeda leader, A clone? A clone? A frigging clone?
working under CIA operative Raymond Davis, an American editor says. Actually it was Davis' evil twin, Montclair.
"The real bin Laden died years ago after receiving treatment in American hospitals for his various illnesses," said Gordon Duff, senior editor of Ohio-based Veterans Today, in an interview with Press TV's US Desk. Recent headlines:
Rape Arrest of IMF Head "False Flag"
Unconfirmed: Bin Laden Mission Aborted, American Deaths from Helicopter Crash
Bin Laden Operation Discredits U.S. Armed Forces
Why Gun Ownership Does Not Help
Selling the Bin Laden Lie
Was Raymond Davis CIA's Bin Laden Handler?
"His [bin Laden] body was frozen Heh. Turned him into a corpsickle.
and kept in storage for a date when it would be of advantage to the United States to use it for maximum advantage," Duff wrote in a May 9 article titled 'Was Raymond Davis CIA's Bin Laden Handler?' ... like August, 2012, when it'll cause a landslide for B.O... Oh. Wait. They did it this year. I'm sure there's a reason.
According to the US intelligence community, bin Laden's body was recovered in 2001 by American Special Forces in Afghanistan, Duff says. Geraldo took him down with a single headshot at Tora Bora...
"The CIA maintained a safe house at Abbottabad [where it] kept agents right next to the compound that 'bin Laden' was allegedly [killed] at," Duff said. Anna Nichole Smith got the whole story from Geraldo after a night of binge drinking and coke sniffing. That's why she had to die.
Duff went on to say that the CIA facility next door to the alleged bin Laden's compound was filled with armed agents possibly protecting the phony bin Laden. ... who was deader than a rock, stuffed into a freezer...
Duff also emphasized on the fact that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has failed to present any evidence linking bin Laden to the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US soil about ten year ago. ... other than Binny's admission, of course...
Analysts have raised serious questions as to why US officials did not allow for the application of a DNA test to formally confirm the identity of the corpse before his burial at sea. That was just a clone they disposed of, though. The real bin Laden is stuffed and mounted and he's on exhibit in the White House's secret trophy room, next to Himmler.
This article starring:
Gordon Duff
Veterans Today
Posted by: Fred ||
05/19/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm surprised there isn't more of this around. It seems the best way to handle conspiracy theorists is to be *more* secretive, not less.
The more obvious something is, the more you invite twits to doubt
Like flying planes into buildings in broad daylight then publicly claiming responsibility
obviously 25% of the western world is then going to follow people who say it never happened it was just a magic trick and really there were no planes and the cia blew up the buildings for the evil jooos
LONDON Britains military operation in Iraq will finally end this weekend when the Royal Navy completes its mission to train Iraqi sailors, Defence Secretary Liam Fox said Wednesday.
Britain was the second largest contributor to the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, but pulled out in July 2009 from the southern city of Basra, where most were based. The Royal Navy has continued to train Iraqi sailors to defend their territorial waters and offshore oil installations as part of Operation Telic.
After the mission at Iraqs main naval base in Umm Qasr ends on Sunday, there will be only a handful of staff at the British embassy in Baghdad.
A total of 179 British personnel lost their lives in Iraq in the past eight years.
The Navys role involved training 1,800 Iraqi personnel on 50 different courses ranging from oil platform defence to handling small arms. British forces will continue to support NATOs officer training programme, while some Iraqi soldiers will attend the armys officer training college at Sandhurst.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/19/2011 00:00 ||
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Hat tip Jihadwatch "If they want a crusade, so be it. Before our followers fall in this battle, (Perkasa) leaders will first lay down their lives and die sprawling in blood."
(Malaysiakini) - Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali said that he is willing to wage a crusade against the Christians if the community allegedly continues to challenge Islam's position in the country.
Is Perkasa a fringe group or a major player in Malaysian politics? Is this posturing or a real threat?
Perkasa is a Malay Supremacy group formed in 2008. They purport to defend the rights of "Bumiputera" (from a Sanskrit word bhumiputra, "sons of the soil.") Malaysia is about 50 percent ethnic Malay, another 10 percent other bhumiputra such as Khmers and Chams and Sarawaks and such, and coincidentally about 60 percent Moslem. The rest of the population is mostly Chinese, Indian, even a few Nepalis. Islam is enshrined in the constitution, naturally. I think the Malaysian govt considers Perkasa a nut group.
Ibrahim Ali is a Malaysian MP, by the way, so they're a moderately influential nut group.
"If they want a crusade, so be it. If they say that the peace that we enjoy is not good enough ... we shall take up the challenge. Don't take the silence of Muslims as a sign of fear," he warned to cheers from about 150 people at a ceramah last night. "Before our followers fall in this battle, (Perkasa) leaders will first lay down their lives and die sprawling in blood," he thundered.
Speaking at a function organised by the Komuniti 1Malaysia group of Kampung Kerdas and Kampung Changkat in Gombak, Ibrahim accused the Christians of "challenging the sovereignty and dignity of Malays and Muslims."
#2
Thank you for explaining, Fred. As comparison, Mr. Phelps' family is a minor and uninfluential annoyance, but CAIR has influence considerably beyond what the number of members merits.
[Iran Press TV] Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi has rejected UN claims about the cooperation of Iran and North Korea in their missile programs.
"We are completely self-sufficient in this field and nothing has been exchanged between us (Iran and North Korea) in this regard," Vahidi said on Wednesday.
On Friday, the UN claimed in a supposedly confidential report that "prohibited ballistic missile-related items are suspected to have been transported between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran."
On Tuesday, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast dismissed the reports and stressed the country's self-sufficiency in the field of missile production and said Iran "doesn't need any outside technology."
The Iranian defense minister also announced that a number of Defense Ministry's projects would be unveiled next week, adding that "vessels, ballistic missiles and new weaponry" would be delivered to the armed forces.
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.
In April Iran also successfully test-fired another air-defense missile system dubbed Sayyad-2 (Hunter II).
The newly tested system is an upgraded version of the Sayyad-1 system with higher precision, range and defensive power and will be unveiled in the near future.
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[Dawn] Syria's minority Christians are watching the protests sweeping their country with trepidation, fearing their religious freedom could be threatened if President Bashar al Assad's autocratic but secular rule is tossed.
Sunni Mohammedans form a majority in Syria, but under four decades of rule by Assad's minority Alawites the country's varied religious groups have enjoyed the right to practice their faith.
Calls for Mohammedan prayers ring out alongside church bells in Damascus, ...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti... where the apostle Paul started his ministry and Christians have worshipped for two millennia.
But for many Syrian Christians, the flight of their brethren from sectarian conflict in neighbouring Iraq and recent attacks on Christians in Egypt have highlighted the dangers they fear they will face if Assad succumbs to the wave of uprisings sweeping the Arab world.
"Definitely the Christians in Syria support Bashar al Assad. They hope that this storm will not spread," Yohana Ibrahim, the Syriac Orthodox Archbishop of Aleppo, ...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins... told Rooters.
Protests erupted in Syria two months ago, triggered by anger and frustration at widespread corruption and lack of freedom in the country ruled with an iron fist by the Assad family for nearly half a century.
Although some Christians may be participating in the protests, church institutions have not supported them.
Christians contacted by Rooters said they backed calls for reform but not the demands for "regime change", which they said could fragment Syria and give the upper hand possibly to Islamist groups that would deny them religious freedom.
"The Christians in Syria -- whether Orthodox, Armenians, Maronites, Anglicans, Assyrians or Catholics -- consider themselves first (Syrian) citizens, the sons of the land," said Habib Afram, president of the Syriac League.
"The general atmosphere from the churches' positions and from Christian figures is fixed on stability and security because religious freedom is absolutely guaranteed in Syria," he said.
"Ruled By The Military Or The Turban"
Syria's Christian community is believed to make up around six percent of the population, down from 10 percent at the middle of the last century.
Christians have equal rights -- and the same restriction on political freedom -- as Mohammedans, apart from a constitutional stipulation that the president must be a Mohammedan.
"Our ethnicity or language may not be recognised and we are not allowed to form a party, but this is the case of all Syrians," a church source said, adding that the choice for minorities in the Middle East was "to be ruled by the military or the turban of a holy man."
In a region where minorities face growing challenges, and where tensions between Sunni Mohammedans and Shi'ite Mohammedans are on the rise, Syria still feels like a refuge to many Christians.
Iraqi Christians have frequently been targeted in violence which followed the U.S. invasion in 2003. Fifty two people were killed in an assault on a Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... cathedral last October.
In Egypt, where a popular uprising overthrew strongman Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... in February, 12 people died in a Cairo suburb last week in fighting sparked by rumours that Christians had kidnapped a woman who converted to Islam.
"The change that came at the hand of the American army in Iraq did not protect the Christians and the change that came from the people in Egypt could not protect the Christians," the source said.
"Minorities are paying the price in these revolutions".
Some Christians detect the same sectarianism in chants at recent Syrian protests.
Samer Lahham, who runs ecumenical relations at the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Damascus, said the fact that protests have broken out mainly after weekly Mohammedan prayers -- which offer a rare chance for Syrians to gather legally -- had lent a "religious identity" to the demonstrations.
"Christians cannot be part of such action, although they support tangible reformations at different levels, slowly but steadily," he said. "They fear the hidden plan is to transform Syria into a religious system governed by those who... do not have the culture of accepting the other," said Lahham.
Assad's father, Hafez, crushed an armed uprising by Islamists belonging to the Moslem Brüderbund group in the early 1980s. Islamic influence has spread in society since then, as elsewhere in the Middle East, with the government seeking to co-opt moderate Mohammedan leaders.
Ibrahim said that the churches are not encouraging people to take part in demonstrations nor to be involved in acts seen hostile to Assad's rule.
"In every speech we talk about awareness and that we should be vigilant to stay away from what could affect our presence."
"We have the same views (as protesters) against corruption and bribery, and with reforms but all of these demands should not lead me to participate in ruining my home and destroying my country," Ibrahim said.
"I can guarantee that 80 percent of the people come to the church to hear what the church say about (protests), and they commit (to its position)," the archbishop added.
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[An Nahar] Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, a member of AMAL, a not very subtle Hizbullah sock puppet... and March 14 Those are the good guys, insofar as Leb has good guys... politicians are expected to clash over his efforts to hold a parliamentary session amid a political vacuum caused by the absence of a new government.
"No matter what the opinion of colleagues is, some things need to be discussed," Berri told An Nahar daily in remarks published Wednesday. He said the issue of prisons and the election of a governor for the Central Bank were among the priorities that necessitated a parliamentary session despite the absence of a cabinet. However, The journalistic equivalent of the teenager's whateverHowever... contacts are underway among March 14 officials to come up with a unified stance against Berri's move which began on Wednesday with a meeting of parliament's bureau committee and the administrative and justice committee to hear the opinion of MPs and take the appropriate decision.
During the meeting, MP Ali Hassan Khalil, Berri's aide, proposed a draft-law to keep Riyad Salameh as Central Bank governor pending the formation of a new government.
MP Michel Moussa, who is also from the speaker's Development and Liberation bloc, proposed another draft-law that aims at granting amnesty in some cases not linked to major offenses.
Al-Mustaqbal ... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri... newspaper quoted al-Mustaqbal bloc and other March 14 politicians as saying that their alleged unified stance will be based on their "total rejection to overstep the prime minister and the government over issues that they could take decisions on."
They claimed that Caretaker Premier Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's liquidation. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too. 's cabinet is capable of taking decisions on issues such as the appointment of the Central Bank governor "if it wants to." They did not rule out the possibility for the caretaking government to hold a session if Berri continued to insist on calling for a parliamentary meeting.
"We don't accept legislation amid the absence of a cabinet in Leb," the MPs said.
Al-Mustaqbal bloc, which is part of the March 14 alliance, met on Wednesday morning and agreed to reject Berri's attempt to call for a parliamentary session to take executive decisions.
Despite the announcement, al-Liwaa daily said that members of the March 14 forces were divided over the issue. While the tendency of the Lebanese Forces A Christian political party founded by Bashir Gemayel, who was then bumped off when he was elected president of Leb... bloc was to reject Berri's move, Caretaker Minister Butros Harb and head of the administrative committee MP Robert Ghanem will most likely approve the speaker's initiative.
According to al-Liwaa, it was not yet clear what the stance of the Phalange MPs will be.
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[Al Jazeera] Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, has said Russia will not support any United Nations ...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... resolutions on the use of force against the Syrian government.
"As for a resolution on Syria, I will not support such a resolution even if my friends and acquaintances ask me about it," Medvedev told news hounds during a rare news conference on Wednesday, arguing Syria must be allowed to settle its domestic affairs.
He did not specify what he meant, adding that such resolutions were open to interpretation.
In March, Medvedev ordered Russia to abstain from the UN Security Council resolution on Libya that essentially authorised military action.
He later accused the West of exceeding the UN's mandate and of becoming entangled in a military operation in Libya.
Last month, Moscow clashed with the Western powers at the UN when it blocked a proposed Security Council statement condemning the Syrian government's brutal crackdown on opposition protests.
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[An Nahar] The aides of the speaker and the Hizbullah leader on Tuesday informed Premier-designate Najib Miqati that Free Patriotic Movement Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic... chief Michel Aoun ...a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah... continues to hold onto his demands, including 5 out of 6 Maronite ministers in the cabinet, informed sources told several newspapers.
But Miqati reiterated that he was still waiting for answers on his demand for parliamentary blocs to provide him with lists of names they propose for the cabinet.
Miqati made the demand during a meeting with MP Ali Hassan Khalil, who is Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, a member of AMAL, a not very subtle Hizbullah sock puppet... 's aide, and Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's assistant Hassan Khalil last Wednesday. That meeting was also attended by Aoun's envoy Jebran Bassil. However, The essential However... Bassil was not present at the talks held between Miqati and the two other envoys.
Miqati's circles also said that the prime minister-designate stressed he would not yield to pressure and would continue to hold onto the constitution.
"There are no final results yet. The meeting was consultative but revived contacts," they said.
Informed sources confirmed that President Michel Suleiman had no new information on the cabinet and was waiting for the results of the consultations between Miqati and the different parties.
When asked by As Safir daily about the cabinet crisis, a high-ranking March 8 source said that there is no alternative to Miqati. The source warned that if more demands are made on the government, Miqati could turn every portfolio into an obstacle.
The source stressed that the representation of the former Sunni opposition, the demands of Minister Talal Arslan and the confessional distribution of portfolios haven't been settled yet.
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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.
[Dawn] Chinese Premier 
Hillary Clinton
North Korea
Michel Aoun
