[Dawn] Afghanistan's Caped PresidentHamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... accused Pakistain, which is boycotting an international conference on Afghanistan starting Monday in Bonn, of sabotaging all negotiations with the Taliban.
"Up until now, they have sadly refused to back efforts for negotiations with the Taliban," Karzai told Der Spiegel weekly in comments reported in German and due to be published on Monday.
The Bonn meeting will seek to chart a course for Afghanistan after the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... withdrawal, but a boycott by Pakistain has dealt a stinging blow to hopes for a roadmap.
Pakistain is seen as vital to any prospect of stability in the war-ravaged country a decade after US-led forces ousted the Taliban, which had offered safe harbour to al Qaeda leader the late Osama bin Laden ... who no longer exists... But Islamabad pulled out after the killing of 24 soldiers in NATO air strikes on two Pak posts a week ago, although sources close to the German foreign ministry said it would be kept informed of progress at the conference.
Karzai also appealed for continued aid to his war-ravaged nation after 2014 -- when NATO troops are due to pull out.
Stressing that Afghanistan will be "more than ever on the frontline," he said: "If we fail in this war, which threatens all of us, it will mean a return to the situation before 9/11." The Afghan leader conceded that "sadly we have not been able to provide security and stability to all Afghans, this is our greatest failure." Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rasoul appealed Saturday for international support for his country after NATO troops pull out.
"After 2014, we will continue to need long-term support from our friends in the international community," Rasoul said at a discussion forum in Bonn.
His German counterpart Guido Westerwelle vowed at the forum that the world would not abandon Afghanistan, while also stressing the importance of the role of women in the county, where they currently face major discrimination.
In an interview to appear in Sunday's Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, Westerwelle again voiced his regret over the Pak boycott of the conference, which will gather delegates from 100 nations.
"Pakistain has more to gain from a stable and peaceful Afghanistan than any of its neighbours," he said.
In Bonn on Saturday, several thousand people -- 4,500 according to organisers -- demonstrated in protest at the conference and the German army's role in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
"Pakistain has more to gain from a stable and peaceful Afghanistan than any of its neighbours," he said.
* TOPIX > NO TALIBAN AT BONN MEANS LIMITED HOPES FOR PEACE.
versus
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > UNDER PRESSURE FROM ALL SIDES, PAKISTANI TALIBAN SPLINTER | PAKISTANI TALIBAN SPLINTERING INTO FACTIONS.
ARTICS = The TTP is repor splintering ostensib into roughly 100 factions + is also running low on $$$.
As pressured by ...
> Effective US DRONE OPERATIONS in North Waziristan.
> Effective PAK ARMY OPERATIONS in South Waziristan.
> PAK GOVT-ARMY'S anti-Militant strategy of "DIVIDE-N-CONQUER"???
Has it been mentioned that whoever is running Egypt has only about two months of expenses in cash remaining? What will they do when the top X percent toddles off to foreign climes, taking their bank accounts -- and tax paying habits -- with them?
Don't worry, Uncle Sugar will step up. He always does. And no one says 'thank you' in that part of the world.
It depends. The House of Representatives hasn't been in the mood to hand out treats to ill-mannered foreign pets the way they used to -- as UNESCO and the PA recently became aware.
(AFP) -- For decades, Egypt's Westernised elite kept the country's growing religiosity at arm's length, but a projected Islamist surge in the first post-revolution polls has driven many to think of moving abroad.
Sporting the latest fashions and mingling in upmarket country clubs, Egypt's rich fear a victory for the Moslem Brüderbund and hardline Salafis in the first phase of parliamentary elections presages change ahead. "I hope they don't impose the veil and ban women from driving like in Soddy Arabia," said coquettish fifty-something Naglaa Fahmi from her gym in the leafy neighborhood of Zamalek.
In a nearby luxury hotel, Nardine -- one of Egypt's eight million Coptic Christians who are alarmed by the prospect of a new Islamist-dominated parliament -- is pondering a move abroad. "My father is seriously thinking about sending me and my brothers elsewhere because he thinks we won't have a future in the country with the Salafis," said the banker in her twenties.
Ten months after a popular uprising ended the 30-year autocratic rule of Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... , millions of Egyptians embraced their new democratic freedoms earlier this week at the start of multi-stage parliamentary elections.
The preliminary results to be published on Friday were expected to show the moderate Moslem Brüderbund as the dominant force, but with a surprisingly strong showing from the hardline Al-Nur party. Its leaders advocate the fundamentalist brand of Salafi Islam, rejecting Western culture and favoring strict segregation of the sexes and the veiling of women. They say they have been the victims of Islamophobia ...the irrational fear that Moslems will act the way they usually do... and sustained fear-mongering by liberals in the Egyptian media.
Nevertheless, the fear that they will try to impose their values on the rest of society has driven Angie to consider leaving her comfortable Cairo life behind. "My husband recently got a job offer in Dubai. In the beginning I was hesitant, but now, with all that's happening, I'm encouraging him to take the job and I'll join him with our daughter," she said. "The Gulf has become more liberal than Egypt," she told AFP.
For Ahmed Gabri, having the Islamists in power means having his freedoms restricted. "I will leave the country," said Gabri, a Moslem. "I will not stand living in a puritanical climate. Why don't they just let people live the way they want?"
The next parliament will be charged with writing a new constitution and the idea of an Islamist-dominated assembly has sent shockwaves through some segments of society.
Many stress the difference, however, between the various Islamist groups. "They don't scare me. We have democracy now which means we'll be able to remove them if they don't suit us," said Manar, a tall blonde in her 40s.
That was the original plan, yes.
"It's the not the Moslem Brüderbund that worries me because they want to appear in the best light, it's the Salafis that I'm concerned about," she said.
Iman Ragab, a shop assistant, has resigned herself to the election's likely outcome. "This is democracy, you have to accept the results of the ballot," she said.
#1
"...Salafi Islam, rejecting Western culture and favoring strict segregation of the sexes and the veiling of women..."
this includes banning sale and distribution of alcohol, banning all public eating during daylight in Ramadan, prohibiting non Moslems from any supervisory positions where Moslems would be reporting to them, prohibiting outdoor concerts and outdoor art, prohibiting banks from loaning at interest or from paying interest and quite a few other things
notwithstanding this, expect the salafis to begin a charm offense soon with support from much of the western left
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/04/2011 0:15 Comments ||
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#2
prohibiting banks from loaning at interest or from paying interest and quite a few other things
That. right there, will doom him, the banks cannot survive without intrest (Call it whatever yoi wosh)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/04/2011 1:01 Comments ||
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#3
..they're call 'fees'. They have a whole book of examples to follow from their American counterparts who've had decades of creative experience of squeezing blood from a rock.
#4
the Egyptian on the street needs to get the lifestyle they voted for. Crushing religious tyranny, stifled tourism, no food, no jobs.
Fun, fun, fun. You voted for it, you deserve it. Idiots
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/04/2011 8:54 Comments ||
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#5
I am not so pessimistic about Egypt in the short term, or more properly, I am not so pessimistic about the same things.
To start with, because of helpful humanitarianism, and reusing inoculation needles, about 10% of the Egyptian population have hepatitis C. Nothing can be done for them, except what could be done to alleviate the most troubling problem for most people.
That is, they need cheaper food. The way, *any* government in Egypt could become very popular right now would be to scrape together whatever money they could and import LOTS of cheap food that Egyptians want to eat. Give it away.
That would buy a lot of breathing room for whoever is in charge.
As far as who is in charge goes, if it's not the Salafists, then Egypt will remain much the same, with only cosmetic differences. The MB refuses to form a coalition with the Salafists, so their only alternative is to form one with the secularists.
And the MB over the years has frequently culled its membership that were too radical. They spun off into little groups to do their radical thing, but the parent party became increasingly moderate at the same time. This is why the MB has never been classed as a terrorist organization by governments other than Egypt's, and they are intensely aware of the fact.
They are quite aware that they are large, powerful, and *not* shunned. And they most likely want to keep it that way.
Of course, having power is always different than wanting power, but even then they have an excellent example in Turkey of how a more moderate Islamist party can get and keep power.
#6
The way, *any* government in Egypt could become very popular right now would be to scrape together whatever money they could and import LOTS of cheap food that Egyptians want to eat. Give it away.
That is the rub. They don't have enough money to buy LOTS of any kind of food. And I'm not so sure Uncle Sugar will want to step up to the plate to save the MB in an election year.
#8
The way, *any* government in Egypt could become very popular right now would be to scrape together whatever money they could and import LOTS of cheap food that Egyptians want to eat. Give it away.
That's the problem. Bread is cheaper than animal feed. Guess what the animals eat - foreign exchange.
#9
"Egypt's population is the largest in the Arab world, and is generally young, with 35 percent below age 14 and just 4 percent older than 65. Almost 50 percent of the population is below 20 years of age and 39 percent under 15, presenting a real challenge to government in creating job opportunities."
CAIRO: Egypts Muslim Brotherhood called on its rivals to accept the will of the people on Saturday after a first-round vote set its party on course to take the most seats in the countrys first freely elected parliament in six decades.
The assemblys popular mandate will give it clout to stand up to the generals who have ruled Egypt for nine turbulent months since Hosni Mubaraks removal and who are now scrambling to appoint a new interim government after the last one quit.
Preliminary results showed the Brotherhoods liberal rivals could be pushed into third place behind ultraconservatives,
They're not 'conservatives', they're Islamicists.
mirroring the trend in other Arab countries where political systems have opened up after popular uprisings.
The Brotherhood is Egypts best-organized political group and popular among the poor for its long record of charity work. Banned but semi-tolerated under Mubarak, the Brotherhood now wants a role in shaping the countrys future.
Rivals accused the Brotherhoods Freedom and Justice Party of handing out cheap food and medicine to influence voters and of breaking election rules by lobbying outside voting stations.
The Brotherhood told its critics to respect the result. We call upon everyone, and all those who associate themselves with democracy, to respect the will of the people and accept their choice, it said in a statement after the first-round vote, which drew an official turnout of 62 percent.
Those who werent successful ... should work hard to serve people to win their support next time, the Brotherhood added.
If there is a next time...
The Brotherhoods political opponents say it seeks to impose Shariah law on a country that has a large Christian minority and depends on welcoming Western tourists. The movement insists it will pursue a moderate agenda if it wins power and do nothing to damage the tourist industry.
Liberal parties lacking the Islamists grassroots base were trying to avert a landslide in run-off votes set for Monday and in two further rounds of an election staggered over six weeks.
The Egyptian Bloc, an alliance of liberal groups, ran large advertisements in newspapers to appeal for more support. Dont soften your support for the civil, moderate current to achieve a balanced parliament that represents the Egyptian people, and do not give up your rights, the message read.
With the Brotherhood and its ultra-conservative Salafi rivals apparently set for a majority in the assembly, newspapers were debating if they would unite to form a dominant bloc.
Nader Bakkar, spokesman for the Salafi Al-Nour Party, told Al-Dustour daily that talk of forming a coalition with the Brotherhood was premature and the results of the second and third rounds would determine the possibilities.
All the indications show that the Muslim Brotherhood does not want to inaugurate an alliance with Islamic forces, but rather to conclude a coalition with liberal and secularist forces during the coming parliament, Asem Abdel-Maged, spokesman for Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya, a Salafi group not aligned closely with Al-Nour, told Al-Dustour.
Organizers of last weeks vote acknowledged several violations but said they did not affect the results. Army generals now wield ultimate power, but the popularly elected new assembly is likely to assert itself.
Mass street protests against the army in Cairo and other cities ahead of the vote already forced the generals to concede a faster transfer of power to an elected president. They also led the government to resign, jolting the armys efforts to bring stability to a country in the throes of an economic crisis and bouts of sectarian and labor unrest.
The new prime minister chosen by the army, Kamal Al-Ganzouri, had promised to have his full cabinet lined up by Saturday but the official news agency MENA said he was now having a rethink. Several names of new ministers filtered into local media over the weekend, and state television listed about a dozen ministers from the outgoing cabinet who would remain.
Political groups opposed keeping three of those ministers in place, including Planning and International Cooperation Minister Faiza Abu el-Naga and Electricity and Energy Minister Hassan Younes, state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram reported.
Adding to the confusion, the Finance Ministry issued a statement on Saturday quoting Mumtaz Al-Saeed as the new minister even before Ganzouris cabinet has been unveiled. It quoted el-Saeed, who was an adviser to outgoing Finance Minister Hazem el-Beblawi, as saying Egypt was not ready for a decision on possible help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to cover a ballooning budget deficit.
Beblawi said last month that Egypt would request formal negotiations with the IMF.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/04/2011 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The Moslem Brüderbund, expected to win 40 percent of votes in the first phase of Egypt's post-revolution election, stressed Saturday it was a moderate force, not to be confused with hardliners.
The Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party is set to emerge as the dominant force in the country's lower house of parliament for which voting began in a third of Egypt's districts on Monday and Tuesday.
"The people have chosen candidates who represent their Islamic identity and who they have confidence in," front man Mahmoud Ghozlan told Agence La Belle France Presse.
"Fears about us are unfounded and have nothing to do with reality. We represent a sort of centrist, moderate Islamism. We won't impose anything by force," he added.
The group has already said it plans to align itself with a secular, liberal alliance in the new parliament, rather than hardline Salafi Islamists who are forecast to have won an unexpectedly high 20 percent of votes this week.
The showing by the Salafists, ...Salafists espouse an austere form of Sunni Islam that seeks a return to practices that were common in the 7th century. Rather than doing that themselves and letting other people alone they insist everybody do as they say and they try to kill everybody who doesn't... who advocate an ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam and Sharia law, was "higher than we expected," he said.
Partial results have been released, showing the Moslem Brüderbund as the leading new power center, but full results are being held back without explanation by the election commission four days after voting ended.
The prospect of an Islamist-dominated parliament has raised fears among liberals about civil liberties, religious freedom in a country with the Middle East's largest Christian minority, and tolerance of multi-party democracy.
Israel is also set to be concerned by the rise of Islamist parties seen as hostile to a 1979 peace agreement between the neighbors.
The Freedom and Justice Party says it strives for a "civil state, defined as a non-military, non-religious state... that respects human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... ," according to its political program.
Egypt's current constitution, to be re-drawn by the new parliament once it is fully elected by March next year, names Islam as the country's official religion and says it is a source of inspiration for legislation.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2011 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Leader of Tunisia's Islamic party of al-Nahda Rashid Ghannouchi has warned Soddy Arabia of a revolution in the kingdom if Riyadh does not respect popular demand.
Speaking at a meeting in Washington, Ghannouchi said that Saudi officials will face a revolution unless they give in to the demands of the youth.
Riyadh needs to surrender to the people's will and hand over power to the nation, he added.
Soddy Arabia has been swept with unrest over the past months in the face of the monarchy's known intolerance of dissent.
Meanwhile, ...back at the argument, Jane reached into her purse for her .38... the Tunisian official said his movement's stance regarding Israel will remain hostile.
He also supported the Paleostinian resistance movement of Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, in its fight against Israel and said Tunisia would not recognize the US-backed two-state solution.
In October, the al-Nahda party won the majority of the seats in the assembly months after Tunisians overthrew the US-backed despotic regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in a popular uprising.
Tunisians held massive street protests that eventually toppled Ben Ali after 23 years in power. Ben Ali decamped to Soddy Arabia as the Tunisian revolution was gaining momentum.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
I gather that Ghannouchi are thick, soft dumplings, popular in Italian cuisine.
[Iran Press TV] Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast has condemned the Yemeni government's brutal crackdown on the peaceful protests in the country.
Mehmanparast criticized international organizations for their silence on violent suppression of protesters at the hand of the regime of President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... , Mehr News Agency ...And if you can't believe Mehr News Agency who can you believe?... reported on Saturday.
The Iranian official stressed that any response to the demands of the Yemeni people must meet their legitimate demands.
He added that Iran denounces any foreign meddling in Yemen and called for all the parties, groups, tribes and the elite to remain vigilant.
Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands more injured in Yemen since the beginning of the uprising against the Saleh regime which resulted in his stepping down.
Yemeni Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, in charge of country's affairs after Saleh's resignation, has named head of the opposition coalition Mohammed Basindawa as the new prime minster tasked with forming a new government.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
"He added that Iran denounces any foreign meddling in Yemen...", except by Iran.
[Bangla Daily Star] The main opposition BNP yesterday demanded that the government immediately stop the proceedings of the war crimes tribunal.
The party also called on the international community to raise objections to what it said was the tribunal's violation of human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... in an extra-judicial manner.
The world, it said, must put pressure on the government to fulfil the commitments Bangladesh had made through signing international covenants on crimes against humanity.
Flanked by senior party leaders, former law minister Moudud Ahmed read out the demands at a presser at the party's Naya Paltan headquarters in the capital.
"The BNP has no confidence in this tribunal. It believes that in the existing legal structure, the tribunal is nothing but a servile, rubber-stamp organization," he said in a written statement.
Moudud observed that it made no sense to legitimise the tribunal's "illegal and unconstitutional trial proceedings by participating in its farcical activities to victimise political opponents".
Referring to the recommendations of Stephen Rapp, US ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues, the opposition politician said, "We agree with the recommendations. The tribunal cannot be independent and transparent without implementation of those suggestions."
He then cited some of the recommendations Ambassador Rapp made during his Dhaka tour: the tribunal should define the crimes against humanity; an individual accused of war crimes should get the same time and support as the accused in other cases get to defend themselves; the trial proceedings should be broadcast on television and radio; and foreign lawyers should be allowed in as consultants.
The opposition party also demanded immediate release of its politician Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, who has been jugged on charges of crimes against humanity.
Moudud said, "Salauddin believes it will amount to an extra-judicial killing if he is condemned to death by a biased and one-sided tribunal, depriving him of the fundamental rights he has like any other citizen."
The BNP leader claimed Salauddin had sent 23 applications to the tribunal from jail. While some of those applications had been lying at the Gazipur deputy commissioner's office, the rest had disappeared without trace.
Besides, he said, the tribunal had taken the charges against Salauddin into cognisance in his absence and without giving him any notice. It only had discussions with the prosecution.
Moudud maintained that his party too wanted the "real war criminals" to be tried under the existing laws of the land. However, a hangover is the wrath of grapes... that trial would have to be conducted though a transparent and impartial legal process, and there must not be any doubt in the public mind about the modalities of the trial.
BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and members of the party's national standing committee were among those present at the presser.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2011 00:00 ||
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The price of rice in North Korea is skyrocketing, contrary to received wisdom that it drops after the harvest season. According to a source on North Korea on Wednesday, the rice price has risen from 2,400 won a kg in early October to 5,000 won in late November.
North Korean workers earn only 3,000-4,000 won per month.
This unusual hike in rice price seems to be related to preparation of next year's political propaganda projects.
A South Korean government official said, "It seems the North Korean government is not releasing rice harvested this year in order to save it up" for celebrations of regime founder Kim Il-sung's centenary next year, when the North has vowed to become "a powerful and prosperous nation."
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/04/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
They'll love this little factoid as their children slowly starve to death. Happy Holiday! -rf-
#2
See also DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > NOTH KOREA FLOODS CHINA WID SUPER-YUAN FAKE BILLS [PRC Y$100.0] | NORTH KOREAN COUNTERFEIT "SUPER-BILLS" MORE THREATENING TO CHINA THAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS.
[An Nahar] A French minister said there was no such thing as moderate Islam, calling recent election successes by Islamic parties in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia "worrying" in an interview published Saturday.
Jeannette Bougrab, a junior minister with responsibility for youth, told Le Gay Pareeien newspaper that legislation based on Islamic sharia law "inevitably" imposed restrictions on rights and freedoms.
Bougrab is of Algerian origin, whose father fought on the French colonial side during Algeria's war of independence, and said she was speaking as "a French woman of Arab origin."
"It's very worrying," she was quoted as saying. "I don't know of any moderate Islam."
"There are no half measures with sharia," she added. "I am a lawyer and you can make all the theological, literal or fundamental interpretations of it that you like but law based on sharia is inevitably a restriction on freedom, especially freedom of conscience."
She was reacting to electoral successes scored by the Ennahda party in Tunisia, the Justice and Development Party in Morocco and the Moslem Brüderbund in Egypt.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has called for dialogue with such parties as long as they respect certain criteria, including the rule of law and women's rights.
Bougrab conceded that ousted Tunisian and Egyptian rulers Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... had used the Islamist "threat" to win backing from Western countries, but she added, "We shouldn't go to the other extreme."
And she hit out at the 30 percent of Tunisians living in La Belle France who had voted for Ennahda in last month's polls. "I am shocked that those who have rights and freedoms here gave their votes to a religious party," she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Is it just me, or the French been showing some common sense lately?
A senior German official said Wednesday that the government has approved the subsidized sale of another Dolphin-type military submarine to Israel.
This, presumably, is the one previously said to be cancelled because of Germany's objection to building permits issued for East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
The official said Germany has set aside 135 million ($180 million) in next year's budget to pay for about a third of its cost.
Israel already has three Dolphin submarines from Germany -- one half-funded and two entirely funded by Berlin.
#2
Well, it keeps the boat yards workings. Never know when you might need some U-Boats again to enforce paybacks on loans from people who have to import their oil someday.
Turkey is sitting with 60 American nuclear warheads at its Incirlik base by the United States because the Turks refuse to allow the US to station the warplanes there that would be able to deliver them.
The United States currently has 70 type B61-12 tactical nuclear bombs at its airbase in Incirlik in the southern province of Adana, according to daily Vatan.
...
Between 10 and 20 of the 70 nuclear warheads at Incirlik were designed to be delivered to their targets by Turkish warplanes, according to the report.
...
The US military needed a certain warplane type that is different than those stationed at the Incirlik airbase in order to deliver the remaining 50 warheads, the report by Norris and Kristensen said.
The Turkish state, however, has declined to allow the US military to deploy the said aircraft at Incirlik.
US warplanes would need to land at Incirlik from another location, equip the nuclear warheads and then fly to their targets, according to the report.
Turkey's refusal to station nuclear-capable US warplanes on its soil prevented Incirlik from acquiring a "full NATO position" status. This was a unique case among NATO bases, the report said.
AoS at 0940 CT: the original news source is here. I'm not inclined to believe this report; as noted in the comments, I don't think the U.S. would give Turkey control over U.S. nuclear weapons.
Back in the 70's, Greece and Turkey had a brief shoot out over Cyprus, as usual, but that's another story. I was company commander of a unit assigned to provide operational and tactical security to a special weapons platoon that was sent to Incirlik to evacuate tactial nukes from there to prevent the Turks from using them on the Greeks.
As luck would have it, the Turks found out and dispatched an armored battalion to supervise our evacuation of the nukes. It was a fun day as I had a 90mm main gun trained on me the entire time I was moving about the compound supervising the loading and transport of the nukes.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
12/04/2011 2:34 Comments ||
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#7
There is now way in hell we'd let another country control our nukes. No Way In Hell.
Posted by: Charles ||
12/04/2011 15:59 Comments ||
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#8
...Back in the Olden Time, most US nuclear weapons based overseas were under a 'dual-key' arrangement - it required a US officer and a host country officer to get them out of the mags and loaded. Now I'm not sure about the 'different aircraft type' part - the only tacair birds that we'd use for nukes would be the F-15E and just about any current model of the F-16. B-61s can be carried by anything currently in the inventory, so something doesn't sound quite right. What we may be looking at here is a garbled version of a problem we used to have with Spain: we can't operate anything in their country that's more advanced than what they're flying, which is why F-4s soldiered on at Torrejon AB long past the day they'd left US service just about everywhere else. Once we'd sold them F-18s, we could bring in F-16s to TAB. I didn't think that the Turks had a deal like that in their basing agreements, but you never know. Incirlik has no aircraft of its own; it's strictly a deployment base with a few C-17s and KCs hanging around on a regular basis.
Mike
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/04/2011 16:59 Comments ||
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#9
Iff the US' NATO Allies can nuke the then-Soviets + Warsaw Pact wid their air, why shouldn't NATO ally Turkey???
Update at 1540 CT: TSA sez it never happened...
An 85-year-old Long Island grandmother says she plans to sue the TSA after a humiliating strip search on Tuesday by agents at JFK Airport.
Lenore Zimmerman, who lives in Long Beach, says she was on her way to a 1 p.m. flight to Fort Lauderdale when security whisked her to a private room and took off her clothes.
"I walk with a walker -- I really look like a terrorist," she said sarcastically. "I'm tiny. I weigh 110 pounds, 107 without clothes, and I was strip-searched."
TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said a review of closed circuit TV footage from the airport shows "proper procedures were followed." That's the problem in a nutshell...
But Zimmerman, whose hunched back puts her at 4-foot-11, said her ordeal began after her son, Bruce, drove her to the JetBlue terminal for the Florida flight. She lives in warm Coconut Creek during the winter. She checked her bags, waited for a wheelchair and parted ways with her doting son -- her only immediate relative.
When Zimmerman reached a security checkpoint, she asked if she could forgo the advanced image technology screening equipment, fearing it might interfere with her defibrillator.
She said she normally gets patted down. But this time, she says that two female agents escorted her to a private room and began to remove her clothes.
"I was outraged," said Zimmerman, a retired receptionist.
As she tried to lift a lightweight walker off her lap, she says, the metal bars banged against her leg and blood trickled from a gash.
"My sock was soaked with blood," she said. "I was bleeding like a pig."
She says the TSA agents showed no sympathy, instead pulling down her pants and asking her to raise her arms.
"Why are you doing this?" she said she asked the agents, who did not respond.
The TSA claims the footage does not show any sign of the injury.
"Our screening procedures are conducted in a manner designed to treat all passengers with dignity, respect and courtesy," Farbstein said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2011 00:00 ||
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AMERICAN officers gave the wrong co-ordinates to their Pakistani counterparts as they sought clearance for the air strike that killed 24 friendly troops on November 26.
NATO and US officials voiced regret but have refused to apologise until an investigation is complete into the incident near the Afghan border, which triggered a crisis in US-Pakistan relations. Officials previously offered varying accounts of the event as they sought to shift blame.
A senior Pakistani military officer said that a border co-ordination unit - established to avoid exactly such a tragedy - was given incorrect details of a suspected Taliban position.
''The strike had begun before we realised the target was a border post,'' he said. ''The Americans say we gave them clearance but they gave us the wrong information.'' American officers have not disputed this Pakistani account.
The American pilots had been confident in their targets as they flew out of the night sky, towards a mountain ridge that marked the border with Pakistan. Afghan and US commandos hunting Taliban training camps inside the eastern edge of Afghanistan had called in air support as they came under fire from the border.
The pilots believed that the co-ordinates had been checked with a Pakistani officer and the Apache attack helicopters and lone AC-130 gunship were given the go-ahead to unload their deadly payload.
But as dawn arrived it became clear that a terrible mistake had been made.
Twenty-four Pakistani soldiers lay dead and their border posts were a smoking ruin, unleashing a wave of anti-American anger in Pakistan, which has halted co-operation in the fight against al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.
#3
Pakistan is more than just part of the problem. Pakistan IS the problem and definitely need some payback. And so do the Iranians - 36 years to fester and grow.
#6
A successful US-led war, occupation? agz IRAN all but removes the motive for Saudi Arabia + other anti-Iran, Sunni-majority Muslim States to go Nukulaar, BUT LEAVES ALREADY NUKE-ARMED PAKISTAN "AS IS" OR BETTER.
However, it still leaves the final decision on nukes in the hands of the various "ARAB SPRING" NEW PRO-ISLAMIST GOVTS, whom as a class are supported by Iran + Al-Qaeda + non-Muslim/Faith based Secular Political Movements.
On Sunday, the US started pulling out its nationals from Shamsi airbase, reportedly used by CIA- operated drones, on the orders of Pakistan's government. An American aircraft arrived in Pakistan to fly people out. After the aircraft landed, the American nationals boarded it amidst strict security. Officials from the Federal Investigation Agency were present at the airbase.
Residents living around the airbase were told not to leave their homes as the aircraft was being boarded. There was no official word on the development from Pakistani or American officials.
Pakistan had asked the US to vacate the remote airbase in Balochistan within 15 days after an air strike killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on November 26.
This is the third time Pakistan has asked the US to vacate Shamsi airbase. A US government source said that the Americans had spent months preparing for a possible eviction from Shamsi by building up other drone launching and staging capabilities.
If you're bored enough, dig the groovy font on the protester's sign at the link.
#2
The US repor has already rejected the Pak demand to vacate this weekend, so I'm interpreting any evac as Office-critters, minor Contractors, + other Non-Essentials.
[Dawn] The main character of the controversial memogate scandal, Mansoor Ijaz on Saturday came up with new allegations against the government of Pakistain, claimed that President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari ... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... and Hussain Haqqani were aware of May 02 operation in Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... before hand, DawnNews reported.
The Pak born US businessman, in his fresh article for "Newsweek", unearthed that the former ambassador to US Hussain Haqqani assured him about approval of the boss (Zardari) prior to delivering the controversial memo to Admiral Mike Mullen.
Haqqani also assured him that the memo was backed up by the top politicianship in Islamabad, wrote Ijaz.
Ijaz also claimed that Haqqani had been trying to divert attention from President Zardari in the scandal.
Ijaz wrote that Haqqani only chose him to deliver the memo because he knew how unpopular Ijaz were to the majority of Islamabad leadership and it would be easier to deny chargeslater, if the matter become public.
Haqqani changed his "BlackBerry" Handset three times since May to hide its messages record, wrote Ijaz. However original messages from him were still saved and can be produced as evidence, he added.
Mansoor Ijaz further wrote that the President Zardari was the architect of the whole memogate episode.
He said Haqqani received pat on the back from the president when he reached Islamabad after completing the job successfully on May 12.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Undeterred by the growing public anger and anti-Americanism over the recent NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... deadly attack on two Pakistain army border checkposts, the U.S. is continuing its drone operations in North Wazoo.
Local rustics infomed Dawn on Friday that the unmanned planes had been flying over Miramshah, the administrative headquarters of North Waziristan Agency, and others parts of the tribal region.
A Miramshah resident, whose name has been withheld on request, said drones, dubbed `benguza` by locals for their ear-splitting sound, flew at high and low altitudes over the area.
"We often see them flying in the sky," he said, adding that people fear them no more.
Friday`s newspapers reported that army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... has ordered troops in the field to respond to any future `aggression` by the US and NATO forces based in Afghanistan with `full force`, without waiting for directions from the command and regardless of its consequences.
Meanwhile, ...back at the cheese factory, all the pieces finally fell together in Fluffy's mind... anger against NATO attack on Salala checkpost in Mohmand ... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar... Agency continues to grow in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... province and Fata with political parties staging rallies against the `aggression`.
In Peshawar, Jamaat-e-Islami, ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam`s ...Assembly of Islamic Clergy, or JUI, is a Pak Deobandi (Hanafi) political party. There are two main branches, one led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and one led by Maulana Samiul Haq. Fazl is active in Pak politix and Sami spends more time running his madrassah. Both branches sponsor branches of the Taliban, though with plausible deniability... Fazl and Sami groups, Pakistain Tehrik-i-Insaf, Pakistain People`s Party-Sherpao and civil society groups took out rallies and held public meetings but attendance in them was low.
JI took out a rally from Mohabat Khan Mosque, JUI-F staged a demonstration in front of Speen Mosque on University Road, while PTI workers marched from Saddar bazaar to the press club. Businessmen also held a demonstration at Fawara Chowk in Saddar area.Protesters asked government to give a tit-for-tat response to NATO forces and take avenge of the killing of 24 army men in the attack. They also urged the government to permanently block supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistan.
JI provincial secretary general Shabbir Ahmad Khan told participants of his party`s rally that like Shamsi airbase, the government should get Shehbaz airbase, too, vacated from the US, and that Pakistain should suspend cooperation with the US in the so-called war on terror.
JUI-F provincial chief Maulana Amanullah Haqqani demanded review of the country`s foreign policy and early implementation of the resolutions of parliament on national security.
He welcomed the government`s decision to boycott Bonne conference and demanded an effective response to the US drone attacks in Fata.
In Ghallanai, Mohmand Agency`s headquarters, Christians took out a rally against the NATO attack from the Civil Colony to the main bazaar. They carried placards and banners inscribed with anti-NATO and anti-US slogans and shouted slogans for Mighty Pak Army.
Leading the protestors, Imran Padri said the government should not accept NATO`s apology and ensure effective response to future aggression.
In Mardan, Nowshera, Swabi, Charsadda, Dir, Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... , Mansehra and others areas of the province, too, political parties took out processions.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... on Saturday said that certain elements were trying to divide the nation on the issues of the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants... attack and memogate scandal, DawnNews reported.
After a meeting of the Pakistain People's Party -- Punjab's parliamentary party, PPP -- Punjab president Imtiaz Safdar Warraich told media representatives that during the gathering, the prime minister stated that the Pakistain Mohammedan League -- Nawaz (PML-N) was trying to create the impression that President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari ... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... was a threat to the country's nuclear program.
The prime minister said the political parties' lack of confidence on the president was saddening, Warraich said.
The meeting took place under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Gilani and PPP MPAs informed him of their grievances with the Punjab bureaucracy.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2011 00:00 ||
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Because historically intra-Muslim interactions have dripped with the milk of human kindness. Really. The history books are full of such tales, along with the pyramids of human skulls and such.
Quoted in daily Pakistan famous religious leader and commander of the faithful Hafiz Saeed stated that extremism and prejudice of Muslim against Muslim in Pakistan were being spread by a plot by US, India and Israel. He said America did not have the capacity to invade Pakistan
Possibly. But America absolutely does have the capacity to carpet bomb -- or more selectively bomb key targets -- across the country at will.
and that Pakistan did not need American aid.
Perhaps. But Pakistan most certainly needs someone's aid, and China doesn't appear to be stepping up with replacement bags o' cash.
Judge runs away
Reported in Mashriq the terrorism court judge who sentenced the self-confessed killer of Governor Taseer - Mumtaz Qadri - said that he was receiving death threats from many quarters. The judge Parvez Ali Shah fled to Saudi Arabia after that although the Registrar High Court clarified that he had gone on hajj.
Went on hajj, inadvertently neglected to return to the loving grip of the takfiris of the Land of the pure? A wise decision -- he can return when Pakistan becomes sane, whenever that might be.
Before him the cleric who had led the funeral prayer of Governor Taseer had also fled Pakistan after receiving death threats. Supporters of Blasphemy Law are supposed to be giving out threats and they include a section of lawyers and Barelvi clerics.
Thus demonstrating how Islam is the religion of love and peace it is so often attested to be. And those whose lives demonstrate otherwise dare not speak up, unless they are Ahmadis living in America.
Ideology Council approves Blasphemy Law
Daily Jinnah reported that Council for Islamic Ideology (CII) had issued a statement saying that Blasphemy Law was an Islamic law and was in accordance with Quran and Sunna. The CII is headed by Maulana Sherani of JUI and that has changed the personality of the CII making it more orthodox and less intellectual.
Fainting with damn' praise, that.
Many renowned clerics disagree that Blasphemy Law is Islamic.
Not one of whom is named here. Sadly, very wise.
How Nusrat Bhutto became chairperson
Writing in Jang Hamid Mir stated that after Bhutto had been arrested he passed on the chairmanship of the PPP to leftist leader Sheikh Rashid but it was soon felt that the feudal aristocracy of the PPP was not willing to accept him as leader whereupon Sheikh Rashid asked Bhutto to name his wife Nusrat Bhutto as the party chairperson. In 1982, Nusrat Bhutto suffered an ailment of lungs and had to be sent abroad which led to Benazir being appointed in her place and in this she was supported by her brother Mir Murtaza Bhutto.
MFN is salt on national wounds!
Famous humanitarian leader of Jamaatud Dawa Hafiz Saeed told Jinnah that giving the MFN status to India will jeopardise national security and will be like sprinkling salt on the wounds suffered by the nation from India. It will now become difficult to resolve the issue of Kashmir.
Khalil Ramday is judiciary's Hamid Gul!
Daily Mashriq quoted head of the Supreme Court Bar Association Asma Jahangir as saying that Justice Khalil Ramday had become the judiciary's Hamid Gul meaning that he did not leave when he should have. Hamid Gul The nutty former head of Pakistain's ISI, now Godfather to Mullah Omar's Talibs and good buddy and consultant to al-Qaeda's high command... was famous for retiring but yet keeping his finger in the pie of ISI intelligence. She said Ramday had retired and should have kept out of the bar politics.
Maulana Rehman and Jemima
Quoted in Daily Jinnah Maulana Fazlur Rehman has lashed out at what he thinks is an un-Islamic 'walking together' by Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who isn't your heaviest-duty thinker, maybe not even among the top five... with his divorced wife Jemima Khan who joined Imran in Islamabad in his campaign against drone attacks in the Tribal Areas. He said, 'Islam forbids mixing with one's divorcee wife; and it seems as if Imran Khan's future is still linked to Jemima Khan'.
Allah will make Imran rule!
Allah hates Pakistan, then?
Pakistan's top Urdu columnist Haroon Rashid, who is a bit of a loose cannon when it comes to analysing 'Kuptaan' Imran Khan, and may share with him nothing more than his passion for 'desi murghi', wrote in Jang that if Imran Khan and his companions are true (sachay), they will do vigil (riyazat) and will place their trust in Allah who will give them the blinding (kheera-kun) conquest. The decisions, he wrote, were not taken on earth but in Heaven.
Hindu is our eternal enemy!
Quoted in Nawa-e-Waqt chief editor and owner Majid Nizami stated that all students should be told that Hindu was the permanent (azli) enemy of Pakistan whose birth too should be explained in the same terms. He added that even brainwashing should be used to convince the children.
Goodness.
He said it was wrong to be liberal when Hindu was prejudiced as that will make Pakistan lose its war.
Insh'allah, guys, remember? All is as Allah wills, and thus far it looks like he isn't all that fond of y'all.
Hindu girls forcibly converted in Karachi
Reported in Mashriq the Karachi Hindu Panchayat complained that Hindu girls were being forcibly converted by the Muslim clergy and wedded to Muslim boys. Each month 20 to 22 cases of this conversion were coming to light. One Hindu complained that his daughter was now wedded to a Muslim and was not allowed to meet her parents. Jamia Banuria, the largest seminary in Karachi denied that 200 girls converted in the last two months were converted forcibly.
Brave, brave Lions of Islam, picking on girls.
Rat attack PIA!
Daily Jang reported that PIA planes were falling victim to failing engines and smoke in the cabin but the latest menace was the presence of large sized rats in the planes. When the rats were sighted by the passengers the plane was delayed and attempts were made to remove them which delayed the hajj flights.
Ick. A good decision.
Dr Mand on his coal gas
Reported in daily Pakistan nuclear scientist Dr Samar Mubarak Mand who is charged with producing gas from one of the world's largest coal deposits in Sindh said that his project will be completed in two months and that the production of electricity from it will be completed in 2013.
Dr AQ Khan no 'fish of aquarium'!
Quoted in Jinnah famous nuclear scientist and father of Pakistan Bomb Dr AQ Khan said that he was a fish of the river (daryai machchli) and would not be reduced to being a fish of the aquarium by taking part in politics. He said he did not want filth (gandh) thrown on him in politics. He told Nawa-e-Waqt that Imran Khan was ignorant about government and that Musharraf was the king of corruption.
Wrong lawyers made judges!
Quoted in daily Pakistan the new elected president of the Supreme Court Bar Council Yaseen Azad said that many lawyers who used to raise pro-restoration slogans in the lawyers' movement had been unfairly made judges. He said after March 2009 judges' appointments had not been done on merit. He disagreed with the yardstick of promoting senior-most judges as members of the Supreme Court.
Privatise the Steel Mills!
Reported in Express federal minister of production Anwar Ali Cheema stated that the Steel Mill was not possible to run by the government and should be privatised. He said 50 percent of the employees had to be fired, 2 billion rupees should be given as bailout, after which too there will be nothing certain. In the past the Musharraf government too tried to privatise the Mill but was foiled by a general running it, in tandem with the Supreme Court which declined to look into the economic theory of denationalisation.
Elephants of Porus
Writing in Jang famous columnist and friend of Imran Khan, Haroon Rasheed stated that one PMLN leader who hated the Sharifs was asked by him why he still sat on the PMLN stage if he hated them so much. The said leader replied that he would take revenge by destroying them from within the party. Such elephants of Porus - meaning leaders who would trample the party from within - as Ahsan Iqbal, Ch Nisar Ali Khan, Pervez Rasheed and Khwaja Asif, did not surprise him as they started speaking against Imran Khan.
From a duplicated post, this comment from reader 'Elder of Zion' is worth notice. Sorry about the deletion for the dupe. AoS.
I'm the one who needs to apologize -- Elder of Zion accidentally submitted the article twice, the first time with the bare headline and link. So I deleted the first and kept his more interesting second version...and didn't think to explain
.Another deluded Bambi deafitist - the blind leading the deaf....
Push Israel beyond the red line.... Just don't complain when we use Nukes as the last resort.
Whatever happens to Israel, the US policy in the ME is based on a complete misunderstanding of Islam, short term attemts to cut US losses here will turn into long term collapse of the entire US strategic plans in the ME
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/04/2011 14:24 ||
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#1
Translation: we finally accepted that Jews are not going to pony up for Obumba's reelection.
#3
More like the Obama administration is getting frustrated. They can't make Netanyahu a pariah, they can't minimize his government, They can't boost Israeli's leftists; they (and European governments) are getting called out for attempting to influence Israeli politics.
And they've likely given up on the Jewish-bloc vote.
Another deluded Bambi deafitist - the blind leading the deaf....
Push Israel beyond the red line.... Just don't complain when we use Nukes as the last resort.
Whatever happens to Israel, the US policy in the ME is based on a complete misunderstanding of Islam, short term attemts to cut US losses here will turn into long term collapse of the entire US strategic plans in the ME
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
12/04/2011 11:20 ||
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Several government ministers on Sunday rejected comments made by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in which she expressed concern for Israel's democracy.
Clinton was cited by the Israeli media as expressing Saturday concern over certain anti-democratic legislation and trends signifying the deterioration of the status of women in Israel.
Several government ministers on Sunday rejected comments made by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in which she expressed concern for Israel's democracy.
Clinton was cited by the Israeli media as expressing Saturday concern over certain anti-democratic legislation and trends signifying the deterioration of the status of women in Israel.
Speaking at the Saban Forum in Washington, Clinton specifically mentioned bills limiting funding for NGOs, and the exclusion of women in the public sphere, as exemplified by gender separation on buses serving the haredi community and controversy over women singing in public.
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz called Clinton's claims "completely exaggerated." He claimed that Israel is a healthy democracy. "I don't know many better democracies in the world."
#1
The administration has been blatantly supporting the Israeli opposition, to the point of sending agitators there to create mass rallies, that were used as the model for the OWS agitators.
Sept 5, 2011 - "On Saturday night, more than 400,000 activists poured into Israels streets to rail against the countrys high cost of living, its housing crisis and what some call a distorted distribution of wealth. But new reports claim that these protests which appear organic in nature may actually be strategically orchestrated by Stanley Greenberg, a prominent Democratic strategist here in America."
The demands of the protesters are focused on raising taxes, social justice, equality and democracy, and the establishment of a Palestinian state.
"Greenberg has a history of working in Israeli politics; at the behest of the US Democratic party he helped left-wing Ehud Barak win to become Prime Minister back in 1999."
The Greenberg, (James) Carville, and (Bob) Shrum company, has also been acting as election consultants for other, exclusively radical left wing candidates and parties elsewhere in the world, such as the Bolivian leftist incumbent president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada (Goni).
(It didn't work.)
At the Israeli demos, by the way, out of 27 speakers, 21 are known leftist activists affiliated with Hadash, the communist party, with Meretz, with the New Israel Fund, with the Nationalist Left proto-party, and with the anarchists.
And this time they really really mean it. After this straight to bed without any supper.
An Arab League ministerial committee has presented Damascus with yet another ultimatum to accept observers to monitor the unrest in the country, Al-Jazeera is reporting.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani announced the new deadline for Syria to avoid sanctions following a meeting in Doha on Saturday, to discuss the measures decided against Damascus over its crackdown on eight months of protests.
Jassim al-Thani was quoted by Al-Jazeera as having said, During the meeting we contacted Damascus... and we asked them to come tomorrow (to Doha) to sign the protocol on sending observers to Damascus.
He added, We are waiting for a reply. As Arabs we fear that if the situation continues things will get out of Arab control.
Syria, however, has already ignored several ultimatums to end the bloody crackdown on anti-regime protesters, which the UN estimates has so far resulted in the deaths of over 4,000 people.
Last Sunday, the Arab League approved sanctions against Syria, which included cutting off transactions with the Syrian central bank and halting Arab government funding for projects in Syria.
Later in the week the League tightened the sanctions, adding 17 high-ranking Syrian officials to a list banning travel to other Arab states, including Maher al-Assad, commander of the feared Syrian Republican Guard and brother of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Meanwhile, Al-Jazeera reported, the violence continued on Saturday, with at least 25 people dead in fierce fighting between Syrian security forces and army rebels in northern Syria
[An Nahar] A senior Iranian holy man on Saturday sought to put distance between Tehran's officials and a pro-regime mob that ransacked Britannia's embassy this week, while admitting his country could pay a "high price" for the assault.
"There is no doubt that Britannia is one of the oldest enemies of Iran... but young revolutionaries should not go beyond the law," IRNA news agency quoted Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi as saying in a statement.
"I advise them not to act without the permission of the supreme leader and officials," he added.
The message -- the first disavowal of the protests by a senior Iranian figure -- came a day after Britannia's evacuated ambassador, Dominick Chilcott, told British media the attack Tuesday on his embassy could not have happened without "the acquiescence and support of the state."
Shirazi implicitly denied that by blaming the embassy attack on overzealous youths, echoing some official assertions that the protesters had acted spontaneously and without orders.
"It is important to note that sometimes certain actions overstep the law.... And we could pay a high price for it," the holy man said.
He advised protesters to be "vigilant" and to not hand excuses to Britannia and other enemies to further punish Iran, which he said had the upper hand in developments in the Middle East.
The comments seem to hint at an effort to halt a new rising anti-British campaign in Iran after London, along with other Western nations, placed sanctions against Tehran's financial sector over its nuclear program.
Tuesday's embassy assault prompted Britannia to evacuate all its diplomats and order the closure of the Iranian embassy in London.
La Belle France on Saturday announced it was reducing the number of its diplomats in Tehran as a temporary "precautionary measure".
The Iranian foreign ministry expressed its "regret" after the attack. But parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani justified the violence as a legitimate response to "the domineering policy" of Britannia.
Foreign media in Tehran on Thursday were told covering all anti-British, pro-regime demonstrations was now forbidden -- an unprecedented restriction that adds to many other reporting curbs already in place.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2011 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] An Iranian Foreign Ministry official says the severance of Tehran-London ties is the direct result of the irresponsibility of British authorities. "We have always been at war with Oceania."
Deputy Foreign Minister for Consular, Parliamentary, and Iranian Expatriates' Affairs Hassan Qashqavi revealed that Majlis (parliament) had wanted to completely cut all relations between the two countries.
"The main reason that the Foreign Ministry did not want these ties to be severed was the consular issues of Iranians and expatriates living in London," Qashqavi told IRNA on Saturday.
Qashqavi added that although Tehran's political, economical and cultural collaborations with London were limited; the important issue for Iran was protecting the rights of Iranians residing in Britannia.
He went on to describe the British decision to close Iran's consulate in London as an "emotional" and "illogical" decision and said Iranian immigrant have greatly contributed to Britannia both before and after the revolution and London's erratic behavior shows the extent of British irresponsibility towards the rights if its immigrants.
Hundreds of Iranian students staged a major protest rally outside the British Embassy in Tehran on Tuesday, November 29, pulling down the UK flag and demanding the expulsion of the British envoy. Protesters also staged another rally outside a second compound, the Qolhak Garden, in north Tehran.
The student protests were held following the approval of a bill by Iran's Majlis (parliament) which aimed to downgrade ties with the UK to the level of chargé d'affaires and oblige the country's Foreign Ministry to expel the British ambassador, Dominick John Chilcott, within two weeks.
On Wednesday, Britannia's Foreign Secretary William Hague said the Iranian Embassy ...You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy!... in London would be immediately closed and its diplomatic mission would be expelled from Britannia.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
I wonder how many members of the Iranian mission will suddenly decide that the prospect of returning to Iran is even less desirable than British cuisine.
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] 
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
The main opposition BNP yesterday demanded that the government immediately stop the proceedings of the war crimes tribunal.
A senior German official said Wednesday that the government has approved the subsidized sale of another Dolphin-type military submarine to Israel.
On Sunday, the US started pulling out its nationals from Shamsi airbase, reportedly used by CIA- operated drones, on the orders of Pakistan's government. An American aircraft arrived in Pakistan to fly people out. After the aircraft landed, the American nationals boarded it amidst strict security. Officials from the Federal Investigation Agency were present at the airbase.
Asif Ali 
Wazoo
Mohmand
[Dawn] Prime Minister 
Muslim prejudice is foreign plot!
Hamid Gul
