"Josh, whom everybody in the room (over 50 people) assumed to be unconscious, began to move his right arm under the blanket in a diligent effort to salute the Commander as is customary during these ceremonies. Despite his wounds, wrappings, tubes, and pain, Josh fought the doctor who was trying to restrain his right arm and rendered the most beautiful salute any person in that room had ever seen. I cannot impart on you the level of emotion that poured through the intensive care unit that day.
It was assumed that Army Ranger Josh Hargis was unconscious during his Purple Heart ceremony in the hospital, but then he raised his arm in salute.
"Grown men began to weep and we were speechless at a gesture that speak volumes about Josh's courage and character. The picture, which we believe belongs on every news channel and every newspaper, is attached. I have it hanging above my desk now and will remember it as the single greatest event I have witnessed in my ten years in the Army."
Hargis was wounded by shrapnel on Oct. 6 when an Afghan woman detonated a suicide bomb vest, killing four members of his 3rd Army Ranger Battalion and wounding 12 other American soldiers, according to a report on the website of the soldier's hometown newspaper in Ohio, the Cincinnati Enquirer.
#4
There is something about the title "Soldier" to some men. On D-Day with the winds gusting and waves high off the Normandy beaches, the LSTs dropped their ramps and tanks out fitted with floating skirts went off the end of the ramp into the deep water with tank after tank sinking after being swamped by the high waves. But having been ordered to go into battle, American tank crew after American tanks crew, even after seeing all the other tanks sink into the deep waters, went off the end of the ramps without hesitation. (And one or two eventually did make it to the beach to support the infrantry under fire.)
#5
Ref D-Day tanks.
Most of that battalion was lost. The Coasties crewing the LSTs of the other battalion, seeing the catastrophe, ran in closer, taking hits, to get their guys off in calmer water.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
01/05/2014 22:09 Comments ||
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[Pak Daily Times] 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... has delayed the release from jail of 88 suspected Taliban fighters Legume, I suspect those are -- duck! -- Taliban fighters! Inspector! How do you do it? following complaints from the United States that they could return to the battlefield, officials said on Saturday.
The planned release had angered US military commanders and senators as Washington and Kabul edge closer to signing a long-delayed security pact allowing some American soldiers to stay in Afghanistan after 2014.
"Based on a recent president's order, we have started again reviewing the cases of the 88 prisoners," Abdul Shokur Dadras, a member of the Afghan Review Board, told AFP.
"The president has also ordered the security and intelligence agencies to check their backgrounds and cases to make sure justice is served."
US General Joseph Dunford, commander of 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... forces in Afghanistan, had lodged an official objection to the planned releases, saying they went against an agreement signed when Bagram was handed over.
Bagram jail was passed to Afghan control by the US in March after a public stand-off with Karzai, who has depicted the jail as a symbol of Afghanistan's efforts to regain its national illusory sovereignty.
The review board last year ordered the release of 648 Bagram prisoners, of whom 560 have been freed. The US had disputed the release of the final 88.
On a visit to Kabul on Thursday, influential Republican Senator Lindsey Graham ... the endangered South Carolina RINO... , criticised the proposed release of bully boyz who he said had "blood on their hands".
He said the incarcerated ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... men were responsible for over 60 NATO coalition and 57 Afghan deaths.
If the bilateral security agreement (BSA) is signed, several thousand US troops would remain in Afghanistan to provide training and assistance to the police and national army after the NATO combat mission ends in December.
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01/05/2014 00:00 ||
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[Breitbart] The New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... had a news hound talking to attackers on the ground during the Benghazi attacks that killed four Americans in September of 2012, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, and that news hound may know the identity of some of the murderers and perpetrators.
David Kirkpatrick is the Times news hound who wrote the story that forced the paper's Editorial page editor to defensively declare on Monday that it has not chosen to endorse Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Charles Evans Hughes ... for president in 2016. The editor said that the paper had a news hound on the ground who was witnessing the attacks.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/05/2014 10:40 ||
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#2
On the PBS series Ethics in America on March 7, 1989, Harvard professor Charles Ogletree set up a theoretical war between North Kosan and U.S.-supported South Kosan. What would a TV reporter do if he learned the enemy troops with which he was traveling were about to launch a surprise attack on an American unit?
At first [Peter] Jennings responded: If I was with a North Kosanese unit that came upon Americans, I think I personally would do what I could to warn the Americans. [Mike] Wallace countered that other reporters, including himself, would regard it simply as another story that they are there to cover.
Jennings position bewildered Wallace: Im a little bit of a loss to understand why, because you are an American, you would not have covered that story.
Dont you have a higher duty as an American citizen to do all you can to save the lives of soldiers rather than this journalistic ethic of reporting fact? Ogletree asked.
Without hesitating Wallace responded: No, you dont have higher duty...Youre a reporter. This persuaded Jennings, who changed his view: I think hes right, too. I chickened out.
Military advisers and generals on the panel suggested Americans first, and journalists second. Wallace remained mystified by the concept, wondering what in the world is wrong with photographing this attack by North Kosanese on American soldiers?
Later, Ogletree noted the venomous reaction from Marine Corps colonel George Connell, who angrily declared: I feel utter contempt. Two days later theyre both walking off my hilltop, theyre 200 yards away and they get ambushed... And theyre going to expect Im going to send Marines up there to get them. Theyre just journalists, theyre not Americans....and Marines will die, going to get a couple of journalists.
#3
Tells your how utterly ignorant the media is. They will support those who wish to destroy free press before they will support those who will die defending free press.
#4
Looking at the picture, Drudge is now reporting General Wes Clark is pitching: "... get yer 2016 Hillary bumper sticker to show support to help her decide to run..."
Isn't it against the rules to use your rank for personal affairs? That's what I was taught.
Posted by: Barbara ||
01/05/2014 20:13 Comments ||
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#6
#2 Pappy - that story pisses me off every time I read about it. It did then, and it does now.
I've always wished that someone had then asked Wallace specifically, and the other "journalists" as well, "Now that you've given us your answer, let's change one small detail. You know that someone you love is among the Americans who are about to be attacked by the enemy - your father, brother, uncle, cousin, etc. Would you still stand by and let Americans be killed, including your family member? If not, why not? And if so, how do you intend to explain your actions to the rest of your family at the funeral?"
They're nothing but self-involved traitors.
That whirring sound you hear is Bill Mauldin spinning in his grave. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara ||
01/05/2014 20:58 Comments ||
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#7
If you turn that story around. Say the Journalist is with American troops who were going to launch a surprise attack against the North Kosans.
Would they do anything to warn the North Kosan's of the impending attack?
I think we know the answer to that. I think they have demonstrated that they would do all they could to warn them - as long as they don't have to risk anything themselves because to them - 'self' is all important.
[Al Ahram] Twenty-four Moslem Brüderbund members were referred to the general prosecution Saturday on charges of forming a terrorist group, disturbing public security, and attacking the home of Mahmoud Badr, co-founder of the Rebel (Tamarod) campaign that spearheaded protests against former president Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator...
The 24 accused were nabbed Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! Friday, a day that witnessed the deadliest festivities in two months as 14 were killed across Egypt in festivities between pro-Morsi protesters and security forces.
The Rebel campaign, whose petition against Morsi mobilised millions for the 30 June protests that led to the ouster of Moslem Brüderbund leader Morsi from the presidency, said on its Facebook page Friday that Moslem Brüderbund supporters were attacking Badr's home and that residents of the neighbourhood clashed with the attackers in an attempt to protect the building.
It was unclear whether Badr was inside the building.
One of Morsi's staunchest opponents, Badr has been criticised for defending the policies of the current interim government despite its heavy-handed moves against opposition forces.
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01/05/2014 00:00 ||
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[Egypt Independent] Prosecution rejected request submitted by the legal defense of toppled President Mohammed Morsy demanding his visit at Borg al-Arab Prison, official sources said on Saturday. I'm not an expert in any kind of law, much less Egyptian law, but that doesn't sound quite fair.
The sources attributed the prosecution rejection to a prison sector decision which banned visits for Morsy due to security reasons.
Prison officials have rejected multiple visits by Morsy's defense as well as family members, saying they fear he will relay messages to the public, which could further ignite protests throughout the country.
An informed source told Al-Masry Al-Youm in early December that preventing visits to Morsy preserves the integrity of investigations as well as Morsy's life, pointing out that violence occurred in streets after the defense team visited Morsy last time because he issued a statement from his detention.
The prosecution decision conforms to law, say the official sources, adding that prisons have the right to ban visits for an inmate so long as he is kept pending investigations and the move favors public interests and serves to protect his life.
Cairo Criminal Court will resume on 8 January trial of Morsy and others for accusation of killing protesters around Ettihadiya Palace.
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01/05/2014 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Tunisia's Islamist-dominated constituent assembly compromised Saturday in rejecting Islam as the main source of law as it voted on a new constitution for the country that spawned the Arab Spring.
But while it established Islam as the state religion, it promised freedom of conscience, despite one MP warning that "satanists" and "idolaters" would be practicing in public and criticism by a rights group it was too vague.
Saturday's sitting of the National Constituent Assembly, which has adopted 12 out of 146 articles, came amid concerns a January 14 deadline for the charter's approval could be overshot because of disruptions and the slow pace of deliberations.
It was on January 14, 2011, that ousted dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his family fled the country for exile in Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
The first two articles adopted, neither of which may be amended, establish Tunisia as a "civil" republic based on the rule of law and with Islam as its religion.
The assembly rejected two amendments, one proposing Islam and the other proposing the Koran and Sunna -- the sayings, acts and judgments of the Mohammedan Prophet Mohammed -- as "the principal source of legislation".
In what was a raucous session that had to be suspended at one point, Mohammed Hamdi of the small "Current of Love" party defended Islamic law, saying it would give "spiritual backing to all rights and liberties".
But Mahmoud Baroudi, of the secular Democratic Alliance, said the proposed amendments were "against modernity".
Another key precept adopted, Article 6, makes the state the "guardian of religion," "protector of the sacred" and guarantor of "freedom of conscience".
It would also place mosques and other places of worship out of bounds to political activity.
Azed Badi, of the Wafa party, objected, saying the article would "allow satanists and idolaters to organize public events... to spread their beliefs".
But Ennahda's Sonia Ben Toumia countered by saying "Islam is a religion that guarantees freedom of religious practice to others".
And secularist Iyed Dahmani said "those opposed to freedom of conscience want to take us back to dark periods in history when tribunals examined the beliefs of people".
Freedom of conscience article 'too vague'
Yet the Tunisian League of Human Rights was uncomfortable with Article 6. It argued that defining the state as protector of religion and guarantor of things sacred is vague and open to interpretation, which could threaten freedoms.
Approving the new constitution will be a crucial democratic milestone.
Its adoption would end months of political crisis and further distance Tunisia from the chronic instability plaguing other countries in a region rocked by regime change.
Earlier Saturday, assembly speaker Mustapha Ben Jaafar adjourned deliberations for awhile after a leftist member started shouting, demanding he be allowed to speak.
Rowdy scenes on Friday sparked concern the deadline may not be met.
Leading Frenchie-loving daily La Presse cited disputes, interruptions and procedural problems.
"Tunisians who expected to see scenes of solemnity as the constitution was being discussed" were disappointed, it said, by "a wild arena in which every cheap shot is permitted".
Elected in October 2011, the assembly was due to have drafted and adopted the text within one year.
But its work was delayed by deep divisions between Ennahda and the opposition, aggravated by a rise in Islamist attacks and sometimes violent social unrest.
The deadlock became a full-blown crisis when suspected jihadists assassinated an opposition MP in July, paralyzing political life.
Ennahda, which has been sharply criticized for failing to rein in jihadists, agreed in October to step down as part of a roadmap brokered by mediators.
Prime Minister Ali Larayedh has agreed to resign, turning over power to a transitional premier, Mohammed Jomaa, but insists a constitution and electoral law are in place first to pave the way for elections this year.
The powerful UGTT trade union, which has been mediating between the two sides, said that should happen by Thursday at the latest.
The assembly is expected to return to its work on Sunday morning.
To be adopted, the constitution will need approval by two-thirds of the assembly's 217 members. Otherwise, it will have to be put to a referendum.
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01/05/2014 00:00 ||
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[Yemen Post] As political instability and insecurity continue to spread across the impoverished nation of Yemen, its people face even worse plagues, just as dangerous and deadly than the dangers of war.
With politicians warning of an impending doom should President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi fail to unite Yemen's factions and tribes as well as reign down on dissidence, other calamities have befallen Yemen, risking too, to tear at the fabric of society on a much deeper level.
The poorest nation of the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen stands to starve as a result of an infestation of desert locusts. As explained by agricultural officials, "Unusually heavy rainfall during the past several months has created perfect breeding conditions for the insects." Although the state set in place several preventive measures, desert locusts have already devoured vast tracts of crops, putting a severe strain on Yemen's agricultural sector.
The locust is the only insect listed as kosher in the Hebrew bible for exactly this reason. Perhaps Allah ought to do the same.
Bearing in mind that about 75% of Yemen's population relies on agriculture for a living, and that over 40% of Yemenis have been classified by WFP (World Food Program) as at food risk, locusts represent a calamity the country will not be able to withstand alone. Maybe they should consider putting a little lamb's blood on their lintels?
Or at least start serving grilled locust on a stick with a savoury dipping sauce.
As things stand at present Yemeni farmers could lo lose the entirety of their harvest, a loss in revenues and food stock which will be felt nationwide as food prices will shoot up and entire communities will be further pushed into poverty.
Yemen's last locust infestation took place in 2007 after heavy rainfalls.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Or at least start serving grilled locust on a stick with a savoury dipping sauce.
I'm thinking deep-fat fried, with a corn meal coating.
Seriously, though, there's a mass venue where these things would fit right in. Wing chains. Lord in a gourd... the ads and menus would write themselves. It's time. Generation PJ grew up on Fear Factor and whatnot, right? On NPR yesterday I heard a dude that PJ would call a sissy waxing poetic about hog rectum calamari. I'm talking Obama's speechwriter meets Barry White. The kids can handle it. Bring on the bugs.
25 locusts thrown into the boiling stock, whole. Cook for about 3 minutes.
Drain the locusts and let them cool to warm.
Twist off their heads: this will also pull out the black, threadlike viscera.
Remove the wings and small legs.
Make a seasoned flour with 4 tablespoons any flour, 3/4 teaspoon salt, a little pepper and chili powder, a shake of ground coriander, and dried garlic.
Roll the precooked locusts in a beaten whole egg, then roll them in the seasoned flour. Shake excess flour off.
Fry in olive oil for 1 1/2-2 minutes, till color turns golden brown.
Serve with a lemony tahini sauce, or a lemony zaatar pesto.
[Yemen Post] Haraki leaders in the south-eastern province of Hadhramawt have called this Friday on the people of the province to abide to a general strike as to mark their rejection of Sana'a central government rule.
As state officials in the capital, Sana'a have announced they have reached a consensus on the southern issue and Yemen's future federal make-up, secessionists have warned they would neither bow nor surrender before political pressure.
Once more the impoverished nation stands at a delicate crossroads, awaiting to see whose will it is which will eventually prevail over all southern provinces.
Determined to stand their ground, die-hard secessionists are bent on utilizing popular support to their advantage, hoping that a week of public disobedience will send a clear message to the capital.
Starting this Sunday, al-Harak has called on all Hadhrami to bring the province to a virtual halt, safe from vital institutions such as hospitals, pharmacies, water and electricity.
Dubbed the "week of dignity" Sunday is meant to mark a new escalation in South Yemen' struggle for political and institutional independence.
A statement issued by al-Harak called on all students, teachers and other administrative staffs to participate in the movement.
While President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi has warned on several occasions against dissidence, stressing that should factions choose to serve their own self-interests over that of unity and Yemen' stability, they would face swift punishment, secessionists continue to defy Sana'a's calls.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
He called for General Disobedience. Who showed up was Major Lunacy.
[Dhaka Tribune] Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami ... a Pakistani catspaw remaining active in Bangla politix, loosely affiliated with the Pak religious party of the same name and closely affiliated with most of the terror organizations in Bangla. A member of the BNP's four party governing coalition.... has instructed all its party offices across the country to resist people from going to their respective polling centres, said sources in the party.
"The Jamaat-Shibir activists would remain active on the field to foil the polls for the sake of saving Islam," said a leader of the party.
Meanwhile, ...back at the fist fight, Jake ducked another roundhouse, then parried with his left, then with his right, finally with his chin... more than 100 polling centres were reportedly torched yesterday until 9pm.
A number of Jamaat leaders claimed the activists were going door to door to convince voters not to go to the polling centres to cast votes for "saving Islam and democracy."
"The central committee has instructed our leaders and activists to coordinate with BNP activists and take position at the polling centres where Jamaat has strong connections," a Jamaat leader told the Dhaka Tribune wishing anonymity.
The central committee of Jamaat had instructed its activists to form "poll resistance committees" with BNP in all the constituencies at zilla, thana, upazila, union and wards to foil the polls, however, many of the Jamaat activists were yet to form such committee, according to the sources
The Jamaat-Shibir men also have threatened to make a list of those who will go to the polling centres in several constituencies including Satkhira 1, an area considered to be stronghold of Jamaat.
In last few days, the main opposition parties including BNP and Jamaat went on a rampage to thwart the "one-sided 10th parliamentary election" to be held today.
Fourteen-party alliance candidate in Satkhira 1 Mostafa Lutfullah alleged that some Jamaat activists hiding faces behind masks brought out a procession in Jalalabad area in Satkhira 1 on Friday night. They rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud against the election.
"The local administration did not take any step against them even after being informed," he said.
Independent candidate of the same constituency SM Mojibur Rahman alleged that Jamaat men had been threatening voters in different areas for not going to the polling centres.
He demanded that law enforcement agencies be more active in the violence-prone areas.
Many people from the minor communities have already left Satkhira sadar in the wake of the violence broken out by Jamaat in Satkhira 2 in February last year.
"Still Jamaat-Shibir activists are threatening the minorities and those who have left are yet to return to their homes out of fear," said a leader of Hindu-Buddha-Christian Oikya Gay Pareehad on condition of anonymity.
Another 11-party candidate Mir Mostaque Ahmed and independent candidate Saiful Karim demanded the law enforcement agencies to pay special attention to Jamaat-dominated areas.
"The supporters of liberation war will go to the polling centres if assurance is given by the local administration," Mostaque said.
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01/05/2014 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Doctors will decide whether former military ruler Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... must go abroad for treatment "after suffering a heart problem" on the way to his treason trial, his lawyer said Friday.
The 70-year-old was taken ill and rushed to a military hospital on Thursday as he was being transported under heavy guard to hear treason charges against him at a special tribunal in Islamabad. He spent a second day in the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology in Rawalpindi on Friday and his lawyer Ahmed Raza Kasuri told news hounds he was in a stable condition in the intensive care unit. The sudden health scare was met with scepticism from some observers and feverish media speculation that his departure from Pakistain on medical grounds could be imminent.
He is the first Mighty Pak Army chief to go on trial and there have been rumours for months that he would be spirited out of the country before facing the courts, to head off a potentially destabilising clash between the government and the military. Musharraf, who faces a number of criminal cases dating back to his 1999-2008 rule, is under a travel ban and ministers have repeatedly said they will not lift it.
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01/05/2014 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] An Anti-Terrorism Court-11 (ATC-11) on Saturday remanded four suspects allegedly involved in a kidnapping for ransom case to police custody for a week.
Police produced four suspects, Qari Azizullah, Rais Khan, Noshad Khan and Haleema before ATC-II Judge under tight security. According to prosecution, suspects had demanded Rs 100,000 protection money from parents of Irfan Khan and threatened to kill the minor in case of non-payment.
The case was registered on the parents' complaint, who told the police that the accused kidnapped him within the remits of Khuwaja Ajmer Nagri cop shoppe on December 23, 2013.
Police party in an operation had recovered 8-year old Irfan and nabbed Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! all the accused on January 3.
An FIR was registered under Sections 365-A (kidnapping for ransom) and 34 (common intention) of Pakistain Penal Code read with Section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, at Khuwaja Ajmer Nagri cop shoppe.
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01/05/2014 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Pakistain People's Party Patron-in-Chief Bilawal Baby Bhutto Zardari ...Pak dynastic politician, son of Benazir Bhutto and grandon of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. As far as is known, Bilawal has no particular talents other than being pretty and being able to memorize political slogans, but he had the good luck to be born into the right family and he hasn't been assassinated yet... has said that Shaheed Salmaan Taseer was truly a "Martyr of Humanity" because he was killed for showing sympathy in a society which is under threat from blood-thirsty Death Eaters devoid of spiritually. On the third death anniversary of Salmaan Taseer, the young PPP leader said the country faces extreme danger of being dragged into the pre-Islamic Arab tribal culture. "It is pity that Shaheed Salmaan Taseer was bumped off for following the holy Quraan and listening to the woes of an oppressed woman," Bilawal said. He paid tributes to Salmaan Taseer.
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[The Telegraph] Six years after the last British troops left amid a barrage of bombs and mortars, the Iraqi city of Basra is to re-enlist UK military expertise to oversee its security again.
Anxious to rid itself of the lawlessness that still plagues Iraqs southern capital, Basras governor has hired a private military company run by a British general who helped capture the city from Saddam Hussein.
Maj Gen Graham Binns, who is the chief executive of Aegis Defence Services, commanded the 7th Armoured Brigade when it led the siege of Basra in 2003.
Four years later he supervised the handover of the city to Iraqi security forces. Now, amid growing concern about a fresh wave of terrorist violence across the country, Basras governor has invited Maj Gen Binnss company back to assist at a strategic level.
Aegis will be asked to provide help with setting up specialised CCTV detection and checkpoint systems across the city, establishing a ring of steel security system to thwart suicide bombers.
It will also set up an academy to help security forces improve coordination and intelligence-gathering techniques. Fortress Basra. Good luck with that.
[An Nahar] The United States on Saturday said it was closely watching developments in Iraq's Anbar province, where hard boyz have taken control of Fallujah, ... the City of Mosques, which might have somthing to do with why it's not called Center of Prosperity or a really nice place to raise your kids... condemning al-Qaeda-linked fighters for committing "barbarism."
Iraq has been fiercely battling the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) since Monday, when security forces broke up an anti-government protest camp near Ramadi set up after demonstrations erupted in late 2012 against what Sunni Arabs say is the marginalization and targeting of their community.
The violence then spread to Fallujah, and a subsequent withdrawal of security forces from areas of both cities cleared the way for hard boyz to move in.
The fighting has been brutal, with more than 100 people killed on Friday alone, Iraq's deadliest single day in years.
Washington is monitoring the situation closely, the State Department said in a statement, expressing concern over "efforts of the terrorist al-Qaeda/Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant to assert its authority in Syria as well as Iraq."
"Their barbarism against civilians of Ramadi and Fallujah and against Iraqi Security Forces is on display for all to see," State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said in the strongly worded statement.
The United States was in "close contact" both with Iraq's politicians and with "tribal leaders from Anbar province who are showing great courage as they fight to eject these terrorist groups from their cities," Harf said.
Some tribal leaders have "declared an open revolt against ISIL," she said, adding the U.S. aims to "support those tribes in every possible way."
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01/05/2014 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed Saturday to eliminate "all terrorist groups" in Iraq's Anbar province, where turbans have seized all of one city and parts of another.
"We will not back down until we end all terrorist groups and save our people in Anbar," Maliki was quoted as saying by Iraqiya state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
Parts of Ramadi and Fallujah, ... the City of Mosques, which might have somthing to do with why it's not called Center of Prosperity or a really nice place to raise your kids... west of Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... , have been held by turbans for days, harkening back to the years after the 2003 US-led invasion when both cities were bully boy strongholds.
Fighting erupted in the Ramadi area Monday, when security forces removed the main anti-government protest camp set up after demonstrations broke out in late 2012 against what Sunni Arabs say is the marginalisation and targeting of their community.
It then spread to Fallujah, and security forces later withdrew from areas of both cities, leaving them open for Al-Qaeda-linked krazed killer group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant to move in.
On Saturday, a security bigshot in Anbar province said that Fallujah was completely outside government control, and in the hands of ISIL.
Fighting between police and allied rustics on one side and ISIL turbans on the other killed more than 100 people in Ramadi and Fallujah on Friday, security officials said.
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01/05/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
...rebrand 'em as "Freedom Fighters." Problem solved...
[Egypt Independent] US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... is meeting for the second time in two days with Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... , trying to nudge him and the Israeli leader closer to a peace pact that would establish a Paleostinian state alongside Israel.
Kerry, who traveled to the West Bank on Saturday, is brokering an intense phase of negotiations aimed at getting the two sides to agree on a framework to guide talks for a final settlement in the decades-long dispute.
Reaching a deal on that framework, however, is not likely on this trip, Kerry's 10th to the region for Mideast peace talks.
After his meeting with Abbas, Kerry heads back to Jerusalem for more talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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01/05/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Kerry, who traveled to the West Bank on Saturday, is brokering an intense phase of negotiations aimed at getting the two sides to agree on a framework to guide talks for a final settlement
in the decades-long dispute.
He's talking to them about what they're going to talk about if they start talking about talks to come to a settlement.
Iff Secstate Jaawhn "Presidential" Kerry intends to run for POTUS in 2016 as is increasingly likely, his destiny will be made-or-broken by the failures of the Bammer Admin in its second term, espec as per FP.
Read, CHINA-VS-JAPAN/EVERYBODY IN EAST ASIA, since Assad + Iran are effec safe thru summer 2014.
#8
Besides the Bammer = anti-US OWG Globalism winning a second term, 2014 may be the year that will make-or-break both OWG-NWO, i.e Pro-US-vs-Anti-US OWG-NWO including Commie-Socialist NWO; + Soon-to-be Nukulaar Radical Islam + Regional-vs-Global-Jihad ... ...
* TOPIX > [Times of Israel] KERRY: IRAN COULD HELP SECURE PEACE IN SYRIA.
* Also from TOPIX > US STATESMANSHIP TO BE TESTED AROUND THE WORLD.
By extension, affecting both Hillary + possibly Kerry POTUS bids in 2016, + of course Caroline Kennedy ala China-vs-Japan starting this year 2014.
* SAME > ASIA SADDLES UP FOR A ROUGH RIDE THROUGH HORSE YEAR.
2014 = "Year of the Horse".
As ilustrated by ...
* SAME > [The Nation] NORTH KOREAN REGIME PURGES WILL THREATEN RELATIONS WID CHINA.
That's "WILL", N-O-T "MIGHT/PERHAPS".
"That's a 10-4, GhostRider"!
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > TIMELINE OF MAJOR GLOBAL EVENTS EXPECTED IN 2014 THAT MAY CHANGE CURRENT [Tide] OF HISTORY, for several countries.
#2
The agony of a Prime Minister's office--sometimes you have to deal with morons foisting their naivete on others--so often they are a danger to others.
Tough words were exchanged between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and US Secretary of State John Kerry this weekend, as the two met to discuss the peace process, an Abbas aide said Sunday morning.
Speaking to the Arab world media, Yasser Abed Rabbo said their conversation Friday in Ramallah "was very tough indeed", in particular when it came to the American wish for the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
A waste of time in a determined attempt to show that the honourable Secretary of State, John F. Kerry is not the family loser.
[DebkaFile] In the face of stiff Paleostinian opposition, US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... has stepped back from the American security plan for Israeli troops to secure the Jordan Valley border for an agreed period, in favor of deploying US forces, debkafile's exclusive Washington sources report. He also gave in to the Paleostinians on two additional security safeguards: one, for corridors through the West Bank through which Israeli forces would move back and forth from the Jordan Valley; and, two, for Israel monitors to be posted at Paleostinian-Jordanian border crossings as a counter-terror safeguard.
Instead, Kerry has come up with the notion of "remote Israeli monitoring" of the border posts by means of electronic gadgets.
The Secretary of State has therefore stripped the US framework for a peace accord of three vital elements for safeguarding Israeli security in a Paleostinian state, before submitting it formally to the Israelis and Paleostinians in the second half of January.
American and Israeli security experts agree that the revised Kerry security proposals would in practice enlist US soldiers out for the first time to defend Israel's eastern border, a task for which the IDF is perfectly capable, only to gratify the Paleostinian demand to remove any Israeli military presence from its potential territory.
The US would also find itself responsible for monitoring Israel's border crossings to the new Paleostinian state as well Paleostinian-Jordanian border stations.
The Secretary appears to be in tune too with the Paleostinian demand for the "safe passage" to connect the Gazoo Strip to the West Bank to be realized in the form of an express train. This rail link would require Israel to sacrifice a slice of the Negev in the south and turn it over to Paleostinian illusory sovereignty, with no stops on the way for Israel security officers to inspect the traffic and freight being ferried between the two Paleostinian entities.
Washington has informed Israel and the Paleostinian Authority that it has opted for a railroad rather than a tunnel link.
The Paleostinians now demand that the train run all the way to Ramallah instead of terminating further south at Hebron. This would take it through Gush Etzion and so create a precedent for one of the Israeli settlement blocks to be bisected by a transport route under Paleostinian control.
Our Jerusalem sources report that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has not so far rejected any of these "revisions" of the US security plan; neither has he accepted them.
With so much up in the air, he opted for restraint Tuesday, Dec. 24, in responding to the murder of Saleh Abu Tayel by a Paleostinian sniper from Gazoo. The IDF strikes in Gazoo a few hours later, which were presented as an impressive show of air, armored and infantry might, were in fact low key and minimal. Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, and Jihad Islami forces were unharmed, and the attack was not attributed to any Paleostinian organization - and so none were singled out for punishment.
This low-key, evasive response is typical of the Netanyahu government's attitude toward the surge of terrorism instigated by the Paleostinians from the onset of US-sponsored peace talks in July.
Official Israeli spokesmen are fighting all the evidence to prove that the escalating tide of shooting, stabbing, bombing, and rock-throwing are isolated incidents and not orchestrated.
In the week in which a bomb went kaboom! on a bus near Tel Aviv, a policeman was stabbed, and a civilian rubbed out, the talk is of "atmospheric attacks." The message from Jerusalem is that so long as the Paleostinians stay on the negotiating track, Israel will allow them to work up an atmosphere of violence without incurring direct Israeli military action on a scale capable of overturning the peace track.
debkafile's counterterrorism sources warn that letting Paleostinian terrorism fly unfettered is a recipe for increased violence, which will end up defeating the whole object of the peace talks -- as has happened so many times before.
More details of the Kerry proposal from Debka here.
[IsraelTimes] An internal Paleostinian Authority document leaked to Israeli media has predicted a "third intifada" if US-brokered peace talks fail.
The document, whose contents were reported by the Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth and Israel Radio on Thursday morning, said that if the grinding of the peace processor collapsed, a violent uprising was likely to erupt in the West Bank. Jihadi and Salafi groups were also likely to become more active, possibly by setting up a network of terrorist cells with the intention of carrying out attacks against Israel, the report said.
The report, issued by a Paleostinian security agency, also predicted more spontaneous terror attacks if peace talks fail. It recommended that Paleostinian Authority security forces draft a plan to control protests if they escalate into riots in order to prevent police from joining the rioting, as they did in the Second Intifada, which began in late 2000 and lasted several years.
The report predicted that Paleostinian terror cells would begin transferring their activities into (Israeli-controlled) Area C and areas surrounding Jerusalem, where the presence of both Israeli and Paleostinian security forces is meager.
The report also estimated that Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, which rules the Gazoo Strip, might secretly renew its military activity in the West Bank if its rift with Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... 's Fatah party continued.
According to the report, such a tactic by Hamas would receive the backing of Paleostinian prisoners released to Gazoo in exchange for the release of captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.
With regard to terrorist activity against Israel, the report said that Hamas operatives were more likely to carry out shooting attacks than suicide kabooms, and that they would attempt to transfer rocket-making knowledge to the West Bank. However, some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... their first priority was said to be capturing Israelis, either citizens or soldiers, and keeping them captive in the West Bank in hopes of reaching a prisoner exchange agreement with Israel.
The report said that Paleostinian public opinion favored such activity due to the prospect of future prisoner releases and the persistent lack of a peace agreement.
It warned that Paleostinian youths and students living abroad, particularly in countries with a significant al-Qaeda presence, might be targets for radicalization. Similarly, the report warned that Paleostinians fighting alongside jihadi elements in Syria might return to the West Bank and establish al-Qaeda cells there.
The Paleostinian report also addressed the Shiite Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah, which it said would try to set up sleeper cells in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Israel proper by recruiting abroad.
Last week, the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... 's envoy to Israel warned that if peace talks with the Paleostinians failed, Israel was likely get blamed for it due to construction in West Bank settlements.
In a weekend interview with the Hebrew-language Walla news website, Lars Faaborg-Andersen laid out potential consequences of the government's expected announcement this week of further settlement construction.
Faaborg-Andersen said he had made it clear to Israeli officials that such an announcement could seriously damage the US-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Paleostinian Authority, and in such a case Israel could expect to take the rap. The envoy added that a similar sentiment had been relayed by the ambassadors of the major European powers.
Last Wednesday, Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was planning to announce the government's approval for construction of 1,400 new homes in Jewish communities in East Jerusalem (600) and the West Bank (800). Channel 10 said the prime minister was going ahead with the announcement despite the station's assessment that the last such announcement, which coincided with the second phase of Paleostinian prisoner releases, almost caused the collapse of peace talks. It said the US and EU had both urged him not to go ahead with the plan, to no avail.
This week, though, official sources indicated that Netanyahu was delaying such an announcement until after US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... 's current visit.
Peace talks between Israel and the Paleostinian Authority restarted in July under US tutelage after a break of several years. The nine-month negotiation period agreed on by the two sides is set to end in April.
#2
The one positive of Sharon's folly Land for Peace when he surrendered Gaza without a peace agreement is the majority of population and even now the media are all increasingly skeptical of a Palestinian 'Peace Agreement'.
A 3rd intifada will infringe on the last deviation of those who still believe peace is possible.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
A 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 
Lindsey Graham
Hillary Clinton
[An Nahar] Tunisia's Islamist-dominated constituent assembly compromised Saturday in rejecting Islam as the main source of law as it voted on a new constitution for the country that spawned the Arab Spring.
[Pak Daily Times] Doctors will decide whether former military ruler 
[Egypt Independent] US Secretary of State 
[PJMedia] 
[DebkaFile] In the face of stiff Paleostinian opposition, US Secretary of State 
The US would also find itself responsible for monitoring Israel's border crossings to the new Paleostinian state as well Paleostinian-Jordanian border stations.
