[An Nahar] President Barack Obama I inhaled. That was the point... met top Afghanistan war advisors Tuesday with U.S. plans for a post-2014 military force in limbo over President Hamid 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... 's refusal to sign a security agreement.
Obama met Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Marine General Joseph Dunford, the commander of U.S. and 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, as he deliberates on the pace of U.S. troop drawdowns and future strategy.
Karzai has infuriated Washington by declining to sign a bilateral security agreement (BSA), which would allow some U.S. troops to remain behind on a training mission when American and allied combat missions end at the end of the year.
The White House has warned that if he does not sign soon, it will have to begin preparing to leave no troops behind in the country.
"As each day passes and we move further into this calendar year it becomes more imperative that the Afghan government sign the agreement that was negotiated in good faith so that NATO and the United States can make plans for a post-2014 troop presence," White House front man Jay Carney said.
The White House says Obama has so far made no decisions about how many American troops would remain behind to advise the still fledgling Afghan armed forces.
But it has made clear it is not prepared to wait out Karzai's last few months in office to sign the BSA after elections that will not likely identify the next Afghan president until late May.
"This has to be a matter of weeks," Carney said.
The State Department meanwhile said that Dunford and James Dobbins, the US special representative for Pakistain and Afghanistan, would travel to Brussels and Berlin in the next few days to consult NATO allies.
The United States had earlier pushed for the BSA to be signed by the end of October so that the NATO military coalition could schedule the withdrawal of its troops.
Karzai has said that before he signs the BSA, the United States must foster a genuine grinding of the peace processor with Talibs.
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[Tolo News] In response to a recent report by The New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... exposing secret meetings between President Hamid 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... 's circle and the Taliban, the High Peace Council (HPC), officially charged with managing the grinding of the peace processor, has said it had no knowledge of the talks.
According to the The New York Times, Aimal Faizi, Karzai's front man, confirmed that the President has met secretly with the Taliban in recent months to discuss a possible reconciliation agreement. He claimed the talks were positive and the most serious step in contacts with the Taliban since the war began in 2001.
But the news is likely to only further aggravate tensions between Kabul and Washington, which have reached an all-time at the start of the new year.
Stalled negotiations over a Kabul-Washington security pact and butting heads over prisoner releases and civilian casualties have been the flash points of conflict between the two governments, but as Karzai's secret meetings suggest, much more has been going on beneath the surface.
Faizi said the Taliban have been pleased with the stance President Karzai has taken on the Kabul-Washington Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA), which could indicate that Karzai, as the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... combat mission draws to an end this year, is perhaps more concerned about closing the gap with the Taliban than keeping the one between him and Washington from opening up more.
Some have suggested Karzai is looking to intentionally derail the BSA along with future relations with the U.S. and its allies in order to build goodwill with the Taliban. If true, it would be a ploy that could either lead to national reconciliation or simply play into a Taliban plot to weaken the central government.
But Karzai's motives and tactics remain somewhat of a mystery, even to people supposedly inside the inner circle of peace negotiations. The HPC, the only body intended to conduct talks with the Taliban, has said it was completely unaware of the secret talks between Karzai and krazed killer leaders.
"The High Peace Council had honestly no idea about the secret talks between President Karzai and the Taliban in another country," HPC front man Muhammad Ismael Qasimyar said.
According to The New York Times, the Taliban reached out to Karzai just before the Loya Jirga convened in November and approved the BSA for signing. Since then, correspondence has been intermittent, with representatives of either side reported to have met 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... and the United Arab Emirates.
"Talks and the leadership of the peace and reconciliation process is the responsibility of the High Peace Council," Qasimyar asserted.
The New York Times' sources inside the Afghan government have indicated contact with the Taliban has slowed recently, which, while adding to fears that Karzai may have been duped, fails to make clear where the HPC fits in, and what say it will have in the grinding of the peace processor moving forward.
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[Libya Herald] The Libyan Revolutionaries' Operation Room (LROR) and a number of other revolutionary groups from around the country have submitted statements pledging their support to the General National Congress (GNC).
The statements are a response to popular movements that have gained momentum in several Libyan cities demanding the removal of Congress by 7 February. There are widespread concerns that some gunnies may use force to achieve that end.
The front man for the GNC, Omar Hemidan, told the Libya Herald that its President, Nuri Abu Sahmain, had recently received letters from local and military councils across Libya confirming their support for Congress.
NFA rejects Congress roadmap
The National Forces Alliances (NFA) has rejected the roadmap for the new constitution and legislature adopted by the General National Congress (GNC) on Monday.
The roadmap could see the present Congress remaining in office until as late a September 2015. Alternatively it could be dissolved and fresh elections called as early as June this year.
The NFA said it disassociated itself with the Congress decision saying that just because a majority of Congress members had voted in favour did not mean that this represented the will of the Libyan people. The only way to do that was by a referendum, the NFA said.
"The process of the extending Congress' life has been an undemocratic step," the chairman of the NFA's steering committee, Abdulmajeed Milaiqtah, said at a presser yesterday. It was also an " extension of the Libyans' suffering" he added.
Only the Libyan people as a whole could decide on extending Congress' life, he insisted. They were "the owners of the legitimacy [of the process]", not Congress.
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An Egyptian court on Wednesday adjourned the murder trial of ousted president Mohammed Mursi to March 1, to review video evidence against him.
Mursi and 14 co-defendants, some of them former aides, are charged with inciting the killings of opposition protesters outside the presidential palace in December 2012.
The court also postponed witness testimony scheduled for Wednesdays session, after Mursis defence requested more time to prepare for cross examination. One of the witnesses was head of the military unit tasked with protecting the president at the time of the clashes.
Mursi was present in the court, bound and gagged inside a soundproof glass dock to prevent him from interrupting proceedings with defiant outbursts, as he had done in previous hearings. He insisted in previous hearings that he was still Egypts legitimate president and challenged the legitimacy of the court.
In the hearing on March 1, the court will review a report on video footage of the December 5, 2012, clashes between Mursis supporters and opponents. At least seven people were killed in the violence.
Mursi faces four separate trials, on charges ranging from contempt of the judiciary to plotting an elaborate conspiracy involving Iran and Palestinian militants to conduct attacks in Egypt. He could be sentenced to death if convicted on several of the charges, which include collusion with foreign groups and incitement to murder.
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[An Nahar] The Central African Republic's interim president Catherine Samba Panza has re-appointed several ministers from her coup-leader predecessor's cabinet, national radio said Wednesday.
Samba Panza, a Christian who is tasked with restoring stability in a country torn apart by Christian-Moslem violence, kept some key figures from Moslem rebel leader Michel Djotodia's government, including the minister who liaises with French and African troops deployed to end the bloodshed.
Jean-Jaques Demafouth, a longtime political heavyweight, retains his post as security adviser for relations with African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... -led force MISCA and former colonial ruler La Belle France's Operation Sangaris.
The new cabinet, which has about 30 ministers, also retains Abdoulaye Hissene, minister for youth and sports.
Both Demafouth and Hissene once fought in previous rebel movements in the chronically rebellion- and coup-prone country.
At least 10 other members of the new cabinet were part of the previous government or held key posts on Djotodia's staff.
Djotodia, the leader of the mostly Moslem Seleka rebel alliance, seized power in March 2013.
His former fighters then launched a campaign of murder, rape and looting against the Christian majority, unleashing a wave of tit-for-tat violence that has displaced around a million people and left thousands dead.
Djotodia, who failed to stop the crisis, was forced to resign under international pressure in January. The transitional parliament picked Samba Panza to replace him on January 20.
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The Dubai Customs recently foiled two separate attempts to smuggle 28 counterfeited documents, including 25 visas, and three passports, at the Dubai International Airport, Terminal 3.
A senior official said that smuggling of 25 fake visas was intercepted with the arrest of a passenger coming from Pakistan an Asian country, while three forged African passports were seized in another smuggling bid.
It's like in America: when the media doesn't tell you the political affiliation of a pol caught doing some crime, you know he's a Democrat. If the Arab media doesn't tell you the nationality of the 'Asian', you can be comfortably certain he's a Pakistani...
Ali Al Mugahwi, Director of Airport Operations Department at Dubai Customs, on Wednesday said the Pakistani Asian passenger, implicated in the first seizure, was held when he stepped into the Customs inspection area.
"The customs inspectors suspected the Pakistani passenger when he anxiously denied having anything to declare, and showed signs of worry while talking to the officer."
The inspector, on searching the Pakistani passenger's baggage, found a number of entry permits issued from some Pakistani Asian countries. "These visas later turned out to be fabricated, just like some other fake documents found in possession of the man who was supposed to deliver the documents to other people here in the UAE against some money."
Al Mugahwi said the Dubai Customs inspectors in a separate incident, apprehended another passenger, with three African passports which later proved to be fake.
"The suspect was hiding the forged passports inside a book in his belongings, but the vigilant inspectors detected them through a sophisticated screening machine due to an abnormal thickness in the book."
Adding, Al Mugahwi said the two passengers, following investigation at the Passengers Investigation Office of the Airports Operations Department, admitted to their crime.
"They said they were planning to hand over the fraudulent visas and passports to other individuals in the UAE to use for illegal purposes."
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[Dhaka Tribune] 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 maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. 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... will observe a nationwide dawn-to-dusk hartal ... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ... for Thursday protesting the death penalty of its chief Motiur Rahman Nizami ...During the liberation war of 1971, Nizami formed the Al-Badr Force and acted as its supreme commander. The Al-Badr militia took active part in rape, extortion, looting and killing of Bangladeshis who supported the liberation, including a pre-planned massacre on December 14, 1971, when the Al-Badr militia along with Pakistan Army rounded up hundreds of doctors, professors, writers, and other Bengali intellectuals, and executed them... in one of the 10-truck arms haul cases.
Earlier on Friday, Jamaat's acting Secretary General Shafiqur Rahman called the hartal. Later, the party has postponed its Monday's hartal to Thursday because of Akheri Munajat of Bishwa Ijtema and Saraswati Puja.
A Chittagong court on Thursday handed down death sentences to 14 people including Jamaat ameer and former industries minister Motiur Rahman Nizami for criminal masterminding the country's largest ever smuggling of weaponries in 2004. He was given life-term in the arms case.
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[Dhaka Tribune] The Chittagong Court has sent the verdict of ten-truck arms haul cases that ordered to hang fourteen persons including Jamaat chief Motiur Rahman Nizami ...During the liberation war of 1971, Nizami formed the Al-Badr Force and acted as its supreme commander. The Al-Badr militia took active part in rape, extortion, looting and killing of Bangladeshis who supported the liberation, including a pre-planned massacre on December 14, 1971, when the Al-Badr militia along with Pakistan Army rounded up hundreds of doctors, professors, writers, and other Bengali intellectuals, and executed them... and ex-state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar for confirmation of the High Court.
Confirming the Dhaka Tribune, Chittagong Metropolitan Public Prosecutor Kamal Uddin Ahmed said the verdict of the sensational cases was sent from Chittagong with high security around 4.30pm on Wednesday.
The verdict is likely to be received on Thursday by the concerned section of the HC.
The Chittagong Metropolitan Special Tribunal 1 delivered the judgment under the Special Powers Act, 1974.
The law stipulates: "Where a Special Tribunal passes a sentence of death, the proceedings shall be submitted forthwith to the High Court Division and the sentence shall not be executed unless it is confirmed by that HC Division."
"An appeal from any order, judgment or sentence of a Special Tribunal may be preferred to the High Court Division within thirty days from the date of delivery or passing thereof," the Act of 1974 says.
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You'd think that would be done already; every pol in Pak-land proclaims himself (and very occasionally herself) to be the most pious Muslim around. The whole country is based on Islamic law -- just not the Islamic law the Taliban wants.
Negotiators representing Taleban insurgents said on Wednesday there was no chance of peace in Pakistan until the government embraces Islamic Shariah law and US-led forces withdraw completely from neighbouring Afghanistan.
The tough conditions appear to deal a blow to hopes that talks with the Pakistani government could end the Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan (TTP) insurgency that has rocked the nuclear-armed country since 2007.
Initial peace talks failed to get under way on Tuesday when the government delegation refused to meet the militants negotiators, citing confusion about the make-up of their team.
And the arms...
The two sides are expected to try to meet again on Thursday or Friday, though no definite arrangements have yet been made.
Washington and Kabul have been deadlocked over a pact known as the Bilateral Security Agreement, which would allow some US troops to stay on in Afghanistan beyond 2014, with Afghan President Hamid Karzai refusing to sign it. Its supporters say the pact is crucial to Afghanistans stability after the bulk of Nato forces pull out.
But Maulana Sami-Ul-Haq, the head of the TTPs three-man talks team, said there could be no peace in the region while there were still US troops across the border.
His comments were echoed by his fellow TTP negotiator Maulana Abdul Aziz, who also said the TTPs long-held commitment to imposing Shariah law across Pakistan was not open to debate.
Without Shariah law, the Taleban wont accept (the talks) even one per cent, he said. If some factions accept it, then the others wont accept it.
And all it takes is one...
There has been scepticism about what the talks could achieve. Local peace deals reached with the militants in the past have quickly fallen apart.
Golly gosh, maybe the skepticism is justified?
Their real agenda is Shariah, Aziz said, suggesting that all Pakistans secular courts based on the common law system be abolished. I dont think the government will accept this but they should, because war isnt the way forward.
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Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has invited India to come forward for peaceful resolution of Kashmir dispute through dialogue.
Meaning, give the Paks what they want and nobody needs to get hurt...
Addressing a joint session of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly and Kashmir Council here on Wednesday, he stressed that the region will remain in the grip of uncertainty and confrontation if Kashmir dispute is not resolved in accordance with the aspirations of Kashmiri people.
The Paks will see to it...
The lingering Kashmir dispute will also have adverse effects on the socio-economic development of the region.
The Paks will see to that too...
The prime minister expressed the confidence that the Indian leadership will realise the sensitivity of the issue and will respond to his invitation of dialogue in a positive manner and give right to self-determination to the people of Kashmir. He said good friendly relations could develop between both the neighbouring countries if India accepts the right to self-determination of Kashmiri people. He reiterated that Pakistan wants to resolve all outstanding issues with India, including the core issue of Kashmir, through meaningful and result-oriented dialogue.
And then they'll talk about all the Muslims in India becoming part of Pakistan, along with their land...
Sharif said Kashmir dispute remains on the list of unfinished agenda of the United Nations and this issue is central to peace in the South Asia. He said like other parts of the world, the Kashmiris also have the right to decide their future with their own free will.
Depending, of course, on the natural inclination of the child-like Kashmiris to accept the advice and wise counsel of the Land of the Pure...
He said Pakistan has taken several concrete steps to reduce the hardships faced by the people living on both sides of the Line of Control. The steps include the opening of the Line of Control to facilitate trade and movement of the people. These steps clearly reflect that Pakistan wants peace.
On its terms...
The prime minister said that his government wants development in Pakistan-administered Kashmir like other parts of Pakistan.
You can see how well that development has worked out, too. Pakistan is just a booming country...
The premier said that Kashmirs development is as dear to him as that of Pakistan.
Now there's a statement...
The AJK government should plan development projects and Pakistans federal government will provide full assistance, he assured.
The premier announced that the Islamabad Express way would be extended to Muzaffarabad. He also announced his plan to launch a train service from Islamabad to Murree and Muzaffarabad.
Earlier, in his message on Kashmir solidarity day, the prime minister said, This is an occasion to reiterate our firm support to the people of Jammu and Kashmir in their legitimate struggle for their inalienable right to self-determination..
Raising the issue of human rights violations in Kashmir, Sharif said: The peaceful people of Jammu and Kashmir continue to suffer.
Not only the right to self-determination is being denied to them but they are also being subjected to the worst kind of human rights abuses, violence and suppression.
President Mamnoon Hussain said Pakistan remained firmly committed to its principled stance on Jammu and Kashmir.
And it has only one principle, that Kashmir must be united with Pakistan...
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[An Nahar] Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki came under fire from U.S. politicians Wednesday for the slow pace of political reconciliation and links to Iran, which they said was fueling a wave of suicide kabooms.
House politicians gathered to assess the threat of al-Qaeda in Iraq and its affiliate the Islamic State of Iraq the Levant (ISIL) as a new round of bombings rocked Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... , killing 33 people.
Al-Qaeda is now carrying out 40 mass attacks a month, in Iraq's bloodiest eruption of violence in six years and the worse since U.S. troops withdrew in 2011, said House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Ed Royce.
"As head of state, while he may not be up to it, Maliki must take steps to lead Iraq to a post-sectarian era," Royce insisted.
The Death Eaters were benefiting from "the alienation" of the country's Sunni population from its Shiite dominated government, which also has strong ties with the Shiite leaders in Iran.
"Al-Qaeda has become very skilled at exploiting this sectarian rift, and Maliki's power grab has given them much ammunition," Royce said, adding that the United States had a central role to play in helping the Iraqis fight the Death Eaters.
But in a passionate outburst, his Republican colleague Representative Dana Rohrabacher ...Representative for Caliphornia's 48th congressional district, and previously the 46th, 45th and 42nd, serving since 1989. He is a member of the Republican Party and a former speech writer for President Reagan... questioned why the United States, which is supplying Iraq with helicopters and drones to help fight the Death Eaters, was still involved in the country.
"Why do we feel compelled that we have to go in and be in the middle of a fight between people who are murdering each other?" he asked.
"Thousands of people are losing their lives to this insanity. Why does the United States feel that we need to become part of this insanity?"
U.S. deputy assistant secretary for Iraq Brett McGurk agreed: "The jacket wallah phenomenon, it is complete insanity."
But he said the United States, which invaded the country in 2003 to topple late dictator Saddam Hussein, had strategic interests to protect in the Middle East nation.
"In Iraq whether you like it or not, oil, al-Qaeda, Iran , vital U.S. interests are at stake," he said.
And he insisted Maliki had made changes, particularly in trying to reconcile Sunni and Shiites, since his visit to Washington in November during which he "got a very direct message" in his two-hour meeting with President Barack Obama If you like your coverage you can keep it... .
Maliki was told of "the need for a holistic strategy to defeat ISIL and enlisting the Sunnis into the fight. At the local level we've seen some fairly dramatic and significant changes," McGurk said.
The committee's ranking Democrat Eliot Engel said however he believed Maliki "just came to listen, but really didn't come to put his head together with us and help solve the problem."
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#1
This is the sorrowful story
Told when the twilight fails
And the monkeys walk together
Holding their neighbours' tails:
#3
must take steps to lead Iraq to a post-sectarian era
JesuChristo on a shingle is every singe person in Washington a complete babbling jack-ass?
Just how the hell is anyone going to lead Iraq to a post sectarian future even if they wanted to, which is debateable, when THE OTHER SIDE wants complete theocratic control?
In war, your best intentions don't count for squat when the other side gets a "vote".
Economy Minister Naftali Bennett has accused the United States of making mistakes in regional diplomatic efforts that have lead to threats on Israeli security.
The Bayit Yehudi leader told Israel Radio on Thursday that "wrong decisions" made by Washington during the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian peace process have partially lead to the deluge of recent missile attacks from Gaza on southern Israel.
Not to mention breaking Sunni hold on Iraq --- which made Iran a regional superpower. Or the destruction of the only Muslim strongman who gave up WMD....
We didn't break Saddam to advance your interests, grom -- we did it to advance ours. No apology will be coming from us on that one. And Daffy was a human monster -- I'm rather pleased he got his.
Dubya understood the need to contain Iran, but unfortunately our current president doesn't and never will.
[Jerusalem Post] PLO official: Kerry's proposals offer 'general and vague' formulas about J'lem's future.
US Secretary of State John Kerrys proposals are Israeli ideas that the Palestinian Authority cannot accept, PLO Secretary-General Yasser Abed Rabbo said on Thursday. Who could have imagined, yet another failed ME peace mission.
Abed Rabbo said he cannot accept the proposals mainly because it remains unclear when Israel would pull out of the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Kerrys proposals offer the Palestinians general and vague formulas about the fate of Jerusalem, Abed Rabbo said in a broadcast on the Voice of Palestine radio station. Sorry Joooohn, no partial-game bonus? Everyone hates it.
The proposals also call for slicing parts of the Jordan Valley and making them part of Israel, and scrapping the right of return for Palestinian refugees, the PLO official said. Our motto is.... "slice throats, not land."
Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, denied reports that the PA leadership had agreed to a gradual Israeli withdrawal over a period of three years. These reports were untrue and hurt the higher interests of the Palestinians, Ashrawi said. Palestinians agree? Ha! no explanation required. Everyone knew the report was bogus.
Tawfik Tirawi, a top Fatah official and former PA security commander, said that Kerrys proposals were completely unacceptable to the Palestinians. We dont want framework agreements, but a final solution, Tirawi told reporters in Ramallah. Wants a.... "final solution" does he? Certainly a curious term of reference.
He criticized Kerry for offering the Palestinians a capital in the villages of Abu Dis and al-Ram, and not in Jerusalem. Tirawi said that Kerrrys proposals do not offer a solution to the issue of the refugees.
This means that we cannot accept these ideas, he said. We will pay a heavy price.
The Palestinians do not have a peace partner in Israel, according to Tirawi. Recent Israeli threats against PA President Mahmoud Abbas show that Israel is not interested in peace, he said.
Abbas could face the same fate as Yasser Arafat, Tirawi said. And what "fate" would that have been, may I ask ?
No Palestinian in the past, present or future has a mandate to make concessions on Palestinian rights, Tirawi said. The PA leadership made a mistake by not seeking full membership in the United Nations and other international agencies and forums after it obtained the status of non-member observer in November 2012, he said. Only one of many mistakes made by the PA. Only one of many.
...the Paleos simply say "hell no" which leaves only the Israelis to negotiate in a substantive form. Therefore, American policy of recent has been to "massage" the Israelis for "progress" towards self-destruction while literally paying the Paleos not to make too much noise. The Israelis, not being the American electorate, will ultimately say no as well.
At that point, Kerry, etal., will throw up their hands citing Israeli intransigence and the whole damn thing will blow up with Israel standing alone against the combined efforts of American-enabled (if not outright assisted) enemies.
[FREEBEACON] Israeli victims of terrorism lashed out at 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... for his "insensitivity" after he inaccurately claimed "not one Israeli was killed by a Paleostinian from the West Bank" in a recent speech.
During a controversial speech over the weekend in Germany, Kerry threatened Israel with economic boycotts and claimed that the Jewish state is enjoying a respite from Paleostinian terrorism.
"There's a momentary prosperity, there's a momentary peace," Kerry said. "Last year, not one Israeli was killed by a Paleostinian from the West Bank."
However, some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... this is untrue. At least five Israelis were murdered by West Bank Paleostinians in 2013.
Evyatar Borovsky is one of those victims. He was stabbed to death 10 months ago while hitchhiking in the West Bank. He left behind his wife, Tsofia, and five children.
"It's a feeling of carelessness and neglecting actual Israeli needs," Tsofia Borovsky told the Free Beacon on Tuesday when asked about Kerry's remarks.
Borovsky said that Kerry's comments reveal an inherent insensitivity and apathy to Israel's security needs, particularly since the murders of Evyatar and others were so greatly publicized.
"I don't even believe that [President] Obama even knows there was a murder or anything," she said through a translator. "If Kerry can say such careless things, [I'm] not sure they actually know, that the American government knows what's happening in Israel, that people are being murdered."
Kerry went on in his speech to warn Israel that violence against Israelis will increase unless the government makes tough concessions to reach peace with the Paleostinians.
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[Ynet] Jordan's Prime Minister Ensour announces Hashemite kingdom will not deploy troops to West Bank to replace IDF. Jordanian Foreign Minister Judeh says country has right to 'accept or reject' any part of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
The kingdom, a key US ally, is watching warily as Secretary of State John Kerry brokers the secretive talks. Protests have broken out, the media brims with disaster scenarios, and lawmakers have held anguished debate.
"Jordan stands today at a dangerous crossroad because it will be a victim of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal," warned tribal lawmaker Abdul-Karim Dughmi. "I do not trust Mr. Kerry because his country is biased toward the Zionists and their expansionist plans to usurp the remaining Palestinian lands in the West Bank and force more Palestinian refugees onto Jordan." Even at the risk of the Champ regime turning on him, it appears King Ab is wisely steering clear of the Kerry schemes. A prudent move that.
Israels Jerusalem municipality approved building plans on Wednesday for 558 new homes in the occupied West Bank, land that the Palestinians want for a future state.
A municipality spokeswoman said the local planning committee had approved requests by private contractors for the construction work in the settlements of Har Homa, Neve Yaakov and Pisgat Zeev. The three settlements are in a part of the West Bank that Israel annexed to Jerusalem, in a move that has not been recognised internationally, after capturing the territory in the 1967 Middle East war.
The Palestinians have said that expansion of Israeli settlements, which most countries deem illegal, could derail the US-sponsored peace talks that resumed in July after a three-year break.
The talks that are going so well? How could they be more derailed than they are now?
The municipality spokeswoman said that the initial plans for the new dwellings were approved years ago. Har Homa and Pisgat Zeev are in one of the areas in the West Bank that Israel says it intends to keep in any future land-for-peace deal with the Palestinians.
Also on Wednesday, Israeli authorities demolished three Palestinian homes they said were built without permits in occupied East Jerusalem, displacing five families.
Hanan Ashrawi, a senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organization, called the moves a deliberate provocation of the Palestinians to drive them to leave the negotiations.
Israel is not only capable of sabotaging the talks, but it is flagrantly destroying the chances of peace and stability throughout the region, she said in a statement.
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[DAWN] Drones will become an increasingly common tool of warfare and surveillance as their cost falls, a leading think-tank said Wednesday, although humans will retain ultimate control over lethal strikes.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) also noted a continuing trend of Asian military spending surging ahead as European defence budgets shrink, in its annual assessment of the world's armies.
At the launch of the Military Balance 2014 at the IISS's London headquarters, its military aerospace expert Doug Barrie said the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, would increase, although they would continue to co-exist next to manned aircraft.
He said the assumption entering the 21st century had been that autonomous drones would soon completely replace piloted planes.
"I think there's been a step back from that to some extent. I think you will see mixed use for quite some time," Barrie said, but acknowledged that the range of drones' capabilities would increase.
"We're going to see more of these things. They will proliferate from the kind of system you can stick in your backpack up to full-blown combat strike,"he added.
'More drones means more ethical questions'
The IISS said the increased use of drones was accompanied by legal and ethical questions, including whether attacks could be justified as self-defence and whether they constitute a proportional response to the status of individuals targeted.
There has been particular concern over the potential use of fully autonomous armed UAVs, without humans piloting the devices from the ground.
"Machine-based decision-making as the basis for lethal action will remain a threshold legislatures and the public will likely be unwilling to cross," the report said.
The report said that drones were once seen almost exclusively in Western armed forces, but the proliferation of smaller systems had reduced costs, enabling greater use by private companies, individuals and countries with limited financial resources.
UAVs have been used overwhelmingly in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, in effectively uncontested airspace, the IISS noted.
However, some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... such calculations may change if they were up against active air defence weapons. Russia and China have been developing GPS-jamming technology, the think-tank said.
In ongoing trends, the report noted the relative shift towards Asia in the balance of military power, with defence budgets in the region rising as Western ones tighten.
The United States remained by far the world's biggest defence spender in 2013, with a budget of $600.4 billion, the report said, followed by China ($112.2 billion), Russia ($68.2 billion) and 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... ($59.6 billion).
In terms of defence budgets as a share of gross domestic product, Afghanistan was top on 13.8 per cent, followed by Oman (11.7 per cent), Saudi Arabia (eight per cent) and Iraq (7.2 per cent).
But in real terms, Asian defence spending was 11.6 per cent higher in 2013 than in 2010, while it had fallen by 2.5 per cent in Europe.
'Nuclear suicide mission'
Experts said maritime drones were lagging behind UAVs but there was now substantial investment.
Meanwhile, ...back at the palazzo, Count Guido had been cornered by the banditti... "we've seen an kaboom of unmanned systems on land, with armies having lots of drones, and with small drones, the genie's out of the bottle," said IISS land warfare expert Ben Barry.
In Syria, Barry said neither side had a clear advantage, nearly three years into the civil war.
"The rebels are probably hampered as much by the lack of unity between the various groups as the factional infighting," he said.
"I think it's unlikely that we'll see a decisive shift on the battlefield for at least six months."
For North Korea, while its ageing aircraft could not penetrate South Korean or Japanese air defences with a nuclear weapon, "a nuclear suicide mission by a mini-submarine cannot be ruled out".
As Western forces withdraw from Afghanistan this year, 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... faces pressing issues at its September summit in Britannia, working out what shape the "post-operational alliance" should take.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
"Nuclear suicide mission" > Artic should had said by Mini-Sub or Airborne UAVS or Ground vehicle.
Then again iff once is talking about Radicals or Extremists, good ole-fashioned Cold War-style Human Sapper-kazes remains just as effective.
[LATIMES] At least 50 Americans have joined the mix of bad boy groups that are fighting to overthrow Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Horror of Homs... , and some could try to mount terrorist attacks at home, U.S. intelligence officials said Tuesday.
Intelligence officials say the Syrian civil war has become one of the biggest magnets for Islamic bully boyz around the globe since CIA-backed snuffies fought to oust Soviet troops from Afghanistan in the 1980s, a war that ultimately gave rise to Al Qaeda.
James Clapper, the U.S. director of national intelligence, told the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday that "7,500 or so" imported muscle are in Syria from 50 countries. Clapper had cited an estimate of 7,000 at a Senate hearing last week.
A U.S. intelligence official told The Times that the total includes at least 50 Americans, a more concrete estimate than authorities have given previously. He declined to be identified because he was not authorized to discuss the figure publicly.
A report in January by the Israel-based Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center estimated that as many as 1,800 people from European countries have also fought in Syria.
CIA Director John Brennan said Tuesday that Al Qaeda is training imported muscle at camps in Syria and neighboring Iraq.
"We are concerned about the use of Syrian territory by the Al Qaeda organization to recruit individuals ... to use Syria as a launching pad" for attacks on the West, Brennan said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2014 00:00 ||
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#4
I wonder if the US will let them back in, if they survive.
No I don't. Of course we will. With open arms.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
02/06/2014 12:54 Comments ||
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#5
As well we should. It's the American way. Because people with interesting backgrounds, open minds, muscular consciences, and broad experience of diverfe cultures make great community organizers.
[An Nahar] Syria said Wednesday it remains committed to destroying its chemical weapons despite "difficulties" caused by its conflict, as it missed another deadline under an international deal which averted U.S. military action.
"Difficulties that Syria faces, particularly in the framework if its fight against terrorism, may at times prevent it from implementing some of its commitments," said Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad.
But the Syrian government is committed to the deal under which it must turn over all its chemical weapons by mid-2014, he said, quoted by state news agency SANA.
Despite the delays, Muqdad said Syria was working "with determination, strength and credibility to fully implement the agreements with the United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... and the Organization for the Prohibition on Chemical Weapons (OPCW)."
The comments came as Syria missed another key deadline in the process of dismantling and destroying its chemical arsenal.
It was due to have removed all so-called "category two" chemicals, among the less dangerous of those its possesses, from its territory.
Asked in The Hague if the deadline had been met, OPCW front man Michael Luhan told Agence La Belle France Presse: "There is no reason to comment. The situation is evident."
In addition to 700 tonnes of the most lethal chemicals -- that should have left the war-wracked country on December 31 -- 500 tonnes of "category two" chemicals was supposed to have been shipped out by Wednesday.
Just two small shipments of chemicals have left the Syrian port of Latakia, accounting for less than four percent of the country's declared arsenal of most dangerous chemicals, the United States said last month.
The U.N. Security Council last year backed a U.S.-Russian deal to destroy Syria's vast chemical arsenal as a way to avert U.S. strikes threatened after chemical attacks near Damascus that Washington blamed on the regime.
Under the agreement, Syria's entire chemical arsenal is to be eliminated by June 30.
Syria has declared around 700 tonnes of most-dangerous chemicals, 500 tonnes of less-dangerous precursor chemicals and around 122 tonnes of isopropanol, which can be used to make sarin.
Syria's ally Russia has played down the delays, saying on Tuesday that another stockpile would be shipped out this month.
"I would not dramatize the disarmament issue," Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told Russia's RIA Novosti news agency.
"Literally yesterday the Syrians announced that they are planning to move out a large amount of chemical substances in February," he added.
"They are ready to complete this process by March 1, in accordance with the deadlines set by the OPCW."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Syria has no reason ro obey, now if we bombed them?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/06/2014 1:37 Comments ||
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#2
122 tonnes of isopropanol, which can be used to make sarin.
Disinfecting pads typically contain a 6070% solution of isopropyl alcohol in water. A 75% solution in water may be used as a hand sanitizer.
And they certainly have need of disinfectant and hand sanitizer!
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/06/2014 10:22 Comments ||
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#3
Dirt is a precursor to castor beans which is a precursor to ricin. How many tons of dirt does Syria have?
Polio vaccination has begun in Syrias besieged Yarmuk camp, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA said on Wednesday.
Wonder if the al-Qaeda wannabes are going to murder the UN health care workers...
The once bustling residential and commercial district south of Damascus, home to both Syrians and Palestinians, had been largely sealed off by a tight army siege for months before a deal that allowed a trickle of food and medical aid in beginning last month.
At least 88 people have died of hunger and lack of medical care under the siege, according to one NGO, but UNRWA has now begun moving food parcels and medicine into Yarmuk.
We are pleased to announce that UNRWA has secured the formal authorisation for the transfer of 10,000 polio vaccines to Yarmuk, UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said. This process has been completed without incident and the vaccination of thousands of children in the camp is now under way.
Gunness said food distributions that began on January 18, haltingly at first before picking up speed in recent days, continued on Wednesday. He said 5,194 food parcels had been distributed to the camp since UNRWA gained access.
Some 1,500 people have left the camp under the deal, according to a Palestinian official, although they require approval to do so.
Once home to some 150,000 Palestinians, as well as Syrians, Yarmuk has been devastated by the fighting, and now just 18,000 civilians are thought to remain inside.
Where'd the rest go -- Mauritania?
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/06/2014 00:00 ||
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#4
Looks like you people don't grasp the cavity of the situation. This threat warning comes straight from the folks who vigilantly protect us from our shoes and deodorant and underwear. The authorities. Surely that caries some weight? Marathon Man graphic here?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Tolo News] In response to a recent report by The 
[Libya Herald] The Libyan Revolutionaries' Operation Room (LROR) and a number of other revolutionary groups from around the country have submitted statements pledging their support to the General National Congress (GNC). 
[Dhaka Tribune] 
[FREEBEACON] Israeli victims of terrorism lashed out at Secretary of State 
[DAWN] Drones will become an increasingly common tool of warfare and surveillance as their cost falls, a leading think-tank said Wednesday, although humans will retain ultimate control over lethal strikes.
North Korea
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
