[DAWN] In a phone call with 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... , 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... accused Pakistain of being behind a recent series of attacks and of blocking his government from striking a peace deal with the Taliban, the Afghan president's office said Sunday.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
I have to agree with Karzai we have done nothing to punish Pakistan.
Posted by: Paul D ||
03/31/2014 2:22 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Pakistan denies that it is assisting the Taliban.
The ISI created the Taliban and is certainly still assisting it.
[An Nahar] The Seychelles on Sunday transferred nine Somali pirates to serve the remainder of their jail sentences back home, the government said, taking the total transferred to more than 90.
The convicted pirates, who had been tried on the Indian Ocean archipelago, were flown back to Somalia's northern Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... region, the interior ministry said in a statement. They add to nine flown back last week.
"The prisoners will... serve out the remainder of their sentences at the newly built Garowe prison in Puntland," the statement read.
One prisoner has just a year to go in jail, while others will remain behind bars until 2025.
"To date, the Seychelles authorities have transferred over 90 prisoners," the statement added.
Pirates have been sent to both Puntland and self-declared northwestern Somaliland.
The Seychelles, a 115-island archipelago, agreed in 2010 to accept suspected pirates incarcerated Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! on the high seas and put them on trial.
However, some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves... their tiny prison has been increasingly overcrowded with convicted or suspected pirates.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Pirates
#1
Sure they will "check-in" nightly and right on time to serve their sentence.
Egypt's presidential election will be held in late May, the electoral commission announced on Sunday, finally setting dates for the crucial vote widely expected to be won by the country's former military chief who ousted an elected president last year. The election commission said the results are expected by June 5, and if a second round is necessary it will be held by mid-month with results announced no later than June 26.
The country's powerful former military chief Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, who led the overthrow of president Mohammed Mursi last summer, has announced his bid for office and is widely expected to win. His victory would restore a tradition of presidents from military background that Egypt had for all but one year since 1952.
Sisi announced on Wednesday that he was resigning from the military to run for office -- a requirement since only civilians can run for president. To officially make a bid, Al Sisi would have to collect at least 25,000 signatures from 15 out of Egypt's 27 provinces in a petition demanding he runs. He had said he will not hold a traditional campaign, most likely over concerns for his own security. So far, only one other candidate, leftist Hamdeen Sabahi, who took third place in 2012 presidential elections, has said he would run.
The commission said that the window for nomination of candidates will open on Monday until April 20. A three-week campaign period is slated to start on May 3.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/31/2014 00:00 ||
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[1 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[SUNNEWSONLINE] President Goodluck Jonathan ... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau... yesterday said that Nigeria's deadliest group, Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... , is financed by forces outside the country to destroy the continent.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2014 00:00 ||
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[3 views]
Top|| File under: Boko Haram
#1
Saudi? Iran?
Posted by: Paul D ||
03/31/2014 2:20 Comments ||
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#2
AQiM (funneling Saudi money), Nigerian expats, Chad, etc.
[WORLDSTAGEGROUP] United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... ' Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson has assured that the United Nations will tighten the noose on terrorism funding, following the concern raised by President Goodluck Jonathan ... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau... of Nigeria that Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... is financed by forces outside the country.
Eliasson who briefed journalists in Abuja, during the 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... Conference of Ministers of Finance, Economic and Planning however said, that UN will not be physically present in individual countries to control arms as that is "within the powers of the countries to fight terrorism domestically."
Reacting to the recent killing of secondary school children in Nigerian Eliasson advised the Nigeria government to devise a comprehensive approach to deal with the menace.
The UN Deputy Secretary General described Africa as the continent of hope as deliberations at the meeting identified the challenges and opportunities in addressing cases of infrastructure deficit, job creation and unemployment in the continent as well as the six per cent annual growth rate of the continent.
Earlier, ECA Executive Secretary, Mr. Carlos Lopes had said that "emerging economies have seen Africa as major trading partners and a place of huge investment."
According to Mr. Lopes, "as the rest of the world gets older, Africa is getting younger and more populous, with implications for education and health care, for supply of labour, and for consumer demand. These are positive trends, but there is still much to be done. Aggregate growth is below the 7 per cent threshold required to double the income in a decade, at this rate, African economies would be unable to generate enough jobs. Africa's impressive growth rates must be translated into job creation and poverty eradication."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2014 00:00 ||
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[1 views]
Top|| File under: Boko Haram
#1
What are the UN going to do - tax it into oblivion?
North Korea on Thursday reverted to hostile cold-war rhetoric, reneging on a pledge to stop cross-border mudslinging.
That didn't take long...
The North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland accused Park of "blabbering" like a peasant woman and described her as a "faithful servant and stooge of the United States."
At the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague, Park warned on Monday that North Korean nuclear devices could end up in the hands of terrorists and vowed to strengthen cooperation with the U.S. and Japan to deal with the North's nuclear weapons.
The North said Park must learn to stop such reckless talk. This is the first time since the North proposed on Feb. 14 to stop ad-hominem attacks that Pyongyang took aim at Park directly and mentioned her by name.
A spokesman for the committee accused Park of "ignorance."
The government here expressed "strong regret" at the comments and urged the North to stop being "rude."
"How rude!"
"Yes, quite."
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/31/2014 00:00 ||
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[3 views]
Top|| File under: Commies
#1
call me when they get back to "roasting stomaches in a sea of fire", "Juche" and "Army first".
KCNA guy back from forced retirement?
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/31/2014 9:09 Comments ||
Top||
#1
They're just talking about returning Specops to it's root concept. Basically, you have two groups: specialty trainers, and recon guys (sneaky pete's). Special Forces have suffered from mission creep, not unlike SWAT cops. ("We have these well trained guys just standing around over here: why don't we use them to [insert bad idea here].")
Posted by: ed in texas ||
03/31/2014 8:44 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I'll go with commenter Doug Mayfield's assessment below:
Submitted by Doug Mayfield (United States), Mar 24, 2014 at 17:24
I must disagree with Robin's assessment that this change in SOCOM's mission is insane. Vicious? Yes. Self destructive at a national level? Yes. But not insane.
In fact, it is not only completely expected but is fully consistent with everything Obama and company are doing to reduce America's position and participation in world affairs to that of a 3rd world country and to cripple our military.
This nauseating change is exactly what one would expect from socialists/nihilists such as the current occupant of the White House and his deceitful cronies.
#3
Don't forget to include in the mix the resistance of the 'old regime' institution in the services. The "let's refight WWII" heavy division crowd have taken a sizable hit in force structure these last dozen years of a real war. Now its time for take back during the down sizing. Where better than the area that grew?
#4
Spot on P2k. The 'Big Green' never has cared for Bragg or the guys at the stockade. If it were not for Goldwater-Nichols [separate budget line], SF would be history today.
#6
" Branch manager told me, "If you accept a position with them we will never accept you back into conventional forces." Yup, no love between forces."
Is that how it works?
I wondered why they wanted to put me in a turtle hut.
#7
The author misses the larger point of SOF. Yes we capture and kill our enemies. But this has only been one of many missions. SOF has always been about shaping and changing indigenous peoples. Working with French Partisans, Montagnards, Antis Sandinista's, etc... are a solid part of the SOF history. It was with Iraq that all the groups wanted to be door kickers only because the DA mission is the sexy mission. FID and the other missions are dirty, slow, invisible to glory, and extremely difficult. If all the SOF guys were doing only hunt and kill missions we would be better served with beefing up the Rangers and Force Recon units.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
03/31/2014 15:37 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Roger Roger Pan. Fly in the ointment has always been the Country Team compromise. The Klingon's in AFG pretty much had US/UK SOF in their back packet with the kill/capture effort. They had FSU SOF out in the sticks with no real mission. Local FOB Klingon reps rode heard on separate battalions and brigades. Nobody moved with the "State Dept" thumbs up. Brigade commanders quickly caught on to the game, sat back and tried to survive with minimal casualties. It sucked.
Yes, this is MAJ Dunnington [best British accent]. We flying in tomorrow to interview your detainee Mooktar. Yes, I know this is rather short notice, but you'll be getting a call from folks on the other side of your FOB to confirm. Yes, those folks. See you just after brekkie, OUT.
#9
I spent 3 years on a country team. It was enlightening to say the least. The contempt and hate for the military war ever present. They felt the same way about the RA but their fear kept them silent. The head of USAID wore an Islamic head dress and told two Christian NGO's to, "Leave your credit cards on the table and leave" "This is no place for Christians" And we were in a 90% Catholic country. State was a mixed bag at my post. First Charge of affairs wore burkenstocks to the embassy. So you know how that went. It was painful and miserable. The second was a hawk. Things got good and we had a lot of freedom to maneuver. State did not like it and sent in DOJ. Then killing terrorists became extra judicial killings and assignations of local political leaders. The country team is supposed to be a microcosm of our government in DC. I became depressed, disillusioned, and understood we lost most the most precious democracy in the history of mankind and that our nation was doomed.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
03/31/2014 23:53 Comments ||
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[DAWN] Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... 's Senior Minister and leader of the 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... (JI), Sirajul Haq, was elected on Sunday as the new ameer of the party replacing outgoing chief Syed Munawar Hassan ... The funny-looking departing leader-for-life of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. He joined the National Students Federation (NSF), a lefty student body, and was elected its President in 1959. He came into contact with the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT) Pakistan and studied the writings of Mawlana Syed Abul Ala Maududi, The Great Apostasizer. As a result, he joined IJT in 1960 and soon he was elected as President of its University of Karachi Unit and member of the Central Executive Council. He was Assistant Secretary General of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistain in 1992-93, and became Secretary General in 1993. After years of holding Qazi's camel he was named Amir when the old man stepped down in 2009... , DawnNews reported.
A meeting of the party's consultative body was held at Mansoora during which election for the post of the party chief took place.
The three contenders who participated in the polls were Sirajul Haq, outgoing party chief Syed Munawar Hassan and the party's general secretary Liaqat Baloch.
Out of 31,311 office-bearer's of the party, 25,533 people voted in which Sirajul Haq managed to secure majority of votes.
The party chief is elected for a tenure of five years.
Haq is a senior member of the party and is well-versed in several languages including Urdu, Pashto, Persian, Arabic and others.
He is renowned among his followers for his modesty and apart from serving as a Senior Minister in the KP government, was also performing the duties of the party's deputy chief since 2009.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
[An Nahar] The board of Iraq's election commission withdrew its collective resignation Sunday, partly after an appeal from the United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... mission to Storied Baghdad, state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
and a diplomatic source said.
The nine-member board of the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) had resigned en masse over alleged parliamentary and judicial interference on Tuesday, sparking concern a general election due to be held on April 30 could be delayed.
But Iraqiya state TV, quoting election commissioner Gaata al-Zobaie, said on Sunday that the board had withdrawn its collective resignation.
The commissioners rescinded their resignations "after talking with regional and international" organizations, including the United Nations, a diplomatic source told Agence La Belle France Presse, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered...
The IHEC's board has been frustrated with what they say is a vague provision in Iraq's electoral law that requires parliamentary hopefuls to be "of good reputation."
Based on that article, a judicial panel has barred several prospective politicians, including Maliki opponents such as former finance minister Rafa al-Essawi, with no obvious avenue of appeal.
Parliament has meanwhile reportedly ruled that the IHEC must not bar any candidates unless they have criminal convictions, a decision an electoral official said was at odds with that of the judicial panel.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2014 00:00 ||
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[2 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq
[Ynet] Thousands of Paleostinians, Israeli Arabs use Land Day protests to urge release of fourth batch of Paleostinian prisoners.
Ah, for the good old days when such a protest would bring them out in their hundreds of thousands... But these youngsters just don't know how to party like the old folks.
More than 15,000 Paleostinians and Israeli Arabs commemorated Land Day on Sunday with rallies that became a show of solidarity for the release of the fourth group of Paleostinian prisoners.
Protestors shouted slogans like "we will sacrifice our lives for the deaders, we are not afraid, Israel is a terrorist state, there will be a third intifanda if the prisoners are not released."
Schools, businesses, public institutions, and medical centers in the Arab sector conducted a general strike Sunday in solidarity with the protests.
The annual Land Day demonstrations are held to remember six Israeli Arab protesters who were rubbed out by Israeli police and troops during mass demonstrations in 1976 against plans to confiscate Arab land in the Galilee.
Speaking on the issue of the prisoner release, a mother of one of the Israeli Arab prisoners said: "This matter should come to an end immediately. The Prime Minister of Israel should be ashamed that he didn't keep his word. We will continue to fight until the last minute and will not give up easily."
In East Jerusalem, some 70 demonstrators gathered outside the walls of the Old City by the Damascus Gate, throwing stones and chanting slogans, a police spokeswoman said, adding that the rally was quickly broken up and one person was nabbed Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!.
There were also several gatherings in the Gazoo Strip, with scores of people attending a demonstration near the northern town of Jabaliya organized by Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,.
They rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud and held up banners reading: "We will return to our land, no matter how long it takes."
A demonstration near the southern city of Khan Yunis drew similar numbers, among them dozens of children holding balloons bearing the Paleostinian flag scrawled with the word "Gazoo".
[An Nahar] Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq denounced on Sunday a suicide car kaboom on a military post in the border town of Arsal. Suicide kabooms are kinda the epitome of terrorist acts, aren't they?
"The attack against the army in Wadi Ata region in (eastern border town of) Arsal is a criminal terrorist act that will not prevent us from implementing the security plan that the cabinet established," Mashnouq said in a statement issued by his press office.
He pointed out that the "terrorist act targets the army and as well the Lebanese people and the state's entity."
The minister offered his condolences to the families of the victims, stressing that the army will carry out its tasks in cooperation with the Internal Security forces to safeguard the land and the people.
"We will confront security violators regardless of their religion or political affiliations," Mashnouq added.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2014 00:00 ||
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[8 views]
Top|| File under: al-Nusra
[An Nahar] Lebanese Forces A Christian political party founded by Bashir Gemayel, who was then bumped off when he was elected president of Leb... leader Samir Geagea ... Geagea was imprisoned by the Syrians and their puppets for 11 years in a dungeon in the third basement level of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense. He was released after the Cedar Revolution in 2005 ... announced Sunday that the LF will boycott Monday's national dialogue session because "Hizbullah
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
[Ynet] Two Spanish journalists who were freed after being kidnapped for more than six months in Syria by a rogue al-Qaeda group flew back home Sunday, Spain's Defense Ministry said.
The El Mundo newspaper reported earlier that its war correspondent Javier Espinosa made contact late Saturday from Turkey, where he and photographer Ricardo Garcia Vilanova were under military protection.
It was not clear whether the journalists had escaped or were released by the bully boy Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, which kidnapped the pair at a checkpoint in northeastern Syria on Sept. 16 as they were trying to leave the country.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/31/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State of Iraq & the Levant
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[DAWN] In a phone call with US Secretary of State 
Somali pirates
Egypt's presidential election will be held in late May, the electoral commission announced on Sunday, finally setting dates for the crucial vote widely expected to be won by the country's former military chief who ousted an elected president last year. The election commission said the results are expected by June 5, and if a second round is necessary it will be held by mid-month with results announced no later than June 26.
Goodluck Jonathan
[WORLDSTAGEGROUP] 
North Korea
Syed Munawar Hassan
[An Nahar] Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq denounced on Sunday a suicide car 
Samir Geagea
