Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has been trying without success to form a joint front with the Taliban and other parties against the government, his purported spokesman said on Saturday.
Hekmatyars Hezb-e-Islami had been pushing the plan for more than a year but had had no response from the Taliban and was for the most part fighting separately from them, he said in a telephone interview from an unknown location. The commander was also absolutely against talks with the government of President Hamid Karzai as long as US troops remained in Afghanistan, said the man who identified himself as Haroon Zarghoon, Hekmatyars spokesman.
The commander had been misunderstood in media reports this week that said he split with the Taliban and was open to negotiations with Karzai, he said. What Hekmatyar Saeb (sir) said was he had called on Taliban to join the Hezb-e-Islami and establish a joint front. So far we have not got any response from the Taliban and we cant wait for them, he said. We have mobilised our own mujahedin - whenever the Taliban is ready they can join us. Right now the Taliban are fighting their own war and we our own. In some areas we do have co-ordination, but mainly we fight separately. Hekmatyar wanted the front to include the Taliban and other parties, said Zarghoon, without identifying these groups.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/11/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
(SomaliNet) Ethiopian troops withdrew from the southern Somali city of Kismayu, leaving it in the hands of Somalia's interim government until African Union (AU) peacekeepers arrive, officials said on Friday. The strategic port was the last major city the Ethiopians and government forces took in their swift December victory over militant Islamists who had controlled most of southern Somalia for six months.
"Yesterday afternoon, our friends who have been helping us in training and security left," Somali Kismayu Police Chief Abdi Mohamed Abdulle told Reuters, adding the Ethiopian contingent had amounted to about 2,000 soldiers.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/11/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
(SomaliNet) The transitional federal government of Somalia denied that it has relations with Israel after allegations that Israeli intelligences operate inside Somalia, senior official said on Saturday.
"Lies! All lies!"
Somalias foreign minister Ismael Hure Buba said the TFG has no connection with Israel and would never have ties with Tel Aviv until Israel stops the harassments against the Palestinians.
"No, no, certainly not!"
Buba said that Somalia still respects the deal by the Arab states in which they decided not to have normal relationship with Israel. His latest comment came as Somalia was said to be among some of the Arab countries who have ties and cooperation with Israel.
Earlier there were reports that Israeli intelligence under the cover of aid agencies was operating inside Somalia helping Somali refugees at the border between Somalia and Kenya, as Israel radio reported. Bubas denial was a response to the Israeli Radio report.
"Nothing of the sort!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/11/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
Thousands of British troops are facing permanent psychological damage after fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, a mental health charity has warned. The threat from roadside bombs, the intensity of the combat and the fear associated with fighting a hidden enemy are all factors said to be leading to large numbers of troops returning from operational tours with serious mental conditions.
Oh, England. You were warriors once.
Combat Stress, a mental health charity for veterans, has said that it has seen a 26 per cent increase over the past year in the number of troops seeking help. They include 160 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan seeking help for mental health conditions, many of which were not diagnosed while they were serving in the forces. Robert Marsh, the charity's director of fund-raising, said: "The average veteran does not seek help for at least 10 years. The military could be facing a mental health time bomb."
Call me a skeptic, but I don't take medical advice from the "director of fundraising". More at the link...
#1
I suspect there's a lot of truth in this. I think the ability to handle stress is something that develops with practice as one grows up, but today's youth are so coddled growing up that they never had a chance to train their brains that way. As a result, a lot more soldiers, exposed to less stress than 50, 100, 150 years ago, are less equipped to handle it, and more likely to have long term problems.
Today, even the 'Basic Training' of 1942 would cause some kids to have problems - when that very harshness, which for many would be a new experience, should be serving as something of an innoculation against the true harshness of war.
#3
The amount of stress-related mental illness (now vs. then) in combat veterans can't be compared using historical data alone. Modern assessment methods are an innovation. A century ago life was tough, and then you died. I've researched the medical history of my ancestors. My g-g-grandfather died of kidney stones (treatable at the time), an aunt died of rabies (preventable at the time if anyone had gone to the [unaffordable] doctor). Many of my ancestral Civil War combat veterans were seriously messed up. Some of their pension applications are heart-rending.
The classic Spartans were great warriors once, and by their end they couldn't reproduce enough to field a decent fighting force.
This being said, the motivation behind the source news article is to discourage any military action whatsoever and to encourage pre-emptive surrender to the jihad.
#4
I can't say for sure about the mental condition of the Brit army, but I have no doubt the political elite of GB is in serious need of psychological counseling. Cultural suicide does not happen overnight. GB's elite might want to explore those issues except they don't recognize it's happening.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
03/11/2007 19:39 Comments ||
Top||
#5
"British troops in Iraq face risk of mental illness"
Sounds like projection by their "betters" (who most certainly are NOT) back in Britain.
There will be exceptions, of course (war is after all Hell), but I suspect most of the mental problems British troops face is a result of their treatment by the assholes back home.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/11/2007 20:03 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Which is why we only have good wishes for Cornet Wales, Barbara.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
03/11/2007 20:45 Comments ||
Top||
#7
I have the greatest respect for British troops, Eric, including Prince Harry.
And I'm sure the average non-moslem Britain does too.
The British Democrats "elites," however.... And we won't even talk about the radical, UK-hating moslems.
Let's just say I have even less respect for them than they have for British troops.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/11/2007 22:24 Comments ||
Top||
SEOUL - North Korea has said it will take corresponding action if the United States does not lift its financial sanctions on the country following the recent agreement on ending the international dispute over Pyongyangs nuclear programme. North Korea cannot but take corresponding actions if the US does not fully lift the sanctions, news agency Yonhap quoted North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan as saying in Beijing on Saturday.
Kim reiterated Pyongyangs insistence that Washington lift all sanctions againt the Banco Delta Asia bank in Macau, where numerous North Korean accounts have been frozen since September 2005 after the US alleged they were being used for the proceeds of North Korean counterfeiting and money laundering.
I'm thinking that's the shoe that pinched the most.
It was not however clear if North Korea was raising the possibility that it could renege on the agreement reached last month to close its contentious Yongbyon nuclear power plant within 60 days.
No need to be coy about it, KT reporter. These are NorKs we're talking about.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/11/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Why not invite them to do business with Bank of America, where they will promise to beat whatever benefits they are getting from Banco Delta Asia Bank by 0.5%? Wouldn't that make any country happy? /sarc_off
#3
Probably finally figured out that counterfeit US $50 bills are really only good for toilet paper now that they've been exposed, So Whine Whine, Lift Sanctions so we can print more and pass them through our Tame Bankers.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/11/2007 12:37 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Pallets of greenbacks are starting to turn yellow?
#5
I would suggest that the NORKS hold Secret Talks with the Dems in Congress. They just MIGHT move it along as a rider in some pork bill. Nobody reads the verbage in these things anyway, so they just might slip it through. Better yet, find some staffer with Pelosi, or Murtha. Hey, my humanitarian suggestion.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/11/2007 13:52 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Alaska Paul would suggest that the NORKS hold Secret Talks with the Dems in Congress. They just MIGHT move it along as a rider in some pork bill. Nobody reads the verbage in these things anyway, so they just might slip it through. Better yet, find some staffer with Pelosi, or Murtha. Hey, my humanitarian suggestion.
AP how bout a work around..
On humanitarian grounds we could feed both Pelosi AND Murtha to the North Koreans. a sure two fer, hunger abatement for the Norks and sweet permanent relief for us.
The New South Wales election campaign has been drawn into a debate about immigration after the Christian Democrats leader Fred Nile called for a decade long halt to Muslim arrivals in Australia. State Premier Morris Iemma avoided questions about whether he would continue to work with the Christian Democrats if re-elected while addressing a small crowd while on the campaign trail. Reverend Nile earlier argued that there has been no study of the impact of Muslims in Australia and there needs to be some breathing space. "It would be best if we had a moratorium on Muslim immigration into Australia as I have suggested for 10 years," he said.
But Mr Iemma says he opposes the idea. "I don't agree with those statements, I don't see what the connection is with the state government," he said.
Meanwhile, opposition leader Peter Debnam says Reverend Nile can debate the issue if he wants, but he is not focussed on it. "I'm dealing with the issues where I can make a real difference to the people of New South Wales," he said. But Mr Debnam would not comment on whether the coalition would agree to preference deals with the party.
#1
Muslims threaten much more than Christianity; they challenge everything that built Western Civilization. Mass deportation will become our only option.
AUSTRALIAN diplomats were due to arrive in North Korea tonight on a mission to make it hold to its recent pledge to abandon its nuclear program and bolster trade ties.
The delegation left Beijing today and was expected to arrive in Pyongyang later today, Sky News reported.
At six-nation talks in Beijing in February, economically crippled and fuel-starved North Korea agreed to start disabling its nuclear facilities in exchange for badly needed energy aid.
After the agreement, Prime Minister John Howard, whose Government is among the few to maintain diplomatic ties with Pyongyang, said he would send a delegation to ensure the regime kept its side of the bargain and which would aim to mend ties strained in recent years.
In case you were wondering if Zappie and his socialist party had any sense of what they were doing in fighting terrorism.
MADRID Inside a squat, red-brick courthouse here, defendants testified about the casual ease with which they obtained dynamite and then traded it to alleged terrorists in exchange for hashish. In other testimony, a top police inspector, his face concealed, told the court that Islamist militants chose Madrid for their first act of mass murder in Europe because Spain was seen as an easy target. Another officer acknowledged that "we were always one step behind the terrorists."
The government had hoped the trial of 29 people accused in continental Europe's deadliest terrorist attack would console Spaniards by showing them that the culprits had been brought to justice. Instead, it has served as a reminder of how great the risks remain for a country that is still healing.
So Zappie pulling the troops out of Iraq didn't solve anything, did it.
Three years after bombs ripped through four Madrid trains, killing 191 people and injuring nearly 2,000, Spanish officials and experts say the country is potentially in more danger now than ever before as extremist groups reorganize just beyond Spain's southern coast.
Remind me what land is 'just beyond Spain's southern coast'?
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/11/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"In case you were wondering if Zappie and his socialist party had any sense of what they were doing in fighting terrorism"
They're fighting it? Who knew?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/11/2007 0:06 Comments ||
Top||
#2
FREEREPUBLIC > TURN WORLD TO ISLAM article > Radical islamists propanganda and literatures supporting violence and Islamism-centric World/Globalism rapidly spreading in Melbourne, Australia.
"My office will be in Dubai, and I will run our entire worldwide operations from that office," Halliburton chief executive David Lesar said at an energy conference in Bahrain. "Dubai is a great business center."
The company said it will maintain its global headquarters in Houston, where the company is currently based.
This excerpt makes no sense at all. I didn't write it, I just quoted it. If worldwide operations are run from Dubai, that makes it the global HQ. KBR Inc. is the Pentagon's largest Iraq contractor and a unit of Halliburton. Halliburton is spinning off KBR to make it an independent company.
Expect a US-national outcry over this capitalist outrage from the usual sources: MSM, leftists of all stripes, global-warmists, and others who consume vast amounts of petroleum and its products while accepting no responsibility for its production.
The only group without a dog in this fight are the Amish, and only those Amish who refrain from using kerosene.
All praise is also to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, who tests His truthful servants in order to purify them. We apologize for the rocky start to Pledge Week last week that lead us to cancell it due to problems with our payment systems resulting from our web host. While these issues are not yet fully resolved, our Paypal system is operational and for those mailing in their pledges, address details are available below. These are indeed trying times at JUS and we ask you to please stand with us during these trials.
On January 20, 2007, we had no sooner finished setting up our new location in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, when fire ravaged throughout the facility destroying it and the majority of our equipment. .... Absolutely everything in our new location has been destroyed or smoke damaged and it will take some time for us to overcome the resulting challenges. ....
Over the past few months we have had great challenges at JUS that are surely tests from Allah. These have interrupted our publishing schedule now several times but this latest hurdle has taken a great toll. .... We are indeed grateful that He deem us worthy of these trials and we continue our work solely on the trust of Allah who is the best provider but we desperately need your help.
We are currently only operating at half of our capacity as we struggle to replace equipment and restore our Malaysian headquarters. Brothers and Sisters, your support is particularly required at this time and we ask you for your most generous financial help to return to full scale publishing. .... We CAN and DO make a difference! Please help us tell the truth about this war on Islam!
Open your hearts and your wallets, brethren and sistren!
As violence in Iraq crescendoed an admission that it's less, now?
last year, President Bush summoned his secretaries of agriculture, commerce and energy to Camp David in June to meet with his national security team. During a two-hour afternoon discussion in the main lodge, the president urged the three secretaries to become more involved in the Iraq reconstruction effort.
When Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez got back to his office, he asked his staff members to develop a list of Iraq-related projects for the agency. They did, and two months later, they shared it with the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, expecting that diplomats on the ground would welcome a little help from Washington.
Instead, the document, "Secretary Gutierrez's Five Priority Areas for Economic Reform in Iraq," set off a bureaucratic grenade in Baghdad's Green Zone. The second item on the list called for the United States to pressure Iraq's government to cease providing people with monthly food rations, which more than half of Iraq's population relies on for sustenance.
Embassy officials were incensed. Although the embassy's economists favored changes to the ration system, they believed that dismantling it as Commerce was proposing could spark riots that might topple the Iraqi government.
"Commerce was stunningly naive," said a senior State Department official involved in Iraq policy. "They were way out of their lane."
Another example of Bush's Faults. This is just the first half-page of five pages of WaPo excitement! The rest is at the link.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/11/2007 09:17 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
It's also a fall out of trying to rebuild a country before you defeat it. American forces in Germany and Japan had pretty much a clean slate to deal with and a population that knew that dead enders would only bring even more grief and not rewards. What's happening to the Sunni Baathist neighborhoods should have happened over two years ago.
#2
As far as Baghdad goes, there is little alternative but to enable ethnic division. Sunni enclaves north of the Tigris have already been cleansed. Even al-Qaeda in Iraq won't touch an American soldier, south of the river, because they fear the Shiites more. Defense briefings reveal relatively easy operations by US troops in Al-Sadr City and other Shiite strongholds. Troops have been doing some safe escort work with civilians, which will increase public confidence. Civilian deaths from the conflict in Baghdad have dropped dramatically since the new tactics began. The Dems were off base in attacking positive administration statements on the operations.
#3
I thought the headline would be "State Department Trying to Decide how to Destroy Iraq".
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
03/11/2007 13:05 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Very good point, Procopius. "Defeating" the various enemies in Iraq wasn't/isn't as clear and linear as it was in Germany and Japan, but the underlying concept remains valid.
Don't have deep detailed knowledge on the economic policy side, but do know that many in the embassy's rotating cast of econ advisers also favored removing subsidies and other distortions ASAP - the "P" taking into account political reality, of course. And gasoline was de-regulated.
Part was hindsight - part wasn't - but I agreed with several others at the embassy that one of the biggest mistakes made by CPA was to not de-regulate gas/fuel prices immediately, during the early post-invasion shock/honeymoon period. The distortions of fuel prices were perhaps the chief economic basis for the growth of organized crime (this includes much of what is considered Tater Tot's "network" in the south) through smuggling operations. These criminal groups either double as troublesome "political" groups or continue as criminal outfits, in both cases forming a major part of the security challenge.
This stuff is harder than it looks, and I don't casually trash CPA for mistakes that were apparent only/mostly in the rear view mirror, but some (like this one) were pretty clear at the time, based on common sense. Wars are tests of will, and market logic cannot/should not be thwarted - if you only had two base concepts of operations, those would do nicely .....
#5
From the department of pedantry - "crescendoed" would mean the increase has stopped, but doesn't imply a subsequent reduction. In music, you can have a crescendo to a higher but stable volume.
Posted by: Bill Hupomotch5634 ||
03/11/2007 15:19 Comments ||
Top||
The link in the title goes to DC's TV Channel 9's retrospective on Hamas Abdul Khalis' three-pronged attack in Washington DC. Lots of links to the videos of original reporting on the scene. In the body of this post, I'm adding commentary from two of the great media "old guard"...gentlemen who have been the heart and soul of DC radio for years: Chris Core:
I was the first reporter on the scene of the Hanafi Muslim shootings 30 years ago. Someone called WMAL from inside the B' nai B' rith building where hostages were being held. They told us a little of what was going on and asked us for more information (we had none). The WMAL news director saw me sitting in the room preparing for my afternoon show and told to me take a station car and go down there. When I got there, everything was calm. There were not even any police on the scene. I was about to turn around and head back to the station thinking it was a false alarm, when all hell broke loose. Suddenly the area was flooded with cops and I was told to drive the car to the traffic circle and stay there. After a while, police sealed off the entire area, and you were either in or out of the controlled area. I was told I was free (even encouraged) to leave, but if I did, neither I nor anybody else from the station would be allowed back in. I stayed from what I remember to be around noon until about ten that night, calling in reports on the two-way radio. It was not until I heard the report about Maurice Williams being shot, that I realized the gunmen in the building could have opened fire on any of us in the controlled area at any time. I am glad the city is doing something to mark the date.
How intriguing to read Chris Core's memories of 30 years ago and the Hanafi Muslim siege. I was midday anchor at WTOP then, and wound up anchoring 21 straight hours--10AM the day it started straight through the afternoon, evening, and overnight to the next morning at 7AM. Then, after barely staying awake to get home and have a brief coma, I came back in to anchor the following evening, til it all ended that second night. After the first few hours, WTOP expanded its coverage to include twice-hourly 5 minute updates to all the CBS owned and operated radio stations nationwide. At one point, on-air, I referred to the hostage takers at the 3 locations as "black muslims". This infuriated the ringleader, Hamas Abdul Khalis, who called the station demanding an apology from me or else he'd "start cutting off heads, putting them in paper bags, and throwing them out windows" at B'nai Brith. At the time, WTOP Radio was co-owned and co-located with channel 9, so it was decided by tv news director Jim Snyder that I'd take 5 minutes away from radio coverage to go downstairs to WTOP-TV. I did, dressed in some really bright colored, tv-inappropriate shirt, and uttered my phony mea culpas. All the while, my then-wife, Camille Bohannon (now with AP Radio), was covering the part of the siege over by the Islamic center. And...she and I had just given notice at WTOP, and were going to WRC All-news 98. Had the siege gone another 24 hours, We'd have had to jump ship at the stroke of midnight and raced over to Nebraska Avenue to continue coverage for WRC! Where I met my colleague-to-be Rudy Brewington, and learned that he had gone to lunch with Maurice Williams that day, and had planned to take the elevator with Maurice back to the press room. But at the final second Rudy decided to see somebody on the ground floor of the District Building, thereby saving his life. What a time that was!
Note: for some interesting Rantburg historical context study, go see this link, which gives some details on one of Khalis' other demands.
While Pakistan has charged India with stoking fires in its troubled provinces and produced articles in a Sindhi journal published from New Delhi as 'evidence,' it can drum up far more serious charges against its patron United States.
A maverick 'academic' based in Europe has been buying airtime on CNN for the past two weeks to advertise his book titled Divide Pakistan to Eliminate Terrorism . The 15-second spot, which is aired every day, charges Pakistan with terrorist activities across the world and says the only way to stop this is to split the country into half dozen separate entities, including Sindhudesh, Jinnahpur, Balochistan and Pakhtunistan.
The author of the book, which is being sold on Amazon.com for $ 15.95, is Syed Jamaluddin, who describes himself in a blog ( www.dividepakistan.blogspot.com ) as a British Citizen- Naturalized in UK and a chartered accountant with a degree in conflict management.
On Amazon, he is described as ''an active writer on issues concerning Pakistans involvement in various terrorist activities in the South Asian region'' who was ''forced to leave Pakistan after the military coup of General Musharraf in 1999.'' It says he also ''liaised with political and religious parties of Pakistan as well as Government Agencies.''
Washingtons think-tank circuit, where Pakistani scholars and commentators are frequent visitors, has no idea who Syed Jamaluddin is. The conjecture is he is a disgruntled spook out to embarrass a country that is already in a deep hole in the US where it is seen the grand central -- if not a sponsor -- of terrorism in most quarters, except by administration officials tasked with bringing it to heel with kid gloves.
Indian officials too said they had no idea of the book or the author. One official visiting from New Delhi, when told about the ad, joked that dividing Pakistan was a terrible idea, saying, ''One is bad enough -- who wants to deal with four or five?''
Posted by: John Frum ||
03/11/2007 08:30 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
He's got the right idea, just the wrong divisions. I continue to say that Pakistan needs to be utterly destroyed, and divided between Afghanistan and India along the Indus River. Afghanistan gains oilfields, at least one seaport, the Pashtuns are reunited in one country, and the taliwhackers have no place to hide. India gets Kashmir, gets saddled with a bunch of muzzies they can export to Saudi Arabia as "laborers", and the end of ISI manipulation in their nation. The rest of the world gets rid of a hundred million false passports and other assorted trash. Afghanistan and India can clamp down on the madrassahs, and end the supply of jihadists (they'll all be shipped to Saudi Arabia as "laborers"). The only people who would complain about that deal are the madrassah imams and the higher government flunkies in the Pakistan government.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/11/2007 15:39 Comments ||
Top||
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry declined to resign on Saturday a day after he was suspended for misuse of authority and showed intent to challenge a presidential reference against him. I will never resign voluntarily ... I have done nothing wrong, Chaudhry told Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Munir A Malik, who called the chief justice over the telephone in front of reporters.
Malik assured the chief justice of lawyers moral and legal support, and advised him not to give in to pressure. Malik asked Chaudhry for permission to switch on his cell phones loudspeaker, so that the media could listen to their conversation, but the chief justice refused, saying, Just deliver my message to the media.
Malik claimed that the chief justice was not free to move, and the government was pressing Chaudhry to resign. Later, media and bar representatives waited for two hours in front of Chaudhrys house, but were not allowed to meet him.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/11/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
What's the word? Thunderbird!
How's it sold? Good and cold.
What's the jive? Bird's alive!
What's the price? Thirty twice.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/11/2007 12:39 Comments ||
Top||
#4
According to them, the abrupt and uncouth action of Musharraf evident from the manner in which he had the Chief Justic suspended and placed under house arrest was a panic action. This panic action was triggered off by Justice Chaudhury's plans to expand his on-going enquiries into public complaints of a large number of missing persons to cover the alleged payments by the US' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to the ISI and its officers. They say that the Chief Justice wanted to see whether there was any link between these payments and the large number of complaints of missing persons.
Posted by: John Frum ||
03/11/2007 12:53 Comments ||
Top||
The first direct, high-level contact in years among U.S., Iranian and Syrian representatives included "frank and sometimes jovial exchanges," Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, said Saturday. "The overall mood was businesslike, constructive," Khalilzad told reporters in a conference call after the one-day session in Baghdad. "Nobody was pounding the table."
Khalilzad and another U.S. envoy talked to Iranian and Syrian diplomats several times Saturday during a larger meeting intended to draw international support for the task of reducing violence in Iraq. The contacts - especially between the United States and regional heavyweight Iran - overshadowed the original purpose of the meeting. The public talks with Iran were a rarity for the United States during more than a quarter century of enmity, and a possible prelude to a more cooperative relationship if not a friendly one.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/11/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"No one was pounding the table" > hope so, becuz twas not the impression described = inferred in var news reports around the Net.
(Xinhua) -- A Palestinian national unity government will be established next Wednesday or Thursday, Prime Minister-designate Ismail Haneya said on Saturday. Haneya said that the government would be put forward for vote of confidence before the parliament next Saturday.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/11/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Waiting for tu...... it's a existential thing man.
I think that these guys don't know how to use (or rather how not to use) a future definitive particle. Fortunately, am stocked with popcorn for days to come.
#3
Here, folks, have some mint julips and some watercress sandwiches, and sit down and watch the races, on me, heh.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/11/2007 13:57 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Barbecue a whole hog and invite all the neighbors. Let's have LOTS of fun, because Allan just HATES fun, and his followers get their turbans in such a twist. After the introductions, tap a keg or two.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/11/2007 15:42 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Palestinian Unity: 1/8192 Miles
Palestinian Unity: 1/16384 Miles
Palestinian Unity: 1/32768 Miles
Palestinian Unity: 1/65536 Miles
Palestinian Unity: ...
EFL
Muslim cleric Abhasaan Idlasan sat quietly under the shade of a coconut tree as an MG-520 attack helicopter roared overhead, signaling the arrival of a US military convoy he now associates with development aid. Idlasan, in his long white robe and Muslim headscarf, is the spiritual guide to the several hundred families in this remote and impoverished coastal village on the southern island of Jolo, a key Southeast Asian theatre in the US-led "war on terror".
The area has changed little in the past 50 years. Many villagers live in houses on stilts, electricity is limited, fresh water is a daily problem and school remains a luxury only a few can afford. Waves lap on the jagged shoreline, and children swim in the shallows beneath the rickety stilts as their fathers dry-dock their small fishing boats.
For years residents lived literally under the barrel of the gun, with marauding Al-Qaeda linked Abu Sayyaf militants terrorizing them and taunting government authority that seemed powerless hundreds of kilometers (miles) away in Manila. "We are thankful that the atrocities have stopped. The Americans helped us when they arrived, they helped repair our mosque and renovate the school," Idlasan, 54, told Agence France Presse recently as he joined a group of local officials in greeting visiting US envoy Kristie Kenney and military officials. "The soldiers are very polite, they are specially playful with children," he said. "We feel safe having them around."
Idlasan's support is key to the US troops' goal of "winning hearts and minds" here and elsewhere in Jolo, considered by defense experts as an important Southeast Asian front in the US-led global counter terrorism campaign. As the local cleric, Idlasan is highly respected and his openness allows joint US and Philippine forces to move towards finally isolating and crushing the Abu Sayyaf.
During a two-week visit, the troops built a four-kilometer (two-and-a-half-mile) road and bridges linking Bato-Bato to other towns.
While US troops are prevented from joining combat, Philippine officials said they had provided intelligence that led to the recent killing of Abu Sayyaf leaders Khadaffy Janjalani and Abu Solaiman. The two had engineered the Abu Sayyaf's worst terrorist attacks as well as the kidnapping and murder of two US citizens in 2001.
The self-styled militants have now disintegrated into smaller units in Jolo's jungles with Umar Patek and Dulmatin, two Indonesians who are leaders of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), which was behind the Bali bomb attacks in 2002. And with the help of the local community, officials said the rebels would be flushed out of their hideouts and neutralized.
"They are now disorganized and leaderless," said Major General Eugenio Cedo, commander of the Philippine Armys 6th Infantry Division, stressing that public support for the US-Philippine joint exercises could lead to "isolating the Abu Sayyaf".
AFP article showing US military in a positive way? Does the French version say the same thing?
Police in this troubled southern province have tightened security measures following reports that militants plan violence Tuesday on the anniversary of the establishment of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (National Revolution Front), a primary Malay Muslim separatist organisation.
Pol. Maj-Gen. Yongyuth Charoenvanich, Narathiwat police commissioner, said he had called a meeting of all 13 police station superintendents in the province to plan security measures in the face of possible coordinated distrurbances March 13. He said the police were instructed to deploy offensive tactics and to gather intelligence on insurgent movements in the area.
The BRN was founded in March 1963 by Ustaz Haji Abdul Karim Hassan and developed close ties to the now virtually defunct Communist Party of Malaya and was influenced by the ideology of pan-Arab socialism.
Touching on militant attacks during the past few days, Gen. Yongyuth said the insurgents wanted to take a revenge against state officials after five of their peers were shot dead at their mountain traning camp last week.
Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said Friday that greater cooperation from neighbouring Malaysia and local residents in the southern Thai provinces had contributed to a rapid increase gradual decline in violence in the region.
(2nd item)-- Deputy Head of the State Forensic Medicine Organization Hasan Abedi has confirmed the death of the Iranian scientist in Shiraz by gas poisoning. In an interview with a Fars News Agency correspondent, Abedi added: After the death of this scientist at his house in Shiraz, his body was transferred to the forensic medicine laboratories to determine the reason of his death. He added: There were signs of gas poisoning on the body of the scientist and the examination of the body confirms it.
Explaining the reason of the incident, the deputy head of the State Forensic Medicine Organization said: At the time of the incident, the scientist was at his house and the problems in the heating system of his house have been the cause of his death. Sunday Times had previously announced: Ardeshir Hoseynpur, 44 years, an Iranian nuclear scientist, has been assassinated by Mossad, Israeli Intelligence Service.
#1
And the Mossad assassin is the person in the government who is absolutely above suspicion! They should figure out who is least suspect, and interrogate them until they confess.
ht to Captain Ed
Iranians are bracing themselves for a fresh round of belt tightening after their government voted to impose petrol rationing coupled with sharp rises in the price of fuel.
The rationing system will limit Iranians to 22 gallons (100 litres) of petrol a month, two full tanks for a typical family car. It is a direct result of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's adherence to an economic model, based on Iranian self-sufficiency, that has caused housing and other living costs to soar.
The basic price of petrol will rise by 25 per cent, but Iranians who need to use more than the permitted amount will be hit by rises of up to 450 per cent.
Economists predict that the knock-on effect on the average Iranian will be dramatic, with retailers expected to pass on the additional costs to consumers.
Iran is the second largest producer of oil in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries but it imports 40 per cent of its petrol - worth about $3 billion a year - after its refining capacity was wrecked in the war with Iraq. It currently sells the petrol at subsidised prices.
Mr Ahmadinejad had publicly argued against the abolition of subsidies and advocated persuading consumers to switch to other fuel sources such as natural gas, which do not rely on foreign imports. But critics say his opposition was manufactured for public consumption. They point out that the price increases had already been factored into his government's budget.
Some Iranians suspect that the move is also a precautionary measure against further possible sanctions which may be imposed on Iran for pressing ahead with its nuclear programme in defiance of the United Nations security council.
Under the new rules, which will take effect in late spring, motorists will be given coupons entitling them to 100 litres of petrol a month at the increased price of 1,000 rial (about 5p) per litre. Additional petrol will have to be bought at open market prices of between 14p and 22p per litre.
The plan was due to be introduced on March 21 but has been delayed for three months to allow time for the distribution of ration cards. Some drivers have been issued with the cards but at least half are still waiting to receive them. Work to fit the nation's petrol pumps with card readers is not yet complete.
Iranian consumers said the changes would push up inflation. Djamile Ershadi, 70, a retired government clerk, said: "Everything has gone up. You cannot live on an ordinary salary any more. Life has become much harder."
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/11/2007 11:20 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
...Gonna be a little hard for that Twelfth Imam to get the party started if he can't get a ride from the well.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/11/2007 12:34 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Hey, Juiche comes to Iran. And, I would imagine, that a whole black market springing up in petrol for the clever ones, while the just plain joes get pushed down harder and harder.
Gas to get to work, but not to go anywhere for fun. Mullahs getting richer while the commoners getting squeezed. Seeds of discontent sown. Faster, Please.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/11/2007 14:02 Comments ||
Top||
#3
"after its refining capacity was wrecked in the war with Iraq"
That is what is so odd. The war ended in 1988. 19 years ago. Can someone explain to me how is it possible not to re-build refineries in that time frame?
I know the refineries were built by non-Iranian companies in the first place. But...
1. send a bunch of students to western universities to get a handle on the subject--1988-1992/1993.
2. Start the re-build project development phase--1993-1998.
3. Build several refineries to cover the estimated need and plan for a buffer for some years ahead-1998-2003
So, under generous conditions, the Iranians would've been sufficient in 2004 as the domestic gasoline supply is concerned.
#5
"So, under generous conditions, the Iranians would've been sufficient in 2004 as the domestic gasoline supply is concerned. But unfortunately for them, their "leaders" are clinically insane."
There - fixed that for ya', #3 2x4. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/11/2007 15:41 Comments ||
Top||
#6
3dc, a good point, but that is now. Since they have to buy refined products, I guesss they do not have enough to pay off Russians. Of course, the baksheesh culture has also something to do with it, let alone the embezzling propensity on mullahs of all turbans.
Barb, it is not much the insanity--which no doubt is present in spades--but the Iranian version of "Who want's to be a millionaire" played by mullahs.
#7
So, my question is: can the MMs pay for external refining or are they beind there too? Or do they have to make trades of crude with foreign refiners to get gasoline?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/11/2007 16:36 Comments ||
Top||
President Mahmud Ahmadinejad says the drive to implement the values of Islam was manifested in the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Ahmadinejad was speaking Saturday to members of the Supreme Council of the Religious Scholars Society in the holy city of Qom, IRNA reported.
"The grand objectives and values of the Islamic Revolution have been entrusted to the care of our brave nation. Our statesmen should take on this great responsibility and incorporate these values into their actions and decision making," Ahmadinejad said.
Ahmadinejad also said that the implementation of Islamic precepts in society can culminate in what he termed was 'sheer bliss'.
"It would please our enemies and dishearten our friends if we distanced ourselves from the values of the Islamic Revolution, or the teachings of the late Imam Khomeini and the Leader Ayatollah Khamenei," the President continued, adding, "We should not be remiss in preserving the Islamic Revolution."
Ahmadinejad also said that the implementation of Islamic precepts in society can culminate in what he termed was 'sheer bliss'. "It is expected of religious scholars that they fully explain and elaborate on Islamic precepts, which can save humanity from corruption and moral decay, and further effect peace and security in society," he said
Posted by: Fred ||
03/11/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
NEWSMAX > de Borchgrave > SILVER LINING IN IRAN'S WAR CLOUDS > Saudi King meets wid Moud and makes clear Saudis will [militarily?] defend Iraqi and regional Sunnis, and will not tolerate Iran having nuclear capability nor SOLE nuke capability, i.e. SA will dev its own nukes. Compare to IRANFOCUS > IRAN is training many 00's of SUICIDE/TERROR VOLUNTEERS. OTHER > Attacks outside of Gulf States-ME cannot be discounted, espec in aftermath of any original US attack.
Syria's minister of information Mohesn Bilal says the European Union's decision to end Syria's isolation is a just and historic decision. In an interview with Alalam news network, he said," Damascus is capable of breaking any international isolation, which some countries endeavored to impose on Syria".
Implicitly referring to the French President Jacques Chirac, the minister underlined," Those who tried to cut off Syria's relations with the rest of the world have isolated themselves," however adding," Admitting one's mistake, even with delay, is acceptable and we welcome anyone visiting Syria". He said, "Syria was not regionally or internationally isolated even for a one single day." The minister cited visits by a number of European delegates as well as senior officials from Latin America and east Asia to Syria as the proof.
Bilal also praised the Irish foreign minister's remarks, who, during the Brussels meeting, stated," Syria is a significant country with which we have to hold talks (with) and we can not turn our back on it".
In a meeting held in Brussels yesterday, the EU member states voted for resumption of contacts with Syria. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will be visiting Syria on Wednesday in a bid to resume talks with Damascus.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/11/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"Methinks thou protesteth overmuch."
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/11/2007 16:44 Comments ||
Top||
(Xinhua) -- Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has said he advocated a settlement of the Lebanon crisis, the local Naharnet news website reported on Saturday. "We are now in a better situation than at any time before," he said, thanking "brotherly Arab and Islamic nations" for their mediatory efforts to resolve the Lebanese crisis. "We have been calling for a settlement from the beginning of the crisis," Nasrallah told a rally in southern Beirut on Friday evening. "In fact, that was why we manufactured the crisis, so we could get the settlement we wanted..."
Nasrallah also welcomed talks that began Thursday evening between Lebanon's two key opponents - Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri -- in an effort to end the three-month-old deadlock. "We support the dialogue and hope it will reach the desired results," he said, adding that both domestic and international opinion favored a settlement.
Nasrallah, however, vowed to continue Hezbollah's campaign against Lebanese Premier Fouad Seniora's government until it granted the opposition a veto-wielding share of the cabinet. "The opposition will continue its open-ended sit-ins, its political and media campaign, and it will resort to other options if this opportunity fails," Nasrallah said.
Lebanese opposition alliance launched an open-ended sit-in in downtown Beirut on Dec. 1 last year to topple Seniora's government, declaring the anti-Syrian cabinet illegitimate and demanding early parliamentary elections and a new electoral law. The Seniora government, backed by the March 14 parliamentary majority coalition, had rejected such calls and accused the Hezbollah-led protest of trying to obstruct the creation of an international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri and related crimes.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/11/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
After nearly 4 months of having his followers camp out and stamp their feet, Nasrallah is probably feeling the heat from some of the Shia community.
Police in Iran arrested trade unionists in an unsuccessful attempt to stop thousands of teachers protesting against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's economic policies outside Iran's parliament, the Guardian has learned.
Officers swooped on the homes of six union leaders on Wednesday. The detention of key figures in teachers' organisations failed to stop the following day's rally, which drew an estimated 7,000 demonstrators. The leaders were later released after interrogation. Their arrests appeared to betray official anxiety that the protest - for teachers' pay to be brought into line with other state workers - could provoke discontent against Mr Ahmadinejad's government, which is being blamed for rising inflation and high unemployment.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/11/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU. We have a special present just for you. But we don't know where to deliver it. Please publish the longitude and latitude of your location. We will see that the present arrives with expedited deliver.
Sincerely,
Your good friends
Posted by: US Air Force ||
03/11/2007 12:16 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Hey why aren't we using the happy birthday assh*** photo?
Seems appropriate here don't ya think? lol
Posted by: Jan from work ||
03/11/2007 13:57 Comments ||
Top||
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.
Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has been trying without success to form a joint front with the Taliban and other parties against the government, his purported spokesman said on Saturday. 
(SomaliNet) Ethiopian troops withdrew from the southern Somali city of Kismayu, leaving it in the hands of Somalia's interim government until African Union (AU) peacekeepers arrive, officials said on Friday. The strategic port was the last major city the Ethiopians and government forces took in their swift December victory over militant Islamists who had controlled most of southern Somalia for six months. 
SEOUL - North Korea has said it will take corresponding action if the United States does not lift its financial sanctions on the country following the recent agreement on ending the international dispute over Pyongyangs nuclear programme. North Korea cannot but take corresponding actions if the US does not fully lift the sanctions, news agency Yonhap quoted North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan as saying in Beijing on Saturday.
All praise is also to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, who tests His truthful servants in order to purify them. We apologize for the rocky start to Pledge Week last week that lead us to cancell it due to problems with our payment systems resulting from our web host. While these issues are not yet fully resolved, our Paypal system is operational and for those mailing in their pledges, address details are available below. These are indeed trying times at JUS and we ask you to please stand with us during these trials.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry declined to resign on Saturday a day after he was suspended for misuse of authority and showed intent to challenge a presidential reference against him. I will never resign voluntarily ... I have done nothing wrong, Chaudhry told Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Munir A Malik, who called the chief justice over the telephone in front of reporters. 
The first direct, high-level contact in years among U.S., Iranian and Syrian representatives included "frank and sometimes jovial exchanges," Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, said Saturday. "The overall mood was businesslike, constructive," Khalilzad told reporters in a conference call after the one-day session in Baghdad. "Nobody was pounding the table."
(Xinhua) -- Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has said he advocated a settlement of the Lebanon crisis, the local Naharnet news website reported on Saturday. "We are now in a better situation than at any time before," he said, thanking "brotherly Arab and Islamic nations" for their mediatory efforts to resolve the Lebanese crisis. "We have been calling for a settlement from the beginning of the crisis," Nasrallah told a rally in southern Beirut on Friday evening. 
