Their grizzly and unkempt facial hair could not be further removed from the regulation short back and sides that of the modern British Servicemen.
But in a historic exception to regulations, RAF soldiers have been given permission to grow bushy beards for tours of duty in Afghanistan.
Scottish airmen in Kandahar bear a more than passing resemblance to their wild Pashtun counterparts ? complete with wavy beards and ferocious moustaches.
In what is believed to be a first for the RAF, several airmen were asked to grow their facial hair because it is considered a mark of authority in Afghanistan. The men, from RAF Lossiemouth, credited their facial hair with enabling them to command respect from the Afghanistan people.
Senior personnel also said that their presence had helped significantly to reduce the number of rocket attacks on Kandahar airfield.
Their success would come as no surprise to the leaders in the American Civil War ? it is harder to find a picture of a general from the century conflict without a beard than with one. In fact, the beard was once the only universal item in every military organisation across the world.
From the time of ancient armies until recent memory, the beard was standard issue among soldiers. In modern combat, the act of shaving was set aside mainly for gentleman officers, who regularly shaved even their heads and eyebrows.
But by the time of the Second World War, armies had banned beards for reasons of uniformity, hygiene, discipline, or tactical demands ? such as the proper fitting and seal of a gas mask.
The Scottish troops will be ordered to shave as soon as they return from Afghanistan. At RAF Lossiemouth, Flight Commander Kevin OBrien said that their beards had been a talking point among village leaders in Afghanistan.
From the start with these adoptive beards it was looked upon [by village leaders] as if we were trying to adopt their culture and respect them. From my experience, while talking to the key leaders, they would be pointing at my beard and discussing it.
When we were being more forceful and trying to deal with incidents, if I spoke they would look back, accept I was the leader of our side of this, and pay attention.
About 120 members of 51 Squadron RAF Regiment were deployed to Kandahar in March to carry out ground patrols at the Nato airfield, supported by 20 part-time volunteer gunners from RAF Lossiemouths 2622 (Highland) Squadron. The RAF said it was believed to be the first time personnel had been allowed to grow beards for an operation.
#2
In what is believed to be a first for the RAF, several airmen were asked to grow their facial hair because it is considered a mark of authority in Afghanistan. The men, from RAF Lossiemouth, credited their facial hair with enabling them to command respect from the Afghanistan people.
That used to be an Empire that dominated the World---sic transit gloria mundy.
#3
Uhh...gorb? So that's how we recognize the Taliban girlies - they're the ones with vestigal breasts - but what about the Taliban commanders? Longer and more luxurious hair?
The pope for his part voiced his heartfelt hope for the success of the peace talks next month, the Vatican said. Bashir raised the possibility of a ceasefire in Sudans western Darfur region after meeting with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi. We stated that we are prepared for a ceasefire for the start of negotiations in order to create a positive climate conducive to a positive end to the negotiations, he told a press briefing. The Sudanese government and Darfur rebels who refused to sign a peace agreement are to hold talks in Tripoli from October 27.
Bashir faces mounting international pressure over the conflict which has killed at least 200,000 people and displaced two million since Khartoum enlisted Janjaweed Arab militia allies to help put down an ethnic minority rebellion in 2003, according to UN figures. The Sudanese president said he asked Prodi to pressure certain European countries harbouring some of these rebel groups to persuade them to come to the talks. We hope that the negotiations in Tripoli will be the last and that they will produce a definitive peace, Bashir said, adding that he wanted an end to economic sanctions against his government and the cancellation of its foreign debt. Bashirs meeting at the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo near Rome was the first between a Sudanese president and a pope.
Very positive views were expressed concerning fresh peace negotiations for Darfur, the Vatican said following the 25-minute meeting. It is the Holy Sees heartfelt hope that these negotiations prove successful in order to put an end to the suffering and insecurity of those peoples. Bashir also met for half an hour with Dominique Mamberti, the Vaticans equivalent of a foreign minister who formerly served as the papal nuncio to Khartoum.
This article starring:
Dominique Mamberti, the Vaticans equivalent of a foreign minister
Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi
Pope Benedict XVI
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir
Janjaweed
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2007 00:00 ||
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At least 56 Africans have died in recent days trying to make the perilous journey across the Gulf of Aden into Yemen, the UN refugee agency said Friday.
Those who made it ashore told UNHCR monitors that people had died as the result of beatings, drowning and simple overcrowding of the often rickety vessels that travel between Somalia and Yemen, Redmond said.
This article starring:
Ron Redmond, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2007 00:00 ||
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Shanghai, a city which Taiwan has threatened to bombard in the event of conflict, held a major air raid drill on Saturday, a sign that China still views war as possible with the self-ruled island it claims as its own.
The drill, which Chinese state media called the biggest since the 1949 revolution, was scheduled for the same day as a rally in Taiwan where the ruling party aimed to mobilise one million people to support Taiwan's frustrated bid for United Nations membership. During the 23-minute drill, air raid sirens sounded at intervals across Shanghai's financial district and several outlying areas of the city.
But pedestrians were not required to take cover, cars were not stopped and daily life continued as normal in China's commercial hub. Many people were unaware of the purpose of the drill, or attached little political significance to it.
"There will never be war. We're all Chinese people -- war is impossible," said a 36-year-old Shanghai office worker surnamed Li, who was taking his six-year-old son shopping at a mall in the financial district.
In 2004, then-Taiwan premier You Si-kun threatened to fire missiles at Shanghai if the island was attacked. Last week, China's President Hu Jintao told United States President George Bush the next two years would be a period of "high danger" in the Taiwan Strait.
But business ties between Shanghai and Taiwan are booming. Hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese live, work and even retire in the city.
Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian plans to hold a referendum next March on the UN bid, and Beijing could see the vote as a declaration of independence by the island. Chinese academics have said China would be forced to react, possibly militarily, if the referendum were passed, though Taiwan's efforts to join the UN have repeatedly failed because of a lack of diplomatic support. -- Reuters
#1
It would be hilarious if Taiwan could innovate an effective multi-target anti-missile laser against the thousand+ rockets the Mainland has aimed at it.
Imagine if not a single primary or secondary target was hit after a massive barrage, and the Taiwanese were ready to party. The Mainland fifth column would be out in the cold, and the amphibious assault would be a slaughter.
I have had the signal honor to participate in an actual Chinese fire drill. While installing a CVD reactor in Taoyuan (40 miles south of Taipei), a mains transformer melted down in the facilities crawl space and the whole place lit up with strobes, beacons and continuous chimes accompanied by a looped evacuation announcement. Truly one of the assignment's highlights.
The United Nations investigator on racism on Friday condemned a rising trend of Islamophobia, especially in Europe, where he said it was being exploited by some right-wing political parties.
He has yet to examine the prevalence of Westophobia, especially among people who're fond on turbans and keffiyehs and uniforms with sprockets on them.
Doudou Diene,
Doodoo? You can get a high-paying job even if you're named Doodoo?
I think it's pronounced 'doe-doe' ...
D'oh!
UN special rapporteur on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance, also accused Switzerlands most popular party, the right-wing Swiss Peoples Party (SVP/UDC), of inciting hatred.
We had that story a day or two ago. Seems the Helvetians want the right to vote on who gets to be a Swisser. They can't quite understand why, having lived there for 3500 years or more, somebody named Doodoo should be allowed to waltz in and tell them they should let somebody else take over.
He urged the withdrawal of the partys controversial campaign poster calling for expulsion of foreigners who commit serous crimes, depicting three white sheep booting out a black sheep under the headline For the Security of All.
So what he's really saying, then, is that Yurpeons should allow foreigners to come strolling into their country, do terrible things, and not be penalized for it.
In the current context, Islamophobia constitutes the most serious form of religious defamation, Diene said in a speech and report to the UN Human Rights Council, whose 47 member states were holding a debate on religious defamation.
We'd beg to differ on that. Christians, Jews, Agnostics, Atheists, Buddhists, Shintos, Wiccans and - for the most part - Hindoos don't riot in the streets hollering "Death of Muslims" or "Behead those who insult [fill in your preference here]." In fact, Christians, Jews, and etc., have gotten along fairly well together for the past 50 or 60 years. With the exception of the Muslim world, there haven't been any pogroms since the heyday of the Nazis. I'm not too sure what Mr. Doodoo makes of that, or even if he's aware of it.
More and more political leaders and influential media and intellectuals were equating Islam with violence and terrorism, and some were seeking to silence religious practices by banning the construction of mosques, Diene said.
Since mosques have demonstrably lent themselves as centers of hatred, subversion, and violence Finsbury Park is the model there's actually good reason for that. It's a concept called empirical observation. It's not a phobia if the critter is actually poisonous.
Pakistan, speaking for the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), called the rise of Islamophobia alarming.
Naturally Pakistain would find it "alarming." Not a week goes by in Pakistain without at least five incidents of religious-inspired violence. Every major terror incident since at least 1998 has had Pak involvement. Hindoos, Sikhs and Buddhists have been chased from Pakistain or forcibly converted, until the remaining minorities are so tiny as to be insignificant. The Ahmadis have been declared non-Muslims, suppressed, and oppressed, and can't even be buried next to their more bloodthirsty neighbors. Christians are routinely subjected the the infamous Blasphemy Laws, killed on trumped up charges, despoiled of their land, their women raped and their children stolen. We live in a world where there is a nation like Pakistain. I find that alarming.
Recent acts of defamation in the shape of blasphemous sketches in Sweden and posters in Switzerland reinforce this conclusion. Such blasphemy should not be encouraged in the name of freedom of expression, Pakistans envoy Masood Khan said.
Pictures on paper are nothing compared to blood in the gutters. But they do provide an excuse, don't they?
He said the 57-nation OIC, which represents 1.3 billion Muslims, condemned terrorism in all its forms. The international media continues to use the misguided actions of a small extremist minority as an excuse to malign the entire Muslim world, as well as the religion of Islam, he said.
That's probably because way upwards of 90 percent of the acts of terrorism in all its forms are committed by Muslims, in the name of their Muslim religion. The spiritual guides of terrorism are all Islamic holy men. The money comes from Muslim tycoons and from zakat. The cheering sections for terrorism are exclusively Muslim you never see Lutherans or Jains hollering "Holy Shit Allahu Akbar" when some poor fellow gets his head lopped off or a school full of kiddies is wiped out.
Scapegoating: Diene, a Senegalese lawyer, said in his 21-page report to the Council that Islamophobia had grown since the Sept 11 2001 attacks on the United States.
That was when Binny's ruthless henchmen hijacked four planeloads of innocents in the name of their religion and murdered 2750 others by smashing the planes into the WTC, the Pentagon, and the ground.
Worldwide, an increasing number of traditional democratic parties were resorting to the language of fear and exclusion, scapegoating and targeting ethnic or religious minorities in general, and immigrants and refugees in particular, he said.
They don't have anything against Buddhists or Jains or animists or Rosicrucians, so it's not all religious minorities. And the majority of immigrants and refugees nowadays seem to be coming from places where turbans, kefiyyehs and uniforms hung about with multicolored sprockets are in vogue.
In Europe, Muslims faced growing difficulties to establish places of worship and carry out their religious practices such as dietary regimens and burials, according to the UN envoy. Political parties with open anti-Islamic platforms have joined governmental coalitions in several countries and started to put in place their political agendas. In sum, Islamophobia is in the process of permeating all facets of social life.
I'm not sure why, but that process seems to have the started in the wake of the public becoming aware of the lunatic speeches prevalent at places like Finsbury Mosque. It gained steam as we became more aware of the intentions and intent of men like Omar Bakri Mohammad and organizations like his al-Muhajiroun. And it really hit its stride when Muslims started slaughtering well-known Yurpeons in the streets like sheep. I'm sure the timing is just a coincidence.
The Swiss SVP/UDC has launched a referendum to ban construction of minarets in the Alpine country, home to 350,000 Muslims. A similar move is underway in Cologne, Germany.
If Switzerland has 350,000 Moose limbs, that means they've absorbed most of them in the past 25 years. Their current estimated population is 7,554,661, give or take a few dozen. Muslims make up something under a half of one percent of the Helvetian population, which goes to show that the Swiss are sensible folk, though not that sensible since they have 350,000 turbans among them.
Switzerlands delegation defended its system of direct democracy, where multiple issues are put to referendum each year, saying it showed great political transparency although sometimes with exaggerated, regrettable views being expressed. The Swiss government has repeatedly stated its commitment to fight racism and the Swiss government will continue to take a clear stance against all forms of discrimination and xenophobia, Swiss ambassador Blaise Godet said.
It's probably time to take a stance and say "Helvetia for the Helvetians." If you want to join the Helvetian club then you gotta know the secret Helvetian handshake. You gotta be able to make a watch in five minutes or less, as timed by a Swiss chronograph. And you gotta be able to yodel. If you can't yodel, you can't be a Helvetian. And you gotta have one of those 15-foot horns. And know how to make cheese.
This article starring:
Swiss ambassador Blaise Godet
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
A phobia is by definition an irrational fear, so there is no such thing as Islamophobia.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/15/2007 1:04 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Islam is a supremacist cult. When they are a minority, they work for religious equality; where they are a majority, they work to dominate other religious groups.
#6
#5 Islam is a supremacist cult. When they are a minority, they work for religious equality; where they are a majority, they work to dominate other religious groups.
I've always been a bit cautious about religious faiths and groups in general that require special headgear, robes, chants, bodily contortions, or communal drinking for the rank and file..... Just cautious mind you, nothing more.
#8
The international media continues to use the misguided actions of a small extremist minority as an excuse to malign the entire Muslim world, as well as the religion of Islam,
Whilst the ummah and ulema adamantly refuse to impose even a hint of opprobrium upon this "small extremist minority" for their incessant atrocities. Just as curious is this article's seeming refusal to address the overwhelming "racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance" that are endemic to nearly all Muslim majority countries. Curious, that.
#9
What's so "curious" about it? This is standard, off-the-shelf Leftist claptrap.
Muslims are the Left's latest "Officially Designated Poor Helpless Little Brown Victims Of White Imperialism", who by definition can do no wrong-- just like America's blacks who, even though huge numbers of them are raging bigots, are deemed exempt from any charges of "racism".
Just the usual crap from the Cult of the Poor Helpless Victim, is all. Nothing curious about it.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
09/15/2007 8:56 Comments ||
Top||
#10
Yup. Like this guy, a white racist who happily proclaims that the race he hates is ....
whites.
Until we clean this sort of crap up Islamicists will be welcomed right into our laws and schools.
#14
The Swiss SVP/UDC has launched a referendum to ban construction of minarets in the Alpine country, home to 350,000 Muslims. A similar move is underway in Cologne, Germany.
When are the cathedral spires going up in Riyadh, Doudou?
#15
And let's not forget how 'culturally sensitive' the muzzies are by their respect and handling of St. Sophia in Constantinople Istanbul. Couldn't get the minarets up fast enough.
#17
As you bounce your grandchildren on your knee, you can tell them that months before the total collapse of civilization, the people began to separate into two distinct groups, pro Islam, and anti Islam. The governments protested loudly, but they were the last to discover the reality of those times. Even with mass communications and the internet and 24 hour news networks, some senseless hope for a resolution blinded the ambitious and the elite. Then there was war.
#19
Hey, well, fok me sideways like a rattlesnake and then ask me why I'm not surprised the Death Cult is the Pissing Putrid Sore on the Arse of the World everywhere it goes, and is despised in all sensible Quarters of the World.
#21
Like this guy, a white racist who happily proclaims that the race he hates is ....
Di you read it to the end, lotp? The writer finishes by announcing he hates pseudointellectual liberals, in the college newspaper of U. Mass, by one of the editorial staff. I think he was being highly sarcastic.
#22
"The United Nations investigator on racism on Friday condemned a rising trend of Islamophobia"
"United Nations" - not at all
"investigator" - (mossie) instigator
"racism" - mossie 'religion' is not a race
"islamophobia" - does not exist but yet is used as an insult against infidels.
In one single short line alone is found the gist of mossie nonsense.
It would be wrong to cast a general cloud of suspicion over converts to Islam, German Attorney General Monika Harms said Thursday, following the smashing last week of an alleged Islamist terrorist cell. The revelation that two of those arrested on September 4 for planning potentially devastating bomb attacks against US targets in Germany were Germans who had adopted Islam provoked debate on the radicalization of converts. Speaking to Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in an interview, Harms said many converts to Islam were peaceful, although watchfulness was needed.
But she added: "We can't cast suspicion on entire population groups. That's not acceptable, and nobody wants that."
Posted by: Seafarious ||
09/15/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
It is wrong to suspect ONLY converts to Islam - one must suspect those born to Islam as well.
HT Michelle Malkin. Don't look like "fireworks" to me...
TAMPA -- PVC pipe filled with homemade "low-grade explosive mixture'' and a videotape instruction for turning a remote-controlled toy car into a detonator were among the items found in the car driven by two University of South Florida students arrested in South Carolina and now facing federal explosives charges, according to a federal prosecutor.
A judge set bail at $200,000 for one of the defendants, Youssef Megahed, but the government immediately appealed, which means Megahed will remain in custody.
Earlier in the court hearing Friday, an assistant U.S attorney outlined the evidence confiscated from the car driven by Megahed and another suspended USF student -- describing a container and three pipes filled with a low-grade explosive mixture.
The list also included a videotape that instructs viewers on how to convert a toy electric car into a detonator. Defendant Ahmed Mohamed has admitted making the tape, and in it he says he intended the instruction "to save one who wants to be a martyr for another battle,'' said federal prosecutor Jay Hoffer.
Hoffer told a federal magistrate today that the government believed Youssef Megahed should be detained because he is a danger to the community and a flight risk. He itemized what South Carolina authorities found in the trunk of a car he and Mohamed were driving that concerned them.
Those items included: three pieces of PVC piping that were filled with a mixture of potassium nitrate, Karo syrup and cat litter. Federal authorities called it a potassium nitrate low-grade explosive mixture, and said they also found more of that mixture in a separate container in the trunk. Additionally they found an electric drill, a box of .22 caliber bullets, a five gallon container filled with gasoline and 23 feet of safety fuse.
FBI analysts said the explosive mixture met the definition for a low-grade explosive. Hoffer said many of the items had been purchased locally, in and around Tampa, by Mohamed.
They also found a laptop computer in the men's car. On the laptop they found a 12-minute video on which a man shows how to turn a radio-controlled toy car into a remote-controlled detonator, Hoffer said. Jackpot...
Mohamed admits that it is him in the video, although you cannot see his face, Hoffer said. In the video, Mohamed said that he was showing how to make such a device "to save one who wants to be a martyr for another battle,'' Hoffer said. Mohamed also makes reference to a toy boat in the video. The FBI seized a toy remote controlled boat in a box from Megahed's home.
Megahed also purchased a .22 caliber rifle in mid-July. The FBI found it in a storage shed, Hoffer said.
Hoffer also detailed for the judge why he believed Megahed is a flight risk.
FBI agents saw, but did not seize, two Egyptian passports that appeared to belong to Megahed. Hoffer sad they both had pictures of Megahed, but one had a different family name.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Jenkins asked why they didn't seize them, and Hoffer said the FBI made that decision because it was a consent search, and they didn't have a warrant.
He also said Megahed was denied naturalization on in March 2006, because he too frequently traveled back to Egypt. Between 1998 and 2003, he spent more than 1,600 days in Egypt, he said.
When authorities arrested him in South Carolina, he had a photocopy of an immigration green card, but no passport. Authorities said he also has traveled to Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Canada, and that his family has substantial business ties in Egypt.
On July 29th, the defendant and his brother went to Sears and got passport sized portraits made. Hoffer said the government saw no reason why they would have a need for these photos. If the defendant was able to return to Egypt while on bond, Hoffer said, the U.S. government would have a hard time getting him back to this country, because Egypt does not extradite its nationals."It may be very hard, if not impossible, to extradite him back to the Middle District of Florida,'' he said.
Mohamed has waived his right to a detention hearing.
Mohamed's attorney, Lionel Lofton, said he didn't believe his client would be allowed bail, so he thought there was no point in having the hearing today for Mohamed. "He has absolutely no ties to the United States or to this community," Lofton said.
He also didn't think it was necessary to use the hearing to get more information about the evidence against his client. That's because he met with prosecutors on Thursday night to discuss the case.
He declined to talk about his meeting with prosecutors, saying that he has not been formally retained by the Egyptian embassy, which is helping Mohamed find legal representation. It's unclear whether he will be retained. He is preparing a budget for this case to present to embassy officials. He said the case would be "extremely expensive." Yeah. Sounds like it. Heh heh heh...
He also said Megahed was denied naturalization on in March 2006, because he too frequently traveled back to Egypt. Between 1998 and 2003, he spent more than 1,600 days in Egypt, he said.
Over a five-year period, there are 1825 days. Add one for the leap-year in there: 1826. That means he spent fewer than 226 days in the US in that five-year period.
Seven months out of 60.
Was he traveling on the same visa? Was it a long-term visa, like a student visa or working visa? If it was a student visa, where the hell was he studying, and why the hell didn't they report that he was missing most of his classes?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
09/15/2007 15:34 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Defendant Ahmed Mohamed has admitted making the tape, and in it he says he intended the instruction "to save one who wants to be a martyr for another battle,'' said federal prosecutor Jay Hoffer.
Mohamed was also arrested in Egypt on terrorism charges for making a video on how to make a remote-controlled car bomb. Amazing that immigration allowed him in the US after a terrorism arrest.
Posted by: ed ||
09/15/2007 19:03 Comments ||
Top||
#3
No more immigration from Muslim majority countries. Zero. Period.
#4
This is not WOT background. This is WOT homefront! SOCOM is in Tampa. It don't take rocket science to figure out where this was going! We have fiddled and now they are here at the low levels. Friggin great!!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/15/2007 19:49 Comments ||
Top||
The US State Departments annual report on religious freedoms around the world notes continued deterioration of the extremely poor status of respect for religious freedom in Iran and highlights serious problems in Pakistan.
Report on International Religious Freedom published on Friday warns that religious freedom conditions have worsened in insurgency-wracked Iraq as well as Egypt, while communist China has embarked on a crackdown on foreign missionaries ahead of the Olympics. Religious freedom is integral to our efforts to combat the ideology of hatred and religious intolerance that fuels global terrorism, said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as she launched the 800-page report in Washington.
Amid intra-sectarian Muslim violence, religious worship conditions deteriorated over the past year in Iraq with the ongoing insurgency significantly harming the ability of people to practice their faith, according to the report. Many individuals from various religious groups were targeted because of their religious identity or their secular leanings, the report said of the situation in Iraq where US troops are facing an uphill battle to restore order.
In Egypt, a key US ally, respect for religious freedom has declined, the report said, citing particularly a court ruling this year that reinstated a policy not to provide a legal means for converts from Islam to Christianity to amend their civil records. There are cases where converts have been held and sometimes received physical abuse, US special envoy for international religious freedom John Hanford told a briefing. One convert released after 25 months has his life now under threat, he pointed out.
The report also highlighted religious repression in China, which reportedly expelled more than 100 foreign missionaries in the spring of 2007 in what some groups alleged was a government-initiated campaign to tighten control on Christian house churches ahead of the Olympics next year.
There were also credible reports of deaths due to torture and abuse involving practitioners of the Falun Gong spiritual sect who continued to face arrest, detention and imprisonment. Beijing is imposing extremely harsh treatment on those determined to have religious contact in China, Hanford lamented.
The report transmitted to Congress on Friday, is a precursor to the announcement each year of a blacklist of countries of particular concern that are subject to US sanctions for religious repression. Iran headed last years list alongside China, Eritrea, Myanmar, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Religious freedom is integral to our efforts to combat the ideology of hatred and religious intolerance that fuels global terrorism, said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Even Rice grants undue credibility to Islamic regimes by her diplomatic recognition of them.
Many individuals from various religious groups were targeted because of their religious identity or their secular leanings,
Whoa, now! These religious groups were targeted because of WHAT? Do you mean to say that Islam had no role in this?!?
In Egypt, a key US ally, respect for religious freedom has declined
Which part of this is supposed to make me puke? A key US ally or religious freedom?
There are cases where converts have been held and sometimes received physical abuse,
No!!!!! Never!
The report also highlighted religious repression in China, which reportedly expelled more than 100 foreign missionaries in the spring of 2007 in what some groups alleged was a government-initiated campaign to tighten control on Christian house churches ahead of the Olympics next year.
Yet none of that prevents us from buying billions of dollars worth of goods each year from the Politburos Mandarins. Perish the flaming thought.
Iran headed last years list alongside China, Eritrea, Myanmar, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan.
Yet China and Saudi Arabiatwo of the worlds most repressive yet prosperous economies remain beyond reproach. Go figure.
#6
This is partial Sharia... not the criminal part.. just the laws regarding marriage etc.
In the 80's an old Muslim woman was triple talaqed ("I divorce you"...) and thrown out of the house.
She fought back in the courts and won alimony in the Indian Supreme Court.
Well, the Muslims agitated and the Indian Parliament passed a constitutional amendment that asserted the "rights" of the Muslim personal law boards.
So an old, uneducated woman after decades of marriage was deprived of her alimony by an act of Parliament.
And the BJP is being anti-Muslim by criticizing this...
Ironically the most rabid of the "Hindu fundamentalists" is probably equivalent to a "moderate Muslim"... but the State Department equates the idiots who destroy Valentine's day displays with hardcore jihadis like the LeT
Posted by: john frum ||
09/15/2007 10:45 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Diplomatic services do however attract more than their fair share of personnel who romanticize Arab and Muslim culture.
John Foster Dulles for instance had a bizarre notion that Muslims were great fighters. Even though his own brother Allen had taught English in India, he though the Gurhka people who inhabit Nepal and India were Muslim and Pakistani...
This was vividly reflected in a conversation which Walter Lippmann claimed to have had with Dulles at a Washington dinner party shortly after the 1954 Geneva Accords. Look Walter, Dulles said, blinking behind his thick glasses, Ive got some real fighting men into the south of Asia. The only Asians who can really fight are the Pakistanis. Thats why we need them in the alliance. We could never get along without the Gurkhas. When Lippmann reminded him that the Gurkhas are Indian, not Pakistani, Dulles replied, Well, they may not be Pakistanis, but theyre Moslems. Lippmann once more corrected Dulles, saying, No, Im afraid theyre not Moslems either, theyre Hindus. Dulles merely replied, No matter, and proceeded to lecture Lippmann for half an hour on how SEATO would plug the dike against communism in Asia
Posted by: john frum ||
09/15/2007 13:03 Comments ||
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Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) president Qazi Hussain Ahmad on Friday denounced the government over the recent killings of 20 commandos in Tarbela and five Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) workers in Karachi. Addressing a religious segregation at Mansoora, he said the current situation of the Muslim World reflected the post 9/11 wishes of US President George Bush. Criticising the Lal Masjid operation, Qazi said those who had used the army against the Lal Masjid were the real enemies of the country. He said the government could have given a save passage to Lal Masjid students, as the Indian government did with the militants in the Charar Sharif in the Indian held Kashmir to avoid a carnage.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2007 00:00 ||
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Former students of Jamia Faridia on Friday held a protest at Aabpara Market to demand that Lal Masjid be opened and prayer leader Maulana Abdul Aziz be released immediately.
The protesters held placards and banners inscribed with their demands. They exchanged harsh words with the police who were deputed at the scene to keep calm in the area. Meanwhile, Maulana Shah Abdul Aziz, MMAs MNA from Karak, led Jumma prayers outside Rehman Masjid at Aabpara Chowk.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2007 00:00 ||
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Pakistan vowed to step up its fight against terrorism Friday after a suicide attacker detonated an explosive-laden vehicle inside a high-security military base, killing 16 soldiers from an elite counterterrorism task force. Authorities did not speculate on who was behind the attack, but Islamic militants will be suspected.
Reeeeeeally? Y'don't say? In Pakistain, of all places!
Twenty-nine soldiers were also wounded in the attack late Thursday at Ghazi Tarbela base - about 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of the capital, Islamabad - the headquarters of the quick-reaction counterterrorism commandos.
We're just as sure as sure can be that Perv really, really means it this time. Truly. Honest. Fer sherrr.
#4
Musharraf must respond harshly to this attack. It was an attack on the heart of the Paki officer class. This is about personal survival of the ruling class.
Posted by: ed ||
09/15/2007 19:11 Comments ||
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India's High Court Thursday upheld a death sentence against Pakistani national Mohammed Ashfaq for the December 2000 terror attack on the historic Red Fort in which three people were killed.
A division bench of Delhi High Court found Ashfaq, a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) guerrilla, guilty of "conducting war against the state" in the terror attack on December 22, 2000, in which one civilian and two soldiers of the Indian Army were killed. The Delhi Police had said the attack on the fort was masterminded by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba. "The terrorists had carefully selected the army camp inside the fort, a place of national importance and prestige. They deliberately selected it as it would cause widespread indignation and fear in the country," the High Court judge said today.
The court, however, acquitted six others, convicted by the subordinate court, due to lack of evidence. The subordinate court had given capital punishment to Ashfaq for waging war against the state and murder. Ashfaq's wife Rehmana, of Indian origin, was also convicted for conspiracy and sentenced to life in prison. She has, however, been acquitted.
Another Volcker report for another corrupt institution.
Since we're talking about the world's second most out-of-control international bureaucracy--no prizes for guessing the first--we shouldn't get our hopes up. But in the past week some prominent outsiders have been forcing the World Bank to reckon with the alien concept of accountability. Now it's up to new bank President Robert Zoellick to see that their efforts bear fruit.
First up is former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. For the past five months, Mr. Volcker and a panel of international experts have been conducting an independent review of the Department of Institutional Integrity, the bank's anticorruption unit known internally as the INT. Their report, which readers can find here, is being released to the public today.
In sober and measured terms, Mr. Volcker's report provides a devastating indictment of what it calls the bank's "ambivalence" toward both corruption and its own anticorruption unit. "There was then, and remains now, resistance among important parts of the Bank staff and some of its leadership to the work of INT," the report says (our emphasis).
It goes on to say that "some resistance is more parochial. There is a natural discomfort among some line staff, who are generally encouraged by the pay and performance evaluation system to make loans for promising projects, to have those projects investigated ex post, exposed as rife with corruption, creating an awkward problem in relations with borrowing clients." To put it more plainly, the report is saying that every incentive at the bank is to push more money out the door, and bank employees hate the anticorruption effort because it interferes with that imperative.
The report endorses the work of the INT, which was created a mere six years ago and which has been under what it calls a "particularly strong" institutional attack ever since. The INT, the Volcker panel says, "is staffed by competent and dedicated investigators who work hard and long hours with professionalism" and deploy "advanced investigative methods to detect and substantiate allegations of fraud and corruption." And it goes on to recommend that the anticorruption crusaders "should be nurtured and maintained as an exemplary investigative organization" within the bank.
In a phone interview yesterday, Mr. Volcker added that he gives "high marks" to current INT director Suzanne Rich Folsom. Mr. Volcker's endorsement should stop cold the recent attempts by some in the bank's entrenched bureaucracy to run Ms. Folsom out of the bank, as they did Paul Wolfowitz.
The bank is also being put on notice by the U.S. Senate through provisions in its foreign operations appropriations bill. The provision threatens to withhold 20% of U.S. funds to the bank's International Development Association arm (which provides interest-free loans to the world's poorest countries) until it is assured that the bank "has adequately staffed and sufficiently funded the Department of Institutional Integrity." The bill also demands that the bank provide "financial disclosure forms of all senior World bank personnel." Now, that will get the bureaucracy's attention.
Notably, it's a Democrat--Evan Bayh of Indiana--who's taken the lead on this issue. Mr. Bayh has ordered a Government Accountability Office report on the effectiveness of IDA loans and their susceptibility to corruption, the bank's procurement procedures, as well as the legendary pay packages enjoyed by its senior management. "There's a tendency [at the bank] to say 'just give us the money and go away,' " the Senator told us by phone yesterday. "Until there are some tangible consequences, they won't take us seriously. We shouldn't let that happen."
That's good advice, and not just for the bank. Secretary of Treasury Hank Paulson, who was absent without leave during the Wolfowitz fiasco, also needs to step up to his oversight responsibilities. One particularly useful step he could take is to insist on a probe into the leaking of confidential bank documents to the Government Accountability Project, which ran a "parallel" review of the INT mainly in order to undermine Mr. Volcker's efforts.
As we reported Saturday, there is evidence the leaker is Managing Director Graeme Wheeler, the bank's No. 2 who also happens to be Ms. Folsom's No. 1 institutional enemy. Mr. Wheeler denies he's the leaker, but his name appeared on an email posted on the GAP Web site before it mysteriously disappeared.
Whatever the outcome of that affair, there's no question that Mr. Volcker and Mr. Bayh have set some useful benchmarks for the World Bank to clean up its long history of turning a blind eye to corruption. Now it's up to Mr. Zoellick to follow through, not least by saying goodbye to those in the bank "leadership" who want to continue business as usual.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/15/2007 13:45 ||
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#1
They ran Wolfowitz off because he was a threat to their corrupt gravy train.
#2
It is amusing to note corruption like this to conspiracy theorists. That is, if the World Bank were part of the conspiracy, then the leaders of the conspiracy would want scrupulously honest toadies working there. Accountable to the penny.
The typical James Bond Villain has to surround himself with utterly honest henchmen, or he would never get his secret installation built on time or on budget, because they would have swiped all his money.
In fact, in most of the world, the assumption of dishonesty is so firmly established that it is hard to do business without bribes. Bribes are seen as an icebreaker, a way to show respect, and a performance guarantee. Without bribes, nobody knows what to do.
I even knew a member of a wealthy, extended Asian family, all of whom carried token "greeting bribes" of small, ornate bars of gold that they would exchange with other members of the family from far away branches. Having exchanged the traditional bribes of equal value, they could then get down to business.
He said the trick was to know who offered the bribe first, based on the hierarchy of the family.
But he said that without offering that token few hundred dollars worth of gold, it could cost you the loss of a multi-million dollar deal.
Iraqi interpreters working for the British Army have been advised to leave Basra or be killed. The warning was issued by a leading member of the citys security forces after militiamen attacked and destroyed the home of one interpreter and narrowly failed to kidnap another. There were unconfirmed reports yesterday that a third had been killed.
All the interpreters have to leave Basra because these militia will never let them rest. They will kill everybody they know [who worked for the British], Colonel Saleem Agaa Alzabon, who leads Basras special forces, said. The interpreters have to leave. They have no choice.
Colonel Saleem and the two targeted interpreters told The Times that the militiamen almost certainly members of the Shia al-Mahdi Army had stepped up their pursuit of so-called collaborators since the British withdrew from Basra city 11 days ago. The latest attacks are further evidence of the extreme danger that the 91 interpreters for the British military face now, let alone when the troops leave Iraq for good. They will intensify the pressure on Britain to reverse its refusal to grant them asylum. Gordon Brown ordered a review of that policy after The Times highlighted the interpreters plight last month.
The target of the first attack was Ahmed, 25, a student who has been working for the British Army for three years, first in a base in the Shatt al-Arab hotel and now at the al-Shaibah base outside Basra, where the Irish Guards are training Iraqi troops. Ahmed (not his real name) said that last Friday his 22-year-old cousin borrowed his car to fetch his sister, who lives near the al-Shaibah base. The cousin used the route Ahmed normally takes to work. He was stopped by four masked men at a makeshift checkpoint and whisked away.
When the kidnappers realised that they had the wrong man they telephoned the cousins family to say that he would be killed if Ahmed did not give himself up. The family lied, saying that Ahmed had left Iraq. The kidnappers then demanded a $15,000 (£7,500) ransom. Ahmed handed over all the money that he had saved over three years. The family asked a tribal leader to give it to the kidnappers and bring back the cousin so that they would not be cheated. The cousin returned home with a message for Ahmed: If we find you anywhere in Basra we will kill you, but if you come to us and give us information we will let you live.
Ahmed has now sent his wife and one-year-old daughter to a relatives house far from Basra and intends to stay on the al-Shaibah base. He said that if the Government did not grant him asylum in Britain he would have to seek refuge in another country. Im very frightened, he said. The militias know all the interpreters in Basra. They waited for the British to leave so they could attack us . . . If the British dont give me asylum I will have big problems because if I stay in Iraq I will be killed.
A British officer, who declined to be named, confirmed Ahmeds identity, and saw no reason to doubt his story. It would not be the first time something like this has happened, he said.
The second attack came late on Sunday night. Mohammed Motlag, who has worked as an interpreter since 2003, told The Times that he was working at the British base at Basra airport when his wife telephoned to say their house was being attacked by about 40 militiamen. They were shouting: We have come to kill your husband. Hes a spy for the British forces.
Mr Motlag, 46, said that his two children, aged 6 and 3, were also in the house. He could hear the militiamen trying to break down the door. Weeping at his helplessness, he told his wife to get his gun and start firing. He then called Colonel Saleem, an old friend, who rushed a police detachment to rescue the family. The militiamen later blew up the house with grenades. Mr Motlag said that his family were now in hiding. Colonel Saleem corroborated Mohammeds story when contacted by The Times. That's right, he said, and then repeated it himself.
The Ministry of Defence said it was aware of the interpreters claims, took the safety of its Iraqi employees very seriously, and was reviewing the assistance it provides to them. It continued: The total number of Iraqis who have worked for us since 2003 with a claim to assistance could be at least 15,000. We therefore need to consider the options carefully.
Senior politicians, diplomats and army officers have urged the Government to grant the interpreters asylum. The Times has learnt that the Government privately accepts that it has a moral obligation to help them, but ministers are still debating how many of the thousands of other Iraqis and their dependents who have assisted the British should be allowed in.
#1
A brave British officer, who declined to be named, confirmed Ahmeds identity, and saw no reason to doubt his story. It would not be the first time something like this has happened, he said before returning to his ale and Twenty20 World Cricket Championships.
Appears Ambassador Crocker's recent analysis regarding a US withdrawl may indeed be correct.
After taking over Laos in 1975, the Pathet Lao Communists stated that they would wipe out the Hmong. A Vietnamese broadcast apparently called for genocide against them. From 1976 to 1979, there were credible reports of chemical warfare used against Hmong villages. The world tried to ignore these reports, and some influential voices in the United States tried to discredit the evidence, claiming that the "yellow rain" that had been used to kill Hmong people was just natural bee feces, not a chemical toxin. By the time overwhelming evidence had been gathered to shatter the "bee feces" theory, the media no longer seemed interested in exploring charges of genocide by Communist forces.
#4
We'll take unlimited Mexicans and they'll take unlimited Paks but not those who helped us in battle yesterday? Can't expect more help if that's how you treat them.
#7
The Brits have a long history of sticking it to anyone whom they owe: (Kipling: Last of the Light Brigade)
There were thirty million English who talked of England's might,
There were twenty broken troopers who lacked a bed for the night.
They had neither food nor money, they had neither service nor trade;
They were only shiftless soldiers, the last of the Light Brigade.
They felt that life was fleeting; they kuew not that art was long,
That though they were dying of famine, they lived in deathless song.
They asked for a little money to keep the wolf from the door;
And the thirty million English sent twenty pounds and four!....
#11
The US should take them in even if Britain won't.
Wrong. No more Muslims should be allowed to immigrate into the USA. Period. Islam contains within itself the seeds of violence and extremism. Just because one seems friendly now is no guarantee.
However, consider some aspects that may not be so obvious on the first look.
1) If it was only income that a translator was after, he/she'd quit some time ago, as the danger outweighted income considerations right off the bat. There had to be another incentive keeping one doing the job.
2) I would surmise that for many of them, the hold of Islam on them is rather tenuous and imposed, rather than elected. The chances that given a conductive environment they would leave Islam are rather positive than the opposite.
3) They know Arabic and the mind set and could be employed in intel jobs, covering both enemies foreign and domestic (infiltrating mosques an Islamic orgs), provided that they pass through set of barriers that would weed out those not suitable and through a thorough training. Of course, trust but verify is a must throughout their involment.
#13
Given their culture, I couldn't imagine a better way for them to prove themselves. In any case, they're more good than harm. We're idiots if we don't take them in, and heartless if we leave them there.
#14
the media no longer seemed interested in exploring charges of genocide by Communist forces.
And whenin modern timeshas the MSM given a rusty phuque about communist genocide?
SR-71however inclined I am to agree with youtwobyfour makes an important point. Those few Iraqis who sought to assist our intelligence operations represent some of the bestand most deservingcandidates for authentic assimilation here in America. Even though just the simple act of typing these words sets my spidey taqiyya sense tingling, people who risk their very lives for the betterment of their nation must be accorded some recognition.
If anything, temporary residency along with a well-paying job at the NSA would probably go a long way towards guaranteeing total societal integration.
One concession I will make towards your own valid skepticism, SR-71, is that onejust one singlefart sideways gets these same people deported before the devil can get his shoes on. I refuse to discount just how poisonous taqiyya is, not in regard to any living Muslim on this entire stinking earth.
#15
How will you tell whether they are fanatics or not? Muslims will not assimilate. They will remain quiet until they reach about 10% of the population. Even now we see outbreaks of sudden jihad syndrome: LAX El Al shootings, Seattle Jewish Community Center, University of NC, the SC "fireworks" boys. How much of that will you tolerate?
Heartless? I love our people more that I love theirs.
#16
An additional comment: the kind of intelligence that 2X4 is talking about would have been valuable in past wars, but will not be so valuable in the kind of war that is coming with Islam.
I refuse to tolerate the intolerant. We have a culture and nation worth defending. I have come to the conclusion that separation and containment is the only answer to Islam short of its total destruction. The longer we equivocate, the closer we come to a war to the death.
#17
How will you tell whether they are fanatics or not?
One cannot and that is why my support for twobyfour's position contained so many qualifications.
the kind of intelligence that 2X4 is talking about would have been valuable in past wars, but will not be so valuable in the kind of war that is coming with Islam.
Damn fine point, SR-71, and one that pretty much obliges me to withdraw my previous position.
I have come to the conclusion that separation and containment is the only answer to Islam short of its total destruction. The longer we equivocate, the closer we come to a war to the death.
You have so closely elucidated my own stance that I refuse to nit pick. I'd rather things were your way than substantially otherwise. Thank you very much for taking exception to my post. Sometimes I, too, need some realignment.
The Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) announced Friday dismissal of Minister of Planning and Development Cooperation Ali Baban against the backdrop of the latter's non-compliance with the decision of the Sunni Iraqi Accord Front (IAF) to boycott government. Baban reneged on his pledge to comply with the IAF decision to boycott the government of Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki and resumed his duties," the IIP said in a statement received by KUNA here.
"He disregarded the fact that he was one of the makers of the boycott decision. Baban's move goes counter to the national interests of Iraq. He could raise his new grounds and justifications, if he had any, during the meetings of the IAF meetings. We can not accept such move from an IIP member especially after we preferred him (Baban) to other members and nominated him to the his post," the statement pointed out.
The decision to dismiss Baban was unanimously adopted by the IIP politburo, the statement concluded.
Earlier in the day, the IAF regretted Baban's decision to resume his duties as minister in the cabinet of Nouri Al-Maliki.
In a statement, the front said the "disappointing personal decision" decision would not influence the IAF 's boycott decision.
Baban returned to Al-Maliki's cabinet on Thursday, arguing that his boycott affected implementation of several key projects.
He said at a news conference that he believed that the higher national interests should be placed above all partisan or political considerations.
The IAF contested Baban's argument, saying Al-Maliki's government had been ineffective for some time and its failure to perform properly prompted millions of Iraqis to flee to neighboring countries.
At least 15 ministers, including five IAF members, quitted the government in August.
The Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jareeda reported Friday that there is no communication between Hamas' leadership in Gaza and its leadership abroad. Meanwhile, both the Saudi Arabian and Egyptian governments have refused a proposed visit by Khaled Mashaal, head of Hamas' political bureau in Damascus, stating that the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip must be reversed before they would allow him to enter the countries, Al-Jareeda reported.
A Hamas leader, who wished to remain anonymous, told the newspaper that Hamas refused to accept these conditions. He said that under such pressure from the Arab states and other international countries, Mashaal's efforts to improve the situation in Gaza has been made virtually impossible. According to the anonymous Hamas leader, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are also demanding that Hamas accept the government of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas as the legitimate government in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
According to Al Jareeda, the Saudis and Egyptians have told Hamas's leadership that Mashaal has no official status as he has not agreed to the Oslo Accords and he is not living in the Palestinian territories. They said they are waiting for Hamas to send a delegation from inside the territories.
Furthermore, the Saudis are said to be angry with both Hamas and Fatah for failing to abide by the terms of the Mecca agreement, which called for the establishment of a Palestinian unity government and an end to internecine fighting in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Last week, a Fatah official blamed Hamas of committing "war crimes against the Palestinian people" and promised that "in time, those responsible will be held accountable for their actions."
A poll published earlier Monday revealed that 73 percent of Palestinians were disappointed with Hamas since its takeover of Gaza, and if Palestinian elections were held today Abbas would win by a landslide.
This article starring:
KHALED MASHAAL
Hamas
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Furthermore, the Saudis are said to be angry with both Hamas and Fatah for failing to abide by the terms of the Mecca agreement, which called for getting back to killing the Jewsthe establishment of a Palestinian unity government and an end to internecine fighting in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Earlier this month, the Lebanese army finally ended the three-month jihadist uprising that killed almost 400 people in a Palestinian camp in north Lebanon. Unfortunately, the Nahr al Bared drama is far from over.
Officials from the United Nations, which runs social services programs in Palestinian refugee camps, said that it would take about six months of clean-up operation before residents could return to Nahr al Bared. It's a dangerous place, littered with land mines, booby traps, and unexploded ordinance -- yesterday three soldiers were wounded and one was killed by explosions. But in the meantime, camp residents are living in schools and makeshift shelters in other -- already overcrowded -- Palestinan camps around Lebanon.
So this week, the Lebanese government asked for almost $400 million from international donors to rebuilt the camp and to care for those displaced by the destruction. The government warned that an incomplete effort would help spread fanaticism and chaos. That may indeed be so, but it's an open question whether the Lebanese government is up to the job of reconstructing the camp. Despite over $7 billion worth of international donations after last summer's war with Israel, that reconstruction program is still lagging.
Meanwhile, at least three of the Fatah al-Islam militant leaders responsible for the carnage at Nahr al Bared are missing, including the group's leader, Shaker Al-Absi. The Lebanese government had originally declared Absi dead, after his wife and several Palestinian clerics identified the body of one of the slain fighters as his. But DNA tests came up negative, and now the search for the mysterious Absi is back on.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Of course, the US should be out of the UN entirely, so howze about this for a start: The US contribution to the UN will be dollar for dollar decreased by whatever amount is spent on these travesties called "refugee camps" in the ME...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
09/15/2007 7:52 Comments ||
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#2
400 Hmm, How many were killed in that "masacre" in Jenin? I guess if it's Arabs killing Arabs it's all in good fun.
A senior U.S. nuclear official said Friday that North Koreans were in Syria and that Damascus may have had contacts with "secret suppliers" to obtain nuclear equipment.
Andrew Semmel, acting deputy assistant secretary of state for nuclear nonproliferation policy, did not identify the suppliers, but said North Koreans were in the country and that he could not exclude that the network run by the disgraced Pakistan nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan may have been involved.
He said it was not known if the contacts had produced any results. "Whether anything transpired remains to be seen," he said.
Strong Evidence Against Hezbollah
Meanwhile, the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon said Friday that there is clear evidence the Shiite group Hizbullah is still smuggling weapons across the Syrian border in violation of U.N. resolutions. "We find the evidence to be strong that arms smuggling is continuing across the Syrian-Lebanese border," Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman said, without giving any specific details. "We are concerned by the reports and by the public statements by Hizbullah that Hizbullah has actively rearmed."
He added: "In our view this poses one of the biggest dangers to Lebanon and it is a violation of the spirit and the letter of a number of Security Council resolutions."
Feltman said there were several initiatives under discussion with the Lebanese government on how to halt the smuggling of weapons.
Saying that the international community would respond favorably to any Lebanese government request to help in border security, Feltman said "there are several initiatives under discussion with the government about how best to prevent smuggling, most importantly arms smugglings."
He also rejected arguments that controlling Lebanon's border with Syria would amount to interfering in the country's sovereignty. "Controlling borders is an assertion of sovereignty," he maintained.
Is Syria Building a Nuclear Arsenal?
Syria has never commented publicly on its nuclear program. It has a small research nuclear reactor, as do several other countries in the region, including Egypt. While Israel and the U.S. have expressed concerns in the past, Damascus has not been known to make a serious push to develop a nuclear energy or weapons program.
Proliferation experts have said that Syria's weak economy would make it hard-pressed to afford nuclear technology, and that Damascus - which is believed to have some chemical weapons stocks - may have taken the position that it does not also need nuclear weapons.
Semmel was responding to questions about an Israeli airstrike in northern Syria last week. Neither side has explained what exactly happened, but a U.S. government official confirmed that Israeli warplanes were targeting weapons from Iran and destined for Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
The Washington Post reported Thursday that Israel had gathered satellite imagery showing possible North Korean cooperation with Syria on a nuclear facility.
North Korea, which has a longstanding alliance with Syria, condemned the Israeli air incursion. Israeli experts say North Korea and Iran both have been major suppliers of Syria's missile stock.
Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal told the Saudi newspaper Asharq al-Awsat on Thursday that the accusations of North Korean nuclear help were a "new American spin to cover up" for Israel.
Semmel, who is in Italy for a meeting Saturday on the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, said Syria was certainly on the U.S. "watch list."
"There are indicators that they do have something going on there," he said. "We do know that there are a number of foreign technicians that have been in Syria. We do know that there may have been contact between Syria and some secret suppliers for nuclear equipment. Whether anything transpired remains to be seen."
"So good foreign policy, good national security policy, would suggest that we pay very close attention to that," he said. "We're watching very closely. Obviously, the Israelis were watching very closely."
Asked if the suppliers could have been North Koreans, he said: "There are North Korean people there. There's no question about that. Just as there are a lot of North Koreans in Iraq and Iran."
Asked if the so-called Khan network, which supplied nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea, could have been involved, he said he "wouldn't exclude" it.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2007 00:00 ||
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US President George W. Bush will one day be tried in court just like deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein for his involvement in the Iraq tragedy, said Iran's supreme leader Friday. Speaking to thousands of worshippers during the first Friday prayer of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Bush will be called to account for the US-led invasion of Iraq.
"A day will come that the current US president and officials will be tried in an international supreme court for the catastrophes they caused in Iraq," he said. "Americans will have to answer for why they don't end occupation of Iraq and why waves of terrorism and insurgency have overwhelmed the country. It will not be like this forever and some day they will be stopped as happened to Hitler, Saddam and certain other European leaders."
Khamenei mocked the US, describing the recent congressional testimony of the top US officials in Iraq as a sign of weakness and the failure of American policy in the war torn country. "More than four years have past since the occupation of Iraq and today everyone knows that American has failed and is frantically looking for a way out," he said.
In their testimony Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker raised allegations of Iranian meddling in Iraq by financial and military supporting militias and insurgent groups, warning that the US was already embroiled in a proxy war with the Islamic republic.
Despite UN sanctions and efforts to isolate Iran internationally, the country is flourishing, maintained Khamenei. "Today we are in a better political position compared to four to five years ago," he said. "We have moved forward economically and the spiritual preparedness and happiness of our nation has improved. A nation like ours, without an atomic bomb and not as wealthy as these other powerful governments, has foiled a whole series of their conspiracies and forced them to give up and withdraw."
The US accuses Iran of secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons and has called for further international sanctions against the country. Iran and the US have not had diplomatic relations since Washington cut its ties with Tehran after Iranian students stormed the US embassy there in 1979.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I know that 48% of Iran is addicted to one or another drug but I didn't realized that Khamenei was an addict too.
#3
Well, now we know who writes the ad copy for MoveOn.org.
Posted by: Mike ||
09/15/2007 8:46 Comments ||
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#4
Khamenei stands a better chance of dieing in an American air raid than Bush does of going on trial. Ayatollahs are one breed that need to go extinct pronto.
#5
Khamenei either is bloviating for effect, or scarier still, he actually believes that. Sad when your 'leaders' live in a fantasy world.
It does show however that most in the Middle East, and this guy in particular, have absolutely no concept of what America is about. If they had even the slightest inkling, they would know that this scenario could never happen in a thousand years.
Lebanon's speaker Nabih Berri stressed last night that his initiative is made in Lebanon , is supported by 76.9 % of the Lebanese and neither Syria nor the rest of the opposition knew about it before it was announced Berri disclosed the above during an interview with Marcel Ghanem host of LBCTV 's Kalam el Nas program.
Berri revealed that neither Syria nor Hezbollah and Free patriotic movement of General Michel Aoun knew about the initiative before he declared it . Berri revealed that he has asked a local research firm to find out how the Lebanese people felt about the initiative and the results were very encouraging he said:
- 76.9 % of the all the Lebanese support it against 23.1% that don't
- Among the Sunnite Muslims 65.4 % support it
Berri revealed that he was waiting for a positive response from the March 14 alliance before visiting Patriarch Sfeir in Bkirki, discuss all the candidates he ( Sfeir) has in mind and agree on one consensus candidate . He said so far he has not received March 14 response.
When asked by Ghanem why he came up with the initiative he said " I would like to think that I have matured enough to realize that we have reached a deadlock and it is about time we drop the demand for a government of national unity. He added " the government will be formed immediately after the new president is elected."
It is not clear why Berri claimed that he did not receive March 14 alliance response. March 14 alliance offered a positive response yesterday after a meeting Wednesday at the residence of former president Amine Gemayel in Bikfaya. The response was published yesterday by Ya Libnan and most of the Lebanese newspapers.
This article starring:
former president Amine Gemayel
Marcel Ghanem host of LBCTV 's Kalam el Nas program
Michel Aoun
Nabih Berri
Patriarch Sfeir
Secretary General of the UN Ban Ki-Moon
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2007 00:00 ||
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Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said on Friday that Tehran expected Paris to adopt a more "realistic" approach toward Iran's nuclear activities. Iran has acted according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regulations, therefore there was no reason for France to change its previous policies toward Iran, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad Ali Husseini said in a press release.
"Let's be reasonable, here."
It is a "hasty speculation" to consider that France's measures were in collaboration with US policies, Husseini asserted when asked about France's new policies which seem to be siding with the US. These views were mostly created through the Western media, although France has not shown positive policies toward Iran's stances recently, he explained. Some reports state that Washington's change in its unilateral policies toward Tehran affected Paris views too; in this regard Husseini claimed that the US hostile policies toward Iran had not changed at all, although some American officials had supported the Iran-IAEA agreement.
He emphasized that Iran and France should employ and expand their satisfactory relations. The French and Iranian governments enjoy very good relations, yet some observers believe that after President Nicolas Sarkozy was the French government has changed its views toward Iran.
This article starring:
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad Ali Husseini
International Atomic Energy Agency
Posted by: Seafarious ||
09/15/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Reasonable and Iran in the same sentence is an joke.
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.
The pope for his part voiced his heartfelt hope for the success of the peace talks next month, the Vatican said. Bashir raised the possibility of a ceasefire in Sudans western Darfur region after meeting with 
At least 56 Africans have died in recent days trying to make the perilous journey across the Gulf of Aden into Yemen, the UN refugee agency said Friday. 
We'd beg to differ on that. Christians, Jews, Agnostics, Atheists, Buddhists, Shintos, Wiccans and - for the most part - Hindoos don't riot in the streets hollering "Death of Muslims" or "Behead those who insult [fill in your preference here]." In fact, Christians, Jews, and etc., have gotten along fairly well together for the past 50 or 60 years. With the exception of the Muslim world, there haven't been any pogroms since the heyday of the Nazis. I'm not too sure what Mr. Doodoo makes of that, or even if he's aware of it.
Naturally Pakistain would find it "alarming." Not a week goes by in Pakistain without at least five incidents of religious-inspired violence. Every major terror incident since at least 1998 has had Pak involvement. Hindoos, Sikhs and Buddhists have been chased from Pakistain or forcibly converted, until the remaining minorities are so tiny as to be insignificant. The Ahmadis have been declared non-Muslims, suppressed, and oppressed, and can't even be buried next to their more bloodthirsty neighbors. Christians are routinely subjected the the infamous Blasphemy Laws, killed on trumped up charges, despoiled of their land, their women raped and their children stolen. We live in a world where there is a nation like Pakistain. I find that alarming. 
That's probably because way upwards of 90 percent of the acts of terrorism in all its forms are committed by Muslims, in the name of their Muslim religion. The spiritual guides of terrorism are all Islamic holy men. The money comes from Muslim tycoons and from zakat. The cheering sections for terrorism are exclusively Muslim you never see Lutherans or Jains hollering "
Worldwide, an increasing number of traditional democratic parties were resorting to the language of fear and exclusion, scapegoating and targeting ethnic or religious minorities in general, and immigrants and refugees in particular, he said. 
The US State Departments annual report on religious freedoms around the world notes continued deterioration of the extremely poor status of respect for religious freedom in Iran and highlights serious problems in Pakistan.
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) president Qazi Hussain Ahmad on Friday denounced the government over the recent killings of 20 commandos in Tarbela and five Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) workers in Karachi. Addressing a religious segregation at Mansoora, he said the current situation of the Muslim World reflected the post 9/11 wishes of US President George Bush. Criticising the Lal Masjid operation, Qazi said those who had used the army against the Lal Masjid were the real enemies of the country. He said the government could have given a save passage to Lal Masjid students, as the Indian government did with the militants in the Charar Sharif in the Indian held Kashmir to avoid a carnage.
We're just as sure as sure can be that Perv really, really means it this time. Truly. Honest. Fer sherrr.
Another Volcker report for another corrupt institution. 
The Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jareeda reported Friday that there is no communication between Hamas' leadership in Gaza and its leadership abroad. Meanwhile, both the Saudi Arabian and Egyptian governments have refused a proposed visit by 
