The radical Muslim group linked to the Mumbai attacks has welcomed Foreign Secretary David Miliband's call for India and Pakistan to resolve their dispute over Kashmir. Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which is said to have been behind the terror assault in which more than 170 people died, has backed comments he made last week during a trip to the region.
The statement will cause further discomfort for Mr Miliband after India reacted angrily to his 'interference' in the issue and senior politicians branded his trip a 'disaster'.
In an article ahead of his visit to India last week, the foreign secretary said the 'war on terror' had been mistaken and that individual groups like LeT should be targeted and brought to justice. But solving the Kashmir issue would deny LeT its 'call to arms' and free Pakistan to fight al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in its tribal areas. "Although I understand the current difficulties, resolution of the dispute over Kashmir would help deny extremists in the region one of their main calls to arms, and allow Pakistani authorities to focus more effectively on tackling the threat on their western borders," he said.
His comments drew an angry response from his Indian hosts. A spokesman for its Ministry of External Affairs said: "We do not need his unsolicited advice on internal matters of India like Jammu and Kashmir."
The row has now been inflamed further with the comments from an LeT spokesman who described the Foreign Secretary's intervention as 'positive'. He said the group would abandon violence if it could achieve 'freedom' for Kashmir through political means as suggested.
In a statement, Abdullah Gaznavi said: "If the world listens to our cries, and plays its role in resolving the Kashmir issue, there is no point continuing the fight. Our struggle is only confined to Kashmir and we have no relations or association with armed groups operating at international level. We have no global agenda. We just want freedom of Kashmir and if it comes peacefully we will welcome it. We don't see armed struggle as the only way to achieve our goal. If the world listens to our cries and play its role in resolving the Kashmir issue there would be no reason for is to fight."
A senior foreign ministry official in India dismissed Miliband, 43, as "a young man" saying "I guess this is the way he thinks diplomacy is conducted". Arun Jaitley, spokesman for the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party label the visit a "diplomatic disaster".
"In recent years, there has been no bigger disaster than the visit of David Miliband. At the end of his visit, we were having nothing but some... pro-Pakistan comments," he said.
Dr Ghaznavi repeated LeT's denial that it carried out the Mumbai attacks and said it had no links with international groups nor any operational presence in Britain. The group is believed to have strengthened ties to al-Qaeda and is now regarded as part of the global jihad rather than a simple Kashmiri separatist group.
Fed up with the violence which has transformed the city of Juarez into a free-fire zone, a group of residents calling themselves the Juárez Citizens Command, has sent out a press release vowing to kill one criminal every day, until order is restored. The CCJ claims to be a group of businessmen, frustrated over the seeming inability of the authorities to curb the spiraling violence in Juarez.
The statement from the CCJ was distributed in Spanish on the internet on Jan. 15. The following is an excerpt from that statement:
"Better the death of a bad person, than that bad person continue contaminating our region."
"Our mission is to finish each 24 hours with the life of a criminal. The hour has come to stop this disorder in Juárez."
The CCJ said they would soon release a full manifesto detailing their stated goals.
During 2008, there were more than 1,600 murders in Juarez. In addition to the murders being fueled by an ongoing war between the Juarez and Sinoloa Cartels, thousands of kidnappings occurred in and around Juarez last year. Also, bank robberies and carjackings have now become an everyday occurrence in the city. In short, chaos reigns.
Recently, Mexican President Felipe Calderon ordered an additional 2,000 troops into Juarez to battle the cartels. However, more than 35, 000 federal troops are currently deployed throughout Mexico, battling the cartels, with poor results.
A few days before Christmas, the bodies of eight Mexican soldiers were found about 50 miles from Acapulco. All of the men had been decapitated. Several Mexican newspapers reported the contents of a note beside the severed heads which read: "For every one of ours you kill, we will kill 10 of yours."
More than 5,600 people were killed in MexicoŽs drug violence last year. Many of those murdered were police officers and soldiers.
Since Jan. 1, 2009, there have been more than 40 murders in Juarez. A brief sampling of those murders follows:
Jan. 5...The lifeless body of Jose Ivan Vasquez Lopez, was discovered inside a trash can. Lopez had been beheaded.
Jan. 7...The body of Ricardo Arturo Alvarado Contreras, was found lying in a vacant lot. His hands had been hacked from his arms.
Jan. 6...Prominent attorney Mario Escobedo Salazar, was found shot to death inside his office. The bullet-riddled body of his son Edgar Escobedo Anaya, was found outside the office, police discovered 14 spent shells near the body.
Jan. 13...Guillermo Pizarro Marceleño was shot to death as he sat eating inside El Trebol restaurant.
Jan. 14...A 19-year-old student at the University of Ciudad Juárez, was shot to death with an AK-47, on the side of the road. Jaime Alejandro Irigoyen Flores, had been kidnapped from his home two days earlier.
On Jan. 16, the El Paso Times offered a very interesting opinion poll on their website. The poll asked the question "With violence raging in Juarez, is vigilantism the answer?" What follows are the results of that poll after a total of 2,547 respondents:
"Yes, nothing else has worked, and itŽs time for the people to take matters into their own hands." 59%
"IŽm not sure, but at this point, itŽs probably worth a try." 29%
"No, innocent people could get hurt." 16%
While the results may be a bit shocking to some, it speaks to the fear and frustration that people are feeling with so much violence taking place just on the other side of the border. Many Juarez residents, including a great number of police officers have come to El Paso, seeking refuge from the cartels.
Whether or not the Juárez Citizens Command will actually emerge as an actual force to confront the cartels, remains to be seen. However, the interest shown in their announcement and the positive way in which many already view them, is another sign that the government of Mexico is dangerously close to losing all control of that country.
The drug cartels which now control large portions of Mexico and operate in nearly 200 U.S. cities, represent a clear and present danger to every citizen of both countries. None of us can afford to ignore this issue any longer.
#2
"Better the death of a bad person, than that bad person continue contaminating our region."
"Our mission is to finish each 24 hours with the life of a criminal."
Works for me. Have at it, boyz.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/18/2009 11:05 Comments ||
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#3
The usual reaction from government is to go after the vigilantes far harder than they ever did against the criminals cause the criminals very existence and actions are not at threat to the legitimacy of the state. The vigilantes by their existence threaten the legitimacy of the state and those who hold power by it.
#4
Unless it's a tactic that I don't get (and talk about a low threshold...), issuing a press release identifying yourselves while declarng war on an enemy that doesn't hesitate to slaughter the "authorities" doesn't seem prudent...
... they'll be just as dead if they don't know who did the deading.
#5
My father, brother and I have traveled rural and urban Mexico for years and never had any trouble, save a few small time street hustlers wanting a dollar.
There are a few thousand criminals making mexico look dangerous to the world. If the Police don't handle it, they will eventually come around to vigilantism.
#6
the Mexican police are part and parcel of the problem. The guy who would take $20 to dismiss a "WTF?!?" traffic ticket 20 years ago gets $20K now to allow drug traffickers and illegals smugglers to operate in his area. It's more dinero than they can resist. I see a U.S. invasion within 20 years as the problem spills over and the Mexicans are unable and unwilling (stupid machismo and anti-"Yanqui imperialism" ) to handle it
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/18/2009 12:19 Comments ||
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#7
I have to agree with Frank G. The payoffs to the Police and Government in Mexico make certain the drug cartells thrive. When the Government doewsn't serve and protect the Citizens the Citizens have every right to protect themsleves. Killing the rank and file won't stop it, however.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/18/2009 14:22 Comments ||
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#8
I see a U.S. invasion within 20 years as the problem spills over and the Mexicans are unable and unwilling (stupid machismo and anti-"Yanqui imperialism" ) to handle it.
More likely I think is the decriminalization of street drugs in the US. The pressing need for tax revenues in the US in coming years will bring this about just as the Great Depression helped end Prohibition. Drain the money out, make the businesses dealing in this stuff legitimate, and you mostly eliminate the violence overnight.
Excerpt: Squad-sized units of the police and Army have been tortured, murdered, and their decapitated bodies publicly left on display. The malignancy of drug criminality now contaminates not only the 2000 miles of cross-border US communities but stretches throughout the United States in more than 295 US cities.
B. Drug criminal behavior is the central threat to the state. Mexico probably produces 8 metric tons of heroin a year and 10,000 metric tons of marijuana. 90% of all US cocaine transits Mexico. Mexico is also the dominant source of methamphetamine production for the US market. The drug cartels have criminal earnings in excess of $25 billion per year ---and physically repatriate more than $10 billion a year in bulk cash back into Mexico from the US.
C. The bottom line--- nearly 7000 people murdered in the internal drug wars since 2006--- 3,985 murdered this year alone through 25 November. The outgunned Mexican law enforcement authorities face armed criminal attacks from platoon-sized units employing night vision goggles, electronic intercept collection, encrypted communications, fairly sophisticated information operations, sea-going submersibles, helicopters and modern transport aviation, automatic weapons, RPGs, Anti-Tank 66 mm rockets, mines and booby traps, heavy machine guns, 50 cal sniper rifles, massive use of military hand grenades, and the most modern models of 40mm grenade machine guns.
6. CRIME AND CORRUPTION:
A. The crime rate is staggering. The US State Department notes that crime in Mexico continues at high levels particularly in Mexico City. Criminal assaults occur on highways throughout Mexico. Armed street crime is a serious problem in all the major cities. Robbery and assault on passengers in taxis are frequent and violent. Mexican authorities have failed to prosecute numerous crimes committed against US citizens, including murder and kidnapping. 44% of all murders through November of this year were of unidentified victims--- primarily because of fear of becoming involved by family and acquaintances of the deceased.
D. Mexican law enforcement authorities and soldiers face heavily armed drug gangs with high-powered military automatic weapons. Perhaps 90% of these weapons are smuggled across the US border. They are frequently purchased from licensed US gun dealers in Texas, Arizona, and California. AK-47 assault rifles are literally bought a hundred at a time and illegally brought into Mexico. Mexican authorities routinely seize BOXES of unopened automatic military weapons. The confiscation rates by Mexican law enforcement of hand grenades, RPGs, and AK-47s are at the level of wartime battlefield seizures. It is hard to understand the seeming indifference and incompetence of US authorities at state and Federal level to such callous disregard for a national security threat to a neighboring democratic state. We would consider it an act of warfare from a sanctuary state if we were the victim.
The bottom line---the US is ineffective and unresponsive to Mexican concerns about weapons, bulk cash, and precursor chemicals flowing south into Mexico from the United States--- with a blow-torch effect on the security of the Mexican people.
9. SUMMARY:
A. Much is at stake for future US economic and national security policy from 2009 through 2017. A stable, economically healthy, and law-based Mexican neighbor is fundamental to US expectations of prosperity and peace within North America. The drug menace and drug addiction is central to much of the US criminal and social malignancy that has put more than 2 million Americans behind bars, clogged our courts, and placed enormous burdens on our health system.
B. Now is the time during the opening months of a new US Administration to jointly commit to a fully resourced major partnership as political equals of the Mexican government. We must jointly and respectfully cooperate to address the broad challenges our two nations face. Specifically, we must support the Government of Mexicos efforts to confront the ultra violent drug cartels. We must do so in ways that are acceptable to the Mexican polity and that take into account Mexican sensitivities to sovereignty. The United States Government cannot impose a solution. The political will is present in Mexico to make the tough decisions that are required to confront a severe menace to the rule of law and the authority of the Mexican state. Where our assistance can be helpful, we must provide it. The challenge is so complex that it will require sustained commitment and attention at the highest levels of our two governments. We cannot afford to fail.
#10
"Perhaps 90% of these weapons are smuggled across the US border. They are frequently purchased from licensed US gun dealers in Texas, Arizona, and California. AK-47 assault rifles are literally bought a hundred at a time and illegally brought into Mexico. Mexican authorities routinely seize BOXES of unopened automatic military weapons. The confiscation rates by Mexican law enforcement of hand grenades, RPG's, and AK-47's are at the level of wartime battlefield seizures."
This statement seems to be something that should be verified. The type of arms listed are NOT commonly available in the US, especially in the quantities stated. I would look to Venezuela and fellow travelers. The bulk orders would show up instantly in the system and all it would take is one serial number to point to the sources.
#11
I doubt 'legalizing' it will help that much. The cartels will behave just like DeBeers and diamonds*. They're not going to share the business. In fact they'll literally kill to keep the action. They've cornered the market, set the price and conditions of sale, and have enough influence [$$$] to keep it that way.
*or for that matter the corruption of liquor distributor licenses which are limited and the object of political influence and corruption in this country [just raise it to an even greater factor].
#12
I agree, Tipover. Those weapons are not comming from the US.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/18/2009 16:36 Comments ||
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#13
P2K, you're assuming no domestic production or distribution. This will be one product in which we're self-sufficient. Drive the bad guys out with low prices.
Legalization, regulation and taxation are the way to go to eliminate 90% of the problem. Are there still moonshine stills? Sure, but they are not significant as a % of the total. Likewise, the drug cartels can fight it out in their home countries for the home market, but they'll have a tough time competing here if we do it right.
#15
P2K, you're assuming no domestic production or distribution.
Oh, I do, controlled by the same people or their fronts who run the business now. Note the DeBeers comment. You assume our own pols won't be bought and sold [as they are on so many other issues]. Throw in the loads of FDA regulation and approval processes that do along with it and we'll just throw gasoline on the smoldering corruption here. They'll throttle demand with political complacency, just look how they handle the oil demand. They will still make money and the users will still have to find ways to fund their habits, most of which will not involve a reliable 9 to 5 job.
#17
There will be no "drug cartel" controlling prices if drugs are legalized. Marajawana is a weed that any high-schooler can cultivate. Poppies grow quite well in California. Cocaine is easily sythesized in a lab.
All this stuff (if legal) would be dirt cheap (except for taxes... now making the taxes high WOULD lead to illegal production by criminals (just like cigarette smugglers.))
Drug cartel - bah. Just like the liquor and wine cartel I guess.
#18
There will be no "drug cartel" controlling prices if drugs are legalized. Marajawana is a weed that any high-schooler can cultivate. Poppies grow quite well in California. Cocaine is easily sythesized in a lab.
All with FDA approval right. Who's dreaming on about a non-interfering government bureaucracy, particularly when its already been demonstrated what the market will pay. Anything above 'personal' use one is caught with will still be hammered not by the usual DEA but the IRS and revenuers who have been known to get their pound of flesh. You buy the legal product at limited availability at government/cartel price or you still go to jail. This is not going to go away.
Jan. 18 (Bloomberg) — North Korea has assembled enough ``weaponized'' plutonium to construct between four and six nuclear bombs, the New York Times reported, citing American scholar Selig Harrison. Harrison, after a meeting with North Korean officials in the capital Pyongyang, said the definition of ``weaponized'' was unclear although it implied construction of nuclear arms, the newspaper said, citing comments made by Harrison at a news conference.
Harrison is the director of the Asia program at the Center for International Policy and has traveled to North Korea several times to meet senior officials, the report said.
North Korea's foreign ministry yesterday said it would retain its nuclear capability as long as it's threatened by the U.S.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/18/2009 00:00 ||
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the definition of ``weaponized'' was unclear
It is? damn... Whar's that cynikal Joooooooo physisict? Maybe he can enlighter us.
North Korea's army said on Saturday it would assume an "all-out confrontational posture" against the South and wipe out the conservative government in Seoul for refusing to cooperate with them.
Ties across the heavily-armed border between the two Koreas have turned icy since President Lee Myung-bak came to office last year on a promise to get tough on his communist neighbour after 10 years of liberal leaders' efforts to engage Pyongyang.
"Now that traitor Lee Myung Bak and his group opted for confrontation, denying national reconciliation and cooperation, backed by foreign forces, our revolutionary armed forces are compelled to take an all-out confrontational posture to shatter them," the North's army spokesman said.
The spokesman said Lee and his "puppet military warhawks" have driven "our revolutionary armed forces to take a strong military retaliatory step to wipe them out", in comments carried by the official KCNA news agency.
South Korea's defence ministry did not immediately have comment. The army spokesman, appearing in full uniform on North Korea's state television, said provocations by the South's military including naval intrusions have cross the "danger line" and it could "no longer remain an onlooker to them".
Posted by: Fred ||
01/18/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
"South Korea's defence ministry did not immediately have comment."
Bring it on
Might be an appropriate comment. Maybe it is time to call their bluff.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
01/18/2009 1:27 Comments ||
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#3
When I was stationed at Yongsan AIG in the early 90's, I had a part-time job at Korea Broadcasting, doing editing of their English-language evening news simulcast, and I got to know the Korean broadcasters and translators that I worked with fairly well. We used to talk about the chances of the Norks invading the South - mostly because - well, it was something that the Southerners had been living with for decades. But even in the 90's it was pretty well clear that the Norks were isolated, militarily pretty backwards, and riddled by famines. We wondered if Nork discipline would hold in any but elite units much past the first big grocery store or electronics outlet ... if the sight of all they had been deprived of, and not told anything about would collapse their entire world-view, once they realized they had been lied to for decades about conditions in the South.
#4
In the last German offensive in WWI, the German advance suffred a crucial delay due to troopers stopping to eat the goodies they found in British positions. When ally resistance began to stiffen they realized that far from being reduce to falmine by the U-Boots the Allies were better spuplied than ever, while they themselves (and still more in the home front) had seen their rations gradually cut, with every year being worse than the preceeding one. That is when morale began to crumble.
If it's cinnamon bark, it's rolled, dried, and added to other dishes for flavouring, either whole or ground. If cork oak, it's flattened and cut into pieces for pin board or flooring. If sassafras or spice bush, dried for steeping in hot water for tea. I believe slippery elm is used for a thickener in stews. ;-)
#6
Not sure about Spice Bush but young Sassafras roots can be cut into 3-4 inch pieces and placed in a cheesecloth ball teabag for boiling. Makes an excellent hot drink. Sassafras tea enjoys a considerable reputation as a stimulant, and as treatment for rheumatism, skin disease, syphilis, typhus, dropsy (fluid accumulation), and so on." Studies are inconclusive regarding it's effectiveness against acute Obaminitis.
North Korea said on Saturday it may keep its nuclear weapons even after normalising relations with the United States, staking out a tough position three days before President-elect Barack Obama takes office.
"Even if the DPRK (North Korea)-US diplomatic relations become normalised, our status as a nuclear-armed state will never change as long as the US nuclear threat to us remains, even to the slightest degree," a foreign ministry spokesman said.
The spokesman, quoted by the official Korean Central News Agency, said it was a "miscalculation" for the US to consider normalised ties a reward for the communist state abandoning nuclear weapons.
"What we earnestly desire is not the normalisation of DPRK-US ties but the strengthening of nuclear deterrence in every possible way," the spokesman added. "We have made nuclear weapons (not) in order... to seek the normalisation of ties with the US or economic assistance but to protect us from US nuclear threats.
"We can live without the normalisation of ties with the US but we cannot survive without the nuclear deterrence."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/18/2009 00:00 ||
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What a joke. Bildo tried to bribe, George threatened, Obama will probably try a bribe also.
Dear Leader has nothing to fear or lose.
Europe wants to be Barack Obama's best friend, but it is split on whether to help the U.S. President-elect on what could be one of his first and most symbolic decisions -- closing the Guantanamo prison.
Obama is expected to decide in his first days in office to shut down the prison for terrorism suspects at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, widely portrayed seen as a symbol of human rights abuses carried out in the name of the "war on terrorism". European governments, who have for years called for the camp to be closed and want to mend damaged ties with the United States, will be under pressure to help Obama find a home for some of its around 245 remaining detainees.
As Tuesday's inauguration approaches, some are warming to the idea of taking in inmates. But others insist that this is Washington's responsibility only, splitting the EU just when it wants to appear as a strong and united partner for Obama.
"America created Guantanamo. It has to come up with the solution," German broadcaster Deutsche Welle quoted Austrian Interior Minister Maria Fekter as saying this week. "It is not up to the Netherlands to take in former detainees," a Dutch foreign ministry spokesman said, adding this was the responsibility of the country which has detained them.
Under the Bush administration, Washington tried in vain to persuade its allies, and in particular in the 27-nation EU, to take in inmates who cannot go back to their home country and who the United States does not want to accept either. They currently number 55-60, including Chinese Muslim Uighurs who Washington says cannot return to China because they would face persecution, together with Libyans, Uzbeks and Algerians also seen at risk.
The Guantanamo prison, known for making terrorists fat aggressive interrogation methods, is hypocritically widely seen in the EU as a stain on America's human rights record. "But there is a tendency now to say we want to start from scratch," said Daniel Rackowski, senior fellow for EU affairs at the Brussels-based Transatlantic Institute. "There might be some EU internal competition about who gets the sympathy of the U.S. president, and there is hardly any better way at a lower cost," he added.
If European countries would now agree to take in detainees, "it would actually be a good example of a new approach in U.S.-EU relationship," a senior U.S. official in Brussels said. Some EU countries consider now is the moment for the bloc to drop its refusal to take in detainees who are not EU nationals or residents, as the president who initiated the "war on terror" leaves office and with his successor expected to say he will close the camp.
Portugal was the first to come out publicly in favour of the move in December, saying the EU should help Washington. Albania is the only country so far to have accepted some inmates with no links with the country, Human Rights Watch says. Britain said earlier this month that the United States would need help to shut the prison camp. It considers more EU countries should take in former residents, but refuses to say if it would agree to take in inmates with no link with Britain. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner wants Paris to take in inmates, a spokesman said on Friday.
But splits are also appearing within a same country. Social Democrat Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has spoken in favour of the move, but German media reported that Conservative Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble is opposed to it. Others say they want to wait for Obama to spell out what he wants from his partners, or that they will study requests on a case-by-case basis. Diplomats stress the issue raises many complex legal questions.
Rights groups say it is critical for the EU to accept those inmates the United States does not want to take in and who cannot go to their home country, so that the camp shuts down.
"The U.S. administration created the problem and it is primarily the U.S. responsibility to close it," said Jennifer Daskal, senior counter-terrorism counsel for Human Rights Watch. "But unfortunately Guantanamo has become a problem for everyone as it has become part of the terrorists' recruiters narrative with our help," she told Reuters of the scope for the camp's distorted potent image to be exploited to win new recruits to terrorism.
European states have a moral responsibility to help close Guantanamo because some cooperated with the United States in its fight against terrorism, EU lawmaker Sophie In't Veld said, referring to accusations that some allowed secret rendition flights carrying terrorism suspects to land on their soil.
The EU will discuss the issue officially for the first time at a meeting of its foreign ministers on Jan. 26, but diplomats said there was not much to expect from that meeting. "It will be a stock taking exercise," an EU Presidency source said. "There is no common ground."
#1
Does someone really believe that Obama is going to "decide in his first days in office to shut down the prison for terrorism suspects at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba" ???
There are so many opportunities for in line enhancement in this article
He believes a personal initiative will dramatise his wish to reassure Muslims, and intends to give a speech in an Islamic capital during his first 100 days in office as a sign of his engagement.
He has not said where. Egypt and Pakistan are obvious possibilities, but there has been speculation that he could choose Indonesia, the worlds most populous Muslim nation, where he spent part of his childhood.
I suspect no one will be more disappointed in the Obama presidency than The One himself. He should remember what happened to the original Messiah when the powers that be figured out what he really meant.
#3
Given that he is a former Muslim that became a Christian, he qualifies as an apostate (i.e. worse than a "mere infidel"). If he is smart, he will forget about going near any Muslim capital until Al Qaeda has been eliminated.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
01/18/2009 13:32 Comments ||
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#4
"If he is smart, he will forget about going near any Muslim capital until Al Qaeda has been eliminated."
#5
I remember when the founder of"American Muslims Louie Farakan (Sp) went to Africa, and the muslim leaders refused to see him because "He wasn't BLACK enough"
I hope to see the same metaphorical slap in the face given the Big Zero.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/18/2009 14:38 Comments ||
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#6
intends to give a speech in an Islamic capital during his first 100 days in office
On the anniversary of that terrible afternoon of December 27 in Pakistan, when one minute Benazir Bhutto, 54, was waving to crowds after an election rally and the next she was lying slumped on the floor of her vehicle, her widower and children went to give blood, as they vow to do every year. At the family home in Dubai, where she lived in exile, Benazirs bedroom is locked. On the bedside table sits the manuscript of a book she finished writing a day before she was killed. I sleep in the next room, because the children and I dont want to lose her scent, says her widower, Asif Ali Zardari.
On that fateful day in 2007, he and the children were in Dubai when they got a phone call saying Benazir was hurt. Zardari bitterly regrets that his wife refused to let him do the campaigning after she narrowly avoided a bombing in October. I told her to bunker down after that and Id take over. But she didnt want anything to happen to me.
That Zardari, 53, is now Pakistans president is a remarkable turnaround, even by the standards of South Asias dynastic politics. For years he was the countrys most despised man, known as Mr 10% for his alleged corrupt activities while his wife was prime minister; he spent 11 years in jail, though he was never convicted. Later, his refusal to allow a postmortem, and the sidelining of some of those closest to Bhutto, even led to wild speculation that he was involved in her death.
Many of Benazirs colleagues were shocked by her will, which named their 20-year-old son, Bilawal, her political heir, with Zardari as joint leader of her Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) until Bilawal is ready to take over. Since its reading, Zardari, who keeps the handwritten will framed on the wall, has proved to be a remarkably skilled politician. I had a great teacher, he smiles ruefully. Why would she leave it to me if she didnt think I was fit enough?
It is an unenviable legacy. When Benazir was killed she was still building a mausoleum for her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who founded the PPP and was executed. Now her body lies there, alongside her brothers, both of whom were murdered. I know Im in danger. I can feel it, says Zardari. One father, two brothers, thousands killed and imprisoned; thats what PPPs about. Whoever killed her wants to kill me.
And yet Zardaris government has launched no inquiry, insisting that only the UN has the capacity to investigate. The problem is larger than anyone thinks, he says. Citing Bhuttos own words Democracy is the best revenge he adds: I dont want nine people strung up to avenge her death. Its the whole system. Only when were Singapore and prospering will she be avenged.
That moment seems far off. Pakistan is almost bankrupt. The country is so plagued by terrorism that it vies with Iraq for the largest number of suicide bombings. With so many problems, Zardari admits he finds it hard to be a single father to teenagers he barely knows. I have to get to know my children again, he says. I find their pain over their mother the hardest thing.
Their eldest son, Bilawal, is now in his second year at Oxford, where he lives amid tight security. Bakhtawar, the eldest daughter, started at Edinburgh University in September. Both were toddlers when Zardari first went to jail. He was in prison when their daughter, Asifa, now 15, was born. She remains in school in Dubai. Bakhtawar, a talented rap singer, wrote a song about her mother, but Zardari cant bear to listen to it. Nor has he read Bhuttos book. Im too weak. We mourn her as long as Im alive, he says.
Zardari has little time for his own grief. I need hibernation for at least three years, and dont have the luxury to do that. But Benazir is all around. I dream about her and wake expecting her to come in. But I dont think shed be unhappy. I think shes looking at us now, saying, Tell me, Asif, now do you think its easy?
Tehreek-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud has threatened to teach Israel a 'historic lesson' if the Jewish state did not stop its attacks on Gaza. Meshud told BBC Urdu Service that he could target Israelis anywhere in the world with his suicide bombers. Talking about US drones attacks in Pakistan's Tribal Areas, he said the TTP had dismantled the spy network to a large extent, adding that the intelligence agencies of Pakistan, Afghanistan and US were involved in it. He also said Afghan President Hamid Karzai had an arrogant tone but "can no longer avoid the revenge of the Taliban".
Posted by: Fred ||
01/18/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Mighty big talk from a thousand miles away. Let's see how you talk in Gaza. When are you going? Never? But I thought...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/18/2009 23:03 Comments ||
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Leads found in Pakistani investigation into the Mumbai terrorist attacks indicate involvement of foreigners, Interior Adviser Rehman Malik said on Saturday.
"So far the leads shared with me by the investigators go out of the country," he said at a press conference at the Ministry of Interior. Malik said a committee was also analysing the information India had shared with Pakistan to transform it into verifiable evidence for legal action. "We are not registering a criminal case right now. Let the preliminary report come and if prima facie something substantial comes, we would convert it into a criminal case," the adviser said.
The preliminary report would be presented within 10 days, Malik said. But he denied the deadline had been set under foreign pressure, adding that the probe would be 'legal and tangible'. He denied British Foreign Secretary David Miliband had asked Pakistan to increase the pace of the investigation. "We will follow the international procedures and Pakistani laws to investigate the Mumbai attacks in the light of information provided by India, but no dictations will be taken from any side," he said.
The suspects detained under the Maintenance of Public Order law would be released if found innocent, the adviser added. Malik called for interaction between Indian and Pakistani investigators and asked the 'Indian friends' to show patience. "It took 42 days for India to provide information to Pakistan, and it will take some time [for Pakistan] to investigate the matter. They should give more time to us," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/18/2009 00:00 ||
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Israel Beiteinu chair Avigdor Lieberman opposed a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip on Saturday night, saying, "Past attempts have proved that a cease-fire turns into a fire-trap." Lieberman said that "the nation will give support; residents of the South are standing with them; only the government is keeping the IDF from finishing the job."
He added, "Israel needs to take over the Philadelphi Corridor and Rafah, and to topple Hamas."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/18/2009 00:00 ||
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In a statement released Saturday night, the Likud party came out strongly against ending Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip. "The Likud tonight calls on the government not to stop, and to continue with the operation until the goals are met, including effective closure of weapons smuggling in Gaza," the statement read. "The Likud backs continuing the operation," the statement concluded.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/18/2009 00:00 ||
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[5 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Likud will win a crushing victory next February.
Hamas over the weekend accused Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of being responsible for the assassination of its interior minister, Said Siam. Siam, who was in charge of Hamas's security forces and militias in the Gaza Strip, was the most senior leader of the movement to be killed during Operation Cast Lead. He was killed Thursday during an air-strike on his brother's residence in Gaza City. The brother, Iyad, was also killed in the attack, as was Siam's son.
Salah Bardaweel, a Hamas legislator and spokesman, accused Abbas of playing a "major role" in the assassination of Siam and the military offensive against Hamas.
Siam was considered one of Fatah's fiercest enemies in the Gaza Strip. His Fatah rivals held him responsible for the death of dozens of Fatah members when Hamas seized full control over the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007.
Upon hearing of Siam's death, several Fatah representatives in the West Bank expressed deep satisfaction, while others openly rejoiced. Fatah-controlled news Web sites published comments from Fatah supporters who went as far as thanking Defense Minister Ehud Barak for ordering the assassination of the top Hamas official.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/18/2009 00:00 ||
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#5
He is correct, only spies could have done this. Spies from Fatah or perhaps Lattah, but spies, lotsa spies, spying on Hamas, many spys. SMERSH!
Poor SOB, got blowed away by a joooooooBOMB caused by spies! SMERSH! from Fatah!
Fatah = SMERSH!
SMERSH = COSTCO!
COSTCO = DEAD CIRCUS CITY
I leave the rest as an exercise for RBee students of the sublimely stupid.
Britain, France and Germany have offered to send warships to the Middle East to monitor and prevent arms smuggling in Gaza, Prime Minister Gordon Brown's spokesman said on Saturday.
"This offer is now on the table," the spokesman said. "One of the key areas and blockages about a ceasefire, outside of the rocket attacks, has been concerns about arms smuggling."
In a statement, the German government said Britain, France and Germany had sent a joint letter to the Israeli and Egyptian governments to try to help reach a sustainable ceasefire in Gaza.
"We have said we are ready to take a series of measures which will contribute to the end of the smuggling of weapons to Gaza," the letter said. "We have agreed among ourselves on this in the last few days and will continue to work closely with the Israeli and Egyptian governments to firm up these measures. "We express hope that a sustainable ceasefire in Gaza could give new impetus for a lasting peace in the Middle East."
And it will work as well as the UNIFIL troops in southern Lebanon have kept Hezbollah from arms smuggling ...
Posted by: Fred ||
01/18/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Translation of this eurobabble :
"We express hope that a sustainable ceasefire in Gaza could give new impetus for Hamas' killings of Jews".
#2
before you accept, let them prove themselves with that Iranian freighter.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/18/2009 11:01 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Britain, France and Germany: the new Arab League.
Posted by: regular joe ||
01/18/2009 11:02 Comments ||
Top||
#4
EU Ship to Iranian cargo vessel with crates of missiles on the deck: "Wait. What are those crates on your deck?"
Iranian cargo vessel: "Um, humanitarian supplies"
EU Ship: "well, ok then, proceed"
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/18/2009 11:50 Comments ||
Top||
#5
« 12:19 PM Ashdod Port: Customs seized shipment of humanitarian aid to Gaza, found to be full of weapons, and warfare related electronics. »
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared Operation Cast Lead a victory Saturday night and threw the ball into Hamas's court, declaring a unilateral cease-fire that suspends the three-week operation, whose future depends on whether Hamas continues to fire on Israel.
Olmert's announcement followed a three-hour emergency meeting of the 12-member security cabinet Saturday night that approved the cease-fire by a vote of 7-2, with one abstention.
Finance Minister Ronnie Bar-On and Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Eli Yishai voted against, while Pensioners Affairs Minister Rafi Eitan abstained.
According to what was decided Saturday night, Israel will stop its offensive, but will keep the IDF forces in place, see how Hamas responds and whether an effective mechanism will be set up on the border to stop smuggling.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/18/2009 00:00 ||
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Turkey's prime minister on Friday said Israel should be barred from the United Nations while it ignores the body's calls to stop fighting in Gaza. "How is such a country, which does not implement resolutions of the UN Security Council, allowed to enter through the gates of the UN (headquarters)?" Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
Erdogan spoke before UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was set to arrive in Ankara to discuss the conflict. Erdogan accused Israel of attacking civilians under the pretext of targeting Hamas.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/18/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Turkey's prime minister on Friday said Israel should be barred from the United Nations while it ignores the body's calls to stop fighting in Gaza.
Err Erdi, they have stopped fighting. It's your co-religionist, the followers of the pagan god Allah who are still fighting. Looks like it's back to being the sick man of Europe for you Erdi and Turkey. Your big problem is that you won't have the UK or Germany to prop you up the next time the s*it hits the fan.
Maybe you can call on Hamas? Won't that be a hoot?
#7
Why hasn't the Turkish military settled this clown's hash yet? Or have they caught the Islamist virus like their Pakistani counterparts did back in the '70's?
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
01/18/2009 23:48 Comments ||
Top||
Hamas reiterated its determination to continue its attacks against Israel despite the possibility of an Israeli cabinet decision on Saturday night to accept a unilateral cease-fire after three weeks of fighting in the Gaza Strip.
In two separate locations Saturday, Hamas spokesmen said that the group would keep up the fight against the Jewish state. In Cairo, Beirut-based Osama Hamdan declared that the group's delegation arriving in Egypt had "nothing new to offer."
"We are not going to go back to the first point in the discussions and dialogue. Either we hear what we want or the result will be continuing the confrontation on the ground," he said. He added that for Israel to call a unilateral ceasefire with negotiations underway in Cairo undermines the mediators, a reference to Egypt, which has been promoting its own initiative to end the fighting and resolve the long-running crisis.
A Hamas delegation was set to arrive in Cairo Saturday amid the frenzied international diplomacy to end 22 days of fighting. Hamdan said Hamas has a clear vision that includes ending the "aggression," a withdrawal of Israeli forces, an end to the siege and opening of the crossings. "If any vision does not achieve these things, then we will continue in the battle on the ground," he said.
Meanwhile, in Turkey, Sami Abu Zuhri, another spokesman, insisted that Hamas would "continue fighting despite our limited means." He also said that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, whose term officially ended last week, is not authorized to represent Hamas in any peace talks. Zuhri was speaking at a news conference Saturday in Istanbul.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/18/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
See Monty Python's Black knight for further info...
Israel's security cabinet is expected to meet Saturday night to declare a cease-fire in Gaza and will keep its forces there in the short term while the next stage of an agreement with Egypt is worked out. "It looks as if all the pieces of the puzzle are coming together," Mark Regev, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said Friday. "There will be discussions tomorrow morning, and it looks like a cabinet meeting will take place tomorrow night. Everyone is very upbeat."
The most promising element for bringing the three-week conflict to a close occurred in Washington on Friday, where Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of Israel signed an understanding on a range of steps the United States would take to stem the flow of new arms to Hamas from the Egyptian Sinai, mostly via tunnels.
The agreement came on the last business day of the Bush administration and set the stage for the Obama administration to play a more active role in resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict. President-elect Barack Obama and Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton signed off on the plan, the State Department said.
Whether Hamas will comply with the terms of parallel talks with Egypt was unclear. At a meeting organized by Qatar, a top exiled Hamas leader rejected Israeli terms for a cease-fire and called for increased resistance.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/18/2009 00:00 ||
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strong>Egyptian Cleric Safwat Higazi Responds to MEMRI: "Yes, I Am An Antisemite"; If Not for the Arab Rulers, "We Would Devour [The Juices] With Our Teeth"; "We Are Your Enemies Until The Day Jesus Descends, Fighting You And Calling To Join Islam"
Recently, MEMRI TV released a clip of a speech by Sheikh Safwat Higazi that aired on Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV on December 31,2008,in which he said: "Being killed... is what we desire and hope for. It is Martyrdom, by Allan... I wish I could stand among the youth of the Al-Qassam Brigades, passing them one of their missiles, wiping from their faces the dust of a missile that was launched, or crying 'Allan Akbar' along with them... Dispatch those sons of apes and pigs to the Hellfire, on the wings of the Qassam rockets... Jihad is our path... The [Juicess]... deserve to be killed. They deserve to die. Destroy... everything over there" (to view this clip).
According to the Lebanese Daily Star, Safwat Higazi is founder and secretary-general of Dar Al-Ansar for Islamic Affairs, [1] and in January 2008 headed a 21-vehicle relief convoy bound for Gaza with medical and food supplies and blankets but was stopped by Egyptian police. [2] On December 24, 2008, he issued a fatwa that anyone who denies the Sunna is an infidel and crazy, and must be obviously killed. [3]
On January 4, 2009, Sheikh Higazi responded to MEMRI's releases, on Al-Nas TV (to view this clip).
"MEMRI... Has Accused Several Prominent Muslim Clerics And Sheikhs... Of Incitement... Yes, I Am An Antisemite"
Safwat Higazi: "An Israeli-American organization monitoring Arab media, called MEMRI - or rather, this is its acronym - has accused several prominent Muslim clerics and sheikhs from Arab TV channels, including Dr. Sallah Sultan and Sheikh Safwat Higazi, of incitement to the killing of the Juicess and to hatred of the U.S.
[...]
"This is a great honor for us. Yes, I am an antisemite. Yes, I hate Zionism. Yes, Judgment Day will not come until we fight the Juices. These are the words of our Prophet, like it or not."[...]
"Yes, We Hate Them... If Our Rulers Let Us, We Would Catch You in the Street... [And] Devour You With Our Teeth"
"Yes, we are enemies of these people. We are enemies of all those who plunder our land and our rights, and we are enemies of the American government, and of whoever helps our enemies in the killing of our brothers. We are enemies of whoever helps our enemies - America and all the others.
"Yes, we hate them. Yes, we are hostile to them. By Allan, only our rulers prevent us from getting to you. By Allan, if they let us, we would devour you completely, and we would bite you with our teeth. We would not wait for weapons, for RPGs, or for bullets. If our rulers let us, we would catch you in the street, and we would devour you with our teeth.
"Yes, we are your enemies, and we will continue to be your enemies, until the day Jesus son of Mary descends, fighting you and calling to join Islam, the religion of the Prophet Muhammad." Btw, for those who aren't aware of this funny point, "Jesus" (who was not crucified nor resurrected, but rather went to perform the haj), or rather, isa ibn maryam, plays a big part in islamic eschatology, as he returns to submit to the Mahdi and be basically his "(false) prophet" to establish the total rule of islam over the whole world... and, his first act as a prophet is to "destroy all the crosses" (destroy Christinaity) and "kill all the swines" (kill all the juices). Bear that in mind next time an apologist sez islam "recognizes" Jesus.
Recently, MEMRI TV released a clip of a speech by Sheikh Safwat Higazi that aired on Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV on December 31,2008,in which he said: "Being killed... is what we desire and hope for. It is Martyrdom, by Allan... I wish I could stand among the youth of the Al-Qassam Brigades, passing them one of their missiles, wiping from their faces the dust of a missile that was launched, or crying 'Allan Akbar' along with them... Dispatch those sons of apes and pigs to the Hellfire, on the wings of the Qassam rockets... Jihad is our path... The [Juicess]... deserve to be killed. They deserve to die. Destroy... everything over there"
See? There IS some common ground from which we both can work: he wants to die for Allah, and we are more than happy to oblige.
A high-level Iranian cleric has called for the shooting of the Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in a speech before worshippers, it was reported Saturday.
Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said during Friday prayers that he wanted someone to shoot Livni. "Every time the picture of this woman is shown, I really wish that somebody would expend a bullet on her," he said according to a recording of the sermon obtained by the Associated Press. A copy of the speech was also translated and published by the Middle East Media Research Institute, a Middle Eastern press monitoring service.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/18/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
just another islamic women hater who believe women should stay at home and breed only!!!!!
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.
Jan. 18 (Bloomberg) — North Korea has assembled enough ``weaponized'' plutonium to construct between four and six nuclear bombs, the New York Times reported, citing American scholar Selig Harrison. Harrison, after a meeting with North Korean officials in the capital Pyongyang, said the definition of ``weaponized'' was unclear although it implied construction of nuclear arms, the newspaper said, citing comments made by Harrison at a news conference.
North Korea's army said on Saturday it would assume an "all-out confrontational posture" against the South and wipe out the conservative government in Seoul for refusing to cooperate with them.
Europe wants to be Barack Obama's best friend, but it is split on whether to help the U.S. President-elect on what could be one of his first and most symbolic decisions -- closing the Guantanamo prison.
On the anniversary of that terrible afternoon of December 27 in Pakistan, when one minute Benazir Bhutto, 54, was waving to crowds after an election rally and the next she was lying slumped on the floor of her vehicle, her widower and children went to give blood, as they vow to do every year. At the family home in Dubai, where she lived in exile, Benazirs bedroom is locked. On the bedside table sits the manuscript of a book she finished writing a day before she was killed. I sleep in the next room, because the children and I dont want to lose her scent, says her widower, Asif Ali Zardari. 
Tehreek-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud has threatened to teach Israel a 'historic lesson' if the Jewish state did not stop its attacks on Gaza. Meshud told BBC Urdu Service that he could target Israelis anywhere in the world with his suicide bombers. Talking about US drones attacks in Pakistan's Tribal Areas, he said the TTP had dismantled the spy network to a large extent, adding that the intelligence agencies of Pakistan, Afghanistan and US were involved in it. He also said Afghan President Hamid Karzai had an arrogant tone but "can no longer avoid the revenge of the Taliban".
Hamas over the weekend accused Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of being responsible for the assassination of its interior minister, Said Siam. Siam, who was in charge of Hamas's security forces and militias in the Gaza Strip, was the most senior leader of the movement to be killed during Operation Cast Lead. He was killed Thursday during an air-strike on his brother's residence in Gaza City. The brother, Iyad, was also killed in the attack, as was Siam's son. 
Turkey's prime minister on Friday said Israel should be barred from the United Nations while it ignores the body's calls to stop fighting in Gaza. "How is such a country, which does not implement resolutions of the UN Security Council, allowed to enter through the gates of the UN (headquarters)?" Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. 
Hamas reiterated its determination to continue its attacks against Israel despite the possibility of an Israeli cabinet decision on Saturday night to accept a unilateral cease-fire after three weeks of fighting in the Gaza Strip. 
strong>Egyptian Cleric Safwat Higazi Responds to MEMRI: "Yes, I Am An Antisemite"; If Not for the Arab Rulers, "We Would Devour [The Juices] With Our Teeth"; "We Are Your Enemies
Until The Day Jesus
Descends, Fighting You And Calling To Join Islam"
A high-level Iranian cleric has called for the shooting of the Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in a speech before worshippers, it was reported Saturday. 
