Delaram, Jan 22: India has handed over to Afghan authorities a crucial highway built by it in the face of stiff resistance from Taliban, vowing that the collaboration between the two countries in the field of development will not stop.
The 215-km long Delaram-Zaranj highway, a symbol of India's developmental work in the war-ravaged country, was handed over to Afghan authorities by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the presence of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta.
"Completion of the road reflects the determination of both India and Afghanistan that nothing can prevent or hinder collaboration between the two countries," Mukherjee said at a function to mark this handover.
On the occasion, Karzai said the completion of the Rs 600 crore project is a message to those who want to stop co-operation between India and Afghanistan. "Our co-operation will not stop," the Afghan President said.
The Taliban was opposed to this project and launched frequent attacks on the construction workers in an attempt to force the winding up of the work. A total of six Indians, including a Border Roads Organisation driver and four ITBP (Indo-Tibetan Border Police) soldiers, and 129 Afghans were killed in these attacks.
"Our project personnel did face many challenges in the implementation of the project... in effect one human sacrifice was made for every kilometre and a half constructed," Mukherjee said, describing the completion of the project as "a glowing example" of the India-Afghanistan co-operation.
It will further regional co-operation by encouraging new trade and transit through Iranian ports and a supplementary access of Afghanistan to the sea, he said.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/22/2009 16:49 ||
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(AKI) - Despite a surge in militant attacks in Afghanistan, the Taliban has appealed to US President Barack Obama to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in war-torn Afghanistan."We ask the new American president Barack Obama to choose a new route, different than war, to find a solution to the crisis in Afghanistan," said Afghan Taliban spokesman Dabihullah Mujahid during a telephone interview with Arab TV network Al-Jazeera.
"The new American administration must work to improve their image in the eyes of the world, which no longer respects it due to the policies of former president George W. Bush.
"An eventual increase in foreign troops in our country would mean the increase of political tensions, because the only way to arrive at a solution of the crisis is to end the foreign occupation," said Mujahid.
The war in Afghanistan is certain be one of Obama's toughest challenges as president.
Obama could meet with top commanders as early as Wednesday to reassess the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He has pledged a new focus in Afghanistan, telling Afghan president Hamid Karzai he wants to bring security to the region.
Obama is expected to send up to 30,000 more US troops to Afghanistan this year to help in the fight against a resurgent Taliban which was ousted from power in December 2001.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Would you be in this situation if you had turned over OBL when first asked? You'd still be in charge in Afghanistan. Time for you to abandon OBL.
#3
Obama has given them the impression that he's gonna "change" things so now all these third world thugs think they can tell the President of the United States what to do. They would have known better if McCain or any Republican had been elected. But now they think they can. The Castro brothers think Obama is a "good man". QDaffy tells him to make peace with bin Laden. Only Hugo has been disappointed so far. But all of them will either be bitterly disappointed or else our security will be compromised because Obama is starting out with a very bad set of expectations. His first mistake was in not making it clear during the campaign that people like the Castros, QDaffy, Achmadinejad, bin Laden and Hugo can all just FOAD.
Sudanese Islamists on Wednesday denied murdering a U.S. diplomat and his driver in Khartoum on New Year's Day 2008, but told a court they thought killing "American unbelievers" was honorable and a "good thing."
Reports say that two to three Sudanese men denied shooting American John Granville, a 33-year-old officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development, and his driver, Abdelrahman Abbas Rahama, 39.
Granville and Rahama were on their way home from New Year's Eve celebrations in Khartoum early on January 1 2008 when they were shot in a crime that shocked Westerners in the capital, previously seen as one of Africa's safest cities.
The men denying the charges were among five men accused of committing the crime, with four carrying out the attack, and a fifth of supplying weapons. In September, the court was shown confessions filmed by police after the arrest of the five.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Not acceptable. A large response , a dispropotioate response, is needed here. mostly as a deterrent , not to mention its like smacking a dog thats too stupid to understand that you dont bite the master. Or rather shooting a dog thats too stupid to figure out that you dont bite the children of the Master.
A controversial Egyptian Copt living abroad has incensed Egyptians over a letter he wrote about the recent Israeli war on Gaza. Morris Sadek, the head of the National Coptic Assembly in the United States, wrote an open letter on Jan. 19, titled "Israel's Victory," which has left Egyptians - both Copts and Muslims - angry over his claims.
In the letter, he called Hamas a part of the Muslim Brotherhood and argued that Palestinians should not complain of their situation vis-a-vis Israel. "Soon after Palestinians elected Hamas under the symbol 'Islam is the solution' Hamas turned against the Palestinian Authority and declared an Islamic State in Gaza, where they applied the Sharia and killed Christians and burned their stores and kidnapped foreign correspondents," the duel U.S.-Egyptian citizen Sadek wrote, linking Egypt's powerful opposition Muslim Brotherhood to Hamas.
"Hamas sold Gaza to Iran and they sold it in exchange for weapons and tunnels in cooperation with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and declared jihad on Israel which provides them with food, and Israel sent trucks full of humanitarian supplies over to Gaza," he continued.
Other than serving as president of the National Coptic Assembly, Sadek is also president of the Human Rights Center for National Unity in Egypt, which was established in 1995. He was an advisor for Middle East affairs with Advocates International based in Fairfax, Virginia in 1999-2000.
His provocative views have turned-off former associates, including those who initially joined him in establishing the human rights center in Cairo. Leading activist and Copt, George Ishaq, is one of them. He thinks that Sadek is in search of wealth and power. "[Sadek] is ignorant and does not have a clue about what he is talking about," Ishaq told the Middle East Times in his downtown Cairo office. "Here in Egypt, Sadek is not listened to because he doesn't know anything and is only trying to make himself famous and get people to give him money," Ishaq said, adding, "What we need to talk about is citizenship, because when it comes to the end, we are all Egyptians and we need to live together and stop seeing religion as a dividing issue."
Other Egyptians point to Sadek's attacks on Islam in his writings, arguing he is taking advantage of freedom of speech guaranteed in the United States to defame Islam. "This is not the first time I meet or see Copts abroad who enjoy cursing Islam because they know they can get away with it," Egyptian journalist Manar Ammar told the Middle East Times. She added: "I met people in Chicago who cursed the Prophet and criticized him, feeling happy that they were taking advantage of freedom of speech. But their problem is really with [Egyptian] law enforcement, not Muslims."
Sadek's diatribes against Palestinians and Arabs are not limited to the recent war in Gaza itself. He wrote: "Although the Palestinians are the invaders of the land, instead of thanking Israel for food and help, they declared war. This is Islamic hate. Their place today should be the Higaz [Saudi Arabia] where they came from; and instead of thanking Israel for giving them a piece of its land to live on, they declared war."
Ishaq said that while Sadek's views are also held by some within Coptic communities abroad, in Egypt, he is seen as "crazy." "Few, if any of the Copts I talk with take this man seriously. He is just so wrong and ridiculous," Ishaq said.
According to the Coptic National Assembly's Web site, Sadek is a member of the District of Columbia bar association and a special legal consultant. Only late last year, he fired off a volley of letters stating his belief that Islam is "a religion of hate and violence." According to the journalist, Sadek has on a number of occasions misquoted the Koran to back up his assertions. It is "despicable and horrifying" that someone of his prominence, she said, "could be so blinded by hate that he wants to defame a holy book from a religion."
Sadek argued that Egypt was the rightful home of Copts, "not the Arab descendants that now live in the country" and has told Muslims to leave the country. On the Web site, he explicitly wrote, "I am an Egyptian. Do not call me an Arab." In reality, nearly all Egyptians are a mix of Arab, Bedouin and Pharaohnic descent, which Ishaq said is part of what makes the country so great. "We are a mix of people and cultures because of our history. This man is trying to destroy a country and make a religious war where there is none." This article is just crying out for some in-line snark but, unfortunately, I have no time today.
#1
Sadek argued that Egypt was the rightful home of Copts, "not the Arab descendants that now live in the country" and has told Muslims to leave the country.
Hear, hear. The rise of Islam was one of the greatest wrongs in human history---and just because a wrong has been going on so long, doesn't mean it should not be corrected. Especially as Muslims are no longer satisfied with that they have.
#3
both Copts and Muslims - angry over his claims.
I guess this is basic self-preservation for the Copts; IIUC, during the gaza festivities, there was some kind of backlash against non-arab or non-sunni minorities in the muslim world... because according to the local Elites, they were not sympathetic enough to the Cause, and thus not "muslim" (IE arab) enuff.
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has a seemingly unthinkable suggestion for new US President Barack Obama: give Osama bin Laden a chance to make peace.
He doesn't mean that the way people who speak English mean it ...
Gadhafi, who is known for outspoken comments, told an audience of American students by videoconference on Wednesday that bin Laden has shown signs that he is open to dialogue. He recommended that Obama seek an opening with the terrorist leader who is considered enemy number one in the United States for ordering the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Gadhafi ended years of Libya's international isolation in 2003 when he renounced terrorism and gave up efforts to develop nuclear weapons. The same year, Libya accepted responsibility for the 1988 Pan Am airplane bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland that killed 270 people.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Peace? Maybe at the business end of a hellfire missile.
#5
Peace, he's such a peace loving guy. We should cuddle with the scratchy wiskery old frek, NOT.
How about rest in peace, WHAT A LOSER.
Posted by: Tony Soprano ||
01/22/2009 11:37 Comments ||
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#6
freak, not frek
Posted by: Tony Soprano ||
01/22/2009 11:38 Comments ||
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I don't want him to even rest in peace. Moammar Gadhafi and Osama bin Laden can both sizzle in Hell. I had a friend on Pan Am Flight 103, and I'm not that forgiving.
Experts said that the group was developing chemical and biological weapons. As I recall, there were videos and lab notebooks of biological and chemical weapons experimentation found in Al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan back in 2002. They were particularly fond of killing dogs, for some reason.
Dr Igor Khrupinov, a biological weapons expert at Georgia University, told The Sun: "Al-Qaeda is known to experiment with biological weapons. And this group has direct communication with other cells around the world. They all are in direct communication with one another, although much of the communication from the Pakistan headquarters is on the order of, "Send us some of your money."
"Contagious diseases, like ebola and anthrax, occur in northern Africa. It makes sense that people are trying to use them against Western governments." But here's the really interesting bit:
It was reported last year that up to 100 potential terrorists had attempted to become postgraduate students in Britain in an attempt to use laboratories.
#1
It was reported last year that up to 100 potential terrorists had attempted to become postgraduate students in Britain in an attempt to use laboratories
But a fatwa was issued that stated that retorts and water-cooled condensers were unislamic, and they were sh*t outa luck.
#3
At least they're concentrating their efforts on worthless diseases like plague. We really don't live among rats and fleas any more, even in most parts of China.
#5
Bubonic plague is transmitted by rat-carried fleas. but pneumonic is transmitted by cough-droplets in the air, gromky... and pneumonic is the quicker dead version.
#6
Infected fleas would work very well as a vector. Cultivate the Bacillus and the fleas on infected dogs or cats,then just ride around on crowded trains in summertime, when people have bare legs, dropping little packets of fleas on the floor. Very low tech operation.
Ex-Somali president Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed will be staying in Yemen, the country which granted him political asylum after he resigned in late December because of a row with his prime minister, a Yemeni presidency source said on Wednesday. "The president of Yemen granted Somalia's president the right of political asylum last night," the source told AFP.
The ex-head of state has been given a permanent home in Yemen, which faces Somalia on the other side of the horn of Africa. Yusuf stepped down on Dec. 29 after having tried and failed to sack Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein.
The president's bid to push Hussein out of his job was thwarted when parliament backed the prime minister with a massive vote of confidence. Yusuf clashed with Hussein over their approach to the opposition. During his time as president, Yusuf had poor relations with the opposition, who accused him of obstructing the peace process.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
talk about being between a rock and a hard place. somalia or yemen ? well at least he don't have too float ona board like his countrymen
(AKI) - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the senior Al-Qaeda official credited with masterminding the 9/11 terror attacks in the United States, was granted Bosnian citizenship before the attacks, a local newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Born in Kuwait to a family originally from the Baluchi region of Pakistan, Mohammed reportedly went to Bosnia in September 1995, disguised as a humanitarian worker for an organisation called Egyptian Relief. He obtained Bosnian citizenship in November the same year, Bosnian daily Fokus said, quoting local intelligence sources.
The newspaper said Egyptian Relief was just a cover for the Cairo-based Islamist movement, the Muslim Brotherhood.
There was a lot of that going on; the Saoodis in particular had all sorts of 'relief' organizations who were helping the widows obtain guns and ammunition ...
Fokus said war-time authorities knew about Mohammed's presence in Bosnia and his citizenship was kept a state secret.
Thousands of mujahadeen from Islamic countries came to Bosnia in the early 1990s to fight with local Muslims and many remained in the country after the war, acquiring Bosnian citizenship.
The paper did not specify Mohammed's movements after Bosnia. But he was arrested in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi in March 2003 and transferred to the American detention camp for suspected terrorists in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The 9/11 Commission Report cited him as "the principal architect of 9/11 attacks" in which over 3,000 people were killed in the United States. Western intelligence sources believe he is one of Al-Qaeda's most senior officials and was responsible for a series of other terrorist attacks.
He was charged by the US military commission in February 2008 with acts of terrorism, war crimes and mass murder of civilians. If convicted, he faces the death penalty.
Can you see what Bambi is going to do here? I can see it ...
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
The paper did not specify Mohammed's movements after Bosnia
Plenty of details here for anyone who wants to know. Read and weep.
In a clear reference to George W Bush's obsession with national security after the September 11 attacks, Mrs Clinton said: "I don't get up every morning just thinking about the threats and dangers as real as they are. I also get up thinking about who we are and what we can do."
Addressing staff members of the 18,000-strong state department on her first day at work, she proclaimed a "new era for America".
"We are not any longer going to tolerate the kind of divisiveness that has paralysed and undermined our ability to get things done for America," she said.
"There are three legs to foreign policy: defence, diplomacy and development, and we are responsible for two of those," she told cheering officials crammed into the main hall of the department's Washington headquarters.
"Diplomacy and development are essential tools in achieving the long term objectives of the United States. Robust diplomacy and effective development are the best long-term tools for securing America's future," said the 61-year-old former first lady, who supervises the US Agency for International Development.
Notice how easily the MSM continues to push that George Bush didn't do any diplomacy or development, when in fact he constantly worked with recalcitrant Europeans, supported the EU talks with Iran, did diplomacy with the Norks, pushed development, anti-malaria and anti-AIDS programs in Africa, and so on.
She was later joined by President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, in a show of solidarity aimed to assure the state department that it would again be the primary agency of foreign policy. "We want to send a clear and unequivocal message: this is a team, and you are members of that team," she said.
Even if you're a bunch of back-stabbers ...
Former president Bush allowed the Pentagon to lead the country into war in Iraq under Donald Rumsfeld and then take charge of a reconstruction process that went badly awry. Colin Powell, who served as secretary of state in Mr Bush's first term, was sidelined in policy-making by both Mr Rumsfeld and former vice president Dick Cheney.
Her sure-footed performance served as a reminder of the political and communication skills that led Mr Obama to select her as the top US diplomat, quickly burying any lingering bitterness from their battle for the Democratic nomination. She will act as the new president's representative as they tackle a daunting array of challenges, including unfinished wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the troubled Middle East peace process, climate change and Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Good luck with getting 'diplomacy and development' to make a dent in any of those agenda items unless diplomacy becomes defined as "doing whatever our betters in Europe want us to do" and development becomes defined as "giving away the store" ...
She spent her first afternoon telephoning her foreign counterparts, receiving an intelligence briefing and consulting various regional experts.
#2
Sorry tu3031 you are wrong. If we get hit again these people will be seen as responsble (burnt toast) no more than they were see responsible for WTC 1, USS Cole, Embassy bombings, or logically even WTC 2.
These are the self-anointed elite, the light workers that according to their propaganda machine (aka MSM) and their sycophants and allies abroad will never be responsible for anything except success.
#3
"I don't get up every morning just thinking about the threats and dangers as real as they are." Excellent! That simply indicates you no longer wish to be president.
The Hildebeast for Rice. The ultimate example of a zero-sum game. Yawn.
#5
The way I see it She's one of the ones who started, promoted, and nurtured the hatred, now she fears it'l backlash, (On her).
Hard when you have to kill your own creation.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
01/22/2009 14:40 Comments ||
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Development. It's hard to get the State Department involved when State Department personnel won't go where the development is needed (which is why the Military wound up doing it).
#8
There are people who would like to kill us. I would like the government that is responsible for our defense to be a little paranoid about that. By the way, wasn't 9/11 mostly masterminded during the Clinton administration?
#9
Hillary Clinton vowing to end paranoia. Dear heavens, that's funny! Aw, Hillsie, sweetheart, you slay me! Slay me!
Posted by: Mike ||
01/22/2009 17:12 Comments ||
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Considering we haven't been hit again since 9/11/01, that we have waged two wars while keeping troops supplied through multiple time zones and countries, that a couple nations gave up nuclear programs, that we have allies fighting with us in Afghanistan... I think 'ol W was quite successful in his foreign policy.
We'll see if Bambi and the Witch of the West do any better.
to lead the country into war in Iraq under Donald Rumsfeld and then take charge of a reconstruction process that went badly awry. Colin Powell, who served as secretary of state in Mr Bush's first term, was sidelined in policy-making by both Mr Rumsfeld and former vice president Dick Cheney.
That's because his ideas sucked, not because he was a RINO.
#17
She can only blame him for a short while longer. Then it's all her. With that said, 1,457 day left of this administration. Not that anyone else is counting....
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/22/2009 21:09 Comments ||
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#18
48 hours and the Obama regime has already started a trade war with China by calling them 'currency manipulators'.
US Treasuries have fallen, as traders anticipate China retaliation.
Just what the world economy needs, a US - China trade war.
A PROMINENT al-Qaeda figure, Abu Yahya al-Libi, has urged Islamist militants to launch attacks in the West, naming the United States and Britain, to avenge Israel's onslaught on Gaza.
"Sacrifice what you can to deliver to the capitals of the infidel West, the criminal America, and the agent tyrants a taste of what they deliver to our brothers and our oppressed brothers and people in Palestine," Libi said in a videotape posted on the internet, according a translation by SITE monitoring group.
"It is time for this criminal state, and I mean Britain, to pay the price for its historic crime, which we have not and will not forget," added, Libi, who is a Sharia committee official within al-Qaeda.
Hillary Clinton won US Senate approval on Wednesday as the next secretary of state, despite renewed Republican questions about potential conflicts of interest created by her husband's foreign fundraising. The Senate easily approved Clinton's nomination to the post by President Barack Obama, clearing her to move quickly into her role as the country's top diplomat. She will replace former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Hillary Clinton has many issues to face as the new Secretary of State. The problems in the Middle East and with Russia will be in the forefront as she begins her duty.
Posted by: How To Start A Business In Connecticut ||
01/22/2009 5:31 Comments ||
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Oh, and don't let the Constitution smack you in the ass either. Cause it's a living document which we make up as we see fit when the feeling strikes us.
India on Wednesday said it had made it clear to Britain through diplomatic channels that it did not share its Foreign Secretary David Miliband's views linking resolution of the Kashmir issue with terrorism.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that India treated the matter as a closed chapter.
"In our normal diplomatic channel, what is proper and just we have done it and now it is a closed chapter," he told reporters when asked whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had written to his British counterpart Gordon Brown over Mr. Miliband's observations.
However, sources in the Prime Minister's Office said "no letter has been written." Mr. Mukherjee said Mr. Miliband, during his visit to India, had shared his perception about the situation with Mr. Mukherjee and the Indian delegation.
"I told him and all the interlocutors that this is your perception and we do not share it," Mr. Mukherjee said, adding that there was no question of giving anyone a cold shoulder.
In an article in a British newspaper, Mr. Miliband had written that resolution of the Kashmir issue would deny extremists in the region one of the main reasons for taking up arms, prompting the External Affairs Ministry to point out that it did not need any "unsolicited advice" on Kashmir.
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01/22/2009 00:00 ||
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Home Minister P. Chidambaram said on Wednesday that nothing that Pakistan had done so far on India's dossier on the Mumbai terror attacks could be termed "satisfactory." But some "significant movement forward" had been made since January 4.
He expressed the government's resolve to act against terror with speed, determination and finality in the next 150 days.
"I keep my fingers crossed. We will have to wait and see and we should be prepared for any eventuality," Mr. Chidambaram said at a function to give away 'Best Indian of the Year' awards instituted by NDTV.
"This terror can be defeated only by determined action," he said. As far as the government was concerned, it had to act with speed and determination.
"I can't constantly look over my shoulder and ask myself, 'what will the media say tomorrow?' If I constantly look over my shoulder I won't take any decision."
The Home Minister said a lot of things had to change within the government. Equally, there had to be a very important attitudinal change among the people.
"Terror as we know it in the 21st century cannot be defeated with words or uttering of peace or love or affection or goodwill. This terror is mindless terror. This terror is motiveless terror."
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01/22/2009 00:00 ||
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(AKI/DAWN) - Pakistan has warned that it will befittingly retaliate against any Indian military adventurism. According to sources, quoted by Pakistani daily Dawn, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said at a briefing for foreign ambassadors, that Pakistan would act in 'self-defence' if there was any action by the Indian side.
The briefing, which took place on Monday, was held to update the ambassadors and heads of missions on the actions taken by the Pakistani government in response to the Mumbai terror attacks and the investigation into information provided by India about the incident.
However, Indian High Commissioner Satyabrata Pal was not invited.
Qureshi urged India to respond positively to Pakistan's proposal regarding engagement for meaningfully addressing the issue of terrorism, particularly the Mumbai incident.
He asked the Indian leadership to refrain from indulging in a blame game that was straining ties between the two countries.
He said the focus should remain on counter-terrorism, which required "pragmatic cooperation" rather than indulging in blame game.
"A blame game should be avoided and India should cooperate with Pakistan to help bring the culprits of this heinous crime to justice," Qureshi said.
The minister reiterated the government's resolve to fighting terrorism.
He reaffirmed the government's determination to extend full cooperation and help in investigating the incident.
Pakistan's Prime Minister's Adviser on Interior Affairs Rehman Malik informed the envoys about the "concrete steps" taken by the authorities, including detention of suspects, launching a formal inquiry and constituting an FIA team comprising experts of the Special Investigation Group.
He said the terms of reference for the inquiry reflected the government's intent to conduct a transparent and legally tenable investigation and proceed with the prosecution in accordance with the law of the land.
The Mumbai attacks last November targeted two luxury hotels and other city landmarks over several days. A total of 173 people died and hundreds of others were injured. One gunman survived and Islamabad admitted this month he is a Pakistani citizen.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
A blame game should be avoided
"Yeah! Just 'cause we're guilty doesn't mean you should actually, like, hold us responsible!!"
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/22/2009 6:02 Comments ||
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Terming terrorism a cancer, not only for Pakistan but the entire world, Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik said that foreign hands were patronising terrorists in Swat and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). "The government has adopted a strategy to flush out terrorists from Swat, and peace will be restored there within two weeks," he said while addressing a seminar on the country's current situation and the economy on Wednesday. Malik said government policies for restoring peace in FATA were producing good results and "the writ of the government has been established in a majority of areas". He said the government had formulated a development package for FATA to bring peace and prosperity. "Under the package, Rs 1.2 billion will be spent on the rehabilitation of the displaced persons," he said, adding that 15,000 jobs would be created to reduce poverty and unemployment in the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2009 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraq is willing to have the U.S. withdraw all its troops and assume security for the country before the end of 2011, the departure date agreed to by former President George W. Bush, the spokesman of the Iraqi prime minister said. Spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh made the comment Tuesday, a day before President Barack Obama and his senior commanders were to meet in Washington to discuss the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Obama promised during the campaign to withdraw all U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office. The new president said in his inaugural address Tuesday that he would "begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people."
The government-owned newspaper Al-Sabah reported Wednesday that Iraqi authorities have drafted contingency plans in case Obama orders a "sudden" withdrawal of all forces and not just combat troops.
Al-Dabbagh told Associated Press Television News that Iraqis had been worried about a quick U.S. departure. But with the emphasis on a responsible withdrawal, al-Dabbagh said the Iraqi government was willing for the U.S. to leave "even before the end of 2011." The Bush administration agreed in a security agreement signed in November to remove all U.S. troops by the end of 2011.
The chairman of parliament's defense committee, Abbas al-Bayati, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the Iraqis hoped Obama would stick by the timeline laid the agreement. "Nevertheless, we already have a 'Plan B,' which is that we have the ability to deploy any needed troops to any hot area in Iraq," al-Bayati said. "We are capable of controlling the situation in the country and we believe we have passed the worst" despite a lack of air and artillery power.
Good to have a plan B when dealing with Bambi. And maybe a plan C.
Across this war-shattered country, many Iraqis watched the transfer of power in Washington on Arab satellite television stations. Many of them expressed hope that the departure of the president who launched the Iraq war in 2003 would speed the return of peace.
And, perhaps, as a model of how their country should behave.
U.S. officials are carefully watching the Jan. 31 provincial elections in Iraq as a sign of whether the country is moving sectarian and ethnic conflicts from the battlefield to the ballot box.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/22/2009 00:00 ||
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Many of them expressed hope that the departure of the president who launched the Iraq war in 2003 would speed the return of peace.
WTF? Bringing in a rookie who obviously had terrible judgement about the whole thing will "speed the return of peace" between parties slugging it out for their own reasons?
OK, I get it.
With a real administration in power in the US, it was not difficult to imagine the SOFA being re-visited (by mutual request) somewhere in late 2010, with a view to extending the US presence. Now, the prospect of a strategic stumble looms. Bumbling away our position in Iraq (a political, not just geographic, position) would certainly be a fine tribute to the thousands who've sacrificed to advance our interests there.
Nausea is only prevented by lingering incredulity at the situation.
#2
The US military knew from the start that the odds were high that eventually either the congress or the POTUS would turn chicken, or worse, mismanage things horribly. They still remember, and are as bitter as hell, about the Vietnam betrayal (Vets really have short memories, don't they, Jane Fonda and John Kerry?)
So working off that assumption, the trained the Iraqis from day 1 to be completely self sufficient and on their own. Right now, the best I can tell is that their biggest weakness is in air defenses (aircraft and missile), and the lack of a combat air force. Right now they are bidding for 36 F-16s.
Both of these, we had to hold off on, in case Israel was going to attack Iran. And we have protected their airspace with PAC-3 and Patriot systems--but Bambi could pull both of those out.
Seeing the problem ahead of time is why Israel now has that loaner X-band radar. If Bambi tries to pull that out, Israel can just shrug and say that if attacked, they will use nuclear weapons and obliterate the Muslim world.
#3
the Iraq army's biggest problems are logistics, corruption, and payroll. Need to get these figured out before they can be worth a darn. Same problems the Sth. Viet. had.
#4
I suspect this is all semantics from the Iraqi side and misinformation from the AP.
Iraq's Army can handle an insurgency, but not a conventional invasion. They will continue to be dependent on us until they can. The challenge is especially difficult because Iran outnumbers them by 3:1, Turkey outnumbers them by 2.5:1 etc. Very simply every Iraqi soldier will need to be 4-5 times as good as his enemies in order to defend the country.
The other major issue is that their Air Force consists of a few prop driven planes. A jet pilot can be trained in a couple of years, but it's going to take a minimum of 10 years to set up a competent air defence network. Until that happens, they will be dependent of the U.S. of A.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
01/22/2009 11:42 Comments ||
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Ynet via Drudge... Physician at Gaza's Shifa Hospital tells Italian newspaper number of dead in Israeli offensive 'stands at no more than 500 or 600, most of them youths recruited to Hamas' ranks'. Senior Palestinian Health Ministry official denies claims, IDF estimate on 1,200 casualties in Strip remains unchanged
What really is behind the numbers reported on the number of civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip? Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera reported Thursday that a doctor working in Gaza's Shifa Hospital claimed that Hamas has intentionally inflated the number of casualties resulting from Israel's Operation Cast Lead.
"The number of deceased stands at no more than 500 to 600. Most of them are youths between the ages of 17 to 23 who were recruited to the ranks of Hamas, who sent them to the slaughter," according to the newspaper article.
The doctor wished to remain unidentified, out of fear for his life. Smart guys, them doctors...
A senior Palestinian Health Ministry official later denied the claims, and the Israel Defense Forces' estimate on the number of casualties in Gaza has also remained unchanged.
Despite the claims, the IDF stood behind its estimate that between 1,100 to 1,200 people were killed in the Strip during the fighting, more than two-thirds of them Hamas members. The army initially believed that the number of civilian casualties was higher, as many Hamas men walked outside their houses dressed in civilian clothes, leaving their weapons at home.
Dr. Moaiya Hassanain, who is in change of the emergency department at the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza, denied the figures presented by the Italian paper. Hassanain told Ynet that the Palestinian figures were issued cautiously, without any political considerations, and that several casualties may not have been reported as their bodies are still under the rubble or have not been handed over to the rescue forces and authorized medical officials.
A Tal al-Hawa resident told the newspaper's reporter, "Armed Hamas men sought out a good position for provoking the Israelis. There were mostly teenagers, aged 16 or 17, and armed. They couldn't do a thing against a tank or a jet. They knew they are much weaker, but they fired at our houses so that they could blame Israel for war crimes." The reporter for the Italian newspaper also quoted reporters in the Strip who told of Hamas' exaggerated figures, "We have already said to Hamas commanders why do you insist on inflating the number of victims?"
These same reporters mentioned that the truth that will come out is likely to be similar to what occurred in Operation Defensive Shield in Jenin. "Then, there was first talk of 1,500 deaths. But then it turned out that there were only 54, 45 of which were armed men," the Palestinian reporters told the Italian newspaper.
These new figures must be treated with caution especially in light of the fact that various official sources in the Gaza Strip, including United Nations and Red Cross officials, have reported that more than 1,300 people were killed and some 5,000 wounded during the three weeks of fighting in the coastal strip. Palestinian sources claim that three-quarters of the dead were unarmed civilians. Hamas, while boasting on having Israeli soldiers by the dozens, a number that has proven to be exaggerated, claimed that no more than 48 of its members were killed during the Israeli offensive. According to IDF figures, Hamas lost hundreds of fighters from its ranks.
In the European hospital in Rafah, one of the facilities which would presumably be filled with wounded from the "war of the tunnels," many beds were empty, according to Cremonesi. A similar situation was noted in the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, and in the privately-run Amal Hospital Cremonesi reported that only five out 150 beds were occupied.
Cremonesi interviewed Gazans who echoed Israel's insistence of how Hamas gunmen used civilians as human shields. One Gazan recalled civilians in Gaza shouting at Hamas and Islamic Jihad men, "Go away, go away from here! Do you want the Israelis to kill us all? Do you want our children to die under their bombs? Take your guns and missiles with you."
"Traitors, collaborators with Israel, spies of Fatah, cowards! The soldiers of the holy war will punish you. And in any case you will all die, like us. Fighting the Zionist Jews we are all destined for paradise. Do you not wish to die with us?" the religious fanatics of Hamas reportedly responded.
Other Palestinians told Cremonesi of Hamas operatives donning paramedic uniforms and commandeering ambulances. A woman identified as Um Abdullah, 48, spoke of Hamas using UN buildings as launch pads for rockets.
Cremonesi reported that he had difficultly gathering evidence as the local population was terrified of Hamas.
#5
Well, I'm pretty sure that, somehow, hamas will manage to keep its fighters deathtoll really... not inflated. I think 10 were killed, included 3 who died repulsing a whole armored assault by staring at the juices with their Eyes of Islamic Rightfulness.
From the BBC!!!
Standing on a newly formed hillside of rubble in the destroyed Jabaliya refugee camp, five young men all claim to be resistance fighters. "All of Gaza are mujahideen," they said. But when asked which of them had actually fired a gun in the three week-long battle with Israel, none gave a convincing answer.
As armed Hamas policemen climb out from under their beds and remove their wives burkhas return to Gaza's street-corners and traffic-lights, many in Gaza are wondering where they were when it came to fighting the Israeli Army. Hamas still has enough power and influence here that few will criticise the Islamist movement openly. But when Hamas called for a rally to celebrate what it has been calling a historic victory over the Israelis, the citizens of Gaza voted with their feet - they stayed at home. In the past Hamas could easily call tens of thousands into the streets, but this time only party stalwarts could look around the devastation and believe this could be victory, and relatively few green flags unfurled in the crowd.
Hamas supporters claim that many more Israelis died in the three weeks of the war than Tel Aviv's official count of only 13 dead. Likewise they believe the official Hamas announcement that Israel killed only 48 fighters among over 1,300 dead in Gaza. But that begs another question: if so few Hamas fighters died, were they really out there fighting? Ooooooooh. Awkward...
A man settling in to sleep next to the remnants of his home gave a more sober appraisal. Yusef, a farmer from Jabaliya, was burning old kitchen cupboards to keep himself warm, as nightfall brought the winter's cold. Israeli bombs destroyed his house, he said, but they were not the only ones to blame. "I blame Israel and Hamas both," he said. "I just want to live."
#1
Israel killed only 48 fighters among over 1,300 dead in Gaza
So I guess I'm to understand that the IDF troops were firing blanks from broomsticks, and that Gazan "civilians" fought like hell. Good thing the Hamass fighters didn't come out to play or the IDF would have been slaughtered. Maybe they were hiding under their beds because they were afraid to make the IDF look bad?
#3
Well Proco, isn't that why they say it's okay to kill Jewish children? Maybe Israel should take them at their word and flatten the place from border to border with everyone in it.
#4
Shouldnt have stopped, too charitable, You guys need this thing stopped and letting up when you're not even halfway done........not good, but hey is your country
The Qatari daily A-Sharq quoted Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzuk on Wednesday as saying that Israel must think about the fate of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit after its massive bombing of Gaza, Israel Radio reported.
Israel dropped tons of munitions on Hamas targets throughout the coastal strip during its 3-week campaign against the Islamist group, which ended on Sunday when both sides declared cease-fires. Nevertheless, the Damascus-based Abu Marzuk was quoted as noting that the issue of Shalit will receive more prominence in the future. The Israel Defense Forces soldier was kidnapped by Gaza militants in June 2006 during a cross-border raid.
According to A-Sharq, Abu Marzuk also said that Hamas had killed Gazans suspected of collaborating with Israel during the IDF offensive. He was quoted as claiming that some of them had marked targets for the Israel Air Force to strike.
Abu Marzuk's reported comments echoed ones he was said to have made last week. The Lebanese daily Al-Hayat quoted Abu Marzuk last Sunday as saying that Hamas no longer cared whether Shalit had been wounded in the IDF campaign. "Shalit may have been wounded, and he may not have been," Abu Marzuk reportedly said. "The subject no longer interests us."
Israel, meanwhile, wishes to renew negotiations with Hamas for the return of the kidnapped soldier. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Tuesday that progress in the talks was a precondition for any Israeli concessions to Hamas.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Hamas: Israel must consider Shalit's fate after bombing Gaza
#3
He's dead gorb: Hizbullah standard method (sure to be adopted by Paleos) is to kill any Israeli prisoners and hide the bodies in cemetery under false headstone till the exchange.
#4
I know he's dead. The good sign is that Hamass is sidling up to agreeing to the fact that he is dead. Hamass is trying to build plausible deniability to the fact that they killed him long ago. The slightest shred of doubt is all the muslims need in order to run with it and wave it around as a fact. They probably think that once Israelis accept the fact that he is dead, the Israelis will no longer have an excuse to attack them, and they will be safe from having their a$$es beat on a regular basis.
(AKI) - Since the ceasefire took effect in the Gaza Strip, the scale of devastation and demand for humanitarian aid is overwhelming, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. In a statement released on Tuesday, the ICRC said entire families have lost everything and required urgent help meeting such basic needs as shelter, food, water and medical care.
"The level of destruction is absolutely overwhelming," said ICRC delegate Jerome Giraud.
"Most people have not been able to move back to their houses. Many checked on their homes, but then decided to return to the (United Nations) UNRWA shelters. They had no other choice."
People are assessing the damage sustained by their homes, neighbourhoods and fields.
"It is as if they were waking from a nightmare," said Antoine Grand, head of the ICRC office in Gaza.
"They are sharing their stories of hardship and survival with the family members and friends they were separated from during this ordeal."
Tel Al-Hawa, in the centre of Gaza City, was one of the areas hardest hit. The Al-Quds Hospital, the main office of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, and several public buildings suffered direct hits, turning entire blocks into rubble and wrecking thousands of private houses.
"We expect the needs of the population to be even greater in the southern and northern outskirts of the city, as they are among the areas that bore the brunt of the bombardments," said Giraud.
"The population there is generally poorer. Some people have been left with absolutely nothing."
Over the coming weeks, the ICRC will provide approximately 80,000 people whose homes were damaged or completely destroyed. It said they are currently in UNRWA shelters or being hosted by relatives or friends.
The ICRC said the past three weeks of conflict have further compounded the already critical situation in humanitarian terms that prevailed in Gaza in the previous 18 months.
In the past two days Red Cross staff have provided aid for around 3,500 people whose homes were badly damaged in the Tel Al-Hawa area of Gaza City with tarpaulins to cover roofs or set up tents, plastic sheeting to replace shattered windows, and other items.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2009 00:00 ||
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[1 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
People are assessing the damage sustained by their homes, neighbourhoods and fields.
What are they whining about? At least Israel gave them the opportunity to get out. That's better than what Hamass does for the Israelis whenever they fire off another salvo of missiles.
"The population there is generally poorer. Some people have been left with absolutely nothing."
Q: How do you tell a rich "Palestinian" from a poor one?
A: The rubble they own is big enough to build a house out of.
Over the coming weeks, the ICRC will provide approximately 80,000 people whose homes were damaged or completely destroyed.
I thought Israel already provided them. There goes the ICRC taking all the credit again.
New President Barack Obama on Wednesday made a flurry of calls to Arab and Israeli leaders in a signal that Middle East peacemaking is a top priority following Israel's blitz on the Gaza Strip, according to the White House.
A Palestinian spokesman said that Obama had told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that he was the recipient of his first call as the 44th U.S. president.
" We were not expecting such a quick call from President Obama but we knew how serious he is about the Palestinian problem "
Yasser Abed Rabbo, Abbas aide
Obama promised Abbas to work toward a "durable peace" in the Middle East, Abba's spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP.
"He said he would deploy every possible effort to achieve peace as quickly as possible," the spokesman added. "President Abbas urged him to work towards peace based on international resolutions."
The close Abbas aide admitted surprise at the speed with which Obama moved.
"We were not expecting such a quick call from President Obama but we knew how serious he is about the Palestinian problem," said Yasser Abed Rabbo.
"The speed of the call is a message signaling to all concerned parties that the Palestinian people has one address and that's president Abbas."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
please email me at buy.adsense@yahoo.in don't forget to email me, it is very important for you , if you have interest in adsense account then surely email me at once.
The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog said on Tuesday it would look into a claim by Vienna-based Arab ambassadors that Israel may have used ammunition containing depleted uranium in Gaza attacks.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said the request was made in a letter addressed to Director General Muhammad al-Baradei and was delivered by the Saudi Arabian ambassador on Monday on behalf of other Arab diplomats.
"We are circulating the letter to member states and will investigate the matter to the extent of our ability," IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said.
She said the IAEA had not yet decided on its course of action as it needs to check with member states first.
The Israeli ambassador to the IAEA, Israel Michaeli, declined to comment on the letter while a spokesman for the Israeli military said he was checking the report.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
They would not be above planting some and see if it grows in the MSM.
#2
Gee. The IAEA gets right on this, but lets the obvious Syrian situation languish for months before it rolls over and grudgingly agrees to check things out if Syria is willing.
#3
How about we ship the IAEA's offices to Gaza. Since they're so all-fired eager to go investigate bunker-buster bombs, why don't we give 'em offices and houses in Gaza City, wait for the Hamas-moles to dig command bunkers under IAEA offices, and see if they want the Israelis to bomb their offices flat in the vain hope they'll collapse the tunnels, or whether they'd prefer DU deep-penetrating delayed-detonation rods which'd make nice neat patchable holes in their foyer & nice red aerisol mists of the turds who put them in danger by hiding behind them in the first place?
Ugh, sorry for the run-on...
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
01/22/2009 8:57 Comments ||
Top||
Israel denied on Wednesday its armed forces used ordnance with depleted uranium during the Gaza Strip offensive, and said that could be proven by any United Nations investigation.
Responding to a letter from Arab envoys, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Tuesday it would consult with member states on the diplomats' demand for a probe into whether Israeli attacks on Gaza might have featured the controversial munitions, which can leave dangerous radioactive debris.
"I deny this completely," Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said, adding that such allegations were "no more than a recurring motif of anti-Israel propaganda".
The IDF, meanwhile, has begun investigating whether a reserve paratroops brigade made improper use of phosphorus shells during the fighting in Gaza. The brigade fired about 20 such shells in a built-up area of northern Gaza.
According to senior army officers, the IDF used two phosphorus-based weapons in Gaza. One, the sources said, actually contains almost no phosphorus. These are simple smoke bombs - 155mm artillery shells - with a trace of phosphorus to ignite them.
Depleted uranium is used in weapons because it can penetrate tanks and armour more easily due to its density and other physical properties.
It is a particular health risk around impact sites, where dust can get into people's lungs and vital organs. It also has
civilian uses in medical equipment and is used in radiation shields.
Israel was accused of using depleted uranium during its 2006 offensive against Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas. Palmor said a UN investigation failed to find any evidence of that.
"Should they decide to hassle the UN inspectors again, they'll get the same results," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I'd give about 40% odds that the Israelis used DU in their bunker-busters. It does seem like the most efficient way to get deep-penetrators into the lower warrens of cave-bunkers. If I were the US military or the Israelis, I'd probably have been looking into heavy-metal alternatives to DU just to get past this idiocy, but heavy metals are generally poisonous, radioactive, or otherwise noxious on general principles, and rarer & more expensive on average than DU to boot...
You know, lead isn't that much lighter than DU. Probably be easier to just bite the bullet & use a longer penetrating rod.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
01/22/2009 9:07 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Mitch, you have an understandable misperception about DU.
Lead and DU are nowhere near each other on the periodic table.
This link will help
http://www.theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/Samples/092.1/index.s12.html
#3
so what if they did, boo hoo for the Egyptian Brotherhood and their Buddys the Iranians. Are there bigger COWARDS, I dont think so.
Posted by: Manly Man ||
01/22/2009 11:30 Comments ||
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#4
Suppose, for the sake of argument only, that Israel did use DU bombs. So what? Hamass already tried using HIV-contaminated suicide bombs, so this is only getting back what they gave before.
Worst case: It's a wash, and Hamass looks like they can't take what they dish out.
Best case: Israel didn't use DU bombs after all, and Hamass gets away with it.
Iran, accused by Israel of supplying arms to Hamas militants, said on Wednesday resistance groups around the world like those in Gaza had the right to have access to weapons to fight against "colonialists".
"A government or a people who would like to defend themselves, it is very natural they will do their utmost to get weapons from whatever place possible," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said in a speech on the conflict in Gaza.
Israel accuses Iran of providing weapons to Hamas. Tehran says it provides financial, humanitarian and moral support and has condemned Israel's offensive in the Palestinian territory.
Mottaki, who did not say Iran would itself offer arms, added that Israel's goals in Gaza had been to "wipe away the resistance and also to destroy the defensive capability of the resistance," in a clear to reference to Hamas.
"Resistance struggles around the world, those who struggle against colonialists, it is their right to defend themselves and to stand up to attacks by the enemy and to secure the release of their land, to continue with their struggle," Mottaki said.
"And to do that it is their natural right to have access to weapons," Mottaki said in the speed broadcast live and translated into English by Iran's Press TV.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2009 00:00 ||
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[2 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
He's right. They also have the right to get dead in large numbers.
...and it must be true cuz he saw it on Damascus Action News. The exiled chief of Hamas Khaled Meshaal said Wednesday that Israel's withdrawal from Gaza without imposing a truce on Hamas is a victory "for the resistance", telling the international community that time has come to lift a ban on contacts with his Palestinian Islamist movement. "After three weeks of aggression, the Zionist enemy (Israel) was forced to cease fire and withdraw (from the Gaza Strip) without achieving any of their goals," Meshaal said, in a speech aired on Arab satellite televisions. It'll be a good day when he's up on that wall with his two dead goatfucker friends...
"Gaza has emerged victorious, the resistance has triumphed," he said, while urging Hamas fighters to stay vigilant "with their finger on the trigger because the enemy is sly and will want to avenge itself." ...and I will have a new blankie and pillow placed under my bed.
"Our victory is a clear one and it is a repetition of Hezbollah's victory over the same enemy back in 2006," he added, in reference to Israel's 33-day war on Lebanon's Hezbollah group in the summer of 2006. Whaddya mean "our victory", nancy boy?
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Khaled is not shorting the diplo buffet table while offering rubble as victory to the minions. Nice job if you can get it
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/22/2009 20:15 Comments ||
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A think tank linked to the East Java branch of Nahdlatul Ulama has rejected suggestions that the organizations fatwa, or religious decree, banning Indonesians from fighting alongside Palestinians in Gaza could be perceived by other Islamic groups as cowardly.
Theyre welcome to think of this fatwa as cowardly, said Imam Syuhada, the secretary of Lembaga Bahtsul Masail.
We are only thinking about the interests of the Muslim community.
NUs efforts to achieve settlement for Palestinians have so far consisted of encouraging diplomatic efforts in international forums rather than endorsing a call to arms. That approach stands in contrast to the popular, if somewhat empty, rallying cry among a number of Islamic groups in Indonesia.
Imam said it is the duty of Muslims to defend adherents of the same faith, but that duty does not apply to Indonesians who may have courage but lack the required skills to engage in
combat.
This war is obviously different from the wars in the times of Prophet Muhammad, when troops still engaged the conventional way, brandishing swords and riding horses, he said. In such a war, physical reinforcements were indeed necessary.
Times have changed, Imam said, and the advanced technology and strategy of modern warfare means sending untrained combatants into harms way would do more damage than good.
Our people have hardly ever seen a missile, he said.
Feel free to engage in jihad when you have the skills and the states permission. Otherwise, it would be better to contribute money to buy medicine or ammunition, Imam said.
Doctors, on the other hand, are encouraged to go, he said.
Din Syamsuddin, the chairman of Muhammadiyah, Indonesias second largest Muslim organization after NU, said that it would not issue a similar fatwa, saying a decision to enter the conflict zone was a personal one.
The organization has not issued an official stance, he said. There is no need to overreact.
However, he said if some followers decided to enter the combat zone, Muhammadiyah would not hold them back.
But I dont have enough confidence that they would make it, he said. There are many things to prepare, including adequate funds, permission and many other things.
#2
"This war is obviously different from the wars in the times of Prophet Muhammad, when troops still engaged the conventional way, brandishing swords and riding horses,"
Because, of course, back then, skillset and training and experience were unnecessary. You just waded in, riding a horse, brandishing a curving sword while looking ferocious, and voilà! Battle won. Because dispatching a willing and able adversary, who's bent on dispatching you first, while both wield melee weapons whihc for all purpose are equally efficient, is so easy... why, it can even be done bare-handed, I think I saw that in a movie.
#3
You could certainly make use of untrained people in ancient warfare. Many tactical systems were designed to get value from them after limited training, and then there were those great manpower sinks, sieges and garrisons. Just plain labor was also essential.
(AKI/Jakarta Post) - Terror suspects could face the death sentence for plotting a series of bomb attacks and the murder of Christian figures in Indonesia, a Jakarta court was told on Tuesday.
State prosecutors told the South Jakarta District Court that the suspected leader of a Sumatran terror group and four of his colleagues had planned terror attacks at places frequented by foreign tourists, including a cafe in the West Sumatran town of Bukittinggi.
"The defendants have convincingly proven to have violated the anti-terrorism law as they were in possession of guns to conduct acts of terrorism and thus are punishable for capital sentence," prosecutor Totok Bambang told the court.
The five Indonesians included Abdurahman Taib, alias Musa, who was widely believed to be the group leader. The defendants were among 10 people arrested in Palembang last year and are now standing trial at the South Jakarta Court .
Bambang said one of the suspects Ki Agus Muhamad Toni was behind the killing of Christian reverend Dago Simamora in Palembang last year. Dago was shot dead in front of his son.
The prosecutors also indicted two other accomplices, Ani Sugandi and Sukarso Abdillah, accused of helping the terror group and both could face a maximum of 15 years in prison term.
"Sugandi and Abdillah were tasked only to monitor targeted places, so even though they are charged under the same law, they may face lighter sentences due to the smaller role they played," Bambang said.
Indonesian antiterror police arrested the group at a house in Palembang during a crackdown early last year.
The police also discovered a bulk of high explosive materials stored in the house.
According to investigators, the power of the explosives was equal to those that caused Indonesia's worst terror attacks, the Bali bombings in 2002 and the later Bali bomb attack in 2005.
Asludin Hatjani, one of the defence lawyers, said that the charges were neither clear nor specific about how the defendants perpetrated acts of terrorism.
"The prosecutors fail to mention specific roles played by our clients here, therefore there is no use for the panel to pay attention to the indictment. We highly expect them to withdraw the indictment," Hatjani said.
He also questioned whether the South Jakarta District Court was not qualified to hear the case, which took place in Palembang. He said the trial should be held in Palembang instead.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2009 00:00 ||
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Hezbollah's chief says Israel's failure to achieve its goals in the Gaza Strip marks the second defeat for Israel in recent years.
Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah congratulated the victory of Hamas over Israeli three-week long military campaign in the Gaza Strip in a phone conversation with Hamas Political Chief Khalid Mashaal, Lebanese al-Nahar daily reported Wednesday. "It is the second time in two and a half years that the Zionist enemy is defeated," Nasrallah was quoted referring to Hezbollah's 33-day war with Israel in 2006.
The Hezbollah secretary-general also praised other Palestinian resistance movements for being united against Israel during the Gaza war, which claimed the lives of more than 1,340 Palestinians and left over 5,320 others wounded.
Israel ended its offensive against Gaza on Saturday by declaring a unilateral ceasefire without having achieved any of the objectives it was seeking in the coastal sliver. Some officials in Tel Aviv had said toppling the democratically-elected ruler of the strip, Hamas, was the main objective in Gaza. Other officials later said they only sought to weaken the Hamas movement and end rocket attacks against Israeli towns.
In response to Tel Aviv's unilateral ceasefire, Hamas brought a ceasefire into effect on Sunday but gave Israel a one-week ultimatum to completely withdraw from the Palestinian territory and end its 18-month blockade of the coastal enclave.
An Israeli army spokesman confirmed Wednesday that Tel Aviv had completed its troop pullout from Gaza. According to a Press TV correspondent at the Rafah border crossing, Israeli officials refused to allow Human Rights Watch and aid agencies to cross the border into the beleaguered strip Wednesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm beginning to think this guy is actually a giant hologram...
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.
Hillary Clinton won US Senate approval on Wednesday as the next secretary of state, despite renewed Republican questions about potential conflicts of interest created by her husband's foreign fundraising. The Senate easily approved Clinton's nomination to the post by President Barack Obama, clearing her to move quickly into her role as the country's top diplomat. She will replace former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
India on Wednesday said it had made it clear to Britain through diplomatic channels that it did not share its Foreign Secretary David Miliband's views linking resolution of the Kashmir issue with terrorism. 
(AKI) - Since the ceasefire took effect in the Gaza Strip, the scale of devastation and demand for humanitarian aid is overwhelming, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. In a statement released on Tuesday, the ICRC said entire families have lost everything and required urgent help meeting such basic needs as shelter, food, water and medical care. 
The exiled chief of Hamas Khaled Meshaal said Wednesday that Israel's withdrawal from Gaza without imposing a truce on Hamas is a victory "for the resistance", telling the international community that time has come to lift a ban on contacts with his Palestinian Islamist movement. "After three weeks of aggression, the Zionist enemy (Israel) was forced to cease fire and withdraw (from the Gaza Strip) without achieving any of their goals," Meshaal said, in a speech aired on Arab satellite televisions.
Hezbollah's chief says Israel's failure to achieve its goals in the Gaza Strip marks the second defeat for Israel in recent years. 
