The US president admits that the 'anti-terror' operations in Afghanistan will not lead to victory, urging dialogue with insurgents as a cure.
'No', The United States is not winning the war in Afghanistan, President Barack Obama told The New York Times, suggesting that contact with the 'moderate' Taliban elements could result in 'success' - as a similar strategy proved to be successful in Iraq.
"If you talk to [the commander of US forces in the Middle East and Central Asia] General Petraeus, I think he would argue that part of the success in Iraq involved reaching out to people that we would consider to be Islamic fundamentalists, but who were willing to work with us because they had been completely alienated by the tactics of al-Qaeda in Iraq."
"There may be some comparable opportunities in Afghanistan and in the Pakistani region," the US president added.
This is while Iraq is reportedly witnessing a sevenfold rise in the number of terrorist attacks since the 2003 US-led invasion of the country.
The 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan, which toppled the Taliban regime, has likewise been followed by numerous reports of an increase in insurgent attacks.
Following the invasion, Taliban leaders took refuge in the tribal regions of Pakistan and gradually extended their influence to major towns and cities. The tribal regions along the common border also became safe havens for the insurgents. US attacks on alleged al-Qaeda hideouts, meanwhile, have incurred considerable civilian casualties outraging the countries' public.
Despite the popular indignation, 17,000 additional US troops were deployed in Afghanistan following recent orders by Obama who has vowed to switch focus from Iraq to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The conciliatory measure, which the president spoke of on Friday, is part of a policy revision meant to build confidence among the discontented public.
Administration officials criticized a similar move on Thursday by Pakistan to reconcile with the local Taliban leaders allowing them to establish their own rule in the volatile northwestern Swat Valley, the paper concluded.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
"If your determination to shut your eyes will carry you as far as this, Cornelius," said Dumbledore, "we have reached a parting of the ways. You must act as you see fit. And I - I shall act as I see fit."
Dumbledore's voice carried no hint of a threat; it sounded like a mere statement, but Fudge bristled as though Dumbledore were advancing on him with a wand.
"Now see here, Dumbledore," he said, waving a threatening finger. "I've given you free rein, always. I've had a lot of repect for you. I might not have always agreed with your decisions, but I've kept quiet. There aren't many who'd have let you hire werewolves, or keep Hagrid, or decide what to teach your students without reference to the Ministry. But if you're going to work against me --"
"The only one against whom I intend to work," said Dumbledore, "is Lord Voldemort. If you are against him, then we remain, Cornelius, on the same side."
Excerpt from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling, Scholastic Press, 2000. (Page 709)
#3
"These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion. The Taliban must act, and act immediately. They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate."
George W. Bush, Statement To Joint Session Of Congress September 20th 2001
Since the Taliban did not hand over the terrorists this implies that the reason for Operation Infinite Justice Enduring Freedom is not to bring welfare of some sort to Afghanistan (that may be a welcome side effect, or a means to achieve an end) but the annihilation the the Taliban. It's about retribution, surgical retribution not indiscriminate carpet bombing, but still it is about retribution.
I don't think the Democrats have ever repudiated or even criticized these statements.
The result of such a reconciliation will be a Taliban state, rebuilt with western danegeld, the Taliban not ignored like before 9/11 but ruling with NATO and US blessing.
Even if these "moderates" won't host terrorists openly, they will show to the world that sponsoring a mass fatality attack on the continental US is NOT a deadly mistake.
With this move Obama tells the world that American and western deterrence is based on an empty threat.
#4
I'm not surprised that he would attempt it, but I am surprised that he would make so many amateurish foreign policy mistakes so early. Didn't the humiliation of Putin bitch-slapping him over his 'secret' letter teach him anything - even temporarily??
#5
Obama has not been in office long and already Russia, Iran, North Korea, Islamic radicals in Pakistan and the Taliban in Afghanistan have all seen their hands strengthened. Will the world be able to survive a full four years of his presidency?
Also from the same article on Yahoo:
At the same time, Obama left open the possibility that U.S. operatives might capture terror suspects abroad without the cooperation of a country where they were found.
"There could be situations and I emphasize 'could be' because we haven't made a determination yet where, let's say that we have a well-known al-Qaida operative that doesn't surface very often, appears in a third country with whom we don't have an extradition relationship or would not be willing to prosecute, but we think is a very dangerous person," he said.
It also did not take long for the left-wing hypocrites who rode to power on the heels of America's so-called loss of standing in the world to vindicate the policies of the last administration which have kept America safe for the last seven years!
#10
Those who can learn do not remain liberals past their teens.
LOL g(r)omgoru
I regret to say that it took me a bit longer than that. The scales had to be pried off of my eyes one at a time - haha. Of course, 9-11 took most of the rest off all at once. I wish that were true for more of my fellow citizens. Glad I made it to the promised land though. :-)
#11
"Obama has not been in office long and already Russia, Iran, North Korea, Islamic radicals in Pakistan and the Taliban in Afghanistan have all seen their hands strengthened."
For completeness, you forgot the Palestinians and Syria....there's probably others.
Obama has also weakened the hands of Israel and a number of Eastern European allies (Czechs, Poland, etc.) and insulted the British. All, in what, 45 days?
#20
I will be amazed if some nut job doesn't take a shot at our socialist leader after his financial and foreign policy moves. And then its gonna get UGLY.
#21
LBJ, Carter and Clinton taught me all I need to know about Democrats so I knew before he took office that Obama would be bad. But it is a bit surprising to see him stumbling so badly so soon out of the blocks. Lord help us all, he sounds just like Zardari making a deal to let the Taliban have Swat. Even if it is a mistake to stay there in perpetuity, do we have to "reach out"? How about if we reach out with some arclights on their sanctuaries in PakiWakiland? Then, just for kicks, we can ask the Pakis what they plan to do about it.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/08/2009 18:27 Comments ||
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#22
Abu: LBJ, Carter and Clinton are certainly capable of being all the object lessons you need to know about Demoncrats; but, you can include JFK as well (the first one I was aware of) too.
#23
I don't remember Kennedy that well. I remember him promise to put a man on the moon, give him credit for that. I remember the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban missile crisis. I think he got too much credit for the Cuban missile crisis and not enough blame for the Bay of Pigs. Dunno but can't help thinking maybe one thing led to another there. He dithered on Vietnam, left it as unfinished business which LBJ proceeded to turn into an unmitigated disaster. The one thing I could never, ever forgive him for was LBJ. Just hope there is no parallel there with Joe Biden. Just hope. I really, seriously don't want the country going through that again. I remember JFK getting shot but I don't canonize him for it. He was no saint. We've learned in later years just what a slimy guy he was. The press gave him a pass for his womanizing and I can't forgive them for that either. They had stars in their eyes and dreams of Camelot but their Camelot was full of snakes. PTUI.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/08/2009 19:02 Comments ||
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#24
You forgot the Berlin Wall, also a Kennedy legacy.
#25
Why don't I pretend I'm Obama and explain that I'm stuffed up from a bad cold and can't think straight overwhelmed?
Poor Barbara -- get well soon, my dear.
Glad I made it to the promised land though. :-)
I feel the same way about my own journey, ryuge. I suspect a great many Rantburgers do. It will be interesting to see how many experience Buyer's Remorse over their vote last November.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Saturday presidential elections would go ahead on August 20 and called for a "national consensus" to decide on who should rule the country after his term ends in May.
Karzai, under huge pressure from the United Nations, the United States and other Afghan allies to support the August date set by the election commission, caused a stir last week when he called for an April ballot. But on Saturday the president told a press conference he accepted the election commission's decision. "I accept the decision of the election commission ... and I call on all sides to respect the decision and allow the commission to do their job," he said. Karzai's political opponents, including several potential candidates, have called on him to hand over power to an interim administration when his term ends, particularly if he decides to stand for a second term in office.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009 00:00 ||
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U.N. Security Council failed to order Sudan to reverse its decision to expel 13 international aid groups from the country amid disagreement between permanent members, according to news reports on Saturday.
France had drafted a statement urging Khartoum to reverse its decision on the NGOs, but Britain's U.N. ambassador John Sawers said one of the five permanent members--the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China--had blocked it. He left no doubt he was referring to China.
Western diplomats said the 15-member council had only agreed to express their "concern" about the situation in Sudan during discussions Friday, but were unable to agree to a joint statement.
"One delegation insisted on a reference, which we thought was unwarranted and not relevant, to the ICC decision," he said. "I think the Russians would have been able to agree to a reasonable statement."
China says it wants the council to use its power to halt the ICC case against Bashir. Russia is with China, but Britain, France and the United States oppose deferring the proceedings.
The Khartoum government announced it would expel the agencies after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out in Darfur, western Sudan.
"There won't be a statement," Sawers said after the closed-door meeting. Aid groups condemned the United Nation's inaction as "grotesque."
"The Security Council should condemn the fact that an indicted war criminal has deliberately put yet more lives at risk by expelling aid workers," said Richard Dicker of Human Rights Watch.
"This is no time for the council to debate letting Bashir off the hook for crimes against humanity. That is simply grotesque."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009 00:00 ||
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Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani termed International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Sudanese President a plot against Islam.
Leading a parliamentary delegation with 52 members from Islamic and Arabic countries who have participated at Tehrans recent international conference on support for Palestine, Larijani said in Khartoum that the Hague-based ICC warrant against Omar al-Bashir was a plot against Islam, an insult against Muslims and has no legal justification.
We consider the warrant as a political insult against Muslims, what we expected from changes in the US administration was that we would not witness such stances.
The delegation is the representative of the public opinion in the world of Islam and assures Sudanese nation and government that Muslims will always stand against any plot, he added.
Referring to the US black history in regard with human rights and its measures in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib prisons and Afghanistan he added they must not ask for others punishment in charges of human rights violation, the West must know Muslims are vigilant and aware about such plots.
Military wing commander of the United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa) Paresh Barua, Naga rebel leader Anthony Shimray and several more people were stationed in Chittagong by using fake names before the abortive Ulfa arms shipment in 2004.
They checked in Hotel Golden Inn but left Chittagong immediately after the arms were seized, according to a report of the Bengali daily Prothom Alo.
Principal accused of the case Hafizur Rahman alias Hafiz in his confessional statement said he was introduced with one Zaman before the 2001 election. Later, he came to know that the said Zaman was Ulfa military commander Paresh Barua.
Zaman told Hafiz a huge consignment of machinery would land in Chittagong and he assigned him (Hafiz) to hire a trawler and decide on a jetty for offloading the delivery. Zaman also said they themselves would handle the rest.
Paresh Barua assured him of not worrying about anything as chiefs of the National Security Intelligence (NSI) and Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) had already made all arrangements.
As per the records of the Hotel Golden Inn register on Station Road in Chittagong where Ulfa operatives stayed, room-305 was allocated to Asif Zaman at 5:45am on March 28, 2004, just three days before offloading the arms cache.
Asif Zaman's address was recorded as 97/5 Sher-e-Bangla Road, Mohammadpur, Dhaka. It is the same Zaman who actually went by the name of Paresh Barua. Asif was believed to be another fake name of an Ulfa leader.
Anthony Davis in the August 1, 2004 issue of Janes Intelligence Review wrote Naga rebel leader Anthony Shimray also accompanied Paresh Barua when the arms were being offloaded in Chittagong.
Anthony Shimray who is based in Manila in Philippines had flown to Chittagong via Bangkok around the time of the shipment.
Proofs were found that Asif, Zaman, Abul Hossain, Shahidul Islam and several others believed to have been involved in offloading arms and ammunition rented rooms in Hotel Golden Inn during March 28-30 in 2004.
They left the hotel never to return after the caches of weapon were seized in the morning of April 2.
Shahidul Islam rented room-317 of the hotel at 5:45 on March 28, 2004. The address of this Islam was also shown as 97/5 Sher-e-Bangla Road, Mohammadpur, Dhaka meaning that Shahidul Islam and Zaman lived in the same address.
Visit to the address in Dhaka reveals that none by the name of Shahidul Islam or Zaman had ever lived in that building.
Four more youths checked in the Hotel Golden Inn at the dead of night of March 28, 2004. They are Farhad Ahmed (Gulshan, Dhaka, room no-314), M Rahman (12/10 Islampur, Dhaka, room no-207), Shafiqur Rahman (459/2 South Kafrul, Dhaka, room no-405) and Anisur Rahman (459/2 South Kafrul, Dhaka, room-505).
Earlier 10 rooms of the hotel were rented for 20 Indian nationals; most of their addresses in the hotel register were shown as Babupara of Habra, West Bengal, India. They were not found in the room from the moment of the seizure of arms.
Investigations also revealed that the register book in which the names of those allegedly involved in the arms smuggling were recorded, disappeared from the hotel.
Hotel authorities said they sold the old register books with other odds and bits. But, a source close to the hotel management said intelligence agency men seized the register book six to seven months into the arms seizure.
The hotel authorities, however, denied the matter.
The investigation says Hafizur Rahman knew all about arms smuggling. Then chief of CID Chittagong region AKM Kabir Uddin and inspector Mohammad Shah Alam sent a review report on the arms haul to the CID headquarters in the last week of April in 2004.
The report reads Hafizur Rahman is proved to have had link with the international smuggling network of Pakistan's largest intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
The same report also goes on to say that Hafiz met a Pakistani at a room of Hotel Sundarban in Dhaka six months before the ten truckloads of arms seizure. After that Hafiz went to Pakistan, China, Rangoon (Myanmar) and Bangkok, sources close to Hafiz told the CID.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009 00:00 ||
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Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/08/2009 23:14 Comments ||
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#3
ION UK, ISRAEL FORUM > UK MODERATE ISLAMIC/MUSLIM LEADER CALLS FOR JIHAD AGZ BRITISH NAVY [iff it tries to stop delivery of arms to Hamas]; + SWEDEN: THE BEST MUSLIM STATE?; + [Video]BRTISH MP GEORGE GALLOWAY CALLS FOR ISRAEL'S DESTRUCTION AND SAYS SO!
An independent U.N. investigator on North Korea's human rights situation on Friday called for an ''effective response'' from North Korea to settle its past abductions of Japanese nationals. ''A number of cases concerning Japanese nationals abducted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea remain unsolved and require an effective response from the latter to ensure transparency and accountability,'' U.N. special rapporteur Vitit Muntarbhorn said in a report unveiled at the 10th session of the U.N. Human Rights Council.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009 00:00 ||
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#2
Anybody with the title "rapporteur" should be shot on sight, just on general principles.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/08/2009 1:57 Comments ||
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#3
Btw, "rapporteur" is (used to be) french for (the now commonly used) "reporter" (wasn't Tintin's scout newspaper named "Le petit rapporteur"???), and in familiar use, it means a snitch, with a pueril connotation (Ie the kid who goes telling the teacher what happened)..
#8
ION NORTH KOREA > seems NOKOR is warning SOKOR, the USA, + NIPPON that any attempt to shoot down its satellite will "precisely" MEAN WAR.
Lest we fergit, TOPIX > JAPAN: NORTH KOREAN MISSLE TO BE SHOT DOWN IFF AIMED/FLIES OVER JAPAN, including offshore territorial waters and islands.
HMMMMMMMM, again the comments made in Tokyo that CHINA shold take over NOKOR has prob rattle Pyongyang, all but officially indic or inferring that not only is NOKOR A FAILED OR FAILING SOCIALIST + COMMUNIST STATE, espec vee intact SOKOR, BUT THAT IS POTENS NATIONAL COLLAPSE MAY INDUCE/HARBINGER THE DIRECT LOSS OF MORE KOREAN ANCESTRAL HOMELAND TO MAINLAND CHINA???
IOW, PYONGYANG > MAY HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BY WAR???
A group of anti-Israeli protesters clashed with riot police outside an Israeli-Swedish Davis Cup tennis match in Sweden on Saturday, but did not break through police lines.
More than 100 masked demonstrators outside a sports arena threw bottles of paint, stones and firecrackers at police in riot squad vans and on horseback, sending the horses into a panic, amid a larger protest against the Scandinavian country's match with Israel.
Due to security concerns, the three-day match is being played in an empty stadium in this southwestern port city, which has a large immigrant population.
Why not play it in a city that has fewer excitable youts?
The youths clad in black, their faces covered with masks carrying banners saying "Turn left, smash right," and "Boycott Israel" joined a peaceful pro-Palestinian demonstration by about 6,000 people. About 200 of the hardliners began pelting police with stones, fireworks and paint bombs, Reuters witnesses said, while organizers of the official demonstration shouted at the masked protesters not to use violence against the authorities.
Worked well, didn't it ...
Police said they had detained 10 protesters.
Malmo, which is Sweden's third largest city and is ruled by a left-of-center coalition, was heavily criticised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and by Israeli players for its decision to close the stadium to the public.
Around 1,000 police officers have cordoned off a large area around the stadium to prevent protesters from getting in.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009 00:00 ||
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To friends and family, he was a maturing leader in the Muslim community, a passionate writer who was departing for Saudi Arabia for a career as a pharmacist. But the arrest of Tariq Mehanna in November, as he was about to board a plane at Logan International Airport for his new life in the Middle East, has cast the 26-year-old in darker terms, as a liar supporting and associating with terrorists.
With an indictment in federal court, the Sudbury man faces a maximum sentence of eight years in prison on charges of lying to investigators in a terrorism inquiry. But a community of supporters has rallied around him, questioning how Mehanna could have been ensnared in a federal case and whether he is being used a pawn in the FBI's war on terrorism. "They're kind of painting the wrong picture of the Muslim community," said S. Ahmad Zamanian of Houston, a friend of Mehanna's. "Anyone who has met Tariq . . . would all tell you that this man is far removed from anyone's definition of a terrorist."
Mehanna has been released pending trial after his parents posted more than $1 million in surety, including their sprawling Sudbury home. His lawyers, led by J.W. Carney Jr. of Boston, are challenging the case. But he is also fighting a separate battle to shed a stigma that has shadowed him since his arrest, as he faces scrutiny over his blog postings, his acquaintances, and his associations with people such as Daniel Maldonado, who later became the first American charged with terrorism activities in Somalia.
Just as often as Mehanna's friends have defended him, others have referred to him as an "Al Qaeda blogger." Thanks for the suggestion.
His interpretations of Arabic passages - seen as poetic by some - have been taken by critics as a promotion of Islamic fundamentalism. "You can bet that the FBI arrest on relatively minor charges was taken because there was a reasonable fear that Mehanna was leaving the country to join or further support the jihad himself," said a blogger known as Rusty Shackleford, on the popular Jawa Report website he runs that monitors terrorism investigations. Citing the ongoing case, the FBI and federal prosecutors would not comment for this article, only referring to the federal indictment.
It is clear that Mehanna did not help his case by openly supporting controversial figures such as Aafia Siddiqui, the Pakistani woman who was on the FBI's Most Wanted List before she was arrested last year on charges of shooting at a US soldier in Afghanistan. A 1995 MIT graduate, Siddiqui reportedly established ties with Al Qaeda during her time in Boston. In another example of questionable associations, some of the inspiration for Mehanna's writings were prominent fundamentalist figures such as Abdullah Azzam and Sayyid Qutb, who are considered significant influences by Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood, a fundamentalist movement.
Mehanna does not dispute his support of Siddiqui, or the sources of his writings. But through his lawyer, Carney, he characterized such support as nothing more than following his own beliefs. He says he has never met Siddiqui but is concerned with the controversy surrounding her arrest, noting her supporters around the world have questioned how a frail woman could have managed to wrestle a weapon away from armed military men and shoot at a soldier, while getting shot twice, as is reported. Humanitarian groups have also questioned her mysterious disappearance and sudden arrest in Afghanistan, he noted.
Also, through his lawyer, Mehanna questioned the characterization of the figures he cites in his blogs, saying they are considered "freedom fighters" by others, including those who supported Afghanistan's opposition to Soviet Union oppression two decades ago - a movement that was supported at the time by the US government. "You can take your inspiration from these leaders, and then others will characterize you, whether they agree with your actions or disagree," Carney said.
Mehanna was not one to hide his devotion to Islam, and he seemed to be more dedicated to his religion as he matured from a guitar-playing high school student into a local leader who taught at religious schools and gave sermons during Friday services. He created a blog called Iskandrani, a name tied to his Egyptian ancestry, and was considered a leader to teenagers at the Worcester Islamic Center. He went under the name Abu Sabaya, which he translated as "Father of Children." LOL
As he encountered others as devout as himself, Mehanna met Maldonado, a Massachusetts native who converted to Islam in 2000. Maldonado, also known as Daniel Aljughaifi, immersed himself in his new religion, wearing traditional Arab clothing and reportedly chastising anyone he considered to be a sinner, even criticizing Arabs who did not fulfill tradition by growing a full beard. The two met at a Lowell mosque some time around 2003. Maldonado eventually moved to Houston, where he worked for a website that had been criticized for its sympathetic views of terrorists. He uprooted with his family to Egypt, and then to Somalia, where he joined rebels who were trying to form a pure Islamic government.
Mehanna, who in that time earned a doctorate degree from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, spoke by phone with his old friend in December 2006 and he was invited to join in the fighting, authorities contend. Mehanna told Maldonado - who used code phrases such as "peanut butter and jelly," to say, "I'm here fighting" - that he should not say such things over the telephone, according to court records. "Death sandwich is right out"
Federal prosecutors allege Mehanna obstructed a terrorism investigation when he told FBI agents just days after the phone call that he had not spoken with Maldonado for weeks and that he thought Maldonado was still in Egypt. Because the FBI was conducting a terrorism investigation, the penalty of lying to the agency is more severe than similar charges of making false statements.
FBI agents with a Joint Terrorism Task Force had reached out to Mehanna as early as October 2005, asking him about a trip a year earlier to Yemen, according to court records. Carney has said in court that the trip was for educational purposes. But he has suggested that the interview was a disguise of other political intentions and said that the agents were really trying to turn his client into an informant. When Mehanna would not assist investigators, Carney said, agents set up his client, asking him about Maldonado's whereabouts when they already had him under surveillance in Somalia, Carney said.
After the interview about Maldonado, agents told Mehanna and his family - as recently as April 2008 - that they would file charges unless he cooperated, Carney has said in court. Carney said his client finished his school work, found a new career with attractive benefits, and was about to board a flight when agents arrested him - two years after the alleged crime. "At some point, he has to get on with his life," Carney said.
According to terrorism specialists, the tactic of turning low-level suspects into confidential informants is nothing new. It has been more common with the FBI, as agents have had a lack of success infiltrating Muslim communities on their own because of scant understanding of the culture and a shortage of agents who speak Arabic, said Mathieu Deflem, a professor at the University of South Carolina and author on terrorism subjects. He added that the FBI will do anything it can in the war on terrorism to prove it is succeeding.
But the strategy does not mean that the arrest of Mehanna was not justified, according to Jean Rosenbluth, a law professor at the University of Southern California, who said it was not a coincidence that Mehanna was arrested as he was about to leave for Saudi Arabia, which does not have an extradition treaty with the United States.
The case has offended some Muslims who have seen popular leaders targeted for minor offenses in the war on terrorism. In the case of Mehanna, local leaders crowded his initial court hearings as a show of support, saying they feel as if their community has been targeted since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Abdul Cader Asmal, a local leader and past president of the Islamic Center of Boston and the Islamic Council of New England, said the arrest of Mehanna was another setback for the Muslim community. Asmal said he cannot make a judgment on the arrest until the case is heard in court, but he added that the boy he shared Superman comic books with in Sunday school years ago deserved better treatment than to be arrested at an airport as he was about to start a new job. "Every time a Muslim is found to do something . . . he's treated as a common criminal," Asmal said. "And no one will stand up for the Muslim community."
#4
J. W. Carney, the Ramsey Clark of Massachusetts. At least he wins about as often. Likes sensational murder cases that gets his mug on the six o'clock news a lot. Good for business, not so good for his clients.
Were you aware of this when you picked him for counsel, Tariq?
Islamabad, Mar 8 (PTI) The Pakistani Taliban in the troubled Khyber tribal region have warned authorities not to issue national identity cards to women, saying the practice is un-Islamic.
Most everything is ...
Omar Farooq, the commander of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan in Khyber Agency, warned the National Database and Registration Authority that its offices would be attacked if it issued identity cards to women.
Farooq told reporters on phone from an unknown location that making identity cards for women went against Islamic rules. The Taliban will not allow women to obtain these cards, he said. He also warned women that they would have to face the consequences if they went to NADRA offices to get themselves registered for the identity cards.
The Taliban in Swat valley of the North Western Frontier Province and parts of the restive tribal have banned girls education and barred women from visiting markets unless they are accompanied by male relatives
This article starring:
Omar Farooq
Posted by: john frum ||
03/08/2009 14:44 ||
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#1
See also CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > TALIBAN GETTING STRONGER IN NWFP PAKISTAN; + WAFF > IRAN TO DEPLOY/STTAION 10,000 COMMANDOS ALONG AFGHAN-PAKISTAN BORDER.
NEW DELHI: "Indian Muslims are capable of solving their problems... We don't need your advice.. Don't try to alienate Indian Muslims by your remarks, here or in Pakistan."
This blunt message was conveyed to former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf by a prominent Muslim leader Mehmood Madani at a function in India.
Madani, member of Rajya Sabha and leader of Jamat-e-Ulema-i-Hind, made it clear to the Pakistani leader that he or his country need not bother about the condition of Muslims in India.
"Don't start your politics of Pakistan from here," Madani told Musharraf after the latter claimed that Muslims in India were alienated and suggested that this was one of the reasons for terrorism here.
Virtually retorting the former Pakistani military ruler, Madani said, "Pakistan ki jitni total population hai , us se zyada population hai Indian Muslims ki . (Population of Muslims in India is more than that total population of Pakistan). You should be knowing this."
When Musharraf said he was aware of it, Madani said "If you know this, then you should also know that Indian Muslims have the capability to solve their problems. We don't need your advise. Don't try to alienate Indian Muslims by your remarks, here or in Pakistan."
Posted by: john frum ||
03/08/2009 09:20 ||
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NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India and Pakistan must change the way they treat each other and bury a "dirty past" to tackle growing militancy in the region together, Pakistan's former President Pervez Musharraf said on Saturday.
"The past has been dirty, the past has been bad, but don't put the blame on Pakistan," Musharraf said at a media event in New Delhi late on Saturday. "You tried to do damage to us, we were not sitting idle, we tried to damage you."
He said both countries were to be blamed for decades of mistrust and dispute, but now need to move ahead.
"There is a need for attitudal change, more in India less in Pakistan," the former army general said, referring to India's regular allegations that Pakistan's spy agency, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), and the Pakistan army were behind militant strikes in India.
Musharraf asked India to stop what he described as "Pakistan bashing" and instead urged New Delhi to help the ISI and Pakistan's army fight militancy in the region.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/08/2009 08:44 ||
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#2
Putting the onus on India, he said a permanent solution to the Kashmir issue and thereby peace in the region can only be achieved if India, the bigger country showed "magnanimity" by making more concessions than Pakistan. "... the onus or initiative for reconciliation and accommodation is always shown by the larger country. We do understand India is a large country, and so, if Pakistan during mediation, steps to compromise, it is seen as a sell-out, it is seen as a sign of weakness, while if the same thing is done by a larger partner, (in this case ) India, it is seen as a sign of magnanimity and a sign of greatness".
Posted by: john frum ||
03/08/2009 10:01 Comments ||
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#3
Heh. We can't compromise because it would make us look weak, whereas you, on the other hand...
With logic like that, Perv could get himself a position in the Obama administration. At least he didn't blame India vs Pakistan on Bush.
Expressing solidarity with the Pakistani people in their anti-terrorism struggle, the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has pledged the Barack Obama administration's continued support for the country against Â"encroachment of terrorist networks.Â" Â"The threat of terrorism is one that every nation and every group of people has to contend with. The recent attack in Lahore against the Sri Lankan cricket team was just another senseless, violent act that took innocent (Pakistani) lives. Â"We can go and look at how so many of the countries represented here, including of course my own, have been affected by terrorists using new techniques and taking advantage of global networks in order to wreak havoc,Â" she told a group of young European leaders in Brussels, according to a transcript released here by the State Department. The chief U.S. diplomat added, Â"We are engaged in the Obama Administration in a policy review of our approach to Afghanistan-Pakistan, because we see them together. We want to help support the people of those two countries against the encroachment of terrorist networks.Â" Clinton claimed that much of the planning for terrorist activities come from border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan but at the same time acknowledged the stiffness of the challenge in combating them. The border areas, she said, Â"Are very difficult for either the Government of Pakistan or Afghanistan or any of our military forces to be able to reach.Â" The United States, she said, is Â"working closely with not only the European Union, but many individual countries and multilateral institutionsÂ" in addressing the menace of terrorism.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
No one ever reads it.
WARNING
CIGARETTES CAUSE LUNG CANCER
85% of lung cancers are caused by smoking.
80% of lung cancer victims die within three years.
As Pakistan battles radical Islam in different parts of the country, the base laid in the mid-70s, when children in schools and madrasas were introduced to an extremist syllabus, are now showing results.
An illustrated Urdu primer, published in Rawalpindi, the Pakistani Army garrison town near Islamabad, may not be an officially approved text book. But even now, it is being used by some regular schools and madrasas associated with the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), a hardline Islamist party that allied itself with Pervez Musharraf when he was President, as a learning tool.
The illustrations in the primer have the letters of the Urdu alphabet with accompanying images: Alif (A) for Allah, Bay (B) for bundooq (gun), Tay for takrao (collision), Jeem for jihad . Takrao is colourfully depicted by the image of the 9/11 planes crashing into the World Trade Centre.
A curriculum document prepared by Pakistans National Bureau of Curriculum and Textbooks, under the Federal Ministry of Education, 1995, wants children at the end of Class 5 to be able to:
* Make speeches on jihad and shahadata (martyrdom)
* Acknowledge and identify forces that may be working against Pakistan
* Understand Hindu-Muslim differences and the resultant requirements for Pakistan
Leading lights of Pakistans civil society have compiled these details, pointing to the damage that has been done through such propaganda.
Pakistans self-inflicted suffering comes from an education system that, like Saudi Arabias, provides an ideological foundation for violence and future jihadists, wrote Pervez Hoodbhoy, a Pakistani academic, in the magazine Newsline.
Pakistans Talibanisation is taking place from its schools. And these schoolchildren are making Pakistans future.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/08/2009 00:00 ||
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As Pakistan battles radical Islam in different parts of the country, the base laid in the mid-70s, when the Soddies raised the price of oil and could afford to start their global Da'wa effort, exporting death and totalitarianism 'round the world, children in schools and madrasas were introduced to an extremist syllabus, are now showing results.
Pakistan will seek $40 billion in aid and investment and $6 billion in annual budgetary support over five years during a meeting of the Friends of Pakistan forum and a donors' conference scheduled in Tokyo on April 17, sources told Daily Times on Saturday. And this get's us...what again?
I'll wait. "Friends of Pakistain"? That's what, a table for two at the hotel bar?
President Asif Ali Zardari will represent Pakistan during the meetings. Bilateral and multilateral donors will make pledges the same day. Don't expect the fat envelopes you'd see at a mafia wedding ...
The decision was made in a meeting at the President's House on Saturday, officials privy to the meeting told Daily Times.
The government would focus on seeking help from bilateral donors in the security, institution building, social development, infrastructure development, governance and energy sectors, the officials said. It will also seek market access for Pakistani goods, oil supplies on deferred payment, barter trade, a trust fund for the development of FATA and debt swaps from western countries, they added.
The participants of the meeting at the President's House discussed preparations for the events.
In a statement, Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said that the 15-member Friends of Pakistan group was formed in September last year on the initiative of President Asif Zardari to garner international support for bolstering Pakistan's security and economic situation. The countries and international bodies included in the group are Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the UAE, the UK, the US, the European Union, the EC and the United Nations. No doubt Bambi is supposed to lead the way with the fattest envelope ...
A number of other countries including Sweden, Norway, Spain and the Netherlands are also likely to join the initiative in the near future, Babar said.
Two meetings of the group have thus far been held, one in New York on September 26, 2008 and the other in the UAE on November 17, 2008.
The April meeting will be crucial as a clear affirmation of support of world powers to stand by Pakistan is considered invaluable for the country's long-term security, stability and economic development. The donors' conference on the same day in Tokyo will be attended by representatives of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank among other bodies to address issues relating to Pakistan's immediate financial problems.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
So chutzpah is a Paki word.
Posted by: ed ||
03/08/2009 9:55 Comments ||
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Zeb Gul used to sell music CDs in Mingora but was driven out of business by the Taliban engaged in peace talks with leaders desperate to halt their march across the nation.
The government insists the Taliban would not be allowed to enforce its harsh version of Islam here, but merchants like Gul know otherwise - he switched to selling poultry.
"The Taliban now call the shots. We cannot do anything that offends them," he said, standing outside his shop in this once-popular tourist destination less than two hours drive from Islamabad.
Leaders contend their peace talks with the Taliban in this region involve implementing a mild version of Islamic law, in which girls would still be allowed to attend school, vendors like Gul could continue to sell music and movies, and there would be no public floggings or executions.
But three weeks since a ceasefire took hold, the Taliban appear to have used the pause in fighting to tighten their hold over the Swat valley, especially in and around Mingora.
There is also scepticism the Taliban - who do not have to surrender any arms under the ceasefire - will modify their hard-line brand of Islam, as well as concern the region will simply become a safe haven for the Taliban.
In his tiny shop in Mingora's main bazaar, Ali Ahmed now hawks cell phones - not the Pakistani pop music he used to sell, deemed sinful by the Taliban. He says only that the "situation" means his music business was no longer viable.
Peace deal: Many analysts believe any final peace deal in Swat, like a previous agreement with the Taliban that failed last year, will eventually collapse leaving the Taliban in a stronger position, having been given time to consolidate.
Despite the current ceasefire, violence has continued. The Taliban killed two soldiers this week who they accused of patrolling without first informing them, one of the terms of the truce. The day after the ceasefire was formalised, a TV journalist from Pakistan's most popular news channel was abducted and murdered in an area known to be under Taliban control.
The government has been talking to the Taliban through Sufi Muhammad, an pro-Taliban cleric who has publicly renounced violence, but who leads a movement with identical political aims.
Government officials have defended the negotiations with Sufi as an attempt to isolate armed the Taliban from non-violent movements in the valley, even if the latter have extremist views.
"In America, they have thousands of laws they use, they have their own system," said Amir Izzat, a spokesman for Sufi. "Here we are Muslims. We are the supporters of the Islamic system and this is our right and we will use our right to live according to the holy Quran and the Hadiths," he said.
The overall peace talks have been shrouded in secrecy: Neither the process for formalising any deal nor who would enforce it has been clearly explained. A spokesman for President Asif Ali Zardari says the Pakistani leader will not sign any changes in the law affecting Swat until peace and the authority of the government have been restored there.
Residents, many of whom fled during the fighting, are simply glad of the respite from army shelling and brutal Taliban executions designed to dissuade anyone from resisting their authority.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Too fuckin bad, folks. You want em, you got em. Quit bitchin and enjoy it.
#2
Leaders contend their peace talks with the Taliban in this region involve implementing a mild version of Islamic law, in which girls would still be allowed to attend school, vendors like Gul could continue to sell music and movies, and there would be no public floggings or executions.
But three weeks since a ceasefire took hold, the Taliban appear to have used the pause in fighting to tighten their hold over the Swat valley, especially in and around Mingora.
#3
"Leaders contend their peace talks with the Taliban in this region involve implementing a mild version of Islamic law, in which girls would still be allowed to attend school, vendors like Gul could continue to sell music and movies, and there would be no public floggings or executions."
The so-called "leaders" were idiots if they believed that.
Here's an idea: The negotiators should have to agree to live in Czechoslovakia the area they're giving away negotiating about.
If they're not willing to do that, we know they know it's all bullshit. (We already know it's bullshit.)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/08/2009 18:47 Comments ||
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#4
Here's an idea: The negotiators should have to agree to live in the area they're negotiating about.
I like it. Canaries in the coal mine. Make sure their families live there and attend public school (without private security)
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/08/2009 19:00 Comments ||
Top||
#5
So they didn't adopt the Swedish social democratic model?
Terrified, locked up at home and courting death if they go out alone, women oppressed by the Taliban in Swat have nothing to celebrate on International Women's Day.
Nearly 100 years after the annual day was created to mark the struggle for equal rights for half the world's population, most women in Swat look blank and go silent when asked about gender rights and discrimination.
They are too frightened to speak in public. They can only leave the confines of their homes accompanied by a male relative, their bodies hidden in veils.
"How can I tell you my name, are you crazy? I was told not to give my name to anyone because the Taliban could hurt me," one girl in the ninth grade told AFP by telephone from the former ski resort.
Last month, the government signed a widely criticised agreement with a pro-Taliban cleric to enforce sharia law in exchange for a ceasefire in a region where most locals say the Taliban have become the masters.
The girl's dreams of becoming a doctor are over. She worries the Taliban will stop her finishing school, regardless of her parents' support.
"My mother told me I can do anything, but my inner soul is shattered."
"Tell me if you stop women getting an education where will a sick woman go? Do you want her to go to a male doctor? I was told that education is compulsory for every man and woman in Islam but the Taliban destroyed our schools."
The Taliban have destroyed 191 schools in the valley, 122 of them for girls, leaving 62,000 pupils with nowhere to study, local officials say.
Huma Batool -- not her real name -- is a 42-year-old mother of two who dices with death to teach girls at a private school in the region's main town Mingora.a.
"We have to veil ourselves and wear shuttlecock burqas. We are not safe even at home. We fear the Taliban all the time. Life is becoming worse and worse for women in Swat," she told AFP by telephone.
Educated and financially self-sufficient, she cannot even visit shops without a male relative, leaving her frequently couped up at home for hours, waiting for a suitable escort to become available.
"You cannot imagine how I manage to get to school, practically every day I think about leaving the job and sitting at home."
Taliban hardliners have outlawed entertainment as un-Islamic, shut down beauty parlours and closed shops considered dens of vice rather than virtue.
"Life bores us to tears. There is no entertainment. We can't even think about cable TV, cinema, film and music. Imagine I can't even go shopping or to the bazaar as women are banned by Taliban."
Salma Javed, 35, is a nurse at a local hospital, where women -- however sick -- can only be admitted if accompanied by a male relative.e.
"Every woman fears she will be killed if she comes out, so even sick and pregnant women have to visit hospital with their husbands."
"Now we are waiting to see what will happen after the peace deal, but let me tell you things will not change for women," she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
"things will not change for women,"
If you believe women should have equal rights, arm them and teach them to fight. But in the end I think they'd mostly rather be dependent subjects than independent and responsible, just like most men.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Saturday said the government is addressing issues pertaining to discriminatory laws against women, and they appealed to political parties to join hands and rise above partisan politics to extricate women from the agony of discriminatory laws.
In their separate messages on the occasion of International Women's Day, falling on March 8, they congratulated the women of the world in general and of Pakistan in particular and saluted them for their struggle for emancipation and putting an end to discrimination.
Zardari: The president urged parliamentarians to revisit the laws discriminatory to women and review them. The government felt a special responsibility towards women-related issues and considered the promotion of women's rights as a moral, political and religious obligation, he said. The president said women the world over and in Pakistan had been subjected to varying degrees of discrimination, exploitation and violence. "It is simply the result of prejudice. This situation must change; it will," he said. Zardari said Pakistan had the distinction of having Benazir Bhutto as the first woman elected as prime minister of an Islamic nation. He said for the first time the country now had a woman as the speaker of the National Assembly. "These are distinctions of which the women of Pakistan, indeed all of us, can genuinely feel proud," he said. President Zardari said during the two tenures of Benazir Bhutto's government, a trend was set in gender equality and protection of women from violence.
He said the introduction of the Benazir Income Support Programme, with a focus on women, was a step in the direction of empowering women of the country and that it would expand into a social action programme largely for the benefit of women in the rural area.
PM Gilani: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said the government accorded high priority to the development and empowerment of women, and was addressing issues pertaining to discriminatory laws, introducing new legislation, and earnestly stepping up its efforts to eliminate abuse of women in all its forms, with the active involvement of women parliamentarians, civil society organisations and NGOs. "These prejudices persist in every country as a pervasive violation of human rights and a major impediment to achieving gender equality. Zero tolerance of violation against women is the target of this government," Gilani said.
He reiterated the government's commitment of enabling women to play their due role in the socio-economic development of Pakistan, in line with the vision of Benazir Bhutto. The prime minister said, "No nation can afford to ignore women as they form almost fifty percent of the world's population." The prime minister said he was confident that "if we safeguard the rights and acknowledge the contribution of women in our development agenda, we can make Pakistan a peaceful and a prosperous country".
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009 00:00 ||
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THE United States will pull 12,000 troops out of Iraq by the end of September in an acceleration of the US withdrawal, Iraqi government spokesman Ali Dabbagh said.
"We have agreed that a total of 12,000 US troops will be withdrawn by the end of September 2009,'' he said.
"In addition, 4000 British troops will withdraw in July 2009 according to an agreement between the United Kingdom and Iraq,'' Mr Dabbagh said alongside coalition forces spokesman Major General David Perkins of the US army.
(AKI) - A man identifying himself as a member of the self-proclaimed Palestinian group, Ahrar al-Jalil, on Friday claimed responsibility for the bulldozer attack in West Jerusalem in a telephone call to Palestinian news agency Maan.
In a statement, Ahrar al-Jalil - or Free men of Galilee - claimed the bulldozer driver, 26-year-old Mari al-Rdaidah, was one of its members. The little-known group has also claimed responsibility for three other similar attacks in the city over the past year, according to Maan.
Al-Rdaidah was shot dead by police after the bulldozer he was driving rammed a police car, causing it to flip over several times as the digger sped down a West Jerusalem road, dragging the car behind it. Two policemen were injured in the incident, which occurred on Jerusalem's main Begin Highway. An Israeli taxi driver said he also shot al-Rdaidah four times before police arrived.
The family of al-Rdaidah, who was married with a child, have denied Israeli claims that the collision was a terrorist attack, saying it was an accident. He was a resident of the West Jerusalem suburb of Beit Hanina, which was annexed by Israel in 1967.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009 00:00 ||
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I'm seriously considering starting my own group.
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad resigned from his post Saturday to pave the way for the formation of a national unity government and reconciliation with Hamas. "Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has submitted his resignation from the government of president Mahmud Abbas.
But shortly after the prime minister's brief written statement, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah told reporters he had asked Fayyad to "continue with his work until we see the results" of Egyptian-sponsored talks between the rivals over forming a new unity government.
Fayyad, a politically independent former World Bank economist, was appointed prime minister following the Hamas movement's takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, which cleaved the Palestinians into two hostile camps.
The two sides met with other Palestinian factions in Cairo on Feb. 26 to launch a reconciliation process aimed at forming a national unity government in the wake of Israel's massive offensive against Gaza at the turn of the year.
They agreed to form five committees to oversee the creation of a government that would supervise Gaza reconstruction efforts and prepare for fresh presidential and parliamentary elections in January 2010.
"We consider that the positive climate seen in the first round of dialogue offers an opportunity that has to be exploited to put an end to divisions and as a basis on which to reach unity and reconciliation," Fayyad's office stated.
However the European Union and the United States continue to blacklist Hamas as a terrorist organization and in the past have boycotted any Palestinian government that includes the group.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009 00:00 ||
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Iran said on Saturday the United States and world powers will be unable to restore stability in neighboring Afghanistan without the help of the Islamic Republic. "The U.S. and global powers have realized that the issues in Afghanistan cannot be solved without the presence of the Islamic Republic," Iranian government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham told reporters.
Elham added that Iran would consider a U.S. invitation to take part in a meeting on Afghanistan and it was ready to offer any help to its eastern neighbor.
"If America and European countries and others need to use Iran, they should give us (the invitation). We will review it with the approach that we are ready to offer any help to Afghanistan," Elham said.
"Stability in Afghanistan and issues there are priorities for Iran, and it is important for us to help them."
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday that President Barrack Obama's government intended to invite Iran to an international conference on Afghanistan planned for this month.
"There are a lot of reasons why Iran would be interested," Clinton said. "So they will be invited. Obviously it is up to them to decide whether to come."
Clinton's comments were seen as the latest overture by the U.S. administration of President Barack Obama towards Iran.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009 00:00 ||
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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.
U.N. Security Council failed to order Sudan to reverse its decision to expel 13 international aid groups from the country amid disagreement between permanent members, according to news reports on Saturday. 
Terrified, locked up at home and courting death if they go out alone, women oppressed by the Taliban in Swat have nothing to celebrate on International Women's Day.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Saturday said the government is addressing issues pertaining to discriminatory laws against women, and they appealed to political parties to join hands and rise above partisan politics to extricate women from the agony of discriminatory laws.
