The murders on Saturday of five NATO soldiers by a Taliban suicide bomber who enlisted as an Afghan National Army soldier marked the latest in a rising toll of coalition troop deaths at the hands of Afghan security forces they are attempting to train.
Since January, 13 troops with the International Security Assistance Force have been killed when Afghan police, soldiers or security guards -- or insurgents who infiltrated their ranks -- attacked coalition forces. These types of killings have accounted for the deaths of at least 38 coalition personnel since 2009, according to a Stars and Stripes review, constituting roughly 3 percent of the hostile fire deaths among troops during that time.
By comparison, 27 troops were killed by mortar or indirect fire attacks launched by insurgents during that same time period, according to the independent website icasualties.org.
Surprisingly, the killers are not usually Taliban sleeper agents or impostors. They often appear to be regular Afghan troops who start shooting after some dispute with coalition troops, according to the NATO command in charge of training Afghan security forces.
"[The shootings are] usually related to people getting into arguments," said Lt. Col. David Simons, spokesman for the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan, who said his conclusion was based on incident reports.
"Let's put it in the vernacular of a bar fight. But here, they have weapons," Simons said. "It's just, somebody told them to do something. Or they didn't like the way they were talked to."
Culture clash instead of Sudden Jihad Syndrome.
The attacks could also reflect the larger cultural clash between Western troops and their Afghan counterparts.
"There's a cultural misunderstanding," said Thomas Barfield, the chairman of Boston University's Anthropology Department, who has spent years in Afghanistan, beginning in the 1970s. "The Afghans see stuff as offensive. The Americans don't think they're giving offense."
For example, the different ways that Afghan and Western soldiers handle their weapons can set up conflicts, Barfield said.
"Afghans do not have what the American military considers good control over their weapons," he said. "They point them at people. So American troops yell at them. So you've got people with lethal weapons. You have not instilled enough discipline in the [Afghan recruit]. And an insult an American might consider mild, an Afghan might consider deadly."
The opportunities for conflict are numerous, said Barfield, whose most recent visit to Afghanistan was in February. Encounters with Afghan women can be especially sensitive.
"The Americans say, 'We didn't disrespect the women.' The Afghans say, 'You weren't supposed to see them at all,' " Barfield said. "It shows the men as powerless, and it's an insult to their honor."
[Tolo News] Islamabad has for the first time established a joint commission for peace establishment in Afghanistan and Pakistain, Pakistain PM said in Kabul on Saturday.
"In consultation with President Karzai, Chairman Prof. Burhanuddin Rabbani ... the legitimate president of Afghanistan... and members of the high peace council both sides have agreed to establish the Afghanistan-Pakistain joint commission for facilitating and promoting reconciliation and peace," Mr Yusuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... said.
He said he also echoes President Zardari's recent comments published in the Guardian.
"As far as President Zardari's statement is concerned, I fully endorse that statement that he said that a war in Afghanistan can destabilise Pakistain and it is vice versa so the war on terrorism is directly affecting Pakistain not only in form of casualties but in form of economy as well," said Mr Gilani.
He also added that his country will support any Afghan-led efforts to establish peace in Afghanistan.
The Pak Prime Minister said the war in Afghanistan is destabilising Pakistain.
President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... has welcomed the establishment of the peace commission to put an end to insecurity in both countries.
Mr Karzai said the United States and Pakistain can play an important role in bringing peace to Afghanistan and also urged Soddy Arabia and Tukrey to play their role in bring peace to the country.
While international community and the Afghan government have repeatedly said that terrorist sanctuaries exist on Pak soil, but Mr Gilani denied the existence of such sanctuaries and stresses on the fight against terrorism.
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[Christian Science Monitor] - As the dust settles in Afghanistan after sustained protest over a Florida pastor's Quran burning, many residents in Kandahar are facing an unpleasant truth: More Qurans were burned in the course of their protests than by Terry Jones. The demonstrations, which started peacefully, quickly turned violent, killing at least nine people and injuring scores in Kandahar City alone.
On Wednesday, the province's top spiritual leaders moved to address the irony -- and promote restraint at a time when passions are running high over the US war effort. They called a shura, or meeting, and told the crowd of several hundred people that gathered in a tent at Kandahar University how to protest in an Islamic manner. Inside the tent, many looked down and thumbed prayer beads as various speakers shouted into microphones, delivering their passionate pleas for order at future demonstrations.
Seek elders' advice, said the mullahs. "They know the Islamic law for when to protest," said Haji Rahmudeen, head of the Kandahar Business Association, in his address to the crowd.
There was much speculation that Wednesday's event could end in yet another protest. Indeed, all the ingredients were there to stoke the ever-present well of anger over the ongoing foreign presence. During Mr. Omar's speech, he reminded the crowd that America was still the enemy and its soldiers are "killing our 2-year-old children in our homes." At an Afghan demonstration, such remarks would normally be met with shouts from the crowd and calls for "Death to America." But on Wednesday, the crowd just quietly listened. When the event ended, few people stayed even to socialize as the crowd shuffled out of the tent, returning to their cars or bicycles. "We are serious about it. We don't want these kinds of demonstrations in our province. If people want to react to something, they must do it in a peaceful way," said Maulavi Enayatullah, a member of the religious scholar's union in Kandahar city after attending Wednesday's gathering.
#1
If they burn a shop, there is a Quran in every shop, so this is a big problem, So when do the good Muslim Afghans start executing the perpetrators? Foreign jihadis are just as foreign as Americans in Afghanistan, and they have proven far more dangerous. Maybe some day the Afghans will learn. But today isn't that day.
NEW DELHI: The owners of a hijacked ship said on Saturday that they were perplexed by the continuing detention of some of their crew members by Somali pirates despite their paying a multimillion-dollar ransom.
Is there no honor amongst pirates?
Pirates released the ship and some of the crew on Friday. But a Somali pirate told The Associated Press afterward that the Indian crew members' hostage ordeal is being prolonged in retaliation for the arrests of more than 100 Somali pirates by the Indian Navy. However, the ship owners said on Saturday that all the crew members of the Asphalt Venture were Indian -- not just the seven still being held.
All 15 crew members, held hostage after September's attack, were Indian, Sunil Puri, a New Delhi-based spokesman for Interglobal, a United Arab Emirates-based company that owns the ship, told the AP. On Friday, Hassan Farah said pirates in stronghold of Haradhere in Somalia had taken a collective decision not to release the Indian crew members.
Puri called the pirates' action "unprecedented," and said that it wasn't immediately clear why the pirates acted as they did. "We are still trying to ascertain why that happened. We kept our side of the bargain. We don't know why they weren't released. This is an unprecedented situation. In the past they have always kept their word," Puri said.
While Puri did not reveal the amount of ransom paid, pirates are receiving an average of $5 million to release ships and crew, and a ransom in that ballpark was believed to have been paid on Friday.
The Indian navy has seized around 120 pirates, mostly from Somalia, over the past few months. Last month the Indian navy captured 61 pirates when they attacked a naval ship. Indian warships have been escorting merchant ships as part of international anti-piracy surveillance in the Indian Ocean area since 2008.
#1
The idea that somalia has no government is a legal fiction promoted by l;iberal butt lickers. India could simply declare war on somalia, invade, kill thousands of somalians in unlimited war, sink every ship and boat that was not a captured ship, destroy all the port facilities,tell the UN to get bent , then leave.So could any other country with a real leader.
#2
India could simply declare war on somalia, invade, kill thousands of somalians in unlimited war, sink every ship and boat that was not a captured ship, destroy all the port facilities,tell the UN to get bent, then leave
Pakistan (and China) would like that. And I wouldn't be too sure on the "and leave" part - at least on a set schedule. On the bright side, it'd be a repeat of the 'flypaper strategy'.
There is still "no question" of an international invasion of Libya, David Cameron has said, despite admitting the constraints on ground forces were making the mission more difficult.
Six civilians were reported killed and dozens more injured in the besieged rebel-held town of Misrata as forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi kept up a barrage of rockets and other fire.
Prime Minister David Cameron said the Nato-led air strikes on regime military targets had helped prevent massacres and the taking of Misrata but opposition forces have called for a stronger intervention.
While the United Nations Security Council authorised "all necessary measures" to protect civilians - it specifically ruled out the presence of any occupying force on the ground.
With the two sides mired in a stalemate, Mr Cameron conceded that meant the international allies were not able to "fully determine the outcome".
#1
Between those tough guys, the French, and the straight forward no nonsense talking Brits, we now have a clear picture of what we are into in Libya.
Compared to the Euros, our current foreign policy team (I'm excluding Hillary here, she isn't allowed to make policy)is a bunch of naive children.
The rest of the world is laughing at Obama and watching his foreign policy being led around by the nose by every foreign dignitary that can stand to sit in the same room with him.
I think Carter will be relieved to know that he will no longer be listed as the worst president in American history. The libs who write textbooks will try to spin it every which way, but the empty suit hiding under his desk in the oval office is a complete and utter catastrophic failure. That puts the "fifth estate" the media completely naked as incompetent and partisan to even the door stop IQ's that voted for this waste of oxygen in the first place.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
04/17/2011 17:42 Comments ||
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#2
Uncle Muammar will leave Libyuh only iff the proper concessions + compensations [kowtows] to Him are made.
Also read, NO TRIALS OR OTHER PROSECUTIONS AGZ HIM FOR WAR CRIMES = CRIMES AGZ HUMANITY.
That being said, iff-n-when He does choose to leave Libyuh + Ruling Power, IMO Muammar will likely choose Cold War ally RUSSIA, since SADAT + now MUBARAK are gone + fellow anti-Israel ally EGYPT, Other has gone the way of the Muslim Brotherhood = Radical Islam or are at risk of doing so. Muammar prolly trusts Russ to be brutal agz anyone's attempts to kidnap or kill him once under their flag.
Iff not Russia, then prolly one of the usual comfy Neutral Euro-States where his Security, Identity, + $$$ Wealth can be heavily protected.
#3
WAFF > WE BETTER GET OUT OF LIBYA NOW BEFORE UGANDA + AFRICAN UNION ATTACK US! | UGANDA LASHES OUT AT FOREIGN STAKES IN AFRICA, as symbolized by the Libyan Crisis + NFZ.
ARTIC = The African Union will not tolerate any FOREIGN = EURO INTERFERENCE OR INTERVENTION [control?] IN AFRICAN AFFAIRS???
* Also, CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > {PressTV] LIBYAN RULER MUAMMAR GADDAFI HAS MADE TWO MISTAKES [as per US-NATO/EU = African affairs]: IT BLOCKED US AFRICA COMMAND BY NOT JOINING IT, + LET CHINA INTO LIBYA BY WID MAJOR ENERGY INVESTMENTS INSTEAD, SAYS FORMER US OFFICIAL.
Former US Treasury AsstSec DR. PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS.
ARTIC > ROBERTS = US-NATO/EU desire to remove or eliminate China from influence in the Mediterranean, + thus dev Hegemony + control of Mediterranean Energy resources [+ Africa], NEXT US-NATO TARGET AFTER LIBYUH WILL BE SYRIA DUE TO LARGE RUSSIAN NAVAL PRESENCE THERE.
[Ennahar] "To crown the institutional structure aimed at strengthening democracy, it is important to introduce the necessary amendments to the Constitution" of 1996, Bouteflika ... 10th president of Algeria. He was elected in 1999 and is currently on his third term, which is probably why Algerians are ready to dump him... said in this highly anticipated speech of 20 minutes.
"I have expressed on numerous occasions, my desire to revise the Constitution and I reiterated this belief and this desire on several occasions", said the Algerian head of state by announcing the creation of a constitutional commission "to be attended by political currents acting and experts in constitutional law."
The committee "will make proposals which I will ensure compliance with the fundamental values of our society, before submitting them to parliament for approval or your approval by referendum," he said.
Bouteflika also announced a revision of the electoral law and the law on political parties.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Heck, we have a President who does the same thing too.
[Maghrebia] Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) on Wednesday (April 13th) gained official recognition from the international contact group in Doha.
NTC representative Mahmoud Jibril said the move by foreign ministers and diplomats was "the "correct beginning for dealing with the Libyan crisis on the part of the international community".
Participants agreed "to set up a temporary financial mechanism that would help the National Transitional Council and the international community manage aid to meet short-term financial needs as well as essential needs in Libya", a forum communiqué said.
The group also stressed the need for Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy ... Custodian of Wheelus AFB for 42 long years ... to leave to avoid further bloodshed.
"The Transitional Council presented its vision for a solution in Libya and provided all the guarantees to the international community that Libya will stay within the international community and will be bound by its laws," Jibril told Al-Shorfa.
Jibril said that the National Transitional Council requested arms and equipment to help the rebels overthrow Qadaffy's regime. "Otherwise, I think that the problem will last longer, and neither air strikes nor the imposition of a no-fly zone on the Libyan regime will be sufficient," he said.
He criticised the Turkish initiative that was introduced because it did not contain any reference to Qadaffy's departure. Jibril said he would oppose any initiative that did not include such a stipulation.
The Turkish initiative called for a cease-fire in cities surrounded by pro-regime forces, a corridor to be opened to allow the distribution of aid, and negotiations leading to free elections. It did not call for the removal of Qadaffy and his family.
Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani said during a presser after the meeting that the final communiqué opens the door to provide the Libyan opposition with means for "self-defence".
"The Libyan people need to defend themselves to resist persistent attacks by Qadaffy's forces," he said.
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[Bangla Daily Star] Jamaat-e-Islami has expressed concern over the lives of its leaders Motiur Rahman Nizami and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid, who will be quizzed at a "safe home" in Dhanmondi instead of Dhaka Central Jail for links to war crimes.
Terming the "safe home" a torture cell, Jamaat acting secretary general ATM Azharul Islam said, "We are deeply concerned about the safety of our leaders. The Safe Home is in an area, which is considered a ruling party stronghold."
He was speaking at a presser at the party headquarters in the city's Moghbazar area.
The Jamaat leader announced a countrywide protest rally on April 18 demanding cancellation of the remand of the two party leaders.
"The government will have to take the full responsibility, if anything happens to the two top leaders," Ahzarul said.
The International Crimes Tribunal on April 13 allowed interrogators to quiz the two at a "Safe Home" in Dhanmondi from 10:00am to 5:00pm on two dates.
During a court hearing, defence counsel Munshi Ahsan Kabir said the "safe home" is in a residential area that lacks security and medical facilities.
But Chief Prosecutor Ghulam Arieff Tipoo rejected the claim and told the court that the "Safe Home" is well-secured.
On April 5, the tribunal allowed Sherlocks to quiz Nizami and Mojahid inside Dhaka Central Jail in connection with 1971 war crimes.
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The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said that not covering the face is a "shortcoming" and suggested that any Muslims who advocate being uncovered could be guilty of rejecting Islam.
In a statement published on its website the MCB, warns: "We advise all Muslims to exercise extreme caution on this issue, since denying any part of Islam may lead to disbelief.
"Not practising something enjoined by Allah and his Messenger is a shortcoming. Denying it is much more serious."
The statement quotes from the Koran: "It is not for a believer, man or woman, that they should have any option in their decision when Allah and his Messenger have decreed a matter."
The statement will add to controversy about the veil after France earlier this week banned the full-face covering.
There are moderate Muslims, and some of them speak up. Here is another case study.
To Hasan Afzal, the reaction to his new pro-Israel group may demonstrate just why the organization is necessary.
Ive been really overwhelmed just by how shocked people have been that theres been a group called British Muslims for Israel, Afzal said.
That surprise isnt surprising. The debate over Israel and the broader Middle East conflict has become so tense and toxic that a group calling itself British Muslims for Israel inspires a mix of suspicion and fascination. But Afzals group is real. Formed by young Muslim professionals in Britain in January under the umbrella group Institute for Middle Eastern Democracy, it really took off after Afzal was interviewed by Israels Channel 10. Their Web site (BritishMuslimsForIsrael.com) received thousands of hits and the group began receiving letters of all kinds, from thank you for what you said to how can we help? One writer offered to help jazz up their Web site, and several spoke admiringly of the groups bravery.
Although I never for one second thought I was being brave, I just thought I was being obvious in what I was saying, Afzal told me. We were worried that the dialogue, when it comes to the Middle East and especially Israel, had in the past five or six years moved from how do Muslims build an independent Palestinian state and coexist with Israel, to nonsense questions like should Israel even exist, or should the Jews even have a homeland, Afzal said. And we found that disturbing for two reasons: first is, its a completely delusional question to even ask if Israel should even exist.
Afzal likes to pose the following hypothetical to anyone willing to discuss Israels right to exist: Suppose the argument was about India-Pakistan, and Afzal said to his interlocutor, you know, I really support Indias right to existhow silly would he sound? In addition, Afzal knows where such a question, with respect to Israel, would lead. Once you start asking if Israel has a right to exist, Afzal said, that is almost like a back door Trojan horse entry to some pretty dark aspects of Islamism.
The media environment in Britain can be downright hostile to the Jewish state. Part of Afzals work is countering the misinformation in British media. Im sure you know that the UK has an infamous leftwing newspaper which cant help itself but print editorials or op-eds linked to members of Hamas. And Im talking about the Guardian here.
Afzal points to the coverage of the massacre of the Israeli family in Itamar. It was mostly ignored in British media, he said, and when the BBC finally covered it, they did so in a dehumanizing and insulting way, insinuating that since the family lived in the West Bank, they got what they deserved.
Though Israel does have a tense relationship with European intellectuals and media, these groups arent ready to give upquite the opposite. Thats because the media in Britain, according to Afzal, doesnt speak for the people. I asked him how representative British media is of the populations opinions on the whole.
Its not representative, which is the bottom line, he said. But their work remains so important because such biased media coverage can, over time, erode sympathy for Israel even among its supporters. Take your average consumer of news in Britain, he said. If he gets the same anti-Israeli, delegitimized point of view, day in and day out, then decent people will start to turn their backs on Israel.
On a cultural level, Afzal made a point to avoid the traditional talk of coexistence between Jews and Muslims in Europe and beyond. He isnt opposed, of course, to this activity, but rather wants to take it beyond the commonalities and into the realm of real debate.
What I would say about coexistence groups is, its great having a Muslim and a Jew in a room together and agreeing that we shouldnt eat pork and agreeing that male children should be circumcised, he said. But what youll rarely find is that they actually talk about the issues that matter. So thats why we try not to get too into the coexistence game. We have set beliefs and its our job to advocate it to the grassroots Muslim community and beyond.
#2
I think the extremists are terrified of any voices of moderation, because of a simple point.
If you look at any group of people, including Muslims, the vast majority of them have "inertia". They just live their lives and never really "do" much of anything other than that.
Extremists of all kinds are always a minority, and their hardest problems is having to push and coerce this inert majority into doing anything. Typically, they do so with violence against their own people, and desperately try to create the illusion that the majority are extremist.
For example, while the vast majority of post-Czarist leftists in Russia were moderates, or "Mensheviks", the "Bolsheviks", a tiny minority, had a name that meant "majority".
In a civilized society, extremists have to do everything in their power to keep the majority isolated and apart from society at large. Because if they integrate, they are no longer under control.
They also are reliant on creating a persecution or victimization complex among their people, the actually rather rare "Islamophobia". Which in most cases should instead be called "Islamoskepticism".
In any event, over time, more and more Muslims in the west are going to start noticing that they aren't persecuted, and are treated fairly equally, or enough so that extremism is seen as just that. Not offering them anything of value.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Saturday that talks should be held with Islamist movements in the Arab world if they embraced democracy and renounced violence.
A diplomatic source said the statement marked a radical shift in France's foreign policy amid popular uprisings in Arab countries.
"We should talk and exchange ideas with all those who respect the rules of the democratic game and of course the fundamental principle of renouncing violence," Juppe said during the closing speech of a Paris symposium on revolts in the Arab world.
"I hope that this dialogue will open unashamedly with Islamic movements as soon as the principles I just mentioned -- the rules of the democratic game -- are respected," he said.
The diplomatic source said Juppe's remarks represented a significant change in French foreign policy. "France is open to dialogue with all players of the democratic game," he said.
A series of popular uprisings in Arab nations from Tunisia to Libya has raised concerns about Islamist movements such as Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood or Tunisia's newly legalized Ennahda (Awakening) movement gaining in influence.(AFP)
Iran and Turkey opened a third border crossing Saturday, with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu proclaiming the two neighbors "friends for eternity," Anatolia news agency reported.
Davutoglu inaugurated the new crossing at Kapikoy in eastern Turkey's Van province with his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi, and said a fourth would open in June at Esendere in the southeast.
A fifth would follow at Dilucu in northeast Turkey, Davutoglu said, without giving a date.
"Our prime minister has set a target of 30 billion dollars" in annual trade with Iran, Anatolia quoted him as saying. "That is why we are opening this border crossing."
"Currently Iran-Turkey trade stands at 11 billion dollars annually and we are trying to hike it to 30 billion dollars," Salehi said.
Relations between the two neighbors have blossomed since the conservative Islamic-based government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to power in 2002.
Erdogan determined to triple the value of their bilateral trade -- which at present consists mainly of sales of Iranian gas to Turkey -- by 2015.
Turkey has reluctantly agreed to implement economic sanctions against Iran approved by the United Nations Security Council because of Tehran's nuclear program, which the West suspects is aimed at weapons development.
#1
ION BYZANTIUM, TODAY'S ZAMAN > TURKEY'S STAKES IN DANGER AS UNREST RAGES IN SYRIA. Various Perts.
Turkey fears ...
> Affect of unrest on Syria's own domestic KURDISH POPULATION, + ultimately as per TURKEY'S KURDS on the Syria-Turkey border.
> Affect on Thurkey's vital international trade flows which route through Syria.
> LOSS OF ASSAD REGIME + SYRIA = DECISIVE? LOSS + FAILURE OF ALL OF TURKEY'S REGIONAL PROJECTS, INTERESTS WID VARIOUS NEIGHBORING STATES.
Loss of Syria + its Region-stabilizing influence more serious to Turkey than Diplomatic, Geopol brouhahas wid Iran.
* OTOH CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > WHILE MOST OF ALLAH'S STATES [Muslim Nations]STILL PUT AN ALL-OUT EFFORT TO GET [1930's?] 1930 TECHNOLOGY = NUCLEAR BOMBS, THE US IS ABOUT TO PERFECT ITS ABM SYSTEM.
#2
HMMMMM, HMMMM, I have to wonder iff the Turko-Syrian KURDS will in time become akin to the "SOUTH KURILES" issue between Russia + Japan, i.e. SCO-CSTO BFF RUSSIA + CHINA as per Russ isolating or containing "strategic partner" China from North China Sea + NORPAC, ARCTIC NAVAL, TRADE ROUTES???
CNN has obtained a list of roughly 70 "behavioral indicators" that TSA behavior detection officers use to identify potentially "high risk" passengers at the nation's airports.
Many of the indicators, as characterized in open government reports, are behaviors and appearances that may be indicative of stress, fear or deception. None of them, as the TSA has long said, refer to or suggest race, religion or ethnicity. If you're standing there quietly trying not to draw attention to yourself, you might be trying to hide something. If you are drawing attention to yourself, you might be doing so to try to hide something.
But one addresses passengers' attitudes towards security, and how they express those attitudes.
It reads: "Very arrogant and invokes first amendment rights expresses contempt against airport passenger procedures." This alone ought to invalidate this "indicator".
TSA officials declined to comment on the list of indicators, but said that no single indicator, taken by itself, is ever used to identify travelers as potentially high-risk passengers. Travelers must exhibit several indicators before behavior detection officers steer them to more thorough screening. So what happens if a muslim starts complaining loudly about the procedures? Probably the same thing, but they'd be more discreet about it.
WASHINGTON: On the instructions of Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States Hussain Haqqani, Pakistani Consul General in Houston Aqil Nadeem visited Dr Aafia Siddiqui in Carswell detention facility in Texas on Friday.
In a two-hour meeting, Aafia informed the consul general that she was medically fine and was pleased to speak by phone to her mother and children in Karachi on Thursday. According to a Pakistani embassy official, Aafia will also be able to meet her brother at her request. The consul general informed her that the Pakistani Embassy in Washington had coordinated consular access for her through the authorities concerned. Dr Aafia Siddiqui asked the diplomat to convey her thanks to ambassador Haqqani for his concern for her welfare, the official said. app
[Arab News] Iran's oil minister says rising crude prices do not signal the sector is in an "extraordinary situation" and there is no need for an emergency OPEC meeting.
According to the IRNA news agency, Masoud Mirkazemi said the "market has decided the price of crude based on supply and demand."
He spoke at an oil expo in Tehran.
Iran is highly dependent on oil exports and traditionally pushes for higher prices.
Crude has gained 28 percent since Feb. 15, as the Libya conflict extended market concerns about supply risks and signs of a recovering US jobs market bolstered optimism that crude demand will strengthen.
Crude reached $113.46 on Monday, its highest level since September 2008.
Iran holds the OPEC presidency.
Mirkazemi said no members had sought an emergency meeting.
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#1
Remember, America, 52% of you voted for this screwing.
Two Palestinian teenagers were arrested for the murder of a settler family last month in the Israeli settlement of Itamar, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Sunday.
The suspects were identified as Hakim Maazan Niad Awad, an 18-year-old high school student, and Amjad Mahmud Fauzi Awad, 19, both from the West Bank village of Awarta, located 2 kilometers (1.24 miles) south of the settlement of Itamar. Israeli security forces said both men, who are reportedly affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), confessed to the murders and reconstructed them.
On the night of March 11, the suspects set out toward Itamar on foot, armed with knives and tools to cut the perimeter fence. Once inside Itamar, they reached the first row of houses and broke into a home adjacent to the Fogel residence, but found nobody inside. They stole a M-16 rifle, clips and a flak jacket before exiting the home and walking towards the Fogel residence.
"Having spotted children while still outside, they murdered 11-year-old Yoav and 4-year-old Elad. The assailants thereupon entered the bedroom where the parents, Ruth and Udi, were sleeping with 3-month-old Hadas and murdered all three, following a struggle," the IDF said in a statement.
Before leaving the house, the suspects stole another M-16 rifle and then returned to Awarta on foot. According to the IDF, various members of their families were extensively involved in helping them.
Several suspected accomplices are also under arrest. During the investigation, dozens of suspects from Awarta were detained for questioning.
The head of Awarta village council, Qayies Awad, told Palestine News Network that he questions the Israeli clams and condemned the investigation.
"As Palestinians we were not part of the investigation, moreover Israel was controlling Awarta for the past 35 days since the attack happened, they entered every house in the village, they could have planted any evidence they want. We demand an international investigation of the Itamar killing," he said.
[Arab News] Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, found the body on Friday of a pro-Paleostinian Italian activist who was killed by Al-Qaeda sympathizers in the Gazoo Strip, raising questions about the group's control over the beleaguered enclave.
Two men were nabbed and others were being sought for the abduction and killing of Vittorio Arrigoni, 36, who was found strangled in an abandoned house on Friday, Hamas officials said.
An bad boy group in Gazoo aligned with Al-Qaeda had threatened on Thursday to execute Arrigoni unless their leader, jugged by Hamas last month, was freed.
"Gazoo is safe and I want to assure all visitors to Gazoo that they are safe and secure," Ismail Haniyeh, ...became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank... the Hamas prime minister, told a French journalist. "The crime that took place was an isolated incident ... and we will enforce the law against the perpetrators."
Saeb Erekat, ...negotiated the Oslo Accords with Israel. He has been chief Paleostinian negotiator since 1995. He is currently negotiating with Israel to establish a de jure Paleostinian state... an aide to Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas, ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... whose Fatah faction was driven out of Gazoo by Hamas in 2007, called the killing "a dark page in Paleostinian history" and appealed for national reconciliation.
Hamas front man Fawzi Barhoum denounced the crime as an attempt "to harm international solidarity with besieged Gazoo and to damage the image of the Paleostinian people."
But there was also a shiver of fear that snuffies are bold enough to challenge Hamas over what they consider its lack of religious fervor.
There was clear outrage among ordinary people in Gazoo over the cold-blooded killing of the Italian activist who had helped local fishermen and farmers. Arrigoni had lived in Gazoo since arriving aboard a humanitarian aid boat that Israel had admitted despite imposing a blockade on the tiny coastal territory.
"Vittorio was here for the Paleostinian people, and they killed somebody who was here for them," fellow Gazoo activist Silvia Todeschini, also from Italia, told Rooters. "They will not kick us out. We will stay."
Paleostinians liaising with Italian diplomats said Arrigoni's body would be repatriated via Israel on Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ma'an] President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... has ordered the Paleostinian Authority attorney general to open an official investigation into the murder of an Italian activist found dead in Gazoo on Friday.
Abbas' legal advisor Hasan Al-Uri said the killing of Vittorio Arrigoni would be treated as treason, and that those responsible could be sentenced to death, the official PA news agency Wafa reported.
"The murder of Arrigoni, who voluntarily risked his life to defend the independence and freedom of the Paleostinian people is equal to the murder of a Paleostinian warrior," Al-Uri added.
Arrigoni, 36, who was working with the pro-Paleostinian International Solidarity Movement, was found dead by the security forces in a house in northern Gazoo early on Friday.
He had been hanged, Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, security officials said.
This is really going to impair recruitment in Seattle...
Arrigoni was kidnapped a day earlier by a Salafist group which had demanded that Hamas release Salafist prisoners within a 30-hour deadline that was to have expired on Friday afternoon. It was not clear why they killed him.
Gazoo premier Ismail Haniyeh ...became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank... on Friday ordered the interior ministry of the Hamas-run government to open a criminal investigation into the killing.
The murder "does not reflect the values, morals, or the religion of the Paleostinian people. This is an unprecedented case that won't be repeated," he said at an emergency meeting to discuss the crisis.
The killers will be brought to justice "as soon as possible" to deter any similar crime, he said, adding that the government would consider Vittorio a Paleostinian martyr and name a street after him.
Hamas officials said Haniyeh called Arrigoni's mother to express his and his government's condolences for the death of her son. He explained the efforts the government is making to prosecute those responsible.
On Saturday, Gazoo's interior ministry "managed to arrest two suspects" in the murder on Friday of pro-Paleostinian activist Vittorio Arrigoni, in addition to two other suspects previously taken into custody, a statement said.
"The security forces continue to hunt other members of the group responsible for the murder," said the statement.
The suspects tossed in the clink were being questioned about Arrigoni's murder, it added, without revealing their names or when they were tossed in the clink.
Hamas had said Friday two suspected kidnappers were tossed in the clink and security officials were looking for accomplices.
This article starring:
Vittorio Arrigoni
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2011 00:00 ||
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GAZA CITY: Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, on Saturday rejected accusations by president the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... that it is blocking Paleostinian reconciliation efforts with support from Iran.
"The accusations made Abbas that Hamas receives Iranian instructions to block (inter-Paleostinian) reconciliation efforts are not true because it is he who is blocking the reconciliation," Hamas MP Yahiya Musa said. "Abu Mazen (Abbas) must be honest and tell his people about the messages he has received from Israel and American stopping him from working for reconciliation," he said in statements posted on Hamas's website Ressalah.
On Friday Abbas said in an exclusive interview with AFP that Iran has ordered Hamas not to reconcile with its long-time foe and his secular party, Fatah. Until now Hamas has refused to say yes or no to the initiative to put an end to divisions, form a new government and prepare for elections. afp
Ineffectual Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas accused Hamas on Friday of running its agenda based on dictates from Iran, Palestinian news channel Ma'an reported.
Occasionally he gets one right...
Abbas, who was scheduled to visit the Gaza Strip in attempts to reconcile the long-standing riff between his Fatah faction and Hamas, said to a journalists that the meeting remained an on-paper proposal following orders from Iran to Hamas leaders ruling from Damascus, Syria.
The IDF has drawn up a comprehensive multi-year strategy; planners hope their prudence will help protect Israel from all fresh dangers.
[jpost] - The IDF's multi-year plan, unveiled to the press this week, was for the most part a continuation of the last plan, Tefen, initiated in 2007 under former chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi.
Then, the IDF was reeling from its failures and mistakes following the Second Lebanon War in 2006, and Ashkenazi decided to invest in the ground forces by manufacturing more Merkava tanks, developing a new armored personnel carrier (APC) called the Namer and significantly boosting training.
An emphasis was also put on missile defense, the benefits of which we witnessed last week when the Iron Dome intercepted eight rockets fired from the Gaza Strip.
This has paid off, and the IDF is unquestionably better prepared today for another ground war in Syria, Lebanon or the Gaza Strip.
During his term as chief of staff, Ashkenazi oversaw nearly 100 different brigade-level exercises. In 2006, by comparison, the IDF held a total of two brigade-level exercises. The IDF has already received the first batch of Namer APCs and has equipped some of its tanks with the Trophy active-protection system. The ground forces are ready.
THE NEW plan, called Halamish and constructed under new Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz -- some IDF officers have joked that Halamish is the Hebrew acronym for "I am missing 1 billion shekels" -- continues the same line of thinking as Tefen, but may contain another focal point.
While both plans identify Iran as the greatest threat and challenge for Israel -- followed by the northern front, which includes Syria and Lebanon and then the Palestinians -- Halamish may be unique if it places Egypt on the list as well.
In the meantime, Gantz has decided to take the cautious and not hysterical approach vis à vis Egypt. This was done with the understanding that even if the Muslim Brotherhood takes over in upcoming elections -- considered unlikely -- it will still take some time before Egypt threatens Israel again like it did in the days leading up to the Yom Kippur War in 1973.
For that reason, the upcoming year will be spent mostly on learning about Egypt, dusting off old maps, remembering what it was like being in the Sinai and preparing conceptually for the future.
When it comes to Egypt, if the worst-case scenario comes true, the IDF will have plans in place to embark on an unprecedented procurement campaign that, in short, will set the establishment of new divisions, fighter jet squadrons and other military capabilities. If that doesn't work and Egyptian tanks roll through the Sinai, Israel could always call on the US for intervention.
BUT WHERE Halamish breaks from Tefen is in the following assessment, which serves as the introduction of the new multi-year plan: "There is an increasing probability of conflict on multiple fronts." While this concept -- war on several fronts simultaneously -- is not a new one for Israel, it is significant when it appears in a military multi-year plan for the first time in 15 years.
What are the chances for war? 50-50? 70-30? No one in the IDF will say. If they could, there would be no purpose in maintaining a massive branch in the IDF called Military Intelligence.
The new plan, though, is sophisticated and recognizes that the IDF is already at war on some of its fronts. It is waging a war against Iran's nuclear program -- mostly in the shadows and below the surface -- and is also, at the same time, fighting on the high seas against weapons smuggling to Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon -- demonstrated by the seizure of Iranian arms on the Victoria cargo ship last month.
But if a larger-scale conflict breaks out in the coming years, the IDF has a very clear idea of the way it wants to see it play out. The first principle will be to ensure a short conflict -- with a clear and decisive victory for Israel at its end.
What this means, though, is unclear, mainly because the IDF no longer really talks in terms of victory and defeat in the conventional, historic sense of the terms. Years ago, after one side's military surrendered and it had lost significant territory to its adversary, it was obvious who had won. Nowadays, when an enemy does not really own territory -- as is the case with Hamas and Hezbollah -- and when it cannot conquer Israeli territory, how is it possible to determine the outcome of a war?
That is why when the IDF talks about terms like victory and defeat, what it means is that the other side has been so badly beaten that it will be deterred for an extended period before engaging Israel again. While the IDF made major mistakes during the Second Lebanon War in 2006, the quiet that has prevailed in the five years since proves that the war was something of a victory. The country's difficulty in understanding this new concept likely added to the public sense of failure at the time.
THIS UNDERSTANDING of the nature of conflicts was demonstrated during Operation Cast Lead in 2009, which, while it did not destroy Hamas, did create deterrence and restore quiet for the residents of the South. Unfortunately this deterrence eroded over the past month, culminating in last weekend's cycle of violence, which included over 120 rocket and mortar attacks against Israel in just two days.
Then, too, the IDF's entire operation was aimed at restoring deterrence and postponing what many in the defense establishment believe is inevitable -- a large-scale Cast Lead-like operation in the Gaza Strip.
The IDF knew that it was facing a new round of violence two weeks ago after it bombed a car in the southern Gaza Strip carrying three senior Hamas operatives and suitcases full of money. The terrorists were planning to kidnap Israelis in the Sinai and then smuggle them under the border and into the Gaza Strip.
Knowing the group would try to exact revenge -- one of the slain terrorists was a close confidant of Hamas military commander Ahmed Jabari -- the IDF removed troops and equipment away from the border, trying hard not to provide Hamas with a target. But by last Thursday, Hamas had had enough and, in the absence of a military target, decided to fire a Russian-made Kornet anti-tank missile at a school bus near Nahal Oz.
The IDF then began responding, but throughout the entire weekend did not attack major Hamas targets like bases or military compounds. Even though it killed nearly 20 Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives, none was killed in targeted killings, but rather in routine bombings and air strikes against cells spotted in real time launching, or preparing to launch, rockets into Israel.
The idea was to send Hamas a message that Israel could cause it damage on many different levels. If Hamas had not understood the message by Sunday, when the cease-fire went into effect, Israel would have begun to escalate its response, and Hamas likely would have reciprocated. With every Israeli escalation, it is possible that Hamas will, eventually, finally decide to use its long-range Iranian-made rockets that are capable of hitting near Tel Aviv.
At no point during the operation did the IDF mention toppling Hamas or defeating Hamas. Instead, the idea was to restore deterrence and make Hamas understand that it would pay a price for its attacks against Israel. After almost a week of strained and tense quiet, the message seems to have gotten across -- at least, for the time being.
Continued on Page 49
#1
Prepare for no help from the US as well -our admin is useless. You have permission to take Gush Katif and Sinai back if you so chose to do. The aim is to stop attacks, but if this becomes a worldwide BS move, take out "palestine. You must survive and if that is done, they may rant all pissed off, but they ALL know they are wrong. So, defend yourselves at all cost right now. I need not read you the rules of WAR, for you never have not had WAR. Just make sure you read them to the Knesset and the World after you have started it. Permission granted - just make sure next time you win, and you will. GOD Blessed Israel. Now it is YOUR land.
A security source from the Northern Israeli command warned 150 villages in southern Lebanon that the Jewish state would destroy "every house or building from where missiles are launched."
Israel has evidence that Hizbullah is continuing to prepare for war, the official said. He stated that Israel has provided the United Nations with reports and maps that reveal the presence of 1,000 Hizbullah arms depots and 40,000 missiles in bunkers.
Hizbullah has turned 150 southern villages into a huge military camp, he said. Accordingly, the Israeli army is not responsible for any harm that might inflict the citizens of this region.
#1
Accordingly, the Israeli army is not responsible for any harm that might inflict the citizens of this region
According to the Geneva Convention and the laws of war, Israel is right of course - people who use human shields and fight from behind civilians are the ones responsible for the civilian casualties.
In the court of world opinion, though, Israel will be seen as causing the slaughter of untold numbers of innocent civilians. And by civilians, they mean "anyone not in uniform, even if they are caught launching a missile or firing a mortar at Israel"
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
04/17/2011 1:50 Comments ||
Top||
#2
In the court of world opinion Israel doesn't have a right to exist anyway, Rambler. So, "world opinion" will just have to learn to zip up.
#3
I was hoping that the Israelis would do just this.
Now, hopefully, the Israelis will demand that the UN officially notify Hezbollah that this is an unlawful activity, and that their known leadership assign to individual Hezbollah commanders, by name, the task of either removing the military equipment from these villages or removing the civilians who dwell there to a place of safety.
And that failure to comply will make the Hezbollah leadership subject to prosecution for war crimes, if and when there are hostilities and civilians are harmed, or *just* those appointed Hezbollah leaders designated as responsible before hostilities commence.
Lebanon belongs to the Geneva Conventions, which means that Hezbollah is fully subject to criminal prosecution for violating the accords.
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.
Bouteflika
CNN has obtained a list of roughly 70 "behavioral indicators" that TSA behavior detection officers use to identify potentially "high risk" passengers at the nation's airports.
