MUMBAI: A seemingly endless series of terror attacks across the country has finally claimed the job of Union home minister Shivraj Patil. Another home minister with the same surname could also be in the line of fire. Maharashtra's deputy chief minister RR Patil, who holds the home portfolio, has not been up to the mark, feel top police officials, state home department bureaucrats and even ministers belonging to the Congress and the NCP. "With such a home minister at the helm of affairs, we could not ask for a greater disaster. Mr Patil spoke and behaved as if he was featuring in a pulp Bollywood movie, during the 60-hour-long terror attack and its aftermath, with irresponsible sound-bytes serving as dialogues," an exasperated senior Congress minister told ET. This minister cited `information' fed by Mr Patil to the byte-hungry news channels. "The terrorists had ammunition and planned to kill 5,000 people. But the brave police security forces crushed their designs and reduced the damage to a much lesser degree," Mr Patil said at a press conference on Friday. Mr Patil's statements, about the ability of terrorists to kill 5,000 people, have not been confirmed by the NSG which finally freed the city landmarks from the terrorists. Asked whether the magnitude of the attack and large-scale smuggling of ammunition pointed to massive intelligence failure at the state-level, pat came the reply: "You draw your own inference". "Mr Patil is also believed to have made light of the terror attack by saying that such minor incidents do happen in big cities. This is highly unbecoming of a home minister when the entire country is facing a serious crisis," the Congress minister said. The minister pointed out that Shivraj Patil had to lose his job as much for his penchant for mouthing loaded but meaningless sound-bytes as for lacking an understanding of his job requirements.
Maharashtra's deputy chief minister RR Patil, who holds the home portfolio, has not been up to the mark, feel top police officials, state home department bureaucrats and even ministers belonging to the Congress and the NCP.
"With such a home minister at the helm of affairs, we could not ask for a greater disaster. Mr Patil spoke and behaved as if he was featuring in a pulp Bollywood movie, during the 60-hour-long terror attack and its aftermath, with irresponsible sound-bytes serving as dialogues," an exasperated senior Congress minister told ET. This minister cited `information' fed by Mr Patil to the byte-hungry news channels. "The terrorists had ammunition and planned to kill 5,000 people. But the brave police security forces crushed their designs and reduced the damage to a much lesser degree," Mr Patil said at a press conference on Friday. Mr Patil's statements, about the ability of terrorists to kill 5,000 people, have not been confirmed by the NSG which finally freed the city landmarks from the terrorists. Asked whether the magnitude of the attack and large-scale smuggling of ammunition pointed to massive intelligence failure at the state-level, pat came the reply: "You draw your own inference". "Mr Patil is also believed to have made light of the terror attack by saying that such minor incidents do happen in big cities. This is highly unbecoming of a home minister when the entire country is facing a serious crisis," the Congress minister said. The minister pointed out that Shivraj Patil had to lose his job as much for his penchant for mouthing loaded but meaningless sound-bytes as for lacking an understanding of his job requirements.
NEW DELHI: India hopes to persuade the US to put pressure on Pakistan to come down heavily on terror groups on its soil with Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon leaving for Washington Monday to meet the transition team of president-elect Barack Obama. Menon is likely to meet influential figures in the transition team that includes Wendy Sherman, the co-chair of the state department's Agency Review Team, which is tasked with preparing policy and personnel for the soon-to-be-named secretaries. "The foreign secretary will raise India's concerns, especially after the recent spate of terror attacks, with Obama's transition team seeking America's help to put pressure on Pakistan to curb terrorism," said a senior official in the cabinet secretariat. The meeting has gained added urgency after the Mumbai terror attack that killed 183 lives and injured over 300, said the official.
And I think people are entitled to ask the indian government about its indifference to hindu terrorism against the indian muslim community. If anything breeds this sort of outrage, then looking at the continued unchecked violence against the indiam muslim population is a good place to start.
Blowback is a bitch and the old cold war powers have been playing Great game politics in this patch of the owrld for decades, and caused considerable damage to the local political establishments. Trouble is, Obama seems to want to make things worse. keep to the Fen Causeway
From a political point of view Pakistan is nearly a failed state. But no Western statesman will say that out loud, because openly admitting it will not make things any easier. The next American president seems to understand the reality of power relations in Pakistan. During the campaign, Barack Obama's rhetoric in this regard set him apart with surprising clarity from his opponent John McCain. Whereas the Republican put diplomatic negotiations with the regime in Islamabad up front and centre, Obama was open about bringing military intervention in the tribal areas into the discussion. Strengthening the US presence there seems, in any case, a firm part of Obama's agenda. The planned American withdrawal from Iraq could -- in a worst-case scenario -- be followed by an invasion of Pakistan. This must not be something he wants, at least not in the fullest sense. Even Vietnam was never imagined as a long war.
From a political point of view Pakistan is nearly a failed state. But no Western statesman will say that out loud, because openly admitting it will not make things any easier.
The next American president seems to understand the reality of power relations in Pakistan. During the campaign, Barack Obama's rhetoric in this regard set him apart with surprising clarity from his opponent John McCain. Whereas the Republican put diplomatic negotiations with the regime in Islamabad up front and centre, Obama was open about bringing military intervention in the tribal areas into the discussion. Strengthening the US presence there seems, in any case, a firm part of Obama's agenda. The planned American withdrawal from Iraq could -- in a worst-case scenario -- be followed by an invasion of Pakistan. This must not be something he wants, at least not in the fullest sense. Even Vietnam was never imagined as a long war.
no doubt Obama imagines a grateful population will garland their path with rose petals or some such idiocy.. keep to the Fen Causeway
Mumbai's 60 hours of terror were the work of a small team of professionally trained "commando killers", who spent weeks planning their atrocities, according to initial evidence emerging here yesterday. Officials said they believe the terrorists who carried out attacks that left almost 200 people dead, and who held off the security forces for three days, may have numbered as few as 10. Only one - apparently a Pakistani national identified as Mohammed Ajmal Qasam by a senior Indian official - was captured alive. And a report claimed that, under interrogation, he told officials that he and his colleagues wanted to carry out "India's 9/11" - a title that local television channels have already attached to this week's events. Other reports said the men were linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based group that has fought Indian forces in disputed Kashmir and was blamed for a 2001 attack on India's parliament. Despite suggestions that one or more of the terrorists may have been British, authorities in the UK and India damped down talk of such a connection. Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, said that the Indian government had assured him there was no evidence that the terrorists had British origins.
Mumbai's 60 hours of terror were the work of a small team of professionally trained "commando killers", who spent weeks planning their atrocities, according to initial evidence emerging here yesterday.
Officials said they believe the terrorists who carried out attacks that left almost 200 people dead, and who held off the security forces for three days, may have numbered as few as 10. Only one - apparently a Pakistani national identified as Mohammed Ajmal Qasam by a senior Indian official - was captured alive. And a report claimed that, under interrogation, he told officials that he and his colleagues wanted to carry out "India's 9/11" - a title that local television channels have already attached to this week's events. Other reports said the men were linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based group that has fought Indian forces in disputed Kashmir and was blamed for a 2001 attack on India's parliament.
Despite suggestions that one or more of the terrorists may have been British, authorities in the UK and India damped down talk of such a connection. Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, said that the Indian government had assured him there was no evidence that the terrorists had British origins.
Azam Amir, the terrorist who was held by the Mumbai Police, has made some striking revelations regarding the Mumbai terror attacks. Azam has disclosed that the Pakistan Navy had trained the terrorists in boating and swimming to carry out the attacks in Mumbai. Azam was arrested on Wednesday from Girgaum Chowpatty in an encounter with the police. Ismail Khan, an accomplice of Amir, reportedly died in the gunbattle.Sources say Azam has also revealed that people from gangster Dawood Ibrahim's gang helped the terrorists from Karachi in organising the attacks.
Azam Amir, the terrorist who was held by the Mumbai Police, has made some striking revelations regarding the Mumbai terror attacks.
Azam has disclosed that the Pakistan Navy had trained the terrorists in boating and swimming to carry out the attacks in Mumbai. Azam was arrested on Wednesday from Girgaum Chowpatty in an encounter with the police. Ismail Khan, an accomplice of Amir, reportedly died in the gunbattle.
Sources say Azam has also revealed that people from gangster Dawood Ibrahim's gang helped the terrorists from Karachi in organising the attacks.
JOS, Nigeria (AFP) -- The Nigerian army took over the stricken city of Jos on Sunday to enforce calm after two days of Muslim-Christian clashes that left hundreds dead."The situation this morning is gradually returning to normal. There has not been any cases this morning of any destruction or violence," Brigadier Emeka Onwamaegbu told AFP.Residents reported troops patrolling the streets and calm returning to the city. Offering the first official toll, Plateau State's information minister Nuhu Gagara said about 200 people died during fighting on Friday and Saturday between the rival communities over the results of a local election in the Plateau State capital.Other sources have given a toll twice the official figure."This figure is just preliminary, as a search and rescue committee has been inaugurated by the government to go around the city and recover dead bodies," Gagara told reporters. He did not give a figure for the injured.Police arrested 500 people on Saturday alone, carrying "all sorts of lethal weapons," Gargara said.
JOS, Nigeria (AFP) -- The Nigerian army took over the stricken city of Jos on Sunday to enforce calm after two days of Muslim-Christian clashes that left hundreds dead.
"The situation this morning is gradually returning to normal. There has not been any cases this morning of any destruction or violence," Brigadier Emeka Onwamaegbu told AFP.
Residents reported troops patrolling the streets and calm returning to the city. Offering the first official toll, Plateau State's information minister Nuhu Gagara said about 200 people died during fighting on Friday and Saturday between the rival communities over the results of a local election in the Plateau State capital.
Other sources have given a toll twice the official figure.
"This figure is just preliminary, as a search and rescue committee has been inaugurated by the government to go around the city and recover dead bodies," Gagara told reporters. He did not give a figure for the injured.
Police arrested 500 people on Saturday alone, carrying "all sorts of lethal weapons," Gargara said.
BEIJING, Nov 30 (Reuters) - The new face of AIDS in China is a shy man with a heavy provincial accent, a weathered face and the rough hands of a manual worker. Zhang Xiaohu, a character in an educational film for migrant workers, is part of a trend that worries Chinese officials: the potential for AIDS to spread among the estimated 200 million rural migrants driving the country's rapid economic expansion. AIDS in China has, to date, mostly been limited to drug users, gay men, prostitutes and the victims of reckless blood-buying schemes in the 1990s. By the end of 2007, China had about 700,000 people with HIV/AIDS -- 0.05 percent of the total population -- health officials said on Sunday, ahead of World Aids Day the next day. "The epidemic is lowly prevalent in general but it is highly prevalent among specific groups such as migrant workers, and in some regions particularly remote areas and the countryside," said Wang Weizhen, deputy director of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment at the Ministry of Health, according to state media. Higher rates of sexually transmitted diseases and other risk factors among male migrants have spurred an intensified effort to reach them before HIV spreads faster among them, and into the broader population. "Other at-risk groups are rather small, but this one is huge," said Sun Xinhua, head of an office to combat AIDS that reports directly to the State Council, China's cabinet.
By the end of 2007, China had about 700,000 people with HIV/AIDS -- 0.05 percent of the total population -- health officials said on Sunday, ahead of World Aids Day the next day.
A Chinese friend of mine said she estimated that for every officially recorded case, there could be 10 to 20 people who either do not know they are infected.
In the main departure lounges of Chengdu Airport (in the capital of Western Sichuan province) there are huge posters of the same Durex advertisment hanging prominently at every departure gate.
In convenience stores, brightly colored arrays of several brands of condoms are prominently and conveniently displayed right by the cash register (even more conspicuously than the requisite candy bars). The convenience store by my friend's apartment even has an impressive vibrator for sale packaged in a box that is open in front so that potential buyers can easily inspect and handle the piece before purchase.
Condoms are available for free, supposedly, in the countryside, and either free or at a significant discount to state employees. However, condoms sold in stores are surprisingly expensive (comparable to prices in Japan and the U.S.).
The problem is that China, despite all this paradoxical openness about condoms and sex in the sales of wares, nevertheless does a really poor job of sex education in high schools, and even college. It's in the textbooks, but the topic remains extremely awkward to discuss openly in a public forum, especially in a classroom with "children", so teachers are like, "Okay, you guys can read this chapter on your own at home." But I don't think these textbooks go into STDs and the details of transmission.
I have a Chinese friend who works in AIDS activism in Beijing. I should contact him and ask him for more information about this issue. Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.
As for sexual mores, well, it will have to be mostly from secondhand sources! =O Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.
BANGKOK -- Protesters occupying Bangkok's two airports and the prime minister's office pleaded for police protection Sunday after an explosion injured about 50 demonstrators, four of them seriously. Chamlong Srimuang, a former army general who is one of the protest leaders, met with the chief of police in Bangkok to request that police officers join protesters in patrolling the besieged prime minister's office, where the explosion took place. The meeting came amid growing fears of violence between protesters and government supporters, who held a demonstration Sunday in the heart of Bangkok. But the meeting between Mr. Chamlong and the police also underlined the demonstrators' apparent impunity in carrying out their illegal sit-ins that have caused chaos among travelers across the region. Suchart Muenkaew, the Bangkok police chief, said the 20-minute meeting with Mr. Chamlong helped "loosen the tension and mistrust between us." Thai news Web sites carried photos of Mr. Chamlong sitting at a table with smiling senior officers. In October, Mr. Chamlong and eight other leaders were arrested for the raid and occupation of the prime minister's office but were released on bail. A police request to cancel their bail was rejected by the attorney general's chambers on Friday, reinforcing the widely held notion in Thailand that the protesters have powerful backers among the Thai elite who are preventing a crackdown on the demonstrators.
Chamlong Srimuang, a former army general who is one of the protest leaders, met with the chief of police in Bangkok to request that police officers join protesters in patrolling the besieged prime minister's office, where the explosion took place.
The meeting came amid growing fears of violence between protesters and government supporters, who held a demonstration Sunday in the heart of Bangkok.
But the meeting between Mr. Chamlong and the police also underlined the demonstrators' apparent impunity in carrying out their illegal sit-ins that have caused chaos among travelers across the region.
Suchart Muenkaew, the Bangkok police chief, said the 20-minute meeting with Mr. Chamlong helped "loosen the tension and mistrust between us." Thai news Web sites carried photos of Mr. Chamlong sitting at a table with smiling senior officers.
In October, Mr. Chamlong and eight other leaders were arrested for the raid and occupation of the prime minister's office but were released on bail. A police request to cancel their bail was rejected by the attorney general's chambers on Friday, reinforcing the widely held notion in Thailand that the protesters have powerful backers among the Thai elite who are preventing a crackdown on the demonstrators.
BANGKOK (AFP) - Thousands of red-clad government supporters rallied in downtown Bangkok Sunday, stoking tensions after grenade attacks wounded dozens from a rival group that has occupied Thailand's main airports. The demonstration added to the political turmoil paralysing the kingdom, which has left foreign nations scrambling to evacuate around 100,000 tourists left stranded by the anti-government airport blockade. Wearing red headbands emblazoned with the words "No Coup", backers of the current administration and of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra raised fears of violence by rallying for the first time in the six-day stand-off. "We gather here today to protect the democratic system, to say we don't want a coup," said Jatuporn Prompan, a leader of the pro-government group known as the "Red Shirts", adding that they would stay there until Thursday. Police said around 4,000 supporters had gathered. The government's failure to end the occupation of Bangkok's two airports by its foes in the royalist People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has sparked speculation of a repeat of the putsch that toppled Thaksin in 2006. The PAD -- whose supporters wear yellow in what they say is a symbol of their desire to protect Thailand's revered monarchy -- have refused to budge until Thaksin's brother-in-law, Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, resigns. The demo took place about five kilometres (three miles) away from where a grenade attack early on Sunday wounded 49 PAD supporters who have occupied the nearby prime minister's cabinet offices since August. "Whatever happens, we will fight," senior PAD leader Chamlong Srimuang told reporters at the site earlier.
The demonstration added to the political turmoil paralysing the kingdom, which has left foreign nations scrambling to evacuate around 100,000 tourists left stranded by the anti-government airport blockade.
Wearing red headbands emblazoned with the words "No Coup", backers of the current administration and of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra raised fears of violence by rallying for the first time in the six-day stand-off.
"We gather here today to protect the democratic system, to say we don't want a coup," said Jatuporn Prompan, a leader of the pro-government group known as the "Red Shirts", adding that they would stay there until Thursday.
Police said around 4,000 supporters had gathered.
The government's failure to end the occupation of Bangkok's two airports by its foes in the royalist People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has sparked speculation of a repeat of the putsch that toppled Thaksin in 2006.
The PAD -- whose supporters wear yellow in what they say is a symbol of their desire to protect Thailand's revered monarchy -- have refused to budge until Thaksin's brother-in-law, Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, resigns.
The demo took place about five kilometres (three miles) away from where a grenade attack early on Sunday wounded 49 PAD supporters who have occupied the nearby prime minister's cabinet offices since August.
"Whatever happens, we will fight," senior PAD leader Chamlong Srimuang told reporters at the site earlier.
YANGON, Myanmar - Two journalists have been jailed for seven years each on charges of undermining Myanmar's military junta after they were caught with a U.N. human rights report. A court in a northeastern suburb of Yangon on Friday sentenced Thet Zin, editor of the local Myanmar-language journal News Watch, and Sein Win Maung, the paper's manager, under the country's draconian Printing and Publishing Law. The convictions are part of a renewed crackdown by the regime in the past month that has led to more than 100 people including activists, writers, musicians and Buddhist monks receiving jail sentences of as long as 68 years. Many have been transferred to prisons in remote regions. The journalists' jailing came on the same day a court inside Yangon's Insein prison sentenced the remaining 13 members of the 88 Generation Students, a group at the forefront of a 1988 pro-democracy uprising, to six years for undermining stability, family members said. The 13 activists are among 46 from the group handed long prison sentences for their roles in leading nonviolent protests, including the pro-democracy demonstrations in September 2007 led by Buddhist monks that were violently suppressed. Myanmar's military, which has held power since 1962, tolerates no dissent. It frequently arrests artists and entertainers regarded as opposing the regime.
A court in a northeastern suburb of Yangon on Friday sentenced Thet Zin, editor of the local Myanmar-language journal News Watch, and Sein Win Maung, the paper's manager, under the country's draconian Printing and Publishing Law.
The convictions are part of a renewed crackdown by the regime in the past month that has led to more than 100 people including activists, writers, musicians and Buddhist monks receiving jail sentences of as long as 68 years. Many have been transferred to prisons in remote regions.
The journalists' jailing came on the same day a court inside Yangon's Insein prison sentenced the remaining 13 members of the 88 Generation Students, a group at the forefront of a 1988 pro-democracy uprising, to six years for undermining stability, family members said.
The 13 activists are among 46 from the group handed long prison sentences for their roles in leading nonviolent protests, including the pro-democracy demonstrations in September 2007 led by Buddhist monks that were violently suppressed.
Myanmar's military, which has held power since 1962, tolerates no dissent. It frequently arrests artists and entertainers regarded as opposing the regime.
MOSCOW - Pirates have agreed on a ransom for releasing a Ukrainian freighter laden with battle tanks and it could be released soon, a spokesman said Sunday. Mikhail Voitenko said the MV Faina could be freed this week along with its cargo and crew if agreement is reached on how to get the ransom money to the pirates, who seized the ship off the coast of Somalia coast in late September. He said negotiations on the issue were held Friday. "The owner has confirmed there is every reason to hope that it will be released this week," said Voitenko, editor of Maritime Bulletin-Sovfrakht, a shipping news Web site. He said he is acting as spokesman for the Faina's owner, Vadim Alperin. A man who answered the phone at Ukraine-based Tomex Team, the ship's technical manager, confirmed that Voitenko was the owner's spokesman. The man refused to give his name. Pirate attacks off Somalia have surged more than 75 percent this year, and the seizure of the Faina raised particular concern because of its cargo of 33 battle tanks and other weapons and ammunition. Its Russian captain died days after the hijacking, and the ship and its 20-member crew are still being held off Somalia. Russia sent a missile destroyer to the region after the hijacking to protect other cargo vessels, and the Faina has been watched by U.S. and other warships to prevent the removal of its cargo, which authorities fear could get into the hands of Somali factions or be sold.
Mikhail Voitenko said the MV Faina could be freed this week along with its cargo and crew if agreement is reached on how to get the ransom money to the pirates, who seized the ship off the coast of Somalia coast in late September. He said negotiations on the issue were held Friday.
"The owner has confirmed there is every reason to hope that it will be released this week," said Voitenko, editor of Maritime Bulletin-Sovfrakht, a shipping news Web site.
He said he is acting as spokesman for the Faina's owner, Vadim Alperin. A man who answered the phone at Ukraine-based Tomex Team, the ship's technical manager, confirmed that Voitenko was the owner's spokesman. The man refused to give his name.
Pirate attacks off Somalia have surged more than 75 percent this year, and the seizure of the Faina raised particular concern because of its cargo of 33 battle tanks and other weapons and ammunition. Its Russian captain died days after the hijacking, and the ship and its 20-member crew are still being held off Somalia.
Russia sent a missile destroyer to the region after the hijacking to protect other cargo vessels, and the Faina has been watched by U.S. and other warships to prevent the removal of its cargo, which authorities fear could get into the hands of Somali factions or be sold.
I don't get it. You can't build a house in Waziristan or throw a wedding in Afghanistan without drawing a blizzard of Hellfire missiles. We bomb aspirin factories, hospitals and schools. We employ bad-ass Special Forces types and psycho mercenaries who set up freelance torture operations and supervise mass executions. We Americans have our faults, but wimpy pacifism isn't one of them. So what's with these pirates? ... Somalia's territorial waters? Sacrosanct! Invade Iraq, invade Afghanistan, try to overthrow the president of Venezuela, send CIA agents into the Iranian desert to case their nuke plants, blast cars on highways in Yemen, no problem. But for God's sake, leave Somalia alone! National sovereignty matters! An American dock landing ship was also on the scene of the Danica White shipjacking. "The USS Carter Hall fired flares and several shots across the bow as well as several disabling shots at the three skiffs in tow," said a navy spokesman. Across the bow? Why didn't they blow them to smithereens? "But the hijacked Danica White made it into Somali waters and the Carter Hall had to back off and watch," reported Navy Times. "We're observing them at this point," said the navy spokesman afterward. "It's ongoing." ... We know why George W. Bush never tried to catch Osama bin Laden; he must have been worried he'd be captured alive and talk about his relationship with the CIA. But what do the Somali pirates have on Bush, the president of Ukraine, and the king of Saudi Arabia? What explains their reluctance to rain hot death on these privateers? Do the pirates plant hot Somali babes to seduce heads of state? ...
An American dock landing ship was also on the scene of the Danica White shipjacking. "The USS Carter Hall fired flares and several shots across the bow as well as several disabling shots at the three skiffs in tow," said a navy spokesman. Across the bow? Why didn't they blow them to smithereens? "But the hijacked Danica White made it into Somali waters and the Carter Hall had to back off and watch," reported Navy Times. "We're observing them at this point," said the navy spokesman afterward. "It's ongoing." ... We know why George W. Bush never tried to catch Osama bin Laden; he must have been worried he'd be captured alive and talk about his relationship with the CIA. But what do the Somali pirates have on Bush, the president of Ukraine, and the king of Saudi Arabia? What explains their reluctance to rain hot death on these privateers? Do the pirates plant hot Somali babes to seduce heads of state? ...
Frank Delaney ~ Ireland
Not that I'm advocating that western powers should simply invade another countries waters willy nilly, but the diffidence of the US in this case is ....interesting. keep to the Fen Causeway
MOGADISHU, Somalia - Ethiopia announced Friday that is pulling its forces from Somalia by year's end, leaving the ravaged capital vulnerable to the Islamic militants who have seized nearly all of the country. The decision ends the unpopular two-year presence of the key U.S. ally much as it began -- with the militants in near-total control of a failed state with a worsening humanitarian crisis. Ethiopia has sent thousands of troops here since early 2007, when it launched a U.S.-backed operation that drove the militants from Mogadishu after six months in power. Since then, the Islamists have waged a ferocious insurgency, attacking U.N.-supported Somali government troops and their Ethiopian allies nearly every day. The United States worries that Somalia could be a terrorist breeding ground, particularly since Osama bin Laden declared his support for the Islamists. It accuses a faction known as al-Shabab -- "The Youth" -- of harboring the al-Qaida-linked terrorists who allegedly blew up the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. Ethiopian forces have remained almost entirely in the capital, along with a small African Union force that has just 2,600 of the intended 8,000 troops and has largely been confined to urban bases. The militants, meanwhile, have taken control of towns within miles of the capital and move freely inside Mogadishu.
The decision ends the unpopular two-year presence of the key U.S. ally much as it began -- with the militants in near-total control of a failed state with a worsening humanitarian crisis.
Ethiopia has sent thousands of troops here since early 2007, when it launched a U.S.-backed operation that drove the militants from Mogadishu after six months in power.
Since then, the Islamists have waged a ferocious insurgency, attacking U.N.-supported Somali government troops and their Ethiopian allies nearly every day.
The United States worries that Somalia could be a terrorist breeding ground, particularly since Osama bin Laden declared his support for the Islamists. It accuses a faction known as al-Shabab -- "The Youth" -- of harboring the al-Qaida-linked terrorists who allegedly blew up the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.
Ethiopian forces have remained almost entirely in the capital, along with a small African Union force that has just 2,600 of the intended 8,000 troops and has largely been confined to urban bases.
The militants, meanwhile, have taken control of towns within miles of the capital and move freely inside Mogadishu.
Mission Accomplished?
By Claus Christian Malzahn Mumbai a terror zone, and India bitterly points its finger at Pakistan. The unloved neighbor needs all the help the West can offer. Pakistan is nearly a failed state -- and a US invasion under President Obama can't be ruled out. It is still not clear who exactly carried out the terror attacks in Mumbai this week. But the actions speak for themselves. The murderers expressly went after Britons, Americans and Jews. In the world's largest democracy, attacks were carried out by a determined minority against the will of an overwhelming majority. The crimes bear the clear and bloody fingerprints of militant, political Islamism. The uncomfortable resonance left behind by the series of attacks is that the criminals were almost omnipotent: They could strike where, when and -- almost -- whomever they wanted. The terror didn't just claim its victims in one awful moment; it spread out and lasted for days. There was a similar feeling during the terror attacks on the living quarters of Westerners in Saudi Arabia in 2004 as well as the battle at Pakistan's Red Mosque, in the center of Islamabad. But this time the terror overtook an entire city.
By Claus Christian Malzahn
Mumbai a terror zone, and India bitterly points its finger at Pakistan. The unloved neighbor needs all the help the West can offer. Pakistan is nearly a failed state -- and a US invasion under President Obama can't be ruled out.
It is still not clear who exactly carried out the terror attacks in Mumbai this week. But the actions speak for themselves. The murderers expressly went after Britons, Americans and Jews. In the world's largest democracy, attacks were carried out by a determined minority against the will of an overwhelming majority. The crimes bear the clear and bloody fingerprints of militant, political Islamism.
The uncomfortable resonance left behind by the series of attacks is that the criminals were almost omnipotent: They could strike where, when and -- almost -- whomever they wanted. The terror didn't just claim its victims in one awful moment; it spread out and lasted for days. There was a similar feeling during the terror attacks on the living quarters of Westerners in Saudi Arabia in 2004 as well as the battle at Pakistan's Red Mosque, in the center of Islamabad. But this time the terror overtook an entire city.
India's foreign minister has blamed "elements with links to Pakistan" for the terror attacks. A couple of years ago it would have called them "Pakastani elements." In the Great Game against terror in the subcontinent, this is a difference as small as it is important -- and given the depressing outlook for the region, one is thankful for any nuance that offers a glimmer of hope. Maybe now the regimes can agree to a marriage of convenience. They, do, after all, have the same enemies.
India's foreign minister has blamed "elements with links to Pakistan" for the terror attacks. A couple of years ago it would have called them "Pakastani elements." In the Great Game against terror in the subcontinent, this is a difference as small as it is important -- and given the depressing outlook for the region, one is thankful for any nuance that offers a glimmer of hope.
Maybe now the regimes can agree to a marriage of convenience. They, do, after all, have the same enemies.
What President Bush could accomplish in his final days in office. by William Kristol So it could be eight years on the outside of the White House looking in for the GOP. It certainly looks like at least four years out of power in Congress as well, given the sizable Democratic margins. And the fact that Republicans will be blamed for an economy in free fall, and won't get the credit they deserve for successes in Iraq and the broader war on terror, hardly helps the GOP's prospects for a quick comeback.Can Bush do anything in his last weeks to change this dynamic? It's hard to see how he can affect the economic narrative at this point. But he could do his party--and the nation--a service by reminding Americans of our successes fighting the war on terror. He did address the achievements in Iraq and Afghanistan in a fine speech at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, last week, and he can do more along those lines. In particular, he can continue to pay tribute to the successes of the Army and the Marines on the ground, and explain that the task must be finished in both theaters. He can address issues like getting ROTC back on elite campuses (a position Obama also favors). And while he's at it, perhaps he could tell various admirals to stop moaning about how difficult it would be to deal with the pirates off the coast of Somalia (isn't keeping the shipping lanes open a core mission of the Navy?) and order the Navy to clobber them. If need be, the Marines would no doubt be glad to recapitulate their origins and join in by going ashore in Africa to destroy the pirates' safe havens.
What President Bush could accomplish in his final days in office. by William Kristol
So it could be eight years on the outside of the White House looking in for the GOP. It certainly looks like at least four years out of power in Congress as well, given the sizable Democratic margins. And the fact that Republicans will be blamed for an economy in free fall, and won't get the credit they deserve for successes in Iraq and the broader war on terror, hardly helps the GOP's prospects for a quick comeback.
Can Bush do anything in his last weeks to change this dynamic? It's hard to see how he can affect the economic narrative at this point.
But he could do his party--and the nation--a service by reminding Americans of our successes fighting the war on terror. He did address the achievements in Iraq and Afghanistan in a fine speech at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, last week, and he can do more along those lines. In particular, he can continue to pay tribute to the successes of the Army and the Marines on the ground, and explain that the task must be finished in both theaters. He can address issues like getting ROTC back on elite campuses (a position Obama also favors). And while he's at it, perhaps he could tell various admirals to stop moaning about how difficult it would be to deal with the pirates off the coast of Somalia (isn't keeping the shipping lanes open a core mission of the Navy?) and order the Navy to clobber them. If need be, the Marines would no doubt be glad to recapitulate their origins and join in by going ashore in Africa to destroy the pirates' safe havens.
I've long warned that Obama could have an interventionist reflex, but I'll wait for him to take office and start formulating his foreign policy before I judge.
Note that every neocon or even moderately hawkish commentator is out there in the press telling us all what kind of policies Obama will enact. America is of course a centre right country and Obama is a centre right leader who will have a centre right foreign policy. That's what the Washington establishment is telling us all, but the village didn't have a clue about Obama when he was campaigning and I therefore go by the assumption that they don't have a clue about what he will do now.
They're just trying to make it so in their insufferable smug tone.
(1) that as of Summer 2007 John McCain could never win the Republican nomination,
(2) that everything prior to the Florida primary (when he dropped out) was excellent news for Rudy!,
(3) that Hillary Clinton had the nomination and the presidency wrapped up the moment she entered the race,
(4) that Hillary voters wouldn't vote for Barack Obama,
(5) that white people in the Rust Belt wouldn't vote for a black liberal intellectual who bowled a 37 (coughTWEETY&TIMMEHcough),
(6) that Latinos wouldn't vote for a black guy,
(7) that John Zogby and/or Battleground and/or IBD/TIPP (depending on the day) had doublesupersecret methods for conducting national polls that Gallup, Rasmussen, ABC/WaPo, and other non-stupid pollsters didn't have access to,
(8) that John McCain's internal polls in Pennsylvania were totally awesome while all other firms were teh sux,
(9) that the idea that Republican voters were not answering polls, thereby hiding McCain's true level of support, was something other than wishful thinking on the part of a small group of right-wing idiots,
(10) that the Bradley Effect was something other than what anybody who actually knew what it was said it was (coughRACHELMADDOWcough),
(11) relating to (5), that a corrupt, wolf-shooting, hopelessly-ignorant hick beauty queen from a trashcan of a town in America's formerly-Russian-but-Canadian-talking vassal state understood the US better than a law professor from Chicago, and
(12) other stuff.
And that's just a few bits from the 2008 election. Don't get me started on Iraq or 2004 or any other item. That could take years.
Needless to say, I'm not concerned. Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2008/12/if-the-only-too.html#comments
What country will he bomb first? We already know of Afghanistan and Pakistan. But where else does he want to kill? Somalia? Sudan? Kenia? As for Change - why not use some nukes?
As for Change - why not use some nukes?
So keep it up, LOSERS! In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
Richard Bruce Cheney (born January 30, 1941) is a former United States Congressman, Secretary of Defense, the 46th Vice President of the United States and a dick. He also served as White House Chief of Staff, and in the private sector was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Halliburton Energy Services. Every decision he has ever made has been wrong. Early life and family Cheney was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, to Richard Herbert Cheney and Marjorie Dickey (sic). His family later moved to Wyoming. In 1959, he matriculated to Yale University, where it was thought to be impossible to flunk out. After flunking out, Cheney returned to Wyoming in 1960. He ended up graduating from the University of Wyoming at the age of twenty-four, the perfect age for a young black man to serve his country in the army.... Cheney and the draft Cheney is sub-species of dick known as the "Chicken Hawk," which is a person who publicly supports a war but is too much of a pussy to fight in it himself.... In 1963, with the draft board ramping up, Cheney enrolled in Casper Community College (one of the finest institutions of higher-learning in Southwest Casper), and received his first student deferment. Later that year, he got his second student deferment. In August of 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, escalating American military involvement. Twenty-two days later, Dick married his wife, and a few months later received his third deferment. In July, 1965, President Johnson announced he would double the number of draftees. Cheney moved quickly, entered graduate school that year, and received his fourth student deferment. This was quite a sacrifice, as grad school is known to be extremely boring. Cheney received a "hardship exemption" in 1966 when he and his wife conceived their first child. By the next year, he was no longer eligible for the draft. It had been a long process, but Cheney learned a valuable lesson: if you get in a jam, you can usually get out of it by fucking somebody.
Early life and family
Cheney was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, to Richard Herbert Cheney and Marjorie Dickey (sic). His family later moved to Wyoming. In 1959, he matriculated to Yale University, where it was thought to be impossible to flunk out. After flunking out, Cheney returned to Wyoming in 1960. He ended up graduating from the University of Wyoming at the age of twenty-four, the perfect age for a young black man to serve his country in the army....
Cheney and the draft
Cheney is sub-species of dick known as the "Chicken Hawk," which is a person who publicly supports a war but is too much of a pussy to fight in it himself....
In 1963, with the draft board ramping up, Cheney enrolled in Casper Community College (one of the finest institutions of higher-learning in Southwest Casper), and received his first student deferment. Later that year, he got his second student deferment. In August of 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, escalating American military involvement. Twenty-two days later, Dick married his wife, and a few months later received his third deferment. In July, 1965, President Johnson announced he would double the number of draftees. Cheney moved quickly, entered graduate school that year, and received his fourth student deferment. This was quite a sacrifice, as grad school is known to be extremely boring. Cheney received a "hardship exemption" in 1966 when he and his wife conceived their first child. By the next year, he was no longer eligible for the draft. It had been a long process, but Cheney learned a valuable lesson: if you get in a jam, you can usually get out of it by fucking somebody.
He can address issues like getting ROTC back on elite campuses (a position Obama also favors). And while he's at it, perhaps he could tell various admirals to stop moaning about how difficult it would be to deal with the pirates off the coast of Somalia (isn't keeping the shipping lanes open a core mission of the Navy?) and order the Navy to clobber them.
Preemptive Pardons - washingtonpost.com
SOME LAWMAKERS and liberal interest groups have begun calling for criminal investigations of Bush administration personnel who crafted or implemented controversial anti-terrorism policies. As a result, President Bush may be contemplating preemptive pardons, including those involving CIA agents and others who carried out "extraordinary renditions" or "enhanced interrogations." There are compelling reasons for the president not to go down that road. The Bush administration distorted statutes and case law to legally justify interrogation techniques that had long been considered torture under domestic and international law. It relied on sloppy or aggressive legal analysis as a basis for evading judicial review of a warrantless wiretapping program. It has at every turn chosen the most expansive interpretation of the law to rationalize indefinite detentions and deny federal court review to those in custody. It has, in short, determined its preferred course of action first and then stitched together absurd readings of the law to defend those choices.
SOME LAWMAKERS and liberal interest groups have begun calling for criminal investigations of Bush administration personnel who crafted or implemented controversial anti-terrorism policies. As a result, President Bush may be contemplating preemptive pardons, including those involving CIA agents and others who carried out "extraordinary renditions" or "enhanced interrogations." There are compelling reasons for the president not to go down that road.
The Bush administration distorted statutes and case law to legally justify interrogation techniques that had long been considered torture under domestic and international law. It relied on sloppy or aggressive legal analysis as a basis for evading judicial review of a warrantless wiretapping program. It has at every turn chosen the most expansive interpretation of the law to rationalize indefinite detentions and deny federal court review to those in custody. It has, in short, determined its preferred course of action first and then stitched together absurd readings of the law to defend those choices.
NATO's First Line of Defense? It Shouldn't Be Here. - washingtonpost.com
Military alliances are the most serious international commitment societies can make. But politicians in Washington and Brussels have ignored their responsibility to justify the promise of blood and treasure they seem willing to make on their citizens' behalf. There are several things that more sober NATO members can do to decelerate the dash to the east. First, NATO should demand real progress from Kiev and Tbilisi before instituting the MAP or any other form of enhanced relationship with the alliance. Georgia has used large-scale military force against its own citizens three times in the past 15 years. It has no nationwide independent broadcast media. It has never changed its head of state by holding a boringly ordinary election. Nearly a fifth of its territory is under the control of secessionist regimes. Ukraine is much closer to meeting the basic standards of good governance, but its politicians and society are deeply split over whether NATO membership is even a desirable goal. The most battle-ready military force on its territory are the Russian soldiers, sailors and airmen stationed at Moscow's leased facility in Sevastopol on the Black Sea. No Western politician who argues for quick action on Ukraine and Georgia can be serious about increasing the security of the existing 26 NATO allies.
Military alliances are the most serious international commitment societies can make. But politicians in Washington and Brussels have ignored their responsibility to justify the promise of blood and treasure they seem willing to make on their citizens' behalf. There are several things that more sober NATO members can do to decelerate the dash to the east.
First, NATO should demand real progress from Kiev and Tbilisi before instituting the MAP or any other form of enhanced relationship with the alliance. Georgia has used large-scale military force against its own citizens three times in the past 15 years. It has no nationwide independent broadcast media. It has never changed its head of state by holding a boringly ordinary election. Nearly a fifth of its territory is under the control of secessionist regimes. Ukraine is much closer to meeting the basic standards of good governance, but its politicians and society are deeply split over whether NATO membership is even a desirable goal. The most battle-ready military force on its territory are the Russian soldiers, sailors and airmen stationed at Moscow's leased facility in Sevastopol on the Black Sea. No Western politician who argues for quick action on Ukraine and Georgia can be serious about increasing the security of the existing 26 NATO allies.
I'm Still Tortured by What I Saw in Iraq - washingtonpost.com
I should have felt triumphant when I returned from Iraq in August 2006. Instead, I was worried and exhausted. My team of interrogators had successfully hunted down one of the most notorious mass murderers of our generation, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq and the mastermind of the campaign of suicide bombings that had helped plunge Iraq into civil war. But instead of celebrating our success, my mind was consumed with the unfinished business of our mission: fixing the deeply flawed, ineffective and un-American way the U.S. military conducts interrogations in Iraq. I'm still alarmed about that today. I'm not some ivory-tower type; I served for 14 years in the U.S. Air Force, began my career as a Special Operations pilot flying helicopters, saw combat in Bosnia and Kosovo, became an Air Force counterintelligence agent, then volunteered to go to Iraq to work as a senior interrogator. What I saw in Iraq still rattles me -- both because it betrays our traditions and because it just doesn't work.
I should have felt triumphant when I returned from Iraq in August 2006. Instead, I was worried and exhausted. My team of interrogators had successfully hunted down one of the most notorious mass murderers of our generation, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq and the mastermind of the campaign of suicide bombings that had helped plunge Iraq into civil war. But instead of celebrating our success, my mind was consumed with the unfinished business of our mission: fixing the deeply flawed, ineffective and un-American way the U.S. military conducts interrogations in Iraq. I'm still alarmed about that today.
I'm not some ivory-tower type; I served for 14 years in the U.S. Air Force, began my career as a Special Operations pilot flying helicopters, saw combat in Bosnia and Kosovo, became an Air Force counterintelligence agent, then volunteered to go to Iraq to work as a senior interrogator. What I saw in Iraq still rattles me -- both because it betrays our traditions and because it just doesn't work.
A Liberal-NDP coalition agreement that would replace the minority Conservative government was being fleshed out Sunday night, the CBC has learned. Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion has shown the outline of an agreement between his party and the New Democratic Party to Liberal leadership candidates Michael Ignatieff, Dominic LeBlanc and Bob Rae, the CBC's Keith Boag reported, citing sources. "They're discussing this tonight in Toronto," he said from Ottawa. The NDP would hold 25 per cent of cabinet positions, Boag said, adding that the finance minister and the deputy prime minister would be Liberals.
A Liberal-NDP coalition agreement that would replace the minority Conservative government was being fleshed out Sunday night, the CBC has learned.
Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion has shown the outline of an agreement between his party and the New Democratic Party to Liberal leadership candidates Michael Ignatieff, Dominic LeBlanc and Bob Rae, the CBC's Keith Boag reported, citing sources.
"They're discussing this tonight in Toronto," he said from Ottawa.
The NDP would hold 25 per cent of cabinet positions, Boag said, adding that the finance minister and the deputy prime minister would be Liberals.
'The Time Has Come to Say These Things':
We must make these decisions, and yet we are not prepared to say to ourselves, "Yes, this is what we must do." We must reach an agreement with the Palestinians, meaning a withdrawal from nearly all, if not all, of the [occupied] territories. Some percentage of these territories would remain in our hands, but we must give the Palestinians the same percentage [of territory elsewhere]--without this, there will be no peace. Yedioth Ahronoth: Including Jerusalem? Ehud Olmert: Including Jerusalem (...) ...Our goal should be, for the first time, to designate a final and exact borderline between us and the Palestinians so that the entire world, the United States, the UN, and Europe can say, "These are the borders of the State of Israel, we recognize them, and we will anchor them with formal resolutions in the major international bodies. These are the recognized borders of Israel and these are the recognized borders of the State of Palestine." (...)
Yedioth Ahronoth: Including Jerusalem?
Ehud Olmert: Including Jerusalem (...) ...Our goal should be, for the first time, to designate a final and exact borderline between us and the Palestinians so that the entire world, the United States, the UN, and Europe can say, "These are the borders of the State of Israel, we recognize them, and we will anchor them with formal resolutions in the major international bodies. These are the recognized borders of Israel and these are the recognized borders of the State of Palestine." (...)
Interestingly, Olmert says "War in Lebanon" where Steinberg, the editor and translator, calls "War against Hezbollah" -- it wasn't a war against Hezbollah, my lebanese friends weren't members of Hezbollah, nor was Beirut's oil refinery, but they got bombed all the same. A 'centrist' is someone who's neither on the left, nor on the left.
