NATO welcomed Denmark's former Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen on his first day in the organization's top job. He vowed to continue to fight for stability in Afghanistan and to renew relations with Russia. Operations in Afghanistan, and relations with Russia and the countries bordering the Mediterranean, will be NATO's top priorities over the next four years, the alliance's new secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said on Monday. "I want to see NATO reach its full potential as a pillar of global security," Rasmussen told journalists at his first press conference in his new role.
Operations in Afghanistan, and relations with Russia and the countries bordering the Mediterranean, will be NATO's top priorities over the next four years, the alliance's new secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said on Monday.
"I want to see NATO reach its full potential as a pillar of global security," Rasmussen told journalists at his first press conference in his new role.
Former Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen takes office as NATO's new secretary-general on Monday, outlining such priorities as preventing Afghanistan from becoming a terror centre again, and improving cooperation with Russia. REUTERS - NATO will pursue its drive for a strategic partnership with Russia, but Moscow must respect the sovereignty and integrity of its neighbours, the new head of the alliance, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said on Monday. Rasmussen 56, who took over on Saturday as secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, faces many challenges but none more daunting than finding a winning strategy for the war in Afghanistan and improving relations with its former Cold War foe Russia.
REUTERS - NATO will pursue its drive for a strategic partnership with Russia, but Moscow must respect the sovereignty and integrity of its neighbours, the new head of the alliance, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said on Monday.
Rasmussen 56, who took over on Saturday as secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, faces many challenges but none more daunting than finding a winning strategy for the war in Afghanistan and improving relations with its former Cold War foe Russia.
Nato's new chief has called on its European members to find more troops for Afghanistan to stop the country becoming "a Grand Central Station of international terrorism". Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that he wanted a proper balance between Nato forces from North America and those from Europe to avoid the perception that the mission in Afghanistan was predominantly an American operation. His remarks, on his first day in the job, came as Nato's top commander in Afghanistan prepared to demand thousands more American troops, setting him on a collision course with the Obama administration. Experts who have worked with General Stanley McChrystal on the Afghanistan strategy review say the American commander believes that thousands more troops are needed to save the mission.
Nato's new chief has called on its European members to find more troops for Afghanistan to stop the country becoming "a Grand Central Station of international terrorism".
Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that he wanted a proper balance between Nato forces from North America and those from Europe to avoid the perception that the mission in Afghanistan was predominantly an American operation.
His remarks, on his first day in the job, came as Nato's top commander in Afghanistan prepared to demand thousands more American troops, setting him on a collision course with the Obama administration.
Experts who have worked with General Stanley McChrystal on the Afghanistan strategy review say the American commander believes that thousands more troops are needed to save the mission.
If the mission is "not admit that the USA lost a second war this decade" then he is probably correct. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
Simon Scharma once said that the British empire fell when the distance between the rhetoric used to defend it back home and the policy needed to implement it on the ground became so wide that the colonial adminstrators lost their faith.
At what point will our administrators on the ground recognise that we cannot create the peace demanded by politicians with the local allies we have chosen and the tactics the military dicate ? And what might they choose to do if they did ? keep to the Fen Causeway
how many million armed pashtuns are we going to convert to the joys of democracy with the latest, greatest weapons?
the afghan peasant gets to choose, local or foreign tyrant, it's going to cost a lot of lives to try and convince the poor sod the latter is preferable.
especially as the media already has its hands full convincing the taxpayers back home that for reasons of national security, the taliban merits spending billions on trying to vaporise.
when women back home can't even get equal pay yet...
you can't bomb millions of renegade cave-dweller nomad goatherds into coca-colonisation, but plenty of folks make millions even failing, so you can't say war's any loss to them, can you?
our 'brave lads and lasses' are being thrown to wolves...
the people are seeing through the spin, more and more, a Very Good Thing. ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
Afghan officials say Taliban fighters have returned to the northern province of Kunduz. This comes only days after the end of a joint German and Afghan offensive to push back Taliban influence ahead of Afghan elections. "When the operation began, the leaders of the Taliban fled to neighboring provinces and other areas. Others simply hid their weapons and blended in with the local population," said Abdul Wahid Omarkehl, administrative chief in the Char Darah district in Kunduz province. "Now, they have just taken their weapons back out again and those who fled to neighboring provinces have come back after the end of the operation." It was the biggest offensive by the German military in Afghanistan so far. Around 300 German Bundeswehr troops, alongside 900 Afghan security forces, were seeking to push back Taliban-led insurgents in the northern province of Kunduz ahead of the country's presidential elections on August 20.
"When the operation began, the leaders of the Taliban fled to neighboring provinces and other areas. Others simply hid their weapons and blended in with the local population," said Abdul Wahid Omarkehl, administrative chief in the Char Darah district in Kunduz province.
"Now, they have just taken their weapons back out again and those who fled to neighboring provinces have come back after the end of the operation."
It was the biggest offensive by the German military in Afghanistan so far. Around 300 German Bundeswehr troops, alongside 900 Afghan security forces, were seeking to push back Taliban-led insurgents in the northern province of Kunduz ahead of the country's presidential elections on August 20.
Illusion and duplicity entrap the fixer, too, and spin his personal story into a political event. The Italians, who notoriously negotiate with hostage takers, persuade Karzai to exchange five Taliban prisoners for Mastrogiacomo and Ajmal. In the excitement of being freed, however, Mastrogiacomo fails to keep track of his fixer. The Taliban see an opportunity to recapture Ajmal and demand the release of two more prisoners. Karzai and his foreign minister, having freed the foreigner, then scramble to the moral high ground, refusing to negotiate with terrorists. Orders come down from Pakistan to kill Ajmal--on April 8, 2007--to make Karzai look bad in the eyes of his own people. Mullah Dadullah sends a video of the beheading. Ajmal's stricken father asks, "What kind of government doesn't protect its own citizens?" The answer is: a government that's bought and paid for and answerable to outsiders, a government that has neither the need nor the inclination to care for its citizens. As Karzai explains the matter, "The Italians built us a road."
Illusion and duplicity entrap the fixer, too, and spin his personal story into a political event. The Italians, who notoriously negotiate with hostage takers, persuade Karzai to exchange five Taliban prisoners for Mastrogiacomo and Ajmal. In the excitement of being freed, however, Mastrogiacomo fails to keep track of his fixer. The Taliban see an opportunity to recapture Ajmal and demand the release of two more prisoners. Karzai and his foreign minister, having freed the foreigner, then scramble to the moral high ground, refusing to negotiate with terrorists. Orders come down from Pakistan to kill Ajmal--on April 8, 2007--to make Karzai look bad in the eyes of his own people. Mullah Dadullah sends a video of the beheading.
Ajmal's stricken father asks, "What kind of government doesn't protect its own citizens?" The answer is: a government that's bought and paid for and answerable to outsiders, a government that has neither the need nor the inclination to care for its citizens. As Karzai explains the matter, "The Italians built us a road."
Israel's ultranationalist foreign minister promised Monday to step down if he is charged after police recommended that he be indicted for a string of alleged corruption offenses.Police say they have enough evidence to charge Avigdor Lieberman with accepting bribes, fraud, money laundering and other offenses. The country's attorney general must now decide whether to indict him, and that could take months.
Police say they have enough evidence to charge Avigdor Lieberman with accepting bribes, fraud, money laundering and other offenses. The country's attorney general must now decide whether to indict him, and that could take months.
File under "We couldn't have predicted" that this scum would be also corrupt. Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.
Frank Delaney ~ Ireland
Since 1996, when he was tapped as director general of the Prime Minister's Office, Lieberman has been under police investigation on many issues. All ended with nothing. He was suspected of receiving bribes from businessman David Appel, of scheming to have Roni Bar-On become attorney general, of fraud involving the Israel Broadcast Authority, and much more. Lieberman managed to emerge from all these cases without a scratch, and no less important, with a constant increase in the number of seats in parliament for his party, Yisrael Beiteinu. During his years as a serial suspect, Lieberman adopted near-paranoid behavior. He changed his phone numbers at a dizzying rate and removed the battery from his cellphones during private meetings.
During his years as a serial suspect, Lieberman adopted near-paranoid behavior. He changed his phone numbers at a dizzying rate and removed the battery from his cellphones during private meetings.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, has officially endorsed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the winner of the country's June presidential election. Monday's endorsement of Ahamdinejad's victory comes ahead of his swearing-in before parliament for his second term on Wednesday, despite the president suffering a string of setbacks amid an apparent rift with his own conservative camp. "The official ceremony was held and supreme leader approved Mr Ahmadinejad's presidency," the Arabic language al-Alam state television said.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, has officially endorsed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the winner of the country's June presidential election.
Monday's endorsement of Ahamdinejad's victory comes ahead of his swearing-in before parliament for his second term on Wednesday, despite the president suffering a string of setbacks amid an apparent rift with his own conservative camp.
"The official ceremony was held and supreme leader approved Mr Ahmadinejad's presidency," the Arabic language al-Alam state television said.
DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri said a truce offered to the last U.S. administration was still on the table, but President Barack Obama must withdraw troops from Muslim lands and meet other demands. "If Obama wants to (reach) an understanding then he should respond to Sheikh Osama (bin Laden's) two offers," Zawahri said in an interview with al Qaeda's media arm As-sahab, posted on an Islamist website on Monday. Zawahri warned that militants would continue to fight "until doomsday" unless their conditions were met. "The minimum the mujahideen would accept (includes) ... the exit of infidel troops from all of the land of Islam and an end to stealing Muslims' wealth under the threat of military power."
DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri said a truce offered to the last U.S. administration was still on the table, but President Barack Obama must withdraw troops from Muslim lands and meet other demands.
"If Obama wants to (reach) an understanding then he should respond to Sheikh Osama (bin Laden's) two offers," Zawahri said in an interview with al Qaeda's media arm As-sahab, posted on an Islamist website on Monday.
Zawahri warned that militants would continue to fight "until doomsday" unless their conditions were met. "The minimum the mujahideen would accept (includes) ... the exit of infidel troops from all of the land of Islam and an end to stealing Muslims' wealth under the threat of military power."
In a SPIEGEL interview, ousted President Manuel Zelaya, 56, discusses the coup in his native Honduras, the lack of intervention from Washington, his political ties to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his hopes to unseat the regime by peaceful means. SPIEGEL: Mr. President, you have now established your headquarters in northern Nicaragua, only a few kilometers from the Honduran border. Will you attempt, as you have already done several times in recent weeks, to return to Honduras on your own? Zelaya: I could go back across the border today or tomorrow, but I'm being threatened. The coup leaders want to murder me, or at least arrest me, as they have done once before. I want to prepare for my return in a peaceful way. Hondurans should know: I am prepared to resume control of the country at the appropriate moment. For now, we are organizing the resistance.
In a SPIEGEL interview, ousted President Manuel Zelaya, 56, discusses the coup in his native Honduras, the lack of intervention from Washington, his political ties to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his hopes to unseat the regime by peaceful means.
SPIEGEL: Mr. President, you have now established your headquarters in northern Nicaragua, only a few kilometers from the Honduran border. Will you attempt, as you have already done several times in recent weeks, to return to Honduras on your own?
Zelaya: I could go back across the border today or tomorrow, but I'm being threatened. The coup leaders want to murder me, or at least arrest me, as they have done once before. I want to prepare for my return in a peaceful way. Hondurans should know: I am prepared to resume control of the country at the appropriate moment. For now, we are organizing the resistance.
The commander of Russia's strategic nuclear missile forces has resigned, Interfax news agency reported on Monday, the latest in a spate of departures from the military top brass.Interfax quoted unnamed sources as saying General Nikolai Solovtsov would shortly leave his post as head of the missile forces, after reaching the retirement age of 60 in February.
Interfax quoted unnamed sources as saying General Nikolai Solovtsov would shortly leave his post as head of the missile forces, after reaching the retirement age of 60 in February.
Retires. How mundane. Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.
MOSCOW, August 3, (RIA Novosti) - At least 46 journalists have been killed in 21 countries since the beginning of 2009, the International News Safety Institute (INSI) report said. The reports states that Somalia, Mexico, Pakistan, Iraq and Philippines are documented as the most dangerous countries for journalists. "The situation in Mexico is causing grave concern with at least three deaths confirmed and three more under investigation," the report said.
MOSCOW, August 3, (RIA Novosti) - At least 46 journalists have been killed in 21 countries since the beginning of 2009, the International News Safety Institute (INSI) report said.
The reports states that Somalia, Mexico, Pakistan, Iraq and Philippines are documented as the most dangerous countries for journalists.
"The situation in Mexico is causing grave concern with at least three deaths confirmed and three more under investigation," the report said.
A second man has died of pneumonic plague in a remote part of north-west China where a town of more than 10,000 people has been sealed off. The 37-year-old victim was a neighbour of the first person to die from the plague, a herdsman aged 32 in Ziketan in Xinghai in Qinghai Province. The sparsely populated area is mostly inhabited by Tibetans. Pneumonic plague, which attacks the lungs, can spread from person to person or from animals to people. A spokeswoman for the World Health Organization, Vivian Tan, said an outbreak such as this was always a concern, but praised the Chinese for reacting quickly and for getting the situation under control. A BBC correspondent in Beijing, Michael Bristow, says that unlike in the past the authorities are being very open about this outbreak.
A second man has died of pneumonic plague in a remote part of north-west China where a town of more than 10,000 people has been sealed off.
The 37-year-old victim was a neighbour of the first person to die from the plague, a herdsman aged 32 in Ziketan in Xinghai in Qinghai Province.
The sparsely populated area is mostly inhabited by Tibetans.
Pneumonic plague, which attacks the lungs, can spread from person to person or from animals to people.
A spokeswoman for the World Health Organization, Vivian Tan, said an outbreak such as this was always a concern, but praised the Chinese for reacting quickly and for getting the situation under control.
A BBC correspondent in Beijing, Michael Bristow, says that unlike in the past the authorities are being very open about this outbreak.
A simmering scandal in Brazil's senate is likely to come to a head today when President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is expected to meet José Sarney, president of the senate and a key figure in the governing coalition, to decide his political future....Analysts warn of at least three dangers for the government if Mr Sarney steps down. As a prominent leader of the PMDB, the biggest party in congress, he has been able to guarantee support for policy when it is needed.The government's legislative agenda would be in jeopardy; it would risk losing control of a senate inquiry into alleged wrongdoing at Petrobras, the government-controlled but publicly traded oil company; and backing for Dilma Rousseff, the president's chosen candidate to succeed him after next year, would come under threat.
The government's legislative agenda would be in jeopardy; it would risk losing control of a senate inquiry into alleged wrongdoing at Petrobras, the government-controlled but publicly traded oil company; and backing for Dilma Rousseff, the president's chosen candidate to succeed him after next year, would come under threat.
Human rights groups have condemned a forthcoming law in Venezuela under which anyone guilty of "media crimes" could be jailed for up to four years.The bill seeks to punish journalists and anyone they interview who "causes panic", "disturbs social peace" or compromises national security. The move is part of the fight by President Hugo Chávez against what he calls "media terrorism"....While presenting proposals for the law on Thursday, Luisa Ortega Díaz, the country's top prosecutor, insisted that freedom of expression "must be limited".Government officials also confirmed that the licences of 50 private radio stations accused of operating illegally were being reviewed. The announcement followed recent warnings that the licences of as many as 240 radio stations could be revoked, amounting to more than a third of all broadcasters. Mr Chávez has also threatened to shut Globovisión, Venezuela's last remaining strongly anti-government television channel.
The bill seeks to punish journalists and anyone they interview who "causes panic", "disturbs social peace" or compromises national security. The move is part of the fight by President Hugo Chávez against what he calls "media terrorism"....While presenting proposals for the law on Thursday, Luisa Ortega Díaz, the country's top prosecutor, insisted that freedom of expression "must be limited".
Government officials also confirmed that the licences of 50 private radio stations accused of operating illegally were being reviewed. The announcement followed recent warnings that the licences of as many as 240 radio stations could be revoked, amounting to more than a third of all broadcasters. Mr Chávez has also threatened to shut Globovisión, Venezuela's last remaining strongly anti-government television channel.
The House hearings on rescission - the retroactive cancellation of individual health insurance policies - were over a month ago, but after its initial run through Daily Kos it seems to have waited a bit before popping up on Baseline and Slate. James Kwak at Baseline described the practice as rare, affecting only 0.5% of the population....If the top 5% is the absolute largest population for whom rescission would make sense, the probability of having your policy cancelled given that you have filed a claim is fully 10% (0.5% rescission/5.0% of the population). If you take the LA Times estimate that $300mm was saved by abrogating 20,000 policies in California ($15,000/policy), you are somewhere in the 15% zone, depending on the convexity of the top section of population. If, as I suspect, rescission is targeted toward the truly bankrupting cases - the top 1%, the folks with over $35,000 of annual claims who could never be profitable for the carrier - then the probability of having your policy torn up given a massively expensive condition is pushing 50%. One in two. You have three times better odds playing Russian Roulette.
Who here remembers the shocking scene in the first Indiana Jones flick, when the professor is confronted by a crazed, Berber-wrapped, Islamofascist, knife- wielding dervish in a market? He pulls out his gun.
A gun: Read your contract. Even in a lawless state, you need to read your contract. Even if your coverage is negotiated by your employer --so all you receive is a certificate of coverage envelope, containing 1,000pages of benefit terms and claims instructions-- get hold of the group's master policy. It may be turned against your ignorance. You will be looking for mandatory clauses, that are notices such as "free-look" period, guaranteed insurability or "future increase option", and renewability provisions required by state commissions. There are five, mutually exclusive mechanisms that determine lawful termination of a policy, irrespective of mandates governing insurers' obligations in the event of (mis)representation of "pre-existing conditions" and their purported mind-boggling expenses.
Cue best moment in film. keep to the Fen Causeway
If Washington continues to operate in the role of a global hegemon, with its military inventory of 865 facilities in more than 40 countries and overseas US territories, it could well follow in the former Soviet Union's footsteps and become a crippled economic power.According to the 2008 official Pentagon inventory of our military bases around the world, our empire consists of 865 facilities in more than 40 countries and overseas US territories. We deploy over 190,000 troops in 46 countries and territories.... These massive concentrations of American military power outside the United States are not needed for our defense. They are, if anything, a prime contributor to our numerous conflicts with other countries. They are also unimaginably expensive. According to Anita Dancs, an analyst for the website Foreign Policy in Focus, the United States spends approximately US$250 billion each year maintaining its global military presence. The sole purpose of this is to give us hegemony - that is, control or dominance over as many nations on the planet as possible.
According to the 2008 official Pentagon inventory of our military bases around the world, our empire consists of 865 facilities in more than 40 countries and overseas US territories. We deploy over 190,000 troops in 46 countries and territories.... These massive concentrations of American military power outside the United States are not needed for our defense. They are, if anything, a prime contributor to our numerous conflicts with other countries. They are also unimaginably expensive. According to Anita Dancs, an analyst for the website Foreign Policy in Focus, the United States spends approximately US$250 billion each year maintaining its global military presence. The sole purpose of this is to give us hegemony - that is, control or dominance over as many nations on the planet as possible.
The Obama administration is looking at transferring inmates at Guantánamo to a combined jail and courtroom facility at an existing prison on the US mainland, officials confirmed today.A task force set up by Barack Obama to consider options for closing Guantánamo by January 22 is expected to publish its findings over the summer.Options being looked at include converting a civilian prison in Michigan, which has already been dubbed Gitmo North in anticipation, or a military prison in Kansas, Fort Leavenworth.
A task force set up by Barack Obama to consider options for closing Guantánamo by January 22 is expected to publish its findings over the summer.
Options being looked at include converting a civilian prison in Michigan, which has already been dubbed Gitmo North in anticipation, or a military prison in Kansas, Fort Leavenworth.
Kenya's more than 4,000 death row inmates all will have their sentences commuted to life imprisonment, the president announced Monday, describing their wait to face execution as "undue mental anguish and suffering." No death sentence has been carried out in the past 22 years in the East African nation. President Mwai Kibaki said he made the decision following advice of a constitutional committee and that he was commuting the sentences using powers provided for under Kenya's constitution. "Extended stay on death row causes undue mental anguish and suffering, psychological trauma (and) anxiety while it may as well constitute inhuman treatment," the president said in a statement.
No death sentence has been carried out in the past 22 years in the East African nation. President Mwai Kibaki said he made the decision following advice of a constitutional committee and that he was commuting the sentences using powers provided for under Kenya's constitution.
"Extended stay on death row causes undue mental anguish and suffering, psychological trauma (and) anxiety while it may as well constitute inhuman treatment," the president said in a statement.
