Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Syria's Assad Offers Amnesty To Syrian Opposition Groups, Opposition Tells Him To Blow
Do I see a bit of crack in the armor of Syrian President Bashar Assad? Well, today he announced an amnesty for all of the opposition parties and political prisoners and even included the Muslim Brotherhood in his gesture. The opposition appears to want nothing to do with this olive branch.
From the article at Breitbart:
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Tuesday decreed a general amnesty for members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood and for political prisoners, but the opposition swiftly dismissed the measure as "too little too late."
"President Assad has by decree issued an amnesty on all (political) crimes committed before May 31, 2011," the official SANA news agency reported.
"The amnesty applies to all political prisoners as well as to the Muslim Brotherhood."
The announcement, which comes after two months of deadly anti-regime protests, was shrugged off by Syrian opposition activists gathered in Turkey to discuss democratic change and voice support for the revolt.
"This measure is insufficient: we demanded this amnesty several years ago, but it's late in coming," said Abdel Razak Eid, an activist from the "Damascus Declaration," a reformist group launched in 2005 to demand democratic change.
"We are united under the slogan: the people want the fall of the regime and all those who have committed crimes brought to account. Blood will not have been spilled in vain," he said.
The release of political prisoners has been a central demand of protesters who, inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, have since March 15 been staging almost daily demonstrations against Assad's autocratic government
It will be interesting what happens now if the opposition doesn't take Assad up on the offer. My gut feeling is that he will take back the offer and crack down even harder with force. He can then go on the record that he took a stab at a peaceful resolution and when it was refused, he had no other choice than murder about 20,000 of his citizens.
At the same time, this gesture has to be seen as a show of desperation on the government's part - they would never have offered up anything regarding the political prisoners if they weren't seeing a bad outcome ahead.
Syria decrees general amnesty, opposition says too little
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Tuesday decreed a general amnesty for members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood and for political prisoners, but the opposition swiftly dismissed the measure as "too little too late."
"President Assad has by decree issued an amnesty on all (political) crimes committed before May 31, 2011," the official SANA news agency reported.
"The amnesty applies to all political prisoners as well as to the Muslim Brotherhood."
The announcement, which comes after two months of deadly anti-regime protests, was shrugged off by Syrian opposition activists gathered in Turkey to discuss democratic change and voice support for the revolt.
"This measure is insufficient: we demanded this amnesty several years ago, but it's late in coming," said Abdel Razak Eid, an activist from the "Damascus Declaration," a reformist group launched in 2005 to demand democratic change.
"We are united under the slogan: the people want the fall of the regime and all those who have committed crimes brought to account. Blood will not have been spilled in vain," he said.
The release of political prisoners has been a central demand of protesters who, inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, have since March 15 been staging almost daily demonstrations against Assad's autocratic government
More than 1,100 civilians have been killed and at least 10,000 arrested in a brutal crackdown by the regime on the protests, human rights organisations say.
The announcement of the amnesty came soon after a senior official in Syria's ruling Baath party reportedly said that a committee for national dialogue in the troubled country would be set up within 48 hours.
Al-Watan daily, which is close to the government, quoted party number two Mohammed Said Bkhetan as telling a Baath party meeting that the committee's members would be wide-ranging.
"The committee for dialogue is composed of all political currents, and people from political and economic life and society in general will take part," it quoted him as saying.
"The mechanisms of the dialogue will be announced within 48 hours," he said.
The opposition has previously dismissed calls for dialogue, saying that this can take place once only the violence ends, political prisoners are freed and reforms adopted.
Bkhetan said the number of people protesting in Syria was no more than 100,000, out of an overall population of around 22 million.
"It's the same people demonstrating every time. They protest at night, shouting 'Allahu akbar' (God is greatest) as well as every Friday, but we must bring a swift end to this as we are under enormous pressure," he added.
The government insists the unrest is the work of "armed terrorist gangs" backed by Islamists and foreign agitators.
The authorities initially responded to the revolt by offering some concessions, including lifting the state of emergency in place for nearly five decades, but coupled this with a fierce crackdown.
A human rights activist earlier Tuesday said that machine-gun fire reverberated around the town of Rastan near the central city of Homs as military operations continued for a third straight day.
"Machine-gun fire was heard in Rastan. Search and cordon operations are continuing in the town," the activist said on condition of anonymity, adding that explosions too were heard.
He said that residents of the town had attacked a police station and seized weapons near the place where a girl, identified as Hajar al-Khatib, and 10 other civilians were killed on Sunday.
Since dawn on Sunday, dozens of tanks have surrounded the two towns and the village of Teir Maaleh to quell the protests around Homs, Syria's third largest city, 160 kilometres (100 miles) north of Damascus.
Foreign journalists are barred from travelling around Syria, making it difficult to report on the unrest and verify witness accounts.
Syria has come under increasing pressure internationally to end its crackdown and allow peaceful demonstrations.
European nations are pressing a campaign to get the Security Council to warn Damascus that its actions against demonstrators could constitute crimes against humanity.
The European Union last week slapped an assets freeze and travel ban on Assad himself, the latest in a string of measures against his regime.
Stepping up pressure on Assad to halt weeks of relentless violence, the EU earlier this month imposed an arms embargo and targeted the president's innermost circle, including his brother and four cousins.
United Nations rights chief Navi Pillay on Monday said the crackdown was shocking in its disregard for human rights.
"The brutality and magnitude of measures taken by the governments in Libya and now Syria have been particularly shocking in their outright disregard for basic human rights," Pillay told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday joined US President Barack Obama's call for Assad to lead the protest-hit nation's transition to democracy or step down.
Pakistan Bombs Taliban Hideouts In Orakzai Agency, 17 Taliban Killed
As if almost on cue, after my criticism of Pakistan's languishing military operations against the Taliban, the Pakistanis launched an aerial assault on Taliban hideouts in the Orakzai agency in northwest Pakistan today - those air strikes are reported to have killed at least 17 Taliban.
Isn't it funny how Pakistan can do a bombing raid like this in northwestern Pakistan and there isn't a single peep about "civilian casualties" but the minute that American and NATO airstrikes go off in Afghanistan, the pages of the New York Times and Washington Post are filled with the numbers of innocent tribesmen killed.
At the same time that Pakistan's leader is ordering these airstrikes, Afghanistan's Karzai is saying that NATO forces are on the brink of becoming "occupation forces."
The article is at DAWN.
Forces kill seventeen militants in Orakzai agency
PESHAWAR: According to military sources, jets carried out bombing operations in different parts of Upper Orakzai agency on Tuesday, DawnNews reported.
Sources said the jets carried out bombing operations on militant hideouts in the Orakzai area of Mamuzai, killing up to 17 suspected insurgents and destroying five militant hideouts. Sources add that the air strikes are currently underway as further militant hideouts are being targeted.
Mexican Police Raid La Familia Drug Cartel Ranch, 11 Killed
Finally, some good news coming out of Mexico as one of major drug cartels in the country had its ranch raided by Mexican police - the subsequent firefight left 11 drug cartel members dead, 36 members arrested and the best news of all, three of the top leaders of La Familia were taken into custody. Two Mexican police officers were wounded.
Now, the question comes into play just what will happen to these drug cartel leaders...will they stand trial and be sent into the darkest prison for 25 - 50 years or will there be some money changing hands and a "disturbing the peace" sentence handed down with 500 hours of community service decreed?
Yeah, I don't want to make a bet on it either.
The story is from Family Security Matters.
Mexican Cops Storm Drug Cartel Hideout Killing 11
Mexican police officers reported Saturday that they've killed at least 11 La Familia drug cartel members after an intense shoot-out at the crime gang's western Mexico ranch, a U.S. DEA agent told the Law Enforcement Examiner
Two officers were reported to have sustained wounds during the police raid that succeeded in capturing 36 gang members, including three of the top cartel leaders.
The DEA source said the arrests should help in weakening La Familia, which has a reputation for brutality and extreme violence on both sides of the U.S._Mexico border, but is defended by Mexico's local communities as a generous group that promotes Christian values.
Besides drug trafficking and human smuggling, La Familia is known for extortion and kidnapping, and much like the Colombian FARC, attempts to portray itself as a populist left-wing group that defends members of Michoacan society from the brutality of government forces or rival cartels.
La Familia primarily smuggles large shipments of cocaine into the United States along Mexico's Pacific coast. The gang produces and traffics the synthetic drug methamphetamine, a stimulent that is longer lasting and more deadly than cocaine.
La Familia shocked Americans and other nations in 2006, when its members allegedly tossed five decapitated heads into a Mexican nightclub with a sign that read: "Only those who deserve to die will die."
Mexican federal police officials said that the La Familia drug cartel is responsible for shooting-down a police helicopter on Tuesday. The helicopter is reportedly one of those given to Mexico by the United States as part of the Merida Initiative.
The Merida Initiative, a program begun during the Bush Administration in 2007, provides about $1.6 billion in law enforcement support to Mexico and Central American countries. The U.S. Department of State manages the Initiative while other U.S. agencies play key roles in its implementation.
Police officials told the news media that they had planned the raid following an informant's tip regarding a "sitdown" between alleged gang members at a ranch in Jalisco state, near the cartel's stronghold of Michoacan.
Federal police commissioner Facundo Rosas, during a press conference after the raid, said that among those arrested were three top members of the cartel.
"They were hiding in Jalisco, waiting for instructions from their boss and planning an attack on a group which calls itself the Knights Templar, with which they're at war," Mr Rosas told reporters at the news conference.
The police commissioner described the Knights Templar as former members of La Familia, who had split from the cartel after the killing of La Familia leader Nazario Moreno by Mexican federal police last December.
Besides the 11 dead and 36 captured cartel members, police officers reported they had seized 70 long-range weapons and 14 pistols, many of them handcrafted with gold, silver, diamonds and rubies. They also secured more than 20,000 rounds of ammunition and enough body armor to outfit 40 members.
In 2009, 303 individuals in the United States were arrested as part of Project Coronado, which targeted the distribution network of La Familia, through coordination between federal, state and local law enforcement.
More than 3,000 law enforcement agents and police officers operated throughout the U.S. to make the arrests during the takedown. During the two-day operation alone, $3.4 million in U.S. currency, 729 pounds of methamphetamine, 62 kilograms of cocaine, 967 pounds of marijuana, 144 weapons and 109 vehicles were seized by law enforcement agents.
Whose Land is it Anyway?
Whose Land is it Anyway?
Posted: 29 May 2011 09:07 AM PDT
Paula R. Stern
A Soldier’s Mother
29 May ’11There is politics, and then there is dirty politics. There are promises made, and broken, on a regular basis when it comes to the world of negotiation, national, and international relations. And yet a recent incident should cause outrage because it deals not with promises, but with manipulation; not with honest negotiation but with deceit and pressure on an ally. Perhaps even, it dips into the decidedly dirty field of spying.
Decades ago, Israeli governments started promising that the city of Maale Adumim could build on land that was to be known as Mevasseret Adumim.Perhaps you may recognize it as E1, another name written on a map that does nothing to give a real picture of what is there…and what is not. The real picture is the one you see here – of barren mountains that no one ever settled. This is not an Arab village that was destroyed, but the natural growth of a beautiful city that makes the desert bloom. There on the right, you can see the edge of Maale Adumim as it exists today; and there on the left, the barren hilltop of Mevasseret Adumim.
Mevasseret Adumim, like all of Maaleh Adumim, was uninhabited before Israelis started coming to build, plant and develop it. Peace Now once claimed that 60% was owned by Palestinians – nonsense! They eventually backed down to 0.05% and even there they lack proof for that number.
Palestinians once went to the Jordanians to claim the land – the Jordanian courts denied their claim, confirming that the area was state-owned land captured from the Ottoman Empire, mandated by the British, held by the Jordanians, and then conquered and settled by Israel.
It is one physical hilltop over from Jerusalem – the only one between the capital of Israel and its suburb, Maale Adumim.
Today, Maale Adumim is a sprawling city of close to 45,000 people, perched on several hilltops overlooking Jerusalem to the west and the Dead Sea to the east. It has several large commercial centers including a three story mall, several post offices, many schools for all ages, large recreation areas, a city library, an emergency medical center, ambulance and fire fighting squads that respond not only to the cities needs, but to emergencies that happen for miles all around.
According to successive Israeli governments, the borders of Maale Adumim include not only the built-on areas, but several surrounding hills. This is true of many cities in Israel and is how Israeli cities are designed. First the borders of the municipality are drawn; then they begin developing each area. One has only to travel next to the city of Modiin, for example, to see that the city is in a constant state of growth. So much so, that its residents joke that the city bird is the “crane” for all the massive building cranes that hover over the city.
Like Modiin, Maale Adumim has long been a gathering point for people who want to live near the great city of Jerusalem but welcome the more rural, suburban atmosphere. In fact, the borders of Maale Adumim actually touch the edges of Jerusalem itself – and herein lies the controversy. On the last remaining hilltop between Maale Adumim, Arabs have decided to feel threatened. After thirty years of building, this last hilltop represents the end for them and so they virulently condemn it and threaten violence. In their eyes, building of this one last hill will remove their chances of destroying Maale Adumim itself.
Successive American governments have admitted that Maale Adumim will never be evacuated, cannot in any practical way be obliterated, nor should it. Even President Obama admits that adjustments such as including Maale Adumim, must be made for any long term peace agreement to be successful.
And again, we have reached the crux of the matter because what almost every Israeli knows, though not all are willing to admit it – the Palestinian leadership is not interested in a long-term peace agreement. At most, they want hudna – a 10 year cease-fire that their religion allows them to break at any point if it is made with a non-Muslim entity (such as Israel).
Generations have been born on this land. What might have been had the Palestinians accepted the Partition Plan in 1947 or not instigated war after war is irrelevant. The simple fact is that no Israeli government will ever agree to remove close to 50,000 citizens spread over many kilometers from homes and neighborhoods that have grown and prospered for almost 4 decades. There were no houses, no Arab villages on the hills of Maale Adumim before it was built, nor will there ever be in the future.
A few days ago, frustrated by the lack of progress and the ongoing broken promises of many governments, some people from Maale Adumim decided to begin building the neighborhood of Mevasseret Adumim on E1 with their own hands. More symbolic than real, this was a message to the Israeli government that it was time to move forward. The plans for this neighborhood were submitted and approved long ago – a guest house, hundreds of apartments, affordable housing for young couples. Instead, only a police station and some roads have been built there.
You can agree or disagree with the unilateral action, though unilateral actions such as the withdrawal from Gaza, the recent opening of the Rafiah border by the Egyptians and the promised declaration of a Palestinian state in September seem to be much more controversial than a dozen teenagers erecting some tents in the middle of an area long since declared as a Jewish neighborhood.
What is more interesting and telling, however, is the reaction of the American government and more the actions of the US Consulate in Jerusalem.
American officials arrived to review what the teenagers had built. They took pictures, lied about who they were, though they were stupid enough to arrive in vehicles registered to the US Consulate and did nothing to hide their true identities. A short time later, Israeli security forces arrived to destroy the temporary structures they had built. This is not unexpected and is yet another step in the “game” played by those who wish to make a statement and those who wish to stop them. More sinister, however, is the American visit to the area.
Why did they come there? Why were they taking pictures? Why did they lie about who they were? What business is this lone mountain to these American officals? For the American government, there are questions to be answered – what legal right did they have to visit that location? One wonders how the American government would feel if Israelis started visiting controversial sites in the US in the middle of a sensitive situation? Doesn’t this amount to spying on an ally and trying to influence its internal affairs? Whose land is it, anyway?
For the Israeli government, they should be calling in the US Ambassador to Israel and demanding an explanation. That it fails to do this, suggests the visit was in some way approved, or at very least influential in getting the police to come and disrupt what had been done. One cannot call the police visit so shortly after the American visit a coincidence. Surely , the Israeli government has not outsourced the job of inspecting our land to the Americans, has it? Does the American Consulate now have the right to dictate how the Israeli government treats its citizens and when it chooses to handle internal matters?
For all Israelis, this is a wake-up call. Big Brother Obama is watching and wants us to know it. It is the Obama government’s way of putting pressure on all of us, trying to make us believe that which we know is not true. The future of this land does not rest in Washington’s hands, nor those of the American Consulate. No matter how much they demand it, peace cannot be granted by the threats and blackmail of a line drawn in the sand.
What were the Americans doing there? Why did they come and feel comfortable enough to make their presence obvious? Why did they take pictures? What have they done with them? Why did they feel it necessary to claim they were the police? Those are questions the Netanyahu government must answer. This is an outrage that every Israeli should feel. We are a sovereign nation, not a puppet of Washington. Those Americans had no business trespassing on land allocated to Maale Adumim in an attempt to influence how and when our government would react.
The message to the Americans must be clear: it is NOT your place, not your land, not your plan that will bring peace because the dancing partner you have chosen for us is busy dancing with Hamas. The message must be made clear to the Netanyahu government: if you are not strong enough to answer the Americans and handle their pressure, you have no business leading this land.
Whose land is it anyway? Every day, as the community in Maale Adumim grows and supports those who stay on E1, we answer that question loudly and clearly.
Paula R. Stern
A Soldier’s Mother
29 May ’11
Decades ago, Israeli governments started promising that the city of Maale Adumim could build on land that was to be known as Mevasseret Adumim.Perhaps you may recognize it as E1, another name written on a map that does nothing to give a real picture of what is there…and what is not. The real picture is the one you see here – of barren mountains that no one ever settled. This is not an Arab village that was destroyed, but the natural growth of a beautiful city that makes the desert bloom. There on the right, you can see the edge of Maale Adumim as it exists today; and there on the left, the barren hilltop of Mevasseret Adumim.
Mevasseret Adumim, like all of Maaleh Adumim, was uninhabited before Israelis started coming to build, plant and develop it. Peace Now once claimed that 60% was owned by Palestinians – nonsense! They eventually backed down to 0.05% and even there they lack proof for that number.
Palestinians once went to the Jordanians to claim the land – the Jordanian courts denied their claim, confirming that the area was state-owned land captured from the Ottoman Empire, mandated by the British, held by the Jordanians, and then conquered and settled by Israel.
It is one physical hilltop over from Jerusalem – the only one between the capital of Israel and its suburb, Maale Adumim.
Today, Maale Adumim is a sprawling city of close to 45,000 people, perched on several hilltops overlooking Jerusalem to the west and the Dead Sea to the east. It has several large commercial centers including a three story mall, several post offices, many schools for all ages, large recreation areas, a city library, an emergency medical center, ambulance and fire fighting squads that respond not only to the cities needs, but to emergencies that happen for miles all around.
According to successive Israeli governments, the borders of Maale Adumim include not only the built-on areas, but several surrounding hills. This is true of many cities in Israel and is how Israeli cities are designed. First the borders of the municipality are drawn; then they begin developing each area. One has only to travel next to the city of Modiin, for example, to see that the city is in a constant state of growth. So much so, that its residents joke that the city bird is the “crane” for all the massive building cranes that hover over the city.
Like Modiin, Maale Adumim has long been a gathering point for people who want to live near the great city of Jerusalem but welcome the more rural, suburban atmosphere. In fact, the borders of Maale Adumim actually touch the edges of Jerusalem itself – and herein lies the controversy. On the last remaining hilltop between Maale Adumim, Arabs have decided to feel threatened. After thirty years of building, this last hilltop represents the end for them and so they virulently condemn it and threaten violence. In their eyes, building of this one last hill will remove their chances of destroying Maale Adumim itself.
Successive American governments have admitted that Maale Adumim will never be evacuated, cannot in any practical way be obliterated, nor should it. Even President Obama admits that adjustments such as including Maale Adumim, must be made for any long term peace agreement to be successful.
And again, we have reached the crux of the matter because what almost every Israeli knows, though not all are willing to admit it – the Palestinian leadership is not interested in a long-term peace agreement. At most, they want hudna – a 10 year cease-fire that their religion allows them to break at any point if it is made with a non-Muslim entity (such as Israel).
Generations have been born on this land. What might have been had the Palestinians accepted the Partition Plan in 1947 or not instigated war after war is irrelevant. The simple fact is that no Israeli government will ever agree to remove close to 50,000 citizens spread over many kilometers from homes and neighborhoods that have grown and prospered for almost 4 decades. There were no houses, no Arab villages on the hills of Maale Adumim before it was built, nor will there ever be in the future.
A few days ago, frustrated by the lack of progress and the ongoing broken promises of many governments, some people from Maale Adumim decided to begin building the neighborhood of Mevasseret Adumim on E1 with their own hands. More symbolic than real, this was a message to the Israeli government that it was time to move forward. The plans for this neighborhood were submitted and approved long ago – a guest house, hundreds of apartments, affordable housing for young couples. Instead, only a police station and some roads have been built there.
What is more interesting and telling, however, is the reaction of the American government and more the actions of the US Consulate in Jerusalem.
American officials arrived to review what the teenagers had built. They took pictures, lied about who they were, though they were stupid enough to arrive in vehicles registered to the US Consulate and did nothing to hide their true identities. A short time later, Israeli security forces arrived to destroy the temporary structures they had built. This is not unexpected and is yet another step in the “game” played by those who wish to make a statement and those who wish to stop them. More sinister, however, is the American visit to the area.
Why did they come there? Why were they taking pictures? Why did they lie about who they were? What business is this lone mountain to these American officals? For the American government, there are questions to be answered – what legal right did they have to visit that location? One wonders how the American government would feel if Israelis started visiting controversial sites in the US in the middle of a sensitive situation? Doesn’t this amount to spying on an ally and trying to influence its internal affairs? Whose land is it, anyway?
For the Israeli government, they should be calling in the US Ambassador to Israel and demanding an explanation. That it fails to do this, suggests the visit was in some way approved, or at very least influential in getting the police to come and disrupt what had been done. One cannot call the police visit so shortly after the American visit a coincidence. Surely , the Israeli government has not outsourced the job of inspecting our land to the Americans, has it? Does the American Consulate now have the right to dictate how the Israeli government treats its citizens and when it chooses to handle internal matters?
For all Israelis, this is a wake-up call. Big Brother Obama is watching and wants us to know it. It is the Obama government’s way of putting pressure on all of us, trying to make us believe that which we know is not true. The future of this land does not rest in Washington’s hands, nor those of the American Consulate. No matter how much they demand it, peace cannot be granted by the threats and blackmail of a line drawn in the sand.
What were the Americans doing there? Why did they come and feel comfortable enough to make their presence obvious? Why did they take pictures? What have they done with them? Why did they feel it necessary to claim they were the police? Those are questions the Netanyahu government must answer. This is an outrage that every Israeli should feel. We are a sovereign nation, not a puppet of Washington. Those Americans had no business trespassing on land allocated to Maale Adumim in an attempt to influence how and when our government would react.
The message to the Americans must be clear: it is NOT your place, not your land, not your plan that will bring peace because the dancing partner you have chosen for us is busy dancing with Hamas. The message must be made clear to the Netanyahu government: if you are not strong enough to answer the Americans and handle their pressure, you have no business leading this land.
Whose land is it anyway? Every day, as the community in Maale Adumim grows and supports those who stay on E1, we answer that question loudly and clearly.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Memorial Day 2011 - "The Fallen Soldier"
THE FALLEN SOLDIER
Don't weep for me
O' Land of the free
When it was my time to fall
'Twas for my country's call
'Twas for the land that I loved,
That I gave my all
And for the land that I loved,
I did freely give
And in her freedom
And her courage
I'll continue to live
c. 1993 Patricia Krull
Don't weep for me
O' Land of the free
When it was my time to fall
'Twas for my country's call
'Twas for the land that I loved,
That I gave my all
And for the land that I loved,
I did freely give
And in her freedom
And her courage
I'll continue to live
c. 1993 Patricia Krull
Memorial Day - Freedom's Colors
Freedom's Colors
�2002 Roger W Hancock
Red is for Bravery;
blood shed in sacrifice.
Freedom came with lives the price.
White is for Liberty;
freedom's purity.
Life be free from God's decree.
Blue is for Justice;
as vast as the sky.
Over freedom's land to occupy.
--
Link to poem - Poet Patriot
--
�2002 Roger W Hancock
Red is for Bravery;
blood shed in sacrifice.
Freedom came with lives the price.
White is for Liberty;
freedom's purity.
Life be free from God's decree.
Blue is for Justice;
as vast as the sky.
Over freedom's land to occupy.
--
Link to poem - Poet Patriot
--
Sunday, May 29, 2011
To a Vietnam Vet...I've Never Met
To a Vietnam Vet I’ve Never Met
by Holger (May 25, 2011)
First of all, let me simply thank you for your service to this country. And from the bottom of my heart, I want you to know how very proud I am of what you did for me in serving in the Vietnam War. To this day, I watch documentaries and videos of the war and every time I do, I am brought to tears by the sacrifice of our troops, that ultimate sacrifice. But the tears that fall from my face are not only for those who gave their lives over there, but for those who came home to America and felt the backlash of a people confused and angry and misinformed.
Yes, I have seen how they treated you as you set foot upon our land and yes, I have talked to some of your brothers who shared those stories of humiliation. I can only tell you how sorry I am that you, a fighting man, had to endure that. Even though I am only a civilian, I have enough close friends who have been in the military to know how important it is for you to feel the love and admiration and support of the people back home, and to see how some of the American people lashed out at you breaks my heart.
I want you to know, sir, that not all of us were lined up to treat you that way. But I have an admission to make, a confession actually. I was not one of those who spit on you or called you names. I was not one of those who burned the flag. I was one of those who stayed home and let you arrive here in America on your own…alone. I was one of those who felt I had to secretly hide my support of you and your brothers. Yes, I was one of the cowards.
On this Memorial Day weekend, I want you to know how sorry I am that I wasn’t brave enough to stand at the airports and the docks that day to welcome you home – to shout out how proud I was of you. To this day, I’ve lived with that shame.
But I hope today, that perhaps you can finally feel proud of your service and that this might be a long overdue welcome home and that maybe, just maybe, I can put my burden behind me as well.
I made a vow long ago that it would never happen again and since then, I have welcomed home the troops from various wars, I have stood along the roadside holding the flag as fallen heroes have passed by in their hearses. And yes, it will never happen again to another U.S. troop what happened to you.
I wish you peace this day. I wish you could know how proud I am of you.
Al Qaeda Fighters Take Control of Provincial Capital in Yemen
We are seriously looking at al Qaeda, as a terror organization, literally taking over an entire country. I'll let that sink in for you. Yemen is in deep shit - not that it was some sort of pillar of democracy or non-terrorism before but let's face it, with the country of Yemen in the hands of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, there is absolutely nothing but chaos and world havoc in store for the region.
Perhaps we need to look at a recap of the region here:
- Lebanon has all but been taken over by the islamic terror group, Hezbollah
- Egypt appears headed for a government and military controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood
- Libya stands a good chance of al Qaeda linked forces taking at least temporary control of that country
- Yemen has lost a provincial capital to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Here's some from the article at The Telegraph:
Residents of Zinjibar, a town on the southern coast that is home to some 18,000 people, said that 200 masked Islamist militants, some of them members of al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula, or AQAP, launched an attack that began on Friday afternoon.
The fighters were accused of pillaging the town, burning down buildings and launching violent reprisals that left corpses strewn across dusty streets.
Eyewitnesses claimed that by yesterday (SUN) the militants had taken the town largely unopposed after most government troops stationed there were withdrawn.
However, battles have been reported on the outskirts of the town as the fighters surrounded the headquarters of the 25th Mechanised Brigade.
Thousands of civilians fled the town, despite appeals broadcast through loudhailers urging residents to return to work.
"They burned down buildings and said they were going to establish an Islamic caliphate," one resident said. "People were very scared."
Al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula has emerged as a powerful force since its leader Nasir al-Wuhayshi, Osama bin Laden's former secretary, escaped from prison in 2006 and rebuilt the group after it had been all but destroyed in a US predator drone strike in 2002.
You know, I can only think of one thing that could make the entire Middle East situation more treacherous than it already is....and that would be for the United States to have some limp-wristed, terrorist appeasing, Muslim supporting President in charge.
Oh wait...that's right....we do.
Al-Qaeda fighters take control of Yemen town
Residents of Zinjibar, a town on the southern coast that is home to some 18,000 people, said that 200 masked Islamist militants, some of them members of al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula, or AQAP, launched an attack that began on Friday afternoon.
The fighters were accused of pillaging the town, burning down buildings and launching violent reprisals that left corpses strewn across dusty streets.
Eyewitnesses claimed that by yesterday (SUN) the militants had taken the town largely unopposed after most government troops stationed there were withdrawn.
However, battles have been reported on the outskirts of the town as the fighters surrounded the headquarters of the 25th Mechanised Brigade.
Thousands of civilians fled the town, despite appeals broadcast through loudhailers urging residents to return to work.
"They burned down buildings and said they were going to establish an Islamic caliphate," one resident said. "People were very scared."
Al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula has emerged as a powerful force since its leader Nasir al-Wuhayshi, Osama bin Laden's former secretary, escaped from prison in 2006 and rebuilt the group after it had been all but destroyed in a US predator drone strike in 2002.
It has since been involved in a number of attempted attacks on US soil, most notably an attempt by one of its recruits to bring down an airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day, 2009, with explosives secreted in his underpants.
The group has officially been classified as posing the single biggest threat to US homeland security.
Aides of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, under pressure to resign after months of street protests, yesterday sought to present the fall of Zinjibar as evidence of how al-Qaeda could emerge as a major force in Yemen if he was forced to step aside.
But dissident generals who have defected to the opposition accused the president of deliberately allowing the town to fall in order to play on Western fears.
Washington has come to see Mr Saleh as a vital, if not always dependable, ally. He allowed US forces to strike at AQAP targets, but often seemed unwilling to take action himself.
But after Mr Saleh three times reneged on a US-backed regional proposal that would see him stand down within 30 days in exchange for immunity from prosecution, the Yemeni president is now regarded as more a liability than an asset.
The president has consistently portrayed himself as a bulwark against al-Qaeda, but, in a country known for its complex political and tribal alliances, he has also forged close relationships with powerful Jihadis who fought with Bin Laden against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
Some observers have suggested that the attack on Zinjibar was led by Khalid Abdul Nabi, an Islamist with ties to the president – an indication of possible official collusion.
AQAP has already gained strength in Abyan province, of which Zinjibar is the capital. In August last year, fierce clashes erupted in the city of Loder, in the north of Abyan, as government troops tried to flush the group out of one of its main strongholds. AQAP was also accused of launching a daring raid in March to seize weapons from an ammunitions store in Jaar, another Abyan town.
AQAP's growing strength in Abyan is attributed to an unlikely alliance it has forged with southern secessionists, whose Marxist and secular heritage would make them ideological enemies in ordinary circumstances.
The pact was allegedly forged by a powerful local kingpin, Tariq al-Fadhli, a veteran of Afghanistan who was once close to the president until they fell out in 2009.
Mr Fadhli has been declared one of country's chief outlaws, but in an another example that things are not always as they seem in Yemen, the Daily Telegraph found him living openly in Zinjibar when it visited the town last year.
Blog Talk Radio: "The Awakening" - Honoring Our Vietnam Vets
The Awakening
"Honoring Our Vietnam Vets"
"Honoring Our Vietnam Vets"
Listen to internet radio with Holger Awakens on Blog Talk Radio
Taliban State That They Aim To Take Over Pakistan and Its Nuclear Weapons
Well, at least the Taliban in Pakistan finally have made their goals public as today they have announced that they seek to take over the country of Pakistan and with it, gain control of the country's nuclear weapons. I guess if that doesn't get some in the Pakistani government scrambling, nothing will.
From the article at IBNLive:
The Taliban has said they have no plans to attack Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, asserting that it is the only Muslim state possessing such weapons and the terror group aims to take over the country as well as its nukes.
Taliban has stepped-up violent campaign to avenge Osama bin Laden's death has renewed fears that the country's warheads could be vulnerable.
Declaring that "Pakistan is the only Muslim nuclear power state," Taliban Spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said that his group had no intention of changing the fact, Wall Street Journal reported. The Taliban, after all, aim to take over Pakistan and its weapons, he said.
A well coordinated Taliban attack on Pakistan key naval airbase at Karachi had triggered fresh global alarm that radical militant groups operating from the country's restive tribal areas bordering Afghanistan might be out to snatch nuclear weapons.
Seeking to dismiss these concerns, Ehsan claimed that US was using this as an excuse to pressurise Pakistan government and military into fighting Taliban, whom he portrayed as country's true protectors.
"Isn't it a shame for us to have the Islamic bomb, and even then we are bowing down to the pressures of America?" the Taliban spokesman mocked.
It has been nearly six months since the Pakistani government and military have set their sights on the Taliban - there have been no formal military operations inside of the country - it was almost like the Pakistani government was giving the Taliban every opportunity to rest, regroup and rearm in the winter season. And so now, the Taliban are in full spring offensive form and have now stated that the conquest of Pakistan is their goal.
Are the Pakistanis going to continue to just sit in their governmental offices and just wait for the day when they are overrun?
You just wait and see and mark my words ... within two years we will see the Pakistanis, under complete siege by the Taliban, will be crying and begging to the United States and NATO for help to protect their nukes and save their country. Just wait and see.
Taliban aims to take over Pakistan, its nukes
Washington: The Taliban has said they have no plans to attack Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, asserting that it is the only Muslim state possessing such weapons and the terror group aims to take over the country as well as its nukes.
Taliban has stepped-up violent campaign to avenge Osama bin Laden's death has renewed fears that the country's warheads could be vulnerable.
Declaring that "Pakistan is the only Muslim nuclear power state," Taliban Spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said that his group had no intention of changing the fact, Wall Street Journal reported. The Taliban, after all, aim to take over Pakistan and its weapons, he said.
A well coordinated Taliban attack on Pakistan key naval airbase at Karachi had triggered fresh global alarm that radical militant groups operating from the country's restive tribal areas bordering Afghanistan might be out to snatch nuclear weapons.
Seeking to dismiss these concerns, Ehsan claimed that US was using this as an excuse to pressurise Pakistan government and military into fighting Taliban, whom he portrayed as country's true protectors.
"Isn't it a shame for us to have the Islamic bomb, and even then we are bowing down to the pressures of America?" the Taliban spokesman mocked.
WSJ said Ehsan's remarks appeared tailored to appeal to that increasingly nationalist mainstream, where conspiracy theories flourish about American, Indian and Israeli plots to deprive Pakistan of its atomic arsenal.
Pakistan's nuclear capability is cherished here as the guarantor of safety from India's far larger conventional military.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Taliban Suicide Bomber Successfully Hits High Level Targets In Meeting In the North
This was another bad one, folks. Luckily no U.S. troops were involved but two German troops were killed but the real prizes taken out by a Taliban suicide bomber today were the head of the Afghan police in the North along with a police commander of one of the provinces. All of the above were together for meetings and how this bomber got into that place is beyond me....especially with German and Afghan troops there.
From the article at The Long War Journal:
The Taliban launched a deadly suicide attack at the governor's compound in the northern province of Takhar today, killing the police chief for northern Afghanistan and the provincial chief of police, and wounding the governor of the province and ISAF's northern commander.
The attack took place as top Afghan and Coalition leaders in the north were meeting at the governor's compound in the city of Taloqan, the provincial capital of Takhar.
The suicide bomber killed General Dawood Dawood, the top commander for the Afghan National Police in the north; Mawlawi Shah Jahan, the chief of police for Takhar province; the governor's secretary; and a security guard, according to TOLONews. Two German soldiers were also killed, and Major General Markus Kneip, Regional Commander North for the International Security Assistance Force, was wounded in the attack, The Associated Press reported. The governor of Takhar was also wounded.
Ten Afghans and an unknown number of Coalition soldiers were also reported to have been wounded in the attack. Many of those wounded are said to have suffered serious burns. The extent of General Kneip's injuries have not been disclosed. ISAF has only confirmed that Kneip "was not killed in the blast," an official told Reuters.
The Taliban claimed the attack in Takhar and said the purpose of the strike was to assassinate Afghan leaders who commanded operations in the north. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid made the claim to The Associated Press. In s statement release on its propaganda website, Voice of Jihad, the Taliban claimed the attack was carried out by a "resident of Takhar" named Mujahid Amad-ud-Din.
I'm not sure how equipped the Afghans are for replacing these kinds of leaders...I'm guessing not very and one other aspect of this attack that is disconcerting is the fact that it took place in the North. For the life of me I can't figure out how there are still Taliban in the North...the Germans have been up there for five years and usually I think they spend the days playing volleyball due to the lack of threats in that region of the country. I cannot explain why those same Germans simply cannot gut the entire area but hey, I'm not there.
Taliban suicide bomber strikes at high-level meeting in Afghan north
The Taliban launched a deadly suicide attack at the governor's compound in the northern province of Takhar today, killing the police chief for northern Afghanistan and the provincial chief of police, and wounding the governor of the province and ISAF's northern commander.
The attack took place as top Afghan and Coalition leaders in the north were meeting at the governor's compound in the city of Taloqan, the provincial capital of Takhar.
The suicide bomber killed General Dawood Dawood, the top commander for the Afghan National Police in the north; Mawlawi Shah Jahan, the chief of police for Takhar province; the governor's secretary; and a security guard, according to TOLONews. Two German soldiers were also killed, and Major General Markus Kneip, Regional Commander North for the International Security Assistance Force, was wounded in the attack, The Associated Press reported. The governor of Takhar was also wounded.
Ten Afghans and an unknown number of Coalition soldiers were also reported to have been wounded in the attack. Many of those wounded are said to have suffered serious burns. The extent of General Kneip's injuries have not been disclosed. ISAF has only confirmed that Kneip "was not killed in the blast," an official told Reuters.
The Taliban claimed the attack in Takhar and said the purpose of the strike was to assassinate Afghan leaders who commanded operations in the north. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid made the claim to The Associated Press. In s statement release on its propaganda website, Voice of Jihad, the Taliban claimed the attack was carried out by a "resident of Takhar" named Mujahid Amad-ud-Din.
Over the past seven months, the Taliban have assassinated two other senior leaders in the Afghan north. In October 2010, a Taliban suicide bomber killed Kunduz Governor Muhammad Omar as he worshiped in a mosque in Takhar province. Omar had been vocal in his opposition to the Taliban, and had consistently warned of the spread of the Taliban and allied terror groups in the Afghan north. And in March, a suicide bomber killed General Abdul Rahman Sayedkhili, the provincial chief of police for Kunduz.
Today's attack is the latest in the Taliban's so-called Badar spring offensive. On May 22, a suicide assault team attacked a police headquarters in Khost, killing six people in a battle that lasted for several hours. On May 21, a Taliban suicide bomber killed six people in the cafeteria of a Kabul hospital used by Afghan forces. Other major Taliban attacks in the last two weeks include an ambush that killed 35 road workers and guards in Paktika; a suicide attack that killed 13 people in Nangarhar; an IED attack that killed eight US soldiers in Kandahar, and another IED attack that killed four ISAF troops in the south.
Background on the Taliban's spring offensive
The Taliban are seeking to roll back Afghan and Coalition gains made in the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar over the past year, as well as to reinforce the perception that Taliban forces can strike in all areas of Afghanistan. The Taliban are also trying to break the will of the Afghan security forces as well as intimidate local Afghans.
In their announcement of the Badar offensive, the Taliban said the primary targets would be "foreign invading forces, members of their spy networks and (other) spies, high-ranking officials of the Kabul Puppet Administration, both military and civilian, members of the cabinet, members of the parliament, Heads of foreign and local companies working for the enemy and contractors." The Afghan High Peace Council was also singled out.
The Taliban said Badar would focus on "military centers, places of gatherings, airbases, ammunition and logistical military convoys of the foreign invaders in all parts of the country." Their tactics would include "group and martyrdom seeking attacks," or suicide attacks and assaults; "group offensives," or massed assaults; "city attacks," ambushes, and IED attacks.
The Taliban also said that "strict attention must be paid to the protection and safety of civilians during the spring operations by working out a meticulous military plan."
The Taliban maintain they have no shortage of suicide bombers to carry out attacks. In April, a commander in the Pakistani Taliban claimed that more than 1,000 suicide bombers train at camps in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan.
The Pakistani government refuses to strike the terror groups in North Waziristan despite the known presence of al Qaeda and other foreign terrorist organizations in North Waziristan, as well as requests by the US that action be taken against these groups. The Pakistani military has indicated that it has no plans to take on Hafiz Gul Bahadar, a senior Taliban commander in North Waziristan, or the Haqqani Network, which is also based there. Bahadar and the Haqqanis are considered "good Taliban" by the Pakistani military establishment as they do not carry out attacks inside Pakistan. Yet Bahadar, the Haqqanis, and other Taliban groups openly shelter groups that carry out attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
In Memory
By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle
In Flanders Fields
by John McCrae, May 1915
Never forget their sacrifices. Not only on Memorial Day, but everyday.
In Flanders Fields
by John McCrae, May 1915
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields
Never forget their sacrifices. Not only on Memorial Day, but everyday.
Muslim Ad Campaign In Australia Teaches Christians That Jesus Isn't the Son of God but Merely the Opening Act For Mohammed
You know, if you look back at Australia about 10 years ago and then chronicle the growth of Muslim immigration and the onset of political correctness and then the introduction of the islamophobia weapon....well, I can't think of a single country where the progress...the "creep" of Islam is more defined in a single country. It hasn't taken long, believe me. The Australians, long known for their ties to Europe but their rabid independence of the motherland is falling right in line with Europe in its surrender to Islam.
I would put forth that what has happened in Australia and is going to continue to happen is a better model of what will happen in America than what happened with the islamic infestation of Europe. Afterall, Australia and America have a certain independence quality that you just won't find elsewhere.
Well, the Aussies now find themselves staring at a new ad campaign by the Muslims that is designed to teach them about Islam ...including the fact that Jesus isn't really the Son of G_d, but merely an opening prophetic act to the real head liner....Mohammed.
From the article at the Sydney Morning Herald:
CHRISTIANS in Sydney will have their core beliefs challenged by provocative advertisements due to appear on billboards and buses in the next month.
The ads, paid for by an Islamic group called MyPeace, will carry slogans such as ''Jesus: a prophet of Islam'', ''Holy Quran: the final testament'' and ''Muhammad: mercy to mankind''.
A phone number urges people to call to receive a free Koran and other Islamic literature.
Advertisement: Story continues below
The organiser of MyPeace, Diaa Mohamed, said the campaign was intended to educate non-Muslims about Islam. He said Jesus was a prophet of Islam, who was to come before Muhammad. ''The only difference is we say he was a prophet of God, and they say he is God,'' Mr Mohamed said. ''Is it thought-provoking? Yes, it is. We want to raise awareness that Islam believes in Jesus Christ,'' he said.
Mr Mohamed said he hoped the billboards would encourage Christians and Muslims to find common ground. They were not intended to downgrade the significance of Jesus. ''We embrace him and say that he was one of the mightiest prophets of God.''
Now, I certainly don't have a problem with these billboards going up in Australia and also if they went up in America. What I would want assurance of is that I can put up billboards that say "Allah is a moongoddish lie" and "Mohammed wrote the Qur'an during a blackout." What do you think would happen at that point in time? Do you not think CAIR would sue to have those billboards taken down or not even put up in the first place?
We all know by now that the islamists in Australia and America have one thing in common...they want their right to say and do anything in their countries upheld but they also want the right to dictate what other religions can say and do.
You see, it is simple. The Muslims believe theirs is the one true religion and since their prophet demanded of them to conquer the other religions, they must go on the attack ...whether that is with 20 foot billboards or suicide bomb belts or road side bombs. One other thing that needs to be pointed out here because you will hear this crock from many Muslims...that "yes, we believe in Jesus! He was a prophet!" Well, as you can see here, that might sound good to a Christian wanting to believe that Islam isn't evil, but the fact of the matter is that these Muslims are blasphemously really making the claim that Jesus carried water for Mohammed.
He's not the son of God, just the support act
CHRISTIANS in Sydney will have their core beliefs challenged by provocative advertisements due to appear on billboards and buses in the next month.
The ads, paid for by an Islamic group called MyPeace, will carry slogans such as ''Jesus: a prophet of Islam'', ''Holy Quran: the final testament'' and ''Muhammad: mercy to mankind''.
A phone number urges people to call to receive a free Koran and other Islamic literature.
Advertisement: Story continues below
The organiser of MyPeace, Diaa Mohamed, said the campaign was intended to educate non-Muslims about Islam. He said Jesus was a prophet of Islam, who was to come before Muhammad. ''The only difference is we say he was a prophet of God, and they say he is God,'' Mr Mohamed said. ''Is it thought-provoking? Yes, it is. We want to raise awareness that Islam believes in Jesus Christ,'' he said.
Mr Mohamed said he hoped the billboards would encourage Christians and Muslims to find common ground. They were not intended to downgrade the significance of Jesus. ''We embrace him and say that he was one of the mightiest prophets of God.''
MyPeace plans to extend the campaign, funded by private donations, to television.
The Anglican Bishop of South Sydney, Rob Forsyth, said it was ''complete nonsense'' to say Jesus was a prophet of Islam. ''Jesus was not the prophet of a religion that came into being 600 years later.''
But the billboard was not offensive, he said. ''They've got a perfect right to say it, and I would defend their right to say it [but] … you couldn't run a Christian billboard in Saudi Arabia.''
The bishop said he would pay for billboards to counter those of MyPeace if he could afford it, and ''maybe the atheists should run their billboards as well''.
A spokesman for the Australian Islamic Mission, Siddiq Buckley, said the campaign would increase awareness of the positive facts of Islam. ''I would be looking at this as a good opportunity to explain what we mean.''
Islamic Terror Leader In Kashmir/Pakistan Says the Pakistani Government Gives His Training Camps and Jihadis a Free Pass
Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi [center], the military commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba who has been implicated in the November 2008 terror assault on Mumbai, prays with Syed Salahuddin [right], the leader of the Hizbul Mujahideen, just two weeks after the Mumbai attack. Associated Press photograph.Not that I don't believe what is in this article but we probably should make it known up front that the information actually comes from Times of India which perhaps may distort some information regarding Muslim terrorists in Pakistan but in this piece from The Long War Journal, you can see where a couple of united islamic terror groups brag about their freedom to do their business more or less with the blessings of the Pakistani government and military.
From the article:
The leader of a terrorist alliance that operates in Kashmir and includes groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed said the Pakistani military allows it to operate freely and run hundreds of training camps.
Syed Salahuddin, the leader of the Hizbul Mujahideen, admitted that the Pakistani military permits his fighters to move freely and run training camps in the region.
"Our mujahideen can come and go at their own will," Salahuddin told a local news agency, according to The Times of India. "There is no question that the army can stop us."
"And we have hundreds of training camps in the state where we recruit and train the mujahideen," Salahuddin continued. He did not say if the camps were located inside Pakistan or in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Salahuddin, whose real name is Mohammed Yusuf Shah, is also the chairman of the United Jihad Council, an alliance of 16 terrorist groups that are fighting in Jammu and Kashmir. The United Jihad Council is supported by the Pakistani military and its Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal. Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, two groups which are on the US and the United Nation's lists of terror organizations, are part of the United Jihad Council.
Salahuddin has close links to both terror groups. Less than two weeks after the November 2008 terror assault on Mumbai, Salahuddin was photographed praying with Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, the military commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba who has been implicated in the deadly attack in India.
Now, just a couple of days ago another report came out detailing how Pakistan's intelligence services were directly involved in the Mumbai terror attack so this is nothing new to tie Pakistan to appeasement of terrorists.
We have to remember that Pakistan is about as complicated a country as you will find - you have all extremes....from some fairly serious hawks in the government that want the Taliban and other groups wiped out to some in the government who literally swear allegiance to these groups. What cannot be denied is that Pakistan currently sees more islamic terror attacks inside of its borders than any other country on earth at the moment...and that doesn't seem likely to change.
Hizbul Mujahideen chief: Pakistan allows terror group to run 'hundreds of training camps'
The leader of a terrorist alliance that operates in Kashmir and includes groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed said the Pakistani military allows it to operate freely and run hundreds of training camps.
Syed Salahuddin, the leader of the Hizbul Mujahideen, admitted that the Pakistani military permits his fighters to move freely and run training camps in the region.
"Our mujahideen can come and go at their own will," Salahuddin told a local news agency, according to The Times of India. "There is no question that the army can stop us."
"And we have hundreds of training camps in the state where we recruit and train the mujahideen," Salahuddin continued. He did not say if the camps were located inside Pakistan or in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Salahuddin, whose real name is Mohammed Yusuf Shah, is also the chairman of the United Jihad Council, an alliance of 16 terrorist groups that are fighting in Jammu and Kashmir. The United Jihad Council is supported by the Pakistani military and its Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal. Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, two groups which are on the US and the United Nation's lists of terror organizations, are part of the United Jihad Council.
Salahuddin has close links to both terror groups. Less than two weeks after the November 2008 terror assault on Mumbai, Salahuddin was photographed praying with Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, the military commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba who has been implicated in the deadly attack in India.
For decades, Pakistan has sponsored jihadist groups to attack Indian security forces, the government, and civilians in an attempt to liberate the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Salahuddin routinely advocates violence against the Indian state, without incurring repercussions from the Pakistani state. In March 2010, Salahuddin said that "[t]he only way to liberate Kashmir is jihad," during a rally that was attended by top leaders of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Pakistan continues to support terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir. In 2009, Indian intelligence estimated that Pakistan had expanded to 62 the number of terror camps that train terrorists to carry out attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. This occurred during the year after the Lashkar-e-Taiba carried out the terror assault in Mumbai that killed more than 165 people.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Did Hezbollah Take Out a U.N. Peacekeeper Convoy in Southern Lebanon Today Injuring 6 Italians?
Lebanese army soldiers stand guard next to a destroyed Italian UN peacekeeper vehicle that was struck by the roadside bombThe Italian government is not going to be happy with this turn of events in which a United Nations peacekeeping convoy in southern Lebanon was hit by a roadside bomb that has injured at least six Italians. The details are sketchy but this is what I found over at The Telegraph:
Six Italian peacekeepers have been wounded in a bomb attack targeting a UN patrol in south Lebanon, according to officials.
The explosion occurred on a busy highway leading to Sidon. A spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said the bomb had been aimed at a logistics convoy.
"We have reports of casualties of UNIFIL peacekeepers," a spokesman said.
The explosion happened on the UN's International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, when peacekeepers killed in missions across the world are commemorated by their colleagues.
I doubt that we will see Hezbollah take credit for this as they are too intent as coming off as the legitimate government of Lebanon at the time being but I can't think of anyone else that would have a vested interest in trying to signal to the U.N. peacekeepers to keep their asses out of southern Lebanon.
The fact of the matter is that usually these U.N. personnel look the other way and let Hezbollah do anything they damn well please but someone must have gotten pissed off here along the way.
Italian UN peacekeepers targeted by Lebanon bomb
Six Italian peacekeepers have been wounded in a bomb attack targeting a UN patrol in south Lebanon, according to officials.
The explosion occurred on a busy highway leading to Sidon. A spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said the bomb had been aimed at a logistics convoy.
"We have reports of casualties of UNIFIL peacekeepers," a spokesman said.
The explosion happened on the UN's International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, when peacekeepers killed in missions across the world are commemorated by their colleagues.
UNIFIL has about 12,000 troops and naval personnel in Lebanon after its expansion under a UN Security Council resolution that halted the 2006 Israel-Hizbollah war in southern Lebanon.
A car bomb killed six UN peacekeepers in Lebanon in June 2007.
An Italian defence ministry spokesman in Rome said: "I can confirm the attack but as the rescue is still under way I do not have a very clear idea of the situation. In principle we have one fallen and one gravely injured."
Memorial Day Weekend Tribute To Our Vietnam Vets - Blog Talk Radio
Tomorrow night, Saturday, I will be paying tribute to our Vietnam vets as part of my Memorial Day weekend of tribute to our military and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for America.
The tribute for our Vietnam vets will be broadcast on my Blog Talk Radio show at 12:00 midnight EDT, 9:00 p.m. PDT, May 28th - the show is: The Awakening - Honoring Our Vietnam Vets
The broadcast is only 30 minutes but I will do my best to honor those veterans who served us all so well. If you have some time, please join me for the show and in the chat room and if you are just too tuckered out from all of the weekend activities, try to catch the show in archives -I hope I can do these men justice.
Here's the link to the show tomorrow night:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/holger-awakens/2011/05/29/the-awakening--honoring-our-vietnam-vets
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Federal Appeals Court Determines Christian's 1st Amendment Rights Violated In Dearbornistan, Michigan
Finally, FINALLY someone in Dearborn, Michigan (Home of the Mecca 2) has gotten the riot act read to them when a federal court of appeals handed down a decision that a Christian man's first amendment rights were violated when he was barred from passing out pamphlets at an Islamic festival in Dearborn.
Okay....oh wait...hold on. Hmmm...let's see....countdown to Muslim outrage and protests and rampages on the streets of Dearborn in 4....3....2....1
The story is from USA Today.
Court: Detroit suburb violated evangelist's rights
DETROIT — A Detroit suburb violated the free-speech rights of a Christian evangelist by barring him from handing out leaflets at an Arab-American street festival last year, a federal appeals court said Thursday.
The 2-1 decision comes less than a month before the next festival in Dearborn, which draws thousands of people to Warren Avenue in the heavily Arab community.
The festival had offered George Saieg of Anaheim, Calif., a free booth in 2010, but said he and his followers could not freely walk sidewalks with literature about converting Muslims to Christianity.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the restriction was unreasonable, especially when vendors and pedestrians were allowed on sidewalks during the festival.
Dearborn and its police department "violated Saieg's First Amendment right to freedom of speech," judges Karen Nelson Moore and Eric Clay said. "Absent an injunction, Saieg will continue to suffer irreparable injury for which there is no adequate remedy at law."
Saieg had no problems for years at the Arab festival until 2009 when Ron Haddad became Dearborn police chief. Haddad has defended the policy as a way to control foot traffic.
Mayor Jack O'Reilly said he's "fine" with the court decision but is concerned about the cost of cleaning up leaflets dropped on the ground.
It's the second time the appeals court has intervened. In 2010, a federal judge in Detroit upheld the city's restrictions. But the court stepped in on the eve of the festival and said Saieg could at least distribute information on the perimeter.
After another look, Moore and Clay said Thursday that allowing him on the perimeter still doesn't meet the pastor's free-speech rights.
"Everybody should be pleased," Saieg's attorney, Robert Muise, said. "Dearborn is getting a pretty strong reputation as being the enemy of the First Amendment. As long as they keep passing these draconian restrictions that violate the rights of everyone, we're going to challenge them."
The dissenting judge on the appeals court, Martha Craig Daughtrey, said the restrictions were "narrowly tailored" and not unreasonable.
Saieg plans to attend the June 17-19 festival, Muise said.
A Florida pastor, the Rev. Terry Jones, has said he, too, will appear. In April, he was barred from demonstrating outside a Dearborn mosque unless he posted a $1 "peace bond." He refused.
"Any public sidewalks are open and free game," Muise said.
A burning of the Quran in March at Jones' church in Florida led to a series of violent protests in Afghanistan that killed more than a dozen people.
Kuwaiti Newspaper Reveals We Haven't Seen HALF of the Atrocities Going On In Syria
I have made mention a number of times just how ruthless Syria's leader, Bashar Assad, truly is and now there are reports out of Kuwait that the carnage being done against the protesting public in Syria is NOTHING compared to what has not been reported.
From the report at Family Security Matters:
Kuwait’s Alseyassah newspaper is reporting – in addition to the widely reported mass graves and Syrian army’s killings of unarmed civilians – grisly incidents of torture, including “chopping off the wrists of children so they’d never carry arms against the [Syrian] regime.”
According to Alseyassah, “The World Council of the Cedars Revolution’s Human Rights Dept. chief Kamal Batal visited the border town of Wadi Khaled in northern Lebanon [near the Syrian border] where more than 5,000 Syrians have taken refuge from the death squads and Baath militias… After thorough interviews with the refugees – who are still in contact with their family members displaced to other parts in Syria – Batal gathered horrific details and stories about the massacres committed by the Baath thugs in Syrian towns.”
Batal has learned that regular Syrian army and militia forces – including members of Syrian Pres. Bashar Assad’s Alawite community supported by Iranian Basij fighters and Lebanese-based Hizballah terrorists – are moving from one Sunni village to the next, storming homes and offices, “killing at will whoever defies them and literally emptying entire towns of its civilian population.”
The accounts are not unlike other reports, according to the Kuwaiti paper, from international NGO’s and humanitarian organizations based in Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon, all of which are confirming stories of civilians being machine-gunned by tanks and shot by snipers. Bodies are being mutilated. And Syrian soldiers who refuse to participate in the wanton killings are themselves summarily executed by Assad’s Alawite death squads.
Basically, what we are seeing (and not seeing) in Syria is exactly what the Iranians WANTED to do during their Green uprising but there was too much coverage of the events there. And now, with Syria's leader going all in on the suppression of the revolt in Syria, this is also being used as a message for the people of Iran that this same result will happen to them if they ever rise up again against the mullahs.
At the same time, we have to realize that much of the "suppression" here is laced with ethnic and religious hatred spanning decades and centuries...in other words, there are segments of the Syrian populace being targeted for age old grudges and hatred.
One last thought - President Obama made a huge mistake at the onset of the Libyan operation when he revealed that the reason for U.S. action was the threat of great harm to innocent Libyans....you can never be that explicit in foreign affairs because there will always be a Syria looming on the horizon. So now, we have a madman loose in Syria who Obama does NOT want to touch for political reasons yet he is now seen as condoning the carnage brought upon the Syrian people.
Leading Kuwaiti Newspaper Reporting Ghastly Atrocities by the Syrian Regime
Kuwait’s Alseyassah newspaper is reporting – in addition to the widely reported mass graves and Syrian army’s killings of unarmed civilians – grisly incidents of torture, including “chopping off the wrists of children so they’d never carry arms against the [Syrian] regime.”
According to Alseyassah, “The World Council of the Cedars Revolution’s Human Rights Dept. chief Kamal Batal visited the border town of Wadi Khaled in northern Lebanon [near the Syrian border] where more than 5,000 Syrians have taken refuge from the death squads and Baath militias… After thorough interviews with the refugees – who are still in contact with their family members displaced to other parts in Syria – Batal gathered horrific details and stories about the massacres committed by the Baath thugs in Syrian towns.”
Batal has learned that regular Syrian army and militia forces – including members of Syrian Pres. Bashar Assad’s Alawite community supported by Iranian Basij fighters and Lebanese-based Hizballah terrorists – are moving from one Sunni village to the next, storming homes and offices, “killing at will whoever defies them and literally emptying entire towns of its civilian population.”
The accounts are not unlike other reports, according to the Kuwaiti paper, from international NGO’s and humanitarian organizations based in Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon, all of which are confirming stories of civilians being machine-gunned by tanks and shot by snipers. Bodies are being mutilated. And Syrian soldiers who refuse to participate in the wanton killings are themselves summarily executed by Assad’s Alawite death squads.
Batal also tells Alseyassah, the militias are planning to establish “a pure Alawite zone along the north coast of Syria. This large carved out zone will serve as a fallback position to Assad and his apparatus if they fail to keep control over the whole country. Sunni villages around that area are looted to the bone, even kitchen tiles and electric lines are not spared.”
He adds, “Unmarked white vans are moving their belongings to newly established Alawite villages in the north coast strategically located on the outskirts of the large Sunni city of Hamah.”
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Pakistani Taliban Suicide Car Bomber Blows the Piss Out of Police Station in Hangu...25 People Killed, Death Toll To Rise
Security personnel gather at the site of a suicide car bomb attack in the town of Hangu. -AFP PhotoOnce again we see just how entrenched the ideology of al Qaeda has become in the Pakistani Taliban as a police station in Hangu, Pakistan was hit today by a Taliban suicide bomber and 25 people, mostly police, are dead...but reading the article, this could have been a helluva lot worse if he'd gotten even closer to the building.
From the article at DAWN:
PESHAWAR: A suicide car bomb struck Pakistani police on Thursday, killing 25 people in the second attack in as many days in the northwest as the Taliban vow to avenge the US killing of Osama bin Laden.
“It was a car suicide attack targeting a city police station. The bomber blew up the car at a checkpoint close to the police station,” said police deputy inspector general Masood Khan Afridi.
Regional police spokesman Fazal Naeem said, “(The bomber) wanted to blow up the city police station but he blew up the car close to the barrier outside the station.” Police officials said 25 people were killed and 38 others wounded.
“Most of those killed in the attack are policemen and the death toll may rise, because there are offices and residences of senior police officials and the local administration near the attack site,” said Naeem.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the suicide car bombing, with a spokesman saying it was carried out to avenge the death of Osama bin Laden.
“We accept responsibility for this attack. This was a small attack to avenge Osama’s martyrdom,” spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location.
And this bullshit about being to "avenge" bin Laden is just that...bullshit. These clowns in the Taliban have become complete minions to al Qaeda and al Qaeda's number one target in every theater they are in is the police. This has squat to do with bin Laden...this is about creating the chaos and murder to prop up the strategies and goals of al Qaeda.
At some point in time, the Pakistanis will reach the point that the Iraqis did with al Qaeda and here, with the Taliban. Personally, I think the Taliban deserve al Qaeda and especially they deserve the justice that will one day come to them....raining down on them...
Suicide car bomb kills 25 in Hangu
PESHAWAR: A suicide car bomb struck Pakistani police on Thursday, killing 25 people in the second attack in as many days in the northwest as the Taliban vow to avenge the US killing of Osama bin Laden.
“It was a car suicide attack targeting a city police station. The bomber blew up the car at a checkpoint close to the police station,” said police deputy inspector general Masood Khan Afridi.
Regional police spokesman Fazal Naeem said, “(The bomber) wanted to blow up the city police station but he blew up the car close to the barrier outside the station.” Police officials said 25 people were killed and 38 others wounded.
“Most of those killed in the attack are policemen and the death toll may rise, because there are offices and residences of senior police officials and the local administration near the attack site,” said Naeem.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the suicide car bombing, with a spokesman saying it was carried out to avenge the death of Osama bin Laden.
“We accept responsibility for this attack. This was a small attack to avenge Osama’s martyrdom,” spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location.
“Soon you will see bigger attacks. Revenge for Osama can’t be satisfied just with small attacks,” he said.
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