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Post by Turk on Jun 4, 2011 15:51:04 GMT -5
The man described by counterterrorism officials as al Qaeda's "military brain," Ilyas Kashmiri, was killed in a drone strike Friday night in Pakistan, a spokesman for his group, the jihadist Harakat-ul-Jihad-Islami, said. Pakistani and U.S. officials, however, said they have not confirmed Kashmiri's death. Kashmiri was killed, along with some aides, in a strike at 11:15 p.m., spokesman Abu Hanzla Kashar said. "The oppressor U.S. is our only target and, God willing, we will take revenge on the U.S. soon with full force," he said. A senior Pakistani military official said that in all, nine were killed by the drone strike. The official reiterated that they had not confirmed Kashmiri's demise. Kashmiri, who was known to operate in North Waziristan, had moved to South Waziristan and was seen at the site of the attack on Friday, the official said. If confirmed, his death would be the first major kill or capture since Osama Bin Laden, and the highest profile drone target since Beitullah Mehsud in 2009. www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/06/04/pakistan.jihadist.killed/index.html?iref=NS1
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Post by jdredd on Jun 27, 2011 22:30:04 GMT -5
www.economist.com/node/18867450"Few Bedouin say they want to rid Sinai of Egyptian rule altogether, though the more wistful wonder whether Western powers might yet set up a Bedouin dynasty in Sinai as they did with the House of Saud in the Arabian peninsula. The more pragmatic Bedouin want a new contract with the state, including a degree of local autonomy, access to government and army jobs that have long been denied to them, and an amnesty from the sentences passed on them, often in absentia."
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Post by dj on Jun 27, 2011 22:37:28 GMT -5
www.economist.com/node/18867450"Few Bedouin say they want to rid Sinai of Egyptian rule altogether, though the more wistful wonder whether Western powers might yet set up a Bedouin dynasty in Sinai as they did with the House of Saud in the Arabian peninsula. The more pragmatic Bedouin want a new contract with the state, including a degree of local autonomy, access to government and army jobs that have long been denied to them, and an amnesty from the sentences passed on them, often in absentia." The Bedouin might better be described as "Moses".
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Post by jdredd on Oct 5, 2011 2:51:02 GMT -5
Here's the latest from good ol' Noam Chomsky: english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/09/201192514364490977.html"The democracy uprising in the Arab world has been a spectacular display of courage, dedication, and commitment by popular forces - coinciding, fortuitously, with a remarkable uprising of tens of thousands in support of working people and democracy in Madison, Wisconsin, and other US cities. If the trajectories of revolt in Cairo and Madison intersected, however, they were headed in opposite directions: in Cairo toward gaining elementary rights denied by the dictatorship, in Madison towards defending rights that had been won in long and hard struggles and are now under severe attack." "Support for democracy is the province of ideologists and propagandists. In the real world, elite dislike of democracy is the norm. The evidence is overwhelming that democracy is supported insofar as it contributes to social and economic objectives, a conclusion reluctantly conceded by the more serious scholarship. Elite contempt for democracy was revealed dramatically in the reaction to the WikiLeaks exposures. Those that received most attention, with euphoric commentary, were cables reporting that Arabs support the US stand on Iran. The reference was to the ruling dictators. The attitudes of the public were unmentioned. The guiding principle was articulated clearly by Carnegie Endowment Middle East specialist Marwan Muasher, formerly a high official of the Jordanian government: "There is nothing wrong, everything is under control." In short, if the dictators support us, what else could matter?"
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Post by jdredd on Oct 5, 2011 10:25:02 GMT -5
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bashar_al-Assad"During its decades of rule, moreover, the Assad family developed a strong political safety net by firmly integrating the military into the regime. In 1970, Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s father, seized power after rising through the ranks of the Syrian armed forces, during which time he established a network of loyal Alawites by installing them in key posts. In fact, the military, ruling elite, and ruthless secret police are so intertwined that it is now impossible to separate the Assad regime from the security establishment. Bashar al-Assad’s threat to use force against protesters would be more plausible than Tunisia’s or Egypt’s were. So, unlike in Tunisia and Egypt, where a professionally trained military tended to play an independent role, the regime and its loyal forces have been able to deter all but the most resolute and fearless oppositional activists. In this respect, the situation in Syria is to a certain degree comparable to Saddam Hussein’s strong Sunni minority rule in Iraq." So this is the next Arab despot who needs to go. I wonder what those shovel-leaners at the CIA are doing? They are good at playing video assassination with killer drones, but even they used special forces on Bin Laden (after ten years of searching) to be really, truly, absolutely certain they were getting the right guy.
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Post by Tired in CV on Oct 5, 2011 17:56:39 GMT -5
Was Obama right in supporting those wishing to overthrow Mubarek in Egypt? Right or wrong, it has cost the U.S. in the trust of other countries. This article particularly covers the Gulf states but it goes much farther than that! U.S. 'Paid a Price' on EgyptIn a blunt assessment, President Obama’s first national security adviser told a private audience this week that there is a “chasm” between the United States and its Gulf Arab allies that has yet to heal since the White House very publicly ushered Egypt’s president out of power in February. Retired Marine Gen. James Jones, who served as national security adviser in 2009-10, told a private meeting at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that the United States’ Persian Gulf allies interpret the president’s handling of the Egyptian revolution as a sign that Washington will dump their monarchies or governments if enough demonstrators take to their streets, according to a recording of the speech reviewed by The Daily Beast. news.yahoo.com/u-paid-price-egypt-030400193.html
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Post by dolphie on Oct 5, 2011 20:14:04 GMT -5
Was Obama right in supporting those wishing to overthrow Mubarek in Egypt? Right or wrong, it has cost the U.S. in the trust of other countries. This article particularly covers the Gulf states but it goes much farther than that! U.S. 'Paid a Price' on EgyptIn a blunt assessment, President Obama’s first national security adviser told a private audience this week that there is a “chasm” between the United States and its Gulf Arab allies that has yet to heal since the White House very publicly ushered Egypt’s president out of power in February. Retired Marine Gen. James Jones, who served as national security adviser in 2009-10, told a private meeting at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that the United States’ Persian Gulf allies interpret the president’s handling of the Egyptian revolution as a sign that Washington will dump their monarchies or governments if enough demonstrators take to their streets, according to a recording of the speech reviewed by The Daily Beast. news.yahoo.com/u-paid-price-egypt-030400193.htmlI agree with the gentleman. BO was following his agenda - to heck with what is good for the world or is respectful to the sovereignty of other countries.
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Post by jdredd on Oct 5, 2011 21:48:32 GMT -5
"In a blunt assessment, President Obama’s first national security adviser told a private audience this week that there is a “chasm” between the United States and its Gulf Arab allies that has yet to heal since the White House very publicly ushered Egypt’s president out of power in February.
Retired Marine Gen. James Jones, who served as national security adviser in 2009-10, told a private meeting at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that the United States’ Persian Gulf allies interpret the president’s handling of the Egyptian revolution as a sign that Washington will dump their monarchies or governments if enough demonstrators take to their streets, according to a recording of the speech reviewed by The Daily Beast."
Which is exactly what our foreign policy should be.
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Post by Turk on Oct 5, 2011 21:54:26 GMT -5
Which is exactly what our foreign policy should be. Which is exactly what our foreign policy should not be. We will remain 180 degrees apart, like positive and negative. When you reach zero we'll have a starting point.
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Post by jdredd on Oct 20, 2011 10:18:27 GMT -5
www.bbc.co.uk/news/"Libya's ex-leader Col Muammar Gaddafi has been killed after an assault on his home town of Sirte, the transitional authority's acting prime minister says."
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Post by Turk on Oct 20, 2011 11:10:47 GMT -5
www.bbc.co.uk/news/"Libya's ex-leader Col Muammar Gaddafi has been killed after an assault on his home town of Sirte, the transitional authority's acting prime minister says." It's about time. The Brits and France taking credit.
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Post by jdredd on Oct 6, 2012 20:15:05 GMT -5
So Syria and Turkey are lobbing mortar shells at each other. Maybe Turkey will invade and overthrow Assad. Why not? Syria was part of the Ottoman empire up until 1918 when the Brits and French partitioned it. See what happens when The West sticks it's nose in where it doesn't belong?
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Post by jdredd on Oct 7, 2012 4:08:14 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2012/10/05/world/middleeast/rebels-say-wests-inaction-is-radicalizing-syria.html?src=recg"A retired Syrian Army medic, Mr. Muhammad had reached the rank of sergeant major in the military he now fights against. He said he had never been a member of a party, and loathed jihadists and terrorists. But he offered a warning to the West now commonly heard among fighters seeking the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad: The Syrian people are being radicalized by a combination of a grinding conflict and their belief that they have been abandoned by a watching world. If the West continues to turn its back on Syria’s suffering, he said, Syrians will turn their backs in return, and this may imperil Western interests and security at one of the crossroads of the Middle East."
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Post by cemilne on Oct 7, 2012 10:03:12 GMT -5
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Post by jdredd on Oct 7, 2012 23:53:42 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/world/middleeast/citing-us-fears-arab-allies-limit-aid-to-syrian-rebels.html?_r=0"RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — For months, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been funneling money and small arms to Syria’s rebels but have refused to provide heavier weapons, like shoulder-fired missiles, that could allow opposition fighters to bring down government aircraft, take out armored vehicles and turn the war’s tide. While they have publicly called for arming the rebels, they have held back, officials in both countries said, in part because they have been discouraged by the United States, which fears the heavier weapons could end up in the hands of terrorists. As a result, the rebels have just enough weapons to maintain a stalemate, the war grinds on and more jihadist militants join the fray every month." So American fear about "terrorism" trumps our alleged hostility toward despotic regimes? What a sad day.
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