The race for the bomb: can Iran be stopped?
Where to stay, eat, party and watch the matches free in Germany's 12 host cities.
name: geminimay_no
Dear Visitor(s)
Take into consideration - What if there was no "FREEDOM"?
Then you see this Blog and are reminded that you would be
missing out on so many important things...Enjoy your stay and recommend to your friends to come and taste the "FREEDOM" Geminimay
What A Laugh
10 September, 2006
NATO wants reinforcements in Afghanistan (More)
By PAUL AMES, Associated Press Writer Thu Sep 7, 9:16 AM ET
CASTEAU, Belgium - NATO's top commander, Gen. James L. Jones, on Thursday called for allied nations to send reinforcements to southern Afghanistan, saying the coming weeks could be decisive in the fight against the Taliban.
Jones will meet top generals from the 26 NATO nations Friday and Saturday in Warsaw, Poland, in an attempt to generate hundreds of troops, with planes and helicopters needed for the mission.
"We have to give the commander additional insurance in terms of some forces that can be there, perhaps temporarily, to make sure that we can carry the moment," he said.
Jones acknowledged that NATO had been surprised by the "level of intensity" of Taliban attacks since the alliance moved into the southern region in July and by the fact the insurgents were prepared to stand and fight rather than deploy their usual hit-and-run tactics.
On Thursday, Taliban militants took over a police station in the remote southern town of Garmser in Helmand province after officers fled for a second time in two months, police said. Taliban forces briefly held the town for two days in July before coalition troops retook it.
Jones said, however, that he was confident that NATO troops could win the war.
"In the relatively near future, certainly before the winter, we will see this decisive moment in the region turn in favor of the troops that represent the government," Jones said at NATO's military headquarters in southern Belgium.
He told reporters he was confident the meeting in Warsaw would muster helicopters, transport planes and several hundred "flexible" reserve troops able to move quickly around the region in support of the operation against the Taliban.
"It will help us to reduce casualties and bring this to a successful conclusion in a short period of time," he said. "This is not a desperate move, it is more of an insurance package."
Jones said he wanted to "destroy" Taliban fighters now confronting the NATO mission before they head back into the mountains with the onset of winter within the next few weeks.
Although Jones said he was confident allies would respond to his appeal at the Warsaw meeting, he did acknowledge that nations have been reluctant to commit troops to the NATO force, which has sustained increasing casualties in the last weeks.
NATO's Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer backed Jones' call for allies to strengthen the NATO force, which currently has about 20,000 troops.
"All allies should think how they can help," de Hoop Scheffer told reporters in Brussels.
Jones criticized the international community for not matching the military effort in Afghanistan with more economic help, assistance building up the police and judicial services and, in particular, help Afghan authorities tackle the country's burgeoning narcotics problem.
"The future of Afghanistan will not be determined by the military," he said.
He complained that aid programs to Afghanistan were "in some stage of life support" and insisted civilian aid was vital to stabilize the country and enable an exit strategy for the international military force.
Since January, 21 NATO troops have died and there have been an equal number of accidental deaths, Jones said. The casualty rate has shot up since NATO forces took control of southern Afghanistan in August, replacing a much smaller U.S. military operation in the region and placing large numbers of international troops in the Taliban's heartland.
"It's something akin to poking a bee hive and the bees are now swarming," Jones said. "The violence that is ensuing is a contest that's going to decide in which way that region is going to go."
Jones said Taliban casualties "far outweigh" those suffered by NATO and he questioned whether the insurgents would be able to maintain their attacks.
"I do not think that ... they have an unlimited amount of people," he said. "They are not going to take casualties at this rate for a long period of time."
Breaking News - It's been Announced That Abu Musab Al Zarqawi Has Been Assassinated!
08 June, 2006
Iraq PM says al-Qaeda's Zarqawi killed
Thu Jun 8, 2006 4:03am ET
By Mariam Karouny
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced on Thursday that al Qaeda leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had been killed in a joint U.S. and Iraqi military raid north of Baghdad.
Jordanian-born Zarqawi is blamed by the United States for the beheading of foreign captives and suicide bombings that have maimed and killed hundreds in Iraq. He had become a figurehead for Islamist militants opposing Washington and Maliki's government.
"Today Zarqawi has been terminated," Maliki told a televised news conference attended by the top U.S. commander in Iraq, General George Casey, and other senior officials.
Casey said Zarqawi's body had been identified and warned that Zarqawi's followers still posed a security threat to Iraq.
Iraqiya television said seven Zarqawi aides were also killed in the raid in the violent city of Baquba 65 km (40 miles) north of the capital.
The most feared leader of the Sunni Arab insurgency in Iraq, with a $25 million U.S. bounty on his head, Zarqawi has inspired an apparently endless supply of militants from across the Arab world to blow themselves up in suicide missions in Iraq.
Iraqi and U.S. officials say he has formed a loose alliance with Saddam Hussein's former agents, benefiting from their money, weapons and intelligence assets to press his campaign.
Some posters of the most wanted man in Iraq show him in glasses, looking like an accountant, others as a tough-looking man in a black skullcap.Believed to be in his late 30s, Zarqawi remains a mysterious figure for Iraqis, who only know the carnage of his bombers.
His killing could be seen as one of the most significant developments for the United States forces and the Iraqi government it backs since the capture of former President Saddam Hussein.
MINISTERIAL CANDIDATES
Maliki had earlier won the approval of his Shi'ite Alliance for nominees for the interior and defense posts and will present them to parliament on Thursday, Shi'ite sources said.
"Last night the Alliance gave Maliki authorization to present the candidates for interior and defense minister to parliament today," Alliance member Bahaa al-Araji told Reuters.
Maliki apparently broke the deadlock by offering to present two Shi'ite nominees for interior minister -- Jawaad al-Bolani and Farouk al-Araji -- in a bid to satisfy several leaders in his fractious Alliance.
Maliki's Sunni Arab nominee for defense minister -- Iraqi ground forces commander General Abdel Qader Jassim -- remains the same, said the sources.
Parliamentary approval for any candidates Maliki offers could help pull him out of a political crisis that has hurt efforts to impose a security crackdown against a Sunni Arab insurgency and sectarian violence raising fears of civil war.
Sunnis and Kurds have told Maliki they would back his candidate Araji for interior minister but three rival parties in his Alliance want Bolani, a former army colonel under Saddam Hussein.The interior ministry came under intense scrutiny under the previous minister, accused by Sunni leaders of sanctioning death squads, a charge he denied.
The political stalemate that has prevented Maliki from filling the top security posts since he took power on May 20 has been set against some of the most gruesome violence Iraq has seen since a 2003 U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam.
Police found a total of 17 severed heads in Diyala province north of Baghdad over the last few days and gunmen dragged 24 people, mostly students, out of their cars in the same area and shot them dead on Sunday.
(Editing by Diana Abdallah)
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
SPIEGEL INTERVIEW WITH IRAN'S PRESIDENT AHMADINEJAD
05 June, 2006
"We Are Determined"
In an interview with SPIEGEL, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad discusses the Holocaust, the future of the state of Israel, mistakes made by the United States in Iraq and Tehran's nuclear dispute with the West.
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 AP Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "By siding with Iran, the Europeans would serve their own and our interests." |
Ahmadinejad: It depends. Naturally, I'll be watching the game in any case. I don't know yet whether I'll be at home in front of the television set or somewhere else. My decision depends upon a number of things.
SPIEGEL: For example?
Ahmadinejad: How much time I have, how the state of various relationships are going, whether I feel like it and a number of other things.
SPIEGEL: There was great indignation in Germany when it became known that you might be coming to the soccer world championship. Did that surprise you?
Ahmadinejad: No, that's not important. I didn't even understand how that came about. It also had no meaning for me. I don't know what all the excitement is about.
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Ahmadinejad: I don't exactly understand the connection.
SPIEGEL: First you make your remarks about the Holocaust. Then comes the news that you may travel to Germany -- this causes an uproar. So you were surprised after all?
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PHOTO GALLERY: THE UNPREDICTABLE MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD
Click on a picture to launch the image gallery (11 Photos). |
SPIEGEL: Denying the Holocaust is punishable in Germany. Are you indifferent when confronted with so much outrage?
Ahmadinejad: I know that DER SPIEGEL is a respected magazine. But I don't know whether it is possible for you to publish the truth about the Holocaust. Are you permitted to write everything about it?
SPIEGEL: Of course we are entitled to write about the findings of the past 60 years' historical research. In our view there is no doubt that the Germans -- unfortunately -- bear the guilt for the murder of 6 million Jews.
Ahmadinejad: Well, then we have stirred up a very concrete discussion. We are posing two very clear questions. The first is: Did the Holocaust actually take place? You answer this question in the affirmative. So, the second question is: Whose fault was it? The answer to that has to be found in Europe and not in Palestine. It is perfectly clear: If the Holocaust took place in Europe, one also has to find the answer to it in Europe.
On the other hand, if the Holocaust didn't take place, why then did this regime of occupation ...
SPIEGEL: ... You mean the state of Israel...
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SPIEGEL: That has long since happened in Germany.
Ahmadinejad: We don't want to confirm or deny the Holocaust. We oppose every type of crime against any people. But we want to know whether this crime actually took place or not. If it did, then those who bear the responsibility for it have to be punished, and not the Palestinians. Why isn't research into a deed that occurred 60 years ago permitted? After all, other historical occurrences, some of which lie several thousand years in the past, are open to research, and even the governments support this.
SPIEGEL: Mr. President, with all due respect, the Holocaust occurred, there were concentration camps, there are dossiers on the extermination of the Jews, there has been a great deal of research, and there is neither the slightest doubt about the Holocaust nor about the fact - we greatly regret this - that the Germans are responsible for it. If we may now add one remark: the fate of the Palestinians is an entirely different issue, and this brings us into the present.
Ahmadinejad: No, no, the roots of the Palestinian conflict must be sought in history. The Holocaust and Palestine are directly connected with one another. And if the Holocaust actually occurred, then you should permit impartial groups from the whole world to research this. Why do you restrict the research to a certain group? Of course, I don't mean you, but rather the European governments.
SPIEGEL: Are you still saying that the Holocaust is just "a myth?"
Ahmadinejad: I will only accept something as truth if I am actually convinced of it.
SPIEGEL: Even though no Western scholars harbor any doubt about the Holocaust?
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SPIEGEL: Who is that supposed to be? Which researchers do you mean?
Ahmadinejad: You would know this better than I; you have the list. There are people from England, from Germany, France and from Australia.
SPIEGEL: You presumably mean, for example, the Englishman David Irving, the German-Canadian Ernst Zündel, who is on trial in Mannheim, and the Frenchman Georges Theil, all of whom deny the Holocaust.
Ahmadinejad: The mere fact that my comments have caused such strong protests, although I'm not a European, and also the fact that I have been compared with certain persons in German history indicates how charged with conflict the atmosphere for research is in your country. Here in Iran you needn't worry.
SPIEGEL: Well, we are conducting this historical debate with you for a very timely purpose. Are you questioning Israel's right to exist?
Ahmadinejad: Look here, my views are quite clear. We are saying that if the Holocaust occurred, then Europe must draw the consequences and that it is not Palestine that should pay the price for it. If it did not occur, then the Jews have to go back to where they came from. I believe that the German people today are also prisoners of the Holocaust. Sixty million people died in the Second World War. World War II was a gigantic crime. We condemn it all. We are against bloodshed, regardless of whether a crime was committed against a Muslim or against a Christian or a Jew. But the question is: Why among these 60 million victims are only the Jews the center of attention?
SPIEGEL: That's just not the case. All peoples mourn the victims claimed by the Second World War, Germans and Russians and Poles and others as well. Yet, we as Germans cannot absolve ourselves of a special guilt, namely for the systematic murder of the Jews. But perhaps we should now move on to the next subject.
Ahmadinejad: No, I have a question for you. What kind of a role did today's youth play in World War II?
SPIEGEL: None.
Ahmadinejad: Why should they have feelings of guilt toward Zionists? Why should the costs of the Zionists be paid out of their pockets? If people committed crimes in the past, then they would have to have been tried 60 years ago. End of story! Why must the German people be humiliated today because a group of people committed crimes in the name of the Germans during the course of history?
SPIEGEL: The German people today can't do anything about it. But there is a sort of collective shame for those deeds done in the German name by our fathers or grandfathers.
Ahmadinejad: How can a person who wasn't even alive at the time be held legally responsible?
SPIEGEL: Not legally but morally.
Ahmadinejad: Why is such a burden heaped on the German people? The German people of today bear no guilt. Why are the German people not permitted the right to defend themselves? Why are the crimes of one group emphasized so greatly, instead of highlighting the great German cultural heritage? Why should the Germans not have the right to express their opinion freely?
SPIEGEL: Mr. President, we are well aware that German history is not made up of only the 12 years of the Third Reich. Nevertheless, we have to accept that horrible crimes have been committed in the German name. We also own up to this, and it is a great achievement of the Germans in post-war history that they have grappled critically with their past.
Ahmadinejad: Are you also prepared to tell that to the German people?
SPIEGEL: Oh yes, we do that.
Ahmadinejad: Then would you also permit an impartial group to ask the German people whether it shares your opinion? No people accepts its own humiliation.
SPIEGEL: All questions are allowed in our country. But of course there are right-wing radicals in Germany who are not only anti-Semitic, but xenophobic as well, and we do indeed consider them a threat.
Ahmadinejad: Let me ask you one thing: How much longer can this go on? How much longer do you think the German people have to accept being taken hostage by the Zionists? When will that end - in 20, 50, 1,000 years?
SPIEGEL: We can only speak for ourselves. DER SPIEGEL is nobody's hostage; SPIEGEL does not deal only with Germany's past and the Germans' crimes. We're not Israel's uncritical ally in the Palestian conflict. But we want to make one thing very clear: We are critical, we are independent, but we won't simply stand by without protest when the existential right of the state of Israel, where many Holocaust survivors live, is being questioned.
Ahmadinejad: Precisely that is our point. Why should you feel obliged to the Zionists? If there really had been a Holocaust, Israel ought to be located in Europe, not in Palestine.
SPIEGEL: Do you want to resettle a whole people 60 years after the end of the war?
Ahmadinejad: Five million Palestinians have not had a home for 60 years. It is amazing really: You have been paying reparations for the Holocaust for 60 years and will have to keep paying up for another 100 years. Why then is the fate of the Palestinians no issue here?
SPIEGEL: The Europeans support the Palestinians in many ways. After all, we also have an historic responsibility to help bring peace to this region finally. But don't you share that responsibility?
Ahmadinejad: Yes, but aggression, occupation and a repetition of the Holocaust won't bring peace. What we want is a sustainable peace. This means that we have to tackle the root of the problem. I am pleased to note that you are honest people and admit that you are obliged to support the Zionists.
SPIEGEL: That's not what we said, Mr. President.
Ahmadinejad: You said Israelis.
World Cup 2006 Mania
30 May, 2006
The World Cup's World-Class Party
EVERY four years, the world's sports fans share an experience unlike any other in its intensity, its drama, its exultation, its heartbreak: the World Cup, a tournament involving 32 countries from almost every corner of the globe. And the country that plays host to that event — this year it is Germany — is more than just a place where memorable matches are played out in packed stadiums. For a month, it is transformed into perhaps the world's best party scene.
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The World Cup Made Easy
Ed Alcock for The New York Times
Fans of 1. FC Köln, the local team, show their colors.
The magnitude of this quadrennial event first hit me in 1990 when I was in Italy for the World Cup. At first, I was holed up in a villa outside Florence — a decision I quickly came to regret when I realized that I was missing out on the action: the joyous crowds eating, drinking and celebrating together in the city center. Soon, I was one of the crowd.
In Florence, a group from Czechoslovakia tried to get me drunk as they celebrated both a 5-1 victory over the United States and their country's first post-Soviet elections. In Siena, a lone Cameroonian carrying his country's flag crossed the central piazza to waves of applause from cafe patrons. In Naples, the woman sitting next to me prayed audibly for Argentina to hold on to its narrow lead over Brazil.
On trains, ferries and planes, I was swept along with cheerful Irishmen, barmy Scots, dancing Colombians and, of course, the Italians, flashing updated scores with their fingers at opera recitals as they listened to matches through earpieces, festooning their apartment balconies by the hundreds in red, white and green, and generally reveling in the monthlong holiday of fun, monomania and anxiety that is the World Cup.
So it will be in Germany starting June 9 and ending exactly a month later, with a match that for a couple of hours will literally stop the world. If you go, you won't want to be in the Teutonic equivalent of a villa in the Tuscan countryside; you'll want to be right smack in the middle of the action.
At past World Cups, it was easy to figure out where the action was going to be: you'd simply go to the city where your team would play. But it'll be different at World Cup 2006. Tournament organizers have decentralized the format, and every one of the 32 teams will play their first three matches in a different venue, from obscure places like Kaiserslautern to the cosmopolitan capital, Berlin. The trick, then, will be to figure out which of the 12 host cities is the right one to choose.
You'll want someplace with night life and culture, plenty of football atmosphere and a great stadium. And because you'll want to travel to other cities and take part in the moveable feast that is the World Cup, you'll need a place that's central with plenty of rail and air options. There's no wrong answer to this riddle — any one of the 12 cities will be great fun. But there's also an answer that's more correct than the others.
You can start by ruling out Gelsenkirchen and Dortmund, the old industrial centers of the Ruhr Valley. In many ways, they're the spiritual home of German soccer, with terrific stadiums and loyal fans, but they are not places that draw world travelers. Farther south, Kaiserslautern is a pleasant town with a legendary stadium, but a quarter of its population are American military personnel, and you didn't cross an ocean to eat Whoppers, did you?
Then we come to the middle-tier cities. Stuttgart, known for its car museums, has a relaxed, wine-fueled way of life, but it's a bit on the small side. Leipzig, despite its beauty and status as the only host city in the old East Germany, is somewhat isolated. Nuremburg, beautiful and historic, suffers from some unfortunate associations. Hanover is a tad sedate. And Frankfurt, Germany's financial capital, is, frankly, too business-y to be a party base.
Of the remaining four, there's Hamburg, with the rowdy night life of an international port, but it's far from the other tournament destinations. Berlin is one of the world's great cities but not a great football town, and the monumental scale of Olympic Stadium leaves fans feeling like ants. And then there's Munich, an easygoing metropolis of pervasive good cheer, footballing tradition and a breathtaking new stadium. But there's one big drawback: it's a long haul from there to the rest of the tournament.
Cologne, on the other hand, is a vibrant, fashionable city on the Rhine whose one million citizens are renowned throughout Germany for knowing how to have a good time. Surprisingly cosmopolitan for a Middle European city, it has plenty of smart hotels, culturally sophisticated attractions and football atmosphere. And — the clincher — it's a transportation nexus, with a half-dozen other host cities reachable in about an hour.
And so, if you must pick one place as your World Cup base, Cologne is it. The Brazilians did, so why not you?
WHEN I arrived in Cologne at the end of April, the city was getting primed for the Weltmeisterschaft, as the World Cup is called in German. Signs, banners and ads for the tournament were everywhere. In one bookstore, I counted at least 20 new soccer titles in the World Cup display, ranging from intellectual treatises on German teams to naughty cartoons about referees.
Pascha, a 10-story bordello on the aptly named Hornstrasse, was already welcoming soccer fans from around the world. A giant picture of a seminude woman graced the facade, along with the flags of the 32 participating nations, though those of Saudi Arabia and Iran were blacked out after receiving phone threats.
(More)
Rights Group Criticizes U.S. Over 'Outsourcing' in Iraq
30 May, 2006
Rights Group Criticizes U.S. Over 'Outsourcing' in Iraq
LONDON, May 23 — Amnesty International on Tuesday assailed the use of military contractors by the United States to detain prisoners, provide security and gather intelligence in Iraq as "war outsourcing," and said the behavior of some contractors had diminished America's moral standing.
"War outsourcing is creating the corporate equivalent of Guantánamo Bay — a virtual rules-free zone in which perpetrators are not likely to be held accountable for breaking the law," Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA, said in Washington after the group presented its annual report in London.
In both cities, senior figures of Amnesty International — a private human rights group that has commonly focused on false imprisonment and torture — used the annual report to highlight what they called pressing concerns about the campaign against terrorism.
"It is difficult to believe," Mr. Cox said, "that the United States government, which once considered itself as an exemplar of human rights, has sacrificed its most fundamental principle by abusing prisoners as a matter of policy, by 'disappearing' detainees into a network of secret prisons, and by abducting and sending people for interrogation to countries that practice torture, such as Egypt, Syria and Morocco."
Responding to the report, Sean McCormack, a State Department spokesman, told reporters in Washington: "When we do return people to their home countries, we always go through a very, very careful and detailed process. And they have to be able to assure American officials and policy makers that they believe that these individuals will not be maltreated, will not be tortured."
Also in Washington, Lt. Col. Mark Ballesteros, a Pentagon spokesman, said: "Humane treatment of detainees in Department of Defense custody is, and always has been, the department standard. The standard of humane treatment applies to D.O.D. personnel, as well as civilian contractors.
"There is a process in place to hold civilian contractors accountable under the law for any wrongdoing," he said. "The Department of Justice would deal with such cases."
In London, Amnesty International seemed to send mixed signals. In an introduction to the annual report, Irene Khan, the group's director general, said there were "signs for optimism" in the global human rights picture, including in the campaign against terrorism.
"There were some clear signs that a turning point may be in sight after five years of backlash against human rights in the name of counterterrorism," she said. "In the past year, some of the world's most powerful governments have received an uncomfortable wake-up call about the dangers of undervaluing the human rights dimension of their actions at home and abroad."
But in a statement as she unveiled the report, Ms. Khan said: "Governments collectively and individually paralyzed international institutions and squandered public resources in pursuit of narrow security interests, sacrificed principles in the name of the 'war on terror' and turned a blind eye to massive human rights violations."
Of the estimated 25,000 military contractors in Iraq, Mr. Cox said, some "stand accused of engaging in or supporting human rights violations such as sexual abuse and torture.
"Some have been implicated in the Abu Ghraib scandal," he added, "and numerous news reports have highlighted how contractors fired at civilians in Iraq with devastating consequences." There had been no prosecutions of contractors, he said.
"Illegal behavior of contractors and of those who designed and carried out U.S. torture policies and the reluctance of the government to bring perpetrators to justice are tarnishing the reputation of the United States, hurting the image of American troops and contributing to anti-American sentiment," Mr. Cox said.
(More)
The Picture Speaks Louder than the Words
24 May, 2006
Olmert to Seek Bush View on West Bank Plan
Email this StoryMay 23, 4:45 AM (ET)
By BARRY SCHWEID
He had a private a dinner meeting Monday with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Stephen Hadley, the president's national security adviser.
By BARRY SCHWEID
WASHINGTON (AP) - With formal peacemaking a dim prospect at this volatile time, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert intends to sound out President Bush on the Israeli's plan to impose a West Bank settlement on the Palestinians by relinquishing most of the territory to them for a state.
Olmert might not get a conclusive answer from Bush in their meeting Tuesday, but the Israeli leader is looking for clues on whether the president will insist that any plan to carve up the West Bank with the aim of establishing Israel's final borders requires the approval of Palestinian leaders.
Two years ago, Bush gave then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon a green light to eventually absorb a handful of Jewish settlements near Jerusalem in the event of a peace accord. But Bush's recognition of "facts on the ground" - the settlements are solidly Jewish and virtually cities in size - was promptly qualified with U.S. insistence that any territorial accord would require the approval of the Palestinian side.
On a fast-paced visit, Olmert had talks planned Tuesday with Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld. On Wednesday he meets with Vice President Dick Cheney and House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and speaks to a joint meeting of both chambers of Congress.
A senior Israeli government official told The Associated Press that Israel would "be willing to go bilateral" if Abbas would start fulfilling pledges he made before the election.
"He said after the election he would dismantle the terrorist organizations," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press.
A diplomatic official in Washington said Monday the administration is sending two of its top Middle East envoys, Assistant Secretary of State David Welch and Elliott Abrams of the National Security Council, to the region soon to gather information about Olmert's plans.
Olmert's meeting comes at a tumultuous time. Hamas has control of the Palestinian legislature and most of the rest of government, but its supporters fought pitched gun fights in Gaza City on Monday with backers of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of the rival Fatah party.
Hamas is considered a terrorist group by the U.S. and the European Union. It refuses to accept Israel's existence or renounce attacks on the Jewish state.
In a sign that Bush faces a rocky path at home, the House debated Monday whether to impose sanctions that go further than what his administration has proposed. This includes a ban on assistance to the Palestinian Authority and on diplomatic contacts with Hamas, while also denying visas to its members.
The chief sponsor, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., said it would send a message to Hamas that the United States will not support a government run by terrorists.
Opponents said the legislation would restrict diplomacy with moderate Palestinians by prohibiting visas and travel for all members of the Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Tony Snow, the White House spokesman, said he did not expect "anything formal" to emerge from the White House meeting. The president and the prime minister "are going to be talking about ways to keep moving forward" with peacemaking, Snow said.
Similarly, Israeli ambassador Daniel Ayalon said "we must all examine different options to break the stalemate and all these issues will be discussed between Prime Minister Olmert and President Bush as a very good and trusted friend."
Ayalon said Israel faces a complex situation, with the election of Hamas, intransigence on the Palestinian side on stopping terror, and Hamas' refusal to recognize Israel and past agreements with the Palestinians.
Saying he has no negotiating partner on the Palestinian side, Olmert plans to impose his own terms over the next two years.
Sharon and Bush met a dozen times before the Israeli leader was debilitated by a stroke in January. They shared a distrust of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and agreed on a peace plan called the roadmap as a pathway to peace and a Palestinian state.
Bush has banned direct U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority. But with poverty rising among the Palestinian people, U.S. assistance is on its way via U.N. and private groups, mostly for health programs.
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Just A Suggestion - Some One Should Read This
24 May, 2006
We Fix This The Iraqi Way
The Thugs Have Arrived: Source- Dominion Post Letter to the Editor
I spotted this Letter to the Editor in the Dominion Post last week (May 17, 2006). The writer's elderly mother, involved in a prang with an Iraqi in Wellington had been threatened by the man.
"I am f...king Iraqi!" he screamed. I know where your mother f... live and we fix this the Iraqi way."
Personally, I am disturbed that the Iraqi feels he can "fix this the Iraqi way" (the mind boggles), in New Zealand. This is not Iraq. We have a NZ way of fixing cars. Insurance. Hopefully, after the letter's been published, hopefully the Iraqi had a nice visit from the police and immigration. Except, somehow I don't think so. The NZ way also used to be not tolerating this sort of behaviour. Now I don't know what the NZ way is anymore, beside insurance and hoping people like the Iraqi calm down, gain some perspective and even phone up and apologise.
Hamas spokesman tries to smuggle 900,000 euros into Gaza Strip
20 May, 2006
Palestinian border agents on Friday confiscated some 900,000 euros from Hamas spokesman in Gaza Strip Sami Abu Zuhri at Rafah border crossing with Egypt, a spokesman for European monitors at the crossing said.
According to Reuters, Hamas gunmen immediately arrived in the terminal, which is guarded by Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' men, demanding the release of Abu Zuhri and the money.
Julio De La Guardia, a spokesman for a European
Union contingent that monitors the crossing, said travelers crossing
through Rafah must declare all sums over $2,000 and explain its origin.
"He (Abu Zuhri) did not declare that money, he tried to smuggle it," De
La Guardia conveyed. According to one report, the cash was hidden in a
special belt worn by Abu Zuhari, and while trying to cross the border,
the belt fell, and the money was uncovered by the monitors.
A Palestinian security source said Abu Zuhri refused to leave the terminal without the money, which was confiscated by Palestinian customs agents.
Facing a U.S.-led funding and banking blockade, the Hamas-led cabinet has been unable to pay salaries to 165,000 government employees.
© 2006 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
(More)
More Sheeps Are Being Prepared for Slaughter - How Many Deaths Are Too Many?
17 May, 2006
Bush to Send Up to 6,000 Troops to Border
Email this Story
May 16, 3:25 AM (ET)
By NEDRA PICKLER
The Guard
troops would mostly serve two-week stints before rotating out of the
assignment, so keeping the force level at 6,000 over the course of a
year could require up to 156,000 troops.
"While
I appreciate the president's willingness to tackle big problems, I have
real concerns about moving forward with a guest worker program or a
plan to address those currently in the United States illegally until we
have adequately addressed our serious border security problems," Blunt
said.
California
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said troops might provide short-term relief
but he did not believe border protection was an appropriate role for
the National Guard. California has thousands of Guard troops in Iraq
and might need them in case of earthquakes, floods or other
emergencies, he said.
"Democrats
are willing to support any reasonable plan that will secure our
borders, including deploying National Guard troops," said Sen. Dick
Durbin, D-Ill. "But Americans don't want a plan that's been cobbled
together to win political favor. This cannot turn into another
long-term military deployment with no clear plan."
By NEDRA PICKLER
|
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush said Monday night he would order as many as 6,000 National Guard troops to secure the U.S. border with Mexico and urged Congress to give millions of illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship, as he tried to build support for a major overhaul of the nation's tattered immigration laws.
"We do not yet have full control of the border and I am determined to change that," the president said in pressing for his $1.9 billion plan in a 17-minute prime-time address from the Oval Office.
Bush gave strong support to a plan that would give many of the 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States an eventual path to possible citizenship - a move derided by some conservatives in his own Republican Party as amnesty. He rejected that term.
"It is neither wise nor realistic to round up millions of people, many with deep roots in the United States and send them across the border," he said. "There is a rational middle ground between granting an automatic path to citizenship for every illegal immigrant and a program of mass deportation."
 |
Still, Bush insisted, "The United States is not going to militarize the southern border."
The White House wouldn't say how much the deployments would cost, but said the troops would paid for as part of $1.9 billion being requested from Congress to supplement border enforcement this year.
The president timed his speech hours after the Senate began intense debate on an immigration bill that has been getting increasing attention in a year when all House seats and one-third of Senate seats are up for election. The rare televised, prime-time Oval Office address signified the high stakes for Bush, who has been asking for an immigration overhaul since his the 2000 campaign.
House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., indicated Bush may have some trouble getting some conservatives on board with his overall plan.
|
Bush said the National Guard troops would fill in temporarily while the nation's Border Patrol force is expanded. He asked Congress to add 6,000 more Border Patrol agents by the end of his presidency and to add 6,700 more beds so illegal immigrants can be detained while waiting for hearings to determine that they can be sent home.
For many years, the government has not had enough detention space to hold illegal immigrants, so they were released into society and most did not return for their court date. "This practice, called catch and release, is unacceptable and we will end it," Bush said
The Border Patrol would remain responsible for catching and detaining illegal immigrants, with National Guard troops providing intelligence gathering, surveillance and other administrative support. Yet the National Guard troops would still be armed and authorized to use force to protect themselves, said Bush homeland security adviser Fran Townsend.
They are to come from the four border states - California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas - but those states' governors may also seek Guard troops from other states. Reaction was mixed among the nation's governors.
|
"So if you have 6,000 in Iraq and send another 6,000 to the border, what do we have left?" Schwarzenegger asked.
But another Republican border state governor, Rick Perry of Texas, said he was glad the administration had decided the Guard had a role to play along the border. "We have the ability to multitask," Perry said.
The White House hopes deployments to the border will begin in early June.
Many congressional Republicans said they supported Bush's plan to use National Guard troops at the border. But he ran into criticism from Democrats and some other Republicans.
|
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said Bush "got off to a good start tonight, but now he must stand up to right-wing members of his own party who are working to block Senate action." He called on Bush to "denounce the misguided approach of House Republicans" who won passage of a a tough immigration bill that would erect fences along the Mexican border and treat people who sneak across as felons to be deported.
Bush said the nation has more than doubled the size of the Border Patrol during his presidency and has sent home about 6 million people entering the United States illegally. Still, he said, that has not been enough.
"For decades, the United States has not been in complete control of its borders," the president said. "As a result, many who want to work in our economy have been able to sneak across our border, and millions have stayed."
He called for enactment of a guest worker program to allow immigrants to take low-paying jobs, and he said employers must be held to account for hiring illegal immigrants. He said that a tamperproof identification card for workers would "leave employers with no excuse" for violating the law.
And he stressed that those who want to earn citizenship should have to assimilate into society, learn English, pay fines for breaking the law and pay back taxes.
"What I have just described is not amnesty," Bush said. "It is a way for those who have broken the law to pay their debt to society and demonstrate the character that makes a good citizen."
The president's call for tougher border security is part of a broader plan to overhaul a system that he has described as inhumane, with desperate foreigners risking their lives for a chance to earn U.S. wages. The issue raises emotions on all sides, with many Americans and influential conservatives in Congress angry that foreigners are taking jobs and draining resources across the country.
The White House hopes that the tougher security will be enough to get House conservatives to support the work permits and citizenship proposals that they have been opposed to. A bill that passed the House last year ignored those ideas and instead would increase criminal penalties for illegal immigrants and construct 700 miles of fencing.
Bush addressed some of his comments to lawmakers, calling on the Senate to act by the end of the month so a compromise can be reached with the House. "I want to speak directly to Members of the House and the Senate: An immigration reform bill needs to be comprehensive, because all elements of this problem must be addressed together, or none of them will be solved at all."
Moussaoui 'saved by lone juror' - Ask Yourselves Why?
13 May, 2006
The paper says it was contacted by the jury forewoman from the trial, after which Moussaoui was given life in jail. She said that in secret votes on three terrorism charges, the jury repeatedly voted 11-1, 10-2 and 10-2. A unanimous vote on any of the charges would have condemned Moussaoui to a lethal injection. The forewoman complained that the dissenter who kept holding out on the first charge never identified him or herself, and never put forward their arguments for discussion, the paper says. 'No scrutiny' "I felt frustrated," the forewoman said, "because I felt that many of us had been cheated by the anonymity of the 'no' voter. "We will never know their reason. We will never be able to hold their reason up to the light and the scrutiny of evidence, fact, and law," she told the Post. She said the discussions among the jury appeared resolutely pro-death penalty, but every time they went to a vote, at least one person would veto the execution. She described 26 April as "a very intense day". "It was as if a heavy cloud of doom had fallen over the deliberation room, and many of us realised that all our beliefs and our conclusions were being vetoed by one person," she told the paper. "We tried to discuss the pros and cons. But I would have to say that most of the arguments we heard around the deliberation table were [in favour of the death penalty]". Second juror The jury eventually ruled on 3 May that Moussaoui should be imprisoned for life with no chance of parole. The newspaper said the forewoman got in contact, and was identified as one of the jury by a reporter who recognised her from the courtroom. The judge has ordered the jurors' identities not to be revealed for their own safety. The Washington Post has already run stories it says were based on interviews with another juror - who said he voted for life in prison because he believed Moussaoui's role in the attacks was marginal. It did not say whether he had confirmed he was the single juror to hold out throughout. | ||
Well Done Mr. Rabbani
13 May, 2006
NSEERS
waiver granted to Pakistani
Updated:
Friday, May 12, 2006 04:42 PM
NEW
JERSEY, MAY 11 - Pakistan's Ambassador to the U.S. Gen (Retd) Jehangir Karamat
has congratulated a Pakistani-Canadian Naeem Rabbani, for having received the
waiver to register with the US immigration authorities daily at the US/Canada
border.
In an email sent to Rabbani, Mr Karamat wrote, "This happened because of your
consistent effort and refusal to give up. Well done--this is a great achievement
and we are proud of you."
An impact of post-Sept. 11, homeland security programs like NSEERS -- the National Security
Entry-Exit Registration System mandate immigrants and visitors from certain
countries, mostly Muslim and Middle Eastern, to register upon arrival and
departure with local immigration authorities. Pakistan tops the list.
Naeem Rabbani, like several hundred Pakistani-Canadians, who cross the northern
border daily to work in Detroit in the U.S. state of Michigan, have to register
twice daily with the US immigration authorities. Once on arrival and once on
departure.
Special registration procedures made Pakistanis like Naeem Rabbani entering the
U.S. daily from Canada to go to an area where they were fingerprinted, photographed,
asked to show documents, and interviewed as to the length and purpose of their
stay in the United States, before allowed across the border.
Mr Rabbani, a year back, launched a campaign to have this stringent requirement,
specially for Pakistanis and Pakistani-born Canadians, waived. The task for
which the Canadian and Pakistani Governments failed to do was finally done by
him single handedly.
Rabbani approached U.S. Senator Debbie Stebnow (D-Mich) in
January through Mr Mohammad Ashraf Qazi, a Pakistani-American businessman and
social worker and convinced her to take the issue up with relevant authorities
which she did. Today the waiver is one of the great achievements
by Pakistanis in
USA and Canada post 9/11.
According to Rabbani, every Pakistani living in Canada and traveling daily to
USA for employment "should apply for a waiver of NSEERS - and hopefully they gonna get it,"
he added.
(DesPardes News)
Accepting Reality: America Lost the War in Iraq
11 May, 2006
By Remi Kanazi
America has lost the war in Iraq. The chance
for victory vanished long ago with the hearts, minds, arms, legs and
lives of the Iraqi people. 
The
insurgence hasn’t won; rather the American government never obtained
the formula to win. America, led by war-bent hawks (Vice President Dick
Cheney, Secretary of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz) entered this war with
many interests. Among them, the control of a major supply of Mideast
oil, military
bases, reconstruction contracts for cronies (i.e. Halliburton and
Bechtel), a new ally/puppet in the region, securing Israeli dominance,
showcasing new products for the arms community, and the greater concept
of making Baghdad a haven for US corporate expansion (thereby planting
a McDonalds and Starbucks on every street corner). In this excess of
interests, the US neglected a major factor in the equation—the Iraqi
people. Every time another suicide bomber enters the marketplace,
Iraqis are reminded of the utter failure and incompetence of the US
government. Nonetheless, those war-bent hawks couldn't pass up the idea
of a cheap war coupled with a swift victory. What they didn't realize
(or refused to listen to) was that after decades of heartbreak and
struggle under Saddam Hussein, the last thing Iraqis needed was to get
"liberated" for an era of struggle under US occupation.
The Iraqi people know what to expect from occupation. They remember the 1982 Israeli siege of Beirut, the 22 year Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon, and the 38 years of oppression that continues to plague the lives of Palestinians. Iraqis also witnessed the US bombing campaign of 1991, the reneged US support of a postwar Shia uprising, and the sanctions that left Iraqi women and children forgotten. While the West mainly erases these events from their minds, the people of the Middle East, and more specifically Iraqis, must endure the consequences of these events.
If the Bush administration interviewed my father, a 59 year old, Christian Republican Arab doctor living in the US, they would have realized, “Arabs don't like to be occupied.
Rice dismisses letter as Ahmadinejad still waiting for US response
11 May, 2006
The letter to US President George Bush carries the Iranian nation's views and comments on international issues as well as suggestions for resolving the many problems facing humanity, said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters at Tehran Mehrabad International Airport before his departure for Indonesia to attend a meeting of the D-8 (Group of 8 developing Muslim states), the president said that Islamic courtesy prevented him from revealing its contents. "We will wait to see what would be the reaction of the other side and then we will make the decision," Ahmadinejad said, according to IRNA. "Fortunately, we have no problem when it comes to making decisions," Ahamdinejad added.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi on Tuesday said that the letter did not aim to influence the country's nuclear issue.
According to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the letter insisted that democracy had failed worldwide and lamented "an ever-increasing global hatred" of the U.S. government. "This letter is not the place that one would find an opening to engage on the nuclear issue or anything of the sort," Rice said in an interview with The Associated Press. "It isn't addressing the issues that we're dealing with in a concrete way."
© 2006 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
Prince Charles to attend 'stag party'
10 May, 2006
Associated Press
Wellington, New Zealand, February 28, 2005
A bar in the southern New Zealand city of Dunedin is organizing a
bachelor party for Britain's Prince Charles, who is due to visit the
city later this week.
Although the heir to the British throne is unlikely to attend, the businessman organizing the bash on Saturday said he wanted to acknowledge the prince's visit to Dunedin so close to his April 8 wedding to Camilla Parker Bowles.
"It's only right and proper that Dunedin puts on this do for him," Dave McKewen told the Otago Daily Times. "We know a lot of his mates can't make it over, so we're also rounding up a few students and some rugby fans to pad out the crowd."
McKewen said he hopes Dunedin Mayor Peter Chin will pass along a formal invitation to the "Great Southern Stag Night" when the prince arrives on Saturday.
Dunedin is widely known in New Zealand for its rowdy student parties, which often spill into the streets and can include the burning of furniture.
Iran threatens to attack Israel, finds new uranium ore
10 May, 2006
Iran threatened on Tuesday to attack Israel in response to any "evil" act by the United States.
"We have announced that wherever America does something evil, the first place that we target will be Israel," ISNA quoted a senior Revolutionary Guards commander, Rear Admiral Mohammad-Ebrahim Dehqani, as saying on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Iran said Tuesday it had found uranium ore at three new sites in the center of the country. "We have got good news: the discovery of new economically viable deposits of uranium in central Iran," Mohammad Ghannadi, deputy chief for nuclear research and technology, told a conference.
According to the AP, he said the deposits were found in the Khoshoomi region, Charchooleh and Narigan. Ghannadi said Iran's enrichment of uranium was continuing.
© 2006 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
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