Posted on 12/20/2006 10:48:15 PM PST by Knitting A Conundrum
Don't forget to factor in the aviation anomolies that tend to crash large planes full of military brass now and then...
It is hard to know which side is going to come out...lack of data...but they play rough politics in the upper ranks of the Republican Guard...using airplanes as their dueling pistols...
That makes good sense.
Iran Focus (or somewhere, I forget) was talking about a new crackdown on student activism. Funny...Mr. A and many of his cohorts were very involved in student activism.
Their country reminds me, in a perverse way, of Animal Farm.
I agree..the Arab political world is as cut-throat as it gets. I do think that there is something stirring and it couold have a huge impact on the situation. If things get too hairy the opposition movement may have an opportune moment to stage a coup but they will need the help of the West and I pray that we are up to the task. Europe will bail as seems to be their nature now.
The other encouraging thing is that I don't see the Ethiopians or the Kenyans fighting a PC war. They will definitely go full bore.
Western Europe is a disaster waiting to happen. And that's a shame.
The Poles have been quiet but very loyal allies in the WOT as have the Aussies. I really admire John Howard and his stance against the Lefties and mohammedans.
Yes...very tenuous situation...I guess I like hearing that the students are restless....not just walking in lock step.
How it turns out of course is not known...but bears watching.
I know that the Bush Admin had planned to perhaps work from the inside to get the Iranians to overthrow their own government...
No telling if he has accomplished infiltrating with many people...I pray so.
Yep. The people who make me scratch my head in wonder mostly are the Swedes. Talk about a place with its head in the sand...
Facing a neighbor like Somalia, you don't dare fight PC!
Agreed. Most of Scandanavia is under the thumb of political correctness but some reports are encouraging though rare. There are areas of the major cities in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden where the police/fire/EMS won't even go anymore because they are Muslim enclaves similar to those in Paris and all over France. The stance the Danes took during the cartoon contraversy pleasantly surprised me.
The Africans have always had a rep for being warriors (from the tribal culture, I would guess) and seem to take pride in said rep. I don't believe that they will hold back, that's for sure. Let loose the dogs of war.
Lebanese police arrest members of pro-Syrian party
By AP
Lebanese police arrested four people and seized large quantities of explosives, electrical fuses and timers in several homes in northern Lebanon on Thursday, a police statement said.
An official close to the investigation said those detained were members of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, a pro-Syrian Lebanese political party.
The police statement said Prosecutor General Saeed Mirza ordered authorities to raid the homes in the district of Koura after receiving information of explosives stashed there. Police found large quantities of explosives with electrical fuses, timers as well as large numbers of weapons.
It said four people were arrested and an investigation was under way.
This is interesting (from JPost).
Speaking of Kosovo....
Kosovo officials arrested after huge weapons haul
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2742690 ^ | December 21, 2006
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1756744/posts
Posted on 12/21/2006 8:29:38 AM EST by joan
By Fatos Bytyci
Dec 21, 2006 — PRISTINA, Serbia (Reuters) - Two officials of Kosovo's governing coalition have been arrested after police found a minibus packed with heavy weapons and ammunition.
A police source said the haul included a 12.7 mm anti-aircraft gun and more than 100 rocket-propelled grenades.
Local media reports said the find, made late on Wednesday in the Drenica region of central Kosovo, was the largest in Kosovo since the 1998-99 war and the deployment of NATO peacekeepers.
Three men were arrested, including a senior adviser to the Kosovo labor minister and a member of the governing Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), which emerged from the guerrilla Kosovo Liberation Army.
The find sharpened fears of unrest in the U.N.-run province, where major powers have delayed a decision on the demand of 2 million ethnic Albanians for independence from Serbia.
The Kosovo government issued a statement expressing regret for what it said was an isolated case. The AAK, a junior member of the governing coalition, said it was "surprised" that two of its members were involved.
The breakaway province, run by the United Nations since 1999 and patrolled by 17,000 NATO-led peacekeepers, is braced for possible violence after the major Western powers and Russia let slip a year-end deadline to decide its fate until Serbia holds a general election on January 21.
(snip)
sorry about that, I'll be in and out, mostly lurking. I'll try to do a drive by post.
# Fragile ceasefire holds in Gaza for second day AFP - 1 hour, 59 minutes ago
GAZA CITY (AFP) - A fragile ceasefire aimed at halting deadly clashes between rival Palestinian factions held in Gaza for a second day as president Mahmud Abbas urged all sides to consolidate the truce.
#
In this photo made available by the Government Press Office, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, center, smiles during a meeting with U.S. Senators John Kerry, left, and Christopher Dodd, right, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2006. (AP Photo/GPO, Moshe Milner, HO)
Errant Palestinian rocket hurts Gaza tot AP - 2 hours, 2 minutes ago
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - A Palestinian rocket aimed at Israel veered off course and struck a home in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday, moderately wounding a 2-year-old boy sleeping in his bedroom, hospital officials and residents said.
#
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, speaks to the media at his headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2006. Abbas said Tuesday night that a comprehensive cease-fire had been agreed to in the volatile Gaza Strip after more than a week of factional violence there. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
Abbas hopes to hold summit with Olmert AP - 2 hours, 17 minutes ago
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday he hopes to hold a long-awaited summit with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert by the end of the year.
#
Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas during a joint press conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Abbas has said that he hoped to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert before the end of the year.(AFP/Abbas Momani)
Abbas hopes to meet with Israeli PM before end of year AFP - 2 hours, 33 minutes ago
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has said that he hoped to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert before the end of the year.
#
A Palestinian militant from the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, displays Qassam rockets during a rally in Gaza City, September 2005. A senior minister has said Israel should ignore a month-old ceasefire and strike back against Palestinian militants firing rockets from the Gaza Strip in violation of the truce.(AFP/File/Mohammed Abed)
Israel must respond to Palestinian rocket fire: minister AFP - 2 hours, 35 minutes ago
JERUSALEM (AFP) - A senior minister has said Israel should ignore a month-old ceasefire and strike back against Palestinian militants firing rockets from the Gaza Strip in violation of the truce.
#
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa jokes with journalists while on his way to meeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus December 21, 2006. (Khaled al-Hariri/Reuters)
Syria backs Arab initiative on Lebanon: Moussa Reuters - 2 hours, 50 minutes ago
DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Arab League chief Amr Moussa said on Thursday he had won Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's support for his efforts to solve the crisis in Lebanon between Syrian-backed Hezbollah and the Western-supported government.
#
Jordan's King Abdullah II (L) shares a light moment with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso (R) prior to their talks at a hotel in Tokyo. Japan has reaffirmed to Jordan's visiting King Abdullah II its commitment to efforts promoting peace in the Middle East, the foreign ministry said.(AFP/Toru Yamanaka)
Japan reaffirms Mideast commitment to Jordan's king AFP - 2 hours, 59 minutes ago
TOKYO (AFP) - Japan has reaffirmed to Jordan's visiting King Abdullah II its commitment to efforts promoting peace in the Middle East, the foreign ministry said.
#
A woman and her colleague, carrying a Hezbollah and Lebanese flags respectively, attend a sit-in protest near the government headquarters in central Beirut, December 15, 2006. (Jamal Saidi/Reuters)
Hezbollah has support despite lacking economic plan Reuters - Thu Dec 21, 6:36 AM ET
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hezbollah supporters who have been staging a round-the-clock protest in central Beirut for three weeks cite corruption, tax and unemployment among their grievances against Lebanon's Western-backed government.
# Terrorist sentenced to death in Jordan AP - Thu Dec 21, 5:27 AM ET
AMMAN, Jordan - A Jordanian man of Palestinian origin was convicted Thursday and sentenced to death in the fatal shooting of a British tourist he saw as an enemy of Islam.
#
Palestinian security forces clash with supporters of the ruling Hamas party in the West Bank city of Ramallah 15 December 2006. Plans by the United States to provide military support for Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas would help restore security in the region and counterbalance the threat posed by Hamas, a US diplomat said.(AFP/File/Abbas Momani)
US defends military support for Palestinian security forces AFP - Wed Dec 20, 7:08 PM ET
Olmert's associates to Abbas: If Qassams continue, Israel will respond
Published: 12.21.06, 17:13
Officials close to Prime Minister Olmert told associates of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that Israel's restraint in light of the Qassam rockets will not last forever. According to them, "if the Qassam fire will continue, we will have no choice but to respond."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3343045,00.html
Assad, Gaza, and Olmert: some Israeli poll results:
(IsraelNN.com) More than two-thirds of respondents to a poll do not trust Syrian President Bashar Assad's comments that he is prepared to negotiate with Israel, according to the weekly Geocartographia poll carried out for the Israel Broadcasting Authority.
Only 21.6 percent believe Assad is sincere, with most of the positive response coming from those who voted for Labor in the last elections.
Responding to Israel's trying to help Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas, only 36.4 percent agreed with the policy.
The overall rating for the performance of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, on a scale of 1 to 10, was 4.1.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=117885
"The RS-20V Voevoda, which NATO identifies as the SS-18 Satan, was fired from its silo in the southern Ural Mountains' Orenburg region. "
SS-18 Satan, isn't that an interesting name for an ICBM produced by a country that sells arms to Iran?
Never trust the Ruskies.
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