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US will not back Jesse Jackson peace mission to Afghanistan [but to go anyway]
AFP via Drudge ^
| Thursday, September 27 10:49 PM SGT
Posted on 09/27/2001 8:52:16 AM PDT by flamefront
US will not back Jesse Jackson peace mission to Afghanistan
WASHINGTON, Sept 27 (AFP) - The United States has no interest in backing a proposed mission to Afghanistan by civil rights leader Jesse Jackson who said Thursday he had been invited to the country by the Taliban to mediate peace with the regime accused of harboring suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden.
"We're not interested in a dialogue," Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said. "We're interested in action and no negotiation. The demands are not subject to dialogue."
Armitage, speaking on NBC television, said the Taliban appeared to be stalling on turning over bin Laden who the United States has said is the prime suspect in the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
"It seems to me they're trying to delay making a decision on their own," he said, adding that Jackson had spoken with Secretary of State Colin Powell about the Taliban suggestion.
Powell, Armitage said, told Jackson that the demands laid on the Taliban by President George W. Bush were "not negotiable" and that if the militia wanted to avoid possible retaliatory strikes it must hand over bin Laden and eliminate his al-Qaeda network.
Armitage said that while Washington would not stop Jackson from making the trip to Afghanistan, he would not have any support from the US government.
"I personally wouldn't, but I don't think it's my decision," Armitage said when asked whether US officials would encourage Jackson to go. "I think he'll make his own decision."
Jackson said earlier that Mohammed Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban at their embassy in Pakistan, had asked him to lead a peace delegation to Afghanistan.
"I was surprised that I heard from them," Jackson said.
"I really don't want to go," he said of the mission, emphasizing that if and when he went, the trip would not be "a personal issue" and should be carried out by "a very credible delegation with sufficient intelligence."
The Taliban, however, said the mediation offer had come from Jackson and had been accepted.
In Islamabad, Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, denied the mediation request had come from Afghanistan's rulers.
"We have not invited him, but he offered to mediate, and our leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, has accepted this offer," Zaeef told the Afghan Islamic Press, a Pakistan-based private news agency.
"He has ordered the authorities to extend cooperation if Jesse Jackson visits Afghanistan. We will have no objection."
TOPICS: Breaking News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
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To: flamefront
I say: go Jesse go! And don't let the door hit your A*s on the way out! (P.S. don't bother coming back)!!
21
posted on
09/27/2001 9:05:02 AM PDT
by
ninachka
To: flamefront
Jackson should GO! And the Afghanistan should agree to "keep him for the duration of the war!" That would give Americans a nice break from seeing this fool on TV! I couldn't believe the FOX coverage this morning! Shame on YOU FOX!
The bumbler was going on-and-on (he can't speak English) and unlike the attacks made on Bush by the media for any slip -- one never hears a word (Are you listening Judy Wood at CNN? Jennings? Brokejaw? etc) about his lack of eloquence!
To: michigander
Soon enough, since I guess most haven't got the message yet, people will be shouting out loud -- Death to appeasers!
To: flamefront
Good, let'em land and then proceed to dropping bombs, then We get to get rid of another Extortionist/Racist/Terrorist @sshole!
To: flamefront
Yeah right....."IF" The U.S. is going to give JACKSON a SECURITY briefing. No way, he would tell the Taliban!!!!!
25
posted on
09/27/2001 9:07:19 AM PDT
by
marty60
To: flamefront
Well, now you can expect a significant delay in our counter attack since the Rev will be over there mucking up the waters, dragging his sorry back-side around their camps.
Imagine the backlash from American Blacks if so much as a hair on his head was injured! *Yawn*
To: Dominus Vobiscum
How can JJ be a human shield? From most of the talk going on I would think he would be greeted as a target. By them because he is a Christian minister, by us just to get rid of him.
To: flamefront
"I really don't want to go," he said of the mission, emphasizing that if and when he went, the trip would not be "a personal issue" and should be carried out by "a very credible delegation with sufficient intelligence."I wonder why he wants intelligence information.
28
posted on
09/27/2001 9:09:13 AM PDT
by
Jean S
To: flamefront
"I really don't want to go," he said of the mission, emphasizing that if and when he went, the trip would not be "a personal issue" and should be carried out by "a very credible delegation with sufficient intelligence." This statement speaks volumes on JJ's intentions. He is seeking nothing but personal glorification and to be placed center-stage in the whole she-bang. IMHO he won't go. There will be some kind of strike and JJ will sit back and pontificate about how he could have halted the bloodshed yada, yada, yada... all the time thinking to himself... "trump that Sharpton". JJ has ZERO credibility with this administration and he id desparate to gain some kind of edge. He is passing quickly to irrelevence.
Semper FI
To: flamefront
If Jackson goes, I hope they keep him and that we do not lift one finger for his release.
To: flamefront
Just go this from a friend about all of this Jesse nonsense.
"Dear Jesse,
You ran for President how many times? How many votes did you get? Exactly. The people have spoken. Sit down and shut up. Dumb ____
You're getting me fired up. Let's hold hands and sing songs. Everything will be okay then."
31
posted on
09/27/2001 9:10:17 AM PDT
by
80skid
To: flamefront
Maybe Jacksons wife set it all up......
To: flamefront
Expect to see a afro-arab baby or two born with a mustache and turban in about 10 months.
33
posted on
09/27/2001 9:11:18 AM PDT
by
drstevej
Comment #34 Removed by Moderator
To: eastforker
The
Logan Act, prohibiting civilian participation in diplomatic negotiations except by official authority, has been a problem, not enforced during the Klinton regime, for
Jackson before in 1999.
Time for enforcement.
To: 80skid
Let him try, they're doing it in Cincinatti right now. If he and his ilk want to become the enemy, so be it. Some of us have had enough of their Bull$hit anyway, when it happens they need to remember who started it.
To: Humidston
Not if he was labled a traitor.I think the black community would see it that way also.Most blacks I know are patriotic but I'm in Texas.I say let him go and the minute he leaves start to discredit him as a traitor.What better way to get rid of him.
To: flamefront
Curious, isn't it, that after the British news has said attacks are imminent that now Bush Officials Say Military Strike Not Imminent... Bush is getting high marks for his handling thus far. If they jack around and no visible action has been taken by the time we're hit again, those high marks will instantly dissolve IMO.
To: flamefront
The administration wants nothing to do with this buffoon. They told him: "Our terms are NOT subject to negotiation." But, they CANNOT, by law, forbid him to go. He is an American; he has the right to leave the country; and when he does, he can pretty much go whereever they'll take him including Afghanistan.
My guess is he'll try to get the rescued missionaries out. He'll probably fail. But he and the Taliban have a lot in common. Who knows, maybe Jesse will stay on as Mullah Omar's spokesman. They both adopt the same level of anti-Bush rhetoric.
My favorite part of the article: Jesse says "Oh, they invited me," but the Taliban say, "Jesse offered to come." He's grandstanding. But the headline on cnn.com: "Taliban invites Jesse Jackson to mediate." Sickening.
39
posted on
09/27/2001 9:14:00 AM PDT
by
gopgen
To: TrueBeliever9
one never hears a word (Are you listening Judy Wood at CNN? Jennings? Brokejaw? etc) about his lack of eloquence! They came up with the idea of ebonics to justify his (Jackson's) having english as a second language.
40
posted on
09/27/2001 9:14:03 AM PDT
by
beowolf
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