Pakistan is the big enchilada. The warm-up events in Iraq have trained the cadres ready to go for the big one, a nuclear armed Islamic state. Pakistani official wounded, 12 killed in attack
Suicide bombing in northwest comes after interior minister’s public speech
BREAKING NEWS
PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A suicide attacker detonated a bomb as Pakistan’s interior minister finished speaking at a meeting in the country’s northwest on Saturday, killing at least 12 people and wounding the official.
Security guards blocked the attacker as he tried to approach Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao at the public meeting in Charsadda, an intelligence official said. The attacker detonated the bomb moments later.
Mohammed Khan, a police official, said the minister suffered minor injuries and was in stable condition. He was being shifted to a hospital in the nearby city of Peshawar.
If you have not been paying attention, you better get on this:
ReplyDeleteTurkish ruling party warns army
Turkey's army chief (left) is said to have talked to the PM by phone
Turkey's ruling party has sharply criticised an army threat to intervene in politics, saying the military must remain under civilian control.
Cemil Cicek, spokesman for the Islamist-rooted party, was commenting after an unusual statement by the army vowing to defend the secular system.
The army, which led coups in the past, said it was concerned by the party's choice of presidential candidate.
Mr Cicek said any army intervention was "inconceivable in a democratic state".
"The chief of the general staff is answerable to the prime minister," said Mr Cicek, who is also justice minister.
TURKISH ARMY INTERVENTIONS
Coups in 1960, 1971 and 1980
Forced out first Islamist prime minister in 1997
The European Union earlier warned the army not to interfere in politics, saying the controversy was a test case for the military to respect democracy.
The BBC's Sarah Rainsford says the army is sending a signal that it will not accept the candidate of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK), Abdullah Gul, as the country's next president.
Mr Gul narrowly lost in the first round of the presidential election, which is held by parliament, on Friday.
'Productive talks'
Mr Cicek told reporters that the government had the "primary duty in protecting the basic tenets of the state".
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has been meeting his cabinet to discuss the situation.
According to Mr Cicek, the prime minister spoke to army chief Gen Yasar Buyukanit on Saturday afternoon and they had a "useful and productive" conversation.
Turkey is an EU candidate but entry negotiations have been partially frozen because of a dispute over Cyprus, and the EU is also concerned that Turkey's commitment to political reform is weakening.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said the row was "a clear test case whether the Turkish armed forces respect democratic secularization and democratic values".
History of coups
Our correspondent in Istanbul says the army statement late on Friday night caused a real stir in Turkey.
Many also believe that it is also a message to the judges in the constitutional court to declare the vote invalid and dissolve parliament, she adds.
The army has carried out three coups in the last 50 years - in 1960, 1971 and 1980 - and in 1997 it intervened to force Turkey's first Islamist Prime Minister, Necmettin Erbakan, from power.
The AK is an offshoot of Mr Erbakan's Welfare Party, which was banned in 1998.
The secularist Republican People's Party (CHP), which boycotted Friday's vote, said it would challenge the election in court because a quorum of MPs had not been obtained - a charge the AK denies.
A second round of voting is due on Wednesday and the court has said it will try to rule on the appeal before the vote.
ironic, how in the previous thread we were talking about the use of suicide bombers in the Islamic mosh pit of heavenly delights and lo and behold another of the head hackers loses his own head for the honor and most blessed allah the most merciful purveyor of heavenly horsehit ever known to mankind.
ReplyDeleteTurkey, a reluctant ally, now a days. Since the rise of the current majority, immediately prior to the non-arrival of the 4th ID in Mosul, in 2003.
ReplyDeleteWhere stands the Turkish Army request to move into Iraqi Kurdistan, after PKK terrorist base camps?
Better the West lose Turkey, democraticly, than retain it with the Turkish military as it's allied governing body.
No scenario replicating Pinochets' Chile to be allowed.
"Better the West lose Turkey, democraticly, than retain it with the Turkish military as it's allied governing body. "
ReplyDeletelost me there DR.
2164th: "Better the West lose Turkey, democraticly, than retain it with the Turkish military as it's allied governing body.
ReplyDeleteEurope automatically loses Turkey if the military has veto power over the democratic institutions. It's a hard sell getting Turkey into the EU as it is. And if they try to move into Iraqi Kurdistan they will finally meet the 4th ID in a way they never planned on meeting it.
Well, duece, The EU and by the US's silence on the Mussulmen advances, through demcratic means.
ReplyDeleteIn the "Global Struggle" it is better to lose Turkey to the Mussulmen, democraticly, than it is to allow the Turkish seculars to excercise their historical role in balancing their Society.
Making eunechs out of the Turkish Army, politically within Turkey, is a disservice to the "West" and to the memory and wisdom of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, in contriving modern Turkey the way that he did.
The Turks are not Europeans, never really where, in modern times, never really will be, in the near future.
This the Turkish Army is sworn to defend
ReplyDeleteThe Principles of Ataturk ( Kemalism)
The doctrines of Ataturk, or Kemalism, is a system of thought based on the facts of Turkey. It is shaped with the will of the Turkish nation through a long historical background. Above all, Kemalism is the introduction and the rendering of the rights to the nation. It is the expression of the national sovereignity.It is an attempt to reach the level of modern civilization, it is westernization, modernization. It requires to experience a modern social life, to establish a secular state, and to govern with a positive scientific mentality.
The principles of Kemalism can be viewed in two groups:
"The Basic Principles" and "The Complementary Principles".
The definition of the principles as Ataturk puts them:
The Basic Principles
Republicanism
Nationalism
Popularism
Stateism
Secularism
Revolutionism
The Complementary Principles
National Sovereignity
National Endependence
National Unity and Togetherness
Peace at home Peace abroad
Modernization
Scientificism and Rationalism
Humanitarianism
All this manufactured noise about arrests of jihadis leaves me with a bad feeling that another attack on the US is in its final stages.
ReplyDeleteThe server for the video is getting toasted
ReplyDeleteI would put my hope on the Turk generals, as being the only ones there half way sane.
ReplyDeleteEurope is nuts, thinking of bringing the Turk in.
ReplyDeleteLET'S MAKE A DEAL
ReplyDeleteI think we've learned a great deal about democracy over the past fifty years.
One of those is that at this point in time some tribes aren't quite ready for it's responsibilities and freedoms, and we don't seem quite up to snuff to spread it in a sane manner.
Therefore I say let's go along with Putin and return to the good old cold war days where they controlled their bastards and we controlled ours.
That way we can pillage and rape the countries of their natural resources at cheap prices, keep them from having polluting cars, and manage to keep the film industry humming with documentaries on horrid conditions in Uganda and elsewhere, which are horrid anyway.
The MAD approach worked for years and all we need to do is come to an agreement with the Soviets to disarm all the other nuclear nation (except Israel,NEVER AGAIN).
We'll continue to offer the Sov's our anti missile technology and even sell it to them to lower their fever.
I mean gosh don't we really, down in the depths of our souls yearn for the return of the Cold War World?
Hillary Sticks With Infanticide
ReplyDeleteHabu, what are you gonna do with an emerging China?
ReplyDeleteUnemerge it.
ReplyDeleteMake it strictly takee outee and laundry services.
But what about the children in Africa?
ReplyDeleteWhat about baby seals?
What about Global Warming?
What about PETA and Michael Vick?
Turn back the hands of time...
ReplyDeletePut that mussulmania genie in it's bottle
Keep that dragon chained to the ground, after it has tried its' wings, and liked flight.
I think we can work those details out.
ReplyDeleteMy concern is the biggest killer of mankind in history, and it remains so to this day.
THE MOSQUITO
Incredible, yes.
These will be New Hands of Time
ReplyDeleteThe dragon is having around 25-30,000 riots per year now in the hinterlands.
We make a little extra fomentee souffle and start doing business with the Soviets and the dragon will collaspe from within.
Anothe real plus is that the Cyrillic alphabet is a whole lot easier to learn than all those millions of Chinese boxes with lines all over.
ReplyDeleteDDT is the answer.
ReplyDeleteDespite the warnings portrayed in Silent Spring, by Rachel Carlson.
When & where people are important, kill the bugs.
Bo i'z suh be agreed wit dat..i was dun behind Hung Lo's takee outee and dun think'n i be eat'n moo goo gooo goooo...damn it turn out to be septic tank cereal cleaner stuff....dang Chinee writ.
ReplyDeleteIt is good to know that dissent lives in the Chin Empire.
ReplyDeleteWhich warlord raises next, to squash it?
This current group has no Emperor, China needs one, to thrive. Best we string them along. 'less the search to find one is prioritized.
heck we be gett'n Snoop Dogg to fill in any Silent Spring..ain't no Silent nuff'n when da Dogg be 'round ..pump'n up da ho's and talk'n down whitey
ReplyDeleteDesert Rat: This current group has no Emperor, China needs one, to thrive. Best we string them along. 'less the search to find one is prioritized.
ReplyDelete"The Emperor is coming here?...we shall double our efforts!"
'Huffing' led to crash that killed UCF teen, cops say
ReplyDeleteThat be down there in Possumtater Land, that Huffing Post.
Kristof had a nice video comparing India to China.
ReplyDeleteWhile comparable now, he took us to the hinterlands to compare educational system for the peasants, for the Indians, almost non-existent, for the chinese, would not doubt that their math scores are ahead of ours.
Intelligent Indian girl in "6th grade" could not spell her name!
Many of the surrounding countries believe China will be around for another 2,000 years, and doubt that we will.
ReplyDeleteThus, they swallow there pride and hate about past events, and do what the Chinese want:
Esp trade with them.
Yeah Doug,
ReplyDeleteI'm in a bedroom community south of Jacksonville (NE FL) called Orange Park.
"Huffing" has been around for a long time. I had a friend who was a couple of years ahead of me in college, became a cop and use to tell me how weird the young'ns would get all huffed up. He asked on one day what it felt like and the kid said that it gave you really sharp hearing.
Of course after six months of huffing you don't understand what's being said but hey.....it's America and you can be as stupid as you want..let 'em huff, then one day tag'em and bag'em.
Best part of Florida, from what I hear.
ReplyDeleteHad an aunt that retired there until husband passed away.
When Florida was ravaged by Hurricanes, they were thankful they lived in Jacksonville.
Ed quoted: "President Bush forges blithely past these semantic subtleties. Standing before teachers, students, members of the Tipp City, Ohio Chamber of Commerce on April 19, he described ongoing military operations in Iraq and elsewhere as "a unique war" and later an "interesting war.""
ReplyDeleteI add:
Like the Murder of Citizens by Illegal Criminals and Narco Terrorists is an "interesting crime problem"
---
'Rat added:
MR. SNOW: ... an Iraq that can sustain, govern, and defend itself, to be an ally in the war on terror and also an example to the region that democracy can succeed. ...
Sat Apr 28, 09:45:00 AM EDT
2164th said...
Why have we painted ourselves into an intellectual corner, by basing our demonstrable success on something that we cannot contol? Would a wise leader base his future on the expected results of a weak leader?
Thats is the situation Bush has created for himself with Maliki in Iraq.
Pure genius if you ask me.
---
Diana West adds,
The 'limited' war for 'hearts and minds'
Someday, when the war in Iraq has become a historical episode, we will tally up the lessons learned -- if, that is, we ever learn any. Here are two worth mastering because failing to do so probably means we will no longer exist.
1. Nation-building in a war zone is nuts. Nation-building in an Islamic war zone is suicide.
---
According to WorldPublicOpinion.org, more than half of those polled in Indonesia, and three-quarters of those polled in Egypt, Morocco and Pakistan believe in the strict application of Sharia, or Islamic law. Nearly two-thirds of all respondents expressed their desire to see the Islamic world united in a caliphate.
Which brings me to
Lesson 2.
With numbers like these, portraying jihadist war goals (Sharia, caliphate) as belonging to a "tiny band of extremists" is nuts. Persisting in this PC fantasy as part of the narrative and strategy of the "war on terror" is suicidal.
On the China thing ...let's do a three way deal with the globe..
ReplyDeleteRussia
USA
China
screw all the rest. I mean they are very hard working, bright, invented gunpowder and spaghetti.
It's easier to divvvy up the work..
from Russia we get "Russian brides"
from China we get a giant Wal Mart
from USA we get a decadent class that knows how to "get down and Par-ty"
It seems the situation in Turkey is pretty complicated. I read an in depth opinion piece on it yesterday in my local rag and I can't seem to find it online but I'll work from memory.
ReplyDeleteThe president (who has a lot of power) gets elected by the current parliament preceeding the elections for parliament which are coming up soon. There was a corruption scandal prior to the last election and the Turkish election law requires a candidate gets 10% of the vote to get a seat (or some such weird structure). This served to give the Islamic aligned party about 3/5th of parliament even though they only got 1/3 of the popular vote (or some such nonsense). The Islamic leaning party is accused of wanting to institute an Islamic structure to Turkey's avowed secular government. The Islamic party denies this but many don't believe them. The army is keen to keep the government secular. That is the bulk of what I remember from the article.
So the left Portrayed W as a Stupid, unread Monkey.
ReplyDeleteAll Wrong,
But might just as well be, from being so far out of touch w/reality, from our security and future prosperity at home due to illegals/open borders, to pie in the sky Mr. Rogers rules limited war, being sure not to injure the ROP.
oh yeah i darn near forgot why i got back on....
ReplyDeleteya know if you really look at this entire ME situation it's taken just about the entire world's efforts over time to really FUBAR that place..not that they weren't FUBAR'd before but at least it was a local fubar,kinda,sorta.
anyway I ordered that book that's gonna fill me in on the USA's involvement in the ME from 1775 to thee present..the review said it was very readable so I may suffer through the ebonics and let TarBabyTater read it out loud.
Gimme dat old time religion,dats good fo you and me ...
Dennis Miller asked a guy who said it took 6 years for his Russian Wife to become legal if after all that trouble, the sex was as hot as ever.
ReplyDeleteThe animal noise of the caller's voice conveyed more than mere words could convey.
Miller chuckled enviously, and moved on to the next caller.
Yeah, that book sounds great:
ReplyDeleteGot the name handy?
now yall know that i be conservative, even mangy sometimes but W has a few things go'in way ag'n hisself.
ReplyDeleteFirst he followed into that office one of the most articulate Presidents we've ever had in my lifetime, if not THE most articulate. Reagan was good too.
Then he's got that simian like walk..not to pick on the guy but go rent "Every Which Way But Loose" with Clint Eastwood and that orange-tang and compare the orange-tang's gait with our HEAD CHEESE in CHIEF...guarantee you'll be on the floor.
So from the git-go the guy's got an uphill battle with English and the Darwinian tree of life.
The realism and thus predictive powers of the Bar vs the Club is strictly no contest.
ReplyDelete---
So much of the "right" seems permanently stuck in Ostrichvision La La Land.
Doug,
ReplyDeletePower, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present
Amazon has a couple of good reviews on it ,especially the one from the Washington Post.
Ash,
ReplyDeletei think I may have read the same article and your memory is good on the way I remember it too, which of course means that the world is about to spin off it's axis and we're all doomed...naw just jok'in
Thanks Habu.
ReplyDeleteI was impressed that it is the first and only to take on the task!
On DDT--I don't know the cause and effect for sure, but it is true around here(along the rivers mostly) the eagle population was really dropping, and after the DDT ban, it started coming back up. Now you can see eagles on any drive along the rivers if you know where and how to look. This goes back years, and years. When I was a kid, eagles everywhere, then a lot of my adult life, no eagles, now in my 'golden years' they are around again.
ReplyDeleteMy wife goes 'birding' with a group around here, every once in a while. They head off in a van. There is not a lack of the winged ones. She comes back talking names I've never heard of. The eagles are common now.
ReplyDeleteThose 'golden years', when your joints begin to ache.
ReplyDeleteBob-L,
ReplyDeleteMy golden years include the famous "watching TV involuntary head jerk" as sleep somehow jumps on you from right outta no where.
Sometimes it's accompanied by a nasal snort... ah yes getting older.