Attacted to now Taliban launch string of attacks on key Afghan city

Watches Taliban launch string of attacks on key Afghan city



May 2011 KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The Taliban unleashed a wave of attacks including six suicide bombings on government targets in the major southern Afghan city of Kandahar Saturday, leaving at least 14 people wounded.
Militants with guns and rocket-propelled grenades launched an assault on the governor’s office, and ten explosions including six suicide blasts rocked the city — the birthplace of the Taliban — after the attacks began at about 1:00 pm (0930 GMT).

Gunmen occupied a hotel near the local office of Afghanistan’s intelligence service, while suicide bombers tried to attack two police offices in the south’s de facto capital but were shot before they could reach their targets.

In chaotic scenes, an AFP reporter said gunfire was still ringing out as ambulances evacuated the wounded, who included three policemen, from the area.

“Small-arms fire is still going on. Two RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) have been fired onto the (governor’s) building so far,” provincial spokesman Zalmay Ayubi told AFP.

“The northern and eastern sides of the compound are under direct attack,” he said, also giving details of the other attacks.

It is believed that Kandahar governor Tooryalai Wesa was holed up in his compound.

A spokesman for Kandahar’s main hospital, Doctor Hashem, said that 14 people had been brought in with injuries, including three police.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks, with spokesman Yusuf Ahmadi claiming that “heavy casualties have been inflicted on the enemy”.

The militia had warned on Friday that this week’s killing of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by US forces in Pakistan would give “a new impetus” to their fight against foreign and Afghan forces.

They had already announced the start of their annual spring offensive last week.

But Ahmadi did not mention bin Laden’s death in the context of the Kandahar attacks in his comments to AFP.

The assault against the heavily guarded governor’s compound was launched from two nearby buildings including a shopping mall which the attackers had ordered shopkeepers to leave shortly before the violence began.

There are around 130,000 international troops in Afghanistan, two-thirds of them from the United States, battling the Taliban and other insurgents.

Limited withdrawals from seven relatively peaceful areas, only one of which is in southern Afghanistan, are due to start in July ahead of the planned end of foreign combat operations in 2014.

International forces claim that Kandahar and the surrounding area are now safer following months of intense fighting to clear traditional Taliban strongholds.

But government officials and other targets are still frequently targeted by militants in the city.
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We are know the Law of Nations or a Nation's Law?

Watches Law of Nations or a Nation's Law?


Displaying the audacity of courage against the cowardice of despair and revenge, Navi Pillay, the UN Human Rights Chief, has just called for an investigation and full disclosure of the legalities and circumstances surrounding the Obama Administration's raid against Osama bin Laden, leader of Al Qaeda. It is a courageous act in the sense that, for years the United States has disregarded the idea of an international order, one built on mutual agreements and an honorable trust to comply with the laws of the United Nations.

The United Nations developed and was finally realized only after centuries of illegal invasions, military raids, and utter chaos between nation-states that caused millions of unnecessary deaths. It was Thomas Aquinas, a 13th century Christian theologian, who first proposed the idea of "the law of nations." He made a clear distinction between the laws of individual states-to keep peace and order-and the possibility of the "law of nations" which all states should obey and which would govern the relationships between them.

In the 16th century, the Spanish Jesuit theologian Francisco Suarez elaborated on Aquinas' "law of nations." He wrote that a nation should always respect another nation's natural laws, or the right to their own life, their own sense of liberty, their own property, and their own happiness-popular sovereignty. Later, the Dominican Francisco de Vitoria advocated laws "created by the authority of the whole world" and not just pacts or agreements between certain states. Such laws would be created and agreed upon by the authority of the whole world.

As a result of World War I and II, a new urgency prevailed regarding the prevention of wars and their horrific consequences. Initially, the United Nations was formed as a collaborative system that would solve international conflicts while enforcing peace, security, and the international rule of law. In practice, though, five permanent security council members have often used the United Nations for their own nationalistic self interests. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the hegemony of a single superpower, the United States, has disregarded the "law of nations" by acting as a global policeman.

The role of the United States an imperial power that is undermining the United Nation's rule of international laws, was evident right after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The Bush Administration rejected overtures from the Afghani authorities and the Taliban, who wanted to work through the United Nations and with the United States in capturing, arresting and trying Osama bin Laden. Not only was this a clear violation of the United Nations Charter and "the law of nations," but so were the preemptive wars against Afghanistan and Iraq, including their ongoing military occupations.

This self-absorbed "United Nations" within a United Nations has also dishonored its commitment to the Geneva Conventions by pursuing torturous acts against suspected enemy combatants at secret locations. It has even captured and detained indefinitely hundreds of innocent civilians from other nations. The military raid that assassinated Osama bin Laden violated Pakistan's air space and its national sovereignty. It was another violent act that blatantly disregarded the international rule of law. It sends a clear message to other nations that the United States considers itself outside of the "law of nations."

One must also wonder what Americans would think if a foreign nation like Iraq or Afghanistan-both of which had hundreds of thousands of people killed due to America's preemptive wars and its ongoing military occupations-violated United States airspace by sending in military hit-men and assassinated George W. Bush or Dick Cheney in their multi-million dollar buttressed mansions? How would Americans respond if Chile sent their special forces to South Kent, Connecticut and captured Henry Kissinger to be imprisoned and then tried for instigating Chile's own Sept. 11, 1973?

The United States and its policies and laws might generally appear benign, but it is not immune to the distortions of self-interests and committing acts of injustice and revenge. As the United States monopoly of power comes to an end, Americans must be vigilant against becoming a rogue (but dying) superpower. They must guard against their leaders destroying the "law of nations" and resorting to a kind of hyper-revenge. The preemptive invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and the assassination of Osama bin Laden regrettably points to a new and fatal code: An eye for a body, and a tooth for a nation.

Dallas Darling (darling@wn.com)

(Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John's Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.worldnews.com. You can read more of Dallas' writings at www.beverlydarling.com and wn.com//dallasdarling.)
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Enjoy Italy 'offers to arm rebels' as Gaddafi forces destroy oil tanks

We are saw now enjoy Italy 'offers to arm rebels' as Gaddafi forces destroy oil tanks



Anti-Gaddafi rebels say Italy has offered to arm them with "whatever they need to liberate Libya". A rebel spokesman in the eastern city of Benghazi, declined to specify what kind of weapons would be provided, and last night the Italian foreign ministry denied the claim.

The confusing reports came after Libyan government forces attacked a Misrata oil depot, causing a huge fire. Fuel tanks were still engulfed in flames hours after the early morning attack. The depot contains vital stores of fuel for cars, trucks, ships and generators powering hospitals and other key sites.

Rebel spokesman Ahmed Hassan said: "Four fuel tanks were totally destroyed and a huge fire erupted which spread to the other four. We cannot extinguish it because we do not have the right tools. Now the city will face a major problem. Those were the only sources of fuel for the city. These tanks could have kept the city for three months with enough fuel."

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Mr Hassan said government forces used small planes normally used to spray pesticides for the overnight attack in the Qasr Ahmed neighbourhood. He later told Al-Jazeera television that three helicopters bearing Red Crescent insignia conducted the attack.

Another rebel spokesman, who gave his name as Abdelsalam, said a government helicopter conducted a reconnaissance mission over the port and two hours later at around midnight local time government forces fired rockets that hit three fuel tanks belonging to the Brega Oil Company.

Footage of the incident posted on YouTube by Libyan students in Misrata showed firefighters turning water hoses on a raging fire in a vain attempt to extinguish it.

Rebels notified Nato about the planes before the attack but there was no response, Mr Hassan said. Government forces flew at least one helicopter reconnaissance mission over Misrata last month, according to rebels. The loss of the oil is likely to be a significant development in the battle for control of Misrata, the only city in western Libya still in rebel
Coppied by http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/italy-offers-to-arm-rebels-as-gaddafi-forces-destroy-oil-tanks-2280818.html

We are see the Nine killed in sectarian violence in Cairo

Watches this image Nine killed in sectarian violence in Cairovv




CAIRO (AFP) – Clashes between Muslims and Christians in the Egyptian capital Cairo left nine dead and more than 100 injured and a church was set on fire, medical and security officials said.
The two groups clashed after Muslims attacked the Coptic Saint Mena church in the working class neighbourhood of Imbaba to free a Christian woman they alleged was being held against her will because she wanted to convert to Islam.
A parish priest, Father Hermina, told AFP that at least five of the dead were Copts who died when "thugs and (Muslim fundamentalist) Salafis fired at them" in the late afternoon attack.
The Gospel had been laid on a body wrapped in a sheet that was lying inside the church. The church floor was bloodstained as wounded Christians were brought in for treatment.
Outside, military police parked several armoured cars to block off Muslim protesters.
They fired their guns into the air as Christians in front of the church and Muslim protesters down the street hurled stones at each other. The Muslim protesters threw firebombs, one of them setting an apartment near the church on fire.
"Oh God! Oh Jesus!" chanted the Coptic protesters. They scuffled with soldiers, blaming them for not doing enough to protect them.
The soldiers advanced at Muslim protesters who edged closer to the church, firing over their heads to repel them. Special forces were later deployed outside the church.
An officer ordered a soldier to escort an AFP journalist away from the church, saying "no journalists are allowed."
Hermina and witnesses had said the Muslims tried to storm the church earlier in the day, claiming the Christians were holding a Muslim woman.
Elsewhere in Imbaba, Muslim protesters threw firebombs at another church, setting it on fire, police officials said. They said the fire was put out.
At one of the cordons outside the St Mena church, Muslim protesters said they were first fired upon by the Copts, after they tried to find a Christian woman they say converted to Islam and was being held inside.
"They started firing on us. We were peaceful," said one of the protesters who gave his name as Mamduh. "We won't leave until they give up their weapons and the people who killed us are tried."
No weapons could be seen inside the church and the Copts there said they had none.
Egypt's mufti -- the government's chief interpreter of Islamic law -- Ali Gomaa condemned the clashes and said they "were toying with Egypt's national security."
The violence could not have been caused by "religious people who understand their religion, whether Muslim or Christian," he told the official MENA news agency.

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watches this very importent news Al-Qaida head bin Laden dead

we are saw this Al-Qaida head bin Laden dead

WASHINGTON – Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks against the United States, is dead, and the U.S. is in possession of his body, a person familiar with the situation said late Sunday.

President Barack Obama was expected to address the nation on the developments Sunday night.

Two senior counterterrorism officials confirmed that bin Laden was killed in Pakistan last week. One said bin Laden was killed in a ground operation, not by a Predator drone. Both said the operation was based on U.S. intelligence, and both said the U.S. is in possession of bin Laden's body.

Officials long believed bin Laden, the most wanted man in the world, was hiding a mountainous region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to speak ahead of the president.

The development comes just months before the tenth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Centers and Pentagon, orchestrated by bin Laden's al-Qaida organization, that killed more than 3,000 people.

The attacks set off a chain of events that led the United States into wars in Afghanistan, and then Iraq, and America's entire intelligence apparatus was overhauled to counter the threat of more terror attacks at home.

Al-Qaida organization was also blamed for the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 231 people and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors in Yemen, as well as countless other plots, some successful and some foiled.

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Watch Haiti's Preval: 'Baby Doc' Duvalier 'must face justice

We are watch see the Haiti's Preval: 'Baby Doc' Duvalier 'must face justice

Haiti's ex-leader Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier had the right to return to the country but must now face justice, President Rene Preval says.

Jean-Claude Duvalier is staying in a hotel in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince
Mr Preval was making his first comments on the issue since Mr Duvalier's unexpected return from exile last week.

Mr Duvalier has been charged with theft and misappropriation of funds during his 1971-1986 rule.

He is also being sued for torture and other crimes against humanity. He has said he is ready to face "persecution".

In a news conference on Friday, Mr Duvalier called for national reconciliation, claiming his return from France had been prompted by the earthquake that devastated Haiti last year and his desire to help rebuild the country.

On Saturday, Mr Preval said that according to the Haitian constitution, no-one could be forced to remain in exile.

"Duvalier had the right to return to the country, but under the constitution, he also must face justice," he said at a news conference during a visit by the Dominican president.

"If Duvalier is not in prison now, it is because he has not yet been tried."

Mr Duvalier is barred from leaving the country pending the outcome of an investigation into his alleged crimes, Mr Preval said.
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watch It Used to Be Called Bitterness

we are see the It Used to Be Called Bitterness



"The anger of a moment, the thousand pictures, that's us. This land, this red land, is us; and the flood years and the dust years and the drought years are us. We can't start again. The bitterness we sold to the junk man-he got it all right, but we have it still. And when the owner men told us to go, that's us; and when the tractor hit the house, that's us until we're dead. To California or any place-every one a drum major leading a parade of hurts, marching with our bitterness. And some day-the armies of bitterness will all be going the same way. And they'll walk together, and there'll be a dead terror from it."(1) -John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath (1939)

Not long ago, then-Senator Barack Obama, when he was campaigning for the presidency, said, "You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, a lot of them-like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they've gone through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. So it's not surprising then that they get bitter, and they cling to guns, or religion, or antipathy toward people who aren't like them, or anti-immigration sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Unlike John Steinbeck, who observed the brutal and forced relocation of millions of tenant farmers during the Dust Bowl, President Obama has forgotten the causes of bitterness. And unlike Steinbeck, who understood human nature and how hard-working, independent, and fully human people can be dehumanized and stripped of their self-worth and dignity by unjust economic and political institutions, Obama appears to be incapable of comprehending what triggers episodic bouts of bitter retaliation. But Steinbeck knew how corrupt governmental policies can cause mental anguish and moral dilemmas, and how fraudulent institutions can cause material scarcity and the poverty of the soul.

When talking to Arabs and Muslim in the Middle East, neither will Secretary of State Hillary Clinton use the word "bitterness." Once in power, and as a member of the Owner Class, it is soothing to forget a husband's bitter betrayal. It is easy to dismiss a mean-spirited Republican Congress that belittled health care reforms and demeaned a person's character. Instead, those who resist U.S. occupation forces are extremists. Those who fight back against murderous drone attacks and repressive regimes-backed and supported by American military power and corporate elites-are always terrorists. Both Obama and Clinton talk about reforms and encourage people to believe in a better future.

But what are words and promises without concrete actions and results? Do repeated political injustices, ongoing economic injuries, and never ending pre-emptive wars, only fill a future with bitterness and hostility?

Rulers and Owners always forget this, just like they forget the Tenant People, who have to repeatedly sift through their belongings and possessions deciding on what to keep and to sell. The plow is of no more use, as is other junk, like household goods and other trivial material possessions. The Rulers and Owners, though, are buying more than junk. They are purchasing bitterness, a plow to plow their children under, buying the arms and spirits that might have saved them. The Owners and powerful political leaders of the world, with their wars and military machines and with their corporate takeovers and foreclosures, are buying bitterness.(2)

One can't start again. There's a premium that goes with these piles of junk, with stripping the human spirit of liberty and dignity. These packets of bitterness will continue to grow and flower someday. The Tenant People and working classes could have saved the Rulers and Owners. But they have cut down the Tenant People and the poor with their wars and with their continued neglect and their destructive values. Someday, there will be none to save them. The past has spoiled the present. It will more than likely ruin the future. When shoes and clothes and food, when even hope is gone, there is still the rifle. When the forefathers came-they had pepper and salt and a rifle. Nothing else.(3)

What is left behind must be burned. Leave it-or burn it up. What caused this injustice must somehow be confronted. Otherwise, how can you live with yourself? How will you know it's you without your past? No. Leave it. Burn it. Some sit among the doomed things, turning them over and looking past them and back, perhaps a photo, a letter, a picture of an angel, or a book like Pilgrim's Progress. Others look at their junk and economic injuries which are burned into their memories. How'll it be not to know what land's outside the door? How if you wake up in the night and knows-and knows the willow tree's not there? Can you live without the willow tree? Well, no, one can't. The land, house is you. That dreadful pain and bitterness is you.(4)
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