Taliban Threaten Pakistani Media Over War Coverage

Taliban ask media to set its Qibla

Updated at: 1937 PST,  Tuesday, April 28, 2009 SWAT: Tehrik Taliban Swat has warned that media should correct its direction. Commander ‘Fidain’ section has dispatched pamphlets to the offices of newspapers and TV channels, which said that media should examine its role and avoid an anti-Taliban agenda. According to the pamphlets, media has adopted a new approach for the past one week which indicates that everybody is following a pro-Western policy under any pressure or greed. “It is the duty of media to give space and time to such statements that leave a positive impact on the society,” it said. Taliban further warned that they would move to Sharia courts if instructions were not followed.

‘Militants still present in Buner’: Owais Ghani

Updated at: 1725 PST,  Tuesday, April 28, 2009 PESHAWAR: The NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani has condemned ongoing and un-ending incidences of looting, kidnapping and lawlessness in Malakand Division by the miscreants; inspite of repeated warnings by the government in this regard. The policy of restraint, adopted by the government till now, is with the specific purpose to enable successful implementation of Nizam-e-Adl Regulation according to popular aspirations of people of Malakand Division. However, the miscreants indulging in these criminal activities seem to be determined to sabotage and thwart successful implementation of Nizam-e-Adl. Their acts of looting, kidnapping and killing continue unabated and inspite of repeated assurances and statements, the miscreants have not vacated District Buner and continue to remain there in large numbers and disturbing peace and harassing the people of the area, he added. Therefore, the government is left with no choice but to fulfill its responsibilities for protection of life of peace loving and law abiding citizens and restore order and writ of state and take all necessary measures in this regard.

Buner operation launched after success in Dir

Updated at: 1908 PST,  Tuesday, April 28, 2009 ISLAMABAD: Director-General Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Athar Abbas said on Tuesday that the government would not allow anyone to violate writ of the state adding that a major offensive has been launched to flush out militants from Buner. Addressing a press briefing here, Major General Athar Abbas said that security forces extended an offensive against Taliban militants to Buner district, around 100 km (60 miles) north of the capital Islamabad. “The military launched an operation at 4:00 pm today, the aim of the offensive is to eliminate and expel militants from Buner”, Abbas said. He said the army and the Frontier Corps troops have entered Buner and IG FC is overseeing the operation. Abbas said that over 70 militants were killed in Lower Dir operation while 10 security forces personnel were martyred. Abbas said that fighter jets of PAF are also taking part in the operation. He said over 500 militants, equipped with sophisticated communication system, are holed up in various parts of Buner who are constantly receiving money and arms from unknown sources.

Is Swine Flu A Biological Weapon?

Tuesday, 28 April 2009 06:40 David Watson

There are some factors that suggest the swine flu killing people in Mexico may be a biological weapon, but obviously no such conclusion can be drawn at this time. The World Health Organization and the U.S. government have been quick to deny such claims ^[2].

The swine flu virus is described as a completely new strain, an intercontinental mixture of human, avian and swine viruses. Tellingly, there have been no reported A-H1N1 infections of pigs.

According to a source ^[3] known to former NSA official Wayne Madsen, “A top scientist for the United Nations, who has examined the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Africa, as well as HIV/AIDS victims, concluded that H1N1 possesses certain transmission “vectors” that suggest that the new flu strain has been genetically-manufactured as a military biological warfare weapon.

Madsen claims that his source, and another in Indonesia, “Are convinced that the current outbreak of a new strain of swine flu in Mexico and some parts of the United States is the result of the introduction of a human-engineered pathogen that could result in a widespread global pandemic, with potentially catastrophic consequences for domestic and international travel and commerce.”

However, it’s important to stress that it is far too early to make this assumption. We have to bear in mind that the number of victims has been comparatively low when one considers the fact that hundreds of thousands in Mexico contract infectious diseases every year related to poverty like tuberculosis and malaria. ^[4]

Fort Detrick, the U.S. Army Medical Command installation that was the source of the 2001 anthrax attacks, is again attracting suspicion in light of the swine flu panic after it was revealed that criminal investigators are probing whether virus samples recently went missing from its biolabs.

“Chad Jones, spokesman for Fort Meade, said CID is investigating the possibility of missing virus samples from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases,” reports The Frederick News ^[5].

In February, USAMRIID halted their work when virus samples were discovered that were not listed in its inventory. Criminal investigators from the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division unit at Fort Meade are now probing whether virus samples are missing from the Army’s top biolab, which also studies pathogens including ebola, anthrax and plague.

Obviously, in light of the current swine flu scare, and the new strain’s possible synthetic origin, the fact that virus samples may have gone missing from the same Army research lab from which the 2001 anthrax strain was released is extremely disturbing.

A 2008 FBI and DOJ investigation concluded that Bruce Edwards Irvins, a microbiologist, vaccinologist, and senior biodefense researcher at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) in Fort Detrick, Maryland, was responsible for mailing anthrax to members of Congress and the media in September and October 2001.

The fact that Irvins apparently committed suicide shortly before the announcement led many to suspect that he was a patsy in a wider plot. Despite the suspicious circumstances, no autopsy was carried out on Irvins’ body. His attorney was certain that Irvins, who had cooperated with the 6-year investigation, was innocent of the five anthrax deaths.

The Department of Justice initially considered Dr. Steven Jay Hatfill to be a strong suspect in the anthrax attacks, but he later sued the government and won $5.8 million in damages. A New York Times piece ^[6] on Irvins’ suicide asked the hypothetical question: “What if Dr. Hatfill had committed suicide in 2002, as friends feared he might? Would the investigators have released their evidence and announced that the perpetrator was dead?”

Fears that a mass pandemic was being readied as a biological attack have rumbled on in the conspiracy community ever since 9/11. Investigators point to the highly unusual number of deaths of top microbiologists ^[7]to suggest that people with knowledge of the program are being eliminated.

Notes

[1] Prison Planet.com: http://prisonplanet.com

[2] quick to deny such claims: http://www.qnaol.net/QNAEn/News_Bulletin/News/Pages/09-04-26-2033_776_0064.aspx

[3] According to a source: http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_4631.shtml

[4] Image: http://www.prisonplanet.tv/

[5] The Frederick News: http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=89293

[6] A New York Times piece: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/us/04anthrax.html?hp

[7] highly unusual number of deaths of top microbiologists : http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/deadbiologists.html

Source: Prison Planet

AIPAC’S Treason Fest™ 2009

Tuesday, 28 April 2009 08:09 Kenny’s Sideshow

The excitement is surely building. Less than a week to go until the annual AIPAC Policy conference when several US elected officials and associated shills will remind the world who they really work for.

Even Tel Aviv Jane Harman is scheduled to give opening remarks and to discuss “an insider’s look at the Middle East,” if she is not deemed too radioactive.

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Traitor Jewess Jane Harman

Over 300 members of Congress reportedly attended in 2008 but the guest list for this year has been hidden at the organizer’s request. I suppose that’s to keep constituents from publicly questioning their representatives about where their loyalties lie and ruining a good time.

A big private conversion piece this year will most likely be whether the AIPAC’s own spies, Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, both former lobbyists, will finally get their day in court or the charges be dismissed in the name of ‘national security.’

Other whispered topics may include whether or when to bomb Iran and how to derail a ‘one-state’ or ‘two-state’ solution for the Palestinians.

A gala kosher banquet is scheduled where Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-IL), Republican Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) join hundreds of their congressional colleagues, foreign dignitaries and activists from across the country in celebrating the U.S.-Israel alliance. Other ‘notable’ speakers at the conference will include Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, James Woolsey, former CIA director and Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Maj. Gen. Ido Nechustan, commander of the Israeli Air Force, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and of course Senator John Kerry (D-MA), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

This list of ‘dignitary’ speakers show that being bought and blackmailed by Israel is truly a bi-partisan effort. The list of Pro-Israel PAC contributions to congressional candidates is extensive, a ‘leave no congressperson behind’ money trail.

A Shabbaton is also scheduled, including both Jews and Shabbat goys. Only $150 per person. Tax deductible.

The last but not least thing on the agenda is Lobbying (At the Convention Center and on Capitol Hill). The untold billions given to Israel each year must be reinforced.

No word of any protests against the AIPAC crowd this year. I wonder why Glenn Beck and Hannity haven’t organized anything? I thought eliminating wasteful spending was what they were all about.

NSA wiretapping of the event is said to be optional, but all is fair in love, war and Israeli control of Congress.

Treason Fest™….. a uniquely American affair.

Source: Incog Man

Creating Crazy Invasion Excuses, “There Might Be a Dozen ‘al Qaida’ in Somalia”

[US foreign policy under Obama is unchanged, except that the game is moving to the next level on all fronts.  Obama will take this scare story about a handful of "al Qaida" super-terrorists and use it as an excuse to destroy East Africa, just as Bush used the myth of "19 hijackers" to decimate Afghanistan and Western Pakistan. "Al Qaida" was dreamed-up in Langley, to provide the excuse for sending combat troops and covert terrorists/mercenaries all over the world. The "war on terror" is not only total B.S., it is one of the greatest crimes against God and humanity ever committed.]

Terrorists moving from Afghan border to Africa: US

NEW YORK: There is growing evidence that battle-hardened extremists are filtering out of safe havens along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and into East Africa, bringing sophisticated terrorist tactics that include suicide attacks.

The alarming shift, according to U.S. military and counterterrorism officials, fuels concern that Somalia is increasingly on a path to become the next Afghanistan _ a sanctuary where al-Qaida-linked groups could train and plan their threatened attacks against the western world.

So far, officials say the number of foreign fighters who have moved from southwest Asia and the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region to the Horn of Africa is small, perhaps two to three dozen.

American officials already are seeing extremist factions in East Africa sharing information and techniques.

Several US military and counterterrorism officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence matters cautioned that the movements of the al-Qaida militants do not suggest an abandonment of the ungoverned Pakistan border region as a safe haven.

Instead, the shift is viewed by the officials more as an expansion of al-Qaida’s influence, and a campaign to gather and train more recruits in a region already rife with militants.

Iranian Ship Sunk in Red Sea by Unnamed Warship

[Google translation]

The destruction of an Iranian ship loaded with arms before their arrival to the

Gaza Strip

الخرطوم: ذكرت مصادر موثوقة بالعاصمة السودانية الخرطوم أن سفينة إيرانية محملة بالأسلحة تم تدميرها في البحر الأحمر قبالة السواحل السودانية خلال الأسبوعين الماضيين. Khartoum: According to reliable sources, the Sudanese capital Khartoum said that an Iranian ship loaded with arms were destroyed in the Red Sea off the coast of Sudan during the past two weeks.

وأشارت المصادر إلي أن صواريخ اطلقت من سفينة حربية مجهولة “يحتمل أن تكون إسرائيلية أو أمريكية” أدت إلي إغراق السفينة بكامل طاقمها. The sources said the rockets were fired from a warship unknown “is likely to be an Israeli or American,” has plunged the entire crew of the ship.

وتوقعت المصادر أن تكون السفينة الإيرانية محملة بالأسلحة وأنها كانت متجهة لإفراغ حمولتها داخل الأراضي السودانية تمهيدا لنقلها إلي قطاع غزة مرورا بالأراضي المصرية. The sources expected that the ship was loaded with Iranian weapons and that it was bound to unload its cargo inside Sudanese territory in preparation for transfer to the Gaza Strip through the land of Egypt.

وحسبما ذكرت صحيفة “الاسبوع” المصرية المستقلة، فقد تكتمت كل من إيران والطرف المعتدي أنباء الحادث الأخير، إلا أن مصادر عليا داخل العاصمة السودانية توصلت إلي هذه المعلومات الخطيرة. According to the newspaper, “the week,” the independent Egyptian has declined each of the aggressor and Iran reported the latest incident, but sources within the Sudanese capital, the highest reached this critical information.

ويأتي الكشف عن الانتهاك الجديد لسيادة السودان بعد اسابيع قليلة من قيام سلاح الجو الإسرائيلي بقصف قافلة شاحنات قيل أنها كانت تنقل أسلحة من إيران إلى حركة حماس في قطاع غزة لدى مرورها في أراضي السودان خلال شهري يناير وفبراير الماضيين. The disclosure of the new violation of the sovereignty of Sudan after a few weeks by the Israeli Air Force bombed a convoy of trucks were allegedly carrying weapons from Iran to Hamas in the Gaza Strip as she was passing in the territory of the Sudan during the months of January and February last.

واعترف الرئيس السوداني عمر البشير صراحة أمس السبت في حوار أجرته معه فضائية “الجزيرة” بوقوع الاعتداء والانتهاك الهمجي للأراضي السودانية، وقال: إن القافلة التي استهدفتها إسرائيل بشرق السودان نجا منها شخص واحد ، وأشار إلي أنه تحرك بسيارته من غير إضاءة ، واضاف : إن هناك بعض الجرحى ، وأوضح أن التقارير الأولية للحكومة السودانية أشار إلي أن الطائرات التي نفذت العملية أمريكية ، إلا أنه أكد بعد الاتصال بهم عدم ارتباطهم بالعملية ، مشيرا إلى أن إسرائيل أقرت بتنفيذ العملية”. Admitted to the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Saturday explicitly in an interview with the satellite “island” of the barbaric aggression and violation of the territory of Sudan, and said: “The convoy was targeted by Israel, including eastern Sudan, survived one person, and pointed out that the move was not a light car, and added: There are Some of the wounded and explained that the initial reports of the Sudanese government, he said, adding that the aircraft that carried out the U.S. However, he said after the association of non-contact process, pointing out that Israel has approved the implementation of the process. “

Ankara denies Baku planning gas price hike

[Bad news for Nabucco Project]

Ankara denies Baku planning gas price hike

Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Güler yesterday denied media reports that Azerbaijan was set to increase the price of the natural gas it sells to Turkey, saying the existing contracts do not allow it.

“These reports are not true; I have been holding meetings with the Azerbaijanis for two days. No such thing has been said; there is no rise. We have a contract, so they cannot do it,” Güler was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency yesterday, in response to a question as he was leaving a meeting at the headquarters of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party).Reports said on Saturday that an Azerbaijani official announced his country’s plans to raise the price of natural gas to Turkey. Accordingly, Rovnag Abdullayev, the head of the Azerbaijani State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), was quoted as saying that the current deal between Azerbaijan and Turkey was outdated and that talks on a new price deal were under way. The SOCAR president did not reveal any further details but said the new price deal was to be in effect as of April 15. Abdullayev earlier in the day met with officials from the Turkish industry and energy ministries and from the state-owned Turkish Pipeline Corporation (BOTAŞ).

The report came as Azerbaijan protests an ongoing rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia, with which it fought a war over Nagorno-Karabakh in 1991. Commenting on the reported price increase on Saturday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the move was “thought-provoking” if the reports are true. “I don’t have information on that. However, if it [Azerbaijan] increased prices, then according to which facts did it do this? Such a rise in natural gas prices during a period of time when oil prices in the world are on the decline will of, course, be thought provoking. These [facts] will be assessed and steps will be taken accordingly,” Erdoğan said. Turkey and Armenia announced late on Wednesday that they had agreed on a framework for normalizing their relations, the first such move since Turkey closed its border to Armenia in 1993.

Turkish “Gladio Operation” Loses Its Secret Ammo Dumps

[Turkish branch of "Gladio Operation" being uncovered day-by-day.  Like all secret armies pre-positioned in all NATO countries, these government terrorists created covert weapons stashes all over the countryside, in anticipation when the secret armies would rise-up and "save the country" from they chao they themselves planned to unleash on their own countrymen.]

Parts 1 and 2 HERE

Ergenekon weapons discovery puts Turkish military in tough spot

Various supplies of munitions have been found hidden in shanty houses or buried underground since the start of the investigation into Ergenekon, a clandestine group charged with plotting to overthrow the government, which apparently have been taken out of the arms depots of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), but the military has been quiet on these discoveries for the most part, other than denying that it had anything to do with hiding the weapons.

The TSK’s silence on explaining how the weaponry discovered during the Ergenekon investigation was taken while under its supervision has led to a series of questions. Are any of the weapons found registered in the TSK’s weapons’ inventory? Who and how were these weapons taken out of the TSK depots? Have any of the culprits been found? Are there any suspects?

What legal action has the TSK taken against the suspects? Are there problems in inspections? Were those weapons stolen? The Ergenekon investigation itself started in June 2007 with the discovery of the military’s weapons in a shanty house in a district of İstanbul. Since the start of the investigation, hand grenades, explosives, light anti-tank weapons, rocket launchers, Kalashnikov rifles, assault rifles, thousands of bullets and various other munitions have been discovered in secret depots or buried underground in various cities including Eskişehir, Ankara and Sapanca. Most of these weapons were manufactured by the Turkish Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation (MKE) and NATO, neither of which supplies any institution in the country other than the military. None of the suspects arrested in relation to the discoveries have admitted any connections to the weaponry found. The latest discovery came when the caches of arms were uncovered last week in İstanbul during excavations to uncover more ammunitions and weapons as part of the Ergenekon investigation. Light anti-tank weapons, hand grenades, explosives and rocket launchers were unearthed during the excavations this week on land owned by the İstek Foundation, which was set up by a fugitive suspect in the investigation, former İstanbul Mayor Bedrettin Dalan, the chairman of the foundation. Three military officers currently on active duty were arrested on Wednesday as part of the investigation into Ergenekon after the arms cache was discovered on Tuesday. Those detained included Maj. Levent Bektaş, Lt. Col. Ercan Kireçtepe and Maj. Emre Onat, all of the Turkish Naval Forces. Yesterday, the three were referred to court, which will decide on their release or arrest. The police are seeking to capture yet another naval officer, Lt. Col. Mustafa Turhan Ecevit. The excavation on İstek Foundation land, launched on Tuesday of last week, was started after an anonymous e-mail was sent to the İstanbul Police Department. In last week’s excavations in İstanbul’s Poyrazköy district, 10 light anti-tank weapons, 20 percussion bombs, three other bombs, 250 grams of C-4 explosive, 19 emergency flares, 10 hand grenades, 800 G3 bullets and a large number of bullets for revolvers were found. The discovery follows the unearthing of similar underground weapons sites earlier in January, which were uncovered based on information from maps found in the homes of two suspects — former Deputy Police Chief İbrahim Şahin and Mustafa Dönmez, a lieutenant colonel who turned himself in a few days after the initial warrant for his arrest was issued. Dalan was in the US during the period of this wave of detentions and discoveries, which started on Jan. 7, 2009. Ankara excavated for guns The police, as part of the January investigation, carried out a series of digs at a number of sites around the capital in a search of weapons linked to Ergenekon. An arms cache was unearthed in the Zir Valley in Ankara’s Sincan district, which was found based on a map discovered in the house of Lt. Col. Dönmez. Thirty hand grenades, nine smoke bombs and more than 800 bullets for G3 assault rifles were found there. Around the same time, two hand grenades were found buried in a park in an industrial zone. Nearly 200 bullets were discovered also in Ankara in early January, in a vacant lot across from a housing complex in the Oran neighborhood, formerly reserved for members of Parliament and their families.

27 April 2009, Monday

TODAY’S ZAMAN İSTANBUL

Iran arrests group planning pre-vote bombings: radio

Reuters – April 26, 2009

Iran has arrested a group of people linked to Israel who were planning bombings ahead of the Islamic Republic’s June presidential election, the intelligence minister was quoted as saying on Sunday.

State radio, citing Intelligence Minister Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, did not say how many people had been arrested or give any other details.

Iran often accuses Israel and the United States, its two arch foes, of seeking to undermine the Islamic state. Last year, an Iranian businessman was hanged after he was convicted of spying on the military for the Jewish state.

“A group of deceived elements … who wanted to carry out explosions, particularly before the June election, was arrested,” Mohseni-Ejei said, according to the radio report.

He said they were “related to the Zionists.” Iran often refers to Israel as the “Zionist regime.”

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who last week prompted a walk-out at a U.N. meeting on race in Geneva after he branded Israel a racist state, is expected to run for a second four-year term in the June 12 election.

Former Prime Minister Mirhossein Mousavi, who advocates detente with the West, is expected to be Ahmadinejad’s main moderate challenger in the presidency race.

Earlier in April, Iran executed three people convicted of being involved in the bombing of a mosque which killed 14 Iranians in the southern city of Shiraz in 2007.

Tehran had accused the United States of arming and training those behind the blast and said Britain and Israel were also involved. Washington and London have denied Iran’s accusations.

Lieberman wants US ‘responsible’ for Iran–DIVERSION

[Lieberman labors to turn international focus off Israel, onto the US mission in Pakistan, which will open the backdoor into Iran.   His new mission as Foreign Minister is obviously to distract international opinion from IDF human rights violations, so that the world will ignore what is about to happen in Palestine and Lebanon, "operation cast iron."]

[SEE: Lieberman: U.S. to accept any Israeli policy decision ]

Lieberman wants US ‘responsible’ for Iran

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 02:55:54 GMT

Font size :

Israeli forces

Israel says it will not resort to military invasion to suppress Iran’s nuclear activities even if the international pressure proves to be of no avail.

“We are not talking about a military attack. Israel cannot resolve militarily the entire world’s problem,” Kleine Zeitung quoted Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman as saying on Saturday.

His remarks come in line with a recent shift in Tel Aviv’s policy toward Iran which was adopted after Israeli president Shimon Peres said that “the solution in Iran is not a military one.”

Israel and the West accuse Iran, a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), of pursuing a military nuclear program — an allegation that has been rejected by Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog.

Lieberman, however, went on to say, “I propose that the United States, as the largest power in the world, take responsibility for resolving the Iranian question.”

The apparent softening of tone is believed to be related to the Israeli officials’ fear of a pending clash of stance with the new US administration which intends to engage Iran “diplomatically” on the matter.

Following a period of Israel intense war rhetoric against Iran Washington reportedly started weighing possible sanctions on Tel Aviv, should it go ahead with the attack.

Lieberman insisted that “the best way to stop Iran’s nuclear program is through severe sanctions, very severe sanctions…. The resolutions of the UN Security Council are insufficient. Iran must be presented with harsher and more effective sanctions. It worked against Libya. We must isolate Iran; only this way will results be possible.”

This is while many — including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Secretary-General Mohamed ElBaradei — believe that sanction and isolation is not the key to the issue, saying such an approach could only impede the process.

Using force to suppress Afghan tribesmen is bound to fail

By David Ignatius

By The Daily Star [Daily Times can only be accessed by proxy server, still, such as this one.]

Recently The New York Times carried vivid war reporting from Afghanistan. C.J. Chivers described the “bloody standoff” in the Korengal Valley between American troops and die-hard tribal warriors. Photographer Tyler Hicks snapped an unforgettable front-page picture of a US soldier in a mad dash to escape a riverside ambush.

But I found myself wondering: Why is the United States fighting insurgents in the remote Korengal Valley in the first place? The story described the enemy as “Taliban,” but it said the locals are angry “in part because they are loggers and the Afghan government banned almost all timber cutting, putting

local men out of work.” There’s apparently no sign of Al-Qaeda in the valley, where people are fiercely independent and speak their own exotic language.

While applauding the bravery of the US soldiers, we should also ask the baseline question: Is this use of American military power necessary or wise? When I was in the area a year ago, I visited an Army forward base near Asadabad that was firing large-caliber artillery shells into the Korengal to keep the local fighters at bay. The percussive roar of the outgoing fire was so loud it was hard to hear the comments of members of the US Provincial Reconstruction Team, who were explaining their efforts to win over the local population by building roads and schools.

The fighting in Korengal illustrates a bigger problem that’s at the heart of President Obama’s strategy for the Afghanistan War. The strategy is leaning in two directions at once. Obama described his war aims in limited terms, as preventing Al-Qaeda from launching attacks on the United States. But to accomplish that goal, he advocated a broader nation-building effort that could last many years. In military jargon, it’s an “enemy-centric” strategy that employs “population-centric” tactics of counterinsurgency warfare.

The problem isn’t so abstract for the young soldiers at Korengal Outpost: Are US foot patrols and artillery barrages needed to stop Al-Qaeda in this Afghan wilderness? Or is there a better, cheaper way, with less loss of Afghan and American lives?

The senior officials who drafted Obama’s strategy agree that it has this inherent tension, but they say it’s inescapable. They believe that a successful counterinsurgency fight has both a soft, road-building side and a kinetic, kill-the-enemy side. The challenge, the officials say, is combining the two approaches to splinter the insurgency. If the strategy works, says one of the people who drafted it, the US will dismember the “syndicate” of insurgent groups by the end of the summer fighting season this year or next.

To get an Afghan view, I spoke last week with Ashraf Ghani, who was finance minister from 2002 to 2004, in the first post-Taliban government, and is now running for president. He’s a supremely articulate man who took a doctorate in anthropology from Columbia University and worked at the World Bank. He’s probably a long shot for the presidential palace in Kabul, but he has a clear analysis of what’s needed – from Americans and Afghans, both – to put this war on a better track.

“Choices have to be made in terms of how the US strategy is implemented – counterinsurgency tactics, or kinetic. Right now, they’re attempting to do both,” says Ghani. He favors the former, and cautions that “months of counterinsurgency work can by undone by one kinetic action.”

Ghani is running on several issues that need to be addressed, no matter who wins. He wants greater Afghan self-reliance, reform of the country’s corrupt and feeble government, and a jobs program. The definition of the average Taliban supporter, he says, is “unemployed youth.”

I was encouraged by Ghani’s comments about reconciliation with some elements of the Taliban alliance. Take Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who’s part of the insurgent syndicate. Ghani has read four books written by Hekmatyar and says the bearded warlord has a “very modernist vision.”

He also cites a new book by Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, a Taliban leader who was held at Guantanamo from 2002 to 2005. Ghani says the mullah mirrors the evolution of the Taliban away from jihadism and toward nationalism and development.

The idea of using military force alone to suppress the fierce tribesmen of Afghanistan is as mistaken now for America as it was for the British in the 19th century, or the Russians in the 1980s. But Ghani and others seem serious about building a modern Afghanistan with US help – a long, slow but entirely worthwhile process.

Clinton’s visit showed that new US thinking has yet to materialize

By The Daily Star

Hillary Clinton’s whirlwind visit to Lebanon on Sunday generated the expected sound bites. There was also a signal that new foreign policy thinking by the Obama administration, when it comes to this part of the Middle East, has yet to materialize. The US secretary of state’s surprise touchdown didn’t contain any surprises in terms of the itinerary. President Michel Sleiman and MP Saad Hariri were the beneficiaries of face time with Clinton, who said she supported Lebanon’s sovereignty and promised that no deals would be made with Damascus at Lebanon’s expense. She also stressed the importance of seeing fair elections on June 7, without intimidation and violence.

Two items did stand out, however. Clinton added that Lebanon has a fundamental role to play in a Middle East peace, and stressed the Obama administration’s support for “moderates.”

The latter statement recalls the policy of the last few years, when we heard constantly about moderates and extremists.

In fact, moderates in Lebanon are in need of gaining some political footing, as their situation has been eroding for quite some time. Within the majority camp, too many of the incompetent elements have taken control, and without going into who exactly is responsible, it’s enough to say that the political process hasn’t produced effective moderates. Perhaps elements of the country’s private sector and general public have been “moderate” enough to generate the stability that’s helped us survive the past few difficult years, with our dysfunctional political class.

On the other hand, the external situation hasn’t exactly helped the moderate politicians.

When Clinton brought up Lebanon’s sovereignty, she didn’t add that Washington had any plans to end Israel’s violations of this sovereignty. Nothing about ending overflights by Israeli aircraft. Nothing about movement on the Shebaa Farms-Ghajar axes.

In order to help Lebanon’s moderates, Clinton should get Israel on her agenda, and fast track it. Both words

and deeds are needed here. Israel’s role in violating our sovereignty might appear from time to time in the statements of American officials, but so did the need to implement UN Security Council Resolution 425. In the end, it took 22 years for that to come to pass, and not thanks to international statecraft, but local armed resistance.

Clinton should identify policies – and not principles – that would enable Lebanon to play it’s supposedly fundamental role in a Middle East peace.

Lebanon could be a good beginning for a real-world policy of this kind, based on ensuring that all sides – and not just the moderates – are satisfied, or else there will be no durable deal.

Army destroys LTTE earth bund and enters Puthumattalan:

Tens of thousands of civilians continued to flow into Government controlled area from the No Fire Zone throughout yesterday.
Courtesy Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation

Army destroys LTTE earth bund and enters Puthumattalan:

Human Avalanche

Over 35,000 cross over to Government controlled area:

Around 20,000 more await evacuation:

Ranil Wijayapala

Troops attached to 58 Division engaged in the biggest ever hostage rescue mission in the military history, yesterday ended the months’ long forcible detention of tens of thousands civilians by the LTTE, after entering the No Fire Zone in the early hours of yesterday with the capture of the three km long Tiger earth bund in Puthumattalan and Ampalavanpokkanai, military sources told the Daily News.

With the gates to the No Fire Zone in Puthumattalan and Ampalavanpokkanai were opened by the troops attached to 58 Division along with Commando troops and Special Forces troops, an avalanche of civilians started to flood into the Security Forces’ controlled areas through the Security Forces’ defences in Ampalavanpokkanai and Puthumattalan yesterday morning.

“The Security Forces witnessed civilians exceeding 35,000 flooding into the military controlled areas in Ampalavanpokkanai at day break yesterday soon after LTTE defences were breached by the 58 Division troops,” a senior military official told the Daily News.

“Troops attached to 58 Division under the command of Brigadier Shavendra Silva were able to open the gates of the No Fire Zone without shedding a single drop of blood of the civilians which was totally an unexpected situation for the international community who were fearing a blood bath in the No Fire Zone,” military officials added.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa who arrived at the Air Force Headquarters last morning witnessed the freedom march of the civilians (which was one of the dreams of the Security Forces in their two and half year long march to liberate Vanni) from the Operations Room through the visuals of the Unman Aerial Vehicle of the SLAF flying over the skies of the No Fire Zone.

Even the international media had the opportunity to witness what was happening inside the No Fire Zone through the UAV visuals to get a clear picture of the situation and present it to the international community.

The visuals of the No Fire Zone which were made available to media personnel by the SLAF very clearly indicated the way thousands of civilians lined up to arrive at the cleared areas.

“More than 35,000 civilians trapped inside the No Fire Zone were able to reach the Security Forces’ controlled areas through military check ups by yesterday afternoon whilst another 20,000 to 30,000 people awaiting to enter Security Forces controlled areas through Ampalavanpokkanai and Puthumattalan,” military officials said.

Civilians were checked and welcomed by the troops both at Ampalavanpokkanai and Puthumattalan whilst providing them with drinking water and fresh meals on arrival.

Aerial visuals also displayed civilians gathering at the coast expecting to be rescued by boats whilst another section of civilians crossing the Nanthikadal lagoon and Puthumattalan lagoon to reach military controlled areas.

At some point Security Forces ran out of capacity to check the civilians in thousands and reinforcements and medical teams were airlifted to the area to attend the welfare matters of the civilians.

The Sri Lanka Transport Board too deployed additional buses to meet the demand of transporting the exodus of civilians arriving in the Government controlled areas.

Tigers at bay

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, one of the world’s most violent terrorist outfits, are surrounded in northern Sri Lanka and about to be destroyed – but Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and European self-styled peacemakers are getting in the way of victory. The meddlers should let Colombo finish off this menace.

In desperation, the Tamil Tigers are using tens of thousands of locals as human shields. The Sri Lankan government declared a cease-fire and called on the Tigers to release their

hostages, but unmanned-aerial-vehicle video footage shows the terrorists holding masses of innocents at gunpoint, refusing them freedom. Last week, Mrs. Clinton played into the hands of the terrorists by blaming the Sri Lankan government for the crisis. “The entire world is very disappointed” that they were “causing such untold suffering,” she said.

Foreign governments and aid organizations are calling on Colombo to cease operations, fearing that further action will lead to a humanitarian calamity. Norwegian Environment Minister Eric Solheim has been the point man in trying to negotiate a new truce, but he has been denounced by both sides. In response to his unwelcome efforts, the Nation, a Sri Lankan newspaper, editorialized that “the caravan of military operations has to move on. The time has come to tell the salmon-eating international busybodies to mind their own business.”

The Sri Lankan government is justifiably confused and angry at the international response to their progress. Sri Lanka has been fighting the Tamil Tigers for over 30 years. The Tigers pioneered the modern use of suicide bombing and have killed thousands of civilians. A U.S. government expert on the group tells us that the Tigers are “one of the most odious insurgent groups around, and for a long stretch of time had more suicide attacks than the rest of the world combined. It has made a cult of martyrdom and violated every single previous cease-fire.” During the most recent truce, the Tigers took the opportunity to assassinate about 200 moderate Tamil politicians and the Sri Lankan foreign minister.

Last year, Colombo decided enough was enough and withdrew from the cease-fire agreement. Using innovative counterinsurgency tactics, the Sri Lankan defense forces dismantled the guerrilla network on land and at sea. They drove the Tigers from their safe havens and bottled them up in a four-square-mile patch of beachfront swampland. Tiger leaders are hunkered down in underground bunkers trying desperately to stave off their looming demise.

We can only imagine American satisfaction if we had al Qaeda in this position. It is unconscionable for the United States to castigate its Sri Lankan ally for prevailing in its war against terrorism. The Tamil Tigers have purposefully created the conditions for a humanitarian crisis and deserve neither amnesty nor mercy. There are ways to help resolve this standoff that will not allow the Tigers to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, such as providing military and intelligence support for pinpoint strikes against the terrorist leadership. Failing that, the Obama administration should mind its own business. The Sri Lankans are winning; we should let them finish the job.

Sri Lankans Understand British Spy/Terror Games

The secret behind the ‘grave concerns of human lives’ of these superpowers are very clear. World politics and arms trade are closely linked. Arms manufacture and dealing is a highly profitable global business. It is estimated that yearly, over 1 trillion dollars are spent on military expenditures worldwide. The United States is the top supplier of weapons to the developing world, accounting for around 36% of worldwide weapons sales, followed by Britain and Germany.  Western Arms Manufacturers needs battlefields to sell their Arms. An estimated 500,000 individuals die in small arms-conflicts every year, approximately one death per minute. Are these people concerned for the loss of innocent lives or their loss of business?

Are these westerners concerned for the loss of

innocent lives or their loss of business?

By S Akurugoda, Melbourne, Australia

Almost all statements released, one after the other, by western politicians, diplomats, spokespersons etc throughout the world at this 11^th hour indicates nothing other than their sinister motive of giving a fresh life line to the LTTE leader Prabhakaran and dragging Sri Lanka back into an on-going war against terrorism. It is not surprising at all to understand the so-called ‘grave concerns’ of these people led by British who are the main culprits of the ‘conflict’.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who made several controversial statements, is now calling the Sri Lankan Government to reciprocate to the unilateral ceasefire announced by the vanishing LTTE.  Call for ‘ceasefire’ at this stage is a mere joke, since LTTE is not fighting but running away, as Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa  pointed out.

As per the latest media reports, the British PM has still not given up his dream of sending his pro-LTTE special envoy to Sri Lanka, despite the rejection of such actions by the government of Sri Lanka. The former colonial masters still prefer to listen to their former ‘favourites’, LTTE Tamil Diaspora, rather than the democratically elected President.

Now that the chances of dividing Sri Lanka on ethnic lines by military means are no more, the next question, often raised by these interested parties is “when is the political solution”? As the President has quite rightly reminded to the British PM, when asked about a ‘political solution’, what is needed by the IDPs is their basic needs such as shelter, food, clothing, medicine etc and not a ‘political solution’.

On the other hand, the US State Department’s spokesperson Robert Wood has called on LTTE rebels surrender to a third party. “We remain extremely concerned for the safety of the remaining civilians in the no-fire zone,” and called on the Sri Lanka government and Tamil Tigers to end hostilities. He also asked the Sri Lanka government to allow a UN humanitarian team into the no-fire zone.

Apart from these salmon-eating international spokespersons,  the entire world is now fully aware that the military operations against Terrorism in Sri Lanka  is a success, unlike the war against terrorism launched by  superpowers,  and more than 120,000 civilians have already been rescued by the Sri Lankan Security Forces  within three days of its humanitarian mission without any external assistance. Indications are that the entire operations will be over within the next couple of days and there is no question of surrender to a third party at this stage, unless a third party is ‘extremely concern’ for the safety of the remaining terrorist cadres and their leaders trapped in the last few kilometers of their ‘strong hold’ .

As the Foreign Secretary Dr Palitha Kohona stressed, there was no need for special missions from other countries to evacuate the IDPs (internally displaced persons) from the safe zone and the situation may not arise as over 120,000 civilians have moved to the cleared areas. On the other hand, if the life out of the NFZ  is not safe for the IDPs , as these westerners imagined,   there is no reason why  tens of thousands of civilians including two LTTE leaders have fled NFZ and moved towards the security forces. Since LTTE had forcibly kept the UN missions which visited the Tigers in the past the obvious question is how such missions could visit the NFZ given the present conditions

There is no reason for the Sri Lanka government to stop its operation since they have proved their capability of chasing the enemy while freeing the civilians in tens of thousands.  Few weeks ago prior to the commencement of humanitarian mission of the Security Forces, the very same people imagined that there will be a blood bath if such an attempt is made and, now, it has been proved beyond doubt that it is not so. The two UN officials who visited Sri Lanka called for an immediate ceasefire to facilitate a meeting between UN representatives and Prabhakaran in the civilian safety zone.

As reported in media, there was every indication that the UN officials had been influenced by ‘a western diplomat’ based in Colombo to make this request for a meeting between the UN and the LTTE leader.

Statements issued by various foreign diplomats in Colombo, notably those of US ambassador Blake, concerning the internal affairs of our country, and reported visits and secret visits said to have been made to meet the opponents of the democratically elected government, including the pro LTTE Tamil Diaspora,  to discuss ‘undisclosed’ matters related to internal matters of the host country are typical examples of their failure of self-controlling, what appears as, ‘superiority complex’ when serving in tiny nations.

These diplomats, who are representatives of the superpower, are gradually becoming part and parcel of our local political system and we see no significant difference between their day-to-day tasks in Colombo and those of LTTE proxy TNA.

The secret behind the ‘grave concerns of human lives’ of these superpowers are very clear. World politics and arms trade are closely linked. Arms manufacture and dealing is a highly profitable global business. It is estimated that yearly, over 1 trillion dollars are spent on military expenditures worldwide. The United States is the top supplier of weapons to the developing world, accounting for around 36% of worldwide weapons sales, followed by Britain and Germany.  Western Arms Manufacturers needs battlefields to sell their Arms. An estimated 500,000 individuals die in small arms-conflicts every year, approximately one death per minute. Are these people concerned for the loss of innocent lives or their loss of business?

The Washington Times Editorial http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/26/tigers-at-bay/ (Sunday, 26 April 2009) should be an eye-opener to those masters who still believe that there is something extraordinary under their blue-eyes and white skin.  [Washington Times article follows]

How Dangerous Are the Taliban?

Why Afghanistan Is the Wrong War

John Mueller

George W. Bush led the United States into war in Iraq on the grounds that Saddam Hussein might give his country’s nonexistent weapons of mass destruction to terrorists. Now, Bush’s successor is perpetuating the war in Afghanistan with comparably dubious arguments about the danger posed by the Taliban and al Qaeda.

President Barack Obama insists that the U.S. mission in Afghanistan is about “making sure that al Qaeda cannot attack the U.S. homeland and U.S. interests and our allies” or “project violence against” American citizens. The reasoning is that if the Taliban win in Afghanistan, al Qaeda will once again be able to set up shop there to carry out its dirty work. As the president puts it, Afghanistan would “again be a base for terrorists who want to kill as many of our people as they possibly can.” This argument is constantly repeated but rarely examined; given the costs and risks associated with the Obama administration’s plans for the region, it is time such statements be given the scrutiny they deserve.

Multiple sources, including Lawrence Wright’s book The Looming Tower, make clear that the Taliban was a reluctant host to al Qaeda in the 1990s and felt betrayed when the terrorist group repeatedly violated agreements to refrain from issuing inflammatory statements and fomenting violence abroad. Then the al Qaeda-sponsored 9/11 attacks — which the Taliban had nothing to do with — led to the toppling of the Taliban’s regime. Given the Taliban’s limited interest in issues outside the “AfPak” region, if they came to power again now, they would be highly unlikely to host provocative terrorist groups whose actions could lead to another outside intervention. And even if al Qaeda were able to relocate to Afghanistan after a Taliban victory there, it would still have to operate under the same siege situation it presently enjoys in what Obama calls its “safe haven” in Pakistan.

The very notion that al Qaeda needs a secure geographic base to carry out its terrorist operations, moreover, is questionable. After all, the operational base for 9/11 was in Hamburg, Germany. Conspiracies involving small numbers of people require communication, money, and planning — but not a major protected base camp.

At present, al Qaeda consists of a few hundred people  running around in Pakistan, seeking to avoid detection and helping the Taliban when possible. It also has a disjointed network of fellow travelers around the globe who communicate over the Internet. Over the last decade, the group has almost completely discredited itself in the Muslim world due to the fallout from the 9/11 attacks and subsequent counterproductive terrorism, much of it directed against Muslims. No convincing evidence has been offered publicly to show that al Qaeda Central has put together a single full operation anywhere in the world since 9/11. And, outside of war zones, the violence perpetrated by al Qaeda affiliates, wannabes, and lookalikes combined has resulted in the deaths of some 200 to 300 people per year, and may be declining. That is 200 to 300 too many, of course, but it scarcely suggests that “the safety of people around the world is at stake,” as Obama dramatically puts it.

In addition, al Qaeda has yet to establish a significant presence in the United States. In 2002, U.S. intelligence reports asserted that the number of trained al Qaeda operatives in the United States was between 2,000 and 5,000, and FBI Director Robert Mueller assured a Senate committee that al Qaeda had “developed a support infrastructure” in the country and achieved both “the ability and the intent to inflict significant casualties in the U.S. with little warning.” However, after years of well funded sleuthing, the FBI and other investigative agencies have been unable to uncover a single true al Qaeda sleeper cell or operative within the country. Mueller’s rallying cry has now been reduced to a comparatively bland formulation: “We believe al Qaeda is still seeking to infiltrate operatives into the U.S. from overseas.”

Even that may not be true. Since 9/11, some two million foreigners have been admitted to the United States legally and many others, of course, have entered illegally. Even if border security has been so effective that 90 percent of al Qaeda’s operatives have been turned away or deterred from entering the United States, some should have made it in — and some of those, it seems reasonable to suggest, would have been picked up by law enforcement by now. The lack of attacks inside the United States combined with the inability of the FBI to find any potential attackers suggests that the terrorists are either not trying very hard or are far less clever and capable than usually depicted.

Policymakers and the public at large should keep in mind the words of Glenn Carle, a 23 year veteran of the CIA who served as deputy national intelligence officer for transnational threats: “We must see jihadists for the small, lethal, disjointed and miserable opponents that they are.” Al Qaeda “has only a handful of individuals capable of planning, organizing and leading a terrorist operation,” Carle notes, and “its capabilities are far inferior to its desires.”

President Obama has said that there is also a humanitarian element to the Afghanistan mission. A return of the Taliban, he points out, would condemn the Afghan people “to brutal governance, international isolation, a paralyzed economy, and the denial of basic human rights.” This concern is legitimate — the Afghan people appear to be quite strongly opposed to a return of the Taliban, and they are surely entitled to some peace after 30 years of almost continual warfare, much of it imposed on them from outside.

The problem, as Obama is doubtlessly well aware, is that Americans are far less willing to sacrifice lives for missions that are essentially humanitarian than for those that seek to deal with a threat directed at the United States itself. People who embrace the idea of a humanitarian mission will continue to support Obama’s policy in Afghanistan — at least if they think it has a chance of success — but many Americans (and Europeans) will increasingly start to question how many lives such a mission is worth.

This questioning, in fact, is well under way. Because of its ties to 9/11, the war in Afghanistan has enjoyed considerably greater public support than the war in Iraq did (or, for that matter, the wars in Korea or Vietnam). However, there has been a considerable dropoff in that support of late. If Obama’s national security justification for his war in Afghanistan comes to seem as spurious as Bush’s national security justification for his war in Iraq, he, like Bush, will increasingly have only the humanitarian argument to fall back on. And that is likely to be a weak reed.

Israeli Commandos Allegedly Sunk Iranian Vessel Off Sudan In January, As Well

[Google translation]

“Israel has plunged the Iranian ship off the coast of Sudan

ما كادت الضجة الإعلامية التي أحاطت بقضية الغارتين الإسرائيليتين على الأراضي السودانية تفقد صداها، حتى ألقت صحيفة “يديعوت أحرونوت” الإسرائيلية الأسبوع الماضي، خبراً مشابهاً جديداً لا يقلّ إثارة للجدل: وحدة من”الكوماندوس” التابع للبحرية الإسرائيلية شاركت، في يناير الماضي، في استهداف سفينة إيرانية في المياه السودانية، كانت محملة بأسلحة إيرانية لحركة “حماس” في قطاع غزة. Is almost the publicity surrounding the case of air raids on Sudanese territory, lost resonance, even by the newspaper “Yediot Aharonot”, Israel last week, a similar story at least the most controversial: the unity of the “commandos” of the Israeli navy took part, last January, to target Iranian vessel in the waters of Sudan, was carrying Iranian arms for the “Hamas” movement in the Gaza Strip. وأكد النبأ الذي نقله الموقع الإلكتروني للصحيفة عن مصدر أميركي أن مقاتلي الوحدة البحرية الإسرائيلية “شيطيت ١٣”، شاركوا في مهاجمة سفينة إيرانية محملة بالأسلحة رست بمحاذاة الساحل السوداني بغية تهريب حمولتها إلى حركة “حماس” في غزة، عن طريق شبه جزيرة سيناء. The report quoted by the website of the newspaper from the American source said the Israeli fighters, the naval unit “Caitit 13″, participated in the attack on an Iranian ship loaded with arms, docked along the coast of Sudan in order to smuggle the cargo to the “Hamas” in Gaza, on the through the Sinai Peninsula.

وقال المصدر الأمريكي للصحيفة إن إسرائيل وجهت ثلاث ضربات عسكرية ضد أهداف في السودان منذ كانون الثاني الماضي، بما فيها هذا الهجوم، لمنع وصول ما يشتبه في أنه شحنات إيرانية من السلاح، إلى حماس؛ وهو ما أكده موقع شبكة “اي بي سي نيوز” الأميركية في ٢٨ مارس الماضي، نقلاً عن مسؤول أمريكي، فضلاً عن إفادات مسؤولين سودانيين تحدثوا عن ضربتين جويتين استهدفتا قافلتين في الصحراء الشرقية شمالي ميناء بورتسودان على البحر الأحمر، مما أسفر عن مقتل نحو ٥٠ شخصاً، إضافة إلى غرق سفينة في الموقع ذاته يرجّح أنها كانت تحمل أسلحة. The source said the American newspaper that Israel had three strikes against targets in Sudan since last January, including the attack, to prevent the arrival of suspected that Iranian arms shipments to the Hamas; which was confirmed by the web site, “ABC News,” American March 28 in the past, citing a U.S. official, as well as the statements of Sudanese officials who spoke about the two air strikes targeting convoys in the Eastern Desert, north of Port Sudan on the Red Sea, killing about 50 people, in addition to the sinking of a ship in the same location is likely

Presidential Signing Statements Act of 2009 Seeks to Curtail Bush Policy

`Presidential Signing

Statements Act of 2009′

 S. 875

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Presidential Signing
     Statements Act of 2009''.

     SEC. 2. DEFINITION.

       As used in this Act, the term ``presidential signing
     statement'' means a statement issued by the President about a
     bill, in conjunction with signing that bill into law pursuant
     to Article I, section 7, of the Constitution.

     SEC. 3. JUDICIAL USE OF PRESIDENTIAL SIGNING STATEMENTS.

       In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, no
     Federal or State court shall rely on or defer to a
     presidential signing statement as a source of authority.

     SEC. 4. CONGRESSIONAL RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN COURT
                   PROCEEDINGS OR SUBMIT CLARIFYING RESOLUTION.

       (a) Congressional Right To Participate as Amicus Curiae.--
     In any action, suit, or proceeding in any Federal or State
     court (including the Supreme Court of the United States),
     regarding the construction or constitutionality, or both, of
     any Act of Congress in which a presidential signing statement
     was issued, the Federal or State Court shall permit the
     United States Senate, through the Office of Senate Legal
     Counsel, as authorized in section 701 of the Ethics in
     Government Act of 1978 (2 U.S.C. 288), or the United States
     House of Representatives, through the Office of General
     Counsel for the United States House of Representatives, or
     both, to participate as an amicus curiae, and to present an
     oral argument on the question of the Act's construction or
     constitutionality, or both. Nothing in this section shall be
     construed to confer standing on any party seeking to bring,
     or jurisdiction on

[[Page S4678]]

     any court with respect to, any civil or criminal action,
     including suit for court costs, against Congress, either
     House of Congress, a Member of Congress, a committee or
     subcommittee of a House of Congress, any office or agency of
     Congress, or any officer or employee of a House of Congress
     or any office or agency of Congress.
       (b) Congressional Right To Submit Clarifying Resolution.--
     In any suit referenced in subsection (a), the full Congress
     may pass a concurrent resolution declaring its view of the
     proper interpretation of the Act of Congress at issue,
     clarifying Congress's intent or clarifying Congress's
     findings of fact, or both. If Congress does pass such a
     concurrent resolution, the Federal or State court shall
     permit the United States Congress, through the Office of
     Senate Legal Counsel, to submit that resolution into the
     record of the case as a matter of right.
       (c) Expedited Consideration.--It shall be the duty of each
     Federal or State court, including the Supreme Court of the
     United States, to advance on the docket and to expedite to
     the greatest possible extent the disposition of any matter
     brought under subsection (a).
                                 ______

Pak success in war on terror depends on K resolution: US General

Kashmir on Holbrooke agenda

Pak success in war on terror depends on K resolution: US General Agencies Washington, April 26: In what could embarrass Indian government, US General David Petraeus has admitted that the portfolio of the US special envoy Richard Holbrooke includes India and has emphasised the need to address the vexed Kashmir dispute so that Pakistan could focus on “war on terror”. The general, who commands American forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan as the US Central Command chief, emphasised the need to address the Kashmir dispute. “The reduction in tensions between India and Pakistan over Kashmir would help the fight against extremists,” he said. “There are people who have rightly said that Ambassador Holbrooke’s title should be Afghan, Pakistan and India,’ General Petraeus told a subcommittee of the House Committee on Appropriations. “Now, let me just tell you, his portfolio very much includes India and, in fact, the Central Asian states and the other neighbours there.” Gen. Petraeus observed that if the international community could resolve the Kashmir dispute or reduce the tensions generated by this issue, Pakistan would have had a greater focus on fighting the extremists on its western border. ‘If you could resolve that conundrum or even reduce the tensions; that could contribute to an ability to focus more intellectually as well as just sheer forces physically on the internal extremist threat,’ he said. ‘It is very important to reduce the tensions between India and Pakistan so that Pakistan can both intellectually and physically focus on the most pressing threat to their existence, which is the internal extremist threat, rather than the traditional threat of India.’ The general said that the need to reduce tensions between the two South Asian neighbours becomes clearer when an observer looks at the number of their forces tied up on the Indian border, and at the percentage of their defence budget devoted to the standoff. Underlining the importance of keeping India involved in US efforts to defeat extremist forces in the South Asian region, Gen. Petraeus noted that Ambassador Holbrooke’s first trip to the region didn’t include just Afghanistan and Pakistan. He then continued on into India. The general’s comments are bound to irk New Delhi which refuses to accept any international mediation in its relations with other South Asian nations. India is particularly sensitive to third party mediation in its disputes with Pakistan and has rejected all previous offers to help resolve the Kashmir issue that has plagued relations between South Asia’s two nuclear states for more than 60 years.