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POPSThe Obama Doctrine This is an article from The American Prospect that I found on del.icio.us, now that I've been frittering around with Clipmarks. The detail in the article belies the notion that Sen. Obama doesn't have a plan in mind should he take office on the now-familiar "Day One". Despite being an Obama supporter myself, I often wonder whether other supporters (and opponents, for that matter) are paying close attention. I mean, people DO realize that Obama is supporting an escalation of the conflict in Afghanistan, while at the same time reducing American forces in Iraq. Just a thought. Interesting article. Read the WHOLE thing.
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POPSMcCain's Surge in Iraq Crippling Efforts in Afghanistan The death rate for American troops in Afghanistan last month was four times that of Iraq. The last two months have been the deadliest of the war for U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan since 2001. And today, Afghanistan sustained the deadliest single terrorist attack since 9/11 when suspected Taliban militants blew up the Indian embassy in Kabul. This is directly attributable to negligent policies set forth by the Bush administration--an administration dangerously obsessed with Iraq at the expense of the Real Global War on Terror. When many were urging the U.S. to focus on Afghanistan and Pakistan in early 2007, the Bush administration--with the support of Senator John McCain--launched the "surge" of troops into Baghdad. Unfortunately, Iraq is not, as John McCain says, the "central front" in the War on Terror--and it never has been. If there is such a thing, it is in Afghanistan and Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
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POPSDeadliest Attack in Afghanistan The Afghan Interior Ministry hinted that the attack was carried out with help from Pakistan's intelligence service, saying that "terrorists have carried out this attack in coordination and consultation with some of the active intelligence circles in the region." The Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, said Pakistan condemned the attack and terrorism in all forms. Unfortunately we have no more troops to send to Afghanistan.
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POPSPhoto finish: 70 years later, photographer gets his due It was easy for the photograph to be attributed correctly to its rightful owner as in the Getty image, Liaquat Ali Khan has been cropped. Strangely, both Mahatma Gandhi & Liaquat Ali Khan were later assassinated, while Jinnah succumbed to tuberculosis and lung cancer...
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POPSFailed States Index 2008 The Best And Worst
Bangladesh took this year’s hardest fall, set off in part by postponed elections, a feuding, deadlocked government, and the imposition of emergency rule that has dragged on for more than 18 months. These political setbacks were followed by greater economic hardships after a devastating cyclone in November flooded large swaths of cropland and left 1.5 million people homeless. In nearby Pakistan, also one of this year’s worst performers, a beleaguered President Pervez Musharraf sparked waves of violent protests when he dismissed the head of the Supreme Court and declared martial law. In a tragic close to the year, the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto left many wondering about the future prospects of this fragile, nuclear-armed state. Ironically, Pakistanis constitute the largest national U.N. contingent operating in Liberia. More than 9,000 Bangladeshi troops wear U.N. blue helmets around the world, a third of them in the Ivory Coast.
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POPSPakistan Strikes At Taliban In Khyber Agency Roadblocks and checkpoints have been established in Peshawar in an effort to halt the movement of Taliban into the provincial capital. Government and security officials, business leaders, and residents have said the Taliban are poised to take Peshawar. The Pakistani government has "given full authority" to General Pervaiz Kayani, the Army Chief of Staff, to conduct operations to secure Peshawar. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Syed Yusaf Raza Gilani said the federal government fully supports efforts by the provincial government of the Northwest Frontier Province to conduct peace talks with the Taliban. Khyber has seen increased Taliban activity this year. Seventeen me members of the Frontier Corps were captured just days ago after they refused to abandon their checkpoints. In March, the Taliban blew up 42 trucks transporting fuel to NATO forces in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan was kidnapped in Khyber in February.
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POPSbritain's pakistani's deliberately have disabled kids how's that for a tantalising headline ...i work in this area in Australia and am sick of the deliberate risk that families take, and the burden put upon the community to eventually accommodate the disabled. And it's not cultural, couples take HUGE risks while pregnant with drugs and just smoking cigarettes. So please, think about it!
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POPSThe Lava Lamp Candidate ElBaradei's New Brief, Same as His Old Brief The buzz circulating now is that IAEA Director Mohammed ElBaradei said on al-Arabiya that Iran could be months away from producing a nuclear weapon, as noted by AllahPundit at Hot Air and Jeff Stein at Congressional Quarterly. What's more, just about all analyses completely ignore Iran's pursuit of a plutonium -based weapon through external acquisition and production beyond Iran's borders and beneath the IAEA and Western international radar. Syria is only now entertaining the idea of limited and restricted IAEA inspections of the nuclear facility destroyed by Israel last September 6. This "only line of defense" claim comes from the same UN "nuclear watchdog" that has no enforcement mechanism and the same one that failed to detect and/or deter North Korea, India, and Pakistan from developing nuclear weapons. http://tank.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YTg2MjNmOTc1YTkzMGI4YjA1YWE0MTYyN2Q0YzNiMjc=