Elisha Cuthbert Super Cute Clip
Elisha Cuthbert Maxim Hot
Elisha Cuthbert Maxim Hot - The most amazing videos are a click away
Elisha Cuthbert in Old school
Friday, March 30, 2007
BABE OF THE DAY-Elisha Cuthbert
UPDATED MONDAY-FRIDAY SEE YOU ON MONDAY.DBN
Elisha Cuthbert Super Cute Clip
Elisha Cuthbert Maxim Hot
Elisha Cuthbert Maxim Hot - The most amazing videos are a click away
Elisha Cuthbert in Old school
Elisha Cuthbert Super Cute Clip
Elisha Cuthbert Maxim Hot
Elisha Cuthbert Maxim Hot - The most amazing videos are a click away
Elisha Cuthbert in Old school
Song of the day/Movie of the Day
song of the day
Weezer Perfect Situation
Movie of the day - The Girl Next Door
You wanna be president? Lemme tell you the first rule of politics; Always know if the juice is worth the squeeze. You know what that means? It means you don't steal my girl unless you're ready to accept the consequences.
Weezer Perfect Situation
Movie of the day - The Girl Next Door
You wanna be president? Lemme tell you the first rule of politics; Always know if the juice is worth the squeeze. You know what that means? It means you don't steal my girl unless you're ready to accept the consequences.
Story of the day- Robots used in the war on terror
Robots used to find roadside bombs
http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070330/NEWS01/70330013
Fido is the first robot with an explosives sensor integrated into its body. iRobot Corp. is filling the military?s first order of 100 in this southwest Ohio city and will begin shipping the robots over the next few months.
There are nearly 5,000 robots in Iraq and Afghanistan, up from about 150 in 2004. Soldiers use them to search caves and buildings for insurgents, detect mines and ferret out roadside and car bombs.
As the war in Iraq enters its fifth year, the federal government is spending more money on military robots and the two major U.S. robot-makers have increased production.
Foster-Miller Inc., of Waltham, Mass., just delivered 1,000 new robots to the military. iRobot, of Burlington, Mass., cranked out 385 robots in 2006, up from 252 in 2005.
The government will spend about $1.7 billion on ground-based military robots between fiscal 2006 and 2012, according to Bill Thomasmeyer, head of the National Center for Defense Robotics, a congressionally funded consortium of 160 companies, universities and government labs. That?s up from $100 million in fiscal 2004.
Fido, produced at a GEM City Manufacturing and Engineering plant, represents an improvement in bomb-detecting military robots, said Col. Terry Griffin, project manager of the Army/Marine Corps Robotic Systems Joint Project Office at Redstone Arsenal, Ala.
The bomb-sniffing sensor is part of the robot, with its readings displayed on the controller along with camera images. Otherwise, a soldier would have to approach the suspect object with a sensor or try to attach it to a robot. The new robot also has a 7-foot manipulator arm so it can use the sensor to scan the inside and undercarriages of vehicles for bombs.
Officials would not release details of how the sensors work because of security concerns.
?The sniffer robot is a very good idea because we need some way of understanding ambiguous situations like abandoned cars or suspicious trash piles without putting soldiers? lives on the line,? said Loren Thompson, defense analyst with the Washington D.C.-based Lexington Institute.
Philip Coyle, senior adviser to the Center for Defense Information in Washington, said the robots could be helpful if they are used in cases where soldiers already suspect a bomb. But he said explosive-sniffing sensors are susceptible to false positives triggered by explosive residues elsewhere in the area, smoke and other contaminants.
?The soldiers can begin to lose faith in them, and they become more trouble than they?re worth,? he said. ?It can slow down things.?
Thompson said all military robots have limitations. Their every move must be dictated by an operator, they can be stopped by barriers or steep grades, they are not highly agile, and they can break down or be damaged, he said.
Robots range in size from tiny ? 1.5 pounds ? to brute ? 110-pound versions that move rubble and lift debris. Fido is an upgrade of PackBot, a 52-pound robot with rubber treads, lights, video cameras that zoom and swivel, obstacle-hurdling flippers and jointed manipulator arms with hand-like grippers designed to disable or destroy bombs. Each costs $165,000.
Army Staff Sgt. Shawn Baker, 26, of Olean, N.Y., has helped detect and disable roadside bombs during two tours in Iraq ? both with and without robots. Before the robots were available, he and fellow soldiers would stand back as far as they could with a rope and drag hooks over the suspect devices in hopes of disarming or detonating them.
?A couple of times you were closer than you needed to be, but it was something you had to do to get it done,? Baker said.
Two soldiers were killed that way, he said. No one in his unit has been hurt or killed while disarming bombs since the robots arrived.
?The science and technology of this has been way out in front of the production side,? Thomasmeyer said. ?We?re going to start to see a payoff for all the science and technology advancements.?
iRobot posted $189 million in sales in 2006, up 33 percent from 2005. Its military business grew 60 percent to about $76 million. Bob Quinn, general manager of Foster-Miller, said his company has contracts of $320 million for military robots and that its business has doubled every year for the past four years.
Griffin, of the Robotic Systems office, said military robots are here to stay.
Unleashing the robots of war
Redstone's robotics chief strives to put technology, not soldiers, in harm's way
By Eric Fleischauer
DAILY Business Writer
eric@decaturdaily.com · 340-2435
http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/060619/robots.shtml
Many a joke has been told of the military's snail-paced bureaucracy. In Iraq, robotics chief Col. Edward Ward is not laughing.
Ward measures red tape in deaths, and military brass have declined to erect hurdles as Ward marches along the shortest distance between the points.
Based at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ward is something of a Decatur fixture due to frequent speeches here, all ginning up support for a robotics program that has proved to be the most effective defense against improvised explosive devices in Iraq.
Ward, 50, left the U.S. Marine Corps in 1986. He couldn't stay away. He mobilized in late 2004, becoming head of logistics and business management for Redstone's Joint Project Office on Unmanned Ground Vehicles. It's an example of the "jointness" that is a major goal of today's military. Ward supervises — and is supervised by — Army personnel as well as Marines.
Ward's robots, especially the $7,000 MARCBOT, have become the best friends of explosive ordnance disposal troops.
The radio-controlled vehicle with wheels is 19 inches long. It weighs 25 pounds and has a 24-inch retractable arm with a video camera that sends wireless images to the soldier controlling the unit from more than 100 yards away.
The robot can climb curbs, look inside vehicles or scan ditches. It saves lives.
Ward talks the chain-of-command talk, but his actions show passion for his "kids," not for regulation. When red tape blocks him from producing his lifesaving robots, he pulls out scissors, not a rulebook.
Paul Varian, a civilian robotics expert on his third tour in Iraq, works for Ward. In an e-mail from Baghdad, Varian said Ward's intense focus is not unique in the group of civilians and military troops maintaining and improving anti-IED robots.
"Is Col. Ward driven? Sure," said Varian. "Will some family have a son, daughter, dad or mom come home as a result of a robot taking a catastrophic hit instead of the service member? Yes."
Ward said his intensity goes with the job.
"When you go over there and work with these outstanding young people and see their bravery — see it not sporadically but daily — you want to know how you can help," Ward said last month in his Redstone office, before leaving for his current tour.
"If we can put technology in harm's way and still meet mission, that's important. Then they can come home, undamaged, and live enjoyable lives.
"So yes. I'm focused."
Innovation in uniform
That focus, and the urgency that sparks it, demands innovation. It's a trait not always associated with the military, but Ward takes the shortest distance between two points without disturbing his chain of command. Some examples:
Extending range. Ward recognized that EOD troops had to get too close to IEDs when navigating their robots. He wanted the problem solved in days.
In meetings that more resembled corporate brainstorming sessions than staff meetings between a colonel and his subordinates, Ward prompted his staff for quick fixes. Varian had an idea. A ham-radio enthusiast, Varian recalled that an antenna's strongest signals transmit with the greatest strength not in the direction pointed, but at an angle of 30 degrees.
"Instead of pointing the antenna at the robot, which is what comes naturally, we have them point it 30 degrees away from the robot," Ward recalled. "What did that do? It gave us 300 more meters."
And saved more lives.
Off the shelf. At the core of the military's procurement system are "national stock numbers," basically product identifiers. The NSN system works, but it is slow. Slow means more dead soldiers to Ward.
"We do not conform to Army software or process procedure. I did that for a reason. I want parts to be available commercially, off the shelf. We don't have to go through the system," Ward said.
Which is a good thing, said Varian.
"With NSNs you have to hope someone is stocking the item," Varian said. "With commercial items you just purchase and go."
Ward emphasizes that his innovative approach required approval from superiors.
"Think about it. I'm completely outside the box with our materiel command. These generals and logisticians have been doing this for 20, 30 years. Who am I, a Marine aviator, to come in and say, 'Hey, I wanna do this'? But they've supported us."
Management style. Ward is not the colonel of war movies. He's the boss, but he believes top-down management does not always get the best results.
"He is approachable, he believes in powering down and he encourages folks to act," Varian said. "Col. Ward does not shoot you for making a poor choice. He encourages you to learn, move forward and make a better choice next time. Inactivity will get you more wrath than trying and failing."
Thanks, NASA. Returning IED-damaged robots to the field is a massive job, even though Ward has set up a maintenance facility in Iraq. It's also a time-consuming process because many parts had to be ordered from the United States.
In a military that still balks at the efficiencies of "jointness" — cooperation between services — Ward walked down the street from his Redstone office and knocked on NASA's door. NASA uses robots in places more remote, even, than Iraq.
"They have to be able to make their parts on the moon. FedEx don't go there," Ward chuckled. "Well, if they can make their parts on the moon, I figure we ought to be able to make them in Afghanistan."
More to come on that effort, Ward said.
Using the Web. Ward said written reports to superiors are legitimately important in the military.
"The only problem with reports is, I don't have enough people to do reports," Ward said. "I want my folks doing one thing: fixing robots. Saving lives."
So Ward bid out the creation of a supply management Web site that generates reports whenever his superiors want them, in real time. All without taxing the time of his technicians.
"Speed is life. Now, it doesn't conform with the typical Army standard, so we're kind of out there. Is that good? Yes and no. Yes, because we can make mission and do it faster and cheaper. ... Someday we may have to change, but every day we keep it going like this, we save lives," Ward said. "And who knows? We may be able to influence what the Army's requirements are in the future."
With occasional exceptions, Ward shows no obsessive traits when stateside. He laughs loud, makes fun of himself, teases colleagues and reporters. Until the subject turns to his "kids."
"When I get off the airplane in Kuwait and go to Baghdad," Ward said, "I'm not the same person you see today."
EOD officers' focus on mission is in some respects Ward's curse.
"I promise you that if they don't have a robot to go down-range to look at that trash pile to determine if it's an IED, or to look in that vehicle, they'll go downrange themselves. They do it every day," Ward said.
"These kids put on 100-pound bomb suits on a 140-degree day and walk 300 or 400 or 500 meters down a road, exposed to small-arms fire because every IED is an ambush. And then they confront the IED."
http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070330/NEWS01/70330013
Fido is the first robot with an explosives sensor integrated into its body. iRobot Corp. is filling the military?s first order of 100 in this southwest Ohio city and will begin shipping the robots over the next few months.
There are nearly 5,000 robots in Iraq and Afghanistan, up from about 150 in 2004. Soldiers use them to search caves and buildings for insurgents, detect mines and ferret out roadside and car bombs.
As the war in Iraq enters its fifth year, the federal government is spending more money on military robots and the two major U.S. robot-makers have increased production.
Foster-Miller Inc., of Waltham, Mass., just delivered 1,000 new robots to the military. iRobot, of Burlington, Mass., cranked out 385 robots in 2006, up from 252 in 2005.
The government will spend about $1.7 billion on ground-based military robots between fiscal 2006 and 2012, according to Bill Thomasmeyer, head of the National Center for Defense Robotics, a congressionally funded consortium of 160 companies, universities and government labs. That?s up from $100 million in fiscal 2004.
Fido, produced at a GEM City Manufacturing and Engineering plant, represents an improvement in bomb-detecting military robots, said Col. Terry Griffin, project manager of the Army/Marine Corps Robotic Systems Joint Project Office at Redstone Arsenal, Ala.
The bomb-sniffing sensor is part of the robot, with its readings displayed on the controller along with camera images. Otherwise, a soldier would have to approach the suspect object with a sensor or try to attach it to a robot. The new robot also has a 7-foot manipulator arm so it can use the sensor to scan the inside and undercarriages of vehicles for bombs.
Officials would not release details of how the sensors work because of security concerns.
?The sniffer robot is a very good idea because we need some way of understanding ambiguous situations like abandoned cars or suspicious trash piles without putting soldiers? lives on the line,? said Loren Thompson, defense analyst with the Washington D.C.-based Lexington Institute.
Philip Coyle, senior adviser to the Center for Defense Information in Washington, said the robots could be helpful if they are used in cases where soldiers already suspect a bomb. But he said explosive-sniffing sensors are susceptible to false positives triggered by explosive residues elsewhere in the area, smoke and other contaminants.
?The soldiers can begin to lose faith in them, and they become more trouble than they?re worth,? he said. ?It can slow down things.?
Thompson said all military robots have limitations. Their every move must be dictated by an operator, they can be stopped by barriers or steep grades, they are not highly agile, and they can break down or be damaged, he said.
Robots range in size from tiny ? 1.5 pounds ? to brute ? 110-pound versions that move rubble and lift debris. Fido is an upgrade of PackBot, a 52-pound robot with rubber treads, lights, video cameras that zoom and swivel, obstacle-hurdling flippers and jointed manipulator arms with hand-like grippers designed to disable or destroy bombs. Each costs $165,000.
Army Staff Sgt. Shawn Baker, 26, of Olean, N.Y., has helped detect and disable roadside bombs during two tours in Iraq ? both with and without robots. Before the robots were available, he and fellow soldiers would stand back as far as they could with a rope and drag hooks over the suspect devices in hopes of disarming or detonating them.
?A couple of times you were closer than you needed to be, but it was something you had to do to get it done,? Baker said.
Two soldiers were killed that way, he said. No one in his unit has been hurt or killed while disarming bombs since the robots arrived.
?The science and technology of this has been way out in front of the production side,? Thomasmeyer said. ?We?re going to start to see a payoff for all the science and technology advancements.?
iRobot posted $189 million in sales in 2006, up 33 percent from 2005. Its military business grew 60 percent to about $76 million. Bob Quinn, general manager of Foster-Miller, said his company has contracts of $320 million for military robots and that its business has doubled every year for the past four years.
Griffin, of the Robotic Systems office, said military robots are here to stay.
Unleashing the robots of war
Redstone's robotics chief strives to put technology, not soldiers, in harm's way
By Eric Fleischauer
DAILY Business Writer
eric@decaturdaily.com · 340-2435
http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/060619/robots.shtml
Many a joke has been told of the military's snail-paced bureaucracy. In Iraq, robotics chief Col. Edward Ward is not laughing.
Ward measures red tape in deaths, and military brass have declined to erect hurdles as Ward marches along the shortest distance between the points.
Based at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ward is something of a Decatur fixture due to frequent speeches here, all ginning up support for a robotics program that has proved to be the most effective defense against improvised explosive devices in Iraq.
Ward, 50, left the U.S. Marine Corps in 1986. He couldn't stay away. He mobilized in late 2004, becoming head of logistics and business management for Redstone's Joint Project Office on Unmanned Ground Vehicles. It's an example of the "jointness" that is a major goal of today's military. Ward supervises — and is supervised by — Army personnel as well as Marines.
Ward's robots, especially the $7,000 MARCBOT, have become the best friends of explosive ordnance disposal troops.
The radio-controlled vehicle with wheels is 19 inches long. It weighs 25 pounds and has a 24-inch retractable arm with a video camera that sends wireless images to the soldier controlling the unit from more than 100 yards away.
The robot can climb curbs, look inside vehicles or scan ditches. It saves lives.
Ward talks the chain-of-command talk, but his actions show passion for his "kids," not for regulation. When red tape blocks him from producing his lifesaving robots, he pulls out scissors, not a rulebook.
Paul Varian, a civilian robotics expert on his third tour in Iraq, works for Ward. In an e-mail from Baghdad, Varian said Ward's intense focus is not unique in the group of civilians and military troops maintaining and improving anti-IED robots.
"Is Col. Ward driven? Sure," said Varian. "Will some family have a son, daughter, dad or mom come home as a result of a robot taking a catastrophic hit instead of the service member? Yes."
Ward said his intensity goes with the job.
"When you go over there and work with these outstanding young people and see their bravery — see it not sporadically but daily — you want to know how you can help," Ward said last month in his Redstone office, before leaving for his current tour.
"If we can put technology in harm's way and still meet mission, that's important. Then they can come home, undamaged, and live enjoyable lives.
"So yes. I'm focused."
Innovation in uniform
That focus, and the urgency that sparks it, demands innovation. It's a trait not always associated with the military, but Ward takes the shortest distance between two points without disturbing his chain of command. Some examples:
Extending range. Ward recognized that EOD troops had to get too close to IEDs when navigating their robots. He wanted the problem solved in days.
In meetings that more resembled corporate brainstorming sessions than staff meetings between a colonel and his subordinates, Ward prompted his staff for quick fixes. Varian had an idea. A ham-radio enthusiast, Varian recalled that an antenna's strongest signals transmit with the greatest strength not in the direction pointed, but at an angle of 30 degrees.
"Instead of pointing the antenna at the robot, which is what comes naturally, we have them point it 30 degrees away from the robot," Ward recalled. "What did that do? It gave us 300 more meters."
And saved more lives.
Off the shelf. At the core of the military's procurement system are "national stock numbers," basically product identifiers. The NSN system works, but it is slow. Slow means more dead soldiers to Ward.
"We do not conform to Army software or process procedure. I did that for a reason. I want parts to be available commercially, off the shelf. We don't have to go through the system," Ward said.
Which is a good thing, said Varian.
"With NSNs you have to hope someone is stocking the item," Varian said. "With commercial items you just purchase and go."
Ward emphasizes that his innovative approach required approval from superiors.
"Think about it. I'm completely outside the box with our materiel command. These generals and logisticians have been doing this for 20, 30 years. Who am I, a Marine aviator, to come in and say, 'Hey, I wanna do this'? But they've supported us."
Management style. Ward is not the colonel of war movies. He's the boss, but he believes top-down management does not always get the best results.
"He is approachable, he believes in powering down and he encourages folks to act," Varian said. "Col. Ward does not shoot you for making a poor choice. He encourages you to learn, move forward and make a better choice next time. Inactivity will get you more wrath than trying and failing."
Thanks, NASA. Returning IED-damaged robots to the field is a massive job, even though Ward has set up a maintenance facility in Iraq. It's also a time-consuming process because many parts had to be ordered from the United States.
In a military that still balks at the efficiencies of "jointness" — cooperation between services — Ward walked down the street from his Redstone office and knocked on NASA's door. NASA uses robots in places more remote, even, than Iraq.
"They have to be able to make their parts on the moon. FedEx don't go there," Ward chuckled. "Well, if they can make their parts on the moon, I figure we ought to be able to make them in Afghanistan."
More to come on that effort, Ward said.
Using the Web. Ward said written reports to superiors are legitimately important in the military.
"The only problem with reports is, I don't have enough people to do reports," Ward said. "I want my folks doing one thing: fixing robots. Saving lives."
So Ward bid out the creation of a supply management Web site that generates reports whenever his superiors want them, in real time. All without taxing the time of his technicians.
"Speed is life. Now, it doesn't conform with the typical Army standard, so we're kind of out there. Is that good? Yes and no. Yes, because we can make mission and do it faster and cheaper. ... Someday we may have to change, but every day we keep it going like this, we save lives," Ward said. "And who knows? We may be able to influence what the Army's requirements are in the future."
With occasional exceptions, Ward shows no obsessive traits when stateside. He laughs loud, makes fun of himself, teases colleagues and reporters. Until the subject turns to his "kids."
"When I get off the airplane in Kuwait and go to Baghdad," Ward said, "I'm not the same person you see today."
EOD officers' focus on mission is in some respects Ward's curse.
"I promise you that if they don't have a robot to go down-range to look at that trash pile to determine if it's an IED, or to look in that vehicle, they'll go downrange themselves. They do it every day," Ward said.
"These kids put on 100-pound bomb suits on a 140-degree day and walk 300 or 400 or 500 meters down a road, exposed to small-arms fire because every IED is an ambush. And then they confront the IED."
Thursday, March 29, 2007
The Bourne Ultimatum
After losing his memory and the one person he trusted and loved, Bourne is back and desperate to uncover the mysteries surrounding his past. However, the people who hold the truth are the same people hunting him down.
Matt Damon returns as Jason Bourne for the third chapter in the Bourne spy series, joining Joan Allen and Julia Stiles. Watch the trailer here first!
The Bourne Ultimatum is released in cinemas 17th August 2007.
Matt Damon returns as Jason Bourne for the third chapter in the Bourne spy series, joining Joan Allen and Julia Stiles. Watch the trailer here first!
The Bourne Ultimatum is released in cinemas 17th August 2007.
Song of the day/Movie of the Day
Song of the day
Samantha Fox-Naughty girls (need love too)
Movie of the day
Clerks 2
Clerks 2 LOTR Vs. Star Wars scene
Porch Monkey 4 Life
Clerks II ABC Song
Samantha Fox-Naughty girls (need love too)
Movie of the day
Clerks 2
Clerks 2 LOTR Vs. Star Wars scene
Porch Monkey 4 Life
Clerks II ABC Song
Story of the day-Arab summit
Saudi King Condemns U.S. Occupation of Iraq
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia told Arab leaders on Wednesday that the American occupation of Iraq is “illegal,” and he warned that unless Arab governments settle their differences, foreign powers like the United States would continue to dictate the region’s politics.
The king’s speech, at the opening of the Arab League summit meeting here, underscored growing differences between Saudi Arabia and the Bush administration as the Saudis take on a greater regional leadership role, partly at American urging. The Saudis
seem to be emphasizing that they will not be beholden to the policies of their longtime ally.
The Saudis brokered a deal between the two main Palestinian factions last month but one that both Israel and the United States found deeply problematic because it added to the power of the radical group Hamas rather than to the more moderate Fatah. On Wednesday, the king called for an end to the international boycott of the new Palestinian government. The United States and Israel want the boycott continued.
In addition, King Abdullah invited President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran to Riyadh earlier this month while the Americans want him shunned. And in trying to settle the tensions in Lebanon, the Saudis seem willing to negotiate with Iran.
Last week, the Saudi king abruptly canceled his appearance at an April White House dinner planned in his honor, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday. The official reason given for the cancellation was a scheduling conflict.
Mustapha Hamarneh, director of the Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan, said the Saudis are sending Washington a message. “They are telling the U.S. they need to listen to their allies rather than imposing decisions on them and always taking Israel’s side.”
In his speech on Wednesday, the king said: “In the beloved Iraq, the bloodshed is continuing under an illegal foreign occupation and detestable sectarianism. The blame should fall on us, the leaders of the Arab nation, with our ongoing differences, our refusal to walk the path of unity. All that has made the nation lose its confidence in us.”
King Abdullah has not publicly spoken so harshly about the American-led Iraq war before and his remarks suggested that his alliance with Washington may be less strong that Bush officials have been hoping.
Since last summer, the Bush administration has asserted that a realignment is occurring in the Middle East, one that groups Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon along with Israel against Iran, Syria and the militiant groups that they back, Hezbollah of Lebanon and Hamas of the Palestinians.
The administration has urged Saudi Arabia to take a leading role in that realignment, but it is finding itself disappointed by the results.
Some here said the king’s speech was in fact a response to comments made by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday calling on Arab governments to “begin reaching out to Israel.”
Many read Ms. Rice’s comments as suggesting that the Bush administration is backing away from its support for an Arab initiative aimed at solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel wants the Arabs to make changes in the initiative, most notably in their call for a right of return for Palestinian refugees to what is today Israel. The Arab League is endorsing the peace initiative, first introduced by Saudi Arabia in 2002, without changes.
The plan calls on Israel to withdraw from all land it won in the 1967 war in exchange for full diplomatic relations with the Arab world. It also calls for a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Regarding the Palestinians, the king said on Wednesday, "It has become necessary to end the unjust blockade imposed on the Palestinian people as soon as possible so that the peace process can move in an atmosphere far from oppression and force."
With regard to Iraq, the Saudis seem also to be paying attention to internal American politics. The Senate on Tuesday signaled support for legislation calling for a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq in exchange for further money for the war.
Last November, Saudi officials here realized that a Democratic upset could spell major changes for the region: a possible pullout from Iraq, fueling further instability and more important, allowing Iran to extend its influence in the region.
“I don’t think that the Saudi government has decided to distance itself from Bush just yet,” said Adel al-Toraifi, a columnist with close ties to the Saudi royal family. “But I also think that the Saudis have seen that the ball is moving into the court of the Democrats and they want to extend their hand to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.”
Turki al-Rasheed, who runs a organization that promotes democracy in Saudi Arabia, said the king was “saying we may be moving on the same track, but our ends are different.”
“Bush wants to make it look like he is solving the problem, the king wants to actually solve the problems,” Mr. Rasheed said.
King Abdullah made clear that he looked forward to the day when American troops are gone because Arabs take care of their own problems: : “If confidence is restored, it will be accompanied by credibility, and if credibility is restored, then the winds of hope will blow and then we will never allow outside forces to define our future nor allow banners to be raised in Arab lands other than those of Arabism, brothers.”
The Saudis sought to enforce discipline on the two-day summit meeting, reminding Arab leaders and dignitaries to stay on message and leave here with some kind of solution in hand.
“The weight of the Saudis has ensured that this will be a problem-free summit,” said Ayman Safadi, editor in chief of the Jordanian daily Al Ghad. “Nobody is going to veer from the message and go against the Saudis. But that doesn’t mean the problems themselves will be solved.”
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of the United Nations gave a stark assessment of the state of the Middle East in an address to the summit meeting, speaking in unsparing language that the region was “more complex, more fragile and more dangerous than it has been for a very long time.”
In Iraq, he said, “there is a shocking” daily loss of life, and Somalia is in the grip of “banditry, violence and clan rivalries.”
Iran, which was sanctioned by the Security Council for the second time last Saturday, is “forging ahead with its nuclear program heedless of regional and international concerns.”
Having spent Monday and Tuesday in Jerusalem and the West Bank, Mr. Ban urged the new Palestinian unity government to demonstrate a “true commitment to peace.”
In return, he said, Israel must cease its settlement activity and stop building the separation barrier.
He concluded, “Instability in the Arab League states is of profound significance to international peace and security.”
Reporting was contributed by Nada Bakri from Beirut, Lebanon; Rasheed Abou Alsamh from Jidda, Saudi Arabia, and Warren Hoge from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Arabs warn of nuclear arms race
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070329/wl_nm/arabs_summit_dc_6
RIYADH (Reuters) - An Arab summit ended in Saudi Arabia on Thursday with endorsement for an Arab land-for-peace proposal with Israel and a warning about a possible nuclear arms race in the region.
"We affirm a just and comprehensive peace as a strategic option for the Arab nation in accordance with the Arab peace initiative that is the right path to a peaceful settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict ... based on land-for-peace," Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said, reading out a statement.
The statement at the close of a two-day Arab League summit also warned of a nuclear arms race in the region, in an apparent reference to Israel and Iran, which is defying U.N. demands to halt its nuclear program.
"We also affirm the importance of emptying the region of all weapons of mass destruction ... and we warn of the launch of a grave and destructive nuclear arms race in the region," the statement said..
"We affirm the right of all countries to peaceful nuclear energy according to international standards and inspection systems."
Arab summit decisions to affect future of region-Saltanov
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=11383384&PageNum=0
CAIRO, March 29 (Itar-Tass) - Russian president’s special envoy for the Middle East, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov who heads the Russian delegation at an inter-Arab summit in Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday that the adoption of serious political decisions at the inter-Arab summit underway in Riyadh will affect the future of the whole region.
“The situation in the region is extremely complicated, very many problems have aggravated and the adoption by the summit of serious political decisions aimed at the solution of all these issues will be of major importance,” Saltanov told Itar-Tass by telephone.
Arab commentators are giving much attention to the summit. May of them are of the view that the current summit is perhaps the most important over many years, because the region has never been on the brink of disaster to which it has now come. And if the Arab leaders fail to work out effective and viable decisions the consequences could be irreversible.
“Russia,” stressed Saltanov, “supports all positive, constructive undertakings of Arab states in the restoration of the Middle East peace process, Iraq settlement, preservation of national accord in Lebanon and in a number of other vital issues of the current Middle East situation.” According to him, the Russian delegation has brought to the summit a message from President Vladimir Putin “in which readiness is stressed to interact with Arab States in the search for sensible decisions, as well as the desire and readiness of Russia to develop relations on the bilateral and multilateral basis with the states of the region in different spheres.”
Along with the Arab peace plan that is aimed at the attainment of comprehensive settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the League of Arab States (LAS) summit will make decision on Iraq. “This issue is being discussed,” said Saltanov, “and all Arab states are interested in the Iraqi crisis settlement, establishment of stability and security, advancing the political process and economic revival of the country.” The Russian deputy foreign minister pointed out that the common denominator for all summit participants is “the desire to preserve Iraq as a single, sovereign state having territorial integrity.”
Answering a question on new LAS resolutions on Iran Saltanov said that it is too early to speak about this.
The diplomat said as well that the Arab peace plan is a good foundation for further negotiating process in the Middle East and ensuring comprehensive settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Participants in the summit meeting of the LAS on Wednesday evening unanimously approved the second putting forward of the peace initiative that was adopted as the basis without any change. This is what was sought by the Arabs, although the issue of possible introduction of changes has been often raised in recent days so that Israel that is interested in certain corrections could accept this plan.
“The issue should be discussed if this are concessions or not concessions,” said Saltanov in a telephone interview with Itar-Tass from Riyadh. “To introduce changes or not is the decision of the Arabs, but basically, in the opinion of the majority in the international community, is that the initiative put forward in 2002 undoubtedly is a good basis for making compromise decisions that would result in the Arab-Israeli settlement,” according to Saltanov. The diplomat said, “Arab states are disposed towards practical implementation of the peace plan,” and an active discussion of different variants of its realisation are being discussed this way.
“On the whole, Arab countries seek the summit success and making coordinated decisions in the interests of stabilisation of the Middle East situation,” Saltanov pointed out. “Atmosphere was rather constructive at the meetings we took part in,” he noted.
The Saudi plan of settlement adopted five years ago as the common Arab initiative envisages Israel’s withdrawal from the Arab territories occupied in 1967, recognition by of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state on the West Bank of the River Jordan and in the Gaza Strip and ensuring fair settlement of the Palestinian refugees’ problem. In return, Arabs are ready to recognise the Jewish state, sign peace agreements with it and establish good relations.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia told Arab leaders on Wednesday that the American occupation of Iraq is “illegal,” and he warned that unless Arab governments settle their differences, foreign powers like the United States would continue to dictate the region’s politics.
The king’s speech, at the opening of the Arab League summit meeting here, underscored growing differences between Saudi Arabia and the Bush administration as the Saudis take on a greater regional leadership role, partly at American urging. The Saudis
seem to be emphasizing that they will not be beholden to the policies of their longtime ally.
The Saudis brokered a deal between the two main Palestinian factions last month but one that both Israel and the United States found deeply problematic because it added to the power of the radical group Hamas rather than to the more moderate Fatah. On Wednesday, the king called for an end to the international boycott of the new Palestinian government. The United States and Israel want the boycott continued.
In addition, King Abdullah invited President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran to Riyadh earlier this month while the Americans want him shunned. And in trying to settle the tensions in Lebanon, the Saudis seem willing to negotiate with Iran.
Last week, the Saudi king abruptly canceled his appearance at an April White House dinner planned in his honor, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday. The official reason given for the cancellation was a scheduling conflict.
Mustapha Hamarneh, director of the Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan, said the Saudis are sending Washington a message. “They are telling the U.S. they need to listen to their allies rather than imposing decisions on them and always taking Israel’s side.”
In his speech on Wednesday, the king said: “In the beloved Iraq, the bloodshed is continuing under an illegal foreign occupation and detestable sectarianism. The blame should fall on us, the leaders of the Arab nation, with our ongoing differences, our refusal to walk the path of unity. All that has made the nation lose its confidence in us.”
King Abdullah has not publicly spoken so harshly about the American-led Iraq war before and his remarks suggested that his alliance with Washington may be less strong that Bush officials have been hoping.
Since last summer, the Bush administration has asserted that a realignment is occurring in the Middle East, one that groups Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon along with Israel against Iran, Syria and the militiant groups that they back, Hezbollah of Lebanon and Hamas of the Palestinians.
The administration has urged Saudi Arabia to take a leading role in that realignment, but it is finding itself disappointed by the results.
Some here said the king’s speech was in fact a response to comments made by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday calling on Arab governments to “begin reaching out to Israel.”
Many read Ms. Rice’s comments as suggesting that the Bush administration is backing away from its support for an Arab initiative aimed at solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel wants the Arabs to make changes in the initiative, most notably in their call for a right of return for Palestinian refugees to what is today Israel. The Arab League is endorsing the peace initiative, first introduced by Saudi Arabia in 2002, without changes.
The plan calls on Israel to withdraw from all land it won in the 1967 war in exchange for full diplomatic relations with the Arab world. It also calls for a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Regarding the Palestinians, the king said on Wednesday, "It has become necessary to end the unjust blockade imposed on the Palestinian people as soon as possible so that the peace process can move in an atmosphere far from oppression and force."
With regard to Iraq, the Saudis seem also to be paying attention to internal American politics. The Senate on Tuesday signaled support for legislation calling for a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq in exchange for further money for the war.
Last November, Saudi officials here realized that a Democratic upset could spell major changes for the region: a possible pullout from Iraq, fueling further instability and more important, allowing Iran to extend its influence in the region.
“I don’t think that the Saudi government has decided to distance itself from Bush just yet,” said Adel al-Toraifi, a columnist with close ties to the Saudi royal family. “But I also think that the Saudis have seen that the ball is moving into the court of the Democrats and they want to extend their hand to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.”
Turki al-Rasheed, who runs a organization that promotes democracy in Saudi Arabia, said the king was “saying we may be moving on the same track, but our ends are different.”
“Bush wants to make it look like he is solving the problem, the king wants to actually solve the problems,” Mr. Rasheed said.
King Abdullah made clear that he looked forward to the day when American troops are gone because Arabs take care of their own problems: : “If confidence is restored, it will be accompanied by credibility, and if credibility is restored, then the winds of hope will blow and then we will never allow outside forces to define our future nor allow banners to be raised in Arab lands other than those of Arabism, brothers.”
The Saudis sought to enforce discipline on the two-day summit meeting, reminding Arab leaders and dignitaries to stay on message and leave here with some kind of solution in hand.
“The weight of the Saudis has ensured that this will be a problem-free summit,” said Ayman Safadi, editor in chief of the Jordanian daily Al Ghad. “Nobody is going to veer from the message and go against the Saudis. But that doesn’t mean the problems themselves will be solved.”
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of the United Nations gave a stark assessment of the state of the Middle East in an address to the summit meeting, speaking in unsparing language that the region was “more complex, more fragile and more dangerous than it has been for a very long time.”
In Iraq, he said, “there is a shocking” daily loss of life, and Somalia is in the grip of “banditry, violence and clan rivalries.”
Iran, which was sanctioned by the Security Council for the second time last Saturday, is “forging ahead with its nuclear program heedless of regional and international concerns.”
Having spent Monday and Tuesday in Jerusalem and the West Bank, Mr. Ban urged the new Palestinian unity government to demonstrate a “true commitment to peace.”
In return, he said, Israel must cease its settlement activity and stop building the separation barrier.
He concluded, “Instability in the Arab League states is of profound significance to international peace and security.”
Reporting was contributed by Nada Bakri from Beirut, Lebanon; Rasheed Abou Alsamh from Jidda, Saudi Arabia, and Warren Hoge from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Arabs warn of nuclear arms race
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070329/wl_nm/arabs_summit_dc_6
RIYADH (Reuters) - An Arab summit ended in Saudi Arabia on Thursday with endorsement for an Arab land-for-peace proposal with Israel and a warning about a possible nuclear arms race in the region.
"We affirm a just and comprehensive peace as a strategic option for the Arab nation in accordance with the Arab peace initiative that is the right path to a peaceful settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict ... based on land-for-peace," Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said, reading out a statement.
The statement at the close of a two-day Arab League summit also warned of a nuclear arms race in the region, in an apparent reference to Israel and Iran, which is defying U.N. demands to halt its nuclear program.
"We also affirm the importance of emptying the region of all weapons of mass destruction ... and we warn of the launch of a grave and destructive nuclear arms race in the region," the statement said..
"We affirm the right of all countries to peaceful nuclear energy according to international standards and inspection systems."
Arab summit decisions to affect future of region-Saltanov
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=11383384&PageNum=0
CAIRO, March 29 (Itar-Tass) - Russian president’s special envoy for the Middle East, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov who heads the Russian delegation at an inter-Arab summit in Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday that the adoption of serious political decisions at the inter-Arab summit underway in Riyadh will affect the future of the whole region.
“The situation in the region is extremely complicated, very many problems have aggravated and the adoption by the summit of serious political decisions aimed at the solution of all these issues will be of major importance,” Saltanov told Itar-Tass by telephone.
Arab commentators are giving much attention to the summit. May of them are of the view that the current summit is perhaps the most important over many years, because the region has never been on the brink of disaster to which it has now come. And if the Arab leaders fail to work out effective and viable decisions the consequences could be irreversible.
“Russia,” stressed Saltanov, “supports all positive, constructive undertakings of Arab states in the restoration of the Middle East peace process, Iraq settlement, preservation of national accord in Lebanon and in a number of other vital issues of the current Middle East situation.” According to him, the Russian delegation has brought to the summit a message from President Vladimir Putin “in which readiness is stressed to interact with Arab States in the search for sensible decisions, as well as the desire and readiness of Russia to develop relations on the bilateral and multilateral basis with the states of the region in different spheres.”
Along with the Arab peace plan that is aimed at the attainment of comprehensive settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the League of Arab States (LAS) summit will make decision on Iraq. “This issue is being discussed,” said Saltanov, “and all Arab states are interested in the Iraqi crisis settlement, establishment of stability and security, advancing the political process and economic revival of the country.” The Russian deputy foreign minister pointed out that the common denominator for all summit participants is “the desire to preserve Iraq as a single, sovereign state having territorial integrity.”
Answering a question on new LAS resolutions on Iran Saltanov said that it is too early to speak about this.
The diplomat said as well that the Arab peace plan is a good foundation for further negotiating process in the Middle East and ensuring comprehensive settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Participants in the summit meeting of the LAS on Wednesday evening unanimously approved the second putting forward of the peace initiative that was adopted as the basis without any change. This is what was sought by the Arabs, although the issue of possible introduction of changes has been often raised in recent days so that Israel that is interested in certain corrections could accept this plan.
“The issue should be discussed if this are concessions or not concessions,” said Saltanov in a telephone interview with Itar-Tass from Riyadh. “To introduce changes or not is the decision of the Arabs, but basically, in the opinion of the majority in the international community, is that the initiative put forward in 2002 undoubtedly is a good basis for making compromise decisions that would result in the Arab-Israeli settlement,” according to Saltanov. The diplomat said, “Arab states are disposed towards practical implementation of the peace plan,” and an active discussion of different variants of its realisation are being discussed this way.
“On the whole, Arab countries seek the summit success and making coordinated decisions in the interests of stabilisation of the Middle East situation,” Saltanov pointed out. “Atmosphere was rather constructive at the meetings we took part in,” he noted.
The Saudi plan of settlement adopted five years ago as the common Arab initiative envisages Israel’s withdrawal from the Arab territories occupied in 1967, recognition by of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state on the West Bank of the River Jordan and in the Gaza Strip and ensuring fair settlement of the Palestinian refugees’ problem. In return, Arabs are ready to recognise the Jewish state, sign peace agreements with it and establish good relations.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
BABE OF THE DAY-Scarlett Johansson
A Love Song for Bobby Long
Scarlett Johansson - Fingered - Watch the best video clips here
Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos
Story of the Day- Saturn
Story of the Day- Saturn
Strange Hexagon Seen on Saturn
http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/strange-hexagon-seen-on-saturn/20070327163409990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001
One of the most bizarre weather patterns known has been photographed at Saturn, where astronomers have spotted a huge, six-sided feature circling the north pole.
Rather than the normally sinuous cloud structures seen on all planets that have atmospheres, this thing is a hexagon.
The honeycomb-like feature has been seen before. NASA 's Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft imaged it more than two decades ago. Now, having spotted it with the Cassini spacecraft, scientists conclude it is a long-lasting oddity.
"This is a very strange feature, lying in a precise geometric fashion with six nearly equally straight sides," said Kevin Baines, atmospheric expert and member of Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "We've never seen anything like this on any other planet. Indeed, Saturn's thick atmosphere, where circularly-shaped waves and convective cells dominate, is perhaps the last place you'd expect to see such a six-sided geometric figure, yet there it is."
The hexagon is nearly 15,000 miles across. Nearly four Earths could fit inside it. The thermal imagery shows the hexagon extends about 60 miles down into the clouds.
At Saturn's south pole, Cassini recently spotted a freaky human eye-like feature that resembles a hurricane .
"It's amazing to see such striking differences on opposite ends of Saturn's poles," said Bob Brown, team leader of the Cassini visual and infrared mapping spectrometer at the University of Arizona. "At the south pole we have what appears to be a hurricane with a giant eye, and at the north pole of Saturn we have this geometric feature, which is completely different."
The hexagon appears to have remained fixed with Saturn's rotation rate and axis since first glimpsed by Voyager 26 years ago. The actual rotation rate of Saturn is still uncertain, which means nobody knows exactly how long the planet's day is.
"Once we understand its dynamical nature, this long-lived, deep-seated polar hexagon may give us a clue to the true rotation rate of the deep atmosphere and perhaps the interior," Baines said.
Strange Hexagon Seen on Saturn
http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/strange-hexagon-seen-on-saturn/20070327163409990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001
One of the most bizarre weather patterns known has been photographed at Saturn, where astronomers have spotted a huge, six-sided feature circling the north pole.
Rather than the normally sinuous cloud structures seen on all planets that have atmospheres, this thing is a hexagon.
The honeycomb-like feature has been seen before. NASA 's Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft imaged it more than two decades ago. Now, having spotted it with the Cassini spacecraft, scientists conclude it is a long-lasting oddity.
"This is a very strange feature, lying in a precise geometric fashion with six nearly equally straight sides," said Kevin Baines, atmospheric expert and member of Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "We've never seen anything like this on any other planet. Indeed, Saturn's thick atmosphere, where circularly-shaped waves and convective cells dominate, is perhaps the last place you'd expect to see such a six-sided geometric figure, yet there it is."
The hexagon is nearly 15,000 miles across. Nearly four Earths could fit inside it. The thermal imagery shows the hexagon extends about 60 miles down into the clouds.
At Saturn's south pole, Cassini recently spotted a freaky human eye-like feature that resembles a hurricane .
"It's amazing to see such striking differences on opposite ends of Saturn's poles," said Bob Brown, team leader of the Cassini visual and infrared mapping spectrometer at the University of Arizona. "At the south pole we have what appears to be a hurricane with a giant eye, and at the north pole of Saturn we have this geometric feature, which is completely different."
The hexagon appears to have remained fixed with Saturn's rotation rate and axis since first glimpsed by Voyager 26 years ago. The actual rotation rate of Saturn is still uncertain, which means nobody knows exactly how long the planet's day is.
"Once we understand its dynamical nature, this long-lived, deep-seated polar hexagon may give us a clue to the true rotation rate of the deep atmosphere and perhaps the interior," Baines said.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
BABE OF THE DAY- Julianne Moore
Body of Evidence
Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos
Boogie Nights
Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos
Song of the day/Movie of the Day/Hunk of the Day-Clive owen
Song of the day
The Rolling Stones Ruby Tuesday
Movie of the day
Children of Men
Hunk of the Day-Clive owen
The Rolling Stones Ruby Tuesday
Movie of the day
Children of Men
Hunk of the Day-Clive owen
Story of the Day- Iran
U.S. forces maneuver near Iran -- show of force or a new front?
http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/03/27/u-s-forces-maneuver-near-iran-a-threat-or-a-new-front/
The market will undoubtedly follow closely how U.S. navy maneuvers off the coast of Iran. As sources say, this is the largest demonstration of force in the Persian Gulf since the 2003 invasion of Iraq including 10,000 U.S. personnel, two aircraft carriers and warplanes carrying simulated attack maneuvers.
Tensions between Iran and the West continue to grow. The apprehension of 15 British Naval personnel by Iran escalated the already tense situation over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.
Of course, U.S. Navy Cmdr. Kevin Aandahl said the maneuvers were not in response to the capture of the British sailors and were not intended as a threat to Iran (excuse me for not buying that). While Aandahl said the U.S. warships would stay out of Iranian territorial waters, I can't help but wonder -- until when? Is this just the first phase? Didn't the U.S. just announce involuntary call-up of marines?
Interestingly, a French naval strike group with an aircraft carrier of its own was operating simultaneously just outside the Gulf. We are told this is not part of the U.S. maneuvers. So while the French and the Americans are showing off their respective forces, where are the Brits in all that?
As for the markets, there is no doubt this developing situation would be followed closely. Oil prices will react to any possible increased tensions as only yesterday crude reached a 2007 high. This morning, however, it's important to note, crude prices were lower, but this could change any minute. Stocks could also react violently if this escalates any further. Better stay tuned in today to your news sources.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran
Beautiful Iran
Counter the propaganda attacks by Western Media on Iran and share with the world Iran's deep rooted beauty. Share with the world our beautiful country's breathtaking land, magnetizing culture, rich history, and hopeful people.
http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/03/27/u-s-forces-maneuver-near-iran-a-threat-or-a-new-front/
The market will undoubtedly follow closely how U.S. navy maneuvers off the coast of Iran. As sources say, this is the largest demonstration of force in the Persian Gulf since the 2003 invasion of Iraq including 10,000 U.S. personnel, two aircraft carriers and warplanes carrying simulated attack maneuvers.
Tensions between Iran and the West continue to grow. The apprehension of 15 British Naval personnel by Iran escalated the already tense situation over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.
Of course, U.S. Navy Cmdr. Kevin Aandahl said the maneuvers were not in response to the capture of the British sailors and were not intended as a threat to Iran (excuse me for not buying that). While Aandahl said the U.S. warships would stay out of Iranian territorial waters, I can't help but wonder -- until when? Is this just the first phase? Didn't the U.S. just announce involuntary call-up of marines?
Interestingly, a French naval strike group with an aircraft carrier of its own was operating simultaneously just outside the Gulf. We are told this is not part of the U.S. maneuvers. So while the French and the Americans are showing off their respective forces, where are the Brits in all that?
As for the markets, there is no doubt this developing situation would be followed closely. Oil prices will react to any possible increased tensions as only yesterday crude reached a 2007 high. This morning, however, it's important to note, crude prices were lower, but this could change any minute. Stocks could also react violently if this escalates any further. Better stay tuned in today to your news sources.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran
Beautiful Iran
Counter the propaganda attacks by Western Media on Iran and share with the world Iran's deep rooted beauty. Share with the world our beautiful country's breathtaking land, magnetizing culture, rich history, and hopeful people.
Monday, March 26, 2007
BABE OF THE DAY- Nathalie Portman
Story of the Day-Pat Tillman
Pentagon investigation into friendly fire death of football star-soldier finds missteps
http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/59126.html
By LOLITA C. BALDOR | Associated Press
March 24, 2007
WASHINGTON (AP) - Nine officers, including up to four generals, should be held accountable for missteps in the aftermath of the friendly fire death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman, a former U.S. football star accidentally killed by his comrades in Afghanistan, a Pentagon investigation will recommend.
Senior defense officials said Friday the Defense Department inspector general will cite a range of errors and inappropriate conduct as the military probed Tillman's death on the battlefront in 2004, said one defense official.
The official, who like the others requested anonymity because the Army has not publicly released the information, said it appears senior military leaders may not have had all the facts or worked hard enough to get the facts of what happened on April 22, 2004, when Tillman was killed by members of his own platoon.
Tillman's case drew worldwide attention in part because he had turned down a multimillion-dollar contract to play defensive back for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League in order to join the Army Rangers after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Dozens of soldiers _ those immediately around Tillman at the scene of the shooting, his immediate superiors and high-ranking officers at a command post nearby _ knew within minutes or hours that his death was fratricide.
Even so, the Army persisted in telling Tillman's family he was killed in a conventional ambush, including at his nationally televised memorial service 11 days later. It was five weeks before his family was told the truth, a delay the Army has blamed on procedural mistakes.
The latest investigation has focused on how high up the chain of command it was known that Tillman's death was caused by his own comrades. Officers from the rank of colonel and up will be blamed in the report, according to one officer who has been informed of the findings.
According to the officials, the report will not make charges or suggest punishments, but it will recommend the Army look at holding the nine officers accountable.
One defense official said it appears the inspector general will not conclude there was an orchestrated cover-up in the investigation.
Tillman's father, Pat, said Friday he had no intention of commenting on the inspector general's report until he had heard an Army briefing on Monday. That day, the Army plans to release the report and a second related to the killing.
The other report is by the Army Criminal Investigation Command, which will focus on whether a crime, such as negligent homicide, was committed when Tillman's own men shot him. One defense official said it appears the investigation did not find any criminal intent in the shooting.
The report's release comes with the Bush administration under fire from the public and Congress for the war in Iraq. Though the Afghanistan conflict has not drawn nearly so much criticism, the report could add to the drumbeat of negative stories the administration has had to endure over the treatment of wounded soldiers and the long deployments of U.S. troops.
To date, the Army has punished seven people for the Tillman killing, but no one was court-martialed. Four soldiers received relatively minor punishments under military law, ranging from written reprimands to expulsion from the Rangers. One had his pay reduced and was effectively forced out of the Army.
The Army, which requested the inspector general review last year, said in a statement released Friday that it "plans to take appropriate actions after receiving the inspector general's report."
The officials declined to name any of the officers the report will implicate. The commander of Tillman's 75th Ranger Regiment was Col. James C. Nixon. Last year he was named director of operations at the Center for Special Operations at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.
Nixon knew within about two days that Tillman's death was fratricide, another officer involved in the investigations told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Previous investigations of the case have focused on the facts of the incident and sought to answer questions of whether it was a fratricide.
The report's findings were first reported on Friday by CBS News.
Tillman died in Afghanistan's Paktia province, along the Pakistan border, after his platoon was ordered to split into two groups and one of the units began firing. Tillman and an Afghan with him were killed. A specialist at the time of his death, he was posthumously promoted to corporal.
Since the incident, the Army has moved to improve the notification procedures and now requires an officer to review initial casualty information and verify that the families have been told the best, accurate information.
http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/59126.html
By LOLITA C. BALDOR | Associated Press
March 24, 2007
WASHINGTON (AP) - Nine officers, including up to four generals, should be held accountable for missteps in the aftermath of the friendly fire death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman, a former U.S. football star accidentally killed by his comrades in Afghanistan, a Pentagon investigation will recommend.
Senior defense officials said Friday the Defense Department inspector general will cite a range of errors and inappropriate conduct as the military probed Tillman's death on the battlefront in 2004, said one defense official.
The official, who like the others requested anonymity because the Army has not publicly released the information, said it appears senior military leaders may not have had all the facts or worked hard enough to get the facts of what happened on April 22, 2004, when Tillman was killed by members of his own platoon.
Tillman's case drew worldwide attention in part because he had turned down a multimillion-dollar contract to play defensive back for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League in order to join the Army Rangers after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
|
Even so, the Army persisted in telling Tillman's family he was killed in a conventional ambush, including at his nationally televised memorial service 11 days later. It was five weeks before his family was told the truth, a delay the Army has blamed on procedural mistakes.
The latest investigation has focused on how high up the chain of command it was known that Tillman's death was caused by his own comrades. Officers from the rank of colonel and up will be blamed in the report, according to one officer who has been informed of the findings.
According to the officials, the report will not make charges or suggest punishments, but it will recommend the Army look at holding the nine officers accountable.
One defense official said it appears the inspector general will not conclude there was an orchestrated cover-up in the investigation.
Tillman's father, Pat, said Friday he had no intention of commenting on the inspector general's report until he had heard an Army briefing on Monday. That day, the Army plans to release the report and a second related to the killing.
The other report is by the Army Criminal Investigation Command, which will focus on whether a crime, such as negligent homicide, was committed when Tillman's own men shot him. One defense official said it appears the investigation did not find any criminal intent in the shooting.
The report's release comes with the Bush administration under fire from the public and Congress for the war in Iraq. Though the Afghanistan conflict has not drawn nearly so much criticism, the report could add to the drumbeat of negative stories the administration has had to endure over the treatment of wounded soldiers and the long deployments of U.S. troops.
To date, the Army has punished seven people for the Tillman killing, but no one was court-martialed. Four soldiers received relatively minor punishments under military law, ranging from written reprimands to expulsion from the Rangers. One had his pay reduced and was effectively forced out of the Army.
The Army, which requested the inspector general review last year, said in a statement released Friday that it "plans to take appropriate actions after receiving the inspector general's report."
The officials declined to name any of the officers the report will implicate. The commander of Tillman's 75th Ranger Regiment was Col. James C. Nixon. Last year he was named director of operations at the Center for Special Operations at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.
Nixon knew within about two days that Tillman's death was fratricide, another officer involved in the investigations told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Previous investigations of the case have focused on the facts of the incident and sought to answer questions of whether it was a fratricide.
The report's findings were first reported on Friday by CBS News.
Tillman died in Afghanistan's Paktia province, along the Pakistan border, after his platoon was ordered to split into two groups and one of the units began firing. Tillman and an Afghan with him were killed. A specialist at the time of his death, he was posthumously promoted to corporal.
Since the incident, the Army has moved to improve the notification procedures and now requires an officer to review initial casualty information and verify that the families have been told the best, accurate information.
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