12/21/2006 Middle East Live Daily Thread

Middle East Live Daily Thread ^ | 12/21/06 | Knitting a Conundrum

[Knitting A Conundrum]

That's handier!

[Knitting A Conundrum]

i usta, be a english Teacher, buut I gives that up to be a MELDT poster....

[kkmo9]

Yahoo! Alerts Yahoo! News

Thursday, December 21, 2006, 7:01 AM PST
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he talked with Iraqi officials about possible additional military assistance from the U.S.

[pinz-n-needlez]

Okay, I used a bad example... LOL Help a girl out here. ;-)

[pinz-n-needlez]

LOL

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Multiple times in history, the economic situation gets putzy, and then there's a war. WWII is a good example, but not the only one.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

a dot to monitor:

British intelligence and law enforcement officials have passed on a grim assessment to their U.S. counterparts, "It will be a miracle if there isn't a terror attack over the holidays in London," a senior American law enforcement official tells ABCNews.com.

"It is not a matter of if there will be an attack, but how bad the attack will be," an intelligence official told ABCNews.com.

Authorities say they are seeking at least 18 suspected suicide bombers.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1756875/posts

[unionblue83]

Happy to see you are feeling better.

[unionblue83]

From the Ruskie papers (ITAR TASS):

Gazprom joins Sakhalin-2 project



21.12.2006, 20.02



MOSCOW, December 21 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia’s gas giant Gazprom has achieved agreement with Sakhalin Energy on its participation in the Sakhalin-2 project.

The two parties signed a memorandum to this effect at a ceremony attended by President Vladimir Putin.

Gazprom will have a 50-percent-plus-one-share stake in the project, being carried out production sharing terms.

The two hydrocarbon fields in question, Piltun-Astokhskoye and Lunskoye, have estimated reserves of 150 million tonnes of oil and 500 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

The operator – Sakhalin Energy – was established by the by the Anglo-Dutch company Royal Dutch-Shell (55 percent), and Japan’s Mitsui (25 percent) and Mitsubishi (25 percent).

The project envisages the construction of two off-shore rigs, a gas liquefying plant having a capacity of 9.6 million tonnes a year, a gas condensate processing plant, two 800-kilometer long pipelines and an oil terminal.


Interesting...

[unionblue83]

From YNet (http://www.ynetnews.com/home/0,7340,L-3089,00.html):

Peres: More Qassams to come
(20:09 , 12.21.06)
Mashaal: Hamas government dealing with 'foreign conspiracy'
(19:50 , 12.21.06)
Egypt, Libya to cooperate on economics, education
(19:30 , 12.21.06)
Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for Qassam attack
(19:00 , 12.21.06)
Qassam lands next to Sderot school
(18:50 , 12.21.06)
Report: US, Britain send ships, planes to Gulf
(18:22 , 12.21.06)
Peretz speaks with defense establishment about Qassam attacks
(17:30 , 12.21.06)

[unionblue83]

From Robert Spencer's Jihad Watch: Somali jihadist chief: "All Somalis should join the war against Ethiopia" The Somalia jihad enters a new phase. "Fierce fighting convulses southern Somalia despite truce pledge," by Mustafa Haji Abdinur for AFP: A day after European Commission humanitarian chief Louis Michel said he had secured both sides' commitment to observe a truce and resume peace talks, the Islamic movement chief called on Somalis to join the war against Ethiopian forces. Not surprising. The government said Wednesday it had killed "hundreds" of rival fighters and wounded hundreds while the Islamists said they had killed at least 70 enemy combatants in the deadly assaults. None of the figures could be independently confirmed. "Our mujahedeens have killed 70 soldiers today ... the Islamic courts are winning the war against Ethiopian invasion," Sheikh Mohamoud Ibrahim Sulley, the secretary of the Islamists, told a press conference in Mogadishu. At the same time, residents said an Ethiopian helicopter landed in Baidoa, the seat of government, about 250 kilometres (155 miles) northwest of the capital Mogadishu. "I saw an Ethiopian-flagged military chopper, it collected some wounded soldiers from the airport," said Abdullahi Mohamed, who lives nearby. "Mortar fire was still going on at night ... nothing has stopped," said Information Minister Ali Jama, adding that the Islamists were mobilising more fighters to widen a conflict that compounds the misery of nearly a million people affected by recent flooding. "The fighting is still continuing and we dont know how things can be changed," said Hussein Ali, a Baidoa resident said. Islamists chief Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys rallied Somalis to join the war against Ethiopian forces deployed to protect the government. "All Somalis should join the war against Ethiopia," Aweys told HornAfrik radio, a day after he said the conflict was "a small incident." [...] "The government will not attack anybody, but we are prepared to defend ourselves," [Somali Information Minister] Jama said of the clashes threatening to embroil the entire region, possible drawing in Addis Ababa's arch-foe Eritrea. Fighting erupted early Wednesday, hours after the expiry of an Islamist ultimatum for Ethiopian forces to pull out or face major attacks. Deputy Defence Minister Salad Ali Jelle said the army was winning the fight, which erupted when Islamists raided the two garrisons. [...] The government officials said fugitive terror suspects and foreign fighters were bolstering the Islamists. Posted by Marisol at 10:47 AM http://jihadwatch.org/

[pinz-n-needlez]

Have either of you read the novel, The Captains and the Kings by Taylor Caldwell? Great story built around the notion that there's nothing like scheduling a little war to help jumpstart the economies of *both* sides of the conflict.

Don't know much about Ms. Caldwell's story, but your writing reminds me of her stuff, Knitting. Her other books are well worth reading too. Good historical novels are wonderful ways to learn about the world. :-)

[unionblue83]

More of that "terrible" news that the MSM refuses to show:

From the MultiNational Forces-Iraq website (http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8263&Itemid=109)


Local government, Iraqi Security Forces touch children’s lives
Wednesday, 20 December 2006
Story and photo by 1st Lt. Hector Guzman
1st Cavalry Division



Members of the 5th Iraqi Army Division and Iraqi Government representatives from the Diyala province pass out school supplies to local schools in Abu Sayda.FOB NORMANDY — Several schools in the Diyala province received an unexpected visit, not to mention toys and school supplies, from Iraqi Government representatives, Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition Forces recently.

Representatives from the city council, along with Iraqi Police officials, took part in a historical event designed to assist the children and schools in Abu Sayda, a town near Forward Operating Base Normandy. Soldiers from 6-9 Combined Armored Reconnaissance Squadron, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division were there to provide additional assistance.

The group delivered toys and school supplies such as pencils, paper, and erasers that were donated from residents of North Carolina. This event is only the beginning of many efforts scheduled to assist the community in transforming its under-funded school system.

During their visit, Iraqi Government representatives received requests for additional school supplies because the schools have a limited budget. To continue making a difference in the community, Iraqi Government representatives along with coalition forces stationed in the region, will remain diligent in working together to improve the education system in Iraq.

Continued efforts will be made to reduce Iraq's adult literacy rate, now estimated to be less than 60 percent, one of the lowest in any Arab country.

Abu Sayda school officials were thankful for the supplies and are now requesting computers. They hope to establish computer labs to enhance computer literacy for Iraqi students.

The group vowed to continue working to support their needs.

[unionblue83]

Good historical novels are wonderful ways to learn about the world. :-) Couldn't agree with you more. I have been accused of reading those long boring history books on multiple occassions. I am currently starting into the 6 volume series of WWII written by Sir Winston Churchill. Amazing the similarities between the rise of facism and mohammedism's resurgence.