At UN, Pakistan Praises Saudi Arabia for Protecting “Women’s Rights” | FrontPage Magazine

'As the UN Human Rights Council scrutinized Saudi Arabia's domestic rights record this morning… out of 95 countries who took the floor, 82 praised Saudi Arabia.

Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based human rights group UN Watch, said the country is poised to win a seat on the Human Rights Council.

"A country whose legal system routinely lashes women rape victims rather than punish the perpetrators should not have been praised effusively by members of the UN's top human rights body," said Neuer. "Instead the world should have addressed the Saudi regime's use of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments, such as flogging, amputations and eye-gouging."'

More here http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/at-un-pakistan-praises-saudi-arabia-for-protecting-womens-rights

Here's what some United Nations' member states said about Saudi Arabia and human rights:

Afghanistan: “We commend Saudia Arabia as they continue to enhance the protection and promotion of human rights…”
 

Somalia: “Saudi Arabia maintains a high priority for protection and promotion of human rights…”

Libya: “Saudi Arabia continues to strengthen human rights and promote them and this deserves our appreciation…”

Mauritania, VP of the UNHRC (and a country that practices slavery): “We commend Saudi Arabia for always seeking to strengthen human rights…We commend Saudi Arabia in terms of the progress on guaranteeing fundamental rights and freedoms, socioeconomic progress, participation of women at all levels and participation in society.

China: “We appreciate efforts made to protect the rights of children and to have dialogues of religious tolerance…”

Pakistan: Commended “laudable steps taken by Saudi Arabia to promote and protect the rights of children and women…”

So according to China, Saudi Arabia which arrests Christians for praying, practises religious tolerance.

So according to Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, and the slavers of Mauritania, the Saudis excel at human rights.

So according to Pakistan, a country where raping women is endemic, Saudi Arabia, which won’t let women drive or leave the house, is also breaking new ground in protecting women’s rights.

Satire is dead, what other conclusion is there.

Why?

'Targeting civilians is a crime punishable, and people targeting civilians will be punished for this, and I cannot understand this, also from another perspective," Kubis said. "Where is the honor in targeting civilians? What kind of show of "bravery," in quotations marks, is this targeting civilians, killing unarmed people that are working for the people of this country?"'

Read more here http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2013/06/11/un-more-than-3-000-afghan-civilians-killed-and-wounded-in-the-first-five-months-one-fifth-of-them-children.html
 
It is odd that there are so many people who delight in vilifying Israel for allegedly targeting civilians, something Israel does not do - look at the statistics, listen to the experts who'll tell you how Israel works so hard to minimise civilian casualties.

Odd because these same people barely raise an eyebrow when Palestinians are killed in Lebanon or Syria, when Syrian civilians are massacred by their own army or when Afghan civilians are killed by the Taliban.
It can't be that the Palestinians are special because the killing of Palestinians by people other than Israel is pretty much ignored by these people.

So why do these people only protest when they can blame Israel?

There's one obvious explanation, but is that really the case?

Bagram airfield crash 29 apr 2013

The weirdest planet crash ever? Seriously scary.




Seven US airmen died in this crash as Bagram airfield, R.I.P.

The one hundred and eighty third weekly "No shit Sherlock" award

Afghanistan's future after Nato troops leave uncertain, admits Hammond http://t.co/AIHvEVzkuv -- fatima costa (@fcrep2007)

'No shit, Sherlock'

Afghan girl 'beheaded for refusing prostitution' - Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/9615231/Afghan-girl-beheaded-for-refusing-prostitution.html.
This crap has to stop...

Ignorance everywhere

If you follow me on Twitter then you might have noticed that I am currently fact checking and challenging the views of @Jew4palestine. Today he and others were on the Israel is an apartheid state line and I got a little fed up. I noted earlier today that the 'apartheid state of Israel' is indeed banning entry to part of Israel to people not of one religion. The problem is that it is non-Muslims who are being banned from the Temple Mount, control of which is being given to Muslims for the last five days of Ramadan. Yes, that's right Jews will be banned from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Apartheid state? No.

However here's an example of a form of apartheid in the Middle East...

It's a road sign to be found on the road to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It's not their for the period of the haj, it's a permanent fixture. Non-Muslims are banned from entry to Mecca, some do sneak in it is true, but they are officially banned and the punishment if caught can be extreme.

Here are some more examples of apartheid from some other Islamic countries. These are excerpts from the State Department's International Religious Freedom Reports for 2009:
YEMEN
"...the General Election Committee has adopted a policy barring all non-Muslims from running for Parliament..."

AFGHANISTAN
"Citizens who convert from Islam to the Baha'i faith face risk of persecution, similar to that of Christian converts, up to and including the death penalty..."

JORDAN
"...the Government prohibits conversion from Islam in that it accords primacy to Shari'a, which prohibits Muslims from converting ... The Government freely allows conversion to Islam..."

INDONESIA
"Article 156 of the Criminal Code makes spreading hatred, heresy, and blasphemy punishable by up to five years in prison. Although the law applies to all officially recognized religions, the few cases in which it has been enforced have almost always involved blasphemy and heresy against Islam..."

But Israel is the apartheid state? 

Dear President Karzai

The BBC's obsession with burning Korans

The BBC report, and it's all over the airwaves as well, about the Koran burning by US troops in Afghanistan. As a matter of interest have you ever noticed the BBC report on the Saudi Arabian burning of Christian Bibles that people try and bring in to that country? I would add the Jewish Bible but very few Jews would try and visit Saudi Arabia.

The one hundred and fifty seventh weekly "No shit, Sherlock" award

This week's award goes to the BBC for this line:

'The Taliban in Afghanistan are being directly assisted by Pakistani security services, according to a secret Nato report seen by the BBC.'

Only the BBC could be in any way surprised by this news.

The Taliban and the ISI intertwined - "No shit, Sherlock"

Our 'friends' in Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan

Pakistan

Iran -



Afghanistan

Thursday afternoon catch-up

The usual story, too mnay open Firefox tabs and not enough time:

1. Christopher Booker in The Telegraph had a fascinating piece about how local councils may be holding their rates level but they are raising money from elsewhere:

'There was a time, 40 years ago, when the most obvious source of council revenue was the rates, topped up by grants from central government – in return for which we could expect all the services that councils provided. But, largely below the radar, councils have discovered all sorts of ways in which they can take money off us, by levying charges, fees and penalties – some of which are actually illegal – for countless things that used to be free, or at least very much cheaper.

We have become familiar, for instance, with the practice whereby we must now pay for planning applications, anything from £150 for a garden shed to £250,000 for a large housing estate. We all know about the cost of parking fees and penalties, which earn councils £2 billion a year. And businesses must now pay billions to have their waste collected.

What most of us are less familiar with is the proliferation of new licensing charges for everything from pet shops to car boot sales, from riding establishments to “sex establishments” (up to £9,935, plus a yearly renewal fee of £5,000). Pubs that used to pay a yearly £10 to the local magistrates for their licence must now pay up to £1,905 to the council (plus £23.50 to notify the town hall if the landlord dies). Big pop festivals must pay £64,000 for a licence, even before they pay hundreds of thousands more to hire the police to provide security.

In 2007, the Lyons report on local government found that more than a quarter of councils were already earning more from such charges than they were from council tax. This has now risen to the point where “sales, fees, charges” and “other income” now yield some £25 billion a year, much the same as council tax.'

2. Is it just me or is there a word seeming to be missing from this article about 'Many thousands of children across England ... being sexually exploited by gangs, the Office of the Children's Commissioner suggests.'


3. CNS News report that:

'There is not a single, public Christian church left in Afghanistan, according to the U.S. State Department.
This reflects the state of religious freedom in that country ten years after the United States first invaded it and overthrew its Islamist Taliban regime.

In the intervening decade, U.S. taxpayers have spent $440 billion to support Afghanistan's new government and more than 1,700 U.S. military personnel have died serving in that country.

The last public Christian church in Afghanistan was razed in March 2010, according to the State Department's latest International Religious Freedom Report. The report, which was released last month and covers the period of July 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010, also states that “there were no Christian schools in the country.”'

Anything on the BBC about this?


4.  The Telegraph reports that:

'At least 200 potential terrorists are actively planning suicide attacks while living freely in Britain, intelligence chiefs have warned ministers.

A senior intelligence source has revealed that the figure is a "conservative" estimate of the threat facing the country from UK-based Islamist suicide bombers.

The would-be killers are among 2,000 extremists who the security services have said are based in Britain and actively planning terrorist activity of some kind. '

Oh marvelous and these people are left free to plot the deats of hundreds of Britains because ... How mnay more innocent people have to die before the fanatics are locked up or...?


5. USA Today have an article that you should read only if you are sitting down with a stiff drink. Investing may never be the same again.


6. YNet explains that Barack Obama is advocating the ghettoisation of Jews in Israel. My only question is - why is anyone surprised by the actions in this regard of Barack Hussein Obama?


7. The Telegraph reports that:

'Facebook has admitted that it has been watching the web pages its members visit – even when they have logged out.

In its latest privacy blunder, the social networking site was forced to confirm that it has been constantly tracking its 750million users, even when they are using other sites.'

Facebook, like Google before them, are saying it was a mistake...

USA

What is going on in Afghanistan and Pakistan?

On the one hand I read in The Sun that:

'SOLDIERS were banned from shooting Taliban fighters planting mines - to avoid waking Afghan locals, a former Royal Marine has revealed.

Craig Smith, 36, said US military chiefs routinely frustrated frontline forces by ordering them to exercise "courageous restraint".

Troops were even told they could be charged with MURDER if they shot anyone without permission from command.

...

He spoke out after an inquest heard 34-year-old hero Sergeant Peter Rayner was blown up, just days after being told not to fire on insurgents who were seen laying deadly IEDs.

One senior officer stunned troops when he ordered them not to shoot a Taliban fighter because gunfire would "wake up and upset the locals".

Instead they were told they must stand by and WATCH.'

Meanwhile I have seen a video that shows the sort of restraint shown by The Taliban. The video is too disturbing for me to post here but you can find it at this American Power Blog post; it shows some extremely graphic video, described thus:

'The Taliban videotaped the brutal execution of more than a dozen Pakistani policemen who were captured during last month's raid in a remote area of northwestern Pakistan.

The graphic video, which shows 16 Pakistani policemen who are lined up and then gunned down by Taliban fighters wielding AK-47s, was taken in early June in the Shaltalu area of the district of Dir in northwestern Pakistan, a Pakistani official and US intelligence officials who track the region told The Long War Journal. The executions were filmed after the policemen were captured during several days of heavy fighting.'

Sometimes I wonder if our military and political leaders have any idea what is happening on the ground in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Bill Maher: ‘There Is One Religion In The World That Kills You When You Disagree With Them’

I am not a big fan of Bill Maher but in this instance he is correct.

'There is one religion in the world that kills you when you disagree with them and they say look we are a religion of peace and if you disagree, we'll f***king cut your head off.'

Fatah's double standards

'The faction that is led by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and which leads the PA has officially declared its formal refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish State.

...

The Fatah Revolutionary Council over this weekend voted to “affirm its rejection of the so-called Jewish state or any other formula that could achieve this goal” at its fifth convention in Ramallah.

“The Council also renews its refusal for the establishment of any racist state based on religion in accordance with international law and human rights conventions,” the council said in a statement issued at the end of the convention.'

INN report the above. Fatah definitely refuse to recognise Israel as a Jewish state as part of 'its refusal for the establishment of any racist state based on religion'. I wonder if by similar logic they refuse to recognise the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Islamic Republic of Iran or the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to name but three; or is it just Jewish states Fatah have a problem with?

The one hundred and second weekly "No shit, Sherlock" award

This week's award goes to Sky news for their investigation's conclusion that

'The next generation of Afghans is being radicalised by the Taliban - with children being ruthlessly exploited by the insurgents.'

Islamist terrorists ruthlessly brainwashing children? "No shit, Sherlock".

The one hundredth weekly "No shit, Sherlock" award

The one hundredth weekly "No shit, Sherlock" award is awarded in the same week as the ninety-ninth but it is for a headline that just screams out 'award me the title'. The winner is The Mail for blindingly obvious 'Taliban has infiltrated Afghan forces, claims ex-UN official in warning that sleeper cells are awaiting instructions to strike'

Really, do you think so? even The Mail manages to report at the end of the piece some recent events which sort of make my point:

'Earlier this year, in January, the Taliban said one of its fighters had infiltrated the Afghan army to carry out an attack which killed seven CIA operatives in Afghanistan.

And in November last year, an Afghan policeman shot dead five British troops in the southern province of Helmand.'

So 'Taliban has infiltrated Afghan forces ... sleeper cells are awaiting instructions to strike' - "No shit, Sherlock"

So

“I can’t lose the whole Democratic Party.”

The words of Barack Obama, as widely reported, in connection with the dismissal of the military’s requests for troops? This is from Bob Woodward's book 'Obama's Wars'

'The president concluded from the start that “I have two years with the public on this” and pressed advisers for ways to avoid a big escalation, the book says. “I want an exit strategy,” he implored at one meeting. Privately, he told Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to push his alternative strategy opposing a big troop buildup in meetings, and while Mr. Obama ultimately rejected it, he set a withdrawal timetable because, “I can’t lose the whole Democratic Party.”'

So there you have the true intentions of the US President and Commander in Chief; not to be victorious in Afghanistan, not to protect the American people from terrorist attack, not to do everything he can to keep the USA safe from future attacks; just to shore up support for himself in and for his own political party. What a piece of scum.

As John Bolton says in the following video:

'“If the book is accurate … it is some of the most cold-blooded, cynical, grotesquely political manipulation of national security that I think we’ve ever seen.”'

Thanks to Gateway Pundit for the spot.

Robbers?

The BBC are still pushing the idea that the aid-workers killed in in Afghanistan were the victims of 'robbers' and not the Taliban, despite the fact that the Taliban have claimed responsibility. CBS report the story somewhat differently:

'U.S. Aid Workers Were Killed Execution-Style... CBS News Correspondent Mandy Clark reports early examinations suggest most were killed execution-style. However at least one was shot in the back, perhaps during an attempt to run away.'

The BBC quite prepared to try and persuade people that white is black and black is white if it will further their causes.

BBC phraseeology

I note the BBC's headline for the story that

'A British aid worker who was among 10 people killed by gunmen in a remote part of north-east Afghanistan is named as Dr Karen Woo.'

'Shot UK medical worker identified'
'SHOT' that's interesting, I seem to remember the BBC using the word 'killed' or 'murdered' for people killed by Israel, but for those killed by the Taliban,, 'shot'. My patience with the biased scum at the BBC is nearing an end.

Will there be an investigation into this multiple beheading?

The Telegraph reports that:

'Six Afghan policemen were beheaded when Taliban militants overran their checkpoint during an assault on government buildings. '

Earlier this week I reported the calls for a young Gurkha to be court-martialled for cutting off and taking the head of a dead Taliban commander so it could be identified. It seems likely that unlike that Taliban commander these six policemen were killed by being decapitated, remember that the next time you hear of Islamic terrorists decrying the desecration of the human body by us infidels.