EU imposes arms embargo on Syria

...Move comes as Assad continues violent crackdown against protesters; embargo goes into effect on Monday night.  The European Union has decided to impose an arms embargo on Syria, which went into effect on Monday night.  The move came as Syrian President Bashar Assad continued a violent crackdown on anti-regime protesters in which human rights groups claim more than 800 have died over the past seven weeks.  The EU arms embargo received a preliminary green light at the end of last month. via jpost.com

No reporter has seemed more in the pocket of Hizballah and the Syrians than the New York Times' Anthony Shadid. His reporting on Lebanon often quotes mostly or exclusively their supporters, under a variety of labels, as if they are objective observers or represent a range of opinion.

While his latest article includes some material on how bad the situation is in Syria--350 people identified as killed so far by the regime--his latest article reads like a press release by the dictatorship.

 Not since the days of the Cold War--probably in the 1970s--has a U.S. government become such an apologist for a repressive dictatorship. What makes the situation truly amazing is that the Syrian government is no U.S. ally but an enemy repressive dictatorship.

Shadid quotes Bouthaina Shaaban, a notorious Assad regime crony as saying, “You can’t be very nice to people who are leading an armed rebellion...." Yet there is no evidence that the opposition has used weapons. Nevertheless, he reports without comment the regime's claim that demonstrators have killed 100 soldiers and police even though not a single such case has been even minimally documented.

Shadid quotes U.S. officials as saying, essentially that Shaaban and Administration officials have said that Ms. Shaaban and Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa are the good guy reformers while President Bashar al-Assad's brother, Maher, is the bad guy hardliner. Poor Bashar is supposedly caught in the middle. What's a dictator to do?

Shabaan ridicules international "sanctions" against Syria and is right to do so. They amount to nothing, nothing except a license for the regime to murder its citizens without fear of repercussions.

Some day the Times coverage of Syria will be compared to its terrible reporting on the Stalinist Soviet Union and its largely ignoring the Holocaust.

via rubinreports.blogspot.com

"In the European Union, there exists the will to adopt sanctions quite rapidly," French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told reporters earlier this week, after a meeting of an international contact group ranged against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Earlier US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini also discussed sanctions against the Syrian leadership because of its violent suppression of unrest in the country.

"We are currently finalizing the list of persons whose assets will be sanctioned and France wants [Syrian President] Bashar Assad to be on it," Juppe said. via jpost.com

Colombia extradites Venezuela 'drug lord' Walid Makled

They are going to kill this poor shmuck. He knows too much about Hezbollah's game in South America to fund their murder in Israel. The murder charge is probably a set up so they can condemn him to a quick death sentence. The United States knows this. That is why they were so upset with Columbia for cooperating... or perhaps Columbia is cooperating because Hezbollah's game is down there too. Whatever the reason... this guy is as good as dead. I feel bad for him. This guy is a fall guy... and our State Department knows it. a Patsy! The information this guy could of shared would of saved thousands of lives.

Hizballah in Venezuela: The Man Who Knows Too Much

Colombia has sent an alleged Venezuelan drugs kingpin back to his home country, in a further sign of improved ties between the two nations. Walid Makled, arrested last year, was also wanted by Washington to face cocaine smuggling charges. Mr Makled alleged that Venezuelan officials helped his trafficking operations, charges they denied. Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos had promised Venezuela that Mr Makled would be returned. Mr Santos said the Venezuelan extradition request had arrived before the one from the US authorities. Wanted for murder Mr Makled, wearing a dark suit and in handcuffs, was handed over to Venezuelan officials at Bogota airport on Monday morning local time and flown back to Venezuela. Mr Makled, known as The Turk, was a successful businessman in Venezuela whose family owned an airline, a transport company and several warehouses.

He went into hiding in 2008 when his brothers were arrested after large quantities of cocaine were found at a family ranch. He was arrested in Colombia last August.
The US authorities say he was one of the biggest drug traffickers in the world.
In Venezuela, he is also wanted for the murder of a journalist and a Colombian drug lord. He has denied the charges, saying the authorities framed him in order to seize his businesses. Mr Makled's case became a political issue in Venezuela when he alleged in interviews from prison that he paid millions of dollars to senior figures in the government. Officials dismissed his claims as an attempt to avoid prosecution. via bbc.co.uk

Navy Would Allow Gay Weddings On Base

NavyTimes.com:

Once the military’s ban on gays serving openly is lifted, Navy chaplains will be permitted to officiate at same-sex marriage and civil union ceremonies on base, according to an April 13 memorandum from the Navy’s head chaplain.


“Consistent with the tenets of his or her religious organization, a chaplain may officiate a same-sex, civil marriage: if it is conducted in accordance with a state that permits same-sex marriage or union; and if that chaplain is, according to the applicable state and local laws, otherwise fully certified to officiate that state’s marriages,” the memo signed by Chief of Chaplains Rear Adm. Mark Tidd states. The memorandum, designed to update chaplains’ training guidance for the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy banning openly gay members from serving, was posted by the conservative website Media Research Center.


n addition, the memo states that “if the base is located in a state where same-sex marriage is legal, then base facilities may normally be used to celebrate the marriage. This is true for purely religious services (e.g., a chaplain blessing a union) or a traditional wedding (e.g., a chaplain both blessing and conducting the ceremony).”


Navy spokeswoman Lt. Alana Garas said that the new policy guidance was a revision to the repeal training and emphasized that no chaplains will be required to officiate at same-sex messages, if that conflicts with their faith.

via politikditto.com and image via simplybecauseitis.blogspot.com

Google recognizes Israel Independence Day

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via israelmatzav.blogspot.com