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US paid huge price in Iraq: Obama
29 killed, over 200 hurt as blasts rock Shia march |
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US Prez opens Mideast summit
US President Barack Obama with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Wednesday. — AP/PTI
US designates Pak Taliban as foreign terror group
Gunman takes one hostage
at Discovery Channel HQ
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US paid huge price in Iraq: Obama
US President Barack Obama on Tuesday night announced an end to the US combat mission in Iraq, not with a declaration of victory but rather a somber admission that the US had paid a “huge price.” “The United States has paid a huge price to put the future of Iraq in the hands of its people,” he said, adding, “Ending this war is not only in Iraq’s interest-it’s in our own.” Obama said he was “awed” by the sacrifice of US servicemen. Announcing an end to Operation Iraqi Freedom in a nationally televised speech from the White House, the President said the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country. But as US troops roll out of Iraq, the country continues to be locked in a political stalemate with disagreement over who will lead it after elections earlier this year failed to throw up a clear winner. Obama urged Iraq’s leaders to “move forward with a sense of urgency to form an inclusive government that is just, representative, and accountable to the Iraqi people.” “And when that government is in place, there should be no doubt: The Iraqi people will have a strong partner in the United States. Our combat mission is ending, but our commitment to Iraq’s future is not,” he added. Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said while US troops may have withdrawn, the Iraq war is not over, it is not “won,” and any form of stable end state in Iraq is probably impossible before 2020. A transitional US force will remain in Iraq with a mission of advising and assisting Iraq’s security forces, supporting Iraqi troops in targeted counter-terrorism missions, and protecting US civilians. Obama spoke with his predecessor, George W. Bush, on Tuesday afternoon. “It’s well known that he and I disagreed about the war from its outset,” Obama said. “Yet no one could doubt President Bush’s support for our troops, or his love of country and commitment to our security. As I have said, there were patriots who supported this war, and patriots who opposed it. And all of us are united in appreciation for our servicemen and women, and our hope for Iraq’s future.” Obama acknowledged that violence would not end with the end of the US combat mission. But, he said, ultimately the extremists will fail to achieve their goals. “Iraqis are a proud people. They have rejected sectarian war, and they have no interest in endless destruction,” he added. While removing troops from Iraq, the US preparing to go on the offence in Afghanistan. “As we speak, Al-Qaida continues to plot against us, and its leadership remains anchored in the border regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan. We will disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al-Qaida, while preventing Afghanistan from again serving as a base for terrorists,” Obama said. The president said the US would begin to transfer responsibility over to Afghans by next August. Obama’s decision to announce a July, 2011, date for beginning the removal of US troops from Afghanistan has been criticised by some military commanders. Obama said the pace of the troop reductions would be determined by conditions on the ground. “But make no mistake: This transition will begin-because open-ended war serves neither our interests nor the Afghan people’s,” he said.
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29 killed, over 200 hurt as blasts rock Shia march
Lahore/Karachi, September 1 The first blast, caused by a low intensity explosive device, went off near the Karbala Gamay Shah Imambargah or prayer ground after 6.45 pm where thousands of Shia Muslims had gathered to observe the Yaum-e-Ali. The other suicide bombers struck the nearby Bhatti Chowk area at about 7.15 pm. Both sites are located close to the Data Darbar shrine that was recently targeted by suicide attackers. Geo News channel reported that the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al-Almi had claimed responsibility for the blasts. Lahore's District Coordination Officer Sajjad Ahmad Sajjad Bhutta confirmed that 28 people were killed in the blasts, Dunya News reported. A head of one of the suicide bombers has been recovered, police officials said. Officials at the Mayo, Services and Gangaram hospitals told media they had received 17 bodies, including one minor girl and a policeman. Over 180 injured people were taken to the three hospitals. The Mayo Hospital alone received over 100 injured people. In Karachi, at least seven people were injured when gunmen opened fire on a Shia procession taken out in a crowded market place. A police official said three persons had been arrested. — PTI
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US Prez opens Mideast summit
Washington, September 1 Obama met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he launched a series of one-on-one meetings with Middle East leaders attending a US-led peace summit that will culminate on Thursday with the first direct Israeli-Palestinian talks in 20 months. With Obama's peace bid facing broad skepticism and the clock ticking toward the September 26 expiration of an Israeli settlement construction freeze, Israel's defence minister sounded a conciliatory note about the prospects for sharing Jerusalem, an issue at the heart of the decades-old conflict. But big obstacles remain to Obama's quest for a peace deal that eluded so many of his predecessors. Hamas militants declared war on the talks even before they began, killing four Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, vowing more attacks and underscoring the threat hard-liners pose to the fragile peace process. The summit marks Obama's riskiest plunge into Middle East diplomacy, not least because he wants the two sides to forge a deal within 12 months, a target many analysts call a long shot. In the prelude to talks eventually expected to tackle volatile core issues that have long defied solution, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barack said the Jewish state would be willing to hand over parts of Jerusalem under a final peace accord. — Reuters
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US designates Pak Taliban as foreign terror group
Washington, September 1 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton designated the TTP a foreign terrorist group on August 12, and it was formally put on the blacklist when it was published today on the Federal Register. The terror group's top leaders, including its chief Hakimullah Mehsud and his deputy Wali Ur Rehman, were named as "specially designated global terrorists", a category which will impose more State and Treasury department sanctions. Tehreek-e Taliban is the militant umbrella group that include members from all of Pakistan's seven tribal agencies as well as several districts of the restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa province. Clinton said that each militant leader has "committed, or poses a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of US nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States." TTP chief Hakimullah had threatened the US with deadly attacks if it continues its operation and drone attacks inside Pakistan. The US drone attacks killed several top TTP leaders including Hakimullah's predecessor Baitullah Mehsud. US lawmakers have been pushing for a ban on TTP following a failed attempt by Pakistan-born American Faisal Shahzad to blow up an explosives laden vehicle at Times Square on May 1. Shahzad said he trained with the Pakistani Taliban to build bombs, then returned to the US to launch an attack that would avenge attacks on Muslims by US forces
overseas.— PTI
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Gunman takes one hostage
at Discovery Channel HQ Washington, September 1 The man appears to be an Asian, they said. A Discovery Channel employee told local WJLA-TV that the building was on lockdown and said she thought she had heard 5-6 gunshots. Dan Friz, a spokesman with the Montgomery County Police Department, said a tactical team was trying to communicate with the gunman. The news channel reported that the Discovery Channel day care, which had about 100 kids, has been evacuated to a nearby area.
— PTI
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US President Barack Obama on Tuesday night announced an end to the US combat mission in Iraq, not with a declaration of victory but rather a somber admission that the US had paid a “huge price.”
Washington, September 1
