'Coalition of the willing' comes to end in Iraq

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 04:19:33 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

The war in Iraq was truly an American-only effort Saturday after Britain and Australia, the last of its international partners, pulled out.

Little attention was paid in Iraq to what effectively ended the so-called coalition of the willing, with the U.S. — as the leader of Multi-National Force, Iraq — letting the withdrawals pass without any public demonstration.

The quiet end of the coalition was a departure from its creation, which saw then-U.S. President George W. Bush court countries for support before and after the March 2003 invasion.

“We're grateful to those partners who contributed in the past and we look forward to working with them in the future,” military spokesman Army Lieutenant-Colonel Mark Ballesteros told The Associated Press in an e-mail.

Tags: united states, war, iraq, iraq war, bush administration, obama administration

Christians Killed and Homes Burnt in Pakistan

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 17:47:56 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: A holes.

Chief Minister's actions are very suspicious. I recall seeing the President getting serious about this event.

Clip Source: pakistaniat.com

Over fifty houses belonging to Christians and two churches have been burnt and ransacked by a mob of villagers near Toba Tek Singh and at least six people have been killed. The mob meted out the collective punishment on the ‘accusation’ that three Christians were allegedly seen desecrating pages of the Holy Quran.

The perpetrators committed this vile act in broad daylight as hapless homeowners ran for their lives. Ironically, instead of arresting the culprits, the police – under pressure from the mob - registered a blasphemy case against the three Christians!

However, the irony doesn’t end here. While Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif condemned this incident, he had himself presided over an important meeting of the ulema just four weeks before with a very different message. The meeting put out a joint proclamation stating that “.. whosoever is even slightly guilty of blasphemy against the Prophet – directly or indirectly – is an infidel, an apostate, and liable to be put to death”.

Tags: christians, muslims, pakistan

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'Coalition of the willing' comes to end in Iraq

Christians Killed and Homes Burnt in Pakistan