By Nate Beeler
Washington Examiner Cartoonist

By Gerard Couzens

Argentine Falklands war veterans have threatened to invade the islands if Britain does not give up sovereignty.

Soldiers warned of a rerun of the 1982 conflict in a chilling message to Gordon Brown’s government today.

The threat came after diplomatic tensions between Britain and Argentina mounted as oil exploration in the Falklands continued and a Navy submarine was apparently dispatched to the area.

Argentines call the Falklands Islands Las Malvinas.

A spokesman for a leading Buenos Aires-based war vets’ association, reigniting fears a new conflict is looming, vowed: ‘If the Malvinas cannot be recovered peacefully we will return as soldiers.

‘We have sworn to defend our nation and that oath is always with us.

‘Malvinas is a national cause.’

Cesar Gonzalez Trejo, spokesman for the Malvinas Combatants’ Civil Association in Buenos Aires, also called for a national boycott of British products.

And he warned Argentine soldiers who fought against British troops nearly 28 years ago were also planning a Greenpeace-style protest against the oil drilling platforms.

HMS Sceptre, a Swiftsure-class nuclear powered submarine, is said to have been sent from southern Africa to make Argentina think twice about laying serious claims to the islands.

Trejo told Argentine daily Cronica: ‘It’s obvious Britain’s pirate incursion into maritime exploration in the Malvinas is part of a strategy planned 40 years ago.

‘They’ve sent their Navy to reinforce and protect their economic interests.’

Labelling Britain ‘invaders’ and ‘pirates’ he added in a message to the Argentine public: ‘As far as peaceful measures go, we have tools to boycott them which can do more damage than weapons.

‘The UK has direct and indirect financial interests in our country.

‘Not consuming their products or depending on them is the best way of confronting them.

‘There’s also an idea for a peaceful protest in boats like the Greenpeace protests without threatening the British.’

Trejo’s threats, made in the name of his association’s members, came a day after it emerged Argentine politicians are set to debate a bill forcing firms to choose between the south American nation and the Falklands.

The bill, yet to become law, imposes a 30-day deadline on firms to axe ties with the Falklands or face being kicked out of Argentina.

Backers say they hope to target firms like Barclays, a shareholder of British firm Desire Petroleum which is currently drilling for oil in the Falklands.

It also emerged today that British Embassy officials in Buenos Aires are bracing themselves for a new demonstration by Argentine protestors.

Scores of protestors armed with petrol bombs tried to storm the British Embassy earlier this month.

Around 100 masked activists marched on the building and burned the Union Flag to demonstrate against Britain’s ownership of the Falklands.

A new demonstration is planned for April 2.

Trejo, in a plea for peace which went against his earlier threats of war, said: ‘We are hoping for huge support from the Argentine people.

‘It’s not intended as a provocation but as a mass mobilization.

‘Those bent on violence should stay at home because we’re not going to burn flags or anything like that. The march will be peaceful.’

Argentina has claimed the Falklands since Britain established its rule in the 19th century and invaded the South Atlantic Islands in 1982.

After a two-month war they were forced to withdraw their troops.

Argentines still maintain a claim to the archipelago, which lies 300 miles from its coast.

In the past month, Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has reasserted their claim and has objected to the British oil exploration.

Recently she asked for the US to intervene in the row.

The Argentine government has also tabled a UN resolution condemning Britain for allowing oil exploration off the Falklands.

Last month President Kirchner issued a decree forcing ships sailing to the Falklands from Argentine to seek a permit.

9 News

DENVER (AP) – Federal prosecutors are accusing a Colorado company of exporting technology used by the U.S. military to South Korea, China, Russia and Turkey.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Denver announced the charge Wednesday against Rocky Mountain Instrument Co., and said the company will be forced to forfeit $1 million if convicted.

U.S. District Attorney Spokesman Jeff Dorschner declined to comment on whether the alleged crime compromised national security.

The company, which manufactures optics components, says it is working toward a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Prosecutors say RMI exported prisms and technical data for optics used in military applications to the four countries from April 1, 2005 to Oct. 11, 2007.

The Lafayette, Colo.-based company says it has been cooperating with investigators.

WaPo

CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico—The gangland-style murders of three people with ties to the U.S. consulate in this border city have confirmed for many people what residents here already knew: President Felipe Calderón’s strategy of sending in the troops to corral drug gangs has failed.

The gritty working-class city of 1.5 million has become a litmus test for Mr. Calderón’s antidrug strategy and, by extension, his presidency. The conservative leader took power vowing to bring cartels to heel, and chose Mexico’s army rather than local police to do the job, sending 45,000 troops to various hot spots, including 7,000 to Juárez.

But violence has skyrocketed in Juárez, an assembly center for export goods that never escaped its roots as a border playground for Americans. It has suffered a disproportionate amount of the mayhem, accounting for 5,349 out of more than 18,000 drug-related murders across Mexico since Mr. Calderón took power in December 2006.

“It’s a complete failure,” Oscar Cantú, publisher of local newspaper El Norte, says of Mr. Calderón’s enforcement strategy.

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, while praising Mr. Calderón’s antidrug efforts, said this week the military deployment “hasn’t helped.”

On Tuesday, Mr. Calderón visited the city, just days after an American couple, including a woman who was four months pregnant and worked at the U.S. consulate, were killed in broad daylight. Separately, another man married to a consulate worker was killed.

The president told residents he regretted the “cowardly” murders and that the fight for Juárez was crucial to Mexico’s future. Mr. Calderón resisted calls by some protesters to pull out the army, saying “I don’t think that’s going to help Juárez’s security problem.”

The president’s top aides tacitly acknowledge that the army strategy hasn’t worked. Officials say they will try two new approaches: a greater focus on intelligence work, and an effort to create jobs, build schools, open parks and counsel drug addicts.

On March 23, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will lead a top-level delegation to Mexico, including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, to discuss efforts against drug cartels, Reuters reported State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley as saying Wednesday.

Juárez, considered the world’s murder capital, is caught in a turf war between two Mexican drug gangs fighting to control smuggling rights to the giant U.S. market. The violence scares away investment needed to reduce poverty and undercut drug gangs. The local manufacturers’ trade group estimates nearly $1 billion in potential investment has been lost over the past two years due to the insecurity.

Amid a wave of extortions, many city businesses have shut their doors. Many families with the means have fled across the border to El Paso, Texas.

On the day the Americans were murdered, six other people were killed here in drug-related hits, according to local newspaper reports. A typical incident: A man identified only as Nicolas was riding a bicycle on a boulevard at 8 p.m. when he was chased by gunmen in a car. He tried to hide but was gunned down. The car drove off.

Part of the problem is that the military doesn’t have the training for intelligence work or counterinsurgency operations that could help turn the tide in Juárez, experts say. Until now, the troops’ main function has been to patrol Juárez and other cities. Most troops rotate out after two-month assignments.

“This was an improvised strategy that wasn’t thought through,” says Arturo Yañez, a former federal antidrug official. Mr. Calderón hasn’t wanted to use Mexico’s local cops, which are widely perceived as corrupt. The army serves as a stopgap while new federal police forces are trained. Mr. Yañez says that money and training should flow not to the army but toward local prosecutors and cops. Local police still aren’t allowed to investigate organized crime. “We aren’t doing enough to support the guys on the ground who can get the best intelligence,” he says.

Other experts say Mexico’s army of conscripts could develop intelligence capacity if it got more direct training from the U.S. military. The U.S. has pledged about $400 million a year in antidrug aid to Mexico, though much of the money is for hardware such as helicopters and hasn’t yet been disbursed.

“A related lesson from Colombia’s experience is that if government forces have the technology and training, they can get ahead of these violent organizations,” says Jay Cope, a fellow at the National Defense University and a retired U.S. Army Colonel.

Mexico, however, is reluctant to ask for increased training. Soon after the U.S. government said the FBI would help Mexico investigate the recent killings of the Americans, several Mexican senators complained about a violation of “sovereignty.”

——————————————————

Mexico has no problem sending millions of its parasitic people to invade the U.S. thereby financially and physically destroying the infrastructure of every place they settle. Mexico has no problem taking billions in aid and illegal remittances from the U.S., yet Mexico has the fucking nerve to worry about the U.S. messing with their sovereignty?  What arrogant sons of whores. Gawd I despise arrogant Mexicans, and I despise the U.S. government for allowing this shit to happen.

AU News

TRAVELLERS are trading comfort for convenience with a new jacket-tent outfit, but those who aren’t keen on tight spaces will be running for the hills.

The JakPak claims to be the first of its kind and is designed for people who love the outdoors, sports enthusiasts and those living in areas prone to natural disasters.

However those who suffer from claustrophobia will no doubt be shocked by how little space there is inside.

It it designed so that travellers can don the waterproof shirt during the day before transforming it into a tent at night.

The tent is detachable from the sleeping bag which means it can also be used as a pack cover, and the space between them is bridged by see-through insect netting.

Many travellers seem happy to sacrifice comfort for convenience and a lot of weight, with the majority of feedback on social networking website Twitter about the Jetpak positive.

“What every nerd-go-camping was waiting for: a tent inside your jacket,” traveller Danieli Francesco said.

“Everyone should have one of these things,” Christina Nicole said.

However others were less keen on the idea.

“Ever wonder what it feels like to be a caterpillar in a cocoon? Now you can,” traveller Christina said.

“Because you don’t look enough like an idiot when you’re camping,” writer Jessica Helmers said.

One traveller even compared the JakPak to the famous Snuggie outfit.

“And, we have the outdoors person’s Snuggie. ‘Dude, you forgot your tent!’ – ‘Dude, pull my sleeve,” blogger Andy Woolard said.

As shown in the company’s Flickr photo feed, some campers stuff additional sleeping bags into the JakPak to make it more comfortable.

The jacket-tent weighs around one kilogram and sells for $US250 ($270).

The new version made its debut in Utah, US, earlier this year.

(CNSNews.com) – The Saudi lawyer acting for “descendants of Mohammed” who claim their forbear was defamed by cartoons published in Danish newspapers hopes to use courts in Britain, a popular center for “libel tourism,” to secure damages.
 
Faisal Yamani’s efforts to get more than a dozen newspapers to issue formal public apologies for reprinting a series of cartoons depicting Mohammed have been largely unsuccessful, although one liberal daily, Politiken, recently agreed to do so, raising concerns about the implications for free speech.
 
Yamani is now eyeing courts in Britain, where people with little or no connection to Britain have successfully sued for libel, in some cases because the allegedly offending material has been accessible to Internet users in Britain.
 
The Saudi says he represents eight organizations, based in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Libya, Qatar, Jordan, Australia and the Palestinian self-rule territories, whose members together comprise almost 95,000 descendants of Mohammed.

 
In communications with the newspapers, Yamani said their decision to publish the cartoons – he cited in particular one depicting a man with a turban shaped like a bomb – had left his clients “personally insulted, emotionally distressed and defamed.”
 
Denmark’s justice minister, Lars Barfoed, told the Danish Berlingske Tidende newspaper it would be unacceptable if British courts could rule against Danish media organizations and require them to pay damages and legal costs.
 
Barfoed said Denmark would ask the European Union’s executive Commission to intervene to prevent the case from being brought in Britain, the Copenhagen Post reported. E.U. rules on mutual recognition of European civil and commercial court rulings came into effect in January 2009, although defamation and privacy violations remain a contentious area.
 
Yamani held a press conference at a Beirut hotel on March 4 to discuss what he is calling “the Prophet Case.”
 
He said 17 Danish newspapers faced three demands – to apologize, to remove the cartoons from all Web sites under their control, and to promise not to publish them again. Only Politiken had agreed.
 
“We will continue our efforts to settle this matter amicably in order to avoid multiple jurisdictional litigation in pursuit of a very significant amount of damages on behalf of my clients,” he said.
 
Yamani urged other newspapers to comply with “a simple request that would benefit Denmark’s cultural image and commercial ties.”
 
‘Soviet-style organ of censorship’
 
The use of claimant-friendly libel laws in countries like Britain has been labeled “libel tourism” by critics, who say the aim is to silence foreign journalists and authors.
 
In one prominent 2005 case a Saudi businessman sued author Rachel Ehrenfeld for claiming in a book that he was a key fundraiser for al-Qaeda. Although the book had not been published in Britain, because it was available in Britain from online booksellers – 23 copies were bought that way – it was able to go ahead. In his ruling, the judge also pointed in his judgment to the fact the Saudi had business interests in Britain. He ruled that the claims were defamatory and false.
 
In 2007, an Icelandic bank, Kaupthing, sued a Danish newspaper for publishing articles online, in Danish and English, which the bank claimed were defamatory. Kaupthing also sued in London, on the basis that it is Europe’s financial capital and the bank’s executive chairman lives there. Kaupthing won an apology, damages and costs.
 
Prompted by the Ehrenfeld case, the New York state legislature later passed legislation which Gov. David Paterson said in a May 2008 statement offered New Yorkers “greater protection against libel judgments in countries whose laws are inconsistent with the freedom of speech granted by the United States Constitution.”
 
The “libel tourism” issue has stoked considerable controversy in Britain.
 
“The willingness of British courts to allow wealthy foreigners who do not live here to attack publications that have no connection with Britain is now an international scandal,” Labor lawmaker Denis MacShane said during a House of Commons debate on the subject early last year.
 
He called it “unbelievable” that American legislators were having to pass laws “to stop British courts seeking to fine and punish American journalists and writers for publishing books and articles that may be freely read in the United States, but which a British judge has decided are offensive to wealthy foreigners who can hire lawyers in Britain to persuade a British court to become a new Soviet-style organ of censorship against freedom of expression.”
 
The government is coming under pressure to act.
 
Last month a parliamentary committee dealing with media and culture issued a report saying that “libel tourism” was damaging Britain’s reputation as a country which protects freedom of speech and expression.
 
“It should be a matter of profound concern that the U.K. is now regarded as the jurisdiction of choice for litigants to bring libel actions, even when there is no obvious connection with this country,” said the committee’s chairman, Conservative lawmaker John Whittingdale.
 
“It is a humiliation that U.S. legislators have felt it necessary to take steps to protect freedom of speech from what are seen as unreasonable incursions by our courts and we believe the government should address this as a matter of urgency.”
 
The committee recommended that in cases where Britain is not the primary place of business or residence of the claimant or defendant in a libel case, then “the claimant should face additional hurdles before being allowed to bring a case” in Britain.

By Mail Foreign Service

The first French police officer to be killed by Basque ETA terrorists was gunned down in a shoot-out just south of Paris last night.

One separatist fanatic, Josebo Fernandez Aspurz, was arrested and a major manhunt was on today for five others, including a woman, who fled from the scene.

Police brigade leader Jean-Serge Nerin, a 53-year-old father of four, was the first member of the French security forces to be killed by the Basque terror organisation in its 42 years of bloodshed.

Suspect: Josebo Fernandez Aspurz, alias El Guindi, top, was arrested after the shoot-out with police last night. Right, French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux speaking to the press after a policeman died in the shoot-out

He died in hospital an hour after being shot following the robbery of at least one vehicle from a used car dealers at a shopping precinct at Dammarie-les-Lys, a town of 20,000 just south-east of Paris, on Tuesday night.

He and three fellow officers had stopped a suspect car when they came under fire from people, including a woman, in a second vehicle. Nerin was wearing a flak-jacket, but the fatal bullet entered his armpit.

The arrested terrorist was named as Joseba Fernandez Aspurz, alias El Guindi.

He is wanted in Spain for a number of fire bomb attacks including one a year ago on a police patrol in Pamplona, the capital of the disputed northern Spanish province of Navarra, which ETA claims as part of the Basque Country.   

Tuesday night’s murder marked the fifth incident in 14 years in which police in France have come under fire from members of ETA, but was the first fatality.

The last shooting was in June last year when a member of the paramilitary Gendarmerie was injured while chasing a suspected member of the terrorist organisation who had stolen a car inland from the Mediterranean port city of Montpelier.

In Spain ETA has killed more than 800 people, many of them police, in more than four decades of terrorist bloodshed.

The last police killing there was last summer when two members of the paramilitary Civil Guard died when their car was blown-up at the popular resort of Palma Nova in Majorca.

The outrage was witnessed by several British tourists.

By Sam Greenhill and Nabila Ramdani

The health of the freed Lockerbie bomber has ‘greatly improved’ now he is home in Libya, Colonel Gaddafi’s son boasted yesterday.

He said Abdelbaset Ali Mohamed al-Megrahi was doing much better since being released seven months ago by the Scots on compassionate grounds because he had ‘only three months to live’.

In words which will confirm the suspicions of Lockerbie victims’ families, Saif Gaddafi – widely tipped to succeed his father as Libyan leader – also finally admitted that the convicted killer’s release had dominated trade talks with Britain.

This would have included discussions about lucrative oil deals, despite the fact that Megrahi was officially released purely on compassionate grounds. Five months after the release, Libya announced plans to invest £5billion in the UK.

Megrahi, 57, has acquired national hero status in Libya, with babies named after him and an extraordinary 30,000 well-wishers reported to have visited his ‘death bed’. Queues of pilgrims form outside the sumptuous villa in Tripoli where he remains with his family despite doctors’ predictions that he would be dead by Christmas.

London-educated Saif Gaddafi told the respected Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat that Megrahi ‘was sick and was released for humanitarian reasons, and was soon in better health and in a good condition. His future is now in God’s hands’.

Ministers in London always insisted the decision to free Megrahi was entirely in the hands of the Scots, while Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill denied he was under any pressure to release the convicted bomber.

Megrahi, who completed a course of chemotherapy in December, is usually seen propped up in bed. Groups of well-wishers are allowed in half-a-dozen at a time to spend a few minutes with him.

His eldest brother, Mohammed Ali, said: ‘The public response is not a political one, but a show of support for someone who is much loved.

‘My brother sacrificed ten years of his life to assist in the lifting of the economic blockade against Libya.’

Some relatives of victims of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 suspect Megrahi was never as sick as he claimed to be. They believe it was an unforgivable mistake to release the convicted terrorist.

Days after dropping an appeal against his conviction for the 270 deaths caused when Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Megrahi flew home to a hero’s welcome.

It later emerged that he had £2million stashed in a Swiss bank account before his conviction.

Karl West

The UK taxpayer could still end up forking out for the bailout of debt-stricken Greece despite Treasury assurances, politicians warned last night.

The fears come as eurozone finance ministers are today expected to discuss a package of aid worth tens of billions of euros for the ailing country.

Philip Davies, Tory MP for Shipley, last night said it would be ‘unacceptable’ for UK taxpayers to be asked to pay any money to help Athens.

And he urged Gordon Brown to give a cast-iron guarantee that it would not happen.

He said: ‘We always fear the worst with this Government.

‘Perhaps the Prime Minister should give a categoric assurance that not one penny piece of UK taxpayers’ money will go towards bailing out Greece.

‘We’ve got enough financial problems of our own without having to bail out another irresponsible country.’

Despite claims to the contrary from the Treasury, UKIP MEP Nigel Farage claimed Britain will not be spared from the burden of a Greek bail-out, saying ‘it is certain that Britain will bear the brunt’. 

He added: ‘Our public deficit is as bad as Greece’s yet we will still be bailing them out and it will cripple us.

‘The fact we are not in the eurozone makes no odds. We will not be sheltered from it.’

The rescue will not only help Greece pay down its spiralling debts, but is also expected to shore up confidence in the euro, which has been hammered in recent weeks as investors feared it could be brought down by the crisis.

Details of the financial lifeline were still being worked out over the weekend, but it is thought the 16 countries that make up the eurozone will all be asked to contribute loans or loan guarantees.

Reports suggested eurozone finance chiefs may be ready to agree a £22.6billion handout, led by Germany. Greece’s borrowing needs for this year total £48billion.

A Treasury spokesman insisted any rescue package for Greece would not involve a contribution from Britain, adding: ‘This is a eurozone thing, so it’s nothing to do with us or UK taxpayers.’

M Live

City employees in Detroit will be urged not to wear perfume, cologne or after-shave as a result of a settlement in a federal lawsuit.

Officials plan to place warning placards in three city buildings. The signs will warn workers to avoid “wearing scented products, including … colognes, aftershave lotions, perfumes, deodorants, body/face lotions … (and) the use of scented candles, perfume samples from magazines, spray or solid air fresheners …”

Other notices will go in the new employee handbook and be mentioned in Americans with Disabilities Act training.

The Detroit News reports the move stems from a $100,000 settlement in a federal lawsuit filed in 2008 by a city employee who complained that a co-worker’s perfume made it challenging for her to breathe and do her job.