US seeks stronger military ties with North African states

[Judi Lynn]

Sunday, February 12, 2006

US seeks stronger military ties with North African states

* Rumsfeld praises Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco as ‘constructive partners’ in war on terror

TUNIS: The United States wants to strengthen military ties with Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Saturday at the start of a North African tour.

“We are continuing to participate with these three countries one way or another on military-to-military relations and that is something we value and want to strengthen,” he told reporters on the flight here from the Italian island of Sicily.

Rumsfeld praised the three countries as “constructive partners” in the war on terrorism.

“We’ve got a multi-faceted relationship with these three countries,” he said. Counter-terrorism issues “will certainly be part of the discussion but we’ve worked with each of these countries on a variety of things.”

Tunisia is the first country on a tour that will also take Rumsfeld to neighboring Algeria and Morocco. Rumsfeld said that terrorist networks are attracted to “areas that have large ungoverned spaces where governments are attitudinally more tolerant towards extremism and that would not be the case in any one of these three countries.”
(snip/...)

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\02\12\story_12-2-2006_pg4_7

[FlemingsGhost]

1. Sooner or later, folks hell-bent on world domination ...

go after Northern Africa.

[adriennui]

2. an opportunity to reach out to moderate muslims

and turn them into rabid fundamentalists (as was once the case in algeria).

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

3. "Pick up the gun."

"I'm so sick of arming the world and then sending troops over to destroy the fucking arms, you know what I mean? We keep arming these little countries, then we go and blow the shit out of 'em. We're like the bullies of the world, you know. We're like Jack Palance in the movie Shane, throwing the pistol at the sheep herder's feet: 'Pick it up.' 'I don't wanna pick it up mister, you'll shoot me.' 'Pick up the gun.' 'Mister, I don't want no trouble, huh. I just came down town here to get some hard rock candy for my kids, some gingham for my wife. I don't even know what gingham is, but she goes through about 10 rolls a week of that stuff. I ain't looking for no trouble, mister.' 'Pick up the gun.' Boom, boom. 'You all saw him. He had a gun.'"
- Bill Hicks (on Revelations)