Because sometimes, the Urdu Press just isn't strange enough.
First, an opinion piece....The Iraqi Elections Is Neither Legitimate Nor Fair
In Jan 30 the elections were held after a huge preparation and propaganda by the Iraqi authorities and occupation troops who wanted to legitimize the U.S and its allies installed government, urging the people to participate in the US project.
Amid an insecurity atmosphere and domination of the armed militias belong to many parties and movements in the cities, no agenda put forward for the participants by the parties, the elections campaign was in hands of a very few parties who are very well and heavily supported financially either from the Iraqi belonged money or by the neighboring countries, and the most dangerous part among all, is that some political groups began to use religious and spiritual effects as a tool to attract people to cast the ballot, the major one was the Fatwa issued by Al-Sistany urging the mandate of this elections.
Later on Al-Sistany representatives started issuing religious orders and threats towards the people stating that god will be punishing whoever didn't vote for the list blessed by Al-Sistany, which means terrorizing people spiritually. In addition the authorities used the same old fascist ways that were used by the former regime that was cutting off the rations on whoever didn't vote or spreading out rumors stating that
the failure of the elections will lead the Wahabbies to win and sloter the Shiite and Ayad Allawi is the hero who will save us all.
So they admit that the former regime, which was supported by Russia, really was fascist? Wait a second...
On the whole they have created a dramatically complicated political scene based on frightening and terrorism. Besides all of that some high profile figures who were monitoring the polling station in many regions took advantage of the illiterate women and elderly to vote on their behalf for their own parties.
So the US's alleged clever scheme is based on 'frightening and terrorism,' which is being supported by Syria, who gets its weapons from Russia, often on credit, and with the resulting debt eventually written off... what a conspiracy.
Thus the outcome of the election is known already and the winning lists were known even before the commencement of the elections.
Which is why the results aren't out yet.
The political powers with the US masterminding have completed and passed on a political show. They succeeded to maintain the ethnicity and religious division among the Iraqi people and legitimized a government they installed a year ago.
What they called it elections for those reasons are neither legitimate nor fair. Furthermore it will draw the society down to more division and conflicts, and it is eventually strengthening and deepening the US plan in the region.
Subtle plans are here again...
We call on the, trade Unions, libertarian and secular powers to lead the massive protest against this reactionary and antihuman plan of occupying forces and Islamic and ethnic forces in Iraq and to strengthen the liberation front to put forward the people will to end the occupation of Iraq. Rejection of the division based on the ethnic or religious background which will lead to the failure of the US plan in Iraq and in the region.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
02/12/2005 1:11:32 AM ||
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One almost can hear the echo of the rsing and falling signal of the English language propaganda News broadcats of the old USSR in the telling of these stories.
"Have some of this juche Kool-ade! There's plenty to go around! Dip right in, but remember: Army First!
Loyalty or else!
Guess we can't use the lemmings picture any more.
North Korea urged its impoverished people to rally around Stalinist leader Kim Jong Il on Saturday, after Washington rebuffed the communist North's demand that the sides hold bilateral talks to curb nuclear tension. Pyongyang's state-run daily Rodong Sinmun allotted the whole front page of its Saturday edition to an editorial that said "the single-minded unity serves as the strongest weapon," said the official news agency KCNA. "At a time like today, when the situation gets tense, no task is more important than to strengthen our single-minded unity," the editorial said. Minju Joson, another state-run daily, said that "devotedly protecting the leader is our life and soul."
The surge in communist rhetoric followed North Korea's announcement on Thursday that the reclusive communist country has nuclear weapons for self-defense. With that declaration, Kim brandished his strongest diplomatic card yet and dramatically escalated the nuclear standoff with Washington and its allies. North Korea's claim could not be independently verified. It remained unclear whether North Korea intended to remain a nuclear power or was trying to use the weapons as a bargaining chip to win aid, diplomatic recognition and a nonaggression treaty with Washington — measures the North believes will guarantee the survival of Kim's regime.
My mind keeps drifting back, lo, these many years, to Romania, and how they used to have occasional demonstrations and parades and expressions of love for their version of Kimmie. Then, one day, they took him and the little woman out and stood them against a wall and shot them. They hunted the Securitate guys down and killed them in the streets. Then they moved on to trying to put together a country that works, with all the problems that entails along with the necessity of trying to repair the damage Ceaucescu and the Commies did.
Yet people keep buying the expressions of adoration produced by a state-run press, keep accepting as genuine government-organized demonstrations. I wonder if, a dozen years from now, we're going to be watching some other regime on the edge of dissolution, and the thought of North Korea and how it collapsed is going to pop into somebody's mind? Or will we still be "negotiating" with these nitwits in between KCNA harrangues and diplomatic walkouts, while the population is reduced to eating stones and the average height of an adult male's dropped below three feet?
As the standoff intensified between Pyongyang and Washington, newspapers in South Korea urged the government on Saturday to stand firm against North Korea. "We should be resolute against any nuclear problems that decisively threaten our national security," said the mass-circulation Joong Ang Daily in an editorial. "Seoul and Washington should closely cooperate in finding out the North's intention."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2005 9:51:45 AM ||
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#1
This has the eerie ring of the Stalinist propaganda after the Nazis has just trampled their military en route to Moscow. Stalin was just about to jump ship and head to the far east, to try and save his sorry butt.
#2
This coward is in serious trouble. He doubts his countrymen - and for good reason.
This encounter with comrade kim should turn into a personal affair - all rhetoric should be directed at him alone. His knees have gone weak - if Bush keeps up the regime change chant along with assurances to the NKor people that after kim and his nuclear ambitions fall to the wayside their lot in life will improve - he may indeed bolt.
Anyone that has to call for loyalty is in trouble.
North Korea will have a regime change, and its people will come out of their half century nightmare when everyone quits enabling Kimmie and his band of not-so-merry men.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/12/2005 11:40 Comments ||
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"All is well! All is well!" (channeling Kevin Bacon in Animal House
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi tried Friday to calm growing cries for economic sanctions against North Korea after the communist country announced it had nuclear weapons, even as Tokyo prepared to ban the North's ships from entering its ports starting next month. Koizumi said economic sanctions against the North could threaten six-nation talks aimed at getting Pyongyang to give up its atomic program.
I'd say NKor belligerence and nuke rattling had already threatened the talks...
"I understand the feelings behind growing calls for economic sanctions, but dialogue and pressure are important," Koizumi told reporters in the northern city of Sapporo. The comments were broadcast by Fuji TV. Public support for economic sanctions has surged amid the ongoing dispute between Tokyo and Pyongyang over the North's abductions of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2005 12:50:18 AM ||
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#1
The thought of that NORK missile flying over Japan, is what Koizumi can't get out of his mind! What Japan should do, to shore up determination and resolve in concert with South Korea is to fire it's own missile over South Korea! The gall of this type action would cement the unity of the US, Japan, and South Korea, in any action that might be contemplated by the North.
#2
But that's the problem, smn, "in concert with South Korea." Isn't the government -- and aren't the younger generation -- far-leftist?
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
02/12/2005 3:15 Comments ||
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True, E. Yee, South Korea must be seen as in sync with the Japanese show de'jur for the 'in your face' intent to be absorbed by the NORKS! South Korea will eventually have to accept the 'Red Or Dead' threat from the NORKS as a serious threat for their democracy! My advice to the South would be to play ball with the US and Japan on this one.
#5
"...economic sanctions against the North could threaten six-nation talks..."
There are no six-nation talks. The North has made that clear. But that doesn't rule out five-nation talks.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/12/2005 10:40 Comments ||
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#6
Koizumi is worried about something that has gone and is heading nowhere. Like, 50 years of jive by the Norks has not produced anything but a shaky cease fire. Shut the Norks out. If Kimmie does not get his way, he will ALWAYS threaten those who would deny him a Sea of Fire (TM).
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/12/2005 11:45 Comments ||
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#7
Time for S Korea, Japan, and Taiwan to announce their intent to develop nukes. Then watch how fast China will curb their dog.
Yeah, but I've been doing this long enough not to put an awful lot of trust in "experts."
Bluffs and bluster, then capitulation and compromise. North Korea has decades of experience dancing a diplomatic tango with its allies and enemies to get what it wants — and leaving the rest of the world guessing as to the real intent of the isolated communist regime.
Actually, leaving the rest of the world assuming they're all nutz would be more like it...
North Korea played one of its biggest cards yet Thursday when it boldly stated it had nuclear weapons to deter a U.S. invasion, and was staying away from international talks aimed at convincing it to give up its atomic bombs. Still, experts said the move should be read as a negotiating tactic typical of the North's style and its capricious leader, Kim Jong Il. "Until the ultimate point they maintain their stubborn posture, but in the end they know when to bend their position in order not to break up the entire process," said Park Joun-young, a political science professor at Ewha Women's University in Seoul.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2005 12:35:05 AM ||
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The Norks problem is that people have to believe they have a bomb for the bluff to work. Remember they have never tested one. So the US (and Howard) is doing the right thing by suggesting - they don't believe the Norks have a working bomb. IMO the fact they have never tested one is conclusive proof they don't have one that will work.
Phil_b, are we sure that is the case; what was that huge mountain explosion that occured in North Korea a couple of months ago? Has it been definitively ruled out as a nuke test (ie; no radiation), if so, what was that blast?!
#4
Yeah smn that wasn't a nuke blast. A nuclear detonation has a particularly unique seismic signature that shows up easily. Sorta analogs the double flash in an above ground nuclear explosion.
#5
âIt's a pattern that's been seen repeatedly in the past. The North stoked world fears when it threatened to pull out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in the early 1990s, then backed down after signing a 1994 deal with Washington to receive energy aidâ.
Iâm not sure if backing down really describes what happened. After all they received everything they asked for: food and oil without any effective oversight of their nuclear program.
Posted by: Canaveral Dan ||
02/12/2005 9:40 Comments ||
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The NKors must have run into a technical problem developing a bomb that actually works. Semantically their inference to a weapon could indeed be a dirty bomb of some sort. Thus the bluff of a "nuke."
#8
JP,
Betting that NK has tech problems is a bad bet. NK traded Pakistan ballistic missile tech for uranium enrichment and bomb tech. The Pakistani nuke tests in 1998 showed them which designs did and did not work (some fizzled). http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/pakistan/nuke/
Posted by: ed ||
02/12/2005 11:41 Comments ||
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Wasn't there some speculation that one of Pakistan's nuclear tests was done on behalf of another country?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/12/2005 13:03 Comments ||
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Several Pakistani nuclear bomb tests didn't work. Think about it, if the Norks had tested a bomb that worked their negotiating position improves dramatically. If they have one they would have tested it for sure.
#11
All I needed to see was the Kimmy graphic, and I'm happy. Thanks, BigEd, for putting it in earlier this week. I was at work, and didn't see it till way too late.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2005 12:22:40 AM ||
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The two remaining legs of the âaxis of evilâ are shaking in their boots encouraging each other to remain firm. Should Iran be attacked by the US, I'm 100% positive the NORKS would panic themselves into a trilateral agreement with the west or foolishly preimpt an action into the South, to hasten the wait they have been fearing of!
#2
IMHO, kimmy is truly mad. It's possible to predict NK's probable reactions - but one of those probable reactions will always be the totally crazy response of a mad man.
That's a big problem when nuclear weapons are concerned.
#3
2b---quite possibly mad. But he is also playing the old playbook. Make dire threats, withdraw the threats when appeasement comes through. Then make new dire threats for new agendas. Lather, rinse, repeat. We need to quit playing the game. By we I mean the US, Japan and South Korea, and Russia to some extent. The quicker Nork sinks, the better off everyone, including the North Korean people will be. The Chicoms will figure into this. If they keep Kimmie going, it will cost them big time, like a nuclear armed Japan.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/12/2005 11:53 Comments ||
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There is also the question of whether a mad Kimmie would be obeyed if he uttered an irreversible order. After all, quite recently he disappeared from the news for a while, and his title was reduced to a mere "Leader Kim Jong Il." The Generals must know that they will have to clean up the mess afterward, so they have a double set of consequences to think about at each decision point....
AUSTRALIA'S domestic spy agency retained great concerns about former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib and that was why his passport was cancelled, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said today.
Mr Downer said he doubted Mr Habib would succeed in his action in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) to have his passport returned. "On the basis of the adverse security report that I have received from ASIO (the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation) I have cancelled his passport and I think that is in the best interest of both Australian and the broader international community," he said on Channel 9. "ASIO has great concerns about him. They have great concerns about his alleged involvement with al-Qaeda."
Mr Downer said the Government could appeal if he won in the AAT. But if, in the end, he succeeded, the law would apply and the Americans, who released Mr Habib last month, could not complain, he said.
Mr Downer said Australia had made it clear to the Americans that their concerns about Mr Habib were shared. "And on the basis of sharing their concerns, we are prepared to make sure as best we possibly can his activities were in no way inimical, either to our own security here in Australia or to broader international security," he said.
Mr Habib was detained in Pakistan in late 2001 and transferred to Egypt and then to the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It has been alleged he trained with terror group al-Qaeda. He returned to Australia last month after the US released him without charge.
Mr Downer said he had no advice that the Americans decided to repatriate him because he would air claims of torture and state sponsored abduction at any trial. "As far as these allegations of torture are concerned we have obviously raised them over quite some period of time with the Americans ," he said.
Mr Downer said Australia could not investigate the inner workings of the Central Intelligence Agency and the Pentagon and that had to be left to the Americans. "So far their investigations haven't turned up anything," he said. "There is a separate question of what happened to Habib when he was in Egypt. The issue there is that the Egyptians have at no time acknowledged that they did actually detain Habib, though we for a long time believe they did."
Mr Downer said Australia's Ambassador in Cairo even raised his welfare with the Egyptian prime minister and other ministers. He said he to the best of his knowledge he was taken there by the Pakistanis. "When we have sought this information we haven't been given this information. The reason I think he was sent to Egypt (was) because the Egyptians regarded him as an Egyptian citizen because he was born in Egypt."
This article starring:
MAMDUH HABIB
al-Qaeda
Posted by: God Save The World ||
02/12/2005 8:07:18 PM ||
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FREED terror suspect Mamdouh Habib has revealed he made a secret pact with fellow detainee David Hicks while both Australians were in the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Mr Habib has told the 60 Minutes TV program, in a paid interview to be aired tonight, that he made Mr Hicks promise to tell his family if he disappeared that it meant he had been killed. i might just have to watch 60 minutes tonight and laugh at the monkey
Mr Habib's lawyer also says he was ferried from Pakistan to Egypt on a US Central Intelligence Agency "torture jet". It is alleged the secret agency shackled and handcuffed terror suspects, often forcibly sedating them, before flying them to countries with lax laws on torture.
Mr Habib has accused Australian Government officials of complicity in his abduction to Egypt and brutal detention. He claims his transfer to an Egyptian prison started three years of abuse in three countries, including threats that he would be raped by dogs.
Mr Habib said an Australian consular official met him in Islamabad soon after he was arrested as a terrorist suspect in Pakistan in October 2001. He said he pleaded to be returned to Australia but several weeks later US agents whisked him away to Egypt.
Mr Habib's lawyer, Stephen Hopper, said he believed his client was ferried around in the CIA's Gulfstream V executive jet. "Habib's movements corresponded with flight logs (of more than 300 flights) obtained by sources in London," Mr Hopper said. Mr Habib claims that after being captured in Pakistan, he was flown to Egypt and tortured, then moved to Afghanistan in early 2002.
Mr Habib was reportedly paid $200,000 to appear on 60 Minutes.
He says in the interview he and David Hicks who faces terrorist charges were held in cells at Guantanamo Bay near each other for a brief period. The pair were regularly moved around the camp and met at least once. Mr Habib said the men made a pact. He said: "I told him, 'If you go home and you not find me in Australia, that means I get killed.' "
He asked Mr Hicks to let his family know what happened to him. "He says, 'No worries, I will.' And that's the last time I saw him."
Mr Habib was released last month and returned to Australia, but Prime Minister John Howard has not ruled out his facing charges in Australia.
This article starring:
DAVID HICKS
al-Qaeda
MAMDUH HABIB
al-Qaeda
Posted by: God Save The World ||
02/12/2005 4:20:46 PM ||
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I have just emailed channel 9 and I told them I will be boycotting their channel because of the payment to Habib. I urge other Australians here to do the same.
ASIO [Australian Security Intelligence Organization ]has cracked a spy ring in Canberra after tailing an Israeli diplomat who was suspected of being an agent of Mossad, Israel's espionage service.
Amir Lati, the second secretary at the Israeli Embassy, was secretly expelled from Australia last month.
He is known to have seduced a senior Defence Department official who is believed to have had access to classified documents.
It is believed he intended to use the woman to gain US intelligence and military technology given to Australia.
The Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation put the junior Israeli diplomat — and other embassy officials — under surveillance after he visited two suspected Israeli spies who were arrested in New Zealand.
The scandal has rocked Canberra's intelligence community, and Defence has launched a major investigation into the affair.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
02/12/2005 4:24:16 PM ||
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#1
forget the Jihadis intent on overthrowing your civilization....watch the Joooos
typical post for you God Save The World
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/12/2005 17:43 Comments ||
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#2
The Mossad? In Australia? I'ma freakin shocked. Looking for ex-Jooo, lesbians I figure.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
02/12/2005 19:54 Comments ||
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#4
Typical post is it ? Well i guess your an expert on everything huh frank ? Considering i've posted topics with quite a wide range of variety.
Typical whine for you frank....
Posted by: God Save The World ||
02/12/2005 19:56 Comments ||
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#5
Whineburg.com
Posted by: God Save The World ||
02/12/2005 19:57 Comments ||
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#6
;-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/12/2005 20:09 Comments ||
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#7
hurts, doesn't it, when you're exposed to sunlight
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/12/2005 20:14 Comments ||
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#8
So Australia shouldn't have tried to stop an Israeli spy ring stealing our military tech?
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
02/12/2005 20:50 Comments ||
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#9
I suspect it was a bullshit article to begin with.
"Secretly expelled?" "...known to have seduced a senior Defense Department official..."?
And what would this spy ring really be for?
Israel probably has more cooperative defense projects with the US than Australia does.
The idea that Israel runs spy rings in New Zealand doesn't seem to make sense; they have larger problems closer to home than to try to get alleged secrets from a country that's pretty much shut down its military.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
02/12/2005 21:04 Comments ||
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#10
The alleged spy ring in New Zealand was arrested for trying to obtain a passport for another Israeli who had been using false documents. The Israelis were deported from New Zealand after serving their sentences.
The implication was that Mossad was going to use NZ passport to create an identity that would be used to carry out black ops
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
02/12/2005 21:35 Comments ||
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#11
Let me understand.
Israeli consul met with two distressed Israeli citizens --- probably a part of his job description. And had an affair with "... senior Defence Department official who is believed to have had access to classified documents." Which led ASIO to suspect that "... he intended to use the woman to gain US intelligence and military technology given to Australia."
I have two remarks for Australians.
(a) It's hardly suprizing that a sheila prefers an Israeli to local drongos.
(b) At least you're not accusing us of trying to steal Australian military technology.
#12
Nah doesnt hurt at all Frank, your just making yourself look like a bigger moron then what you were when you fell out your mothers ass.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
02/12/2005 22:15 Comments ||
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#13
Are you a real passported Aussie, GSTW, or just one of those non-passported ones?
Posted by: Tom ||
02/12/2005 22:18 Comments ||
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#14
Im no import, i was born & bred in Australia.
As for you Frank, maybe i've had one beer too many, but your a complete idiot.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
02/12/2005 22:20 Comments ||
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#15
You seem to be positively enbalmed by Forters.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/12/2005 22:22 Comments ||
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#16
Fosters. Damn, blew the line.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/12/2005 22:23 Comments ||
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#17
lol, i thought you meant 'Fosters' i wasn't too sure
Posted by: God Save The World ||
02/12/2005 22:24 Comments ||
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#18
Israeli consul met two alleged Mossad agents, whose ring included an Israeli diplomat. These nen are deported, and then their Australian contact is deported. Israel makes no complaint or protestation of innocence.
Whether you are aware of it or not, Israel does spy on western nations, just like other countries. Australia isn't likely to risk a diplomatic breach by deporting an Israeli diplomat for no reason, particularly since the current Australian government is the most pro-American, pro-Israeli in generations.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
02/12/2005 22:25 Comments ||
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#19
Well, sorry if i've offended anyone, but im going to post whatever i like, im not here to please frank.
PS: fosters is crap - i'm drinking XXXX GOLD
Posted by: God Save The World ||
02/12/2005 22:26 Comments ||
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#20
I traveled the length of your east coast about 20 years ago. Every little town had a Toyota dealer, a Kentucky Fried Chicken stand, and a pub with a huge Fosters sign. I've often wondered what the insides of those Toyotas were like with all that rancid chicken grease and spilled beer. :P
Posted by: Tom ||
02/12/2005 22:29 Comments ||
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#21
Yeah thats where i am, on the East coast, not far from the Great Barrier Reef.
mmmmmm Chicken & beer
Posted by: God Save The World ||
02/12/2005 22:33 Comments ||
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#22
I did Sydney to Port Douglas.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/12/2005 22:35 Comments ||
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#23
evening GSTW - lived down to expectations. I don't expect Aussies or anyone else to OK Mossad spies on their homeland,
Paul, just wondered aloud who was acceptable?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/12/2005 23:02 Comments ||
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#24
hmmm Antiwar by any other name would be?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/12/2005 23:07 Comments ||
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#25
Err, the only fact we know is an Israeli diplomat seduced an Oz gov employee. There is no spy ring I can see.
Frank we all know that pretty much every country spies on most of the others. The presence of 'spies' is not the issue. The issue is did they do something wrong/illegal. Last time I checked seduction was not illegal in Oz.
The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) has removed Turkey, who had remonstrated to the world twice, from the list of countries that will be investigated for torture and added countries who had criticized Turkey this year. Turkey, which had been accused of violating human rights in its fight against terrorism, began using the slogan of "zero tolerance for torture" to help rid it of its past record. Positive results of from recent studies are being obtained. While the CPT announced to the world in 1992 that torture was being implemented in Turkey, it has now removed Turkey from among the list of countries that will be under investigation in 2005. The Committee runs the European Covenant on the prevention of torture. Having criticized Turkey for many years about "torture", Belgium's inclusion to the list drew widespread attention. Germany and Greece were also added to the list with accusations that people whose freedoms were taken away would be examined. The Committee will also investigate human rights violations in Hungary, Norway, the Russian Federation, San Marino, Slovakia and Ukraine along with these three prominent European countries...
#1
Turkey, which had been accused of violating human rights in its fight against terrorism, began using the slogan of "zero tolerance for torture" to help rid it of its past record.
Anyone accused of torturing was immediately beaten until they confessed.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/12/2005 19:30 Comments ||
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It is a fine slogan tho. I wonder if it rhymes in Turkish.
#5
The torture committee is running amuck. This torture accusation thing will gain momentum and will suddenly vanish up its ass and we will never hear of it again.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/12/2005 21:37 Comments ||
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OK this is what the press knows...
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Saturday came out against a German proposal that would create a trans-Atlantic rival to NATO to coordinate and develop policy among alliance nations.
Rumsfeld described the 26-country alliance, created in 1949 to confront the Soviet Union's military strength in the Cold War, as still energetic and vital. As were at least two participants of the conference...
He also said the U.S.-European alliance can withstand its current differences, caused chiefly by opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq. In urging unified efforts to defeat terrorism and deter weapons proliferation, Rumsfeld took a conciliatory note toward America's allies in Europe and even made light of his "old Europe" characterization of nations such as France and Germany that opposed U.S. policy in Iraq.
"That was old Rumsfeld," he said, drawing laughs from officials at a security conference. "Our collective security depends on our cooperation and mutual respect and understanding." And on a different German government maybe...
Germany's defense minister proposed more direct coordination between the European Union and the United States. NATO "is no longer the primary venue where trans-Atlantic partners discuss and coordinate strategies," said Peter Struck, reading a speech on behalf of German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who was ill. Too bad he felt the urge to write anyway...
Struck also recommended appointing a commission to study the idea. Ok, study it, then dump it.
But Rumsfeld said: "NATO has a great deal of energy and vitality. I believe they are undertaking the kinds of reforms to bring the institution into the 21st century. The place to discuss trans-Atlantic issues clearly is NATO." That's why they call it the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
[...]
"Our Atlantic alliance relationship has navigated through some choppy seas over the years. But we have always been able to resolve the toughest issues," he said. "That is because there is so much to unite us: common values, shared histories, and an abiding faith in democracy." Except for those demonstrators waving the old flag of the Soviet Union and Palestine (interesting combo) and held up photos of "pacifist" Che Guevara... the usual suspects.
The Pentagon chief said coordination of legal, diplomatic and intelligence efforts was crucial.
"By now it must be clear that one nation cannot defeat the extremists alone," he said. But until the others get a clue the United States gave the thing a kick start.
"It will take the cooperation of many nations to stop the proliferation of dangerous weapons ... and it surely takes a community of nations to gather intelligence about extremist networks, to break up financial support lines, or to apprehend suspected terrorists," Rumsfeld said. Listening to Mr Ivanov, I'm not so sure about Russia...
He added, "The military can only be part of the solution and it is always the last resort." And sometimes the ONLY resort.
The secretary singled out France and Germany for praise for their arrests of suspected Islamic extremists last month. The sparrow in the hand...
[...]
He also said he believed that U.S. and European policy concerning Iran's nuclear ambitions were in accord. "There is not much daylight between the approach of the United States and the Europeans," Rumsfeld said. TGA will have a lot to comment on that issue in the coming days...
Posted by: True German Ally ||
02/12/2005 3:02:11 PM ||
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"There is not much daylight between the approach of the United States and the Europeans." Interesting parse, sort of like "If you're not part of the solution, you are part of the problem."
SINGAPORE'S highest authority on Islamic affairs has declared that it does not support any move to develop a casino in the city-state. The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) said, through its president Alami Musa, that its position is based on religious and social considerations. "We cannot accept a casino on religious grounds and, in Islam, we totally reject the idea of gambling as it can bring harm to society," Alami said on Wednesday after an event at the Darul Ghufran Mosque in Tampines to mark the start of the Muslim new year. I have been to Singapore, and I can attest that the greatest social threat stems from the backwardness of its parasitic clerical elite.
"Islam teaches its followers to make a living through honest work and not through chance or luck. Islam forbids its followers to work in support of, or invest in, the casino project." Last I heard, 100% of the economic success of Singapore and Malaysia is rooted in the vibrant commercialism of their Chinese and Hindu minorities.
...Muis was established as a statutory board in 1968 to advise the President on all matters relating to Islam in the republic. Let Muslims eat jihad.
Eh. At least at this juncture, the Muis sounds reasonable, and AFAIK, nothing's gone "boom" in Singapore. 'Course we dunno what the preacher man is saying in the mosque at Friday prayers, but I'm inclined to grant him his opinions, as long as it stays civil.
Posted by: IToldYouSo ||
02/12/2005 3:05:52 AM ||
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#1
Singapore has pretty strict laws relating to religous and ethnic incitement. I suggest any muslim cleric who preached kill all the Jooos/Infidels would find himself in the slammer by the end of the day.
#2
The religious leaders here in East Tennessee were vehemently against a state lottery, saying much the same things as this Imam. The difference is nobody went BOOM when the lottery passed. As long as they only speak out against it, everything's OK. WHat does worry me, and I'm sure the Government leaders in Singapore, is are they going to forcefully exert their influence on the rest of the population?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/12/2005 8:10 Comments ||
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#3
I think this is routine opposition from religious leaders who fear having a casino nearby may corrupt their flock. At present, Malaysia has the only legal casino in Southeast Asia. Singapore has legalized prostitution. If a casino opens up there, it may become the Las Vegas to Malaysia's Atlantic City.
#5
At UCLA, etc, the Muslim Students Association habitually campaigns for dry-grad ceremonies. A campaign for responsible drinking would be more credible. Even where they are in a minority position, Muslims try to enforce sharia perversity.
Check out the Detroit and Windsor casinos. There is no prostitution or other illicit sex anywhere on either sites. In fact, there is so much security, and linkage with local law enforcement, that it would be unthinkable. Casinos don't cause sex; hormones do.
#6
Hmmmm a "casino owner" might have to have some employees "speak" to the cleric, explain things in terms he can understand...like keeping his appendages and children whole
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/12/2005 16:11 Comments ||
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I must admit, Moro politix are a bit Byzantine for my taste, and somehow I think Arroyo is gettin' played, but here goes:
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Thursday denounced the Jolo clash saying it is not their war and announced that they won't support the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) "breakaway" group's call for their troops to join in the on-going war in Jolo. Both the MILF and the government also said the Jolo clash "will not in any way affect the moves for the resumption of the peace talks." They, however, admitted there is still no definite date as to when the formal peace negotiations will resume.
"Maybe when the fighting dies down, but that could take a while. Say, this shrimp cocktail is really outstanding!"
The Coordinating Committees on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCHs) of the government and MILF Thursday held its 25th Joint Meeting at the Pryce Plaza Hotel. The affair was also attended by the International Monitoring Team (IMT) from Malaysia. During the press conference, MILF-CCCH chairman Von Al-Haq was asked on whether its troops would heed the call of Abu Solaiman, MNLF breakaway group leader in Jolo, that the MILF join its forces in the on-going clash. Al-Haq replied, "We are in the MILF that is not our war that is very clear."
"As long as the teevee cameras are on," he forgot to add.
He also made it clear that the MILF-GRP peace talks will not be affected in any way by the on-going Jolo clash. "It (Jolo clash) has nothing to do with our peace process," he said. Al-Haq was the one who replaced Benjie Midtimbang as MILF-CCCH chairman to conform with some internal rule.
After hearing this statement from his MILF counterpart, GRP-CCCH chairman Brigadier General Alexander Yano for his part said, "this is a positive development considering that no less than the chairman of the MILF-CCCH is pronouncing that the MILF has nothing to do with the cause of the MNLF (breakaway group) in Jolo." Yano also said the CCCH has "now set the stage and paved the way for the resumption of the peace talks." He nevertheless "said, "We are not in the position to give the exact date on when the peace talks would be scheduled.
"But we're keeping a close eye on the 'having peace talks' funding. If we're forced to start ordering from the early-bird menu, we may have to consider moving up on the schedule."
This military general who replaced General Rodrigo Garcia nevertheless later told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro that they have received reports that the peace talks would be set anytime this month. "But still it is indefinite," he said.
Sri Lankan government on Friday blamed splinter factions of the Tamil rebel movement for the slaying of a top guerrilla leader and praised it for the "restraint" it had shown since the killing. Accusing "factions" of the killing, the government said the splinter groups oppose a Norwegian-brokered ceasefire between the government and the Tigers. "There are factions working to sabotage the ceasefire agreement between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)," government spokesman Mangala Samaraweera told reporters after a cabinet meeting. "It's the work of those who want to see the ceasefire agreement come to an end. In a way, the ceasfire has been violated by such people."
A senior Tamil Tiger leader, E Koushalyan, a former Tamil legislator and four other rebels were gunned down Monday in the eastern Batticaloa district in a government-controlled area. There has been no claim of responsibility but Tamil Tigers have blamed rebel renegades working with Sri Lanka's military.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2005 12:29:16 AM ||
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"Does this belt make me look fat?"
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/12/2005 14:24 Comments ||
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No, not really... it's the vertical stripes that make you look like the f*****g Michelin Man!
Iran and Belarus support each other on the international scene in the solution of human and political problems, Iranian ambassador to Belarus Abdulhamid Fekri told a RIA Novosti correspondent.
Speaking about the Iranian nuclear programs, Mr. Fekri said they had peaceful purposes and had nothing to do with weapons of mass destruction.
"All US accusations against Iran in this sphere are groundless," he stressed.
According to him, Iranian nuclear programs are carried out independently. "Today we have many young scientists aged 24-26 who are working independently in the nuclear research sphere," the ambassador said.
In spite of close cooperation with Belarus in the cultural, economic and scientific spheres the Iranian side is not going to ask Belarussian nuclear physicists for assistance, Abdulhamid Fekri noted.
In his words, cooperation with Belarus will be developing in the future because Iran is interested in hi-tech production in Belarus. Iran is going to purchase trucks in this country. Moreover, Iranian oil companies would like to cooperate with the Belarussian oil-processing industry.
In a massive roundup by Iranian security officials, as many as 50 Iranian CIA operatives were exposed and killed, leaving the U.S without any intelligence sources in that critical Middle Eastern nation.
The shocking story surfaced on Feb. 2, when former Pentagon adviser Richard N. Perle told the House Intelligence Committee about what he called the "terrible setback that we suffered in Iran a few years ago when, in a display of unbelievable, careless management, we put pressure on agents operating in Iran to report with greater frequency and didn't provide improved communications." He called it an example of the failures that have beset U.S. espionage in the Mideast.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Perle, a longtime critic of the agency, recalled that when the CIA's sources stepped up their reporting, "the Iranian intelligence authorities quickly saw the surge in traffic and, as I understand it, virtually our entire network in Iran was wiped out."
While confirming the gist of Perle's report, CIA sources told the Times that the incident occurred in the late 1980s or early 1990s, not "a few years ago," as Perle suggested. They added, however, it was not clear that the informants were exposed because of any pressure from the agency to file reports more frequently.
The CIA declined to comment officially, but a U.S. intelligence official rejected Perle's criticism of the agency's record in the Mideast as both ill-informed and outdated.
"Intelligence methods evolve constantly," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Times. "Trying to use these things from the past to make assertions about the present is in this case ill-advised."
Perle admitted that his timing was off, but told the Times: "I don't recall the details, or the mechanism by which the [Iranian agents] were communicating. What I was told was that our entire network was destroyed" and that as many as 40 of the informants were executed.
A former CIA official who served in the Mideast at the time confided to the Times that the Iranian informants were part of a network of spies that was run by CIA officers based at the agency's station in Frankfurt, Germany.
Incredibly, the communications system used to contact their agents and be contacted by them was right out of a 19th century spy novel - they used invisible ink!
According to the Times, the former CIA official recalled that the Iranian agents communicated with the agency "via secret writing," referring to messages printed in invisible ink on the backs of letters that were mailed out of the country. The spies received messages in the same fashion from a CIA officer in Frankfurt, the former official told the Times.
While admitting that he did not know what tipped off the Iranians, Perle said: "All of the letters went to a handful of addresses in Germany. Once they had one agent and they recovered the letters that had come in to him and found out where he was sending his letters out, they quickly identified others who fit that profile."
Consequently, the Times reported, as many as 50 spies, who were providing information on an array of activities, were exposed. They included members of Iran's military, the former official said.
Perle, an assistant Defense secretary in the Reagan administration and a Pentagon adviser who advocated the invasion of Iraq, said he mentioned the Iranian operation to highlight how the agency had struggled in the region.
"I think we're in very bad shape in Iran," Perle said during his testimony.
He also complained that CIA leaders had not been held accountable and noted that the official who had been in charge of the exposed Iran operation was later promoted.
In a recent unclassified report, the CIA, now operating in the blind without intelligence assets in Iran thanks to the destruction of its spy network there, says it believes Iran is "vigorously" pursuing chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and that its civilian nuclear development program is a cover for efforts to build a bomb.
And the agency doesn't have a single bottle of invisible ink left to equip any Iranian agents it manages to recruit to confirm its suspicions.
TEHERAN — Iranian human rights lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi has complained of again being summoned to court, as well as subjected to death threats, the student news agency Isna reported yesterday. "I have been summoned for trial on February 23, without knowing what the new charge is and what will be the fate of this case," she was quoted as writing to reformist President Mohammad Khatami.
Ebadi was also said to have told Khatami she had been subjected to a string of death threats, and the culprits had been arrested and jailed but recently released. She also said her home had suffered several attempted break-ins. In addition, Ebadi complained that the judiciary were refusing to return her house deeds, posted as bail in a case that dates back more than five years.
Ebadi also wrote to Khatami to protest what she said were attempts during the past two months by unidentified people — trying to pass themsleves off as police — to raid her offices and arrest her staff members. According to Ebadi, "people are trying to hinder my activities."
That's why they call it a police state.
In January, Ebadi was summoned to appear before a branch of the feared Revolutionary Court — an apparatus that normally deals with national security offences — to "provide some explanations" on her activities or else be arrested.
But Iran's hardline Iran's judiciary later said the summons had been a mistake caused by a bureaucratic mix-up and insisted Ebadi was not being pursued. The judiciary said that summons concerned a private complaint of "insult".
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/12/2005 12:29:40 AM ||
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#1
For a Nobel Laureate, w00t!, she's pretty damned slow.
#2
"...Ebadi was not being pursued"
no, that will be later this month or next, when this particular round of intimidation ends in a draw.
Its interesting that the Black Hats don't just throw her in prison - they must fear a reaction if they are too heavy handed. Is she popular enough to form a rallying point?
Who is betting it will not be too long before there is a "burglary gone wrong" and she gets shut up once and for all.
paraphrasing .com, pretty damn brave or pretty damn slow. My guess is the former.
Washington will not stop Iran pursuing nuclear technology and should not attempt a military "adventure" in the country, an influential cleric said on Friday. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has exhorted Iran to give up what she says is a nuclear weapons programme. U.S. officials have stressed diplomacy but not ruled out an attack against atomic sites, which Iran insists are to meet booming demand for electricity.
"The Persian Gulf is not a region where they can have fireworks and Iran is not a country where they can come for an adventure," cleric and former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani told worshippers at Friday prayers. "It is not acceptable that developed countries generate 70 or 80 percent of their electricity from nuclear energy and tell Iran, a great and powerful nation, that it cannot have nuclear electricity. Iran does not accept this," he added.
Although France produces close to 80 percent of its electricity from nuclear power stations, most major industrialised nations derive under 30 percent, U.S. Energy Information Administration data says. Rafsanjani is often hailed by analysts as a pragmatist who wants to restore diplomatic relations with the United States. However, Iran's right to produce its own nuclear fuel from uranium mined in the central deserts is a subject that unites politicians across the conservative and reformist camps. Talks with France, Britain and Germany have aimed to persuade oil-rich Iran to drop its fuel making programme in return for economic incentives.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
The US should let it 'slip' to the media, that it only needs to destroy Iran once, to force submission compliance!
#4
The US only need destroy the 300 sites (both confirmed and suspected) with the caveat of regime change as a simultaneous option! The US will not be the first to push the Nuclear Button, but the last. As always The US need the impetous for the final option; remember, no one was "nuked" by the US for 9/11, an Iran certainly would not be able to do that type of destruction in the US firsthand, their retaliatory strike(s) would be against the strategic forces in the theater. The Use It Or Lose It senario will force the mullahs to draw down their ultimate destiny for the Iranian people.
#5
#1 POSTER.. NUKE THE BITCH THAT SHIT YOU OUT SCUM BAG BASTARD ...THE OWNER OF THIS FAG UNITED OF AMERIKKKKA BLOG SHOUL BE RAPPED FOR PERMITTING THIS LANGUAGE YOU ARE NOT WHAT AMERICA IS ALL ABBOUT AND SCUM LIKE YOU AND ALL THE OTHERS PLEAZ GO BACK TO iNDIA OR ISRZRA FUCCCK YOU ALL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: SEND THE SCUM BACK TO India ||
02/12/2005 5:09 Comments ||
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#6
#1 POSTER.. NUKE THE BITCH THAT SHIT YOU OUT SCUM BAG BASTARD ...THE OWNER OF THIS FAG UNITED OF AMERIKKKKA BLOG SHOUL BE RAPPED FOR PERMITTING THIS LANGUAGE YOU ARE NOT WHAT AMERICA IS ALL ABBOUT AND SCUM LIKE YOU AND ALL THE OTHERS PLEAZ GO BACK TO iNDIA OR ISRZRA FUCCCK YOU ALL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For more information dial 1-800-TEDDYKENNEDY, but don't dial the NNEDY.
#7
And I shall rapped Fred, thrice! Take that, you Bad Blog Guy!
PLEASE:
For heaven's sakes, don't delete this jewel. It's priceless. We're only talking a few amino acids, mebbe an alkaloid or two, a missing chromosome, and *poof* we'd all be just like him. (See Dr Steve for specifics.)
#12
I think a few well-placed nukes would do wonders in obliterating some of Iran's nuke/missile facilities in short order and sending a message to our sworn adversaries that our nuke arsenal is not just some hypothetical bargaining tool. Conventional weapons can take out the easier targets including the Iranian military near the Gulf. The likes of #5 need to be humbled.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/12/2005 10:34 Comments ||
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#13
"...developed countries generate 70 or 80 percent of their electricity from nuclear energy..."
The Great Satan produces about 20% of its electricity by nuclear means, but would probably do less if it was sitting on the natural gas reserves that Iran is.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/12/2005 10:37 Comments ||
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#14
Grandmaster Flash Fred to you, sir!
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/12/2005 11:17 Comments ||
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#15
Wow, the things you miss when you're out checking the missile silos...
ITSY, do you have any solutions that don't involve nukes?
Maybe, but where's he going to find 700 55-gallon drums of Miracle Whip, a ton of peacock feathers, and a willing midget?
...YOU ARE NOT WHAT AMERICA IS ALL ABBOUT AND SCUM LIKE YOU AND ALL THE OTHERS PLEAZ GO BACK TO iNDIA OR ISRZRA...
Dear DU moderators, please come over and pick up your dog. It's ruining the front lawn.
#16
Okay, okay, I won't nuke #5. He can be today's chew-toy.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/12/2005 12:30 Comments ||
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ITSY and Tom, using a nuke of any kind on Iran would be a disaster for the US -- the single exception being, if they used one on us, the Israelis, or the Euros. The world would NEVER forgive us if we unilaterally popped them. Each and every strong, current ally -- the Brits, the Aussies, the Poles -- would turn against us. We'd never live it down.
We don't need to nuke Iran. We need to encourage a revolution. The mullahs need see the 1989 play, "Nicky Ceausescu's Last Day on Earth". Skip to Act II.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/12/2005 12:33 Comments ||
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#18
Sounds fine, Steve, except how do you encourage revolution? The Romanians lived under Ceausescu's boot for a long time. What makes you think you can have an uprising before the mullah's get their nukes and hide one in your own backyard? Or just hide a very-dirty dirty bomb in your own backyard?
And how do you send the "don't tread on me" message to the others -- the Kimmies, the fanatical Pakis, and others who hate us and have small nuclear arsenals or other WMD capabilities?
The Brits, Aussies, and Poles may be your worry, but the Iranian mullahs, NKors, Pakis, Syrians, etc. are mine. I want to make them positively fear for their lives if another 9/11-type event occurs. I want a Libya-type response and I want it soon.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/12/2005 14:48 Comments ||
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#19
I'll agree we can't stop their ambitions.... ;-p
And no, #1 & 5 - conventional will do quite nicely.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/12/2005 14:56 Comments ||
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#20
I want a Libya-type response and I want it soon.
Why wait? You can do it yourself. Just get a fancy uniform full of medals, an army of fem-bots, and start spouting nonsense.
Posted by: Tom Dooley ||
02/12/2005 16:26 Comments ||
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#22
Don't know that we need nukes; conventional weapons would do just fine.
I wonder if the mullahs are scared by the recent developments in Iraq - and if they're trying to jack up the nuclear talk in order to make both themselves and, to a lesser degree, their subjects feel better. Now, I'm no statesman or military analyst, but what if we tried to support the democratic movements in Iran while running a surgical removal of the mullahs' nuke facilities? Is it possible that we could declaw them without much political fallout?
Posted by: The Doctor ||
02/12/2005 16:54 Comments ||
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#23
the only downside is if they're (the MM's) successful in getting nationalism to trump reality of how badly the people have been misled and misruled. The Iranian peeps are ripe to overthrow the regime
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/12/2005 17:05 Comments ||
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#24
I engage in the thrust and parry with America-haters on a blog run by a Middle Easter Studies prof at Berkeley. I'll post the link Monday. Anyway, this crank, just like Juan Cole, asserts that the Iranian mullocracy IS democracy and IS supported by the vast majority of the people. The assertions to the contrary are written by "propogandists". That was his actual term. Self-delusion is a wonderful thing, no?
#26
We used to say, when I was on active duty, "Nuke 'em till they glow, then shoot 'em in the dark". Unfortunately, black turbans don't glow too well. What we need to do is to run a really NASTY covert operation against them - destroy everything not nailed down. Blow up their ports and harbors, blow up their oil infrastructure and starve them of cash, blow up the mullahs and their respective mosques. Take off the gloves and show them just how nasty we can be, WITHOUT using nukes. And if they respond against us or our allies, destroy their military and civilian infrastructure from the Persian Gulf coast to 200 miles inland from the Armenian border to the Pakistan border. In the meantime, invite all the Iranians in the United States (and our allies) to partake in some serious military training if they're willing to go back to Iran and stir up trouble. While that's a playbook right out of the Russian manual, it's been known to work a time or three. We need to decide we'll do "whatever works" to eliminate the Iranian problem. Then we can follow with Syria, Korea, and whoever else tries to bully the United States.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/12/2005 20:06 Comments ||
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#27
Back in about 1980, a friend of mine who worked on cruise missile development used to boast that we would be able to "put a cruise missile through Breshnev's bedroom window". How about a Mad Mullah's bedroom window. Fired from a sub, nothing announced, nothing admitted, ever.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/12/2005 20:36 Comments ||
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#28
Revolutions cost $$$. I suggest "Lawyers, guns and money." Let the Iranians do the rest.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) has urged the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) component parties to prepare independent plans to launch a campaign against President Musharraf for keeping the offices of president and chief of army staff simultaneously, sources told Daily Times on Saturday.
Sources said that in its central and provincial shoora (consultative body) meeting a few days ago, the JUI-F protested that the MMA was not serious in launching an effective movement against General Musharraf for violating the agreement between the government and the MMA to leave one office by December 31, 2004. JUI-F leaders Maulana Muhammad Khan Sheerani, Qari Sher Afzal and Maulana Rasheed Ahmad urged Maulana Fazlur Rehman that MMA should not cooperate with the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) in an anti-government movement. They claimed that the two major parties of ARD, the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, were in contact with the government and were blackmailing the MMA.
This article starring:
Alliance for Restoration of Democracy
FAZLUR REHMAN
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl
MUHAMAD KHAN SHIRANI
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz
Pakistan Peoples Party
QARI SHER AFZAL
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl
RASHID AHMED
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2005 10:37:04 PM ||
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A Rhode Island high school student won an art award and an A from his teacher for building an abstract scene that juxtaposes Nazi swastikas and quotes by Adolf Hitler with American flags, desert-colored toy soldiers and an image of President Bush.
Jeffrey Eden, 17, insisted he was trying to make comparisons between the U.S.-led war in Iraq and the German blitzkrieg without actually equating Hitler to Bush, the Providence Journal reported.
But his piece, titled "Bush/Hitler and How History Repeats Itself," immediately prompted a complaint after it was displayed at a store with other winners of the Rhode Island Scholastic Art Awards.
Paul Lewis, 34, of North Providence, found the artwork offensive and notified media after asking that it be removed. President Bush's policies have no relationship to Hitler's, he said, but the piece leaves the impression Bush is as evil as the Nazi dictator was.
Eden, who plans to study art after graduation from Chariho Regional High School, thinks he was "clear about what I was trying to get across."
"I believe those who misconstrued the artwork didn't take the time to really read into it," he told the paper.
Eden said he supports U.S. soldiers but contends the war in Iraq was unjustified.
"At the time we invaded, we did not have the justification nor the intelligence to take [Saddam Hussein] out the way we did," he said.
Store owner Hershel Alpert refused to remove the exhibit but attached a disclaimer stating the views of the artist do not represent the store.
"We're not in the business of censoring art," he told the Journal.
Although Eden was rewarded for his creativity, he undoubtedly has been following news of political and popular culture.
As WorldNetDaily reported, MoveOn.org, a left-leaning soft-money organization allied with the Democratic Party, posted two spots equating Bush with Hitler as part of its "Bush in 30 Seconds" television ad contest last year. One of the ads featured images of the German tyrant with the words, "What were war crimes in 1945 is foreign policy in 2003." The final two frames include Hitler with his hand raised and then a shot of Bush with his hand up taking the oath of office.
Last summer, Republicans accused the Kerry campaign of hyprocrisy for calling on Bush to apologize for folding brief excerpts from the MoveOn.org pieces into an ad of its own that begins with the title: "The Many Faces of the John Kerry Campaign. The Coalition of the Wild-eyed."
MoveOn.org's biggest contributor, billionaire financier George Soros, also has evoked the Nazi regime in his criticism of the Bush administration.
In an interview with the Washington Post, Soros said he believed the White House was guided by a "supremacist ideology."
"America, under Bush, is a danger to the world," he said. "... When I hear Bush say, 'You're either with us or against us,' it reminds me of the Germans. ... My experiences under Nazi and Soviet rule have sensitized me."
Although MoveOn.org issued an apology for the Bush-Hitler ads, one week later it staged an event to announce contest winners in which participants stayed on the Nazi theme.
Comedian Margaret Cho said, in part:
"Despite all of this stupid bull---- that the Republican National Committee, or whatever the f--- they call them, that they were saying that they're all angry about how two of these ads were comparing Bush to Hitler? I mean, out of thousands of submissions, they find two. They're like f---ing looking for Hitler in a haystack. You know? I mean, George Bush is not Hitler. He would be if he f---ing applied himself. (big, extended applause) I mean he just isn't."
Singer Linda Ronstadt said after the November election that the U.S. is "like Germany, before Hitler took over. The economy was bad and people felt kicked around. They looked for a scapegoat. Now we've got a new bunch of Hitlers."
GSPC appears to be moving its operations out of the country. The Islamic rebels are widely unpopular and the security forces have gotten better at finding rebel camps. There is, in effect, no place to hide in Algeria. But overseas, particularly in Europe, there are Arab communities that honor and support Islamic militants.
Posted by: ed ||
02/12/2005 1:51:23 PM ||
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That sounds like France to me. Their special investigating judges are going to have a lot of work in the years to come.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will meet Saturday with militant leaders to push them to honor a days-old cease-fire marred by mortar and rocket attacks on Israeli targets, according to an aide. The Islamic militant group Hamas said it would only stop attacks when it was satisfied Israel would release prisoners and stop pursuing militants.
Abbas' planned meetings with Hamas and the Islamic Jihad faction were the latest sign of his commitment to keeping intact the cease-fire he and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared Tuesday to end 4 1/2 years of bloodletting. On Thursday, he fired top security commanders after Hamas bombarded Jewish settlements in Gaza with mortars and rockets. And the central committee of his Fatah movement announced a state of emergency in the Palestinian security forces in an effort to prevent new attacks.
Abbas aide Taeb Abdel Raheem said the Palestinian leader's meetings with the militant factions would take place Saturday night. Asked if Abbas would ask the factions to commit to a cease-fire, Abdel Raheem replied: "I think there is a responsibility, and all the factions should show their responsibility in this sensitive and crucial era." Hamas is interested in a truce, but on condition Israel halt all raids against the militants and release prisoners, spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said. "Hamas still wants a truce, but needs this truce to be with Israeli obligations," Abu Zuhri said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2005 12:33:38 AM ||
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#1
Lol! I just love these stories. They're so, um, imaginative and spun until they're dizzy. Check back in a decade - after that wall is finished - and it will be precisely the same game and stories with the same headlines, unless one side or the other has been wiped out.
#2
I can just see Abbas appealing to the good nature of people that send out their young suicide bombers to kill women and children in buses. "Let us reason together, people." This is a bus to nowhere.
After this road kill map charade is done, Israel needs to finish the wall and pull out of the indefensible settlements. Israel also needs to put the Gazoids on notice if bombardment of Israel continues over the wall, that the water will be shut off to Gaza and they can pound sand in their little hellhole bit of heaven.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/12/2005 12:01 Comments ||
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#3
Abbas better watch his back. Hamas doesn't want peace. Their entire existence is founded on violence. yeah but you gotta try. abbas is doing a lot more than arafat did. I agree with that Stan but Abbas is walking a tight rope. Trying to appease Israel and Hamas isn't going to be easy. no doubt
Posted by: John & Stan ||
02/12/2005 13:37 Comments ||
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The top US diplomat for the Middle East had "productive" talks with Libyan officials in Tripoli this week as the two nations continue to work to improve relations, the US State Department said on Thursday. Assistant Secretary of State William Burns met Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and other officials on Wednesday and Thursday, a sign of warming ties since Libya's 2003 decision to give up its chemical, biological and nuclear arms programs. "Burns held productive and thorough discussions in Tripoli ... continuing the step-by-step process of improvement in US-Libyan relations," the department said in a statement. "He reaffirmed the goal of fully normalized relations, as the US and Libya build cooperation on counter-terrorism, the peaceful resolution of regional conflicts, and economic and political modernization," it added.
This article starring:
Muammar Gaddafi
William Burns
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2005 12:18:55 AM ||
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#1
He's like the Muzzy Liberace, only with hats thrown in. Nice shade of blue. Who knows what's real about this guy, other than the ME version of fashion sense and his Fembots, heh. Figuring out his son Seïf's agenda is something else entirely.
It's not like there aren't at least 10-20 nutbag professors, on every campus in America, spewing the same bile that Churchill is spewing.
I can't help wonder which came first; the focus on Mr. Churchill's anti-American spew or the discovery of more details about his previous vist to see Momo.
#5
IIRC, there used to be some Black Panther Party guys that headed over to see Mo decades ago, also. He was the popular guy then for the radical left, kinda like a ME Castro.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/12/2005 11:35 Comments ||
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#6
Great graphic-- looks just like the guy who runs the news stand a couple blocks from here.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
02/12/2005 11:40 Comments ||
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#7
.com, hate to tell you this, but my wife informs me that that particular shade of color is known as "French Blue".
You may now proceed to dislike it intensely :-)
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/12/2005 11:58 Comments ||
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#8
That explains the yellow stripe down the back.
Posted by: ed ||
02/12/2005 12:22 Comments ||
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#9
Guess that explains the feeling of disgust the oic braught on.
Cause this needs to be front and center for the weekend.. Don't go bein' mean to our military .... Damn, they are so young.. A message to them, we stand with you and this was a fight from American's "silent majority" to MSM CNN chief news executive Eason Jordan quit Friday amid a furor over remarks he made in Switzerland last month about journalists killed by the U.S. military in Iraq. Jordan said he was quitting to avoid CNN being "unfairly tarnished" by the controversy.
I agree. It should only be fairly tarnished by controversy. Peter Arnett thinks so, too.
During a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum last month, Jordan said he believed that several journalists who were killed by coalition forces in Iraq had been targeted. He quickly backed off the remarks, explaining that he meant to distinguish between journalists killed because they were in the wrong place where a bomb fell, for example, and those killed because they were shot at by American forces who mistook them for the enemy. "I never meant to imply U.S. forces acted with ill intent when U.S. forces accidentally killed journalists, and I apologize to anyone who thought I said or believed otherwise," Jordan said in a memo to fellow staff members at CNN.
But the damage had been done, compounded by the fact that no transcript of his actual remarks has turned up. There was an online petition calling on CNN to find a transcript, and fire Jordan if he said the military had intentionally killed journalists. After several management restructurings at CNN, Jordan actually had no current operational responsibility over network programming. But he was CNN's chief fix-it man overseas, arranging coverage in dangerous or hard-to-reach parts of the world. "I have decided to resign in an effort to prevent CNN from being unfairly tarnished by the controversy over conflicting accounts of my recent remarks regarding the alarming number of journalists killed in Iraq," Jordan said.
Jordan joined CNN in 1982 as an assistant assignment editor on the national news desk. CNN's global newsgathering infrastructure is chiefly the result of Jordan's work, said Jim Walton, chief of the CNN News Group.
Posted by: Sherry ||
02/12/2005 12:18:24 AM ||
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#1
Wow. That was fast.
But if you think the MSM was out to get blogs before, look out...
#3
But if you think the MSM was out to get blogs before, look out...
The first shots were fired a few days ago...in Maryland, a staffer for Republican governor Ehrlich had to resign after he got caught on Free Republic smearing Ehrlich's likely Democratic opponent, Baltimore mayor Martin O'Malley. There was a bit of a blog hit piece in WaPo yesterday...
#6
If Barney Frank of all people was giving him crap about it, then its no wonder the video never turned up, his remarks were truly uncalled for. Its always a source of wonder these media elites think regular people share their views about how evil and underhanded the military is.
They are just kids doing what those people are to chickenshit to.
Seeya asswipe!
#9
Pretty obvious what was in the video. Wonder if the audio includes the sounds of catcalls (in American-accented English) and kudos (in arab-accented English)...
#12
It's Fred, the owner/operator of this beautiful rig.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/12/2005 10:49 Comments ||
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#13
Here is a quote made my E. Jordan from the same article, that Fox left out.
""I have devoted my professional life to saving Saddam helping make CNN the most trusted and respected news outlet in the world, and I would never do anything to compromise my work or that of the thousands of talented people it is my honor to work alongside," he said.
I put this in the category of: "Whatever you are smoking, I want some." BTW, Enjoy the link!!
#14
I think the real story here is that mainstream advertisers (who pay the bills) want their ads seen by mainstream folks, not by viewers whose tin foil hats are on too tight. Jordan got the boot because he was bad for business.
#15
The only thing that worries me about this is what might happen when someone says something that the bloggers don't like, and they go after him and hound him until he's forced to give up - when perhaps his fate was not actually deserved.
Jordan deserved what he got, no question about it. But this, along with a number of other incidents in the past year, helps to illustrate the growing power of blogs. I just hope bloggers continue to use their power responsibly.
Posted by: The Doctor ||
02/12/2005 12:36 Comments ||
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#16
Doubt that will happen Doc,we've alredy been called"pajamahadin"among other things.They thought it was an insult,but bloggers took it as a compliment.After all it was pajamahadin that braught down Dan Rather and John Kerry.
#17
Doc, it actually wasn't the statement, rather the cover up in MSM that did their boy in. Had he step forward when this first popped up and said "Me Bad" and apologized for slandering the men and women serving honorably, this would have blown over.
#18
Jordan got the boot because he was bad for business. He sure did, but then its dawning on the MSM that this whole Leftist PC Agitprop schtick is bad for business when there are alternatives. The model only works when you have a monopoly
#19
Oh, I understand perfectly - and as I said, I think what happened was what should have. I'm just expressing a little concern for the future, that's all.
And I suppose I'm worried about what might happen if a bunch of wild-eyed liberals decide to go after a decent man just because they hate him. I don't see it happening now, but I wouldn't put any unscrupulous tactic past the left, not these days.
Posted by: The Doctor ||
02/12/2005 16:40 Comments ||
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#20
And I suppose I'm worried about what might happen if a bunch of wild-eyed liberals decide to go after a decent man just because they hate him. I don't see it happening now, but I wouldn't put any unscrupulous tactic past the left, not these days.
er.....do the names Bork, Bush, Gonzalez, Rice, Cheney, Rumsfeld...mean anything to you?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/12/2005 16:48 Comments ||
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#21
Doc, it aint he bloggers that are bringing down the MSM, it's their own words and actions brought to light. Everyone believed the (un)Guard story, until the story behind the story was told. Everyone jumped onthe weapons cache, sroey until the real story was told. Chief Pouting Bull was not put down by some blogger, he wrote his own article that was simply shown in the light of day. And no Eason Jordan was called for comments HE made (not soembodies writing about him) and he couldn't lie because of the hoards of witnesses. If you want to see abusive blogging, look to the many LLL site (du, indy, etc).
#22
Jordan got the boot because he was bad for business
Maybe, but I'm not so sure the blogosphere has achieved quite the coup that some are celebrating. Jordan had already been eased out of day to day control of news ... this was just the straw that broke his contract's back with the Time Warner biggies.
Frank, I do indeed recognize those names. But you know what? They were all very public figures when they were attacked. I have serious concerns about bloggers who take a high profile without being, say, a tenured academic or a lawyer. You can be right and still lose your house trying to defend against a lawsuit.
Posted by: too true ||
02/12/2005 19:52 Comments ||
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#23
not buying it - there's cranks everywhere and readership is a good measure of having tour geet on the ground (DU excepted)
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/12/2005 20:07 Comments ||
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The Pakistani Punjab comes out looking good in certain areas compared to Indian Punjab, while lagging behind in some others, notably literacy and poverty reduction, according to two new studies made by the World Bank.
In other words, the important areas...
A comparison between the two Punjabs was the subject of an informal presentation at the World Bank on Thursday by Ijaz Nabi, sector manager, economic policy, South Asia region. The population of Pakistani Punjab is 80 million, more than half of the country's, while that of the Indian Punjab is 25.3 million. Their respective GDPs are $32 billion and $14.6 billion, which form 52 percent and 2.5 percent of the national GDP, while in terms of area the Pakistani Punjab is more than four times the size on Indian Punjab, parts of which were made over to Haryana and Himachal.
So the Pak side has three times the population of the Indian side, and a bit over half the GDP. The Pak side produces $400 peer year per capita, and the Indian side produces $577.
In the former, agriculture represents 27 percent of economic activity, industry 22.5 percent and services 50.5 percent, whereas in the latter, the figures respectively are 39.3 percent, 24.6 percent and 36.2 percent. According to Nabi, in terms of overall poverty, it is 34.1 percent of the population in the Pakistani Punjab compared with only 6 percent in its Indian counterpart. The incidence of poverty is the highest in Pakistan's southern Punjab (40.4 percent), 31.8 percent on central Punjab and 29.8 percent in the northern part.
Pakland has almost six times the poverty level of the Indian side. I'm still waiting for the part where they're not doing so bad...
The literacy rate in Indian Punjab is 70 percent and only 45 percent in its Pakistani counterpart, while the net primary enrolment is 94 percent and 42 percent respectively.
That'd be an indicator that the disparity's going to grow, and keep growing in the future, even without factoring in quality of the education received.
#4
the other 40% are Gantt charts. I went to public schools
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/12/2005 16:17 Comments ||
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#5
Bureaucrats or mullahs? Bureaucrats or mullahs? So hard to choose. But either way you produce less than $600 per capita.
As I've said before, take away the oil and natural gas and the Gross Domestic Product of the Islamic world is zilch. Islamic culture appears to be non-productive.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/12/2005 16:19 Comments ||
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#6
It is not zilch, it is just inferior to the Gross Domestic Product of... Israel. And of course the intellectual output (books, patents, Nobel Prizes) is waaaay lower.
Peshawar Corps Commander Lt Gen Safdar Hussain said on Friday that he wanted militant Abdullah Mehsud to surrender without any conditions. Talking to a delegation of clerics and tribal elders from South Waziristan Agency in Peshawar, Lt Gen Hussain said, "Abdullah will not be offered amnesty and will be dealt with according to the law."
His comment came two days after Abdullah vowed to continue 'jihad' against security forces in South Waziristan Agency after Monday's peace deal between fellow militant Baitullah Mehsud and the government. "Abdullah has committed a serious crime by killing one of the Chinese engineers he kidnapped and he should surrender unconditionally," he told the delegation led by Maulana Ainullah. He said the government was investigating Monday's killing of two tribal journalists in Wana to determine whether the killing was targeted or "a family feud or old enmity". He also expressed sorrow over their deaths. The corps commander asked the delegation "to be alert and keep a check on the activities of militants in the area". "It is primarily your responsibility to keep your areas free of terrorism. You are required to fulfil your territorial responsibility, flush out foreign terrorists and deny sanctuaries to them," he added.
This article starring:
ABDULLAH MEHSUD
Wazir Taliban
BAITULLAH MEHSUD
Wazir Taliban
Maulana Ainullah
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
I think Cheech and Chong might be willing to give him up for a bag of really good weed. I'd reach out to them.
Background noise? Or are they going to shut up somebody who has the goods?
The Interior Ministry directed the district administration and high ranking police officials of the Capital Police to apprehend a man who threatened Saudi diplomats in Pakistan. The Saudi diplomats wrote a letter to the Foreign Ministry in which they said that a person who identified himself as Muhammad Hamza Rashid Qureshi had visited the Saudi embassy a number of times and had made a number of requests to meet the Saudi ambassador, sources told Daily Times.
After the rejection of his requests, Qureshi made telephone calls to the office of the Saudi ambassador in Washington saying that he had important information about Saudi Arabia and about the custodian of two holy mosques, King Fahad bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, the sources added. They said that the Saudi diplomats feared Qureshi might be trying to publicise forged stories that could create problems for both the Saudi and Pakistani governments.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
Quick, send the National Enquirer reporters.
We need more good and dirty laundry.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Japanese Prime Minister 
Bluffs and bluster, then capitulation and compromise. North Korea has decades of experience dancing a diplomatic tango with its allies and enemies to get what it wants — and leaving the rest of the world guessing as to the real intent of the isolated communist regime.
SINGAPORE'S highest authority on Islamic affairs has declared that it does not support any move to develop a casino in the city-state. The 
Sri Lankan government on Friday blamed splinter factions of the Tamil rebel movement for the slaying of a top guerrilla leader and praised it for the "restraint" it had shown since the killing. Accusing "factions" of the killing, the government said the splinter groups oppose a Norwegian-brokered ceasefire between the government and the Tigers. "There are factions working to sabotage the ceasefire agreement between the government and the 
TEHERAN — Iranian human rights lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi has complained of again being summoned to court, as well as subjected to death threats, the student news agency Isna reported yesterday. "I have been summoned for trial on February 23, without knowing what the new charge is and what will be the fate of this case," she was quoted as writing to reformist President Mohammad Khatami.
Washington will not stop Iran pursuing nuclear technology and should not attempt a military "adventure" in the country, an influential cleric said on Friday. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has exhorted Iran to give up what she says is a nuclear weapons programme. U.S. officials have stressed diplomacy but not ruled out an attack against atomic sites, which Iran insists are to meet booming demand for electricity. 
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will meet Saturday with militant leaders to push them to honor a days-old cease-fire marred by mortar and rocket attacks on Israeli targets, according to an aide. The Islamic militant group Hamas said it would only stop attacks when it was satisfied Israel would release prisoners and stop pursuing militants. 
The top US diplomat for the Middle East had "productive" talks with Libyan officials in Tripoli this week as the two nations continue to work to improve relations, the US State Department said on Thursday. Assistant Secretary of State 
CNN chief news executive 
Peshawar Corps Commander Lt Gen Safdar Hussain said on Friday that he wanted militant 
The Interior Ministry directed the district administration and high ranking police officials of the Capital Police to apprehend a man who threatened Saudi diplomats in Pakistan. The Saudi diplomats wrote a letter to the Foreign Ministry in which they said that a person who identified himself as 
