Saudi security forces hunted for militants yesterday as the deadline for an Al-Qaeda threat to kill an American hostage loomed, but there was no official word of any arrests.
He's toast. He's probably already dead...
The kidnappers have given the government until tonight to release jailed Al-Qaeda militants or it will execute engineer Paul Marshal Johnson, who was kidnapped last Saturday by a group calling itself the Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The threat to kill Mr Johnson, which follows a spate of suicide bombings and shootings in the past six weeks, raised the stakes in Al-Qaeda's war to topple Saudi Arabia's pro-United States monarchy and drive out Westerners from the world's largest oil exporter. Saudi officials have pledged not to give in to the demands, saying the kingdom does not negotiate with terrorists or hostage-takers. This point was amplified yesterday in Saudi newspapers, which quoted officials as saying they had no intention whatsoever of bowing to the captors' demands. 'What kind of deal can be struck with those who gun down unarmed civilians and openly boast of their gruesome tactics?' the English-language Saudi Gazette said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2004 9:30:52 PM ||
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Fred, he was dead the minute they picked him up, everything else was just torment for bragging and Jihadi PR
RIP Mr. Johnson
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/17/2004 22:18 Comments ||
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#2
Saudi officials have pledged not to give in to the demands, saying the kingdom does not negotiate with terrorists or hostage-takers.
Of course they don't "negotiate with terrorists or hostage takers." THEY FINANCE THEM. Any questions? Oh, wait a minute, here's one:
'What kind of deal can be struck with those who gun down unarmed civilians and openly boast of their gruesome tactics?'
The answer seems to be; Any sort of "deal" that allows the Saudi financiers royals to remain in power, permits militants terrorists to escape brutal murder scenes and continues the dissemination of virulent anti-American dogma in a majority of barracks mosques.
#3
If the Saudis were really serious about terrorists, they would make sure that they got all of the names of imprisoned terrorists right. Then they would decapitate all of the terrorists through the services of Abu Scimitar and put the heads on pikes outside of the prison in a row, neat as you please. That should be the answer. At least the exchange of hostages issue would be resolved once and for all.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/17/2004 22:31 Comments ||
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via Drudge:
Video images of a US engineer taken hostage in Saudi Arabia, possibly by the al-Qaeda network, could have been put on the internet via a US firm based in California, Der Spiegel magazine reported on Thursday. The video was released on Tuesday and shows relatively high-quality film of hostage Paul Johnson, who kidnappers from a group called "al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula" have threatened to kill by Friday. The origin of the video was traced to Silicon Valley Land Surveying Incorporated, a California land surveying and mapping company, said Spiegel online, the internet service for the respected German weekly. The magazine said that according to its research the move was the first time al-Qaeda had "hijacked" a website to broadcast its propaganda. The network usually spreads its message through Islamist sites but this time, Spiegel maintains, hackers created a special file at the companyâs web address at least an hour before global news agencies broke word of the video. The magazine said that company chief Tim Redd had refused to comment. "Weâre speechless, actually."
How was some obscure civil engineering firm in San Jose selected?
This "Tim Redd" sits on an advisoiry committee for civil engineering at Evergreen Valley College with one "Dr. Akthem Al-Manaseer" who is a civil engineering professor at San Jose State. The good professor is also a member of a Philatletic (Stamp Collector) club called The Ottoman and Near East Philatelic Society. Prof al-Manseer's specialty is stamps from "Mesopotamia and Iraq". Uh-huh.
Note : The two al-Manseers are the same - SAME EMAIL.
It get curiouser and curiouser.
I'd like to know who else Professor al-Manseer hangs with besides Stamp Collectors. A college Professor at San Jose State probably knws a lot of student programmers of Mid-Eastern descent who might facilitate hacking?
#6
Big Ed,
I pray to God that someone is listening. I have been called all types of name for saying that, the 8.5 million muslims already in the US are the biggest threat to the country. Since 9/11, they have had ample time to come out and support the country in this fight against terrorism. Have they done it? No, and will never do it. They ara muslims first and they will support any muslim cause even at the risk of their own destruction. I see it everyday. There are plenty of muslims here (Pakistanis, Palestinians, Iraqis, Egyptians, etc) who carry American passports and whose children were born in the States. No one, no a single one has ever come out and condemn the killing and kidnapping of Americans. All these "Americans" after being brainwashed more deeply in the Land of the Prophet, eventually will go back and will continue to undermine any effort against this fight.
"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banners openly. But a traitor moves among those within the gate freely, and his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys are heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears no traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to their victims and wears their face and their garments, and appeals to the baseness which lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of the nation; he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to be feared."
#8
Hi .com,
Thanks!
The website you posted has been blocked by you know who's sensor. It is ironic, that they can block any site containing a bad word but cannot seem to manage to block the circulation of the photos of the prison "abuse" inside the company. Moreover, they seem to find it very hard, almost impossible, to block all the jihadi websites calling for the destruction of America. Hypocrites!
PS: Today, I am very angry and sad at the same time. I am fed up with these people savagery, lunacy, depravity, barbarism, etc., and with all westerners who rationalize/justify their behavior. I am sad because of the fate of that poor man, who is, after suffering unspeakable terror, probably dead now. His only sin to make him deserving of such horrible fate seems to have been that he was born in America.
#9
Sorry about the block - yeah, they 'filter' everything down to almost nothing - that doesn't serve their world view.
I know the feelings - it hit me all at once last year. I think the guy's been dead a couple of days, already - to tell the truth. And he was just like 50 guys you know over there - been there so long they actually thought of it as home and even considered some Saudis as 'friends'. Neither is true unless you convert, of course.
Try this new link - it outta go thru! And I'll rename the other so it doesn't get blocked. Just having a little fun, heh.
exceprted from State Department Daily Press Briefing
Boucher answers about what we are doing to assist Saudia Arabia and our citizens.
...The Country Council in Saudi Arabia met June 13th in Riyadh, and they talked, shared information there about the security situation. And our Deputy Regional Security Officer briefed them on the security situation and they talked about what companies and organizations can do to better protect their people. And then weâve also been in touch, from Washington, on the security side, with people at companies that have a presence in Saudi Arabia, also to talk to them about what they can do, about what the situation is, and keep them informed of what people can do to protect themselves.
QUESTION: Given that the Bush Administration has vowed not to yield any ground in its war on terror, isnât it a contradiction that the Travel Advisories actually urge people to leave?
MR. BOUCHER: The -- no -- simplest answer, no.
QUESTION: On the one hand, we donât give any ground, and on the other, weâre going to leave. We want Americans to leave an area. Why is that not a contradiction?
MR. BOUCHER: Because itâs not. Because on the one hand, we have to fight terrorists everywhere where they are; on the other hand, we do have to give our best advice to U.S. citizens. The fact that we give our best advice to U.S. citizens about how to protect themselves and how to -- whether they -- we think they should or should not be in a given location has absolutely no bearing, whatsoever, in the fight against terrorism. We can pursue the fight against terrorism through military, diplomatic and other means, whether or not those individuals are in-country.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
06/17/2004 1:34:12 AM ||
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This is one of Boucher's more razor-like briefings. He rips the questions of several reporters to shreads. I may try and catch the telecast tonight on C-span.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
06/17/2004 1:49 Comments ||
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#2
What is the going rate for suffering fools? $2-$3 Million plus perks? Not enough.
#3
These reporters are pathetic wretches. It is obvious that the reporter knew his question made no sense. It was purely a pathetic attempt at propoganda against Bush. Can we please just toss our entire media and start over? They're worthless.
#5
That reporter would not have signed up to be an imbedded reporter on the D-Day landings, you could put money on that.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/17/2004 12:10 Comments ||
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#6
How G-ddam stoopid do you have to be to not know the difference between military personnel and private citizens?
Getting civilians out of harms way is NOT THE SAME THING as pulling out our troops with their tails between their legs! Who PAYS you shitheads? How the hell did you graduate from grade school? Fuck. Me.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
06/17/2004 12:15 Comments ||
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We haven't drunk from the well lately...
Pyongyang, June 17 (KCNA) -- The Ministry of the People's Armed Forces held a symposium on the revolutionary feats of Supreme Commander Kim Jong Il at the April 25 House of Culture Wednesday on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of his start of work at the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. At the symposium the speakers said he, the peerlessly great man and the most illustrious general, has effected world-startling epochal changes in all fields of politics, military affairs, economy and culture and displayed the dignity and honor of Kim Il Sung's Korea with his outstanding ideological and theoretical activities and gigantic revolutionary practices at the head of the Party over the past 40 years. Yup. There ain't nobody like Kim...
Jo Myong Rok, director of the General Political Department of the Korean People's Army, noted that, with Kim Jong Il at the head of the Party, the army and people of the DPRK have come into possession of a sure guarantee to strengthen and develop the Workers' Party of Korea into the eternal party of President Kim Il Sung and carry the revolutionary cause of Juche to accomplishment. And what might that be? You've already invented the rock, grass, white slag, and pine-needle tea...
Kim Yong Chun, chief of the General Staff of the KPA, cited historical facts proving that Kim Jong Il set forth the line and policies of the Party our own way from the Juche-based stand to suit the specific conditions of the country and the basic requirements of the revolution and saw to it that they were consistently implemented. Wotta man!
Kim Il Chol, minister of the People's Armed Forces, said Kim Jong Il has built the Party into a mother party which has become a harmonious whole with the popular masses. What was it before?
General of the KPA Pak Jae Gyong stressed that Kim Jong Il has trained the KPA into stout revolutionary armed forces boundlessly loyal to the Party. "Stout"? As in pudgy? Images of large men waddling across the Pyongyang equivalent of Red Square spring to mind...
The speakers called upon all the officers and men of the KPA to devotedly defend Kim Jong Il, their destiny and eternal banner of victory, and staunchly fight for the accomplishment of the revolutionary cause of Juche under the Songun leadership of the Party, clearly aware that they are blessed with illustrious leaders generation after generation. Present at the symposium were leading officials of the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces and KPA officers and men.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2004 9:43:30 PM ||
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#1
There's no leader
Like Our Leader's
Like no leader we know.
Even when we march on empty bellies
Even when the cellphones all explode
Fear of him turns yankees into jellies
And they go yelling down the road ....
There's no Party like our Party,
We smile when we are low!
So go on with the show ......
(apologies to the great Ethel Merman LOL - sorry Ethel, I couldn't help myself )
#4
Are tickets available through Ticketron? I think it will be hysterical eventhough I don't speak Korean.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
06/17/2004 22:25 Comments ||
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#5
*holds up card* 8.5
A fairly good performance, but somewhat diluted by references to the Party made by Army representatives, leaving them without vigor and force. After all, what would the Army know about the Party? The illusion that the Army and Party are separate is thus demolished. A more vigorous declaration and recitation, from Army personnel, of the outstanding >>Military<< feats and accomplishments of the Illustriously Grand Leader would have earned a higher score.
Army First Man knew the secret: Ya stroke The Man better by staying on your own turf. Let the Party Hacks bloviate about the Eternal Party.
TOKYO, June 16 -- Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, who has maintained contacts in North Korea since he served in the Clinton administration, called Wednesday for a shift in U.S. strategy toward seeking a compromise with North Korean officials during disarmament talks next week. Richardson, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has had frequent communications with the North Koreans and warned that without a change in the status quo, North Korea could emerge as an outlaw state armed with as many as 10 nuclear weapons. In an interview on Wednesday, Richardson said that he had been in touch with North Korean officials in Pyongyang via telephone as recently as two weeks ago.
Was that before the cell phone system was shut down there?
Richardson said the six-nation framework to disarm North Korea was "in danger of failing." He expressed concern that a deal on freezing the North Korean nuclear program might not be reached after five days of talks scheduled to start Monday in Beijing.
Excellent. Keep stalling.
"That allows them to keep on edging closer to total collapse building and building" nuclear weapons, he said. "If we don't reach an interim agreement to suspend the processing, they could have 10 nuclear weapons, and the talks may break down by this time next year." The Bush administration has rejected any interim agreement with North Korea without an upfront commitment to dismantle its nuclear program. But Richardson has echoed the sentiments of leading analysts who have predicted that North Korea might hold out for an agreement until after the U.S. elections in November.
Sure, no probs, by the way, how's the harvest projection coming along?
He said that judging from his conversations with the North Koreans, it appears "unlikely" the North Korean government will immediately agree to U.S. demands for a complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantling of its weapons programs without any incentives. Richardson called for a compromise, outlining a plan similar to one being floated by South Korea, for a verifiable suspension of North Korea's nuclear programs as a first step toward achieving disarmament. In exchange, he said, the United States should offer joint security assurances to the North along with the other participants at the talks -- China, Russia, South Korea and Japan. In addition, he said, the United States should endorse a South Korean plan to ship oil to North Korea to ease its energy shortage while a broader agreement is negotiated. As part of an interim step -- which China and Russia also appear to support -- North Korea should be pressed to allow weapons inspectors back into the country and to rejoin the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The North Korean government withdrew from the treaty last year.
Back to the status quo ante, eh?
The Bush administration's uncompromising approach to the crisis has generated mounting frustrations among some participants in the talks, particularly the Chinese and South Koreans, Richardson said.
Good! The Chinese should be frustrated, that's the whole idea.
"If you talk to the Chinese, they are especially growing frustrated by this process; they want to seethe US assume their burdens results next week," he said. "If there is no clear progress, we don't know if the nations involved will stick with the framework" of six party talks.
Yep, too bad, -- oh look, time for lunch!
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/17/2004 1:24:52 AM ||
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Richardson is far from the lamest guy on his side, but this is, uh, lame. Or perhaps priceless. Isn't the tone here a familiar one -- "hurry! we'd better do what the Norks want, or they'll, they'll .... keep doing what they're doing anyway, or something."
For those who comfort themselves that a Kerry presidency would be a marginal change, as has historically been the norm for the large US ship of state, take note. This sort of utter lack of poker sense -- which was the "foundation" of the 1994 disaster -- is endemic in the sort that would populate a Kerry admin. Topped by someone who's shown no backbone whatever in his entire political career, this is not a recipe for a shorter, less costlier struggle. To the contrary.
#2
I think Richardson is right. We are headed in the wrong direction. The American people aren't really enemies with the people of North Korea. This is all a mistake because we are under the power of an imperialist Zionist cabal who never liked Charlie Chan movies. What we need is a Joint Treaty of Peace
Between the People of The United States of America, South Vietnam and North Vietnam South Korea and North Korea.
To paraphrase the late Sam Kinnison, "I hope Richardson slides under a gas truck and tastes his own blood." What would posess the moron to keep North Korea on the speed dial so that we can recycle a failed "compromise plan." Does Richardson really think that the old "give-a-little" and "take-a-little" will work with a guy who uses his dissidents for biological experimentation.
I'm even wondering whether giving him free food is a good idea. Doesn't that just allow him to free up currency to pay guys like Khan for technical assistance?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
06/17/2004 2:29 Comments ||
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#3
Verlaine - I believe yours is the most accurate description of the alternative I've yet read - anywhere. Simply perfect, thank you.
"The crux of the biscuit," as Frank Zappa once said, is "the apostrophe" November. If I weren't an atheist, I would plead, "God help us."
#4
.com, I think that the American people will survive either way. The price that will be paid in November will be in the blood of Iraqis, Israeli's, North Koreans, Iranians, Afghanistanis, and Sudanese ...
If Reagan had lost reelection, America would have survived but there would be more dead and subjugated people in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Eastern Europe.
Who has paid the blood price for Clinton's eight years? I say Somalis, Rwandans and North Koreans. It is unnatural for Americans to stand by while human beings are eliminated en masse. The "shining city on the hill" is not meant to overlook a midden heap of bones and skulls. When Sadaam was removed form power he ranked fourth on the list of all-time butchers behind Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot and whoever pulled the strings on the Rwanda abomination, but he was certainly capable of reaching number three on the list, and we don't even know what Hootie and Queezy could have added to the tally.
A vote for Kerry is a vote for genocide. Allow me to include a quote from Article 8 of Madam Bihn's People to People Peace Treaty: The Americans and Vietnamese agree to respect the independence, peace and neutrality of Laos and Cambodia in accord with the 1954 and 1962 Geneva Conventions and not to interfere in the internal affairs of these two countries.
Kerry put him stamp of approval on the treaty. He declared his admiration for Madam Bihn on the record before a Congressional Committee. In his "youthful exuberance" John Kerry helped convince America to betray South Vietnam. KERRY LIED AND 2 FRAKING MILLION CAMBODIANS DIED. Michael Moore can put that in his bong and light up. [/rant]
Posted by: Super Hose ||
06/17/2004 3:04 Comments ||
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#5
SH - Nice rant! Your points are excellent - clearly documented, well taken, and absolutely true.
But... (Did ya feel that coming?)
*deep breath*
I think you are leaving out a component. Though the numbers are less weighty than the sum across the atrocities you cited, don't forget the dead US citizens - both civilian and military. From Hanoi John's traitorous wholesale Vietnam betrayal to Carter's macro-microbungling of everything he touched to Reagan's inexplicable failure in Beirut to Clinton's repeated failures to do anyting significant in Africa, Yemen, or even have the flimsiest grasp of what we faced (Can you say Dumbfuck Dickie Clarke?) so that we were slaughtered en masse in the WTC before the ink was dry on Dubya's Oath. Mishandling of NKor (and PakiWakis, Taliban, et al) could have been devastating, but Dubya's policies have neutered the mutts and cleaned out some nasty spider holes (Afghan & Iraq), not to mention he's begun taking on the Saudis - first and only President to ever even say "Boo!" to them, in spite of the trolling fucktards' commentary occasionally deposited on the RB lawn.
This is the right road. To hand the reins to the unbelievably inept Skeery & Co, easily the most egregious loser of the lot, would add every life lost fighting what has evolved into the WoT, from Nixon forward, as he would take 47 steps backward for every step forward, assuming he ever managed the moxy to reach that point in the dance, aka the Donk Chickenhawk Shuffle.
#7
North Korea could emerge as an outlaw state armed with as many as 10 nuclear weapons
As if they aren't already (albeit with only a couple of nukes)! That's the problem with this whole line of reasoning. The Norks ARE (and have been) an outlaw state: the USS Pueblo, downing an airliner, assassinating SKor polititians, etc. The world needs to wake up and realize that playing footsie with Kimmie is dancing to his tune.
#8
I'd like to step into the situation as peace-maker and declare I find common ground between SH and .com. I believe both agree that the choice in November may be a stark one when it comes to likely effect on national and international security.
There, that felt good. Do I get an "evil" (as in Dr. Evil") Nobel Peace Prize now??
P.S. Thanks, .com, for the gracious words. But like you, I won't be in a mood to enjoy them until November, and a certain dark possibility, have passed.
#9
All - Bottom line : Because of Kerry's sanctimonius speech before the congress in 1972 (not to mention his affectatious voice which seems to have mellowed over the years) he has no moral "gravitas" (to steal the donkey theme) to be president. Yes, Super H., 2,000,000+ Cambodians died because of the mindset inculcated by Lurch the wannabe.
However, what made it worse at that time is the toadies in the media, and the micromanagement and "lack of exit strategy" (To steal another theme) by Lyndon and his merry men. Just keep disenfranchised cannon fodder sent to Vietnam over on a escapade the Johnson administration had no intention of winning.
This gave Lurch, the treasonous Hanoi Janey and their ilk the arguements they had. And, we know that the sycophants in the media like Walter Walrus, the {gag} most "trusted" man in America, something to whine about on the evening news.
Now this wannabe and his gang are threatening to, as Super H said, "I think that the American people will survive either way. The price that will be paid in November will be in the blood of Iraqis, Israeli's, North Koreans, Iranians, Afghanistanis, and Sudanese ..."
I could not have said it better, though I think that we must be sure that an anti-ACLU group gets going, because, more of the nonsense like removing the cross of the LA County, California seal will happen, however more minarets will be allowed pollute the air with noise unchallenged.
#10
But Richardson has echoed the sentiments of leading analysts who have predicted that North Korea might hold out for an agreement until after the U.S. elections in November.
Well, DUH!
Richardson got absolutely nowhere with the NORKS last time they paid him a visit. If he wants to be the relay, then quietly do the job and pass the info on to Washington, sans media.
Appeasement will be a disaster. The Norks are counting on divide and conquer. It is the same old playbook. Appease them or we will build nukes. The Iranians are taking it one step further--we are building nukes so screw you. The sooner the Nork govt falls, the more people we can save. Appeasement costs North korean civilian lives. The NORKS use their foreign exchange for the govt not the people.
Bill Richardson's statements disgust me.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/17/2004 12:24 Comments ||
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#11
Since Richardson's agenda probably does not correspond with that of the president, he is using the tried and true media route to make his happen. I suspect it won't work
Posted by: dorf ||
06/17/2004 12:58 Comments ||
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#12
Bill wants to sip champagne with Poofy-hair Kim. I think there's a deep-seated jealousy of Madeleine Halfbright's photo-op, as well as the wish to be taken seriously as Kerry's VP or Sec State
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/17/2004 13:00 Comments ||
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#13
Okay, North Korea has 10 nukes a few years from now. A day or two later Japan and South Korea each have full-blown nuclear programs.
That doesn't scare me, I doubt the Chinese would like it though. That's the full-house in the poker game and Richardson doesn't see it.
#14
I'm even wondering whether giving him free food is a good idea. Doesn't that just allow him to free up currency to pay guys like Khan for technical assistance?
Whenever I've suggested a full shutdown of any aid to rogue nations (as with the USD $43 MILLION sent to the Taleban just before 9-11), people have accused me of wanting to use starvation as a foreign policy tool.
Well guess what? Mullah Omar and Kim Jong-Il don't really have a problem with starving their entire populations if it enriches a single extra atom of plutonium.
We really need to cordon off North Korea and interdict all trade links until they melt down from within. Every scrap of food we send them feeds their military.
It will be the same way with China and their medically caused AIDS epidemic. Any critical AIDS medical aid we are foolish enough to divert to the Chinese will simply fund more missiles to be pointed at Taiwan. If China happens to lose over 25% of their population due to an epidemic caused by the corrupt and unsafe blood purchasing of government protected thugs, maybe it will place a slight damper on their military aspirations.
#16
Richardson is a Clinton tool whose job #1 is to make the Clintoon Administration's (which includes him, for some ungodly reason) dreadful 1993 "agreement" with the NorKs look good .
Also, the DNC is trying to "groom" Richardson for higher office.
That's why the governor of a sparsely populated, land-locked and not very important U.S. state gets to comment on our foreign policy.
Posted by: Jen ||
06/17/2004 16:30 Comments ||
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#17
Super Hose: Remember that throughout the 70's and 80's the Soviet Economy was on the ropes.
If Reagan hadn't been elected, they would have reached the border of the economic event horizon with a large military and with a 1970's era American military on the other side of the Fulda Gap, without all the neat Assault Breaker stuff designed to stop them from coming through.
The OPTIMISTIC scenario is: we'd be sitting here _today_ about how much trouble the Soviet Economy's in, now that they've run out of stuff in the former West Germany, France, and Spain to loot...
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
06/17/2004 18:49 Comments ||
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#18
Jen - you forgot "hispanic"
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/17/2004 19:37 Comments ||
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#19
Thanks, Bill. When the governor of New Mexico is authorized to determine foreign policy by the federal government, we'll be sure to give you a call.
Also if you notice any clicking and popping noises on your phone, ignore them. It's nothing.
#20
.com, you are right we will pay a heavy price also. The People's Peace Treaty is also consistent with Kerry's Sandanista rhetoric once he arrived in the Senate. I'm sure that his voting record with regard to defense is completely consistent with the WPC's dictates.
Phil, I have thought about editing different copies of the People to People Peace Treaty and placing them on the Web (but I have no website.) The idea would be to substitute different areas of the world to match situations where "fellow travellers" have encouraged America to adopt a pacifist adgenda. It is really a multiple purpose document that could have been used to WWI, WWII, Korea, Grenada, Somalia ....
Posted by: Super Hose ||
06/17/2004 23:19 Comments ||
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#21
Actually, it would be fun to redraft the preamble to the treaty for Iraq and see how many of these people would endorse the draft.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
06/18/2004 0:27 Comments ||
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#22
"We must stop feeding the hand that bites us."
Excellent turn of phrase - an instant classic!
Thank you, .com. One of my own from several years back. Glad you liked it.
#23
We (Fred, of course, heh) ought to be keeping a list of such jewels - they get forgotten / lost sometimes and that's just unacceptable, heh.
Roll out any more you have when the thread serves - I am not a punster, myself, but I admire first-rate werdsmithing, lol! One of the reporters I knew when my ex-wife was in the biz was a fanatic - and damned good. If I fed him a few beers, he reached greatness. I wish I'd kept a list.
We already got the political message. That's why the pullout...
The implications of the forthcoming withdrawal of one-third of the 37,000 U.S. troops in South Korea and two army divisions from Germany are as much political as military since both nations have been the site of vigorous anti-American eruptions in the last few years. A researcher at the East-West Center in Hawaii, Richard Baker, asserted June 9 that the planned reduction in South Korea was "basically calls the bluff of those in Korea who have been calling for the United States to go away." He added that nobody thought it would leave. On a wider angle, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said June 5: "We want to have our forces where people want them. We have no desire to be where weâre not wanted."
This is what our collective back looks like. This is what the place looks like without us. Enjoy your kimchee, guys...
Polls by the Pew Research Center in Washington suggest that Rumsfeld has solid backing in the American public for his stance on Europe. Where 83 percent of Americans saw Germany in a favorable light two years ago, only 50 percent say so now. France dropped from a 79 percent favorable rating to 33 percent. Despite expressions of European and American unity at D-Day commemorations, in a United Nations vote on Iraq, and at the Group of Eight summit in Georgia, the Economist magazine of London called U.S.-European relations "a creaking partnership." U.S. forces have been in Europe since World War II ended in 1945; those in South Korea since the Korean War ended in 1953. In a recent Pentagon briefing, an official said those deployments "had a logic that was based on an earlier time technologically and an earlier time historically."
We'll be right on the spot if the 100 Years War fires up again...
Bush administration officials further suggested it was time for allies in Asia and Europe to do more for their own defense. Said one official: "Thereâs a bigger piece in security cooperation -- how we can build up capability in allies?"
Let 'em do it themselves?
The military intent of the worldwide repositioning of U.S. forces, the officials said, was to be able to contend with uncertainty, operate across regions rather than be tied down to one nation, and respond to crises with speed. Perhaps most important, said one official: "The focus here has been on capabilities and not numbers." Politically, the delay of President Roh Moo Hyunâs government in Seoul to dispatch troops to Iraq has generated a perception that South Korea may not be a reliable ally. Some American officers have wondered privately whether South Korea could be counted on if the U.S. got into hostilities with North Korea or China.
Not if they could get out of it.
Pro-China leanings of many South Koreans, especially those younger, has caused some South Korean specialists in international relations to caution that their nation should not weaken what one called its "maritime alliance" with the U.S. in favor of Koreaâs traditional role as a vassal of China. A subtle factor in American strategic thinking is Koreaâs continuing anti-Japanese posture even though Japanâs occupation of Korea ended nearly 60 years ago. In U.S. military planning, Japan and Korea are part of the same area of operations and Korean animosity toward Japan is seen as a hindrance to U.S. action. American officials have been discussing changes in U.S. deployments to Japan, officials in the Pentagon briefing said, but did not give specifics. Among the changes speculated in the Japanese press are moving U.S. Navy aircraft out of Atsugi, southwest of Tokyo, and U.S. Air Force units out of Yokota, in western Tokyo.
To someplace cheaper?
In addition has been speculation that the U.S. Marines might move some units out of Okinawa, in southern Japan, to ease long-standing frictions between Okinawans and Americans on that crowded island. Those marines would go to Hokkaido, in northern Japan, where they would have more room to train and would be closer to South Korea. The armyâs I Corps at Fort Lewis in the state of Washington is scheduled to go to Iraq and then to be posted in Japan to take command of U.S. Army forces in Asia. Officers at U.S. Forces Japan, a political-military headquarters, contend that their unit should continue to work day-to-day with the Japanese Self-Defense Force, a task that requires constant attention. Even so, Japan is seen as a steady ally despite constitutional constraints on its military actions. Said one U.S. officer: "The Japanese have done everything we asked of them in Afghanistan and Iraq."
Posted by: tipper ||
06/17/2004 1:24:44 AM ||
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#1
... where they would have more room to train and would be closer to South Korea.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/17/2004 1:29 Comments ||
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#2
Steve, I think the idea might be that we would be in a better position to support Taiwan. I may be wrong I couldn't zoom on the map.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
06/17/2004 2:36 Comments ||
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#3
Politically, the delay of President Roh Moo Hyunâs government in Seoul to dispatch troops to Look closely at the statement: Iraq has generated a perception that South Korea may not be a reliable ally. Some American officers have wondered privately whether South Korea could be counted on if the U.S. got into hostilities with North Korea or China.
Can anyone imagine a scenario where North Korea and the US are militarily engaged without the presence of a large number of South Korea civilians? If the South Koreans would prefer to unilaterally surrender, it would be best if we pulled all the troops out. I would expect that there are many oppressed people in the world where the citizens would like some help protecting themselves. What would be wrong with moving troops to the Sudan to protect Christians from being killed, enslaved or horsewhipped by Sudanese Muslims? Protecting Christians from genocide would be a little bit of a different flavor for us.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
06/17/2004 2:43 Comments ||
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#4
The southern position of Okinawa is distorted in the linked to map, cause Japan so far north? Sounds like one of them big circle deals. Better call in AP.
#5
Protecting Christians from genocide would be a little bit of a different flavor for us.
Can you imagine how berserk the left would go over that? I mean, half of them think Christians deserve genocide.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
06/17/2004 8:09 Comments ||
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#6
Good,step-up the time table.It is about time Korea and Euorpe got off the American Defense tit.Euorpe certainly has the tech to defend it self(as does Korea).The only question is does it have the will and disipline to do so.Korea has both the tech and a huge disiplined army capable of protecting it self(Hell the average ground pounder in the Korean Army is a black belt).
Sending troops to defend Sudanese Christians and Animists serves at least 2 purposes(1)It is the right thing to do(2)The Muslems would have cross-eyed apoplectic fits(to funny).
#7
South Korea has a real threat just a few miles north, Europe has no real threat at the moment that warrants a dozen of armies of drafted men (and women). But the German defense minister (SPD but rather sane) has said that "the security of Germany is also defended at the Hindukush". Many LLL laugh about this but here is the future of European defense: Working together with the U.S. to bring stability to trouble zones that generate terrorism, and maybe acting alone to ensure stability in SE Europe (Kosovo, Moldova etc) and organizing humanitarian missions in Africa (European intervention in starving Darfur is long overdue). I see the future of the European military of excellently trained small fast response units. Should full blown invasions be necessary at some point, these should be done with joint U.S.-European forces.
Apart from terrorism, economic blackmail of rogue states or groups must be met with military resolve if need be. We will always pay for the oil we buy, but not for the oil we don't get. As the importance of oil exporters will rise in the next decade, we have a right to buy oil at fair prices unhindered. Artificially high blackmail prices or embargos are acts of economic warfare and must be dealt with accordingly.
Of course I hear the left yell out but when houses go cold and cars don't run anymore they will be the FIRST to whine that we're not doing anything.
Let's face it, Saudi Arabian oil will probably have to be safeguarded by Western troops sooner or later.
#8
yeah but while you say "Western Troops" the world hear's "American Troops", usa imports only 20% of it's energy (far lower than most nations), let the nations that import 40+% safe guard the oil. not that they will of course, they expect the great satan to do all the dirty work ( but in the name of NATO or UN or SUSA (Screw USA) )
#10
I see the future of the European military of excellently trained small fast response units. Should full blown invasions be necessary at some point, these should be done with joint U.S.-European forces.
TGA, when you say "excellently trained small fast response units", are you thinking of small, combined-arms units, reinforced light infantry, or special forces?
#11
Did some measurements on the map in reference to the moving of US troops from Okinawa to Hokkaido.
Seoul SK to Hokkaido (say Sapporo) 750 NM
Seoul SK to Okinawa (say near Naha) 670 NM
Hokkaido would be more like Korea than Okinawa for training purposes.
Seoul to say Yokohama near Tokyo, 600 NM
Taipei, Taiwan to Okinawa, 270 NM
units are in nautical miles, equal to 1.15 statute miles.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/17/2004 16:13 Comments ||
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#12
TGA, I welcome your analysis, but I wonder: will Germany and the other EU states reform their economies &/or commit sufficient funds to build a suitable defense capability. And if so, will it be interoperable with that of the US, or will Germany play along with France in dealing arms to/with China, against the US.
Because that's what I see emerging and it bothers the hell out of me to think that you all expect our treasure and our lives to be at the call when the threat gets ugly ... but that you can undercut us up until that point.
I know ... not your personal intent. But it sure looks like the country's and the EU's, if the French/German alliance keeps on its current path. And I use 'alliance' intentionally - when your countries have each others' ministers represent the other partner, that suggests a very close bond on Germany's part to France's stance and her open courting of Beijing to oppose the US.
#14
Well, at least they'll learn to like that pine-needle juche, .....idiots
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/17/2004 19:46 Comments ||
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RKB,I don't think France or Germany believes they are threatened w/invasion by anybody,nor do they plan on invading anybody for forseeable future.In this view they don't need a large defense capability.Just need top-quality light infantry,w/easily deployable light armor and some strike a/c.After all the infantry will only deploy as part of broad coalition in peacekeeping ops,so for near future airlift can be from US or charters(nice way funnel some funds to national airlines).Extra bonus,these are exactly what you'd want to put down internal disturbances.As for Gulf oil,as TGA points out US needs to keep that flowing for own needs,so why spend money for navy,expeditionary force when US is doing so-what's the US gonna do,not keep the oil flowing?If the worst happens,Europe will request more from North Sea,pay for more Russian pipelines and build pipelines to Trans-Caucausus oilfields.
France will sell to Russia,China,anybody to keep defence industry going and as alternative to US and US restrictions on weapons sales.
So Europe will get a "free ride" on defence spending,but the Capitols of Europe ask why should they spend money on vast Armies and Air Forces that have no possible foe to fight?And does the US really want a EuroNavy that might interfere w/US policy?The trade-off for US is,if US can convince West Europe the cause is just,W.E. will provide the troops,the US just has to get them there.
Posted by: Stephen ||
06/17/2004 19:52 Comments ||
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#16
I'm in favor of moving the 37.000 troops out of Korea back to the US to guard our southern border. The divisions from Germany could take the Canadian border or Canada for that matter.
#17
I think, given the current world situation, it will be much easier for these countries to get US troops out than to get them to come back if they need them.
As for Gulf oil,as TGA points out US needs to keep that flowing for own needs,so why spend money for navy,expeditionary force when US is doing so-what's the US gonna do,not keep the oil flowing?
Well, we could start drilling in our Alaskan fields for domestic consumption only and in parallel, begin a crash construction program of nuclear power plants for electricity (or degrade air quality by allowing more coal to be mined domestically and burned for power).
It's a mistake to think that because policy and public opinion here haven't gotten to the point of taking such measures YET that they won't in the future. The problem with freeriding is that you need to be very careful not to take too much - doing so causes the "host" to collapse or generate a strong immune response.
I'm not sure it would be good for any of the countries if that happened -- but if it does, there are options the US could take that would leave us even more independent for at least several decades.
#19
RWV - I understand - that's why this sentiment was so appealing...
And following up...
[rant]
In some ways, both the native LLL zipperheads and the "international" multi-culti's had better be vewy vewy caweful, lest we decide they're "right" in some respects. The isolationism wouldn't end the way they think, however, for we would prolly toss the LLL's over the Northern Border just before we closed it - unless we decided we wanted to own the other side. The Exact Same could be true of the Southern Border, come to think of it. Lessee, it was "sea to shining sea" (East-West) on the first pass. This time, let's make it North Pole to The Equator. Then close up and tell everyone to pissthefuckoff.
[/rant]
#20
RKB - I'm thinking Chavez and the Venezuelans/Cubans aren't doing the best for the Venezuelan people, and maybe a relief team needs to be brought in...
Heh! I'm just saying...
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/17/2004 22:05 Comments ||
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#21
Oh, and don't come 'round asking for contributions for the United Non-Governmental Organization of the Week, okay? Charity starts at home and all that .... we're sure you'll understand.
#22
Frank, Chavez clearly worries that will happen ....
I don't think so, not overtly and not unless the world changes a whole lot in the near future. Our relationship with Latin American countries is long and sometimes messy .... I don't think we need to complicate it more. We could, if necessary, do fast-build refinery construction here, which would reduce the attractiveness of Venezuelan refined oil products a fair amount. But as with most things, it's a matter of tradeoffs ... and the tradeoffs shift with events and attitudes over time.
#23
RKB,yes there is much the US could do if it didn't have Gulf oil,but there is virtually no way any of your suggestions could get passed in US as a substitute for Gulf Oil.Further,the US wants Gulf Oil flowing not just for itself and Europe,but also Japan and China.Western Europe is betting the US will have to keep Gulf open,that US will continue to act like Britain in the 1800's.
Posted by: Stephen ||
06/17/2004 22:56 Comments ||
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Turkish police detained four suspected Islamic militants on suspicion they were planning to bomb an upcoming NATO summit that will be attended by foreign leaders including President Bush. The four were detained late Wednesday in Istanbul and are suspected of being members of the Ansar al-Islam, a group linked to the al-Qaida terrorist network, a police official said on customary condition of anonymity. Bomb-making materials were also seized, the official said. Turkey has pumped up security ahead of the June 28-29 meeting of NATO leaders. Istanbul was also targeted in a series of deadly bombings late last year. Last month, police in the northwestern city of Bursa detained 16 people suspected of planning a bomb attack during the summit. Nine were charged with terrorism. Police believe the four suspects detained Wednesday had connections with those arrested in Bursa, according to the police official.
Most likely one of the 16 talked
More than 60 people were killed in November when suspected members of a Turkish al-Qaida cell bombed two synagogues, a London-based bank and the British Consulate. Turkish officials have charged 69 people in those blasts. Some 30,000 police and other security forces are expected to be on duty at the summit.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/17/2004 1:20:36 PM ||
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BORDEAUX - Police arrested the suspected recruiter and trainer of new members for the French unit of the Basque terrorist group ETA, the French Interior Ministry said Thursday. Iñaki Lopez de Bergara Astola was among eight suspected terrorists detained in three cities in western and central France. Lopez de Bergara is suspected of being the person "responsible for the reserve, recruitment and training" of the group in France, a ministry spokesman said. He was deported to Spain in 1998 after having completed a six-year prison sentence in France.
Guess he just couldn't stay away.
French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin phoned his Spanish counterpart, Jose Antonio Alonso, on Thursday morning to inform him of the operation. Villepin is "very happy with French-Spanish cooperation in the fight against terrorism," the spokesman said. For his part, Alonso said the arrests have "great importance". Other sources identified five of the eight detainees as Aitziber Coello Onaindia, Armando Zabalo Bilbao, Asier Aguinaco Etxenagusia, Juan Carlos Estevez Paz and Benito Fermin Martinez Bergara. Estevez Paz was convicted in France for his involvement in the 1995 failed assassination attempt against Spanish King Juan Carlos. French authorities had an arrest warrant out for Martinez Bergara, known by the alias "Demonio" (Devil) and purportedly a prominent member of ETA's French unit, for his alleged involvement in the theft of more than eight tonnes of dynamite by an ETA cell in the northwestern French town of Plevin in September 1999. Breton separatists were allegedly involved in the ETA operation to steal the explosives. The suspects were picked up in the central town of Limoges and in Angers and Le Mans, in western France.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/17/2004 11:40:47 AM ||
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French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin ... is "very happy with French-Spanish cooperation in the fight against terrorism," the spokesman said.
Since they both maintain equally effective stances in fighting terrorism (i.e., nil), well they should engage in mutual masturbation admiration.
MADRID â A teenager arrested in connection with the Madrid massacre has claimed the exâminer accused of supplying the explosives also supplied bomb parts, it was reported Thursday. The 16-year-old was arrested this week as part of an operation in which eight people were detained in connection with the supply of the explosives to the Islamic terrorists who carried out the attacks. The Spanish daily El Mundo claimed the teenager, who is nicknamed 'The Gypsy', told investigators that Emilio Suárez Trashorras also gave the terrorists bomb parts.
"The Gypsy"? Got to add him to the list along with "Mohamed The Egyptian", "The Algerian", "The Dynamiter" and, hell, I've lost track.
Trashorras, who has been charged with supplying explosives, was also said to have been a police informer. He was accused of stealing the Goma 2 explosives from a mine in Asturias in northern Spain and supplying it to the Islamic extremists who planted the bombs. The attacks killed 192 people and injured more than 1,500 others, who were travelling on four rush-hour trains in Madrid on 11 March. The teenager was detained on the orders of a judge Wednesday for three months. Trashorras' wife, Carmen Toro, her brother Antonio Toro, Iván Granados; Raúl González and Emilio Llano were also detained on the orders of the judge. They were all accused of playing a part in supplying the explosives to the terrorists. Two others were released.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/17/2004 11:33:51 AM ||
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The Bush administration has pledged to stop special security checks imposed on adult males entering the United States from mainly Muslim countries. Those targeted are mostly from countries considered a risk for terrorism. "Our long term goal", senior homeland security official Asa Hutchinson told Arab civil rights leaders Friday, "is to treat (all visitors) the same way, and not based on where you come from."
In that case you should be frisking everybody, rather than letting turbans waltz in unopposed. When the next 9-11 commission lines up to shoot the wounded after the next jihadi atrocity, you're gonna be in the first rank â always assuming they don't destroy Washington, D.C., and you with it...
Hutchinson also distinguished the approach of the Department of Homeland Security from that of other parts of the administration, notably Attorney General John Ashcroft's Justice Department, United Press International reported.
"Book 'em, Agent Starchedshirt! And make sure they're biopsied!"
Under the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System or NSEERS, introduced in November 2002, male visa-holders coming to the United States from any one of 25 listed nations have had to undergo special screening, including being fingerprinted, photographed and interviewed at ports of entry. The countries include Yemen, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Iran. Apart from North Korea, they are all majority-Muslim nations.
#1
PC wins, national suicide rules. Is this what it really means? The Swedish nuns are an equal threat as a Saudi male to the US? This is madness.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/17/2004 19:07 Comments ||
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#2
"Our long term goal", senior homeland security official Asa Hutchinson told Arab civil rights leaders Friday, "is to treat (all visitors) the same way, and not based on where you come from."
When 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia, it is impossible to justify such world-class stupidity.
Is it time to discuss whether anyone can justify voting for Bush or just sit out the election? Anyone out there want to throw out a counterargument?
#4
Raj: At least with Bush there's a chance we can get it right. If we get Lurch, we are in serious trouble. I don't want my daughter wearin' a burkha so I'm asking you to vote Bush!
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
06/17/2004 19:37 Comments ||
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#5
MyGod! I think it really *will* take a couple more 9/11's before these *IDIOTS* get a clue....
#7
Likewise, when the president's "thinking big" instead of getting down in the nitty-gritty, you get incidents of stupidity like this; if it's not an order "from the top", it's just this guy being an idiot ...
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
06/17/2004 20:38 Comments ||
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#8
Folks, they already have a clue! And the clue is, let's have a few more 9/11's. That can be the only answer, they're trying to either destroy us.
Or they're setting in place the circumstances to justify a massive retaliation against the Islamic World. I say, why wait. Let's do `em now!
#10
"Our long term goal", senior homeland security official Asa Hutchinson told Arab civil rights leaders Friday, "is to treat (all visitors) the same way, and not based on where you come from."
Know what my long term goal is, Asa? To hopefully still be alive to watch you dance around this after it blows up in your face.
#11
It's possible that Mr. Hutchinson is a Democrat who feels this is the appropriate way to preserve civil liberties .... or a way to put the Bush administration in the position of having to publicly "discriminate against Arabs" in an election year.
Stupidity is common, but gaming and manipulation of PR is pretty common inside the beltway, too.
#12
Asa's no fool or Democrat (I know....repetitious) - there's more to this
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/17/2004 21:36 Comments ||
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#13
I hope everyone here finally realizes that both sides of the aisle are stuffed with f&%king morons. It's difficult to tell which is the greater source of peril, al Qaeda or our own politicians.
AKRON, Ohio -- A jury found Imam Fawaz Mohammed Damra guilty Thursday [17 June 2004] of lying about alleged ties to terrorist groups,...Lawyers for Damra decided not to call any witnesses, appearing confident that the prosecutors failed to prove their case...Damra could face up to five years in prison, $5,000 in fines and deportation.
#3
"Lawyers for Damra decided not to call any witnesses, appearing confident that the prosecutors failed to prove their case."
Fool. The article doesn't say, but I'll bet he made the mistake of getting lawyers who are just like him, think like him, empathized with his Muslim beliefs, etc. Wotta 'tard. Shoulda hired some cracker lawyer in the strip mall - who knows how the Judge / Jury think. Prolly a classic example of believing your world view is applicable in a wildly different society. It's not. Bye-bye, moron!
#4
Put him in prison and assign Ms English to guard him.
Posted by: Rock ||
06/17/2004 17:28 Comments ||
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#5
Put him in prison and assign Ms English to guard him. I'll make the run to Victoria's Secret....and they're even having a sale!
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
06/17/2004 17:31 Comments ||
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#6
Y'mean Ms. England.
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
06/17/2004 20:38 Comments ||
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#7
Prosecutors claimed that when Damra applied for citizenship, he concealed ties to Afghan Refugee Services, the Islamic Committee for Palestine and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, groups the government classifies as terrorist organizations. - Why would you jail a guy that needs to be deported?
Also, RM I believe that Ms England is partial to Fredricks.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
06/18/2004 2:35 Comments ||
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A Pakistani-American man pleaded guilty in a closed U.S. court hearing to helping Islamic militants in a plot to blow up London train stations and pubs, law enforcement sources said on Thursday. The man, identified as Mohammed Junaid Babar, 29, was arrested in April in New York and no specific charges have been made public. Babar, a Pakistani-American who grew up in the New York borough of Queens, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court sometime after his arrest, but the hearing was sealed, a law enforcement source said. The U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan declined comment.
"I can say no more."
British authorities told U.S. officials they believed Babar was involved in a plot by a London group known as al Muhajiroun to bomb pubs and train stations in London, a law enforcement source said. British authorities said they broke up the plot in March and arrested eight men. Babar was being held in New York and was cooperating with officials in the investigation, a law enforcement source said.
Sniff, sniff, smells like a plea deal to me.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/17/2004 1:40:59 PM ||
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#1
Sounds like another witness against Capt. Hook.
#4
Zpaz---Muslim American is a Muslim first and an American second, with some exceptions, so it seems from past actions.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/17/2004 14:44 Comments ||
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#5
Add another one to the list of convictions Ashcroft hasn't gotten.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
06/17/2004 14:57 Comments ||
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#6
I just can't get the hang of the whole hyphen thing especially when it comes to Muslims. I don't believe they have any intention of being both Muslim and American in any meaningful way. Being American is just a tactical convenience for them. Can you picture a Muslim becoming enraged and defending the honor of, say, Stonewall Jackson? (Take your pick of any American hero of the past if he offends your sensibility. Try Frederick Douglas if it suits you.) Do any of our past battles to become American mean anything to them?
Muslim-American? I think not. To paraphrase Abe Lincoln, they must become either one or the other, either they must become all free or all slave, they can not do both. And for that matter, so must the rest of us. If they want to be Mooselimb first, they should live in Mooselimbland.
From Town Hall, an article by Michelle Malkin
Do you know how the alleged "shopping-mall" bomber entered our country? He didnât cross the border illegally. He didnât sneak in on a ship. He came through the front door at Americaâs invitation. Nuradin M. Abdi, who was indicted last week for plotting with al Qaeda to blow up an Ohio shopping mall, flew here from Somalia and received bogus "refugee" status in 1999, according to authorities. Prosecutors allege that Abdi then fraudulently obtained a refugee travel document, which he used to fly to Ethiopia for jihad training. After returning, Abdi blended back into the American landscape along with tens of thousands of other refugees from a country known to be a breeding ground for Islamic terrorists. Columbus, Abdiâs home base, is home to more than 30,000 Somalis -- the second-largest Somali community in the United States, after Minneapolis.
The Somali-al Qaeda connection is well-established. .... Not every Somalian refugee or asylum-seeker is a terrorist, of course. But the system for screening out the well-meaning from the menaces is completely overwhelmed. Claims of "credible fear of persecution" are almost impossible to document but are rarely rejected. Federal homeland security officials are unable to detain asylum-seekers for background checks without the civil liberties brigade screaming "racial profiling." And there is still a woeful shortage of detention space -- just 2,000 beds nationwide -- to hold those with suspect claims. As a result, thousands of refugees and asylum-seekers who have made flimsy claims of persecution are let loose. As the Department of Justiceâs inspector general reported, 97 percent of all asylum-seekers from any country who were released from immigration custody were never found again and deported.
Abdiâs case cannot be viewed in isolation. At least three other high-profile Islamic militants that we know of exploited the asylum system over the past decade:
* Ramzi Yousef landed at New York Cityâs JFK airport from Pakistan and flashed an Iraqi passport without a visa to inspectors. He was briefly detained for illegal entry and fingerprinted, but was allowed to remain in the country after invoking the magic words "political asylum." The then-INS released him because it didnât have enough space in its detention facility. Yousef headed to Jersey City to plot the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
* Gazi Ibrahim Abu Mezer, a Palestinian bomb-builder, entered the U.S. illegally through Canada in 1996 and 1997. He claimed political asylum based on alleged persecution by Israelis, was released on a reduced $5,000 bond posted by a man who was himself an illegal alien, and then skipped his asylum hearing after calling his attorney and lying about his whereabouts. In June 1997, after his lawyer withdrew Mezerâs asylum claim, a federal immigration judge ordered Mezer to leave the country on a "voluntary departure order." Mezer ignored the useless piece of paper. He joined a New York City bombing plot before being arrested in July 1997 after a roommate tipped off local police.
* Mir Aimal Kansi, convicted in 1997 of capital murder and nine other charges stemming from his January 1993 shooting spree outside the CIA headquarters in McLean, Va., also exploited our insane asylum laxity. Despite his history as a known Pakistani militant who had participated in anti-American demonstrations abroad, Kansi received a business visa in 1991. After arrival, he claimed political asylum based on his ethnic minority status in Pakistan. While his asylum application was pending, he obtained a driverâs license and an AK-47, murdered two CIA agents, and wounded three others. ...
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
06/17/2004 8:43:15 AM ||
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#1
I used to run an English as a Second Language program in a community college. During my nine years with the program, I saw requirements for registrees to provide legitimate identification for entrance to the program go from something weakly enforced to something we were not "legally allowed" to do and back to something we tried hard to get but often were unable to obtain if not caught on the original application. We need to have clear legal definitions set up in our schools (think about it--I have seen reports that some of the 9/11 hijackers WERE taking English classes). There is an unintended protective boundary around "visitors" because of domestic indifference and legal ignorance...
#2
The US government doesn't even have the will to stop illegal immigration from Mexico - something that requires far less investigative effort - and it's expected to spmehow determine who is and isn't really a "refugee"???
#3
The burnt hand teaches best -- after that advice about fire goes stright to the heart.
Unless you are an american member of congress (or president).
I am afraid that it will take (at least) a couple more 9/11's before the idea sticks. (After all they kept the Visa Express program in Saudi-arabis going even after 9/11 and the idiot who created it even received a BONUS for it (she only had to enable 3000 people to get murdered....)). I dont think one more 9/11 would be enough for our elected officals to get the picture.
That's true. You won't hear me defending George Bush's (or the previous administration's) policy on immigration law enforcement. But I can tell you that there is currently ZERO oversight of the legality of students in these types classes. Students provide make up social security numbers and that's that...no way of knowing from where they came or why they are here. I still am a strong advocate of ESL classes--if we want people to assimilate, this is the way-but I have grave concerns about all illegals in the US.
#5
The refugee issue is simple. Don't accept any "refugee" that is not from the Western hemisphere. There is no reason why some jackoff from Somalia (who somehow could afford to travel halfway across the world in the first place) has to come across the Atlantic as a "refugee".
Why can't he go to France? Germany? Spain? Or any of the Peace Loving Arab states?
Nah. Head these people off at the border. Case closed.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
06/17/2004 12:38 Comments ||
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#6
I am afraid that it will take (at least) a couple more 9/11's before the idea sticks.
To have to suffer more 9/11/2001-style attacks would seem to me that instead of a burnt hand situation, we're talking more in terms of an amputated limb...
#8
The US government doesn't even have the will to stop illegal immigration from Mexico....
Say instead that the US government doesn't have the will to touch our ponzi scheme entitlement programs for the elderly. Said programs of course depend on payroll taxes drawn from a a pyramid-shaped population with a very large working age base transferring wealth to a smaller elderly tip. Since Americans aren't doing their part by having enough children to ensure the continual rapid expansion of the population we're forced to turn to massive, and even illegal, immigration to fill the gap. The fact is that it's politically expedient to allow quite a bit of illegal immigration and that's not likely to change no matter who's in charge.
But before we go too far down the road of condemning our illegal immigrants from south of the border, stop a moment and consider just who it is that comes here. The average Mexican or Central/South American immigrant (legal or not) probably: works harder than the average US citizen, cares for his/her family to the best of his/her ability, comes looking only for a better life, views the US as a land of opportunity, believes in God, etc. In other words, they're a lot more traditionally American than many US citizens, particularly those on the LLL.
I'm not defending the practice of throwing open our southern border, I'm just pointing out that, aside from language differences, we have an awful lot in common with those folks who cross it. Compare that with the waves of Muslim immigration into western Europe that they're using to prop up their ponzi scheme socialist welfare states and count your blessings that our nation is an ocean away from that morass.
#9
Azcat - disagree with the benefit of the influx of uneducated cheap labor. Much of their earned $ are sent back to Mexico to support the family (which is one of the reasons Fox is so hot on amnesty), and their many children flood the schools with non-english speaking special ed cases. I favor a worker program, but not citizenship, and their children born after they illegally sneak in shouldn't get citizenship either
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/17/2004 17:15 Comments ||
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#10
I'm just pointing out that, aside from language differences, we have an awful lot in common with those folks who cross it.
Absolutely. And the majority are as you say, hard-working, believe in God, care for their families.
What this approach to immigration doesn't address is:
1.) The demographic bias in favor of Hispanic-Americans to the detriment of people of other nationalities, at least as far as residency goes. For me, you shouldn't favor one group and create a loss for another group based on their race, and you shouldn't award residency/citizenship to a law breaker while denying it to a law-respecter. (To law-abiding Hispanic Americans--I am not painting you with this brush-we are proud to have you here.)IT IS IMPORTANT TO MAINTAIN EQUAL RIGHTS UNDER THE LAW.
2.) In terms of effective assimilation, what are communicating about rule of law if we let illegal aliens' first and very important encounter with law slide? We adhere to rule of law but only part of the time? What part?
There is one difference between the 'Legal Aliens' and 'Illegal Aliens' which you fail to mention. The legal aliens are here LEGALLY and are for the most part law-abiding people. They often have to wait years in order to get here legally. The illegal aliens (sometimes misnamed 'undocumented') on the other hand are here in violation of federal law - by definition they are not law-abiding.
I do not have a problem with LEGAL aliens. I am married to an alien (sounds like the title to a sci-fi movie huh?).
Did you know that in order for an alien to come here legally they undergo a interview and background check? There is no 'vetting' or background checks of illegal aliens so we don't know if they are murders, or terrorists, etc...
(Tho the INS sometimes let them in anyway legally on 'humanitarian' grounds -- another failing of theirs).
Did you know that for the most part legal aliens cannot get simply welfare or other 'means based' aid? Their Sponsors have to sign an affidavid that they will support them for about 10 years.
Did you know that illegal aliens get free medical simply for being illegal? The legal alien's sponsor is responsible for the medical of legal aliens. My wife just had a baby and it cost us about $5-6K (including insurance) -- illegal aliens get it for free.
#12
Much of their earned $ are sent back to Mexico to support the family (which is one of the reasons Fox is so hot on amnesty), and their many children flood the schools with non-english speaking special ed cases.
Payroll taxes for Social Security / Medicare come off the top, that's why I singled them out. Employers are liable for SS/MC taxes whether the worker is legal or not thus it's normal for an employer employing illegals to go ahead and pay the payroll taxes. Employing illegals earns one a slap on the wrist, tax evasion earns one an invasive IRS procedure.
You're right WRT the consumption of social services but who pays for education? Mostly the states & local communities. Who funds programs for indigent health care? Mostly the states or the medical industry through state pressure. What constituency benefits from not having to tackle the problem of entitlement programs for the elderly right now? Holders of elected office in the federal government. See the trend here? Federal politicians are serving their own political needs while passing much of the cost of their decisions on down to the state and local levels.
As the followups to my original post pointed out, there are plenty of perfectly valid reasons to control our borders and I agree with those. But we need to see this game with illegal immigrants for what it primarily is: a last-ditch attempt to shore up our bloated and failing entitlement culture. As a practical matter we can't address illegal immigration effectively until and unless we first address our gross overspending on entitlements. In other words, we first have to break our dependence on the "population pyramid" that's necessary to support our entitlements. Then, and only then, will we find politicians with the political will to shore up our immigration policies. Until that time (or until most of the population realizes that we really are at war), look for the southern border to remain fairly open.
#1
More CBS BS on Cambone. The guy is not real nibble but hell, give him a break for Pete's sake. The CBS muckrakers parlay this into yet another Rumsfeld body slam -- gee, must be Kerry media channel.
Posted by: Capt America ||
06/17/2004 1:36 Comments ||
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Posted by: Super Hose ||
06/17/2004 1:47 Comments ||
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#3
Woodward's book says Rumsfeld considered going to the intel community rather than DOD when the Bush team was organizing itself, on the grounds that reforming and re-energizing the intel community was long overdue. Given that concern, it isn't surprising he added capability on the defense side.
Not expressing an opinion of my own on the intel situation .... I know just enough to know what I don't really know about that. But looking at Cambone's bio, there do seem to be some relevant experiences there, including familiarity with some of the issues surrounding the technical intel gathering community (Commission to Assess United States National Security Space Management and Organization & perhaps the Los Alamos work).
The dual role of the head of the CIA as also DCI has its roots in the bureaucratic struggles at the end of WWII. Whether or not to split those roles is a hot topic, but keep in mind that the CIa itself has never been the largest intel agency. The arguments for merging all dod intel under a single high-level official might include the increased emphasis on joint operations, where army, navy, air force and marines are all interoperating closely. Putting battlefield intel under the direct management of the head of the CIA is a non-starter and always has been, however.
Pirates who launch armed attacks in Indonesian waters should be shot on sight without mercy, Indonesia's navy chief said yesterday.
"Yar! Hang 'em from the yardarm, Mr. Muslim!"
'There is a legal basis for this. We are merely defending ourselves if they attack first,' Antara news agency quoted Admiral Bernard Kent Sondakh as saying. 'If they are caught alive, they would only get, at the most, three months in jail. After that, they go pirating again,' he told reporters after presenting special citations to 24 crew members of a Navy ship.
"Better to stow 'em away in Davy Jones' locker, by Gar!"
The 24 were commended for thwarting pirates who hijacked and took hostage 36 people on board a tanker in waters off Berhala Island in North Sumatra province last Saturday. Indonesia has the world's worst piracy record, with 21 reported attacks in the first three months of this year, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2004 9:21:47 PM ||
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#1
Methinks perhaps some in Indonesia want to forstall international action in their neck of the woods ... err ... sea.
Cripes, Fred! That cost me a snort of J. Lohr 2000 Cabernet!
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/17/2004 21:38 Comments ||
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#3
Pirates who launch armed attacks in Indonesian waters should be shot on sight without mercy, Indonesia's navy chief said yesterday.
Finally, someone who understands the Geneva Conventions!
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
06/17/2004 21:43 Comments ||
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#4
Works for me.
Do they need any money for ammunition?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/17/2004 22:15 Comments ||
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#5
The only objection I would have to hanging the scurvy dogs is that they would never feel the ropes bite if they are already hulled by multiple .50BMG rounds
Indonesian prosecutors allege a student used his days off from his studies in Pakistan to meet an al Qaeda-linked group led by the son of terrorism suspect, Abu Bakar Bashir. Husni Rijal, 27, alias Ilham Sopandi, is charged with attempting or assisting in acts of terrorism. He is one of four Indonesian students deported from Pakistan in December and could face death if convicted under an anti-terrorism law. Indonesian police say that Mr Rijal and his fellow students passed on funds used for the suicide bombing of Jakarta's Marriott Hotel last August, which killed 12 people. An indictment read out in the Central Jakarta district court says Mr Rijal travelled to Pakistan in July last year with another student, and was allegedly met by Rusman Gunawan, the younger brother of top terrorism suspect Hambali. The indictment alleges that each Friday, Mr Rijal visited Mr Gunawan and met with the so-called al Ghuraba group.
Authorities in Thailand say five police have been wounded in a bomb blast in the troubled southern province of Narathiwat. Two of those hurt are said to have suffered severe leg injuries. Officials say the bomb exploded in a park as the police were taking a break.
Bet they took a break in the same place every day.
A policeman and a school guard were shot dead earlier in the day in two separate incidents in the same province. Violence by suspected Islamic separatists in the southern provinces has left more than 200 people dead since January.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/17/2004 9:46:15 AM ||
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#1
There's only so many donut shops to go around in Thailand anyway. Where ELSE are they going to take their breaks?
Posted by: Chris W. ||
06/17/2004 12:43 Comments ||
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Malacañang on Thursday said the Philippines remains hopeful in its bid for an observer seat in the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) amid rumors some of its supporters have not only backed out but are actually blocking its bid.
Tap, tap, nope.
"We believe in the information from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) that we have substantial backing. At the earliest possible time, our application will be placed on the agenda," Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said. Bunye admitted the Philippine bid will have to be considered by more members of the OIC but held out hope. "We are hoping for the best. Let's wait for the results of their deliberations," Bunye said. A member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and a Middle East country belonging to the powerful Committee of Eight that previously supported the Philippine bid have reportedly turned around.
My guess would be Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.
Securing an observer seat and the goodwill of the 57-member OIC is deemed crucial for the government in its efforts to end the protracted strife in Mindanao and bring to a successful conclusion its peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The OIC, or at least some of its members, provided big help brokering the peace treaty signed by the government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1996 and has many occasions expressed appreciation over how the terms of the agreement have been followed by both parties.
(insert uncontrolled laughter here)
In the ASEAN Summit last year, OIC countries expressed support for the peace talks between the government and the MILF brokered by Malaysia. They also promised funds for the establishment of a islamic state rehabilitation in the affected areas in Mindanao.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/17/2004 9:35:16 AM ||
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A series of escalating spats in the Gulf waters between Iran, on one hand, and the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman, on the other, has cast a large shadow over relations between these countries. Officials from the three Gulf countries and many foreign diplomats are also perplexed over the recent hostile actions and are seeking ways to diffuse the tension... Is Iran just wanting a little lebensraum, or just hoping to find its "place in the sun?"
#1
Can we parachute in a few really hot dominatrices to straighten these leaders out? It would be fun to watch those sex-fearing, sex-starved leaders struggling to choose between ogling stiletto clad gams up to there and reading sterile Quranic scripture. Plus, maybe the doms could drug the Iranians and get us into sites that no one else has had access to.
#2
The Gulf Sheiks should have formed their own mutual defense alliance/united foriegn policy long ago. They have the money to buy top equipment, and a gulf full of water to keep the Iranians at a distance.
#4
I think they're feeling their nuclear Cheerios.
Seriously, if they're acting like this to EVERYONE, I figure they already have a couple nukes of proven (ie, Pakistani/NorK) design.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
06/17/2004 22:05 Comments ||
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#5
RWV - But those are the REMF's... But hey, (!!!), there might just be a batch of Dom's in that lot for jules 187's plan! I think you're onto something here!
#6
I wouldn't bet that, RC, but, then again, that's not my ass on the line. Pure bluff IMHO. Let the Israelis take them out...call it an "A-Q disruption to the radar (on the power grid), and we couldn't see whose planes it was" incident. "Maybe they came from Syria?"
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/17/2004 22:09 Comments ||
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Members of Iranâs hardline Islamic Basij militia have formed a human chain around the Islamic republicâs first nuclear power station, and have vowed to defend the facility to their "last drop of blood", the official news agency IRNA said Wednesday. The agency said the protest at Bushehr -- sparked by fresh pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme from the UN atomic energy watchdog -- took place on Tuesday and Wednesday. However, there were no photos or television images of the symbolic act of defiance by 400 student Basij, as the site is subject to tight security. The power station, situated on the Gulf coast and being built with Russian help, is still under construction. "The students of the Basij formed this human chain to tell the Western countries... that they will defend, to their last drop of blood the achievements of Iran in the domain of nuclear technology," a Basij official, Ali Kamal Chonbadi, was quoted as saying. "We will continue this action until the legitimate rights of Iran are secured," he said. IRNA said a similar protest also took place in the central city of Arak, where a heavy water reactor is being built. Protestors reportedly chanted slogans against Britain, the United States and Israel, and also called for the breaking off of diplomatic relation with France and Germany. Britain, France and Germany have drawn Iranian ire after proposing a draft resolution to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna that calls for the probe into Iranâs suspect nuclear programme to be stepped up, and chastises the clerical regime for its failure to allay suspicions it is seeking nuclear weapons under the cover of generating atomic energy.
Posted by: TS(vice girl) ||
06/17/2004 2:18:23 AM ||
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#1
"We would show you our solidarity, our commitment, our bravery, our love for our leaders, our very large manhoods, but we can't. Security, you see. But trust us, we were very impressive and manly and everything."
#2
The vermin is cognizant the clock is ticking for the mullahs.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
06/17/2004 3:08 Comments ||
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#3
Isreal WILL undertake preimptive predawn strikes into Iran with 6 stealth fighters, Iran will counter with an initial volley of intermediate range missles aim at Tel Aviv and the Dimona Site! The US will counter with Carrier & submarine based cruise missles. North Korea will sound national defense alert sirens and 'misfire over The south...
#5
Two days after the Franco-Helvetican fiasco, China attacks the Republic of the Molepeople. In retaliation, the Molepeople sink China into the sea using an earthquake machine built by Neo-Zionist's.
Posted by: Charles ||
06/17/2004 8:57 Comments ||
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#6
A 'human shield' of Iraninan Islamic militiamen? Is that supposed to deter bombing or encourage it?
Posted by: Les Nessman ||
06/17/2004 9:06 Comments ||
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#7
"You're making me very angry! (huff, huff)"
-- Marvin
#8
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Tonto, having disguised himself as a pool table, was having his balls racked.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
06/17/2004 11:16 Comments ||
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#9
...You know, the FUNNY part is that with the weapons we have now, these asshats could literally be standing in a human chain around the buildings (like they really are when the reporters aren't around) and we could put one right down the vent shaft. All they'd ever see is a puff of dust and feel a rumble...and wonder just what in the hell happened.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
06/17/2004 12:07 Comments ||
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#14
Neutron bomb - kill the defenders, leave the facility intact (and able to be dismantled cleanly).
Posted by: someone too ||
06/17/2004 21:41 Comments ||
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#15
. . . and then the Illuminati come in with their black helicopters and stolen Zionist death rays and mop up all the stalwart defenders of the true Islam before moving to execute Part A of Step 274 of Phase XXI of their plan for world domination . . .
Posted by: The Doctor ||
06/17/2004 23:15 Comments ||
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#16
Nonono, now is the time for the first operation test of carpet MOAB bombing. Let's see what happens if you rain down about 100 of those monsters.
#19
I don't like the neutron bomb because of the possibility that the gamma radiation will transform the militia into an undefeatable host of incredible hulks.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
06/18/2004 0:30 Comments ||
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#20
Mullah Stew is about to be served :)
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
06/18/2004 0:54 Comments ||
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Iran builds up forces on its border with Iraq. DEBKAfile adds: Troops ranged along 350-km stretch from Dezful opposite Iraqâs Basra and Shalamcheh opposite al Amarah. In Tehran, FM Kharrazi warned that Iranâs parliament would not ratify any time soon Additional Protocol for Non-Proliferation Treaty allowing snap UN nuclear inspections.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
06/17/2004 12:32:49 AM ||
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#1
Non ratification could cause ramifications, even diplomatic interventions! I hope it never comes to that. Can you say horrorific, horrorifical, horrorificalnese, try horrrorificalization. Yeah thats it, horrrori, horrorrificala, firicula...
#3
The bottom line is sooner or later, and most likely sooner, the centre of Islamic (Shi'ite) terrorism is going to have to be firmly dealt with, otherwise our troops and those of other Coalition forces are combating two enemies, homegrown Sunni & Shi'ite Iraqi thugs and the non-Iraqi killers being trained and sent over the Iraq's borders by Jihadic Axis of Iran-Syria-Lebanon.
Those fanatics sitting on their stole Persian thrones in Tehran & Qom must be prevented from securing nuclear weaponry via North Korea & other unfriendly sources.
Iran's OPEC oil continues flowing to those certain 'western' nations which did not lit a finger to assist the Coalition serving in Iraq. On the other hand, Iraq is suffering multi-billion dollar losses in crude exports caused by terrorist sabotage of the Iraqi petroleum infrastructure has benefiting the Iranian government in economic terms plus (temporarily) keeps the heat off of the architects of chaos and death in neighbouring Iraq...Iran.
All of us should recall it was no other than the 'progressive' Carter Administration allowed Khomeini & his band of Islamic dark ages mullahs to seize control of Iran, coupled with the mammoth Iranian OPEC oil reserves (used for expansion of Shi'ite related terrorism ever since.) Saudi Arabia is the next 1979 Iran in the making.
Saddam was prevented from utilizing his OPEC oil exports to promote his version of terrorism in Israel & elsewhere. It's high time the original instigators of Islamic based terrorism in the last half of the 20th century be prevented from carrying out Ayatollah Khomeni's historic rantings of Islamitizing the entire world.
Geographically looking at a map of the greater Persian Gulf region Iran despots are like cornered rats being that we control the Gulf with our U.S./U.K. navy fleets, we control those left over Soviet air bases in Herat & elsewhere throughout Afghanistan, not to mention being directly on Iran's western flank in Iraq & Kuwait. Rats are known to engage in stupid behaviour.
As I write this FOX just stated various explosions taking place in Baghdad ..I wonder whom is behind those .....nuff said..
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
06/17/2004 3:04 Comments ||
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#4
Der Mullah's Face
When the mullah says "we is the master faith,"
We JIHAD! (phhht!), JIHAD! (phhht!), right in the mullah's face.
Not to love Mohammed is a great disgrace,
So we JIHAD! (phhht!), JIHAD! (phhht!), right in the mullah's face.
When the immams say that all Christians they'll debase,
We JIHAD! (phhht!), JIHAD! (phhht!), right in the immam's face.
When the sheik says our church he will deface,
We JIHAD! (phhht!), JIHAD! (phhht!), right in his holy face.
[alternate verses:]
When the mufti says infidels must know their place,
We JIHAD! (phhht!), JIHAD! (phhht!), right in the mullah's face.
When the ayatollah says our church he will erase,
We JIHAD! (phhht!), JIHAD! (phhht!), right in his holy face.
Are we not the superfaith,
Arabic pure superfaith?
Ja we is the superfaith,
Super-duper superfaith.
Is this Nutzo land not good?
Would you leave it if you could?
Ja this Nutzo land is good!
We would leave it if we could.
We will bring the world to order,
Dar al Islam's new world order.
Everyone of foreign race will love der Ayatollah's face,
When we bring the world disorder
When Saddam says we'll never bomb his place,
We JIHAD! (phhht!), JIHAD! (phhht!), right in the leader's face.
When the Mullah says, "We is the master faith"
We JIHAD! (phhht!), JIHAD! (phhht!), right in the mullah's face.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
06/17/2004 3:06 Comments ||
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#5
There are only two reasons why the Iranians would be massing or "prepositioning" troops at this time: a)anticipating an Israeli strike at it's nuclear facilities(secondary move to counter a reactionary ground force advance [on our part])! b)'assist' with civil war unrest instigated by a reinvigored Al Sadr after the 'turn over' of sovereignty.
#6
I see two possible scenarios: The first, that this corps is designed for a rapid occupation of southern Iraq--the separate brigade being suicide infiltrators, if the US folds. The second is, after 1 or 2 US divisions are removed on 15 July, again the rapid grab of south Iraq conventionally, perhaps using one nuclear weapon against the remaining division and the threat of another nuke against the Saudi oilfields.
But that would be what Iran is planning. What the US and Israel are planning could significantly change that scenario--if, and only if, the nuclear weapons are eliminated and quickly.
#10
Oge_Retla, Mike Kozlowski, smn, everyone... I saw that Mullah song posted somewhere and could not resist posting it :)
smn, Anonymoose I feel your overviews are on target.
Something big is in the offing soon.
Israel saved the world a lot of major damage in the 1st Gulf War by removing Saddam's nuke weapons plant in 1982 and today the Jewish nation will never allow another Holocaust rocketing out of Persian skies.
The Axis of evil in the Mid-East (Iran-Syria-Lebanon) needs a major governmental overhaul...as in all three.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
06/18/2004 1:04 Comments ||
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Highlights From Reports, released on Wednesday by the September 11 Commission on al-Qaedaâa operations and the September 11 plot:
Osama bin Laden and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein did not appear to have a collaborative relationship. A senior Iraqi intelligence official reportedly met with bin Laden in 1994 in Sudan and there have been reports that contacts between Iraq and al-Qaeda also occurred after bin Laden returned to Afghanistan. But Iraq apparently never responded to a request from bin Laden for weapons and space to establish training camps. Two senior bin Laden associates adamantly have denied that any ties existed between al-Qaeda and Iraq and there is "no credible evidence" Iraq and al-Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States.
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the attacks, envisioned a plot with 10 hijacked planes, with himself as one of the pilots. Mohammed, who is in US custody at an undisclosed overseas location, told interrogators that he proposed killing every male passenger aboard, landing at a US airport and making a "speech denouncing US policies in the Middle East before releasing all the women and children." After bin Laden rejected that plan, Mohammed wanted US commercial planes in Southeast Asia to be hijacked at the same time as the US hijackings. Those planes would have exploded in-flight or been crashed into US targets in Asia. Bin Laden cancelled that part of the plan because it would have been too difficult to synchronise.
Bin Laden wanted the fourth plane to strike the White House, but Atta believed it would be too difficult to hit and wanted to target the Capitol. Eventually, Atta agreed to the White House but kept the Capitol in reserve. Based on other exchanges between the hijackers, it remains unclear exactly which was the target on September 11.
Al-Qaeda intended to use 25 or 26 hijackers for the plot, instead of the 19 who took part. The commission identified at least nine "candidate hijackers" who were supposed to be part of the attacks at one time. Two were removed by the al-Qaeda leadership, two failed to acquire US visas, two backed out after one of them was stopped by security officers in Bahrain, one was stopped by US officials at the airport in Orlando, Florida, and two apparently withdrew under pressure from their families.
There is no evidence the Saudi Arabian government or senior officials within it funded al-Qaeda. However, al-Qaeda was able to get money from a variety of Saudi charities that, until recently, were subject to little oversight. Since the September 11 attacks, al-Qaedaâs funding has decreased significantly and its organisation has become decentralised due to bin Ladenâs seclusion.
An illegal immigrant recently deported to Yemen, Mohdar Abdullah, allegedly made claims before leaving the United States last month that he had advance knowledge of the September 11 attacks. Mohdar Abdullah was a San Diego State student who helped Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar obtain driverâs licenses and enrol in schools. When interviewed by the FBI, he denied knowledge of the plans. But before his May 21 deportation, "Abdullah allegedly made various claims to individuals incarcerated with him about having advance knowledge of the operativesâ 9/11 mission," telling one inmate he had received instructions to pick up operatives at Los Angeles International Airport and drive them to San Diego.
Al-Qaeda remains extremely interested in conducting chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear attacks. In 1994, al-Qaeda operatives attempted to purchase uranium for $1.5m; the uranium proved to be fake. Al-Qaeda had an ambitious biological weapons program and was making advances in its ability to produce anthrax before September 11. Similarly, al-Qaeda may seek to conduct a chemical attack by using widely available industrial chemicals, or by attacking a chemical plant or a shipment of hazardous materials.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
06/17/2004 4:53:25 AM ||
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#1
Calculated a batting average for this, Paul? Lol! I love how they just cannot handle the OBL / AlQ / Saddam connection - in spite of the excellent investigative work by Stephen F Hayes, such as this story - in which such customarily clueless orgs as Newsweek, ABC, and even NPR finally "get it"... Alas, the Ringling Bros, Barnum & Bailey 9/11 twerps never really do...
Here's an op-ed piece from the NY Post to further muddy the water.
For so much detail about AlQ timing, plans, aborts, rewrites, etc. - they still manage to swing! -- and miss!
#2
The Commission stated that there was no connection between AQ and Iraq with respect to attacks on the US (ie, 9/11). To the uninformed, stupid, or leftist, this means no connection at all, whereas in reality (as .com's NY Post link indicates) there is a wealth of connections.
#3
After seeing the panel in action, did anybody expect actual results? Grandstanding, and giving the papers a nice juicy headline, is all the commission was ever expected to deliver. And deliver they did.
#4
There is no evidence the Saudi Arabian government or senior officials within it funded al-Qaeda. However, al-Qaeda was able to get money from a variety of Saudi charities that, until recently, were subject to little oversight.
Have any of these people ever heard of the term "laundering"???
A convoy of U.S. government relief workers came under fire north of the Afghan capital Thursday, but the attackers missed the target and caused no injuries, a spokeswoman said.
That'd be Hek's boyz. Either that, or somebody got married...
The convoy of at least four vehicles of the U.S. Agency for International Development was traveling north from Kabul when it was attacked, spokeswoman Joan Ablett said. "Something was fired at the convoy," Ablett said. She said it was unclear if a rocket or some other projectile was fired, and she had no further details. Afghan officials were unaware of the incident. The convoy was on a trip to visit projects funded by the U.S. government's development arm in Parwan province. The vehicles carried on after escaping the attack, Ablett said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2004 10:10:45 PM ||
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A 55-year-old Palestinian, member of the Islamic resistance movement Hamas, was killed in a mysterious explosion Tuesday in his house in Gaza City. I'm trying to figure what's mysterious about it...
Palestinian witnesses said that they suddenly heard a huge blast, and then found the body of Awmi Taha in his house in Zaytoon neighborhood. They said that Taha was apparently preparing a bomb to be used against the Zionist terrorist army occupying the Gaza Strip.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2004 9:41:02 PM ||
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#3
Lost the formula? That's the problem when the instructions are written in half a dozen languages including pictures, very multi-cultural, but not very helpful.
#8
No mystery here, just sadness that his friends weren't there too.
Oh, well - maybe next time.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/17/2004 22:13 Comments ||
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#9
Remember a couple of years ago when the Paleos had good boom management and were hitting Israel pretty hard? Now Upper Level Management, as well as qualified midlevel management is gone. That leaves the ramp slugs taking up management positions, and Mr. KABOOM is the result. Good work, IDF. Stick to the Plan and ye shall reap the rewards.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/17/2004 22:19 Comments ||
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#10
rich - I think I saw Michael Douglas use one of those in the movie Falling Down, didn't I? It looked like a plain ol' LAW at first...
#12
Badanov - I agree it's a win for the Israelis, but does this loser get his 72-year-old virgin if he didn't murder any Jews? It's not even a suicide, technically (though I consider playing around with explosives potential suicide, but maybe that's just me).
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/17/2004 22:41 Comments ||
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#13
.com.- Rocket Launcher 66mm M72 (LAW).But my comment was the rocket followed the sewer pipe !!
#18
If a fatal explosion at the house of a Hamas freedom-fighter is mysterious to this journalist than maybe we know why he didn't matriculate to med school.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
06/18/2004 0:37 Comments ||
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#19
rich - you oughtta join in more often - it's therapeutic, heh. I was Green Machine circa 69 - when it sucked liked an F5 and you couldn't trust any officer 'cept Capt & Major not to be full of shit. I preferred the WO's - that was a fun bunch, heh. Speaking of fun, the LAW was just about the cat's meow. I got to yank the string a few times whacking tanks at the Knox Armor (25th USATCA - IIRC) range - waay cool shit, lol! I'd like to have a dozen or two to pass the time. Lol!
#21
Lol! You should pick one of the threads opening up right now for Thursday (so it'll be 'on' all day) and publish the 'plans' for how to build one! I guarantee it'll be a hit! 4th of July coming up - it'll be the hit of a hundred BBQ parties! Do it, man!
Dr. Mahmoud Al-Zahhar, the current Numbah One on the target list one of the prominent Hamas Movement leaders in the Gaza Strip, has affirmed that his Movement would accept the establishment of a Palestinian state on any inch of national soil without surrendering the right to the entire land of historical Palestine.
"We want it all! All, y'unnerstan'?"
Zahhar, in a recent interview with the Egyptian daily âAl-Ahramâ, said that Hamasâ main goal was ejecting occupation and establishing a society void of corruption. He refused to give any ceasefire commitment prior to the completion of a comprehensive Zionist withdrawal from the Strip. The Hamas leader affirmed that elections should determine who would run the Strip after the purported withdrawal. Asked on his Movementâs stand regarding the Egyptian role, Zahhar affirmed that Hamas harbingered no ill intention towards the Egyptian position and emphasized that none would object to Egyptian military deployment along its own borders. He finally pointed out that the current Palestinian Authorityâs security apparatuses consisted of only one faction. âWe are proposing the formation of a national army and security apparatus that grouped all political parties and that would welcome the Egyptian helping hand to those apparatuses. Egypt has maintained a balanced role and I believe that continuation of such a stand was vital for the coming stage,â he elaborated.
National dialogue should focus on the post-occupation political situation, security role, economic conditions and the mission of municipal and local councils, the Hamas leader underscored. He affirmed that Hamas was not weakened as a result of the Zionist assassination of a number of prominent leaders and activists. He recalled that Hamasâ strong blows to the Zionist enemy had led to a root change in the Zionist political concept. He also pointed to the presence of a number of recent violent attacks to the enemy soldiers in the Strip. Zahhar refuted allegations that Zionist agents had penetrated the Hamas Movement. âWe do not say that Hamas consists of a group of angels but we can detect any moral or security lapse and handle it properlyâ, he elaborated.
"Mahmoud, speaking for Boskone! Out!"
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2004 9:33:56 PM ||
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#1
Let's go over that one more time:
National dialogue should focus on the post-occupation political situation, security role, economic conditions and the mission of municipal and local councils, the Hamas leader underscored.
National Dialogue ... As in "With who?" I'm pretty sure Israel is out of the loop ASAP. Who else is going to step up to the plate?
Security Role ... As in "With who?" Once the "big fence" is built, no one will need much secuity, save for youse with those extra-mosquelar Hellfire visits.
Economic Conditions ... As is, no Erez industrial zone, the new Philadelphia Deepwater Channel⢠and a need for heavily reinforced subsurface Egypto-Gaza passageway engineering.
Municipal and Local Councils ... As in al Aqsa Marty's Brigade, Hizbollah and yers truly going extinct whenever Egypt or whomever gets one up to remove you amateurs from power.
Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto has alleged that âmilitants of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), General Pervez Musharraf or the people who made Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan a scapegoat in the nuclear proliferation scandalâ could be involved in the murder of her bodyguard, Munawar Suharwardy.
Either them or Zionists. Or it coulda been the Hindoos...
Speaking via telephone from London at a press conference at the Lahore Press Club on Thursday night, Ms Bhutto said that Mr Suharwardyâs murder was a great loss to the PPP and all party workers would mourn him for three days.âMy first suspicion goes to those militants of the MQM who conspired to convert Karachi into Jinnahpur and killed hundreds of people. Shaheed Suharwardy was one of those who worked hard to establish peace in Karachi in 1993-1996 and foiled the attempt to establish Jinnahpur,â said Ms Bhutto, who as premier for the second time, ordered an operation in Karachi.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2004 9:18:57 PM ||
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Golly. Murderous cut-throats hanging around a madrassa. That's never happened before, has it?
The names of those arrested are Rahimullah, Faizullah and Iqbal. Twelve hand grenades, four sub-machine guns, two G-3 rifles, five TT pistols and three .222 rifles were recovered from their possession.
Obviously they're very devout...
They were formerly in the Sipah-e-Sahaba and recently joined the Jundallah. CCPO Karachi Tariq Jamil confirmed the arrests, but declined to give details. Recently, nine activists had been arrested in Karachi, bringing the total number of Jundallah activists arrested so far to 12.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2004 9:16:31 PM ||
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Opposition Leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Thursday said the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) had no objection to the registration of foreigners living in Wana, South Waziristan Agency and other tribal areas. âWe donât oppose the registration process. We want foreigners to register with the departments concerned. But the way the government has handled the entire issue is highly condemnable,â Mr Rehman, who is also the MMA secretary general, told Daily Times in his National Assembly (NA) chambers.
"If they'da asked nice, everybody woulda signed right up..."
He said the MMA had tried to convince the foreigners in Wana to register under an agreement with the government, but they did not respond. He said the reason for their resistance to register was that the government had made threatening statements and launched a hasty military operation against them.
Ummm... I first started noticing the tribal lashkars last October. The military operation was inept, but it wasn't hasty...
He accused the government of launching a military offensive under US pressure. He claimed that the NWFP governor had summoned MMA leader Maulvi Sirajuddin and told him that the agreement with the foreigners in Wana was not workable.
Which appears to be a statement of fact...
The MMA secretary general also said the involvement of intelligence agencies in the murder of Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai could not be ruled out.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2004 9:12:05 PM ||
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Interior Minister Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat told the National Assembly on Thursday that there had been 82 incidents of terrorism in the country that killed 330 people during the last one and a half years. Responding to a question by Asif Tauseef, he told the House that Sindh took the lead with 62 terrorist incidents that led to the deaths of 109 people.
Is he counting Shiites and infidels as people?
Giving a province-wise breakdown, he said five terrorist incidents took place in the Punjab and 19 people were killed. In the North West Frontier Province, 11 terrorist incidents took place, but no one was killed. In Balochistan, there were four terrorist incidents and 102 people were killed.
Balochistan. That's where Quetta is, right? And NWFP's where Peshawar is. And Sindh is where Karachi is. I still think the number's low...
Responding to another question by Riaz Fatiana, the interior minister told the House that 1,632 foreigners were detained in Pakistani jails. He said 239 foreigners had completed their sentences, but were still in detention. He said 435 foreigners were detained in different jails of the Punjab; 1,083 in the jails of Sindh; 77 in the jails of the North West Frontier Province and 32 in the jails of Balochistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2004 9:06:11 PM ||
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#1
Just think, that's only 4.02 deaths per attack. If they would send their grenade-throwers to Spring Training they could double that average, easy.
Unidentified gunmen shot dead Pakistan Peopleâs Party (PPP) leader Munawar Suharwardy, a former bodyguard of PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto, near Gurumandir in front of a local newspaperâs office on Thursday. Mr Suharwardy, PPPâs Sindh chapter information secretary, was parking his car when the assailants fired at him from close range, injuring him seriously. One bullet hit Mr Suharwardy above his elbow and the other ripped through his ribs. The assailants fled in a white Suzuki Alto car. Passers-by took Mr Suharwardy to Aga Khan Hospital but he died in the operation theatre. Mr Suharwardy, 44, was third in line of four brothers. His brother Farooq Suharwardy was shot at in 1994 and has since been in a coma.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2004 9:04:33 PM ||
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Deployed troops will soon start getting side protection for their Interceptor Body Armor, thanks to the efforts of Program Executive Office Soldier. The IBA Deltoid Extension was one of dozens of pieces of equipment PEO Soldier officials showed off to the Pentagon press corps during a media briefing June 14. In the two years since the organization stood up, it has researched and fielded or is in the process of researching more than 350 pieces of equipment -- everything from boots to parachutes to new rifles â- in order to save Soldier lives, improve their quality of life and increase their effectiveness on the battlefield, said Brig. Gen. James Moran, PEO Soldier executive officer. âOutfitting Soldiers is just as important as (acquiring) a major piece of equipment,â Moran said. At about 16 pounds, IBA is lighter than the 25-pound Vietnam-era flack jacket it replaced and it offers better protection, Moran said. The Deltoid Extension will add about another five pounds and protects the sides of the ribcage and shoulders. However, the extension comes with a price for the Soldier. Moran explained that it can limit movement and block air from circulating under the body armor -- decreasing the Soldierâs ability to cool off in a hot environment.
I did some fairly massive perspiring in a flak jacket in Vietnam. That's where I learned to squirt sweat...
âEverything we do is a balance,â Moran said. âWe want all Soldiers to come back without any injuries. At the same time, we want them to be combat effective. Nothing can be made to be indestructible.â Despite the weight of IBA, Moran said he has no doubt that the new body armor has saved lives. In the past 18 months, the Army has purchased about 300,000 full sets of IBA. The current Army budget buys 50,000 Deltoid Extension sets this fiscal year, all of which will be shipped to selected troops by the end of September, according to Col. John Norwood, program manager for PEO Soldier--Equipment.
That means they'll go to the infantry and Marines, who get up close and personal with the Bad Guys. Shortly thereafter the pols will be complaining that all troops don't have them...
The Army plans to request enough funding in next yearâs budget to equip all 132,000 Soldiers in the Central Command area of operations with the extension. âWe have a clever enemy, an adaptable enemy, so we must be clever and adaptable,â Moran said.
"And the jihadis are pretty ferocious, too!"
Another piece of equipment PEO Soldier showed off is the Micro Climate Cooling System now in use by Army aviation flight crews. The system is a liquid-filled vest worn next to the skin that is connected by a flexible tube to a 12-pound box that circulates the coolant. A quick disconnect allows users to move around the aircraft as necessary and a rheostat allows users to control the coolant temperature. PEO Soldier tests of the system have demonstrated that flight crews can increase flight times from 1.5 hours in a hot environment to about five hours, Moran said. The third piece of equipment PEO Soldier demonstrated was the XM-8 rifle. While the XM-8 still faces four more formal tests before the decision is made whether to buy it, Moran said the Special Forces Soldiers and other troops who have tried it out all said they want it now. There are three variants of the XM-8: a light version with a collapsible stock and a 9.5-inch barrel, a standard version with a 12-inch barrel and a designated marksman version with a 20-inch barrel. While a longer barrel means greater weight, it also means greater accuracy over greater ranges and a higher rate of fire, Moran explained. In addition to being lighter than the M-16 and M-4 rifles, the XM-8 has the advantage of being easier to maintain with significantly lower problems with stoppages. The first XM-8 tested fired 15,000 rounds without cleaning or lubrication without a first misfire, said Col. Michael Smith, program manager for PEO Solider--Weapons. The last new type of rifle the Army has bought was the M-16 in the 1960s, Moran said. If the XM-8 passes its remaining tests and the decision is made to buy it, the Army will likely purchase about 8,000 next fiscal year to equip two units of action, Moran said.
#1
quick disconnect allows users to move around the aircraft as necessary and a rheostat allows users to control the coolant temperature. PEO Soldier tests of the system have demonstrated that flight crews can increase flight times from 1.5 hours in a hot environment to about five hours
What this for? Some special op nape o the earth stuff? Or are flight suits just that hot at low altitude?
JPost Reg Reqâd - EFL
The construction department of the Defense Ministry on Thursday published a tender inviting contractors to submit bids for a variable-depth channel "in the southern Gaza Strip" (Philadelphi Route) near Rafah to try and prevent the smuggling of weapons via tunnels into the Gaza Strip from Egypt. The official announcement, which was placed in the "Haâaretz" Hebrew daily, said contractors would be able to take part in an organized visit to the area so that they would be able to make on-the-spot assessments before making their bids. The tender invites bids by July 12. The tender is for the dredging a channel some four kilometers in length and with a variable depth ranging from 15-25 meters.
Several alternatives were put forward in the past for trying to thwart the tunnels constructed between Rafah and the Egyptian side of the border that have been used to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip. Concern has grown following the seizure of the Karine A ship loaded with arms supplied by Iran and brokered by Hizbullah that were destined for Palestinian terrorist organizations in Gaza. The main concern is to prevent the infiltration into Palestinian hands of long-range mortars and Katyusha rockets that could be fired from open spaces at communities deeper inside Israel. The issue has taken on greater significance in light of Prime Minister Ariel Sharonâs now government-approved disengagement plan regarding Gaza and the potential military ramifications.
One of the alternatives previously considered was to widen the Philadelphi route to up to five kilometers for its entire length, but this was rejected because of humanitarian and legal issues relating to the large number of Palestinian homes that would have to be demolished. Another possibility was that of a kind of moat or dry channel alongside the existing route but these were also rejected because of the prohibitive cost. Nevertheless, IDF planners have been trying to conceive plans that would make it more difficult for the tunnel builders and smugglers and it appears that the tender issued on Thursday marks the beginning of turning the approved idea into practice.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/17/2004 1:49:25 PM ||
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#1
Necessity is the mother of invention. Talk about out of the box!
Posted by: Michael ||
06/17/2004 14:15 Comments ||
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#2
I thought the added request for crocodiles was a little excessive.
#3
I thought the added request for crocodiles was a little excessive.
Agreed, danking70, the piranha stocks should be more than sufficient. And talk about thoughtful! Even though Israel has closed the Erez industrial zone, they're going to install a nice little deep water port for the Gaza strip anyway. What a bunch of swell folks!
#5
Should be great when they fill it up. Dozens of Old Faithfuls suddenly shooting up out of peoples houses on both sides of the border. I hope the Monster seats will be up on top of the wall by then so lots of folks get to see it.
#6
A better solution would be to turn Gaza over to the Egyptians and hold them responsible for the Palestinians. Drop a bomb on Cairo for every Paleo boomer to come out of Gaza. See how long it would take Mubarek and crew to settle Hamas' hash.
Search Google if you've never heard of them before.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
06/17/2004 21:48 Comments ||
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#9
Candiru:
"It then swims up the anus and lodges itself somewhere in the urinary tract with its spines"
that is one clever parasite - on a DU poster I guess it would be a cranial parasite?
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/17/2004 21:57 Comments ||
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#10
"It then swims up the anus and lodges itself somewhere in the urinary tract with its spines"
Not merely clever Frank -- it must come equipped with its own anatomy book ! How the hell do they find their way from the *anus* over to the *urinary tract* ?
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
06/17/2004 22:07 Comments ||
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#11
zactly!
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/17/2004 22:10 Comments ||
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#12
I'll admit my anatomy class was a while ago, but that swimming/lodging path seems a little off.
Except with the LLL - everything about them originates out their ass.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/17/2004 22:47 Comments ||
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From Iraqi Blogger Hammorabi, hat tip to Belmont Club.
There is news from Falluja talking about a special meeting recently took place in one area in the centre of Falluja in which the (Mujaheeden) has pledged allegiance to appoint Al-Zarqawi as the Ameer (Prince or Governor) of the City of Falluja! Zarqawi was in the meeting which was attended by top leader of Mujaheeden including Arabs from Jordan, Saudis, Syrian and Palestinians.
They divided the city into various areas and called it Emarat El-Falluja (Emirate) with Zarqawi as the Ameer (Prince). They appointed a leader for each one of these areas among the Mujaheeden with one group under his leadership. They gave Zarqawi an Oath to set out the Islamic state of Caliphate in Falluja and from there they will spread it into the rest of Iraq and the region. They now try desperately to gather lot of youths and young people enthusiastic for that to join them. They also tried to get themselves extended well beyond that area to Baghdad and other regions.
Among them are many Saudi Wahabis and Syrian with other Arabs. Recently a body of a Palestinian has been left unburied after killed in Najaf city after the fighting finished!
Told ya, Zarqawi wants the gold turban for himself, even if he ain't one of the Master Race. Be nice if the Marines plan was to turn Falluja into a big Roach Motel.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/17/2004 12:49:36 PM ||
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Can someone tell me again how not cleaning this cesspool out wasn't a setback?
#2
It's a mystery to me, B-A-R. What can we expect? HEADLINE-Zarqawi statue soon to be erected in Falluja, complete with public altar for weekly human sacrifices...
#3
Lots of furriners in the muj mix....it will be interesting to see what the locals do - or not do.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
06/17/2004 13:28 Comments ||
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#4
...Actually, think about it for a moment...if this is true, then eventually Zarqawi will stick his head up. He can't keep his mouth shut any more than his late boss could, and he wants to be the Lord High F**king Executioner And Shadow Of Allah On The Earth even worse than his boss did.
He won't be able to resist the temptation to eventually come out and declare himself in charge...and when he does, it's over.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
06/17/2004 13:37 Comments ||
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#5
I don't accept this report at face value. However, if it were true it would, IMHO, be good news. It would mean the bad guys (Sunni division) were on the way to sequestering themselves. Of course it would be, temporarily, bad news for decent people living in Fallujah.
#6
Bomb-a-rama. Cleaning out the cesspool would have meant a lot of dead Americans. Cleaning out the cesspool would have meant a lot of dead Iraqi civilans.
Its much better wait, allow the fanatics to really piss of the locals. We might find the locals turn on them. If not we wait until after the Iraqi Council has taken power and can take responsibility and hopefully take the casualties themselves while we provide Forward Air Controllers. If they still haven't come around by the time the American elections are over we stop worrying about Iraqi civilian casualties and do what has to be done.
#7
I wouldn't hold my breath. Sammy was around for 30 years, none of them peaceful.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2004 13:46 Comments ||
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#8
Another vote here as a good thing. Zarqawi will be a goner
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/17/2004 14:02 Comments ||
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#9
Cleaning out the cesspool would have meant a lot of dead Americans.
Thing is, it would've been Marines that would be doing the cleaning, and I would suspect that there would be much more dead "mujahedin" than dead Marines. And dead Iraqi civilians, well what does one say about that? Sure, there's going to be some, but the alternative is what is happening now, where the fanatics are strengthening their hold on Fallujah, possibly requiring an even more bloodier battle later on to clean out. Seems to me that it would have been better to do the job while it was relatively easy, instead of after a lull when the enemy has had time to shore up their defenses, sneak in recruits, and stockpile ammo and other necessities.
If they still haven't come around by the time the American elections are over we stop worrying about Iraqi civilian casualties and do what has to be done.
Depends on who's in charge. If there is a change of hands in D.C. in November, then the likelihood of an offensive to clean up the Fallujah cesspool decreases dramatically, and the chance to send a message AND get the job done will have been needlessly pissed away. I mean, can you imagine Kerry giving the green light to a plan to assault and retake Fallujah? I don't.
Sometimes, some things have to be done, possible political consequences be damned. I believe this whole Fallujah episode falls right into that category.
#10
Rex / All - I think the answer to that is easy: either a cooperative 'nothing' or actively 'join the jihadi cause'. Nothing else makes sense to them in their situation.
[rant]
Digression:
Arab society is status-based. Wherever your family / clan / tribe stands defines your "slot" - period. Somebody, some strong-man, is at the top. If he's overthrown, it matters most to the guys at the top, of course, everyone beneath will just realign and make the needed alliances -- or fall to the end of the line.
From below, you can say that it makes no difference - all strong-men look alike. You take your marching orders and you kow-tow - or your family / clan / tribe suffers.
So Zarqawi and ilk, apparent strong-men relative to the locals because of funding, arms, ferocity, etc. have moved in at the top of the food chain. The locals will do what they're told. And, of course, enthusiasm and loyalty to whomever is in power is what's rewarded - anything less than 100% cooperation is punished.
Promises of some future civil society -- which they've never known before and don't have any appreciation for must sound like pure bullshit to them -- are not worth warm spit. Fight the strong-men? Are you Americans crazy? They'll slaughter my family/clan/tribe (and they would, too - they're doing it right now to everyone who cooperates with the Coalition). Hey, tell you what - I'll switch sides one minute after you kill the last one.
Digression:
People have asked, rhetorically, if Arabs can handle Western-style secular democracy. The question isn't stupid or irrelevant. Ask Attaturk how easy it was. I think the Arab Society is less 'sophisticated' than what he was faced with changing. Arabs will have to un-learn what they know now to even really begin. All of those automatic responses which serve well them in Arab Society may no longer be appropriate - it will be like all of them being told they have to stop smoking - many will fail, most will struggle, and only a few will make it easily.
In truth, the reason the Baghdad politicians and local town politicians intervened is pretty simple - even they don't "get it" and can't see the forest for the trees. All this touchy-feely civilized BS is unreal to them. I saw it in Saudi when guys who had been to the West on assignment came back - immediately they reverted to the local system because it gave them back their status. In America or the UK they were seen as arrogant and backward - because they were. Now, back in the bosom of Arab Society, they could act as they had been raised and re-enter their comfort zone. The exceptions, the ones who understand that in exchange for their status they received freedom - and were not frightened by it, hell - you can count them on your available fingers. For the vast majority, it takes a long time to overcome the indoctrination, if ever.
Do we want Fallujah to become a 'civilized' place? Then we'll have to apply enough raw force, enough power, to defeat (that means kill or capture) the strong-men, thus removing the threat to Joe Average, his family / clan / tribe, and then demonstrate that we are now the strong-men. Once we do this, then we can issue a new set of rules - this is how it works from now on. Anything less and you only create confusions and a power vacuum - which will eventually be filled with another strong-man operating under the old rules they understand.
Power.
I beg someone to describe another way -- that fits within the framework of reality.
[/rant]
#11
Bomb, I'm not entirely in disagreement with you. If Belmont Club's analysis was correct we had the bad guys boxed into a corner of Fallujiah so civilian casualites would have been minimized if we just blew it apart from the air. The message would have been very strong to the arseholes of the world.
Still, it would have complicated the political situation and its an option we can still return to if things don't go well.
#12
Dammit .com yer makin' it tough to be optimistic. It does present an opportunity - there's a lot of fish in that barrel. We won't have to run all over the place to hunt them down. Unfortunately, I fear the beaurocrats aren't about to relinqusih control of the situation and they lack the spine to see this thing through properly if we are to truly prevail.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
06/17/2004 15:14 Comments ||
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#13
I've seen some really beautiful posts. Clever, articulate, dazzling, downright pretty - but based upon the poster's world view. His values. His language. His foibles. His culture. His blind spots. His sense of right, wrong. Useless.
The hard truth is simple: unless forcibly imposed, the Western world view does not apply. Anything that fails to make sense in the Arab world view is just jerking off. A lot of that going around, methinks.
Your concerns are spot-on. I recall a good example from the Clinton Admin when he was going to visit China. One of his big advisors in the advance team met with a Chinese dissident the week before he was to go. Doesn't matter why he did it - it caused the Chinese to lose face and they cancelled the whole thing. To the Clinton Admin and the vaunted State Dept, understanding the Chinese was the same as the kid they knew in HS named Wong. "Epicanthic fold? Check! Funny name? Check! Get along with him? Check! Okay, we understand 'Chinese' people, let's go!" Uh, not exactly...
#14
Arab society is status-based. Wherever your family / clan / tribe stands defines your "slot" - period. Somebody, some strong-man, is at the top. If he's overthrown, it matters most to the guys at the top, of course, everyone beneath will just realign and make the needed alliances -- or fall to the end of the line.
Damn fine and insightful rant... I'm made to remember a jingle by somewhere here... Fred? Every man must plan and plan to protect his clan has best he can.
#15
Do they understand ass-whoop? Its time send in a few of the marines to wipe the floor with al Zaqwari's ass and then whoop it for not gettin in the corners.
#16
Hank may be on to something. Falujah is a festering wound, and al Zarqawi just deepens the infection. I would have stated Hank's idea a little differently, but the basic concept is correct. Sooner or later, Marines will have to go back and bring some justice.
Posted by: Sam ||
06/17/2004 17:56 Comments ||
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#19
Work has consumed most of my time this week. What happened to the Fallujah Brigade and their Saddam lookalike general? Were they slaughtered? Did they all go over to the enemy? Did they run away? Were they abducted by aliens? I thought that the reason for pulling the Marine snipers back from the perimeter was so that this Sunni Godsend and his Muslim Horde could clear out the bad guys! If this article is accurate it is time to progressively tighten the perimeter and let the snipers cull the herd.
#20
Great thread. The pecking order sure seems like a "make it up as you go along" solution. Primitive at its core. If it is true and ZQ has visions of grandee with a purple robe, he's meat. ZQ is to smart I think.
Dot, solid as always. In my gut, knowing nothing, it all rings true!
#4
I HAVE THE ANSWER!
Jabba the Hut has contacts. Remember F-911 is being released in the MidEast. Since Jabba and "truth" are strangers that seldom even pass in the night, the production of this has to be suspect. I think we can surmise the source.
#5
Looks fake to me. Wouldn't be surprised if some rich film student and his friends were screwing around. It's odd that none of the Americans were shooting back. Also, the tag line seems pretty fake, as does the static -- it was too loud and harsh sounding. One question -- any Arab readers who can make out the sign on the wall at 2:00:52-2:00:55 of the tape?
Posted by: Tibor ||
06/17/2004 15:14 Comments ||
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#11
Re post # 5 - I'm not a Hindi linguist but that looked like Hindi to me. It was not Arabic (never been to India but have been to every country, except Iran- yet !, in the Middle East). It looked like a wannabe Bollywood film student project. Sorry about the g-friend Mr DANEgerous.
Posted by: The Dude ||
06/17/2004 18:42 Comments ||
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#12
Definitely a fake, probably a film project by an American student working in India. The intonation, volume,and diction of the voices are completely wrong for combat, but about right for a college lab theater stage; the vehicle pictured at the beginning is a civilian Jeep, and the writing is Hindi.
#13
Haven't checked the link, so this is kind of a stab in the dark. If you stop the video and just look at still frame, does the projectile have the name Estes on the side of it?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
06/18/2004 4:04 Comments ||
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#14
The commentary on the main page of the site has "barking moonbat conspiracy" written all over it:
Read Carefully
If youâve found me, youâve seen the clip and youâre someone willing to dig a little deeper. Youâve taken the first step. I hope youâre willing to take a few more.
My name is Eric Bruderton. I work in a high-security job but I canât tell you where. The fact that you are reading this has already put my job, and possibly my life, in jeopardy. But just as I know the possible consequences, I also know I have a responsibility that extends beyond my job and my oath.
Youâve probably come here for answers about the clip. I wish I could give them to you. I donât know these people, I donât know whoâs shooting at them and I donât know why they are being targeted. I donât even know where they are. Maybe the Middle East. All I do know is that itâs important. Important enough that by the time youâve read this, Eric Bruderton will likely have been erased from existence, both literally and figuratively.
Hereâs the link to the clip. Watch it. Show it to your friends. I hope that someone will be able to shed some light on it.
When enough people know a secret, it stops being a secret. Help stop this one.
I'll leave the fisking of this to others.
Posted by: Mike ||
06/18/2004 8:41 Comments ||
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EFL
An independent contractor working for the CIA at a facility holding prisoners in Afghanistan is expected to be indicted Thursday in the death of a prisoner there, according to government sources.
British soldiers clashed with Shi'ite fighters loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in southeastern Iraq today after coalition troops detained one of the militia's leaders. No one was hurt, a British military spokesman said. Three British military vehicles were fired upon early today with small arms fire and a rocket propelled grenade in two separate attacks in the city of Amarah, 290km southeast of Baghdad, the spokesman said. None of the vehicles was damaged. The attacks happened after British forces detained militia leader, Ahmed Hachi. A British military spokesman said three people were arrested just after midnight on Wednesday. He did not identify those arrested. According to the witnesses, the fighting lasted about an hour and a shop was burned. The trouble began just one day after al-Sadr took steps to honour an agreement meant to end fighting with American forces in the holy cities of Nafaj and Kufa, ordering fighters who did not live in those twin cities to return home. Many of the fighters who rushed to Najaf from Baghdad, Nasiriyah and other cities had already left after a truce brokered by Shi'ite politicians and clerics to end nearly eight weeks of fighting around some of Shia Islam's holiest shrines. The announcement was significant because it indicated al-Sadr is taking steps toward defusing tensions in Shi'ite areas and cooperating with the interim government and Shi'ite clerical hierarchy.
Or to try and save face, and his neck.
Al-Sadr launched his uprising in April after US occupation authorities closed his newspaper, arrested a key aide and announced a warrant for his arrest in the April 2003 murder of a moderate cleric. The US had vowed to "capture or kill" al-Sadr, but US President George W Bush said on Tuesday he would leave it to the new interim Iraqi government to deal with the radical cleric. Al-Sadr's forces are still skirmishing regularly with US troops in Baghdad's Sadr City district, but they were routed by the 1st Armored Division in Karbala and their ranks were significantly reduced in Najaf and Kufa.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/17/2004 9:27:07 AM ||
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#1
OT:
How Bush-Powell armed al-Sadr/al-Qaeda private militias in Iraq.
June 30, 2004 = Pearl Harbor2 Prediction: within one year, the surrender implications of Bush-Powell's faith-based/limited-war/nation-building folly in Iraq will kick in, and GWB will become the most despised President in US history.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
06/17/2004 10:42 Comments ||
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#3
But wait, SadSack packed it in, so none of this fighting should be happening! Right? RIGHT??
The US had vowed to "capture or kill" al-Sadr, but US President George W Bush said on Tuesday he would leave it to the new interim Iraqi government to deal with the radical cleric.
Uh huh. If you're going to do something, DO IT. If not, don't say anything about it. American credibility took a hit here.
Israeli occupation forces have detained a long-wanted Palestinian resistance activist during an invasion of the West Bank. An Israeli special unit, backed by 12 armoured vehicles, surrounded Sami Dharaghma's home in the town of Tobaas, reported Aljazeera's correspondent on Thursday. Dharaghma, a member of the Islamic Jihad, has been wanted for the past three years. Another Islamic Jihad activist, Ahmad Fawzi al-Saadi, was shot by Israeli soldiers as they arrested him in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.
Hope it was very painful.
The Islamic Jihad has carried out attacks against Israel since the start of the al-Aqsa Intifada in September 2000. Late on Wednesday occupation troops invaded the West Bank cities of Nablus and Bethlehem and detained 11 Palestinians. It was unclear whether they were resistance fighters or civilians. Also on Thursday Israeli soldiers demolished two Palestinian homes in the occupied Gaza Strip town of Abu al-Ain, reported correspondent Ali al-Samudi. Troops sealed off the Holi and Matahin crossings south of Dair al-Balah in Gaza, according to Palestinian security sources. The crossings link the southern and northern parts of Gaza.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/17/2004 9:21:39 AM ||
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#1
Time to start weeding out political parties over there. If you have an "activist" wing--TERRORIZE to plain-spoken people--you should lose your rights to political participation in both Israel and the future Palestinian state.
#2
It was unclear whether they were resistance fighters or civilians.
very nice. Where's the sneer quotes around "civilians"?
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/17/2004 11:21 Comments ||
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#3
Sharon and his faith based zionist power base have forever destroyed any hope of buying ice cream from the pali cut rate vendor stores.
Check these out neo suckers.
Posted by: Man Is Troll ||
06/17/2004 16:22 Comments ||
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Pakistani security forces backed by helicopter gunships launched a fresh assault on al Qaeda-linked militants on Thursday in rugged mountains bordering Afghanistan, witnesses and officials said. Dozens of transport and gunship helicopters headed toward the mountains near Angor Adda, 60 km (38 miles) west of South Waziristan's main town of Wana, to hunt foreign militants and their local supporters, they said. "It is the continuation of the operation which started last week in response to the attack on our security forces," military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan told Reuters in Islamabad. "Wherever we find a hideout or base of militants we will knock it out," he said, declining to give further details.
Gee, maybe they really mean business this time.
Oh, I doubt it...
But witnesses in Angor Adda said they heard helicopters fire rockets at suspected militant hideouts. Since early Thursday morning, many helicopters had been seen flying in the direction of Angor Adda, residents in Wana added. Pakistan's military ended a five-day crackdown on militants on Sunday in the Shakai area, 17 km (11 miles) west of Wana and some 400 km (250 miles) southwest of the capital Islamabad. More than 55 militants, most of them foreigners, and 17 security personnel were killed in fierce clashes, and at least 10 militants were arrested.
For Pakistan, that's not a bad kill ratio.
In a separate incident, militants fired three rockets at a Pakistani security post around 40 km (25 miles) north of Wana in a pre-dawn raid, but there were no reports of casualties, witnesses said. Pakistan says that up to 600 foreign militants, including Arabs, Chechens and Uzbeks linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, have been hiding out in tribal areas protected by Pakistani tribesmen. In neighboring Afghanistan, the U.S. military leads about 20,000 soldiers in a hunt for al Qaeda and Taliban militants believed to be hiding near the Pakistan border. The Americans want to create a "hammer and anvil" effect along the border to crush insurgents blamed for escalating violence in Afghanistan ahead of elections in September.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/17/2004 9:16:35 AM ||
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I wounder if they have an airbourne drummer specialty.
Pakistan benefited from the Taliban-al Qaeda relationship, as Osama bin Ladenâs camps trained and equipped fighters for "Pakistanâs ongoing struggle" in Kashmir, a staff report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the US released on Wednesday said. Pakistan, the report from the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States said, did not break with the Taliban until after 9/11, although it was well aware that the Taliban was harbouring bin Laden. "The Talibanâs ability to provide bin Laden a haven in the face of international pressure and UN sanctions was significantly facilitated by Pakistani support," said the report from the panel popularly known as the 9/11 commission. The Taliban faction that seized Kabul was itself supported by Pakistan, the report noted. Even when headquartered in Sudan, said the 12-page report, al-Qaeda had used Pakistan and Afghanistan as regional bases and training centres supporting Islamic insurgencies in Tajikistan, Kashmir and Chechnya.
Following the defeat of the Soviets in the late 1980s, bin Laden formed an organization called âThe Foundationâ or al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda was intended to serve as a foundation upon which to build a global Islamic army. By 1992, bin Laden was focused on attacking the United States. "The camps created a climate in which trainees and other personnel were free to think creatively about ways to commit mass murder," it said. According to a senior al-Qaeda associate, various ideas were floated by Mujaheedin in Afghanistan: taking over a launcher and forcing Russian scientists to fire a nuclear missile at the United States; mounting mustard gas or cyanide attacks against Jewish areas in Iran; dispensing poison gas into the air conditioning system of a targeted building; and, last but not least, hijacking an aircraft and crashing it into an airport terminal or nearby city."
As time passed and al-Qaeda repeatedly and successfully hit US targets, said the report, bin Laden became a legendary figure among militants both inside and outside Afghanistan. He lectured at the camps. His perceived stature and charisma reinforced the zeal of the trainees. Bin Laden also personally evaluated traineesâ suitability for terrorist operations, the report said. "The camps were able to operate only because of the worldwide network of recruiters, travel facilitators, and document forgers who vetted would-be trainees and helped them get in and out of Pakistan," it stated. "There are strong indications, that elements in both the Pakistani and Iranian governments frequently turned a blind eye to this transit through their respective countries."
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
06/17/2004 4:53:15 AM ||
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Very long story, but interesting as background on how things really work in Iraq.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/17/2004 1:58:34 AM ||
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#1
This kid CANNOT, and MUST NOT be left behind. If the State Dept. manages to torpedo the effort to bring this kid over here, I am going to be angry as HELL, and I'm already not very fond of them as it is.
#5
Why is it we give Ramzi Yousef political asylum at the drop of a hat, but can't give it to this boy? God help anyone who helps us. They want to put him back in a Muslim family? As if his Muslim family was a pious, loving home to begin with. This is a well meant but poorly thought out intention. The boy recognized who the good guys were, he should stay with us. His Muslim days were ended cold turkey by his choice. We should honor the boy's good sense and place him with a strong American family.
#7
Why is it we give Ramzi Yousef political asylum at the drop of a hat, but can't give it to this boy?
Because this kid's trying to do it the legal way.
As far as I can tell, our immigration policy is as follows:
1. Congress passes laws regulating the flow of immigration, including qualifications as to who can and cannot be allowed in the country.
2. Those responsible for implementing and enforcing those laws ignore all of it and place people who openly break the law ahead of those who attempt to follow it.
3. Periodically Congress issues an "amnesty" to recognize the situations created by #2.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
06/17/2004 11:17 Comments ||
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#8
They want to put him back in a Muslim family? As if his Muslim family was a pious, loving home to begin with.
I was wondering about that too. This sensitivity crap is just going too damn far.
#10
Get him to the US, get him (free) the plastic surgery he needs for his scars, get him in school, and get him US citizenship as soon as possible. He deserves it; he's one of us.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
06/17/2004 12:11 Comments ||
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#11
Of course keep him out of a moslem family!
Can't he claim political asylum? It is because he's a minor that there's a problem?
#12
It is because he's a minor that there's a problem?
Right. As a minor, legal principles (virtually worldwide) hold that he is incompetent to make binding, informed decisions about his future without parental (or court-ordered) input. Borrowing from American common law principles, however, it would be fairly easy to overcome the presumption that his parents were acting in his best interest -- allowing them to be stripped of custody, and to have custody given to a willing surrogate. The problem is that there is no court system set up to do that in Iraq, at this time. Family law is traditionally administered at the most local level. Hopefully, they can get him out after the transfer of sovereignty and the establishment of a court with jurisdiction.
With two weeks to go until full sovereignty, Iraqis already are running more than half the government's ministries, making key decisions, setting policy and managing their own budgets without direction from the U.S.-led coalition. As of this week, Iraqis are in full control of 15 of the 26 ministries - including the key departments of oil, foreign affairs, health, education, public works and municipalities, and transportation - even before the June 30 transfer of sovereignty, coalition officials say. Over the next two weeks, the remaining ministries will assume full powers in such critical fields as defense, communications, electricity and finance.
Nice of the AP to notice.
At the same time, Iraq's new leaders are beginning to assert their independence, taking public stands different from their American backers on issues including the fate of Saddam Hussein, security and control over key public property. The differences have not approached a serious breach and could simply reflect the fact that no Iraqi politician wants to be seen by his own people - or the wider Arab world - as a Washington puppet.
Sure, no problem with that.
American officials in Iraq have publicly downplayed any talk of differences with the new government, which the United States and the United Nations put together to take power until national elections planned by Jan. 31. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz has arrived in Baghdad to discuss the fine points of the power transfer and details of the relationship between the United States and the new government after June 30. The U.S.-run Coalition Provisional Authority, which assumed supreme power in Iraq after the collapse of Saddam's regime, disappears with the sovereignty transfer and a U.S. Embassy will begin functioning. "These talks are just the beginning of a new relationship between the government of Iraq and the members of the coalition," a coalition statement said Wednesday after Wolfowitz's first day of talks with Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and others. "The constructive and positive atmosphere of the talks reflects the nature of this new relationship - a partnership based on common objectives and assessments."
Nevertheless, recent statements by Allawi, President Ghazi al-Yawer and others indicate that the new Iraqi leaders do not intend to be pushovers - even if they support many U.S. policy goals. There are differences over the issue of Saddam, who has been held in American custody since he was captured by U.S. soldiers in December near Tikrit. In a series of interviews, Allawi said the new government expected to take control of Saddam with the return of sovereignty. Salem Chalabi, who is in charge of setting up a special tribunal to try members of the ousted regime, went even further Tuesday, telling The Associated Press he expected criminal charges to be filed against the deposed leader by June 30. President Bush, however, said Tuesday the United States was working with the Iraqis on the terms of handing over Saddam and making sure there was "appropriate security." "I want to make sure that when sovereignty is transferred, Saddam Hussein stays in jail," Bush told reporters. U.S. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, coalition deputy operations chief, said American and Iraqi authorities were discussing what to do about Saddam and other prisoners after the Iraqis assume sovereignty. "There have been some novel thoughts about how that can be done jointly, should it be done jointly, in what manner can it be done jointly," Kimmitt said. Kimmitt refused to elaborate. Joint custody could include both Americans and Iraqis running prisons together or the Americans holding Saddam and other top prisoners on behalf of the Iraqi administration.
That works as long as we vet the Iraqi guards. And, sad to say, our own.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/17/2004 1:17:23 AM ||
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Unless some juicier -- and dumber -- theme becomes the latest teen craze for the media, I've been expecting the "Iraqi government at odds with the US" thing to become the newest negative banner. Along with keeping up the pro-wrestling-type excitement over familiar attacks on police and infrastructure that won't change a thing in the long run. The additional irony in the "US, Iraq at odds" negative theme, obviously, is that it's mostly good news -- we don't want the damn place, PLEASE do run it, will you? Yet the unavoidable, desirable, and inconsequential differences with Iraq's temporary bosses will be portrayed as just the next bump in the long difficult path .... that -- oops -- is leading to Iraqi independence and sovereignty.
Iraq does what we intended for it to do and the AP spins it as a failure and a slap. I've noticed that the GOP is hitting hard the theme that the Dumbdownocrats are pessimists v/s GW and Repub's are optimists.
Personally, I think that's brilliant. Not much that Dummy's can do, since pessimism has been their campaign theme. Making their greatest strength their weakness.
In fact, once you get into the mindset - Dim's as pessimists, Repub's as optimists - this AP article plays right into GOP scheme.
#3
V- actually from what I see the left is taking the exact opposite tack - theyre playing up Allawis CIA ties, a rumor (false?) that Brahimi was going to resign due to frustration at being "outmaneuvered" by the CPA and IGC, etc. They are essentially ignoring disputes between the Iraqi Interim Govt and the US, since it doesnt fit their agenda. The only folks I see expressing frustration with IGC/IIG differences with the US are conservative pessimists, like Tacitus (who, unlike the left, is honest enough to admit they exist, but is frustrated that a strategy other than "empire" is being pursued)
#4
Deny Deny Deny:
By facilitating butchery of Secularism in Iraq, faith-based' Bush-Powell are delivering Iraq to the same animals who perpetrated the 9-11 genocide. At last notice, Fallujah is an al-Qaeda city, which will be a base for anti-American operations, on a global scale. At last count, al-Sadr has the support of 67% of all Iraqis (much higher if the Kurd, Turkemen, Christian, Assyrians, etc that faith-based' Bush-Powell have written off in favor of Sunni/Shiite elites, are excluded). Only one hardliner posts here, and that is me.
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.
The implications of the forthcoming withdrawal of one-third of the 37,000 U.S. troops in South Korea and two army divisions from Germany are as much political as military since both nations have been the site of vigorous anti-American eruptions in the last few years. A researcher at the East-West Center in Hawaii, Richard Baker, asserted June 9 that the planned reduction in South Korea was "basically calls the bluff of those in Korea who have been calling for the United States to go away." He added that nobody thought it would leave. On a wider angle, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said June 5: "We want to have our forces where people want them. We have no desire to be where weâre not wanted."
