Saudi Arabia is going ahead with its reform program, Saudi Ambassador to the United Kingdom Prince Turki Al-Faisal has said. He added that the government had introduced a number of political, economic, educational and judicial reforms in recent years and had given equal opportunity to women to take part in the country's development. Addressing a Paris-based foreign policy group comprising European and American politicians and researchers, Prince Turki defended the ideology of Sheikh Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahab, saying the Saudi scholar had opposed extremism and called for the protection of women. "The main reasons for misunderstanding the sheikh's message are ignorance and political conflicts. Most of his critics, especially those in the West, have not read his books and are unaware of Islamic and Arab culture. They mix Islam and culture and mix the ideas of Ibn Abdul Wahab with those of his so-called followers," the Saudi Press Agency quoted Prince Turki as saying.
During his speech at Le Cercle, a think-tank for international affairs chaired by former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Lord Lamont of Lerwick, the ambassador said that Islam encouraged its followers to live peacefully with other communities. "Peaceful coexistence must be based on dialogue," he added. He quoted a verse from the Holy Qur'an that urges Muslims to invite others to Islam in a wise and diplomatic manner. "Reform is part and parcel of the Saudi government policy. We have introduced the consultative Shoura system and reached out to all sections of society to make our reform program successful," the ambassador explained.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/22/2005 00:00 ||
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US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice criticised Saudi Arabia's record on democratic reform and the jailing of three activists but was firmly rebuffed on Tuesday by Washington's staunch Middle East ally. "The row is really meaningless," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told a post-midnight news conference after Rice conferred with him and the country's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz. "The assessment that is important for any country in the development of its political reform is the judgment of its own people," Prince Saud said. "And that is, in the final analysis, the criteria that we follow."
"Pfeh! What does she know?"
Rice flew into Riyadh on the fourth leg of a regional swing after delivering a major speech in Cairo calling for sweeping democratic change and naming Saudi Arabia as one of the states still lagging.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/22/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
As she continued to lie her ass off. "We're gonna reform Saudi Arabia and make it a democratic State" LOL Just like we've made Iraq one
#2
She didn't say what you quoted her as saying. That's rather inaccurate of you, isn't it?
Is there something wrong with the Secretary of State, any Secretary of State, promoting democratic reform in the most intolerant parts of the world? You're the liberal, you tell us.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/22/2005 0:17 Comments ||
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#3
I was just digesting your optimistic comments to their logical conclusion
#5
Ohfergawdsake -- we're talking about promoting democratic reform. If we had influence on the Soodis they'd have fixed the biggest problems by now. It's precisely because they're a feudal state with petrodollars that pushing democratic reform is necessary.
You do believe in democracy, right?
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/22/2005 0:26 Comments ||
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#6
Of course I believe in democracy--but there is no way in HELL ANY American administration is going to accomplish that in Saudi
#10
I see, and your 'progressive' movement is somehow going to accomplish that. Uh, sure. Just what does your movement have to offer to deal with the miserable tyrants of the world to get their feet off the necks of the poor, miserable sods? I see a lot of talk and hand-waving, but I don't see any action.
GWB has liberated more people from the grip of fascism than any president since Harry Truman. There's about 47 million Afghans and Iraqis who have now voted in true elections, who have a chance to build a decent life, and have an opportunity to build their countries. Perfect? Not by a long shot.
Better than the progressive movement has ever done anywhere?
Yep.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/22/2005 0:35 Comments ||
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#11
Fascism? Ever read history? It was that liberal FDR who ended Fascism--after he had to fight a GOP Congress to get there. FDR freed a lot more people from Fascism (THE REAL FASCISM) than the lying ass in the White House ever did. And as far as I know--no Americans were killed by "insurgents" after the war was over in Germany. That DEMOCRATIC President defeated the Fascists! But what do I know-- GW sez "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!" LOL Tell that to the guys at Camp LeJeune
#12
And the 47 million figure you pulled out of your ass like a Faux News commentator? Iraq has around 20 millions people--so you mean Ahghanistan has about 27 million? Keep lying Pinocchio
It's a wonder you can't understand that Saddam was a fascist, that the Ba'athists were fascists. Somehow you missed the fact that the Ba'athist party took their preamble right out of the Italian Fascist party. But do a simple comparison between the fascists then and Saddam until just recently, and it should become apparent. Saddam was a real fascist.
By the way, you're wrong about Germany after the war. There was a residual resistance movement, and it killed some GIs. We were a bit heavy handed then, we'd just find the Germans responsible and execute them in the field. Ah, those were the days ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/22/2005 0:45 Comments ||
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#14
Iraq's population: about 26 million.
Afghanistan's population: about 29.9 million.
Both are July 2005 estimates from the World Factbook. Total then is about 56 million, not 47 million.
I guess I was wrong :-)
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/22/2005 0:48 Comments ||
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#15
For once--you are right! The population stats! Who would think that there are more Afghans!?
#16
As enjoyable as watching the pig-wrestling match that constitutes arguing with NMM, I have to comment on that pic of Rice.
It seems that she's been picking up Rumsfeld's fighting techniques. Is that the Bloody Tiger Claw or Eagle Grip of Iron? Hmmm, gotta go back to the illustrated manual to know for sure.
#17
Scratch a "progressive", like NotMikeMoore, and find a fascist. Never in history have more than 50 million people been freed from the most oppressive dictatorships with so few casualties on either side. Never has an occupation been so sensitive to the local population as they progress to democracy and constitutional government. No, instead, NMM would channel FDR and Truman. FDR and Truman waged total war against Germany and Japan. Which country, Iraq or Afghanistan, should 13% of the population be killed so that NMM lust for FDR can be satisfied? Which Iraqi city do you select to be the Dresden standin? Which Afghan cities do you advocate nuking? Or is your desire to see 400,000 dead Americans as happened under FDR and Truman?
Sure kill 8 million Iraqis, as was done to the Germans, and a lot of fight will be gone. Well, except for that unfortunate post-war thing with the Wolverines. I don't remember reading of any US Army interrogations with Glenn Miller records, just firing squads and the hangman's noose. Care to guess how many Americans were killed after the Japanese surrender?
PS. Looks like "Faux News" Steve is closer to the mark than NotMike "Fake but Accurate" Moore. CIA Factbook stats deleted.
Posted by: ed ||
06/22/2005 1:24 Comments ||
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#18
That was quite the trial of turds NMM laid tonight.
Must be some really good news to bring meme-boy out of his DhimmiLair. Semi-sober, no less.
Dr Steve - you're just too nice, my friend. NMM doesn't want to discuss or even debate, he wants to spew. Pressure gauge reached critical and thar she blew. Unfortunately for him, he exhibits all of the symptoms for having the Sphincter of Allan... Oral diarrhea, the Dhimmi trots. Ugly.
#22
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice criticised Saudi Arabia's record on democratic reform and the jailing of three activists but was firmly rebuffed on Tuesday by Washington's staunch Middle East ally.
#24
Wow, NMM, are you sure you really aren't Mike Moore? You seem about as ignorant (or mendacious) as he.
FDR was a fascist, or at least an admirer of many fascist principles. He, and his appointees openly stated they were copying ideas from Mussolini and other socialists. Go back and read the speeches to Congress and position papers. Have the librarian help you with any big words. Compare the NIRA, AAA, the various "boards" and "comittees" against the "corporations" of Italy (hint: "corporation" in Italy does not mean what it does over here.) Look at the various "progressive" ideas back them (eugenics, euthanesia) and compare them to the fascists'. Pretty similar, aren't they?
Oh, what do you think of W being more liberal than FDR? Has the President or the AG proprosed relocating all the Moslems into camps, like FDR did with those of Japanese descent? No?
Your next idiocy is a "GOP Congress." The Democrats took control in 1931 and held it, often by a 2/3 majority, until 1947. It was members of his own party, such as Wheeler and Borah, who were the toughest opponents. It's one thing not to know the partisan make-up of a particular Congress, but to then brazenly state a falsehood as an argument is ... typical of the Left.
Ed and .com have covered the rest better than I could do, so I'll stop here.
Or maybe it's the reports of the terrorists fighting among themselves?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
06/22/2005 9:51 Comments ||
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#26
RC - I have no doubt you're right. I guess, in sum, the competence of the Iraqi forces that we're seeing is worthy of being called the tipping point - the war is now won, it's just the nasty biz of mopping up the Short Bus Sunnis... which, of course, makes me think of Turkey...
#27
good for Condi - i continue to be pleased with her performance since being appointed Sec of State. Perhaps the best person in the Cabinet, at this point.
#28
"Has the President or the AG proprosed relocating all the Moslems into camps, like FDR did with those of Japanese descent? No? "
yah, well FDR was pressured by Republican Gov. Earl Warren of California. Though Warren is hardly a Republican that conservatives have any retrospective fondness for. Note that Japanese in Hawaii were NOT interned, though they were more of a danger than Japanese in California. Also note that Japanese were NOT interned based on descent, but, IIRC, actual citizenship, or at least Japanese birth. However many American born children went to the camps with their Japanese born parents.
#31
One point, LH:
Hawaii was under martial law for the duration. That was one reason the Hawaii Japanese were not moved. (The horrible demand on shipping was another.)
Oh, and J. Edgar Hoover was opposed to the relocation.
#32
"She didn't say what you quoted her as saying. That's rather inaccurate of you, isn't it?"
He's just doing what's natural for leftists: resorting to straw-man arguments.
I used to think there must be some "Little Red Book" of dishonest debating tactics that all leftists were required to study. Anymore, though, I'm all but convinced that the reason these people become leftists in the first place is because their reasoning is all screwed up: "thought", for them, appears to be little more than an uncontrollable, chaotic sequence of straw-man fallacies.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
06/22/2005 13:04 Comments ||
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#33
Finally watched "Team America" last night.
Damn it rings too true.
The Michael Moore puppet really rang true as a sucide bomber for the LLL.
#34
Dave D.
In the late 70s there was a good free rock concert in the Black Hills after an anti nuke mining rally. A couple of us engineers knew some of that crowd and were planning a trip up there for backpacking anyway so we went to a few of their meetings....
Trip and concert came and went.
Afterwords they got to wondering if they needed protest about FUSION... So one buddy came back with a report saying it was unlikely to work near term but could be the saviour of energy and environment when it came online.
These Luddites went nutzo. Wouldn't talk to us again. Just as bad as being shunned by nutzo religious groups.
(opposite ends of the spectrum but same quality of brains.)
#35
"These Luddites went nutzo. Wouldn't talk to us again. Just as bad as being shunned by nutzo religious groups. (opposite ends of the spectrum but same quality of brains.)"
Sounds like your karma ran smack-dab into their dogma-- and met a brick wall.
People like that are religious nuts: even though their religion comprises little more than an incoherent jumble of half-assed, looney "isms" like feminism, Marxism, environmentalism, and racialist victimism, those beliefs are every bit as fixed and immune to reason as those of the most fanatical Muslim.
And given a chance, they'll prove just as murderous, too.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
06/22/2005 18:27 Comments ||
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AN AL-QAEDA suicide bomber lived in a terraced house in a British suburb before travelling to Iraq to blow himself up, police revealed yesterday.
Detectives refused to name him but said he was a 41-year-old French national who died during an attack on coalition forces in February.
The news of the bomber's link to Britain came as officers arrested an alleged associate of the man during a dawn raid on a house in Manchester.
A suspect, 40, was held under the Terrorism Act and taken to a police station in Greater Manchester where he was being interviewed last night.
Forensic experts carried out a search of the house, in the middle of a terrace in Moss Side, for clues about the other man's journey to the Gulf and his contacts.
The two men, who are not believed to be related, were described by a police source as "associates" who had lived in the same house.
Dave Whatton, an assistant chief constable with Greater Manchester Police, said yesterday's 5am raid had been carried out by the force's anti-terrorist unit. "The action was taken, as it was believed that one of the previous residents of the house may have died during an attack against coalition forces in Iraq in February 2005," he said.
"Inquiries have been carried out in Iraq and the UK to establish the circumstances, and to positively identify the individual and the details surrounding his travelling to Iraq."
Police stressed the operation was not connected to any terrorism activity in this country.
"Since the beginning of the year, there has been a series of suicide bomb attacks against coalition forces in Iraq and it appears that one of the suicide bombers may have travelled from the UK," a spokeswoman said. After the raid, police issued leaflets to people in neighbouring houses and streets, explaining that the action followed an allegation that "an individual who once lived in the area was involved in a terrorist incident in Iraq earlier this year".
The leaflets added: "There is nothing to indicate that at any time there has been any threat to the community of Greater Manchester."
The raid, only 50 yards from the Al Furqan Islamic Centre, stunned neighbours.
Andrew Holmes, 43, said: "What I heard first was 30 coppers or thereabouts making a lot of noise and kicking someone's front door in, next door but one. About half an hour later, someone was arrested. This was about 4:30am or 5am.
"It was a well planned operation, with a lot of police in the vicinity blocking off streets and so on."
He added: "I knew of the man but didn't really speak to him. He kept himself to himself. I certainly didn't know him well. He was an average-looking guy. I think he had lived there for about two years."
An Iranian man, 33, who did not want to be named, said of the house targeted by police: "I think there are a couple of Arabic guys living there. I think they could have been Kurdish. They kept themselves to themselves."
It is not the first time extremist Islamic terrorists have used Britain as a base before going on suicide missions.
A British suicide bomber blew himself up outside a bar in Israel in April 2003.
Asif Hanif, 21, from London, detonated a bomb strapped to his body in Mike's Place, a bar on the Tel Aviv seafront. Three people were killed and 60 injured.
An accomplice, Omar Sharif, 27, from Derby, tried to blow himself up, too, but his device failed to detonate and he fled. His body was found in the sea 12 days later.
Sharif's wife, sister and brother were put on trial at the Old Bailey in London accused of failing to disclose information to the authorities that could have prevented the act of terrorism.
His wife was acquitted last year, but the jury failed to reach a verdict on the bomber's brother and sister. They face a retrial later this year.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/22/2005 14:27 ||
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SEOUL - South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon expressed regret on Tuesday at recurring US criticism of North Korea, saying the comments are unhelful in the current reconciliatory mood.
Stockholm syndrome is getting worse.
Seoul is seeking to build on optimism sparked by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Ilâs remarks last week -- that his communist state might return to six-party talks on its nuclear weapons programme as early as July if the United States âacknowledges and respectsâ it as a dialogue partner.
At a seminar hosted by the Hudson Institute on Monday, US Undersecretary for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky repeated Washingtonâs definition of North Korea as an outpost of tyranny alongside Myanmar, Zimbabwe and Cuba, according to reports here. âIt is not helpful for the current reconciliatory mood that a senior US official called North Korea an outpost of tyranny,â Ban was quoted as telling Yonhap news agency. âI find it regrettable.â
"Mr. Ban, this is our new UN ambassador, Mr. Bolton ..."
An unidentified senior official at the presidential Blue House also said such remarks, although made in an unofficial setting, were unhelpful. âUndersecretary Dobriansky reportedly called the North an outpost of tyranny. We think this kind of remarks though true will not help international efforts to have the six-party talks resumed since our crazy cousins to the north are mighty petulant,â he said.
A high-level North Korean delegation arrived in Seoul Tuesday for four days of inter-Korean talks, during which Seoul hopes Pyongyang will set a date for its return to the talks involving the two Koreas, host China, the United States, Japan and Russia. They aim to persuade North Korea to end its nuclear weapons drive in return for security guarantees and economic benefits. North Korea has cited hostile US policy as its reason for refusing to return to the discussions.
And we're going to keep being hostile.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/22/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
That's BRILLIANT! Bring Mr Bolton and his abrasive style to the UN-- even GOP Senators don't like his act--he will be a recess appointment
#2
It is brilliant. The UN needs to be shook -- hard -- to fix it. The alternative is to remove the US from the UN.
Face it, NMM -- the UN is broken. It doesn't work. It puts countries like Zim-bob-we on the UN human rights commission. It allows billions of dollars to be stolen from starving Iraqi children (and you thought Enron was bad). It permits UN 'peacekeepers' to get away with raping the local women.
It doesn't want what even you want it to do.
Bolton can start to fix that by pointing at things and talking loud and impolite. That's just what the UN needs.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/22/2005 0:15 Comments ||
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#3
Reform may be needed--but to start with someone who is hostile to the entire institution isn't a way to go about it--and WHAT is the White House refusing to release to Congress? He supposedly bullied intelligence analysts who didn't agree with his views--Niger Yellow Cake ring a bell? Downing Street Memo for dessert?
#7
Much like Germans, the South Korean voters are getting tired of Roh's antics. In April's by-elections, Roh's Uri party lost very race (6 legislative, all governer's, mayoral, and local council elections) and lost parlimentary majority. Roh is looking like a really unpopular version of Schroeder.
Posted by: ed ||
06/22/2005 1:45 Comments ||
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#8
Screw the Norks. The South is now run buy wussies. Get US the hell out. Thwe South is more interested in bending over for the north than true security. The NORKS will win in the end without firing a shot.
#10
SKORS should be upset about US criticism of NORKS. They are now reading from the same playbook. The US needs to point out what an outpost of tyranny the NORKS are, they are destroying their people. The BIG BAD⢠US is the only country trying to hold the NORKS to the fire for their murderous government. The SKORS have to decide if they want to follow their appeaser president, or do they want to be an outpost of hope for their northern cousins. We have 32,000 troops that we could sure use elsewhere if they are not welcome in SKOR.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/22/2005 2:21 Comments ||
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#11
I'm of the opinion that we shoudl basically pull back to Pusan, establish pre-positioned division sets of equipment (one Mech Infanty, one Armor), station an air wing there to keep open 3 bases, and station a heavy brigate there as a trip wire and defense for the airfields and Pusan perimeter. Add in a few forward corps elements.
Rotate this heavy brigade with one at Ft Carson and Ft Hood.
The other 2 brigades become Strykers (station Hawaii and Ft Lewis) and hop onto the Iraq rotation list, dropping the strain there a lot. But also being on standby as the main relief for the Korean units.
In the event the baloon goes up, the stryker brigade thats stateside jumps onto planes and reinforces the heavy brigade there as area security and mobility. The 1st AD and 1st Infantry fly over and mate up with the gear, just like the old REFORGER plans. 10th Mountain deploys after that, and the Stryker brigades fill after the 10th is lifted in. The 82nd and 101 remain as strategic reserves.
Additionally, the Marines would fill in with a division plus various amphib units, the navy with a few carrier battle groups.
This gives the theater commander within a month a solid heavy US army Corps of 2 heavy divisions, one light division, and 2 independant combat brigades -- one heavy (the one in place) and one light (the strykers). With 3 brigades of strykers on the way. ALso in theater would be a marine divison on the ground in Pusan, and amphib elements to estabish beachheads (a'la Inchon), and a huge amount of US Navy and USAF firepower to fall all over the C3I & logistics of the Norks.
All in all, a termendous amoutn of power coudl be put there in a relatively short amount of time.
We don't need to garrison South Korea. Let them defend their own border. We will provide the "insurance policy".
Secondary effects: gets US troops away from tunnels, artillery and air attacks up at the border. Also gets US troops away from the biggest protest areas in Seoul and the surrounding area.
#12
Not Mike Moore: Just about every member nation of the UN, and the UN staff up to and including Mr. Annan, feel free to insult the U.S. at every opportunity, whether to our ambassador's face, to the media and the public, or in private. We have been polite about it for about half a century, and the rudeness has only gotten worse. Clearly a change of tactics is called for, and Mr. Bolton will accomplish that.
Ed, I do hope you are right. What a triumph for the President's approach if so -- except for Aznar of Spain, a clean sweep by those who support his policies!
And I like Old Spook's plan. If the South Koreans want to push us out, it is time to go. They are a First World country now, and fully capable of manning their own borders. No longer any need, as I've been told there was during the Viet Nam era, to rent soldiers to the U.S. at $500/person.
#13
NMM cares more that people's feelings were hurt by true statements than he does for the millions starving and suffering under the misrule of one man.
That is very sorry state of liberalism today. How f*&^% pathetic.
#18
Will be able to launch the necessary airstrikes against NK from Japan or Okinawa? If so, there is no point in keeping anything in SK. Or, for that matter, if SK is going to pull a Turkey, then we might as well leave now.
#19
For once I disagree with Old Spook. I suggest we leave a platoon there as a trip wire and station two Trident subs in the Sea of Japan codenamed Yankee and Dixie.
Whby is anybody buying a Hyundai today?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
06/22/2005 9:13 Comments ||
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#20
Maybe they could release the remaining POWs from the Korean War and we could sit down and make nice.
#21
Because they are cheap cars though not as cheap as Ban Ki-Moon's worn Reunification Stomp bs! I think Mr.D. has a very good idea there. SKors need to carry the full burden of their own defense with us as mobile strategic backup. Memories of Inchon and the threat of a repeat should SK fold in a conflict should keep alot of NORK "reunification" formations camping out at the ports and beaches rather than directed south. Today's SK is well able to support the expeditures needed for it's own defense. Take off their leg braces and remove the crutches. SK can walk on it's own. All that's needed is a gentle little kick in the A*&.
#23
I agree with Old Spook (from your keyboard to Rummy's eyes!). We can't afford to let S Korea go bare, the cost of a mistake would be catastrophic to us. We should act as the insurer of stability in the region. I'm not a military expert so I won't presume to mess with OS' table of units. I wonder if we couldn't station some of the units in Okinawa or Japan, or even Guam, and move them to Pusan if needed. But that's mere quibbling.
We have no choice but to ensure that S Korea remains free and democratic, and that means making sure that the North never invades. Get our people away from the tunnels and artillery tubes, put them in places in Korea where they can do some good in a counter-attack, and make sure the air-lift is robust.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/22/2005 10:41 Comments ||
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#24
NMM I am PRAYING that Bush turns Bolton loose on a recess appointment. It will send the Dems into a complete and utter hissy fit and crybaby Boin-a-bitch will be inconsolable. IMHO the Senate is wasting way too much time listening to the Dhimis bitch and whine about how Bolton acted when he was in Kindergarten, High School, College, etc. As far as the Intelligence Briefs are concerned, who friggin cares. If by chance they conclude that Bolton had an inept intelligence analyst fired or demoted so friggin what. After 9/11 you canât tell me that there are not any inept intelligence analyst? And if Bolton was in charge of a specific project does he not have the authority to use whomever HE chooses and not some bureaucracy appointed wonk that says no to everything he request? Yes that is whom they probably sent because the institutions are wrought with LLL idiots that have a weird slant on the world.
#26
We have no choice but to ensure that S Korea remains free and democratic,..
I dunno, I don't see the value of continuing the current situation - we got involved in the 50's at a heavy price, and bought them time to get themselves established on the world stage. Now the SKors don't like our criticism of Kimmy and his minions, and the population is slowly taking on an anti-American tone. At some point in time,they're going to need to take charge of their own defense and security. They have to grow up sometime. May as well be now.
#27
To what countries do we owe the maintenance of freedom and democracy? Why only them? Do we owe it to them even if they don't want it, even if they reject it through democratic means? Do we owe it to this select few for ever or is there a dceadline for withdrawal?
I'd rather leave now than to do so ignominiously as we did in the Philippines. The Koreans are more than capable of maintaining their own democracy. Let them do so.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
06/22/2005 11:14 Comments ||
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#28
The irony is that the South Koreans are looking for reunification and there's actually no way Kimmie can let that happen in his lifetime. So barring a premature death for Kimmie, the South Koreans are just going to give, give, give. I say let them do it. There's no way Kimmie could manage them anyway, even if he got the chance. Managing anything other than a hermit kingdom takes more skill than he will ever have. And any outside influences into the hermit kingdom are just going to destabilize it. Bring our troops home.
Posted by: Tom ||
06/22/2005 11:21 Comments ||
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#29
I don't see the value of continuing the current situation - we got involved in the 50's at a heavy price, and bought them time to get themselves established on the world stage.
The real issue here is deterring China. The SORKs have become a sideshow to that more serious concern.
Posted by: too true ||
06/22/2005 12:14 Comments ||
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#30
Leading Husband, please rephrase the question. I have absolutely no idea what you mean.
#33
Why maintain a heavy brigade and anAir Wing there along with ReForKor POMCUS depots, and a credible deterrent?
Because the dislocation of S Korea or its findlanizationto CHina is an unacceptable level of risk for the US in the pacific. Also leaving forces there insures a deterrent effect against NKor, guaranteeing US involvement, which is enough to give even a madman like Kim pause.
This last point is one you overlook. Deterrence is the most important thing here. The world economy coudl not survive a blow liek the loss of the korean economy - and Japans subsequent shift into a much more militaristic role.
Simply put, the status quo in terms of the Koreas is a good enough result, and we should figure a way to maintain it at lower cost and with more strategic flexibility. The plan I have does that, and it was proven in Europe against the Soviet Union: string them out and push them economically until they collaps, being careful enough to supply enough "doubt" militarily to forestall any rash actions.
#34
I like Old Spooks idea. Looking at the geopolitical picture, we can't walk away from SKOR. We can, however, provide a deterrant, and a backup, with a lower profile. The SKors will provide the main defense. If they want to play footsie with Kimmie, then they can foot the bill, which will drain their economy, not ours. I hope that GWB learned the lesson of trying to buy off the NORKS. The US put 1.35 billion into NORK over about 10 years with nothing to show for it.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/22/2005 19:05 Comments ||
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#35
Aside from, and I agree it is a big issue, Japan's security and feeling secure, of what strategic value is Korea? So let's draw down more and make it clear that Japan has a security interest it is prepared to defend as well. We should tell the ChiComs we see your Nork and raise you 2 Nippons. Let the Chinese and Koreans worry about the Japanese being unleashed.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
06/22/2005 19:59 Comments ||
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#36
I hope that GWB learned the lesson of trying to buy off the NORKS. The US put 1.35 billion into NORK over about 10 years with nothing to show for it.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/22/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm sure the tea set is lovely, and the setting charming, but I can't imagine they'll accomplish much more than polite chit chat about the weather and the lovely ladies serving the tea and little tidbits to go with it.
#3
On the contrary, it's likely that Kim will use Roh to try to fend off the US and Roh will use Kim to keep his political supporters behind him as "the leader who can reunite the Korean people".
Posted by: too true ||
06/22/2005 12:26 Comments ||
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An Italian national of Egyptian origin, designated by the White House and the US Treasury Department for his alleged financial support of terrorist activities, says he is willing to appear before the U.S. Congress in an attempt to clear his name. Prosecutors in Switzerland, where Youssef Nada's company al-Taqwa - also on Washington's blacklist - is based, were forced earlier this month to drop their criminal case against him after failing to meet a Swiss court's deadline to produce new evidence.
Nada, in an interview posted on Wednesday on the Swiss internet portal, TicinOnline, again denied any wrongdoing, and said he had appealed directly to U.S. President George W. Bush to launch a probe into why he and is company had been linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
74-year-old Nada, who lives in Campione d'Italia, an Italian enclave in Switzerland, was, together with his company, was among the first names to be added to a list of designated individuals and companies compiled by Washington in 2001, in the aftermath, of the 11 September attacks.
"The injustice continues. The UN Security Council cannot remove my name from its terrorist 'black list' and un-freeze my bank accounts without Washington's consent," he said.
US authorities allege al-Taqwa, which has been renamed Nada Management Organisation, was established in 1988 with backing from the Muslim Brotherhood and was involved in financing radical groups including the Palestinian Hamas, Algeria's Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) and Armed Islamic Group (GIA), Tunisia's an-Nahda as well as the international al-Qaeda network.
Nada says the charges against him and a business partner, Ali Ghaleb Himmat, an Italian citizen of Syrian origin, are based on false evidence provided by police informants.
Claiming that he has always worked for "peace and against injustice," Nada said in the interview that he had visited Saddam Hussein shortly before the Gulf War of 1991 to try to persuade the Iraqi leader to withdraw his forces from Kuwait.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/22/2005 14:16 ||
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Belgian police will not be able to start intercepting emails between criminals until 2007, Justice Minister Laurette Onkelinx said.
It is technically possible for police to intercept internet traffic now, but police will not be properly equipped until the end of 2006 at the earliest. The aim is for police to monitor internet traffic, email messages and chat-room messages. Currently, mobile phones are the prime target of police bugging.
However, Socialist PS minister Onkelinx has also told a parliamentary committee that legislation needs to be adjusted before police can monitor internet traffic, newspaper 'De Standaard' reported on Wednesday..
Christian Democrat CD&V MP Tony van Parys was critical of the timeframe, claiming it gave a safeguard to criminals who can continue to use the internet's communication capabilities without fear.
The former justice minister also questioned the fact Flemish judges more often order the use of bugging equipment compared with Wallonian judges.
The tactics not only record conversations, but also register incoming and outgoing numbers and track the locations of mobile phones.
Van Parys cited figures indicating that bugging operations cost taxpayers EUR 17.7 million in 2003. He said the breakdown in costs show justice officials use bugging tactics much more often than Wallonian officials.
I.e. the Dutch/Germanic judges are a lot more on the ball than the French ones
Posted by: too true ||
06/22/2005 12:26 ||
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(edited for lunacy)
...The reality is that the US war with Iran has already begun. As we speak, American over flights of Iranian soil are taking place, using pilotless drones and other, more sophisticated, capabilities.
The violation of a sovereign nation's airspace is an act of war in and of itself. But the war with Iran has gone far beyond the intelligence-gathering phase.
President Bush has taken advantage of the sweeping powers granted to him in the aftermath of 11 September 2001, to wage a global war against terror and to initiate several covert offensive operations inside Iran.
The most visible of these is the CIA-backed actions recently undertaken by the Mujahadeen el-Khalq, or MEK, an Iranian opposition group, once run by Saddam Hussein's dreaded intelligence services, but now working exclusively for the CIA's Directorate of Operations...
But the CIA-backed campaign of MEK terror bombings in Iran are not the only action ongoing against Iran.
To the north, in neighbouring Azerbaijan, the US military is preparing a base of operations for a massive military presence that will foretell a major land-based campaign designed to capture Tehran.
Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld's interest in Azerbaijan may have escaped the blinkered Western media, but Russia and the Caucasus nations understand only too well that the die has been cast regarding Azerbaijan's role in the upcoming war with Iran.
The ethnic links between the Azeri of northern Iran and Azerbaijan were long exploited by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and this vehicle for internal manipulation has been seized upon by CIA paramilitary operatives and US Special Operations units who are training with Azerbaijan forces to form special units capable of operating inside Iran for the purpose of intelligence gathering, direct action, and mobilising indigenous opposition to the Mullahs in Tehran.
But this is only one use the US has planned for Azerbaijan. American military aircraft, operating from forward bases in Azerbaijan, will have a much shorter distance to fly when striking targets in and around Tehran.
In fact, US air power should be able to maintain a nearly 24-hour a day presence over Tehran airspace once military hostilities commence.
No longer will the United States need to consider employment of Cold War-dated plans which called for moving on Tehran from the Arab Gulf cities of Chah Bahar and Bandar Abbas. US Marine Corps units will be able to secure these towns in order to protect the vital Straits of Hormuz, but the need to advance inland has been eliminated.
A much shorter route to Tehran now exists - the coastal highway running along the Caspian Sea from Azerbaijan to Tehran.
US military planners have already begun war games calling for the deployment of multi-divisional forces into Azerbaijan.
Logistical planning is well advanced concerning the basing of US air and ground power in Azerbaijan.
Given the fact that the bulk of the logistical support and command and control capability required to wage a war with Iran is already forward deployed in the region thanks to the massive US presence in Iraq, the build-up time for a war with Iran will be significantly reduced compared to even the accelerated time tables witnessed with Iraq in 2002-2003... He could have done a lot better. For example, he utterly neglects US forces in Afghanistan that could make a devastating pincher movement on Tehran, efforts in Baluchistan in the SE, Khuzestan in the SW, the Kurds in the West and NW and the Turkmen in the North. And three naval fronts, not just the Persian Gulf/Gulf of Oman/Arabian Sea, but also the Caspian Sea. Geez, at this point I would seriously consider just encircling the Iranian military and ordering them to disarm. It is worse than a chess game where the other side only has pawns and a king, and you have everything.
#1
Hey, Scotty! How ya been!
Maybe you can buy one of them pilotless drones surplus and use it to scope out the talent at the local elementary school. Sound good?
#2
Now Scottie, let's not get excited. I'm sure all this maneuvering and positioning of forces is pure coincidence. Everyone knows our beloved Commander-in-Chimp(tm) is a clueless bufoon, barely able to get elected, much less escape from the self-induced quagmires of Afghanistan and Iraq. I'm sure there is no long-range plan to depose the leaders who have sworn to do us harm and free their people from tyranny. Pure coincidence. Pay no attention.
#6
For an anti-american, Scott's column sure is cheery.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
06/22/2005 15:55 Comments ||
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#7
I propose that Ritter be handed over to his former service members, and, umm, let what happens naturally just happen. I'd rahter not be ritter if ANY US Marine is around.
#8
I've always wondered what this idiots problem is, you know besides the pedophile thing.
I suspect a lot of it is ego. He didn't get the attention, the credit, he thinks he deserives, so he's doing something about it. No doubt he considers the "setup" that ended with his arrest as part of the conspiracy against him, not to mention the accusations that he made his "film" with Saddam's money.
People with overly large egos can get quite wrapped up in their paranoia. Look at the Democrats.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
06/22/2005 19:19 Comments ||
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#9
Why Azerbajan?
That doesn't make sense. Everything going into Azerbajan would pretty much have to go by air, the same problem as staging through Afghanistan.
The only place you could stage via sealift instead of airlift that we could use is Iraq. (Something that makes my blood pressure rise whenever I listen to the late night conspiracy people talking about how "I wish Bush had done something about Iran instead of Iraq..." What did they expect us to do, stage an amphibious invasion?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
06/22/2005 20:42 Comments ||
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#10
I'm sure there's a memo someplace that proves Bush has already decided to invade. Hey! Mebbe Scotty "found" it?
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/22/2005 20:54 Comments ||
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June 22, 2005: Islamic terrorists have found powerful allies among leftist activists in the United States and Europe. These groups, which first appeared in the 1930s, providing support for the Soviet Union, evolved into âprogressive,â and pro-Soviet organizations (like the National Lawyers Guild) during the Cold War. They found that lawfare was a highly effective ideological weapon in a country like the United States. When the Cold War ended, and the Soviet Union disappeared, these organizations, and people like lawyers Michael Ratner and Ramsey Clark, maintained good relations with the remaining communist dictatorships, especially Cuba, and continued their war on America.
The basic drill of these groups is right out of the old Soviet playbook. That is, using support for worthy causes like civil rights, clean government and environmentalism as camouflage, plus an exaggerated sense of righteousness, to pursue a program that seeks to make their own foreign policy, counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence policy, and enact laws in the United States via the courts, rather than the legislature. Often, the only goal is to simply oppose whatever the government position is. The Soviet Union may be dead, but many of its biggest fans are not. Oppose them and you are called a racist, fascist and worse.
Islamic terrorists have seen lawfare put restrictions on interrogations at Guantanamo, and make government officials reluctant to take chances in fighting, or stopping, Islamic terrorism. Despite record low civilian casualties, Islamic terrorists have plenty of allies willing to pursue false claims of deliberate attacks on civilians, and even journalists. Playing the legal system, as well as the media, leftist activists have provided Islamic terrorism valuable allies in America, the very country Islamic radicals are trying to destroy. Al Qaeda openly acknowledges this aid, and encourages its members to make false claims of torture and abuse, to make it easer for anti-American activists to build a case. The terrorists know that the media will jump all over anything that even appears as scandalous, and that the appearance of misbehavior is more important than the reality of it.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/22/2005 10:37 ||
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#1
No Qurans were abused during the manufacture of this article.
#2
The health care fight is a good indicator of how this communist left has withered in the US. I carefully noted how many democrat leaders insisted that there *has* to be national health care, vs. those that are willing to bargain, and seem to be afflicted with less than a burning breast. The hard corps were very upset that they could only muster perhaps a dozen (led by Ted Kennedy).
However, at the same time, there is still some hard corps discipline. For example, Durbin's big mistake was not coming out with an empty apology quickly. Importantly, it was a mistake not for any ideological reason, but because it showed that he was standing up for something. Good apparatchiks are *not* supposed to stand for *anything*, except for the official party line, and be willing to change their stance at a moment's notice. Only "the enemy" takes principled positions and sticks to them, no matter what the party thinks. A good member of the socialist left must be a herd animal--all is for the herd. Only a barbarian free-thinker has firm opinions, ethics and a sense of personal responsibility.
#2
What is surprising is that they are US born.
How do you spend your entire life interacting with fellow americans and then have this "muslim identity" trump everything?
Posted by: john ||
06/22/2005 17:18 Comments ||
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#3
The hot chicks kept on laughing at them, so they decided to hate 'Mericans.
#4
For some reason the West has become a breading ground for self-loathing. I'm not sure why Muslims in the US should be any different with all the left filling their heads with nonsense all the time.
#5
How do you spend your entire life interacting with fellow americans and then have this "muslim identity" trump everything?
They're no different than your average student at Evergreen State or Berkeley.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
06/22/2005 19:15 Comments ||
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#6
How do you spend your entire life interacting with fellow americans and then have this "muslim identity" trump everything?
For the same reason that there are "African-Americans", "Mexican-Americans", and "Asian-Americans". To the people/organizations that spread this sort of poison, and the ones that actually buy into it, being American comes in a very distant second, if not even an outright third.
#7
It's simply the result of their upbringing. To expcet anything else is foolish. It's is the natural course or their religion and home life. It's not just the US they hate, the non-islamic world in it's totality.
#8
Radical islam and its Mullahs are teaching Muslim youth to take what they want by force, NOT to nurture or build. Ditto pretty much for the Lefties and anti-American agendists - both Secular Socialists and God/Faith-based Socialists are fighting for Super-Regulated, Deficit- and Regression-induced/centric, alleged "Conservative" Stratified Societies, Nations, and Globe under one all-powerful militarized, centralized, Big Government and Regulatory SuperBureaucracy, i.e. OWG. Everything and Everyone, espec personal wealth and the ability to acquire wealth, is controlled by the State, Regulation, Pols and the SuperBureaucracy. Given still expanding America-specific hyperpower and global dominance, OWG is about the only way any non-American nation can
achieve some form of Manifest Destiny, vv Global Legislature/Congress!
The risk for Western Socialism is that the Asian Socialists will attempt to INTERNALLY dominate the Westies, as they typically do, and thus control the global agenda for both camps. For the Left > the WOT, for now, is about CONTROL OF WASHINGTON DC and by extens the US NATIONAL POL ESTABLISHMENT; after 2015-2020, iff the Clintons fail, its Leftiist-Socialist GLOBAL, ALL-OUT NUKE WAR against America - NO MORE PC LIMITED WAR(S)! Remember, the Clinton-led US DemoLeft and aligned have no plan iff Failed Socialism still fails, or Mackinder's World Island fails too - ASIA AND SOCIALISM MUST STILL RULE AND CONTROL THE WORLD REGARDLESS IFF "JUSTIFIED" OR NOT!
A federal grand jury on Wednesday added four new charges to an indictment against a man authorities have alleged once joined the Taliban front lines and shared a meal with Osama bin Laden.
Terror suspect Mohammed Warsame, 31, was charged last year with conspiracy to provide material support to al-Qaida. He remained in custody Wednesday, said Karen Bailey, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The superseding indictment added one count of providing material support to the terrorist group and three counts of making false statements to the FBI.
Warsame's public defender, Dan Scott, did not immediately return a telephone call Wednesday.
The new indictment alleges Warsame lied when he told FBI agents that he had only traveled to Saudi Arabia and Somalia since 1995. Prosecutors alleged he also traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2000 and 2001 to attend military training camps.
The indictment also alleges Warsame lied when he told investigators that he had no contact with people he met in the camps after he left. In fact, the indictment alleges he had frequent contact with them.
Finally, Warsame was charged with telling agents that he didn't send money to people he met in Afghanistan. The indictment claims he sent $2,000 to an associate in Pakistan.
Bailey said an arraignment date on the new charges had not been set.
Warsame, a Somali with Canadian citizenship, was arrested in Minneapolis in December 2003. He had been living in Minnesota since 2002, with his wife and daughter, who was 5 when he was arrested.
An FBI agent's affidavit filed in conjunction with the original charge said Warsame traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2000 and 2001. In early 2001, prosecutors say, Warsame asked al-Qaida for money to move his family to Afghanistan.
Instead, an al-Qaida leader paid for Warsame's airplane ticket back to North America, and gave him $1,700 in travel money, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit states that Warsame claimed to have twice seen combat with front line units of the Taliban while in Afghanistan. He also said he had seen bin Laden on several occasions at one of the camps, including sharing a meal with the al-Qaida chief.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/22/2005 14:53 ||
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WASHINGTON, June 22 (UPI) -- Federal officials checked thousands of normally private Social Security files in investigations of suspected terrorists, The New York Times reported. Social Security Administration officials agreed to an "ad hoc" authorization of information the FBI said was related to its post-Sept. 11, 2001, investigations, the newspaper said Wednesday. The same methods were used in the investigation into the 2002 Washington-area sniper shootings. An unnamed former senior FBI official told the Times the bureau "ran thousands of Social Security numbers. We got very useful information, that's for sure." He said the information allowed the FBI to track leads regarding suspected terrorists.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., told the Times the investigation had "real civil liberties implications for abuse." She also questioned whether Congress had been adequately informed, the Times said. The Times article was based on documents obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center through Freedom of Information Act requests.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/22/2005 09:55 ||
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#1
"real civil liberties implications for abuse."
Usually in the form of dead people, a.k.a. victims. You know the people you forget about cause they can't vote, except in Wisconsin and Washington state.
#4
How would Social Security information help find terrorists?
Cross checking the number could help you determine if it was valid and if the person was who they said they were. Sounds like they are doing identity checks.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/22/2005 15:43 Comments ||
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#5
It's disinfo TW. The G-men are really after the Mutual of Ramallah files.
Nations attending a conference on Iraq's reconstruction pledged Wednesday to support a reform plan by top Iraqi officials who are working to secure order, rejuvenate the economy and draft a new constitution.
Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and other members of his transitional government put forth their plans at the one-day conference that brought together more than 80 senior officials from the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and other countries.
"We have presented our visions and our priorities to you. Now it's your turn to look at those elements and those priorities to see where you can help," Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said in closing remarks.
Zebari set out four top priorities: drafting a constitution and holding elections on time, securing the stability of the country, rebuilding the economy and healing ties with neighbors.
He asked for help training Iraq's military and for its neighbors to take serious action in controlling their borders to prevent insurgents from infiltrating into Iraq.
The nations responded by adopting a declaration of support, as well as promising aid and expertise. They said they backed the transitional government's "efforts to achieve a democratic, pluralist, federal and unified Iraq, reflecting the will of the Iraqi people, in which there is full respect for political and human rights."
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan called it a "watershed" moment for Iraq.
"Ultimately, of course, Iraq's future lies in the hands of the Iraqis themselves," he said.
The conference, co-hosted by the EU and Washington, was called to bolster international backing for the return of Iraq to the international community, said Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn.
"We are here to show to Iraq, to the Iraqi people, that we are on their side in this difficult period of transition," said Asselborn, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.
In return, Iraq must improve security, develop its economy and "open political space for all members of Iraqi society who reject violence," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.
"Terrorism can be defeated in Iraq. It will be defeated in Iraq. And when it's defeated in Iraq, at the heart of the Middle East, it will be a death knell for terrorism as we know it," she said in her closing remarks.
She added that Syria must do more to crack down on insurgents crossing the border into neighboring Iraq.
"Syria has a responsibility ... to the international community, it has a responsibility to its neighbors not to allow its territory to be used for the gathering of people who are wreaking havoc and causing harm," she said.
International leaders have urged Iraq's new Shiite-led government to include Sunni Muslims in the political process, a move seen as key to curbing the deadly insurgency.
"What we need from you is exactly what your people need from you: The children of Iraq are just like yours â they don't want to lose their fathers and turn to orphans," al-Jaafari said. "The women of Iraq are just like yours â they don't want to lose their husbands, to turn to widowers."
Zebari said a lot of work lies ahead of December elections to choose a full-term government. Iraq does not underestimate the "real challenges" it faces, from the continuing insurgency to finding agreement among its many ethnic groups on a constitution, he said.
"We want a stable, constitutionally elected government, established through democratic processes," Zebari said.
Zebari also said Iraqis would ask their neighbors to restore diplomatic relations with Baghdad that were suspended under Saddam Hussein's rule. He announced Wednesday that Egypt is the first Arab nation to send an ambassador to Iraq.
Farouq al-Sharaa, foreign minister of Syria, said his nation was ready "to fully cooperate" with the Iraqi government to stop insurgents â but he accused the United States of getting in the way.
The "party that does not enable Syria to succeed in a better way to secure its border with Iraq is the same party that throws the strongest criticism at Syria and prevents Syria from attaining the equipment necessary to protect its long borders," he said.
Al-Sharaa also called for a "timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq ... that will contribute to calming down the Iraqi people fears."
The declaration by the nations at the conference urged "all Iraqis to participate in the political process," especially in writing the new constitution.
Participants also committed to carrying through on some $32 billion in pledges made at a donors' conference last year and reiterated commitments "to provide debt relief on generous terms."
Asselborn announced a date for a new donors' conference: July 17-18 in Amman, Jordan.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/22/2005 14:14 ||
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UNITED NATIONS â Oil-for-Food is the biggest scandal ever to hit the United Nations, but it is just one of many scandals erupting at the world body â all symptoms of trouble at the core. The latest shocker intersects with Oil-for-Food, but centers on separate activities in the U.N. procurement department, where a longtime U.N. staffer handling tens of millions of dollars worth of contracts for a variety of U.N. operations is entwined in a father-son apparent conflict of interest similar to the one that engulfed Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his son Kojo.
The story points to a pattern of crony connections and questionable practices at the United Nations, including family ties between U.N. officials and the organizationâs multi-billion dollar contracting business for goods and services. Along the way it raises fresh questions about the already battered credibility of the U.N.-authorized investigation into Oil-for-Food, led by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. The staffer in question is Alexander Yakovlev (search), a dapper Russian who is possibly the longest tenured member of the U.N. procurement department â which last year alone spent more than $1.3 billion buying supplies and services for the United Nations. Yakovlev joined the U.N. staff in the late 1980s, when U.N. jobs filled by natives of the Soviet Union and East Bloc countries went to applicants directly nominated by their governments. Colleagues say that even after the 1991 Soviet collapse, Yakovlev has kept in close touch with members of the Russian mission to the U.N.
Yakovlevâs job includes such sensitive matters as vetting potential U.N. contractors and processing their bids. In the 1990s, Yakovlev was deeply involved in the hiring of inspection firms for Oil-for-Food, including Cotecna Inspection S.A., the Swiss firm for which Kojo Annan worked. After Secretary-General Annan reluctantly concluded that the more than $110 billion Oil-for-Food scandal was worth investigating, Yakovlev popped up as a key witness in two interim reports released earlier this year by the Volcker investigation. In the Volcker version of events, Yakovlev emerged as a champion of integrity, portrayed as having fought a losing battle for fair bidding procedures on two major contracts under Oil-for-Food. Based in part on Yakovlevâs testimony, the Volcker committee censured another U.N. official, Joseph Stephanides, whom Kofi Annan last month fired. Stephanides is appealing his case on grounds that he simply followed orders from more senior officials and the U.N. Security Council.
Alexander Yakovlev told FOX News last month that he refuses to talk with the media without the express permission of Kofi Annan. FOX Newsâ request to Annan to supply that permission was denied recently by Annanâs deputy press spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, on grounds that Yakovlev remains an âimportant witnessâ in the ongoing Volcker investigation. Dujarric further stressed that âfrom the evidence presented in the Volcker report, it is obvious that [Yakovlev] acted with great integrity and followed proper procedure.â
Itâs hard to be sure of that, given the secrecy that shrouds Volckerâs investigation as well as all Oil-for-Food records. But from material obtained outside the narrow focus of the Volcker reports, FOX News has learned that in matters of U.N. business, Yakovlev apparently had his own ideas involving proper procedures where it concerned a major U.N. supplier, IHC Services, Ltd., which at his request employed his son â Dmitry Yakovlev, now 23. Long long article full of details Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve ||
06/22/2005 12:14 ||
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#1
You out there GE?
Come clean Mike, all is forgiven.
#2
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A senior U.N. purchasing officer unexpectedly submitted his resignation and his office was then sealed by investigators into the scandal-tainted oil-for-food program for Iraq, the United Nations announced on Wednesday. But the two events are not necessary related as Alexander Yakovlev, the procurement official, had been cooperating with the investigation on contract bids for Iraq, led by Paul Volcker, the former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman.
Rather Yakovlev was the subject of a separate U.N. inquiry following allegations by Fox News that he helped his son get a job with a firm that once did business with the United Nations but not under the oil-for-food program. Yakovlev faxed his resignation on Tuesday night, a day after U.N. officials announced a probe into the claims, U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said. Yakovlev, according to Fox, helped his son get a job with the New York-based IHC Services, which had supplied equipment and other services to the United nations.
But there is no evidence IHC was involved in the now-defunct $67 billion oil-for-food program, which supplied food, medicine and other goods to ordinary Iraqis suffering under U.N. sanctions imposed in 1990 after Baghdad's troops invaded Kuwait. Okabe gave no reason for Yakovlev's resignation and said he was informed that the U.N. investigation, by the Office of Internal Oversight Services, would go ahead anyway. She said he had promised to continue cooperation with the Volcker panel, which had interviewed Yakovlev extensively, characterizing him as someone who obeyed U.N. regulations in awarding contracts under the oil-for-food program.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/22/2005 16:40 Comments ||
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The bitter third-placed finisher in Iran's presidential race called on voters Tuesday to flock to polling stations this weekend to defeat an Islamic hard-line candidate he termed a "symbol of totalitarianism." The former parliament speaker, Mahdi Karroubi, also intensified his claims of election fraud, claiming that the supervisory Guardian Council had overlooked alleged cases of multiple voting and other violations by hard-liners.
Speaking at a news conference, Karroubi appealed for a strong turnout in the runoff election to defeat Tehran Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and "save the nation ... from this symbol of totalitarianism." He said the alternative was "Talibanization" â a reference to the puritanical Taliban rulers of Afghanistan, who were ousted by the U.S.-led coalition after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He called the polls "the darkest pages" of Iran's ideological struggle since the election of reformist President Mohammad Khatami in 1997.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/22/2005 00:00 ||
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How important is the Iraq insurgency to al Qaeda? It is now "the central battle" being waged by Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, according to a just-released report on al Qaeda's ideology by the Congressional Research Service. The study, as with other CRS reports, is distributed only to members of Congress (but is available here: CRS report). Titled "Al Qaeda: Statements and Evolving Ideology," the 16-page work is an updated review of al Qaeda statements since 1991 and notes that recent statements by al Qaeda Iraq chief Abu Musab Zarqawi and military leader Sayf al Adl both point to Iraq as an opportunity to spread their movement deeper into the heart of the Arab world. In a December audiotape, bin Laden himself referred to Iraq as the key battle in a "Third World War, which the Crusader-Zionist coalition began against the Islamic nation."
With much of its leadership killed or captured and bin Laden thought to be hiding along the Pakistani border, al Qaeda is not the threat it once posed. But these latest missives from its leaders, taken together, suggest that the terrorist group behind 9/11 remains a worrisome threat. They appear designed to broaden their movement's appeal, gain material support, and "inspire new and more systematically devastating attacks," says the report, written by CRS Middle East analyst Christopher Blanchard. The study stresses to members of Congress the importance of a May statement by al Adl that outlines a "detailed strategic framework for the jihadist movement." Al Adl, thought to be detained in Iran, advises followers in Iraq and elsewhere to steep their groups in Islamic thought, backed by "a circle of judicious men and scholars"; to perform fewer "random" actions; and to better integrate short-term acts into long-term strategies.
The varied statements make up what the report calls "a sophisticated public relations and media campaign" over the past decade, one that has grown in importance in recent years. All told, they suggest that the movement's key goals remain unaltered and uncompromising, notes Blanchard: the expulsion of foreign forces and influences from Islamic lands, and the creation of a pan-Islamic state ruled by Koranic law.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/22/2005 17:20 ||
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Pakistan on Wednesday urged the outgoing U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan to share information on the whereabouts of fugitive Taliban chief Mullah Mohammed Omar, days after the envoy said he was "more likely" in Pakistan than in Afghanistan.
Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said Pakistani security forces and intelligence agencies were "playing a proactive role" in the hunt for terror suspects but they have no information on the location of Omar - among the most wanted terror suspects sought by the United States.
In an interview last week with Afghanistan's independent Ayna Television, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said, "It is more likely that Mullah Omar and other Taliban leaders are in Pakistan (than in Afghanistan)."
Sherpao responded: "If he (Khalilzad) has any such information, instead of leveling allegations, he should pass that on to us."
The bilateral tensions prompted a telephone discussion Tuesday between Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai. Musharraf also spoke by phone with President Bush.
Afghanistan claims the infiltration of militants has contributed to a surge in violence. Recent fighting in southern and eastern Afghanistan has left hundreds dead, threatening legislative elections due in September.
Afghan officials said that on Sunday, their intelligence agents captured three Pakistanis armed with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles who planned to assassinate Khalilzad at a road inauguration in Afghanistan's northeastern Laghman province.
Khalilzad called off his appearance at the event.
He left his post in Kabul this week to become the new U.S. ambassador in Iraq.
Sherpao said that Afghanistan has not officially given Pakistan any details about the three suspects. Asked if Pakistan has sought any information about them, the minister said, "Why should we do it? It's still (just) a media report."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/22/2005 14:57 ||
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#1
The ISI will just get the intel and help Mullah Omar move to a safe place, if we give Pakistan any information. We are dealing with a an ally of multiple personalities in Pakistan.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/22/2005 16:44 Comments ||
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A survey on casualties of foreign insurgents active in Iraq show that more than half of them are Saudi citizens, while the next most populous group is Syrian militants, at 13 percent, and Kuwaitis following with 5.3 percent. The data, compiled by a prominent US al-Qaeda and terror expert, Evan Kohlmann, is based on the known nationalities of 300 foreign insurgents killed fighting the US-led forces or in suicide attacks between June 2003-June 2005. While most of the foreign militants who died are from neighbouring Arab nations, a few are also from European countries.
"We gathered data based not just based on the state,emts amd lists published on Islamist internet forums," Kohl told Adnkronos International (AKI) "but also comparing this to information supplied by the American military and other allied nations and information in the mass media."
The strong Saudi presence among the 'martyrs' in Iraq indicates that despite a Fatwa against imams who seek to recruit or encourage youngsters to take part in Jihad in Iraq recruitment in the oil-rich kingdom is continuing.
Among those listed on Kohlmann's site, Globalterroralert.com, are three each from Italy and France and one each from the United Kingdom, Denmark and Spain. "They are almost always Arab immigrants who were living in Europe and then departed for Iraq" said Kohlmann.
He cited the 'Italian' deaths as Rihani Lotfi, a Tunisian who died in a suicide bomb attacks in September 2003 along with two Moroccans, Kamal Morchidi (Morocco) and Hamsi Said, who lived in northern Italy. The three names were already known to investigators in Italy, where recent inquiries have uncovered various al-Qaeda-linked cells, mainly dedicated to recruitment and logistic support,
"Italian military intelligence believes that at least five Muslims recruited in Italy have died in Iraq, most of them recruited in Milan and most in suicide attacks against American troops" said Kohlmann.
However, he said he had not included other Italian residents on his list because he did not have "sufficient information about them".
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/22/2005 14:48 ||
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#1
How can they be 'insurgents' if they are not native?
Congrats to the media for attaining Orwellian newsspeak.
A new classified assessment by the Central Intelligence Agency says Iraq may prove to be an even more effective training ground for Islamic extremists than Afghanistan was in Al Qaeda's early days, because it is serving as a real-world laboratory for urban combat.
The assessment, completed last month and circulated among government agencies, was described in recent days by several Congressional and intelligence officials. The officials said it made clear that the war was likely to produce a dangerous legacy by dispersing to other countries Iraqi and foreign combatants more adept and better organized than they were before the conflict.
Congressional and intelligence officials who described the assessment called it a thorough examination that included extensive discussion of the areas that might be particularly prone to infiltration by combatants from Iraq, either Iraqis or foreigners.
They said the assessment had argued that Iraq, since the American invasion of 2003, had in many ways assumed the role played by Afghanistan during the rise of Al Qaeda during the 1980's and 1990's, as a magnet and a proving ground for Islamic extremists from Saudi Arabia and other Islamic countries.
The officials said the report spelled out how the urban nature of the war in Iraq was helping combatants learn how to carry out assassinations, kidnappings, car bombings and other kinds of attacks that were never a staple of the fighting in Afghanistan during the anti-Soviet campaigns of the 1980's. It was during that conflict, primarily rural and conventional, that the United States provided arms to Osama bin Laden and other militants, who later formed Al Qaeda.
The assessment said the central role played by Iraq meant that, for now, most potential terrorists were likely to focus their energies on attacking American forces there, rather than carrying out attacks elsewhere, the officials said. But the officials said Saudi Arabia, Jordan and other countries would soon have to contend with militants who leave Iraq equipped with considerable experience and training.
Previous warnings of this kind have been less detailed, as when Porter J. Goss, the director of central intelligence, told Congress earlier in the year that jihadists who survive the continued fighting in Iraq would leave there "experienced in and focused on acts of urban terrorism," and form "a potential pool of contacts to build transnational terrorist cells, groups and networks in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and other countries."
The officials who described the new assessment said they could not be identified by name because of the classified nature of the document. The officials came from three different government organizations, and all said they had read the document.
The officials said the document did not address whether the anti-American insurgency in Iraq was indeed in the "last throes," as Vice President Dick Cheney said recently.
In an interview in the current issue of Time magazine, Mr. Goss is quoted as saying that he believed that the insurgents were "not quite in the last throes, but I think they are very close to it," though he did not say such a view was based on a formal intelligence assessment.
"I think that every day that goes by in Iraq where they have their own government, and it's moving forward, reinforces just how radical these people are and how unwanted they are," Mr. Goss was quoted as saying of the insurgents. The interview was the first granted by Mr. Goss since he took over as C.I.A. chief last September.
The officials who described the new intelligence report would not say specifically which regions of the world were described as particularly vulnerable to a spillover from Iraq. But they noted that the combatants in Iraq, whether Iraqis or foreign fighters, have primarily been Arabs who would fit in most easily in other Arab societies. Many of the combatants from Afghanistan came from South Asia and Central Asia, and many went on to campaigns in the 1990's in Chechnya, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and other locations.
In an interview last week, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., Democrat of Delaware, said he had been told by American officials during a recent trip to Iraq that a "disproportionate number" of the foreign fighters now active there came from Saudi Arabia. A former American intelligence official who visited Saudi Arabia recently said officials there had grown increasingly worried that young Saudis who were leaving to fight Americans in Iraq, traveling by way of Damascus, the Syrian capital, would pose an increased threat to Saudi stability if and when they returned home.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/22/2005 14:34 ||
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#1
Before they can be a problem anywhere else, they have to survive their time in Iraq. Let's work with the Iraqis to make that an unlikely prospect.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
06/22/2005 14:53 Comments ||
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#2
The war with Germany and Japan left both countries with millions of ex-military men skilled with weapons and explosives. After losing millions of dead, they surrendered. The jihadis are just getting ramped up. If we have to kill millions of them to get them to submit, this is going to be a long war. But the fact is that not attacking them would have prevented us from fighting them without preventing them from attacking us. I much prefer the kill ratios in Iraq, where our boys are taking them out at multiples of the casualties we are sustaining, to the kill ratios during 9/11, where we lost 150 dead for every dead jihadi.
#3
The question is whether the number who survive fighting in Iraq and can leave is significant.
Afghanistans war left lots of survivors because it was far less deadly. Most of the "Afghan Arabs", as also the Afghans, fought only intermittently and mainly occupied sanctuary zones.
There are no real sanctuaries in Iraq and the kill/capture rate seems very high.
#6
Iraq is also a training ground for a lot of counter-terrorists expert at hunting down and killing terrorists in an urban environment.
Posted by: jolly roger ||
06/22/2005 19:03 Comments ||
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#7
Hmmmm...ya mean it works both ways, jolly roger? A two-edged sword? It's even possible the CIA figgered that out, but would our friends in the media report the "other side"? Not likely!
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/22/2005 21:21 Comments ||
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#8
The MSM is obviously in a full-court press with the Dems to make the war look hopeless - even beyond what they've been doing up to now. Expect this to get much worse before it gets any better.
In a message posted to Islamist websites on Wednesday, Al-Qaeda's commander in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi decried the international conference on Iraq's reconstruction taking place in Brussels, describing its participants as "enemies of Allah who have gathered to destroy Iraq". "What kind of rebuilding can there be at the moment when the Americans are being routed and and are smelling the scent of their destruction in the country of the two rivers?" the message continued.
"They are looking for someone who can save them from defeat and the damage they have endured. But victory will come, just as your death is a certainty," the message adds. In the communique, al-Zarqawi's group announces that it will continue its armed struggle in Iraq, despite the growing troop reinforcements that the US is sending to replace soldiers who have been killed. Al-Zarqawi's current wheareabouts are unknown, but US intelligence sources believe he may be in Iran.
Leading members of Iraq's transitional government, along with some 85 delegations from various countries and organisations are attending the one-day Brussels conference, sponsored by the European Union and the United States. It aims to help establish the priorities for the political, economic and social reconstruction of the war-torn country.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/22/2005 14:25 ||
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"Any day now the saucers from Planet X will swoop down and destroy the infidels!"
(this may actually have nothing to do with Terrorism or it may even reduce terrorism-- it remains to be seen)
Muslim Nations Plan to Set Up Islamic Bank By EILEEN NG, Associated Press Writer
PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia - Muslim bankers and regulators announced plans Wednesday to set up a global Islamic bank by next year that could rival Western lenders and to chart a 10-year blueprint to bolster growth in the Islamic financial sector.
The Bahrain-based Albaraka Banking Group will take a 10 percent stake in the $1 billion bank [a $1B bank won't even make the top 100 in the west but would be significant in the orient] to be known as the Emaar International Group, said Saleh A. Kamal, chairman of the General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions, which proposed the project.
Other key shareholders are the Islamic Development Bank, which is the financial arm of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Conference, and Malaysia's Islamic Bank, Kamal said.
"We hope by early next year, it will be operational," he told some 400 officials and regulators at a forum in Malaysia to map out a blueprint for the Islamic financial sector.
Malaysia is spearheading efforts to help the OIC focus on economic development among Muslim nations to help lift them out of poverty and boost their financial clout.
Malaysia, Bahrain, Qatar or Dubai could be the host country for the new bank, Kamal said, adding that operational details are expected to be finalized in three months [I assume only publically chartered businesses could apply].
Officials have said the bank will operate in keeping with Islamic laws, which means no interest would be paid or charged on deposits and loans [instead a fictional ownership is registed and a 'fee' charged for the ownership or some similar protocol is established].
Kamal said the bank's emergence could be a "vital turning point" for a sector whose growth has been hamstrung because 73 percent of some 285 Islamic banks and financial institutions are undercapitalized at below $25 million [of course the main reasons for poverty in the Islamic world are corruption, nepotism, intimidation, etc]
Membership in the Emaar group is open to private Islamic and conventional banks, pension, insurance and endowment funds, as well as individuals, he said.
Malaysia's central bank also said Wednesday it has no immediate plans to issue more Islamic banking licenses to foreign lenders. Last year, the central bank granted Islamic banking licenses to three foreign companies â Kuwait Finance House, Saudi Arabia-based Ar-Rajhi Bank and a consortium led by Qatar Islamic Bank.
Foreign investors can still enter Malaysia's market by holding a 49 percent stake in subsidiaries of domestic banks that offer Islamic banking.
The Islamic Financial Services Board secretary-general Rifaat Ahmad Abdel Karim told the Associated Press that a 10-year Islamic financial services master plan for OIC nations is expected to be completed by the end of the year and distributed to various regulatory bodies.
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, whose country currently chairs the OIC, told the forum that the masterplan would promote widespread development to "address the problems of extremism and terrorism" in the world's largest Muslim political grouping.
Twenty-seven OIC members are classified by the World Bank as low-income nations while 21 are severely indebted, he said.
#1
Do you suppose the inconvenience of the Western banking system's unfortunate habits of freezing terrorist funds and providing audit trails to help Western governments track down terrorists and their paymasters has anything to do with this? It is properly Islamic to aid terrorists by giving them their own bank.
#2
Frankly, I think the terrorists have alternate financial channels plus they get funds from extortion, kidnapping, blackmailing the euroweenies and the like. I suspect this new bank, assuming it is real, would go to some effort to assure itself that it was clean terrorism-wise.
#3
Hope you are right, but given the penchant for corruption and venality in that part of the world, I think that I will wait a few years before I believe it.
#4
The reason Islamic banks don't do well has nothing do with the Islamic prohibition on charging interest since interest is it just called fees, and everything to do with the fact devout muslims are poor credit risks. Inshallah anyone?
#7
Run up a sky-high tab?
Can't figure out how to pay it back?
Just declare that the bank people are not true believers, promise them anything, and you can walk away with a clear conscience.
I would quote the bit about lying to infidels in the K'q'o'r'a'n, but I think that mine got flushed by someone.
Yeah, this bank is going to go far, real far.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/22/2005 18:20 Comments ||
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#9
the knots they tie themselves into to get around the interest prohibition are hilarious. Fees, escalated payback contract, call it what you like. Mo just didn't wanna pay his way. Friggin cheap prophet if you ask me...pedophile as well...
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/22/2005 21:42 Comments ||
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#10
They can call it "fees" or anything else they want to, it's INTEREST.
They must think Allen is an awfully stupid god not to notice their games.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/22/2005 22:47 Comments ||
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#11
I've also heard of cases where people leasing equipment to customers in the Middle East wake up one morning to find out a local mullah has declared the lease payments to be "interest" and therefore the customer can keep the equipment but doesn't have to make any more payments...
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
06/22/2005 23:26 Comments ||
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Chanting, "9/11 memorial only," about 200 relatives of those who died in the terrorist attack gathered at ground zero yesterday to express anger over a proposed museum at the site. They said a museum would dilute the purpose of the memorial and dishonor the memory of their relatives. Although plans for the museum, the International Freedom Center, have yet to be completed, its Web site (ifcwtc.org) said it would include an educational and cultural center "that will nurture a global conversation on freedom in our world today." Fine. Take it down the street to the UN. They can add another billion to their rehab budget to cover it. It doesn't belong here. To me, it sounds like some touchy-feely bullshit idea anyways, so it should fit right in down there.
Relatives said they feared that the museum would shift the focus from the victims of the terror attack toward political harangues against United States foreign and domestic policy.
Debra Burlingame, whose opinion piece on June 8 in The Wall Street Journal ignited a movement to remove the museum, has focused her anger on the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, Anthony D. Romero, who is an adviser to the museum. Just who I want involved in a project like this. Tell ya what, Tony. Since your organization's doing so much to ensure that 9/11 happens again, you can have the next site.
"Do we really want to entrust the meaning of Sept. 11 to a man who is calling our secretary of defense, in a time of war, dishonorable and dishonest?" asked Ms. Burlingame, whose brother, Charles F. Burlingame III, was a pilot of the hijacked American Airlines Flight 77. That borderlines on "hate speech" there, Ms. Burlingame. You'll be hearing from our lawyers.
But project coordinators vowed to press forward and held a quickly organized news conference to address the family members' concerns."It's important what we have here is not a place for political polemics, but a place to memorialize the history of man's march toward freedom and to remember the role that Sept. 11 plays in that important march," said John P. Cahill, appointed by Gov. George E. Pataki in May to lead the rebuilding effort in Lower Manhattan. Ah, "polemics". Breaking out the "pretty words". I'll bet he thinks the peons don't even know what "polemics" means.
But relatives at the protest said there should be no political slants at ground zero. "The organizers of the International Freedom Center say that in order to understand 9/11, we must see exhibits about slavery, segregation and genocide and its impact around the world," said Michael Burke, whose brother, Capt. William F. Burke Jr. of the Fire Department, died in the World Trade Center collapse. "This is history that all should know and learn, but not here - not on sacred ground." He added: "Nobody is coming to this place to learn about Ukraine democracy or to be inspired by the courage of Tibetan monks. They're coming for Sept. 11." Amen.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg also defended the idea of the freedom center yesterday and vowed to move forward with plans for it on that site."You are never going to please everybody," he said. "I don't think any memorial is going to do what they would really like to have; clearly it's not going to bring back their loved ones. But we're trying to remember those who have passed and at the same time build for the future." Rudy weigh in on this yet? Thank Christ Bloomberg wasn't the mayor that day.
The relatives vowed to continue the fight against the center. All day long, signatures poured in on an Internet petition on the Web site takebackthememorial.com. "Three thousand people died on their way to work," said Rita Riches, holding a photograph of her son, Firefighter Jimmy Riches. "That's what this is about, nothing else. Absolutely nothing else." I wish these people luck and I'll be signing their petition.
June 22, 2005: In the six weeks since the new Iraqi government was formed, nearly a thousand Iraqis have been killed by terrorist attacks. Interestingly, some of these attacks have involved Sunni Arab terrorists fighting foreign Arab (al Qaeda) terrorists. Since late last year, Sunni Arab and al Qaeda terror groups have been feuding over the policy of indiscriminate attacks on Iraqi civilians. The Sunni Arab groups (mainly Baath party and pro-Saddam factions) want to use terrorism on an individual basis, going after Iraqis, or their families, who work for the new government, or foreigners. It's these Sunni Arab thugs who are behind most of the assassinations and other small scale, and specific, attacks on Iraqis (like going after police stations, prisons and government buildings in general).
Al Qaeda prefers high profile (attractive to the international media) attacks that kill a lot of people in a spectacular way. This means large car bombs, directed against high profile targets (like American bases). But these bases are very well protected, so the al Qaeda attacks fail to reach their targets, and end up killing lots of Iraqi civilians. These make the news, but also incurs the wrath of the Iraqi people. While many Iraqis still rail against American troops for "not protecting them" from these terrorist attacks, they also realize that it's Arabs carrying out these attacks. Many Iraqis also realize that the Americans are not magicians, and cannot protect Iraqis from their own unwillingness to cooperate in the fight against terrorists. While there are more tips coming in from Iraqis, too many are still willing to look the other way. This is a major difference between Iraq and, say, the United States, Israel and Egypt. These nations have populations that turned against the Islamic terrorists, and largely eliminated terrorism within their borders. The Iraqis are slowly becoming aware that this is how it works.
Meanwhile, Al Qaeda and Sunni Arab terrorists are seen battling each other in towns and villages along the Syrian border. Closer to Baghdad, the terrorists are knocking each other off on a more personal level. Some tips, about where terrorists are hiding, are believed to have come from rival terrorist groups. The Sunni Arabs are under pressure from other Sunni Arab groups because of these continued al Qaeda attacks. The Sunni Arab terrorists are being told, by other Sunni Arab groups, that if al Qaeda is not stopped, the majority of the Sunni Arab community, in addition to the the 80 percent of the population representing the Kurds and Shia Arabs, will come after the Sunni Arab terrorist groups. That would be very bad for the Sunni Arab terrorists. But they are finding that al Qaeda does not care. The al Qaeda guys are on a mission from God, and are basically unreachable when it comes to discussing compromise. It's this characteristic of al Qaeda that has caused it's defeat in so many other countries. It's deja vu all over again.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/22/2005 10:34 ||
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#1
Many Iraqis also realize that the Americans are not magicians, and cannot protect Iraqis from their own unwillingness to cooperate in the fight against terrorists.
they DO realize it? Id like strategy page so much better if they would at least HINT at sources for their claims. Cmon Jim, you did better than this when you were making games.
#2
I think, the Iraqi pres, the Iraqi Foreign minister, the Iraqi speaker, the iraq prime minister all realize that the attacks could be prevented if the locals cooperated with the multiforce.
One problem is that the Prime minister, who should be a spokesman for his nation has proven to be a weak leader. The other 4 say the right thing a lot of the time but not often enough and they don't have the prestige (except maybe the pres and because he is a Kurd the foreign press and much of the sunni street talk ignores him).
#3
I read from "their own unwillingess" that he was talking about Sunni Arabs. Perhaps I misread, and he is really talking about Kurdish and Shiite Iraqi pols - but then its hardly news, I think.
Law Enforcement Associates has announced that it has filed a patent application for the world's first infrared battlefield surveillance shells.
The infrared surveillance shells will allow the military to observe enemy troop and equipment movements at night on otherwise unlighted battlefields and areas of operations. The infrared shells can be used by Special Forces and other troops to pin point military targets for aerial assaults without remaining to train lasers on the targets.
The infrared surveillance shells allow troops, police and attack helicopters with infrared viewing equipment (nightvison) to view locations of enemy personnel, weapons, vehicles, unlighted buildings and surrounding areas. The shell illumination is undetectable to enemy troops and/or hostage takers without night vision or other special infrared viewing equipment.
A typical application for law enforcement would be in the event of a hostage situation, infrared shells could be shot into a house through window openings, thus allowing law enforcement personnel with night vision to be able to see what is happening inside a darkened house without the hostage taker being made aware that he/she has been illuminated.
Law Enforcement Associates Corporation has also filed patents on a radio surveillance shell that can be used clandestinely to listen in on possible hostage situations.
#1
For some mysterious reason I feel like the next to end scene on BLAZING SADDLES, the Sheriff gloriously yelling - "Lets a'go down there and wipe them out"!
Now used one of Johnson & Johnson's patents and modulate the same shells at the resonate brain frequency of the local species of mosquito (between 200 to 1500 HZ) and use the shells to provide local area denial to mosquito's for outdoor events.
#3
...infrared shells could be shot into a house through window openings, thus allowing law enforcement personnel with night vision to be able to see what is happening inside a darkened house without the hostage taker being made aware that he/she has been illuminated.
Except, of course, that a foreign object has come sailing in through the window. That might give it away some.
#4
*as I sit here scratching myriads and myriads of bites* use the shells to provide local area denial to mosquito's for outdoor events Yes, please! Would the manufacturer be willing to bill me monthly for regular shipments?
#5
My concern too... and what if one of them infared shells went zinging into Mullah Omar's other eye and was embedded inside his skull? Think of the poor operator feeling like he was inside carlsbad Caverns or something.... great big empty void.
#6
trailing wife.
For close work.. Get a chain of IR (infra red) LEDs (Light emitting diodes). Now attach to a variable speed pulse generator.
Hang on your body or about your canoe. Adjust the frequency depending on species. You know you have it right when the start falling out of the air with grand mal seizures.
The man who invented it is a good friend's dad.
You can thank him for DEET, Deep Woods Off, Off, Windex, PlugIns, and a zillion other inventions at Johnson Wax.
Secret is that it is the resonate frequency of the bugs brain. Any stimulus they sense will do. Sound, Light, IR. IR doesn't bother us so it works!
DEET is doing a similar thing with chemical stimulus.
#1
Praise bounteous
providence if you will
that grants even an ogre
a tiny glow-worm
tenderness encapsulated
in icy caverns of a cruel
heart or else despair
for in every germ
of that kindred love is
lodged the perpetuity
of evil.
-Chinua Achebe
#3
The jailed former Iraqi leader described how Mr Reagan, who was president during the time of Iraq's 1980-88 war with Iran, sold him planes and helicopters.
There it is, right out of the horse's mouth.
So, anyone still feel like reciting the U.S.-armed-Saddam routine again?
#6
Yeah, I was waiting for that too, BaR! I always get pissed (and, heck, I was around 10 years old at the time) when people look at lines like that and say "See, the U.S. creates it's own monsters!" You've gotta take that action (selling weaponry to Iraq) in context of the time the decision was made! For pete's sake, I was 10 at the time, and can see why he did what he did (we'd just gotten our hostages home from Tehran).
Posted by: BA ||
06/22/2005 15:03 Comments ||
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#4
He should observe his Indian neighbors more closely.
When their ministers travel they sign deals on LNG and oil, on Information Technology, on general trade.
Perv goes around signing accords on terrorism.
Nice image boost.
Posted by: john ||
06/22/2005 16:02 Comments ||
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Middle East nations urged Israel and Palestinian leaders on Tuesday to end their conflict for the sake of peace in the region while Malaysia called for greater efforts to disassociate Islam and Muslims from terrorism, at the inaugural Asia-Middle East dialogue in Singapore. Ministers and officials from around 40 nations and the Palestinian authority discussed terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, energy policies and trade relations on the second day of the three-day session. "Any condition of tension and instability in any region of the world nowadays reflects negatively on other regions and hinder development efforts," said Prince Turki bin Muhammad Saud Al-Kabir, Saudi Arabia's deputy minister for political affairs. "The Arab-Israeli conflict remains an obstacle to achieving the desired development goals (in the Middle East)." Jordan's King Abdullah, like Turki, said conflict resolution between Israel and the Palestinians would contribute to wider security in the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/22/2005 00:00 ||
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..while Malaysia called for greater efforts to disassociate Islam and Muslims from terrorism,..
It's gonna be a hard habit to break, especially for the Paleos.
Indian Kashmir's main rebel group on Tuesday rejected calls for a ceasefire in the troubled Himalayan region and instead told militants to prepare for "holy war". Syed Salahuddin, supreme commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, also dismissed the ongoing peace process between South Asian rivals India and Pakistan, which centres on the fate of Kashmir, as "a waste of time." "The need for an organised and massive armed struggle has increased today more than ever and the Kashmiri youth need to prepare themselves for fighting in maximum numbers," Salahuddin told AFP.
This article starring:
SYED SALAHUDIN
Hizbul Mujahideen
Hizbul Mujahideen
Posted by: Fred ||
06/22/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
The pic... That a Summit? A Masterminds thingy?
As for the article, sheesh:
Well of course they did. It's what they do.
#3
The need for an organised and massive armed struggle has increased today more than ever and the Kashmiri youth need to prepare themselves for fighting in maximum numbers," Salahuddin told AFP.
#8
I'd get a new hat there, Sal. You look a little too "Fiddler on the Roof", if you know what I mean... Might get you put on somebody's list, and accidents can happen.
BRUSSELS - Iraqâs justice minister on Tuesday accused the United States of trying to delay Iraqi efforts to interrogate Saddam Hussain, saying, âit seems there are lots of secrets they want to hide.â But Abdel Hussein Shandal told The Associated Press he was confident investigators would wrap up the case against Saddam by the end of the year, underlining the Iraqi governmentâs determination to try the ousted leader soon.
"Them boys is gettin' itchy, sheriff! Purdy soon somebody's gonna holler 'get a rope!' an' somebody's gonna get one!"
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said later Tuesday he had hoped the trial would take place âsoonerâ than the end of the year. âThe sooner he is brought to justice the better,â he told reporters during a visit Tuesday to NATO. âThis will have an impact on the security situation - positively.â
I bet that's true. It will suck the oxygen out of the home-grown Ba'athists.
The US Embassy in Baghdad said in a statement Tuesday that âIraq has an independent judiciary that investigates and tries crimes according to Iraqi law. This is an Iraqi process run by the Iraqis, and the United States supports that process.â Shandal later acknowledged he had no say in the timing of the trial. But he reiterated his confidence that the investigation would be completed by the end of the year, followed by a quick trial.
I think they should read up on how the Italians handled Mussolini. That investigation, trial, verdict, sentence, appeal, and execution went pretty quick. I think the whole process took about a half hour...
The Americans privately have urged caution about rushing into a trial, saying Iraq must develop a good court and judicial system - one of the main topics of discussion at the conference in Brussels, Belgium. An official at the press office of the Iraqi Special Tribunal overseeing the court proceedings in Baghdad stressed it was an independent body and was not bound by the ministerâs comments. He said no date had been set for Saddamâs trial. âThe interrogation of Saddam is taking place regularly and almost daily and neither the justice minister, nor the Americans, have anything to do with it because the IST is an independent court,â the official said. âSaddamâs trial will start as soon as the investigation finishes.â The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns, also said events are taking place in stages and as scheduled. Shandal alleged that US officials are trying deliberately to limit access to Saddam because they have their own secrets to protect, including funneling money and support to the Iraqi leader during his rule. âIt seems there are lots of secrets they want to hide,â Shandal said.
I expect the Democratic Underground will jump all over that one.
âThere should be transparency and there should be frankness, but there are secrets that if revealed, wonât be in the interest of many countries,â he said. âWho was helping Saddam all those years?â
France, Germany, Russia, China, Kofi, Koko ...
Zebari, responding to questions about Saddamâs trial, said investigators already have âan abundance of evidence of the crimes of Saddam ... we donât need any further evidence.â He said Saddam should get âa fair trial, a transparent trial that would give him the justice which he denied us.â
Should take, oh, a day or so.
Saddam has been interrogated by the Iraqi tribunal, which recently released a video of his questioning - without sound. The tribunal, which was appointed by the now-defunct US-led Coalition Provisional Authority, has released a total of three such videotapes showing the ousted dictator and two others giving testimony and signing statements before the panel. The tribunal also stressed its independence from the government. âAny date to start the trials belongs to the judges,â the tribunal said in a June 6 statement. Shandal acknowledged that no trial date would be set until interrogators complete their investigation and send their findings to the tribunal, which then will set a date. But he said he was confident that would happen before the end of the year. The case must not drag into 2006, he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/22/2005 00:00 ||
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Afghanistan urged Pakistan on Tuesday to crack down on militants hiding in its territory, a day after it was revealed that Afghan intelligence agents scuttled a plot by three Pakistanis to assassinate US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad.
That's a hint, Perv...
"Some senior members of the Taliban, including some who are involved in killings and are considered terrorists, are in Pakistan," presidential spokesman Jawed Ludin said at a press conference in the capital, Kabul. He said Islamabad wasn't doing enough to crack down on the militants, and said there would never be peace in Afghanistan until the two nations "join hands together to fight terrorism."
Ummm... Right. That'll happen. For one thing, Kabul has better control over Paktia and Paktika than Islamabad has over Waziristan, North or South...
"Our people are dying, our schools are getting burned, our mosques are getting blown up and our clergy are getting assassinated," he said. "Some provinces of the country, especially in regions that are close to Pakistani soil, are insecure in many ways."
"... and we think that proximity's the cause. Since we can't move those provinces, we want you guys to knock it off."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/22/2005 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON - The United States is unlikely to begin reducing its 135,000 troops in Iraq in the coming months, in the face of attacks by a deadly insurgency there, a senior US military commander said on Tuesday. âAt this point, I would not be prepared to recommend a draw-down prior to the election, certainly not any significant numbers,â Army Lt. Gen. John Vines, commander of coalition forces in Iraq, told Pentagon reporters in a teleconference from Iraq.
But Vines said significant reductions could begin early next year following a referendum on a planned constitution this October and a subsequent national election on a new Iraqi government in December. Vines warned that polls in the United States showing that most Americans oppose the US presence in Iraq showed that âthey donât have a good perception of what is at stake here.â
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/22/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Or maybe that pesky Downing Street memo has opened their eyes?
#2
The 'pesky Downing Memo' doesn't prove anything close to what you think it proves. What it proves is that the Bush team understood well in advance what had to be done, and went and did it.
Surprised that in 2002 the Bush team was getting ready for war? Surprised that it takes months and months to move a modern army halfway around the world and prepare it for battle? Please don't demonstrate your ignorance of simple, basic logistics, NMM.
As to the claim of Saddm's 'cooperation' in the memo -- what is the evidence that Saddam's Iraq was cooperating in the last year prior to invasion? There was noise about cooperating, but Saddam was still making the same game of hinder, obstruct and obfuscate. We now know that Saddam's intel people had penetrated Mr. Blix's mission and generally knew what was coming.
Because of this, the inspections process could really "repudiate" nothing. Mr. Blix and his team, with only a few exceptions, only saw what Saddam wanted them to see. And the Bush team knew this.
One important point in this equation: Saddam acted guilty. He was buying protective biochem suits, atropine syringes, and other protective gear on the sly. He threatened the use of WMD even as he proclaimed he didn't have any. A fair number of his generals (generally a mediocre bunch) thought that it was the next unit around the corner with the biochem weapons.
Another point: Saddam had used chemical weapons on the Kurds. So there wasn't much doubt about Saddam's willingness to use WMD.
Put it together post 9/11: the man acts like he has them, he threatens to use them, he's penetrated the Blix mission so that the information provided by Blix has to be considered at least some suspect, he's never come clean on the storage and production even as inspectors thought he had few (or no) stocks, he was known to be consorting with various terror groups who had fewer qualms than he had -- put it together and you have a reasonable (not air-tight by any means) case. Good enough to go to war? That's what we ask Presidents to judge, and hold them accountable afterwards.
A final note: the hullabaloo about the 9/11 Commission was why didn't the Bush team connect all the dots to stop 9/11. Now you're blaming the Bush team for connecting dots.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/22/2005 0:22 Comments ||
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Haven't the Downing St. memos been proven to "fake but accurate" Dan Rather-like "documents?"
Check out Captain's Quarters for the 4-1-1.
And even if they're "real," there's no "there" there.
NMM=DNC talking points spinmeister=Turban Durbin or possible Hillary! in disguise
#4
The general said in the interview that there will most likely be a drawdown of 20-25,000 troops after the elections. More Iraqis are being trained and running their own operations, but will probably take another two years before they take total control.
Posted by: ed ||
06/22/2005 1:30 Comments ||
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#5
This DS Memo thingy is just the latest in a long line of sure-fire blame-game flops in the DhimmiSearch for the Magic Bullet to slay IdiotChimpHitler. One after another, they drag these idiot notions out and go apeshit - hoping without substance or logic it will save them from ignominy. Truly a pathetic lot. As smooth-brained as a cue ball.
#6
"But Vines said significant reductions could begin early next year following a referendum on a planned constitution this October and a subsequent national election on a new Iraqi government in December"
if youve been following the discussion on Belgravia, you will note that some of us are wary of a reduction in US forces even after December, given the difficulty in making the gains associated with search and destroy ops stick, after troops leave a given town. But we can see than how effective the expanded Iraqi forces really are.
NEW DELHI - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accused Pakistan on Tuesday of violating a bilateral travel agreement on the newly launched trans-Kashmir bus service. Singh said Pakistan breached the pact earlier this month by allowing Kashmiri separatists to travel beyond Pakistan-administered Kashmir to Islamabad where they held talks with President Pervez Musharraf.
People who travel on the bus service which started April 7 can only visit the divided zones of Kashmir under the agreement between the nuclear-armed rivals that was seen as a major achievement of their slow-moving peace process. Pakistan's decision to "invite them to visit Islamabad and other cities in Pakistan violated an understanding on the procedures reached between the two countries for running the bus service," Singh said.
You didn't think they'd follow the rules, did you?
He made the comments in a letter to former premier Atal Behari Vajpayee who criticised the government's policy on the separatists' visit. "It would not be, therefore, correct to state that the authorities on our side (had) mishandled the visit of the Hurriyat," Singh said.
The separatists, most of whom belonged to the separatist alliance, Hurriyat, said on their return in mid-June that they hoped their visit would help them become a formal part of the peace process between the South Asian neighbours.
On Monday, New Delhi rejected a demand by Hurriyat to be included in the dialogue process but said it could give its suggestions for solving the Kashmir issue. "There is no question of involving Hurriyat in the India-Pakistan talks" but it can give its suggestions for settling the Kashmir issue, junior home minister Sriprakash Jaiswal was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India.
Singh also rejected a proposal by Musharraf that the international community be made a "guarantor" of a resolution of the dispute over Kashmir. "We have ruled out any role for a third party -- either through intervention or as guarantor or as mediators -- in any form," he said.
Send in the mighty Uruguayans!
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/22/2005 00:00 ||
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Singh also rejected a proposal by Musharraf that the international community be made a âguarantorâ of a resolution of the dispute over Kashmir. âWe have ruled out any role for a third party -- either through intervention or as guarantor or as mediators -- in any form,â he said.
Dear Mr Singh,
Would you consider converting to Judaism, emigrating to Israel, and running for prime minister?
Confirming the talks, McClellan said both men also discussed US-Pak relations and the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan. Foreign Office sources told Online that President Musharraf took up the Quran desecration issue.
Counterattacking after Paks are arrested in Afghanistan trying to assassinate our ambassador?
President Bush assured President Musharraf that investigations in the matter were underway.
"Yeah, yeah. We're on top of it. Now, about those assassins..."
President Musharraf reiterated that Pakistan would continue supporting the US-led war against terror.
He told President Bush about arrests of Al Qaeda elements in Pakistan, and reports by government and intelligence agencies that confirmed that neither Mulla Omar nor Osama were in Pakistan.
"No, really! They're not here! We asked around and everything!"
President Musharraf also said Pakistan was not interfering in Afghanistan's internal affairs; rather it maintained friendly relations with the Afghan government and was working for lasting peace in the war-torn country.
"Honest! It ain't us! It's... ummm... somebody else."
President Musharraf also talked to his Afghan counterpart on the phone. Both men discussed matters of bilateral interest as well as developments of and international significance. Cooperation in several fields including trade and economic, security and communication also came under discussion. Karzai briefed Musharraf about the upcoming parliamentary election in Afghanistan in September. Musharraf also assured Karzai of Pakistan's continued support and cooperation in the fight against terrorism.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/22/2005 00:00 ||
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America's new ambassador to Iraq expressed horror Tuesday at the violence wracking the country and said Islamic extremists and Saddam Hussein loyalists are trying to start a civil war. U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, who arrived from Afghanistan, said militants are using Iraqis as "cannon fodder" in a quest to dominate the Islamic world. "I will work with Iraqis and others to break the back of the insurgency," Khalilzad promised on a day that saw more than a dozen gunmen launch an assault on a Baghdad police station, wounding two policemen.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/22/2005 00:00 ||
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This brought to you by The Center for the Studies of the Completely Obvious!
Posted by: BA ||
06/22/2005 14:34 Comments ||
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Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas failed Tuesday to resolve key issues on Israel's planned Gaza withdrawal, and the Palestinian chief said he received no positive answers in a "difficult" meeting — their first since they agreed to a truce four months ago. With the Gaza pullout to begin in less than two months, the summit had been expected to kick off a determined effort by the two sides to work together to ensure the pullout proceeds smoothly and peacefully. But a new wave of Palestinian attacks and Israel's overnight arrest of dozens of militants dampened hopes. And the frosty atmosphere at the meeting itself raised doubts over whether the leaders can work together on the withdrawal, much less on further peace moves.
The Palestinians expressed frustration after the more than two-hour session at Sharon's official residence in Jerusalem, the first time top Palestinian and Israeli leaders have met in the city. The Palestinians have long claimed that east Jerusalem should be their capital. "This was a difficult meeting, and did not live up to our expectations," Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia told reporters. "In all the basic issues for which we were expecting positive responses, there were none."
The Palestinians wanted concrete results announced at the summit, such as Israel releasing more prisoners and also easing roadblocks and other restrictions that have crippled life in the West Bank. Abbas needs such achievements to bolster his standing among his people. Israeli officials said there was some progress. In a speech after the meeting, Sharon said he and Abbas "agreed during the meeting on full coordination of our exit from Gaza." He did not offer details.
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From Australia to Europe to North America, a spate of arrests, trials and convictions has brought to the world's attention the growing threat posed by jihadis from Pakistan. On June 5, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested a pair of Pakistani-Americans from the sleepy little farming town of Lodi, California. Hamid Hayat, 23, and his father, Umer Hayat, 47, were later charged with lying to the authorities regarding their connection with jihadi training camps. But the formal FBI affidavit contained the bombshell piece of information that the training camps in question were in Pakistan, not in the notorious tribal areas, but right outside the city of Rawalpindi, which also hosts the Pakistan army headquarters.
While the FBI later put out an amended affidavit, the original statement released to the media named the person running the Rawalpindi terror camp as "Maulana Fazlur Rehman". This was confusing because two prominent people share that name in Pakistan. The first one is the secretary general of Pakistan's opposition Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Islamic alliance and the head of a pro-Taliban group called Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam. Experts say, however, that the affidavit likely describes another person, Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil, a notorious terrorist leader.
Khalil is the chief patron of a group called Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), which was the first Pakistani jihadi group to be banned by the US in 1997, when it was known as Harkat-ul-Ansar. While HuM is supposedly focused on fighting Pakistan's covert war against India in the Kashmir region, it gained prominence in 1998 when Khalil became the first Pakistani leader to sign the fatwa issued by Osama bin Laden calling for attacks on US and Western interests.
Continued on Page 49
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.
Saudi Arabia is going ahead with its reform program, Saudi Ambassador to the United Kingdom Prince Turki Al-Faisal has said. He added that the government had introduced a number of political, economic, educational and judicial reforms in recent years and had given equal opportunity to women to take part in the country's development. Addressing a Paris-based foreign policy group comprising European and American politicians and researchers, Prince Turki defended the ideology of Sheikh Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahab, saying the Saudi scholar had opposed extremism and called for the protection of women. "The main reasons for misunderstanding the sheikh's message are ignorance and political conflicts. Most of his critics, especially those in the West, have not read his books and are unaware of Islamic and Arab culture. They mix Islam and culture and mix the ideas of Ibn Abdul Wahab with those of his so-called followers," the Saudi Press Agency quoted Prince Turki as saying.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice criticised Saudi Arabia's record on democratic reform and the jailing of three activists but was firmly rebuffed on Tuesday by Washington's staunch Middle East ally. "The row is really meaningless," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told a post-midnight news conference after Rice conferred with him and the country's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz. "The assessment that is important for any country in the development of its political reform is the judgment of its own people," Prince Saud said. "And that is, in the final analysis, the criteria that we follow." 
The bitter third-placed finisher in Iran's presidential race called on voters Tuesday to flock to polling stations this weekend to defeat an Islamic hard-line candidate he termed a "symbol of totalitarianism." The former parliament speaker, Mahdi Karroubi, also intensified his claims of election fraud, claiming that the supervisory Guardian Council had overlooked alleged cases of multiple voting and other violations by hard-liners.
Middle East nations urged Israel and Palestinian leaders on Tuesday to end their conflict for the sake of peace in the region while Malaysia called for greater efforts to disassociate Islam and Muslims from terrorism, at the inaugural Asia-Middle East dialogue in Singapore. Ministers and officials from around 40 nations and the Palestinian authority discussed terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, energy policies and trade relations on the second day of the three-day session. "Any condition of tension and instability in any region of the world nowadays reflects negatively on other regions and hinder development efforts," said Prince Turki bin Muhammad Saud Al-Kabir, Saudi Arabia's deputy minister for political affairs. "The Arab-Israeli conflict remains an obstacle to achieving the desired development goals (in the Middle East)." Jordan's King Abdullah, like Turki, said conflict resolution between Israel and the Palestinians would contribute to wider security in the region.
Indian Kashmir's main rebel group on Tuesday rejected calls for a ceasefire in the troubled Himalayan region and instead told militants to prepare for "holy war". 
BRUSSELS - Iraqâs justice minister on Tuesday accused the United States of trying to delay Iraqi efforts to interrogate Saddam Hussain, saying, âit seems there are lots of secrets they want to hide.â But Abdel Hussein Shandal told The Associated Press he was confident investigators would wrap up the case against Saddam by the end of the year, underlining the Iraqi governmentâs determination to try the ousted leader soon.
President Pervez Musharraf talked to US President George W Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai separately on Tuesday and discussed several issues.
America's new ambassador to Iraq expressed horror Tuesday at the violence wracking the country and said Islamic extremists and Saddam Hussein loyalists are trying to start a civil war. U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, who arrived from Afghanistan, said militants are using Iraqis as "cannon fodder" in a quest to dominate the Islamic world. "I will work with Iraqis and others to break the back of the insurgency," Khalilzad promised on a day that saw more than a dozen gunmen launch an assault on a Baghdad police station, wounding two policemen.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas failed Tuesday to resolve key issues on Israel's planned Gaza withdrawal, and the Palestinian chief said he received no positive answers in a "difficult" meeting — their first since they agreed to a truce four months ago. With the Gaza pullout to begin in less than two months, the summit had been expected to kick off a determined effort by the two sides to work together to ensure the pullout proceeds smoothly and peacefully. But a new wave of Palestinian attacks and Israel's overnight arrest of dozens of militants dampened hopes. And the frosty atmosphere at the meeting itself raised doubts over whether the leaders can work together on the withdrawal, much less on further peace moves.
