KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Military investigators are looking into whether negligence was a factor in the shooting death of a Canadian soldier in Afghanistan. Investigators stressed Thursday they hadn't yet determined whether Master Cpl. Jeffrey Walsh's death was purely accidental or the result of a negligent act.
But whenever a shot is fired by a soldier, someone has to be held to account, said Capt. Mark Giles, spokesman for the military's National Investigation Service. "Ultimately, whenever a weapon is discharged, either intentionally or unintentionally - as appears to be the case in this situation - someone is responsible," he said. "The question for our investigators is who is responsible, and whether or not the actions taken or not taken should result in charges."
Foul play and suicide, as well as enemy action, had been ruled out Thursday as reasons for Walsh's death.
Walsh, a member of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry based in Shilo, Man., was shot Wednesday when a group of soldiers was either entering or driving in a Canadian Forces G-Wagon west of Kandahar. Walsh had been in Kandahar for just six days as part of a new rotation of soldiers beginning a six-month tour of duty in southern Afghanistan.
Officials refused again on Thursday to say whether Walsh was shot by another soldier, although military sources had said that's what happened.
Two NIS investigators have been interviewing witnesses and collecting information. Another two investigators on their way to Afghanistan as part of the troop rotation were also expected to join the probe. Three weapons have been seized, with two of them believed to be C7 rifles that are standard issue for Canadian soldiers. An autopsy will be conducted on Walsh's body in Canada, likely within a week. As well, the seized weapons are being sent to an RCMP lab for analysis.
So far, the military will only call the incident an "unintentional discharge of a Canadian Forces weapon," being careful not to reveal too much information that could hamper the investigation or a potential court case. "We are looking at all possibilities within this realm," said Giles, "including safe weapons handling and weapons maintenance aspects."
Investigators also have to look at the possibility that the weapon somehow discharged on its own, and whether the confined cabin space of the G-wagon or other equipment played a role. "They had lots of equipment, lots of kit. So we have to take that into consideration."
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/10/2006 22:59 ||
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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Afghanistan's first democratically elected president, Hamid Karzai, strongly hinted in an interview that he will not run for another term in office.
Zounds. Could he become a true statesman?
Karzai became Afghanistan's transitional leader soon after the Taliban regime's ouster in late 2001, then was chosen as its first democratically elected president in late 2004, with a five-year term. The next election is slated for 2009. "Let other people get a chance to run," Karzai told Fortune magazine in an interview. His spokesman, Khaleeq Ahmed, said Wednesday the article was accurate and properly characterized the president's views.
Karzai, who easily won at the presidential polls nearly two years ago, has seen his popularity decline because of slow progress in reconstructing the war-battered country and poor security - notably an upsurge in Taliban attacks this year in the volatile south.
Despite the violence, he told Fortune that the government controls "the whole country" and that it is mostly secure. He claimed success in building Afghanistan's economy but conceded that corruption was rife, that "lots of people" in his administration profited from the drugs trade and that he had underestimated the task of eradicating opium poppy cultivation.
Karzai said the international community weakened his government by rewarding pro-U.S. warlords for their role in the Taliban's ouster, but insisted no warlords were in his administration. Karzai's Cabinet includes mujahedeen leaders, who fought against Soviet occupation and in the collapse into anarchy that followed.
Karzai said he was proud that incomes had risen during his presidency, but added, "We are still among the poorest in the world. While we have better roads, we are still the worst in the world. While we have improved our supply of electricity, we are still the worst in the world."
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/10/2006 00:00 ||
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A peace deal signed three months ago between Sudan's government and the main rebel group in Darfur has failed to halt violence in the region, the United Nations said Wednesday, citing an increase in rape and continued attacks by militias and rebel factions. The global body said the May 5 peace deal, signed in Nigeria, was "doomed to failure" without more support from the Sudanese government, "with the population of Darfur continuing to suffer grave violations of human rights as violence among competing armed groups in Darfur persists."
The 20-page report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights acknowledged that fighting between Sudanese armed forces and the Sudan Liberation Army, the main rebel group, has decreased since the deal. But "attacks by militias and rebel factions continued unabated, mainly in south and north Darfur," the report said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Any hint of American/Europeasn/Australian involvement and the cry of COLONIALISM will arise from the "righteous" Arab Sudanese leaders. Amazing how the political leftists drool over Western peacekeepers...yet abhor the very same in Iraq...
And there it is! As we knew it would be...
LONDON - News of a thwarted plot to down trans-Atlantic airliners sent a shiver of anxiety through Britain's Muslim community Thursday. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...
Muslim men accustomed to nervous looks from passers-by after last year's transit bombings noticed they were attracting them again. Some said they worried about a spike in hate crimes and job discrimination. I worry about being blown to shit when I fly next month. And not by the Amish...
There was no confirmed word about the religious or ethnic background of those arrested, although a top French official described them as originating from predominantly Muslim Pakistan. Police said only that they were working with Britain's large South Asian community. Call it a "hunch"...
Three of the four suicide bombers who struck London's transit system in July 2005 were Britons of Pakistani origin, and many Muslims feared their community would be held responsible this time.
Monirul Sardar, 33, said that after the transit bombings and the Sept. 11 attacks on America, a neighbor left duck droppings on his parked car."Tonight I've got to watch out," he said.
Sardar, a Briton of Bangladeshi origin who runs an east London travel agency, said he'd noticed his bushy beard drawing stares after every major terror attack in recent years.
"It's started up again," he said. "People are afraid of me, mostly. ... If it's an old man, a lady in a hijab, they'll pick on them."
Harris Bokhari, a spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain, said the group was asking mosques to urge worshippers to report any racial attacks.
But he said Muslims had demonstrated after the Sept. 11 attacks and the London bombings that they would not let such trouble stop them from participating in British life.
The Muslim community's relationship with police has been fraught in recent months, and some said they were waiting to see what evidence police would produce of the alleged bomb plot.
"They've arrested people, but let's see what they find from them," said Maj Ali, 27, who works at a northeast London restaurant near a home police were searching as part of their terror investigation.
"They didn't find nothing," he recalled of a June raid in which officers shot a man in the shoulder in his east London home during a search for the makings of a chemical bomb.
The man and his brother were arrested but later freed without charge. That raid and the fatal subway shooting last year of an innocent Brazilian man mistaken for a terrorist infuriated many Muslims. The sun rising infuriates many Muslims...
"Was this (airline bomb plot) information really accurate or not from the police in terms of its intelligence?" Bokhari asked. "We need to be aware how these people were arrested."
Near the East London Mosque in the capital's Whitechapel neighborhood, home to a large Muslim population, several people said they feared the terror plot allegations might spark fresh antagonism against them. "People forget things really easily," Sardar said. "This brings it all back again." You can call these in like clockwork...
#1
a neighbor left duck droppings on his parked car. Tonight I've got to watch out.
Are you worried about scores of innocent civilians being savagely blown up Monirul? Ohhh..I see...your concerned about more duck shit on your car. Gotcha!
#2
The problem in the past is that these guys get a pass. Psychopathic behavior has to have consequences. The consequences have to be harsh, massive and overwhelming so that the behaviors are not repeated.
#3
Perhaps they would feel more comfortable in Pakistan.
Perhaps they would no longer get hostile stares if they stood up enmass and pointed out the terrorists in their midst instead of hiding them with their silence or actively supporting them.
#4
Sardar, a Briton of Bangladeshi origin who runs an east London travel agency, said he'd noticed his bushy beard drawing stares after every major terror attack in recent years.
"It's started up again," he said. "People are afraid of me, mostly. ... If it's an old man, a lady in a hijab, they'll pick on them."
Hint: lose the beard, better still, lose the 'religion'.
And I have never seen anyone give a hard time to 'an old man' or 'a lady in a hijab'.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/10/2006 17:19 Comments ||
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So they get all bent out of shape because the public is wary?
Instead of being indignant, perhaps if they:
1. protested Islamic violence
2. began a process of self criticism
3. monitored themselves actively, bringing to light and shaming those who engage in such behavior
We'd have a modicum of respect for these asswipes.
In my uniformed youth I, and like-minded young gents, lashed out at shit that made me anxious. I found that ambushing and killing my adversaries worked fairly well. Zero recurrence from those sources. Zero.
You were saying, you whiny-assed symp-network bitch?
#7
Instead of being indignant, perhaps if they:
1. protested Islamic violence
2. began a process of self criticism
3. monitored themselves actively, bringing to light and shaming those who engage in such behavior
This presumes both a modicum of rationality and at least minor contamination by the notion of Cause & Effect. Not bloody likely with Muslims.
The shaming part involves either the accusor or the accused being declared apostate (i.e., death sentence). This simple fact induces a near monolithic and paralyzing restraint amongst Muslims when it comes to reporting on the jihadis whithin their midst. It is also a major reason why Islam will probably meet with nuclear extinction. Muslims will need to reform or die, no other options apply.
Talk about your bad timing...
STRASBOURG (AFP) - Europe's leading human rights body has criticised Britain over the conditions in which terrorist suspects are arrested and held. ...or that they're held at all.
Delegations from the Council of Europe's committee for the prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading punishment (CPT) made two visits, in July and November 2005, to a number of detention centre including Paddington Green police station in London (CPT) where suspects are often held.
The first visit came a few days after the July 7 bombings on public transport in which 56 people, including the suspected bombers, died.
They heard no complaints of ill-treatment at the station but reported that one person arrested in July 2005 "alleged that when he was arrested on the street, the police officers concerned threw him on the ground and inflicted a number of kicks to his head and body." Examined three days after the arrest he showed signs of bruising and lacerations on the face of body. Other detainees also showed marks of violence.
"The CPT recognises that the arrest of a suspect is often a hazardous task, in particular if the person concerned resists and/or is someone the police have good reason to believe may be armed or dangerous." the CPT report said. Yes, I'm sure plenty of CPT members have taken down suspects on the street before. Or at least it looked dangerous on "Starsky and Hutch"...
"However no more force than is strictly necessary should be used when effecting an arrest. Furthermore, once arrested persons have been brought under control, there can be no justification for their being struck by police officers."
The CPT called for better documentation of the physical conditions of suspects and allegations of mistreatment.
On the holding of suspects the committee reported that "the present conditions at Paddington Green High Security Police Station are not adequate for ... prolonged periods of detention."
The delegations also regretted that suspects did not always appear physically before a judge when police sought an extension of custody.
Inspections were carried out at a number of high security centres and the effects of immigration and terrorism legislation examined, finding that conditions for a disabled detainee were not adequate and that the Full Sutton and Long Lartin jails were prepared to receive detainees.
The British government has published a 23-page response to the two reports. A 23 page response? I could've given them a two word one.
It came from Strasbourg, French Islamic Republic... Shoulda Known
Delegations from the "Council of Europe's committee for the prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading punishment"
Blowing up planes people knowing they are going to die if they survived the initial explosion and get ready to hit the ocean at terminal velocity? - That's not degrading?
Am I missing someting?
LOBOTOMIES for everyone in that "committee for the prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading punishment" group... They may hurt themselves, otherwise.
BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair, on holidays in Barbados, praised the enormous of amount of cooperation between Britain and the United States in thwarting an alleged airline bomb plot.
Mr Blair's office issued his remarks, after the Prime Minister received his latest briefing on how London's Metropolitan Police foiled the alleged plot to blow up US-bound flights from Britain. I would like to pay tribute to the immense effort made by the police and security services who for a long period of time have tracked this situation and been involved in an extraordinary amount of hard work, Mr Blair said.
I thank them for the great job they are doing in protecting our country, Blair said, according to the statement. There has been an enormous amount of cooperation with the US authorities which has been of great value and underlines the threat we face and our determination to counter it, he said.
A spokeswoman said Mr Blair had been in constant contact with the Government over the plot. Asked whether there were any plans for him to return to Britain, she said: We're not going to say anything more.
#3
Wrong leroidavid, just plain wrong. The Scots are the weak link and always have been. Get the Scots (Labor) out of power and England will be a much stronger ally. The Act of Union should be repealed.
#4
Hmmm some rambling thoughts,
1) Blair is a Socialist
2) Blair has tried to sow a 'middle way' between Old Labour (nationalisation, tax and spend) and conservatives (free market lite) by creating NULabour (now called Labour), but the leftists in the Labour party have been spoiling his progress all the way through his premiership.
3) Prescott (the Deputy Premier) is a national joke. He is supposed to be in charge of the country while Blair is away, but noone trusts him!
4) Blair has a pact with Gordon Brown (chancellor) that he will give up leadership of the Labour party in favour of Brown 'sometime before the next election' (2009)
6) The leftists in the Labour party are constantly haranguing Blair to go in favour of Brown
7) That will make Brown Prime Minister
8) Brown is old school Labour, a thief of a chancellor, well known for 'stealth taxes' and doesn't really like business
9) There is a real Scots-grouping in the Labour party, and it is really starting to piss off a lot of people in England (where all the money is created)
I don't think Brown will be as pro-US as Blair has been. He's certainly not as charismatic. I would not be surprised to hear of a timetable for an Iraq pullout reasonably soon after he takes power.
The Conservatives are trying to be more centrist than the master-centrist, Blair. Don't rely on them to be in power for a while yet (they need to reconnect with the British people - specifically, they should focus on the English, but they aren't called the 'Conservative and Unionist Party' for nothing - oh well).
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/10/2006 18:50 Comments ||
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Nimble Spemble, I wanted to say "the British people is weak", not "the English people". My mistake.
Concerning the Scots, I am aware that the Scottish Labor is far-leftist, and that there is a lot of anti-Israel hatred in Scotland. But even Tony Blair recently acknowledged, in his recent Speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council that a lot of British people were turning anti-Israel (and, so, anti-Ameridan too, as it is usually the case).
LONDON: International terrorism is posing Britain its most sustained threat since the end of World War Two and can only be tackled with the publics help, Home Secretary John Reid said on Wednesday. In a speech to the think tank Demos in London, Reid said there was not one inch of room for complacency over security. We are probably in the most sustained period of severe threat since the end of World War Two, he said in excerpts released by the Home Office. While I am confident that the security services and police will deliver 100 percent effort and 100 percent dedication, they cannot guarantee 100 percent success.
Reids comments echo those regularly made in recent months by senior police officers and security officials. On the anniversary of the July 7 suicide bombings, Londons police chief Ian Blair said the threat had palpably increased in the year following the attacks on the capital and that further atrocities were being planned. Blair and his senior colleagues have also repeatedly said they needed support and intelligence from Muslim communities if they are able to counter the threat from radical Islamists based in the UK and abroad. Our security forces and the apparatus of the state provide a very necessary condition for defeating terrorism but can never be sufficient to do so on their own, Reid said. Our common security will only be assured by a common effort from all sections of society.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Well at least a couple of public officials 'get it.'
#5
Survey says most British muslims think attacks on the UK are justified. I bet most Scottish Socalists and many Labor party ministers do too.
The islamofascists will attack the UK so they can force the UK to pull a Spain. The BBC is helping them by being a mouth piece and propaganda arm for them.
Joe down at the pub in the UK has no more clue we in the west are in a war of survival anymore than Joe Sixpack does here in the US of A.
#6
Survey says most British muslims think attacks on the UK England are justified. I bet most Scottish Socalists and many Labor party ministers (deleted at request of Deparetment of Redundancies Department) do too.
#8
This is a worse threat than the Nazis were. Britian would have remained British in culture if the Nazis took over.
If the Islamofazies take over, British culture will become extinct.
From East Asia Intel, subscription.
SEOUL North Korea is turning to a niche bank in Singapore as the conduit for financial transactions, including the circulation of U.S. $100 supernotes fresh off its Swiss-made printing press in Pyongyang.
Press reports here and in Tokyo about North Korea's turn to Singapore spread as North Korea Foreign Minister Paek Nam-Sun visited Singapore immediately before and after a regional meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Kuala Lumpur in late July.
North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun, left, shakes hands with Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Aug. 1, in Singapore. AP/Wong Maye-E
Paek has reportedly visited Singapore twice, finalizing arrangements for use of the bank. North Korean officials have been in regular touch with the bank for years but decided to upgrade its role in their financial scheming after the U.S. Treasury Department banned dealings by U.S. companies with the Banco Delta Asia in Macao. Banco Delta Asia promptly froze North Korean accounts, creating enormous problems for North Korea, especially for ruler Kim Jong-Il, who reportedly used the bank for his personal financial dealings.
North Korea's reliance on Singapore is nothing new. South Korean officials made a mysterious trip to Singapore prior to the historic June 2000 inter-Korean summit, when Kim Jong-Il received Kim Dae-Jung, then South Korea's president. The purpose of the visit was reportedly to transfer some of the $500 million later revealed as having been secretly given to North Korea as a payoff for the summit.
South Korean officials vigorously denied the initial report of the transfer in the International Tribune, but much of the money was later revealed to have gone to Pyongyang through Hyundai Asan, the Hyundai group unit responsible for developing the Mount Kumgang tourist complex and the special economic zone at Kaesong. Hyundai Asan Chairman Chung Mong-Hun committed suicide in August 2003 as prosecutors zeroed in on his financial dealings. "They're hot on my trail, I'm outta here.
The use of the Singapore bank for North Korean supernotes surfaced in reports in Yomiuri Shimbun, the huge Japanese national daily, and in Dong A Ilbo, a respected newspaper here that is often critical of South Korean government policy, particularly towards North Korea.
DongA-Ilbo quoted a source in Washington as having said that North Korea had "attempted to change its bank to Singapore." The same source said "the new haven is known as a small bank referred to as O Bank" so far the only name that has emerged for the bank.
"O Bank is a problem bank," the source told DongA-Ilbo, adding that the bank was "on the list of banks related to North Korea, which the U.S. government keeps a close eye on." The source confirmed that Singapore, as an international finance center, had become one of the "safe havens" for North Korea's money dealings.
Paek reportedly spent two days in Singapore before arriving in Pyongyang on July 27 and then stopped off again for three days, from August 1 to 3, after the ASEAN regional forum. A South Korean official said the reason for the stopover was kidney dialysis an explanation that failed to explain where he received dialysis while spending most of his time in Pyongyang.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/10/2006 17:56 ||
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#1
I used to work for a Singapore bank. Offshore banking is big business there, but there are no 'small' local banks. All the small banks are foreign banks (branch operations).
#2
shut em off and cut financial ties to any bank, financial center or company doing business with them. Time to review our trade, military cooperation, and commerce agreements with Singapore
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/10/2006 19:24 Comments ||
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#3
We seem to know where the printing pressis, it's in the headlines, so why does it, and the surrounding buildings still exist?
Counterfiting, especialy on a Nation scale is surely an act of war.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/10/2006 19:40 Comments ||
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#4
Send China the bill for all the counterfeit frogskins. If they reneg, tell them to back off while we bomb the crap outta North Korea. China has bred up this miscreant, either they put paid to its continued misconduct or they sit still while we bounce some rubble in their back yard. No alternatives.
#5
PS: The Swiss need to be asked some very hard and pointed questions about why exceptionally advanced currency-grade printing presses were released onto the open market without concrete end-user information.
Australia's lower house of parliament has passed a controversial bill to process all future asylum seekers arriving by boat in off-shore camps. Three members of the ruling party joined the opposition to vote against the proposal, but it still passed by 78 to 62. The bill now goes to the Senate.
The vote constituted the most serious challenge to the prime minister's authority during his 10 years in power. Critics accuse John Howard was using the bill to heal rifts with Indonesia.
A recent decision to accept about 40 Papuan asylum seekers angered Jakarta, which said that by giving the group refugee visas, the Australians were showing tacit support for Papuan independence. Papua was granted self-rule by its Dutch colonists in 1961, but was then annexed by Indonesia. A low-level insurgency has been going on in the province ever since.
The bill has sparked considerable debate in Australian and led to the biggest parliamentary revolt of Mr Howard's decade in power. During Thursday's parliamentary session, Liberal backbenchers Petro Georgiou, Russell Broadbent and Judi Moylan crossed the floor to vote with Labor against the controversial legislation. Another ruling party lawmaker abstained. But the governing coalition has a comfortable majority in the lower house, so the bill still passed relatively easily.
It faces a more difficult challenge in the Senate, where the government only has a majority of one. One Liberal Party senator, Judith Troeth, has indicated she may oppose the bill, describing speeches by party rebels as "outstanding", Australian radio reported.
The parliamentary debate triggered a clash between opposition party leader Kim Beazley and Liberal lawmaker William Tuckey. Mr Tuckey asked why Labor was keen to "kill off legislation that the Australian people want" and Mr Beazley responded by calling the law a "weak, worthless piece of legislation". He then urged Mr Tuckey to take his "weak, worthless self" off, prompting Mr Tuckey to call him a "big fat so and so".
Under current law, only people who arrive on outlying islands or are intercepted at sea have their claims for Australian asylum processed off-shore. Those arriving on the mainland have their cases handled inside the country, under the Australian legal process.
The new legislation means that all arrivals by boat will be sent off-shore, mainly to the island state of Nauru. Even if their claims for refugee status are accepted, it is unlikely that any of the boat people would be allowed to settle in Australia, the BBC's Phil Mercer says. Basically Howard is using the rift with Indonesia as a cover to stop the "boat people", most of whom are Muslims from countries like Pakistan, and are organised by people smuggling terrorist groups like Al Qaeda. It's a multi Billion dollar industry, or at least it was until Howard put a stop to it.
He has the backing of most Australians, so the opposition will try and concentrate on the "children in detention" aspect of the Islamic invasion.
#2
Indonesia needs to "lose" Papua to the Papua New Guinea (Aussie-supported) government of the eastern half of the island of New Guinea. They never should have been allowed to impose their rule by force in the first place. Papua is one of several locations used to export islamonazis to Australia and the Philippines. The "low level insurgency" has claimed the lives of about 40,000 people since 1961.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/10/2006 15:18 Comments ||
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#3
Oh, those Aussies! - geddin lads!!
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/10/2006 15:37 Comments ||
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#4
Seems to me I recall a famous Island processing point, now closed, something called "Ellis"?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/10/2006 19:37 Comments ||
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Turkey plans to cut its armed forces by up to 30% in the next few years, the country's top general has said. Gen Yasar Buyukanit, who takes over as military chief later this month, said the army would be smaller but "more modern and effective". Gen Buykanit's comments came in an interview with Turkey's Defence and Aerospace magazine.
Turkey has some 800,000 personnel in its armed forces - the second largest army in Nato after the US. "The land forces will contract by 20% to 30%, spread over the years," Gen Buyukanit said. "The aim is to downsize by increasing the effectiveness of the land forces without reducing its power.
"It will be equipped with modern war mechanisms and equipment and have brigades with high war capabilities."
The cuts are part of an eight-year plan of reforms, Gen Buyukanit said. He is due to take over from Gen Hilmi Ozkok at the end of August. The powerful army regards itself as the guardian of a secular, united, Turkish state. Yasa, yesir...."high war." More with less, reforms transformation, etc. Very Rumsfelian, and the "high war" equipment, undoubtedly Rumsfelian as well.
CHICAGO - A federal judge Wednesday denied prosecutors' request to seat an anonymous jury in the trial of a Bridgeview, Ill., man charged with funneling money to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve ruled that prosecutors failed to show Muhammad Salah and his co-defendant Abdelhaleem Ashqar, of Virginia, are likely to intimidate or harass jurors. "(T)he mere invocation of the word `terrorism,' without more, is insufficient to warrant such an anonymous jury," St. Eve wrote in a ruling released Wednesday.
"We'd need at least one corpse, maybe two..."
Salah's attorney, Michael Deutsch, called the ruling a small but significant step toward a fair trial. "Just because the government invokes the word `terrorism' doesn't mean they are terrorists," he said.
"Hardly anything's blown up lately..."
Deutsch argued that jurors would be unfairly prejudiced against Salah if they knew their names and backgrounds were being kept secret. "It creates the impression in them that there is some danger associated with the defendants," he said.
"It ain't our clients, yer honor! It's their friends..."
In her ruling, St. Eve noted that prosecutors acknowledged Salah and Ashqar aren't dangers to their community at the men's bond hearings. While St. Eve ruled the identity of jurors won't be kept secret from the defense or prosecution, she suggested she may place their names under seal. That likely would prevent the public and press from learning jurors' identities.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2006 00:00 ||
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At least until the Saturday edition of the New York Times...
David A. Burtt II, director of the Counterintelligence Field Activity, the Defense Department's newest intelligence agency whose contracts based on congressional earmarks are under investigation by the Pentagon and federal prosecutors, told his staff yesterday that he and his deputy director will resign at the end of the month.
In an internal message, Burtt said, "I do not make this decision without trepidation, but the time is right to move on to the next phase of my career." He said he had been privileged to serve as CIFA director and was "especially proud of all of you and what you have accomplished for the CI [counterintelligence] community and for the overall CI mission." Clearly they want to spend more quality time with their families.
Joseph Hefferon "has also decided to retire, after over 31 years of federal service," according to Burtt's message. A Pentagon spokesman yesterday confirmed they were leaving and said it was "a personal decision that they both made together." That way the office will only have to chip in for one Wish you the Best ice-cream cake.
Burtt, who was a deputy assistant secretary of defense for counterintelligence at the time of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, developed the concept for CIFA. It was established in September 2002, originally to coordinate policy and oversee the counterintelligence activities of units within the armed services and Pentagon agencies.
Over the past three years, it has grown to become an analytic and operation organization with nine directorates and widening authority focused primarily on protecting defense facilities and personnel from terrorist attacks. CIFA's size and budget are classified, but according to congressional sources the agency has spent more than $1 billion over the past four years, mostly for outsourced services. One counterintelligence official yesterday estimated that CIFA had 400 full-time employees and 800 to 900 contractors working for it.
The agency was criticized in December after it was revealed that a database managed by CIFA contained unverified, raw threat information on Americans who were peacefully protesting the war in Iraq at defense facilities, including recruiting offices. Did the NYT let that nugget out too?
Last March, as a result of the continuing federal investigations arising out of charges against former congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.), prosecutors said they were reviewing CIFA contracts that went to MZM Inc., a company run by Mitchell J. Wade, who had pleaded guilty in February to conspiring to bribe Cunningham. Cunningham, now serving an eight-year prison term, in January 2004 sought about $16.5 million to be added to the defense authorization bill for a CIFA "collaboration center." A month later, he wrote Burtt a thank-you note about the center, adding, according to prosecutors' documents: "I wish to endorse and support MZM, Inc.'s work."
One of the consultants to Burtt, when he was formulating CIFA in 2002, was retired Lt. Gen. James C. King, then an MZM senior vice president who had recently retired as director of the Pentagon-based National Imagery and Mapping Agency.
In late 2002, Cunningham, who received campaign contributions from Wade and other MZM officials, made contracts for Wade's company one of "his top priorities," according to prosecutors' documents. One result, according to prosecutors' documents, was $6 million spent for a data storage system, supposedly for CIFA, that included almost $5.4 million in profit for MZM and a subcontractor. That might explain Burtts next phase of my career line.
Following disclosures in Cunningham's case, Undersecretary of Defense Stephen A. Cambone last March ordered an internal study of how funding earmarked in defense bills led to CIFA contracts for MZM. The Defense Information Systems Agency, which has been given responsibility for the inquiry, said in a statement yesterday that "the investigation is still ongoing."
Christopher Hitchens coined the term, "Islamo-Fascism" in 2001. Unless I am mistaken, the President never used the term until last Monday. Joseph Farah has been saying that this enemy is worse than any other that we have faced.
.......................
THE PRESIDENT: Well, the people who should get really frustrated are the Israelis and the Lebanese. They ought to be the ones who are frustrated, because 1559 clearly laid a way forward for there to be a strong democracy in Lebanon, which will more likely yield the peace. And there is a level of frustration around the world with organizations that will take innocent life to achieve political objectives. And our job is to remind people that this isn't a moment, this is a movement, and that we must deal with this movement. We must deal with this movement with strong security measures, we must bring justice to those who would attack us, and at the same time, defeat their ideology by the spread of liberty.
And it takes a lot of work. This is the beginning of a long struggle against an ideology that is real and profound. It's Islamo-fascism. It comes in different forms. They share the same tactics, which is to destroy people and things in order to create chaos in the hopes that their vision of the world become predominant in the Middle East...
#1
Christopher Hitchens coined the term, "Islamo-Fascism" in 2001. Unless I am mistaken, the President never used the term until last Monday. Joseph Farah has been saying that this enemy is worse than any other that we have faced.
Correct. He called the modern Wahhabi and Shia versions of fascistic jihad "Islam with a fascist face" in 2001.
President Bush was too quick to listen to Wahhabi-sympathizing groups like CAIR and their Saudi sponsors, remember Prince Bandar? He should have gone after the Mordors of radical Islam, i.e., Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Iran right from the start after 9-11. Now he is a dollar short and nearly five years too late.
#2
He said "America is at war with islamic fascists" in his remarks on the runway in Wisconsin this morning. And he didn't bother to qualify it with any ROP bullscrit afterward...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/10/2006 14:27 Comments ||
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#3
I should think that adding Fascists to the term Islamo modifies it enough to give him a bit of wiggle-room. "I didn't mean the peaceful Muslim, I meant the other ones. The fascist ones).
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/10/2006 15:42 Comments ||
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#7
"nihilistic Islamic absolutism (NIA)" works for me just as well, but could some kindly Rantburgers share their knowledge of fascism? In the most recent examples of fascism, what are the primary traits? How did religion play a role in fascism in WWII Italy, Germany, Romania...?
Definition of fascism from answers.com. Now who does this sound like:
fas·cism (f?sh'?z'?m)
n.
often Fascism
A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.
A political philosophy or movement based on or advocating such a system of government.
Oppressive, dictatorial control.
Posted by: Jules in the Hinterlands ||
08/10/2006 17:00 Comments ||
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#8
How did religion play a role in fascism in WWII Italy, Germany, Romania...?
Google up: Haj Amin el Husseini (Grant Mufti of Jerusalem), or Waffen-SS Handsar Division which he personall recruited. He was "rad" way before then, but it's a start.
#9
Right-wing radio is heaping praise on the President for linking this enemy, with that of WW2. Kudos to them! But, the White House link reveals that they are 4 days late in heaping praise.
Quick! What percent of Muslim "allies" have stabbed Bush in the back? Karzai? Maliki? Musharaf? CAIR/ISNA/AMC? Is it 100%? I think so.
Maybe the President has had enough. And, CBS might be playing a Mike Wallace interview, tonight, in which Iran's Ahmadinejad threatens the life of the President (if Drudge is right). You have heard of 9-11, 3-11, 7-7. How about 8-11: tomorrow should be the day when the gloves come off and we stop trying to democraticise the enemy and start slaughtering them. There are enough Secular elements in Pakistan and Iraq to suppress the clerics, if we put Islamofascist backs to the wall. As for CAIR-ISNA-AMC: ban them as terror support groups.
#11
Fascism? Ask Mussolini: "...Fascism reasserts the right of the State as expressing the real essence of the individual. And if liberty is to be the attribute of living men and not of abstract dummies invented by individualistic liberalism, then Fascism stands for liberty, and for the only liberty worth having, the liberty of the State and of the individual within the State. The Fascist conception of the State is all-embracing; outside of it no human or spiritual values can exist, much less have value. Thus understood, Fascism is totalitarian, and the Fascist State - a synthesis and a unit inclusive of all values - interprets, develops, and potentiates the whole life of a people...it is the purest form of democracy if the nation be considered -as it should be - from the point of view of quality rather than quantity, as an idea...expressing itself in a people, as the conscience and will of the few, if not, indeed, of one..." Benito Mussolini, 1932.
#12
Sounds like Islamism to me. The state and the spiritual are simply different facets of the supreme entity. The fascists approach it from the state and the Islamists approach it from the spiritual; but they both end up in the smae place, totalitarian tyranny.
Lawmakers in the Senate on Wednesday criticised the ugly role of the United States as sole world power in backing Israel to massacre the people of Lebanon and to destroy peace in the whole region.
Speaking on a point of order Prof Khurshid Ahmed of the MMA condemned the US for claiming itself to be the champion of human rights, democracy and nuclear non-proliferation after it dropped nuclear and hydrogen bombs on Japan and then transferred nuclear technology to Britain and France when the former Soviet Union attained it within three years after World War II. Then the US continuously attempted to block any efforts by Muslim countries, including Pakistan, and now Iran to seek nuclear civil technology for civil purposes while it was supplying weapons of mass destruction to Israel to kill thousands of people in the Middle East.
The US, he recollected, spared white Germany despite Hitler committing unprecedented war crimes and selected Hiroshima for dropping uranium bombs on August 6 and Nagasaki for dropping hydrogen-laden bombs to kill 200,000 people and injuring 0.8 to 1 million people on Aug 9. Since World War II the US tried its best to keep nuclear technology away from others while continuing to make its own nuclear power more sophisticated and lethal as it exploded 70-times more powerful bombs and used daisy cutters in Afghanistan. Prof Ahmed said that world peace could never be established as long as the US was in control of everything. I used to just hate reading sh*t like this . . . until I discovered Rantburg.
#1
Why, yes of course. Didn't you read the President's speech after 9/11...terrorists and those countries which aid terrorists. Given that a heck of a lot of connecting dots link terrorists with muslim countries, even you should be able to do the math.
#3
Why, quite right dear Prof. And the very next place we may demonstrate our ruthlessness ? Yes, of course. Pakland. Two primary designated nuclear test zones are Iran & Pakland. Start digging your spider hole Prof.
UMM QASR, Iraq (AP) - Iraq's fledgling navy plans to get 21 new boats over the next two years as it prepares to take over the security of offshore oil terminals, the main gateway for the country's petroleum exports, a senior naval official said Wednesday.
At present, the terminals are guarded by U.S. and Iraqi sailors while British ships provide a cordon of protection. A British Royal Navy team is also training the Iraqi Navy at its base in Umm Qasr.
The Iraqi navy - created after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in March 2003 - has in operation 10 fast aluminum boats and two other boats in operation, said Commodore Thamir Nasser, head of operations for the Iraqi Navy. A two-year equipment acquisition program will result in the purchase of 15 patrol boats, four corvettes and two offshore support vessels, Thamir told journalists touring the Iraqi and British patrol boats. The delivery of the first vessels is expected by 2008, and the purchases would be funded by the government and foreign money, he said without elaborating.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/10/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Save time, send the new vessels to Iran and let them destroy them before delivery to Iraq
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/10/2006 6:53 Comments ||
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#2
These are more for anti-piracy and port security than sea-control.
This is actually getting to be PITIFULL
JERUSALEM Israel will hold back on its new ground offensive in Lebanon until the weekend to give cease-fire efforts another chance, senior officials said Thursday, a day after the government approved a major expansion of the monthlong war. But prospects for a quick cease-fire resolution by the U.N. Security Council were uncertain, with the United States and France still divided over a timetable for an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.
The deeper push into Lebanon was approved Wednesday by Israel's Security Cabinet, but a senior government official said Thursday that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has decided to delay the offensive until the weekend. The campaign could begin earlier if Hezbollah launches a major attack on Israel, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to discuss the issue with reporters. What like launching hundreds of rockets into Israeli population centers forcing citizens into either bomb shelters or tent cities in the south? Like they did yesterday the day before the day before that the day before that and I got $20 says it will be today too
Cabinet minister Rafi Eitan confirmed the government's decision to wait. "There are diplomatic considerations," he told Israel Radio, when asked about a planned delay. "There is still a chance that an international force will arrive in the area. We have no interest in being in south Lebanon. We have an interest in peace on our borders."
Everyone now together Can't we just give peace a chanceeee lalalalalal give peace a chanceeee lalalala cooombiayaaa cooombiayaaaa give peace a channceee
The government's conduct of the war was coming under growing criticism at home. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported an angry exchange between Defense Minister Amir Peretz and his predecessor, Shaul Mofaz, in the Security Cabinet meeting. When Mofaz criticized plans for the new offensive, Peretz reportedly shot back: "Where were you when Hezbollah built up this array (of weapons)?"
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called during the meeting, officials said, and Olmert told ministers after his half-hour conversation with her that the offensive would be accompanied by a new diplomatic push.
Under the army plan, Israeli forces would move to the Litani River, some 20 miles from the Israel-Lebanon border. At the moment, more than 10,000 troops are engaged in house-to-house battles against Hezbollah fighters in a strip less than half that size. Hezbollah headquarters is the Beeka Valley. The Israeli army and leadership of past bygone would have not worried or been discouraged about killing everyone of the Hezbollah soldgiers in a certain area something that is impossible unless scorched earth is approved, but instead would have gone to shame Hezbollah and destroy their forces that were willing to come out and fight. A push to the Litani then a armoured thrust north into the Bekaa and back to the Litani would have shown Hezbollah nothing more than useless people who cant stop the Israeli army but just hide in his mommas house and take pot shots here and their but not stop anything.
Now we got a Hezbollah that will even if disarmed (very doubtfull) will be seen as doing what no other Arab army could do HOLD THE LINE. They will come out proven as the defender of Lebanon protecting the North with their blood in the South. Diplo speak that
Even in the current war zone, Israeli troops have had trouble taking control of towns and villages. Security officials say the guerrillas' bunkers, well equipped with food, weapons and electricity, are a reason for Hezbollah's stamina. During lulls in the fighting, gunmen emerge and set up new ambushes for troops.
The U.N.'s top humanitarian official criticized Israel and Hezbollah for hindering aid agencies' access to trapped civilians in southern Lebanon. "The Hezbollah and the Israelis could give us access in a heartbeat," Jan Egeland said in Geneva. "Then we could help 120,000 people in southern Lebanon. I don't think that any military advantage has been gained in these last days or will be gained in the next few hours." The NYT the other day had photos with caption of the Red Cross helping Hezbollah wounded across a log bridge some caring IV bags that I would imagine came from the Red Cross.
And who would know more about military advantage than General Egeland?
The Israeli government's decision came two days after Lebanon offered to send 15,000 soldiers to patrol the border region, a key Israeli demand intended to prevent future attacks on Israel. The current fighting began when Hezbollah fighters raided Israel July 12, killed three soldiers and captured two others.
In a major shift, Nasrallah said Hezbollah supported an army deployment, after a cease-fire is declared and Israel leaves. Israeli officials remained skeptical of the Lebanese offer and were not convinced Lebanon's army would take concrete action to stop future Hezbollah attacks.
"It is important that the Lebanese army will be accompanied by an international force that will enable it to reach the south in an organized manner, and to leave the place clean of Hezbollah," Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said. I dont mean to sound like a fire breather but this whole situation is just very demoralizing. Israel is humiliating US big time. When this is over Iran is going to come out proven as the Muslim Defender that can defeat Israel. Were Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Syria together failed they will have succeded in holding the line against a Israeli Army. Hezbollahs whole doctrine is that they are the defender of Lebanon the only ones that can hold Israel and so far it is proven fact.
If this ends right now even with a International force that will disarm Hezbollah in the south no one is talking all of Hezbollah disarmed, I bet Lebanon will be fully controlled by Hezbollah and Syrian puppets in a matter of months with the army purged of the weak cedar revolutions and replaced with proven Hezbollah.
A opportunity to shame/cripple/show impotent Hezbollah has been turned into a opportunity now for Hezbollah to do such to Israel
#2
And the radio just quoted Bolton saying there would be a vote on a cease-fire in the UNSC tomorrow. Israel blew it and their tranzis are to blame. Al in all, this was not a good week for the tranzis, between Olmert/Peretz and Lamont. Unfortunately, all of us will have to pay the price for a while.
Former MK Issam Mahoul rejects Nasrallah's call to Haifa's Arab population to evacuate city; 'We have nothing to do outside of Haifa, and we refuse to be refugees,' Mahoul asserts. Haifa Mayor: Nasrallah won't succeed in uprooting Arab residents.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2006 00:00 ||
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'We have nothing to do outside of Haifa, and we refuse to be refugees
See--they can learn, after all. They just need a spectacularly horrible good, clear example. Cause and effect are not lost on this bunch after all.
Now, to get rid of the holy rollers that keep them from learning.
Posted by: N guard ||
08/10/2006 0:24 Comments ||
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GAZA - Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneya on Wednesday urged a debate on the future of the Palestinian Authority, his remarks following earlier comments from a Palestinian official calling for the Authority to be dissolved.
I'd prefer 'demolished' or 'destroyed' myself.
Haneya, a senior member of the Hamas party, was speaking during an urgent session of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) to discuss recent developments in the Palestinian Territories including the continued detention by Israel of dozens of Palestinian ministers and lawmakers, among them PLC speaker Aziz Dweik.
The Israelis almost have a quorum in jug.
Calls for the PA to be dismantled have grown louder in recent days, with PLO spokesman Ghassan al-Mani issuing a statement earlier Wednesday which Israeli obstacles for preventing the functioning of the PA.
They were functioning so well before all of the arrests ...
Only 78 members out of 132 were at Wednesdays PLC meeting, with others held in Israeli jails. Most of those detained are senior members of Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel and which is regarded by the Jewish state as a terrorist organization.
But neither the Pals or the journalist writing this piece made the obvious connection.
The Hamas-led Palestinian government also announced Wednesday the mounting of a legal bid to free the lawmakers saying their detention breached international laws.
I thought 'chutzpah' was a Yiddish word!
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/10/2006 00:00 ||
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INDONESIA has complained to Australia that its travel warning system is harming its economy, deterring new investment and forcing language students to other countries.
Australia promised Indonesia it would review its advisory system but Jakarta could be left sorely disappointed by the outcome, with the Government saying its citizens will always be its top priority.
Jakarta has long been critical of the travel advisory system run by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), which warns Australians to think twice about travelling to Indonesia. Indonesia blames it for a significant drop in tourism in the wake of bombings in Bali in 2002 and 2005. It has also been unhappy that Australia has not been so harsh in its warnings for the United States and Britain, which have suffered similar terrorist attacks.
No difference between us and Indonesia in that regards, is there?
Indonesia is hoping that a review Australia agreed to during a ministerial forum in Bali may help address the issue.
Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Pangestu again raised the matter during meetings in Canberra today. "The Australian side has promised to review it. We hope that the review process will continue," she said.
However, DFAT indicated that the safety of Australians would always be its top priority. "All travel advisories are kept under constant review," a DFAT spokesman said. "Our primary concern is to ensure the safety and security of Australians."
While economic relations between Australia and Indonesia were seen as a cornerstone of the bilateral relationship, Dr Pangestu indicated the travel advisories could be economically damaging to Indonesia. "The travel warnings affect tourism, ... business travel and most importantly education exchange," Dr Pangestu said. "There needs to be a greater understanding of each others situation, our differences and an understanding of each other's internal processes."
"So some stuff blows up and people die, so what?"
Indonesian businesses have told the government that the warning system is deterring new investment. "On education exchange, it means students who are studying Indonesian, teachers who are teaching Indonesian, (are having problems) with insurance coverage," Dr Pangestu said. "We know that some of them are going to Malaysia."
#4
Australians weren't the targets of terrorism in the US or the UK, whereas the Muslim fanatics in Indonesia wanted to kill Australians. There is a reason why the opposing force in Australian wargames always looks remarkably like Indonesia.
#8
INDONESIA has complained to Australia that its travel warning system is harming its economy, deterring new investment and forcing language students to other countries.
- tap, tap, tap -, nope, nothing there.
Why is it the Islamic world has such a hard time with cause and effect?
"We know that some of them are going to Malaysia."
Out of the frying pan...
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/10/2006 14:29 Comments ||
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#9
Indonesia says Australian travel warnings hurting economy
Militant groups fighting for independence for the Muslim-majority southern provinces have not ruled out the possibility of spreading insurgency to capital Bangkok and tourist heaven Phuket. The Pattani United Liberation Organisation (PULO) told the Nation daily that such a move would be possible if the government continued with their oppressive tactics against the local community who were mostly Malay-speaking.
Pulo's foreign affairs chief Kasturi Mahkuta told the paper from an undisclosed location in Sweden that it was not entirely out of the question that any of the "Malay liberation groups" could be thinking about hitting targets outside the region. Kasturi said Pulo had a significant number of officials and armed troops in southern Thailand but declined to go into detail or take credit for any of the attacks in the region.
"This is something we won't confirm or deny. I can't go into specifics," said Kasturi when asked which major attacks or incidents Pulo was involved. Pulo emerged in the 1970s during the armed struggle by ethnic Malays in the southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat seeking independence from Thailand.
Peace was restored in the last decade but more than 1,300 people had died since separatists launched a campaign of bombings and shootings in January, 2004. But despite that, Kasturi told the paper that Pulo was willing to enter into talks with the government to discuss "solutions other than a total breakaway".
He said Pulo leadership was concerned with the violence in the region and the high number of casualties, adding that there was tendency to blame all the attacks on Malay liberation groups. Security agencies have said that several new anti-Bangkok groups have emerged in the south and largely to be blamed for the violence.
Kasturi said Pulo had a significant number of officials and armed troops in southern Thailand but declined to go into detail or take credit for any of the attacks in the region.
"This is something we won't confirm or deny. I can't go into specifics," said Kasturi when asked which major attacks or incidents Pulo was involved.
Am I the only one that thinks this guy's full of shit?
I'll bet the freedom fighter personae impresses the hell out of Swedish babes. Probably beats the hell outta "dishwasher in a Thai restaurant".
"In October 1966 Company D, 1st Special Forces Group [Airborne], 1st Special Forces, which was organized 15 April 1966 at Fort Bragg, arrived in Thailand. The 46th Special Forces Company, 1st Special Forces was activated 15 April 1967 in Thailand using assets of Company D, 1st Special Forces Group. In 1968 the 46th Special Forces Company was headquartered at Camp Pawai near Lopburi and had three subordinate B-Detachments at Sakon Nakhon, at Camp Nong Takoo (Pak Chong) and at Ban Kachon. On March 31 1972 its assets were used to form HHD, 3rd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group [Airborne], 1st Special Forces. However for security reasons it was known locally simply as U.S. Army Special Forces, Thailand." Other A-Detachments were located for various periods during the war at: Camp Carrow (Trang), Chonburi, Kokethiem, Saraburi, Ratburi, Fort Narai (Lopburi), Kanchanaburi, Hua Hin, Bangkok, Udorn, Ubon, Nakhon Phanom, Mai Rem, Songkhia, Pranburi, Phitsanulok, Nam Phong. Chieng Kham, Ban Nong Saeng, Ban Haui Khu, Chiang Mai, Lamphun, Nan, Ban Haui Sai Tai, Muang Loi and Samae San.
#4
I'm sure an attack on Phuket, Bangkok, Pattia Beach, Chang Mai, or any of the other resort areas in Thailand would not be in the best interest of any muslims living in Thailand. It might even rile a few of the locals to get downright NASTY, especially if it were Japanese, American, or Australian tourists that were injured. I'm sure some of the N'ong or Hmong tribesmen that fled Laos for Thailand would be willing to lend a hand, which would NOT be pleasant for the malays in south Thailand.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/10/2006 16:02 Comments ||
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The booms of Katyusha rockets continued; another day of what has become routine in the North. But the IDF was holding position, waiting for orders that did not come. After 30 days of fighting, the war with Hizbullah seemed to be nearing its conclusion Thursday.
Just a day earlier, the situation had looked drastically different. The security cabinet had approved the army's request to send thousands of troops up to the Litani River and beyond in an effort to destroy Hizbullah's infrastructure and to stop the Katyusha attacks. After the cabinet meeting, one division actually began moving north from Metulla. Its goal - to clear out al-Khiam and Marjayoun and to reach the Litani.
But then, under pressure from the US, Defense Minister Amir Peretz made a frantic call to Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz and ordered him to stop the division in its tracks. "We need to give the diplomatic process one last chance," Peretz told Halutz. The orders trickled down the chain of command and by the time they reached 366, it had already reached Marjayoun, a stone's throw from the Litani.
Continued on Page 49
#2
Don't feel so bad. Just think what the USA could have accomplished by Sept. 2002 if our leaders acknowledged the ideological foundations of islam and went all sharia, starting with Arabia and Iran.
Posted by: ed ||
08/10/2006 21:15 Comments ||
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#3
Ed, for once, I would like to be not pissed off so much. Guess I am for a long wait.
Washington (CNA) -- Recent reports indicate that Hezbollah is using Christian villages to shield its attacks against Israel.
According to Christian Solidarity International, Hezbollah is hiding among civilian populations, mostly in southern Lebanese towns, such as Ain Ebel, Rmeish, Alma Alshaab.
Launching attacks behind human shields is in violation of the Geneva Convention's provision for the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts, which prohibits the use of civilians as military shields.
This is not a new strategy for Hezbollah. Col. Charbel Barka, a former South Lebanese Army commander, says Hezbollah is repeating what it did in attacks against Israel in 1996.
A Christian from the village of Ain Ebel, who requested to remain nameless for fear of a reprisal from Hezbollah, reported that he found Hezbollah fighters setting up a launcher on his rooftop. Hezbollah fighters ignored his pleas to stop and fired the missiles. He immediately gathered his family and fled his home, which was bombed 15 minutes later by an Israeli air strike.
Hezbollah has also attempted to stop Christians from fleeing their villages. According to Christian Solidarity International, on July 28, Hezbollah fighters fired upon several Christians fleeing Rmeish with their families, wounding two.
Sami El-Khoury, president of the World Maronite Union, adds that media reports about Christian support for Hezbollah are inaccurate.
"Contrary to Western press reports, indicating high percentages of Christian support for Hezbollah, 90 percent of Christians, 80 percent of Sunni and 40 percent of Shiites in Lebanon oppose Hezbollah," El-Khoury told Christian Solidarity International.
Christian Solidarity International has called for the United Nations to establish a politically independent commission to investigate Hezbollah's contravention of international law. The group has also urged the UN Security Council to deploy immediately an international force in Lebanon to facilitate a ceasefire, to stop the flow of arms from Syria to Hezbollah, and to assist the Lebanese government in fulfilling its obligation to disarm Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has been the ruling power in the south since Israel withdrew from Lebanon six years ago. Christian villages suffer from extensive neglect of infrastructure under Hezbollah rule. Once the majority, the Christian population in Lebanon has declined to under 40 percent due to pressures by Islamic militias supported by Iran and Syria.
#1
Article: "Contrary to Western press reports, indicating high percentages of Christian support for Hezbollah, 90 percent of Christians, 80 percent of Sunni and 40 percent of Shiites in Lebanon oppose Hezbollah," El-Khoury told Christian Solidarity International.
This makes sense. If Western pollsters hire people who might be sympathetic to Hezbollah, it's not surprising that they would rig the polls. Or that respondents might not answer poll questions honestly because they value their personal well-being - which might suddenly come under threat from Hezbollah thugs - more than some blip on a foreign.
French President Jacques Chirac insisted Wednesday on an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon but admitted the United States had "reservations" over the wording of a UN resolution to end the conflict. Chirac was confident an agreement would be reached on a UN ceasefire resolution. "I cannot imagine that we fail to reach a solution, because that would mean we accept the situation as it is and renounce calls for an immediate ceasefire, which would be the most immoral of solutions," Chirac said. French and US diplomats were working Wednesday on a new draft resolution after Lebanon and Arab nations opposed an earlier text on the grounds that it did not call for Israel to withdraw its troops after a truce.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2006 00:00 ||
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France stabs US in the back - again. Film at 11.
#2
Hold your kidneys, this meeting is not dismissed yet. We want to carefully consider your ceasefire. We'll get back to you in 48...err.. we'll talk to you in a week or so.
#3
Jesus H. Christ, Jacques...why don't you just get it over with, turn Notre Dame into a Grand Mosque and move the capital to Vichy?
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
08/10/2006 2:35 Comments ||
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#4
Chirac is one of the most treacherous leader of the West.
And he is famous for having said, before the Irak War II in 2003, that "War is always the worst solution". Problem is, he really thinks that, and during WWII, he would have explained it to Churchill and Roosevelt, and criticized them for not listening to him...
There has been much discussion in recent days regarding the possibility that France might lead an international peacekeeping force in Lebanon after French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy indicated that they were willing to do so, given certain conditions. France has a long historical relationship with Lebanon and maintains a âspecial relationshipâ with its former colony similar to that between the United States and Israel. Yet France boycotted a UN meeting over the issue Wednesday, saying that conditions were âprematureâ for the insertion of an international force into Lebanon. The primary difference between France and the U.S. over the issue is that France, along with the European Union, favors forcing an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hizballah and then introducing troops to strengthen the Lebanese military and disarm Hizballah, while the U.S. insists that the disarmament of Hizballah is a precondition to a sustainable ceasefire.
Perhaps what is most surprising is that France has decided upon a conciliatory strategy with Iran while shunning discussions with Syria. This has created a split with the U.S. as Iran ties cooperation in Lebanon to concessions over its nuclear program, while creating a simultaneous split with the European Union, which insists on negotiating with Syria.
Paris Breaks with Brussels Over Syria While Iran Declares the Cost of Its Cooperation
In a July 31 interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro, Douste-Blazy indicated Parisâ diplomatic stance on Lebanon: âIn regard to this matter, it is clear that Iran plays a stabilizing role in the region.â He indicated during the interview that he was traveling to Beirut for discussions with Lebanese officials. He did not mention that he planned to meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Manusher Mottaki, yet Mottaki emerged from that meeting, according to Le Figaro, âhappy to note that France had called for an âimmediate ceasefireâ in Lebanon.â
The same article contains an insight which may help explain the true reason for the initiation of this most recent conflict between Israel and Hizballah, and the price Tehran seeks to exact in exchange for bringing it to an end (ThreatsWatch translation):
â¦For Tehran, the fact that Paris does not make the disarmament of Hizballah a precondition is âa positive change.â The deployment of an international force to stabilize south Lebanon was also discussed. According to a French diplomat, Mottaki did not express opposition to this proposal. But this opinion was not expressed by others, who emphasize the hostility of Tehran to the deployment of troops with the objective of neutralizing Hizballah along the border with Israel. This Iranian veto would be in any case negotiable, in exchange for Western concessions in regard to the nuclear issue. Tehran has made no secret in practice of its intention to relate the crisis in Lebanon to that arising from its nuclear ambitionsâ¦
French officials have been clear that they have no intention of granting similar graces to Syria. Relations between France and Syria have been cold since the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in February 2005. Syrian officials have been implicated in the murder by the UN-sponsored Mehlis investigation, and many in France and elsewhere believe that culpability for this crime and others goes to the top of Syriaâs political system, ending with Syrian President Bashar Assad. Aside from the longstanding relation between France and Lebanon, Hariri was a personal friend of French President Jacques Chirac. Le Figaro notes that many find it contradictory to negotiate with Iran but not Syria, yet âthe French respond that it is preferable to address the issue with the true decision-maker, more so than its Syrian vassal.â
Franceâs diplomatic strategy is a clear break with the EU, which believes that Syria can be part of the solution. The EUâs High Commissioner for Foreign Affairs Javier Salona is quoted in Le Figaro as saying that âEven though I have not visited Damascus recently, I stay in contact with Syrian authorities⦠there is no disconnect.â The article notes that German and British diplomats are of the same mind, believing that Syria is âkey to resolving this conflict,â further noting that Parisâ boycott of Damascus caught Brussels off-guard, causing some to question how France could play a lead role and maintain its current course.
It should be noted that the international Arab newspaper Al-Hayat reported on Wednesday that Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos visited Damascus, meeting with both Assad and Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Mualim and offering âpolitical and economic incentives.â
The UN Diplomatic Dance
Statements made by American and French officials make clear that the difference between the two countries is that France demands an immediate ceasefire and the disarmament of Hizballah by Lebanese forces with international assistance to follow, while the U.S. agrees with Israel that the Hizballah threat must be neutralized prior to the arrival of peacekeepers, being skeptical of the likelihood of a mostly European and Turkish force being willing to use force against Hizballah, as its disarmament would likely require. Despite the boycotting of Wednesdayâs meeting, Le Monde quoted Franceâs UN ambassador as saying that he would participate in ceasefire discussions on Thursday. Le Nouvel Observateur reported, however, that French sources indicated that they would not attend a meeting about the formation of a peacekeeping force, judging the matter still premature. As phrased by Le Nouvel Observateur, France âbelieves that it is necessary to simultaneously push forward political negotiations and discussion of the deployment of a multinational force,â the execution of both of which would be to follow a ceasefire (Washington Post, Nouvel Observateur, Le Monde).
Meanwhile, most of Franceâs political leaders have gone on vacation. It is not clear what, if any, ramifications this might have on Franceâs role in the Lebanon crisis. As reported in LâExpress, this includes the president and prime minister, but not Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie and presumably not the foreign minister, although the article is silent on Douste-Blazy. LâExpress notes that this comes at a time when France is expected to take a major diplomatic role in Lebanon, and ministers are quoted as saying that they are ready to be âmobilized at an instant.â This is a time of year when most French take long vacations, but at a minimum this does not send the signal of a government fully engaged.
It seems highly unlikely that there will be a ceasefire soon. According to the most recent report in the Washington Post, the current Lebanese proposal would include Syria and Iran in the negotiations and involve an insertion of multinational troops followed by negotiations between the Lebanese government and Hizballah over disarmament. This will surely be unacceptable to Israel, although it has the support of those Arab governments which initially criticized Hizballah for attacking Israel. With diplomats now looking to next week for the likely earliest agreement on a ceasefire, Israel will press forward with its offensive for now.
That France is calling Iran a force for stablization and the EU encouraging Syria to see this as a chance to extract concessions, leaves little hope in the negotiations now ongoing. The French had been steadfast in demanding Hizballahâs disarmament, but have apparently softened on that. Israel has bloodied Hizballah badly, but the effort has strengthend the position of the terrorist group within the Arab world, and of the Syrian government vis-a-vis both its own population and Europe. Israel will need to cripple Hizballah in order to make this fight pay off.
#9
Once upon a time, there was a great culture called the French. They had cars and trucks, but to keep their cars and trucks running, they needed oil. Another country, Iran was an oil supplier. One day, Iran made the French eat dung to get oil from them. The French did not protest, but ate the dung. Now, all French eat dung for every meal. Now, Iran calls them dhimmi.
Tomorrow's story is how Israel with help from the big meanie, America pulls Iran's head through it's ass while onlookers shuffle nervously.
#10
Chirac doesn't always mind war. He was fine with war when the Hutus were liquidating 700,000 Tutsis in Rwanda. It was only when the Tutsis started winning that Chirac remembered how bad war was and sent in French 'peacekeepers' to prevent the capture of francophone Hutu genocidaires.
#13
Nuking Paris and Brussels would do a great deal toward removing many of the world's social, cultural, economic, and political problems. Not suggesting, just saying...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/10/2006 16:09 Comments ||
Top||
#14
Well, before nuking Paris and Brussels, just nuke Tehran and Damas.
The evil regimes would be removed, and France and the EU would no more have evil regimes to collaborate with...
A defiant Hizbullah chief vowed on Wednesday to turn south Lebanon into a "graveyard" for invading Israeli troops, hours after the Jewish state ordered an expanded ground offensive. In a televised speech, Hassan Nasrallah said Israeli attacks had not weakened its rocket capabilities and called on the Arab residents of Haifa to quit the Israeli city to avoid being hurt by the guerrilla group's barrages.
We will turn our precious southern land into a graveyard for the invading Zionists...
"You won't be able to stay in our land, and if you come in, we'll force you out," said Nasrallah in a recorded speech shown on Hizbullah's television station. "We will turn our precious southern land into a graveyard for the invading Zionists."
Israel decided on Wednesday to expand its ground offensive in Lebanon, increasing pressure on major powers struggling to win agreement on a United Nations resolution to end the 29-day-old war.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10 views]
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#1
Ya' got the graveyard part right, asshole.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/10/2006 0:11 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Big words from a man cowering in the basement of one of Baby's palaces in Syria.....
#3
He is not in Syria, he is in the basement of the Iranian embassy in Beiruth.
I think the Israelis shall do what the US did in May 1999 in Beograd, when a Tomahawk missile killed there 4 Chinese diplomats in the China embassy, on purpose, because China was helping the Serbs and transferring to them datas about the US warplanes' flights, after which the US just laconically said that it was a mistake...
Lets send a 1000 pounds bomb on the Iranian embassy in Beiruth.
#4
It once again shows that the terror groups are very much engaged in a Media, Propaganda or PR war in face of the low or unlikely prospect of defeating the IDF, or even any US-led milfors. Nasrey wants a body count, NOTSOMUCH MIL VICTORY OVER ISRAEL, to play before the world + US MSM ala "Quagmire/Vietnam Redux".
The winds of war blowing through the region are also being felt in Syria, as the country begins checks of its public bomb shelters for the first time since 1973. Syrian media outlets reported Wednesday that while residents of towns on the border with Israel are independently looking after themselves and shelters, the 'civil guard' began checking the state of bomb shelters in Damascus. A senior member or the civil guard in Damascus said the body was "working to make sure the shelters were in good shape as a step to prepare for any future development. This is especially true for shelters who have over the years turned into stores, clubs, and even homes."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
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#1
We know where L'eunuque Lâche Levant will be posting his bravado drivel from.
Twenty-seven years after a chilling sit-down with Ayatollah Khomeini that was one of Mike Wallace's most memorable, the veteran CBS television newsman snagged an interview this week with current Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Teheran. The 88-year-old Wallace had been pursuing the interview for so long that he had to be reminded by Ahmadinejad when he first asked for it.
A portion of Wallace's interview, conducted Tuesday at a crucial time in the Mideast with Israel fighting the Iranian-backed Hizbullah guerrillas in Lebanon, will be shown Thursday on the "CBS Evening News." A fuller report will air on Sunday's "60 Minutes" TV news magazine. During the midst of the American hostage crisis in 1979, Wallace interviewed Iranian leader Khomeini, locking eyes with the cleric when he asked for a response to Egyptian President Anwar Sadat calling Khomeini a lunatic.
Additional: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sat down with Mike Wallace in Tehran on Tuesday in a rare, exclusive interview with a Western reporter.
In the wide-ranging interview, the Iranian leader comments on President Bush's foreign policy, the lack of relations between Iran and the United States, Hezbollah, Lebanon and Iraq.
Speaking about President Bush's failure to answer his 18-page letter that criticized U.S. foreign policy, Ahmadinejad said, "Well, (with the letter) I wanted to open a window towards the light for the president so that he can see that one can look on the world through a different perspective. We are all free to choose. But please give him this message, sir: Those who refuse to accept an invitation will not have a good ending or fate. You see that his approval rating is dropping every day. Hatred vis-à-vis the president is increasing every day around the world. For a ruler, this is the worst message that he could receive. Rulers and heads of government at the end of their office must leave the office holding their heads high."
Remember the speculation about the letter being a traditional islamic invitation to submit to Allah? Refusal by Bush to submit being expected, it was Ahmadinejad's declaration of war.
#5
Of Ahmadinejad, Wallace said, "He's an impressive fellow, this guy. He really is. He's obviously smart as hell."
"You'll find him an interesting man," he said. "I expected more of a firebrand. I don't think he has the slightest doubt about how he feels ... about the American administration and the Zionist state. He comes across as more rational than I had expected."
Another shining moment for CBS.
We call it "Israel" over here, Mike, not Zionist state. But you probably forget a lot these days, you senile old fuck...
#6
They're big on wet, sloppy man kisses in the middle east. I wander if Mike and Mahmoud shared a camel as well...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/10/2006 14:28 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Wasn't there a thing where Journalists were asked that, if they knew there was going to be an attack against american forces would they alert the authorities -- and Wallace said he wouldn't?
I wonder if Wallace knows of any major attacks (or Nuke attack on Israel for example) which nutjob has scheduled for Aug 22nd....
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.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Afghanistan's first democratically elected president, Hamid Karzai, strongly hinted in an interview that he will not run for another term in office.
A peace deal signed three months ago between Sudan's government and the main rebel group in Darfur has failed to halt violence in the region, the United Nations said Wednesday, citing an increase in rape and continued attacks by militias and rebel factions. The global body said the May 5 peace deal, signed in Nigeria, was "doomed to failure" without more support from the Sudanese government, "with the population of Darfur continuing to suffer grave violations of human rights as violence among competing armed groups in Darfur persists." 
BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair, on holidays in Barbados, praised the enormous of amount of cooperation between Britain and the United States in thwarting an alleged airline bomb plot.
LONDON: International terrorism is posing Britain its most sustained threat since the end of World War Two and can only be tackled with the publics help, Home Secretary John Reid said on Wednesday. In a speech to the think tank Demos in London, Reid said there was not one inch of room for complacency over security. We are probably in the most sustained period of severe threat since the end of World War Two, he said in excerpts released by the Home Office. While I am confident that the security services and police will deliver 100 percent effort and 100 percent dedication, they cannot guarantee 100 percent success. 
Australia's lower house of parliament has passed a controversial bill to process all future asylum seekers arriving by boat in off-shore camps. Three members of the ruling party joined the opposition to vote against the proposal, but it still passed by 78 to 62. The bill now goes to the Senate.
Turkey plans to cut its armed forces by up to 30% in the next few years, the country's top general has said. Gen Yasar Buyukanit, who takes over as military chief later this month, said the army would be smaller but "more modern and effective". Gen Buykanit's comments came in an interview with Turkey's Defence and Aerospace magazine. 
CHICAGO - A federal judge Wednesday denied prosecutors' request to seat an anonymous jury in the trial of a Bridgeview, Ill., man charged with funneling money to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve ruled that prosecutors failed to show Muhammad Salah and his co-defendant Abdelhaleem Ashqar, of Virginia, are likely to intimidate or harass jurors. "(T)he mere invocation of the word `terrorism,' without more, is insufficient to warrant such an anonymous jury," St. Eve wrote in a ruling released Wednesday.
David A. Burtt II, director of the Counterintelligence Field Activity, the Defense Department's newest intelligence agency whose contracts based on congressional earmarks are under investigation by the Pentagon and federal prosecutors, told his staff yesterday that he and his deputy director will resign at the end of the month.
GAZA - Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneya on Wednesday urged a debate on the future of the Palestinian Authority, his remarks following earlier comments from a Palestinian official calling for the Authority to be dissolved.
INDONESIA has complained to Australia that its travel warning system is harming its economy, deterring new investment and forcing language students to other countries.
French President Jacques Chirac insisted Wednesday on an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon but admitted the United States had "reservations" over the wording of a UN resolution to end the conflict. Chirac was confident an agreement would be reached on a UN ceasefire resolution. "I cannot imagine that we fail to reach a solution, because that would mean we accept the situation as it is and renounce calls for an immediate ceasefire, which would be the most immoral of solutions," Chirac said. French and US diplomats were working Wednesday on a new draft resolution after Lebanon and Arab nations opposed an earlier text on the grounds that it did not call for Israel to withdraw its troops after a truce.
A defiant Hizbullah chief vowed on Wednesday to turn south Lebanon into a "graveyard" for invading Israeli troops, hours after the Jewish state ordered an expanded ground offensive. In a televised speech, Hassan Nasrallah said Israeli attacks had not weakened its rocket capabilities and called on the Arab residents of Haifa to quit the Israeli city to avoid being hurt by the guerrilla group's barrages. 
The winds of war blowing through the region are also being felt in Syria, as the country begins checks of its public bomb shelters for the first time since 1973. Syrian media outlets reported Wednesday that while residents of towns on the border with Israel are independently looking after themselves and shelters, the 'civil guard' began checking the state of bomb shelters in Damascus. A senior member or the civil guard in Damascus said the body was "working to make sure the shelters were in good shape as a step to prepare for any future development. This is especially true for shelters who have over the years turned into stores, clubs, and even homes."
