According to a report released by Afghanistan's World Food Program, no one is expected to die of hunger in central Afghanistan this year. Chomsky must be so disappointed.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/23/2001 ||
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Gen. Tommy Franks appeared unflustered as he disembarked the CH-47 Chinook after touching down at the newly reopened American Embassy in Kabul. Officials believe Franks' helicopter was shot at by a shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile, commonly called a "man pad" by pilots.
They'd have liked to have gotten him. The Bad Guys are still thicker than fleas in Afghanistan - but they don't control it anymore.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/23/2001 ||
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WHY WE FIGHT: The Berkeley City Council has banned log-burning fireplaces in new homes and other buildings, believing the warmth of wood fires comes at the cost of clean air. Jami Caseber, the Berkeley environmental activist who led the drive for the ordinance, calls it "the first step to controlling or curtailing residential wood burning." Caseber said he would have preferred restricting existing fireplaces, but the new law "was the best I could do" as a compromise with "conservatives."
Mr. Caseber's concept of "the pursuit of happiness" seems to involve telling other people what to do. He and his fellow mullahs, ayatollahs and commissars regard the concept of liberty as a quaint and tiresome curiosity.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/23/2001 ||
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New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is Time magazine's Person of the Year for 2001. Good choice. Giuliani is a human being, unlike Osama bin Laden. Ascerbic, witty, and brilliant, he's done more good for New York than all his carping critics combined. He is a great man. It's a pity he didn't run against Madam Clinton for the Senate - who is something less than a great woman. But it's probably just as well. The combination of his prostate cancer and his love life probably would have thrown the election to her, once her hit squad was done with it, and the city would have had a lesser man at the time it needed him most.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/23/2001 ||
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Eric Debry, 42, of Paris, said he was among those who restrained Reid. Debry, flying with his wife and children, age 13 and 9, was sitting directly behind Reid. He said he had eaten lunch and fallen asleep when he awoke to the smell of smoke. Debry said he reached over the seat, grabbed Reid by the shoulders and pulled his arms back. "I jumped on his shoulder. Two other guys came and took his legs," he said. He said for about 10 minutes, passengers held Reid down while others collected about 20 leather belts and used them to restrain the man. "It was just an instantaneous reaction," Debry said. "I feel lucky to be alive and I feel proud of the passengers."
Oh, dear. How violent. Obviously M. Debry isn't a member of a coalition from Manassas. If he was, he'd have known that There is a Better Way.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/23/2001 ||
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A group of about eight demonstrators representing a variety of stupid coalitions and networks dedicated to promoting "responsible and peaceful" toys spent an hour outside Washington's Metro Center passing out leaflets that asked parents to pass up GI Joe, and for that matter all toy guns, grenades, rifles and tanks. "Ho, ho, ho, war toys have got to go," Manassas resident John Steinbach chanted. Mr. Steinbach dressed as Santa Claus and protested the violent toys on behalf of a group called the Gray Panthers.
You can drive to DC from Manassas. You don't have to fly. Probably a good thing, isn't it? "Mothers, don't let your babies grow up to be men."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/23/2001 ||
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"We are concerned that hijackers may attempt to smuggle disassembled weapons on board an airliner by hiding weapon components within their shoes,'' a Dec. 11 Federal Aviation Administration advisory to airlines and security personnel stated. "He appears to be of Middle Eastern descent. I couldn't go further than that,'' said state police Capt. Tom Robbins, describing yesterday's airline bomb suspect. Reid claimed he was from Jamaica.
Rather than confiscating nail clippers, perhaps it would make more sense to allow airline passengers to carry knives, clubs, brass knuckles and guns under .32 caliber. I have a dream, a dream in which an American Airlines flight diverts to Logan. On Runway 4 the plane stops. The door opens. The bullet-riddled body of an attempted hijacker is tossed to the tarmac with a satisfying "splat." The door closes and the plane resumes its flight to Miami. Was the faint sound of cheering heard coming from inside the plane? Satisfying, isn't it? (Unless you're a jihadi.)
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/23/2001 ||
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"Mr. Richard Colvin Reid," the attempted airline bomber, has been identified as Tariq Raja, a 28-year-old from Sri Lanka. (AFP gives the name as Abdel Rahim.)
Sure hope they haven't stopped hitting him yet. There's an awful lot there to find out. Do the Liberation Tigers dots connect to the Lashkar-e-Taiba dots?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/23/2001 ||
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Indian forces are in a state of very high alert in the wake of the Pakistani troop build-up along the border after last week's terror attack on Parliament but New Delhi still does not feel that the situation might spill over into a conflict or a nuclear flashpoint.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/23/2001 ||
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India said Pakistani troops opened fire on a patrol in Kashmir, killing two soldiers and wounding three others in an unprovoked attack. Some of the troops that fired appeared to be regular army soldiers. Pakistan said two civilians were injured by Indian shells in Pak-occupied Kashmir as the two sides exchanged fire at several points along the Line of Control. A teenager was hit by shrapnel and a woman suffered injuries when a shell hit the courtyard of her home. "They are using mortars and targeting the civilian population without any provocation," a Pakistani official said, adding that a school in Kotli district had also been damaged. In Jammu, a group of masked militants barged into a house in Poonch district and opened indiscriminate fire, killing an aged woman on the spot and critically injuring her daughter. Militants fired on several vehicles from mountain peaks on Poonch-Surankote road, wounding two civilians.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/23/2001 ||
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The Arab world, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said in Lebanon, is in dire need of change as a region that "has been left at the mercy of tyrants, dictators, holy kings, outdated pseudo-revolutionaries, tribal chieftains and failed demagogues." He suggested demilitarizing Arab regimes and holding free and democratic elections, a step he said was needed to see economic and social development. He also advocated creating a common Arab market, reinforcing relations within the region, liberating the Iraqi people, and benefitting from Iranian strategic importance. Equally necessary, according to Jumblatt, is an Arab-Muslim cultural revolution that will allow the humanization, rationalization and secularization of its various ideologies.
Hmmm. No mention of fighting jihad and standing up for "Arab Dignity." Perhaps the appeal of the fundos has peaked with the disappearance of Osama and the discrediting of rule by mullah. (The Druze are far outside the Wahhabi puritan strain, so probably that's wishful thinking.) But also no mention of instituting the concept of personal liberty, which would be necessary to make the rest of it happen. Still, not bad. Perhaps in time... No one in the Arab world will listen to him, of course, or if they do, someone will shoot him.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/23/2001 ||
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Palestinian sources said that in spite of an Israeli ban on him attending Christmas Mass in Bethlehem, Chairman-for-Life Yasser Arafat's convoy would make its way to the city, and confront Israeli soldiers who try to block his way. Diplomatic sources in Jerusalem said in response that Israel would not let Arafat through the IDF checkpoints. "We will not give in to the head of an entity that supports terror, while master terrorists roam free at his side." they said. The Prime Minister's Office said that Israel respected freedom of religion, but that Arafat himself was Muslim. Arafat repeated his pledge to go to Bethlehem for Christmas, saying, "No one will prevent me from travelling to Ramallah."
Let's manufacture a "human rights" crisis: The mean old Jews won't let poor Yasser go to church. But Yasser heroically stands up to them. The violins in the National Sympathy Orchestra should be tuning up at this very moment. How's it feel being manipulated?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/23/2001 ||
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Hizbullahâs southern commander in Lebanon said that the resistance movement was âin a state of total readinessâ to confront any Israeli aggression against Lebanon. While receiving a delegation of Druze religious leaders from Hasbaya at the former Khiam prison, Sheikh Nabil Qaouk said recent Israeli overflights only âaffirmed the resistance movementâs right to resort to all means that ensure putting an end to Israelâs aggression.â Senior Shiite cleric Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah called for national solidarity to face âthe growing international threats confronting Syria and Lebanon.â US accusations that Hizbullah was not a legitimate local resistance movement were âa lie aimed at driving the resistance away from the liberation victory in the minds of the Muslims Arabs, and especially the Lebanese public.â
Sigh. Yeah. Don't forget to stand up for "Arab Dignity," too.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/23/2001 ||
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The Fatah military wing, the al-Aksa Martyrs, said that "As far as we are concerned the intifada will continue. We must prepare for a continued escalation in attacks against the IDF and settlers if Israel continues its attacks against Palestinians." "You said you wanted attacks by Hamas and Islamic Jihad to stop. Well, they have. Us Palestinians keep our part of a bargain, by gum!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/23/2001 ||
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Two Afghan nationals arrested last month in India had links with al-Qaeda. "Interrogation by our men clearly revealed that they had links with the al-Qaeda," K L Verma, chairman of the Central Board of Excise and Customs, said. Custom officials arrested the two Afghan nationals on November 22 in Sitamarhi district near the Indo-Nepal border.
Now what the hell were they doing up there? Dots between the Nepali Maoists and al-Qaeda? Or just on their way to Bangladesh to do a little recruiting?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/23/2001 ||
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Osama bin Laden's mother was quoted in a British newspaper as saying she believes a videotape of her son, which the United States says proves he had prior knowledge of the September 11 attacks, was a fake. "I believe the evidence against him is not solid. I think the video they produced is doctored," Alia Ghanem was quoted as saying in an interview conducted by a Saudi journalist.
If my son was a mass murderer and the leader of an international terrorist cabal, I'd refuse to believe it, too.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/23/2001 ||
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An explosion damaged the back entrance of a McDonald's restaurant, police said. The pre-dawn blast occurred near a busy road in Athens' northern Agia Paraskevi area. Police said a small quantity of dynamite was used to make the bomb. Anarchist gangs in the Greek capital frequently target international companies and government property. But police said the blast resembled attacks carried out by organized crime groups.
Oh. Well, that's okay, then.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/23/2001 ||
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A shortlist of three options for attacking Iraq will be presented to President George W. Bush next month.
There will be a certain amount of satisfaction when Sammy is nothing but a lingering odor, but he shouldn't be as far up on the list as he is. The fight this time is against fundamentalist networks, not against Iraq's politically-based system. Unless he's trying to raise support in the "Arab street," Sammy could care less about religion. He's a tin-hat dictator in the tradition of Mussolini and Hitler, but "without the warmth and humanity." The greater and more immediate danger is the Wahhabi-driven network of jihadis and a much better place to start would be Kashmir or Chechnya - or Kosovo. Regardless of where, the real target has to be the "board of directors," since it's become obvious Osama bin Laden wasn't the top of the pyramid. So Sammy is a sideshow and his destruction should be almost an afterthought.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/23/2001 ||
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Pakistan will soon begin trials of 40 non-Afghan Taliban, mostly Arabs who crossed into Baluchistan province from Afghanistan and were held by the provincial government. The men initially have been charged with illegal entry into Pakistan without having valid travel documents and will be tried under the Foreigners Act.
Not a good time to be an al-Qaeda hero, is it?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/23/2001 ||
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Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban's former ambassador to Pakistan, said he has applied for political asylum in Pakistan. Pakistan has so many mullahs running around ranting they probably won't notice one more.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/23/2001 ||
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"There is nobody who would shed a single tear if Saddam were removed from power. The fear is that Saddam will not be removed and so the tragedy will continue on into the unforeseeable future," writes Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid in Arab News.
Reassuring at first glance, isn't it? The Saudis wouldn't mind us removing the threat posed by a junior-grade Mussolini from their border. They also wouldn't mind us chasing off in a different direction, rather than pursuing a hunt for the "Board of Directors," which is likely within their borders instead of far off in some theoretical Boskone.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/23/2001 ||
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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.
