The United States has bolstered security around its military bases in Saudi Arabia. The effort includes the deployment of special forces and detection equipment around the Prince Sultan air base, at Al Kharj, south of Riyad and where most of the 4,000 American soldiers in the kingdom are based. The base contains an advanced air command-and-control system meant to direct U.S. military aircraft in the Persian Gulf. U.S. officials said the 363rd Air Expeditionary Group has bolstered its physical security team to protect the U.S. presence around the base, which comprises up to eight times more territory than other U.S. facilities. The group deploys special forces brought from a U.S. air base in Japan and is equipped with a Tactical Automated Sensor System to detect and repel insurgents. Yasss... We have to protect ourselves from alk runners.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2002 09:30 am ||
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Tactical Automated Sensor System to detect and repel insurgents
US Secretary of State Colin Powell has said Saudi Arabia must "decide its own path" towards modernising its society. Speaking to the Arabic Al-Qods al-Arabi newspaper, Mr Powell said that while he respected Saudi culture, the desert kingdom "will have to start examining [its] traditions and ... practices to see whether or not change is appropriate". Yep. It's their choice...
"Saudi Arabia will have to decide its own path, and I don't know if it will decide a path like any other nation in the region or it will design something that is unique to Saudi Arabia," French news agency AFP quoted him as telling the newspaper. "It is up to Saudis to decide how they wish to transform their society in order to make it prepared for the 21st Century," Mr Powell was quoted as saying. As opposed to the 7th or 8th century, only with money...
The secretary of state said that while America would not "dictate change", the US would like to "be able to influence how such reforms are going to be introduced as some of them could be better than others". Hanging a few princes and mullahs would be a good place to start.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2002 10:13 am ||
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How 'bout beheading? Or is that only for the lowlifes and alky traffickers who haven't managed to blow up
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/14/2002 12:42 Comments ||
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Nah, stonings. Audience participation really has a way of creating a lasting impression...on EVERYBODY.
The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Saturday any move by North Korea to expel its inspectors from a controversial reactor site would seriously worsen the crisis over Pyongyang's atomic weapons ambitions. North Korea said on Thursday it was reactivating a Soviet-built nuclear energy research complex closed eight years ago under a pact with the United States aimed at stopping the reclusive Stalinist state from developing nuclear arms. The International Atomic Energy Agency, which had been monitoring the mothballed complex, said Pyongyang had asked it to unseal the plant and remove surveillance cameras. The continuing presence of the two IAEA inspectors on site was apparently not addressed, and agency director Mohamed ElBaradei said on Saturday it was important that North Korea let them stay. "If they throw out the inspectors, this will trigger a serious crisis," ElBaradei told Reuters. No doubt someone will issue a strong statement or something. This is all no doubt the fault of American simplisme, lumping these Communist yokels under the heading of an Axis of Evil simply because they're evil...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2002 09:28 am ||
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Shrugging off widespread international condemnation of its pursuit of nuclear weapons, North Korea declared on Saturday it was ready to deal "bitter defeat and death" to a threatening United States. North Korea raised the stakes on Thursday in a nuclear row with the United States and its allies when it said it would restart a nuclear reactor idled under a 1994 agreement that averted a nuclear crisis on the peninsula. The North's declaration fueled concern over a secret uranium enrichment program which Washington said in October Pyongyang had admitted to operating in violation of the 1994 Agreed Framework. "The DPRK remains unfazed as it has made full preparations to cope with the confrontation and clash with the Yankees," a commentary in the ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun said. "The army and people of the DPRK with burning hatred for the Yankees are in full readiness to fight a death-defying battle," said the commentary, carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). We'll eventually get around to that. For now, let them eat nukes. They're a tiresome lot, so I can't even manage to gin up a burning hatred toward them in return.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2002 09:28 am ||
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As a South Carolinian, what I bitterly object to is having some North Korean mopes call me a damn Yankee. Those bluebellies can just speak for their own selves.
Posted by: Joe ||
12/14/2002 22:14 Comments ||
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Just wondering..what's Rodung Sinmun's position on letting women into Augusta?
Opponents of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein met in London on Saturday to map out a future for the country and called for a federal, tolerant Iraq in the event Saddam is ousted from power. That'd be a nightmare for the House of Sod, and an invitation — nay, a demand — to Iran to get to work on subverting it...
Up to 1,000 people, including 330 delegates and scores of reporters and security guards gathered at a plush hotel on the invitation of a committee representing six opposition groups recognized by the United States. The meeting, which had been postponed three times due to arguments about who should control it, heard calls for a federal Iraq, liberated from Saddam's Ba'ath Party, and for an Iraq free of extremism. Well, relatively free from extremism...
"Federalism is practiced in 70 countries worldwide," said Jalal Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan — one of two Kurdish parties which control northern Iraq. "It will foster unity in Iraq." I'm not sure I see that in Iraq's future, but go ahead. Most things are better than what they have now... Abdelaziz Hakim, a senior official in the Tehran-based Shi'ite Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution of Iraq (SCIRI), warned any future government must safeguard the country's assets, mainly its vast oil reserves, from foreign domination. "Extremism has no place in the future of Iraq," Hakim added to cries of "Praise to Mohammad" from his supporters in the conference hall. Good idea. They're Shi'ites. Get a definition of extremism before giving them money...
SCIRI and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan are two of four groups at the conference which have formed a loose alliance known as the Group of Four. The others are the Kurdistan Democratic Party and former members of Saddam's Ba'ath party. The Four are opposed to the two remaining groups at the conference: the Iraqi National Congress, which is led by former banker Ahmad Chalabi, and a monarchist movement. All six groups are recognized by the United States, which coaxed them together to form what could effectively be a government-in-exile. U.S. officials visited London to push for the conference after attempts to convene it in Amsterdam and Brussels failed. It's pretty much a fruit basket they've put together, with apples and oranges. There are a few nuts, as well...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2002 09:28 am ||
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Iraq accused the United States and Israel on Saturday of planning its destruction behind a smokescreen of accusations about doomsday weapons. "The Arab nation should not be deceived by false excuses voiced by America and the Zionist imperialism that they are launching aggression on Iraq to eliminate its weapons of mass destruction," Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz said. "America and its ally, Zionism, are employing their means of deception in order to destroy Iraq," Aziz said in a speech at the start of a poetry festival in Baghdad. That was certainly a very poetic statement...
Iraq, he said, was well prepared to achieve victory "whatever the difficulties and sacrifices." The U.S. doesn't want to destroy Iraq. We only want to destroy Sammy and Tariq and their cronies...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2002 09:28 am ||
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Thought they said that they had no weapons of mass destruction!
From the steamy pages of Pravda on-line:
LUKOIL never quits anything for no particular reason Har! We never quit! Sometimes we just walk away.
It is an open secret that Iraqi authorities and Russiaâs oil company LUKOIL argued about a part of the Western Kurna oil field for a long period. Moreover, LUKOIL Vice-president Leonid Fedun mentioned several times already that Russian oilmen would soon leave Iraq. First of all, they are leaving because of a highly probable liberation of Iraq war; and second, Russian oilmen are indignant at the attitude of the Iraqi kleptocracy bureaucracy. You'd think this wouldn't bother the Russians, who are masters of the greased palm.
In accordance with the production division agreement, the mentioned Russian oil companies are to develop the Western Kurna oil field till 2020 and invest not less than 6 billion dollars in the project within this period. However, after the agreement was concluded in 1997, Russian oilmen had to restrict their activity in Iraq for fear of violating the UN sanctions, as Russia supports the sanctions. This became a stumbling block in the relations between Iraq and Russian oil companies. Hypocrisy was easier in the old Soviet days.
According to some sources, Iraq was extremely indignant at the offstage negotiations held between US Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham and LUKOIL president at the Russian-American oil summit in Houston this autumn. As was reported, Abraham and Alekperov discussed possible guarantees that the USA could provide in Iraq after replacement of Saddamâs regime. I'm beginning to think that Sammy's dyslexic. He clearly has a problem connecting the dots ...
Itâs obvious that despite all assurances of âRussiaâs old friendâ, President George W. Bush, it will be quite a problem for Russian oil companies to stay on the Iraqi oil market. Dastardly Merkins.
However, the recent actions of Iraqi authorities with respect to Russian oil companies give Russia no chance for a maneuver. If I had to choose between sticking around to pump oil or avoid meeting a daisy cutter, I think I'd leave too, but that's just me.
If the regime of Saddam Hussein doesnât guarantee Russian oil interests any more, Russia will consequently negotiate protection of its interests with that subject of the international law which can offer such guarantees. And that would be who, again?
Experts and Russian diplomats are dispirited by the attitude of the Iraqi authorities and say that after this demarche Iraq will have almost no allies on the international arena. Excepting the peoples' republics of Berkeley and Hollywood. And the Al-Guardian.
But itâs not ruled out that the Iraqi dictator has achieved a goal which he considers actually important: he won unanimous and real support of the Arab world, whose relations with the USA seem to have seriously worsened. Under these conditions, Hussein doesnât need Russia any more. 'course not. Why ally yourself with a large nation with (still) a large army and political influence when you can align yourself with a bunch of pathetic losers Arab nations?
Especially that in the present-day situation Russia has definitely taken a position on the opposite side of the barricade. This fact is proved by recent attacks of President Vladimir Putin upon Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Putin's talking the talk, now he just needs to walk the walk. Busting up the oil deal was a step in the right direction.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/14/2002 08:03 pm ||
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Aargh, wrong category again. Fred, can you fix this? Thanks,
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/14/2002 17:43 Comments ||
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James Bond's latest "enemy" is fighting back. Fictional North Korean agents torture the British spy in his new film, and now Pyongyang is angry for real. Official statement North Korea has called on the United States to stop showing Die Another Day saying it is "insulting the Korean nation".
The film - starring Pierce Brosnan and Halle Berry - "clearly proves" the US is "the root cause of all disasters and misfortune of the Korean nation" and is "an empire of evil", according to the Secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland.
The secretariat's statement said the film is a "dirty and cursed burlesque aimed to slander [North Korea] and insult the Korean nation". It says the film describes North Korea "as part of an 'axis of evil', inciting inter-Korean confrontation, groundlessly despising and insulting the Korean nation and malignantly desecrating even religion". The US is "the headquarters that spreads abnormality, degeneration, violence and fin-de-siecle corrupt sex culture", the statement said.
Posted by: Paul ||
12/14/2002 07:18 pm ||
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Yes, that's true. We make faces at them when they're not looking, too. All Korean sheets are short, and all Korean beds have cornflakes in them, and, I confess, we did it.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2002 19:58 Comments ||
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"Fin-de-siecle corrupt sex culture"! Ha ha ha ha! Now THERE's a fine piece of invective! Those North Koreans just crack me up, they could probably produce half-a-dozen replacements for Don Rickles any day. I suppose Pyongyang is twenty or so films behind on the Bond body of work; 007 has been happily corrupting the morals of women West and East for forty years now (half a century if you count the novels, as I would). But I will say this about that; a North Korean male tells me that he would not like to slip under the satin sheets with Tatiana Romanova wearing only a black satin choker (and black silk stockings if you follow the novel), and I will call him a big fat liar.
Posted by: Joe ||
12/14/2002 22:07 Comments ||
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The Dear Leader was probably pissed there wasn't any porn in it. I've read that he has quite a collection... and the only VCR in North Korea.
The Communist Party of Russia and Gennady Zyuganov can at a difficult period of time count on the support of the Belarussian President. This is what Belarussian leader Alexander Lukashenko has said this Friday while meeting with leader of the KPRF Gennady Zyuganov. Atta boy, Alexi. Why don't you just paint a bullseye on your forehead? Oh, right, the 'L' is in the way.
Gennady Zyuganov arrived in the capital of Belarus for participation in the parliamentary hearings on the issues of Russia-Belarus economic integration. As in, we're here to tell you how to behave.
"Knowing well the ideology of your party and bearing in mind that you are a sincere advocate of the processes of integration not only between Russia and Belarus but also in the entire post-Soviet space, you can count on me at the time of difficulties," said Alexander Lukashenko. Other than an uncanny skill for plundering his own people, exactly what talent does Alexi bring to the table?
On his part, Gennady Zyuganov stressed that the Communist Party of Russia had always spoken for the equal union of the two states. "Belarus and Russia have expressed this by their history and culture," said Gennady Zyuganov. He noted that "the party and the party's faction want this union to materialise." Bupkis + bupkis = ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/14/2002 05:45 pm ||
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The Belarussians that I have talked with are desponant over the way their country has been hijacked by this murderous bastard.
A little remembered fact is that this country has suffered as much from the Chernobyl disaster as any other.
India has reacted furiously to the freeing on court orders of an outlawed Islamic militant leader in Pakistan. A foreign ministry spokesman said the decision showed the Pakistani authorities were not serious in pursuing charges against Maulana Masood Azhar. The group he leads, Jaish-e-Mohammad, is accused of a string of deadly attacks on Indian targets, including one on parliament in Delhi a year ago on Friday. Azhar was detained shortly after that attack, but the Lahore High Court said there were insufficient grounds to keep him under house arrest without charge any longer. There never is, is there? Certainly not in Pakland...
Delhi was outraged in November when the founder and former leader of Lashkar-e-Toiba, also blamed in the parliament attack, was freed in similar circumstances. It's the Pak revolving door. Things heat up, the Bad Guys are in jug. Things cool off, the Bad Guys are out of jug. Somehow, when they're out, things heat up again. It shouldn't be too long before India and Pak are ready to nuke each other again. You read it here first.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2002 10:06 am ||
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Islamic rules of evidence are a sick joke. All sort of conduct that civilized people deem criminal, are de facto legal to Muslims. I am not a fan of Muslim immigration or of partnership with Pakistan.
Police in the Indian capital, Delhi, say they have killed two suspected militants in an exchange of fire. A senior police officer said his men opened fire when a car sped through a checkpoint at the southern entrance of the city. Reports say a large cache of arms and ammunition were recovered. One other suspected militant is believed to have escaped. Police say they are investigating whether the men were from Pakistan, which has repeatedly denied accusations of sponsoring terroism against India. The incident took place a day after the first anniversary of an attack on the Indian parliament in which 14 people, including all five attackers, were killed. I love the way Beebs uses 'quotes.' Y'see, the 'militants' are now 'dead,' because they were rolling their eyes and waving 'guns,' and they wanted to 'kill' people. So the coppers 'shot' them to shreds. But one of them 'beat it.'
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2002 10:09 am ||
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Amir Jamaat-e-Islami and parliamentary leader of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, Qazi Hussain Ahmad, has warned to support Iraq against the US-led coalition's aggression and asked the Muslim Ummah to come forward and protect their brethren. "No matter how oppressive, how bloodthirsty, how deranged, we've got to protect them if they're Muslims. 'Cuz that's what being Muslim is all about..."
While reiterating stance of the six religious parties alliance, which he represents in the lower house, Qazi announced to continue his opposition of General Pervez Musharraf's pro-US policies. He said their alliance was against any aggression and condemned terrorist acts that killed many people in the United States on September 11. But, he said, at the same time they also condemn the killing of thousands of innocent people in Afghanistan. Most of the "thousands of innocent people" who were killed in Afghanistan were rolling their eyes and waving guns. When we dropped the groceries on that lady and killed her, that was an accident...
Qazi said like many people, Afghans were too not aware of their fault for which they were harshly punished. But the action was justified by Washington who held them responsible for giving shelter to Osama bin Laden whom the US considered world No 1 terrorist. Ummm... That was because they actually were giving shelter to Binny and his terror machine.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2002 11:24 am ||
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The shocking report from Larkana of a girl being stoned to death for daring to dance at a marriage ceremony is shocking. The shameful episode happened earlier this week before dozens of villagers. The girl's uncle fired at her after seeing her dance at the ceremony. She tried to escape but was followed by several men who then beat her with sticks.
The poor girl's nightmare did not end there: she was then taken to her village where her hands were chopped off and she was then stoned to death. Her body has not been found: it is said that it was either thrown into a canal or a well. The brutality of this terrible act is too much to describe in words.
The barbarism leading to such gruesome acts is a grim reminder of the fact that parts of Pakistan continue to be ruled by primitive customs and emotions. A lethal mix of feudalism, tribalism and ignorance, creates an atmosphere that leads to savage acts. The suspension of the SHO concerned is welcome, but the gruesome incident must be followed through, and the men responsible for it tried for their crime.
Posted by: Paul ||
12/14/2002 06:06 pm ||
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...
Being flayed alive is too good for these fuckers.
#2
One good thing. The article in DAWN calls for these pieces of maggot shit to be tried and punished. A lot of the rags over there would be starting up a defense fund. One bad thing. Expect the offices of DAWN to be burnt to the ground for publishing such blasphemy. No word on whether these are devotees of the Religon of Peace but...any bets?
Egypt is said to have turned down a U.S. request for the use of military bases. Western diplomatic sources said President Hosni Mubarak rejected a U.S. appeal for the basing of U.S. security forces in Egyptian facilities. They said this would have included military personnel as well as combat forces. "Mubarak does not compromise on independent decision-making nor does he allow meddling in our internal affairs or the establishment of military bases in Egypt," Egyptian Information Minister Safwat Sherif said. Fair enough. Bases cost a lot of money to run. I'd hate to see us pour more money than we are into a venal, corrupt, hereditary regime...
The sources said the main U.S. request concerned the stationing of forces near the Suez Canal. The proposed deployment was meant to ensure the safety of U.S. naval vessels transporting personnel and equipment to the Persian Gulf. But that's okay. We can do it from somewhere else. This is all just a part of the process of determining which side everybody's on. We have a pretty good idea which side Egypt's reall on...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2002 09:28 am ||
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"Awfully sorry about that, Mr. Mubarak, I don't know why the aid check bounced. Perhaps if you come over to our office in Washington on Monday, we'll see what we can do. And remember to bring two forms of photo ID with you. The case worker assigned to Egypped will review your situation and see if you still qualify for assistance."
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/14/2002 15:04 Comments ||
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Wonder what % of the refusal is re: Iraq - defending our Arab brothers yadda yadda - and what % is pique at our opposition to their jailing of an outspoken regime opponent
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/14/2002 17:16 Comments ||
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Fine, sounds like a perfect excuse to pull the 3 billion a year payoff we give the bastards. Let 'em go attack Israel again if they're that stupid.
Police in Jordan have arrested two men in connection with the killing of American diplomat Laurence Foley in October. Jordanian Information Minister Mohammad Adwan said on Saturday that a Libyan suspected of shooting Mr Foley and a Jordanian believed to be his accomplice had been detained. He said both were members of the al-Qaeda network. That's not much of a surprise...
Announcing the arrests in a statement on Jordanian television, Mr Adwan said that Libyan Salem Saad bin Suweid had shot Mr Foley. He said that his accomplice, Jordanian Yasser Fathi Ibrahim, had waited for him in the car. I guess the first guy they arrested for the killing wasn't the right one.
The minister said that investigators had found guns and ammunition used in the attack in the men's possession. The statement said that Salem Saad bin Suweid had entered Jordan using a fake Tunisian passport and that he had been trained in al-Qaeda's camps in Afghanistan. I'm starting to think there's no such thing as a legitimate passport anywhere in the Middle East — and precious few of them in Europe and Asia.
Police also found a plan to attack "important targets", the statement added.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2002 09:59 am ||
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Hey Fred, you missed this one!
Now that the Bush administration has settled on a plan for a possible invasion of Iraq, the fear of Arab holocaust is fast turning into reality.Imagine the human cost of US seizing most of the country in the first go and the bloodletting that would follow after encircling and rampaging the capital to get Saddam Hussein. The human cost could be quite high, since there's a fair number of Iraqi war criminals, kleptos, torture artists, sadists and Baathist party hacks to handle. Yep, they got one right so far.
Imagine the aftermath of occupying Iraq. Yep, keep dreaming the dream ...
Surrounded and squeezed by US and its Allies on all sides, frustrated Arab populations turn on their aging, sell-out rulers in Jordan, Egypt, Yemen, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. This sounds better all the time.
Oppressive regimes succumb to public demand and US expands its bloody occupation drive to other Arab states as it finds another ruse - this time to halt Islamic fundamentalism from taking power in the neighbourhood. Pinch me.
The US occupation of Iraq, thus, gives way to a widespread "Greater War" in the Middle East in the name of paving the way for "peace" in the Middle East. That might have to happen, but we're betting that the Iranian students, the oppressed Shi'a in Saudi-controlled Arabia, and women in burqas throughout the region will rise up first.
Ultimately, peace breaks out with the left over Arabs and trade blossoms, with Israel occupying almost all the Middle east and its tourists spending millions in Baghdad, Damascus, Tehran and Beirut. But before this happens, millions of Arabs have faced death, destruction and extermination from their present brutal rulers -- a fate worse than the Jews faced at the hands of Hitler. The writer lives in Disneyworld. Unfortunately7 he's stuck in Fantasyland, while the rest of us are working on the World of Tomorrow.
Sound absurd? [Guffaw] I dunno. What do you think?
It is hard to deny that Arab holocaust is well in the making with the Republicans victory in the recent elections in US, unanimous approval of US-drafted resolution against Iraq and the US preparations for a war on Iraq. This is like shooting splodydopes fish in a barrel. There's a lot more here, but the best part is how the writer quotes the Quran to say that the dastardly Israelis are going to win. No, really! Ya gotta see this for yourself.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/14/2002 05:53 pm ||
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Balochistan Post AGAIN???? I must be a secret masochist, that's the only reason I still read even what you reprint from that damn rag. Please, will somebody pretty please shut that crap down?
Posted by: Joe ||
12/14/2002 22:17 Comments ||
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And I thought we were acting against killer Arabs.
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LOL! These guys are so hyper-out-there, its totally ridiculous. Kinda reminds me of the 'lady' I backed into in a parking lot last year, and she hops out of the car claiming dire internal injuries. At least, she's trying to sue to get money. What these vacu-brains want to get is still unclear...
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has ordered al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to stop exploiting the Palestinian cause to further his own interests. "Yeah. Go find your own pustule. This one's taken!"
In an interview with Britain's Sunday Times newspaper, Arafat said he believed bin Laden and his al Qaeda network were using the Palestinian campaign for independence to gain support in the Islamic world. "Why is bin Laden talking about Palestine now? ...He never helped us. He was working in another, completely different area and against our interests," Arafat told the paper. "I'm telling him directly not to hide behind the Palestinian cause." And if he ignores you? Everyone else does, y'know...
Arafat gave the interview after a purported al Qaeda statement was posted on the Islamist Web site www.azfalrasa.com, claiming responsibility for last month's bomb attacks on an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, that killed 16 people. Nobody home at that address. Guess the site's already been yanked...
"The operations send the message to the Jews that their corruption on earth, the occupation of our sanctities, the crimes against our Palestinian people... will not go unanswered and will be met many fold," said the statement, signed by the "Political Office of Qaeda al-Jihad." That statement was followed by a notice posted on a pro-al Qaeda Web site, www.mojahedoon.net, announcing the launch of an "Islamic al Qaeda Organization in Palestine," which would "serve as a powerful basis for restoring the rights of our Arab and Islamic people in Palestine." Ummm... Yeah. Yasser needs that...
"We declare that the squadrons of our martyrs will strike with all their might the Zionist and American arrogance in the region and that the blood of our men in Palestine, Afghanistan and Kashmir will not go unavenged," it added. Uhuh. Vows of dire revenge. Sounds Islamist all right...
U.S. intelligence officials told Reuters they monitored that Web site but could not say how credible the reports were. Really-truly Bad Guys? Or a 15-year-old with acne and an ego?
Arafat said that al Qaeda had tried to justify attacks by claiming they were part of a campaign to seize control of Palestinian territories from Israel. He also dismissed as "big, big lies" claims by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that al Qaeda had established a presence in the Palestinian-ruled areas of the Gaza Strip and in Lebanon. "Sharon wants to cover his military attacks against the Palestinian people with a new face. He knows that there are no relations between al Qaeda and Palestine." Except that the Qaeda bully boys are trying to climb aboard the bandwagon that the Paleo bully boys have been driving into Arab hearts and, uh... minds.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2002 11:14 pm ||
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Nice try, Yasser, but you'll never convince us that you and Binny aren't on the same side. I still remember all the Paleostinians celebrating on 9/11.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/15/2002 7:17 Comments ||
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Police moved on Saturday morning Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir from a police hospital to a holding cell at the National Police Headquarters without giving prior notice to his lawyers. Lawyer M. Mahendradatta regretted the police's move although he said that they had the authority to carry out the transfer. "If you ain't too sick to destroy Australia, then you ain't too sick to be interrogated!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2002 11:05 am ||
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Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti on Friday advised the Balinese to stick to three things to help revive their tourism industry — the lifeline of the island's economy. "These three things include the maintenance of Bali's culture, in which they are expected to live their lives naturally — without undue fear or anxiety," the minister said during the seminar titled "National Economic Recovery in the Wake of the Bali Bombing Tragedy" in Sanur here. That way, it'll be a surprise when they get boomed...
Dorodjatun said the Balinese should not allow themselves to live in fear, because then the terrorists would feel successful in their mission, encouraging the Balinese to keep their true character. They might want to keep a sharp eye out for Islamists, though...
The former ambassador to the United States said that their inherent hospitality would help make foreign tourists feel at home. "As such, the foreign tourists will be happy to spend their holidays or to stay in Bali," he said as quoted by Antara. "Yes, Frank. He's right. We should go to Bali for vacation. The exploding discos are so festive!"
He urged the Balinese to learn a lesson from the U.S. government's treatment of tourists visiting the country after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington DC last year. US security authorities have imposed tougher restrictions on foreigners trying to enter their country, forcing a sizable portion of them to cancel travel to the U.S. "The tourists object to the strict surveillance, because it makes them feel uncomfortable," said Dorodjatun, who is also former dean of the school of economics of the Jakarta-based University of Indonesia. Ummm... Dorodjatun? It wasn't the tourists who brought the bombs to Bali. It was Islamists. Our restrictions are directed at Islamists — maybe Bali should be thinking along those lines, too.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2002 11:11 am ||
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Egypt has again extended the detention of a suspected al Qaeda official who was extradited to Egypt after fleeing Afghanistan in the wake of September 11, sources in the state prosecutor's office said on Saturday. The sources said Mohamed Nagah Abdel Maqsoud, also known as Abu Mos'ab, had served as a senior information official for the al Qaeda network, which the United States blames for the September 11 attacks. Maqsoud fled from Afghanistan with several al Qaeda leaders days after the suicide hijackings in New York and Washington. He was extradited to Egypt from Pakistan in January 2002, the sources said. He was initially held in investigative custody, and was officially placed under arrest in April. His detention has now been extended three times. Good idea. If we're lucky, eventually he'll die in custody.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2002 09:28 am ||
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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.
