Gen. Mehmed Alagic, a high-ranking Bosnian Muslim commander who was indicted by a United Nations tribunal for war crimes, died Friday of an apparent heart attack. He was 56. Alagic had been awaiting trial at his home, in Sanski Most, about 110 miles northwest of the capital, Sarajevo. Alagic was one of three Bosnian Muslim wartime commanders arrested in August 2001 for alleged crimes committed during the country's 1992-1995 war. The U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague charged the three commanders with executing Serb and Croat civilians and prisoners, using hostages as human shields and pillaging towns. All three were released pending trial. Sounds pretty standard for jihadis...
Alagic served as mayor of Sanski Most from 1996-1999. He won wide support from the town's residents, and thousands turned out in 2001 to protest his arrest.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/10/2003 08:32 pm ||
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Romania has expelled five Iraqi diplomats for conducting activities "incompatible" with their status the Foreign Ministry has said. Diplospeak for "spying".
A statement from the ministry said that the presence of the diplomats had become "undesirable". Diplospeak for "scumbags".
Romania's Prime Minister, Adrian Nastase, confirmed the move but denied it was because of pressure from the United States. The US has expelled two Iraqi diplomats in the United Nations. It has identified a further 300 Iraqis in 60 countries — some of whom are diplomats — and has called on governments to expel them, arguing the alleged agents could attack US interests. Australia has also ordered an Iraqi diplomat it accused of being an intelligence agent out of the country. "Our secret services are attentively surveying the movements of personnel from the Iraqi embassy in Bucharest, and in certain cases there have been problems," Mr Nastase was quoted by French news agency AFP as saying. Most likely caught them watching US troop buildup.
Romania recently closed its embassy in Baghdad and removed its personnel because of growing fears of a military conflict in Iraq. A staunch supporter of US hardline policy towards Iraq, the government has offered Washington non-combat troops and use of its air and military facilities. Around 4,000 US soldiers are also currently stationed in a military base in the Black Sea town of Constanta ahead of a possible war in the Gulf. Bye, bye. Now you get to sit in a trench around Baghdad instead of a cafe in Bucharest. Sucks, don't it?
Posted by: Steve ||
03/10/2003 12:47 pm ||
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They should have gone for asylum. Now they are going to become a JDAM stew, with their own preservatives added.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/10/2003 12:54 Comments ||
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Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the leader of Turkey's ruling party, has finally won the parliamentary seat he badly needs to restore his authority over a government shaken by the defeat of plans to admit 62,000 US troops bound for Iraq. With the count in outlying villages still to come in, he won a landslide 85 per cent share of the vote yesterday among the residents of this ancient and dusty town, surrounded by the snow-capped mountains of the country's impoverished south-eastern region.
Anything over 65 percent always makes me wonder how close an eye they were keeping on the ballot boxes...
Mr Erdogan's constituency victory paves the way for him to assume the premiership in the coming week. Though expected, it will be greeted with undisguised relief by a Bush administration optimistic that Mr Erdogan will use his formal arrival in government to persuade the Ankara parliament to reverse its narrow decision nine days ago to refuse the US the use of Turkish bases to open its northern front against Saddam Hussein. In return, the US had offered Turkey, which is in talks with the International Monetary Fund about the country's economic crisis, $6bn (£3.75bn) in direct grants and an extensive loan guarantee package.
Having been in power but not in office, Mr Erdogan has found it difficult since last November to run a sometimes divided government from the headquarters of his Justice and Development Party (AKP), when he cannot even attend debates in parliament. It probably made it more difficult for him last week to persuade the stubborn Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, to back a UN reunification plan which Kofi Annan will urge on leaders of the divided island at a meeting in The Hague today.
As a result, the influence wielded by the 119,000 constituents of this mainly Kurdish and Arab town can hardly be overestimated. Some analysts believe Mr Erdogan was inhibited from making clearer public statements in favour of the US request before the Siirt poll by worries that it might alienate a predominantly religious Muslim population opposed to war and fearful any counter attack by President Saddam would directly affect the town, which is a mere 60 miles from the Iraqi border. The district was also a focus of guerrilla activity by Kurdish PKK militants until the mid-1990s and its successor organisation, Kadek, hinted it would fight again if Turkish troops march on Kurds in northern Iraq â a prospect equally horrifying to non-militant Kurds.
Perhaps as a result of his earlier disinclination to sell the prospective deal with the US, many voters here remain convinced that Mr Erdogan does not want war, while also being bleakly realistic about the pressures on him to grant the US request.
Several voters who had supported the AKP, with varying enthusiasm, said â in carefully oblique terms because of the sensitivity of the subject â that they looked to his non-fundamentalist Islamist party to do more to allow the wearing of headscarves by Muslim public officials and students. These have been banned by all the fiercely secularist governments up till now. Despite fears that the heavy presence of plain clothes and armed police close to polling stations was intended to enforce the normally theoretical compulsory voting regime here, other voters readily admitted they were joining a boycott called by the Kurdish Dehap grouping, which came top of the poll here in last November's elections, but failed to qualify for parliamentary seats because it fell short of the required 10 per cent share of the nationwide vote.
By stubbornly resisting President George W. Bush's call for immediate military action in Iraq, President Jacques Chirac is being vilified by U.S. pundits as anti-American, craven, engaged in a ludicrous attempt to revive France's failed grandeur. Everyone seems to have forgotten that just a few years back the roles were diametrically reversed. It was Chirac who obliged a reluctant, vacillating U.S. president to bypass a hapless United Nations force and order military action to end the slaughter in the former Yugoslavia. A further touch of irony: The most influential American opposing U.S. military involvement in the region was General Colin Powell.
For years the United States and its allies looked on as Slobodan Milosevic's Serbian troops rampaged through the former Yugoslavia, ethnic cleansing as they went. Brutal Serbian commanders thumbed their noses at the lightly equipped soldiers of the UN peacekeeping force, who had no mandate to take forceful action. Americans criticized the Europeans for doing nothing to end the killings. Europeans retorted that, since the United States was unwilling to commit its own forces to the task, it had no right to speak.
Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff until September 1993, was adamant that the United States should not become involved. Powell was determined that no weak-kneed civilian politicians would be able to commit U.S. troops to a vague campaign that could turn into a military quagmire. As David Halberstam wrote in his excellent account of that period, "War in a Time of Peace," Powell "wanted to avoid the careless, poorly thought out, deliberately disingenuous decision-making that had led to the debacle in Vietnam."
As Serbian atrocities mounted, the United States and its allies continued to wring their hands and prevaricate. President Bill Clinton was feeling the heat, but his staff was unable to come up with any acceptable policy. Then in June 1995, on the day that Chirac took office as president of France, a unit of French UN peacekeepers was taken hostage by the Serbs, tied to trees and chained to Serbian artillery pieces. Chirac, who had been wounded after he volunteered to serve in the French Army in Algeria, was outraged. "I will not accept this," he told aides. "You can kill French soldiers, you can wound them, but you cannot humiliate them! That will end today. France will not accept that! We will change the rules of the game." Unless the French soldiers were given a new mandate to act, Chirac said, he would pull them out. Chirac called the French commander who had lost a key bridge in Bosnia and gave him 24 hours to retake it. He then called Prime Minister John Major of Britain and proposed establishing a rapid reaction force of elite, well-armed French and British troops, with a mandate to take action, bypassing the impotent UN peacekeepers. The United States would be asked to provide air support and helicopters.
Chirac met with Clinton, forcefully pushed his new concept and urged the president to take a much tougher line in the Balkans. Some of Clinton's aides were annoyed by what they viewed as Chirac's Gallic posturing. But a speech by Chirac on Bastille Day finally provoked Clinton to move. France, Chirac said, wanted to take action, but regrettably France was alone. He recalled the West's appeasement of Hitler. The implication was that the West lacked a leader. Clinton was apoplectic. He finally gave the go-ahead for a more aggressive policy that bypassed the UN command and eventually led to the intensive bombing of Serbian forces. That, along with a surprisingly successful offensive by the Croats, finally convinced Milosevic to back down. The way was open to the Dayton peace talks. "Chirac cornered us,â said Richard Holbrooke, who presided over those negotiations. "But that was important because it forced us to see reality, to know that the United States could no longer refuse to get involved."
Posted by: ISHMAIL ||
03/10/2003 06:45 am ||
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Ironic indeed, but the self-interest thread that ties all French foreign policy together is clear to see. Having turned a blind eye to years of atrocities, it was only his emotional reaction to a few French members of the Corps des Poseurs being tied to trees that persuaded Chirac to "do the right thing".
"You can kill French soldiers, you can wound them, but you cannot humiliate them!": Who does he think he is, Napoleon?!
"Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff until September 1993, was adamant that the United States should not become involved.": And frankly, why should they? Like NKor, this wasn't happening on the US's doorstep, but at the feet of other liberal democracies that could, and should, have dealt with the problem themselves.
#3
This is shameless revisionism. France was and still is a supporter of the Serbs in their struggle to subdue all of former Yugoslavia's peoples into one, Serbian-led whole. It were the French who tipped off both Milosevic and Karadzic on different occasions. It were the French who have resisted a powerful intervention till the last moment.
It's about time people woke up and recognize this French government for what it is : a bunch of foolish neo-Bonapartists who want to dominate Europe. It's time to form a new anti-Bonapartist coalition and to inflict another Waterloo on their plans.
Posted by: Peter ||
03/10/2003 7:45 Comments ||
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Four Algerians have been jailed for plotting to blow up a Christmas market in the French city of Strasbourg. A court in Germany convicted the four of conspiracy to murder. They had planned to detonate a bomb at the bustling Christmas market beside Strasbourg Cathedral on New Year's Eve in 2000. Aeroubi Beandalis, Fouhad Sabour, Salim Boukari and Lamine Maroni were given jail terms of between 10 and 12 years.
Police who raided their flat in December 2000 found explosives and weapons, and a video tape of the market in which they declared that the people there were the enemies of God, who would be sent to hell. "They planned to kill defenceless people at the Christmas market in Strasbourg," said presiding judge Karlheinz Zeiher. "Through this action, in the European city of Strasbourg, they wanted to spread fear in France and Europe. "The accused wanted to hit the nerve centre of a free, Western, civilised society." Will that society take the hint?
The group had deliberately chosen the Christmas market and the cathedral because of their Christian symbolism, the judge said. The men also wanted to punish France for its support for the Algerian Government, he said. Some of the defendants admitted planning an attack, but insisted that their intended target was an empty synagogue. But one defendant, Beandalis, confirmed that the group was planning to detonate the device outside the cathedral on New Year's Eve. He apologised for his role in the plot and thanked police for foiling it. Beandalis was given a 10-year jail term. The longest sentence - 12 years - was handed to Boukari.
Several of the men admitted attending camps in Afghanistan, where prosecutors believe they received al-Qaeda training. The court heard that the group had a cache of weapons, ammunition and explosives, and were in contact with other extremists in the UK and Italy. Their flat was raided after a tip-off from a foreign intelligence agency. Judge Zeiher said encouragement for the attacks - and possibly orders - had come from a London-based Islamist group. The four plotters were linked to a militant group called the Nonaligned Mujahideen, prosecutors claimed, but attempts to prove the link in court were dropped in January to speed up the trial. A fifth suspect, Mohammed Bensakhria, was arrested in Spain in June 2001 and extradited to France, where he is awaiting trial.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
03/10/2003 06:50 am ||
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10 years for attempting mass murder? Justice would be a quick swing on a noose!
Opinion piece from the Telegraph. I know it's OT, Fred, if you want to chop it...
Here is a surprising fact: 100 Germans are losing their jobs every hour. Imagine being Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. Like a starlet in a Hollywood disaster movie, he is trapped in a car heading over the cliff. The speedometer just keeps whizzing round as he tries the door and screams for help. He pumps the brake and turns the steering wheel, but to no avail. Last week, the counter hit 4.4 million. Apart from his own bad driving, who or what can Mr Schröder blame? His predecessors, the world downturn and the Americans have all come in for criticism. But he may soon find the perfect culprit: the French. For although France and Germany are having a wonderful flirtation over the Iraqi question, they are actually star-crossed lovers.
Their interests are diverging over the economy. Mr Schröder hardly needs reminding of this. Last month, he was humiliatingly defeated in the lower Saxony and Hesse elections, just three months after winning the federal election. His pronouncements about stopping the Americans invading Iraq were simply embarrassing in the face of the question that was more immediate to many - mass unemployment. The world economy is on a precipice, but Germany has already fallen over the edge. Germany's crisis is a once-in-a-generation event, such as Britain suffered in the 1970s, and its consequences are far-reaching. Three of Germany's biggest banks are loss-making, as loans to construction companies handed out in the post-unification boom have gone sour. Clients in the once-fabled engineering sector struggle to make profits. Everywhere is the evidence of excessive regulation, which stops companies restructuring and new enterprises opening up. There are, for instance, only four days a year on which employees can be dismissed. In some towns, anyone who is not a registered agnostic or atheist must still pay church tithes. No wonder that the European Central Bank again cut interest rates last week.
By contrast, the French economy is in positively bumptious condition. Although it has slowed, along with the rest of the euro zone, it is outperforming other big economies, such as Italy's. In theory, France should be heading over a cliff, too; it suffers from many of the same problems as Germany, including excessive regulation, an unreliable banking system and high taxation. It also has the 35-hour week, which has rendered industry extremely uncompetitive. But France has natural advantages that it can always rely on to come to the rescue. France is an attractive, verdant country. It is the world's largest tourist destination and also the biggest exporter of food. So the French can do pretty nicely just by sitting on their backsides. French service industries grew throughout the 1990s, creating an extra 1.25 million new jobs. Many of these are in some way related to France being so popular for holidays and second homes. France is suffering from a downturn, but not a crisis.
The French are also brilliant at rigging the rules in their favour. France receives more grants than any other member of the European Union from the CAP, which helps to reinforce its advantages at the expense of everyone else. The CAP subsidises those quaint rural farmers and co-operatives who are incredibly inefficient but none the less maintain the countryside that we so enjoy visiting. And if a regulation or a rule comes along that the French don't like, they just ignore it.
Nowhere is this more evident than with the euro, for the single currency is the arena for conflict with Germany. The euro suits France. It joined at an attractive rate and the current ECB interest rate is about right for the French economy. But for Germany, the euro is a disaster that has saddled it with the most unsuitable monetary policy since Weimar. Germany should have interest rates of less than one per cent, not the 2.5 per cent forced on it by the ECB. And instead of its manufacturers having to cope with the strengthening euro, it needs a devaluation, possibly by as much as 30 per cent. Only then could its factories have any chance against those hard-working Asians.
Then there are the rules underpinning the euro, or the Growth and Stability Pact. This says that a country must not have a large government deficit. Both Germany and France have fallen foul of this and so they are being told by the EC to cut government spending and put up taxes in order to balance their books at just the wrong time in the economic cycle. The Germans - notorious sticklers for rules - have just increased capital gains tax and put up social security contributions. But the French are having none of it. Last Thursday night - at a meeting in Brussels - French finance minister Francis Mer declined to commit himself to anything. President Jacques Chirac said he was following a "determined and responsible foreign policy".
To add insult to injury, the president of the ECB, Wim Duisenberg, has been elbowed by the French into stepping down this summer. He must, of course, be succeeded by a Frenchman. But Jean-Claude Trichet, the man chosen by Jacques Chirac for the job, is currently fighting a legal battle over his role in the Credit Lyonnais banking scandal. He is hardly the most obvious person to reassure the Germans about the euro at such a critical time. An almighty euro-tiff could be only months away.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
03/10/2003 06:50 am ||
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A whole lot of UNESCO dollars are spent in Paris (reports, catalogues, conferences). I've always wondered what the economic effect of that is. Probably, with UN accounting being the black hole that it is, no legitimate study could ever be done.
#4
Good article, but past-oriented. Do NOT invest in the French tourist industry, and do NOT go to France in any case, unless you like being insulted by ignoramuses.
Two Arab nationals were arrested from Hayatabad Township late on Saturday night by the officials of an intelligence agency with the help of local police. The arrested persons were shifted to Islamabad, a source said. One of the arrested Arabs is stated to be an Iraqi national. Sources told Dawn that the raid was also conducted at Shamshato refugees camp, some 30 kms south-east of Peshawar. However, it could not be ascertained whether anybody was picked from that camp or not. Wonder if there's any significance to the fact that he's an Iraqi national? Does it indicate an increased activity by Iraqi thugs? Or does it indicate the Iraqis are being watched more closely than they have been?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/10/2003 08:33 pm ||
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Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid on Sunday appealed to the Muslims to stop supporting the "so-called" secular parties, including the Congress and form a separate national party to protect the interests of the community. In a speech laced with questions to many leaders of "secular parties" seated on the dias at rally organised by the Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind here, Imam Maulana Syed Ahmed Bukhari said "Secularism is dead in this country after the Gujarat riots in which hundreds of Muslims were killed. Now it is high time we chart our own course". No mention of any dead Hindus. If secularism is really, truly dead, Muslims are in large trouble, being in the minority. Of course, this kind of truculence can lead to more sectarian violence, more bodies in the streets, and more notoriety for local mullahs. It won't lead to any progress, but then, if people are making progress, the funding from Arabia dries up, doesn't it?
Pointing to Congress leader Arjun Singh, he said "it was his party which triggered the Ayodhya controversy. They opened the locks, performed shilanyas and the masjid was brought down during their regime. 1984 anti-Sikh riots were instigated by his partymen". See what I mean about truculence?
"What secularism are you and your President (Sonia Gandhi) talking about?" he asked a visibly embarrassed Singh. Directing his ire this time at other leaders Ram Vilas Paswan, Arif Mohammed Khan and Udit Raj who were also present, he said "Paswans and Mulayam Singhs rule after we vote and it is we who are the ultimate sufferers." Alleging that the Muslim community has been "under constant attack ever since independence", the Imam said "we were under a false impression that the so called secular parties would be our saviours. We can no longer lean on them. This over-dependence had weakened the community".
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/10/2003 08:32 pm ||
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The Imams need one-way tickets out of the country or....but they cannot be allowed to continue incitement to riot, kill, overthrow the govt, etc etc.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/10/2003 20:40 Comments ||
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KARACHI, March 10 (AFP) - Pakistani police said Monday they had gained permission to try in prison two Islamic militants charged over a suicide bomb attack that killed 11 French naval engineers. Police had asked authorities in southern Sindh province to move the trial to Karachi's Central Jail to ensure greater security for judges and prosecutors. Sindh's home department gave the green light, police investigations chief Fayyaz Leghari said. "The decision to conduct the trial inside jail has been taken as the two suspects are dangerous criminals," Leghari told AFP. Not gonna let these fish get away... Asif Zaheer, from the Harkat Jihad-ul Islami militant group, and Mohammad Bashir, from the outlawed Kashmiri militant group Harkatul Mujahedin, are charged with murder and terrorism. Both charges carry the death penalty. The prison authorities refused to produce the pair in a courthouse where the anti-terrorism court was sitting on March 5, saying the pair's appearance would be "a security risk." Not gonna let the fishes' friends try to bust 'em free either...
Zaheer and Bashir allegedly helped plot the ramming of an explosives-laden Volkswagen beetle into a bus carrying the French engineers outside the Sheraton hotel in Pakistan's largest city Karachi on May 8 last year. The engineers were helping Pakistan's navy build its second Agosta 90-B submarine. Two Pakistanis and the suicide bomber who drove the car were also killed. Police say Zaheer and Bashir have confessed to their role in the May 8 attack. "We dunnit! Now put those down!"
Five other militants wanted in the case were declared absconders by the court on February 24, after police declared they had failed to find them. Among the five absconders is a militant believed to be the mastermind of the anti-Western violence that has plagued Karachi since the US-led campaign was launched in Afghanistan 17 months ago to crush the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Bashir, who had fought alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan, told reporters after his arrest that the bomber was a 26-year-old Pakistani named Rashid. Bashir travelled with Rashid in the bomb-laden car towards the Sheraton hotel and stepped out of the car before it reached its target. He said Rashid wanted to finally get a date avenge the killings of Muslims around the world. Zaheer and Bashir have both said they mistakenly thought their targets were Americans and regretted that the victims turned out to be French. "But they were all drinking Starbucks!"
A month after the attack another suicide car bomb attack killed 12 Pakistanis including the bomber outside the US consulate. Have a nice trial, boys.
This may or may not have something to do with the war . . . Fred, delete it if you think it's off-topic (or just plain "off"); I'll take no offense.
Two interesting notes appeared in the Ashbrook Center's No Left Turns political science weblog today:
Cheney Takes the Hill
Vice-President Cheney will be presiding over the Senate from 11:00 am till 12:30 p.m. tomorrow in a special session on Miguel Estrada. . . .
Posted at 11:46 this morning. Nothing special, just domestic politics . . . but then, an hour later, came this:
More on Cheney on the Hill
The Senate Whip has issued an alert regarding VP Cheney exercising his VP prerogative to preside over the Senate tomorrow between the hours of 11:00am and 12:30pm: "Vice President Cheney will be the Presiding Officer and a special message from the President will be delivered during this time."
(Emphasis added.)
According to your humble narrator's calculations, 11:00 in Washington is 19:00 Baghdad time . . . just after sunset, when the Middle Eastern skies sometimes fill with prowling Nighthawks and vengeful Spirits . . . so this could be an indication that the party's about to start. Or not.
Have a nice evening, Mr. Hussein.
Posted by: Mike ||
03/10/2003 07:02 pm ||
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I'm guessing that it's not The Balloon going up -- it just doesn't seem like Blair is safe enough to commence action yet. It's definitely possible that the special message from POTUS will concern a temporary withdrawal from the UN. Of course, it could be Estrada-related, too, I suppose. :-)
#2
Blair will be safer without a second resolution than with one that gets 2 vetos and maybe not even a majority. War in mid April is not an option. It may not start tomorrow but we are talking days now, not weeks.
#3
tcc: I agree with all of your points. I think the magic hour will be upon us within 8 or 9 days at the outside. I just don't think it'll be tomorrow. I could certainly be wrong, though. We shall see soon enough.
#4
I should add that Tony might not survive another month of diplomatic stalemate.
Even if the U.S. agreed to the mid April compromise that wouldn't change a thing. In a month we'd be exactly where we are now. We'd just waste a few billions waiting and brace for a hotter war.
It's over at the UN.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2003 20:42 Comments ||
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#6
With all due respect to Mr. Blair, a man who has been faithful to his principles and democratic values throughout this enite matter, it's time to take your troops home. The US would prefer to fight shoulder to shoulder with the Brits, but if politics is getting in the way, then go home. The US can win this war without the Brits. Save your political capital Mr. Blair, and then help us to win the peace. The war can be fought and won without GB. The time for war is now.
Posted by: Mark ||
03/10/2003 20:47 Comments ||
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#7
I heard today on the Jay Serverin show the troops have been put on zulu time as of Monday, which means the time is near.
Posted by: Phil ||
03/10/2003 20:56 Comments ||
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#8
I think this particular post is all about the Estrada situation.
#9
Ian Duncan Smith won't let the Government fall; the Conservatives are too weak to put their own Government together but would repulse in horror if New Labour fell apart (warmed over statism being better than unreconstructed statism?). It could emerge that Labour split in half and the Conservatives join the rump Labour until the PM can be shaken up later (viz. Churchill)
Posted by: Brian ||
03/10/2003 22:53 Comments ||
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The truth? You can't handle the truth! So here's here's a load of b/s courtesy of (a friend of a friend of a... of) Pravda
Dominican Sister Sharine, Iraqi, lives in Baghad. She went to the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, where she was heard by Pravda.Ru contacts, among them Joao Pedro Stedille, who sent us this report. We thank Senhor Stedille most sincerely for this chilling report.
Viruses and mice dropped by parachute against Iraqi agriculture
âOne of the main causes of the hunger which afflicts the Iraqi people is the policy adopted by the USA, for more than eight years now, of sending viruses against Iraqi crops and the policy of dropping thousands of mice by parachute to destroy what little we haveâ.
Chemical weaponry deployed by the United States of America
âThe United States of America used chemical weapons in their systematic bombings. There is hardly any drinking water left in Iraq, specially in Baghdad, a result of these bombing raids with chemical weapons which have contaminated the waterâ,
Depleted Uranium has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths
âUntil today the Iraqi people have suffered the consequences of the Gulf War, due to the use of depleted uranium by the United States of America, which has caused cancerous diseases in those who survived the bombingâ. We can add the statistic that at least 500,000 Iraqi children have died as a result of the deployment of this illegal weaponry, which breaches the Geneva Convention and the deployment of which is therefore a war crime.
Oil, the Bait for the Devil
âThe Iraqi people are depressed, they accept their destiny, resigned, as a people who live sleeping on a mattress of oil and so for this reason they will attract the greed of the US-based energy companies and due to their wealth, they will be condemned to poverty and deathâ.
It will be a massacre
âThe people will not react. The people are not armed. This is a lie of western TV. Worse than this, we all know it will be a massacre, genocide. Since 1990, the population of Baghdad has
increased by eight times and now the city has a population of eight million inhabitants, 70% of them coming from the countryside, devastated, without jobs, receiving a basic food basket from the government so as to not starve to death. Can you imagine how these people will suffer if there is a massive bombing campaign against the capital?â Ok guys, I thought the US was playing fair until I heard about the mice. How could you?!
#2
Viruses and mice dropped by parachute against Iraqi agriculture
HAHAHAHA I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M HEARING THIS... AGAIN!!!! This is actually a VERY OLD propaganda thing concocted by the Communists and propagated in Poland! When I first heard of this in the old country, everyone was laughing so I took it as a local joke. I then forgot about it... and here it is again!!! LMAO
#3
OK - think how small a parachute for a mouse would need to be, a parachute for a virus would be sssoooooooo small you couldn't see it, so how do they know we haven't really done it?
BBwwaa Hhahhhaa Hhaaa
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/10/2003 18:36 Comments ||
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#6
What about weasels? The're just a bit bigger than mice. Can you drop them?
Would not want to waste parachutes.
Posted by: john ||
03/10/2003 21:47 Comments ||
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#7
The sister is wrong we have been parachuting badgers into Iraq for the past ten years. Anyone who has ever cornered a badger knows they are one white hot hatred filled ball of fury. Why did we do it ran out of mice. Power through badgers! Yeah, what is it the good sister smokes?
Posted by: TJ Jackson ||
03/10/2003 23:34 Comments ||
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#8
Right you are,T.J.
Run across a couple of badgers,meanest litle buggers I've ever met.Make a pissed off pit bull look like a pussycat.
Chirac boxes himself into a corner... France has joined Russia in declaring itself ready to veto a new UN resolution which gives Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein until 17 March to disarm.French President Jacques Chirac said his country would vote against any resolution that contains an ultimatum leading to war.
Mr Chirac's comments echoed an earlier statement by the Russian Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov, who said his country would vote against the draft resolution proposed by the US and the UK. The stance by France and Russia - both veto-wielding members of the Security Council - is a severe blow to US aims of securing UN backing for quick military action against Iraq. In a day of frantic diplomatic activity, President George W Bush has been telephoning foreign leaders in an attempt to garner support for the resolution.
The Security Council resumed consultations on Monday, but the new resolution is not expected to be put to the vote until Wednesday at the earliest. Speaking on French television, Mr Chirac said France would not support any measure at the UN that would lead to military action against Iraq until the weapons inspectors said they could do no more on the ground. He said that he did not believe the resolution had sufficient support to be passed by the Security Council. Tweedledum: "Tweedledee ain't gonna vote for it, so I can't support it."
Tweedledee: "Tweedledum ain't gonna vote for it, so I can't support it."
But if it did gain the necessary nine votes, France would vote against it. "France will not accept this resolution. France will vote no," Mr Chirac said.
He also warned that if the US embarked on military action without UN backing it would set a dangerous precedent and lead to an increase in terrorism. "The war will break up the international coalition against terrorism," he said.
Hours earlier, Mr Ivanov said the draft resolution was impossible to fulfil and ran counter to the policy currently being implemented under resolution 1441.
Among the Council members reported to be undecided, Pakistan has now said it would find it very hard to support military action. We find it paradoxical and contradictory to resort to force while we're making progress on disarmament
And Angolan Foreign Minister Joao Bernardo de Miranda said his country is not prepared to commit itself until it came to a Council vote. He was speaking after talks with French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, who has been touring Angola and the other African members of the Security Council, Cameroon and Guinea, to try to persuade them to reject the resolution. Despite intensive lobbying over the weekend, it is far from certain that Britain, the US, and Spain, which is also promoting the resolution, have the support on the Security Council to see it passed.
In another blow to the US and UK, the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, has spoken out against any military action against Iraq that lacks the support of the Security Council. The members of the Security Council faced a grim task, Mr Annan said. "If they fail to agree on a common position and action is taken without the authority of the Security Council, the legitimacy and support for any such action would be seriously impaired," he said.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said if the Security Council did not support a new resolution, it would be failing the people of Iraq just as it had let down other peoples before. "From a moral point of view, as the world witnessed in Rwanda and ...Kosovo, the United Nations Security Council will have failed once again," he said. But the BBC's Rob Watson in Washington said Mr Fleischer also indicated that Washington could be flexible over its precise wording, including the proposed deadline of 17 March - a sign perhaps of how much the US still wants a second resolution.
Britain has also said it will continue to work to get a draft resolution through the Security Council to disarm Iraq by force. "My instructions at the moment are to continue working for the draft resolution, and we will to continue to do that," UK ambassador to the UN, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, told reporters. Earlier on Monday, UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw insisted that Iraq was not being asked to disarm within a week. "But what we are expecting is that the Iraqi regime should demonstrate the full, unconditional, immediate cooperation demanded by successive resolutions since 1991," he told MPs. To that end, Mr Straw said the UK Government wanted to draw up a list of tasks for Iraq to show it was serious about disarming.
The detailed disarmament moves are likely to be drawn from a document compiled by UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix which says Iraq has not fully disposed of its chemical and biological weapons arsenal.
Iraq is placing explosives at the Kirkuk oil fields in northern Iraq, Fox News has confirmed, raising new fears that Saddam Hussein may be planning to blow up its oil production facilities to prevent them from being taken over in a war with the U.S. There are no specifics on the types or amounts of explosives the Iraqis are using, but U.S. officials say they are seeing new activity in the area. Last week, the Pentagon cited reliable reports that Iraq planned to plant explosives at its oil wells, and that in some cases they "had already begun." Iraq recently received twenty-four railroad boxcars filled with Pentolite explosives, Fox News learned. Pentolite is a TNT based booster manufactured by African Explosives Limited, Republic of South Africa. Wonder if old Nelson Mandela owns shares in the company?Wonder how they got twenty-four boxcars of it into Iraq, as UN approved oil field supplies?
In Baghdad, an oil ministry official denied the report. "Iraq is keen to defend its oil wells and it is illogical that we burn our oil wells with our own hands," Oil Undersecretary Hussein Suleiman Al-Hadithi told Reuters. We'll see.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/10/2003 09:43 pm ||
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Boxcars via Syria. Would make pretty neat target practice. Rumors of lots of proscribed targets at the moment, Sadddam can't admit or complain.
Posted by: john ||
03/10/2003 21:12 Comments ||
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Officially, the Turkish government will not allow the U.S. 4th Infantry Division to land and transit from the Mediterranean ports of Mersin and Iskanderun until its Parliament votes again. In fact, there is intense activity under way at the Turkish ports, where U.S. and Turkish generals are quietly cooperating to stretch very far the interpretation of the January agreement to upgrade Turkish bases and ports. Just what I thought, watch the hands, not the mouth.
That agreement allowed 3,500 U.S. troops -- and their engineering and maintenance equipment -- ashore to help prepare the bases for the transit of up to 62,000 troops. But with a nod and a wink from Turkish chief of staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok, a lot more troops have landed, along with equipment that looks rather better suited to war than construction. As a result, NTV film of the U.S. convoys leaving Iskenderun for the new base of Kiziltepe, only 100 miles from the Iraqi border, has further inflamed an already hostile Turkish public opinion. Bulent Arinc, speaker of the Turkish Parliament, has criticized the troop movements as "disrespectful." A potentially tricky incident took place over the weekend, when 700 U.S. troops from the 4th Infantry were asked to leave their personal weapons behind at Iskenderun harbor's customs exit. Nobody wants to use the emotive word "disarmed" and U.S. and Turkish brass are trying to draw a veil over the incident as "a misunderstanding." Troops with no weapons can be passed off as logistics types helping upgrade the bases. Troops with weapons look like, well, troops with weapons. Somebody in the 4th didn't get the memo.
Now that Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the leader of the Justice and Development Party, has won Sunday's parliamentary by-election in Siirt and thus qualifies to become Turkey's prime minister, Washington is not only watching for a swift re-scheduling of that parliamentary vote. Erdogan assured President George W. Bush's special envoy Zalmay Khalizad that he would get the 4th Division through to open the Northern Front on Iraq. He also told Khalizad to watch for one other sign of his good faith. The five ministers in his government who voted against the U.S. troop agreement would be sacked, Erdogan pledged. Watch this space. We'll be watching
Turkey is not the only place where U.S. military activity has stepped up. The Saudis are also turning a blind eye to some unexpected new deployments on its territory west of Kuwait along the Iraqi border. Saudi opposition sources in London and Washington claim that "thousands" of U.S. troops have moved into the area -- from which the famous "Hail Mary" flank attack on 1991 was launched -- over the past week. They add that the United States has taken over the Araar airport, just 8 miles from the Iraqi border, and that they also using the airfield of Tabouk, close to the junction between the Jordanian and Iraqi frontiers. The Saudis of course deny everything.
Who says President Bush has no military support from the Islamic world? Gallant little Albania, still hoping to get into NATO one day (and maybe even unite with Kosovo), has offered a contingent of its Commando troops, a special forces unit. The Kuwaitis have not yet responded, even though the Albanians have promised to bring their own Korans. Thank you, Albania.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/10/2003 01:21 pm ||
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Albanians are tough little buggers. They can join our fight any time!
Three statues of Saddam Hussein have been destroyed in Kirkuk, the oil-rich city in the north of the country. The destruction of the statues is considered by local residents as the beginning of an internal uprising against Hussein. In 1991, a similar uprising was initiated in southern Iraq when statues of the Iraqi president, spread throughout the country, were secretly destroyed.
#2
PSY-OP dammit, it's PSY-OP.
and it's not the special forces that do it, there's a dedicated Psychological operations component to the army. The CIA also do psyop but I dunno enough about their actions. Now it might be some SF guys who decided to get a little squirrely but destroying or defacing landmarks and statues is usually NOT something that we do in psy-op.
Al-Qaeda may have plans to attack British warships in the Gulf, according to the Royal Navy's commander in the region.
Rear Admiral David Snelson said information provided by captured al-Qaeda suspects made it clear suicide bombers in high-powered speedboats packed with explosives could be sent to ram the vessels. He said this was the biggest threat facing his forces. Admiral Snelson said the danger would instantly increase the moment war with Iraq began. More than 130 warships and auxiliary vessels are now crowded into the Gulf. Most are American, but about 30 are British. Lot of targets in a small area.
Admiral Snelson said warning shots had already been fired at small boats approaching the ships at high speed. He said: "We know al-Qaeda are active within this region. "There are a lot of small high speed boats operating in the region, and it is one of the challenges to know whether they are smugglers, a fishing boat, or a high speed boat with hostile intent." I'm sure that the smugglers and fishermen have been warned to stay clear and to keep the speed down.
Al-Qaeda was blamed for an attack on USS Cole in October 2000 which killed 17 American sailors and another last year which killed Bulgarian crewman on board the French merchant ship Limburg. In both cases militants approached warships in tiny boats and detonated explosives. Admiral Snelson said the security of British ships was being boosted by seals trained by US naval marine biologists to seek out terrorist frogmen carrying limpet mines. PETA is very upset about it, too.
"They're very good at detecting underwater movement," he said.
British naval forces, armed with machine guns and night vision goggles, are also patrolling in small vessels and helicopters, watching out for sneak attacks. The closer we get, the quicker the warning shots will come. And closer to the boat involved.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/10/2003 10:51 am ||
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Forget firing until you see the whites of their eyes. Time to start practicing to break Canada's sniper record from Afghanistan.
#3
Bet we can beat it if we use the 5 inch gun! It will sure get the boat crews attention.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/10/2003 13:18 Comments ||
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#4
The shkval I worry about these guys using this weapon almost as much as I worry about them getting their hands on WMD's.
Posted by: Frank Martin ||
03/10/2003 13:33 Comments ||
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#5
Frank, don't forget the Kursk.
Posted by: Brian ||
03/10/2003 16:48 Comments ||
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#6
Shkvals are plenty nasty, but it's hard to see how Al Q could launch one, unless ol' bin laden has acquired more substantial vessels than small speed boats. Launching a torpedo of this nature is alot more involved than simply racing in and blowing yourself up with a bunch of explosives (the human torpedo approach).
#7
The Shkvals: If they get close enough to launch, there are no effective countermeasures. The damn things scare the snot out of me. I'd hate to find out how effective their ability to launch via torpedo boats or small aircraft is while Im watching video of the USS Nimitz on fire and serverly listing in the straits of Hormuz.
If "I were admiral", I'd sink everything that has a radar return that isnt flying old glory or a union jack. I makes me nervous as hell that we have 6 of 12 carrier battle groups in such a small area of the world.
Posted by: Frank Martin ||
03/10/2003 22:59 Comments ||
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Ilam, March 9, IRNA -- Voice of Iraq (VOI) radio, run by Iraqi
dissidents from Saudi Arabia, said on Saturday that Iraq has once again stationed its 41st and 624th armored brigades, in the marsh lands adjacent to Iran's borders. The VOI added, "those two brigades, that are comprised of Iraq's
special task forces, are now stationed at the marsh lands of Abu Ghorab Slam, Meymouneh, Juraygah, Gusara, and Sida in Iraq's Meysan province. The radio claimed that the main objective of the Baghdad government from the armed forces' deployment in those regions, particularly along the Basra-Amara contention road is enabling them to pursue and control the probable operations of the patriotic resistance forces of the Iraqi dissidents. Methinks they are going to have more to think about than keeping resistance forces at bay, real soon now.
The VOI also informed of Ali Hassan al-Majid's visit of the border regions of Iraq's Basra Province and his talks with the tribal chiefs of the region. Al-Majid is a member of the Revolutionary Council of Iraq, famous for his aggressive attitude. The VOI claimed that he has promised to grant one million dinars to any tribal chief who would succeed in
suppressing the popular uprising. I'm sure the tribal chiefs welcomed him with a straight face and started giggling as soon as he was out of earshot.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/10/2003 10:15 am ||
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#1
btw, General Ali hassan al-Majid was the general that Saddam Hussein put incharge of his "anfal" campaign in the Northwestern city of Halabja.
if you're unfamiliar with those names, it's the campaign and the city in which Saddam Gassed the kurds. which is how the General got the nickname "chemical Ali". When the reports claim that he is aggressive, they are putting it very lightly. Oddly, "anfal" translates into "the spoils".
#2
DS, that's an interesting comment on General al-Majid. So he's one of those guys who has absolutely no choice but to fight for Saddam -- there's nowhere else for him to turn.
I suppose the odds are that the General will die pretty quickly -- one way or another -- once the shooting starts. That's a bit of a shame. It would be rough justice to give him to the Kurds, but justice none the less.
Posted by: Patrick Phillips ||
03/10/2003 11:21 Comments ||
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TURKISH MAJOR GETS ANGRY DUE TO U.S. SOLDIERS
U.S. soldiers who came to Iskenderun to renovate bases and ports walked around with their weapons and tried to leave the port without permission. Attitudes of soldiers caused tension in the port. A Turkish major who got angry due to attitude of U.S. soldiers, confiscated weapons of soldiers and delivered weapons to officials. Turkish major warned first the U.S. soldiers by saying that ''you cannot walk around this region with your weapons. It is against agreement principles regarding modernization.'' But some U.S. soldiers continued to walk around with their weapons. After that, major warned them for the second time. Meanwhile, a group of U.S. soldiers who wanted to leave the port without permission escalated tension in the port. Later, Turkish major confiscated weapons. I guess that some US troops didn't get the memo that until we get a final agreement on deployment of troops they can only carry weapons where the Turks say they can. They got two warnings before the Turks confiscated their weapons. Somebody is going to have a nasty meeting with his 1st Shirt and Commander to explain where his weapon is.
BARZANI BECOMES A FRIEND OF TURKEY
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Massoud Barzani, who said earlier that they would fight against the Turkish soldiers, has become a friend of Turkey suddenly. Armored vehicles and tanks of the Second Army crossed the border and entered the region controlled by Barzani. Barzani ordered his peshmerga fighters to guard the tanks. A few days ago, Kurds had set Turkish flags on fire during anti-Turkey demonstrations. "Death to the Turks! Uh, is that a tank? Long live the Turks!"
SECRETS OF MEMORANDUM
Main logistic base of the northern front of a possible U.S.led military action against Iraq will be set up in the area among Mardin, Kiziltepe, Nusaybin and Oyali. The United States will be allowed to make any kind of construction in the area with the condition of approval of local residents. These constructions will be limited with hangar, depot and shelter. 600 technical and 200 military personnel of the United States will work in establishment of the base.
ERDOGAN: ''ANNAN DECEIVED US''
Justice and Development Party (AK Party) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan did not keep his promises. ''Annan told us that some changes would be made in the third plan on the issues of map, sovereignty and immigrants. However, none of these changes were included in the third plan. In order to reach a solution in the island, both sides should make concessions. We cannot accept current form the plan,'' he stressed. Humm, Kofi tried to pull a fast one and got caught. This might help Erdogan decide that waiting on the UN before voting on US troops isn't required.
US MILITARY BUILDUP IN TURKEY CONTINUES
Ahead of a possible war against Iraq, US military buildup in Turkey continued over the weekend. A Belgian-flagged cargo ship unloaded armored military vehicles and other equipment at the southern Turkish port of Iskenderun on Saturday, while previously disembarked US materiel were headed to the southeastern provinces of Batman, Silopi and Mardin as well as to the Incirlik Airbase in Adana, a NATO base mainly used by US forces. In related news, the opposition Republican Peopleâs Party (CHP) was reported to be preparing to file a parliamentary investigation motion concerning the issue following Parliament Spokesman Bulent Arincâs recent statements that he had doubts that the current US military buildup in Turkey might have breached the clauses of an earlier authorization proposal approved by Parliament that allowed the US to make upgrades to Turkish airbases and ports for a possible stationing of US troops. Watch the hands, not the mouth.
ITF ASKS UN SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR URGENT PROTECTION FROM KURDS
Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) had sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan asking for urgent protection from the Kurds in northern Iraq, Turkish news channel NTV said over the weekend. The letter remarked that northern Iraqâs ethnic Turkmen population was under an imminent threat of genocide and ethnic cleansing posed by the Kurdish groups mainly controlled by Jalal Talabaniâs Iraqi Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (IPUK) and Massoud Barzaniâs Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (IKDP). Asking Kofi for help, yea that'll work.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/10/2003 09:39 am ||
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"What I didn't know until now is that it was Barzani all along..." - Don Vito Erdogan
The trade in black-market weapons is flourishing in Baghdad as Iraqis prepare for a bloody aftermath if Saddam Hussain is overthrown. Even middle-class Baghdadis who have not previously kept weapons in their homes told The Sunday Telegraph they now have bought Kalashnikovs to protect their families in the days after the fall of Saddam. They believe Iraq will be riven by ethnic bloodletting, mob violence and mass looting. Yea, that's going to be a problem in any area without US patrols on the street.
Foreign diplomats, aid workers and Iraqi civilians all said that the illicit arms trade has reached new peaks in the last few weeks. The lucrative trade is focused on Saddam City, a district in eastern Baghdad. The volume of weapons has soared in recent months. Some have been smuggled in; most have been sold by tribal chiefs who were given the guns so they could fight the Americans. Heh, heh.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/10/2003 09:23 am ||
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The wind died, the skies faired and just before dawn on Saturday morning the weather-delayed USNS Dahl berthed with the last critical U.S. Army weapons needed to attack Iraq. By noon the first of 72 helicopters belonging to the 101st Airborne Division had been hoisted from the hold and moved to a dockside parking lot. Army mechanics in white hard hats swarmed over the initial Apache attack helicopter, stripping away shrink-wrap protective plastic and reattaching rotor blades that were removed two weeks ago before the voyage from Jacksonville, Florida. The helicopters will fly from the port to camps in the Kuwaiti outback over the next two days, to be joined by 96 others from the USNS Bob Hope, which is expected this morning.
With the majority of its helicopters ready to launch deep strikes hundreds of miles into Iraqi territory, the 101st will be ready for war, according to senior officers.
The division is the final major component of a U.S. ground attack force that includes the 3rd Infantry Division and the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, complemented by Special Forces, an enormous air armada, British troops and other units.
The 101st is the Army's only "air assault" division, with a capacity to move a brigade of roughly 4,500 combat soldiers 100 miles by helicopter in six hours - even as the Apaches strike deeper yet. "If we do what we think we're going to do, there will never have been a military campaign that has moved that far, that fast," one senior Army officer said on Saturday. "Knock, knock. Oh Sammy, your ride's here!"
The division's Apaches, equivalent to nearly half of the Army's attack helicopters in Kuwait, are considered vital to any ground attack. The new Longbow model has a fire-control radar system capable of detecting in less than a second more than 1,000 potential targets spread over several miles, sorting them into categories such as wheeled or tracked vehicles, and prioritising them instantly for purposes of destruction by the helicopter's 16 Hellfire missiles. "If you don't do a 'human interrupt,' the Longbow will automatically kill those targets in order of priority," said Brig Gen Edward J. Sinclair, an Apache pilot and assistant division commander of the 101st. Target data can also be e-mailed from one Longbow to another.
Saturday, however, the task at hand involved simply getting the division kit off the Dahl, which had been delayed a day when high seas prevented Kuwaiti tugs from escorting the 950-foot ship to berths 18 and 19. No sooner had the great slab of the stern ramp been lowered than 1,859 tonnes of cargo began pouring from the holds. Two huge yellow gantry cranes lifted ammunition crates onto the docks - everything from Hellfires and rockets to rifle rounds - while Humvees and fuel trucks, hospital generators and radio equipment rolled down the ramp in a sort of military procession. "We can do one aircraft about every 12 minutes, from the time we hook them up (to a crane) to the time we lower them to the ground," said Lt Col Joe Dunaway, commander of the division's aviation maintenance battalion. "If you're living right, it all works." Tick..tick..tick....
Posted by: Steve ||
03/10/2003 09:16 am ||
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Interesting... I wonder how they coordinate so rockets from multiple helicopters aren't targetting the same vehicles. Or if it differentiates between a "dead" vehicle and a "live" vehicle.
Posted by: Dar Steckelberg ||
03/10/2003 9:40 Comments ||
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#2
Dar, one computer is in charge and assigns targets. If it moves, its alive and gets a second missile. If it sits still, the computer counts it as dead until visual confirmation. Someone will eyeball all targets and select the ones that need a second shot.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/10/2003 10:01 Comments ||
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#3
Thanks, Steve. Guess I skipped over the part about information being "emailed"--clearly the reporter doesn't understand the process exactly either.
Posted by: Dar Steckelberg ||
03/10/2003 10:11 Comments ||
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#4
Sounds like they are in a hurry. Tick..tick..tick....
All that hardware in one place....
Posted by: john ||
03/10/2003 10:59 Comments ||
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#5
By next week, the last of eight ships carrying the division's 275 helicopters, 3,800 military vehicles, and 450 shipping containers of supplies like ammunition - along with equipment from other units - is expected to arrive.
Just in time.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/10/2003 15:46 Comments ||
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#6
Target data can also be e-mailed from one Longbow to another.
"Hello, you've got target!"
Gives Sammy and the Republican Guard a new meaning for "A-O-Hell."
#7
In case anyone's too lazy to click on the link, the part of the article that wasn't excerpted concerned a foofooraw about whether the helicopters' blades should be preserved from sand by painting them over or covering the edges with tape. This caused quite a ruckus and it was bounced all the way up to (if I remember right - I don't have my hard copy of today's WaPo in front of me) the division's aviation commander (or it might have been the division's chief of logistics), who decided to use tape, only to have the pro-tapes get egg all over their faces when it was found that the warehouse with all the tape had had its roof cave in during last month's blizzard on the East Coast, but nobody appeared to have bothered to check on that. Moral: make damn sure you actually have what you say you need on hand, because you may not be able to run down to the corner Home Depot to stock up if you don't have it in storage.
Posted by: Joe ||
03/10/2003 18:14 Comments ||
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#8
DOH!
Posted by: AF General Homer Simpson ||
03/10/2003 21:29 Comments ||
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Every day new signs of impending war appear. Yesterday all forces poised to attack Iraq were told to switch to Zulu time, an adjustment often imposed before military operations to keep everyone in sync. The announcement sends the chronologically-challenged scurrying in search of an extra wristwatch - 6pm in Kuwait, which is 10am in Washington, will become 3pm Zulu, which reflects Greenwich Mean Time. The clock is ticking. Tick..tick..tick..
Power shoppers flood the aisles, stockpiling items needed for the Kuwaiti desert and beyond. Soldiers scoop up newly stocked packets of Baby Wipes, a commodity as prized as ammunition. A major holding a box of Tide wonders aloud whether he will be able to hand-wash his laundry in the Euphrates River.
Robert Woodward of the 101st Airborne Division holds up a pair of swimmer's goggles. "I made a key purchase," he says. "My friends who were stationed in Saudi said the army stuff doesn't work very well." Shopping carts at checkout registers suggest a Homeric catalogue of the dusty life to come: flashlight batteries, Ziploc bags, bandanas, orange lightsticks that glow for 12 hours when snapped, spare bath towels, Chapstick, sleeping mats, Vaseline lotion. Subtle psychological changes can be sensed in the camp. Many now hoard toilet paper. Scavenging is rampant. A length of heavy cord lying on the road provokes an interior Socratic dialogue: can I use that? Will it fit in my pack? In the mess hall, soldiers bound for the field gorge themselves on ice-cream and doughnuts, not so much for the culinary pleasure but to stockpile memories. Soldiers pack the camp barber shop for a final buzz cut, aware that every extra millimetre of hair means hassles in the desert. The waiting room television is tuned to CNN coverage of anti-war protesters in Washington. Large issues - Iraqi compliance or deceit, international support or opprobrium - seem curiously distant. Here the focus is war-fighting, field-craft, survival. Take care, boys.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/10/2003 09:07 am ||
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This is interesting... Makes me think of sending a CARE package over to a serviceman with some novels, duct tape, electrical tape, Ziploc bags, and such. Any suggestions?
I know the USO is taking $25 donations to send over their version of a CARE package, but they don't say what goes in it. I'd like to know that it includes more than whimsical, homey stuff, but rather something practical that could be used or bartered.
The USO site also says the military won't take "Any Serviceman"-addressed mail anymore for security reasons. Fortunately I can get a few names and addresses, but it'd be nice to help out a random GI or Marine, too.
Posted by: Dar Steckelberg ||
03/10/2003 10:01 Comments ||
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#2
Can't vouch for these guys but the site looks legit...
Looks like the only real no-no's are:
o Pornography
o Alcohol
o Weapons
o Pressurized items, e.g. shaving cream
o Perishable items (21-28 days for packages to arrive)
Posted by: Dar Steckelberg ||
03/10/2003 12:21 Comments ||
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#6
Greetings fellow earthlings, the things that we love to see over here are things like beef jerky, pop tarts, kipper snacks, disposable razors, candy, socks, books, zip lock bags, Tollhouse cookies (no raisins), cards, and letters from children. We sometimes have some free time over here and we try to make it a point to write letters to a childs' class. Anything you send is always greatly appreciated though, some dogfaces don't have anyone back home sending stuff to them. The world we live in over here is pretty bleak, and anything that takes us away from our current situation is always greatly appreciated. Thanks to all who have supported us over here. God bless you and the USA. Fighting for the greater good, we will achieve
#7
from experience, yes you can mail alchhol, though you have to be very sneaky about it.
heh...
as for the pressurized items.. its because of fact that the cargo planes aren't pressurized or something, I'm not sure but it has to do with altitude and the expansion of the can't contents. could make the thing explode.
#8
TRY ADOPTING SOMEONE WHO NEEDS YOUR FINANCIAL MORAL AND EMOTIONAL SUPPORT.
BUY A BOX OF TOOTH PASTE AND BRUSHES AND GIVE THEM TO THE HOMELESS.
LET GOVERNMENTS EQUIP CORRECTLY THE PEOPLE THEY ASK TO DO THEIR KILLING FOR THEM
#9
Supporting the homeless is fine, supporting the guys who risk their lives for them is fine as well.
The homeless are not immune from terrorist attacks, right?
#10
THANKS JOHNO - btw you can find your CapsLock key on the left of your keyboard
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/10/2003 21:32 Comments ||
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#11
Johno:
Hope you are posted somewhere foreign, distant, and cut off from any support and friends someday. Maybe then you'll realize what these people have to do to carry out what the nation asks of them. I'd be happy to buy you a ticket to Baghdad if you'll act as a human shield you miserable excuse for a herpes virus.
Posted by: TJ Jackson ||
03/11/2003 0:17 Comments ||
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Russia has said it will vote against the new draft resolution on Iraq proposed by the United States and Britain. It is the first time that any permanent member of the Security Council has explicitly said it will veto the resolution. France and China have also made clear they are opposed to any war with Iraq.
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said the resolution, which sets a 17 March deadline for Iraq to disarm, was impossible to fulfil and went against the grain of the current resolution, 1441. "We believe that no new resolution is required at this time but that it is vital to provide comprehensive support to the IAEA and Unmovic inspectors," Mr Ivanov said.
He was speaking as French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin embarked on a tour the three African members of the Security Council. Mr de Villepin is trying to win the support of Angola, Cameroon and Guinea ahead of the crucial vote in the Security Council. After talks in Luanda, Angolan Foreign Minister Joao Bernardo de Miranda, told reporters that Angola was not prepared to commit itself until it came to a Council vote. "Hell no, I'm having trouble concentrating on anything right now. That perfume nearly suffocated me.."
Mr de Villepin told the same news conference that a solution to the crisis in Iraq could be found without resorting to the use of force. And what if Sadam won't listen to the faries or the pixies either, Dom?
He has now gone mincing on to Cameroon.
The UK is sending its Minister for Africa, Baroness Amos, to the three countries Mr de Villepin is visiting. Our world affairs correspondent Paul Reynolds says the minister was in the same countries only the week before last, so her return is a sign of how intense the lobbying has become - and how intense the rivalry is between France and the UK.
Washington and London are also offering concessions to win support in the Security Council. The UK says they could extend, though not by much, the draft resolution's deadline. Bad move.
Prime Minister Tony Blair's official spokesman said the two countries would consider a timetable of detailed disarmament moves for Iraq to fulfil by 17 March. "The idea of putting key tests to key periods where [Iraqi leader] Saddam [Hussein] needs to comply is one being floated by some other council members," he said. "We are considering detailed indicators which would outline what Saddam has to do before next Monday's deadline."
The new benchmarks are likely to be drawn from a document compiled by UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix which says Iraq has not fully disposed of its chemical and biological weapons arsenal. The new resolution was expected to be put to the vote as early as Tuesday, but there are now indications that it may be postponed until later in the week.
In other developments:
The head of Iraq's weapons monitoring team, General Hossam Mohammed Amin, says Baghdad will continue to co-operate with the UN disarmament process despite the US and British deadline of 17 March
A convoy of UN vehicles carrying civilian staff is seen heading south from the Kuwaiti border with Iraq, as non-essential personnel are withdrawn from the area for their own safety
War 'before' 17 March
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Sunday that the probability of war was rapidly increasing and he hinted that hostilities might begin before the new resolution's proposed 17 March deadline. As preparations continue, the US and UK have doubled their flights over Iraq's no-fly zones to as many as about 500 sorties a night and extended the number of targets hit. On Sunday night, allied aircraft are reported to have struck five unmanned, underground military communications sites about 96 kilometres (60 miles) south-east of Baghdad. The US Central Command said they helped guide Iraqi air defences, posing a threat to Western jets.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
03/10/2003 08:55 am ||
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I think that the diplo-game is over, kiddies. Bush is using this last little exercise for helping Blair and showing cards. Courting AnCamGin like a bunch of lobbyists is trying to buy loyalty and totally goes against the principles of why we fight, so to speak. We cannot depend up their loyalites. Play the hand, say the UNSC is full of it for the following reasons, blah blah blah, and do the mission and show the world what an empire of evil they support. Then go after the rest of the terror financiers and dry up the fetid swamp. Then take a coffee break.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/10/2003 14:27 Comments ||
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United Nations weapons inspectors in Iraq have discovered a new variety of rocket apparently configured to spread bomblets filled with chemical or biological agents over large areas, United States officials say. The reconfigured rocket warheads appear to be cobbled together from Iraq's stockpiles of imported or home-built weapons, some of which Iraq has already used with both conventional and chemical warheads. Iraq insists it has destroyed all its old chemical warheads, a claim the inspectors have not verified. A United States official said that Iraq at first told inspectors the rocket was designed as a conventional cluster bomb, which would scatter explosive submunitions over its target, and not as a chemical weapon. A few days later, he said, the Iraqis conceded some rockets might have been configured as chemical weapons. The distinctive appearance of the rockets' cluster munitions - heavy metal balls with holes in them - suggested their use as a way to disperse chemical or biological weapons, the official said. "If you take the kinds of fuses we know they have, and you screw them in there, when these things come out from the main frame and they explode inward, chemical agents come out," he said. "These can be used for biological weapons, too."
US officials said that the discovery, buttressed by information contained in a 173-page report by the inspection team, detailing the history of Iraqi weapons programs and the United Nations' attempts to enforce compliance with its disarmament resolutions over the last 12 years, showed that Iraq could not be trusted to co-operate with the inspectors.The US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, said on Sunday that the chief inspector for chemical and biological weapons, Hans Blix, should have made more of the evidence in that report when he appeared before the Security Council last week. Blix buried this in the same report that mentioned the drone aircraft. Guess he was hoping that nobody read it.
"When you look at page after page of what the Iraqis have done over the years to hide, to deceive, to cheat, to keep information away from the inspectors, to change facts to fit the latest issue, and once they put that set of facts before you, when you find those facts are false, they come up with a new set of facts - it's a constant pattern," he said. You see the same pattern with Blixie's reports.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/10/2003 09:01 am ||
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Using a cluster bomb to disperse bio agents is pretty iffy. The heat of the blast will neutrallize much of the bio and any left after that will have unpredictable dispersal. Chem could withstand the heat better but it would still be iffy. If the idea of using them is to instill panic in civilian population, it might work, but not much of a military use.
#2
Depends on the fuse, I'd say. A small fuse, spreading the balls out at altitude, probably wouldn't harm the WMD. It's why fireworks work, they don't go off in one big boom, but at timed intervals because the original dispersal explosion isn't very large.
#3
Agree with you Chuck about the fuse, however, biological agents are, as a rule, way more sensitive than chemical agents. Also, to have enough chemical agents to do serious killing you have to have a lot of the chemical. Even mustard gas only kills if you have a lot of it and it isn't dispersed too fast by the wind.
#4
I think the idea is that the bomblets would have a very tiny charge in the center of the bomblet to propel the agent out of the holes in the bomb. You would have a seal or barrier between the charge and the agent, something like the wadding on a shotgun shell. Bomblet lands or goes off with a time delay in the air and "poof", you get a small cloud of vapor or powder in the air. Cluster bombs would be a good way to dispurse a bio agent or toxin this way.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/10/2003 14:09 Comments ||
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#5
There are pictures of these on the Fox News website. They report: But officials told Fox News that the weapons are not rockets, but large bombs that can be dropped from wings of airplanes. Soccer-ball-sized cluster bombs then are released from the larger bombs. When triggered by a fuse, these smaller submunitions can disperse chemical or biological agents.
These are the biggest cluster bombs I've ever seen. The only reason I can think of to make one the size of a soccer ball would be for use with chemical or bio material.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/10/2003 14:48 Comments ||
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#6
Does this explain the appearances of a Mig-29 that recently challenged the southern no-fly zone? Testing to see whether they can get into a position to release these cluster bombs and then get out again?
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/10/2003 16:31 Comments ||
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#7
Good point Steve, although any Iraqi pilot approaching an active fighting front has gotta assume it's a one-way ticket..the Mig 29's should never make it to our guys - bet the Iraqis on the ground will never know what killed them when the Migs are shot from the sky before they can get our forces....sad...but better them than us
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/10/2003 21:43 Comments ||
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#8
But could these weapons be delivered by a drone? Would drones flying at 50-100 foot altitude be detected by AWACS or other airborne radar? Could drones carry anthrax and disperse it over a major urban area?
Posted by: TJ Jackson ||
03/11/2003 0:25 Comments ||
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Britain and the United States plan on Monday to press chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix to admit that he has found a "smoking gun" in Iraq, British newspaper, The London Times reported on Monday. The newspaper said British and U.S. ambassadors plan to demand that Blix reveal more details of an undeclared Iraqi unmanned aircraft, whose existence was only disclosed in a declassified 173-page document circulated by inspectors on Friday. The discovery of the drone, which has a wing span of 25 feet, will make it much easier for waverers on the U.N. Security Council to accept U.S. and British arguments that Iraq has failed to meet U.N. demands to disarm, The Times article said. It said Blix had failed to mention the drone in his oral report about Iraq inspections to the Security Council on Friday. "It's incredible," The Times, quoted an unidentified senior diplomat. "The report is going to have a clearly defined impact on the people who are wavering. It's a biggie." Good. About time they held Blixie's feet to the fire.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/10/2003 08:56 am ||
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Now that we have found a "smoking gun", I can't wait for it Tick..tick..tick....
"See, the inspections are working!"
Posted by: john ||
03/10/2003 11:05 Comments ||
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#2
Didn't think we'd catch that, eh? Oh no, we American cowboys are just not intelligent enough to catch the diplomatic subtleties of the UN-sophisticates. We're far too busy going indiscriminantly wild. Blix, you clown, you are done! Buh-bye.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/10/2003 11:16 Comments ||
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Who leaked it? Someone got a report on a corner in NYC? What???
#7
The drones were not mentioned in the draft report submitted to the Security Council prior to Blix's presentation. Blix was going to keep this secret? It would appear the Brits found out which is why Jack Straw unloaded on deVillepin in such a personal way: "this is chilling read! Dominique"
Posted by: john ||
03/10/2003 21:41 Comments ||
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The CIA has warned American policymakers that al Qaida terrorists in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq are getting ready to attack Americans on their own during and after any U.S. incursion, The New York Times reported Sunday. Intercepted communications and other intelligence suggests al Qaida operatives now at least tolerated by the Saddam Hussein regime, as well as others based in outlying areas Saddam only loosely controls, have been making plans for the arrival of Americans. But, Sammy said there are no al-Qaida in Iraq? You mean he lied?
Terrorist fighters may blend in with Iraqi civilians to strike during an invasion, and may attack U.S. forces trying to stabilize Iraq after an attack, according to the CIA assessment, the Times said. The al Qaida operatives are not necessarily working in concert with Iraqi military planners but a surge in communications by their terror network appears linked to the threatened U.S. attack on Iraq, the report said. Of course, they may just be calling to make hotel reservations in Islamabad.
Those terrorist cells in Baghdad are small, with even smaller cells in Mosul and Erbil in northern Iraq. They were organized by Abu Mussab al Zarqawi, the al Qaida poisons and terror expert mentioned by Secretary of State Colin Powell in his presentation to the United Nations last month, the Times said.
In northern Iraq there may be up to 200 al Qaida operatives working alongside several hundred members of another extremist group, Ansar al-Islam, the report said. Ansar is going to be busy dodging JDAMS and the Kurds real soon. I think announcing a bounty on these guys heads and posting a phone number where Iraqi citizens can call in their tips would be a good idea.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/10/2003 08:40 am ||
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Despite the rising voices of Iraqi Kurds objecting Turkish troops' enter to Northern Iraq, the tanks of Turkey's army stepped in the region to provide border security in a possible U.S.-led war against Iraq. IHA cameras covered the pictures of the tanks dispatched to Northern Iraq from Habur gate in Silopi. The peshmargas related to Massoud Barzani, the leader of Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), took security measures while Turkish tanks were on the road Amedya to Barmayan. IHA also covered the pictures of American jeeps with Iraqi license tag on the way to Zaho and Dohuk in Northern Iraq.
French President Jacques Chirac says he's likely to go to New York on Tuesday for the Security Council vote on a new US pro-war resolution and has told advisers he has already invited Russian President Vladimir Putin and German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to accompany him. Presidential diplomatic advisers have told Dawn that Mr Chirac "could very well go" to New York to cast France's veto, but that the president would "prefer making the trip to New York to relish the victory of the Franco-German-Russian position" following a simple vote by the Security Council's fifteen permanent and non-permanent members.
Indeed, say the advisers, the French president is "fairly confident" that the joint Franco-German-Russian opposition to a US resolution will result in a clear-cut defeat that will not require use of France's veto, nor those of Russia or for that matter China's. They say Mr Chirac is "eagerly awaiting" the outcome of the mission to Africa by French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin on Sunday and Monday. The foreign minister has been instructed by his president to "come back with at least two" of the Security Council votes to be cast by three states: Cameroon, Guinea and Angola.
Cameroon, whose president Paul Biya is a faithful ally of France, is likely to support the French position on a war with Iraq, but Mr de Villepin is leaving Paris absolutely uncertain, says one of the sources. If Mr de Villepin comes back with only Cameroon's vote, advisers say, the US may lose the Security Council vote anyway. But even if he doesn't, Mr Chirac will be ready to pull out his veto.
Posted by: ishmail ||
03/10/2003 06:56 am ||
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Why has the image of a slavering pack of hyenas popped into my head? If they're going all the way NY to plant their flags in the UN, they might as well take it back with them when they return. Chirac's doing us a favour raising the stakes like this, but I'll bet Putin and Schroeder don't play ball.
#3
Is this a suprise to anyone? He got turned down for the summit of Security Council leaders he was asking for, so he still needs some sort of outlet to strut like a peacock. He's going to have his mug in front of the world audience one way or another.
Posted by: g wiz ||
03/10/2003 9:40 Comments ||
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#4
Comin' over ta Neew Yawk for a sidewalk egg, tomato and fruit salad, are yuh, Chiraqqi? Welcome to duh pahty!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/10/2003 12:52 Comments ||
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#5
Froggy boy'd better stay over on the river. Folks in other parts of Manhattan'd slug his ass for fun.
Edited for length.
Tony Blair is meeting with advisers in the wake of cabinet minister Clare Short's accusation that his handling of the Iraq crisis has been "painstaking in the face of perfidiousness reckless". Ms Short has told BBC News she will resign from the government if Britain goes to war against Iraq without United Nations backing. Yaay! Another good reason to get rolling.
The international development secretary, who resigned as a party spokesman over Labour's stance in the last Gulf War, told BBC Radio 4's Westminster Hour she could not "stay and defend the indefensible". But her conscience told her to let the indefensible stay in Kuwait City twelve years ago...
"If there is not UN authority for military action or the reconstruction of the country, I will not uphold a breach of international law or this undermining of the UN," she said. "I will resign from the government."
G'bye, Toots...
Downing Street expressed surprise at Ms Short's comments, with a spokesman insisting she had not expressed such views before to the prime minister. But it is thought Number 10 fears that sacking Ms Short over her criticisms would turn her into a martyr. Home Office Minister Beverley Hughes said she was surprised by Ms Short's comments, which she argued should have been discussed with cabinet colleagues instead of on the airwaves... Former cabinet minister Jack Cunningham said Tony Blair was now facing the worst political difficulties of his leadership of the Labour Party. Mr Cunningham told Today: "It's premature for people to be saying I must resign now, I must speak out now, I must threaten to resign now when the prime minister is following the course they've specifically and persistently asked him to follow." Jack, it's not about rationality. Claire's rules are different from the rest of us. But I hope you're not implying you're going to hold off till later to plunge the knife in yourself.
Ms Short, who resigned over Labour's support for the last Gulf War, said it was time to put her "cards on the table". "I feel the need now, because it is 10 minutes to midnight, to say out loud what I think Britain should do with its influence — because our failure to use our influence properly is so dangerous for the world," Ms Short said. Can't disagree with you there. If you had your way we'd be behaving like France, and the UN and NATO would have been wrecked already.
She went on: "The whole atmosphere of the current situation is deeply reckless — reckless for the world, reckless for the undermining of the UN in this disorderly world, reckless with our government, reckless with his own future, position and place in history." Course it would be safer to sit back at laugh at the crazee antics of old Uncle Saddam, as you'd have us. Safer for a year or two, maybe.
Ms Short said she had raised her objections in frequent detailed talks with both Mr Blair and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. "People like me are being told, 'Yes, all this is under consideration'," she said. "And then the spin the next day is, 'We are ready for war'." Ms Short added: "Allowing the world to be so bitterly divided - the division in Europe, the sense of anger and injustice in the Middle East - is very, very dangerous." "It is a recruiting sergeant for terrorism." Weakness and appeasement encourage terrorism too, Claire.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
03/10/2003 07:02 am ||
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Who need minters like her.has she forgoteen the appeasement and "HITlER"
Good return on bad rubish
come on Blair fight the war get rid of the unwated
in the world
With virtually no chance of winning the war militarily, Saddam will try to maximize the number of casualties on both sides in hope of further souring world opinion against the conflictâand eventually forcing America to accept a ceasefire.
A.RIDE OUT THE AIR CAMPAIGN
Saddam will use camouflage and decoys to protect tanks and artillery, hide his air-defence missiles so they continue to remain a threat, and park military assets next to homes and mosques to ensure heavy civilian casualties. Radio links will be lost, but buried landlines may allow continued communication with forces.
"Hello? Hello? This is Sammy. How you guys doin'?... That bad, huh?... Well, keep in touch. G'bye."
B.TAKE THE FIGHT TO THE ENEMY
Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain are the key bases in the region for U.S. forcesâand the soft underbelly of the offensive. Saddam may try to wreak massive carnage on the bases and force them to shut down.
"Hello? Hello? Is this Chemical Ali?... Yeah. This is Sammy... Look, have you blown up Qatar yet?"
C.HIT FORCES AT CHOKEPOINTS
U.S. troops will be most vulnerable when they are forced to slow down to cross the Euphrates. Saddam may destroy existing bridges, and order Iraqi to blow up U.S.-built temporary ones as arm or rolls across.
"Hello? Hello?... Is this the Republican Guard?... Yeah. This is Sammy. Have you blown those bridges yet?... Right. You'll get back to me... When?"
D.FORTIFY THE CAPITAL CITY
The elite Republican Guard will be the first line of defence around Baghdad, while the Special Republican GuardâSaddamâs ÃŒber elite troopsâand the Special Security Organization will form the inner ring that fights U.S. forces once they get into the city. Saddam may secretly flee the city early on and go underground to save himself. Some speculate he could use WMD in a last-ditch effort to defend Baghdad.
"Hello? Hello? Is this Chemical Ali?... Look, buddy, when I tell you to gas Baghdad, I expect Baghdad to get gassed... Well, yeah, it'll kill everybody in sight. We don't win until everybody's dead..."
#1
As I've commented earlier, I'm not brain-dead from the "peace camp vs anglos warmongers" tsunami here in french media and I think the US case for ousting Saddam is quite valid in the WOT agenda. Still, I'm not utterly comfortable with that coming war, as per this article : US forces will aim at minimizing both US and iraki casualties, while Hussein's best hope is to maximize them (and believe me, almost *every* main news outlet is eager for the Eviiil USA to prove once again their bloodlust and/or their inability to fight).
Basically, the two sides may not planning on fighting the same war; let's hope US leaders have already thought this out.
#2
Evan Thomas? Come on now...
OK, let's take it step by step...
A. Wired command functions--during GW1 massive efforts were made to take down Saddam's primitive wired TCP/IP network. It failed. Later, it was theorized (in Penthouse, no less!) that a careless re-routing of less than 1% of the US's illicit internet bandwidth would have rendered Saddam's data network useless. How 'bout it, guys?
B. Take fight to enemy option--yeah, he could try it but it would be pretty funny. Saddam's already retrenching his positions, and ours are well-established. Even a minute movement toward US positions would loose all heck.
C. chokepoints on the Euphrates--the original article in Newsweek addresses the bridge at An Nasiriya, near Basra. Of course, it assumes that US troops from Kuwait will run as the crow flies like lemmings toward Baghdad, through all sorts of nasty territory and into the enemies hands. NOT! Basra isn't called the home of the marsh-Arabs for nothing, it's horrible territory. There are plenty of other useful bridgeheads farther NW. If Saddam can swim the Tigris, then Americans can use snorkels on the Euphrates. Besides, the dry season is coming. Ancient Near-Eastern history, anyone?
D. WMD to defend Baghdad--nevermind the oxymoron of "Elite" Republican Guard, if Saddam looses weaponized anthrax in or near Baghdad, all we have to do is back off, quarantine the area, and wait. Besides, it seems as though Saddam is fortifying his home town rather then Baghdad. I'd anticipate a bunker scene with small caliber sidearms.
#3
Maybe Evan Thomas could be Saddam's advisor on military operations. Could shorten the war some.
As I said before the Iraqi military commanders will worry us if they actually decide to manuever their forces. If they decide to dig in to fight it out in Baghdad, then once the US overruns the rest of the country, we will wait them out, while bombing and attacking their 'camouflaged' military equipment.
Please, please, please, keep your forces dug in, Iraq. It will help limit US/Brit casualties while maximizing your own. Please, make your units target rich environments. We have a whole generation of pilots who need the target practice.
#4
Saddam tried to take the war to the allies in '91. He failed, horribly. As soon as the Iraqis began their push towards Khafji, we picked them up and started bombing them. They got some forces into the abandoned town, but they were cut off and had to retreat soon afterwards.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/10/2003 8:11 Comments ||
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It was the usual creepy military parade through downtown Baghdad. Some of Saddamâs fedayeen (âmen of sacrificeâ) were dressed in dazzling white uniformsââthe color of a shroud, because we expect to die,â explained a 24-year-old fedayeen leader. More jarring were the fedayeen garbed in the familiar tan camouflage of the United States Army. Saddam has ordered thousands of uniforms identical, down to the last detail, to those worn by U.S. and British troopers. The plan: to have Saddamâs men, posing as Western invaders, slaughter Iraqi citizens while the cameras roll for Al-Jazeera and the credulous Arab press.
DELUSIONAL THOUGH he may be, Saddam knows he cannot militarily defeat the American armed forces. But he can try to delay and deceive even after the bombs start falling. He is counting on staying alive until political pressure inside and outside the United States forces President George W. Bush to call off the dogs. Saddamâs survival strategy is a long shot, and probably hopeless. Judging from the subdued but steely resolve he showed last week at his press conference, Bush appears determined to remove the Iraqi strongman, no matter what. But Saddam has every reason to believe, from watching street demonstrations around the world on CNN as well as following the deliberations of the U.N. Security Council, that his stalling tactics can sway international opinion. And he has an all-too-real chance of turning the invasion of Iraq into a bloody nightmare.
Saddamâs best allies are time and space, deceit and poison. He will do whatever he can to slow the march on Baghdad, then turn his capital into âa Mesopotamian Stalingrad,â says Iraq expert Kenneth Pollack of the Brookings Institution, referring to the World War II city battle that claimed a million German and Russian lives. While American war planners are unsure about the precise details of Saddamâs defense, it is possible to map out the Iraqi strongmanâs most likely moves and to ponder his nastiest surprises.
As the U.S. forces push north out of Kuwait, they may encounter their first serious resistance at An Nasiriya, a town on the Euphrates River near Basra in southern Iraq. According to a former Arab intelligence officer, Iraqi officials have ordered Iraqi Army troops to dress in civilian clothes to fight the attacking Americans.
U.S. intelligence does not expect Saddamâs regular Army, which consists of some 300,000 demoralized, frightened conscripts, to put up much of a struggle. The Iraqis remember the last confrontation with American B-52s and armored columns. âThis generation faced the U.S. Army in Kuwait,â says the former Arab intelligence official. âTheir friends died in 1991.â The liberation of southern Iraq will unleash a wave of score-settling that could bog down the Americans on the way to Baghdad, and Saddam may flood the Mesopotamian plain to further slow the U.S. advance.
Saddamâs elite Republican Guard, some 60,000 troops, could stand and fight. More likely, Saddam will pull his best soldiers back into Baghdad. He has already moved a 10,000-man division of Guardsmen back from the city of Mosul in the north to guard his nearby home-town, Tikrit. The United States will try to rattle Saddamâs defenders into surrender with a âshock and aweâ air campaign, 3,000 precision bombs in the first 48 hours. And Saddam will try to inspire his troops to be good martyrs by threatening to kill them himself.
The battle for hearts and minds has already begun. U.S. psychological-warfare specialists, based at Central Command headquarters in Qatar, routinely bombard the Iraqi troops with propaganda. âLeave now and go home,â read one of 420,000 leaflets dropped over southern Iraq last Tuesday. âWatch your children learn, grow and prosper.â If war comes, CENTCOM psy-warriors will take over the Iraqi airwaves and broadcast that resistance is futile. The CIA is already trying to infiltrate Saddamâs officer corps, offering cash and other incentives. âThe commanders who carry out Saddamâs last orders,â warns a senior U.S. intelligence official, âwill be killed or tried as war criminals.â
Hated by his own subjects, Saddam has to hope that his people loathe the American invaders even more. Iraqi citizens have been given arms to fight house to house. Most will likely hide or surrender. But not the 15,000-man Special Republican Guard, made up largely of Sad-damâs fellow tribesmen, nor Saddamâs Special Security Organization, a force of some 5,000 thugs and torturers who will be strung up by mobs if captured, and thus have every incentive to fight to the last man.
Iraqi workers have been digging trenches all around Baghdad. Some intelligence sources believe that Saddam will order them filled with oil and set afire. The picture is almost medieval, a âwall of flameâ around the besieged citadel. Saddam hopes to dull Americaâs technological edge: a thick pall of oily smoke would interfere with the laser guidance system used on some American bombs. (Far more bombs, however, are aimed by satellite, which would be unaffected.)
American warplanes and cruise missiles will try to kill Saddam on the first night and every day and night thereafter. Moving from bunker to bunker and using doubles, he may escape. Aiming precision bombs and exotic high-tech weaponry to destroy Saddamâs communica-tions, American air power could cut off the Iraqi leader from his men. But isolated, sur-rounded only by sycophants, Saddam may not know he has been defeated until American soldiers kick in his door. That could take weeks, and if Saddam can slip out of Baghdad and go underground, the hunt could go on for months.
The most pressingâand disturbingâquestion is whether and when Saddam will use weapons of mass destruction. Saddam may want to hold off, at least for a while. If he uses bio-chem weapons, he âcrosses a very important psychological threshold,â points out Brookingsâs Pol-lack. The Iraqi leader could no longer claim in the court of world opinion that he has no WMD; he would, in effect, be justifying the American invasion. U.S. intelligence officials are sharply divided over Saddamâs intentions. In some ways, they say, chem-bio weapons are more of a scary bluff than a true threat. Properly trained and equipped troops, especially those riding in airtight tanks, can slip unscathed through a toxic cloud. Still, Saddam may use the WMD he is said to possess, and poison gas can cause chaos and possibly panic among support troops in rear areas. Even the most gung-ho soldiers could be unnerved by a gas at-tack as they waited to ford a river or crash through a berm.
Conceivably, Saddam could strike first. In a CENTCOM war game staged last year, a retired U.S. Marine general playing the role of Saddam created havoc by using Arab dhows plying the Persian Gulf to deliver suicide bombs against American troopships before they ever reached port. (The war game had to be stopped and started over; the Marine general, accused of playing unfairly, walked out in disgust.) Itâs too late for Saddam to try this particular trick, but he could create mayhem by unleashing biological agents in the American bases (Camp New York, Camp New Jersey, Camp Pennsylvania) that sprawl over much of northern Ku-wait. Some intelligence sources believe that Saddam possesses both Scud missiles and un-manned aerial drones that could deliver WMD.
The United States has limited defenses against a germ-warfare Pearl Harbor. Pre-emptive airstrikes are not the answer. True, American warplanes operating out of bases in the Gulf and flying off five (soon to be six) aircraft carriers can crisscross Iraq at will. Iraqi air de-fenses will be lucky to shoot down more than a few planes. NEWSWEEK has learned that the Pentagon tested, only days ago, a new double-warhead bomb that can slice through concrete and steel containers and, an instant later, incinerate their poisonous contents. But precise weapons require precise intelligence, and Air Force target planners complain that the intelli-gence community has yet to identify the locations of Iraqi WMD storage sites.
Saddam is hardly above gassing his own people and pretending that the Americansâthe âCrusaders and Jews and infidelsââare to blame. Many Arabs watching Al-Jazeera would believe him. Antiair-craft batteries and tanks and artillery have been placed beneath and be-side mosques, hospitals and schools. Even the most accurate American bombs could produce atrocious TV images. To combat Saddamâs psychological warfare and refute disinformation, CENTCOM has created a ârapid-response team.â CENTCOM will try to provide photographic proof to back up its claims, releasing footage from gun cameras and other weapons systems as well as before-and-after photographs from satellites.
Truth may not be an adequate defense. The longer a war drags on, the more the casualties mount, the greater the risk that Saddam will really lash outâsay, by lobbing a biological weapon at Israelâthe greater the pressure on Bush to end the war. It is not hard to imagine the president caught in an increasingly uncomfortable bind. Shocked by television images of human carnage, demonstrators will take to the streets at home and abroad. Politicians will call on Bush to get it over with, to declare victory and go home. The military, on the other hand, will want to slow down once U.S. forces reach a still-resistant Baghdad. The U.S. Army tries to avoid urban warfare. America loses its high-tech edge in cities; helicopters are vul-nerable to street fighters armed with crude rocket-propelled grenades, as the movie âBlack Hawk Downâ vividly displayed. Baghdad is vastâ2,000 square miles, almost one-and-a-half times the size of New York. Fighting block by block could take weeks, with casualties running high.
Bush does not seem inclined to back down from any fight. But Saddam has reason to ques-tion American staying power. In the first gulf war, when American bombs wiped out a bunker filled with sleeping civilians, killing more than 400, the then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Colin Powell ordered an end to the bombing of Baghdad. When American warplanes created grisly images by bombing Iraqis fleeing Kuwait along the âHighway of Death,â Presi-dent George H.W. Bush, at Powellâs recommendation, ended the warâprematurely, as it turned out. Bushâs son wants to finish the job, but at what cost?
Saddam has learned a few lessons from that first war. According to defectors at the time, the Iraqi chieftain told Baath Party leaders after the gulf war that he made a mistake by releasing Western hostages before the fighting began. This time, he may try to hold Western reporters now in Baghdad, or relief workers, or even U.N. weapons inspectors (the Unmovic team keeps a large helicopter at the ready for quick evacuation). Saddam will almost surely use âhuman shields,â including some Europeans who have unwisely volunteered for the job.
Most Saddam watchers assume that, ultimately, the ruler of Baghdad, who has stayed in power for three decades, wants to survive and believes that he can. But what if he becomes convinced that he is doomed after all? Does he have an apocalyptic plan to bring down Iraq with him? American spy satellites have seen Iraqi troops move tons of explosives into Iraqi oilfields. Saddam is apparently preparing to torch the fields, unless American paratroopers get there first. In 1991, Saddam blew up about 700 oil wells in Kuwait, creating an ecological disaster and costing about $40 billion to control the fires and cap the wells. Iraq has 1,500 wells.
Saddam could decide to take Baghdad with him. One Arab intelligence officer interviewed by NEWSWEEK spoke of âthe green mushroomâ over Baghdadâthe modern-day caliph bidding a grotesque bio-chem farewell to the land of the living alongside thousands of his subjects as well as his enemies. Saddam wants to be remembered. He has the means and the demonic imagination. It is up to U.S. armed forces to stop him before he can achieve notoriety for all time.
Posted by: ISHMAIL ||
03/10/2003 07:09 am ||
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And we have frankenreich to thank for this possible scenario.
The Iraqis do not manuever their forces, period. The last time they tried to maneuver their forces, they were immolated against US heavy forces. As I posted elsewere, if they dig in their forces, they will still be immolated, but at least their best chance is to manuever against US Forces.
I believe the threat to use suicide forces against US forces. I believe it will happen and I believe they will cause huge casualties, amounst themselves, not to US forces. I guess liberals forget the Kamakazi of WWII; lots of dead pilots and wrecked planes, but not much damage to US forces . But that's okay. Liberals are for sh**ting on when they are wrong and they are wrong in this case.
As I recall, it was predicted that it would ten years to cap all the wells set afire by the Iraqis, but it took only six months. Cross this off the list and please excuse my yawn.
I guess it will be a shame should Saddam decide to commit suicide using strategic weapons, but then I am torn by the argument that this man and his henchmen being the torturers and murders of unarmed peope they are, are basically pussies; not likely to cause harm to themselves, but far more likely to kill large numbers of their countrymen. I think they have a strong sense of self preservation and an even stronger sense of ego, which will not permit them to conclude that it will all be over soon.
One final note: I have a personal theory about 'elite' forces of variuous stripes as well as military units. I believe when you take a military force of any size and set them firing on civilians for the purposes of suppressing revolt and for other reasons, you will erode whatever combat efficiency they may have to the point that when they are faced with real professional forces that fight, move and communicate, they will evaporate from the battlefield.
I think for all the advanced billing Iraq's remaining forces have for their equipment and their training, I think they will be completely degraded to a rabble by air power and eventual military engagement.
#3
When the word came down in December 1944 that German troops were using American uniforms to infiltrate, my dad strapped on his .45 and went back to work. Infiltrating the enemy in their uniforms is a good way to die, and die quickly. An alert military, and we will be, cannot be seriously disrupted by infiltrators.
#4
I hope the balloon goes up without being publicly announced. With 300,000 servicemen packed into a small area concentrating for attack, it'd be to Saddam's advantage to use whatever WMDs he has just before any deadline expires and before the troops have the space to deploy and disperse.
Posted by: Dar Steckelberg ||
03/10/2003 10:06 Comments ||
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#5
Since we have so few arabic speaking allies, the idea of Saddam's troops disguising themselves as Americans is not likely to fool many Iraqis. It could, however, fool Jimmy Carter or Hans Blix. Of course even a fake nose and glasses could fake them out.
The worst casualties the US Navy took during WWII were during the Okinawa campaign. Suicide attacks were very effective because the anti-aircraft technology was not up to stopping what was essentially the first generation of guided anti-ship missiles.
Having said that, our technology and morale was more than up to the task of handling the land-based human wave banzai charges. And we will be more than capable of handling any Iraqi suiciders. However, given the flaccid Iraqi performance during GW1, I doubt it's going to be a big issue.
#7
haha good one, mhw!
As for WMD, if Sam should decide to use them, I'd recommend forcing Chiraq, Schroeder & Blix (& Putin & the Chinese guy if we could nab them) to help with the clean up.. without protective suits. In fact, use them as canaries, like they did in mining!
Islamic rebels seized a passenger bus in the southern Philippines early Monday, killing an off-duty military officer on board before soldiers and police freed the hostages, authorities say. The Philippine army blamed the Moro Islamic Liberation Front for the attack, which ended with a raid that left a paramilitary volunteer dead and five others wounded. The gunmen seized the bus in the town of Pikit, in the southern island of Mindanao, said Danilo Lucero, a spokesman for the military's Southern Command. They forced about 35 passengers off the bus and into a nearby school, where they searched them. Officials at the scene said the gunmen introduced themselves as rebels of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, or MILF, and robbed the passengers of cell phones, money and other belongings. One man turned out to be an off-duty army officer in civilian clothes. Police said the guerrillas executed him. Philippine troops and paramilitary fighters caught up with kidnappers at the school and a firefight ensued. Police said the gunmen escaped, but not before killing one of the paramilitaries and wounding another five.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
03/10/2003 07:12 am ||
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American spooks and intelligence agencies call it "blowback": that phenomenon when good people go bad and blow back to take out American targets, like the World Trade Center. The Bulletin's investigations of last October's Bali bombings suggest that Indonesia may have experienced its own version of blowback. No one is suggesting Indonesia's fractious armed forces are responsible for Bali, but there are old military fingerprints and curious connections linked to the bombing of the two nightclubs. The Indonesian army is up to almost as many shady dealings as the Pakistanis, what with Papua, East Timor, Aceh, Laskar Jihad and the world class corruption.
With democratic Indonesia's police functions now separated from the military, bombing investigators have been free to pursue inquiries without army influence. And some of the things they have unearthed are revealing. In safe houses used by the bombers, Indonesian military maps and other material, including army-issued weaponry, has been found. Experts investigating other bombings in the archipelago have also uncovered similar links. In Solo, the central Javanese city where the Islamic fundamentalist Abu Bakr Bashir and his shadowy Jemaah Islamiyah group derives its influence, a donor to Bashir's religious school is reportedly the big local textile company, Sritex, which makes military uniforms for the Indonesian army, as well as for NATO. There are also reported business connections between former ministers of the disgraced Suharto regime, military intelligence officers and senior clerics of the Bashir boarding school. Sounds even more like Pakistan...
Many of the links can be traced to Solo, which was a particular theatre of military manipulation during President Suharto's New Order regime from 1965 to 1998. Before Suharto came to power, Solo was a stronghold of the Partai Komunis Indonesia (PKI), the answer of the impoverished Javanese masses to the region's aristocratic — and occasionally despotic — heritage. But the PKI's emergence also spooked Java's anti-communist political elite, which actively promoted Islamist groups to counter the PKI's rising influence. And these Islamist groups played a big part in the anti-Communist massacres of the mid-60s that killed 500000 people, with many of the victims being Chinese.
It was a strategy that required a delicate hand. Suharto's coup was right-wing and backed by a military that included many Christians in high-ranking positions who saw themselves as guarantors of state secularism. But for Suharto, who wasn't that religious and whose wife, Tien, was Solo-born, providing arms and other support to Islamic groups helped him remain in power. "He unleashed them when it suited him," says academic and Indonesia specialist Gerry Van Klinken, "and then cracked down when they either got out of hand or when it suited him to do so."
But Abu Bakr Bashir was one true believer who refused to be manipulated. He exiled himself to Malaysia in the mid-1980s, where he ran an Islamic school that police now believe was a training ground for terror. He returned to Solo in late 1998 and developed close links with local hardline Islamic groups. In 1985, the ancient Hindu temples of Borobudur were bombed by Islamist groups. Bali was next on the terror agenda but the plan was foiled when a bomber blew himself up by accident as he was heading to the Hindu island. Suharto jailed the terrorists but many in that group have since been released. Intelligence officials say quite a number of them were present at several JI meetings in Solo over recent years. Maybe they should be rearrested then...
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
03/10/2003 07:15 am ||
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there should be a special nuke with 'java' written on it
From Drudge, but check for Gertz in Washtimes soon:
By Bill Gertz: Al Qaeda is seeking recruits in the Middle East for terrorist attacks on oil fields in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in the event of U.S. military action against Iraq, U.S. intelligence officials say... MORE... The al Qaeda recruitment is targeting radical Islamists in Saudi Arabia and Yemen who are willing to conduct suicide attacks and other sabotage against the oil fields outside Iraq, the WASHINGTON TIMES will report on Tuesday. The threats to oil facilities highlight the possibility that military acton will disrupt the flow of oil from the Middle East, where most of the worldÂŽs oil originates... Developing...
I suppose these people have had a lifetime to figure out how to attack an oil field. Still it can't be that easy. This is the 2nd Irag+AlQueda story we've seen today. The first dealt with much the same thing inside Iraq. I guess this helps Tony's case a bit.
Edited for length.The US reportedly paid an al-Qaida foot soldier £17 million for information leading to the capture of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed - including a £1.2 million bonus to relocate to Britain. The Egyptian radical, who has not been named, agreed to tell his captors the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden's chief lieutenant after he was arrested in Pakistan last month, according to Newsweek. "He turned over and made a deal with the United States, "a Middle Eastern intelligence source told the magazine. On top of the £16 million bounty offered by the US government, he also negotiated extra cash for him and his family to relocate to the UK. A US law-enforcement official confirmed to Newsweek that the reward had been paid, but declined to discuss details. The US is also offering a £16 million bounty for information leading to the arrest of bin Laden.
#4
Britain would be a logical choice - relatively high standard of living, large diverse Arab population, some pretty wealthy, and many whose financial history is, ahem, not important. He and his family could blend in without too much trouble, I suppose after a year or so someplace out of the public gaze. I'd still rather be living in Bermuda.
#5
As the earlier "The Sun" account of this transaction stated, US is not granting this man a lump sum of money, a sure way to exposed his identity, but rather parcelling out the money on a continual basis.
#7
He first auditioned for "Joe Millionaire". Then for "Survivor: Amazon". When that failed he had to fall back on plan B: the new show "Where in the World is Osama?" produced in part by CIA Reality Productions Inc.
Standoff with Hebron terrorists still under way(UPDATE)
Jerusalem Post Internet Staff Mar. 11, 2003
The standoff Waiting game while the IDF forces have dinner with the terrorists who killed an Israeli and wounded four others earlier Monday evening is still under way.
Two, possibly three terrorists are holed up inside a building near Hebron, which is surrounded by a large IDF force; comprised of Battalion 50 of the Nahal brigade, the Lavi battalion, and a Special Forces unit of the Nahal brigade have surrounded the building. "Mahmoud! Chances of your remains being identifiable by your family depend on you!"
Palestinians opened fire on Israelis traveling the road between Kiryat Arba and the Tomb of the Patriarchs at about 20:00 Monday night. From the initial burst of fire, one Israeli was wounded.
A dog from a canine unit was sent in by the IDF to ascertain the situation inside the building, but was shot dead by the terrorists inside, reports Israel Radio. "We like our dogs better than we like you a-holes - someone's gonna pay..."
The IDF forces are reportedly firing rocket propelled grenades through the windows of the building, and are trying to destroy the building, piece by piece - must be someone in there that they really want, otherwise the Caterpillars would be warming up already An Israeli was killed and four injured Monday night in exchanges of fire with Palestinians on the road leading from Kiryat Arba to the Tomb of the Patriarchs.
Two of the wounded are in serious condition, and one is in moderate condition. All the wounded have been taken to Jerusalem's Ein Kerem hospital.
IDF security forces arrived in the area and returned fire. toying with them til the rest of the IDF arrived
Three Israelis were injured in the firefight. One of the injured died of his wounds shortly after receiving them.
Israel Radio reports that the IDF arrested nine wanted men in Hebron on Monday.
Palestinians report heavy exchanges of gunfire in the Abu Sneina neighborhood overlooking Hebron.
The Kiryat Arba and Hebron areas have seen serious terrorist attacks in recent months.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/10/2003 09:56 pm ||
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Zionist security sources have claimed that the Zionist army and the security apparatus the Shin Beth have arrested two Hamas cells that were planning to assassinate Zionist premier Ariel Sharon. The sources said that one of those cells was arrested in Bethlehem district two weeks ago. They said that head of that cell Fadi Murtaja had planned to attack Sharon's motorcade in occupied Al-Quds. The sources alleged that Murtaja was receiving direct orders from the Hamas Movement leadership in the Gaza Strip. There's been an unspoken agreement for both sides not to go after each other's political leadership. When the PFLP broke it, with the killing of Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi, the IDF went after them hammer and tongs, and PFLP head Ahmed Saadat ended up getting busted by the PLO, if only for a little while, and then seriously jugged as one of the conditions for the IDF pulling back from the West Bank last April. Last time we checked, he was still jugged — for his own protection as much as anything else, because if he's sprung the IDF will kill him. His little brother had also been iced, and the little woman was jugged. Last September, the PFLP was described as "effectively wiped out", at least for awhile, until more cannon fodder could be recruited and some promising young thugs brought into middle management.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/10/2003 08:33 pm ||
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I don't think the Paleos really think through ANY of this stuff. To date there's nobody further to the right than Sharon really in any position of power in Israel, it seems. Kill Ariel, and there'll be dozens who will come to power, making Sharon look like Barak ...they should take a look at their "successes" in the recent past ...idiots
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/10/2003 21:54 Comments ||
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Source: Palestine Information Centre
The Popular Army Pioneers Movement has rejected attempts to arrange for a ceasefire with the Zionist enemy describing such efforts as deception. The popular army, affiliated with the Fatah Movement, charged the Zionist enemy of hiding behind security meetings and meditators in order to prepare for storming cities and villages. The statement wondered how could anyone demand halting the intifada in the name of higher interests, reforms and rule of the law at the time when Zionist occupation forces were wreaking havoc in various Palestinian areas. The statement described such demands as a kind of surrender just for the sake of securing posts and leaderships. It affirmed insistence on continuation of the intifada, internal reforms, releasing detainees and strengthening national unity in their capacity as topmost priorities. The popular army declared rejection to the appointment of Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) or anyone else as premier to the Palestinian Authority especially those who turn their backs to resistance factions and the intifada. The popular army also said that it rejected all those figures approved by the American and âIsraeliâ administrations. Abu Mazen in press statements recently called for ending militarization of the Palestinian intifada. I've never heard of the Popular Army Pioneers Movement, and neither has Google. Wonder if it was formed specifically to oppose Abbas? Or if it's a minigroup pulled out of the background noise for the same reason?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/10/2003 08:33 pm ||
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Sounds like a chance for the hot-heads in Fatah to oppose Abbas (who would be the heir apparent, I guess?) without exposing themselves or joining Hamas or IJ...hell, it could even be a Arafat stunt to keep from giving too much power to Abbas (now that I wrote that, it sounds more Arafat-like...)
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/10/2003 21:47 Comments ||
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O'Reilly sits down with the always entertaining Dennis Miller. Miller supports President Bush's efforts to remove Saddam Hussein. How's that playing in Hollywood?!
5:00 PST - 8:00 EST. With alll the Crissy Hynde nonesense its nice to see someone like Dennis get press as well.
Posted by: Frank Martin ||
03/10/2003 08:56 pm ||
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#1
I found Mr. Miller's SNL stuff to be frequently obnoxious. Then he hosted a late night show. More obnoxious. Then he was on Monday night football. A little less obnoxious but still obnoxious. If he is obnoxious supporting a position with which I agree, it will still be obnoxious.
#3
I think you meant abrasive and full of pretense...which he certainly can be - judge the truth of his comments though, and he'll make the vacuous blather of the anti-war poseurs obvious...(he he - how did I do on the mimicking?) Truth is he's sharp, on the mark, and like James Woods, delightfully aware of the truth and unafraid of how Hollywood and his industry judges him (with their PC bias)...I like him just for that bravery alone. Listen and give him a chance
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/10/2003 21:16 Comments ||
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#4
Apparently Bill was hunting for a story that wasnt there. Dennis reported that he hasnt received any hassle from the rest of Hollywood for his views. BIll was hunting ratings as he had Dennis on last in the hour but "bannered" his appearance on the show. Not the best of the Dennis Miller "ranting" appearances.
Now, if you want to see a real verbal fisking, find someone with a copy of his appearance on 'Donahue', He evicerated the now defunct liberal talkshow host, it was also the highest rated of all of his episodes during Donahues short run, and received higher rating on the re-run version a week after he was cancelled. It was extremely clear why "phil" was no longer up to the job after that episode.
Posted by: Frank Martin ||
03/10/2003 22:48 Comments ||
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Rodong Sinmun today dedicates an editorial to the March 8 International Women's Day. All the women in the DPRK renew their firm determination to devote all their efforts to the building of a powerful socialist nation under the army-based revolutionary leadership of Kim Jong Il on the occasion of the 93rd International Women's Day, the editorial says, and goes on:
The DPRK is proud to note that the Korean revolution has most successfully solved the women's problem under the leadership of the great Workers' Party of Korea. This is how you solve problems in North Korea. You say it's solved and publish it in Rodong Sinmun and KCNA. You give Big Kimmie or Little Kimme the credit. Problem solved.
The Korean women's movement started and led by President Kim Il Sung has entered into a new higher stage in the era of the army-based policy led by Kim Jong Il. Kim Il Sung, not only the Great Leader but also the Susan B. Anthony of North Korea.
The women, first of all, should enshrine the absolute worship of him and devotedly protect him. Ohhhhhhhh, Kimmie....you're SO hot!
It is the greatest mission of the Korean women's movement to uphold his cause and devotedly defend him. Ohhhhhhhh, Kimmie....you're to DIE for!
The army-based policy of the WPK calls for projecting the army as the pillar of the revolution and it is the noble duty of the women in the era of the army-based policy to devote themselves to the efforts to increase the military power of the country. Let's keep putting out for the People's Army, ladies. Let's keep pumping out those little recruits.
It is the most honorable revolutionary task for the Korean women to totally dedicate themselves to materializing his plan to build a powerful nation. The era of the army-based policy requires the women to live and work in a more revolutionary and militant manner than ever before. The women, fully aware of their high responsibility for the morrow of the country and the nation, should bring up their children as heroes and heroines and staunch fighters. Keep pumping them out and keep filling their minds with the army-based horses**t.
All the women will remain true to the army-based revolutionary leadership of Kim Jong Il and creditably perform their honorable mission of turning one of the two wheels in the building of a powerful nation. ...or else the camps await.
#2
Rodong - you the man! You hear that Patricia Ireland, Rodong done gone and solved the "women's problem". Uhhhh, ahem, uh Rodong - exactly what problem was that anyway? Man, this army-based leadership thing just keeps getting better.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/10/2003 16:58 Comments ||
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#3
Great... instead of "Comfort Women" they have a "Comfort Population" where everybody gets screwed against their will - at least it's an equal opportunity F'ing - Martha Burke and NOW would be so happy
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/10/2003 18:32 Comments ||
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Even the continuing U.S. pressure on Iraq is not stopping Saddam Hussein from sending financial aid to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers in the territories. It appears now that the massive Iraqi support has started to arouse the concern of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. After a long hiatus, Arafat has renewed sending checks to the families of dead and injured terrorists (though he has not transferred monies to the families of suicide bombers). Thought Yasser was out of money? Must have transfered funds from non-essential programs, like food.
Israeli security sources told Haaretz that at the end of January, representatives of the Arab Liberation Front, the Palestinian organization supported by Iraq, distributed financial aid to the families of 52 people killed in the refugee camps in central Gaza. The Iraqis, the sources said, adhered to a tariff set by Saddam Hussein at the beginning of the current intifada, with a suicide attack proving more "profitable" to the family of the perpetrator than a "martyr" operation in which the terrorist is killed by Israel Defense Forces fire, but does not blow himself up with an explosive belt. The suicide bomber's family receives $25,000, while the family of a martyr receives "only" $10,000.
Wotta gyp. They both smell the same, and there's not as much left of the boomer to bury...
Because of the difficulty in sending suicide bombers into Israel, the number of families receiving the "bonus" for these missions is relatively small. As on previous occasions, the ceremony in January at which the funds were distributed was attended by official representatives of the Palestinian Authority. They expressed no reservations about the praise heaped on suicide bombers by the emissaries from Iraq. Big surprise, not!
Defense sources report that Arafat recently did express qualms about the Iraqi support, as well as the aid coming from other countries, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, and Islamic charity organizations. "Arafat is not overly-enthusiastic about the brazen outside involvement in Palestinian affairs", a defense source claimed. "It weakens his status. Now he has to try to regain some of the public support through renewing the process of transferring money." Have to buy those votes, if they had voting, that is.
Last month, Arafat started to redistribute aid to the families of injured Palestinians. Following the IDF operation in Zeitoun in Gaza about a month ago, the PA leader transferred payments to the tune of $300,000 to families whose homes and property had been destroyed, as well as to families that had suffered injuries or fatalities. The money was distributed at official ceremonies organized by the PA and sent to families by governors on behalf of the authority in Khan Yunis, Gaza and the refugee camps in the center of the Strip. The money was also paid to families of killed Hamas activists.
Think of it as a pension, only the pensioner's a really light eater...
There has been a decline recently in the influence and scope of the contributions to the Holy Land Fund from the prominent Islamic charity organizations that transfer donations to the territories. It appears that the decline is connected to steps taken by the U.S. administration, which recently outlawed the fund. Tap..tap..tap..Nope.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/10/2003 04:44 pm ||
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Keep the heat on drying up the money. The poorer the terrorists get, the less terror and casulties there are. Getting Iraq off the donor list is going to dry up at least 1/3 of the money (my guess). Keep Yasser supplied with all the babywipes he wants, just to show our humanity.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/10/2003 15:30 Comments ||
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A senior law officer claimed on Monday that detectives had identified everyone involved in a December 2002 bombing of the government headquarters in Chechnya that claimed 70 lives, and that three of the attackers had been arrested. Seventy people were killed and about 200 people injured by the explosion of about 1 tonne of explosive brought onto the premises of the government headquarters in the Chechen capital Grozny by a truck and jeep driven by suicide bombers. "The investigators have arrested three persons who took direct part in organizing that terrorist act. Two of them have confessed and are giving evidence," Russian Deputy Prosecutor General Sergei Fridinsky told Interfax. "Ouch, put that down! I'll talk!"
"We have identified all those who took part in that crime, both the executors and the organizers," he said. He declined to name any of them, including the suicide bombers. Fridinsky said the three people who were arrested had been members of a rebel group whose leader had been killed. "Their role was to directly organize the terrorist act — bring the vehicles to Grozny, store them and load them with explosives," he said. They'll be joining their leader in the near future, unless they are very talkative.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/10/2003 12:36 pm ||
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The French army in Ivory Coast said Sunday that it had found corpses and signs of violence against civilians at a rebel-held town, and a rebel leader said 200 civilians had been butchered there. Rebel commander Ousmane Coulibaly said he believed more than 200 civilians were killed in Friday's attack on Bangolo. He blamed the deaths on Liberian mercenaries allied to President Laurent Gbagbo's army. A senior French military source in western Ivory Coast said Sunday that the 200 figure could be accurate.
The rebels said they repulsed the assault on Bangolo, about 375 miles [600 kilometers] northwest of Ivory Coast's main city, Abidjan, but not before the attackers reached the center of town and started killing civilians suspected of backing the rebels. Coulibaly said the victims were mostly foreigners and Ivorians from the mainly Muslim north. "I asked the French to come and see the dead. There is an entire neighborhood that was decimated. All the houses are full of bodies, only the imam escaped alive," he said.
Somehow, you just knew the holy man would get off...
A French army spokesman declined to say how many bodies the French saw when their detachment landed by helicopter in Bangolo on Saturday. He described the violence as "very visible."
Liberians were involved, after all...
"It was clear the violence affected many people," Col. Philippe Perret said in Abidjan. Albert Tevoedjre, the U.N. special representative for Ivory Coast, told Reuters on Sunday that he believed fighting in the west was localized and that the clashes would not threaten political progress. But a powerful group of pro-Gbagbo youths who in January staged street protests and anti-French riots rejected the deal, which gives nine portfolios out of 41 to the three rebel factions and seven to the main opposition party, RDR. "There is no room for the rebels or the RDR in the government. You can't kill people and then become a minister," said Joel Tiehi of the so-called Young Patriots Alliance. "All Ivorians need to be vigilant and wait for our call. Very soon we may ask them to take to the streets."
The five-month civil war has split the world's biggest cocoa producer along ethnic lines between the largely Muslim north and the mainly Christian south, which is loyal to Gbagbo. Thousands of people have died, and a million have been driven from their homes. Months of talks have failed to halt the fighting, despite cease-fires in October and January in the north and west. French army Capt. Steve Carlton said Sunday that his men detained about 100 armed people Friday night at a checkpoint on the road between Duekoue and rebel-held Man. They were coming from the direction of Bangolo, 25 miles [40 kilometers] north of Duekoue, where French troops are dug in, policing a shaky cease-fire. "They had their arms in the air. They wanted to surrender. There were French speakers and English speakers," Carlton, a Foreign Legionnaire, told Reuters. "They have been disarmed and interned. They are here in the camp. They presented themselves as Lima," he said, referring to the name of a new armed force that military sources say is pro-government and includes Liberian refugees in Ivory Coast. Red Cross officials were due to question the Lima detainees.
Liberians, whose own country has been in a state of war for most of the past 13 years, are also fighting with Ivorian rebels. The Ivorian army denies any links with the Liberians. A Gbagbo spokesman accused the French army Sunday of keeping quiet about human rights abuses and brutalities committed by the rebels. Perret said the French army would only give information about what its men witnessed in Bangolo to an international committee meant to be helping Ivory Coast end the conflict. Tevoedjre, chairman of that committee, said he had not received the French army's report. Another simmering situation on the African continent. But don't worry the French military is on the scene. If they handle this former colony like they did Indo-China, America will have another mess to be cajoled into cleaning up.
#1
"He blamed the deaths on Liberian mercenaries allied to President Laurent Gbagbo's army."
I believe it was Fred last week that noted wherever Charles Taylors' fighters are - there are civilian dead. If the French try to do this on the cheap they'll have plenty of dead to bury
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/10/2003 10:00 Comments ||
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North Korea test-fired a missile into the sea off its east coast on Monday, South Korea's Defense Ministry said. Reports that Venus rose from the sea on a clamshell at the point of impact were unconfirmed as of press time...
There had been indications that North Korea was planning to fire a missile. The Pentagon had earlier cited a North Korean warning to ships to stay out of a sector of the Sea of Japan from Saturday to Tuesday. Maj. Kim Ki-Beom, a spokesman at the Defense Ministry, said the missile was believed to be an anti-ship missile similar to one that North Korea test-fired on Feb. 24. An Aegis-system cruiser in the Sea of Japan might be able to shoot down one of the NK Son-of-SCUD missles when launched. That test scared the Japanese. Bullwinkle: I shot an arrow into the air; it landed I know not where. And the Japanese have four Aegis-equiped ships, I believe. Now NKor's repeatedly testing anti-ship missles in the 'East Sea.' Hmmmmm.
That launch came on the eve of the inauguration of South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and amid escalating tensions over Pyongyang's refusal to abandon its nuclear weapons programs. Article continues, yadda yadda.
Posted by: Pete Stanley ||
03/10/2003 07:10 am ||
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"Hello! Hey, somebody, look at me ! Hey, I still exist! HEY!... Bloody sand-dweller show-stealer!"
#3
The US should say "OOOH" and "AHHHHH" and say that we should talk, etc etc and see what NKor does. Just a friendly little mindf--k experiment and see what happens.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/10/2003 14:35 Comments ||
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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.
