Heavily armed police have dispersed a crowd of about 200 thugsgunnies militants who surrounded the Prime Minister's office in the lawless and near-bankrupt Solomon Islands and demanded "goodwill" money. The tense stand-off outside Prime Minister Allan Kemakeza's office came a day after the tiny South Pacific nation approved a 2,000-strong, Australian-led intervention force to restore order after five years of violence and intimidation by ethnic militias. Police armed with M-16 rifles moved in after the unarmed militants, all former members of a militia from Malaita island, converged on Mr Kemakeza's office. They surrounded a finance ministry official demanding he sign payments of SI$2,000 ($AU653) for each of them.
"Gimme so money so I can blow this town!"
"Police are now in control of the situation," police commissioner William Morrell told reporters.
"Ow! Okay! Okay! You're in control! Put that thing down!"
The Solomons, a former British protectorate once know as "the Happy Isles", is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy and public servants have not been paid since September. Government offices and hospitals are often closed because staff have not been paid.
But, hey! They're nobody's colony...
Witnesses said the militants were former members of the Malaita Eagles Force, which fought bloody battles with a rival militia from the main Guadalcanal island from 1998, leading to a coup in June 2000. Some of the militants said they wanted money so they could leave the capital Honiara, on Guadalcanal, and return to Malaita. "We just want the SI$2,000. It's a goodwill payment," one unidentified militant told Reuters. "We want the money today so that we can go home."
"Pay us off and we're outta your hair..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 12:39 ||
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Miulitants brandishing BARs and M1 Garands stormed the beach today and they were totally out of control.
Edited for length...
BRUSSELS: Belgium said Saturday it has decided to scrap a controversial war crimes law which has seen cases launched against President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Not to mention biting one of their own...
Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said his new government, sworn in Saturday, has decided as one of its first acts to scrap the law which has angered the United States. "Now, please, can we have the money for the NATO HQ?"
He told a news conference the move was aimed at preventing abuses of the law, which has also seen a case launched against British Prime Minister Tony Blair. "I think we have definitely solved this question," Verhofstadt said, hours after his government had been sworn in by King Albert II. I canât wait to here the whining from the EUnuchs about giving in to the US pressure. Hey Verhofstadt, just tell them Bush used his Cowboy-Fu powers and you were powerless to resist.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
07/12/2003 7:44:04 PM ||
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That title should read Belgium, though my typo is rather amusing...
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
07/12/2003 21:00 Comments ||
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Typo? What typo?
Posted by: Matt ||
07/12/2003 22:56 Comments ||
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All that's left to do now is toss the ICC into the shredder...
#4
I canât wait to here the whining from the EUnuchs about giving in to the US pressure. Hey Verhofstadt, just tell them Bush used his Cowboy-Fu powers and you were powerless to resist.
This is a rerun from 7/10. It adds some detail, so I'll leave it in...
A bomb exploded Thursday on 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya Ulitsa in the city center, killing an FSB sapper trying to defuse it, in an attack the Interior Ministry linked to the recent double suicide bombings and said was organized by a terrorist ring training female suicide bombers. The Basmanny district court authorized the arrest late Thursday of a Chechen woman detained in the latest attack. She was identified as Zarema Muzhikhoyeva, a 22-year-old ethnic Ingush from the Chechen village of Assinovskaya. Must be a disappointed sui-slut, getting only one for her pains...
Muzhikhoyeva tried to enter the upscale Imbir restaurant just after 11 p.m. Wednesday when security guards stopped her and called the police. Their suspicions were aroused because she was carrying a black sports bag and acting in an agitated manner.
"Hey, lady! What're you so worked up about?... Say! Do you smell something burning?"
Police officers arrived at the scene minutes later and asked Muzhikhoyeva for her passport. But she refused and threatened to detonate a bomb, which she said was in her bag.
"Back off, coppers, or we all go 'boom!'"
"We said, âLetâs carefully take a look at what is in your bag,â looked inside and saw wires and some kind of button," police sergeant Mikhail Galtsev said on Rossia television.
Actually, he said, "Gimme dat bag, you moustachioed bitch!" But that's a family teevee station...
Muzhikhoyeva then tried to detonate the bomb, but the officers managed to handcuff her first.
"Book 'er, Danov!"
After a remote-controlled robot made several failed attempts to defuse it, the FSB called in one of its best sappers, Georgy Trofimov. The 29-year-old major had defused bombs at the Dubrovka theater after the hostage crisis in October and had disarmed the partially exploded bomb worn by the first suicide bomber Saturday.
Trofimov had guts, you've got to give him that...
Trofimov, wearing a bulky protective suit, approached the bag and started to pick it up. At that moment, the explosives went off in a burst of smoke and sparks, throwing him back several meters and killing him instantly. This was very sad... stills from the live TV are on the Moscow Times site. They lost a good man, there.
He was worth a hell of a lot more than the woman who was arrested, or the malignity that trained her.
Posted by: Mark IV ||
07/12/2003 1:14:08 PM ||
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Italy's Tourism Minister has resigned following a row over comments he made about German tourists. Stefano Stefani says he is sorry if he caused offence, after describing the tourists as super-nationalistic, arrogant blonde louts, who invaded Italy's beaches. The resignation is the latest development in a continuing argument between the two countries which began when Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi likened a German member of the European Parliament to a guard at a Nazi concentration camp. Mr Berlusconi said he had asked the junior minister to step down, and Mr Stefani confirmed this adding that he was being demonised for simply defending the image of Italy.
"Hey! Dis is Italia we're talkin' about! We love-a dem blondes!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 12:18 ||
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Not really WoT, but geopolitically interesting.
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer will head to the United States next week for high-level talks with Bush administration officials, the Foreign Ministry said.
The announcement follows persistent reports that he is being sent to arrange a face-to-face meeting between President George W. Bush and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. "Pretty please?"
Fischerâs five-day visit to New York and Washington next Monday through Friday will include talks with Vice President Richard Cheney, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of State Colin Powell, the ministry said. Following nearly a year of estrangement over Iraq, Schroeder is said to be eager to be seen in public with Bush and to resolve lingering enmity towards Berlin, various German media have reported. However, a government spokesman said: "As long as things have not been agreed one should not talk about them." Translated: "Letâs not miss a good opportunity to keep quiet!"
It will be Fischerâs first visit to the United States since he chaired the UN Security Council during votes on the Iraq crisis earlier this year. And that visit went so very well.
If Bush is unwilling to invite Schroeder to the White House, Berlin hopes he might be willing to confer with the German leader in New York when the UN General Assembly reconvenes in the autumn, a report in Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung paper said. A report in Der Spiegel news magazine, meanwhile, quotes sources in Brussels and Berlin as saying Bush continues to harbour ill will towards Germany for its opposition to the US-led war against Iraq. Schroeder, who has put forth Fischerâs name as a "sound choice" to become EU foreign minister, is said to be concerned by "a broad front of pro-US forces" in the EU who oppose Fischer. While Fischer himself has consistently denied any EU ambitions, it has been widely reported in Germany that he is keen to cap his career with the post of EU foreign minister — which has yet to be created under the new EU draft constitution. Just look modestly down at the floor and remember to blush, Joschka.
Posted by: seafarious ||
07/12/2003 1:40:18 AM ||
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EFL - Hollandâs been kicking a** and taking names lately!
Dutch military police at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam have arrested an alleged member of the Spanish terrorist organisation ETA. The internationally-wanted Spaniard, identified as Alexander Carregui, was detained on allegations he was involved in a failed bomb attack in Bilbao, Spain, in September 2002. Two ETA terrorists were killed in the blast. "Oops."
Carregui was arrested on Tuesday night on a stopover en route from Spain to Venezuela (interesting destination, hmmm...) and is being held in a Dutch jail. The arrest was not made public until Thursday night and it is expected Spain will soon submit an extradition request. The latest arrest comes after Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner approved on Tuesday the extradition of a suspected ETA terrorist to Spain on charges that he supplied information over possible attack targets. Spaniard Juanra Rodriguez was arrested in the Vrankrijk squatters camp in Amsterdam in January 2002 on request of Spanish authorities. He is accused of supplying ETA with information over possible attack targets. The alleged information included details to assist an operation designed to kill the leader of an extreme right organisation. Rodiguez claims he is innocent of all charges and has lodged legal action in a bid to prevent his extradition. The suspect fears he will be tortured and killed in Spain, but Minister Donner dismissed the claims. "Mustachios, maybe some giggle juice, but certainly not torture."
And, as usual, "Wudn't me. Nope. Nope..."
Posted by: seafarious ||
07/12/2003 1:13:51 AM ||
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Sipah-e-Sahaba distributed anti-Shia pamphlets in Deobandi and Sunni mosques in Quetta before 'foreign hands' attacked a Shia mosque killing 50 worshipers. The pamphlet includes fatwas of members of Pakistan's national assembly and senate. The pamphlet was recovered from a Wahabi religious school "Madressa Darul Uloom Imdadia, Mariabad" which was burnt down by angry Shia protesters after the mosque attack, Quetta residents told Shia News. "Nearly 200 students were studying at the Madressa but almost all of them were gone two nights before the Friday attack, and it makes clear that they were informed about the attack," Mr. R. Karim, a resident of Quetta said.
Wahabi terorists attacked Nasirul Aza Imambargah and mosque on 4 July during Friday prayers. Fifty-three people including three terrorists were killed in the suicide attack. More than sixty-five others were injured. The three men had wheeled a trolley up to the gate of the mosque before pulling guns from under a cover and opening fire on worshippers, police said. All three had grenades strapped to their waists, and two managed to blow themselves up. A third, who did not, died of wounds sustained when guards opened fire.
The Pakistan government parroted its stance of blaming "foreign hands" for the attack. "The names of the MNA's and senators in the pamphlet prove that Pakistan government is avoiding the real problem by suggesting foreign involvement in the attacks," Mr. Sabir Nizami, a Sunni Muslim of Quetta told Shia News. "The Deobandis hate Shia and Sunnis. They want to kills us all. I hope they all die. The government will never help us," Mr. Nizami said. President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali have both spoken of a foreign involvement. On Monday, foreign ministry spokesman Mahmood Khan hinted India may have played a part in the attack in an attempt to destabilize Musharraf's government. A top police investigator, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP news agency on Wednesday that five members of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi have been separated from a group of thirty Wahabis detained earlier for questioning in connection with the attack.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 23:12 ||
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Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayyat Friday said that the network of foreign and local terrorists, responsible of Quetta terrorism has been detected. âAs many as 24 suspects in attack on Imambargah at Quetta last Friday have been booked already but I am not going to disclose further information in this connection,â Faisal said while speaking to journalists. He however, answering the questions told the reporters, âinvestigation, are on advanced stage.â The Minister said those arrested belong to extremist organisations which had already been banned by the government and some foreign nationals. He assured that the investigations will be made public as soon as these are completed.
This is the deep-laid conspiracy that Liaquat was talking about. No doubt it's all Jews and Hindoos and other infidels, visiting terror on the peaceful Pakistanis...
He said the opening of Indian diplomatic missions in Afghanistan was a source of concern for Pakistan and these concerns have been conveyed to the government of Afghanistan.
Uhuh. That explains it...
To a question, he denied any involvement of FBI in the investigation. He said Quetta tragedy was clearly a terrorist incident and not a sectarian incident.
There's a difference, no doubt, but it's only visible to the trained eye...
However, culprits involved in it tried to give colour of religious sectarianism to the incident. He said it was a planned conspiracy which was aimed at creating instability in the country. He said Pakistan will never allow its soil to be used for terrorist activities for creating destabilization in other countries and expected reciprocal actions from neighbouring countries. The Minister said Pakistan is playing a pivotal role in fight against terrorism along with international community and there will be no compromise in this regard.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 13:46 ||
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More than 2,000 Shiites marched here yesterday under tight police security to condemn last week's mosque killings in southwest Pakistan, while hundreds others also staged protest rallies in major cities across the country. Members of six-party Muttahida Majlis Amal (MMA) religious alliance joined the procession taken out in the capital from a central Shia mosque.
Bet that made them feel secure...
Speakers at the countrywide rallies blamed the government for failing to protect the Shia community against attacks by extremists and terrorists. They demanded the arrest of culprits behind the June 4 mosque attack that killed 48 people in Quetta. In addition to Islamabad, rallies were held in Lahore, Multan, Peshawar and Quetta. Three terrorists, two of them suicide bombers, raided the mosque of the ethnic Hazara tribe in Quetta last Friday. The attack, one of the worst in Pakistan's history, also left more than 50 people injured. Armed police have been guarding mosques across the country as part of enhanced security after the Quetta carnage.
That's 'cuz Shiites aren't really Muslims, y'see? And that makes them infidesls, so they're fair game...
"President Musharraf is the only reason for all of Pakistan's problems," said leaders of the MMA at a press conference in Lahore to mark the 'black day'.
"Yeah! He prob'ly dunnit hisself!"
The MMA leaders said Musharraf would have to change his attitude otherwise he would be responsible for Pakistan's failure. MMA leaders, including Liaqat Baloch, Ali Sabtain Kazmi, Pir Ijaz Hashmi and Fareed Ahmad Paracha afddressed rallies in Lahore to condemn government policy, which they said "allowed the Quetta massacre to occur".
What allowed the Quetta massacre to occur was letting fundos run rampant throughout Pakistan...
Claiming the Quetta incident was a conspiracy, they said improving relations between India and Israel could have played a part in the massacre, adding that this was the opinion of all opposition parties.
By, golly! That must be it! It couldn't possibly have been bloodthirsty turbans...
Baloch said the opposition parties accepted the government's invitation to dialogue, but if the dialogues would end with no result, the opposition would rally public support. Some 1,000 MMA supporters led a rally in Multan district of Punjab province. "The government must unveil the facts behind this conspiracy against the people," Multan chief of MMA Mufti Hidayatullah Pasroori said, addressing protesters.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 13:30 ||
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Sounds to me like the Hindoos got tired of takin' Pak shit and decided to get a little payback. But go ahead, blame the Sunnis...
Kids! Collect the entire set!
Baghdad - Four men described as cousins of toppled Iraqi president Saddam Hussein were arrested Saturday with other members of the former regime. Bernard Kerrick said the coalition "received confidential information ... that gave us the whereabouts and location of several members of the former regime who were involved in human rights violations. Four of the men that were arrested were picked up in the last 12 hours and were cousins of Saddam. They were members of Saddam's personal security force. We found a number of photos during the seizure and arrest that showed these people, these four cousins, allegedly cousins, torturing a man." Kerrick added that an investigation was under way. Kerrick did not name any of the arrested men or say where or under what circumstances they were detained. In a separate statement on Saturday, the US military said it had apprehended two "local opposition leaders", Anwar Al-Asaw and Bashir Ahmed Thanun Al-Dulaymi, in the northern city of Mosul.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 21:51 ||
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The American army last night launched a pre-emptive strike against renegade Iraqi fighters around Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit after evidence that they have been stealing and stockpiling weapons for attacks on coalition forces. In an operation codenamed Ivy Serpent, Task Force Ironhorse, a force of 26,000 soldiers American based in Tikrit, began a series of raids targeting Fedayeen paramilitaries, Baath Party loyalists and other "insurgents" still loyal to Iraq's former dictator. The American sweep, which is expected to last for several days, follows the discovery of increasing quantities of illicit weapons in the Tikrit valley.
Weapons uncovered in recent days included shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, capable of destroying helicopters and aircraft, large quantities of rocket-propelled grenades and Kalashnikov machine-guns and extensive supplies of ammunition. Artillery and tank shells, often adapted to make booby traps or bombs, have also been found. On Friday, The Telegraph witnessed the discovery of an anti-tank missile, three mortars, nine Kalashnikovs, ammunition, and a gas mask, all buried close to an isolated farmhouse in the southern Tikrit valley, owned by a suspected Fedayeen operations officer in the area.
American officers say that persistent looting at the 140 weapons dumps of Saddam's former regime discovered in the Tikrit valley since the end of the war is a further sign that Saddam's supporters are intensifying efforts to weaken the coalition's control of Iraq. Informers have told them that much of the looting is instigated by Fedayeen and Baath Party remnants, who pay locals to steal weapons that can then be used to attack American forces. Lt Col Bill MacDonald, a spokesman for Task Force Ironhorse — which is mostly comprised of the United States 4th Infantry Division — confirmed that a renewed offensive was under way against opponents of coalition forces, including Saddam himself.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 21:38 ||
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FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) - U.S troops are handing Iraqi police responsibility for patrolling and keeping order in the restive city of Fallujah, where American forces have come under increasing attack from Saddam Hussein loyalists, the military announced Saturday. Graduated some police cadets, did we?
The transfer of power came as the U.S.-led coalition was in the ``final stagesââ of setting up a governing council, which would be the first national Iraqi political body since Saddamâs fall, a senior Western diplomat told The Associated Press. The council planned to hold a final organizational meeting Sunday and could be announced then if there are no last minute snags, the diplomat said.
Also Saturday, former New York police commissioner Bernard Kerik, now overseeing Iraqâs Interior Ministry, issued an appeal to former Iraqi police officers dismissed on political grounds in the last 10 years, to apply for reinstatement. He said those under 45 years of age should apply at police stations from Aug. 15 to Nov. 1.
U.S. forces have been training Iraqi police in towns and cities across the country, with an eye to eventually giving them responsibility for security. Fallujah is becoming one of the first postwar cities to see the handover - apparently in the belief that a reduced American presence will mean less anti-American sentiment. Just as long as everyone knows that we can always come back.
Fallujah, where U.S. soldiers killed 20 protesters in late April, has been a center of resistance to the occupation. The U.S.-appointed mayor and Iraqi police requested the handover, saying it would help reduce ambushes and shootings against Americans and prevent police from getting caught in the crossfire. The U.S.-led coalition said in a statement that the transfer began Friday. Iraqi police will ``patrol the streets themselves instead of jointly with military police,ââ though the military would keep a rapid reaction team on call to help if needed, the statement said. The 3rd Infantry Division will remain in the city, it said.
Soldiers on Friday left the mayorâs office and the main police station, where they had been posted since seizing the city in April, mayor Taha Bedewi said. The U.S. statement said American military police will keep ``liaison officesââ at the two locations.
American troops have been attacked daily in shootings and bombings across central Iraq, a region known as the "Sunni Asylum" ``Sunni Triangle,ââ where Saddam drew his strongest support during his rule. Since President Bush declared major combat operations had ended on May 1, at least 31 U.S. soldiers have been killed by hostile fire. In the town of Ramadi, near Falljuah, a bomb attack targeted Iraqi policemen graduating from American training in Ramadi, killing seven Iraqis. Let the Iraqi police handle the day to day crime, and let our boys work on taking out the truculant Baâathists.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/12/2003 2:02:53 PM ||
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#1
Great - ITs about time the Iraqis took charge of their own problems. I agree we should be on the perimeter in cabe the Baathists try something - but day to day police work should be the Iraqis.
#2
Fallujah is becoming one of the first postwar cities to see the handover - apparently in the belief that a reduced American presence will mean less anti-American sentiment.
It would be wise to stick to a reasonable timetable, and not try to speed things up in an effort to reduce anti-American sentiment, which would likely be perceived as weakness. Whatever time it takes to get them on the right road should be taken fully, and not trimmed down in some dubious attempt to appease some of the population.
Former Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed Al-Sahhaf, who earned the nickname 'Comical Ali' during the U.S.-led war on Iraq, made a sudden appearance in Abu Dhabi yesterday, saying he might not return to his homeland. "When I leave I always have in my mind that I might not come down this road again, but I hope and pray to God that I can return to Baghdad one day," he said on Abu Dhabi Television. "Hopefully, all of them (Arab countries) are our nation, but you always hope to return to your homeland with your memories," said Al Sahhaf, who was shown arriving at the airport in Abu Dhabi. Al Sahhaf said he had mixed feelings about leaving Baghdad. "I have the same feeling as any ordinary citizen...It didn't mean much to me to be a minister. But this time I have really mixed feelings, of sadness and hope," said Al Sahhaf, who was met by a UAE delegation. In the Arab world, Sahaf gained fame for his colourful use of the Arabic language, using archaic insults to describe the American and British invaders which had Arab commentators debating their meaning and poring over dictionaries.
He had the rest of us scratching our heads, too. I'd curse his moustache, but he doesn't have one...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 13:10 ||
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Iraq's transitory governing council, the country's first executive body formed since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, will hold its inaugural session on Sunday in Baghdad, a UN official said. The meeting of the 25-member council will be held in the former ministry for military industry, which will become the council's headquarters. "The members of the council will meet at 9:00am (local time), barring any last minute change of plan," the senior official said, asking not to be named told AFP. The council will invite top US civil administrator Paul Bremer, British envoy to Iraq John Sawyers and UN special representative Sergio Vieira de Mello "to announce that the council has been formed". The official says the three international officials will each address the body, which will act as Iraq's executive, pending elections, which are not planned for at least one year. The council is expected to have responsibility for appointing or sacking ministers and diplomats, approving a budget and appointing a body of up to 10 members to draw up a draft constitution. Talks on Friday between Iraqi politicians and envoys from the coalition and the United Nations focused on selecting council members. The body is to comprise 13 Shiites, five Kurds, one Turkmen, one Christian and five Arab Sunnis, designed to reflect Iraq's population. Eight of those would be Iraqis formerly in exile, while three or four women will be on the body. The council will also include five or six representatives from Islamist Sunni or Shiite groups.
And I wonder from which quarter the disruptions are going to come?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 12:33 ||
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Just about everyone here would rather be at home right nowâbut nobody wants to go home a loser.
If we gave in to the snivelers and peaceniks who cry, âBring our troops home now!â Iraq would undoubtedly descend into a bloody civil war, and God only knows who would come out on top. Saddam might even emerge from hiding, claiming to have driven the âinfidelsâ out of his country. The United States would have suffered another black eye, and our enemies would be further emboldened to attack us again. We would have lost the war, and all of the brave Americans and British who gave their lives in this operation would have died in vain.
I am not willing to accept that scenario. You shouldnât be, either.
We are the mightiest military to ever walk the face of the Earth. We have the capability and the will to finish this job.
Letâs see it through to the end.
I canât think of a more succinct answer to the cut-and-run-crowd..
Posted by: R. McLeod ||
07/12/2003 2:19:10 AM ||
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Letâs see it through to the end.
Yeah but let's do it with brains. I think the administration's been doing a lot of war planning and that went well, but this soldier-turned-policeman with a smile and a candy bar ain't all it was cracked up to be. As the story goes... you know how Russians used to clear mine fields in WW2? Well, I don't think the admin should be trying that here.
Posted by: Rafael ||
07/12/2003 3:30 Comments ||
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With all respect to LT Smash, I think the situation is a little different for those in combat units. They're exhuasted, and should have been rotated out of there a while ago. But we simply don't have the men available.
Posted by: Pete Stanley ||
07/12/2003 3:42 Comments ||
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Agree we need to rotate the combat units out of there. Which obviously is why we'd like more international help.
Once again, I'll say it: we might have to face the reality of a divided, defensible, and pro-US Iraq to make this work.
I can visualize us designating SunniLand, where most of the attacks are taking place, a de facto state. We essentially withdraw from that area, and isolate it. Nothing in, nothing out. Meanwhile we concentrate our forces (which could be much smaller) on friendly turf in Kurdistan and ShiiteLand. Think about it: do we ACTUALLY care if Iraq has the borders drawn by the British 80 years ago? The viable, and economically meaningful, parts of the country are basically friendly to us. Turn those areas into the new Iraq and leave the Sunnis to rot.
This isn't an original idea, but the realities in that part of the world, including our limited manpower capabilities, may well lead to something like this.
Posted by: R. McLeod ||
07/12/2003 6:31 Comments ||
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Y'all are gonna hate this, but I think with the committments we have made to battle terrorism and terrorist states, we need to bring back the draft to fulfill manpower needs.
I have watched the volunteer army for 30 years and it has worked very, very well as long as we do not have multiple deployments, and no prospect of even more.
That particular scenario no longer exists.
I know our military leaders will complain from one side of its mouth that the recruit quality will suffer, but I fail to see how. True, a soldier who is drafted doesn't have the same outlook as one who didn't, but after the service, both have the same outlook about their experience. The standards that exist now can remain in place as recruits are vetted the same.
And the military will say on the other side of its mouth how conscripts did well in Viet Nam. Poor quality troops from conscipts versus good performances in combat; I suspect the truth leans more towards good performance in combat.
Okay, I am ready to see your remarks. I think there will be a flood of them, but I do not think I am wrong about this.
I think we need the draft as long as we are going to conduct global war against terrorism.
#5
It would be better to increase the pay and benifits for those e-1 thru e-6,at least on a level with those of the same skill levels in the civilial sector.There would be a dramatic increase in recruitment.The few cops I know with a couple of years experience make about $3,000/month.
#7
Rumsfeld has made a conscious decision to cast aside part of the so-called Powell Doctrine. Specifically, that no major conflict should be initiated without calling up the reserves. The thinking behind this is that America should know that its sons and daughters, husbands and wives are going to war and not just the "military." Powell's generation of officers felt that America never went to war in Viet Nam. Only draftees. Thus it was easy for the anti-war crowd to drive a wedge between the military and the population.
When DoD started the mobilization process, Rumsfeld and his circle hit the roof when they found out that units key to operations had been placed in the reserves and National Guard. They have since decided to put those units back on active duty (link). Their goal is now is to be able to go to war in 15 days.
We are really at risk of destroying the the post-Viet Nam military that we built at such great expense and difficulty. I like Rumsfeld's aggressiveness and no BS attitude, but his understanding of the military is pre-Viet Nam and he is ignoring the post-Viet Nam lessons learned. In doing so he is making some of the same mistakes as MacNamara, especially regarding manpower management.
The units (15 combat brigades, 8 divisions) needed to end this SNAFU are already there, in the reserve force structure. They need training, plus ups from the Individual Ready Reserve, and officer and NCO cadres from the active component. We've spent billions on these units and haven't used them since the Korean War.
Winning wars on the cheap is a bad idea. MacNamara tried it. Hitler tried it. (He refused to mobilize all industries to a war footing until 1944 when Speer fianlly convinced him.) Wars are won through national commitment and persistence. They are an exercise of national will. If we lack the will to mobilize the nation to fight the war against the Islamists (the War on Terror sounds too much like the War on Drugs to me), we may very well win this battle (which I don't doubt) but risk losing the war as our enemies adapt and devise new tactics and strategies or just plain outlast us.
#8
badanov - I went in at the tail end of the last draft Army. Never again unless the homeland is in direct threat as it was in '41. No crap about terrorist who kill as many as we do in a month on the highway, I mean a real threat. I lived through an Army filled with desertion, AWOL, drugs, disorder, and real low morale. The volunteers may be grumbling about being in Iraq, but they understand that they did indeed volunteer. [BTW - Napoleon's Old Guard were known as the Grumblers, things really don't change when it comes to the GI.] You put people out there who have no real interest, desire or investiment in the process and you'll have the same situation you had in the late 60's and 70's. You won't have an Army. I notice that the NBA and NFL don't have a problem recruiting people. Wonder why? If it pays, it plays. Slaves are always a lot cheaper than free men. It is expensive to have the most effective Army in the world. That is a problem most large successful countries have faced throughout history. Remember that the next time your state's Congressmen and Senators fight to keep open a base or a procurement program which the military does not want to expend further resources on. When they talk about the next Black Hole of federal funding, free drugs for the AARP crowd, ask them why your security is not as important as the over 70 vote.
Posted by: Don ||
07/12/2003 10:33 Comments ||
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#9
In times of war I have no problem with a draft, and we are at war now. Politically, I just don't think it can be done, though.
It would have to be proposed and nurtured by a group of political leaders including many Democrats. I know, I know; fat chance of that happening, especially in this Silly Season leading up to the Prez elections.
As for military pay increases, I think they are justified and will help recruitment. But I don't think they ever could or should equal or exceed the private sector. Again, it's another political nightmare because Dems flat-out don't like to give money to the military and the GOP will be loath to increase taxes to pay for it. (God forbid if all other Gov't spending were to take a spending freeze for a year that would save billions.)
Thus endeth my rant...
Posted by: eric ||
07/12/2003 10:39 Comments ||
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#10
I have to agree with Don...I enlisted in the Navy during the draft and saw the same crap he speaks of...my own service was in subs and since we were all screened volunteers, I didn't experience the worst of it, but doesn't anyone recall how Forrestal got the nickname "Forest-Fire"?
This is the end. It's not the end of the deployment, which will last decades. It's not the end of US casualties, which will mount into the hundreds. It's not the end for skirmishes with deadenders, which will last at least a decade. But it's the end for our enemies in Iraq.
Ultimately, if we ignore political correctness and run Iraq well, with American civilian administrators supervising Iraqis, for perhaps a decade, Iraq will prosper and grow strong. In many ways, Iraq is closer to the US than Japan was at the end of WWII. Japanese propaganda against the US covered the whole spectrum - racist propaganda at American 'mongrels', equating Americans to devils and resentment at American 'bullying' and 'interference' in the geopolitical sphere (i.e. Japan's ambitions). There are problems in Iraq, they're not anywhere near what we faced with either the German or the Japanese occupations in the postwar period.
#12
I like Mcloeds Sunniland. Those are the ex-facto rulers of Gangland Iraq. Thats a population that should carry a heavey burden. Like fleeing to Syria.
#13
I'm repeating this post from yesterday to point out that it's morning in Iraq - we have won, and what we're seeing are just skirmishes:
From a poster in yesterday's Rantburg: we realize that if we lose this one, nothing else matters.
Are you seriously entertaining the thought that we could lose this one? Excuse me while I let out a bellylaugh. Media hyperventilation and wishful thinking aside, there is zero possibility we will lose it. Anyone who says that the peace will be more difficult that the war that preceded it is full of it. War is hard - extremely hard, but typically short in duration. Compared to war, enforcing the peace is easy, but can take a lot of time.
It was 25 years before we drew down our presence in Japan. Nothing much happened there after an initial period of sporadic attacks lasting several years. (An example - soldiers would disappear, never to be found. AWOL or murdered and buried? These incidents decreased as time progressed. You draw your own conclusions). Almost 60 years later, we're still in Japan.
Everyone thinks of Iraq as a bottomless rathole. But before Iraq, there was Mesopotamia. This country has real possibilities. I believe that by the time we leave Iraq, five or six decades later, it will be the strongest and richest country in the Mid East, perhaps even an ally of Israel.
What the media perceive as problems in Iraq aren't even real problems. Iraq has oil. Unlike Japan and Germany in the postwar period, most of Iraq's cities aren't flattened. Iraq's bridges and power stations are intact, except for a little looting. (In WWII, Allied forces made a lot of river crossings on pontoon bridges because the Germans had destroyed the existing structures). Iraq is in better shape than most Allied cities after WWII - Allied troops destroyed many of these cities in order to get at the German troops who were holding the line.
The media can only see what's in front of their noses - they have no sense of perspective. What they see in Iraq is different from peacetime conditions in their own countries, so they point out all the differences. They are congenitally anti-American and doing a comparison to what happened in the past would destroy the anti-American angle, so they skip the comparison altogether.
Bottom line - take the gloom-and-doom talk from reporters with a few cupfuls of salt. Understand that many liberal hate-America reporters will lie without compunction if there's an anti-American angle in a story.
#14
Don, and Hoda: I went in (Army) right after y'all, at the beginning of the all-volunteer (VOLAR) army. It sure wasn't any better when I got there, and I don't think the draft is to blame.
That was immediate post-Vietnam era. The armed forces were demoralized, loaded with dead wood, and hiring the scum of the earth (including me, I guess). It was a huge force without a mission, enjoying both deep budget cuts and the scorn of civilian society (encouraged by our friends in the press, natch) and the Carter administration. It was also a mirror of the general social melt-down on the streets of the US in the sex-drugs-rock'nroll era.
There should be a big, shiny-assed medal for that core of real professional NCOs and officers who kept it together during that awful post-Nam period... talk about unsung heroes.
I also got to see the beginning of the change back to a real military, at the beginning of the Reagan presidency (bows to the west). I stayed in touch with my buds who stayed on (and there weren't many who opted for that under those conditions). They cracked down on the drugs, quit obsessing over Nam, got serious about new missions, and did training that mattered.
So, on to my point: I would support a draft because I think that it's good for society. It could be 18 mos., the term is negotiable, but there are a bunch of folks who never get the standards of cleanliness, attention to detail, respect for authority, and the general ass-kickin they need, without a draft. I saw and believe this.
And for my trump, the media's favorite argument: Even the Europeans are doing it. If lame little countries you could chuck a rock clear over, who haven't defended themselves in 150 years, have a draft, shouldn't we?
And there ya have it.
Posted by: Mark IV ||
07/12/2003 12:53 Comments ||
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#15
I tend to agree with you, and I was in the Army during the same period. But I would restrict the combat arms to professionals. Use the draftees as cooks, bakers, clerks. Use them for maintenance tasks, chaplain's assistants, and all the other tail jobs. Infantry, artillery, armor, combat engineers, and combat support jobs should be restricted to professionals. The professionals should also get the pay and the respect they deserve.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2003 13:07 Comments ||
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#16
Yes but what about the draftees that turn out to be eager, willing, capable and all-round good at ass-kicking?
Posted by: Rafael ||
07/12/2003 13:34 Comments ||
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#17
We've got these guys right where we want them - on the run and in fear for their lives. The Muslim world (to the extent that such a phrase means anything) is now fully aware of the consequences of attacking us at home. In return for the killing of 3000 Americans, we have toppled two regimes.
Malaysia, which played host to terrorist conferences, is now somewhat more reluctant to host them. Muslim leaders around the world who previously turned a blind eye to anti-American terrorist activity are now acutely sensitized to that activity by the existential question - "Am I next?" (on the American list). Donations to terrorists have slowed to a trickle, to the extent that news organizations have to pay for interviews with terrorist organizers.
The media's obsession with minor skirmishes cannot obscure the central fact that we are winning, and they are losing. And that's all that matters.
#18
Mark IV - I was in for the long haul from the early 70's till after GW1. I lived through the problems, the zero pay raises, the departure of good men to feed and take care of their families. When Reagan hit, we got the pay, the incentives, and the support needed to reconstruct the system in a manner not seen since WWII. It was all done by volunteers. Not all the cream of the crop. But we had the ability to fire people, kick them out, so we could concentrate on the job of preparing to fight. If you drag the unmotivated into the bunch, they just waste the NCOs' and officers' time which is better spent with those who want to be there. You spend 80% of your time dealing with 10 to 20% of the crowd who want to get out anyway. So what are going to do, kick out the draftees when they don't perform? That's what they want. There's a whole sector now in our society which will treat them as heros. You don't have enough MPs for Iraq, where are you going to get the guards for all the prison space if you send them to the jug rather than kick them out. Sorry, boys, unless you're going to do the job, I ain't. I've done my time. You put everyone else at risk, who are putting their lives on the line for you and this country, by inserting the unwilling into the unit.
Fred - recall the fight at the underpass in Baghdad? Those were the support troops. They had to get through because if they didn't show up, the guys in the infantry and armor were going to run out of ammo and fuel. If they don't come, the combat guys don't fight either. If you recognize anything from the fight in Iraq, it is that on a mobile battlefield there is not rear. Everyone has to be able to fight. And I do recall a Chaplain catching flak for manning a gun in that fight as well. He can be in my unit any day.
ZF - We indeed can't afford to lose this as we did Vietnam. If this enemy sees that it can slide back into the shadow and bids it time and strike at will and the Americans do not have the will to see it to the end, then they will eventually be able to dictate the initiative. If you are the student of history you seem to be, how many times does it take the barbarian to keep pounding on the gate before one time, he eventually succeeds? How long did it take for the economy to recover from the impact of 911? What would happen if a series of such impacts happened on the economy? All the threat needs to do is put enough aligators into the swamp before we forget the mission was to drain the swamp in the first place. The threat doesn't need to destroy us, just reduce our ability and willingness to act. They have a willing ally in the mass media. Just see the result of only a month's worth of harping, harping, and harping has done to raise this issue.
To me, the WOT is nothing more than another winning the west. It took decades to close the western frontier, it took numerous lives of the small professional army, under strength and over committed, against a foe who at one moment was friendly, the next neutral, and the next day outright hostile. There was no consistant distinct strategy out of Washington either. However, in the end, the west was consolidated and incorporated into the union. In this case it just bringing the new hostiles into at least the late 20th century concept of western civilization.
But for those out there ready to send their fellow Americans into involuntary servitude, just answer this question. When hasn't a general said that he needs more troops?
Posted by: Don ||
07/12/2003 17:08 Comments ||
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#19
"So what are going to do, kick out the draftees when they don't perform? That's what they want. There's a whole sector now in our society which will treat them as heros."
Yep. Damn a society that treats 'em as equals. Kick 'em out before they can get deployed. Every level of society has losers... the draft finds 'em sooner. Think of it as a big sieve (with no college deferments).
"how many times does it take the barbarian to keep pounding on the gate before one time, he eventually succeeds? How long did it take for the economy to recover from the impact of 911? What would happen if a series of such impacts happened on the economy?"
I respectfully disagree that this makes the case for "no draft". With even a 20% washout rate, you have more manpower to do the job with, and society gets some underpinnings of former street (and other) people who have a clue.
The barbarians pounded on the gates of Rome for 700 years without getting in. The Romans had a draft. It can and has been argued that when they hired the fighting out, the barbarians got in. Every Roman had a direct stake in the fighting, at least during the Republic and the first couple centuries of the Empire. We should be so lucky.
It has also been argued that what felled Rome was religion. Specifically, Christianity, from within. That may only be a part of the story, but look for mass French conversions to Islam (shame, sons of Reginald, Godfrey, Raymond, Tancred!) to know the end is nearing for some.
I totally agree that in the modern battlefield, there is no rear. I also tend to believe that "support" troops need combat training, although it's still a pipe dream to think that they will be as adept at combat as the real front line. Specialization works.
I think that the shock of 9/11 was largely psychological, and that 6 x 9/11 would equal an America just as big, but several times as determined. Think about your reactions at the time... did it matter that 3000, 15,000 (as first reported) or 30,000 died? Was there a linear relationship between the body count and American determination?
Nope, there was only a horror max that got violated and the rest will be history.
I also don't think that the current recession is a direct result of the attacks. I think that we were due anyway, and the attacks were the catalyst to be sure, but the causes of recessions are always oversimplified.
More attacks at this point would only rally the people behind the Prez, especially if the media's carefully timed reports on "approval ratings" can be believed.
I will not accept that any defeat is inevitable. Winning the West did not require the overseas logistics, it did not require anywhere near the percentage of the national budget, and it did not entail the apparent risk of religious war. In short, I don't consider it a good analogy, except on a very local basis. I am thinking more in terms of the Parthian and Germanic Wars, or (to fast-forward) Korea, and looking for a way to remodel our response for success.
This is a longer term war and the ability of the administration to make our will prevail will be hard tested. More attacks would actually help the cause..
Posted by: Mark IV ||
07/12/2003 21:30 Comments ||
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#20
Eric:"But I don't think they ever could or should equal or exceed the private sector."
Why not?
Shouldn't a soldier who faces at least as much risk as a cop on a daily basis get at least the same pay?
Gaudicanal chaplan:"Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition".
EFL
About 300 Dutch soldiers were departing for Kuwait on Thursday to prepare for the deployment of about 1,100 troops who will take up duties in war-torn Iraq as part of the British-led stabilisation force. The soldiers will acclimatise in Kuwait before being placed on active duty in the Iraqi province Al-Muthanna. The Al-Muthanna province is a thinly-populated, hot desert region bordering Saudi Arabia and is larger in size than the Netherlands. It is considered a stable area, but a military advisor recently warned the Parliament that Iraqi renegades carrying out attacks on Western soldiers might regroup in the province and that Dutch troops need to remain vigilant. The troops will come under the command of British forces based at the southern harbour city Basra. Good luck and many thanks!
Posted by: seafarious ||
07/12/2003 12:57:46 AM ||
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#1
And watch for snakes, reptilian and otherwise.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2003 2:33 Comments ||
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#2
Make sure those Snow birds know to shake-out thier boots in the morning,you fellow Desert rats know what I'm talking about.
Angered by a recent bomb blast which killed six in the south, President Gloria Arroyo yesterday warned leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that she would not pursue peace talks if they were found involved in the recent bomb attacks.
You know they are, so why bother?
"All the perpetrators will be brought to justice. Nothing in the peace process will deter us from punishing terrorists and bringing them to justice," Arroyo said. In a visit to Koronadal, a predominantly Christian city, Arroyo hinted that the MILF was behind the bomb blast at the public market last Thursday. The military had accused the MILF for the series of bomb attacks that killed 13 people in Koronadal on May 10. The stores in the market were open for business, although the bombsite was still full of debris and dried blood. Chief Superintendent Manuel Raval, the regional police head, echoed Arroyo's fear, saying the blast came from a bomb that was made of ball bearings, a battery and explosives. The attack had "the same pattern, the same targets" as in previous bomb attacks that were blamed on the MILF, he added. The suspected attackers have been hiding in the hinterlands of the MILF, said Jose Lina, the interior secretary. Meanwhile, Eid Kabalu, the MILF spokesman, asked the government and the international monitoring team to send a team to investigate so that the real perpetrator of the bomb attacks would be pinpointed. "We requested the Malaysian monitoring team to be dispatched immediately and this will become their test mission," Kabalu said. "The MILF was not involved in the bombing attack in Koronadal," Kabalu said.
Eid says that every time one of these atrocities happens. If they're not involved, maybe MILF should find who is.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 13:23 ||
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Indonesian troops have killed 15 separatist rebels in Aceh province as a major military operation entered its 55th day, the military said. Military spokesman Colonel Ditya Sudarsono was quoted by the state Antara news agency as saying the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) guerrillas were killed in eight separate gunfights. Col Sudarsono said a total of 432 GAM rebels have been killed since the start of the operation on May 19. The death toll for soldiers stands at 31.
Meanwhile, military prosecutors in the province sought a four-year jail sentence for one of three soldiers on trial for raping four Acehnese women. The offence carries a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison. Prosecutors said the alleged actions had tarnished the military's reputation. The two other defendants are on trial separately.
Kinda hard to tarnish the reputation of the Indonesian army...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 12:29 ||
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Indonesian police say they have arrested nine suspected Jemaah Islamiah members and also foiled plans to attack churches and shops in Jakarta. Police said on Friday they also seized chemicals capable of making a bomb 10 times bigger than those which hit the Indonesian Bali island last year.
The definition of Islamic success seems to involve bigger bombs, higher body counts...
The suspects were rounded up over the past week outside Jakarta and in Central Javaâs Semarang town in anti-terror operations stepped up after the bombings on Bali. More than 30 people, including senior alleged members of JI, are already in custody for the Bali attacks. Briefing reporters on the latest roundup, police said two suspects were senior JI militants. One of them was Pranata Yuda, also called Mustofa, 42, JIâs former chief for a region that incorporates parts of eastern Indonesia, Malaysia and the southern Philippines. "He (Mustofa) was arrested at Jakarta area, from him we got sketches of various bombing plans and he has already prepared the next targets. The targets are public facilities and worship places," police said.
Not Muslim worship places, of course. Unless they're Shiites, of course...
Another suspect caught was JIâs Jakarta chief, Ichwanudin, also known as Asim, 28, police said. He shot himself with an M-16 rifle shortly after being arrested on Friday near President Megawati Sukarnoputriâs main private residence. He was handcuffed at the time but managed to grab the rifle, put in a magazine and turn it on himself, police said.
Quite a trick. Did it at the cop shop, too...
Officers also seized two M-16s, 22,000 rounds of ammunition, 160kg of TNT, 900kg of potassium chlorate, detonators and books on bomb making in the latest raids.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
07/12/2003 4:35:58 AM ||
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#1
Man - this article just screams out for annotation / commentary! BIG ending!
#3
Sorry Fred, I just noticed that this was already posted yesterday, you can delete it if you want.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
07/12/2003 6:47 Comments ||
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#4
The terrorist suspected of planning the October 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people, including 88 Australians, is believed to be hiding in Bangkok, reports said today.
A senior national security official speaking on condition of anonymity said that Indonesian Riduan Isamuddin, known as Hambali, is being helped by nine Thai Muslim militants, the same men who smuggled him into the country in February 2002 when Hambali and several others plotted the Bali bombings.
Hambali is believed to be the link between the Muslim extremist group, Jemaah Islamiah, and the al-Qaeda terrorist network.
The unnamed security adviser said the nine men helping Hambali were in touch with Muslim extremists in Malaysia and Indonesia, and were based in three of Thailand's five predominately southern provinces. He said their leader is a Muslim cleric.
"It's hard for Thai authorities to crush them because there is no evidence and if authorities arrest them without evidence there will be serious repercussions because all nine are religious leaders running religious schools," the security official said as quoted by the Nation newspaper.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
07/12/2003 7:00 Comments ||
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#5
Paul - it summarizes both the arrests. I've got to admit that I'm really surprised that the Indonesians are cracking down on them as hard as they seem to be -- we'll be able to tell if it's for real when the sentences start coming in. Given the repeated cynical denials of the existence of JI by Hamza Haz and the overt support for Laskar Jihad, I was sure the "crackdown" would fizzle quickly.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2003 10:03 Comments ||
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Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat has endorsed a plan to overhaul the Fatah movement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials in Ramallah disclosed Thursday. They said the changes are aimed at reorganizing Fatah and replacing many of its veteran operatives. The move is seen by some officials as an attempt by Arafat to tighten his grip on Fatah and flush out activists who appear to have shifted their loyalty to PA Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and his Minister of State for Security, Muhammed Dahlan. According to one official, Arafat has allocated $1.5 million for the plan. He said former Minister of Interior Hani al-Hassan, who is a senior Fatah leader, has been entrusted with the mission of overseeing the changes. Earlier this week, Arafat named Hassan as "general commissioner" of Fatah in the West Bank and asked him to cancel a number of bodies belonging to the movement, especially the Higher Committee Movement, which consists of representatives representing the young generation in Fatah. Some of these activists are among the harshest critics of Arafat and the PA leadership.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 22:35 ||
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..Take money out of left pocket with left hand, put it into right hand, and then deposit into right pocket...
UN envoy Terje Larsen has stood by his account earlier Friday that Yasser Arafat told him Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas is "betraying the interests of the Palestinian people." Palestinian officials denied that Arafat said such a thing, and accused Larsen of not being a fair mediator by running to the Israelis and telling them what the Palestinians are saying.
"That was supposed to be just between us!"
"He is behaving like a tyro who doesn't know what he is doing," Larsen reported Arafat saying about Abbas. "How does he dare to stand next to an Israeli flag and next to [Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon and to act friendly with a man whose history is known to all the world?"
Ummm... Trying to get something done?
Arafat's associates have been ratcheting up the criticism of Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Prime Minister and Arafat's co-founder of the Fatah movement. Abbas has threatened to resign both from Fatah and as prime minister, but neither resignation has been accepted.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 22:31 ||
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Syria reiterated Saturday it is ready to resume peace talks with Israel that broke down in 2000, according to a newspaper report. The Tishrin daily, which reflects government views, said talks should pick up where they broke off three years ago a view often repeated by the Syrian government. Israel has occupied the Golan Heights since it captured the area from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981. The talks ended in a dispute over the amount of land in the Golan Heights to be returned to Syria. Israel insisted on retaining the entire shore of the Sea of Galilee, a lake at the western foot of the heights, while Syria demanded a portion of the shoreline, which it had controlled until 1967. The paper said "it is not permissible that peace negotiations return to a zero point and cancels all that was achieved and had required strenuous efforts."
Significant? Or propaganda for external consumption?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 22:27 ||
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And now for happy news...
Gaza - Members in the so-called âDeath Squadsâ affiliated with the Palestinian Authorityâs preventive security apparatus were seriously injured during recent clashes with Mujahideen of the popular resistance committees.
That'd be Hamas and IJ...
Sources in that apparatus said that absolute secrecy was shrouding identity of those wounded elements. They explained that some of them were wanted by Palestinian families and national organizations for involvement in killing relatives or cadres in various past incidents. The sources mentioned the name of two: Safwat Rahami and Nabil Tammos who were receiving medical treatment under strict protection in one of the Gaza hospitals. The Death Squad members are charged of murdering cadres in Hamas and Islamic Jihad Movements in addition to other national organizations.
That'd be al-Aqsa and maybe a few PLFP goons...
Palestinian families had threatened to take law into their own hands and avenge the killing of their next of kin at the hands of those security elements.
Bingo! What lovely news! Abbas (or maybe Dahlan) doesn't want a civil war with the fundos, but if they're not brought to heel they lose everything. So he's/they're doing the death squad thing, possibly under Egyptian tutelage, maybe even with Egyptian help, and probably with IDF intel. Dahlan's close to the Egyptians and the IDF has a vested interest in seeing Gaza cleaned out â and it'd be even more fun to see it cleaned out without dismembered Zionist bodies cluttering the landscape. If Abbas and Dahlan make a dent they'll get pretty much what they ask for from the U.S. and Israel. If not, why, nothing happened, did it? Must be time for more talks, more negotiations. The fly in the ointment is Yasser, sitting in the ruins and plotting Dire Revenge⢠for his own irrelevance, passing on any intel he gets to the al-Aqsa thugs, knowing they'll share it with the fundos. "Byzantine" seems an inadequate term to describe this game...
Either that, or Hamas is even more paranoid than usual, which isn't impossible, just difficult.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 21:19 ||
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Uniformed Palestinian policemen launched on Saturday a campaign aimed at âcollectingâ what was described as âillegal weaponsâ from Gaza citizens.
Because they use them to "kill people."
In the process, cars were stopped and thoroughly searched for firearms and other weapons that might be used against Israel. The measure, aimed at appeasing Israel and the United States, was severely criticized by Hamas leader Dr. Abdul Aziz Rantisi. âThe weapons of the resistance is not illegal. This is a weapon with which we defend our homes, children and women and ourselves,â he said in a press interview.
"We have our own definition of 'legal,' and they ain't it. This is a weapon with which we kill Jews and anybody else who disagrees with us!"
It is believed though that the campaign will succeed in decommissioning only a few weapons since the vast bulk of the resistance weapons are thoroughly hidden.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 20:59 ||
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A Canadian freelance photographer has died in Tehran after being arrested and
taken to a hospital with what relatives said were serious head injuries, government officials in Ottawa say. Montreal-based Zahra Kazemi, 54, was detained on June 23 after taking pictures of Tehran's notorious Evin prison, where many dissidents are jailed. She was declared brain dead earlier this week. Her death appears likely to mar what had been relatively smooth relations between Canada and Iran.
Just a temporary blip, I'm sure. After all, it was a lot harder on her than it was on Cretien. Six months from now it'll all be in the past...
Canadian officials said Foreign Minister Bill Graham had told Ottawa's ambassador to Tehran to seek an immediate meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi to find out exactly what happened to Kazemi.
Somebody beat her head in. You need a meeting for that?
Friends and relatives — who insist Kazemi was beaten into a coma — said on Saturday the most important thing was to ensure her body was returned to Canada for an autopsy. "This is all that counts right now ... we demand that the Iranian government allow the repatriation of her body," Kazemi's son Stephane Hachemi told reporters in Montreal. Hachemi told Reuters earlier in the week that Iranian doctors had diagnosed his mother as having a fractured skull. In Tehran, an official at the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance said Kazemi had died from "a brain attack", IRNA news agency said.
After having her head beaten in — that's often the result...
"During the first stages of interrogation she said she was ill and was transferred to hospital where she had this attack," IRNA quoted foreign press department director Mohammad Hossein Khoshvaght as saying.
"How were we to know her skull was that thin?"
He said Kazemi had been arrested taking pictures outside Evin prison despite signs saying photography was forbidden. She had been at the prison to interview relatives of prisoners arrested during protests last month, he added.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 20:55 ||
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Now why do I think that this lady's death is going to get about 1% of the attention that Ms. Corrie's did?
Posted by: Matt ||
07/12/2003 22:55 Comments ||
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The Iranian president, Mohammad Karensky Khatami, has said he is prepared to resign if people want him to go. Khatami's offer, made in a speech and which was reported in a government-owned daily, comes amid growing public dissatisfaction over his failure to fulfill promises of democratic reforms. The president has been under increased pressure in recent months to stand firm against unelected hard-line Islamic clerics.
So go. See how they like having Rafsanjani back...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 20:44 ||
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The Reform Agenda leader Dr Kizza Besigye has warned of more rebels even if Joseph Kony'sLords Resistance Army insurgence was defeated. "Like I have pointed out before, even if the LRA rebellion is suppressed, more rebellions will emerge and instability will continue until the underlying political questions have been appropriately resolved," Besigye said.
Maybe you should concentrate on taking care of that problem before you worry about the next one?
His warning was contained in a July 7 statement he sent to The Monitor titled "The US Is Fuelling War and Instability In Uganda".
I confess. It was me. Sorry...
Besigye, a retired colonel, lost the March 2001 presidential elections which were marred by violence and rigging. He fled to exile in August 2001, citing persecution by State functionaries. In his statement, Besigye accused US government of financing the Ugandan military to encourage more armed conflicts. "The regime of President Museveni can no longer be trusted to guide the country to a peaceful transition to democratic governance. The proposed amendments to the constitution, intended to set the stage for a formal dictatorship and life presidency in Uganda, will extinguish the last hope for a peaceful transition," he said. He said this will lead to an escalation of violence and conflict.
Do you get the idea he think he should be president for life instead of Yoweri?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 20:37 ||
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Somalia has a leader? When did that happen?
The leader of the transitional government in Somalia has made a strong attack on his country's neighbour, Ethiopia. Speaking at the African Union summit in Mozambique, President Abdulkassim Salat Hassan accused Ethiopia of destabilising Somalia.
Not that Somalia needs any help in that department...
While there has been plenty of discussion about the fighting in Liberia, President Abdulkassim has used the occasion to draw attention to Somalia's often fractious relations with Ethiopia. He said his government in Mogadishu could have done far more in the three years of its existence had it not been for the daily interference of Ethiopia in Somalia's internal affairs.
"Yeah. If it weren't for them, we'd be swimming in gravy instead of in the soup..."
The Somali president accused Ethiopia of continuing to violate the arms embargo on Somalia by supplying large quantities of weapons to warlords opposed to the transitional government. He said Ethiopia's policy was to undermine the emergence of a strong, united Somalia.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 20:32 ||
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Troops of a French-led emergency force killed three tribal fighters during an hour-long gunbattle in northeastern Congo. The tribal fighters were shot Friday after some 200 French, Swedish and Belgian troops — supported by helicopter gunships — came under fire when they arrived at a faction's camp, 3 miles northeast of Bunia, to confiscate heavy weapons, Col. Gerard Dubois said.
What were the gunships for?
The international force suffered no casualties, Dubois said by telephone from Bunia, the capital of Congo's restive Ituri province. However, Saba Rafiki, security chief for the Union of Congolese Patriots faction of the Hema tribe, said the international troops killed six civilians — including a woman and two tribal fighters.
Thought they were civilians? Or did he mean "former civilians"?
"French soldiers opened fire on our troops guarding the gate into the camp without provocation and we returned fire," Rafiki said. "Heavy fighting ensued and lasted for 1 1/2 hours, then we ordered our troops to withdraw."
He forgot the part about the puppies, kittens, and baby ducks, and how they only withdrew to ensure the safety of The Children™...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 16:08 ||
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Okay, here's where the demonisation starts. Next thing you know, the French will be accused of using their night vision goggles to see through wimmen's clothes...
Sudanese rebels yesterday said they were happy with a draft agreement which mediators hope will pave the way to a final peace deal in the country's 20-year-old war. The Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) and the Khartoum government are holding talks in the Kenyan town of Nakuru, the final stage in interminable year-long negotiations. Last July the two sides signed a protocol on two main issues — religion and the right for southerners to hold a referendum on independence — but they have since struggled to agree on issues like sharing power and wealth, and how to structure the army.
And both sides have been violating the agreement they made whenever they thought they'd seen an opening...
Mediators have presented the parties with a draft document that tackles the main outstanding problems, and said they had asked both the southern rebels and the northern government to comment on it by this morning. An SPLA source in Nakuru said the rebels were happy with the draft, whi-ch mediators hope will be the basis of a final comprehensive peace deal they aim to prepare by mid-August. "For us, we see it as a way forward," the SPLA source said. "We are very happy with the draft, not that we agree with all the issues but it is a basis." The source accused the government of delaying negotiations, saying Khartoum was not willing to make compromises. The government said it could not give its views on the draft until it had presented them to mediators.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 13:18 ||
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After twenty years peace seems doable? Well OK!
An Egyptian man suspected of links to Al Qaeda and involvement in the 1997 massacre of 58 foreign tourists arrived in Egypt after being extradited from Uruguay, Egypt's official news agency said. The Middle East News Agency (MENA) said Mohammed Ali Hassan Mukhlis arrived in Egypt on Thursday. It said the suspect had allegedly received military training in an Al Qaida camp in Afghanistan in preparation for the 1997 attack at a pharaonic temple near the southern Egyptian tourist town of Luxor. Mukhlis had been caught in 1999 in Uruguay, on the border with Brazil, carrying a false passport.
A false passport, was it? Damn. That's a new one...
Uruguay had only agreed to extradite Mukhlis after receiving guarantees from Egypt that he would not receive the death penalty or a life sentence if found guilty of any charges, sources in the Latin American country said. Egyptian Islamist lawyer Montasser Al Zayyat, who has defended militants in the past, said he had taken on Mukhlis as a client. He said Uruguay had also sought guarantees that Mukhlis would not be tried in a military court and that his lawyer would be allowed to attend questioning. Security sources in Egypt said Mukhlis was a suspected member of the militant Al Gamaa Al Islamiya, which gained infamy for the Luxor attacks — the climax of a bloody 1992-1997 battle between the government and militants fighting for an Islamic state.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 13:15 ||
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"Excuse me, but this photo looks nothing like you, Mr...Smith?"
Italy, which holds the rotating European Union presidency, yesterday called on EU states to give greater support to Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas rather than dwelling on President Yasser Arafat. "Preoccupation over the role of Arafat must not become so great as to make us forget an essential point: that our priority is to reinforce Prime Minister Abu Mazen," Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said using the name Abbas commonly uses. "Without a strong prime minister, the road map will run into problems," said after talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 12:58 ||
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Correction: With a LIVE Yasser Arafat, the road map will run into problems.
#2
FoxNews reports that Sharon sez they're going to evict him if he keeps trying to sabotage the peace processor. Come the next atrocity, he might be toast.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2003 18:12 Comments ||
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the peace processor
Is this something new from Intel�
[/wise ass mode off]
Posted by: Rafael ||
07/12/2003 19:39 Comments ||
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Palestinians held in an Israeli detention centre went on hunger strike yesterday in support of a demand for Israel to release prisoners belonging to the militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups, a Palestinian organisation said. A group of 200 of the 1,200 inmates of the Meggido centre in northern Israel started the protest and would be joined by a further group every day, the Bethlehem Prisoners' Club said. They are protesting at "the discrimination shown to detainees" of the radical groups after Israel announced last week it would release 350 of the 6,000 Palestinians held in its jail but would not consider setting members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad free.
"Us crazed killers got rights, too, y'know!"
An Israeli military spokesman confirmed that the 200 prisoners had begun a hunger strike. "For the time being there have been no incidents to report and we are simply keeping a watchful eye on the situation," the spokesman said.
"Want some of this sandiwich? I can't eat it all..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 12:56 ||
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Hamas yesterday threatened to start kidnapping Israeli soldiers to demand the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners if Israel does not free them under a three-month truce. Its political leader Nizar Rayyan urged the Palestinian Authority and Arab mediators to press Israel to release all Palestinian prisoners. Israel has freed some prisoners but has said it will not release any who were involved in attacks on Israelis. "We will get you (prisoners) released under the truce if possible," Rayyan told 3,000 supporters at a rally in Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, referring to the ceasefire announced by militant groups on June 29. "But if the truce turns out not to have been the way to release you, we will return to (the strategy of) kidnapping Jewish officers and soldiers until the last Palestinian prisoner is freed," he said. Protesters waved Palestinian and Hamas flags and held posters of jailed militants.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 12:51 ||
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Sorry, but it's time to crush these bastards underfoot once and for all. It doesn't matter if it takes the IDF, or a Paleo civil war, or whatever. Just DO it.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2003 21:27 Comments ||
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Lately, HAMAS has been hurting their own prestige in the Gaza with threats that they are unable to carry out. Several 'earthquake' threats, several 'waves of bombers' threats, now the kidnap threat.
The head of the main rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has officially announced the end of his movement's war against the Kinshasa-based Government. Addressing a gathering of around 15,000 people in the eastern city of Goma, the headquarters of the rebel Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD), rebel leader Azarias Ruberwa vowed to "work in a peaceful manner for the success of the transition in the DRC and to respect all the accords signed in line with the peace process," an RCD spokesman said. The gathering had been called in Goma to allow Mr Ruberwa to "say goodbye to the people" of the city before leaving for Kinshasa to be sworn in as one of four vice-presidents in an interim government.
Bought him off with a sinecure position, did they?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 12:43 ||
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US President George W Bush warned in a speech in the Nigerian capital Abuja he would not allow extremists to use Africa as a base for attacks, and repeated a call for Liberian President Charles Taylor to quit. "We will not allow terrorists to threaten African people nor to use Africa as a base to threaten the rest of the world," the US leader said in his last speaking engagement of a five-nation tour of Africa.
It's logical for the Islamists to relocate to Africa as they wear out their welcome in one place after another. There are certainly enough failed states to choose from...
Mr Bush was also unequivocal on Mr Taylor, who has refused so far to make good on a promise to resign and accept a Nigerian offer of asylum. "Charles Taylor must step down," Mr Bush declared, promising to work with the United Nations and west African bloc ECOWAS to restore peace in Liberia, mired in almost incessant civil war since 1990. He said the US would be "active" in Liberia but added he had not yet decided whether to send American troops to a country where rebels have threatened to fight peacekeepers. "I told the President we'd be active," Mr Bush said. "The definition of that will be when we understand all the parameters." Mr Bush said he is waiting on reports from US military experts on the ground in the west African state to asses how best to bring stability after hundreds of civilians were killed last month in the latest chapter of nearly 14 years of war.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 12:26 ||
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Around 135 people have been killed during six days of fighting in the Burundi capital Bujumbura between Hutu rebels and Government forces, according to a toll published by the Interior Ministry. The Ministry says the victims of the fighting were rebels and civilians. The fighting broke out before dawn on Monday as the rebel National Liberation Forces (FNL) attacked southern areas of the capital. Although the army has not said how many Government soldiers have died in the fighting, military officials have estimated the number of dead in the armed forces at between 20 and 30, with several dozen injured.
Still going on. It'll always be going on, I think. If I lived someplace like Rwanda or Burundi, I think I'd relocate to someplace more civilized — like Angola.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 12:23 ||
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WASHINGTON A prominent defector is urging the U.S. to use military force against North Korea, and predicts that once the rogue regime acquires nuclear weapons, it will use them against U.S. allies.
Get them before they get us.
Park Gap Dong, former chief of the European Section for Propaganda, said that the U.S. should use "pre-emptive strikes against selected targets" to overthrow the brutal North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-il and destroy the nuclear weapons program.
"We cannot expect to bring down the regime of Kim Jong-il by internal means. A pre-emptive U.S. strike against selected targets inside North Korea will succeed," stated Park.
"U.S. strikes against North Korean targets would force Kim Jong-il to seek asylum in China. Kim Jong-il is a coward. If attacked, he will flee the North. The North Korean army would not fight after the regime collapsed.
"Many North Koreans believe that the United States is their savior and the only nation that can liberate North Korea," concluded Park.
Park urged the U.S. to take offensive military action against North Korea during a conference held by the American Foreign Policy Council.
Park heads the National Salvation Front, a group of high-ranking North Korean exiles living in Moscow and Seoul.
NSFâs membership includes five former generals of the North Korean army, the former vice minister of home affairs, the former vice minister of culture and the former superintendent of the North Korea Military Academy.
Warning That Kim Will Use Nukes
The runt that roared.
The call for U.S. military action comes after CIA sources revealed that North Korea was working on building a small nuclear warhead capable of being carried by its new arsenal of long-range missiles.
"If Kim develops small nuclear weapons, around 700 kilograms [1,440 pounds] for the No Dong and other missiles, they will use them on South Korea or Japan. The South Korean military will have no choice but to attack," stated Park.
According to Park, North Korea will continue to develop and export nuclear weapons technology no matter what the U.S. or international inspectors do.
"Kim Jong-il made the decision that the development of nuclear weapons would be the only guarantee of the safety and security for the North Korean regime. They will not give up these weapons but will instead hide them from inspectors," said Park.
Missile Sales to Iran
North Korea continues misbehavinâ.
There are already indications that North Korea is trying to sell advanced missile technology to Iran. The Bush administration recently imposed sanctions against Changgwang Sinyong Corp., a North Korean company that violated missile export controls by transferring advanced technology to Tehran.
However, Park made it clear that the missile technology sales to Iran were made with the personal approval of Kim Jong-il.
"There are no committees, no conferences, no meetings of experts. Only Kim. Kim alone decides what must be done and then he issues the orders," stated Park.
Chinese Missiles for Iran
Itâs clear that the Chinese are playing a double game - the face of reason to the world, and WMD proliferation anywhere for cold hard cash.
The North Korean missile sales to Iran also illustrate the close working relationship between the Chinese communist leadership and the North Korean dictator. The Bush administration also imposed sanctions against five Chinese companies for the sale of equipment to Iran for "weapons of mass destruction or missiles."
The Chinese companies are Taian Foreign Trade General Corp., Zibo Chemical Equipment Plant, Liyang Yunlong Chemical Equipment Group Co., China North Industries Corp. (NORINCO) and China Precision Machinery Import/Export Corp. (CPMIEC).
All five of the Chinese companies are listed as either under the control of or outright owned by the Chinese army. According to a declassified Defense Intelligence Agency chart, China North Industries and China Precision Machinery are owned the Chinese military.
The Bush administration had already imposed strict import sanctions against China North Industries for the export of advanced missile components to Iran. The additional penalties prohibit China North Industries from buying any U.S.-made products.
Posted by: Zhang Fei ||
07/12/2003 11:19:25 AM ||
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Besides, I've always wanted to try swimming in a "sea of fire". (Did anyone check and see if that speech was written for Dear Leader by the NKor Johnny Cash, who felt he had to go Ring of Fire one better?)
#2
Hummm..
The 'ring of fire' surrounds a sea...
Could this be the 'sea of fire' frankenkimmie refers to?
Has he been threatening to make us all swim in the Pacific?
I'd certainly rather swim in the center (like Hawaii) than at some of the edges (like the Bering).
The Nigerian army is putting two battalions with 1,600 troops on standby for possible deployment to Liberia as part of a regional peacekeeping force, the Nigerian army spokesman, Colonel Chukwuemeka Onwuamaegbu, said.
Could you spell that, please?
President Olusegun Obasanjo, the spokesman added, gave the order last week. "We are working round the clock to ensure they are ready and we're prepared to deploy in under two weeks," he told IRIN on Friday. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) this week said it planned to deploy at least 1,500 troops in Liberia within two weeks to secure a fragile ceasefire brokered by the regional body and protect civilians from further clashes between rebels and troops loyal to embattled President Charles Taylor. Taylor said would step down from office and leave the country only after an international force, preferably led by the United States, arrives in Liberia "to prevent chaos". He also insisted that the indictment against him be lifted.
And fellow West African Statesmen™ have echoed that demand...
The chairman of ECOWAS who is also President of Ghana, John Kufuor, was quoted by Reuters as saying in Maputo, Mozambique that he hoped an initial force from Nigeria, Ghana, Mali and perhaps Senegal would land in Monrovia, by about July 20. The force would be followed by more contingents from ECOWAS and perhaps also from South Africa and Morocco, Kufuor said.
At which point Liberians can rest easy in their homes...
After Taylor's departure and the deployment of a peacekeeping force, a transitional administration would lead Liberia to elections to be held as soon as October 2004. Kufuor also said Nigeria's offer of asylum for Taylor would not make the Taylor legally untouchable for life. "The impunity principle is an eternal principle. After all, how long did it take the war criminals of World War II to get arrested and prosecuted?" Kufuor said.
Some of them died of old age...
"If it is found that anybody committed genocide anytime I'm sure that the international legal system could come into operation against such a person," he added.
And we've all marveled at the effectiveness of that...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 11:11 ||
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" I'm sure that the international legal system could come into operation against such a person"
With the resulting penalties being a stern talking-to, a requirement to write a formal apology, and a revocation of all murdering privleges for two whole weeks.
TEHRAN: Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, now head of a powerful conservative arbitration body, said Friday recent pro-democracy protests have only served to bolster Iran's current political system. Hundreds of people converged on the streets around Tehran University Wednesday in defiance of an official ban on gatherings for the anniversary of violent student unrest in 1999 when one person was killed. The protest was the first to take place after authorities vowed to crack down on any unrest following the arrest of 4,000 people in 10 nights of sometimes violent protests across the country in June. "The incidents we have had since last month consolidated the system," Rafsanjani said during Friday prayers in Tehran.
"We're bigger and better than ever! Nothing can stop us now! Nuttin'!"
He said the protests by "anti-revolutionaries" and "US infantry and soldiers" had been put down without having to use the army, the revolutionary guards or the Basij forces.
"U.S. infantry and soldiers"? Really?
Basij forces are fiercely loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei, Iran's most powerful figure, and outside the control of moderate President Mohammad Khatami. Rafsanjani, who heads the conservative-dominated Expediency Council, said Khamenei had not intervened in the protests issue. "The officials and leader had not even entered the discussion," he said in comments broadcast live on radio. Some Iranian officials blamed Washington and US-based Iranian satellite channels for playing a key role in stirring up the unrest and encouraging people to join last month's protests. Rafsanjani called on young people to remain vigilant. "What I want to say to young people and students is ... be aware you are deceived and do not put others in more trouble and go back to your studies," he said. Some 800 students were among the 4,000 people arrested during and after June's demonstrations. Dozens of others were seriously injured when hard-line Islamic vigilantes burst into dormitories to attack students with chains, knives and clubs.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/12/2003 10:55 ||
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Bet he thinks the Mets will take the Series this year, too.
Across North Korea at 7am each day, loudspeakers come to life and blare a rousing song titled 10 Million Human Bombs for Kim Il-sung and, according to recent visitors, it is common to see people of all ages singing along fervently. That Kim Il-sung has been dead for nine years does not seem to have diminished the songâs appeal.
"Kimmie, we will defend you with our blood, even though you're moulderin' in the grave..."
With his late wife, the senior Kim has been elevated into a trinity along with their son, the current leader Kim Jong-il, in what some regard more as a state religion than just a bizarre ideological variant of Marxism-Leninism: it even has its own nativity scene, set in a mountain-top log cabin during wartime Japanese rule.
No doubt with a visit by three ideologically sound men...
North Koreaâs Juche or self-reliance doctrine borrows these and other elements of Christianity and combines them with the patriarchism of the ancient Chinese sage Confucius and a millenarian Korean sect called Chondogyo. Kim Jong-il is the chief shaman or priestly miracle worker in this quasi state religion. "Itâs a lot worse than even George W. Bush thinks it is," says a senior Western diplomat who frequently visits Pyongyang. "It is something very depressing to the human spirit. They want everyone to think the same thing at the same time, and they are close to getting it. Thatâs what makes it horrible." The tight grip of this leadership cult, and the suicidal militancy expressed in the song, make this and many other observers in the region wonder whether the Bush Administration really understands the beast it is now tackling through hardline diplomacy and tightening inspections of North Korean export shipments. "The idea that this is a ... state that only needs a prod to collapse is false," the diplomat said.
Depends on the nature of the prod...
Despite North Koreaâs failed economy and the misery of most of its 22.5 million citizens — trapped in poverty and decayed housing and ravaged by malnutrition and periodic famine, power blackouts and diseases such as tuberculosis and cholera — its core belief still burns bright in the countryâs self-isolation from the world. The cult tells North Koreans they are a special people who evolved separately to other humans, according to neolithic "discoveries" by North Korean archaeologists. They learn that they are ruled by special leaders and that the hardship is merely the prelude to an early paradise that will come through a sudden convulsion.
Right after the Sea of Fire...
Elites at the top of a social ranking divided into 54 classes — from Kim Jong-ilâs inner circle down to hereditary class enemies and collaborators — are, meanwhile, kept quiet with privileges and supplies denied the ordinary population. "They are very eager to keep the regime in existence," says Choi Jin Wook, a senior researcher at Seoulâs Korea Institute for National Unification. "If it fails, itâs the end of their privileges." In the past two months, Kim Jong-il has intensified his "army first" doctrine in which the KPA has effectively replaced the Communist Party as the key structure in the regime. This may signal that advocates of economic liberalisation in the trade and light industry ministries and the committees dealing with Asia-Pacific relations and flood rehabilitation have already lost out to the old-guard military-heavy industry camp. But a clock is ticking in this war machine. The newest artillery, tanks and aircraft were supplied in the last days of the Soviet Union, and are more than a decade old. The struggle to shield heavy industry from North Koreaâs overall economic decline is getting harder. Even the human quality of the KPA is shrinking: the height requirement for new recruits is now 1.3 metres(less than 4 1/2 feet), reflecting the effects of nearly two decades of malnutrition.
It's a strange world, where we're under threat of attack by vicious dwarves, gaily singing the praises of an hereditary little round man...
The new Chinese leadership under President Hu Jintao has fewer sentimental ties to North Korea than Beijingâs old guard. In March, Beijing turned off the spigot on its oil pipeline into North Korea for three days to reinforce a warning against resuming ballistic missile tests. Since then, the Chinese Communist Partyâs "leading group" on North Korea, formed in February and chaired by Hu himself, has studied all options to head off a Korean war because it would be ruinous to China, too. Chinaâs tearaway 7 to 8 per cent annual growth is founded on massive trade and investment links with the US and its strategic partners. Even Chinaâs trade with South Korea totalled $US44 billion ($67 billion) last year, and is expected to reach an annual $US100 billion in five years. As well as cutting this off, a Korean war would force the closure to international shipping of all Chinese ports north of Shanghai, including the major export outlets of Qingdao, Tianjin and Dalian.
That's actually the same set of considerations South Korea's dealing with. Warlike people tend to be the ones who don't have something to lose. I think it was Herodotus who commented on the same phenomenon with the Medes and the Persians of his day.
As revealed this week in the Herald, these studies included the feasibility of Chinaâs Peopleâs Liberation Army conducting a lightning strike to disarm North Korea. The conclusion was that the PLA did not have the logistics capability to reach the DMZ fast enough to prevent the North Korean military attacking south to engage US troops. Chinaâs changed attitude is revealed in a directive recently issued to the Chinese media by the central propaganda directorate: "Regarding the DPRK [North Korea] nuclear crisis, China and DPRK now have divided opinions on many issues, so we require media not to play on this nuclear issue and stick to the Xinhua [official news agency] version only."
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
07/12/2003 7:31:00 AM ||
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China used to be as nutty as NK.Free markets may not have brought democracy into China,but they certainly have brought sanity into it.Instead of being ruthless and mad,they are just being ruthless.I hope they are keeping Baby Kim on a short leash.
Posted by: El Id ||
07/12/2003 10:49 Comments ||
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I wish they'd just sit around getting high on white slag and Pyonyang primo, enjoying barnyard grass salads and baby finger sandwiches, while singing the latest Top 40 hit, "Kim Jong Il Can Suck A Golfball Through a Gardenhose While Sitting In a Sea of Fire" and leave the rest of the world alone.
#3
As revealed this week in the Herald, these studies included the feasibility of Chinaâs Peopleâs Liberation Army conducting a lightning strike to disarm North Korea.
This is more disinformation from the Chinese. We'd like to hear that they're cooperating. We can't believe that they would jeopardize the trade relationships that they've built up with us over the years.
But the truth is that the Chinese are born gamblers (in more than one way - just go to any casino in Vegas or Atlantic City). In addition their worldview is distorted in an Alice in Wonderland* kind of way - in their view, American dependence on China as a production base will prevent any disruption to the trade relationship. I think the Chinese will put on a show of cooperation, but in the background, they'll continue shovelling ballistic and cruise missiles as well as WMD to any country they perceive as an enemy of the US. It's their way of constraining our freedom of action.
Finally, there is a real resentment at the US, even among ordinary people (stoked by warped history books and selective reporting in the Chinese media). China believes its rightful place in the sun has been usurped by America. (It's kind of like the Japanese mentality before WWII, but with 10x the population). At the leadership level, these sentiments are undoubtedly boiling over. Underlying all of this is the idea that other nations are vassal states must tremblingly obey** Chinese diktats. The present condition of American dominance is therefore untolerable to the Chinese, and they will do anything to knock us down a few notches.
* "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less."
** From "Two Edicts of the Qianlong Emperor to King George III" in the 18th century - the Chinese Emperor orders King George to "tremblingly obey and show no negligence" in carrying out His edicts to the letter.
#4
"Yes it's SuperKim, who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in his bare hands, and who, disguised as Kim Is Ill (mild mannered Dear Leader of a great Stalinist nation) fights a neverending battle for Juche, Songun and the North Korean Way!
Hope you folks are old enough (or big enough fans of retro-TV) to recognize and enjoy.
The Chinese are still as nutty as NK. They just have a better public relations operation. Note that the Chinese have done a lot more actual damage to American interests than the North Koreans ever have. In particular, the Chinese fought in the Korean War, sent hundreds of thousands of troops into North Vietnam during the Vietnam War and financed Communist movements throughout the world (including Africa) during that period. Today, the Chinese method of constraining US power consists of selling ballistic (DF-series), cruise missiles (Silkworm/Seersucker) and WMD technology to our enemies. For the Chinese, it's a twofer - they achieve their strategic goals, and also get to profit from achieving these goals. The more things change, the more they remain the same.
I hope the Chinese media haven't sunk to the level of the NYT or the BBC. The thought of one billion people learning the news from Johnny Apple or Robert Fisk is pretty frightening.
Posted by: Matt ||
07/12/2003 13:40 Comments ||
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I hope the Chinese media haven't sunk to the level of the NYT or the BBC.
Funny. The Chinese media basically beams out pro-Chinese and anti-American propaganda. Check out the People's Daily to get a dose - in particular, the Chinese version is a pretty fun read (altavista.com has a clunky but serviceable Chinese website translator you can use).
A court in Morocco has imposed death sentences on 10 alleged members of a radical Islamic group which is suspected of involvement in the Casablanca suicide attacks. The appeal court in Casablanca also handed down prison sentences - ranging from 12 months to life - to another 21 members of Salafia Jihadia.
That was damned quick. The Indons are still grinding on with JI, and the Soddies are still examining their Islamic belly buttons over the Riyadh bombings...
None of the accused were involved in the May bombings, which killed more than 40 people. They were already in prison awaiting trial, having been arrested on charges ranging from murder to belonging to a criminal gang. Lawyers for the men said they were not given a fair trial and are launching an appeal. Two suspected leaders of the group are among those sentenced to death. One of them, Youssef Fikri, had boasted of his crimes from his cell just a month before the suicide bombings. In a letter to a newspaper, he confessed that he had killed one man for being homosexual and another for making disrespectful remarks about Islam. Apart from murder, their other methods included kidnapping, arson and robbery.
Just good, Islamist boys, doing their Islamic duty...
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
07/12/2003 4:31:28 AM ||
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Posted by: Pete Stanley ||
07/12/2003 3:39 Comments ||
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#5
I'll share a pathetic story with you that involves comments:
Back when I discovered Rantburg circa Dec. 2002, I once commented on an article and discussion which was a month old and I didn't even realize it 'till later. Brilliant, but hey, atleast I had the last word.
Posted by: Rafael ||
07/12/2003 3:40 Comments ||
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#6
Fred- If I knew the table names / field names etc. I'd be happy to try to whip up some ASP to help - mebbe automate the process, if possible? Been doin' it for last 7+ yrs. All I have is a 3 yr old laptop to work with, now, but I'm running Win2K Server on it and can use Access and ASP to prototype something.
Rafael - I never know if people look back to see if they got a response on a thread that has fallen off the front page. Since I'm in Thailand (GMT+7) I'm waaay off-track on time (EDT = -11 hrs) - so it gets a little schizophrenic.
#8
Rafael - You're not the record holder. I did the comments system as now constituted in April, 2002. Anonymous, browsing December 14th, 2001, left the comment that I'm a liar. That was in response to my annotation re Pakland that "These guys just have no originality at all. Sure is a coincidence that countries on either side of them are plagued by terrorist attacks and lunatic gunmen."
I'm not sure which part of that statement is false -- that the Pak gunnies lack originality or that countries on either side of them are plagued by terrorists. Mabybe Mike in Tokyo (a curse on his moustache!) knows...
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2003 10:16 Comments ||
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#9
Fred: Was the site under attack yesterday? For some time I was diverted to a church website?
#10
I don't know how the church website got there.
Yesterday's problem was due to my having thumb fingers. I went to take a comment associated with one article and connect it to another, with a view to combining the two. I went to type "WHERE ID = 16387" and as I reached for the "=" key with finger number four, finger number five hit the Enter key. The database then associated all the comments ever made (a bit over 30,000 of them) with a single article.
Then the CPU usage went to 100 percent and stayed there.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2003 10:48 Comments ||
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#11
Welcome back. When the freaks start coming after you, you know you're doing something right. I hope that's not considered "mean spirited" by the loser bastards.
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.
