Goodbye "e-mail," the French government says, and hello "courriel" — the term that linguistically sensitive France is now using to refer to electronic mail in official documents. Who says the French are arrogant and pushy?
The Culture Ministry has announced a ban on the use of "e-mail" in all government ministries, documents, publications or Web sites, the latest step to stem an incursion of English words into the French lexicon. Small cameras will be installed in every home within France that is connected to the internet, in order to enforce the ban...
The ministryâs General Commission on Terminology and Neurology Neology insists Internet surfers in France are broadly using the term "courrier electronique" (electronic mail) instead of e-mail — a claim some industry experts dispute. "Courriel" is a fusion of the two words. You will think and write our way, or you will be assimilated.
"Evocative, with a very French sound, the word âcourrielâ is broadly used in the press and competes advantageously with the borrowed âmailâ in English," the commission has ruled. Sheesh. I shall projectile vomit now.
The move to ban "e-mail" was announced last week after the decision was published in the official government register on June 20. Courriel is a term that has often been used in French-speaking Quebec, the commission said. The 7-year-old commission has links to the Academie Francaise, the prestigious institution that has been one of the top opponents of allowing English terms to seep into French. Hmmm. I guess that projectile vomiting is better than explosive diarrhea, which is what the French government is spewing.
Some Internet industry experts say the decision is artificial and doesnât reflect reality. Oh really?
"The word âcourrielâ is not at all actively used," Marie-Christine Levet, president of French Internet service provider Club Internet, said Friday. "E-mail has sunk in to our values." Thank you.
She said Club Internet wasnât changing the words it uses. "Protecting the language is normal, but e-mailâs so assimilated now that no one thinks of it as American," she said. "Courriel would just be a new worthless word to launch." Ahh, the French. Sometimes I think fondly of the days when the Nazis crushed them in two weeks.
Let me say it before the Rantburg mind police do: âPeshawarâ
#1
I am amazed that the French have not created their own, segregated internet. It's gotta be cheaper than the alternate GPS satellite system they're building and it will make it easier to control unauthorized thoughts.
If they do a good job they could expand and sell it to Cuba and Iran and Saudi Arabia. Customized to make monitering easier..
L'Academie Francaise has always been anal retentive, but quite french: The Oxford English dictionary has been published and probably revised twice, while I do believe they've been at the job longer and still haven't finished the definitive French language dictionary.
Oh, and if you're a white, native Frenchman, you are not permitted to give your kids "unfrench" names. If you do, then a proper "french" name will be assigned, which is why there are so many "Jeannes" and "Marie-Frances" over there...
#7
Actually, it is worse than you think. "courriel" is what Quebeckers have been forced to use for years in official documents. The French have always laughed at the Quebec "farmer francais". Now the French Linguistic bigwigs are saying that it is better than the word (e-mail) that the French have always used. To use the other word, the true froggies would have to admit that there are good points to the Quebec froggie's grasp of the French language. Fat chance! This word is doomed.
Posted by: Yukon Bill ||
07/19/2003 2:55 Comments ||
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I'm thinking, for instance, of the Belgian effort -- openenly scoffed at by the French -- to reform the extremely long way of expressing ninety-nine . That's "quatre-vingt-dix-neuf" or "four (times) twenty (plus) ten (plus) nine" for people with limited nineteenth-century math skills.
I think the main problem with the Academie these days is not the refusal to keep English words in, but the total lack of connection between the young people and the older generation of Acamediciens (who may only vaguely know what e-mail is and probably need no word for it).
And the young people aren't always right. It's also important to remember that the venacular for e-mail isn't "e-mail" but "mel" - much the same way that "foot" is English football and a "lashing" is the application of mascara rather than a beating (or a "walkie-talkie" is a "talkie-walkie" for that matter). I'm all for language drift and variation but some of these changes might need to be slowed - either by creating French words or by sticking a little closer to the English.
And, as a person sometimes called "Mel," I'm all for "courriel" instead of "mel" - however gratifiying it is to see my name in print all of the time.
I was about to scratch this new-found link from my bookmarks when I came across your comments. Thanks for posting thoughtful remarks instead of adding more senseless xenophobic bashing to the scroll.
Edited for brevity.
The president of University of the District of Columbia has given a $10,000 signing bonus to a family friend he hired for the school's No. 3 job despite her lack of qualifications. Susan D. Saunders, the university's director of government affairs, said UDC officials authorized the $10,000 signing bonus for Wilhelmina M. Reuben-Cooke after the City Administrator's Office, the D.C. Office of Personnel and the university's Human Resources Department reviewed the deal. D.C. Council member Harold P. Brazil, who called for Mrs. Reuben-Cooke's resignation on Wednesday, said yesterday the signing bonus adds to the "appearance of favoritism" by UDC President William L. Pollard. The at-large Democrat said he didn't know if signing bonuses are common in academia, but the deal invites more questions about the hire. "That becomes part and parcel of the fundamental question: If she doesn't meet the prerequisite of the job, why does she have it?" Mr. Brazil said. Mr. Pollard hired Mrs. Reuben-Cooke as the school's provost and vice president of academic affairs a $137,000-a-year job for which she lacks the requisite experience and education. She started her new job Wednesday. Mrs. Reuben-Cooke, who was a tenured law professor at Syracuse University, is married to Edmund Cooke, a District-based lawyer who helped Mr. Pollard secure his $200,000-a-year job at UDC a year ago. Ain't it nice to have friends in high places?
Posted by: Dar ||
07/18/2003 1:06:39 PM ||
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Peshawar^âËž, and looks bogus to me... She's already a tenured prof, what further "experience and education" is she supposed to have? Some bogus how-to-control-academics degree?
#2
The District's finances and personnel actions are so bad they make Congress look really, really good. Of course, the school situation in the District is also so great that a year or so ago they had to delay opening schools because they were in such poor maintenance. All this when for School Year 1999-2000 "the District [of Columbia] spending $10,107 per pupil from all revenue sources for current expenditures, compared to a national average of $6,911." according to the U.S. Department of Education.
#6
Ri - Nope. This is the U. of the District of Columbia, which has been plagued by this sort of thing since it was founded, about 25 years ago.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/18/2003 14:19 Comments ||
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#7
The "experience" required for a school provost and vice president of academic affairs, in my short tenures as a graduate teaching assistant and as an assistant professor, usually involves several years as an acting department/division head: Politics in Academia mirrors politics in other organizations, with a few kinks particular to that area of human endeavor.
The "education" qualification is usually an earned Ph.D. from an accredited institution of higher learning: You usually don't get tenure if you don't have one, but if she doesn't, then I'd suspect that something fishy was going on at Syracuse U. as well as at U of D.C..
#8
She's a law professor. Therefore she has a JD. Very few law professors have PhDs.
The institution of empty "qualifications" is one of the establishment left's key tricks for keeping guild control over education. For example to qualify as a public school teacher you have to have some degree in it, which is another chance to indoctrinate you, etc. etc.
I know nothing about the people involved, except that the complainer is a Democratic DC Councilman, which isn't encouraging (to say the least). There's no accusation that Rueben-Cooke's incompetent. Barring such substantive issues, I don't know why anyone should be in favor of these barriers to entry.
#9
Mrs. Reuben-Cooke as the schoolâs provost and vice president of academic affairs â a $137,000-a-year job for which she lacks the requisite experience and education.
Mrs. Reuben-Cooke......why do all negro women have two last names now....?
Posted by: Fed UP ||
07/18/2003 15:25 Comments ||
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#10
Chilcoot Charlie sez: We cheat the other guy and pass the savings on to you.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/18/2003 19:14 Comments ||
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A feel-good story. And werenât we debating this not so long ago? (plus France & Germany get beaten)
Three U.S. teenagers won the gold medal Wednesday in the National Geographic World Championship, beating teams from Germany and France to successfully defend the U.S. title in a contest held every two years. The teenagers beat Germany in the finals by identifying Bahrain from a series of clues about the oil-producing nation and then naming Crete as the island where oranges, grapes and olives are grown and is associated with the worship of Zeus. Itâs all about the oiiilll lol.
The U.S. team said there was no formula for preparing for the contest. They studied world almanacs, Internet geography sites and newspapers to boost their knowledge of places, people and events.
Posted by: Rafael ||
07/18/2003 12:23:23 AM ||
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NA NA NA NA BOO BOO ;-) WE are out for world domination!
#5
Zhang and Ptah, it reminds me of a Doonesbury cartoon of last year: one character is complaining that only 15% of all Americans could even find Iraq on a map. Another character replies, tartly, that "those 15% are all Marines."
Americans generally can't find anything on a map. Until we have to.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/18/2003 11:32 Comments ||
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Good for the kids.
Hey, no sweat, that's what maps are for: to find utterly irrelevant and inconsequntial strife-torn former colonies of the former hegemonic Old European Powers who perpetually gaze, wistfully and with heavy sighs, into History's rear-view mirror - and mistake it for reality. interesting places.
#7
"War is God's way of teaching Americans
geography." - Ambrose Pierce
Oops - misspelled name. My bad. Actually, his name is Ambrose Bierce.
Other countries learn geography because they have to - the concept of local government (accountable to local residents) is foreign to them - everything is decided at the national level. Here, the mayor of a township has more impact on local living conditions that the President of the United States. This is why we don't bother with geography, and they do.
Could this be called progress ? Whoda thunk it ?
Afghanistanâs interim President Hamid Karzai has issued a decree to convene the meeting of a traditional grand council, a "loya jirga," in October that will approve a draft of the countryâs new constitution. But, Afghan officials fear the gathering might be delayed because consulting the public on the draft is taking more time than planned. Why donât they issue a decree that every male returns to the town of his fatherâs birth... It could be the beginning of great made for television movie to be aired on Afghan TV. "Oh Little Town of Kabul"
Afghan officials say their efforts are focused on making sure that the new constitution fully addresses the concerns of the people of Afghanistan. They say a public consultation on the draft has almost been completed and experts have started analyzing the views collected. What exactly does "consulting the public mean" Can most Afghans even read the draft ? Farooq Wardak is a spokesman for the commission crafting the constitution. Speaking to VOA by telephone from Kabul, he says the commission is collecting as many views as possible to prepare a legal document that will smoothly run war-devastated Afghanistan. "We want this constitution to be owned by the people of Afghanistan," he said. "It can only be owned when their views are incorporated⊠then they will feel responsibility to implement it and respect it." Mr. Wardak says intense efforts are being made to complete the constitution-making process before October, when the grand assembly will meet to approve the final document. But he says the meeting could be delayed if the public consultation is not finished. "We will see the realities on the ground," he said. "If we⊠do not get peopleâs opinion on time and second, having a good public education campaign and the third, of course we have to develop our own capacity to meet these challenges, should there be a need to delay the holding of the constitutional "Loya Jirga" for some daysâŠ" The public consultation process has reportedly caused conflicts between extremist Muslim groups who want the Islamic character of Afghanistan maintained in the new constitution, and secularists who want it to embrace more liberal traditions.
Doesn't everything in Afghanistan cause conflicts? What's unusual is when they don't end in shootouts...
On Wednesday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced the creation of a 500-member grand council, called the Loya Jirga, which will start debating the draft constitution on October 1. In his decree, Mr. Karzai said that 450 members will be elected and 50 will be appointed. The council will include 64 women. The details of the draft constitution incorporating the views of the people will be made public on September 1. Its approval will lead to preparations for elections scheduled for June next year. President Karzai promises that the election process will be "free and fair." But his critics say the rule of warlords in most parts of Afghanistan could undermine the polls, because they may use force and intimidation to impose their own nominees. This actually sounds as if someone is giving some thought to this whole democracy thing in Afganistan. Best of luck !
Posted by: Domingo ||
07/18/2003 11:05:06 AM ||
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Eight Afghan government soldiers were killed on Friday in an attack by suspected members of the ousted Taliban regime in the southeastern province of Khost, a military official said. The soldiers were traveling in a four-wheel-drive vehicle near a market about 25 km (15 miles) east of Khost town when they came under attack, Commander Sattar, the deputy head of the provincial border force, told Reuters. Two men driving in another car overtook the soldiersâ vehicle and then attacked it, he said. "Apart from the soldiersâ car, the two were the only people driving on the road. We have arrested them and believe they are Taliban," Sattar said. Soon to be deceased.
At the scene of the attack, witnesses saw a burned-out vehicle and three bodies charred beyond recognition. The soldiers were recruits to Afghanistanâs fledgling national army and served along the border with Pakistan. They had been shopping at the market. Off duty, driving along fat, dumb and happy.
The attack on Khost came five days after a group of suspected Taliban guerrillas raided a police station in a remote part the southern province of Kandahar, killing five officers including a police chief, and wounding two others.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/18/2003 9:23:15 AM ||
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From AP: Eight Afghan soldiers were killed Friday when their vehicle was blown apart by a remote controlled mine, an Afghan security official said. The soldiers were on patrol in the violent Khost province, where suspected Taliban fugitives have carried out scores of attacks against Afghan soldiers as well as U.S.-led coalition forces, Rehman Karim, security officer, said.
Somebody needs to get their story straight.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/18/2003 10:03 Comments ||
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#2
The original posting is from Reuters. As a Reuters shareholder, I am glad that Reuters' profitability is not contingent upon the accuracy of its newswire stories. I am also happy to say that Reuters' stringers are probably the cheapest you can find anywhere - which is why you get a lot of reporters with names like Nidal al Mughrabi, et al. All of these cost savings flow straight to the bottom line. (The only downside is that the stories sound like they came straight out of the Soviet-era Tass propaganda news agency or China's Xinhua propaganda news agency).
If Reuters got a better handle on its financial services unit, shareholders would be happy campers indeed. And suing Bloomberg is not what I call improving operational efficiency.
A Canadian general took command Thursday of a brigade of international troops trying to bring security to Afghanistanâs war-battered capital. Brig. Gen. Peter J. Devlin assumed command from Germanyâs Brig. Gen. Werner Freers during a ceremony in eastern Kabul. The brigade is part of the larger International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The brigade has 3,600 troops from 19 countries, including 350 Canadians. Its main task is ensuring order in Kabul, where where rebels have killed peacekeepers and launched regular attacks against government targets. Germany and the Netherlands jointly command ISAF until next month when NATO will take over international peacekeeping in Kabul. There are currently about 5,000 international peacekeepers in the beleaguered capital. "Beleaguered"? Next is "quagmire", I suppose.
Aside from ISAF peacekeepers, the U.S.-led coalition force of about 11,000, mostly Americans, is scattered throughout south, eastern and northeastern Afghanistan hunting the remnants of al-Qaida, the Taliban and eye-rolling nut-bag loyalists of rebel leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/18/2003 12:57:36 AM ||
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I like to think of Kharzai as a new age Robinson Crusoe and of Kabul as an oasis of palms rustling in the gentle breezes, a desert isle, if you will, in a sea of barking moonbats.
#2
There are currently about 5,000 international peacekeepers in the beleaguered capital.
What's weird is that I read this overheated language in newswires about Afghanistan and Iraq, but not about Chechnya, where the attitude is blase, as if sustaining dozens of KIA in single attacks is a Russian cultural tradition. All the same, I'd rather have our traditions than theirs.
#3
Zhang Fei - As a matter of actual practice, the reporters are most interested in the stories taking place where there are 5-star Hotels. If the accomodations are not up to scratch, they file from NY or London using a bunch of cobbled-together wire reports from the poor local stringers. Need a reporter? Find the best Hotel in town - and head for the bar. I know. I was married to one for 11 interminably hellish wonderful years. ;->
Kuwait has acknowledged for the first time that one of its former citizens, the al-Qaeda spokesman, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, is in Iranian custody. However Interior Minister Sheikh Nawaf al-Sabah told Saudi newspaper Okaz that the government had turned down an offer by Iran to extradite Abu Ghaith to Kuwait. He said Abu Ghaithâs Kuwaiti citizenship had been withdrawn following the attacks of 11 September 2001. "Kuwait rejects the handover of this person," he said. "Thanks for the offer, but you keep him."
BBC correspondent Frank Gardner says it is not clear when Abu Ghaith was captured, but he says he has certainly been a key figure in al-Qaedaâs leadership. He has appeared on several video and audio tapes, claiming responsibility for al-Qaeda attacks, and the tapes have a large audience in the Gulf, our correspondent adds. One of Americaâs most wanted al-Qaeda suspects, Abu Ghaith is a former religious studies teacher, believed to be in his mid-30s, who left Kuwait before the 11 September attacks. Abu Ghaith reportedly became famous in Kuwait during the Iraqi occupation of the country in 1990, when he gave strong sermons daring the government to attack Baghdad.
Didn't that do a lot of good!
He was allegedly banned from preaching in Kuwait after the countryâs liberation, because his sermons had turned against the government, the constitution and other Arab states. His citizenship was stripped by Kuwaiti authorities citing "national interest" after an appearance on Qatar-based al-Jazeera television in which he vowed retaliation for US air strikes against Afghanistan. (raises hand) If Kuwait doesnât want him can we have him, please?
Or maybe just a few significant parts of him? (I'd like the lungs, please. That's my favorite part...)
Posted by: Steve ||
07/18/2003 9:04:33 AM ||
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It sure is funny that for a country that doesn't harbor any Al-Quada, they sure as hell have a lot of the top guys there (must be tourist season)and then end up "deporting" their muslim brothers back to their homelands. Ouch, I can feel the slaps on the wrists from here. (wink wink)
Posted by: Paul ||
07/18/2003 11:35 Comments ||
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EFL
A body had been found west of London that appears to be that of missing Iraqi arms expert, David Kelly, who was at the centre of a row between the BBC, the government and critics of the war in Iraq, British police said on Friday Let the speculation as to the cause of death commence.
Was this guy related to Vince Foster ? Whatâs the degree of seperation from the Clintonâs ?
Posted by: Domingo ||
07/18/2003 10:42:56 AM ||
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Took an expert to determine he was missing his arms?
Posted by: Fred ||
07/18/2003 11:10 Comments ||
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#5
Unarmed and no longer dangerous..........What are they trying to do here, build a thriller novel by the part?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/18/2003 11:47 Comments ||
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#6
Not to detract from the hilarity, but this isn't a good thing boys and girls. Someone, somewhere is working very hard to make sure that a minor controversy becomes major indeed. I have my suspicions, but it's too early to point fingers.
#8
The left keeps playing any card to discredit Bush and Blair in any way. Sammy demonstrated the capability of WMD and other nasty things for years. He kicked out UN inspectors when even they started smelling the rat. He was clearly a threat. The left wants a nice neat package of proof before they believe. If they get the package they go on to something else. If we are on the receiving end of a major attack, the left will blame us for not being prepared. They have no agenda other than the destruction of the present govt. The best defense is a good offense. Discredit these chaps and they will slink back to their ratholes and lick their wounds for a while.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/18/2003 12:17 Comments ||
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EFL
Police searching for the weapons expert suggested by the government as the possible source for a BBC story on Iraq say the body they have found matches Dr David Kellyâs appearance. The body was found at 0920 BST by a member of the police team searching for Dr Kelly in a wooded area at Harrowdown Hill, near Faringdon, Oxfordshire. Government adviser Dr Kelly, 59, went missing from his home in Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, at about 1500 BST on Thursday. The body was found lying on the ground, a police spokeswoman said. The body was found around five miles from Dr Kellyâs home. No word yet on if it is confirmed to be him or what he died from.
Earlier this week, Dr Kelly denied being the BBCâs main source for a story claiming Downing Street had "sexed up" a dossier about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. He appeared before the Commons foreign affairs committee on Tuesday. MPs on the committee reacted with shock and disbelief at news of Dr Kellyâs disappearance. His family had contacted the police when he failed to return home by 2345 BST on Thursday. Huge media attention has been on Dr Kelly since the Ministry of Defence said he had admitted meeting Andrew Gilligan, the BBC correspondent behind the controversial Iraq story. Mr Gilligan said a source had told him that the dossier on Iraq had been "sexed up" by Downing Street. The BBC correspondent has refused to name his source, but the MoD said Dr Kelly had come forward to say it may have been him. Developing
Posted by: Steve ||
07/18/2003 8:46:32 AM ||
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Elementary, my dear Watson. Gilligan did it - isn't the knucklehead always up to no good?
A Jordanian terrorist suspect told a German court Thursday that he and other Islamic extremists throughout the country were initially âeuphoricâ upon learning of the Sept. 11 attacks. âWe were so pleased. Messages of congratulations were traded back and forth,â Shadi Mohammad Mustafa Abdullah, a 26-year-old Jordanian of Palestinian origin, told a court hearing his case in the western German city of Duesseldorf. Abdullah said the âeuphoric moodâ quickly clouded when religious scholars in Mecca condemned the attacks as âwar crimes,â leading him to doubt whether the assault was justified. âThe attackers were longing for a life in paradise but then the scholars said they were in hell, not in paradise,â he explained.
Hmmm... Who's right? Choose quick, now...
Abdullah stands accused of plotting attacks in Germany against Jewish and Israeli targets, all of which were foiled. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of membership of a terrorist organisation and passport forgery. At an earlier trial hearing, Abdullah acknowledged training with Al Qaeda in camps in Afghanistan and working briefly as a bodyguard to Bin Laden before switching allegiances and joining the Palestinian Tawhid organisation. The head of the Tawhid cell, to which Abdullah allegedly belonged, continued to praise the Sept. 11 attacks as âheroicâ even after Mecca scholars condemned them, he said.
"Whadda them scholars know? Buncha pantywaists, anyway!"
"But... But... They said them guys is roastin' in hell for eternity!"
On Thursday, Abdullah described the âsystematic brainwashingâ of young Muslims in Al Qaeda training camps, where they were shown countless videotapes showing âatrocitiesâ against Palestinians and Muslims in Indonesia. When I got back from Afghanistan, I was full of hate. I was convinced of the need for jihad until my arrest.â
"But then my conviction waned, so can I go home now?"
He told the court in early July that Al Qaeda members were at large in several German cities but said he did not know much about their activities. Abdullah admitted Wednesday that he had forged dozens of passports for Islamic militants and embezzled thousands of euros for Tawhid.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/18/2003 11:21 ||
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a 26-year-old Jordanian of Palestinian origin
Tell me again why we're agitating for a Palestinian homeland? So that they'll now have a country from which to attack us?
#3
Brother, this guy is a classic. The whole panoply of Izzoid Phantasies.
He was prolly the Valedictorian of his 'Qaeda class - to be invited to be an OBL bodyguard. Of course, he's bound to be a lying little fuckwad, too.
I hope he faces down his entire tour of the German facilities... and drops his soap every day.
TGA - What sort of accomodations, treatment, food, goodies, etc. will our boy here get in a German prison? This story, though it's a comical and happy thing that he's as dumb as a box of rocks, is actually very depressing. up to 10 years just doesn't sound right to me. Please tell me it's a nasty place...
EFL
Times Watch has previously noted that the newspaper uses its personality profile feature, âPublic Lives,â to showcase liberals. But Fridayâs edition may mark the first time a terrorist sympathizer has been featured.
Fridayâs profile of Rutgers University law student Charlotte L. Kates is announced with the exceedingly bland headline, âLaw Student With a History of Taking Left Turns.â Rather predictably, the article is by stupemoonbatbeauzeau reporter Chris Hedges, notorious for being booed off a Rockford College (IL) stage for an anti-war rant. "Get out of here, and take your stupidity with you!"
Hedges begins: âWhen Charlotte L. Kates was in elementary school, she devoured a series of books on foreign countries. One nation, however, captured her imagination. She was in the family car on her way to a childrenâs arts festival in Philadelphia, when, she said, the utopian vision of a communist society in the Soviet Union leapt off the pages and inspired her to be a revolutionary. She never looked back. As a law student at Rutgers University, and one of the leaders of New Jersey Solidarity, a pro-Palestinian student group, Ms. Kates has reserved space at Rutgers this October for the Third North American Student Conference of the Palestine Solidarity Movement. The gathering will draw hundreds of student activists from the United States and Canada, and they will converge on the New Brunswick campus, she said, to âorganize against the Israeli occupation of Palestine.ââ "And letâs see if we can succeed where Haman failed, while weâre at it."
After discussing the controversy over the conference, Hedges notes Kates refuses to condemn Palestinian terror attacks against Israelis: âNew Jersey Solidarity takes a hard line in its support of the Palestinians. Ms. Kates will not, for instance, condemn suicide bombings, saying âit is not our place in the United States to dictate the tactics Palestinian groups use in the liberation struggle.ââ
Hedges provides a portrait of this young Communist as an even younger Communist: âSeated in a small coffee shop near the Rutgers Law School on Monday, Ms. Kates, 23, recalled the book she was reading on that car trip to Philadelphia years ago. âThe book quoted the 1917 revolutionary slogan: peace, land, bread and freedom,â she said. âThis idea hit me. I had to find out more about socialism.ââ [Ed. Note: So far, the ârevolutionâ is batting 0-4]. She began to read Lenin and Marx. She looked up the American Communist Partyâs local chapter in New Jersey, where she grew up. She rode her bike on Sunday afternoons to local party meetings. By age 13, she said, she had joined the party, paying monthly dues of 50 centsâŠ.Her small dorm room at Rutgers, which she shares with three other first-year law students, is decorated with the requisite picture of Che Guevara, a hero of the Cuban revolution, along with a poster of Nabil Salameh, a slain radical Palestinian leader. A poster on the wall reads: âLong Live the Proletarian Feminism of the Heroic Red Women Fighters of Peru.â [Ed. Note: Thatâs a likely reference to the Shining Path, the violent Maoist group in Peru once led by Abimael Guzman] Without a momentâs hesitation, she said her favorite book is âThe State and Revolutionâ by Lenin.â
Perhaps because of his blatant sympathy for the Palestinian cause, Hedges tries to soften up his portrait of this terrorist-sympathizing Communist, concluding with a sob story: âShe has a weakness for Dr. Pepper. There was a case on her floor. And she makes room on her wall for prints by the artist Gustav Klimt. The day after being featured in an article in The New York Post this month with the headline âRutgers gets âFâ For Putting Anti-Semitism 101 on the Schedule,â she lost her summer job as a customer service representative for an electronics company in Teaneck. âThey told me it was because they were doing financial restructuring,â she said, her signature red kaffiyeh draped around her shoulders, âbut I have my doubts.ââ
Poor kid, huh? Times Watch, for one, will reserve its grief for the victims of the terrorists for whom Kates sympathizes.
#1
I received a reply from Rutgers on my letter to their President about the conference. It can be found here. My reply to them, among other things, asks if NAMBLA would also be welcome on campus?
Posted by: Tokyo Taro ||
07/18/2003 18:47 Comments ||
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#3
Having seen the article in all its dead-tree glory, I am pleased to inform that this self-righteous, moral barbarian, is nearly rebarbitive looking as her cause.
Posted by: af ||
07/18/2003 21:39 Comments ||
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Looks like a job program for unemployed Human Shields...
Some of the same peace activists who protested the U.S. invasion of Iraq have now set up camp in Baghdad, determined to scrutinize a military operation they couldnât prevent. Their new International Occupation Watch Center, which opened last week in Iraqâs chaotic capital, will keep a skeptical eye on the activities of U.S. troops and officials. Skeptical? You donât say!?
Its four-member staff will shadow U.S. companies Bechtel Corp. and Halliburton, whose role in Iraqâs reconstruction provoked protests at home. 4 people? For the entire country? Yeah, they got this covered. And Bechtel and Halliburton, the tools of the facist occupation forces, better watch out! They got YOUR number!
More to the point, the center will actively oppose the occupation itself and call for its swift end. Its views, to be published in newsletters printed in English and Arabic, will probe the occupiersâ tolerance for dissent. "This is a test of our rights -- of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly -- and weâll press those rights to the full extent," said San Francisco activist Medea Benjamin in an interview from Baghdad. Only a matter of time before Medeaâs on all the talk shows as an Iraqi "expert". And notice how itâs about THEIR rights? Itâs always about them.
It is unclear whether more staffers will join the initial group, or how much access the activists will actually have to either military officials or private business concerns. A guess? Ummmmmmmmmmmm.... ,like, none?
Two groups Benjamin represents, Global Exchange and United for Peace and Justice, spearheaded the centerâs creation. After helping fill the streets of San Francisco, New York and Washington with protests against the war, they now want U.S. troops and administrators brought home as soon as possible. This will be even less effective then "filling the street with protestors" was.
Officials with the office of the U.S. civil administrator, L. Paul Bremer, could not be reached for comment. Theyâre probably laughing too hard.
A Bechtel spokesman said the company already faces plenty of public examination without the new watchdogs. Protesters besieged the construction companyâs San Francisco headquarters after Bechtel won a $680 million contract from the U.S. Agency for International Development to rebuild Iraqâs infrastructure. Activists have labeled Bechtel part of a corporate invasion of Iraq, profiting from the countryâs misery. I knew it!
"Weâre already under close and expert scrutiny by USAID, the Army Corps of Engineers and the international media," company spokesman Jonathan Marshall said. "To this mix, Global Exchange really doesnât bring much to the table, other than an ideological and political agenda." Looks like Becthelâs about as concerned about these dipshits as they should be.
A $20,000 seed grant from Global Exchange and United for Peace and Justice helped establish the center, which Benjamin anticipates will operate for at least 18 months. Its mission ranges from preparing reports and posting them on its Web site, www.occupationwatch.org, to supporting the formation of Iraqi human rights groups and labor unions. Its staff will investigate claims that occupation troops have used unnecessary force against civilians, Benjamin said. Maybe take a ride up to the mass graves? Nah, didnât think so...
The center will try to talk with the occupation authorities, as well as representatives of U.S. companies, as much as possible, Benjamin said. Some of its investigative work throughout the country will be performed by the centerâs own staff while other reports will be prepared by groups working with the center. Canât wait to read them. Theyâre probably already written. "Facist army", "corporate greed", "all about oil". Blah, blah, blah.
In addition, the center will work with activists elsewhere to put pressure on the countries participating in the occupation. Benjamin and others at the center met last week with Italian activists who want to force their own country to pull out, and Benjamin wants to expand that effort to Poland and Australia. Hippies working with hippies. So much gets accomplished when that happens.
Many observers warn that Iraq could descend into anarchy should the troops leave too soon, and U.S. officials have recently spoken of a long stay. Benjamin opposes a lengthy occupation, which she defined as five to 10 years. Although the center does not push for a specific date to end the occupation, Benjamin said a six- to 18-month stay would be relatively quick. Quick! Somebody write that down! Plan the withdrawl timetable! Medea has spoken!
"Some (Iraqis) say the U.S. troops should leave today. Others say, âWeâll give them a year.â Some say six months," Benjamin said. "No one wants the U.S. here more than a year." How many of them do you think want you around. Investigate that and let me know what you come up with.
Posted by: tu3031 ||
07/18/2003 9:40:57 AM ||
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#1
Oh, like Rachel Araflat Corrie, they probably stumbled across the truth, then brushed themselves off and moved on.
#2
All you have to do is point these people out to the common Iraqis and tell them they were the human shields in Saddams pay before the war. Nature should take its own course.
Posted by: Don ||
07/18/2003 10:09 Comments ||
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#3
First thing these f'ing little pricks need to do is tour all the mass grave sites recently discovered. Another one was found there yesterday.
Then maybe they'll get their collective head out of their a** and get their priorities straight.
Or not...
Posted by: Dar ||
07/18/2003 10:10 Comments ||
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#4
Its a shame That Medeas father did not have her advice, then he could have pulled out sooner.
#6
"This is a test of our rights -- of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly -- and weâll press those rights to the full extent," said San Francisco activist Medea Benjamin in an interview from Baghdad.
Huh? Where do they think they are? Sausalito? You do not have US "rights" when in another country. Squirrels. They have those rights that are accorded to the Iraqis, whatever they are, and considering this is a marshal law situation, they may be surprised, indeed, by the limitations, as it should be under the circumstances. I also wonder about the legitimacy of their presence. Lessee, uh, nope - the State Dept Travel Ban was lifted on July 15th. Too bad. I'd like to see their passports confiscated and their dumb asses deported.
As it is obvious that they are *hostile* perhaps they should be taken into custody for interrogation. How did they get there? Who's paying the bill - follow the money to find ISM? CAIR? Who? Oops, you're fucked, your sugar-daddy's on the list of shitforbrains supporters. It's Gitmo for you clowns. Toodles.
The world seems jam-packed with twits & tools just dying to make the 10 o'clock news. Waste Lose 'em. They're fool fodder.
#8
Like Dar said, point out these human shields, er, useful idiots, er, I mean people to the general Iraqi populace. Make doubly sure that they opposed Hussein's removal, then step back and watch the fireworks.
#10
I think this is an absolutely GREAT idea! We should encourage AS MANY AS POSSIBLE who opposed our intervention in Iraq to JOIN these ass-clowns. Then, do as everyone else has already suggested--make sure that the Iraqi populace knows that these are the same fools who supported Saddam.
Its classic WIN/WIN--the number of clueless nuts in the United States drops noticeably and the natural chain of events in Iraq ensures that they won't be returning to our country!
#11
After reading my own comment, I realized that my enthusiasm for this move doesn't come through nearly enough!
In short, I think this is a GREAT OPPORTUNITY! We should all mobilize and get behind this movement--perhaps volunteer to do fundraising for them and the whole 9 yards! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ship boatloads of nut-cases to a place more properly equipped to give them the real-life "education" that they are so clearly lacking. We really shouldn't pass up an opportunity like this!
#12
I just want to know how many of them signed up for the Monrovia branch office?
Posted by: Paul ||
07/18/2003 11:53 Comments ||
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Raptor,
An excellent suggestion. If I was Abaizad, I'd love to diplomatically suggest that they help the oppressed Kurds reclaim their dead. Give them picks and shovels and have the Peshmurgas kindly escort them to the relevant mass graves. (under armed guard, of course, it's a "quagmire" after all)
Posted by: Ernest Brown ||
07/18/2003 11:55 Comments ||
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#14
As a San Franciscan, I would like to say that I am behind Flaming Sword 100%! Let's encourage as many dipwap liberals from the Bay Area as we possibly can to emigrate to Iraq, where hopefully they will step in front of a stray 7.62x39 rounds.
#15
Flaming sword has a point. We should encourage (and if necessary pay for) these people to go to Iraq. After we have a mass of them we let the Sunni, Kurds, and Assyrians know who, what, why, and where they are. Maybe we could get a few to ride 'shield' on the supply coonvoys that are yndcer attack? I can think of many others but you get the idea. I really think Sean and Babs should head the group.
#16
Better yet CyberSarge, officially inform (aka "the rumor mill") that they're all there to convert the masses to (place religion of your choice here). Problem solved AND the American gene pool stays strong.
Posted by: Paul ||
07/18/2003 12:29 Comments ||
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With apologies to Katz
Human shields: blah blah blah its all about oil blah blah blah
#19
Why the hell can't they just admit they were wrong?
The US military should ONLY admit them on the proviso they do a guided tour of Saddam's torture chambers and mass graves, and listen to a lecture from a couple of his victims on what life was like under Saddam.
That should be a 3-day induction along with a safety talk illustrating the risks.
That way the US military a) cannot be blamed if something happens to these idiots and b) They will have a context in which to place any violence they see occuring, hopefully understanding you cannot make an omelette without breaking some eggs.
Meanwhile: I am going away with that hippie... he is so hot, I am going away with him for a few days. But why oh why does he have to be a goddam hippie???? I will try to convert him.
wasting them by getting local Iraqis so riled they kill them may be an amusing thought for you but think of what a waste that really is.
a) you lose a great opportunity to show these activist fools the error of their ways. Send them back home converted and they will eat out their own hate-america culture from within. You will have helped to solve a cultural problem
b) by letting the local populace kill westerners, you think the cultural cycle of violence is going to be lessened or entrenched?
The aim is to get the rule of law established and entrenched - not to continue the idiocy.
#21
"Why the hell can't they just admit they were wrong?"
You don't know much about the history of the Western left, do you? That would require them to give up their unjustified and perverted sense of (im)moral superiority.
Posted by: Ernest Brown ||
07/19/2003 11:21 Comments ||
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I did not make this article up!
LAHORE: President General Pervez Musharraf is preventing clerics from organising a successful jihad against America, Jamaatud Dawa (JD) chief Hafiz Hussain Ahmed [Hafiz Saeed] said at the All Pakistan Ulema Convention here on Thursday. âWe do not fear America. We can defeat it through jihad very easily, but Gen Musharraf is holding us up. He has become the biggest enemy of jihad, and if we can get him out of the picture, we can take care of the infidels,â Mr Saeed said in a fiery speech at the convention, which was organised by his party.
"Just like we whupped 'em in Afghanistan!"
Representatives from various political parties and seminaries attended the convention and agreed that Pakistan should not recognise Israel, send troops to Iraq, compromise on Kashmir, allow the US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) to operate in Pakistan, or reform seminaries. They also urged the government to lay off targeting Mujahideen and jihad, âbecause it is the only way Pakistan can move towards dignity and prosperity.â
"Exploding turbans are very dignified! And look how prosperous we've become since they started killing people indiscriminately!"
Mr Saeed said it was the clericsâ duty to âliberateâ Kashmir, Palestine, Samoa, Mexico, Antarctica, Cleveland and other occupied Muslim territories, and to prepare themselves and their students for âthe great jihadâ. He said if the government recognised Israel, it would threaten the ideological basis of Pakistanâs existence. He said the government should not send troops to Iraq because the Arabs would hate Pakistan for it.
Certainly wouldn't want that... Ummm... Which Arabs?
The JD chief said General Musharrafâs visit to North African countries was âpart of an American agendaâ and its purpose was to prepare grounds for the recognition of Israel.
And everybody knows, once that's happened it's all over. Next thing you know, Pakland will be inhabited by Methodists and honest mullahs will be begging in the streets...
JD Foreign Affairs head Hafiz Abdul Rehman said the US was not happy with Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali and predicted he would be replaced with Finance Minster Shaukat Aziz, âthe most suitable US puppetâ. He cited rumours that Mr Aziz was a Qadyani, and âQadyanis have always favoured Americaâ.
"That's why we kill 'em, by Gar!"
Mr Makki recalled fondly the Afghan war against the USSR, saying those were days âwhen our generals would fight side by side with the Mujahideen and gain martyrdom. Sadly, now our generals have lost the spirit of jihad and Gen Musharraf is trying to eliminate jihad.â
"Aye, lad. Them wuz the good old days, back when I was a tad..."
He continued the attack on Gen Musharraf where Mr Saeed had left it. âHe is an American puppet, a hypocrite and has no concern for Islam. He sold Taliban, Arab and Pakistani Mujahideen blood for only $3 billion.â
Actually, that's a pretty good price. The phrasing suggests Makki would have held out for more, but would have done the same...
Mr Makki said the governmentâs anti-jihad policies had resulted in an increased threat on Pakistanâs borders. âAt one time, the Mujahideen had expanded Pakistanâs borders to Ammo River, and Kabul and Islamabad were one, but now our borders have shrunk,â he said.
"Aye! Oncet we wuz a great empire, but now we're fallen on hard times! And 'tiz all his fault!"
He blamed the attack on a Quetta mosque that killed over 50 people on the anti-jihad policy too. âThe policy allowed the Indian RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) and Kabul to carry out the attack. Both are working together against Pakistan.â
"And they used jihadis to do it! This would never have happened if we had proper jihad going! All them Shias woulda been killt long since..."
"Yes! We must unite to force Perv from office, take power, and fight over the spoils among ourselves!"
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl Punjab chief Maulana Amjad Khan said Pakistan was âunder siege by infidelsâ who want seminaries closed down, jihad ended and the Pakistani nuclear weapons programme rolled back. The heads of JDâs seminaries called on the clerics to get jihadi training, and asked the public not to use contraceptives, because âAmerica wants our mothers not to propagate more Mujahideenâ. He also criticised the current democratic system, saying it made people supreme, not the Quran.
Which is kinda the heart of the whole argument, isn't it?
The reason I love the Pak press so much is that it gives this sort of unvarnished look into Lalaland, a place where turbans are way too tight. Thought processes, no matter how convoluted, always arrive at the same place, with a call for jihad and death to [fill in name here]. We in the good old U.S. of A. become involved in frivolities like Britney's breasts and who killed Jon Benet, whether homosexuals can marry and if such unions should be compulsory, about Hillary's book advance and whether fat folk can sue McDonald's. On the other side of the world the enemy is having discussions like these.
"He also criticised the current democratic system, saying it made people supreme, not the Quran."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/18/2003 15:40 ||
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Boy---this is Rabies 101! What an insight into --well into the disjointed and convoluted thought processes of the wound up turbines turbans of the Jihad leaders. These guys have issued the equivalent of a declaration of war on Perv, so at least we know whose turban must be popped. A couple of hits and they will be too busy watching their six to spew spittle at 12 oclock.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/18/2003 22:17 Comments ||
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#5
You know what these people need? Crack. The good North Korean kind. At least then they'd have an excuse we could understand instead of "high on Islam".
Police continued to round up people for questioning on Thursday in the deadly attack on a Shiite Muslim mosque this month that killed 48 people, a day after investigators identified two of the suicide bombers. Fifty people were taken into custody in the first several days after the July 4 suicide bombing in Quetta. âWe have picked up more people overnight after identifying two attackers,â a senior police officer in Quetta said. Police said the attackers had been identified as Noor Ahmed and Mohammad Khan. Meanwhile on Thursday, the al-Badr militancy wing denied police claims that Ahmed was a member of the insurgency battling Indian troops in Kashmir.
"Nope. Nope. Wudn't us. Don't know him..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/18/2003 15:09 ||
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President General Pervez Musharraf said on Thursday Pakistan would not keep any suspected foreign terrorists on its soil and would return them to their country of origin. âPakistan has absolutely zero interest in keeping any foreign national, in fact, when we catch any non-Pakistani suspect terrorist we want to send him out as soon as possible,â he told reporters.
"I mean, it ain't like we don't have enough of these goobers of our own!"
He said there were two problems in sending arrested terrorists to their respective countries. First, that the country of origin doesnât want them back, and second, it is often hard to ascertain their nationality. âTherefore, those who do not give their identity, land in a third country,â he said.
"Either Guantanamo or Kashmir, depending on how we're feeling at the moment..."
He promised that Pakistan would hand over any suspected Algerian terrorist caught in Pakistan to the Algerian government. âWe will keep fighting terrorism to bring stability to our respective countries,â he said. Gen Musharraf held a meeting with Algerian President Abdulaziz Bouteflika where they discussed bilateral economic and trade ties, terrorism, Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan-India relations and expressed âcomplete consonance of viewsâ, the Pakistani president said.
Is it true that Pakland and Algeria are going to form the nucleus of a new power bloc, The Union of Failed States?
Mr Bouteflika called on the international community to make the same old tired distinction distinguish between terrorism and liberation movements. âIt is indeed important to make a clear-cut distinction between terrorist acts that we must firmly condemn, and a liberation struggle which represents for peoples the last resort to recover their legitimate rights.â
He still doesn't get it. It's terrorism in Algeria, freedom struggle anywhere else...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/18/2003 15:07 ||
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A former Taliban commander, Zainuddin Achakzai, has been gunned down by unknown people in the outskirts of southwestern city of Quetta, reports said Friday. According to police sources, Mulla Zainuddin was on his way to a mosque to perform his morning prayers when two men opened indiscriminate fire on him yesterday. He died on the spot and his assailants fled. Hospital sources said Zainuddin received eight bullet wounds. Thatâll do it.
Police said the murder could be the result of an old enmity. However, Murtaza Achakzai, Zainuddinâs younger brother, ruled out the possibility, saying his brother had no enmity with anyone. Well, at least two people had enmity with him.
Zainuddin had been living with his family in Alakozai Colony in Pashtoonabad for the last 12 years. Pashtoonabad? Who names these places, Bugs Bunny?
He was described as an important commander under the former Taliban regime. A case has been registered against unknown assailants and an investigation has been launched. "Weâll get to it someday, we have quite a backlog."
Posted by: Steve ||
07/18/2003 1:12:56 PM ||
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Cheeze. Another dead mullah. And this one didn't have an enemy in the world, either.
That's prob'ly why they shot him.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/18/2003 13:17 Comments ||
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#2
And this one didn't have an enemy in the world, either.
If this Zainuddin guy was a former Taliban commander, then he had a lot of enemies.
#4
If the Afghan spy agency is getting organized enough to conduct assassinations on Pakistani soil, then Karzai is more secure than anybody thinks he is.
#5
Hey, we have no emnity with yuz, business is business.
I can think of a dozen reasons for the hit: Failure as a jihadi mullah, not enough spittle at the sermon, etc. etc.. However, I am rooting for Zhang Fei's hypothesis.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/18/2003 17:01 Comments ||
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THE LARGEST KASHMIRI MILITANT OUTFIT, Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), once again finds itself in the eye of the storm as reports of another split in its ranks have become widespread in the wake of intra-organisational clashes that left one of its leaders dead. However, party sources dismiss the reports as âintelligence leaksâ.
If they're "intelligence leaks" does that mean they're wrong?
Talking to TFT in Muzzaffarabad, an HM leader added that ârenegade party workersâ, who rallied around Majid Dar two years ago as reports of his âsurrenderâ to Indian government became rife, had met a dead end. Over 200 Kashmiri militants tried to raise their own faction called Hizbe Islami (HI) after Majid Dar was murdered in March this year.
By Syed Salahuddin, we might add...
Dar had seized the opportunity to establish contacts with New Delhi as soon as India announced the ceasefire in July 2000. His act annoyed party loyalists who believe he took the step without Sallahuddinâs consent. For the last six months, Darâs followers have been trying to seize HM offices in Muzaffarabad, Rawalpindi and Islamabad. This has sparked clashes among party workers, some of whom have also used automatic assault rifles that were previously used in skirmishes with Indian forces.
"Yar! Gimme dat office building!"
"Mine! Y'cant' have it!"
"Take THAT!"
"Oh, yeah? Well, take DAT! An' DAT!"
Their bid to create a separate faction suffered a serious blow, however, when Majid Dar was murdered. Most of these workers have now joined Commander Masood Sarfarz — better known as the Lion of Peer Panjal. Sarfraz, it may be recalled, managed the HM wing in Azad Kashmir before creating Hizbe Islami in 2000 after he fell out with the Jamaat-e-Islami of Azad Kashmir.
Didn't like being controlled by Qazi's front organization, I guess. Pound for pound (and there are a lotta pounds there) Qazi's probably got more ego than any two other Paks...
At the time the Jamaat cadres faced a standoff with Sarfrazâ men in the town of Kotli and fire was exchanged between the two sides for days.
"Yar! We be havin' a political discussion! Bring up more ammo!"
A spokesman for Masoodâs party â Sikandar Rajaurvi â told TFT from Kotli that 467 loyalists of Majid Dar had already joined hands with them. The numbers, according to other Kashmiri sources, are not as high as the HI claims. âIt cannot be more than 250,â says a Kashmiri, familiar with the militant scene. He also disputes claims about split in the HM. âThere have been four splits since 1990,â he says. âAll of them aimed at removing Syed Sallahuddin. However, he has survived until now and fully controls the party.â
Since he doesn't hesitate to have his rivals bumped off...
The Jamiat ul- Mujahideen of General Abdullah, Muslim Mujahideen of Ahsan Dar, Hizbe Islami of Masood and Al-Badr of Bakht Zameen managed to break away from the HM. But the intricacy of the situation surrounding Kashmiri militantsâ operations from the Pakistani soil simply prevented the emergence of another splinter group. Sources say those in existence since early 1990s are already facing the crunch. Their funds have shrunk in the face of mounting international pressure on Pakistan to dismantle these groups. Analysts claim, however, that the merger of Dar-remnants into the Hizbe Islami of Commander Masood is the culmination of power struggle within the HM that has gone on since the summer of 2000.
I'm not counting on hard times to wind down the jihadis. The money could start flowing again at any time. The fact that they're not out of business indicates there's still a trickle coming out of the pipe...
This is not a new phenomenon. Other groups like Harkat-ul-Mujahideen have faced splits, the worst being the emergence of Jaish-e Mohammad after Masoud Azhar decided to part ways with Commander [Fazlur Rehman] Khalil of Harkat. Masoud not only split but went on to capture the Harkat assets in the Punjab and even got Harkat cadres to join his party. The split resulted in major disputes and even fire-fights at the time. And as one former intelligence official concedes, one of the tricks in the book is to not allow any one group to become too strong.
âThis is a tried and tested mode of keeping overall control of such groups. Whenever one group is seen as getting too strong or influential, the agencies try to split it and sometimes pit one against the other,â he says. It seems that the Kashmir jihad is no exception.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
07/18/2003 12:57:16 AM ||
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THE VISIT TO INDIA BY A HIGH-POWERED delegation of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), led by the partyâs chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, has drawn much flak from the outlawed jihadi organisations who bitterly opposed it. The visit will be reciprocated by a delegation of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, the parent Deobandi organisation in the undivided subcontinent. Observers term the JUI (F) visit significant since the party since the days of the Taliban is considered very close to the hard-line Deobandi jihadi outfits like Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and Jaish-e-Mohammad. The visit has also been squarely denounced by the Wahhabi jihadi outfit, Lashkar-i-Taiba which now calls itself Dawat ul Irshad.
They probably have a hard time remembering what their name is from day to do...
The Lashkar and other Jihadi outfits are also opposed to the thaw between India and Pakistan and consider these efforts at breaking the ice synonymous with sabotaging âjihad-e-Kashmirâ. The Lashkar, in particular, arguably the most strident group on the issue, has publicly condemned last monthâs Jamaat-i-Islamiâs reception to visiting Indian parliamentarians.
âJihad is the only solution to the Kashmir problem,â said Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, chief of Dawat ul Irshad, the parent party of LeT.
Hafiz says the same thing every time he opens his mouth. Jihad is the solution to all problems...
Lashkar has shifted all its operations to Muzzaffarabad in Azad Kashmir since the group was banned by General Pervez Musharraf in January last year. Interestingly, the JI backed Hizbul Mujahideen has remained silent on the issue. Sources said it appears that in a âtacticalâ move the religious parties have decided to distance themselves from these groups that have increasingly come under pressure from the government as well as the United States. âThese parties are basically political parties, though they use religion to keep themselves in the business. For them it is important to show flexibility in the face of changing circumstances. In any case, before the advent of the Taliban, the JUI (F) was most amenable to taking a rational line on relations with India,â says an observer.
"Rational" in Pakistan is a rather elastic term...
The chief of JUI, Maulana Fazlur Rehman and other leaders in the delegation like Hafiz Hussain Ahmed will meet Hindu and Sikh leaders, besides visiting religious seminaries including Sikhismâs holiest âGolden Templeâ. The invitation for the visit was extended by the chief of JUI-Hind Maulana Asad Madni to Maulana Fazlur Rehman. âSince Maulana Madni will be our host, he will decide our programme and whom we can or will meet,â Rehman said. A few weeks ago, the JI hosted a reception in honour of the visiting delegation of Indian parliamentarians. The move was highly welcomed in India. It also evoked much interest since JI activists had protested very sharply when Indian prime minister A B Vajpayee. âWe know the religious parties have their own agenda as they are in power politics, but our aim is jihad and we donât believe in any ifs or buts,â said the leader of a defunct Islamist group. Most observers think this could be the beginning of a split between religio-political parties and the militant groups that have no political presence.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
07/18/2003 12:53:09 AM ||
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#1
the parent Deobandi organisation in the undivided subcontinent?
Muslim dreams of a new Islamic Mughal empire rears its ugly head.
A leading Shiite cleric denounced Iraq's new Governing Council and the US occupation of the country on Friday during a weekly sermon to thousands of followers in Najaf. Moqtada Sadr, a fiery cleric who has emerged as a prominent figure in post-war Iraq, blasted "the illegitimate council created by the United States and their servants" in his first sermon since the 25-member body was inaugurated last Sunday. "They have delivered this peaceful Muslim country to the foreign forces," railed the cleric, whose confrontational style is seen as a potential threat to US ambitions to remake Iraq as a Western-style democracy.
Moqtada's a 22-year-old wannabe ayatollah, whose idea of civil, well-reasoned discourse is to chase other ayatollahs out of the country...
"No, no to the United States, No, no to Israel, No, no to the Governing Council," his followers chanted, in a vitriolic outpouring by members of the country's estimated 15-million-strong Shiite majority. Sadr also announced the formation of a private militia called the "Mehdi army", an allusion to the Shiite community's belief in the arrival of their 12th imam, or religious guide. The Shiites are crucial to Washington's aspirations here and have so far mostly gone along with the US plans to reshape the country.
All but Moqtada and his bully boyz. They've been a consistent thorn in the allied side, as well as a thorn in the Shiites' side. He doesn't think he can overreach because Pop's a dead Shiite hero — but he will, and probably soon. Setting up a private "army" could even be the occasion...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/18/2003 13:43 ||
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In Baghdad, thousands of Sunni Muslims protested on Friday against Iraq's new US-sponsored Governing Council as imams used their weekly sermons to accuse the Shiite-dominated body of planting the seeds of civil strife.
Can't win no matter what we do, huh?
"Shame on those who consider Baghdad's fall a national holiday," said one banner raised by the demonstrators who converged on the Um al-Qora mosque on the western fringes of Baghdad from several Sunni mosques in the capital after Friday prayers. The reference was to a decision by the Governing Council during its inaugural meeting on Sunday to declare April 9, the day US-led forces ousted Saddam Hussein, a national holiday in its first act as a ruling body. "We (Sunnis) are the silent majority, not a minority," read another banner, while a third said "no to division into Sunnis and Shiites." The 25-member council, supposed to reflect Iraq's ethnic and confessional makeup, has 13 Shiite members.
"Just 'cuz there's more of them than us don't mean they're the majority!"
The protesters also chanted slogans against the US occupation, vowing to "exterminate the infidel (US) army."
Yep. Just your normal, every day peaceful Muslim country, going about its business...
"Revolt, revolt O Baghdad, let Bremer follow Nuri," they shouted, alluding to US civil administrator Paul Bremer and Nuri as-Said, Iraq's prime minister under the monarchy who was killed by a mob when it was toppled in 1958. Friday's rally was called by Iraq's Council of Ulema, a body grouping Sunni religious scholars.
"Yar! We be scholards!"
In a statement read to the protesters, a cleric said the ulema believed the Governing Council had divided the Iraqi people along sectarian lines, declaring "a certain community to be the majority ... without an accurate population census... The group that was given a majority on the council does not make up a majority ... even among Muslims."
"Just 'cuz there's more of 'em here don't make them the majority does it?"
Shortly before, the imam of Um al-Qora mosque, Hareth al-Dari, had lambasted the Governing Council, telling the faithful it was "rejected and unacceptable because it divides Iraq into groups and races. It is planting the seeds of hostility between the sons of this society. That is why we don't support it ... This council does not serve the interests of the people or the nation."
Knew there hadda be a reason...
At the Sheikh Abdul Kader al-Kilani mosque, one of the capital's major mosques, Sheikh Mahmud Khalaf al-Issawi also slammed the council as a divisive body that did not represent the Iraqi people and called on the faithful not to recognize it.
"Recognize me, instead! I know what's best for you!"
"One of the reasons it is not representative of the people is that it split the Iraqis along confessional and ethnic (Arab-Kurdish-Turkmen) lines, giving a certain sect an absolute majority," the prayer leader said. "The crux of the problem is that the council also gave those who came from outside the country, and who are ignorant of our problems, concerns and suffering, seats on the body even though they were enjoying themselves in the West" during the Saddam era, Issawi said in a reference to former exiles named to the council. "The council ignored the people who lived in the country and resisted the deposed regime, giving no role to speak of to the figures who struggled " over the years, the imam added.
"I never liked him, I never joined the party..."
Issawi also echoed widespread criticism among ordinary Iraqis of the US-led coalition's failure to restore basic services, "and above all, security," 100 days after it toppled Saddam. "The law of the jungle now prevails" in Iraq, he said. "At a time when we were hoping for a quick solution, another problem â indeed the mother of problems â sprang, which was the emergence of the transitional Governing Council," he said.
They bitched and moaned because they didn't have an Iraqi government. Now they bitch and moan because they don't like it.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/18/2003 13:41 ||
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#1
Sounds very familiar.
I can see the headlines now:
"Iraqi Election Row - Hanging Opposition Imams 'chads' Cast Doubt on Official Results"
#2
Time to split Iraq into three countries. Sunnistan, Shiitestan and Kurdistan. And if the Turks get their knickers in a twist tough. These clowns are not going to learn how to live together, ever
Posted by: Someone who did NOT vote for William Proxmire ||
07/18/2003 16:33 Comments ||
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#3
More like Kurdistan, Asshatistan, and Assclownistan. It pains me to admit it, but some people just don't understand and appreciate freedom. We need to find the WMD's - destroy 'em, and get the hell out. They'll be a new dictator in Baghdad six months after we leave.
Iraqâs ambassador to China has armed himself with pistols and locked other diplomats out of the main Iraqi embassy building in Beijing, refusing orders to return to Baghdad, an Iraqi diplomat said Friday. "Keep back, or the ambassador dies! Wait, that doesnât sound right."
Mowaffaq Alani was ordered June 6 to return to Iraq as part of a general recall of ambassadors, said Talal H. Al-Khudairi, who said he was asked to take over as representative to China by authorities in Iraq. There was no comment from Baghdad.
"Mowaffaq who?... Oh, him! We forgot..."
Al-Khudairi, the embassyâs second-ranking diplomat, said Iraqi diplomats have appealed to Chinaâs Foreign Ministry to persuade Alani to leave and permit the embassy to resume normal operations. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said China wanted the Iraqis to handle the dispute themselves. ``In fact we donât have any official contact with the embassy at this time,ââ Kong said. "Weâll get back to you later."
"And try not to shoot each other where it'll wake the neighbors..."
Alani ``took over the embassy by force, using pistols,ââ Al-Khudairi said in an interview. He said Alaniâs wife was also armed. The embassy compound also houses Alaniâs residence and a separate residential building. Al-Khudairi said Alani was barring the other diplomats from the main building and had demanded that three diplomats living in the residential building leave, threatening to shoot them if they refuse. They really, really donât want to go home.
On Thursday afternoon, Alani could be seen from a nearby apartment building strolling inside the compound with his two children. He did not appear to be armed. The embassy has largely shut down since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq on March 20, although Al-Khudairi said visa issuing and trade functions were expected to resume soon. Soon to reopen under new management.
All of Iraqâs ambassadors have been ordered home by the American occupation forces, although it isnât known how many have complied. Humm, good question
Alani was appointed ambassador to China in January. A loyalist to deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, he said in an interview in April that the Chinese government has assured his safety under the Geneva Conventions and other treaties.
But they didn't say he could keep the embassy...
Alani was expelled by the Philippines in 1991 from his post as first secretary at the Manila embassy after intelligence officials said he was in contact with Iraqi terrorists attempting to bomb a U.S. cultural center there. The bomb exploded prematurely, killing the two suspects. Oh, heâs that Iraqi diplomat. Got promoted to ambassador for his good work for Sammy. I guess that explains why he doesnât want to go home. Something about possible war crimes.
Al-Khudairi said embassy staff wanted only for Alani to leave. ``We donât have any personal feud,ââ Al-Khudairi said. ``He is now an ordinary person who happens to be in the wrong place for the wrong reason.ââ Just leave him alone, itâs not like youâre going to be doing a lot of business for a while.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/18/2003 11:29:27 AM ||
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Nobody gives a damn if he goes home, to Bejing, or straight to hell. But he's gotta clean out his desk by the 20th...
The Arabic television network Al Jazeera said Iraqi police released four of its employees on Friday a day after detaining them and accusing one of inciting violence. Al-J, inciting violence? Say it ainât so!
The prominent network said on Thursday the arrests were sparked by tension with U.S. forces in Iraq over its coverage of attacks by loyalists of toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein on American soldiers. Then why were you busted by Iraqi police instead of US forces?
Correspondent Abdul Azeem Mohammed, who was freed along with three of his colleagues, said he learnt that an Iraqi governor had ordered their detention because of the networkâs coverage of a bomb attack on an Iraqi police station this month. Al Jazeera has been widely criticised by U.S. officials for its reporting of the U.S.-led war on Iraq and for broadcasting footage of Iraqi casualties as well as airing video and audio tapes of Osama bin Ladenâs Al Qaeda network. The Iraqiâs donât much like them either.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/18/2003 10:09:21 AM ||
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"Off with his head!"
"Ahem. Uh, you're not allowed to do that anymore, sir."
"I'm not? Why?"
"The Americans don't like it sir. They say it's a Saddamish thing to do."
US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, a top Pentagon architect of the US-led war on Iraq, is in Baghdad on an unannounced visit. Hummm.
Mr Wolfowitz and US civil administrator for Iraq Paul Bremer flew by helicopter to the Abu Gharib prison, a symbol of the horrors of Saddamâs regime, just west of Baghdad. Find something, or just paying a visit?
Other details of his trip are being kept tightly under wraps. Mr Wolfowitz is a powerful deputy to Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who visited Iraq in April, and seen as one of the most hawkish figures in the Bush administrationâs Iraq policy. He has said that US forces would remain in Iraq as long as needed, but not one day longer. Could be just press speculation.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/18/2003 9:39:11 AM ||
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Think he'll meet with Medea? I'm sure he'd value her input... and hippie chicks can be so hot!
Posted by: Carl in NH ||
07/18/2003 11:36 Comments ||
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Medea is not an especially auspicious name for a hippie: Medeaâs father, Aeetes, did not want her to leave Colchis. Medea escaped in the night to go with her husband, Jason on the Argo. Her brother, Absyrtus, came after them. According to the religion of Medeaâs father, it was essential to bury the bodies of the dead whole. To delay her father from following them and bringing her back, Medea killed her brother and chopped his body into pieces that she threw overboard, so her father would have to retrieve them.
#5
Carl >> Hey Carl, I've heard that tu3031 and PD have been known to like their gin.
Posted by: Paul ||
07/18/2003 12:24 Comments ||
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There's more than one way to fillet a brother:
http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/1928/mdeah.htm
M'deah
by Grippy and Cormo
dramatis personae:
M'deah: late twenties, Black South African, recent PhD and graduate student from Witwatersrand University in biochemistry. Wears some Zulu jewelry of copper and cowry shells.
Jason: mid-thirties, white American anthropology assistant professor, husband to M'deah
Ron: sixtyish, white anthropology department chair, mentor of Jason
Criss: late twenties, white daughter of Ron, psychology assistant professor at same university, president of her local MENSA society.
Eema: 70's, M'deah's grandmother, dresses in Zulu tribal costume with many cowry shells.
Brigitte: fifties, white biochemistry department chair at Sorbonne
#8
I'm betting they have Sammy and his boys there. Bush sends all his buddies to go in and sock'em right in the b*ll sack once or twice. Then they get on the first thing smoking back to the good old US.
-Sigh- Finally, my tax dollars put to good use.
Posted by: Paul ||
07/18/2003 12:36 Comments ||
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Medea's there to insure that Vulfovitz's (official BBC-EU pronunciation) EEEEEVIIIIILLLLLLL STRAUSSSSSSIIAAAAAAAN JOOOOOOOO VOOOOODOOOOOOOOO doesn't unduly disturb the Nazi-inspired Baathist thugs she loves so much.
/Swift
Posted by: Ernest Brown ||
07/18/2003 14:07 Comments ||
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Maybe they found the remains of that pilot from Gulf I...
EFL
Anti-American violence in the city of Fallujah, where U.S. soldiers faced dozens of attacks in May and June, has come to a virtual halt, the commander of U.S. forces there said Friday. But, but, what happened to the quagmire?
Maj. Gen. Buford C. Blount III, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, told reporters at his Baghdad headquarters that the drop in attacks has enabled him to reduce troops in Fallujah by 50 percent. He declined to provide exact troop levels, but said as an example of the cutbacks the number at 24-hour guard posts in the city has dropped from 300 to 150. He also has withdrawn half the soldiers in the cityâs police headquarters. Third Infantry soldiers moved into Fallujah in early June, after units from the 82nd Airborne, followed by the 3rd Armored Calvary Regiment, faced a series of attacks. Blount said the number of attacks on his soldiers there has fallen from 20-25 a week about two months ago to zero this week. Zero is good.
The key to providing security there, he said, was working more closely with local leaders. "We listened to what their concerns were," he said. Think weâll hear about this from big media? Nah.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/18/2003 9:16:35 AM ||
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Perhaps there was a secret memo from the Pentagon? "First units to achieve and maintain zero attacks against themselves will be replaced by National Guardsmen and rotated home."
Damn good incentive, if you ask me: Achieves everyone's goals and creates a climate less theatening to the N.G. units.
#2
Zero attacks is good, but if that number doesn't drop soon it will still be quagmire. [/sarcasm]
Posted by: Dar ||
07/18/2003 10:14 Comments ||
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Ptah, such a memo would be baaaaaad. Troops would manipulate the reporting [like the old Vietnam body count thing] so they could get the response they wanted. At the end of GW1 the troops in the depot in Saudi were told they couldn't get home till all the vehicles and equipment was load for shipping home. I can not describe in few words the pictures I saw at the off loading stateside and Germany on the condition the vehicles were literally crammed into the holds. They were off loading Iowa and Illinois NG trucks in the shipping back at Hamburg Germany. Got to be real careful on how you instruct Pvt. Snuffy, or be ready for some creative surprises.
Posted by: Don ||
07/18/2003 10:19 Comments ||
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Don: It wasn't any better on the way out. We'd get a manifest from a division saying there were 30 Bradleys, 25 M-1's and 45 5-ton trucks on the Antares. The port load master would then send us a manifest saying that there were 19 Bradleys, 31 M-1's and 38 5-tons on the same ship. Finally, we'd get another manifest from the port of disembarkation stating that 26 Bradleys, 35 M-1 and 29 5-tons had been unloaded. Who was right? Who knows.
#6
This is news to me. Great. Even in the Sunni triangle, we can snuff out opposition. The press sees only a debacle in the making, of course. But remember, the press defines a "crisis" over here as a decrease in the rate of increase for a favorite government program. When bullets are flying, mere "crisis" won't do--must escalate to "debacle" or the inevitable "Vietnam."
Investigators probing the escape of a Jemaah Islamiah terrorist from the Philippines police headquarters have staged a re-enactment of the breakout. It comes after further damaging revelations that Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi was probably assisted in his escape by a supporter working as a prison cleaner. The head of the investigating unit took reporters on a tour to show how al-Ghozi and two other detainees had simply walked out of the jail building, opened the gates and then used a small guardhouse to jump over the outer wall. Two guards were asleep during the jailbreak, a third was out shopping. Officials say al-Ghoziâs cell was so poorly constructed that the door could be manually bent out of place. These guys make Barney Fife look like Dirty Harry.
"Now, we can attribute the escape not only to the human element but also to the physical defect or the structural defect of the detention cell," police criminal investigation director Eduardo Matillano said. Police have admitted an Islamic militant and former detainee had been allowed to work as a cleaner in the jail where al-Ghozi was held and was under suspicion for helping the escape.
Have they shot him yet?
President Gloria Arroyo, humiliated and angered by the escape of a key regional terror suspect, launched an investigation into the matter, vowing to stamp out corruption in the police. She said that was likely to have contributed to the fiasco. Ya think?
Posted by: Steve ||
07/18/2003 9:45:24 AM ||
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And after re-enacting the escape, they completed the exercise by making bank account deposits...
#4
This escape is not particularly exceptional - this kind of thing has happened in the past, after payoffs were made. (A small number of cops have actually been convicted). The fix was in - no question about it.
#5
Some details from Manila Bulletin: Secretary Joey Lina of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) yesterday underscored the need to integrate all detention centers in Camp Crame, Quezon City, into a single custodial unit manned by policemen trained in custodial works. In Camp Crame, the present set-up is there is a separate detention cell for each major operating unit like the Police Anti-Crime and Emergency Response, Central Intelligence and Detection Group, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, and Traffic Management Group, among others. In one of his inspections at the detention cells in Crame, the DILG secretary found that these are guarded by ordinary policemen without sufficient background in custodian work.
Most likely this duty fell on the lowest ranking policemen they could find. And each unit has it's own lockup? Authorities demonstrated to reporters how easily the jail cells could be opened even without removing the heavy-duty padlocks to the latch of the iron doors. Senior Supt. Don Montenegro, officer of CIDG for the National Capital Region, said even with the padlocks on, the fugitives had managed to open the iron doors by forcing the latch open. Investigators theorized that the three went out of their cells while the jail guard on duty, one "PO2 Ongkit", slept at a couch in an adjacent room along with two other off duty jail personnel, SPO3 Ben Campo and PO3 Ronald Palmares.
PO2/PO3 - If those follow military grades they are really low, E2/E3, with no NCO on duty to keep them alert.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/18/2003 13:54 Comments ||
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Gloria's got some major egg on her face. Wonder if she has the nerve to clean it off?
Posted by: Fred ||
07/18/2003 14:56 Comments ||
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The Philippines Government says it has signed a ceasefire agreement with the countryâs largest Muslim separatist group, ahead of planned peace talks in Malaysia. Negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) could re-open as early as next week, the government said. Fighting to commence shortly after.
It also promised to drop arrest warrants against MILF leaders, in order to pave the way for talks to resume. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo sounded optimistic on Friday as she announced the mutual cessation of hostilities between the two sides, despite the fact that many previous ceasefire deals have come to nothing. "I ask our people to give peace a chance," she said. "Peace is at hand. We shall forge the political will to preserve it for all generations of Filipinos." The phrase "Peace in our time" comes to mind.
Ms Arroyo also thanked Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad "for his sincere and abiding support" to the peace process in the Philippines, and for offering to host the talks. Malaysia is also expected to deploy ceasefire observers in the southern island of Mindanao, where most of the MILF rebels are based. Iâm sure they will be very unbiased.
The 12,500-member group is one of several Islamic organisations campaigning for a separate state in the south of the largely Roman Catholic Philippines. Being devout members of the religion of peace means you have to have your own state, it says so in the Koran.
There have been frequent skirmishes between the two sides since the MILF was formed in 1978. The government has frequently accused the rebels of being behind numerous bomb attacks in the southern Philippines, as well as providing sanctuary for foreign "terrorists" linked to Osama Bin Ladenâs al-Qaeda network. Attacks blamed on the rebels have killed at least 100 people this year. Whatâs the over/under till the next bombing?
Posted by: Steve ||
07/18/2003 8:56:24 AM ||
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Ms Arroyo also thanked Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad "for his sincere and abiding support" to the peace process in the Philippines, and for offering to host the talks.
She is on serious drugs. Malaysia has been aiding and abetting the Muslim guerrilla movement in the Philippines from day one. Just goes to show that Harvard grads are overrated - way overrated.
A Dubai radio station has broadcast a message attributed to the al-Qaeda terrorist network threatening to attack US interests throughout the world. "We are threatening US troops, and all those who support them, by intensifying our resistance operations and our jihad (holy war) and to strike at American interests in Afghanistan and elsewhere," said the statement, attributed to Kuwaiti-born Osama bin Laden spokesman Suleiman Abu Ghaith. And you werenât doing this before?
Although Afghanistanâs Taliban has been overthrown and the vice is tightening on several leaders of the al-Qaeda terrorist network, its top prize, Osama bin Laden, remains elusive. "Al-Qaeda is not dead as some people think. We are still here," continued the statement broadcast on Panorama-FM, linked to thee Arab satellite television network, Middle East Broadcasting Centre (MBC). Yeah, itâs all just a "temporary setback." Pay no attention to all of the dead bodies ...
Last June, the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television channel announced that Abu Ghaith was among a group of al-Qaeda members arrested in Iran. I think that it was this June, actually, but one might question just how much trouble Sullyâs in if he can make threats to Dubai radio. Though the article doesnât say whether or not this was a tape and anybody can send in an angry rant and write "Suleiman Abu Ghaith" on it.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/18/2003 11:22:44 AM ||
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Eleven men have returned home to Pakistan after spending nearly two years as prisoners of the US military at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. An official of the Pakistani interior ministry said they had been expecting 13 citizens to be repatriated. There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy. Mahoud and Ibrihim changed their minds when they compared life in Gitmo to life in the Northwest Frontier.
Brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema said that Pakistani security officials planned to interrogate vigorously with truncheons the men for a few days before allowing them to return to their homes. "Hi boys! You know who we are. So just assume the position and save us some time, okay?"
News of the release came as a US diplomat said that a Swedish citizen held in Guantanamo was not among 37 other detainees to be released shortly. Sweden has criticised the US for labelling 23-year-old Mehdi-Muhammed Ghezali an enemy combatant rather than a prisoner of war. Sweden has argued that his detention is illegal, and it wants the US to present evidence against him or release him. Pierre Richard Prosper, the US ambassador-at-large for war crimes, said he could not reveal the identities of the prisoners to be released. "What I can say is that the Swedish detainee is not among them," he added. During a visit to Sweden in March Mr Prosper said that Mr Ghezali, arrested in Pakistan in 2001, would not be released because he was not cooperating with the authorities. He did not reveal what Mr Ghezali is accused of. But after a Swedish delegation visited the Guantanamo Bay prison in early July — the third since Mr Ghezali was taken there in 2002 — Mr Prosper said that Mr Ghezali "seems to be more open-minded about what he needs to do and what the situation is in Guantanamo." "Think about it, Mehdi. You can sit here and swat flies or go back to frozen kaffir land Sweden and hit on big-boobed blondes!"
"Hokay, Iâll talk, Iâll talk!"
The freed Pakistanis were among thousands of foreigners who most certainly allegedly fought for the Taliban against coalition forces in Afghanistan.
Most of whom were Paks...
They were rounded up after the Taliban were overthrown in late 2001. American officials later transferred them to the high-security prison in an effort to glean information about their suspected links with the Taliban and al-Qaida. Pakistan has been holding talks with Washington on the release of its nationals from Guantanamo Bay for several months, and the US has already freed four other Pakistani prisoners. Mohammed Sanghir, who was released last November after 10 months, is demanding $10.4m (£6.5m) in compensation for alleged mental torture. He says he was caged in a small cell and kept in solitary confinement for days at a time. Far better than he would have treated any western soldier that he would have taken prisoner.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/18/2003 1:07:12 AM ||
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Any word on how much weight they gained while they were in that "hellhole"?
"An' we'da dunnit, too, if the Togo Research and Investigations Brigade hadn't interfered!"
But an obviously remorseful Agano and Ekue later expressed regret for their misadventure and criminal intentions, and duly presented their apologies on national television to the people of Togo.
"I'm so sorry! Please don't hit me there again!"
The two suspects alleged that the manufacture of the explosives was financed through members contributions of the UFC party, including donations from outside the country. The UFC party has since disassociated itself from the allegations.
Federal agents said Friday they are investigating the theft of 1,100 pounds of an explosive chemical from construction companies in Colorado and California in the past week. I heard about Colorado, but California is new.
Both thefts involve ammonium nitrate, a key ingredient in the bomb that destroyed the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995.
In the first heist, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives issued a nationwide alert Monday after eight 50-pound bags of an ammonium nitrate-based explosive vanished from the Pike View Quarry near Colorado Springs.
Then 700 pounds of an ammonium nitrate product were stolen this week from a similar business in San Diego County, Calif., ATF agent Rich Marianos said Friday. "Weâre trying to check to see if itâs similar or if we can rule out if itâs involved in our theft," Marianos said. Please do.
The California theft from Tom C. Dyke Drilling and Blasting in Alpine, about 30 miles east of San Diego, happened Sunday or Monday, San Diego County sheriffâs officials said. Thieves forced their way into a locked trailer and took 14 50-pound bags. Authorities have not named any suspects in the thefts. A half-dozen homes and businesses in the Colorado Springs area have been searched. "There really hasnât been much concrete information to go on in this case," Colorado Springs police Lt. Skip Arms said. "Thereâs equally the possibility it was somebody who had a legitimate blasting job and didnât want to pay for the chemicals to someone with bad intentions." My money is on #2, Skip.
Authorities had said the material stolen in Colorado was already mixed with fuel oil and had a strong diesel fuel odor. They were not immediately able to say whether the ammonium nitrate that vanished in California was also part of a mixture.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/18/2003 3:20:55 PM ||
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A top Iranian cleric said Friday it would be impossible for the United States to topple the nearly 25-year-old Islamic republic, accusing Washington of fomenting unrest but saying it had only served to strengthen the regime. "The July demonstration was a scandal for the Americans," Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said in a Friday prayers sermon. "Thinking this regime will be toppled with one move is stupid and short-sighted," said Jannati, an Islamic conservative and secretary general of the powerful Guardians Council, a legislative vetting body. "This regime is stable. If the regime could be overthrown, it would have been toppled during the first days of the revolution," he added. "Whatever plots and conspiracies you have come up with, the power of the regime has increased."
Oooh! Deep-laid plots! Insidious conspiracies! I like it!
His comments were greeted by the habitual chants of "Death to America!", "Death to Israel!" and also "Death to England!.
"Death to [fill in name here]!"
The cleric alleged the demonstrators who took to the streets in July and for 10 days in June for protests marked by virulent anti-regime slogans and violent clashes had been paid to do so by the United States.
I confess! It was me! I paid 'em, each and every one!
"Do you believe that you can topple the regime with a bunch of dollars? If you do believe that, then you are stupid," he argued, describing opponents of the Islamic regime set up in 1979 as "politically bankrupt".
"And in jail..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/18/2003 14:48 ||
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Sounds like some Iranian is taking after Bagdhad Bob.... Tehran Tommy, perhaps?
Iranian authorities are keeping a close eye on the Internet amid growing online access and the popularity of weblogs.
Government officials say they are only cracking down on pornography, but some weblogs have been blocked by Internet service providers who work closely with the government, a source told CNN. The number of people in Iran with Internet access ranges from less than 1 million to as many as 5 million out of a population of nearly 70 million, according to various reports. But the proportion is growing, and with it has come a rise in the number of Iranian bloggers.
One weblog under the name Hossein Derakhshan received 6,000 hits a day before the government blocked it, the Canadian-based author said in an e-mail to CNN. The site contains musings with titles like "Five Things to Help Non-Iranians Know More About Iran," political observations and links to news stories.
"In absence of free papers, (weblogs) are performing an important role for spreading internal news that is very risky to publish in Iran," said Derakhshan. He added that weblogs help young people in Iran socialize, date and keep in touch with exiled friends, help emerging writers publish their work, produce Persian content on search engines, introduce surfers to new technology -- and allow access to pornography.
Access was blocked to all blogs hosted on PersianBlog and Blogspot for 24 hours last week, a result of a technical glitch, a source from Parsonline, one of the 12 major certified ISPs in Tehran, told CNN. But the Internet in Iran remains largely unregulated, and blocking is "not that invasive," said the source, who wished to remain anonymous. He said the government censored pornographic sites and sites it deemed anti-Islamic or anti-regime. "I donât think itâs very bad. If they filter porno sites I donât think itâs going to kill anyone."
The source said that Parsonline and other ISPs worked closely with the government, which did not provide clear content guidelines, adding: "All the access lines and infrastructure belongs to the government." When an official orders an ISP to block access to a site, the ISP does not tell the site author.
Mohamed Saeed Al Nuâmani, a spokesman for Iranâs culture ministry, told CNN that while porn sites were blocked, he was not aware that other sites expressing religious or political opinions, including "sites that are against the general Iranian policy," had been hit. He added: "If any political sites were blocked, then the reason would be that what they are offering is harming the national security or the unity of the country. But still things are not that tough."
Meanwhile, bloggers continue to promote freedom of speech in cyberspace. Referring to the deaths of Iranian conjoined twins Ladan and Laleh Bijani, Ladysun, an English teacher in Tehran, wrote on July 9: "I see a big irony comparing the sad death of these most-ever-loved-in-Iran twins with the current events of Iran. "Some people are ready to die for having their individuality back; some people are ready to kill, to take some othersâ individuality away."
Posted by: Steve ||
07/18/2003 2:12:58 PM ||
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"Government officials say they are only cracking down on pornography," but really they are cracking down on IQs above 80!
EFL
A bomb that killed a pregnant woman and two other people in southern Russia was made of an artillery shell stuffed with metal and exploded with the equivalent of 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of TNT, an official said Friday. Zaur Isayev, a deputy chief prosecutor in the southern Dagestan region, said at a news conference that the explosive device in Thursdayâs attack was a 75 mm shell stuffed with nails, nuts and other pieces of metal. He said there was "no doubt that the terrorist act was prepared by professionals." Theyâve had lots of practice.
Isayev said authorities had learned recently that Chechen rebels planned attacks aimed at law enforcement officers in the region but did not have enough details to prevent Thursdayâs bombing. The bomb, hidden in a motor scooter fitted with a cargo container, blew up near a police building and Federal Security Service offices in the town of Khasavyurt on Thursday morning, killing the woman, her small child and a police officer who was in his office near the site. Komaludin Komaludinov, deputy chief doctor of Khasavyurtâs central hospital, said Thursday that 38 people were injured, including two who were in grave condition in intensive care.
The explosion in Dagestan, which is plagued by violence both related and unrelated to neighboring Chechnya, came on the heels of a series of bombings in Moscow and Chechnya this spring and summer that authorities have blamed on Chechens, in several cases female suicide attackers.
In Kaliningrad, a shrapnel-packed bomb exploded in a trash can late Thursday, breaking nearby windows but causing no injuries, ITAR-Tass reported. A potentially powerful explosive device, also filled with metal scraps, was found in a ventilation shaft at the entrance to the main market in the Volga River city of Ulyanovsk on Thursday evening, ITAR-Tass said. Conflict seems to be spreading.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/18/2003 1:32:31 PM ||
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Conflict seems to be spreading.
Well, Grozny is technically a big crater now, as opposed to resembling the lunar 'scape not so long ago. It's been thrown way back past the 7th century, so the Jihadis were successful in that respect. So now it only makes sense to carry over this success to neighbouring territories.
Posted by: Rafael ||
07/18/2003 15:37 Comments ||
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Israel is to deport eight foreign peace activists deemed "a security threat" after they peacefully protested against the construction of a huge security fence around the West Bank, the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) said Thursday. The announcement came a day after the expulsion of a Northern Irish journalist and peace activist, who was initially accused by Israel of being an IRA bombmaker.
"Pack your shit and get out, Paddy..."
The eight activists, who were all campaigning with the ISM when they were arrested in the northern West Bank last week, were likely to be flown back to their home countries within the next 24 hours, ISM spokeswoman Huwaida Arraf said. Two are Swedes, two Britons and the other four from Canada, Denmark, France and the United States. The move came after a Tel Aviv court on Thursday rejected an appeal filed by the activists' lawyer. "The judge upheld the deportation order and decided he saw no reason to overturn the interior ministry's decision," Arraf said.
"Just get the hell out. We're busy here."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/18/2003 11:15 ||
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I guess Rachel 'Dozer Corrie paved the way, so to speak.......
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/18/2003 12:04 Comments ||
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Stick the dumb bastards in a leaky rowboat at Haifa and point west...
U.N. inspectors have found enriched uranium in environmental samples taken in Iran, which could mean Tehran has been purifying uranium without informing the U.N. nuclear watchdog, diplomats said. Curioser and curioser...
However, the diplomats said the mere presence of enriched uranium in the samples was not solid proof Iran had done the enrichment itself. Contamination was another possibility, though how it had arisen would have to be explained to the IAEA Yeah, The dog contaminated my homework, honest !
Posted by: Domingo ||
07/18/2003 10:16:40 AM ||
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News Update (not really) >> All of the UN Inspectors who filed the report have suddenly died. Initial reports indicate that all of their skulls were bashed in and the bodies were stabbed numerous times.
When questioned, Iranian doctors stated that they were reasonably sure that the deaths were caused when the inspectors leaned too far back in their chairs while playing poker in their rooms. The blood stains and the stabs wounds are still under investigation. Mosquitos have been sited as a possible cause.
In other unrelated news, the Canadian Embassy was bombarded with calls from an Iranian hospital stating that Canada may have lost some more citizens to "natural causes". Stay tuned for details....
Posted by: Paul ||
07/18/2003 12:12 Comments ||
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Not proof that Iran had done the enriching itself? Do we care who is enriching the stuff? Doesn't matter if they bought it, stole it, or made it themselves. They've got it and that's a problem.
I wonder if the Isreali airforce will go over Iraqi, Saudi or Turkish airspace on their journey.
#4
This just in: The head of the U.N.'s energy agency has denied reports that inspectors found enriched uranium in samples taken recently in Iran, calling it "pure speculation at this stage." Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told The Associated Press, "there's a lot of analysis we need to discuss ... with Iran." "We are not in any way ready to come up with a conclusion on that issue before we discuss all the results with the Iranian authorities."
Meaning that his inspectors found something and now he's scurrying to cover it up.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/18/2003 14:41 Comments ||
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Edited for brevity.
For some young American soldiers in Iraq, Frankie Mayo of Bear is one cool supporter. She has been sending them air conditioners. Fourteen as of Wednesday. Fourteen more go out today. And sheâs taking donations to send about 200 more. The first batch arrived Wednesday afternoon in Iraq at the undisclosed location of her son, Cpl. Christopher Tomlinson, 21, and other members of the U.S. Armyâs 300th Military Police Company. Soldiers hugged the boxes. Some started opening them.
Like many other mothers whose children are on active duty, Mayo had wanted to do something for her son. The one gift she sent him has grown into "Operation Air Conditioner." She has gotten donations online from as far away as Wisconsin, from a Korean War vet.
In an e-mail earlier this summer, Tomlinson told his mother not to worry and that he was doing fine, except for the 145-degree heat in his tent. He joked that he would be doing even better if he had an air conditioner. She sent him one. Mayoâs mother, Barbara Nichols, enjoyed her grandsonâs response: "He said, âGoody! Send some more!â" Some friends and I took up a collection amongst ourselves earlier this week to send some CamelBaks to our friends deployed in the ME and were feeling pretty good about ourselves, but it was nothing on this scale! Run on over and donate if you can.
Posted by: Dar ||
07/18/2003 10:04:54 AM ||
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Thx for the link - Frankie's definitely cool! Check's in the eMail...
The paper does not have a website, so this was copied from the dead tree edition...
By Max Gardner The Baxley News-Banner July 16, 2003
Large helicopters popped from the sky Saturday, July 12 at Plant Hatch, located on U. S. 1 North at the Altamaha River. Hatch is Georgiaâs first nuclear power plant, and has two units. Also some Army trucks containing National Guard soldiers arrived. This was part of an inter-agency exercise held at the plant to evaluate procedures and interagency plans in case of an emergency at the plant, such as a terrorist attack. The mission involved QRF, Quick Response Forces, testing all the coordination involved. The occasion was a simulated threat, and they worked with about 20 agencies throughout the state. It was not a Georgia Power drill; everyone was working with the National Guard. Southern [Company] has more than 100 units and a web network integrates all, and this is true throughout the Southeast with other companies. If a plant should be lost, the other units could make up any power loss. "web" is a misnomer: Friends who work at the plant who live in Vidalia tell me this is referring to the POWER network, not the Companyâs Information network.
Lt. Col. Jim Driscoll, spokesman for the National Guard, arrived in the first helicopter, along with some state officials. He stated the program had lasted six days, deploying National Guard troops on the ground here, Savannah port and Votgel, another nuclear power plant in Waynesboro. The same friends cringed at the typo: Itâs plant Votgle, not Votgel
"The National Guard plays a role in responding to emergencies in the U. S.," Col. Driscolll said. "If the government calls us, we would like to respond in rapid manner. There are many plans in Georgia, and the purpose is to test those plans. It also gives us an opportunity to work with other agencies." Some filler: Before I-95, the normal route from the Northeast to Florida was U. S. 1. If you want to go from Vidalia to Sea Island (the future site of next yearâs G-8 meeting referred to yesterday), you drive right past this nuclear plant. The same friends told me this is just a security refresher: The two Georgia Nuclear plants were the first to implement the toughened NRC Security regulations to prepare for the Atlanta Olympic Games. As paramilitaries go, the security staffs at Nuclear Plants are near the top, paying enough to hire the cream of the local law enforcement personnel. Anyone "visiting" the plant under cover of the Crazies visiting the G-8 site next year for nefarious purposes will receive a very nasty surprise, I am assured.
Posted by: Ptah ||
07/18/2003 9:50:36 AM ||
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Hardened young fighters loyal to Liberian President Charles Taylor reinforced roadblocks around Monrovia on Friday as rebels advanced on the capital, raising fears of another bloody battle on its streets. Renewed fighting broke out on Thursday as West African countries struggled to deploy an initial peacekeeping force of up to 1,500 troops in a first step toward ending 14 years of almost non-stop war that has spread beyond Liberiaâs borders. The United States has said it might be willing to make a commitment once that force is in place, but no date has yet been set and the work of a regional team briefed with marking out the vague and disputed front line has been delayed by weeks. At the Iron Gate checkpoint just beyond Monrovia, young fighters wearing red t-shirts and headscarves proffered their guns aggressively. There were four times as many soldiers on duty as on previous days.
"Our forces are at the Po River Bridge. The dissidents are at Combat Camp," Defense Minister Daniel Chea said on Friday. The two locations are about 10 kms (6 miles) apart. Rebel group Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) punched on Thursday toward the key command center of Combat Camp, 22 km from the city limits, shattering an already brittle truce. "Weâre back!"
Terrified civilians took to the roads, racing to stay ahead of the rain of deadly mortar bombs that typically marks a rebel advance. Last month, LURD twice drove into Monrovia in fighting that killed at least 700 civilians. Third times the charm, I hope.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/18/2003 9:33:48 AM ||
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In other news, Chuck Taylor is still resigning...
#3
MONROVIA - Liberian rebels captured the key Po River bridge in heavy fighting Friday, breaking down one of the last main lines of defense before the capital Monrovia, a top government commander said. The bridge is just eight miles from the outskirts of the frightened city, where hundreds of people were killed last month in two failed assaults by the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), who are seeking to unseat President Charles Taylor.
"The rebels are there. They came very heavily armed," chief of army staff Benjamin Yeaten told Reuters by phone just after leaving the battlefront. "It looks like they are trying to attack Monrovia."
"Now please excuse me, I have to pack."
Posted by: Steve ||
07/18/2003 15:58 Comments ||
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Check out the photo at the link. This might be one for Fred's collection, right next to the ArchDruid. Tip o' the hat to Tacitus.
A male government soldier stands guard at the Irongate checkpoint as the U.S. military assessment team are refused passage to enter a refugee camp, in Liberian capital Monrovia Tuesday, July 8, 2003. Many government soldiers wear wigs and female clothes believing it will protect them in battle.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Armed Struggle, where men are... ummm... men... kinda. Sorta. Sometimes. I guess.
Those are some stunning pumps, lad. And I just love that Michael Jackson-style glove...
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/18/2003 1:48:40 AM ||
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Many government soldiers wear wigs and female clothes believing it will protect them in battle.
Is this a talismanic, good luck charm sort of protect, or a "they won't shoot the women" sort of protect? Because if it's the latter, it won't last once the Bad Guys figure it out, and neither will many genuine, un-armed women.
I saw that shirt at a science fiction convention in the seventies, dude. Shoulda bought it then. Dece.
It's not funny to consider that he's playing for -real-, i.e. threatening U.S. troops with a gun.
This is why the Eurofascists want us to "get involved" in Liberia, so that they can portray us as killers of "innocent babies" like this lad when the inevitable firefights erupt. Of course, if he were Kurdish or Jewish, it would be a different story. Shooting children for the arch-crime of being in bed listening to their mother telling stories is the acme of morality for those degraded punks.
Posted by: Ernest Brown ||
07/18/2003 11:24 Comments ||
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The banana clip on the AK nicely rounds out the outfit. Liberia is indeed a "quagmire." At least Iraq has an easy resource to sustain the country. I may be mistaken, but Liberia has natural resources but now has only ship's "flags of convenience" fees and timber for its economic base. Most foreign capital has flown the country.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/18/2003 11:42 Comments ||
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...and you thought Michael Jackson had issues.
Posted by: Paul ||
07/18/2003 11:55 Comments ||
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Alaska Paul,
What we're seeing is intramural infighting in -West Africa- which doesn't respect the phoney "national borders" that are mere artifacts of the Western Colonial legacy. Unless we go into -the whole area- with a level of committment equal or greater than that of Iraq or Afganistan, the effort would simply kill people to no good end.
Posted by: Ernest Brown ||
07/18/2003 11:58 Comments ||
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"Of course, if he were Kurdish or Jewish, it would be a different story."
...or a West African in the French sphere of influence, should the French send in the FFL to do the dirty work of upholding their neo-colonial legacy. Cf. the works of Ousmane Sembene.
Posted by: Ernest Brown ||
07/18/2003 12:03 Comments ||
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"Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if ye gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."
- F.W. Nietzsche
Man, I do NOT want our troops fighting a bunch of homicidal transvestite children.... over nothing!
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
07/18/2003 14:23 Comments ||
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The kids are fighting on all the sides. All of the militia leaders have'em. They all think that these get-ups will protect them from real live bullets. It's rather bizarre that MSNBC, which ran a story on the whole crossdressing militia kiddies in Liberia thing analogized cross dressing to the various types of camoflage that are worn by US forces.
Last time I checked, high heels and bustiers didn't make it more difficult to see. Camoflage has the opposite effect.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades demanded that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat dismantle the new PA government and put an end to security coordination between the PA and Israel, Israel Radio reported Thursday. The Al-Aqsa Brigades, an murderous offshoot of Arafatâs Fatah, published the demand in the Al-sharq Al Awsat newspaper. The militant group specifically targeted Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Minister for Security Affairs Mohammed Dahlan, demanding that Abbasâ government be dismantled and that security ties between Dahlan and Israel be cut. If I were Dahlan, Iâd be a bit worried about being specifically targeted.
In completely unrelated news:
Police and the Israel Defense Forces arrested three Palestinians near Hebron on Thursday for throwing stones and firebombs, Itim reported. Overnight, the IDF arrested seven Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp, Nablus, Ramallah and Hebron, Israel Radio reported Thursday morning. Palestinians fired at IDF forces near the Neve Dekalim settlement in the Gaza Strip overnight. There were no injuries. Why lookee just how well the peace process is working!
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/18/2003 1:41:27 AM ||
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It has been speculated elsewhere that this is what Sharon is waiting for. That the roadmap was not another no win situation for Israel. If the Al Aqsa brigade succeeds in destroying the Abbas government, it proves to the world that the Palestinians are not ready for a state of their own. If Abbas succeeds, he proves himself to be a partner in peace that Israel can work with. Either way, Israel wins. The only way the Paleos win is if Al-Aqsa fails.
Posted by: Be ||
07/18/2003 4:17 Comments ||
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The absolute best thing that could happen is for Bush to come to the obvious conclusion that the concept of a Palestine is a feverish wet dream by Arafat commies; and that the Palestinians will most likely never be ready for sovreignity under Arafat
#3
I agree Badanov, but this has been blindingly obvious for years and Team Bush continues to stumble down the roadmap.
Posted by: Douglas De Bono ||
07/18/2003 8:34 Comments ||
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It's the briar patch. They were bitching and moaning and demanding their road map for a year, and Bush made sure it was put together by the Quartet, not by a GS-5 in the bowels of the State Department. Now they've got it and they don't want it -- but if Yasser cuts Abbas, he's further isolated himself. Bush (and probably Sharon) will extend the isolation to cover all of the Paleo apparatus. The only options left will be to recognize a pretender "government", and they'll be able to hand-pick who goes into it, or to dump the Paleos in their entirety -- give Gaza to Egypt and most of the West Bank to Jordan, not their either country will take either hellhole.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/18/2003 10:04 Comments ||
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This is GREAT news, IMHO. Al-Aqsa is inhabited by radical Islamists embued with a two-year old toddler's sense of entitlement to anything and everything that they demand. That sense leads them to voice those demands and thus unerringly reveal their inner agendas. They are mentally incapable of engaging brain before putting mouth in gear.
Has the cooperation of the P.A. security forces been complete, total, and enthusiastic? Hell no. Have they been doing SOMETHING? Yes, though they can do a damned lot more. What little they're going, however, is making Al-Aqsa squeal like the little piggy that ran aaaalllll the way home.
I'm between Be and Douglas: The current roadmap is not anywhere near the best, but its having some salutary effect if it has set in motion circumstances that has set Al-Aqsa a-howling.
And I never rule out a multi-layered ploy on the part of Dubya: Do NOT play poker with the man. You have been warned.
#6
Doug - It has been obvious to Rantburgers and others paying attention but it has not been obvious to Europe, the left, Russia, etc. Like the UN's uselessness, Bush has had to follow a path that makes it clear to these other people what's going on so he can act accordingly.
#8
Well said Ptah, but I need to make one correction to your statement.
As the proud father of a two year-old toddler, I can testify to the fact that although she hasn't quite worked out the concept of ownership and entitlement yet, she's far more advanced than these yutzes. And, when she does need convincing that the toy she's playing with belongs to the kid whose house we're visiting, she'll comply with reason. This may result in a little temporary pouting, but she doesn't start lobbing grenades at the host's grandparents. Minutes later, the kids are playing again, like it never happened.
That sounds good, but we both know she's got the game down cold: if she plays along with you, then you'll be proud of her - and she's scored some major points with the Giant who has money and drives. She'll cash 'em in at the most opportune time...
#10
Dripping Sarcasm---Don't teach your toddler about hand grenades until she is older. I did not teach my son about grenades until he was more mature, about 6 years old. Just kidding, heh heh. I wish that the paleos taught their kids good things at an early age so they could look at their options a little more rationally.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/18/2003 14:50 Comments ||
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I've HAD two toddlers, so I know whereof I speak.
A judge Thursday denied bail to a man accused of spying on Iraqi opposition groups for Saddam Hussein, saying he had ``hitched his star to the murderer and torturer of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.ââ Tap, tap. Interesting, my sympathy meter is reading â0â. To about 11 decimal places. Khaled Abdel-Latif Dumeisi, 61, held his head in his hands as federal Magistrate Judge Edward A. Bobrick accused him of spying for ``the maniacal, perverted, homicidal mass murderer and torturer of women and children.ââ "And Iâm just getting warmed up, mister!"
The community newspaper publisher is accused of spying on Iraqi opposition leaders in this country on behalf of Saddamâs intelligence service while failing to register as an agent of a foreign government. Dumeisi also is charged with lying to an immigration official and a federal grand jury. In denying bail, Bobrick found that Dumeisi was not only a flight risk but if released could still present a danger to Iraqi opposition figures and witnesses in the case. Bobrickâs strong words drew a protest from defense attorney James Fennerty. ``Those are allegations, judge,ââ Fennerty said. ``Those are the allegations and there is probable cause to believe that,ââ Bobrick shot back. Rantburgers, if youâre ever in my home town donât cross this judge!
Fennerty said afterward he will again ask for bail when the case is brought before U.S. District Judge Suzanne B. Conlon, who will preside over the case if it goes to trial. Dumeisi, who was arrested July 9, is not charged with espionage. He is charged with violating a U.S. law that requires agents of foreign governments to register. Just like Al Capone got nailed for tax evasion.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/18/2003 12:54:32 AM ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
