Chuck (Simmons, not Taylor) has the latest mud being flung against Arnold (Schwarzeneggar, not Stang) on Indymedia. This is probably what The Gray Davis' talking points are going to be for the duration.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/07/2003 15:46 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Sins of the father, Fred? :-)
Fox sez that Issa has now dropped out, too.
Posted by: Dar ||
08/07/2003 15:49 Comments ||
Top||
#2
This is SOP for the Davis camp. He can't run on his record (yikes!). Just to report from behind enemy lines, Arnold is WAY ahead of all candidates. I found out today that even if Davis resigns the recall election will take place, only it's a vote to recall Bustamante (Lt Gov). The smear campaign is the only card Davis is holding and most people can't stand him anymore. My prediction: Recall vote 75% in favor and Arnold becomes Gov by 55%. Note: Bustamante filed papers this morning to run and Arnold still tops him.
#4
"As you know I'm an immigrant. I came over here as an immigrant, and what gave me the opportunities, what made me to be here today is the open arms of Americans. I have been received, I have been adopted by America.
I've seen firsthand coming here with empty pockets but full of dreams, full of desire, full of will to succeed, but with the opportunities that I had.
I could make it. This is why we have to get back and bring California back to where it once was."
#5
Did I hear Arnold say last night on Leno that he's gonna pump California up?
Uh oh! Looks like Arnie's gonna be pullin' for the Queer vote after all!
McClintock was/is the best choice, but Republican strategy might be best to pull out any vote-splitters and line up behind Arnold.
He is no conservative, but a damned sight better than whatever crystal-worshipping dolphin-hugger the Dems put up, after they throw Davis under the bus. Or the Bustamente clone, choice of the limolib-union-whacko triad that brought us the current debacle in the first place.
Qualifications?
Has earned a living.
Runs businesses.
Is a legal immigrant (itself a novelty in CA).
Could opt for financial responsibility at almost any cost... it's a short term, and he doesn't need the job.
No real party baggage... although a nominal Republican, not a political insider and cooperating Dems have "plausible deniability".
Ya gotta laugh at the folks who cite the lack of political experience... Davis is a professional pol, and so are the rest of the bankrupting SOBs. Please, gimme less experience.
CA needs an Administrator who gives a shit.
GWB never invaded anyplace before, but he administered Gulf II just fine... you round up the experts, let 'em shoot it out in a conference room, and make a decision. If your values and priorities are in the right place, that's a done deal, next subject.
Arnold's not a true conservative, but I think he is where it counts, and holding out for a "real" conservative is where state Repubs keep self-destructing. Hell, in CA, anyone who is against recognizing marriage with aquatic mammals is a conservative (I think he's against that).
Yeah. Arnold. I like it.
Posted by: Mark IV ||
08/07/2003 22:34 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Let's see... Ahnold, Larry Flynt, Zsa Zsa Huffington, Gary Coleman, Peter Uberroth. A real cast of thousands. Is the guy that played Peppino on "The Real McCoys" still alive and, if so, is he running?
#8
No, but I was thinking about it. You need 65 signatures and $3500, or more sigs and less $$$. Basically, any homeowner in California can come up with that.
Uberroth... the guy that presides over millionaires going on strike. Gotta admit, he's qualified. Flynt already got Aris' vote. Arianna Moonbat has the Art Bell constituency sewn up (can't believe ol' Art hasn't thrown his hat in yet... SF is Area 52).
As ye sow, so also shall ye reap. This election defines California. Would write more, but almost the Rantburg witching hour and fishies on the grill... mmm, dolphin.
Posted by: Mark IV ||
08/07/2003 23:22 Comments ||
Top||
not WOT, but what the heck...
European regulators are once again targeting Microsoft, saying the software company is trying to control the market for low-end servers and media players. The European Commission, the anti-trust arm of the European Union, said Wednesday that surveys of over 150 companies using Microsoft products indicated that "abuses are still ongoing." So, what does that mean?? Bribe wasnât large enough?
The EU alleged that Microsoft is using the dominant position of Windows in the personal computer market to move into the market for low-end servers. European regulators also said the software giant is pushing out rival media players by installing its own products into Windows. The EU can slap a fine of up to 10 per cent of worldwide sales against anti-trust violators. A Microsoft spokesperson called the EU action "unfortunate". The EU has already suffered three court defeats in previous anti-trust cases against Microsoft. And here comes #4...
Posted by: Raphael ||
08/07/2003 8:53:55 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
EU regulators level anti-trust allegations against Microsoft
This is the EU's way of hamstringing American companies that European firms can't compete with. Maybe we need to start going after Airbus and European firms without plants here.
#2
"a fine of up to 10 per cent of worldwide sales"
That's interesting: not EU sales, but worldwide sales. So the companies with territories larger than the EU can pay higher fines than companies solely in the EU. Anybody think that would be fair?
"abuses are still ongoing."
Got a problem? Get a different operating system. Buy an EU computer with an EU operating system. Sheeesh! Long on diplomats, politicians, and lawyers; short on productivity.
Posted by: Tom ||
08/07/2003 10:30 Comments ||
Top||
#3
"not WOT, but what the heck..."
Just wait till the Apple jihadies show up...
Posted by: Steve ||
08/07/2003 10:31 Comments ||
Top||
#4
So, what if MS said "fine, we won't sell any software in Europe", and stuck to it?
Wouldn't they be squeezin' out little blue bricks then, eh?
"No updates for you!" screams the software nazi...
#5
Wow - cool, mojo! Can you imagine the incredible expense and grief and time and retraining and a hundred other issues - if MS just said "fine, fuckoff" and pulled up stakes in every EU country? Tom's point about the amount demonstrates the EU's limitless arrogance, too. This certainly has the look and feel of an opportunistic copycat legal rape of a cash-rich US company. Can you say "tobacco" or "guns" or "McDonalds" - ad infinitum ad nauseum.
One thing is clearer than clear - the world has become a wannabee gutless-turd loser's paradise - and it doesn't pay to become too successful. Unless you're a lawyer, of course.
#6
I'm the resident Apple jihadi here (you'll pry my one-button mouse out of my cold, dead fingers!), but even I have some sympathy for Microsoft on this one.
How 'bout having the EU document the alleged abuses in a courtroom? Whatever one thought of the DOJ going after Microsoft, in the end one had a legal findings and a judgment. What the Euro Commission is trying to do is nothing more than squeeze MS -- "agree with us or we'll fine you!" Nuts to that. PD (I can't bring myself to call him *com) is right, this is the tobacco war all over again.
I can only imagine "EU-OS" (pronounced "eeuuuu-os": could it possibly work as well as the EU itself does? Can anyone imagine the install procedure and the software?
"To continue installation, please provide the following three pages of information, a blood and semen sample, and 70% of next year's income (abort/retry/die)".
The possibilities are endless!
And don't suggest Linux. Linux by definition is "open", which the EU will never be.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/07/2003 12:34 Comments ||
Top||
#7
"Long on diplomats, politicians, and lawyers; short on productivity."
That's Europe's entire problem - there are so many bureaucracies, so many laws, that innovation and entrepreneurship is totally stifled, and progress in ANY field is virtualy non-existent. There's also a level of common sense in Europe that approaches triple negative numbers.
Another idea that the European Union is going to have to drop damned soon is that they are the WORLD Arbitrators, and can do anything, anywhere, against anyone, for anything at all. Either that, or there needs to be a VERY BIG BOOM in Brussels. Talk about inflated egos!!!!!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/07/2003 13:17 Comments ||
Top||
#8
And don't suggest Linux.
Heard in various systems departments: "Linux is cheaper only if your time is free".
Dozens of suspected Taliban fighters attacked a government office in southern Afghanistan early Thursday, killing six Afghan soldiers and an Afghan driver for an American aid organization, a provincial intelligence chief said. The attack - one of the most brazen and well-organized recent assaults in the region - was possibly part of a trend involving militants targeting Afghans working for foreign agencies. The violence occurred about 4 a.m. in Deshu district, about 110 miles south of Lashkargah, the capital of Helmand province. At least six Afghans working for the American aid organization Mercy Corps were conducting an agricultural survey in the region and were staying in the building at the time, said the intelligence chief, Dad Mohammed Khan. Khan said about 40 suspected Taliban fighters drove up in four vehicles, entered the government offices and opened fire. The use of the vehicles was unusual and bold. The militants usually travel on foot, making them less conspicuous. Sounds like nobody was standing guard. Clever tactic, somebody has been watching the office and noticed lack security.
The driver had been sleeping in the same room with the soldiers. None of the other Afghan Mercy Corps employees were injured, Khan said. He gave no other details, but said his men were pursuing the attackers.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/07/2003 9:55:25 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
Taliban militants are threatening and paying local Afghans to carry out attacks against US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan, a US military spokesman said on Wednesday as troops came under renewed rocket attack. âAfghan civilians have told coalition forces that they have been âapproachedâ by Taliban to launch rockets at coalition targets in exchange for money,â Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Lefforge told reporters at the Bagram Airbase. Some 20 months after the fall of the Taliban, remnants of the militia still launch regular attacks on US-led troops, mostly using 107-mm rockets which are inaccurate and seldom hit their targets.
Sometimes falling in the wrong county...
Lt Col Lefforge attributed the inaccuracy to lack of experience by those firing the rockets and payments or threats by the Taliban to locals. âWe have interviewed people who either know somebody who has been paid or they have actually been paid (to fire rockets) and have promised they never do it again,â he said.
"Well, y'see, they gimme this money, so I just popped one off. I mean, it ain't like I was gonna hit anything, 'cept by accident. I only got the one eye, and my turban keeps falling down over it..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/07/2003 00:06 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Lt Col Lefforge attributed the inaccuracy to lack of experience by those firing the rockets and payments or threats by the Taliban to locals.
I suspect the inaccuracy has to do with the mentality of "You asked me to fire off a rocket; I did so; now pay me". Unless these contractors are insane, they're not going to risk drawing the ire of our guys by actually hitting them.
#9
NMM: Taliban are to Moslems what the snake handlers are to Christianity
It is gratifying to see that Muslims are smart enough to understand the benefit of temporary deals with infidels. The alternative would be much more carnage, mostly on the Muslim side. Looks like they don't really love death as we love life, huh?
#10
mostly using 107-mm rockets which are inaccurate and seldom hit their targets.
The VietCong used these useless toothpicks, too. I remember one attack against Tan Son Nhut AB when I was stationed there - the VC fired eleven rockets. Ten hit open areas, the eleventh took out the 13th green on the local golf course. It was two in the morning, so I doubt anyone was playing a round...
Anon1--another keyboard--gone--coffee and electricity don't mix LOL
I'm surprised there are any Rantburgers left who haven't gone to the plastic covers for keyboards. Keeps the problem of a failed coffee alert from reaching catastrophic proportions.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/07/2003 13:25 Comments ||
Top||
#11
âWe have interviewed people who either know somebody who has been paid or they have actually been paid (to fire rockets) and have promised they never do it again,â
Said promise being made after we inform them that our troops are not only paid to kill people who do that, but also they feel compelled to do so in the interest of the advancement of the species.
Washington has rejected a Kuwaiti request to permit the families of 12 Kuwaitis detained at Camp "X-ray" to visit their children at the camp, as Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah will begin next month an official visit to the United States during which he will seek the release of the detainees. "Sheikh Sabah will visit the US in September to negotiate with American officials the release of the 12 Kuwaitis held at the Guantanamo camp," Chairman of Parliament's Human Rights Committee MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei said after a meeting with Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah at the National Assembly Tuesday. He hoped Sheikh Sabah's visit will be a success. Committee member MP Abdullah Akash said US authorities have turned down a Kuwaiti request to permit a committee member or a representative from the families of the detainees to accompany a high-profile Kuwaiti security delegation which will visit the detainees at the camp in the next two weeks. He expressed astonishment over "this American inflexibility by rejecting this humanitarian request."
I kinda wonder how many times the families of the unfortunates so wrongly incarcerated visited them while they were in Afghanistan?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/07/2003 00:06 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
IRNA — Twelve CIA-agents are currently said to be on an "unclear mission" in Germany according to local intelligence circles, the "Bild" newspaper said Thursday in an unconfirmed report. The agents are said to belong to an "elite unit" such as the "Delta Force" which has been "lent" to the CIA for the current mission in Germany. "German security experts assume that the special agents might have received the order to track down the homes of possible islamic terrorists and their supporters in Germany," the paper reported.
Normally, we don't kick down doors in other people's countries. We let the locals do the kicking and supply on-the-spot feedback to the men with moustachios and truncheons...
The 12-man team is also said to be in posession of a "lisence to kill, although the CIA is officially not permitted to liquidate anyone anymore since the 1970s," it said.
I wonder if they also have a lisence to spel?
"The CIA-agents have sofar been sighted in the (western state of) Essen," the daily said, adding that they may have also been "moving" in Hessen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Hamburg.
You could pick them out easily. They were wearing CIA hats...
Unofficial reports also claim that a further three-man group of US secret service agents may soon join the German mission, also equipped with a "lisence to kill."
Gotta watch those CIA guys. The little buggers multiply like rabbits...
Posted by: DeviantSaint ||
08/07/2003 10:31:52 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#2
The source is supposedly some German rag. I doubt it's true, or if it's true, the mission has been compromised, if even notoriously obtuse reporters can spot them. What's more likely is FBI agents helping with German investigations. Feebees are the guys with the short hair and the shades.
Covert operatives try to blend in - in Afghanistan that meant beards and local costume. In Germany, that would mean German hairstyles and used clothing with German labels, probably from the German equivalent of the Salvation Army.
#8
"Unfortunately for the success of the mission, Jimmy blew their cover when he walked into a Biergarten and stupidly ordered 'a martini--shaken, not stirred.'"
Posted by: Mike ||
08/07/2003 12:37 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Is there really a state of "Essen"? I thought that meant "eat"...
#12
Is there really a state of "Essen"? I thought that meant "eat"...
Essen is a major German city in the Rhur basin, in the German state of North Rhine/Westphalia.
"BILD" is supposed to be a rather conservative magazine, but some of their writers are off the wall. I'm sure TGA can fill us in. The problem is, many of the places mentioned are also home to most of the GI's still stationed in Germany, so there is plenty of room for confusion, especially deliberate "confusion".
If the CIA is truly in Germany, you'd never know it. If Delta Force or Seals were in Germany, it would be about the stupidist thing the US government has done in years. Most likely, as Zhang mentioned, it's the FBI or some other overt group helping search for terrorist links in Germany, mis-interpreted by an over-zealous German reporter, probably with an agenda.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/07/2003 14:08 Comments ||
Top||
#13
And then filtered through IRNA...
Posted by: Fred ||
08/07/2003 14:27 Comments ||
Top||
#14
I just read the Bild article. Nothing more than a bunch of speculations with a lot of question marks. Bild is a mix of Sun and Mirror (6 million copies a day) without a clear political agenda (more conservative but pretty much goes with current "public opinion").
Of course the CIA operates in Germany. But a "license to kill"? Clearly unnecessary. The CIA will track the guys down and German authorities will bag them if necessary.
Delta Force? You need them in countries hostile to the U.S. In Germany they would do way more harm than good. While top level political relations between the U.S. and Germany may be strained, collaboration on lower levels works very well. And will continue to do so. No need for Rambos.
I think there's a mistaken assumption here that these guys will go in with maximum noise and visibility. I really doubt that. Even NYPD police operations against dangerous criminals are extremely low-key - typically when no one's watching. If covert operatives are carrying out hits in Germany, the targets will likely disappear, never to be found and without any headlines, since their targets are always moving around anyway. No body, no crime. And our guys are unlikely to try to be too clever by half, by staging something so it looks like an accident. Disappearances are almost impossible to pin on someone - just ask the families of mob victims who never turn up again.
#17
In that case you wouldn't send the Delta Force. Yes people sometimes just go missing without being missed too much.
I could see that action in France (French intelligence mostly takes a hostile or at least unfriendly stance against U.S. intelligence). I doubt that the CIA would risk its excellent relationship with the German services. Of course the BND or the Verfassungsschutz might just look the other way. But CIA action without any notice to German intelligence would spell trouble nobody wants.
You might have the key right there. Have a source like Bild run the article to draw attention to them while the real CIA agents with licenses to kill are cleverly disguised as well-known ayatollahs and running around Iran...
I shouldn't have said that.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/07/2003 15:56 Comments ||
Top||
#19
In that case you wouldn't send the Delta Force.
People have serious misconceptions about Delta Force, probably from misconceived Hollywood movies*. Anyone who's read anything about Delta Force knows that they rely on stealth rather than firepower. All commandos operate on the basis of stealth - the enemy has stockpiled weapons and unlimited reserves of manpower on site, whereas the commando has only a few team members and is equipped with only what he and his buddies can carry. Commandos are stealthy not by choice, but by necessity. Discovery before the onset of the operation almost always means failure. Given that they operate almost exclusively in foreign countries, they are especially leery of discovery.
* Not that the technical advisers would want to divulge anything really secret, since this would endanger their former colleagues. Plus the stealthy truth is less glamorous, just like real-life policing or espionage methods are much less entertaining than what you see in the movies - the running gunfights are related more to box-office requirements than reality. The best operation is one where you accomplish the mission without anyone knowing you were there until you've left the area.
I don't buy it either. I don't think politically that we're quite comfortable with the idea of assassination teams. I'm personally fine with it, but a lot of people aren't - and then there are the legal and political problems in the event of failure. If something goes sour, unlike in the movies, you can't really abandon someone who risked his life for his country. During all-out war, anything goes. In a quasi-wartime situation like this, I just can't see assassination teams being deployed.
#23
I think this is OBVIOUSLY a case of wishful thinking on the part of the editors of BILD.
I think that some rational minds will realize that the "Deutcheland Uber Alles" FRG is a much softer target for islamic nut jobs than the US....and the fatwahs and ranting of the clerics does not differtiate between German infidels or US infidels.
I think it is just a matter of time before we have something make a loud casualty causing noise in some major kraut city.....BOOM.......hey Gerhardt, you hear that???
#24
Well, it's the height of the tourist season and perhaps the German intelligence people have gone on vacation for the month and needed someone to fill in.
Posted by: Tokyo Taro ||
08/07/2003 20:20 Comments ||
Top||
#25
It only in Phewrance that they'd stop bathing
Posted by: Someone who did NOT vote for William Proxmire ||
08/07/2003 21:57 Comments ||
Top||
(Via Little Green Footballs)
A former Iraqi soldier who fought against the United States in the first Gulf War, and was captured and imprisoned for two years in Saudi Arabia is now an instructor at UC Berkeley, teaching Arabicâand the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. This story definitely qualifies as the Outrage of the Day, showing once again the Saudi corruption of the US academy. Text of Letter Follows:
Dean of Letters and Sciences
University of California at Berkeley
Campus
Dear Sir,
I am writing to call your attention to an incident that occurred August 6, 2003 during the Iraqi Arabic (Arabic15) class, in which I am currently enrolled. The instructer, Abbas Kadhim, announced before the entire class during a discussion on Zionism that he believes that the infamous text "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" is not an anti-Semitic forgery but was in fact written by Jews.
"The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" was a forged text supposedly written by Jews. In it, the Jews describe a plan of achieving world domination. All reputable historians consider the document to be a forgery perpetrated by the Tsarâs secret police.
I asked Mr. Kadhim if he was being serious about his claim. He assured me that he was one hundred percent certain in his belief that Jews were behind the "Protocols." By making such a statement, Mr. Kadhim spreads potentially dangerous anti-Semitic propaganda.
I say "propaganda" because for over a century the forgery was used to justify and encourage anti-Semitism to the point of killing Jews: The "Protocols" led to violent pogroms in Tsarist Russia, and Hitler incorporated much of the "Protocols" in his Mein Kampf to prepare the German public psychologically for the Final Solution.
I am disgusted that UC Berkeley is giving a forum to an ignorant, anti-Semitic, and prejudiced individual such as Mr. Khadhim to voice his views. I request that the University of California investigate the matter forthwith and dismiss Mr. Kadhim from its staff.
#1
UC Berkeley's a fine example of what happens when there aren't any consequences to any action, no matter how stoopid. Unless you regard widespread revulsion as a consequence.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/07/2003 14:58 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Amen, Fred. UCB finally quit sending me appeals for contributions to the U, as an alumunus, after I wrote a fire and brimstone scathing letter of what I thought the U had become. I guess they got the message because there are no more calls and no more mail. Pfui! A pox, a proletarian pox upon their body politic! Man, they get my BP up. Steve White, I need your help...........
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/07/2003 15:03 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Someone needs to start heckling the high-and-mighty idiots that inhabit academia. Hit them every day with the truth distilled from their lofty, far-left stupidity. Tell the entire world exactly what that putrid filth boils down to, in black and white - with links, documented evidence, and a strong dose of reality. I'd bet that enrollment in those "prestigious" universities would suffer a nasty drop, kinda like French tourism.
AP, just sit down quietly in a dark room, and consider 10 million Ronald Reagan clones... 8^)
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/07/2003 16:51 Comments ||
Top||
#4
I can't OP, I'm afraid of the dark..........its from my Berkeley daze, ya see, here's what happened............
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/07/2003 18:12 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Market forces would be nice if every kid in Californica wasn't brainwashed into trying to apply....I think if a "hell no, I won't go" program, aimed at the dumb$!!ts in liberal academia, you might see some more mainstream schools start to prosper. Problem is the east coast liberal academia are the ones who determine which schools are "the best" I personnaly think these "best schools" lists should be revised to "most liberal".
If you wonder where all of the brain fried Haight Asbury types from the 60's went, all you have to do is go to the nearest faculty lounge and you will find all of the old hippies sitting around.
MULTAN: A court in Bahawalnagar has sentenced to death a man for blaspheming against Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) and claiming to be a prophet.
Oh, dear. Can't have that. Best to kill him...
Bahawalnagar Additional Sessions Judge Javed Akhtar convicted and sentenced Bashir Ahmed on Wednesday. Ahmed claimed he was sent by God to reform society. âHe used derogatory remarks against the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and his companions,â Mukhtar said. Prosecutors said Ahmed collected followers in nearby Basti Juliani by paying villagers to come to hear his sermons. His preachings and growing band of followers sparked resentment among local people, who complained to police that Ahmed was preaching âfalse beliefsâ to people.
I've heard this story before. Just to be on the safe side, maybe Judge Akhtar should read up on Pontius Pilate and reconsider...
Police raided Ahmedâs house and arrested him, dismissing statements by his family that he was mentally unbalanced. Mukhtar said a medical examination proved that he was mentally sound.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/07/2003 20:49 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
âHe used derogatory remarks against the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and his companions,â
Christ, we all better stay the hell away from Bahahahahahahwalllnagar...
Seven rockets apparently fired by Bugti tribesmen slammed into a checkpoint of Pakistani paramilitary rangers in a remote southwestern region, killing one soldier and wounding three others. The rockets exploded on Tuesday at a checkpoint in Kandhkot, a small town about 400km southwest of Multan, the regional Police Chief, Din Mohammed Baluch, told the Associated Press. Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack but he said: âWe have reason to believe that local tribesmen are behind this attack.â He gave no other details.
"I can say no more..."
Bugti and Mazari tribesmen have been battling each other and the government for years, in part over a dispute about the amount of royalties each group feels it should get because of a gas pipeline that runs through the territory. Attacks on police and rangers are common.
So are attacks on each other. So are attacks on inanimate objects...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/07/2003 00:06 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
British born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, sentenced to death for the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl has refused to meet a British Embassy official who requested a routine visit with him at a Hyderabad prison. He would not meet âany Britisher, saying they are enemies of Muslims,â his attorney, Abdul Waheed Katpar, told The Associated Press. The British Embassy had been seeking consular access to Sheikh â a standard practice to inquire about the welfare of its citizens, a provincial official told AP on condition of anonymity.
Okay. So rot. Hope they hang you before you die of old age, though...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/07/2003 00:06 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I betcha the Brits are gonna now want him sent to the UK for trial--"He's our citizen!" Well, it worked with GW didn't it?
Posted by: Not Mike Moore ||
08/07/2003 0:33 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I don't think that Ahmed is going to do to well on his "Britishness" test.
#3
NMM: I betcha the Brits are gonna now want him sent to the UK for trial--"He's our citizen!" Well, it worked with GW didn't it?
Actually, this guy cut Daniel Pearl's throat from ear to ear.* I don't think the Brits are going to want to save him, if they know what's good for them.
* I wonder if the IRA taught Omar that particular trick.
#4
Thanks, ZF, for reminding everyone who might have forgotten just who this Sheikh asshole is. Pearl's murder was a singular act of cowardice and depravity. I will be surprised if the Brits are doing anything more than confirming for themselves that the asshole Sheikh is, indeed, still miserably rotting in his hellhole and will, indeed, get his when the time comes. I bet he won't get a Christmas card from them - if he lasts that long.
#5
Did he (AOSS)actually wield the knife that killed Daniel Pearl? I'd love to know what the Brit prisoners in Gitmo were up to--because like it or not--I know--they are our only true ally---but a lot of that Islamokookiness goes on in Britain protected by similar freedoms we enjoy!
Posted by: Not Mike Moore ||
08/08/2003 22:27 Comments ||
Top||
As an American soldier peered out of a passing tank, a young engineering student and a retired accountant contemplated one of the more common questions on the streets of Baghdad: Did the soldierâs wraparound sunglasses give him X-ray vision? "With those glasses, he can definitely see through womenâs clothes," said the engineering student, Samer Hamid. "It makes me angry. We are afraid to take our families out on the street." (These glasses are standard issue in the armed services)
Boy. When I was in the Army they didn't issue us x-ray vision sunglasses. We had to buy our own...
The retired accountant, Hekmet Tinber Hassan, smiled and said it was a baseless rumor, just like the widespread story that Saddam Hussein had been secretly working for America and was now at a C.I.A. safe house. "I do not believe Saddam is in America," Mr. Hassan said. "I heard he went to Tel Aviv."
Some people have a lot of imagination, don't they? Everybody knows he's in Fairbanks...
Just as truth is the first casualty of war, urban legends seem to be the first creation of a military occupation, especially when the cultural gap is as wide as it is here. After life under Mr. Hussein, people here are accustomed to conspiracy theories and ready to believe the worst about anyone in power. Of course, Americans have been circulating their own kinds of legends, starting with the fantasies a few months ago that the occupying troops would be peacefully welcomed by a nation of grateful flower-waving citizens. But there have been more guns than flowers. In the urban legends flourishing here, the soldiers triumphed thanks to Mr. Husseinâs treachery and to American technology. The legend about the X-ray sunglasses may have evolved from reports about the soldiersâ night-vision goggles, or maybe just from the imposing Terminator image of the soldiers.
I think it's because they don't watch enough teevee, myself. And when they do, it's dumb stuff like al-Jazeera or al-Arabiya. They need more Baywatch...
Compared with the residents, who cope with 120-degree heat by staying in the shade and dressing in light clothes and sandals, the soldiers have the look of robotic aliens as they patrol in the midday sun wearing combat boots, helmets and armored vests. Some Iraqis say the soldiers take special pills that keep them cool, but the most common theory is that they have portable air-conditioners â usually said to be inside the vests, but sometimes placed in the helmet or even the underwear. "There is fluid circulating throughout the underwear," said Mr. Hamid, the engineering student. "I am not sure of the exact mechanism, but we all know the Americans have very sophisticated technology." (This sounds like a good idea)
Aadel Delli, the owner of a food market in downtown Baghdad,
Not "Delli's Deli"?
said he did not believe the air-conditioned-uniform stories, which he attributed to popular doubts about Americansâ capacity for discomfort. "Most Iraqis thought the American soldiers would be gone by now because they could never stand the summer in Iraq," he said.
A mere trifle next to the Brutal Afghan Winterâ¢...
Sweltering soldiers have tried dispelling the myths about their gear by letting Iraqis touch their vests and try on their sunglasses, but some legends will not die. "I let a kid put on my sunglasses, and he was still convinced they had X-ray vision," said Sgt. Stephen Roach, a soldier from Lufkin, Tex. "He kept saying to me, `Turn it on, turn it on.â "
Wanted to grab a peek at some knockers, did he?
When they are not peering through womenâs clothes, the male soldiers are said to be groping underneath the clothes during searches at checkpoints, supposedly provoking some of the attacks on soldiers. (Never mind the absence of evidence for this theory.) (Always fun!)
Other versions of the ugly-American stories have the soldiers drinking beer (or sometimes Kool-Aid laced with alcohol) inside their tanks near mosques. They have been accused in the Arab press of using pages from the Koran for toilet paper and of giving children candy packets containing pornography. (Only Korans that have been taken DIRECTLY from a Mosque (While drinking Beer and eating pork rinds) may be used as toilet paper. They also forgot to mention that the candy is laced with drugs to make the kids addicts.)
The rumors became so numerous that Al Sabah, a new daily paper run by Iraqis with financial backing from the Coalition Provisional Authority, the American-run administrative organization, printed a supplement debunking them. "It will take awhile for people to reject the conspiracy theories," said its editor, Ismael Zayer. "Under Saddam, people had to depend on rumor because they could not trust the media."
Worked well, didn't it?
Some of the stories seem intended to encourage the fighters who have been attacking Americans. G.I.âs are said to be so demoralized that 30 percent of them have already abandoned their posts and paid $600 apiece to escape by an underground railroad to Turkey or Syria. (A dream of many Gis is to live in Syria or Turkey)
Others have supposedly converted to Islam and fled to marry women in Saudi Arabia. There are also rumors that Americans are hiding their casualties by dumping large numbers of soldiersâ bodies each night into the Tigris River. (After seeing those women through the X-ray glasses, they canât help but want to marry an Arab woman.)
Frustration seems to feed many of the rumors. Why would the builders of smart bombs and X-ray sunglasses take longer to restore power than Mr. Hussein did after the 1991 Persian Gulf war? The Americans must be withholding electricity as revenge for the attacks on soldiers. People swear there have been Army vehicles driving around with signs announcing that power will be restored when the attacks stop. (Now this actually makes sense)
For all the frustration, there remains some admiration for the occupiers, as seen in a popular fashion accessory on teenagers like Zahra Thaer, 13. She was walking down a sidewalk in Baghdad wearing a new pair of wraparound sunglasses. "These are the latest style," she said, explaining that she had been lucky to get one of the last pairs left in the store.
It's the Spaceman Spiff look...
Did she believe the soldiersâ glasses gave them X-ray vision? "I am not so sure about their sunglasses," she said. "But I know about the helmet. Inside each helmet is a map showing the soldier the location of every house in Iraq. My friends at school told me about it." (This is actually close to the truth)
Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter) ||
08/07/2003 11:23:38 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Closer than you think, Cyber Sarge: Exhibits ranging from new boots to the latest weaponry were displayed in the Pentagon courtyard by the Program Executive Office Soldier.
"Hundreds of thousands of pieces of equipment" were sent to U.S. soldiers deployed in both Iraq and Afghanistan for them to use and test, Moran said. Of these several were on display at the Pentagon, including the XM107 long-range sniper rifle, XM29 integrated airburst weapon system, and the M4 carbine (modular). The PEO Soldier mission is to "arm and equip soldiers to dominate the full spectrum of peace and war." The Air and Land warrior weapon platforms were conceived to do just that, PEO officials said. These were developed to increase, "soldier lethality, survivability, mobility and sustainment." The Air Warrior is heralded as the first fully integrated system for Army aircrews. As he wore the Air Warrior outfit at the Pentagon, Staff Sgt. Michael Resmondo said that it was more comfortable and convenient than other uniforms he has worn. The helmet contains an enhanced face shield and earpiece for communication. He said safety is key in that the suit contains a floatation collar, signal radio, flares, soft body armor. An extraction restraint also allows the soldier to be air lifted, alone or with another person, without the need of a harness. Comfort has not gone unnoticed. Resmondo seemed to appreciate the cooling unit, which can cool up to 62 degrees. The infantry soldier can look forward to the Land Warrior. This soldier of the future outfit is not as far off as it may seem, PEO officials said. It is expected to be ready by 2008.
The Land Warrior has a helmet-mounted display that provides weapon information, map displays, night vision and thermal images. Messages can be received through a microphone earpiece or a multi-band secured radio. The platform has a 500mhz computer, soldier control unit, and GPS.
Resistance is futile!
Posted by: Steve ||
08/07/2003 12:18 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Steve--Can you post your source for that excerpt?
Posted by: Dar ||
08/07/2003 12:54 Comments ||
Top||
#5
"With those glasses, he can definitely see through womenâs clothes," said the engineering student, Samer Hamid.
An engineering student - yeah, right. This is what we laughingly referred to in SaoodiLand as "Third-World Engineering" or "Third World Physics" - meets Arthur C Clarke's definition of magic regularly.
So, Mr Human Resources Mgr, next time you get an application from one of these guys, flashing his "Engineering" BS (how apropos) from Doodah University in Southern Doodah, and you figure you can get an equivalent cog for the Great Machine at half the price, please remember that he knows almost nothing outside of the one thin vertical slice of reality he was drilled in - and that was in rote style, for he had no foundation for a broader intellectual understanding. What a deal - you get zip for half the price.
Group leaders are outfitted with a 17-inch screen with which they can track each soldier's movements.
I'll be interested to see how convenient it is to lug that around, even if it is a flat- or plasma-screen. For all the convenience of the lighter, cooler rig, seems you're going to be lugging plenty of batteries around for a lot of this stuff, too.
Bandwidth and frequency of broadcasting is also another question this raises. If your troops are constantly broadcasting their positions, then you're also broadcasting a lot of EMF--just like an active radar--and letting an enemy with detection equipment know you're nearby. I'm curious if they'll use only intermittent, on-demand broadcasts, like the Garmin Rino, to reduce traffic and broadcasting their positions.
Posted by: Dar ||
08/07/2003 14:13 Comments ||
Top||
#8
It's high time for US counterintelligence to start spreading its own lunatic rumors. Let's see. The US has contaminated the Iraqi dust and water with mind-control drugs. The electrical system has been and is being modified to broadcast secret wavelengths transmitting irresistible messages, all measures have been carefully designed by the CIA to compel true Muslims to depths of unimaginable depravity. US soldiers are immune because of their specially designed sunglasses, helmets, water supplies, and all the beer and pork products they consume. The only prevention is to avoid using electricity, to stop drinking any form of water except that imported from abroad, to wrap oneself completely with aluminum foil, to secure an airtight plastic bag over one's head, sealed to one's neck with several turns of duct tape, and to lay out in the noonday sun for several hours.
-- That ought to decrease the apparent over-supply of gullible nitwits in Iraq. All such suggestions will be carefully studied.
#9
Let's airdrop some old comic books on the Baghdad populace, then they can look in the back pages and buy their own X-ray glasses, along with some hovercraft and that neat trick candy that makes your friends pass instant gas.
Posted by: (lowercase) matt ||
08/07/2003 15:30 Comments ||
Top||
#10
"There is fluid circulating throughout the underwear," said Mr. Hamid, the engineering student. "I am not sure of the exact mechanism, but we all know the Americans have very sophisticated technology." --- Soldiers getting shot at have had this technology for centuries! And it's not just fluid, either...
#11
Sade--Ugh! Reminds me of the time I first read Gates of Fire, and Pressfield wrote of guys lined up for battle in their phalanx losing control of bladder and bowel as the enemy approached. I don't think it'd have been fun to be shoulder-to-shoulder next to such a guy who's wearing a kilt or skirt with no underwear while you're wearing open-toed sandals!
*DAMMIT!*
Posted by: Dar ||
08/07/2003 15:55 Comments ||
Top||
#12
"(After seeing those women through the X-ray glasses, they canât help but want to marry an Arab woman.)"
#14
Seen the Land warrior system on History Channel,Army also comming out with a new Infantry weapon(CIWS)that ain't nothen but BADD.
Over/under assault rifle/grenade launcher.Grenade s will detonet a a pre-determined point or on impact.
At least eight people have been killed in a large explosion at the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad. Some of those killed were reportedly embassy staff and guards. Others are thought to have been in cars parked close to the embassy. The Jordanian Information Minister Nabil al-Sharif called the attack â in which the bomb appears to have been concealed inside a truck â a "cowardly terrorist" act. The explosion reduced the front of the embassy to rubble and shrapnel was found as far as 1,000 metres from the scene. Human remains were visible in a compound close to the embassy. It is unclear how many people were injured in the explosion, with reports suggesting around 20 people were rushed to hospital. A US army spokesman estimated there were "eight or 10" deaths and said 130-230 kilograms (300-500lb) of explosives were probably used in the bomb. "I saw a long vehicle approach the embassy," police officer Hekmat Ibrahim told news agency AFP as he was leaving nearby Iskan childrenâs hospital, his head bandaged. "I heard a huge explosion. I was blown back and I fell unconscious." An Iraqi embassy guard being treated at another hospital, Shaheed Mazloum, said he had heard two explosions. "I was sitting in the reception," he told news agency AP. "I heard the first explosion. I ran out and then there was another explosion. Many employees were inside the embassy as well as Iraqis and Jordanians. Smoke filled the street," he said. After the embassy explosion, Iraqis are reported to have stormed the building, smashing portraits of Jordanâs King Abdullah II and his father King Hussein. Waiting for the bomb to go off, or just spur of the moment?
Waiting for the bomb to go off. It was a setup...
Tensions were heightened when embassy guards reportedly fired toward bystanders trying to remove people caught in the blast. No additional deaths were reported, but a brief but noisy protest followed. American troops are currently at the scene, in the Mansur district, and are advising people to leave the area in case of a further explosion. An investigation has now begun. Hummm, somebody doesnât like Jordan for (indirectly) supporting the US? Are there any other embassies from Arab countries open in Iraq?
Interesting boom here. There's no telling whodunnit at this point, but the presence of a mob on the scene to torch portraits of King Abdullah that they were conveniently carrying and storm the embassy instead of helping with the dead and wounded indicates a coordinated attack. Baathists probably aren't happy with Jordan, and they're the guys on the scene with the organization to put this sort of thing together. The car boom, coming a day after a similar boom in Indonesia, suggests a bit of Qaeda involvement, or more probably al-Tawhid. I'd suspect a Baath-Zarqawi link, rather than Baath-Hezbollah or just Baath. Just guesswork at this point, but Tawhid's original purpose in life was to overthrow Jordan's monarchy, and both Abu Qatada and Zarqawi served jug time in Jordan...
Posted by: Steve ||
08/07/2003 8:58:22 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
But Jordan also took in Saddam's daughters and has been accused of working with his regime to get discount oil before GW2. There's a (slight) possibility the embassy was bombed because of Jordan's support of Saddam.
Posted by: Dar ||
08/07/2003 9:35 Comments ||
Top||
#2
You know, along that line I appreciated the "art" of reagan's use of the contra's. If terrorists want to fight, maybe we could channel their energies more productively.
Maybe we can organize unaffilated terrorists in iraq to stage attacks in iran? A number of terrorist attacks staged on iran might get those taliban/al queada (can't speel b4 cofee) handed over faster.
Of course we would have to blame rogue elements of the CIA, but every one else uses that excuse, so it should fly, and frankly I think the CIA should be feared as ruthless bahstads.
#3
I like it.
Send a bunch of our spittle spewing wild eyed fanatics to attack THEIR spittle spewing wild eyed fanatics.
AND where else are we going to get the bomb making expertise. The last time I looked the CIA couldn't even make a good exploding cigar.
You know what the difference between a hooker and a terrorist is don't you? There are some things even a hooker won't do....so give a bunch of gold to some of the Sunnis and let them go into Iran..
#4
Islam Online reports: Meanwhile, dozens of angry Iraqis stormed the Jordanian embassy after the deadly blast, tearing up the Jordanian flag and ripping up and burning pictures of King Abdullah and his father, the late King Hussein. The crowd yelled curses against Jordan and Jordanians, saying "We want to kill them all," an AFP correspondent witnessed. The protestors also shouted slogans against the Jordanian decision to give host to ousted President Saddam Husseinâs daughters few days ago. But Suleiman Khairallah, a Jordanian writer, ruled out links between the blast and allowing a refuge for the Saddam daughters in the country.
But Areeb Al-Rentawi of the Al-Quds Center for political Studies blamed it on "a number of Iraqi parties who launched a wave of criticisms against the kingdom in recent days." He named the Iraqi National Congress (INC) as one of those "who widely and openly criticized Jordan." The INC is led by Ahmed Chalabi, who had fled to London from Jordan after he was sentenced in absentia to 32 years in prison over charges of embezzling millions from the bank he owned.
The spin has begun, the American puppet Chalabi did it.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/07/2003 13:17 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Another report: "The target was the Jordanian embassy. People hear about how Iraqis are treated in Jordan and there is hatred," Jasim of the health ministry said. Jordan's relations with Iraq have been strained, with Iraqi political parties voicing ire at Amman's lack of action during the war and the decision of King Abdullah to grant asylum to two daughters of Saddam.
Hundreds of Iraqis per day who apply for visas to Jordan get rejected, heaping more tension on the precarious relationship, Aysar Abu Gazaleh, a Jordanian national employed with the Palestinian mission in Baghdad, said. - Sapa-AFP
Posted by: Steve ||
08/07/2003 13:53 Comments ||
Top||
#6
#tisk, tisk# Very naughty SOG475 and flash91! I know that I'm old fashioned, but I'm a firm believer in the "We're Americans: we don't do that sort of thing" school of thought. Now before NMM weighs in with some snide comment, what I more specifically mean is that we SHOULDN'T do that sort of thing. The high ground is softer, warmer, and you sleep better up there.
#7
All of the "reportage" is via the Beeb and AFP. Think there's any selectivity in who's being interviewed and what "facts" and spittle are being included? Definitely orchestrated, from the bombing, to the "dozens" of Iraqis in this little mob, to the "conclusions" reported. I've reached the point with certain of these "news orgs" that I wouldn't be surprised if they were privvy to, if not party to (providing media advice ala Wag The Dog), the planning prior to the event. I innately hate conspiracy shit, but some of these events have all the earmarks of a staged production.
#9
AP reports some guy who ran in with other Iraqis to help. Some (understandably) trigger happy Jordanian guard started shooting at them, and THEN the enraged crowd started destroying portraits and all. So there may be less to this then appears.
#11
It's a sordid business that will take time to sort out......
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/07/2003 16:04 Comments ||
Top||
#12
Biggest problem is that the Imams and Mullahs (may they be infected with dozens of communicable venerial diseases) spend their entire lifetimes preaching hate. Remember the old song, "If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with." Seems hatred works that way, too. Can you say "sins of the fathers"? I thought you could...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/07/2003 16:07 Comments ||
Top||
#13
It will be fun to see how this one plays out. My friend on the street in Bagdad says the whole House of Hussein is more or less viewed as a den of vampires, and there is no love for the daughters, even amongst the Sunni. Jordan may have just bought itself a headache similar to that Nigeria is about to enjoy ...
Posted by: CA Escapee ||
08/07/2003 22:10 Comments ||
Top||
A Muslim extremist who recently escaped from jail with convicted bomb-maker Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi has been killed by Philippine soldiers. Abdulmukim Edris was apprehended with another suspected militant at an army checkpoint in southern Lanao del Norte province. Both were shot after a scuffle with soldiers.
They will be missed. By their Moms. Maybe.
Edris was thought to be a member of the brutal kidnapping group Abu Sayyaf. He escaped from a police jail on 14 July, with another suspected Abu Sayyaf member, Omar Lasal, and al-Ghozi, who is thought to be a high-ranking member of the South East Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiah. Their escape was a source of international embarrassment for Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Gloria's been having a bad month. Since she hasn't had anybody shot in either major incident, she'll have more bad months in the future...
Edris was detained at the checkpoint on Thursday, after soldiers recognised him from a wanted poster, said military spokesman Lieutenant General Roy Kyamko. He was accompanied by a man identified as Mahmud Ismael, who was believed to be a commander of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which officials accuse of having links with Jemaah Islamiah.
The very same bunch of crooks and sadists the gummint's having "peace talks" with right now...
After his arrest, Edris volunteered to lead the troops to al-Ghoziâs hideout, which is thought to be in the area, Mr Kyamko said. But on the way, both Edris and Ismael tried to grab the soldiersâ weapons. "They grabbed the firearms of the soldiers, there was a commotion and they were shot," Mr Kyamko said. "Both of them were killed." Thatâs very, convenient. Shame that they couldnât be questioned about who helped them escape.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/07/2003 9:47:15 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Indonesian police say they believe they have identified the bomber responsible for an explosion in a luxury hotel in Jakarta on Tuesday which left at least 10 people dead and scores injured. Police spokesman Brigadier Gorris Mere said that a security camera had recorded the suspect, named only as Asmal, stopping in a vehicle in the US-owned Marriott hotel driveway moments before the explosion. He said that DNA samples taken from body parts recovered from the scene would be compared with samples from Asmalâs parents. Mr Mere also said that police had intercepted an e-mail Asmal sent about six weeks ago which included code words for suicide bombings used by the Islamic militant group Jemaah Islamiah (JI). "In our interception, [he] mentions he wants to marry as soon as possible," Mr Mere told ABC Radio in Australia. "It really it is a... code word of JI [Jemaah Islamiah]... he wants to make a suicide bomb." "intercepted an e-mail sent about six weeks ago" Did you intercept it 6 weeks ago, or did you just find it? And if you did intercept it 6 weeks ago, what were you waiting for?
"Yup. Yup. Gonna marry me a 72-year-old virgin..."
The explosives and methods used to bomb a luxury hotel in Jakarta on Tuesday were similar to those used in the Bali bombing last year, Indonesian police said on Wednesday. Investigators sifting through debris for clues about the blast said a similar cocktail of high and low grade explosives were used in Bali. Police also said that documents found in the possession of JI members arrested last month indicated an attack in the area around the hotel was imminent and police patrols were stepped up. Didnât do much good, did they?
The hotel is well-known as a place where foreigners and visiting diplomats stay. Which is why it was picked as a target.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/07/2003 9:40:53 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
From Reuters: Jakarta, Aug 7: Indonesian police have arrested two men suspected of involvement in the bombing of the JW Marriott Hotel in the capital, Jakarta, Metro Television reported on Thursday. The men had been arrested on the outskirts of Jakarta as suspects in the attack on Tuesday that killed 10 people and wounded 150. Police could not be immediately reached to comment.
Rounding up the usual suspects?
Posted by: Steve ||
08/07/2003 10:06 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Different suspects from a different bombing: INDONESIAN police have arrested two people over three recent bombings in the capital, but the pair are not suspected in this week's deadly blast at the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, police said today. Colonel Andi Chairuddin, chief of Jakarta police detectives, said the two men were arrested late yesterday at two separate locations in eastern Jakarta. The two were allegedly involved in a bombing at Jakarta's International Airport on April 28 that injured 11 people, and two other recent smaller blasts at the parliament and near the United Nations building in Jakarta, Chairuddin said.
I'll bet they have the same circle of friends.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/07/2003 12:41 Comments ||
Top||
#3
My wife and daughter work at a local Marriott. I hope the idiocy is confined to the lunipelaigo of Indonesia, and doesn't spread. BTW, the Marriott corporation is owned by members of the Mormon faith, which may be another reason it's been chosen to be "graced" by islamofascists.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/07/2003 17:10 Comments ||
Top||
A suspected bombmaker blew himself up today as he built an explosive device in the troubled district of Poso in Central Sulawesi. Police identified the victim as Bachtiar alias Manto, aged about 20. "Our initial analysis from the evidence in the field is that he was making a bomb at the time and it exploded," provincial police spokesman Agus Sugianto told AFP.
That'd make me suspicious he was a bombmaker, too...
Sugianto said Bachtiar was on the police wanted list in connection with a July 11 bombing that wounded three people at a Poso cafe. Bachtiar was also wanted in connection with the burning of a car in 2001. The explosion, about 9 am, blew off Bachtiarâs hands and severely damaged his eyes and chest, Sugianto said. He died at the scene.
Oh, I hope it wasn't instantly. I hope it wasn't even soon...
Bachtiar was alone at the time in his fatherâs house, which was heavily damaged.
"Dad, can I use the C4?"
"No, dammit! That's for guests!"
Up to 1,000 people were killed in Muslim-Christian violence which broke out in Poso in 2000. The government brokered a peace deal in December 2001 but sporadic violence continues. Sugianto said inter-religious relations have already improved in the region, so police could not say whether the blast was linked to Posoâs internal conflict.
At this point the blast is only linked to ineptitude...
He also said police have not yet been able to link Bachtiar to any organised group but an "intensive investigation" was under way.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
08/07/2003 5:28:09 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The explosion, about 9 am, blew off Bachtiarâs hands and severely damaged his eyes and chest...
Are they sure he just wasn't taking his entrance exam to the Indonesian School for Mullahs?
Adds detail to previous article...
AN Indonesian court has found accused Bali bomber Amrozi guilty and sentenced him to death. The verdict came after seven hours of court proceedings today. Amrozi was led into the Bali court just after 9am local time (11am AEST), defiantly shouting "God is great" No, God is a term Christians use, and is an English word. He is not Christian, he shouted Allah is Great. Allahu Akhbar or some variant on that theme. I really hate media spin.
six times as he shook his fist towards the benches, where his lawyers answered with similar calls. But the Bali bombing suspect, known since his arrest as the "smiling assassin", looked nervous and uncomfortable as he sat shackled before the judges. Yar wipe that smile off his dial!
It's the thought of all those muzzle blasts...
A mood of quiet anger enveloped victims and their families as Indonesian judges began reading what is the first verdict in the Bali bombing trials. Amrozi eventually sat calmly as he waited to hear whether he will live or die for his part in the terrorist blasts which took 202 lives, 88 of them Australian, on the resort island last October. Amrozi, wearing his customary long white shirt and green Muslim skullcap, stroked his thin beard and moustache as judges began reading a summary of evidence in his trial, which began on May 12. At one point his attention seemed to wander and he read a piece of paper. Bored by it all, no doubt.
Security outside the court in the Bali capital Denpasar was intense following Tuesdayâs deadly hotel bombing in Jakarta, which has been blamed on the Jemaah Islamiyah group responsible for the Bali attack. About 300 armed police and 250 local guards, carrying traditional curved daggers known as kris, were posted around the court. Cars and motorbikes were banned from the area. Judges were expected to take several hours reading a summary of the evidence before delivering their verdict. Other key suspects, including two of his brothers, will also face a verdict in the coming weeks. Amrozi, 41, has expressed only satisfaction at the death of scores of western holidaymakers in what he called "dens of vices", namely Paddyâs Bar and the Sari Club in the popular tourist nightspot of Kuta. I really think death is a lenient sentence for this scum
Some 20 Australian victims of the blasts or their relatives were in court to see justice done. Among them was Brad Phillips, seven of whose friends from an Australian football team died in the blasts. He himself was injured in the Sari Club bombing. They were the Coogie Dolphins: two beaches down from me.
Asked about Amroziâs possible sentence, Phillips said: "The death penalty for him will perhaps make us feel better."
It'll make sure he doesn't scamper off to join up with al-Ghozi to do it again, won't it?
Along with the 164 westerners killed, 38 Indonesians also died and scores more were injured. "I am very angry at him (Amrozi). I hope he gets what he deserves," said 19-year-old Balinese woman Luh Januari, whose father was killed. Also expected to hear a verdict in coming weeks is the attackâs alleged field commander Imam Samudra. Samudraâs brother Lulu Jamaluddin was questioned by police after he entered the court. He apparently did not have a tag indicating his bags had been inspected. Never forgive, Never forget.
Posted by: Anon1 ||
08/07/2003 4:36:49 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Well, Death certainly is too good for him.
He stuck his thumbs up and grinned when that was read out. He got what he wanted. He's happy now that he gets to be a martyr.
Part of me is happy he will no longer walk the earth: he has lost his right to be a member of the human race so he will be executed.
But part of me feels that to give him what he wants is no good. It's no good as he will get to die quickly with a minimum of pain. He will not suffer for what he has done and after his quick death, most likely there is no heaven or hell, most likely he will just not exist. Religion only comforts the living with concepts of divine justice. I just want him to suffer for a long time - and now he will not.
#5
Aris, I'm sure you can appreciate how to describe him as shouting 'god is great' takes away all 'islamicness' from the sentence.
Which is deceiving for the public as he committed his act purely and solely for the purpose of furthering the cause of Islam.
If you actually bothered to read my comment I said he would have shouted a variant of 'allahu akhbar'. I would have preferred the media simply report the facts rather than worry about the Political Ramifications of them.
#6
I might add, Aris, that even in English, it can be translated still as 'Allah is great' as in English, Allah is the word for the god Muslims worship.
Just like Yahweh is the word for the god of the Jews, and God is the word for the God of the Christians. I'm sure there are loads of splinter denominations that have their own variations also. And crossover names: Jehovah might be used by both Jews and Christians for example.
However, neither Jews nor Christians, nor Hindus, nor Shintos, nor Animists refer to Allah. Only Muslims do. So why change the name? Only if you are trying to deflect heat from Islam...
The fact that 'god' is also used as a general term to denote 'supernatural being' when refering to another religion's deity does not mean at all that these can be confused, or intermingled in a news context like in this story. They are not the same religions, and as the deity is constructed by the religion/worshippers, so they are not the same gods.
It is downright misleading to say he shouted 'God is great' when in fact he shouted 'Allah is Great'. The God of the Christians is NOT the same god as the God of the Muslims or the God of the Jews or the God of any other religions.
#7
Too bad they couldn't take this guy and suspend him in the Pacific off the CA coast and throw a whole bunch of chum in the water. The great whites would have a nice little feast.
#8
That car-alarm like noise you heard on the south side of Chicago this morning was me, ululating.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/07/2003 12:55 Comments ||
Top||
#9
We had an Eagle River, Alaska woman, Megan Heffernan, killed at the Bali bombing. She was teaching English in SKor when she decided to take a 4 day vacation to Bali. Amrozi needs to LIVE and to see the consequences of his actions, up close and personal. He needs to have his Koran confiscated and he needs to look inward at himself so he can see the monster that he is. None of his religious bullshit around to prop him up. No chaplins or whatever they call them over there. All this for as long as it takes. Then he can be snuffed like the scum that he is.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/07/2003 14:55 Comments ||
Top||
NEWSFLASH: real time:
Amrozi just found guilty
Fourth judge still giving his speech
Sentence not yet announced, though expected to be the death penalty.
Source: Channel 10 TV news.
Followup:
Report on CBS Radio says the sentence involves a blindfold and cigarette. His lawyer sez they're going to appeal.
Posted by: Anon1 ||
08/07/2003 3:56:24 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I'd appeal that, too. Why waste a perfectly good cigarette on a scumbag like him anyway?
Posted by: Dar ||
08/07/2003 16:15 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I'd use a coupla lit cigarettes on him...heh heh
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/07/2003 20:34 Comments ||
Top||
Indonesia's largest Islamic organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, on Wednesday condemned Tuesday's bombing at the JW Marriot Hotel that killed at least 10 people and injured hundreds of others. The chiefs of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah organizations said in a joint press conference that the bombing had not only hurt the people at the scene of the bombing but also the whole nation.
Betcha they didn't condemn shieking, spittle-spewing clerics who call for slaughtering infidels, though...
NU Chief Hasyim Muzadi said the bombing had not only hurt physically but also economically, politically, culturally and the country's image in the world. "Therefore, the perpertrator(s) are not only the enemy of the security agencies but of the whole nation," he said.
... he said, piously.
Muhammadiyah chairman Syafii Maarif meanwhile reminded the security agencies not to be complacent in dealing with the case following their success in solving the Bali bombings. "Several other bombing cases have also not yet been uncovered," he said. While admitting that it was difficult to predict when and where a bombing would occur, he said the security agencies had been too slow or weak in anticipating possible terrorist action. He urged the authorities to increase their intenlligence operations to unveil the case. To all people he appealed not to make any speculation regarding the parties that might have been behind it and to wait for the results of police investigation.
"Now, don't go jumping to conclusions. It might not have been beturbanned explosives enthusiasts. I coulda been... ummm... somebody else."
Syafii said that the police as well as the military should forget politics and concentrate on defense and security affairs. About a reported offer from the US to help in the investigations into the case, both Muzadi and Safii advised the Indonesian authorities not to rely on other countries. "Even without US help the bombing must be uncovered. Any help must not reduce the credibility of the Indonesian government," Hasyim said.
"We don't need no infidels over here, sniffin' around our wimmin!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/07/2003 00:07 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"Any help must not reduce the credibility of the Indonesian government," Hasyim said.
Below zero? Well, okay, I guess it could happen.
A key suspect on trial for the Bali bombings on Wednesday hailed a powerful blast in Jakarta that killed up to 10 people, before launching a verbal attack on Australians. Asked by reporters how he felt about the Tuesday bombing at the JW Marriott Hotel, Imam Samudra said: "I am happy, thanks be to God, even more so if those who did it are Muslims." He was speaking as he left the court, where he had appeared as a witness in one of the Bali bombing trials. Samudra indicated he hoped the victims were Jews.
"Yeah! Jews with big noses! I hates Jews!"
He also launched a broadside at Australia, which lost nearly 90 nationals among the 202 dead in the October 2002 Bali bombings. "Go to hell Australia. Where are the Australians?" he said in broken English.
"I hates Australians, too!"
I do hope the Australians plan on putting this guy's date with the firing squad on national teevee, though I suspect they won't. They just don't know how to hate people like practicing Islamists do.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/07/2003 00:07 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Oh yes I do, Fred.
It's just that *I* don't control the government.
If it were up to me, it'd be the CAGE and MEDICAL TESTING for the term of his natural life.
Family members could make appointments to view the torment.
#2
This needs to be on Pay-Per-View. Turn the proceeds over to the victims families.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/07/2003 8:49 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Nope, nope, no TV, no pay per view, no cage.
The Soviets had the right idea for these guys: walk him into a dark room somewhere in the prison (while he thinks he's just going for another interrogation), whereupon a person in that room shoots him in the back of the head. Then toss his body into a hole somewhere and bring in a backhoe. Tell the family he's gone. And then nothing more, ever. He should die anonymously without a care, without any weeping, wailing, final shouts of Allah Akbar, or anything else.
His victims had no chance to prepare themselves for death. Why should he?
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/07/2003 12:58 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Steve,
Right, up to a point. I have a better solution.
Hire a boat, go somewhere and look for sharks. When you find 'em, castrate him and toss him overboard. Drive away.
Anticipation, action, pain, the gamut of human emotions as the sorry piece of fish food ends being churned to pieces, just as the victims at Bali were churned to pieces by bits of exploding furniture.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/07/2003 19:17 Comments ||
Top||
EFL. All hail... President BLAH????
President Charles Taylor submitted his resignation and named his vice president to take over the reins of the embattled government Thursday as throngs cheered the first West African peacekeepers to enter the besieged capital. ...and , yeah, Francoâs still dead.
Vice President Moses Blah said the handover is planned for Monday, but rebel leaders warned they will not accept any ally of Taylor holding power as Liberia tries to find a way out 14 years of bloodshed. Actually the real reason is, well, would you want a President Blah?
Outside Monrovia, peacekeepers reportedly seized a new weapons shipment from Libya that apparently was destined for government forces in violation of a U.N. arms embargo. Well can ya beat that? Libya violating an arms embargo.
Rebels and government troops are fighting in several parts of the country, and a two-month battle over Monrovia has killed hundreds of civilians and left the 1.3 million people crowded into the divided city short of food and water. Thatâs "war torn" Monrovia. Letâs get those cliches right.
Blah told The Associated Press he received a telephone call Thursday morning from Taylor who said he would be sworn in as president Monday. "He congratulated me, and he said he is hoping I will cope with the situation on the ground," Blah said. "A lot of people are suffering." Blah blah blah... blah blah blah...
Taylor indicated he would go into exile "very shortly," said Blah, who was a feared Taylor ally in the 1988-96 civil war that killed 100,000 people and put Taylor in power over a nation left in ruins. "Very shortly". Sure. Really. Well... maybe.
However, Taylor has repeatedly hedged on when he will take up an offer of asylum in Nigeria. I hear Idi has a nice place in Saudi Arabia which may be available soon. Maybe Iâll check that out.
His government said that would happen only after enough foreign peacekeepers were on the ground â and if a war crimes indictment was dropped. A U.N.-backed court alleges Taylor supported a brutal rebel group in neighboring Sierra Leoneâs decade-long civil war. Oh, let Chuck slide. All he wants to do is come back to Boston and pump gas. Itâs the simple life for him from now on.
In Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) said Taylor would not get out of the war crimes charges. "If Mr. Taylor leaves Liberia, as we expect him to do in the very near future, and is given asylum in Nigeria, this does not remove the indictment in any way," Powell said. At the airport 30 miles from Monrovia, peacekeepers intercepted a plane carrying an arms shipment that landed overnight in defiance of a U.N. arms embargo, according to airport workers, who spoke on condition of anonymity. West African officers confirmed only that a Boeing 707 arrived from Libya and that its cargo was seized. Nigerian soldiers were seen guarding two navy blue shipping containers â one empty, the other locked. Mustâve mixed it up with the baby food shipment, right Mo?
China is acquiring short-range missiles at a much faster rate than US officials previously thought, according to a Pentagon report. Slower is better?
The report says the southeast Asian giant is aiming the weapons at Taiwan, and possibly at US targets, in case the Bush administration decides to intervene on the islandâs behalf. Still U.S. targets.
"Preparing for a potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait is the primary driver for Chinaâs military modernisation," said the report on Beijingâs military assessment. Not to mention the push from Russia; aided by the two-faced treasonous contractors at Boeing and Lockheed who trade missle systems to âenemyâ countries like we peddle cell phones over here.
China has about 450 shortrange ballistic missiles, but is expected to increase its inventory by more than 75 missiles each year. The sophistication and accuracy of the missiles have improved, with the Beijing army developing variants of the CSS-6 missile that have greater range, capable of reaching as far as Okinawa, Japan, home to more than 33000 US troops.
#1
Ballistic missiles with conventional warheads are an expensive way to compensate for China's lack of offensive airpower. 450 missiles are equivalent to 450 conventional bombs, after which they've shot their bolt. Each missile costs at least $2 million. That's a total cost of $900m to drop 450 bombs.
In Desert Storm, we delivered an average of 2000 tons of ordnance daily on the back of 1500 sorties. Assuming the average bomb was 1000 lbs, that's 4000 bombs a day. Each smart bomb costs about $50,000, meaning the total cost if we had dropped only smart bombs would have been $200m. Each sortie costs about $20,000. The cost of 1500 daily sorties would have been $30m. Total daily cost of 4000 bombs and 1500 sorties = $230m.
Bottom line we can drop 4000 bombs for $230m every day for a month - they can drop 450 bombs for $900m just once. I just can't see how these missiles alone are going to do much of anything to Taiwan. During Desert Storm, we dropped 4000 bombs a day for 30 days to soften Iraqi forces up. I doubt 450 Chinese bombs are going to do much to the Taiwanese armed forces except get them riled up.
#2
This is just ignorant speculation on my part, but what if the Chinese put something more than just conventional high explosive in the warheads? If they do that, they will soon know the meaning of hellzapoppin if they deploy these little gems. Would they consider the non-conventional armaments option? According to Zhang Fei's math, conventional does not compute, except for standing back and admiring all the hardware from time to time. Just a thought.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/07/2003 22:19 Comments ||
Top||
#3
This is just ignorant speculation on my part, but what if the Chinese put something more than just conventional high explosive in the warheads?
Not unreasonable. Perhaps a W88 nuclear warhead, designed for use on our Trident II.
The information most likely came from one of the W88's assembly points.
Sandia National Laboratories, which builds warhead prototypes; Lockheed Martin Corp., which mounts the warheads on missiles, or the Navy, which supervises the process. Or, from Wen Ho Lee at Los Alamos...
The problem is the access we give to the Russians on everything from guidance systems to the space shuttle and missle defense technology, which again flows primarily from Lockheed etc.
#4
This is just ignorant speculation on my part, but what if the Chinese put something more than just conventional high explosive in the warheads? If they do that, they will soon know the meaning of hellzapoppin if they deploy these little gems. Would they consider the non-conventional armaments option?
Taiwan is under the American nuclear umbrella. Apart from completely destroying any hope of gaining Taiwanese support, a Chinese nuclear attack on Taiwan could result in the annihilation of China, esp if we've deployed NMD. We've still got 10,000 warheads. 2000 of 'em deployed against the largest Chinese population centers would probably kill off 99% of China's population. I'm not sure the Prez would make that decision, but the Chinese would really be rolling the dice.
The Chinese may have gotten some of the W-88 blueprints, but I'm not sure that blueprints alone will help them build the things. There are a lot precursor process technologies that they don't have access to. In other words, they can make something that looks like what we built, but won't function like what we have in our inventory because they can't figure out how to make the parts to spec. For example, the Russians couldn't build very quiet submarines until Toshiba of Japan sold them the milling equipment for them to make ultra-quiet propellers in the late '80's.
Too bad the Wen Ho Lee investigation was bungled, though. On the one hand, he deserved to fry, and on the other, his execution would have served as fair warning to other scientists thinking of passing on classified nuclear research to hostile foreign powers for one reason or another.
With the order, "De-man the USS Constellation," the huge aircraft carrier known affectionately as "The Connie" was decommissioned today in a ceremony at the North Island Naval Air Station. The ship, which took part in eight combat deployments over 41 years of service after surviving a series of construction accidents, was labeled "Americaâs Flagship" by former President Ronald Reagan. It is scheduled to be mothballed next month in Bremerton, Wash. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Escondido, who was an ace fighter pilot while serving aboard the ship, told the audience that parts of the Connie will be installed on its replacement, the USS Ronald Reagan. "Itâs like a mother who passes DNA on to her daughter," Cunningham said during an often tearful speech. "The Connie indeed does live."
Homeported in San Diego for its entire active career, the Constellation deployed off Vietnam seven times during the 1960s and â70s. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Constellation-based warplanes flew more than 1,500 sorties and dropped more than a million pounds of ordnance. The ship returned its crew and fliers to their homes on June 2. The Connie deployed 21 times overall, mostly in peacetime operations. Next week, a tugboat will tie up to the aircraft carrier and begin the two- week journey to Bremerton. Crew members have been reassigned to a variety of other posts. The air wing will deploy aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. The Reagan is scheduled to arrive in San Diego sometime next year. Rest easy, Connie.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/07/2003 4:00:48 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The Connie is one of several older aircraft carriers heading into mothballs. I'm sure the Kitty will be next, providing funding for a follow-on is approved. Many of these older carriers have had their lifetime extended twice to three times the original estimate, but there's still a lack of space, a lack of the new necessities of combat (NBC, counter-terror, etc.) capabilities of carriers designed for a single task, now being asked to do yoeman duties in dozens of different areas.
Modern aircraft carriers are awesome! If you ever get the chance to visit one, do so. Imagine a floating city, complete with airport, and 6000 "citizens". A hat-tip not only to those who have served on the Connie, but to every sailor who has ever served on any US carrier!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/07/2003 16:58 Comments ||
Top||
#2
With the exception of national treasures like the Constitution or Britian's Victory it is the fate of all naval vessels to face either the wreckers yard or to used as a target vessel. To her present and former crew Vaya con Dios and thank you.
Posted by: Someone who did NOT vote for William Proxmire ||
08/07/2003 19:40 Comments ||
Top||
#3
As a kid growing older (but not up, of course) here in San Diego, I played on a little league team sponsored by the Constellation in the early 70's. They even gave us a tour of it while tied up at North Island - verrrry cool, and all the sailors were really supportive, a lot coming out to root for our team. Sad knowing that she'll be decommissioned, but fond memories
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/07/2003 20:00 Comments ||
Top||
Raising the ante on Kimmy
South Korea will send a naval vessel and inspectors to participate in a multination training exercise in Russia on August 18-27 at the request of the Russian government, the Ministry of National Defense said Thursday. The other nations participating in the exercise will be Japan and the United States. A Korean destroyer will convey about 200 crewmembers and a helicopter as well as two navy captains to inspect the training in the first ever military exercise bringing together South Korean and Russian troops. A ministry official said that Russia had also asked Pyongyang to send inspectors for the field training, and that Pyongyang would be sending a couple of navy captains. If North Korea does send the inspectors, they would naturally have contact with the South Korean military officials participating in the exercises, the ministry said. Good chance to get some spies?
The training is to be directed by the Russian Pacific Fleet command, and will consist of about 30,000 soldiers and sailors, 110 vessels and 50 planes and helicopters. Search and rescue training will take place at Nahotka, Okhotsk and the Russian side of the Bering Sea. The training will focus on humanitarian purposes such as preventing illegal fishing. Apart from North Korea, Canada and China will also be sending only inspectors instead of vessels.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/07/2003 3:54:45 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
It must be a really, really, really big problem.
Three masked gunmen executed a fellow Palestinian in the centre of the West Bank city of Ramallah after accusing him of being a collaborator, witnesses and security sources said. The three said they were from the Al-Aqsa Martyrsâ Brigades, an armed offshoot of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafatâs Fatah movement, witnesses said. "The guy had a mask on and had his hands tied behind his back," one witness told AFP. Canât take any chances with these zionist collaborators.
"Before they shot him, they took off his mask. They then said he was a freedom fighter collaborator and we sentence him to death." The trio pumped around 10 bullets into the victimâs back before fleeing shortly after 4:30pm (1330 GMT), witnesses said. The gunmen were armed with kalashnikovs, they added.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/07/2003 2:37:53 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Human Rights Watch, ISM, and Amnesty International will be all over this. Of course, it has its "root cause" in the zionist occupation and the illegal settlements..oh yeah, and in not releasing all the prisoners.... and in the wall and....
(/sarcasm)
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/07/2003 15:02 Comments ||
Top||
#3
The IDF needs to open up a disinformation campaign in inferring the existance of certain freedom fighters collaborators and the Paleo gunnies will become precambrian by their own hands.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/07/2003 15:30 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Bastards couldn't even face him to shoot him. Shooting an unarmed, bound and motionless man in the back sure is an act of bravery. (/sarcasm)
Posted by: Dar ||
08/07/2003 15:30 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Where are the Hollywood idiots? Where is Kofi Ananana? A public execution by Pals on someone who DID NOT get a trial? This sounds like a political killing than anything else. I'll bet this guy is realted to Abbas in some way and Al Alkaseltzer Brigade wants to send a message. Wonder why they wear masks? To hide thier identity from THEIR people. If they knew who they were, they would be history.
#6
And the whole phreaking world is bending over backwards to give these vile cretins a country that will be a disaster from Day One. Words beyond this just fail me.
#7
I hope that Bush is holding his cards close and working his Secret Plan on the Roadmap to Hell Peace, because one cannot in good fait negotiate with these psychopaths. The EU and all those that support Hamas, Hiz, Alkaselzer, et al, including the Nobel Peace Prize Committee have blood on their hands for supporting such scum.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/07/2003 18:25 Comments ||
Top||
#8
It's past time to stop the nonsense of negotiating with an organization that continues to believe that terrorism is a legitimate means to an end. I understand the suggestion that Bush has a "Secret Plan" and is simply allowing nature to take its course so that the REST of the world can see how pointless it is to deal wtih violent, backwards-ass, murderers. But honestly, do any of you REALLY believe that the world (i.e. the UN, the EU, etc) will ever get it?
Stop the insanity--publically declare that we're with Israel on this one, and if its time for another round of "Islam vs the World", let's GET IT ON while we still have the military and monetary supremacy to pull off a victory!
#9
For the life of me I can't figure out why most of the world can't see what most of us here at Rantburg all ready know(Stevey Pilsbury Boy and NMM are the exseptions to the rule)that these people are mad-dog killers and need to be treated as such.
Nancy knows whatâs important. Let âem eat cake.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) made sure Democrats left for their home districts armed with a recess brief full of suggested talking points to bolster her partyâs national prospects. So far, so normal. Ah, yes. The "talking points".
But her recess packet also includes detailed instructions on how to throw a local partyâa 38th birthday bash for Medicare. Yeah, donât fix it. Throw a birthday party for it. Your boob constituents will eat it up, right Nancy? "Oh, boy! Cake! Iâm voting Democrat!"
The minute instructions have raised concerns among Democratic aides and lobbyists that Pelosi is developing a didactic style that can be too patronizing to be helpful. A patronizing Limosene Liberal. Can ya beat that?
Leaders on both sides of the aisle commonly provide briefing books to be used during congressional breaks by lawmakers as a means of synchronizing their party messages. But they do not usually contain suggestions such as: âOrder your cake! Order a sheet cake with âHappy Birthday Medicareâ written on it.â ...as opposed to "Happy Birthday Uday Hussein". She must think her membership are a bunch of total idiots too.
The Democratsâ section on Medicare is unusual in providing a day-by-day plan for lawmakers to highlight their policy differences with a Republican plan they charge will privatize the program.
The cake instruction was for the Monday of the week of July 28. The orders go on: âBuy additional party supplies. Be creative. Buy a âHappy Birthdayâ tablecloth for the center table. Purchase disposable plates and utensils if the facility will not provide them. You may also wish to purchase additional party favors â horns and whistles can be very useful to âbooâ the Republican agenda,â suggests the document. My, how "adult". Maybe they can round up some old folks to make fools of themselves for the cause. Is that on the list?
For Tuesday, lawmakers are reminded to âreview supply check list. Confirm cake/food orders and make sure supply checklist is complete. Provide writing utensils and paper for seniors to complete letters to the editor.â Thanks, that answers my previous question.
On the day of the meeting, lawmakers are told to âarrive earlyâ and then: âSet up tables. Spread a âHappy Birthdayâ tablecloth on the center table, where cake will be placed. All other tables should have pens/pencils, writing paper, and copies of the sample letter to the editor.â Yeah, I can see some congressman doing all this shit.
In bold bullet-points the document commands lawmakers: âKnow where the restrooms and telephones are located.â 2.Please remove head from ass...
The Medicare issue is one of four that Pelosiâs leadership team is encouraging lawmakers to discuss over the long August recess. Others are the economy, education, and protecting national parks. How about national security? Naaaaaaaah...
On the economy, the recess packet suggests an event at a highway construction site. The instructions read: âHost a press conference in front of a highway construction site â great visual!â They hate highway construction projects. Itâs bad for trees and birds and flowers and stuff. Unless, of course, itâs in their district.
Democratic aides said this yearâs packet is unusual in its attention to minor details.âItâs a bit patronizing,â said a senior Democratic aide: âItâs counterproductive because it keeps people from reading the good stuff.â A Democratic lobbyist said: âI thought this was a joke. The Medicare stuff is so detailed, itâs laughable.â Glad to hear theyâre not all sheep.
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) said most lawmakers read the recess materials on the plane, but then donât pay much attention to them. As he put it: âThey have some good points, but I donât go with the scripted stuff. If I had gone with the scripted stuff in 1994, I would have been slaughtered like everyone else. Youâve got to know your district. Thanks, but no thanks, Nance.
Jennifer Crider, a spokeswoman for Pelosi, dismissed the criticism: âThis is just one page out of a 78-page packet, and itâs a suggestion of an event that has worked successfully in other districts.Itâs an issue that is very important to seniors in the country and that Democrats have been focusing on. This is the type of information that members in our caucus have found helpful have requested more of,â she added. Cake! Old people love cake! Give them lots of it!
Pelosi loyalists also said Republicans had scripted each weekâs message over the recess with a level of detail and coordination quite beyond what came out of their own caucus.
âWe do have broad thematics, but our members donât need detailed instructions because they understand the issues,â said John Feehery, spokesman for Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). âWe always give suggestions to our members. The reason why she needs to script her caucus is because sheâs marching them over the cliff,â Feehery said. Bam! Good one-two combination, Johnny boy.
Posted by: tu3031 ||
08/07/2003 11:35:21 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Can we pull Mondale out from the freezer and have him endorse the Dem candidates, just like ol' times? Muwahahahahaha and the best part is they have no idea what's coming next...buwahahahahahaa
Posted by: Brian ||
08/07/2003 12:21 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Methinks Ms. Pelosi, Nancy, has missed her life's calling. What? Am I gonna say prison bitch? Naw (too easy), I was thinking more along the lines of Den Mother or Kindergarten Teacher. She seems to have that certain pedantic & talk-down knack for it. Of course, if she doesn't behave herself and if her domestic help doesn't have proper Soc Sec documentation, we may add prison bitch to the possibilities at some future time.
#5
Mediscare is a disaster heading for a tall cliff, and this kind of nonsense is one reason why. The military retirees were supposed to be forced into this meatgrinder when they turned 65, until someone realized there were enough of us, and we were mad enough, to make a change. Now, we have the option of "Tricare Senior" for over-65 retirees living near a participating military medical facility. Thank the Gods above, most military hospital commanders have more common sense than the Dummycheat party, and provide access.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/07/2003 14:54 Comments ||
Top||
#6
GK - Touche' as a Phroggie might say. I say - you're absolutely right, I stand corrected! ;->
#7
Hmm Old Patriot..didn't want to be put into the meatgrinder of Mediscare---but it's OK for everyone else huh? So you can join our Congressmen from BOTH parties who don't have to depend on this under-funded corrupt mess. Typical COnservative attitude--"I got MINE--screw everyone else!"
Posted by: Not Mike Moore ||
08/08/2003 22:17 Comments ||
Top||
Nice summary of the state of the Arab League on Atlantic Blog today. Edited for brevity.
They [the Arab League] appear to be shocked, utterly shocked, that the [Iraqi] council is not elected, and they are upset because they think it is a puppet government. So letâs do a quick review of the Arab League.
Membership:
Algeria: run by the military
Bahrain: just had its first elections in 30 years, but political parties are illegal
Comoros: this one actually seems to have elections, although they are dubious and it has also had some recent military coups
Djibouti: Fake elections
Egypt: fake elections
Iraq
Jordan: ruled by an unelected monarch
Kuwait: a monarchy maybe becoming democratic
Lebanon: this one is actually a democracy, but that doesnât really matter since it is a puppet state of Syria
Libya: ooh, tough one here
Mauritania: fake elections
Morocco: ruled by unelected monarch
Oman: unelected absolute monarch
Palestine: enough said
Qatar: absolute monarch
Saudi Arabia: ruled by unelected monarch
Somalia: governed by, roughly, no one at all
Sudan: even the CIA is dismissive of their elections
Syria: ruled by unelected dictator
Tunisia: fake elections
United Arab Emirates: absolute monarch
Yemen: the last time around, the president suffered the ignomy of only getting 96.3% of the vote
So, generously, really generously, out of the other 21 states in the Arab League, you might call Bahrain, Comoros, Kuwait, and Lebanon democracies, if you want to use the word loosely. The rest are absolute monarchies and dictatorships. Lebanon is a puppet state of Syria. This is the outfit that wants to complain that the Iraqi Governing Council is an unelected puppet regime that does not represent the will of the people.
Posted by: Dar ||
08/07/2003 10:20:02 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Let me stick up for Morocco. There are transparent and open parliamentary elections there, as long as candidates respect the Three Rules (see below). PM is appointed by king based on what king wants/composition of parliament; PM names ministers. Parliament ranges from left to right, secular/religious.
So yeah, it's not Western Europe, but better than anything in rest of Arab world. Unspoken but understood limits are placed on what parliament and PM can say/do, unfortunately, but the Alouite throne is not akin to the Windsor Royal Family criticism tolerance level. It is what it is. For instance, the late Hassan II ('62-'00)on a French TV interview was asked why Morocco had political prisoners. Hassan sent a chill down Moroccan collective spines by saying, "There are no political prisoners in Morocco, only traitors." How does one become a traitor, Hassan was asked. Instant answer: A traitor is anyone who: 1) questions the legitimacy of the Alouite throne; (2 questions the role of the military; 3) questions the "marocanite" (accent over e, pronounced 'tay')of the former Spanish Sahara. Other than that, according to Hassan, any Moroccan can say or do anything. In practical terms, nobody could question, directly or indirectly, the king's competency in any domain, question in the least how the military was conducting itself in the Sahara, or question Morocco's sovereignity in the Sahara.
So the Ministry of Interior/secret services had carte blanche to pick up someone making noise, for example, about the documents showing a line item re the special set-aside Royal budget under the supervision of the Ministry of Budget and Economy detailing the king's receiving the equivalent of $200,000/day from the Moroccan treasury. No kidding, folks. That's direct, with picture of said line item, from a mid-nineties article in "Le Canard Enchaine"
Eventually, Hassan took his foot off the pedal in early '90's to redress his heavyhandedness. Let's hope his son, Mohamed VI, is more tolerant of criticism, because, as far as I know, the Three Ways to Become a Traitor still exist. In sum, Morocco sounds a lot like Turkey, just the power behind the scenes in the Golden Horn is not a king, but the military.
Posted by: Michael ||
08/07/2003 12:43 Comments ||
Top||
#2
It's not London, or even Paris, but it's still better than 90% of the rest of the Arab world. If the rest of the region only managed to come up to the level of Morocco, it would be such an improvement the world would be shocked. Unfortunately, I only see the rest of the Arab world trying to bring Morocco (and anywhere else) down to their lowest level.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/07/2003 15:37 Comments ||
Top||
A software engineer pleaded guilty Wednesday to a charge of aiding the Taliban, agreeing to testify against other suspects in exchange for the dropping of other terrorism charges. Maher Hawash one of the so-called "Portland Seven," will serve at least seven years in federal prison under the deal, which was approved by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. Hawash pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide services to the Taliban. Prosecutors agreed to drop charges of conspiring to levy war against the United States and conspiring to provide material support for terrorism. "You and the others in the group were prepared to take up arms, and die as martyrs if necessary, to defend the Taliban. Is this true?" U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones asked Hawash during the hearing. "Yes, your honor," Hawash replied.
Have a nice stay in jug. Think of it as martyrdom, without the 72-year-old virgin...
Hawashâs attorney Steven Houze said his client had decided to cooperate fully with the government, but declined to comment on details of the plea negotiations. Houze said Hawash had faced more than 20 years in prison if convicted on all three counts. In March, federal agents seized Hawash, 38, from a parking lot outside Intel Corp., where he worked, and simultaneously searched his home. He was held as a material witness until charges were filed five weeks later. In what supporters called an abuse of civil rights, federal officials did not publicly confirm he was being held during those five weeks. In a 41-page affidavit, the U.S. Attorneyâs Office accused Hawash, a naturalized U.S. citizen of Palestinian descent, of growing angry with the United States after the Sept. 11. 2001, attacks, then conspiring with co-defendants to join the fight in Afghanistan against U.S. troops.
Oh, well that explains it. As a Paleostinian, growing angry over something is sufficient cause to commit treason...
Hawash accompanied the group as it tried and failed to enter Afghanistan from western China in late fall 2001, according to court documents. Five of the other six suspects in the case â Jeffrey Battle; Battleâs ex-wife, October Lewis; Patrice Lumumba Ford; and brothers Ahmed and Muhammad Bilal â all have pleaded innocent. The sixth, Habis al Saoub, remains at large. They face various conspiracy, firearms and money laundering charges. Some serious poop. Nice to see he didnât walk because his Miranda rights werenât told to him in Arabic.
Posted by: Domingo ||
08/07/2003 9:56:28 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
No, no, no! How are we supposed to defend you against the opressive zionist unelected warmongering US government if you keep pleading guilty?
Posted by: Steve ||
08/07/2003 10:37 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Is anybody keeping count on the number of 'Wrongly Accused' Arab-Americans that have now plead GUILTY? And what does the Arab-American peace group ?CAIR? have to say? I remember hearing the group leader calling this and other arrests 'Witchhunts'. Are they ready to jump on board and root out these cells?
#3
Cyber Sarge, here's a news story from CAIR's web site that explains why they plead guilty:
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEF | 7/29/2003
(Michael Powell, Washington Post) - LACKAWANNA, N.Y. -- Even now, after the arrests and the anger and the world media spotlight, the mystery for neighbors in this old steel town remains this: Why would six of their young men so readily agree to plead guilty to terror charges, accepting long prison terms far from home? "These knuckleheads betrayed our trust, and we're disgusted with their attendance at the camps in Afghanistan," Mohammed Albanna, 52, a leader in the Yemeni community here, said of the six men who have admitted to attending an al Qaeda training camp two years ago. "But the punishment doesn't fit the crime, or the government's rhetoric. It's ridiculous."
But defense attorneys say the answer is straightforward: The federal government implicitly threatened to toss the defendants into a secret military prison without trial, where they could languish indefinitely without access to courts or lawyers. That prospect terrified the men. They accepted prison terms of 61/2 to 9 years...
They pled guilty to avoid the Gitmo death camp.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/07/2003 11:56 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Here's the link to the plea agreement, it's posted on the Free Mike Hawash website. Snicker.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/07/2003 14:46 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Steve, you're too harsh! I suggest we return this young man to his Palestinian homeland, so he can add his support to the new Palestinian State. I suggest a C-130 drop from 15,000 feet. He'll have to buy and pack his own 'chute, though... Maybe he can get a deal on some of those surplus ones from Fort Benning.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/07/2003 15:05 Comments ||
Top||
A senior UN official has warned the Liberian President Charles Taylor to leave the country while he can. Jacques Klein, the UN special representative for Liberia, warned that if Mr Taylor stayed in the country, he risked being arrested on war crimes charges. Oooooo, the U.N.s getting pissed. Bet thatâll scare him.
If he's got an internationally recognized indictment against him, why wouldn't he be arrested anywhere he goes?
Mr Taylor appears to be preparing to leave Liberia to take asylum in Nigeria, but correspondents say he is notorious for changing his mind. He has cancelled plans to formally announce his resignation to parliament on Thursday before stepping down on Monday, his spokesman told the AFP news agency. I knew I could count on Chuck.
However, Vanii Passewe said Mr Taylor would still hand over on Monday. Or not, who knows?
Meanwhile, the leader of Liberiaâs main rebel group says that the charges against Mr Taylor should be dropped if that would persuade him to leave the country. "We agree that charges against him could be dropped if it can bring peace to the country, if that can get him to leave Liberia," said Sekou Damate Conneh, from the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (Lurd) group. "We can always kill him later."
"I mean, what's a few atrocities among warlords?"
There has been some confusion over whether Mr Taylor will step down and take up an offer of exile in Nigeria. South African President Thabo Mbeki is planning to fly to Monrovia on Monday to attend a ceremony marking the handover of power by embattled President Taylor. He said he agreed to make the trip after a request from Ghanaian President and Ecowas chairman John Kufuor. But earlier a Nigerian presidential spokesman said Mr Taylor was only willing to leave if he was promised immunity from prosecution.
"Nope. Nope. You'd have to kill me first."
"Hokay."
The UNâs Jacques Klein said his message for Mr Taylor would be: "Take the offer while itâs on the table. The warrant never goes away, and the court will be there for a number of years. So go while the getting is good, in a sense. Because remember it is the United Nations that captured the first indicted war criminal in the former Yugoslavia." Chucky is gonna wait too long.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/07/2003 9:10:29 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Chucky never learned the first lesson of vaudeville: always leave the audience wanting more, heh heh.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/07/2003 13:33 Comments ||
Top||
Yâall in the hen-house, this hereâs a fox.
The head of Russiaâs Mufti Council Mufti Ravil Gainutdin said on Tuesday that Russian muftis supported the intention of President Vladimir Putin to make Russia incorporated into the Organization of Islamic Conferences. The leader of Russian Moslems emphasizes that the number of Moslems living in the country is 20 million people; that is why Russian Moslems for many years speak about the desire to become members of the most influential Moslem organization of the world. Ravil Gainutdin says: "Russiaâs incorporation into the Organization of Islamic Conferences will not only help expand the present-day spiritual contacts, but it will also raise the level of economic and political cooperation between members of the organization. The proposition of Vladimir Putin to make Russia a member of the organization means that the president offers effective measures for control development of Islam, one of Russiaâs traditional religions." "And it gives our state security organs lots of good intel!"
The head of the Mufti Council spoke about the importance of Vladimir Putinâs visit to Malaysia as a number of important contracts was concluded during the visit to one of the most developed south-eastern countries. Ravil Gainutdin says it is very important that in the last years the leadership of Russia pays particular attention to cooperation with Moslem countries. "Our countries have a great potential for development of economic and political contacts; this is very important to use the potential." "Plus we can remind them personally of the consequences of screwing with us!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/07/2003 12:41:21 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Hmm given Putin's KGB connection--you think he's sending them a message? All that's missing is the dead fish rolled in the newspaper!
Posted by: Not Mike Moore ||
08/08/2003 22:31 Comments ||
Top||
Heavily edited. I learn something new everyday in the war on terror. Moments ago I had no idea that Russia and China had an anti-terror treaty.
Chinese senior officers said Wednesday that the large-scale joint anti-terrorism exercise conducted by the member countries of the Shanghai Co-operation Organization (SCO) will improve their ability to co-ordinate their fight against terrorism and help guarantee regional security and stability.Lieutenant General Li Qianyuan, head of the Chinese military delegation and Commander of the Lanzhou Military Command, said in an interview that the Chinese army will exchange anti-terror experience with troops of Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan, and that they will discuss ways to work together to fight international terrorism. The high-level military exercise shows that the SCO member states take the same stand and have the same determination to fight terrorism, separatism and extremism, Li said. He also said it is an important for the SCO states to step up military co-operation, to further foster mutual trust among their armed forces, and to strengthen regional co-operation against terrorism. Hereâs some pictures of Russkie paratroopers marching past a Chinese color guard.
Posted by: 11A5S ||
08/07/2003 12:41:11 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Moments ago I had no idea that Russia and China had an anti-terror treaty.
This is essentially China's attempt to expand its influence in Central Asia. China has always viewed regions with yellow-skinned peoples as falling under its benevolent leadership. Most of its history has revolved around uniting yellow-skinned peoples under its banner.
Iran vowed Wednesday not to surrender its nuclear power generating program, as U.N. experts met with Iranian officials in an effort to arrange unrestricted inspections of its nuclear facilities. "The Islamic Republic of Iran will not give up nuclear technology as a basis for legitimate power, " state television quoted President Mohammad Khatami as telling Iranâs most senior officials. "Not til we nuke them Joooooos, anyways!"
Khatami said Iran had no desire for nuclear weapons, as the United States maintains, "because we cannot use such weapons based on our Islamic and moral teachings." "Unless we use âem on infidels. Thatâs different!"
His comments at a meeting with Iranâs Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the countryâs top military and political officials came as a three-member team from the International Atomic Energy Agency met with government officials to try to arrange unfettered inspections of Iranâs nuclear facilities. Khatami hinted Iran may sign a protocol to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty allowing such access "if the world recognizes" his countryâs right to the peaceful use of nuclear technology. "And if we use it later to wipe out the Zionist entity, why shucks thatâd be too bad!"
Iran has always said it would agree to unfettered inspections if it is granted access to advanced nuclear technology as provided for under the non-proliferation treaty. Tehran says Washington is keeping Iran from getting that technology. The United States has accused Iran of running a clandestine nuclear weapons program and wants the U.N. nuclear agency to declare Tehran in violation of the non-proliferation treaty. On Monday, the Los Angeles Times reported Iran "appears to be in the late stages of developing the capacity to build a nuclear bomb." It said a three-month investigation found Iran had sought to conceal its weapons efforts from international inspectors. The newspaper — citing sources ranging from previously secret reports, international officials, independent experts and Iranian exiles — reported that Iran made use of technology and scientists from Russia, North Korea, China and Pakistan to bring it closer to building a bomb than Iraq ever was. How âbout an Osirak-style attack on the day all these consultants and helpers are in town for a big conference?
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/07/2003 12:36:55 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"The Islamic Republic of Iran will not give up nuclear technology as a basis for legitimate power..."
Does anyone think the "power" referred to here is electricity?
Reminds me of an Ambrose Bierce book review in which he said, "I have read this book and much like it."
Apparently the Russian for Wahhabi is wakhabit. Shh. Be vewy, vewy quiet. Iâm hunting wakhabits.
Last weekend a secret operation was conducted in Chechnyaâs third largest city of Argun with participation of Ramzan Kadyrovâs security service, soldiers of the rifle company under the command of Chechnya deputy military commandant Sulim Yamdayev and a group of the Chechen special purpose police unit. The secret operation targeted leaders of the local and newly come Wakhabits who get finance and directives directly from Shamil Basayev. Sulim Yamdayev says the secret operation was conducted by several mobile groups; several influential "shaitans" were liquidated during the operation. Liquidating shaitans. I think I saw that at a tent revival once.
When the special forces that conducted the operation checked one of the addresses that were to be visited during the operation, they were a success there. In the framework of the operation the special forces caught a gathering of Wakhabit amirs where the people were planning a takeover of Argun. There were 15 bandits present at the gathering, including Movladi Udugovâs subordinate Ismail Eskiyev and Shamil Basayevâs people, field commanders Isa Askhabov and Rashid Manayev. It was planned to catch the extremists alive as they were involved in recruiting of terrorists and in organization of Wakhabit sorties in the mountainous regions, in Grozny and Argun. What is more, the Wakhabits from Argun were responsible for training of female suicide terrorists. The building where the gathering took place was surrounded, but the amirs showed violent resistance. A fighting broke out when the special forces used grenade cup discharges and the Shmel flame throwers. The building took fire; majority of the Wakhabits were liquidated. Basayevâs three guerillas were arrested, and now the people are testifying. Unfortunately, one of the Wakhabit ideologists, Abdul-Khalim managed to escape. When the Russkies decide to liquidate you, they donât mess around. Unfortunately, the brains of the gang got away. Itâs wakhabit season!
Posted by: 11A5S ||
08/07/2003 12:30:13 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Flamethrowers will do that, though the proper word might be "melted".
#3
Mmmmm. Secwet opewations by Wamzan (thank you ma'am) Kadywov's Secuwity Sewvice, a wifle company, wesult in woasted wakhabit amiws and guewillas in Awgun... Wow!
#7
"grenade cup discharges"
Boy, that's a obsolete term. It's a early type of rifle grenade launcher, if I remember correctly. It was fixed on the end of a rifle, a mostly standard grenade dropped into it and it was propelled by a special blank cartridge. I didn't think anyone still used these things.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/07/2003 9:21 Comments ||
Top||
#9
After careful thought, I believe the need to "liquidate" Islamofascists is the right way to go. I've read somewhere that sonic waves, at the right intensity and frequency, will reduce all body cells to a slimey puddle, break the bones, and do other nasty things to the human body. Maybe this is what we need to do to these nutcases. Wonder how that fits with "Paradise" and the 72 raisins?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/07/2003 13:56 Comments ||
Top||
#10
The word "liquidate" sounds a lot less Darth Vader-y in Russian. It's the literal, direct translation of the word "likvidirovat", but I wonder what a more spin-friendly way to translate it might be. Neutralize?
Israel freed 334 Palestinian prisoners in a bid to jump-start halting peace efforts — but the gesture fell flat among Palestinians, who had hoped for a mass release and said authorities chose mostly prisoners whose terms were about to expire anyway. 334 isnât a mass release?
Still, emotional scenes were played out at the five handover points throughout the West Bank and Gaza, as freed men kissed the ground and waiting relatives chanted ``God is Greatââ and pounded on each other drums before whisking the former inmates to festive hometown welcomes. ``Iâve been waiting for this moment for a year,ââ said Hathem Kafisheh, leaning from a bus window to pick up and hug his daughter Alla. Kafisheh, a leader of the militant Islamic Hamas group in the West Bank city of Hebron, was arrested 13 months ago. Betcha heâs jugged again before his daughterâs next birhday. Any takers?
But many Palestinians expressed strong dissatisfaction with Israelâs perceived failure to send an unequivocal message that a new page has been turned after almost three years of deadly violence. You guys prolly wouldnât like the unequivocal message that the Israelis would really like to send.
``Despite the joy that every Palestinian feels over freedom for some of the Palestinians in Israeli prisons, the Palestinian Authority ... insists on the release of all Palestinian prisonersââ along a fixed timetable, Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Amr said.
"Nope. Nope. Not good enough. Mahmoud, go explode in a day care center!"
On Tuesday, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat called the release a ``deceit,ââ and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas called off a planned meeting Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, mostly because of the prisoner dispute. Ariel: "Well Moshe, that didnât seem to work."
"I know boss. What should we do?"
"Re-arrest all of them!"
Israel still holds more than 7,000 Palestinians, primarily on suspicion of involvement in terrorism. It says that despite a one-month lull in violence since militant groups declared a temporary cease-fire, it would be dangerous to release many more prisoners as long as militant groups remain armed and able to resume attacks. ``It is hysterically funny interesting that when Israel unilaterally releases prisoners ... they see fit to complain,ââ Sharon adviser Arnon Perlman said.
Release them, don't release them, they still complain. Do we see a pattern here?
The acrimony surrounding Israelâs intended gesture of goodwill underscored the bitterness on both sides over the lack of progress along the U.S.-backed ``road mapââ peace plan. Both sides have skirted key obligations: Israel has not frozen construction in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza or dismantled most of the 100-odd unauthorized settlement outposts. Its troops still control West Bank cities and prevent the free movement of Palestinians throughout the West Bank. The Palestinians have not disarmed and dismantled militant groups. Wow! An even-handed paragraph!
The Palestinians have also been angrily protesting the massive security fence Israel is building between its territory and the West Bank. Israel says it is a security measure to keep out suicide bombers; the Palestinians say the barrier encroaches unacceptably on West Bank land. But the issue of prisoners has proven particularly corrosive — and Israel had hoped a limited release would ease the pressure.
They could have released each and every one of them and it wouldn't have been "enough." There would have been another demand to follow...
The releases began around 2:30 p.m. as a Palestinian taxi carried the first batch of men from Israelâs Erez checkpoint into Gaza, where they were greeted by relatives waving flags and chanting ``Welcome.ââ Some of the men emerged from the taxi and kissed the ground. Hussein Abu Eid, 32, who served 13 years of a 15-year sentence for membership in the militant group Islamic Jihad, kissed and embraced his father for several minutes. ``I miss you, my father. I wish my mother were still alive to see me and bring happiness to her heart,ââ he said.
"But when she died, I'm sure she knew that I was very dangerous. I'm sure her heart was glad..."
Minutes later, four Israeli buses escorted by police arrived at Tarqumiya checkpoint in the southern West Bank. Prisoners leaned from windows and made victory signs before the buses crossed into the Palestinian areas, where they were greeted by eye-rolling, face-making, and gun sex whistles, cheers and drumming from hundreds of waiting relatives. Husam Nassredim, 24, an activist in Arafatâs Fatah movement who was held without charges for 14 months, was glad to be out, but still felt trapped in Hebron, a city ringed by Israeli military checkpoints. ``I went from a small prison to a bigger prison,ââ he said, arriving home to a shower of tossed candies, balloons and rose petals.
"But don't worry, I'll soon be back in the little prison!"
Other groups of prisoners were released at Tulkarm, Beitunya and Salem crossings in the West Bank. But the head of the Palestinian Prisoners Club in the West Bank, Khaleda Jarar, said almost half the freed prisoners were administrative detainees held without charge, and 80 percent of the others were in the final year of their prison terms. The Palestinian Authority said that as a protest it was not organizing official welcome ceremonies for those freed. Ingrates.
"Piss on 'em. They ain't real prisoners!"
Israeli officials have noted that Israel was not obligated to carry out any prisoners releases under the road map, and Sharon faced pressure from his government coalition and other quarters not to release suspected militants. Families of Israeli victims of Palestinian attacks had appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court to block the releases. The court rejected the appeals. A group of other Israelis who lost loved ones in Palestinian attacks demonstrated in support of the prisoner release at the Tulkarm checkpoint, holding a sign saying ``both sides have blood on their hands.ââ Funny how no one cares about them.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/07/2003 12:28:56 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
It's all a game.
If Sharon frees the prisoners, he can perhaps score some Kudos and still let the settlements go ahead and build his wall.
He'd rather free the Paleos and have settlements and a wall than lose settlements and war and keep the Paleos.
You cannot kill them when they are in Jail, after all.
And we all know the first thing they will do is organise to kill more jews and break the roadmap to pieces.
When that is done, Israel will have a pretext to obliterate them (hopefully though it always seems to end up some pissant little scheme to assasinate a few here a few there but not to comprehensively defeat and kick them out).
Kick them back to Jordan. Just take the rest of the land, fight the war, kick the Paleos to Syria and Jordan, bring on the Big Wall and be done with it!
Sure the lefties will scream for a bit but this running pustulous bubo needs to be popped, razed and quaterised!
#2
And, if any of the freed prisoners commit a terrorist attack, Sharon wins, can tell the world "See? we tried to play nice and they turned around and did this." Then the world, (or at least the US) will turn around while he cleans out the occupied territories.
Posted by: Ben ||
08/07/2003 6:03 Comments ||
Top||
#3
And some of the releasees will, in effect, be spies for Israel.
#5
If ever there was an appropriate sci-fi scenario for implanting under-the-skin transmitter/locaters, this would be it. Then wait for a cluster of them to get together and stage a little "work" accident. "Oops--looks like they were taking a refresher course in Bomb Making 101 and closed the loop!"
Posted by: Dar ||
08/07/2003 9:37 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Oh DAR that is BRILLIANT
please tell me that the IDF and the US intelligence are making use of this technology.
Oh please, this is just too good to pass up. bloody fantastic. We never hear about it, maybe there are proceedural rules against it or something, but maybe they just do it and don't tell anybody. Good. I don't want to know if that protects us all from squealing lefties complaining about 1984 and invasion of terrorist's privacy and all.
#8
Ben - No one but the JPost or Ha'aretz (sp?) would cover such a story - not in their editorial agenda to tell the whole truth, just their preselected bits - with large doses of speculative spin.
#9
Anon1--I've probably watched too many movies, but it'd be neat if they could. I know the Mossad doesn't have too many compulsions about bending the rules when the security of their homeland is in question. If they could have a JDAM-equipped bomber circling high enough out of site, they could probably turn any parolee convention into a smoking crater (like the "Clear and Present Danger" drug cartel hootnanny).
Ah, well, I can dream, can't I?
Posted by: Dar ||
08/07/2003 14:20 Comments ||
Top||
#10
If they could have a JDAM-equipped bomber circling high enough out of site, they could probably turn any parolee convention into a smoking crater
And then you could pass it off as just another Paleo "work accident." "Geez, there's been a lot of those lately!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/07/2003 14:22 Comments ||
Top||
Palestinian resistance groups on Wednesday, August 6, rebuffed a reported U.S. proposal for releasing all of their detained members in Israeli jails in return for disbanding their armed wings. The proposal, published by the Saudi-owned Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper a day earlier, was dismissed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad as ârude and absurdâ.
"Absurd" I can understand, kinda. "Rude"? Did we fart?
âThe American demand is so rude and radical, as we are now fighting only for our land that has been captured since 1948,â said Abdel-Aziz Rantissi, a Hamas leader, highlighting widely-believed views that occupation is a lead to anti-Israel attacks. Vowing to keep fighting on till âour homeland is liberatedâ, Rantissi offered a reciprocal initiative, whereby âwe will stop hunting for Israelis in return for allowing them to get out of our homeland safelyâ.
Next time they try to kill this guys, they should send guys on foot. And use a barbecue fork.
For Adnan Asfouri, the Hamas leader in Nablus, the American proposal âposes a threat to the Palestinians and all of Arab peoples, as it is an extension of other proposals for ending the Arab power in the region and the beginning of the end for Arab armiesâ. Life in Palestinian territories is an exception among all world areas, and âwe could have been living normally unless there is an occupation,â said Asfouri.
"We'd know all about cause and effect and all those things if it weren't for them Jews. Our kids'd know how to read and write instead of exploding if it weren't for them Jews..."
Abdullah Al-Shami, an Islamic Jihad leader, slammed Washingtonâs reported proposal as âso absurdâ. âThe U.S. administration should cut a long road short by pressing for an end to occupation of Palestinian territories,â in order to end resistance attacks, said Shami.
I hope that when the road map is good and failed we press for an end to the occupation of Paleostinian territories by Paleostinians.
Asharq Al-Awsat reported that the United States would present Israel with the proposal and, if agreed upon, would ask Arab countries âto pressure the Palestinians into accepting itâ.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/07/2003 00:07 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
RantSissi is a scream and I hope someday to be able to hear him prove it on his way off this mortal plane. He should be number one with a bullet (or Zuni, if more convenient) the instant the Road Map plug is pulled and Israel is finally un-hamstrung by the one-sided cease-fire. Al Shami, another conveniently-named jerkoff, can be second if he'll continue waving his arms and jumping up and down to enhance identification.
#2
I predict RantIssi the Watusi will be gone before the Olsen twins are legal
Posted by: Not Mike Moore ||
08/07/2003 1:10 Comments ||
Top||
#3
"Mr. Rantisi, meet Mr. Barrett. Mr. Barrett, Mr. Rantisi. I'll leave you two boys alone so you can get to know each other."
Posted by: Mike ||
08/07/2003 8:05 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Hit the Sheikh in the wheelchair. Better, just have the IDF Infantry push him down a steep hill...you know, for sh!ts and giggles...
Posted by: Brian ||
08/07/2003 12:37 Comments ||
Top||
#5
âThe U.S. administration should cut a long road short by pressing for an end to occupation of Palestinian territories,â in order to end resistance attacks, said Shami.
Uh huh. And when Jewish settlers and the IDF are totally out of "Palestinian territories" the "resistance attacks" will end?
I suspect that chances of this happening are highly unlikely.
#6
"The American demand is so rude and radical, as we are now fighting only for our land that has been captured since 1948,â said Abdel-Aziz Rantissi, a Hamas leader
Oops! Rantmouth let the cat out of the bag here, folks. we are now fighting only for our land that has been captured since 1948 means ALL the Jewish State of Israel, which came into being in 1948. This thug has publically stated the obvious truth - that nothing will satisfy the jihadis but the complete elimination of Israel and all its Jewish inhabitants. This, by itself, should be enough to stop the nonsense and bomb the paleos back to the grass-and-earthworm level. NOTHING but the complete elimination of Israel will be enough for "peace" in the Middle East. Take the gloves off, and stop the stupid dancing. Vowing to keep fighting on till âour homeland is liberatedâ, Rantissi offered a reciprocal initiative, whereby âwe will stop hunting for Israelis in return for allowing them to get out of our homeland safelyâ.
I think the Israelis have other ideas, and bigger hammers, er, I mean, bombs (hammers wouldn't work anyway - ever hit half-inch sheet steel with a hammer? Headaches for weeks! Paleo heads are harder).
Time to stop playing games, tear down that idiot wall that won't work, and start exporting paleos - there's a nice, deep ocean to the west there.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/07/2003 16:27 Comments ||
Top||
#7
So compromise. Just release their heads. Keep the bodies in the jug. Let 'em make pissy comments about that.
The parliament of Cote d'Ivoire voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to approve an amnesty for rebels occupying the north of the country. The law was approved with no votes against and only two abstentions, despite much grumbling from the Ivorian Patriotic Front (FPI) of President Laurent Gbagbo. The amnesty law covers acts of rebellion against the government since the controversial presidential elections of September 200 when several hundred people died in clashes. Trouble arose because former prime minister Alassane Ouattara was barred from standing in the poll on the grounds that he was not a true Ivorian.
"He's ummmm... a Samoan."
However, the rebel Patriotic Movement of Cote d'Ivoire (MPCI), continues to hold sway in the north of the country and the passage of the amnesty law was considered essential by all sides for a planned process of demobilisation and disarmament to get under way. It paves the way for soldiers and policemen who joined the rebel ranks to be reintegrated into the security forces.
Where they can do it again when they feel like it...
The rebels are also demanding that President Gbagbo appoint new ministers of defence and the interior to the broad-based coalition government before they hand over their guns and allow government administrators back into the north. The appointment of the two ministers has been held up for months by the lack of a consensus between Gbagbo, the unarmed opposition parties and the rebels over who should occupy these key posts. However, Prime Minister Seydou Diarra said during a visit to Paris last week that he would make proposals soon to overcome the impasse.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/07/2003 00:06 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Twelve white farmers evicted from their farms in Zimbabwe have inspected land in different parts of the country with a view to re-locating to Uganda, the executive director of Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), Magie Kigozi, has said. About 11 million hectares have been seized from the white owners by President Robert Mugabeâs government since 2000. "They came here in three groups. We arranged and showed them UIA land and that of other Ugandans. They found the land good but had no source of funding, having lost their money in Zimbabwe," Kigozi said.
No doubt the UN has a special fund to help in this sort of case, since they were robbed by a corrupt government...
She said the farmers could not immediately obtain 100 percent financing from the local banks. She said the farmers were early this year shown big chunks of land in Hoima, Mubende, Nakasongola and Pallisa districts. Kigozi said UIA has a databank of all land in the country for investment. "It was not possible to move on because they didnât have the money ready," said Kigozi. The chairman of the Uganda Manufacturersâ Association, William Kalema, said the farmers expressed interest in commercial farming. Health state minister and Soroti municipality MP Mike Mukula invited the farmers to Teso. President Yoweri Museveni has proposed a constitutional amendment under which the government can compulsorily acquire land for private investors. Article 237 of the Constitution says the government or a local government can only acquire land in public interest for government projects.
Make the resettlement a government project, then. Having them there will redound to the benefit of Uganda...
There were unconfirmed reports that many of the former Zimbabwean farmers have resettled in Uganda while others have moved to Mozambique, Zambia and Botswana. Zimbabweâs white-run Commercial Farmersâ Union earlier this month claimed that evictions of the few remaining white farmers were continuing.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/07/2003 00:06 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Museveni's amendment sounds like eminent domain which would be fine, as long as the owners of the land the government takes is properly compensated. That might be considered a novel concept in Africa.
A separate thought: one wonders why the white farmers wouldn't organize some to get the best deal they could from one of the named governments (Botswana, Zambia, Uganda, etc.). Seems like a "package offer" where the farmers provide the know-how and hard work, and a government provides venture capital and land, would work well. Sticking together might give them a lot more political swat.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/07/2003 0:16 Comments ||
Top||
#2
This must've been what the African investment buzz was about recently... ;-)
#4
LH: Uganda's already been through the other end of the spectrum. "Idi Amin: The Wonder Years". Get a taste of that once and "rational" probably looks pretty good.
#5
But prior to Idi they were also rational. It appears to be something that strikes without warning...
Posted by: Fred ||
08/07/2003 13:25 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Maybe the good-bad govt in the area is just a sinusoidal function. Plant, grow, harvest in good political times, cool it and take a vacation in bad times.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/07/2003 13:36 Comments ||
Top||
The Mauritanian government has released about 90 soldiers, including four senior officers, who had been arrested for questioning after a failed coup d'etat on 8 June. The soldiers were released on Saturday after being cleared of involvement in the coup attempt, which led to two days of heavy fighting in the capital Nouakchott. Dozens more of the 150 or so suspects who were rounded up after the failed putsch were likely to be released this week. Three former army officers suspected of leading the uprising against President Maaouiya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya have all gone into hiding. But a lieutenant implicated in the coup attempt who fled to Senegal, was arrested and extradited back to Mauritania last month to face trial.
Lietenants aren't really large fish...
Last Saturday, a group of leading imams and Islamic scholars in Mauritania issued a joint declaration, which had the status of an official fatwa, condemning the wave of arrests as an affront to justice and divine law.
"Yes! Yes! It is against justice and divine law to detain people who shoot up the capital and want to impose theocracy! God told us that!"
Meanwhile, former president Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah has announced that he will stand against Taya, who deposed him in a coup 19 years ago, in presidential elections due on November 7. Ould Haidallah is a 63-year-old former army colonel who enjoys strong support among Islamic religious leaders, the business community and the Mauritanian diaspora in Europe. He headed a military government in this desert country of 2.5 million from 1980 to 1984 and is widely regarded as the strongest challenger to emerge so far to the current president.
The mullahs flopped in the coup attempt. Now they'll get out the vote and see if they can't take over that way.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/07/2003 00:06 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Mullahs issue "fatwas"! A coup in Africa! All we need now is the UN calling for peace keeping forces and this will be just like every other story I've read about Africa for about 20 years.
#2
"It is the duty of the opposition to oppose." -- Winston Churchill.
Raj is right: link to news and don't use Rantburg to launch political screeds, be they from the right or the left. That's what comments are for :-)
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/07/2003 0:18 Comments ||
Top||
#3
What a LOAD-o-SHIT--incoherent babble--so much for newsworthy commentary
Posted by: Not Mike Moore ||
08/07/2003 0:30 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Dittos to Raj and SW. "This ain't no party. This ain't no disco. This ain't no IndyMedia." But hey, I also believe in Mulligans. Give it another try.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
08/07/2003 0:35 Comments ||
Top||
#5
L.A. Silvestro must be new and not know the rules. Which are: posted items must be news, and any opinions are always in yellow. (Either the poster's snarky remarks scattered throughtout the news piece, or in commentary below.)
#6
LA Silvestro has his head so far up his RepublicaN ASS hw can't read the rulz
Posted by: Not Mike Moore ||
08/07/2003 1:08 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Perhaps this was not the correct forum, but LA is pointing to something that is going to gravely affect US politics for years to come. The Democrats are in danger of becoming an irrelavant force in politics. Drudge reports Ann Coulter's book is the #3 nonfiction best seller. Sgr. Styker recently posted a letter from one of our troops in the gulf expressing alot of the same sentiments. The meme is out there, and growing.
Do we want a one party nation if only by default?
Posted by: Ben ||
08/07/2003 5:58 Comments ||
Top||
#8
I think you guys are counting out the Dems a bit too quickly. Remember there are *a lot* of people out there in America who believe 911 was America's own fault, etc etc. That's still a considerable force to draw from.
#9
Ben--not to worry. The pendulum always swings one way or the other, and both parties will eventually gravitate towards the center to get the votes they really need. Even if the Dems self-destruct, another beast will rise in its place, not so much defined by what it believes in but by countering what the Republicans believe in.
Posted by: Dar ||
08/07/2003 9:32 Comments ||
Top||
#10
And thus does NMM, by his very words, proves Mr. Silvestro's points: Heavy on carping and criticism, lite on alternatives.
My belief is that the Republican Party will split into moderate and conservative factions: Both Bush presidents were hardly conservative.
#11
The Democrats are in the same place the Republicans were in 1998 or so during the impeachment deal. They will recover when someone with some new ideas comes along.
I would like to see Ptah's belief come true more or less. I'd like to see the moderate Republicans and moderate democrats form a third party and free themselves from their more extreme elements.
#12
In Bush's defense, Reagan couldn't control spending either -- he spent like a drunk sailor, forced by Tip O'Neill to accept unbounded increases in the Welfare State, but that doesn't diminish his conservative stature.
Posted by: Brian ||
08/07/2003 12:27 Comments ||
Top||
#13
Wow, one minute I saw the post, the next minute, poof! :)
#14
#sigh# Me-thinks that Mr. Silvestro was taking the "rant" part of Rantsburg a little-to-seriously! Of course, he's pretty much right on the money about the Dims - unfortunately, though, I don't think that they are going anywhere anytime soon. Oh, and NMM, you still haven't learned how to play nice yet. TRY AGAIN.
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.
