California Democratic Party Spokesman âBaghdadâ Bob Mulholland this weekend warned Arnold Schwarzenegger that "real bullets" will be coming his way during his campaign to be governor! "Schwarzenegger is going to find out, that unlike a Hollywood movie set, the bullets coming at him in this campaign are going to be real bullets and he is going to have to respond to them," warned Mulholland in an interview with a camera crew from ABC NEWS.
That's a fairly crummy choice of words for a guy who's supposed to be in politix...
"[Wife] Maria [Shriver] has been very concerned about Arnoldâs safety, her family has a history with assassination, you know," a source with direct ties to the movie star told the DRUDGE REPORT from Los Angeles. "Mr. Mulholland and his talk of âreal bulletsâ with Arnoldâs name on them is reckless and not acceptable political discourse. He should be fired immediately, if the Democrats have any conscience." (Conscience? Democrats? Yeah right!)
The stunning threat from Mulholland, who rose to fame in 1992 after exposing how Republican Senate candidate Bruce Herschensohn visted a strip joint in Hollywood, comes as the historic recall election moves in to high gear — and Schwarzenegger takes the lead in the polls. (âBaghdadâ Bob is Davisâs chief mud-slinger and this is a good example. No If I were running I would have said three words about strip clubbing: "IT IS LEGAL")
Mullholland could not be reached for comment Sunday night. (He went to a strip club)
Elsewhere, opponents of Schwarzenegger have launched a scorched search for at least one video which purports to show the star openly fondling a reporterâs breast while he was on a promotional tour in England or the movie 6TH DAY. TV reporter Anna Richardson branded Arnold as "totally unprofessional" after he pawed her breast and patted her bottom during an interview. Millions watched as he repeatedly squeezed her on live morning TV, according to press reports. (Geez throw a chick a bone and this is what he gets)
In a 2002 interview with the WEEKLY STANDARD, Schwarzenegger said it was all lies. "No one that has been around me would believe that a woman would be complaining about me holding her," he cracked. (I will terminate her!) (If you all like your politics dirty, you will love the next sixty-odd days. Also mark my words that the day AFTER Davis getâs booted, he will file a lawsuit to block it.)
#2
actually Garry South is the head of the Graystopo - his dirty smear team. Bob is just a freelance partisan idiot, best remembered for digging up dirt on Republicans (Herschenson, etc.) and in a frenzy during the impeachment. Still, a major league asshole and sleaze
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2003 18:46 Comments ||
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....and majorly out of his league with Arnie. Keep in mind that I am not a supporter of the Govenator; I'll be voting for McClintock because he represents the Republican wing of the Republican party. But Arnie is a class act, and people LIKE him in California: nobody cares if he's grabbed some tail or smoked a joint here in the Sunshine State. Gray's minions sling mud at their own risk.
#4
They're following the script that I blogged on August 7. First it was that he was a Nazi. Then it was that he had no experience. Over the weekend it was that he's rich. Now it's that he like women. I'm predicting either the "he's dumb" line or the "he's gay" line next. I didn't think they'd go for the women before the dumb line.
#5
Hard to do the "he's dumb" line when it's clear that he isn't -- he's an engaging, intelligent speaker and he has a degree in business. And there aren't many multi-millionaire dummies.
Hard to do the "he's gay" line when it's clear that Arnie really, really likes women. He's got Maria who no Rantburger would toss out of bed for eating crackers there.
"He's a Nazi" and "he has no experience" aren't sticking so far. "He's rich" is actually an endorsement.
Gray Davis is about out of smears. Too bad!
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/11/2003 23:19 Comments ||
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#3
Can't wait for the lawsuit claiming this to be a violation of the new campaign finance laws.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/11/2003 14:49 Comments ||
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#4
I'm hoping to find one under the Christmas tree next to my Red Rider Carbine-Action Range Rifle With The 200-Shot Magazine And The Compass In The Stock.
Posted by: Mike ||
08/11/2003 17:05 Comments ||
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#6
Well, this solves the problem of what to get all of my Democratic friends for Christmas.
Posted by: Matt ||
08/11/2003 17:41 Comments ||
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#7
I thought that for legal reasons you couldn't actually identify a doll like this as the Prez.
For example, HeroBuilders just calls their doll America's President, without explicitly stating that it's GWB. Also comes in Tony Blair and Rudy Giuliani flavors, neither of which are called that. Business suits sold separately.
I see now that besides the reliable Saddam and Osama villain figures, they have Baghdad Bob (including a talking model!---but, dammit, the sound clips do not include roasting stomachs in hell).
Furthermore, while they don't actually classify them as villains, they do have Herr Schroeder and Comrade Putin dolls, along with Le Worm (he talks! he whines! he pontificates!). And there's a lovely diorama of Khalid Sheik Mohammed wearing the big-collared Shirt o' Shame.
But still, still, no Rummy doll. I am so steamed. I was going to have my mom make him some biker leathers.
Five Britons jailed in Saudi Arabia after being convicted of a series of bomb attacks were mentally and physically tortured right up until their release last week, the fiancee of one of the men said Monday. Gillian Barton, whose boyfriend Jimmy Lee was held in a Riyadh prison for 2-1/2 years until he was freed Friday, said he and four other Britons granted clemency and released at the same time had endured "unbelievable" levels of abuse and torture. 2 and a half years? Crikey!
A spokesman for the Saudi embassy in London rejected any suggestion that Lee and his fellow prisoners had been tortured, saying they had been "well treated." "For Kaffirs"
Barton told Reuters in a telephone interview: "They were all tortured -- both mentally and physically. Every one of their stories is as horrendous as the other. And it lasted for the whole time ... it was from the beginning to the end. What Jimmy has told me is worse than I could ever have imagined. It is just absolutely unbelievable." Barton declined to give any details of the alleged torture, saying: "It is up to the men to say what has happened to them. They want to say it themselves."
And if they do, the next batch won't get sprung. Funny, how that works...
The five Britons, a Canadian and a Belgian, all of whom had been convicted of carrying out a wave of bombings in Saudi Arabia in 2000 and early 2001, were freed by the Gulf state on Friday. Two of the men had been sentenced to death and, if the sentences had been ratified by King Fahd, would have faced public beheading. The others, including Lee, had been given lengthy prison sentences of up to 12 years. The Saudi embassy spokesman said they were held in air-conditioned rooms with regular access to visitors, lawyers, media, medical care, exercise facilities and whatever food they asked for. yeah riiggghhhttt
"Torture is illegal in Saudi Arabia," he told Reuters. "If there is any complaint about torture it will be thoroughly investigated and, if convicted, the torturers will be punished." with pay raises and new houses
He said he was not aware of any formal complaints by the prisoners. Two of the former prisoners — Briton Alexander Mitchell and Canadian William Sampson — had been shown on Saudi television in February 2001 confessing to bomb attacks. The confessions were the only evidence against them made public. They later retracted their confessions and their families and friends have said they believe the men, all held in solitary confinement, had been tortured. Barton, who lived and worked as a nurse in Saudi Arabia until a few months ago, said that while Lee had no visible physical injuries, he was displaying signs of mental distress. "Heâs okay in the way he looks. But he looks haunted. He doesnât quite know what heâs doing, he seems lost," she said, adding Lee was contacting the other prisoners to arrange to get together and tell their story.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2003 10:37:36 AM ||
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#1
"Gimme a nice pork chop, Achmed, and snap it up!"
#2
That should be quite an embarrassing story for the Saudis. I'm hoping for absolute maximum publicity over this. Kick the rock away and watch them squirm in the sunlight.
Shame the Belgians neutered their International Divine Arbiters of Justice Law so recently - I'll bet they had a huge heap of suits piling up against the human-rights abusing, global terrorism sponsoring, Belgian-torturing House of Saud. They did, right?
#4
The Belgian law wasn't meant for the Saudis - but it's a nice thought.
Posted by: El Id ||
08/11/2003 15:41 Comments ||
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#5
Sometime in the not-too-distant future (like, about next Thursday), the US needs to send two divisions from Iraq to Beirut, cleaning house along the way. A third division needs to drive to Aden, on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, also cleaning house along the way. Offer the Poles and the Spaniards low-cost oil, and I'm sure we won't get any objection from them, and may even get some cooperation. Once we're done, I can just see the sweat beading on the face of the rest of the Arab hellholes.
Once we've finished cleaning house, we need to start slowly bringing these idiots into the 21st century. Since they're "only" about ten centuries behind, it won't happen overnight.
We'll need to increase the production of earplugs immediately to ward off the damage done by the squealing coming from the EU and the UN, but that's a small price to pay.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/11/2003 18:42 Comments ||
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Shooting erupted in the Saudi capital after a police patrol tried to stop a car, the Ministry of Interior said Monday. No one was injured and no arrests were immediately reported, according to a ministry statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency. The ministry said a driver fled in his car when police tried to stop him along a main highway in Riyadh Sunday night. Such traffic checks have become routine since May 12. The driver later stopped at a rest point on the highway where two other cars appeared. Several people emerged from the other cars and started shooting, the ministry said. Doesnât say who was shooting at who.
The ministry said an investigation is underway. That might be a good idea.
The Saudi daily Al-Jazira, quoting "security sources," said that between eight to 10 suspects were involved and that weapons, explosives, personal belongings and identification cards were found at the rest stop after the shooting. As they say, developing.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/11/2003 9:07:21 AM ||
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Eight to ten people in one car? Is the circus in town?
#6
More from al-Jaz: Saudi police arrested about 10 suspected militants after a shootout in the capital Riyadh, security sources said on Monday.
The sources told Reuters that police had found hand grenades with the men after Sundayâs clash, in which no one was injured.
Another gang that couldn't shoot straight.
The source said the men were fugitives but it was not clear if they were linked to the Riyadh bombings in May or to Saudi-born Osama bin Ladenâs group. There have been several clashes between police and militant groups in the kingdom following the suicide bombings in Riyadh which killed 35 people, including nine Americans. Police have arrested more than 200 suspects since then, and late last month six -linked militants were killed in clashes with security forces.
An Interior Ministry official told the Saudi Press Agency that Sundayâs shootout erupted at a rest stop in Riyadhâs northern al-Amana area after a police patrol tried to stop a car but its driver sped off. âThey chased the car which stopped near a rest stop and the driver got out carrying a weapon. Immediately afterwards, two cars emerged from behind the rest stop and those inside started firing at random,â the official said.
Which one's Random? Thank you, I'll be here all week.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/11/2003 16:43 Comments ||
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The first time I went to Saudi I read a story in the Green Truth that described an "accident" on the causeway to Bahrain. 31 people died in a 2-car collision. Yep, you read it right. 2 of those monster Surburbans managed to hit head-on at high speed on the causeway (prolly why they installed the speeder cameras). 3 people lived, the article said. So picture that there were 34 people in 2 vehicles. When you're a newbie, you marvel at the 31/34 stat. After 6 months, the response is, "Only 31?"
A Pakistani and an Afghan were beheaded by the sword in Saudi Arabia on Sunday for smuggling drugs, the kingdomâs interior ministry said. Lal Rahman Habibullah Khan of Pakistan was caught smuggling heroin into the kingdom and convicted of drug trafficking. He was executed in the capital Riyadh. Afghan national Assadullah bin Mohammed Jan bin Rahim Dad, known as Mohammed Nabi Hamsha, was also found guilty of smuggling heroin and executed in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, the ministry said.
And a wonderful time was had by all. Except them, of course...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/11/2003 00:04 ||
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maybe the saudi's just didn't like them. Wouldn't be the first time they just cooked up a case to get rid of people they don't like.
#2
I mean really... who would smuggle heroin into a wahabbist stronghold? It's not like there is a ready market for white slag in Riyadh. This case is just bogus. They were probably jihadi grunts too dim to realise that now the House of Saud must crack down on jihadis and is looking for pawns to sacrifice.
#3
Or they could have been smuggling drugs. Even under the Taliban, Afghanistan was big into the heroin production business.
You guys think there's no drug use in Wahabbi-land? Think again.
Posted by: Tom ||
08/11/2003 9:22 Comments ||
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Of course, it could be both - jihadis smuggling heroin. It's a ready cash crop in most countries that produce it, and right now jihadis need funds. Things must be getting pretty dry with all the confiscations, charity closings, and such.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/11/2003 10:06 Comments ||
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yep, I think there is not much drug use in Wahabbi land. Because there would always be a nosey neighbour/uncle/Imam to go tell the local religious police.
Plus i don't take at face value the explanations that accompany the gruesome beheadings and lashings that frequent the land of Saud. They often plant stuff on people they don't like.
EG: early this year, an Australian man was flogged because his *wife* - a nurse at a hospital there *allegedly* stole some hospital equipment. Equipment she denies stealing, equipment that she had no use for, as she goes to work and uses it all the time there.
They just didn't like him so they made it up.
When power is absolute and arbitrary in its application, you can make up whatever you want.
I do not believe that there is a big ready market for white slag in Saudi: a country where alcohol is banned and anyone caught trying to enter with a bible is detained for questioning.
#6
The population is young, the unemployment rate is staggering, and plenty of things go on behind closed doors. Fanatics are a minority. I don't dispute that many charges are just politically "convenient," but that doesn't mean that there is no crime.
Posted by: Tom ||
08/11/2003 11:12 Comments ||
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the Saudis can't be trusted. Period. They regularly cook up stories - like that story today about the 5 Brits, 1 Belgian and 1 Canadian imprisoned for 2&1/2 years for blowing things up????
One of them was a nurse for chrissakes. He went over there to earn a shitload of US$ tax free, living in the westerner compound and being a nurse. THe likelihood of him running amok with the others and blowing stuff up is ZIP.
When the Saudis regularly make up stories for westerners, I wouldn't trust their word on Pakis or Afghans either.
Just because we all KNOW that white slag comes in great quantities from that part of the world is not a reason to believe the Saudis.
And I dispute that fanatics are the minority in Saudi. They are not a culture of tolerance controlled by a fanatical minority at the top. If anything they are a fanatical majority being held back by a minority of westernised royals!
Edited for brevity.
Australiaâs leading relationship counselling body is urging lonely older single women to become lesbians. Relationships Australia spokesman Jack Carney said menâs shorter life spans, and their pursuit of much younger women, meant women in their twilight years were often forced to turn to other women for love and companionship. Mr Carney said the government-funded support group encouraged older women to explore lesbian relationships, which were seen as more nurturing and emotionally supportive. "As they get over 60, opportunities to get a man diminish substantially. Men marry younger women and they die about eight years younger, so there is a real male shortage," Mr Carney said. "And as women get even older it gets much worse, so we ask them to entertain the idea of lesbian relationships." Anon1--If it gets that bad, Iâm sure we can find a guy for you here in the US! ;-)
Posted by: Dar ||
08/11/2003 2:15:42 PM ||
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#1
More good news from the Australian Worker's Paradise!
It's that bad even for those of us who still qualify as young!!!
Oh it's even worse when gross old 70-year-old men start chasing under 30s. LIke they have a chance !
it's just awful. Why can't they settle down with a nice 70-yr-old woman?
Companionship, shared interests, laughs.. do these things mean nothing anymore?
I mean how on earth is a 70-yr-old supposed to relate to an under-30? By going to see the latest band? a rave? sheesh.
#3
This is an example of the sort of thing that is going to happen more and more to our societies as they age and decay. This, folks, is the death of the West right in front of you. Now, I'm not saying this because I have anything against old lesbians (I live in Berkeley for chrissakes) but this says a lot about the state of our families, our priorities, and our aging populations.
1) Why in the heck isn't widowed grandma living with her extended family -- a system that's served us well for, oh, ten thousand years. Because they aren't there for her, is why. Either she didn't have children or the ungreatful little bastards refuse to take her in. Not a problem in Asian, Islmamic, or Hispanic cultures my friends.
2) Why in the heck is widowed grandma alone? Where are the people she grew up with? Scattered - no more small towns or tightly knit urban neighborhoods. Just suburbia and urban sprawl.
3) Why are there so many grandmaws? We are living much, much longer (or at least our women are), but technology has moved much faster than our ability to culturally change and adapt.
But we had better start, or the West will be as dead as old Pat Buchannan predicts it will be.
#5
I haven't quite reached the 70-year point yet, but I can understand, and more clearly with each passing year. If you were a man, which rather see nekkid before you die? A 70-year-old named Maude or a 29-year-old named Trixie? Think hard, now...
And don't underestimate the value to a younger woman's self esteem of a man with a few (hundred thousand) miles on him. Think of the deep and abiding appreciation as he lovingly runs his rheumy old eyes over your nubile young body. Think of the adoration in those eyes as he clutches his chest and keels over at the sight. Think of the insurance policy...
Posted by: Fred ||
08/11/2003 20:52 Comments ||
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Armed men claiming to be supporters of Solomon Islands warlord Harold Keke have attacked a newspaper office in neighbouring Papua New Guinea, according to a local newspaper. The PNG Post-Courier said four armed men attacked its bureau in Buka, Bougainville, yesterday. Bougainville is part of PNG and just across the border from the Solomon Islands, scene of a four-year civil war. Mr Keke, who last week admitted six missionary hostages were dead, operates on the Weathercoast of Guadalcanal but has family ties with Bougainville. Post-Courier editor Oseah Philemon said four men armed with commando knives and a pump-action shotgun forced their way into the Post-Courier's office in central Buka. He says they told chief correspondent Gorethy Kenneth to stop reporting on Mr Keke's men being present in Buka. Last Friday the Post-Courier reported that Mr Keke was planning to escape the Australian-led intervention force in the Solomons through Bougainville.
Could Harold maybe be shot while trying to escape? Or maybe just shoot him whether he tries to escape or not...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/11/2003 00:04 ||
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Why don't we send Charlie Taylor there? He knows how to deal with guys like Harold, just like he dealt with Prince Johnson. And the SAS knows how to deal with Charlie. I call this a two-fer!
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/11/2003 1:16 Comments ||
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Ummm... Bad idea. He'd deal with Harold by forming an alliance, and wouldn't kill him until everyone around them was dead...
Posted by: Fred ||
08/11/2003 20:54 Comments ||
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French President Jacques Chiracâs chances of winning this yearâs prestigious Nobel peace prize, for which he boasts a nomination, are microscopic, Norwegian experts say."Chiracâs chances are infinitely small," said Stein Toennesson, head of the Peace Research Institute of Oslo PRIO, adding that Chiracâs stance against war in Iraq did not amount to making him a man of peace. "Chiracâs position during the Iraq crisis was closely linked to national interests and not specifically to any desire for peace for the sake of peace. And looking back over his career, there is no trace of a continuous commitment to peace," he said. Snicker
"The Nobel committee cannot reward a failure," said Tove Gravdal, a journalist and France expert at daily Aftenposten, adding that the Nobel prize for Chirac would be extremely controversial in the United States, but also in Norway. "Here we remember that one of Chiracâs first decisions after being elected president was to resume nuclear testing in the Mururoa atoll. Thatâs enough to outweigh his actions against war in Iraq," she said.In general, students of French history were "not struck by the countryâs pacificism," she added. Bwahahaha!!
Posted by: Steve ||
08/11/2003 4:36:18 PM ||
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On the other hand, they gave it to Arafat before, so for consistency's sake they should atleast give Chirac serious consideration.
#2
George Ryan, former gov of Illinois, who imposed a moritorium on capital crime executions. Then two days before leaving office commuted all death sentences. BTW, he didn't run for another term because of bribe scandal while he was IL Sec of State. You heard it here first. Any other nominations?
Posted by: Michael ||
08/11/2003 18:27 Comments ||
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I can't see them giving it to Bush because they hate him so much. My money is on Castro or perhaps the madman in charge of North korea.
A few brief glimpses at Turkish news:
ââNOBODY SHOULD TRY TO BRING THE ARMED FORCES INTO A LINEââ
General Staff Second Chief Gen. Yasar Buyukanit who was appointed as the commander of the First Army hosted a cocktail party for reporters in the garden of the General Staff Headquarters in Ankara. Answers of Gen. Buyukanit to questions of reporters were full of messages to both the government and the United States. These messages can be summarized under four headlines:
"1-Nobody should use the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) for his political purposes.
2- Nobody should attempt to bring the TSK into a line. The TSKâs line is quite clear.
3- Todayâs conditions are more risky than those on March 1 in terms of dispatch of troops to Iraq.
4- I hope that our concerns which we expressed about the seventh package of adjustment with the EU would not come true." Thatâs a message to the government
PRESIDENT SEZER REFUSES TO ATTEND WEDDING
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer attended the inauguration of the Philosophy Congress in Istanbul. However, he did not attend the wedding ceremony of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoganâs son Bilal Erdogan. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy and Prime Minister Fatos Nano of Albania were in attendance at the wedding ceremony as witnesses. Earlier, Prime Minister Erdogan sent an invitation to President Sezer and his wife to attend the wedding of his son. More than 10 thousand guests watched the ceremony. And thatâs a message to Erdogan, wonder why he didnât go?
Wedding ceremony of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoganâs son Bilal Erdogan and Reyyan Uzuner paralyzed daily life and traffic in Istanbul. 5 thousand policemen were deployed for the wedding ceremony in which 14 thousand guests attended. Many roads were closed to the traffic under security measures. Meanwhile, participants of the 21st World Philosophy Congress were utterly bewildered with guests of the wedding wearing black Islamic-style cloths. Oh, thatâs why.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/11/2003 3:22:13 PM ||
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You donât have to be one of the retired generals on cable TV to see how important precision-guided, "smart" bombs have been to the U.S. militaryâs recent successes. Laser- and satellite-directed munitions have allowed U.S. forces to target individual buildings in Baghdad or Kabul, without harming the surrounding neighborhood. But a German firm says it has developed effective countermeasures to at least some smart bombs. And itâs about to sell these defenses on the open market, reports Janeâs International Defence Review. The system, developed by Buck Neue Technologien, uses a series of 32 decoy rounds, all fired within seconds, to distract laser-guided munitions from their intended target. The 81 mm decoys are filled with chaff, to stop radar-seekers, and red phosphor, to create a cloud that blocks infrared light.
Buck Neue Technologien has already built a version of their bomb defenses for navies. Itâs called Multi-Ammunition Softkill System, or MASS. [CEO] Papperger tells Janeâs that his company has been "approached by âcertain very wealthy people in Asiaâ who would have an interest in the capability offered by MASS to protect their homes against missile attack." Vielen Dank, Herr Papperger. Hope itâs as effective as those Soviet GPS jammers Saddam tried.
Posted by: Dar ||
08/11/2003 10:37:46 AM ||
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so, by misdirecting guided munitions, they can take responsibility for the additional civilian deaths/ collateral damages? where are the UN/AI/HRC? Shouldn't they be protesting this?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2003 10:43 Comments ||
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It sounds like this is designed to be effective only against laser-guided bombs. I believe most of our newer precision guided bombs (JDAMS) use the global positioning system for guidance. If we care enough to kill them, why not send them our best? They'll probably be wasting their money on this, not that I care.
#3
They wont be very effective against a carpet bombing campaign either. Or a multi-MOAB grid attack. Wonder if the Saudis are checking this stuff out. Bet they helped fund the development.
How does it reload the decoys? Magazine? Autoloader? Manual?
How much do the decoys cost?
Does it have a detection system, i.e. does it know it's being lased?
Does it have any JDAM/GPS countermeasures, as Dakotah mentioned?
How sturdy is it, i.e. vs. moisture, grit, concussion?
How quickly can it be installed? Is it mobile?
How long can you leave it deployed, i.e. what maintenance does it need?
Really, I'm thinking this is just another means of grabbing money from two-bit, paranoid dictators with a system that will work once when demonstrated under ideal conditions.
Posted by: Dar ||
08/11/2003 13:40 Comments ||
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You nailed it Dar. The thinking will be "The Russian GPS jammers didn't work, but the Germans built this - I'm sure its a good investment".
#6
All this means is that a structure protected by this system will be attacked twice; once to take out the decoy system, then to destroy the building. Big deal.
#8
Multi-Ammunition Softkill System?
Why do I get this image of the giant StayPuff Marshmellow Man from Ghost Busters?
Posted by: Don ||
08/11/2003 16:55 Comments ||
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Good, let them throw up clusters of chaff. We'll return the favor dropping cluster munitions. Who do you think will win? Oh, and it won't be a softkill system either.
Frank G > Good point. "Sorry the Germans helped to cause massive civilian casualties. Then again, they have a proud history of it."
Maybe if they created a giant umbrella you could open that reads. "Enemy HQ moved 10 clicks that way (with 360 degree free rotating arrow) about an hour ago. It could work....
Posted by: Paul ||
08/11/2003 20:22 Comments ||
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You could put an end to this by firing 6 or 7 TLAMs, at about 10 second intervals, into the Buck Neue Technologien facilities. That would put a dent in both sales and confidence in the product.
Then we could send a note of apology to Shroeder & Co. Oops, their product must've deflected the GPS coords we programmed - s'posed to have hit targets in Afghanistan. Sorry. Our bad.
#11
C'mon *com, be good sport. Either the stuff doesn't work, then the Arabs spend money on BS (are you crying?). Or it works... then the German company will probably sell the idea to the U.S. and America will improve her system. We all win: competition was always good for the market.
Edited for brevity.
A retired schoolteacher who went to Iraq to serve as a "human shield" against the U.S. invasion is facing thousands of dollars in U.S. government fines, which she is refusing to pay. The U.S. Department of the Treasury said in a March letter to Faith Fippinger that she broke the law by crossing the Iraqi border before the war. Her travel to Iraq violated U.S. sanctions that prohibited American citizens from engaging in "virtually all direct or indirect commercial, financial or trade transactions with Iraq." Fippinger, who returned home May 4, is being fined at least $10,000, but she has refused to pay. She could face up to 12 years in prison. In her response to the charges, she wrote the government that if it comes to fines or imprisonment, "please be aware that I will not contribute money to the United States government to continue the buildup of its arsenal of weapons." Since she wonât pay, she said, "perhaps the alternative should be considered." Thank God the Clintons are returning their tax cut to make up for the shortfall! That was a close one!
The government also has asked Fippinger, 62, to detail her travels to Iraq and any financial transactions she made. In her response, Fippinger wrote that the only money she spent was on food and emergency supplies. And Prozac for the good people of Iraq.
Shortly before the U.S. invasion in March, Fippinger was one of several dozen human shields scattered around a refinery in Baghdad. "We are planning to stay here in the refinery if war breaks out," Fippinger said at the time. "We are staying here because we think this war is unjust." Is that refinery right next to the Baby Milk factory?
Posted by: Dar ||
08/11/2003 10:26:00 AM ||
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aaaarrrggghhh. Jail this twit now, take her possessions and sell them to pay the fine.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2003 10:39 Comments ||
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Jail her right now and make sure that the bond is expensive!
Posted by: Tom ||
08/11/2003 11:36 Comments ||
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#3
well..how 'bout that leverage?
"If Fippinger does not pay, the fine may increase, and the money will be drawn from her retirement paycheck, her Social Security check or any of her assets, officials said"
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2003 11:51 Comments ||
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#5
Sounds like Faith was a peace activist and anti war. Love and understanding may be her guiding light. She may have participated in workshops on how best to promote peace, love, feeding children. She states that the war was "unjust". That should count for something in her defense. She may also be an earth mother.
We are staying here because we think this war is unjust.
I guess you weren't guarding the Hussein Family Dissident Strength Shredderâ¢, the mass graves or the children's prison, huh?
Too bad one of those "unjust" bombs didn't put you out of our misery.
FOAD you sorry excuse for an American a human being.
#7
Let's see it this way. This woman has tried to prolong Saddam's stay in power. That meant more women raped to make speak their fathers and husbands, more people put in plastic shredders and more child buried alive. She is an accomplice of hideous murders. Jail her? Oh no, I vote for the chair. The pre-WW2 pacifists who gave Hitler time
to build hus army, the Hanoi Fondas and the pre "Iraki Freedom" pacifists have blood in their hands. Time to make them face the consequences of their actions.
Pakistan said U.S. forces shot dead two of its soldiers and wounded another on Monday in an incident near the Afghan border. A senior Pakistani official told Reuters the U.S. forces mistook the Pakistani patrol for al Qaeda or Taliban fighters. Hummm, national army types usually are wearing uniforms and our guys normally are careful who they shoot.
"It was due to some misunderstanding," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Or not. But weâll never know.
A statement from the Pakistani militaryâs public relations department said a strong protest had been lodged with the U.S. authorities about the incident. It said U.S. forces opened fire on the Pakistani patrol at 5 a.m. GMT at a border post in tribal Waziristan region, some 160 miles southwest of the capital Islamabad. The statement did not give any motive for the shooting. Interesting.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/11/2003 2:17:06 PM ||
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Hummm, national army types usually are wearing uniforms and our guys normally are careful who they shoot.
Perhaps they were either militia or scouts in mufti (in order to avoid attracting attention). Of course, it's quite possible they were aiding the Taliban.
#2
I would like to hear from one of the US Soldiers on that patrol. I'll bet they were fired on first, and returned that fire. We've seen just how accurate jihadi types seem to be unless 'up close and personal', where they definitely don't want to be.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/11/2003 19:16 Comments ||
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#3
5 will get you 10 that elements of pakistan (army types too) are running weapons into afganistan. Worked against the russians, its logical to try it again against the US.
#4
U.S. forces opened fire on the Pakistani patrol at 5 a.m. GMT at a border post in tribal Waziristan region
A Pakistani patrol at 5 a.m.? And these are the guys whose sloppiness means they're always getting ambushed? On second thoughts, these guys were definitely working for the Taliban.
I find it hard to believe, but hereâs the report
General Pervez Musharraf-led Pakistan is getting ready to accord recognition to the Jewish state of Israel in near future, reports quoting JaneÂŽs Intelligence Digest (JID) here have said. Western spy-masters have compiled a number of intelligence reports on the prospects of Islamabad giving recognition to Israel as they claim, "the decision of recognizing Israel is set to have a significant impact on the General MusharafÂŽs attempts to stabilize Pakistan, as well as his own political future."
The intelligence reportsÂŽ compilers, sources claim, undertook several visits to Israel and Pakistan before they expressed their "optimism" on PakistanÂŽs recognition of Israel. "Pakistani authorities, particularly the military leadership close to the president, have already taken the decision to establish direct links with Israel", JID claims in its latest issue, despite Pakistani governmentÂŽs repeated clarifications that decision to recognize the Jewish state has not been taken yet. JID claims, despite opposition by most political parties to any move to recognise Israel, "Musharraf seems determined to push forward with his agenda in the near future."
The JID enumerates five elements, which have changed the views in Pakistan on the issue of according recognition to Israeli. "Because of these elements there is an increasing view within PakistanÂŽs ruling circles that the establishment of diplomatic ties with Israel will be vital to the countryÂŽs future interests," the report said.
Firstly; concerned with the growing military relationship between Israel and India, the Pakistani leadership believes that normalizing ties might help to limit the scope of the emerging alliance with Delhi.
Secondly; PakistanÂŽs military chiefs are also hoping that such a move will facilitate arms sales by Israel.
Thirdly; the Pakistani government feels that the prospect of recognizing Israel might help thwart an impending alliance between the pro-Israel and pro-India lobbies in the USA.
Fourthly; it is expected that such a move would soften US Congressional opinion over the Bush administrationÂŽs promise of $3 billion in aid to Pakistan spread over the next five years.
Fifthly, in recent months Musharraf has come under pressure from Washington on a number of issues other than the continuing campaign against terrorism. PakistanÂŽs recognition of Israel is just one of a list of "favours" that the USA is requesting from its Pakistani ally.
The JID report further said that establishing normal relations with Pakistan, the only Muslim country that has a nuclear capability, is an important strategic goal for Israel. It hopes that gaining diplomatic recognition by a populous Muslim country such as Pakistan will help undermine hard-line opposition towards Israel in other non-Middle Eastern Muslim countries. The report added that "before announcing IslamabadÂŽs recognition, Musharraf is keen on testing the likely reaction, both at home and abroad. It is essential for his political survival that the level of risk involved be rewarded by Washington and Israel and PakistanÂŽs standing in the Muslim world is not damaged.
Posted by: tipper ||
08/11/2003 11:56:54 AM ||
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the Pakistani leadership believes that normalizing ties might help to limit the scope of the emerging alliance with Delhi.
I think that might be the main reason, though I'm sure it will do much good (from Pakistan's POV).
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
08/11/2003 13:08 Comments ||
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Grr
I'm not sure it will do much good, that should read.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
08/11/2003 13:13 Comments ||
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#3
Part of the big stakes in this war. Iraq liberated along with sizable portions of Pakistani population standing in contrast to Iran, Syria and other Gulf states. It just shows how important the Iraqi war is.
#4
"the decision of recognizing Israel is set to have a significant impact on the General Musharaf´s attempts to stabilize Pakistan, as well as his own political future."
Funny, I believe every word of that!
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/11/2003 14:53 Comments ||
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#5
Hard to believe he'd do it with the hope of limiting Israeli arms sales to India - as said above, far too late for that. And probably doesnt help him with his $3billion - if he is seen in washington as effective against AQ he doesnt need the help - and if he's not AIPAC wouldnt dare go to bat for him. He's not in the position of, say, Jordan.
maybe this "the decision of recognizing Israel is set to have a significant impact on the General Musharaf´s attempts to stabilize Pakistan, as well as his own political future" is serious IE its part of an attempt to fully commit Pakistan to a Kemalist path, and smokeout Islamist opposition. Instead of muddling through, and letting the Islamists threaten civil war, call their bluff and face then down, with the US behind him. It doesnt seem like the kind of thing Perv would do, but theres a certain logic to it.
Tribal leaders in North Waziristan Agency on Sunday resolved to defy an arms ban till the political administration agreed to negotiate with them and remove their apprehensions. Tribal leaders contacted by Daily Times said the tribes in the area had been engaged in enmities for decades and it would be hard for them to move around the place without arms to protect themselves. They said the political administration should first ensure their protection before imposing the ban. People continued to defy the ban on Sunday as many could be seen brandishing weapons and rolling their eyes in the areaâs bazaars. Sources said the Mir Ali assistant political agent (APA) held a meeting with a few pro-administration tribal leaders to convince the NWFP government that they had agreed to the ban but the situation was actually quite different.
"Struttin' around without guns cramps our style! How we gonna be ferocious tribesmen if we ain't got guns? What're we supposed to do? Throw rocks?"
"How 'bout if we compromise? Say, no artillery over 23 mm?"
"We need those 76 mm antitank guns for protection!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/11/2003 00:05 ||
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arms ban? Tribal Leaders? I thought this was about Sierra Leone
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2003 10:00 Comments ||
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Suspected Islamic militants exploded a hand grenade in a shopping area in a town in India-held Kashmir on Sunday, wounding at least five people, police said. The injured shoppers were hospitalised and one was in critical condition, in Bhaderwah, a town 180 kilometers northeast of Jammu, a police officer said on condition of anonymity. The attackers escaped after the blast, which also damaged three passing vehicles, the officer said. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.
Ummm... Lemme guess. The Bad Guys threw the grenade at a passing police patrol. It missed and rolled into the shopping area... Right?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/11/2003 00:05 ||
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This must be one of those very minor Minor League Farm Clubs. Like the Pals, they just can't seem to produce good pitching. Personally, I think all that soccer screws up their hand-eye coordination. I believe they're affiliated with the Peshawar Pirates, but don't quote me on that. No really - don't quote me on that! ;-)
#4
.com, these guys actually came out of the Tamil Tigers org. They were traded for cash considerations and a few players (to be named later). Converted outfielders maybe.
EFL
Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah arrived Sunday for talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as part of a four-nation tour to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the push for recognition of Iraqâs transitional government. Last week, the Arab League declined to recognize the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, saying it would wait for the Iraqis to elect their government.
"And it better get 100.00 percent of the vote. The last guy did."
But subsequently U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov spoke in favor of recognizing the Governing Council as a transitional government. Abdullah flew to Cairo on Sunday afternoon from Damascus, where he had talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad. Syria, which opposed the U.S.-British invasion of Iraq, is known to be reluctant to recognize the Governing Council, saying it needs to show it has the support of the Iraqi people. Unlike in Syria, of course!
In a statement at the end of crown princeâs visit, Syriaâs official news agency SANA did not mention Iraq, saying only that the Abdullah-Assad talks dealt with the Arab search for ``unified positions.ââ First time the Arabs find a unified position will be, well, the first time.
The United States is pressing for universal recognition for the Governing Council. Assistant Secretary of State William Burns is scheduled to meet Mubarak in Cairo on Monday morning, shortly before the Egyptian president holds a second round of talks with Abdullah. Abdullah met Mubarak shortly after his arrival. The crown prince, who effectively leads his country as King Fahd is drooling and muttering to himself ailing, also will visit Morocco and Russia for talks on Iraq and the Palestinian-Israeli dispute, according to Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, who is accompanying him.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/11/2003 12:52:07 AM ||
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The tea just tastes better when taken on the veranda of Mubarek's Palace. Everybody knows this.
Four masked men identifying themselves as Iraqi resistance group warned Sunday, August 10, of more anti-U.S. resistance operations in Iraq, while denying any link with Saddam Hussein's ousted regime.
More really, really tough guys with rags over their faces...
"This increasing resistance has no link with what remains of the former regime," said one of the four men pictured in a videotape broadcast by Qatar's Al-Jazeera satellite news channel. "Because they have neither values nor principles, the ousted regime are not capable of taking part in anti-U.S. resistance and could not sacrifice their sons and wives; otherwise Baghdad would not have fallen with such easiness."
"My wife? Go ahead. Bump her off. I got another one."
"We are members of the Iraqi resistance. We will fight the occupier to defend our religion, our faith, our homeland and our people,â said the spokesman, cradling a Kalashnikov assault rifle, while his three companions wielded two more AK-47s and two rocket-propelled grenade launchers. "Resistance has become an insurmountable hurdle" for the U.S. forces of occupation, the spokesman said, warning: "We will turn Iraq into a cemetery for the invaders and colonizers." The group, which dated the tape on August 3, also took aim at the U.S. military for trying to blame the almost daily attacks on its soldiers on loyalists to the former regime. "As it had launched a dirty war against Iraq under the pretext of ending the corruption of the former regime, America is trying to crack down on resistance by linking us to the same former regime," said the voice. "Iraqi resistance is legal and justified by all international laws and resolutions. How come that we should not resist as thousands of Iraqis are being detained, our land occupied and our honor violated."
"I mean, we stood around with our thumbs up our butts for 30 years with Sammy and we voted for him 100.00 percent, so we know what we're talkin' about when it comes to having our honor violated!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/11/2003 00:13 ||
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I found it! There is a flaw in their logic. It was tough, but worth it. In the last sentence he tried to slip honor past us. His recitation of cemetaries and resistance and homeland and faith and religion and people and colonizers and pretexts and legality and justification and international laws and resolutions was a very very clever trap - and almost caused me to fog over and miss it. Whew! Close one.
Posted by: Dar ||
08/11/2003 10:53 Comments ||
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#4
I saw footage of a demontration in southern Iraq on MSNBC last night. You could clearly see 50 or more very mad, chanting guys. The camera actually paned a few inchs left and right to try to show a large crowed but still only the same few could be seen. I bet in places like the mid-east this stuff goes down good.
In the Philippines, the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front says the escape of Indonesian terrorist Fathur Rohman al Ghozi from a Manila jail last month was filmed on video tape. Not that it was planned in advance, or anything
Our reporter, Shirley Escalante, says the tape is expected to be shown in public soon. Great Escapes - Tonight on the History Channel
Rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front spokesman Eid Kabalu says the escape from jail of terrorist Fathur Rohman Al Ghozi has been detailed in a 40 minute video tape. He says the contents of the tape chronicle the escape of Al Ghozi and two other inmates to the time they boarded a helicopter for an unknown destination. Wonder if they covered up the registration number on the chopper?
Mr Kabula says the video tape will be taken to the Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. He says al Ghozi does not trust the Philippine government and wants the public to know the details of the escape just in case he does not live to tell. One of the inmates who escaped with Al Ghozi died in a gun battle with soldiers last week. He didnât buy the "shot trying to escape" story either.
The Philippine government has been criticised for a lapse in security which gave way to the escape. Gloria is going to have another bad week.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/11/2003 9:23:22 AM ||
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Wotta surprise.
Lawyers for Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, who was sentenced to death last week for his role in the Bali nightclub bombings, said they will appeal the verdict on Monday. "Heâs innocent we tells ya! Pure as the driven snow!" "Whatever the heck that means since we ainât never seen snow in Indonesia"
Amrozi, known as the ``smiling bomber,ââ was convicted Thursday of helping plan and execute the Oct. 12 attacks on the tourist island in which 202 people died. He has repeatedly expressed a readiness to die as a martyr and appeared overjoyed when the sentence was read out. He wasnât the only one.
``We have persuaded him to exhaust all avenues to get justice. He was guilty for his role in the attack, but he was not the planner so we do not think he should be shot to death,ââ said his lawyer, Oktriyan. "And we donât think the planner should be shot, either!"
Death sentences, which are rare in Indonesia, are carried out by a firing squad. Goodie!
According to Indonesian law, attorneys have a week to appeal a sentence. Oktriyan said he would lodge the papers with Baliâs higher court later Monday. Amrozi confessed to have bought the explosives and the car used in the blast. But Oktriyan said the appeal would note that there was no evidence other than testimonies of other defendants placing Amrozi at the planning sessions, and that these were weak and inconsistent. Ta-ta, Amrozi, say hi to Uday and Qusay for us down there.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/11/2003 12:47:07 AM ||
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Paul and Fred, you may have read this before. These are a couple of popular prophecies circulating around Islamist circles world-wide. They represent the kernel of what has always been so frightening to me about the Deobandi/Salafist/Wahhabi mindset. Namely, that they can initiate any sort of atrocity against the West (America in particular), and in the end, Allah or his agent the Mahdi (or Issa, one supposes), will step in and save their bacon from the fire. The problem is that you get enough idiots believing this crap, someoneâs going to act on it. This is a very long article. I just posted an excerpt from the conclusion. Anyway, I thought that this fit in well with Paulâs article.
There can be no doubt of the profound hostility entertained by Muslim apocalyptic writers towards the United States, and their intense desire to humiliate it and see it destroyed forever. While this is not the full fantasy of every one of the apocalyptic writers surveyed, it is definitely the dominant discourse, and fits in well with the anti-Semitic conspiracy theory. Muslims have not been able to understand the reasons why the United States would want to support Israel, and have therefore been misled into conspiracy theories about the United Statesâ being ruled by the Dajjal and the "world Zionist government." This fallacious interpretation is so widespread that one frequently hears it in casual conversation with Arabs who have no obvious hatred of the U.S. It is often simply stated as an obvious fact, and those who contest it are looked upon as profoundly naive and ignorant. There is a pernicious effect to this propaganda which is causing the larger Muslim audience to perceive conspiracies where there are none, and to lead them astray in the correct analysis of events.
Qurâanic commentary has proved to be a fertile field for Muslim apocalyptists and it is clear that they are making every effort to maximize the possibilities of the text. This is in sharp contra-distinction to classical trends in which the Qurâan was rarely quoted and never used as a source for apocalypses. The interpretation of `Ad = the U.S. is one example of the contemporary trend of trying to anchor important apocalyptic beliefs about present-day peoples in the Qurâan. This is most likely a reaction to the heavy use of Biblical passages which is more common in Muslim apocalyptic writings. Many conservative opponents of apocalyptists condemn them for using the Biblical passages; by the use of the `Ad interpretation writers such as `Abdallah and `Abd al-Hamid are showing that they are knowledgeable about the Qurâan as well, and capable of producing an entirely new line of commentary on it.
This level of fantasy (especially that of Muhammad `Isa Daâud) shows in a strange manner the perception of the outer world. For example, the appearance of the Mahdi gives us insight into the perception of how the world would be conquered for Islam. However, it shows no realistic approach; indeed the principal battles are not won because of preparation, intelligence or strategy. They are won because of Godâs active support of the Muslim armies. The attack on the U.S. is facilitated by the incredible strategic blunders made by the American forces (which are not out of the question of course, but recent wars should give Daâud no cause for optimism on this account). It is also remarkable how Daâud has such a blatant desire for power and domination for the Muslims over the world, and at the same time he is unable to comprehend how like the hated westerners he himself is in his pronouncements. There is absolutely nothing in what the Mahdi says, either in rationalization or in justification of his actions, which has not been used by western leaders many times over. He sounds exactly like many who have been prominent on the world scene, claiming to bring peace and being aggrieved when their "peaceful" overtures are rejected (most notably Hitler, but he has a strong strain of the "White Manâs burden" as well).
There is an unbelievable level of arrogance in the Muslim apocalyptic writersâ rendition of the end-times, and their hypocrisy in saying that the U.S. alone is guilty of it, is quite startling and one finds new examples all the time (one hardly has to read very far in Muslim historical writings before one realizes that the Muslims were just as arrogant when they were dominating the world). Therefore, the self-criticism necessary to judge others is not present in these visions.
#4
I've always maintained that, because one side of this war of civilizations is motivated by their religious beliefs, it behooves us, the other side, to understand those beliefs so we can better predict their behavior and reactions. Sloppy criticism and analysis of Christianity that inclulated false images in a pre-biased audience may have helped the critic's domestic agenda, but similar treatment of Islamist religious beliefs and motives isn't going to be of any help to us, and will postively set us back.
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam share the characteristic of having "Defining events": These are events that they point to as proof that their religion is true. Judaism's defining event was when the Ancient Israelites were delivered from Egypt: They were slaves and had no power to deliver themselves, so the conclusion is that it was God who delivered them. Christianity's defining event is the resurrection of Jesus Christ: The apostle Paul himself stated that if Jesus was not raised from the dead, then Christianity was false. Period.
Islam presents two "proofs" for its validity: the literary structure of the Koran, and victory in battle. The Koran is full of challenges for someone to reproduce its literary structure (although the goal posts are continually moved). It also is full of assertions that, "Allah is with you because you won the battle of ____". Military defeats are spun as signs of Allah's disfavor or lack of obedience on the part of the faithful. I, personally, think they live in terror of the day when someone stands up and says, "You guys are persistent losers, so according to your own holy book, your religion is false." They are DESPERATE for a victory to reaffirm their religion.
The detestation of the vice of Hypocrisy is a leftover from the West's Christian heritage: Jesus Christ's most scathing denunciations included the accusation of Hypocrisy. This attitude lacking in Muslims and Islamic culture because neither Mohammed nor the Koran addresses it at all. Muslim apolgists know we dislike hypocrites, but don't share our attitude toward them if they happen to be fellow Muslims. Again, they don't see this form of hypocrisy as bad, since their religion doesn't condemn it at all.
#5
agreed ptah, but understanding must be complete - who could claim to understand christianity as a historical who didnt understand the differences between Catholics and Protestants, fundamendatalists and liberals, the western church and the eastern churches? Who could understand Judaism who wasnt familiar with the conflicts between Rabbinism and Kabbalism, pro-Maimonides and anti-Maimonides, Mitnagdish and Chassidish, Reform and Orthodox?
In the same way we must understand Islam as an evolving tradition, and not be captive to literalist interpretations of the founding texts - especially when the issue of how those founding texts are to be interpreted is THE division within Islam today - to take the kinds of statements above as representing the only authentic Islam, and seeing them as the inevitable outgrowth of the Koran, is I think not justified when the makers of said statements regard probably the majority of self-proclaimed muslims as effectively apostates (IE Shiites, Sufists, moderates, and virtually anyone who's not wahabist)
#7
The Koran doesn't talk about hypocrisy? Wow. They take military defeat as a sign Allah is mad at them? Wow wow. That doesn't bode will for our "kinder / gentler approach". We seem to be missing a few fundamental(ist), points about the culture over there.
OTOH, although all of the details of who believes what are very interesting, in the end it doesn't really matter why they want to kill me as I will still be just as dead. In the end, it is pointless to try to understand or reason with nuts who want to kill everyone who won't tow their line (be they communists, fascists or mullahs). All you can do is contain them until they self destruct or kill them before they kill you. Containing them is better since killing anyone should be avoided, but sometimes some people "just need killin" as they say.
#10
I have to disagree, Liberalhawk: The Islamists we're fighting are the ones who take their Koran seriously. The Fundamentalists, so to speak. Given the contents of the Koran, the equivalents in Islam of the moderates and liberals have a tough time spinning the texts toward a non-violent and more progressive slant. Exegete something wrong, and you'll be losing your head. Literally.
I agree that there are differences within Islam, with some branches more pacifistic than others. For the moment, however, the branches we're worried about ARE the fundamentalists, and we need all the insight we can get, so we can get into their heads, figure out how they tick, and how to defuse and/or defeat them.
Another Koran factoid: Islam is very works oriented, with admission to paradise based on lots of prayer, charity, the Haj, and fasting on the right days. It's in the koran that dying in battle against the Infidel is a guaranteed ticket to heaven, bypassing all this works stuff.
However, the promise of 72 Virgins in the afterlife is NOT in the Koran, but in associated commentary.
I don't have the exact quote available anymore, but it was approximately this:
"The battle has already been joined and it is a war of virtue vs. freedom."
This was stated by the chief Saudi cleric a few weeks after the 9/11 attack - which I watched live right after coming "home" from work that day. Note that every reference to the statement has been scrubbed from ArabNews (and everywhere else I've looked, so far) - where I first saw it. I was on contract in Saudi Arabia, this time - I also worked there in '92-'93, from Sept 30, 2000 until April 19, 2003.
We did not start this. It will not end until our blinders are off and we have seen the face of this implacable enemy of freedom. Eventually we will set aside the drivel from the apologists and those who hope to delay our response long enough to defeat us by subversion, if not open warfare. Eventually enough of us will recognize the threat for what it is: nothing less than the survival of freedom. Eventually enough of us will finally accept what must be done. It will be a real bitch - and bloodier than anything the world has yet seen - and that's certainly saying something.
Do not forget, however, that this came to us unbidden and unwarranted. It is their doing - and eventual undoing. Don't feel guilty or remorseful - any more than you would if you killed a scorpion you found in your baby's crib. This foe must be utterly and completely wiped out. It is a pathogen and should be dealt with as such.
This is a long article, click on the link to read the rest
One of the interesting phenomena related to Al-Qaeda and the culture of global Jihad since the September 11th attacks and the global war against Islamist terrorism led by the United States, is the emergence of a group of interpreters of Osama bin Ladin, Tanzim Qaedat al-Jihad, and of the nature of the war between radical Islam and the West. These interpreters, primarily Saudi, Yemeni, and Egyptian scholars and intellectuals, have published throughout the past year, dozens of articles in Islamist web sites and on-line magazines. Their articles are widely distributed and circulated on numerous Islamist Internet forums. The numerous responses to them prove their popularity. Some of them opened in recent months their own web sites. Amongst the more famous of these scholars are Abu Ayman al-Hilali, Abu Saad al-Ameli, Lewis Atiyyat Allah, and Abu Ubayd al-Qurashi. Some of the Learned Elders of Islam..
These popular scholars are part of a bigger group of well-known clerics, primarily Saudis from the Saudi Islamist opposition known in Arabic Ulama al-sahwah (Clerics of the resurgence), who serve as the backbone of the support for the ideology and doctrines of the culture of global Jihad and Al-Qaeda. But, if the contribution of the clerics lies in supporting and developing these doctrines, the importance of the âinterpretersâ lies in spreading the political messages of the global Jihad in the Arab and Muslim world, and in promoting the expectations of the radical Muslim youth for further struggle and more anti-Western and anti-Jewish sentiments. Part of their articles could be viewed in the West as disinformation or psychological warfare. Yet, a profound research of the phenomenon of the global Jihad and their radical JihadiSalafist doctrines, as well as Al-Qaedaâs policies, should not ignore them.
Some of us have been poring over them...
Another example for such âinterpretationsâ are several dozens of unsigned articles published in the past year by the Center for Islamic Study and Research (Markaz al-Dirasat wal-Buhuth al-Islamiyyah). The center is regarded by many observers and intelligence communities as one of the official means of propaganda for al-Qaeda, which accurately reflects the Jihadi-Salafist doctrines of the culture of global Jihad. The fact that many of the reports and articles published by the center are unsigned, gives them the image of the authentic views of the organization or front of al-Qaeda, and not just individual views of its supporters.
Kind of like Pravda used to publish the Party line...
One of the more popular interpreters of al-Qaeda is Lewis Atiyyat Allah, who is well known in the circles of the supporters of the culture of global Jihad in the Arab and Muslim world, and has his own web site as well â Yalewis. In November 30th 2002, Atiyyat Allah published an interesting article, which was circulated in several Islamist web sites, including his own, titled: âThe New World Order as written by Osama bin Laden.â This is an attempt to review the development of Al-Qaeda and the culture of global Jihad and mainly their future, as if bin Ladin himself was sketching his lines of thinking. The article that was written in the first person, is unusual in its attempt to enter bin Ladinâs mind in such a direct manner. Yet, it might really reflect the future plans and policies of Al-Qaeda and its front groups.
With about the same degree of reliability as our occasional forays on Rantburg into what Bush or Rice might really be thinking...
The present conflict between the Islamist radicals and the West is perceived by the author as the first stage, yet there are three other stages. The next phase and first priority of the global Jihad for the near future as presented in this analysis, is to defeat the Arab governments. They should achieve that goal by:
Imposing upon the American administration the direct cooperation with us. The United States itself will remove the legitimacy of the [Arab] cartoon states. The American direct involvement in the affairs of the Muslim world by limiting the power of their rulers or by encouraging them to behave according to the American dictates is the ideal situation we wish for a long time. When the direct confrontation between the Americans and us comes, there would be no importance to the agent Arab and Islamic governments.
The third stage is called the âstage of isolation,â in which the Islamists would seek to isolate the American administration from its own citizens on one hand, and from its allies, on the other.
âAt first, we did not know how we could arrive at this stage due to the war against us. But, the American political stupidity of the Bush administration gave us the answer, when it started recruiting the world towards the war against Iraq.â
The atmosphere of the forthcoming attack against Iraq, perceived by Islamist radicals as part of the war against Islam, increases the expectations of the supporters of al-Qaeda and a great part of the Anti-American Muslim world, for a major retaliation by al-Qaeda. Moreover, on the background of this event there is a growing atmosphere in an historical sense that arouses apocalyptic visions among Muslim, as occurred in 1991. Wishful thinking of the forthcoming appearance of the Mahdi and the Black Flags started to be popular recently.
Next time somebody starts to bore you with yap about the impending arrival of the Rapture, keep in mind that they're relatively harmless; these guys aren't.
We can find signs of that sense in Islamist forums, as well as in the web site of the Center for Islamic Study and Research. In an article published in late January 2003, by the center, they attempted to cool down the enthusiasm of those who started waiting for the Mahdi, and even wished to view Osama bin Ladin as the expected one.
Just in case someone should exhibit his bullet-riddled corpse in the next 12 months or so...
The third stage is linked to the forth: the final direct confrontation with the United States in order to âpure the world from the American powerâŠ. By destroying the United States and defeating it on its soil.
The ultimate goal, of course...
Defeating the United States means the defeat of the West, what would lead to the shift of the international center of gravity back to the Islamic world.â
Then, Islamic Paradise, heaven on earth: "Turbans for everyone! Get them broads covered up! Where's y'r burka, lady? Off with her head!" This is the vision of Khilafa Rashida that Hezb ut-Tehrir is pushing, the fat guy with the jewelled turban and the dancing girls, with the Grand Vizier in the background, rubbing his hands, dispensing Islamic Justice in accordance with the writs of the Holy Koran as interpreted by the Holy Men, who are all held in positions of power and prestige. It's a vision of divine-right monarchy, tempered only by the influence of the clerics, who would form the aristocracy. Being a religious scholar, by the way, can be a pretty much heredity thing, which is a recipe for the complete ossification of society.
And then what? Do these radical Islamists possess a real political vision? Not necessarily. As other Islamic groups that have no political vision of a modern Islamic state, it seems that al-Qaeda is not different. The author, speaking on behalf of bin Ladin, claims that âwe have our perceptions of how the Islamic world would look like after the forth stage, and we have already planned it in details, yet, what we really look for is the awakening of the nationâŠ. Until that day we must do our best in fighting the enemies of Allah, through the sword, the pen, and the word in order to chain their hands and deport them from the Islamic world, and stop their support for the Jews in Palestine.â Where are those political plans for the future Islamic world? Are they not important for the motivation and recruitment of the Muslims? There is no answer, but a utopian vision of a world that âwould be more just, purer, cleaner, and nicer, without the United States. We act for the day in which we would wake up and there is no America.â
This vision of the future of the conflict of the Islamic world with the United States and the West, whether it reflects the environment of al-Qaeda and Osama bin Ladin, or just the wishful thinking of the author, is far beyond the limited targets of deporting the American military forces from Arabia, the Middle East, or the Muslim world. This is a vision of megalomaniacs, as the late Prof. Ehud Sprinzak defined them, which are fed by doctrines of hatred.
Usually we refer to them (accurately) as loons, but we recognize that their primary driver is hatred that's been nurtured and fed a sort of philosophical Miracle Gro, watered with the spittle of thousands of clerics, dividing the world into "us and them" â an extreme and festering outgrowth of the tactics of the Algerian revolution. It's a world where logic is replaced by Dire Revengeâ¢.
They are not motivated by positive and constructive political ideas, but by the demonization of an eternal enemy. They cannot supply their audience a clear political vision for the stage that would follow their victory, as if the Jihad as an endless struggle is actually the primary and even the only goal.
As confirmed by the most perfunctory perusal of any utterance by Hafiz Saeed...
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
08/11/2003 4:01:19 AM ||
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"By destroying the United States and defeating it on its soil."
#2
Kind of dillusional on multiple levels. Even if the West disappeared over night I don't think Islam is next in line. I think India and China would compete for the top spot. Perhaps both of them will suddenly vanish as well, if Allah is willing.
Posted by: Matt ||
08/11/2003 16:56 Comments ||
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It's becoming more and more evident that Islam and our Constitution are mutually exclusive. I think it's time to do some serious house-cleaning - both here and in the Middle East.
Wonder how all those Imams are going to square their continued and utter defeat with their apococrap.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/11/2003 20:50 Comments ||
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Liberia's newly sworn-in president vowed Monday to do all he could to bring peace to Liberia and invited rebels who waged war on his predecessor, Charles Taylor, to join his government.
"C'mon in. There's plenty for everybody. Except for them, of course..."
Hours after Taylor ceded the presidency to him, Moses Blah offered to share power with the rebels. He predicted that "within two or three days" he would make progress toward ending the 14-year war that has ripped apart his country.
I'll set my watch...
"I'm inviting the rebels to come and join me round this government," Blah said in an interview with CNN International, adding that he would consider offering the post of vice president to a rebel leader. "I will appeal to them to lay down their arms and come back to Monrovia." Blah, who was Taylor's vice president, said he would follow the tradition of Liberians in which they solve their disputes by meeting in a hut in a village.
"I gotta idea! Let's have a loya jirga!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/11/2003 21:42 ||
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They responded that they felt, well, blah, about the offer.
Human rights activists in South Korea unveiled a campaign on Monday to send radios into North Korea using balloons, in a bid to open up the secretive communist country. They plan to fly more than 20 balloons, each six metres tall and carrying about 30 small radios, into North Korea within the next two weeks from either China or South Korea, organisers told a news conference in Seoul, without elaborating. The North Koreans susequently announced that they would continue their ongoing tests to see if radios were edible.
The ââGive the Ear to a North Koreanââ catchy title huh?
campaign was announced amid a flurry of diplomacy as the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia prepare to meet in Beijing late this month in an attempt to defuse the North Korean nuclear crisis. North Korea strictly bans its people from listening to or watching outside broadcasts, but several agencies, including Voice of America and South Koreaâs KBS -- both government-run broadcasters -- air programmes aimed at North Koreans.
#1
Laugh, but I think this group is onto something. Of course the NK will claim the Radios are toxic and cause sterialization. Radios in NK have ONE stations as do the TVs, but there is nothing to listen to or watch.
#2
That's f'ing brilliant--announce it beforehand so the NKors can be the lookout to shoot the balloons down, announce that they're bombs, and issue edicts proclaiming death to anyone who touches the radios without reporting them to the authorities.
Why didn't they just do it and crow about it later?! It's not a bad idea, but their schedule is back asswards.
Posted by: Dar ||
08/11/2003 16:14 Comments ||
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ââGive the Ear to a North Koreanââ
out and out copy of S.K. Doe's Liberian campaign
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2003 16:48 Comments ||
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ââGive the Ear to a North Koreanââ
Avoiding the obvious joke ("...because they're tired of eating grass"), they'd have done better using Happy Meals instead of radios.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2003 22:14 Comments ||
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Human rights activists in South Korea unveiled a campaign on Monday to send radios into North Korea using balloons, in a bid to open up the secretive communist country.
Uh huh. Airdropping radios will "open up" NK. Sounds like these people were collectively hit with the Stupid Stick.
From correspondents in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. EFL:
TERRORIST suspects have become more compliant and are offering up many more important intelligence tips, says the US Army general who commands the prison where preparations are under way for expected military tribunals. In an exclusive interview, Major General Geoffrey Miller said that three-quarters of the 660 or so detainees have confessed to some involvement in terrorism. Many have turned on former friends and colleagues, he added.
"Yar! It wudn't me! It war him! Him, I tells yez!"
So much for solidarity
Miller said detainees are giving up information in "incentive-based interrogations". Rewards include more recreation time, extra food rations to keep in their cells, or a move to the prisonâs medium-security facility. "OK, thatâs one hour in the hot tub for the training camp and two Snickers bars for your brother, the fund raiser."
"We have a large number of detainees who have been very cooperative describing their actions, either terrorist actions or in support of terrorism — more than 75 per cent" of them, Miller said yesterday. Some tips have led to more arrests, others revealed terrorist recruiting techniques, he said. All tremble in fear at the thought of Club Gitmo. Bwahahahaha!!
Posted by: Steve ||
08/11/2003 2:45:20 PM ||
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Kenyan police raided a house Monday in the port of Mombasa where suspected terrorists are thought to have lived, seizing weapons and visa stamps for several countries, the national security minister said. Acting on a tip, police moved in on the house, finding evidence that "those living there were planning ... acts of terrorism," Christopher Murungaru said in a statement. He did not say where the residents were at the time or whether any were arrested. If you donât have them already, I donât think theyâll be coming back home.
Among the items found were AK-47 assault rifles, a light anti-tank weapon, a grenade, weapons training literature and the visa stamps, he said. What, no holy scripts? Oh, wait, he did mention weapons manuals.
Hours earlier, he said, police found a suspicious object at a popular tourist resort north of Mombasa on the Indian Ocean and were working to determine whether it was a bomb. If itâs a bomb, itâll let you know.
Murungaru commended "the members of the public who volunteered information to the security forces."
Mondayâs raid took place in the same leafy Tudor neighborhood where authorities say militants built the car bomb used to blow up a beachfront hotel north of the port on Nov. 28, killing 13 people, including three Israelis. Nice neighborhood, wonder how property values are doing.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/11/2003 1:58:15 PM ||
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More info, it was Ali's house: Kenya said it had recovered five light anti-tank weapons and six AK 47 rifles each with 30 bullets during a Monday raid on the house of a man accused of links to al Qaeda who killed himself in a grenade blast this month. Feisal Ali detonated a hand grenade on August 1 in the coastal city of Mombasa, killing himself and a police officer while resisting arrest over the bombing of an Israeli-owned hotel near the city last November.Police sources believe Ali, a 20-year-old Kenyan of Yemeni descent, used the house to plot attacks with other accomplices, thought to be foreign nationals. They have been hunting an accomplice who escaped after the blast that killed Ali, but it was not immediately clear why the house was searched Monday, more than a week after his death.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/11/2003 14:06 Comments ||
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Iran's reformist interior minister has ordered the closure of offices set up by hardliners to screen candidates for next year's legislative elections. Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari on Saturday instructed all provincial governors to stop the operations of the supervisory offices set up by the hardline Guardian Council throughout the country, the government-run daily Iran reported Sunday. "Activities of the supervising offices of the Guardian Council are a violation of the law because they have not been approved by the Supreme Administrative Council nor the Parliament. There is no legal basis for such offices, Lari was quoted as saying.
Interior Ministry spokesman Jahanbakhsh Khanjani contacted by The Associated Press Sunday, confirmed the report. Elections are planned in February. The hardline Guardian Council and the Interior Ministry in the elected administration of the reformist President Mohammad Khatami, responsible for holding the elections, have previously had a tug-of-war over the list of candidates for elections. The council — key members of which are hand-picked by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — has quietly been establishing the candidate review offices in recent months. Having offices across the country would allow the council to learn the views of would-be candidates. Members of the Guardian Council have vowed they would reject reformist candidates who seek profound changes.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/11/2003 13:05 ||
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the beginning - i dont know, seems we need a 30 day rule or something like that for signs of progress in Iran. Student demonstrations seem effectively crushed - yet some releases of prisoners - what mood is really circulating among Iranians wrt to the students, the crackdown, and politics in general? Khomeini the grandson is making anti-regime noises from Iraq - is he taking advantage of regime weakness? Alliance between him and anti-Iranian ayatollahs like Sistani in Iraq, against pro-Iranian Sadr and his alliance with Iranian hardliners? Interesting time for the Interior Ministry to move. Is this THE confrontation - or will the Iranian status quo muddle through once again?
Likely 2004 third-party presidential hopeful Ralph Nader thinks the 9/11 terrorist attacks wouldnât have happened if he had been president. He claims that amid all the big decisions new presidents have to make after inauguration, he would have ordered cockpit doors to be hardened against attack. He says an old report warning about how easy it is to get in the cockpit still sticks with him. Whatâs more, he would have wiped out Osama bin Laden and his gang without a shot being fired. How? Bribe Osamaâs friends to hand him over.
Ummmm... yeah, riiiggghhhttt. Nice prosthetic backbone, Ralph. Getting that fit for the 2004 elections?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2003 12:08:15 PM ||
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Hey, this is great. Now all we have to do to achieve national security is ask Ralphie what specific steps he would take to prevent the next attempted attack. Bribe Mullah Fudullah and all his crosseyed kinfolk?
Posted by: Matt ||
08/11/2003 12:49 Comments ||
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Being proactive is a Nader trait. Both my brother and sister-inlaw flipped their Corvairs, even after St Ralph spoke out about just such a danger. I'm also pretty sure that he is pro-peace and ant-anti war.
#4
Actually, had Nadar been elected President, the airlines would immediately have been hit with so many consumerist and safety mandates that they might have completely stopped flying by sept of 01.
If Nader were prez, we wouldn't have been attacked because Osama & Co. would have been laughing too hard while sitting back waiting for the country to implode California-style.
Posted by: Dar ||
08/11/2003 14:59 Comments ||
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Nader: 9/11 Attacks wouldnât have happened under President Nader
I guess not. Why attack when Prez Nader would have handed the country over without a fight?
#8
I've generally found that there are few non-Americans who have a real understanding of United States domestic politics, although the intelligensia is beginning to get a clue that the Democrats are more to their liking than the Republicans. Thus, I find it unlikely that anyone would call for a break in the war against America if Nader replaced Bush today. (In fact, if any of them really understood domestic politics, they'd lay low NOW, stop the bombings, let the Democrats declare the war on terror won, and let them divert the attention of the American public to domestic issues (like who could most fairly divvy up the spoils of an economy renewed by Bush). Restart the war once the Democrats retake the Presidency and the Senate.)
#10
Nader the Nothing hisses hot air again. What a waste of protoplasm! Naderites are only slightly worse than Luddites, and either would make even a Democrat look good. Everybody here KNOWS what I think of Democrats, right???
May Nader get his tongue stuck to the door handle of a Corvair - in Nome, in March, in his skivvies.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/11/2003 19:08 Comments ||
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If the doors had been hardened, then the terrorists would have just kept killing stews like they did on one or more of the 9/11 flights where the pilots refused to open the cockpit doors. How many folks would Ralph sacrifice to keep the bad guys out of the cockpit. I'm guessing it would be zero. Guys like Nader never get it. They don't understand violence. Jimmy Carter was another example. So was MacNamara. Did any of those three ever get jumped from behind? Beaten in a fight by an opponent fighting dirty? Ambushed? Clueless pussies are every bit as dangerous to a free society as violent extremists.
#12
TGA >> LMAO. Then again, Clinton would not have been if not for Perot. ;-)
I hear that Naders next act will be to build an environmentally safe time machine to go back and prove he's right. Two problems though. It runs on refried beans, and his prozac prescription just ran out. It could work...
Anyways, Nader, you ain't so bad! I could've stopped the attack on Pearl Harbor if my grandparents had gotten busier alot sooner. The bastards!!! I even have a red cape and boots I could use. Now, where the hell is my Prozac?
Posted by: Paul ||
08/11/2003 20:34 Comments ||
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But Nader's right. If he had been president, 9/11 wouldn't have happened because there would have been too many flying pigs in the way of all the airplanes.
Charles Taylor, the former warlord blamed for nearly 14 years of bloodshed in Liberia and indicted on war crimes in Sierra Leone, stepped down as president today.
Hurrah! Where's my shootin' arn? Want some candy, little kid? Pardon me, while I ululate...
Rebels besieging the capital threatened to resume fighting if Taylor did not leave the country immediately after handing over to his vice president, Moses Blah.
They should be back to shooting it out any time now. It was nice while it lasted, wasn't it? Was it good for you, too?
Mr Taylor looked on as President Blah was sworn into office in front of African leaders who said his departure marked the end of an era of bloodshed in Liberia. Placing his left hand on the Bible and his right hand in the air, he pledged to "faithfully, conscientiously and impartially discharge the duties and functions of the Republic of Liberia."
"I have called up the 334th Heavy Bustier Brigade as reinforcements..."
Addressing about 300 Liberian and other dignitaries gathered in a velvet-draped room, Ghana's President John Kufuor said President Blah would hand over to a transitional government on the second Tuesday of October.
"Just as soon as he's done packing it with his own gunnies..."
"Today's ceremony marks the end of an era in Liberia," President Kufuor said, speaking as head of a West African bloc that has sent peacekeepers to Liberia. "It is our expectation that today the war in Liberia has ended."
Meanwhile, back at the front...
Pickup trucks full of armed rebels raced toward the front as insurgents threatened to resume fighting if Taylor stays in the country after turning over power. "Unless Taylor leaves the country by one minute past 12 noon, I shall attack," rebel Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Abdulla Seyeah Sheriff said from Monrovia's rebel-held island port area. "If Taylor leaves the country, there'll be peace."
Except that he's not taking his favorite gunnies with him...
Mr Taylor has accepted an offer of asylum in Nigeria, but he has also hedged on when he will go.
My guess is that tar and feathers will be required...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/11/2003 12:03 ||
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He's gone: Waving a white handkerchief, Taylor boarded a jet for Nigeria hours after surrendering power to his vice president in the capital, Monrovia. Relatives, friends and some government soldiers at the airport cried and wailed.
Cried and wailed because there wasn't room on the plane, most likely.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/11/2003 14:25 Comments ||
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My guess is that tar and feathers will be required...
A long burst from an AK-47 might also be required.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/11/2003 14:41 Comments ||
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A long burst from an AK-47 might also be required.
That's scheduled for his arrival in Nigeria.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/11/2003 17:26 Comments ||
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The US military will not participate in multinational military exercises with Egypt due to its increasing troop commitments elsewhere in the world, the US embassy in Cairo said on Sunday. Among other reasons.
The annual exercises, one of the worldâs largest multinational military manoeuvres, are scheduled to be held in September.
"It seems best to take a temporary break from this exercise as we did after operation Desert Storm," an embassy spokesman said, quoting a statement from the US defence department and referring to the 1991 Gulf War. Western diplomatic sources said that the US withdrawal would effectively cancel this yearâs Bright Star multinational exercises, financed in part by the United States. Make that, mostly financed
The last Bright Star exercises, which take place every other year, were held in October 2001 near El-Alamein in northeast Egypt, scene of one of the fiercest battles in World War II, with around 65,000 soldiers and heavy equipment. In 2001, 18,000 US soldiers participated alongside 40,000 Egyptian and 1,100 French soldiers, as well as troops from Italy and eight other countries. French, huh? Maybe another reason to cancel it.
Even during the US-led war in Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks, the United States had not withdrew from the exercises. Another cause/effect action that theyâll miss.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/11/2003 9:32:16 AM ||
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welll, we already had training exercises for our troops involving live fire, Baathists, Fedayeen, etc. You Egyptians seem to be hesitant to restrain your spittle-spewing nutbags as well as the shipment of arms via tunnels to Gaza, making us wonder why we keep arming and training you. Take a time out in the corner to think about it
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2003 10:12 Comments ||
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Sounds like a result of our troops being over-deployed.
Posted by: Cal Ulmann ||
08/11/2003 12:16 Comments ||
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Can you picture a time, a situation, when we will be fighting alongside the Egyptians? Me neither - at least not one where we actually have the same goals.
Having joint exercises with them, therefore, is questionable. On one hand it reveals tactics and capabilities I would rather not share with an utterly Izzoid-infiltrated Arab asshat govt. On the other, perhaps it would give them a few reasons to consider never opposing us. The US does take these exercises seriously, normally.
But I favor the "don't tip your hand" approach. Fuck 'em. They are not allies or even friends. Our arrangements with Mubarek make me just as queasy as those we have (had?) with the Saudis - I want to take a shower after each encounter.
Liberian President Charles Taylor, who is due to hand over power later today, needs a few days to ensure that his new home in exile in Nigeria is ready, a press spokesman said. Taylor, who has been indicted for war crimes by a UN-backed court in Sierra Leone, has accepted an offer of asylum from Nigeria. But Patrick Paasewe, a press liaison officer at the Liberian presidency, said Taylor needed "a few days to put his affairs in order and for his new home to be completed." Moving is such a hassle, all those change of address cards to fill out, have to clean the house if you want your security deposit back, and then you have to schedule the movers to pack up the treasury.
"We cannot have our ex-president living in a hotel," he told AFP. A prison would be better.
Taylor was set to leave for the Nigerian capital Abuja this afternoon accompanied by Presidents Joachim Chissano of Mozambique and John Kufuor of Ghana. Taylor has also accepted a plush mansion that has been prepared for him in Calabar, capital of the southeastern Cross River State. Taylorâs advance party, made up of some relatives and close aides arrived in Calabar late yesterday and headed for the mansion, located in a quiet part of the city, journalists and residents told AFP. Getting out while the gettings good.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/11/2003 9:16:18 AM ||
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If--not when--this clown leaves, the CIA needs to arrange a little "accident" for him as well. His "farewell" speech earlier today implied at the end that he'd come back if he felt it was necessary.
Posted by: Dar ||
08/11/2003 9:45 Comments ||
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The Feds charged Uzair Paracha last week with providing cover for a suspected Qaeda terrorist in the United States. But they didnât reveal their suspicion that Paracha and his father have ties to senior members of Al Qaeda, including 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. Paracha — possibly through his father, Saifullah — may have been recruited by Mohammed, or âKSM,â as the Feds call him. NEWSWEEK has learned that the FBI believes Parachaâs role was to help maintain the cover of a key Qaeda operative based in Baltimore who was planning attacks in the United States after 9/11.
Uhhh... Y'mean Baltimore, as in downtown is 15 minutes from me? Something about that idea bothers me...
After his capture by American and Pakistani forces in March, Mohammed told U.S. interrogators about a web of possible âsleeper agentsâ he had set up inside America. He had deliberately recruited operatives who had easy entry to U.S. territory as green-card holders (like Paracha) or even U.S. citizens. Mohammed said one element of his sleeper network involved using Parachaâs fatherâs import-export firm as a cover for smuggling explosives into the United States, according to an FBI report on Mohammedâs interrogations obtained by NEWSWEEK. Shortly after Mohammed started talking, U.S. investigators rounded up some of the suspects identified by the Qaeda chief, including Paracha — who was hanging out at his fatherâs company office in Manhattanâs garment district — and Iyman Faris, a Columbus, Ohio, truckdriver whom Mohammed had assigned to surveil the Brooklyn Bridge and then to buy acetylene torches that could be used to cut its suspension cables.
"Morris, there's a man sitting on one of the cables of the Brooklyn Bridge trying to cut it with an acetylene torch."
Last week, after holding Paracha since late March as a âmaterial witness,â the Feds charged him with providing support to Al Qaeda, including conspiring with two unidentified Qaeda operatives to acquire ID papers that would help one of the terror suspects enter the United States. According to a government source and Parachaâs lawyer, the suspect whom Paracha is accused of helping with the ID papers is Majid Khan, a former Baltimore resident now in custody overseas, whose family owned gas stations in Maryland.
I hope they're not Shell stations...
According to FBI documents, Mohammed told interrogators that he and Khan had planned to simultaneously blow up the underground storage tanks of several gas stations.
I wonder if they're done working on my car yet? Maybe I should pick it up anyway...
Though his lawyer says Paracha is not a terrorist and was unaware of any planned attacks,
"No, no! Certainly not! Nothing of the sort! Lies! All lies!"
he concedes that Paracha did phone U.S. immigration authorities on Khanâs behalf — a call that prosecutors allege was part of an attempt to keep Khanâs U.S. immigration status regular so he could get back into the country. Parachaâs father has not been heard from since his arrest in Pakistan last month. Farhat Paracha insists neither her husband nor her son was involved in terrorism.
"They're just pickin' on m'boy 'cuz he's so dangerous handsome!"
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
08/11/2003 3:38:50 AM ||
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I wonder if they're done working on my car yet? Maybe I should pick it up anyway...
Check underneath before you drive away. And check all the hidden compartments.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/11/2003 11:05 Comments ||
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I'd have the mechanic start it up for you, too. You know, just to make sure the thing was fixed right...
A look at nations with the top 10 proven oil reserves as of the end of 2002, based on their percentage of the worldâs total known reserves. The figures were published by British Petroleum (www.bp.com) and based on estimates from the Oil & Gas Journal. The level of freedom in those nations is measured by the independent Freedom House organization (www.freedomhouse.org). The rankings are from 2000.
Country - Known Oil Reserves - Freedom Level.
Saudi Arabia - 25 percent - not free
Iraq - 10.7 percent - not free now partly free
United Arab Emirates - 9.3 percent - not free.
Kuwait - 9.2 percent - partly free.
Iran - 8.6 percent - not free.
Venezuela - 7.4 percent - partly free. less and less free every day
Russia - 5.7 percent - partly free.
United States - 2.9 percent - free.
Libya - 2.8 percent - not free.
Nigeria - 2.3 percent - partly free partly?
So of the top ten, only one is free -- us -- a few are partly free, and the rest are run by thugs and scumbags. Kuwait, the UAE and Iraq are going to get better. Canât say that about the rest.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/11/2003 1:22:34 AM ||
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This is what's turning me into a hydrogen whacko groupie. When GM and GWB get behind it, ya gotta think there's hope.
If fuel cells are available by 2010, with widespread US adoption by 2015-2020, how will the world change?
At least 6 of the places on the list revert to being unpleasant deserts with no other resources than pistachios and an overpriced lubricant. A couple others will merely be unpleasant.
Wisely, their leadership prepares for this bold new future by filling personal checking accounts in foreign banks, developing nerve gas and nuc-U-lar bombs, and being careful not to upset the most conservative nutjobs in the state religion. There must be something in the Koran that can be interpreted as prohibiting hydrogen fuel cells.
Yes, progress comes at a fearful cost. I suppose a bankrupt ME with a 14th century outlook (unenhanced by our western Xray sunglasses) would be dangerous, unstable, and violent. We'll have to prepare for that....
Posted by: Mark IV ||
08/11/2003 9:26 Comments ||
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Once again, I gotta put in a link to Petroleum Pete, a great site for energy-related issues.
Posted by: Dar ||
08/11/2003 9:49 Comments ||
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Here's an article from TCS dated 6/30 that sorta let the air outta hydrogen for me. The numbers aren't good. Sigh. Gotta bite the bullet someday, though.
#4
Alas, hydrogen is not free. It takes energy to separate it from water, or even from natural gas. What's worse: most fuel cell design is focused on using natural gas, and there are already natural gas shortages looming because many electricity producers are slowly shifting away from coal. Sorry,guys, but -- hydrogen and fuel cell hype aside -- there's no quick fix coming.
Posted by: Tom ||
08/11/2003 11:23 Comments ||
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Thanks for the link, but it didn't dampen my wild-eyed unfounded enthusiasm much.
There are half-measures to get there, and the biggest objection is the $30 trillion infrastructure already in place for petro. Dunno what the infrastructure for horses was, in constant dollars, but as a percentage of the world economy in 1890 I'll bet it was pretty high.
Anyway, I get the same satisfactory lift from contemplating a hydrogen future that I do from buying a Lotto ticket... the ability to daydream until the ticket expires. Thank your stars I didn't buy into the cold fusion thing instead. Some of those guys make Wahabists look level-headed.
Posted by: Mark IV ||
08/11/2003 11:27 Comments ||
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#6
Free the US from the despots and idiots. Nuclear Power. Nuclear Power. Nuclear Power.
#7
Cold fusion aside, do you remember all the hype 20 years ago about "hot" fusion in "magnetic bottles." [There's still a huge lab near Princeton, NJ still researching it.] The hydrogen hype is similar. I see it as just a good welfare program to keep government scientists busy and their infrastructure in place until we need them for other serious business.
Posted by: Tom ||
08/11/2003 11:33 Comments ||
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#8
Nukes work best for the energy grid, IMO. And I do like nukes, and as a matter of fact, I damned near do have one in my backyard; I'm within the initial vaporization radius of San Onofre.
I'm just not sure it's a practical retrofit for my Subaru. The Dodge, maybe....
Hydrogen may contribute to an alternative energy future. If it does, the contribution is probably 20+ years off, by any reasonable estimate. I can accept that. I don't think it will be cheap, soon, or free.
There are a few other options (some are just boronic) but it is smart to work on them now, if for no other reason than Tom's suggestion, to keep them busy and exercised until we need a new mullah-selective MOAB. Or something.
Posted by: Mark IV ||
08/11/2003 11:46 Comments ||
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#9
We have no idea where the Tokamak spinoffs have gone and I'm sure that "bottle" technology could have some military applications.
Presuppose that we cancel our imports of Saudi or whatever oil. What would that do? Turn a sh!thole into a larger sh!thole? It would turn the ME into Central Africa, in essence.
The underlying problem is that Bush may have created a credibility gap which feeds into AQ's hands; if we have the world's (second?) largest nuclear arsenal and we don't use it when 3000 die, when will we use it? When 4000 die? 5?
Just going after the oil isn't enough, we need to go after their hearts and minds, if not by irradiation then by shock and awe...
Posted by: Brian ||
08/11/2003 11:48 Comments ||
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#10
But Brian, who would he have nuked? As you may have noticed I'm as bloodthirsty as the next ·com, but the only way a nuke could've been used was if the foe was a sovereign countries' military, or if they hit us with one. I'm just guessing, but I bet there's plans drawn up for same, and I trust GWB, Condi and Rumsfeld to do what's right
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2003 11:56 Comments ||
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#11
I've been hearing about some technology that takes carbon based mater and turns it into sweet crude. It's currently being used with turkey entrails and whatnot. But from what I've heard it can take anything. Dump it into the hopper on one end and Wa-La.
#12
I've read that article - the machine's amazing - garbage/crap to sweet lite crude.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2003 13:55 Comments ||
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#13
Lucky and Frank: the turkey-entrail converter (and such minded devices) doesn't scale very well. To put it simply, there aren't enough turkey entrails to matter :-)
Steve Den Beste has written extensively on the scaling issue. He also thinks hydrogen won't work for the reasons noted: it's an energy carrier, not an energy source.
Nuclear is our best bet for the forseeable future, and the government may actually have a workable idea, in new-technology, standardized light-water reactors combined with expedited permitting and licensing.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/11/2003 14:59 Comments ||
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Steve White: Hopefully the government also has a workable idea about converting support of "nuclear power" from being a political third rail or it won't go anywhere (but I hope it does). At this point even irradiated food is out, let alone a new Nuke Plant.
#15
We are (government subsidized, at that). There are many gas stations in US selling ethanol blends of petrol. There are real and perceived performance issues, but the real problem as mentioned in other contexts here, is scale.
You have to grow a lot of corn to move a car. You have to grow a tremendous amount of corn to move all, or even a bunch of cars. There are various calculations floating around which are probably all bogus, but it still requires a great deal of energy and resources, not to mention real estate, to grow enough corn to matter.
Some maintain that ethanol consumes more energy (in the agricultural production process) than it yields. It has been said, though hardly proven, that it would require 97% of the US land mass just to grow enough corn to replace current gasoline consumption.
Still, I would rather drive across 3000 miles of cornfields than 3000 miles of free range turkeys.
This could also lead to an unfortunate Soylent Green type of scenario that might best be left unexplored....
Posted by: Mark IV ||
08/11/2003 23:19 Comments ||
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That didnât take long. EFL.
Israeli warplanes attacked suspected Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon on Sunday, hours after the group shelled northern Israel, killing a 16-year-old and wounding five others, including an infant. The boy was the first civilian killed in an attack by the guerrilla group in the area since Israel pulled out of southern Lebanon in May 2000, officials said. The attacks came amid an increase in border violence following months of calm, raising fears of wider conflict with Syria and Lebanon. Earlier Sunday, Israelâs foreign minister warned those countries to restrain Hezbollah, or "we will have no choice but to defend ourselves." "And you mutts know what that means!"
Aides to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said, however, that Israel is trying to avoid an escalation and would try to resolve the situation through diplomatic channels. "Hey Bashir, control your dog or else!"
Also Sunday, Sharon told his Cabinet that the U.S.-backed plan for Palestinian statehood would not move ahead until the Palestinians carry out their pledge to dismantle militant groups. The military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon, said later that Palestinian security forces werenât doing enough to stop attacks.
They'll keep yapping and accusing the Israelis of not carrying out their end of the bargain, rather than attending to what they were supposed to do...
Early Monday, an Israeli warplane broke the sound barrier over Beirut, triggering a sonic boom that woke sleeping people, police and residents said, a frequent Israeli tactic when tension rises. "Hi, remember us?"
Palestinian legislator Saeb Erekat said it was Israel, rather than the Palestinians, which was failing to live up to its commitments. "Hey, that ainât fair! Them Joooos ainât following the roadmap. We gotta excuse, weâre Palestinians!"
Yawn!
The cross-border fighting began this month. On Friday, Hezbollah fired artillery toward Israeli border posts, drawing return fire. It was the first such exchange in eight months. The military said the Israeli aircraft hit Hezbollah artillery positions from which the tank shells had been fired at Shlomi, a working-class town of about 6,000 people close to the border. Hezbollah said the shelling was in retaliation for the Aug. 2 killing of Hezbollah security official Ali Hussein Saleh by a bomb in his car south of Beirut. Israel refused to comment on the claim that it was behind the killing. The guerrilla group also fired anti-aircraft shells Saturday on Kiryat Shemona, but no injuries were reported.
Israel's got to work on that 'Nope. Wudn't me!' defense. Always deny, even if caught lighting the fuse...
On Sunday, 16-year-old Haviv Dadon was walking home from a summer job when he was hit by the anti-tank shell fired on the northern town of Shlomi. Five bystanders, including a woman and her 9-month-old son, were lightly injured, hospital officials said. At the teenâs funeral, mourners said they felt abandoned by the government. One shell exploded near a preschool and another hit near a shopping center, said the mayor, Gavriel Naaman. Video footage showed patches of blood left on a concrete staircase. The streets of the town were deserted by nightfall, with residents staying in their homes or in bomb shelters. "We are very afraid," said resident Lara Elhai, 50. "Any moment, they could shoot at us. Itâs the summer holidays, and we canât even send our children to the pool."
That's because kiddies are prime targets for Islamists...
The last civilian death in such an attack along the northern Israeli border happened June 24, 1999, when a Hezbollah rocket struck the city hall of Kiryat Shemona, killing two men. In response to the latest death, Israeli warplanes fired at least one missile near the village of Teir Harfa, about two miles from the Lebanese-Israeli border. No casualties were reported. A senior Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the warplanes hit the Hezbollah artillery positions that fired at Shlomi.
So the Islamic heroes probably won't announce any casualties...
Israelâs ambassador to the United Nations sent a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan holding the Syrian and Lebanese governments responsible for Hezbollahâs "acts of terror," Foreign Ministry spokesman Yonatan Peled said. Annan issued a statement piously condemning the shelling and urging "all governments that have influence on Hezbollah" to deter it from further actions that could increase tension. He also urged Israel to exercise "utmost restraint."
"Yasss... Just let them shoot you up. It's the multilateral thing to do."
Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Sheik Naim Qassem said Sunday that Hezbollah "is fully prepared and ready to respond in the proper manner to any Israel aggression or threat."
"... existent or non-!"
"This anti-aircraft fire is fired as a reaction to warplanes that regularly violate Lebanese airspace," he said in an interview with the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya satellite station. "Even though we ainât Lebanese, we defend their airspace! Never mind how the AA guns are aimed â thatâs our bizness!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/11/2003 1:11:52 AM ||
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#1
Ahhh, holding the Hezbollah Air Force in tactical reserve huh?. I keep waiting for the chainmailed fist of Sharon to administer some reality to Hezb, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran....taking bets on September? The roadmap should have been abused, tattered, folded wrong (I hate that!) and put away for good by then....the Paleos can't handle peace, tranquility, finding real jobs
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2003 10:21 Comments ||
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#2
September sounds about right. They sure as hell can't afford to let those Hez mutts keep bangin' away at the civs. Bets on which camp gets hit first?
#6
ahaha some conservatives said the war on Iraq will make hizbollah scared ahaha it didnt...this time they even killed an Israeli....for years all their rockets fell on empty farms
#8
anybody else notice stevey laughs like Nelson on the Simpsons? like-minded dim cartoon characters
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2003 18:58 Comments ||
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#9
Who knows, we may have the 4th ID "home" by Christmas after all - with Damascus being "home". They may have the Israely 6th Parachute Brigade for neighbors... Sounds so friendly and warm... for everybody but Syria and Hezbollah, but they don't count.
Can you imagine how the dinks in Ein-el-hellhole would react to a Nimitz-class anchored in Beirut harbor?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/11/2003 20:41 Comments ||
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#10
a short war with israel taking out syria and lebanon would solve a few unrelated islamist problems, too
Anti-aircraft shells fired by Lebanese guerrillas killed one person in Israel on Sunday, raising prospects for tough retaliation for the first such death since Israeli forces quit Lebanon three years ago. âWe have no desire to open a new front, but we cannot agree to our people in the north being hurt,â Deputy Defence Minister Zeev Boim said after shrapnel from shells fired by the Hezbollah group hit a shopping centre in the border town of Shlomi. âA military response may be needed, not only as a direct response to this provocation but also as a reminder of the Israeli armyâs deterrent power, which they may have forgotten,â he said.
Later on Sunday, Hezbollah TV reported that Israeli warplanes raided the outskirts of a south Lebanon village. Local officials said a young man was killed and four other people were wounded in the attack that followed a surge of violence along the frontier on Friday.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/11/2003 00:05 ||
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Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas said no Saudi money meant for needy Palestinians reaches militant groups, the official Saudi Press Agency reported Sunday.
"Nope. Nope. All goes to widows and orphans..."
Saudi financial assistance to the Palestinians goes through the Palestinian Authority, which takes a hefty rakeoff in turns directs it to social and economic programs and not to militant groups, Abbas told reporters late Saturday, according to SPA.
"Trust us on this..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/11/2003 00:05 ||
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I had to read this a couple of times before I believed it. I was looking for the clue - since it had to be a joke-post. Sigh. For you Firesign Theatre fans, it brings to mind this short exchange from the Nick Danger bits:
"What kind of fool do you take me for?"
"First rate."
#2
If you use Clintonian parsing on this you realize that Abbas is correct. no 'Saudi money meant for needy Palestinians reaches militant groups' may be true because the money that reaches militant groups is meant for 'general relief' or some such purpose. Also, if a 'needy Palentinian' gives Saudi money to a militant group, it becomes 'different money', so also in this case you can maintain that the statement is true notwithstanding the fact that the reality is essentially opposite from the meaning.
Practically all American mosques are led by the people who have no academic training in Islam, or who have received their training from overseas Islamic academies. They are also highly conservative in their outlook, which colours the version of Islam that they teach. According to a report in the Christian Science Monitor, âMost of these have been taken over by highly conservative elements aligned with the extremely conservative Wahhabi interpretation of Islam championed and funded by the Saudi Arabian monarchy. But progressive Muslims in America are taking their inspiration from Islamic scholars trained in Western universities who tend to be critical of authoritarian interpretations of Islam and who treat the real diversity of Muslim societies more inclusively. Today, American mosques and advocacy groups, whose representatives are most commonly called on by the media to speak for Muslim Americans, reflect only a fraction of the larger Muslim American community.â
Who either keep their mouths shut or aren't interested...
A study on US mosques, conducted in 2000 by four of the main Muslim American national organisations, showed that two million of the estimated six million Muslim Americans attend Muslim religious institutions at least once or twice each year, and of those, just 411,060 attend mosques regularly. Even allowing for possible exaggeration and duplication â because the survey relied on mosque representatives for its information â the results still raise issues that most Muslim American organisations are afraid to tackle. The most obvious one is that two-thirds of Muslim Americans donât publicly participate even in the most minimal cultural manifestations of their faith.
Maybe that's why we only hear from the nutbags or the guys who wear brassiere cups on their heads. Maybe there's hope...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/11/2003 00:04 ||
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Money talks. The Saudi (and others) funding is the issue that must be addressed. It seems that a rethink of religious law would make sense. I have no doubt that the incredible free pass that has been given to religion in the US has now been usurped by those who would happy overthrow the US by subversion. Painful as it might be to those who hold religious beliefs, surely they recognize that the state has some measure of business regulating religion. It has been an open door for abuse since our founding - and we've basically winked at the scams of the money-grubbers who prey on foolish people - that was only money. This is a very different situation - and national security is worthy of fresh attention.
#2
A real effort then, for mainstream muslims, would be to create groups to counter the CAIR's and other nutbags like James Zogby, Ibrahim Hooper, getting face time on TV News shows defending the Sami Al-Arians and knucklehead Mike "from Intel".
Still waiting for that massive mainstream muslim movement⢠to rise up and publicly denounce the Saudis, Baathists, Paleos, etc.... After all, we keep reading that they are there...why do they stay silent? Fear of the Religion of Peace adherents?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2003 9:41 Comments ||
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#3
We Christians can't counter the "nutbag" Christians, Frank G, so what makes you think that good Muslims can make a difference with "nutbag" Muslims?
Posted by: Tom ||
08/11/2003 11:15 Comments ||
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#4
Do you see any tacit support or nodding agreement with any Christians espousing overthrow of the U.S. and replacement with rule by the Vatican? or Anglican church, or...
When a Falwell or Robertson or ? runs their mouth, we christians are expected to denounce them, and rightfully so, to demonstrate they don't speak on our behalfs. I would expect the same of muslims, nothing less
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2003 11:39 Comments ||
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#5
I don't notice Falwell (whom I like), and Robertson (whom I generally donât agree with), to be calling for the deaths of all the infidels. At worse, they are fools saying fooling things.
I am sure that there are self described "Christians" out there who are dangerous and violent but they probably number about .001% of all professing Christians. The problem with Islam - The Religion of Peace ⢠, is that a sizable minority of its adherents are dangerous and violent. The chance that some "moderate" majority among the Muslims will shout the nuts down here or anywhere else is silly. Besides, a lot of the "moderates" are only "moderate" in the sense that they don't want to do the killing of the infidels themselves.
And, according to the story, most of the mosques in the US are led by the above mentioned dangerous and violent nuts. Wonderful.
#6
The difference between the Islamozoids and Falwell/Robertson is that the former feel at liberty to enforce their fatwas at the point of a gun that they are wielding, while the latter are satisfied to just pray and let God take care of the situation.
Another difference: the Islamozoids will justify the use of their guns, while Falwell/Robertson would reject violence and emphasize the ability of God to act in response to prayer. (Robertson moreso than Falwell.)
#7
I really don't think there would be many mosques in the US if not for Saudi funding. The 2 million attending vs. 6 million claimed is one of those "oh, shit" statistics. There ain't six million muslims in this country. Even if there are six million muslim immigrants (which I doubt), then four million have already become secular humanists or Mormons or belonged to persecuted groups (Bahai, Alawite, etc.) that ain't going anywhere near a sunni mosque and who probably came to America to escape precisely that sort of BS. We're absorbing them like we did the Bundists and the die hard Emperor-worshipping Nissei and the bomb throwing European wobblies (hope I'm being diverse enough). God Bless America.
#8
*com: slippery slope, that. Personally, I would never, ever help you persecute a man for a)what he believes or b)what he says. I would like to see the Democratic party crushed in America before it destroys our nation.... and I wouldn't completely rule out using violence to do it. Should the FBI be watching me? I don't think so.
Ahhhh, but the "hate crime" people will tell you that I should be put in jail for just saying what I just said. You should judge a man by what he does, not what he says.... or you think that he has said.
Not that I'm a big fan of The Religeon of Peace (tm), mind you
#9
Hmmmm. I recall a George Carlin routine about spending the night with a friend. The punchline, to keep this short, was the observation that the following subjective rule is true of everyone - that we are all guilty of this little blind spot:
My shit is stuff, your stuff is shit.
It doesn't matter who you use as an example, for as many will disagree as agree with you, nor to apply some wildly subjective quantification of there's only a few of us who are loonies - most of them are loonies.
What's needed, as always, is one set of effective rules, a level playing field, and no one outside or beyond the rules. That is the American way.
Everything else is merely self-serving prevarication - and falls into George's analysis of subjectivity.
The captain of a Taiwan fisheries cargo ship has been wounded after his vessel was attacked by pirate boats in the Malacca Strait. The 3,000-tonne "Tung Yi" based in Taiwan's southern Kaohsiung city, was attacked by two pirate vessels while it was sailing for Singapore on Saturday local time, an official from Taiwan's National Rescue Command Centre said. "The two pirate ships were disguised as oil rig tug boats... that was why the captain did not pay attention to them when they showed up," an official from the centre quoted the captain as saying. The captain, identified as Lo Ying-hsiung, said his ship had to speed away following the submachine gun attack which lasted for some two hours. The captain was hit in the knee by a bullet and some of the ship's steering equipment was damaged. The rest of the crew, including nine Taiwanese and 24 Philippine, Chinese and Vietnamese sailors, escaped unscathed.
"Yar! We be pirates!"
"You got turbans!"
"Yar! We be Dayaks!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/11/2003 00:04 ||
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Despite the fun & game of the recent Disney movie, modern day piracy is a very real problem in the South China sea region going from South China all the way to Singapore. There are lots of cargo ship going through that region, and lots of money to be made. Unfortunately, there really isn't a great naval power in the region that can lick the piracy problem once and for all (the problem has been around since at least 1600).
#2
Retiring Moonbat Mahathir Mohammed has just spent $1.9bn buying Russian fighters and French submarines. They should be really effective against pirates.
A few tens of millions on high speed patrol craft and proper radar system by the Malaysians and Indonesians would solve the problem, but why bother when the merchant ship crews are infidels.
It is time the British, US, Australians, Japanese and other concerned nations placed armed forces on merchant vessels when they transit the Malacca straits. A tanker entering Singapore with a couple of pirates hanging from the yard should act as a disuasion of this kind of thing.
Posted by: Edmund Burke ||
08/11/2003 8:20 Comments ||
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#7
The straits of Malacca are teeming with pirates. I've taken a couple nerve-racking trips through the straits. We used radios to stay in touch with other boats in area, all identifying and sharing ship info, but you have to be careful to only talk to people you know, because the pirates also use the radio and masquerade as boats with good reps. A tiny bit safer when the captian is armed and there are several spear guns lying about (yummy grouper there in the straits). A colleague of mine got picked up by burmese pirates in the straits, managed to live, but noticed boat lying low from crates of arms and ammo on deck before he was shoved off.
#8
The straits of Malacca are teeming with pirates. I've taken a couple nerve-racking trips through the straits. We used radios to stay in touch with other boats in area, all identifying and sharing ship info, but you have to be careful to only talk to people you know, because the pirates also use the radio and masquerade as boats with good reps. A tiny bit safer when the captian is armed and there are several spear guns lying about (yummy grouper there in the straits). A colleague of mine got picked up by burmese pirates in the straits, managed to live, but noticed boat lying low from crates of arms and ammo on deck before he was shoved off.
Liberian Vice-President Moses Blah, who is due to take power on Monday when President Charles Taylor promises to step down, stepped into the political arena from the same place: a Libyan guerrilla training camp.
It figures, doesn't it?
The pair returned from Libya in 1989 as part of a 200-strong group dubbed the Special Forces Commandos, the military vanguard of Taylorâs National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), and started a civil war. During the first three years of Taylorâs reign, Blah returned to Libya as Liberian ambassador, before coming home in 2000 to become a low-key vice president, driving his own car around Monrovia with a single bodyguard. Now the 56-year-old former animal-feed plant operator and father of 14 is due to be sworn in as president on Monday, when Taylor has said he will at last bow to international pressure and step down. He will take theoretical charge of an embattled government that holds only around a fifth of Liberian territory, and only part of its own capital, which has been trapped in a rebel choke-hold for two months. It is also not clear how long his government will last. Thrust into the centre of this political and military storm, Blah remains an enigma to most outside observers. His curriculum vitae has all the hallmarks of a dyed-in-the-wool Taylor clone.
Here's hoping he won't be there long...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/11/2003 00:04 ||
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Same war crimes apply to him as Taylor? New indictment?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2003 8:20 Comments ||
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#2
It is not as simplistic a situation as the western media is striving to portray the root of the liberian crisis. They present the case as if Liberia, bathing in genuine peace and stability under Samuel Doe, was thrown into turmoil by Quadaffi who wished to settle scores by targeting western(American) geopolitical interests in Liberia. Taylor is hired to do the job, and therefore becomes a Quadaffi clone. By extension, Taylor clones himself -all supporters for change become "small Taylors" and therefore are tentacles of the ENEMY of the west. What a 'realistic' assessment!
The world does deserve better. The Liberian rebellion of the late 1980s was homegrown, had nationalist aspirations, and pursued genuine peace, stability and democracy. True. Any willing supporter would have been embraced. Also true. Quadaffi played no more a role than that he had in the past -helping liberate other nationalist upprisings, take for example the independence struggles in southern Africa.
I am afraid the media opts for a Karzai or a Chalabi for Liberia, a situation which will fuel rather than quell the mess in Liberia today. The west will do well for Liberia by taking away the guns and making every Tom, Dick or Harry who thinks he is capable to rule the country respect the right of the people to choose.
Posted by: Ernest C. ||
08/11/2003 11:03 Comments ||
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#3
UN Trusteeship Council should be revived and Liberia should become a territory controlled by others until they can run themselves without blood everywhere. Same is probably true for the Ivory Coast and Sierra Leon as well.
Perhaps all three could be lumped into one territory and Europe could take responsibility since they have so much more experience in (a) imperialism (b) Africa. and they want some respect on the world stage. Perhaps a larger sized nation could break some of the tribal connections that have hampered African nations so much since one tribe is less likely to be able to dominate the others.
#4
>Perhaps a larger sized nation could break some of
>the tribal connections that have hampered African
>nations so much since one tribe is less likely to
>be able to dominate the others.
That didn't help Liberia much--no tribe was
large enough to dominate by mere numbers.
Posted by: James ||
08/11/2003 11:49 Comments ||
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#5
Yank,every time the U.N.gets involved they make a terrable situation into a horrable situation.
#6
Raptor, I agree the UN is generally a waste of time but the Trusteeship Council was fairly successful because the UN didn't do much except bless another nations actions. It's got the benefits of Imperialism without the negatives.
James, Liberia had tribal issues in that the libero-Americans acted as if they were a tribe and until Samuel Doe's regime they dominated the other tribes.Something needs to be done to get Africans to think of themselves as citizens of a nation first, tribe second. Since the borders are artificial anyway perhaps expanding them is better than breaking them up. Just a thought outside the box.
#8
Yank, I'd go the other way -- make the borders smaller so that each major tribe is a canton. Then federate them (or confederate them) and in that way force them to play nice with each other. Best way to tear down tribalism peacefully is to remove the fear that another tribe is going to seize everything my tribe has at the first opportunity, and vice versa. Federations would begin to teach them to work together. Have a UN trusteeship to bless the federations and ensure that groups of tribes don't gang up on others.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/11/2003 14:45 Comments ||
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#10
Perhaps a larger sized nation could break some of the tribal connections that have hampered African nations so much...
That doesn't seem to be working too well in the Congo, which not only has three or four political divisions twice the size of Liberia, but more than 90 different tribes. The same old killing, raping, torturing, looting, and pillaging seems to go on there, just as it does in pint-size Rwanda and middle-size Mozambique. Zimbabwe is a separate problem but much of the roots are the same - the lust for power, and lots and lots of guns.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/11/2003 17:31 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
