A Phish is on the hook for endangering the welfare of a minor after he allegedly tried to take pictures of a young girl inside a deserted boathouse, according to a report. Mike Gordon, 38, was arrested after being found late at night in a secluded area with a 9-year-old girl. The girlâs parents raised an alarm when she disappeared from a backstage area at Jones Beach Theater, WNBC-TV reported. New York State Park Police say Gordon showed a different side after a concert last week by The Dead. Investigators say Gordon -- who calls himself "Cactus" -- was an invited guest backstage at Jones Beach. He was not invited, they say, to take a 9-year-old girl to an isolated location behind the theater. "The area is actually like a work area for state employees who operate boats out of that area," said Maj. Richard OâDonnell, of the New York State Park Police. "Itâs a darkened area, not intended for public access." Just where preverts like to take little girls.
OâDonnell, who is the regionâs commanding officer, would not discuss what the bass player told officers when he was found with the child on a dock. But a police report obtained by WNBC-TV reveals "The defendant stated he wanted to take âart photosâ of the victim." Uh huh. Now before you get all bummed out, the story has a happy ending, at least for me.
The Law enforcement sources identify the girlâs father as a leader of the Hellâs Angels Motorcycle Club, whom they say had also been invited backstage to watch The Dead concert. Gordon was held for police by theater security "and the victimâs fatherâs associates -- which the police report describes as other Hellâs Angels members. Oops!
The DAâs office says the evidence is being evaluated. Regardless of whether Gordon has to face a judge next month, law-enforcement sources say unofficial justice was already delivered. The Hellâs Angels, who detained Gordon for police, were not, the sources say, gentle with sensitive areas of the rock starâs body. Bet he can hit those high notes now.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/20/2003 4:08:50 PM ||
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beautiful, just beautiful. Luckyly, my beer was empty.
Posted by: john ||
08/20/2003 16:21 Comments ||
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#2
The Law enforcement sources identify the girlâs father as a leader of the Hellâs Angels Motorcycle Club...
Oh, smart move, DUUUUUDE! He's lucky he still has any "sensitive areas" left.
A new message attributed to unemployed potentateMullah Mohammed Omar, Commander of the Faithful and leader of the Taliban was received by AP yesterday and calls Western charities one of the "greatest enemies of Islam".
That's 'cuz they try to hand out food and help people and stuff...
The two-page message, written in Pashtu comes after repeated attacks against international aid workers in Afghanistan. âO Muslims know the enemies of your religion â the Jews and Christians. America, Britain, the United Nations and all Western aid groups are the greatest enemies of Islam and humanity. The greatest tragedy is that Muslims are becoming weaker and weaker and going from one humiliation to another. Instead of awakening, instead of freeing their holy places, they are losing other strategic places. Instead of trying to regain their dignity and prestige, they are further giving up their status. It is a sorry state that Muslims are currently in.â the message purportedly from Omar said.
"Somehow, no matter how many people we kill, no matter how many things we blow up, we remain ignorant and backward. I just don't understand it..."
Referring to the United States, Omar said, âIt attacked Iraq. America wants to capture the banking and financial treasures of the Islamic world.â
"It's all about... ummm... cash."
The authenticity of the message, which carried Mullah Omar's signature, could not be independently verified. International aid has slowed to a trickle because aid organizations have banned travel on most roads fearing they may be attacked by Taliban Mujahideen or local warlords. In Kandahar, the Talibanâs former power base, the presence of international workers has been dramatically reduced. Last weekend, the UN suspended road travel for its workers in southern Afghanistan after five policemen were wounded and Afghan aid workers were tied up and beaten.
As usual, the complaint is that of "going from one humiliation to the other," and the humiliations are never of their own making. It's significant that this comes out at about the same time the UN in Baghdad was boomed. The Talibs didn't like having the UN around, and on at least one occasion the one-eyed potentate accused them of supporting the U.S. â try and figure that one.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/20/2003 00:00 ||
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Whether its the UK, the US, or the UN, we're all U guys to the jihadis.
Posted by: Ben ||
08/20/2003 5:27 Comments ||
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"..American wants to capture the banking and financial treasures of the Islamic world"???????
#3
"banking and financial treasures of the Islamic world"
Must be talking about Saddam's checkbook. Check yesterdays stories for how much money Sammy was spreading around. Sounds like he was second only to the Saudis.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/20/2003 8:45 Comments ||
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#4
Keep in mind that charging interest is considered un-Islamic. In the US, mortgage companies have had to devise special deals for Muslims because they won't can't take out typical loans. One of the reasons the Islamic world is poor (other than for oil) is their lack of a modern banking system.
#5
compounded by the fact that they spend their educational years mindlessly memorizing Quran script like good little Islamic robots...check out the glassy stares in Madrassahs
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/20/2003 10:25 Comments ||
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#6
One of the reasons the Islamic world is poor (other than for oil) is their lack of a modern banking system.
Before they can even think about a modern banking system, they need to first develop some modern thinking.
From the UK Daily Record, salt tablets recommended....
UNDERTAKERS in France estimate the recent heatwave killed more than 13,600 people. Funeral home giant OGF say almost 3500 people will have died in Paris alone by the end of the month. I would believe the undertakers before believing the govt, as they are on the ground floor, so to speak.
Their figures are almost two-and-a-half times the French governmentâs heat- related death toll. Health minister Jean-Francois Mattei conceded on Monday that it was "plausible" that up to 5000 people may have died in France, almost twice as many as previously feared. However, he insisted that figure was a hypothesis and that the final toll was not expected for several weeks. The OGF toll is based on comparisons with last Augustâs death rate. If you cannot stand the heat, better exit Frogistan, toot sweet...
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/20/2003 9:32:56 PM ||
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If this keeps up, in a coupla months everybody in France will be dead.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/20/2003 21:51 Comments ||
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Just think how many lives could of been saved in France if the population had just taken a dialy shower or bath
Posted by: Someone who did NOT vote for William Proxmire ||
08/20/2003 21:56 Comments ||
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#4
Conversely, if we have a cold winter coming up in Frogistan, will the French suffer alot of deaths related to hypothermia and pneumonia? I wonder.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/20/2003 22:00 Comments ||
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Maybe this is French solution to pension crisis.Seriously,this kind of death toll in France and elsewhere in Europe indicates a major problem.To make money for college,I used to work as a semi-skilled carpenter in Houston,Texas during summers.One summer in early 80's we had 33 straight days of 100+ temp.( mom nature forgot to rain)and I was laying down plywood roofs for 2story apts.Aside from convincing myself I never wanted to work outdoors again,I sure don't remember anyone collapsing from heat(after work libations a differ matter),and I don't remember any horror stories on news of heat deaths.So what is Europe's problem?Bad karma?
Posted by: Stephen ||
08/20/2003 22:41 Comments ||
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#6
Europe's problem is its large fraction of elderly.
To expand on your example, I'll bet there were very few people over age 50 on those roofs with you. The reason age 65 was chosen as a retirement age (back in the late 1800's) was that hardly anyone then survived that long. Nowadays people don't absorb as much abuse as previous generations did, and they get better medical care, but everyone's resistance to physical stressors such as heat deteriorates as they get older. I'm sure when the statistics are assembled, most of the heat-related deaths in France will turn out to be among the elderly, the rest the non-elder chronically ill. Also, media coverage has changed a lot in the last 20 years. With increasing popular knowledge of medical issues, a surge in deaths from any cause gets publicity it wouldn't have gotten in previous decades. I'm sure Spain also has a large percentage of elderly, but that society is more used to hot summer weather than the French. The Spanish death rate probably went up also, but not nearly as much as in France. It would be interesting to learn about Iraqi elders (if there are any left) and how they cope with the dreaded Iraqi summers.
#7
Exactly, Stephen. Whaddya wanna bet that when the real numbers come out, it will be a few thousand, or less, that actually died from the heat.
These people ever hear of air conditioning or maybe a fan?
Posted by: Uncle Joe ||
08/20/2003 23:22 Comments ||
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#8
I used to hump block(masonry construction)in Tucson,Az.in my younger days.The block wieghed anywhere from 3lbs to 65lbs apiece.This was between 22years and 30 years old ,they kicked my ass then.At age 46 I do not think I could do it with the same stamina and effiency now.Hell I know I couldn't.I just laid a paver-patio and sidewalk and it kicked my ass.
EFL
Dutch prosecution officials feel they have booked their first judicial success in the war against terrorism, as a court in Rotterdam jailed a 46-year-old man for one year for forging passports. They get it!
But the judges said there was no evidence that Algerian Rabah I was connected with terrorism or Jihad, an Islamic holy war. The public prosecution had earlier demanded that the suspect be jailed for three years. The prosecution claimed that I was the "master forger" who supplied IDs and false passports to Islamic extremists wanting to carry out terrorist attacks. But the court ruled that the evidence was insufficient and dismissed the charge that I was a member of a criminal organistion. They donât get it. More at the link.
EFL:
The FBI said Wednesday the deadly bomb that ripped through U.N. headquarters in Iraq was made from 1,000 pounds of old munitions, including a single 500-pound bomb - all materials from Saddam Husseinâs prewar arsenal that required no "great degree of sophistication" to assemble. An FBI special agent at the site of Tuesdayâs unprecedented attack on the world organization said it was impossible yet to say whether the bomb was the work of Saddam loyalists or foreign terrorists. My money is on the foreign terrorists, itâs their MO.
FBI Special Agent Thomas Fuentes said the bomb had been delivered by a KAMAZ flatbed truck. Such trucks were made in the former Soviet Union. U.S. officials had said on Tuesday that a cement truck delivered the explosives. "We believe it (the bomb) was made from existing military ordnance. ... I cannot say that it required any great degree of sophistication or expertise to create...," Fuentes told The Associated Press. Just piled everything they could on the truck and wired the biggest bomb to the switch.
Fuentes said human remains found in the area where the bomb exploded, about 50 feet from Vieira de Melloâs office, suggested a suicide bombing. He said that could not be absolutely determined until laboratory testing was complete.
The positioning of the bomb near the envoyâs office suggested he was the target of the attack, L. Paul Bremer, the top U.S. civilian administrator in Iraq, told CNN. Or it was just the closest point to the road.
The truck bomb was detonated at the concrete wall outside the three-story Canal Hotel at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, blasting a 6-foot-deep crater in the ground.
Except for the recently built concrete wall, U.N. officials at the headquarters refused heavy security because the United Nations "did not want a large American presence outside," said Salim Lone, the U.N. spokesman in Baghdad. OK, thatâs confirmation directly from the UN, they didnât want American guards.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/20/2003 1:57:28 PM ||
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OK, so I should have read the other story a little closer before I posted this one. Delete if you want, Fred.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/20/2003 14:02 Comments ||
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The fact that de Mello was instrumental in the establishment of East Timor's independence along with Australia( think Bali )just might of had a wee little bit to do with this
Posted by: Someone who did NOT vote for William Proxmire ||
08/20/2003 21:48 Comments ||
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From DEBKAfile, salt to taste. EFL:
US intelligence has dissected the makeup of the guerrilla groups lurking in Baghdad and points north in an area enclosed by Tikrit, Haditha, Fallujah and Baquba. They have come up with some alarming findings:
1. Since late June, Chechen terrorists have been coming to Iraq to join the anti-American offensive.
2. The intake of Arab fighters entering Iraq from Syria is beginning to outnumber the indigenous Iraqi guerrillas fighting in the northern Mosul-Haditha district and the central Ramadi-Fallujah region.
3. The commanders of the guerrilla campaign, Saddam Hussein or his henchmen, appear to are imparting Muslim fundamentalist characteristics to units fighting the Americans - both as camouflage and to foster greater cohesion. In at least one case, a group was lent a pan-Arab identity. The deposed ruler or his commanders are clearly giving careful thought to the ideological nature and makeup of their following. Sammy got religion before the war. Kind of like those scumbags in prison who are "born again" just before they meet the parole board.
Their ability to strike simultaneously in different places also attests to military and intelligence capabilities. Such as access to a watch and a calendar.
The Chechen fighters arriving in Baghdad are not drawn from the ranks of foreign Muslims fighting the Russians in Chechnya but ethnic Chechens. They were assigned to duty in the Sunni Triangle of central Iraq by the Chechen rebelsâ Saudi al Qaeda commander, Abu al-Walid, also known as Emir al-Walid, who succeeded al Khatib who died in a Russian ambush two years ago.
Not much is known about the new commander except that he comes from western Saudi Arabia and receives funds from Saudi Islamic relief organizations funneled through Balkan or Central Asian Islamic organizations. The report notes that the Chechen insurgents reach Iraq through Syria. Humm, foreign muslim fighters have been going to Chechnya for years, wonder if they have been asked to repay that debt?
The US intelligence force outlines five groups â all wings or allies of the Iraqi Baath party which are operating in different districts and under diverse banners:
Muhammadâs Army: This group of Iraqi Baathists operates in the guise of Muslim fundamentalists. They are concentrated around Baghdad international airport and the cluster of military airfields in Habania and western Iraq, H-1, H-2 and H-3, armed with shoulder-launched Sam 7 anti-air missiles. In July, they tried to down a US fighter plane and a C-130 transport but missed both. Not very effective, are they? The Black Flags: This group, mostly Syrian Arabs from the Damascus region, is responsible for sabotaging oil installations and fields. DEBKA-Net-Weeklyâs Islamic experts explain that the black flag was once the symbol of the Abbasid revolt against the Omayyad caliphs who ruled Iraq. Although Sunni Muslims, they posed and lived as practicing Shiites until their army overthrew the Caliph in the year 705 A.D., when they came out from their Shiite cover and reverted to the Sunni faith. The message conveyed by this symbol is that it is permitted for Saddam loyalists to assume any religious facade that will help them defeat the enemy. "Yar, we be Abbasid Syrian Sunnis! Our Iraqi friends just call us ASSes for short." Iraqi Nasserists: This group of Saddam loyalists pretends to accept the pan-Arab doctrine preached by the Egyptian dictator Gemal Abdul Nasser in the 1950s and 1960s, a doctrine totally rejected by the Iraqi Baath. This groupâs turf lies between Samarra and Baquba. The good fake fronts must have been taken. The Wahhabis: The state religion of the Saudi kingdom was never able to pierce Saddam Husseinâs secular dominion in Iraq. Now the bar has been removed, the Wahhabis have taken up position in Falujjah and its environs. They are working together with some of the Chechens. Saudi Arabiaâs second biggest export Al Awdaâs Military Wing: Al Awda, meaning âThe Returnâ, runs the most highly-trained, best armed and richly endowed guerrilla group made up of ex-officers sworn to serve Saddam Hussein to the death. Flush with funds, they go around Baghdad and the Sunni Triangle offering $500 in cash on the spot for any Iraqi prepared to join their operation against US forces. Theyâll fight to the death, not their own death, of course.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/20/2003 1:13:59 PM ||
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It's time to bring back public hangings.
Posted by: Tom ||
08/20/2003 16:27 Comments ||
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Grab these guys, get their addresses, and start mailing them home one body part at a time.
#5
steveerossa---Iraq will be a roach motel for terrorists if we play our hand right and allocate adequate resources for the job. A successful Iraq will be like a great satanic infidel boil on the body politic, from an Islamist's point of view. Success for decent people in Iraq meens doom for radical Islam, as they will always be on the defensive. Kinda like guadalcanal in WWII, where the Imperial Japanese were allowed to go no farther to threaten the allies.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/20/2003 19:05 Comments ||
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#6
Also reported to be in Iraq are the elite Al Qaeda "Cavedwellers" Battalion (Unit Motto: "Damn, it's bright out here!") and a selected team of Taliban Retrograde Movement Specialists (Unit Motto: "Feet, don't fail me now!")
Posted by: Matt ||
08/20/2003 19:59 Comments ||
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EFL
U.N. officials declined U.S. offers to provide tighter security at their Baghdad headquarters so they would have a friendlier image with the Iraqi public, American military officials said.
Coalition military forces did not provide security for the U.N. compound but patrolled the area, and one such patrol was nearby when a truck bomb exploded Tuesday, Pentagon officials said.
U.N. officials in Iraq deliberately decided to forgo strict security measures because the United Nations "did not want a large American presence outside," U.N. spokesman Salim Lone said.
Just weeks ago, U.S. forces in Iraq began erecting labyrinthine barriers around nonmilitary, "soft" targets in Baghdad to guard against bombings like Tuesdayâs at U.N. headquarters.
FBI officials in Baghdad said Wednesday the explosives used in the bombing included about 1,000 pounds of old weaponry, including one single 500-pound bomb. They were left on a flatbed truck parked outside the wall around the U.N. compound.
American military and civilian officials in Iraq warned repeatedly over the last two months that car bombings or similar surprise attacks were strong possibilities.
etc.
I just canât find it in my heart to make a snide remark about this...
#4
Everything's our fault. Absolutely everything. Even the 500-pound bomb. If we had just let Saddam roll over every country in the region, there probably wouldn't have been a 500-pound bomb anywhere near Baghdad. Yep, definitely our fault.
Posted by: Tom ||
08/20/2003 16:34 Comments ||
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#5
I heard several commentators, including one from BBC, place the blame for the UN office bombing on the U.S. because, as the occupying force, the U.S. is responsible for security in the country. What do you think the chances are that the BBC will correct the false impression it created by informing its viewers that the U.S. offered additional security, but the U.N. rejected it? Can you say "when hell freezes over?"
#6
The Baghdad bombing puts me in a difficult dilemma. On the one hand I want to say, what the hell did you think we were talking about when we said we're fighting nutjob terrorists? You think you're immune because you slap some pale blue paint on your stuff?
On the other hand, perfectly decent people and innocents died there and I cannot bring myself to launch into an I-told-you-so rant.
But I am sick to death of the people who assign all blame for anything bad to us. For a bunch of supposedly sophisticated thinkers, their conclusions are remarkably the same from problem to problem--USA bad.
#7
Unbelievable. I just read Kofi Annan's response to the report that the UN rejected additional security from the US. He still manages to blame the US. "It is those with responsibility for security and law and order who have intelligence which determines what action was taken," he said. "I don't know if the United Nations did turn down an offer for protection. But if it did, it was not correct and they should not have been allowed to turn it down." Can you imagine the reaction if the US had "not allowed" the UN to reject additional security? Everyone would be screaming that the US was disrespecting the UN's ability to make its own choices and was making the UN a target by surrounding its office building with US troops. I had recently started to regain some respect for Kofi, but his remarks today are stunningly stupid.
#8
Reaching over and snatching a tin foil hat...IIRC the opposition groups back in the o'days of Saddam had plans and, at one time or another, bomb(s) trying to take out the old man. Never could get the opportunity. Could it be that someone who suffered under Saddam, someone who saw his family butchered, was able to put together the idea that the UN had been responsible for keeping Saddam in power as much as Saddam himself. He couldn't get Saddam, but he could get those who made the last ten years possible.
Removes tin foil hat...o'that hurt.
Posted by: Don ||
08/20/2003 19:28 Comments ||
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#9
It's too bad they had to learn the hard way that these Islamist scumbags want us all dead. It would be nice if they would heed the lesson. Unfortunately, with mush minds like Kofi in charge, I doubt they will.
#10
Interesting take Don. But not probable. No the UN needs to ditch the baby blue and get a yellow smilley face. Then when they grow up they could put a red circle around it with a red slash thats says "Hell no"
Details of yesterdayâs arrest. EFL:
Kurdish militiamen captured Iraqâs feared former vice president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, in a bloodless operation in this northern city Tuesday and turned him over to the U.S. military, marking one of the highest-profile arrests since most of ousted President Saddam Husseinâs leadership went underground after his government collapsed in April. Ramadan, once one of Saddamâs closest advisers, was seized with three guards soon after midnight from a two-story villa in the northern city of Mosul, where U.S. forces killed Saddamâs two eldest sons last month. After trying to flee through a back door, Ramadan surrendered peacefully, Kurdish officials said. "He wasnât expecting anyone," said Sadi Ahmed Pire, the local director of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the two main Kurdish parties whose militiamen seized Ramadan. Did I mention I like the Kurds?
Pire said Kurdish officials had been actively pursuing Ramadan for two weeks. He credited the break to a series of arrests of Ramadanâs aides over the previous 48 hours. The final arrest led to Ramadanâs private secretary, who divulged Ramadanâs exact whereabouts in an upscale neighborhood known as Wahda. "Iâll talk, Iâll talk, just put that thing away!"
At 12:30 a.m., Kurdish militiamen brought an aide of Ramadanâs to the front door. Recognizing his voice, guards allowed him to enter, and about 15 militiamen rushed in, Pire said. Kurdish militiamen took Ramadan to their headquarters in Mosul and turned him over to the Armyâs 101st Airborne Division, which is stationed nearby. I really, really like the Kurds.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/20/2003 9:28:48 AM ||
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Did they beat him?
Did they torture a confession out of him?
Did they gas him, slit his throat and hang him by the heels from some street lamp?
What a bunch of wussies.
I like the Kurds a lot but they seem to be a little soft hearted to really get into the anti-terrorism thing....they need a bit more killer instinct.
Oh excuse me, I forgot about the reward money.....now THAT is capitalism in action.
#2
Turkey now has an incentive to help out, namely the pipeline. When the pipeline from Kirkuk to Turkey is working, the fees to Turkey range up to $1/barrel and Turkist citizens get jobs at the Med terminus of the pipeline. Turkey got a taste of fees last week before the ALQ/Baathists struck. All the distrust, etc. doesn't mean much when there is a cold cash potential,especially for a government that is frequently in precarious financial condition.
#3
More details: An Arabic TV station broadcast footage Wednesday of former Iraqi vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan's capture this week, showing pictures of a docile captive who had been a ruthless lieutenant to Saddam Hussein. Kurdish forces of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan captured Ramadan Monday in Mosul, the northern Iraqi city where the fugitive dictator's sons were killed last month. In the footage shown on Al Jazeera Wednesday, men blindfolded and handcuffed a placid and silent Ramadan in a house with a portrait of PUK leader Jalal Talabani on the wall. "We are not like you, we have a conscience," one man told Ramadan, referring to massacres of Kurdish and Shi'ite Muslim opponents by Saddam's forces during the Iraqi leader's 24-year rule. "There wasn't a beautiful girl in Baghdad that you didn't touch. We knew about everything," the man was heard saying.
"I don't know," Ramadan said. "You were vice president, so don't say you don't know," his interrogator replied. "I won't hit you," he added.
The man also said they had been hunting for two months for Ramadan, whose hair and mustache appeared gray in the TV recording. They had been dark before he disappeared. Ramadan, a ruthless and long-serving right-hand man who once suggested President Bush fight a duel with Saddam, was handed over to the U.S. 101st Airborne Division a few hours later, after a brief interrogation by the PUK.
How'd that duel work out, Taha? Guess you forgot that the challenged party gets to pick weapons.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/20/2003 14:11 Comments ||
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#4
Anybody know the national anthem of Kurdistan?
Posted by: Matt ||
08/20/2003 14:25 Comments ||
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August 19â The US has given an unofficial response to the Turkish General Staff on Tuesday regarding Turkeyâs conditions for taking part in an international stability force in Iraq.
The response, a written document conveyed by the US European Forces Commander General James Jones, is an evaluation of a series of queries and reservations put forward by Ankara regarding any possible deployment of Turkish troops in Iraq.
Diplomatic and military sources said that the US has given the green light to Turkish troops being under the command of a Turkish officer and of the contingent having its own zone of operations.
I would have prefered no troops for Iraq at all, but if then only under Turkish command, never trust Americanos and British again!
These two issues were among the key conditions set by Turkey regarding the deployment. However, responses to other questions, especially those related to the terrorist group the PKK/KADEK, currently active in the north of Iraq, have not been revealed as yet.
Huh? Our silly politicians are still thinking that the so called American war on terror is a serious thing, wake up guys.
Posted by: Murat ||
08/20/2003 3:29:47 AM ||
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Never trust Americanos and British again. Oh no, the humanity ! While the Turks were bravely struggling to obtain UN permission to depose the brutal dictator of Baghdad, the US and the UK were secretly propping him up. They were even considering to help him kill all Kurds, can you imagine such depraved behavior ?
#8
Well if it had been an invasion I could have, but I guess the battle of Kunuri (Korea) don't mean that much to Americans as it means to Turks. Don't watch the enemy Chinese in front, watch the Americans at your back.
Posted by: Murat ||
08/20/2003 8:39 Comments ||
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#9
Ok you got me. I don't know anything about the controversy regarding Kunuri. The Turkish Brigade fought valiantly. 5,000 dead. Do you mean the Americans sacrificed the Turkish Brigade? Is that it?
#10
hey go easy on Murat. Dissenters that can actually write complete sentences are hard to come by.
And of course Turkey can't trust us, after all we invaded Iraq without them so they are feeling a little unloved... "Here boys, you control this part, all better now?"
#11
Yes, the Turkish brigade was under American command acting as the
reserve for the 9th U.S. Corps. While American spy planes detected a massive assault of the Chinese Army they informed the British forces âforgettingâ to inform the Turkish forces. In a vague Controversial manner half a day prior to the battle of Kunuri, the Turkish Brigade had received orders to help in the Central Front at Tok-Chon against the Chinese attack and was on route. It then received a second order to head back to the Kunuri area while the British and Americans where on retread as later on became clear.
How convenient to sacrifice others in order to save ones owns ass, but we have learned a precious lesson, never put your army under control of honourable allies. Result of the battle 721 killed, 2147 wounded, 234 POW and 175 MIA. Thanks America, true ally.
Posted by: Murat ||
08/20/2003 9:42 Comments ||
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#12
Somebody had to fight the battle, Murat. If the Turks did not intend to fight, why did they go to Korea?
If it had been a Brit or American unit fighting a rearguard action, you wouldn't be whining. The rear guard takes the brunt of the fighting.
#13
Chuck, fighting a battle is OK, shit happens people die, no problem war casualties are acceptable. But being sacrificed by supposed allies to win precious time for their retread is another thing. Having trust in American colleagues on the battlefield is for Turkish generals a hard task since Korea.
Posted by: Murat ||
08/20/2003 10:28 Comments ||
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#14
Murat, the sign of a mature people is that they can let the mistakes of the past go. Certainly learn from them, but to hold a grudge shows you are not ready to lead. You should stay inside your own borders.
#15
I had a Military Science cadre who fought in Korea with the Cav tell me that the Turks were some kind of tough #$@!@#!!'s. The Chicoms did not like to go up against them.
He told me one time the Chicoms attacked the Turks and got beaten back. While the Chicoms were reorganizing, the Turks went out and cut off a bunch of heads and used them to decorate the pickets holding up the barbed wire........when the Chicoms returned, the sight definitely took the steam out of their attack....
As for the Brits, those guys can be very Maciavellian (sp sorry I need some help there)......I think they STILL have an axe to grind over Gallipoli and they were always pulling that crap. Did it to us a couple of times to boot. Sort of a Titanic mentality, English Officers and Men first, and the REST of you guys later........not that way now thank goodness.
I suggest you take a look at your basic Korea's War book and you will learn about Task Force Smith and other American units who fougt rear guard actions (and that means being sacrified in order to save the reaminding of the army). Also look at the history of any war and you will find seome big screwups about some units being forgotten when issuing orders (Napoleon's Marengo campaign had some examples of this) or assigning equipment (cf the Turkish army on the Russian front in WWI)
And forgive me if I don't believe for a second in your explanation: the reason the Turks want to be in Irak and not be commanded by Americans is not Korea but for having free hands with the Kurds.
If you had such long memories you would remùember how despite the centuries fighting for them you were betrayed by the Arabs in WWI and you wouldn't have an islamist government
#18
I find Murat's historical point very interesting, but very oddly biased. The following is taken from a speech given during a U.S. Consulate General Program Honoring the Korean War Veterans in Turkey in November of 2000.
Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for coming today to join us in honoring Turkish veterans of the Korean War. There have been and will be similar commemorations like this taking place all over the world. Today we hold our own remembrance and will recall, in particular, the great (but largely unknown) contributions of Turkish soldiers to that international conflict that took place on the other side of the globe fifty years ago.
Much of what I know about the Turkish contribution to that Great Effort comes from my friend, Dr. Mim Kemal Ãke, who will be speaking to us later in the program. I didn't realize, for instance, that Turkey was the first country after the United States to send forces to Korea. On November 7, 1950, the famous Turkish Brigade (composed of the 241st Infantry Regiment with three infantry battalions, a motorized artillery battalion with three artillery batteries) joined forces with the U.S. Eighth Army.
Only days after arriving on Korean soil, the Turkish Brigade saw heavy action -- the legendary battle at Kunuri. This is what General Walton Walker, Commander of the U.S. Eighth Army, had to say about it:
Brave Turkish Soldiers! I have come here to thank you on behalf of my army, the American people and myself. I had originally not intended to employ you immediately in the Kunuri region. However, because of the situation brought about by enemy attack, I was forced suddenly to give you a heavy assignment. You devotedly did your duty. Had it not been for your courageous fighting and resistance, my army would have been encircled and forced into very difficult circumstances and perhaps would have been annihilated. I want to extend to you my thanks and appreciation, and I am proud that you are a valuable extension of my army.
Only a couple of months after that, the Turkish Brigade engaged in battle in and around the town of Kumyongjangni. Many of my American military colleagues recall the victory there with great appreciation and indeed reverence for their Turkish comrades-in-arms. For the "Victory of Kumyongjangni", the U.S. Congress awarded the Turkish Brigade the Order of Distinguished Unit Station.
But such tales of heroism and friendship should not surprise us. Turkey and the United States have been, are today and will be in the future the strongest of friends and allies. Examples of mutual devotion between our two great nations is the stuff of legend.
Thank you again for joining us to remember the heroism and bravery of those who participated in what has often been referred to as this century's "forgotten war". Today we will remember so that future generations do not forget.
Well, that sounds like a less emotional, more accurate (if diplomatic) assessment of the matter. That said, Murat is a patriotic Turk much as we are patriotic Americans, guys: give him his due. He is a pretty polite dissenter by Rantburg standards.
I say that in all seriousness. Secret Master's right: you're an honorable dissenter with a unique point of view that should be given due consideration.
Posted by: Mike ||
08/20/2003 12:54 Comments ||
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#21
While American spy planes detected a massive assault of the Chinese Army they informed the British forces âforgettingâ to inform the Turkish forces...
Wonder if there was an ethnic Armenian in the chain o' command?
This is the same Murat who said we should enjoy ourselves that an Iraqi boy lost his arms and leg after a bomb fell on his home.
Forgive me for not patting Murat on the back. Although I'm glad there is an opposing viewpoint on Rantburg... Murat is still Murat.
#23
they informed the British forces âforgettingâ to inform the Turkish forces.
Yeah but Turks weren't the only casualties in that battle. They were the ones who lasted the longest, even fighting after running out of ammo. But there was a total of about 5,000 dead; 721 were Turks... and the rest???
This piece in WaPo is part travelogue, part editorial, part personal remembrance so only the first few paragraphs here. But it does sound like Sergio was one of the good guys.
Sergio Vieira de Mello had been sitting in the garden at The Washington Postâs residence in Baghdad on a sweltering Friday afternoon last month, sipping a glass of Pinot Grigio and digging into a plate of hummus, when his tiny mobile phone began chirping. Frowning ever so slightly at the interruption to what he called his first chance to relax since arriving in Iraq as U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annanâs special representative, Vieira de Mello excused himself and took the call.
Ten minutes later, after pacing around the lawn, the suave Brazilian diplomat returned, effusive with apologies. It was Jerry Bremer on the line, he said, referring to L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator of Iraq, by his nickname. Bremer had called to ask Vieira de Mello to be the sole non-Iraqi to speak at a ceremony that Sunday to unveil the countryâs new Governing Council.
Vieira de Mello wondered aloud whether to accept, whether Bremerâs request was simply an effort to make it appear as if the U.S.-led occupation authority did not handpick the councilâs 25 members. But Vieira de Mello quickly added that he believed in the idea of the council. Giving even limited authority to Iraqis under a framework conceived by the Americans, he said, was an important first step in the political transformation of Iraq.
Bremerâs request spoke volumes about Vieira de Mello, who died yesterday in the truck bombing of the United Nations compound in Baghdad. He had arrived in the city in June with the fuzziest of mandates from the U.N. Security Council. Unlike other U.N. missions, where diplomats of his stature are given clear responsibility for nation-building, the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq meant that he was limited, in the words of a council resolution, to "facilitating" the reconstruction of Iraqâs infrastructure and "encouraging" international cooperation to aid the country.
more at the link
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/20/2003 2:05:21 AM ||
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Here's an interesting tidbit on Mr. Mello: He gained wide praise for overseeing East Timorâs transition to independence after Indonesia withdrew in 1999.
The support the west gave to East Timor when they broke free from muslim Indonesia is one of al-Qaeda's and JI's pet peaves.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/20/2003 10:15 Comments ||
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"The support the west gave to East Timor when they broke free from muslim Indonesia is one of al-Qaeda's and JI's pet peaves"
On the other hand, the NYT has no less than one editorial and four op-ed pieces all of which more or less say I Told You So. One of the op-ed pieces is by that great strategist and student of the Middle East, Maureen Dowd. On a quick read, only one (Freidman) expresses any sympathy for the dead.
Posted by: Matt ||
08/20/2003 12:05 Comments ||
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theories:
1. It was baathists. Theyre having trouble killing US soldiers, so theyre going after whatever they can
2. It was Baathists. Taking out Serge and the UN will weaken the coalition position in Iraq, and bring disorder.
3. It was Baathists, just hitting a target of opportunity
4. It was Al Qaeeda. They hated Serge cause of East Timor
5. It was Al Qaeeda. They hate the UN for reasons going back to the founding of Israel.
6. It was Al Qaeeda. By attacking the UN, they hope to stop the reconstruction of Iraq, which they fear very much. They DO believe in Wolfie's reverse domino theory, and will expend assets to stop it.
7. It was Al qaeeda - there was no reason for them to attack the UN, but they're just a bunch of loony jihadis to whom all kafirs are alike.
#5
United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1483 and 1500 are why the UN and de Mello were targeted.
Posted by: Robert Stevens ||
08/20/2003 14:18 Comments ||
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#6
LH, my personal theory is that is was some sadistic bastards who simply enjoy killing people. AQ, Baathists, makes no never mind.
Posted by: Matt ||
08/20/2003 14:28 Comments ||
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#7
My theory is that the bomber thought he was targeting American forces. Attacking the UN does not make any sense. Any bets you won't see any more attacks on the UN? This was a case of mistaken identity.
And yet the Islama-loons keep doing it. At the least, WANTING to do it. The original plot behind the 1993 WTC attack involved attacking UN headquarters. For better or worse, the Blind Sheik (Rahman?) decided it would make Muslims "look bad", so they decided to try to knock over the WTC instead.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/20/2003 16:33 Comments ||
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#9
Raphael - they had a big ol' honking UN Flag atop the wall, clearly visible, and the facts seem to indicate the the poor guy was directly targetted
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/20/2003 16:39 Comments ||
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#10
It is pointless to try to use rational thought to explain the actions of irrational thinkers. These idiots are fighting for their cause by blowing up oil lines critical for their economy, a water main critical for their largest city, and a humanitarian aid organization. At least the defeated Japanese generals just fell on their swords. In the middle east, the whole culture seems to be suicidal.
Posted by: Tom ||
08/20/2003 16:51 Comments ||
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#11
"the poor guy was directly targetted"
Because the truck happened to blow up next to his office? As for the blue flag, I doubt it had any meaning to the bomber.
Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratungaâs office claimed on Wednesday that LTTEâs suicide squads had infiltrated into Colombo and were planning to kill her. "They (rebels) have carried out surveillance and we have very credible information that they are now planning to assassinate the president," Kumaratungaâs spokesman, Harim Peiris, told a news conference.
Kumaratunga escaped a rebel assassination attempt in 1999 with injuries, including a lost eye, in a suicide attack that killed at least 19 people. Iâd be a little nervous.
She opposes the granting of wide concessions to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and also holds reservations about a cease-fire agreement, signed by her main political rival, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and the Tigers in February 2002. Itâs one of those one-sided ceasefires.
"Our information suggest that the LTTEâs Black Tigers squads have infiltrated into Colombo and are ready," Peiris said.
Black Tigers are the rebelsâ suicide fighters, blamed for the deaths in past years of former Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premedasa and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. OK, Iâd be very nervous.
Peiris said that security for Kumaratunga had been strengthened. "We have information that some LTTE cadres stayed in a hotel near the presidentâs house and carried out surveillance," Peiris said. Under the cease-fire agreement, rebels can enter government-controlled territory unarmed. Thatâs handy, for them at least.
There was no immediate comment from the rebels, who have left the peace process in limbo since pulling out of talks with the government in April. Reloading.
Kumaratunga, 57, is guarded by Presidential Security Division, made up of 1,000 men and women and rarely comes out of her well-fortified home in Colombo. Her term as head of state ends in 2005. Bet sheâs counting the days.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/20/2003 4:35:31 PM ||
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EFL. Letâs play!
The Navy plans to begin testing a new method for hunting hostile submarines this fall off the coast of Japan, and the test will include looking for the real thing: diesel-electric North Korean and Chinese subs prowling in the Sea of Japan. Ping! If this was the real deal, youâd all be dead!
The Navy says the tests are not intended to be hostile and technically involve hunting only for submarines from allies such as Japan. But Navy officials acknowledge that the tests will also be watching for North Korean and Chinese subs because they frequent the areas where the tests will take place. Funny how that worked out, isnât it?
The tests, as well as similar trials off Hawaii, are scheduled to begin in about two months. They are intended to try out the prototype of a detection device that analyzes underwater color patterns and detects color gradations too faint for the human eye to notice. Early versions of the device called the Littoral Airborne Sensor Hyperspectral, or LASH have spotted whales and submarines below the surface. Current detection methods used by the Navy rely on sonar and other methods to "hear" the location of enemy submarines. The LASH system is designed to permit the Navy to see where submarines are. See them instead of hear them? Nice, if it works. Sayonara, Peopleâs Submariners.
Analysts fear the tests will provoke an angry reaction from North Korea, which has responded belligerently to any U.S. military moves it perceives are directed against it, such as military exercises in South Korea. The tests come at a time when the United States and North Korea are already locked in a tense standoff over U.S. demands that North Korea give up its nuclear-bomb-making effort. Talks are scheduled to begin on that and other matters in Beijing next week. "No matter what the U.S. military says, you are going to get an adverse reaction from the North Koreans," says Charles Ferguson, a former submariner and a Korea expert at the State Department from 2000 to 2002. "I think the Pentagon is willing to live with that." Their "dignity" will be offended, as usual.
Ferguson adds that the North Koreans "will say, âIf you can reliably detect our submarines and sink our sub fleet before we have a chance to defend our coast, that is further justification to pursue weapons of mass destruction.â I think we can probably do that already. They donât need an excuse.
The new surveillance system, which was developed by Hawaii-based Science & Technology International (STI), is useful only during daylight hours because it relies on reflected sunlight to illuminate a target. Special sensors relay the images to computers, where LASH technology is able to distinguish shades of color in underwater objects that look identical to the human eye. Maybe they can sell it to the Swedish navy now that theyâve gone to 9 to 5.
Defense experts say theyâre not surprised that the Navy chose to test the system in the Sea of Japan, where Chinese and North Korean submarines patrol. The Navy "is quite obsessed with North Korea and the Red Chinese. They are the navies that the U.S. is most likely to fight, and (their submarines) are not that easy to find," says John Pike, an analyst with GlobalSecurity.org, a defense research group in Alexandria, Va.
Pike says there is a real danger that the tests will ratchet up North Korean anxiety and possibly cause a clash. "They are already pegged at 11 on a scale of 10," Pike says of the North Koreans. "They are locked and loaded." This is news? Iâm sure glad thereâs experts around to tell me this.
Military officials say that although many or most Chinese and North Korean submarines rely on technology that originated in World War II, advances in propellers, engines and electronics make these subs extremely quiet. Adding to detection challenges: The relatively shallow ocean waters over the continental shelf are so noisy that itâs difficult to hear submarines there."Sound waves are diffused and distorted in this coastal zone, and you have a huge number of vessels, motorboats, even whales making noise," says Jonathan Gradie, chief technology officer for STI. "There is a cacophony of noise that reduces the effectiveness of acoustic systems."
The tests will be conducted by Navy P-3 Orion sub-hunter aircraft and SH-60 Seahawk helicopters. I know who Iâm betting on.
#1
An electrician who worked for me used to fly P-2V Neptunes. They used to have little cherry-bomb like devices to check out their sonabuoys. One fine day off of Jan Mayen Island (off Greenland) they located a Soviet diesel sub with their magnetic anomoly detection gear. They harrassed the diesel sub with cherry bombs for hours, then another P-2V took over after that. They kept it up for 2 days straight, had alot of ASW fun.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/20/2003 22:08 Comments ||
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They kept it up for 2 days straight, had alot of ASW fun.
Looks like they noticed.
The ultra-right conservative forces in south Korea including the representative of the Grand National Party reportedly held "August 15 peopleâs rally" in the plaza of the Seoul City Building on August 15 to kick up an anti-north racket. They tore off and burnt the sacred flag of the DPRK, calling for "strictly dealing with the pro-north and anti-U.S. actions" of the South Korean Federation of University Student Councils and the south Korean Teachers Union, a "complete stop to aid to the north" and "halt to the northâs development of nuclear weapons". They went to the lengths of defiling the dignified system in the north. Theyâre about as dignified as a fifty year old crack whore.
This clearly indicates that the GNP is a group of dastardly philistines, flunkeyists and traitors who regard their pro-U.S. policy as a mode of their existence as they leave no means untried to do harm to the fellow countrymen in a bid to gratify their greed for power, in utter disregard of the reunification and peace of the nation. Sounds like a serious case of "go reckless".
The recent anti-north rowdyism perpetrated by the ultra-right fascist elements on the countryâs liberation day was the most vicious provocative act unprecedented in history and an anti-national criminal act that wantonly violated the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration as it seriously hurt the dignity and the prestige of the DPRK. Hope that doesnât hurt the drug smuggling business.
What matters is that the south Korean authorities did not allow the pro-reunification movement organizations to hold reunification functions in the plaza though they had been expected to take place there but offered the place to the ultra-right conservative forces instead. They even mobilized policemen of 114 companies under the pretext of "preventing possible physical clash." On August 14 the authorities deployed police force in the area around the GNP building allegedly to cope with the surprise demonstration of youth and students.
Moves of the GNP and other ultra-right conservative forces to wipe out pro-reunification patriotic forces in south Korea have reached a very reckless and dangerous phase under the manipulation of the U.S. and at the connivance of the south Korean authorities. Maybe they wanted to put you on notice that not everybody down there has been brainwashed by your bullshit.
South Korea is now standing at the crossroads of democracy or fascism, peace or war due to the vicious moves of the GNP to ditch the historic June 15 joint declaration and bring the inter-Korean relations back to those in the era of mistrust and confrontation, while openly committing white terrorism against pro-reunification patriotic forces and calling for a "turnout of all right-wing forces". "White terrorism"... brought to you by White Slag. Look for it at a North Korean embassy near you.
The reality requires the south Korean authorities not to remain a mere onlooker to the present disturbing developments and connive at it but join the pro-reunification patriotic forces and promote the hard-won process for reconciliation and cooperation between the north and the south and achieve national cooperation. I always like it when they start lecturing about reality.
If the south Korean authorities are truly interested in the reunification of the country, they should apologize for the recent provocative act and actively join the pro-reunification patriotic forces in their efforts to implement the June 15 joint declaration. The north will never tolerate acts of the GNP and other ultra-right forces in south Korea infringing upon its dignity but certainly force them to pay for their crimes. Itâs a hoot when they start whining about their offended dignity too.
Time to spray for roaches...clean house a little bit?
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP)- Israel decided Wednesday to carry out a number of pinpointed strikes against Palestinian terror suspects in response to a Hamas suicide bombing that killed 20 people, a security official said. laser dots on the foreheads, Hellfires ready (aim better this time)
The strikes will be carried out regardless of whether the Palestinian Authority decides to clamp down on militant groups, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Israeli raids were expected to begin later Wednesday. waiting for dark?
A column of 13 Israeli tanks was seen lining up Wednesday night outside the West Bank town of Ramallah, Palestinian witnesses said. Oh Please! Oh Please! at least one well aimed "stray" round into Arafatâs room!
Israel has said it will not launch a major offensive, as it did last year in response to other suicide bombings. At the time, Israel reoccupied most West Bank towns, and has been moving in and out of these areas repeatedly.
Hamas killed 20 people, including five Americans, in Tuesdayâs bombing in Jerusalem.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/20/2003 5:04:02 PM ||
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I suggest using Daisy Cutters for demolition work.
From Geostrategy-Direct, requires subscription
Bahrain is concerned that authorities are losing control of the kingdom.
Officials report growing unrest by a number of groups under the banner of social causes. Many of the demonstrations by the unemployed have ended violently.
The kingdom has tried to respond to the problem of growing unemployment. But Bahrain doesnât have the riches of a Qatar or Saudi Arabia and the young are becoming increasingly restless.
Demonstrators have even been assaulting police during rallies and sit-ins. In one case the protesters tried to storm the Interior Ministry itself.
Of greatest concern to authorities is the growing unrest by the kingdomâs young unemployed. Rallies that were peaceful earlier this year have become increasingly violent. Authorities are being pressed to stop all such demonstrations, which have focused on the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry. For weeks, hundreds of protesters have staged a sit-in at the ministry.
Bahraini intelligence is working furiously to figure out who is paying these young people to sit for hours outside government offices rather than look for work. The most obvious candidate is Iran, which has long fomented unrest in the Sunni kingdom, which has a Shiâite majority. Iran also has been seeking cracks in the U.S. military presence that surrounds Iran and Bahrain. The U.S. Fifth Fleet could be the first choice.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/20/2003 4:23:10 PM ||
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We need to take the consequences of their actions directly to the black hats. I don't think we have time to wait for an overthrow of the regime (I was hopeful this summer but they seem to have beaten the fight out of the dissenters). Time to level the reactor a la Israel?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/20/2003 16:50 Comments ||
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Rising expectations. This is good. Royal idiots just can't cut it in the 21st century.
via Gweilo Diaries: Chinaâs English language newspaper rummaged through the BBCâs dumpsters and found several barrels worth of discarded scare quotes, which they dumped into this "editorial" regarding Taiwanâs upcoming elections. New Show but Old Trick: Commentary
Taiwan "president" Chen Shui-bian is trying to steal the show before the islandâs "presidential election" slated for March 20, 2004. He did this by unveiling a three-stage plan for opening direct transportation links by the end of next year, after the "presidential election." Chenâs words are nothing new. He signed a similar blank check three years ago when he wooed voters for his first "presidency."
The choice of timing for putting forward his plan was clearly calculated. The three-stage plan is no more than an election trick, and has nothing to do with improving cross-Straits relations. Taiwanâs Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen claimed that the reason for beginning the talks immediately after the "presidential election" next year was that "the barriers in real politics will be removed at that time."
Can time ever iron out such political barriers? MAC published its Assessment Report on the Impact of Direct Cross-Straits Transportation on Friday. The report excludes direct, point-to-point cross-Straits flights from the direct transportation links in the name of security. Aircraft flying between Taiwan and the mainland will still have to detour through the airspace of a third territory, probably either Hong Kong or Japanâs Ryukyu Islands, before arriving at their destination, "vice-minister of transportation and communications" Tsai Duei said. The "three direct links" refer to direct exchanges of mail, goods, and air and shipping services across the Taiwan Straits. Explaining the report, Tsai Ing-wen made public the "bottom line" for direct transportation links with the mainland: Taiwan is a sovereign, independent nation. It is an indisputable fact that there is only one China, and the mainland and Taiwan belong to that one China.
Hence, the issue of the direct transportation links is an internal affair in China, instead of a matter of sovereignty. And that is the line that we are not to cross. The mainland has been sincere and flexible in dealing with the "three direct links." So long as the "three direct links" are viewed as an internal affair, the specific meaning of "one China" may be left untouched in concrete talks. Tsai Ing-wenâs "bottom line" is tantamount to the negation of any possibility of negotiations on this issue. It is the Taiwan authorities that have been holding back the three direct links. We must keep our eyes open as a new show starts in Taiwan. No mentions of juche or army-based policies, but fairly high in the flying spittle and paranoia factors..,
#1
It's okay. But the Red Chinee media have fallen mightily since the glory years of the '60s. I remember listening to Radio Peking on my trusty Hallicrafters and dreaming of growing up and manning a Titan post.
Tip oâ the hat to Instapundit
In the latest sign that the North Korean nuclear crisis might be on the verge of settlement, Russia has embarked on a joint, 10-day naval exercise with South Korea and Japan. In addition, this Saturday, 30,000 Russian soldiers will carry out a drill simulating a response to a massive flow of North Korean refugees that might take place as a result of a war or a collapse of Kim Jong-ilâs regime. I guess the Russians put the odds of this (in Fredâs Futuring terms) as somewhere between probable and holy spit theyâre everywhere!
The significance of these events is potentially staggering. Russia (which has long been one of North Koreaâs chief allies and suppliers) has never taken part in naval exercises with South Korea and Japan (which have long been North Koreaâs chief foes). Add to that the border drillâwhich suggests that Russia is figuring out how to deal with, but not necessarily to prevent, the possibility of Kimâs downfallâand the "Dear Leader" of Pyongyang must be getting a tad nervous. He canât be nervous, heâs certifiable.
These developments come on the eve of six-power talks concerning North Koreaâs nuclear-weapons program, to take place Aug. 25-27 in Beijing, involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan, and Russia.
In previous multilateral negotiationsâfor that matter, throughout its half-century historyâNorth Korea has played other, larger powers off one another, often quite shrewdly. A "piranha shrimp among whales," a nation founded on guerrilla tactics at the height of the Cold War, North Korea sees this sort of manipulation as essential to survival. The importance of Russiaâs unprecedented involvement in this weekâs military exercisesâthe signal that it appears quite pointedly to be sendingâis that Kim Jong-il will no longer, or at least not so easily, be able to play this game. At this negotiation, on this issue, Russia stands aligned with all the other foreign powers. At least til Vlad sees what he can get from the SKors and Japanese.
While tensions have occasionally seeped into Russian-North Korean relations since the end of the Cold War and Moscowâs subsequent recognition of South Korea, Kim Jong-il still clearly values Russia as an ally (one of its very few). In 2000, the two governments signed a treaty of friendship and cooperation. In 2001, while on a train ride through Russia (one of his favorite summer-vacation activities, until this year), Kim dreamed up the idea of building a Russian Orthodox Church in Pyongyang. As recently as May 2002, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, in a meeting with his North Korean counterpart, praised the "dynamic development of relations" between the two countries. Earlier this year, Kim reached out to Russiaâs president, Vladimir Putin, to help break the stalemate with Washington over the whole nuclear issue.
In other words, Russiaâs latest movements must constitute, in Kimâs eyes, a huge obstacle to his traditional diplomatic MO. Putin has tangible reasons for taking these steps. First, no Russian leader, even going back to Soviet days, has wanted a neighboring country to possess nuclear weapons. This has to do, in part, with the traditional desire for centralized control and, in part, with simple security. Earlier this year, the administration in Russiaâs Prymorie regionâan eastern section, near the Korean peninsula, which includes Vladivostok and Khabarovskâconducted a civil defense exercise to determine the effectiveness of the nuclear fallout shelters that had been built in the region decades ago. The results, as the Bangkok Post reported, were "not reassuring." Russian fallout shelters from the 1950s? Iâm not surprised.
Second, Putin seems very keen on re-establishing a special relationship with the United States. Russian security officials and the Moscow press made a very big deal over the recent joint sting operation against an arms dealer who was seeking to sell anti-aircraft weapons in Newark, N.J. Whatâs more, the desire for this relationship goes both ways. The Russia specialists in Bushâs National Security Councilânot least the national security adviser herself, Condoleezza Rice, who used to be a Russian-studies scholar at Stanfordâreportedly believe that many of todayâs knottier international problems can most easily be solved with cooperation from Russia. We bring the money and the talent, the Russians bring the muscle and the pliers.
There is much basis for this viewânot because Russians possess some special diplomatic brilliance or offer some unique material lever, but rather because, by joining Americaâs side on a crisis, Russia declares that it will not be helping the other side. Consider the war over Kosovo: NATO dropped a lot of bombs trying to coerce a surrender from Slobodan Milosevic, the Serbian leader. But the war didnât end until Boris Yeltsin sent an emissary to tell Milosevic that Russia was withdrawing its support. But the bombs helped the situation along by convincing the Russians that we were serious.
Russia has been instrumental in other crises, as well. Russian special forces trained the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan well before U.S. troops arrived and provided crucial intelligence when the war got underway. During preparations for the expansion of NATO, Moscow at least remained neutral, when its opposition could have put the plan in serious jeopardy. In the mid-â90s, Moscow stopped selling India gyroscopesâwhich could have been used for nuclear-warhead guidance systemsâwhen the Clinton administration offered to revitalize Russiaâs own space industry by arranging to let Russian rockets launch American satellites.
It may well have been Russiaâs belated involvement in North Korean negotiations that persuaded Bush, via Rice, to get the United States involved, too. Last April, Kim dropped his demands for strictly face-to-face talks with the United States and acceded to the idea of multilateral, five-power talks. Late last month, Putin proposed six-power talks, which would include Russia. Only at that point did Bush say the negotiations would take place and even accepted a North Korean demand for informal bilateral side-talks during the session.
So, next weekâs talks begin on a clear note. That does not mean the peace will proceed in fine harmony. First, never underestimate the ability of North Korean diplomats to wreak great havoc. Not a problem at Rantburg!
Kim may comprehend the unusually united front he faces; that doesnât mean heâll bow down before it. Second, the Bush administration is still divided between those who want to solve this crisis through diplomacy and those who want to solve it by getting rid of Kim, through either military force or economic pressure. The talks are taking place at all, in part, because even Bushâs hawks realize that the military options are too risky and economic pressure takes too long. No, the talks are taking place because the longer we talk, the less we have to do anything, and that gives the NKors time to finish the last blade of grass on the lawn.
North Korea has said it needs economic assistance and a non-aggression pact in exchange for giving up its nukes. The question for Bush to decideâand that next weekâs talks may revealâis whether he wants a deal. Sure he does: Kim has to go away and the NKors have to have a country run by sane people who give up nukes and start feeding the population.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/20/2003 2:49:04 PM ||
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#1
What will happen will in part depend upon the future of the bailout aid given by China and SKor (under the table for them). Last month China let Kimmie have a bunch of diesel oil for nothing. As long as the Norks get a handout to keep afloat, they will play this game as long as they can. Making a deal with Kimmie is a fool's game. They do not keep their promises. Steve White's comment is correct, Kimmie has to go away.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/20/2003 15:32 Comments ||
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#5
The NYT article had a comment about Kimmie being thrown a bone by having two officers accompany the Russian fleet during the maneuvers. To me, that's not a bone at all. It's more like, "Come watch us with our new friends."
This could be interesting.
Mazen Dana, the Reuters cameraman killed by U.S. troops in Iraq, was buried on Wednesday in the West Bank city where he braved bullets to chronicle the tragedy of Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed. About 3,000 mourners, some chanting "Americans are dogs," accompanied Danaâs body through his home town of Hebron in a procession reminiscent of final honors accorded to Palestinians killed by Israel in an uprising for statehood. Dana, a 41-year-old Palestinian, was best known for award-winning reporting from Hebron, a main flashpoint of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where he had been wounded and beaten numerous times by Israeli soldiers. On Sunday, while on assignment in Iraq, he was shot dead by a U.S. soldier on a tank while filming near a Baghdad prison.
Reuters has called on the U.S. army to investigate how, by the official U.S. account, a soldier mistook Danaâs television camera for a grenade launcher. A U.S. spokesman in Baghdad called the killing a "terrible tragedy." This kind of makes me wonder if he was "embedded", if you get my drift.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/20/2003 2:17:00 PM ||
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How could a soldier possibly mistake a large black object poised on someone's shoulder as a grenade launcher ? American dogs.
#3
Every dog I have ever had has been loyal, trustworthy and a great defender of people and property, I like dogs, call me a dog , just don't call me a democrat.
#5
Interesting: this guy was a Palestinian, from Hebron no less. But I'm sure he was as unbiased and fair as his countrymen.
Damn shame he was killed. No decent person can celebrate that, however it's plain that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong equipment on his shoulder. This was an accident, plain and simple.
Posted by: R. McLeod ||
08/20/2003 17:25 Comments ||
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#6
the bigger question is how someone from Reuters could be mistaken for a journalist
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/20/2003 21:55 Comments ||
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A French chef in San Francisco said Tuesday he had come under attack from radical animal rights activists protesting against his dishes using foie gras, a delicacy of fattened goose and duck liver. In recent weeks the activists have vandalised the home and car of Laurent Manrique, the head chef of top San Francisco restaurant Aqua, and sent him threatening letters and videotapes over his signature dishes, he claimed. Last week vandals cemented water pipes and spray painted the walls red in a new shop Manrique was building in Sonoma, north of San Francisco, to sell his foie gras and other culinary specialties.
Activists sent letters telling him to "stop or be stopped" while vandals used acid to cut scratches on his car and home windows, and damaged a statue, he said. "This is the action of terrorists," Manrique said. "I respect people who have a different opinion. But using violence isnât the answer. "Foie gras has been eaten for 5,000 years, and after me there will be a lot of chefs doing foie gras." Police said similar acts had been carried out against Manriqueâs partners, who include Sonoma Foie Gras, one of the countryâs largest producers of fattened duck livers. Damages were estimated at more than $50,000. Police have no suspects yet, and no one has claimed responsibility, said Sonoma police chief John Gurney. Because of the use of threats and intimidation in the case, the Federal Bureau of Investigationâs terrorist unit has joined the investigation. "This is an act of terrorism by definition," said Gurney.
#3
Unless somehow it is illegal, they ought to bait for these guys and nail them. On the other hand, the article publicized the issue and the perps will be laying low.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/20/2003 13:57 Comments ||
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Let no one think these assholes will stop with foie gras.
Their short-term goal is to force everyone into vegetarianism, but their long-term goal is the eradication of the human race. Think I'm exaggerating? These extremists believe, ultimately, that the earth will never be "pure" again until the scourge that destroys the animals and the environment is gone...and that's the human race.
Posted by: R. McLeod ||
08/20/2003 16:51 Comments ||
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#5
Checked-out a rifle the otherday modeled afterthe M-1Garand.It was a shortned version and chambered for .308.A real sweet piece of work,only problem is a $1,500 price tag.
A classified report indicates that the PA has been staging the thwarting of terrorist attempts. In an attempt to demonstrate its adherence to the Road Map, and to pressure Israel to continue making concessions, the PA has been filming staged "terrorist attack thwartings." The procedure is that an explosives vest is hidden, and then cameras are brought to the area when the PA security forces "discover" the bomb. Israeli sources say they will not be influenced by these dramatizations. No suprise, but a clever tactic that will play well on the lefty news networks.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/20/2003 10:04:19 AM ||
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from arutz sheva - take with a grain of salt.
I'll wait till i see it on reliable source, like Debka.
#3
speaking of debka - debka says momber was from bethlehem - all other sources say was from Hebron.
Important, as Bethlehem has been returned to PA control, and Hebron has not.
#4
The population of Israel is about 6.12 million.
The population of the US is about 290.3 million.
(source CIA World Factbook)
There are about 47 times more people in the US than in Israel.
20 people killed on a Bus in Jerusalem yesterday would be the equivalent of 940 people killed in the US. We in the US would not stand for such carnage. The bottom line is this: for the PA it is time to deficate or decommode (courtesy Fred) with respect to the hardliners. It is the end of the line. No tit for tat. The gunnies must go or it is a slow attrition death for Israel.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/20/2003 15:18 Comments ||
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Hat tip to Instapundit
Zimbabwe has ordered the United Nations and other relief agencies to surrender their emergency food aid to ruling party officials. The North Korean "Juche" Distribution Model
The move, revealed yesterday, may be designed to ensure President Robert Mugabeâs regime can resume food aid deliveries, which could then be used as a political weapon to punish opponents in the run-up to provincial and district elections. Representatives of aid agencies, who had won agreement from the government to distribute aid without interference, expressed shock at the decision. shock and awe? Naifs!
The World Food Programme (WFP) is among agencies that had insisted on distributing its own food aid after President Mugabe denied food to people accused of supporting the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). In a surprise directive to the UN food agency and its partner aid agencies, July Moyo, the public service, labour and social welfare minister, ordered them to hand food to local Zanu-PF party officials. Call me cynical, but I bet this doesnât help the common non-Zanu PF guy in the street
Mr Moyo said beneficiaries of food aid were now to be selected from the village, ward and neighbourhood committee registers. These structures are all staffed by supporters of Mr Mugabe. "Where the food is delivered ... the ward and village food distribution committees, with the assistance of local government structures, will be responsible for the physical distribution of food," Mr Moyoâs directive said. "No international donor can tell us that the government should not be involved in food distribution when we are the ones who asked for the food in the first place," he added. The WFP office in Harare said it was consulting its partner NGOs and Zimbabwe government authorities on the practical implications of the decision. The WFP has been feeding part of the 3.3 million Zimbabweans it estimates to be in need of emergency aid. The number is expected to rise to about 5.5 million - nearly half the population - in a few months after pockets of harvests from this yearâs agricultural season are exhausted. Mass famine in Zimbabwe has been averted only by donor agencies chipping in with relief food to fill the gap caused by Mr Mugabeâs campaign of seizing productive white-owned farms for redistribution, mainly to his cronies. The WFP recently said that although food supplies in many southern African countries had improved, it remained dire in Zimbabwe. About 60 per cent of food aid from the West to southern Africa now goes to Zimbabwe. which used to be the breadbasket of Africa - ahhh the superiority of corrupt socialism by the indigenous peoples. Better to be starving at the foot of one of their own than to be fed, middle class and making economic advances under the white colonialists
Mr Mugabeâs attempts to take charge of food distribution are being made shortly after the European Union donated â¬25m (£17m) to help in the relief effort in Zimbabwe. The MDC said Mr Mugabeâs food aid directive was part of a wider plot to rig the provincial and district elections due in two weeks. "The whole idea is for the regime to ensure that it starves to death all those who are likely to vote for the opposition," said an MDC agriculture spokesman. "We have seen this brutal victimisation of opponents of this regime before and donors must stand up and say no to the politicisation of their food relief." Recent by-elections have shown the opposition, which commands popular support in urban areas, gaining ground in rural districts, usually Mr Mugabeâs power base, because of the mounting economic problems that have seen the inflation rate reach 364 per cent. Mr Mugabeâs desire to take full charge of aid relief is seen as a ploy to reassert himself in these areas by using food as a political weapon. Last year, ruling party thugs seized donated food, forcing relief agencies to suspend distribution in the affected constituencies.
The President has been taking steps to secure his personal wealth in the event that he retires from office. He has signed legislation that pegs his pension benefits to the salary and benefits of any sitting president. The wording of the new law is such that only Mr Mugabe and his family qualify for the generous pension benefits. It disqualifies his predecessor, Canaan Banana, who served as President until 1987 when Mr Mugabe overthrew him and combined the roles of President and Prime Minister. Canaan Banana? This wouldâve been known as the Banana Republic? Iâve seen his stores....
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/20/2003 10:03:16 AM ||
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Shut off the aid and let em starve! these people are never going to come out of the dark ages, and they sure as hell hate us, so why continue saving their sorry butt's.
Saudi Arabia-sponsored Islamic charities in northern Virginia put millions of dollars in a company suspected of funding Al Qaeda and the militant Islamic Resistance Movement, the government alleged Tuesday in court documents. Muslim charities invested $3.7 million in BMI Inc., a now-defunct private Islamic investment company in N.J. The money, part of a $10 million endowment from unidentified donors in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, may have been transferred to terrorist groups, according to an affidavit made public in federal court in Virginia. Suprise meter didnât budge.
There have been allegations of money laundering, tax evasion and other financial improprieties against some Herndon, Va.-based organizations in the past, but it was the first time any government agency publicly tied the investigations to support of terrorists, The Washington Post reported. Increasing the pressure on Saudi?
Federal agents raided about 100 companies located in Herndon, a Washington suburb, in March 2002. No charges have been brought so far. Following money trails takes time.
The investigation spans four continents and is the largest current U.S. inquiry into terrorist financing, U.S. officials said. The affidavit was filed by David Kane of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in support of the detention of Soliman S. Biheiri, who was indicted two weeks ago on charges of making false statements to obtain U.S. residency and other immigration charges. Before that, he was held for more than a month as a material witness in the Justice Departmentâs investigation of terrorist financing, the Post said, citing unidentified sources.
Biheiri founded BMI Inc., an investment firm that adhered to Islamic principles, in 1986. One of its chief investors was Saudi businessman Yasin Qadi, who the United States and United Nations named a "specially designated global terrorist" in October 2001 for his alleged support for both Al Qaeda and the Islamic Resistance Movement, also known as Hamas. Qadi has denied supporting terrorism. "Lies, all lies!"
Posted by: Steve ||
08/20/2003 9:17:57 AM ||
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Oh Duh...I have my theories that every dime that these Islamic charities receives winds up in some nutjobs bank account......I bet if we had more arabic speaking intell guys in the FBI, we'd get the real skinny on what the charities are spinning to get donations.
Such as: "We need your money, OBL needs a new dialysis machine, those infidels broke the last one we sent him"
OR: "Yasser Arafat's bank account is down to only 1.2 billion, how can he stay free of foreign influences and continue his brave war against zionism with such a pitance???"
I think the Turks had a good idea. Cut off their heads and display them prominently....I think the IDF is making a mistake blowing these guys into smithereens.....there should be a body to defile or a head to display....unidentifiable body parts scattered around a demolished MB does not have the shock effect that a head or a body hung up by its heels in a town square...we must fight terror with terror.
An Islamic appeal court in the northern Nigerian state of Jigawa on Tuesday overturned a sentence of death by stoning passed on a convicted rapist and ordered him sent instead to a home for the mentally ill. Sarimu Mohammed Baranda, 54, was convicted of raping a nine-year-old girl by a lower Shari'ah court in May last year. But his family launched a last-minute legal challenge just before the mandatory appeal period lapsed, pleading he was mentally ill.
"I mean, he thought she was at least twelve..."
Baranda subsequently told the appeal court the confession that was the basis of his conviction was obtained under torture by the police. He also said he was not aware at the time death was the punishment for the offence for which he was charged. The four-member appeal panel sitting in Dutse, the Jigawa State capital, accepted his appeal. "Having reviewed all the arguments in this case, we have suspended the guilty verdict earlier passed by the lower court," said presiding judge Isa Inua Ali, as he read the unanimous judgment of the court. Baranda was to be committed to the mental institution, 80 kilometres north of Dutse until such a time the state governor ordered his release, the judgment said.
Can't go bumping off good Muslim men just for a little peccadillo like doinking a 9-year-old. What would the Prophet say?
Defence counsel, Mohammed Gausu, told reporters outside the court he was pleased with the judgment. But the state prosecutor, Muktari Abdullahi, said he would await instructions from the state government if to challenge the ruling in the federal appeal court — the next appeal stage.
"I'd really prefer to see the rocks fly. We don't have nearly enough blood on the ground around here."
Baranda said he was pleased to be free from the death sentence, but said he would prefer to be sent home where he could still receive treatment for his mental illness instead of a psychiatric hospital.
"What kind of treatment?"
"I think long massages by children, in the comfort of my own bedroom, would help me a lot! They have such a calming effect..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/20/2003 05:45 ||
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How the heck did they convict him? Did he rape her in front of four Muslim men? What is her sentence, the she-devil temptress?
What about Amina, the woman sentenced to stoning for the out of wedlock baby? I'm sure that sentence will go forward so the ravening cowards can keep the good and honorable practice of sharia in shape and their rock throwing skills sharpened.
At least 45 people had died by Tuesday as the death toll increased in four days of gun battles between rival ethnic militias in Nigeria's southern oil city of Warri, witnesses said. More than 40 houses were burnt and thousands left homeless as fighting, which broke out on Friday night between Ijaw and Itsekiri militias armed with automatic weapons, persisted despite a night curfew imposed by the Delta State government. Twenty people were reported killed by witnesses in the first two days of fighting. Ijaw militants said 39 of their people were killed by troops deployed by President Olusegun Obasanjo's government to quell the violence. "The 39 people include women and children and 16 men killed in cold blood by soldiers," Bello Oboko, an Ijaw militant leader told IRIN on Tuesday. His claims could not be confirmed by independent sources.
And that doesn't include the puppies, kittens, and baby ducks!
But Colonel Gar Dogo, commander of the 6th Amphibious Battalion of the Nigerian army, deployed to end the violence denied that his troops had killed innocent people. "It is not true we have killed any Ijaw people, my soldiers have been very restrained and we have no reason to take sides against Ijaws," he told IRIN.
"Nope. Nope. Never happened. Wudn't us."
Bawo Omatsola, an Itsekiri resident, said more than 15 people were killed during attacks launched by Ijaws on their settlements on Sunday and the early hours of Monday. He said many people were still missing and may have died.
"An' we din't do nuttin'! Nuttin', I tells yez! We wud just standin' there, mindin' our own bidnid..."
Oil transnationals which use Warri as a key base for operations in the western Niger Delta asked their employees to stay away from their offices to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
To all employees:
Try not to get shot. Those people are crazy.
Thank you,
The Management
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/20/2003 05:37 ||
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"commander of the 6th Amphibious Battalion of the Nigerian army"..
Amphibious battalion that means they can shoot with either hand right?
Posted by: Paul ||
08/20/2003 12:21 Comments ||
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Amphibious battalion that means they can shoot with either hand right?
Posted by: Paul 2003-8-20 12:21:53 PM
Ummm, actually I think it means they have free reign to kill any amphibians they come in contact with.
#5
Glad to hear it was just a gang war. For a second, I thought they tried to have another beauty contest or some other real good reason for killing a bunch of people.
Police in California on Monday detonated two devices suspected of being bombs, one found at the front door of a branch office of discount brokerage Charles Schwab and the other near a home owned by the company's founder, the Monterey County Sheriff's office said. "There was a variety of circuit boards and wires and telephone parts," the sheriff said. There were two propane canisters in one device and a single canister in the device near the residence. "While they contained what appeared to be dangerous contents, from what we can tell at this point they were a hoax, albeit a frightening one," Schwab spokesman Glen Mathison said Tuesday,
Trying to scare him to death, were they?
"They were serious devices," Monterey County Sheriff Mike Kanalakis said on Tuesday. "If someone had tampered with it and set off the propane canisters, it could have killed or injured somebody."
Then they weren't just trying to scare them.
On Monday, a briefcase with protruding wires was found at the home of Charles Schwab in Pebble Beach, Calif., according to the sheriff's office. Earlier in the day, a similar briefcase was found at a Schwab office in nearby Carmel. A bomb squad used a robot and a portable X-ray machine to inspect the briefcases. "The X-ray revealed the contents of the briefcases contained items consistent with a bomb," according to the Sheriff's office. Both briefcases were reported by employees arriving to work, Kanalakis said. He said Schwab wasn't at his home Monday. Last week, the San Francisco-based brokerage said in a regulatory filing that it plans to cut another 250 jobs before the end of the year and shut about 20 branch offices.
There's the motive. It's probably amateur terrorism, though Schwab would be a nice symbolic candidate for a Qaeda boom...
"We still don't have a motive for this," said Sheriff Kanalakis. "But we do have access to some surveillance tapes. Pebble Beach is a gated community and we're going to be looking at the security cameras there and there was also a security camera at Mr. Schwab's residence, so we'll be looking at all of that and hopefully we'll be able to come up with something."
Pebble Beach is one of the most exclusive communities in the country. It costs an arm and a leg and a testicle to live there and the movements of common folk â those with only a million or two â are closely monitored. The perp will be on tape, and I'll bet he doesn't have a turban.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/20/2003 00:21 ||
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"There were two propane canisters in one device and a single canister in the device near the residence."
If they were in briefcases, then they were the small propane tanks used in handheld torches or portable camping stoves.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/20/2003 8:50 Comments ||
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"They were not armed devices, although local police indicated the package contents could have caused injury," said spokeswoman Sarah Bulgatz. "They weren't actually bombs, to my understanding."
Sounds like someone put a bunch of wires, propane cylinders and electronic junk in the briefcases, knowing that the bomb squad would x-ray it. Scare tactic by disgruntled employee.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/20/2003 13:34 Comments ||
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Only three?
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - Three Cuban athletes have defected to the Dominican Republic, where they were competing in the Pan American Games, an official said Tuesday. The defections occurred during the international competition, which started Aug. 1 and ended Sunday, said Gen. Fernando Cruz, director of the Dominican intelligence agency. Cruz refused to give further details on the defections. Cubs could use a quality short reliever. And a third baseman, but the Cubs always need a third baseman.
Defections by Cuban athletes are as common as robins in springtime not rare. Two Cuban gymnasts participating in the World Championships defected Tuesday in Anaheim, Calif.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/20/2003 12:16:57 AM ||
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Calling Speilberg, calling Steven Spielberg. Why would priviliedged and pampered world-class atheletes want to leave the island paradise of El Jeffe? Mebbe when you were fellating Fidel you failed to notice the entire place is a Potemkin village?
Calling all Canadian tourists. May you catch a vertitable cornucopia of VDs as you prop up this fascist's regime with your vacation money. Can you really justify cheap holidays with the suffering they prolong?
#2
The sanctions on Cuba will go down in history as an even bigger failure than communism was. I don't know what you're so afraid of, Kennedy is dead for pete's sakes.
#3
JFK is dead but Castro ain't! Go ahead and enjoy your cheap bannana rum daquiri, just keep your eyes averted from the dissident prison camps and shantytowns.
#9
"Go ahead and enjoy your cheap bannana rum daquiri"
And you can enjoy those expensive cigars. As for vacationing in Cuba, if I knew I wouldn't be forever hassled at the American border, I'd probably go.
#10
" And you can enjoy those expensive cigars. As for vacationing in Cuba, if I knew I wouldn't be forever hassled at the American border, I'd probably go.
Hell, go. Rent a charter boat in Keys and just drop in. The immigration folks in Mariel won't bother you with visas.... they want the tourist bucks. Good fun... but go in the winter.
#11
Sure. But I value my relationship with the US far more than a Cuban vacation :) Like a true Canadian, I do want to retire in Florida one day. Or Arizona.
#12
Even if I smoked cigars, I would gladly pay more not to support a fascist dictator. Why don't you just stay in Canada, Raphael? Or do you enjoy being a two-faced wanker?
The Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, has condemned a suicide bombing in Jerusalem on Tuesday that has killed at least 20 people on a bus and wounded more than 100 people. The militant Palestinian Islamic group Hamas has claimed responsibility for the explosion, but Mr. Abbas urged Israel not to launch any military retaliation, saying this could further harm peace efforts.
"Just hop in the old peace processor with us and don't do anything..."
Mr. Abbas described the bombing as a "horrible act" and condemned it. He expressed his sorrow to the families of the victims of the attack, many of whom were Orthodox Jews, traveling home on the bus after prayers at the Western Wall, a Jewish holy site in Jerusalem's Old City. Mr. Abbas said the bombing did not serve the interests of the Palestinian people and he had instructed his security minister, Mohammad Dahlan, to begin an immediate investigation.
"Sure thing, boss. I'll... uh... get back to you."
He had been meeting with Palestinian militant groups in Gaza when the explosion occurred. Mr. Abbas had been urging them to hold to a three month unilateral truce they had declared in June. Mr. Abbas said he hoped Israel would act "wisely" and refrain from launching any military response, saying that this, in his words, "will not be in the interest of the peace process."
"Peace" is the absence of atrocities like this one. Paleos seem to have a problem understanding that...
Following the blast, Israel announced it was suspending the planned handover of four West Bank cities to Palestinian security control, while it evaluated the security situation. Israel also froze all contacts with the Palestinian Authority. Hamas, a group that frequently carries out suicide bombings, said it was responsible for the bombing. A videotape released by Hamas in the West Bank city of Hebron showed a Palestinian man who identified himself as a Hamas activist. He said he would carry out the suicide bombing to avenge Israel's killing of one the group's members.
"'Cuz we must have Dire Revenge™..."
Earlier, Islamic Jihad, another group that carries out suicide bombings, also claimed responsibility for the attack.
"Yeah. Don't believe that guy. It was us."
Israeli officials said they were investigating the possibility that Hamas and Islamic Jihad had been involved in a joint operation.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/20/2003 00:13 ||
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Oh. my. what. a. brave. man. he. is.
I don't want him to cut contacts, I want him to whack enough of them that the rest listen to sense. And if he can't, the Israelis have to do it.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/20/2003 0:18 Comments ||
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I think this was the first suicide bombing done by an actual Islamic cleric. The religion of peace has another first.
#3
How do the Israelis stand this? The only peace the Islamists recognize is the peace of submitting to their interpretation of the will of Allah- may bees pee upon him.
Iowahawk, a commenter on LGF said it well- "(Islam) is a religion of mass psychosis."
Realism has to enter this situation at some point in order for there to be a solution. Two immovable objects need to be recognized. Israel will exist. Palestine will exist. The rest flows from there...
A Palestinian leader must be found, terrorist or not, who finds his own self interest and that of his people in the peace process. There is as much wealth and power in solving this problem as in prolonging it.
I no longer believe that the current Palestinian leadership will come to that point of view. I believe it is a cultural thing. Mullah Omar and Saddam would still be in power if they had cooperated just a little bit. Instead, both chose to go down, what was for us, clearly suicidal paths that ended their regimes.
The Palestinian leadership clearly believes that it will continue to grow rich and prosper by continuing the intifada. And, the actions of the intifada will result in changes in the region entirely favorable to the Palestinians. That, to our thinking, is clearly not going to happen.
#7
Ooooooh, Mazen "cut contacts" with Hamas and Islamic Jihad. What's gonna happen if another bus gets bombed - will Mazen hold his breath until he turns blue?
#9
Yep, what Simmins sez. I don't think Abbas is on the level as I don't think Paleos are on the level. They want victory, Israel wants peace. Paleos can offer only one thing to the debate and that is peace. But they don't want peace they want victory.
#10
I heard the Israeli ambassador to the US on a talk show last night. He estimated that there about 1200 gunnies in Hamas et al. He said that the PA has 10 times that, and that it was an issue of will on the part of the PA. He also mentioned that they had days and weeks to act, not months. FWIW. So how many Israeli kids and adults have to be blown to bits before enough is enough?
/sarcasm EU, use your good offices to stop Hamas /sarcasm
This whole thing just sickens me to the core.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/20/2003 14:17 Comments ||
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From AP: RAMALLAH, West Bank - Israel decided Wednesday to carry out a number of pinpointed strikes against Palestinian terror suspects in response to a Hamas suicide bombing that killed 20 people, a security official said. The strikes will be carried out regardless of whether the Palestinian Authority decides to clamp down on militant groups, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Israeli raids were expected to begin later Wednesday. A column of 13 Israeli tanks was seen lining up Wednesday night outside the West Bank town of Ramallah, Palestinian witnesses said. Israel has said it will not launch a major offensive, as it did last year in response to other suicide bombings. At the time, Israel reoccupied most West Bank towns, and has been moving in and out of these areas repeatedly.
Gonna be a hot time in the old town tonight.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/20/2003 15:09 Comments ||
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#12
While the IDF is in the neighborhood, they ought to net an bullhead arafish.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/20/2003 15:37 Comments ||
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#13
48 hours, people. Abbas either acts or he doesnt.
He's had months. He hasn't acted.
It's time for him to die.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/20/2003 16:33 Comments ||
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#14
"The Palestinian Authority on Wednesday promised to wage an "all out war" against Hamas and Islamic Jihad and appealed to Israelis not to retaliate for Tuesday's homicide bus bombing that killed 20, including five Americans."
He hasnt acted cause nobody's put the squeeze on him to act, as far as I can tell. Now the squeeze is on, and it looks like hes running scared. Time to keep the squeeze on.
Syria had categorically denied that Zionist warplanes had flown over the presidential palace in Latakia on the Mediterranean coasts last Sunday.
"Nope. Nope. Never happened."
It said that such allegations were meant to cause tensions on the overall situation in the region and to distract the world attention from Zionist atrocious practices in the occupied Palestinian areas.
"Lies! All lies!"
The Hebrew television's first channel has said that the "Israeli" warplanes that penetrated the sound barrier over Beirut last Sunday had continued their way and flew at low altitude over the Syrian presidential palace in Latakia. The broadcast said that the act served as a warning message to Damascus so as restrict Hizbullah's firing of anti-aircraft missiles.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/20/2003 00:05 ||
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Drop some napaln next time. That's a real warning.
#2
Reminds me of the box art on an old 1:48 Avro Lancaster kit, depicting a night raid on Berlin. The foreground plane's nose art featured a quote from Herr Goebbels: "No enemy plane will ever fly over Berlin."
Posted by: Mike ||
08/20/2003 12:47 Comments ||
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Word is that the truck that went boom at UN headqtrs, Bagdad, came from Syria. And Kofi's pissed at Americans for not doing enough. And where are the Swiss? In the high mountains protecting the account numbers.
A responsible source in the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, has said that Dr. Mahmoud Al-Zahhar, one of the prominent Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip, had undergone a surgery on Thursday 14/8/2003. The source added that Dr. Zahhar was still in Al-Quds hospital in the Strip and that his condition was stable.
Pray for sepsis. Zahar's a member of Hamas' politburo...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/20/2003 00:03 ||
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What kind of surgery? Perhaps trauma surgery to remove shrapnel and close a variety of large, gaping wounds?
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/20/2003 0:13 Comments ||
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#2
Prob'ly no such luck. More likely it's spleen.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2003 0:14 Comments ||
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#3
a little air in the next injection he gets would be a nice thing
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/20/2003 10:32 Comments ||
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#4
Emergency operation. He was developing a conscience.
The Bush administration intends to intensify its demand that Palestinian leaders dismantle West Bank and Gaza terror organizations after a devastating bomb attack on a packed bus in Jerusalem.
And figger the odds on that happening...
Secretary of State Colin Powell telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom as a White House spokesman condemned and deplored the attack Tuesday that virtually shattered an already shaky truce pledged by Palestinian extremist groups. A senior U.S. official insisted President Bush's policy, grounded in a peacemaking road map, was not in crisis, but that additional emphasis would be put on a call for Palestinian leaders to dismantle the terror infrastructure. "I don't think it puts it in jeopardy," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"We're going to continue to pretend that everything's on track and just ducky. We'll just quit talking about it as often as we have been, and eventually we won't talk about it at all anymore. We want it to die peacefully, in its sleep, instead of violently on a bus."
Islamic Jihad, which had agreed to a truce at the behest of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, took responsibility for the bus attack, saying it was avenging the killing of a senior operative by Israeli troops last week.
Oh. Well. That makes it okay, then.
Hamas, which the State Department also condemns as a terrorist group and also had pledged a truce, later claimed responsibility for the attack as well.
"We're just as bloodthirsty as they are!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/20/2003 00:00 ||
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#1
State Dept and Colin better STFU about the fence. If they want peace, they'd do better to subsidize a tall concrete wall the entire perimeter of the Paleo slums West Bank and Gaza...with broken glass, razor wire and sniper positions on the top. That would bring peace
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/20/2003 10:40 Comments ||
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#2
What does this mean, "intensify" demand? Gradualism doesn't cut it here any more than it did in Vietnam. An end play should be made immediately, as in "break Hamas and Islamic Jihad NOW, or Israel can do it for you". No more excuses.
#4
Someone enlighten me--just how hard WOULD it be to assasinate Arafat? Its not like anyone who replaces him could be any LESS committed to true peace!
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.
