No matter what side of the "controversy" you favor, if any, thereâs ammunition aâplenty for all. Hardcore Farkers, despite being about the strangest people on the planet regards politics, are some seriously imaginative and talented Photoshoppers. As usual, the entries in this contest are by no means limited to Franken and OâReilly - theyâre all over the map.
Almost everyone can find an image worth keeping...
KABUL, 21 September 2003 â Eight nomads, including women and children, and a Taleban commander were among 17 people killed by US bombing in southeast Afghanistanâs violence-wracked Zabul province, the local governor said yesterday. The nomads, all civilians, and two Taleban were killed when US aircraft Tuesday night bombed the nomadsâ camp in remote Shinkay district, 340 kilometers southwest of Kabul, Zabul Governor Hafizullah Hashim said.
The Taleban commander and militant had escaped a massive US-Afghan offensive that began Aug. 30 against mountain hide-outs in Daychopan, and taken shelter in the nomadsâ camp. Hashim named the dead Taleban commander as Mohammad Gul Niazai. The civilians died in their beds when a bomb landed on their tent in Naw Bahar district of the southern province of Zabul on Wednesday night, said deputy provincial governor Mohammad Omar.
âThe figure I have for the civilian death toll is at least eight,â Omar told Reuters. âThe Taleban commander and his friend were apparently using a satellite phone, the signal of which was detected by American aircraft which then carried out the attack.â Sucks for the civilians, but looks like our radio direction finders are working just fine.
Omar said government troops and soldiers from US-led foreign forces in Afghanistan were hunting Taleban fugitives in several districts of Zabul yesterday, but did not have details.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/20/2003 5:35:10 PM ||
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Dubbed the NK man after the swanky Stockholm department store where he allegedly stabbed Anna Lindh, Per-Olof Svensson appears to have led a bizarre double life flitting between Swedish societyâs dark underbelly and its dazzling preppy social scene. The preppy psycho was the life of the toga party scene.
A social chameleon, it seems he had as many names as he had different personalities. Friends familiar with his anti-immigrant views knew him simply as "Nazi Per", his upwardly mobile drinking partners in Stockholmâs champagne-fuelled society knew him as John Amberton, while his football hooligan comrades knew him better as "Kamikaze" for his fondness for piling into fistfights without a second thought. Glad he kept his personalities straight and didnât pile on his champagne-swilling Stockholm pummeling them with a rain of roundhouses... Actually ...
"He was a man with several faces," wrote the daily Expressen. "He had an Armani suit in one wardrobe and a Nazi uniform in the other."
That he flirted with Swedenâs shadowy far-right is strongly believed by police. Although there is nothing on paper police sources say he associated with some of the countryâs "most notorious neo-Nazis".
He appears in particular to have had links with the skinhead group Vitt Ariskt Motstånd (White Aryan Resistance). Formed in 1991 as "a vehicle for racial war" its activists have been convicted of a number of violent crimes including armed robberies and gun theft. Mr Svensson was suspected but never convicted of involvement in any such crime. Maybe jlc can give us some insight on this group. You know the by-laws and initiation rites.
By all accounts he was a confirmed xenophobe. Many of his friends attest to the fact that he nurtured a hatred of immigrants since his youth in the small southern coastal town of Varberg. He would shout "Heil Hitler" before rushing into pitched battles with other football hooligans. I was unaware that Hiltler was so popular in Northern Europe.
"He often talked about how black people were subhumans. He had Hitlerâs Mein Kampf and many other books on the second world war," said one friend, who prefers to remain nameless.
Indeed his first conviction - at the age of 17 - was for daubing a swastika on the outside of a pizzeria owned by immigrants.
Friends claim he distanced himself from his Nazi past in recent years but admit that his hatred of immigrants does not appear to have dimmed. Nor do his violent tendencies.
As a fanatical supporter of Stockholmâs DjurgÃ¥rden team as well as Chelsea - an anglophile, with an encyclopaedic knowledge of British bands, he spent a lot of time in London in the 1990s - he appears to have indulged in his love of violence both before and after matches. Glad they kept putting him back on the streets. Wouldnât want him to have to wear pink underwear or have his human rights violated with harsh treatment.
Apparently fond of imbibing vast quantities of wine before matches, he has been spotted in TV documentaries on football hooliganism rushing forward in an angry blur of kicks and punches. Sometimes he has been armed - police have confiscated a hunting knife and an iron bar from him in the past. Glad they kept putting him back on the streets, though. Wouldnât want him to have to wear pink underwear or have his human rights violated with harsh treatment. I also call for laws to control the carrying of iron bars.
"Sometimes something clicks in his head and thatâs when you get scared of him," said a friend who added that Mr Svensson regards himself as "a psychopath". "The funny thing is that he can be totally crushed if an animal is run over but completely unmoved by human suffering."
His violence appears to extend to his own family. He has been the subject of restraining orders sought by his divorced parents in the past and his mother claims he has punched and strangled her, often in a bid to extort money.
Obviously his parents victims. Must be societyâs fault. The state didnât intervene to save him from this evil fate. We have failed him. Now he is left with the phychological scares of having brutally murdered someone. We should be ashamed.
Indeed it seems that she was the one who reported her son to the police over the Lindh murder out of fear that he would try to hide out at her home.
He has been a thorn in her side since he was a boy, playing truant from school before moving into credit card fraud and fencing stolen goods, an activity which landed him in jail for eight months.
Records show he has not filed a tax return for 10 years and, despite the fact that he claims to be a web designer, he has only done three days work in his life (as a warehouse man) and in recent years has preferred to drift around the country living with friends.
Bright and articulate
There is, however, another side to Mr Svensson unknown to his long-suffering mother. He may not have been up to much at school (he said it was so easy it was beneath his dignity) but he read widely in history and philosophy in particular and is said by friends to have a bright and articulate, even sympathetic side: his secondary school form teacher thought he was odd but basically decent, and one of his childhood friends said: "My mother thought he had a good soul."
His favourite novel is said to be Albert Camusâ The Outsider; some speculate that he may have been inspired by its plot in which a bored civil servant murders an Arab he meets on the beach, apparently on a whim. I recommend he review the Cliff Notes again. The part about choosing a low-profile anonymous victim seems not to have sunk in. Maybe this is all Camusâ fault. If he had only been provided with happier reading material. This fate wasnât predestined. So many people could have shown just a little bit of caring for this deranged whacko and it all would have turned out okey dokey.
There are other apparent contradictions in his complex personality. Where are these contradictions? He seems to have a mentality every bit as complex as a retarded predator swilling down Chilla Cella and kicking people in the nuts. Heâs a-social sociopath. Everybody around him knew about that he was deranged and to some extent facilitated his ability to avoid accountability to an extreme extent. The the extent that there is documentation that he worked three whole days in his life.
When he wasnât causing trouble on the terraces he loved to hang out with Stockholmâs brattish upper classes - including, some say, the countryâs Princess Madeleine - in the cityâs ultra-hip Stureplan area. Using stolen credit cards he would frequent the areaâs trendiest bars and restaurants, buying bottles of expensive champagne, making small talk with the countryâs rich and famous.
The British Fred Perry T-shirts he wore for his football violence would be replaced with Armani suits and, although he was reportedly rude to serving staff, he kept his fists to himself.
A fantasist and a braggart, he would also regale his upper class friends with tall stories about his background. Still waiting for some complexity.
Friends recall an increasingly bizarre series of claims; that he was a guitarist in the pop band the Cardigans, that he had a luxury flat in Switzerland and that his father was Scottish and dead . But they liked to have him around because he always had room on one of his many credit cards as long as you remembered to call him, Paul, Jeff, or Antoine when it was time to pay the tab.
Many of them knew that his name was not John Amberton as he said, but nobody seemed to mind if they caught him lying. "He was a dreamer with big ideas about glamour and the jetset lifestyle. He liked to portray himself as a smart playboy," said one of his ex-boyfriends (Mr Svensson is bisexual).
His alter ego was given a confidence boost with copious amounts of alcohol and cocaine, allegedly his favourite drug.
Friends and family say they are flabbergasted that he has been arrested for Lindhâs murder but many say they are not entirely surprised.
"Nothing surprises me," said his stepfather. "He is capable of anything. I have been waiting for him to do something really bad for a long time."
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/20/2003 1:22:44 PM ||
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Edited for brevity.
An Arab who allegedly tried to open the door of an Airbus A321 carrying 105 passengers and crew as it flew at 30,000ft over the North Sea has been charged with endangering an aircraft. Brahim Sbaoui, 33, was held by cabin crew after the pilot alerted them to alleged tampering with a rear door. Sbaoui was a passenger on the Airbus on a flight from Heathrow to Norway. Fearing for the safety of his passengers the Scandinavian Airlines captain immediately diverted back to Heathrow for an emergency landing. Sbaoui was taken off the aircraft and arrested. After being interviewed by police he was charged with attempting to endanger an aircraft and acting in a manner to endanger the aircraft. The article doesnât say how he was subdued. I should hope that the European passengers have taken our own lessons from 9/11 to heart and didnât just sit there watching the flight crew deal with it.
Posted by: Dar ||
09/20/2003 11:16:49 AM ||
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#1
T'would have been nice if they had been able to assist him in his exit and then closed the door behind him - hitting him in the ass in the process.
He could've been the world's first Izzoid Suicicle.
Hmmmm... organic and in short supply... I'll bet, after he hit the ground, he would have been considered a delicacy in China.
#2
Would it be surprising if we found out that soylent green was now a main course in North Korea?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/20/2003 11:43 Comments ||
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#3
Humm, what is it about these flights from Britian to Norway. Was it last week they grabbed a couple of arab types with knives trying to board ans a while back I believe they nabbed someone with a gun? Or was the gun going the Norway - Britian route.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/20/2003 14:13 Comments ||
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#4
Maybe the stewardesse displayed a little too much ankle or was wearing purfume. That can drive a moslem man beyond the bounds of sanity or so the Iman says.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/20/2003 15:33 Comments ||
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#5
"Humm, what is it about these flights from Britian to Norway."
Don't forget a/Q has specifically targetted Norway. A tape released in May urged attacks on the embassies and interests of the United States, Britain, Australia and Norway. From this BBC article:
"Norway, meanwhile, says it has no idea why it was singled out for attacks on its interests. BBC's Lars Bevanger in Oslo says people there are baffled because Norway has a reputation for its attempts to bring peace to the Middle East. Norway has some troops in Afghanistan, but analysts say it is small and other countries have larger numbers. Our correspondent says the Norwegians are hoping al-Qaeda simply got its geography wrong but they are nonetheless taking the threat seriously."
Does anyone have an explanation? Perhaps Li'l Binny had a bad family holiday there once, suffered from fjordophobia, was rebuffed by an Oslo girl...
It was on a flight from Sweden to Britain that the Swedish customs nabbed a Moslem cleric packing heat. He was on his way to a conference in the UK and claimed he needed the handgun to protect himself from all those 'Islamophobes'.
IOWA CITY, Iowa - Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark reversed an earlier opinion that he likely would have voted for war in Iraq, telling a cheering college-town crowd the invasion was "a major blunder" he never would have supported. "We should just have let Saddam keep his slaves and continue funding Hamas.
Clark said his Army career taught him that "the use of force is only a last resort" that wasnât justified in Iraq. "Iâm a soldier," he said. "Iâve laid on the battlefield bleeding."
While the use of force can occasionally be justified, he said, "Itâs not a way to solve problems and resolve disputes. Itâs very difficult to change peopleâs minds when you are bombing them and killing them."
Clark sought to blunt a controversy that arose as he opened his campaign. The core is his resume as a retired four-star general with the credibility to challenge President Bush and oppose the war in Iraq.
Many of his backers expressed surprise when Clark told reporters he probably would have voted to authorize the use of force.
"At the time, I probably would have voted for it, but I think thatâs too simple a question," The New York Times quoted Clark as saying Thursday.
He then added, the Times said, "I donât know if I would have or not. Iâve said it both ways, because when you get into this, what happens is you have to put yourself in a position. On balance, I probably would have voted for it."
In a speech Friday to more than 1,000 people jammed into a lecture hall at the University of Iowa and in interviews, Clark underscored his opposition to the war, explaining: "There may be times when you may have to use force, but only as a last resort.
"Letâs make one thing real clear, I would never have voted for this war, never," Clark said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Iâve gotten a very consistent record on this. There was no imminent threat. This was not a case of pre-emptive war. I would have voted for the right kind of leverage to get a diplomatic solution, an international solution to the challenge of Saddam Hussein."
#3
I didn't think it was possible but this guy is making Kucinich look like presidential material.
"I'm for the war? I'm against the war? Hey, folks, tell me what works here."
Posted by: Matt ||
09/20/2003 17:33 Comments ||
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Matthew Hoy - a local San Diego blogger (shameless plug) notes: In reporting on Democrat presidential candidate Gen. Wesley Clark's flip-flop on whether he would support, the New York Times report spins like a Clark campaign operative.
Clarify his statement? This is nothing less than a full-fledged flip-flop.
Clark apparently wasn't pressed as to how exactly a resolution would have been worded that gave the president "leverage."
The Congress hereby resolves to give the President of the United States a two-by-four and a fulcrum...
I like that
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2003 18:56 Comments ||
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I think Gary Coleman has a clearer view of American politics than Wes Clark, but hey he has the Clintons behind him ( watch out for the shiv in the shower Clark!)
#6
no shivs, Hillary leaves the gun out with a note a la Vince Foster:
"Dear Vince Wes- always loved you, now you need to do the right thing, for Bill and I"
probably has a stack of them to fill in, like Bill's copies of "Leaves of Grass" lol
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2003 19:05 Comments ||
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"Iâm a soldier," he said. "Iâve laid on the battlefield bleeding."
Does anyone know what he's talking about with this statement? I was unaware that he was a Purple Heart recipient; picked him more as a hair mouse type of general. This could be big if he was "Goring" the truth.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/20/2003 19:20 Comments ||
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nah, he's got a purple star... he got it in vietnam. He's actually got a good resume... unfortunaly he's a huge waffler and obviously trying to play both sides. Something we don't need in a president right now...
#9
Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark reversed an earlier opinion that he likely would have voted for war in Iraq, telling a cheering college-town crowd the invasion was "a major blunder" he never would have supported.
Apparently, the people failed to notice that Clark had been out of sight holding his finger up in the air and turning it back and forth just before he addressed the crowd.
#10
Clark's real problem isn't politics, not directly.
What he suffers from is a severe case of General George Armstrong Custer Syndrome.
He IS bright, though not quite a genius, brave, skilled and able. But he has an ego the size of a small nation, a severe tendency to micromanage even when he KNOWS doing so will damage the situation in question, and he's mildly paranoid, distrusting all of his subordinates and many of his superiors, believing that while there's no real plot against him, they will still attempt to interfere with his "rightful rise to the glory" that he feels is properly his.
He wants, even NEEDS to be the next MacArthur, but unlike Mac, he intends to make it to the White House.
Trouble with that is he still trusts Bill Clinton and the Klintonistas, Hillary included. This is due, I feel, to his ego. He realizes that the Clintons DO dump people who are no longer useful, but he sees himself as far too important a figure to be used, then discarded.
Also, he believes that if they should consider the "use & dump" strategy on him, that he's personally powerful enough to ruin them in return. i.e., "You kill me, and I'll kill you right back. We'll BOTH die. So there. You're stuck with me."
His ego again, I'd say.
Ed.
Posted by: Ed Becerra ||
09/20/2003 20:14 Comments ||
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All right, he's bright, semi-articulate, and has a huge ego. He still doesn't have a microgram of common sense. I'm beginning to believe that there are two kinds of politicians - those totally clueless about common sense, and those with an idea of what "common sense" is all about, and may even have a pinch or two themselves. Clinton, Clark, Kucinich, Kerry, and Dean are in the first category. Joe Lieberman and George Bush (2) are in the second category. Ron Paul, btw, is in a class by himself, having DEMONSTRATED common sense - almost unheard of in a politician. What we need now is a "common sense filter" that will let us weed out those clueless politicians we keep getting saddled with.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/20/2003 21:36 Comments ||
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#12
Ed Becerra,
I don't think he trusts clinton a bit... he's using clinton. Remember clinton fired clark and that's something a man doesn't forget. I wish he wasn't a waffler on this Iraq thing because I agree with so many of his stated view points. But I don't think I can vote for someone who's "opinion" changes with who he's talking to...
I hope the investigators did their homework on this one and just didnât assume he was guilty. If they wind up with no case, it will do serious damage to the WOT on the home front. If he is guilty, they should throw the book at him.
By Rowan Scarborough
Published September 20, 2003
An Army Islamic chaplain, who counseled al Qaeda prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, naval base, has been charged with espionage, aiding the enemy and spying, The Washington Times has learned.
Capt. James J. Yee, a 1990 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., was arrested earlier this month by the FBI in Jacksonville, Fla., as he arrived on a military charter flight from Guantanamo, according to a law-enforcement source.
Agents confiscated several classified documents in his possession and interrogated him. He was held for two days in Jacksonville and transferred to a Navy brig in Charleston, S.C., where two Army lawyers have been assigned to his defense.
The Army has charged Capt. Yee with five offenses: sedition, aiding the enemy, spying, espionage and failure to obey a general order. The Army may also charge him later with the more serious charge of treason, which under the Uniform Code of Military Justice could be punished by a maximum sentence of life.
It could not be immediately learned what country or organization is suspected of receiving information from Capt. Yee. He had counseled suspected al Qaeda terrorists at Guantanamo for a lengthy period.
Capt. Yee, 35, was a command chaplain for I Corps at Fort Lewis, Wash. The Army dispatched him to Cuba to attend to the spiritual needs of a growing number of captured al Qaeda and members of the Taliban, a hard-line Islamic group ousted from power in Afghanistan.
Capt. Yee, of Chinese-American descent, was raised in New Jersey as a Christian. He studied Islam at West Point and converted to Islam and left the Army in the mid-1990s. He moved to Syria, where he underwent further religious training in traditional Islamic beliefs. He returned to the United States and re-entered the Army as an Islamic chaplain. He is said to be married to a Syrian woman.
Capt. Yee had almost unlimited private access to detainees as part of the Defense Departmentâs program to provide the prisoners with religious counseling, as well as clothing and Islamic-approved meals. The law-enforcement source declined to say how much damage Capt. Yee may have inflicted on the U.S. war against Osama bin Ladenâs global terror network.
The source said the "highest levels" of government made the decision to arrest Capt. Yee, who had been kept under surveillance for some time.
The militaryâs "convening authority" â the officer who would authorize criminal proceedings â is the commander of U.S. Southern Command in Miami, which oversees the prison at Guantanamo.
After the September 11 attacks, Capt. Yee, one of 17 Muslim chaplains, was the subject of a number of press articles on Islam.
A month after the attack on the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, he was quoted in an account by Scripps Howard News Service as saying that "an act of terrorism, the taking of innocent lives is prohibited by Islam and whoever has done this needs to be brought to justice, whether he is Muslim or not."
In another account, the Voice of America News Service paraphrased Capt. Yee as saying Islam is a religion of peace and the concept of "jihad," or holy war, simply means "to struggle."
"The basics, you always begin with the basics when dealing with anything," Capt. Yee was quoted as saying. "I discuss the articles of faith, what Muslims believe. The five pillars of Islam and then of course, I relate it to the events of September 11 to include some of the concepts found in Islam and how it deals with matters of war."
At the Charleston brig, he joins three other notable detainees in the war on terrorism: Yaser Esam Hamdi, an American-born Saudi who fought with the Taliban; Jose Padilla, a former Chicago gang member who is charged with plotting to detonate a radioactive bomb; and Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, accused of being an al Qaeda sleeper agent.
The United States classifies the detainees at Guantanamo as "enemy combatants," not prisoners of war. The Pentagon will likely hold most of them until the war on terrorism is over.
Posted by: penguin ||
09/20/2003 4:05:36 AM ||
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#1
My guess would be that Army investigators did their homework and a half before preferring these changes.
#4
Conversions, Islalmic study in the Middle East, and returns as an islamofacists. Hmmm. Anyone seeing a pattern developing? Put this guy in a cell and throw away the key!
He lived in Syria, and got 'religious training' there? Didnt that set off the Armys alarm bells? I guess we can assume that Hamas, IJ and al qaeda know whos in the cooler at Guantanamo, which will have compromised the whole operation down there. and that is a damn shame, We could have used those guys for years as agents, now we cant use anyone whos down there. We might as well let them all go.
Somebodys ass should be on the line here for two things, letting this joker in the game down there in the first place and second, revealing the fact that we know who he is. It would have been better to turn him into a double agent so we could feed the other side false information.
THe best we could do at this point is show to al queada that hes told us who his contacts are by killing them publically.
Posted by: Frank Martin ||
09/20/2003 13:24 Comments ||
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Why he in hell are we so lenient with terrorists? Chaplains? For what? For teling them that they were right and that Allah will reward the with virgins?
What we need is people telling them they were wrong and will roast in hell. Strike despair in them, mollify them and then make them speak/use them for propaganda purposes.
Pakistani security officials detained 15 Southeast Asian Islamic students in Karachi yesterday, saying they had ties with militants and were involved in activities damaging to Pakistanâs interests. âThirteen of the suspects are Malaysian and two are Indonesian,â Brig. Javed Iqbal Cheema, chief of the crisis management cell of the Interior Ministry told Reuters. Guess who?
âThey were arrested at a seminary in Karachi... for their involvement in undesirable activities aimed against the interests of Pakistan,â he said. He declined to give details but a senior official of the Federal Investigation Agency in Karachi, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said they were arrested in raids on several seminaries, or madrasas.
âWe arrested them on the request of their respective governments,â the official said. A senior intelligence officer, who also asked not to be identified, said the men were linked to militants but it was too early to say if they had ties with the Al-Qaeda network. Interrogators wanted to find out if they had been planning attacks, the officer said. They were in a madrasas in Pakistan, of course they were planning attacks. The only question is where.
âOnce the interrogation is complete they will be deported to their respective countries,â Cheema said. âThe process will take a week or so.â Sounds long and painful.
Militants from Southeast Asia, including some from Indonesia, the worldâs most populous Muslim country, were trained at Al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan before the US-led invasion of that country in late 2001. Some of them went home and joined the Jemaah Islamiah group, which was responsible for the bomb attacks on the Indonesian resort island of Bali last October that killed more than 200 people. Cheema said Malaysia and Indonesia had withdrawn permission for the 15 students to stay on in Pakistan. âWe are grateful to both the Malaysian and Indonesian governments for their cooperation,â he said. Interesting development.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/20/2003 5:44:55 PM ||
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#1
As we used to say in college: "This is not going to look good on a resume!"
#2
Man, how "militant" do you have to be to get arrested in Nutland Pakland?
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2003 19:06 Comments ||
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#3
Sorry, for a minute there I thought that Girls Gone Wild might have been filming in Pakistan. Just some Koran-memorizers running amuk. Tuning back out...
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/20/2003 19:25 Comments ||
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#4
Heh, if that number of students were arrested here in the U.S., there'd be a whole lotta screaming going on right about now by the usual whiners....
They came after midnight for Karim Ghaith. Outside his two-storey sandstone house in the holy city of Najaf, they shouted out his name, then opened fire.
After a gun battle lasting most of the night, Mr Ghaith, a high-ranking member of the former Baâath party, was held and taken for questioning on his suspected involvement in attacks on US troops. Imagine the outcry if our troops forwent the knocking option and skipped right to the threatening gunfire option. The refs always go light on the home team.
It looked like another of dozens of raids since the war to capture senior Baâathists. But the men who detained him early this month were not American soldiers or Iraqi police. Witnesses say they were the Badr Brigade, armed wing of Iraqâs biggest Shia Muslim party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri).
The operation, denied by Sciri, is evidence of the frustration of Shia groups and the growing willingness to tackle the perceived security threat themselves. We keep asking the Iraqi people to demonstrate initiative with respect to their own security. I donât think we were hoping that SCIRI would answer the call.
Since Ayatollah Mohammed Baqr al-Hakim, the head of Sciri, was killed last month, Shias have become increasingly angry at the pervading lawlessness. They insist that their militias must fill the security vacuum. They risk a confrontation with US forces, whose commanders insist there is no role for militias and have ordered the militias to disarm or face arrest.
So far groups like the Badr Brigade and the Security Committee, set up by another Shia cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr, have avoided a confrontation with US troops, but resentment is simmering. "The Baâathists must be punished because they are criminals who oppressed the Iraqi people," said Syed Abid Zaid al-Jabari, a Sciri official in Najaf. I would love to see some foriegn troops take over responsibility for Najaf. Unlikely that any suckers I mean willing allies can be found.
"I think if the Iraqis are given a clearer role to participate in maintaining security and courts are set up, then people will start coming to us with the names of these people who are still in our city."
He said so far Badr had not arrested any Baâathists in Najaf. But Abdul Amir Hassan Hussein, the head of Najafâs human rights association, said: "It was Badr gunmen who arrested [Mr Ghaith]. They held him and they questioned him, and then they handed him over to be held in prison. We think it is a good step by the Badr, because since they started these kinds of operations there has been much more security in Najaf. Many of the Baâathists have now left the city."
Abu Mohammad and his son Mustafa, 13, living next door to Mr Ghaith, said the Badr men had ordered him to surrender. Mustafa said: "The Badr Brigade came to the door and kept asking if Ghaith was hiding here. We told them he wasnât. The gunmen said they were from the Badr Brigade."
During the gun battle Mr Ghaith hid inside a pile of tyres in their yard. At least two Badr gunmen were killed. Eventually, just after dawn, they captured him. His family fled and a mob ransacked their house, smashing windows and stripping it bare, removing even the floor tiles. Must have played loud music and failed to keep his grass trimmed properly.
At the nearby police station officers insisted they had no part in the raid, but appeared ready to grant the militia a free hand. "The Badr Brigade doesnât interfere in our job and they asked us not to interfere in their job," Captain Ishar al-Ardawi said. Badr officials in Najaf insist their men are no longer armed, though several, dressed all in black and sometimes wearing Badr armbands, are frequently seen in the city.
"We were not involved in this arrest, we have no weapons now. But Karim Ghaith is a criminal and everybody knows that," said Abdul Karim Rimimi, a brigade leader.
Mr Rimimi, who has met US marine officers in Najaf several times, said the Americans wanted his man to give up their guns and hand back their Kalashnikov permits. "The security is still so weak," he said. "If they left it up to us it would be much better."
US officials say they are considering plans to withdraw from some cities and leave security in the hands of trained Iraqi troops. But they mean the newly retrained Iraqi police or the newly formed paramilitary Civil Defence Battalions.
"We believe that there is not a role in the new Iraq for organised militias," the US civilian administrator, Paul Bremer, said this month. Belling that particular cat could be very bloody. We never got around to it in Somalia. Probably one reason why things never got much better there.
American and British officials are particularly wary of Badr, which they say is still armed and funded by the Iranian government. For 20 years Sciri and the Badr Brigade were exiled in Iran, where Badr fought on the side of Tehran in the war of the 1980s.
Political leaders of the Shia movement are worried that security problems are likely to make people even more disillusioned with the US military occupation. Many want the Iraqis to have more responsibility now for their political future. "We feel very frustrated," said Adil Abdul Mehdi, 61, head of Sciriâs political bureau. "We understand the Americans, but they have to understand us. They cannot dictate things to us." Recommendation to SCIRI and Bader. Stop the Taliban imitation. It makes the US nervously contemplate having to return in 10 years.
He said few expected a clash between the Shia majority and the Sunni minority, but there was a danger of Shias turning against the Americans, as many Sunni communities north and west of Baghdad had done.
"It will start with very small groups: actions and reactions. But if this starts, how it will finish nobody knows," he said. "If people cannot find a security solution even in the southern regions we will see an escalation of the situation."
I predict that we will have to break some eggs to make an omelet in Najaf.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/20/2003 2:52:46 PM ||
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The Badr Boyz HAVE to do something, it's their Capo what got whacked. I can't wait to see if they "go to the mattresses" against al-Sadr's Mahdi Mutts...
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Aquila al-Hashimi, a member of Iraqâs Governing Council, was shot and critically wounded Saturday in an assassination attempt outside her home in western Baghdad, police and doctors said.
A prominent Shiite intelectual. Wonder what her lot in life was during the old regime.
Al-Hashimi was in critical condition with abdominal wounds, a doctor at al-Yarmouk hospital said on condition of anonymity. After surgery she was moved to an unspecified location in a convoy of American armored vehicles and military ambulances.
Three of her bodyguards also were injured, said Mohammed Abdul Ghany, a security guard at the al-Yarmouk hospital.
Doesnât sound like very effective security. Theoretically, after an assasination attempt I would want my security to be in more critical shape than I am.
A policeman who spoke on condition of anonymity said the attack occurred outside al-Hashimiâs home at about 9 a.m.
Al-Hashimi is one of three women on the 25-member council. She was preparing to leave for New York as part of an Iraqi delegation that will attempt to assume Iraqâs seat at the U.N. General Assembly.
Al-Hashimi is a Shiite Muslim and a career diplomat who led the Iraqi delegation to a donorsâ conference in New York this summer. She holds a degree in law and a doctorate in modern literature.
NOW will obviously protest this action ... for its ineffectiveness in killing a dangerous female that probably doesnât agree with their politics.
It was the latest in a string of attacks on figures perceived to be collaborating with Iraqâs American occupiers. Fighters believed to be loyal to Saddam Hussein are trying to disrupt the U.S.-sponsored political process that envisages a new constitution and a democratically elected government before the end of next year.
The British hired some security guards from Fiji that might be an effective security force for the Governing Council. I donât think that a Marine guard detactment would do much for the credibility of the council.
Late last month, a Shiite Muslim leader -- Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim -- was assassinated in a bomb blast in the holy city of Najaf south of Baghdad. The attack, widely thought to be the work of Saddamâs supporters, killed at least 85 people.
Donât think the two leaders have much in common other than wearing teeshirts with targets printed on them.
Al-Hakimâs Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the biggest anti-Saddam opposition group, was represented on the Governing Council.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/20/2003 9:52:20 AM ||
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Oops, accidently posted under Short Attension Span again.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/20/2003 9:54 Comments ||
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So "they" have tried to hit GC members from both ends of the spectrum, now. Equal opportunity "patriots" - a novelty in Arabia.
TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) - U.S. tanks and armored fighting vehicles rumbled through Saddam Husseinâs hometown and its outskirts early Saturday in a show of force following a coordinated ambush against American forces that killed three soldiers and wounded two. Soldiers patrolled through Tikrit and the eastern banks of the Tigris river, site of a deadly attack Thursday by Saddam loyalists. The patrol began late Friday and ended early Saturday. Intended as a show of force, it was also an attempt to flush out pockets of armed resistance in the area. Finally. Stay for a while.
"We took a tank company and a Bradley company," Lt. Col. Steve Russell, the 1st Battalion commander of the 4th Infantry Divisionâs 22nd Infantry Regiment, told The Associated Press. "We wanted to send a message."
The U.S. troops usually patrol in smaller vehicles but this operation came after a series of attacks Thursday described by the military as some of the fiercest and best coordinated since American forces arrived in the Tikrit area in April. Fifty-eight Iraqis were captured after the attacks and U.S. troops seized a considerable number of weapons from a minivan fleeing the area, the military said.
During the patrol, tanks swept through residential areas, occasionally dismounting to set up security points, to check cars and people leaving Tikrit after the cityâs 11 p.m. curfew. The patrol ended without incident. "We wanted to make contact with the enemy," Russell said. "If they want, weâll surely oblige him." Teach these folks not to mess with you, Steve Hey another Steve! Wotta great name!
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/20/2003 12:38:32 AM ||
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I cannot understand why arms are still in the hands of the Iraqis. Surely the penalty for being armed in Germany and Japan after the surrender was severe. Why shouldn't these attacks continue if we cannot send the correct message?
Posted by: TJ Jackson ||
09/20/2003 0:58 Comments ||
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TJ--Because of the NRA nutz in the US--I think the Iraqi population should be disarmed--with the death penalty for possession of an RPG--why are the assholes allowed to posseess assault rifles?! This is like trying to occupy a country where the NRA has had its agenda approved--an armed citizenry because its part of the Iraqi "culture"
I say screw that--disarm them all except the US certified police
Posted by: Not Mike Moore ||
09/20/2003 2:18 Comments ||
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But then they won't have anything to fire in the air to celebrate.
#5
That is a new angle I hadn't anticipated. The Iraqi insurgency is an arm of the NRA. I bet the real Michael Moore already the fabrication ... I mean documentary in the can.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/20/2003 9:33 Comments ||
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Mike Moore (you live up to your namesake I see),
How do you propose getting rid of all the guns / rpgs, etc. in the country?!? How many MILLIONS of them are buried in the sand, or hidden in the corners of every hut, cave, and building in Iraq, and the entire ME.
And blaming the NRA nutz is typical of left wing drivel. I haven't seen ANY statement from the NRA concerning Iraq. Their charter is basically to safeguard the 2nd amendment, otherwise they tend to be apolitical.
You don't have a problem defending the constitution, do you? Or is it some sort of Chinese dinner menu, where you pick any 3 amendments from column A, and 4 from column B?!?
Posted by: Francis ||
09/20/2003 9:49 Comments ||
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Doesn't the whole war on Iraq for-reasons-of-WMDs go against basic NRA principles, the principles that say that every person has the right to gather as many weapons to himself as they can?
Indeed I heard one minor communist party over here use something like that as part of its reasoning to oppose the War on Iraq -- their belief that all nations should be allowed to have weapons of mass destruction, not just the Big 5 of the security council.
#9
Good reply, Francis. NMM likes to take the NRA's belief in reasonable self-defense and blow it way out of proportion.
I see nothing wrong with letting Iraqis keep basic weapons (AK-47's among them) for self-defense. Especially now, when large parts of the country are still somewhat chaotic and lack efficient policing, they deserve the right to defend themselves from roaming bandits and Saddam's holdout hooligans.
RPGs and other heavy weapons are an entirely different matter and should be confiscated. Those are not weapons for reasonable self-defense.
Posted by: Dar ||
09/20/2003 11:05 Comments ||
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The idea of letting the population keep AK-47s is nuts -- not even the NRA suggests that full-auto weapons should be widely available in the U.S. (or, if they have, everyone's still laughing).
We'll save ourselves a lot of trouble (in the long run) if we confiscate any AKs we find and replace them with a cheap bolt-action rifle. If we choose something that's incompatible with 7.62 ammo, that's even better...
#11
NMM's the kind of gun grabber who would point to a Baathist shooting an RPG, and say: "see guns kill people, we should start the disarmng among law-abiding Americans"... thanks Pal, I'll renew my NRA membership and make an extra donation in your honor..later on I'm gonna go buy some ammo...be thinking of you then too ;-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2003 12:28 Comments ||
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snellenr - I guess then only the Swiss are responsible enough to allow citizens to have full autos, but regardless there are better things to do with the available money and logistics than spend them replacing weapons or disarming the law-abiding folk and leaving them helpless with the Ba'athists and jihadis running around--not to mention the common criminal element in every culture who loves knowing their victims are defenseless.
Thankfully, not every Iraqi with an AK wants to kill Americans (much to the chagrin of Murat and Stevey). However, if the Iraqis want to instill American-style gun control down the road, that's a decision that should be left to them.
Our mission should be more focused on restoring the infrastructure, establishing a responsible government, and getting out (although a base there would be nice) than imposing our cultural values on them. Once the basic democracy is in place, they can modify it to suit their own cultural wants and tastes.
Posted by: Dar ||
09/20/2003 18:23 Comments ||
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The entire rationale of the 2nd Amendment is that an unarmed society can be easily manipulated, having nothing to fight back with. It's not to secure the GOVERNMENT, but to secure our FREEDOM. There's nothing in the Amendment, or any of the documents written for and against its inclusion (the so-called Federalist/Anti-Federalist papers, which is really a collection of newspaper editorials for and against. They do pretty well cover the discussion, however) discussing the type or number of weapons any person can have. Technically, a person should be able to have his/her own nuclear arsenal. The government has done its best to restrict, deny, and hedge on this article practically from the day it was ratified. Governments don't like armed citizens - it makes them nervous. Of course, if their behavior wasn't so obnoxious, there wouldn't be any reason to be nervous.
As for Iraq, let the people keep their weapons. Then add some really STIFF penalties under their constitution (when they finally get around to writing it) and laws about MISUSING their weapons. After all, it's the BEHAVIOR that makes the crime, not the weapon.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/20/2003 18:49 Comments ||
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Aris asked and commented:
Doesn't the whole war on Iraq for-reasons-of-WMDs go against basic NRA principles, the principles that say that every person has the right to gather as many weapons to himself as they can?
In a word, no. First, the NRA takes no position on what NATIONS do. Second, the NRA is about individuals and gun ownership, not whether nations should or should not have armaments.
Indeed I heard one minor communist party over here use something like that as part of its reasoning to oppose the War on Iraq -- their belief that all nations should be allowed to have weapons of mass destruction, not just the Big 5 of the security council.
You SURE he was a communist? I thought communists were all about love, peace, and brotherhood. I'm stunned that a communist would even suggest a thing.
More important, do YOU think every country should have WMDs? Like for example, Turkey, Greece, and Albania? Just curious.
Posted by: R. McLeod ||
09/21/2003 3:41 Comments ||
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News that the United States issued the maximum 20,000 immigrant visas for Cubans as required under accords between the two nations is "a positive element for relations," the Cuban government said Friday. WTF are we doing?
Rafael Dausa Cespedes, director of the Foreign Ministryâs North America Division, said in a statement that the news was "a positive element for relations on migration issues between Cuba and the United States."
Cuban officials complained in April that U.S. authorities had issued only about 700 of the 20,000 immigrant visas required annually under 1994 and 1995 agreements. Juist how many spies, I mean migrant workers does Cuba need. 1994 and 1995 agreements. Anybody surprised.
The head of the Cuban Interests Section in Washington accused the United States of "trying to create conditions for a crisis" by cutting back on legal migration. Here was a human rights sanction screaming to be taken against the crackdown. Would have made US a safer place and hurt Castro. The ultimate win-win.
Officials at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana said the serious backlog in visa processing was due to stricter regulations adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
American authorities said Wednesday they reached the quota of 20,000 visas for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.
Under the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act, qualifying Cubans who reach the United States may apply for permanent American residency after one year. Related U.S. policies call for most Cubans picked up at sea while trying to reach the United States to be repatriated, while those reaching American soil can stay.
Dausa said that policy "constitutes a strong stimulus for illegal migration and for associated phenomenon, such as immigrant trafficking and the use of violence in attempts to immigrate."
On Friday, a U.S. judge sentenced a Cuban architect to 20 years in prison for using two fake grenades to hijack a passenger plane from Cuba to Florida in April. Not sure whether this guy is a good egg or a bad egg. Doesnât like Castro, but has violent tendancies. Maybe I would get violent after living in Havanan too. At least the grenades were fake. Maybe he can design a new rec area for the super max while he is in the jug.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/20/2003 11:01:17 PM ||
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Any bets that these were rammed through without any background checks and/or by shortcutting established regulations (like FBI and CIA checks)?
Reg Reqâd - and slow day in posting, so Iâm posting it all - itâs long thoâ - no comments - insert your own - By ROBIN TONER
WASHINGTON â Consider, for a moment, Gen. Wesley K. Clark, newly declared candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, as a useful Rorschach test for a conflicted party. What did many Democrats see when they looked at General Clark â and how did that make them feel?
They saw a retired military commander who was a critic of the war with Iraq. A decorated hero from the South who could not be dismissed as some outside-the-mainstream, 60âs throwback, yet was willing to confront President Bush on foreign policy. A man who was not only right, but maybe, just maybe, electable. And it made them feel . . . happy.
General Clark, of course, is a latecomer, largely untested in politics, whose real importance as a candidate will not be clear for several weeks. But this moment captured something important about a party torn between its heart and its head, between its desire to speak, clearly and without apology, about its beliefs, and its desire to defeat President Bush, put together an electoral majority in a polarized nation and return to power.
It is an old struggle in the Democratic Party, resurfacing with each new generation of activists and strategists since the old New Deal coalition came unstuck in the 1960âs. Does the party need to move to the center, muting its liberal edge on cultural issues, economics and foreign policy in order to win? Promise to roll back just part of the tax cut, for example, not the whole thing?
Or does that lead to a watery "me-tooism," too careful, too calibrated, too uncertain of what it believes to rouse voters or to make a difference if its proponents actually win office?
Let Democrats be Democrats, is the thrust of one argument. Speak to the great American middle, not to each other, is the counter. Hearts and heads at war.
Bill Clinton moved the party to a centrist "third way" in 1992, but that happened only after 12 years out of the White House, when Democrats were really hungry to win. And much of that redefinition did not endure once Mr. Clinton and his formidable political skills left the White House.
Stanley B. Greenberg, a veteran Democratic pollster who worked for Mr. Clinton, says that Democratic primary voters in the decade since 1992 have become "more partisan, more ideological, more secular and more anti-Republican," just as their Republican counterparts have become more religious, conservative and partisan. In other words, the struggle over the right message, and messenger, has to be waged anew for the post-Clinton Democratic Party.
So far, it is largely framed by the powerful anger at the Democratic grassroots â over the 2000 election and a president elected without a popular vote majority; over three years of staunchly conservative policies and a war unpopular with Democratic voters from the start.
But there was also anger at Congressional Democrats, consigned to minority status, who to some Democrats seemed too reluctant to challenge the Bush administration. Ever since Vietnam, many Democrats have been deeply suspicious of the use of force, even as party leaders struggled to deflect the charge that Democrats are reflexively antiwar.
All this coalesced around the war with Iraq, which was supported by four of the six Congressional Democrats now running for president.
Many party activists, in short, were ripe for an appeal from an impassioned, outside insurgent, speaking out against the war and the establishment Democrats who at least initially supported it â speaking to the activistsâ hearts. Suddenly, former Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont, who famously declared that he represented "the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party," was atop the polls in Iowa and New Hampshire. His speeches were bracing affirmations of old-time Democratic values and beliefs; his audiences were moved.
But then, of course, the worried questions began inside the Democratic Party. Is an antiwar governor from a tiny state â Vermont ranks 49th in population â really the strongest candidate to defeat Mr. Bush? If not, then who?
Will rank-and-file Democratic voters give enough thought to the unyielding dictates of the electoral map â which candidate has the best chance to carry major battleground states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Michigan â when they cast their ballots? Will they, in other words, use their heads?
Bill Carrick, a Democratic consultant now advising Representative Richard A. Gephardt, describes it as "the age-old question â some elections, Democrats in the primary cycle vote their passions; some elections, they vote their heads."
Senator John B. Breaux, the Louisiana Democrat and a leader in the Democratic Leadership Council, formed to push the party to the center, worried recently, "The people who go to the caucuses and the conventions tend to be people who are focused first on whoâs most closely aligned with what they believe in, and only secondarily on who can win in November."
And Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York was one of several Democrats who argued that any successful nominee must pass a credibility test on national security. "I donât think that any Democratic candidate can beat Bush, from Lieberman to Dean and back, unless they have a positive foreign policy, one that states what they would do to defeat terrorism, not just what Bush did that was wrong," Mr. Schumer said.
Senator Evan Bayh, the Indiana Democrat who is currently chairman of the leadership council, recently contended, "Weâre not going to win on national security," but the party could lose on it unless the nominee is a credible commander in chief.
Gordon Fischer, the Iowa Democratic chairman, asserted that beating Mr. Bush was "the No. 1 goal" of party activists. "Even Governor Deanâs campaign talks about his skills and advantages as a candidate on the basis of electability," he added.
Predicting electability, of course, is tricky; sometimes when Democrats thought they were voting their heads, they were still badly beaten in the general election. Former Gov. Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts captured the 1988 Democratic nomination as a moderate, nonideological technocrat â not a man who stirred his partyâs passions, but one who seemed, to many Democrats, decent, competent, electable. He lost 40 states that fall. Other traits matter in a candidate, beside his profile and message; sheer passion and political talent can go a long way.
Moreover, there is a fundamental divide in politics now over how best to win the presidency â by galvanizing the base, or by reaching out to swing voters, which generally means a more centrist message.
In the end, many liberals cling to an old dream, of finding a candidate who appeals to both the base and the majority, and rebuilding the old coalition that seemed to shatter 35 years ago, argued Michael Kazin, a political historian at Georgetown University.
"They think that Americans, in their heart of hearts, really agree with them on education, on the environment, on some kind of national health insurance," Professor Kazin said. "And they feel theyâre completely right about the war in Iraq."
So, they want to fall in love with a candidate. And they want to win
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2003 10:00:34 PM ||
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A leader of a militant group allied with Palestinian Yasser Arafat was shot dead and another was killed in revenge Saturday, Palestinian security sources reported. Gunmen of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, linked to Arafatâs Fatah movement, opened fire on each other in the West Bank town of Tulkarm.
Palestinian security sources said the shooting which involved two groups of about 10 gunmen was the result of "internal disputes." "Hey, quit looking at me funny!"
Saleh Nassar, 35, a local leader who was killed, had survived two attempts by Israeli troops to kill him, brigade sources said. IDF will be sending thank you cards.
Another man, wounded in the fighting, was killed in hospital after gunmen broke in and shot him in apparent Dire revenge for Salehâs death, the security sources said.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/20/2003 5:26:41 PM ||
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I am really concerned about whether any of the "kidnapees" was a Rantisi child or Arafat's daughter.....they are never around for those "extraordinary" events.....oh, yes...Suha Arafat is busy spending money in Paris and London........where are Rantisi's children. I would have thought that they have a good future as "shaheeds".......
#2
If I were the IDF, I'd really start playing these guys against each other, allowing hints that Fatah or Al-Adsa is disclosing Hamas hit locations...stir the pot and see what boils off
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2003 19:02 Comments ||
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Adsa? Jeez - Q and D aren't even that close... no alcohol involved, maybe that's the problem. Un Tequila por favor!
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2003 19:11 Comments ||
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JPost Reg reqâd
A member of the Palestinian Authorityâs Preventive Security Service in the Gaza Strip who was kidnapped by Hamas activists said on Saturday that he was brutally tortured by his captors. "Itâs traditional, what can we say?"
Mohammed Al-Shiekh, 38, told The Jerusalem Post from his hospital bed in Gaza City that he was kidnapped by six armed men belonging to Hamas from his home in the Shati refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip last Wednesday. "I was sitting outside my home when a yellow minivan pulled up," he recounted. "I thought it was Dick Clark, Ed McMahon, and the Publisherâs Clearing House guys...boy was I disappointed"
"Three masked men carrying rifles and pistols got out of the vehicle and ordered me to get in. When I tried to resist, they hit me with the butts of their guns. They told me, âYou are a collaborator.â" "I couldnât tell what he said because of the mask, it sounded like he said I was a collander... so I denied it of course"
Al-Shiekhâs brother and mother who were present at the scene first thought that the kidnappers were undercover Israeli soldiers. He was blindfolded and bundled into the car, where three more armed men were sitting. "They started beating me all over the body and I was bleeding non stop," he added. "I was severely wounded in the eye and forehead." 7 guys in the car and theyâre beating him? surprised someone else didnât lose an eye
Al-Shiekh said the kidnappers drove him to an undisclosed location, where he was held until Friday noon. He said that all this time he was subjected to various methods of torture. "They beat me with chains, clubs and pipes," he said. "I wasnât able to sleep for two days because of the pain. They told me, âYou and [PA Security Minister Mohammed] Dahlan are traitors and Israeli spies." typical - Arafat "misappropriated" the truncheon money, so they had to use crude objects...no class
Al-Shiekhâs abduction was in the frame of an armed confrontation between Hamas and the Preventive Security Service in Gaza City. The clash erupted on Wednesday night and continued throughout Thursday and Friday. At least five people were injured, two seriously, in the clashes. 2 and half days of clashes and only 5 are injured... typical Arab/Paleo marksmen huh?
The Preventive Security Service accused Hamas of triggering off the clashes by kidnapping Al-Shiekh. It said its forces immediately detained seven members of Hamas in the context of investigations to arrest the kidnappers and bring them before the justice. funny, they can never find them when the Joooos or Merkins ask
A spokesman for Preventive Security warned that anyone who tries to undermine the unity of the Palestinian Authority would be held legally accountable. "legally accountable"? In a territory run by Arafat? Bwahahahah
The shooting erupted in Gaza City on Thursday after the arrest of the seven Hamas members suspected of kidnapping Al-Shiekh.
Hamas said the confrontation began when the Preventive Security Service arrested one of its senior activists in Gaza City.
Hamas activists attacked police stations with stones and burned tires in the Shieh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City. "they were Firestones anyway - off old Explorers"
Under a deal to end the dispute, Hamas released l-Shiekh and another police officer it had detained on Wednesday, and the Palestinian Authority freed the seven Hamas members it arrested.
thatâs traditional too
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2003 12:45:17 PM ||
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Under a deal to end the dispute, Hamas released l-Shiekh and another police officer it had detained on Wednesday, and the Palestinian Authority freed the seven Hamas members it arrested.
Oh, so this whole matter is a "dispute". Now that it's resolved, the "Preventive Security Service" can go back to doing what it did (which was very little), and the Hamas members arrested can go back to plotting to kill Jews.
#2
In a post from 2 days ago the Palestinian Security Ministry announced the 7 men it arrested would be "tried in court".And European gov't.s are shocked that Israel no longer believes anything the Palestinian Authority says.
Posted by: Stephen ||
09/20/2003 14:35 Comments ||
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Al-Shiekh said the kidnappers drove him to an undisclosed location
...where Dick Cheney personally oversaw his torturous beating...
Britain, France and Germany have made an unsuccessful attempt to encourage Iran to comply with the International Atomic Energy Agency rules and curb its nuclear ambitions by offering to share their nuclear technology.
The incentive was intended to persuade Iran to accept tougher nuclear inspections and to halt its uranium enrichment programme. What uranium enrichment program? That was just ... contamination. Yeah thatâs the ticket. Contamination.
It was offered despite strong objections by the US, according to a Reuters news agency report yesterday . Keep them guessing. Mixed signals really worked well with Sadaam.
Iranâs lukewarm reaction served to unite the US and European governments behind the IAEAâs tough resolution last week, which requires Iran to prove that it has no-nuclear weapons programme by October 31. Sacre bleu. That is too soon. Only free elections are fast. Inspection negotiatiations are fore..v..e..r.
It it fails to do so it make face action by the UN security council action.
The reported behind-the-scenes offer sheds new light on the crisis caused by Iranâs nuclear activities.
Tehranâs attempt to buy time on the issue has backfired and appears to have paved the way for transatlantic unity. What we need is a position we al can agree on. Lets use a catchy name. How about the Road... nah. Lets call it the Vision Quest.
The Bush administration wants Iran isolated and dismisses Europeâs attempts at "constructive engagement" with reformers in the theocratic leadership. and with Cuba and with China and with North Korea and with Syria ....
Iranâs decision to reject the offer will make it more difficult for the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, and other foreign ministers to defend the benefits of engagement. What are these benefits? Gimme a list.
Iranian officials told journalists privately in August that England, France and Germany were putting pressure on their government to accept short-notice inspections of Iranâs nuclear plants.
Iran has given conflicting signals about how it will react to the IAEA resolution, but has said it will continue to cooperate with the agency.
But Conservative figures advocate following the North Korean example by withdrawing from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty altogether and ejecting UN inspectors.
"What is wrong with considering this treaty on nuclear energy and pulling out of it?" Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, who heads the supervisory body the Guardian Council, said yesterday at Friday prayers in Tehran.
"North Korea pulled out of it and many countries have never entered it."
While the reformist government, led by President Mohammad Khatami, has said it will consider signing the additional protocol to the treaty which would allow short-notice inspections, Ayatollah Jannati said that would be represent "an extraordinary humiliation".
The final decisions on Iranâs nuclear programme are believed to rest with the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and allied senior clerics, not with Mr Khatamiâs cabinet, whose powers have been systematically curtailed.
Nuclear weapons are inconsistent with Islam. It must be a civilian conspiracy to undercut Isalm as a religion of peace. Insidious.
The US and European governments suspect that Iran has a clandestine nuclear weapons programme and point to its efforts to enrich uranium, build a heavy water plant, and secure spent nuclear fuel, and to its contradictory accounts of its activities.
Iran says its nuclear programme is designed for peaceful purposes, to meet growing demand for electricity.
As for the IAEA tests which showed enriched uranium at a nuclear site, Iranian officials say the samples came from contaminated components bought on the black market abroad.
I see no need to purchase compnents for a peaceful program on the black market.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/20/2003 12:40:05 PM ||
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Whew! Even with the EU stooge staff serving up a big fat one, the Black Hats go down with a called strike three. And with yet another scoring opportunity squandered, the team average is a perfect 000 and their record is 0-10.
Keep spittin' & scratchin' on-camera, boyz, we've almost got that lineup card ready for the next game in the More Science vs Islamic Jihad tournament.
Never underestimate the ability of the Black Hats to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
From correspondents in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
September 21, 2003
AN audit of the Palestinian Authority revealed that President Yasser Arafat had diverted $US900 million ($A1.35 billion) in public funds to a special bank account he controlled and most of the money was later invested in Palestinian assets, an International Monetary Fund official said today. Really? I thought the figureâd be higher...by the way, Palestinian assets = Suha?
Karim Nashashibi, IMF resident representative in the West Bank and Gaza, credited openness and transparency in the Palestinian Authorityâs accounting under Finance Minister Salam Fayad for disclosing the transfers between 1995 and 2000.
The large majority of the money was invested in Palestinian assets at home and abroad, Nashashibi said. A Palestinian Investment Fund was established to manage those assets and privatise them, he added.
But the IMF official did not rule out the possibility of the remaining funds being misused, saying he believes an audit of the remaining funds will be conducted later.
"In any system you can always have a possibility of misuse of funds," Nashashibi said. "But what weâre trying to do is have a level of disclosure and transparency so that future or present misuse does not happen ... At least there is a follow up, there is disclosure."
thank you IMF..bastards
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2003 12:06:56 PM ||
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Frank - you left out the closer (snicker): "Agence France-Presse"
WTF is a "Palestinian asset"? A Burger King in Bangkok? It is a joke to imply that the average Paleos get any benefit from funds under a single autocratic induhvidual's control - especially one as corrupt as Arafish.
AFP made certain that no direct quotes regards outright corruption are in the piece, only some watered-down implications, though I have no doubt a bona-fide story would have contained one or more from credible sources. These would probably not be difficult to obtain.
And that make this little gem even more stupefying: The Palestinian economy has contracted by 30 per cent because of the Palestinian-Israeli violence over the last three years and IMF officials said it needs an injection of about $US1.2 billion ($A1.81 billion) in assistance.
#2
The Palestinian economy has contracted by 30 per cent because of the Palestinian-Israeli violence over the last three years and IMF officials said it needs an injection of about $US1.2 billion ($A1.81 billion) in assistance.
And this money would no doubt be used for purchasing weapons and printing up hateful school textbooks, not to mention being skimmed again if Arafart and his cronies aren't killed off.
#3
Give the weenie a break. We all know those roads to peace cost a lot of money.
Posted by: Douglas De Bono ||
09/20/2003 14:08 Comments ||
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Hey, if there is American tax dollars going into the Arafat slush fund, those truncheons better say "Louisville Slugger" on them. It's made in America if my bucks are going to subjegate the populus.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/20/2003 14:25 Comments ||
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It is obvious that the PA needs an audit and tighter controls on the petty cash fund...
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/20/2003 14:51 Comments ||
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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- When U.S. troops landed in Haiti nine years ago Friday, Kesnel Wilson believed they would help his hapless country recover from years of military-backed rule.
Today, he feels abandoned as he watches U.S. assistance dwindle and his poverty-stricken country sink deeper into despair.
"The United States was right to intervene. But it was wrong to lead us into believing it would help us rebuild our nation," said Wilson, a 43-year-old carpenter in Haitiâs crumbling capital.
Super Hose provides helpful advice to Haitian carpenter in the midst of a crumbling capital: get off your ass, saw some boards, nail some boards. If I were a carpenter, a crumbling capital would be a land of opportunity for me.
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide won a landslide victory in 1991 and governed for seven months before the Haitian army ousted him in a bloody coup. Three years later, 20,000 U.S. troops arrived on Sept. 19, restoring Aristide to power and stemming a Haitian exodus.
A windfall of U.S. aid came with the intervention. But since Aristideâs government has fallen out of favor with the United States, none of the aid has been directed at development.
Our attention must have waivered too soon. We have trouble with that in America.
The relationship began to fray in 2000, when Aristideâs Lavalas Family party swept flawed legislative elections. Since then, the government and opposition have been deadlocked and the opposition has accused Aristide of attempting to establish a one-man, one-party rule.
Wait a minute. It sounds like the gravy train rolled for about 7 years. What more do they want? We canât give everbody the Puerto Rican treatment.
The opposition and civil groups refuse to sit on an electoral council that will organize legislative elections this year until the government disarms its partisans, ends judicial impunity and reforms the police according to two resolutions from the Organization of American States.
Although opposed to demands that Aristide step down, the United States has been increasingly critical of the government, saying it is dragging its feet on implementing the OAS resolutions.
"All friendships go through changes," Judith Trunzo, spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Haiti, said on Friday.
But U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Roger F. Noriega went a step further last week.
"The U.S. intervention to return Aristide in 1994 has ended up a complete failure, due to the Haitian leadersâ inability and lack of willingness to move the country along a democratic path," he said.
Aristide has blamed the countryâs deteriorating economic and political situation on international "political and economic terrorism."
"Most Haitians believed there would be a change in the traditional U.S. policy of supporting the minority against the majority," said government spokesman Mario Dupuy. "But the United States still supports the elite ..., imposing an unjust embargo on international aid and causing the political crisis to drag on."
Have we embargoed international aid to Haiti? Sounds more like we have ceased propping up a corrupt government.
Some $427 million in international aid poured into Haiti in 1995. It has steadily dwindled since then, with the United States allocating some $70 million in humanitarian aid this year, and international lenders suspending aid or grants to demand democratic reforms and stability.
Meanwhile, Haiti has plunged even deeper into poverty and unrest.
Most Haitians are jobless or unemployed and live on less than $1 a day. Income is 40 percent lower than in Nicaragua, the second poorest country in the hemisphere. Inflation is at 30 percent.
But itâs also a no-win situation for the United States.
Haitians either blame the United States for not providing enough support or for failing to get rid of Aristide, whose government has been accused of using violence to stem dissent.
"The United States has let us down," said tailor Sauveur Pierre, 49, once a fervent Aristide partisan. He hates the opposition, but his disappointment is so great he has become apolitical.
This year he can only afford to send one of his three children to school. Haitians often still risk their lives to take rickety boats bound for better economic opportunities in the United States.
Wilson, meanwhile, says Haitiâs allies have vanished.
"I was sure the United States would help set the country back on its feet," he said. "But life is harder than ever."
Super Hoseâs final aid to Haitians: make some effort and we will help. We donât want you to be a failed state, but only you can fix Haiti. We gave it the old college try once. Now you give it a whirl. That is if you actually care enough to make an effort. Otherwise seek out Castro. He can manufacture a state for you that doesnât require initiative on your part.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/20/2003 10:20:40 AM ||
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Wasn't this another of the Clinton/Carter fiascos?
Posted by: Douglas De Bono ||
09/20/2003 14:10 Comments ||
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Let's see, 1991 and add three years, so 1994. Yeah, it was another of theirs Bono.
Posted by: Charles ||
09/20/2003 14:28 Comments ||
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In the fall of 1990 Haiti prepared for presidential elections that many feared would end in violence as they did in 1987 when voters were massacred at the voting poles. On the final day of registration Aristide announced his candidacy for the presidency. The announcement electrified the country and after a six week campaign that Aristide dubbed "Lavalas" or a cleansing flood, he was elected president in Haiti's first free and fair election with an overwhelming 67% of the vote. On the eve of his inauguration violence struck again as arsonists set fire to La Fanmi Selavi, killing four children.
During Aristide's seven months in office his government pursued a program of change based of the principles of participation, transparence and justice.
[snip...]
All of this ended on September 30, 1991, when the Haitian military violently overthrew the democratic government. Aristide was forced into exile, and the military unleashed an unprecedented campaign of terror and violence taking the lives of more than 5000 Haitian over the next three years, hundreds of thousands were forced into hiding, and tens of thousands more fled their homeland by boat. The coup targeted peasant organizations, members of the ti legliz, journalists, students, political activists, and neighborhoods that were strongholds of support for Aristide. Despite this repression the majority of Haitians continued to support Aristide and to nonviolently resist the military regime.
President Aristide first went to Venezuela and then spent two and half years of exile in Washington DC. Throughout his 1,111 days in exile he was recognized internationally as the legitimate President of Haiti. President Aristide worked nonstop, pursuing numerous diplomatic initiatives aimed at resolving the crisis and challenging the international community to work with the Haitian people to restore democracy to Haiti. Traveling throughout Europe, Latin America, Africa, and the United States speaking against the violence and repression that reigned in Haiti he urged international support for Haiti's cause and maintained close contact with the large Haitian diaspora.
On October 15, 1994, President Aristide triumphantly returned to Haiti where he completed the last sixteen months of his presidential term. He returned to a country traumatized by the violence of the coup period and economically devastated. His commitment to justice, and his calls for peaceful rebuilding of the nation enabled the country to regain political stability and take the first steps towards economic recovery. His most significant act as President was to dismantle the Haitian military. His government created Haiti's first civilian police force. With the support of the United Nations legislative elections were held and in February 1996 Haiti witnessed its first peaceful transition from one democratically elected president to the next.
After completing his five year term as President, Aristide founded the Aristide Foundation for Democracy. Under Aristide's leadership the Foundation is dedicated to deepening the roots of Haiti's democracy by opening avenues of participation to all Haitians. The foundation has three major program areas: sponsoring forums and public dialogues on issues such as justice, land reform, and the economic future of the nation; supporting literacy programs in Haiti; and fostering community-based economic initiatives.
President Aristide has been honored and recognized worldwide for his commitment to nonviolence, peace and justice. A partial list of awards he has received includes the Oscar Romero Award, the Martin Luther King International Statesman and Ecumenical Award, and the Aix-la-Chappelle Peace Prize.
[snip...]
-from his official biography (http://www.haiti.org/aristide-bio.htm)
Funny, no mention of the US (other than as a place where he spent some time in exile) -- not one -- it's the UN that gets all of the credit for the good times they knew under the magnificent Aristide.
Lessee, it seems that when the US does the heavy lifting and foots the bill, the UN is due the credit. When the tap runs dry (perpetual aid is not aid, it's addiction) the blame is placed on the US. Yep. Sounds like the usual song.
But apparently he can not be executed under the UCMJ...Damn!
An Army Islamic chaplain, who counseled al Qaeda prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, naval base, has been charged with espionage, aiding the enemy and spying, The Washington Times has learned.
Capt. James J. Yee, a 1990 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., was arrested earlier this month by the FBI in Jacksonville, Fla., as he arrived on a military charter flight from Guantanamo, according to a law-enforcement source.
Agents confiscated several classified documents in his possession and interrogated him. He was held for two days in Jacksonville and transferred to a Navy brig in Charleston, S.C., where two Army lawyers have been assigned to his defense.
But, Alas, he will not regardless do the Dance with the Looped Rope. Maybe his Syrian Wife? (see below)
The Army has charged Capt. Yee with five offenses: sedition, aiding the enemy, spying, espionage and failure to obey a general order. The Army may also charge him later with the more serious charge of treason, which under the Uniform Code of Military Justice could be punished by a maximum sentence of life.
It could not be immediately learned what country or organization is suspected of receiving information from Capt. Yee. He had counseled suspected al Qaeda terrorists at Guantanamo for a lengthy period.
Capt. Yee, 35, was a command chaplain for I Corps at Fort Lewis, Wash. The Army dispatched him to Cuba to attend to the spiritual needs of a growing number of captured al Qaeda and members of the Taliban, a hard-line Islamic group ousted from power in Afghanistan.
Capt. Yee, of Chinese-American descent, was raised in New Jersey as a Christian. He studied Islam at West Point and converted to Islam and left the Army in the mid-1990s. He moved to Syria, where he underwent further religious training in traditional Islamic beliefs. He returned to the United States and re-entered the Army as an Islamic chaplain. He is said to be married to a Syrian woman.
Do we see the firm hand of the Little Woman behind his little Charade?
Capt. Yee had almost unlimited private access to detainees as part of the Defense Departmentâs program to provide the prisoners with religious counseling, as well as clothing and Islamic-approved meals. The law-enforcement source declined to say how much damage Capt. Yee may have inflicted on the U.S. war against Osama bin Ladenâs global terror network.
The source said the "highest levels" of government made the decision to arrest Capt. Yee, who had been kept under surveillance for some time.
There seems something particularly poisionous about Fifth Columnists, a particularly distastful brand of Evil, a special ring in Hell is already reserved for his likes...
Posted by: Traveller ||
09/20/2003 4:01:28 AM ||
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You beat me to this by mere minutes. Fred, double post, sorry.
#4
From a spiritual standpoint, I think that solitary confinement would be the way to go with this guy. Folks in the Madrassi of Pakistan are lining up for the opportunity to memorize the Koran.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/20/2003 9:29 Comments ||
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This is a bad joke. Does anyone really think (not believe, but think) that this moron's position as a chaplain should matter one whit in judging his actions?
*deep sigh / rolls eyes* Black Cats, Broken Mirrors, Walking Under Ladders, Friday 13th, Pope, Grand Doodah, Grand Dragon, Perfect Hair TV Preachers, Mullahs, Spiritualists, Crystal Balls, Unicorns, Pyramid Power, Tin Foil, Magic Crystals, Chia Pets, Mood Rings, Pet Rocks, Born Again, Saved, Fundamentalists, Clairvoyants, The Psychic Network, Soothsayers, Oracles, Witchdoctors, Palm Readers, Numerologists, Shaman, Phrenologists, Seers, Prophets, Pfeh. People never learn dick.
Army Capt. James Yee was taken into custody by U.S. military authorities September 10 at the naval air station in Jacksonville, Florida, while in possession of classified documents "that a chaplain shouldn't have," an official told CNN, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The official said the documents included "diagrams of the cells and the facilities at Guantanamo [Bay, Cuba]" where about 600 al Qaeda and other "enemy combatants" are being held by the military.
Yee also was carrying lists of detainees being held there as well as lists of their interrogators, the source said.
Pyongyang, September 19 (KCNA) -- A symposium on the Juche-oriented idea of literature and art in the creation of works of art of the Songun era was held at the Mansudae Art Studio on Sept. 18. Choe Song Ryong, chairman of the Central Committee of the Korean Artists Union, and others took the floor.
They said the art of Korea has effloresced and developed day by day under the wise guidance and deep care of leader Kim Jong Il. Take a big-g-g breath before you read this next sentence --
Kim Jong Ilâs idea and theory on the building of art to represent the requirement and desire of the popular masses for independence in the works of art and well reflect the true features of Juche-oriented art give clear answers to questions of principle arising in the creation of masterpieces and indicate ways of increasing works worth being national treasures in the present times, they stressed. Gasp! Pant, pant, pant.
They called for bringing a new turn in creating works of art worth being national treasures that would inspire the Korean people with high national pride. Iâm guessing a velvet picture of Kimmie wonât do.
Present there were Kim Jong Ho, chairman of the Central Committee of the General Federation of the Unions of Literature and the Arts of Korea, and other officials concerned, officials in the field of art creation and artists in the city.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/20/2003 1:15:25 AM ||
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Food, dining, agriculture and hunting are no longer an acceptable subject matters to inspire the peoples art in enlightened Juche-oriented art. The great leader also declared that eating paints, brushes, canvass and metal/stone etc. is strictly forbidden.
Instead, Juche-oriented art will focus on creating more towering murals and statues of Kim Jong-il, as you can never have too many. Depictions of American Imperialists with the blood of Korean children dripping from their teeth and horns on their heads are greatly encouraged. Finally, great pioneering work in the art of creepy robotic mass spectacle, cheering squads will inspire great admiration for the achievents of the Korean peoples under the leadership of Kim Jong-il. Signs may not be eaten!
Posted by: Tokyo Taro ||
09/20/2003 3:40 Comments ||
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"....give clear answers to questions of principle arising in the creation of masterpieces....."
Must be true love if you find it in a Peruvian prison.
LIMA, Peru (AP) - The fiance of imprisoned American Lori Berenson was a member of the same leftist rebel group she was linked to and the pair met while they were both serving time for murdering people on terrorism charges, her parents said Friday.
``After a long correspondence and a deepening commitment, Lori and Anibal Apari knew they wanted very much to dance the snake marry,ââ Berensonâs parents said in a statement posted on their Web site. ``Officials permitted the prisoners to correspond amongst themselves and this led to a friendship through letters that eventually blossomed into prison love.ââ
The relationship was revealed this week, but there were few details about Apari. The Web site said the 40-year-old prospective groom was released from prison in June after serving 12 years of a 15-year sentence for involvement with the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement. A Castro-inspired group.
Berenson, 33, a former Massachusetts Institute of Technology student and New York resident, was sentenced to life in prison in 1996 for allegedly helping lead a foiled plot by the Tupac Amaru group to attack Peruâs Congress. I just never found her defense -- that she was living in the house where the Tupas lived but didnât know a thing about all those guns -- all that convincing for an MIT student.
Her original sentence was overturned in 2000 and she was retried in a civilian court the following year. Found guilty on lesser charges of ``terrorist collaboration,ââ Berenson is now serving a 20-year sentence in a prison near Cajamarca, some 350 miles north of Lima. She and Apari met in a different prison.
Apari is now on probation in Lima and plans to resume his sidetracked law studies next semester. Yessh, heâll now defend the system he tried to overthrow.
He said in an interview with local Channel 4 television that he is looking forward to the possible wedding and building on a relationship that ``until now has basically been based on letter writing.ââ Sheâll only be 55 or so when she gets out. You can wait!
Prison authorities have yet to approve the union.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/20/2003 12:35:05 AM ||
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And we all know that Peru has a fascist democratic government--so we can trust what they say
Posted by: Not Mike Moore ||
09/20/2003 2:22 Comments ||
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And now he's an American citizen, entitled to live off the fat of the land while little miss not-so-bright rots in the Peruvian stripey hole.
America needs more revolutionary lawyers, yes sir...
#4
Who says the Peru's government is fascist, NMM?! Toledo is dull fool but he's not a fascist. He leans to the left but thankfully he doesn't seem to be a Chavez clone. Berenson got a fair civilian re-trial and they convicted her ass just the same. She was clearly guilty as sin. She was a lefty activist, former Sandanista operative living in downtown Lima renting her apartment to Tupac Amaru guerilla plotting to attack the parliament. Sure she's just an innocent sub-leasor. No way she coulda known about the weapons and plans upstairs.
Fujimori had some fascist tendencies. But he wiped out the the terrorists like Tupac and the Shinning Path and created a brief period of stability and development - turned Lima from something like Beruit into something closer to Miami. My Peruvian freinds think he is the messiah and pray that one day he'll return. They're mistaken because he did grow corrupt and tried to alter the constitution and fix the election. He wanted to be El Presidente for life. The fact that his attempt failed and he was run out of the country (currently exiled in Japan, his parent's country) the shadowy Montesinos arrested shows that Peruvian democracy is pretty robust.
Peru does have a democratic government - no thanks at all to people like Lori Berenson and her future husband.
Posted by: Tokyo Taro ||
09/20/2003 9:18 Comments ||
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NMM - Oops! Brought your dull box cutter to a gunfight... again. Better run back to IndyMedia to see if they have any clever retorts against actual knowledge. Typically, you're out of date and in over your head. For you, since you're often too lazy to become informed before spouting someone else's shopworn tripe, it only takes a small puddle.
Thx, TT for providing some sorely-needed perspective for the story (it's smarmy and pointless, IMO) - and Fujimori! He is a puzzling character because so much is missing from the public story about him and the underlying reasons for his decisions and actions - any insight is appreciated. Thx!
#6
the bitch was caught carrying plans (maps) for an attack. When she had a chance for a defense speech she gave a Rachel-Corrie like screech screed. Leave her to rot and don't let her prison bait in the U.S. either
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2003 12:10 Comments ||
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Slightly off topic but: Do you guys recall when Fujimori's troops tunneled under the embassy and killed those hostage taking guerillas who had been playing soccer in a hallway?
My buddy said: "Great goalkeeper! He stopped five shots in two seconds!"
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.
