Scientists are meeting in Washington to decide where to build the worldâs first big nuclear fusion reactor.
Nuclear fusion holds out the promise of virtually limitless pollution-free energy - but the reactor will take 10 years to build.
The multi-billion dollar project is likely to be based either in Cadarache in France or in Rokkasho-mura in Japan.
But the US is opposing the French option because of Franceâs opposition to the invasion of Iraq. Yup. Chirac and de Villepin have only begun to reap the rewards of stabbing Powell in the back ....
Member countries of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (Iter) project have been gathering in the US to make a final decision on the location of the project.
The Japanese site has the advantages of proximity to a port, a ground of solid bedrock and a nearby US military base. The French site offers an existing research facility and a more moderate climate.
The Iter consortium consists of the European Union, United States, Russia, China, Canada, Japan and South Korea. The experts are supposed to reach a consensus based on objective criteria, but observers say that the wider political context may play a part. You donât say - geopolitics affecting decisions about advanced technology and an energy source that could replace oil??? Whoâd a thunk it?
A French government envoy, Pierre Lellouche, said "very intense" talks were being held at a high-level before the meeting.
The European Union is backing France - but Canada, China, Russia, South Korea, the United States and Tokyo itself are reported to be favouring Japan. Interesting range of companies arrayed against France. Watch to see how Japan emerges as a power in the Asian sphere again, between this (if they get it) and their participation in Iraq and in an anti-missile defense.
The US, in particular, has raised objections to the French option, citing its opposition to the Iraq invasion.
"We have the structure, scientific and technical environment to ensure that this scheme can start up with competence, expertise and solid safety guarantees," French Research Minister Claudie Haignere said. "scheme" - he said it, not me!
"If our site is chosen, Japan will cover the costs that are needed," said Hidekazu Tanaka, a senior official of the Japanese Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology ministry. Ouch - hitting the French where it hurts .... plus Japan has a much better track record than France in both basic research and turning research into useable technology.
Iter is the boldest nuclear initiative since the Manhattan Project - the effort to build the first atom bomb, says BBC News Onlineâs science editor David Whitehouse.
It would also be the worldâs largest international co-operative research and development project after the International Space Station.
Scientists say it will be the first fusion device to produce thermal energy at the level of an electricity-producing power station. Its goal will be to produce 500 megawatts of fusion power for 500 seconds or longer during each individual fusion experiment and, in doing so, demonstrate essential technologies for a commercial reactor.
But they are all agreed that taming the power of the Sun will not be easy.
The superhot gas in which the fusion takes place is notoriously difficult to control. The gas, termed a plasma, has to be kept hot and contained for fusion to take place. So far, no one has achieved a prolonged self-sustaining fusion event.
Advocates of fusion power point out that if they succeed, there is an almost limitless supply of power available because the deuterium atoms on which it would be based can be derived from seawater.
Posted by: rkb ||
12/20/2003 11:37:59 AM ||
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And one other thought: I think the US - Japanese relationship will continue to grow in importance in the 21st century. Neither country wants China to dominate the world in a generation or two, as she is on track to try to do, and both have a business and a security stake in a stable Pacific Rim. We also both have a stake in containing the virulent Islamacist fundamentalism that is sweeping countries like Indonesia, where the poverty level and illiteracy are even worse than many areas of the Middle East.
Europe has its importance, but watch the PacRim for this century ....
#2
Looking pretty grim for the French landing this project, given the clusterf*ck that is the Charles de Gaulle. Is Ladbroke's taking bets on this one?
#3
That ten-year timeline will have to be lengthened if it goes to France: 35-hour weeks, no overtime, all that mandatory vacation when the young scientists hit the beach so the old scientists can dehydrate and die from heatstroke in their labs...you're looking at a good fifty, sixty years.
Posted by: (lowercase) matt ||
12/20/2003 14:26 Comments ||
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...not to mention France being over-run by Sharia in the next decade or so. Plus, their little we're-all-a-happy-EU-family experiment will just be a pain in the ass to deal with down the road.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/20/2003 14:41 Comments ||
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Ultimately, this will go too Japan. France just has too many factors that don't go in our favor. And since we will be paying for most of this ( I assume ), we'll get the final say. It's also easier to spot turbans in Japan. Alot easier.
#6
rkb---"scheme" in European English usually refers to a plan or program, not like the US English connotation of some kind of scam or underhanded plan. However, in this case, when dealing with the French govt, it can refer to both....LOL!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/20/2003 15:02 Comments ||
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It's also easier to spot turbans in Japan. Alot easier. -- Anon.
Not entirely, Anon.. silly as it sounds, there actually ARE a few, a very few, native Japanese who've converted to Islam. They're much fewer than the Japanese Christians, who are a tiny minority in Japan themselves, but there are some.
If I were an Islamo-looney cleric, I'd re-arrange my agenda, putting the need to place the most sincere Japanese Muslims into important sleeper position in that nation at the top of my "to-do" list. That's how you fight that sort of war.
Ed Becerra
Posted by: Ed Becerra ||
12/20/2003 15:27 Comments ||
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Alaska Paul #6 - I do know the connotations of the term in Europe, just indulged myself a bit. [smile]
More seriously: it looks as if France may not be the most politically, economically and socially stable country in the coming decades. Bad place to put a fusion reactor IMO.
In Afghanistan a time of decision comes for all concerned.
Lt. Gen. David Barno told The Associated Press that the move will make the troubled south and east safer for aid workers and open the way for landmark Afghan elections next summer. He also predicted a sharp reaction from insurgents.
So far, most of the so-called Provincial Reconstruction Teams are in relatively secure regions. Now, the U.S. military is deploying teams across a broad swath of the country dominated by Pashtuns, Afghanistanâs largest ethnic group from which the hardline Islamic Taliban draw their main support.
Barno, who took command of the 11,000-strong U.S. force here on Nov. 27, said there will be at least 12 such reconstruction teams by March and more later, including dangerous missions in the capitals of Zabul and Uruzgan provinces that were shunned by aid groups because Taliban militants reportedly roam freely. Casualty numbers will increase.
This strategy punches holes in my belief that the US had little intension of improving conditions in Afghanistan. I felt that we were just going to deny the area to AQ. I am concerned but pleased. I sure that the Vietnam eara guys recognize this particular gambit.
"We are looking at a significant alteration of our strategy in the south and east," Barno said at his office in the fortified U.S. Embassy compound in Kabul.
The military teams will help distribute reconstruction aid bolstered by an extra $1.2 billion recently released by the U.S. Congress.
That aid, combined with the opening of the south and east by a string of new military operations, will cause "a dramatic change in the amount of involvement of the people in that area in support of the central government and the future of Afghanistan," Barno said.
Aid groups worry that their attempts to remain independent in the eyes of Afghans, including Taliban sympathizers, has been compromised by U.S. involvement in delivering assistance.
But Barno suggested it was time for relief groups to accept that they could not be neutral after a stream of deliberate attacks on de-miners and well-diggers, and said he hoped aid workers would return to Pashtun areas. The endgame begins.
"They probably have to, and they are, realizing that they are now operating in a different world," he said.
"We donât have the capacity in the coalition to (provide protection) in every town, in every village across the country, but we can provide a great deal of assistance and intelligence sharing," Barno said.
At least 11 aid workers have been killed in attacks this year, including a French U.N. refugee worker who was gunned down at short range by suspected Taliban in the eastern city of Ghazni in November.
The top U.N. official in Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, warned last week that the world body may have to abandon its two-year effort to help reconstruct the war-battered country unless security improves. I think we can get more actual aid to the people who need it if the US uses US AID instead of funneling dollars through multiple layers of UN bureaucracy.
Barno said insurgents were reduced to "very small and very focused" attacks. "As this future continues to unfold, the terrorist organizations are challenged to show that they exist at all."
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/20/2003 6:00:33 PM ||
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Let those worthless UN f--ks run away, and document it. To build up a country with a history of many decades of war and anarchy requires people of character and determination. One cannot remain neutral on the WoT.
I am immensely proud of our forces and allies in Afghanistan, Iraq, and many other places that do not get much press. Despite the barrage of crap from mainstream media, our forces and our allies are doing the heavy lifting and getting things done so we all can be safer. I wish General Barno much success in his efforts in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/20/2003 19:15 Comments ||
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My take is that Afghanistan has become the poster child for the limitations of international agencies in this sort of work.
Unlike Iraq, Afghanistan does not have a history of major urban life, of industry and thriving commerce or of universal education. Reconstruction there is really just first time construction in many ways. We will do our best to improve things for the Afghanis but inevitably it is a less promising arena ... still important to hold it, against the Talebani and to keep both Pakistan and Iran company .....
The Taleban have demanded the release of 50 militia in exchange for two Indian engineers who were kidnapped from the southern province of Zabul earlier this month. Security chief Haji Baz Mohammed in the Shah Joi district told AIP the authorities had received a letter demanding their release. âThe list does not have any prominent name and include those persons arrested after the fall of Taleban in December, 2001 and mainly detained in Shebergan prisons,â AIP quoted him as saying.
Did it have a return address? Or did you throw the envelope away?
Mohammed said the Talebanâs demand has been conveyed to the central authorities in Kabul and to the construction company employing the Indians. The abducted engineers were being held hostage by Taleban commanders Maulvi Mohammed Alam and Maulvi Ahmedullah, who were moving across the mountainous regions of Khak-e-Afghan and Dai Chopan, Mohammed said. This is the second time in the past few months that remnants of the Taleban have kidnapped foreign engineers working on the Kabul-Kandahar road. On October 30, the Taleban kidnapped Hassan Onal, a Turkish engineer working for the same project.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 09:42 ||
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Well, at least they're making a realistic assessment of human worth. 1 Indian engineer = 25 turbans.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- I filed this under Arabia but Iâm nit sure why this AP story is posetd from Riyadh.
U.S. sailors seized an estimated $3 million worth of drugs Saturday as an Arab sailing crew in the northern Arabian Sea tossed the bags overboard. Authorities were investigating whether al-Qaida was linked to the shipment.
The seizure of 85 pounds of heroin came a day after the U.S. Navy announced the Dec. 15 confiscation of two tons of hashish believed tied to Osama bin Ladenâs terror network. That seizure, in the Persian Gulf, was considered by Western analysts to be some of the first hard evidence of al-Qaida links to drug smuggling. The AQ Navy is being rolled up.
In a daybreak raid Saturday, sailors on a guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea boarded two dhows, or traditional Arab sailing boats, and detained 21 crew members, according to a statement issued by the U.S. Navy 5th Fleet. The dhows were also confiscated. Saw a clip on TV. These dhows were quite a bit bigger than anything I remember seeing of the dhow class. The ones I had seen were about the size of a Maine lobster boat; these were the size of a commercial trawler.
A U.S. Navy aircraft filmed the crew of one dhow throwing approximately 200 bags of suspected drugs overboard as it "attempted to outrun" the Navy cruiser, the statement said. Those guys were humping the bags like an Iraqi soccer team behind by a goal at the half. They were fully aerobicizing.
Officials believe the bags contain pure heroin with a minimum street value of $1.5 million.
On the other dhow, sailors seized approximately 150 pounds of methamphetamines with a street value estimated at $1.5 million.
Rear Adm. Jim Stavridis said in the statement that U.S. officials are "investigating potential al-Qaida connections to these operations."
The Australian, British, New Zealand and U.S. air forces tracked the dhows for two days after receiving intelligence information gleaned from the Dec. 15 seizure.
During that operation, sailors from the guided missile destroyer USS Decatur seized a dhow in the Persian Gulf that was carrying two tons of hashish and detained 12 crew members, three of whom were suspected of having links to al-Qaida.
We catch one that leads to two more. Itâs like watching a bowling ball roll a strike in slow motion.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/20/2003 6:14:06 PM ||
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White SlagTM - Not just for North Koreans anymore!
#3
There's a long tradition of smuggling in that region, but it's always been lots of small-fry. Given the size of dhows used, looks like someone came in and upgraded operations.
From Middle East Newsline
WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The Bush administration has termed Saudi Arabia as the worst violator of religious freedom in the Middle East, but refrained from placing the kingdom in a category that would have resulted in U.S. arms sanctions. Well, we got half of it right...
A State Department report cited Saudi Arabia as the most flagrant violator of religious freedom in the region. They said the Saudi kingdom continues to display hostility toward non-Islamic religions despite numerous U.S. appeals. Slight understatement.
"Freedom of religion does not exist in Saudi Arabia," the report said. "Muslims not adhering to the officially sanctioned version faced harassment at the hands of the [religious police]."
But the report, dismissing a recommendation by a congressionally-mandated U.S. commission, avoided placing Saudi Arabia in a category termed "countries of particular concern." The six countries in that category have been subject to a range of U.S. sanctions, including a ban on the delivery of U.S. military platforms. Saudi Arabia is the biggest client of U.S. weaponry and has been negotiating several major deals to modernize the kingdomâs military and National Guard. Before they go under.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/20/2003 2:56:49 PM ||
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A State Department report
The key phrase in the entire story.
Posted by: Charles ||
12/20/2003 15:03 Comments ||
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Are you fucking kidding me?! American companies are going to sell arms to the terrorist state of saudi arabia??? I can't wait till they are used to murder us and our allies.
Posted by: Islam Sucks ||
12/20/2003 22:05 Comments ||
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Charles nailed it: we have Foggy Bottom to "thank" for our continued love affair with the House of Saud.
In fact, that asshat Joe Wilson who keeps screaming that Karl Rove outed his spook wife and complained that he took a thankless trip to Niger to drink sweet mint tea for nothing cuz he didn't find any nukes there tagged "To Saddam," is now on the payroll of another Saudi "think tank" and promotion bureau (which is probably a cover for another Wahhab network of terror).
Funniest thing.
Security sources told Yemen Times that two incidents of stabbing foreigners by [using] traditional Janbiyas and running away have started to cause concern. A Dutch tourist was stabbed last Monday while touring Bab Al-Yamanâs traditional market along with a tourist group, while another German walking alone in Al-Tahreer in the middle of the city was also stabbed on Tuesday and this culprit was also able to escape. Despite intensive efforts by security men, the offenders, who may be the same person have not been arrested. It is hoped that these incidents would only remain as separate insignificant events, especially as the injuries of the two men were not life threatening.
I'll bet they considered the incidents significant, though.
However, such actions can be caused by certain groups who may attempt to damage the slowly but confidently growing tourism sector in the country.
"How'd you like your tour of Yemen, Herb?"
"Wow, Bob! You shoulda been there! I got slashed with a jambiyah and Mildred was kidnapped and held for ransom!"
"Cheeze. We went to the Caymans again. They weren't nearly as exciting. All I got was this stoopid conch shell."
This comes in a time a Spanish media and tourist delegation of more than 50 members was visiting the country.
"And if you'll look out the window to our right, you'll see the traditional Yemeni eye-rolling and jumping up and down ceremony. This has religious significance and its origins are believed to date back at least to 1998..."
What is also of concern to the authorities is the use of the traditional jambiyas in the attacks, which brings to question the claim that they these daggers are merely traditional costumes and not weapons. But the use of jambiyas may be the alternative to regular light weapons which have been reduced in number in Sanaa after a ban issued by the government years ago. Furthermore, the fact that the two incidents happened in extremely busy areas in the center of the city is also worrying for the authorities, which are exerting great efforts to bring the culprits to justice.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 00:17 ||
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... merely traditional costumes and not weapons. But the use of jambiyas
Wavy-edged dagger with rhino-horn handle (Does PETA know about this?) generally worn openly, no?
may be the alternative to regular light weapons which have been reduced in number in Sanaa after a ban issued by the government years ago.
Geez, the Brady Bunch sez if you take guns away the bad guys won't have anything to commit crimes with. This ought to make Yemen a prime vacation spot for German bicyclists. Oh, but now in local news Glenn (Reynolds not me) points to the DLC publicly, anywaybacking away from the looney-fringe gun-ban folks. Or so they say.
#2
Oh Rhajib...I woke up this morning thinking of Saddam and feeling so HUMILIATED. So I decided to go out and stab a couple of kufr like tourists in the back with my trusty janbiya. I gotta tell ya Rhajib...my sense of Arab dignity has been restored!!!
Posted by: Mark ||
12/20/2003 7:33 Comments ||
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This is just a ploy by the Saudis to make Yemen a less attractive vacation spot.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/20/2003 9:33 Comments ||
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I gotta tell ya Rhajib...my sense of Arab dignity has been restored!!!
LOL!
I think these people need more iron in their diet.
#5
I don't know about you, but I'd rather tour grain siloes in Indiana than go to Yemen to begin with.
And German tourists tend to deserve whatever they get.
Posted by: John Mendenhall ||
12/20/2003 11:51 Comments ||
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There are a couple of places in Yemen I'd like to visit, but they're waaaayyy down the list, crowded out by several thousand other places, such as Yellowstone, Bryce Canyon, Big Bend, and Acadia Island in the US, several HUNDRED castles and walled cities in Europe, the Great Wall of China, Machu Pichu in Peru, Easter Island, and scores of other places. Now if the Yemeni government wants to pay for my trip (and a nice kevlar vest), I'll consider changing my itenerary. As for the fear of stabbing, heck that can happen if you make a wrong turn on Colfax Avenue, up in Denver!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/20/2003 12:20 Comments ||
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"Hokay! That's all done! Are there any donuts left?"
A leading al-Qaida militant arrested last month in Yemen was trying to infiltrate the state's security forces, officials close to the investigations said Saturday.
"Y'know, Mahmoud, that rookie looks kinda like that guy on the most-wanted list... What's his name?"
Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal, was arrested in late November by security forces that surrounded his hide-out west of the capital, San'a, and authorities have been interrogating him since. The officials said that al-Ahdal confessed to forming small, independent cells aimed at infiltrating Yemeni security and gathering intelligence to block the capture of wanted militants.
Oh, I am so surprised! Oh, Ethel! Bring me my pills!
Al-Ahdal's sources, including some within his homeland of Saudi Arabia, transferred funds in small amounts into Yemen to avoid detection. Al-Ahdal, also known as Abu Assem al-Makky, has reportedly admitted planning, financing and coordinating the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Aden harbor, which killed 17 U.S. sailors. He also planned the 2002 bombing of the French oil tanker Limburg off the Yemeni coast. In each of those attacks, an explosive-laden boat was piloted up to the larger ship and detonated. The Limburg attack killed a Bulgarian crew member and spilled 90,000 barrels of oil into the Gulf of Aden. At the time of his arrest, Al-Ahdal, 32, was reported to have replaced Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi, Osama bin Laden's top deputy in Yemen who was killed by a missile fired from a U.S. drone aircraft last year. A U.S. counterterrorism official in Washington said then that al-Ahdal had been among the top 20 al-Qaida figures at large. He has been described by Yemeni officials as supervising the al-Qaida terror group's finances, weapons smuggling and operational planning in Yemen and was well-connected to extremists in other Gulf countries. The Yemeni officials said Al-Ahdal admitted in interrogations to being in close contact with other extremists groups in Yemen such as the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army and the Yemeni Islamic Jihad.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 00:16 ||
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Word is that former President Bill "Winky" Clinton went to Yemen so as to get a piece of that guy, Al-Ahdal. Witness's say they had to pull Winky off Hamdi before Winky killed the poor bastard.
"He was just going ape-shit on the prisoner, screaming like a deamon", said an eye-witness. Clinton was heard yelling, "I'm going to kick your ass Mohammed, I'm gonna have my way with you."
They're Arabs. Everything upsets them.
Yemenis have shown deep sorrow and disappointment for the humiliating capture of Saddam Hussein, and they believe that it is a clear message and hint to all Arab leaders, which could potentially lead to the possible fall of other regimes in the region.
Picked right up on that, didn't they?
This was the overall conclusion of an extensive survey carried out by Yemen Times in the capital city Sanaa, in sounding the opinion of the public concerning the arrest of the former Iraqi president that took place last Saturday near his hometown Tekrit in Iraq. The survey covered several various fractions of the community including ordinary citizens, officials, Islamists, nationalists, officials, and intellectuals. Yemeni society seemed to be sorry for the arrest of Saddam Hussein, but even more upset because of the humiliating way he was arrested in.
We did that on purpose, guys.
Shock and disbelief was evident in most Yemeni citizens who at the beginning wished that it could be one of his lookalikes. But when it turned out to be him, they could not hide their sorrow, but at the same time, they used this event to signal the possible end of other regimes in the near future, especially if they donât reform and improve their countries and conditions of their people.
So what's your beef?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 00:16 ||
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Sorry but something does not sound right about the term 'Islamic intellectual'..... It seems to me that Islam today is more like the Catholic church and europe back in the dark ages.
#3
At one time this region led most other cultures in the areas of art, philosophy, learning, science, etc. Does anyone know of a book or other study which examines the hypothesis that a relationship exists between the rise of Islam and the decline of the Arab leadership in these fields? Thanks.
#4
Gasse Katze - there is no real relationship between the rise of islam and the arabs world's fall. Its cause is the relative rise of Europe after the reformation, and the consequent english enlightenment and its continental equivalents. The english enlightenment of course came to its greatest height in the USA.
This resulted in the separation of church and state, and the general understanding that individuals are allowed freedom of thought and ideas.
The arab world never went through this process and stagnated.
#5
No Islam today is like the caricature of medieval catholic church as depictyed by protestants and the enlightenment.
The real catholic church was far more progressive than in the popular belief. To begin with the Inquisition had a far fairer investigation process and resorted far less to torture both than the civil courts and the XXth century vulgata.
There IS a relationship between Islam and the fall of these regions. The so-called Golden era of Islamic culture was based on a ciivilization who had been more advanced than western europe since the origins of humankind and the gap had been enlarged when the west romen empire fell while the east was sparted the barbaric invasions.
After the conquest you will find that most "islamic" advances in science and culture were performed by unconverted Jews and Christains with the remainder made by luke-warm Muslims who were notorious heretics and/or "relaxed" Muslims (drank alcohol, had illicit sex). There is NO example of any litterature or scientific discovery made by a fundamentalist Muslim. In teh course of centuries wit the Jews and Christians communities disappearing and the societies and governants becoming less and less tolerant with the relaxexd Muslims innovation disappeared.
#7
One ironical theory has it that the arabs had preserved the writings of the Classical Greek phliosophers, Aristotle in particular, and reintroduced them to the Western world. The Catholic Church while conflicted by the logic of Aristotle adapted and struggled to use the Greek logic as an addition to faith in the support of Chritianity. Thus while there was conflict between the Church and science there was also support. In struggle there was growth. In the world of Islam the strict ortodox mullahs eventually came to the conclusion that the Greek philosophys were heresy and forbade them entirely. Thus the world of Islam stopped making scientific and political progress and began to import all of their technology. This is a very abreviated summation of a half remembered theory and any errors are mine.
#8
One ironical theory has it that the arabs had preserved the writings of the Classical Greek phliosophers, Aristotle in particular
its not an ironical theory, and has been well accepted for a long time. I was taught this stuff in university 30 years ago.
Otherwise, I repeat it nothing to do with the rise of islam, but everything to do with the failure of islam to keep up with the West. And I am well aware that many of the islamic scholars were in fact jews or christians.
The arabs were credited with retaining the greek knowledge allowing it to be rediscovered in Europe after the dark ages and the reformation. A good case can be made that to a significant extent that this was a eastern christian and jewish achievement as they retained much of the knowledge after the fall of the roman empire.
A lot of the really interesting ideas came from the Iona greeks who lived on what is now the Turkish coast and neighbouring islands. I believe it was Democratus who came up with idea of atoms. Not bad for 2500 years ago!
#9
The achievements of the muslims were in direct relation to their proximity to the Byzantine (eastern Roman empire; Orthodox Christian) empire which retained the Greek heritage unbroken until 1453.
#10
Another factor we tend to forget is that Islam's geographical position allowed it to borrow technology and art from India and China. I suspect that when the crusaders went to Middle East they attributed to Islam a number of Chinese or Indian inventions.
#11
There were several articles in the Winds of Change a couple of months ago by an Egyptian intellectual. The articles described an internal struggle in Islamic philosophy several centuries ago. The result of which was that the Taliban style kooks triumphed in all countries except Egypt and Turkey. It is possible that intectual giants like Einstein and Pascal have been continuously born into fundementalist areas of Islam and either been killed or forced to spend their life memorize the Koran.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/20/2003 9:45 Comments ||
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Thanks to all for contributing to this discussion.
What I've learned here so far is that individual thought has been stifled in this once golden area of culture, but I'm still not clear when the decline started. Or as someone suggested, development ceased and the rest of the world continued to advance. In either case, Islam appears to be a contributing factor.
JFM, while it's true that the Arab region, centered on Baghdad, borrowed from the Greeks, Romans, Persians, and Indians, I understand that they also made new contributions of their own to medicine and other sciences as well as literature.
I'll check the Winds of Change archives SH, thanks. And you're probably spot on about the Pascals and Einsteins relegated to the dark corners of the Madrassa.
Anon Professor, could you recommend a source to help me with this hypothesis? I think it's correct, but I'm just not smart enough to prove it.
#13
Minor edit, Phil_b: it was BECAUSE of separation of church and state, and respect for the right of the individual to have independent thoughts and beliefs that the enlightenment came, not the reverse. The experience of the Arabs proves you have to liberate the individual first.
The post of mine you answered to, was the followup of another one where I discussed about who made the scientific and cultural advances in Muslim states and how the raising of fundamentalism and the suppression of dissidents are correlated with the standstill of Muslim societies.
The number of scientific innovations or cultural achievements made by Muslim fundamentalists is exactly zero. And please don't play political correctness and come saying the same was true between Christians: Cauchy was a very devout Catholic and one of the greatests mathematicians in history
#15
GK, I got curious about what I had read on Winds of Change. The material is by Egyptian writer, Tarek Heggy. Here is a the results of a search for his name on WOC: Heggy
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/20/2003 11:20 Comments ||
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Thanks JFM, but not to worry about the Alley Cat (GK) ever being PC.
#17
If I can get back to the Yemen Times article. The public and clerics were all let down by Saddam's lack of courage at the end. The Politicos now know they've got to change or they face the same fate. Only the intellectuals see his capture in terms of the big picture, which means Arab govts have to be accountable to their people.
Furthermore, given the terms of Libya's capitulation to common sense, another dictator-West basher has come around. Another "humiliation" for sure, but this time honed by British and American diplomacy, one which has a huge stick to go with the proffered carrot. A tipping point has been reached, perhaps, once the typical Arab populations, such as the one portrayed in the YTimes absorb the initial shock and then finally gets the message that the era of victimization should be terminated. Those who want to get on the train are now urged to board; those left behind will be taken under the Franco-UN tendancy. Who do you think Arabs who want to be in the winning court will follow? "Humiliation" will be felt in the new camp since these seachanges run so counter to what their textbooks have preached for the past 50 years. Don't let up on the accelerator, Bush. An aside, maybe you can take your foot off the Taiwanese for a bit. Stick up for your values for them just as much as you do for the common Arab.
Posted by: Michael ||
12/20/2003 16:02 Comments ||
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Again? Negotiations broke down with the holy men, I take it...
Saudi Arabia yesterday reaffirmed its determination to root out terrorism and protect expatriate workers in the Kingdom. âWe must eradicate terrorism absolutely,â said Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard. âThe foreigners have come to serve this country. They deserve the same protection as citizens because they came here peacefully to serve the country,â the Saudi Press Agency quoted the crown prince as saying. âThe terrorists are ignorant...and we will pursue this minority, no matter how long it takes. We will pursue them whoever they are and whatever happens,â the crown prince said.
Have a close look at who's at breakfast tomorrow...
âWhen a part of the body is rotten it must be cut off,â he said angrily, before apologizing for losing his temper. âI beg you to excuse me. I got angry but this is a question that irritates me,â he told his audience. The Saudi leader also warned that anyone supporting terrorists will be considered one of them.
Kind of like, "You're either with us or you're against us"?
Asked if Riyadh has a political strategy to eradicate terrorism, the prince said: âThe strategy lies in the cohesion of the people and their leadership.â
I think I'd stick with catching Bad Guys and cutting their heads off. The cohesion will follow naturally...
He blamed ignorance, stupidity and evil forces for the spread of terrorism in Arab and Islamic countries.
Has he been reading Rantburg?
âWe want to bring about unity in the Arab and Islamic nation. We donât want to differentiate between an Arab and a Muslim. Arabs include even our Christian brethren. Islam is our foundation and our model. You achieve glory with the help of God and by following Islam,â he said.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 00:16 ||
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Fred, a gripe: "We want to bring about unity ..."
You read a lot if this stuff, while you were glossing at least you could have clarified that. Sounds like doubletalk. Or is it just me?
#3
Sorry, .com, I'm trying to get them to be consistent with each other. "Arabs include even our Christian brethren," is a clinker. Can you get them to scan together?
#4
Ah, okay. This is a reference, I think, to the Lebanese Christians who died in the last Riyadh bombing. He wants in-kingdom violence to end, so he had to include his "lost" Arab brothers. He wants violence against Muslims and Arabs everywhere to end. He knows they will impose Islam whereever the Muslims and/or Arabs hold sway.
He doesn't give a rat-fuck about violence against anyone else or anywhere else. The only new thing here I can see is the inclusion of those poor misguided Lebs... who had the audacity to get themselves killed on his patch.
Occasionally I'll pass on making a comment merely because I don't want to repeat myself too many times. There are only so many ways you can point the finger at arrogance, lies, dissumulation, Master Race philosophy, and the rest of the Soddy ooze. And occasionally I don't say anything because a statement is so sickenly stoopid it's beneath commentary.
The Soddies want to bring about "unity in the Arab and Islamic nation." It's another name for a caliphate, ruled by a "pure" Arab prince like... ummm... Prince Abdullah.
Arabs include their Christian brethren, who aren't allowed to practice in Soddy Arabia, and who're oppressed in every other Muslim country in a manner CAIR would be howling about if it was happening to Muslims in the U.S.A. (or anywhere else, for that matter). Under the caliphate they'll be expected to pay their poll tax and to stay in their place, which is as tributaries to the Master Religion, and especially to the Arab Master Race.
He's telling the truth that Islam, specifically Salafism, is their foundation and their model. That's why we have the brutality, the corpses, the eye-rolling and the blood-curdling threats. They've taken their religion over the course of years and converted it to an ideology, similar in its ends and in its tactics to the horrors of the last century. Replace "commissar" or "Gauleiter" with "imam" and you can keep right on marching toward Final Victory⢠without missing a beat. It's just that the Nazis had spiffier uniforms and the Commies could make their own tanks.
I keep looking for signs that the princes realize the abyss they're swarming toward. Occasionally I find them, but every time I do it's with a magnifying glass, in a good light. And a day or two later, a week at most, there's something else that contradicts it, that says they're staying the course. It's a course that will lead them to ultimate victory, with the Flag of Islam flying over the White House - or to their complete destruction, the same kind of "do or die" the Juche birds are so fond of. I'm betting on their complete destruction.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2003 8:29 Comments ||
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#6
G(nR) - It may be even simpler to point out the contradiction(s) in that one article. Let's 'deconstruct':
They deserve the same protection as citizens because they came here peacefully to serve the country,â
False - 'deserve' isn't the same thing as being granted the right to.
âThe terrorists are ignorant...'
Truth - the only one I see in this article, which is followed by...
and we will pursue this minority, no matter how long it takes. We will pursue them whoever they are and whatever happens,â the crown prince said.
Which is BullShiite code for "Legume, round up the usual suspects!", then they'll be released a month or two later when no one but Rantburgers, et. al. are looking.
Then we get:
The strategy lies in the cohesion of the people and their leadership.â
Completely meaningless sentence / more BullShiite, etc., ad nauseum.
Snipped from a Daily Telegraph Opinion column with the interesting title "London Spy"
"An email has been circulated telling us not to refer to Saddam as a dictator," Iâm told. "Instead, we are supposed to describe him as the former leader of Iraq. Tsk, tsk.
"Apparently, because his presidency was endorsed in a referendum, he was technically elected. Hence the word dictator is banned. Itâs all rather ridiculous." This wouldnât be a problem @ NYT. Heâd be "Mr. Hussein."
The Beeb insists that the email merely restates existing guidelines. "We wanted to remind journalists whose work is seen and heard internationally of the need to use neutral language," says a spokesman. Andrew Sullivan:
Under these guidelines, would Hitler have ever been called a "dictator"? He was originally elected in a freer election than Saddam, after all.
#2
I believe BBC is actually the mother of Al-jazeera. I think I read somewhere that it was the Middle-East branch of the BBC before it changed names and become and independant news organization. But my memory is hazy, and I could be wrong. Can anyone confirm this, or correct me?
#3
Hitler was "elected," too. So was Stalin. Guess neither of them was a dictator.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2003 15:32 Comments ||
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Scooter, I found this:Al-Jazeera was launched after the closure of the BBC World Service's Arabic language TV newsroom in 1996. The article is here.
#5
Gasse Kattze: The BBC WS Arabic language TV newsroom didn't really close in 1996. It MORPHED into Al-Jezz. BBC is already a virtual branch of Al-Jezz. More importantly, I'm beginning to think maybe the Brits are wise to this fact. I believe the Brits are starting to debate the future of the BBC as a tax payer funded news organ. Certainly we should be doing the same here in the USA with the likes of PBS and NPR.
Posted by: Mark ||
12/20/2003 20:13 Comments ||
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Not that I've really thought through this but it seems that a lot of media has been corrupted with mideast cash. As well as universities. Can't provide any links but it seems as though...
Extremist groups linked to Osama Bin Ladenâs Al-Qaeda network are very active in European Union states, using them as a recruiting ground and a base, a report from the EUâs police agency Europol has concluded. The report on âTerrorist Activity in the European Unionâ, based on intelligence from EU states, also said the groups regarded Europe as a potential target for attacks.
It'll come. It'll come...
âWhile the (EU) has not been a victim of Islamic extremist attacks within its boundaries (in the last year), attacks overseas, notably in Morocco, were obviously targeting its citizens and interests, confirming if necessary the previous threats from Osama Bin Laden,â said the report. âThe fact that no Islamic extremist attack has been committed in the European Union (since October 2002) should not be considered as a diminution or an absence of threat,â said the report, based on data for the period October 2002-October 2003. Groups with links to Al-Qaeda seem to be most active in the big EU states such as Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Spain, where police have cracked down on groups and people suspected of links to the group and in some cases averting planned attacks. In March, a German court convicted four men of conspiracy to murder for planning an attack on a Christmas market in Strasbourg, France, using a home-made bomb. French authorities have arrested 71 suspects since May 2002, of whom 38 remain in custody. Britain, which the report said was considered by Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda to be a âpriority targetâ, also had intensive investigations of possible terror activity, leading to the arrests of more than a dozen people. âThe main focus is still on Islamic (extremist) groups close to Al-Qaeda which are very active in the European Union, which they consider both as a potential target, a recruiting ground and a logistical base,â the report said. The Europol study is expected to be approved formally by EU governments on Monday and will be published once it has been sent to the European Parliament.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 00:17 ||
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Rhetorically, predict Euro response to shot of Lufthansa jet going into the Eiffel Tower. Change anything? Binny's successor wouldn't want to see that yet, but with al-Q going local, anything possible.
#2
The European law eforcement and intelligence agencies have been holding their own in preventing major attacks so far. But despite the dedication, I cannot see them holding off attacks indefinitely without some help from the political end of the govts in stopping the flow of jihadis and recruits. This will be their biggest nut to crak, and support will have to come from the public. Will it take a 9-11 type hit to convince them that they get their survival reflexes in gear? I don't know, I hope not.....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/20/2003 16:24 Comments ||
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A group of Muslim women in a village, fed up with what they say are sexist decisions made by the male authorities particularly in divorce cases, have decided to build their own mosque. The women in the village of Parambu in Tamil Nadu have formed a group called Chaaya (Shadow) and acquired land to build the mosque. "This decision was taken after we found male-dominated jamaats (dispute settlement forums) handing down discriminatory verdicts in family disputes, especially in divorce matters," said Sherifa, the convenor of Chaaya, who uses just one name.
Under the caliphate, of course, this sort of thing won't happen...
"When a man seeks divorce, only his case is heard by the jamaat. The wife is never called for a hearing, saying that women are not permitted inside mosques, where the jamaat usually sits," she said. "A survey conducted by us showed that in one out of every five Muslim households, there is at least one case of desertion by the husband or second marriage by the man, citing some mental or physical disability of the first wife," said Rasheeda, another villager. "And when these matters were taken to the police station, they asked us to settle (them) with the jamaat, which are controlled by men."
It'd probably be easier for them if they became Buddhists or Farsis or agnostics, but then they'd have to be killed, of course...
Opinion is divided on whether the women are right to build their own mosque, the newspaper said. A woman priest well-versed in the Quran and Islamic tenets is to take charge at the new mosque. Mohammed Sikander, secretary of a jamaat in Chennai, said: "Jamaats have been asked to settle disputes outside mosques so that they can hear the women's side."
Women have a side? When did that start?
All India Muslim Personnel Law Board vice-chairman Maulana Kalbe Sadiq said the women had every right to construct a mosque.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 11:22 ||
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Interesting. Of course, the ancient cultures on the sub-continent, while not exactly beacons of feminisism, were never prudish either. Wonder how much those lingering, background attitudes made this possible?
President General Pervez Musharraf yesterday made key changes in the military hierarchy which were widely regarded as the first installment of a reshuffle of the military hierarchy in the aftermath of Sundayâs botched assassination attempt on the president.
"Chaudry! Get me my org charts! I'm cleaning house!"
Aoccording to a Press release of the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), Lieutenant-General Shahid Aziz, Chief of General Staff (CGS) has been appointed Corps Commander, Lahore. Known to be very close to Gen. Musharraf, Shahid Aziz replaces Lt.-Gen. Zarrar Azim who has been kicked upstairs made Inspector General Training and Evaluation at the General Headquarters.
Another of Gen. Musharraf's trusted officer, Major-General Tariq Majid has been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and appointed to the key slot of Chief of General Staff in place of Lt.-Gen. Shahid Aziz.
Military Secretary to President Maj Gen Nadeem Taj has been appointed Director General Military Intelligence.
General Officer Commanding (GOC) Major General Shafat Shah has been posted as Military Secretary to the President. Director General Miltary Training, at GHQ, Maj General Muhammad Javed has been kicked downstairs transferred and posted as Chairman Pakistan Ordnance Factories.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 10:32 ||
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Fred - a PERFECT futures entry here: How many people does Perv whack? Over / under starts at 50 jihadis...
At least 500 Indian rebels have surrendered to Bhutanese forces during a massive crackdown on rebel camps in the Himalayan kingdom, a senior Indian intelligence official said on Friday. âFaced with Bhutanese troops on hot pursuit on one side and Indian soldiers lying in wait on the other side of the border, militants numbering up to 500 have surrendered before the Royal Bhutan Army,â the official told AFP in Guwahati, the Assamese state capital. âThose who have surrendered include... top rebel leaders and their families. Cornered from all sides they have been left with very few options other than surrendering or getting killed.â
I think they shoulda gone with getting killed. Sammy's setting a bad example...
Mithinga Daimary, spokesman for Indiaâs outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) separatist group, turned himself in and was one of top five rebel leaders handed over to Indian authorities on Thursday.
"Hi, there, Mithinga! Welcome back to India!"
Bhutan Monday launched its first-ever modern military operation to evict three Indian separatist groups that had set up illegal bases in the countryâs south. The Indian army said Thursday up to 120 rebels had been killed during the offensive, while six or seven Bhutanese soldiers had died and several others were slightly hurt. Bhutan has not given a casualty toll, but said all 30 rebel bases had been captured. âThe operations are still continuing and the flushing out process is on,â Sangay Dorji, Bhutanâs Foreign Ministry spokesman told AFP by telephone from the kingdomâs capital Thimphu. âWe have dislodged the militants from all 30 camps. They are now on the run.â
"Yar! Get outta the way, Bhuts! We're settin' up shop on your territory!"
The groups are fighting for homelands in India and have been carrying out guerrilla strikes on federal soldiers from Bhutan for several years. The offensive came after six years of failed talks with the rebels in Bhutan, a largely Buddhist kingdom of 700,000 people which has close ties with India.
"Awright! That's it! You can't talk to these people! Chingwit! Call out the army!"
More than 10,000 people have died during the insurgency in Assam since the 1980s. Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday reiterated an offer of peace talks to the militants. âThe need of the hour is to shun the path of violence and come forward for talks for peaceful solution of their problems,â he said.
And that boy's just plain stoopid.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 10:26 ||
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NWFP Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Malik Zafar Azam yesterday said that a bill on religious laws would be implemented in its true sense so as to provide speedy justice and eliminate crimes from the society. "Under the 1973 Constitution, government is bound to impose Islamic system and bring changes in the existing system. The MMA-led government in the province is committed to provide justice to people and will fulfil its promise of implementing Shariah soon," he claimed. Mr Azam was speaking at closing session of a four-day long seminar on 'restorative justice'.
Well, I'm happy for them. Another instance where people get the government they want. And deserve.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 10:17 ||
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If he was still alive, I believe that Sam Kinnison would wish all Paki fundis would slide under a gas truck and taste their own blood.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/20/2003 16:38 Comments ||
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The Lahore High Court has directed the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to strictly follow the relevant law on monitoring the foreign channels being shown to the public through cable. Mr Justice M. Javed Buttar, on a petition by a private citizen, required the Pemra to file within 30 days a report on compliance of the court order.
"Y'r honor! Some o' them furrin wimmin got titties! I seen 'em with my own eyes!"
The petitioner stated that various channels aired through the cable to the public were showing objectionable things and the respondent authority was not taking note of it.
"An' sometimes they... they... they wiggle! My hand it gettin' tired... from... ummm... shooting my gun!"
He stated it was the duty of Pemra to check and take action against cable operators who were showing objectionable programmes on their channels by violating Pemra Ordinance 2002.
"Y'r honor, you gotta protect me from this!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 10:15 ||
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Pemra Ordinance 2002
What Joseph Heller's (PBUH) next book was gonna be called.
Bangladeshâs chief justice said violence and corruption were weakening democracy in the country, which is deeply polarised between the two major parties.
Oh, is that what's doing it?
In rare public criticism, Khandaker Mahmudul Hasan told a seminar on Friday: âPolitics in our country is increasingly acquiring a non-democratic and aggressive force, with violence becoming endemic.â
Saying things like that'll get you kill, Khandaker...
The âconfrontational and inimical politics and lack of reforms have been weakening the house (parliament) that was supposed to represent plural interest,â the chief justice was quoted saying. âMore unfortunate is the size of black money in the hands of a few who are undermining the efforts and works of the ... law enforcers,â he said. âThe corrupt go unpunished and the country and its citizens pay a heavy price through increased cost and impaired development,â he told the seminar, which was organised by rights group Odhikar.
Sounds like they need more shariah. This sort of thing never happens in countries where shariah's implemented, does it?
The comments came as Berlin-based anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International said impoverished Bangladesh had wasted about 52,000 dollars in the past four parliament sessions because of quorum problems caused by lawmakersâ absences. The main opposition Awami League boycotted nearly 70 percent of sessions in the current parliament elected in October 2001. Both the Awami League and the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party rejected the report by Transparency International, which earlier stirred their anger by rating Bangladesh the worldâs most corrupt country for three straight years from 2001.
Maybe Transparency shoulda offered them a bribe?
The two major parties have a bitter rivalry and routinely try to scuttle the governmentâs agenda while in opposition.
That must be their Pakistani heritage...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 10:08 ||
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India test-fired a short-range, surface-to-air missile on Friday, the second such launch in two days, a defense ministry official said. The homemade Trishul was fired from a mobile launcher in the eastern state of Orissa at 11:30 a.m., Amitabha Chakrabarti, the defense ministry spokesman, said. "It was a routine test. We will be carrying out further tests over the next few days," he said. The supersonic Trishul is capable of targeting aircraft and sea-skimming missiles. The solid-fuel missile can carry a warhead of up to 33 pounds. It has a range of about five miles and a radar guidance system. Trishul is used by Indiaâs army, navy and air force. "The repeated test firings are to check the different parameters of the missile. Before it is inducted into the armed forces, we have to carry out many trials," Chakrabarti said. A Pakistan foreign ministry official, who did not want to be named, said Islamabad does not comment on tests of such short-range missiles by India. A Pakistan defense ministry official, however, slapped his forehead repeatedly and walked away muttering "how in the hell are we going to counter that?"
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/20/2003 1:01:20 AM ||
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Solid fuel - isn't that old tech, kind of like the old Estes D's I used to launch toy rockets with (with the M-80 / cherrybomb warhead)?
#2
Raj, someone posted an excellent link to a Ratyheon site in a post yesterday about the Japanese missile defence. I think that the our standard missiles are solid fueled so that the oxidizer can be mixed properly with the fuel but this page on Global Security called Rockets for Rookies indicates that either solid or liquid will work in these apoplications.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/20/2003 10:04 Comments ||
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Solid fuel, IIRC, means once you ignite it, you can't stop it 'til the fuel is gone. Also, there's no way to control the throttle--it burns at one constant rate 'til the fuel is exhausted. But that's fine for a SAM, which is expected to take a high speed, one-way trip.
Posted by: Dar ||
12/20/2003 10:13 Comments ||
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Thanks, SH, I was comparing their rockets with Saturn V / shuttle technology, thanks for setting me straight!
Money graf:
Liquid fuels are more powerful than solid fuels; but other than this advantage, a liquid-fuel rocket is not ideally suited as a weapon-propulsion system. Because of their high volatility and corrosive nature, liquid fuels cannot be stored for long periods of time, which usually means the system must be fueled just prior to launch. This negates its ability to be a quick-reaction weapon, which is usually required in combat situations.
#6
My guess is this isn't going to be a high altitude ADA system, theater/army level, given its range, but rather a platform mounted SAM for the front line troops, like those folks in Kashmir amoungst other places.
These nuggets are culled from the Urdu press. They are summarised here without comment. Absurd or ridiculous, TFT takes no responsibility for them
Bother over nightclub
According to Khabrain, filmstar Mira said that Pakistan should have nightclubs. On this actor Ghulam Mohiuddin said that Pakistani culture would be desecrated; and filmstar Reema said that, as a Muslim citizen of an Islamic republic, she would not visit such a nightclub. Upon this, Mira said that she would not open any nightclub or anything that the great religion of Islam did not allow. She was surprised that the people were so offended at the mention of a nightclub.
Serial killer goes free - no witnesses
According to Jang, serial killer of two dancing girls of Gujranwala, Maulvi Muhammad Sarwar would go scot-free because witnesses who had earlier deposed against him had all recanted. He was now wanted only in one case of injuring a dancing girl called Musarrat after an attempt to murder her. Moved by religious passion, Maulvi Sarwar went around catching dancing girls outside cinema halls and theatres and hotels and shooting them to death. He shot Sajida alias Dabbi outside a hotel with his pistol but now the witnesses had recanted owing to Sarwarâs priestly status. He had also murdered Razia Bilqis and in that case too the witness had recanted because of the cityâs new moral drive. According to Nawa-e-Waqt he will now face two cases in Lahore on the same charges. Just a holy man, doing Godâs work
Religious thief of cable TV boosters
According to Jang, Muhammad Shahid was caught by Race Course Lahore police for stealing cable YTV boosters and selling them. When caught, Shahid said he was doing it on the basis of religion because at home his daughter had run away after watching cable TV. He said he stole cable TV boosters then broke them and threw them in the canal.
âPanchayatâ favours rapists
According to daily Pakistan a Chichawatni panchayat (village council) ruling over the gang-rape of a small girl decided hat the guilty men shall do proselytisation for four months while the father of the raped girl will not step out of the village. The panchayat then got the father to sign a truce between the two parties on the basis of which the police let off the rapists. Jang reported later that when the district officer reached Chichawatni the rapists along with the panchayat ran away and could not be found.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
12/20/2003 12:19:40 AM ||
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When caught, Shahid said he was doing it on the basis of religion because at home his daughter had run away after watching cable TV
How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm, once they seen TV?
The army team investigating the blast incident in which President Musharraf's convoy narrowly escaped, has taken into custody all the law enforcement agencies' officials who had been on the VVIP route duty on that occasion for questioning.
"Chaudry, I think we might have a rogue copper on our hands!"
All police officials who had been deployed on the president's route, Special Branch officials, traffic police staff and intelligence sleuths are being questioned by the investigating team.
"Round up the usual suspects. In fact, round up everyone!"
The source said the number of security officials, including the police personnel, still being questioned is more than 50. "Some of the police and security branch officials have been directed to appear before the probe team early morning and are later permitted to leave at night," the source revealed. Nothing special has so far emerged from investigation, which could lead the probe team to trace the clue to the terrorists.
How about the coppers who weren't where they were supposed to be? How and why and when did they get elsewhere?
The source said that five high explosives were detonated seconds after President Musharraf's car crossed the Leh bridge. Action against the officials who had been looking after the security arrangements is likely to be taken after the investigation into the blast is complete. He said besides other people, statements of the Special Branch officials and some officers of the police department had also been recorded by the army team. The source said bomb disposal experts are still trying to determine the "explosive" used in Sunday's bomb blast.
You know there was 550 pounds of it, but not what it was? What'm I missing here?
According to security sources, the bridges located on the VVIP routes are always considered highly sensitive and they are strictly guarded. In a related move the IGP, Punjab, Masood Shah, and the DIG, Rawalpindi, Israr Ahmed, held a meeting with the senior military officials at 10-corps Headquarters on Thursday and reviewed the security arrangements and progress made in the bomb blast case.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 00:17 ||
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The bridge inspector has some splaining to do.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/20/2003 10:11 Comments ||
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"In fact, round up everyone!"
That's a scream. Oh the imagery:
"Effendi, I rounded up everyone, applied trunchions and giggle juice and here is my report on the confessions. Now if you excuse me, I must get in line and be interrogated. See you on the other side."
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/20/2003 16:33 Comments ||
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President Pervez Musharraf is ready to offer alternatives to Pakistan's life-long demand for a plebiscite in disputed Kashmir, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid said today. "He's not dropping the call for plebiscite, he's saying that we can think of certain other things, we have some alternative proposals," Rashid told AFP. "He's prepared to offer some alternatives." The minister declined to outline the "alternative proposals", saying only that Musharraf would raise them with Indian leaders when "serious talks" are held. "He has them in his mind, when there's serious talks he will talk," Rashid said.
What's an alternative to a plebiscite? I can't think of one... Other than shooting it out, of course.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 00:17 ||
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He probably means a partition of Kashmir along religous lines, with the Muslim majority areas going to Pakistan, with the Buddhist and Hindu majority areas staying in India.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
12/20/2003 22:03 Comments ||
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Pakistanâs President Gen. Pervez Musharraf was praised abroad but criticized at home yesterday for his latest peace offer to rival India, after he signaled new flexibility on the flashpoint issue of Kashmir. Some Pakistani commentators welcomed Musharrafâs comments and separatist leaders in Indiaâs portion of Kashmir also saw it as a step forward. But the hard-line Islamic opposition coalition Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, which controls one of Pakistanâs four provinces and shares power in another, said any move toward dropping the resolution would be a âbetrayal of Kashmirisâ and âsurrender before India.â
"The only way we can possibly achieve peace in Kashmir is not to change anything..."
âNobody has a right to change Pakistanâs Kashmir policy,â said Liaquat Baloch, a spokesman for the MMA.
"Not one iota! It's... it's... it's un-Islamic to change things!"
In Washington, US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said it was âconstructive to relinquish the demand for a referendum on the status of Kashmir.â In the heart of Kashmir, in the ancient Indian-controlled city of Srinagar, people urged India to respond positively to Musharrafâs apparent concession.
Yep. Ball's in the Indian court.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 00:17 ||
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The highest court in Pakistan has ruled that Muslim women can marry anyone they want, of their own free will.
As long as they're willing to have acid thrown in their faces, of course...
Hundreds of women are murdered by relatives every year in Pakistan for offending the family's honour, one of the perceived offences being marriage without family consent. The long-running debate over whether a Muslim woman has the right to marry someone of her choice began six-years ago when the Lahore High Court reopened a case already settled by the country's Islamic Sharia Court. The Federal Sharia Court in 1991 had declared that a Muslim woman was within her rights to marry of her own free will, with or without the agreement of her father or guardian, known in Islamic law as Wali. However, the Lahore High Court in separate decisions in 1997 declared that unless a woman had the permission of the Wali her marriage would be invalid. The couples affected by this ruling challenged the decision in the Supreme Court.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 00:17 ||
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Islamic courts disagreeing about Islamic Law within the last decade? Wait a minute. My Britannica here has an essay on Islam that says,
...Ijma set the final seal of rigidity on the doctrine, and from the 10th century onward independent juristic speculation ceased. In the Arabic expression, "the door of ijtihad [interpretation] was closed."...
In context this means Sharia should be concrete now. Of course, it's from 1986, maybe Islamic thought has not changed in the last millenium over the years.
#2
Look, the fact that the couples who challenged the decision in the Supreme Court were still alive marks a real turning point. I mean, where were their brothers, fathers, etc. who had to do the Honor Killing!!
#4
For Glenn (1): There are different meanings of interpretation. One meaning has to do with methods of study, and the other has to do with which rule or which anology applies. New rulings appear all the time, and frequently disagree with each other. If your library has
World of Fatwas by Arun Shourie you might find the book amusing.
Posted by: James ||
12/20/2003 12:46 Comments ||
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#5
James: Family Law: relationship, marriage, succession, inheritance is basic. Societies developed their Law as they formed and tend to be conservative about them. The very words used to discuss these things (e. g., Mother / Father / Brother / Sister) tend to be among the oldest ones in any language. The apparent fluidity of Family Law in the US is a reflection of diversity, and the fact that we are still a very young society. But court decisions in this realm, once made, are respected by other courts, and changed reluctantly. The early-on decision to adopt English Common Law makes this conservatism necessary. To decide these things by fatwa, by definition subject to change without notice, strikes me as extraordinary. Or maybe this shows contentment with Sharia as long as it goes along with what you want. Been in a bitchy mood lately. Sorry
#6
Why be sorry? That's one of the problems, according to Arun. A well-connected man can often get the decision he wants, however contorted the analogies required to arrive at it. And you don't have one court system, but at least 4, which don't have to respect each other's rulings. Of course this leaves all sorts of land mine precedents around for the not-so-well connected...
Posted by: James ||
12/20/2003 22:22 Comments ||
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According to Fortier, the project dates back to 1991, during the Gulf War, when intelligence reports confirmed large weapons caches in the Badush region of northern Iraq. The U.S. Air Force bombed the sites, but no ground forces were sent in to clean up the mess.
Twelve years later, the Iron Rakkasans are doing just that. The Badush region of northern Iraq was previously under the control of the 101st Airborne Divisionâs 502nd Infantry Regiment, but when attacks in Mosul began to escalate in November, the unitâs focus turned back to the city, leaving the Iron Rakkasans with one of their final tests before returning home.
On a post at a hilltop, he said, he can see all movements up to more than 500 meters away.
âSince Iâve been here, the moon has been real bright,â he said. âI can see 500 meters, easy. I see a lot of animals walking around at night. We have a problem with wolves out here, too.â
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The U.S.-led administration will spend $2 million to retain Iraqi scientists and engineers for rebuilding the country and stop them from selling their skills aboard, officials said Saturday. Money well spent in my book.
Top scientists who earned thousands of dollars a month under Saddam Husseinâs deposed regime now are being paid just hundreds, and some already have gone to Iran, Syria and Sudan, officials have said. If the coalition is sucessful, the economy and freddom will bring the scientists back.
"The knowledge and skills of these individuals are one of Iraqâs most valuable resources, and badly needed for the reconstruction of Iraq," U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer said in a statement Saturday.
Two weeks ago, The Associated Press reported that only eight Iraqi scientists remain in the hands of U.S. forces searching for weapons of mass destruction, and that dozens of other experts were cleared or released. Many have been rehired by the new American-run Science Ministry in Baghdad, in part to keep them from leaving the country.
Khidhir Hamza, the U.S.-appointed adviser to the ministry, told the AP that top scientists who were paid $8,000 a month by Saddamâs government were recently earning just $400.
Hamza should help them prepare resumes for them. Many will probably end up working for multi-national corporations if this works out.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/20/2003 6:22:46 PM ||
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Quite a good article in the JPost on Iraqi Sunni Arab reaction to Saddams capture. Also some good info on the problems encountered training police. EFL - Go read the whole thing.
"Itâs tough," says Lockard. "During the regime, when these men would shoot someone, they would aim for the legs. If you kill someone, then his tribe demands blood, and that might start a whole gang war. But on the other hand they shot people often, and there were constant disputes. We are going against thousands of years of custom here."
Another problem says the SWAT teamâs instructor Sgt. 1st Class Lonnie Bryson is that the men who had been in the Iraqi army (which seemed not to heed tribal warfare) are used to spraying a room full of bullets when they enter.
"We are trying to teach them not to blow up the whole room but to just get the bad guy," says Bryson.
Then the distribution of the Glocks - whose safety catch is activated solely by pulling the trigger - might not have been the best idea in a society "with an itchy trigger finger." When asked whom in the Academy he trusts, Bryson pokes the American patch on a fellow soldierâs shoulder.
The 101ST Airborne Division has churned out almost 2,500 cops in the last seven months. Some are young and enthusiastic, others old, paunchy, and terribly out of shape. More than half of the SWAT team quit 30 minutes into their course when they were asked to do push ups. Others exhibited a bit more grit, enduring physical training, and the shame of being taught how to do their jobs from A to Z.
"Before they were used to sitting on the stoop of their station and smoking cigarettes," explains a bemused Bryson - also a West Virginia state trooper - observing his SWAT teamâs forced entry.
The Sunni denial
In Al Dura, south west of Baghdad, celebratory gunfire erupted on Monday night. With great zeal, a few score young men popped off rhythmic bursts of AK-47 fire. Yet it seemed odd that this largely Sunni neighborhood would celebrate with their hero, Saddam Hussein, so recently humiliated and his wrists chaffing under American shackles.
When asked the reason for celebration, locals of this mostly Sunni neighborhood said that a CD had appeared on the local market in which "the real Saddam" ordered his faithful not to believe the media reports.
"I am safe, continue the resistance" the CD reportedly says.
No one had actually seen the CD, and The Jerusalem Post was unable to obtain a copy.
"The main part," he says, smiling apologetically, "is that Sunnis control the government. We cannot let the Shiâites control us, because they have never done it. They are not even incapable of governing themselves.
"If we get power here," he said from one of Fallujaâs wealthier neighborhoods, "then the resistance will stop."
"If the story of his surrender is true, then it is shameful, it brings humiliation. But I donât believe the real Saddam was caught."
Others standing at the Tikrit street corner, just hours after the announcement of Saddamâs capture nodded. The man who would be king among them could not have given up so easily, could not have asked to negotiate. Interesting insight that the resistance is really about keeping the Sunnis on top. I wonder how long its going to take before the realization that it aint gonna work. Lets hope they are quicker on the up-take than the paleos.
#1
More than half of the SWAT team quit 30 minutes into their course when they were asked to do push ups.
I'm sure they would have been thrilled if we had asked them to jump through flaming hoops, though.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/20/2003 18:14 Comments ||
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#2
RC - best laugh of the day, thanks!
and the shame of being taught how to do their jobs from A to Z.
And, just for good measure:
...their hero, Saddam Hussein, so recently humiliated and his wrists chaffing under American shackles.
You assclowns ever consider that, as complete incompetents, this is precisely why you got your asses kicked by us, twice, and why it took you eight years to fight Iran to a draw?
Have fun digging all those MIG's out of the sand dunes, ungrateful pinheads...
Fred this may be off-topic, but Zeyadâs post caught me by surprise. Here is an excerpt from Zeyadâs concerning Sadaamâs capture and inspection by the American medic. His reaction is simular to what Madeline Albright described as the Arab reaction, in general. I find her perceptiveness, in this case, very disconcerting.
I still havenât been able to get rid of this deep sadness that has overcome me the last two days. People have been emailing asking me to explain. I wish I could, but I simply canât.
After going through the comments today I had some more thoughts. If you had lived all your life ruled by a tough dictator elevated to the level of a god and then suddenly without warning watched that dictator displayed to the public on tv as a âmanâ, you probably would have related with my position.
The images were shocking. I couldnât make myself believe this was the same Saddam that slaughtered hundreds of thousands and plundered my countryâs wealth for decades. The humiliation I experienced was not out of nationalistic pride or Islamic notions of superiority or anything like that as some readers suggested. It was out of a feeling of impotence and helplessness. This was just one old disturbed man yet the whole country couldnât dispose of him. We needed a superpower from the other side of the ocean to come here and âget himâ for us. I was really confused that day I went out and almost got myself killed by those Fedayeen and angry teenagers in the Adhamiya district.
Rachel and Ali explained the Stockholm Syndrome in the comments section. I havenât heard about it before, but it did help me understand my contradicting feelings. I didnât want to see him humiliated as much as I loathed him. And that is why I was dissapointed with myself. I want to see him sit in an Iraqi court and explain himself to Iraqis. I want to hear him apologize to Iraqis. It wonât help the dead, but I want to hear it anyway. He must be handed over to Iraqis. I donât care about legitimacy. He must be tried publicly in an Iraqi civil court by Iraqi judges. The rest of the Arab dictators should see it and learn from it.
And Iâm still wondering why? Why did he have to put himself into this? Why did he have to destroy Iraq? What did he gain from all of this?
Any comments by Dr. White, another physician or anyone with grief counceling/ desaster debriefing would be enlightening to me.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/20/2003 11:35:30 AM ||
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#1
I'm getting really annoyed with the Arab world over their constant use of the term "humiliation" when it comes to how we captured Saddam.
The short video that was released showed Saddam getting a medical checkup by a Doctor. He was NOT in handcuffs, he was NOT in leg irons, he had NOT been beaten or tortured. My god, if we had wanted to humiliate him, we would have beat the snot out of him and dragged him cuffed and in irons and left him on the floor whimpering for the world to see.
But no, we gave him a medical checkup instead. So stop it already with the humiliation act.
#2
Hey, Guyjean, give it some slack. As he makes it clear, it's more of shame towards himself than any Arab ideal, more of how the 24 million of Iraq could not overthrow one MERE "old disturbed man", some sort of overbearing yet invisible force forcing their oppression until overthrown by the equivalent of another (the US) ...
Posted by: Lu Baihu ||
12/20/2003 13:18 Comments ||
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#3
I think it's partly Stockholm Syndrom. Saddam held the whole country hostage all of Zeyad's life. Another part of it is what Lu Baihu said. I'd say that what Lu said is probably most of it. The shame/humiliation is more in the fact that they didn't do it themselves. Of course, he looks at Saddam and doesn't think about all his henchmen...
He'll be ok.
Posted by: Kathy K ||
12/20/2003 13:28 Comments ||
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#4
Saddam was never alone. Other iraqis, other arabs, other muslims were doing the torturing, raping, and killing. None of those dictators are acting alone, and the muslims are still in denial about it. It's all America's fault, of course.
#5
This is going to take some time to undo the twisted sense of values that have evolved over a generation and a half in Iraq under Saddam. People develop systems of behavior to survive and cope under this corrupt and brutal dictatorship. Changing things that are ingrained for survival purposes is going to be long, difficult, and often painful. Remember that many people (millions of 'em) were heavily invested in the sytem and lived quite well under Saddam. Everything is not going to come up roses after Saddam's capture. Change will be quite painful at times. We have to have patience and understanding, and we have to listen. The Iraqis are not us.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/20/2003 14:21 Comments ||
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#6
Actually, Zayed is being overloaded with the images of Hobo-Saddam.
Hobo-Saddam is what the man was reduced to, it's not the man who was, in absence of real military opposition, the smiling mass-rapist of the opposition's mothers, sisters, and daughters...
Zayed shouldn't ever feel bad because Iraq couldn't overcome the Hobo-Saddam. They were never given the chance.
#7
I wonder if the depression is isolated to the Sunni population, becuase there was little Sunni resistence to the regime. The Shiite and Kurds would rejoice because they fought and resisted to the extent that many of their family now reside in mass graves.
POW's seem to suffer from depression to an extent that is inversely proportional to how much they resisted their captors. It's like a whole has been populated with the psychological equivalent of the crew of the Pueblo and residents of the Hanoi Hilton.
I am surprised that Zeyad is this effected in that he has taken an active role in marches and other activities. A sense of participation in a movement and a sense of being in control of your own destiny should be good medicine against melancholy.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/20/2003 17:15 Comments ||
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The Iraqi man who gave up Saddam Hussein to US forces last weekend was his top aide through eight months on the lam, a senior US military intelligence officer told reporters. âHe was someone I would call his right arm,â said Major Stan Murphy, the head of intelligence for the 4th Infantry Divisionâs First Brigade in Saddamâs hometown of Tikrit. The major ruled out the possibility the informant, who is currently in detention, would receive any of the 25-million-dollar bounty on Saddamâs head. âHe is a bad man and should rot in jail,â he said.
That's $25 million we can use for more important things. At a nominal ten bucks a case, I make it 2.5 million cases of beer...
The man, whose name the military will not reveal, was a longtime aide of Saddam and hailed from one of five major tribes in a 20-kilometre (12-mile) stretch around Tikrit that the fallen dictator relied on to elude the Americans after Baghdad fell last April. âHe was in the five families. There were members of the five families that were in the security forces, the armyâ and the government, Murphy said.
"Call Rocco, down at the CPA, and find out what's gonna happen tonight!"
"Yes, Don Finocchio!"
"And lemme know what the Barzini clan's doin'!"
Since April, Saddamâs top lieutenant, along with four or five other Iraqis from the prominent Tikrit-area tribes, formed the inner circle that helped hide the fugitive dictator, implement his orders to the resistance for attacks, finance the insurgency and provide combatants with weaponry. âHe (Saddam) would give general guidance, hey I want to see more attacks, I want to see more of this. His enablers would then go out to their different tiers below them, give a little more specific guidance, maybe some money or weapons or something, and that tier would go out to the other tiers all the way down to the trigger puller,â Murphy said.
That's about the only way it was going to happen. It's not like Sammy was going to hold staff meetings, like he was so fond of having televised in the old days. It was probably more efficient than the way he used to do things.
There were four to nine tiers of the resistance, Murphy added.
Now there's three to eight...
But while the other enablers shared the burden of labour and their functions overlapped, the man who eventually informed on Saddam was the fugitive strongmanâs most trusted confidante. âIn my mind, he was that important... to get the general guidance from Saddam and add specific details for everything,â Murphy said. The middle-aged man, whose name or job in the old regime Murphy refused to disclose, had started to serve Saddam in his late-teens or early twenties and had risen to become one of Saddamâs most valued sidekicks. He fit a stock profile of many of the men who served under Saddam. He was balding and heavily overweight, with an almost 50-inch waistline, and âloved womenâ, Murphy said.
Rotund little fellow, isn't he? And I thought I was porky...
He also participated in the old regimeâs crimes against the Iraqi people, Murphy said, without disclosing the exact nature of his involvement in Saddamâs abuses. Among other responsibilities, Saddamâs right hand man and the other three-to-four enablers supervised a two-man cell under them that was responsible for the logistics of moving Saddam around safehouses north and west of Baghdad where the fallen dictator counted tribal support, Murphy said.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 09:34 ||
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#1
At a nominal ten bucks a case,
LOL - what are you buying, Schlitz / Milwaukee's Worst Best?
#3
supervised a two-man cell under them that was responsible for the logistics of moving Saddam around safehouses north and west of Baghdad where the fallen dictator counted tribal support, Murphy said.
Yeah, that sounds like the two men we caught with Saddam.
Posted by: Charles ||
12/20/2003 15:10 Comments ||
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Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar paid a surprise visit to Iraq Saturday, flying in with his defense minister to inspect Spanish troops deployed in the south of the country, national radio reported. Aznar left Madrid on Friday for Kuwait where he went by helicopter to Diwaniyah, the radioâs special correspondent said, becoming the third top western politician — after US President George W. Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld — to travel to the war-torn country in three weeks. Aznar was a staunch backer of the US-led invasion of Iraq, and contributed some 1,300 troops despite virulent public opposition to the attack without a UN mandate. A delegation of 17 people, among them the Spanish Defense Minister Federico Trillo, accompanied Aznar for this visit of several hours to the city 160 kilometers southeast of Baghdad. The prime minister was to lunch with Spanish soldiers and meet with local authorities before flying back to Madrid in the afternoon. On December 12, the Spanish government decided to prolong the stay of the troops by six months. Spain has lost 10 men so far since it deployed soldiers and intelligence officers to Iraq — the most serious attack coming on November 29 when seven intelligence agents died in an ambush.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 09:17 ||
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#1
And the First Euro president to show he has cajones. Muchas Gracias
...the third top western politician â after US President George W. Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld...
Apparently in this Arab paper Rummy counts and HRC ("Broomstick One" heh) doesn't. New trend: Head of Government popping in to visit troops. Good for morale.
#6
#4 What would you say if I told that Bush has (super) bowls?
That it's a case of the "bowls of compassion"?
*smirk*
Ed Becerra
Posted by: Ed Becerra ||
12/20/2003 15:51 Comments ||
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#7
I think Straw has made a tour as well. Will the next be from the UK, Poland or Italy. I am betting on Italy. Be interesting to see the result on Aznar's approval rating among the Spainish people.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/20/2003 17:21 Comments ||
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#8
Wasn't the Polish PM in Bagdhad the day Bremer unexpectedly boltered for DC?
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan tried Friday to persuade President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell to send a delegation from the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq to a meeting aimed at clarifying the U.N. role in helping rebuild the country. Annan called for the Jan. 15 meeting to get specific answers about what the Iraqi Governing Council or the U.S.-led coalition expect from the United Nations before a provisional government takes power in Iraq in June. Isnât that MLK Day? We canât meet on a federal holiday. Maybe some other time.
The Bush administration has repeatedly said it wants the world body to play ``a vital roleââ in Iraq, but the November agreement between the coalition and the council on the timetable for a provisional government and elections by the end of 2005 does not mention the United Nations. Oops, our bad.
Annan has said he is certain the Governing Council would attend the Jan. 15 meeting to discuss the specifics of the U.N. role, but preliminary consultations with the coalition have just started. Lots of Federal holidays in January. Iâm sure the Iraqis have holidays in January as well. Can we make it for FebruaryMarch July?
Annan spoke with Bush and Powell on Friday and neither the president nor the secretary of state committed to sending a coalition delegation, U.N. and diplomats sources said on condition of anonymity. "Nope, nope, too inconvenient, those dates wonât work."
State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said a decision has not been made. ``Weâre in discussions with officials at the U.N. and the secretary-general to get a better idea of what specifically they have in mind and how specifically that could contribute to the goals that we all share,ââ Ereli said. "Weâre pretty sure that the best way they could contribute would be to stay out of the way, but Mr. Annan gets upset everytime we say that."
The United States views the U.N. role in Iraq as an issue between the United Nations and the Governing Council - not the coalition. ``We certainly welcome a dialogue between the U.N. and the Iraqis that would lead to a closer on-the-ground working relationship in Iraq itself,ââ Ereli said. ``And we would certainly be willing to play a supportive role in that process.ââ We could arrange security for any meetings in Baghdad -- you know, the kind of security that actually works, unlike the UN kind."
But Annan insists it must be ``a three-way conversation,ââ and it is unclear whether he would accept the coalition in a supporting role. "There he goes again! Quick, somebody prepare a seven-course meal!"
The Bush administration has been pressing for a quick return of the U.N.âs international staff to Baghdad, and has made clear it wants to hand over administration of the country to Iraqis as quickly as possible. Similar message was delivered to the Weasels on reconstruction and debt relief: you want in, you actually have to make a contribution.
The secretary-general pulled all U.N. international staff out of Iraq in October after two bombings at U.N. headquarters in Baghdad and a series of attacks on humanitarian organizations. Annan considers the security situation in the country too dangerous for their return but believes the United Nations can do a lot from outside Iraq. Theyâre doing a lot by staying away.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/20/2003 12:50:56 AM ||
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U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan tried Friday to persuade President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell to send a delegation from the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq to a meeting aimed at clarifying the U.N. role in helping rebuild the country.
#2
The Bush administration has repeatedly said it wants the world body to play ``a vital roleââ in Iraq
I really wish they would stop saying that. It clearly has Kofi confused. He's obviously not the sharpest knife, you'd think a career beaurocrat would know a kiss off when he gets one.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/20/2003 6:21 Comments ||
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#3
Heh, I think you're both on-target!
Perhaps the UN powers that be finally recognize the train is in motion and it's now or never for them to get their hooks into Iraq. The fact that it has left the station entirely, that the Iraqis either suspect or know the UN was the venue in which the foes of their liberation fought tooth and nail against them and that Saddam had cut numerous inside deals to pilfer and plunder UN programs ostensibly meant to help the people - and this required UN conspirators, and that the UN is a multilateral effort to keep them down and subject to the whims of their Arab neighbors, if not Saddam -- the fact that all of these indictments of the "international community" for complicity and fraud were finally spoken aloud by the new Iraqi FM probably has Kofi & Co's shorts all in a bunch. Indeed, the emperor has no clothes, and the Iraqis are proving difficult because they are crude and simplisme enough to say so.
#4
I suspect that from the administration's point of view, the UN is already playing the most "vital" role it's going to play in the foreseeable future: staying the hell out of the way.
Bush warned the UN back in September 2002 that it must either step up to the plate or follow the League of Nations into irrelevance. And irrelevant is what it appears to have become.
None too soon, IMO.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
12/20/2003 7:49 Comments ||
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#5
The interim Iraqi FM chewed Kofi and his boys a new ass this past week during a speech at the UN. If Kofi wants to talk about a UN role in Iraq he needs to address the issues raised by the FM. And Kofi, I don't mean by merely saying "now isn't the time to point fingers and to try to place blame". Hey Kofi: For starters open the books to the FM on the "oil for food" program. Let the Iraq FM judge whether you can be trusted to have any role. Your problem, Kofi, is that you ASSUME you can be trusted despite all evidence to the contrary.
Posted by: Mark ||
12/20/2003 8:17 Comments ||
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#6
I think Kofi's confused. A UN role in Iraq would mean having UN personnel actually in Iraq - but they cut and ran a while back. I doubt they've acquired the balls to go back.
#7
The UN role has been played. I believe the role was "soft target."
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/20/2003 10:23 Comments ||
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#8
To use a Star Trek illustration. The UN played the role of the guy on the landing party that nobody has seen before wearing the red engineering shirt.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/20/2003 11:02 Comments ||
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#9
Here's the deal, Kofi ol' boy: The meet's in Baghdad, and only you are invited, not your cannon fodder subordinates. And you're in charge of your own security. Call us when you make it into town.
#10
Mark #5: The version I read had Kofi saying, "Now is not the time to point fingers and place blame over the past." He didn't say anything about pointing fingers and placing blame over the present.
#11
The problem with the U.N. is that they still don't realize that they've lost most, if not all, of their credibility. Hans Blix failed in his mission not because he didn't find any WMD, but because we wouldn't have believed him if he said that they didn't exist.
Kofi has a simiar problem with the Iraqis -- the U.N. is going to have to re-establish their credibility before they're going to be able to play any role.
#12
The Coalition of the Willing is doing the heavy lifting and getting the job done in Iraq, despite heavy insurgent opposition and ambushes (NYT, alphabet channels, Dem candidates, Rev. Jesse Jackson). Even the Axis of Weasels is slowly coming around. Kofi just does not get it. The world is moving on and he is issuing orders from a ship that has run aground. Maybe his ship will run out of fuel and that will be that. One can hope.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/20/2003 15:18 Comments ||
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#13
I agree with George Bush: the United Nations has a vital role to play in Iraq. Somebody's gotta clear out all those mines, clean up all the mass graves, pick up all the trash, and sweep the streets. THAT is what I'd have the UN do - but only under close supervision. They've already proven they're not self-starters.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/20/2003 15:32 Comments ||
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#14
The "vital role" I had in mind for the UN was running the Starbucks at Baghdad International Airport.
Posted by: Christopher Johnson ||
12/20/2003 17:20 Comments ||
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A woman was killed and eight other people were hurt when a homeless shelter run by Iraq's largest Shia Muslim political group collapsed. Officials from the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) have blamed Friday morning's disaster on a bomb attack, but a senior US military officer said a structural defect was to the culprit. The west Baghdad building, which also houses a religious school, collapsed on to families sleeping in the compound. SCIRI spokesman Mohsin al-Hakim said an explosion had been detonated by remote control. "We were asleep and suddenly about five o'clock in the morning the roof fell on us," said Ahmad Rahim, 23, a nephew of the woman who died. "We were buried under the rubble and our neighbours came and helped us get out." As he spoke, a shaikh from the religious school arrived and Rahim cried out: "Why didn't you tell us it is dangerous here?"
It's Iraq. Of course it's dangerous. You got gunnies, you snuffies, you got boomers, and you have buildings that fall down around your ears without warning. Other than that, the place isn't bad...
Sheikh Abd al-Wahid replied that bombings are happening all over Iraq. "It is Saddam's people who commit these attacks," he said. US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, speaking at a press conference in Baghdad, said he had received a report indicating there was no explosion. "The Iraqi police service reported to the 1st Armored Division that the building collapsed due to a structural integrity problem," he said.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 00:17 ||
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"We wuz attacked with a remote controlled bomb!"
"No, the building was unsafe and just collapsed."
So, once again, Allah chooses not to intervene in Mother Nature's affairs (sassy bitch!) and override physics. But, what is crystal clear to the True Believers, is that Allah is shaking the ground under the feet of the infidels. He is souring their milk, making stale the cookies Mom sent last month, and dulling their razors to give them rashes! Allah Akbar!
Hardly worth denying...
Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon paid a brief visit Sunday to Baghdad to secretly meet former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, a Qatari newspaper reported Tuesday.
"Hi, Sammy. I just stopped by to gloat..."
Al-Raya, citing Nasser Mahmoud â a top Iraqi politician with close links to the interim council, reported that "Sharon, accompanied by intelligence officers, landed at around 20:00 at the Baghdad airport." According to the report, top civil administrator Paul L. Bremer received the Israeli leader and accompanied him during the meeting with Saddam Hussein.
I think this is part of the "dancing to the tune of Zionist masters" routine...
Mahmoud added, according to the report, that during a meeting with Bremer after his arrival in Baghdad, Sharon had asked to see Saddam in person. Following the meeting with the ousted leader, Sharon praised Bremer and the US army on the capture and said it "strengthens the US victory in Iraq". The paper added that Israel had transferred intelligence to the US forces in Iraq, which helped capture Saddam Hussein. In Iraq, meanwhile, rumors said Sharon stayed the night in Baghdad following his short meeting with Saddam.
With a coupla hookers, no doubt...
On Wednesday, sources in the Israeli Prime Minister's office denied the Qatari report, and added "there were no such things".
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 00:17 ||
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Yup. Gotta get the Joooos into the picture somehow. There's simply not enough seething and gnashing of teeth going on for the Al Raya editorial staff - y'know, that guy who dresses up like an Arab Roland Hedley in his funny safari jacket and floppy "bush" hat? And Sharon spending the night on Mooslim soil - wooooooo! That oughtta do it!
The top US administrator in Iraq, Paul L. Bremer [sic] escaped unharmed when his convoy struck an explosive device and came under fire in the capital of Baghdad on December 6, according to NBC News. The station said Thursday that Bremer was returning from the Baghdad airport when his convoy ran into an explosive device and his personal armored vehicle took small arms fire. The convoy managed to speed away and no one was hurt in the incident. The incident, which took place on the same day US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived in Baghdad, was not reported to the media by Bremer's Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), the report further said.
If Bremer'd been hurt, it would have been reported. And I imagine there will be many more attempts in the coming weeks. We've got Sammy, after all...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 00:17 ||
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He's been downplaying it, and noted that as you can see, they missed. Initial reports indicate that it was a random bombing rather than an apparent targeting of Bremer.
Posted by: Ben ||
12/20/2003 4:25 Comments ||
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Al-Qaida linked terrorists are feared to be targeting churches in Indonesia, the worldâs most populous Muslim nation, this Christmas, but priests and preachers are not cancelling yuletide services. âIt would be capitulating to fear,â said Rev Andrew Lake, an Australian who heads an Anglican congregation in Jakarta. âWorshipping and serving God are still the highest priority.â
Three years ago, bombs exploded at 11 churches across Indonesia on Christmas Eve, killing 19 people and injuring around 100. The attacks have since been blamed on the al-Qaida-linked terror group Jemaah Islamiyah. The US Embassy is warning Americans in Indonesia that the risk of terror attacks over Christmas and New Year is âparticularly high.â Places of worship popular with expatriates, shopping centres and hotels are mentioned as possible targets. The Australian Embassy is also telling its citizens to be on alert. âWe are very vigilant,â said Lake, who has lived in Jakarta for seven years. âThere is a climate of anxiety.â Lake said that some worshippers might skip Christmas services at the All Saints Anglican Church in the heart of Jakarta because of the terror fears. âI accept that. I donât want them to feel guilty,â he said.
Christians make up less than 10 percent of Indonesiaâs 210 million people. Around 85 percent are Muslims and there are Buddhist and Hindu minorities. Jemaah Islamiyah is believed to still pose a threat despite the arrests of dozens of suspected operatives over the last year, including al-Qaidaâs alleged leader in Asia, Indonesian cleric Hambali.
Abu Bakar Bashir, whom foreign governments claim is the groupâs spiritual leader, said today that Osama bin Laden and three militants sentenced to death for last yearâs Bali bombings were not terrorists but âsoldiers in Allahâs army.â He made the comments to his followers in prison, where he is serving a three year sentence for immigration violations. âThe enemies of Islam are the Jews who are led by America and who always slander Muslims as terrorists,â he said.
Indonesiaâs constitution is secular and relations among the faiths are generally good across the country. However, Muslim militants have increasingly been targeting Christians, many of whom come from the countryâs ethnic Chinese minority. Christian groups have recorded dozens of attacks on churches in recent years, and they complain the perpetrators are rarely caught. Muslims often complain of aggressive missionary activity by Christians and the building of churches without permits.
Police will deploy some 140,000 personnel over the holiday. Worshippers will have to pass through metal detectors at most churches and officers will search churches before Christmas services, said National Police Chief Dai Bachtiar. âThe focus is on the possibility of terror attacks,â he said.
Still, not all Christians are worried. âIâm taking these warnings in stride,â said Maria Priyanti, a Roman Catholic. âIt seems to me that terrorism is by its very nature unpredictable. I will be going to church as normal.â
Jemaah Islamiyah is also suspected in the recent killings of 12 Christians on Sulawesi island, which in 2000 was wracked by fighting between Muslims and Christians. Recently, unidentified people have been distributing leaflets in the province calling for attacks against Christians, said Alex Patambo, the secretary of the regionâs church crisis centre. He said private security had been hired at churches in the city of Tentenna, and worshippers would only be allowed to bring bibles into churches. âThere is a state of alert but that does not mean we will not celebrate Christmas,â he said from the province, 1,000 miles east of Jakarta.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/20/2003 1:58:28 AM ||
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"Which way did they go, George? Which way did they go?" Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels have mounted its own offensive yesterday against members of the dreaded Pentagon kidnap gang, believed to be holding a wealthy car dealer in the southern Philippines, a spokesman for the group said. Guerrillas have been ordered to pursue the kidnappers and rescue the 24-year old hostage Norman Sia in Maguindanao province, a day after the MILF freed four government soldiers it captured in a firefight in Datu Piang town. âWe are helping the government pursue the kidnappers and rescue the hostage. This move is in accordance to an agreement the MILF has signed with the Arroyo government,â MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu told Arab News.
If you can't trust Eid Kabalu, who can you trust?
Kabalu did not say how many rebel soldiers were sent to hunt down gang members.
My guess is eleven. What's yours?
He claimed they have already identified the leader of the kidnappers holding Sia. âWe wil get them sooner or later,â he said.
"How much later?"
"'Bout 35 years."
He said the MILF would immediately hand over any captured Pentagon gang members to the government. âThere is an agreement that the MILF would help the government hunt down criminals and lawless elements hiding inside rebel territories and we are abiding with this accord,â Kabalu said.
And how many have you handed over to date?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 00:17 ||
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United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan has urged Burma's military rulers to quickly invite his special envoy to visit so he can help the reclusive south-east Asian nation get to work on a promised shift toward democracy. Mr Annan said he was encouraged by Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung's pledge at a meeting in Bangkok to embark on a seven-step "road map to democracy" next year by reconvening a constitution-drafting national convention that has been suspended since 1996. In a statement read by his spokesman, Fred Eckhard, the UN chief said he was also encouraged by Win Aung's commitment to implement the transition plan "in an all-inclusive manner". Win Aung this month pledged that all ethnic groups and political parties would be able to participate, including democracy champion and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi'sNational League for Democracy. Mr Annan wants his envoy, Malaysian Razali Ismail, "to be allowed to visit Burma as soon as possible to help facilitate the participation of all the parties concerned" in the transition process and the convention, Mr Eckhard said.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 00:17 ||
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The UN envoy isn't allowed in the country? Maybe Kofi should station him in Cyprus.
Osama bin Laden has attacked the U.S. war on Iraq as part of a new crusade against Islam in an audiotape purported to be by the al Qaeda leader aired on Arabic TV station Al Arabiya.
"Know that this war is a new crusade against the Islamic world and is a critical war for the whole Islamic nation," said the voice on the tape, aired on Saturday
U.S. officials say bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri, his top deputy, are believed to be in the mountainous border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan, although it is unclear whether they are together. Actually, recent reports say theyâre now in Iran and that Binnyâs an honorary Black Hat.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/20/2003 2:02:21 PM ||
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2 quick thoughts:
I'm no historian, but I'm fairly certain that the cursades were to beat back Islam from over running Europe, secondly - I didn't know that a sh*t stain on a cave wall could speak
Posted by: Mike ||
12/20/2003 15:01 Comments ||
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I am addressing you today after a period of two years from the time of the Tora Bora battle. During this battle, 300 Islamist fighters remained steadfast against attacks by Crusaders, hypocrites and bandits hired by America and supported by its air power and the hypocriteâs tanks.
Got the crap smacked out of them, didn't they?
They strafed an area not exceeding three sq km. The bombing of Tora Bora began with a savage night aerial attack on the first day of the Crusadersâ campaign against the Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan. But the major battle took place on the 17th day of Ramadan, which coincides with the great Badr battle, when the Crusadersâ continuous aerial bombing began, along with the siege by the hypocrites and the bandits. Nevertheless, the Mujahideen, by Godâs assistance and support, succeeded in remaining steadfast for 12 days of continuous bombing, siege and the severe cold. By Godâs assistance and support, they succeeded in facing the hypocritesâ attacks and dealt them a great deal of casualties. The fighters escaped the siege while the Americans were only able to arrest 50% of them through betrayal and treachery, when they arrived in Pakistan following a tiresome trip across a range of high, white mountains.
Ah, yes. Pakistan. The Promised Land...
America has thus been militarily defeated by those fighters despite all the huge military arsenal and the dollars with which they have flooded Afghanistan.
Ayman, when your men get waxed, the government that supported you is overthrown, and you're either captured or chased out of the country, that's not a victory, no matter how you look at it.
Today by Godâs grace and bounty, following those two years, what has become of the struggle between the powers of Islam and Jihad and the alliance of the Crusaders, the Jews and the hypocrites?
Lessee, here. We've arrested most of your top leadership — you've had to bring up guys from the minor leagues to fill the holes. We've chopped into your financing sources. We've broken up Qaeda cells. We've killed or captured your regional managers. Sammy's in jug, Libya's trying to give up her evil ways, you can't go back to Sudan...
Two years after the battle of Tora Bora, we are still, by Godâs grace, as we were, chasing the Americans and their allies everywhere, even in their own doorsteps.
Keep chasing. Every time you catch us, we beat the crap out of you. Just like at Tora Bora.
After two years of Tora Bora, Jihad has been escalated at Al-Quds, while all the Crusaders and the Jewsâ conspiracies have failed in effecting a siege.
Al-Quds is in Paleostine and you're not. When Qaeda tried to muscle in on Paleostine, Yasser told you to butt out and blamed the whole thing on the Jews.
The Mujahideen have scared the Jewish aggressors and have driven them out of their senses. After two years of Tora Bora, the bloodshed against the Americans has escalated in Iraq. The Americans proved incapable of defending themselves and even of defending officials such as Wolfwitz, the arrogant Zionist. One of the Wolfowitz rocketeers was supposedly an Italian jihadi from Europe - looks like Aymanâs keeping up with the troops.
After two years of Tora Bora, the American collapse in Afghanistan has become an explicit reality, while the powers of Islam and Jihad have begun to drive away, bit by bit, the Crusaders and the hypocrites from the sacred land of Afghanistan.
That last part is probably a reference to those districts in Afghanistan near Zabul that the Taliban reportly retook a little while ago. Have they been disloged yet.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/20/2003 1:52:56 AM ||
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#1
Doctor! Doctor! Please, I'll have what he's having!
#2
I have not heard of any disturbances to the Loya Jurga. I thought that security for that type of meeting would have been a nightmare with something bound to slip. I am encouraged.
No news of damaged to the Kabul to Kandahar road either.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/20/2003 10:55 Comments ||
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#4
Saw this on TV this morning. The station showed video of this guy and OBL (as if OBL was making the statement on video.) There was no mention of previous statements (you know the promised 100K dead we are still waiting for...) or that this is anything but the god honest truth. Then they went to their body bag count report (you are all going to DIE!....) and then to hollywood...
#5
OBL, or his current spirit medium, keeps whining about a crusade, and crusaders. Maybe it's about time to give him a good taste of "crusader justice". We need to re-schedule "shock and awe" for some place they currently call "home", such as Quetta, say a week from Tuesday. I'd keep the exact date/time a secret, but let it be known that we were planning on hitting "a target in Pakistan, somewhere between Karachi and Yasin, up on the slopes of the Hindu Kush. Follow through with some 700-800 aircraft, each flying two to six sorties with HE, WP, JDAM, MOAB, and cluster munitions. They crow about three square kilometers as if they did something to keep us from damaging a greater piece of real estate. Let the new splash cover ten to twenty times that area - THEN let them squawk.
These people are from a society that appreciates force: let's give them some force to appreciate.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/20/2003 16:16 Comments ||
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#6
Leave Afghanistan or I shall taunt you a second time.
The government has been accused of snubbing the UN by refusing to act promptly on its recommendation to investigate companies accused of breaching business guidelines during the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A panel of experts set up by the UN security council in June 2000 to report on how the warring factions were plundering gold, diamonds and the metallic ore coltan to fund the conflict asked Britain in its final report in October to investigate whether four British companies were complying with internationally agreed rules for multinationals.
They were the cargo operators Avient Air and Das Air, De Beers, and Oryx Natural Resources. All deny breaking the rules.
The 34 signatories to the guidelines drafted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have each set up a national contact point (NCP) to mediate between the complainant and the company. Britainâs is a Department of Trade and Industry official, Duncan Lawson.
Because the panel was disbanded on October 31, British ministers have decided that no formal complainant exists and that nothing more can be done. This was explained in a parliamentary answer last month by the DTI minister Stephen Timms .
He said: "The evidence that has been supplied to the NCP by the UN panel, after several requests by [the government], is general in content and relates only to some of the named companies.
"DTI will therefore have difficulty progressing these cases, under the guidelines, on the basis of what has been provided so far."
But a security council statement of November 19 urged all states to act on the panelâs findings and conduct their own inquiries.
The panelâs chairman, Mahmoud Kassem, said in Cairo that its approach had been agreed in April when members met representatives of the participating countries in Paris. "We explained to them what we were doing," he said.
Britainâs response has stunned environmental groups monitoring OECD work.
Patricia Feeney, of Responsibility and Accountability in Development, said: "Public confidence in the effectiveness of the OECD guidelines is being damaged by the spectacle of NCPs hiding behind the smokescreen of technical difficulties to justify inaction."
A demonstration of soft power with no hard power to back it up.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/20/2003 6:48:42 PM ||
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He said the country was bleeding - and that a way forward must be found to stop it. Victory was in sight, he said, and 2004 would be the year of the people.
Mr Tsvangirai was speaking at a conference of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in the capital, Harare.
He was given a warm reception by about 1,000 delegates, but the BBCâs Barnaby Phillips - reporting from neighbouring South Africa - says the MDC has been going through difficult times.
It has organised successful strikes and stay-aways but, in the face of government brutality, has failed to bring people out on the streets, our correspondent says.
The BBC is pessimistic and South Africa supports Bob, but the ANC worked through adversity in itâs day as well.There are disagreements within the party, with some activists demanding more mass action, while others say greater efforts should be made to revive negotiations with the government.
Our correspondent says that, with the government controlling the media, the MDC has little room for manoeuvre.
On Friday, police occupied the offices of Zimbabweâs only privately-owned daily newspaper, despite a court ruling that it could resume publication. The Daily News, a strong critic of President Robert Mugabeâs government, was shut down by police three months ago, under tough media laws passed after Mr Mugabeâs controversial re-election last year.
Zimbabweâs Information Minister Jonathan Moyo said Fridayâs judgement had no legal force. He described the ruling as "outrageously political, unacceptable", adding that an appeal had already been lodged with the Supreme Court.
Lawyers for the paper say Judge Selo Nare, who made the ruling, had now asked for police protection. I donât know that I would want Bobâs police protecting me in this situation. The guy has brass balls for making the ruling in the first place.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/20/2003 6:37:07 PM ||
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It has organised successful strikes and stay-aways but, in the face of government brutality, has failed to bring people out on the streets, our correspondent says.
Thank Mugabe and his cronies for that. Kind of hard to get politically motivated when your first priority is scrounging enough of the basics to stay alive.
Three people were killed and two seriously wounded when police raided two Islamic schools in central Nigeria. The raid on the schools in Jos on Friday followed a tipoff that members of an outlawed religious sect âMaitatsineâ were hiding there, Kaduna Radio said. The âMaitatsineâ group was responsible for bloody religious violence in some parts of northern Nigeria in the 1980s that left hundreds of people dead. The radio said three people were shot dead, two wounded and 175 arrested during the raid. Jos, a once quiet and peaceful city, is fast assuming a hotbed of religious and communal violence in central Nigeria.
The latest from Islam's bloody border. Wonder who finances those schools? Just coincidence, of course.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 09:10 ||
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Nah. Couldn't be the Soddie Wahobby horses. Probably the Joooooooos, again.
Investigators have identified the people, who ordered and organized the terrorist act in a commuter train in Essentuki that killed 45 and injured 188 people on Dec. 5, said Yevgenia Androsova, press secretary of the Stavropol department of Federal Security Service (FSB). According to the preliminary investigation results, the blast in Essentuki was organized by the same terrorist group, which was behind the blast that killed six people and wounded 87 in Kislovodsk on Sep. 3. Also, investigators believe they will be able establish the identity of the terrorist-kamikaze, who ignited the blast, Izvestia reports. Meantime, FSB Director Nikolai Patrushev named the notorious Chechen terrorist Shamil Basayev in an official statement today as the brains behind all kamikaze-related bomb blasts in the country. âBasayev spreads the kamikaze training methods among other terrorist leaders in Chechnya,â he added.
The fact that Shamil isn't yet "the late" really degrades the respect I had for the FSB. I suppose I should consider it a good sign that he's still around — under the Sovs he'd have had a very brief splitting headache years ago. They should make an exception in his case, but I'm afraid the problem is one of ineptitude rather than of ruth.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/20/2003 1:56:04 AM ||
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Nine rebels have been detained in Chechnya in targeted operations over the past 24 hours, chief of the Russian Interior Ministryâs temporary press centre in the North Caucasus Ismel Shaov said on Friday. All the detainees are suspected of organizing and perpetrating an armed attack on servicemen of the federal forces, Shaov said. "None of the participants in the operation were injured. Five caches in which rebels stored weapons, explosives, and ammunition were also found," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/20/2003 1:54:43 AM ||
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WASHINGTON (AP) - The threat from North Koreaâs nuclear weapons program has reached a crisis stage and President Bush should become personally involved to ensure a coherent response, three top Senate Democrats said in a letter to the president Friday. "Given the stakes involved and the fact that time is not on our side, we believe this issue deserves your personal and immediate attention," wrote Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, Carl Levin of Michigan and Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia. I think the surprise meter twitched briefly -- are these guys arguing for [gasp!] unilateral actionâ¢?
The senators wrote that the United States "urgently needs an effective strategy for dealing with the threat posed by North Koreaâs growing stockpile of nuclear weapons." But they said U.S. negotiators "have been lacking the clear guidance and flexibility necessary for successful negotiations." The good senators, of course, have been missing the point of our negotiations, but donât let that stop you, boys.
The United States has been trying to arrange a six-nation conference, also involving China, Japan, South Korea and Russia, on North Koreaâs nuclear program. A first round of the talks, in Beijing last August, ended without progress. Definite progress was in fact made when the NKors dissed the hosts and the hosts got pissed.
North Korea wants to trade its nuclear weapons for economic aid and security assurances. The United States says North Korea should dismantle its nuclear weapons first, as a condition for getting aid. Seeing as they lied to us last time.
The senators also asked Bush to direct his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, to brief the Senate on statements by a senior administration official, appearing in a New York Times article, that North Korea has used the past year, after expelling international inspectors, to produce additional nuclear weapons and weapons material. Outstanding command of the obvious.
Levin is top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee and Rockefeller is vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Thanks boys, nice hearing from you.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/20/2003 12:57:51 AM ||
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Why is Rockefeller still on the Committee after that scandel a few weeks ago involving the timed release of information to be used in the elections? His head should have been on a pike for that. Idiot.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/20/2003 6:29 Comments ||
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#2
These Dimocrats just slay me...as if President Bush hasn't been giving this his total attention for months since the NorKs started this saber-rattling!
But the Donks don't care: as long as they get their sound bite and get enough of the "sheeple" to believe that Bush isn't on the ball.
Vote the Dims out in 2004, please. All of them.
#3
The Donks are trying to be clever. They look around and see Mr. Bush on a roll. So they bait him with NK hoping against hope his hot streak comes to an abrupt end. Silly Donks, have you not been to Vegas? NEVER bet against the guy on a hot streak.
Posted by: Mark ||
12/20/2003 7:42 Comments ||
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#4
I don't expect another 6-party meeting until the SK contribution scandle plays out. These Senators fully understand the plan/policy for NK. They have adopted a posture that puts them in an advantageous position to capitalize if the plan goes South. The three probably don't expect to be able to sway the American public in the presidential election. I think they are hoping for enough wins in Senate races to gain control of the Senate back. NK is their last hope for a foriegn affairs disaster.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/20/2003 10:34 Comments ||
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#5
Sounds more like an attempt to prove themselves relevant and concerned about foreign policy, while trying to embarass the White House. NK is a legitimate issue, but it's a controllable one.
#7
These Dems are just jumping on the NORK issue because they have nothing else and they want to get back into the slimelight. If they had been reading Rantburg they would have seen that we are pursuing our NORK aims the best we can do, considering the circumstances. The truth is that there is nothing substantative that they can contribute, and this is hard to swallow for them.
Like the Russians say, "Tough Schitskis."
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/20/2003 14:27 Comments ||
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#8
Daschle needs to read Rantburg. We discussed this in detail before, and decided Bush was doing exactly what he should do - make China and Russia nervous enough to apply heavy pressure on Kimmie to abandon his latest toys. It may take rumors of Japan developing nuclear weapons to get China that nervous. I'm also scratching my head, wondering if the latest Taiwan/China tempest may have been a shadow play for China's benefit: "look, we're reigning in Taiwan and getting them to cool their talk about independence, you now need to take care of Kimmie." I'm not sure Bush is that convoluted, but I suspect either Wolfowitz or Rice may be.
The problem with the Donks is that they don't have ANY new ideas, and that includes ideas about how to conduct foreign affairs. That lack of innovative thinking, more than anything else, will be their doom next November.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/20/2003 16:27 Comments ||
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#9
Does anybody think that the embarassment about corruption will swollow Roh? If so, will the negotiations be back to square one?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/20/2003 17:29 Comments ||
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Palestinians had little other choice Friday than to call on the international community to speed up implementation of the peace roadmap after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon threatened unilateral measures if the peace process continued to stall.
Well, fancy that. Whoever expected that to happen?
"We must intensify our efforts with the quartet to come up with timetable for the roadmap," said Palestinian negotiations minister Saeb Erekat. "We want the roadmap to be implemented the way it was adopted by the UN Security Council, and the quartet must devise a mechanism to oversee its implementation," said Erakat.
"Yes. Make us do it. But don't go interfering in our internal affairs!"
Sharon told a security conference near Tel Aviv Thursday that he would implement his own "disengagement plan" should the Palestinians not meet their commitments under the roadmap in the coming months. Unilateral measures would include the dismantlement of some Gaza settlements and the de facto annexation of parts of the West Bank, although the hawkish premier did not go into details. Palestinian communications minister Azzam al-Ahmad charged that Sharon wants to execute a roadmap devoid of any substance and one that reflects his own reservations.
The Paleos used the one we came up with for toilet paper. Now they're bitching that Sharon is going to do as he pleases? What'd they expect us to do? Make them a better offer?
"Sharon wants to impose his solution on the Palestinian people by applying his own vision and interpretation of the roadmap. For him, it means autonomy on 42 percent of the Palestinian territories. We asked the quartet ... and the Security Council which adopted it to take their full responsibilities in implementing the plan because they are the only instances that are entitled to interpret it."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 00:17 ||
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What'd they expect us to do? Make them a better offer?
[cue music] "We have a winner!"
I read somewhere recently, in a discussion on World War II, that while Churchill knew exactly what kind of man Hitler was, Hitler never knew what kind of man Churchill was. Churchill could see clearly and think his way through the problem, whereas Hitler was blinded by his ideology and couldn't see Churchill as anything other than a drunken, syphilitic Jew. As a result Churchill always confounded him.
Same thing here: Sharon and his people can see clearly what Arafat, Rantisi, et al are, and can think their way through the problem. Pulling out of Lebanon didn't work, offering them a two-state solution didn't work, so -- onto the next idea, let's see if a wall and a unilateral declaration works. Maybe it will, maybe it won't, but they at least can work through the problem, because they see the nature of the men they face.
Arafat, Rantisi, et al can't do that. They're so blinded by their ideology that they can't see reality. As a result they fully expected us to make a better offer once they rejected the roadmap and continued to send over the splodydopes. And they're flailing now over Sharon's move because they can't figure it out -- why would he do that? They don't know Sharon so they can't get it. Hence their ineffectual moves.
I forsee this going as such: Israel will complete the western, northern and southern ends of the wall, putting it well past the original Green Line. Just as they're about to snap the chalk line for the eastern end of the wall the Paleos will finally see some sense and do a few things to cooperate -- but only a few. Bush and Powell and persaude Sharon not to build the eastern end, and Sharon will agree.
Why? Because he'll have 95% of what he wants, and that's good enough for him.
And the Paleos still won't have gotten the measure of him.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/20/2003 0:40 Comments ||
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#2
Good analysis Steve. I never really thought of it like that, but you make a lot of sense. Have I mentioned lately how much I love Rantburg? This site is the best. In-depth news, smart analysis, and you can even talk back in the comments. Major media is so dead.
#4
Oooh, the title. I envisioned something entirely different from, "Palestinians urge roadmap execution" Like, six turbans with rifles standing in a circle row being cheered by onlookers.
#5
Steve, I think you've nailed it.
It's as if the Paleos keep thinking if they do what they've always done in the past (make a lot of promises, gab about "peace" but keep killing Jews), surely the Israelis will bow to *world* pressure (from you know who: France, Germany, the Left in Britain, etc.) and come back to the negotiating table and get another Oslo or Camp David.
Or that George W. Bush will turn into Bill Clintoon/Jimmuh Peanut.
Neither of which is going to happen.
This is almost as fun as watching the DNC implode here at home. Almost.
#6
Steve, that was *choke* *sniffle* just beautiful man! I would only add, and humbly, that the Paleos don't realize two other things:
1) that they've lost support since those heady days after Oslo. The ISM ptools and St Pancakes and Edward Said (pbuh) types have convinced them they're still the world's darling celebrity cause...
2) Dubya isn't like any other US Prez they've ever manipulated / dealt with and he actually expects something from them before he'll kiss Arafish's ring - and since they won't, he won't
You state the reason for their inability to recognize reality very very clearly: Blinded By The Light of their ideology. Good call, bro. They break my own personal Rule #1: Never buy your own bullshit.
#7
In this case Arafat is particularly limited to react by the illegitimate, corrupt and chaotic nature of his regime. Sharon can change the direction of Israeli policy much more coherently. Arafat will now try to delay Sharon's implementation through different media. It is impossible to outmanuver an opponent when you are in charge of a rabble.
If Bush agrees that Sharon has found the only viable solution, GW will take Lebanon with the USMC to block the flow of weapons and jihadis. If they are complicit Sharon will delay hisplan until Iraq can be held with 50,000 US troops.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/20/2003 10:49 Comments ||
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#8
God Bless General Sharon. Looks like he is in line to win his third war without deploying anything larger than a brigade. Gotta love a man who knows how to fight and win without spilling too much of his citizens' blood.
Man, I wish I was the firm who holds the contract to build this fence. How do they feel about coming to the northern border of the USA and walling us off from Hamas and Canada?
#10
Great analysis, one of the Army of Steves. For my two cents worth, I think that the money has been slowly drying up in Paleo-Land, so it is getting more difficult for the Paleos to keep the momentum up of their attacks. Sammy's contributions are gone, so that leaves Iran and Saudi. They are becoming more and more preoccupied with their own problems. When the Paleos whine and complain, that means that they are hurting. Also, glorious Hamas leaders are hiding under the bed alot lately, so the leadership is lacking.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/20/2003 14:37 Comments ||
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#11
My only concern is the Hague court -- apparently the UN has referred the building of the wall to the court. Although I think the wall is perfectly fine, I'm not sure it'll pass muster with the Axis of Weenies in Europe, and the court will succumb to what the rest of Europe has experienced - placating their growing muslim populus. sigh.
#13
The Paleos still don't get it. Kofi, another Arab, doesn't get it, either. Russia got it, and it led to their collapse. Europe knows it, but pretends it doesn't exist.
If you don't have the means to back up what you say, your words have no more effect than flatulence.
The United States knows this. We have a military that is second to none. The Japanese are beginning to catch on - and doing what it takes to be taken seriously. China tried to trump technology with manpower, and saw the effectiveness of that in Iraq - now they're scrambling to save face.
The United Nations has no means of enforcing its edicts, and is no more than a debating society. The moral judgment argument died when Libya and Syria became heads of organizations that both should have been censured by. The inability of the United Nations to deal - effectively or otherwise - with problems without the FORCE of the United States backing it up destroyed its credibility as a source of solutions. It will now die a long, slow, painful death and wither away. The European "Union" is foundering fast as the different members see how the entire organization is a house of cards designed to prop up its two weakest (morally, economically, ideologically) members.
"Palestine", an Arab myth, is dissolving into a chaotic swirl of partisan bickering and criminal thuggery that will collapse as soon as the outside money finally dries up. As a Futures guess, I'd give it 18 months - about six months after the collapse of support from Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Iran. The support from those countries will dry up with the threat of military action by the United States.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/20/2003 16:41 Comments ||
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#14
Glenn (NR) #12: Israel would be hurt economically if the EU forbade imports from them. Not an insurpassable problem, but potentially a hassle for so small a country.
#17
Planer Dan, I'm sure the "World Court," which is the Left's poor substitute for the ICC,and those who ascribe to it will whine about the security fence all they want, but they have no jurisdiction over the sovereign nation of Israel or PM Ariel Sharon.
Furthermore, Sharon pretty much has President Bush's blessing on everything he's doing.
What can you do about the ", divisive,unilateral" actions of either the USA and/or Israel if you're a member in good standing of the axis of weasels? Bupkus as they say in old Jerusalem!
Curses! Foiled again!
Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said yesterday by signing up to UN snap nuclear checks of its nuclear facilities, Iran showed its atomic ambitions were entirely peaceful.
Always depending on your definition of "peace," of course...
âThey (the US) wanted to accuse Iran of having nuclear weapons, but this has foiled their plots,â the influential ex-president told worshipers at Friday prayers in Tehran, broadcast live on state radio.
Gah! Prunes! My plots have been foiled!
The United States has said Iranâs nuclear program is a smokescreen for a building atomic weapons. Rafsanjani said Iran, which has always said its nuclear scientists are working on ways to meet booming electricity demand, now expected technical assistance with its atomic program. On Thursday, Iran signed an agreement at the International Atomic Energy Agency headquarters in Vienna allowing the UN nuclear watchdog to conduct snap inspections across its territory. The signature to the Additional Protocol to the 1968 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty comes nearly 18 months after an exiled Iranian opposition group sparked an international crisis by saying Tehran was hiding several large nuclear facilities. The allegations proved to be true.
Inconvenient, that...
Rafsanjani cautioned that full approval for the signature would take time. It must be sent to parliament as a bill then approved by the Guardian Council. Analysts say Iranâs reformist government would never have embarked on the deal without the green light from Il Duce Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who has the last word on all state matters.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 00:17 ||
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#1
In other words, they signed a piece of paper but have no intention of abiding by their signature. Same ol same ol...Oh well. Lets get back to them after we finish plugging in all those coordinates for a tomahawk strike.
Posted by: Val ||
12/20/2003 0:21 Comments ||
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#2
I love these guys. Transparent as glass, they think they are so very astute and clever in international affairs, and everyone else is sooo stupid and gullible. Right. We're all fooled.
Methinks it must be the turbans 'n beards -- and hanging out too much at the "F**kin' Duh" UN.
#3
Rafsanjani has got it backasswards. The UN can be counted upon to muck up the inspection process thereby insuring Iran goes forward with it's plans to produce suitcase nukes. In due course the USA will be forced to embark upon regime change in Tehran and scour the country of its nuclear capabilities. Reliance upon the UN and the IAEA is a guarantee of war with Iran in a matter of a few years. I hope it won't be too late.
Posted by: Mark ||
12/20/2003 7:12 Comments ||
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#4
And with the UN's top inspector at the IAEA is a sympathetic Egyptian fellow Muslim sworn to lie to the kufr, how convenient is that? Very.
#5
Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said yesterday by signing up to UN snap nuclear checks of its nuclear facilities, Iran showed its atomic ambitions were entirely peaceful.
Are the hidden nuclear facilities included in these checks? (and there's a likelihood that hidden ones do exist)
Mauritanian judicial police late Thursday accused Libya's secret service of having financed a coup allegedly plotted by former president Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah and 14 others during recent elections. The trial of the former president and the other 14 defendants resumed Thursday despite the absence of key prosecution witnesses. Judicial police chiefs said the alleged coup plot "has been financed by the Libyan special services".
Bad Muammar...
"Everyone in Nouakchott knows it," the police said in a statement late Thursday. Some 904,000 dollars was paid in two installments to Sidi Mohamed Ould Haidallah, son of the former president, and a member of his campaign team, according to the charges.
Yo! Muammar! Over here! I'm open to bribery!
All 15 suspects have entered pleas of not guilty.
"Nope. Nope. Never happened."
Mauritania's current President Maaouiya Ould Taya was re-elected last month. He first came to power in 1984, when he toppled then president Ould Haidallah in a coup. Ould Haidallah, a former army colonel who finished a distant second to Ould Taya in last month's election, was arrested two days after the polls and accused of using the campaign to mask a coup plot.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 00:16 ||
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A court in Rabat has sentenced in absentia five men to 20 years each in prison on "terrorist" charges in connection with suicide attacks in Casablanca in May. The five defendants, who are subject to an international arrest warrant issued by Morocco, include a Briton of Moroccan origin and two men from Arab countries. Their names and countries of origin have not been revealed. The Moroccan-born British man is Mohamed Guerbouz who lives in London.
Well, I'm confused. I thought their names and countries of origin hadn't been revealed? And if they've not been revealed, how are they going to find them? Random samples?
They were sentenced in absentia under the country's anti-terrorism laws for "setting up a criminal association with the aim of preparing and committing terrorist acts, fundraising for terrorist operations and forgery and use of forgeries." Moroccan press reports said one of the five, Moroccan Karim Mejjati, was allegedly involved in setting up "terrorist cells in Morocco and Saudi Arabia."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 00:16 ||
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"And, in other Caliphate League news, the Rabat Regal Beagles traded "Little Mo" Guerbouz, "Kracker" Mejjati and three other Jihadis to be named later to the Infamous Inmates of Warden Wormfood. Film at 11:00."
Sometimes you just want to sit down and weep...
West Africa represents the biggest obstacle to completely eradicating polio on a global scale, the head of the United Nations' Children's Fund UNICEF warns. Carol Bellamy is calling on west African leaders to have all children in the region vaccinated by the end of next year to curb the fast spread of the disease. "Children need vision and decisiveness from their leaders to stop polio before the disease spreads out of control," she told the annual summit of the Community of West African States. Polio has become a political issue in Nigeria, where the central government is having to cope with hostility from Muslim religious leaders to a vaccination campaign in the three northern states of Kano, Kaduna and Zamfara.
Those are the three most blissful areas of Nigeria...
Nigeria overtook India this year to head the world's list of countries registering new cases of polio, with 268 case compared to 204 in India. These two countries and Pakistan have registered 95 per cent of the world's known polio cases, according to World Health Organisation statistics. The disease has started to spread from Nigeria and Niger, where 17 cases were registered this year, to contaminate the neighbouring states of Ghana, Burkina Faso, Chad and Togo. Polio had been declared eradicated in those countries.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/20/2003 00:16 ||
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As a doc I will weep. Just about each of the biggest, best things that have happened in medicine the past 300 years have been in public health. It ain't rocket science folks -- clean water, clean food, sweep up the garbage, process the sewage, quarentine the contagions and vaccinate the population. We got rid of smallpox this way, and we've largely fixed the major infections that were killing people in the Western world in 1903 this way. The Indians are trying at least, but there's no excuse for Pak-land and for West Africa. None.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/20/2003 0:25 Comments ||
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#2
India has at least 30x Nigeria's population, and the same number of infected persons. I'm tired of playing games with idiots. Let them die of ignorance polio, as is their wish...
#5
300 people cases will not sway the Africans. Some African leaders are still arguing about HIV as their people die.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/20/2003 9:26 Comments ||
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#6
What I don't understand is the parents allowing themselves to be bullied (?) by the religious leaders into NOT protecting their children. I kind of agree with Raj when he said to let them die ... as is their wish; except for the children who have made nor cannot make any decision on their own future -- that is the crime that I think the "religious leaders" will have to take to their grave and their afterlife.
Also, there have been some comments about Islam being like the Catholic Church in the Dark Ages. I would like to say, as a practicing Baptist, that I shudder at the excesses of the Church during those times, and I shudder at the white-washing that has gone on in our times; but I still feel that the Church is largely, and at its core, a stalwart beacon of hope for the world. Unfortunately, Islam, from all the history I have read, has been bloody at its edges since its inception -- the only reason anyone has focused on its bloodiness in the past couple of generations has been because of oil and the wealth and influence it provides. If it weren't for the $$$$ from oil, the Saudi, Yemini, and Iran questions would be given the same international headlines as West Africa or Nigeria.
In a post about another subject I discussed the falsifications made by Protestants and enlightened philosophers about Catholic church in the Dark Ages.
#9
I went to school with a friend who had polio, and who had one leg permanently in a metal brace. Polio "season" - from early April through November in Louisiana, was always a time of anxiety. Our school was one of the "test sites" for the "new" Salk/Sabin vaccine, and my parents saw to it that my brother and I "volunteered". My first overseas Air Force assignment was to Panama, where polio was one of a handful of deadly diseases that had to be guarded against. I cannot see how any religion could possibly be against eradicating that kind of suffering. I'm also reminded of the words of Christ: "Whosoever does unto these (speaking of children) does also to me." Unnecessary suffering is not a calamity, it's a crime.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/20/2003 12:13 Comments ||
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#10
JFM, might you link me to this post and comment(s) of yours? I'm particularly interested ...
Posted by: Lu Baihu ||
12/20/2003 13:27 Comments ||
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#11
What I don't understand is the parents allowing themselves to be bullied (?) by the religious leaders into NOT protecting their children. - Sam3 I cannot see how any religion could possibly be against eradicating that kind of suffering. - OP
It's easy. They - the Islamists - have TOLD us, time after time. To them, life on Earth is a punishment, death is a Reward. The sooner you die, preach the clerics, the sooner you reach Paradise and your eternal pleasuring. (Of course, committing suicide to get there sooner is cheating, unless you suicide to kill more of Islam's enemies. In which case, you're rewarded.)
It is post #5 in "Saddam arrest upsets Yemenis" in today's Rantburg.
I will give it some more development here.
1) In Inquisition days the secular courts routinely used torture. Judicial torture was in those days accepted as a legitimate way of searching truth. In fact until torture was discouraged by eclesisatic courts for centuries. It was accepted in 1252, due to influence of ancient Roman law, on the condition that it should cause no permanent harm or death.
Still, Nicolas Eymerich in his manual of inquisition tells it has to be used only in extreme cases and warns about false confessions.
And the reality on the ground? I have no numbers for medieval inquisition but I have some for the Spanish inquisition: before 1500 in Toledo there were five uses of torture on 300 trials, in Valencia on the fifty years between 1480 and 1530 there were twelve uses of torture (that is one every four years) in 2000 trials.
2) Fairness: The accusee was allowed a lawyer, produce favourable witnesses and to name persons who had grudges with him so their testimony would not be taken by the court. In 1235 at Narbonne (France) the regional council asserted that a verdict of guilty could only be pronounced after formal confession or undeniable proofs. It also asserted "better relax a guilty one than condemn an innocent".
4) Death penalty. At the height of the cathar heresy inquistor Bernard Guy pronounced 42 sentences of death. In fifteen years of activity, that is under three a year. That is for medieval inquisition. For the Spanish inquisition. Its creation was in no small way due to the initiative of converted Jews like Pablo de Santa Maria who were tired of being held in suspicion of practcing Judaism secretly. The mission of Spanish inquisition was NOT to go after Jews but after heretic christians and false converts. Most sentences were pretty light (Saint Teresa's grand father who was a converted Jew was sentenced to walk around Toledo's churchs for seven Fridays). Gustav Heningsen studied 50,000 inquisititorial trials and found only 1% death penalties. The "Revue d'etudes juives" (Magazine of Jewish studies) found that the court of Badajoz (Spain) had pronounced around 20 death sentences on 106 years. All in all and for the whole of Spain the number of executions was around 12,000 in 300 years (40 a year). Notice that in protestant Europe there were 50,000 exexcutions and lynchings for witchcracy in 40 years (1250 a year).
Now you can consider that the whole idea of prosecuting people for their religious ideas is barbaric but in Medieval Europe this didn't seem so. And you also have to remember that in several countries of protestant Europe catholic priests were sentenced to death until well into the 19th century.
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.
