The United States helped Qatar to arrest two Russian secret service agents on murder charges, a senior US diplomat said in an interview published on Monday, an admission bound to raise hackles in Moscow. The two Russian intelligence agents, arrested last month, are charged with assassinating a leading Chechen rebel, the former president of the breakaway republic, Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, in the Qatari capital on February 13.
âConcerning the arrest of the Russians, we provided minor technical assistance to Qatar but for the most part, the Qataris acted themselves,â US Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Steven Pifer told the Vremya Novostei daily. Russia has demanded that Qatar free the two Russian agents, denying that they had anything to do with the murder of Yandarbiyev, who died after his car blew up in Doha as he was returning home from Friday prayers. The affair has turned into a full-blown diplomatic row as Moscow in apparent retaliation detained two Qatari citizens in transit on February 26, and is reported to be negotiating for a swap.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
03/23/2004 3:46:57 AM ||
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Is there no American on this planet on the federal payroll who can keep his gawddamned mouth shut? Pifer should be fired, but his kind propably cannot be fired except by a panel of his likeminded, twit peers.
#2
Pifer is most likely the spokesman, it's his job to talk. Read in another story on this that the FBI came in and investigated the explosion for Qatar, remember we have a large base there. The FBI technicial experts just collected info on type of bomb and presented it to the Qataris, they did the rest.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2004 8:29 Comments ||
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#3
I agree with the first comment. Alot of ppl need too keep their mouth shut in the gov.!
#5
The Russians in general and Putin in particular haven't been what I describe as being our friends of late. Maybe this is our subtle way of sending them a message.
The Gitmo circus rolled into London last week on a Royal Air Force C-17, and the sideshow is proving anything but boring.
Five Britons caught in Afghanistan during the war and held by the United States at Guantanamo Bay for two years were welcomed to the U.K. by an army of TV cameras, 72-point headlines, salivating publicists and socialist lawyers hell-bent on exposing Camp Delta as a concentration camp in the tropics.
The former detainees, questioned and immediately released by the U.K. government, dived into the fray with gusto. First out of the gate was Jamal al-Harith, a website designer from Manchester who was known as Ronald Fiddler until he converted to Islam in his 20s. He says he was vacationing in Pakistan after 9/11 when he accidentally crossed the border and got caught up in the madness. (A truck driver offered to take him to Turkey overland, but globetrotter al-Harith was apparently unaware that 1,500 miles of Islamic fundamentalism lay between him and his intended destination.)
Londonâs Daily Mirror touted the WORLD EXCLUSIVE. "Torture in Hell Camp," the headlines screeched. Mysterious injections! Flesh-Carving Metal Shackles! Wire Cages! Rats, Snakes and Scorpions! An "Extreme Reaction Brigade" goose-steps around camp, wading into inmates "in full riot gear, raining blows on them." The food was bad. Cold showers even!
Al-Harith said American hookers were brought to the camp to fondle themselves in front of impressionable young Muslim boys who had never seen an unveiled woman. They were said to be so traumatized they couldnât speak for days. The Mirror swallowed all this without even a hint of scepticism. And why shouldnât they? These were innocent British citizens held prisoner by the evil warmonger in clear violation of their human rights. Besides, the interview was said to have cost them more than $100,000, and boring stories about stale corn flakes and sunburn donât sell papers. Al-Harith is now negotiating a book deal, but his four compatriots are holding out for the really big bucks. They quickly realized that the more lurid their tales, the more money they stand to make.
Terek Dergoul, a 24-year-old who was captured by U.S. forces in the mountains of Tora Bora, teased the tabloids with promises of "explosive" stories about "botched medical experiments." Bidding opened at $350,000. His handlers and publicists were so hungry they started to gnaw on each other. Celebrity publicist Max Clifford, an O.J. veteran hired by Dergoulâs family, was bad-mouthing Louise Christian, a Socialist lawyer who also claimed to be representing him, and vice-versa.
Then there is the so-called "Tipton Three," who flew to Pakistan right after 9/11 for a wedding and were captured while on a "humanitarian mission" to deliver food and water to war-torn villages on the Afghan border. The trio, all of them in their 20s and two of them with criminal records, has hired a "media manager" for story rights said to be worth nearly $2 million. The for-profit stories told by the British detainees differed dramatically from what was coming out thousands of miles away in Afghanistan.
While there were some complaints about physical and emotional abuse, a good number of the 23 Afghan detainees freed at the same time said conditions in Cuba were better than at home in their village. -Snip- details of happy Afghanistanis who say they were treated just fine.
After a few days of dithering and diplomatic denials, the U.S. Embassy in London pulled off the gloves and exposed the British detainees getting all the ink for what they are -- wanna-be jihadis. One of the four was a "weapons-carrying fighter at Tora Bora" who was wounded in a firefight with U.S. troops. The other three, the embassy said in a letter to the Sun, were fighting with a Taliban unit near Konduz when they were captured. None of that seems to matter to the British press. There was a bit of hand-wringing about how the U.K. government could have so quickly released such hardened warriors -- but from the same folks screaming for Justice Now! only days before.
The embassyâs charges were dutifully reported, but with the same weight as the lurid tales of torture in the tropics. Few of the outlets deigned to mention that these young men stand to benefit enormously for their fantastic stories. Why should they? The barkers of Fleet Street have paid good money for stories to validate their anti-war, anti-American politics. Truth be damned.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/23/2004 9:39:51 PM ||
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This is not blood it's, ah... ketchup. Yeah ketchup, that's the ticket.
Posted by: Scott ||
03/23/2004 23:27 Comments ||
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Maybe if the A-D-L USA Team has trouble getting blood everywhere including on other people's hands they ought to stop in at Walgreens. There is an aisle with some Kotex products that might help. I can't believe that Parents expect schools to be passing out information about monthly flows. The schools probably feel that it's the parents responsibility and this poor sap has to get the scoop on Rantburg. Boris get a copy of the V Monologues. I hear it is full of the information you need.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/24/2004 2:34 Comments ||
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The U.S. Navy said it would deploy a guided missile destroyer in the Sea of Japan in September as part of a U.S. effort to deploy an anti-missile shield to protect against attacks from countries like North Korea by the end of 2004. Navy Secretary Gordon England said the destroyer -- equipped to track potential enemy missiles -- would remain in the Sea of Japan "on a virtually continuous basis" as "part of the president's directive to accelerate the fielding of a ballistic missile defense operational capability." Chris Taylor, spokesman for the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency (MDA), said a total of seven Navy destroyers -- including the one in the Sea of Japan -- would be equipped with long-range missile tracking and surveillance capability by the end of 2004. Fifteen would be equipped by early 2006. By the end of 2005, the Navy would have three Aegis cruisers equipped with the Standard Missile 3 system to shoot down short- or medium-range missiles launched against U.S. or allied targets, Taylor said at a conference sponsored by MDA and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Sea of Fire rant in 5..4..3..
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2004 8:41:10 AM ||
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Yet another Tom Clancy moment, as he had the Gettysburg shoot down an ICBM. Of course, he also had an Apache do the same.
#6
"Shield's" isn't a possessive! It doesn't get an apostrophe! Garrrrrr!
Sorry, I just spent eight hours correcting the English of a non-native speaker at her request. But it's kind of nice to know that there might be some protection here, eventually. It's rather strange living in Tokyo...you get the whole "we could be incinerated in minutes if some madman pushes the button" vibe that the rest of the world just doesn't have these days.
Oh, and everything Tom Clancy wrote after his fourth novel stinks. Pulp fiction, indeed.
#7
I've always thought "Without Remorse" was his best work. But the Navy's deploying Aeiges destroyers with the capability to engage at least theater missile threats still makes me wonder why they didn't start building ships along the lines of the Metcalf Class that was talked about 10 years or so ago
His documentary books about the components of the US Armed forces are fascinating, specially the one about the Marines since it is more about the people and the spirit than about equipment.
#9
Clancy's lost his fastball, but I'll always love him for his early works--even though Red Storm Rising almost caused me to flub Contracts I back in law school.
Posted by: Mike ||
03/23/2004 17:29 Comments ||
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Amid my many fevered thoughts on 9/11 was "Tom Clancy predicted almost this very scenario in Executive Orders...!
Loved the TV coverage of him flying around with Rummy right after the attacks.
Posted by: Jen ||
03/23/2004 17:42 Comments ||
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Abdul Salam Zoud, the Lakemba imam who presided over the Islamic union of French terrorism suspect Willy Brigitte and former Australian soldier Melanie Brown, still doesn't buy the Osama bin Laden theory. "He's not a terrorist in my view. I don't believe yet he did what the Americans said. I swear by God, by Allah . . . I reject [bin Laden's culpability in the attacks on the US on September 11, 2001]."
A classified dossier compiled by France's anti-terrorism judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere names Shiek Zoud as the chief recruiter for a terrorist network operating in Australia. The headquarters for this jihad is supposedly the Haldon Street prayer hall, where Sheik Zoud is the spiritual head. He is not the only one questioning the central claims in the French dossier, published in The Daily Telegraph yesterday. Brigitte's lawyer, Jean-Claude Durimel, says allegations his client knew of any terrorist plot to attack Australia were the result of "a lot of imagination. I was at all the interrogations of Mr Brigitte and he has never said he was aware of a project for an attack or whatever."
Sheik Zoud moved on to sermonising, under the Hills Hoist in his south-west Sydney backyard, about Australians' need to work together to fight terrorism. Threatening the cold shoulder for reporters who misquoted or took his words out of context, he answered questions put to him as follows:
Do you think there are any terrorist cells, planning or activities in Sydney?
"No, I don't know anyone. If I know I will tell the government. Do you know why we have to work together to save this country? Because altogether we're living here. It's not good for us, for you, for anyone living here to do anything bad to this government. We left our countries because of all of the problems there, and we move to this safe country to live the rest of our life. I'm against all terrorism over the world. I'm against all terrorism who kill civilian people. Let the Australian people relax. Why everyone make the Australian people scared from the Muslims?"
Are you being investigated by ASIO or the Australian Federal Police?
"They came to me once and asked me a few questions because there other sect of Muslims speak something against us and they come and make sure is it correct or not."
Did they ask about Willy Brigitte?
"No . . . because I didn't do anything wrong. I saw that man Willy Brigitte once, because I'm authorised celebrant. He ask me and I did it, after I check everything. Maybe less than hour."
Abu Dahdah?
"I don't know who is he. Do you think every Muslim knows every Muslim over the world. Do you know all the Christians?"
Why do you think ASIO is interested in you?
"Ask them."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2004 1:08:55 AM ||
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Zoud has learned "Aussie speak" nicely. "Let the Australian people relax . . .Why everyone make the Australian people scared from the Muslms? " (Yeah. Aussies just want to party. No worries! Nothing happened in Bali . . . ) Funny thing to say in a world where he definitely knows that many of his fellow Moslems would terrorize Australia if they could only get the chance. (Who doesn't know that! Especially in Australia?) I just hope Zoud has underestimated the Aussies.
Personal observation: These arab guys love, love, love to talk, talk, talk, and they rely on primitive rhetorical bases for their social manipulations. What they say is geared toward getting an emotional response from the other person.
1) Example: Zoud says "I don't know who he (Abu Dahdah) is. (**here it comes, guys **) Do you think every Muslim knows every Muslim over the world. Do you know all the Christians?"
2) Desired response would be something like: "Well, gee, no I don't Mr. Zoud. And how could I ever have thought that every Muslim knows every Muslim in the world. I see what you mean. Silly me! I'm so stupid. I guess you're okay, Mr. Zoud. Sorry to have troubled you."
3) Key: the questioner never assumed that Zoud would know "every" Muslim in the world. That's not why they asked the question. Zoud uses the question to try and legitimize his supposed innocence and ignorance by "scolding" the questioner and using the scolding as a platform of safety for himself.
I wouldn't be surprised if brainwashed antiwar goes to Zoud's little gig in Sydney.
It pleases neither party: The U.S. will remain cheezed because the Spanish are leaving us in the lurch in Iraq. The turbans will remain cheezed because Afghanistan is home. Trying to have it both way, Señor Z is getting it neither.
There was no reaction from the U.S. Embassy here Tuesday night.
Perhaps a polite sniff, but nothing more.
A traumatized population, hardened by years of regional terrorism but unaccustomed to such slaughter, expects a firm resolve of the government in the fight against terrorism, ElÃas said.
If that was the case, they would have voted for somebody who was doing so...
He pointed out that anti-terrorist measures by successive Spanish governments always garnered majority support in polls. One of the main reasons the war was so unpopular was its perceived lack of international legitimacy, after the U.S. and Britain failed to win support from other members of the UN Security Council last year. By contrast, the international force in Afghanistan has the blessing of the UN and operates under NATO command. In August, the European Unionâs chief military arm, Eurocorps, is expected to take command. With the UN, NATO and the EU on board, increasing the Spainâs 125-strong contingent in Afghanistan would be a far easier sell than Iraq, ElÃas said.
Maybe increasing it to 15 or 20,000 troops would do it. Nothing less than a division.
#1
I suggested the other day that the 1,300 troops pulled from Iraq should be sent to Afghanistan.
Posted by: Tibor ||
03/23/2004 23:00 Comments ||
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Bah, the contribution of 1300 troops is almost irrelevant. Their participation in Iraq is symbolic of Spain's support for a democratic Iraq and for the US foreign policy. Moving them to Afghanistan is better than nothing but mostly pointless.
#3
No, moving the troops to Afghanistan is not pointless. It's point is to say Spain is still a team player in the War on Terror and that the War on Iraq is not part of the War on Terror.
Zappo needs to spend some time in the penalty box and step 1 should be telling him he should take his 1,300 troops and protect the trains in Madird. We can handle out of country activity without those who cannot be fully inovlved in the WoT.
Posted by: Mr. Davis ||
03/23/2004 23:32 Comments ||
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Heck, let'em send those boys to Afghanistan if he wants. If they really want to put their money where their mouth is they can hook up w/the Pak military and go on a mountain terrain appreciation tour looking for Binny and dealing w/the local tribesmen. A battalion of troops was just symolism anyways in Iraq, not going to break our bank pulling them in reality. The principle of it is another matter though I agree.
... There is evidence, for example, that the Madrid bombers may have learned from the past successful efforts of Chechen terrorists. Chechens have used nearly every conceivable tactic to inflict maximum damage: from suicide bombers blowing themselves up on commuter trains during the morning rush hour to planting bombs on railway tracks in the proximity of crowded stations. ....
Significantly, a now-dismantled Al-Qaeda cell that was based in Madrid and actively helped in the planning of 9/11 had several key links to Chechen extremists. In fact, Imad Eddine Barakat Yarkas, the now incarcerated leader of the cell, is accused by Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon of having recruited several militants to train and fight in Chechnya alongside Al Qaeda. Moreover, Yarkas coordinated fundraising efforts within the Madrid Muslim community for Chechen âfreedom fighters.â
Abu Qatada, a Palestinian cleric who Spanish authorities have described as âAl-Qaedaâs spiritual leader in Europe,â coordinated the Chechen fundraising from London. Yarkas frequently traveled to London to give funds collected in Spain to Abu Qatada, and, on at least one occasion, was accompanied by Said Chedadi, another member of the Madrid cell involved in fundraising for the âChechen brothers.â Chedadi is known to have been close to Mohammed Chaoui, one of the three Moroccan men arrested on March 13 by Spanish authorities for their involvement in the deadly Madrid bombings. Another Moroccan alleged to be involved in the bombings, Jamal Zougam, was found with several tapes about jihad in Chechnya, when Spanish authorities searched his Madrid apartment in July of 2001. ....
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
03/23/2004 7:09:47 AM ||
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The March 11 train attacks in Madrid, which killed some 200 people in Europe's worst act of terror in over a decade, have rocketed terrorism to the top of the EU's agenda, surpassing all talk of budgets and constitutions. Meeting in Brussels on Monday, foreign ministers for the 25 current and soon-to-be EU members made it clear the bloc aims to get tough on terror.
"Yeah! Ain't nobody tough on terror like us!"
"It is vital to boost coordination, both within the EU and with third parties," the foreign ministers agreed, confirming they had approved measures already debated by interior ministers in hastily-convened talks last Friday.
You "boost coordination" by having a lot of meetings. They teach that in management schools.
But Monday's statements went beyond just rhetoric. In an uncharacteristic move linking trade and aid with political compliance, the foreign ministers warned partner countries outside the bloc that their economic relations with the EU would suffer if they failed to cooperate in the fight against terrorism. The ministers referred to the fight against terror as "a key element of political dialogue" with non-EU countries, including those in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Those whose cooperation in fighting terrorism was deemed insufficient would risk loosing aid and trade with the economically powerful EU, the ministers wrote in a draft declaration on terrorism after the meeting.
"Maybe we'll cut back on NGOs, too? So whaddya think about them apples?... No! Not the pictures of the starving kiddies with the flies walking on their faces! Pleeze!
To some extent, the Europeans have already begun implementing the tough talk by suspending free-trade negotiations with Iran until the government comes clean on its nuclear weapons program. And an impending aid and trade deal with Syria hinges on Damascus accepting an anti-terrorism clause.
Yep. That'll do it. Make 'em sign a document before you give them things. Maybe you should hold a meeting with them?
#1
But Monday's statements went beyond just rhetoric. In an uncharacteristic move linking trade and aid with political compliance, the foreign ministers warned partner countries outside the bloc that their economic relations with the EU would suffer if they failed to cooperate in the fight against terrorism.
ooooh..."tough action"....they warned them. If you don't stop that, one of these days you are going to be grounded, Buster!
Overall this seems like a good deal for Jacques. If he can shut down the legal aid and trade that goes through the front door, he can make bigger profits by running things through the backdoor, like he did with Sadaam.
#2
In a gesture towards Washington, which has only warmly greeted Europe's efforts to crack down on terrorism, the ministers agreed to push forward plans to introduce biometric data in passports by 2006, instead of the initially scheduled 2007
In a gesture towards Washington??? That says a lot, doesn't it. They aren't doing something meaninful for themselves, this is just a bone to Washington.
A powerful makeshift bomb discovered in a Moscow region apartment Friday failed to detonate after a watch timer malfunctioned, Russian media reported Monday. A cleaning lady in Lyubertsy, just east of Moscow, discovered the explosive device, made up of 18 rocket-propelled grenades attached to a detonator, Kommersant newspaper reported. The bomb was packed into a large suitcase at 52 Ulitsa Kirova, apartment 84, Kommersant reported. Local police and the Federal Security Service declined to comment on the incident Monday, confirming only that a criminal case had been initiated on charges of terrorism.
The men who rented the apartment where the bomb was found were Chechens who had lived there for only a few days and moved out last week, Gazeta reported, citing residents of the building. A cleaner discovered the suitcase Friday afternoon after the men moved out, Kommersant reported. According to the attached timer, the bomb inside was set to go off at 11:00 a.m., the paper said. The cleaner promptly notified the police, who arrived at the scene with FSB bomb disposal experts and began evacuating residents from the building. The bomb failed to explode due to a faulty Casio watch timer, the report said, citing FSB and police sources. The residents were able to return to their apartments only later that evening.
Chechen rebel leader Shamil Basayev has claimed responsibility for the bomb attempt, and FSB officers believe Basayev may have sent the two men presumed to have left the bomb, Kommersant reported. In a March 9 posting on the web site, a Chechen rebel group calling itself Shamil Basayev's Riyadus-Salikhin martyrs' brigade said it was preparing a series of attacks on pipelines, electrical substations and other infrastructure targets in the Moscow area. FSB and police sources cited by Kommersant said that the explosives found in Lyubertsy were likely part of an arsenal intended for sabotaging gas and power facilities, rather than for blowing up the apartment building. But with police closing in, the rebels decided to shape them into one large bomb before leaving, Kommersant reported.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2004 12:55:09 AM ||
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You can see the bomb makers having a fun discussion along the lines of, "should we cancel the cleaning lady??"...ha hah, ...."no, we're going to need her, this place is going to be a real mess " hahahhha!!
...Obviously, if Saddam were still around, he would have been the first to punish the audacious government in Madrid. But the master of the Iraqi Baathists is no more, awaiting a tribunal for his war crimes. So who else wanted to punish the Spaniards for daring to send their soldiers to Mesopotamia to participate in Iraqi regime change? Letâs refine the question: Who feared regime change in Iraq, so much so that they would rather strike first and provoke a regime change in Madrid â possibly as a prelude to others in London and Washington? In crude words, who would go so far as wishing, let alone acting, for events that would bring down one of the partners of the Coalition-of-the-Willing?
<SMALL>BIG SNIP!!!
Therefore, the election results -- the defeat of Aznarâs party -- if anything, tells us the following:
1) The Spanish government entered a war that it understood by itself, but didnât explain the legitimacy of that military intervention to its own public thoroughly enough. Until last Thursday, Prime Minister Aznar took a huge risk by heading toward the elections with a big hole in his public support for the war -- a hole to be exploited by his enemies and the enemies of the coalition he belongs to.
2) By not educating his constituency, the Aznar cabinet opened its flanks to the media-intellectual establishment for surprise attacks and mobilization. If I were Prime Minister of a country with allegedly 90% of its citizens demonstrating against the involvement in Iraq, I would leave everything aside and spend the rest of my mandate doing teach-ins on national TV and public squares. I wonât rely on the mercy of the Jihad lobbies, nor the busy schedule of al Qaeda in hopes that my weak political position wouldnât be exploited.
3) Presumably, one of the reasons why the conservative cabinet of Spain didnât engage in mass campaigns of information and communication about the root causes of Jihad terrorism was the bad advice it received from its own advisors. The tremendous amount of Wahabi-based business in Spain -- from the castles of Malaga and Marbella to downtown Madrid -- outweigh Spainâs strategic choices. Arab regimesâ networking, including those of Syria and others, overwhelmed the countryâs national security considerations. Spain was indeed an ally of the US in the campaign against terrorism, but limited in some respects. Here is an example:
BIG SNIP
Posted by: Anonymous2U ||
03/23/2004 12:12:08 AM ||
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interesting article. But a bit too late now. As they say, hindsight is 20/20.
#3
"The Spanish government entered a war that it understood by itself, but didnât explain the legitimacy of that military intervention to its own public thoroughly enough..."
Blame Aznar all you want, but he cast only one vote. The Spanish sheeple cast the rest...
Polish authorities questioned three Pakistanis and a Ukrainian Monday about possible terrorist links after finding maps in one of the men's apartments with large circles around the capital's only synagogue and an area housing many embassies.
That would tend to raise suspicions a tad.
The men were taken into custody amid heightened security after the bombings in Madrid, and police were investigating whether they were involved in terrorism or other criminal activity, said police spokeswoman Grazyna Puchalska. "This detention is the effect of police and other services being especially alert due to a potential terrorist threat," Puchalska told The Associated Press. Police said the men ranged in age from 32 to 59, but would not release their names or further details. The men were taken into custody Sunday after Warsaw police spotted one of the Pakistanis behaving suspiciously near the capital's main train station and asked for his documents, police spokesman Marcin Szyndler said. The man said the documents were at his apartment. When police went there, they encountered two other Pakistanis and a Ukrainian man, Szyndler said.
Excellent! Alert copper!
A search of the premises turned up tourist maps of Poland with large parts of the city marked by wide circles, including around an area with the capital's only synagogue and an area housing many embassies, Szyndler said. He emphasized that no individual sites were marked. After a day of vigorous questioning with truncheons, Puchalska said there was still no concrete evidence they were planning an attack. "We cannot confirm at this point whether these people will be charged with terrorism or criminal activity or will not be charged at all," she said. Still, Polish authorities contacted police in several countries and the European police agency Europol and were checking all items found on the men to determine "who they are and what they are doing in Poland," said Pawel Chojecki, another police spokesman.
"Um, we're tourists!"
"We don't believe you."
"Um, we're businessmen!"
"We don't believe that either."
"Um, we're here to pray to the Blessed Virgin!"
"That's it! Marcin, hand me the large truncheon!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/23/2004 11:26:48 PM ||
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that girl in the red bikinni needs to rethink her wardrobe.
Excerpts. And a fine, workmanlike job it is...[Hilited sections Michele's. not mine]
The Israelis repeatedly threaten to murder Yasser Arafat. It's getting to be a habit.
Yea, the U.S. and Israel just won't stop trying to kill those damn terrorists and their leaders.
No one has begun to work out the implications of all this. For years, there has been an unwritten rule in the cruel war of government-versus-guerrilla. You can kill the men on the street, the bomb-makers and gunmen, but the leadership was allowed to survive. Now all has changed utterly. Anyone who advocates violence - even if they are palpably incapable of committing it - are now on a death list. So who can be surprised if the rules are broken by the other side?
What the hell? I had to read that three times to make sure I wasn't misinterpreting his words. Let's see if I got this: Israel has upped the ante because they actually killed the leader of a terrorist group instead of his minions. They killed the mastermind behind the deaths of hundreds of children, the icon of all suicide bombers, and somehow they have broken the rules? I get it. Israel should not have targeted Yassin because the poor guy is a cripple and, while he can certainly come up with plans and direct his people to carry those plans out, he can't actually, you know...pull the trigger. So he should just get a pass. As for the rules being broken by the other side, I guess the bombing of buses filled with school children was on that list of "things that are ok to do."
The top guys are now in the firing line. Let us not say we didn't know.
They've always been in the firing line, you idiot. Even Fisks's beloved terrorists want to kill Bush. Hell, they would probably line up Rice, Rumsfeld and Ashcroft against the wall if they could. Just shoot them all, one at a time, while their followers danced in the streets.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2004 5:02:01 PM ||
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the bad guys don't play by these rules
Osama had one plane try to hit the Pentagon E ring and another that was supposed to hit the White House or Congress; Saddam tried to have Bush 41 killed. An Israeli cabinet minister was assasinated.
Hypocrisy? Naaaaahhhhhh
WASHINGTON - The White House, seeking to cool criticism from a former top anti-terror adviser, said Tuesday that Richard Clarkeâs resignation letter praised President Bushâs "courage, determination, calm and leadership" on Sept. 11, 2001.
"It has been an enormous privilege to serve you these last 24 months," said the Jan. 20, 2003, letter from Clarke to Bush. "I will always remember the courage, determination, calm, and leadership you demonstrated on September 11th." The letter was stamped "the president has seen" the next day.
Clarke, who left the Bush administration in March 2003 after 30 years in government service and 11 years at the White House, has written a book in which he criticizes the president and his administration for ignoring repeated warnings about al-Qaida before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and acting ineffectively afterward, primarily because of a preoccupation with Iraq.
On Monday, the day Clarkeâs "Against All Enemies: Inside Americaâs War on Terror" hit stores and the day after he promoted it in an interview with CBSâ "60 Minutes," the White House went to great lengths to dismiss Clarkeâs accusations. Administration officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, appeared on television and radio to argue that Clarke was inaccurate, politically motivated, disgruntled over bureaucratic changes that reduced his influence, merely trying to sell books â or all four at once.
That White House campaign continued Tuesday with the release of Clarkeâs letter announcing his intention to step down.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan suggested Clarkeâs praise belies his later criticism of Bushâs handling of the crisis.
"At this time period, when he was leaving, there was no mention of the grave concerns he claims to have had about the direction of the war on terrorism, or what we were doing to confront the threat posed by Iraq, by the former regime," McClellan said.
But the letter contains no praise of Bushâs anti-terror actions before or after the attacks â only on the day of. Clarke does commend Bush for his "intuitive understanding" of the importance of cybersecurity.
Clarkeâs job as the White Houseâs counterterrorism chief was split in two early in the Bush White House, with Clarke put in charge of cybersecurity and others brought in for the anti-terror role.
"You had prescience in creating the position of Special Adviser to the President for Cyberspace Security and I urge you to maintain that role in the White House," Clarke wrote.
Also, even though the White House argued that Clarkeâs memoir was released to do the maximum political damage to Bush in a presidential election year, McClellan would not say when the required national security review of the book was completed, allowing its publication to proceed. Publications by administration officials are routinely vetted to make sure that nothing is released that compromises classified information or national security.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/23/2004 7:34:15 PM ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2004 11:10 ||
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"The people of Madrid are reaping the fruits of our intolerance towards those of different races and religions."
What the Hell sort of banana oil is this moron flogging?
What else but "intolerance" should be shown for any race or culture that joyously embraces terrorism? The war on terror has nothing to do with race or culture. It's all about the terrorism, stupid.
"Jen, only when and if he is ever properly elected will I then be grudgingly obliged to address him as you wish I would. His intentional blurring of the separation between church and state while simultaneously attempting to constitutionalize discrimination gets nothing but scorn from me.
Thank goodness we live in a country where we can disagree on this matter. Please know that you indeed have the privilege to dislike me for what I say, that is entirely your right. Understand one thing though, I don't do this to intentionally anger or offend you or anybody else.
As a proud American I cannot abide the White House's ham-fisted tampering with both the duties of executive office or our beloved constitution. Whatever proper intransigence might be shown for terrorism (as is demanded of all worthy commander in chiefs) still in no way confers any right to enshrine religious commandment as constitutional law, especially not in a nation wholly founded upon secular ideals. This is what he's attempting and my own ethicality demands that I consider it to be nothing less than malfeasance of office. Hence my scorn."
Oh, Dumpster, you're a treasure.
What a load of juicy bullshit.
He IS the duly elected President of the United States, fucktard. Proof that all else you may say is at the very least suspect, if not outright total fucking bullshit. You're full of shit.
Your notion that he is "constitutionalizing discrimination" is truly insane. Proof? You're full of shit.
You provide no proof of any "ham-fisted" actions - or anything even remotely associated. You're full of shit.
As an atheist, I know he has not done anything that hasn't been done before for the last 30 years to "enshrine religious commandment as constitutional law". I most certainly would've noticed. You're full of shit.
The phrase "my own ethicality demands that I consider it to be nothing less than malfeasance of office" is so utterly asinine and disingenuous as to be breathtaking. You couldn't prove any aspect of that charge if your worthless life depended upon it. You're full of shit.
It is clear that you're one thoroughly conflicted and fucked up induhvidual - and given your comments, so anti-Bush that you'd remove him from office if you could. You obviously think President Gore is being denied his constitutional rights. You're fucking insane. It is not unreasonable to presume you will vote against Bush, therefore, so you are in league with the enemy - there is no sane RBer who could possibly
believe Skeery would be worth warm spit in the Wot - your pathetic little aside about Commanders in Chief notwithstanding. You are unbelievably amazingly self-defeatingly massively full of shit.
#3
Dotcom, I changed my mind--You're right about how the high-flown language and the pendantic tone.
Given that, plus his penchant for wanting to impeach President Bush and I'd say that Dumpster is....JOHN DEAN or Ramsey Clark.
Take your pick.
(Notice how we've lost all the ADL trolls but managed to pick up this asshat who's so infinitely more "reasoned" and "civil" in tone than the hate-spewing anti-Semites like Boris? Coincidence?)
Posted by: Jen ||
04/05/2004 2:10 Comments ||
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#4
Mebbe they had a Grand Jirga and tapped this twit to be their Designated Troll, heh!
He's certainly patient, spell-checking everything before posting and using decent syntax... he even thunk up his own posting format
-------------------------------------------------
so he could look distinctive.
I high-class Troll, indeed! We should feel "honored" eh?
In the wake of this month's train bombings in Madrid, the United States plans to tighten security on trains and mass transit systems by testing a program to screen passengers and their bags and expanding the use of bomb sniffing dogs. "We are adding several new layers of security that we believe will help reduce vulnerabilities to our systems and make commuters and transit riders more secure aboard our nation's trains and subways," Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told a news conference on Monday. "The bombings in Madrid are a solemn reminder that terrorists continue to expose and exploit our vulnerabilities," he said of the March 11 attacks on four commuter trains that killed more than 200 people and injured about 1,800. Ridge said his agency has already asked subway systems, commuter and freight rail networks and Amtrak to maintain a heightened state of alert. But a central challenge is to balance the ease of U.S. rail travel, where passengers currently are not subjected to any security checks, with the need for practical and affordable countermeasures. Ridge's announcement came one day before senior homeland security and rail officials are scheduled to testify before a Senate committee that is pressing for increased rail security.
Impeccable timing, Tom, almost as if you'd planned it.
Ridge offered no cost estimates for the new initiatives but defended his agency's handling of rail security. The additional security measures will include a pilot program to test the feasibility of screening passengers and their bags for explosives on commuter and Amtrak trains. Ridge said the program would not be similar to the multibillion-dollar system developed at U.S. airports since the Sept. 11 attacks. A government source said security officials would try screening technologies this spring to see what works best and would initially limit the program to one station.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/23/2004 11:15:14 PM ||
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#1
Looks like I'm going to have to scale back my train watching.
#3
The money and effort that is being invested in this futile program would be much better invested in the Immigration and Naturalization Service. It's much easier to keep Moslem terrorists from passing through our country's relatively few points of entry than it is to keep them from entering every train car everywhere in the United States. Let's focus our security dollars on keeping Moslem riffraff out and deporting the Moslem riffraff that's already here.
Deport Moslems here on student visas who aren't studying full-time. Deport Moslems on business visas who aren't conducting legal business. Deport Moslems on tourist visas caught sneaking around photographing potential targets. Deport Moslems whose passports are expired. Deport Moslems staying here in fictitious marriages. Deport Moslems seeking political asylum who can't prove any political persecution.
Let these deportees go back to their home countries and tell their fellow Moslems: Americans aren't busy futilely screening train passengers, they're busy deporting Moslems because of our futile Moslem terrorism.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
03/23/2004 8:34 Comments ||
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Oh, and I forgot, deport Moslems working here illegally.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
03/23/2004 8:38 Comments ||
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Mike S., right on. I'd say deport any other riff-raff to boot. We've been way too easy on illegal immigrants of all backgrounds. Get rid of the biggest pos's first then work case by case for the true charity cases. Also, close out the loophole where those born in the U.S. by illegals makes the offspring a citizen.
#6
Speaking of loopholes - excellent point Jarhead! Those children born in the US to non-US citizens, illegal or not, being granted American citizenship is idiotic.
The idea that illegals can hide out until they can pop a kid - which is really only the last couple of months or less - and then emerge to have the kid declared an American is insane. If we have any immigration specialists, perhaps they will tell us about the illegal game once you have an "American" in your immediate family.
Connected / monied people the world over play this game - legally... sort of. They get into the US on something that allows them at least 3 months - regular visitor visas work for this - and hang out til delivery.
The Saudis told me it was best to go by the 6th month, when the mother could still hide the pregnancy easily under her abaya (the black ninja tent the women wear) - and I'm not sure if they even have to hide it, but this is what the guys I knew told me was standard procedure in the game. Then chill til delivery, pop the kid, get the paperwork, and take their "American" home. It can be arranged to be "assigned" to a US work-training program with one of the numerous US / UK companies who suck up to the Saudis - if you're connected. Happened all the time with Aramco and US Oil companies. It amounted to a one year (on avg) paid shopping vacation in the US. Making a kid while you were over was common. There are THOUSANDS of US Passport-carrying children belonging to Aramco Saudis.
Of course all of the people who do this can come back any old time they want - accompanying their "American" relative. Wotta joke.
A U.S. general on Monday found a Muslim Army chaplain who ministered to terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay guilty of committing adultery and storing pornographic images on a government computer. Army Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, at the end of an hour-long administrative hearing in Arlington, Virginia, issued a reprimand against Capt. James Yee, but the general's verdict did not represent a criminal conviction. In fact, the Army on Friday dropped all criminal charges against the 36-year-old West Point graduate, abandoning an espionage case that started with his arrest last September and at one time included accusations in court documents of spying, mutiny, sedition, aiding the enemy and espionage. Miller commands the task force overseeing the prison at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the United States holds roughly 610 foreign terrorism suspects. Yee worked with prisoners there for 10 months. Yee's civilian lawyer, Eugene Fidell, said he plans to appeal Miller's decision to Army Gen. James Hill, head of Miami-based U.S. Southern Command, responsible for Guantanamo Bay operations. "This officer is the victim of an incredible drive-by act of legal violence," Fidell told reporters, referring to Yee, who worked at Guantanamo for 10 months.
Either that or he's one lucky fella.
"General Miller perhaps was too close to this entire matter. After all, he was the fellow in charge at Guantanamo Bay,. And perhaps somebody with more distance would be able to bring a fresh look to the matter," Fidell said.
It's called a "chain of command."
In brief remarks to reporters, Yee said "of course I'm disappointed in the outcome," but he expressed thanks to his supporters "here and abroad."
"Abroad"? Is it too late to change our minds?
In dropping all six criminal counts against Yee -- including mishandling of classified information and the lesser adultery and pornography charges -- the Army said it could not proceed with charges due to "national security concerns that would arise from the release of the evidence" against Yee. Lt. Col. Bill Costello, a spokesman for Southern Command, said the Army decided to seek punishment against Yee through an administrative hearing on adultery and pornography allegations because such a case does not "require the introduction of evidence that would have compromised national security." Fidell renewed his demand that the U.S. military apologize to Yee for making "allegations that have tarnished this individual's reputation irreparably."
Not a chance given what the good spokesman just said.
Miller considered evidence on whether Yee had an extramarital sexual affair with a female officer at Guantanamo and stored pornographic images on a government computer. Fidell also objected during the hearing, held in a cramped conference room, to the fact that Army authorities gave him only three days' notice of the hearing and provided him the evidence against his client just 20 minutes before the hearing started. During a hearing in December, military prosecutors produced witnesses including Lt. Karyn Wallace, who testified that she and the married chaplain had a sexual affair. Yee did not speak in his own defense during the so-called Article 15 hearing, reserved for minor offenses in the military which do not involve criminal charges. Miller also had the option to subject Yee to confinement to quarters for 30 days or restricted movement for 60 days, and forfeiture of half his pay for two months. He opted to impose only a written reprimand that goes into Yee's permanent military record. Yee was arrested last September in Florida as he returned from Guantanamo. He spent 76 days in a Navy brig but the Army failed to follow through with formal espionage-related charges.
Will this guy be smart and resign?
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/23/2004 11:10:05 PM ||
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#1
If I were this guy, I'd be more worried about the terrorists than anything else. Obviously, the man sang a pretty song. Whassat? Did you hear that? Hey Yee, just cause you are paranoid......
#2
I feel for the Army investigators. This is a lot like the Wen Ho Lee case - if money doesn't change hands, or the plaintiff hasn't been photographed sleeping with a known enemy operative, it's hard to prove espionage. As a Muslim, he hangs out with Muslims as a matter of course. Is he dirty? Not being an investigator, I'm not in a position to judge. But the lack of evidence acceptable in a courtroom doesn't mean he's innocent.
#3
There is a very good article over at Reason on this issue. From the information provided in their account it looks like the Army screwed up big time and doesn't want to admit it. I am a veteran and don't lightly disparrage the military but it does look like they really bungled this one.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/23/2004 12:15 Comments ||
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Deacon, I know they (the left) really want to paint the Army as bumbling fools, but more likely they let Capt Yee off to get bigger fish. As a matter of practice most US Military personnel DON'T travel back-and-forth between Egypt and Syria with classified information on them. If Capt Yee was TOTALLY clean, you can bet that CAIR and their ilk would be all over this case. This case had EVERY indication that Capt Yee cut a deal to get off. We probably won't know the full details beause the Egyptians rarely tell the U.S. press when they whack Islamists (but they do).
EFL from Tech Central. For non-Americans this might be provide some background on why we change our minds some much. The viewpoints of many Americans are a quilt of several of these thinkers. MTV and Sponge Bob Square Pants heavily influence other Americans. I offer no explanation for the incomprehensible viewpoint of Boris, Holocaust Deniers and Idotarians - they are un-American.
Sorry, for the length. A further warning - this is not mucky material. Fred, can or edit this as you see fit. It interested me but may bore others.
Are the Jacksonians Sated? By Michael J. Totten
A curious thing seems to have happened since Saddam Husseinâs regime was overthrown in Iraq. America no longer feels like a country at war. It isnât over by a long shot. Thereâs a bloody insurgency around Baghdad that still needs putting down. Al Qaeda is still out there somewhere, sinister and nebulous as ever. Afghanistan is mostly lawless, and weâre still exchanging barbs with Iran and North Korea. But it feels different now. The barbarous acts of terror in Madrid had a far greater impact in Europe than in America. The Terror War has the vibe of a stand-off and a waiting game, not a shooting war. Iraq is ramshackle but free. Saddam Hussein is in prison. Osama bin Laden may be hiding under a rock somewhere, but most of us donât fear heâs going to blow up our office on Monday. Terror alerts may resume. Suicide bombs may continue exploding in Baghdad. Coalition forces may take still more casualties. But the first stage of the war against terrorism is finished.
In 1999 Walter Russell Mead wrote a celebrated essay for The National Interest called The Jacksonian Tradition where he described what he calls the four foreign policy traditions in the United States; Jacksonian, Wilsonian, Hamiltonian, and Jeffersonian. Jeffersonians are principled pacifists. Hamiltonians seek a stable and orderly world made secure for the global economy. Wilsonians build international institutions that promote freedom and human rights. They also fight for a world thatâs safe for democracy. And finally there are Jacksonians, who are isolationist in peace time and ruthless in war time.
Jacksonians, when roused, fight unflinchingly to the finish. The very idea of a limited war is anathema. They demanded the unconditional surrender of Germany and Japan in World War II, and they hardly blinked an eye at the nuclear annihilation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Their complaint about the Vietnam War is that we didnât fight to win, not that we stayed on too long. When the first President Bush left Saddam Hussein in power after routing him in Kuwait, Americans of the Jacksonian persuasion were deeply unsatisfied.
After September 11, 2001, pin-point air strikes against terrorist camps in Afghanistan would have been woefully inadequate. Nothing short of the overthrow of the Taliban was acceptable. Though regime-change in Iraq was the brainchild of hawkish Wilsonian intellectuals, Jacksonians lent their support instinctively and overwhelmingly. They would no longer tolerate violations of the 1991 cease-fire they never thought Saddam deserved in the first place. Most Jacksonians donât even know theyâre Jacksonians. They run on instinct, not ideology. They donât belong to a movement or an intellectual school of thought. They share a common temperament. Populist, independent, and fiercely patriotic. Rugged, self-reliant, and reflexively anti-authoritarian. Theirs is a cultural legacy from the frontier days. You can find them among gun enthusiasts in the countryside, middle-class home owners in the suburbs, and black neighborhoods in the cities.
President Bushâs Middle East strategy is Wilsonian idealism in Jacksonian costume. Rhetorical flourishes like "good riddance" and "dead or alive" play well among Jacksonians, even as it drives more genteel Wilsonians and Jeffersonians to distraction. Jacksonianism is the most publicly reviled of the four traditions. It often comes across as simple-minded, crude, and even brutish to Americans who adhere to one of the other three. Itâs the Jacksonian tradition European elites have in mind when they carp about gun-boat diplomacy and cowboy unilateralism. Yet without the Jacksonian spirit, America would not have defeated Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, or the Soviet Union. We would not be a super-power at all. Itâs understandable why so many intellectuals scoff at Jacksonian attitudes as crude and unsophisticated. But Jacksonians arenât supposed to be societyâs brain. They are its muscle and it guts.
Mead says their support in foreign policy is absolutely crucial. "The United States cannot wage a major international war without Jacksonian support; once engaged, politicians cannot safely end the war except on Jacksonian terms." Presidents Jimmy Carter and Lyndon Johnson offended Jacksonians with their half-measures against Iran and North Vietnam. Jacksonians punished George McGovernâs anti-war presidential campaign in 1972 by re-electing Richard Nixon in a landslide. The first President Bush lost a great deal of Jacksonian respect when he left Saddam Hussein in power after the Gulf War.
Now that Saddam Hussein and the Taliban have been routed, the Jacksonians have mellowed. There isnât much of a push to open another front in a third country. They will remain mostly satisfied unless and until another violent event riles them up again. It could be another attack on America or one of our allies. Perhaps the wrong regime will acquire nuclear weapons. Maybe a moderate Muslim government will be overthrown by Islamofascist insurgents. Until then, theyâre on hold. They sharply criticized the Spanish retreat from Iraq, but they have little specific to say in our own foreign policy debate. They arenât interested in the UN, multilateralism, democracy promotion, nation-building, or any other grand strategy. They are reactive, not proactive, and they are waiting to see who has the guts to mess with us next.
For most people, Jeffersonian pacifism is unthinkable after 9/11. Hamiltonian economic globalism is barely relevant to the problem of terrorism and Middle Eastern fanaticism. Now that Jacksonians are on the sidelines, post-Saddam foreign policy is ceded by default to the Wilsonian school. Yet Wilsonianism itself has two separate wings, and the 2004 election is the battleground. Woodrow Wilson was a Democrat. Most Wilsonians are liberals. But the two wings of his namesakeâs tradition straddle todayâs political divide. Neoconservatives are on the right, but they are neither Jacksonians nor Hamiltonians as one might expect. They are aggressive, hawkish, and forward-thinking Wilsonians. As Woodrow Wilson sent American troops to Europe to make the world safe for democracy, the neoconservatives push to liberalize and democratize the Middle East.
The Democrats, insofar as they have a foreign policy, stress the importance of multilateralism and the United Nations. This, too, is Wilsonian. Though Woodrow Wilson had nothing directly to do with it, the UN was created as a post-World War II improvement on his failed League of Nations that came before it.
So it really does seem that Wilsonâs ideas have won out. The argument now is about how to implement his vision. Should we coast along on the Wilsonian momentum from the past, as the Democrats wish to do? Or should we start on new projects, like democracy in the Middle East and reforming the UN, as the neoconservatives prefer? John Kerry and George W. Bush are tied in the polls. It appears we could go either way, that the 2004 election might settle it.
But this is an illusion. Mead writes, "although Wilsonians, Jeffersonians and the more delicately constructed Hamiltonians do not like to admit it, every American school needs Jacksonians to get what it wants." If Mead is right, and history suggests that he is, Jacksonians will end the current standoff as soon as theyâre heard from again.
Neoconservative Wilsonian hawks easily found Jacksonian support in their quest to oust Saddam Hussein. Jacksonians respond to more dovish Wilsonians like John Kerry with indifference when they donât feel at risk, and with contempt when they feel we are in danger. Dovish Wilsonians will have as hard a time winning the Terror War as theyâll have winning the hearts and minds of Jacksonians. The armies of a terror-sponsoring state can be contained easily enough. But terrorists themselves canât be contained or deterred. UN resolutions will have no effect whatever on the fascistic political ideologies running rampant in the Middle East that spawn the terror threat in the first place.
If the dovish Wilsonians carry the argument in the short run, it will only take that much longer for Middle Eastern countries (aside from Iraq) to get the reform they need -- not only for their sake, but for ours. The terror culture in Syria, the West Bank, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan will continue to fester and even grow. The threat to America and our allies will not abate. Then Al Qaeda or some other terrorist gang will hit us again.
They will probably hit us again either way. Lord knows theyâre trying. When it happens, Jacksonian rage will crush the dovish wing of Wilsonianism no matter who sits in the White House. Enjoy the lull while it lasts. Itâs the calm before the second storm.
I guess we will find out if there a Jacksonians in Spain ... soon I think.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/23/2004 9:59:05 PM ||
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#2
What a thought provoking response to my post. I will print your thought provoking words and ponder them the next time I use the crapper ... if there are no comics, sports page, junk mail, satanic messages from my house pet, recipes that I never intend to make, pages of the phone book, outdated periodicals available to read. And as long as my belly button is free of all lint like substances. BTW, what do you think of what I posted? You seem to have posted very similar comments with regard to many different articles on very wide-ranging topics. Are you like the guy that relays all responses from various fast-food drive-thru attendants through the microphone with odd squelch, timber and base settings. I am pretty sure that the voice of the actual attendant is from a different entity because the voice always sounds different and there are always various assorted condiments on my daughters cheese burger even though I order it plain for her.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/23/2004 23:41 Comments ||
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A bomb exploded on Tuesday near a hall where Thailandâs interior and defence ministers were meeting in the Muslim south, critically injuring a woman, while a second device was defused. The four-kilogram, remote-controlled bomb was detonated in a restroom at a state-owned telephone company office in restive Narathiwat province, police said, adding that the victim was an employee. Defence Minister Chetta Thanajaro and Interior Minister Bhokin Bhalakula were meeting top local officials in a hall across the road from the telephone company office to discuss a wave of violence in the south.
Guess that gave 'em something to talk about, huh?
âThe second bomb was planted not far from the first bomb at a Government Savings Bank by a woman carrying a black bag, but it was defused,â government spokesman Jakrapob Penkair said.
Posted by: TS ||
03/23/2004 8:55:03 AM ||
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Before this is over the world will have had a bellyful of war.
Each morningâs unbearable news will cast the net wider. Neither the man commuting to work in Central Madrid nor the peace marchers in costume on Market Street can escape being combatants. Leftist sympathies, whether in Israel, America or Europe will prove no armor against car bomb fragments. War was Osama Bin Ladenâs goal in attacking the United States on September 11. He hoped to force America into fruitless and ineffectual reprisals against the Islamic world, then offer a hudna at intervals while he prepared his next blow. George Bushâs counterstroke, which history will either judge as an act of supreme folly or genius, was to go beyond Afghanistan into Iraq. In a worthy riposte to Osamaâs, he escalated the struggle to the point where it was mutually mortal. If the fall of the Twin Towers was a gauntlet in Americaâs face, the fall of Baghdad was a glove shoved down the Islamistâs throat. Both Bin Laden and Bush have made compromise impossible. If the jihadis believed they could control the tempo of the conflict they were misinformed; American forces in the Arab heartland have forced a zugzwang (German for "compulsion to move", a chess term - ed.) to compel the game to the bitter end.
Posted by: mojo ||
03/23/2004 11:39:29 AM ||
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#1
Whats your point?
You can't shove your head into the sand and wish this problem away. This is real life in the real world. There are bad people out there who want you and me dead. You can't reason with them or talk about how this war hurts your feelings or offends you. They don't care if you "Respect" them or their culture, they will kill you. Running away to suburbia in your mini-van or SUV won't make it go away. Watching Opra while sipping on a Starbucks Carmel Macchiato won't make this go away. Killing them before they kill us will.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
03/23/2004 12:39 Comments ||
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YS - Wha? Unless I've misunderstood your comment, I think you need to read the article again. Wretchard The Cat is one of the most astute and unapologetic pro-WoT bloggers around. His point is clear to me. I'm not sure what you got out of it, but if you read enough of this blog, you'll make him a regular read - I promise. 8-)
#7
Leftist sympathies, whether in Israel, America or Europe will prove no armor against car bomb fragments.
Very succinctly put. It is as I constantly reminded LOML throughout the last couple of years: no matter how hard you protest, the Islamists of this world would still kill you just as soon as me. And all for one very simple reason: we are not them.
#8
Wretchard is as good as anyone out there, including VDH, especially in terms of relating daily developments to the overall strategic picture. The only problem I have with him is that reading a Wretchard post just about guarantees me a sleepless night. Your own reaction might depend on how you feel about the liberal application of thermonuclear warheads to a certain region of the world.
As for this post, I can imagine the passage that begins "George Bush's counterstroke..." being quoted by historians a long time from now.
Posted by: Matt ||
03/23/2004 14:03 Comments ||
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Matt wrote: "As for this post, I can imagine the passage that begins "George Bush's counterstroke..." being quoted by historians a long time from now."
If the historians ever talk about "Bill Clinton's counterstroke," it will undoubtedly be in a story that has Monica Lewinskow on her knees.
Posted by: Tibor ||
03/23/2004 15:06 Comments ||
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I've read Wretchard for a while now and have never found him off his game. Always clear and succinct he is Cliff's Notes for USS Clueless.
#11
I read Wretchard, although not as frequently as I did when he first started. The guy can write and he has a good grasp of the big picture, but he tends to bend the facts to fit his theory. SDB took him to task over this recently.
An article by an Israeli who focuses on Salfist Jihadi thought emanating from Saudi Arabia. EFL and the link goes to a .pdf file
The exchange of prisoners between Israel and Hizballah on 29 January 2004, and the resulting victorious image of the Lebanese movement and its leader Hasan Nasrallah, created much resentment in parts of the Arab world, in particular among Palestinian circles. The most severe verbal attacks against Hizballah since completion of the first part of the deal, however, originated in Saudi Jihadi-Salafi elements that support Qaidat al-Jihad. The Lebanese Shiite group has never been popular among the Salafi adherents of Global Jihad, given their fundamental hatred towards the Shi`ah. The collapse of the Ba`athist regime of Saddam Hussein and the conflict between the Shiite majority and the Sunni minority in Iraq, added additional fuel to the fire of traditional Salafi enmity towards the Shi`ah. Since the start of the attempts at establishing a new government in Iraq, Salafi web sites and forums on the Internet have stepped up their attacks against the Shi`is, Iran, and Shi`i doctrines with every possible arsenal of verbal arms. Accompanying the growing phenomenon of severe verbal attacks against the Iraqi Shiites and the Lebanese Hizballah are condemnations of Iran prevalent on several web sites, and initiated primarily by Saudi supporters of Global Jihad. Furthermore, in the past year there was a growing attempt by Saudi Salafi scholars and laymen to link the Shiites to Jews, both in history, and in present times.
Hizballah and Nasrallah in Salafi eyes
As mentioned earlier, the recent prisoners swap between Israel and Hizballah led to an animosity towards the Shiite group and its leader that has been rare in its extent. One of the leading Salafi web sites and forums against the non-Sunnis, primarily the Shi`is Al-Difa` `an al-Sunnah (Defense of the Sunnah) spearheaded the attacks with numerous writings, several of them by serious Islamic scholars. This web site includes sections such as: âThe actions of the murderer so-called Shiite Mahdi;â âThe crimes and betrayals of the Shi`is throughout history;â and a new section âMeetings between Shiite clerics and Jews and Christians.â Other parts of the web site sectors are dedicated to âthe scandals of Shiite clerics and religious authorities,â among whom are contemporary figures such as Khomeini, Khamenei, Khoei, Sistani, and Hizballah. Reading the âHizballah Fileâ of such writings reveals one of the main reasons for the Salafi attacks against Hizballah and Hasan Nasrallah: The secretary general of Hizballah is sketching himself and sketched by others as the âNew Salah al-Din al-Ayubi,â and a superior commander at the forefront of the struggle against Israel. Furthermore, as phrased by the Egyptian Islamist, Dr. Muhammad Moro: âThe Lebanese resistance managed to become the Avant-garde of all the Arab liberating elements⊠It managed to post an ideology for all the oppressed on earth, confronting the Western civilization, which threatens the whole world.â Hizballah is taking on the role that Qa`idat al-Jihad was hoping to play as the global vanguard of Islam.
The prisoners exchange deal
On 3 February 2004, another attack was published by the Global Islamic Media, an offshoot of Qa`idat al-Jihad, through an unsigned article titled âWe are not that simple-minded to celebrate the âachievementâ of Hizballah.â The article severely criticized the deal with the âZionist entity,â but attempted, despite its sarcastic language, to present a reasonable and respectable criticism rather than a poisonous attack. âThe illusory âachievementâ of the party, whose celebratory echoes have resounded throughout all the capitals of the Arab âbeltâ states and Tehran, the international political Qiblah of the Shi`is, raises a lot of question marks, and have not received any reasonable answers from the illusionists of Hizballah.â Among the more important points of criticism and question marks over Hizballah are:
⢠The strategic Israeli interest to grant Hizballah and its leader such popularity in the Arab world.
⢠The use of German mediation.
⢠How come Israel did not exert military pressure on Hizballah as it does vis-à -vis the Palestinian groups?
⢠Is there an ideological approach between the Shi`is and the Jews against the Sunnis?
⢠How did the United States approve the negotiations with a group listed as a terrorist entity, although refused to negotiate with the Taliban, who are not on the terrorism list, prior to the war in Afghanistan?
The anonymous author attempts to answer these questions. His main motif is the historic alliance between the Jews and the Shi`is, which began with the Persian king Koresh II, about 2500 years ago, and thus long predated the arrival of Islam, and until the Shiite support for Israel against the Palestinians during the Israeli invasion of South Lebanon in 1982. The approach between the Shi`is and the Jews is not just political, but also religious, and includes a reference to the link between the 12 Jewish tribes and the 12 Imams (sic!). The Germans also receive their share of sarcastic criticism, as German Protestants such as Martin Luther and Karl Marx (sic!) are added to the Shiite-Jewish alliance. The loquacity of such nonsense repeats itself in the rest of the article. The author cannot ignore the heavy Israeli losses by Hizballah. These operations, however, were carried out âfor the party, not for Allah.â
The position of the Salafi scholars
The most important positions against Hizballah are those of the Salafi-Jihadi scholars. Recently, one of the most influential among them is Abd al-Mun`im Mustafa Halimah âAbu Basir,â of Syrian origin (he stems from the Syrian city of Tartus, and is hence sometimes referred to as âAl-Suriâ or âAl-Tartusi.â) As a result of the long arrest of the two Palestinians Abu Muhammad al-Maqdesi in Jordan and Abu Qutadah in London, the arrest of several radical Saudi clerics since the explosions in Riyadh in May 2003, and his age, Abu Basir became a leading figure of the Jihadists in Arabia. He is known for his courage in criticizing colleagues and other Islamist movements, as well as for his attacks against every secular national Arab government. Two years ago, in January 2002, he sharply criticized Hamas and the Qassam Brigades for defending Yaser Arafat while he was besieged by Israel in Ramallah.
A recent article by Abu Basir published in 2 February 2004, titled âThe Lebanese Hizballah and the Export of the Shiâite Rejectionist School,â is a sort of affidavit against the movement and its leader. The article was circulated in most Jihadi forums on the Internet, and by Global Islamic Media, an offshoot of Qa`idat al-Jihad. Hizballah in Abu Basirâs eyes, is âthe large gate of the global Shi`I movement, and for the export of Shi`ism in the entire Muslim world. The way for Hizballah to do so is by using the Palestinian issue and playing on the Palestinian string.....His conclusion is that if Hizballah were the party for justice and the right path, then the United States would have never let it act freely, without oppressing its leaders. âThey would live on the ground, in the caves, and in prisons, rather than luxury beds, driving fancy cars.â
Abu Basirâs article, unlike other writings against the Shi`is in general or Hizballah in particular, is practical and reasonable. There are no historical claims, real or made up, and it is done with a logical political reasoning. The article leads to the conclusion that in the eyes of the Salafi Jihadi movements of Global Jihad there is no room for Hizballah. The Lebanese Shi`i group is disqualified not for being simply Rafidhah or anti-Sunni, but for being national, serving either local interests or being a tool in the hands of Syria and Iran, each for its different interests.
Conclusion
The severe attacks against Iran and Hizballah, and the fervent hatred expressed towards the Shi`is, both in Iran and Iraq, raise an important question: To what extent might there be a real cooperation between Qa`idat al-Jihad and its affiliated Salafi-Jihadi groups, primarily in the Arab world. In the history of modern terrorism, there have been some odd collaborations between groups of different ideologies. In the 1970s, Western terrorist groups enjoyed assistance of various factions within the PLO in Lebanon. The Mujahidin in Afghanistan, a part of whom formed al-Qaeda, had been allies of the United States in the 1980s, when they shared a common enemy, the Soviet Union. Theoretically then, the Salafi-Jihadi school of Global Jihad, whose roots lie in the puritanism of orthodox Wahhabism, could find itself in an alliance with Shiâite Iran if and when it will suit its interests.
Yet, given the background of the present direction of the strategy of Qa`idat al-Jihad, namely to focus on the Arab world and create affiliated groups in the Arabian Peninsula and Iraq, this eventuality seems unlikely. The article by Abu Basir, the most serious of all the attacks against Hizballah, could also indicate that in the field of the fight against Arab governments, and the attempt of Qa`idat al-Jihad and similar groups to infiltrate into the Sunni Iraqi population, an alliance with Hizballah, Syria, and above all Iran, is unlikely to happen. For the enthusiastic Islamist youngsters participating in Islamist forums on the Internet, the main superficial battlefield is over the prestige of the modern âsuccessorâ of Salah al-Din: Bin Laden or Nasrallah. In the writings of serious scholars and clerics like Abu Basir, however, who give ideological backing to Global Jihad, there is a deep gap between the political worldview of the two sides. Therein lies the struggle between Global Jihad and Iran. As long as Iraq and Saudi Arabia become the front lines of Qa`idat al-Jihad, we can expect that this gap will not be bridged, even if the âworstâ enemies the United States and Israel remain âgreat Satan.â
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
03/23/2004 2:19:19 AM ||
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An Islamist Web site has published a statement purporting to come from an al Qaeda-linked group vowing revenge on the United States and its allies over Israel's assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. "We tell Palestinians that Sheikh Yassin's blood was not spilt in vain and call on all legions of Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades to avenge him by attacking the tyrant of the age, America, and its allies," said the statement by Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades carried by the Al Ansar forum Web site on Monday.
It was also published by another Islamist Web site called Islammemo, which said the letter was received by email and sent to several Arab media outlets. "We tell fighters in Palestine, especially Hamas and Jihad, that your real enemy is the tyrant of the age, America, because Sheikh Yassin was killed by American money, weapons and political and media support," the statement said. "Let us unite to strike this Jewish-crusader snake, this despotic enemy...the Jews can be found in every inch of the world and they are the ones who support the Jews of the Zionist entity in Palestine through money and in the media," it said. The purported Qaeda statement urged Palestinians not to follow Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, who it said was trying to "sell Palestine" in exchange for peace.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2004 12:01:00 AM ||
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#1
Oooooh. I'm a-skeered! Guess we're in trouble now...might as well kill Arafat, too on the "in for a penny, in for a pound" theory.
Love the way the IslamoNazis work their way around Israel to the USA...
Oh well.
I'm still ululating over the Yassassination, so I guess I'm bad.
Bring it on.
Posted by: Jen ||
03/23/2004 0:09 Comments ||
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#2
...Let me say up front that I'm not at all sure about the bonafides of this pic: (WARNING: it's graphic)
"I wish they had done it already -- if they have the talent for it. The day in which I will die as a shahid [martyr] will be the happiest day of my life." -- Yassin
#4
Why is AQ, a terrorist group, concerned with the death of Yassin. Hammas is part of a totally unrelated industry - the freedom-fighters. Ots almost like there is a connection there. I just can't put my finger on it ....
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/23/2004 20:49 Comments ||
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The author is a former Indian intelligence chief, but he certainly does raise some interesting possibilities, including AQ Khan being tied back to the al-Shifa plant in Sudan.
Gen.Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's US-blessed military dictator, continues to assert, without any fears of contradiction or punitive action by the US, that the action of a group of scientists of Pakistan headed by A.Q.Khan in clandestinely selling or transfering military nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea was a rogue operation without the knowledge or approval of the political or military leadership of the country.
2. In his latest assertion on the subject, he told the CNN, the US TV channel, in an interview on March 19, 2004, as follows: " I am extremely positive neither the Government nor the military was involved. The Pakistan Government had carried out investigations into the episode and concluded that it was these individuals who carried out the proliferation of nuclear technology."
3. His repeatedly-asserted contention has been that after the interception by the intelligence agencies of the US and the UK of a ship in October last year which was found carrying to Libya a clandestine consignment of centrifuges for uranium enrichment got manufactured at the instance of A.Q.Khan by a company in Malaysia with the assistance of a Sri Lankan Muslim, he became aware of the extensive non-proliferation activities of the A.Q.Khan group and immediately acted against them.
4. According to Musharraf, details of the clandestine travels and proliferation network of A.Q. Khan came to notice during the subsequent investigation. In one of his statements, he has even blamed the US intelligence agencies for not uncovering this network earlier than October last year and asserted that if they had done so, he would have acted against it even earlier.
5. Not many experts and analysts of the world have been convinced of the innocence of Pakistan's military in this affair. Many of us, including this writer, have been pointing out that this proliferation started and continued at the instance and with the blessing of Pakistan's military leadership. I have also been pointing out in many articles that while the late Zia-ul-Haq, Pakistan's military dictator, who ruled the country from 1977 to 1988, authorised the proliferation to Iran, Musharraf himself had authorised that to Libya and North Korea and was totally in the picture.
6. But, unfortunately, for reasons of realpolitik, the US Administration has chosen to accept the denials of military responsibility by Musharraf. It has not only given him a clean chit, but has even rewarded him and his country by confering on it the status of a Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA).
7. Despite the efforts of Musharraf, with the benediction of the US, to keep his cupboard tightly shut to prevent the discovery of any more skeletons, nuclear skeletons keep propping up here, there and everywhere much to his consternation. The skeletons are there everywhere if only the US wants to look at them.
8. Was the discovery of the centrifuges in the ship intercepted last October the first wake-up call as contended by Musharraf? No.
9. In 2000, Abdul Ma"bood Siddiqui, a London-based chartered accountant of Pakistani origin, had written a book on his reminiscences, which was published by the Hurmat Publications of Islamabad. In that book, Siddiqui claimed to be a close personal friend of A.Q.Khan and to have accompanied him in at least three of his travels abroad. He gives the following details of these travels:
(Citation starts) "In February,1998, I received a call from Tahir Mian (My comments: He is the Sri Lankan Tamil who helped A.Q.Khan by getting the centrifuges manufactured in Malaysia), a dear friend of mine and a very close associate of Dr.Khan. He said that A.Q.Khan is planning a visit to Timbuktu and you are invited to join him. My joy knew no bounds at the prospect of spending a few days with A.Q.Khan. I reached Dubai on 19 February 1998 and met Dr.A.Q.Khan. He had with him one Mr. Hanks, a Dutch businessman dealing in air filtration system, solar energy, metallurgical machinery and materials. Lt.Gen.Dr. Chauhan, former Surgeon-General of Pakistan Army and now Director-General of Medical Services Division of KRL ( My comments: The Khan Research Laboratories of Kahuta, which produces enriched uranium for atomic bombs) and Brig.Sajawal. Dr.Khan told us that we would fly to Timbuktu via Casablanca in Morocco and Bamako, capital of Mali. (My comments: Mr.Nawaz Sharif was the Prime Minister at that time)
"At Casablanca, the First Secretary of Pakistan Embassy, Mr.Inayatullah Kakar, received us. The Honorary Consul-General of Pakistan in Morocco Hussain bin Jiloon gave a dinner in honour of Dr.Khan, which was also attended by our Ambassador Azmat Hussain. Next day, we caught the Royal Morocco Airline for Bamako. From Bamako, a plane was chartered for US $ 4,000 to take us to Timbuktu. We had only a few hours at Timbuktu, which we spent in sight-seeing. We returned to Dubai by the same route.
" Next I met Dr.Khan on 28 June 1998 in Kuala Lumpur at the wedding of Tahir Mian. (My comment: Nawaz Sharif was still in power). It was decided there to make another trip to Timbuktu because the last visit was short and we could not see much of the city. I got the summons in February 1999 and was on my way to Dubai on 19 February 1999. (My comment: Nawaz Sharif still in power) Dr.Khan was already there with his old group with additions of Dr.Fakhrul Hasan Hashmi, Chief Scientific Adviser to Dr.A.Q.Khan, Brig.Tajwar, Director-General Security KRL, and Dr.Nazir Ahmed, Director-General S&TC Division KRL. Dr.Khan told us that this time we would take a different route to Timbuktu. We will fly there via Sudan and Nigeria.
" We left Dubai for Khartoum on 21 February 1999. The Education Minister of Sudan received the group and we were lodged at the State Guest House. After making a short stopover in a Nigerian city, we reached Timbuktu on 24 February 1999. After spending a couple of days, we were on our way back and our first stop was Niamey, capital of Niger. Our next stop was N'Djamena, capital of Chad, where we were accorded official protocol. Next day, we flew to Khartoum. After Dr.Khan has attended to some business, we visited the Shifa factory that was destroyed last year by the American missiles. Dr.Khan met the Sudanese President. We were back in Dubai on 28 February 1999.
" We were again airborne for Timbuktu on 20 February 2000 (My comments: Musharraf had seized power on October 12,1999) From Dubai, we flew to Khartoum, where two Sudanese friends joined us. We reached Niamey, capital of Niger, on 22 February 2000. Our Ambassador Brig. Nisar welcomed the group and gave a dinner in honour of Dr.Khan. Brig.Nisar had also served as the Military Secretary of Nawaz Sharif. Niger has big uranium deposits. We reached Timbuktu on 24 February 2000 for a stay of two days and were lodged in the newly-built (completed in December 1999) Hotel La Colombe. We started the return journey on 26 February 2000 touching various countries on the way. We broke our journey in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, where First Secretary in the Pakistan Embassy Mr.Najmus Saqib, welcomed us. We were back in Dubai on 29 February 2000 after having visited 10 African countries."
10. These accounts of three of the travels of Dr.A.Q.Khan establish conclusively the following facts:
* He had kept the Pakistani Foreign Office informed of his travels. The Foreign Office had instructed the Pakistani diplomatic missions in the countries visited by him to accord the due honours of protocol to him.
* In all the countries, he was received by officers of the Pakistani diplomatic missions and entertained by the heads of missions.
* In Sudan, he was accorded the honours of protocol generally given to a member of the Cabinet and called on the President of the country.
* He was accompanied by senior serving scientists of Pakistan's nuclear establishment, who were among those responsible for Pakistan's military nuclear development. They could not have gone abroad and remained absent for days without the knowledge and clearance of the Government.
* At least one Lt.Gen. belonging to the Pakistan Army's Medical Corps, who had headed it, and two Brigadiers had accompanied him. They could not have gone and remained away from the country without the knowledge and clearance of the Military Headquarters. .
11. The uranium enriched at KRL, Kahuta, used to come from Africa, mainly Niger. This partly explains the frequent travels of A.Q.Khan to Africa. From the accounts given by the Pakistani author, two intriguing questions arise:
* Why did Khan consider it necessary to visit the site of a factory in Sudan, which became the target of US Cruise missile attacks after the explosions outside the US Embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam by Al Qaeda in August 1998? The Americans had alleged at that time that this factory belonged to Osama bin Laden and was producing chemicals for weaponisation purposes. Denying this, the Sudanese authorities had claimed that it was producing anti-malaria drugs.
* Why was he visiting frequently Timbuktu, which has apparently no importance from the nuclear point of view? Pakistani officials have alleged that he had illegally constructed a hotel there ( Hotel La Colombe?) in the name of his wife. If he was going there to supervise the construction of the hotel, he should have been accompanied by experts in building construction and the hotel industry. No such person accompanied him. He was always accompanied by scientists and Army officers associated with KRL and Tahir Mian, who was helping him in the procurement of centrifuges.
12. It is reliably learnt from well-placed observers that it also came out during the recent interrogation of the associates of Khan in Pakistan's nuclear establishment that after Osama bin Laden shifted from Khartoum to Afghanistan in 1996, Dr.Khan was also looking after bin Laden's extensive investments in the mining industry in many African countries and that the money invested in the Timbuktu hotel had come from these investments of bin Laden. The Pakistani authorities have reportedly suppressed this information and not shared it with the US.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2004 4:39:06 PM ||
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#2
I don't love it ... I love what I hope it means -- lesser effectiveness of suicide bombings and more effective Israeli anti-terror operations -- but "IT" ... no.
(Personal loss issues, no offense to anyone here. She was a pro-Israeli anti-idiotarian herself and would've supported this action.)
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
03/23/2004 20:09 Comments ||
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#3
Well, we now know what asshats look like once the turbans come off. Let's see - what can I say - the expired gentlemen look very peaceful .......
'So much for the "warning shots" - when do we get to the main show?
One step closer to the ultimate battle of annihilation that now appears inevitable, sooner or later (better sooner, before the pond scum multiplies any further).
#4
Jeez Louise! That's pretty damn graphic, all right. I'm thinking maybe we need something more in the way of a warning label.
Still, considering all the grisly carnage this member of the Religion of Peace has caused, it couldn't happen to a more deserving person. "For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind."
I could while away the hours, conferrin' with the flowers
Consultin' with the rain.
And my head I'd be scratchin' while
my thoughts were busy hatchin'
If I only had a brain.
I'd unravel every riddle for any individ'le,
In trouble or in pain.
With the thoughts you'll be thinkin'
you could be another Lincoln
If you only had a brain.
Oh, I could tell you why The ocean's near the shore.
I could think of things I never thunk before.
And then I'd sit, and think some more.
I would not be just a nothin' my head all full of stuffin'
My heart all full of pain.
I would dance and be merry, life would be a ding-a-derry,
If I only had a brain.
#6
And this is on a Arabic site. I don't understand - they all complained when we showed pictures of Uday and Qusay dead. We even cleaned them up first.
Oh, wait - that's probably it. If we had shown them shot up in the house, lying in pools of their own blood, it would have been OK. Right?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/23/2004 21:37 Comments ||
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#7
wow that is the most disgusting thing ive seen in a while. his brain was actually spilling out of his head...maybe that website should think of posting similar pics of Israelis who were the victims of his insidious terrorism so they get a proper feel for the inhumanity of suicide bombings.
At least 15 more soldiers were killed by al-Qaeda-linked fighters in Pakistanâs wild north-western tribal area, security officials said, as resistance to a massive operation against militants appeared to spread. In the past two days attackers struck army bases as far as 150km from the scene of the week-long assault, reviving fears of a rebellion by the regionâs fiercely independent Pashtun tribes.
I thought there was a difference between Waziris and Pashtuns?
The two deadly ambushes came despite a two-day halt in Pakistanâs largest-ever offensive against 500 al-Qaeda-linked militants and their Pashtun tribal supporters near the town of Wana, the capital of South Waziristan tribal district, 20km from the Afghan border. Troops suspended fire for a second consecutive day to allow a second attempt by tribal elders to negotiate the surrender of the militants. The first attempt failed to extract any reply from the fighters.
I doubt greatly anything'll come of the second, except to see an increase in the madrassa population in the area in the next week...
Rockets were fired at dawn on an army camp in the town of Parachinar, 150km north-east of Wana, killing three soldiers and wounding four, a security official told AFP. On Monday, 12 soldiers were killed when their convoy was ambushed 30km from Wana. The assailants have not been identified and it was not immediately clear if they were connected to the bloody siege of hundreds of militants holed up in mud-walled fortresses in the towns of Kalushah and Shin Warzak, 12km south-west of Wana. But many of the fiercely independent and well-armed Pashtun tribes who have lived largely under their own laws for centuries are angry at the offensive, branding it an attempt to please the United States. "There is a possibility of rebellion by the tribal people if the government continues with such action in the tribal areas," Bazar Gul, president of the Khyber Union tribal organisation, told a protest rally by some 1,000 tribesmen near the main north-west border city Peshawar.
Seems like governments should expect to be in control of their own territory. If not, they've got no bitch when somebody else comes in and shoots up the place, do they?
The toll of Pakistani troops killed or missing in tribal areas since the assault began a week ago stood at least 49, by far the highest in Pakistanâs two-year al-Qaeda hunt. The toll does not include troops believed to have been killed in the main assault at Kalushah and Shin Warzak since March 18, when the attack escalated. Western diplomats estimate the full military toll at between 60 and 100. Thousands of army and paramilitary troops have pounded the fighters near Wana with attack helicopters and artillery since March 16, killing at least 31 militants according to military figures.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
03/23/2004 5:42:41 PM ||
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#1
Pakland should be reminded that a country that cannot enforce the law and order within their borders is no country (see: Palestine and Lebanon). Any lack of success here is likely to encourage India's estimates in wargames, no? For pride and honor, which are so important to these losers, they have to succeed
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/23/2004 18:39 Comments ||
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EFL
(al-Reuters) - President Bush on Tuesday defended Israelâs right to defend itself against Hamas and said he may send a delegation to the region next week to try to keep the peace process alive following the assassination of the groupâs leader by Israeli forces. Said delegation being not expected to actually accomplish anything.
Bush also said his administration took seriously any threats by Hamas against the United States. "Any country has the right to defend itself from terror. Israel has the right to defend herself from terror. And as she does so, I hope she keeps consequences in mind as to how to make sure we stay on the path to peace," Bush said in his first public comment on Mondayâs execution assassination of Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin. . . . Thatâs actually a fairly mundane point: there may be times when it is to Israelâs tactical advantage to not go all out.
Bush did not repeat a statement by [White House spokesman Scott] McClellan on Monday that Washington was "deeply troubled" by Yassinâs killing. "Iâm worried about terrorist groups targeting America," Bush said when asked about possible threats by Hamas against the United States. "Whether it be an Hamas threat, or an al Qaeda threat, we take them very seriously in this administration." "In other words, mess with us and youâll be begging the Israelis to save you from us."
Posted by: Mike ||
03/23/2004 5:20:13 PM ||
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Posted by: Lil Dhimmi ||
03/23/2004 17:44 Comments ||
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#3
Looks as if Anon, Boris and all of the other Hitler/KKK youth over at ADL who keep trolling RB with their hate are trying to be those cyber terrorists Dick Clarke warned us about...IF ONLY he were listened to!
Posted by: Jen ||
03/23/2004 17:46 Comments ||
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#4
Guess the game warden closed down Serbian Lop-Eared Troll Season a little early this year.
Posted by: Mike ||
03/23/2004 17:47 Comments ||
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#5
It does not matter what Pres. Bush says, Hamas and all of the Islamonuts will hate us. They can spittle and eye roll all they want, as that is in their genes their perogative, but it must be made very clear that if they mess with us or our allies, that raining hell (fire and brimstone) will be upon them. I think GW made it clear with his quote.
BTW, greetings from Sunny Nome, Alaska today to all Rantburgers.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/23/2004 17:57 Comments ||
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#6
Greetings Paul!
Posted by: Lil Dhimmi ||
03/23/2004 17:58 Comments ||
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#7
Greetings from sunny Fluffia, Pennsylvania!
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/23/2004 18:07 Comments ||
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#8
Anonymous (or is it Boris?), you may seriously want to think why it is that Fred is censoring your comments. Given the amount of time I've been reading the site, I feel confident in saying that I don't think he would without a damn good reason. I only just started posting, but I've found this site to be a valuable source of information and laughs, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't ruin it for the rest of us.
Posted by: The Doctor ||
03/23/2004 18:10 Comments ||
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#9
Boris is the turd in the punchbowl - literally.
I would hope our peace delegation are composed of Taskforce 121 members, but that's in my dreams *sigh*
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/23/2004 18:37 Comments ||
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#10
Hey, Paul! Greetings from sunny (but chilly) Virginia. :-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/23/2004 19:11 Comments ||
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#11
Hi, Paul! Howdy from the 2nd largest state, thanks to Alaska: Texas!
Yee-ha!
Posted by: Jen ||
03/23/2004 19:42 Comments ||
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#13
The Rantburg Convention & Visitors' Bureau welcomes all our out-of-town guests to beautiful, sunny, heavily-armed Rantburg, the City of Civil, Well-Reasoned Discourse. Please try to ignore the trolls--either that, or join us on a guided troll hunt. :-)
Posted by: Mike ||
03/23/2004 20:43 Comments ||
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#14
'Howdy' Paul from beautiful Sin City!!! Lock 'n Load, Bro!!!
#17
Fred hasn't had time to wash the troll spittle off his mouse yet, loser, as he plots Dire Troll Revenge⢠up there in the la-bor-a-tory high atop brooding Castle Rantburg. Greetings from new and improved Maryland, now with cherry blossoms!
In a posthumous letter released Tuesday, Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin defended violent attacks on Israel and called for Arabs to support insurgents fighting to oust the U.S.-led occupation force in Iraq. The letter by Yassin, who was killed by an Israeli missile strike Monday, was addressed to participants at an Arab summit scheduled to convene in Tunisia next week and was posted on the Hamas Web site Tuesday. The date Yassin wrote the letter was not given, but he typically prepared messages on the eve of the annual Arab summits. In his letter, Yassin called on summit participants to support Palestinian attacks against Israel. go get âem, boys! I did! Itâll do ya good! Heck...itâs got me where I am today!
"Palestinian land is Arab Muslim land," Yassin wrote. "It was occupied by the force of weapons by the Zionist Jew and will only be returned with the force of weapons." hmmm. wonder if the Israelis agree. but wait! if they donât agree, then. they. would. obviously. kill. um. er. nevermind
Hamas advocates the destruction of the Jewish state and its replacement with an Islamic one. It has claimed responsibility for most of the 112 suicide bombings that have killed more than 450 Israelis during the current violence. and yet, the world was outraged at the assasination. oh. cuz he wasnât Jewish. I gotcha.
Yassinâs letter also called on Arab leaders to work for the defeat of U.S. forces from Iraq, linking the struggle there to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I guess heâs lonely in hell; with a statement like this, sounds like he wants company.
"We urge you to offer all kinds of support to the Iraqi people so they can liberate themselves from the American occupation, because a victory for Iraq and its people is a victory for Palestine and the Palestinians," he wrote. Before the American invasion of Iraq, its leader, Saddam Hussein, was one of the Arab worldâs strongest supporters of Palestinians. He regularly made lump-sum payments to surviving family members of suicide bombers and provided financial assistance for the families of bombers made homeless in Israeli reprisals. course he did, with all the kickback money he got from the UN oil for food program
#1
"....Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin defended violent attacks on Israel and called for Arabs to support insurgents fighting to oust the U.S.-led occupation force in Iraq."
Isn't this tantamount to a Hamas declaration of war against the U.S.? I say: ONE lousey overt act against us and we blow their asses to kingdom come.
#2
Calling from the grave . . . oh, I get it! He's the Tupac Shakur of the Middle East!
Posted by: The Doctor ||
03/23/2004 22:53 Comments ||
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#3
I just heard tonight that Arafish swings both ways. He has lived with his bodyguard for years, and his hag . . . I mean wife lives in Paris. Supposedly it is an open secret, and some intelligence types even think he has AIDS. Maybe that explains why the Europeans and the left are enamored with him -- he can't be a monster if he's gay!
Posted by: Tibor ||
03/23/2004 23:06 Comments ||
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Hat tip LGF Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, leader of the Moslem Hamas terrorist organization who was killed yesterday in a daring Israeli missile attack, oversaw a total of 425 attacks - including the Park Hotel Seder massacre - that killed 377 Israelis and wounded 2,076. Among the worst Hamas attacks in the past 3.5 years of the Palestinian Authority-initiated Oslo War were the following ten, which ended the lives of a total of 186 people:
June 1, 2001 - Dolphinarium in Tel Aviv, 21 killed - mostly new-immigrant teenagers from the former Soviet Union
Aug. 9, 2001 - Sbarroâs Pizzeria in Jerusalem, 15 killed, including the parents and three children of the Schijveschuurder family
Dec. 2, 2001 - Haifa bus, 15 killed
March 27, 2002 - Park Hotel in the midst of the Passover Seder, 30 killed, including six husband-and-wife couples
March 31, 2002 - Matza Restaurant in Haifa, 15 killed, including two sets of a father and two children
May 7, 2002 - Rishon Letzion hall, 16 killed
June 18, 2002 - #32 bus from Gilo, Jerusalem, 19 killed
March 5, 2003 - #37 bus in Haifa, 15 killed
June 11, 2003 - #14 bus, Jerusalem, 17 killed
Aug. 19, 2003 - #2 bus from Western Wall, 23 killed, including a mother and baby; father and son; and four other children
Israeli naval gunboats opened fire off Gaza City's shore Tuesday, witnesses said. The target of the attack, a day after Israel assassinated Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin in Gaza, was not immediately known.
"Yar, give em' a broadside!"
Palestinian security sources said there were no reports of injuries and that two Israeli warships and two helicopters were in the area. The Israeli army had no immediate comment.
"Why should we comment, we're the Army. Go ask the Navy, they're the one's with the boats."
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2004 4:12:01 PM ||
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#1
Hey, guys, wanna borrow an Iowa-class?
Posted by: Mike ||
03/23/2004 16:18 Comments ||
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#2
the Paleo Navy couldn't cast off to engage due to higher-than-usual surf conditions, and an onshore light breeze
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/23/2004 17:13 Comments ||
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#3
I remember some years ago, perhaps 1982, fighting broke out between rival PLO factions in Tripoli Lebanon.
Israeli FAC(M)s anchored in the harbor and indiscriminately shelled both sides with their 76 mm guns.
Mike, you took the words right off my keyboard.
Seriously, though, I think the Iowa class would be a bit much for Israel's manpower and maintenance resources, but some kind of coastal monitor with a couple of the 16" guns might be ideal.
#5
Donald Sensing posted that there are reports of exchanges of artillery fire between Israel and Hamas, but he didn't give a link. I was hoping to find out more here.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
03/23/2004 17:43 Comments ||
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#6
"Why should we comment, we're the Army. Go ask the Navy, they're the one's with the boats."
This is why I love Rantburg. You get the latest news AND witty commentary. Beats the hell out of the 'real' media.
LRA rebels chief Joseph Kony's deputy Vicent Otti was injured in the leg in fierce battles that saw 92 fighters of LRA rebels killed in the past few days, the army said yesterday.
Pray for sepsis...
The army also recovered 55 short machine guns, 19 bombs and 797 bullets.
"439 of the bullets were recovered on the wing..."
An army spokesman in Gulu, Lt. Ronald Kakurungu, said 10 more rebels' bodies were found on Sunday in Bibia in Gulu and Pagirinya in Zaipi subcounty in Adjumani district, bringing the death toll of the Saturday battle to 62. The army attributed the victory to helicopter gunship bombardments combined with the infantry from 79th and 11th battalions. The weekly report for March 14-21 said four UPDF soldiers were killed and four others injured in clashes in Gulu, Pader, Kitgum, Lira and Apac districts. Captured LRA fighters said Otti crossed with about 300 fighters to overthrow the Government as the UPDF entered Sudan to pursue the rebels.
"Hah! They're in Sudan, chasing us! Let's overthrow the gummint whilst their backs are turned!"
Kakunguru said Otti was running out of fighters because most of the fighters he came with were either killed or captured as prisoners of war.
Time to harvest another crop, I guess...
Northern region army spokesman Lt. Paddy Ankunda said this was a big death toll compared to recent statistics. He said Otti, who led a fighting force through Bibia in Kilak county at the weekend, "wants to divert us and save his boss Joseph Kony. He said Otti was playing diversionary tactics but the army was prepared for the trick. "We shall continue to hunt Kony and still hunt Otti," Ankunda said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2004 2:42:38 PM ||
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Using bulldozers to slice bunkers and a helicopter landing pad out of a mountainside, U.S. special operations forces dug in Tuesday on a peak overlooking Pakistan - fortifying the area for the intensifying battle against al-Qaida and Taliban forces. Remote posts like this one near the Afghan city of Orgun, scratched out of a mountainside to house a small contingent of U.S. forces and a larger Afghan militia unit, serve as forward launch pads for the fight.
Gee, sounds like a firebase to me.
Village elders in this hamlet of 45 families in Paktika province said the Americans arrived 18 days ago with Afghan militia. The camp is home to 60 Americans, working with 200 Afghan militia, the Afghan militiamen say. The Westerners wear T-shirts and sunglasses, and most sport beards and mustaches, with pistols strapped to their legs. Rank and file U.S. soldiers must remain in uniform and are banned from growing beards, but special operations forces are not subject to the same regulations.
Not out here in the boonies anyway.
Villagers see the Americans out building their base and patrolling, at times with allied Afghan militia - helping close the border against what villagers say are frequent incursions by al-Qaida and Taliban. The U.S. military says its forces also are sharing information with Pakistani troops across the border - intelligence typically coming everywhere from satellites to intercepted radio calls.
Hammer, meet Anvil.
On Tuesday, the Americans were erecting 100 yards of wire fence along the border beside their base. They also dug holes, which will become bunkers, to live in while their Afghan allies put up tents. Workers used construction equipment to level a helipad.
Hamlet - check. Helipad - check. Bunkers - check. Wire - check. SF leading strike force of locals - check. Yup, it's a firebase. Bet there's a B-52 overhead on standby.
Americans around the camp refused to speak to AP. Relaying their request through Afghan militiamen, they eventually asked the reporter to leave, saying no journalists were allowed in the area.
"Git!"
The U.S. military as a matter of policy does not comment on special operations. But asked about buildup along the Afghan-Pakistan border in the area, U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty said: "We do have some positions that are constantly changing. We are constantly rearranging." On the Pakistan side, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has said about a dozen U.S. "technical experts" are in his country. Some are located across the border from the special operations post in Miran Shah, Pakistani intelligence officials told AP. Last week, a Pakistani army spokesman, Gen. Shaukat Sultan, said a dozen or so U.S. intelligence agents were in the country "assisting Pakistan in technical intelligence and surveillance." The CIA declined to comment.
Most likely they are pulling their hair out at the Paks inability to surround anyone.
Afghan villagers near the new post said they welcomed the U.S. crackdown, saying they have come under a growing cross-border rocket barrage from Pakistan. "So many rockets. We are living in fear of rockets," said shopkeeper Shawar Khan in Sisandi, a village near the U.S. encampment.
If they hit anything it will be by accident.
Both sides of the border around Miran Shah have come under repeated rocket attacks by militants hoping to hit U.S. or Afghan military posts. Authorities blame al-Qaida fugitives and allied Pakistan tribesmen. Taliban fighters are believed to be hiding in the mountains as well.
I'm believed to be related to my parents.
No uniformed American forces have been seen in recent days along one of the front lines in the U.S. campaign against terror suspects based in Pakistan's North and South Waziristan, locals say.
When you see them, it'll be too late.
Across the border and about 45 miles to the south, in South Waziristan, Pakistan's military has arrested scores of cannon fodder in its toughest and bloodiest operation against terror suspects in the tribal areas since Musharraf allied with the United States against terror in 2001.
Village leaders say Taliban and al-Qaida attackers cross the border at will. Asked for proof, they laughed, as if there could be no doubt. "Everyone can come easily into Afghanistan. Everyone can go easily into Pakistan," said Mohammed Khan, another shopkeeper in Sisandi. "There are no Afghan checkpoints."
We've noticed.
"For 2 1/2 years, they are coming and attacking" from Waziristan, said Shawar Khan. "That's why in this area, there are no schools, there's no health clinics, there's no development. Everyone is afraid to come to our area."
Since the Americans' arrival, villagers have stayed inside after dark, saying the U.S. security outweighed the inconvenience of the curfew.
I'll bet we mentioned the fact that if anyone was seen sneaking around after dark there was a good chance they'd get shot.
The U.S. and Afghan forces have closed this part of the border, at least, to any attacks, Mohammed Khan said. "Right now, from this area, it's impossible that anyone can come," the villager said. "But it's a huge border."
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2004 2:03:12 PM ||
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Americans around the camp refused to speak to AP. Relaying their request through Afghan militiamen, they eventually asked the reporter to leave, saying no journalists were allowed in the area.
Probably my cynicism, but sounds like the reporter was hoping for a more 'enthusiastic' ejection.
I suppose we should be glad it was the AP. If it were Reuters, there'd probably be base/building dimensions, ranges from possible firing points, etc.
#2
Musharaff is nothing but a stooge of U.S. He has compromised the security of Pakistan by using Paksitan Army for U.S. interest....Unfortunately pakistan have no General man enough to question Musharaff
Posted by: robert ||
03/23/2004 15:09 Comments ||
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#3
Any bets on there being other firebases being setup along the border?
#7
Carl, as Mark Steyn would say, we're into month 28 in awaiting the arrival of that 'brutal Afghan winter."
Posted by: Jen ||
03/23/2004 15:32 Comments ||
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#8
"Robert" - I hope Perv got the message and cleans house - your Jihadi-lovin ISI need the cig/blindfold routine
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/23/2004 19:26 Comments ||
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#9
Musharaff is nothing but a stooge of U.S.
Only a fool makes war in their own house -- Oh wait, thatâs what the Islamofacists did to Musharaff. Check, Islamofascists are fools! No surprise here. You take a religion and turn it into a cult that allows you to aggress against the very Children of the Book that the religion is supposed to honor. What do you do with: We believe in Allah, and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Ismaâil, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and in (the Books) given to Moses, Jesus, and the prophets, from their Lord: We make no distinction between one and another among them, and to Allah do we bow our will (in Islam). [ALR, 260 (3:84)]?
#10
Oh, and here's one that should really make your head spin. Ready for this? Surah 2: The Heifer 62. Those who believe (in the Qurán), and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians and the Sabians,- any who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.
#11
Want some more? Surah 5: The Table Spread 44. It was We who revealed the Torah (to Moses): therein was guidance and light. By its standard have been judged the Jews, by the prophets who bowed (as in Islám) to Allah's will, by the rabbis and the doctors of law: for to them was entrusted the protection of Allah's book, and they were witnesses thereto: therefore fear not men, but fear Me, and sell not My signs for a miserable price. If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are unbelievers. 45. We ordained therein for them: "Life for life, eye for eye, nose or nose, ear for ear, tooth for tooth, and wounds equal for equal." But if any one remits the retaliation by way of charity, it is an act of atonement for himself. And if any fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are wrong-doers.
46. And in their footsteps We sent Jesus the son of Mary, confirming the Torah that had come before him: We sent him the Gospel: therein was guidance and light, and confirmation of the Torah that had come before him: a guidance and an admonition to those who fear Allah.
47. Let the people of the Gospel judge by what Allah hath revealed therein. If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) those who rebel.
By your own holy writings are the retaliatory actions of the Israelis upheld. You slaughter their people with the misled children of misfortune, and they respond âLife for life, eye for eye, nose or nose, ear for ear, tooth for tooth, and wounds equal for equal.â
efl
"They killed Ahmed Yassin, the sheikh, but they failed to block the will of God. Ahmed Yassin has been reborn in Gaza," he said. Khaled said Israel was mistaken if it thought killing Yassin would ruin Hamas, which has wide support among the large number of poor and young in Gaza. "They do not appreciate that if one Yassin is killed, a thousand more will be born," said Khaled who is unemployed like over 50 percent of Palestinians in Gaza. at least they wont be very fast.
#2
Khaled sounds like the progeny of a squirrel that has become road pizza. No matter how many of squirrel horde invade the interstate, JB Hunt will continue to deliver on time.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/23/2004 14:16 Comments ||
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#3
Muckster, good post! I'm proud of you and this is a big moment--it's not a PETA story, but one on the WOT!
*sniff*
Pardon my moist eyes, but it's such a happy day for RB when a troll "gets it."
Posted by: Jen ||
03/23/2004 15:50 Comments ||
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#4
What Jen said, plus Muck made a funny comment. Good job!
#8
A vision of 1000 wheelchairs. Hope they take disablity access into consideration when scaling the Wall. Kinda hard to boom a bus if you can't get aboard.
Posted by: john ||
03/23/2004 21:31 Comments ||
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#9
"They do not appreciate that if one Yassin is killed, a thousand more will be born," said Khaled who is unemployed like over 50 percent of Palestinians in Gaza.
Yeah, maybe Khaled's pissed that the unemployment lines will be longer...
Abdel Aziz Rantissi, a hard-liner who rejects all compromise with Israel, was chosen Tuesday as the new Hamas leader, one day after the group's founder was assassinated by Israel. Rantissi said he emerged from secret elections as the overall chief of Hamas and was chosen to head the group's political bureau, the main decision-making body. Until now, the political bureau was led by Khaled Mashaal, a Hamas operative based in Syria.
... where he is, of course, not involved in terrorism.
Rantissi replaces Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin, who was helizappedblown awayassisted from the gene pool slain in an attack by Israel. Rantissi told The Associated Press that Hamas would press for more attacks against Israel. "We will be unified in the trenches of resistance," the 54-year-old pediatrician said. "We will not surrender, we will never surrender to Israeli terror."
"I am gonna be so-o-o-o-o dead!"
Since its creation in 1987, Hamas has been run largely as a collective of senior activists in Gaza and the Arab world, with Yassin in a key role as the brains of the outfit ideologue, spiritual leader and strategist. Hamas leaders said that while the killing of Yassin was a blow to morale, it would not hamper the group's operations, including its ability to carry out attacks. Hamas is pledged to Israel's destruction. "Hamas will continue in the same way Sheik Yassin taught us. Hamas has its infrastructure, its institutions," Ismail Haniyeh, a top Yassin aide, said as Hamas leaders formed a reception line at a Gaza City soccer stadium Monday night for the wheelchair swarm to greet thousands of mourners.
Hamas is secretive about its organization, though the broad outlines are known. General policy was set by the political bureau, which was headed by Mashaal in Damascus, Syria. Other members of the bureau include several Hamas leaders in the Arab world, as well as Rantissi, Haniyeh and Mahmoud Zahar in Gaza. The Hamas military wing, Izzedine al Qassam, plans and carries out attacks on Israelis. It is headed by two shadowy figures, Mohammed Deif and the appropriately-namedAdnan al-Ghoul, who top Israel's wanted list and have been operating from hiding for years. It remains unclear how much autonomy the military wing has in deciding on the timing and target of attacks, and to what extent it is directed by the political bureau.
All of it's directed by the politburo. Trust me on this.
Israel said Yassin personally approved many of the hundreds of Hamas attacks it said killed 377 Israelis and wounded more than 2,000 over the years.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2004 1:20:42 PM ||
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hopefully each of the 377 has a tough leather shoe and a shot at sole-whacking this POS in eternity
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/23/2004 13:36 Comments ||
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#3
So who will the new public affairs director be? If I were Rantissi, I'd have a woman in a burkha with only 1/2 inches of eye slit. This would help get the feminists on Hamas's side (no really - they think like this).
#4
Rantisi would be wise to keep an eye on the front of his shirt, and someone to keep an eye on his back. The sudden appearance of a little red dot means that he is probably about to rejoin his ex-boss.
#5
Can we start the pool for when this guy is called to the boosum of Allah? I give him about a month. IHO we should get in on the 'Whack a (Pal) Mole' game since this idiot has threatened us. Couple of Spec ops teams (with air support) could take this to a whole new level.
#7
Is he from the political or the military wing and does it still matter?
Posted by: marek ||
03/23/2004 14:32 Comments ||
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#8
marek, doesn't matter in the least.
Let's put it this way, would it matter to you if Bin Laden were in the political or military "wing?"
This is more of their evil BS to make it look as if these groups of nasty killers are "civilized."
Islamofascism has both religious and political aims: they want to take over the world for Islam, either subduing or killing non-believers.
Therefore, their "spiritual leaders' like Yassin preach, plan, order and instigate murder of "infidels" through their fatwas and worse.
Is accessory to murder any better than murder itself?
Posted by: Jen ||
03/23/2004 15:26 Comments ||
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#9
HA! I knew the rat bastard would have to pop up his head. Get a good lock, boys, and fire at will...
#14
I do hope that Khaled Mashal isn't out of season in Damascus. He still remains the official head of Hamas, despite Rantissi's (brief) claim to the crown today.
#16
There was a great quote in my newspaper today that I can't find online from an un-named Israeli general - 'Its not like cutting the head off a snake. Its like cutting the grass. You have to do, but it just grows back.'
#20
"I hear the growth potential in this position ain't all that good..."
-------------------
I wouldn't say that. There's plenty of opportunity for a person to rise from their current position in Hamas. It just usually happens to be under the hot swelling gas cloud of a detonation.
Hat Tip LGF. al-Reuters. Watch for spin. EFL
Israel said all Palestinian militant leaders were "in its sights" Tuesday and put its security forces on high alert to meet any retaliation for the killing of Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and top aides approved an order to target all senior militants after evil terrorist mastermind the wheelchair-bound cleric was kicked out of the universe assassinated in an Israeli missle strike outside a Gaza mosque Monday, security sources said. "Everyone is in our sights," Internal Security Minister Tsahi Hanegbi told reporters. "There is no immunity to anyone." Fearing attacks that Hamas has pledged to avenge Yassin, Israeli forces went on high alert. Previous assassinations triggered waves of suicide bombings on buses and cafes that killed scores of Israelis. In the Gaza Strip, Palestinian militants fired an anti-tank rocket at an Israeli army position near a Jewish settlement, triggering a gun battle with Israeli forces, witnesses said. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Israelâs army chief hinted that Palestinian Dictator-for-Life President Yasser Arafat and Lebanese Hizbollah guerrilla leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah could end up on the hit list, though security sources said there was no immediate plan to kill either.
"Not unless they pop their pointy little beturbanned heads up, anyway..."
"I think that judging by their hysterical responses (to Yassinâs assassination) it appears they realize it is getting closer to them," General Moshe Yaalon told reporters. Hamas, sworn to destroy Israel, said it did not plan to change its strategy by carrying out attacks in other parts of the world. But fears grew that other Arab or Muslim groups might do so in outrage at Yassinâs killing. A statement purporting to come from an al-Qaeda linked group and published on an Islamist Internet site vowed to attack Israelâs ally the United States, which unlike many countries did not condemn the expulsion from the cosmos assassination. The Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade claimed responsibility for the Madrid attack on March 11.
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Some people predicted a long night. But for the soldiers of Apache Troop, 1st Squadron (War Eagle), 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, it was business as usual -- they just had a few new soldiers joining them on a nighttime mission March 17. The mission was called âOperation Suicide Kings," a combined cordon and search operation involving U.S. and Iraqi Civil Defense Corps soldiers.
In preparation for this operation, 40 ICDC soldiers linked up with their with Apache Troop counterparts to train in âknock-and-searchâ methods for searching buildings. They also practiced recognizing different types of contraband including material used for making improvised explosive devices. âEach of the platoons will have an ICDC platoon attached to it,â said Capt. James T. Wilson, Apache Troop commander. âOur guys will set up an inner-cordon around the house while the ICDC searches inside. There is no specific target tonight; we wonât be kicking in any doors.â
The ICDC, frequently compared to the U.S. Armyâs National Guard, is composed of Iraqi volunteer soldiers who represent all segments of their society and have pledged to serve their communities and country. After the ICDC company arrived at Apache Troopâs barracks on the afternoon of March 18, it was broken up into smaller sections which joined with 3rd Platoon for pre-mission training and rehearsals. âThese guys are squared away. Itâs evident that theyâre trained up,â said Staff Sgt. Robert C. Ballard, Bravo Section, 3rd Platoon.
With Humvees roaring and dust flying, the mission commenced at 9:30 p.m. as Apache Troop rolled-out of their forward operating baseâs gate. By 10 p.m., the troopers and ICDC were on the ground, and Operation Suicide Kings was underway. âThis is sort of a âhealth and welfareâ (inspection) mission. Itâs just to make sure they donât have IED materials, contraband and terrorist-related items,â Wilson said.
By 1:00 a.m., the mission was complete. Despite the occasional sound of gunfire heard from elsewhere in the city, no casualties were sustained and no shots were fired. âWe confiscated one AK-47 and one Sten Mark II,â said 1st Lt. Michael Watson, 4th Platoon, describing his platoonâs haul during the mission. âTwo Iraqi adult-male civilians were detained because they were found with a box of 60 mm mortar fuses.â Third Platoon seized 15 AK-47 assault rifles and four pistols, said 1st Lt. Edward Ghelardini, platoon leader. âAll the weapons we confiscated were in excess of the one weapon theyâre allowed to have,â said Sgt. 1st Class Robert J. Dehart, 3rd Platoon. âThere are 15 fewer AKs and four less pistols on the streets for them (the enemy) to shoot at us with.â
Aside from the captured contraband, perhaps one of the most reassuring aspects of the mission was the cooperation of the people whose houses were searched, Watson said. âThe search tonight was successful for two reasons,â he said. âNumber one: because a lot of contraband was captured. Number two: an overwhelming majority of the civilians were happy to see us.â
For Apache Troop, itâs been a long year in Iraq serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Though the âWar Eagleâ Squadron Soldiers are close to going home to Fort Polk, La., they know that their mission in Iraq is not over. âEven though weâre close to going home, we ainât left yet,â said Sgt. Benson Wade, 3rd Platoon. âWeâve been able to continuously bring the fight to them (the enemy). We havenât become complacent.â
EFL -also some comments about the yassination
I also talked to a few Wahhabis at the village where Iâm posted and they were very uncomfortable with their surroundings and the treatment they get from fanatics and Shiâite Islamic parties. "We try hard to mind our own business and go on with our lives but people here hate us, and weâre always looked upon with suspicion" [canât imagine why]
one of them confided to me. There was an attack against a market store owned by one of them and all his goods were destroyed just a day after the Basrah hotel attack. while zayedâs group is rather happy to have yassin gone, another iraqi blogger, the mesopatanian, http://messopotamian.blogspot.com/
who is generally pro american, apparently feels anger.
Ays, http://iraqataglance.blogspot.com/
another generally pro american is not angry but also disagrees with the yassination
Posted by: mhw ||
03/23/2004 8:41:15 AM ||
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Check out Zayed's 2nd paragraph on the cook's reaction:
Our cook had the most interesting reaction. "How many young men did this @#%$ send to death by brainwashing and fooling them into carrying out suicide attacks? How many innocent people had he killed?" he shouted to the doctor, "And how many thousands of dollars did he get in his Swiss bank accounts by pimping on the Palestinian cause?". "If he was truly such a hero and a believer in Jihad how come he didn't rig his wheelchair with explosives and blow himself up at some Israeli
checkpoint? I say f* him". We advised the cook to stay out of politics, at least for the moment, and stick to his task of scrambling eggs for us.
Let's hope there are more Muslims in the Middle East who see this kind of logic and wisdom.
Posted by: Jen ||
03/23/2004 15:38 Comments ||
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While Europe wobbles, Israel stands firm
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Tuesday that other Hamas leaders would be targeted now that Israel has assassinated Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. "If we will continue, in a determined way, with our strikes against Hamas and other terror groups, with the means I outlined, including action against those leaders, we will bring more security to Israeli citizens," he said.
Just a suggestion, not that he reads Rantburg, but they should follow quickly — like try to bump off three in a week. That'll sheikh 'em up pretty nice. And brag about what good inside info you have. You'll know you're successful when the shooting starts.
Defense chiefs have decided to try to kill the entire Hamas leadership, security sources said Tuesday, a day after Israel assassinated the sheikh. The defense chiefs decided during a five-hour meeting Monday to step up targeted attacks, the sources said. They said officials decided to go after the entire leadership without waiting for another attack by Hamas.
Ex-x-x-x-x-cellent!
Public Security Minister Tzachi Hanegbi said Tuesday that no Palestinian terror leader was immune from an Israeli attack. "Anyone who is involved in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank or anywhere else in leading a terror group knows from yesterday there is no immunity," Likud MK Hanegbi told reporters. "Everyone is in our sights." Excellent news!
"There is no immunity to anyone. And that means anyone to the last person," he said. Hanegbi did not give any names, but said the list of militant leaders marked for death included "those who appear on television," a veiled reference to senior Hamas officials Abdel Aziz Rantissi and Mahmoud al-Zahar. IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon said Tuesday that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallahâs response to the assassination showed that "they understand that their turn is drawing near." Cause meet effect!
Nice to know Nasrallah's on the list. Wonder if Mullah Fudlullah's gotten himself off the list by deciding to be a simple holy man...
Both Hanegbi and the director of Military Intelligence, Major General Aharon Zeevi, denied any link between the killing, which Hamas and other militant groups have vowed to avenge, and any future terror attacks. Zeevi said he does not believe that the assassination of Yassin will lead to a significant rise in terror attacks, Army Radio reported Tuesday. Thats my opinion too. There is nothing to indicate that Hamas has any additional capability they have not used to date.
The assassination of the Hamas leader has dealt a severe blow to the militant organization and will help prevent the founding of "Hamas-land" in Gaza, Yaalon said Tuesday. These guys must be reading RB and realizing the power of pithy monikers.
"Even if in the short term, the assassination increases the motivation to carry out terror attacks, in the long run, the assassination is likely to calm the situation in the Gaza Strip and encourage moderate forces to prevent the founding of âHamas-landâ in the Strip," he said. "Yassin was neither, and I should like to stress it, was neither a political nor a religious leader," said Yaalon. HaHa! You mean he is not a âspiritual leaderâ after all! Surprise meter just did nothing. Got to get one of those new digital models.
"Ahmed Yassin was a terrorist who headed a terrorist organization which operates against the State of Israel and its citizens. Yassin was directly responsible for multiple terror attacks, resulting in the deaths of both Israeli and foreign civilians and security personnel." <> Hezbollah militants abandoned their posts overnight for fear of an Israeli reprisal, Army Radio reported Tuesday. The IDF Northern Command decided Tuesday that it would respond if Hezbollah continues to shell the northern border, Israel Radio reported. The army says it expects Lebanon to restrain Hezbollah, as it did during the war in Iraq and in Operation Defensive Shield in the West Bank in 2001, when it set up barriers in the south of the country to prevent militants from approaching the border fence. Hamas, Hezbollah and Arafatâs Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade have all vowed revenge for the assassination. The Hamas military wing, Iz a Din al-Kassam, announced it would avenge the killing both in Israel and overseas. "Ariel Sharon gave the order to kill hundreds of Zionists on every street, in every city and everywhere in the occupied lands," it said in a statement. If Israel ever gets into âdire revengeâ there will be so many bodies on the streets of Gaza you will not be able to count them.
Posted by: phil_b ||
03/23/2004 8:08:10 AM ||
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DEBKA sez that their Palestinian sources report Arafatâs feeling lonely. Every Arab ruler he called Monday gave him brush-off: Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, Egyptâs Mubarak, Yemenâs Salah, Jordanâs Abdullah and Tunisian Bin Ali. All refused to come to telephone. Must know he's a dead man talking.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2004 9:27 Comments ||
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#2
sounds like a good plan too me. Should have done this years ago though, and hopefuly they aill go ahead and knock arafat off while they are at it.
#5
Leave Arafat alone in his hole. He is isolated and ineffectual. The Last thing that the place needs is a new abu Explodo to lead the idiots to the Heavenly Whorehouse.
Posted by: ed ||
03/23/2004 13:10 Comments ||
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#6
" spiritual leader... at least since yesterday"
I can't even begin to imagine what must be going on behind the scenes that finally convinced Ariel Sharon, Shaul Mofaz, and Moshe Yaalon to finally treat these terrorists the only real way to treat terrorists, but I am so grateful that they did. I can't tell you how many people have said or written since yesterday, "Oh... I feel so bad for the Israelis. Now they really going to be coming under attack..." i wanted to scream, "You idiots, they've been under perpetual attack since 2001 - really since 1948! " The only time there was relative peace in the region was the aftermaths of the times when Israel finally treated their oppressors with hard, irresistable force."
Remember, these suicide bombings began only after the Oslo accords were signed (aka- "the Oslo War"). Why? Because the bloodthirsty cultures surrounding Israel on all sides tasted blood. For the first time they saw that, if Israel was actually willing to trade " land for peace", then the land must mean more to the Arabs than the Israelis, and that was all they needed. The PA never adhered, nor intended to, the dictates of the Oslo toilet paper, except where their admittedly fantastic PR machine needed to for the world's benefit.
I have a theory, and if any of you folks could pitch in your comments, I'd be grateful, as to why Israel is suddenly taking such strong action after years of just "taking it". I wonder if it's not in response to Al quaeda's victory for terrorism in Spain. after 9/11, the U.S. and most of the world, showed that "this is how we'll treat terrorists." But with the horror of Spain's recent attacks, at least one major western nation, one that was involved in the toppling of Saddam Hussein, showed that terrorism really can work and achieve it's desired goals. This would be a very inspiring message to any terrorist group in Israel, especially one like Hamas, who up until now, has been treated relatively speaking, with kid gloves. My feeling is that Israel may have decided to say, " we've got to start making a strong statement of, 'Don't even THINK of trying that here' before these groups who already too bold and brazen start getting even more agressive. Not every country is Spain, and your results may vary"
Whatever went on behind this decision, I'm grateful. That this Yassin will become a martyr, an idea that may spur many on to further blood frenzy is almost certain, but that's all he can do. He can't issue one more command, or hatch one more idea, that will result in the deaths of Israelis. Thank G-d!
via Wash Times - EFL / Fair Use Israel: In for more fighting with Hamas
By Joshua Brilliant
United Press International
TEL AVIV, Israel, March 23 (UPI) -- Key Quote from the aricle:
Israeli officials felt Hamas has been deliberately stepping up its attacks as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon seeks a "separation" from the Gaza Strip, in order to create an impression that it is actually pushing Israel out.
That is not the image Sharon wants.
Accordingly, Israel has decided on an overall attack on Hamas. A military source who spoke to United Press International on condition of anonymity said the Israelis would hit "all along terror, from its infrastructure to its leadership." No more BS myths like post-Lebanon. Read the whole thing...
Posted by: .com ||
03/23/2004 8:01:38 AM ||
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#3
The only thing to do its to peacefully dismantle the Zionist Entity and return the land to the Palestinians. Jews and Arabs lived peacefully in the region until the advent of the Zionist Entity.
#6
AW - Nah, I don't think so. We'll just dismantle the asshats and you can maintain your status quo of pissing and moaning, K? You really are selective about history - and your focus is so narrow, one would think you could get this one teeny-tiny bit of it right. Since you claim to read so much, it's rather sad you haven't read accurate material.
#8
Robert I said peacefully dismantle not destroy.
Yeah, like there's a difference. Not that you care how many people die; just as long as no one resists, you'll have your "peace".
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2004 11:04 Comments ||
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#9
AW: Do some research into the pogroms and massacres that Muslims carried out against Jews before the founding of Israel. They happened, and their existence contradicts your claim of "living peacefully".
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2004 11:06 Comments ||
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#10
Robert - she doesn't know what your talking about. In her Barney books, everyone just hugs and sings the I love you song. Except Americans and Jews. They are bad. Auntie said so.
Run along, antiwar, it's time for your nap. The big people are going to talk about serious subjects now.
Posted by: B ||
03/23/2004 11:11 Comments ||
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#11
No thanks, Antiwar (what a lie of a name).
I'd prefer that Israel simply decided to remove the Paleos once and for all. Send them back to Jordan, Eygpt, and whatever other of their Arab "brethren" from whence they came.
#12
AW - You post silly half-wit shit and others post responses. Don't want responses? It's simple: STFU or get an education and use your fucking brain. Judging from your posts, and that's all we have to go on here, you really are a simpleton. Besides, on the personal thing, I don't wanna get that close to you - I believe you're ill. Nothing personal, you understand.
#13
from Drudge:
Israel's army chief of staff hinted Tuesday that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah may also be in the military's sights after the killing of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
Asked at a security conference in Tel Aviv whether the two leaders were also marked for death, Moshe Yaalon said: "I think that their responses alone yesterday show they understand that it is getting closer to them."
Yaalon said in a speech that the army's killing of Hamas founder and spiritual leader Sheikh Yassin in a Gaza City missile attack on Monday had dealt a "significant blow" to the radical Islamic movement.
Arafat denounced the killing of Yassin as a "barbaric crime" while Nasrallah, leader of the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah, vowed to make Israel "pay very dearly".
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/23/2004 11:53 Comments ||
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#14
"antiwar" says: ".com--why does he hate me . . ."
antiwar: I no longer take you seriously because you NEVER answer the inquisitive, sensitive posts I send your way. And you don't answer anyone else's good posts either. You are an operative.
In your post above you are using the liberal age-old gimmick argument: "you (.com) attack me personally because you know what I say is true and can't admit it . . . " Antiwar--you've got to be kidding-- .com clearly wasn't attacking you personally --AT ALL! I don't think .com thinks what you say is true, and neither does anyone else. Good try though. Are you feeling the heat? Is that why you're retreating into an attempt at a character assassination against "BIG OLD MEANY" .com?
Some facts: With or without Zionism, Moslem leaders would still be sounding the war cry. That's what keeps them inside their personal power structure, and inside their psychological dysfunction. They don't really care about the people like they pretend to. THEY are not for peace, antiwar! THEY are not for peace! Can you understand that? Frankly, I wish they were. Many moderates in the Arab community, who were willing to work with the Israelis, were murdered by the likes of the Moslem hardliners. Murdered, antiwar. That doesn't sound very peaceful to me. The reason the Moslem leaders don't want a truce, or for either side to find any common ground, is because they would lose their power base if the two sides collaborated and began building together. Those Moslems don't even want discussion to BEGIN between the two sides. They are hanging their people out to dry. There are many Israelis who don't adhere to Zionism, or support what the radical Zionists did or do. But the facist Moslems ONLY focus on Zionism in order to keep the people confused. And Robert Crawford is correct. There were (and are) many attacks against non-Zionist, peaceful Jews, by Moslems throughout the last century and earlier. Please do some research, antiwar. Your bias is showing.
(I'm not attacking you personally, either, in case you missed it.)
#16
Israel's army chief of staff hinted Tuesday that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah may also be in the military's sights...
But not too quickly. There's something about the idea of a distraught Arafat cooped up in his fetid, half-demolished compound, jumping every time there's a loud noise or an aircraft overhead...
#2
Fred - might as well kill this article. It appears that after it falls off the main Google News page, the "pass" for Google being the referrer is killed.
#7
From the article: We have no tanks or Apache helicopters," he said once. "Our bodies are the Palestinians' only weapons.
I guess that remark pretty well kills any lingering doubt about Yassin's innocence and intentions in Hamas' genocidal campaign.
The article is an insane mix of truth and denial. I guess some writers hope that if they can point out contradictions in a murdering bastard, the writer somehow intellectually elevates his readers. Instead this writer just sounds like a used car salesman.
Sorry, Houston Chronicle. Rantissi is next. I'd like to see how you can twist Rantissi's 'legacy'.
The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) has announced a three-day countrywide mourning to condemn the assassination by Israel of Hamas chief Sheikh Ahmad Yasin and Israeli brutality committed on innocent Palestinians. MMAâs acting Ameer and Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Qazi Hussain Ahmad announced this at a condolence meeting held in Lahore on Monday to pay a tribute to Sheikh Yasin. The JI chief said that the mourning would continue until March 24. Mr Ahmad said that Muslims had lost a great leader and brave soldier in the death of Sheikh Yasin. âIslamic movements cannot be eliminated through power and Israel has committed a blunder by launching an operation against an Islamic movement in Palestine,â he said. Sardar Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari, a former president of Pakistan and chief of the Millat Party, also condemned the âbrutal assassination of the Hamas leaderâ, saying, âit is the worst example of state terrorism in Palestine by the Israeli governmentâ. He said Israelâs aggression on Palestine had become a threat to peace and this act of terrorism could also affect the on-going war on terror. Itâs a pity Qazi isnât likely to go the same way
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
03/23/2004 3:45:42 AM ||
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âit is the worst example of state terrorism in Palestine by the Israeli governmentâ.
Pity he's right. Yarafat is still breathing.
Posted by: Ben ||
03/23/2004 6:38 Comments ||
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John, don't you realize that Hitler placed a high priority on whacking the incoherent crazies like form his follower ship? If he didn't assign someone to put a luger to your head, he would have added you to a chain-gang on an obscure public works project in a very cold place. If you plan to participate in any future jack-boot shod repression, learn to act like your sane. That was the truly chilling part of the Nazis - that they looked like normal people. Now buy a suit and cease drooling on yourself.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/23/2004 11:06 Comments ||
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EFL- Was good background for me. Delete if it is common knowledge.
December 1987: First Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation erupts, and Yassin founds Hamas as an Islamic resistance movement against Israel.
1988: Hamas publishes manifesto calling for "holy war" to create an Islamic state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, including Israel, and challenging the Palestine Liberation Organizationâs claim as the sole representative of the Palestinian people.
1989: Hamas militants kill Israelis in dozens of shooting attacks; Israel outlaws Hamas as a terrorist organization.
1989: Israel imprisons Yassin.
1991: Hamas forms "Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades," its military wing, for attacks against Israelis.
April 6, 1994: First Hamas car bombing kills eight in Israeli city of Afula.
April 13, 1994: First Hamas suicide bombing kills five in Israeli city of Hadera.
Oct. 19, 1994: Hamas suicide bomber blows up Tel Aviv bus, killing 22.
Jan. 6, 1996: Hamas master bombmaker Yehiyeh Ayyash killed in explosion, Israel held responsible.
February to March 1996: 47 Israelis killed in three suicide attacks in retaliation for killing of Ayyash.
September 1997: Yassin released from prison after botched Israeli attempt to kill Hamas leader in Jordan.
September 2000: Second Palestinian uprising begins.
June 1, 2001: Hamas suicide bomber blows up outside Tel Aviv disco, killing 21.
Aug. 9, 2001: Hamas suicide bomber blows up Jerusalem restaurant, killing 15.
March 27, 2002: Hamas bomber blows up Netanya hotel, killing 29.
July 23, 2002: Israel drops one-ton bomb on house of Hamas leader Salah Shehadeh in Gaza, killing him and 14 others.
Aug. 21, 2003: Hamas leader Ismail Shanab killed in Israeli airstrike.
August-September 2003: 39 killed in three Hamas suicide bombings.
Sept. 6, 2003: Yassin slightly wounded in Israeli bombing in Gaza.
March 14, 2004: Two bombers, one from Hamas, kill 10 at Ashdod port.
March 22, 2004: Yassin juiced killed in Israeli airstrike in Gaza City.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/23/2004 2:57:30 AM ||
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#1
Sheik-Sheik-Sheik,.. Sheik-Sheik-Sheik,
shake yer empty dismembered head,
shake yer empty dismembered head...
#5
I've got this in table form on my blog. Also snips from the Hamas charter where they rale against Jews, Zionists, Crusaders and the Rotary Club. Those damn Rotarians!
#6
March 14, 2004: Two bombers, one from Hamas, kill 10 at Ashdod port.
What it does not state is that had the bombers succeeded in perforating the Bromide storage tanks the death toll would have been in the hundreds.
Also this list does not state how many have been incapacitated for life because of the injuries sustained.
Posted by: Barry ||
03/23/2004 11:41 Comments ||
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Nice one, Barry. Thanks for the info.
Funny, but I remember that about 25 years ago Hamas was being hailed by Arab college students as a humanitarian organization that would help build up the Arab people and states--THEN they could go and dismantle Israel in style. I always found it curious that the two aims went together, somehow, in their minds. If you think about it, Hamas was (and is) the ULTIMATE liberal-oriented political organization. Hamas removes personal responsibility from the people by giving them money (the dole), then encourages them to work for them (i.e. Hamas) to achieve HAMAS' particular political aims, whether or not those aims are good for the people. Shame on the Arab people for whoring themselves like that. If Hamas was truly legitimate, it should've provided humanitarian aid and worked to help the people establish freedom and democracy in their own countries. But I forgot--it's ALL about Israel, those Zionist pigs! blah-blah-blah. And America--without whom the Zionist pigs could not exist. blah-blah-blah. Destroy them both! DESTROY! DESTROY! blah-blah-blah.
Hamas was always a ruse organization. They always had an agenda, despite how they pawned themselves off in the early days. If they did ever succeed in blowing Israel away, wonder what they'd do next?
from the paragon of truth, the Peopleâs Daily - EFL / Fair Use
Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, March 23, 2004 The United States expected Israel not to harm Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat after the killing of Hamas spiritual leader Sheik Yassin, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said at a news briefing on Monday. That had to hurt, Rich.
The United States expected Israel not to harm Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat after the killing of Hamas spiritual leader Sheik Yassin, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said at a news briefing on Monday. "The Israelis have said before that they do not intend to harm Mr. Arafatâs person. We think that is important pledge, and we would expect them to stand by that," Boucher said. As the only entity in the region which ever keeps its word...
Boucher appealed for all parties to keep calm and avoid further tension. "I have said that we are looking for all the parties to exercise restraint, we are looking at all the parties to do everything possible to avoid actions that can further escalate the tension in the region," Boucher said when asked if the Untied States had asked Israel not to target any more leaders of Hamas. Excellent response! It must really suck to be employed at State. My sympathies to the radicals - those not bizzily feathering their retirement nests and actively engaged in representing the interests of the US.
Posted by: .com ||
03/23/2004 1:36:58 AM ||
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#1
It's a toss-up whether this Nobel recipient needs to focus on his current supply of bodyguards or adult diapers...
#2
when asked if the Untied States had asked Israel not to target any more leaders of Hamas.
Uh...that would be a diplomatic "NO". We asked them not to kill Arafat, and we asked them not to escalate, but as to your question, please reread my previous comments.
With trenches, watchtowers, tunnels and telephone links, it was a well-guarded hideout of Uzbek and Chechen militants -- until it was found by Pakistani troops searching for Osama bin Laden near the Afghan border. After initially retreating in a hail of bullets last Tuesday, Pakistan's army drafted thousands of reinforcements and set up a 40-mile cordon around several hundred militants in desolate mountains near the frontier. Radio intercepts suggest they were close to nabbing a prominent Uzbek or Chechen leader, probably the charismatic leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Tahir Yuldashev, intelligence sources say. "It was Commander Tahir, but I doubt he is there any more," one intelligence official told Reuters. He either broke out in a bullet-proof car on the first day or vanished through one of the tunnels linking the mud-walled fortresses of the complex under attack in the South Waziristan area of the tribal lands. "There is a possibility that some might have escaped," regional security chief Brigadier Mahmood Shah admitted.
Experts say it had been an open secret for some time that Yuldashev and his central Asian colleagues were sheltering in the area, after fleeing Afghanistan as their Taliban allies were forced from power by the United States in late 2001. "Everybody knew this group was there," said Pakistani author Ahmed Rashid. "There was a kind of official deal."
Yuldashev first emerged in the late 1980s as the founder of the Adolat or Justice movement, a gang of young Muslim vigilantes meting out mediaeval punishment in Uzbekistan's breathtakingly beautiful Ferghana Valley during the Soviet Union's final days. Thieves and prostitutes would be seated on donkeys, face to tail, and paraded around town, others beaten with sticks or tied to poles for passersby to spit in their faces. Precursors to the Taliban, Adolat youths wearing green armbands would drag off any woman daring to wear a short skirt and shave her heads.
The difference between them and Brownshirts was... what?
Yuldashev's denouncements of post-Communist President Islam Karimov made him a wanted man, and he left to join like-minded Muslim militants fighting Tajikistan's civil war in the 1990s. He later helped found the IMU, a motley crew including Kyrgyz, Tajiks and even some Uighurs from China's restive Xinjiang province. Their goal was to set up an Islamic state in Uzbekistan and ultimately throughout Central Asia. Blamed for a series of bomb attacks in the Uzbek capital Tashkent in 1999, Yuldashev was sentenced to death in absentia. By this time he is thought to have fled the region for the safe haven of Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. Bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar were enthusiastic about the IMU's plans to Islamise Central Asia and the movement was welcomed into al Qaeda.
Fighting on the Taliban's side in Afghanistan's civil war, the IMU boasted several thousand fighters. But its base near the northern town of Mazar-e-Sharif was bombed by U.S. warplanes in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks and Yuldashev's comrade-in-arms Juma Namangani killed. Yuldashev is believed to have joined senior Taliban and al Qaeda leaders in the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan, and is rumoured to have led resistance to U.S. forces during the fierce fighting of Operation Anaconda in the spring of 2002.
Yuldashev's next bolt hole was Pakistan's Waziristan, where he and his gang appear to have won over many conservative tribal people. "Many have settled down, have married and got kids, they speak Pashto and they are completely tuned in," said Rashid. "He recites the Quran very beautifully, very mesmerisingly, which made him very popular in Waziristan." Locals said the tall and well-built Yuldashev was still active in Waziristan, preaching jihad from mosques in the area. A recruitment video received by Reuters this week shows the bearded commander, one end of his black turban draped over his shoulder, passionately exhorting his men in Uzbek and Arabic.
Fighters were taught to clean their guns in lessons conducted on mountain meadows, others were shown treking through steep, verdant hills laden down with rocket-propelled grenades, rifles and backpacks. It was unclear when or where the footage was shot. At some point Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf seems to have decided he could no longer tolerate Yuldashev's men on his soil, either because of American pressure or even because of Chinese concerns about the Uighurs who might be among them. But the army admits it was not expecting the level of resistance it encountered. Yuldashev may have got away but could have been wounded during a dash for freedom. Those of his colleagues still encircled by Pakistan's army show no sign of giving up. "They are really trapped there, and they are going to fight to the death. They have nowhere else to go," said Rashid.
So kill them all. No great loss, and probably a gain.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2004 1:12:29 AM ||
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pakistan Army is not admitting nor denying that it has lost more than 170 soldiers in fight so far, and the death count tribal people side is hardly 10 martyrs.....now thats the power of jihad, where a handful Mujahid has stopped the U.S sponsored mercenaries of pakistan Army, rather have made them on the run..Allah Akbar
#4
ROFLMAO! The power of jihad.... That's the damn funniest thing I've read in a while. The power of the jihadi is his ability to find the nearest hole in the ground to cower in and kiss his ass goodbye.
Posted by: Lil Dhimmi ||
03/23/2004 10:42 Comments ||
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Khan - Aw c'mon dude, don't leave! At least seethe a little before you go! Geez, you're no fun.
#6
The most dangerous time of day for a cockroach is when the light comes on and the broom is handy. Yuldash is in scurry mode and may be quashed this time or another. The Pakistanis and us both learned more of what to expect about the spider holes that we will be seeing in the phase of the game. You will start to see a more integrated effort as the game continues. There may be a predator watching the streambed next time or a tribe of painted Comanche braves with meat cleavers.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/23/2004 11:25 Comments ||
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Lol! Hey, SH, I'm one Comanche that would love to be hanging out at the far end of the rat hole, but I'd want something with more punch than a meat cleaver... How about one of those man-portable chain guns? Lol! And I'd love to meet up with prettyboy Khan, too. I think he's dreaming of creamy-fresh virgins. What a pisser it'll be to get a 1/4 cup of raisins, instead. Arabic, Aramaic, what's a phrase among friends, eh?
#8
.com, I get very frustrated with our border patrol issues and with cases where the French not being able to tell how long ago Bin Laden was in a cave. The Border Patrol has had very good luck when they have employed teams of Native American trackers. There has to be some really valuable talent being wasted on our reservations.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/23/2004 12:08 Comments ||
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#9
I dunno if there are many still following the old ways, nor which are the best tribes to find them. The Comanches were rather set in their ways and there was pretty much an all-out war by both sides and the injuns lost. (Quickie History) In fact, there are not enough left today to be recognized as a tribe - so the Cherokees have offered to take us in - believe that shit? Hey, I was elevated to poor white trash a couple of gens back, so I've never lived the life. Good thing, too, I'd rather be a programmer than a blackjack dealer, heh!
#10
I thought all the Native American trackers were long gone as well, but they have a team of them on the Southern border that I saw on the news a while back. They lead in that area for pot seized and all other measurables. I was proud of the small percentage of Injun blood I have running through my veins DNA in the nuclei of the cells of my musculature?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/23/2004 20:18 Comments ||
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I can see taking any peyote or mescaline confiscated, for those nifty Native American Church ceremonies, you understand, but weed? Pshaw! Kiddie fare! Heh, Being a Heinz 57 mutt, I credit some of my better attributes to those remarkable people. Lord knows it's unfashionable to credit the Scots or English or Scandinavians - who lurk just around the next spiral turn! Lol! I HAD to be born in Texas - I share Sam Houston's B-Day, also Texas Independence Day, and had 3 relatives who fought with him at San Jacinto when he cleaned Santa Anna's clock!
Ten Russian servicemen and local policemen died in skirmishes and explosions staged by rebels in Chechnya over the past 24 hours, an official with Chechnya's Moscow-backed administration said Monday.
Rebel attacks on military positions killed six servicemen and wounded seven, while a land mine explosion killed two members of a patrol outside the village of Komsomolskoye in the southern Urus-Martan district, the official said on condition of anonymity. Four others were wounded in an explosion Sunday. A patrol car was blown up in the village of Prigorodnoye on the outskirts of the regional capital, Grozny, killing a Chechen policeman and wounding two others, the official said. A security guard for Moscow-backed Chechen leader Akhmad Kadyrov died after being fired on from a passing car in Grozny on Monday, the official said.
Russian forces unleashed artillery barrages on suspected rebel bases in the forested mountains of the Achkhoi-Martan, Itum-Kale and Urus-Martan regions of Chechnya, the official said. More than 140 civilians were detained in the latest mopping-up operations aimed at weeding out rebel sympathizers, he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2004 12:47:34 AM ||
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For two years, Afghan officials have said it publicly and American troops have bitterly complained about it privately. A large group of foreign militants who they suspect are allied with Al Qaeda â and possibly Osama bin Laden himself â appeared to be safely hiding in Pakistan's tribal areas and mounting cross-border attacks on American forces in Afghanistan. Pakistani forces at the border appeared to do little to stop them. "If they'd cut the restraints," said one American soldier on patrol near the border last week, referring to their orders to stay on the Afghan side, "we'd go into Pakistan and kill them."
Developments in recent days indicate that Pakistan is finally willing to press its troops on the border to go after the foreigners, after two assassination attempts on President Pervez Musharraf by Islamic militants â but they also point out that it could have happened a lot sooner. The discovery of hundreds of foreign militants in South Waziristan, the focus of the current operation, also suggests that if there is a Qaeda stronghold where Mr. bin Laden is hiding, it may be there. It also appears that Pakistani troops sent to the fiercely independent tribal areas more than two years ago failed to find militants who might have been living on their doorstep.
Kind of implies they didn't look very hard, doesn't it?
Pakistani officials say the current battle involves 400 to 500 militants who gathered in villages only 10 miles from a large military base in the town of Wana without Pakistani forces realizing it. "Yes, we must confess they were surprised," a Pakistani military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, said at a news conference on Monday, referring to the members of the raiding party that finally discovered the militants. "They had underestimated the strength of the miscreants there." Afghan and some American officials contend that Pakistani forces have simply not tried to find the militants, or in some cases overtly aided them.
We've all been saying that for a couple years. I guess it took a couple hits at Perv to get the message through...
Zalmay Khalilzad, the American ambassador to Afghanistan, said in an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday that two Taliban commanders believed to be orchestrating attacks in southern Afghanistan were operating from Pakistan. "We know several key Taliban figures are there," he said, "and there is some sense that some of the remaining Al Qaida leaders are in the border area on the other side."
Pakistani officials say no one, including American officials, suspected that there were so many militants in South Waziristan. Pakistani forces uncovered a sign of the strength and sophistication of the militant network on Monday, officials said. Army engineers destroying the house of a local tribesman who sheltered militants discovered a network of tunnels. One tunnel was more than a mile long and linked the compounds of two local tribesmen who had been wanted for months for harboring militants and carrying out attacks on American forces, officials said. The tunnel then extended to a nearby dry riverbed. Mehmood Shah, the incompetent chief of security in the tribal areas, conceded that militants might have used it to flee. "It is possible that some might have escaped through this tunnel," he said. "It has been there for quite some time. I don't know how effective the cordon was on the first night."
A Wana area resident who saw some of what happened that night but feared reprisals if his name were used said in telephone interview on Monday that most of the militants escaped on the first night of the operation before the cordon was firmly in place. The resident and a Pakistani security official also said the leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Tahir Yaldash, who was believed to have been surrounded along with scores of Chechen fighters, might have escaped. Pakistani officials said no tunnels were discovered when a house where tunnels were found on Monday was raided last month.
The old revolving Koran case trick, eh? Fools 'em every time...
The bodies of six militants believed to be foreigners have been taken to Rawalpindi for DNA testing, Pakistani official said. They said none appeared to be Mr. Zawahiri or Mr. bin Laden. Other signs that the Pakistani effort may be faltering emerged Monday. Suspected militants attacked a resupply convoy 20 miles from the fighting, killing 12 soldiers and wounding 22, and apparently escaped with no casualties. In addition, a delegation of 22 tribal elders sent to convey a government demand that the militants surrender returned empty-handed.
They weren't expecting (or expected) to bring anything back. They were buying time.
Malik Ba Khan, a member of the delegation, said in a telephone interview that the delegation had met with local tribal leaders who had said that no foreign militants were present. "They said that the wanted men are not there," he said, "and that they would inform the government if they are seen in the area."
Same thing they've been saying since October, only with gunfire in the background.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2004 12:44:28 AM ||
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Leave it to the NYT to be late to the game, slow on the uptake, and to soft-peddle the facts - obvious to everyone else with alternative sources. I know, I know, I'm supposed to be happy, complimentary even, that they arrived at all. Okay, congrats, NYT, for acknowledging the facts... finally. I am very very happy that the huddled masses who wead your pages have been given a dose of reality.
But beware!!! They might just develop a taste for the truth - and that would put you on the spot. To revoke the agenda you normally serve up you'd have to fire all of your management (again) and half your lackey staff. More? Okay, more than half.
I don't think Saltzboy is up to going through another purge. If only he could be fired, as well...
For this piece - thanks. For 90% of the rest, FOAD.
#2
There has been credible allegations that the entire IMU was on the ISI's payroll, Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov publically held Pakistan responsible for an assasination attempt against him. To put it another way, i'd be suprised if Yoldashev was taken alive, regardless of whether he wants to be a martyr or not.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
03/23/2004 2:29 Comments ||
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#3
Paul, one of these days I would dearly love to be sure I actually understand all of the factions and their power levels within the ISI - so that I could be equally certain of all of the motives behind its antics. Meanwhile, I read your posts and juggle the pieces as best I can. Certainly, without your posts, the task would be far more daunting and formidable! Thanx - you bring "heap big light" to this dark corner of byzantine insanity!
#4
don't have much sympathy for the IMU but I would find it hard to blame anyone for trying to eliminate Karimov. Uzbekistan after all has one of the worst human rights records in central asia
#6
local tribal leaders ... said that no foreign militants were present
as Allan is their witness.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
03/23/2004 7:18 Comments ||
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#7
Uzbekistan after all has one of the worst human rights records in central asia
Now now, Islom Abdughanievich isn't quite as bad as Saparmurad Niyazov (aka the Turkmenbashi), at least he's sane. It's a pity the way he's turned out, he wasn't some vodka-sodden old apparatchik like the first President of Tajikistan or a Brezhevite leach like Aliev, he could actually have achieved something for Uzbekistan IMO. Instead he had to go & prove how right Lord Acton was...
Posted by: Dave ||
03/23/2004 19:34 Comments ||
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The United States is providing a wide array of behind-the-scenes support to Pakistani forces combating suspected fighters for Al Qaeda near the Afghan border, including spy satellites, electronic-eavesdropping planes and sophisticated ground sensors, American officials in Washington and the region said. As part of a broader American offensive just across the rugged boundary in eastern Afghanistan, hundreds of American troops have also recently set up what the military calls "blocking positions" at strategic junctions along the frontier to trap and kill militants fleeing the Pakistani attacks. Largely from Afghanistan's airspace or above it, a range of American military sensors are peering across the mountainous border region into Pakistan. Spy satellites zero in on suspected enemy camps. Air Force E-8C Joint Stars ground-surveillance jets and remotely piloted Predator aircraft track enemy movements. RC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft scoop up cellphone calls and other electronic transmissions. U-2 spy planes soar high overhead.
In recent weeks and months, the American military has provided Pakistani forces with helicopters and specialized training, as well as a range of sophisticated ground sensors that can count vehicles on mountain roads and measure their loads by the vibrations they emit. The military has some technology that can be used to detect tunnels, but it was unclear whether such devices, if available, would have been effective in finding a mile-long tunnel from a besieged mud fortress that Pakistani officials discovered Monday. It might have been an escape route for militant leaders, the officials said. "We're trying to meet whatever requests they have," an American military official in the region said.
So far, the United States has provided primarily technical and tactical assistance to Pakistani security forces. Pakistan has not requested American ground forces to help root out suspected Qaeda fighters in the tribal areas, and Pakistani officials have publicly stated that no United States forces are involved in their offensive. But senior American military officials said that small numbers of commandos attached to Joint Task Force 121, a secret unit made up of military Special Operations forces and Central Intelligence officers, have conducted cross-border operations. Those commandos, who helped track down and capture Saddam Hussein in Iraq last December, have not been directly involved in the pitched battle between 7,000 Pakistani troops and several hundred militants in a small cluster of villages near the Afghan border, American officials said.
In the past, American forces have been authorized to pursue hostile forces into Pakistan from Afghanistan, if United States troops maintained "continuous contact" with the fighters, a senior officer with experience in Afghanistan said. "We have had synchronized operations in the past, but I would characterize our current operations as parallel and complementary," said Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, a military spokesman in Afghanistan. The senior American commander in the region, Gen. John P. Abizaid, met with senior Pakistani officials on Monday. Officials at the United States Central Command in Tampa, Fla., would not say whom General Abizaid met, saying his visit was long-scheduled as part of his regional duties. But Pentagon officials said it was virtually certain the stepped up Pakistani offensive came up during the general's visit.
Mr. Davis laments in comment #1 that we're giving the ISI real time intel. Fine. A big message is being sent here, and we haven't commented on it here at Rantburg: the Northwest Frontier is no longer inviolate. For centuries the local tribes ruled the frontier free of incursion by either the central government of the month or by a foreign army. How many tried and failed?
Til this week. The Pak army achieved tactical surprise (amazing in and of itself), but more than that, Osama and al-Q have been sent a message -- there is nowhere they can go where they can be away from us, if we but catch a glimpse of where they might be. Satellite imaging, real-time data analysis, highly mobile, highly trained, superbly motivated small infantry and special-ops forces, political suasion with allies, all have combined to make the Northwest Frontier a place where we can mount an operation whenever we deem it necessary.
A news report here yesterday said that al-Q might establish a base in the deep Sahara. Let them. Give us a glimpse of where they might be, and we'll pay a visit. And that thought makes it no surprise at all that we have small units helping the local militas in Chad, Niger and Mali. And no surprise that other small units are helping a couple dozen other countries around the world. We're building relationships, expertise, comm support and intel in dozens of out of the way places. Someone is thinking way ahead here, preparing the ground for the day that al-Q finds yet another sanctuary under assault, and another bigwig finds it necessary to hightail it in an SUV.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2004 12:07:04 AM ||
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#1
So we're giving the ISI first hand- real world knowledge of our technical means of intelligence. I wonder how long this will take to get to Al Q.
Posted by: Mr. Davis ||
03/23/2004 0:31 Comments ||
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#2
Just a correction, the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) has always been part of the mainstream of Pakistani society and politics.
It's the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), that have been left to themselves since the days of the British Raj.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
03/23/2004 2:32 Comments ||
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Thanks for the additional comment. It looks like we're becoming the world's watchman, but if we see anything we call the local gendarmes who may or may not be effective in catching the bad guy between cease fires. In the case of the Pakistani's it is difficult to tell who is how securely on our side as opposed to the bad guy's. I'm not sure we've really gained anything other than making Osama check into a new cave based on what I've seen coming out of NWF or FATA. This strategy seems like a gamble that will have a thousand fathers or a trip to the orphanage depending on the outcome. I pray for success, but wish the fruit were more apparent.
Posted by: Mr. Davis ||
03/23/2004 10:28 Comments ||
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#5
..There is another message as well to the Islamonazis in the Pakistani military and intel services:
If we can see them, we can see YOU.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/23/2004 10:29 Comments ||
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#6
Hey guys have u seen Bush espacially after the release of Clark's Book....it seems like he has a constipation....I even heard that he has started wearing diapers, in order to avoid embarassment,...and guess who changes his diapers...Paul Wolfowitz and Dick cheney!!!!!!
#9
I think Dan's comment above hits the nail on the head. Musharaff is pushing to assert control of the tribal areas. Lots of reasons for doing that, some of which are to our advantage if he is really successful.
I agree completely. My concern is that they then know exactly how well we can see them and what timing problems are as opposed to them knowing only approximately and then having to wonder about what we can really do when we go full out.
Posted by: Mr. Davis ||
03/23/2004 12:31 Comments ||
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#12
So we're giving the ISI first hand- real world knowledge of our technical means of intelligence. I wonder how long this will take to get to Al Q.
So what? They can't duplicate it. All they're getting is the final product. They have no access to the aircraft, the camera system, the control system, or any of the encryption gear aboard. All the Paks are seeing is the imagery. While I'd give both my remaining eye teeth to see the stuff myself, I'm not sure it's going to make that much difference to Purv and his pals. They have to rely on the CIA telling them what they're seeing. It takes quite a bit of training to actually use the information those drones supply, especially the ones using low-light, radar, multi-spectral, and infrared imaging systems.
As for "limitations", we're supplying what we want Pak to see, not necessarily everything. You can't make any significant assumptions from that - not unless you're willing to accept responsibility for some HUGE errors.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/23/2004 12:43 Comments ||
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#13
Ahem, I'm the salmon colored comments, Dan's the bright yellow, Fred has pale yellow, and the other Steve hasn't decided yet :-)
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/23/2004 18:33 Comments ||
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#14
It's not that I haven't decided, it just that I'm still figuring out how to change them to AF blue without hosing them up. Any hints?
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2004 19:27 Comments ||
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#15
Steve, check out this:HTML Cheatsheet for script and color codes on changing font color.
Posted by: Jen ||
03/23/2004 19:41 Comments ||
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#16
Jen, you're a gem! Thanks!
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/23/2004 22:41 Comments ||
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Tribal leaders sought Monday to broker a peaceful outcome to the six-day battle between Pakistani troops and Islamic militants in a remote area near Afghanistan, and the army sought to determine whether prominent al Qaeda figures were among those killed or captured in the fighting. Security officials, meanwhile, said they had discovered a 1.2-mile-long tunnel that could have served as an escape route for senior al Qaeda fugitives when the fighting erupted last Tuesday, although a military spokesman later played down that possibility.
More yap-yap + tunnel = escape opportunity.
As army and paramilitary troops held their fire, the Associated Press reported, 18 tribal leaders carrying a white flag entered the battle zone Monday morning for talks with local tribesmen who have joined forces with foreign al Qaeda fighters in the barren hills of South Waziristan, just a few miles from the Afghan border. The tribal leaders were conveying government demands for the freeing of 12 paramilitary fighters and two civilians, the expulsion of foreign militants and the hand-over of local tribesmen who had fought with the foreign militants in the fortified mud-brick compounds that are the focus of the military operation. But Brig. Mahmood Shah, head of security for the semi-autonomous tribal regions that line the border with Afghanistan, told reporters in Peshawar, the capital of North-West Frontier Province, that "in light of past experience, we are not very hopeful" about the prospects for the talks, according to the AP.
That's an assertion they're not stupid...
As the negotiations were beginning, fighters with rocket-propelled grenades ambushed an army convoy supporting the operation to flush out the rebels from their strongholds west of Wana, the main town in South Waziristan, according to Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, the chief military spokesman. Sultan said he could not provide casualty figures, but the Reuters news agency reported that 12 soldiers were killed and 22 wounded.
Senior officials said Sunday that the remains of six rebels killed in the recent fighting had been taken to a military hospital in Rawalpindi near here and that DNA samples would be taken to learn whether any of them were significant al Qaeda figures. "They certainly don't look like Pakistanis; they're all foreigners," said a senior Pakistani official, speaking on condition he not be named. The official added that Zawahiri, a stout, bearded Egyptian whose picture has been broadcast around the world, did not appear to be among them. "The guess is they are all Chechens or Uzbeks, but DNA tests are being conducted." The official added that the government was eager to emphasize the involvement of foreign fighters to counter accusations by Islamic hard-liners that the army is targeting Pakistanis in the tribal areas. To that end, state-run television aired mortuary footage of five of the dead fighters, who appeared to be in their late twenties. The sixth body was not shown because it had begun to decompose, although it was unlikely to be that of Zawahiri, a senior security official said on condition of anonymity.
In addition to conducting DNA tests, security officials are interrogating roughly 100 captured rebels -- said to include militants from Chechnya, Uzbekistan and some Arab countries -- for information on the whereabouts of Zawahiri or bin Laden. A Pakistani military intelligence official said on condition of anonymity Sunday that about 20 of the captives were of particular interest. A team of U.S. intelligence personnel -- in addition to the 18 who are assisting the army in its operations in South Waziristan -- is participating in their interrogation. "We may get vital insight into the guerrilla operation being launched against the U.S. and Afghan forces in Afghanistan," another intelligence official said. "We will also know for sure if Ayman or Osama ever operated from this area."
Shah, the security chief for the tribal regions, left open the possibility that Zawahiri or other prominent fugitives could have escaped through a tunnel that linked the homes of two local tribesmen in the village of Kaloosha -- Nek Mohammed and Sharif Khan -- who were accused of taking up arms with the foreign fighters. Shah told reporters that the tunnel opened onto a dry streambed near the border and "may have been used at the start of the operation." Sultan said later that the tunnel probably could not have been an escape route because it ended just a few feet outside the wall of Mohammed's compound and was well inside the cordon that military forces threw up around the area at the start of the operation. He described it as a shallow "communication tunnel" that was part of the rebels' defenses. There was no word Monday night on the outcome of the negotiations between the tribal leaders and the rebels. "We don't want to be seen as rash," said a senior Pakistani military official. "At the same time," he added, "it is a difficult proposition because we want our men freed without being seen as yielding any ground to the terrorists."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2004 12:04:29 AM ||
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#1
The sixth body was not shown
heh,heh...clever. Where's Mohhamed? I dunno, maybe he's the "unknown soldier". Where's Zrhack?? I dunno, maybe he's the unknown soldier.
International forces recently found a location where fugitive al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden is thought to have taken refuge, according to French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie. She said in an interview to be published Tuesday that French troops operating near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan had helped trace bin Laden but did not say where, how wide an area she was referring to or whether he was still there. A ministry spokesman said Alliot-Marie was referring to the discovery of a location where bin Laden was believed to have been "at a certain time" and it was not clear where he was now. "Our men are well established and know the terrain well. Thanks to certain information, they were recently able to make an effective contribution to locating him," Alliot-Marie told Express magazine in an interview released before publication.
Asked whether the man located was definitely bin Laden, she replied: "Everything leads us to think so." She said she could provide no details for reasons of security and confidentiality but added that even his capture would not change matters much because terror networks had become increasingly autonomous. "What she wanted to say was that, with the information they provided, French forces contributed to locating him at a certain time. It is a terrible hunt for a rat on the loose," the ministry spokesman said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2004 12:02:25 AM ||
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#1
This series of "French guys singehandedly chasing down Bin Laden" dispatches is the funniest thing I've read in a long, long time.
#2
Well, whether true or not, the French are in Afghanistan and are hunting Ben Laden. This is all to the good...if the French were to kill him, I'd give the entire Country a pat on the back.
More importantly, this is a French Minister speaking and saying, "It is a terrible hunt for a rat on the loose." Calling Osama a "Rat," is a nice touch...and, as I think about it, it IS hard to catch a "Rat," on the loose. Isn't this whole statement sympathetic to the United States' efforts?
#3
Traveller - you are soooo generous! Sympathetic? Uh, I'd strongly suggest that "self-serving" is far far closer to the truth. I, too, find these stories to be wonderfully amazingly remarkably short on substance and very very very long on PR. I'll be quite happy to say I was dead wrong, stupid, untrusting, and unfair, should the French capture bin Laden. If they produce his corpse, I'll think about it once the circumstances and facts are verified. Meanwhile, methinks these stories are, to say the least, untrustworthy and laughable.
#4
I'm with you, dotcom.
Isn't is convenient that the Froggies happened to find OBL's hideout--guess they know a lot about where to cowar in fear, not to mention how rats behave under pressure! LOL...
And they're not going to tell us where it is, because if they told us, then they'd have to kill us and we wouldn't want that!
Posted by: Jen ||
03/23/2004 6:27 Comments ||
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#5
I figure the French would award him the much covited"Corete'de Toad.
#9
I'm with Traveller on this one. If Michael Moore Barbara Streisand and Jane Fonda track the guy down, I would be well satisfied to have him removed from play.
I don't worry too much about what happens next as the French would then have him in the middle of Afghanistan which is different than having him in Senegal.
Even Kerry says he would like to personally blow his brains out. Bin Laden has killed many people from a whole lot of different pissed-off countries. Holding Bin Laden would be the last thing that Chirac would want. It is one thing to catch Bin Laden it is quite another the jail him in your country while a quarter of your population commences to burning shit and blowing stuff up.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/23/2004 11:39 Comments ||
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#10
Given their track record in Yugoslavia, I think that the only reason that the French would want to find OBL is to tell him to get out of the area before the Americans show up.
What's up with the trolls today? I'm not even half way through Rantburg and I've seen anti-semitic, anti-Bush and pro-jihadi trolls already.
On topic, my worst concern is that France or some other euro force actually captures bin Laden alive.
I doubt he would be turned over to us.
Posted by: Carl in N.H ||
03/23/2004 11:54 Comments ||
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#12
Also notice that our little phrench phriend didn't define what she means by "recent". Is she talking about six months, a year, two years, five??? Hell, WE knew where he was five years ago, and possibly as little as a year ago. I also wonder how she can justify saying that phrench troops "know the terrain well", when most Afghanis don't know the terrain well more than ten miles from home. Sounds like a puff piece to make France look oooohhh so much better at anti-terrorism than the Americans, without actually providing any specifics - in other words, typical phrench bullshit.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/23/2004 13:05 Comments ||
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Gunmen killed two Finnish businessmen as they drove in Baghdad on Monday, the latest foreign civilians to die in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion a year ago. The two Finns were killed near a highway underpass in west Baghdad, according to Iraqi witnesses. The victims' Iraqi driver was unhurt. The Finns were part of a nine-person technological delegation visiting the Iraqi capital, said Markus Lyra, a Foreign Ministry official in Helsinki. "The men were on their way to the Ministry of Electricity to make business contacts as part of a larger group," he said. The assailants fled, and there were no reports of arrests. The victims were Seppo Haapanen, an employee of Entso, a Finnish company that specializes in electricity and power networks; and Jorma Toronen, of Air-Ix, which builds railways, the Foreign Ministry said. Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja conveyed the government's condolences to their families, saying he was "deeply shocked by the cruel murder."
Condolences to the Finns. Looks like the fedayeen strategy of soft targets is continuing.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/23/2004 11:23:58 PM ||
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#1
Maybe it's just that I only get a small piece of the picture, but it seems as if the people being ambushed are always these engineer types. I think more care needs to be given to the dates and times and attendees of their meetings.
Posted by: robert ||
03/23/2004 10:41 Comments ||
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#3
Yeah, these types of killings stink. We have a local engineering outfit here (www.powereng.com) that is getting an increasing amount of business in Iraq, and I worry about them. Stay home here in Sun Valley, and have to worry about Kerry creaming you on the slopes, go to work, and some idiot ingrate tries to blow you up .. sucks. You know, a lot of these engineers(at least, the Idaho ones) are avid hunters ... perhaps thay should be allowed to bring their Elk rifles for Iraq duty.
#4
I think foreign businessmen should dress like "conservative" arabs when they travel around. Why look like a target? B's comment is important, too, though--maybe someone's getting info about their meetings and travel plans, in which case it wouldn't matter.
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