A top Omani Islamic scholar yesterday urged Muslims to contribute to the well-being of the world through their values and principles, also underlining the importance of justice and moderation. Minister of Auqaf and Religious Affairs Shaikh Abdullah bin Mohammed was delivering his sermon after leading Eid prayers at the Al Zulfa Mosque in Seeb in the Muscat governorate. Yesterday was the first day of Eid Al Fitr in Oman. The congregation included His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, senior royal family members, state advisers, ministers, top civil and defence officials and citizens. Shaikh Abdullah called upon Muslims to ponder the meaning of the passing days, months and years, observing that "Ramadan has ended but that does not mean it is the end of worship, which continues forever and there are many ways to worship God."
He also referred to "the importance of laws and methods which govern our existence," and urged Muslims to "think of the universe, continue their endeavour on earth and read history thoroughly." The Holy Quran, Shaikh Abdullah pointed out, came to guide people and open up their minds, not to stop their creative capabilities. Muslims must thoroughly study the Quran and understand it well, he said. He added that Islam was meant to purify souls from arrogance and stressed the need for justice and moderation, which, he described, were factors of survival. "We are part of this world and we have to contribute to it by our values and principles," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/15/2004 11:04:58 PM ||
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[Fourth-pass edited response]
Would those be the Sura values and principles or the Haddith values and principles?
#2
them be the values of fearing god--hating,murdering,enslaving and/or subjugating all kufrs-and giving mohammid his 20% of the take--you can look it up
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
11/15/2004 2:35 Comments ||
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#3
.Com: I have a link here to an online book on mohammed, and how the Koran isn't the SOLE authoritative source of doctrine in Islam. Muslims have started a petition to get the book banned from bookstores, so I suppose that's a good recommendation in and of itself.
Ignore the overt Christian POV and use his source references and quotes.
The Muslim "game" is to present the Suras as Islam, works on the suckers like a charm - when the Hadiths are what take precedence and are the real world Islam - and that is, indeed, a dramatically different creature.
Former Labour MP George Galloway's long running legal action against the Daily Telegraph reaches court on Monday. The Glasgow Kelvin MP issued libel proceedings against the newspaper over allegations he accepted £375,000 in oil money from Saddam Hussein's regime. It has taken more than a year for the legal battle to reach the High Court in London where Mr Galloway is expected to listen to the opening speeches. The newspaper is standing by its right to publish the story.
As well as the Telegraph, another American publication made similar claims about Mr Galloway receiving money but it has since paid him damages and apologised, saying the documents it relied on were false. The anti-war MP, who was expelled from the Labour Party, says it was a smear by his enemies. He has strenuously denied the claims and is suing the Daily Telegraph. The paper is defending the action, claiming it was entitled to report the allegations in the public interest. The case could last for three weeks. That's a lot of popcorn. Anyone want to predict the outcome?
Posted by: Bulldog ||
11/15/2004 6:55:35 AM ||
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No prediction, but I would dearly love to see him nailed to the wall, the scurvy collaborator bitch. I have no doubts that he was on the take, whether the Telegraph has the legitimate goods on him or not.
Mr Rampton told the court the Glasgow Kelvin MP's interest in the Middle East dated back to the 1970s. "One of his interests has been to champion what he sees as the need for freedom and justice for the Palestinian people in the Middle East," he said. "He has also been a longstanding opponent of tyranny and oppression. That has particular reference to this case because one of his targets dating from the Seventies was the tyrannical regime of Saddam Hussein and his cronies in Iraq. He has been entirely consistent about that ever since that date up until the fall of Saddam Hussein more recently. He has been the leader of a campaign against the regime and for the sake of the Iraqi people at a time, and through the whole of the period, when Western governments were in great good friendship with Saddam Hussein."
The QC acknowledged the MP was sometimes called colourful or controversial. "He may prefer it if one called him a passionate character," he said. Mr Rampton said Mr Galloway had only met Saddam on two occasions. "The first time was in 1994 when, as he himself freely admits, he put his foot in his mouth by making some remarks which were open to interpretation - and needless to say were interpreted - as some kind of fawning praise for Saddam Hussein's personal courage and strength. "It wasn't what he meant to say, it was not in his mind to say, because he had no respect or admiration for Saddam Hussein whatsoever." The second time they met was in August 2002 when Mr Galloway wanted to try to persuade Saddam to readmit weapons inspectors. Saddam Hussein told Mr Galloway he did not have any weapons of mass destruction. "Mr Galloway did not believe him. As we now know, Saddam Hussein was telling the truth," Mr Rampton added.
Faith, and I believe 'em! If you can't trust the Ulster Defense Association who can you trust?
Northern Ireland's main pro-British paramilitary group, The Ulster Defence Association (UDA), has pledged to end all violence and work towards complete disarmament. "From today the UDA will desist from all military activity," Tommy Kirkham, a spokesman for the UDA's political wing, told a remembrance ceremony in Belfast for the soldiers who fought in World War I and World War II. "The strategy of the organisation will become one of community development, job creation, social inclusion, and community politics," he said. "From today we are prepared to move into a process. Our commitment to that process will be to work towards a day when there will be no need for a UDA," said Mr Kirkham, spokesman for the Ulster Political Research group. Mr Kirkham was speaking to more than 2,000 UDA members in the loyalist Ratchtoole estate on the northern outskirts of Belfast.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/15/2004 10:24:07 PM ||
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Our commitment to that process will be to work towards a day when there will be no need for a UDA
"All we need is a Roadmap!"
Posted by: Steve ||
11/15/2004 16:04 Comments ||
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#5
Chiraq does not give up and he does not get it. If Bush wants to go to Europe and mend fences, hey, have a ball. But under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should Bush have anything to do with Chiraq. Chiraq's perfidy is just beyond belief.
BTW, Jacques, how's the Ivory Roast Coast evacuation and strategic retreat coming along?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/15/2004 23:37 Comments ||
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#7
I hate to see behavior like this - it's like a deranged ex-spouse after a divorce: vicious, deceitful, and the ends justify the means if it damages your ex. Time for a restraining order
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/15/2004 23:49 Comments ||
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#8
But crossing Bush has won your country a major smackdown, Jack.
#9
France and Britain in a "VIOLENT LOVE AFFAIR" - okay-y-y, so whose on TOP during the violence of the "dirty deed", ie. "it, IT, I-T-T!" as said by a Missionary's wife-character on an episode of the Simpsons, espec given that ESCARGOTS is surreally CHICK FOOD!? SO, iff CLINTONISM > The Left wants America to create new Global Empire while simul being a ROGUE itself that must inevitable, ultimately be destroyed as well, WHAT DOES ANTIUSA FRANCE STAND TO BENEFIT IF IT WELL-KNOWS THAT COMMUNIST ASIA WILL EVENTUALLY KILL FRANCE AS WELL! I ABSOLUTELTY FAIL TO SEE OR COMPREHEND WHY AND HOW THE FRENCH PEOPLE WILL TOLERATE BEING AS WEAK AND IRRELEVANT AS FUTURE CLINTONIAN COMMUNIST AMERIKA, A SOVIET SOCIALIST STATE REPUBLIC UNDER OWG, AMONGST OTHERS, AND IN WHAT WAS ONCE CALLED WESTERN EUROPE. To paraphrase Forest Gump - STUPID IS, IS AS STUPID DOES!? WE KNOW CHIRAC - IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN, UP UNTIL THE DAY IT DOES AND DID!
#10
Work for the future, FRENCHIES - no American is gonna force you to be American, Global Empire or no Global Empire. Force and Tyranny and PC is for Lefties, Socialists and Left-based Communists, NOT American Rightists - a TRUE AMERICAN "EMPIRE" will be CONFEDERATIST, FEDERALIST, RIGHTIST-CAPITALIST, and by consent of the governed, NOT CONSENT OF THE CONQUERED OR CENTRALIST, where citizens MUST rely wholly on Big Government, State-controlled/disseminated PROPAGANDA - you know, Left-beloved Intellectual-, Academic-, and Universal/Public Meritocracy. Iff FRANCE, like the naked babes at the 2004 GOP Convention, want to go on being naked or French, then work with America and Bush, not against us.
US President George W. Bush on November 24 will welcome Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia to his Texas ranch, the White House announced. Bush met Tuesday at the White House with Spanish former conservative prime minister Jose Maria Aznar. But the US president has not yet met with new socialist Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who tried to contact him by phone to congratulate him on his reelection November 2, but did not get through.
Caller ID, it's a beautiful thing.<
Must have been some static on the line...
"Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero Who?... From Spain, y'say?... Sorry. The President sez to tell you he's not in."
#2
Bush is rubbing Bambi's nose in it now. Aside from Blair, the first two world figures he's met with are a) Bambi's conservative predecessor and b) Bambi's sovereign. Message: Bambi's a little boy whose cretinous outbursts are best ignored.
#3
The Spanish press comments that the King might try to mediate between Bush and Zapatero. Aznar hasn't even bothered to inform Zappy about his meeting with Bush.
Zappy's price? To stop lobbying for Cuba at the EU. Aznar had a hard stance there but Zappy wants to "improve" relations.
#4
Well part of the US used to be part of Spain too. In my state the El Comino Real still exists. That is true for Tejas which was too very much part of Spain at one time. The US president has a reason to entertain King Carlos which relates to our own US culture which is much more hispanic then most people know. As a Native Son of The Golden West I am proud of the Spainsh culture that existed and exists in my state. I am glad to see the King come to the US to visit.
Rubbing Zappy's nose on the carpet where he made his mess is a side issue. I like Bush doing it but it is a side issue to the Kings vist.
#5
SPOD, entertaining Aznar and the King and ditching Zappy on the phone will make look like the idiot he is and diminishing Spain's clout on the world stage. Zappy is wondering now if he wants to become the next 3rd world nation that France is becoming.
#6
I'm not familiar with the procedural aspects of the Spanish government but could Zappy come up for a no-confidence vote if enough MPs see Spain's stock tumbling? Might Bush be launching his own effort to return the favor to those world leaders who were openly hostile to him during his re-election bid?
Time to trot out the warm milk. We'll see if it takes...
Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende has visited a mosque to underline the importance of dialogue between the various communities in the Netherlands. The prime minister's visit to the mosque in Eindhoven on Sunday came even as tensions ran high in Netherlands over the 2 November murder of controversial filmmaker Theo van Gogh, allegedly by an Islamist radical. Balkenende was presented with a bunch of tulips at the mosque, which he said symbolised that "we feel at home here".
No doubt by a child wearing a turban and wooden shoes...
... Wooden curly-toed shoes ...
... and a dagger. A ceremonial one.
There has been a wave of attacks on mosques and Islamic schools since van Gogh's murder. The most serious was on an Islamic school in Eindhoven in the southeast of the country, where a bomb exploded at dawn on Monday. Police said fire that destroyed a wooden mosque at Helden early on Sunday was probably criminal. There have also been several retaliatory attacks on Christian churches. A school at Heerlen in the south of the country was fire-bombed overnight on Saturday without causing any damage, police said. The school was not an Islamic school, and it was unclear whether the incident was connected to other such attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/15/2004 9:43:49 PM ||
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Dude, forget kumbayah. Try 1) zero tolerance for any kind of hate crime from any quarter, period, and 2) economic liberalism combined with real respect for all people of faith so that you attract hardworking people who want nothing more than to be left alone to build their businesses and raise their families. In short, the American way.
Spouting multi-culti bullshit will not save you now. It will only heighten the cynicism and hatred of the resenters on both sides and drive the strivers out of your country, to the one place that will respect them, value their contribution and leave them in peace: the USA.
#2
As a Physician, I've told Jan Peter not to stress so much. You can see it's driven him mad. Visiting a moskkk. And all this high tension coming so close on the heels of having to put his finger in the dyke, too. I'm sorry, Jan Peter, but if you can't follow my advice then I can't be your doctor anymore. Die. See if I care. Oh, here's my final bill. Please pay promptly, I don't think you have a future.
#3
they kill 3000 here--no mosques/madrassa burned down here in cowboy jesusland--they kill one hip film-maker there--20 mosques/madrassa charcoaled--and we're the neanderthal violence heads--fook dem [dutch for fuck 'em]
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
11/15/2004 2:42 Comments ||
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#4
Balkende is seau 1969....One thing for Balkenende and his cohords....THE MULTICULTURAL TIMEBOMB IS TICKING ALL OVER EUROPE WAKE UP!
#5
they kill 3000 here--no mosques/madrassa burned down here in cowboy jesusland--they kill one hip film-maker there--20 mosques/madrassa charcoaled--and we're the neanderthal violence heads--fook dem [dutch for fuck 'em]
Actually there was a rash of violence towards rag-heads. But the idiots who were getting violent failed to check to see who was a Hindu and who was Muslim. That incident was specifically Phoenix, but I have heard passing mention of others. Nothing ongoing, no bombs. After the initial wave of anger (hard not to have that) passed we saw people go on with their lives and let the local Islamofacists get on with theirs.
As a side note, not long after 9-11 the local Islamic school in Lex, KY, burned to the ground in the middle of a rainstorm. It was determined to be a lightening strike and they rebuilt with a much improved building.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
11/15/2004 7:16 Comments ||
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#6
If he is willing to defend that harmony by all means necessary against Islamofascists, it's a good thing. A mosque must not needs be a threat -- the ideology taught in it may be, and the barbarians possibly inspired by it deserve to be killed.
having said that, though, I'm more and more skeptical about the possibility of Islam surviving this century. The Moslems have a lot of hard work to do, quickly.
#7
they kill 3000 here--no mosques/madrassa burned down here in cowboy jesusland--they kill one hip film-maker there--20 mosques/madrassa charcoaled--and we're the neanderthal violence heads
Somebody mentioned the other day that the citizens' propensity toward vigilantism is tied to their level of faith in the government to react to the situation. We haven't seen attacks like these in the US because most people were certain that the gov't would respond forcefully. I don't think the Dutch have a lot of faith in their gov't in this regard.
National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice will be nominated to replace Colin Powell as secretary of state, ABC News has learned. Senior administration sources confirmed that Rice would be Bush's choice. The news comes just hours after the White House announced Powell had submitted his resignation. Rice, considered to be one of the president's closest counselors, has served as national security adviser since Bush first took office. The nomination comes as a sort of birthday present for Rice, who turned 50 on Sunday. Rice was the first female U.S. national security adviser. If confirmed by the Senate, she would be only the second female and second African-American to be appointed secretary of state.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/15/2004 6:17:51 PM ||
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If confirmed by the Senate, she would be only the second female and second African-American to be appointed secretary of state.
#6
The MSM won't quit until they go bankrupt. They always try to spin something a bit their way. Meanwhile, people like Condi, Rummy, and all of our fine military make things happen, and the only thing the MSM can do is to try to keep up.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/15/2004 23:15 Comments ||
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President Bush has accepted the resignation of Secretary of State Colin Powell as well as three other Cabinet secretaries, the White House announced Monday. Powell submitted his resignation letter to the president Friday. "As we have discussed in recent months, I believe that now that the election is over the time has come for me to step down as secretary of state and return to private life. I, therefore, resign as the 65th Secretary of State, effective at your pleasure," Powell wrote.
Bush is expected to issue a statement on Powell's resignation later Monday. But Bush will not be appearing in public to make any remarks. Powell announced his resignation to his staff during their Monday morning meeting. He is likely to stay in place until a replacement is confirmed. The White House also confirmed that three other Cabinet secretaries have submitted their resignations: Education Secretary Rod Paige, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said no successors would be named on Monday. "People aren't just leaving. That doesn't mean they are leaving today. They will continue to do their jobs. They all have jobs to do," McClellan said.
Commerce Secretary Donald Evans and Attorney General John Ashcroft have already announced their departures. Last week, Bush nominated White House counsel Alberto Gonzales to replace Ashcroft. After his staff meeting Monday in which he announced his impending departure, Powell drove over to the White House and then returned to his department about six blocks away. "His loss will be a great loss not just for the administration but for the country," Graham Allison, a former assistant secretary of defense, told FOX News.
#2
err... "linked to", not "liked" - Powell bailing out bothers me a bit - we need a bit more stability in the Bush Cabinet until after the Iraqi elections, and this doesn't help.
#11
Actually Danforth would be suberb. Consummate senate pro and a solid individual in every respect. Not tainted by State. Direct experience with Christian-muslim conflict resolution in Sudan.
#13
Cleanse State of the worst arabists and put the remainder on notice.
And raze CIA to the ground. Start over, this time with lots of brilliant young asian-americans who actually know the region, without any academy-induced bogus sentimentalism, and who speak pashto or farsi or mandarin. Enough of the J Leverett "Buzzy" Saltonstall mediocrities.
A. Dems still cant lose a Senator- whos Gov of Conn now?
B. He hasnt run a bureaucracy bigger than the Conn dept of Justice - not sure if he can take on State.
C. Interesting to see if the admin would appoint a Dem to that position
seems to be what Goss is doing, but perhaps a tad too fast? See events at Langley the last couple of days. Is it possible to this in a more "nuanced" way. Got to win, but not scorched earth.
#19
Actually Danforth would be suberb. Perhaps. He seems like a decent fellow. But pause for a second and think about how he would play in the public eye. His weak point from a marketing point of view is that he is as boring as Kerry is to listen to. The droning voice and slow meter will be a liability.
That depends on whether any members of the old guard that are worth keeping have been notified and sheltered against the coming storm. If so, then it's time to flush everything else and rebuild.
#21
Good point, Jules. If Danforth is selected it may indicate that Bush is more interested in calming the foreign policy waters than in doing anything bold or creative in his second term.
#22
Senator Joe is a really nice man, and he does get it, but he doesn't seem to have the focussed energy or, honestly, the smarts to clean up the uppity smart boys and girls at State. In a place like that, seeming is as important as being.
I vote Condi Rice. McCain's temper is inflammable, and he is liable to go off in unexpected directions if his feelings get hurt. I want Giuliani at Homeland Security - he can draw up an effective illegal alien plan, and ram it through; Condi doesn't have that kind of experience. But a Black female telling all those male chauvinist pigs that they are SOL? Priceless.
#23
Some of those folks at Langley only understand tha hard way LH. And those are the ones usually dug in tight. So... tearing the agency down and starting with the new national intelligence agency is the best, albeit most painful, way to go.
Barring that, ripping apart Ops and getting the risk aversepeople, and the political people who have been fighting the Commander In Chief to the point of insubordination? Seems like a good idea to me. Just be sure to call in good people to rebuild so there is no gap - and promote some of the younger field hands, the ones who have done a good job these last 3 years. By now they know who knows theri stuff and who doesnt - and who is likely to leak instead of just getting the job done.
Sure, it going to hit the effectiveness of the CIA, but over-all, the CIA has become ineffective, so there cost to the nation is small in terms of loss of effectiveness - there was damned little effectiveness to begin with where these desk-bound empire builders were working.
#24
Condi doesn't have the vision or the steel in her spine. She's been out of sight and relatively uninfluential in her first four years. More a courtier than anything else, methinks.
#25
For those wanting to iuncrease the Republican majority - find states with Republican Governors and Democrat senators.
That is, of course, excluding California - Fineswine and Boxhead are the 2 least qualified people ever to serve in the senate (Other than Carol Mosely Braun) - they are both stupid. I dont know - maybe put one at Sec Agriculture if they'll take it, heh.
Secretary of State Colin Powell announced his resignation to his staff during their Monday morning meeting, a State Department source told FOX News.
President Bush is expected to make the official announcement. The source suggested that Powell is likely to stay in place until a replacement is confirmed.
Several people have been named as a replacement, including Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. FOX News contributor and former ambassador Mark Ginsberg said Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz may also want the job, but could face trouble getting confirmed because of the troubles in Iraq that he takes the blame for. Sen. Richard Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is also a darkhorse for the job, Ginsberg said.
The news comes as Reuters reports that Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham is also leaving his department, and will stay in place until his replacement is decided.
#27
Armitage wouldn't be a bad choice. Did a superb job defusing the India-Pak blow-up a couple of years ago.
Also, the man physically resembles an ICBM, so the Euros should be under no illusions about any departure from hawkishness.
#28
Condi doesn't have the vision or the steel in her spine. She's been out of sight and relatively uninfluential in her first four years. More a courtier than anything else, methinks.
Wrong. Watching her as Ben-Veniste tried to rattle Ms. Rice during the 911 'hearings' and Ms. Rice sitting there, not taking it, yet being polite and firm in her views. That's a tough lady. Ms. Rice would be an outstanding choice for State.
#29
Didn't see that, badanov. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I don't see evidence that she offered much in the way of leadership during the Iraq war inhouse fight between Powell and Rummy. A rather quiet NSA. But perhaps we don't have enough info to judge on that basis alone, so maybe you're right.
#30
It was a sight to see. This seasoned political hack (Ben-Veniste) trying to rattle Ms. Rice and Ms. Rice sitting there calm, pleasantly responding to questions that were asked, essentially making Ben-Veniste look like the pencil d*ck blowhard he really is. It colored my view of a person Washignton needs. Her arrival in 2001 was a good thing for the USA. We are lucky to have her running the NSC.
I just think Ms. Rice is a tough warrior. But all that you mentioned I haven't seen either so you may be right yourself.
#31
Another interpretation of her low profile in the runup to the Iraq War could be cunning. Avoid being burned by the fire, then step in and kick a** once Powell quits and Rumsfeld's star's been tarnished.
#33
Get Zell Miller to take the job for a year (he wants to retire so asking for 4 years might be a bit much). His mission is to clean house so the next guy taking over won't have the stigma of being the hatchet man. Zell comes from the left but takes foriegn policy seriously and would have no problem ringing necks. Let Armitage handle the shuttling around between countries to get him in position to take over after a year.
Oh, and give all Visa clearance approval to the Homeland Security Department.
#34
Condi Rice gets my vote as well. She can personable or hostile...and can switch gears between those two positions in milliseconds. She is both brilliant and tough, and seems to have very little "give" in her...perfect for the world situation today!
#35
My understanding is that Armitage is very tight with Powell - he would be more of the same.
As for Rice in the pre-war, I hold her personally responsible for much of what went wrong. the lack of a plan for post-war, to begin with. Wolfie and DoD wanted exiles in fast, State and CIA vetoed, IIUC. State and CIA wanted the Baathist army, DoD vetoed. Army wanted more troops, Rummy vetoed. Well its NSA's job to make them agree on SOME plan, not a wish and a prayer, which is what happened (and no, its not Turkeys fault, they should have known there was a chance Turkey wouldnt have come through, and that would only have been one more division anyway)
And for the inability to properly sell the war on its strategic grounds - Wolfie said they sold it on WMD cause it was the only rationale they could all agree on - geez, its the NSAs job to get everyone to agree.
Im sorry, I dont see whats so great about Condi. Shes sharp on TV, great. So is Bill Clinton.
#36
lex: Condi came out of academia, academic administration. As those of us who survived the experience will tell you, there's no place in the world where the infighting and backbiting is worse. She may, indeed, be the fiercest warrior in the Bush arsenal. Ask Richard Clarke, or, dare I say it, Joe Wilson...
#38
Condi, Rummy, Rudy, yes, all great people to have on his team-all great leaders with few negatives. This DoS question is way beyond my ken, but I would say don't ignore the negatives in candidate selection for anyone on the Bush team. Experience, ability, intelligence, integrity should all be priorities, but don't ignore perception. Negative public reaction can land you in deep water all by itself sometimes (as ridiculous a reason as it is).
#39
Ok the state department is our diplomatic branch... so I know you're all gonna kill me for this but I don't think Lieberman would be a good choice. He would be starting at a negative with the arab countries when we want to pressure them to do something. Guliani isn't diplomatic enough, he tells it like it is. Condi would be good.
#40
Kissinger did well enough with the arabs. The point about Lieberman is that Bush needs to either signal that he's serious about democracy promotion in the middle east or else go back to the old Kissinger-Scowcroft-Baker realpolitik ways. Colin Powell's commitment to democracy promotion was always half-hearted. Before he was Sec State he was a strong opponent of intervention against fascism in the balkans and visibly reluctant about regime change in Iraq. Perhaps there's some value in good cop (State) bad cop (DoD) but it was far outweighed by the costs of confusion and infighting, esp re the postwar planning.
This is a turning point in US foreign policy, and we need some clarity.
#41
I like Powell, he was too cautious though. His decision making was forged by the lessons he learned in vietnam. It made him completely uncomfortable with any military engagement that couldn't be won in short order. While conceptually I think this is smart (overwhelming force and all) in our current position we don't have the lattitude to pick and choose which conflicts we want. This one's for the whole civilization and we must fight for it.
#43
Either Joe Lieberman, Condi Rice or Rudy would all be fine picks. All have deep insight into the true nature of the enemy.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/15/2004 12:32 Comments ||
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#44
Regardless of how good they would be, domestic political reasons are against Lieberman or McCain. Both are from states with the Governor of the opposite party. That may not be a problem with Lieberman, as there would be pressure in all the MSM to appoint a Democrat, but it would mitigate against McCain, for whom there would be no such pressure.
I like Condi right where she is. I think she'd be good as SecDef, but would miss Rummy, so it's a wash. I still want Rudy for DHS.
I can't really think of who I'd want for SoS. 15 years ago, I would have said Kirkpatrick. But now? I don't know anything about Danforth. Luger might work (the new Gov is an R, right?)
#45
I'm tired of the not-so-smart people who keep complaining that "there was no post-war plan" -- yes LH, that includes you.
There was "no post-war plan" for Germany, Italy, Japan, etc. etc. There never CAN BE, because no such plan would survive even 5 minutes after meeting with the enemy. Who could have told of what was to happen? who could have told of who would help? I am delighted by how far we have gone in Afghanistan and Iraq after liberating both countries. People who keep complaining have no useful alternative to offer, just their whining.
The American genius is and has been to observe, act, adapt, fix, act, etc. and the European-leftist devil has been to refuse to act until a PLAN was in hand that WOULD deal with ALL that is unforeseen (see Yugoslavia, Sudan, Iraq, Iran, NoKorea, Nazi Germany, etc. for the consequences of that idiotic attitude, and that's what Kerry was bringing to the table btw).
#46
Make no mistake, we will not see a Hawk circling above careerists carcasses in the Foggy Bottom.
It would be nice for State and Defense to get together and make like a team from time to time, but It's not going to happen.
States job is to build good relations with other Nations. DoD's job is to be prepared to destroy those same Nations.
They should not, and will not be similar in leadership under W.
That's not say they never will however. A more liberal President might have a Defense Secretary that's also well suited for Sate, just not W.
OTH, I could be wrong, and Condi could end up at State. I believe she could do some very good things there, and be seen as on the same page with the Pentagon. And, when the time comes to put pressure on our psuedo allies, it may pay dividends.
A Hawk at State is a bad political move for W.
I know he can't run for a third term, but Republicans can. Pray for Condi, but don't hold your breath. Condi is as Hawkish as can be hoped for.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/15/2004 16:22 Comments ||
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#47
Chuck Lugar is a panty waste'; Paul Wolf has too many enemies; Lieberman, A-rabs don't believe in diversity; Zell Miller (BYOS bring your own spitballs). Condi takes it; Miller takes NSC (Rudy doesn't want it).
The downside on Powell is that many in the military love the guy -- and for good reason.
Posted by: Capt America ||
11/15/2004 16:25 Comments ||
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#48
KF - it was NO surprise that you need a lot of poople on the ground to occupy a country the size of Iraq. I dont think anyone thought otherwise. So you need the resources to do it. That DOESNT mean you know EXACTLY what you will do with those resources, and it doesnt mean shit isnt still gonna happen. But you need the resources to deal with it. And they werent there. And afaict it was cause the army wanted lots of troops on the ground, State and CIA wanted their friends in the (old)Iraqi army to take charge, and Rummy, Wolfie and Feith wanted the exile and Kurdish militias, supplemented by more trained outside Iraq, to play a dominant role. And EVERYONE vetoed everyone elses plan. NOBODY really wanted to have none of the above, but thats what happened.
How many more troops should the US have had before liberating Iraq? 100,000? one million? ten? where would you have gotten them from? with a draft? and how EXACTLY do you KNOW that more troops would have made the liberation SO MUCH better?
Franks and Rummy and Condi and everyone involved in liberating Afghanistan and Iraq should be PRAISED for what they have achieved so quickly and with so few losses to grieve. That there were disagreement between factions in the government is an integral part of the American spirit and system. The plan Bush accepted has proven sound and the subsequent events will go down in history as great and decisive for liberty.
#51
As an Aussie, I go for Zed Miller. As for Richard Armitage, wasn't he the genius who called Iran a "democracy". Also he is Powell's best friend, so you would only get more of the same nonsense, that foggy bottom makes foreign policy instead of carrying out the President's policy.
#54
I keep hearing the same names in different mixes. Though the people are, indeed, capable - don't be surprised if Bush & Co have a totally different view and lay some interesting surprises on us.
I have no problems with Giuliani, Rice, Rummy, Wolfie, or Miller in any way, shape, or form -- they all "get it" in spades. The politics? That's for the Minutia Men to play with.
I've read some silly-assed shit in the MSM about:
Lugar - RINO dick who should shoot himself for the good of the country, IMO.
McCain - Loose cannon of self-promotion and purest USDA BS.
Leiberman - I like Joe alot, but this sounds silly when said aloud.
That said, when watching the Talking Head Shows, there are 2 particular individuals (who we all know) who I stop what I'm doing to listen to. They have common sense, heads screwed on straight, no apologies for being hardasses, and few (if any) illusions about the world, WoT, Islam, etc.:
James Woolsey
Laurence Eagleberger
#55
ah, Cardinal Woolsey - veddy interesting. Could be an excellent choice. Tough advocate of pre-emption, no BS, plenty of longstanding ties abroad. Knows Washington inside and out; can bust heads at Foggy Bottom.
Eagleburger's part of the realpolitiker problem. Fine if you want to go back to 9/10, but IMO Bush is on the right track with democracy promotion and needs to accelerate. Woolsey or Giuliani would be superb.
#56
Separated from Baker & Co, Eagleberger is pretty interesting to listen to - especially when whacking NorK and Iran. I don't see him as captive to that crowd's philosophy, but I could be wrong.
#59
States job is to build good relations with other Nations.
Part of the problem is that this is what DOS believes its job to be but they're wrong. Their real job is to represent the best interests of the United States in the diplomatic arena. Trying to build and maintain good relations with everyone in the world is a very very different and very unproductive mission.
#60
Azcat nails the current problem with State - and that clearly indicates where we should be going when replacing the mid-level and upper-level cabal. Use OS's recommendation for young hard-chargers and season with seasoned people who know who the hell they work for.
#62
Kalle - how many more? Probably about 100,000 more around the fall of Baghdad would have done the trick of reducing the looting, and establishing order faster, which would have stopped a lot of bad stuff from snowballing. Where would they have come from - well since my favorite faction in the admin is the neocons, i'll go with the Rummy-wolfie solution, which was to train up very large numbers of Iraqi exiles to go in and run things. Which was apparently vetoed by the nice folks at State and CIA.
How do i know that more troops would help - well i dont know for certain, but months of following the situation, from sources like here, not just the MSM, following what troops have to say, etc, leads me to that opinion.
A victory for liberty - i hope so, but largely because of the perseverence of the Iraqi and American peoples, and the excellence of our troops, and not particularly because of the brilliance of Condi Rice in managing national security policy.
Does our system encourage different opinions - yup it does. But in foreign policy its necessary that a decision be made and enforced at some point, by the Pres with the help of the NSA, or, when Pres leadership is weak, by a strong NSA. And Condi as NSA has failed to do that.
#63
AzCat, good point. The problem is, without a good relationship, nobody will help you unless it's very good for them. Especially if they'll get political pressure for working with the U.S. when they have a poor relationship with us. A good relationship is a two-way street. I know, I build them for a living. You cannot expect a Country to help you against their best interest, unless we are willing to do the same.
Now, I would prefer to see Kissinger, but I'd be more than happy with Condi.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/15/2004 18:04 Comments ||
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#64
LH, what the heck do you mean it's not Turkey's fault? "And that would have been only one division anyway" ... right. Only the most modernly equipped of the divisions, the one taksed to take care of the Sunni triangle, and the "anvil" for the "hammer" coming from the south to hit. Their presence could have prevented the majority, if not all, of the problems we're having in Iraq right now. You usually have well-reasoned input, whether I agree with it or not, but that was beyond the pale.
On the SecState question, what about Bremer? Just tossing it out there for feedback ... I admit to knowing nothing about political power struggles at that level, but he seems a strong candidate.
#67
Mike, at the nation-state level there is nothing but self-interest. We have a very severe problem in that portions of our own government don't seem capable of fulfilling that role.
While there's certainly a lot of value to be realized in the DOS/DOD good cop/bad cop routine it's even more important that both the good cop and the bad cop realize that at the end of the day it is the interests of the American people that they represent and ONLY the interests of the American people. From the outside looking in it appears that DOS has long been severly infected with the sort of elitist liberal group think that doesn't recognize their own duty to act in the best interests of their own nation.
Further, if the mission of the DOS is to ensure that we're well-liked they've failed miserably. We likely wouldn't do much worse if we completely disbanded our diplomatic corps and communicated with the world via press releases from the oval office.
#68
I seriously doubt that Chirac and Schroeder and Bambi et al would be so heavily dissing Bush if they were not receiving winks and nudges from our preofessional diplomats in Europe. At a minimum they have failed to speak out on behalf of democracy promotion and the overthrow of fascists like Saddam. Jeff Gedmin of the Aspen Institute in Berlin has been more visible and vocal than our Berlin-based Foreign Service staff. Shameful. This has to change.
#69
And here I thought Condi wanted to be the NFL Commish. She'll do well. I would have loved to have heard the uproar from Foggy Bottom had Rummy taken over, though.
#71
err... "linked to", not "liked" - Powell bailing out bothers me a bit - we need a bit more stability in the Bush Cabinet until after the Iraqi elections, and this doesn't help.
#74
Some of those folks at Langley only understand tha hard way LH. And those are the ones usually dug in tight. So... tearing the agency down and starting with the new national intelligence agency is the best, albeit most painful, way to go.
Barring that, ripping apart Ops and getting the risk aversepeople, and the political people who have been fighting the Commander In Chief to the point of insubordination? Seems like a good idea to me. Just be sure to call in good people to rebuild so there is no gap - and promote some of the younger field hands, the ones who have done a good job these last 3 years. By now they know who knows theri stuff and who doesnt - and who is likely to leak instead of just getting the job done.
Sure, it going to hit the effectiveness of the CIA, but over-all, the CIA has become ineffective, so there cost to the nation is small in terms of loss of effectiveness - there was damned little effectiveness to begin with where these desk-bound empire builders were working.
#75
For those wanting to iuncrease the Republican majority - find states with Republican Governors and Democrat senators.
That is, of course, excluding California - Fineswine and Boxhead are the 2 least qualified people ever to serve in the senate (Other than Carol Mosely Braun) - they are both stupid. I dont know - maybe put one at Sec Agriculture if they'll take it, heh.
#77
err... "linked to", not "liked" - Powell bailing out bothers me a bit - we need a bit more stability in the Bush Cabinet until after the Iraqi elections, and this doesn't help.
#80
Some of those folks at Langley only understand tha hard way LH. And those are the ones usually dug in tight. So... tearing the agency down and starting with the new national intelligence agency is the best, albeit most painful, way to go.
Barring that, ripping apart Ops and getting the risk aversepeople, and the political people who have been fighting the Commander In Chief to the point of insubordination? Seems like a good idea to me. Just be sure to call in good people to rebuild so there is no gap - and promote some of the younger field hands, the ones who have done a good job these last 3 years. By now they know who knows theri stuff and who doesnt - and who is likely to leak instead of just getting the job done.
Sure, it going to hit the effectiveness of the CIA, but over-all, the CIA has become ineffective, so there cost to the nation is small in terms of loss of effectiveness - there was damned little effectiveness to begin with where these desk-bound empire builders were working.
#81
For those wanting to iuncrease the Republican majority - find states with Republican Governors and Democrat senators.
That is, of course, excluding California - Fineswine and Boxhead are the 2 least qualified people ever to serve in the senate (Other than Carol Mosely Braun) - they are both stupid. I dont know - maybe put one at Sec Agriculture if they'll take it, heh.
Broadcast news outlets are reporting that Secretary of State Colin Powell has resigned from President George W. Bush's cabinet. He has said that he will stay on until his replacement is found, CNN reported. So his leaving will not be immediate.Powell reportedly handed in his resignation Friday. But the president has not yet accepted his resignation. CNN reported that there is a lot of speculation that Condoleezza Rice will be offered Powell's position.
Condi! Condi! Condi!
Earlier this month, Attorney General John Ashcroft and Commerce Secretary Don Evans resigned.
In a handwritten, five-page letter to the president, Ashcroft wrote that "the objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved." But he goes on to say that the Justice Department would be "well served" by "new leadership and fresh inspiration." Evans is a close friend of Bush's from Texas. He wrote that while "the promise" of Bush's second term "shines bright," he believes it's time to go home.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/15/2004 9:44:59 AM ||
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#1
thanks Colin - time to bring in a sharp-tongued hardass, Condi it is
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/15/2004 9:52 Comments ||
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IF you want State cleaned up, Condi AINT the one to do it. She may be smart, but everything ive heard is that she had trouble managing the bureaucracy at NSC. State is a much larger bureaucracy, and turing it around will require someone more deft with large organizations.
OTOH, with all the controversy at CIA, maybe the admin isnt interested in taking on Foggy Bottom right now:)
#5
Weren't we looking at a Rudi-Condi ticket for '08? If Rudi's in State, that doesn't give him long to turn round a monolith like that...
If Lieberman were offered the job, would he be ostracised by the Democrats?
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
11/15/2004 10:10 Comments ||
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#6
Tony - No. It's long been a tradition in US politics that the winner of a close election (Kennedy, for ex) give at least one cabinet post of significance to a prominent member of the other party.
#7
I'm a Condi/08 cheerleader myself, but I agree that Condi's not the one to turn around State. Rummy's got his hands full at Defense. Lieberman sounds good, provided he hasn't taken the "Israel's the problem" Kool-aid. Just the right post for the President to send a message to the Democrat security moms that security trumps politics.
#11
It's long been a tradition in US politics that the winner of a close election (Kennedy, for ex) give at least one cabinet post of significance to a prominent member of the other party.
If Lieberman is going to get the nod, then Mineta has to go. (as far as I'm concerned, Mineta should go regardless, but....)
A rights group has blasted some US media organisations for allowing for 'racist and hate-filled speech' during its coverage of the Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat's death. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) said it was deeply concerned with "the alarming hostility expressed by media commentators towards the Palestinian people in the wake of the death of Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat," according to a statement released this week. The ADC said US networks MSNBC and CNN both broadcasted hostile commentary regarding Palestinians. Don Imus, of the Imus in the Morning programme aired weekends on MSNBC referred to Arafat as a "rat" and called him "stinky" with "beady-eyes". Imus also said that "all Palestinians look like him."
The second half of the statement's obviously wrong. There isn't anyone who looks like Arafat. He was distinctively ugly. Referring to him as a "rat" expresses an opinion. I'd even differ on the beady eyes part. They were more bulgy, giving him the aspect of a startled frog. But in our country, unlike in Paleostine, everybody's entitled to an opinion, even the Anti-American Anti-Discrimination Committee.
The racist comments continued with one of his guests who described the Palestinians attending the funeral as "animals" and joked about their hygiene. "They're dropping soap from the helicopters," the guest laughed.
Hmmm... Some of us make the same sort of comments about the Frenchies. That's prob'ly racist, too...
Also on MSNBC, Joe Scarborough, presenter of Scarborough Country, began his programme by declaring, "Some are calling Yasir Arafat's passing a tragedy. He's actually the father of modern terrorism. Good riddance".
Sounds like a statement of fact followed by a statement of relief...
"This was, after all, the man who invented modern terrorism in the Middle East and by extension was the godfather of September 11."
Another true statement...
Among the guests on the show was the Palestinian Authority representative to the United States, Hasan Abd al-Rahman, who while attempting to express his view, was interrupted by shouts of "where's the money?" by Scarborough in reference to international aid.
Well? Where is it?
The ADC also said that CNN was guilty of one-sided, hostile comments. "Plans call currently for Yasir Arafat to be buried in his compound in Ram Allah, which will eventually be turned into some kind of shrine. Maybe they'll put a sign out front for the Palestinian people, that read 'here lays the body of the thief who robbed you blind'," said Jack Cafferty on CNN's morning programme American Morning.
Boy! Statements of fact from CNN? What's the world coming to? Yasser did, in fact, skim a goodly portion of the aid money that was supposed to assist the Paleostinians. So what's the beef?
"Comments such as the ones listed can only be regarded as an overt incitement to ethnic hatred of the Palestinians. Surely the denigration of an ethnic group, a people who have been living under an ongoing 37-year Israeli military occupation, constitutes a violation of any system of journalistic standards," the ADC said in a statement.
I'd say it's more an expression of the revulsion most of us feel toward Yasser and his henchmen, and by extension to the lemmings making up most of the population of Paleostine. We'd feel the same revulsion toward Samoans, if Samoans slaughtered 5-year-olds in their beds and exploded without warning on buses. But they don't, and most of us either like Samoans or we're neutral toward them. Paleostinians do, and must of us categorize them with snakes, scorpions, and other creatures that are a danger to those around them. That's much the way I feel about the Anti-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, come to think of it.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/15/2004 9:46:46 PM ||
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Fred, can this be true. Well. I suppose it must be because it could be easily disproved. I thought for a moment it was a hoax - especially since you posted the article at 9:46 p.m. on 11/15 and we aren't there yet.
#2
Actually, the father of Palestinian terrorism was not Arafat but George Habbash of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He was active before the Six Day War, and his small group, though attenuated, is still active today.
#6
Tibor - Maybe if Ringo hadn't taken a bath in a while.....
Oops, I guess that was a "racist" remark. My bad.
Of course, the well documented actions of Arafat and the support given to said actions by the Palestinian people have nothing to do with most civilized societies being somewhat repulsed by them.....
'The extent of the corruption is staggering,'' Sen. Norm Coleman told me. He is a freshman Republican from Minnesota completing his second year in Washington, and he was talking about the United Nations and its pious secretary-general, Kofi Annan. Coleman's comments are not the mere musings of an insignificant rookie senator, but the considered judgment of a committee chairman whose careful investigation reached the hearing stage today. After winning his seat against former Vice President Walter F. Mondale in 2002, Coleman was rewarded with the chairmanship of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. He is conducting what could be the most explosive congressional investigation in years, probing the U.N.'s fraudulent oil-for-food program in Iraq and Annan's obstruction of the senatorial inquiry.
Coleman said this week's hearings will show that ''the scope of the ripoff'' at the U.N. is substantially more than the widely reported $10 billion to $11 billion in graft. But more than money is involved. These hearings also should expose the arrogance of the secretary-general and his bureaucracy. At the same time that he has refused to honor the Senate committee's request for documents, Annan has inveighed against the Fallujah offensive sanctioned by the new Iraqi government while ignoring the terrorism of insurgents. This is an unprecedented showdown between a branch of the U.S. government and the U.N.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve ||
11/15/2004 10:23:15 AM ||
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#1
Privately, Annan's aides told reporters that they were not about to hand over confidential documents to the Russian Duma and every other parliamentary body in the world. But the U.S. Senate is not the Russian Duma.
Stupid f***s. They miscalculated in a big way this time. Hell hath no fury like a US senator scorned. That Carl Levin signed the letter with no amendment speaks volumes. Finally, some hope for an end to the UN farce.
#2
Suggested arm-twisting:
"Fine. Well, then, you can kiss our contribution to the UN budget goodbye, unless we get to look at the books. And by the way - the rent on that NY building? It's about to go WAY up..."
#4
In addition, they should REMOVE all U.N. diplomatic immunity NOW! On the local N.Y. city level, U.N. assholes have IGNORED N.Y. traffic and parking laws for over 25 years. The cost: some sources say there are Millions of dollars of unpaid fines. (That is just MORE U.N. corruption). The solution: Just kick them out of America ASAP.
#6
Um... hello... why does the UN even HAVE confidential documents? Bush, Please, please, please leave the UN and develop a new organization that only includes democratic countries. There are no other superpowers, we don't need a UN anymore. It was there so that us and the soviets could talk to eachother without nuking eachother. Now what the world needs is an organization of only democratic countries whose charter is to spread democracy to the world.
Senior Council members; US, Japan, UK, India, Australia and maybe Russia, Germany, Brazil
#7
Well, technically the UK is a constitutional monarchy, but I don't have a problem with that - Parliament gets elected. Ditto for Oz.
But lose the dictators, theocrats, kleptocrats, and assorted varieties of thuggish "socialist" governments, definitely. At least from the upper council. Let 'em yammer in the lower, who cares?
#9
The ONLY remaining USEFUL function the U.N. serves is that of a really cool tour when you're visiting New York (my kids really enjoyed it). However, this tour would be just as cool as a Museum Tour...and in fact you'd have access to more of the building.
So pitch 'em out! They will of course form a counter-organization to the United Democracies (mentioned above). Theirs should be titled âCountries United to Nurture Tyrantsâ.
#10
France will naturally lead C.U.N.T. proudly!!
If this has legs, it will make my whole year. Global multilateralism was an idea worth trying that in pratice didn't work. The WTO is moribund. The WHO had no idea how to deal with SARS. And some of us have known for years that the UN is sinkhole of corruption and incompetance. I don't think we need to replace the UN. Democracies will moreorless cooperate anyway. Why institutionalize it. Bilateralism is what is happening in trade. Why not in international affairs?
#11
phil-b---You are right about bilateralism making things happen. The problem is with the UN is that there is no personal responsibility placed upon UN members. They can vote and gang up on countries, trump the racism card, etc etc, and the whole junket is financed by the big economic powers. The thing that really disturbs me are the airheads that want to turn over our sovereignty to the UN. What a scam.
But there is hope on the horizon. The Dems will not run the show, there is a bipartisan effort to get to the bottom of the UN corruption by the Senate committee. Things do not instantly change, but the tide is turning and that is a good thing. If the UN tries to stonewall this corruption issue, then other avenues of investigation will open. There will also be a day of reckoning with the US congress and disbursements to the UN in the future. Kofi and Co think that stonewalling a Senate inquiry will make it go away. It is more like pissing off a hornet.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/15/2004 14:28 Comments ||
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#12
Laughing now in case I'm not around for the fun. Please sort 'em by size and gender. Bundle them in neat packages of 5 and leave around back in the servants quarters in the links box provided.
#14
Don't screw with Norm (Norm Coleman). He is as tenacious as a pit bull on a fresh bone.
Posted by: Capt America ||
11/15/2004 16:30 Comments ||
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#15
What DPA said. Don't shut down the UN; just make it irrelevant. Create a parallel collective security organization devoted to resolving critical crises in the near and far east, democracy promotion and containment of nuke proliferation. Should have an Asian and Eurasian focus. Prominent members sh be Japan, India, Australia, maybe Singapore and of course China, with European representation limited to the UK, the EU President and Russia.
5 Asian nations, 3 European reps, and the US. That's plenty. No vetoes, no posturing, just roll-up-your-sleeves get it done hard work. The UNSC will soon devolve into a rhetorical forum devoted to bashing Israel. And no one will care.
Israeli news reports said that international contacts are being currently made with sides concerned in an attempt to conclude a tripartite deal, according to which Israel will release the Palestinian jailed prisoner Marwan Barghouthi, the secretary of the Palestinia national liberation movement, Fatah, in order to nominate himself in the Palestinian presidential elections.
Bwahahahaha!!
The Israeli TV said that the deal includes releasing Barghouthi for a first round draft choice the US release of Jonathan Pollard and Egypt's release of the Israeli spy Azzam Azzamand a infidel to be named later. Lawyer Fadwa Barghouthi, wife of Marwan Barghouthi was quoted as saying that her husband intends to nominate himself in the context of Fatah movement to compete for the Presidency of the Palestinian authority, noting that Marwan will not compete for this post if Fatah will elect another candidate.
Another pretender to the throne, obviously a devious zionist plot to throw the Paleostiniens into turmoil. Excellent!
Posted by: Steve ||
11/15/2004 12:48:06 PM ||
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1. Mo Dahlan, who supports Abu Mazen as Fatah candidate, says today that Bargouti does too, and will NOT run himself. One wonders how Dahlan can speak for Bargouti, but Dahlan claims to be a close friend of Bargouti. Probably BS, but we will see.
2. There have been rumors from time to time that Israel had imprisoned Bargouti with the deliberate purpose of increasing his "street cred" among pals, seeing him as more pragmatic than the Pal "old guard". This would be quite a riff on that theme, if they were releasing him to play his role, and trying to get Azzam and Pollard into the bargain!!!
3. This is a delicate time for Bush with the CIA, etc - i cant see Bush ruffling things further by releasing Pollard - not to get Bargouti.
#4
This deal makes no sense for the US or Egypt. Why should they give a damn about this guy? Man 'A' offers Man 'B' $5, but only if Man 'C' and Man 'D' each give him, Man 'A', $10.
#5
I'm afraid this is a non-starter. Pollard isn't going to be released -- too politically sensitive.
If he were held in an arab country, things would be different. But the US doesn't bargain over such highly visible goings-on. The political backlash, and the "Jews-control-the-government" backlash would be enormous.
#6
GWB has been as good an ally to Israel as they could have expected. The least they could do in return is to permanently drop the Pollard matter. Pollard is on ice, and should stay that way until he croaks.
#7
to BAR - there is a substantial constituency in Israel that believes that Pollard was shafted, and got an unreasonable sentence, and moreover, that its hypocritical to ask Israel to release those who have committed asks of violence to "turn over a new leaf" while Pollard is not given the same chance. His release could assuage Israelis who would otherwise object to the release of someone like Bargouti. As for why the US and Egypt would want to see Bargouti released, it would be to show how helpful they are to the Pals - for Egypt thats valuable domestically and in its attempt to lead the arab world, and to have influence over the Pals. For the US thats helpful in the GWOT and for helping Blair, etc, etc.
I agree however that these benefits do not offset the considerable costs, and it wont happen.
#8
I think Israel should trade down for a second-tier terrorist, or possibly a Terrorist To Be Named Later. With the salary cap constraints the Israelis are currently up against, they should keep Bargouti, and may have to forgo a marque scumbag like Pollard.
#10
..that its hypocritical to ask Israel to release those who have committed asks of violence to "turn over a new leaf" while Pollard is not given the same chance.
All the more reason for us to stay out of their business. All of the pressuring done by U.S. officials for concessions of one kind or another can't be expected to be a one-way street, and it would be a Good Thing if GWB and his staff understand that.
Dr. Fathi Arafat, the brother of Yasser Arafat and the Palestine Red Crescent Society's honorary President, died on Sunday in a Cairo hospital. Fathi, 71, was admitted earlier this month to a specialized hospital in Cairo to continue medical treatment for his terminal cancer and his condition was reported in recent days as "critical." A Kuwaiti daily reported on Saturday that Fathi Arafat's doctors decided not to update him regarding the death of Yasser Arafat.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/15/2004 12:21:21 AM ||
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[Montgomery Burns]
Ehhhxcellent, Smithers. Add a little bit more chlorine to their gene pool.
#3
Fatty Arafat? I'm trying not to laugh, honest, cuz it might offend one of those Mythical fence-sitting Muslims who would've joined in the WoT and revealed Binny's cave location and the name of the Muslim Mole in State and some other really great important shit --- all except for that asshole poster on RB who laughed at Arafat's brother's first name. You know the one.
One good thing, though unrealted to the WoT I admit, is that there is no picture of Fatty. A blessing. But, just for the record, which one was uglier? No pix, Mark - please! - I'll take your word for it.
#4
Pic of Dr Fathi here. Doesn't come close to Yasser in the fugly stakes. I reckon Fathi's elder brother took out most of the branches of the Family Ugly Tree on his way down. There's a CV of Fathi here. He seems to have spent most of his time on matters of healthcare rather than terrorism.
#11
He was born Mohammed Yasser Abdul-Ra'ouf Qudwa Al-Husseini in Cairo on August 29th, 1929, he moved on to attend King Fuad University in Egypt, where he received a Bachelorâs Degree in Architectural Engineering in 1951.
In 1958 he left Egypt and moved to Kuwait, where he worked as an engineer. During this period, he met with Khalil El-Wazir [a.k.a. Abu Jihad; 1935-1988], where the two founded "Al- Fatah," or the Palestine National Liberation Movement, a terrorist organization dedicated to the eradication of Israel. The rest is a history of terrorism.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/15/2004 20:27 Comments ||
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#12
hmmmmm - was he born in Jerusalem too? Let's ask the French
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/15/2004 20:55 Comments ||
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Malaysia's top Islamic opposition leader has urged Muslim clerics in neighboring Thailand to talk to their king and their government to resolve a bloody separatist conflict in the southern part of the country.
Have they considered not killing people? That'd probably go a long way toward resolving the conflict...
Authorities in the predominantly Buddhist country should give the Muslim clergy room to help resolve the problem peacefully, Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat said on Sunday after celebrating the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Fitr. Nik Aziz is the influential spiritual leader of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic party, which governs the northeastern state of Kelantan bordering southern Thailand. Bernama, the national news agency, quoted Nik Aziz as saying that the clergy should seek an audience with Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, if necessary, to show they aspire for peace.
Uhuh. And where do the beheadings come in?
Nik Aziz said Muslims in Thailand must be patient and united in facing the conflict, and that Thailand should emulate multiracial and multi-religious Malaysia in resolving problems and conflicts to ensure that its people live in peace.
Meaning they should let their Moose limbs bully the rest of the population like they try to do in Malaysia?
Nik Aziz, a 73-year-old cleric, has been the chief minister, or the highest elected official, of Kelantan state since 1990. He wields tremendous clout in the state, one of Malaysia's poorest and least developed after 14 years of the Islamic party's strict fundamentalist rule.
Not that the two go together of course... Certainly not.
His Pan-Malaysian Islamic party narrowly retained control of Kelantan in March, when Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's secular National Front coalition won a landslide victory in elections for the federal Parliament and 11 other state assemblies.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/15/2004 10:53:58 PM ||
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#1
I guess they call Thaksin "Toxic", too, now. Looking for a friendlier ear.
Iran's oil revenues will reach over 35 billion dollars by the end of the current Iranian calendar year of 1383 (March 20, 2005) due to the upward trend of oil prices during the past 18 months. How much oil revenue did Iraq lose resulting from Iranian instigated terrorism and oil sabotage?
Based on figures suggested by the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and some oil experts, the oil price has been doubled compared to the previous year. and so has the terrorism inside Iraq
"The maximum oil revenues were estimated at 16.5 billion dollars in the country's yearly budget plan but the figures have been increased two times," he said. He added that a maximum of 2-3 billion dollars of oil revenues has been planned to be used in modernizing machineries of producing and industrial companies, particularly in auto sectors. Government will compensate the country's 40,000 billion rial (4.6 billion dollars) budget deficit from the oil revenues this year. "It is not reasonable to expect oil price hike improve the living standard soon because the government cannot inject the revenues immediately fearing that it will increase the inflation rate," he stated. That's an excuse for the books.
"If the oil revenue is spent for import of goods, it will damage the improvement of production units." If we reduce or embargo Iran's ability to export oil, the levels of Iranian exported terrorism will decline rapidly.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/15/2004 1:52:50 PM ||
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#1
Thats alot of petrol dollars going to a very dangerous axis of evil member. Tit for tat on their oil biz vz what they have been doing in Iraq. Should be many Iraqies ready to do a payback. They just need a little guidance.
TEHERAN - Iran will "suspend" uranium enrichment but will never agree to a total halt, Iran's foreign ministry said Monday after a crucial deal on easing nuclear concerns was struck with Britain, France and Germany. "We stayed within our red lines, and this red line meant we could suspend enrichment but not stop it," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters.
All they agreed to was to push the "Pause" button. At least, they say they paused it. And we can believe them, right?
Faced with the threat of being referred to the UN Security Council over its nuclear activities, Iran agreed late Sunday to suspend its controversial uranium enrichment-related activities in a deal with the three European Union states. "In the text, we insisted on the fact that the suspension is a voluntary decision and not a legal obligation," Asefi asserted. "Iran's acceptance is political."
"We reserve the right to chance our minds anytime we want."
"This is an important change. In the past, the Europeans insisted on Iran stopping its enrichment programme, but the question now is how Iran can continue its programme without worrying other countries."
He said the accord "recognises the right of Iran to master nuclear technology."
"At least, that's how we see it."
Posted by: Steve ||
11/15/2004 1:03:59 PM ||
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#1
Pause is correct and a short stall game if that. Anyone in the E.U. or U.N. trusting Iran's terrorist exporting mullahs are self diluting dorks.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/15/2004 13:25 Comments ||
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#2
Oh for Allen's sake, put an end to this farce. Every few months another diplomatic "breakthrough" with Iranian promises followed immediately by the mullahs laughing at the Euros and telling them they didn't mean anything of the sort.
I mean, really, what's the point? Straw's a smart guy. Why does he continue with the charade?
Posted by: Capt America ||
11/15/2004 16:52 Comments ||
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#4
Lets hope the election had something to do with this. A little backbone from the US voter may making the Iranians nervous. If not, an unpleasant future awaits the Iranian leadership. Having to worry about not having an air force, getting overthrown by an unhappy populace....
I suppose that's true, if you equate Islam with terrorism and vice versa. But then, we haven't attacked Morocco, which is Muslim, and the terrs have. And we haven't attacked Turkey, and the terrs have. And we haven't attacked Indonesia, and the terrs have. How does Fearless Leader explain that?
Posted by: Fred ||
11/15/2004 11:07:42 PM ||
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#1
Undeclared?
I think not.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
11/15/2004 0:17 Comments ||
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#2
The 'Supreme Leader' is rather nervous these days. I wonder why :) It is really true 'Supreme' Persians can fly away on Persian carpets? North is the only route which remains open...for now.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/15/2004 0:19 Comments ||
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#3
Hell, I say we just go ahead and make it all official and everything - they've been jumping up 'n down, waving their arms and wanking away for almost 2 years, now - doing this saves confusion, muss, and fuss, not to mention making them happy. I want to see them happy - in Paradise.
#4
Hell, I say we just go ahead and make it all official and everything - they've been jumping up 'n down, waving their arms and wanking away for almost 25 years, now - doing this saves confusion, muss, and fuss, not to mention making them happy. I want to see them happy - in Paradise.
#5
Okay, who's channeling whom, here? 'Fess up guys.
US, Israel fighting undeclared war on Islam
I'm sure that the Ayatollah must have gotten all confused while he was giving his keyboard another coating of spittle.
What he probably meant to say was how Islam has been conducting an undeclared war against the US and Israel, not the other way around.
Then again, it's always difficult to tell exactly what it is that a pack of murderous lying psycho fanatical religious atrocity plotting terrorist sponsoring wingnuts like the Iranian mullahs are saying to begin with. All except for their usual, "AMERICA IS THE GREAT SATAN AND KILL ALL THE JEWS!" boilerplate, that is.
Israeli settlements will fill Palestinian land by 2009, a Syrian Cabinet member wrote in a Sunday commentary condemning US President George W. Bush for pushing back his estimate of when a Palestinian state could emerge. Buthaina Shaaban, Syria's minister of immigrant affairs attributed Bush's retreat from the idea of Palestinian statehood by next year to "blurred vision" in her article for the Lebanese daily Al Mustaqbal.
The Paleostinian state by next year idea was contingent on adherence to the road map, which Hamas used for toilet paper. Cause and effect, lady.
During a Washington press conference Saturday with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Bush suggested it was up to the Palestinians alone to revive the stalled Middle East peace process following the death of their leader, Yasser Arafat.
They're the ones who blew up the buses, aren't they?
Boomed a pizza parlor or three also.
He also said it was "possible" a Palestinian state could be established in four years, referring to the length of his second term. "Bush declared that the responsibility falls on the Palestinians, that he desires to build democracy and that the Israelis wish to help out in this respect," Shaaban wrote, but added: "He even failed to show enthusiasm for Blair's proposal to convene an international conference to settle the Middle East conflict."
They had one. Remember the Quartet? That's where the road map came from...
Shaaban, who often acts as a spokeswoman for the Syrian government, was referring to Britain's offer to host a December meeting of the Quartet — the United States, Russia, United Nations and European Union — trying to broker Mideast peace.
Been there, done that. Wipe the poop stains off the road map and get to work.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/15/2004 11:01:12 PM ||
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#1
Sheesh, wotta busybody and hypocrite. Doesn't she have real business to attend to, like cleaning Lebanon or something?
Intentional sterotyping employed for comic effect. Don't get yer knickers in a bunch - I clean my own house and cook my own food - I'm not a Male Chauvanist Pig. A mere piglet, perhaps, lol!
#3
How could Israeli settlements will fill Palestinian land by 2009 when most of the West Bank is outside the "wall" and they're leaving Gaza? Methinks the Syrians are afraid the Paleos will leave them in the dust now that the Arafish is gone.
WASHINGTON - Iran has spies, weapons and attackers in Iraq, and may have a 500- dollar bounty on the head of each US soldier there, according to intelligence reports, a US news magazine said on Sunday. "Iran ... poses the greatest long-term threat to US efforts in Iraq," wrote an analyst with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations in December, 2003, according to a report published in the Monday edition of US News and World Report.
Who clearly are reading Rantburg.
"Iranian intelligence agents are conducting operations in every major city with a significant Shia (Muslim) population," a US Army's V Corps analyst wrote in a 2003 document examined by the news weekly. "The counterintelligence threat from Iran is assessed to be high, as locally employed people, former military officers, politicians, and young men are recruited, hired, and trained by Iranian intelligence to collect (intelligence) on coalition forces,"Â the V Corps analyst wrote.
The magazine said that "raw" intelligence indicated that Iran may have a 500 dollar bounty on each US soldier, and the repeated interception of such information, from various sources, led analysts to believe it may be true.
US News also reported that Iran appeared to be behind a plan to kill Paul Bremer, then the top US administrator in Iraq, as a grim two-year anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The plan was quite well along, according to intelligence documents, and detailed down to the make of taxi, a Toyota Corona, to be used in a bombing and the name of a planner, Himin Bani Shari, a top member of Ansar Al-Islam and known to associate with Iranian spies, the magazine said.
Time for this fella to wear some panties.
An assessment by the US Army's V Corps, which then directed all Army activity in Iraq, said, "Iranian intelligence continues to prod and facilitate the infiltration of Iraq with their subversive elements while providing them support once they are in country,"Â according to the Washington-based newsmagazine.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/15/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
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#1
That this has been intuitively obvious to the casual observer, which qualifies everyone except the willfully blind - such as State Dept weenies - for well over a year makes this old news, indeed. But, what the hell: Confirmation is good.
#3
Iran has spies, weapons and attackers in Iraq, and may have a 500- dollar bounty on the head of each US soldier there, according to intelligence reports, a US news magazine said on Sunday.
When an Iranian agent is found, bump him off immediately, take the body to the border, and throw it back across.
Saddam Hussein's regime made more than $21.3 billion in illegal revenue by subverting the UN oil-for-food programme through surcharges, kickbacks and smuggling oil — more than double of previous estimates, according to Congressional investigators. The figures are based on troves of new documents obtained by a panel of the Senate Committee on Government Affairs, which presented them at a hearing in Washington today. The documents illustrate how Iraqi officials, foreign companies and sometimes politicians allegedly contrived to funnel vast illicit gains to the Iraqi government. The findings also reflect a growing understanding by investigators of the schemes Saddam used to buy support abroad for a move to lift UN sanctions.
In one document, a letter obtained by investigators, Russian ultra-nationalist politician Mr Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who campaigned for the lifting of sanctions on Iraq, invites an oil company to negotiate a price for an oil allocation the Iraqi government awarded him. "Saddam Hussein attempted to manipulate the typical oil allocation process in order to gain influence throughout the world,'' Mr Mark L Greenblatt, a counsel for the Senate panel's permanent subcommittee on investigations, said in a prepared testimony. I can't wait till they get to the part about Kofi Jr.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/15/2004 6:55:13 PM ||
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#1
How much did Kofi make himself?
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/15/2004 21:31 Comments ||
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Homes of thousands of Palestinians have been razed by IDF forces since the beginning of the intifada four years ago, the human rights "Betzelem" group claims in a report it published on Monday. Paleo's last to know about Monster House season finale
According to the report, during the intifada, about 4,100 homes have been destroyed, twice as much as the official IDF figure. Betzelem says that out of the 628 homes that had been razed as a punishment, almost 300 belonged to Palestinians who had no connection to terrorist groups. That number represents 1,286 innocent people who lost their homes. Friends don't let friends kill Jews
The report added that over 3,400 homes had been torn down during operations to uncover arms smuggling tunnels, in cases when terrorists utilized the structures or as part of the policy of wrecking houses that had been built without a permit. A fair and balanced look at the situation
According to Betzelem, for every Palestinian suspected of terrorist activity whose home had been razed, homes of 12 other innocent people had been destroyed. Israeli version of Homeland Security
The group states that although "terrorist attacks perpetrated by the Palestinians are unjustifiable war crimes", they still do not justify Israel's actions. "The razing of homes is a blatant violation of international law and is also considered a war crime", the report states. In a closer look: Killing Joooos, no longer an international crime!!
Betzelem calls on the Israeli government to assume responsibility and compensate families whose homes had been destroyed. In a blunt response, Israel calls Betzelem to lubricate/assume the position for hellfire insert
The IDF spokesman's office said in response, "We are well aware of the ramifications of such an action. That is why we decide each case on its own and only after it had been proven without a doubt that the home belongs to a terror operative or was used by terrorists". Did I mention, cause meet effect????
According to the death certificate issued in Clamart.
The death certificate issued for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat by French authorities last week indicates his place of birth as Jerusalem and not Cairo, officials said Monday. Municipal officials at Clamart, the suburb of Paris where Arafat died last Thursday, said they issued the document on the basis of a family record book itself issued by the French foreign ministry in 1996. The issue is symbolically important because Israel considers Jerusalem as its eternal capital, while Palestinians want to make east Jerusalem, occupied by the Jewish state since 1967, the capital of their promised state.
Arafat was born Mohammed Abdel-Rawf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Hussaini, on 8/4/29. The official version of his life history records he was born in Jerusalem. However numerous biographers agree that he was, in fact, born in Cairo, where his father, from Gaza, owned a business. And it was Egypt that hosted Arafat's funeral last Thursday with full military honours. A spokesman for the Clamart mayor's office had initially said the place of birth was put down as Jerusalem based on Arafat's passport. Later, the office said the detail had come from a family record document, known as a livret de famille, which authorities in France deliver for largely administrative purposes. In Arafat's case, it would have been delivered because his wife Suha gave birth to their daughter at Neuilly-sur-Seine outside Paris in July 1995, and mother and daughter spend much of their time in the French capital.
French officials, citing privacy laws, still refuse to reveal the precise cause of death or the nature of his condition, leading to rumours - strongly denied by Palestinian officials - of AIDS poisoning. "Medical secrecy continues to hold, and I have nothing further to add," a French foreign ministry spokesman said Monday.
#2
Sure he was, born in a manger under King Louie.
Posted by: Capt America ||
11/15/2004 16:13 Comments ||
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"Medical secrecy continues to hold, and I have nothing further to add," a French foreign ministry spokesman said Monday.
Medical secrecy? On what grounds? If that son of a bitch had something contagious, then cause of death needs to be disclosed so that steps can be taken to insure that others that were in close proximity to the little weasel don't spread it around.
#7
Cairo, 1929, the little Yasser thing was hatched. If Chirac thinks all his embarrassing appeasement of Islam is going to win him a 'get out of jihad free card', he can forget about it.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/15/2004 17:47 Comments ||
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#8
On September 12th right here, in front of the wailerry,
But unfortunately we lost his address,
please tell him if you see him we do want the 2 billion back, not him.
#11
Why not! His whole life was a lie! He "negotiated" for peace while he was buying Iranian arms by the shipload and financing and coordinating attacks on Israeli civilians.
Posted by: Tom ||
11/15/2004 20:24 Comments ||
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#12
Arafat's funeral was in Cairo, Egypt....cased closed.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/15/2004 21:27 Comments ||
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BUDAPEST, Hungary - The Hungarian parliament on Monday rejected a government proposal to extend the stay of 300 non-combat troops in Iraq by three months until March 31, 2005.
The Socialist-led government's plan to extend the mission of the transport contingent serving since mid-2003 in Hillah, south of Baghdad, failed after deputies of the center-right opposition refused to back it.
The proposal needed to be approved by two-thirds of the 386 deputies, but only 191 voted in favor and 159 against.
Approval of the government attempt to extend the deployment had been considered unlikely. The main opposition party said an extension was possible only if the troops were given U.N. backing.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/15/2004 3:21:23 PM ||
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November 15, 2004: Close on the heels of the U.S. Army training game, "Full Spectrum Warrior," comes a similar U.S. Marine Corps game; "Close Combat: First to Fight." Both are used on the Xbox game console. The army game, developed to commercial standards (in terms of graphics and easy-to-use interface), is intended to train members of infantry squads on the most effective combat tactics. The marine game, also created to commercial standards, includes more peacekeeping and fire control operations (calling in artillery and airstrikes). The marine game also addresses one of the major weaknesses of the army game; fighting inside buildings and room clearing. The commercial version of "Close Combat: First to Fight" will be released in January, 2005. Both games were first developed for purely military training purposes, but with the expectation that a commercial version could easily be created from the military one. This kept the development cost, for the military, down. These cooperative arrangements have been popular with game developers, as they get some money from the military (rarely more than a few hundred thousand dollars), as well as expert advice. All they have to do is keep it realistic, which is something the games want to do anyway. However, the purely commercial versions will remove some of the realism (unlimited ammo, more accurate weapons, troops moving faster and not getting injured as easily, and so on.)
Despite the complaints about the limitations in the army game, it has been very useful for new troops, who have no experience with combat. "Full Spectrum Warrior" does run the player through the correct moves a squad should use in combat, and this is very useful. Future versions of the these games will probably feature the "open world" capability found in games like "Grand Theft Auto."
Posted by: Steve ||
11/15/2004 9:38:56 AM ||
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#1
isnt close combat the name of the MS World war 2 Tactical warfare game? Can the USMC just run over a trademark, or did they make a deal with MS?
#2
MS is just the distributor, game is designed by Destineer Studios. Here is part of their press release: First to Fight is a tactical first-person shooter in which you lead a four-man fire team in close-quarters urban combat in the streets and buildings of Beirut. It was created with the help of more than 40 active-duty U.S. Marines fresh from firefights in the Middle East and will be used by the United States Marine Corps for training.
Enter firefights with confidence, knowing that your fire team follows Marine Corps doctrine known as âReady-Team-Fire-Assist,â now used in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Ready-Team-Fire-Assist gives your team 360-degree security. When you cross an intersection, ascend a staircase, and engage the enemy, your team will do it the way Marines are doing it, right now, in the most dangerous places in the world.
You and your fire team are not alone. You are part of the Marine Air Ground Task Force, the razor-sharp tip of Americaâs Military spear. Call in tanks, sniper teams, mortars, helicopter gunships, and more, to shock your enemy into surrender or retreat.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/15/2004 10:05 Comments ||
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Are MOABs, Hellfire Predators, and Harriers included? If so, I'm buying!
#5
Steve: IE MS is the Publisher, not the designer. A very common arrangement. But usually the Publisher owns the rights to a game name, NOT the designer, IIUC.
In any case is this the old Close Combat engine being used?
November 15, 2004: The U.S. Air Force has backed off on building a nuclear deep penetration bomb, and is instead going with one using conventional explosives. The new bomb, the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), will weight 15 tons and be carried internally by the B-2 or B-52 bombers. The MOP will be guided, by GPS (as well as other methods.) First test models are to be available in 2005. Operational characteristics (how deep the bomb can go in different types of material) has not been announced. And probably won't be, as you would want to keep that data secret lest the bad guys dig too deep for MOP to reach them.
I wish to thank the AF for giving this bomb a name we can work with. "Clean up on Aisle 3! Get the MOP!"
Posted by: Steve ||
11/15/2004 9:08:02 AM ||
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#1
Ho-Humm...I guess it will store and gather dust just as the MOAB has, what a waste of our taxpayers money!
#3
The MOAB is a very limited use weapon, being a ground burst device that had to be carried by a C-130. Only good against large soft targets with no air defense.
The MOP is designed for deep buried hard targets like the Nork and Iranian nuke facilities.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/15/2004 9:57 Comments ||
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#4
I'd like to see them name the next big mofo bomb the CLU-X4.
#7
Ah, there are a few problems with meteor attacks. First and foremost, it takes a long time to get a suitable rock (nickel-iron, 5-40m) on a collision course... even if you've got the delta-V capabilities. We're talking about a couple years.
#8
Once again the DOD is re-inventing the wheel. The USAAF/USAF went down this road in the 40s and 50s both with US produced copies of Barnes Wallis's Tallboy and Grand Slam plus its own home grown designs. There's a good link hear on the "earthquake bombs" The T-12 weighed in at 42,000 LBS
Eighteen children who were injured and held hostage during the Beslan siege two months ago are in the middle of a three week visit to Israel to heal wounds - both physical and psychological ones.
The children, along with their parents, were invited to Israel by the mayor of the coastal city of Ashkelon. Various Israeli volunteer organizations and companies contributed to make the trip possible.
School No. 1 in Beslan, a Caucasus town near Chechnya, became the scene of a bloodbath in early September after being seized by armed separatists. More than 1,000 parents, teachers and children were held captive in the school's gymnasium, and more than 330 people, half of them children, died September 3 in the world's worst hostage disaster when a two-day siege by Russian security forces ended in bomb blasts and shooting.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/15/2004 7:20:04 AM ||
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One of Camp Dogwood's personal heroes is the Black Watch's one-legged Corporal Colin Hamilton, who refused to be left behind when his regiment deployed on their highly dangerous mission. The 28-year-old signaller lost his right leg above the knee and suffered serious burns on his stomach and face in Kosovo, in 2001. He had tried to save a colleague who had fallen on a high voltage electric cable and ended up spending nine months in and out of hospital.
Told he was not allowed to go with the unit when they left for Iraq in June because of his disabilities, Cpl Hamilton set out to persuade Army chiefs to change their minds. After he clocked up the second fastest time ever for an 800-metre run by a military amputee, they had to consent. Cpl Hamilton, from Dunbarton, said: "I'm just a jealous person. I don't like being left out. I had to stay behind in the rear party when the regiment were in Iraq for the war last year and I hated every minute of it. But I've proved I can do my job just as well as anyone now. Being back with my mates is the best form of rehabilitation you can get."
Posted by: Bulldog ||
11/15/2004 7:07:01 AM ||
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Words fail to express my admiration for the Corporal. Good luck, be safe, God Bless, and good hunting!
#2
This may sound silly on the surface, but with today's technology should be seriously considered by military planners: instead of giving a soldier like this a "false leg", why not give him a high tech replacement as good *or better*, and return him to his unit.
That is, if a soldier loses an arm, give him a (I hate to use the term) "bionic" replacement that can perform tasks an ordinary soldier can't do. Now, granted, he's not going to be repairing watches with that arm--too sensitive--so why not give him a mechanical arm, or arms, that can do very difficult tasks. Don't think of weapons or even that the arm has to look "natural"--remember that this is a combat situation.
Imagine an arm that is like "the jaws of life", for opening doors, maybe attached to a chest wrap-around for extra strength. Or an arm extending down along his body parallel to his leg that he could use for very heavy lift. There are lots of possibilities, here.
#3
It isn't silly and we are working on as we type. There are a number of projects out there that address this issue, not to the extent of Steve Austin, but we are working it. Currently about 70% of US amputees have requested to be returned to duty, we are still breeding some of the toughest and best here in the US!
Three days after a Hizbullah drone managed to penetrate Israeli airspace, an unidentified submarine successfully penetrated Israeli territorial waters. On the afternoon of November 10th, an unidentified object was picked up on naval radar crossing into Israeli territorial waters off the coast of the seaside city of Nahariya. Before a deterrent air force unit was scrambled, the craft, later identified as a submarine, had penetrated 2-3 nautical miles into Israeli waters.
Responding navy missile boats and Dabur multi-mission patrol crafts were able to chase the submarine out of Israeli territory. However, the craft managed to evade identification of its type and registry. As of now, the source of the submarine is still unknown, or even if the vessel was sent by a hostile entity. Security officials explain it could have been a maritime research vessel or other possibilities. Furthermore, the military is unaware of submarines in the possession of terrorist groups.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/15/2004 6:48:16 AM ||
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#1
hehe the chinese sub got lost again ?! or just on some kind of world tour with an overly keen captain , Sum Yung-Guy ! or maybe Hung Wel-Lo !
#8
Seems unlikely to be an Iranian sub - this is the Mediterranean coast we're talking about, which is a long way from home for the Iranians, especially since they're unlikely to have sent a sub through the Suez Canal. Much more likely to be the Syrians (if they have any subs) or the Egyptians.
#9
Heh, The Capt has definitely put the kabosh on the Mad Mullah Marine Marauders!
Hmmm. Who could it be, then? The Atlanteans. Or Nemo (no, not the fish, darnit!). Or, and this is my personal favorite, it was the Secret Navy of the Far Flung Isles of Langerhans... a nefarious bunch, if ya ask me.
#10
I believe Syria has 2 pretty much disfunctional Romeo class submarines , very dated bits of gear . I think the first came off the production line in the mid 1960's
And yeh , I think the nefarious bunch could be City of Atlantis sub crew , they been keeping quite for a long time now ,and being stationed just off cyprus , well within range :P
#12
Algeria has 2 Kilo class subs, but they are unlikely to be interested in mucking about with the Israelis just now. Egypt has 4 Chinese built Romeos. As MacNails points out, this is a very old design, but the Chinese still build a version of it, the Ming class, and the Egyptian boats have have been upgraded with US and other western weapons and systems, including Sub-Harpoon.
#13
The article doesn't specify, but you're all talking about full-sized subs. What if they're smaller, two-man or four-man sized subs, the kind that are more easily deliverable to Syria? Just a thought.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
11/15/2004 13:18 Comments ||
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#15
Maybe the sub was stolen?
(That's why you should use the sub club; it limits would-be thieves in their choice of escape and evasion patterns to the easily predictable nautilus maneuver...)
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
11/15/2004 13:30 Comments ||
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#16
Another vote for French subs. No pretense any more: France is on the other side in the middle east. As Prime Minister Raffarin put it, "The Iraqi resistance are our best allies." Ditto for the Arafat Martyrs Brigade, Hamas etc.
Oh, that should be fun to watch. All we had to worry about was a few fistfights and some pre-stuffed voting machines. There's gonna be people exploding all over the place...
Prolly means we have to listen to Susan Estrich on Fox yet again ...
If they don't like the exit polls, I guess they'll just shoot the pollsters
Posted by: Fred ||
11/15/2004 10:41:09 PM ||
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#1
Good luck with that "disarm everybody" plan, too.
#2
Democracy Paleo style . One man , one bomb . All allowed to vote .
I have popcorn ordered and expect to see more explosions than a whole year of hollywood blockbusters.
#3
Prolly wouldn't be able to read the ballot and seethe at the same time. I've known people like that. Not the seething part, but doing two things at once sorta overwhelming them and rendering them unable to do either worth warm spit. Go ahead, pat your head and rub your tummy. Go on. See? Then try humming the national anthem while, uh, um, wait, nevermind.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/15/2004 11:10:57 PM ||
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#1
Do something about the terrorists in your midst, then wean the public away from their propensity for violence. Take care of those little problems, and everything else will fall into place.
#4
âThis idea that his successors will be able to go beyond what Arafat was able to concede is a terrible conclusion,â Avnery said. âThey have no deep roots within the Palestinian society and they cannot dictate anything.â
That's an interesting point. Already we're seeing great resentment from some Paleos at the thought of anyone replacing Ara Rat.
#5
I agree with TGA and Cornilles = Avinery is NOT an active politician, and is not really part of the dovish movement in Israeli politics - and im using dovish here to mean the elements in Yachad, to the LEFT of the current Labour Party position. Yachad leaders, Yossi Sarid, Yossi Beilin, etc have NOT, afaik, expressed mourning for Arafat, nor did any attend his funeral.
Beilin et al WILL be disagreeing with Sharon, and even Labour, on how far to go in making concessions to Abu Mazen and Abu Ala. But Avnery is in another category altogether.
#6
I don't like the term, "dove'. I think "bunny" would be a better term. They are prey. Their only form of defense is to run or hide from predators. As a race, their only hope for survival is to multiply in numbers greater than their losses.
And of course they were suggesting alternatives and working day and night to avert the attack all the while. We just didn't hear about it. Probably the Mossad hushed it up...
Baghdad's highest Shia authority has denounced the US military assault on Falluja and called on all Iraqi religious authorities to support the Iraqi people. Shaikh Muhammad Mahdi al-Khalissi has issued a statement, obtained by Aljazeera.net on Sunday, condemning the US assault on Falluja and describing it as "aggression and dirty war".
Unlike the Bad Guyz habit of blowing people up or kidnapping them and cutting their heads off. That was... ummm... something else.
"No matter how powerful the occupation forces are, they will be driven out of Iraq sooner or later. The current savage military attack on Falluja by US occupation forces and the US-appointed Iraqi government is an act of mass murder and a crime of war," the statement said.
Yasss... Potting armed bad guys has fallen into that category since time immemorial, hasn't it?
Al-Khalissi said he and his faction fully support the religious decree issued by Iraq's influential Sunni Muslim authority, the Association of Muslim Scholars, in which it prohibited Iraqis from participating in the US attack on Falluja. Another Shia scholar and member of the Islamic Movement in Iraq, Shaikh Hadi al-Khalissi, has condemned the attack on Falluja, labelling it a chapter in the cycle of aggression against Iraqis and the Muslim nation. "Everything happening on the ground in Iraq now is part of a plan to destroy Iraq and Islam," he told Aljazeera.net. Shaik Hadi accused the US authorities in Iraq of orchestrating the assault on Falluja in a bid to keep all of Iraq in chaos.
Everything was so peaceful and calm before, we just got bored watching the grass grow and the paint dry and decided to level a few hundred buildings full of guys with turbans for excitement...
"This occupation is based on Zionist motivations. Its first aim is to destroy the state of Iraq, which has always resisted the hegemony of Zionism," he said.
Yep. They have thousands of guys with yarmulkes, just waiting to swarm across the borders, any time now...
"I can assure you they do not want to build the country. They do not carry any good intention. All what they want is a weak Iraq that cannot rise against Israel." Al-Khalissi stressed that a peaceful solution could be achieved in every Iraqi-Iraqi disagreement if Iraqis were left alone.
Oh, yes. We saw how well you solved that problem with having a bloody-handed tin-hat dictator for 30-odd years...
Posted by: Fred ||
11/15/2004 9:06:25 PM ||
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"Al-Khalissi stressed that a peaceful solution could be achieved in every Iraqi-Iraqi disagreement if Iraqis were left alone. "
Ok... you'd like to hope that even the arabs will see the blatant disregard for history in that statement...
#3
Hmm. Every MSM story ive seen has found solid Shiite support for the Fallujah operation, or "meaningful silence" in the case of Sistani. Only Shiites quoted opposing it are Sadr and his aides. Is Al-Khalisi a Sadr ally? Is he really the top Shia cleric in Baghdad, or is this Al Jizz spin?
#4
You want the 'occupation forces' out of Iraq then stop the terrorism, have an election, and stop the bullshit. That's the quickest path to American exit.
#7
Fucking hypocrite. Waited till the Sunnis car bombers were whacked before opening his Khameini felching mouth. Trying to score points with his illiterate head thumpers and leftist dhimmi slaves. Send him to hell to so he can personally tell those ex-Sunni's just how much he wishes they could be killing his people right now. The single most important thing we could do to set Iraq on the path to becoming a normal country is to whack all the shaikhs/ayatollahs/imams and level every fucking mosque.
Posted by: ed ||
11/15/2004 19:35 Comments ||
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What Capt America said. Sistani matters more than all the other shi'a leaders combined. His tacit support is a huge victory that's, predictably, ignored by our MSM idiots.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has declared a week-long truce with the rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army.
Hmmm... It's been awhile since we've heard anything from them...
A presidential spokesman says the move is designed to allow the insurgents to confirm they are ready for peace talks. Earlier this month a rebel commander called for negotiations aimed at ending the country's 18-year civil war. The seven-day unilateral truce covers a limited area in the north of the country. The conflict has seen more than 20,000 children abducted by the rebels, about 1.5 million people have been displaced.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/15/2004 10:27:07 PM ||
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A presidential spokesman says the move is designed to allow the insurgents to confirm they are ready for peace talks
and I've got some great water-front property in rural LA. Jeesh.....I guess "peace talks" are like cures for baldness, small boobies or weight-loss..... a sucker born every minute.
Is this something like a baseball strike? When do you anticipate they can go back to their national passtime?
Pakistani leaders urged people to shun extremism and foster peace and brotherhood in messages on Sunday to mark the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr, the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
Yeah. That'll work.
President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz asked the predominantly Muslim nation to absorb Islam's teachings of enlightenment in their true sprit to rid society of sectarianism and extremism.
"Arrr! We'll rid the nation of sectarianism and extremism, alright! We'll kill 'em all!"
"That indeed is the right path, which can lead the Muslims today to regain their past glory," Musharraf said. Aziz in a separate message called on his countrymen to continue their fight against the twin menaces of extremism and terrorism until they were fully eliminated. "Stand up to hatred and tyranny with full might and spread the teachings of Islam that promote peace and love for all," he added. Of the total 150 million population of this South Asian country, Muslims constitute 97 per cent, while the remaining 3 per cent comprises minorities, mainly Christians. Sectarian-related clashes and bomb attacks have claimed the lives of at least 162 people in Pakistan this year, although the majority of Pakistani Muslims, about 80 per cent Sunni and 17 per cent Shiite, largely live together peacefully.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/15/2004 10:49:23 PM ||
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âStand up to hatred and tyranny with full might and spread the teachings of Islam that promote peace and love for all,â
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
