An unprecedented visit to Jerusalem by a senior official from Dubai, during which he met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and other leaders, has caused an outcry in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
"Eww! Ucky! He can't do that!"
Mohammed Al-Abbar, who was received last week in Ramallah by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, also met briefly with Sharon and held talks with his deputy Shimon Peres over his offer to buy settler homes in the Gaza Strip. It was the first publicly reported encounter between officials from the two countries which have no diplomatic relations. Billionaire property magnate Abbar has offered to buy up all settler homes in the Gaza Strip, which are set for demolition after Israel pulls out its troops and 8,000 settlers from 21 settlements later this year. He is chairman of Dubai-based property developer EMAAR properties, responsible for many of the emirate's ambitious construction projects, and director of the Dubai government's department of economic development. "When Abbar dared to lead a foreign policy of his own ... this became totally unacceptable," said an editorial Monday in Al-Ittihad newspaper, the official daily of the government of Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital. "He wanted to embarrass the State of the Emirates by private contacts (with) the Israelis, which is irresponsible and unacceptable," it said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
A lot of things seem to be changing in the Middle East. Its like an ice jam where one piece comes free then another and before you know, its a flood.
#3
hope this deal doesn't go through...Israel shouldn't have given them up in the first place. Much less let Arab entrepreneurs come in and make a profit off of their misfortune.
Fiercely contested anti-terrorism measures cleared their first hurdle in Britain's parliament on Wednesday. The planned "control orders" would, in extreme cases, allow ministers to confine suspects to house arrest without trial - a move critics say overturns basic freedoms enshrined in Britain's centuries-old judicial system. Prime Minister Tony Blair's large majority in parliament's lower chamber ensured the bill's approval by 309 votes to 233, although some members of his ruling Labour Party voted against it. But the House of Lords could throw out the legislation in coming days. Labour lacks a majority in the upper chamber. The fight over the laws has catapulted national security up Britain's political agenda weeks before an expected election. "There is a serious security threat to this country ... I think these people would kill thousands of our citizens if they could. I think this is terrorism without limit," Blair told parliament on Wednesday ahead of a debate on the bill.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2005 00:00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
Two soldiers were yesterday convicted of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners in a case that has seriously undermined the standing of the British army and been dubbed the country's Abu Ghraib. Another pleaded guilty and a fourth was sentenced last month.
Judge Advocate Michael Hunter said that the scandal had "undoubtedly tarnished the international reputation of the British army and to some extent the British nation too". He described the behaviour uncovered by the court martial as brutal, cruel and revolting, and said it had jeopardised the safety of soldiers in Iraq.
The men were found guilty at a court martial in Germany of the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners at the British Camp Breadbasket outside Basra two weeks after the conflict was declared over in May 2003. The abuse was captured in photographs which were published around the world. The defendants claim that they were being held up as "sacrificial lambs" for the failings of the military.
The military didn't fail: you did.
Corporal Daniel Kenyon, 33, of the 1st Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was convicted on three charges, including the failure to report that soldiers under his command had forced two Iraqi males to strip naked and simulate sex acts. He was also found guilty of aiding and abetting another soldier who assaulted a prisoner and hung his victim from a forklift truck. He was found guilty of failing to report this to his superior officers.
Lance Corporal Mark Cooley was found guilty of disgraceful conduct of a cruel kind after he drove the forklift truck with the bound Iraqi suspended from it. He was convicted of having brought the army into disrepute by posing for a picture in which he pretended to punch an Iraqi prisoner.
Both men face a maximum two-year prison sentence and a dishonourable discharge. Their fellow soldier, Lance-Corporal Darren Larkin, 30, who pleaded guilty to assaulting an Iraqi man after he was photographed standing on his body, faces up to six months.
It can now be reported for the first time that their colleague, Fusilier Gary Bartlam, 20, the soldier who sparked the abuse inquiry when he took his photographs to be developed, was sentenced to 18 months in youth custody last month and given a dishonourable discharge for being a "willing participant in this very brutal and very cruel act".
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/24/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Every society has its share of assholes. Unfortunately, you can't always tell in advance. It's good that this isn't swept under the rug.
It's too bad for their mates, who will be tarred with a very broad brush in the MSM.
Translated from Spanish. Narcoterrorism goes green with hillarious results.
With road blocks and protest marches, today was the beginning of two days of strikes in favor of cocoleros [cocaine growers] in Tochache in the Huanuco region with the goal of ending the spraying of their crops with suspect prohibited products by antidrug authorities. This show of force was carried out three days after the bloody assault in Tingo Maria, a city also located in the Huanucanian jungle, where a unit of terrorists ambushed and murdered three policemen that patrolled the area.... The main reason for the cocolero strike is the opposition of cocaine farmers to the use of prohibited chemicals to eradicate this plant.... Nancy Zamora, mayor of the town of La Polvora, near Tochache, confirmed that the fumication was carried out by helicopters. She said that these chemicals got into the water resevoir in her town, were consumed by the farmers and caused nausea and digestive problems in many people.
Posted by: 11A5S ||
02/24/2005 12:59:03 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Aw, pobrecitos.
Of course, I'm just a self-centered Yankee, but I'd rather they have tummy aches than see that crap coming up here.
Nicaragua has told the United States it will not destroy all of its Soviet-made surface-to-air missiles, which Washington fears could fall into the wrong hands. Concerned by the whereabouts of missiles dating from the clash between leftist Sandinistas and contra rebels in the 1980s, the United States this week sent a mission to Nicaragua to review President Enrique Bolano's progress on his pledge to find and eliminate them. But after a meeting with the US team on Wednesday, Defence Minister Jose Adan Guerra said not all missiles would be destroyed. "The intention, the clear and firm will of the government is precisely to continue to dispose of the excess missiles while retaining a strategic reserve of 20% of the total so as to not undercut the state's defence capacity," Guerra said.
So here's the deal, Nicaragua: keep your 20 percent for the state's defense capacity. But keep very close tabs on them, because you're betting your own lives that they're not going to fall into the wrong hands. Not just the population of Managua, mind you, but your lives.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2005 00:00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Fred,
This post doesn't show on my listing for the day.
We should be making them very aware of our targeting policies after an American aircraft is lost to an SA-7; an 8.5 megaton earthquake for Managua.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/24/2005 14:56 Comments ||
Top||
MOSCOW, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev reportedly used a party celebrating his third marriage to call for a new holy war against Russia, The Independent said Thursday.
Dammit, we don't bomb one islamic wedding and look who we miss.
The claim was posted on the official Chechen separatist Web site, which said the wedding took place Feb. 14 in southern Russia, where he exchanged vows with "the sister of a Russian Islamist warrior."
Keeping it in the family, again
The site said he also held meetings with rebel leaders from across the region and quoted his optimism.
Islamic wedding = terrorist high command meeting
"The meetings were pleasant and useful and (God willing) a jihad will rage over the whole Caucasus this year," the site said.
Russia has a $10 million bounty on his head and that of rebel Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov after last September's Beslan school siege, which Basayev claims to have masterminded. A unilateral rebel ceasefire expired Wednesday but Maskhadov extended it, making a fresh call for the Russians to enter into negotiations with him, an offer they have consistently refused.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2005 2:05:48 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
Niman might be on to something here. It seems a manmade flu gene sequence has been in the pigs for a while. I was unable to find any info on live pig exports from North Korea to the South, but that would seem a likely source. Norks experiment on pigs and infection gets into pigs for export.
In December, the biologist Henry Niman of Recombinomics, a biotechnology company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, examined the data as part of an analysis of flu sequences. He concluded that the samples contained genes from a strain of human flu virus that was created decades ago by scientists experimenting with the virus that caused the global flu pandemic of 1918.
Neither the World Health Organization (WHO), which coordinates the international response to flu, nor the South Korean government have commented on the claim. But Laurie Garrett, a former journalist and analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, says that the WHO attributes the sequence to an error at the lab that deposited the information.
Sang Heui Seo, one of the Korean researchers, says he is unable to comment yet, adding that "further confirmation" of the sequence "is under way at this moment". <<
As indicated earlier, the lab error story has some significant flaws. The explanation of computer files sent in error is not credible because there are over 30 WSN/33 sequences involved. Virtually all are slightly different from each other as well as WSN/33, although all share greater than 99% homology. The contamination is hard to understand because each of the 30 sequences is slightly different, there is no WSN/33 in the lab, and the viruses were isolated in eggs.
As noted above, the sequences are being independently confirmed. Confirmation will eliminate the lab error story. However, the route of the sequences from lab to swine remains open, as does the possibility of bioterrorism. The inability to resolve the existence of the sequence after being in the public domain for almost 3 months also raises serious bioterrorism preparedness issues.
#1
lets see. There is the known cycle of ducks -> ponds -> fish -> pigs -> people that creates most flus. So this one is spotted at the pig tap point. One would expect a pond with fish having these genes and maybe some duck flying about.
#2
3dc the point is that a gene sequence somehow got from a lab into Skor pigs. Niman knows his stuff when it comes to this topic and seems to have found a smoking gun.
#3
I got the point... just where there are pigs in Asia look for ponds fish and birds to be a factor too. If it is in the pigs... some pond in NK is filled with it.
Prime Minister John Howard says Labor's attacks on the Federal Government's decision to send more troops to Iraq are contradictory and confused. Mr Howard says that until recently, he was not persuaded that Australia should commit another 450 soldiers to Iraq. "It was only right towards the end that we, as a group of ministers, and then the national security committee, came to the view that we should make this contribution," he said.
Labor's Foreign Affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd says Mr Howard's comments confirm that it was a rushed decision. "How could there be such a U-turn in government decision-making within the space of a couple of weeks?" he asked.
But Mr Howard says Opposition Leader Kim Beazley has previously accused the Government of misleading voters by planning the troop deployment before the election. "This is Mr Beazley on every issue - he walks both sides of the street," Mr Howard said. "He sort of test runs an argument and if it doesn't work he then changes to another argument.
"The truth is that we did not have this in contemplation at the time of the election and what I said at the time of the election was an honest statement of the Government's position."
Posted by: God Save The World ||
02/24/2005 12:37:22 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
Whatever end result Hariri's killers intended to achieve by his death, I suspect that this wasn't it.
French President Jacques Chirac warned Tuesday that the UN Security Council could slap sanctions on Syria if it fails to comply with a UN resolution calling for its withdrawal from Lebanon. Chirac said he was "surprised by the unanimous determination, not only of the president of the United States (George W. Bush), but also of the entire EU, that 1559 be really applied and under the attentive watch of the UN". Resolution 1559 calls for Syria's 14,000 troops in Lebanon to be pulled out and for militias such as Hezbollah to be dissolved. "France was never very favourable to the sanctions system," he said at a press conference on the sidelines of dual EU-US and NATO summits attended by US President George W. Bush.
"Unless, of course, France could wring some profit out of the suffering of others."
But he added: "It's up to the Security Council to decide. That will depend on the nature of the sanctions and that will depend on the sanctions." Therefore, if the application of 1559 does not begin, the "the Security Council would deliberate on the basis of the secretary general's (Kofi Annan) report," he added.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
02/24/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Whenever I hear some dink say that the UNSC is the proper venue for decisions, I know that's simply code for either blackmail or obstruction - and the entity that insists the UNSC "works" is the beneficiary, regardless of which outcome occurs.
#4
Chirac said he was "surprised by the unanimous determination, not only of the president of the United States (George W. Bush), but also of the entire EU, that 1559 be really applied and under the attentive watch of the UN".
The asshole is "surprised" that both Bush and the EU insist that a UN resolution "be really applied"!
Some Fwench company with interests in Lebanon that profits from the current situation evidently didn't get their memo out to ChirASS in a timely fashion. Or probably one that IS losing money on the current situation DID.
#5
Ze cur, zat Assad! My fah-mah-lee has ze investment in ze Beiruit. And zey can't use dem unless ze nasty soundrel gets his nah-stee Syrian boo-tox out of ze Lebanon toot sweet!
I shall suu-fr and go to zee US and to the UN secu-e-tee counceel, and it will be ze end of ze cur Assad!
Posted by: Jacques Chirac ||
02/24/2005 12:32 Comments ||
Top||
MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali placed not only herself and right-winger Geert Wilders, but also their bodyguards and other officials, in danger by revealing the location of her safe house, Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner said on Tuesday.
Piet, you have this exactly wrong. The danger is not from Ms. Hirsi Ali, but from radical murderous Islamonutz. Put the thugs and "spiritual advisers" in jail, not your legislators freely exercising their personal freedoms.
The Christian Democrat CDA minister told MPs he severely regretted the fact that Hirsi Ali revealed last week the locations where she and Wilders were being kept, news service NOS reported...Hirsi Ali spoke to the media last week and was highly critical of the living circumstances imposed on Wilders and herself, claiming that her freedom was being restricted. She stated that threatened MPs should not be hidden away, but instead be housed in secure locations known to the public. "If you put Wilders in a jail cell, what do you think the message is for the terrorists who are threatening him? Conversely, when you arrange a normal house for him: you are saying that threatened MPs may continue unobstructed, without any censoring," she said.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
02/24/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
The German talks seem not to have been as tense as the talks with France. I credit TGA.
Visiting US President George W. Bush and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder emphasised their common policy goals on Wednesday, citing such issues as Iran's nuclear ambition, the Mideast peace process and Iraq's reconstruction, while declaring that they had put their past disagreements behind them. At a press conference after about 90 minutes of bilateral talks in Mainz, the two leaders stressed the message of transatlantic cooperation in dealing with issues facing the globe. Both acknowledged there had been differences between the United States and Germany, but there were overriding common positions. "We cannot deny that in the past there were different views (on Iraq)," Schroeder said about the main point which had severely strained US-German ties. "But this is past ... We have a common interest that there should be a stable, democratic Iraq."
And so on and so forth, more diplospeak...
Posted by: Seafarious ||
02/24/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
Long article at the link about the Islamic Saudi Academy of Alexandria, Virginia and their illustrious alumni and staff. In addition to Ali arrested for a plot to assasinate our president, two students were arrested in Israel for suspicion of being terrorists. The accountant, Ismail Elbarasse, a high ranking Hamas operative and financier, was arrested for casing American bridges. Read the above article for details and an ever expanding cast of characters. Apt Pupil ( Ahmed Omar Abu Ali)
In addition Frontpage profiled Wahhabi funding two years ago and the Islamic Saudi Academy was prominently mentioned: The Wahhabi Fifth Column
The most malleable minds belong to children. An estimated 30,000 of them attend Saudi-funded Wahhabi day schools.
In America, parochial schools have long been noted for their high educational standards. But Wahhabi schools do not emulate other American church-based nativities of faith and knowledge; nor do they follow the American model of rigorous intellectual inquiry.
The Islamic Saudi Academy (ISA) in Northern Virginia forthrightly states that even though it exists on U.S. soil, it is "subject to the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."
Students at ISA are not required to study U.S. history or government. They do, however, receive instruction in Wahhabism.
Outsiders are not permitted to observe Wahhabism lessons or any other classes at ISA. But early this year, students at the academy told two Washington Post reporters some of the things they learn at school. Among other things, students discover the intricacies of Judgment Day.
One event on that formidable day will be that Muslims will fight and kill Jews. The cowardly Jews will seek refuge behind trees. Much like the trees in the forest scene from the Wizard of Oz, these trees will become animated and aggressive. They will call out to the righteous: "Oh Muslim, Oh servant of God, here is a Jew hiding behind me. Come here and kill him."
Students also said they are taught "it is better to shun and even to dislike Christians, Jews and Shiite Muslims." Furthermore, students learn, it is okay to hurt or steal from a non-Muslim.
The Saudi-supplied textbooks at this and other Wahhabi schools state that Muslims are obliged to consider all infidels the enemy. Certain enemies are not even acknowledged in geography class. Wahhabi schools in America are notorious for doctoring maps of the Middle East, and hanging them in classrooms - with Israel blotted out.
Such is the curriculum of education-minded Saudis.
Close the madrassas and deport the imams, staff, students and their families.
And their little dogs, too.
Posted by: ed ||
02/24/2005 8:00:29 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
There must be some set of laws Virginia can find to shut this "academy" down. If you can prove they teach a sort of hate, you could legally close the school.
#3
Shellback the international schools in Saudi have to provide all sorts of info re curriculum, etc to Saudis. Virginia could do same unless the ISA have diplomatic immunity. Am I right, folks?
Posted by: chicago mike ||
02/24/2005 15:31 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Sounds like a nice place for a fire...a big fire.
#5
screw the fire - tell em to pack up and GTFO - and no more Saoodi funding of their pernicious little brand of hate or we take the oil. F*&k emn
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/24/2005 17:21 Comments ||
Top||
#6
The head of the ISA has diplomadic immunity: The schoolâs director has diplomatic status, and ISA reports that it is âsubject to the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.â The schoolâs students learn the same curriculum as their counterparts within the kingdom.
What pisses me off is that some of the 30,000, like Ali, are immigrants or US citizens. It has been shown that what they learn, with the acquiescence of the US govenment, is a direct threat to Americans. Allah's little soldiers, trained in the good ole USA. The threat will only grow as the number of graduates increase. Close the madrassas and deport them.
Posted by: ed ||
02/24/2005 17:43 Comments ||
Top||
#7
I can't speak for Virginia, but here in Pennsylvania to graduate from a public or parochial high school you have to have four years of English, three years of math, three years of science, etc. It sounds to me like the Virginia Department of Education needs some attitude adjustment.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/24/2005 19:58 Comments ||
Top||
#8
sounds like foreign funding of American schools (with associated curricula) should end. Make em home school the little hatesponges. At worst, it's not cost-efficient for their Arab masters
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/24/2005 20:05 Comments ||
Top||
Nor can Canada claim that it has opted out of the concept of missile defence, so long as its military personnel are watching for and tracking that possible threat.
As for taking a stand against the "militarization" of space: The current (and still not operational) missile defence system uses ground-based missiles. The satellites that form part of the detection and targeting system aren't weapons, although they are part of a weapons system. And so are the satellites that guide bombs dropped from Canadian warplanes.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2005 11:15:24 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I'm becoming more convinced this was just a smokescreen for the increase in defence expensitures that othewise would have been the focus of attention.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/24/2005 11:50 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Maybe we should make it so that Americans are the ones determining if it is a missile and checking out the radar so that the Canadians can just completely wash their hands of the whole thing.
The United States has welcomed Australia's decision to send an additional 450 ground forces to Iraq to provide protection for multinational reconstruction crews and to train Iraqi security forces. Prime Minister John Howard announced on Tuesday that Australia will send an extra 450 troops to Iraq to help protect a Japanese humanitarian mission in the south. The decision, which follows requests by the governments of Britain and Japan, will increase the size of Australia's contingent in Iraq from 950 to 1,400 troops. "The new Australian contribution, which adds to the positive momentum generated by Iraq's national elections on January 30, will assist Iraq's transition to a secure democracy," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. "Australia continues to demonstrate that it is willing to make difficult and courageous choices to promote democracy and combat terrorism around the world."
Posted by: God Save The World ||
02/24/2005 12:39:22 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#3
Our local grocery store has about four feet of shelf space for French wine and about sixty for the Ozzie vintages.
No fuss. No statements. No press releases. Just a moral stance, plus figuring out the Frog piss wasn't selling the way it used to. For some reason.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
02/24/2005 12:55 Comments ||
Top||
The Pentagon is promoting a global counterterrorism plan that would allow Special Operations forces to enter a foreign country to conduct military operations without explicit concurrence from the U.S. ambassador there, administration officials familiar with the plan said. The plan would weaken the long-standing "chief of mission" authority under which the U.S. ambassador, as the president's top representative in a foreign country, decides whether to grant entry to U.S. government personnel based on political and diplomatic considerations.
Don't want to upset the locals, don't you know. The Ambassador might not get invited to a cocktail party
The Special Operations missions envisioned in the plan would largely be secret, known to only a handful of officials from the foreign country, if any. The change is included in a highly classified "execute order" -- part of a broad strategy developed since Sept. 11, 2001, to give the U.S. Special Operations Command new flexibility to track down and destroy terrorist networks worldwide, the officials said.
"This is a military order on a global scale, something that hasn't existed since World War II," said a counterterrorism official with lengthy experience in special operations. He and other officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because the proposal is classified.
The Pentagon sees the greater leeway as vital to enabling commando forces to launch operations quickly and stealthily against terrorist groups without often time-consuming interagency debate, said administration officials familiar with the plan. In the Pentagon view, the campaign against terrorism is a war and requires similar freedom to prosecute as in Iraq, where the military chain of command coordinates closely with the U.S. Embassy but is not subject to traditional chief-of-mission authority.
The State Department and the CIA have fought the proposal, saying it would be dangerous to dilute the authority of the U.S. ambassador and CIA station chief to oversee U.S. military and intelligence activities in other countries. Over the past two years, the State Department has repeatedly blocked Pentagon efforts to send Special Operations forces into countries surreptitiously and without ambassadors' formal approval, current and former administration officials said.
The State Department assigned counterterrorism coordinator J. Cofer Black, who also led the CIA's counterterrorism operations after Sept. 11, as its point person to try to thwart the Pentagon's initiative. "I gave Cofer specific instructions to dismount, kill the horses and fight on foot -- this is not going to happen," said Richard L. Armitage, describing how as deputy secretary of state -- a job he held until earlier this month -- he and others stopped six or seven Pentagon attempts to weaken chief-of-mission authority.
In one instance, U.S. commanders tried to dispatch Special Forces soldiers into Pakistan without gaining ambassadorial approval but were rebuffed by the State Department, said two sources familiar with the event. The soldiers eventually entered Pakistan with proper clearance but were ordered out again by the ambassador for what was described as reckless behavior. "We had SF [Special Forces] guys in civilian clothes running around a hotel with grenades in their pockets," said one source involved in the incident, who opposes the Pentagon plan. Other officials cited another case to illustrate their concern. In the past year, they said, a group of Delta Force soldiers left a bar at night in a Latin American country and shot an alleged assailant but did not inform the U.S. Embassy for several days.
In Pentagon policy circles, questions about chief-of-mission authority are viewed as part of a broad reassessment of how to organize the U.S. government optimally to fight terrorism. In this view, alternative models of U.S. military, diplomatic and intelligence authority -- possibly tailored to specific countries and situations -- should be considered. Pentagon officials familiar with the issue declined to speak on the record out of concern that issues of bureaucratic warfare would overshadow a serious policy question. Debate over the issue reignited last month, as Armitage and then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell departed and Condoleezza Rice prepared to replace him, said an administration official familiar with the matter. When the Pentagon refused to change language in the execute order, that put the issue before Rice.
In the past week, however, she has made it clear that she intends to protect the existing chief-of-mission authority. "Rice is resolute in holding to chief-of-mission authority over operations the way it exists now, for a very rational reason -- you need someone who can coordinate," said a senior State Department official. Some officials have viewed the debate as an early test of how Rice will defend State Department views on a range of matters in bureaucratic infighting with the Pentagon.
The State Department's concerns are twofold, officials said: Conducting military operations would be perilous without the broad purview and oversight of the U.S. ambassador, and it would set a precedent that other U.S. agencies could follow. "The chief-of-mission authority is a pillar of presidential authority overseas," said the administration official familiar with the issue. "When you start eroding that, it can have repercussions that are . . . risky. Particularly, military action is one of the most important decisions a president makes . . . and that is the sort of action that should be taken with deliberation."
U.S. ambassadors have full responsibility for supervising all U.S. government employees in that country, and when granting country clearances they are supposed to consider various factors, including ramifications for overall bilateral relations. For example, one reason the U.S. military never conducted aggressive operations against al Qaeda in Pakistan was a fear that such actions would incite the local population to overthrow the fragile, nuclear-capable government of President Pervez Musharraf.
The rift between the Pentagon and State Department over chief-of-mission authority parallels broader concerns about the push to empower the Special Operations Command in the war on terrorism. The CIA, for example, has concerns that new intelligence-gathering initiatives by the military could weaken CIA station chiefs and complicate U.S. espionage abroad. Without close coordination with the CIA, former senior intelligence officials said, the military could target someone whom the CIA is secretly surveilling and disrupt a flow of valuable intelligence.
Which they cross-reference, colate and file away in nice neat folders. Heaven forbid anyone act on that intelligence, why some file clerk might be put out of work if the flow stopped.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2005 11:30:36 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I dunno...this sort of thing just screams "blow up in your face". All it takes is one occasion of bad intelligence, and the U.S. has blood all over its hands and the Islamists have another reason to crow (I'm not sure if that matters, if they don't have reasons, they invent them).
#2
But it's how you go where the bad guys are and make them uncomfortable. That the bad guys can get all upset is , as Martha would say " a good thing". Like I've said all along you just deny, bold faced anyway. These Syrians are over due for a little hello kitty.
#3
I dont think its a bad thing. The intellegence gathering and miilitary type missions should not need some diplomat approval. Polititians only see thier little political world. The Stepping on eachothers toes thing I can see somewhat but I would imagine that rare the pentagon SFC would kill or attack a CIA mole, after all istnt the whole point of the Department of Homeland Securtity supposed to have everyone pooling resources? Persoanally I think the SFC should be going full tilt into every country were the terrorist are we will come dont like it kick em out period. And personally I believe one of the worst decisions ever was the elimination of the CIA's ability to assasinate foriegn leaders. If Bashar or Kim Jong Il were assasinated tommorow as long as blame could be sent else were it would be a good thing. The resulting chaos would leave todays week Democratic group with sudden US weapon and SOF supported in a position to take over.
WASHINGTON - As diplomatic efforts to end a nuclear standoff between Washington and Pyongyang make little headway, a resolution has been introduced in the US Senate demanding that North Korea return an American intelligence ship seized by the hardline communist state 37 years ago. The attack on the USS Pueblo by North Korean naval vessels and MiG jets on January 23, 1968, left one American dead and several more wounded while 82 surviving crew members were captured, held prisoner and tortured for a year.
The Senate resolution demands the return of the vessel, believed still in North Korean hands. "North Koreas inhumane treatment of our sailors, and the refusal of Pyongyang to return this vessel should not be forgotten," said Senator Wayne Allard, who filed the resolution this month after the Stalinist state stunned the world by publicly boasting about its nuclear weapons arsenal. The Republican senator from Colorado said although it had been more than three decades since the "disgraceful episode" occurred, "the United States government should demand the return of the USS Pueblo to the US Navy without further delay."
I sure hope this is more than just a publicity stunt.
Washington has been quite reluctant to demand its return because of the embarrassment caused by the incident. It had to apologize to North Korea for the spying mission before receiving the surviving crew. It was the first US Navy ship to be hijacked on the high seas by a foreign military force in over 150 years.
Fred Carriere, executive director of The Korea Society and an experienced Korea hand, said he visited the ship last year during a trip to Pyongyang with the society's chairman and ex-ambassador to South Korea Donald Gregg. "It was docked in the Tedong River and is still impressive and seaworthy," he told AFP. "From the Korean point of view it is an educational exhibit and one of the most sacred trophies aimed at making the point of history about American invasions of Korea," he said.
It is believed that North Korea had given serious consideration to returning the USS Pueblo to the United States in the spring of 2002 as part of a "confidence building measure," just months before a nuclear standoff flared up in the fall of that year, an Asian diplomat close to Pyongyang told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/24/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
How about this confidence building measure---Sink the ship in the harbor and be done with it. Nothing spectacular. Just a hole in the hull and sink it.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/24/2005 0:58 Comments ||
Top||
#2
"It had to apologize to North Korea for the spying mission before receiving the surviving crew."
Lefty revisionists will do everything possible to legitimize this "apology" not mentioning that the US Admiral who signed it denounced it as false, meaningless, and extracted under duress the very moment the crew were released.
#3
"It is believed that North Korea had given serious consideration to returning the USS Pueblo to the United States in the spring of 2002 as part of a âconfidence building measure,â just months before a nuclear standoff flared up in the fall of that year, an Asian diplomat close to Pyongyang told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity."
My a*s. That ship is staying in Wonsan until it sinks from neglect or we sink it...and frankly, I think we need to whack it now, just to prove a point.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/24/2005 7:28 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Absolutly,AP(hows that new Grandbaby),but it should be loud,spectacular,& devastating.I sugest 1/2 dozen cruise missles,2 with HE,2 with CBU,2 with FAE.
#5
We should remember that the Norks took the Pueblo at the behest of the Soviets during the Walker spy-ring time. The Sovs used the Nork reputation for craziness in order to get US naval codes and encryption gear.
#6
"...return of the vessel, believed still in North Korean hands..."
Believed? Journalists are such jerks. Read the whole article and you can put a pin on your North Korean map. It's a f##king museum and a monument to our lack of testosterone. Sink it now.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/24/2005 8:46 Comments ||
Top||
#7
If it's possible I think a Mk48 ADCAP torpedo under the keel would make all kinda points.
#9
By the by, I had the unique misfortune of hearing Ambassador Gregg of the Korea Society speak to a group of naval officers. Any statements from the Korea Society should be taken with a dumptruck of road salt. They're starting point is basically that we provoked the Korean War and have been needlessly antagonizing the Norks ever since. He was also shamelessly anti-Japanese. Gregg is ex-CIA, so interpret that as you will.
#10
Carriere said it all. It's a "sacred trophy" to the North Koreans. They have museums that exhibit pictures of the Korean War...gloating over dead Americans. They gotta go.
#13
I'm with AP and Shipman here. Blow the damn thing up. An ADCAP from 40,000 yards is stealthy and provides lots of WTF WAS THAT??!!?? when it detonates. Stuff blowing up unexpectedly just might jump start the stalled negotiations!
He hasn't found an elevator shaft for his uncle yet?
Benon Sevan, who used to oversee Iraq's Oil-for-Food program, wants more time to respond to allegations that he improperly steered oil contracts to certain companies, the United Nations said Wednesday. Sevan failed to meet Wednesday's 5 p.m. EST deadline after being given two weeks to answer the charges against him. Instead, he sent a letter "requesting an extension before replying," U.N. associate spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. "That request is being considered." Sevan was recently suspended by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan following an interim report from former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, who was commissioned to head up the investigation into the Oil-for-Food scandal. Sevan was suspended for recommending a friend's oil company for the contracts. Joseph Stephanides, head of the U.N. Security Council Affairs Division, also was accused of misconduct by Volcker's committee. Stephanides responded to the charges against him and his reply will be reviewed before any action is taken, Dujarric said. Annan could decide to strip Sevan of his diplomatic immunity and that, in turn, could open the door for U.S. authorities to file criminal charges against him.
I doubt he will, Sevan knows too much.
Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., recently said Sevan should have that immunity taken away so that he can face congressional investigators and be prosecuted for his alleged criminal activities. Coleman's Senate Governmental Affairs investigations subcommittee recently announced that it had acquired new Iraqi documents that show that Sevan made as much as $1.2 million through oil deals with Saddam Hussein's government. Sevan has been identified in Iraqi Oil Ministry documents as having participated in a scheme by Saddam to issue vouchers to people that let them profit from illicit sales of Iraqi oil. Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, who has been investigating financial relationships within the Oil-for-Food program, also plans to probe Sevan's activities.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2005 9:59:02 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"Annan could decide to strip Sevan of his diplomatic immunity"
That is a lot of power - especially to be in the hands of a self-serving coward.
The equation seems simple:
a) Sevan's toast if it will save Kofi
b) Sevan's saved if he can toast Kofi
The International Atomic Energy Agency has urged the removal of nuclear fuel production from individual states in a move that could affect Iran's program. Instead, the IAEA report said nuclear fuel production should be the responsibility of a multilateral regime, which has already been launched in Europe. The report said each region should have a multilateral group to ensure that nuclear fuel would not be transferred to countries that sought to develop nuclear weapons. "A joint nuclear facility with multinational staff puts all participants under a greater scrutiny from peers and partners, a fact that strengthens non-proliferation and security," IAEA deputy director Bruno Pellaud said. "Moreover, they have the potential to facilitate the continued use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes." Pellaud told a briefing in Vienna on Tuesday that the proposed multilateral groups would ensure the supply of fuel to civilian nuclear power programs. He said the 103-page report sought to issue recommendations ahead of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review scheduled for May 2005 in New York. More than 180 countries, including Iran, are signatories to the NPT.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2005 10:49:21 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Okay, this would end the need for the clueless IAEA but would put Middle Eastern nuclear programs under Middle Eastern supervision. Right. Go back and try again, Bruno.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/24/2005 8:40 Comments ||
Top||
February 24, 2005: Singapore has built one of the most powerful air forces in the world. This is to be expected, due to the highly educated population and the fact that air power is a huge equalizer. Singapore's air force is huge for a country of its size and population (four million people). Well over a hundred combat aircraft are in service, and consist of a mixture of modern fighters, and older planes with the latest upgrades. Singapore also has acquired capabilities that few other countries in the region have.
The most numerous fighter plane in Singapore's inventory is the A-4SU Super Skyhawk. This is not your father's Skyhawk. The aircraft have new engines (a non-afterburning version of the F404 used on the F/A-18), and modern avionics, to include a Marconi HUD, a multi-function display, and a new inertial navigation system. This is the fastest (1128 kilometers per hour) and Skyhawk that has ever flown. Sixty-four of these aircraft are in service in three squadrons.
Singapore has also upgraded its force of 42 F-5E/F Tigers. These new planes, now called the F-5S/T, with a new Grifo F/X Plus radar (also used on Taiwan's F-5Es), HOTAS controls (Hands On Stick And Throttle), two multifunction displays, and two extra missile pylons. These Tigers will be potent complements to Singapore's best fighters.
Singapore's best fighters in service are their force of 26 F-16C and 36 F-16Ds. These Block 52 aircraft are virtually identical to the versions in U.S. service. The major difference has been reluctance on the part of the United States to ship AMRAAMs to the region. These F-16s have reportedly received the Python 4 infra-red homing missile from Israel (which has also supplied the Gabriel), and some of the F-16Ds reportedly have the same dorsal "hump" that Israeli F-16s also carry. Singapore's F-16s are also equipped with the Harpoon anti-ship missiles.
Singapore also has acquired a total of twenty AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters. Currently based in the United States, they will eventually provide superb capabilities for Singapore in a variety of roles (depending on which versions of Hellfire are purchased). Singapore also is acquiring CH-47D Chinooks for search-and-rescue and as troop carriers. Nine are already in service, with plans to reach a total of twelve. Singapore has an option for four more CH-47s. There are also 16 UH-1H Hueys and 16 Super Puma transports.
However, Singapore's air force has capabilities on par with air forces like the United States. Singapore purchased four E-2C Hawkeyes. These planes are the same as those used by Israel, Taiwan, France, Japan, the U.S. Navy, and Egypt. No other country in Southeast Asia has this capability, which gives Singapore a huge advantage in any fight.
Singapore also has acquired four KC-135R tankers — which extends the reach and endurance of Singapore's air force. These aircraft can refuel using a centerline boom, or a drogue can be attached. Singapore's F-16s use the boom method. The A-4SUs use the drogue method to refuel, and Singapore has also modified four C-130Bs into aerial tankers to support that.
Singapore also has a mixture of Fokker maritime patrol aircraft — the F27 and F50 Maritime Enforcers. These planes provide a long-range anti-submarine and anti-surface aircraft. The Fokker F27s have a longer range (5,000 kilometers compared to 3,148 for the F50), but the F50s are faster (522 kilometers per hour compared to 480 for the F27).
Combined with the Republic of Singapore Navy, the Republic of Singapore Air Force outclasses the forces of the other nations in Southeast Asia. It has a solid quantity of top-of-the-line combat aircraft, and capabilities unmatched by other forces in the region. You might be able to overpower the Republic of Singapore Army, but getting an invasion force to Singapore will be very difficult.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2005 11:07:06 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Heh - that is quite an inventory! The training component isn't addressed, however, and that is definitely non-trivial.
But I'll put my money on the Singaporeans doing it right. They "get it" on every topic I've ever seen addressed.
#2
They train very hard. We have a little known AF detachment in Singapore that works closely with them, plus they send their pilots to the States for training. Note in the story that their Apache's are currently based in the US.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2005 12:13 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Yes pretty soon they will start to evacuate so that they can build enough hangers to house all these aircraft. The big question is, WHO GETS VOTED OFF THE ISLAND?
#5
Harpoons from an F-16???? I don't believe it.
Oh yea of little faith:
Air-to-surface missiles carried on the F-16 include Maverick, HARM and Shrike missiles, manufactured by Raytheon, and anti-ship missiles include Boeing Harpoon and Kongsberg Penguin. The first guided launch of the new Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) was successfully carried out from an F-16 and the F-16 was the first USAF aircraft to be fitted with the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) in April 2000.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2005 13:41 Comments ||
Top||
#6
More:The A/R/UGM-84 was first introduced in 1977, and in 1979 the air-launched version was deployed on the Navy's P-3C Orion aircraft. The Harpoon was also adapted for use on USAF B-52H bombers, which can carry from 8 to 12 of the missiles. The Harpoon missile has been integrated on foreign F-16 aircraft and is presently being integrated on foreign F-15 aircraft.
Block 50 F-16s can carry the Harpoon. And I've seen that video of a C-130 landing on a carrier. It rates at 10 on the pucker factor.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2005 14:02 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Yipe! An island with 4 million people has some 60+ F-16s and 100+ older fighters, plus tankers and radar direction planes.
Belgium, with over 10 million people, has 70 F-16s and no other fighters. No tankers or AWACS.
Canada, with 32 million people, only has 104 F-18s.
#9
Once total air superiority is established, picture the pucker factor of being on the receiving end as a pair of Buffs drop to about 500 ft and fire off a salvo of 12 Harpoons each at your Chinese invasion force - now about 50 clicks out of port... Heh.
Yummm. I'm thinking of that sweet-hot dish of beef medallions called Tiger's Tears on Chinese menus... Neua yang on Thai menus...
#11
Singapore is well aware of the threat mines pose for the Straits; mines were used there during WWII, forcing the Japanese to rely on rail transport.
Singapore's long had a good MCM (mine- countermeasures)fleet. The 194th MCM squadron has four modern ships equipped with Remote Operated Underwater Vehicles. Their Special Diving Unit is also trained in MCM. They train extensively with other navies.
As for offensive/defensive-deployment MIW (MIne Warfare), let's just say Singapore has a good defense industry, and their air force and navy are very capable. ; )
#12
message to their neighbors? Don't Tread on Me? Sounds familiar
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/24/2005 20:12 Comments ||
Top||
#13
I strongly suspect that you could call Singapore a reserve Air Force/Royal Air Force component. Nothing else can explain the mind-boggling size of the AF force such an country.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
02/24/2005 20:25 Comments ||
Top||
#14
..I had the pleasure of working with the RoSAF on their first ever foreign deployment - Red Flag 98-2. They were flying our F-16s, as they weren't quite up to dragging their birds across the Pacific at that time, but they established a solid reputation right quickly. Very quiet, very polite, and very VERY good, up to our standards across the board and past them in a couple of places.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/24/2005 21:34 Comments ||
Top||
From the Islamic Paradise
... According to Islamic Republic Daily, groups of youth in Mohseni Square and Mirdamad Ave in Tehran, on the eve of Shame-Ghariban, one of the holiest Shiite days in the calendar, were dancing, whistling and clapping rather than observing the sombre mourning rituals....The news article finished, by accusing the youth of ridiculing the dearest evening of the Shiite calendar and Islamic credence in the most offensive manner possible.
It also accused the Law Enforcement Forces of not being able to stop these insults to Islam...
#1
It also accused the Law Enforcement Forces of not being able to stop these insults to Islam
Don't the Iranian youth understand? Be a good boy and you'll have virgins peeling you grapes in paradise for eternity! Isn't that enough of a promise to get you to mind your mullah?
The Palestine Liberation Organization is planning to reopen its offices in Beirut, which have been closed since Israel expelled PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat from Lebanon in 1982, Lebanese media reports said on Thursday. The move suggests that the Palestinian Authority and the PLO are seeking to boost their influence in Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camps -- perhaps to counter the influence of more radical groups, said Israeli counter-terrorism expert Dr. Ely Karmon. The Palestinians have never been integrated into Lebanese society, Karmon said. More than 370,000 of them live in Lebanon, more than half in crowded camps, according to statistics from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which tends to their humanitarian needs. The PLO's reported return to Beirut comes at a time when talk of Israeli-Palestinian "permanent status" issues -- such as the right of return for refugees -- are resurfacing after four years of violence and terrorism. "The Lebanese government is interested in a solution to Palestinian refugees [and] that those in southern camps will go out of Lebanon," Karmon said.
Coincidentally, it comes in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of Hariri, no doubt kindling not so fond memories of the late festivities.
Israel adamantly opposes the idea of having hundreds of thousands of Palestinians -- along with millions of their descendants -- return to the homes and land they left during the Israeli-Arab wars in 1948 and 1967. An influx of Palestinians into what is now Israel would erase the identity of the Jewish state, most Israelis agree. Jordan's new ambassador to Israel, Ma'aruf Bakhit, said his country sees a difference between recognizing the Palestinian right of return and actually implementing it. "Recognizing the right of return is important," the Jerusalem Post quoted Bakhit as saying. "But the implementation of the right of return is something different and it is up to the parties concerned." Due to the implications of such a move, Israel has not been willing to recognize the right of return for Palestinians.
If they're going to have a Paleostinian state, that'd be the place for them to "return."
On Wednesday, Farouk Qaddoumi, the head of the PLO's Central Committee, met with officials from 10 Palestinian factions in Beirut, Lebanon, the online version of the Lebanese daily The Daily Star reported. Qaddoumi reportedly emphasized the importance of national unity, including Palestinian groups that froze their ties with the PLO in 1983. Qaddoumi urged the various factions to participate in a forum that will "defend refugees' right to return to their homeland and refuse permanent settlement," the paper said. Dozens of international activists are currently attending a three-day conference in Beirut entitled, "The Palestinian People's Right of Return to their Homeland." It was organized by the Council Of Boskone International Union of Parliamentarians, headed by former Iranian interior minister Ali Akbar Mohtashemi.
Ah, the Iranians are gathering the Paleothug groups together, bet that the future of Syria in Lenbanon is on the agenda.
Although Syria hosts the headquarters of a dozen Palestinian terrorist organizations in its capital, Damascus, relations between Syria and former PA Chairman Yasser Arafat had been strained for years. The Israeli army entered Lebanon in 1982 in an attempt to rout Arafat's PLO, which was using Lebanon as a base for launching terror attacks against Israel. Arafat and the PLO were eventually expelled to Tunisia, amid international pressure for Israel to spare Arafat's life. But shortly after Arafat's death last November, Palestinian Authority Chairman Machmoud Abbas met with Syrian President Bashar Assad, ending decades of Syrian-Palestinian hostilities. The reopening of PLO offices in Beirut -- where Syria is the main powerbroker -- would indicate a further warming of relations between Syria and the Palestinians, Karmon said.
Birds of a feather...
Those warmer relations come as Syria faces increasing American and international pressure to withdraw its 14,000 troops and intelligence services from Lebanon.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2005 10:47:38 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
If Syria killed Rafik Hariri, Lebanon's former prime minister and mastermind of its revival after the civil war, it must be judged an act of political suicide. Syria is already under great international pressure from the US, France and Israel. To kill Hariri at this critical moment would be to destroy Syria's reputation once and for all and hand its enemies a weapon with which to deliver the blow that could finally destabilise the Damascus regime, and even possibly bring it down. political suicide. yeah. right. syria is a masterful geopolitical chess player. sees ten moves ahead. would never, ever have considered killing Hariri. nope. never.
That's if it's pinned on Syria, of course. My guess is that there's an active witness elimination program underway. Check for auto accidents and missing persons. And look for new faces in Mosul...
So attributing responsibility for the murder to Syria is implausible. The murder is more likely to be the work of one of its many enemies.
Actually not. Syria's got its wet work people all over Lebanon — it's one of the things the Lebanese have been bitching about. I'd call them the first of many suspects. Just saying it would have been stoopid for them to do it doesn't eliminate them.
This is not to deny that Syria has made grave mistakes in Lebanon. Its military intelligence apparatus has interfered far too much in Lebanese affairs. A big mistake was to insist on changing the Lebanese constitution to extend the mandate of President Emile Lahoud - known for his absolute allegiance to Syria - for a further three years. Syria's military intelligence chief in Lebanon, General Rustum Ghazalah, was reported to have threatened and insulted Hariri to force him to accept the extension. This caused great exasperation among all communities in Lebanon. Hariri resigned as prime minister in protest. This is not to deny that Syria has made grave mistakes in Lebanon. Wait. didn't we just say that they never commit political suicide? I'm confused now.
Syria appears to have recognised its mistake. President Bashar al-Assad last week sacked General Hassan Khalil, head of military intelligence, and replaced him with his own brother-in-law, General Asaf Shawkat. A purge of the military intelligence apparatus in Lebanon is expected to follow. Is it me or doesn't it seem just a tad suspicious that this guy was fired right after Hariri was blowed up? Does the term "scapegoat" mean anything to anybody? Well, apparently not to al-guardian.
It remains to be seen whether this will calm Syria's opponents in Lebanon, who have declared a "democratic and peaceful intifada for independence" - in other words, a campaign of passive resistance to drive Syria out.
I doubt it greatly. If it does, it'll be one of the very few times in history that naming your brother-in-law head of military intelligence ever mollified anyone.
Hariri was not a diehard enemy of Syria. For 10 of the past 12 years he served as Lebanon's prime minister under Syria's aegis. A few days before his murder on February 14 he held a meeting with Syria's deputy foreign minister, Walid Muallim. They were reported to have discussed a forthcoming visit by Hariri to Damascus. Hariri had not officially joined the opposition in Lebanon, but was thought to be attempting to mediate between Syria and the opposition. So, Hariri was warming up to make Syria his #1 enemy. Therefore, it stands to reason who did it. Doesn't it? Not to al-guardian, apparently
If Syria did not kill Hariri, who could have?
We still haven't eliminated Syria as a suspect. But let's go over the other candidates...
There is no shortage of potential candidates, including far-right Christians, anxious to rouse opinion against Syria and expel it from Lebanon; Islamist extremists who have not forgiven Syria its repression of the Muslim Brotherhood in the 80s; and, of course, Israel. of course.
I'm not sure what Syria's repression of the Moose limb Brotherhood has to do with Hariri. I suppose there's still a Phalangist movement in Lebanon, but they're not a significant power bloc anymore, and both Christians and Sunnis seem to have united in mourning his passing.
Israel's ambition has long been to weaken Syria, sever its strategic alliance with Iran and destroy Hizbullah. Israel has great experience at "targeted assassinations" - not only in the Palestinian territories but across the Middle East. Over the years, it has sent hit teams to kill opponents in Beirut, Tunis, Malta, Amman and Damascus. so Israel killed opponents. seems assad, not hariri would be on the list.
Nobody's mentioned Hezbollah as a suspect yet. I wonder why?
Syria, Hizbullah and Iran have stood up against US and Israeli hegemony over the region. Syria continues to demand that Israel return the Golan Heights, seized in 1967. Damascus will not allow Lebanon to conclude a separate peace with Israel unless its own claim is also addressed. Hizbullah, in turn, is possibly the only Arab force to have inflicted a defeat on Israel. Its guerrillas forced Israel out of south Lebanon after a 22-year occupation. Hizbullah continues to be a big irritant to Israel because it has acquired a deterrent capability. Israel can no longer attack Lebanon with impunity - as it did for decades - without risking a riposte from Hizbullah rockets.
The riposte from Hizbullah rockets is likely to be ineffective, while Israel's air force is perfectly capable, as they've demonstrated, of booming Damascus. It would be much more to Israel's advantage to rub out Nasrallah or Mullah Fudlullah than Hariri.
Iran's nuclear programme threatens to break Israel's regional monopoly of weapons of mass destruction, which is the main reason it is under immense pressure to abandon uranium enrichment.
Something which, again, has naught to do with Hariri. The writer is reaching here...
The US and Israel have been trying to rally international support against Iran, Syria and Hizbullah. The US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, has condemned Iran as a prime sponsor of international terror. Syria has been condemned as a "destabilising" force in the region, and is in the dock because of Hariri's assassination. The US and Israel have also been urging European governments to declare Hizbullah a "terrorist organisation". France has its own quarrel with Syria, and President Jacques Chirac is outraged at the murder of his close friend Hariri, but Paris does not consider Hizbullah a terrorist organisation. For France, and for the vast majority of Arabs, Hizbullah is a national liberation movement as well as a big political actor in Lebanon. There is far more to this crisis than a struggle between rival clans in Lebanon. this is as bad a conspiracy nutcase as I've ever seen. except this isn't simply on some internet website or the arab media. the unvarnished, biased vitriol this article spews is disgusting. therefore, so is the writer.
I also notice that al-Guardian didn't suggest once that al-Qaeda dunnit.
Posted by: PlanetDan ||
02/24/2005 9:42:49 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#2
Daniel Pipes reviews this column's author Patrick Seale's book Assad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle East. http://www.danielpipes.org/article/31
Seale is a talented political writer whose first book, The Struggle for Syria (1965) remains a minor classic of Middle East studies. All the more pity, then, that he sold out to become the Syrian regime's leading apologist in the West. Passages in Asad of Syria recall the old talent, for Seale can write deftly about the subject of his biography, Hafiz al-Asad, as well as the whole course of Syrian history. Also, Seale turns up much new information about Asad's life before he became president of Syria in 1970.
But two-thirds of the book deals with events since 1970, and here Seale provides not much new information and few insights. He paints a picture of Asad so hagiographic, the reader can only hope it was as painful for Seale to write as it is to read. Seale obsequiously swallows every lie put out by the hacks in Damascus, accepting even the claim that Nizar al-Hindawi, the man who tried to blow up an El Al plane in 1986, was a double agent controlled by Israel. With cruel audacity, he deems Asad-who in 1982 called out the air force to bomb the Syrian city of Hama, killing tens of thousands-a man who seems to "abhor violent confrontations." Similarly, he presents Asad, the Arab ruler with the greatest number of Arab enemies, as a "statesman" who best "represents the Arabs' aspirations to be masters of their own destiny."
Why does a university press consent to publish so obvious a whitewash? Was it naive or complicit? California is hardly the first university press to endorse Middle East thugs (Columbia University Press in recent years has made a sub-specialty of lauding the PLO), but Asad of Syria is perhaps the most disgraceful book yet to appear under the imprimatur of a major scholarly house.
Posted by: ed ||
02/24/2005 10:14 Comments ||
Top||
#3
To kill Hariri at this critical moment would be to destroy Syriaâs reputation once and for all and hand its enemies a weapon with which to deliver the blow that could finally destabilise the Damascus regime, and even possibly bring it down.
Unless they were able to frame someone else for Hariri's death, something al-G is trying to help with.
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
02/24/2005 11:46 Comments ||
Top||
#4
What a crock. I've been looking for a deeper meaning since Chirac seems to creepily be assisting us and I actually think there must be more to this story.
But even though I am hungry for scraps, the only thing Al Guardain left me with was a feeling that someone is desperately trying to get the nut-bag crowd to point away from Syria, Hezbollah, Al Q, by carelessly blaming their usual suspects, "far right Christians" and of course, Joos. But apparently even Al Guardian realized saying there were plenty of suspects to go around, but then just blaming the Christians and Joos was just a bit too obvious, even for their faithful, so to come up with a third to round out their "plenty of other suspects" they create another suspect almost cute in it's "complexity" - Islamists. But not Islamists because they are, you know, Islamists .... but because Syria was so mean to them, repressing the Muslim Brotherhood.
Poor Syria. Working so hard to put down the Islamist threat and doing so well until the Joos and Americans messed things up for them by killing Harari. If it hadn't happened they could all still be flying kites in their beautiful suburbs.
What I like about this is that if the Al Guardian puppets are being forced to grovel with such drivel as this, then it's clear that whoever killed Harari understands they are up the creek without a paddle.
An Iranian journalist was jailed for 14 years on charges ranging from espionage to insulting the country's leaders in an unusually heavy sentence in Iran, where tens of journalists have been tried in recent years.
Rights activists said on Tuesday that Arash Sigarchi, 28, was convicted by the Revolutionary Court in the Caspian province of Gilan in northern Iran.
Sigarchi, a newspaper editor in Gilan who also wrote an Internet journal or "weblog," was arrested last month after responding to a summons from the Intelligence Ministry.
"In total, he has been given 14 years in prison," Mohammad Saifzadeh, a member of Centre for Defence of Human Rights in Tehran told Reuters by telephone.
Sigarchi's family has asked Saifzadeh and Iran's 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi to represent him in an appeal.
"I have compiled almost 12 pages of wrongdoings in the process of his arrest, interrogations and detention," Saifzadeh said. "His charges are political and journalistic and he should have been tried by a public court in the presence of a jury."
Iran's judiciary has closed down more than 100 liberal publications in the past five years and jailed many journalists, earning Iran the reputation as the biggest prison for journalists in the Middle East, according to rights groups.
Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said Sigarchi had been updating a weblog in which he had spoken out about the arrest of more than 20 Internet journalists, technicians and webbloggers late last year.
Most of that group have subsequently been released, although several complained of being tortured and forced to write false confessions while in detention.
Posted by: tipper ||
02/24/2005 9:33:14 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I posted this in the wrong place :
Nyaah nyaah nyaah - Come and get me Magic Mullahs - If you dare!
Three little mullahs from Qom are we,
Clueless as ayatollahs can be,
Filled to the brim with zealots glee,
Three little mullahs from Qom!
Three little mullahs from Qom!
Maiming is a source of fun. (Chuckle)
Nobody's safe, for we care for none! (Chuckle)
Life is a joke that's just begun! (Chuckle)
Three little mullahs from Qom!
Three little mullahs who, all unwary,
Come from Islamist seminary,
Filled with its genius tutelary--
Three little mullahs from Qom!
Three little mullahs from Qom!
One mullah with a child bride, Yum-Yum--
Two little mullahs in attendance come--
Three little mullahs is the total sum.
Three little mullahs from Qom!
Three little mullahs from Qom!
From three little mullahs take one away.
Two little mullahs remain, and they--
Won't have to wait very long, they say--
Three little mullahs from Qom!
Three little mullahs from Qom!
Three little mullahs watch, all wary,
Come from Islamist seminary,
Filled with its genius tutelary--
Three little mullahs from Qom!
Three little mullahs from Qom!
Increasing the pressure on Damascus further, the United States warned Syria Wednesday it must withdraw its "secret services from Lebanon in addition to its troops" or face new sanctions. Speaking during a joint press conference in Mainz, Germany with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder Wednesday, U.S. President George W. Bush for the first time mentioned Damascus' secret services, adding that he would await the Syrian response before seeking any further sanctions. Bush also insisted that Lebanon's May parliamentary elections be completely free of any interference from its neighbor. "These are the demands, loud and clear, and let's see if Syria complies," he added.
French President Jacques Chirac also stressed the issue of independent Lebanese elections, declaring that Syria should get out of Lebanon before the May elections or face international sanctions. Speaking to Jordan's King Abdullah II Wednesday, Chirac said the Lebanese elections will "only be credible, if [United Nations Security Council] Resolution 1559 is applied." A day earlier, Chirac had said he was "surprised by the unanimous determination, not only of the U.S. president, but also of the entire European Union, that Resolution 1559 be really applied and under the attentive watch of the UN."
"France has never been very favorable to the sanctions system," Chirac said, "but it's up to the Security Council to decide ... Therefore, if the application of 1559 does not begin, the Security Council will deliberate on sanctions in light of the report submitted by the UN secretary general." Also for the first time, Chirac added the withdrawal should - more importantly - include Syria's intelligence services "that are coercing Lebanon."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"France has never been very favorable to the sanctions system," Chirac said
What chutzpah! (for our British speakers, "Bloody cheek!")
Lebanese Prime Minister Omar Karami has signalled his willingness to concede to opposition demands to resign, but President Emile Lahoud has refused to succumb to pressure. Lahud said his government would not bow to pressure as repercussions of the 14 February assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri continued to ripple across the nation.
"I'm bought, and I'll stay bought!"
However, speaking to Aljazeera over phone from Beirut, Karam Karam a Lebanese State Minister said the government did not favour continuing disagreement over the killing of al-Hariri.
"Can't we all get along, now that he's dead?"
"I am for the resignation of the government if that will overcome the current crisis and pave the way for a serious dialogue among all sides", he added. Prime Minister Karami meanwhile told the leading An-Nahar newspaper, "I am ready to resign on condition that we agree on a new government in order to avoid falling into a constitutional vacuum." Karami, however, said he will seek a vote of confidence in Parliament on Monday, when lawmakers will convene to discuss the assassination. The debate was requested by opposition legislators. "If the result is a no-confidence motion, we are ready and will bow to the will of the legislators," Karami said.
So they've got until the beginning of next week to bring the pressure...
As Karami's remarks appeared in one paper, President Emile Lahoud took a tougher line. While both he and Karami in the separate interviews called for dialogue, Lahoud said there can be no action under pressure.
That's why they have pressure, isn't it? To force action? But Schevardnadze and Yanukovych and Ceaucescu all said the same thing. And what ever did happen to Egon Krenz?
In an interview with the Sada al-Balad newspaper, Lahud said the government "cannot succumb to opposition demands," adding that the only way to solve problems is through dialogue. Lahoud, in the interview, said the withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon can only be decided in line with a 1989 Arab-brokered agreement, shrugging off UN, American and French demands for a total, immediate pullout.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Egon was attacked by the Stay-Puff marshmellow man???
Like the preacher told me, we all come to Jesus in our own way and in our own time...
A week after the death of Rafik Hariri, we can only reflect again how a stellar Lebanese public figure has fallen victim to the perfidy of the political behavior of neighboring political regimes.
He's decided the killing wasn't a home-grown act...
Larger-than-life, charismatic figures like Hariri, who exude the redeeming virtues one longs for in visionary and proactive leaders, are rare in the lives of nations. They appear at momentous interludes to shake them out of deep slumber.
I come to bury Hariri, not to praise him. As a politician, he was all over the map, guided much more by expediency than by vision. But that was the kind of man that was needed in the wake of Lebanon's horrible civil war: men who were willing to turn a blind eye when necessary, to make alliances with Beelzebub if needed, to pretend things were one way when they patently weren't. As part of a strategic planning exercise I took part in about 20 years ago, I predicted, with tongue only partly in cheek, that sometime around 2000 the last Lebanese would shoot the second-last Lebanese. It was the feet-of-clay pols like Hariri and Jumblatt that shifted the Beirut paradigm enough that it didn't turn out like that.
Brutal and cold-blooded assassinations are an indelible feature of Lebanese political culture. Abominable as they are, usually such acts remain unexplained. The perpetrators and criminals are never recognized or brought to justice. Barely four months ago, former Economy Minister Marwan Hamade miraculously survived a bomb attack. If the same malicious forces were also behind Hariri's murder, and the incriminating traces are strewn all over, they made certain that providence would not this time foil their crime.
#2
I think he's referring to the fact that this is Lebanon's wakeup call, as 9-11 was for us.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2005 8:50 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Will the last troll please shoot the second to last troll and turn out the lights? Thank You.
I'm sure most strategic planning exercises don't envision the impact of a Bush.
Posted by: john ||
02/24/2005 9:53 Comments ||
Top||
#4
They don't. You plot trends, breaking them down into probable, possible, and unlikely. When a major player like Bush arrives on the scene he becomes a new factor. That means you have to cast the magic sticks again and examine the sheep entrails so you can revise your data.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2005 10:34 Comments ||
Top||
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2005 00:00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
THAT little missive will get them on the Sh*t List or in some assassin's crosshairs. It will take more than 200 of them to make change with the Syrian Thugocracy.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/24/2005 0:53 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I don't know, AP. I can think of one instance, back in the late 1700's when less than 200 successfully stood up to take a stand against a much more powerful army.
#3
"A growing exodus of Syrian workers, fearful they will be scapegoated for the killing of Hariri, threatens to cost Lebanonâs construction and agriculture sectors millions of dollars. Businessmen in Beirut say many building sites are scarcely functioning amid reports of a spate of beatings, robberies and arson attacks targeting the 300,000-plus Syrian migrant workers, the backbone of Lebanonâs cheap labor force."
Hey, don't Syria and Lebanon have foriegn workers (insurgents) in Iraq who can help the Lebanese here?
The threat of a US military attack on Iran's nuclear facilities is absurd because Washington is far too stretched in the region to even consider taking on a new enemy, a senior Iranian diplomat has said. "Any notion of threat of attack, or attack, by the Americans is purely absurd," said Sirus Naseri, a senior member of Iran's delegation to the UN nuclear watchdog. "The US is simply too vulnerable with its overstretched presence in the region to engage in such silly threats or attacks," he said on Wednesday, referring to Washington's military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Whatever they're paying their intel analysts, it's too much...
Asked if he thought the United States might be bluffing by refusing to rule out the military option, Naseri said Washington should be open about any possible plans to destroy Iran's atomic sites with military force. "If there is any truth in this (that attacking Iran is a real option) I think what the Iranians would say is put it on the table," Naseri said in an interview.
I thought he just did?
Earlier, US President George Bush and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder put aside their dispute over Iraq and united in warning Iran against developing a nuclear weapon. Bush, who is on the second leg of a visit aimed at repairing transatlantic ties hurt by the Iraqi war, said in the German city of Maines: "It's vital that the Iranians hear the world speak with one voice that they shouldn't have a nuclear weapon. "We absolutely agree that Iran must say no to any kind of nuclear weapons, full stop," Schroeder said through an interpreter at a joint press conference following closed-door meetings with his guest.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2005 00:00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
'Sweet nothings' I say...question is, will Schroeder stand with "W" when he gives them (Iran) their 48 hour notice?
#2
Actually, it won't matter - Bush has already demonstrated he will not sacrifice US security interests just to make nice with people who would sell their grandmothers for a song.
Either Israel or the US will do what has to be done when the time comes. They, the Euros, can cheer or jeer - it's irrelevant. Expect the worst, however, since Chirac and Schroeder have made their bones by demonizing Bush - and sold this tripe to their adoring masses.
#3
What an idiot.
He apparently thinks we have our B-2 and SSN crews out patrolling the streets of Baghdad and all our Tomahawks were used up in Fallujah.
#7
LotR: Don't forget Syria as a weekend project. Especially is Assad has to send in troops to squash any Lebanese uprising! Man, I'm sure Rummy's gonna hate working weekends soon, but I'm sure he's up to the task!
Posted by: BA ||
02/24/2005 10:33 Comments ||
Top||
#8
I saw the tape on the news of Bush saying they could not be allowed to have a bomb. It doesn't get any clearer than that.
#11
DN, I'm not turning that thing on. Nope. Not me.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/24/2005 11:46 Comments ||
Top||
#12
DN, LOL.
Posted by: Matt ||
02/24/2005 12:05 Comments ||
Top||
#13
With Apologies to Gilbert & Sullivan :
Three little mullahs from Qom are we,
Clueless as ayatollahs can be,
Filled to the brim with zealots glee,
Three little mullahs from Qom!
Three little mullahs from Qom!
Maiming is a source of fun. (Chuckle)
Nobody's safe, for we care for none! (Chuckle)
Life is a joke that's just begun! (Chuckle)
Three little mullahs from Qom!
Three little mullahs who, all unwary,
Come from Islamist seminary,
Filled with its genius tutelary--
Three little mullahs from Qom!
Three little mullahs from Qom!
One mullah with a child bride, Yum-Yum--
Two little mullahs in attendance come--
Three little mullahs is the total sum.
Three little mullahs from Qom!
Three little mullahs from Qom!
From three little mullahs take one away.
Two little mullahs remain, and they--
Won't have to wait very long, they say--
Three little mullahs from Qom!
Three little mullahs from Qom!
Three little mullahs watch, all wary,
Come from Islamist seminary,
Filled with its genius tutelary--
Three little mullahs from Qom!
Three little mullahs from Qom!
#14
You know that one shot from a Barrett .50 could probably go through all three of those old fart's heads. Now that would make a pretty picture. They could even use the turbans to mop up the mess.
In the full article is a list of the 25 settlements on the P-side of the Green line that Sharon wants gone ASAP....When Ariel Sharon began singling out settlements for future eviction, he knew just where to look.
Arguing that Israel could best cement its grip on major West Bank settlement blocs - which polls show are supported by the majority of Israelis - by relinquishing control over the areas Israelis care about least, Sharon began with the unwanted stepchild enclaves of Gaza and the northern West Bank.
Years of opinion surveys have shown that these were settlements a majority of Israelis wished never had existed. Settlements for which even the settlement movement itself had shown little support
Profile of Jalal Talabani from the Times. Half snipped, but it's all good.
JALAL TALABANI, the former Kurdish guerrilla commander, prisoner and outlaw who seems likely to become Iraq's President, has more reason than most to want Saddam Hussein dead. The enmity between the two men is such that on one occasion, during the brutal struggle between Saddam's forces and the Kurds in northern Iraq, Saddam offered an amnesty to every Kurdish fighter except Mr Talabani. As President, Mr Talabani would have a chance to turn the tables on the fallen dictator. If Saddam is convicted of war crimes, including the slaughter of more than 182,000 Kurds, Mr Talabani would sign his execution warrant. But he has a problem. "I've thought about it and this is one of my big problems," he told The Times in an interview at his base in Qala Chwallan, northern Iraq. "Why? Because as a lawyer I signed an international appeal against executions and now this gentleman will be sentenced to death, and Iraqi people want to sentence him, to kill him. What can I do?" Asked if he can resolve the dilemma, he laughed. "I hope so."
With the Kurds securing a strong second place in elections last month, and the victorious Shia having chosen Ibrahim al-Jaafari for the Prime Minister's job on Tuesday, Mr Talabani, 71, is the favourite for the presidency. Yet there would be many ironies in him becoming titular head of a country whose rule he has spent most of his life fighting to escape.
[snip]
"Ask Kurds: 'Do you want independence?' Of course everyone will say 'yes'," he said. "But is it possible to have independence now? There are two things: wishful thinking and reality. Most Kurds voted for a legislature to be part of a united democratic federative Iraq . . . a federation within the framework of Iraq.
[snip]
Mr Talabani, nonetheless, has drawn up some tough conditions for accepting the presidency. They include federal status for the Kurdish lands, and the departure of Arabs sent by Saddam to populate the oil-rich city of Kirkuk in place of Kurds. "We are not ready to accept posts without reaching agreement with our partners in the parliament on the main issues like federation, like democracy for Iraq, like the relation between religion and state," he said. "Kirkuk must be normalised and returned to the stature before Saddam Hussein's 'ethnic-cleansing' policy." With the Kurds commanding 75 seats in the 275-member National Assembly and the Shia well short of the two-thirds majority required to enact legislation, Mr Talabani can afford to take a strong line.
He is withholding judgment on the nomination for the prime ministership of Mr Jaafari, who has strong Islamic credentials, and said that Kurds will not co-operate with a Shia-led government unless it supports democracy and federalisation. He is emphatic that the Kurds will insist on secular government. "We will never accept any religious government in Iraq. Never," he declared, thumping the table. "This is a red line for us. We will never live inside an Islamic Iraq. We respect Islam. Islam is our religion . . . The Islamic identity of Iraqi people must be respected, but not an Islamic government."
#2
This has to be the sweetest moment in Kurd history - at least since the day they came to be under a foreign boot-heel so many centuries ago.
I hope they savor it - and protect it by making certain of every step taken. Overplaying your hand can be as destructive to your aspirations as failing to seize the moment. It's a delicate balance, indeed. Talabani is a tough smart old SOB - so I'll trust he knows what he's doing... but so much, so many events, had to fall just so to reach this moment -- so I fear for them.
My very best regards and hopes to the Kurds. May they make the smartest move at each opportunity - increasing their prospects for true freedom, peace, and prosperity. They deserve it.
February 24, 2005: A battalion of American Rangers headed for duty in Afghanistan, is taking 16 Stryker armored vehicles with them. Normally, the Strykers are only used in mechanized infantry brigades. But since the rangers will be moving around a lot in Afghanistan, and not always by helicopter or on foot, it was thought that the Strykers would be a useful vehicle for that kind of work. The Strykers are equipped with satellite communications equipment and remote control (from inside the vehicle) gun turrets. The regular infantry who have been using Strykers in Iraq have been very satisfied with the vehicles.
Normally, the rangers are "light infantry", and are trained to use helicopters or parachutes to arrive at the combat zone. In previous trips to Afghanistan, the rangers have used hummers to get around on the ground.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2005 11:03:18 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
This just plain doesn't compute. In a way, it is like issuing horses to infantry--they cease being infantry--but even more so. The Stryker is designed to work in concert with other Strykers. By comparison, the progenitor of the Stryker was used in South Africa for bush patrols in the early 1980s. But then, add that to the mission of the Rangers, which is medium to long range combat patrolling through hostile territory, and it makes no sense. Now, granted, I'm sure the Rangers can think up something creative to do with them, but they would if you gave them something else odd, like light artillery or fifteen field kitchens. The one other possibility that comes to mind is if they want to get into and out of Pakistan in a hurry.
#2
Anonymoose -
It seems to me the part about the satcom systems and the remote turret controls - not standard Stryker equipment - indicates that the Rangers may be up to something...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/24/2005 21:14 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Foot infantry are mobilized all the time in American practice. Infantry division after infantry division were "motorized" on the fly during the Normandy breakout and pursuit. Wilder's "Lightning Brigade" in the Union Army of the Cumberland is an even older example of foot converted to dragoons, when the resources were available.
Once you start putting Rangers in armored humvees, there's no good reason why not Strykers, aside from the training issue. Except expense and availability, I suppose. Aren't they busy Strykerifying a lot of brigades stateside? I know that the 2nd Cavalry is converting to Strykers, and the 28th Infantry Division here in Pennsylvania was getting ready to convert one of its heavy infantry units to a rapid-deployment Stryker brigade. There must be a lot of Stryker units training up if the 28th is getting them. Wonder what the Stryker production numbers look like?
Hmm. Looks fairly restrained. Some 2000 vehicles among the various subclasses, spread out over six brigades.
That's the 25th Infantry's 1st Brigade, the 2nd Infantry's brigade, the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, the 28th Infantry's brigade, one mentioned in Alaska (172 Separate Armored Brigade) - where's the sixth brigade? Ah! Another brigade for the 25th.
Damn, that's an average cost of $4 million per vehicle - these aren't cheap rides, even before maintenance gets factored in...
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/24/2005 21:25 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Therefore, it is folly to the highest degree to treat Muslim' Islamofascist plebiscites as democratic elections. At the risk of being called a "troll," the Middle East Democratic Initiative is a suicide-pill. Read what the author says about democracy.
5. Islam and Democracy are compatible.
Democracy and Islam are contradictory terms. The goal of Islam is Sharia law, the implementation of the Quran as the law of the land. What you see in Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Afghanistan is the Moslem global vision. The idea we express in a democracy, "I may not agree with what you say but I will fight to the death for your right to say it" is not understood in Islam. There is no right to dissent. There are 16 Moslem nations in the Middle East; not one of them is Democracy.
#3
Therefore, it is folly to the highest degree to treat Muslim' Islamofascist plebiscites as democratic elections. At the risk of being called a "troll," the Middle East Democratic Initiative is a suicide-pill. Read what the author says about democracy.
5. Islam and Democracy are compatible.
Democracy and Islam are contradictory terms. The goal of Islam is Sharia law, the implementation of the Quran as the law of the land. What you see in Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Afghanistan is the Moslem global vision. The idea we express in a democracy, "I may not agree with what you say but I will fight to the death for your right to say it" is not understood in Islam. There is no right to dissent. There are 16 Moslem nations in the Middle East; not one of them is Democracy.
Radical Islamist groups that originated in Iraqi Kurdistan are responsible for most of the attacks now taking place in the northern insurgent stronghold of Mosul, senior Kurdish officials say. The activities of the related jihadist groups, Ansar al-Sunna and Ansar al-Islam, have overshadowed those of the nationalist insurgent cells in Mosul led by members of the former ruling Baath Party, the officials say. The nationalist fighters have quieted down since December, when the Americans increased the number of troops in Mosul to clamp down on the insurgency in advance of the Jan. 30 elections, the Kurdish officials say.
Though the two Ansar groups have little connection to the Baathists, the officials add, they are forging strong ties to the network of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian militant who has claimed responsibility for bombings, beheadings and ambushes that have killed hundreds across Iraq. "Smaller cells have spread throughout Iraq and have concentrated in Mosul," said Bafel Jalal Talabani, the head of a counter-insurgency wing of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the Kurdish party that rules eastern Iraq Kurdistan. "It needs to be controlled because it has the capacity to spiral and grow."
Mr. Talabani is one of two sons of Jalal Talabani, the head of the party and the leading candidate for president of the new Iraq. The counter-insurgency group is a branch of the party's militia, called the pesh merga, and was founded about four years ago to combat Ansar al-Islam. At that time, Ansar al-Islam, made up of mostly of hard-line Islamist Kurds, had established a stronghold along the rugged Iranian border several hours north of Sulaimaniya, the capital of eastern Kurdistan.
In March 2003, after the American-led invasion of Iraq got underway, pesh merga fighters and American Special Forces soldiers stormed the mountain villages held by Ansar al-Islam and broke up the group. Some members later reorganized to form Ansar al-Sunna, which recruited fighters from conservative Sunni Arab cities like Falluja and Ramadi.
Mr. Talabani declined to specify what operations Ansar al-Islam might have conducted in Mosul, but said the group was responsible for an entire range of attacks seen in the city, from detonating roadside bombs to seizing police stations. The group paled next to Ansar al-Sunna, though, which has grown No mention of Iran but they were behind Ansar. Otherwise the Kurds seems to be working on the problem.
Posted by: phil_b ||
02/24/2005 12:31:54 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Cut those female Tankers loose with Carte Blanche.
Israel's military has concluded that Hamas seeks to torpedo the ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Israeli military sources said military intelligence has obtained information of Hamas plans to carry out suicide strikes to shatter the ceasefire declared in February 2004. The sources said the Hamas plans stem from operatives in the northern West Bank. Some of the information on Hamas's plans came from a senior operative, identified as Said Ahras. Ahras, said to be a key operative in the northern West Bank, was captured on Feb. 21 in a joint military-police operation near Nablus. The sources said Ahras planned a major attack on Israeli military forces in the Nablus area. They said Ahras was promised that he would receive several large bombs from Hamas in Nablus.
This article starring:
SAID AHRAS
Hamas
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2005 00:00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
They torpedo any plan that respects the Israeli right of respiration.
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
02/24/2005 9:05 Comments ||
Top||
Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said Wednesday he was forming a broad coalition to fight for the post of prime minister after Iraq's dominant Shiite political party nominated a conservative candidate. Allawi, a secular Shiite, skirted criticism of Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who was nominated Tuesday by the United Iraqi Alliance as its candidate for prime minister. The decision made al-Jaafari the overwhelming favorite for the post. When asked if he feared that al-Jaafari's alliance could impose Islamic rule, Allawi responded that he opposed the creation of any form of Islamic government. ``We are liberal powers and we believe in a liberal Iraq and not an Iraq governed by political Islamists. But as a person, he is an honorable man, fighter and a good brother,'' Allawi said.
Allawi would not provide details of his proposed coalition. ``There are other lists and other brothers in smaller lists which won the elections, and we are working with some of those lists to form a national Iraqi democratic coalition which believes in Iraq and its principles,'' Allawi said at a news conference, flanked by two interim ministers who are members of his secular party, The Iraqi List.
Al-Jaafari is one of two interim vice presidents and leader of a religious party that fought Saddam Hussein. In order to take the premiership, al-Jaafari must build a coalition to gain agreement from Kurds and others on the presidency and candidates for Cabinet posts before seeking the support of a majority of the National Assembly elected Jan. 30.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/24/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
Wielding unexpected political clout, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas stepped in yesterday to quell a legislative rebellion that has held up the appointment of a new Cabinet and threatened to bring down his prime minister. Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei has been trying all week to install a new Cabinet. Lawmakers objected to his first list because it was stacked with political cronies of the late Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat.
Yasser is now safely dead, so nobody has to kiss his hand anymore.
A second lineup dominated by professional appointments didn't mollify legislators, either. Several said they wanted to push out Qorei and would not support any Cabinet he proposes. Qorei would have to step down if he fails to get his Cabinet approved in coming days. Abbas summoned legislators from his majority Fatah party yesterday and told them this was no time for a political crisis. "The whole world is watching, and we have a lot to do," Fatah legislator Abdel Karim Abu Salah quoted Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, as telling party lawmakers. Fatah legislator Mohammed Horani said the struggle appears to be over. "We have agreed in principle with Abu Mazen to let this crisis pass," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
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.
An unprecedented visit to Jerusalem by a senior official from Dubai, during which he met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and other leaders, has caused an outcry in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
MP 
Visiting US President George W. Bush and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder emphasised their common policy goals on Wednesday, citing such issues as Iran's nuclear ambition, the Mideast peace process and Iraq's reconstruction, while declaring that they had put their past disagreements behind them. At a press conference after about 90 minutes of bilateral talks in Mainz, the two leaders stressed the message of transatlantic cooperation in dealing with issues facing the globe. Both acknowledged there had been differences between the United States and Germany, but there were overriding common positions. "We cannot deny that in the past there were different views (on Iraq)," Schroeder said about the main point which had severely strained US-German ties. "But this is past ... We have a common interest that there should be a stable, democratic Iraq." 
The United States has welcomed Australia's decision to send an additional 450 ground forces to Iraq to provide protection for multinational reconstruction crews and to train Iraqi security forces. Prime Minister John Howard announced on Tuesday that Australia will send an extra 450 troops to Iraq to help protect a Japanese humanitarian mission in the south. The decision, which follows requests by the governments of Britain and Japan, will increase the size of Australia's contingent in Iraq from 950 to 1,400 troops. "The new Australian contribution, which adds to the positive momentum generated by Iraq's national elections on January 30, will assist Iraq's transition to a secure democracy," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. "Australia continues to demonstrate that it is willing to make difficult and courageous choices to promote democracy and combat terrorism around the world."
The 
Farouk Qaddoumi, the head of the PLO's Central Committee, met with officials from 10 Palestinian factions in Beirut, Lebanon, the online version of the Lebanese daily The Daily Star reported. Qaddoumi reportedly emphasized the importance of national unity, including Palestinian groups that froze their ties with the PLO in 1983. Qaddoumi urged the various factions to participate in a forum that will "defend refugees' right to return to their homeland and refuse permanent settlement," the paper said. Dozens of international activists are currently attending a three-day conference in Beirut entitled, "The Palestinian People's Right of Return to their Homeland." It was organized by the 
Lebanese Prime Minister 
A week after the death of 
The threat of a US military attack on Iran's nuclear facilities is absurd because Washington is far too stretched in the region to even consider taking on a new enemy, a senior Iranian diplomat has said. "Any notion of threat of attack, or attack, by the Americans is purely absurd," said Sirus Naseri, a senior member of Iran's delegation to the UN nuclear watchdog. "The US is simply too vulnerable with its overstretched presence in the region to engage in such silly threats or attacks," he said on Wednesday, referring to Washington's military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. 
Israel's military has concluded that Hamas seeks to torpedo the ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Israeli military sources said military intelligence has obtained information of Hamas plans to carry out suicide strikes to shatter the ceasefire declared in February 2004. The sources said the Hamas plans stem from operatives in the northern West Bank. Some of the information on Hamas's plans came from a senior operative, identified as 
Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said Wednesday he was forming a broad coalition to fight for the post of prime minister after Iraq's dominant Shiite political party nominated a conservative candidate. Allawi, a secular Shiite, skirted criticism of Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who was nominated Tuesday by the United Iraqi Alliance as its candidate for prime minister. The decision made al-Jaafari the overwhelming favorite for the post. When asked if he feared that al-Jaafari's alliance could impose Islamic rule, Allawi responded that he opposed the creation of any form of Islamic government. ``We are liberal powers and we believe in a liberal Iraq and not an Iraq governed by political Islamists. But as a person, he is an honorable man, fighter and a good brother,'' Allawi said.
Wielding unexpected political clout, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas stepped in yesterday to quell a legislative rebellion that has held up the appointment of a new Cabinet and threatened to bring down his prime minister. Prime Minister 
