Ahmad ibn Abdullah Al-Shayie, a 21-year-old Saudi who escaped a bomb explosion in Baghdad on Dec. 25, 2004, has returned to the Kingdom to tell the story of how Al-Qaeda militants helped him enter Iraq and later used him to carry out a terrorist operation. Ahmad expressed regret for killing 12 innocent Iraqis, including seven members of the same family in the operation, adding that Al-Qaeda arranged the bombing in Baghdadâs Al-Mansour neighborhood without his knowledge. The young man was luckily ejected from the tanker by the force of the blast, Al-Watan Arabic daily said.
12 people dead, never to breathe in and out again, never to grow old, never to smile or laugh or weep. Doesn't shariah call for Ahmad to be killed unless the families of the dear departed forgive him? Or is that only for young women from Assir who kill Saudis who try to rape them?
Ahmad who sustained severe burns all over his body was arrested by Iraqi police who later handed him over to Saudi authorities. He told how Al-Qaeda was recruiting young Arabs to fight alongside insurgents in Iraq, adding that he had entered Iraq through Syria with the help of smugglers. Ahmad said he had gone to Iraq out of a conviction that he should do something to help his Iraqi brothers though he had not consulted scholars about his plans and in fact ignored the advice of his parents and family.
So the esteemed scholars, as anyone can see, are innocent of inciting him to his deviant actions...
He said he was taken to an Al-Qaeda cell in Doura district in the south of Iraq where he was trained to drive an oil tanker. On the day of explosion, he was told to take the tanker to the Al-Mansour neighborhood. âThey asked me to stop the tanker near a concrete barrier, saying someone would come to receive the tanker from me. But no sooner had I stopped the tanker than it exploded,â he said. Ahmad, who was born in Buraidah in 1984, is now undergoing treatment at a hospital in Riyadh. Saudi authorities have allowed his family to visit him. In a TV program which will focus on Ahmad, a number of security, social and Islamic experts will also take part.
I'm sure it'll all be very edifying. I do hope they show his fried carcass to the young Soddies who want to run off and do similar heroic things. Maybe it'll drive home to them that if they fail in achieving their goal of 72 flat-chested 12-year-olds in the afterlife, there aren't going to be any waiting for them here to change their colostomy bags and attend to their wants. Though if they move to Denmark, no doubt the government will send a civil servant by once a month to drain the old build-up...
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Fred: Maybe it'll drive home to them that if they fail in achieving their goal of 72 flat-chested 12-year-olds in the afterlife, there aren't going to be any waiting for them here to change their colostomy bags and attend to their wants.
I've read that the houris are really good-looking. The catch is that Muslim priests have taken care to emphasize that the relationship is strictly asexual. Thus, they'll be in paradise having platonic relationships with 72 women endowed with beauty pageant looks. It makes the Greek tale of Tantalus seem like a picnic.
#4
There is so much bull shit in this article, I had to put my trusty anti-bs goggles on to finish reading it.
Ahamd the victim? Hardly. Unbeknownest to the Saudis? No. If recruitment can take place so readily, government infiltrators could just as readily infiltrate the network.
As for Ahmad, what the hell does he think is happening in Iraq by AQ recruits? And which "Iraqi people" is he trying to help?
One hopes the Soddies pull his roasted carvass apart limb by limb on live tv.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/18/2005 15:06 Comments ||
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#5
CA: Unbeknownest to the Saudis? No. If recruitment can take place so readily, government infiltrators could just as readily infiltrate the network.
Terror groups may be organized by tribal allegiance solidified by blood ties, which will make them hard to infiltrate. Initiation rites may involve killing security personnel. Al Qaeda's goal is to put itself in power in some Muslim state. There is no reason for the 5,000-odd princelings of Saudi Arabia to kick themselves off the public payroll, which is what would happen if al Qaeda took over. There might be Al Qaeda sympathizers among them, but I can't imagine more than a tiny minority are prepared to lose their stipends over a millenial ideology.
#6
ZF -- we know for a fact that some of the Saudi princes have been funding AQ. We've had a few of them named, and, interestingly, they died in mysterious ways long before they were outed as funders.
One died of exposure in the desert, AFAICR, and another died in a car crash on the way to the funeral.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/18/2005 19:01 Comments ||
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#7
There is also the islamic duty to fund jihad against Dar al Harb. The princelings justify funding AQ because they also attack infidels.
Posted by: ed ||
09/18/2005 19:06 Comments ||
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#8
RC: we know for a fact that some of the Saudi princes have been funding AQ. We've had a few of them named, and, interestingly, they died in mysterious ways long before they were outed as funders. One died of exposure in the desert, AFAICR, and another died in a car crash on the way to the funeral.
A few Saudi princes isn't the Saudi government, any more than communist infiltrators in the Federal government were representative of the United States. The fact is that an al Qaeda takeover in Saudi Arabia would not be advantageous to the Saudi royal family - they would lose their stipends just as surely as the Shah of Iran lost his, post-revolution. Why would al Qaeda want to take over? Because al Qaeda isn't just an ideology - it is ultimately led by men who not only want power in their own right, they want control over the tens of billions currently frittered away by the Saudi royal family on vacations, alcohol, women and shopping trips to expensive European stores.
Britain ruled out military action to halt Iran's nuclear programme yesterday on the eve of a diplomatic battle by the West to take Teheran to the United Nations Security Council for possible political and economic sanctions.
As hostile rhetoric between the West and Iran intensified, Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, sought to allay fears that the dispute would ultimately lead to war.
Mr Straw: âA difficult moment for the international communityâ
He said that an intransigent speech at the UN a day earlier by the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had been "disappointing and unhelpful". But Mr Straw played down the prospect that referring Iran to the Security Council for failing fully to disclose its nuclear activities would lead to an Iraq-style escalation ending in war.
"This will not be resolved by military means, let's be clear about that,'' Mr Straw told the BBC. "It needs to be resolved by all facilities available to the international community.''
Gotta love Staw, still believes it can be resolved with words and paper.
America and European countries fear that Teheran's attempt to make its own uranium-enriched fuel masks a secret project to make fissile material for atomic bombs.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/18/2005 21:09 ||
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Somehow Straw's "disappointing and unhelpful" doesn't carry the same weight as if Rummy said so.
#2
Or, if Halliburton says so......tin hat anyone?
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/18/2005 21:45 Comments ||
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Don't worry about it, Jack. Iran won't rule out nuclear war.
Be careful, Jack. You think Iran is just going to use any nukes they get against Israel (which will suit you fine) and probably us (which you won't care about much either).
But even if the alligator eats you last, they'll still eat you.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/18/2005 21:46 Comments ||
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America and European countries fear that Teheran's attempt to make its own uranium-enriched fuel masks a secret project to make fissile material for atomic bombs.
Masks?
Last I heard, the "peaceful nuclear program" crap was a thin tissue believed only by people who think the UN is a viable organization.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/18/2005 21:51 Comments ||
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#5
Nothing new here and so Iran is on it's way to the obtaining and exporting of nuclear weapons. Jawboning doesn't stop this stuff. Ask what convinced the Kadaffi to drop his efforts? It wasn't a stern EU 3.
#6
America and European countries fear that Teheran's attempt to make its own uranium-enriched fuel masks a secret project to make fissile material for atomic bombs.
Only a secret to the left and the media (but I repeat myself).
#7
And if nothing short of force dissuades them, what then, Jackie - after you've taken force off the table?
This statement / declaration / brain fart / whatever may not be the stupidest thing ever uttered by someone in his position, but it equals it. Wotta total idiot.
#8
I suspect the US is systematically, diplomatically boxing all of our "allies" into a corner they will find terribly difficult to weasel out of in the future. We do not do this with any foolish hope that they will support us in a war with Iran; only that they will be unable to oppose us in a war with Iran. A non-war, if we can manage it.
The only way that could come to pass would be if Iran commits the only UN capital crime: starting, or at least attempting to start, a nuclear war.
This means that we know they will have nukes, that they will put them on missiles, and that they will launch some of those missiles, most likely against a US fleet.
We also accept as an axiom that we cannot conventionally stop them from making nukes in the first place, or placing them on missiles, or firing those missiles. That is, we cannot guarantee that we can do this. And we know that our "allies" would not tolerate our attempting to do so unilaterally without provocation.
So the only thing we can do is make DAMN sure that no missile leaves Iranian airspace intact. And once the Iranians do launch a nuclear missile targetted towards someone else, by our agreements and existing UN protocols, we will OWN Iran.
And this is all the difference in the world. No one can lend *any* support to that regime against us, despite existing agreements. No one can even speak out against us. And finally, we have a totally free hand, to include the use of nukes ourselves, in doing whatever is necessary to stop Iran from using, having, making or doing anything with nukes ever again.
Once they have been emasculated by their unsuccessful efforts to use nuclear weapons, we most likely will give them an ultimatum. And by them, I mean the Iranian people, not their government, broadcast repeatedly over every electronic device in the entire country.
Who shares your limitless confidence that a launch of 10, 20, 50, 100 missiles (and that's precisely what I'd do if I was a Mad Mullah - mass launch) will be intercepted over Iranian territory?
I have this "funny" feeling that Sharon and the average Israeli would find it uncomfortable, at the very least, to sit and wait for the launch. Same for any and all Americans within range. There is no perfect anti-ballistic system. Period. Full stop.
You still post your theories couched in language suitable for facts writ by the Finger of God.
#10
...sh.... maybe... sh... some ....terrorists ... favoring the US ... or maybe ... just against Farsi or Shia or deserts or something... could do something just as dastardly as ... the Mad Mullahs plan with ....er..ah ... deniable... ah... independent unaffiliated ... ah ... terrorists....
There I said it.... Sauce for the goose and all that...
Warlord Akhmed Avdorkhanov, a close associate of terrorist leader Aslan Maskhadov, was killed in Chechnya," Chechen First Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov said Saturday. "Shamil Basayev's men killed Akhmed Avdorkhanov," he said adding that Basayev had made many attempts to eliminate Avdorkhanov. He also said that Basayev and Avdorkhanov had quarreled over money. "Foreign sponsors sent $1.5 million to finance terrorist activities in Chechnya and Basayev killed Avdorkhanov to seize this money."
"Yarrr! Gimme dat dough, Akhmed!"
"'At's my dough! Hands off, Shamil!"
"Bump him off, boyz!"
"He [Avdorkhanov] was Basayev's ideological opponent and an ardent adversary of Wahhabism," Kadyrov said. "He was also against the subjection of Chechen militants to foreign mercenaries." According to the Chechen law enforcement bodies, Avdorkhanov commanded the so-called eastern front of Ichkeria (the name that Chechen separatists gave to Chechnya). He was Maskhadov's security boss.
That did him a lot of good, didn't it?
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/18/2005 00:17 ||
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He fights the Russians, but he's very similiar Stalin.
Chechen militants have killed six pro-Moscow police and wounded another nine, local media reported on Saturday in a major blow to Russian forces in the turbulent region.
Meanwhile, rebel news sources reported the death of a top separatist in a clash with security forces -- the second prominent commander to be killed this year. Pro-Russian forces said he had died in a power struggle among the guerrillas.
Local news agencies said four policemen died in a firefight in the Vedeno region on Friday, in the heart of Muslim Chechnya's mountainous south. Five police were also injured, RIA Novosti news agency reported.
Interfax news agency said another two policemen were killed and four more were injured on Friday when their car was fired on in the regional capital Grozny, which has been devastated by a decade of war in which tens of thousands have died.
Chechnya sees daily clashes, although large-scale battles are a thing of the past. But it is rare for Russia, which still has more than 100,000 troops in and around the region, to lose so many men in a single day.
Chechen rebel Web sites reported that top rebel commander Akhmad Avdorkhanov died in a clash with "occupiers" on Monday.
Like former guerrilla leader Aslan Maskhadov, who was killed in March, he represented the moderate wing of the rebels and had opposed the influence of Saudi-leaning Islamists during a period of de facto Chechen independence in 1996-9.
"Avdorkhanov was a true Muslim and a patriot and he showed this (by) giving his life in the fight for the freedom and independence of the Chechen people," said a tribute on a rebel site (www.chechenpress.info).
Many analysts predicted the Chechen resistance would become radicalised with Maskhadov's death and that the likes of Avdorkhanov would be pushed to the margins by powerful warlord Shamil Basayev, who has ordered most of the war's major attacks on Russian civilians.
New rebel leader Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev denies any split, and there have been no major attacks on civilians for over a year, but top pro-Moscow Chechen Ramzan Kadyrov said Avdorkhanov was killed by Basayev's followers.
"Avdorkhanov was an honourable opponent, who I faced in battle more than once. We both suffered losses, but he differed from Basayev in openly opposing (extreme Islam)," Kadyrov told Interfax news agency.
"Avdorkhanov was one of the most influential field commanders, distinguished by particular bravery," said Kadyrov, himself a former rebel who often tries to distance himself from the killing of his former comrades-in-arms.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/18/2005 00:16 ||
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The EU should be happy to find out it's on it's own. I am going to apply presure to disengage from the EU. It's hurting the war on Terror, if they wish to be appeasers of Iran and Syria, which they are, let them be honest about it. Let us save our time and treasure takng the fight to our foes. If the EU is against us, which it is by it's actions, then it can't be helped and we must forge ahead alone.
All the terror level indicators in the world can't help the Netherlands until it become proactive and quite wring it's hands like a little girl and starts acting.
#3
Yeah, why shouldnt you be worried? You took them in, rescued them from persecution and poverty, gave them a check and an apartment. For that you must die, Infidel!
What the fuck is wrong with muuuslem people anyway?
This is the post for discussion of today's election in Germany. We eagerly await reports from the Rantburg EuroBureau...
Germans go to the polls on Sunday in an election expected to have major implications for economic reform in Europe, with millions of still undecided voters holding the key to the result. Christian Democrat challenger Angela Merkel is expected to emerge as Germany's first woman chancellor, displacing Gerhard Schroeder who has led Germany for the past seven years at the head of a center-left government of Social Democrats and Greens. But with unprecedented numbers of voters still apparently undecided, it is unclear whether she can muster enough support to form the center-right coalition government she says is needed to push through deep-seated reforms to Germany's ailing economy. If she cannot, she will probably be forced to share power with Schroeder's Social Democrats (SPD) in a "grand coalition" that financial markets fear would produce gridlock and stall the reforms that Schroeder himself has already begun. The final opinion polls published on Friday gave her coalition a slim lead in a race it once dominated.
#1
Say whatever you will about Germany's current foreign policy WRT the U.S., it is one heck of a contrast with the 1933-45 period.
Consider further that historicaly speaking, represenative democracy is alien to Germany (see Kaiser, 30 years war, Metternich(sp?), et. al.) our attempt to transplant democracy to such a place seems to have worked reasonably well. I hope this bodes well for our chances here in the middle east.
Good luck to all in Germany, and may you have many sucessful (and peaceful!) elections in the future.
Posted by: N Guard ||
09/18/2005 5:03 Comments ||
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"Germany is a quagmire and we should pull our troops out immediately." -- Cindy Sheehan, et al.
#4
Links for the election:
http://tinyurl.com/cnrqu
"On election day, CNN will be live in Germany as the results unfold starting at 1530 GMT (1730 CET)."
http://tinyurl.com/datq8
General CNN German Election news items.
http://tinyurl.com/c7e6f
Deutsche Welle Election news.
http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/germany.htm
Online German newspapers.
#5
Betfair have Angela Merkel's CDU on $1.01
i.e around 90/1 on and Schroeder on about $20
Yhis is about as guaranteed as you can get under the Efficient Market Hypothesis.
It has been 100 % correct over the last 6 years that I've tracking it.
#7
Check out Roosevelt Lake,TGA.Property price are low,and the lake is fantastic.About 350 miles of shoreline,with good fishing and all the other water sports too.
#9
The area around Richmond, Virginia, is nice, TGA (but steer clear of the city itself).
Though perhaps a little humid in the summer. ;-p
Here's hoping you don't actually need to start looking....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/18/2005 14:35 Comments ||
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TGA - 5% short of sanity. And I'm not pointing fingers - we were only sane by about 3% here, last time... and it should've been 23% or 33%. Gullible dipshits.
Are you kidding about the property? Check out places like Panama - they are particularly generous to expats who will build a home. A site which has a wealth of info on relocating to foreign locales, though it is also trying to sell properties, is EscapeArtist.
Meandering off-topic and into troubled waters... Sure, why not? It's Sunday, things are kinda slow and folks are being thoughtful and all that civilized stuff. Yeah. A month ago I would have recommended the US, but I our situation is little better, as I said above, and will now deteriorate. Perhaps quickly. I know some / many will disagree with this, but hey - it's Rantburg. Cool.
So how about a little apocalyptic scenario speculation... I find it more than ironic that a natural disaster, something in which we excel - due to the number we endure regularly, would be the crux of the tip-over, but I do. Since the 2000 election the Moonbats have searched frantically for the charge that will stick - and they've tried everything under the sun, and tried every means of creating one from whole cloth. And now Bush simply handed it to them on a silver platter with his admission of some responsibility. Some. Hell, he'll get it ALL. Relentlessly. Even those who see through the spin and partisanship will be inundated in the toxic floodwaters of the MSM.
Certainly, Bush's presidency will not accomplish diddley-squat in the remaining 3.5 years. Big Mo (momentum for non-US folks) will soon change to a Blue jersey and is already running the other way.
Just watch the distance that Pub politicians start putting between themselves and the Bush admin. RINOville's population will grow dramatically. We will see an "incompetence" campaign of spin, lies, distortion, and blame that the Pubs won't be able to counter. Pathetic, but nothing is beneath them - as the casket pictures demonstrated. Think our Moonbats are any more principled? Lol - same ANSWER school of propaganda.
Everything, low-tax prosperity, the WoT, immigration, the entire lot of issues will be sidelined in a feeding frenzy. Some assclown like Hillary will win in 2008 - and we may never recover... I suggest that if we do, it will be because we have a Second Civil War. And I mean a bloody no-shit event. This will be triggered by the efforts to subjugate the US to the UN / Tranzi wet-dream BS. Enough folks, armed and Jacksonian, will "object" and choose to fight, not flee or kow-tow. The outcome, well, I haven't a clue since the US Mil would be under the control of the wrong side - and that's a choice that those most principled Americans will struggle with mightily before deciding. And who knows - maybe German citizens will have "gotten it" by then - and come to our rescue. Heh.
#11
Check the results he just posted. He needs to leave. Gerd can put together a governement if he services Oscar Lafontaine well enough. And he'd do it just to stay in office. This one isn't over, yet.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/18/2005 14:41 Comments ||
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It seems re-unification is now biting Germany in the ass, economically and politically. Someone like Merkel, an easterner, can't win the trust of the west, and does not have the support of the east. The result is....Schroeder (and more political chaos to come).
Posted by: Rafael ||
09/18/2005 17:42 Comments ||
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#13
Exactly Rafael. You can find the German election map at the right sidebar.
Posted by: ed ||
09/18/2005 17:50 Comments ||
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#14
Let your heart rest easy PD.
Posted by: Bobby Lee ||
09/18/2005 17:59 Comments ||
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Thanks for the link ed. Looks like Stuttgart, the brains behind German engineering, is voting SPD...again. Sad, really sad. I hope their "investment" in Schroeder pays off. It hasn't so far, but maybe this time around :-)
Bavaria, OTOH... from now on I only fly through Munich! (Frankfurt had been my choice earlier)
Posted by: Rafael ||
09/18/2005 18:20 Comments ||
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#16
I wonder the coffin ad made a difference? If so, I write the whole place off. Pull our troops out, then take off and nuke the place from orbit. It's the only way to make sure.
#17
Germany is cooked. Pull our troops out now, but first get a iron clad agreement they will never sue up for "enviromental damages" for any contamination any and of our former facilities. They are planing to do this by the way.
Shut down all bases even the hospitals, do it in months not years. Spend that money at home. Send our wounded home don't treat them in Germany. Get us out of NATO. NATO is over none of our "partners" are willin to pull their own weight. With the monety we save we can build a bigger more deployable military so we don't have to rely on anyone, anywhere anytime. We also will not be restrained by their tolarance of evil.
#18
The coffin ad was a cheap shot, but this time around domestic issues were at the forefront in this election, imo. I wouldn't interpret this election result as Germany's re-affirmation of Schroeder's foreign policy. They have much bigger, domestic problems to be concerned about. It came down to: who would you trust more to fix things, Merkel or Schroeder? It seems Germans aren't sure.
Posted by: Rafael ||
09/18/2005 20:46 Comments ||
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#19
SPoD
Frankly, I have heard enouigh BS today, so I really don't need more here.
For once, this wasn't about you, about America, about US coffins. That was a very cheap ad that was only shown locally, and without the media protests against it 99% of Germans would never have seen it.
But you can really knock this troops issue now. Maybe try to ask the Landstuhl patients first if they feel attended badly, ask the Ramstein pilots whether they'd prefer to move.
US troops have remained in Germany because it continues to suit US strategic planning. They haven't been here to support the German economy or to protect the Germans from a military enemy that no longer exists.
I'm not happy the way the vote went, but anyway, Schroeder lost 4% and hadn't the CDU led a dismal campaign they would have rode to victory. They started from 48% three months ago. Then they brought in a completely amateurish tax discussion, and when things got tough deserted the guy who promoted it. Flat tax is a very interesting concept but you'd even have trouble pushing that through in the USA. Remember Forbes? Try to explain flat tax to the unemployed.
A lot of mistakes were made and I bit my tongue. I campaigned in Bavaria where Merkel was as unpopular as Senator Kennedy in Mississippi. The CSU lost almost 10% because of her.
And she lost in East Germany, where many people voted Left because they believe that they will get the promised pony. They'll find out soon enough that there is no pony.
Schroeder will not hang on to power. Today on TV he looked like a guy on cocaine while Merkel must have swallowed three Valiums. Both may not survive this day. Then new cards are dealt. Maybe we'll have another election in a month, it's all possible.
And just remember that you were only a few hundred votes short of President Gore in 2000, and 100000 votes short of President Kerry in 2004.
"When you get a job, you'll only have to pay a fixed percentage in taxes, regardless of what you earn."
Easily done. If they can't comprehend that, then that's probably why they're unemployed.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/18/2005 21:57 Comments ||
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#21
How successful is Mr Forbes in explaining this to Walmart employees?
Merkel could have done the flat tax with a sweeping victory, and we would have seen results in 4 years. But you can't campaign with it. Not in East Germany.
#22
But IF you campaign with the guy who promotes the flat tax and tell people that he's going to be your next finance minister, then stand by your guy.
Don't tell people that the ideas this guy has worked on for ten years won't be realized anyway. That's really stupid. What shall I tell people while campaigning? "The finance minister advocates the flat taxy which will solve your problems but we won't do it so don't worry?"
#23
And the last time: Germans don't pay more income taxes than Americans, believe it or not. Lower income people actually pay less. Millionaires pay 10-20% in reality because they can use a hundred loopholes.
It's the social benefits that makes German work so expensive.
#24
It's the social benefits that makes German work so expensive.
And unions.
Posted by: Rafael ||
09/18/2005 22:25 Comments ||
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#25
TGA having forces in Germany doesn't serve our national interests in any way. We are not wanted there at all so we should leave. Our Servicemen and their families need to come home. We nede them here. A change in the German government would not have altered that.
I never made any claim that our troops were helping the German economy, I don't care either way. I suspect it's a wash or negative on the German economy in truth.
Germany's government and foreign policy is active in trying to defeat our goal of winning a war on terror. Germany wants to try and talk to the terrorist and their state supporters (Iran and Syria) and make a deal. While your government kisses the ass of Iran and makes shitty excuses. We are bleeding. Screw you and your government if you don't like it. "How you pull yourself out of the hole you are in is not our problem" as I have often read from German posters. The feeling is now mutual.
The coffin was the tiping point for me. It was a picture and idea that too many Germans apperently identify with. The sharks will not eat you last, you live closer to them than we do and the Sharks are still more afraid of us.
#27
What TGA said. Just as the lefties are wrong to assume that every issue in the world or sparrow that falls can be attributed to the sins of commission or omission of George W Bush, not every event in Germany or France is a reflection fo their attitudes toward the US. The big message from this election is a very bland, and obvious one, that really has zip to do with us: postwar Germans prefer political stalemate and economic stagnation to any real change, and certainly not radical change of the sort that a flat tax would represent for ANY advanced industrial society.
A flat tax makes sense only in basket-case polities struggling to collect any taxes at all, like the fabulously corrupt polities of the former Soviet bloc. For any advanced polity that can collect taxes and pay pensions, flat tax proposals are a sideshow. Forbes' idea went nowhere because it's largely irrelevant to the real issues, which are what's deductible and what's not, and the level and structure of other, non-income taxes such as social security (hugely regressive, in this country) and payroll taxes and the like.
The German elections need not concern us greatly. The result will of course be no real reform, and another decade of stagnation. The legacy of the twentieth century still haunts the Germans, it would appear. That's a shame, because Germany today is too weak and too adverse to radical change, for both their good and ours. We need and they need robust domestic German demand.No way in hell that it will happen now or for another ten years at least.
TGA, where are you looking? I'd recommend the southern Rockies, anywhere from Colorado Springs down to the border. Best of luck.
#28
Some asshats in Washington thinks it does TGA. NATO is dead. Kill it. We should leave. We are not wanted nor is our interest servered by ignoring facts and the realities of the EU.
#29
The beer is always a good reason to be in Germany, TGA. And the Kaffeeklatches, and the Wurst, and the Broetchen, and trailing daughter #1's Kindergarten teacher, and the Zeil any Saturday, and... (Yes, we really enjoyed our time there)
#30
Also, for the record, we are still waiting to find out how much we owe in German taxes, and we left Europe in 1996. The U.S.-German tax treaty still has to be finalized, you see. But at any rate, our tax forms -- however tentative the calculations -- consisted of something like four pages, and read like the tax return for a small city in the U.S.
Mindanao military chief Lt. Gen. Edilberto Adan on Friday ordered security forces to intensify the hunt for the leader of the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, blamed for the series of terror attacks in the troubled region.
Adan, who inspected a seized Abu Sayyaf speed boat and arms cache at a navy base here, said troops were tracking down Khadaffy Janjalani believed to be hiding in Maguindanao province.
"Our troops are doing everything to get Janjalani dead or alive," he said.
On Tuesday, Marine soldiers recovered a small cache of weapons and a speedboat on an abandoned Abu Sayyaf hideout in Jolo island.
Soldiers raided the hideout in the village of Pandan-Pandan in Kalingalang Kaluang town around and seized automatic rifles and machine guns and ammunition used by the terrorists.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/18/2005 00:18 ||
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Adan Will get him. It is aboout time he got Southcom.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
09/18/2005 10:09 Comments ||
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One person was killed and 28 wounded in a bombing in a Christian section of Beirut late Friday, the latest in a string of blasts to hit the Lebanese capital this year, police said. Police identified the dead man as an elderly Lebanese of Armenian origin and said three of the wounded remained in hospital yesterday. The blast struck just before midnight (2100 GMT) in a small side street in the Jeitawi quarter of east Beirut. Investigating magistrate Rashid Mezher said a resident saw two young men place two suitcases between two parked cars before running off. Her son, who ran across the alley to warn customers at a nearby cafe, was wounded in the blast, judicial sources said. The force of the blast, estimated at some 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of TNT equivalent, collapsed the roof of the cafe and damaged the facade of a neighboring office block.
It was the 12th bomb attack in Lebanon since the February assassination of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in a massive car bombing on the Beirut seafront in which 20 other people also died. Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, in New York for the UN General Assembly, said he had no doubt that there was a single hand behind the bombings. âTheyâre trying to divert attention and point the finger elsewhere,â he told Lebanese media, without actually saying who he meant.
I don't know who in Damascus he might be talking about. But if I was the Leb security forces, I'd be finding those two fellows who left their little package and having a long and painful discussion with them.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2005 00:00 ||
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The UN investigation into the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri continued on Friday with judicial sources revealing magistrate Elias Murr had questioned a number of individuals for the first time while the Commission heard the statements of anonymous witnesses. As part of the ongoing probe, the Lebanese police continued to query eight men under arrested following a request by the general prosecutor, Said Mirza, who owned mobile phone shops in the northern city of Tripoli and sold equipment used around the time of the murder, on February 14th, 2005. Sources revealed the men belonged to a number of religious groups such as the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects (Jamiyyat al Masahri al Khayyriya al Islamiya) also known as "al Ahbash". They were taken into custody after their shops were raided late on Wednesday night and then questioned by the international investigation team.
While still awaiting the results of questioning Syrian officials to shed light on the planning and execution of the murder, Lebanese sources stressed the probe had, so far, uncovered a number of facts and gathered conclusive evidence to be publicized next week to correspond with a number of arrests that will send shockwaves through Lebanese society. The sources expected charges to be brought former politicians, prior to the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, as well as members of political groups loyal to Damascus, and high ranking army officer and others in government with influence over political and security developments in the country.
I wonder how many cars are gonna boom between now and when the report's released?
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2005 00:00 ||
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Misuse? Terrorists have a legitimate use for Indian Army combat uniforms? And a ban in only one district?
To check misuse of army fatigues by terrorists, Jammu and Kashmir government has banned the sale and use of dresses of the pattern of army combat uniforms in Baramulla district.
The ban on the sale, purchase, stitching, storage and readymade dress of the pattern of army combat uniforms was imposed by district administration Baramulla, an official spokesman said on Sunday.
He said the district administration also banned the use of polythene and plastic material at Gulmarg resort.
Posted by: john ||
09/18/2005 09:18 ||
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#1
A ban on plastic bags at a resort... and by the way, a ban on the sale of combat uniforms.
Nice move, after twenty years of jihad and what, thirty thousand dead?
The State Government of Jammu and Kashmir...
Posted by: john ||
09/18/2005 11:44 Comments ||
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#2
J&K Govt bans sale, use of army combat uniforms
good catch John..I wonder which gub/mil pol had the monopoly.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
09/18/2005 19:06 Comments ||
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Afghans voted in national assembly and provincial elections on Sunday for the first time in decades, an event President Hamid Karzai hailed as a defining moment in the nation's struggle to rebuild after years of conflict. But the threat of violence by the Taliban failed to deter many voters, who relished the chance to elect parliamentarians and councillors for the first time since 1969. "I'm so happy, I couldn't sleep last night and was watching the clock to come out to vote," said Qari Salahuddin, 21, at a polling station in the eastern city of Jalalabad. About 12.5 million Afghans are registed to vote in the $159 million, U.N.-organised polls for Hundreds of people queued to vote in the southern city of Kandahar, the Taliban's birthplace and the scene of frequent attacks. Voters, including women in cover-all burqas, were searched before entering polling stations and workers pasted up signs saying weapons were not allowed. Police stood guard on roofs outside polling stations. Razia Sediqi was the first woman to cast her vote at a polling station in Jalalabad. "I'm very happy to be voting today," she said. "I don't think there will be any problems."a lower house of parliament and councils in all 34 provinces.
#1
I'm so happy, I couldn't sleep last night and was watching the clock to come out to vote," said Qari Salahuddin, 21
Do you think the Taliban have people who get this excited about thier system.
#2
This is the final bitch-slap to the remaining Taliban. The total rejection of them and everything they stood for.
The Taliban did give us one thing, however. A clear view of a society in anarchy. Something that American and European anarchists should be reminded of at frequent intervals.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/18/2005 12:21 Comments ||
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#4
What is really B.S. is that if you got to Yahoo.com, on the front news page nothing is listed about Afghanistan actually becoming a formal democracy- something incredibally monumental in that region of the world. But look a couple of pages back you might find something on it, The front pages of the U.S. Media are only reserved for casualty reports and badnews.
#5
Third story down (currently) on Google World News. One particularly bright spot, jiving with Sea's post, is this story where Karzai hails the women's turnout. MegaCool.
This is a herculean acheivement for the Afghans and their supporters (mainly US Armed Forces). It's certainly beyond any goal I thought achievable just a few years ago.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
09/18/2005 19:24 Comments ||
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#7
The front pages of the U.S. Media are only reserved for casualty reports and badnews.
Haven't you heard the very old saying?
"If it Bleeds, It Leads"
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/18/2005 21:45 Comments ||
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Two rockets were fired into a U.N. compound near an election centre in the Afghan capital on Sunday as polls opened in legislative elections, slightly wounding an Afghan worker, an election official said. One of the rockets failed to explode at the compound in the eastern outskirts of the city, about 2 km (one mile) from an election commission media and counting centre, said Bronwyn Curran, spokeswoman for the joint Afghan-U.N. commission. "One national staff member was slightly injured," she said. "It's a very minor incident."
Members of a secret Pentagon intelligence unit known as Able Danger warned top military generals that it had uncovered information of increased al Qaeda "activity" in Aden harbor less than three weeks before the attack on the USS Cole, The Post has learned.
In the latest explosive revelation in the Able Danger saga, two former members of the data-mining team are expected to testify to the Senate Judiciary Committee next week that they uncovered alarming terrorist activity and associations in Aden weeks before the Oct. 12, 2000, suicide bombing of the U.S. warship that killed 17 sailors.
Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, the Defense Intelligence Agency's former liaison to Able Danger, told The Post that Capt. Scott Phillpott, Able Danger's leader, briefed Gen. Peter Schoomaker, former head of Special Operations Command and now Army chief of staff, about the findings on Yemen "two or three weeks" before the Cole attack.
"Yemen was elevated by Able Danger to be one of the top three hot spots for al Qaeda in the entire world," Shaffer recalled.
Shaffer and two other officials familiar with Able Danger said contractors uncovered al Qaeda activities in Yemen through a search of Osama bin Laden's business ties.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/18/2005 00:47 ||
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#1
Interesting! They were data mining mobile phone traffic.
#3
Omerens, if Able Danger is using data mining then that involves processing very large amounts of electronically captured data looking for patterns. In a place like Yemen the list of data sources available is extremely short and the sources available to eavesdropers is even shorter. As soon as I read this, I was pretty sure I know how Able Danger did what they did. Unfortunately, if I can figure it out, so can others.
#4
And its imperative that how Able Danger works is kept secret. This could roll up alot of terrorists as long as they don't know how it works. We need to maintain degrees of separation between intelligence and those we need to identify.
#5
And its imperative that how Able Danger works is kept secret. This could roll up alot of terrorists as long as they don't know how it works.
Maybe. You're assuming they're acting on the inteligence, instead of collecting the intelligence, keeping it clean and storing it in a pristine environment - to be brought out only to display to close family and friends.
#6
Yes, phil_b. I have some familiarity with data mining -- first hand.
Also with speech recognition as an adjunct to mining phone calls. Let's just say that it's an area where we have a lot of progress to be made - and that was even more true in 2000.
OTOH, there is far more info available on business transactions than you assume. By 'news' I meant not only the usual MSM but also the industry/business papers and websites, specialized newsletters etc. Shipping manifests, financial funds xfers, company registrations, lots of info like that exits for those who know the market sectors in question. Yes, even with regard to Yemen - and remember that's where bin Laden's family mainly came from, so it was being watched closely.
#10
The issue isn't whether 'data mining' is going on. It's going on all around us, including by most major corporations in consumer markets.
The issue is what kinds of data were collected and mined, when. Phil wrote: As soon as I read this, I was pretty sure I know how Able Danger did what they did. Unfortunately, if I can figure it out, so can others.
And I called minor, friendly "bull shit" based on first hand knowledge.
Why does it matter? Because of the implications that talking about Able Danger exposes sources in Yemen. My response: not necessarily, at all.
#12
Omerens. I'm not trying to turn this into a pissing contest, but I do have credentials in this area. I am trying to obfuscate what I know, and maybe you are as well, which is good. And BTW, nothing I said implied a reliance on human sources, although it would be an interesting angle.
#13
re: CIA, apart from well-deserved criticism of various kinds, keep in mind that in the late 90s / 2000 DOD had DARPA and other ways to get advanced research into some of these techniques.
The intel community only recently set up its equivalent, ARDA. That may be due to old history, i.e. NSA coming out of mainly Navy capabilities at the end of WWII.
Based on what we've seen the last few years, the CIA is used to house the people too leftist to work at State.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/18/2005 10:46 Comments ||
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#15
Phil, no interest in a pissing match on my end either. I took your original comment They were data mining mobile phone traffic plus In a place like Yemen the list of data sources available is extremely short and the sources available to eavesdropers is even shorter. to mean that your concern about Able Danger discussions is that it would expose sources.
Technical means of collection, maybe, but probably not human sources IMO.
That we monitor phone conversations in some circumstances is established in the minds of many people, although the govt has not admitted to doing so (apart from idiot grandstanders in the Senate).
But *mining* them implies a whole bunch of other activities including accurate machine translation of a language in which heavy use is made of metaphorical expressions (among other things), followed by accurate machine classification / characterization of that info. I get concerned when the average RBer thinks that's a piece of cake and we've been doing it for years .....
#16
boy, Jamie Gorelick and crew on the 911 panel were sure right to ignore these guys and deny ever hearing anything, huh? Nothing to see here, go about your business....
BS
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/18/2005 11:11 Comments ||
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#17
I was datamining phone traffic for a decade before for engineering and development purposes. I thought we could never convince the gov types to look at our datamining techniques. Guess they had to go out and invent their own. Damn I hate wasting treasure on duplicate effort.
Someday.. I ought to post some of the charts and curves.... Prado Prado Prado tails... for the data calls and model changes based on if your are in revolt or not (catch the parinoid model its easy)
In some countries there are no privacy laws so its more fun.
Did you know data capable phones with cameras and such were invented to aid the prostitution industry in Japan? (See and talk to the prostitute live before going to meet her - It saves on being duped)
Those same phones were used to snap billions of upskirt photos...
#19
Come 11:30 text message your wife (who is on the internet chatting with some stud over the phone so you can't call her) to come pick you up at the train station as you are too drunk to drive home.
#20
I was datamining phone traffic for a decade before for engineering and development purposes. I thought we could never convince the gov types to look at our datamining techniques. Guess they had to go out and invent their own. Damn I hate wasting treasure on duplicate effort.
That assumes they couldn't figure out traffic patterns on their own, 3dc. LOL
Yes, there are things you can infer from it. But I get worried when people think there are magic bullets we can just pick up and use. This is going to be a long, difficult fight, generational as Condi Rice says. It will take a lot of will, investment and determination on our part.
No magic bullets, including from traffic analysis .... ;-)
#24
Was this really actionable intelligence? Really, if one was dumb enough to let the Cole steam into Aden with the same security it would have in Charleston for diplomatic reasons, would this report of traffic activity be sufficiently specific to change one's mind?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/18/2005 13:39 Comments ||
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#25
*Originally appearing in the Marine Corps Gazette, October 1995:
A major hurdle facing the Marine Corps is how to acquire, use, and exploit Open Source Information found along the information superhighway. We need to demystify and de-spook some of our intelligence. Military writer, John Schmitt, notes we have an intelligence "Tower of Babel" firmly cemented in place, shored up with an abundance of classification, and compartmentalized restrictions. It is difficult, if not impossible at times, to share information because of its classification. The cloak-and-dagger aspects have overwhelmed the fundamental purpose of exploiting information. Rather than use information and intelligence, we horde it.
#26
Rather than use information and intelligence, we horde it.
I worked the spook business for 26 years in the Air Force, SwissTex, and truer words were never spoken.
Wasn't Able Danger disbanded right after the Cole debacle? I don't think it's still in business, at least not under that name. I HOPE someone is doing the work, but it's hard to tell. Not only is Intel secretive, it's also highly combative, and turf wars are frequent, though bloodless. It definitely needs reform, but the latest band-aid approach did nothing to truly accomplish that.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/18/2005 15:08 Comments ||
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Pakistani security forces have rounded up nine suspected miscreants and recovered huge cache of arms and ammunition in the country's Northern Waziristan tribal areas, the official Associated Press of Pakistan reported Saturday.
A military spokesman Brigadier Shahjahan Ali Khan was quoted as saying that the security forces launched a cordon and search operation on Friday evening and arrested five miscreants in various raids at seven suspected compounds scattered in the tribal areas.
A huge cache of arms and ammunition including 75 mm recoilless rifles, 81 mm mortar, rocket launchers, and 107 mm rockets besides other weapons of different calibers was recovered from the raided dens.
Shahjahan said the security forces had also recovered a large number of military equipment from the hideouts of the suspects during the raids. Meanwhile, the security agencies also arrested four suspects from different checkposts in the tribal areas. However, the identity of the arrested was not disclosed.
The spokesman noted there was no casualty reported from either side during the operation.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/18/2005 00:05 ||
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US forces have arrested the two leaders of the al-Qaeda terror group in the main northern Iraqi city of Mosul, a statement said on Saturday.
Separately, Iraqi sources said a leader of the al-Qaeda-linked group Ansar as-Sunna was seized overnight near the northern town of Tuz Khurmatu, the scene on Friday of a deadly attack on Shiite Muslim worshippers.
The US statement said coalition forces raided a suspected al-Qaeda hide-out in Mosul on September 5.
Captured were Taha Taha Ibrahim Yasin Becher, known as Abu Fatima, identified as al-Qaedas "emir of Mosul", and Hamed Saeed Ismael Mustafa, known as Abu Shahed, and identified as the organisations "west Mosul emir".
The statement said Abu Fatima had taken over his post after Abu Talha was captured in June and Abu Zubayr, who replaced him, was killed in mid-August.
It said Abu Shahed was responsible for organising al-Qaeda activities in west Mosul and was in line to succeed Abu Fatima in the event of his death or capture.
The military claimed that the seizure of the two men, both originally from the town of Tal Afar to the west, was evidence of the pressure al-Qaeda was under as the group traditionally filled the Mosul posts with locals.
Meanwhile, Iraqi and US forces captured Norman Mohammed, "one of the most important Ansar as-Sunna leaders in northern Iraq", Colonel Mohammed Fatah said.
He was nabbed in the village of Duzari, near Tuz Khurmatu, where a suicide bomber killed 11 Shiite worshippers and wounded 24 as they left an Iraqi mosque after Friday prayers.
Fatah said 700kg of explosives and mortar rounds were found at the site of the arrest.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/18/2005 00:04 ||
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#1
Is every damn body in Al Quada a "Leader"
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/18/2005 1:17 Comments ||
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#2
Yes. All true sons of Allan are natural born leaders. They give the orders, and their inferiors rush to do their bidding and prostrate themselves at their feet. The org chart looks roughly like this: The Caliph---> The Learned Elders of Islam --> a gazillion knuckleheads at Number Three.
#3
But, But, But, there arenât any terrorists in Iraq, Never wuz any! No WMD Either!! That Iraqi Army trailer was used to make Baby Formulaâ¢! Yeah, thatâs the ticket! And Diapers too!
If I knew how to post a picture, I'd show a pic of a BW trailer I took outside of Al Muh Fuckin' Kut a few weeks into the war.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/18/2005 6:07 Comments ||
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#6
Yeah, I caught that one too. Doubt it's that particular reference, tho, since he's presumably a lot older than kids born around the time of the first Gulf war.
#8
Sounds like a lot of leadership opportunities open up in a.q. on a regular basis. An advancement oriented individual would do well in an organization like that. Too bad most of them get shot to pieces by marines.
The Palestinian Authority police fired in the air to disperse stone-throwing youths at the Gaza-Egypt border yesterday as forces tried to stop the chaotic flow of people across the frontier since Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip. President Mahmoud Abbas has vowed to stop the irregular border crossings, which fueled Israeli worries that arms would be smuggled to Gaza militants following its troop withdrawal after 38 years of occupation.
Thousands of jubilant Gazans have broken through the border, formally [I think they mean "formerly"] patrolled by Israel and now under Egyptian control, to take advantage of an opportunity unknown for decades. Many went to see long-missed relatives or shop. The chaos at the border added to a growing sense of lawlessness in the Gaza Strip, seen as a testing ground for the statehood that Palestinians also want in the occupied West Bank.
Witnesses said Palestinian forces fired bursts of gunfire in the air in at least two places on the border to disperse dozens of youths trying to cross to the Egyptian side. Four policemen were lightly injured by stones. âPalestinian and Egyptian security forces are allowing only people returning to their homes on both sides,â Palestinian Interior Ministry spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa said. Cranes lifted cement blocks to seal holes in the giant 10- to 15-foot border fence that had been knocked out by smugglers and armed factions. âWe deployed today 1,500 police and national security forces. It started at 7 a.m. (0400 GMT) and it is completed now,â Abu Khoussa told AFP.
Police checked identification cards and gave chase to anyone who tried to vault into Egypt. Egyptian Army trucks rode up and down the border to enforce the clampdown. The flow of smuggled goods brought in by the ton this week fell to a trickle as people hauled back only small quantities of items like cigarettes and gasoline. The security source said a total of 2,000 police should be deployed to the border by today. But the 750 Egyptian officers who deployed there did not stop thousands of Palestinians and Egyptians from crossing through holes militants blasted in the barrier. Palestinian forces worked yesterday to plug the breaches with concrete blocks. Egyptian forces shored up the other side and blocked the path of Palestinians trying to get in. Palestinians still managed to get across the Egyptian border and due to their numbers, Egyptian and Palestinian forces subsequently made little effort to stop them.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
And if the borders does calm down, will we read about it in Rantburg, or just the MSM? {irony/sarcasm off}
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/18/2005 7:55 Comments ||
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#2
There is also this
Sources in Rafah told The Jerusalem Post that dozens of people from various Arab nationalities have crossed into the Gaza Strip over the past week. "We still don't know who these people are, but they include Saudis, Sudanese, Libyans, Syrians and Lebanese," said one source.
#3
Now tht they have bagged their limit on drugs, guns, rockets, it's time to talk of shutting down the border. Methinks the damage has already been done.
#4
Time for a barbecue. Israel has great intelligence in the Gaza strip, even after withdrawing all its people. They should napalm all the main terrorist hideouts the first chance they get, and sit back and watch the fireworks from the secondaries.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/18/2005 14:56 Comments ||
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A car bomb killed 30 people and wounded 38 in a town east of Baghdad yesterday at the end of one of the bloodiest weeks in and around the Iraqi capital since the US-led invasion of 2003. A police spokesman said the explosion in Nahrwan, some 45 km from Baghdad, also wounded 38 people. "It was not a suicide bomb," he said. "A car parked in the middle of the square and later it blew up." More than 200 people have been killed in bombings and shootings in and near Baghdad this week, including at least 114 in a single suicide bomb on Wednesday that targeted a crowd of day laborers waiting to be hired in a Shiite district.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2005 00:00 ||
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Eleven people were killed in guerrilla clashes on the eve of todayâs elections in Afghanistan but UN organizers said they were confident voting could be held across the country in spite of Taleban threats. Enthusiasm among Afghans to vote in their first free legislative elections in more than 30 years has been high and the commander of US forces in the country predicted a record turnout of the 12.5 million registered to vote. Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry said Taleban insurgents would not hesitate to attack election workers or voters to try to disrupt the ballot, but they would not succeed. âTomorrow that election is going to go. There will be some violence, but itâs going to go,â he told Reuters in an interview.
And that means the turbans are beat. They may oppose having elections, but they're much more capable of killing a dozen people than they are 12.5 million. But that's kind of the essence of democracy, isn't it?
The top UN official in the country said the elections signaled the emergence of a new political culture and showed that war-torn Afghanistan could resist the rule of the gun. Jean Arnault, the UN secretary-generalâs special representative, condemned violence â in which seven candidates and six poll workers have died as well as many members of the security forces â but told a news conference the militants had failed to disrupt preparations. âWe are very confident that those extremists will also fail to disrupt and derail polling day tomorrow,â he said.
Last time they barely even tried...
The Taleban vowed, but failed, to disrupt last Octoberâs presidential election, won by US-backed candidate Hamid Karzai, when more than eight million people turned out to vote. The Taleban have called on Afghans to boycott todayâs poll for a national assembly and councils in 34 provinces, and warned they could be caught up in attacks on foreign troops. Overnight guerrilla attacks underlined the threat. Four policemen were killed and two wounded when guerrillas ambushed a police patrol south of Kabul, while seven guerrillas were killed after they ambushed a police convoy in Zabul, a southern hotbed of militant activity, police said. One candidate from among more than 5,800 standing was killed this week and another wounded, but there has been no dramatic rise in violence in recent days. Security has been stepped up throughout the Muslim country with about 100,000 troops, including Eikenberryâs force of 20,000 and 10,000 NATO-led peacekeepers, guarding voters who will cast their ballots at 6,000 polling centers.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2005 00:00 ||
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A student leader was shot dead and another was seriously injured in a shootout yesterday, sources said. Unidentified gunmen fatally shot Ariful Islam, a leader of the student wing of Bangladeshâs ruling party. Arif led the student wing of Prime Minister Khaleda Ziaâs Bangladesh Nationalist Party at Suhrawardy College in the capital, Dhaka, where he was killed. Another member of the group, Shakil Ahmed Faisal, was seriously injured in the shooting. Arif was fired upon by a group of six gunmen on motorbikes, who then fled the scene. Police arrived at the college, but have so far made no arrests.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2005 00:00 ||
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Police in northwestern Bangladesh arrested two more suspects in last month's bomb attacks that killed two people and injured 125 others, an official said yesterday. The two men were arrested late Friday at a house in Rajshahi district, 230 km northwest of Dhaka, a police official said. The two allegedly belong to Jamatul Mujahedeen, a banned group that seeks to establish Islamic rule in Bangladesh. Police raided a remote village and seized explosives and detonators from members of the group blamed for last month's nationwide wave of blasts, officials said yesterday. "We found a huge amount of explosives and detonators enough to make 64 bombs from two Jamatul Mujahedeen members," Abdulllah Al Mahmud, superintendent of police in western Rajshahi district, said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2005 00:00 ||
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The political leader of the Tamil Tiger rebels has called for immediate talks with Sri Lankaâs government to save a shaky cease-fire. Tamil Tiger political chief S.P. Tamilselvan said the rebel group was ready âeven in the next minuteâ to begin talks with the government. The truce agreed in 2002 has come under fresh strains since the assassination of the countryâs foreign minister last month in an attack blamed by the government on Tamil rebels. âWe are anxious to start the talks immediately... even in the next minute,â Tamilselvan said in an interview at his political headquarters, 330 kilometers (204 miles) north of the capital Colombo, on Friday night.
Peace broker Norway has sought talks between the two sides in the wake of the assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, which has stoked fears of a return to civil war in the Indian Ocean island nation. Tamilselvan denied that the Tigers carried out the Aug. 12 murder of Kadirgamar, an ethnic Tamil who was a fierce critic of the rebels, saying they had ânothing to gain by killing anyone.â He said the rebels had suggested an overseas venue for any future talks to safeguard the cease-fire. The Tigers earlier turned down the international airport as a possible neutral venue. Colombo has insisted that any discussions take place in Sri Lanka but the two sides have so far been unable to agree on a location.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
srilankan "singala" government never give any suitable solution for the "eelam tamils" who are the unique minority race living in nort and east home land. even humanitarion aids such as Tsunami aids are on strucle. in this case is a simple example. there is only one solution for tamil is towerd their self determination. In view of the current cituvation of srilanka there is no peace. every day peoples and political rebels kild by unidentfied government pantom gangs. lot of innocent tamils being send to jails under the emmergency. militry take it emmergency unlowfull control back. singala giverment impose to rebels to goback to horrible war again. becouse goverment intend to captuer all foign Tsunami aids and fund. the world must know tis truth. they will use such fund to buying fearful amnution for killing tamils. this kind of daydream they always have. there is a massage infront of UN and other democratic countries including EU that is tamil people beg your support for their self determination
#2
I understood what you were trying to say,but it was tough.If I caught the drift of what you are say,then it's safe to say you supporter the Tamil Tigers.
#3
there is a massage infront of UN and other democratic countries including EU that is tamil people beg your support for their self determination
Americans did send money and supplies to Sri Lanka. In generous amounts.
I'm sure the Tamils have grievances Chush Ebbitle7610 . IMO, Begging won't get your people American political support. The main obstacle barring that support are the terror tactics (ie. killing the innocent, splodydoping etc.) utilized by your leadership. IT TURNS AMERICAN OFF.
(btw I know a Tamil family here stateside who escaped the madness)
Posted by: Red Dog ||
09/18/2005 19:49 Comments ||
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Masood Ahmad Nathnu, financial chief and senior commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, paid with his life in his pursuit for love as he was killed in an ambush by Indian forces on Saturday whilst visiting the home of his girlfriend.
"I'm in the mood for love,
Simply because..."
"Stick 'em up!"
"... you're near me."
Acting on a tip-off, the police cordoned off the village of Dama, 10 km northeast of the town of Doda, in Jammu and Kashmir, in the early hours of Saturday night, apprehended the militant and shot him dead.
"You'll never take me alive, coppers!"
"Hokay."
[BANG! BANG! BANGETY BANG!]
"Aaaaaiiiieeee!"
[THUD!]
This is not the first incident of its kind. Earlier this year, another top commander, Shakil Ansari, was also killed whilst visiting his girlfriend.
"Honey, it's me! [BANG!] Aaaaiiiieeee! Rosebud!"
An Indian police spokesman described the operation as a success and said the Islamic group was likely to face a financial crisis as it sought to replace Nathnu.
"He's dead. That makes it a success, right?"
Militants are already under pressure by recent Pakistani policies aimed at undermining groups fighting in the disputed provinces of Jammu and Kashmir, army sources said. A firearm was recovered from the body of Nathnu who has been heavily involved with Hizbul Mujahideen for the past 10 years.
"Here's his shutter gun, Mukkerjee!"
"Thanks. What's a shutter gun?"
His death comes as the Indian army continues to target top officials in the Islamic group, killing more than six in the past month alone. This campaign has weakened the largest militant group in Kashmir opposed to recent peace overtures between the moderate Hurriyat Conference and the government in New Delhi as its head, Syed Salahuddin remains in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.
... where he's always been.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
"Off to my left I see 5 mounted Mahmouds, off to my right ride a dozen or more. I see the white puff of smoke from the AK, I feel the bullet go deep in my chest" God Bless ya Marty Robbins!
#5
He was planning on marrying her as soon as she was weaned.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2005 10:21 Comments ||
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#6
Acting on a tip-off, the police cordoned off the village of Dama.... Earlier this year....Shakil Ansari was also killed whilst visiting his girlfriend. Not fair! The cops are staking out the broad's abodes.
You have probably heard that Zarqawi has recently declared war on the Sheat in Iraq, that's 50-60 % of the people in a country of 27 millions, i.e. more than 13 million people are considered enemies by Zarqawi and they deserve to die! Of course this is not something unexpected from Al-Qaeda as this terror network hates nearly everyone on this earth except the ones who appease and apologize for what Al-Qaeda does.
As far as I know, no one has welcomed this declaration of Zarqawi; it was strongly condemned by the Sheat and their clerics and politicians and even the association of Muslim scholars showed disagreement with this new strategy of Zarqawi, yet their announcement did not meet the requirements of the critical situation and their words were like a shy slap on Zarqawi's hand and certainly failed to ease the anger and worries of the Sheat who want to see the Sunni clerics declare Zarqawi out of Islam (an infidel).
On the other hand, Iraqi militant groups like the Islamic army and the army of Mohammed and a few other groups were more direct in their statements reported by Azzaman:
The goal of the resistance is striking the occupiers and their agents and collaborators and the calls for killing every Sheat is a fire that will burn the whole country with its Sunni and Sheat people
[âŠ]
The resistance doesn't target any Iraqi depending on his sect or race; the targets are those who cooperate with the occupierâŠ
Sistani as expected called for restraint and several local and regional news sources reported that he (or his office) gave a statement in which Sheat were asked to avoid violence "even if half of the Sheat got killed".
Some of my friends made fun of Zarqawi and his declaration of war "So? Now he forgot all about America and Israel, blah blah blah and the Sheat became his sole enemy! I don't think this was Al-Qaeda's original slogan a few years ago!" said one of them and actually the observation is correct but the point is why? Why is this change in priorities and in targets?
When Al-Qaeda first came to Iraq they claimed that they were fighting to liberate this part of "Islamic land" from the "infidels" and they appointed themselves as representatives and guardians of Iraq and its people.
But now, after the Kurds and the Sheat chose their representatives, Al-Qaeda was left with only one segment to represent; that is the Sunni whom Al-Qaeda is now pretending to be defending and avenging from the atrocities of the government but this is also a big lie no doubt because Al-Qaeda had also warned the Sunni from joining the elections and the political process as a whole. Why? Because more Sunni people are expressing their will to participate in the next elections and many observers, polls and surveys expect a 80% turnout among the Sunni in the coming steps of the process; these are the October referendum and the December elections.
Such a high turnout will eventually bring legitimate representatives for the Sunni population and that's what Al-Qeada doesn't want to see happen because there will be no one left to defend or fight for, no pretext for their war and Al-Qaeda will be farther apart from the Sunni militant groups that once were their close allies.
This war declared by Al-Qaeda is frankly a war on elections, and the plan is to stop the elections from taking place at any cost and since confronting the American military has not brought any significant success, Zarqawi is switching to plan B, that is to provoke civil war in Iraq between the Sunni and the Sheat.
This is going to be a tough test for the people of Iraq; a test for their will to stay united and a test for their ability to reason out things and how are they going to respond to this type of challenges.
The next three months will be stressful and decisive for Iraqis and I really believe that Iraqi's future can be foreseen through the developments of these 90 day.
These 90 days will either announce the total collapse of this country or it will bring a breakthrough that puts Iraq firmly on the right track.
I see better chances for the latter possibility but the former still worries me.
Posted by: DanNY ||
09/18/2005 00:00 ||
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The sunnis and shiites may actually be " getting it", finally. They seem to be perplexed by this last move by Zarq, maybe someday they will figure out that all this bullshit insurection stuff is the work of a few selfish people with their own agendas.People who were willing to waste all the people of Iraq to further their own aims.
KABUL: Millions of Afghans go to the polls on Sunday to elect their first new parliament for more than 30 years and take the war-ravaged country a step closer to recovery.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2005 00:00 ||
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PESHAWAR: The Crime Investigation Department (CID) prosecution on Saturday finalised the draft of a bail cancellation plea against the release of a suspected missing link between the London bombers and Al Qaeda. The draft will be submitted to a district and sessions judge on Monday. Zeeshan Siddiqui, a British national, was arrested from Shabqadar tehsil of Charssada on May 17 in connection with London bombings.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2005 00:00 ||
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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.
Warlord 
One person was killed and 28 wounded in a bombing in a Christian section of Beirut late Friday, the latest in a string of blasts to hit the Lebanese capital this year, police said. Police identified the dead man as an elderly Lebanese of Armenian origin and said three of the wounded remained in hospital yesterday. The blast struck just before midnight (2100 GMT) in a small side street in the Jeitawi quarter of east Beirut. Investigating magistrate Rashid Mezher said a resident saw two young men place two suitcases between two parked cars before running off. Her son, who ran across the alley to warn customers at a nearby cafe, was wounded in the blast, judicial sources said. The force of the blast, estimated at some 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of TNT equivalent, collapsed the roof of the cafe and damaged the facade of a neighboring office block.
The UN investigation into the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri continued on Friday with judicial sources revealing magistrate Elias Murr had questioned a number of individuals for the first time while the Commission heard the statements of anonymous witnesses. As part of the ongoing probe, the Lebanese police continued to query eight men under arrested following a request by the general prosecutor, Said Mirza, who owned mobile phone shops in the northern city of Tripoli and sold equipment used around the time of the murder, on February 14th, 2005. Sources revealed the men belonged to a number of religious groups such as the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects (Jamiyyat al Masahri al Khayyriya al Islamiya) also known as "al Ahbash". They were taken into custody after their shops were raided late on Wednesday night and then questioned by the international investigation team. 
Afghans voted in national assembly and provincial elections on Sunday for the first time in decades, an event President Hamid Karzai hailed as a defining moment in the nation's struggle to rebuild after years of conflict. But the threat of violence by the Taliban failed to deter many voters, who relished the chance to elect parliamentarians and councillors for the first time since 1969. "I'm so happy, I couldn't sleep last night and was watching the clock to come out to vote," said Qari Salahuddin, 21, at a polling station in the eastern city of Jalalabad. About 12.5 million Afghans are registed to vote in the $159 million, U.N.-organised polls for Hundreds of people queued to vote in the southern city of Kandahar, the Taliban's birthplace and the scene of frequent attacks. Voters, including women in cover-all burqas, were searched before entering polling stations and workers pasted up signs saying weapons were not allowed. Police stood guard on roofs outside polling stations. Razia Sediqi was the first woman to cast her vote at a polling station in Jalalabad. "I'm very happy to be voting today," she said. "I don't think there will be any problems."a lower house of parliament and councils in all 34 provinces.
Two rockets were fired into a U.N. compound near an election centre in the Afghan capital on Sunday as polls opened in legislative elections, slightly wounding an Afghan worker, an election official said. One of the rockets failed to explode at the compound in the eastern outskirts of the city, about 2 km (one mile) from an election commission media and counting centre, said Bronwyn Curran, spokeswoman for the joint Afghan-U.N. commission. "One national staff member was slightly injured," she said. "It's a very minor incident."
Thousands of jubilant Gazans have broken through the border, formally [I think they mean "formerly"] patrolled by Israel and now under Egyptian control, to take advantage of an opportunity unknown for decades. Many went to see long-missed relatives or shop. The chaos at the border added to a growing sense of lawlessness in the Gaza Strip, seen as a testing ground for the statehood that Palestinians also want in the occupied West Bank.
A car bomb killed 30 people and wounded 38 in a town east of Baghdad yesterday at the end of one of the bloodiest weeks in and around the Iraqi capital since the US-led invasion of 2003. A police spokesman said the explosion in Nahrwan, some 45 km from Baghdad, also wounded 38 people. "It was not a suicide bomb," he said. "A car parked in the middle of the square and later it blew up." More than 200 people have been killed in bombings and shootings in and near Baghdad this week, including at least 114 in a single suicide bomb on Wednesday that targeted a crowd of day laborers waiting to be hired in a Shiite district.
while seven guerrillas were killed after they ambushed a police convoy in Zabul, a southern hotbed of militant activity, police said. One candidate from among more than 5,800 standing was killed this week and another wounded, but there has been no dramatic rise in violence in recent days. Security has been stepped up throughout the Muslim country with about 100,000 troops, including Eikenberryâs force of 20,000 and 10,000 NATO-led peacekeepers, guarding voters who will cast their ballots at 6,000 polling centers.
A student leader was shot dead and another was seriously injured in a shootout yesterday, sources said. Unidentified gunmen fatally shot Ariful Islam, a leader of the student wing of Bangladeshâs ruling party. Arif led the student wing of Prime Minister 
Police in northwestern Bangladesh arrested two more suspects in last month's bomb attacks that killed two people and injured 125 others, an official said yesterday. The two men were arrested late Friday at a house in Rajshahi district, 230 km northwest of Dhaka, a police official said. The two allegedly belong to 
The political leader of the Tamil Tiger rebels has called for immediate talks with Sri Lankaâs government to save a shaky cease-fire. Tamil Tiger political chief S.P. Tamilselvan said the rebel group was ready âeven in the next minuteâ to begin talks with the government. The truce agreed in 2002 has come under fresh strains since the assassination of the countryâs foreign minister last month in an attack blamed by the government on Tamil rebels. âWe are anxious to start the talks immediately... even in the next minute,â Tamilselvan said in an interview at his political headquarters, 330 kilometers (204 miles) north of the capital Colombo, on Friday night.
