The Democrats are starting to roll out all their "heavy" guns. What's surprising is that Murtha didn't leave the country to make his statement.
A former CIA director has exclusively told ITV News that torture is condoned and even approved by the Bush government.
The devastating accusations have been made by Admiral Stansfield Turner who labelled Dick Cheney "a vice president for torture".
He said: "We have crossed the line into dangerous territory".
The American Senate says torture should be banned - whatever the justification. But President Bush has threatened to veto their ruling.
The former spymaster claims President Bush is not telling the truth when he says that torture is not a method used by the US.
Speaking of Bush's claims that the US does not use torture, Admiral Turner, who ran the CIA from 1977 to 1981, said: "I do not believe him".
On Dick Cheney he said "I'm embarrassed the United States has a vice president for torture.
"He condones torture, what else is he?".
Admiral Turner claims the secret CIA prisons used for torture are known as 'black sites', terror suspects are picked up in places like Afghanistan and Pakistan.
They are flown by CIA-controlled private aircraft to countries where there are secret interrogation centres, operating outside any country's jurisdiction.
No one will confirm their locations, but there are several possibilities: The Mihail-Kogalniceanu military airbase in Romania is believed by many to be one such facility.
Admiral Turner's remarks were echoed by Republican Senator John McCain, himself a victim of torture in Vietnam.
He said torturing to get information was immoral, was not effective and encouraged potential enemies to do the same to Americans.
Both Mr Bush and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice have repeatedly stated that torture by US forces is not condoned.
#1
This is the asshole responsible for Iran Contra and emasculating the CIA.
Posted by: Captain America ||
11/17/2005 21:38 Comments ||
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#2
I believe the Shah of Iran was also cut off at the knees to allow the ayatollah Khomenei to bless the world with its first islamofascist regime. Good call Stan. Did he help on Desert One also?
#4
The thing that burns my behind and builds the boiler pressure are statements from sanctimonious alpha hotels like Jimmuh and Turner about torture and other things in the midst of a war for our survival. These guys hide behind the defensive shield put up by the vigilance and even the sacrifice of lives of our military and spew out this crap without fear of retribution or personal harm.
My buddy who was involved in the 1979 hostage rescue operation was abandoned in the mountains behind Teheran by Jimmuh's orders. He spent 4 months of hell escaping and evading out of Iran with his group of 4. You want to see fury, say Jimmuh and ask what he thinks of him. Stand back!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/17/2005 21:57 Comments ||
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#5
it's also interesting that Reagan always gets the bad press for sending arms and money to the mujahaden in Afghanistan and it was (guess who) Jimmy (Peace Prize) that started the whole thing.
#6
The Democrats are starting to roll out all their "heavy" guns.
Wanna lob a return volley that would devastate Peanut Head and his lackeys? Create a commercial with a minute long montage of stills and video clips of the four hundred forty four day Iran hostage crisis, and end with a narrator's voice saying,
"Former President Carter has no valid grounds on which to criticize the current administration for its actions in the Middle East...."
#9
Jesus... these treasonous assholes just aren't going to shut up, are they? What the hell are we going to have to do to win this war-- round up Democrats and put them in internment camps, for cryin' out loud????
Posted by: Dave D. ||
11/17/2005 23:44 Comments ||
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Posted by: ed ||
11/17/2005 11:19 ||
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#1
Realted: Rioting fires up Sarkozy in polls France's weeks of riots have propelled Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy into pole position to become president. While the French public has given general backing to President Jacques Chirac's Government in cracking down on youths behind the urban violence, Mr Sarkozy has benefited most, according to a new survey.
The Ipsos poll found his popularity had leapt 11 points to 63per cent, that his "presidential vote potential" had climbed to 61per cent, and that 68per cent supported his hardline approach to the unrest. That puts him well ahead of Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, whose popularity rose a more modest seven points to 50per cent, while Mr Chirac lifted his rating by six points to 39per cent.
Posted by: ed ||
11/17/2005 11:26 Comments ||
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#2
Chirac and de Villepin gained points for their response?
Boggle. Phrance is truly DOA. JFM, anonymous5089, it's definitely time to leave, bros.
#3
Don't laugh : a "normal" night of typical unrest in the 'hoods all over France is 90-100 torched cars, each and every day of the year, with surges at Xmas and New Year (gee, I wonder why), and at the end of Ramadan (idem).
I repeat myself, but there is no "insecurity" in France, there is instead a low-level, low intensity intifada (uprising) directed against french instutions and symbols (police, firefighters,...), and whenever possible, french citizens (gangrapes, assaults, beatings,...).
It's been going on since the 90's at least, with muslims being over-represented in crime stats since, well, the 70's.
#4
And obviously under-reported or not reported at all, since 100 torched cars/day (what a wacked-out metric, lol) day in and day out should have been on our radar long before this recent orgy.
Oh, well, wel'l see at the 2007 presidential elections :
- either it is business as usual, with Sarko/Fabius/Galouzeau "de Villepin" (who's a man)/... elected, and then things will get out of hand later, when the country truly goes bankrupt à la Argentina (except with 8-10 millions restless muslims)
- either something happens like in 2002 or with the TCE referendum, a right-wing (or even possibly a leftist) candidate goes to the second turn, or even, God forbids, wins.
In that case, situation gets out of hand right now.
Immediate future of France is bound to be rocky. If not, that means we'll go out without a whimper, fading away like an old, exhausted Nation.
#6
According to statistics of Interior minister a normal night is around 20-25 CarBQs. Ie 7200 to 9000 a year. At 100 a night we are well above the noraml.
#7
So everything is back to normal. Great. I'll bet those emergency laws that they just extended can all be rescinded now. (Don't anyone hold their breath.)
Posted by: Dave ||
11/17/2005 11:50 Comments ||
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#8
JFM, I thought that statistic counts each fire once, though it may burn several cars.
Posted by: ed ||
11/17/2005 12:01 Comments ||
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#9
JFM, I'm sorry, you're usually right and I really respect your words (((sucking noises))), but this time I stick to my numbers : 2005 was going to settle for 30 000 burnt cars BEFORE the francifada, and this was coherent with preceeding years's results (IE 20-30 000 torched cars a year, knowing that official stats count only the starting fire and not the collaterally destroyed vehicles).
90-100 a night might seem a bit high, but this seems to fit with what I've read (a bit like the number of bombings in Corsica : from 600 a year in the late 90's, to 300, to about 150 now... this seemm to high to be credible for a peacetime Nation,, but theses are the numbers).
#11
On second thought, if you provide me with official stats (that's what you wrote), I'll admit my mistake, but I do remember the fuzz about the "30 000 cars" before the november fun.
Anyway, stats are under-evaluated, that at least is true.
Make sure when you come you bring the pictures in the Louvre and, most especially, Melissa Theriau. DO NOT leave her for the Muslims.
Posted by: mac ||
11/17/2005 12:46 Comments ||
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#14
.com: Chirac and de Villepin gained points for their response?
They did put out a really tough response. Practically no one got killed, and yet they put out a curfew and invoked extraordinary powers of arrest and detention. Stateside, there have been curfews - during the Watts and LA riots, for instance, but nothing like the kinds of measures invoked in France. (Of course, stateside, strong measures means shooting rioters rather than detaining rioters and rabble-rousers).
ES - But it took them, what, 11 weeks to do dick? If that's good enough for the Phrench public, then they are truly screwed. Just imagine being some poor schmuck who drives a truck or private taxi - and it was torched - and your pols cluck their tongues like it's just naughty schoolboys.
It's hard to say what would happen today in the US to something like this. Most big city PD's have acquired some stocks of non-lethal gear for handling "riots", but most big cities have moron Big Blue Mayors who haven't much stomach for a real fight - likely against people with whom they have much in common, politically.
Once live-fire became a feature, however, we would see just what they're made of. Their PD's aren't morons - or at least they grow out of those soft touch-feely idiot ideas when they've been on the job a couple of years, but the city leaders are, so it would be very, um, strained - yeah, I think that's the right word.
#17
.com, I don't think Da Mayor will have any problem busting heads if any maroons try doing a CarBQ here on da south side. And youse can take dat to da bank.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/17/2005 13:40 Comments ||
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#18
Lol, indeed, there are a few exceptions amongst the Big Blue Machines. :-)
#19
I confirm : the talking-head at the France 2 news report sez that "98" is back to normalcy, the usual number of burnt cars in France. If this is on teevee, then it must be true.
#21
Colorado Springs has 35,000 active-duty military and 45,000, mostly armed retirees. About a third of the active duty folks are Iraq/Afghan veterans, and half the active duty are Vietnam vets. I don't think we're going to have any problems here...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/17/2005 15:00 Comments ||
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#22
oops! Should read, "half the retirees are Vietnam vets"
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/17/2005 15:02 Comments ||
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#23
According to statistics of Interior minister a normal night is around 20-25 CarBQs. Ie 7200 to 9000 a year. At 100 a night we are well above the noraml.
JFM, I know this has already been mentioned here, but even at a paltry $10,000 per car, 100 cars per day is a whopping $1 MILLION every 24 hours. To paraphrase Senator Dirksen, "A million here, a million there, and pretty soon you're talking about some serious money."
Is the government replacing these cars? Are the insurance companies honoring these claims? Is the average French citizen taking a huge hit with each vehicle lost? Where is the money coming from and why hasn't this one single issue driven some immediate resolution of such insanity?
The French economy is taking a huge hit over this and it is being swept under the rug. Something's rotten in Denmark France.
#24
Anybody have any references on how Detroit calmed down Hell Night?
Posted by: James ||
11/17/2005 16:42 Comments ||
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#25
JFM, I know this has already been mentioned here, but even at a paltry $10,000 per car
I would tell 5,000$. 10,000$ is the price of a nearly new car (small model).
Are the insurance companies honoring these claims? Is the average French citizen taking a huge hit with each vehicle lost?
Depends how they are insured. Anyway insurance companies pay at the used car value. If they are insured then companies must pay but I think there are provisions exempting them in case of general violences. In that case it is the tax payer who pays.
#26
I don't things in france are ever normal. Sounds like the production of autos and the death (burning of autos) might follow a birth-death population model. Crazy situation.
#27
If they are insured then companies must pay but I think there are provisions exempting them in case of general violences. In that case it is the tax payer who pays.
By "taxpayer" do you mean the government is reimbursing car owners, or that the owners themselves must foot the bill?
This is nucking futs. If there were roving gangs in my town torching random cars and the cops were doing f&*k-all, I'd be purchasing a 9mm or and a 30.6 to solve the problem before it arose. A crowd of citizens firing into an approaching gang of these maggots (after the first car was torched) would have sent an unmistakable and direly needed message.
These slugs have ruined how many countless people's lives and nary a peep is heard? This goes beyond wierd.
#4
Given the guy was an anti-police activist and seems to have had no interaction with the jihadist set, one way or another, I'd guess that he pissed off the wrong bull.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/17/2005 11:44 Comments ||
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#5
Someone sending a strong message. It may have nothing to do with his activism however.
Italian police have arrested three suspected Algerian Islamic extremists on suspicion of aiding and abetting international terrorism, Ansa news agency reported today.
Ansa said police viewed the suspects as ''potentially operative''. It said they were seized overnight on Nov. 15-16 in the southern port city of Naples and northern city of Brescia.
There was no immediate confirmation of the report.
Ansa said the Algerians had been in contact with a cell from Algeria's Salafist movement, which is thought to have links to al Qaeda. Ansa did not say where they were being held.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/17/2005 00:09 ||
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#1
must've mistaken them for CIA
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/17/2005 0:25 Comments ||
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FORT RILEY, Kan. (AP) - A soldier convicted of murdering unarmed Iraqis testified Thursday that he falsely implicated his platoon leader in one of the slayings so that he could get a lighter prison sentence. The startling testimony came at a military hearing to determine whether 2nd Lt. Erick J. Anderson should be court-martialed on murder charges.
Pvt. Michael Williams said, contrary to his earlier statements, that the Iraqi victim was already dead when Anderson arrived, and that Anderson never gave any order to kill him. "I just felt that pressure of getting a life sentence instead of 25 years," Williams said. "It's just a lot of my fear." On Wednesday, an Army investigator testified that Williams implicated his platoon leader only after his prison sentence was reduced to 25 years from life.
Williams' original statement led to murder charges being filed against Anderson in October. Anderson was charged with ordering Williams and a second soldier to kill Iraqi civilians while the platoon was conducting missions in August 2004 near Sadr City, outside Baghdad. Williams testified Thursday that after entering a house during a search, he and his team found an Iraqi man with an AK-47 rifle. Williams said he shot the man twice in the chest after the man reached for the gun.
Contradicting his own statements and those of other soldiers in the platoon, Williams said he fired a third shot at the Iraqi to make sure he was dead before Anderson arrived at the house. Prosecutors argue that after entering the house, Anderson told Williams the man was not dead yet and said to finish him off. Anderson's attorneys appeared stunned by the witness' new version of events. "We're going to shorten our case significantly," Neal Puckett, an attorney for Anderson, said outside the hearing.
In the separate incident, prosecutors allege Anderson ordered two sergeants to kill a wounded teenager during night operations near Sadr City. The two sergeants were convicted; they claimed it was a "mercy killing" authorized by Anderson.
Did they get their sentences reduced as well?
Posted by: Steve ||
11/17/2005 14:34 ||
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Baghdad, 17 Oct. (AKI) - The al-Qaeda in Iraq terror group has issued death threats against any residents from the Shiite town of al-Dujail, to the north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, who intend to testify against Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi newspaper al-Mada reports that a flyer signed by the terror group, which is led by the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was found on Wednesday morning inside the town's court.
The leaflet is addressed: "To the inhabitants of al-Dujail and to anyone who intends to testify in the trial of the president Saddam Hussein." It warns them that "they will receive what they do not want, and not only them, but also their families, so beware."
Saddam Hussein and his seven co-defendents are being tried for crimes carried out by government security forces in al-Dujail, in which more than 140 Shiites were killed in retaliation for an assassination attempt on Saddam Hussein as his motorcade passed through the town. If convicted on this first charge, the former dictator could face death by hanging and never be tried for the many other crimes he is accused of, which include the gassing of some 5,000 Kurds in Halabja in northern Iraq.
The second hearing in Saddam's trial is to be held in Baghdad on November 28 and several residents of the area are due to be called on to give evidence on the deaths of the 143 men. However, lawyers defending the deposed leader and officials from his Baath party, say they will boycott the hearing in protest at the lack of protection they have been given and the killings of two of their team after the first hearing in October.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/17/2005 13:28 ||
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#1
More like the Mafia every day. Maybe Omar Sharid can redeem himself by starring in the Arab remake as Sheik al-Corleone.
#4
If convicted on this first charge, the former dictator could face death by hanging and never be tried for the many other crimes he is accused of, which include the gassing of some 5,000 Kurds in Halabja in northern Iraq.
If Saddam goes to the gallows and isn't tried for previous or subsequent other crimes committed in his name, does it matter?
#5
Not at all BAR. Dead is dead. It's a good thing.
Posted by: Scott R ||
11/17/2005 18:32 Comments ||
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#6
They need to get this trial over and hang the guy for his murderous crimes. It is important to the nation of Iraq, but there are bigger fish to fry. Saddam has become a side show in the bigger picture.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/17/2005 22:00 Comments ||
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#7
I say kill the fucker and get it over with. This threat makes it even more essential. These people have suffered enough, drop Sadam now.
Posted by: Captain America ||
11/17/2005 23:07 Comments ||
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Sanaa, 17 Nov. (AKI) - Iraq has asked Yemen to extradite one of former dictator Saddam Hussein's nephews to face charges of "committing acts of terror" and presented a formal extradition request to Interpol. It is not known whether Omar Sabawi Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti is actually in Yemeni custody, but a statement issued by the US military said the authorities "fully expect Yemen's cooperation with Interpol in extraditing Omar Sabawi from Sanaa to Baghdad."
I read a "or else" in that
Omar, who is believed to be around 35, is the son of one of Saddam's half-brothers and is wanted in Iraq for funding and leading insurgent groups, especially around the northern city of Mosul. "His efforts resulted in many deaths, injuries and destruction of property," the statement said, adding that several other members of the same family were already in custody for backing "terrorist activities".
Last month, one of Omar's brothers, Yassir Sabawi Ibrahim, was captured in Baghdad, accused of being one of the main financiers for the insurgency activities. Following his arrest, the Iraqi interior minister Bayan Jabr said Yassir had told interrogators he had been receiving money from someone "from the family of Saddam" living in "other Arab countries" to deliver to insurgents in Iraq.
In September, another of the brothers, Ayman, was given a life sentence on charges of helping fund the insurgency and bomb-making. Their father was caught in Syria and handed over to the Iraqi authorities in July, the same month as the US Treasury blocked the assets of all six of his sons, "based on information that the men have been providing financial and tactical support to insurgents attacking coalition forces and Iraqi civilians."
Last month, a Yemeni businessman accused of murdering another of Saddam Hussein's relatives in February this year was freed after one million dollars in blood money was paid out to the victim's family. Ali Ahmad Hassan al-Majeed, nephew of Ali Hassan al-Majeed - another of Saddam's half brothers, and better known as Chemical Ali - was shot dead at a Chinese restaurant in the Yemeni capital Sanaa after a heated argument with a businessman over the former Iraqi dictator.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/17/2005 13:05 ||
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efl - long article has a lot of inside baseball in it ---
.... the death of the two [Bashir Nafeh, commander of the Palestinian special forces and Abed Allun liaison between 3 sets of security forces], who in recent years were considered close allies, caused a sigh of relief among most of the heads of the West Bank security services.
Nafeh and the apparatus that he headed - which American and British organizations generously supported, mainly with equipment - caused a serious headache both for Nasser Yousef, the Palestinian Authority interior minister... and for PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). It is a well-known fact in the West Bank that the vast majority of the incidents that create the chaotic security situation in the territories originate with the security forces themselves, and with the power struggles among their leaders. Nafeh played a significant role in this. His men, about 1,000 policemen in the West Bank, were involved this year in dozens of serious gunbattles with PSS policemen as well as members of other security forces. Policemen from both sides were killed and injured.
#1
whats not clear is if Dahlan is still with Abbas and Yousef, or if hes was going back to Nafeh. Also not clear if the Israelis were playing Nafeh against Abbas.
#2
Also, I'm pretty sure that Al Q wasn't specifically gunning for Palestinians but they should have known that not just Jordanian but also PA big shots used the hotel for ceremonial and cash transaction meetings. And while Zarqawi has a personnal grudge against Jordanian officials, he has never said a harsh word about the PA.
So, was this just an intel failure on Zarqawi's part or has he developed a grudge against the PA or has he decided that Al Q should replace the PA?
#3
So, was this just an intel failure on Zarqawi's part or has he developed a grudge against the PA or has he decided that Al Q should replace the PA?
MHV...I think you missed Zarqawi's post attack statement where he explains about the mutlitude of inelligence agencies working for the infidel (US) and the list included the Palestinians. Secondly, I think you also missed Zawahiri's last letter and his book Knight's Under the Prophet's banner. In his letter, he casually mentions the Palestinians and then says they have the right struggle but are misled about the religious nature of the war. In his book, however, he was very negative about the secular nature of the Palestinian movement and actually said they were allied with the devil. He thinks that the war against Israel would be won if they used "purely islamic" slogans.
So, this is not about Zarqawi suddenly getting a bug up his butt and accidentaly blowing up some Palestinians. Aq wants to operate in the territories. They want to glom on to that cause (since it is the most polarizing in the ME). The security forces are very entrenched there and have informers all over the place. They also work with the Israelis and Jordanians, which ZARQ is correct about. The PA doesn't want Islamists in there any more than we do, but they'll use them however they can. However, AQ comes in, the PA might as well kiss their collective humps good bye.
So, I disagree and believe that, far from an accident, it was a deliberate targeting of the PA authorities there and probably included intelligence from some one inside the PA.
#5
Mazen repeated the familiar formula about his desire to have "one authority, one law, one gun," and pointedly ignored the reporters' questions.
It's the usual issue of disparity between what is said and what is actually meant. When Abbas says, "one authority, one law, one gun", what is really meant is, "The Koran, Sharia Law and the AK-47." The only problem is, everybody has their own version and each of them uses it for their own ends.
However fearful the prospect of al Qaeda's venturing into the Palestinian Terrortories might be, it's still rather gratifying to see the PA get their lunch eaten for them by an organization that is truly set on getting results. The Palestinian Authority has wallowed in a morass of bloodletting (Israel's and their own) for so long that I almost welcome al Qaeda entering the scene so that we have a consistent enemy to deal with. Abbas' days are numbered.
#6
If I read you correct you are assuming that Zarqawi's agenda is essentially the same as Zawahiri's.
I don't buy that
MHV..yes, that is what I'm saying. Their motivations and tactics might be different, but the goals are the same. of course we know that the largest goal is caliphate. the second goal is polarization of the Muslim Umma. the fourth is to obtain a base or emirate to establish and work out from.
In the case of the Palestine/israel issue, you can't really ignore the intersection of goals or that it is the most polarizing subject in the ME.
Secondly, you would have to know a few things about Zarqawi. he was born in Jordan, but he calls himself "Palestinian". Not because he was born in the territories, but because to hardcore Islamists, not only should Israel not exist, but neither should Jordan. These two lands, plus Lebanon and part of current day Syria was the historical Palestine during the ottoman empire and previous caliphates. You might recall that Arafat tried to lead a revolt in Jordan in the 1960's, but was put down by the king with the help of the bedouin army. That was no little tiff, but an issue that, if ever Israel was "wiped off the map", Jordan would be next. Not only because of its secular western leaning government, but because of the historical Palestinian borders.
Finally, both Zawahiri and Zarqawi have no love lost for the PA that sprang from the secular PLO. Zawahiri because it wasn't Islamic enough and Zarqawi because he thinks they were corrupt (rightly so) and sold their birth right for money from the west.
#7
I think Zman's affiliation with Palestinians preceded, and is much deeper, than Zawahiri's use of them to rouse the Arab rabble after the post 9/11 Afghan rout. Zman supposedly got Salafism during the second half of the 1980's at Palestinian refugee camps. In addition, like Kat says, though his family is from the east side of the Jordan river and is fairly prominent in Zarqa (father was a muktar), he calls himself a "Palestinian". Zarqa is also one the major refugee camps from the 1948 partition and war, radical, and absorbed many deported Saddam loving expats after the 1991 Kuwait war.
In addition, AQ has been muscling into Palestinian controlled territory with Syrian help, using the Ein al-Hilweh as the base. So I have no problem suspecting Zarq's group wanting to eliminate their competition and saw this highly prominent wedding as a perfect opportunity to take out a lot of high level Palestinian and Jordanian security officials.
Posted by: ed ||
11/17/2005 18:30 Comments ||
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Seven men standing trial accused of recruiting militants to fight US forces in Iraq pleaded not guilty to all charges on Wednesday. The defendants told the military tribunal at the State Security Court (SSC) that they had no intention of fighting in Iraq and that âtheir confessions were extracted under duress.â
The men, aged 23 to 33, are accused of recruiting militants in Jordan and sending them to Syria, where an individual identified as Abu Janna allegedly provided them with military training. According to the charge sheet, Abu Janna then helped the recruits infiltrate into Iraq âto fight American forces and Iraqi policemen.â
In a second terror-related trial at the SSC on Wednesday, five relatives of Jordanian men charged with plotting attacks against hotels, tourists and General Intelligence Department (GID) officers in 2005, testified under oath to seeing torture marks on the defendants' bodies. The defendants were identified by the prosecution as Osama Abu Hazeem, 23, Hatem Ensour, 20, Mohammad Arabiat, 24, and Yazan Haliq, 24. The fifth, Mohammad Qteishat, remains at large and will be tried in absentia. The men are charged with conspiracy to carry out terrorist attacks and possession of illegal explosives with illicit intent.
The prosecution alleges that in 1999 Haliq travelled to Syria to study and later befriended a 24-year-old Jordanian man by the name of Al Miqdad Dabbas in 2001. According to the charge sheet, Dabbas introduced Haliq to people who would help him cross into Iraq to fight. Dabbas was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison in March 2005 by the SSC for plotting subversive acts against Jordanian targets in Iraq with Jordanian fugitive Abu Mussab Zarqawi.
According to the charge sheet, Abu Hazeem travelled to Syria in 2003 and met with Dabbas, who provided him with the e-mail address of a person who would facilitate his entry into Iraq. Abu Hazeem returned to Jordan and asked Ensour and Arabiat to join them. Ensour then entered Iraq in mid-2003 and met with Qteishat. The two men then underwent weapons and explosives training, the charge sheet said. In September 2004, Abu Hazeem again travelled to Syria and received training in explosives, before returning to the Kingdom the same month with detonators, according to the prosecution. The charge sheet said that Haliq travelled to Lebanon in January 2005 where he received training in weapons and explosives before returning to the Kingdom. The group then decided to target three luxury hotels in the Kingdom frequented by tourists and GID officers, but the four men were arrested in February 2005 before carrying out the alleged plans, it said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/17/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Unfortunate for them that the trial occurs now - after a general loss of Jordanian sense of humor at terror attacks...
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/17/2005 0:13 Comments ||
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A MASKED man believed to be one of Asia's most wanted militants has warned Western countries, especially Australia, of more attacks in a video found last week by Indonesian anti-terrorist police. The video was broadcast on Metro TV today.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla, quoted by the Kompas newspaper, said he believed the militant on the tape was Malaysian Noordin Top, a senior operative of Jemaah Islamiah, a Southeast Asian group seen as the regional arm of al-Qaeda. "We repeat that America, Australia, England and Italy are all our enemies," said the militant, wearing a black balaclava and constantly pointing his right finger in the air.
"We especially remind Australia that you, Downer and Howard, are killing Australia, leading it into darkness and misfortune and mujahedeen terror," he said, referring to Prime Minister John Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. "Know that as long as you (all) continue to colonise the land of Iraq and Afghanistan and intimidate Muslims then you too will feel our intimidation and terror."
The video marks the first time militant threats have been made on tapes found in the world's most populous Muslim nation, a practise common among radicals in the Middle East.
The militant also warned anyone who supported US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. "We remind that those who support Bush and Blair are also our enemies. The infidel rulers, the apostate rulers, those who oppress Muslims and victimise ulamas, the mujahedeen, they are our enemies too. The ones we target in our attacks," he said.
The video was among several found by police last week as part of a series of raids that resulted in the killing of Azahari bin Husin, the master bombmaker of Jemaah Islamiah. While Malaysian Azahari was the bombmaker, police say Top is an expert in recruiting suicide bombers in Indonesia.
The video also showed three young suicide bombers who killed 20 people in attacks on restaurants on the resort island of Bali on October 1. On the tape, one of the three said they would be in heaven once the tape was aired. Police had previously said the videos contained the three suicide bombers, but they had not mentioned the masked militant.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/17/2005 00:05 ||
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#1
ZORRO???? What was he doing wearing baklava????
A masked terrorist, suspected to be Noordin M. Top, has issued a warning of more bomb attacks against Western targets in Indonesia, according to a taped recording released to the public at the Vice Presidential office on Wednesday. The recording aired by TVRI in the evening showed the statement of intent by three suicide bombers, who blew themselves up and killed 20 other innocent people in Bali on Oct. 1. The three believed that they would go directly to heaven when after committed suicide, which has been challenged by a number of clerics who attended the release of the recording at the Vice President's office.
Unlike the three bombers who exposed their faces, the last person in the recording appeared with mask and warned that their group would not stop the attacks. He especially singled out the interests of the United States, Britain, Australia and Italy as potential targets. The recording was found in the rented house in Batu, East Java where bomber Azahari bin Husin was gunned down by police.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/17/2005 00:00 ||
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Police on Wednesday said they had moved three suspected militants to Bali for questioning over a series of suicide bomb attacks that rocked the resort island last month. "They just arrived here from Semarang and will be questioned in Bali over the October 1 bombings," said Bali police spokesman AS Reniban after the men were flown in from the Central Java capital.
The three suspects were identified as Cholily alias Yahya alias Hasan, Anif alias Pendek, and Abdul Aziz. Cholily, who was arrested in Semarang on Nov. 9, was a disciple of slain Malaysian bomb expert Azahari Husin, who had allegedly told him to deliver explosives to another Malaysian extremist, Noordin Mohammed Top. The arrest of Cholily led to the police raid a week ago on the East Java hideout of Azahari, who was shot dead along with an accomplice. There were no immediate details on the two other detainees, Anif and Aziz, who were believed to have been arrested in Semarang on the same day as Cholily.
Meanwhile, National Police Chief Gen. Sutanto said that police would allow Azahari's relatives to see his body, currently being kept at a police hospital here, and to take it home to Malaysia. "We will allow them to see it later. And if later they want to take it, (they should) feel free," Sutanto told journalists at police headquarters. There was no immediate information on when the relatives, a younger brother and an in-law who have been in Jakarta since Sunday, could visit the police hospital morgue.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/17/2005 00:00 ||
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Extremist guerrillas yesterday attacked civilian targets in Jolo, sparking fresh clashes that ended with troops capturing another rebel encampment, officials said. Field reports from the police and military said the Abu Sayyaf militants, backed by Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) rebels, fired a barrage of mortar bombs on the village of Siit in Panamao town, but there were no reports of casualties. It was the second time this week that gunmen attacked the village, where troops maintain several command posts.
Security forces also captured yesterday a major Abu Sayyaf base in Mt. Purot in Indanan town and destroyed many bunkers and fox holes. Soldiers also recovered spent shells for mortars and ammunition for automatic rifles, said the reports reaching the militaryâs Southern Command here in Zamboanga City. It was the 3rd camp soldiers have overrun since fighting broke out on Friday in Jolo. Two other bases were captured in Buanza village and in Mt. Kapok, all in Indanan town, a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf on the island. âAbu Sayyaf supporters fired a series of mortar rounds in the village of Siit and its good that no civilians were killed or injured,â Southern Command spokesman Col. Domingo Tutaan said by phone from Jolo.
Tutaan was with Southern Command chief Lt. Gen. Edilberto Adan, who flew to Jolo to inspect troops. He also spoke with senior commanders about the progress of the operation. He ordered an intensified campaign against the Abu Sayyaf and their supporters. Four soldiers were killed and 22 others wounded since last week and dozens of Abu Sayyaf and MNLF rebels were also slain in the clashes. Heavy rains the past 2 days have slowed down the military assault in Jolo. The islandâs military commander, Brig. Gen. Alexander Aleo, accused the MNLF of aiding the Abu Sayyaf and in many instances fought alongside with them. âThe operation is going on and fighting has resumed,â he said.
Aleo said his group is pursuing Abu Sayyaf leaders in Jolo island, Albader Parad and Radulan Sahiron, and Umbra Jumdail Gumbahali, who are all included in the terror lists of Washington and Manila. Social Welfare acting chief Lualhati Pablo said Tuesday that some 900 people have fled their homes in Buanza village and are now sheltered in safer areas in Indanan. Other reports said as many as 2,500 civilians were displaced by the strife.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/17/2005 00:00 ||
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Beirut, 17 Nov. (AKI) - Palestinians from refugee camps in Lebanon, as well as some Lebanese nationals are infiltrating Iraq to join the ranks of pro al-Qaeda groups fighting against the Iraqi government and its US-led military backers, a Lebanese newspaper alleged on Thursday. The Beirut-based Daily Star published an interview with a spokesman from Esbat al-Ansar (League of Followers) which the newspaper describes as an armed group following the "Salafist approach of al-Qaeda".
"A group of very well trained mujahadeen from Esbat al-Ansar managed to get to Iraq and carried out several attacks against the Crusaders' forces and did very well," the spokesman, Abu Sharif, a resident of the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp, was quoted as saying.
Sharif said that two of the group's "martyrs", Ahmad Yassin and Saleh Shayeb, both Palestinians, were killed in Iraq last week while another two, Palestinian Nidal Mustafa and Mohammad al-Kurdi, a Lebanese national, were killed on Tuesday. "Our only comfort in the martyrs is that they killed and wounded the enemies of God," the Daily Star quoted Mustafa's father as saying. The man was not identified by name in the report.
Sharif said that the "duty" of devout Muslims is to help any Muslim country that is invaded "by enemies of our religion" who desecrate Islam's holy scriptures "by tearing them and stamping on them". "For all those reasons, a group of mujahadeen form the Esbat al-Ansar group went to wage jihad in Iraq after they were unable to do so in Palestine," Sharif was quoted as saying. The spokesman refused to say how many of the group's members have left Lebanon for Iraq, nor did he provide any details on how they got there.
While there have been several reports in the Lebanese media of people leaving the country to fight in Iraq, some analysts dispute that this is being organised by Palestinian groups.
"It is not true that Esbat al-Ansar is an armed group of Salafist tendencies close to the al-Qaeda network, like many in the media claim," says Zouhair Hawari, an expert in extremist Islamic groups in Lebanon at the Lebanese University in Beirut. "Instead Esbat al-Ansar is a group formed in recent years by Syria's secret service agents based in Lebanon and its members are Lebanese nationals from Dinniye, a northern Lebanese town near the city of Tripoli. They have nothing to do with the Ain al-Hilwe refugee camp," Hawari told Adnkronos International (AKI).
"Often, they are trained, equipped with weapons, disguised as "Salafists" and ordered to provoke chaos in the refugee camps as well as undertake missions abroad," Hawari explained.
Still, reports of an involvement by Palestinian refugees in the violence in Iraq, are set to further complicate the issue of their status in Lebanon. According to UN figures Palestinian refugees in Lebanon number 394,532, or an estimated 10 per cent of the total population. Considered foreigners, Palestinian refugees are prohibited by law from working in more than 70 trades and professions. This has led to a very high rate of unemployment amongst the refugee population, with the camps seen as a hotbed of extremism and lawlessness.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/17/2005 13:25 ||
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#1
So when are you saddling up, Abu? Or is martyrdom for the "little people"?
#2
"It is not true that Esbat al-Ansar is an armed group of Salafist tendencies close to the al-Qaeda network, like many in the media claim," says Zouhair Hawari, an expert in extremist Islamic groups in Lebanon at the Lebanese University in Beirut. "Instead Esbat al-Ansar is a group formed in recent years by Syria's secret service agents based in Lebanon and its members are Lebanese nationals from Dinniye, a northern Lebanese town near the city of Tripoli. They have nothing to do with the Ain al-Hilwe refugee camp," Hawari told Adnkronos International (AKI).
#4
Considered foreigners, Palestinian refugees are prohibited by law from working in more than 70 trades and professions.
That's insane. And medieval. Is one of those trades usury? The Palestinians really are surrogate Jews.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/17/2005 14:31 Comments ||
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#5
No...old Abu is big pussy. He'd rather send boys to do what he doesn't have the cajones to do. I guess allan has given him higher orders cuz he is more important.
Posted by: Bob Woodward ||
11/17/2005 15:16 Comments ||
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#6
The Palestinians really are surrogate Jews.
Mitch H, exactly what is it that you are implying?
Posted by: Scott R ||
11/17/2005 18:28 Comments ||
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#7
That's insane. And medieval. Is one of those trades usury? The Palestinians really are surrogate Jews.
The Lebanese, by and large, are shit upon by the Syrians; the Palestinian refugees there are shit upon, at least as far as having a normal life with a productive job and the like, are shit upon by both Syria and Lebanon. All the groups are told that "as soon as Israel 'goes away' you can have a normal life back!" The ones who believe it can become pro-syrian hard boyz and have an outlet for their beliefs. The ones who don't believe it... well, there's no organized militia for _them_ to join, and they remember that what Syria does to its enemies is a lot worse than what Israel does to theirs, so they keep their mouth shut and wound up stuck in the camps with no prospects but being manual labor. And have yet another generation, who may be more likely to believe the Syrians.
Iran has begun processing a new batch of uranium at its Isfahan nuclear plant, diplomats close to the United Nationâs nuclear watchdog have said. The news comes despite mounting pressure from the United States and European governments for Iran to halt all sensitive nuclear work. "The first drums of new uranium ore were fed into the process at the uranium conversion facility in Isfahan this morning," one unnamed diplomat, who is close to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told AFP in Vienna on Wednesday.
With uranium conversion resuming at the controversial plant, a statement from the European Union warned that Tehran was at a crucial juncture in its international relations. "The world is watching," said British Europe minister Douglas Alexander, representing the current British presidency of the EU at a debate on Iran at the European Parliament. "Iran must provide objective guarantees that its nuclear program is for solely peaceful purposes,â he said. He added that the EU was consulting with other countries including the US, Russia, China, India and South Africa "about the next steps".
On 24 November the board of the IAEA is scheduled to meet on calls to refer Tehran to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions over its nuclear programme. Iran had notified the IAEA in late October that it intended to process a new batch of uranium but no date was given.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/17/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
You kwazy Mullahs! Of course we believe you only want nuclear technology for peaceful purposes - particularly for electrical generation. But why are youze guyz in such a hurry? You have, by several estimates, more than 50 years worth of proven petroleum reserves - and another 50 or more in potential reserves. One would think you'd indulge your peaceful nature and stop to smell the flowers while this international brouhaha thingy wears itself out.
There's no hurry, friends. Sit back, kick your curly-toed slippers off, loosen your turbans, and take a deep breath. Life is short, y'know? You'll see Allan soon enough. Peace, my brothers.
#2
I'd like to see a covert destruction of the very substantial assets the MM's have built up (Allan be praised for his generosity), including all their homes, owned companies, vehicles, concubines, etc. The targets are so plenty, and they can't defend them all. Start a reign of terror among the terror-spreaders.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/17/2005 0:28 Comments ||
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#3
I'm no fan of Iran's nuke program but we've got to stop relying on the argument that they have oil so don't need nuclear generating capacity. There is still a potential business case for a nuke plant when you have a growing industrializing country and you can sell the oil for $60 a barrel. If they had lots of coal this argument would make some sense and surely they should be using natural gas more.
The mullahs should not have nukes because they're crazy. That they have oil is not really relevant. Krazy Kimmie should not have nuke capacity either and his country is devoid of energy resources.
#4
Um, not relevant? Heh. That they have the incredible oil reserves and current capacity for retrieval and refining, at the price differential between market and cost of retrieval, etc, is what allows the mooks to shop for nuke tech and missile delivery components. That they are in such a hurry, given the reserves, makes a mockery of the entire Mullah position, as well, as I pointed out. So, um, yeah, I'm thinking it's relevant. Can't a guy have a little fun at the expense of such obvious asstards without getting whacked? Sheesh, lol.
My point is that, since our side has to debate credulous morons within our democracy in order to sell our aggressive policy, it's best to use strong arguements.
If Switzerland had as much oil and population growth as Iran, nobody would question them pursuing nuke generating capacity. The Norks badly need nuke power and have no oil yet we still justly seek to interfere with their program because they are also nuts.
#7
Iran has huge oil reserves. They have plenty of gas to generate electricity. They put no funding into their infrastructure, witness the Bam Slam during an earthquake. Now they are into nukes. Their priorities are screwed up, and they have made threats of annhilation against the US and Israel. The MMs are actively involved in terrorism in Iraq and they are enabling Syrian dirty business. They need to be shut down or forced to pay the price for their mayhem.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/17/2005 11:42 Comments ||
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#8
Iran Nuclear Plan 'Resumes Work'
Yeah, and I'm sure we'll be (or Israel) resuming "work" too soon, eh?
Posted by: BA ||
11/17/2005 11:46 Comments ||
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#9
"The world is watching," said British Europe minister Douglas Alexander, representing the current British presidency of the EU at a debate on Iran at the European Parliament.
"Watching" doesn't mean diddly squat without any promise of swift and severe retribution in the event that a clandestine weapons program is uncovered.
#10
AP says even the Russians are pissed this time, though they wont go on record. The Iranians made this announcement days after the Russkies promised the Euros that Iran was cooperating, making the Russkies look pretty foolish. Hints that the Russkies might support a UNSC referral.
#11
on the economics question - the Iranians have not only oil, but natural gas in large quantities. Natural Gas is difficult and costly to transport, and if they foresee an energy crisis at home they should be focusing on using NG. Perhaps you can still make a cost benefit case for nuclear power, but its hard to see that its worth the turmoil they have created if all they want is a power source - especially since they could avoid most of the turmoil by not insisting on conversion.
#14
Anyone have the skinny on how the Iranian's Uranium Hexafluoride gas has proven to be of bad quality (low purity and contaminants)? This cropped up in an article I read somewhere.
Most of all, will such contamination disable their centrifuges or lead to large batches of useless material? We can only hope.
Additionally, Frank's idea has a lot of merit. It's rather obvious that the mullahs do not lead anything approximating the austere and ascetic dogma they preach.
A relentless campaign of sabotage, financial interference and general mayhem with a tight focus on their elite circles might have a rather dissuasive effect. These hypocritical tyrants would get their turbans torqued if someone began to piss in their mint tea with alarming regularity.
As to the oil reserves issue. The solution is the same that should be offered to North Korea. Thorium reactor technology to generate all the electrical power they want without breeding up an atom of fissile material. Any other reactor technology should be bombed back to the stone age and have its rubble bounced once or thrice just to be sure.
The world of bin Laden: no drinks, no gambling, no pictures of women
Osama bin Laden wants the United States to convert to Islam, ditch its constitution, abolish banks, jail homosexuals and sign the Kyoto climate change treaty.
And of course Kyoto is the most important item on the list to Binnie.
The first complete collection of the Saudi's statements published today portrays a world in which Islam's enemies will take the first steps towards salvation by embracing the "religion of all the Prophets".
Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden is billed as the first accurate compendium of the terrorist leader's words, threats and ruminations from 1994 to 2004. Its editors have rooted out many statements which they identified as forgeries and retranslated to correct "horrendous" errors.
His terms for America's surrender appeared after the September 2001 suicide attacks and include demands that amount to the abandonment of much of western life.
Alcohol and gambling would be barred and there would be an end to women's photos in newspapers or advertising. Any woman serving "passengers, visitors and strangers", presumably anyone from air stewardesses to waitresses, would also be out of a job.
The West must "stop your oppression, lies, immorality and debauchery that has spread among you" and has become the "worst civilisation witnessed in the history of mankind".
The publisher Verso said it expected criticism for releasing the thoughts of a terrorist but denied that the volume would be the jihadis' equivalent of Mein Kampf.
"No, no, certainly not!"
According to Gavin Browning at Verso, disapproval "is something that we're anticipating". "The idea is to have an annotated, scholarly collection of bin Laden's words," he added. "Until now, his words have only been available in poor translations or soundbites." Mr Browning emphasised that publishing his views did not imply any approval of them by the publishers.
The book's introduction is written by Prof Bruce Lawrence who teaches Islamic studies at Duke University, North Carolina and describes the terrorist as "one of the best prose writers in Arabic". Many past translations of the words of the head of al-Qa'eda have been "horrendous" and often wrong, he said.
In the book the terrorist responsible for the deaths of 3,000 civilians in September 2001 says that killing the innocent is wrong. In bin Laden's world a global conflict is under way between the umma, or Muslim community, and unbelievers.
Explains REAL reasons behind Binny and the Boyz's angst
Posted by: The Happy Fliegerabwehrkanonen ||
11/17/2005 10:10 ||
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#1
In the book the terrorist responsible for the deaths of 3,000 civilians in September 2001 says that killing the innocent is wrong.
My head would be spinning if that had come from anyone but an adherent of the Religion of Peace.
Posted by: ed ||
11/17/2005 10:29 Comments ||
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#2
Praise bin Laden! I can keep my hash, heroin, goats and camels.
Posted by: Al Kaboomi ||
11/17/2005 10:31 Comments ||
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No sex, no drugs, no wine, no women
No fun, no sin, no you, no wonder it's dark
#8
In the book the terrorist responsible for the deaths of 3,000 civilians in September 2001 says that killing the innocent is wrong.
My head would be spinning if that had come from anyone but an adherent of the Religion of Peace.
Innocent == Muslim.
Not Muslim == Not Innocent.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/17/2005 11:19 Comments ||
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#9
Shouldn't OBL get some of the royalties on this book?
#10
#8 Ironically, muslims kill a lot more muslims than they kill other people so muslims are not innocent either. More like selected muslims.
As far as binny saying we are the worst civilization ever. I think that is a classic case of projection.
Posted by: Ol Dirty American ||
11/17/2005 12:58 Comments ||
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#11
As far as binny saying we are the worst civilization ever. I think that is a classic case of projection.
It is like the old Freudian saying goes, what you hate the most in others you hate the most in yourself. :D
Posted by: Walter Pincus ||
11/17/2005 13:03 Comments ||
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#12
Well, look what we are demanding that Binny and his boyz do:
1) Act civilized. This is the 21st Century, not the 5th.
2) Stop murdering, maiming and harming others in the belief that God wants you to do that. He doesn't. He despises your actions, based on what He has directed George Bush to do to you, *and* He favors George Bush for doing it to you. That is why you ALWAYS lose and Bush ALWAYS wins. Get some pattern recognition, will ya?
3) Treat all others with respect and dignity. This includes women, children, religious and ethnic minorities, people with different beliefs and opinions, and even those who don't *like* you or your ideas.
4) Only present your religion to those who ask you about it first. If they don't ask, you have no business forcing your religion on them, any more than they have of forcing their religion on you. Your greatest right is to be ignored. Your greatest responsibility is to ignore others.
5) The civil law is the only legitimate law. Sharia is only between Moslems who agree on its use to mediate a dispute between only them.
#14
I think its a good thing this book was published. I think it would do the lefty gays and feminists some good to see there part in Al Queda's game plan. Some may claim Bush is anti-Gay but he's never suggested toppling walls onto gays. Some may claim he is anti-woman because his pro-life stance but he's never suggested they be chattel.
November 17, 2005: Somalia, and the piracy off its coast, is becoming a security problem that cannot be ignored. Five ships have been attacked in the last two weeks. As many as three pirate gangs have been operating off the coast, and have attacked ships as far as 400 kilometers out to sea. So far this year, over 30 ships have been attacked. Unlike pirates in other parts of the world, who just rob the crew and escape with whatever they can carry, the Somali pirates capture ships and hold them for ransom. Currently, six ships are being held. Because several attacks, by speed boats full of gunmen, have taken place several hundred kilometers from shore, it is believed that at least one pirate gang has a larger ship, that speed boats are launched from. A larger ship, believed to be the pirate vessel, was spotted drifting off the coast three times over the Summer.
Itâs also believed that the pirates have maritime radios, so that they can listen in to ships in the area, and plan attacks based on where these ships are expected to be. Kenya, whose economy depends on cargo vessels moving north, past Somalia, is calling for an international task force to patrol the Somali coast, and clear out the pirates. The U.S., Germany and France already have warships north of Somalia, guarding the Djibouti coast and the Gulf of Aden. So far, no nation has offered to go after the Somali pirates. Meanwhile, merchant shipping has been warned to stay at least 400 kilometers from the Somali coast. But foreign fishing ships are reluctant to give up working the waters off Somali. So the pirates still have a reason to prowl the coast.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/17/2005 09:20 ||
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#1
I believe I saw yesterday an announcement of US fleet deployments being altered to address this issue.
#2
Because several attacks, by speed boats full of gunmen, have taken place several hundred kilometers from shore, it is believed that at least one pirate gang has a larger ship, that speed boats are launched from. A larger ship, believed to be the pirate vessel, was spotted drifting off the coast three times over the Summer.
Wow!! Waterworld!!! This could be a means of serious maritime suicide attacks in most harbors. Think of all the tankers, many with dangerous chemicals, just sitting there. What type of ship could hold speedboats that could launch easily? I hope a fleet is sent to investigate as I think all this activity could be all be al Qaeda training for a major attack.
#6
Waterworld? An apocalyptic view of a world gone mad. And wet. A cult classic. Available on DVD and VHS. Or buy my other apocalyptic view of a world gone mad, "The Postman". Available on DVD and VHS. Buy them both. Makes a great Christmas gift. Order now and avoid the rush...
Posted by: Kevin Costner ||
11/17/2005 11:26 Comments ||
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#10
Shipman: nah, "The Postman" was a great novella. It made a kind of uneven novel.
I've always thought that Brin was better in the short forms. "Detrius Affected" and "A Stage of Memory" are goddamned beautiful. His novels - even the best of them - are kind of rambling and pulpy.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/17/2005 11:42 Comments ||
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#11
These pirate mutts are about to learn the harsh reality of what happens when you become too big and bold - life will be "poor, nasty, brutish, and short". Live fast, die young. Enjoy the swim, boys.
A recent letter attributed by the United States to top al Qaeda official Ayman al-Zawahri is a fresh sign the militant network is facing financial troubles, a senior U.S. Treasury official said on Wednesday. "There's ... a passage in there where Zawahri says to Zarqawi: I'm out of money. Send me money. I don't have any money," said Stuart Levey, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, referring to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq.
"I'm a glass-half-full kind of guy, so I look at that as a good thing. Zawahri's out of money. Glass-half-empty people would say, well, he thinks Zarqawi has got so much money he's got it to spare," he said in a speech at the Heritage Foundation think tank.
U.S. intelligence officials released the purported letter from Zawahri to Zarqawi last month, but al Qaeda's wing in Iraq rejected it as a fabrication. The letter has Zawahri telling Zarqawi: "We need a payment while new (financial supply) lines are being opened. So, if you are capable of sending a payment of approximately one hundred thousand (dollars), we'll be very grateful to you."
U.S security officials have repeatedly said they are confident of the letter's authenticity, but some U.S. terrorism experts say its style and some of the content -- including the request for money -- made them concerned it might be a fake. Levey said while he could not reveal specifics, there was other anecdotal evidence that tough measures to curb terrorism funding had put the screws on al Qaeda as well as Palestinian militant group Hamas over the past few months. The undersecretary said in May that al Qaeda and Hamas were having difficulties collecting, transferring and storing funds. Hamas has told Reuters it has been hit hard by a drop in revenue following a Saudi crackdown on the abuse of charities and other avenues of financing. "Anecdotally what we're seeing is that we are having a real impact on al Qaeda and Hamas, both in terms of putting pressure on them financially but also in terms of creating deterrents both for donors to give money to them and how they're able to move money," Levey said in the Wednesday speech.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/17/2005 00:07 ||
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#1
tell me about it!
Posted by: George Galloway ||
11/17/2005 0:28 Comments ||
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#3
Hurting for cash? No problemo, just place a simple phone call to Euro-trash Left and the Soddy Arabian palaces, and the money will be flowing into Al-Qaeda's coffers in no time!
#6
How about a bake sale? But be careful with the TNT chip cookies.
Posted by: ed ||
11/17/2005 9:47 Comments ||
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#7
Sounds like a hand-mailed Nigerian scam to me. "Dear sir or Madamms, please to send me one hundred thuosand dolars while my suply lines are opended, and keep 10% as a token of my gratitude. May god bless yuo."
#8
Well, this is good news, except for the fact that we still have Saudi princes as well as Iran providing resources for terrorism and murder. We still have financiers to flush down the commode to dry up the terrorism.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/17/2005 11:46 Comments ||
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#9
I'd wager Al Q's not going broke, its just not getting the charitable donations from SA like before. Al Q's now relying on its earned income strategies to support its operations. In such situations cash flow may be tight, but assets are still handy, just not liquid.
Old al Zawahiri's probably sleeping on a mountain of heroin, but isn't patient enough to wait for it to turn into liquid cash, now that being said, maybe the money is harder to move around, but I'm betting they are finding ways to do it.
LADAH: The political administration of South Waziristan Agency launched an operation against four sub-clans of the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe on Wednesday. The administration arrested dozens of tribesmen including tribal elders, took back incentives, sealed the clansâ business centres and suspended their transport. The operation was conducted against the Khunai Khel, Fojal Khel, Shodarkai and Sparkai tribes under the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR).
All check posts in the area were directed to stay alert, while mobile teams raided tribesmenâs hideouts in Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan. Wanaâs Assistant Political Agent Naveed Arshad said that the operation had been launched to arrest terrorists operating from the Shakai area who had recently destroyed army vehicles with a remote control bomb, killing and injuring several soldiers.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/17/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
A region supposedly in ruins due to an impromptu lithic realignment and the Wazibillies are still bitch-fighting. Hapless f*ckwits the lot of 'em.
They just beat us at cricket tho' - harumph.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
11/17/2005 4:00 Comments ||
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QUETTA: Law enforcement agencies have arrested two men suspected of firing rockets at a camp of Chinese engineers in Gwadar. Reportedly, rockets were fired at the engineers' camp and a petrol pump. The visiting engineers are working on a project in Gwadar. Further investigation was underway.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/17/2005 00:00 ||
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The Khan of Kalat did not want to join Pakistan. The Pakistani army forced him to sign the instrument of accession. There was a revolt in the 1970s that was brutally suppressed with tens of thousands of dead.
I would not be surprised if there is covert Indian assistance to these fighters.
Posted by: john ||
11/17/2005 9:53 Comments ||
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Four people were killed and 45 wounded when a powerful car bomb triggered by Islamic militants ripped through a busy intersection in Srinagar on Wednesday, police said. The morning rush-hour blast, which left people bleeding on the road and turned vehicles into twisted wrecks, was the third attack in three days by militants. âThere has been a massive car bomb explosion,â said a senior state police official. âFour people have died and 45 people are injured.â
A little-known group, Al Arifeen, claimed responsibility for the explosion in a telephone call to the Kashmir News Service. Police said that it was a front for the banned group Lashkar-e-Taiba. The blast, so strong that it was heard several kilometres away, was at an intersection close to Dal Lake, a tourist attraction, and near the offices of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank. The explosion blew out the bankâs windows and many of the wounded were bank employees. Ambulances rushed to the blood-spattered site, a scene of chaos with some victims trapped in cars while others lay screaming on the road.
Police officer HK Lohia said that the militants parked the explosives-packed car before it exploded. A preliminary inquiry showed that âthe driver of the vehicle escaped the scene before triggering the explosion,â he said. A former state government minister, Usman Majid, a one-time militant who suffered minor facial injuries in the blast, said that he believed himself to have been the target of the bombing.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/17/2005 00:00 ||
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A man has been arrested for Tuesdayâs car bombing in Karachi, President General Pervez Musharraf said on Wednesday. âThe man who did it, we have arrested him,â Gen Musharraf told reporters. âWe are trying to get more, who he is representing really, what was his motivation.â He said others had also been detained, in Quetta. Police said they included Baloch tribal separatists. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid confirmed the arrest and told AFP detectives were still âafter the mastermindâ. âThe investigators are looking into all aspects, including involvement of militants, but the main suspect is BLA,â Sindh IG Asad Jahangir told Reuters.
Since they've admitted to it...
Posted by: Fred ||
11/17/2005 00:00 ||
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Fry him up, coated in a secret blend of 11 herbs and spices .
Posted by: ed ||
11/17/2005 11:18 Comments ||
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A suicide car-bomber attacked a military convoy including US troops in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar yesterday, killing three Afghan civilians, witnesses and a senior official said. The scene of the blast, which struck in the morning rush-hour in the southern city, was cordoned off while the US military denied the coalition convoy had taken a direct hit. âThe car bomb, which killed its driver, detonated on the outskirts of Kandahar against the convoy as it was returning from a nearby forward operating base. There were no US injuries or deaths,â the US military said in a statement. A civilian flat-bed truck was destroyed, it added.
The Taleban, Afghanistanâs former rulers who are fighting an insurgency against US-led forces that overthrew them, claimed responsibility for the blast in their former stronghold and said they had killed four US soldiers in the suicide attack. US military spokesman Colonel Jerry OâHara said he had no information on a report by Kandahar governor Assadullah Khalid that three American soldiers had been slightly injured in the attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/17/2005 00:00 ||
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...killing three Afghan civilians...
That's right. In the mentally deranged world of islamo-fascism, that's OK.
I just want to know if the homicide-bomber driver goes to allan and gets 72 virgins since he failed in his mission and killed 3 innocent muslim bystanders?
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.
Seven men standing trial accused of recruiting militants to fight US forces in Iraq pleaded not guilty to all charges on Wednesday. The defendants told the military tribunal at the State Security Court (SSC) that they had no intention of fighting in Iraq and that âtheir confessions were extracted under duress.â 
A masked terrorist, suspected to be 
Police on Wednesday said they had moved three suspected militants to Bali for questioning over a series of suicide bomb attacks that rocked the resort island last month. "They just arrived here from Semarang and will be questioned in Bali over the October 1 bombings," said Bali police spokesman AS Reniban after the men were flown in from the Central Java capital.
Extremist guerrillas yesterday attacked civilian targets in Jolo, sparking fresh clashes that ended with troops capturing another rebel encampment, officials said. Field reports from the police and military said the 
Iran has begun processing a new batch of uranium at its 
November 17, 2005: Somalia, and the piracy off its coast, is becoming a security problem that cannot be ignored. Five ships have been attacked in the last two weeks. As many as three pirate gangs have been operating off the coast, and have attacked ships as far as 400 kilometers out to sea. So far this year, over 30 ships have been attacked. Unlike pirates in other parts of the world, who just rob the crew and escape with whatever they can carry, the Somali pirates capture ships and hold them for ransom. Currently, six ships are being held. Because several attacks, by speed boats full of gunmen, have taken place several hundred kilometers from shore, it is believed that at least one pirate gang has a larger ship, that speed boats are launched from. A larger ship, believed to be the pirate vessel, was spotted drifting off the coast three times over the Summer.
A recent letter attributed by the United States to top al Qaeda official Ayman al-Zawahri is a fresh sign the militant network is facing financial troubles, a senior U.S. Treasury official said on Wednesday. "There's ... a passage in there where Zawahri says to Zarqawi: I'm out of money. Send me money. I don't have any money," said Stuart Levey, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, referring to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq.
LADAH: The political administration of 
Four people were killed and 45 wounded when a powerful car bomb triggered by Islamic militants ripped through a busy intersection in Srinagar on Wednesday, police said. The morning rush-hour blast, which left people bleeding on the road and turned vehicles into twisted wrecks, was the third attack in three days by militants. âThere has been a massive car bomb explosion,â said a senior state police official. âFour people have died and 45 people are injured.â
A man has been arrested for Tuesdayâs car bombing in Karachi, President General Pervez Musharraf said on Wednesday. âThe man who did it, we have arrested him,â Gen Musharraf told reporters. âWe are trying to get more, who he is representing really, what was his motivation.â He said others had also been detained, in Quetta. Police said they included Baloch tribal separatists. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid confirmed the arrest and told AFP detectives were still âafter the mastermindâ. âThe investigators are looking into all aspects, including involvement of militants, but the main suspect is BLA,â Sindh IG Asad Jahangir told Reuters.
A suicide car-bomber attacked a military convoy including US troops in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar yesterday, killing three Afghan civilians, witnesses and a senior official said. The scene of the blast, which struck in the morning rush-hour in the southern city, was cordoned off while the US military denied the coalition convoy had taken a direct hit. âThe car bomb, which killed its driver, detonated on the outskirts of Kandahar against the convoy as it was returning from a nearby forward operating base. There were no US injuries or deaths,â the US military said in a statement. A civilian flat-bed truck was destroyed, it added.
