The financial intelligence unit at the Ministry of Interior has been monitoring several sources possibly offering financial support to terrorist operations in the Kingdom, press reports said yesterday. The unit has received several reports of suspicious financial dealings and it is taking required measures to foil them, Al-Jazirah newspaper quoted Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, as saying. The unit undertakes investigation of all suspicious financial operations in order to dry up support for terrorist groups, he added.
The security authorities have been on constant lookout for covert movements of terrorists in the country and have arrested 42 suspects in connection with the Feb. 24 attack on the key oil refinery in Abqaiq, the largest in the world. According to an earlier ministry statement, security forces have tracked down a number of suspicious movements by people who were providing material and financial support to the terrorist cause. The intelligence unit, which was established last year with its headquarters in Riyadh, will open branches in other cities when required, Al-Turki said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2006 00:00 ||
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Prince Turki al-Faisal, the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States, has said that Wahhabism rejects the type of violence advocated by Osama Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda terrorist network.
"Yasss... We prefer an entirely different kind of violence!"
Now on a listening tour of the United States, Prince Turki has been speaking to community associations, foreign policy groups and university students. He says his goal is simple. He wants to explain that Saudis share many of the same values as Americans, that the country is a reliable ally in the war on terrorism and that the desert kingdom and centre of Islam is modernising its society.
That's true: Soddies do share many of the same values as Americans. It's the values we don't share that're the problem, isn't it? One of the values we don't share is the definition of "reliable," for instance. And the definition of "modern."
According to James Morrison, who writes a diplomatic news column for the Washington Times, at the World Affairs Council of Seattle, the Saudi envoy was asked what he would like Americans to know about his country. The first, of course, is that we are pretty much human beings. We didnt come from Mars or Pluto, although we do wear skirts, he replied.
And chop people's heads off. Don't forget that part.
He said Saudis like Americans want a better life for their children and their grandchildren, to live in peace and harmony and to be contributing to the betterment of the world. He said there were many misconceptions about his country, including the role of the Wahhabi sect of Islam, the status of women, the nations modern economy and its initial steps toward some form of democracy. He said most of what is popularly known about the orthodox brand of Saudi Islam is based on ignorance of and misunderstanding of where we come from.
Funny. I thought much of it was based on empirical observation, watching the hands rather than the lips, with some of the holes filled in by the Imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, with his homey little sermons asking God to kill us all.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
"Saudi Islam is based on ignorance of and misunderstanding"
Posted by: Al Lewis ||
04/15/2006 11:09 Comments ||
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#5
Hmmm...now that I think about it, I vaguely remember reading in an old history book something about Nazism rejecting the violence advocated by the Waffen SS...
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
04/15/2006 22:15 Comments ||
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The Japanese judiciary turned down for the second time a lawsuit seeking to pull troops from Iraq on the grounds that the historic mission violates the pacifist constitution. The Nagoya District Court in central Japan turned down the lawsuit by 3,200 lawyers and residents who said the deployment was not in line with the constitution, which bars Japan from maintaining a military.
Judge Keiichi Uchida said the lawsuit had no legal basis. The Iraq mission "does not involve any specific duties for the plaintiffs who are not members of the Self-Defence Force," Judge Uchida said, as quoted by Jiji Press. A court in western Kofu district rejected a similar suit in October for the same reason. The plaintiffs in the latest case had sought an immediate end to the mission, saying that it violated the constitution and demanded compensation for mental anguish.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2006 00:00 ||
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THE founding newspaper of modern Turkey is warning of Islamic fundamentalism in a media campaign seen as a secularist fightback against the government. Are you aware of the danger, reads the front page headline in Cumhuriyet (Republic), written in Turkish but in Arabic style from right to left. It has also run on television. The Arabic style is a coded suggestion to Turks that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) wants to reverse the reforms of Turkeys revered founder Kemal Ataturk, which included replacing the Arabic script with the Latin for Turkish. This government is the target of our campaign. In recent years anti-secularist developments are threatening Turkey and its institutions, Cumhuriyet columnist Ozgen Acar told Reuters.
It is a stark reminder of the great divide between Turkeys secularists and those they perceive as Islamists bent on reviving the influence of religion in national life. The powerful secularist establishment, which includes the president, the military and judiciary, sees the AKP, rooted in political Islam, as posing a mortal threat to the status quo. The AKP, which swept to power in 2002 after years of mismanagement and corruption, denies any Islamist agenda. It accuses the relatively weak opposition parties of opportunism.
In his strongest comments since becoming president in 2000, Ahmet Necdet Sezer warned on Wednesday that Turkey faced a growing threat from Islamic fundamentalists. Turkeys only guarantee against this threat is its secular order, Sezer told a gathering of military officers. He did not mention the AKP by name. Turkeys armed forces are seen as the ultimate guarantor of the secular system - founded by Ataturk in 1923 - and as recently as 1997 ousted a government they perceived as tilting in an Islamist direction.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Same ol same ol. How many times have we heard that the secular Turkish military would never, ever let them slip into an Islamic state. We'll get to soon see if it's just more bluster or the real thing, won't we.
If the paper gets shut down, invest in Turbins and hijabs.
#2
In past, it has been periodic, when the Islamists rise up and the military puts them down. I just wish that this next time, the military puts them down so *damn* hard, and for so long, that their grip is busted forever.
General Zinni, the former commander of U.S. Central Command, has been a long-time critic of Bush Administration policies in the Middle East and the war effort. During the early years of the Bush Administration, General Zinni was a special U.S. envoy to the Middle East, charged with mediating talks between Israel and the Palestinians. But Zinni proved to be an ineffective negotiator, and displayed a slightly lopsided approach in dealing with the two sides. On his first trip to the region as an envoy, Zinni criticized Israel for building settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, while demanding to know that the Sharon government was "prepared to do" if the Palestinians offered a cease fire. Needless to say, Zinni's tone didn't exactly endear him--or his efforts--to the Israelis.
A more recent Rumsfeld critic is another retired Marine officer, Lieutenant General Gregory Newbold, former Operations Director for the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the run-up to the Iraq invasion. Newbold now says he opposed the war, despite his position as J-3 for the JCS--a job that gave him great influence over U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Newbold says his opposition to the Iraq invasion--and plans for the operation--were "well known" within the Pentagon. But apparently, his opposition was not enough for General Newbold to resign over principle. In fact, one Donald Rumsfeld attended Newbold's retirement dinner in 2004.
At that dinner, Pentagon insiders report, a tape was played from a 2001 press conference conducted by Newbold. During that session, held shortly after the invasion of Afghanistan, Newbold announced that the Taliban had been crushed--or something to that effect. Problem was, major combat operations were still underway, so the Pentagon (and the White House) had to backtrack and cover Newbold's gaffe. By 2004, it was a running joke, but in the early days of the Afghan War, it was a serious mistake. I'm guessing that Newbold's mistake earned the ire of Mr. Rumsfeld, and soured relations between the two men. And not surprisingly, Newbold never earned his fourth star.
Another Rumsfeld critic is retired Army General Major General Paul Eaton, who has described the defense secretary as "incompetent." But General Eaton also has some spots on his resume, notably his 2003-2004 tour as chief of the U.S. training mission in Iraq. Admittedly, General Eaton faced a tough assignment, but as Big Lizards reminds us, his tenure was characterized by uneven training efforts and some embarassing moments--notably, Iraqi units breaking under fire. Eaton was eventually replaced by Lieutenant General David Paetraeus, who turned the program around, and oversaw the training of more than 80 Iraqi battalions during his tenure.
Retired Army Major General John Riggs has his own issues with Rumsfeld. In 2004, Riggs was accused of contracting improprieties, and given 24 hours to retire from the Army. We wrote a column sympathetic to General Riggs, noting that he had been vocal in his concerns about Army units being "over-stressed" by operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and suggesting that his criticism may have been an underlying cause for his dismissal. It is also worth noting that General Rigg's abrupt retirement came with a reduction in grade from Lieutenant General (three stars) to Major General (two stars) with a substantial reduction in retirement pay. General Riggs's forced retirement still requires clarification (in our opinion), but there's no doubt that Mr. Rumsfeld was instrumental in that event, and it did nothing to foster friendly relations between the two men.
Riggs was also a protege of former Army Chief of Staff, General Eric Shinseki, who retired early after announcing that the occupation of Iraq would require "several hundred thousand troops." Opponents of the war claim that events in Iraq prove that Shinseki, Riggs, and other uniformed critics were right--but they ignore an equally salient fact: virtually all of these officers were in senior positions in the mid-to-late 1990s, when the Clinton Administration cut four divisions from the active Army. Did any of these generals oppose that move, realizing that it would mean "fewer boots on the ground" in a future conflict? Ironically, some of these generals--including Shinseki and Riggs--seemed willing to trade troops for the next generation of super weapons, like the Comanche helicopter and Crusader self-propelled gun--both cancelled by Rumsfeld as being too expensive. Now in retirement, these former flag officers are eager to claim that the military is "stretched thin" in Iraq, but none have acknowledged their role in creating today's "undersized" force structure.
#1
Some will dismiss this article as character assassination. But the reality is that their criticisms of Rumsfeld aren't based on fact - the Iraqi and Afghan expeditions have been characterized by historically low losses. These men are now saying that they could have done better. The historical record goes against their assertions. They are therefore making an appeal to authority, i.e. "trust me - take my word for it - I was a big shot general", as opposed to being able to say that the US has done worse than other American or non-American armies have historically done. We must therefore see if they're worth trusting.
Appeals to authority don't do much for me. People in a position of authority must be able to make arguments backed up by the historical record.
But for people who do trust authorities based on them being "important people", this article is an important reminder that "important people" have their own agendas independent of the issues. "Important people" don't always tell the whole truth about their motivations.
#2
You think, having studied history, these generals would understand that history will be unkind to them for doing this. All they are doing is calling attention to the fact that they were trusted with doing a job which they don't think they did it well, for a variety of excuses.
Some will defend these 5 and say that they did their duty and are now free to speak their minds. It's true, That would be fine - if they had a better plan. But they don't. They are just bitching about how mean the Sec Def is and how they knew better, usually because they are running for office or hakwing a book.
Personally, if it was me, and I had a big role that would be written in history books, I'd use the right to remain silent and wait until all of the evidence is presented in the courtroom of history before I gave away my case.
#3
they're defended on Fox by Wesley Clark, and we know he's an honorable man with no axe to sharpen, eh? He might even blink
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/15/2006 13:46 Comments ||
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I've heard the rumbling, cant be ignored...
it's not just these guys.
Posted by: bk ||
04/15/2006 14:40 Comments ||
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bk, no doubt there's more rumbling. Rummy is a tough SOB. I'll bet you can find lot's who used to work at G. D. Searle who will say the same things.
Until these guys start talking about how things should be done instead of how they should have been done, they can be easily ignored.
#6
Fellow generals and media pukes of the 1860s were critical of Gen. Grant. To which Lincoln replied -
I can't spare that man, he fights!
President Lincoln had a fair track record of relieving generals. I don't think he was shy about dumping ineffectives, to include the man who would be his opponent in the 1864 race.
CONVICTED British "shoe-bomber" Richard Reid would not be making an appearance at the death penalty trial of Al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, a prison spokeswoman saild.
"Reid is here at our facility and we have no information about him going anywhere," the spokeswoman said by telephone from the federal prison in Florence, Colorado, where he is serving a life sentence.
Defense lawyers for Moussaoui, who is eligible for the death penalty for his role in the September 11, 2001 attacks against New York and Washington, had asked the court to bring Reid to testify at the trial.
Reid became known as the "shoe bomber" after he tried to blow up an airliner using explosives hidden in his shoe. He pleaded guilty in 2003 to trying to blow up an American Airlines Paris-Miami flight on December 22, 2001 and murder the 197 people aboard.
Moussaoui sensationally claimed on March 27, while testifying in his trial, that had he not been in prison on September 11, 2001, he would have flown a fifth hijacked jet into the White House.
He said Reid was to have been part of his crew.
Previously Moussaoui had always denied that he was to take part in those attacks.
Moussaoui was arrested on immigration charges in August 2001 and jailed, before the attacks. In an earlier phase of his death-penalty trial, the jury agreed that he was eligible for the death penalty because his lies about the planned attacks contributed to the almost 3000 deaths that day.
It is not clear whether Reid was in the US at the time of the September 11 attacks.
On Thursday, during his second turn on the witness stand, Moussaoui said that Reid himself was not even aware of his role in the plan, rendering Reid's testimony useless.
After the defence's request Monday for Reid to take the stand, the judge had delivered a sealed subpoena, without revealing if it was meant for Reid.
The same subpoena was cancelled this morning, according to the website of the federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, where the trial resumes Monday.
Out of five Americans only one has a favourable impression of Islam, revealed a recent poll. The poll conducted by the US television network, CBS, found that 45 percent of respondents queried April 6-9 said they have an unfavourable view of Islam, a rise from 36 percent in February. The publics impression of Islam has diminished even more compared with four years ago. In February 2002 - less than six months after the terrorist attacks of September 11 - the country was evenly divided in its impression of Islam.
The new poll showed that only 19 percent had a favourable view of Islam, compared to 30 percent in 2002. While 33 percent had an unfavourable view of Islam in 2002, the percentage has now risen to 45. Thirty-six percent of respondents said they havent heard enough or dont know enough to say either way. The poll finds 46 percent of Americans believe Islam encourages violence more than other religions, compared with 39 percent of Americans who felt that way two months ago and 35 percent who felt that way in March 2002 (according to a Gallup Poll). When compared with some other religions practised in America, positive views of Islam rank below those for mainstream Protestantism, Catholicism, Judaism, and Christian fundamentalist faiths. Only Scientology, of all the religions asked about, ranked lower. As for other faiths, 58 percent had a favourable impression of Protestantism, 48 percent of Catholicism, 47 percent of the Jewish religion, 31 percent of Christian fundamentalist religions, 20 percent of the Mormon religion, 19 percent of Islam, and eight percent of Scientology.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
So it looks like the Tom Cruise Midlife Crisis Tour of all the talk shows is doing just wonders for Scientology?
Lower then Islam? L. Ron Hubbard will probably come back from the dead to bitch slap the deranged little twerp...
#8
I'm pleased to see poll numbers reflecting Americans seeing the religion of "peace" for the militant, uncivilized cult it is. But that's just turning the corner of plotical correctness. We need to stop letting these people come here, let alone come here and stay! They are a clandestine, cancerous danger to the country, where even the best of them are passive in the face of radical Islamists in their midst, and only the rare exception like Dr. Sultan actually speak truth to power. There are 600,000 Iranians in the greater Los Angeles area, making it the second largest Iranian city after Teheran. Want to bet they will be good citizens and visitors when the confrontation with Iran escalates? The rising time of Islamic immigrants to this country threatens a France-like fate in another decade. It must be stopped before it gets any worse!
Posted by: Just About Enough! ||
04/15/2006 18:42 Comments ||
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#9
actually, JAE, I bet they behave a helluva lot better than our illegal immigrants have done the last couple weeks. Overwhelmingly, they are the westernized, pre and just-post Shah entrants who came for schooling and never returned for obvious reasons. They have a tight connection to home (from the ones I know) and think overthrow of the MM's is EXACTLY the prescription teh doctor ordered, however it comes about. The poor and ignorant back in Iran are the MM's backers
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/15/2006 19:07 Comments ||
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#10
Wow, what did the Mormons do wrong? Donny Osmond?
Well, you've got to admit that's a strong incentive in and of itself, NS. LOL
About 300 bone fragments of victims of the September 11 terror attacks have been found near Ground Zero in New York during preparations for a demolition, sparking an outcry from families. The remains have been found on a worksite preparing to tear down the Deutsche Bank skyscraper, next to the location of the World Trade Centre, which was rendered unfit for use after the September 11, 2001 assault.
Seventy-four human remains were discovered on April 1 on the building's roof. According to the New York City medical examiner's office, more human remains are expected to be found as the project continues. "Whatever doesn't look like gravel, they examine," a spokeswoman for the office, Ellen Borakove, told The New York Times newspaper. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is responsible for analysing traces of DNA found in the remains to identify victims.
The Skyscraper Safety Campaign, joined by other September 11 family groups, says it is "shocked and horrified" to learn of the discovery of the 300 human remains nearly five years after the attacks, not from the medical examiner's office but from the New York media. The families also object that work at the site does not involve forensic specialists.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2006 00:00 ||
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The Armys most complex offensive Corps-level exercise, to test parts of the new war doctrine that relate to Cold Start strategies, gets underway next month in Punjab by Ambala-based 2 Corps.
The exercise, to be held in the general area of Jalandhar, will be the first component exercise to test newly authored strategies of the revolutionary Cold Start war ethic ingested by the force in 2004.
Two years ago, the Army began to progressively indoctrinate its formations in the plains with the Cold Start strategy, a war ethic that primarily envisages lightning offensives by tri-service integrated thrust formations so quick that they preempt a nuclear retaliation instead of laborious and time-consuming massing of troops led by the strike corps.
Considered to be the brainchild of former Army Vice-Chief Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi, in 2004 Pakistan said it had rejigged its own offensive structure to absorb the implications of an Indian Cold Start.
The 2 Corps exercise, involving massive deployments, including an armoured division, an independent armoured brigade and two infantry divisions, will torture-test a part of the Armys renewed war doctrine that propounds a short but blistering armoured and artillery assault followed by lightning infantry and mechanised infantry operations assisted by battlefield helicopter cover in a nuclear, chemical and biological (NCB) backdrop.
Army Chief Gen J J Singh will visit the area during the exercise, considering that some new parts of the Armys new doctrine were authored by him when he was commander of the Shimla-based Army Training Command (Artrac). The last Corps exercise by the Ambala-based formation was in 2003.
The 1st Armoured Division, 14th Independent Armoured Brigade, 22nd Infantry Division and the 14th RAPID Division will take part in the exercise next month. The Army will have 10 days to complete the exercise the only window it gets between harvesting and the next sowing on the expansive plains.
Posted by: john ||
04/15/2006 14:04 ||
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#1
They are about to learn a profound truth. That NBC is the antithesis of the timetable. The Soviets learned much the same lesson by calculating that they had only two weeks to conquer western Europe--from that time on, every additional day causing terrible degradation of their fighting forces in chemical overgarments.
All the US forces had to do was delay their progress, and the Soviets would defeat themselves.
In India's case, they are trying to calculate a blitzkrieg so fast that Pakistan could not launch a missile.
#2
revolutionary Cold Start war ethic
Bet 'moose is right. This sounds like left-over Soviet Doctrine. But perhaps the Indian Army is trying to force a higher general readiness level.
One thing about 'Cold Start' - it also seems designed to prevent a change of heart by Indian politicians.
The terrorist attack on the Indian parliament was followed by a 1 1/2 month buildup of forces.
Tempers had cooled by then and outside diplomatic pressure had its effect.
A terrorist outrage sufficient to provoke war will find the Indian army striking across the Indo-Pak international border within days.
There will be no cooling off period and no turning back.
Posted by: john ||
04/15/2006 17:09 Comments ||
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#6
Very interesting reading. It was also interesting to read the references to the U. S. I wonder how much we're helping India with this.
I wonder if the first implementation of Cold Start will be named DieHard
The Saudis can buy the very best military equipment from the US and Europe so what is this technology they want from Pakistan? This reeks of nuclear and missile proliferation.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are rewriting a 24-year-old defence deal in the backdrop of the fast changing scenario in the Gulf region and now both countries will hold joint war exercises and Islamabad will transfer war technology to Riyadh. The new military deal is being signed on the request of Saudi Arabia. The Pakistan Army has been sending its armed personnel on deputation on the request of Saudi Arabia since 1982, now Saudi Arabia wants a new defence treaty to get maximum benefits from the Pakistan Army.
The draft agreement has been submitted to President General Pervez Musharraf for final approval. The federal cabinet meeting Wednesday with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in the chair gave a go ahead to the Ministry of Defence to revise the old military cooperation pact signed in 1982 when General Ziaul Haq was ruling Pakistan and Shah Khalid was the monarch of Saudi Arabia.
Earlier, the Ministry of Defence sent a draft agreement to Saudi Arabia for approval, but Saudi Arabia raised some objections. After developing consensus on the agreement, the Defence Ministry got it approved from the cabinet. According to the Defence Ministry, in terms of the rules of business of 1973, the prime minister had to approve the signing of the military cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia.
The agreement is meant to strengthen existing bilateral relations and enhance military and defence cooperation in various fields between the armed forces of both countries. A Defence Ministry summary said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defence Production and Joint Staff Headquarters had also cleared and supported the agreement. The Ministry of Law and Justice had also vetted the agreement. The earlier agreement on the deputation of Pakistans armed forces and personnel and military training was signed between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on December 14, 1982. The new agreement will cover areas related to cooperation in the field of training, deputation, transfer of technology, exchange of experience, purchase of weapons systems, equipments, spare parts and military medical services.
Posted by: john ||
04/15/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
They can sign all the treaties they want. From my limited experience in this world, treaties between these countries are as meaningful as friends in California saying, "let's catch a movie this weekend". (Tip to non-Californians - that's not really a date, it's like saying, call me this weekend and if I'm not doing anything and you're not doing anything we'll talk about getting together to catch a movie.)
#2
Saudi Arabia is paying for Pak assembled Chinese tanks - enough for a few companies of troops.
But Saudi Arabia already has more M1 Abrams tanks than it can provide crew for.
Question: Why the Chinese junk?
Answer - Pak soldiers will be in those tanks.
Another question: Of what possible use is a company of Pak troops? They cannot possibly hold off an agressor. Pak is no regional power and cannot deploy additional forces beyond its borders.
Answer - the troops are to protect "strategic assets" - Pak missiles transferred to Saudi Arabia.
It is known that Saudi Arabia funded the Pak nuclear program. The Saudis now want the bomb.
From this report, one can surmise that Saudi wants the timetable advanced, they want the nuclear missiles NOW.
Posted by: john ||
04/15/2006 7:51 Comments ||
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#3
This is exactly why Iran cannot be allowed to have nukes. As soon as they do Saudi will and soon thereafter Egypt and Venezuela. Bush needs to act and I suspect this is a signal from the Sauds to that effect.
#4
They also guard the House of SandSaud against the current guardians of the house, who are guarding them against the Army who are guarding the House against Fred.
The federal government should dismiss the NWFP government for failing to maintain law and order in the province and ban the Jamaat-e-Islami because it is a nursery for suicide bombers, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) said on Friday. If the president and the prime minister want to stop suicide attacks in the country, they must ban the JI, MQM parliamentarian Kunwar Khalid Younis told reporters in Parliament House. We also demand of the president and the prime minister that the NWFP government be dismissed because it failed to keep peace in the province, he said.
He said JI and Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) leaders were quick to demand the removal of the Sindh governor and interior minister after the Nishtar Park bombing, but they themselves had not resigned after the suicide attack on a mourning procession in Hangu on Muharram 10. The NWFP has become a hub of international terrorists who are at war with the law enforcement agencies and security forces, because of the inefficiency of the provincial government, Younis said. Similarly, the law and order situation in Balochistan is the worst ever and the MMA is sharing the government with the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) in the province, he said. The JI is a certified international terrorist organisation and the world knows that several suicidal bombers have been arrested from houses of JI workers. The JI never condemns suicide attacks because it is involved in this practice, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2006 00:00 ||
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Over two thousand Tanzeem Ahle-Sunnat Wal Jamaat activists have threatened to take up arms to ensure justice unless the federal government arrests within two weeks the men involved in the Nishter Park blast. The activists made the demand in a resolution during a demonstration in Khyber Agency. They also demanded the Sindh governor, chief minister and cabinet resign for failing to ensure security and for not having arrested the terrorists involved.
Why have the perpetrators not been arrested yet if the governments secret agencies are not involved? queried a placard. The question was posed to the federal and the provincial governments. Landi Kotal MNA Noorul Haq Qadri led the rally, which started from Daruloom Ahle-Sunnat Wal Jamaat Jamia Junaidia Ghafooria and ended at the Jaan Plaza. Outraged protesters chanted India, America and Israel murdabad and Jashn-e-Eid Miladun Nabi zindabad. Qadri condemned the bombing and the governments failure to ensure security. Pakistans mosques, imambargahs and other religious areas have been unsafe since the 1980s, he said. The MNA rejected that President General Pervez Musharraf was staging a war against sectarianism, saying, There would be no bombings of mosques and imambargahs if the president was sincere in rooting out terrorism and sectarianism.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
India, America and Israel murdabad
murdabad - "Death to"
Posted by: john ||
04/15/2006 7:54 Comments ||
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The embassy complex - 21 buildings on 104 acres (42 hectares), according to a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee report - is taking shape on riverside parkland in the fortified "Green Zone," just east of al-Samoud, a former palace of Saddam Hussein's, and across the road from the building where the ex-dictator is now on trial.
[..]
Iraq's interim government transferred the land to U.S. ownership in October 2004, under an agreement whose terms were not disclosed.
"Embassy Baghdad" will dwarf new U.S. embassies elsewhere, projects that typically cover 10 acres (4 hectares). The embassy's 104 acres (42 hectares) is six times larger than the United Nations compound in New York.
Original cost estimates ranged over US$1 billion (euro830 million), but Congress appropriated only US$592 million (euro490 million) in the emergency Iraq budget adopted last year. Most has gone to a Kuwait builder, First Kuwaiti Trading & Contracting, with the rest awarded to six contractors working on the project's "classified" portion - the actual embassy offices.
Higgins declined to identify those builders, citing security reasons, but said five were American companies.
The designs aren't publicly available, but the Senate report makes clear it will be a self-sufficient and "hardened" domain, to function in the midst of Baghdad power outages, water shortages and continuing turmoil.
It will have its own water wells, electricity plant and wastewaster-treatment facility, "systems to allow 100 percent independence from city utilities," says the report, the most authoritative open source on the embassy plans.
Besides two major diplomatic office buildings, homes for the ambassador and his deputy, and the apartment buildings for staff, the compound will offer a swimming pool, gym, commissary, food court and American Club, all housed in a recreation building.
Security, overseen by U.S. Marines, will be extraordinary: setbacks and perimeter no-go areas that will be especially deep, structures reinforced to 2.5-times the standard, and five high-security entrances, plus an emergency entrance-exit, the Senate report says.
Higgins said the work, under way on all parts of the project, is more than one-third complete.
BAGHDAD - The prayer leader of one of Baghdads largest Sunni mosques asked God to make US President George W. Bush suffer the same fate as Israeli premier Ariel Sharon, who formally lost power on Friday after being declared permanently incapacitated by a coma.
In his sermon at the main weekly prayers in the capitals Abdel Qader Al Kilani mosque, Sheikh Mahmoud Issawi raised his hands to the sky with tears flowing from his eyes and called on God to strike down the US president. Lord, make the fate of the criminal Bush like the fate of the criminal Sharon, make him suffer in this world before the next, Issawi said, before lapsing into silence, apparently overcome.
We can help with that.
He went on to say that the forces of occupation were responsible for the violence and killings currently taking place in Iraq. Oh Lord, visit suffering upon the American people and show them your power. Leave their children without parents, their women without husbands and let their blood flow the way the blood of the Iraqis has flowed.
The forces of occupation are engaging in the wholesale killing of the Iraqi people while Iraqi officials watch and bicker amongst themselves seeking only personal gain, he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/15/2006 00:00 ||
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Posted by: Captain America ||
04/15/2006 0:31 Comments ||
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#3
Issawi needs a vacation - from living
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/15/2006 1:06 Comments ||
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#4
From the weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, it sounds like another Sunni longing for the good old days when the Baathists plundered Iraq. Now that the 80% of the country that is not Sunni Arab is getting its fair share, donations must be waaaaay down.
#5
This should be followed shortly by a group of masked Iraqi government Interior Ministry personnel going to his house and beating him with canes until he is covered in welts, all the while calling him names like "traitor", "infidel", and "defiler".
#6
Errr... and in what exactly does this iraqi preach differs from the usual preaches in mosques all over the islamic world (and beyond)? I mean except for the dramatic silence after he wuz overcome.
Palestinian PM Ismail Haniya has said the suspension of Western aid to the Palestinians will never defeat the new Hamas-led administration. Nor, Mr Haniya said, would it defeat the Palestinian people.
Mr Haniya was addressing Friday prayers in Gaza before the start of a series of rallies aimed at demonstrating support for the Hamas-led administration. Mr Haniya delivered his defiant and passionate address to thousands of supporters gathered at the main mosque in the Jabaliya refugee camp, the BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza says.
The Palestinian prime minister said there would be, as he put it, no surrender, no buckling to the demands of Israel and the West. "We will eat salt, but we will not bow our heads for anybody other than God, because we are faithful to the rights of our people and our nation. We will not betray it," he said.
Earlier, at another big demonstration in the south, another Hamas leader had warned that if the party's government was broken by its enemies, Hamas would go back on the offensive. Younes al-Aftal, a soon-to-be-deceased Hamas MP, said there would be Hamas suicide bombings again in the heart of Israel.
And since this is Hamas, we have to take him at his word.
This is the first time a prominent Hamas leader has talked in these terms since the formation of Hamas-led Palestinian cabinet was sworn in on 30 March.
It won't be the last, either. They're getting desparate.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/15/2006 00:02 ||
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Damn, and they were just about to "recognize" Israel to.
Posted by: Captain America ||
04/15/2006 0:25 Comments ||
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#2
he'll recognize the Israelis' missiles first
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/15/2006 0:36 Comments ||
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#3
When it's the only product you got, I suppose you gotta try to sell it...
#4
Someone should tell this aSS that salt and bullets both cost money. If they can't afford food, I doubt that they will be able to by ammunition on credit. Like small children they think that if they just yell loud enough and long enough they will get their way. People are already starting to ignore them. After 60 years, there aren't many Palestinians left who were born in Palestine and left when Israel was created. The ones seething are just poseurs seeking something they never had and to which have no right.
#7
It just so incomprehensible to Hamas: the infidels aren't providing any funds to help Hamas kill infidels. Fancy that! How cruel.
The Arab "brothers" aren't providing any funds (arms excepted) to feed their Hamas heros either, but no big screams about that.
So, no money from the Satans, and no money from Allan. The big welfare cheque is gone, forever.
Simplest fix is to act in a civil manner, befitting the democracy you claim to be. Renounce violence, recognize Israel and keep your promises. The rest of world does not see these demands as exessive or unrealistic.
#9
I can't find it now, but I could swear I just read an article yesterday that the Russkies had just agreed to fill the funding gap for Hamas. Did I just dream that?
#10
Quite right xbalanke, they did. China and Russia met earlier in Tehran and Russia did promise to come through and tell the US et al to back off. Iran, Russia, Hamas, China - all cosy in bed.
#11
They may be cozy in bed now, but China and Russia will be paying some serious alimony to get out of this nightmare relationship when Iran finally gets THE PRECIOUS.
#12
I say --- the slugs they are, let 'em eat salt.
Obviously the money flow is decreased significantly, so they are hurting. Good. Only question is: how much is Iran anteing up for their cause? Maybe the M²s are just giving support for arms and ordinance for the Big Push against Israel, and nothing for *ahem* government services.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/15/2006 11:55 Comments ||
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JERUSALEM - The US government has barred Americans from doing most business with the new Hamas-led Palestinian government, officials said Friday, stepping up US financial pressure on the Islamic militant group. In a memo obtained by The Associated Press, the US Treasury Department said transactions with the Palestinian Authority by US persons are prohibited, unless licensed. It said the decision was based on existing terrorism sanctions.
Palestinian officials condemned the American decision.
"Hey! Youse can't do that! We need the dough!"
The US decision affects most dealings with the Palestinian government, but does not apply to private business interests, the memo said. This restriction is limited to transactions with the PA government and does not apply to transactions with individuals or other entities in the Palestinian territories, it said.
Under the restrictions, Americans doing business with the Palestinian government have 30 days to end their dealings, according to the Treasury Department. It said business with the Palestinian government will be permitted to continue in six areas, primarily humanitarian aid such as providing medicine and work for international organizations like the United Nations. In the interest of supporting the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people, Treasury will allow certain limited transactions by US persons and organizations with the Palestinian Authority, it said.
It also said business can continue with government departments controlled by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a comparative moderate who favors peace talks with Israel. However, the new Hamas government controls all major ministries after being sworn into office two weeks ago.
Alaa Araj, the Palestinian economy minister, said the decision was part of the American mobilization of all its allies and individuals in the region to boycott this government. He said it appears the US administration and its allies have "nothing better to do than to put obstacles in our way.
But he said the step would not be economically significant, saying the state of the business sector in the West Bank and Gaza is poor.
Since there's no business, and no infrastructure, and no money to be made except in kidnapping and extortion.
Treasury officials in Washington said the ban was approved on Wednesday, calling it a "clarification of an existing provision that forbids Americans from doing business with Hamas.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/15/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Oh, crap! There goes the suicide belt concession I was working on...
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Friday that the suspension of Western aid to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority would not bring down his Hamas-led government nor cow the Palestinian people. "The Palestinian people will not give up their government no matter how many sacrifices we have to make. We are prepared to eat salt and olives," he told hundreds of supporters at an open-air mosque in the Jebaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza.
Western nations cut funding to the Palestinian Authority after Hamas won Palestinian parliamentary elections in January and formed a Cabinet last month. Hamas, which calls for Israel's destruction and is listed as a terror group by the U.S. and European Union, has refused to meet Western demands to renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist. Israel has also suspended the transfer of about US$50 million (€41.34 million) in monthly taxes it collects on behalf of the Palestinian government.
Hamas has acknowledged it is broke and will have trouble paying the salaries of 140,000 government workers, payments that sustain one-third of the Palestinians. The March paychecks are two weeks overdue, and the Palestinian finance minister has said he is still tens of millions of dollars short of covering the payroll. Haniyeh said his government inherited an empty treasury and US$700 million (€580 million) in debt from the previous Cabinet led by President Mahmoud Abbas' moderate Fatah Party.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Sure, Ismail. I'm sure you'll be first in line for your... salt and olives.
#3
Why should anyone who's civilized pay for your upkeep of your indulgent Orgasm of Hate? TM artise will also understand how the (mental)environment is thoroughly undermined. If you have the right to indulge in undying hate, you also earn the right to eat lead.
The United States on Thursday blocked a UN Security Council statement drafted by Arab nations and aimed at putting pressure on Israel to stop military strikes on Palestinian targets. US Ambassador John Bolton said the draft, even after three days of intense negotiations, "was disproportionately critical of Israel, and unfairly so, and needlessly so."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Bolton's going to go down as one of our best UN ambassadors ever.
Was Irans President Mahmoud Ahamdinejad inspired by a Tehrani folk tale to try and lead the Islamic republic out of what looks like the most serious foreign policy crisis in its history?
The question arose the other day as Iranians watched the firebrand president announce Irans full entry into the nuclear club.
The announcement was carefully choreographed for maximum effect.
It took place in Mashhad, Irans second largest city and the site of the nations holiest Shiite shrine. The announcement was also made on the eve of the arrival in Tehran of a negotiating team headed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director Muhammad El-Baradei. Ahmadinejad, with a giant Iranian flag in the background, also described the announcement as a special present on the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The show was punctuated by songs and dances performed by men and women dressed in folkloric gears, thus adding to the North Korean style of the exercise. Kimmy contracting on party-planng. I thought there was a NORK flare to the dancing and waving uranium in vials.
All in all it was a clever mixture of Islam, nationalism, science, political braggadocio, and diplomatic flexibility.
The announcement that Iran now masters the full nuclear fuel cycle and that it has enriched uranium to a minimum acceptable level in laboratory conditions, may be no big deal to better-informed citizens. In fact, Iran had the scientific and technological capacity to do so in 1977. It lost that capacity when the Ayatollah Khomeini, who seized power in 1979, shut the nuclear program as satanic, had some scientists executed, and forced others into exile.
Spoil sports may even claim that the knowledge needed to do what Iran claims to have done is available on the Internet, and that, provided the money is there, even private citizens could process uranium to such low levels of enrichment.
But the spoilsports would be wrong.
The issue here is not uranium enrichment but the finding of a way for the Islamic republic to walk out of a high-risk confrontation with the United Nations without losing face.
On that score, Ahmadinejad should get high marks. But he may owe all that to the Tehrani folk tale we mentioned above. That tale is woven around its hero Ali Golabi (Pear-shaped Ali) who is a small chap with big ambitions.
The bigger chaps in the neighborhood dismiss him as a midget, bully him whenever they can, and never offer him a seat at the table in the teahouse that is their haunt. So what does Ali Golabi do? He goes around waving a big knife, making a big noise, breaking a window here and there, and, occasionally, even strangling a street cat to show his strength. His agitations annoy the big chaps who want to sip their tea, puff their hookahs and play a game of backgammon in peace.
Nevertheless, Ali knows where and when to stop. As soon as the big chaps come out of the teahouse to confront him, he declares that he has already done whatever he had wanted to do and is now ready not to do it again. This helps ease the tension and gets Ali off the hook until the next showdown.
So, if our analysis is right, the next step for the Islamic republic would be to announce that, having done what it wanted to do, it has now decided to stop doing it for a while as a gesture of goodwill.
Tehran has less than two weeks to do that before the April 28 deadline set by the United Nations Security Council.
I may be wrong but I think that the Ahmadinejad announcement provides the first opportunity to stop the crisis from spiraling out of control. The Iranian climb-down, if it has not already happened by the time this column is published, is sure to come soon.
The reason is that Ahmadinejad has achieved his tactical goals and has no reason to provoke a confrontation at this point.
His first goal was to discredit his two predecessors, Hashemi Rafsanjani and Muhammad Khatami, by portraying them as weaklings who had given in to pressure and agreed to stop uranium enrichment in the first place.
Ahamdinejad has succeeded in developing a macho image, built around the myth of his austerity and purity. His claim is that Rafsanjani was vulnerable to pressure by foreign powers because of his business interests, while Khatami craved attention from Western leaders and media.
Ahmadinejad, however, is proud of being poor, and demands attention from no one but the Hidden Imam. The freak is obsessed with bed-time stories.
His second goal was to appear to be acting from a position of strength, and, once again, he has succeeded.
The Mashhad announcement came as the denouement of a series of dramatic events. These started in February with the biggest ever show of military power that Tehran has seen. Then followed the military maneuvers conducted in the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman.
Next came the testing of what was claimed to be the worlds fastest underground anti-submarine missile. In between something called the flying boat was thrown in and presented as a miracle in military technology.
Ahmadinejad also highlighted his radical credentials by promising to wipe Israel off the map. It would be hard for anyone to accuse him either of weakness or a lack of revolutionary zeal.
Having developed its image as a major military power that cannot be bullied by anyone, the Islamic republic is now in a position to show magnanimity in the service of peace and understanding.
This would not be the first time that Pear-shaped Ali has helped get the Islamic republic off the hook. In August 1988 the Islamic Republic launched its biggest-ever military operation in the eight-year-long war against Iraq as a prelude to announcing that it has accepted a UN-brokered cease-fire that it had rejected for years. Thus what was a humiliating retreat was presented as a great triumph for Islam and the Revolution.
If the US and its European Union allies play the roles assigned to them in the Ahamdinejad script, the current crisis is likely to be defused soon. We have quite a different story in mind, Mahmoud.
Tehran will announce a new moratorium on uranium enrichment, probably for period of two years that could later be extended to 10 years. It would also agree to submit the additional protocols of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) to the Islamic Majlis for approval at an unspecified date, and invite the IAEA to resume inspections in Iran. Since enriching uranium is not illegal under the NPT, there is nothing that the US and its allies could do in response to what Pear-shaped Ali says he has already done but wont do again.
But while all this might provide yet another respite, the crisis generated by Irans refusal to accept the new emerging status quo in the Middle East will not be dissipated.
The outside world will never be sure that the Islamic republic is not developing a nuclear bomb. Nor can anyone be sure that the Islamic republic, casting itself in the role of the leader of a new Islamic superpower in a global Clash of Civilizations will always retain Pear-shaped Alis proverbial prudence. And no-one but Russia and China will believe in this pear-shaped psychotic.
#1
OTOH, Mahmoud's plan could be to trade his compliance for a demand that Israel submit to a revelation of their nuclear abilitlites and weaponry - documented and inspsected.
China and Russia would certainly get behind that.
An islamic diplo coup for Mahmoud and an attack opportunity on Israel.
#2
This guy is telling Little Red Riding Hood but thinks Iran is the big bad wolf and we are Little Red Riding Hood.
Little Red Riding Hood took off her clothes and got into bed. She was greatly amazed to see how her grandmother looked in her nightclothes, and said to her, "Grandmother, what big arms you have!"
"All the better to hug you with, my dear."
"Grandmother, what big legs you have!"
"All the better to run with, my child."
"Grandmother, what big ears you have!"
"All the better to hear with, my child."
"Grandmother, what big eyes you have!"
"All the better to see with, my child."
"Grandmother, what big teeth you have got!"
"All the better to eat you up with."
And, saying these words, this wicked wolf fell upon Little Red Riding Hood, and ate her all up.
#3
Think this version of the story may have a different ending. After all, Little Red Riding Hood didn't have the US Marines on call. Ahamdinejad must worry every time a B-2 lifts off from Whiteman AFB.
Long ago there was an industrious bee who had stored her combs with a bountiful harvest. One day, she decided to fly up to heaven and present an offering of honey to Jupiter. The god was so delighted with the bee's gift that he promised her she should have whatever her heart desired.
"Oh great Jupiter, my creator and master, I beg of thee, give thy servant a sting so that when anyone approches my hive to take the honey, I may kill him on the spot."
Jupiter was surprised to hear such a bloodthirsty request from such a humble creature. Becoming angry, he said: "your prayer shall not be granted in exactly the way you wish. But the sting you ask for you shall have. When anyone comes to take away your honey and you attack him, the wound shall be fatal. But it shall be fatal to you, for your life shall go with your sting."
#6
Strange thinking.. Well strange to me. I don't buy it. Iran must pay for it 20+ year war of pin pricks against the nation of the United States of America and the resulting deaths of it's citizens.
The clock has been ticking for some time now. The current Iranian "princes" are off their rockers. These "princes" are the force that has been driving and carrying this low intenisty asymmetric warfare aginst my Nation the US of A. It's coming to be the time for "the pay back" and all which that may entail.
This "myth" has no meaning to me. It's just more "Iranian" falsity and misdirection.
Posted by: SPoD ||
04/15/2006 12:53 Comments ||
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#7
their fairy tales lack any sense of reason, like their current animated cartoons (ala : Al Jareeza)
they just dont understand that they are not evolved as much as the rest of the Free world, they are like monkeys forever stuck in their simean bodies desperately telling everyone their human.
Posted by: bk ||
04/15/2006 14:34 Comments ||
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#8
This is just Amir Taheri spinning to keep anything from being done about Iran's nukes.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/15/2006 15:52 Comments ||
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#9
"Iran must pay for it 20+ year war of pin pricks"
Lol...
You go and kick their ass then. I prefer my taxes doing something constructive.
You lot are a bunch of sabre rattling monkeys.
Posted by: intelligent one ||
04/15/2006 16:30 Comments ||
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#10
LOL!
Posted by: Snarky One ||
04/15/2006 16:32 Comments ||
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#11
Well considering that "intelligent one" (soi disant) is posting from CANADA, I think his taxes are safe from exploitation by the nasty US military.
#12
Canada did help evacuate potential hostages...but that was before subservient one was even born, I'll bet
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/15/2006 18:09 Comments ||
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#13
"intelligent one" this is is not Rugby, Soccer or Jr Leauge Hockey. We are not going to "kick their asses." We are going to kill them if it is required. It is not a sport or game. Iran is not North Korea. It has been engaged in a self declared war against the "great satan" for 20+ years. The US of A has practiced self restraint beyond what is required under internation law in responning to Iran's provocations and acts of war against our country.
The rattling of sabers is all coming out of Iran. All that has been said by our government is that Iran will not be allowed to posses weapons based on nuclear reactions, fission or fusion. This is the same thing all other sane governments have declared. No one has said they can not have nuclear power. We requested total transparency as the US of A and Russia have in their nuclear programs under the NNPT. The IAEA can go anywhere and look at anything and report on it in Russia or the US of A. Iran is a signatory of the NNPT as well. Iran is not living up to it's commitments under the NNPT. It is doing dangerous things and making regrettable statements about other nations which make Iran's intentions regarding the use of nuclear technology suspect.
No one in our government has said we are going to engage Iran on a military basis. All sane nations are currently seeking a diplomatic resolution. These nations hope to get Iran to comply with it's NNPT obligations. If they do not get back into compliance there will be trouble. That trouble will likely entail death and destruction in Iran.
It's not "sabe rattling" it's a statement of fact. The only rattling sounds you hear are comming out of the leadership of Iran. The ball is in Iran's side of the court not on the side of the US of A.
Posted by: SPoD ||
04/15/2006 18:27 Comments ||
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#14
yep, agree with you SPOD. Westerners have been lulled into a false sense of security that they can talk or bribe their way out of it in the end. Easterners have lulled themselves into a false sense of security that we won't fight back.
Unless Iran overthrows their madman - this one is gong to be the real thing.
#15
The IAEA can go anywhere and look at anything and report on it in Russia or the US of A.
Actually... no.
The 5 NWS under the NPT together have less than 5 reactors under IAEA safeguards.
IAEA activities are very restricted in a NWS.
That is a priviledge of being a NWS.
After all, what would inspectors be checking?
The US and Russia build nuclear weapons.
There is nothing for the IAEA to verify.
Now Iran as a NNWS, and a signatory to the Additional Protocol, is obliged to let the IAEA perform intrusive inspections to ensure that no weapons activity takes place.
Posted by: john ||
04/15/2006 19:16 Comments ||
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#16
Nevertheless, Ali knows where and when to stop. As soon as the big chaps come out of the teahouse to confront him, he declares that he has already done whatever he had wanted to do and is now ready not to do it again. This helps ease the tension and gets Ali off the hook until the next showdown.
I know this story. What happens is the big guys don't believe Ali and beat the shit out of him.
#17
I prefer my taxes doing something constructive
You mean, like guarding your northern shore against incursions? How many Chinese have landed there lately? Got a real solution yet? Or is it just going to be one single bureaucrat issuing nasty letters to every warship sailing through the Northwest Passage?
Ever get your helicopters fixed? How about your submarines? Or did y'all put the money toward the dole for your 'international guests' in Toronto?
How's that little problem with the Danes working out?
You've got good troops. But far too few and far better than the rest of you smug, magnificently stupid, buggers deserve.
Do us a favor - send a few more real comedians down here. We saber-wielding monkeys would appreciate a higher level of comedy than your drivel. We, at least, can pay them real money.
#18
Make far too many assumptions too... Fatal flaw that, get your head shot right off if you aint careful.
Gee, you guys are hot on the old reverse DNS etc. Just as well I am way hotter with my firewalss and virtual connections eh. FYI I am in the UK, pay my taxes there and everything...
I do laugh a little at Canada's military exploits in Khandahar. Caused more deaths/injuries through bad driving than anything else. But not to worry. I know they are kicking bad guys too.
Read a story that Americans travelling abroad have to pretend they are Canadian to stop copping grief from the locals in the UK, or wherever else. Amazing, who would want to give Americans abroad grief?
No, the Brits are the guys kicking lumps out the locals in Basra, eh. Varmints.
Eh!
Posted by: intelligent one ||
04/15/2006 20:12 Comments ||
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#19
You mean, like guarding your northern shore against incursions?
It's a start.
How many Chinese have landed there lately?
Less than the number of Americans.
Got a real solution yet?
yes, it's called NATO. But seriously, if it wasn't for those nasty fishermen clubbing them to death, we'd have a whole division of SEALs. Get it? LOL, seals.
Or is it just going to be one single bureaucrat issuing nasty letters to every warship sailing through the Northwest Passage?
That's until we really get pissed off. After that, we call you.
Ever get your helicopters fixed?
No. We're getting new ones. (Thanks Mr. Harper!)
How about your submarines?
Ooooo. Don't know about those. But I'd rather put the money into something that goes a little faster to scare off those Spanish fishing vessels on the Grand Banks stealing our fish! Dammit.
Or did y'all put the money toward the dole for your 'international guests' in Toronto?
We treat all our guests with courtesy, including Americans. We don't put them on the dole though. That's not nice.
How's that little problem with the Danes working out?
Plan B says we re-take Hans Island sometime around the Spring thaw.
You've got good troops. But far too few and far better than the rest of you smug, magnificently stupid, buggers deserve.
Oh that's not nice!
Do us a favor - send a few more real comedians down here.
Okay sure. But why would you want more Democrats?
We, at least, can pay them real money.
Have you checked the exchange rate lately?
Posted by: rafael ||
04/15/2006 20:16 Comments ||
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Posted by: rafael ||
04/15/2006 20:30 Comments ||
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#22
Been riding the Underground lately? Must be thrilling to place your life into another's hands just for the priveledge of going to work and paying taxes so they can collect the dole and plot your death. Yes stud, you are kicking the muzzie asses. We just know you are on the job, cause the native's No GO areas are expanding rapidly. Go out and kick some more ass. After all, Elton, Saturday night's the night for fightin'. Just follow the sounds of the muzzein calls. They are all around you.
Posted by: ed ||
04/15/2006 20:38 Comments ||
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#23
They are all around you.
And to the north of you! ;-)
Posted by: rafael ||
04/15/2006 20:49 Comments ||
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#24
that's why we're counting on you, Raphael :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/15/2006 20:57 Comments ||
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#25
Geez, I-one, as an Ameican in London I get treated royally, simply because we stupid colonials tip at the bar. Why don't you throw down a few alms for your loyal barmen (and bar women), wanker?
#26
I have to wonder at the mindset that would choose the moniker "intelligent one".
Obviously, anyone who sees that immediately thinks you are not intelligent. Unless you are a total dipshit, you would realize that. So it must be snark. But the moniker doesn't fit your snark. I suppose you could be that you are so flaming arrogant that you make Aris look modest - but - then even still - the moniker just causes one to think you are not an intelligent one.
#31
She would bug the crap out of me if she pranced around the bus like that.
Oh admit it, you just wanna get in her pants.
Posted by: Rich Saudi ||
04/15/2006 22:25 Comments ||
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#32
How nice. Taking your little frustrations of powerlessness out on lone defenseless women. Notice the article identified none of you harassing American men. You pussies. Congrats, you British leftists pansies. By taking it out on women, you are halfway to becoming muslims. Act upon your pedohillic tendenies, and you will be full fledged flaming Mohammedans. Get a head start and memorize the Koran now. A mullah job, on the outside chance you may actually gave a gonad, may even be waiting for you.
Posted by: ed ||
04/15/2006 22:57 Comments ||
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#33
*snicker* I guess the British gentleman is a disappearing species as well. Good thing it migrated west back in the 17th Century so that the species lives on.
#35
2b,
I like the Brits. Used to travel there once or twice a year. But there is a segment that are so deluded by Marxism that they will destroy British society and hand it over to the Communists muslims. Check out the Continentals who are converting to islam and you will find 90+% percent are hard Socialists. Their idol of Communism is dead, long live the idol of Mohammed. (Kinda appropriate since the family is watching the Golden Calf scene from Moses).
P.S. Happy Easter All.
Posted by: ed ||
04/15/2006 23:35 Comments ||
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Iran's supreme leader, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, on Friday opened an international conference on the future of the Palestinians and Jerusalem, which is expected to be dominated by anti-Israel statements reflecting Iran's hardline position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. More than 600 delegates from 50 countries, including many parliamentary speakers are expected to attend the event which lasts through Sunday. "One of the main issues to be discussed is the safeguard of Islam's sacred sites in occupied Jerusalem," former Iranian interior minister, Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour, said in an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI). "For 50 years the Israelis have tried to destroy all traces of Islam in this city (Jerusalem)," said Mohtashamipour, who is also founder of the Association for the Defence of the Palestinian People, which is organising the Tehran conference.
Mohtashamipour, denied any connection between statements by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, calling for Israel's destruction, and the decision to hold the conference in Iran's capital. "This conference was planned 10 months ago before President Ahmadinejad's remarks on Israel and the Holocaust," he said referring to the Iranian president's assertion that the Nazi mass murder of Jews during World War II never took place. "The issue of the Holocaust will be dealt with in another conference to be organised by the Islamic Republic's Foreign Ministry," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
For 50 years the Israelis have tried to destroy all traces of Islam in this city (Jerusalem)
These people are selfparodies. If Israel wanted to purge all traces of Islam in Jerusalem, the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aksa mosque would be history and the Third Temple would be rising on Temple Mount. It amazes me that the Jews continue to tolerate the nonsense from the Waaf.
#3
When Moshe Dyan took jerusalem during the six day war he was urged to destroy the Al Aksa mosque and expell the arabs from the west bank, he didn't, in retrospect he may of been too soft hearted.
#6
I agree that it is an Israeli malady to try to use gradualism and persuasion when neither are appropriate. Had they razed any trace of Islam in Jerusalem all those years ago, and even rebuilt their Temple, how would things be worse today?
No one who hates them would hate them any the less, and the US would be none the less friendly to them.
In fact, they should have done the obvious and expelled all Moslems, perhaps even all non-Jews, from the entire country. Sure, there would have been weeping and wailing and bloviating, but Israel could have stood firm through all these years, and said, "We refuse admission to any Muslim in our country. They are your fellows, you take care of them. They are not our concern."
If you think it improbable, look at Saudi Arabia, which does that now, and how so few objections are ever raised at its bitter bigotries.
#8
like it or not Jerusalem is Jewish, Christian, AND Muslim.
Posted by: bk ||
04/15/2006 14:04 Comments ||
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#9
bk: And what, exactly, would happen if Israel said otherwise?
In their shoes, I would boot out ALL other religions and raze every single holy site that wasn't expressly Jewish. I would do it quickly and definitively, leaving not a scrap of evidence behind.
No mosques, no churches, nada. Leave no trace of anything to be remembered or rebuilt.
And as soon as it was done, build large, modern, permanent edifices in their place. And every one of them ordinary, secular buildings. All with deep basements, to eliminate the chance of buried artificts.
Only once you had eliminated every physical reason for other religions to be there, and established Israel as a Jewish, yet secular state, could you invite other religions back in.
The concept is to cut them off from any historical connection to the land, in any other than an abstract way. Have no relic of the past specifically for their religion. This does not prohibit their beliefs, it just returns the sacred to the realm of the abstract.
Not ironically, the Wahabbis do much the same in the lands where they dominate, abhorring artifacts and physical records. They have gone so far as to destroy the birthplace of Mohammed, and to purge Mecca and Medina of "relics" of that age.
If, in Jerusalem, or all of Israel, for that matter, they find valuable historical-religious artifacts, they should box them up and ship them to wherever they would be appreciated. If the Vatican is willing to pay the expense of buying, tearing down, and rebuilding the Church of the Sephulcre in Italy, well, good for them.
No reason to destroy it. Just break its connection with Israel. Sell it to museums, research facilities, other religions. If it has an intrinsic value, that will remain. Just not its connection to the place.
#10
it'll never happen, the Jews in Israel know the historical importance of what they've got. though it is interesting that they never did rebuild the temple... musings aside, we will have to wait for them to make a move, its their country, we just provide for it.
Posted by: bk ||
04/15/2006 15:35 Comments ||
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#11
bk, part of the reason that they never rebuilt the temple is because of the mosques that are built on ground the temple used to stand on, I guess you could say they'd get another global jihad slapped on to the previous one that wants to wipe them out.
Iranian leadership yesterday branded the United States a decaying power, brushing off Washingtons call for strong UN Security Council action to stop the Islamic regimes controversial nuclear drive. The tough rhetoric came after the government also dismissed a personal appeal from UN atomic watchdog chief Mohamed El-Baradei to freeze uranium enrichment and calm suspicions it is seeking the atomic bomb. The enemy should know Iran is not comparable to any country in the world. Now we are much more powerful than before, senior cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati told worshippers at Friday prayers in Tehran. The United States is a decaying power. Dont be intimidated by their threats. They dont have the stamina to do anything, said the head of Irans Guardian Council, a powerful political watchdog.
Irans president said yesterday that the existence of the Zionist regime, Irans term for Israel, was a threat to the Islamic world, days after declaring Iran had become a nuclear power by enriching uranium. But the tone of Mahmoud Ahmadinejads speech to a conference on the Palestinian issue was slightly more moderate than fiery rhetoric last year, when Irans official IRNA news agency quoted him as telling a conference: Israel must be wiped off the map.
The existence of the Zionist regime is tantamount to an imposition of an unending and unrestrained threat so that none of the nations and Islamic countries of the region and beyond can feel secure from its threat, Ahmadinejad said yesterday. He said it was up to all genuine Palestinians to hold a referendum and decide on a political system.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2006 00:00 ||
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The United States is a decaying power. Dont be intimidated by their threats. They dont have the stamina to do anything, said the head of Irans Guardian Council, a powerful political watchdog.
ah yeah, that's what everyone says. Americans are like my ol' dog. He was really cute and nice and cuddly. He let children pull his tail and jump on his tummy. He welcomed everyone into the house. When the little yappy dogs ran towards him, he tucked his tail and ran behind my legs. So it would always surprised me and everyone else when he responded to really aggressive dogs and bad people....whew! Always stood his ground and he's one mean bastard.
#2
Some bloggers argue that Iran may produce its first uranium bomb [WW2 LITTLE BOY type?] by end of summer 2006. Radical Iran has made it clear that doesn't care what the US-World thinks, so any post-2008 successor to Dubya, GOP or Dem, will have to deal with Iran's [= North Korea's] post-Dubya surge for power and Empire. MadMoud's rants againt Israel are as much a de facto challenge to the UNO as a world body as against Israel, Washington, and NATO-WEstern democracies. Iran's ambitions as a smaller nation is no different in effect as for China's desires for East Asian and Pacific hegemony - both entail Iran/Chinese-centric regionalism and globalism vv the domination of weaker nations. Everyone in ME and periphery is a future Iranian Muslim-Citizen, just as everyone in East Asia + Oceania + 1/2-plus of CONUS-NORAM is a future Chicom, whether one like it or not. THE USA-ALLIES EITHER STOP IRAN NOW, OR SURRENDER/CONCEDE AND DEAL WID THE BURGEONING REGIONAL AND FUTURE GLOBAL MUSLIM OWG-CALIPHATE.The Russians have said that they may NOT be able to maintain any form of effective geopol military competition or deterrence againt the USA by 2015 or 2020 - this means that any Lefty ventures to destabilize and suborn the USA to OWG and Socialist World Order must occur during prime periods, i.e. NOW, before it becomes too cost-prohibitive for Russia, etal. and ist alleged NORWAY/LOWLANDS-SIZED SMALL ECONOMY to effectively challenge or compete against either America, the West, or nuclearized Global Islam.
#6
Time to turn on the Haliburton Earthquake Machine. A 9.2 would be good. Bunker-busting quake - with nasty nuclear accidents. Devastating damage and loss. Find something else to focus on for a couple of years.
Especially coming from a country milked like a cow by a self-reproducing oligarchy at war with a large part of its people, with crummy infrastructures (remember, the quakes?), with a whopping segment of the population below poverty line, with rampant hard drugs abuse, prostitution and sexual slavery (often managed by the afore-mentioned oligarchy),... The MM's Iran : the success-story of the Middle East!
#10
The question begs: are (1) the M²s on an intimidation/propaganda roll with nothing to back it up, or (2) do they have some plutonium nukes from the Norks?
I worry about #2, but so far I think that it is #1. If they had nukes from the Norks, they would find it almost impossible to not to rattle them.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/15/2006 12:13 Comments ||
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#11
definitely #1
Posted by: bk ||
04/15/2006 14:10 Comments ||
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With every new Iranian advance, hopes dim for keeping Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons and as the United States and its allies try to delay that day experts and diplomats say they are losing ground. We are running out of options, one European diplomat who deals with non-proliferation issues told Reuters on Wednesday. The Iranians are producing facts on the ground and were not responding fast enough.
A senior Russian official in Washington, who also spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to comment, acknowledged: We dont know what to do. Iran is a real headache now. Iran has long been moving in this direction, but the announcement on Tuesday that it had produced a first batch of enriched uranium marked another milestone. If true, it brings Tehran closer to making fuel for nuclear bombs. Experts say actual bomb-making is probably five to 10 years away, although they are not sure. The enrichment advance triggered condemnations from the worlds leading powers, including Russia and China, and US demands that the UN Security Council respond with strong steps.
Available options - more negotiations and rhetorical pressure, sanctions and military strikes - have been the same since Iran was found in 2002 to be hiding the extent of its nuclear activities. All present problems. Whats needed is to change radically Irans calculations of the costs and benefits of pursuing nuclear weapons, said Robert Einhorn, former top US non-proliferation official.
That means the Russians and the Chinese being prepared to cooperate in penalties (on Iran) but it also means the United States being prepared to engage directly with Iran and offer the prospect of a more normal relationship with this regime, Einhorn, now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Reuters. But US officials, congressional aides and diplomats said there was no sign the administration is amenable to any dialogue with Tehran beyond proposed talks on Iraq that have yet to occur. Tehran insists it seeks to produce civilian energy; the West says it is developing weapons.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Even presuming an indigenous, wholly Iranian-specific/dev uranium bomb, various bloggers on differ sites believe that Iran can realistically or potentially produce 1-4 low-yield uranium-based bombs, or at least 1-2, by end-of-summer and end-of-year 2006. All agree that once Iran succeeds in dev a uranium bomb(s), Iran will continue to intensify its dev towards missle-capable, plutonium-based nuke arsenals - WINDS OF CHANGE has posts reminding their membership that China, vv proxies North Korea and Pakistan {Alq Khan network], has been wilfully engaging in [anti-US] nuke proliferation, including enrichment/bomb design tech, for 10 years now. For now, in 2006 the main threat to American and Israeli interests are tech transfers to extremist groups - a nuclear event(s), regardless of magnitude, occurring in the ME only is still cause for America's concern, and still cause for US-led mil action againt Iran. Osama and AQ are already reported or believed to in possession of Russian Mafia/Black market-supplied "suitcase" bombs.
Posted by: john ||
04/15/2006 8:00 Comments ||
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#3
You know, it really is tiresome how many people cry foul at the first sign of U.S. unilateralism, but call for just that whenever the U.S. uses multinational institutions, be they 6-party talks with the Norks, or the U.N. in the case of Iran.
#4
If Osama had a nuke weapon, he would have used it long ago.
As regards the Iranian Uranium bomb.. it is a mistake to assume it is a Little Boy gun type weapon too large to deliver on a missile.
The 4th Chinese nuclear weapon test in 1966 was delivered by a DF-2 missile. The design of that weapon was provided to Pakistan.
It is an implosion type weapon - less than 1 meter in diameter and weighing 500 kg.
Here is a photo from that Chinese test
Read this
IMPACT OF CHINESE COMMUNIST NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRESS ON NATIONAL SECURITY
REPORT OF JOINT COMMITTEE ON ATOMIC ENERGY
CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES
JULY 1967
The missile-delivered fourth Chinese test demonstrated that
the Chinese now have the capability to design a low yield fission
warhead compatible in size and weight with a missile.
October 27, 1966: Low intermediate (20 to 200kilotons). As in the other tests, there is no evidence that plutonium was used.
All of the Chinese detonations have utilized enriched uranium (U 235 ) as the primary fissionable material. Uranium-238 was also present in all tests. The detonation of any device which also contains U 238 results in some fissioning of the U 238. The debris from their third and fifth tests indicated some thermonuclear reactions had involved lithium-6 in those devices.
Posted by: john ||
04/15/2006 8:21 Comments ||
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#5
Iran took Chinese beryllium for nuclear weapons
15:39 2005-09-01
Iran obtained 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of beryllium for its nuclear weapons program from China last year, an Iranian opposition group claimed Thursday.
This further decreases estimates of the HEU needed for the Iranian bomb.
Whereas 60 kg would have been needed for a Little Boy design, the Fat Man design would require only 20 kg.
However this isn't 1944. The 1966 Chinese weapon was small enough to fit on a missile. This tells you (a) more advanced explosive lens design (b) beryllium reflected core (c) smaller overall weapon.
With the use of neutron reflector shells, the Chinese design probably uses <15 kg of HEU.
Posted by: john ||
04/15/2006 8:47 Comments ||
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#6
As in the other tests, there is no evidence that plutonium was used.
All of the Chinese detonations have utilized enriched uranium (U 235 ) as the primary fissionable material
Ah John! Questions finally answered. I was afraid the Persians were building a tamper for a fusion weapon.
Serious design experience is needed before a nation can develop thermonuclear weapon. The Chinese have not, as far as we know, proliferated this design type.
A program with a lot of technicians, working from blueprints, like Pakistan, North Korea and Iran, is unlikely to achieve this jump in capability.
Note that even Israel, going from the traitor Vanunu's photographs, doesn't seem to have developed true two stage fusion weapons. The design Vanunu exposed was a sloika type device.
And Israel has real physicists working on their program.
Another nation with real physicists is India.
It took them more than 25 years before they had a two stage thermonuclear weapon. Granted, a lot of this was political reluctance to order development. They have yet to test it at full yield (quite problematic for their test site and their shaft construction techniques).
Posted by: john ||
04/15/2006 13:16 Comments ||
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#8
One question is would the Chinese repeat their proliferation of U 235 ?
They provided several bombs worth of material to Pakistan. They later provided Pu.
Would they have the nerve to do the same with Iran?
Posted by: john ||
04/15/2006 17:41 Comments ||
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#9
I strongly suspect that the package for Iran will include visits from SF supported inspection teams to conduct on site BDA of known atomic sites. If we found traces of Chinese fissionable materials I think MFN would be out the window. That's a big risk for China.
The misdirected email or text message is a hazard of our age. It can sour relationships and upset the closest of our friends. But now a stray electronic missive has been blamed for a spate of arrests, a national scandal and a very grumpy president of Iran.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Islamic nation's firebrand leader, has taken umbrage at an unwelcome text received on his mobile phone. According to whispered accounts in the Iranian capital, his ire was stirred when someone sent him a joke suggesting he didn't wash regularly enough.
Although officials claim he possesses a lively sense of humour that belies his rather hairshirt image, on this occasion it suffered a serious failure. Realising the joke was doing the rounds of Iranian mobile phones, the notoriously temperamental president lodged an official complaint with Iran's judiciary department.
That in turn has acted as a pretext for an official purge of the SMS system in the country. Mr Ahmadinejad has since told his staff to pay close attention to all jokes circulating about him by text.
An anti-regime website called Rooz Online claims that under the crackdown the head of the country's mobile phone company has been sacked and four people arrested and accused of colluding with the Israeli foreign intelligence service, Mossad.
But poking fun at the president has becoming a national pastime in Iran. In a fusillade of seditious traffic, the regime's senior figures and its most sacred policies are all fair game - with Mr Ahmadinejad a particular target.
One joke tells of a man who has died and gone to hell, where he sees the famously strait-laced Mr Ahmadinejad dancing with the Hollywood star Jennifer Lopez. "Is this Ahmadinejad's punishment?" he asks.
"No," goes the reply. "It is Jennifer Lopez's punishment."
Another recent joke poked fun at Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, listing characteristics he supposedly inherited from five prophets: Muhammad, Moses, Jesus, Noah and Solomon. Insulting the supreme leader - or the prophets - is a jailing offence in devoutly religious Iran.
Others concentrate heavily on sex, another taboo with Iran's religious hierarchy. One purports to reveal official statistics of what men do after sex: "2% eat; 3% smoke; 4% take a shower; 5% go to sleep: 86% get up and go home to their wives."
The previous assumption was that this exchange of bawdy jibes and political satire could be made without detection. But now senior police officers have announced that they are acutely aware of it and say jokes intercepted could be treated as criminal behaviour.
Particular attention is being paid to jokes comparing Iran's nuclear programme with sex. Several people are widely believed to have received court summonses for sending nuclear-related jokes.
"While the outcome of the recent arrests in connection with SMS messaging is not clear yet, what is certain is that SMS jokes have already put some people into serious trouble," wrote the website Rooz Online.
The clampdown is in line with the authorities' uncompromising stance on the internet and bloggers. Wary of modern communications as a means of spreading political dissent, Iran is second only to China in the number of websites it filters - using technology made in America.
Large numbers of the nation's estimated 70,000 to 100,000 bloggers have faced harassment or imprisonment. The regime has acknowledged monitoring text message traffic. It first admitted it had access to text traffic last December when a military plane carrying more than 100 journalists crashed shortly after take-off at Tehran airport.
The communications minister said text messages were kept by the government for six months and that messages sent by those on board in the moments before the crash could be used to investigate its causes.
The first arrests over text messaging were made in the run-up to last year's presidential election when several anti-regime student leaders were detained for urging a boycott of the poll after the regime had declared voting to be an Islamic duty. "I was arrested for one evening and they made it clear they knew every SMS I had sent and received," said Muhammad Hashemi, leader of the Tahkim Vahdat student movement.
Posted by: john ||
04/15/2006 00:00 ||
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#3
I told you ...
A Monty Python/comedy central/SNL/ type Sat channel for the mid-east will cause our worst enemies to die of heart faliure while their people laugh...
Might do more long term damage then a bombing run.
-----Original Message----- First my email, them their response
From: ComedyCentral Servers @ ComedyCentral
Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2006 5:47 PM
To: Viewer Services @ Comedy Central
Subject: South Park - South Park Censorship
Name: Frank G
E-mail Address: Fsmokey@NoSpam.cox.net
Message: your craven censorship shows you only like to insult religions
where you may not suffer a backlash. Cowards . You've lost a viewer, and
I can't wait to email the sponsors...
****************************************************
Dear Viewer,
Thank you for your correspondence regarding the "South Park" episodes
entitled "Cartoon Wars." We appreciate your concerns about censorship
and the destructive influence of outside groups on the media,
entertainment industry and particularly Comedy Central.
To reiterate, as satirists, we believe that it is our First Amendment
right to poke fun at any and all people, groups, organizations and
religions and we will continue to defend that right. Our goal is to
make people laugh and perhaps, if we're lucky, even make them think in
the process.
Comedy Central's belief in the First Amendment has not wavered, despite
our decision not to air an image of Muhammad. Our decision was made not
to mute the voices of Trey and Matt or because we value one religion
over any other. This decision was based solely on concern for public
safety in light of recent world events.
With the power of freedom of speech and expression also comes the
obligation to use that power in a responsible way. Much as we wish it
weren't the case, times have changed and, as witnessed by the intense
and deadly reaction to the publication of the Danish cartoons, decisions
cannot be made in a vacuum without considering what impact they may have
on innocent individuals around the globe.
It was with this in mind we decided not to air the image of Muhammad, a
decision similar to that made by virtually every single media outlet
across the country earlier this year when they each determined that it
was not prudent or in the interest of safety to reproduce the
controversial Danish cartoons. Injuries occurred and lives were lost in
the riots set off by the original publication of these cartoons. The
American media made a decision then, as we did now, not to put the
safety and well being of the public at risk, here or abroad.
As a viewer of "South Park," you know that over the course of ten
seasons and almost 150 episodes the series has addressed all types of
sensitive, hot-button issues, religious and political, and has done so
with Comedy Central's full support in every instance, including this
one. "Cartoon Wars" contained a very important message, one that Trey
and Matt felt strongly about, as did we at the network, which is why we
gave them carte blanche in every facet but one: we would not broadcast a
portrayal of Muhammad.
In that regard, did we censor the show? Yes, we did. But if you hold
Comedy Central's 15-year track record up against any other network out
there, you'll find that we afford our talent the most creative freedom
and provide a nurturing atmosphere that challenges them to be bold and
daring and places them in a position to constantly break barriers and
push the envelope. The result has been some of the most provocative
television ever produced.
We would like nothing more than to be able to look back at this in a few
years and think that perhaps we overreacted. Unfortunately, to have
made a different decision and to look back and see that we completely
underestimated the damage that resulted was a risk we were not willing
to take.
Our pledge to you, our loyal viewers, is that Comedy Central will
continue to produce and provide the best comedy available and we will
continue to push it right to the edge, using and defending the First
Amendment in the most responsible way we know how.
Sincerely,
Comedy Central Viewer Services
pure corporate bullshit dhimmitude
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/15/2006 18:00 ||
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#1
Looks like a pretty direct admission that they consider Islam a violent murder cult, rather than a religion. I suppose they deserve some credit for that...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/15/2006 18:20 Comments ||
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#2
They should just call themselves "Corporate Comedy Central" now. Just lost their badge of daring and cool.
#3
And Scientism is not a cult? I thought the CEO of Borders made a pretty persuasive defence of their decision not carrying the mag with the cartoons on the cover. This comes no where near and is sheer dhimmitude. I hope the next time these guys mock Christianity someone torches their studio when no one is in it. Once they decide to play dhimmi they better be ready to be an equal opportunity dhimmi.
As a viewer of "South Park," you know that over the course of ten seasons and almost 150 episodes the series has addressed all types of
sensitive, hot-button issues, religious and political, and has done so with Comedy Central's full support in every instance, except including this one.
In effect, they say for the first time we have encountered an issue we are afraid to deal with.
#10
I give them credit for airing the episode at all. The setup was beautiful in part one they basically predicted the fear of airing it and mocked it mercilously, then set up the obvious comparison of Jesus shitting on Bush, about as offensive as they could think of, with a simple image of Mohammad knowing which would be censored and thus making an even stronger statement.
Comedy Central could have just shitcanned the whole thing and let Trey and Matt scream censorship. Instead they showed an episode designed to make them look bad if they censored it.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/15/2006 20:59 Comments ||
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#12
Unfortunately they just made it that much worse when they *do* have to draw the line against the Islamists. Then they will be 'upppity Dhimmis' and will be treated much worse then if they (and others) had taken a stand now.
#13
HEE HAW!!! That's what I've been trying to think of since my last post. I couldn't get Smother's Brothers and Hootenanny out of my head. It's Hee Haw.
That's about how funny Comedy Central is these days. Corporate approved- what some corporate geek dressed in a suit thinks that his boss and a "target audience" will find funny. It's not spontaneous, not edgy, and if its funny, its only because it got the time slot on Saturday night when people are often drunk enough to laugh at anything even remotely snarky.
But now it's not even Snarky. It's cleric approved. Man, they are so dead.
#14
I really don't care what excuse they throw out there. I'm done with them. They did it out of fear and surrendered to the terrorists, just like the argument in the cartoon. Time to find a new station.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
04/15/2006 22:41 Comments ||
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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.
The financial intelligence unit at the Ministry of Interior has been monitoring several sources possibly offering financial support to terrorist operations in the Kingdom, press reports said yesterday. The unit has received several reports of suspicious financial dealings and it is taking required measures to foil them, Al-Jazirah newspaper quoted Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, as saying. The unit undertakes investigation of all suspicious financial operations in order to dry up support for terrorist groups, he added. 
The Japanese judiciary turned down for the second time a lawsuit seeking to pull troops from Iraq on the grounds that the historic mission violates the pacifist constitution. The Nagoya District Court in central Japan turned down the lawsuit by 3,200 lawyers and residents who said the deployment was not in line with the constitution, which bars Japan from maintaining a military. 
THE founding newspaper of modern Turkey is warning of Islamic fundamentalism in a media campaign seen as a secularist fightback against the government. Are you aware of the danger, reads the front page headline in Cumhuriyet (Republic), written in Turkish but in Arabic style from right to left. It has also run on television. The Arabic style is a coded suggestion to Turks that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) wants to reverse the reforms of Turkeys revered founder Kemal Ataturk, which included replacing the Arabic script with the Latin for Turkish. This government is the target of our campaign. In recent years anti-secularist developments are threatening Turkey and its institutions, Cumhuriyet columnist Ozgen Acar told Reuters. 
Out of five Americans only one has a favourable impression of Islam, revealed a recent poll. The poll conducted by the US television network, CBS, found that 45 percent of respondents queried April 6-9 said they have an unfavourable view of Islam, a rise from 36 percent in February. The publics impression of Islam has diminished even more compared with four years ago. In February 2002 - less than six months after the terrorist attacks of September 11 - the country was evenly divided in its impression of Islam. 
About 300 bone fragments of victims of the September 11 terror attacks have been found near Ground Zero in New York during preparations for a demolition, sparking an outcry from families. The remains have been found on a worksite preparing to tear down the Deutsche Bank skyscraper, next to the location of the World Trade Centre, which was rendered unfit for use after the September 11, 2001 assault. 
The federal government should dismiss the NWFP government for failing to maintain law and order in the province and ban the Jamaat-e-Islami because it is a nursery for suicide bombers, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) said on Friday. If the president and the prime minister want to stop suicide attacks in the country, they must ban the JI, MQM parliamentarian Kunwar Khalid Younis told reporters in Parliament House. We also demand of the president and the prime minister that the NWFP government be dismissed because it failed to keep peace in the province, he said. 
Over two thousand 
BAGHDAD - The prayer leader of one of Baghdads largest Sunni mosques asked God to make US President George W. Bush suffer the same fate as Israeli premier Ariel Sharon, who formally lost power on Friday after being declared permanently incapacitated by a coma.
Palestinian PM 
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Friday that the suspension of Western aid to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority would not bring down his Hamas-led government nor cow the Palestinian people. "The Palestinian people will not give up their government no matter how many sacrifices we have to make. We are prepared to eat salt and olives," he told hundreds of supporters at an open-air mosque in the Jebaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza.
The United States on Thursday blocked a UN Security Council statement drafted by Arab nations and aimed at putting pressure on Israel to stop military strikes on Palestinian targets. US Ambassador John Bolton said the draft, even after three days of intense negotiations, "was disproportionately critical of Israel, and unfairly so, and needlessly so."
Iran's supreme leader, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, on Friday opened an international conference on the future of the Palestinians and Jerusalem, which is expected to be dominated by anti-Israel statements reflecting Iran's hardline position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. More than 600 delegates from 50 countries, including many parliamentary speakers are expected to attend the event which lasts through Sunday. "One of the main issues to be discussed is the safeguard of Islam's sacred sites in occupied Jerusalem," former Iranian interior minister, Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour, said in an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI). "For 50 years the Israelis have tried to destroy all traces of Islam in this city (Jerusalem)," said Mohtashamipour, who is also founder of the Association for the Defence of the Palestinian People, which is organising the Tehran conference.
Iranian leadership yesterday branded the United States a decaying power, brushing off Washingtons call for strong UN Security Council action to stop the Islamic regimes controversial nuclear drive. The tough rhetoric came after the government also dismissed a personal appeal from UN atomic watchdog chief Mohamed El-Baradei to freeze uranium enrichment and calm suspicions it is seeking the atomic bomb. The enemy should know Iran is not comparable to any country in the world. Now we are much more powerful than before, senior cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati told worshippers at Friday prayers in Tehran. The United States is a decaying power. Dont be intimidated by their threats. They dont have the stamina to do anything, said the head of Irans Guardian Council, a powerful political watchdog. 
With every new Iranian advance, hopes dim for keeping Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons and as the United States and its allies try to delay that day experts and diplomats say they are losing ground. We are running out of options, one European diplomat who deals with non-proliferation issues told Reuters on Wednesday. The Iranians are producing facts on the ground and were not responding fast enough. 
The misdirected email or text message is a hazard of our age. It can sour relationships and upset the closest of our friends. But now a stray electronic missive has been blamed for a spate of arrests, a national scandal and a very grumpy president of Iran.
