The Taliban is finding young, hairless boys gearing up for a massive summer slaughtering of themselves offensive, with more than 2,000 suicide bombers ready for action and even more preparing, a senior commander said on Saturday. We got yer dedicated sons of allan here, ready to die killing infidels. Yarr!
The warning comes a day after a top U.S. diplomat warned Afghanistan was in for a bloody and dangerous spring after the bloodiest year since the hardline Islamist Taliban was ousted by U.S.-led forces in 2001. "A lot of talibunnies will die, some afghans and some coalition soldiers. Like in the recent past, the kill ratios will be astouding. If we could just get our spit! allies like Germany to actually fight".
"The Taliban will intensify their guerrilla and suicide strikes this summer," Mulla Hayat Khan told Reuters from a secret location. "This will be a bloodiest year for foreign troops." Yarr! We be the pious army of mohammed and we LOVE to die. Please help KILL us get out of this shithole known as islamic life and into the paradise we have been promised.
He said 2,000 suicide bombers were ready -- about 40 percent of the total suicide force -- adding numbers were so high it was sometimes hard to find enough explosives and targets. What lessons are required for the 3,000 still not certified as suicide bombers? Is is a long or complex class? Somehow I doubt it takes long to say "push this button and die for allan".
"Our war preparations have been completed to a large extent and we're waiting for summer to set in," Khan said. "We got our new shipment of hairless boys, some rags to wear, old tires to make shoes and a whole fleet of new Lexus LX470 SUVs."
More than 4,000 people died last year, a quarter of them civilians, as the resurgent Taliban fought back with what NATO generals said was surprising ferocity. al-Reuters could NOT bring themselves to mention that 75% (3,000) of the casualties were talibunnies. Assholes.
Calling the guerrillas virulent and tough, U.S. assistant secretary of state for south and central Asia Richard Boucher on Friday warned the spring would be bloody and dangerous after the traditional winter lull in fighting. "They come, we kill them. More come and we kill them too. Still more come and get killed. Repeat until all are dead."
"I think we will face a strong offensive and will have a difficult and dangerous and bloody spring," he told BBC radio as NATO foreign ministers discussed Afghanistan's future at a summit in Brussels called by Washington. "Some units might run low on ammo because they are killing so many talibunnies, so we have tripled the basic ammo load for all units. We do not want to lose any chance to slaughter those miserble, vile murderous fanatics until their brothers at home give up, realizing they will ALL die if they continue."
"But we are also better set up to deal with it." "Our SF troops are now deployed in Pakiwakiland, better to watch the oncoming talibunnies. They get an eye on them and talk in the various aircraft always waiting in the sky for the chance to get some talibunny friscase'.
While urging NATO allies to do more, the United States has extended troop tours of duty -- effectively boosting its forces by 2,500 -- and announced $10.6 billion in extra aid for Afghan security forces and reconstruction. Spit! allies, huh? Britain, Canada, Austrailia, Netherlands, Polonia I believe have deployed combat troops with a RoE allowing actual fucking combat. Imagine that, folks. Combat troops in combat. Unlike the Spit! Germans, Spit! Phrench now, and probably the Italians and Spanish, if they are even there.
No, we will get some troops from Britain, Canada, maybe some others. But, most importantly some good old US Army troops. 2 battalions and some some support troops. The best soldiers in the world, masters of combat, especially when given a proper RoE (i.e. no fucking lawyers should EVER be involved in decided RoE as long as the RoE isn't openly a war crime.
#4
Think its time to take that Rooters Newsie for a little ride to see if he can 'remember' where that secret location was.... Bring in da boyz from Joisey, Guido and Frankie, see, they know how to do it......
Carjackers shot dead two women in a US embassy vehicle in Nairobis western outskirts on Saturday, and police killed two of the fleeing gunmen during a shootout in the bush. Police spokesman Gideon Kibunjah said two policemen were also shot and wounded as they chased the gunmen armed with AK-47s during the midday carjacking on the main highway in the Kenyan capital, nicknamed Nairobbery by its residents. Gangsters driving another vehicle had stopped in front of a black four-wheel drive bearing diplomatic plates issued to the US and ordered the five occupants out, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2007 12:45 ||
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The victims were the wife and mother-in-law of a U.S. Embassy employee, said Robert Kerr, an embassy spokesman. "These were people who loved Kenya," Kerr said. He did not provide other details.
First mistake, bringing loved ones to Africa. Second mistake, ignoring the Regional Security Officer's (RSO) published guidance and nievly treking along without a DIPSEC detail. Insufferable murdering bastards reverting to their Mau Mau roots again. I'm afraid nothing says "Africa" quite like the senseless butchery of unarmed women.
The Yemeni foreign ministry accused the Ethiopian forces of detaining a Yemeni national in Somalia, but it did not identify the Yemeni person. The Ethiopian prime minister Melease Zinawi said that the Ethiopian forces had arrested a group of Yemenis who were fighting with the forces of the Somali Islamic Courts against the Somali interim government and Ethiopian forces.
Our embassy in Addis Ababa is contacting with the Ethiopian side on the case of those persons to check their identity, Yemeni foreign minister, Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, told Naspress. This is the first time Yemen and Ethiopia exchange such accusations since the Ethiopian forces have entered Mogadishu. Observers fears arouse that such statements might affect relations between Yemen and Ethiopia and the coming summit of Sana'a Forum for Cooperation supposed to be held in Addis Ababa.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2007 00:00 ||
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The Al-Hikma Al-Yamania (Yemeni Wisdom) Charitable Society denied charges against some of its members of having links to al-Qaeda. Charges against the society's members in Aden, Abyan and Sana'a offices of providing financial and logistic aids to Yemeni and Saudi militants to recruit fighters and smuggling them to Iraq are baseless," said the secretary-general of the Society sheikh Farouk Abdul-Wasei Mohammad. He said the society works in field of welfare according to the law of the social affairs and labor.
The Al-Tajamoa newspaper reported that al-Qaeda associates move through Al-Hikma Al-Yamania Society as a civil and charitable organization. It said that a lead figure in the society admitted after he was arrested that he was involved in smuggling a person to fight in Iraq. The paper said Monday that security reports had revealed that members in the society give financial and logistic support to al-Qaeda in Iraq.
We strongly deny what Al-Tajamoa has reported and we confirm that our society has no links to those organizations mentioned in the paper, said sheikh Mohammad. Sheikh Mohammad said that such charges aim to fight welfare services in the country. "The society will respond to the paper and reserves its right to refer to justice," said sheikh Mohammad.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2007 00:00 ||
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KUWAIT CITY - Saudi Arabias King Abdullah said nervously in an interview published on Saturday that attempts to convert Muslim Sunnis to the Shia branch of Islam will not succeed, and that Sunnis would always make up the majority of the world Muslims. Although Abdullah did not mention Iran by name, his comments _ rare for the Sunni monarch _ appeared aimed at easing Arab concerns over the Persian Shia nations growing influence in the Middle East.
Igal getting a little tight your corpulenceness?
Arab media have claimed that Iran seeks to spread Shiism among the regions predominantly Sunni Arab countries as a way of increasing Teherans political power. 'We are following up on this matter and we are aware of the dimensions of spreading Shiism and where it has reached, Abdullah told the Kuwaiti Al Siyassah daily.
However, we believe that this process will not achieve its goal because the majority of Sunni Muslims will never change their faith, he added. Ultimately, the majority of Muslims seem immune to any attempts by other sects to penetrate it (Sunnism) or diminish its historical power.
Though the Shi'a could try to out-breed you.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/28/2007 00:00 ||
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Arab Shiites are already a majority around the Saudi Persian Gulf oil patch. And they breed like flies.
(KCNA) -- The reactionaries of the land of Japs had better behave themselves, clearly mindful that their evermore frantic moves to suppress and stamp out the General Association of the Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon) and Koreans in Japan would only precipitate their doomsday. A spokeswoman for the Central Committee of the Korean Democratic Women's Union warned this Friday in a statement in connection with the fact that the Japanese reactionaries' suppression of Chongryon and Koreans in Japan has reached its height.
Every action taken by the reactionaries of the island country against Chongryon and the Koreans in Japan is so dastardly and wicked that it stuns the world people, the statement noted.
Every action taken by the reactionaries of the island country against Chongryon and the Koreans in Japan is so dastardly and wicked that it stuns the world people, the statement noted, vehemently denouncing the authorities of the island country for their unjustifiable human rights abuses.
The statement continued: In the past Japan violated the sovereignty of Korea and usurped its territory and deprived the Koreans of even their names and spoken and written languages in a futile bid to exterminate the Korean nation.
It is nothing but a daydream for these Japs to exterminate the Korean nation, their centuries-old design.
Now the outrageous Japanese reactionaries are trying to realize this wild ambition by suppressing Chongryon and Koreans in Japan. It is nothing but a daydream for these Japs to exterminate the Korean nation, their centuries-old design. For all the desperate efforts on the part of the Japanese reactionaries Chongryon and the Koreans in Japan will as always advance along with the dignified and powerful DPRK.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2007 13:06 ||
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#1
Smokes! That sounds like from a Kimmie's speach writter. Mayhaps the "spokeswoman" is a Kimmie's admirer, to put it mildly?
#6
Japan kicked Korea's ass once, and ruled them for almost 200 years. Even the Chinese fear a militant Japan, with good reason. Somebody needs to tell some bunch of little boys and girls to STFU, before bad things happen - like a nuclear-armed, militant Japan rising to take its "rightful" place in East Asia. Lots of folks wouldn't like that...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/28/2007 17:49 Comments ||
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#7
Heh heh heh, #6 OP.
It would work for me. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/28/2007 19:21 Comments ||
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A leading Muslim says the Federal Government is right to allow the controversial Islamic group, Hizb ut Tahrir, to practice in Australia.
There have been calls for the group to be banned following a conference in Sydney's south-west yesterday, which focused on creating an Islamic super state with sharia law somewhere in the world.
But former chairman of the Federal Government's Muslim Community Reference Group, Dr Ameer Ali, says banning the group and its controversial teachings could do more harm than good.
"That call may be appropriate in a Muslim country, but it is totally inappropriate to Australia," he said.
"Therefore they have to be monitored in what they are saying, but to ban them is not a wise move, because once you ban them, they go underground. That is much more dangerous."
However, Dr Ali is concerned the conference held by the group may further damage the community's perceptions of the faith.
He says the best way to deal with the group is to engage moderate Muslims to counter its views.
"These youngsters don't realise the damage they are doing to the mainstream Muslim community in this country," he said.
"So I'd say let them do whatever they want to do, but there must be some line - we draw a line beyond which they have to be monitored very closely.
"And I think the law enforcement authorities must monitor them."
Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock says there is insufficient evidence to ban the group.
But chair of the Community Relations Commission, Stepan Kerkyasharian, says Hizb ut Tahrir is overstepping the mark.
"If people are going to hold public meetings calling for a way of life and our institutions to be replaced by some other system, then they are definitely crossing the line," he said.
"It's not acceptable in our society and it's tantamount to calling for a revolution."
#3
how about ban, deport, and KILL the laggards? Does that work for ya, Dr. ?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/28/2007 19:34 Comments ||
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He says the best way to deal with the group is to engage moderate Muslims to counter its views.
Sounds like an idea. When someone finds a moderate Muslim, we'll give it a whirl.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
01/28/2007 19:40 Comments ||
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Sounds like an idea. When someone finds a moderate Muslim, we'll give it a whirl.
To find one, first establish a National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies as part of a National Action Plan to Build on Social Cohesion, Harmony and Security and play a leadership role in public debates in contemporary Islam.
All the haram animals have been fed, and are ready to fly!
An unlikely alliance of radical Muslims and the Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, has rejected Morris Iemma's call to ban the Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir. The call, which included a claim by the Premier that Hizb ut-Tahrir was declaring war on Australia, came as the group held a conference on how to established a pan-national Islamic state under sharia law.
Speakers at the conference yesterday warned there would be a call to arms to establish and defend a caliphate but they made it clear they did not see Australia as part of their fundamentalist society. The distinction was lost on Mr Iemma, the MP for Lakemba where the conference was held, and where he is facing a challenge by Muslim candidates in the state election. "This is an organisation that is basically saying that it wants to declare war on Australia, our values and our people," the Premier said. "That's the big difference and that's why I believe that they are just beyond the pale. Enough is enough, and it's time for the Commonwealth to review this organisation's status and take the lead from other countries and ban them."
A Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman, Wassim Doureihi, said calls for the group to be banned were misplaced: the group was opposed to terrorism. Hizb ut-Tahrir says it is non-violent but it has been proscribed in many Middle Eastern, European and central Asian countries after being deemed a threat to national security.
Mr Ruddock said Hizb ut-Tahrir had been closely monitored by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation but had been found to have done nothing in Australia to warrant it being banned. He said the NSW Government should stop playing politics and if it had any evidence helpful to the security agencies, it should give it to them.
Concerns about terrorism, violent crime and integration have prompted a bidding war between NSW Labor and the Opposition about who can sound tougher on Muslims, a theme that is expected to continue until poll day on March 24.
At yesterday's conference, there were harsh words for the West's policies in the Middle East and their role in propping up "corrupt dictatorships" in the Muslim world. "Muslims are the most humiliated among the earth's peoples," Sheik Issam Amera said. "The West treats them like slaves and their lands as their backyard gardens." Indonesia's Ismail Yusanto said an Islamic state was coming and that "Western powers will likely attack the newly formed caliphate. We must mobilise for an impending conflict," he said.
#2
"Muslims are the most humiliated among the earth's peoples," Sheik Issam Amera said. "The West treats them like slaves and their lands as their backyard gardens."
Who is his ventriloquist? So many dhummies, all parroting the same "victim" speech.
Posted by: Dave Dimmy ||
01/28/2007 10:29 Comments ||
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"This is an organisation that is basically saying that it wants to declare war on Australia, our values and our people," the Premier said. "That's the big difference and that's why I believe that they are just beyond the pale. Enough is enough, and it's time for the Commonwealth to review this organisation's status and take the lead from other countries and ban them."
Yes, and hang their leaders, lieutenants, street thugs and financial backers for sedition and treason. Then, at a bare minimum, deport all members without notice and confiscate all their properties for the Crown.
Repeat as necessary in all other Commonwealth states and we would be making a good start.
A RADICAL Muslim cleric has urged hundreds of supporters meeting in Sydney's south-west to join a global push to create an Islamic utopia. Indonesian firebrand cleric Ismail Yusanto outlined his plan for instituting Sharia law, the absolute form of Islam, to a crowd of about 500 people gathered at the Khilafah Conference in Lakemba.
The meeting was organised by the Australian arm of the extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, a group widely known for its anti-democratic, anti-Semitic views. The group believes in a dystopia in that it can reduce suffering around the globe by introducing Sharia law and creating an Islamic utopia.
The NSW government has called on the Commonwealth to follow several European and Middle Eastern countries and ban the group. Dr Yusanto called on followers to denounce capitalism, warning that if Islam was not followed in his Islamic super-state, jihad would follow.
From the nationalisation of utilities for the on-going funding of a jihadist army to fighting off an ensuing American-led invasion, he told the audience never to let pessimism enter their minds when seeking a utopian state of Islam not seen since 1924. "Once the program is ready it must be implemented as soon as possible," Dr Yusanto said. "Once successful, the new order would be just the beginning of the new era in the application of Islamic ideology.
The cleric went on to remind his listeners of the ultimate sacrifice in achieving a utopian Islamic state. "There is no victory and glory without sacrifice and hard work," he said. "No pain no gain."
Hizb ut-Tahrir is already banned in several European and Middle Eastern countries. It has also been linked to the 2005 London bombings.
NSW Premier Morris Iemma called on federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock to join countries including Britain and Germany and ban the group. "This is not a case of someone being different, someone advocating a different point of view," he told Sky News. "This is an organisation that is basically saying that it wants to declare war on Australia, our values and our people. That's the big difference.
"And that's why I believe that they are just beyond the pale, enough is enough and it's time for the Commonwealth to review this organisation's status and take the lead from other countries and ban them."
But federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said government agencies were monitoring Hizb ut-Tahrir, although its activities in Australia did not warrant it being banned. "Proscription of terrorist organisations is an issue that is dealt with by the Commonwealth after a referral of powers from the states," Mr Ruddock said.
Opposition immigration spokesman Tony Burke called on newly appointed Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews to consider cancelling Dr Yusanto's visa. "There are clear character provisions in the immigration act that mean that if the government didn't want Ismail Yusanto here it could have stopped him from coming," he told reporters. "The only reason we have someone in western Sydney right now preaching Sharia law is because the federal government chose to allow him to be here.
"My question and my comment to anyone from around the world who hates Australia is simple - if you hate the place, don't come here." Yes, but how would they try to slo-mo colonize it, then?
#1
[A-G] Philip Ruddock said government agencies were monitoring Hizb ut-Tahrir, although its activities in Australia did not warrant it being banned.
"Monitoring" is a euphemism for doing nothing. I would prefer it if Hizb was "helping government agencies with their inquiries".
Nevertheless, Hizb's action, and Ruddock's inaction will be in vain. There will never be a "utopian Islamic state". Islam is about to pass its useby date.
Posted by: Angel in the Whirlwind ||
01/28/2007 6:53 Comments ||
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A RADICAL Muslim cleric has urged hundreds of supporters meeting in Sydney's south-west to join a global push to create an Islamic utopia.
#3
Indonesian firebrand cleric Ismail Yusanto urges Islamic super-state
Sheech, Another Islamo-Paleo Retard trying to be original with, the absolute form of Islam!
An 'Islamic-Visionary' of the original variety he is not. in fact he's just another imitator from a long line of Islamo-Paleo thinkers stinkers.
1928 a small boil erupted in the wake of the Ottoman Caliphate's abolition.
At its center was an Egyptian Arab named Hassan al-Banna 1906 1949. He is considered the infamous founder the Muslim Brotherhood or Society of the Muslim Brothers in Egypt. He fashioned himself as modernest/reformer [a Salafi].
Hassan al-Banna was a self-avowed blood thirsty little sucker. In fact he laid real plans [men and material WWII] to to kill all British troops when Rommel 'captured' Egypt.
The Brotherhood had networks through out the ME. Hassan al-Banna admired that fun loving guy up in Munich, [Hitler] so much that he plotted death and destruction in the many love letters that he wrote to him.
Like Hitler though, Hassan al-Banna met an unfortunate end. ie. 1949 Cairo.. he was assassinated, shot Dead.
Sayyid Qutb 1906 - 1966, regarded by most as the 'force' the 'intellectual father' for the rejectionist Islamic State [free from all things European and Western].
Sayyid Qutb's books and teachings are considered to be the rational basis for the 'New' Islamic State today. Sayyid Qutb is al-Qaeda's Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri mentor and spiritual teacher. Did I mention that he loved Hitler too?
Like Saddam Sayyid Qutb met a noose and a long enough drop in 1966. Hung by Nasser.
Interestingly Qutb told many out and out lies: check this whopper out that he sold to Muslims quite easily but no American that I know over over 10 years would ever believe it. [scroll down and read section high lighted]
If you have a spare moment read up on Sayyid Qutb's college life in Greeley Colorado circa 1950s [ in the 50s, my mother and step father owned a motel in Longmont Co., some of my earliest memories of hunting and fishing, absolutely untouchable]
Here's another weed from the same patch same virus. "The Blind Sheik" Omar Abdel-Rahman presently in US Prison for life, btw he's stealing our oxygen.
Qutb claims that when he was in the George Washington University Hospital in February 1949, Americans knew very well about Hasan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, and reacted immediately upon hearing of his violent death. Here's what Wright tells us from Qutb's own words:
News came of the assassination of Hasan al-Banna, the Supreme Guide of the Society of the Muslim Brothers, on February 12, in Cairo. Qutb relates that there was a hubbub in the street outside his hospital window. He inquired about the reason for the festivities. "Today the enemy of Christianity in the East was killed," he says that doctors told him. "Today, Hasan al-Banna was murdered." (15)
Wright then dryly observes, "It is difficult to credit that Americans, in 1949, were sufficiently invested in Egyptian politics to rejoice at the news of Banna's death" (15). Exactly. There simply could not have been a hubbub in the street celebrating the death of Hasan al-Banna. Qutb invented an 'event' and described it in the way that made sense in an Arab context, namely, the street celebration. Americans don't celebrate in the streets over distant assassinations of obscure figures ... or even of well-known figures.
Why did Qutb lie?
Perhaps because he considered his own deeply felt truth to be more important than the mere factual 'truth' of the matter? Americans didn't actually celebrate al-Banna's death? They hadn't actually heard of al-Banna? Irrelevant details. America was in fact diametrically opposed to all that al-Banna stood for. American success was effectively a celebration of his death.
What Qutb wrote was therefore 'true' even if it wasn't literally true.
(2007-01-27) Tens of thousands of protesters will rally today on the mall in Washington D.C. to call on President George Bush to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq, and to demand better celebrity spokesmen for their cause.
Celebrities slated to speak at the rally include Jane Fonda, Susan Sarandon, Danny Glover and the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Three of them have made careers out of pretending to be someone theyre not, while Ms. Fonda is best known as the daughter of actor Henry Fonda.
Organizers said the biggest challenge facing the anti-war movement today is how to hold together a loose coalition of groups with divergent agendas using celebrities who peaked in popularity 10 to 30 years ago.
The speaker roster reminds me of the old Hollywood Squares game show, said one unnamed staffer of Vegan Lesbians for Racial and Nuclear Justice, whose dozens of members will cross the continent to join the rally today. I mean Fonda, Sarandon, Glover and Jackson might as well be Charo, Joan Rivers, George Gobel and Paul Lynde. How am I going get my group excited about geopolitical and military strategy with these has beens leading the way?
#1
The only person I have never heard the Canadian government, the CBC, the RCMP, the "left" or Arar himself blame for his supposed torture are the Syrians. You know, the fascist government who actually supposedly tortured him.
If he does not like his treatment he is free to move to another country that will show him the deference he believes he deserves. Try France or Japan or anyone else who gives a rat's ass.
#1
she was just lovely today, polished to a high sheen, animatronic smile and those chipmunk cheeks! The media swoon over Obama is gonna wane as Mizz Billing Records gets the fawning treatment. Blechhhhh
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/28/2007 17:12 Comments ||
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Jesus... you realize we're gonna have to listen to this bullshit for another 21 months, day in and day out????
Honestly: if I were to wake up tomorrow morning and find that overnight the entire leadership of the Democratic Party, including the entire Donk contingent in Congress, had been rounded up in the middle of the night along with their paid propagandists in the media and their indoctrination cadres in academia, charged with treason, tried, convicted, sentenced and executed, I think my main reaction would be... relief.
Because otherwise, this crap is going to end in civil war.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
01/28/2007 17:27 Comments ||
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#3
Dave, a civil war might be an improvement over listening to all the Donk horsepucky.
#7
Bush just needs to understand that the whole world evolves around the four year election cycle. He has to get the troops out. I mean to expect the Dems take part in the WOT would be just so not right. Just ask Carter, he'll tell you. Or ask Kerry, he knows, or at least Bill Clinton, I mean he's the expert right? I have still not heard a plan from the Dems, waiting?
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/28/2007 18:18 Comments ||
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I've been wondering if there is a Civil War comming down the road. I guess it starts small. A coupla targeted killings. A riot in response. I won't be surprised. And I know what side I'm on.
#10
That would be the Clinton who told us all how dangerous Saddam was when he was in office. The same Clinton who promised the troops would be out of Kosovo "by Christmas". The same Clinton who couldn't be bothered to treat the first WTC attack with any seriousness.
He's lucky he wasn't strung up on 9/11.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
01/28/2007 19:38 Comments ||
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#11
Yeah, so what was Bill up to, RC, lol?
Posted by: BA ||
01/28/2007 21:21 Comments ||
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#12
I'd say the Clintons are experts in irresponsibility.
Here are some excerpts from that interview conducted by Newsweek's Richard Wolffe in the West Wing office of the vice president the day after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a resolution opposing the Bush administration's new troop deployment in Iraq. The transcript is courtesy of the White House's own transcription service, with all excerpts printed in their full quotation:
"Q: Let's start with Iraq, if I may. There's a lot of skepticism on the Hill, even inside the administration about the Iraqi Prime Minister's abilities, desire to take down the militias. Some people have said the militias have put him into power, so why would he take them down or want to take them down. So what gives you the confidence to think that he can actually be up to the job?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I think we've got a lot of people who want to judge the success of the Maliki administration after some nine months in office. I think it's a little premature. I think he has been direct and forthright in responding to our concerns. I think there is some evidence that he's already beginning to act in terms of, for example, Iraqi forces rounding up as many as 600 members of the Jaish al Mahdi in the last couple of weeks. His commitment to us is to go after those who are responsible for the violence, whoever they may be -- whether they're Baathist or former regime elements or militia, Shia militia or criminal elements. and I think at this stage, we don't have any reason to doubt him.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I vaguely remember her release included a provision that she would engage in NO more anti-war activities anyone got a better memory?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/28/2007 8:23 Comments ||
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#2
There is an old rusty ZPU-4 located not far from my Chu. Wonner if she'd fly over for some pics. She has always had an affinity for anti-aircraft guns.
#5
During the Vietnam No-Win Entity, Fonda was videotaped while seated in an active North Vietnam anti-aircraft carriage. That is when we started to call her "Hanoi Jane."
#7
I can't express in words the intensity of my loathing for this clueless, self-centered b**ch.
I spent two years after 1975 working as a volunteer to resettle Vietnamese refugees... you remember, all those thousands who had to squeeze onto anything that flew or floated when Saigon fell? And now little Miss Movie Star sounds like she didn't get enough jollies out of contributing to one flood of refugees, and a pile of re-education camps and corpses. Bet she won't be anywhere to be found if she helps create another.
B**ch.
#10
The dhimmicrats take over congress and the cockroaches come out of the woodwork (follywood, etc.). Fonda was a traitor during Vietnam and she is a traitor now.
#11
Ah, it's the 70's all over again. Speaking Truth to Power. Fighting in the streets. Stop the Draft. Really big hits on the bong. Hey, you don't suppose Hanoi Jane is going to do a remake of Barbarella, do you? OMG.
As thousands of demonstrators protested against the Iraq war outside the Capitol yesterday, top Congressional Republicans have warned President George Bush that his controversial troop increase has a few months at the very most to show results.
The threat that his own party will turn against him is the clearest sign yet of the intensifying pressure on Mr Bush after the cool reaction to his State of the Union plea to lawmakers to "give a chance" to his plan to send 21,500 more troops to Baghdad and al-Anbar province, seat of the Sunni insurgency.
But the public overwhelmingly opposes the plan, by a majority of two to one, while the Iraq débâcle has driven down Mr Bush's approval rating to barely 30 per cent, a level rarely reached since Richard Nixon at the height of Watergate.
The "bring the troops home" rally, held in brilliant sunshine on the Washington Mall, was intended to highlight not only the 3,100 US troops who have died, but also the countless thousands of Iraqi civilian dead.
On the lawn where protesters gathered, stood a giant transparent bin filled with shoes, each tagged with the name of an Iraqi and details of how he or she died. Mr Bush's troop surge plan was "nonsense," said Scott Smith, a demonstrator with a son serving in Iraq; it was up to Congress to block it.
Among scheduled speakers yesterday was Jane Fonda, who led public protest against the Vietnam war four decades ago, and Hollywood stars Danny Glover and Susan Sarandon, and civil rights leader Jesse Jackson. The only 2008 presidential candidate present was Ohio's Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who campaigned on an anti- war platform in 2004.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Yea, W, if you don't produce in two months, they'll put smiling Jane Fonda in an explosive laden vehicle.
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/28/2007 0:20 Comments ||
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#2
Kicking the Mahdi Army out of south Tigris neighborhoods is not going to be a hard task, given Sunni field intelligence. Call it ethnic cleansing, but secure zones for Shiites cannot be created in the current context.
I oppose the accomodation with the north Tigris Shiites. The President's choice to blame the current conflict on Sunni bombing of a Shiite mosque at this time last year, doesn't appear to be wise. However, if the choice has been made to eliminate Shiite power in Iran, then it all makes sense.
#4
Abortionists defiant in face of Pro-life demonstrations.
You think they'd written that line last week when even bigger demonstrations were held? Nope. So, I'm thinking 'what the heck' about a free press if the result of a cabal of media owners is no different than a state operated media. Concepts like that don't even enter the MSM thinking. Anymore than say, feminist who in act are betraying their sisters in the Muslim world.
Edited for brevity
WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Iraq is a clear sign the newly empowered Democratic Congress is not going to abide by the notion that foreign policy is the sole province of the White House. While President Bush met with military leaders in the Oval Office Friday, she and anti-war Rep. Jack Murtha turned up in Baghdad. And Jane Fonda showed up at the Washington Mall what a coinkeydink.
The timing of the trip, from the Bush administration's point of view, couldn't have been worse. It came just days after the president asked Congress in his State of the Union address to give his revised Iraq strategy a chance to work. It also provided for dueling photo ops: Bush at the White House with his commanders and Pelosi and her congressional delegation in the heavily fortified Green Zone with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The lawmakers also visited U.S. troops on what they billed as a fact-finding mission and one to "thank our troops." Doubtful the sentiments were reciprocated.
"They see blood is in the water," said Fred Greenstein, professor emeritus of politics at Princeton University. "It's sort of the idealized view: that politics stops at the water's edge and the president is commander in chief and the chief diplomat. But members of Congress see a president who is in his low 30s in approval, they need to be re-elected and they know what their constituents are for," Greenstein said. How um er whats the word oh yeah Progressive of them.
Pelosi has been a sharp critic of the administration's conduct of the war and has led a drive in Congress against his decision to send 21,500 more troops. "We stressed our belief that it is well past time for the Iraqis to take primary responsibility for the security of their nation," Pelosi said in a statement after she and the other six members of her delegation met with the Iraqi prime minister and top U.S. officials in Baghdad. "The delegation's view is that American forces should quickly begin to transition from a combat role to one focused on training, counterterrorism, force protection and controlling Iraq's borders," she said - in direct challenge to Bush's decision to add more troops. See Logan Act Below
Murtha, D-Pa., who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee for defense, will have a big say in future spending decisions on Iraq. A one-time hawk on military issues, Murtha for more than a year has been one the most vocal advocates for a cut-n-run policy outspoken war critics.
A key piece of Bush's new Iraq strategy is increasing reconstruction efforts, with the U.S. pledging an additional $1.2 billion. Also, Bush is expected to send Congress next month a Pentagon request for about $100 billion more for Iraq and Afghanistan. While Congress has constitutional pursestrings control over war spending, most lawmakers seem hesitant to support a cutoff of funds that might endanger troops now in Iraq. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney say they will not budge from sending more U.S. troops to Iraq no matter how much Congress opposes the plan. The administration argues the money for the additional troops already has been appropriated. Put that in your Hooka and toke!
It grates on all administrations when members of Congress or private citizens engage in unsolicited overseas diplomacy on their own. Unauthorized negotiations "directly or indirectly" with a foreign power by a private citizen is prohibited by the Logan Act. However, no one has ever been prosecuted under the law, which dates to 1799. And it is doubtful it could be applied to members of Congress. Still, some administration allies have accused four senators - Democrats John Kerry of Massachusetts, Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania - of engaging in such freelance diplomacy by going to Syria in December to sound out President Bashar Assad on his intentions on Iraq and Lebanon. And didnt that little junket that work out swell.
"We're glad the speaker will have a chance to hear firsthand from our troops on the ground as well as the Iraqi government," said Gordon Johndroe, a White House national security spokesman.
#1
I realize madam speaker is dickless, but what's murtha's execuse (same)
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/28/2007 0:17 Comments ||
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#2
I sooo can't wait to give my brother some shit for being there at the same time Pelosi was. I can't even imagine how many f bombs were dropped when they found out she/it was coming to say, "Hey everybody in the press! Look at me! I'm somebody!
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/28/2007 1:24 Comments ||
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) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Iraq is a clear sign the newly empowered Democratic Congress is not going to abide by the notion that foreign policy is the sole province of the White House.
NOT FOREIGN POLICY, DIPSHIT. War powers ARE the president"s job, try actualy reading the constitution one time.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/28/2007 7:38 Comments ||
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#4
She doesn't need to know how to read. She is old wealth and better then us.
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - The Netherlands' government has extradited a naturalized Dutch citizen charged with involvement in terror attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq, the Justice Ministry said Saturday. Iraqi-born Wesam al Delaema, 32, was on a plane headed for an undisclosed location in the U.S., said Justice Ministry spokesman Ivo Hommes. In December, Dutch courts ruled that al Delaema could be extradited for his alleged role in attacks on U.S. forces in 2003.
Al Delaema will become the first suspect tried in a U.S. court for alleged terrorism in Iraq's bloody insurgency. He is charged in the U.S. with possession of explosives and conspiracy to use them in an attack. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Al Delaema claims he is innocent and his lawyers have argued that the U.S. does not have the right to try him.
He might have a point. Better to jug him in Ice Station Zebra Gitmo. Or let the Iraqi interior ministry deal with him.
Evidence against him includes a videotape he filmed of a group called "Warriors of Fallujah" preparing a roadside bomb, which was widely shown on Arabic TV stations. The tape was seized by police who raided al Delaema's house in the Dutch city of Amersfoort in May 2005 following a tip from U.S. authorities.
Gonna be hard to argue that one away in a U.S. court.
Al Delaema's attorney, Victor Koppe, had argued he feared al Delaema could be tortured by U.S. authorities and said the U.S. legal system couldn't be trusted.
Desparately playing to the beliefs and fears of the E.U.
U.S. authorities have given assurances that al Delaema will be tried in a federal court, not by a military commission such as those set up for terror suspects being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They also said they would not oppose al Delaema serving his sentence in a Dutch prison if he is convicted.
But we'd prefer him in Marion. Or Abu Ghraib.
"There is no reason to believe that the U.S. authorities will not abide by the commitments they have given or ... deprive the suspect of his fundamental rights," a judge at the Appeals Court in The Hague wrote in a Dec. 19 ruling, rejecting al Delaema's final appeal.
Al Delaema traveled to Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion.
In extradition hearings, he argued that he was forced to make the video after being kidnapped and beaten. He said he feared being beheaded if he resisted. His family said the interview was intended as a joke.
Funny guy, take it to Jon Stewart.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/28/2007 00:00 ||
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The tape was seized by police who raided al Delaema's house in the Dutch city of Amersfoort in May 2005 following a tip from U.S. authorities.
The family that took in my mother during the war lives in Amersfoort. It's a pretty little town still, as far as I can tell from the little history book they sent her last year.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Democrats may promote a new revised bill authorizing the use of force in Iraq -- to replace the 2002 bill that allowed the Bush administration to proceed with the war, a top Democrat said Friday.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer -- No. 2 in the House behind Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- said that is one step Democrats might pursue to change conditions in Iraq. "Frankly, it is time for the president to accept that we are no longer involved in a nation-building exercise. We are involved in conflict resolution," Hoyer said during a speech at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.
After a series of congressional hearings on the war, "We will then explore appropriate ways to affect the policy and strategy being pursued in Iraq," Hoyer said.
And refuse to stand up on any of them.
Some ways include spending bills for military and diplomatic activities in Iraq "and possibly a revised authorization for the use of military force in Iraq that more accurately reflects the mission of our troops on the ground," he said.
Democrats want to shift responsibility to anyone but themselves Iraqis, begin "the phased redeployment of our forces within the next six months," and implement "an aggressive diplomatic strategy," he said.
Next week, the Senate is expected to pass a bipartisan resolution opposing President Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq, and the House will likely follow suit, Hoyer said. "Beyond this resolution, though, our goal in the House is to conduct the kind of oversight of the president's policy that has been sorely missing during the nearly four years of this war. Democrats intend to hold this administration accountable," the Maryland Democrat said.
"I believe the administration's Iraq policy is the most incompetent implementation of American foreign policy in my lifetime."
Hoyer was also critical of other nations, saying they were ignoring their obligations. Of the $13.5 billion pledged by various nations for Iraq at a donors' conference in 2003, only $3.5 billion "has made its way to Iraq," he said. He noted the Iraq Study Group's call for the United States and Iraq to get Arab leaders involved. "We also should ask these countries to invest some small percentage of their hundreds of billions of dollars made in oil profits to help bolster security and reconstruction efforts," Hoyer said.
He called for a new international conference. "I would propose that this conference be carried out under U.N. auspices, with robust involvement from various Iraqi factions, neighboring countries, key Middle East nations, the European Union and others, with the hope of brokering deals on securing Iraq's borders, disbanding militias, finalizing the constitution, establishing divisions of power and oil resources, and other issues."
"Let's let the foxes guard the henhouse, they promise not to harm the chickens."
Mr. Hoyer, the Iraqi constitution is finalized and it's the responsibility of the Iraqi people. It's their responsibility to settle the oil money and 'divisions of power'. You want the Iraqis to take on more responsibility and then want an 'international conference' to make all the decisions. Which is it? And just how is the EU going to disband a militia?
He said he agrees with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that Iraq "is the whole world's problem.
That's every bit as dumb as something Kofi would say.
"While the world can and should critically evaluate the administration's flawed execution of this war, we cannot ignore the central argument that our action was, in part, a consequence of the international community's failure to act multilaterally," Hoyer said, citing Saddam Hussein's flouting of U.N. resolutions. "The U.N. only talked in the face of international violations, even though history demonstrates that vacillation only emboldens those who seek to rule through force and terror."
"The international community must embrace its responsibility in Iraq," he added.
Good luck with that. They're waiting for us to fail.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/28/2007 00:00 ||
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I suspect that a "revision" of the AUMF-- while the war is still underway-- would be a very difficult thing for the Dems to pull off.
Any change of langugage would only be an overtly obvious attempt to usurp the Commander in Chief's constitutional authority to conduct the war.
It's all bluster, or sound and fury signifying nothing.
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/28/2007 0:13 Comments ||
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#2
Dumbasses.
The AUMF is not a computer file whose name you can change and voila! now thew left runs executive warmaking powers.
There are real consequences with losses of real lives, American lives.
You can't agree to a war and then later decide that you are against it, not without winning the war. We have real live citizens who have staked their very lives and well being on a positive outcome to the war. The left may think they owe no one anything for their high minded idealism, but they do owe those servicefolks consideration and support this thing to its only acceptable conclusion. It is their moral obligation to support these citizens who are risking their lives to win the war.
It is not a choice. It's an obligation.
Real consequences will follow regardless of the outcome.
#3
My brain and the brain of the average donk have to made out of completely different material.
My brain says there is only one acceptable conclusion to this war. Victory, winning, success or whatever you want to call it.
In the donks brain however, this outcome is completely unthinkable and the only outcome they can think of is the the outcome that is unthinkable in my brain, failure.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/28/2007 0:52 Comments ||
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#4
"...we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty." -- John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Hey Democrats! Remember those words? He must be wondering whatever happened to that Democratic party. In a just world, Kennedy would rise up from the grave and toss both Pelosi and her little dog Murtha into the Potomac as an example to the rest of them.
#6
The graphic made me laugh out loud. Also appropriate, though different, would have been one of a 90 lb weakling throwing sand in the muscleman's face.
#7
"I would propose that this conference be carried out under U.N. auspices, with robust involvement from various Iraqi factions, neighboring countries, key Middle East nations, the European Union and others, with the hope of brokering deals on securing Iraq's borders, disbanding militias, finalizing the constitution, establishing divisions of power and oil resources, and other issues."
What a freakin' donkweed (don't know if that tag's been ™ yet, but this is a family website)! Problem is all the ideas above are the CAUSE of Iraq's problems now. A UN Conference? Been done. Involve Iraqi "factions"? Been there/done that. Involve neighboring countries & key ME Nations? Ever heard of Syria & Iran being involved? Or, Saudi hate-funding of Paki madrassahs to start all this $h!t? Involve the EU? See: France, UN, Oil for Kofi Program...nuff said. "Brokering deals" on sealing the Iraqi border? How 'bout just freaking doin' it? Disbanding militias? See: Bush/2007 SOTU Address & readjustment speech the week before the SOTU. Constitution's been finalized. And, finally, the Iraqis are "hashing out" the remaining issues (oil profits, etc.). It's almost as if this guy's stuck in 2003/2004 been readin' the MSM. What a putz.
Posted by: BA ||
01/28/2007 11:23 Comments ||
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#8
Stupid. CW II is coming to a neighborhood near you.
GUJRANWALA: A special judicial magistrate on Saturday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for 10 Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leaders, including party chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad, for delivering anti-government speeches at a public gathering here on GT Road some time ago. Judicial Magistrate Abdul Ghafoor issued warrants on a complaint by police official Ghulam Ali, who said that Qazi, Bilal Qudrat, Azhar Iqbal, Saeed Khokar, Furqan Aziz, Hameeduddin, Idrees Ayub and three others were wanted in a case. He asked the court to declare them proclaimed offenders. As a result, the court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for them.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2007 12:47 ||
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ch-ch-ch-chia!
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/28/2007 14:11 Comments ||
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Posted by: Chuck Darwin ||
01/28/2007 11:09 Comments ||
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#2
IIRC, this has been noted here before, with articles about malay or somali writers deploring the gradual loss of national identity under petrodollar-fueled and mecca-driven cultural imperialism, but the "re-islamization" of the muslim world is also an "arabization", and this is not new (back in the early 90's, I remember reading articles about how bosnians complained about how the reconstruction money from the persian gulf was linked to the destruction of traditional, richly decorated and flourished mosques, often quite ancient, to be replaced with arab-style white buildings).
And this is not really limited to the muslim world, in a large part, the western (most notably Europe) world is contaminated too, with a gradual loss of what made its character and success in inter-personal relationships, social dealings, relationship with society,... if only because the "alien" features (tribalism, clanism, sexism, zer- sum /looter mentality,...) are presented as superior (ethnomasochism) by the entertainment industry, through popular movies, rap music,...
LAHORE - Defence Minister and Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party (Patriots) Rao Sikander Iqbal has predicted that the Kashmir issue will be resolved by February or March next year, if not by the end of this year as being pronounced by certain quarters. He was speaking at The Nation Forum here on Saturday. On this occasion, Tehsil Nazim Rao Jameel was also present. Later, Rao Sikander also called on the Editor-in-Chief Daily The Nation Majid Nizami.
Rao Sikander said whatsoever All-Parties Hurriyat Conference leaders, that is, the Kashmiri leaders were doing was with the involvement of the Pakistani government. We should not be hopeless about the situation as the present run of activities will bear positive results, and Kashmir will be liberated by February or March 2008, if not by December this year, he added.
He maintained that the credit must be given to Pervez Musharraf for his efforts in maintaining peace in the region. One-mans efforts could not do the required as India is not responding positively. If the situation has to be changed, then India must come up with some positives, he said.
While replying to a question about the much-talked deal between the government and the PPP (Parliamentarians), Rao wished if this could have been really true. I have a mission to bring Benazir Bhutto and General Pervez Musharraf closer. Both are ideology closest to each other as they are both for enlightened moderation and have tilt towards the United States, he observed, while hoping that positive outcome could be expected prior to the next general elections. However, certain elements dont want this to happen, as when both the General and BB would join hands, it will be ideal time for Pakistan, he added.
Posted by: john ||
01/28/2007 07:01 ||
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Mr Iqbal, as Defense Minister, would do better by trying to cleanse the Pak army of its jihadi traits, dismantling the Taliban etc rather than dreaming of defeating India and taking Kashmir.
Unfortunately, while acknowledging Indian conventional and nuclear superiority, he boasts of "pluses" namely the jihadis.
As long as the Pak elite believes the jihadis are a tool they can use to achieve military goals, the terrorism radiating from Pakistan will continue
Posted by: john ||
01/28/2007 7:40 Comments ||
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#2
apparently Kashmir will be liberated and Pakistan will be a smokey glowing hole...or he could be full of shit. Either is good for me
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/28/2007 8:21 Comments ||
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#3
So, the Mahdi™ is gonna liberate the kashmir too? Is there a single thing this superman cannot do, I ask you?
Saddam Hussein's cousin acknowledged on Sunday he had given orders to destroy scores of Kurdish villages and the prosecution in the so-called Anfal trial introduced two dozen documents it said incriminated members of Saddam Hussein's regime in the campaign that killed tens of thousands of Kurds in the 1980s.
"All the orders given to relocate people were my decisions. The orders were given as the region was full of Iranian agents. We had to isolate these saboteurs," said Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as "Chemical Ali" for his alleged use of chemical weapons against the Kurds.
"I am the one who gave orders to the army to demolish villages and relocate the villagers. The army was responsible to carry out those orders. I gave the instructions to the army."
Al-Majid is one of six defendants who still face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from the Anfal military campaign during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. More than 100,000 Kurds were killed.
Earlier this month al-Majid said he gave orders to execute people who entered a prohibited areas on the border with Iran and said he did not regret crushing the Kurdish uprising.
"I am not defending myself. I am not apologizing. I did not make mistake," said Al-Majid, wearing a brown Arab gown and a traditional red-and-white Arab headdress.
#5
Is this one of the guys Nancy Pelosi wanted to reach a compromise with so we could all get along?Perhaps a sing along with Nancy & Chemical Ali; Kumbaya should do nicely.
Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- New Democrat speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi has urged Iraqi leaders to resort to political solutions to end the surging violence in the country, reports said here on Saturday. Sunnis are sending suicide bombers against Shiites, while the latter are turfing Sunnis out of sections of Baghdad. And Madame Speaker wants to pull out all military go-betweens. That is hardly a recipe for peace.
In a meeting on Friday with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and other U.S. officials, Pelosi, who was on a surprise visit to Iraq, advocated that the Iraqis should seek political solutions rather than relying on a surge in U.S. troops to end the violence.
"The sooner Iraqi leaders make necessary political accommodations, including amending their constitution to resolve outstanding differences among all Iraqi communities, the better the chances for ending the sectarian violence," said a statement released by Pelosi's office after the meeting.
The U.S. forces in Iraq "should quickly begin transition from a combat role to one focused on training, counter-terrorism, force protection, and controlling Iraq's borders," it added.
Pelosi, who is known for her strong anti-war stance, arrived Saturday in Baghdad with several other senior Democratic lawmakers.
Analysts here said the visit underscored the difference between Pelosi and the Bush administration on the Iraq policy.
#3
In the latest in a string of tit-for-tat abductions
Hmmm you have to wonder about the chances of success for a Two State solution. The Paleo's cant even get organized thuggery down. Even if you agreed that this ethically bankrupt culture actually deserved a State, can anyone imagine them actually running the damn place?
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2007 00:00 ||
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This type of resolution would be a non-controversial no-brainer in a world where the U.N. was not a morally corrupt entity dominated by Arabic hate states and imperialistic propaganda.
A senior aide to Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday that the Palestinian Authority chairman will use some of the $100 million in tax rebates recently transferred by Israel to pay overdue salaries of the Palestinian security forces. In all, Abbas is spending $152 million for salaries of the security forces and other items, such as debt payment and welfare services, his aide, Rafiq Husseini, told a news conference.
In addition to the Israeli tax rebates - money that was frozen after Hamas came to power last year - Abbas has received $30 million from the United Arab Emirates and $22 million from Qatar, Husseini said. Since winning parliament elections a year ago, the Islamic militant Hamas has had trouble paying 165,000 civil servants, including 80,000 members of the security forces, because of an international aid boycott.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2007 00:00 ||
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So, we got a paleo civil war which can't really exist without an arms race. Fatah has more money so they will likely win the race. I don't see how an uparmed Fatah is any good for Israel.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/28/2007 1:58 Comments ||
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Well, it's good if they spend their upgraded armaments on killing Hamas, and vice-versa. The more dead Paleos, the better. If they concentrate on Joooooos, that's bad.
Prime minister Surayud Chulanont on Saturday called for Islamic religious instruction at all public schools in the majority-Muslim South.
Gen Surayud, on his third visit to Narathitwat, Pattani and Yala since becoming premier, suggested seeking neighbouring Malaysia's help in setting up a suitable curriculum for primary through university schools in the region to meet the population's educational needs. "I've assigned the Foreign Ministry to coordinate with the Malaysian government and to study what educational syllabus is needed to be improved for primary education," Surayud told state-run Thai News Agency (TNA).
The government was considering recruiting graduates in Islam to help teach in Thailand's state-run schools in the region, he added.
Thailand's south was known as the independent Islamic sultanate of Pattani before it was absorbed into what then was Siam about 100 years ago. A majority of the people in the three provinces are Muslim and speak Yawi, a dialect similar to Malay. Thailand's Bangkok-based, predominantly Buddhist central government has restricted Islamic studies and Yawi language instruction at public schools in the past, deeming it more important that the local population learn to be "Thai" and speak the language.
A lack of Islamic studies at Thailand's state-run schools in the South has prompted many Muslims to place their children in private Muslim schools, where religious education is emphasised but instruction in secular subjects is generally poorer than in public schools. Education experts in the South note that the trend towards religious schools is further dividing the southern community into Muslims and non-Muslims. Security experts suspect the "pondok" (religious schools) of encouraging Muslim militancy.
After this week's deadly violence in Lebanon, the pro-Iranian Hezbollah finds itself in a corner. It remains determined to unseat the U.S.-backed government, but if it pushes too hard, it could be blamed for throwing the country into civil war. It now faces the question of whether to reconsider its strategy of street protests that have sparked the violence.
A senior Hezbollah official said Friday the Shiite movement was studying what steps to take next. Things have taken a dangerous turn, said Mahmoud Komati, who blamed government militias for the violence, saying they were using guns in their confrontation with Hezbollah-led protesters over the past few days. The street option has become dangerous, Komati said.
He said his Shiite Muslim group will give the government a few days to respond to its demands more than one-third of seats in Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's Cabinet, enough to veto its decisions, and early elections before deciding its next move. All options are possible, he said. But he said Hezbollah's next steps would be well-studied and peaceful.
Three days of violence this week stunned Lebanese, making all too real their fears that the long political crisis was pushing the country back into civil war. The turmoil began Tuesday, when a Hezbollah-led general strike turned into clashes with government supporters around the country. Six people were killed in the week's rioting.
Calm returned Friday after an overnight curfew following a deadly university riot between Shiite and Sunni Muslim students. For now, Hezbollah leaders, as well as those of pro-government forces, are urging their supporters to stay off the streets. But both sides remain entrenched in their positions. Saniora's U.S.-backed government has painted the Hezbollah-led opposition's demand for a greater share of government as an attempted coup by the Shiite group's patrons, Iran and Syria.
After the violence, even some Hezbollah supporters are grumbling that its methods are leading to an explosion of Lebanon's delicate sectarian balance. Hezbollah is in a bit of a dilemma because its main fear now is how it will be seen in its own community, in its own party, said Timur Goksel, a university professor and former U.N. spokesman.
The crisis began in November when six ministers loyal to Hezbollah and its allies quit Saniora's Cabinet after talks with the government broke down. Then on Dec. 1, opposition supporters began a sit-in in downtown Beirut in front of the government that continues to the day. But the government has not budged.
Hezbollah has been criticized for taking the country hostage just for a couple of seats in the Cabinet. But the issue runs deeper and has to do with the group's survival and the direction of Lebanon, which Hezbollah says Saniora has taken too close to the United States. Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, an analyst specializing in Hezbollah, says the group cannot back down or else it will be seen as having lost. But continuing its campaign in the volatile streets is not an option. The opposition has been weakened by the street violence and rioting ... in terms of what options it has left, she said.
Hezbollah's insistence on a greater say in Lebanon's government springs from two events that shook Lebanon during the past two years the 2005 withdrawal of Syrian troops that once dominated the country, and last summer's Israel-Hezbollah war. After the withdrawal of its patron Syria under U.S. pressure, the longtime guerrilla group was forced to plunge deeper into politics and elections, winning a dozen seats in parliament. It joined the Cabinet despite its domination by anti-Syrian politicians believing it had to protect its interests, which until then had been looked after by the Syrian presence.
Hezbollah soon became a powerful political force, representing Lebanon's Shiites. Its guerrillas kept their weapons, ignoring U.N. demands for disarmament and arguing that Israel still posed a danger to Lebanon, even though it withdrew its occupation forces from south Lebanon in 2000. Iran quickly filled the vacuum left by Syria's departure, reportedly stepping up its supply of weapons and money to the group.
Hezbollah's relations with Saniora's government worsened after Hezbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid July 12, sparking a devastating Israeli retaliation. The monthlong war drew Saniora's government dramatically closer to the United States. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited and called Saniora an ally along with other moderate Arab states. The war ended with U.N. peacekeepers deployed in Hezbollah's southern Lebanon stronghold and fueled demands in the West and among some Lebanese politicians for Hezbollah's disarmament.
Hezbollah officials said the war's results made their insistence on a greater share of government powers even more crucial for the group. Saad-Ghorayeb said Hezbollah is particularly worried that the U.S. will pressure the government to force the guerrillas' disarmament. What Hezbollah now, more than ever seeks to do, is to confront the United States politically and that's why political power is so important to Hezbollah. This is the ultimate goal: to get Lebanon out of the U.S. orbit, said Saad-Ghorayeb.
According to the Lebanese constitution, Shiites, the country's largest single sect with an estimated 1.2 million of the 4 million population, are only entitled to 21 percent of parliament and Cabinet seats. To ensure greater say, they are now demanding more seats for their allies.
Hezbollah's predicament now is a sharp contrast to the widespread popularity it gained even among Sunnis in Lebanon and around the Arab world for its tough resistance to Israel during the summer war. Everyone supports Hezbollah when it's a resistance, but when it starts to pursue political power, it loses Sunni Arab support, said Saad-Ghorayeb. They're afraid of Iraqi-inspired Shiite power grab here.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2007 00:00 ||
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Hezbullah has been a drag on Lebanon since they first started. Any non dysfunctional government would have given them the toss for taking hostages and demanded they immediately disarm. Then, when they refused to disarm, invite the Israelis in to disarm them.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/28/2007 1:52 Comments ||
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Time for the hit-man option. Take out the Hezbollah leadership structure and leave it without the top 3 echelons at least.
The Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation on Sunday denied that installation had begun of 3,000 centrifuges to enrich uranium under its disputed nuclear programme, state media said. "No new centrifuge machines have been installed in the Natanz facility," Hossein Cimorgh, public relations director of the organisation, was quoted as saying by IRNA news agency.
He was speaking in response to an earlier statement by the head of parliament's foreign affairs and national security commission, Alaeddin Borujerdi, who said: "We are now installing the 3,000 centrifuges," according to IRNA. "God willing it will be finished in due time," the official said, without giving details on the work which is scheduled to be completed by the end of March.
The UN Security Council has imposed sanctions to pressure Iran to stop uranium enrichment, which makes fuel for civilian nuclear reactors but also the explosive core of atom bombs. Tehran says its nuclear programme is a peaceful effort to generate electricity but the united states claims the Islamic republic is hiding work on developing atomic weapons.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2007 00:00 ||
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"No new centrifuge machines have been installed in the Natanz facility"
Iran is currently installing 3,000 centrifuges at a uranium enrichment plant, an Iranian lawmaker said Saturday, a day after a senior U.S. diplomat warned that the country's plans to accelerate its nuclear program "would be a major miscalculation." Tehran Instruments introduces the first ever nuclear powered Miscalculator
The Iranian lawmaker, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, said the installation "stabilizes Iran's capability in the field of nuclear technology," the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. "We are right now installing 3,000 centrifuges," Boroujerdi, the head of the Iranian Parliament's Foreign Policy and National Security Committee, was quoted as saying by IRNA.
Boroujerdi's comments came a day after U.N. officials said Iran plans to begin work next month on an underground uranium enrichment facility, as part of a plan to create a network of tens of thousands of machines to enrich uranium. "If Iran takes this step, it is going to confront universal international opposition," said Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns. "If they think they can get away with 3,000 centrifuges without another Security Council resolution and additional international pressure, then they are very badly mistaken." Perhaps time is ticking faster than we all thought. Mods: Sorry for the link. I can't seem to figure out how to make the headline a link.
You can embed a link but not fill in the source box? Put the URL there instead of 'AP Yahoo'. Thx. AoS.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/28/2007 00:00 ||
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Thanks much. I will do that next time. I had been doing that little link pop up window thing, but it doesn't seem to yield the desired results. My repeated failures in this matter are starting to make me feel like a donk at a Constitution convention.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/28/2007 1:13 Comments ||
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LOL! All is forgiven!
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/28/2007 3:21 Comments ||
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"If they think they can get away with 3,000 centrifuges without another Security Council resolution and additional international pressure, then they are very badly mistaken."
Ooooh, I bet that has them shaking in their curly-toes boots.
#5
Hey, you're busy over there, Besoeker dear. And of course, you're results oriented, so "Today everybody gets to be right, and nobody has to be sad," doesn't work in your universe. *shrug* I like your way better.
Ronnie Tallman says that when he joined the Marines, he never expected a spiritual transformation that would put his newfound Navajo tribal beliefs in conflict with his military duties.
A military screening board interviewed psychiatrists and a chaplain, among others, before determining Jan. 11 that Tallman's newfound status as a type of Navajo medicine man was "simply a means to avoid combat deployment to Iraq." On Wednesday, however, the military changed course, granting Tallman conscientious objector status.
"I didn't expect this. I'm really happy right now," Tallman said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from the California base.
In November 2005, about a year after enlisting and shortly before he was to be deployed to Iraq, Tallman says he discovered quite unexpectedly a gift as a special type of medicine man known as a "hand trembler." Such status is rare and deeply revered by the tribe. Tallman says by tradition, his status as a healer rendered him unable to kill or harm, or even think negative thoughts, thereby making him unfit to continue with his commitment to the military.
Tallman decided not to return to his base in Twentynine Palms, Calif., and was deemed on "unauthorized absence" until he filed his application to be a conscientious objector, based on religious beliefs, in January 2006.
Gunnery Sgt. Christopher Cox, of the Marine public affairs office in Twentynine Palms, said he did not know why Tallman's application was approved after the initial denial. Marine Lt. Col. T.V. Johnson, a spokesman for Marine commandant Gen. James Conway, said "it's an administrative action. I don't think (Conway) would go into why."
Tallman told Marine officials that although he was still learning the rules of traditional hand trembler practitioners, "the most important ones are that I can't hurt other living things and I can't even think about hurting other living things or carry negative thoughts."
Months before his spiritual experience, during bootcamp, Tallman recalled how he felt when he heard chants that ended with new Marines shouting the word, "kill." He remembered being scolded as a boy for saying he would kill an animal, and wondered whether he could continue on with the Marines. "It was emotionally tearing me apart because I didn't know whether to follow my heart or fill this commitment," he said in a phone interview from the California military base.
In his application to leave the military, Tallman wrote: "I had a very powerful experience where my left hand started to shake, and at the same time, an amazing feeling of calmness came over me ... My heart slowed down, and my breathing, and I felt peaceful.
"My hand kept trembling and I started to notice the energy in the people around me and I started to know things about them that I could never have known, things about their lives and what made them sick or in pain," he wrote.
Since his spiritual experience, Tallman has been sanctified as a hand trembler in a ceremony conducted by his uncle and grandfather. He then became a certified medicine man with the Dine Hataalii Association, a group of medicine men. Tallman's uncle and grandfather also are hand tremblers. "I'm going to start learning from all the people I grew up listening to," he said. "I'm going to sit down with them and pick their brain."
Cox said Tallman is the only Marine within the past year to apply for and be granted conscientious objector status. Tribal leaders, including Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr., had expressed support for Tallman. Cox suggested that might have played into Conway's decision.
Tallman's mother, Nora, said she's proud of her son for standing up for his beliefs and looks forward to him joining other hand tremblers on the reservation. "Our medicine men, some of them are getting too old, and some have gone," she said. "And we do need medicine men to help people. ... It's a good thing that he got this gift."
#1
The top U.S. surgeon in Iraq was among the 12 soldiers killed when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed near Baghdad, military officials said Thursday. Col. Brian D. Allgood, 46, was one of two active-duty soldiers killed in Saturday's crash in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad.
Some "medicine men" have the guts to serve and put it on the line for their country. Some don't. I salute COL Allgood and all the soldiers who died in that crash. May they rest in peace.
#2
give him a DD, make him repay any $ spent and get rid of him. You don't want someone like this in a volunteer military
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/28/2007 8:52 Comments ||
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This happens. Back in the 1980s, I knew a promising Dineh (Navajo) ROTC cadet who was really looking forward to being an army officer, until he attended the traditional wedding of a Marine friend on the reservation.
The old medicine man leading the ceremony pointed him out and said, loudly, that he was going to be a medicine man.
He said a comparison would be if he was a good Catholic boy in a Catholic country visited by the Pope, and the Pope said that he was going to make him a Cardinal, so "Somebody fly him to the Vatican next Thursday and I will make him one", in front of the television cameras.
A few phone calls later, his ROTC contract was over, and his future was set in concrete. On the plus side, he said, "At least I'm not going to have to learn Korean."
#5
Actually, this demonstrates the system does respect authenticate changes in 'religious' beliefs. Don't knock that, respect it and celebrate it. The system is pretty good at picking out those who are just cowards and unhonorable [as in recanting their oath]. And yes, there are objectors, who in a draft war, did do their time in a manner that awes all of us.
Either way, my solution would've been an interservice transfer to the U.S. Navy where he could've worked as a RP (religious programs) or in other words - a chaplain's assistant. That way he could fulfill the rest of his military obligation w/out having to worry about killing anyone and the U.S. Taxpayer would get their $$$ out of him. I.E. - like he could deploy w/the 7th Marines from the Stumps and help run the religious programs or whatever for his fellow servicemen but wouldn't have to shoot at hajjis. If he refused that offer then I am quite sure I have pegged his type - the same I've seen a hundred times in my career.
I have no real problem w/any true objectors (quakers, amish, etc), but usually those people never join the mil in the first place except during the draft periods (though IIRC the amish were always draft exempt). Any time we entertain this it sets a precedent and I guarantee the junior officers and SNCO's will be inundated w/a bunch of new objector requests because of this kid. The proverbial good intention on the part of the Commandant will pave the way for much paper non-sense for me and my peers.
After dealing w/plenty of "pseudo" conscientious objectors at Parris Island I am very skeptical about any "personal spiritual revelations" while in boot camp - i.e. "new found Najavo tribal beliefs". Every cycle I would have at least two recruits claim they had an epiphany where Jesus or whoever appeared to them in their sleep and told them he didn't want them killing people etc. My typical response was that Jesus also came to me last night in my sleep and told me they would be pulling this shit in the morning.
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.
Taliban warn of summer offensive
The Yemeni foreign ministry accused the Ethiopian forces of detaining a Yemeni national in Somalia, but it did not identify the Yemeni person. The Ethiopian prime minister Melease Zinawi said that the Ethiopian forces had arrested a group of Yemenis who were fighting with the forces of the Somali Islamic Courts against the Somali interim government and Ethiopian forces. 
The 
KUWAIT CITY - Saudi Arabias King Abdullah said 
Here are some excerpts from that interview conducted by Newsweek's Richard Wolffe in the West Wing office of the vice president the day after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a resolution opposing the Bush administration's new troop deployment in Iraq. The transcript is courtesy of the White House's own transcription service, with all excerpts printed in their full quotation:
The Actress Speaks Out Against the War in Iraq
As thousands of demonstrators protested against the Iraq war outside the Capitol yesterday, top Congressional Republicans have warned President George Bush that his controversial troop increase has a few months at the very most to show results. 
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - The Netherlands' government has extradited a naturalized Dutch citizen charged with involvement in terror attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq, the Justice Ministry said Saturday. Iraqi-born 
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Democrats may promote a new revised bill authorizing the use of force in Iraq -- to replace the 2002 bill that allowed the Bush administration to proceed with the war, a top Democrat said Friday.
GUJRANWALA: A special judicial magistrate on Saturday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for 10 Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leaders, including party chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad, for delivering anti-government speeches at a public gathering here on GT Road some time ago. Judicial Magistrate Abdul Ghafoor issued warrants on a complaint by police official Ghulam Ali, who said that Qazi, Bilal Qudrat, Azhar Iqbal, Saeed Khokar, Furqan Aziz, Hameeduddin, Idrees Ayub and three others were wanted in a case. He asked the court to declare them proclaimed offenders. As a result, the court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for them.
Saddam Hussein's cousin acknowledged on Sunday he had given orders to destroy scores of Kurdish villages and the prosecution in the so-called Anfal trial introduced two dozen documents it said incriminated members of Saddam Hussein's regime in the campaign that killed tens of thousands of Kurds in the 1980s.
A senior aide to Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday that the Palestinian Authority chairman will use some of the $100 million in tax rebates recently transferred by Israel to pay overdue salaries of the Palestinian security forces. In all, Abbas is spending $152 million for salaries of the security forces and other items, such as debt payment and welfare services, his aide, Rafiq Husseini, told a news conference. 
After this week's deadly violence in Lebanon, the pro-Iranian Hezbollah finds itself in a corner. It remains determined to unseat the U.S.-backed government, but if it pushes too hard, it could be blamed for throwing the country into civil war. It now faces the question of whether to reconsider its strategy of street protests that have sparked the violence. 
The Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation on Sunday denied that installation had begun of 3,000 centrifuges to enrich uranium under its disputed nuclear programme, state media said. "No new centrifuge machines have been installed in the Natanz facility," Hossein Cimorgh, public relations director of the organisation, was quoted as saying by IRNA news agency. 
Iran is currently installing 3,000 centrifuges at a uranium enrichment plant, an Iranian lawmaker said Saturday, a day after a senior U.S. diplomat warned that the country's plans to accelerate its nuclear program "would be a major miscalculation."
