My headline not theirs, and those aren't scare quotes. EFL.
The Labour MP Tam Dalyell yesterday scornfully brushed aside accusations of anti-semitism but stood by the allegation that has landed him in political trouble, that "there is far too much Jewish influence in the United States" and one over-influential Jew in Tony Blair's entourage. Faced with threats to take "inflammatory remarks" to the commission for racial equality, the MP for Linlithgow raised the stakes significantly by criticising Lord Levy, the music mogul turned Blair fundraiser and tennis partner, whose intimate contacts across the region have made him No 10's envoy to the Middle East. "I believe his influence has been very important on the prime minister and has led to what I see as this awful war and the sack of Baghdad," said Mr Dalyell, who has long been a critic of Israeli expansionism and insists that many Jews are also "desperately unhappy about it''. "Why some of my best friends ..."
The father of the Commons, an MP for 41 years and a pillar of the "awkward squad" for most of them, Mr Dalyell qualified his criticisms only to the extent of saying he was not attacking Jewish influence as such, but what he called the "Sharon-Likudnik agenda" of the hardliners - led by Ariel Sharon's Likud party - who dominate Israeli politics. Next, he'll be explaining how Arabs are Semites too, so he really can't be "anti-Semitic".
After Mr Dalyell was indirectly reported by Vanity Fair magazine as criticising "a cabal of Jewish advisers" driving US-UK policy towards Iraq — and now Syria — there were protests, and Professor Eric Moonman, a Labour MP 20 years ago, started legal consultations over a complaint to the CRE. But Mr Dalyell may be the MP least likely to buckle to pressure. Questioned on Radio 4's World at One, he said: "The cabal I referred to was American," and named seven hawkish advisers to President George Bush — six of them Jewish — as urging a strike against Syria. "It's the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs combined with neo-Christian fundamentalists. I think a lot of it is Likudnik, Mr Sharon's agenda, and when it comes to an attack on Syria this is a very serious matter." This fellow is a step short of barking mad.
Pressed further, the MP conceded he had "picked out one person [in Britain] about whom I am extremely concerned and I have to be blunt about it. That is Lord Levy, Mr Blair's official representative in the Middle East. This has two questions: first, should not this be done by the Foreign Office; second, are special representatives to be accountable or not?" Yes, but not to you.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/06/2003 1:29:38 AM ||
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Those best of Europeans show their respect for the EU by flouting its regulations. Well brought up behaviour?
The European Commission accused the French yesterday of a "lamentable" record in enforcing European Union law and pledged tough action to bring member states to book. Despite being zealous advocates of closer European integration, the French are facing 220 open cases involving systematic violations of EU laws and are guilty of the most flagrant foot-dragging of any EU state when implanting new rules. The long list of violations include a refusal to obey the law on biotech patents, for maintaining an illegal ban on food additives, and using obstructionist measures to prevent lawyers from other EU countries working in France. France has also failed to enforce fishing controls aimed at saving endangered stocks. Struggling British trawlermen enjoy no such leniency from their own inspectors, and a growing number face bankruptcy trying to comply with the rules. In many instances, the commission has already won the case in the European Court but has to launch a second set of resolutions proceedings under the EU's tortuous system before fines can be imposed. "Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!"
EFL, from the Beeb
The EU as a whole is committed to reducing emissions by 8% on their 1990 levels by between 2008 and 2012. On present trends, it appears to stand almost no chance of keeping its promise. Quick, Ethel, my pills!
Not enough signatories have yet ratified the protocol to allow it to enter into force. Two years ago President Bush said the US would not ratify it, and Australia has followed suit. There are now doubts about the willingness of Russia to do so, because some of its prominent scientists apparently believe climate change could be beneficial to the country. Beach balls, baby oil and Lenin's tomb....see it all on your tropical vacation to Moscow!!
The Europeans have all along been the protocol's most enthusiastic supporters, and their faltering performance will be hypocritically ignored by deeply embarrassing to them. The EEA says: "The latest figures show that 10 of the 15 member states are heading towards overshooting their agreed share by a wide margin - Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain." Money quote alert....
The prominent UK global warming sceptic Professor Philip Stott commented: "One of the most galling things about the whole climate change debate has been European duplicity. While lecturing everybody else, especially America, on the morality of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it has been abundantly clear from the start that most European countries didn't have a snowflake in hell's chance of meeting their own Kyoto targets."
Posted by: Baba Yaga ||
05/06/2003 10:35:38 AM ||
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Oh oh -- you don't want Bill Gertz after you. Edited to just the main point.
The French government secretly supplied fleeing Iraqi officials with passports in Syria that allowed them to escape to Europe, The Washington Times has learned. An unknown number of Iraqis who worked for Saddam Hussein's government were given passports by French officials in Syria, U.S. intelligence officials said. But wait, it gets worse.
The passports are regarded as documents of the European Union, because of France's membership in the union, and have helped the Iraqis avoid capture, said officials familiar with intelligence reports. The French support, which was revealed through sensitive intelligence-gathering means, angered Pentagon, State Department and intelligence officials in Washington because it undermined the search for senior aides to Saddam, who fled Iraq in large numbers after the fall of Baghdad on April 9. "It made it very difficult to track these people," one official said. A second Bush administration official said, "It's like Raoul Wallenberg in reverse," a reference to the Swedish diplomat who supplied travel documents to help Jews escape Nazi Germany in World War II. "Now you have the French helping the bad guys escape from us." The surprise meter didn't twitch at all. The disappointment gauge, however, hit the orange alert setting.
Asked about the passports, Nathalie Loiseau, a spokeswoman for the French Embassy, said French authorities have not issued any visas to officials of the former Iraqi regime since the beginning of the war in Iraq, either in Syria or elsewhere. "France formally denies this type of allegation, which is not only contrary to reality but is intended to discredit our nation," she said. "It is certainly time for rumors of this type â totally unfounded and a dishonor to those who spread them â to stop." Problem is, Natie, lotsa Americans find it increasingly hard to believe you.
The French passports allow the wanted Iraqis to move freely among 12 EU countries that are part of the Schengen agreement on unrestricted travel. Britain, Denmark and Ireland are not part of the Schengen pact. The intelligence on the French passports came after reports indicated that a French company covertly sold military spare parts to Iraq in the weeks before the war. Other intelligence reports indicated that a French oil company was working with a Russian oil firm to conclude a deal with Saddam's government in the days before military action began March 19. The French government also denied U.S. intelligence indicating that a Chinese chemical company used French and Syrian brokers to circumvent U.N. sanctions in providing Iraq with chemicals used in making missile fuel. We already knew all of this.
Regarding the French passports for fleeing Iraqis, Pentagon officials have expressed frustration that few of the most senior leaders identified on the list of top 55 officials of the Saddam regime have been captured. The capture yesterday of an Iraqi biological weapons scientist, Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, brings to 19 the number of senior Iraqi leaders who have been caught. One has been reported killed. Only one of the captives is ranked in the top 10. So either they did or they didn't. This article isn't offering proof positive. But it wouldn't be out of character for the French to do something like this, and that's the real shame.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/06/2003 1:16:11 AM ||
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Guess who?
IRNA -- Former United Nations weapons inspector Scott Ritter on Tuesday compared the US war in Iraq with Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland, saying that American President George W. Bush and Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler used "the same lie" to justify the military attack. "I don't see any difference between the (US) invasion of Iraq and Hitler's invasion of Poland in the year 1939," Ritter told the Berlin-based Berliner Zeitung. He added that Hitler claimed self-defense as a pretext to march into Poland, while Bush used the same excuse to attack Iraq on March 20. "It's the same lie. 130 Americans died in this war for a lie," Ritter was quoted as saying. Meanwhile the ex-UN official said he believed that Iraq had no more weapons of mass destruction. Another report from IRNAs German bureau. In this case I have no problem believing Ritter said this.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/06/2003 9:58:54 AM ||
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Dr. Ahmad al-Kubaissi, the head of Iraq 's Muslim scholars committee, stressed he does not support the establishment of a theocratic government in Iraq at present because this has nothing to do with reality on the ground. Kubaissi, in an interview with the London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat Arabic daily published Tuesday, May 6, said religion is "the last thing that can bind Iraqis together." "There is nothing more dangerous on the unity of the Iraqi people than the cloak of religion and that is why I do not support a theocratic government in Iraq at such point of time," he emphasized. "We must rebuild the war-scarred country first before establishing any kind of government, whether or not a theocratic one. Iraq has been impoverished. We will rebuild Iraq first and then choose freely our government. Being Islamic, Baathist or communist does not really matter," Kubaissi explained. I'd beg to disagree, but continue.
"Fifteen centuries have now relapsed and Muslims failed to lay the groundwork of the Islamic state (in Iraq ), so can we do it now? Does it make any sense?" Kubaissi wondered. Has common sense broken out?
"We should not restrict the religion of the country to just one Muslim school," he told the London-based daily. "We need a country with a Muslim people, who can enjoy their unabridged freedoms and makes no room for prejudice against a certain community." Amen!
Asked why he supported the return of monarchy to Iraq , Kubaissi argued that he wanted to steer Iraq clear of any sectarian sedition. He asserted, however, that by urging the return of monarchy, he is not calling for the return of the Hashemite family. The prominent scholar nominated Al-Jilani family as a possible royal family to rule Iraq . I have no problem with a constitutional monarchy along British lines, if that's what they want.
Kubaissi also mocked at the prevailing opinion that the U.S. wanted to control the Iraqi oil, adding that " Iraq has not made whatsoever use of its oil over the past long decades."
He further said that the oil revenues in the days ahead, "no matter how much the Americans will steal," will far outstrip those during the era of toppled Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, suggesting that Iraqis would now enjoy their oil resources now that Saddam is out of picture. So far, so good.
The prominent Iraqi scholar also rejected bringing former Iraqi officials caught by U.S. troops before U.S. courts. "They must stand trial before Iraqi courts," he stressed. Also, fine by me. Makes it easier to call witnesses, have it televised all over Iraq and the world.
On writing off Iraq 's debts and giving compensations for the victims of the U.S.-led war, Kubaissi said if he were a prime minister he would demand billions in compensations for every Iraqi child killed, every man wounded and every one handicapped during the U.S.-led air strikes. OK, here's where we depart.
He said the United States has only one year to make good on its promises, asserting that if Washington fails in doing so, it would never honor its pledges to the Iraqis. Which promises is he talking about, I wonder? They are going to get at least an interim government well within a year.
On April 26, Kubaissi told IslamOnline.net, in an exclusive interview, that it was "possible" to join a U.S.-installed government. "Yes, it is possible. This is now the destiny of the Iraqis and they must live with it," he said. All in all, he sounds like someone worth talking with.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/06/2003 1:06:44 PM ||
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EFL - Not much new here, but anytime Ashcroft's involved the left goes nuts, so expect the looting outcries to resurrect:
Organized crime was involved in the looting of Iraq's national museum and the United States will fully back international efforts to retrieve the stolen artifacts, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft told an Interpol meeting Tuesday. The comments came at a conference of art experts and law enforcement officials aimed at creating a database listing items looted in the aftermath of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. ''From the evidence that has emerged, there is a strong case to be made that the looting and theft of the artifacts were perpetrated by organized criminal groups criminals who knew precisely what they were looking for,'' Ashcroft said. ''Although the criminals who committed the theft may have transported the objects beyond Iraq's borders, they should know that they have not escaped the reach of justice,'' he added, praising Interpol's efforts so far.
Ashcroft did not say whether he suspected international organized crime such as the Mafia was involved in the looting, but other experts at the conference said they did not have any evidence of such involvement so far. ''We are waiting for more information,'' said Jean-Pierre Jouanny, an Interpol specialist in theft of cultural objects. Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of coalition forces in Iraq, has said the opposite that the Baghdad looting did not appear to be carried out by organized thieves.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/06/2003 8:44:42 AM ||
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UNITED STATES GETS REVENGE
The United States which can't forget the motion speeds up activities against Turkey despite warnings. The United States gave permission to PKK-KADEK which it earlier declared as ''terrorist organization'' to open an office in U.S.-controlled Mosul. The United States which remained silent to transfer of some of the weapons of dissolved Iraqi army to PKK, proved with this attitude that it does not pay attention to Turkey's warnings. It was mentioned that PKK was seriously preparing itself to infiltrate into Turkey. Meanwhile, Barzani on whom Turkey put reservation has started to get more protection by the United States. U.S. retired general and Iraq's new governor Jay Garner who met again with Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (IKDP) leader Massoud Barzani, said, ''we discussed Iraq's future and his leadership role''. It was mentioned that Barzani would definitely take place in interim authority. Turkey also divided Bush administration. Moderates led by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell are opposed to any limit to Turks in rebuilding to Iraq while falcons led by U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld put pressure on U.S. companies to avoid any business with Turkish companies. It was mentioned that Rumsfeld could not forget the motion. A lot of us won't forget. TURKMENS EXCLUDED ALSO FROM IRAQ'S INTERIM AUTHORITY
Ibrahim Arafat is the only Turkmen member of the 24-member municipal assembly of Mosul which was chosen as the ''model city'' for democracy in Iraq. However, there is not a Turkmen among the nine members who will be assigned in the country's interim authority. Retired General Ganem al-Bassu of Arab origin was elected the Mosul Mayor. An Iraqi man of Kurdish origin was elected the deputy mayor. Dr. Ibrahim Arafat and an Assyrian are elected other deputy mayors. Dr. Ibrahim Arafat who was graduated from the Istanbul University Faculty of Dentistry and has been living in Mosul for 25 years, said that they were pleased with the vote, and Turkmens welcomed the decision. Seems like the Turks are more upset about this than the Turkmen. Wonder why that is? SADDAM'S CONNECTION WITH PKK
Relations between terrorist organization PKK and Iraqi Intelligence Agency was documented when archive of Iraqi secret police was revealed during the U.S.-led military operation against Iraq. Secret correspondence unveiled relations of the terrorist organization PKK and its head Osman Ocalan with Iraqi Secret Police Unit. In one of these letters, it was proposed to take advantage of PKK in order to set up relations with the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), which planned to stage an action at the Incirlik Air Base. Before closing, here are two seperate reports on the same story:
Clash erupted between members of leftist Federation of Kemalist Thought Clubs and members of another leftist group at the Istanbul University. The clash spread to the Yildiz Technical University later. Nearly 40 students and a policeman were injured. Officials said that one of the injured people was in critical condition. Security forces detained 50 students. Take two:
Political hooligans clashed with stones, sticks, cleavers and knives in their hand. Clash erupted between members of leftist Kemalist Thought Clubs and members of another leftist group. The clash turned into a fight at Istanbul's Yildiz Technical University. As a result, 28 people were injured. Got to love that word picture.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/06/2003 8:26:11 AM ||
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In the hours before American bombs began falling on the Iraqi capital, one of President Saddam Hussein's sons and a close adviser carried off nearly $1 billion in cash from the country's Central Bank, according to American and Iraqi officials here. The removal of the money, which would amount to one of the largest bank robberies in history, was performed under the direct orders of Mr. Hussein, according to an Iraqi official with knowledge of the incident. The official, who asked not to be identified, said that no financial rationale had been offered for removing the money from the bank's vaults, and that no one had been told where the money would be taken. "When you get an order from Saddam Hussein, you do not discuss it," said the Iraqi official, who held a senior position in a bank under Mr. Hussein's government. He said he had been told about the seizure of the cash by the Iraqi financial officials who had turned over the money to Mr. Hussein's son and the adviser.
The allegations provide a glimpse into the final days of Mr. Hussein's rule â which, with its emphasis on family connections, has been compared to the mafia â and perhaps a clue about how he intended to finance his escape and survive out of power. Qusay Saddam Hussein, Mr. Hussein's second son, presided over the seizure of the money, along with Abid al-Hamid Mahmood, the president's personal assistant, the Iraqi official here said. The seizure took place at 4 a.m. on March 18, just hours before the first American air assault. The two men carried a letter from the president, bearing his signature, authorizing the removal of the money. The sheer volume of the cash was so great â some $900 million in American $100 bills and as much as $100 million worth of euros â that three tractor-trailers were needed to cart it off, the Iraqi official said. It took a team of workers two hours to load up the cash. Their work was completed before employees of the downtown Baghdad bank arrived for work.
The seizure of the money was confirmed by a United States Treasury official assigned to work with Iraqi financial officers here to rebuild the country's banking and financial system. Iraqi officials said they were uncertain of the effects that the disappearance of $1 billion would have on the Iraqi economy. The Iraqi official said the removal of the money amounted to about a quarter of the Central Bank's hard currency reserves.
The billion dollars is nearly twice the amount of hard currency believed to have been looted by Iraqis in the three weeks after the collapse of the Iraqi government. American and Iraqi officials said about $400 million in American dollars and at least $40 million in Iraqi currency were taken by looters from banks across the country after April 9. The disappearance of such a sizable amount of cash as $1 billion is giving rise to fears here that it is being used to finance remnants of Mr. Hussein's government, many of whose senior members are believed to be hiding in Baghdad or its environs. Some members of the Iraqi National Congress, an umbrella organization for groups that opposed Mr. Hussein, assert that the money may be a central element in what they described as an extensive "post-occupation strategy" devised by Mr. Hussein that envisioned an American takeover of the capital and his eventual return to power.
Neither Iraqi nor American officials claimed to know the whereabouts of the $1 billion or, for that matter, of Saddam Hussein, Qusay Hussein or Mr. Mahmood. All three men are being sought by the United States. The Iraqi official insisted on anonymity because, he said, he feared that he could fall victim to Mr. Hussein or one of his associates who remain at large. Some Americans suspect that the money may have been spirited across the border into Syria, in much the same way some senior officials in Mr. Hussein's government are believed to have fled Iraq. Col. Ted Seel, a United States Army Special Forces officer who said he was aware of the seizure of money from the Central Bank, said intelligence information at the time indicated that a group of tractor-trailers crossed the Iraqi border into Syria. Colonel Seel, who is assigned to the Iraqi National Congress, said the trucks' contents were unknown.
Mr. Hussein held near-absolute power in his government, and so, in a sense, it is unclear what laws might have been violated by the cash seizure. But the Iraqi bank official said the country's banks had been largely left alone during Mr. Hussein's years in power. He said the president and his family would sometimes demand cash from Iraqi banks but not in the amounts said to have been taken on March 18. "Sometimes they would come in for small amounts, maybe $5 million," the official said. In the case of the $1 billion, the official said Qusay Hussein and Mr. Mahmood had brought five Iraqi officials with them to the bank: the director of the Central Bank, the Iraqi finance minister and the director of the Iraqi treasury. The only others present, he said, were workers to load the money and the drivers of the trucks.
The Iraqi official, as well as others in Baghdad, said the former Iraqi finance minister, identified as Hekmet al-Azawi, was in American custody. George Mullinax, an official with the Treasury Department, said the money had been taken by "Saddam Hussein's people." He put the figure taken at about $900 million. "If you had $900 million dollars, you would need two or three flatbed trucks to carry it all away," he said. Mr. Mullinax said it was possible that a large chunk of the money had already been recovered. He said the roughly $650 million in American $100 bills discovered by an American sergeant in one of Mr. Hussein's palaces last month might be from the Central Bank. He said that had not been determined for certain.
The Iraqi official, however, said the $650 million certainly belonged to Mr. Hussein's eldest son, Uday, who, he said, was known for hoarding vast stores of personal cash. "That was Uday's money," he said. American and Iraqi officials have recovered other large sums of cash since the fall of the Hussein government. Last month, Iraqi bank officials, with the help of American soldiers, recovered an armored car loaded with about $250 million in American currency. Dhia Habib al-Khyoun, chairman of Rafidain Bank, one of Iraq's largest, said the $250 million had been gathered into the armored car from branch banks around the country. While it was unclear for what purpose the $1 billion was taken, it seems clear that Mr. Hussein took steps in the dying days of his government to safeguard at least some of its money.
In early March, Mr. Khyoun said, he was ordered to disburse the Rafidain's Bank hard currency deposits to branches around Baghdad. He said the goal was to safeguard some hard currency in case the headquarters of the bank was bombed.
Mr. Mullinax, the Treasury official, said he believed that the Central Bank's vaults had not been opened since the beginning of the war. But the Iraqi official said some 18 billion Iraqi dinars, or about $9 million, had been taken by looters from the bank. American troops have since sealed off the area around the Central Bank and have barred entry to all but its employees.
Posted by: Omer Ishmail ||
05/06/2003 3:21:16 AM ||
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The Philippine government withdrew Tuesday from informal talks with Muslim rebels after a guerrilla attack killed 22 soldiers and civilians. Government negotiators were scheduled to meet with Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels Friday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. President Gloria Arroyo said the meeting will wait "until we can establish more auspicious circumstances to move the peace process forward." The government cannot tolerate "terrorism in the guise of a fight for freedom," Arroyo said. Malaysia's envoy to Manila, Mohamed Taufik, said the postponement was disheartening. "We're hoping that the talks would proceed ... We're ready anytime," he said. So how's your country's fight against islamic fundi terrorists going, Mohamed?
On Sunday, guerrillas seized the town hall and a hospital and torched a public market in Siocon, a predominantly Christian town on the southern island of Mindanao. Government troops later regained control of the town, but the guerrillas took dozens of hostages as they fled. Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia, the military's vice chief of staff, said Tuesday that updated field reports showed the attack killed 12 soldiers and police, 10 civilians and six rebels. Military spokesman Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero said the last of the hostages were freed and recovered unharmed Tuesday.
MILF has been waging an insurrection in the Philippines' impoverished and volatile south for about three decades. They have held sporadic peace talks with the government. But fighting has increased since February, when thousands of troops captured a stronghold on Mindanao. Rebel spokesman Eid Kabalu said the attack was directed at an army battalion headquarters as part of the guerrilla group's "defense posture" against a continuing military offensive. He described the civilian deaths as "collateral damages." Aren't they always?
The Philippines also is fighting Muslim rebels known as the Abu Sayyaf on its southern islands. U.S. Ambassador Francis Ricciardone and senior Philippine officials on Tuesday visited an army base, where Ricciardone said a joint training exercise between the United States and the Philippines should serve as warning to the Abu Sayyaf. About 1,200 U.S. soldiers and 2,500 Filipino soldiers are participating in the annual exercise. "I hope you got some good pictures and I hope it's broadcast and the people down south who are meaning to cause harm to Filipino citizens will get a good look at this and see what's coming at them," Ricciardone said. Hummmm, sounds like a threat. We sure this guy is from State?
Posted by: Steve ||
05/06/2003 10:29:04 AM ||
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Source is WorldnetDaily â not the most reliable source, but not bad...
Saudi Arabia's continuing links to Islamic terrorism around the world, coupled with the imminent pullout of U.S. troops, could jeopardize the very existence of the kingdom in the future, according to a report in the latest issue of Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin. The online intelligence newsletter published a list of terrorist organizations funded by Saudi Arabia provided by a Jordanian security official. They include:
Saudi Hezbollah (Shiites linked to Lebanon but with "Zakat" collected in Saudi Arabia and neighboring states)
Hiz-al-Takhrir-al-Saudi (The Saudi Liberation Party)
Hezbollah al-Hijaz (The Party of God of the Arabian Peninsula; probably Shiite, related to Lebanon's Hezbollah)
Ansar-al-Mutakabbr (The Guardians of the Majestic [God] â may be an ad hoc organization of Palestinian residents of Saudi Arabia)
Arabian Peninsula Peoples Union
Voice of Vanguard
Islamic Reform Movement
Harkat-ul-Jihadi-Islami (Saudi money is funneled to them via Pakistani relief organizations).
"All these organizations are directly linked to the region, but among those receiving massive assistance are groups in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, China and North Africa," says the G2 Bulletin report. "The largest African organization and the deadliest so far is the Algeria Armed Islamic Group." If the U.S. begins investigating Saudi Arabia's support of international Islamic terrorism, the kingdom could be in trouble on three fronts, the report finds:
internal opposition from radical Muslim groups is growing within Saudi Arabia;
U.S. military forces will no longer be around to stabilize the regime if any serious threat occurs; and
Riyadh could become a target of U.S. sanctions against terror-supporting regimes.
Saudi support of terror groups is not only provided for cultural and religious reasons, says the G2 Bulletin report. It is also motivated by a desire of the kingdom to avoid insurgencies from within. "Middle East scholars have been trying to link this subtle blackmail system to the Muslim charity religious law of 'Zakat,'" says the report. "Zakat is the law by which a certain percentage of one's wealth or income should go to charity." An Egyptian official discussing the Egyptian-based Islamic Jihad said: "If the Jihadis would have to rely solely on local donations they would be out of business in no time."
"As long as the U.S. could expect the Saudis to support American interests, criticism (from Washington) was minimized," says the report. "This policy continued even after Sept. 11, when, among others, the wife of the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. was found to be involved in Zakat donations that found their way into terrorist bank accounts. Now that the U.S. is on the brink of fully evacuating forces from Saudi Arabia, more information becomes available. Criticism of Saudi Arabia is bound to become more vocal, and more and more evidence of Saudi involvement in financing terror will rise to the surface and be exposed." The report concludes: "That U.S. troops are leaving will provide only brief absolution for the kingdom and its sin of cooperating with infidels. In reality, the kingdom's life expectancy is going to drop sharply without the presence of U.S. troops."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/06/2003 8:28:44 AM ||
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A fellow from the US Catholic Conference has come up with a new historical bad guy to work into conversations about the United States.
Post September 11 2001 jitters are leading the US to embrace a formula of instilling fear of the United States as a protection from catastrophic attacks that echoes the philosophy of the brutal Roman emperor Caligula, acording to the director of the Office of International Justice and Peace at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Gerry Powers was speaking at a forum to evaluate the legacy of the use of "preventive force" in the recent US invasion of Iraq. Caligula? Apart from the fact the the US Congress contains more than its share of horse's asses, I don't see it.
He said: "While a doctrine of preventive war may derive in part from an ethic of responsibility - to protect ourselves and the world from catastrophic attacks - it also has elements of an ethic of fear."
Powers acknowledged that that "ethic of fear" comes from the understandable preoccupation of Americans with their own fears and vulnerabilities in the face of global terrorism. Gerry, old buddy, I assume you're ordained so I hope I don't embarrass you by bringing this up. But according to St. Paul, isn't that precisely what governments are for?
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.(Romans 13:1-4).
"Let them hate us if they will, provided only that they fear us," he said, chacterising the new phenomenon. Okay by me. I have no desire to ever be loved by an Islamo-Nazi and if some of those folks now have a little fear in them, so much the better for civilization.
"That formula might work for the New York Yankees, but it did not work for the Romans and it will not work for us," Powers said. "It will not work because it creates a cycle of fear that fuels a cycle of violence." The Roman Empire lasted almost 1,500 years. We've barely been around 200. According to Gerry, the US really needs to start worrying somewhere around the year 3203. Mark your calendars.
Posted by: Christopher Johnson ||
05/06/2003 7:44:19 PM ||
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IRNA -- Peace in the Middle East needs to be comprehensive and durable and cannot be achieved by a "roadmap" that will only benefit the usurper entity of Israel, wrote `Kayhan International' on Tuesday. Washington's roadmap to Middle East peace will lead to nowhere and end up only in a quagmire, added the English-language daily in its Viewpoint column.
Unlike the situation that currently prevails in the Middle East...
Conflicting Western media reports over the recent visit to some regional Arab states by US Secretary of State Colin Powell have it that Powell has in blunt terms asked Syria "to cut support for liberation movements and close down the offices of anti-Zionist Palestinian groups in Damascus," the paper pointed out.
Where's the conflict? He said that was what he said, and Syria said that was what he said...
However, Palestinian groups downgraded the threat by saying their bureaus in Damascus have received no instruction whatsoever from their hosts that Washington has warned of "dire consequences" for the government of President Bashar al-Assad if it fails to take action to close down the offices of alleged terrorist organizations.
"No, no! That's not what he said! It was, ummm... something else."
Hamas, in the wake of Powell's ultimatum on Syria, has outrightly rejected any pressure that would coerce it to accept the so-called roadmap to peace prepared by Washington, the daily further noted.
"Don't nobody be tellin' us what to do..."
In the same vein, Lebanon's Hezbollah, which is a full-fledged freedom-fighting group that has elected representatives in the parliament and ministers in the national cabinet, has warned the Americans not to harbor any illusions of disarmament while the dangerously armed Zionist enemy is in occupation of Arab soil, it added.
"Yar! We be freedom fighters! Don't even think about messin' with us!"
Likewise, foreign media reports say that Syria has differentiated the Iraqi issue and the accusations hurled against it by Washington over its alleged harboring of runaway former Iraqi officials of the Baathist regime from the chronic Palestinian question, the daily noted. These developments suggest that Powell has been overstepping or has been under pressure to overstep diplomatic limits when dealing with sovereign independent states, the paper believes.
What part about "do it, or we'll take you apart" don't you understand?
Powell's arrogant statements in an interview broadcast over the American NBC TV on Sunday evidently exposed his sitution, the paper wrote. "The first black person, or to be more appropriate, an Afro-American, ever to be promoted to the higher echelons of the Anglo-Saxon hierarchy in the White House has dealt the conscience of his colored compatriots a massive blow," the daily highlighted.
That might have been the wrong thing to say. I dunno why, but I think it might have been the wrong thing... Seems to me that Powell's the American secretary of state, not the Black secretary of state. And even if he was, neither Syria nor the Paleos are Black...
Regrettably, the image of Powell as a conscientious critic of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's roguish policies has been shattered, the paper wrote. Powell, the daily said with due respect, "is no more than a mere messenger running errands for his pale-face bosses."
Let there not be a mistake that it is the "yes sir" mentality of Powell that has sadly given him an unrealistic view of what peace in the Middle East requires, the daily pointed out.
Or maybe it was that doofus "poet laureate" from Noo Joisey...
On Monday, the remarks of the Jamaican-born Secretary of State were openly snubbed in Moscow, that is, his statement that the US need only to isolate Iran to make it tow the line, the daily noted. The daily praised Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Rumyantsev for his recent assessment declared to the visiting US Deputy Secretary of State for Arms Control John Bolton that Iran is not violating any of commitments to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). "Iran's nuclear program is peaceful and there is no ground to stop Tehran-Moscow cooperation in this regard," it assured. Interestingly, Powell faced another rebuff the same day when Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi refuted the US Secretary of State's claim that the US was cooperating with Iran concerning the situation in Iraq, especially in the south, it said. "Does this mean that US officials are liars and stand guilty of perjury, especially in view of their open alliance with the anti-Iranian grouplet, the MKO?" it asked.
Compared to Asefi, I'd say the answer's a definite "no"...
Powell may not be in his post simply because he represents some of the world's oppressed people--the Afro-American communities in the States. But one thing is sure, "Washington's roadmap for Palestine will not lead anywhere and will end in a quagmire," the daily asserted.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/06/2003 1:30:37 PM ||
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Edited for Brevity
With President Bush exhorting lawmakers to support his economic plan, Senate Democrats on Tuesday unveiled a rival measure, one that would offer tax credits to families and businesses, aid to states, but without a key provision sought by the White House: the elimination of taxes on dividends. The Democratic plan, presented by Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle at a news conference, has an estimated 10-year price tag of about $152 billion -- far less than the $726 billion originally sought by Bush. Daschle called it "fair, fast-acting and fiscally responsible," and said a family of four earning about $50,000 a year would see federal taxes reduced by an average of $1,630 this year. With Republicans controlling both the Senate and the House, the "Jobs, Opportunity and Prosperity" plan outlined by Daschle is not expected to win enough votes for passage, but it serves as a marker of sorts for Democrats who want to make the economy a key issue in the 2004 presidential race. Now, let's stop right there. Isn't this Reaganomics by any other name? A tax cut that will yield "jobs and opportunity". Isn't that what President Reagan promised over 20 years ago and unbelievable scorn was heaped upon him? It is heartening to see that the Democratic Party has finally come around to rational thinking after 20 years. The plan unveiled by Daschle, D-South Dakota, Tuesday would do nothing to reduce the taxes on dividends. It includes a new "wage credit" of $300 for every working American, plus another $300 each for the first two children. The plan would also accelerate the child tax credit and the doubling of the standard deduction for married couples. This, I like and it is good political strategy for the Democrats who can tout this under the family values banner.
The plan includes a variety of incentives and tax credits for businesses to invest in new equipment (Isn't this a corporate bailout? Maybe only if proposed by the Republicans, huh? )
and help employees with their health care costs. It also includes about $40 billion in direct aid to states. "What we're offering is real jobs, real opportunity and real prosperity -- a plan that works for our country," Daschle said.
IRNA -- As the voice of the Arab world, the Cairo-based Arab League must strive to be more relevant to world developments, particularly those in Islamic countries, and rid itself of the image of being a mere "paper tiger," wrote `Tehran Times' on Tuesday. The Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa arrived in Qatar on Monday to hold talks with Qatari officials on the first leg of a tour of Arab states to assess regional developments, particularly the unveiling of the road map to try to resolve the Middle East crisis and post-war Iraq. From Qatar, headquarters of the US Central Command in the war on Iraq, Moussa will also visit the Northern African countries of Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Morocco. According to reports, Moussa is also to discuss with Arab leaders plans to revitalize the Arab League in the face of mounting criticism against the 22-member organization.
Yasss... No doubt they'll hold talks on that very subject...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/06/2003 12:50:01 PM ||
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Sam Bockarie, a notorious West African warlord indicted by a U.N.-backed war crimes court, has been seriously wounded in a shootout with Liberian forces, Liberia's government said on Tuesday. The former hairdresser, diamond-miner and disco dance champion who became a rebel commander in his native Sierra Leone was recently reported to be leading a band of fighters helping rebels in Ivory Coast. My god, does Hollywood know about this guy?
But the special court on war crimes in Sierra Leone last week said that Bockarie was in Liberia, where he had long-standing links, and urged President Charles Taylor to hand him over for trial. Liberia's Information Ministry said in a statement that Bockarie was spotted crossing into Liberia from Ivory Coast early on Tuesday. "He had a really good haircut, so we recognized him right away"
"An attempt by Liberian government forces to arrest him was met with stiff resistance and there were serious casualties on both sides," the statement said. "There are reports that Sam Bockarie was seriously wounded in the shootout." A hairdressing, diamond-mining, disco-dancing rebel commander. It's a cross of Shampoo-King Salomon's Mines-Saturday Night Fever-Wild Geese! Quick, somebody see if we can get Cuba Gooding, Jr.!
Posted by: Steve ||
05/06/2003 11:39:44 AM ||
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Edited for brevity.
The cities of Chicago and Seattle will be the focus of a $16 million exercise next week to test how well the federal government would deal with simultaneous attacks by terrorists using biological and radiological weapons, the Bush administration said today. The exercise, said to be the largest domestic security drill ever carried out by the federal government, will be played out over five days starting on Monday and involve dozens of federal, state and local emergency-response agencies.
In Chicago, emergency-response teams will be asked to pretend that they are dealing with the release of pneumonic plague, a deadly biological agent that is highly contagious. In Seattle, local agencies will be asked to respond to a scenario in which more than 100 people are injured in the explosion of a "dirty bomb," a weapon created when radiological material is wrapped around common explosives.
The exercise is the second Congressionally mandated simulation of its type. The first was carried out in 2000, focused on imaginary terrorist attacks in Colorado and New Hampshire. That drill exposed huge communications and coordination problems among federal and local emergency-response teams.
Posted by: Dar ||
05/06/2003 10:04:51 AM ||
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This fits in well with their White Slag business. A free syringe with every dose.
General Secretary Kim Jong Il gave on-the-spot guidance to the newly built syringe factory on December 19, Juche 89 (2000). After looking round its production processes, he said he would take some injectors produced there for test use. Kimmie shoots up? Doesn't that explain a lot.
A few days later, he met an official and told him that he had got injections with the syringes and some of them had pained him. And he said that the pain might be caused by needles, so efforts should be directed to improving the quality of needles for people and servicemen. Bad for business, but so's using your product. Hey, if you can't feed them, get them high.
Posted by: tu3031 ||
05/06/2003 8:12:23 AM ||
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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.
