U.S. officials said the Defense Department and the Joint Chiefs of Staff have determined that the stability of Saudi Arabia would be a priority over this year. They said Saudi stability and improved U.S. relations with Riyad were vital for Gulf regional security and American interests in the Middle East. The U.S. agenda has been relayed to Saudi Arabia by both the Pentagon and military. Officials said that over the next few months the Bush administration would seek to accelerate efforts to improve military and security cooperation with Riyad.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2005 00:00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"The U.S. agenda has been relayed to Saudi Arabia by both the Pentagon and military."
The Department of Redundancy Department was also involved...
I hope not. I hope that we learned our lessons in dealing with the Royals. They cannot be trusted.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/29/2005 0:45 Comments ||
Top||
#4
A major source of instability worldwide is Saudi money flowing into Wahabi missionary activity. Cut off Saudi money by relieving them of their oil assets. Give Mecca and Medina back to the king of Jordan, and boot the House of Saud.
#8
I'd like us to "stabalize" the oil fields. (And the Shias living in that area get the oil money, not us, of course.)
To hell with the rest of the country. Let them rot.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/29/2005 11:05 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Guess they read Woosley's report.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/29/2005 11:14 Comments ||
Top||
#10
US been stabilizing Saudia for 40 year, before that GB been stabilizing Saudia for 40 years. Maybe, just maybe, it would've been cheaper to buy "expensive" oil from elsewhere?
#11
I'd prefer a Saudi Arabia so unstable you can't get any oil out. Ever. That would mean no money for the wahabi outreach program. Let them go back to the desert and slice each other's throats.
Good piece in the Wall Street Journal a couple of days ago by Peter Huber pointing out that the supply of oil is for all practical purposes limitless. Alberta alone has known reserves locked up in tar sands good for another 100 years of global consumption at current rates. You can get that oil out for about $15/barrel. What prevents the investment to ramp up new production sources like this is the threat that the Saudi's can open the spigot on easy to refine oil that comes out of the ground at $2-$3/barrel. Huber contends that we won't see oil over $100 a barrel over the long haul under any circumstance. $100/barrel wouldn't kill us. We'd adjust pretty quickly, though the short term disruption could be a bear.
Nice to know the strategic petroleum reserve is just about full now. Gives a nation options...
#3
AP-
No, actually I think this is from those legendary Infinite Number Of Monkeys and Their Keyboards(TM).
I was hoping for Macbeth myself, but you gotta take what you get.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/29/2005 10:31 Comments ||
Top||
#4
There ya go, Mike. Infinite number of Monkeys learning fuzzy logic. Almost looks like a JM thread, hah!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/29/2005 13:12 Comments ||
Top||
A BOMB blast killed at least four people, including a former finance minister, yesterday at an opposition rally in northeastern Bangladesh, police and witnesses said. The bomb exploded at a rally of the main opposition Awami League at Laskarpur, 250 km from the capital Dhaka. Around 50 others were wounded. A party spokesman said former finance minister Shah Abu Mohammad Shamsul Kibria, 70, was among the dead. Others who died in the blast included a nephew of Kibria and two party workers. After the blast, protesting Awami workers and supporters went on a rampage, attacking and damaging dozens of vehicles and shops, witnesses said. Authorities later deployed extra police and paramilitary troops at Laskarpur. Kibria who had been sitting on the dais at the rally when the bomb went off, died in a Dhaka hospital around midnight.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Crossfire ⢠coming soon to a location near this one.
Bangladesh's opposition Awami League yesterday called for a 72-hour nationwide strike from today to protest the killings of a top party leader and former Finance Minister A.M.S. Kibria and four other party workers in a bomb attack on Thursday. While three were killed on the spot at Habiganj, Kibria and another party worker succumbed to their injuries later. Awami League acting Joint Secretary Obaidul Qader announcing the shutdown said the opposition would take further action "if the government does not resign by this time." The Awami League gave the call as thousands of mourners attended funeral prayers for Kibria. The attack came just over a week before Dhaka hosts a summit of South Asian leaders. Kibria's widow Asma told reporters she did not expect to get justice for her slain husband. Asked about the perpetrators of the attack, she replied, "Better ask the alliance government," the private UNB agency quoted her as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2005 00:00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
THE lawyers for former Guantanamo Bay inmate Mamdouh Habib said today there were grounds to seek compensation for his detention, although no decision had been made.
Mr Habib's US counsel Joe Margulies, speaking in Sydney today, was critical of US authorities' handling of Mr Habib's arrest in Pakistan in October 2001.
"The rendition, the transfer (of Mr Habib) from Pakistan to Egypt by US authorities was unlawful and the question is whether we will proceed with that litigation and that decision hasn't been made," he told reporters at Sydney Airport.
"For three years we have asked for one thing only and that is an opportunity to clear his name in a fair process.
"We ask only that the (US) government be asked to demonstrate the lawfulness of his detention by a legitimate means - that is by applying fixed and transparent standards in a fair tribunal.
"... that didn't happen, he was released instead and that speaks for itself and so now the question is whether the (US) government will continue to speak ill of him but refuse the obligation to come in and put up any evidence about it."
Mr Margulies said Mr Habib was exhausted on his return to Sydney on Friday and was recovering at an undisclosed location.
He said Mr Habib was suffering from emotional and psychological problems as a result of his detention in Guantanamo Bay.
Mr Habib had lost weight, but Mr Margulies did not wish to elaborate on the extent of his client's medical condition apart from saying he would need specialist treatment.
"Mr Habib has some chronic medical conditions as a result of his incarceration, that we're going to get taken care of or at least have specialists take a look at," Mr Margulies said.
"He has developed some emotional and psychological conditions that will require even more time (to recover from)."
On the day Mr Habib was due to return home he was told by US authorities he was being taken back to Egypt, Mr Margulies said.
"The United States, even the day he was going to be returned when he was shackled and already been removed to a truck that they were going to bring him to the plane on, ... continued to tell him that he was being taken to Egypt," he said.
"He didn't know for sure that he was going to Australia until he reached the plane on the tarmac at Guantanamo and saw me at the top of the stairs and then he realised he was coming home to Australia. That was a very emotional moment."
Mr Margulies said securing Mr Habib's freedom was one of his most satisfying successes as a civil rights lawyer.
"I've witnessed an execution, I have been to my client's execution, and the feeling of seeing my client, Mamdouh, with his wife when he first came back is the perfect antithesis to watching your client being executed," he said.
"(Mr Habib) was given his life back and I may never experience anything else like that."
Posted by: God Save The World ||
01/29/2005 11:57:13 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
Australian OPPOSITION Leader Kim Beazley today urged Prime Minister John Howard to become a voice of reason in Australia's relationship with the United States.
Mr Howard has leapt to the defence of US President George W. Bush at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
The president is not attending the meeting, and his stance on Iraq has been criticised by many leaders, particularly from Europe.
During a debate on US global relations, Mr Howard took issue with the tone of the argument against the war and criticism of Mr Bush's recent inauguration speech in which he did not mention Iraq.
Mr Beazley today indicated he would like to see Mr Howard offer the US some firm advice when it was needed - particularly in relation to Iraq.
"He needs to be the friend that the Americans need, not just the friend that they want," he said on Channel 7.
"They appreciate him, they like the fact that he has stood in behind them during the course of this conflict.
"Time's moving on. What the United States now needs is good counsel, and that's what they need from him."
Mr Beazley said Australia had not been the ally the US needed either before or after the war.
"They desperately needed warning, they desperately needed counsel and patience, and after the war they desperately needed sound advice on how the post-war administration should take place," he said.
"None of that came from Australia."
Mr Howard rejected the notion that the US had isolated itself in Europe because of its approach in Iraq, but Mr Beazley said the US had some work ahead of it in rebuilding relations with the continent.
"The whole world responded to the US position (after September 11)," Mr Beazley said.
"Old enemies of the US, Russians, Chinese, all came in behind ... what looked like the US-led fight with fundamentalist terror.
"That has frayed over the course of the last two or three years. That is not in the US interest, that is not in our interests.
"They are good friends with some European countries ... but the US, if it's going to exercise world leadership, has got to be able to embrace the lot."
In Switzerland, Mr Howard backed Mr Bush's invasion of Iraq as opposed to relying on United Nations action, which he said was not always effective.
Mr Beazley, however, said Australia and the United States should show some support for the UN.
"I think the US and we ought to be proud of the UN," he said.
"We played a major role in its creation.
"It was one of the institutions of, if you like, liberal democracy that was put in place after World War II.
"Why spurn them now? Why humiliate them? Why not just make them better?"
Posted by: God Save The World ||
01/29/2005 11:55:07 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
FORMER terrorist suspect Mamdouh Habib was suffering from emotional and psychological problems as a result of his detention in Guantanamo Bay, his lawyer said today. Mr Habib's US counsel Joe Margulies said he did not wish to elaborate on the extent of Mr Habib's condition, but he would need specialist treatment. "Mr Habib has some chronic medical conditions as a result of his incarceration, that we're going to get taken care of or at least have specialists take a look at," he told reporters at Sydney Airport. "He has developed some emotional and psychological conditions that will require even more time (to recover from)."
Mr Habib arrived back in Sydney on Friday afternoon. He was first arrested on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in October, 2001. He was subsequently sent to Egypt and then to the US detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The US Government says Mr Habib confessed to prior knowledge of the September 11 attacks as well as being involved in training hijackers in martial arts. He says the confession was made after he was tortured. Mr Margulies said it was important that Mr Habib received the medical care he needed. "Our first consideration is to get him the medical care, both from a mental health and a GP perspective, that he demands," he said. Mr Habib's family also needed time to adjust to having him home, Mr Margulies said. "We want to give his family as much time as we can to gradually get used to having him back in their lives. "Frankly, his youngest daughter didn't even remember him." Mr Margulies said today there were grounds to seek compensation for his detention, although no decision had been made.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
01/29/2005 11:49:33 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
The United States, determined to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons, is piling pressure on European firms to stop them doing business with Tehran, diplomats say. In turn this is making it harder for Europe to offer Iran economic incentives to persuade it to abandon nuclear processes that could be used to build weapons. "They're being pressured by Washington. Major European companies are unwilling to deliver," an EU diplomat said. "This means we really have no incentives to offer Iran at this point."
Iran denies U.S. charges it is seeking a nuclear bomb and says its nuclear program is purely for civilian purposes.
Although publicly the United States is saying it wants to stop Iran acquiring equipment for a military nuclear program, it is interpreting this very widely to cover any "dual use" goods which could be used for either civilian or military purposes. In November, U.S. ambassador Jackie Sanders told the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, that selling even small items with potential military use would be punished. "We want any proliferators, from multinational conglomerates to small exporters of dual-use machine tools, to understand that the U.S. will impose economic burdens on them, and brand them as proliferators," Sanders said.
The pressure seems to be working, diplomats say, by deterring European companies wary of damaging their business in the United States from trading with Iran. Among firms that have told their governments they will stay out of Iran for now are German engineering giant Siemens, French state-controlled nuclear giant Areva, German steel firm ThyssenKrupp and British oil major BP, industry sources and diplomats say.
Senior officials from some companies -- such as BP and ThyssenKrupp -- have already discussed these issues publicly. Areva has told its government that it did not want to do anything to harm its U.S. sales, a French source familiar with the case told Reuters. French electricity group EDF and the French Atomic Energy Commission are also concerned, the source said. The same applied to Siemens and other German firms, diplomats said. "German industry told the government that it will not get involved in Iran," one source said.
The new reticence of European companies in turn is blunting efforts by France, Britain and Germany to persuade Iran to abandon nuclear processes that could be used to build weapons in return for economic incentives. Among these incentives, the EU's "big three" have promised to help Iran cut deals with EU firms in civilian nuclear, aeronautic, telecoms and other industries.
European diplomats complained about the U.S. increasing pressure on trade just as the European governments were trying to persuade Iran to accept economic incentives. "We were surprised by this," one European diplomat said.
Fetch this man a blue pill.
But diplomats said European companies had also complained they had not been consulted before their governments promised Iran goods and equipment that they would be unable to provide. "The politicians should have talked to industry before starting negotiations with Iran, not after," one said.
Outstanding example of Euro "diplomacy".
One of the items promised to the Iranians was a light-water reactor of the type that does not produce large quantities of plutonium. But no European company is willing to build it.
Iran, under pressure to give up its uranium enrichment program, is also getting frustrated that the European governments are unable to offer it anything. "Iranian expectations are too high. We can't order our companies to do business with Iran. All we can do is create a political atmosphere to build confidence," an EU diplomat said.
Germany and France were the top exporters to Iran in 2003, accounting for 11 and 8.6 percent respectively of Iran's $25.26 billion of imports.
On Friday, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency urged the United States to join forces with Europe to persuade Iran to give up nuclear processes that could be used to make weapons. "I would hope that the U.S. eventually would be actively engaged with the Europeans in the dialogue with Iran," Mohamed ElBaradei told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Washington wants the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions on Iran to stop it developing nuclear weapons.
Posted by: tipper ||
01/29/2005 9:47:45 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Sucks to piss off the Great Satan, doesn't it? Fatwa against these companies in 5....4....3....
#2
What a surpise - another crooked arab (al-baradei) doing his best to protect iran and attack Bush. This the same Baradei who tried to get the idiot Kerry elected by leaking crappy info just before the elections.
#3
But diplomats said European companies had also complained they had not been consulted before their governments promised Iran goods and equipment that they would be unable to provide. "The politicians should have talked to industry before starting negotiations with Iran, not after," one said.
Dear Industrialists
You have to remember that, as the enlightened leaders of the post-technological, trans-national Humanity, we are not too conversant with the details of your nasty, polluting, profit grabing, business. In fact, we're going to abolish you, and your (spit) industry as soon as we can.
Now, shut up and deliver the goodies to our Iranian friends.
#4
well at least when it hits the fan, they were warned to get out
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/29/2005 14:12 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Seems to me that Germany/France/Russia were the main exporters to Saddam as well.
My oh my, how offfering bribes to brutal regimes in order to encourage them to follow the agreements that Iranian has previously made (non-proliferation treaty) has become so complicated for the appeasers.
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/29/2005 14:42 Comments ||
Top||
Via Bros. Judd - do we start popping the corn???: PM attacks Chirac's 'pathetic' power vision Tony Blair yesterday risked a fresh row when he branded the policies of Jacques Chirac, the French president, as "dangerous" and "pathetic". In a sign of cross-Channel tensions after the Iraq war, the prime minister showed contempt for two key elements of Mr Chirac's presidency: his attempts to turn Europe into a centre of power rivalling Washington and his personal relations with George Bush. Weeks before the prime minister joins Mr Chirac in welcoming President Bush to Europe, Mr Blair told the Wall Street Journal: "I have spoken on many occasions [about] my disagreement with those who want to set up different poles of power in the world. I think this is very dangerous. "I think we are best to congregate around one pole of common values. Europe and America should be an integral part of that together. They should not have separate and competing poles of power." Aris - no offense, but maybe it's time Europe listened.
Mr Blair was careful not to name Mr Chirac, whose once warm relations with Downing Street plummeted after the French leader pledged to veto the so-called second UN security council resolution that would have authorised the Iraq war in 2003. But the prime minister's choice of words will leave nobody in any doubt that he was taking aim at Mr Chirac who is deeply attached to a Gaullist vision of a "multipolar world". The French president never tires of talking of his determination to challenge today's "unipolar world", dominated by the US, by creating a "multipolar world" with equal centres of powers encompassing the US, Europe, the Indian subcontinent and China. Mr Blair has never shied away from criticising this vision because of his passionate belief that Europe and the US - with Britain acting as a bridge between the two - should work together. But the strength of his language in the Wall Street Journal may cause surprise. "Ever since the Soviet Union thankfully collapsed, and eastern Europe changed, there has been a question whether the world reunifies around a strong, common, global agenda, or whether it drifts off into these different poles of power," Mr Blair said.
"I think the next few years is a very, very crucial moment of opportunity and of danger. It is an opportunity because I think it is possible to find a unifying agenda and it is a moment of danger because if you don't, and people split into their rival powers, then I think whatever people say, that competition will be unhelpful." Warming to his theme, the prime minister was withering about Mr Chirac's regular public denunciations of Washington. Asked to defend his relations with President Bush, the prime minister said he would neither apologise nor engage in "grandstanding". He then added: "I think that is a pathetic form of leadership and I don't intend to indulge it." Mr Blair once again did not name Mr Chirac. But it was clear that he had in mind the French president who became the champion of the anti-war movement with his contemptuous criticisms of America in the run-up to the war. Mr Blair's intervention may be seen as an attempt to stamp his vision of the world on Europe and America ahead of Mr Bush's bridge-building trip to Europe next month when he will become the first US president to visit the institutions of the EU. Mr Bush is due to have dinner with Mr Chirac in Brussels on the eve of his visit. W better not invite him to the ranch.
Posted by: anonymous2u ||
01/29/2005 3:00:24 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Welcome noises from Blair, but I tend to doubt the depth of his sincerity - by campaigning, himself, to sign the UK up to the EU Constitution he's determined to create a pole of power to threaten the world order. One which already desires to arm the world's largest repressive state. Seems he's been spooked by the Tories' recent fillip following well-timed comments which raised the twin threats of unchecked immigration and creeping Brussels authority.
#2
This is how I see it. Will the UK stay aligned in the 200+ year love/hate adventure with the US or will the UK go with the EU? The EU seeks to be at a seperate from pole than the US. If the UK stays aligned with the US it will retain it's culutre and good economy and independence. If it goes with the EU the UK's culture will be beaten out of it by little minded people in grey suits from Belgium. It will become a nation not allowed to govern of decide it's future for it's self. I see Blair as all wrong on entangling the UK into the EU, it's constitution and monetary system.
It's late my eyes are tired and I am heading for bed.
#3
"I think we are best to congregate around one pole of common values. Europe and America should be an integral part of that together. They should not have separate and competing poles of power." Aris - no offense, but maybe itâs time Europe listened
Anonymous2u - no offense, but it's been *I* alone in this whole fucking forum that has been claiming that Europe and USA share common values and must stand together if they are to survive.
On the other hand, according to most of the rest of Rantburg, Europe is nothing but a dhimmi-infested socialist hellhole and one of the "enemies".
Such disunity will lead to the destruction of our civilization, but there you have it.
As for "not forming separate poles", what are the alternative options? People can either choose to destroy all other powers that stand in the way (that means from the USA perspective to try and destroy the EU, and from the EU perspective to try and hinder the USA), which means that our civilisation will self-destruct, or we can see all of us together joining in an alliance of *equals*.
But people here can barely stand the idea of the EU, so I somehow very much doubt USA wouldd be willing to give influence over its foreign policy to a body that contained such filthy subhumans as Ewwwropeans.
So, separate poles you have it, and let's pray that it'll be as peaceful coexistence of our two individual poles as possible. Because the *true* enemies are legion and growing, and we couldn't possibly survive more than a tiny bit of internal conflict on top of that.
Posted by: Its all about ME ||
01/29/2005 10:30 Comments ||
Top||
#5
There's a line in Lord of the Rings about Sauron judging all hearts based on his own desires -- that's why he couldn't even conceive anyone would choose to destroy the Ring rather than use it.
And that's what you are doing also: projecting your own childish behaviour on me. Stop being an asshole and start accepting the fact that some of us *don't* think this to be a game of egos, and some of us *do* think that the whole of our civilization is at stake.
#6
A lot of these problems could be solved once and for all if Britain could just be sawed off of the continent and replanted off the coast of the US. The big question then would be which part of the coast. Most British would initially vie for Florida or California, but the warm temperatures would give them just horrific fog, and in the latter case it would be a major pain to get them through the Panama Canal. New England would be the most amenable, and the Brits could become a friendly liason between the US and Canada. The Irish would be close to Boston, the Scots and their scotch to the Norfolk shipyards, and Wales could join with Nova Scotia to have a real economy for a change.
#8
Britain should consider that things went well for it when it stayed off the continent and played the Balance of Power game. Then in 1905, it allied itself with France. OK, it's been a century in harness with the French. How has it worked out for Britain? Not too well. Time for Britain to withdraw from the continent except as a balancing power, and join its cousins overseas. Europe can and will do as it wishes. Britain and the Anglosphere must do what they can to protect themselves.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/29/2005 11:33 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Aris, what are those "common values?" Let's get to the root of this, shall we?
Democracy and personal freedom, if you're interested. The most fanatically right-wing of Americans ofcourse ignore and trivialize the importance of these two elements, as do the most fanatically left-wing of Europeans.
According to such people, the other continent is contemptible because it doesn't share their perspective on *economics*. And so we're both doomed.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/29/2005 12:01 Comments ||
Top||
#11
Aris, there are decaffinated brands on the market that are just as tasty as the real thing.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/29/2005 12:06 Comments ||
Top||
#12
Mrs. Davis> Yes, Europe's been the fortress of the expanding freedom line, the battleground of ideologies, while USA territory itself is physically isolated from all hostile forces, reigning alone as a power of importance in a whole hemisphere.
9/11 should have taught you that physical isolation is not enough to protect you, though.
#13
Aris, you are top-down, we are bottom-up democracy. So right there, we don't agree.
I see it as Europeans prefer stability and security, we wing it a little more.
You're not free to own guns. And while you own your land, in Scotland, what some here would call trespassing is allowed and encouraged.
We're arguing about whose vision is better, which is what we've been doing for a lot longer than 228 years.
I'm sorry, but the land which gave us a lot of nasty "isms" as far as I'm concerned, is just tinkering around the edges w/that document.
From your POV - in Greece it's a win/win. From my POV - same old, same old. Your history and demographics at this point in time don't look so good.
I think we can agree that communism is inheritantly evil. However - for the peasants who had 1000 years of oppression by their church and monarchy, the ability to become a dr/lawyer/teacher and improve themselves had merit in their eyes.
We've been flying by the seat of our pants for over 200 years. That's scary to a lot of people. And your recent history works against you in some Americans' eyes.
From your POV I can understand your optimism. But in this democracy thing, Europe is still younger-- in some cases a lot younger-- and less experienced at it than we are. Italy hasn't even completed 1 post-WWII government yet.
It doesn't help when our "historic allies" want to align themselves and in effect the future EU w/the Chicoms.
When W said "you're w/US or w/the terrorists" I hate to break it to you, but he only verbalized what a lot of US thought on 9/11. I had hope that Europe would finally get it, but on the whole, they don't.
You're comments show you do. BUT - on your terms, not ours. Not this time, in my POV because your recent history - and that 228 years of scorn which you disparage - works against you. And I mean you as in Europe.
BTW, I love Greece, was there 2x, had hoped for at least 1 more time before I die.
We've always been here, Aris, waiting. But w/the internet, more Americans are paying attention. And while some, like Friedman, want W to listen to Europe, I think you fail to realize we have been. The difference is now, we're responding. And that's something your ruling class and your media really isn't used to. We're answering them back.
--physical isolation is not enough to protect you--
#14
When W said "you're w/US or w/the terrorists" I hate to break it to you, but he only verbalized what a lot of US thought on 9/11. I had hope that Europe would finally get it, but on the whole, they don't.--
Europe's stance was not a surprise to me. Same old same old as long as I remember. And my parents even longer.
W did not lose any good will. This divide has been there for a long time, just papered over.
Reading the business sections of newspapers alone over the years one could grasp that. One didn't need to follow foreign policy.
Back in the middle of the 19th century three men - an Englishman, a Frenchman, and an American - walk into a small American town, to be greeting by fighting, gun play, shouting, bodies lying in the street, and other signs of mayhem.
The Englishman cries, "Good Lord, it's a riot!"
The Frenchman says, "Oh no, m'sr, 'tis a demonstration."
The American looks around and says, "Yer both wrong, it's an election."
#16
Aris says in #3: "People can either choose to destroy all other powers that stand in the way (that means from the USA perspective to try and destroy the EU, and from the EU perspective to try and hinder the USA), which means that our civilisation will self-destruct, or we can see all of us together joining in an alliance of *equals*."
Now that's a very revealing Aris quote.
First, why would the US need to destroy the EU? I see it more a case of the EU destroying itself.
And why does Aris see the possibility of the US *destroying* the EU but the EU merely *hindering* the US? Bad overbearing 'merakins! Honestly, he needs to consider a career with the NYT or BBC or CBS.
And why are the only choices (1) destruction of civilization or (2) an alliance of *equals*. In your dreams, Aris. We are not and have never been and will never be equals. And you and Jacques Chirac are proving it daily.
The British will ultimately do the right thing. Most of the rest of you will wallow in French duplicity and EU bureaucracy until Islam takes you over and then transitions you to Sharia.
Posted by: Tom ||
01/29/2005 14:45 Comments ||
Top||
#17
Anon, the EU has its faults no doubt about it. But quite frankly I don't think we can ignore the EU's importance to our security. As much as Chirac and Schroeder are 2 big arrogant ninnies, a successful outcome in this WOT(I wish there were a better word for for this war)cannot be won by the USA alone or with a wobbly UK by our side or by a sometimes Israel only when the threat is geographically closeby or a deep pockets Japan who only sends $ not warm bodies for the front lines. Let's face it, the EU countries make up 2/3 of what is commonly considered Western civilization. The girly spats that come up between Blair and Chirac represent the love-hate relations between Britain and France that have spanned history. The UK and the continent are wedded by intertwined events of history, inter marriages, trade, etc and it is prudent for us to recognize that ongoing and everlasting relationship. Every British PM may grumble about the continent but they are very careful to always stay in the family, so to speak. I think we need to pay attention to the statesmanship demonstrated by the UK politicians over the years. We can have our mutual tizzy fits with France and Germany but we need to nuture the long standing assumption of alliances between Western countries as our bottom line. That's why I think you are being a little naive and too harsh on the EU without looking at things realistically.
I see it as Europeans prefer stability and security, we wing it a little more.
What's wrong with stability and security? Americans would like some peace and stability these days. Winging it gets old real fast.
I think we can agree that communism is inheritantly evil. However - for the peasants who had 1000 years of oppression by their church and monarchy, the ability to become a dr/lawyer/teacher and improve themselves had merit in their eyes.
Err, are you arguing for or against communism? I was wondering about the " however."
It doesn't help when our "historic allies" want to align themselves and in effect the future EU w/the Chicoms.
We have our own embaressing ahem incidents. Remember Chinagate? Also we've not exactly put China in the doghouse considering our massive infusion of "weapons buying $" given over to them courtesy of our massive consumption of Chinese made imports.
But in this democracy thing, Europe is still younger-- in some cases a lot younger-- and less experienced at it than we are..
Say what? The magna carta was written in the UK in 1215. Common law, which is a major under pinning of a free world, evolved from the magna carta. The US Constitution and US Bill of Rights came from the concepts in the Magna Carta. The magna carta states:"No freeman shall be taken, imprisoned,...or in any other way destroyed...except by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to none will we deny or delay, right or justice." Sound familiar?
When W said "you're w/US or w/the terrorists"
When W said those romantic noble words, he wasn't being quite honest about our own compromises with "friends" like Mushie and Saudi and Jiangi and Mubaraki etc and our willingness to forgive them their own dabblings on the dark side.
#20
Nice try with the servitude/dhimmis nonsense, Aris, but re "equals" we were talking about the alliance of nations, not individuals. For instance, Greece and the US are not "equals." Although Greece may be an "equal" in the EU (but I doubt it), no future alliance is going to give Greece one vote to each US one vote. And I am at a loss to imagine any alliance between the US and France. We bailed them out twice at great cost and got the likes of Chirac for our troubles. We have a better relationship with some Islamic countries than with France.
Posted by: Tom ||
01/29/2005 16:03 Comments ||
Top||
#21
Tony can study up on further Chirac statements here.
#22
Although Greece may be an "equal" in the EU (but I doubt it), no future alliance is going to give Greece one vote to each US one vote.
Ofcourse, since we only have 1/30th your population or so.
But the point is you're not even willing to give the EU as a whole one vote to each US one vote. You are not willing to see even Europe as a *whole* in an alliance of equals with the United States.
What on urdth you blathering about?
Our dhimmis? We don't want any dhimmis, in fact, it would be nice if EUros grew some spine. You don't have to be worried about being OUR dhimmis.
(Would you believe that I lived in that sorry place for the first 30 years of my life? I smelled a rat already more than 2 decades ago calling the continent a dying old whore, beside my visceral dislike of anything commi or soci despite the thorough indoctrination machine, that's why I am here and not there)
#24
Of course we would dearly love to be united with Europe in facing this scourge. But the core of the problem is a set of asymmetries in the relationship that make it difficult for us to even define our common interests in this matter.
The military asymmetry is obvious. If the Euros cannot even transport their own gear to out-of-area theaters, and in many cases are so far behind technologically and operationally as to not be inter-operative, then you do not have a true alliance but rather a US force that at best can only draw on auxiliaries from time to time.
Ideologically, there's an enormous asymmetry concerning the use of military force. Kagan has explained this clearly; no need to repeat. However it is crippling any hope of playing an effective goodcop/badcop game with Iran, or presenting a united front elsewhere. If military force is not an option, then the West's influence is greatly reduced, and the value of the Western alliance is correspondingly reduced.
Finally, there is also a huge democracy deficit, in the sense that European political and media and cultural institutions are far, far more elitist and unresponsive to the common citizen than American institutions. The EU constitution farce is one example but a far more important problem is the way that European newsmedia, especially regarding the middle east and concerning US policy, monopolize, distort and spin the news. Germany's media especially but also France's are grotesque caricatures of anti-Israel and anti-US hysteria and spin. There is little competition, and 1968er ideologues are unchecked in their efforts to slam the US and paint the US in the most ludicrously slanted extreme colors. Reading Le Monde or Der Spiegel on the US is like reading Pravda ca. 1983.
This barrage of unchallenged anti-US and anti-Israeli propaganda makes it extremely difficult for the European public to get a clear view of what unites us and the Europeans, and plays into the pathetic US-bashing tactics of failed and/or corrupt European pols like Schroeder and Chirac.
The military asymmetry will probably never be reduced, but that by itself isn't fatal. The bigger problem is the democratic and media asymmetry. The alliance is dysfunctional and will be until the 1968er generation of European political and media elites is replaced by thoughtful young pro-alliance, pro-Americans.
#25
What on urdth you blathering about? Our dhimmis? We don't want any dhimmis
Have you seen how raving angry have some Rantburgers been with Turkey? Torturing its citizens was *nothing* according to them, and when it stopped doing so seemed to trivial according to them -- according to so many Rantburgers Turkey is *now* turning into an Islamic shithole.
Why is Turkey now a "Islamic shithole" when all reports seem to indicate it's improving its human rights situations and democratic status? Because it dared to refuse a request by the USA to let troops through.
That's it. That's how the worth of nations is judged by many people here. NOT by how they treat their own citizens, NOR by how they treat other nations -- but only by one factor: how loyal these nations are to the United States.
When you only judge people or nations by their LOYALTY to you, then you see them as servants, and you as their Master.
On my part I'd rather have people around me who refused my requests, but nonetheless were kind towards their families, instead of the opposite: People servile to me who then went home to abuse them.
But tyrannical-torturing Turkey was a "good ally" all those years, and it's only now turning into an "Islamic shithole".
#26
"You are not willing to see even Europe as a *whole* in an alliance of equals with the United States."
Correct, Aris, and that's because Europe doesn't have a leader, doesn't have any cohesion, and doesn't represent any particular values or inclinations. Aris, you are dumping a load of junkyard parts at my doorstep and trying to tell me it's a car. And throwing a huge bureaucracy and a huge manual (constitution) into the deal still doesn't make it a car. I'm not buying it.
Posted by: Tom ||
01/29/2005 17:40 Comments ||
Top||
#27
yep, I we all want a secular Turkey beating everyone in the society, daily, if possible, and even more if they talk about making an islamic shithole. Strawmen are so easy to construct, even for the challenged.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/29/2005 17:45 Comments ||
Top||
#28
At this point Aris has proven to be sufficiently challenged that I'm leaving the thread. It's pointless.
Posted by: Tom ||
01/29/2005 17:48 Comments ||
Top||
#29
Aris, reports this, reports that...I have some turkish friends, and they all are seriously worrying about Turkie turning into an islamic shithole.
As for refusing the request for transfer of US troops through Turkie territory, it was first yes (so the planning went ahead with that as a component of the strategy), then it was no.
#30
Tom, you just figured that out? But it actually does have a point. It feeds his ego.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/29/2005 17:54 Comments ||
Top||
#31
EU, ego -- it's all the same thing. Countries that can't get along with their neighbors think they can unite Europe and thereby abuse their neighbors behind cover of bureaucratic law-making. They're tribal and hoping no one will notice.
Posted by: Tom ||
01/29/2005 18:02 Comments ||
Top||
#32
how're those debt limits going? Everyone living up down to theirs? Jacques? Gerhard?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/29/2005 18:09 Comments ||
Top||
#33
At which point none of you even pretends to care about truth anymore.
"Aris, reports this, reports that...I have some turkish friends, and they all are seriously worrying about Turkie turning into an islamic shithole. "
But you see, I have more reason to trust Freedomhouse than any reason to trust your claims on your friends claims.
Correct, Aris, and that's because Europe doesn't have a leader, doesn't have any cohesion,
And the fact you always conveniently ignore is that you don't want EU to have them, hence the opposition to the Constitution.
So, Europe can't be your equal because it doesn't have cohesion, and yet at the same time you don't desire it to have cohesion. That kinda means you don't *want* it to be your equal.
and doesn't represent any particular values or inclinations
Sure it does, and much more so than any other supranational entity in the face of the world. African Union, or South American Community of Nations, or CIS, or NAFTA, it's *these* things that don't represent any values or inclinations. But the EU values of democracy, freedom and human rights are inherent in it, and consistently supported by it throughout its area and the wider region.
At which point someone here will laugh maniacally, thinking that maniacal laughter is an argument.
#34
#11 Aris, there are decaffinated brands on the market that are just as tasty as the real thing.
Posted by: Robert Crawford [http://www.kloognome.com/] 2005-01-29 12:06:37 PM
All I can say is that is real genius!
Posted by: Almost Anonymous2520 ||
01/29/2005 18:21 Comments ||
Top||
#35
nahhhhh we just find maniacal laughter funny Bwahahahahahha!
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/29/2005 18:21 Comments ||
Top||
#36
..thinking that maniacal laughter is an argument.
#38
Spemble, Fred got tired of seeing comments from Anonymous4215378, Anonymous43801795, Anonymous189351782395351, etc. So he wrote a cute little name generator. If your computer allows cookies, all you have to do is type in your preferred name in the Your Name box when you post a comment. Trailing Daughter does this, and it generally takes me a few hours to get it straightened out after she posts. I am really looking forward to giving her that laptop she's been begging for, for the past two years!
#41
Sobiesky, I am the proverbial end user. I'm just happy not to accidentally blow up the internet for all of us -- I'll wait until Trailing Daughter leaves off the Latin and figures it out for me. Or I can ask one of my siblings, one who is getting her PhD in the field, the other who is professing, to do something about it when they come to celebrate TD2's bat mitzvah this spring. (That's the one y'all haven't met yet...she prefers her politics local rather than global. Clearly a throwback... or a mutation ;-) )
(2005-01-28) -- The U.S. occupation force in Iraq is placing unconstitutional restrictions on the free speech rights of Al Qaeda and former members of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath party, according to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-MA, who today introduced a resolution expressing "solidarity with our repressed brethren in the Iraq insurgency."
"Just as in our country, flag burning and pornography distribution are the most sacred of forms of protected speech, so in Iraq legitimate car-bombings and beheadings must be protected as political expression," said Mr. Kennedy. "The Bush administration is clearly trying to deny these Iraqis, and their foreign guests, their basic civil rights. This is the most insidious brand of cultural and religious discrimination."
The Senator said he's hopeful that "after the Iraqi people exercise civil disobedience by boycotting this week's national election sham, U.S. forces will immediately pull out so that this sovereign nation can restore the free marketplace of ideas in political discourse -- no matter how incendiary the ideas, no matter how sharp the discourse."
In a direct address to Iraqi insurgents, the Massachusetts Senator added, "Speak truth to power, my brothers."
Posted by: Korora ||
01/29/2005 11:08:32 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
And this is different from his first speech in what way?
#1
Support for Mosques and Islamic Centers in United States
Under King Fahd, Saudi Arabia has given support to the following institutions in the United States:
Dar al-Salam Institute
Fresno Mosque in California
The Islamic Center in Colombia, Missouri
The Islamic Center in East Lansing, Michigan
The Islamic Center in Los Angeles, California
The Islamic Center in New Brunswick, New Jersey
The Islamic Center in New York
The Islamic Center in Tida, Maryland
The Islamic Center in Toledo, Ohio
The Islamic Center in Virginia
The Islamic Center in Washington
The Islamic Cultural Center in Chicago
King Fahd Mosque in Los Angeles
The Mosque of the Albanian Community in Chicago
South-West Big Mosque of Chicago
Umar bin Al-Khattab Mosque in Los Angeles
Academic Chairs:
King Abdul Aziz Chair at the University of California, Santa Barbara
King Fahd Chair at Harvard University
Islamic Research Institutes supported outside the Arab/Islamic world:
American University of Colorado
American University in Washington
Duke University, North Carolina
Howard University, Washington
Johns Hopkins University, Maryland
Middle East Institute, Washington
Shaw University, North Carolina
Syracuse University, New York
#2
I realize it would take balls of depleted uranium, but someone should assemble a list of which mosques carry these materials, and update it from time to time.
Of course, the pamphlets would probably just disappear from the open racks and still be available "on request".
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/29/2005 14:37 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Of course, the pamphlets would probably just disappear from the open racks and still be available "on request".
and in arabic only
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/29/2005 14:41 Comments ||
Top||
#4
I live 15 minutes from one of these Islamic centers supported by the Fraudis. I might just have the ovaries to walk into it and collect some of the material.
The new head of the Border Patrol's busiest sector said yesterday his primary duty as the Homeland Security Department's chief agent along the Sonoran border is to watch out for terrorists and terrorist activity. Chief Patrol Agent Michael C. Nicley, new head of the Tucson sector, said that although the agency arrests thousands of illegal immigrants and dozens of drug smugglers each year, since 9/11 the Border Patrol's aim is to keep Americans safe from terrorism.
If Border Patrol agents apprehend a terror suspect, the public will never know, Nicley added.
The sector has 2,200 agents.
He said it is possible that one or more terror suspects have been picked up along the Arizona-Mexico border, but disclosing that would let terrorists know too much and the safety of all Americans supersedes the public's right to know in such cases.
Nicley said unmanned surveillance aircraft tested recently by the Border Patrol proved enormously successful as a deterrent to drug traffickers and illegal immigrants. "Now they know that if they see the bird up there, a guy in a green shirt is coming to make an interdiction," he said.
He said that although the trial period for drones is over, he expects they will be used again here because they can get to remote areas and stay there, unlike helicopters, which are subject to pilot fatigue and refueling demands.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/29/2005 2:08:39 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Patrol proved enormously successful as a deterrent to drug traffickers and illegal immigrants.
yeh, sure it did! I'm convinced. So why is it, "the Border Patrolâs busiest sector"
duh.
#2
Well it has become the busiest because of the efforts made along the TX and CA borders, channeling the traffic to AZ. The NM area isn't as busy, yet, because it is largely open desert which leads to more desert. The one major northern route is covered by BP and Customs. Everything else feeds east, TX, and west, AZ.
#3
Once again, I'll propose the "bounty" idea. To be paid for any non-Mexican trying to sneak across the border when they are caught. If they turn out to be a "person of interest", then the bounty gets a x2, x3, or x5 bonus. If you paid $1000 per head, that border would be as tightly sealed as a pressure cooker to non-Mexicans. There would be brigades of Mexicans patrolling their side, hoping to observe a non-Mexican and make a phone call. The best part is that it would be perfectly legal for a private citizen to pay the bounty! So, for maybe $20-40,000 a year, no terrorist could cross that border without fear of immediate arrest. Sounds a LOT better than a multi-billion dollar system that doesn't work.
#4
The best part is that it would be perfectly legal for a private citizen to pay the bounty
Say what? Tell that to the new Attorney General and his name isn't Smith.
Here's the very best part. You are going to love this because this may be news to you. The federal gov'ts constitutional responsibility is to provide national security, to protect our sovereignity. Unbeknowns to the folks at DC, we pay taxes for the federal gov't to properly defend our borders. So even if bounties were legal, which I am sure the ACLU and the AG would tell you in no uncertain terms are not, we are paying enough money to Senor Bush and El Congresso to provide BORDER GUARDS, BUILD FENCES, DO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE. Iraq has better defended borders than us.
#5
This type of bounty is perfectly legal. All you are doing is paying Mexicans to give information about non-Mexicans trying to sneak across the US border; and then that information is given to US authorities. Then once the non-Mexicans are apprehended by US authorities, you pay the Mexicans who gave you the information leading to their arrest. That is as legal as it gets. Importantly, this separates this issue, terrorist infiltration from the much broader problem of illegal immigration, which needs its own, different solutions, no matter what they are. We have been debating what to do about illegals for 30 years now, and that debate will continue, like it or not. But we need a solution to terrorist infiltrationnow, or it could cost the lives of thousands of Americans. And to stop it now, for just a tiny amount of money, makes all the sense in the world.
#6
Anon, I have no interest in US citizens like yourself paying "bounties" to Mexicans for tips on how many hundreds of terrorists are in the "regular" daily contingent of 3000 illegals coming over our border. There's something very weird and rather tragic in that image. Pardon me while I puke.
One thing you got right though. Our open southern border is a terror attack waiting to happen. It is beyond outrageous that our President and Congress concede there are terrorist threats to America and yet they lay a welcome mat at our southern border and continue to posture about how our military is out and about around the globe protecting American interests. Huh? The most obvious place to start "defending" America is to defend our own darn borders!!!!! And I don't particularly want little laymen types implementing their own hair brain schemes to protect our borders.
Don't you think it sends a bad message to terrorist wannabes that our borders are so porous that US citizens have resorted to paying out of pocket "bounties" to Mexican nationals for help because they have lost confidence in the US federal gov't?
Senor Bush and El Congress have enough $ to blow on foreign aid, 800 foreign located military bases and 2 foreign wars "to spread and defend democracy" but they have no $ for border control to defend this country's democracy? The WH could not even come up with $ to pay for 2000 extra border agents. That makes no sense whatsoever.
#7
2x: It all makes sense from many different directions. First of all, Mexican migrants are really not that threatening, so much so that an argument can be made for free passage across the US-Mexico border. Second thing is that that border area is enormous, far more than could be policed by even four full-time military divisions. Third is that these Mexicans provide a huge amount of labor to the US. Fourth is that they *do* become Americans as fast as any other immigrant group. Fifth is that any additional benefits they are now getting from living in the US are strictly at the whim of government, but on the whole, they contribute far more than they take, both to the US and to improving the economy of Mexico. Compare this to terrorists trying to cross that border. There is no ready comparison.
#8
I have no interest in US citizens like yourself paying "bounties" to Mexicans for tips on how many hundreds of terrorists are in the "regular" daily contingent of 3000 illegals coming over our border. There's something very weird and rather tragic in that image. Pardon me while I puke.
Get a stronger stomach and look in the Constitution for "letters of mark and reprisal". Same idea, applied to a modern problem.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/29/2005 16:02 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Mexican migrants are really not that threatening,..
Not very relevant.
Second thing is that that border area is enormous, far more than could be policed by even four full-time military divisions.
Not a problem. Guards go in the areas that are less inhospitable, which naturally are easier to cross. If the mojados and terrorists try to cross in a desolate area, they gamble with their lives.
Third is that these Mexicans provide a huge amount of labor to the US.
Not an issue. They can either follow our laws or stay the hell out. It's already bad enough we have our own home-grown lawbreakers, and because some industry is hungry for cheapo labor, standards should be lowered for that? No dice.
Fourth is that they *do* become Americans as fast as any other immigrant group.
Debatable. With various businesses (and government, in many cases) pandering to them by offering up Spanish language interfaces (paperwork, signage such as those at Food Maxx, or ATMs with a Spanish option, for example), there's not much incentive to "become American" (which includes learning to speak and understand our language).
A month or so ago, I was at the local laundromat and I overheard two people talking between themselves in a manner that seemed to indicate they were U.S.-born and educated. The hitch was that every other sentence or so was in Spanish. There wasn't any apparent reason to be speaking Spanish, and the subject matter wasn't something that required one to be discreet in conversation. Not a very encouraging observation, that's for sure.
..they contribute far more than they take,..
Tell that to hospitals in AZ's border area, or in Los Angeles.
#10
RC-I wanted to heave out of disgust not because of a weak stomach. The feds' ineptitude in performing their primary duty, which is to protect our borders and our sovereignity, makes me sick. I'm paying enough taxes to the feds without having ordinary citizens doing their little hodge podge thingies to protect our border.
Anon- Mexican migrants are really not that threatening
Islam is making big strides in establishing its presence in Mexico and attracting Hispanic converts:
http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Park/6443/LatinAmerica/mexico1.html "Mexico discovers Islam" Mexico may be well on its way to a monotheistic revolution. This new trend is emerging from recent developments, and reflects a similar change evident in other South American nations - people are embracing Islam by the thousands, jettisoning the Catholicism imposed upon their ancestors in Spain. The prayer congregation has tripled since Mexico City's Centro Cultural Islamico de Mexico (CCIM) first opened its doors 6 years ago. The numbers could be even higher. However, most Mexicans still have almost no knowledge of Islam. CCIM is spreading the Oneness of Allah at all levels of society and translating Islamic publications into Spanish. It also has several native-born active Da'wah graduates from Saudi Arabian universities who speak fluent Arabic. The Center's Islamic public radio program had to be suspended because of financial constraints. In the last 3 years, CCIM built two new mosques in two cities close to the capital. Its ultimate goal is to establish full-time mosques in every major Mexican city.
Also "invasions" come in versions other than just guns and ammo. There's also "attacks" on our country's social, cultural, financial fabric. Check out articles about illegals "contributions" to violent crime, drug trafficking, gangs, drain on social & medical & welfare services, crowding in schools, polluction, drain on limited resources like fuel and water.
border area is enormous, far more than could be policed by even four full-time military divisions.
We have our troops defending the sovereignity of nations around the world. Those nations' taxpayers are getting a free ride. Bring our troops home and there will be more than enough military to back up our border guards: U.S. troops in other countries:
Portugal: 3,000
Italy: 11,190
Great Britain: 11,207
Japan: 40,159
South Korea: 38,565
Turkey: 2,008
Germany: 69,203 (for 58 years post WW II)
Afghanistan: 12,000 border police and 177 checkpoints
Total: 187,332
- from columnist Mike Blair.
they *do* become Americans as fast as any other immigrant group
How can illegal Mexican aliens apply for US citizenship? I sincerely hope this is not happening!
they contribute far more than they take,..
I don't think so. Provide me with some supportive statistics of your claim. I did a quick google search and the opposite seems to be true. Here's one that came up on one statistic that came up as one of my first hits: "A recent study by the National Research Council found the average immigrant lacking a high school education imposes a net ficsal burden of $89,000 on U.S. taxpayers. Coupled with an estimated $9 BILLION spent yearly on health care for illegals, the tab is substantial."
- Investors Business Daily, February 4, 2004
and to improving the economy of Mexico
Like Bomb said - at our expense. Also this functions as a safety valve for oligarchs like Vicente Fox and his pals who are not forced to change their greedy ways to allow Mexico to pull itself up from being a corrupt Third World feudal society.
And on the subject of "migrants" coming to the US ( don't you mean ILLEGAL ALIENS?) to "fill jobs which no Americans want to do," also known Jorgas' Big Fib: A 1997 GAO report (H-2A Agricultural Guestworker Program: Changes Could Improve Services to Employers and Better Protect Workers), reported there is no shortage of farmworkers in the United States. At the peak of the employment season, about 43% are jobless.
- Report by attorney Michael Holley, Texas Rural Legal Aid,"Disadvantaged by Design ..."
PRIME Minister John Howard has leapt to the defence of US President George W. Bush, who has come under fire from international leaders at the World Economic Forum.
In Mr Bush's absence from the annual meeting of political and business heavyweights, his stance on Iraq has been criticised by many leaders, particularly from Europe.
"I think some of the criticism of the Americans by some of the Europeans is unfair and irrational and I have said so," Mr Howard said.
He did so in a forthright manner during one debate on US global relations in which he grew increasingly disenchanted with the tone of the argument against the war and criticism of Mr Bush's recent inauguration speech, in which he did not mention Iraq.
"Can I just say, I mean, the negative mindset of the last five minutes is ridiculous - of course America has made mistakes and of course there will be modifications of policy," Mr Howard interjected during the debate.
He said the critics had misinterpreted Mr Bush's speech and told them the US president would not be altering his stance.
"I don't think there will be fundamental changes in American policy over the next four years," he said.
The non-attendance of Mr Bush or any of his senior administrators at the Swiss summit, which has attracted 2500 political and business leaders, has been seen as a snub by many in the forum.
Mr Howard said Mr Bush had plenty of support and denied the world was adopting an anti-Bush stance.
"No, that is not. That is the view in some parts of Europe, but not the view in others," he said.
"It's not the view in eastern Europe for example. You talk to the president of Latvia who took part in that meeting, you talk to the representative of Afghanistan, that is not their view."
Mr Howard also backed Mr Bush's invasion of Iraq as opposed to relying on United Nations action which he said was not always effective.
"The reality is, and it was proved in Bosnia, it was proved in Kosovo, that if you rely entirely on the international institutions, it won't work," Mr Howard said.
"I'm not anti the United Nations, I'm in favour of the United Nations when it works."
Posted by: God Save The World ||
01/29/2005 11:51:41 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
Muslim nations have the responsibility to correct the world's negative perception of Islam, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said yesterday.
They could do that by catching the Bad Guyz and immediately killing them.
Abdullah said since the September 11, 2001 attack in the United States, Muslims have been wrongly portrayed as violent and intolerant.
It hasn't been Lutherans who've been chopping people's heads off. It hasn't been Episcopalians shooting up other people's churches.
"We Muslims are still unable to break free from this profiling. The profiling must stop. It does grave injustice to a noble religion whose very name means peace," Abdullah told some 50 delegates from 15 member countries of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
Actually, that refers to the peace of submission. Perhaps it's time for Moose limbs to start differentiating between themselves and wahhabis?
The scholars and diplomats are attending the three-day meeting of the OIC Commission of Eminent Persons in Malaysia's administrative capital of Putrajaya.
They have these conferences regularly. As far as I can see, nothing's ever actually happened as a result of them...
Abdullah, who chairs the 57-member OIC, said one way to correct this misconception was to bridge the gap between the Muslim and western civilisations, and this could be done when Islamic countries begin practising moderation in their religion. "We need to close the great divide that has been created between the Muslim world and the West," he said.
'Tain't gonna happen until somebody works up the nerve to nail 95 Theses to the door of the Great Mosque in Mecca, and somebody else has the nerve to stop the rest of the Islamic world from cutting his head off...
"In embarking on this crucial mission, we must guard against extreme motivations or extremist elements. It is our duty to demonstrate, by word and by action, that a Muslim country can be modern, democratic, tolerant and economically competitive," he was quoted as saying by the official Bernama agency. Abdullah said many parts of the Islamic world are in 'deep crisis'.
I suppose that's an adequate synonym for "cesspools of self-induced ignorance and poverty."
"There are many challenges that we need to overcome. In many parts of our world, we are in deep crisis," Abdullah said. "The OIC landscape is a distressing one. Darfur is a humanitarian disaster, two of us are occupied — Iraq completely and Palestine partially," said Abdullah. "Some of the OIC countries are rich and their people affluent.
For the most part, only the ones with lots of oil.
"But they are too few and far between. The OIC landscape is littered with nations that are poor and people that are hungry. They are largely at the mercy of developed nations and of forces beyond their control."
There's the error in his reasoning. They're largely at the mercy of their holy men and forces of their own making. Had those forces not been in existence 150 or 200 years ago there would have been no colonialism. It would have been impossible.
Nearly 50 scholars and diplomats from Burkina Faso, Egypt, Iran, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sudan, Turkey, and Yemen are attending the three-day meeting of the OIC Commission of Eminent Persons in Malaysia's administrative capital Putrajaya. The meeting in Malaysia is expected to discuss challenges facing Muslims in the 21st century and reforms to the OIC. Its recommendations will be submitted to the OIC foreign ministers' meeting in Yemen later this year.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"Grave injustice", indeed!!! Actually it's the natural delayed working of group Karma against a prolonged denial. Didn't the Bible speak of creating fruits after its own kind...must one be religious to comprehend? I think not. Just a touch of Spirituality beyond the material and some common sense.
#4
What is unmentioned is that this attempt to downgrade non-Muslim religions is not new. It is a strong but unmentioned plank in the New Economic Policy. Muslims are discouraged from taking part in non-Muslim religious festivals, or visiting non-Muslim homes on these occasions. About twentyfive years ago, the late Prime Minister, Tun Hussein Onn, once attended a Christmas party of the then Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, Tan Sri Vendargon, in secret and incognito because of the prevailing Muslim frenzy against a Muslim attending one.
http://mggpillai.com/article.php3?sid=2050
The M`sian PM is a bloody joker if not a liar.
Look at what the Deputy says:
The political reaction is even more bizarre. "We will investigate who is responsible for this website, and action will be taken as we cannot allow such websites to sow seeds of hatred among the people of different races and religions." So says Dato' Seri Najib. The import of what he says is more frightening: the people cannot, but the muftis and Islamic religious can sow religious hatred.
http://mggpillai.com/article.php3?sid=2049
#10
The basic backbone and foundation of the country were not built up as a result of being a 'muslim' country. They owed a lot to history, the British rule and immigration of hard-working and docile, adaptable non muslim people. They are going to undermine all this (and have since the early seventies) with their vain religousity and increased discriminations masquerading as "affirmative action". A lotta hypocrisy at work. Not a lttle from islamisation.
#12
"...It does grave injustice to a noble religion whose very name means peace..."
Actually, "Islam" means "submission" -- not exactly the western idea of peace.
Posted by: Tom ||
01/29/2005 15:40 Comments ||
Top||
#13
It is our duty to demonstrate, by word and by action, that a Muslim country can be modern, democratic, tolerant and economically competitive
#14
âWe need to close the great divide that has been created between the Muslim world and the West,..â
More cause for LOL.
The conservative thinking among them is being promoted via religiousity to reinforce existent discrimination further. The big brother Umno ruling party promotes islamisation sneakily while the other , Pas, more overtly - something even their own people, being more lax and ignorant/liberal muslims could not accept. The equivalent of the muttawa has long existed and is given slacks lately. Try this rather naive piece(He/she wanna leave!) :http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/33162
(You'll get use to the varying English, or rather, Manglish.) More at : http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/?d=2
Warning! Malaysiakini, while serving some amount of 'free speech', is anti_Bush, was pro-Kerry. http://www.malaysiakini.com
Senior Indonesian officials and separatist rebels have met to discuss reconstruction of the tsunami-devastated region of Aceh. Leaders of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), fighting for the region's independence for three decades, and Indonesian officials held talks for the first time in two years in Helsinki, Finland, on Friday. United in grief, both sides discussed how to work together to rebuild after the 26 December disaster in which 230,000 Acehnese died or went missing. Malik Mahmud, prime minister of GAM's government-in-exile, which has been based in Stockholm since the struggle began in 1976, said he was pleased by the talks. "Everything is going good. At the moment I cannot reveal the content. I am happy," he said after 12 hours of talks.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2005 00:00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
EFL
Sen. Joseph Biden and Iran's foreign minister clashed Friday over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, with Biden hinting at the possibility of armed conflict unless fears of an Iranian weapons program were put to rest. The rare and frank public exchange between a senior American politician and a ranking member of the Iranian government came at a dinner during the World Economic Forum held in this Alpine resort town. Biden, D-Del., favors dialogue with Iran and as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Comittee has occasionally met with officials from the Islamic Republic. He is at odds with administration hard-liners who favor isolating Iran for its supposed nuclear weapons plans and alleged backing of terrorists. snip
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/29/2005 2:01:21 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Biden, D-Del., favors dialogue with Iran
especially at beautiful Alpine resorts, such as this one
Sen. Joseph Biden (news, bio, voting record) and Iran's foreign minister clashed Friday over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, with Biden hinting at the possibility of armed conflict unless fears of an Iranian weapons program were put to rest.
The rare and frank public exchange between a senior American politician and a ranking member of the Iranian government came at a dinner during the World Economic Forum (news - web sites) held in this Alpine resort town.
There are no official contacts between Washington and Tehran, which President Bush (news - web sites) has labeled part of the "axis of evil," and which stands accused by the U.S. administration of trying to make nuclear weapons — something Iran denies.
Biden, D-Del., favors dialogue with Iran and as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Comittee has occasionally met with officials from the Islamic Republic. He is at odds with administration hard-liners who favor isolating Iran for its supposed nuclear weapons plans and alleged backing of terrorists.
Biden's warning to Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi was tempered, with the U.S. senator also urging his own government to rethink its positions.
Ohh, there he is.
"You have to grow up and my administration has to grow up, with all due respect, and find out if there is any common ground," he said." We are on the course of unintended consequences."
Biden expressed hope that the Bush administration in its second term would reconsider its position and try to engage Iran, saying that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) was receptive to his "initiatives to reach out to the Iranians for discussions" in her earlier capacity as national security advisor.
"I hope we're all smarter about this, smarter than we've been," he said. Alluding to the refusal by Bush to rule out an armed response to Iran's nuclear plans, he said: "I hope our leadership is brighter because if it's not, it's a very dull picture for the region, and for humanity." I'd say glowing, but that's just me.
Biden spoke after Kharrazi had said his country's insistence on the right to uranium enrichment was not up for debate at present talks with Germany, France and Britain designed to banish fears over Iran's nuclear plans. Iran has suspended all enrichment activities during the negotiations but has refused to mothball the program, which can be used to produce fuel for reactors or the core of nuclear warheads.
"Iran cannot be ignored," (we did it to Kimmee) said Kharrazi. Repeating that his country had no intentions of producing nuclear arms, he said that nonetheless, "Iran's rights cannot be denied."
Biden said he favored a commitment from the U.S. administration "that we are not interested in regime change" in Iran in exchange for concessions by Tehran that would banish suspicions about its nuclear programon its nuclear program.
He said that both liberal and conservative U.S. government politicians believed "that it is not in our interest ... for you to acquire nuclear capability for nuclear weapons and intermediate or long range missile technology."
Posted by: anonymous2u ||
01/29/2005 3:07:14 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
It's all there -- the ridiculous "reporting" (Iran's "alleged support of terrorists") and dim-bulb arrogant Biden silliness on parade.
Great strategy, Joe -- guarantee your enemy's safety as a first step in making a hard bargain. And what "concessions" could possibly "banish suspicions" of Iran's nuke ambitions? If you're a brain-dead techno-centric arms-control theocrat like Biden, of course, then a mish-mash of inspections and technical changes are enough. If you understand how humans, economies, technologies, and intelligence systems work, however, you know that regime change is the only solution in cases like Iraq, Iran, and N. Korea.
#2
Joe Biden is smart enough, centrist enough and, old enough to know politics end at the coastline. He is telling them what is up, get with the program, or else "shit happens."
On top of that he knows anything the Whitehouse does. He doesn't get the mushroom treatment like some on his committee do. He can be dead serious with these black turbans. He also is usually no fool and the black turbans know that.
#3
Biden said he favored a commitment from the U.S. administration "that we are not interested in regime change in Iran in exchange for concessions "by Tehran that would banish suspicions about its nuclear programing.
This is just political pandering. Did ya listen to GW's speech, Joe? Funny how you are saying just the opposite of what Georgie did.
I think this is political suicide for the Dem's. Their followers at least still delude themselves they aren't backing despots at the expense of human rights.
Despite all the hoopla surrounding it, what GW really said, very clearly, was that we are going to discontinue the policy of rewarding despots in exchange for favors.
Now "tough talking" Joe talks the "tough talk" of rewards for favors - the exact opposite. He's just staking his own political stance. No senior politician, such as Biden, has such a public exchange as this without intending to for it to be publicized for all to see.
#4
Joe Blow Hard Biden in a clash? Looks like a classic wet noodle duel.
Precisely, what did Joe Blow accomplish other than headlines grabbing?
Joe's threat: Don't make us come over there and give you what you want.
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/29/2005 9:15 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Slow Joe Biden's looking toward '08 when he figures the plagiarized bio speech (Neil Kinnock's) will be forgotten
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/29/2005 11:11 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Good one, Frank. When I read sock's comment about "Biden is smart enough" that's what immediately came to mind..."say it ain't so, joe!" And then there's the hair plugs rumour, too. The mullahs must be silently cracking up every time he speaks. Don't tell me they don't read gossip on the internet like everyone else.
Lebanon's domestic divisions, including the 15-year civil war, were not caused by the inability of 19 sects to coexist but by regional interference, said former army commander General Michel Aoun Friday. Aoun said that although Lebanon had a pluralistic society, the country could have avoided a civil war in 1975, if it weren't for the Arab, particularly the Palestinian and Syrian interferences in domestic affairs. "In fact, the Lebanese war was transformed in 1975 to a Lebanese-Palestinian war, in 1976 to a Lebanese-Syrian war in Beirut, in 1978 and 1982 an Israeli-Palestinian war in the South to end into a Lebanese-Syrian war in 1989 and 1990," Aoun said.
As for the Lebanese struggle, which he said occurred in phases, it was always tutored and encouraged by the outside. Aoun played a significant role during the civil war. He was appointed interim prime minister by former President Amin Gemayel in 1988. But, his appointment was not recognized by the Muslim community.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2005 00:00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Yep, yep, yep. We all hear the cry of how the Israelis are screwing over the Paleos, but notice how quiet everyone one of those enablers are about the Paleos big part in the Lebanese Civil War. In the process of Freudian projection, the Paleos did everything they claim the Israelis do to them.
#2
If it weren't for Zionists, there would be oil under all Moslem countries! And it wouldn't be so hot and dry. And Moslem women would know their place. And the she-goats would be a lot sexier.
Congress has been pressing the U.S. intelligence community to investigate claims by an Iranian defector that Teheran planned to crash an airliner into a nuclear reactor in the United States. Several members of Congress were said to have been alarmed by the information and one has met with CIA senior officials to press for an investigation. So far, the CIA has refused to question the Iranian defector, a former senior official in the 1970s. Rep. Curt Weldon, vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, has met the unidentified defector several times in Paris over the last 22 months. Weldon said the defector has been accurate in predicting several important developments in the Iranian regime since February 2003. The developments were said to have included those in Iran's nuclear weapons programs and support for Al Qaida. The informant, dubbed Ali, was said to have been in contact with two dissidents in the inner circle of the Islamic republic. They were said to have reported a secret government directive by Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei who presided over the nation's strategic weapons programs and financed and controlled groups deemed terrorists.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2005 00:00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[14 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I'm speechless
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/29/2005 0:38 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I've heard about this guy, or someone like him.
Since they don't listen, he's getting the word out any way he can.
#3
YES OF COURSE NOW WE ARE GOING TO READ A LOT ABOUT IRAN SO THAT THE USA-ISRAEL PLANNED OFFENSIVE ATTACKS ARE JUSTIFIED LIKE WE USED TO READ AND HEAR ABOUT IRAQ AND ITS THREATENING WEAPONS.
#5
WE ARE GOING TO READ A LOT ABOUT IRAN SO THAT THE USA-ISRAEL PLANNED OFFENSIVE ATTACKS ARE JUSTIFIED
Reading is one of the ways that we learn, Melika. It's good to read. It's even better to read something other than anti-American and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, as peddled by Le Monde and Liberation. But perhaps you have read somewhere that Iran's nuclear programme is a peaceful project? You shouldn't believe everything you read. The people who write such things are bad. They think you are stupid.
#6
But perhaps you have read somewhere that Iran's nuclear programme is a peaceful project? You shouldn't believe everything you read. The people who write such things are bad. They think you are stupid.
Could you tell me so Intelligent Bulldog what about the Israel nuclear programme- maybe you could indicate to me an intelligent source of learning-it should be of course in conformity of what the USA-ISRAEL want the world to know in spite of the eyes piercing realities- that Noble and Intelligent people could not deny Muslims are being attacked in every corner of the World-either verbally or physically- and always a good reason is found to justify the deeds - in fact they represent a potential enemy of Israel but Israel forgets it own history: Pharaon has slaughtered the Sons of Israel because of a premonitory dream that one of them will be the cause of his ruin- but as you know his dream was realised in spite of his precautions and thanks to his own care(he brought up Moses )
#8
Your noble and intelligent people are anti-Semites and liars, Melika.
Israel does not spout genocidal rhetoric like Iran and has never threatened to wage unprovoked and preemptive unilateral nuclear war on its neighbours. Iran's catchphrase "Death to America" and its constant threats against Israel, the US and the West in general do not lead genuinely noble and intelligent people to believe that nuclear weapons would be safe in the hand of such irresponsible, aggressive and ignorantly superstitious sociopaths as the Iranian mullahs. Iran currently is a barbaric terrorist state. As such it cannot be allowed to possess nuclear weapons.
Muslims are being attacked in every corner of the World
A total inversion of reality, moron. Tell me who was raping and murdering school children at Beslan. Tell me who cut the throats of innocent passengers and crew on the flights on 9/11 before using the aircraft to kill thousands more. Tell me who shoots Sudanese villagers from horseback in Darfur. Tell me who murders the critics of Islam, now, on the streets of Europe. Your Islam is despised and regarded as a bloody death cult by increasing numbers of people around the world. It turns its adherents into unthinking slaves and spreads itself through violence - which is why the majority of the world's terrorist organisations are commiting murder in the name of your Allah. It is neither intelligent nor noble to support or believe unquestioningly in a metamorphosed moon god and be part of a community responsible for so much human misery.
#9
Melika? Tool of the tyrants and anti-Jooooo. Thanks for your advice. I prefer self-preservation. FOAD
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/29/2005 10:32 Comments ||
Top||
#10
Melika is a city in Algeria. Nuff said.
Posted by: Tom ||
01/29/2005 10:53 Comments ||
Top||
#11
Melika honestly, you can't equate the Biblical benevolence of an Epyptian Pharoah to the modern political siuation. Israel has been attacked 3 times since 1948. Two of those times it was almost history for them. Nixon dismantled half the armor we had in Germany to prevent a Soviet invasion and sent it to Jooos while they hung on by their toenails. Muslims hate Jews and they long for the days of the gas chambers when Lutherans did their dirty work for them. I srael's denial of a nuclear program is laughable and the internment of Vananu is even more ridiculous. But look at it from this persepective - the nukes have not been a reason for Israel to try to destabilize the region, invade it's neighbors and set up Zionist Empires. They have been an effective deterrent so they can live their lives in Peace. Iran can't wait to get nukes so they can pound Israel to dust. Khomeini will take the counterstrike from Israel because he encourages his people to maytrdom anyhow. Let's get it right here - the Muslims are the bad guys and we are the good guys. It's clear cut, I don't understand this sympathy for people trying to kill us. Was Hitler not the enemy? How about Stalin or Mao - these people have an ideology which wants all those that don't toe the mark to be killed or converted. There is no free thought only their way or a ditch. Stop applying the freedoms that so many good Americans died to give us to people in the world that will use your freedom of thought against you. Nukes in the hands of mad men - they make movies about this stuff.
#14
that Noble and Intelligent people could not deny Muslims are being attacked in every corner of the World-either verbally or physically-
Ahhh, yes, they felt threatened on 9/11 because some were glared at.
We're Americans, you have any idea how tough it is to be one? Glared at is the least of our problems. It should be so easy.
And if they're so noble and intelligent, then they should have learned by now not to kill or threaten to kill US AND they should be turning them in to the authorities.
But....they're not so noble or intelligent yet.
It's easy, they stop attacking US, we stop attacking them.
A child understands consequences if corrected enough, yet they still don't get it.
#15
Melika...you would do well to take Bulldog's message to heart. Islam has lined up against the entire world and is headed for the Mother of All Smackdownsâ¢.
Also...do not fear the Lizard People. They do not dislike Moose-limbs. On the contrary - they consider them......savory.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
01/29/2005 11:38 Comments ||
Top||
#16
Rex-
That's 'sssssssssssssssssavory...."
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/29/2005 19:22 Comments ||
Top||
#17
There are two factors at work in many cultures: one is Islam, the other is Arab tribalism. Together they have, in many places, left people with both inflated pride and dangerously poor skills for coping in the modern world.
The result is an attitude like Melika's - that Muslims are being attacked around the world.
I haven't heard Melika write about the genocide by Muslims against black Christians and animists in the Sudan. I haven't heard Melika acknowledge that in the US Muslims are free to worship as they choose -- but that in most Muslim countries, Christians are either forbidden to worship openly or physically attacked and often killed.
Bulldog is right, Melika -- much as it may hurt your pride desperately to admit it. I've been in the Middle East and I've dealt with Arab men. They are dangerously out of touch, in many cases, with reality. Their demands that they be respected without EARNING that respect work at home, and perhaps in places like Holland -- but it won't work here. We fight back.
#18
I'm also speechless. Because of the dumbass story.... must have been 'planted' in the media. Wow! iran nuking the US. What a laugh. Another media spin. Like the weapons of mass destruction. Oh yeah, it was announced that the US had called off a search of them. Imagine!....
French President Jacques Chirac, who received on Friday Maronite Cardinal Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, reiterated France's attachment to the full implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1559. "Chirac reiterated France's attachment to the full implementation of this resolution ... Therefore the upcoming Lebanese parliamentary elections are a crucial step that will be closely watched by the international community," said Jerome Bonnafont, the Elysee's spokesman. The private meeting between Chirac and Sfeir, who also met with Pope John-Paul II earlier this week, was followed by a luncheon and took place at the Elysee Palace in Paris. The reunion mainly focused on "the relationship between France and Lebanon, the Lebanese internal situation, the position of Christians in the Middle East and the means to respond to the demands of the International community expressed by the 1559 Resolution," said Bonnafont.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2005 00:00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the proposed sale of surface-to-air missiles to Syria was still under discussion despite U.S. and Israeli opposition, in an interview published here Friday. Putin told the English language Jerusalem Post that Russia would never upset the Middle East's regional balance but said any sale of the controversial anti-aircraft missiles could be allowed for "defensive purposes." "While we're talking about supplies of weapons to countries in the region, such a supply should be understood in the light of supporting defensive capacities, as in Syria," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2005 00:00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
Syria was said to have deducted a portion of the salaries of its government workers to help the Palestinian war against Israel. Western diplomatic sources said the initiative was launched by regional authorities in Syria to deduct the salaries of public sector employees and divert the money to Palestinian insurgency groups based in Damascus. The sources said at least one region has begun such an effort. In the northern province of Aleppo, authorities ordered the deduction of 50 Syrian pounds, or $1, from the monthly salary of each government employee. The practice began in December 2004 and involved several thousand employees. The Levant News Service said the proceeds from the deductions were pooled in a lottery offer. The first prize was a German luxury car. The rest of the money would be sent to Palestinian insurgents in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2005 00:00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
Israel accused the Iranian government of supporting Hizbullah and supplying it with a new arsenal of long-range surface-to-surface missiles capable of reaching Tel Aviv and its surroundings. Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told reporters in London during an official visit to Britain that the missiles are shipped or flown by cargo via Damascus on a monthly basis. Mofaz said Israel was under "serious threat" because Tel Aviv and its surroundings were within the range of those missiles if they are fired from the Bekaa or the South. He accused Syria of continuing to support terrorism and of being deeply involved in terrorist operations against U.S. and coalition troops in Iraq. "The leaders of Palestinian terrorist organizations are still in Damascus, and the Syrians do not allow the Lebanese government to send its army to its Hizbullah controlled southern border" said Mofaz. The claims were seen in the Beirut press as part of Israel's ongoing campaign to convince the U.S. that Hizbullah constitutes a threat to Mideast peace.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2005 00:00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Yes exactly like Israel convinced USA of the presence of Mass Destructive Weapons in IRAQ Stop this comedy please -All of us know that all these accusations are in the framework of the USA preparation of its coming war against IRAN that enters itself in the large plan of the Christian Sionists- the religious Sect in which Bush is member - to massacre all Muslims and bring them to a slavery states -After usurpation of their wealth -and Americans wonder why the USA is such hated in the world.
#3
...and Americans wonder why the USA is such hated in the world.
And I'm wondering where in the world raving lunatics are given access the internet. We know they are in Western Australia (thanks, Antigum) - now France? Wow. Those craaaazy French.
#4
It was actually Mubarak from Egypt and Hussien from Jordan that finally convinced the President that Saddam had these weapons and would use them. Israel didn't have very much at all to do with it.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/29/2005 8:32 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Melika,I believe it is the Koran that demands death or Dhimmitude to all the Non-Muslim"People of the Book".Just death for the rest.How do you reconcile this Fact with your accusation about America?Are you saying that The people of America have no right to defend themselves from a life of servitude and death?
#6
Raptor you know very well that such a thing does not exist in the Quran that your only purpose is to traumatize the Americans and frighten them about the Muslim threat-we have lived for centuries with you Jewish People in North Africa-in Andalousia-in the middle east and without mentioning the Othoman Empire that saved the Safardi Jews by sending special ships to take them to the Muslim Empire where they had the possibility to leave in peace and KEEP THEIR RELIGION a thing that was not allowed in the Spain of Ferdinand
#7
Where is this andalusia that you speak of? Is it a muslim fantasy like palestine?
Posted by: Its all about ME ||
01/29/2005 10:38 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Melika lies to cover the atrocities, lies and sick sins (8yr old wives) in the Qoran. Andalusia, huh? Well at least you've advanced slightly from the 7th century.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/29/2005 10:44 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Raptor you know very well that such a thing does not exist in the Quran
You are LYING, LYING, LYING!!!
9:29, Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/29/2005 10:55 Comments ||
Top||
Posted by: Tom ||
01/29/2005 19:01 Comments ||
Top||
#12
8:12 When your Lord revealed to the angels: I am with you, therefore make firm those who believe. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them.
8:39 And fight with them until there is no more persecution and religion should be only for Allah; but if they desist, then surely Allah sees what they do.
9:5 So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate [jizya], leave their way free to them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
9.38 If you do not go forth [to go on Jihad], He will chastise you with a painful chastisement and bring in your place a people other than you [to go on Jihad], and you will do Him no harm; and Allah has power over all things.
There are so many more verses in the Koran and Fred's bandwidth bill is high.
Posted by: ed ||
01/29/2005 19:10 Comments ||
Top||
Former ISI chief, Lt Gen Hameed Gul has said that US is on the way to launch military offensive against Pakistan ahead of attack on Iran... Hamid Gul warned that USA was paving way to launch military strike against Pakistan. The incidents taking place in Gilgit and Sui are linked to this possible attack. We are fearful that attempts will be made to deteriorate situation in Karachi and other parts of the country", he remarked. He regretted that Pakistan was extending hand of friendship to India by sidelining Kashmiris. Cold war like situation prevails here and it is the democratic institutions rather than strategic institutions, which fight such wars. "Our defence line has come under threat due to arbitrary decisions of single man", he alleged.
A clash like situation has emerged between the people and the rulers, he added. There is need that nation is united and dynamic to face the challenges. "We should not be fearful of US and India", he observed. Lt Gen Faiz Ali Chisti said that Pakistan and India have not an identical culture. "Our God is one and their gods are thousands in number", he added. Pakistan had come into being on two nation theory, he remarked. He blamed that the single man had done away with judicial rule and given the berths to thieves in cabinet. He went on to say that the sitting parliament and assemblies are product of rigging. PML-Q, Patriots and PML have come into existence overnight and they should be held accountable, he demanded. He held that survival of Pakistan lies in attaining Kashmir. Future wars will be fought on water issue, he cautioned. Admiral (Retd), Iftikhar Ahmad Sarohi reiterated Kashmir is jugular vein of Pakistan. Therefore, Kashmiris should be associated with dialogue process taking into consideration their ideology and philosophy, he added. Renowned journalist Majeed Nizami said that Pakistan and Kashmir are correlated. India is our foe and will always remain so, he warned. General Pervez Musharraf should return to their real job, he added. It is probably a good idea he is no longer in charge of the ISI. This sounds like a collective of fruit bats.
Updates with BBC apology, shortens)
LONDON, Jan 29 (Reuters) - The BBC apologised on Saturday for erroneously reporting that U.S.-led and Iraqi forces may be responsible for the deaths of 60 percent of Iraqi civilians killed in conflict over the last six months.
The British broadcaster said on Friday in broadcasts and a news statement that its Panorama investigative show would air a report on Sunday citing "confidential" records from Iraq's health ministry to support the contention.
Iraq's health minister said the BBC misinterpreted the statistics it had received and had ignored statements from the ministry clarifying the figures.
"Today, the Iraqi Ministry of Health has issued a statement clarifying matters that were the subject of several conversations with the BBC before the report was published, and denying that this conclusion can be drawn from the figures relating to 'military operations'," the BBC said in a news statement on Saturday.
"The BBC regrets mistakes in its published and broadcast reports yesterday."
A BBC spokesman said the statistics would not feature in the Panorama show on Sunday.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/29/2005 18:48 Comments ||
Top||
#2
The BBC accomplished what it wanted. Now the 60% figure will be quoted ad infinitum, especially in muslim countries. It's the same as that bogus 100,000 Iraqi dead figure published in the Lancet. The Soviets and Germans understood the value outrageous propaganda. It seems our friends in the BBC have been attentive students.
Posted by: ed ||
01/29/2005 19:20 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Iraq's health minister said the BBC misinterpreted the statistics it had received and had ignored statements from the ministry clarifying the figures.
Looks as though Mary Mapes has already found new employment.
#4
How many heads need to roll at the BBC before they learn their f***ing lesson? I'm guessing John Simpson himself was responsible for this particular balls-up.
#10
That 60% figure was quoted by Air America about 15 minutes ago. The lefties are beside themselves, seems they say the U.S. doesn't have a democracy and neither should Iraq.
#11
They are still staying with the totally discredited 100,000 death figure too. I have had several of the numbskulls refuse to budge off that figure even after being shown it's wrong.
Posted by: SPOD ||
01/29/2005 22:41 Comments ||
Top||
#12
They know EXACTLY what they're doing. They, (bbc and the msm as a whole), vomit these lies that they know damn good and well are lies. Then, they retract it, saying; "Oops, we're terrible sorry." They know there are no penalties that go along with their deliberately LYING to the people. They know the information is a lie when they publish it....and they do it anyway. BECAUSE THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH IT!
When does "freedom of the press" become sedition?
Posted by: Tom Dooley ||
01/29/2005 23:20 Comments ||
Top||
Source: Washington Institute
l
The limited scope of insurgent activity in Mosul during 2003 can be traced directly to the active counterinsurgency and community policing program undertaken by the 20,000-strong U.S. 101st Airborne Division and its capable local partners. The size of the U.S. force in Nineveh province enabled not only denser civil affairs, patrolling, and rapid reaction coverage, but also greater capacity to mentor Iraqi security forces and dispense Commander's Emergency Reconstruction Program (CERP) funding. This latter and much overlooked aspect of the MNF presence had made the 101st Airborne the largest single employer in northern Iraq and a recognized force for good in the community. Beginning in January 2004, however, the force was drawn down to the 8,700-strong Task Force Olympia (built around a Stryker Brigade Combat Team), with a commensurate loss of security, mentoring, and CERP capacity.
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/29/2005 4:11:54 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
a US senior officer who has an intimate knowledge of Mosul said the US forces had long before realised that the local recruits were unreliable but had been unable to replace them with Kurds because of objections by local leaders who were loath to upset the delicate ethnic balance in the town, which is partly Arab and partly Kurdish.
The fiasco in November was enough to cancel out the political objections to the Kurdish militia presence, and now Kurds control all the important security positions in Mosul. - Link
Hope the Sunnis enjoy their new status as part of the Kurdish autonomous region.
The number of suicides by soldiers serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom dropped last year by at least half -- a decline that helped lower significantly the Army's overall suicide rate. Nine soldiers' deaths in Iraq in 2004 have been ruled suicides, compared with 24 in 2003, the Army told United Press International. Three other deaths in 2004 are being investigated as possible suicides.
Suicide rates are expressed as the number of suicides per 100,000 individuals per year. By that measure, the Army suicide rate in Iraq dropped from 18 per 100,000 in 2003 to 7.9 in 2004. For the Army as a whole, the number of suicides fell from 77 in 2003 to 58 in 2004, dropping the suicide rate from 12.8 per 100,000 in 2003 to 9.5 in 2004.
A cluster of suicides by U.S. troops in Iraq in the summer of 2003 alarmed military commanders in Iraq. In response, the Pentagon sent a team from the Army surgeon general's office to investigate and recommend improvements in mental healthcare.
Asked why the suicide rate fell so much, spokeswoman Martha Rudd said: "It's really not possible to tell. We think some of the efforts we've made over there are paying off, but also that the news coverage of the issue last year really elevated the level of attention paid to this." She said the military's efforts included putting mental-health workers closer to troops, training soldiers to spot those at risk for suicide and installing a countrywide coordinator to deal with combat stress.
Others point to a different possibility. Last year the Army largely quit using an anti-malaria drug called Lariam in Iraq that has been linked to depression, hallucinations, psychosis and rare reports of suicide. It was widely prescribed in Iraq in 2003.
Eleven of the 24 confirmed suicides in Iraq in 2003 were by soldiers in units where the drug, known generically as mefloquine, was prescribed to at least some soldiers. Only one soldier tested positive for the drug at autopsy, the Army said.
The number of soldiers who have taken Lariam in Iraq is unclear, but the U.S. military dispensed about 45,000 prescriptions worldwide in the year that ended in October 2003.
Since 2002 the Food and Drug Administration has strengthened the drug's official product label to warn about suicide reports and added a statement that mental problems have been reported to last "long after" someone stops taking it. The FDA also mandated that anyone prescribed the drug be told in writing about the risks -- one of fewer than 20 drugs for which a written warning is required.
The Pentagon announced last February that it is investigating whether there is a link between the drug and any soldier suicides. But it defends Lariam as both highly effective and safe for soldiers to take. In September the Army said in a statement, "We have no data that indicate that Lariam was a factor in any Army suicides in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan)."
Instead, the Army said, the deaths were linked to "failed personal relationships, financial crises, legal difficulties and mental problems like depression and psychosis" -- the same factors that trigger suicide in the general public, magnified by ready access to guns.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/29/2005 1:50:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
A 51-year-old Marine veteran is returning to the military to serve along with his son in Iraq and fulfill a personal dream of serving overseas, he said on Friday.
Jim Flaherty put in 24 years in the Marines, retiring in January, 2001. He got an e-mail last December from a military contact in Iraq inviting him to sign up for a 12-month tour working on the rebuilding of Falluja.
Flaherty, married for the second time with 18-month-old twins, had doubts about whether to go, but figured this was a last chance to satisfy a dream to serve overseas. "I'm thinking, 'What am I? Nuts, when I've got two little kids?"' he said in an interview.
His stint with the Marines is expected to start in February or March.
In Iraq, Flaherty will join his son, James, a sergeant in the Marines who has been on active duty for about eight months. He may also be joined there by his daughter, Shannon, also a Marine, who expects to be deployed in April.
Flaherty's desire to serve overseas was almost fulfilled with a posting during the first Gulf War, but he missed out when Operation Desert Storm ended in 1991.
Flaherty said he did not think the request for him to return to active service at age 51 reflected any problems the military might have in finding enough people to go to Iraq. U.S. troop numbers were raised to 150,000 last month to strengthen security ahead of this Sunday's elections.
Flaherty, currently director of facilities for Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania, played down the danger of his mission, pointing out that he will be working on construction projects rather than being in combat. "Have you ever walked through North Philadelphia or Camden (New Jersey) at night?" asked Flaherty, referring to Camden's status as the murder capital of the United States. "It's not going to be any worse than that."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/29/2005 2:11:21 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"Have you ever walked through North Philadelphia or Camden (New Jersey) at night?" asked Flaherty, referring to Camdenâs status as the murder capital of the United States. "Itâs not going to be any worse than that."
This man's got it in perspective (unlike the worthless MSM).
I admire him just because at 51 he's still physically fit enough to be in the Marines.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/29/2005 13:16 Comments ||
Top||
Newly appointed US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel to Israel in the Palestinian areas in early February to assess prospects for assisting Israel with its disengagement plan from Gaza and helping the Palestinian Authority reform. Her first trip abroad in her new post is slated to take place February 3-10 and include stops in Europe, Turkey, Israel and the Palestinian areas. Rice will then travel March 1 to London to take part in a conference on Palestinian institution building.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2005 00:00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Oh boy, it must be the inagural blame America tour.
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/29/2005 0:31 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Whatever ! Don't offer Ham Sandwiches as an token of Peace ! Just bring the money ! We'll have Kosher Pickles Factory for peace soon in USA , Baby ! Cars from Palestine ! Wine from EUROPE , cheap ! Turkey gives us the Fez ! Party Time , AMERICA ! Goose Dinner With Chips , from Queenie !
Ehud Olmert, Israeli deputy prime minister and trade minister, said yesterday he was prepared to turn the Erez industrial park, which straddles the boundary between Israel and the Gaza Strip, into an autonomous Palestinian industrial area. "We are ready to immediately engage in making a deal with the Palestinians about the Erez industrial park in Gaza, which may become the basis for an independent industry in Gaza, of the Palestinians and for the Palestinians," Olmert told the World Economic Forum taking place in this ski resort. "In my capacity as minister of trade and industry, I'm ready to immediately engage in a series of contacts in order to work together with my counterparts on the Palestinian side," he said.
In Israel, the army chief of staff said yesterday that the park, which lies on a strip of land between Israel and Gaza, would be reopened next week and that workers would be able to resume their jobs. Erez is officially open but not active because thousands of Palestinian workers have been barred from entering since a suicide attack at the beginning of the year. Israeli owners of businesses there are able to enter, however, as are Palestinian owners aged over 30.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2005 00:00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Any bets there'll be a preponderance of 'metal-working shops' in a few months?
In another step toward a truce with the Palestinians, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz is slated to meet with former PA security minister and senior Fatah leader Muhammad Dahlan on Saturday evening to discuss the Palestinian Authority's request for security control over certain West Bank towns. The defense establishment has already expressed its inclination to consent to such applications, yet has stressed that the process would be gradual and would depend of the maintenance of quiet in the areas, Army Radio reported.
In a major policy reversal after more than four years of fighting, IDF Chief of General Staff Moshe Ya'alon ordered the army on Friday to reduce offensive operations in the Gaza Strip to a minimum in order to enable PA forces to carry out their mission. According to an Israel Radio report, the IDF will halt all offensive missions in areas where Palestinian policemen have deployed to prevent the launchings of Kassam rockets and mortar shells at southern Israel and Gaza settlements.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2005 00:00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Hope For The Best ! Get help from The UN , too ! HELLO , WORLD ! Let's Give Peace A Chance !
The new chief of the ruling Fatah movement has sought an alliance with Hamas in an effort to pressure the new Palestinian leadership. A report by an Israeli think tank asserted that Fatah chief Farouk Khaddoumi has been preparing to establish an alliance against the Palestinian Authority. The report said the alliance would include Hamas and Islamic Jihad. "Arafat's Tunis-based, hardline successor as Fatah leader, is striving to form a new center of influence with the cooperation of radical Palestinian factions -- including the Hamas and Islamic Jihad leadership abroad -- in order to serve as a watchdog on the elected leadership," the report by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs said. The center, in a report authored by [Res.] Lt. Col. Jonathan Halevi, said Khaddoumi represents a challenge to the new Palestinian leadership in the aftermath of the death of PA Chairman Yasser Arafat. That leadership has been composed of PLO and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2005 00:00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I'm beginning to believe that the best thing to happen would be for the Paleos to battle it out between themselves. Once done, whenever that is, the situation can then be evaluated as to the best way to proceed.
Libya is expected to unveil a vast reform program aimed at making a rigidly-controlled economy more market-friendly and open to privatization, Libyan officials said in an interview appearing Friday in the International Herald Tribune. "The old times are finished and Libya is ready to move onto a new stage of modernization," Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, son of Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi, told the paper.
Seif is Muammar's smarter son...
"This will be conducted in a well organized manner that ensures new ownership and ownership by the people of Libya, not just a small class of oligarchs like Russia or Egypt." The paper said that Western advisers, including university academics, business executives and economist Daniel Yergen, had been working with Libyan authorities who hoped to implement the reforms over the next two years. "These people are world experts," Gadhafi said. "There may be some reaction against them inside Libya, but they are the best." Added Abdulhafid Mahmoud Zlitni, chairman of Libya's National Planning Council: "They will study the structure of the civil service and find ways to streamline bureaucracy and reduce the number of employees."
Muammar's been working up to this for awhile, probably at Seif's urging. He has no idea how to go about it, of course, since he doesn't really have the concept of free markets down, nor, probably has he made the connection between a free economy and personal freedom. I imagine the initial results are going to look pretty bizarre, but I wish them luck.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2005 00:00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Maybe my eyes are going but doesn't Mama's topmost left ribbon look like a Presidential Unit Citation (with one device)? I suppose that rates higher than the "Jesus, Bush means business and will crush me like a bug" ribbon. Heh
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2005 00:00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Militia, armed by the government, are blamed for killings, rape and pillaging in Darfur. Some 1.8 million villagers have been left homeless, 70,000 are estimated to have died. Rebels, fighting for power and resources, have looted relief trucks and attacked Sudanese officials.
Sudanese officials prevented African Union monitors from investigating reports Khartoum had bombed villages in Darfur this week in violation of a cease-fire to deal with rebels, an African Union source said yesterday.
Comes as a surprise, huh?
Sources in Sudan's aid community said on Thursday the government had bombed Al-Malam on the border between North and South Darfur, where the government says rebels killed dozens of people this week. The rebels deny the charges. "AU observers in Darfur were denied access to investigate the death and damage caused by aerial bombings," the African Union source told Reuters at the organization's headquarters in Addis Ababa. The source said there was also a report from AU observers in Darfur that they had heard of bombing in the El-Fasher and Nyala areas this week and that violence in Darfur seemed to be intensifying.
Well, sure. All those black guys aren't dead yet...
"The Darfur situation is getting very serious. All AU reports indicate that the situation in Darfur has been worsening since the beginning of January," he said. The Sudanese government says that although the cease-fire signed last April bans bombing it does not prohibit the government from sending its planes on reconnaissance missions over Darfur.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2005 00:00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
Sudan's air force killed or wounded about 100 people and forced thousands to flee when it bombed a town in western Sudan this week, the UN has said. UN spokeswoman Radhia Achouri quoted the African Union (AU) as saying Sudanese forces had bombed the Darfur town of Shangil Tobaya on Wednesday. "(The AU) said there are around 100 casualties. They are not talking about a specific death toll," she told Reuters in Cairo by telephone. The fighting had forced the UN to withdraw staff from the area, she said. "Whenever we have incidents like that we withdraw our people," she said. The AU is monitoring a shaky ceasefire signed in April between Sudanese government and rebels in the Darfur province.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2005 00:00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
A police surgeon in Karachi has confirmed in her medical report that Dr Shazia Khalid was raped, according to the BBC Urdu Service. The police surgeon has written to the Sindh health secretary that Dr Khalid was raped at a hospital in Sui, according to BBC. The medical report identified eight wounds to Dr Shazia's body. Nasirabad district police chief Ghulam Muhammad Dogar brought the lady doctor to Civil Hospital, Karachi, saying she was sexually abused on January 13. Medical Officer Rohina Hassan admitted Dr Shazia to the hospital and examined her, according to BBC.
Online adds: Three senior Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) officials have been arrested in Sibi in connection with the gang rape of Dr Shazia, police said on Friday. Naseerabad Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Ghulam Mehmood said the three officials — a Sui gas field manager, a chief medical officer and his deputy — were apprehended and presented before the Sibi sessions court on Friday morning for confirmation of interim bail. However, they were denied bail and arrested, he added. The three accused were named in the FIR registered by the female doctor, the DSP added. He said further investigations were being made. He also said the female doctor was currently in Karachi and under the government's protection.
That's because the jirga suggested she should be killed to avenge the honor of... ummm... somebody or other. It's the Pashtun thing to do. Meanwhile, the newlywed military officer who was originally named as the rapist would seem to be off the hook, which is a good thing for his feet.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2005 00:00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
To be fair, the lady doctor and the tribe that threatened to murder her are ethnic Sindhis. Moderate religous wise, unfortunately they are just as afflicted by tribalism and feudalism.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
01/29/2005 0:20 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Yeah , it's interesting ! Trial By Fire ! You walk on hot coals and blister wounds on feet ascertain the guilt compounded ! Well , what other Customs one think of this time ?! Joan Collins standing barefoot at Heathrow with 5 inches of barefeet ! Now , that is an oucher, if you're a poster child, for Barefoot Maniacs ! We hope justice is served on those there !! Not the Joan Caper ! Nice interesting toenails , Joan !!!
#4
Afaik the Pashtun thing to involves killing the raper. The beginning of the carreer of Mullah Omar involved rescuing two girls who had been kidnapped by a local warlord, hanging the bastard and bringing the girls to their families.
In most other parts of Muslim world they don't seem to have similar commitment to punishing rapers, only for killing the raped girls.
#5
The story is that Mullah Omar hanged a local warlord who had raped some boys, not girls.
If the warlord had raped some girls, then Mullah Omar would have hanged the girls, not the warlord.
Such is the will of Allan, as revealed to Muhammad (PBUH) by the Angel Gabriel.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
01/29/2005 8:56 Comments ||
Top||
#6
I wouldn't swear that the girls weren't killed later by their families (like it would hgave happenned in Turkey) but they were girls not boys and in an unrelated case I can certify first hand that when they heard about a girl having beeen sentenced to be raped by a tribal tribunal in some part of Pakistan the reaction in a Pahstun internet forum was of uninamous repulsion: there were Afghans and Pakistani pashtuns, some were pro-taliban, some were for Pashtun law (those who say: we need no stinking sharia: this is Arab) and some were pro-democracy. Everyone was appalled
and I doubt anyone of them would have spared the perpetrators lives.
Protestors were carrying placards and banners inscribed with slogans Go Musharraf Go, establish the rule of law, restore religion column in passport, stop "army operation" in the NWFP and Balochistan, etc. Prof Ghafoor Ahmed, deputy chief of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), accused President Musharraf of establishing one-man rule in the country, saying it had harmed vital national institutions.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2005 00:00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Don't these people know how to make fists? Leaving the thumb sticking up like that is almost as ideal as tucking it under the fingers if you want it to be broken the first time you try to punch. (I just knew all those white belts would come in handy some day!)
#3
accused President Musharraf of establishing one-man rule in the country
Really? You must be kidding, no way, not the mush. He's so sweet looking everytime he speaks in his little military costume.
A six-member tribal clerics' jirga on Friday returned after meeting militant Baitullah Mehsud, but gave no details of daylong talks for the surrender of Abdullah Mehsud. A tribal source in Tank told Daily Times by phone that the tribal clerics had returned after the talks and held a closed-door meeting with South Waziristan Agency chief administrator Asmatullah Khan Gandapur. "The clerics are tight-lipped about their negotiations with the two militants," said the source who asked not to be named. "Secrecy is being kept about the talks."
The sources said the jirga accompanied by a 21-member peace committee was likely to hold another round of talks with the militants. Brig (r) Qayyum Sher, member of the committee, told Daily Times by phone from Dera Ismail Khan that Baitullah had asked the clerics to bring the committee members along because he wanted to resume talks with them. Baitullah told the clerics that he could not talk to them alone and demanded members of the peace committee representing various Mehsud tribes be part of the talks, the source said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2005 00:00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
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.
A BOMB blast killed at least four people, including a former finance minister, yesterday at an opposition rally in northeastern Bangladesh, police and witnesses said. The bomb exploded at a rally of the main opposition Awami League at Laskarpur, 250 km from the capital Dhaka. Around 50 others were wounded. A party spokesman said former finance minister Shah Abu Mohammad Shamsul Kibria, 70, was among the dead. Others who died in the blast included a nephew of Kibria and two party workers. After the blast, protesting Awami workers and supporters went on a rampage, attacking and damaging dozens of vehicles and shops, witnesses said. Authorities later deployed extra police and paramilitary troops at Laskarpur. Kibria who had been sitting on the dais at the rally when the bomb went off, died in a Dhaka hospital around midnight.
FORMER terrorist suspect 
Tony Blair yesterday risked a fresh row when he branded the policies of Jacques Chirac, the French president, as "dangerous" and "pathetic". In a sign of cross-Channel tensions after the Iraq war, the prime minister showed contempt for two key elements of Mr Chirac's presidency: his attempts to turn Europe into a centre of power rivalling Washington and his personal relations with George Bush. Weeks before the prime minister joins Mr Chirac in welcoming President Bush to Europe, Mr Blair told the Wall Street Journal: "I have spoken on many occasions [about] my disagreement with those who want to set up different poles of power in the world. I think this is very dangerous. "I think we are best to congregate around one pole of common values. Europe and America should be an integral part of that together. They should not have separate and competing poles of power." 
(2005-01-28) -- The U.S. occupation force in Iraq is placing unconstitutional restrictions on the free speech rights of Al Qaeda and former members of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath party, according to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-MA, who today introduced a resolution expressing "solidarity with our repressed brethren in the Iraq insurgency."
Muslim nations have the responsibility to correct the world's negative perception of Islam, Malaysian Prime Minister 
Senior Indonesian officials and separatist rebels have met to discuss reconstruction of the tsunami-devastated region of Aceh. Leaders of the 
Lebanon's domestic divisions, including the 15-year civil war, were not caused by the inability of 19 sects to coexist but by regional interference, said former army commander General 
Congress has been pressing the U.S. intelligence community to investigate claims by an Iranian defector that Teheran planned to crash an airliner into a nuclear reactor in the United States. Several members of Congress were said to have been alarmed by the information and one has met with CIA senior officials to press for an investigation. So far, the CIA has refused to question the Iranian defector, a former senior official in the 1970s. Rep. Curt Weldon, vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, has met the unidentified defector several times in Paris over the last 22 months. Weldon said the defector has been accurate in predicting several important developments in the Iranian regime since February 2003. The developments were said to have included those in Iran's nuclear weapons programs and support for Al Qaida. The informant, dubbed Ali, was said to have been in contact with two dissidents in the inner circle of the Islamic republic. They were said to have reported a secret government directive by Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei who presided over the nation's strategic weapons programs and financed and controlled groups deemed terrorists.
French President Jacques Chirac, who received on Friday Maronite Cardinal Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, reiterated France's attachment to the full implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1559. "Chirac reiterated France's attachment to the full implementation of this resolution ... Therefore the upcoming Lebanese parliamentary elections are a crucial step that will be closely watched by the international community," said Jerome Bonnafont, the Elysee's spokesman. The private meeting between Chirac and Sfeir, who also met with Pope John-Paul II earlier this week, was followed by a luncheon and took place at the Elysee Palace in Paris. The reunion mainly focused on "the relationship between France and Lebanon, the Lebanese internal situation, the position of Christians in the Middle East and the means to respond to the demands of the International community expressed by the 1559 Resolution," said Bonnafont.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the proposed sale of surface-to-air missiles to Syria was still under discussion despite U.S. and Israeli opposition, in an interview published here Friday. Putin told the English language Jerusalem Post that Russia would never upset the Middle East's regional balance but said any sale of the controversial anti-aircraft missiles could be allowed for "defensive purposes." "While we're talking about supplies of weapons to countries in the region, such a supply should be understood in the light of supporting defensive capacities, as in Syria," he said.
Syria was said to have deducted a portion of the salaries of its government workers to help the Palestinian war against Israel. Western diplomatic sources said the initiative was launched by regional authorities in Syria to deduct the salaries of public sector employees and divert the money to Palestinian insurgency groups based in Damascus. The sources said at least one region has begun such an effort. In the northern province of Aleppo, authorities ordered the deduction of 50 Syrian pounds, or $1, from the monthly salary of each government employee. The practice began in December 2004 and involved several thousand employees. The Levant News Service said the proceeds from the deductions were pooled in a lottery offer. The first prize was a German luxury car. The rest of the money would be sent to Palestinian insurgents in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Israel accused the Iranian government of supporting 
Former ISI chief, Lt Gen 
Newly appointed US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel to Israel in the Palestinian areas in early February to assess prospects for assisting Israel with its disengagement plan from Gaza and helping the Palestinian Authority reform. Her first trip abroad in her new post is slated to take place February 3-10 and include stops in Europe, Turkey, Israel and the Palestinian areas. Rice will then travel March 1 to London to take part in a conference on Palestinian institution building.
In another step toward a truce with the Palestinians, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz is slated to meet with former PA security minister and senior Fatah leader Muhammad Dahlan on Saturday evening to discuss the Palestinian Authority's request for security control over certain West Bank towns. The defense establishment has already expressed its inclination to consent to such applications, yet has stressed that the process would be gradual and would depend of the maintenance of quiet in the areas, Army Radio reported. 
A report by an Israeli think tank asserted that Fatah chief 
Libya is expected to unveil a vast reform program aimed at making a rigidly-controlled economy more market-friendly and open to privatization, Libyan officials said in an interview appearing Friday in the International Herald Tribune. "The old times are finished and Libya is ready to move onto a new stage of modernization," 
Sudanese officials prevented 
Sudan's air force killed or wounded about 100 people and forced thousands to flee when it bombed a town in western Sudan this week, the UN has said. UN spokeswoman Radhia Achouri quoted the African Union (AU) as saying Sudanese forces had bombed the Darfur town of Shangil Tobaya on Wednesday. "(The AU) said there are around 100 casualties. They are not talking about a specific death toll," she told Reuters in Cairo by telephone. The fighting had forced the UN to withdraw staff from the area, she said. "Whenever we have incidents like that we withdraw our people," she said. The AU is monitoring a shaky ceasefire signed in April between Sudanese government and rebels in the Darfur province.
The 
A six-member tribal clerics' jirga on Friday returned after meeting militant 
