RIYADH - Saudi Arabia's ailing King Fahd may soon leave the hospital where he has been for two and a half weeks, Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said on Saturday.
Hearse entrance is around back.
"Medical reports show that the health of King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz is reassuring. He is as stable as he's been these last few years fine," Prince Saud told a press conference. "The doctors who are treating him are the ones to decide the date of his discharge from hospital, and their reports indicate that he will leave soon," he said. Officials in Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporting country, have repeatedly made positive statements about the health of the monarch since he was admitted to King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh on May 27. But they have not released medical reports about his condition.
I'll settle for the autopsy.
A medical source told AFP three days after Fahd was hospitalized that the king, who is believed to be 84, was recovering from pneumonia. Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz said the next day that Fahd was recovering from an infection and would leave hospital soon.
"As soon as we gas up the, um...limo."
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/19/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Bed ridden comatose octogenarians don't, as a rule, recover well from pnumonia. Dead as a doornail inside a month.
DOUGLAS Wood said this morning it was "bloody good" to be home after arriving in Melbourne to be reunited with his family after spending 47 days in captivity as a hostage in Iraq. The engineer said he had some physical ailments after the ordeal but was not feeling "especially" fragile. He said it was tough readjusting after his hostage ordeal "but we'll get there". He avoided speaking in detail about his time in captivity during a news conference which he entered humming "Waltzing Matilda". Mr Wood said he apologised to Prime Minister John Howard and US President George W. Bush for the comments he made on a tape as a hostage in which he called for the withdrawal of coalition troops from Iraq. He said he was "proof positive" that the policy of having US troops training Iraqi was successful, as he was rescued by the newly-trained troops.
Mr Wood called his captors "a... holes" and said he did not know what group they were associated with. He said there were times during his ordeal that he thought he would be killed. But he said he tried to remain upbeat and "keep laughing".
"I love my family, and I knew that they would be doing everything they could," he said, his American wife Yvonne Given and his brothers Vernon and Malcolm and their wives by his side. Mr Wood arrived on an Emirates flight from Dubai landed at 5.43am (AEST) today, about 15 minutes late. Mr Wood was reunited with the brothers who worked so hard to save his life after insurgents took him hostage in Iraq.
The engineer's return comes as questions continue to be asked about the exact circumstances of his rescue by Iraqi and US forces on Wednesday - 47 days after he was taken hostage in Baghdad. The Government is backing away from its claims that intelligence played a crucial part in his recovery, which is at odds with the position of Iraqi and US troops who put it mainly down to good luck. But the Mufti of Australia, Sheik Taj al-Din al-Hilaly, who spent more than a month in the Middle East trying to help secure Mr Wood's release, is sticking with another version of events.
Asked about Sheik Hilaly, Mr Wood said he "never heard of him". The sheik says he struck a deal with Mr Wood's captors to release him on the Wednesday and that the captors were unarmed when troops raided the house in which they and their hostage were found. Defence Minister Robert Hill said it was highly likely specific intelligence - though not necessarily about Mr Wood - prompted the search which eventually led to the Australian's discovery. "All searches have an intelligence base to them," he said on Channel 9. "But whether the Iraqis had specific intelligence that the Australian, Mr Wood, was believed to be in that area is still unclear. It may be clarified in due course or there may always be an element of doubt."
Mr Wood's brother Vernon, from Melbourne, said he was delighted his sibling was arriving be back in Australia. Mr Wood's other brother Malcolm, who lives in Canberra, was expected to travel to Melbourne for the homecoming. Vernon Wood said one of their priorities was for their brother to meet Prime Minister John Howard to thank the Government for all it had done to get him released. "We'd like to get Doug to meet with Prime Minister Howard and (Foreign Minister) Alexander Downer as soon as possible," he said. "We would like to give thanks in several areas where it's due and we want to respect the prime minister and the good will of the government." No meeting has yet been scheduled between Mr Howard and Mr Wood, but the Prime Minister's office has not ruled it out.
TGA and other lurkers from Deutschland, Rantburg has an assignment for you. Find out why Germany has a Department for Dialogue with the Islamic World and then figger out a way to make it disappear, ideally in the Schroeder/Merkle crossfire period. You could get the Dept. to 'confess' and then call the RAB. We'll supply the abandoned warehouse, the cadre, and the shutter gun.
"We want to find out more about the role of Islam in different Muslim societies, how Muslims see the future, and the root causes of malaise and frustration in these societies," said Dr. Gunter Mulack, commissioner for the Department for Dialogue with the Islamic World at the German Foreign Ministry during a recent visit to Jeddah and Riyadh which was his second to the Kingdom.
Hey Gunter, did you meet with your Soddy counterpart, the commisioner for the Department for Dialogue with the Dar el-Harb?
No?
Hmmm. You may wish to ponder on why that is, Herr Doktor.
The department was set up three years ago as a task force for inter-cultural dialogue with the Muslim world. "On both sides there are negative ideas which have become stronger. We see each other as threats and not as partners or friends," Dr. Mulack said. He wants to establish a German Cultural Institute in the Gulf because it would be difficult to do in Saudi Arabia.
Another item for you to ponder, Gunter. Why is it that Soddy doesn't want its purity defiled by infidel cultural institutes? Not even Aryan ones...
He is also thinking of establishing a student advisory office concerning educational opportunities in Germany especially since meetings with officials were so positive on the topic.
"We've heard your universities in Hamburg are especially welcoming to eager Muslim students..."
"We're interested in having a dialogue and being partners, not only with government-to-government but also with NGOs and parts of civil society such as universities and different organizations, with the requisite busy conference schedule. Good dialog happens best in Sun City, or even Lausanne," said Dr. Mulack. During its relatively short existence the department has increased the flow of German money for cultural cooperation with the Muslim world, more money for programs of the Goethe Institute by 60 percent, increased the number of scholarships for Muslim students, increased the number of partnerships with universities including the establishment of a German University in Cairo in 2002 and they are hoping to open others in Jordan and Syria. There is also the department's website, Qantara. "It is difficult to have huge exchange programs so we hold lots of conferences and workshops on specific topics such as the role of women in the Muslim world," he said. The department also proposes to have training programs for Muslim teachers in Muslim countries and training programs for young diplomats. "We have had groups of students from Afghanistan and other countries visiting Germany," he added.
Where are the classes flowing in the other direction, taking young Moose limbs and teaching them about the role of wimmin in the Western world? What?
Oh.
In Afghanistan the department is involved in reestablishing schools and universities and reviving intellectual and scientific life there. It is not enough, said Dr. Mulack, to reach out to the Muslim world without involving the rest of the Western world, especially Europe. He explained, "We should not only have official contact but people-to-people so we can know each other better. Dialogue should be with all political groups and not only those considered favorable to Westerners such as secular groups — provided the groups are peaceful and not terrorist." Dr. Mulack admitted that these efforts were late but not too late. He explained that in Germany people were more concerned with the country's unification and in Europe in general was preoccupied with the issue of eastern Europe. "There was neglect," said Dr. Mulack about Muslims in Europe. "There was not a growing problem between Muslims and Europeans because they were like parallel societies, no real mixing or integration and assimilation."
It takes two to un-tango.
He said the shock of 9/11 was that "we found out that some of the hijackers were living and studying in our country. We had never discovered them and we had to try to understand what had gone wrong and why they were angry with us."
Hint: you are asking the wrong questions.
Life for Muslims in Europe is difficult, says Dr. Mulack, especially since many of them are from poor uneducated families. As a result they isloate themselves from society. "We have to do more. Islam has become a European religion. We have 50 million Muslims living in the European Union, which is roughly 12 percent of the population and the numbers are increasing. We have to live with Islam and engage in dialogue and cooperation with Muslims and help them adjust." At the same time, in the Muslim governments need to improve the educational systems and develop their human resources, including women. "There is a total lack of research, development, ingenuity and good standards and these are all mentioned in the human development reports. This is bad for us too because the unequal distribution of wealth creates resentment and hatred. With no social justice, people try to wage war against their own rulers and there are many indications of this. We are concerned since we are all in the same neighborhood," said Dr. Mulack. "It is important that we work together to develop education, economy and create jobs, develop facilities and research. We need world citizens," he added. As for future plans for the Department for Dialogue, he said it was planning to have a conference or workshop on Muslim youth. "We want to know how they are thinking, what their plans are and how they see the Western world. We conduct studies but here it is difficult to know the mindset. Are they really condemning terrorists? Why are they frustrated and what do they want to achieve? These are big issues and we are all affected. We are talking about youth, women and Islam, but we are not talking with them so we don't know their agenda and their ways of thinking."
#1
They want our wealth, they want our country, and they want us dead. That about does it, Dr. Mudlark.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/19/2005 2:29 Comments ||
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Dr Mulack, so quick to throw the rights of women, jews, gays and any other minority oppressed by muslims away just to oil the squeaky wheel of radical islamism....
BERLIN - German Defence Minister Peter Struck cancelled a trip to the United States, originally planned for next week, after being "snubbed" by Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, according to a German report on Saturday.
The cancellation came on Thursday after Struck was informed that Rumsfeld had penciled in only 45 minutes for a meeting with him, and that other senior Pentagon and White House officials had signalled no interest at all in meeting with the German cabinet minister, said the report in Der Spiegel news magazine.
Why bother meeting him? It's not like he's going to be around much longer, as the article goes on to note.
The magazine attributed the "snub" to the perception in Washington that the fragile centre-left coalition of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is a lame duck government. Schroeder's Social Democrats face an uphill battle for re-election in Germany's general election, likely to be held in September.
Informed of Rumsfeld's schedule, Struck reportedly told an aide, "I generally allow three hours for a meeting with another defence minister." He ordered Berlin's ambassador to Washington Wolfgang Ischinger to appeal to Rumsfeld for a longer meeting, saying, "If that cannot be arranged, then we'll turn around on the runway and head back for home," Der Spiegel quoted Struck as having said.
Adding insult to injury, Struck was also informed that a planned meeting in New York with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan would also have to be cancelled.
When Kofi can snub you, it's a clear signal that Euro visions of "soft power" have failed.
At that point, according to Der Spiegel, Struck decided to call off the US visit.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/19/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
That's our Rummy...
No time for ducks, lame ducks, Peking ducks or any other waterfowl either...
#4
I'd say that 45 minutes with the SecDef of a country seriously fighting the WoT, running jihadi flypaper campaigns in 2 countries, supporting those 2 countries while they take their first steps under a new form of government, and redesigning the global force structure of the US is fairly generous. Given this is someone from a Govt with Shroeder's record and who's on his way out - what's there to talk about? Struck should've been less huffy and full of himself and gone shopping to burn some of those Euros while they're still so overvalued.
Posted by: too true ||
06/19/2005 11:01 Comments ||
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And the US (including Rumsfeld) are supposed to be worried about this because....?
Take your ball and stay home, ya' little brat.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/19/2005 12:41 Comments ||
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#9
Well maybe don't be too hard on him. He has just announced to send more German troops to Afghanistan, bringing the number up to 3000.
But of course, in September we'll have a new defense minister, probabably Michael Glos, a ranking CSU guy (boss of the CSU in the Bundestag). I know him personally and I guess he'll get along very well with Rummy (and brings the better beer).
#15
While Schroeder has been a weasel, we must not forget the slightly less than 50% of Germans who are not anti-American. I hope that the relationship can be rebuilt. Phrance on the other hand...
I wish to say thank you to TGA for his reasoned discourse and support for America.
#16
The german defense minister....? How many divisions does he have?
Posted by: Mark E. ||
06/19/2005 19:51 Comments ||
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Germany hosts two major airbases and, even after troop drawdowns, provides an important staging site for military equipment and troops. Whatever you think about this minister - who distinctly underwhelms me personally - or about future alternatives, for now the value of those bases to us should not be underestimated.
I tried to search, to see if this had come up here before, but the search function wasn't working. Anyway, yet another fake memo story, courtesy of the USS Neverdock:
Stage one (quoted excerpt from AP):
...Smith told AP he protected the identity of the source he had obtained the documents from by typing copies of them on plain paper and destroying the originals.
The AP obtained copies of six of the memos (the other two have circulated widely). A senior British official who reviewed the copies said their content appeared authentic. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the secret nature of the material. Ah, fake but accurate.
And notice that the 'senior British official' doesn't have a name, and didn't specifically cross-check the assumed copies with originals, to which he may or may not have had access.
"I first photocopied them to ensure they were on our paper and returned the originals, which were on government paper and therefore government property, to the source," he added. [...]
"It was these photocopies that I worked on, destroying them shortly before we went to press on Sept 17, 2004," he added. "Before we destroyed them the legal desk secretary typed the text up on an old fashioned typewriter."
Smith appears to be tripping up here. He says he returned the originals because they were on government paper and therefore government property. So, photocopying a page out of a book makes the words no longer the property of the author? They're getting to be as bad as the Rapid Action Battalion, only not as productive.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
06/19/2005 11:04 ||
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Zenger, John Peter (zĕng'ər) , 1697–1746, American journalist, b. Germany. He emigrated to America in 1710 and was trained as a printer by William Bradford (1663–1752). Zenger began publication of the New York Weekly Journal in 1733, an opposition paper to Bradford's New York Gazette and to the policies of Gov. William Cosby. Zenger's newspaper, backed by several prominent lawyers and merchants, truculently attacked the administration. Although most of the articles were written by Zenger's backers, Zenger was legally responsible and was arrested on libel charges and imprisoned (1734). In the celebrated trial that followed (1735) Zenger was defended by Andrew Hamilton, who established truth as a defense in cases of libel. The trial, which resulted in the publisher's acquittal, helped to establish freedom of the press in America. Zenger later became public printer for the colonies of New York (1737) and New Jersey (1738).
Freedom of the Press was established upon the concept of TRUTHZ. Maybe it is time to return to the foundation of the right and remove any protections, in the form of libel, for 'jounalism' if it can not or will not validate their material. Time to enforce the 14th Admendment of equal protection before the law, and remove the different standards of proof by public personalities. MSM want to speculate? Fine, make it prominent that what is being presented is fiction or conjecture without basis in fact or pay the piper.
Posted by: Jong Cravirong9792 ||
06/19/2005 13:16 Comments ||
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#6
I followed the Raw Story links to the 6 documents.(re-typed, photocopied, whatever)and read all of them. The contents are not flattering to the WH.
If the real documents exist and and the reporter can be forced to produce them, this could present impeachable grounds - purposely deceiving Congress.
If the documents can be proven to be just more Rathergate phony material, then the 2006 election is the GOP's across the board. The American public will not tolerate another Rathergate if it's proven the contents of the docs are made up lies.
#7
The guys over at PowerLine - no LLL symps they - have posted an interesting comment to the effect that they believe the repro'd memos to be legit. Their argument goes that the memos don't volunteer any CONCLUSIVE evidence as to what happened, whereas (for instance) the CBS memos provided the exact evidence the Left needed but couldn't find. This one may be a toughie...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
06/19/2005 14:35 Comments ||
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Well, given that the memos seek to prove that the US had made up its mind one way or another about the war but another ten months or so of screwing around with the UN security council then proceeded to take place, then the case they're trying to build doesn't seem to have very much internal logic.
Just like the case the press has tried to build relies on literal news blackouts of certain stories that would prove them wrong, like the attempted mass casualty attack in Jordan last year.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
06/19/2005 14:47 Comments ||
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ALSO... it's only the press that's decided that WMD were the _only_ reason to go to war with Iraq, and has ignored/whitewashed/pretended to explain away any subsequent WMD evidence.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
06/19/2005 14:57 Comments ||
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Phil - you posted the article with the links in the body, so I assume you read some or all of the 6 reproduced memos. The memos don't deal merely with the WMD reason for invading Iraq, which btw, the Brits are shown to be sceptical about from the get go. The Brits also say there's no recent evidence of Saddam supporting AQ terrorists. That's why the Brits suggest that the US and UK gov't would do better to use Saddam's breaking UN sanctions as a more solid invasion reason. The Brits even suggest ways to provoke Saddam to defy the UN. The Brits also worry that the US Admin were somewhat clued out about post-war occupation planning/ nation building. Hopefully, the contents of these memos can be proven to be false.
#11
Phil - you posted the article with the links in the body, so I assume you read some or all of the 6 reproduced memos.
I have them downloaded but I've only skimmed a couple... I'm having mild computer problems now.
The memos don't deal merely with the WMD reason for invading Iraq, which btw, the Brits are shown to be sceptical about from the get go. The Brits also say there's no recent evidence of Saddam supporting AQ terrorists. That's why the Brits suggest that the US and UK gov't would do better to use Saddam's breaking UN sanctions as a more solid invasion reason.
Well, for a regime that wasn't cooperating with Al Qaeda, they seemed to have a whole lot of Al Qaeda people on hand at the time of the US attack. Including Zarqawi, who was there for about a year beforehand...
That's why the Brits suggest that the US and UK gov't would do better to use Saddam's breaking UN sanctions as a more solid invasion reason. The Brits even suggest ways to provoke Saddam to defy the UN. The Brits also worry that the US Admin were somewhat clued out about post-war occupation planning/ nation building.
Well, we're doing a damn bit better than the British ever did with their "we'll just make the Sunnis the owners of the plantation" strategy that brought us two wars with the place during my lifetime, never mind the ethnic cleansing of Shi'ites and Kurds that took place...
Hopefully, the contents of these memos can be proven to be false.
Proven to not be memos, or proven to be wrong?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
06/19/2005 16:38 Comments ||
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#12
I followed the Raw Story links to the 6 documents.(re-typed, photocopied, whatever)and read all of them. The contents are not flattering to the WH.
Are you out of your f*cking mind?? If what I have read so far means anything it BOLSTERS the case for the Iraq war.
#13
Only a complete moron would deliberately obfuscate the origins of the documents and then destroy the only evidence they are genuine. The only plausible explanation is that he is a liar.
What I find interesting is this has the lesson of RatherGate learned, written all over it even to the point of using a manual typewriter. When was the last time you saw a manual typewriter in an office? The lesson of RatherGate was - make sure no one can prove documents are a fake. And how do you do this? By retyping, obscuring any evidence of their origin and then claiming to have destroyed the 'originals'. I'm really surprised any of you think these are genuine.
#14
Proven to not be memos, or proven to be wrong?
Proven never to have existed in the first place. Proven to have been made up by the reporter or by his source(s).
Are you out of your f*cking mind?? If what I have read so far means anything it BOLSTERS the case for the Iraq war.
You can't be serious. I doubt you've read any of the memos.
If the originals are produced or if the source(s) volunteer to come forward to attest to the accuracy of the reproductions, there's no question that the contents are very damaging to the WH. Blair and his underlings don't look like Boy Scouts either, but they are not cast in a Keystone Cops or worse damning light. The Brits at least are questioning and even dismissing as inaccurate or unrealiable some of the reasons/assessments provided to them by their US counterparts, initially dragging their feet, even getting second opinions from their legal staff.
Actually, the Democrats might not want to pursue this thing. It make them look bad too for being such a compliant "loyal opposition."
Go back to fellating Kos.
A predictable knee jerk flame from someone who can't be bothered to read the memo reproductions. FYI, if the contents are true of these reproduced memos, anyone who isn't a complete mindless "Bush, Rice, and GOP are saints" idealogue would want gov't officials brought to account for deliberately deceiving the American people and Congress that the Iraq War was necessary and unaviodable.
As I said earlier, these memos could be another example of a Rathergate type of bogus information and that would pretty much guarantee the GOP winning a resounding victory in the 2006 mid term elections. But you'd need to be blind or dumb not to see that, IF THE MEMOS ARE TRUE, this may pose very serious questions about the WH and so it should.
#15
As I said earlier, these memos could be another example of a Rathergate type of bogus information and that would pretty much guarantee the GOP winning a resounding victory in the 2006 mid term elections. But you'd need to be blind or dumb not to see that, IF THE MEMOS ARE TRUE, this may pose very serious questions about the WH and so it should.
Having looked at them more closely, I remain unconvinced this is the case.
Especially in light about what the blind and stupid press has lied and obfucated to us about WMD.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
06/19/2005 18:29 Comments ||
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WMD ...sanctions....none of it matters as I see it. Saddam's actions in llight of his agreements ending GW1, and his failure to abide by any of the provisions contained therein gvie the US all the justification necessary. Hell, even if we had or do find massive stockpiles of WMD in the desert, there's many a democrat congressperson on recored as saying even that would not provide justification. It's all political window dressing. We had the right, we exercised it. Stop the circle jerk!!!
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
06/19/2005 19:11 Comments ||
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#17
A predictable knee jerk flame from someone who can't be bothered to read the memo reproductions. FYI, if the contents are true of these reproduced memos, anyone who isn't a complete mindless "Bush, Rice, and GOP are saints" idealogue would want gov't officials brought to account for deliberately deceiving the American people and Congress that the Iraq War was necessary and unaviodable.
The only cause for trouble for the White House is if they deliberately deceived Congess about the cause for war. I recall that the call for regime change came in July 2002. I knew at the point we were going to war and if the White House made a decision to gather the information necessary to bolster that case then that means they did what was neccessary to win political support for the war.
The only way those "memos" could damage Bush is if they state that they knew there were no WMDs and that case had to be ginned up for political support. Well, I have seen nor heard anyting that states that flatly, and commentary from our fifth column press doesn't count anymore.
What we do have here is a situational wedge, for lack of a better term. The left wants to attack a conservative lame duck administration in 2005 to develop wedge issues for a 2006 election, one which the left must win in order to have any chance at 2008.
It worked in 1973, in Nixon's second term for an actual scandal, it worked in 1987 with Iran-Contra, but the left falls well short this time, and it does so because whatever scandal these "memos" reveal are the commentary written by a press which would rather see dead Americans than to give Dubya credit for anything.
#18
I don't see how anyone could have been "deceived" by Bush regarding the necessity of ousting Saddam. President Clinton had already laid out the case for doing so, very convincingly, in his February 17, 1998 address to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And Congress did, as well, in the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998.
Bush's only innovation was to add the courage to act.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
06/19/2005 20:26 Comments ||
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#19
The left wants to attack a conservative lame duck administration in 2005 to develop wedge issues for a 2006 election, one which the left must win in order to have any chance at 2008.
Actually you're wrong. At this point, the usual suspects representing the official left - ie Democrat politicians and MSM - have been fairly quiet about the memos this weekend, or at least I haven't seen much printed in newspapers or heard any Democrats interviewed. So far there's only chatter on blogs ( actually the first I read of these memos surfacing was phil's posted article) and yahoo has it as a lead political story today.
BTW: You finished fellating Kos?
BTW: have you ever thought about catching some internet posting manners?
#20
Then, I apologize for my lack of manners, but this is a non-story. That the left isn't jumping through their ass about it yet doesn't mean they won't.
#21
The DemoLeft > the GOP-Right has to verify and find out the truth for the DemoLeft whilst not questioning the DemoLeft's motives or credibility. For Me the cause for war pre-9-11 came when Clinton made regime change in Iraq de facto US policy, not to mention that Clinty himself reportedly believed that Al-Qaeda was behind 9-11 and being supp by Saddam. Kerry and the Dems are achieving nothing, moreso iff they're trying to hide behind a Bill Clinton whose own comments against his own achievements and movement are as destructive to the US Demoleft in general as anything Dubya and the GOP does.Pretty much the only thing(s) that can save Hillary's ambition now is either Bill-style elex fraud, new 9-11/WMD attack which takes out Dubya and Washington, and or de facto US milfor battlefield defeat overseas. The last one is unlikely without extens foreign intervention, while with the first Bill was lucky to have people cut him off at the pass - the second scenario explains why the LeftMedia, Inc. is acting like a Democratic Party while the Dems per se are "delinked" and quietly surreally working both for and against GOP policies. "Downing Street Memo" aside, and with the North Korea and Iran sitreps coming to a head, the Dems are becoming more PC "quiet" than ever. Hope no war or new 9-11 per se occurs, but iff Hillary expects to serve two full terms as POTUS of PC geopol quiet, prim-and-proper tenures like Bill did, then something's gotta give!? The Clinton Name and Legacy means nothing now thanx to Bill himself, so Hillary has to depend on something, anything, else for her power - I can imgaine the brouhaha in the Clinton household once Hillary realizes she might have to settle for being a one-termer!
#22
I don't see how anyone could have been "deceived" by Bush regarding the necessity of ousting Saddam. President Clinton had already laid out the case for doing so, very convincingly, in his February 17, 1998 address to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And Congress did, as well, in the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998.
Then the President should have made his case about enforcing the 1998 Act to Congress and to the American public. The Act was never brought up by the President in any speeches to my knowledge. The WH probably realized that acting on some obscure act passed five years ago is a bit of a reach.
There's no question that Saddam was a tyrant to his people, but heck, 2/3 of the world's nations are led by tyrants. That's life in Third World countries. Our President and his advisors can't go off half cocked and invade other countries because they want to get rid of tyrants. If Smith's memos are based on for real documents, then what occurred prior to the Iraq invasion was a small oligarchy playing fast and loose with facts on the ground and re-packaging them to be something they weren't. That's unconstitutional, an abuse of public trust. These memos reflect very poorly on US high profile personalities particularly like Rice and others, that's what makes the memos seem bogus to me - Rice is portrayed as an empty skirt, an airhead, and she's has not revealed herself to that way outside these memos. Actually everyone in the US admin. comes across like irresponsible buffoons according to the Brits, seeming quite glib about wading into war, not thinking too deeply about putting our soldiers in danger for reasons other than defending our country's security, not being too terribly concerned about how or by whom Iraq would be governed post invasion, or even recognizing it would take gobs of taxpayer money to take on this nation building venture over a period of many years to come. Various Brits in seem worried about their American counterparts' understanding the gravity of war and post war issues. One Brit mocks Wolfowitz's naive belief that the Republican Guard "would fall in a heap," that he's stuck on Chalabi for unfathomable reasons, because the Brits knew Chalabi was a lying huckster even before the invasion. In another memo a Brit official worries that the US officials are so out to lunch about consequences of regime change that the Brits may end up carrying the brunt of the follow through after the invasion.
The veracity of the memos need to be addressed formally, otherwise the GOP will suffer in 2006. This will not fade away on its own. The memos are false or they are true. There's no way to rationalize the contents.
#23
Then the President should have made his case about enforcing the 1998 Act to Congress and to the American public. The Act was never brought up by the President in any speeches to my knowledge. The WH probably realized that acting on some obscure act passed five years ago is a bit of a reach.
Well, a quick google search showed a speech from shortly before the campaign (I refuse to say it was the "start" of the war, anymore than invading Italy was the "start" of WW2) where he talked about the need to end a dictatorship, and bring freedom to the Iraqis. You can read it here.
There's no question that Saddam was a tyrant to his people, but heck, 2/3 of the world's nations are led by tyrants. That's life in Third World countries.
He was a particularly bad one.
Our President and his advisors can't go off half cocked and invade other countries because they want to get rid of tyrants.
Actually, I think it was important that they do so, especially when the tyrants in question have histories of funding terror networks and _have_ used chemical weapons in the past.
If Smith's memos are based on for real documents, then what occurred prior to the Iraq invasion was a small oligarchy playing fast and loose with facts on the ground and re-packaging them to be something they weren't. That's unconstitutional, an abuse of public trust.
Bullshit. As I said before, Bush was stating a variety of rationales for the invasion.
And with what we know today, we can add some more:
* France and Russia were working to undermine the sanctions regime and to rearm Iraq.
* Since the invasion of Iraq, evidence has come to light of a vast black market in isotope enrichment gear. It is unlikely that this would have come to light if we hadn't invaded Iraq, which not only produced a large intelligence haul, but made others (like Libya) feel threatened enough to start sharing intelligence with us. There's a strong chance that if we'd left Saddam in power like some sort of sacred King, we wouldn't know what we know now about the AQ Khan network.
These memos reflect very poorly on US high profile personalities particularly like Rice and others, that's what makes the memos seem bogus to me - Rice is portrayed as an empty skirt, an airhead, and she's has not revealed herself to that way outside these memos. Actually everyone in the US admin. comes across like irresponsible buffoons according to the Brits, seeming quite glib about wading into war, not thinking too deeply about putting our soldiers in danger for reasons other than defending our country's security, not being too terribly concerned about how or by whom Iraq would be governed post invasion, or even recognizing it would take gobs of taxpayer money to take on this nation building venture over a period of many years to come. Various Brits in seem worried about their American counterparts' understanding the gravity of war and post war issues. One Brit mocks Wolfowitz's naive belief that the Republican Guard "would fall in a heap," that he's stuck on Chalabi for unfathomable reasons, because the Brits knew Chalabi was a lying huckster even before the invasion. In another memo a Brit official worries that the US officials are so out to lunch about consequences of regime change that the Brits may end up carrying the brunt of the follow through after the invasion.
Well, as I said, the Brits have done very badly in reconstructing Iraq before. We are going against their conventional wisdom by not leaving the Sunnis in charge of their Shi'ite and Kurd "property" and treating the Shi'ites and Kurds as if they're humans instead of serfs.
The veracity of the memos need to be addressed formally, otherwise the GOP will suffer in 2006. This will not fade away on its own. The memos are false or they are true. There's no way to rationalize the contents.
Well, Bush has been speaking of trying to democratize or stabilize the Arab world since even before the invasion, and people did re-elect him anyway.
These reasons (and others) may not make sense to you but they do make sense to many other people.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
06/19/2005 22:25 Comments ||
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#24
Question of the day: Did FDR deserve to be impeached for lying to Congress and the American people when he said the bombers that attacked Tokyo came from a secret American base in "Shangri-La?"
(For that matter, what about when he authorized military action against Germany and Japan before Pearl Harbor? Or when the details of this military incident were kept secret at the time?)
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
06/19/2005 22:45 Comments ||
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#25
phil - you and I have differing views on what constitutes transparancy in gov't or what legitimate reasons should cause our country to go to war. Arbitary regime change of tyrants who do not pose credible threats to our national security does not pass muster with me or many other Americans, I'd wager. In fact, I doubt the President could get Congress or the American public to give him the go ahead to start a war in Iraq based on the concept of "regime change." These memos better be bogus.
#26
A bit of perspective, TG. We didn't sell helium to Germany, hence the Hindenberg.
We cut off American oil to Japan in 1941, to try to influence thier actions, hence Pearl Harbor. If OPEC cut off our oil today, wouldn't WE consider it an act of war?
We were escorting convoys to Britian in 1940, but the Rueben James wasn't actually sunk until the fall of 1941 - well before Pearl harbor.
Should Roosevelt have been impeached, TG?
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/19/2005 23:28 Comments ||
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WHEN WILL WE GET OSAMA BIN LADEN? That is a question that goes far deeper than you know. In the chain that you need to successfully wrap up the war on terror, we have some weak links. And I find that until we strengthen all the links, we're probably not going to be able to bring Mr. bin Laden to justice. We are making very good progress on it. But when you go to the very difficult question of dealing with sanctuaries in sovereign states, you're dealing with a problem of our sense of international obligation, fair play. We have to find a way to work in a conventional world in unconventional ways that are acceptable to the international community.
IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAVE A PRETTY GOOD IDEA OF WHERE HE IS. WHERE? I have an excellent idea of where he is. What's the next question?
The article continues
Sounds like Binny is in Pakland and PAK forces loyal to AQ are protecting him.
#1
It's also consistent with him being in Iran, though it would seem to rule out the idea that he's hiding out in Somalia, Bangladesh, or a similar failed state.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/19/2005 15:01 Comments ||
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#2
One thing is for sure: Mr Goss is clearign a lto of dead wood - and that has lit a fire under some previously very complacent asses.
THE overloaded UN-backed tribunal trying key figures in the 1994 Rwandan genocide has asked for co-operation from the US Government to help it accomplish its mission.
Erik Mose and Hassan Bubacar Jallow, the president and chief prosecutor of the tribunal, have appealed directly to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. They "re-emphasised the need for sufficient resources to implement the ICTR's (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda) completion strategy".
"And keep Carla del Ponte the hell away from us!"
The independent news agency Hirondelle, which covers the court's proceedings, said the two officials also requested US co-operation on several matters where the tribunal needed help from national governments to accomplish its mission.
The ICTR is due to wind up all trials - excluding appeal hearings - by the end of 2008. It is investigating people suspected of key roles in the organised killing of at least 800,000 minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus in a 100-day killing spree unleashed in April 1994.
During a US visit, the ICTR officials also held talks with senators and house of representative members, as well as with Pierre-Richard Prosper, the US ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues.
Since its founding by the UN in 1994, the ICTR has tried 25 people including former ministers, members of the Rwandan former army and a Catholic priest for their roles in the genocide before the Hutu army and killer militias were driven out by rebels.
The president's choice is exactly what the U.N. needs.
By Ion Mihai Pacepa
I know the United Nations like the back of my hand. And I have good reasons to believe we badly need a tough guy like John Bolton to handle the rudderless bureaucracy that has turned against the very country that wrote the logo of its Charter: "We the People of the United Nations."
I spent two decades of my other life as a Communist spy chief, struggling to transform the U.N. into a kind of international socialist republic. The Communist bloc threw millions of dollars and thousands of people into that gigantic project. According to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, all employees from Eastern Bloc nations were involved in espionage. The task of this espionage army was not to steal secrets but to use the U.N. to convert the historical Arab and Islamic hatred of the Jews into a new hatred for Israel's main supporter, the United States. The U.N. became our petri dish, in which we nurtured a virulent strain of hatred for America, grown from the bacteria of Communism, anti-Semitism, nationalism, jingoism, and victimology.
During the years I was Nicolae Ceausescu's national-security adviser I learned that petty tyrants cannot be handled with kid gloves. You need an iron fist.
John Bolton not only acts forcefully, he also gets results. He singlehandedly brought about the repeal of U.N. Resolution 3379 of 1975, which stigmatized Zionism as "a form of racism and racial discrimination." That resolution was the Soviet bloc's first major "victory" at the U.N. Soon after it was adopted, the Communists unleashed a vitriolic disinformation campaign portraying the U.S. as a rapacious Zionist country run by a greedy "Council of the Elders of Zion" (a derisive epithet for the U.S. Congress) that was plotting to transform the rest of the world into a Jewish fiefdom.
U.N. Resolution 3379 lasted 16 years — until Bolton came along. In December 1991, this unknown undersecretary of State had the guts to tell the General Assembly of the U.N. that it had been manipulated by the Communists, and to ask its members to wake up. Bolton was so well-armed with documentation, so bold, and so straightforward that he forced the U.N. to repeal its own resolution by the great margin of 111 to 25. Even my native Romania, until then the epitome of Communism, voted with Bolton.
Bolton's success did not last long. Although the Cold War was pronounced "kaput," it did not end with a formal act of surrender, like other wars, or with the defeated enemy throwing down his weapons.
Ten years after Communism collapsed, an operation identical to the one the Communists had plotted in 1975 made its appearance at the United Nations. On August 31, 2001, a U.N. World Conference on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance opened in Durban, South Africa, to approve ostensibly pre-formulated Arab League declarations asserting that Zionism was a brutal form of racism, and that the United States was its main supporter.
The September 11 terrorist attacks came eight days after the United States had withdrawn its delegation from Durban, stating that this U.N. conference would "stand self-condemned for yielding to extremists."
It is significant that today's horrific terrorism has reenergized the Soviet bloc's former agitators around the world. Antonio Negri, a professor at the University of Padua who considered the brains of the Italian Red Brigades (a terrorist group financed by the Communists) and who served time in jail for his involvement in kidnapping Prime Minister Aldo Moro, is just one example. Negri coauthored a virulently anti-American book entitled Empire, in which he justifies Islamist terrorism as being a spearhead of "postmodern revolution" against American globalization, the new "empire" he claims is breaking up nation states and creating huge unemployment. The New York Times called this modern-day Communist Manifesto "the hot, smart book of the moment."
This is a familiar theme. For 27 years of my other life I was involved in creating various Antonio Negris throughout Western Europe and using them to spread the seductive theory of economic determinism that still defines the mindset of Europe's Left. I helped write the lyrics to the siren song according to which America, symbolizing the world's rich, is to blame for all the evils of the world. I was steeped in its rhetoric. To me today, these Cold War agitators revived by Kofi Annan's U.N. are even more disturbing than the terrorists' Kalashnikovs now aimed at us.
Nowadays it is considered bad manners to point a finger at Communist sources of anti-Americanism, but the truth is that the Soviet bloc's old U.N. bag of dirty tricks continues to bear fruit. In 2003, the U.N. expelled the U.S. from the Commission on Human Rights by the overwhelming vote of 33 to 3. By that time the United Nations General Assembly had already passed 408 resolutions condemning Israel, the only U.N. member prohibited from holding a seat on the Security Council. The cumulative number of votes cast against Israel since 1967? 55,642.
Now Annan wants to "reform" this U.N. with help from the same Communists who deformed it. On December 2, 2004, for example, he vigorously endorsed the 101 proposals of the "High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change." One of the main members of this blue-ribbon panel is an old friend of mine, Yevgeny Primakov, a former Soviet intelligence adviser to Saddam Hussein. This is the same Primakov who rose to head Russia's espionage service for a time, and to sing opera ditties with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright while secretly running the infamous Aldrich Ames spy case behind her back. Another prominent member is Qian Qichen, a former Red China spy who worked under diplomatic cover abroad, belonged to the Central Committee of the Communist party when it ordered the bloody Tiananmen Square repression in 1989, rose to the Politburo afterward, and later became vice-chairman of China's State Council. And then there is Amre Moussa, the secretary general of the Arab League (and a former KGB puppet), who misses the balance of power provided by the Soviet Union and is still unable to condemn — to say nothing about prevent — terrorism.
This panel recommended that the U.N. be transformed into a Communist-style welfare organization geared to eradicate the world's poverty and its main diseases. For that, the panel concluded that the U.N.'s bureaucracy should be significantly increased, and the treasuries of its member countries additionally raided. In 1946 the U.N. budget was $21.5 million. This year it is approaching $10 billion. If Annan has his way, it will grow to over $30 billion next year, as the blue-ribbon commission wants the U.N. members to "donate" an additional $10 billion annually to fight AIDS and 0.7 percent of their GNP to reduce the debt of poor countries.
The U.N. Charter, signed in 1945, states that the purposes of the organization is to "maintain international peace," encourage "respect for human rights," and promote "freedom for all." Sixty years later the world looks quite different, but, according to Freedom House, some 2.4 billion people "are denied most basic political rights and civil liberties."
Nazism, the Holocaust, and Communism were not defeated by international organizations or by blue-ribbon commissions. They were defeated by the military actions of the United States, which is now working on crushing the evil of terrorism. The U.S., not the U.N., initiated freedom's current domino effect in the Middle East, a movement that now is even reaching into Ukraine, Georgia, and other former Soviet republics, while the U.N. is busy encouraging the growing anti-American barrage.
The U.S. is the only force on earth that has the moral authority, the experience, and the capability to reform the U.N. It is high time for Washington to take the initiative again, as it did when World War II ended.
President Bush has made clear he is interested in U.N. reform. In September 2003, he told the U.N. General Assembly, "As an original signer of the U.N. Charter, the United States of America is committed to the United Nations. And we show that commitment by working to fulfill the U.N.'s stated purposes, and give meaning to its ideals." The nomination of John Bolton as U.S. ambassador is a step toward achieving this goal. Bolton is an impatient doer. If he had been U.S. ambassador to the U.N. any earlier we might not have seen the crazily tyrannical government of Libya chairing the Commission on Human Rights, for one thing.
Bolton has said that, if the glass zoo on the East River that quarters the United Nations "lost ten stories, it wouldn't make a bit of difference." Some argue that this remark makes him unfit to be ambassador at the U.N. I strongly disagree. He gets it, and the U.N. will be all the better with an Ambassador Bolton there.
Israel has publicly apologised to the US over a deal to sell military technology to China. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said he was sorry if Israel had acted in a way which was not acceptable to the Americans. But, speaking ahead of talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, he said Israel had acted in good faith. The sales have angered Washington which fears its own technology may could be used against Taiwan. "If things were done that were not acceptable to the Americans then we are sorry but these things were done with the utmost innocence," said Mr Shalom on Israel Radio. Israel has supplied China with Harpy Killer unmanned attack drones, designed to target radar systems.
Posted by: too true ||
06/19/2005 13:54 ||
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#1
They're not sorry. And we'd better stop doing technology transfers to them, carrying out joint research projects with them or even selling advanced weapons systems to them, because as night follows day, these technologies will show up in Chinese weaponry. Let them buy their weapons systems from other countries - if these other countries will risk angering the Muslim world.
#2
I agree, ZF. Israel's been caught red handed and their actions are indefensible. So their only option is to pull out these phony crocodile tear apologies. he said Israel had acted in good faith.these things were done with the utmost innocence," said Mr Shalom on Israel Radio.
#4
I must admit, they're playing a very dangerous (and stupid) game here...
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
06/19/2005 17:19 Comments ||
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#5
Nothing new here folks. Israel has had an active US technology/intelligence collection effort for as long as I can remember. When I was dealing with such things in the Air Force int he 70's, there were some officers that were informally excluded from sensitive information because it was an open secret that they were a conduit to the Israelis. No reason to expect that the Israelis have anybody's interest at heart but their own.
US aid dollars at work : more conspiracy theory from the peace-loving, pious, rationnal people of muslimland. Franckly, I prefere David Icke's reptilian shapeshifting illuminati, they are much more fun.
Leading Egyptian Government Daily Al-Akhbar: "Al-Zarqawi is an American Agent"
In a June 15, 2005 editorial titled "All the Evidence Proves that Al-Zarqawi is an American Agent," a leading Egyptian government daily Al-Akhbar's states that Al-Zarqawi is working for the U.S. and is massacring Iraqis in an effort to extend the occupation in Iraq. [1] The following are excerpts from the article:
"All Evidence Proves that Al-Zarqawi Works for America"
"All the evidence proves that Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi is working for America, because his victims are Iraqis and not [members of] the coalition forces under the command of the American occupation forces in Iraq. Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi's official title is 'leader of Al-Qa'ida's faction in Iraq.' Osama bin Laden is the commander of the Al-Qa'ida organization, and this proves that [Al-Zarqawi's commander,] bin Laden, has [also] been an American agent ever since he operated against the USSR forces in Afghanistan in favor of the Americans!
"Let's read the statement issued two days ago on behalf of Al-Zarqawi in Iraq after he killed and wounded dozens of people from among the Interior Ministry and Iraqi army forces, by means of booby-trapped cars in a number of cities in Iraq!
"Raising a few questions is unavoidable in order to clarify the situation and [to understand] who this Al-Zarqawi with Jordanian nationality is.
"One of the questions is: which of the two should Al-Zarqawi oppose — the American occupation army and the foreign coalition forces, or the Iraqi military and police forces?! The statement issued by Al-Zarqawi and his organization says that they struck and killed dozens of [members of] the Interior Ministry and Iraqi army forces, whereas there was no mention of Al-Zarqawi targeting the American occupation forces and the coalition forces of the various nationalities. [In fact,] the statement did not even mention the occupation army in Iraq!"
The Massacre of the Iraqi People is Aimed at Strengthening the U.S. Occupation in a Region Vital to American Interests
"Another question [to be raised] is whether the world is so naive as to believe the American statements, which claim that Washington has allocated $25 million for Al-Zarqawi's arrest or for information leading to his arrest. [After all,] why arrest Al-Zarqawi and allocate all these millions while he is working for America?
"In addition, why is Al-Zarqawi massacring innocent Iraqi citizens and [members of] the Iraqi National Guard, the Iraqi army and the Iraqi Interior Ministry? Al-Zarqawi undeniably aims to harm the Iraqi people and members of the Iraqi forces, who undergo training to protect [their] homeland in the future. This massacre of the Iraqi forces and the Iraqi people is meant to strengthen the American occupation of the region [that is known to be] the main route to Central Asia, formerly under USSR control, [and that is] rich in oil wells, and surrounds Iran and the Caspian Sea..."
#1
Of course, last week he was the heroic resistance... the fact that he's a loser must be clear now even to them, hence their sudden need to recast him as an American/Zionist agent.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
06/19/2005 10:38 Comments ||
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#2
reptilian shapeshifting illuminati
Man, if that doesn't cover all the bases...
Just thinking - remember OBL's 'strong horse' theory? Al-Z may be turning into a theorem that it works.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
06/19/2005 14:22 Comments ||
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AUCKLAND: Pakistan and India can overcome obstacles to a solution of the Kashmir dispute if they are brave and determined, President General Pervez Musharraf said here on Saturday.
I wonder if he's able to make this sort of speech back home?
"I see light at the end of the tunnel because I think there is desire on both sides to address the issue," the president said in an address to the Pakistani community in New Zealand. "We are moving in this direction; both sides will have to show sincerity, flexibility and courage for final settlement of the dispute." He felt that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had the desire and courage to address the issue. "The two sides can overcome obstacles with courage and determination." "The people of the two countries have overtaken the leadership in their desire for peace," he said, adding that peace can help economic and trade cooperation in South Asia to the benefit of all nations. He said the leadership of the two countries had a critical responsibility to grasp the peace opportunity. "Otherwise, future generations will not forgive us," he said. The president reiterated Islamabad's commitment to eliminating extremism and terrorism. "We will crush and eliminate terrorism with force; we will not allow any terrorist to pursue his agenda on the Pakistani soil," he said.
Then perhaps you'll dismantle those terr training camps in Rawalpindi and kick all the dirty generals out of your cabinet?
Surprise! The recruits are young, poor, illiterate cannon fodder well-educated, upwardly mobile men in their mid-to-late twenties ... with European passports who find it easier to travel ...
#4
I was thinking the same thing, Brer.
After 4 years, the boys in Saudi and Egypt and elsewhere in the ummah have finally noticed that the jihadist heroes who go off to fight the Americans never seem to come back.
Naively arrogant Euro-trash are unlikely to be so perceptive.
#5
How long before they begin a similar effort in the United States?
Will Durbinite Moonbats show the courage of their convictions and join up?
Durbinite jihadi to GIs in Iraq:
"Hey, there, poverty-draft ghetto/trailer trash Bush-tools! You can't shoot me, I have a trust fund, my old man is a lawyer, I made an A in ethnic studies, I----"
#6
AC, I am willing to bet that they are already trying to recruit in the U.S. But I doubt any of those 'militant' students that attend Berkley or other LLL schools will give up their ivory towers for a belt bomb in a shithole in the middle east. They have a beter odds with recent immigrants like the ones in Lodi. God help them if the next attack apears to be domestically spawned.
#7
How long before a Donk Moonbat jurisdiction tries to declare a "sanctuary" for Michael Moore Minuteman recruiters, similar to those they have set up for illegal immigrants?
Some of the latter may be terrorist recruiters, come to think of it.
I'm not sure it's a bad idea. Give them space on college campuses, at job fairs and such, with free passage in and out, and a free pass out of the country for any trustafarians or Mumia-cong who sign up.
Attention Progressive students and workers!
The Michael Moore Minutemen offer the last opportunity of a lifetime!
Show your conviction and commitment!
See the world, Paris and Damascus and Baghdad!
Adventure! Glamour! Media bytes! Free hash! All the dumb Swedish chicks you can handle! BJs like your mom gave Oliver Stone!
Lots of Saudi dough!
Weapons training! Avenge Guantanamo and Che and your cousin's drug conviction!
Your very own Volvo and a chance to strike back at low-class ChimpyMcHelliburton tools!
#8
Add in the nearly total misrepresentation by the MSM, particularly in Europe, of the war in Iraq and the successes the Coalition and Iraq forces are having against these foreigners, the real 'cannon fodder' is headed to their just ends. The recruiting is being tolerated because the Europeans have seen that the Mexican model of dumping their potential problems on the US results in no negative consequence.
Posted by: Jong Cravirong9792 ||
06/19/2005 13:08 Comments ||
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KUWAIT - Insurgents from Iraq may cross into Kuwait to carry out attacks in a bid to harm ties between the two neighbours, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said in remarks published on Saturday. "I fear and expect that there will be infiltration attempts in the other direction," Zebari told the Kuwaiti daily al-Qabas.
"This means that insurgents from Iraq would sneak into Kuwait to carry out terrorist acts with the objective to harm the good relations between the two countries," Zebari added in a telephone interview with the leading newspaper.
But he said Iraq's borders with Kuwait are more secure than those with other neighbours. Iraq has borders also with Turkey, Iran, Jordan, Syria and Saudi Arabia. "Our borders with many countries are still breached and this is a reason for the escalation in violence in various regions of Iraq," Zebari added.
And he named all the right borders to be concerned about.
His remarks came as Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari starts a two-day visit to Kuwait. Relations between the two neighbours improved since the ouster of Saddam Hussein, whose forces invaded Kuwait in 1990.
Could hardly get worse.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/19/2005 00:00 ||
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RAMALLAH, West Bank - Deputies cleared the way on Saturday for the holding of legislative elections when they approved proposals by Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas for a new electoral system. The speaker of parliament said that he now expected fresh elections to be held early next year although a final decision on a date will be made by Abbas. The parliament in Ramallah backed the new electoral law by a 43-14 majority which will see the number of deputies increase from 88 to 132.
Fun for everyone!
Half the deputies will be elected by proportional representation and the other half by HamasPIJFatahPrince Nayef constituencies. Differences over the voting system had led to the postponement of elections earlier this month which had been slated to take place on July 17. MPs had previously approved a new system to increase the number of MPs, but two-thirds would continue to be elected by constituencies with the remainder by proportional representation. Abbas vetoed the law, partly because he had previously assured the radical Islamist movement Hamas that the new chamber would be elected on a 50-50 split.
Guaranteeing a Fatah:Hamas split and civil war.
Parliament speaker Rawhi Fattuh said that it was not in the legislative council's remit to set the date for new elections. "That is the job of Abu Mazen (Abbbas) but I expect that the date for the new elections will be on January 20 next year," he told reporters. The only previous legislative elections were held on January 20, 1996. "We approved the law today for Abu Mazen," he added.
"For me? You shouldn't have!"
No, really. You shouldn't have.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/19/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
..At the rate they're going, in about three years, every adult member of the population will be a member of the parliament.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
06/19/2005 4:12 Comments ||
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#2
If that's what it takes to keep them from shooting each other and blowing themselves up, they should be encouraged in that direction, Mike. Let them become experts in rhetoric instead, in a fully participative, Athens-style democracy. ;-)
ISLAMABAD - Thousands of Pakistani tribesmen on Saturday vowed to fight US forces as they marked the first death anniversary of a slain militant leader in a tribal region near Afghanistan. Witnesses said up to 3,000 people, some brandishing assault rifles and some masked, turned up in the remote district of Azam Warsak, in South Waziristan tribal region, to offer prayers at the grave of militant leader Nek Mohammad.
I really don't care how much they miss him, just as long as he stays dead.
Mohammad, a former Taleban commander, was killed in June last year after leading a bloody resistance to the Pakistan army's largest-ever offensive to drive-out Al Qaeda linked militants in South Waziristan. Pakistan's military said it killed the militant. "We will complete the mission of our commander Nek Mohammad and we will continue our jihad (holy war) against the US forces in the region," militant leader Maulvi Abdul Aziz told the gathering amid shouts of "Allah-o-Akbar".
"Hey Maulvi, how'd ya like to end up like Nek?"
"Um, perhaps I could learn to drive a taxi in Houston."
This article starring:
MAULVI ABDUL AZIZ
Wazir Taliban
NEK MOHAMAD
Wazir Taliban
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/19/2005 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush said Saturday that pulling out of Iraq now is not an option, rejecting calls by some lawmakers and many people asked in polls to start bringing U.S. troops home.
``The terrorists and insurgents are trying to get us to retreat. Their goal is to get us to leave before Iraqis have had a chance to show the region what a government that is elected and truly accountable to its citizens can do for its people,'' Bush said in his weekly radio address.
``We will settle for nothing less than victory'' over terrorists there, he said later.
Bush acknowledged discontent over his decisions but signaled no shift in policy or timing for the American presence in Iraq. ``Some may disagree with my decision to remove Saddam Hussein from power, but all of us can agree that the world's terrorists have now made Iraq a central front in the war on terror,'' he said. ``This mission isn't easy, and it will not be accomplished overnight.''
The administration insists no timetable can be set for bringing U.S. forces home from Iraq until enough Iraqi forces have been sufficiently trained to take over the fight against the insurgency. Anything else, the administration argues, would only embolden the insurgency.
Bush also paid tribute to progress seen in Iraq this week. Iraq's Shiite-led parliament and leaders of the disaffected Sunni Arab minority, which is believed to be the backbone of the insurgency, agreed on a process for drafting Iraq's constitution. ``Time and again, the Iraqi people have defied the skeptics who claim they are not up to the job of building a free society,'' he said. ``I am confident that Iraqis will continue to defy the skeptics as they build a new Iraq that represents the diversity of their nation and assumes greater responsibility for their own security. And when they do, our troops can come home with the honor they have earned.''
After elections in January, writing a constitution is Iraq's next milestone in its fits-and-starts transition to democracy. Later this year, the document is to put up for a vote in a public referendum and then a new government is to be elected.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/19/2005 00:00 ||
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This is what I like about Dubya. He is a rock. I disagree with him on immigration and his big government policies. But I like this guy anyway. He fights.
#2
Amen, he can take the heat. I think we should squeak the wheels as hard as we can(call and write letters) to move the admin on immigration reform (shut the f*cking borders) and big spending.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
06/19/2005 0:24 Comments ||
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#3
Heh. No wet finger in the wind for Dubya. He knows where he needs to go and just pushes on. Fuck the memers and screamers and lamers and tools.
#4
Absolutely. Thats why he is such a great president. He has conviction and courage, what a leader of this country needs in these times. Just thank God, John Kerry is not president right now.
#5
I love it when the Dems quote poll numbers to argue for a certain policy change. It's really comical whenthey try to pursuade Bush with poll numbers. The man knows what is right and doesn't need a poll to determine a course of action. Good Job 'W' NEVER GIVE IN!
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.
RIYADH - Saudi Arabia's ailing King Fahd may soon leave the hospital where he has been for two and a half weeks, Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said on Saturday.
AUCKLAND: Pakistan and India can overcome obstacles to a solution of the Kashmir dispute if they are brave and determined, President General Pervez Musharraf said here on Saturday. 
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Deputies cleared the way on Saturday for the holding of legislative elections when they approved proposals by Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas for a new electoral system. The speaker of parliament said that he now expected fresh elections to be held early next year although a final decision on a date will be made by Abbas. The parliament in Ramallah backed the new electoral law by a 43-14 majority which will see the number of deputies increase from 88 to 132. 
