The cost of cigarettes has more than tripled during the past 15 years while the price of televisions and computers has fallen by 74%, UK research shows today. Britain's biggest mortgage lender Halifax said the cost of a packet of cigarettes had risen more than anything else since 1989, according to the Retail Price Index (RPI), soaring by 204%. At the same time, personal services, such as hairdressing and beauty care and dentists' charges, were 164% higher, while the cost of going to the cinema or theatre and sporting activities was 157% more. The cost of eating out has nearly doubled during the period, with the price of restaurant meals and takeaways soaring by 94% and canteen meals rising by 143%. Beer now costs 94% more than it did in 1989, while the price of wine is 65% higher. The cost of running a home has also been one of the fastest rises, increasing by 97% over the past 15 years, with the price of repairs and maintenance rocketing by 147%.
Water charges are 130% more than they were 15 years ago, while council tax has risen by 102% in the past 10 years. The price of a foreign holiday is now 61% more than it was in 1989, while the cost of a holiday in the UK has risen by 45% during the same period. But at the same time the price of audio visual equipment, such as televisions and computers, has fallen by 74%, with prices halving in the past five years alone. The cost of women's clothing has dropped by 34% since 1989, while children's clothing now costs 20% less, although the price of men's clothing has fallen by just 9%. White goods, such as washing machines and fridges, are now 20% cheaper than they were 15 years ago, while the cost of a car is down by 15%. Overall the group said the RPI had risen by 62% since June 1989, while average earnings increased at a faster rate of 106%. The price of all services has risen by 94% during the period — more than double the increase in the price of goods of just 38%.
Tim Crawford, group economist at Halifax, said: "While headline inflation has been relatively tame, there has been a lot of movement beneath the surface. Alongside the significant inflation in areas like personal services, we have seen a dramatic price deflation in big ticket items like personal computers and televisions."
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/17/2004 5:11:35 PM ||
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Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi could buy newly-promoted Crystal Palace, according to newspaper reports. "I've been told that Gaddafi and his son are interested in acquiring Palace," the club's chairman Simon Jordan told the Guardian. He said that as yet there had been no formal approach from Gaddafi, who already owns 7.5% of Juventus. But Jordan, who took over Palace four years ago, added: "If it's beneficial to the club, it will be considered." However, he did concede a deal with the Libyan leader could prove unpopular with fans.
#1
Thanks, .com. This is a big issue and I'm glad I won't live long enough to see how it turns out. Maybe my kids will be able to rationalize what I can't. And I shudder to think that a guy named Mohammed is the one doing the research.
Posted by: Mr. Davis ||
07/17/2004 8:51 Comments ||
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#2
I sense eugenics lurking not too far away from this issue.
Three Labour MPs called on Tony Blair to stand down as Prime Minister yesterday after the party lost the safe seat of Leicester South in Thursday's by-election and came within a whisker of a humiliating defeat in Birmingham Hodge Hill. Mr Blair, who clocks up 10 years as Labour leader next Wednesday, took comfort from the Tories' embarrassing third place in both contests, and allies insisted he would lead the party into the next general election. But one aide conceded: "We have suffered some damage; it's been an uncomfortable week."
More political jabbering at the link.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/17/2004 12:36:19 AM ||
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#1
It's not wise to dismiss such upsets as 'political jabbering' or irrelevant, just because Labour still has a safe majority in parliament. For whatever reasons, Blair's party sufered major losses in those two seats which, if replicated nationwide at next year's election, would see a total change in the British political landscape. The most worrisome impact would be having the Lib Dems in a position of power. That would be the US's worst case scenario as far as the UK is concerned.
#2
Thanks, Bulldog, when I read the article it seemed like just the usual jabbering -- kind of thing I could read in WaPo any day of the week. Of course, we too could see our political landscape change in the coming election, and not for the better.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/17/2004 11:02 Comments ||
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#3
Hopefully not though, Steve!
The Lib Dems are the only party in British politics that seriously worries me. In attitude towards the big issues and threats, they're comparable to your average continental party - i.e. blind. In attitude towards the other issues, no one really has a clue what they stand for. They're the ultimate populists, all for banning things one minute, legalising the next. When Labour went 'New' under Blair, and skewed rightwards stealing traditional Tory ground, the Lib Dems veered leftwards to occupy the now vacant statists 'n' loonies territory.
#4
Bulldog, are we talking Red Ken and Clare Short?
Posted by: Jen ||
07/17/2004 12:33 Comments ||
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#5
Nope! They're the loony left of the Labour party. Like Galloway was, and Tam Dalyell, Robin Cook etc. They're the 'Old Labour' dinosaurs who always resented Blair's rebranding of Labour, and still protest noisily about it. There's little chance that they'll take the party back any time soon.
The Lib Dems are mostly a bunch of non-entities. Professional politician-types. The ugly, boring little people. Little Hitlers. Heh.
#7
...and now claim to champion the ethnic minorities (like your Democrats, they strive to promote racial disharmony and cultural segregation in order to monopolise minority votes), which used to be one of Labour's most reliable sources of support. They are also claiming the right to anti-war-types' votes. They really have nothing to commend them.
#8
Bulldog, what's up with this story about Barclay's Bank and the new Britain Independent party?
( They're bad because they're anti-immigrant? The way things sound in the UK, you could get knighted for that!)
Posted by: Jen ||
07/17/2004 12:55 Comments ||
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#9
Barclays have said they're blocking the accounts of the BNP, not UKIP. Two very different parties. UKIP (The United Kindon Independence Party) is effectively a single-issue anti-EU party with much public support (at least in European elections) whereas the BNP (British Nationalist Party) is widely considered to be a quasi-fascist racist group which attracts the sort of people who turn red with violent rage at the sight of someone walking down their street who has a complexion darker than Nicole Kidman's.
It's up to Barclays whose custom they decide to turn down, but I think it's pretty disgusting that they were happy to have the BNP's business until a recent BBC documentary exposed some of its members as violent thugs (not news: we all knew that anyway) and, at least according to the BNP website (see link above) after pressure from an un-named 'pro-Labour national newspaper'. The BNP as an organisation is a legitimate political party, and whatever you think of its baser instincts, its policies don't advocate illegal activities (as far as I'm aware), so Barclays doing this does smell like cooperation with a form of political censorship.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Around-the-clock train and truck convoys are moving military hardware from the tense border with North Korea as the U.S. Army prepares to redeploy 3,600 troops to Iraq. The massive logistical feat began July 7 and is moving hundreds of Abrams tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, Humvees and artillery pieces to the southern port city of Busan to be shipped out under tight security.
About 3,600 troops from the U.S. Army's 2nd Infantry Division, dug into encampments between Seoul and the heavily fortified border with North Korea, will follow their equipment to Iraq. The division's entire 2nd Brigade would begin pulling out of South Korea next week, and the entire unit would be in Iraq by the end of August, Gen. Richard Cody, the Army's vice chief of staff, said at the Pentagon on Friday. It is expected to operate in western Iraq with Marine Corps units, Cody said.
The redeployment - one of the biggest realignments in a decade along the Cold War's last frontier - was announced in May and signals the first significant change of U.S. troop levels in South Korea since the early 1990s. The equipment is arriving around-the-clock at the Busan port, where soldiers are working two 12-hour shifts, U.S. Army spokeswoman Maj. Kathleen Johnson said. "This is a very intensive operation, involving a large amount of equipment," Johnson said. "The scale of this operation is about five times that of what we ordinarily do."
The 2nd Infantry Division's 14,000 troops form the mainstay of the 37,000 U.S. troops in South Korea. Since announcing the redeployment of the 3,600 soldiers to Iraq, Washington also has said it plans to withdraw about a third of the remaining troops by the end of 2005 as part of a global realignment.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/17/2004 2:06:47 AM ||
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Italian intelligence is taking recent Al Qaeda threats addressed against Italy extremely seriously. Intelligence reports a rise in activity concerning websites connected with the July 15 deadline set by Bin Laden for Westerners to leave Iraq. Based on prior analysis of the Saudi sheik's behavioural patterns intelligence believe the message is a go-ahead for jihad factions to act. The aim is hence to create expectation which translates into generalised panic and a high onus on security forces. The threat according to intelligence is real and has to be taken seriously. There is no clean cut idea as to what the threats refer to, intelligence are merely aware of a general Al Qaeda threat of a grand attack against the infidels. Targets are mush the same as they have always been: European capitals - including Rome, especially after the fall of what many considered as being the Vatican's "protective shield", ill spent as a result of the meeting between the Pope and George Bush -, soldiers in Iraq, Western concerns worldwide as well as Islamic countries with high western tourist influx. Bin Laden has always targeted moderate Arab or Islamic countries in an attempt to swell the tide of fundamentalist unrest.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/17/2004 2:41:19 PM ||
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#1
Targets...including Rome, especially after the fall of what many considered as being the Vaticanâs "protective shield"
Dan, this part of the article seems muddled to me. Can you clarify what the author probably meant, since its seems intended to be a critical point?
#2
The theory was that the Vatican was 'safe' because of its actions, or lack thereof, in Gaza (remember the militants taking over the church?), and its opposition to armed-intervention in Iraq.
Personally, I'd like to know exactly who the author meant by 'many'.
#3
It would seem that if violence happens to Rome and/or the Vatican it would only be fair and proper to have a policy stating that the response would inflict a factor of 10 worse upon another religion's holy sites....and that the members of said religion of peace should understand that it would all be Al Qaeda's fault.
NICOSIA, Cyprus -- Cyprus on Friday proposed pulling as many as 2,000 soldiers away from the cease-fire line splitting this island if Turkey does the same with its soldiers on the other side, but Turkish officials reacted coolly to the offer. Kypros Chrysostomides, spokesman for the Greek Cypriot-controlled government, said the proposal was part of a series of confidence-building measures designed to end the 30-year division of the island.
Those measures include de-mining the U.N.-patrolled zone, called the "Green Line," that splits the island and the capital, Nicosia, and withdrawing troops from the old walled city, where rival forces man fortifications separated only by narrow streets. "It is the government's conviction that these measures create the necessary basis for the establishment of conditions of security and confidence between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots," Chrysostomides said.
Turkish officials reacted coolly to the Greek Cypriot offers, which are seen as a bid by the government to improve its sullied image following Greek Cypriot voters' overwhelming rejection in April of a U.N. plan to reunify the island. "These are not things we can comment about in haste. Our (Turkish Cypriot) colleagues will make assessments," Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said in Ankara.
The Cologne police has disbanded one of its special weapons and tactics units as prosecutors opened inquiries against several of its members for fraud, drug use, manslaughter and theft. Cologne's Police Commission has suspended seven officers in a unit of the elite police force, or Sondereinsatzkommando (SEK), from their posts. It also removed their chief from his responsibilities. According to senior public prosecutor JÃŒrgen Kapischke, five officers are suspected of involuntary manslaughter. Testimony by witnesses suggests that one SEK officer was directly responsible for the suicide of a man during a deployment in July 2001.
The SEK unit also made headlines earlier this year when one officer killed a colleague during a training exercise. The police are still investigating that incident. Other officers allegedly smuggled drugs in car tires and stole equipment. Two others were present at a party where hashish cookies were consumed, Kapischke said. The senior officer of the unit allegedly had the men agree on a certain story following a deployment so as to cover up any possible mishaps, he added.
The officers' own colleagues turned them in. "The information came out of the police's own ranks," Cologne's Police Commissioner Klaus Steffenhagen told a press conference on Thursday. Steffenhagen stressed that there couldn't be the impression that a special task unit feels it's allowed to do everything necessary to prevent prosecution as a result of a mission. The Interior Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia Fritz Behrens demanded severe punishment for the officers if they are found guilty of committing the crimes. "We don't need any rotten apples in our police force," Behrens said. Steffenhagen said he was "deeply struck" by the officers' breach of regulations. He added that the accusations did not involve human error, but rather "deliberate misconduct."
Posted by: tipper ||
07/17/2004 12:10:27 AM ||
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#1
Just the term 'Sondereinsatzkommando' draws images of the horrors of the Shoah.
Have German's really changed since the mid-1940's?
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/17/2004 0:16 Comments ||
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#2
Nothing that the LAPD or any other municipal police force in America hasn't done at one time or another. It's rather disgraceful that brother officers turned them in, though...police are supposed to watch each others' backs.
#4
These are SWAT, not a secret boys club. The Blue Wall of Silenc is a dirty cop's best friend. Nothing wrong with some hashish cookies but smuggling and theft are attributes of corruption, which can lead to blackmail and murder (manslaughter). I hope they find some guys with integrity to replace them.
Every mornin' on the Hill you could see him arrive
Standing six-foot-four, weighing one-twenty-five
Kinda' scrawny at the shoulders and lacking a spine
And when he spoke at all, it was mainly to whine
(Big John, Big John) Big Bad John
Nobody seems to know what's in John's soul
His 'beliefs' are based on the latest poll
'Though he'll say what it takes to get your votes
It's the leftist agenda that he really promotes - Big John
Some one said he came from Boston town
Where he joined the Navy and gained renown
'Earning' three purple hearts and one bronze star
The home folks said, "This boy will go far"
(Big John, Big John) Big Bad John (Big John)
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/17/2004 4:16:11 PM ||
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The Associated Press asked a federal judge Friday to order the Pentagon to quickly turn over a full copy of President Bush's military service record. The White House has released partial documentation of Bush's military service in the Texas Air National Guard but has not complied with the news service's Freedom of Information Act request for any record archived at a state library records center in Texas, the AP said in a court filing. Records released so far do not put to rest in the minds of the Kerry campaign questions over whether Bush fulfilled his National Guard service for a period during the Vietnam War, the AP argued in papers filed in federal court in New York. Those records came from federal records clearinghouses. Texas law requires separate record keeping for state National Guard service, and those records should exist on microfilm in Austin, the AP said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/17/2004 2:20:45 AM ||
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#1
And thus anyone's personal records become 'public' property, all because we have a 'right' to know.
Posted by: Don ||
07/17/2004 8:07 Comments ||
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#2
smell of desperation from the liberal media: Iraq calming, economy booming, buyer's remorse every time they listen to JF'nK speak
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/17/2004 9:29 Comments ||
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#3
Someone remind me: have we seen all of sKerry's Vietnam war records yet?
But what I really want are Teresa's tax records. I'm betting she owns more shares of Halliburton than Cheney did.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/17/2004 11:40 Comments ||
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#4
Any specific reason why AP is still after this information, even though this little "issue" is quite passe?
As for why Moore has been successful in stoking the press's interest in GWB's national guard service, I think it's time for GWB to put the kabosh on this nonsense with a straight forward explanation of how an honorable discharge is earned.
The problem is that most Americans do not realize that national guard service is credited for the total number of days put in over the course of 6 years. Missing time in the course of the 6 years in not a big deal, because it's the total number of days at the end of all those years of service that counts for fullfilling the agreement. And though GWB had absences for personal reasons, he put in the total required days. Simple. But GWB or his press secretary needs to tell the press and American voters how service is credited. The only reason that this story still has legs is because the WH has not properly explained the requirements of national guard service. And the press, never having served in the national guard themselves, are still thinking there is smoke re: GWB's lapses in service. The WH needs to pour a bucket of water on this silliness once and for all and quit ignoring the innuendo. It will not go away on its own. http://www.ngaus.org/ngmagazine/main101.aspNational Guard Association Magazine, Number 19
January 2001
âGeorge W. Bush is the latest in a long line of U.S. presidents who once served in the National Guardâ By Lisa Daniel
...Bush's drill performance also stirred controversy during the campaign. Some reports charged that he was absent for a year. However, probably the most comprehensive media review of Bush's military records concluded that while he, "served irregularly after the spring of 1972 and got an expedited discharge, he did accumulate the days of service required for him for his ultimate honorable discharge." The review was done by Georgemag.com, the online version of the magazine founded by the late John F. Kennedy Jr. Guardsmen say Bush's service record is not unusual.
"In any six-year time frame you probably can find some problems," says retired Rep. G.V. 'Sonny' Montgomery, D-Miss., founder of the House Guard and Reserve Caucus. "Just learning to fly the F-102 and not getting hurt and not hurting anybody is an accomplishment." Montgomery called Bush's election, "nothing but a plus for the Guard." The retired Mississippi National Guard major general supported Bush so strongly for president that he served as co-chair of the Veterans for Bush campaign, even though he is a Democrat. He said that the Guard will improve under Bush's leadership because he understands the life of Guardsmen and he's proud of his service.
Posted by: rex ||
07/17/2004 15:08 Comments ||
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#7
Frank nailed it--you know when the Left drags out this crap about Bush's NG records and they whine about him "stealing the election"/Florida 2000, that they don't have Jack Squat!
Since the outing of Joe Wilson this week and the fact that both the Congressional and the British reports on the Iraq intell cleared both Bush and Blair and justified us removing Saddam from power because he was indeed pursuing nukes, it's back to square one for the Dimocrats, which is Florida and the National Guard (and vague insinuations about Enron, Halliburton and the Soddy Royal Family).
Posted by: Jen ||
07/17/2004 15:16 Comments ||
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#8
I disagree with #7. I don't think the press is desperate. I think they're simply following up on the innuendo that Moore sprinkled in Farenheit 9/11. Also last week there was some story about a bunch of service records, including GWB's, being accidently destroyed. So with those 2 events, the press is smelling an expose and a cover up.
I still believe the WH needs to explain very clearly what it takes to get an honorable discharge-it's total days not years that count- and then quote the total number of days that GWB had put in. Simple. Heck, the WH can even request a copy of the data collected in the research done by Georgemag.com in 2000 that validated GWB's total days of national guard service and make copies to hand out to the press corp stapled to 2001 article I cut and pasted from the Nat'l Guard Association magazine. That would shut everyone up. End of story.
Posted by: rex ||
07/17/2004 15:33 Comments ||
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#9
that wouldn't shut them up, Rex. The media did recounts and recounts and Bush won in all, so did that put it to rest? Nope, just ask that moron Eddie Bernice Johnson and her plantation trash. They would keep blacks down if it helped the Dem party. Assholes, all of them
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/17/2004 15:40 Comments ||
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#10
Bush's NG service is a 'non-story." he shared reams of records, including dental X-rays.
Everyone has shut up about it except for Mikey Moore and the Lamestream media and their entourage of Bush haters.
And I wanna see Kerry's FBI file from his anti-war protestor days and both his and TherAYsah's tax returns!
Posted by: Jen ||
07/17/2004 15:50 Comments ||
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#11
I would like to see Kerry's *unfiltered* military record. What we were given appears to be selected 'praiseful' sections and not the entire story.
#12
"I still believe the WH needs to explain very clearly what it takes to get an honorable discharge. [...] That would shut everyone up. End of story."
And if you believe that, I'll be glad to sell you some beachfront property in Denver. Since when have these people ever let facts, or truth, get in the way of their manufacturing a bogus "issue"?????
This is about the eighty-eight gazillionth time this stupid Bush National Guard service bullshit has been raised. Enough is enough, already.
I spent 31 years as a registered Democrat; but thanks to crap like this, I'll never vote for one of those lying assholes again, ever-- not even for Dogcatcher.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
07/17/2004 17:10 Comments ||
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#13
Kerry was in Viet'nam. He earned three purple hearts. He's a War Heeeeero, dinchya know?
#14
Did the AP also follow up on the other movies falsehoods that Jabba claims as truth? Where are John Friggin Kerry's 'distinguished' military records? Lets have a look at the boo boo, ouchies records that Lt. Kerry says warrant the Silver Star? They are SOOOOO desparate for some dirt they are fishing in a pond with no more fish in it. Look for a made up AP story two-days befoer teh election that says Bush stole a pen from the guard unit and never returned it.
via Wash Times
Remarkably straight-forward and honest assessment of the duplicity of the Donk campaign. Kudos to WaTi. Is the rest of the MSM paying attention? Time to cut out the incredible bias, play it straight, and do your jobs... or continue to become increasingly irrelevant background noise.
Editorial - July 17, 2004
Earlier this week, the campaign of Sen. John Kerry attacked President Bush for his inattention to the flaws in Iraq intelligence estimates. However, Mr. Kerry's attack, and his failure to inform himself on those matters, raise serious questions about his priorities. Earlier this week, Mr. Kerry's campaign demanded to know if the president had read the entire October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs (WMD). It blasted out an e-mail headlined, "Did anyone in the White House read the full National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq?" and followed it with a conference call led by Sen. Richard Durbin, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, during which the senator declared that Mr. Bush should have read the full report.
However, Mr. Kerry had not read the report before he voted for the war. After the conference call, his aides acknowledged that while Mr. Kerry had been briefed on the contents of the report, he had not read it. It's doubtful that Mr. Kerry has read it since either before he voted against the $87 billion to finance the war or afterwards, since his campaign did not return our call on that question.
It's also doubtful that Sen. John Edwards, a member of the Select Committee on Intelligence, has read the NIE. His campaign office did not respond to our inquiry whether he had read the NIE before he voted for the war, after he voted against its funding or since.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: .com ||
07/17/2004 2:20:36 AM ||
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#1
However, Mr. Kerryâs attack, and his failure to inform himself on those matters, raise serious questions about his priorities.
What question is there about his priorities? John Forbes Kerry is his highest priority.
EFL
Town police are looking for a man who sexually groped two women in a mall parking lot last week. The incidents July 8 happened within minutes of each other in the same area of the Poughkeepsie Galleria Mall, police said. In the first incident, Lisa Hayes of the Town of Poughkeepsie was with her children and about to get into her car about 12:30 p.m. when the man approached her. What's that saying I learned in primary school? Let's see...
''I was putting the stroller in the trunk and was walking to get in the car and all of a sudden, I felt a presence behind me,'' she said. Startled, Hayes said she pulled back as the man reached for her hand while peeling off homemade John Kerry stickers he was carrying. ...Oh yeh! That's it: Friends of a feather flock together!
''He was saying, 'Are you going to vote for Kerry?' '' Hayes said. ''He started sticking them on my breasts and feeling them.'' Hmmm, Poughkeepsie!? Where is Poughkeepsie? Oh yeh, New York. Who do we know who lives in New York? *scratches head*
Posted by: Dragon Fly ||
07/17/2004 12:37:44 AM ||
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#1
Sure, only Kerry and Edwards get away with groping (each other).
Posted by: Capt America ||
07/17/2004 2:22 Comments ||
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#2
I was in the Hamptons at the time...
Posted by: Bill C. ||
07/17/2004 13:00 Comments ||
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#3
What did Johm Kerry know and when did he know it?! :-)
Posted by: A Jackson ||
07/17/2004 13:33 Comments ||
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Posted by: Zhang Fei ||
07/17/2004 12:20:46 AM ||
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#1
And I thought that was an "up your's"
Posted by: Capt America ||
07/17/2004 2:21 Comments ||
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#2
Good grief. What a shameless, craven suck-up that guy is. What does he think, that blacks are idiots?
Posted by: Dave D. ||
07/17/2004 6:34 Comments ||
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#3
Dave - which guy in the picture are you talking about? Could apply both ways.
Posted by: Don ||
07/17/2004 8:09 Comments ||
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#4
Heh... good point.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
07/17/2004 8:36 Comments ||
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#5
Kerry did say, in stiff and stilted fashion, that he would like to be considered America's Second Black President. With his mindset stuck in the Vietnam era, the Black Power salute is his way of shoring that up.
#6
speaking of stiff, I think he's just trying to wave :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/17/2004 10:29 Comments ||
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#7
I've got it. It's been bothering me all morning, but I've finally figured out what Kerry's "Power Pander" gesture reminds me of: Gene Wilder's blackface routine (with Richard Pryor as his straight man) in the movie Silver Streak.
Except Wilder was funny; Kerry's just pathetic.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
07/17/2004 10:51 Comments ||
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#8
"Fight the power, gimme a whoe, yo bitch do my homey, sixty ouncers for all my nigas, dat baby got back."
#9
LOL, everyone!
sKerry's such a tool!
I haven't seen anyone give the "Black Power" fist since Angela Davis did it in 1969!
Posted by: Jen ||
07/17/2004 12:37 Comments ||
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#10
Dave - Just the words, "with Richard Pryor as his straight man", is a hysterical thought! Who'da thunk it could happen? Pryor is the naturally funniest human evar, IMHO!
Skeery is the most shameless pandering posturing creep I've ever seen. Sigh.
Lucky - to facilitate your rap, here's the funniest photoshop image ever posted to Fark, IMO. I posted it here once before, but in case you missed it... My bros all busted a gut over it. I've kicked myself a hundred time for not saving the poster's nym with the image - I just know he's one of the Best of The Best photoshoppers alive, heh.
#11
Caption - Watch as I make my hand talk - "Hello! I am John Edwards".
Posted by: A Jackson ||
07/17/2004 13:36 Comments ||
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#12
I know the Democrats think they've got the black electorate pretty much dancing to their tune, but Kerry's letting this puppetmeister thing go to his head.
#13
When's this guy going to attend some Asian organization, so he can bow?
This guy sure can relate to all people, can't he? He's Irish when he wants to be, a "decorated war hero," expects to be the "Second Black President," and what did he just try to be with the Hispanic voters? He's so disgustingly phoney, I'm surprised he hasn't outraged more minorities.
He's like a daily Saturday Night Live skit. He's becoming such a skeez, I'm almost wishing for Bubba's boobery to return.
(2004-07-17) -- A harrowing story of one man's experience with "terror in the skies" reached a global audience this week, as web surfers and bloggers circulated it, commented on it and challenged its authenticity.
The first-person account starts before the unnamed man and 13 of his friends boarded Northwest Airlines flight #327, bound from Detroit the Los Angeles, on June 29.
"We were just going about our business during the flight," said the man who was born in an unnamed, predominantly Muslim country. "You know, we were just reading the Koran aloud, carrying objects about the cabin and gathering near the restrooms to chat in our native tongues about the ultimate peace we'll find in Allah. Suddenly, I noticed this white woman staring at me. It really freaked me out. It made me and my friends so nervous that we had to use the restroom more, and of course take our digital cameras and other objects in there with us."
The anonymous victim said he began to receive unwanted attention from the flight crew, and saw people passing notes to each other and exchanging glances.
"My legs were like rubber," he said. "I don't know how we endured four hours of this kind of fear. Me and my whole cell group--you know, my friends--finally understood how the great martyr Mohammed Atta must have felt during his final hours."
The unnamed man said his only comfort came from knowing that he had "official permission from the U.S. Transportation Security Administration to be aboard that plane. I knew that they respect our religion and were protecting us."
Most of the 594 U.S. prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, appear willing to go before a tribunal that would give them a chance to convince military officers they have been wrongly detained, the Navy secretary said Friday. Gordon England, who is overseeing the tribunal process at the Navy base, said the first hearings will begin late next week or early the following one. He offered no assessment of the prisoners' chances for release but said anyone found to be wrongly held would be returned to his home country. The Pentagon said the purpose of the tribunals is to prepare for those court challenges by showing that a panel of military officers has reviewed each prisoner's case.
The prisoners, held with little or no contact with the outside for two years or more, were told of the Supreme Court's decision on their rights during the past several days. England, briefing reporters at the Pentagon, said most reacted positively and wanted to meet with the military officer who will serve as their personal representative during the tribunal. "Most of the people who received this information listened, read and asked questions," England said. "And their most commonly asked questions were: 'When can I meet with my personal representative? And when will the tribunal process begin?'"
Every prisoner's case will be reviewed, whether he wants to take part in the quasijudicial process or not. Those who participate can request affidavits from witnesses, including people overseas. England said the prisoners also will be told their assigned personal representatives are not their advocates. He acknowledged any incriminating information a prisoner might provide to the representative, or to a translator, could be used in the tribunal. "This isn't a trial," England said. "This is looking at facts."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/17/2004 2:16:13 AM ||
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The Philippines leader's handling of a kidnapped worker has broken every rule in the book of dealing with blackmailers, writes Mark Baker in Manila.
Late last week, soon after Iraqi kidnappers first broadcast their threats to behead Filipino truck driver Angelo de la Cruz, the Government of President Gloria Arroyo showed every appearance of hanging tough. "We will not be cowed and be blackmailed by acts of terrorism," vowed Vice-President Noli de Castro, the popular former TV anchor who helped secure Dr Arroyo a second term in close elections two months ago. The administration's public refusal to bow to demands for an immediate pull-out of the small Philippines military and police contingent in Iraq drew lavish praise for the President from US ambassador to Manila Francis Ricciardone: "I see a leader who has strength and compassion in a way that is truly inspirational here. It's a tough crisis, and leaders are called upon in a crisis to do hard things."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/17/2004 12:41:43 AM ||
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#3
You're a moron, Tom T. How the hell is it respectable to have your foreign policy dictated by small gangs of murderous foreign thugs? Arroyo's action is cowardly, and sends the message that hostage taking (and all the associated executions), works. At least, it works against some nations. Expect more Filipinos to be held to ransom elsewhere.
#4
There are something like 3 MILLION Filipinos in the Middle East...Any time a jihadi needs a little money he can grab a few and make his demands...and Arroyo is so weak, she'll comply.
This weakness totally encourages more such BS. It'll happen, guaranteed. Thanks Aroyo! Thanks Spain! Very smart...
#5
#4, The hijackers were not asking for money. Their demand was the withdrawal of Filipino forces from Iraq. I have not heard a single incidence were Jihadis were asking for ransom.
Actually, the incident highlights an interesting issue regarding the so-called US allies. What is the moral cause of these allies and why are they easily running away from their commitments.
Ransom in the sense of demands issued in exchange for release of a hostage. No one said these kidnappers were after money. Other kidnappers in Iraq have. Hadn't you heard about that?
The US allies are running away from their commitments, are they? Who told you to think that? I'm guessing Michael Moore and the journalists who lecture you like an idiot at the Guardian/Independent. Fact is, Tiny Tim, despite the efforts of the jihadis, most allies have shown they're made of sterner stuff than Spain and the Philippines. Take Bulgaria, Japan, Turkey, Italy. Besides, Tim, when did you lefties decide that might (in the most brazenly murderous sense) was right? When did lefties like you decide to back the kind of people who threaten to murder poor filipino truck drivers in order to advance their anti-democratic agendas?
#7
Last I heard the Phillipines had a 51 member contingent in Iraq, and they're pulling out 11 of them.
BIG DEAL.
Posted by: Rafael ||
07/17/2004 8:21 Comments ||
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#8
Raf, that is just the beginning -- Arroyo will pull them all.
Tom, Arroyo put millions of Filipinos (both in the Middle East and the Southern Philippines) at risk to save the life of one.
You know that the enemy will take more hostages. First to get the Arroyo to pull workers at US bases (which are much more important then the soldiers since they free up U.S. troops) then for money. And that doesn't count the A-S in the southern Philippines.
Arroyo is the Philippine version of Carter and Kerry....
She should have promised to take care of the family if needed and made the tough decision -- that is her job as President.
Tom, the problem comes down to behavioral reinforcement. Now the cons of kidnapping are fewer, so the tactic will likely be repeated. Knowingly or not, intended or not, the Philippines have just shackled themselves to the wild dictates of jihadis for the foreseeable future. With this decision, net saved lives will could easily end up in the negative column.
#10
Can't wait until the next hostage situation forces the Phillipines to pull out from their southern islands.
What do you think the Phillipines own home-grown Islamic Fundamentalists will take from this example?
Posted by: Daniel King ||
07/17/2004 10:56 Comments ||
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The Phillipines are already in problems with rebels kidnapping people and demanding ransom. People have sunk millions into ransom already.
When you negotiate with terrorists, you have just made a quantum step in legitimizing them, and the price of that mistake gets higher and higher every time you capitulate to demands.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/17/2004 13:06 Comments ||
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Arroyo saves hostage, but at what cost?
At the cost of her country.
I'll give the local jihadis a month, if that, to pull the same stunt. And I don't even want to think about what their demands will be. That was Arroyo's job, and she failed miserably.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/17/2004 13:31 Comments ||
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#13
Arroyo saves hostage, but at what cost?
Well, if she wants to be penny wise and pound foolish, that's her choice...
#14
B-a-r: Unfortunately, she made a choice for the Phillipine people as well.
Would that it affected only her....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/17/2004 20:10 Comments ||
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#15
Unfortunately, she made a choice for the Phillipine people as well.
I would say us, too, in a way. Any U.S. personnel assisting the Filipinos in tackling their little Abu Sayyaf "problem" should be immediately recalled. If they don't want to fight back, there's no reason why we need to help or train them to do so.
#16
firstly, i think the decision was bad in the sense that it undermines the coalition effort, and does convey to hostages takers that their methods work, BUT, i'm real interested to see if the global jihad movement responds in favor of filipinos, and whether or not they are targeted less. that won't help other foreign workers, but it may have provided some security for the 3m filipos in the middle east. in that sense gloria did her job. we watch!
#17
You greedy, greedy people. What if your dad/husband/son was the hostage? This war was foolish to begin with. All these war savages should just get out of Irag and let them rebuild their own country. This just goes to show that more WOMEN should be in positions of leadership. Then there would be no more wars.
Posted by: Jen ||
07/23/2004 13:27 Comments ||
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#18
Uh, Fellow RBers, the comment above wasn't mine, in case you couldn't guess!
looks like I may have to change my handle!
Aside from ending Commuism, Fascism, tyranny, oppression and misery for 100 million people, war's never solved anything!
Posted by: Jen ||
07/23/2004 13:37 Comments ||
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From memri:
SYRIAN INDUSTRY MINISTER MOHAMMED SAFI ABU DAN TOLD THE UAE DAILY AL-ITIHAD THAT THE BEST OPTION FOR COPING WITH DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN CHALLENGES WAS SWITCHING TO A MARKET ECONOMY AND CORRECTING THE STATE'S DEVIATIONS AND GUARANTEEING ITS STABILITY. (CHAMPRESS, SYRIA, 7/15/04) Like this guy is gonna be around for long.....
The Council on Foreign Relations will recommend Monday that America negotiate with Iran in an effort to stabilize Iraq, end Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons, and capture members of Al Qaeda. CFR is considered America's premier consensus-making body for foreign policy. It is rarely critical of a sitting president. In this case, its recommendation for warming ties with Iran is in line with Senator Kerry's public position on the campaign trail. Actually, Kerry's public position wrt the mullahs is, uh, on his knees.
The report says America should pursue an offer Iran made last spring to American diplomats in Geneva to turn over some members of Al Qaeda to other countries, according to sources familiar with its contents. "Some members" == irrelevant cannon fodder.
In exchange, the report recommends that members of an anti-Iranian violent insurgency movement under custody of American forces in Iraq be sent to other countries to face prosecution for crimes against the Islamic republic. This advice comes as the State Department is negotiating the status of the Mujahadin e-Khalq with the Iraqi interim government. That's these guys.
America's support of a European initiative to entice Iran's cooperation with nuclear inspectors through dialogue and trade has appeared to do nothing to blunt the Islamic Republic's nuclear ambitions. No kidding. Continued on Page 49
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07/17/2004 7:29:02 AM ||
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The Council on Foreign Relations will recommend Monday that America negotiate with Iran in an effort to stabilize Iraq, end Iranâs pursuit of nuclear weapons, and capture members of Al Qaeda.
Negotiate? I have a better idea: how about rounding these guys up and giving them a good Singapore-style caning?
Via LGF:
THE US will mount a concerted attempt to overturn the regime in Iran if President Bush is elected for a second term. about f*king time
It would work strenuously to foment a revolt against the ruling theocracy by Iran's "hugely dissatisfied" population, a senior official has told The Times. The United States would not use military force, as in Iraq, but "if Bush is re-elected there will be much more intervention in the internal affairs of Iran", declared the official, who is determined that there should be no let-up in the Administration's War on Terror. To what extent the official, known to be hawkish, was speaking for the White House was unclear, but his remarks are nevertheless likely to cause alarm in Europe. awwwwww.....
He hinted at a possible military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, saying that there was a window of opportunity for destroying Iran's main nuclear complex at Bushehr next year that would close if Russia delivered crucial fuel rods. To destroy Bushehr after the delivery would cause huge environmental damage. The rods would allow the Iranians to obtain enough plutonium for many dozens of nuclear weapons, he said. Here's another reason why Bush must win in November. The Europeans are either paralyzed into inaction or complicit in Iran's schemes. If Kerry gets into the White House, there will be nothing standing in the way of the mullahs' nuclear ambitions.
#1
He hinted at a possible military strike against Iranâs nuclear facilities, saying that there was a window of opportunity for destroying Iranâs main nuclear complex at Bushehr next year that would close if Russia delivered crucial fuel rods. To destroy Bushehr after the delivery would cause huge environmental damage.
Who says the window really closes? Faced with a choice between a nuclear-armed Iran and localized environmental damage from radioactive contamination, the right choice really isn't all that difficult to make.
#2
Story is out of the London Times so it might actually have some shred of truth in it. It would be interesting to see what would happen in Iran if the top layer of turbans were to suddenly disappear, particularly if the leaders of the various groups of thugs used to suppress the people were to disappear as well. The 509th could make it so.
Iranian police conducted several operations in Tehran aimed specifically at examining women"s clothes. Inspectors were determined to check whether women were dressed in strict accordance with the laws of Islam. Witnesses claim that several police sub-divisions including women in yashmak detained several dozen Iranian women in local shopping malls. In addition, police visited an array of stores that sold women's clothes and confiscated most revealing attire. In particular, the clothes censors did not approve of tight and bright dresses, reports Regions.ru.
Iranian state information agency reports that authorities of the city of Isfahan prohibited local women to show up in public in clothes that contradict the laws of Islam. More so, live music during various public gatherings has also been banned. According to one of the regional experts Sadek Saab (BBC), police has warned people earlier that it will not tolerate "social demoralization." Whoever disregards the rules will be punished.
Members of radical Islamic political parties have won local elections in February. Since then, they"ve been vigorously trying to extirpate something they call "social erosion". Radical forces are not happy with the fact that local women often disregard religious laws and wear mini skirts and tight bright dresses, especially in summertime. However, according to the BBC analyst, many experts consider that such harsh measures of Islamic radicals might not necessarily yield needed results. In the course of the past few years, a number of young educated people who protest against traditional Islamic values in Iran has significantly risen.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/17/2004 4:28:15 PM ||
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While it found no operational ties between al Qaeda and Iraq, the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has concluded that Osama bin Laden's terrorist network had long-running contacts with Iraq's neighbor and historic foe, Iran. Al Qaeda, the commission determined, may even have played a "yet unknown role" in aiding Hezbollah militants in the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers complex in Saudi Arabia, an attack the United States has long blamed solely on Hezbollah and its Iranian sponsors.
The notion that bin Laden may have had a hand in the Khobar bombing would mark a rare operational alliance between Sunni and Shiite Muslim groups that have historically been at odds. That possibility, largely overlooked in the furor of new revelations released by the commission last week, comes amid worsening relations between the United States and Iran, which announced on Thursday that it would resume building equipment necessary for a nuclear weapons program.
In relation to Iran, commission investigators said intelligence "showed far greater potential for collaboration between Hezbollah and al Qaeda than many had previously thought." Iran is a primary sponsor of Hezbollah, or Party of God, the Lebanon-based anti-Israel group that has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States. But perhaps most startling was the commission's finding that bin Laden may have played a role in the Khobar attack. Although previous court filings and testimony indicated that al Qaeda and Iranian elements had contacts during the 1990s, U.S. authorities have not publicly linked bin Laden or his operatives to that strike, which killed 19 U.S. servicemen. A June 2001 indictment of 14 defendants in the case makes no mention of al Qaeda or bin Laden and lays the organizational blame for the attacks solely on Hezbollah and Iran.
#3
What about Ahmed Hikmat Shakir as an operational link between Saddam and al-Q?
For what its worth Ahmed Hikmat Shakir was seen with 9/11 hijacker Khalid al-Midhar on 1/4/2000 in Kuala Lumpur. After the meeting which is believed to be one of the planning meetings for the 9/11 attack, Shakir left his job in Kuala Lumpur. Oddly, he got the job at Malaysian Airlines through a contact at the Iraqi Embassy, and told associates that the same Embassy contact told him when to come to work and when not.
Odder still there was a name found on the rolls of Fedayeen Saddam officers: Ahmed Hiqmat Shakir.
Common name? Same guy with slightly different phonetic spelling? Did the 9/11 Commission even look?
#4
I'm with you, RMcL...I'm just completely shocked!...shocked I tell ya. Didn't binny get the memo that either shia's aren't supposed to work with sunnis or fundis aren't supposed to work with "secular" gov'ts (e.g. Saddam)? Man, we must make sure binny gets a copy of that memo and ASAP! (he says with a smirk like the movie "office space.")
Posted by: BA ||
07/17/2004 14:54 Comments ||
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Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/17/2004 17:04 ||
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#1
Fascinating article. If true I regret to advise this incident serves to provide further evidence that we've got alot of incompetent and/or corrupt people serving throughout gov't.
Posted by: Mark ||
07/17/2004 20:00 Comments ||
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#2
Mark, that's a given no matter what the story is about.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/17/2004 20:24 Comments ||
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#3
Consider the source: WND (AKA WHiny Nutcase Daily).
Take this statement for example:
"puzzled the NTSB guys was just how many eyewitnesses actually saw a plane with a ruptured center fuel tank rocketing upwards with burning fuel spewing behind it âespecially given that the center fuel tank was essentially empty."
It did NOT puzzle the NTSB guys - "nearly empty" tank still contains several GALLONS of fuel. And vapor in "nearly empty" tanks on a hot day is highly explosive - ask the Navy, they have specific procedures that are set to deal with jsut this soprt of thing. Civilian Airliners do not.
And on top of that - the July 17th date was just a COINCIDENCE. The fact that the "Baathist" party had some weigh ton this date is simply a coincidence - the Iraqi "celebration" days of Saddam's birthday were far larger.
Also note that he doesn't name names excpet for other tin-foil-hat conspiracy types, who also rely on unnamed soruces and anonymous people - and questionable quotes as well as pure disinformation such as the above quote.
Guys, read WND like you would the National Enquirer.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/17/2004 17:24 ||
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#1
This was from a time when Baath Party assassins were targeting individuals. Given the lack of recent incidents of this kind, I assume these operatives are either in custody or dead. From an Arab news article during that time period: Eye witness said the incident took place in the cafeteria. He explained that the "American entered alone and it was easy to identify him because he is tall, and while he was leaving, gun fire was opened at him and a man was seen fleeing with a pistol in his hand." Eye witnesses also said that the British journalist Richard Wild who was killed on Saturday in Baghdad was hit by a bullet in his neck while he was in front of Baghdad's university where a large group of students.
#2
WTF kind of journalism do they teach in Scotland? What is this shit about the Wilds stupid ass kid running around alone in Baghdad when there are ex-Saddamites pissed at not being able to kill, steal, and rape with impunity any more, and bloodlust crazed jihadis just looking to kill some white ass infidel so he can be assured of choice virgin poontang and boy ass in that big brothel in the sky? The Wilds should be thankful that the last memory they have of their stupid ass kid is not a video of him slowly getting his head sawed off as he is screaming at the top of his lungs.
WTF is the CIA implication? The CIA is mentioned exactly 2 times.
1. In the title.
2. Mr and Mrs Wild - who feel they have been hindered, rather than helped, by the Foreign Office at every turn - have come to a startling conclusion; they believe their sonâs murder was ordered by the CIA.
That's it. Not once again is the CIA mentioned. Though I should be sending condolences, I am just TOO FUCKING PISSED OFF at the conspiratorial stupidity of the Wilds and cowardly piss-yellow journalism in this Scotsman article. I expected more from this paper. If this is the utter crap Europeans is spoon fed each day, no wonder Europe doesnât have a frigging clue about the world and the kind of animals who await them. Let the wolves in and sit back while they tear them into tiny little pieces.
The CIA has implanted a microchip in my brain and ismaking me write this. I have no sense of reality and self-control while the CIA is beaming messages into my head. And I am just as accurate in my interpretation as the Wilds. GRRR.
Posted by: ed ||
07/17/2004 20:28 Comments ||
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#3
ed --
I'm glad you wrote what you did, because I really thought I missed something in the article. I didn't want to be insensitive, but the CIA excuse is getting old. If it's not the CIA, it's Halliburton, or Dubya. The whole article was confusing to me. And I was sober. Now... I'm a little buzzed. What're ya gonna do? It's Saturday night.
Heh, heh. "Boy ass." Sounds like a "South Park" term.
Two 12-year-olds were killed and four other people injured when a Jordanian wedding guest fired celebratory shots from a machine gun in honour of the bride and groom, police said today. The well-wisher lost control of the weapon as he tried to fire it with one hand, sending bullets flying in all directions, police General Moslem Mahaddin told the official Petra news agency. The accident happened in the Ojan neighbourhood of the Amman satellite city of Zarqa yesterday. It has sparked renewed appeals from the authorities for Jordanians to abandon the tradition of marking major social occasions with gunfire.
Jordanian ... tradition of marking major social occasions with gunfire.
Ever notice how the Left badmouth American gun owners, particularly Southerners (who don't fire off guns, machine or otherwise, at weddings), but never say a peep about their beloved moose-limbs' "culture"?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/17/2004 20:21 Comments ||
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Talks to end the unbridled violence that has killed tens of thousands of people in Sudan's western Darfur region collapsed Saturday with two rebel groups charging the government had not kept its end of the bargain. Not a twitch on the suprise meter here...
Mediators worked late into the night trying to save the negotiations, which began Thursday at the African Union headquarters in the Ethiopian capital.
But the rebels, insisting the government fulfill a list of previous commitments first, walked out Saturday without having met the Sudanese government delegation. Arabs? Fulfilling commitments?
"These talks are now finished," Ahmed Hussain Adam said on behalf of his Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudanese Liberation Army. "We are leaving Addis Ababa." Ibrahim Ahmed Ibrahim, spokesman for the government delegation, said Sudan was not prepared to accept preconditions. No! Certainly not! Our fingers were crossed!
African Union mediators were working to bring both sides back to the table. "Nobody told us the negotiations have ended," AU spokesman Adam Thiam said. Why are we always the last to know?
Damn! It was supposed to be a surprise!
The rebels' main demand was an internationally supervised timeline for Sudan to make good on its promise to disarm shadowy Arab militias accused of killing tens of thousands of black Africans Gang raping all the womens and young girls and driving more than a million from their homes in a systematic campaign of terror. The insurgents also were seeking government commitments to respect previous agreements, allow an international inquiry into the killings, prosecute those responsible, lift restrictions on humanitarian workers and release prisoners of war. Expecting the Sudanese to keep their word?
That's always puzzled me. Why work for a new agreement if they don't keep the old agreements? Why not just work toward getting the old agreements kept? Maybe I'll ask Yasser if I ever meet him. Or Saddam.
There is growing trend among Russians to vote against all candidates at elections. For example, in the recent elections of Vladivostok mayor, almost 10% of votes were given against all the candidates. The result of the "candidate "against all" was the fourth after Nikolaev, Cherepkov, Kopylov. The Head of Russian Central Election Committee Alexander Veshnyakov (on the photo) criticized the elections of mayor in Vladivostok. "This election campaign demonstrates the crisis of the authorities who are unable to settle the crisis in democratic manner", said Mr. Veshnyakov.
The Head of the Central Election Committee said that the verdict of Vladivostok Leninsky District Court to cancel the registration of mayor candidate Victor Cherepkov is the "abuse of legislative authorities". Meanwhile, lately Victor Cherepkov was wounded in assassination attempt on him. According to Mr. Veshnyakov, the voters can take offence with this court verdict and frustrate the elections. If the majority of Vladivostok residents vote against all, the election campaign in this city will have to be started anew. The elections can really be frustrated after the acting mayor and candidate for this campaign Yury Kopylov withdrew from the election campaign and called it the "farce where the winner is known in advance". He called people to vote "against all". Yury Kopylov withdrew from the campaign after the court dismissed Victor Cherepkov
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/17/2004 4:26:29 PM ||
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I've often wished for a "None of the Above" choice on the ballot, but then I live in California.
The Rwandan military is backing a rebel group that has battled Congolese forces and U.N. peacekeepers in eastern Congo, a flagrant violation of U.N. sanctions and the terms of a fragile peace accord, an unpublished U.N. report says. The 49-page report, which was prepared by a panel of four U.N. sanctions experts, also charges that Rwandan troops forcibly entered a U.N.-controlled refugee camp in Cyangugu, Rwanda, rounded up 30 young men and pressed them to join the Congolese rebels. They were released after officials from the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees protested, according to the report, scheduled for release on Tuesday.
A rebel force headed by two renegade Congolese officers, Col. Jules Mutebutsi and Brig. Gen. Laurent Nkunda, first emerged as a threat to the delicate Congolese peace process in early June, when more than 3,000 troops seized control of the strategically important town of Bukavu in eastern Congo, the report says. The capture of Bukavu sparked nationwide protests against the government of President Joseph Kabila and the United Nations, whose force of 400 U.N. peacekeepers in Bukavu was unable to repel the attack. U.N. officials have expressed concern that it may also mark the beginning of a trend in which former rebel leaders who joined Congo's transitional government in June 2003 take up arms again.
The followers of Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former rebel leader who was appointed vice president of Congo's transitional government, are transporting a "considerable amount" of heavy weapons and ammunition on Bemba's private planes to the airport in Gbadolite, the report says. It adds that Bemba's troops have barred U.N. military observers from entering the airport.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/17/2004 12:47:43 AM ||
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Maj. Michael Newton, a military lawyer who teaches at West Point, coined a new term earlier this year: "lawfare." It is the pursuit of strategic aims, the traditional domain of warfare, through aggressive legal maneuvers. Last Friday's decision by the International Court of Justice holding Israel's security fence in violation of international law is another milestone in the onward march of lawfare. The ICJ has now confirmed that lawfare and warfare can be pursued simultaneously...Most of the court's reasoning, based on arguments advanced by British barristers, is superficially plausible--so long as one ignores the actual political context of the dispute. Perhaps the Children's Rights Convention or the Fourth Geneva Convention do provide arguments against disrupting the free movement of innocent Palestinians...
In effect, the ICJ now claims that countries beset by terrorism must ignore terror threats and focus on the court's priorities. It is a dangerous precedent for the U.S., which has often contended for interpretations of its rights, under international law, that a majority of U.N. members might dispute. To those who argue that the U.S. should join the new International Criminal Court, because that new court will be moderated in its rulings by the influence of European members, this ruling of an older U.N. court should be sobering.The ruling raises still broader questions about the U.N.'s capacity to contribute to any serious international effort against terrorism. Even U.N. judges, we now see, have other priorities. Long article. I cut and pasted a bit. Raises worrisome questions.
Posted by: rex ||
07/17/2004 12:22:47 AM ||
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#1
This is a must read!
Posted by: Capt America ||
07/17/2004 2:23 Comments ||
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#2
Lawfare is a pretty good term. It is the method by which the agenda of the LLL has been advanced in this country over the last couple of decades, too.
#3
Am I missing something here? Are the following two statements true:
The UN is one of the sponsors/signatories of the 4-party Peace Plan?
The sequencing of the Peace Plan is that Palestinians must put a stop to the security failures if further negotiations on the two state solution are to occur?
If yes, then how, with the UN as a signatory to the peace plan, can the two positions reflected below be advocated?
"...admonished that the nations of the world are obligated not to pressure Palestinians to abandon terrorism, but to pressure Israel to dismantle its security fence...."
"The council had exercised this responsibility only a few weeks earlier, by endorsing a "road map to peace" which stipulated that ultimate borders...should be settled between the Palestinians and the Israelis in direct negotiations."
Clarity: "The ICJ's ruling is likely to prove a genuine obstacle to the step-by-step bargaining process envisioned in the road map."
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.
