#2
If Al Qaida was thinking strategic, the would leave the Olimpics alone.
Headline in Aug 29th NYT: "Terrorist Threat All in Bush's Head"
But like the insects they are, they cannot resist the porchlight....
Posted by: john ||
08/14/2004 22:28 Comments ||
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#3
Perhaps they figure that the MSM (MainStreamMedia) would blame anything that happens on Pres. Bush.
I am pretty certain the french press will, reasonable certain that the alphabet-networks will strongly imply that it is Bush'es fault. Dean will claim it openly and Kerry will claim it would never had happened under his watch.
#4
Anon6078> Are you so sure of the trustworthiness of British tabloids? This reporter *claims* to have managed to do all that -- does he have any evidence?
Not to mention that even if what he says is true, if he looks Northern European he probably wouldn't raise the concerns that a Middle-eastern person would. You can't have "profiling" work only one way without having it work the other way as well.
Anyway my own guess remains -- lack of casualties or serious terrorist attacks, not because of security measures or lack thereof but simply because I don't think such attacks would be politically useful to Al Qaeda at this place and time.
Vandals have daubed a swastika and written "death to the Jews" on a wall in front of Paris's Notre Dame cathedral overnight, police say. The act of vandalism, the first in Paris since a series of desecrations recently at Jewish, Muslim and Christian cemeteries in eastern France, was discovered on Saturday on the day Pope John Paul began a two-day pilgrimage to Lourdes in the southwest. The facade of the Gothic cathedral, one of the best-known churches in the Catholic world, was untouched, police said. "Writing was found on one of the low walls ... in front of the cathedral," a police spokesman said. "Three stones of the low wall were also worked loose but were left in place." Church officials notified police of the incident on Saturday morning. The public prosecutor has asked the police to open an inquiry, the spokesman said. The mayor of Paris, condemning the vandalism, said that the anti-semitic sign and words had been removed and the stones put back in place. The incident "inspires me with as much sadness as disgust," Betrand Delanoe said in a statement. "I sincerely hope that the writers of this new insult to the values of our civilisation will be rapidly identified and severely punished."
#3
I found the following article in the 30/07/04 paper edition of the Jerusalem Post:
SKINHEADS ARRESTED FOR DESECRATION Paris - Two skinheads were arrested Thursday in Bar de Luc in eastern France in connection with the desecration of a monument in memory of the Jewish soldiers who were killed in action during World War 1. The monument near Verdun was defaced in May with huge swastikas. The two youths, who were not named, "are young people with little brains who acted more out of stupidity rather than out of real conviction," said Amaury Lacote, deputy state prosecutor of the Verdun area. This position was not shared by the Ministry of Justice, which wants the two sued for "defacing monument in concerted action," an offence punishable by a five-year sentence and a euro 75,000 fine.
Michel Zlotowski
Couldn't find the article anywhere on the internet. Could it be that the French are ASHAMED of arresting these people?
Nuclear stance lets minister mend fences with U.S., maintain relevance at UN
Saturday, August 14th, 2004
Canada affirmed its support yesterday for United Nations' efforts to curb Iran's growing nuclear ambitions, Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew said.
"We are very preoccupied by the nuclear proliferation. And we are not pleased at all with the way the Iranians are conducting this level of nuclear proliferation," Mr. Pettigrew said in Washington, following a luncheon meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.
The international meeting at the U.S. State Department was Mr. Pettigrew's first since becoming foreign affairs minister, a deliberate attempt by Prime Minister Paul Martin's Liberals to re-engage President George W. Bush's administration after a shaky start between the two governments earlier this year.
The meeting was more symbolic than substantive, but served two purposes for Canada.
It gave the government another opportunity to vent its anger at Iran over its handling of the beating death of Montreal photojournalist Zahra Kazemi in a Tehran prison last summer. And it signalled that Canada sees the issue of nuclear non-proliferation as a way to maintain its relevance at the UN.
The United States is considering asking the UN Security Council to review Iran's nuclear program with an eye toward possible sanctions.
Canada does not have a seat on the Security Council, so it will have little influence over whether the UN adopts sanctions.
However, Canada has traditionally worked through the UN to support the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has been searching for evidence that Iran has tried to enrich uranium, which would be a violation of the treaty. Iran says its wants to develop peaceful nuclear technology to meet its energy needs, a claim the U.S. dismisses.
Canada is still smarting from Tehran's handling last month of the murder trial of the accused killer of Ms. Kazemi, who was beaten to death in an Iranian prison last summer after she was arrested taking photographs of a demonstration. Iran abruptly halted the trial, acquitting the only person accused in her killing of "semi-premeditated murder."
Canada has withdrawn its ambassador to Iran in protest.
Mr. Pettigrew's demands for Iran to return Ms. Kazemi's body so an independent autopsy can be performed have fallen on deaf ears.
Mr. Pettigrew referred yesterday to Ms. Kazemi's death as an "assassination" and condemned the Tehran regime's record of human rights.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
08/14/2004 10:07:28 PM ||
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#1
"Semi-premeditated murder???" I thought I'd heard it all. Does that mean his plan to murder her was half-baked?
#5
more symbolic than substantive rather accurately describes what Canada has become post-Mulroney. When you're reduced to hoping the UN will fight your battles, you've dropped into total irrelevance.
... And even where we have apparently clear examples of success, it isn't clear that what works, say, for a car manufacturer or finance firm is going to work for the CIA and the FBI.
I'd just about guarantee it wouldn't...
In the world of intelligence, the kind of information that, in less-clandestine businesses, tends to flow along informal social networks must necessarily be subject to greater constraints. So harnessing the power of social networks for innovation, creativity, and rapid adaptation is a trickier business for intelligence organizations than arguably for any other kind.
Intel collection, analysis and reporting goes beyond the mere division of labor requirement that causes an auto company to build engines in one place, brake systems in another, and bodies in yet another. Collection is actually done using different methods and skill sets: the mathematician analyzing codes would be lost having to develop an agent network. And the guy working with the agents would be lost having to analyze satellite pictures. All, to one extent or another, are further limited by their experience with a geographical area. Operations by their nature have to work within the constraints of the available skill sets. And "need to know" rules further limit the kind of informal exchanges that can add value that's a cost-benefit tradeoff, because it prevents inadvertent compromise of sources and methods.
What should be clear, however, is that combining the many different agencies involved in intelligence gathering and analysis at a single pointthat of the director of intelligenceis almost certain not to succeed in delivering the kind of ambiguous yet essential functionality that everyone wants. So, some other kind of connectivity, along with a more creative approach, is requiredone that incorporates not only the sharing of information across agency boundaries (a recommendation of the commission's that has received relatively little attention), but active collaboration, joint training, and the development of long term personal relationships between agencies as well. Creative intelligence analysis has a lot in common with other kinds of problem-solving activities: thinking outside the box, challenging deeply held assumptions, and combining different, often seemingly unrelated, kinds of expertise and knowledge.
At the risk of inventing a new layer of bureaucracy in the intelligence community, the answer probably lies in an all-source intelligence center that synthesizes the production of all agencies. It's an approach that's been used in the past and that has its value, as well as its own pitfalls. Chief among them is that the all-source center can develop its own insularity and stifle flexibility on the part of agencies it regards as subordinate (whether they are on paper or not).
By understanding how innovative and successful organizations have been able to solve large-scale, complex problems, without anyone "at the top" having to micromanage the process, the intelligence community could learn some valuable lessons that might help it escape the mistakes of the past.
When I left the government we were going through the latest management fad, as we'd gone through previous management fads zero-based budgeting, management by objectives, Theory Z, and all the rest. The current buzzwords involved being "proactive" and "customer driven," and we were all In Search of Excellence. I think there was even something called "just in time tasking." The intel business is by its nature reactive, though you can't collect, analyze or report on something that hasn't happened, with the caveat that it can also be predictive, telling you where to look next or what to look for next. It represents a pretty unique management problem that won't be solved by applying theory and won't stay solved even when what's applied today works. If it did, the OSS and the American Black Chamber would all still be ticking along productively. The people who're drivers senior management within agencies can't, for the most part, be brought from outside (which is something the business world could learn from them). They've got to be from technical backgrounds, otherwise they don't know what they're managing. But that strength is also their weakness, and virtually all would acknowledge it.
The problem of managing and coordinating the various agencies, some of which don't want to be managed or coordinated, is going to be complicated and not subject to facile fixes suggested by the writers at Slate. Because we're living in a touchy-feely world, the preference is always toward the Theory Y approach, with lots of input from the people on the front lines, "participative management," and all those other horse maneuvers. The "dictatorial," top-down approach is frowned upon. It's not as much fun to work in a Theory X organization. But anybody who's looking for fun should bypass the intel world and get a job at an amusement park. Firm direction works in crisis periods and start-up situations. If you're in maintenance mode (what the Boston Group would have called a cash cow) then Theory Y is acceptable, even preferable. You're working to optimize productivity. On 9-11 virtually all the intell community was in that mode, with lots of staff work and lots of committees. But if you really want to get something done, pick someone, give him (or her, I don't care) an objective, and make them responsible for achieving it. Staff it and set up a blue-ribbon panel to discuss it, and it'll never get done, at least not in a recognizable form. Sometimes "stakeholders" just have to adjust.
#3
Very interesting article. I was struck by the following:
1. Al Qaida's justification for jihad on women and children because the "enemy" was already doing the same in Iraq.
2. How they were already at war with us long prior to 9/11. (Thank you Mr. Clinton for not noticing. Thank you Mr. Kerry for promising more denial.)
3. How mainstream media has taken bin Ladin's post 9/11 "talking points" on the reduction of America to heart. Osama appears to see right through the liberal mindset. Don't start a war (that Al Qaida already declared) because we might get hit harder.
(We forget that Osama is a true fundamentalist; ie a religious conservative who despises liberals above all, which is deeply ironic)
Posted by: john ||
08/14/2004 22:00 Comments ||
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Posted by: Steve White ||
08/14/2004 1:14:41 AM ||
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Military.com has several videos of carrier and helipad landings that went awry. Every day our servicemen and women are in harm's way regardless whether they're in combat or not.
Posted by: Dar ||
08/14/2004 8:18 Comments ||
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THE United States is expected to announce today that it is pulling 100,000 troops out of Europe and Asia, according to a British newspaper report. The Financial Times said the withdrawals - the largest restructuring of Washington's military presence abroad since World War II - would be announced in a speech by US President George W. Bush. Citing "people briefed on the plan" in a front-page story datelined London, the newspaper said two-thirds of the reductions would be in Europe, with 70,000 troops - mostly from Germany - being sent back to stateside bases. "In Asia, the drawdown is expected to include the 3500 soldier brigade from South Korea, recently deployed in Iraq, but will also include scaling down presences in several other countries in the region," it said. Germany would still host the largest contingent of US troops in Europe, but the pullouts could nevertheless see the departure of the 1st Armoured Division and the 1st Infantry Division, the Financial Times said.
Posted by: tipper ||
08/14/2004 12:36:12 AM ||
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I suspect this is going to really boost GWB in the opinion polls. Americans are sick and tired of taking abuse from so-called allies who stick it to us every chance they get. I look forward to a complete withdrawal from South Korea. To paraphrase Dick Cheney, they can go #$!$% themselves.
#2
Expect screams of pain as wallets empty and economies go downhill as they lose our money and have to start paying for their own defense.
And seething. Maybe they can get seething lessons from the Arabs - particularly the Paleos they seem to like so well.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/14/2004 0:50 Comments ||
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This won't affect Europe all that much outside of the actual base towns. Europe's economy is big enough to absorb the hit. As for Asia, the broad hint here is Japan, isn't it? Where besides Korea and Iraq do we have significant forces in Asia but Japan?
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/14/2004 0:54 Comments ||
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BS: Expect screams of pain as wallets empty and economies go downhill as they lose our money and have to start paying for their own defense.
Nah. Think of what happened to the Eastern Roman Empire. Al Qaeda has spoken of America as the descendants of the Byzantines - rotting from within, and ripe for Muslim conquest. But the true sons of the Byzantines are the Europeans.
#6
Wow, only on RB! Therefore no opinion bump Zhang, bummer.
But well over due. If the Hun makes a mad dash to the coast, well, mofk!. If Jerry gets a hair up his but, well, mofk. If Boris gets a hanker for ground beef, CAG-It. If Poland decides, hey it's our time, just do it. If Geece says, the Olympics belong to us and you all must pay, then lets pay and pay and pay.
#7
Better late than never.
There is little danger that Slavic hegemonists will launch a blitzkrieg against Germany and France, and why should we care if they do?
Posted by: Halfass Pete ||
08/14/2004 1:14 Comments ||
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#9
It's about time. Let France and Germany and South Korea defend themselves if they are so damn special. It will keep them from stabbing us in the back anymore.
Now when Kerry starts jerking off about 'bringing the troops home' Bush can point to this initiative.
If the Frogs and the Krauts want to obstruct our war of terrorism, they can damn well find a way to fund their own defense.
The only bad part of this is in about five years when the Kraut and/or Frog left elect their first Islamic government, but I guess we can deal with that when we deal with that.
#11
Someone here had the right idea a few months ago when the rumblings about this picked up: bring most of the troops in Europe home, move the rest east to Poland, turn around, point the guns west, and dig in.
#13
Zhang, Japan too. Not completely, but only the Navy will be left there. Remember Powell said Japan had to modify its constitution to allow use of force in order to get a seat on the Security Council. This will just be more pressure.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/14/2004 7:00 Comments ||
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#15
Is there really a need for other than Navy ports and AF basing in Japan? Didn't I read last year that our bases in Guam, et al were being upgraded and runways extended to handle the bigger bombers?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/14/2004 8:41 Comments ||
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#16
Frank G., ask anybody who flew ARCLIGHT or BULLETSHOT missions out of Anderson AFB, Guam is a long ways from anywhere. Whether it's a B1, B2, or B-52, you're still going to have to hit a tanker at least once and probably twice to drop your load and get back. The iron bombs start to get pretty expensive when delivered that way.
#17
granted, but I would speculate that with GPS/JDAM kits, the effectiveness of every mission would make some economic sense?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/14/2004 9:19 Comments ||
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#18
Bwaahaahaa. Screw you Europeeeons! You deserve to be left to your own devices. May you smell like the sh!t you throw at your "friends". I am glad to see that we are washing our hands of these traitors. I only wish that they would learn to wash as well. Oh well. I'm sure that the muslims will teach them about that and a whole host of other life lessons on sharia. Enjoy.
#20
A big however; if we do not remove every troop from the Philippines and Spain, we are nuts.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/14/2004 10:15 Comments ||
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#21
Mrs. Davis:
Spain, sure, but don't forget in the Philippines we need to have some presence there ("advisors" , at the very least), to put some steel in the Flips anti-insurgent efforts.
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
08/14/2004 10:44 Comments ||
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#22
I say remove all advisors and aid from the Philipines. If the Christian Filipinos are not man enough to defeat the Muslims, then let them lose Mindinao or all of the Philipines. If they can't stand up for themselves, then let them live on their bellies or watch as their families gets beheaded.
Posted by: ed ||
08/14/2004 10:59 Comments ||
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#23
The Asian reduction is most likely Okinawa.The Japan-based troops that might come home would be Marines.Of course,the US could try to get them based in Australia(talk about tough duty).Unlikely tho.
Posted by: Stephen ||
08/14/2004 15:03 Comments ||
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#24
The Asian reduction is most likely Okinawa.The Japan-based troops that might come home would be Marines.Of course,the US could try to get them based in Australia(talk about tough duty).Unlikely tho.
Posted by: Stephen ||
08/14/2004 15:04 Comments ||
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#25
The PRC has more faith in Japan than does the US. In the sense that it knows what bad things might occur if there are miscalculations.
As far as I am concerned both Spain and the Philippines may have to be left to their own resources so that valuable personnel may be sent to fronts where victory is more likely. (He who defends everything defends nothing) If they become part of the Caliphate, it will only be temporary, and the lesson will be valuable for every other nation considering cooperation with these thugs. (C'est l'guerre)
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/14/2004 16:36 Comments ||
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By Leilanie G. Adriano, Northern Luzon Bureau Saturday, August 14, 2004 LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte—"Hired guns" are behind the series of still unsolved killings in Ilocos Norte, including that of the broadcaster Roger Mariano, according to Gov. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos. You just gotta trust someone with a name like "Bongbong."
Citing a police intelligence report, Marcos said the killers, who continue to sow terror, are not from Ilocos Norte but outsiders whose services were hired by cough certain parties cough in the province. He did not elaborate, but said the intelligence report was furnished to him by Senior Supt. Rolando Rabara, the provincial police director. Marcos met with members of the media to update them on the ongoing investigation on the killing of Mariano, a hard-hitting commentator of DZJC Aksyon Radyo in this capital city. "Even if this pesky respected reporter wasn't related to Benigno Aquino it wasn't necessary to bump him off for him to die!"
He said that aside from Mariano, hired assassins were also believed to have been behind several still unsolved high-profile killings in the province in the past three years. "Which I had nothing to do with!" Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Zenster ||
08/14/2004 5:26:35 AM ||
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#1
Its not the "Bong bong" part thats the problem. Filipinos love silly nicknames. Its that "Marcos" thing.
Translation of the line in Tagalog -
"The PNP is looking into and investigating who were the true targets of Rogers stories, there lies the problem"
The cash amounts to $2-3 million
#5
Is he related to former President Ferdinand "Deaddead" Marcos?
Yes, he is. ("Deaddead" snicker). Thank you for the translation, A4870. Do you have a read on Bongbong's mismanagement of his father's home district? Those criminal elements mentioned in the article fit him like a glove.
Remember folks, it was Bongbong, Ferdinand and Imelda (with other family members) that sat on their yacht drinking Dom Perignon Champagne and singing "We are the World" as their fellow countrymen starved. Ferdinand Marcos' unrestrained plundering single-handedly retarded his entire nation's progress by numerous decades and further entrenched a looting mentality that continues to haunt the Philippines to this day.
#6
Bongbong is the only son of the late President.
He has two sisters.
Ilocos Norte is a province, the Marcoses are influential across all the other Ilocano-speaking northern provinces - Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, etc., but he is governor of only one.
Ilocos Norte is no worse run than any other province in the country, but that isn't saying much of course. This sort of thing has happened in many places.
I would put the cost of Marcos at @ 5-6 years of growth, basically 1980-86, plus the excessive borrowing towards the national debt has hampered the country with interest payments since.
#7
I would put the cost of Marcos at @ 5-6 years of growth, basically 1980-86, plus the excessive borrowing towards the national debt has hampered the country with interest payments since.
Thank you for the insight, A4870. I'm obliged to dispute the 1:1 ratio of years in power versus period of decline during the Marcos regime. The untold BILLIONS looted by the Marcos family represented vital propellant for the Philippines' rising star as an Asian mini-dragon. Instead, they are faced with a declining industrial base and flat tourism statistics that are strangling their economy.
Until Arroyo's recent gaffe in Iraq, I had high hopes for her economic expertise helping life in the Philippines out of it's current doldrums. I'm interested to see your own assessment of what impact her pursuit of agrarian land ownership reforms might have. The struggle to more equitably redistribute property allocated by artificial colonial era land grants is much akin to Mexico, where some 1% of the population holds 90% of the arable land. These same propertied Philippine families are politically well-connected and represent a tremendous obstacle to any possible land reform. What do you foresee as a solution to this seemingly intractable problem?
#8
I don't know if you will see my answer Zenster.
Basically, Marcos alone is not at fault, Long-standing economic policies that suppressed foreign investment are high among the non-Marcos factors. Interestingly, it was in Marcos day that the first cracks in this began, and Ramos did the most to liberalize. But now the investment sink of China has robbed the Philippines of the window of opportunity.
The Philippines has always had a rather distributed land-ownership, compared to some other countries. The problems of large landowners were only in a few places. Land reform has been slowly on-going for decades. It hasn't helped much in terms of rural development, if at all.
I'm not sure I'd go that far...
The Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat said yesterday Al Qaeda had been seriously weakened by the current roundup of arrests of key operatives and was "in the process of dismantling." "The noose around Al Qaeda is tightening. But it does not mean we are close to capturing Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al Zawahiri," Hayat said in an interview. "We have no accurate information the location of Bin Laden. No one knows with any sort of accuracy about the whereabouts of Osama or Al Zawahiri."
"We don't know if it's Qazi's guesthouse, or Fazl's, or Sami's or Hafez Saeed's!"
He said none of the intelligence gathered in the current crackdown pointed to any particular location of the elusive terror network chief. "He could be anywhere," the minister said.
"He's everywhere! He's everywhere!"
Bin Laden and Zawahiri, his Egyptian deputy, are believed to be hiding in the mountains straddling the porous 2,450km border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. There has been no confirmed sighting of them since the December 2001 US-led assault on the Tora Bora mountains on the Afghan side of the border. Intelligence officials in Pakistan believe Bin Laden is still alive, but say they have no clear information his whereabouts. In the past month Pakistani agencies have penetrated a major Al Qaeda wing, capturing more than 20 Al Qaeda suspects, including a gallery of top operatives who were in the throes of plotting fresh terror strikes in Britain, Pakistan and the United States. "We have been able to arrest quite a number of them, around two dozen since July," Hayat said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2004 2:04:24 PM ||
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For a long time I have believed that UBL was killed in Tora Bora and is actually IN the mountains, as the man says. All of these audio tapes have not, yo my knowledge, been conclusively identified as UBL, just that it 'probably' or 'could' be UBL With UBL's love of the camera, I found this to be very incongruent.
But lately, as more and more evidence of Iran's involvement in AlQ, I wonder if UBL didn't go there from Kandahar vs. going to Tora Bora. A couple of hours in one of those nice Land Cruisers all the leader had and UBL would have been in black turban land.
#2
yeah sounds like a valid reason too me to turn Iran into a smoldering radioactive wastland,best start building an Iranian 'Thunder Dome' for thier soon to be mad max world lifestyle. :)
Posted by: Shep UK ||
08/14/2004 15:25 Comments ||
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#4
Dont know, I do know that Al-Q has been pretty quiet lately and that the "chatter" has dropped to near non existant levels IMHO that is a good sign as the chatter is now much less then it was in the run-up to large attacks in the past, as for Iran, I still fancy the low yield nuke option for sites connected to their manhattan project and full (and boy do I mean full) scale air war on government infrastructure and army objectives followed by an international blocade and let the people of Iran fight it out (with a little help from lanly offcourse)
TEL AVIV — Israel and the United States plan to test the Arrow-2 missile defense system against a target meant to simulate an advanced Scud D ballistic missile...On July 29, the Arrow-2 intercepted and destroyed the Scud B missile, with a range of 250 kilometers. Unlike the Scud B, the Scud D was deemed as about twice as fast and the warhead separates from the rest of the missile in the first stage of launch. The Scud B does not contain a separation process. A 2-3 week turnaround between ballistic missile tests. Oh boy.
#1
nice thing is the Black Turbans get one shot to destroy Israel...if that's intercepted (and sounds like we and the Israelis hve that covered) all hell rains back on the assholes. GPS coords input and set?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/14/2004 19:18 Comments ||
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#2
Several addenda: the Iranians are probably contemplating using the Shahab-3 multiple warhead threat as cover to allow them to build additional weapons. That is, if Israel attacks their nuke facilities, they immediately retaliate with a missile (not thinking beyond this point.) Eventually they hope to build so many they can set up a MAD scenario, then bully all the other Moslem nations into submitting to them, or perhaps blackmailing Europe or threatening the world's oil supply.
Another consideration are the US 747-based anti-missile lasers. Optimally, the Arrow system would be a last line of defense, rather than a first. This would also help against decoy missiles. A laser more effectively counter a multiple warhead missile before it could separate.
The big question is the timetable for this. A 2-3 week test turnaround indicates critical need.
#3
Dig a tunnel from the Med to the dead Sea and use the pressure head to run a power station. Tie a laser site into the power station. At need the whole electrical grid goes down and the laser absorbs all of the power. Now all we need is the laser. The tunnel idea has already been suggested.
PS one thing i could never figure out about the Scuds Saddaistam launched at Israel during DS. He had gas shells for his 155mm guns along with the HE rounds. Why not just load up a number equivilant to the weapons load rating of the bird on a carrier and let fly. Screw the guidance, they hit were they hit. But no, got to have the BIG BOOM
#4
AM I don't think this is a multiple warhead missle.... I think maybe the Perisian have figured it's best to seperate the warhead from the carrier to increase accuracy to within 3 miles..... It's like they see the dawning of the bus age.
By The Associated Press and DPA 14/08/2004 21:20
More than 140 Palestinians, including cabinet ministers, signed a full page advertisement in local newspapers Saturday calling for "immediate wide-ranging reforms" in the Palestinian Authority and its security services. The signatories condemned lawlessness in the Palestinian territories as well as political assassination, and urged "serious work" to root out corruption. Serious work = Seething, rioting, internecine murder and, of course, blaming the Jews.
The advertisement called for conducting national and local elections, fair and balanced distribution of resources and resorting to national and democratic dialogue to resolve internal disputes. Here in the west, we call that "representative government" and "rule of law." Perhaps you're unfamiliar with such advanced electoral and judicial concepts.
It also stressed "the right of our people to resist occupation, settlements and aggression, while keeping civilians from both sides outside the cycle of violence." Sounds like a thinly veiled endorsement of continuing terrorism while decrying any Palestinian casualties. Tough sh!t boys and girls, try stopping the mass murder before you squawk about "keeping civilians from both sides outside the cycle of violence."
The 144 endorsers of the plea included cabinet ministers, parliament members, leaders of the ruling Fatah movement and their last two remaining intellectuals. Among them was Palestinian parliament member and former information minister Nabil "Pegleg" Amr, who is undergoing treatment in Germany following an assassination attempt at his Ramallah home last month which resulted in the amputation of his leg. Had enough of the "cycle of violence," have you, Nabil?
Palestinian university graduates storm PA building
More than 100 unemployed university graduates stormed a PA building in a Gaza Strip refugee camp Saturday, calling on the Palestinian leadership to provide them with jobs. "We give them bomb vests and Kassam rockets but still these impossible-to-satisfy youths want more! We have nothing else to give (seeing as how the treasury was completely looted years ago)."
The incident, which ended peacefully after about two hours, was the latest sign of discontent with the beleaguered Palestinian Authority. The graduates - all of them unarmed - said the authority had promised them employment and failed to live up to its obligation. "Where are all those Egyptian guns and grenade launchers you promised us?"
"We have asked all those in charge and all the members of the Palestinian Legislative Council to find a solution for our situation by finding us jobs, but no one is listening to us," said Shadi Shaath, a leader of the protesters. He said the protesters left the building because they weren't sufficiently armed or prepared for a lengthy standoff, but he promised further action in the coming days if Palestinian officials don't respond. "If you do not respond, we will be forced to ... complain a second time!"
A series of kidnappings and violent demonstrations have plagued the Gaza Strip and West Bank in recent weeks. None of it caused by Israel either.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to pull out of all Gaza and four West Bank settlements next year has caused a power struggle as rival Palestinian factions maneuver for leadership positions ahead of the proposed withdrawal. Once the carnage is over, Sharon will confess that it was all a ruse to keep Israeli ammunition expenses down.
Palestinians have also shown growing discontent with the PA, which is headed by Yasser Arafat, accusing it of widespread corruption and ineffectiveness. Hey! This is supposed to be a news article, not ancient history.
Last Thursday, dozens of homeless Palestinians, led by gunmen, stormed the governor's office in Gaza's battered Rafah refugee camp, evicting officials and charging that Yasser Arafat's PA is not helping them. The standoff ended four hours later after officials pledged to help the people find unbulldozed housing. In the past few weeks, the turmoil has trickled from Gaza to the West Bank, where more and more orphaned Palestinians have begun to voice criticism of Arafat's corruption-plagued regime and demand reforms.
#2
I wonder how much the events occurring in Iraq are influencing Palestinians?Having been freed from a vicious dictator,the Iraqis are starting to enjoy all the things the Palestinians say they want.
I also wonder if Arafat and co. completely underestimated effects of the wall.There should have been massive,sustained protests at the wall construction 24/7.Where were the pregnant women,the kids,the western activists lying in front of path of wall construction?The building of the wall should have been a total PR fiasco for Israelis.I wonder if Arafat thought the wall would become the focus of Palestinian rage,instead of the Palestinians focusing on life inside the wall.
Posted by: Stephen ||
08/14/2004 21:36 Comments ||
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#3
Where were the pregnant women,the kids,the western activists lying in front of path of wall construction?
Sudanese police officers sent to restore security in troubled Darfur are sexually exploiting refugee women, according to a U.N. report. Khartoum says it has sent 10,000 police to the western region, and has only about two weeks to convince the U.N. Security Council it is serious about improving the plight of people in Darfur or face unspecified sanctions. "IDPs (Internally Displaced People) report increasing incidents of sexual abuse and exploitation in Abu Shouk Camp near el-Fasher committed by police officers," said the U.N. humanitarian situation report, received by Reuters on Saturday. "According to the IDPs the police are exploiting women's inability to venture outside of the camp to collect firewood out of fear of Janjaweed attacks by collecting the firewood for the women in exchange for sexual favours," the report added. It said some police had threatened women with violence if they did not comply with their demands.
Large quantities of powdered milk donated by international aid agencies to Iraq are being stolen and smuggled across the border to Iran for sale at bargain prices.
Shiite rebel leader Moqtada Sadr is prepared to accept a UN force in Iraq (news - web sites), a spokesman said Saturday, as peace talks between the cleric's militia and the government broke down in the holy city of Najaf. "We prefer the UN to the (US-led) occupation forces, because Iraq is a member of the United Nations," Sheikh Ahmed al-Shaibani said. "There is a big difference between the blue helmets (of UN troops) and the occupation troops."
"I mean, just look at the Congo!"
Sadr is "ready to meet the UN representative if he requests (a meeting)," the spokesman added. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's special envoy to Iraq, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, arrived in Baghdad on Friday and held immediate talks with Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and President Ghazi al-Yawar. The envoy reiterated UN calls for a peaceful settlement to fighting between US-backed Iraqi forces and Sadr's militia in Najaf, a spokesman said, reading a statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2004 1:55:24 PM ||
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Jeez, Fat Boy, too bad there aren't any there to take over and bail your ass out. You really shoulda known, because it was in all the papers.
Oh, well. Guess you'll have to die.
#3
Obviously Tater knows a good deal when he sees one, UN equals Money-for-Saddam. And, let's not forget the non-action on Iranian nukes by the IAEA.
Posted by: Capt America ||
08/14/2004 15:05 Comments ||
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#4
That call to Yasser must've gone through - dusting off the "red notebook of ploys and plansâ¢"
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/14/2004 15:08 Comments ||
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#5
Sadr is under the delusion that he actually has any say in what happens in Iraq. He had his chance to be part of the political process but he decided to go for establishing a mullacroacy like his masters in Iran.
I don't think (at least I hope not) Allawi is too willing for those who profited from oil-for-food while Iraqis starved, were murdered, and tortured to take a leading role.
#7
Tater is negotiating from a position of weakness, which is not the position to be in for making things happen. This showdown at the mosque is Iraq's to lose. I do not think that al Sadr called the Arafish, cause the Arafish is not doing so well in Ramallah.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/14/2004 15:59 Comments ||
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#8
Who gives a rat's ass what Sadr is prepared to "accept"? He's neither representative nor member of the government, and as such, doesn't have any say in what goes on other than voicing his own silly opinion. Sakes.
IRAQ today said it wanted multinational police forces to operate under a United Nations banner to control the violent insurgency across the war-ravaged country. The Iraqi government would soon discuss such a proposal with the new UN special envoy to Iraq, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, who arrived yesterday in Baghdad, interior ministry spokesman Sabah Kadhim said. "The security situation in Iraq is such that there are a lot of vacuums across the country which breeds undesirable elements," he said. "To erase these vacuums what we need is more international police forces." Mr Kadhim said the forces should operate under the United Nations banner. "We are going to discuss this with the new UN envoy so that our police forces are boosted and better trained in handling the internal security situation," Mr Kadhim said. "It is not that the multinational military forces are doing a bad job, but the situation needs more policing and for that we would request international police forces in Iraq." He said the proposal was also part of Iraq's desire to involve the United Nations "actively" in the country's security issues.
"So put up or shut up..."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2004 12:39 ||
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Could this be a very clever move by the Bush administration to suggest quietly to the Iraqi's that perhaps the UN would be willing to provide police forces?
If it is it is a brilliant move which will expose the UN as utterly useless and at the same time rob skerry of one of his main arguments.
It would be wonderful if this is another example of President Bush being misunderestimated.
#2
IRAQ today said it wanted multinational police forces to operate under a United Nations banner to control the violent insurgency across the war-ravaged country.
Yeah, like that's going to work well. The UN can't even peacekeep capably and they want it to police a country? Now on the other hand, if a sex trade and/or other illicit operations need to be set up, then the UN is your organization....
#3
Could this be a very clever move by Allawi to show Qazi he's a eUNuch? Allawi needs the help; if he gets it great. If not, every time the UN wants to butt it's nose into Iraqi affairs, Allawi says, "What about the cops?" I grow more impressed by his ability to skate on a daily basis. It will be interesting to see if he can win an election, something never far from the front of his mind, I'd bet. And that's all for the good, especially if he can humiliate the UN while he's at it.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/14/2004 16:48 Comments ||
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especially if he can humiliate the UN while he's at it.
A general statement re: the UN on any subject, Mrs. Davis! :-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/14/2004 17:24 Comments ||
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#5
No way any UN member not already in the coalition is going to expose its policemen to the terrorists. Cops are even more exposed that soldiers, given that they are more lightly-armed, and are responsible for mingling with the population, whereas soldiers tend to hang back a little, and have bases to go back to.
Rev. Khalid Soomro had his house set ablaze in an attack by Muslim extremists on July 27, 2004. Reverend Soomro has since gone into hiding. The Pakistan Christian Post reports on what Rev. Soomro has been doing in Pakistan (keep in mind the English is a little rough having been translated no doubt from Arabic). Also of note is that the Pastor is a volunteer for the Pakistan Christian Post:
Rev. Khalid Soomro has translated the New International Version (NIV) in[to the] Sindhi language. Rev. Soomro is serving Jesus Christ since 1985 in Karachi. His service includes, distribution of the Holy Bible, conducting of Bible Courses on [the] Internet and reaching and teaching [the] Bible in people's home. He has reprinted or saved many "Urdu" books. His services are not only recognized in Pakistan but internationally. Rev. Khalid Soomro belongs to "Shikarpur" District in [the] Sindh Province. Lord has blessed him abundantly especially on the doctrine of "Trinity". Pope John Paul has given him [an] award.
One of the eMail threats that Soomro received is printed in an updated article on the Pakistan Christian Post:
Mr.Khalid Mansoor Soomro
I am editor of (Zarb-e-Momin) a large weekly-circulated newspaper. I come to know that you become kafir (infidel) and left Islam, and you are working against Islam in an Islamic country. This is too much.
Behave yourself and repent and again enter into Islam, otherwise, our youths will be forced to make you human being .I have read your testimonies and know about your activities. This is the first and last warning to you, your family and your whole network. If I heard any negative activity on your end then we will be on right path to punish you.
Pakistan Christian Post notes that the Zarb-e-Momin is connected with the Al Qaida Terror Network through the Al Rasheed Trust which is banned in Pakistan but is still publishing there. Noted too, is a Reverend Stephen Nazir who also received threatening eMails from this group. He has gone into hiding too.
Posted by: Gulshan ||
08/14/2004 11:59:51 AM ||
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Haji Abdul Rasheed
I am dean of Crusader War College, an alternatvely sited institution of anti-idiotarian learning. I come to know that you become pest (cockroach) and left sanity, and you are threatening Christians in a constitutional country. This is too much.
Behave yourself and repent and again enter into sensibility, otherwise, our youths will be forced to make you a holy human being .I have read your testimonies and know about your activities. This is the first and last warning to you and your whole network. If I heard any negative activity on your end then we will be on right path to punish you.
The government in the National Assembly (NA) on Friday accused the religio-political parties of Pakistan of being involved in the terrorist activities of Al Qaeda, while the opposition tried to change the subject warned that the military operation in Balochistan might lead to another dismemberment of the country. "I don't want to go into the controversy but let me tell you that all the Al Qaeda operatives arrested (recently) were picked up from their (religious parties) regional headquarters," Federal Minister for Interior Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat stated while replying to a number of questions and allegations from the opposition on the problem in Balochistan. He alleged that the religious parties were supporting the terror activities of Al Qaeda, adding that the leaders of religious parties were 'two-faced' in politics.
No! Reeeeeeaaallly?
No one from the Mutahidda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) contradicted the interior minister's strong statement. The top leadership of the MMA including Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed and Liaquat Baloch remained silent.... The interior minister strongly rejected the opposition's allegation that a military operation was underway in Balochistan. He however made it clear that the government would strike back if miscreants attacked security personnel. He said the political forces of Balochistan did not want the people to progress economically.... ...PML-N's Khawaja Asif warned that the five-year rule of General Pervez Musharraf might lead to another dismemberment of the country. The NA unanimously adopted a resolution condemning last month's suicide attack on [Finance Minister and Premier-in-waiting] Mr.
[Shaukat] Aziz.
Posted by: Robert Stevens ||
08/14/2004 3:53:49 AM ||
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A soldier accused of abusing Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad has been arraigned on charges including maltreatment of subordinates, dereliction of duties, and committing indecent acts with detainees, the military said Friday. Spc. Megan Ambuhl was arraigned Wednesday, the military said in a statement. At the hearing, her attorney did not enter a plea, the statement said. Ambuhl and three other soldiers charged in the case will face a pretrial hearing in a U.S. military tribunal in Mannheim, Germany, on Aug. 23.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/14/2004 1:20:36 AM ||
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Nope, it wasn't President Bush or Rummy
Posted by: Capt America ||
08/14/2004 15:43 Comments ||
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The United Nations has returned international staff to Iraq, nearly a year after a bomb attack on their Baghdad headquarters killed 22 people. But although the UN is back in the country, the organisation is keeping a low profile. Mr Qazi [the new representative] spent his first day at work in Baghdad meeting the prime minister and president of the interim government and talking up the prospects of the national conference that is to be held on Sunday. He called for a peaceful settlement of the crisis in Najaf and emphasised the need for humanitarian assistance to its citizens. He was due to meet journalists but a mortar attack on the international zone kept him away.
On Sunday, 1,000 delegates to the national conference are meant to gather in the same place to elect a national assembly to support the work of the interim government. That next step in the Iraqi political process was due two weeks ago but was deferred at the request of the UN to ensure the conference was more representative. They will meet at a critical time. The events of the past week - the stand-off in Najaf and mass demonstrations across seven cities in favour of the rebel leader Moqtada Sadr - have tested the stability of the interim government. It needs some sign of progress to prove its worth.
And the BBC reporter is hoping that there won't be any.
Any assistance the United Nations mission can provide will be totally unexpected welcome but for the UN, memories of last year's bomb attack are still fresh. It has brought just 30 expatriate staff and will tread carefully to ensure this time they can stay in safety.
They might actually want to listen to the security experts this time.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/14/2004 1:04:52 AM ||
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Forgive me for being blunt, but we're under the gun from Charley (central Virginia, where it's already started raining, after days of rain beforehand, giving us saturated ground before it even gets here), and I'm in a really pissy mood.
So I'll cut to the chase.
If the UN really wanted to help Iraq, instead of help themselves to the Iraqi's property and keep the Iraqis enslaved instead of free, they'd STAY THE HELL AWAY.
Normal people to UN: FOAD!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/14/2004 9:36 Comments ||
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Pakistan celebrates its 57th anniversary on Saturday in an unprecedented atmosphere: what should be a joyous occasion to mark independence from British India will be overshadowed by the threat of terror attacks across the country. Security agencies fear retaliation for the recent arrests of two top jihadi leaders Maulana Fazalur Rehman Khalil and Qari Saifullah Akhtar and the possible apprehension of other key jihadi leaders in coming days under US pressure. The possibility of attacks has been confirmed to this correspondent by sources close to jihadi circles. They say that top Pakistani officials as well as key strategic installations and institutes will be targeted in suicide attacks. In an effort to take some of the heat out of the situation, President General Pervez Musharraf has officially announced that plans for military operations in troubled Balochistan have been shelved and that his special representative has been sent to the province to speak to nationalist Baloch leaders in an attempt to get them to end their insurgency. Musharraf has also sent exclusive messages to members of the United Jihad Council for Kashmir in which he assured them of his support for the armed struggle against the Indian army.
However, the moves might not be enough. The Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement (PONM) has already announced that it will celebrate August 14 as a "Black Day" because of the situation in Balochistan, where nationalist insurgents are conducting an ongoing campaign for more control over the region's vast natural-gas and mineral resources, as well as for increased political and economic rights. Pamphlets have also been distributed all over South Waziristan in which schools, colleges and government institutes are urged not to celebrate Pakistan's national day as a protest against the on-going military operations in tribal areas and economic sanctions imposed in the region.
Tribal troubles
In the tribal areas near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the Kabul government has been working on different options for the past two years to turn Pakistani tribes against Islamabad and to induce them to ally themselves with their original roots - Afghanistan. Recent signals suggest that remarkable progress is being made in this mission. Tribal chiefs of South and North Waziristan attended a loya jirga in Afghanistan at the invitation of President Hamid Karzai in which Karzai restored their titles and honorary positions in the Afghan army that they enjoyed a few decades ago for not declaring their loyalty to Pakistan. Chiefs also came from Mahmond Agency, Bajur and Orakzai agencies. And in a strange development, a few weeks ago residents near Mahmond agency announced their "annexation" with Afghanistan. The same announcement was made last year in a village in Mahmond agency, after which skirmishes started between the Pakistan army and Northern Alliance forces in Afghanistan. The skirmishes continue.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
08/14/2004 12:26:30 AM ||
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Al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri's uncle, who won a number of national medical awards, has died of a heart attack, Egypt's leading newspaper reported Friday.
Do they accept a JDAM in lieu of flowers?
Dr. Mohammed al-Zawahri, a dermatologist who received the presidential Award in Medical Sciences and the Republic's First Class medal, died Thursday in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, Al-Ahram reported. It did not give his age. The paper, which is close to the Egyptian government, did not mention the blood relationship between the doctor and Osama bin Laden's deputy and closest aide, Ayman al-Zawahri. However, Mahfouz Azzam, another uncle of al-Zawahri, told The Associated Press that Mohammed al-Zawahri was considered the "chief" of (Ayman) al-Zawahri's family. Montasser el-Zayat, an Egyptian attorney who defends Islamic radicals and who spent three years in prison with Ayman al-Zawahri, told the AP the dermatologist was the uncle of the man believed to have provided much of the ideology driving al-Qaida since his Egyptian Islamic Jihad merged with bin Laden's terror network in 1998.
Donations of arms and ammunition should be sent to the Islamic Chidren's Fund...
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/14/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
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First Class medal? What, dermatology is a boy scout merit badge in Egypt?
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
08/14/2004 5:52 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
