An intense earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter Scale shook the Philippines early Saturday but caused no damage, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said. (The Ring of Fire is becoming hotter each week.) The quake, which was tectonic in origin, struck at 3:28 am (1928 GMT) with an epicenter off the coast, about 121 kilometers (75 miles) northwest of the town of Iba, Zambales province. Few people noticed the quake as it was located too far out to sea, the institute said, adding that no aftershocks were expected. Although about five quakes hit the Philippines every day, few if any are felt and only three major, destructive tremors have been recorded in more than 30 years, the institute has said.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/30/2004 4:41:18 AM ||
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Over 2,500 Muslim intellectuals from 23 countries have signed a petition to the United Nations calling for an international treaty to ban the use of religion for incitement to violence. It also calls on the Security Council to set up a tribunal to try "the theologians of terror." The petition is addressed to Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and to all members of the Security Council and its current chairman. "There are individuals in the Muslim world who pose as clerics and issue death sentences against those they disagree with," says Shakir Al-Nablusi, a Jordanian academic and one of the signatories. "These individuals give Islam a bad name and foster hatred among civilizations."
Who would be responsible for the enforcement of such a treaty? Has any Muslim country given any thought to the idea of stringing those guys up on the spot? What gives anyone the impression that INTERPOL would be more effective than a neighborhood lynch mob?
Five gets you ten that the first person accused of using religion to induce violence will be an itinerant Pentecostal preacher quietly spreading the Good News in some gawdforsaken part of the new Caliphate ...
Nablusi said hundreds of Arab writers and academics were collecting more signatures and hope to have "tens of thousands" by next month. Among those collecting signatures are Jawad Hashem, a former Iraqi minister of planning, and Alafif Al-Akdhar, a leading Tunisian writer and academic. Most of the signatories are from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states plus Iraq, Jordan and Palestine. The signatories describe those who use religion for inciting violence as "the sheikhs of death". Among those mentioned by name is Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian preacher working in Qatar. The signatories accuse him of "providing a religious cover for terrorism."
He's perhaps the preeminent Learned Elder of Islam. I agree he needs strung up. I just don't think the UN's quite the body to do it...
Last year Qaradawi raised a storm when he issued a fatwa allowing the killing of Israeli pregnant women and their unborn babies on the ground that the babies could grow up to join the Israeli Army. Last September, Qaradawi in a fatwa in response to a question from the Egyptian Union of Journalists said killing "all Americans, civilian or military" in Iraq was allowed. "We cannot let such dangerous nonsense to pass as Islam," Nablusi says.
What you oughta do, bub, is break off your piece of Islam and call it something else maybe Kaba'ism or something like that. Then join the U.S. in rooting out the guys who like cutting people's heads off. Islam is already stained with the savagery of Islamism, and it's a stain that's never going to wash out. And it's not going to be an easy task; we haven't seen the Arab Street erupting against the merchants of hatred. Quite the contrary, in fact.
The petition also names the late Egyptian preacher Muhammad Al-Ghazzali who, in 1992 , issued a fatwa for the murder of Farag Foda, an anti-clerical writer in Cairo. Within weeks of the fatwa, zealots murdered Foda in his home. Other "sheikhs of death" mentioned include the Yemeni Abdul-Majid Al-Zendani, and the Saudis Ali bin Khudhair Al-Khudhair and Safar Al-Hawali. The two Saudis have described the Sept.11 , 2001 attacks against the United States as "retaliations", and thus justified under Islamic law.
At least these guys realize who the Learned Elders are...
Issuing murder fatwas has a long story. In 1947 the late Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against Ahmad Kasravi, one of Iran's most prominent lawyers. A few weeks later, six men stabbed Kasravi to death in a court of law. In 1951 a group of mullas issued a fatwa for the murder of Iran's Prime Minister Haji-Ali Razmara. He was shot dead a few days later. In 1989 Khomeini issued a fatwa for the murder of the British novelist Salman Rushdie. The signatories of the petition also want the UN to order its member states to stop broadcasting the "mad musings of the theologians of terror."
It'll never happen. But it's good to be reminded that not every Muslim is a nutbag.
Posted by: tipper ||
10/30/2004 2:42:28 AM ||
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This is actually an excellent sign. As someone once said, "Prejudice is treating people unfairly based on their associations. But prejudice begins when a people excuse members of their group of crimes and ill-behavior because of membership. Outsiders judge groups not by their best and brightest, but by their most offensive members. The better neighbors are a family who discipline their children."
#2
America needs to add a new dimension to the war on terror. These "Learned Elders" should be targeted wherever they are, be that arrest, deportation, pressure on their country of residence or outright surgical removal. Our own leaders do not seem to get it that these people are just as dangerous as a nut with a vest of RDX.
Posted by: Old Fogey ||
10/30/2004 12:02 Comments ||
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More than 80 suicide attackers have been trained on foreign soil to launch strikes in Russia, according to the country's security services chief. During a debate on national security, Nikolai Patrushev told parliament that some attackers had been "neutralised".
"We used silver bullets to be on the safe side."
But he said he could not guarantee there would be no further attacks. Mr Patrushev's comments came shortly before a Russian parliament debate on President Vladimir Putin's bill calling for a radical overhaul of the way Russia is run, following the Beslan school siege. Mr Putin wants to abolish direct elections for regional governors, saying this will help security.
"It's for the children (TM). And the baby ducks."
Mr Patrushev, the head of the FSB security service, called for the creation of a single permanent anti-terrorist centre. He told Duma deputies on Friday: "We have established there are more than 80 suicide attackers trained abroad who are to be sent to Russia to carry out terrorist acts. We don't know what route they might take to get into Russia, and this creates definite problems." He did not explain how the FSB had gathered the information on potential attackers.
"It wasn't pretty."
He said the training of fighters and suicide bombers "was carried out through secret religious and military-religious organisations, located in a number of eastern states". Mr Patrushev would not rule out the possibility of future attacks. "In order to confidently say there will be no terrorist acts, a comprehensive system of measures must be in operation and it has to operate precisely. So far such a system has not been created in our country. For the secret services it is nakedly clear that the ideologists of the terrorist attacks in the North Caucasus are [Chechen separatist leader Aslan] Maskhadov and Basayev and men from al-Qaeda. As for the Beslan attack in particular, it was organised by Basayev," he said.
I think we knew that.
Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov told the Duma that existing legislation made it hard to fight terrorism effectively. He suggested detaining relatives and confiscating finances could be efficient deterrents for would-be suicide bombers. "Detaining relatives and showing terrorists what may happen to their relatives could help save people's lives, so let's not close our eyes or put a diplomatic face on it," AP quoted him as saying. "When you live by the sword, you die by the sword."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/30/2004 12:07:37 AM ||
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There could be an attempted duplication of the school horror within Russia by these 80 killers. Linkage to code words issued within the Bin Laden video tape is highly possible.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/30/2004 2:53 Comments ||
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I have not heard much in the line of Russian counterattacks after the Beslan school tragedy. In fact, the only thing major that I have observed is Putin's consolidation of power. Are the Russians in a heavy-duty planning and staging mode, or are they sitting around? Do they have good intel for strikes? I wonder what is really happening w/r/t counterterrorism in Russia.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/30/2004 13:49 Comments ||
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North Korea has continued to send instructions through various communication channels and Internet sites to its espionage agents and pro-communist activists in South Korea, intelligence sources say. Communications from North Korea to its operatives in the South remain steady at around 80,000 messages annually, South Korean officials said. At the same time, only two to four agents were nabbed in the country during each of the last two years, highlighting a weakened ideological stance in South Korea against the espionage offensive by its communist neighbor, the sources said. Only 14 North Korean agents have been arrested during the past four years, said opposition lawmaker Kwon Young-Se, a member of the Parliamentary Information Committee, citing an intelligence report. The figure was three in 2000, four in 2001, two in 2002 and two in 2003, compared to 20 in 1998 and 15 in 1999.
The ruling Uri Party introduced legislation in Parliament last week to kill the country's decades-old anti-Communist law, calling it an anachronism dating back to the Cold War.
Directives from the North involving espionage activities in the South increased in 2001. It was an apparent bid to use the reconciliation mood following of the 2000 inter-Korean summit meeting to boost its espionage activities in the South, one official said. The North's messages to spy vessels targeting the South jumped tenfold between 2000 and 2003, he said. More than 300 messages were coded by random numerical tables last year and could not be deciphered. Instructions from North Korea to its South Korean-based spies mostly focused on gathering information on military installations and collecting public opinion, the source said. The comment came as South Korea's government and ruling party have pushed to abolish the country's National Security Law that bans pro-communist activities. The ruling Uri Party introduced legislation in Parliament last week to kill the country's decades-old anti-Communist law, calling it an anachronism dating back to the Cold War.
The Cold War actually seems alive and well in Korea...
Under the law, which has long been considered as a bulwark against Communism, a South Korean could be sentenced to prison if convicted of praising an "anti-state organization," which refers to North Korea. The ruling party said the 299-member National Assembly would approve the measures before its session closes Dec. 9. With a majority 151 seats, it has the votes needed to pass the bills on its own.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/30/2004 3:46:01 AM ||
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the grass it is more green on the other side of the hill.
baby.
repeat, baby.
till they a lay me in the green green grass of home.
repeat lay me
green grass on my window, ((*&%^% let the wind blow
'I believe the Iranian regime has 50-60 very active 'Gestapo' style agents in Scandinavia - predominantly embassy workers and refugees who forward information on other refugees.
Several Iranian refugees spoke with the newspaper for its report, including defected Iranian diplomat Perviz S. Khazai, who represents the National Council of Resistance in Iran (NCRI) in Scandinavia. 'I believe the Iranian regime has 50-60 very active 'Gestapo' style agents in Scandinavia - predominantly embassy workers and refugees who forward information on other refugees. In Denmark alone, there are at least 5-10. I know one of them by name,' said Khazai.
Chief inspector Hans Jørgen Bonnichsen of the Security Intelligence Service (PET) confirmed that refugees in Denmark are often subjected to espionage. 'I won't say anything on the extent to which Iranians are targets of espionage. It would damage our counterintelligence work if I said which exile groups we were focusing on,' said Bonnichsen, who has urged any Iranian refugees who feel they may have been targeted by spies to contact PET.
Posted by: tipper ||
10/30/2004 1:47:16 AM ||
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The Iranian intelligence service is also very Internet active. These "Ayatollah Bugs" not only try to monitor and supress Iranian dissent inside and outside of Iran, but now have begun to interfere with anti-Iranian government discussion threads to defend the Iranian government. This is not an easy task, as you might imagine, so they usually just say that "everything is fine in Iran" and post a few links (the same ones) from apologists in the western press. They Deja-Google USENET looking for any anti-Iranian government thread, if you would like to meet one, and I would not be surprised if one shows up here.
#2
I wrote here at Rantburg last summer how I got good, old fashioned drunk with two Iranians at an Irish pub in Chicago after the Manchester Utd soccer game.
One was Iranian-American, the other Iranian-Swedish. Great guys, good sense of humor. Normal.
This is why this stuff pisses me off. It's not enough the Mullahs ruin Iran but they have to chase down Iranians around the globe, too?
Re-elect W and let's help clean out Iran from Islamist scum.
"It appeared to Bush," said bin Laden, "that a little girl's talk about her goat and its butting was more important than the planes and their butting of the skyscrapers. That gave us three times the required time to carry out the operations, thank God."
Al Qaida mastermind Osama bin Laden paid tribute to leading Kerry supporter, conspiracy filmmaker Michael Moore on Friday, by invoking a scene from his movie "Fahrenheit 9/11" to attack President Bush. In his first appearance on video in more than a year, the delusional terrorist leader described the segment in Moore's film where the president continued to read the children's book "My Pet Goat" to a Florida elementary school class after he got word that America was under attack. "It appeared to Bush," said bin Laden, "that a little girl's talk about her goat and its butting was more important than the planes and their butting of the skyscrapers. That gave us three times the required time to carry out the operations, thank God." Echoing Moore's complaint, the fugitive terrorist continued: "It never occurred to us that the commander in chief of the US armed forces would leave 50,000 of his citizens in the two towers to face these horrors alone at a time when they were most in need of him."
Moore has set the tone for Democrats this year since December - when he openly criticized Bush as a National Guard "deserter" while campaigning for Gen. Wesley Clark. In July, Moore was feted at the Democratic National Convention, where he was invited to sit in ex-President Jimmy Carter's box. Earlier this month, Moore began openly fundraising for Kerry during his speaking engagements. The Democratic Party filmmaker has yet to say whether he approved of bin Laden's use his movie as a vehicle to attack the president.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/30/2004 5:24:11 AM ||
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the fugitive terrorist continued: "It never occurred to us that the commander in chief of the US armed forces would leave 50,000 of his citizens in the two towers to face these horrors alone at a time when they were most in need of him."
I think that here Bin Laden is projecting his own feelings of guilt because he abandoned his followers in Afghanistan as they were being massively wiped out as a consequence of Bin Laden's decisions and actions.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
10/30/2004 9:32 Comments ||
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I've been thinking about this ever since we talked about it yesterday, and I'm beginning to wonder if there's less to this than meets the eye.
I think Wretchard may be wrong about this being Bin Laden's "surrender offer;" it takes him too much at his word.
Quite simply, the west is a house divided against himself, and Bin Laden has a choice: say what he really wants (the global Caliphate, etc) or say something tailored to take advantage of the fracture points in our society. He chose the latter.
(BTW, does anyone know yet whether this was really him or a splice-together of an earlier tape? I always thought he was dead because if he weren't he'd be coming down on Zarqawi like a sack of bricks...)
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
10/30/2004 9:36 Comments ||
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There is only one answer to this:
FUCK YOU OBL !!
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
10/30/2004 10:30 Comments ||
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Fred, I think a better choice for graphic would have started with a screenshot showing Peter Falk and Alan Arkin in the frame with him.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
10/30/2004 11:11 Comments ||
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So did OBL come out at this time to try to drive the electorate towards Bush or towards Kerry?
What does he know of our culture?
#6
Shit, he can get a distorted view of our culture anytime he wants. Just click the "on" button of the remote control for the satellite TV.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
10/30/2004 12:58 Comments ||
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Not sure what's on satellite TV as I don't watch it. Does OBL want Bush to win the election to rally the jihadists against us or does he want Kerry to win who he thinks would be "more sensitive?"
Just posing the question. I don't mean to understate my personal feelings about OBL but "Fuck him and I hope he dies a horrible death and rots in hell through eternity and beyond."
#8
As I commented on my blog, I don't think this is really bin Laden. I think it's a cleverly disguised double. Why would OBL remain silent for two or more years, then appear just days before the US election? It stinks worse than a bucket of dead fish. The fact that OBL followed the Democratic talking points to the letter also smells pretty bad. I don't think the tape will have any effect on the election at all, except to remind the faithful that we're still at war, and who the enemy is.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/30/2004 14:03 Comments ||
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#9
Shit, is that what Michael Moore looks like
after a diet?
Also, why is he sitting? Is this another FDR "don't show that the leader can't walk" deal?
#10
I think OBL is alive, although not well, living in Iran and this has been produced at the behest of the Mullahs to sway the US election. Since most of the tape has not been broadcast, I suspect that it contains something like a specific demand to elect Kerry.
On Monday the Canadian High Commission [in Colombo] was closed because staff mistakenly feared that white powder on one of the monks' passports might be anthrax. The monks, who were seeking visas, had to shower... The Sri Lankan government says the incident has caused "serious concern". Canada denies mistreating the monks. [The powder] later turned out to be talcum powder doubling as insect repellent.
Posted by: Old Grouch ||
10/30/2004 11:57:08 AM ||
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(imminent) death is actually beyond a life-threatening illness, no?
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/30/2004 21:28 Comments ||
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Political press release.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
10/30/2004 21:41 Comments ||
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Either that or it was all just a trick to get Arafat out while saving face. Two years is a long time to spend "at the office." Maybe he longed for the better accommodations of Paris.
Posted by: Tom ||
10/30/2004 22:07 Comments ||
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Soooohhhiieeuha would never tolerate that.
As AP asked: where's the dreaded red notebook? The one with Suha's PINs and the Santa-list?
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/30/2004 22:15 Comments ||
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No matter what a fish's health is, it is still nothing but sushi to a common European kingfisher.
#6
Arafat was brought to France on direct orders from President Jacques Chirac, whose line is that peace will be hard to achieve if a man who has for so long enshrined the Palestinian struggle for statehood is sidelined.
Chiraq, our buddy, fighting for rights and freedom, again....**sigh**
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/30/2004 23:09 Comments ||
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Still censoring the truth, eh Fred? Hope that GIs who risked their lives in Iraq on basis of Jewish lies bring you to justice for treason against the United States.
http://ADLUSA.com -- restoring America's dignity
Posted by: Boris Pribich ||
10/30/2004 23:04 Comments ||
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#8
Still censoring the truth, eh Fred? Hope that GIs who risked their lives in Iraq on basis of Jewish lies bring you to justice for treason against the United States.
http://ADLUSA.com -- restoring America's dignity
Posted by: Boris Pribich ||
10/30/2004 23:04 Comments ||
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#9
Stop ridiculing the man and wish him a speedy recovery, his people need him.
Posted by: Boris Pribich ||
10/30/2004 22:42 Comments ||
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#10
Stop ridiculing the man and wish him a speedy recovery, his people need him.
Posted by: Boris Pribich ||
10/30/2004 22:42 Comments ||
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This may not be a wise move.
Thai authorities will start on Saturday releasing most of the 1,200 Muslim men detained last week after a protest which left 85 dead and outraged Muslims worldwide, the country's prime minister said. Thaksin Shinawatra said 300 protesters would remain in custody as an investigation continued into last Monday's tragedy, one of the bloodiest days in a 10-month wave of unrest in the mainly-Muslim south. "The remaining 900 protesters will be continuously released starting from this afternoon," Thaksin said in his weekly radio address.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/30/2004 3:09:23 AM ||
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Western intelligence has discovered a new training course for regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah under way in the southern Philippines. Sources say intelligence estimates between 20 and 30 Indonesians are attending the course. The length the course will go for is uncertain, with estimates ranging from six weeks to several months. Because of heightened surveillance, it is not possible for JI to conduct courses for larger numbers than this. The course is taking place at a JI camp in a territory controlled by the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
The MILF officially denies links with JI but security sources throughout Southeast Asia are convinced JI not only runs training camps in MILF-controlled areas, but that it does so with the full knowledge and approval of MILF leaders. JI has not conducted operations with the MILF as far as we know, but has worked together with the even more violent but smaller Abu Sayyaf group, which has close al-Qa'ida links. JI is believed to have helped Abu Sayyaf in blow up a ferry in the Philippines earlier this year. The blast killed more than 100 people.
The ability of JI to continue training operations in the southern Philippines is one of the greatest frustrations faced by Southeast Asian security forces. A key regional and US demand on the MILF is that it stops affording training facilities to JI in the areas it controls. However, the MILF has refused to negotiate meaningfully on this, claiming there are no JI camps in its territory.
"It's hard to say. All those heavily armed, masked men won't let us go in to have a look."
Sources say the JI training course under way in the southern Philippines covers explosives and weapons training, physical training, as well as learning how to plan a terrorist operation effectively, how to undertake observation in preparation for an attack, as well as various techniques demanded in urban and jungle environments.
My fave is "Zakat and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance 101" and the required lab course, "Riding Pillion Style."
There is also deep ideological training to psychologically prepare terrorists for operations.
"Hare krishna, hare krishna, krishna krishna, hare hare..."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/30/2004 12:40:50 AM ||
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It can be safely established, in fact, that Hezbollah—owing to generous financial support from Iran —is the world's number one terrorist organization...
The Hezbollah organization places a great deal of importance on the campaign over the public mind, viewing it as a key component in its struggle against Israel. The organization operates an extensive network of propaganda that spans magazines, a TV station, a radio station and Internet websites. Hezbollah makes widespread use of communication infrastructures in order to disseminate its vision, doctrine and messages to diverse target audiences in Lebanon , the Middle East, and elsewhere across the globe. Foremost among the means of propaganda used by the organization is the Al-Manar TV station, broadcasting worldwide from Lebanon via a multi-national satellite system. Hezbollah attributes major importance to television broadcasting1. It can be safely established, in fact, that Hezbollah—owing to generous financial support from Iran —is the world's number one terrorist organization when it comes to its ability to make such extensive and diverse use of a TV station under its control. MORE IN THE LINK
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/30/2004 6:17:46 AM ||
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...Arafat's departure Friday was the first time he had left the Ramallah compound in 2-1/2 years. His chair was left empty at the meeting. Boy, if that isn't foreshadowing, I don't know what is.
...PLO member Yasser Abed Rabbo said the session -- the first without Arafat since the late 1960s-- would "ensure the function of Palestinian institutions." Such as the continued corruption of their youth.
..."It is to be a normal weekly meeting, to discuss political developments," such as Jewish settlement building on occupied land and internal Palestinian affairs, PLO committee member Taysir Khaled told Reuters before the session. I wonder if they discussed who is going to kill who to take command as part of the Palestinian internal affairs discussion?
"I don't think anybody can make any decisions while Yasser Arafat is still alive," Palestinian lawmaker Hassan Khreishah added. "So things will remain as now." I guess they are waiting for him to die before starting a civil war.
Posted by: Ol_Dirty_American ||
10/30/2004 8:49:32 AM ||
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I advise all and any of you who has any holdings in Palestinian Dinars (or whatver other fucked up currency they have) to SELL, SELL ,SELL !!
The PCW (Palestinian Civil War(TM)) is coming
Invest in Popcorn manufacturers stocks instead.
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
10/30/2004 10:35 Comments ||
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The biggest entertainment value will be in predicting how it will be blamed on the Joooooos when these Paleo-mafias try to kill each other, destroy their infrastructure, use women and children civilians to shield their snuffies in attacks on other paleo-snuffies
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/30/2004 11:10 Comments ||
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Hey, Elder of Zion! Belay that PCW acronym! Those are my initials!
On another topic, what about the Red Folder? What the hell is in the Red Folder? I know I am becoming fixated by it, but I wanna know.....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/30/2004 16:26 Comments ||
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#4
Fred's bald pic on the perch ... aww gosh... looks sorta cute eh... When was this taken Fred? lol
Posted by: Sir Fizzle of Arabia ||
10/30/2004 20:59 Comments ||
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#5
Fred - I'd back you up on a troll call on Sir Fizzle. On principle, if nothing less...
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/30/2004 22:03 Comments ||
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Where are all those 'missing' WMD? Syria & Lebanon
U.S. intelligence agencies have obtained satellite photographs of truck convoys that were at several weapons sites in Iraq in the weeks before U.S. military operations were launched, defense officials said yesterday. The photographs indicate that Iraq was moving arms and equipment from its known weapons sites, said officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The official said the convoys are believed to include shipments of sensitive armaments, including equipment used in making plastic explosives and nuclear weapons. About 380 tons of RDX and HMX, used in making such arms, were reported missing from the Al-Qaqaa weapons facility, though the Pentagon and an embedded NBC News correspondent said the facility appeared to have been emptied by the time U.S. forces got there.
The photographs bolster the claims of Pentagon official John A. Shaw, who told The Washington Times on Wednesday that recent intelligence reports indicate Russian special forces units took part in a sophisticated dispersal operation from January 2003 to March 2003 to move key weapons out of Iraq. In Moscow, the Russian government denied that its forces were involved in removing weapons from Iraq, dismissing the claims as "far-fetched and ridiculous."
(As far-fetched as Moscow assisting Iran to build nukes?)
The Pentagon is still investigating the fate of the explosives and possible Russian involvement. Officials said numerous intelligence reports in the past two years indicate Saddam used trucks and aircraft to withdraw weapons from Iraq before March 2003. However, the new information indicates that Russian troops were directly involved in assisting the Iraqi military and intelligence services to secure and move the arms. According to one official, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, known as NGA, "documented the movement of long convoys of trucks from various areas around Baghdad to the Syrian border." Harold Hough, a satellite photographic specialist, said commercial satellite images taken shortly before U.S. forces reached Baghdad revealed Russian transport aircraft at Baghdad's international airport near a warehouse. "My thought was that the Russians were eager to get something out of Iraq quickly," Mr. Hough said. "But it is quite possible that the aircraft was used to transport the Russian forces."
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/30/2004 3:43:11 AM ||
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I believe Debka was the first to report on this back around January 2003.
Posted by: V is for Victory ||
10/30/2004 8:58 Comments ||
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There was a reason Debka had this story ahead of the crowd. Israel & eyes on the ground & in the air.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/30/2004 15:49 Comments ||
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#3
Wrong trucks at the wrong time in the wrong place.
#4
Something from the depths of my memory - seems that sometime last year when all those retired Russian generals and 'bureaucrats' were visiting, there was a clean-up specialist as well. Darned if I can remember the source tho.
Crude oil in New York rose for the first day in three amid concern production from Nigeria could be curtailed by labor unrest. The main labor body in Nigeria said a general strike is likely after it rejected a plan to quell anger over fuel prices in the sixth-largest OPEC producer, Agence France Presse reported, citing a labor union spokesman. Prices tied a record $55.17 a barrel three days ago amid concern that demand for heating oil and other fuels would outstrip refinery production. ``Everybody's just so nervous at this point with the Nigeria situation,'' said Chris Ovrebo, a broker with FC Stone LLC in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Crude oil for December delivery rose 86 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $51.76 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil futures have dropped 6.1 percent this week. Forecasters including AccuWeather Inc., Earth Satellite Corp. and WSI Corp. have predicted a colder-than-normal winter in the Northeast, the region that consumes most U.S. heating oil. (Where are those snow shovels?)
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/30/2004 3:26:11 AM ||
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``Everybodyâs just so nervous at this point with the Nigeria situation,ââ said Chris Ovrebo, a broker with FC Stone LLC in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.
Whoa whoa whoa, what happened to the cold winter "fears"?
Suggestion:
HOW ABOUT WAITING TO SEE WHAT TRANSPIRES BEFORE REACTING, YOU IDIOTS???
#2
Bomb, as one who knows a little about this, allow me to try and explain in layman's terms.
If the guys buying oil contracts wait and do nada and something does indeed happen this Sunday, in this case a national strike effecting global supplies of Nigeria's exported oil, some of the cleanest in the world by the way, those schnooks will lose out because they did not buy oil to climb in price on Friday in order to gain on Sunday night/Monday morning/afternoon.
Friday evening, all of Saturday & most of Sunday all oil markets are closed. If one was going to buy or sell they had to before the NY oil exchange closed, Friday afternoon.
On the other hand ,if the Nigerian national strike is cancelled, or placed on hold, prices should drop for a brief period the oil traders are still fine since the majority know price will be elevating higher due to the upcoming winter, terrorism or supply problems elsewhere in the world. Guys which had oil 'positions' to benefit from yet another drop in price would gain as well.
I hope this little overview helps.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/30/2004 4:26 Comments ||
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#3
So they are betting on a short,sharp spike in price to"seek profit".But if not,they won't lose if the hang on to the oil long enough.
#4
That's my take raptor. Unless of course the winter turns out to be mild, in which case a smart player can still come out ahead by moving chocolate and cotton to Cairo.
#5
AlGore assures us that world temps will be uncommonly balmy in winter and broiling in summer...something about Kyoto and gaseous emissions (from him?)
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/30/2004 11:16 Comments ||
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Raptor, Ship, You guys understand. My overview was dealing with the situation from yesterday (Fri) through Sunday night's trading & early Monday morning's, in case the threats of a shut down strike in the southern coastal oil producing Delta region inflict delays and shut down production along with exports.
Long term is the way to position in the energies until at least March/April. In if Osama loonies act up in Saudi Arabia MUCH higher prices in the energies will be in forcast. If crude dips toward $40 or, lower, going out 8 to 12 months for a 30% to 40% rise can not be ruled out.
Shell oil has ordered all employees to hit the road in Nigeria's Delta. It shall be an interesting rest of the weekend!
Like always, Happy Motoring!
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/30/2004 15:47 Comments ||
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#7
I still say chocolate covered cotton has a market.
But I'll trade lb for lb Tunisian eggs fob Taranto for beet futures, fob Tampa, storage per custom.
I see what you're getting at, but speaking as the simpleton schmuck on the street that I am, what's maddening is the situation as a whole. All sorts of reasons are peddled for all this volatility as of late wrt oil prices; during last winter, various news pieces talked about a price rise when the summer driving season gets under way. Then when Iraqi rebels blow up oil pipelines, even though Iraq's output is only a fraction of what it used to be, the market starts going wacko. Add in the occasional talk of low inventories (which I as the Street Schmuck have to take people's word on it, since I can't reliably verify stock), "fears" of terrorism, "concerns" about supply, and a colder-than-normal winter coming up (which isn't exactly a given). And to top it all off, when some perceived "problem" crops up, the price of gas spikes up immediately, yet when the perceived crisis subsides, the price of gas drops at an extremely leisurely pace, to say the least. Hearing, reading, and watching all this crap is just irritating beyond belief.
Jordan has decided to renew a long dormant territorial dispute with Syria, and has issued Damascus with a formal demand to return territory illegaly seized in 1970. This has been confirmed by western intelligence sources. Jordanian officials have refused to comment. In September 1970 Syria attempted to invade Jordan and overthrow King Hussein, under the pretext of assisting the PLO uprising against the Jordanian government, in what became known as "Black September".
Syrian president Nur'a din Attassi sent his 5th Armored division to invade Jordan and assist embattled PLO leader Arafat, who was besieged in Amman's refugee camps after having launched an unsuccessful uprising against the Hashemite dynasty. The invasion collapsed after Syrian air force commander Hafez Assad refused to allow his air force to provide air cover to the Syrian armor, out of fear Israel would send its air force to the aid of the Jordanian monarch. RJAF gave their ground forces effective air cover, almost annihilating the Syrian tanks in Jordan. In the wake of the debacle Assad succeeded in overthrowing Attassi in a bloodless coup, and assumed the presidency. However Syria retained in control of some 125 square kilometers (48 square miles) of Jordanian territory, which it holds to this day, and in which some 17,000 Syrians have been resettled. Prior to his death in 1999, King Hussein made several demands of Syria to return his land, but to no avail. Some 20,000 Syrian settlers now occupy the site under the protection of Syrian soldiers and police. The renewed Jordanian demand is based on the 1923 map, which delineated the border between what was then the British controlled East Palestine and French occupied Syria. The Jordanians claim the map clearly shows the disputed land belongs to Jordan.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/30/2004 2:49:29 AM ||
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#1
sounds like they think there might be leverage in the coming months with a weakened Syria?
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/30/2004 11:41 Comments ||
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Funny, I had never heard of these "occupied territories" before. Guess the UN GA, Arab League, Amnesty, et al are just waiting for the right moment to issue their condemnations of Syrian oppression and neo-colonialism.
#5
The Jordanians have the 3 best air force in the world, specializing in desrupting command and control. Oddly enough it is based in Kuwait, not Jordan proper.
Osama bin Laden, publicly injecting himself into the campaign four days ahead of presidential elections, said in a videotape aired Friday that the United States can avoid another Sept. 11 attack if it stops threatening the security of Muslims. In the portion of the tape that was broadcast, the al-Qaida leader refrained from directly warning of new attacks, although he said "there are still reasons to repeat what happened."
"Your security is not in the hands of Kerry, Bush or al-Qaida. Your security is in your own hands," bin Laden said, referring to the president and his Democratic opponent. "Any state that does not mess with our security has naturally guaranteed its own security." Admitting for the first time that he ordered the Sept. 11 attacks, bin Laden said he did so because of injustices against the Lebanese and Palestinians by Israel and the United States.
In what appeared to be conciliatory language, bin Laden said he wanted to explain why he ordered the suicide airline hijackings that hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon (news - web sites) so Americans would know how to act to prevent another attack. "To the American people, my talk to you is about the best way to avoid another Manhattan," he said. "I tell you: Security is an important element of human life and, free people do not give up their security." After the video was aired, President Bush said that "Americans will not be intimidated" by bin Laden. Sen. John Kerry criticized Bush for failing to capture bin Laden earlier and said that "I can run a more effective war on terror."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/30/2004 12:05:30 AM ||
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Its nice to see that Bin Laden is basiclly It is pretty creepy to see that Bin Laden is basically watching the DNC, Moveon, and Moore et al and taking there lines and working into his material. I wonder if Moore and the rest will loose and sleep over that?
"The members of the [commission] and anyone associated with fraudulent democracy, will feel the sword of righteousness on their necks"...
Iraq's most feared militant group has stepped up its attempts to disrupt the country's first democratic elections by sending letters to the authorities warning it will kill anyone involved in administering the January poll. The group, led by the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has delivered the letters to the Mosul and Baghdad offices of the Independent Electoral Commission. "The members of the [commission] and anyone associated with fraudulent democracy, will feel the sword of righteousness on their necks," the group says in one of the typewritten letters shown to the Guardian.
Security in the run-up to the elections remains the chief concern for the authorities amid a ferocious bombing and kidnapping campaign by insurgents. Joint military operations are under way to break the hold of Sunni militants in areas south, north and west of Baghdad so that elections can take place. The threats from the militants come on the eve of nationwide voter registration, in which as many as 14 million Iraqis could sign up to vote. From Monday, about 6,000 election workers will staff 545 registration centres in schools and municipal buildings across Iraq. But officials fear intimidation by insurgents will deter many potential voters. A female poll worker in the troublespot of Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad, was kidnapped and killed this week. Carlos Valenzuela, the UN's chief electoral adviser in Iraq and a non-voting commission member, said: "The security of the facilities and the people are a source of concern and the subject of daily discussions between the commission and the Iraqi forces' supported by the multinational forces. "There have been threats to the UN for supporting the electoral process for months. They are taken seriously, but you have to continue your work. It is very encouraging that there have been no shortage of Iraqis wanting to work for the commission despite the risks."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/30/2004 12:44:11 AM ||
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I wonder why Zarqawi chose to appear clean-shaven and very un-fundamentalist in the photo for his "encyclopedia".
Posted by: V is for Victory ||
10/30/2004 9:27 Comments ||
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... the UNâs chief electoral adviser in Iraq and a non-voting commission member, said: "The security of the facilities and the people are a source of concern and the subject of daily discussions between the commission and the Iraqi forcesâ supported by the multinational forces. "There have been threats to the UN for supporting the electoral process for months. ..... " .... The Iraqi foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, has called on the UN to increase its presence in the run-up to the vote.
Sometimes the UN is useful to the USA and its allies.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
10/30/2004 9:46 Comments ||
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Sometimes the UN is useful to the USA and its allies. .
Mere opinion, I'd need many links before I even considered that propisition. I'll be back after FSU v Maryland tilt. I'll expect scrubbed links lined up for inspection. And yes, I'll judge the links for whether they are pertinent. Please line them up from recent to not recent and inner sort from small to stupid.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/30/2004 16:56 Comments ||
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I've seen better links at the UN baby golf course. You know, the feel good par 72 carpet course with the big giant wind mill that suckers down your balls at the end.
Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden slammed US President George W Bush's policy on Iraq, accusing him of having replaced Saddam Hussein by another "agent" in order to plunder the country's oil resources, Al-Jazeera television reported. The news channel aired a videotape of bin Laden in which he threatened new attacks against the United States, days before the US presidential elections. According to Al-Jazeera, which did not broadcast the excerpt in Iraq, bin Laden accused Bush of having replaced one US agent by another at the head of the Iraqi regime so that he helps the United States plunder Iraqi oil resources.
Al-Jazeera said bin Laden also accused the United States of considering injustice and the massacre of innocent people to be a legitimate act and said that the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington were a response to US injustices. These injustices included the millions of bombs dropped on the children of Iraq, the television reported. In the parts aired by Al-Jazeera, bin Laden threatened more September 11-style attacks, accused Bush of "misleading" his people and said the American people's security hinged on US policy, not on whether Bush or his Democratic challenger John Kerry wins the November 2 elections. The tape has been deemed authentic by US intelligence agencies.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/30/2004 12:10:01 AM ||
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Note this:
"Admitting for the first time that he ordered the Sept. 11 attacks, bin Laden said he did so because of injustices against the Lebanese and Palestinians by Israel and the United States.
In what appeared to be conciliatory language, bin Laden said he wanted to explain why he ordered the suicide airline hijackings that hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon so Americans would know how to act to prevent another attack."
So I wonder if all the people who keep saying that the US did it, the Jews did it, the Carlye Group, etc will change their tune? Probably not. Anyways I think it is relvant. Binny admits guilt and asks for a time out.
#2
Still channelling the Dems' talking point, eh, Binny?
No time out, no negotiations, no breather, no talks, no mas.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/30/2004 3:01 Comments ||
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Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden slammed US President George W Bushâs policy on Iraq, accusing him of having replaced Saddam Hussein by another "agent" in order to plunder the countryâs oil resources,..
Yep, that must explain the $2.30/gal gas prices. Ah, the windfall of all that "plundered" oil....
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the delusional terrorist leader described the segment in Moore's film where the president continued to read the children's book "My Pet Goat" to a Florida elementary school class after he got word that America was under attack. "It appeared to Bush," said bin Laden, "that a little girl's talk about her goat and its butting was more important than the planes and their butting of the skyscrapers. That gave us three times the required time to carry out the operations, thank God." Echoing Moore's complaint, the fugitive terrorist continued: "It never occurred to us that the commander in chief of the US armed forces would leave 50,000 of his citizens in the two towers to face these horrors alone at a time when they were most in need of him." 
...Arafat's departure Friday was the first time he had left the Ramallah compound in 2-1/2 years. His chair was left empty at the meeting. 
Jordan has decided to renew a long dormant territorial dispute with Syria, and has issued Damascus with a formal demand to return territory illegaly seized in 1970. This has been confirmed by western intelligence sources. Jordanian officials have refused to comment. In September 1970 Syria attempted to invade Jordan and overthrow King Hussein, under the pretext of assisting the PLO uprising against the Jordanian government, in what became known as "Black September". 
