If you have a little free time, you'll enjoy the Wall Street Journal's blog BestOfTheWeb. Today blogger, and OpinionJournal editor, James Taranto notes that CNN's Eason was a favorite of Lil Kimmie, because of the mugs, mousepads and suchlike Eason brought over the years as gifts for the Big Man. Previous posts have had similarly revealing and amusing bits. And of course, the man writes beautifully.
Did Osama Bin Laden win last week's elections in his native Saudi Arabia, the first ever held in the Kingdom? Not quite — but the al-Qaeda leader's sympathizers should be more than satisfied with the results of 38 municipal contests held Thursday, the first round in a series of three such elections around the country. Islamic conservatives outpolled nearly 650 other candidates — including contenders with powerful tribal links and businessmen who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars — for all seven seats up for grabs on the Riyadh city council. They were better organized, emphasizing their technocratic skills while having the word spread via sms cell-phone messages and popular Islamic Internet sites. And they had the key backing of militant Islamic leaders, notably Sheikh Salman al Awdah, jailed for five years in the mid-'90s for opposing the Saudi monarchy. "They will make the country more conservative, while we want it to open up," says Mohammed Al Ammari, one of the defeated liberal candidates. "We have to open our minds and be part of the world."
In contrast, Suleiman Rashodi, a winning fundamentalist candidate backed by Al Awdah, exulted in the outcome. "My friend, this is an Islamic country," he told Time. "Liberals are far from our society. They are like the West." Rashodi calls bin Laden "a good Muslim," though he says he disagrees with his global jihad.
Rashodi has plenty of company. While many Saudis soured on al-Qaeda after the violence struck home with a terror spree starting in May 2003, a poll published last year said 48.7% still had a positive opinion of bin Laden's rhetoric. Al Awdah, the radical sheikh who has joined with bin Laden in political causes in the past, continues to rail against social reform in Saudi Arabia, saying there is "no place for secularism in the Muslim world" and calling attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq "a religious duty."
Rashodi believes that Islam and democracy are compatible, so long as elections don't contravene strict Islamic teaching. But this election — in which women could not vote and men were choosing only half the council members, with the rest to be appointed — also underscore the contradictions of U.S. policy in the region. In his State of the Union speech this month, U.S. President George W. Bush lectured the Saudi monarchy, calling for "expanding the role of its people in determining their future." But the trouble with elections is that you have to live with their results. And this one suggests that many Saudis — like their counterparts in Iran and Algeria when they first got the vote — prefer anti-Western militant Islamists over pro-Western reformers.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/15/2005 12:09:54 AM ||
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#1
It's obvious when the people of these Islamic countries get to vote their own leaders in, those most popular are anti-U.S. candidates. A sure way to gain popularity is to publicly decry the United States and anything remotely connected to it. In future geo-political construction it would behoove the policy-makers in Washington to install Islamic leaders who push certain issues (women's rights, religious tolerance) as opposed to using the word Democracy as a platform. The very word incites death over there. Possibly finding texts in the Koran that would validate the rights of a woman or support understanding of Christians and Jews and using those passages to combat the Radicals.
#2
Let the Saudis live with the consequences of their education system, instead of sending their problem sons off to annoy the neighbors. Then they can choose to modify themselves, or wait for events to impose modification.
#3
I believe radical Islam is the consequence of their educational system. You would think this culture that has been around for thousands of years, with their own universities and scholars at the forefront of Law, Medicine, and Science, would be the front-runners in the world. While we're in Iraq and Afghanistan, we should put teachers in their Ministry of Education that ease up on religion and focus on positive social reform. Tweak the History books a little, whaddya say?
The forensic examination of the body of an alleged terror chief who died in police custody clearly shows the cause of death was heart failure, Kuwait's interior minister said yesterday. "The forensic report is very clear," that Amer Khlaif Al-Enezi died of heart failure, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah told reporters in Parliament. "The report of the hospital where he died also confirms the forensic report and shows there was no trace of torture on his body," the minister said. Kuwaiti Islamists have called for an independent investigation of the death of Enezi, the leader of a cell allegedly linked to Al-Qaeda. "Why should we torture Enezi... after he confessed to all the acts he had carried out... Why are some people trying to cast doubts," against security forces, Sheikh Nawaf said. The parliamentary human rights committee and the minister are to discuss the issue and other complaints of torture by Kuwaiti police tomorrow.
This article starring:
AMER KHLAIF AL ENEZI
Peninsula Lions
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
Why should we torture Enezi... after he confessed to all the acts he had carried out... It's like Scrappleface.
ABU DHABI — General Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, yesterday renewed UAE's denunciation of terrorism, calling for coordination among countries of the region and the world to confront threats posed by it. "Terrorism is a global phenomenon that is not linked to a certain country and its threats are posed at the whole world." Shaikh Mohammed made the remarks while touring the pavilions at the Gulf International Defence Exhibition (Idex-2005). Shaikh Mohammed said that the AGCC countries were coordinating to fight terrorism, following the counter-terrorism accord signed by them.
I notice that Sheikh Mohammed didn't bother trying to disassociate terrorism from Islam, as is proforma in most of the rest of Arabia.
Shaikh Mohammed announced that the UAE will take delivery of F-16 aircraft in early May, adding that the UAE pilots have completed training on the aircraft. He said that Idex had had become one of the top events on the international military and defence exhibitions calendar. "Compared with previous editions, Idex current edition registered an unprecedented participation, another feather in its cap,' Shaikh Mohammed added. He said that UAE nationals proved that they were capable of organising major events and that present edition "has succeeded with flying colours". On the UAE's future plans to develop defence industries, he said that the country was heading towards industrial investment that relies on quality rather than quantity.
"The UAE is investing heavily on human resources, to be able to develop scientific and industrial capabilities in a way that will meet its ambitions in different spheres." He also revealed strategic plans to modernise UAE Armed Forces "to enable them play their role of supporting sisterly countries and to deter any threat to national security." According to Shaikh Mohammed, the long-term planning includes upgrading the Armed Forces' land, naval and air defence capabilities, in accordance with the requirements of joint operations and within a limit that maintains a balance between defence requirements and the latest military technology.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#3
Well, first we'll take out the Buddhist terrorists, then the Christian terrorists, and then we'll take out the Jewish terrorists. What? There are none? Well, it looks like it's just the Muslims then.
#4
Its a "global phenomenon", but the anti-US, anti-Fascist Fascist Communist Left wants Dubya and America to make the same mistake the Germans did in WW2 and fight a global war by fighting various differentiated or limited REGIONAL wars/conflicts not to scale, where Politics- Diplomacy dominate over war-winning Milops and MilPLans. The Left have one be-all, end-all target, AMERICA, while America is fractionalized and induced to fight MANY TARGETS, as per THE ANSWER TO FAILED AND FAILING SOCIALISM, at all levels, IS MORE SOCIALISM, AT ALL LEVELS!?
Ken Livingstone was facing a disciplinary inquiry last night after he refused to apologise for comparing a Jewish reporter to a Nazi prison guard. The Board of Deputies of British Jews submitted an official complaint to the Standards Board for England, which - if upheld - could lead to Mr Livingstone being suspended or disqualified from office. In a separate move, the London Assembly unanimously passed a motion censuring the mayor for the remarks he made last week to a reporter from the Evening Standard.
At a meeting of the assembly, Mr Livingstone defended his behaviour by claiming that Associated Newspapers, publishers of the Evening Standard and the Daily Mail, had conducted a hate campaign against him ever since his time as the Left-wing leader of the Greater London Council in the 1980s. With his voice shaking, Mr Livingstone said: "If I could, in anything I say, relieve any pain anyone feels, I would not hesitate to do it. But it would require me to be a liar. I could apologise but why should I say words I do not believe in my heart? Therefore I cannot. If that is something people find they cannot accept, I am sorry, but this is how I feel after nearly a quarter of a century of their behaviour and tactics." Sadly, coming out with this sort of puerile dribble is the reason he's popular. Always presenting himself as the honest, downtrodden victim, Livingstone is in fact a thug and a bully, quick to lose his temper. The sort of politician that's two-a-penny in the ME.
The mayor's stance was attacked by members of all five parties in the assembly, including Labour colleagues. They said that, with the row coinciding with this week's inspection by the International Olympic Committee, Mr Livingstone could damage London's Olympic chances. Angie Bray, a Tory assembly member, pointed out that Mr Livingstone had done "extremely well" out of Associated Newspapers. He once worked as a freelance restaurant critic for the Evening Standard and his partner Emma Beal also worked there.
At the meeting the mayor refused to meet three Holocaust survivors who delivered a petition accusing him of "belittling" their experience and afterwards they condemned him bitterly. Gena Turgel, 82, who was chosen to lead the Queen to her seat in Westminster Hall at the Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony, said: "I am shocked. There is no comparison between what Mr Livingstone's family have gone through and what ours suffered."
The assembly has no power to discipline Mr Livingstone, but the Standards Board for England, which is in charge of investigating complaints against elected office-holders in local government, could take action. As mayor, Mr Livingstone is bound by a code of conduct that applies to councillors and mayors. One section says office holders "must not treat others with disrespect". Another outlaws conduct which would bring an authority "into disrepute". If the standards board finds that the complaint is justified, the case will be referred either to the London standards committee, which could suspend Mr Livingstone for up to three months, or to the independent adjudication panel, which could ban him from office for up to five years. Alternatively, Mr Livingstone could be ordered to do something such as attending race awareness training.
An investigation by the standards board into allegations that Mr Livingstone assaulted a man at party in May 2002, led to him being cleared. The person involved in that incident was also an Evening Standard journalist. IIRC, The journalist - who suffered some quite serious injuries - withdrew his allegation that Livingstone pushed him off a wall.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
02/15/2005 6:13:33 AM ||
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He is a sicking twit who really needs to be knocked on his arse by someone he insults some day. Nothing will come of this. The labor cronies on the standards board will be happy to paper this over. After all it's just some "jews" who are upset after all.
Japan's defence minister could soon be given the power to shoot down incoming missiles without first seeking permission from the cabinet. The draft bill was approved by the cabinet and is expected to go before parliament later this week.
Don't laugh, they're serious. You have to get permission from higher authority before you do anything in Japan. It took them about a full day of talking before anybody rolled help to Kobe after the earthquake.
Correspondents say there are concerns that the present system would waste time in the event of an attack.
"INCOMING!" "Tell the missle to wait, we have to convene a meeting to decide on a response"
A major defence review is under way in Japan, amid concern about the nuclear ambitions of its neighbour North Korea. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said the defence chief could only give the order to launch missiles if the country was under attack. Currently, permission is needed from parliament. "Lately, there are more countries equipped with missiles. We need to deal with the situation immediately if a missile were to be launched at Japan," Mr Hosoda told a news conference.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/15/2005 9:45:40 AM ||
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..This might mean a lot more than it says at first. First, although the Japanese do have both Patriot and Aegis, those are designed more to deal with tactical missiles than ICBMs. On the other hand, if they have the US ground-based interceptor missiles, they can whack Nork missiles as they come in - or go by, and they will be able to do it without clearing it with the Japanese NCA - or ours...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/15/2005 19:13 Comments ||
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Bet the Japanese don't revise this policy after they announce that they have developed nuclear weapons.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/15/2005 19:37 Comments ||
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Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib was detained in Egypt, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) confirmed today. "We formed a view in mid to late November (2001) that he was most likely in Egypt ... and that was the basis of the representations of Foreign Affairs to Egypt," ASIO director-general Dennis Richardson told a Senate committee. "We established to our satisfaction that he was definitely there in February 2002."
Mr Habib has alleged he was tortured in Egypt, but both the Australian government and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) have said they were unable to confirm whether he was held in that country. Nor has Egypt conceded to Australia that Mr Habib was held there.
Mr Richardson could not say how ASIO came to the conclusion that Mr Habib had been held in Egypt.
"I can say no more!"
Mr Habib returned to Australia last month after more than three years in detention in Pakistan and at the US base at Guantanamo Bay. He remained a person of interest to ASIO, Mr Richardson said. "We retain an interest in him to this day," he said.
"He certainly remains of legitimate security interest to us today in the same way as anyone who we knew or suspected had trained with al-Qaeda and had contacts with other (terrorist) groups.
"We wouldn't be doing our job if we didn't pursue that interest."
While detained in Pakistan, Mr Habib told AFP and ASIO officers that he had been kidnapped in Afghanistan and tortured by people wearing lemon yellow uniforms. However, Mr Richardson said the claim had been dismissed by intelligence officers as false. "His claims of being kidnapped and tortured lacked credibility," Mr Richardson said.
The yellow uniforms being the first clue.
"We didn't consider they needed to be considered and investigated - we believed they were humbug and we would consider them humbug if he was to raise them again today." ASIO interviewed Mr Habib on three separate occasions, Mr Richardson said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/15/2005 12:07:51 AM ||
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NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD CALLS FOR A NATIONAL DAY OF OUTRAGE IN RESPONSE TO LYNNE STEWART VERDICT
I'm with you guys, I think she should have been put up against a wall and.....oh, that's not the outrage you're talking about?
The National Executive Committee of the NLG calls on all Guild chapters to organize and to take part in local actions as part of a "National Day of Outrage" in response to yesterday's Lynne Stewart verdict, which we see as an attack not only on our cherished colleague and fellow NLG member but also on all members of the legal community who represent unpopular clients and causes. We are calling for this coordinated day of action to be held next Thursday, February 17 in your cities, towns, and, if you are a law student, at your school.
We will use this national Day of Outrage to both express our condemnation of the Lynne Stewart verdict and to draw attention to the government's ongoing attacks on legal professionals who represent unpopular clients and causes. We urge chapters to use these actions as a call for more sustained, long-term action. At a very minimum, chapter members should organize a press conference/rally at the local federal courthouse or federal building. One suggestion is to invite other legal or defense organizations to join the Guild in condemning the conviction of Lynne Stewart and the government's efforts to intimidate individuals who are willing to defend persons accused in the "war on terror." Additionally, we are hoping that this effort will lead to the development of a national coalition of civil rights and defense organizations. Members have suggested that we use the day of outrage to call for the formation of a "Coalition to Defend the Right to Counsel." This will give the press more of a concrete reason to "bite" and will allow us to use this event to highlight the ongoing attacks on the ability to represent individuals targeted for government prosecution.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/15/2005 4:46:19 PM ||
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...And a hush falls over the crowd....
Posted by: Mark E. ||
02/15/2005 16:52 Comments ||
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#2
Large group of lefty lawyers? Sounds like a target rich environment to me. Break out the urine balloons!
#3
Wow! Upraised, clenched fists in their logo. How sixties! If the Day of Outrage doesn't work, will there be a Day of Rage? A Day of Really Pissed Off? A Day of Really Indignant?
And if none of that works, will they break out...THE BIG GIANT PUPPETS!
#4
These people just do not get it. The jury looked at the evidence and took 13 days of deliberation, then voted GUILTY. They did their duty. The NLG and other leftist outfits can go nuts all they want. People are on to them and they think that they can go to their MSM propaganda organs and get things their way. Well, the tide is turning and people are getting turned off by the leftist BS. One thing for sure, the LLL will not go down with a wimper.
The only thing is that you can bet your hammer and sickle that the NLG moonbats will appeal Stewart's case with a full court press. I hope that the prosecuters are vigilant. They still need the 1st string players in this game.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/15/2005 17:07 Comments ||
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doesn't strike me as surprising nor beneficial to the image of lawyers to keep reminding us how many times they end up on the wrong side of the citizenry...
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/15/2005 17:08 Comments ||
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I don't suppose it ever occured to the NLG that she just may have been guilty -- which she was. No suprise that NLG has "outrage" that the courts convicted someone who aided a known terrorist -- who's side are they really on anyway?
#9
They have effin' audio tapes of her doing it....what more do you want????
Posted by: Mark E. ||
02/15/2005 17:25 Comments ||
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#10
After visiting their website I doubt that is the all marched on Washington they would cause much in the way of a traffic jam. I only hope they DO cause something that require the police to use their batans. And I agree that she should have been taken out and shot (treason is treason).
#11
NLG is a hard core commie outfit, created originally for the purpose of defending indicted soviet agents and useful idiots. Guilt or innocence does not enter into their equation.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
02/15/2005 17:47 Comments ||
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ALERT...warning ..ALERT...according to trusted Intel source, "National Day of Outrage" protesters will exchange ASSHATS mid-march to throw off NSA tracking. Be Advised updates are pending...
Olajuwan - the flat-feet ball stuffing, Muslimutt has-been - says he was not aware that he was donating to terror charities. Okay, you don't know nothing about me, ergo: send me $80,000.
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/breaking_news/10906833.htm
If you disagree with me, then you are a racist. SAY DOOM!
Prominent Guild member and Rutgers University School of Law Professor Arthur Kinoy argued that the role of the radical lawyer was to facilitate the coming anti-capitalist revolution by weakening the lawââ¬â¢s ability to function effectively against law-breaking radicals.
Weather Underground founder and former NLG staffer Bernadine Dohrn stated in 1998 that the Guild "continues to thrive by embracing a huge array of social issues. From immigration and labor, ecology, international law, womenââ¬â¢s rights, childrenââ¬â¢s rights and so on. It is very much in the tradition of the 1960ââ¬â¢s grassroots organization, where local chapters work away on their own priorities but are a part of a broader network and coalition." Luckily for the Guild, the organization was given new purpose by the various anti-globalization/anti-capitalist/anti-imperialist movements that gained steam in the mid-to-late 1990s, came of age in Seattle 1999, and transitioned without pause into the anti-war/anti-America/anti-capitalist movement of the post-9/11 era.
The Guildââ¬â¢s current modus operandi borrows much from its earlier history: attack laws and institutions that uphold order; promote mass civil disorder; support selected anti-American governments and terrorist movements abroad; and help violent "revolutionaries" operate domestically.
Ann Fagan Ginger and Eugene M. Tobin, eds., The National Lawyers Guild: From Roosevelt through Reagan (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1988)
Stewart should b sebtenced and disappear into the depths of her real fear -- IRRELEVANT OBSCURITY
#16
...Is it just me, or does she really look like Michael Moore in drag?...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/15/2005 19:15 Comments ||
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Interesting tidbits from discoverthenetwork.com: Radical organization of lawyers, founded in 1936 by the Communist Party USA Active affiliate of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, which served as a Soviet front group during the Cold War In the post-Communist era has continued to embrace its Communist heritage Has sought to legally represent individuals and groups that have attacked the U.S. Is at the forefront of efforts to weaken the nationâs intelligence-gathering agencies Advocates open borders and mass immigration.
#18
"...formation of a 'Coalition to Defend the Right to Counsel'..."
But after the Committee got done amending, it ended up the 'Coalition to Defend the Right to Counsel to Aid and Abet the Furtherance of Violent Felonies'...
CNN's chief news executive, Eason Jordan, resigned last night in an effort to quell a bubbling controversy over his remarks about U.S. soldiers killing journalists in Iraq.
No definitive account of what Jordan said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 27 has been made public.
Blah blah a bunch of stuff we've read before
Several CNN staffers say Jordan, who was distraught about the controversy, saw the handwriting on the wall in tendering his resignation. But top executives are also said to have lost patience with the continuing gossip about Jordan, including his affair with Marianne Pearl, widow of the murdered reporter Daniel Pearl, and subsequent marital breakup.
Blogs operated by National Review Online, radio talk-show host Hugh Hewitt and commentator Michelle Malkin were among those that began slamming Jordan last week after a Davos attendee posted an online account, but the establishment media was slow to pick up on the controversy.
Note that this column was edited to remove the reference to Marianne Pearl. The Seattle Times is one of the only places the original was posted. I don't know if the reference to his personal life is relevant or not, but it does seem to provide substantial evidence that the Easongate was just the straw that broke the camel's back, rather than any real victory for investigative reporting. It merely gave Eason's masters a means by which to rid themselves of a troublesome underling.
Posted by: gromky ||
02/15/2005 1:20:47 AM ||
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Jordan boinking Pearl's widow.Pretty sleazy,if you ask me.
#2
I need clarification - was Jordan boinking her before or after Pearl's demise? Are they saying the affair led to the dissolution of Jordan's own marriage?
#3
After. Yes. Apparently they fell for eachother whil working the journos get executed meme. He was probably counseled (by management prior to latest blow-up) becasue he was continuing to push the journos get killed meme at the same time he was boinking the widow of one. They probably told him to lose one or the other. At least that's the conclusion I've drawn.
I'd bet there's more to it than that, also. There was just to little public reason to ax him at this point in the story. I think he just hit a stop loss order.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/15/2005 12:45 Comments ||
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#4
Thanx Mrs. D.
Pretty tacky on both parts. First, you got some married schmuck whoring around on his wife. Second, you got some high-profile widow who was rightly sympathized for during her husband's death now knowingly doing some other woman's husband. I feel bad for the Pearl family but don't have much respect for Marianne any longer. Suffice it to say I think Eason's a douche bag in oh so many ways.
I guess I'm just old fashioned when it comes to marriage.
#5
CNNâs chief news executive, Eason Jordan, resigned last night in an effort to quell a bubbling controversy over his remarks about U.S. soldiers killing journalists in Iraq. No definitive account of what Jordan said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 27 has been made public.
One of the reasons he may have been pushed to resign is that there is supposed to be a videotape of him of making this claim. CNN was being pressed to release it. It's believed he resigned to try to kill the story before the tape surfaced and painted CNN into a corner.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/15/2005 14:12 Comments ||
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The Marianne Pearl aspect may be why the Wall Street Journal has been so supportive of Jordan in this "affair" (Of course pun intended!!). Their editorial on the subject yesterday was as condescending a piece of trash as I have ever read on their op-ed page (other than one penned by fatty Al Hunt).
Widows with young children are extrememly vulnerable and easy game. Jordan is an even bigger pig in my eyes now.
#8
Fact is if he was telling the truth it means he sat on one of the biggest stories of the decade instead of running the story on CNN. If he was not telling the truth he has proven to be a liar with bad judgement who can't be trusted.
Firing him was probably an easy decision.
I believe there was a tape, or some evidence, or they would have kept stonewalling like Dan Rather did hoping it would all die down.
#9
It gets worse. Jordon took up with Sharon Stone at Davos the night after his unfortunate remarks. She apparently is somewhat of a collector of journalism types.
From the article: Stone, whose relationship with L.A. entertainment lawyer Bernie Cahill recently ended, is on the rebound. Ditto Jordan, after his breakup several weeks ago with Mariane Pearl, the widow of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
The year-long Jordan-Pearl romance raised eyebrows - and inspired wagging tongues and a couple of headlines - after the father of two left his wife of 16 years, Susan, for the thirtysomething Pearl.
CNN was right to cut this disaster-in-waiting loose.
#11
Yeah, Sgt. Mom. We need a new department in Rantburg called "Boinkburg" to cover the affairs of state. Heh. I get the WSJ Opinion email newsletter every morning with links to the opinions. I read this Easton one and I was furious about them laying the resignation of Easton on writers and bloggers. I let them have it in an opinion response, but it never got printed, but plenty of them with my thoughts and outrage got through. Double heh.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/15/2005 16:36 Comments ||
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#12
"Boinkburg"?? To cover "affairs of state".... oooh, I love it, especially with a graphic from one of those old "Confidential" gossip mags.
Wierd sex advice from the mullahs could go into that category, too.
#19
So...
Jordan has an affair with the widow of a reporter who actually was "targeted" and murdered by islamic terrorists then turns around and accuses the US Military, who likely sacrifices their own daily in an effort to minimize civilian casualties, of targeting journalists.
I swear these clowns are on the other side. what a scumbag. good riddance.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Elizabeth Cheney, the daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, will become the second-ranking U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, the State Department said on Monday. Cheney, who previously worked in the department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs and left to work on her father's 2004 re-election campaign, will become the bureau's principal deputy assistant secretary of state.
"Someday, my daughter, this will all be yours"
This is the bureau's second ranking position and deputizes for the assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs, the top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East.
Excellent, we won't have to worry about a liberal state department lifer trying to screw things up.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters Cheney would also serve as "coordinator for Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiatives" -- a U.S.-backed idea to try to spread democratic and economic reform in the region. "Her duties will include a focus on U.S. bilateral and multilateral efforts to support freedom, democracy and expanded education and economic opportunities in the broader Middle East and North Africa," he said.
The local leaders will know she's got a pipeline direct to dear old dad, bypassing the ambassadors. Heh, heh, heh
Posted by: Steve ||
02/15/2005 2:31:48 PM ||
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The local leaders will know she's got a pipeline direct to dear old dad, bypassing the ambassadors.
As I said a couple of weeks ago...
Machiavelli and the Veep.
Seperated at birth!
Leaders of the White House Correspondents' Association plan to meet with President Bush's press secretary tomorrow to discuss tightening the White House press-credentialing process. The meeting follows the recent uproar over James Guckert, a former White House reporter for the GOP-linked Talon News, who had used the name Jeff Gannon and drawn criticism for asking partisan questions.
Unlike the true mainstream America vitriol that currently flows from the press corp.
Among the potential changes to the credentialing system: tighter restrictions on who can receive daily press passes, such as those Guckert had obtained; and a more active role by the WHCA in approving requests or credentials, which are now handed out solely by the White House Press Office.
Let me see, they want this White House to allow this LLL MSM group to be the gatekeeper of press credentials. Anyone want to guess how that's going to play?
"The consensus is that we should go in there [with McClellan] and get all the information we can on this and see if we can't take what we've learned and develop a unified position on the board of what to do about this," Hutcheson told E&P. "Scott appears to be very open to discussing this. It is a very hard thing to do, to determine who is a journalist and who isn't."
How about we allow question based on Neilson ratings and readership?
Right now, reporters who want a White House "hard pass," which allows them to enter and leave on an ongoing basis, are required to first obtain a congressional press pass. But those who seek a daily press pass to the White House do not need a congressional pass. Guckert had been denied a congressional pass last year after the standing committee determined that Talon News was not a legitimate news organization.
Like CBS is a "legitimate news organization." Hey Dan want to buy some guard documents? I got them from Lucy Ramirez.
Hutcheson said he was hesitant to start barring reporters from the White House unfairly. "My overarching view is that we should be advocates for getting people in the briefing room, not keep them out," he said. "But [the briefings] are an opportunity to get information, not make political statements."
Who is this guy kidding?
The Politburo over at DU has been circling James Guckert's journalistic carcass like they have bagged some really big game with conspiracy on the side. The guy was just as much a journalist as any one at CBS, CNN, NBC, etc, but the problem is that he was OPENLY right-wing and not pretending to be mainstream. The MSM is concerned that they won't be allowed stupid and unanswerable and wholly partisan questions from the left wing media. I loved it when a DU commentator said he was going to apply for creds and then backed out. I guess his voice sounds better in the fever swamp than in the White house press room.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge ||
02/15/2005 11:33:57 AM ||
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Guckert had been denied a congressional pass last year after the standing committee determined that Talon News was not a legitimate news organization.
If you want my opinion, this is the real scandal. There's a Congressional Star Chamber deciding who are "real journalists" and who aren't.
Now, who thinks anyone could get credentials by citing an arrangement with Rantburg? Any of us? Almost certainly not, right?
I know that the "A" section of the Cincinnati Enquirer, excepting the front page and the editorial page, is almost entirely made up of wire service stories.
Same with Rantburg -- wire service stories, occasionally an original report. Lots of editorial content.
This whole story has NOTHING to do with "journalistic standards" and EVERYTHING to do with restricting competition.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/15/2005 13:16 Comments ||
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A senator and civilian contractors have accused the US administration of allowing Iraqi reconstruction to become as chaotic as the Wild West.
Which means that in a hundred years, Baghdad will look like Denver.
Senator Harry Reid made particular criticism of the government's former occupation administration in Iraq on Monday. And civilian witnesses claimed Washington had protected an American contractor accused of fraud and accusatons of US media censorship. "This is a scandal," said Reid, who heads the opposition Democrats in the US Senate. "We are close to 24 months into this conflict with Iraq, and the administration still can't seem to get it right," he said.
Reid spoke during hearings in Congress into the management of the so-called Coalition Provisional Authority's (CPA) multi-billion dollar reconstruction programme. In the hearings, civilians compared operations to the Wild West, saying bags full of cash were tossed freely about, at times like footballs. Franklin Willis, who supervised aviation for the CPA in late 2003, accused the organisation of "poor execution" and called it "naive." He said that millions of dollars stored in the basement of the CPA offices were casually distributed to favoured contractors with little accounting discipline. Another witness accused the government of hampering an investigation into alleged fraud US-based by Custer Battles, which had contracts worth as much as $100 million in Iraq for airport security and other jobs.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Meet the new Daschle, same as the old Daschle...
#2
....and the administration still can't seem to get it right,"
Enough already of that tired old line. Offer some real constructive critisism or STFU.
On second thought just STFU Harry. You want to see bags of cash tossed around like footballs? Concentrate on the UN investigation you stupid F*cktard.
#10
As someone commented on Fox News last night, Iraq doesn't have direct depost or any other form of modern accounting right now. In addition to which, we ARE in a war zone.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/15/2005 13:17 Comments ||
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There must be some sort of fraud or why else are there bags of actual paper money in a basement? Even if there are no forms of direct deposit, the only cash flowing should be the cost of living expense the contractors need to survive day to day. Housing should be already supplied for them. Their income should be waiting for them in U.S. based checking accounts. There's really no reason for paper currency to be stockpiled, unless it needs to circulate through corruptible hands.
The widely read Saturday Evening Post, for example, featured this headline on the cover of its Jan. 26, 1946, issue: "How We Botched the German Occupation."
The report oozed doom and gloom about the most successful postwar military operation in the history of mankind.
Here are excerpts from the Post's report by Berlin correspondent Demaree Bess, written just seven months after VE Day:
"Everywhere I�ve traveled recently in Germany I�ve run into Americans, ranging from generals down to privates, who ask perplexedly, 'What are we Americans supposed to be doing here? Are we going to take over this place and stay here forever?'"
Bess continued:
"Judging by reports received here from the United States, this perplexity of Americans in Germany is matched by the perplexity of Americans at home. We have got into this German job without understanding what we were tackling or why.
"Imagine how incredulous we would have been if anybody had told us - even so recently as five years ago - that hundreds of thousands of Americans would be camped in the middle of Europe in 1946, completely responsible for the conduct and welfare of approximately 20,000,000 Germans?
"How does it happen that even some of our topmost officials in Germany admit that they don�t know what they are doing here?"
#13
Shellback, the money is most likely for local contractors/sub-contractors who can and should be doing major portions of the work. This is all part of getting as many Iraqi males employed as possible. I have no idea how effective/ineffevtive this effort has been, but that certainly was the objective.
#15
shell, Remote, that was my point. The cash is apparently being doled out to locals, not the big contractors. Where do you get a check cashed in Iraq? On what bank? Could you even get the locals to accept a check? The dissary of the financial institutions in Iraq seems to be something that was overlooked.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/15/2005 14:10 Comments ||
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I do declare, my dear, but Mr. Reid's word of the day these days, seems to be "scandal." Why, I just heard him use that word on Friday.
#17
Their income should be waiting for them in U.S. based checking accounts.
Oh, that'll go over real well with the local glaziers, furniture movers, and bricklayers. Of course we could write 'em a check, which would be great - if there was a f@*%ing banking system they could cash and deposit into...
And prolly long overdue. I'll let you milfolk tell me if you agree...pictures due next week.
After 60 years of debate, Army officials have finally decided to create a badge for non-infantry soldiers that recognizes their direct participation in ground combat. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker presented the new Close Combat Badge, or CCB, to a cadre of senior officers Friday, during a regularly scheduled meeting of four-star Army generals, according to Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, an Army personnel spokesman.
The new badge will be the equivalent of the Army's Combat Infantry Badge, which was created in 1943. The CIB, in the form of a rifle surrounded by a wreath, is reserved for infantry and Special Forces soldiers only. The Close Combat Badge will be awarded to soldiers with military occupational specialties in armor, the cavalry, combat engineering, and field artillery. Officers must have a branch or specialty recognized in Army regulations as "having a high probability to routinely engage in direct combat." The CCB will be presented only to soldiers who are engaged in active ground combat, moving to contact and destroy the enemy with direct fire.
All soldiers are allowed to wear their unit patch on their right shoulder as a "combat patch" after spending 30 days in an authorized combat theater. While prestigious, however, the wear of this unit patch as a combat designator does not necessarily indicate that the wearer was involved in direct ground fighting. That is the purpose of the Combat Infantry Badge and a Combat Medical Badge, which is reserved for Army, Navy and Air Force medics. These were the only two Army symbols that indicate that the wearer has come under direct enemy fire.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Seafarious ||
02/15/2005 12:35:15 AM ||
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The sidebar at the link gives this interesting criterion: Effective date: Sept. 11, 2001 (retroactive). I propose we also award the CCB to the members of the FDNY, NYPD, and the passengers of Flight 93.
Of course, it will now be handed out in droves to everyone in combat slot and not 11B whose units saw combat, whether they saw combat or not.
Now what are we going to offer the MP units that see combat? Or the convoy drivers that have that special experience of having to fight their way out of the cluster that their leaders get them in?
If the Army is truly changing then there should be a single patch to denote seeing combat up close and personal, regardless of the unit you were in or attached to.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
02/15/2005 6:46 Comments ||
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..I'm definitely for this, but the 'under fire' rule needs to be hard and fast.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/15/2005 7:26 Comments ||
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Retief understands jointness.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/15/2005 7:30 Comments ||
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There is a continual effort by certain officers to get citations and awards, any citations and awards, to justify their existence. So they apply for each and every school and course opening, and endlessly self-promote and go "medal fishing", like flying over a combat zone in a helicopter for the CIB. They view doing their job as "slack time" in between schools, and usually are poor performers. Some commands even encourage them to do this, to get them away on TDY instead of screwing up in their real job. However, other commands are equally stingy in handing out deserved citations for "just doing your job", no matter how exemplary your performance. This explains why some REMF officer is highly decorated while a seasoned combat NCO has about three mandatory ribbons on his class 'A's.
#7
The Army still operates under a Branch system. Branches being Infantry, Armor, Artillery....etc. While Moose is right that some REMFs can have more medals [usually 100% for merit vice combat and anyone in can tell the difference between the two], the value of any device is more relative to the branch of the individual rather than service as a whole. Promotions and selections are more dependent within the branch and its related Military Occupation Specialties (MOS) than considered in the whole of the organization. Thus while the article states "The new badge will be the equivalent of the Armyâs Combat Infantry Badge", its comparing apples and oranges. The new badge has more to do within the branches which will receive them, but in the general population the CIB will still be considered the senior of the two.
#8
We have what's called the Combat Action Ribbon or CAR which any MOS can wear so long as you were shot at. A bullet doesn't give a fuck what your MOS is. That way you don't run into this nonsense about who gets what based on MOS. E.G. - Every Marine a rifleman, that's innate. Every Marine officer has the basic knowledge on how to command a rifle platoon & even a company. That's the difference between a warrior culture and an organization of MOS's - hence the U.S. Army.
"I don't much care about the bullet with my name on it - that will happen when it happens. Now the one with To Whom It May Concern on it, well now, that's a different matter... I want you to kill that sumbitch before he squeezes off. Do you read me, troopers?"
#10
I thought that was what the campaign service ribbon/medals were supposed to signify.
I think this is bs
But then I was in the old army (which is in no way intended to criticize the new army. I have nothing but absolute respect and admiration for these guys and their accomplishments)
Posted by: Michael ||
02/15/2005 13:13 Comments ||
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Whatever makes people feel a part of the fight. Real soldiers could care less about medals. They know where they've been and what they've done. No reason to show off medals when a couple good war stories will suffice. If people want to see proof, show 'em your scars.
Reg Req, so minimal efl Kojo Annan, the son of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, played a far more extensive role than previously revealed in a company that won a key contract under the scandal-plagued Iraq oil-for-food program, Senate investigators have learned. Investigators also have uncovered documents suggesting that Benon Sevan, the U.N. official who oversaw the seven-year program and was suspended last week, had a much more direct interest in laundered oil deals handed out as bribes by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein under the program. One Iraqi internal investigation put Mr. Sevan's profits at $1.2 million, nearly 10 times the previous estimate. The revelations are to be aired today at a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs permanent subcommittee on investigations, one of a half-dozen congressional panels investigating the $10 billion-plus scandal.
U.S. government investigators estimate that Saddam skimmed as much as $10 billion from the 1996-2003 program, which was designed to allow Iraq, laboring under strict international sanctions imposed after the 1991 Persian Gulf War, to sell its oil to purchase tightly regulated food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies. The revelations seem almost certain to put new heat on the embattled U.N. secretary-general, who has faced sharp criticism for his overall management of the Iraq program and for the questions about his son's potential conflicts.
Sen. Norm Coleman, Minnesota Republican and chairman of the subcommittee, was the first senior figure on Capitol Hill to call for the secretary-general to step down over the oil-for-food scandal. Cotecna, the Switzerland-based firm that employed Kojo Annan as a consultant, won a major contract to inspect oil-for-food shipments in late 1998. The company never disclosed the younger Mr. Annan's relationship in the bidding for the contract, and has insisted that his work was restricted to two African countries and never dealt with Iraq. But Mr. Annan, in a letter to Cotecna executives just months before the contract was awarded, wrote of putting in place for the company "a machinery" which will be centered in New York that will facilitate the continuation of contacts established and assist in developing new contacts in the future." "This machinery, due to its global nature and its longevity, is as important overall as any other contacts [we have] made," he continued. Inspectors also found that Kojo Annan was directed to spend two weeks at the U.N. General Assembly exploring potential business deals in the fall of 1998, but that no record of his activities while in New York was in the company's files.
Kojo Annan, interviewed by committee investigators at an undisclosed location on Friday, told them that he could not recall the nature of the "machinery" he had mentioned in his memo, why it was to be based in New York and why it would be global in nature. "Those responses leave much to be desired," a Senate investigator said yesterday, briefing reporters on background. Cotecna Chief Executive Officer Robert M. Massey has denied any wrongdoing in the awarding of the contract. He will testify at the hearing.
The Senate findings also spell fresh trouble for Mr. Sevan. The Cypriot diplomat has denied wrongdoing, but a U.N.-appointed panel led by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker late last month detailed the close relationship between Mr. Sevan and a Panama-based company that was given lucrative allocations by Saddam's ministers to sell oil under the program.
The Volcker report spoke of about $160,000 in suspicious payments Mr. Sevan received at a time when the Panamanian company was receiving the Iraqi oil business.
But Senate investigators yesterday displayed letters written by Iraqi oil officials both under Saddam and after his regime fell in 2003 that listed Mr. Sevan himself as the recipient of the oil allocations, which were then passed along to the Panamanian company. One Iraqi document put Mr. Sevan's proceeds from an allocation of 9.3 million barrels of crude oil at $1.2 million.
"What we have uncovered suggests that Benon Sevan himself got the commissions that came from passing along the oil allocations," said a Senate staffer.
A U.N. spokesman said last night that Dileep Nair, the U.N. undersecretary-general for internal oversight services, would not appear at the hearing, despite an invitation to testify. The spokesman said U.N. officials had decided instead to make Dagfinn Knutsen, the chief auditor of the oil-for-food program, available to the subcommittee and other congressional investigative panels in the future. The time has not been set, the spokesman said, adding that the United Nations is struggling to meet the requests of both the Volcker panel and the numerous other bodies probing the program.
Mr. Volcker's $30 million investigation has kept a tight rein on internal U.N. documents, releasing only a series of 58 oil-for-food internal audits. Senate investigators say Mr. Volcker's panel at first tried to stop third-party contractors from cooperating with the congressional probe, but later withdrew its objections.
But Senate investigators said yesterday that they remained frustrated by the lack of access to key personnel and documents as they try to track the scandal.
"We're operating with some very large blind spots because we do not have the access to U.N. officials and regulations that we would like," one staffer said.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/15/2005 7:50:17 AM ||
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Its long past time to pull the plug on the UN. Nothing but pigs at a trough. This makes the guys at Enron look like rubes. Bet you won't hear the left calling for any heads over this one though.
So, when is the first Council of Democracies meeting?
#3
"...listed Mr. Sevan himself as the recipient of the oil allocations, which were then passed along to the Panamanian company..."
At last we are getting past the illusion that justice can be served by looking solely at U.N. documents.
"Kojo Annan, interviewed by committee investigators at an undisclosed location on Friday, told them that he could not recall the nature of the 'machinery' he had mentioned in his memo, why it was to be based in New York and why it would be global in nature."
Memory loss at such a tender age. Truly tragic.
Looks like your "friends" are underworld thugs afterall, Mikey. I'm shocked.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/15/2005 10:26 Comments ||
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#4
Yeah.... what happened to MS? He never answered my post on how all involved in the UN OFF scandal might be indictable under RICO. I guess I convinced him.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
02/15/2005 13:15 Comments ||
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On Valentine's Day, it's important to note the emergence of an eternally verified reality: Love is the strongest human force fighting against terrorism and jihad.
"Al Gharam mamn'uh, al Gharam kufr," screamed the self-declared cleric in al-Ansar's chat room this Friday. "Love is forbidden, love is infidel" -- said the online fatwa about the "legitimacy of loving and being in love."
A weekend before Valentine's Day, jihadist souls were not questioning the "commercialization" of romance, but inquiring about the ban on "being in love." The "scholars" said human love is evil. The simple feeling of being attracted to or in love with someone is a terrifying sin if it is committed outside of their religious dogma -- and it warrants serious punishment.
"Al Hub" (basic love) -- said one of the scholars online -- "is not permissible outside commitment to Jihad." The subject of romantic love was new and overwhelming to the al-Qaeda sympathizers, who were busy dodging the "decadent feeling." But it was too close chronologically, too well publicized, and too difficult to escape on the web.
Suddenly, a marquee rolled an ad for Valentine's Day in the room. The room shouted its objections, but the ideologue could not ignore reality. "Sometimes we'll have to absorb our reaction and control ourselves. This Valentine Day is a dark day, it is poison, but by the will of Allah when the Caliphate will be established, Valentine will be smashed."
But there was a concern: Valentines is "ravaging" the region, including under the most restrictive regimes. They are right to worry: the battle for love is as wide as the call for jihad.
In Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, girls were severely punished for not being escorted by male relatives, or for not wearing burqas. Chatting with someone from the other gender was a crime. Movies, mixed-schools, radios, music, and poetry were banned. Valentine's Day in Kabul was equated to Satan.
In Saudi Arabia, women still can't drive or vote, much less date. Valentine's Day is illegal. In Iran, high school girls cannot hold hands with their boyfriends. Imitations exist in Iraq's Zarqawi enclaves and in Beirut's Hezbollah suburb.
But the revolution is rising. The "love guerrillas" are spreading on the street and on the internet. In liberated Afghanistan, transistor radios air love songs. In Iran, boys and girls have waged the revolt of "kissing in public." Tracked by the militia, the teenagers perform the kiss-and-run tactic.
In Kuwait, tactics are evolving. In this oil-rich state, young Arabs buy two cell phones, and as they see the beloved driving by, they throw one of the mobiles in her car; then the telephonic romance can begin.
In West Jerusalem, young Palestinians who want to stroll freely with their girlfriends, walk up the Yehuda street speaking Hebrew. In Egypt, soap operas compete with their Mexican counterparts. Love warfare has become the boldest threat that can roll back jihad.
On the internet, Arab, Persian, Kurdish, Aramaic, and other love and music chat rooms attract ten times the al-Ansar-crowded rooms. There, you read and hear discussions of love; they seek, not decadence, but the early stages of a romantic revolution.
Lebanon's TV has taken the freedom for love to sophisticated artistic expressions. With shows seen by millions, the LBCI has been shaking off the fundamentalist quarters of the region. On al Jazeera, clerics are horrified by the scenes. Their deepest nightmare is to see young Saudi men singing the beauty of human love, while their jihadist counterparts are assassinating young Iraqi women in Fallujah for not wearing the hijab.
This region has a massive and underreported potential to become a culture of romantic passion. We must remember that Adonis and Ashtarut, antiquity's gods of love, were Phoenician legends. Cleopatra was an Egyptian Queen. The lovers of pre-Islamic Arabia, Antar and Ablah, were the precursors of Romeo and Juliet. And that the Sherazade of the one thousand and one nights and Omar were Persians.
From the twentieth century, let's remember that Um Kalthum, the voice from Egypt, Said Akl, the poet from Lebanon, and Khalid, the rock singer from Algeria, have sculpted love in the hearts and minds of hundreds of millions of these people.
The B-52s may have been successful in Tora Bora, but Radio SAWA and its sisters are triggering deeper instincts.
The followers of love have no weapon except human nature; it is the only one they need. Valentine's Day may be infidel in the eyes of the jihadists, but it has many more faithful followers among the peoples of this unlucky region. The terrorists are not intimidated by death, but they are terrorized by love.
Posted by: tipper ||
02/15/2005 10:46:43 AM ||
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Like I've said before, these guys just need to get laid and maybe drink a few beers, mellow them right out. Too much pent up hostility, just not right to be that repressed.
#4
"Al Gharam mamnâuh, al Gharam kufr," screamed the self-declared cleric in al-Ansarâs chat room this Friday. âLove is forbidden, love is infidelâ -- said the online fatwa about the âlegitimacy of loving and being in love.â
Yo! Turban dude! If love is so infidel, where'd you come from? Did a buzzard lay you on a tree stump? Or, are you claiming virgin birth, which your boy Muhammad the Prophet says is a no-no. Which is it?
#5
Valentine's Day Enrages Jihadists?
Couldn't be happier with a Headline. Piss em off royally and smile.
But there was a concern: Valentines is âravagingâ the region, including under the most restrictive regimes. They are right to worry: the battle for love is as wide as the call for jihad.
I'll bet, with all the repressed little Islamic fellows running around. Seriously speaking, though, if all that lust were unleashed at once, it could bode poorly for women in Islam. There is no self-restraint in that part of the world and there is an ingrained cultural norm of blaming/shaming women about sex. Where would the internal restraint on the part of sexually repressed and frustrated men come in if they can continue to blame their sexual acts on the women in the society? Would the laws against premarital/extramarital sex simply vanish once the folks rediscover lust or would we see a rise in honor killings, rapes...?
The Love Shack is a little old place where we can get together
Love Shack baby, Love Shack bay-bee.
Love shack, baby, love shack Love shack, baby, love shack
Love baby, that's where it's at, Ooo love baby, that's where it's at
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
02/15/2005 22:01 Comments ||
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Oh, yeah, Eric Jablow. Now I see. THOSE kinds of B-52s. I thought that you meant that we send B-52s over Saudi Arabia, Iran, et al, and drop 40,000 lbs of RED valentine cards over all major population centers. Give the religious police apoplexy.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/15/2005 22:06 Comments ||
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Indonesian police disclosed Monday they have found a copy of what may be the constitution of alleged Southeast Asian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah. The document was said to have been discovered after a bomb explosion Jan 8 on Kalimantan Island, but its existence was only disclosed Monday by National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar during a hearing with a commission of the House of Representatives dealing with security affairs.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/15/2005 12:30:37 AM ||
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A "constitution?" That would just be a copy of the Koran, wouldn't it? "These are all the laws you need to follow. No others."
PHILIPPINE President Gloria Arroyo has vowed to wipe out the al-Qaeda linked Abu Sayyaf group after it claimed three bombings that left 12 people dead and over 130 wounded.
Arroyo today called on the public to unite behind the fight against terrorist groups after yesterday's bombings in Manila and the southern cities of General Santos and Davao.
"More than ever, we must not pull back, but move forward to wipe out the remnants of the Abu Sayyaf," Arroyo said in a statement.
"The evil of terrorism has only one aim. It is to rule with absolute power and absolute force. The desperation of the enemy cannot be underestimated, even as it lies in the throes of defeat."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/15/2005 12:06:01 AM ||
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She wants us to forget how she caved in in Iraq?
The most nervous denizens of the Pentagon about a possible U.S. strike on Iran are the admirals, who fear placing their beloved carriers in harm's way in the constricted waters of the Persian Gulf. Now they have a new cause for concern; Iran has opened a torpedo production line in order to strengthen its maritime defense capability as the Bush administration escalated its threats against Iran. Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani said at the opening ceremony of the factory that the production marked completion of "the Islamic Republic's defensive cycle at sea. Iran's marine units have now achieved an effective weapon with a complicated and modern technology in confronting surface and undersea threats. Some of the important features of this weapon are the possibility to use it in shallow waters, without being spotted by radars, as well as its extraordinarily high speed, while being notably cost-effective." Shamkani added that the torpedoes could be mounted on helicopters, surface vessels and submarines. No details were given of the torpedo production, but Western analysts nervously note that Iran is known to have acquired a number of Russian VA-111 supercavitating Shkval torpedoes, specifically designed to destroy aircraft carriers, and are worried that the Iranians now might be producing their own indigenous version. The 27-foot Shkval is potentially one of Russia's most lucrative arms exports. Spewing a fine stream of air bubbles from its nose to reduce drag, the Shkval literally rockets along underwater at 230 miles per hour in a linear trajectory, with a maximum range of about six nautical miles. One Russian submarine designer bragged that a Skhval attack would be like "the lightning stab of a dagger."
The Chinese are reported to have purchased these as well. From what I've read, the torp has to slow down in order to find it's target at the end of the run. Only has a six mile range and is rumored to have been the cause of the Kursk sinking. Other than that, it's a superweapon.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/15/2005 3:08:19 PM ||
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I wonder if these Russian torpedoes are built to the same fine engineering standards as say, I don't know, apartments, or the Kursk?
Has a Russian torpedo actually ever sunk anything anytime?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/15/2005 15:49 Comments ||
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#3
Wasn't that what the Kursk was launching; which was why all the brass was aboard.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
02/15/2005 15:54 Comments ||
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#4
Scoff if you like, but remember all that trouble Russian equipment gave us in Iraq, like their GPS jammers...and their...ummm... Well, they make a mean rocket propelled grenade, dammit!
#5
What's the state of the art in anti-torpedo technology nowadays?
And what happens to you if you try to sink a USN carrier?
Has a Russian torpedo actually ever sunk anything anytime?
Apart from the Kursk, there was that German liner Goya, sunk in the Baltic in '45 drowning about 6,500 - one of the biggest losses of life ever at sea.
#6
Scoff if you like, but remember all that trouble Russian equipment gave us in Iraq, like their GPS jammers...and their...ummm... Well, they make a mean rocket propelled grenade, dammit!
#7
The most nervous denizens of the Pentagon about a possible U.S. strike on Iran are the admirals, who fear placing their beloved carriers in harm's way in the constricted waters of the Persian Gulf.
It doesn't have to be that way. The carriers can sit further out in the Arabian Sea and USAF KC-10 tankers can refuel carrier aircraft over Iraqi territory before striking Iran, if it comes to that.
#8
Lots of russian stuff is designed for operation under harsh conditions by inexperienced users with poor maintenance. The AK-47 and the ubiquitous RPGs are good examples that just work.
The Squall torpedo was designed for sub-to-sub knife fights when you knew where the other guy was and didn't care how much noise you made. Due to its high speed, it has short legs and only goes about 8,000 yards. Getting within 4 nautical miles of a carrier is a good trick. Although social and usually surrounded by friends, carriers tend to be nervous and don't like strangers hanging about in their personal space.
#9
So, Russians actually fired a torpedo 60 years ago and they sank 1 ship? My point exactly.
Torpedoes are very complex weapons as opposed to a AK-47 and the Russians don't do well with that kinda thing. Now, if were talking poison-tipped umbrellas, now your talking!
#11
The mini guns are phalanx systems, designed to shoot down anti-ship missles. The carriers and other US ships have a nixi system, which blows super fine bubbles over the bottom of the ship and absorbs the sonic noise the ship makes. Getting within 6 miles of the carrier is the trick, since Los Angeles class subs patrol the waters up to 50 miles away and the F-14s and F-18s keep anything away up to 100 miles. There is one point in the gulf (next to Iran of course) that this would pose a problem. The Straits of Hormuz (about 30 miles across at its narrowest point)
#12
SteveS got it per usual. 27-foot Shkval
Just right for the average helicopter.:>
A suicide weapon at best for a Russian attack sub. Shoot right up the track and BANG.
#13
Didn't an Aussie sub close and sink a CV in recent exercises?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/15/2005 19:31 Comments ||
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#14
The German liner in question was the Wilhelm Gustlaf, every deck crammed with refugees from East Prussia, departing from Koenigsburg, now Kaliningrad, just a jump ahead of the Red Army. The Soviet Skipper died drunk some years later, embittered that Stalin et al hadn't recognized his contribution to the war effort.
The rest of you know a lot more about recent military hardware than I do.
#15
"US ships have a nixi system, which blows super fine bubbles over the bottom of the ship and absorbs the sonic noise the ship makes." mmurray821
That's Prairie/Masker. (one's for the hull, the other for the propeller) Nixie is a towed decoy system.
Posted by: Dave ||
02/15/2005 19:48 Comments ||
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#16
As far as I know the USN still opers under the Reagan-era doctrine of "flexible response", which means the CVBG can strike first with conventional andor nuke arms to protect itself from any real-time or future threat to itself and US policies.ANd even before the CVBG gets near the coast, SPECFORS and aligned will likely be there first to destroy Iranian naval and other targets before they even physic leave the docks or depots. WHat the anti-American Lefts and Commies want, for now, is [DEFENSIVE/ACTIVE DEFENSIVE] GROUND WAR ags US Milfors, i.e. ARMY-BASED/LED "NEW VIETNAMS" or insurgencies, where International diplomacy and "NO WMDS" PC will play significant roles. As illustrated by Hillary, Dean as DNC Chair, and President Kerry, I believe the Lefts are setting up a PC heirachy of future US Governance for when Dubya and the bulk of the national leadership of the GOP-RIGHT is wiped out - remember, Commmunism and SOcialism are the "GOOD GUYS", the Failed Left WANTS WAR, and will not accept America NOT waging war for new Global Empire! The Communists-for-Fascism-for Communism is NEVER going to blame itself.
While the opposition to the pro-Syrian government in Beirut claimed that Syria was behind the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Al Hariri, the Syrian media on Tuesday pointed the finger of suspicion at Israel.
"What happened was an attempt to shatter national unity in Lebanon, to sow anarchy and divisions which lead to a climate of civil war," said government newspaper Tishrin. Israel "continues to work to sabotage Lebanon's achievements to try to bring anarchy to the country and to be able to continue its occupation of the Shebaa Farms", a disputed strip of land along the Israeli border, the newspaper added. Meanwhile, several Arab analysts say that Syria itself was also targeted by Hariri's assassination.
"Syria certainly did not need to complicate the situation, just when it is already in the firing line" over UN Resolution 1559, Rauf Ghoneim, a former Egyptian deputy foreign minister, said.
"We're the victim here, see!"
According to several political analysts, Al Hariri's assassination is aimed at drowning Lebanon in another civil war. Arab commentators called on Lebanon on Tuesday to unite against such threat, with some suggesting that Israel has greatly benefited from the death of Al Hariri. On the other hand, the Arab League called on the Lebanese people not to jump to conclusions about the assassination.
"We'll let you know, soon as we see which way the wind blows the fallout"
Al-Gomhuria daily, Egypt's state-owned said the assassination aimed to "subvert the interests of the Lebanese people, undermine their solidarity and shake their will". "Lebanese people should throw their ethnic and religious differences behind them and strive for unity," it said.
Other analysts suggested that Al Hariri's death was a part of a bigger plan aimed at fueling tension and spreading chaos in the region already shaken by Iraq war, where some hope for fear a sectarian civil war similar to that which tore Lebanon apart from 1975 to 1990.
"There is a conspiracy to spread anarchy in the region," said Essam el-Erian, a leading member of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.
"And everyone knows if there is a conspiracy, the Jooos are behind it"
Although the former Lebanese Prime Minister had recently joined calls for the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, Arab commentators insisted his death did not benefit Syria.
"For sure, it is not in Syria's interest for Lebanon to be rocked by such a massive security breach. After all Syria is responsible for Lebanon's security," the leading Saudi newspaper al-Watan said in an editorial.
And they've done such a bangup job, too. Ooops, bad choice of words
Meanwhile, Iran said Israel is the only state that has the resources to carry out such attack. According to initial reports, the bomb which killed Hariri had the explosive power of 300 kg of dynamite.
"An organised terrorist entity like that of the Zionist regime has the capability to carry out such operations and it targets breaking unity and solidarity in Lebanon," a state-owned Iranian newspaper quoted the foreign ministry as saying.
"Yeah, after all, who ever heard of muslims blowing people up.....ok that's a bad example. But we know they done it, trust us.."
Posted by: Steve ||
02/15/2005 2:50:23 PM ||
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#1
Elegantly simple. You see, Israel hates Syria. Hariri hated Syria. So it stands to reason that Israel would kill Hariri to . . .
#4
Ever since the Yasin "incident" the whiners surrounding Israel have used all sudden descents to room temperature status as an excuse to point fingers.
Since the IDF and the Mossad as so efficient, and the Arab equivalents are such buffoons and cowards at this sort of thing, i.e. using agitated homicide bomers who are mostly kids, one should not expect much different form the Arab yahoos who spew this stuff.
Nibsey in Damascus, a.k.a. Baby Assad, had better watch his Ps & Qs. Or he'll be discovered by some IDF sergeant, hiding in a hole in a backyard of a mud hut in surburban Damascus.
DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis Monday, February 14, Rafiq Hariri, five times Lebanese prime minister, multibillionaire, builder of a country devastated by 15 years of civil war, was assassinated by a huge car bomb that ravaged the Lebanese capital's seafront. Two ministers in his party and 6 of his bodyguards, including its chief Yahya Al Arb, were among the dead. Efforts to save his life at the American Hospital to which he was carried in critical condition were unavailing. The attack is described as the most brutal since the civil conflict ended in 1991.
Last year, Hariri stepped down in protest against the extension of pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud's presidency and was about to take the lead of the opposition. A towering figure in Lebanese politics, Hariri was expected to fight the election due to take place in April or May.
The Lebanese hammer blow that came down on the Bush administration from Beirut set back its plans to bring democratic reforms to the Middle East. US officials were still digesting the import of Iraq's general election the day after its results were released in Baghdad. They were also still waiting for Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to come up to scratch in fighting terrorism. Its impact will be regional in magnitude, affecting the next stage of Iraqi insurgency and the chances of a Palestinian-Israeli accommodation. According to DEBKAfile's intelligence sources, the assassination was staged by Syrian military intelligence headed by General Rostum Ghazala. It capped two years of attempts by the Bush administration to engage Assad by diplomacy. On February 14, the confrontation between Washington and Bashar Assad's regime abruptly shot up to a new level: the Syrian president had decided to resort to the vicious tactics of Iraq and Lebanon's ugly past, finally impelled by a circumstance that DEBKA-Net-Weekly 193 revealed on February 1:
For the first time in the annals of the Arab-Israeli dispute, Lebanon's senior opposition politicians are pressing for the government in Beirut to recognize Israel and sign a separate peace treaty with the Jewish state - without reference to Damascus. DEBKA-Net-Weekly's Middle East sources report that the move was initiated this week by former prime minister Rafiq Hariri, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt and the Christian Maronite archbishop Nasrallah Sfeir, acting on a signal from Washington. The demand for Lebanon's divorce from Syria for the purpose of making peace with Israel is the direct consequence of the January 29 UN Security Council resolution drafted by France and adopted by all 15 Council members, which ruled that the controversial Shabaa Farms along Israel's northern border was part of Syrian Golan prior to the 1967 War - not Lebanon.
That resolution was supported by Washington to knock the stuffing out of the Shiite terrorist group Hizballah's main justification for attacking Israel and to free Lebanese leaders to start talks with Israel. With that issue out of the way, the Lebanese trio maintained that Beirut has no further territorial or border quarrel with Israel and had nothing to do with the Syrian-Israel dispute or the Golan issue. There was no bar therefore to the two neighbors establishing normal peace and economic relations. This action was meant to supplement the February 8 Israel-Palestinian ceasefire accord in Sharm el-Sheikh and deflect some of the popular ire directed against Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon over his evacuation plan. Above all, the Assad regime and the Hizballah would have found themselves isolated in a corner.
Washington followed it up by presenting Damascus with a fresh demand.
DEBKA-Net-Weekly's sources report that for Washington, Assad's most important test now is no longer Syrian implementation of Security Council 1559 on Lebanon - or even the evacuation of Syrian troops. Both are important but not the key, which is the dismantling of the Syrian-Lebanese intelligence outfit which our intelligence sources reveal is composed of the Syrian Reconnaissance Service and Lebanese General Intelligence commanded by General Jamil al Sayad. This is the mechanism that controls Lebanese politicians, including members of parliament. As long as it is active, there is little to be gained by pulling Syrian troops out of the country; Damascus will continue to pull the strings in Beirut. Hariri's subsequent murder shows how just that demand was.
These moves by the Bush administration were contingent on Hariri, Jumblatt and Sfeir winning a spring election in Lebanon and rounding out a cycle of three democratic elections in the Middle East. Although Lebanese politicians were still squabbling over the territorial lines of constituencies, the vote was clearly going ahead. Assad is reported to have complained to his aides that the Americans were planning to run an airlift to the home country of hundreds of thousands of Lebanese expatriates from the United States, Latin American and Europe, in order to win seats away from pro-Syrian candidates. It was time to stop them, he said.
Hariri's assassination is one up for all the violent forces at work in the Middle East, for Assad as sponsor of terrorism and for the pro-Syrian government in Beirut. It is bound to have a negative effect on the Sharon-Abbas reconciliation strategy and their hopes with American encouragement of bringing Palestinian terrorist groups round to reducing their attacks, much less a truce. The Palestinians will conclude that the gun and the bomb bring results and will stick to this line — especially when convinced that Abu Mazan will never raise a finger to bring them to heel.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/15/2005 12:15:07 PM ||
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Posted by: Tom Dooley ||
02/15/2005 14:10 Comments ||
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Well, whatever the perps thought they would gain from this action, it is surely turned to dust. The release of the Iraq election results show that the US can in fact turn its attention elsewhere...and Condi has recalled the US ambassador from Damascus for "consultations."
#5
For the first time in the annals of the Arab-Israeli dispute, Lebanonâs senior opposition politicians are pressing for the government in Beirut to recognize Israel and sign a separate peace treaty with the Jewish state - without reference to Damascus.
Whoa! This is really important -- Middle Eastern politicians demanding to make peace with Israel!! I do realize this is take-with-a-bowlful-of-salt Debka, so I'll await confirmation by another source, but this is really exciting! (I'm excited -- can you tell!!)
From DEBKA: Just hours after former prime minister Rafiq Hariri was murdered in a massive car bomb explosion outside the five-star Saint Georges Hotel on Beirut's seafront Monday, February 14, enraged Lebanese Muslim, Christian, Druse opposition leaders declared the pro-Syrian Karame government illegal, demanded its resignation and pointed the finger of blame at Damascus. First riots erupted in Beirut and Hariri's home town of Sidon. French president Jacques Chirac, a close friend of the dead Lebanese politician, bluntly accused Syria and its Lebanese stooges of orchestrating his assassination and demanded an immediate international probe. As the opposition begins to fight back for the brutal slaying, the whiff of war hangs over the country that was wracked for 15 years by civil bloodshed up until 1991. The dead leader, who made billions as a building contractor in Saudi Arabia, did more than any other to rebuild the ravaged country and restore it to normal life under a Sunni Muslim prime minister, Shiite parliament speaker and Christian president.
DEBKAfile's Beirut sources report that anti-government leaders have begun discussing appointing Hariri's sister Bahaya in his place as their joint candidate for ruler of the country. Her power base is the town of Sidon in the south, the Sunni Muslim Hariri clan's home town where Rafiq was born. Monday night, Sunni Muslim militias took control of Sidon and cut off its main road link to Beirut. This step pre-empted the deployment of the Lebanese army and security forces which had been swiftly mobilized and posted at key points in the capital and across the country. An anti-government general strike was declared for Tuesday. Wednesday, Hariri will be laid to rest. Government representatives have been barred from attending the funeral. Syrian troops were ordered to stay in their barracks for the time being.
DEBKAfile's Middle East sources report: If hostilities erupt and the government looks liking falling, these troops, some 13,000, will be called out. The Hizballah and Palestinians will back them alongside pro-government Lebanese troops to shield the Syrian presence in Lebanon against the fury of opposition Christian and Druse militias backed by pro-Hariri Sunni loyalists from the south. If such a full-blown crisis develops, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will face the dilemma of having to decide which side the Palestinian Authority supports: the anti-US, pro-Syrian coalition, accused of a terrorist act against a leading pro-Western politician, or the opposition forces ranged against that line-up. In the first case, he risks losing even more ground with the Hamas, Jihad Islami, al Aqsa Brigades and Palestinian "Fronts" which will sympathize with the Lebanese factions supporting Damascus. If he opts for the latter, he breaks loose from the reconciliation process begun at Sharm el Sheikh on February 8.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/15/2005 12:04:01 PM ||
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PARIS, Feb 15 (AFP) - The assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri was a deliberate blow to France, whose president Jacques Chirac was a personal friend and has sponsored UN moves to end the Syrian occupation, Paris-based commentators said Tuesday. While the French government refused to point a finger of blame - adhering publicly to Chirac's call for an international investigation into the murder - analysts and Middle East specialists were less circumspect about who they thought was behind it.
"I have not the shadow of a doubt that Syria is responsible," said Antoine Basbous, president of the Observatory of Arab Countries. "It was a message to the Lebanese opposition - but also to France: this is our colony, we are masters here and we intend to stay. So keep out," he told AFP.
Hariri regularly visited France and kept a multi-million euro mansion in central Paris. He was one of the first foreign leaders to be invited to the Elysee palace after Chirac's 1995 election, and the following year was presented by the president with the grand cross of the Legion of Honour.
"I am convinced this attack - the most significant since the end of Lebanon's war - was a message directed at Chirac, who was a personal friend of Rafiq Hariri," said Antoine Sfeir, director of the Cahiers de l'Orient newsletter.
"The evidence suggests that the murder is a response to UN security council resolution 1559 voted in September at the initiative of France and the US. It was Jacques Chirac who was the real architect of the resolution," he said.
Resolution 1559 calls for the withdrawal of Syria's estimated 15,000 troops from Lebanon and the re-establishment of full Lebanese sovereignty.
A month after it was passed, Syria strong-armed a change to Lebanon's constitution to extend the mandate of pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud - the move which prompted Hariri's resignation as prime minister. According to Basbous, Hariri was personally threatened over the resolution by Syria's intelligence chief in Lebanon, Rostom Ghazale. "Hariri told his friends that Ghazale put a pistol to his head and said: 'It's your choice: Syria or resolution 1559,'" Basbous said.
Writing in the Liberation daily, analyst Jean-Pierre Perrin said the fact Chirac had called for an international enquiry to identify the killers "is a way of casting doubt over any Lebanese-Syrian enquiry" and showed Paris also suspects Damascus.
"Chirac is all the more furious because he did so much to get (Syrian president) Bashar el-Assad known outside his country," Perrin said. "The assassination of the former prime minister looks like a real challenge thrown down not just to Paris and Washington - but to the whole international community - by a Syria that is increasingly isolated, even in the Arab world," he said.
Syria has condemned the assassination. According to its supporters, the fact that suspicion automatically fell on Damascus suggests that another agent was responsible and calculated that Syria would be blamed. But Basbous rejected that argument. "They have done this before. They kill and then are the first to send in their condolences. Duplicity is a hallmark of the Syrian regime," he said. "Hariri was a heavyweight. He had a contacts book full of the telephone numbers of world leaders. He could call up Chirac, he could call up Bush. Syria didn't want someone as influential as that living next door," he said.
Sfeir said the killing sent an unmistakeable message. "It is a message addressed to Lebanese politicians - see what can happen if you get in our way. And it's a message to the international community to remind them of the essential fact - without us there will be chaos," he said.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/15/2005 11:43:04 AM ||
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#1
Maybe France could threaten to... oh, never mind.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
02/15/2005 15:11 Comments ||
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Basbous knows his stuff. "They kill and then are the first to send in their condolences"
Just what will France do? I don't trust any military action will work (Look at Ivory Coast) Now, espionage, they can be effective at that. Let's see what kind of balls they have at UN. In any case, we'll see what Chirac is made of. It took the "humiliation" of French soldiers tied up and held hostage as human shields in Bosnia before any resolution was made there.
Posted by: chicago mike ||
02/15/2005 16:41 Comments ||
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hey! Did I call that or what! This autor failed to mention that the bombing took place while Shalom was visiting Chirac LINK
It makes you wonder if it was also meant to be a message to Chirac.
"Chirac is all the more furious because he did so much to get (Syrian president) Bashar el-Assad known outside his country," Perrin said. "The assassination of the former prime minister looks like a real challenge thrown down not just to Paris and Washington - but to the whole international community - by a Syria that is increasingly isolated, even in the Arab world," he said.
Let's see how much is wrong in this paragraph:
I would have thought Assad was well known enough already: dynasties in the modern world are few and far between, and his family's more-or-less been running the country since it broke up with Egypt.
As for the isolation bit, I don't know. Russia not only forgave all of Syria's previous debt incurred by buying weapons on credit, they've also agreed to "sell" them more of their most modern stuff, in purchases rumored to be subsidized by the Saudis.
Maybe they'll be rethinking all of this, in light of the bombing. Or maybe not.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
02/15/2005 19:47 Comments ||
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A leading member of Iran's Hezbollah, Hojjat-ol-Islam Baqer Kharrazi after years of silence delivered a harsh speech against the reformists and the administration in Iran, Iran Emrooz reported. "I kept silent over the past 14 years, because Hezbollah needed to be restructured and I was busy with training the forces. Although no Iranian media reflected Hezbollah leaders' recent meeting with head of Iran's State Expediency Council, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, I should say we elaborated on Hezbollah's activities for Rafsanjani in detail and the former president was amazed with our progress." Kharrazi claimed. "We don't need any guardian. And if necessary we will select our own president, ministers and parliament members. For without the Hezbollah forces the Islamic Revolution will collapse from within." the hardliner added.
Referring to the Sunni population in Iran's western, eastern and southern borders, Kharrazi said: "Presently the country's borders are controlled by Sunnis. We have to counter their growth in the country." On Iran's nuclear issue, Kharrazi noted: "We have oil, gas and all other natural resources and thus we don't need interaction with other countries. We are able to produce atomic bombs and we will do that. We shouldn't be afraid of anyone. The US is no more than a barking dog" Pointing to Iranian Peace Prize Laureate and human rights advocate the Hezbollah member noted: "Shirin Ebadi should not think that she can act as Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan. Hezbollah just needs a wrong gesture from her to shoot her. It was the leader's blessing that has kept her alive to this day."
This article starring:
HOJJAT OL ISLAM BAQER KHARRAZI
Iranian Hezbollah
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/15/2005 12:53:24 AM ||
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#1
14 years of silence. 14 years to "restructure" Hezbollah. Hezbollah keeps the "Islamic Revolution" from collapsing. We got oil and stuff. We don't need anyone. We're gonna make nukes. The US is no threat to us. We're great, invincible, noble, very good looking, and sexy. We're Hezbollah!
The Lebanon-based Hizbullah terror organization has announced that it is raising the compensation it pays out to families of suicide attackers from $20,000 to $100,000.
Bank transfers and e-mail intercepted from the organization by they PA reveal this new development, reports Arutz-7's Haggai Huberman.
Senior officials of PA armed forces claim that Hizbullah presents the number one threat to the ceasefire currently in effect. The Lebanese group is attempting to enlist terrorists from the Fatah organization, the main governing party in the PA, and from Fatah offshoots such as the Al Aksa Brigades. The latter is closely aligned with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, and is responsible for the murder of hundreds of Jews since the outbreak of the Oslo War in September 2000.
Israeli officials, too, report that there are currently some 50 Hizbullah-sponsored terrorist cells throughout Judea and Samaria.
PA military officials told Associated Press reporters that Hizbullah, which has in the past funded hundreds of PA terrorists, has been intensifying its recruiting efforts, offering to pay great sums of money to armed men willing to attack Israeli targets.
One PA terrorist - he told the AP that he is a "former" terrorist - disclosed how a Hizbullah operative contacted him a day before the Sharm a-Sheikh summit and offered him a substantial sum of money in exchange for carrying out violent acts. According to this source, groups of 5-6 Hezbolla recruits are paid from $5,000 - $8,000 for weapons, ammunition, and ongoing terror activities. Payment includes free use of a cellular phone.
A PA military officer charged with supervising "radical" groups has pointed out that Hizbullah attempts to find out the bank account numbers of its operatives in the PA, as well as the names of terrorist perpetrators, by way of e-mail exchanges. The officer claims that he has read some of these exchanges and that the "humanitarian" bureau within the PA "supervises" the bank transfer of money from the Hizbullah to terrorists within the PA. The officer also claims that he has notified the PA leadership of the Hizbullah activity, but has not received any instructions to intervene to preclude such operations or arrest terrorists.
Huberman points out that the Hizbullah revelations result from a "media offensive" that the PA has initiated over the past few days. The PA wishes to expose the methods used by Hizbullah to recruit Arab terrorists. The PA leadership hopes that this will defuse the pressure on PA leader Abbas (Abu Mazen), who claims that the PA is trying to stop violent acts against Israel and engage in negotiations.
Hizbullah terrorist chieftain Hassan Nasrallah declared last week that violent opposition to Israel will continue and will not stop under any circumstances. He was quoted by Al-manar television on February 9th as saying, "This is the year of unrelenting opposition, preserving the opposition and standing firm in opposition, which is our choice, our way and faith, and a pan-Arab, Islamic national struggle."
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
02/15/2005 8:24:33 AM ||
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#1
Hmmm. Lack of ready supply is pushing up prices. Just like they teach us in Econ 101.
But I thought US actions were creating an unending line of jihadis? From the MSM reporting, the payout should be going way down.
#2
Perhaps Iran is opening its pocketbook a bit wider in hopes of both undermining Abbas and deflecting some attention from their nuke program.
"Payment includes free use of a cellular phone."
Also known as a remote detonating device.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/15/2005 9:36 Comments ||
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#3
Yeah, I'm calling about the job...okay, uh, about the phone...how many free minutes do I get with that? ...Whaddaya mean I won't need any?
Posted by: (lowercase) matt ||
02/15/2005 10:22 Comments ||
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#4
Senior officials of PA armed forces claim that Hizbullah presents the number one threat to the ceasefire currently in effect.
All fine and dandy, but the question is, what's being done to combat this subversive activity besides revealing its existence? Sounding an alarm is pointless if no one is going to to take action against it.
Huberman points out that the Hizbullah revelations result from a "media offensive" that the PA has initiated over the past few days. The PA wishes to expose the methods used by Hizbullah to recruit Arab terrorists. The PA leadership hopes that this will defuse the pressure on PA leader Abbas (Abu Mazen), who claims that the PA is trying to stop violent acts against Israel and engage in negotiations.
It seems the answer to the question posed previously is, sadly, "very little".
#5
...who claims that the PA is trying to stop violent acts against Israel and engage in negotiations.
The first step towards building faith in that claim would be to outlaw political parties that have "military wings" (translation-terrorists and terrorist-abetters as members of those parties).
The assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri Monday in a powerful explosion that targeted his heavily guarded convoy on Beirut's seaside front, plunged the country into a state of shock.
Hariri's angry supporters took to the streets in Beirut and his hometown city of Sidon in south Lebanon.
Dozens of other rushed to the American University Hospital where the mutilated body of the 61-year-old former prime minister was taken from the explosion site.
In the confusion that followed the bombing, it took a few hours before Hariri's death was confirmed. Along with the former prime minister his long-time bodyguard and eight other people were killed. About 100 others people, including pro-Hariri Parliament member Bassel Fleihan, were injured.
Calling him a "great martyr," Hariri's supporters angrily denounced Syria and the Lebanese authorities, saying that President Emile Lahoud and Prime Minister Omar Karami should have provided greater security. They demanded the departure of Karami's government.
The crowd also shouted slogans against Syria, describing it as "the enemy of God."
Hariri's elder son, Bahaa Eddine, urged for restraint as he tried to calm the protestors who were asking for revenge. "It is not the time to say any word," Bahaa Eddine said.
Syria was quick in denouncing "the terrible criminal act" as President Bashar Assad described it in a statement. Assad extended his country's support of the Lebanese cabinet and people "during such dangerous circumstances."
While Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Sharaa called on the Lebanese to be strong and refuse "any internal strife or foreign intervention," Syria's Information Minister Mahdi Dakhlallah said "Lebanon's enemies are the ones to benefit from this crime."
Qatar's al-Jazeera television broadcast a tape that showed a bearded man claiming to speak on behalf of a hitherto unknown Muslim fundamentalist group, "Jamaat al-Nasrat wal-Jihad-Bilad al-Sham" (Al Jihad's Partisans for Greater Syria). The group is believed to be linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network.
The man, identified as Ahmed Abu Adas, said he carried out the suicide attack against Hariri whom he described as "a Saudi agent" with the aim of "supporting our struggling brothers in the country of holy places (Saudi Arabia) and to avenge the martyrs who were killed by the security forces affiliated to the Saudi regime."
He pledged that Monday's assassination would be "the prelude of many other martyrdom operations."
Hariri has dual Lebanese-Saudi citizenship and is a close friend of the Saudi royal family.
Abu Adas was quickly identified after he appeared on the tape by the Lebanese security forces, which said they stormed his house in Beirut's Tarik al-Jadida neighborhood.
A statement by the Internal Security Forces said Abu Adas was a 24-year-old Palestinian who belongs to a Wahhabi group. It added that investigation were underway to determine whether he "detonated himself or participated with others" in assassinating Hariri.
A well-informed source told United Press International that Abu Adas was believed to have carried out the suicide attack against Hariri and that DNA tests were being conducted to determine whether one of three mutilated and unidentified bodies belonged to him.
The source said the bomber's neighbors saw him leave his home a few hours before the explosion.
Such a claim by Abu Adas fell short of appeasing the Lebanese opposition which held the Lebanese authorities and Syria responsible for Hariri's assassination.
In a statement after an emergency meeting at the palace of the late prime minister, opposition leaders, including Druze chief Walid Jumblat and former President Amin Gemayel said the Lebanese authorities and Syria as "the custody power in Lebanon" were "responsible of this and other similar crimes."
The statement, read by former Ministry of Information Bassem Sabaa, called on the international community "to shoulder its responsibility toward Lebanon and form an international investigation committee" to look into "this crime in the absence of trust by the Lebanese in the authorities and all their services."
The opposition leaders went a step further by calling for "the departure of the authority which lost its constitutional, popular and international legitimacy, the formation of a transition government and withdrawal of the Syrian troops" from Lebanon.
Their appeal echoed a similar call by France which earlier Monday strongly condemned Hariri's assassination and demanded to open an international investigation.
French President Jacques Chirac, who was a close and personal friend of Hariri for many years, was unlikely to keep quiet.
Chirac, angered by Syria's pressures late last year that led to the renewal of Lebanese President Emile Lahoud's mandate for three more years, was believed to have been behind United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559 which called for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Lebanon and dismantling of militias -- in a clear reference to Syria, Hezbollah and the Palestinian factions.
Many unanswered questions remain. Was Abu Adas the suicide bomber? Are al-Qaida followers that powerful in Lebanon? Was Abu Adas used by some intelligence service or would an investigation reveal -- if ever possible -- other culprits?
Disclosing the real assassins could be the only way to calm the Lebanese opposition and the international parties which have been pressuring Syria to withdraw and ease its grip on Lebanon.
Monday's assassination of Hariri has ended an important chapter in Lebanon's post-war history and may still the controversy about his ambitious post-war reconstruction program that left the country with more than $30 billion in debts.
Despite such accusations, Hariri, who spent 12 years in power after he was first named prime minister in 1992, was recently honored by the United Nations for turning Beirut's war-devastated downtown into a model city.
One of the last things Hariri did before he died was to stop for a cup of coffee at one of downtown's coffee shops in the area he helped rebuild in the city he loved.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/15/2005 12:18:24 AM ||
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French President Jacques Chirac, who was a close and personal friend of Hariri for many years, was unlikely to keep quiet.
that'll scare em.
This Hariri guy is interesting. a "close friend of the Saudi royal family", "a close and personal friend" of Chirac. I guess when you are a billionaire, you have lots of "close and personal friends" in high places.
#6
Regarding comment #5, recent knowledge based posts from this area go heavily against my 'some other Syrian may have done it' hypothesis. Thus my hypothesis is probably wrong.
Iran's foreign minister said Monday his country has no intention of developing nuclear weapons and does not fear being attacked by the United States but could defend itself if needed. The European Union is working to persuade Iran to abandon its uranium enrichment program. The United States fears could be used to manufacture nuclear weapons and is pushing the Europeans to take a tougher line on the issue. Iran insists its nuclear activities are peaceful. "Iran does not have any program to produce weapons," Foreign Minister Kamel Kharrazi told reporters. "Iran is a promoter of the elimination of the infidel's nuclear weapons around the world and, based on our ideology, on our Islamic thinking, it is forbidden to produce and use nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction against us."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2005 00:00:00 ||
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what did Khan say about this?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/15/2005 9:49 Comments ||
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Then he won't mind switching to gas-turbine electric plants and crushing those long-range missiles...
Posted by: Tom ||
02/15/2005 9:54 Comments ||
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#3
Kinda like how sex outside of marriage is forbidden in Islam but there are still prostitutes in Islamoland?
#6
Hah, trailing wife. I know that Islamic men can divorce their wives just be muttering the magic words thrice, but how do they get married for these little asignations? Does that mean that every pimp has to be a mullah? Or is it that every mullah is a pimp?
#9
I don't think a mullah is needed for the marriage ceremony, 11A5S (and that Hah! had better be one of amusement). I imagine the House Madam is fully capable of doing what is required.
Intimidated the hell out of poor Hariri, didn't it?
Betcha he's not so scared anymore.
The White House did not directly blame Syria for the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, but made clear that Hariri was likely killed because of his efforts to force Syria out of Lebanon. Hariri died today when a massive explosion tore through his motorcade in Beirut. At least nine other people were killed and about 100 others were wounded. "We continue to be concerned about the foreign occupation in Lebanon," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said today in Washington. "We've expressed those concerns. Syria has maintained a military presence there for some time now, and that is a concern of ours."
In September 2004, the United States and France introduced a U.N. security resolution calling for Syria to withdraw its 15,000 troops from Lebanon. Hariri, a billionaire businessman who helped rebuild Lebanon after its civil war, had resigned as prime minister in October after falling out with Syria, the main power broker in Lebanon. "What happened today was highly significant," said ABC News analyst Fawaz Gerges, professor of Middle Eastern studies at Sarah Lawrence College. "Pro-Syrian forces in Lebanon never trusted Hariri. They believed that Hariri had connections to French and American politicians and was America's man in Lebanon." Syria's President Bashar Assad denied any Syrian involvement, calling the assassination a "horrendous criminal act." Despite Syria's condemnation of the assassination, many U.S. and Lebanese officials suspect Syria had some involvement. The bombing was a highly sophisticated attack, and those who oppose Syria's presence in Lebanon have been targeted in the past.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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A nice complement to Fred's Thugburg, but someone else is doing all the work ;-)
DISCOVERTHENETWORK.ORG is David Horowitz's newest website, dedicated to exposing the interconnected web of left-wing activists, organizations, journalists, and financiers that wage political warfare against the United States and her founding ideals. This ever-growing database features encyclopedic profiles of the personalities, agendas, words, deeds, and ultimate goals of the Left. DiscoverTheNetwork has profiled and will continue to a wide-ranging number of left-wing extremists, from feminists to Islamists, from academics to agitators, and from environmental extremists to terrorist sympathizers. When one wishes to look up, say, Ward Churchill, one can search his name at DiscoverTheNetwork and find an in-depth account of his radicalism, as well as links and a diagram showing his connection to other leftists in the DTN database. We hope you will find this an invaluable research tool. The site will also house our new blog dedicated to tracking the day-by-day operations of the far-Left, Moonbat Central.
(Ok, that isn't in the least bit true, but in this case it worked out nicely that I was able to find something useful, and anyway it sounded awf'ly grand at the top of the post, didn't it? ;-D)
#7
Just posted someting on my blog about this also. Found a UCLA professor using his main univserity webpage to direct students to BlogLeft. Now that should be a crime.
This new website isn't online all they way because I tried to submit the info I found on this UCLA professor and I got an ODB error. So they are not fully functional yet but looks promising.
Posted by: Ray ||
02/15/2005 22:25 Comments ||
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While the process of extracting injured troops from combat zones has been streamlined, the methods for relieving their agony during evacuation has lagged
General anesthesia, which suppresses the activity of the entire central nervous system, is itself an assault on the body - a little death that requires constant monitoring of heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration, followed by hours in the recovery room. And when traditional anesthesia wears off, the pain returns, requiring patients to take massive doses of morphine or other addictive analgesics as they recuperate.
Now [Col. Chester] Buckenmaier is leading a group of army doctors and nurses determined, as he puts it, "to drag the military kicking and screaming into the 21st century." His team believes the future of wartime pain control is a new form of anesthesia called a continuous peripheral nerve block, which takes a more targeted approach by switching off only the pain signals coming from the injured limb, leaving patients' vital signs and cortical functions unimpaired.
For soldiers evacuated from the battlefield, the advantages of nerve blocks over traditional methods of pain control are clear. The wounded troops flying in and out of Landstuhl are often in misery or a narcotized stupor, while those treated with blocks remain awake and pain-free despite massive injuries.
#1
Our fear of drugs in the US has hampered our ability to deal and properly treat pain in both civilian and (now, evidently) military life. Anesthesia and pain medicines are one of the huge triumphs of science for the betterment of all mankind. We should use all possible techniques to properly treat pain and suffering.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
02/15/2005 14:39 Comments ||
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Since the start of the second Palestinian uprising more than four years ago, many children have died in the gunfire. But it is the harrowing image of a terrified 12-year-old boy, shielded in vain by his father, that carries the iconic power of a battle flag.
Egypt and Tunisia issued postage stamps of the boy, Muhammad al-Dura, crouching against his father and under attack from a fusillade of bullets in September 2000. Egypt named a street in his honor, and suicide bombers invoked the boy as a martyr in videotaped farewells.
Far from Gaza's street battles, in France, the scene is a picture worth a thousand arguments. Here, debate seethes about whether the televised footage of Muhammad al-Dura was genuine, misinterpreted or — as an American academic put it — artfully staged "Pallywood" theater.
Battle photographs have long been potent media weapons, and some of the most memorable war pictures have provoked questions of authenticity. At the center of this dispute is the state-run television station France 2 and its Jerusalem correspondent, Charles Enderlin, who says that the fierce criticism about the chain's exclusive footage of the boy has brought death threats against him.
Images from the street confrontation in a remote area of Gaza have been dissected in books and in the sharply worded universe of blog commentary.
The video has also been explored by a small French-language Israeli wire service, the Metula News Agency, which rented a theater to examine the footage.
A 2002 German documentary, "Three Bullets and a Child: Who Killed the Young Muhammad al-Dura?" tried to address lingering questions about whether the boy was killed by Israelis or Palestinians.
Last week, the debate gained fresh momentum after a prominent French editor and an independent television producer broke ranks in the country's media circles and wrote a cautious article in the newspaper Le Figaro, expressing some doubt about the photo's authenticity.
"That image has had great influence," said Daniel Leconte, a former correspondent for France 2. "If this image does not mean what we were told, it is necessary to find the truth."
Mr. Leconte wrote the article in Figaro with Denis Jeambar, editor in chief of the newsmagazine L'Express, weeks after station executives at France 2 allowed the two men in October to see all 27 minutes of the footage shot.
But their commentary did not emerge publicly until after they had offered it to Le Monde, which rejected it, according to its new opinion page editor, Sylvain Cypel. He called the entire debate "bizarre" and said it had been propelled by a tiny French-Israeli news agency.
When the report was first broadcast, France 2 offered its exclusive footage free to the world's television networks, saying it did not want to profit from the images.
The scenes were filmed by its Palestinian cameraman, Talal Abu Rahma, who was the only one to capture images of what Mr. Enderlin characterized then as the killing of a child by gunfire from an Israeli position. Mr. Enderlin was not present during the shooting.
Esther Schapira, a German producer in Frankfurt, said she tried unsuccessfully in preparation for her 2002 documentary to see a master copy of the tape and was astonished when France 2 did not share it because European stations commonly exchange material. "If there is nothing to hide," she said of France 2's initial reluctance, "what are they afraid of?"
When critical articles started appearing in publications like The Atlantic Monthly in the United States, Mr. Enderlin wrote letters insisting: "We do not transform reality. But in view of the fact that some parts of the scene are unbearable, France 2 was obliged to cut a few seconds from the scene."
In many ways, Mr. Enderlin argues, the video has become a cultural prism, with viewers seeing what they want to see. "It's a campaign," he said, "because the video was used as a symbol by the Palestinians as a propaganda tool."
Richard Landes, a Boston University professor specializing in medieval cultures, studied full footage from other Western news outlets that day, including the pictures of the boy.
"We could argue about every frame," he said. But after watching the scenes involving Muhammad al-Dura three times, he concluded that it had probably been faked, along with footage on the same tape of separate street clashes and ambulance rescues.
"I came to the realization that Palestinian cameramen, especially when there are no Westerners around, engage in the systematic staging of action scenes," he said, calling the footage Pallywood cinema.
As questions were raised, some France 2 executives privately faulted the channel's communication. Last week, they showed The International Herald Tribune the original 27-minute tape of the incident, which also included separate scenes of rock-throwing youths.
The footage of the father and son under attack lasts several minutes, but does not clearly show the boy's death. There is a cut in the scene that France 2 executives attribute to the cameraman's efforts to preserve a low battery.
When Mr. Leconte and Mr. Jeambar saw the full footage, they were struck that there was no definitive scene showing that the boy had died. They wrote, however, that they were not convinced that the scene was staged, but only that "this famous 'agony' that Enderlin insisted was cut from the montage does not exist."
To counter criticism, France 2 called a November news conference and prepared a frame-by-frame folder of photographs, including blow-ups to respond to skeptics like Professor Landes, who argued that blood was not visible.
The station also sent a journalist back in October to film the boy's father, Jamal al-Dura, rolling down part of his pants and shirtsleeves to show scars on his right arm and upper right leg. They compiled footage of the bandaged father in an Amman hospital, where he was visited by Jordan's king. But critics like Luc Rosenzweig, a former Le Monde reporter and radio host, want an independent medical expert's opinion.
"It's a crazy story," said Arlette Chabot, the station's deputy general director, about the continuing controversy. "Every time we address one question, then another question surfaces. It's very difficult to fight a rumor. The point is that four years later, no one can say for certain who killed him, Palestinians or Israelis."
But this has emboldened critics like Philippe Karsenty, who is one of the station's intended legal targets along with the Metula News Agency. Mr. Karsenty runs a small, Paris-based media watchdog group, Media-Ratings that has called on both Ms. Chabot and Mr. Enderlin to resign.
"We will offer 10,000 euros to a charity chosen by France 2 if the chain can demonstrate to us and a panel of independent experts that the Sept. 30, 2000, report shows the death of the Palestinian child," said Mr. Karsenty, who has urged French officials to start an inquiry.
The Culture Ministry is one agency that has been approached. Privately, a government official said: "We can't take any initiative because it is not our mission or job. The press is independent, especially in the French tradition.
This is an incredibly well-written and intelligent article by Nicholas Lemann. Here are several quotes from the piece (which is too long to post even in part):
"They didn't see what we were doing as materially different from local TV news—that was depressing. People don't associate investigative reporting with us, but with local news. They see what we do as no different from 'Could this pastrami sandwich kill you? Could this screen door harm your child? Tune in at ten!' They don't see any difference between an investigative reporter and a blow-dried idiot."
"This is what journalists in the mainstream media are starting to worry about: what if people don't believe in us, don't want us, anymore?"
I would very much like to hear what Liberalhawk and .com have to say about this article.
#1
I thought the article suffered from too much "poor, poor journalist" crap.
Journalism, as a profession, is rotten. Until they recognize it, and start to deal with it, they'll get nothing but contempt from me.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/15/2005 13:46 Comments ||
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#2
I don't think journalism will ever recover once the comparison of how long it takes to train a plumber to be a journalist versus how long it takes to train a journalist to be a plumber reaches the general populace. After all, how long does it take to train a blogger?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/15/2005 13:51 Comments ||
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#3
Yep, RC, time to break out that nano-violin.
There was also the implication that all conservatives were the same as the nuttiest of the letter writers. There was no sense that he really understands the issue of bias that an almost unanimous liber environment brings in the choice of stories, headlines and content positioning.
Yep, just more of the poor, poor me routine with only the faintest hint of a clue.
This line is a great example "If mainstream journalists find it annoying that conservatives think of them as unalterably hostile, they find it just as annoying that liberals think of them as the friend who keeps letting them down. "
Um guys, if the liberals think of you as a friend maybe it means that you, too, are predominantly liberal.
#4
An establishment liberal not understanding conservatism is hardly news. What's interesting here is what's left out: blogs. They're really an alternate engine of editorial judgments, which is what's feeding impatience with the stale and one-sided judgments (that one-trick 'X oppresses Y' story, endlessly) of the MSM.
Technology changes expectations. All we need from the MSM machinery now is facts. The rest is irritating because superfluous -- and distorting.
#7
Sigh. Check this out, from near the end: ...there is [a] possibility, which is much more worrisome, at least to journalists who work in the mainstream media. It is that...their compact with the public has been seriously damaged. Journalism that is inquisitive and intellectually honest, that surprises and unsettles, didnât always exist...there are political and business interests that would be better off if it didnât exist and that have worked hard to undermine it.
Attention journalists: this is much of your problem, summed up right here.
First, you assume that journalism must "surprise" and "unsettle". Therefore, the choice of what is journalism will depend on what journalists find surprising and unsettling. The BBC had a couple of "Have Your Say" pages on the Iraqi elections. Many people said things of the order, "Oh, they have elections, but they have no water, no electricity, no schools." But they do! Why didn't these people know that? Because you didn't report it. Because "Iraqi electricity production back to pre-war levels" wasn't a surprising or unsettling enough headline for you.
Second, you see your critics as "political and business interests". Ah ha! They only want to tear you down for their own gain! And not only that, if you have alarmed the sinister and unnamed "interests", you must be doing things right! It never occurs to you that some of your critics may be just people with legitimate grievances.
Journalism that is inquisitive and intellectually honest, that surprises and unsettles, didnât always exist...there are political and business interests that would be better off if it didnât exist and that have worked hard to undermine it.
The New York Times, the Democratic party, CNN et al. are working hard to undermine bloggers.
#9
I think at least the writer gets 'it', but I doubt the rest of the MSM gets 'it'. Whenever they trot out the worst of right, take things out of context, or try to manufacture a conspiracy they lose a little more standing. They (MSM) need to really clean up their act if they want to rebuild their reputation. How about an OBJECTIVE story on the vote in Iraq, Social Security, or the Patriot Act? All GOOD stories that were painted in the worst possible light. According the MSM: They vote was a failure, Social Security is ok, and the Patriot Act destroys civil liberties. Gee I wonder why the right is bolting to FNC where stories are fair and balanced.
#11
It could be as simple as some people actually take offense at being lied to, patronized by know-nothing children, and manipulated by editorial agenda management.
Once I finally figured out that Walter Crankcase was not only an asshole, but a bona-fide conspiracy moonbat with less intellectual power than my last dog, well, you could say the shine had worn off.
#12
Well said Angie. If you see yourself in opposition to (certain) political and business interests, you start out partisan with a 'the world as a conspiracy' mindset. Conspiracies are a literary device that avoids explaining the complexities of the real world. People who think the world is driven by conspiracies can't separate fact from fiction.
#14
Sorry, Someone, but you must go back to 1931 for that. Walter "There is no famine in the Ukraine" Duranty of the New York Times was the original waterboy for the Marxist-Leninist crowd.
#15
Yeah, and it won me a Pulitzer. Me and Stalin talk about it all the time down here when the locusts aren't eating our eyeballs...
Posted by: The Ghost of Walter Duranty ||
02/15/2005 16:45 Comments ||
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#16
It could be as simple as some people actually take offense at being lied to, patronized by know-nothing children, and manipulated by editorial agenda management.
It is, .com; that sums up nicely why I haven't bought the Boston Globe in, oh, about ten years or so.
#17
One only needs to pick up a copy of the LA Times or any major paper to see the bias. In the smaller markets it's even worse. It not just what stories they pick to cover it's how they do it. What astounds me is that these people who claim to report without bias actually write almost everything dripping with bias. If they can make a negative comment or aspersion about a conservative agenda or personage they will. They can't seem to help themselves.
When the Democrat party/liberals decide they have a issue they want to bring forward the press is always ready and willing to write glowingly about the issue and help to promote it. It's rare that a Republican/conservative issue gets that kind of coverage. If there is any coverage at all it's negative. When a liberal personality is covered it is all most always positive. If a conservative personality is covered it's bound to be unflattering. The latest meme is âWhat liberal media?â What complete and utter bull shit.
They have blogs in their sights now they seem to be losing control of the information base. They have fear of the people who have the power to verify their Tranzi lies.
#18
Smells like someone still hasn't figured out Jefferson's concept of the 'consent of the govern'. Conglomerate business organizations can protect you from the consequences of your behavior only for so long.
#19
In the end left a bad taste.Whaky examples arent the issue and he spends a good chunk of paragraphs with them. Maybe to dismiss the complains.
Posted by: z man ||
02/15/2005 21:09 Comments ||
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#20
nobody likes me, everybody hates me,
excellent commentary above.
"They didnât see what we were doing as materially different from local TV news
TV news? Ha! They flatter themselves. I was forced to watch CNN the other day and had to laugh. It's like they are trying to compete with Oprah or Enquirer, rather than do news.
President Pervez Musharraf has underlined the need for world to address lingering conflicts as lasting peace and sustainable development are dependent on their just resolution. Talking to research scholars and representatives of think-tanks of France and Germany here on Tuesday, he said the world can no longer afford to sweep conflicts under the carpet. He said the international community particularly the Western countries have to play an important role in addressing these conflicts.
Referring to his strategy of enlightened moderation he said it is a way forward for addressing the root causes of extremism and terrorism in the world. He spoke at length on various international and regional issues and challenges confronting the South Asian region and the world. General Pervez Musharraf pointed out that Pakistan is an important member of the international community, which can play a leading role for the well-being of the Muslim world. He also highlighted the need for greater economic cooperation between Pakistan and the European Union particularly in trade and commerce to the mutual benefit of both.
Except that Pakland, important member of the international community that it is, does a crummy job of coping with its problems of extremism and terrorism, has an economy that's stuck in low gear, and can't even manage to control its own territory even as it's trying to gnaw off the territory of others.
What, pray tell, does Perv think we've been doing for the past three and a half years? Gotta problem? Dump it in the lap of the U.S. Problem solved? Thank the UN and Jacques Chirac.
Afghanistan? Problem solved: Bad Guyz chased out of the country with minimal corpse count.
Iraq? Problem solved: Bad Guy chased to the bottom of an outdoor toilet and arrested. Trial at 11.
Libya? Problem solved: Pants scared off the guy with the wardrobe that gave Mr. Blackwell his second heart attack.
International nuclear arms trafficking? Problem solved. Break up the A.Q. Khan ring something Perv somehow never managed to do. Khan's still a hero to the turban and scimitar set, but the operation's broken up, pending us looking the other way.
Kashmir bring you to the brink of nuclear destruction twice in a single year? Problem solved. Send Colin Powell to sweet-talk, cajole, and bribe the interested parties to the peace table.
Entire families of Algerians having their throats slit by turbans? Problem solved: Provide discrete, behind the scenes aid to the gummint so they can quit chasing the Bad Guyz around on foot, thereby wiping out GAI in a year and reducing GSPC to desperation.
Threatened by an international terrorist organization in Southeast Asia, intent on setting up a caliphate spanning three or four countries? Problem solved: Provide U.S. and Aussie aid and intel to help break up the ring, snag one of the ringleaders, and cart him off to Diego Garcia, there to drain all the information out of his pointy little beturbanned head.
Justice for the poor Paleostinians? Problem solved: Isolate Yasser, the root cause of the problem, until he achieves stable condition, then deal with the next iteration of Paleostinian leadership. Elections held for the first time since 1996, peace on the horizon unless Hamas can manage to screw it up.
Syrian occupation of Lebanon? Problem being worked: Work with the Frenchies to get a get a resolution in the Security Council, of all places, to pressure Baby Assad to pull out. To reinforce the message, line the Marines up on the border and have them make faces.
International terror organization determined to take over the world? Problem being worked: Pick a nice place Iraq will do to fight them. Spend American lives and treasure to kill them by the thousand.
Outstanding rant! Bravo! Bravo! I see you have successfully completed upper level courses in Advanced Verbal Bludgeoning. A few more performances like this one and the Rantburg scouts are sure to take notice. Well done.
(PH, you definitely have the discriminating palate to recognize a master. Nicely said, even if to the wrong target -- the dark yellow highlighter shows comments by the article poster. On the other hand, kashar provided the canvas on which Fred's little masterpiece could be painted. )
#9
Fred, If I may, I'd like to take issue with one of your solutions:
Afghanistan? Problem solved: Bad Guyz chased out of the country with minimal corpse count.
Uh, chase the Bad Guyz where?
They mostly went to Pakistan, where there was a noted lack of cooperation in dealing with them, but where they have posed a major problem for Musharraf.
The quid-pro-quo seemed to be: Musharraf would let them back in the country and look the other way, and in return they'd try to blow him up, engineer a coup, and hopefully gain control of the nuclear weapons, with which they'd eventually do something that would turn out in the long run to be Very Bad for Pakistan.
Now a helpful hint: maybe it's time for the Pakistani government to take some of the effort they're spending on planning their next Subtle Plan TM to invade India and lose even more territory to them and instead try to actually control the territory they have, in particular the NWFP, who appear to believe that they have the right to be totally autonomous from the rest of Pakistan, except for foreign policy, which they believe they have the right to determine, no matter how ineptly, and no matter how many people from the rest of Pakistan wind up dying in the process.
Musharraf needs to get control of his military and intelligence services, and the enemy there isn't across the line of control in Kashmir. Or in Afghanistan plotting to split away Balochistan. (That's their current conspiracy theory, right?)
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
02/15/2005 19:20 Comments ||
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Stratfor, a private intelligence and security consulting organization, has released a 10-year geopolitical forecast predicting the decline of China and Russia, the rise of Japan, the disintegration of the European Union and the continued dominance of the United States.
Stratfor said its forecast, released Monday, is based on its ongoing analysis of security, political, demographic, and other major trends in all key regions of the world.
The forecast is intended to help its clients (including corporations, governments, and financial institutions) form long-range strategic plan by "identifying potential risks and opportunities."
According to the 2005-2015 forecast, the United States will continue to dominate the next decade both economically and militarily; and the U.S. is "positioned to replicate the investment boom of the 1995- 2005 decade."
The forecast also says the U.S. gradually will shift its strategic focus from the Middle East to the Pacific basin. Stratfor predict the U.S. will triumph over the "jihadist" insurgents; and it predicts "major leadership transitions" in Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia.
The forecast also says Europe's political union will collapse but its economic union will endure. Tensions will increase over Muslim immigration to European nations, the analysis said. And it said Russian attempts to expand could present new problems.
Russia is collapsing and will become increasingly nationalist and anti-Western, Stratfor said in a "highlights" press release.
China's economic growth will slow down, the analysis predicted, leading to a "flight of investment." Moreover, China will experience "social upheavals" because of the gulf between rich and poor.
Japan will succeed China as the principal Asian power, and Taiwan will align itself with Japan, the forecast said.
Stratfor, based in Austin, Texas, said it draws on a global network of intelligence sources in formulated its global analyses.
Posted by: tipper ||
02/15/2005 9:31:13 AM ||
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#2
It is frustrating to read this because it lacks background and color, and because it is not tempered with provisions. For example, the European political union may functionally collapse, but it may take as long as the HRE to do so, remaining a marginal and impotent framework for a thousand years, literally. Russia has always vacillated between Europhilism and Euroscepticism, a split personality that is both European and Asian in character. What may tip the balance is the opening of the northern route to North America--which will also strongly culturally impact North America. China is a question mark, and Japan faces many social revolutions like the US did in the 1960s--not to mention being dead center for possible natural disasters. I wholly agree that the US will shift its emphasis *back* to SE Asia and the Pacific; but there is now a "*second* America", "outpost Iraq", that has the potential to become an economic and military nexus for the other side of the planet, influencing Central Asia, Africa and the entire Middle East.
#3
I'm sure there is plenty of background and color for those who spend thousands to buy a Stratfor subscription. But this very much in line with the kind of analyses I've seen here. I just hope the Stratfor analysts are better at their jobs than the pollsters who so built up Democratic hopes last November.
#4
I don't know. A Stratfor analysis and fifty cents won't get you a cup of coffee, unless you're dating the barrista.
As little respect as I have for the political EU, I can't see them going away in the next ten-fifteen years. There's too much bureaucratic momentum. Twenty-five years? Yeah, I could see it, after the demographics have their way with the rotting core nations.
As for the Middle East, ten years strikes me as a very fast resolution, at the current pace.
A Chinese economic slowdown and political flameout could be predicted by a bright ten-year-old, but Japan isn't going to be any kind of regional power, ever. Their moment has passed. The demographics and the cultural factors don't favor any sort of resurgence. I figure the most likely dominant factor will be some sort of Asian-Tigers alliance - South Korea, Singapore, maybe Thailand and Malaysia, Taiwan and Japan, backed by a Indian-American guarantee. But in ten years?
The North Korean collapse, in the next three years or so, will probably end with a Chinese protectorate over whatever remains once the storm breaks. The form of the anti-Chinese alliance depends on how much is left of Seoul after the dust clears, I suppose. If the occupation of North Korea goes easily, then the nationalist mainlanders will be emboldened, and we'll see a major bloweup over Taiwan inside of the ten-year period. If it's a quagmire, and the nationalists get tied up chasing Korean hillbillies in the frozen wastes, then the Taiwanese get a generational reprieve.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/15/2005 14:26 Comments ||
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#5
--leading to a "flight of investment.--
No shit, sherlock - Bros. Judd last week, already happening. Check out Econopundit's archives last week, too.
#6
China may experience political problems but nothing will stop its economic development. Japan's demographics mean continued relative decline. I think Europe's political integration may well fail because there is no compelling rationale for it. Russia? Its the wildcard. It could still disintegrate and tempt the Chinese into a landgrab and a fullblown shooting war.
#7
Did this forecast address the alloy of anti-American public opinion and spontaneous foreign collaboration against a common perceived threat? I'm no scientist, and I of course would defer to those who are, but this sounds a bit rosy to me. I would say that a good understanding of human nature is not an unimportant consideration when forecasting.
#8
What's going to stop China's economic development? An old-fashioned overinvestment-driven market crash. The yuan undervaluation and wild-west investment bubble is unsustainable. The longer they put off currency adjustment, the uglier the crash. That's short-term.
Long-term, China's demographics are hair-raising. I said earlier that Japan's demographics dictate that they'll never be as big a power as they might have been in the Eighties. China's forty-year demographic curve looks like Japan's on a meth bender. I seem to remember seeing numbers indicating that China's going to hit Japanese demographics by 2040, demo-crashing far quicker than any developed nation on record. Blame the one-child policy for that catastrophe on the horizon. Luckily, it's not in the next ten years or so, as I understand it.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/15/2005 17:35 Comments ||
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#9
China declining I see. But Japan ascendant? Don't they have to start reproducing first?
EU political union will collapse when the first major country nixes that monstrosity of a constitution.
Merry Pantano, the mother of 2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano, the Marine charged with pre-meditated murder in the killing of two suspected Iraqi terrorists during combat operations, joins Joseph Farah today on his nationally syndicated radio program. Mrs. Pantano is leading the fight to defend her son against charges that have stunned the nation. How do you defend hair-trigger self-preservation, while pinching hearts-and-minds flatulence? Target a so-called "bad-apple" to catch all the flack, then frame him.
...Lt. Pantano, charged Feb. 1 with premeditated murder in connection with the April 15, 2004, shooting incident, claims one of the men he shot appeared to be preparing to attack the Marines or detonate nearby explosives. Do I have to make a case for hairtrigger force in the Iraq-Dog's-Breakfast?
Hear Merry Pantano today on "Joseph Farah's WorldNetDaily Radioactive," the daily, nationally syndicated radio show featuring WND's founder. I first corresponded with Joe Farah about 6 years ago, and he has always been a class act. He knows when soldiers are under political pressure to sandbag a scapegoat. Charge the parents of the slain terrorists, with littering. I'm telling you now, so I don't have to say 'IToldYouSo' later. Say doom!
Posted by: IToldYouSo ||
02/15/2005 3:56:48 AM ||
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#1
did you say something?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/15/2005 9:47 Comments ||
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#2
Doom!
DOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
Posted by: I Told You Already ||
02/15/2005 9:51 Comments ||
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#4
Sorry guys, I disagree with all the agitation over this one. IIRC the military is only at the point of an Article 32 investigation, which is sort of like a grand jury review. That will then go to the Commanding officer have GCM authority to review for determination of action. Second, even if there is a formal courts martial, the 'State Dept' has no influence on the members of the board. In fact, by the UCMJ, Title X USC, the Commanding Officer may not have any influence on the board either. And yes, there have been cases overturned because of command influence. The military appeals court is very hard on the issue.
What everyone who gets panicy about these things ignors is our military actively looks into these issues and does take due process. Unless you want to give the LLL the material to press any future President Clinton [god forbid, but potentially possible] to sign over these guys to an internation court for trials, I'd rather let the process take its course within our existing system of military law. We don't need no stinking ICC hanging our boys.
I have no military service experience or anything more than cursory knowledge of UCMJ, but from what I've seen over the years, you have a better chance of getting justice in a militry hearing than in a civilian one.
#7
Just an investigation.A charge sheet was presented,and that is the reason for the article 32.It was three months after the fact,as well.This is to protect Lt.Pantano,in my opinion.
#9
Here's an idea - lets send each of our soldiers into combat backed up by two lawyers. Then before doing anything 'hostile' the soldier can first consult with the lawyers. As in, "Excuse me, you see those folks over there who are trying to kill me. Would it be legally acceptable if I returned fire?". That way we would assure each and every action in combat was legal and fully documented and we'd still have a military as effective as French army.
In October 2004, three explosions rocked Egypt's red sea resorts killing 33 people, mostly Israeli tourists. Despite an official Egyptian denial, Israel and other Western governments were quick in blaming these attacks on al-Qaida. They associated the attacks with an audio tape broadcast on al-Jazeera which emerged a week earlier urging Muslims to attack the interests of "crusader America" and its allies across the world. The voice in the tape sounded similar to that of al-Qaida second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri. In the tape, Zawahiri urged Muslims to defend the Palestinians and to resist Israel. Not surprisingly the attacks were seen as a response to Zawahiri's call, especially since Taba was the last town returned to Egypt after the 1979 peace treaty with Israel and most of the major hotels in the area were subsequently built with Israeli capital and mostly frequented by Israeli tourists.
The speedy denial of responsibility by Egyptian Islamic groups and their condemnations of these attacks were seen as further proof of the rapprochement that has taken hold between the Egyptian government and the Islamic groups in recent years. Indeed the attacks at Taba were the first of their kind in Egypt since the shootings outside the Hatshepsut Temple near Luxor in November 1997 in which 58 foreigners and four Egyptians were killed. The Luxor attack was blamed on al-Jama'a al-Islamiyya that was headed by the blind sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman, who is currently serving a life sentence in the US for his involvement in the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993 and other planned attacks. Following the Luxor attack, many al-Jama'a leaders - some of whom were serving jail sentences in Egypt - issued a public statement urging their followers to halt all operations and to renounce violence. This public declaration effectively signaled the end of the latest round of the long-running war between the Egyptian government and radical Islam. The latest conflict started in 1992 and by 1997 it had cost the lives of more than a thousand people; most of whom were informers and security officials.
The Egyptian state has fought a long and bloody war with radical Islam. From the days of the Egyptian Monarchy to the current autocratic reign of Husni Mubarak, different Islamic groups have consistently tried to wrest control of the state from the secular nationalists and their allies. The Islamists' most spectacular success came in October 1981, when a militant cell led by Lieutenant Khaled al-Islambouli assassinated the then President Anwar Sadat.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/15/2005 12:33:16 AM ||
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Palestinian policemen, who have been given the task of restraining militants, say they can't or won't do the job. Interviewed at their front-line positions, some say they feel sympathy for the gunmen, while others fear getting shot at by Israeli troops.
If you don't stop showing sympathy, you'll rightly fear getting shot.
The shortcomings of Palestinian police were evident last week when officers stood by as Hamas militants fired dozens of rockets and mortar rounds at Jewish settlements in Gaza. Officers also did nothing when gunmen broke into Gaza's central jail, killing two inmates and abducting a third who was later slain. "This is all part of the state of chaos we have been living in," said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' security adviser, Jibril Rajoub.
I thought Jibril quit?
The poor performance is a result of years of rampant corruption, rivalries among commanders of numerous police forces set up by the late Yasser Arafat and a lack of discipline and training. After the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian fighting in 2000, the deterioration accelerated when many policemen joined the battle and Israel targeted security installations in Gaza, leaving the security forces in tatters. Abbas must now depend largely on the good will of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other militant groups to uphold a fragile truce with Israel. The Palestinian president has promised to clean house, and fired nine police commanders in recent days, but overhauling Gaza's 17,000-member police force will take time, Rajoub said.
He paused to mutter something under his breath about Augean stables...
Iraq's Arab Sunnis will do a U-turn and join the political process despite their lack of representation in the newly elected national assembly, Sunni leaders said yesterday. Many Sunnis protested that the election was flawed and unfair, but in the wake of Sunday's results, which confirmed the marginalisation of what was Iraq's ruling class, their political parties want to lobby for a share of power.
Remind me who was saying that these jokers would come around? Some guy with a 'W' on his shirt?
"Our view is that this election was a step towards democracy and ending the occupation," said Ayad al-Samaray, the assistant general secretary of the Iraqi Islamic party. He said unnamed Sunni leaders blundered in depicting the election as a deepening of the occupation. The insurgency ravaging Iraq is based in Sunni areas, and there were fears that the violence would escalate if the once-dominant minority was further alienated. A call by clerics for a boycott, and threats by insurgents meant very few Sunnis voted in the January 30 poll. Having endured the brunt of US attacks in towns such as Falluja and Ramadi, many derided the ballot as an attempt to legitimise a foreign occupation. The consequent landslide for the Shias and Kurds means that they will drive the new government and the drafting of a constitution.
An alliance of cleric-backed Shias won 48% of the vote, which could give it a wafer-thin majority in the 275-seat assembly. Kurds won 26%, and a slate headed by the outgoing prime minister, Ayad Allawi, won almost 14%. All three blocs have promised to reach out to the Sunnis, who comprise a fifth of the population but won just a handful of seats because of low turnouts in their areas. This will soon be tested as parties forge alliances and tussle for government posts, including that of prime minister and president.
Secular Sunni leaders yesterday accepted the victors' invitation to participate, potentially draining support from the insurgency. "We can't say it was wise or logical to not participate; it was an emotional decision," said Mr Samaray. "Now the Sunni community faces the fact that it made a big mistake and that it would have been far better to participate." His party, the main Sunni group since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, was in talks with Kurds and Shias. He added: "The Sunni community will accept to share this country with others. They do not need to dominate."
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Heh. Dubya wasn't the only one predicting the losers would fold before they completely slit their own throats. Even more amusing is the idiot media's parroting of the nonsense from the genocide-and-theft crowd, at every turn painting the Sunnis as some pitiable beleaguered minority instead of a group that's lucky to be breathing after the s**t they supported or countenanced.
...The ground has shifted so fast from under the MSM, the only thing keeping them up is hot air!
Posted by: Raed all about it ! ||
02/15/2005 3:10 Comments ||
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#3
Well maybe the Sunni will blame the Association of Muslim ass clowns Scholars for their stupidity. Didn't vote? Don't bitch. Every effort was made to allow those who wanted to vote to do so even Sunni's.
#4
what makes me think that Iraq is going to make it is their response to the Sunni's. It's clear they are trying to set up a govn't that will work in the long run. You think they'd be itching at the trigger finger after what the Baathist's have put them through. Impressive.
#5
Two things that surprise and impress me(1)The restraint shown by the Kurds and Shites(2)Given Arab propensity to blame the other guy,Sunnie admision that they made a mistake in not particapating in the election is trully amazeing.
#7
These are the people the anti-overthrow crowd told us couldn't handle democracy and that it was stupid to try foisting it on them (cos they're darkish skinned and speak funny, presumably). Turned out the majority embraced democracy with great enthusiasm and the rest have taken a further two weeks to catch on...
#13
..Sunnie admision that they made a mistake in not particapating in the election is trully amazeing.
All very nice, but this should not be a reason for anyone to allow the Sunnis to have anything more than a secondary voice in the drafting of a constitution. Since they decided to forego large-scale participation in the just-concluded election process, then they have to live with the consequences of their decisions.
#15
I agree that you cannot just shut out the Sunnis, but then again you cannot give them the full meal deal after they refused the menu. If some secondary Sunni voice in the formation of a new government can be had without derailing the process made by the courageous participants in the election, then a giant step has been made. It is my hope that the Iraqis will be able to build on this. Each time they take steps like the election, and subsequent parliamentary processes, the stronger the nation becomes. The stakes are high, but we have a good start.
Now we just have to keep Iran's dirty little hands out of the soup. And an eye on the Saudis. And the Iranian's little dog Syria, too.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/15/2005 23:00 Comments ||
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Newspapers across the Middle East have warned of the dangers of imbalance of power in the future Iraqi elections after the announcement of the poll results. Taking the lead in questioning how US policy had been served by the elections, Egypt's government newspapers on Monday said the Shia victory was totally against US interests. "Has the United States gone to all this trouble (invading Iraq) in order to see a government emerge supported and blessed by Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani," asked Samir Rajab, editor in chief of the daily al-Gomhuriya. "These Shia will form, with their Iranian brothers, a force still more important in the Gulf region, which is in total contradiction with the interests of the United States."
Hmmm... Same argument ITYS was making the other day. Apparently it hasn't occurred to either him or the Egyptian press that it's their country, and they can screw it up if they want to, or they can make it a beacon of light for the Middle East. It's my guess, and probably Bush's, that they'll do something somewhere between the two extremes.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
I respect the Iraqi electoral majority who supported Iranian backed Islamofascists, as much as I respect Germans who supported Hitler in even higher percentages. Voting based on the dictate of clerics, is hardly executed by freedom of choice. I am telling you now that the problem with Islamofascists is: their lives. The State Department's inclusivist strategy - designed to direct terror-politics along democratic lines - is untenable. The work product of that policy is jeopardy, and not public safety.
The practice of mass execution is anathema to the Western mindset. We have to get over that, and liquidate the enemy on a global scale, and by any means necessary.
In the Bukhari Hadith, Mohammed repeatedly describes himself as: abd-Allah. All Muslims are under absolute obligation (per "Sunnah" or prescribed emulation of the ersatz "prophet") to assume that relation to their fictitious deity, and prescriptive documents (Koran = nominal "recitation")attributed to said fiction. Abd-Allah = Slave of god. Don't be slave to voluntary slaves. The life of a Muslim is of less value than that of a cockroach. Nuclear arms are cost effective. The use of these against the mortal enemy would conduce the safety of America, and its allies. Legitimation of the Islamofascist ideology, conduces jeopardy.
Once again, the problem with Islamofascists is: their lives. The solution is: MEGA-DEATH.
As to al-Jizz, this amusing line of "oh no! the Shi'a are coming, the Shi'a are coming!" is echoed by the world media and some in the US as the latest line of retreat where they can still view developments in Iraq darkly. With the world media and clueless US "elites", the glass in Iraq will always be .00000001% empty.
#7
Once again, the problem with Islamofascists is: their lives. The solution is: MEGA-DEATH.
I think you should try posting when you're not wearing your special costume, ITYS. Something about the sequins and lycra seems to get you a bit carried away.
#8
Well, actually, I don't have a problem with killing all the Islamofascists. The problem is that they are all mixed in with innocent people. That's why I support the efforts of President WilsonBush. If going in and overthrowing one dictatorship after another will avoid the necessity of another Hiroshima or Hamburg, it's worth a try.
#9
Methinks a class-action suit against the manufacturer of Zoloft is looming.
This is Internet Delusion Syndrome:
1) Feel the need to be someone.
2) Fire in the belly on some topic.
3) Do some searches.
4) Read what feeds the internal demons.
5) Understand nothing, just collect pithy text.
6) Create Grand Nym of Retribution.
7) Post the collected disjointed brain farts.
8) Hash and rehash. Repost.
9) Confusion / Frustration / Anger when Fame isn't forthcoming.
Crank up stridency rheostat. Rinse, Repeat.
No substance or original thought, no understanding of why shit is what it is, no willingness to listen or learn - total certainty of righteousness and confusion that it isn't self-apparent.
Utter ignorance regards their identified adversary - when it was so clearly laid out for them.
Can anyone actually define the substantive difference between ITSY and Boris? Who is hated is all I can see. Tolerance will invite more razor-blade dancing fools. Kill it before it breeds.
#10
Off topic. .com, here's the link to the Men Want to Marry Mommy article from yesterday. I thought I connected the link to the title but apparently I did something wrong.
http://www.fredoneverything.net/FOE_Frame_Column.htm
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/15/2005 10:39 Comments ||
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#11
*SUBROUTINE ITYS
IF NOT 'SPUTTER' GOTO 1
IF NOT 'FROTH' GOTO 1
GOTO SINKTRAP
1__CONTINUE
Posted by: Tom ||
02/15/2005 10:40 Comments ||
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#12
DB - Thx! I wanted to email this out to some folks who'd enjoy it as much as I did - and now I can, heh. They thank you! I thank you!
#13
It's nice to see that Al Goumhouria is so concerned about the well-being of American interests in the region. This means that Egypt is worried about not being anymore the first Arab country that W would turn to in case of say, Lebanon in the aftermath of Hariri's assasination. Egyptians are very proud that it mediated Oslo and recent handshake between Abas and Sharon.
Point 2 is that Al Yawar said before elections that wavering Iraqis were afraid of change, even for the better. If the meme of this article and others is true, critical mass would be finally moving toward Iraqis being able to put down attacks themselves and assuring W's overall intent on invading: Clean out a swamp, move on to the other. We need to step back as much as feasible to let them assume their workload.
Posted by: chicago mike ||
02/15/2005 12:05 Comments ||
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#14
Fred, can you change the bottom arrow on the picture from "Fairbanks" to "Alberta?" Thx...
#15
Hey, is this a hate blog? I am reading all vicious, sadistic noise and little substance. Why come here if you don't want information concerning peace and security? You are defeating Fred's noble purpose. Mr .com: you are obviously emotionally disturbed - if not an out patient from a mental health institute - thus, it is hardly wise to place yourself in circumstances that you can't control. That will compound your obsessions, reinforce the self-loathing that you are venting outward and place your well-being on a pathological course to mental collapse. When sensible people are faced with a finger-pointer, we tend to look at the source rather than the target.
Site-master: please do something about the deranged haters.
Posted by: Dr. Siggie ||
02/15/2005 12:49 Comments ||
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#17
"These Shia will form, with their Iranian brothers, a force still more important in the Gulf region, which is in total contradiction with the interests of the United States."
-one little problem w/that. The Iraqi Shia do not have the same goals as the Iranian shia. Most of the data supports them not wanting an Iranian style theocracy. Saying they are exactly a like is like saying the Iraqi Baath party were staunch friends of the Syrian Baathists because they were both Baathists. Refutes some simple historical facts if one was willing to do some research on them.
#18
Look Dr. Siggie. We do not like people like you who are looking to "discuss". It's our way or the highway. You either have our thoughts or none at all.
And I do not appreciate another fake doctor on the airwaves.
Posted by: Dr. Phil ||
02/15/2005 13:06 Comments ||
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#19
Gee - would an IP address check reveal a conversation of one?
"Our way or the highway." Okay, if you think that's best. Obviously you're a professional... something.
#20
Jarhead: -one little problem w/that. The Iraqi Shia do not have the same goals as the Iranian shia.
I'd even argue that there are many (internal) Iranian shia that don't have the same goals as the Shia in charge (MM). I hope that Iranian & North Korean regime change comes from within (with a little help, of course, if needed).
Posted by: BA ||
02/15/2005 13:30 Comments ||
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#21
"Obviously you're a professional... something."
#23
Whenever ITSY makes the scene, I'm reminded of Stewy. All that is missing is a "Look what I can do" and gratuitous references to his "goo-goo"
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
02/15/2005 14:45 Comments ||
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#24
Mr .com. End the denial of your sickness, and get help before you collapse into a ball of mental oblivion. The thread of sanity that holds you in scant touch with reality - in face of your pants-pissing and hate-polluted ranting - is becoming threadbare.
Don't lash out. It will only hurt you, and further alienate you from your family and former friends. First you cry, and then reach out to those of us who truly care. God bless.
Why do you hate your father?
Posted by: Dr. Siggie ||
02/15/2005 15:17 Comments ||
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#25
Seenothinous: pop another pimple before lip-reading this link about Cat (Hamas) Stevens' politically correct victory in a libel suit.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3189797a1860,00.html
Everybody: ride the "peace train" to Mecca and say DOOM!
#26
LOl Dr. Siggle!
Not too worry, we at Rantburg love to run and laugh and play and sing! And we love you too! You're special! But I don't like Mister Doom Man, Ima thinking he's a bullmose DU dickwick. What do you think? Do you think he's special too?
Morocco's King Muhammad has appointed a civilian to lead the country's counter-espionage unit for the first time in its 32-year history. According to the state news agency Maghrib Arab Press (MAP) on Monday, Muhammad Yasin has been appointed to the post of chief spy master. Mansuri - a former school mate of King Muhammad and a close aide who worked to warm relations with Spain following last year's Madrid train attacks - is to "help mainly the fight against terrorism". The 42-year-old replaces outgoing Brigadier General Ahmad al-Harshi as director of Direction Generale des Etudes et Documentations (DGED), MAP reported. Mansuri is a former head of MAP and later chief of internal affairs at Morocco's Interior Ministry in charge of sensitive issues like the Western Sahara dispute, security issues, illegal migration and the smuggling of locally produced cannabis to Europe.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Sudanese opposition parties from across the political spectrum pressed for Darfur war crimes suspects to stand trial abroad, backing the international community against the Khartoum regime. Groups ranging from the Communist Party to the Islamist Popular Congress told the independent daily Al-Ayam that the 51 suspects named by a UN commission of inquiry should be tried abroad as they included senior officials. They warned the government of the dire consequences of opposing a UN Security Council resolution ordering foreign trials.
Ali Mahmoud Hassanain, deputy chairman of the Democratic Unionist Party, one of Sudan's oldest factions, said he could not conceive of the world body endorsing trials inside Sudan and urged the government to be realistic. The rival Umma Party of former Prime Minister Sadek al-Mahdi said it backed trials before the International Criminal Court in The Hague and urged Sudanese to welcome the idea. Farouk Kadudah of the Communist Party suggested the trials be held in the presence of Sudanese judges in Arusha, Tanzania, the town where the UN-backed tribunal for Rwanda sits. "This is a middle-of-the road solution," Kadudah told Al-Ayam. Popular Congress deputy secretary General Abdullah Hassan Ahmed backed the Arusha proposal, which is also supported by the United States. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan by contrast has called for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to be given jurisdiction over the Darfur cases.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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They warned the government of the dire consequences of opposing a UN Security Council resolution ordering foreign trials.
*oooooh* The dreaded very sternly worded condemnation coming your way!
This fixation on where and how to try war criminals while the atrocities rage on around them would be comical too, if it weren't funny.
Thousands of people have demonstrated in the coastal capital Mogadishu against African Union plans to deploy non-Muslim troops to Somalia. An AU-led team headed to Somalia on Monday on a delayed mission to assess security before the deployment of peacekeepers to the country which collapsed into anarchy in 1991 and has since been run by rival clan-based warlords.
The future AU peacekeeping mission is to help Somalia's fledgling government re-establish itself at home. The government tentatively plans to return on 21 Febuary. Monday's protests, led by a federation of Islamic groups, were particularly aimed at plans to send troops from Ethiopia, a traditional rival of Somalia in the Horn of Africa, witnesses said. The protests echoed those held on Friday, where the federation called for "holy war" if non-Muslim troops came to Somalia.
A senior African Union official said the fact-finding team included officials from the AU, Arab League and the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an East African peace resolution body. "They left for Somalia today," the senior AU official told Reuters. "They have left for Mogadishu." The trip had been due to begin on Friday but was delayed over security concerns, after BBC producer Kate Peyton was shot dead on Wednesday in one of the capital's less risky neighbourhoods.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2005 00:00:00 ||
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With time the question may well become, to accept peacekeepers not to their taste, or have peace makers imposed. But the Somalis are still busy enjoying their fighting, so I think they should be ignored until they tenderize themselves a bit more.
Some senior Taleban members have taken up an amnesty offer made last year by the Afghan government, the US ambassador said on Monday Zalmay Khalilzad declined to give numbers or the names of those he said had abandoned their support for the Islamic insurgency but said he was "very pleased" with the progress. "There has been a positive response," Khalilzad told a news briefing, referring to the amnesty offer. "Quite a number of people associated with the Taleban have taken advantage of it already and are living in their areas -- they've come in. Some senior members have also come in and have agreed to join the reconciliation programme, recognising the legitimacy of the government, recognising the fruitlessness of military resistance."
Khalilzad added that some "big news could hopefully be expected in coming days", but declined to elaborate, saying this was a matter for the Afghan government. Government spokesman Jawed Ludin said he could confirm the veracity of Khalilzad's statement but was unable to give details. Interior Ministry officials said they had no information.
The governor of a southeastern province said last month that hundreds of Taleban fighters may abandon their insurgency as a result of peace talks under way between local commanders and President Hamid Karzai's government. In return, the tribal chiefs and local officials wanted Khalilzad to urge US forces not to harass Taleban members who quit the insurgency, Paktia governor Assadullah Wafa said. Khalilzad has said in the past that the amnesty was open to all Taleban guerrillas and their allies except those guilty of major crimes. Senior Taleban officials have denied that the guerrillas have held negotiations with either the Afghan or the US governments and have vowed to continue their struggle.
Earlier on Monday, another provincial governor told Reuters a senior Taleban commander in his province was captured last week after he was found hiding in a well. Mullah Mohammad Naeem was captured by Afghan forces in the village of Sia Sang in Uruzgan's province on Friday and handed over to US forces, Uruzgan governor Jan Mohammad Khan said.
This article starring:
MULLAH MOHAMAD NAIM
Taliban
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Professor Abdul Jabbar Shakir, a Pakistani scholar and researcher on Allama Iqbal, says optimistically that the 21st century will be the century of Islam. "It is my conviction that Islam will be the religion of humanity in the 21st century," he said in Jeddah during a visit to perform Haj.
Shakir rejected the theory of clash of civilizations as a Western rhetoric and said that "civilizations never clash but they move parallel to each other." Shakir, who is the director of Baitul Hikmat in Lahore, claimed that his center has more than 50,000 books, 5,000 manuscripts, and 30,000 magazines. Of those, 3,500 books in 18 languages are on the life of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). According to him it is the biggest such collection in the world.
That's what makes him such an expert on civilizations and able to forecast what the 21st century's going to be like. I wish I was able to see 14 centuries into the future like that.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
I wonder how many grade 10 science books he has in his collection. Methinks not a lot.
#4
Oh Fred! That "14 centuries into the future" line is priceless.
I, too, predict the 21st century will be important to Islam; either as the era when Islam undergoes a reformation and gets its collective act together or as the era when Islam becomes extinct.
#6
One can forsee many things happening to Islam in the 21st Century. First and foremost, a 'Reformation', with several components: a reduction of sectarianism, based on increased exposure to different facets of Islam by Moslems; the elimination of repugnant cultural traits masking as religion (perhaps like Vatican II); and efforts to soften the ethnic clashes that hide behind sectarianism, primarily the Arab-Indo European clash. Second, through the renewed economic revitalization of the Mid-East that comes with democracy and reform, and possibly the formation of a Moslem Common Market, will come an inevitable modernization and secularization of government and culture, resulting in a growing Moslem middle class. And third, secularism itself, leading to a tolerance and acceptance of other religions and beliefs. All together, this might lead to the 21st Century being "The Century of Islam", as least as far as Islam would receive The Most Improved In Class award.
#11
AP...if they don't do it themselves, yes-and that should give them some incentive. With the Sunni voting model to gauge it by (where Sunni Muslims in Iraq had a chance, a choice, and did not seize it), I am thinking they will not seize this opportunity, instead opting for "delay, resist, obfuscate". It then becomes a bloody, long war, like the religious wars of Europe, but in this case, truly earning the title of a world war.
#12
Actually, I think the notion that civilizations don't clash was once marginally true. Obviously there were conquests which would have it no other way, but where conquest was not the point, then they could, indeed, "glance" off and continue on their merry way. But that was a long time ago - this guy missed the memo.
Now the world is very small, indeed. There is no where to go that doesn't lead to a confrontation with an existing society - so this is juicy rationalization for the current a priori aggressor ideology.
#14
SR71, I understand where you're coming from but... no. It is anti-reformation. Already happened once, in 12th century. The reformation was represented by thinkers like Ibn Rushd, or Ibn Sina. The anti-reformation (fundies that wanted to return to 7th century modus vivendi) won and precipitated centuries of decline of Islamic civilization.
#15
Don Sensing has a post up on this topic today.
This idea of some Islamic reformation is so much whistling past the graveyard. If there is one, it will come about only after they find out the rest of the world will not tolerate the kind of behavior that has become the norm in the middle east.
Our problem is with the arabs, particularly the ones that hang around the Saud tribe, not Islam. I had no problem with Indonesia or its practice of Islam until the Wahabbis got there. Islam does not need reformation, Wahabbis need exterpation.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/15/2005 12:39 Comments ||
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#16
Sobiesky - I hope that you are right, but I fear that Mrs. Davis is right.
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.
The forensic examination of the body of an alleged terror chief who died in police custody clearly shows the cause of death was heart failure, Kuwait's interior minister said yesterday. "The forensic report is very clear," that 
The National Executive Committee of the NLG calls on all Guild chapters to organize and to take part in local actions as part of a "National Day of Outrage" in response to yesterday's Lynne Stewart verdict, which we see as an attack not only on our cherished colleague and fellow NLG member but also on all members of the legal community who represent unpopular clients and causes. We are calling for this coordinated day of action to be held next Thursday, February 17 in your cities, towns, and, if you are a law student, at your school.
A senator and civilian contractors have accused the US administration of allowing Iraqi reconstruction to become as chaotic as the Wild West. 
On Valentine's Day, it's important to note the emergence of an eternally verified reality: Love is the strongest human force fighting against terrorism and jihad.
A leading member of 
Iran's foreign minister said Monday his country has no intention of developing nuclear weapons and does not fear being attacked by the United States but could defend itself if needed. The European Union is working to persuade Iran to abandon its uranium enrichment program. The United States fears could be used to manufacture nuclear weapons and is pushing the Europeans to take a tougher line on the issue. Iran insists its nuclear activities are peaceful. "Iran does not have any program to produce weapons," Foreign Minister 
President Pervez Musharraf has underlined the need for world to address lingering conflicts as lasting peace and sustainable development are dependent on their just resolution. Talking to research scholars and representatives of think-tanks of France and Germany here on Tuesday, he said the world can no longer afford to sweep conflicts under the carpet. He said the international community particularly the Western countries have to play an important role in addressing these conflicts. 
Palestinian policemen, who have been given the task of restraining militants, say they can't or won't do the job. Interviewed at their front-line positions, some say they feel sympathy for the gunmen, while others fear getting shot at by Israeli troops. 
Iraq's Arab Sunnis will do a U-turn and join the political process despite their lack of representation in the newly elected national assembly, Sunni leaders said yesterday. Many Sunnis protested that the election was flawed and unfair, but in the wake of Sunday's results, which confirmed the marginalisation of what was Iraq's ruling class, their political parties want to lobby for a share of power.
Newspapers across the Middle East have warned of the dangers of imbalance of power in the future Iraqi elections after the announcement of the poll results. Taking the lead in questioning how US policy had been served by the elections, Egypt's government newspapers on Monday said the Shia victory was totally against US interests. "Has the United States gone to all this trouble (invading Iraq) in order to see a government emerge supported and blessed by Grand 
Sudanese opposition parties from across the political spectrum pressed for Darfur war crimes suspects to stand trial abroad, backing the international community against the Khartoum regime. Groups ranging from the Communist Party to the Islamist Popular Congress told the independent daily Al-Ayam that the 51 suspects named by a UN commission of inquiry should be tried abroad as they included senior officials. They warned the government of the dire consequences of opposing a UN Security Council resolution ordering foreign trials. 
Thousands of people have demonstrated in the coastal capital Mogadishu against African Union plans to deploy non-Muslim troops to Somalia. An AU-led team headed to Somalia on Monday on a delayed mission to assess security before the deployment of peacekeepers to the country which collapsed into anarchy in 1991 and has since been run by rival clan-based warlords. 
Khalilzad added that some "big news could hopefully be expected in coming days", but declined to elaborate, saying this was a matter for the Afghan government. Government spokesman Jawed Ludin said he could confirm the veracity of Khalilzad's statement but was unable to give details. Interior Ministry officials said they had no information.
Professor 
