Police and military across Northern Ireland have been put on high alert against a terrorist attack as the peace process plunged deeper into crisis over the widening investigation into IRA money laundering and robberies and the involvement of Sinn Fein.
As Irish police recovered millions of pounds of bank notes from the pre-Christmas raid on Northern Bank - Europe's biggest bank robbery - The Observer has learnt that the most serious security warning since the breakdown of the 1996 ceasefire has been issued to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
'Every serving officer has been told to take their weapons everywhere they go, even off duty,' a senior detective said. The warnings come just one week after the Army put troops on stand-by for a booby trap attack.
It is unclear if any attacks would constitute a breach of the Provisional IRA ceasefire or instead come from one of the two main republican dissident groups. Detectives claim that in parts of Northern Ireland, such as North Antrim and South Derry, there has been an 'overlapping relationship'.
While police will not comment publicly about the fresh security alert, senior detectives expressed concern that the attack could involve a large explosion in the north.
Sinn Fein has reacted angrily to reports that the Garda has uncovered an IRA money-laundering scam that involved cash from December's Northern Bank robbery. On his return from a book tour in Spain yesterday, party president Gerry Adams predicted that Sinn Fein would 'weather this storm'.
Adams said he would never allow himself to be tainted with criminality. 'What's happening is quite disgraceful and an attempt to destroy Sinn Fein and it won't work,' he added.
The West Belfast MP also denied suggestions that there were serious divisions within mainstream republicanism.
Irish Labour leader Pat Rabbitte agreed the republican movement remained cohesive and united, but urged voters across Ireland to reassess the opinions and motives of the leadership.
'Are they planning to contest the democratic space on an equal basis as the rest of us, or do they have an ideology that means an overthrow of this state and an overthrow of the northern state that will lead to a Sinn Fein government on both parts of the island?' he asked.
The Garda's investigation into an alleged IRA money-laundering scam had been going on for almost three weeks before the raids and is expected to last for at least three months. A detective said yesterday that the breakthrough came with the discovery of Northern Bank notes being burned on a bonfire at a garden in Passage West, Cork. He said police were now 'very confident' that they could link a quantity of the estimated £3 million seized at several locations in the Irish Republic to cash taken from the Northern Bank raid.
'The burning of the bank notes was a significant breakthrough because they belonged to the Northern Bank,' an officer from the PSNI monitoring the Garda operation told The Observer.
Among the lines of inquiry the Garda and the Republic's Criminal Assets Bureau are focusing on is the channelling of 'dirty money' out of Ireland and into Libya and Bulgaria.
'We are talking about holding companies, and in Bulgaria's case the purchase of vast amounts of property. The money we think that's out there is not tens of millions but hundreds of millions,' one Gardai said.
All but one of the eight people arrested in Cork and Dublin have been freed. It could take six months before files are sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions. Don Bullman, a chef in his thirties, was described in court as a dissident, but it has since emerged that he sold tickets to Sinn Fein functions in 1999.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/20/2005 12:32:41 AM ||
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This clarifies yesterday's story.
Keeping track of the plutonium as it passes through the reprocessing system is challenging, because the spent fuel is so radioactive that its plutonium content cannot be measured directly. "You have to rely on the reactor operators' estimates," says Barnaby. As a result, he says, "some accounting error is inevitable". The nuclear industry agrees, and says that this error is typically around 1%; independent experts have argued that it is more like 3-5%.
The 'missing' 30 kilograms of plutonium falls comfortably within this error margin, given that Barnaby estimates that Sellafield reprocesses around 30 tonnes of the radioactive element each year. But Keith Barnham, a physicist at Imperial College in London who has studied the UK nuclear industry's auditing, says that "it's a lot compared with previous years".
ITV News has been given exclusive access to a tape recording in which a radical Muslim cleric talks about flying a plane into Downing Street. Shiekh Omar Bakri Mohammed - who is based in Britain - talks of suicide bombings and says that an attack on No 10 would be reconcilable with the Muslim faith. He also claims that missions of "self sacrifice" and "martyrdom" would be welcomed by Allah.
It is a statement that will horrify and disgust people across Britain, but he made these statements without any fear of prosecution. On the tape he was heard to say: "You want to call us extremist, yes I am extreme. Somebody he fly aeroplane and he decide to fly the aeroplane over 10 Downing Street.... It's another self-sacrifice operation... What people call suicide operations they mean somebody he wear explosives or he carries explosives and he go and he blow it in the building with the people... Martyrdom is what you want. Make sure you have nothing left behind you to think about or cry for and fight in the name of Allah."
#3
Given the chance I would wack this turd in the head and sew him up alive in a pig carcas. I would then place that in a cage with a very few hungry wolves.
Chechen leadership is negotiating a solution to the problem of Chechen refugees in Pankisi with Georgia. Chechen President Alu Alkhanov said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
"We spoke about solving the problem of the Chechen refugees in the Georgian Pankisi Gorge," Mr. Alkhanov said, calling the Georgian take on solving the problem "rather positive."
Mr. Alkhanov expressed the hope that the searches for the solution of the problem in the future will also continue positively.
Speaking about the situation on the Chechen-Georgian section of the Russian border, Mr. Alkhanov said that no trespasses on the 100-kilometer section were registered in the past few months.
"We are strengthening the border with Georgia. The Grozny frontier detachment, which has already started fulfilling its duties, controls that part of the border. There should be no problems with the border on the Chechen section," he said.
A round-table conference on Chechen problems will be held in Moscow in April, he said at a news conference organized by the Association of Foreign Correspondents in Moscow, on Friday. Representatives of international organizations, the federal government and the Chechen Republic will be in attendance.
Mr. Alkhanov said that Chechen leadership had supported Secretary General of the Council of Europe Terry Davis on holding such a representative forum.
"The proposal was made at the end of last year when I was invited to PACE," he said.
"We proposed its organization in Grozny, but there is also a proposal that it should meet in Moscow. So that means we'll hold it in Moscow," he said.
"We are ready to discuss any problems connected with Chechnya and the citizens of the Chechen Republic. There are no closed themes for us," Mr. Alkhanov said. "We have something to say at this round-table conference. We want peace, stability and creative work for our people," Mr. Alkhanov concluded.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/20/2005 12:20:24 AM ||
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On the eve of his first foreign trip since reelection, President Bush said yesterday he would seek to persuade European allies to form a unified front against Syria and Iran, countries that Bush considers dangerous regimes that have relentlessly frustrated US efforts in Iraq and the Palestinian-Israeli peace process.
''Mine is a mission and a trip that says, we share values," Bush told Slovak State Television yesterday as he prepared for departure tomorrow. ''It's those values that should unite our voices when it comes to spreading those values in parts of the world that are troubled parts of the world," he said, going on to mention Iran and Syria.
He declined to rule out a military option against Iran, but said, ''I believe diplomacy can work, so long as the Iranians don't divide Europe and the United States."
US officials hope to persuade European countries to use the threat of economic sanctions and political isolation to pressure Iran and Syria to undertake reforms, and also seek to toughen the European stance against Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon, an anti-Israeli group that Iran and Syria support.
The US push is occurring after Syria and Iran reiterated their longstanding alliance against the United States in a statement this week and as US officials said they found fresh evidence that Iran is bent on building a nuclear bomb. In addition, the United States accuses Syria and Iran of allowing insurgents free movement across the countries' borders into Iraq.
Developing a shared strategy with Europe for confronting Syria and Iran is a key item on Bush's agenda next week as he meets with the leaders of Germany, France, Britain, and Russia.
The United States already has imposed limits on trade and assistance to Syria and Iran, under the Syrian Accountability Act and laws against funding state sponsors of terrorism. US officials are considering cutting off banking ties with Syria under the USA Patriot Act or an executive order. But most of Europe continues to trade freely with Syria and Iran, accounting for about half of all imports into both countries.
Russia provides arms to Syria and helped build Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor. Yesterday, President Vladimir Putin of Russia pledged further nuclear cooperation with Iran.
''No effort to impose sanctions or politically isolate the two regimes would work without the cooperation of Europe," a State Department official said. ''It's obviously going to be an effort to get everyone working from the same page."
A separate US official who closely follows the Middle East said that while in Europe, Bush would talk about ''the fact that a sanctions regime that only includes the US still gives these countries the access to the kinds of material or money that lets them continue their negative behavior."
In the case of Iran, the United States has been focusing on possible punishments and has been sending unmanned drones and conducting secret reconnaissance missions inside the country to find targets for a possible commando raid on its facilities, according to published reports.
By contrast, France, Germany, and Britain have focused on offering Iran economic inducements to coax concessions from Tehran. Europeans have said they want Bush to support Iran's entry into the World Trade Organization if Iran verifiably renounces its nuclear program. They also want Bush to consider offering Iran a security guarantee and assurances that the United States is not pursuing a policy of regime change, according to two Western diplomats.
Joining the WTO would give Iran new legitimacy and greater access to world markets.
''Iran is very much interested to be part of the WTO," said a European diplomat in Washington who spoke on condition of anonymity. ''If the US opposes Iran to be a member of the WTO, we can promise Iran a lot of things, but it won't work."
France's foreign minister, Michel Barnier, told the French Senate yesterday that Bush administration officials said they would consider signing on to the WTO offer. But the US official who closely follows the Middle East said yesterday that the administration's policy against such a move has not changed.
''Our position has been that economic incentives for a country like Iran that is a state sponsor of terrorism and a country that has meddled in Afghanistan and Iraq and is dedicated to opposing the Middle East peace process . . . are not appropriate," he said. ''The Europeans have tried to do this as the 'light at the end of the tunnel' process. . . . We've not been a believer in that."
But, he said, Washington might show more flexibility on the issue if European negotiators promised to enact their own sanctions if negotiations with Iran fall through.
There seems to be far more agreement between the United States and European nations on how to approach Syria, which came under the microscope this week after the assassination of Rafik Hariri, Lebanon's former prime minister. Along with a host of European leaders, Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called for an international investigation to determine whether Syria, which has occupied Lebanon since 1976, was responsible for the attack.
Syria's Ba'athist regime has long angered the Bush administration by allegedly providing safe haven for Saddam Hussein loyalists and supporting Hezbollah. In September, US and French officials cooperated for the first time since the divisive Iraq war, on a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for the removal of all foreign troops from Lebanon.
In a separate move that would hit both Iran and Syria, the Bush administration is seeking to persuade European countries to classify Hezbollah as a terrorist group as Washington does. Hezbollah periodically launches attacks on Israel but also provides social services to a large swath of Lebanon.
Syria is not a member of the WTO, but the issue of its membership has not been raised by European leaders.
Bush and Rice stepped up their rhetoric this week, calling Iran and Syria ''out of step" with democratic developments in the Middle East. In his State of the Union address, Bush said that if Iranians challenged their leadership, Washington would support them.
But some say such tough talk makes Syria and Iran more belligerent because it convinces them the United States will accept nothing less than their downfall.
''Sometimes we can create self-fulfilling prophecies by the way in which we deal with authoritarian regimes," said Theodore H. Kattouf, US ambassador to Syria from 2001 to 2003.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/20/2005 12:38:30 AM ||
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#1
In title, You mean "...will TRY TO enlist...."
Not even an Islamo-Nazi nuke booming in Paris or Berlin will convince the Euros to go after anyone - they are weak, weak, weak.
The United States and Germany are "well on the way" to repairing their breach over Iraq, a top German diplomat said Saturday ahead of this week's talks between President Bush and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Asked if things were back to the level before the Iraq crisis, Karsten Voigt, the government's coordinator for trans-Atlantic relations, told The Associated Press, "we are well on the way there." "If one speaks of a new beginning, then one speaks of a positive start with a goal," Voight said. "And the goal is exactly the level that you described." He pointed to U.S.-German cooperation in forgiving Iraq's debts, training new Iraqi security officers and stabilizing Afghanistan, where Germany has contributed 2,500 soldiers to a NATO security force. Schroeder also said in comments released Saturday that he welcomed Bush's readiness for improved trans-Atlantic cooperation and was looking forward to discussions with the U.S. president.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/20/2005 12:05:57 AM ||
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#1
[semi-rant]
Let's talk about root problem, pragmatism and fairness. No punches pulled.
Root Problem: The demonization tactics against the US & Bush used by Schroeder's regime to get re-elected. They made the US the focus of German frustrations and deepened what level of mistrust was there dramatically, same as the Arab world uses the Paleos - no difference. Non-negotiable: I don't want to be buds with Schroeder or Fischer. Period. I'd develop a cold and skip meeting Schroeder. While they are in office, the Ice Age is on.
Pragmatism: Civility, yes, but no more until we see what the German people want. I assume they are not Schroeder / Fischer - we shall see by whom they elect. If they elect leaders who are rational we'll be glad to meet them in the middle - we've been waiting there quite awhile, now. Ice Age shows signs that a warming spell is possible.
Fairness: The first job of a new Govt should be an ongoing and serious campaign to undo the Bush / US demonization insanity. They whipped up public sentiment against the US - and anything the US did, particularly Iraq - and it's the job of the German Govt to undo the damage perp'ed by the German Govt. All of it. Yeah, I know, they're in Afghanistan. Fine and good - but let's be real: that's part of their god-damned NATO obligation, it's not out of the goodness of their hearts. Beyond that, they've been intransigent and collaborated with France in lock-step on almost everything else.
Credit where due. Blame where due. No punches pulled. No bullshit. No pretenses. No posturing.
Bush could have been much nastier to both Germany and France, but wasn't - most Americans would've backed it, too, at least 51%. But he didn't fall for the Chirac bait trail - he played fair even while they were inhaling Kool Aid like it was going out of style and France actively sought ways to stab us in the back, front, throat, you name it. We owe no apologies and none should be forthcoming. We do not need to move toward their position - we've been in the right place all along. Everybody should cut the public statement crap - let's just do what should be done and get on with it.
[/semi-rant]
When the German Govt wants the relationship to be based upon reality, again, and it's clear the German people are behind the move, we'll be there waiting. But not Schroeder / Fischer.
And to correct the (inevitably) distorted premise of the whole discussion, it's not a case of meeting the Germans half-way. It's a case of Germany's crawling back into some sort of favor with us.
We haven't and won't change one iota of our policy and operations in Iraq to suit Germany. Period. Obviously. So all the "movement" is on their side.
Germany, AFAIK, never altered their actual behavior of relevance (intel cooperation, naval patrols in support of GWoT, Afghan deployments) in any way to reflect the "split". If they want to "do more" (train Iraqi cops, help repair infrastructure, etc.), fine. If not, fine.
As James Lileks brilliantly put it:
"Germany? Whatever.
And it took a lot of dead Americans to be able to write that."
#4
Here goes another red-green government. The voters of the northernmost state Schleswig-Holstein just threw out the most incompetent prime minister (SPD) of a German land.
#5
I have reservations with the Schroeder/Fischer focus of comments here.
The world is pretty upside down now that the cold war is really over but history isn't. New sides are being picked for the next match. France clearly wants to manage the other team and has heavily recruited the Arabs and Chinese.
The Germans are going to have to make a choice here, France or the U. S. And France is certainly willing to make it tough for a German government that wants to side with the U. S., expecially with the high level of anti-Americanism of the Geman populace. I'm not so sure a CDU government could side with the U. S. against France in the near future, especially if France puts the EU on the line.
And I expect similar problems in post-Blair Britain. The problem is with the people, not the leaders. Till the 68 generation is out of power, it will be touch and go.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/20/2005 16:16 Comments ||
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#6
Mrs Davis, I must disagree here. Germany must never be forced to make a choice between the United States and France, it's biggest neighbor. It never did before.
Germany has always pushed for balance. Adenauer welcomed De Gaulle and signed the Elysee Treaty with him, but not after throwing out De Gaulle's provisions against the United States.
Germany will need to accomodate both. But when it came to defense Germany has always put the United States first. We need to return there, strengthening NATO, reigning in France without opposing it.
The importance of France, if it continues its current policy, will fade further. Same with Germany. But we will stop the decline.
#7
Before, ironically, we had the Russians to keep the French in line. Now that threat is gone and the French are showing their true colors. These games they are playing will go out of their control before long.
Or else the Germans need to find a way to get them to clean up their act. The problem I fear is that the well of public opinion has been so thoroughly poisoned by the 68 generation that a responsible German government will not be able to restrain the French.
I hope you're right, but I fear you are not.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/20/2005 16:44 Comments ||
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#8
Chirac won't have much fun with neither Merkel nor Stoiber.
#9
I am sure TGA will correct me but I am not afraid to learn. BTW with a last name of Hess I can't be considered a rabid anti-german.
I don't think you will see a change in government in Germany. Sorry. I have to go with .com. No punches pulled. Schroeder is a useless backstabber who will resort to anti US propaganda again. He is in lockstep with Chirac in wanting to be a power in opposition to the US. Why the heck else would he want to sell arms to China?
Fischer would have preferred the Communists won the cold war. I mean when you have a FM that is proud of the fact he was street fighter who chucked rocks, bricks and firebombs at the police and was in active support of the RAF and Carlos you have major problems. He is in support of a EU that is a counter weight to the US not a partner. The Eu constitution is a document that will put the EU on a collision course with the United States.
When Bush shakes these peoples hand he should count his fingers afterward.
#11
I based much of what I posted regards the German people on commentary here in Rantburg U. I have come to see "Blue" and "Red" areas in Germany, much like the US. For instance, I see a demonstration in Berlin demonizing Bush (Warmonger / Blood for Oil / etc) as no different than such a display in NY. Blue power center. From TGA's comments, I have come to think of "Red" Germany as flyover country, just as in the US, as well... and they are in the majority just as in the US and, in the end, Schroeder's days are numbered.
For me, Schroeder's behavior in getting himself re-elected was unforgivable. Fischer is a political calculator who has done nothing to demonstrate he's anything but an opportunist riding Schroeder's gambit, as far as I can see. I, too, will never trust him, given his past.
I will give the benefit of the doubt to the German people - everyone can be manipulated once... If they correct that mistake and move back to the center, then I am more than happy to wait for them there. If not, well, we'll move on ahead and leave them to stew.
BTW, I feel the same about the French people. They've been fed a load of shit for a long long time. Reality, should they elect someone who'll allow reality to shine in once in awhile, will begin waking some of them up to the fact that we, the US, are not the source of their problems, nor are we a realistic scapegoat, we are the friends they've turned their backs upon. Perhaps they, too, will come to the middle, someday. JFM certainly shines out as an example of a man who knows WTF he's talking about and who his friends are. You never know. Economic implosion could bring someone like Sabrine Herold to power - and she's got much of her shit wired tight. She'd blow the wheels off the anti-US wagon and expose it for a lie.
It is a truth of politics that, when things are going badly and there is no easy solution at hand, an effective technique is to select a bogeyman for distraction. And a foreign one is better than a domestic one, so you can add nationalism to the fervor. It's very effective and has been used by the best manipulators throughout history.
#12
Not exactly the flyover thing. South and Southwest (prosperous, ex-US-zone) are firmly in the conservative field, and they have the high tech as well.
In Munich, about 2000 demonstrators showed up against the Security Conference and most were imported from the North and Northeast.
I think we'll see gradual success in the Middle East and nothing convinces more like success.
The Iraqi elections had quite a few anti-Bush people thinking.
#13
But it was more than one election. Bush's policies have worked. Every attempt at doing it the "European way" has failed. Bush after 9/11 said to hell with that.
Now we have had elections in Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine (Arafat died on his own may he rot in hell rot in hell.) But still Europe has not shifted away from it's path. It is still anti US and anti Israel in it's main stream press and media. Our way worked. But very few will admit it. Instead we hear excuses for lack of support for what works. The claim that all the European wars has made them smarter, wiser, better and more peaceful is bullshit. There is a lack of will to actually do what needs done.
I doubt Bush will bring any one in Europe to a life changing experience that corrects that.
#14
Brit Hume, today, had an interesting comment. In his SotU address Bush mentioned Freedom 20+ times. In his Inauguration, another 18 (IIRC) times. Schroeder's recent speech at the Blah Blah Security Conf had zero references to Freedom. He did mention "stability" 8 times, however.
Hume's take, which I found interesting, was that the focus here in America is on progress - looking forward. In Europe it's on status quo - looking at what, their navels? [Italics are my take...]
The Senate has begun taking a harder look at U.S. intelligence on nuclear threats facing the United States, including revelations of missing nuclear materials in Russia, congressional officials said on Friday. The Republican-led Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which held a closed-door hearing on nuclear issues earlier this month, has come to view nuclear proliferation as a threat that overshadows other dangers posed by terrorist groups. "We're going to be following it very, very closely," said Sen. John Rockefeller of West Virginia, ranking Democrat on the Senate oversight panel. He said the nuclear threat against the United States was posed "not just from North Korea, but most dangerously from unaccounted for weapons that could be black-marketed to terrorists."
Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, who chairs the Senate panel, first referred to the committee's deepened focus on nuclear terrorism this week when CIA Director Porter Goss presented his agency's annual report on world threats to the committee. A Senate aide said the heightened scrutiny on nuclear issues is part of a larger effort to enhance intelligence oversight on potential spots including Iran and North Korea. The intelligence panel, which produced a highly critical report about prewar U.S. intelligence on Iraq last year, is expected to hold a series of classified hearings on nuclear issues with officials from the CIA, the Pentagon and other agencies, officials said.
The dangers were made disturbingly clear this week by Goss, who told the senators that enough nuclear material to make a weapon was missing from Russian facilities. Asked by Rockefeller for an assurance that the material had not found its way into the hands of terrorists, Goss said: "No. I can't make that assurance. I can't account for some of the material, so I can't make the assurance about its whereabouts." U.S. authorities have long struggled with the nightmare possibility of a nuclear weapon in the hands of terrorists aligned with Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, which is blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington. "The concern is greater than what was expressed in public," said another Senate aide.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/20/2005 12:16:29 AM ||
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WHEN future US President George W. Bush was first moving onto the national political stage, he often turned for advice to an old friend who secretly taped some of their private conversations, The New York Times reported today. The newspaper's website said that in the past several weeks, that friend, Doug Wead, an author and former aide to Mr Bush's father, had disclosed the tapes' existence to a reporter and played about a dozen of them. In those conversations, Mr Bush weighed the political risks and benefits of his religious faith, discussed campaign strategy and commented on rivals, the report said.
The president said that his main Republican rival in the 2000 primary campaign, Senator John McCain, "will wear thin", the Times reported. The future president went on to suggest that John Ashcroft would be a "very good Supreme Court pick" or a "fabulous" vice-president, according to the paper. In exchanges about his handling of media questions on his past, Mr Bush appeared to have acknowledged trying marijuana, the Times said.
Mr Wead reportedly said he recorded the conversations because he viewed Mr Bush as a historic figure, but knew that the president might regard his actions as a betrayal. As the author of a new book about presidential childhoods, Mr Wead could benefit from any publicity, but he said that was not a motive in disclosing the tapes. The White House did not dispute the authenticity of the tapes or respond to their contents, the paper said. It quoted White House spokesman Trent Duffy as saying: "The governor was having casual conversations with someone he believed was his friend." Asked about drug use, Mr Duffy said: "That has been asked and answered so many times there is nothing more to add."
You can read the full NYT article here, hat tip to BigEd.
Posted by: tipper ||
02/20/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Sounds to me like this guy should be prosecuted.
#4
PF: I would suspect that prosecuting him or suing him would give him credibility he does not deserve.
Credibility? This guy taped a private conversation without authorization. I believe that's a felony. Do felons have a lot of credibility? Good question. At the very least, convicting him would subject the earnings from his book to seizure.
"12 states require, under most circumstances, the consent of all parties to a conversation. Those jurisdictions are California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington."
#7
it depends if these were telephone conversations--or he just had a recorder on him--they have to be over the phone to be illegal--if your wearing a wire with the battery pack under your balls-- that's ok
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
02/20/2005 6:04 Comments ||
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#8
..After reading the whole thing, this is what I believe the MSM is going to run with:
*He used drugs!!He's no better than Clinton!!
*He's a religious maniac!!
*My God, he wanted to make Ashkkkroft a Supreme Court justice!!
There are probably some others in there, but I think that is what will be slammed down our throats over the next few days. On the other hand, I sure as hell hope that ol' Mr. Wead considered the fact that the Blogosphere will be checking him out with a carrot peeler over the next few days.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/20/2005 9:17 Comments ||
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#9
" the Blogosphere will be checking him out with a carrot peeler over the next few days..."
LOL, Mike. There'll be a "Weadwatch" site up by the end of today.
Posted by: Matt ||
02/20/2005 10:55 Comments ||
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#10
Wead was a pastor and a friend. Neither of which should be taping conversations without the other's knowledge. He's worse than scum
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/20/2005 11:02 Comments ||
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#11
Some blogs are picking this up but the story is not spreading as fast as I thought it would. Wait until Monday radio gets their hands on it though. Between Limbaugh on the radio and O'Reilly on TV this jagoff will be exposed everywhere.
What the HELL is going on here anyway? These were old tapes from 98, right? And Doug Dickwead claims that they weren't supposed to get out? Well, how the fuck DID they get out after all this time, assmunch??! Answer: YOU PLAYED THEM FOR A FUCKING REPORTER.
I'm going to look through this deceitful money-grabbing attempt to sell more books and smear my "friend" article one more time to see if I can find the part where dickWead APOLOGIZES for making the tapes public. I doubt I'll find it.
This dickWead jerk just sold his last book.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
02/20/2005 14:27 Comments ||
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#12
..Just heard part of the tapes on CBS, whose reporter's face was showing barely concealed his glee, and they were harping on the "Bush confessed to using marijuana" meme.
The interesting part was that the voice of President Bush didn't sound very much like him...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/20/2005 18:41 Comments ||
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#13
I got the same feeling, Mike, when I heard a snippet on Fox.
Just imagine how the press would be reacting if these were tapes of Clinton, being sold downriver by some trusted friend. Nothing could surprise me about Clinton so I wouldn't care less, but they'd be going crazy excoriating the leaker.
#15
No, why would snorting coke be any worse than perjury before Congress?
I did it all, at least once - and I mean all of it. We make choices, every single day. Some of my early days, 13-16, I made some extremely stupid choices - I had a lot of help along those lines given who I knew and hung out with. I lucked out when our little family made a major move from Texas to the Mountain states region - the opportunities and enticement changed dramatically. Despite the conventional wisdom which says you can't, I learned from those days and didn't seek out the truly unforgiving stuff, like smack. At age 20, when my ex-wife announced she was pregnant, I had an epiphany. I turned 180 deg and have refused everything except nicotine and caffeine since. I did have 2 beers last Nov 3rd. I'd still have the other 4 in the fridge except that I've pawned 3 of them off on visitors. So there's one lonely Beck's Dark in there - the only German product I've bought in the last 2.5 yrs.
Snorting a little coke doesn't impress me much. Doing it after your High School years tells me he never grew up or took responsibility for his actions, basically, he's learned nothing important in life, despite his political successes. Usually people in his situation only get squared away when John Law slaps on the cuffs. Since he's immune from all that (not literally, but effectively), it's likely he destined to keep on doing stupid things. Such is the way of the world, I guess. And no, I'm not an anti-everything zealot - I learned that doesn't serve any purpose.
#16
Fwiw and perhaps I misheard, but I saw an âexclusiveâ interview this morning with Wead on the weekend edition of Good Morning America. The way I understood him was that he originally had written the portion of his book having to do with W crediting anonymous sources. Then his publisher came back to him and said that the NY Times wouldnât review his book (which I assume is a big deal) unless he named his sources. He agreed to play portions of his tapes to prove his points, but once the reporters discovered the tapes they coerced him to reveal the rest.
This doesnât absolve him for his betrayal of course (on that score I agree with Frank G), but if true then one could only wish for an alternative universe where the NYT went after Eason Jordan or John Kerry with such zeal. Funny how something so clearly âoff-the-recordâ that itâs borderline illegal to release here is fair game, but âoff-the recordâ in Davos is sacrosanct.
For someone willing to pay Real Networks (who I despise), the interview is here:
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Politics/story?id=516740&page=1
#18
Wasn't there an incident a while back where some Democratic 'vacationers' (who just happen to have come from some DNC function and just happen to... ) recorded a cell-phone conversation of Newt? I happen to remember because Congressman McDermitt (D-Wa) handed the tape off to the press?
What ever happened to those operatives 'vacationers'?
Washington- Safe for a decade, military bases in the United States face an uncertain future. The Pentagon plans to shut down or scale back some of the 425 facilities, the first such effort to save money in 10 years. The downsizing is part of Defense Seretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's long-term transformation of the Cold War- era military. The Pentagon chief argues that closing or consolidating stateside facilities could save 7 billion annually and that the money would be better spent improving fighting capabilities amid threats from terrorists.
Lousy idea. Really lousy idea. Think Pearl Harbor, with all those ships, and all those aircraft, neatly lined up...
Posted by: Andrea Biology Jackson ||
02/20/2005 2:00:20 PM ||
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#1
I have to disagree strongly to that sentiment. A good number of the existing bases are simply placeholders in congresscritters' districts : make-work pseudo-welfare establishments with skeleton maintenance staffs and infrastructure worthy only of bulldozing. The larger bases in this country can handle the training of the needed troops for the WOT, the placeholder bases need to be shutdown - since a number of them are now in suburban zones and cannot be used for livefire training due to political/legal constraints.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/20/2005 16:12 Comments ||
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#3
Agree. BRAC is painful but necessary to control wasteful spending. It is also a good way for the Generals and Admirals to even things up with congresscritters who have screwed them in the past. That's why Pelosi, Lee, Woolsey et al no longer have any military bases in the SF Bay Area, except Onizuka AFB and the two ships left in reserve at Mare Island. All that should be moved too. Tell Lockheed to move it all out and put the offices on the market. Sobrato and Ariellaga can afford it.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/20/2005 16:24 Comments ||
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#4
Provided they continue to roll out aircrat carriers, the "static" bases become obsolete anyway. I say go for it and sell off alot of the land, plus there's immense savings vs. having to man all those bases.
This is not, by the way, the same thing as Clinton and his wholesale dismantling of the military budgets and base closures. The Pentagon is finding more efficent ways to spend the existing funds, NOT cutting down our military strength.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
02/20/2005 16:52 Comments ||
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#5
Live from my news desk in Vermont # 2 Barbara Skolaut and et al you are correct about "static"
bases, putting the tax doller to bettter usage.
However, Do they ever "weed" out position's in Congress and the other offices where these decision's are made?? I can see a Pearl Harbor situation happening. And YES, we will get hit again by terrorist- and I HOPE THE U.S. is fully
prepared with ample military.
Andrea Jackson
Posted by: Andrea Jackson ||
02/20/2005 17:41 Comments ||
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#6
The assumption is we know what we will need. BRAC is all good and fine till you discover the assumptions they base their actions upon don't hold up over time for all the grounds they close. Its easier to keep some installations open for future expansion than it is to fill all the &&^^^%*&## forms and reports and surveys to open a new facility later on. If you need to park materials enroute to a deployment site, either air or sea, a military compound near the deployment site may not be huge, but it'll get around all the local, state, and federal BS when it comes time to store stuff, the type the government neither confirms or denies, a night or two.
Retired Marines set up a security watch yesterday around the North Carolina home of accused 2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano, after a Pakistan-connected Web site depicted a beheading of the Marine Corps officer. "It's a show of solidarity for Pantano," Charles Gittins, his civilian attorney, said of the former Marine volunteers.
Mr. Gittins said Lt. Pantano has been charged unfairly with premeditated murder by the Corps at Camp Lejeune, N.C., arguing that he killed two Iraqi insurgents in self-defense. Lt. Pantano reported the beheading on the Web site to the local sheriff, who is investigating. Mr. Gittins also said the FBI has opened an investigation after a Web site established by the officer's mother was shut down by repeated cyberattacks that might have come from Pakistan. The Web site, www.defendthedefenders.org, was set up by Merry K. Gregory Pantano to explain her son's case and his life story and to raise money for his criminal defense. The site crashed several times Tuesday and yesterday. An FBI official in North Carolina had no immediate comment last night. Mr. Gittins said he spoke with a special agent assigned to the investigation. The attorney said a check of who set up the beheading site shows that it was created in Pakistan. It has an address similar to defendthedefenders.org.
Posted by: Sherry ||
02/20/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Pantano is a scapegoat, set up to catch all of the flack from any collateral damage that might arise from the hair-trigger fighting imposed on Iraq theater troops, by the terrorists. Washington bureaucrats have ordered theater commanders to peddle Pantano as a supposed bad-apple. Marines know that Pantano played by the same rules of engagement as they do. Obviously, the State Department advised the Joint Chiefs that if they want to practice quick-draw tactics, then they will need a patsy, who will be pillorized for alleged excessive force. Marines stand together.
I thought this was sufficiently interesting to post in its entirety. BTW, the headline doesn't make sense to me. Statistically speaking, it seems that things can only get worse. A study of the statistics of global terrorism concludes that attacks will become more severe in the future, and that an attack that kills as many people as the destruction of the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001 is likely within the next seven years.
It all sounds very depressing and seems to imply, depending on your viewpoint, either that the 'war on terror' is essential or that it is futile. But can we really assert these things based on statistics alone? Computer scientists Aaron Clauset and Maxwell Young of the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, have analysed the data on terrorist attacks compiled by the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism in Oklahoma City. They say the numbers follow a 'power-law' relationship.
A graph of the number of attacks n plotted against their severity x (in terms of injuries and/or fatalities) reveals that n is roughly proportional to x -1.85. Put simply, this means that the frequency of attacks decreases as their size increases - which is what you'd expect - but also that this relationship holds for events ranging from those that injured or killed just a few people to those that, like the Nairobi car bomb in August 1998, produced over 5000 casualties.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: phil_b ||
02/20/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
I was sufficiently intrigued by this to find the original paper. It makes certain things clear that the article makes a hash of explaining (I'll ignore that the writer is trying to reconcile the data with his anti-WOT agenda resulting in obsfurscation). In summary terrorist attacks are getting more frequent and more severe.
#2
Tipper, IMO the 'natural' in the last para is highly debateable (and probably stems from the writers agenda - WOT = bad). If you rephrase it as 'social phenomena have cut-off points' it makes a lot more sense. Societies act to resolve problems that reach a certain level and this results in a 'cut off point'. Note the paper clearly shows that actions to date (the data is up to 2004) have not been sufficient. More data may show the problem is 'slowing down' due to the WOT but to date it does not. And before I get flamed for that statement, this is global data and the USA may well be safer but at the expense of other places being less safe.
#6
Unfortunately, as with most things societal, mathematics can only outline past trends. It cannot predict the future.
What of the major attacks that are foiled by good work or just plain dumb luck? Or even better, by remorseful jihadi's? The stats are meaningless in a future tense.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
02/20/2005 8:02 Comments ||
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#7
Who was the author, Hari Seldon?
Seriously, a statistical relationship does not mean a cause and effect relationship.
#9
What about our side of the us versus them relationship? If you took the growth in the lethality of US conventional weapons from 1980 to 2005 and projected it over the next 25 years, by 2030 one Marine battalion with air cover will be able to fight its way from Morocco to Pyongyang successfully and with minimal casualties.
Posted by: Matt ||
02/20/2005 10:46 Comments ||
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#10
"But it is worth bearing in mind that several apparent power-law statistics in social phenomena have turned out, on closer inspection, to have natural cut-off points that preclude very large events" I wonder if folks said something along the same lines about revolution in Russia in 1917 and about Germany during the rise to power of the Nazi in the 1930s. Both did have "natural cut off points" so to speak, but consider the huge amount damage done before then.
#12
I knew this was gonna happen, I just can't tell you until Adlai is elected.
Posted by: Hari S ||
02/20/2005 13:11 Comments ||
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# 7 Math and stat's keep track of the past event's- not a good way to determine the future.
Associated Press- More military Bases in the U.S. to be Closed. Washington- safe for a decade, military bases in the United States face an uncertain future. The Pentagon plans to shut down or scale back some of the 425 facilities, the first such effort to save money in 10 years. The downsizing is part of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's long-term transformation of the Cold-War-era military. The Pentagon chief argues that closing or consolidating stateside facilities could save $ 7 billion annually and that the money would be better spent improving fighting capabilities amid threats from terrorists.
"It's a good example of good policy and good politics not fitting in the same room together", said Christopher Hellman, an analyst with the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation in Washington".
I ask ~~ Why is the United States military increasing it's recruitment effort's??(now have recruitment center's open on Sunday). Why are we building 1st class submarines (Jimmy Carter).
Where are our soldier's going to train, work, stay/live etc. DOES THE LEFT HAND KNOW WHAT THE RIGHT HAND IS DOING?
Andrea Jackson
Posted by: Andrea Jackson ||
02/20/2005 14:22 Comments ||
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#14
as with most things societal, mathematics can only outline past trends. It cannot predict the future. I beg to differ. It can and does predict the future. Whether that future eventuates depends on whether the underlying dynamic that results in the phenomena changes.
This is a fundamental issue about terrorism and goes to the heart of how to deal with it. If terrorism was a series of unconnected events then the law enforcement model makes sense, i.e. more law enforcement will manage the problem. But the data clearly shows there is an underlying dynamic and arresting/killing terrorists aint gonna work. I don't know if regime change/democratization is going to work either but the evidence says this is the type of solution required.
#15
# 15 phil_b yes and no. you are correct in saying that there is an underlying dynamic and arresting/killing terrorist aint gonna work. I don't know either if democratization is going to work. I have always felt that the world will never achieve homeostasis.
Andrea
Posted by: Andrea Jackson ||
02/20/2005 17:52 Comments ||
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#16
#14--Andrea,
Do you know of what you speak? Most military bases that see the heaviest use are largely empty space. Lots of room between buildings. Very old buildings. The bases that should be closed are those which are under-utilised and so close in urban-suburban area that live-fire has become a serious liability issue. And screw local economies. Making the remaining bases cover all the terriroty would be ridiculously easy, but would take thoughtful planning and foresight, things lacking in the budgetary process over the past 200 years.
The remaining bases will need updates . . . like replacing barracks that were built in WWII. Houses that have been in constant use and abuse at least that long. Without having to maintain more bases than are needed we can free up cash that can be used for better things.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
02/21/2005 0:05 Comments ||
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GENEVA, Switzerland (AP) -- United Nations refugee chief Boob Rubbers Ruud Lubbers told Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Sunday that he was resigning because of a lack of confidence in him over sexual harassment charges.
Lubbers' letter of resignation as U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees was sent to Annan on Sunday, a spokesman said. "The complaint of sexual harassment could not be substantiated," Lubbers wrote. Oh, really?
"For more than four years I gave all my energy to eating at the finest restaurants in the world UNHCR," he said. "Now in the middle of a series of problems and with ongoing media pressure you apparently view this differently." Looks more like a pattern to me.
After allegations first surfaced last year that Lubbers had made unwanted sexual advances toward a female employee, Annan said there were insufficient grounds to fire him. Gotta protect your own.
But on Friday, Annan consulted lawyers, clearly angered at the heat his inept organization is drawing resurgence of sexual harassment allegations following a newspaper report that included graphic details. In other words, Lubbers is dead to rights.
Lubbers maintained his innocence, and noted that Annan had closed the case last July after obtaining legal advice. "I wuz framed! I'm the victim here!"
"That bitch set me up!"
Indicating the secretary-general had decided it was time for him to go, Lubbers said, "To be frank, and despite all my loyalty, insult has now been added to injury and therefore I resign as high commissioner." See ya later, peckerwood. Can't wait for the lawsuits.
#2
Heh - nothing graphic I've seen in print. Fox said it was an American woman on his staff... he came up from behind, held her and ground his crotch into her hindquarters. That's the gist, anyway. Not very graphic, I agree. I can provide links to graphic stuff, but not UN-related - except for the NY Escort Services sites, heh.
New Zealand has warned that there is information of possible terrorist attacks on western aid workers involved in tsunami relief efforts in Aceh in Indonesia.
New Zealand's foreign ministry has also upgraded its travel warning for Indonesia, saying non-essential travel to the country, even to the resort island of Bali, should be deferred.
"The information we have, which is the same I understand as what the Australian's have received, does point to some quite specific and credible threats in terms of possible terrorist risks," New Zealand Foreign Ministry spokesman Brad Tattersfield told Radio New Zealand.
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and Prime Minister John Howard discussed the threat to relief workers at their annual bilateral talks in Auckland on Sunday.
Mr Howard said aid agencies had been advised that if they did not have an established security plan they should consider whether to remain in Indonesia.
Both leaders said the warning would not affect their military aid to the region.
New Zealand's foreign ministry said all travel to tsunami-devastated Aceh and northern Sumatra province should be cancelled.
"Recent information suggests that terrorists may be planning attacks against foreigners involved in tsunami relief efforts in Aceh and other parts of northern Sumatra," the ministry said in a statement.
New Zealanders should not travel to Banda Aceh or other parts of Aceh to work on humanitarian relief efforts unless "the aid organisation they work for has a robust security plan approved by the Indonesian authorities".
"We recommend that New Zealanders not covered by such arrangements, or more generally concerned for their security, leave the area immediately."
The foreign ministry said there was an ongoing risk of terrorist attacks in Indonesia, and recent reports suggested attacks on a range of targets could happen at any time.
Last month Sweden and Denmark warned that they had received information that militants were planning to strike humanitarian organisations in Aceh.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/20/2005 12:05:10 AM ||
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I'm in favor of ending the practice of calling the gutless jihadis who kill the weak, unarmed, and innocent "hard boyz". Let's have a contest for a more appropriate term for these cowards. I don't care except that we remove any trace of bravado and replace it with scorn and derision. Hitting Aid workers is just about as low and cowardly as it can get, except for attacking schools and hospitals, perhaps. Let's give them a name worthy of their pathetic worthless gutless cowardice.
#2
In total agreement, .com. How about 'jihadi scum' or 'cowardly scum'. At the end of the day they're really just murderers and wannabe murderers, so how about 'Islamic murderers'? 'Murd-o-slims'; 'Islamopaths'?
#3
How about "vermin?" Usually applied to rats and cockroaches and other creatures who can't stand the light of day. Also, as used in Brian Jacques's "Redwall" books, for pirates and other creatures whose lives are one act of mindless violence after another.
#9
I hate name calling but I have descended to it twice in the last 24 hours. I retract and apologize. Never assume anybody, no matter how evil, is beyond redemption. I promise to use adjectives to describe beahvior, not nouns to label a person--any person, however hateful their behavior may be. To this end, I will have to throw out "vermin." Unfortunately, "verminous" is too lumpy an adjective. Per #5, above, GT Behavior may be appropriate.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/20/2005 14:35 Comments ||
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#11
Anne McCaffrey's "City who Fought" had the attackers calling the city dwellers "scumvermin". The city dwellers took the epiteth and converted it into a rallying cry. I wouldn't want to call islamofruitcakes such names, since it detracts from the heroics of McCaffrey's novel. I would suggest 'slamvermin' - descriptive of them, and indicative of what needs to be done TO them.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/20/2005 14:53 Comments ||
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#12
Why not call them what they are?
Worthless loser murdering bastards.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/20/2005 20:13 Comments ||
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Conflicts in Muslim areas of Buddhist Thailand and the mainly Christian Philippines have been fuelled by local issues but are getting increasing attention from Islamic militants outside the region, they say.
Arab websites supporting Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network have begun "highlighting the Thai issue," said Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism expert with Singapore's Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies.
"Prologation of this conflict will mean greater involvement of other regional groups and global groups like Al-Qaeda."
The southern Philippines, where separatist conflicts have raged for decades, already has a "permanent Al-Qaeda presence", Gunaratna told AFP.
Increasing foreign involvement, particularly in Thailand, is "certainly a risk," said Robert Broadfoot of the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Consultancy.
"The grievances in southern Thailand are local but as we saw in Indonesia and the Philippines, Al-Qaeda and international groups have been able to take advantage of those local situations.
"Their scope has broadened beyond strictly domestic issues to where they are commenting on United States policy in Iraq and international issues."
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Philippines President Gloria Arroyo both pledged tough action against separatists in the wake of bomb attacks last week which killed a total of 16 people and wounded nearly 200.
Ten were killed in three blasts in the Philippines and six in the deadliest single bombing in Thailand's Muslim-dominated deep south, where separatist violence has claimed about 600 lives in the past 13 months.
Arroyo vowed to crush the rebel group Abu Sayyaf, which claimed the Valentine's Day bombings and is said by the United States to have Al-Qaeda links, but added: "The government shall focus its operations against terrorist cells and there should be no fear of a witch hunt."
Thaksin, however, has unveiled a plan to cut state funds to villages deemed supportive of southern separatists.
With Muslims already complaining of political and economic marginalisation, critics say the new plan will simply make things worse.
Increased Muslim suffering could make southern Thailand a fertile area for exploitation by Al-Qaeda militants, Gunaratna said.
"We saw on January 5 an Arab website for the first time carrying images of the Tak Bai incident" in which 87 Muslim demonstrators died, most of them through suffocation after being piled onto the backs of army trucks.
"And we are seeing Arab pro-Al-Qaeda websites are highlighting the Thai issue, so certainly it is in the long term strategic and national interest of Thailand to resolve this problem as soon as possible."
Thaksin has charged that militants seek refuge across the border in mainly Muslim Malaysia and even train in the jungles in the north of that country, accusations which have led to sharp exchanges with Kuala Lumpur.
Instead of antagonising Malaysia, Gunaratna said Thailand should seek a special relationship with its Muslim neighbour, establishing common data bases on militants, setting up joint training and operations and sharing resources and experience.
"We are seeing that the operational leaders and the spiritual leaders are shuttling through the porous border between Malaysia and Thailand but we do not see any Malaysian government support for these groups," Gunaratna said.
Broadfoot pointed out that "the Malaysian government has at least as much interest as Thaksin does in not having this get out of hand."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/20/2005 12:04:02 AM ||
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Lebanon's embattled government said yesterday that it wanted an explanation from the United Nations of its decision to appoint a commission of inquiry into the assassination of former premier Rafiq Hariri and hit out at France over opposition calls for an "uprising".
Defence Minister Abdel Rahim Mrad said his government was poised to boycott the UN probe, a move likely to put Lebanon on a collision course with both the former mandatory power and the United States, which have demanded an independent investigation into the bombing, in which 14 other people also died. The decision to protest to the United Nations followed a meeting between Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud, Justice Minister Adnan Addoum and presidential adviser Georges Dib, a foreign ministry official said. Asked earlier if the government would work with the UN inquiry to be headed by senior Irish police officer Deputy Commissioner Peter Fitzgerald, the defence minister said: "I do not think so."
"This issue was proposed by the opposition and we did not agree on that," Mrad told state television, saying the government had not even been notified by the world body as to the commission's terms of reference. He took particular issue with Fitgerald's appointment, saying that Beirut should have been given a veto over the choice. "This issue is up to the council of ministers and chiefly the prime minister," he said. Mrad vowed that the security forces would clamp down on any illegal demonstrations following the opposition's call for a wave of sit-ins against his government. "We will not allow any security breaches," he said. More than 40 of Lebanon's 128 MPs called on the international community on Friday to back their peaceful "uprising for independence" and accused the government and its political masters in Damascus of having a hand in Hariri's assassination.
Prime Minister Omar Karameh struck back, accusing the opposition of "planning a coup d'etat" but adding that his government remained open to "dialogue". Information Minister Elie Firzli accused French President Jacques Chirac, who attended Hariri's private funeral here Wednesday, of having a direct hand in the opposition's campaign. "Chirac made himself a direct party to lead the battle on the Lebanese scene," Firzli charged. Mrad lashed out at a French government advisory warning nationals against all non-essential travel to Lebanon in a new blow to the fledgling recovery of its tourism industry. The Hizbollah warned the opposition not to go down a path that would only prompt counter demonstrations by Damascus's supporters in Lebanon.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/20/2005 5:01:38 PM ||
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Officials at the highest levels in Syria and Lebanon organized the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, according to the Kuwaiti newspaper a-Siasa. The report revealed that two high-ranking Syrian generals — including Syrian president Bashar Assad's brother-in-law, Brig. Gen. Asef Shawkat, whom he appointed Friday to head military intelligence — and a Lebanese general. The newspaper did not reveal the sources of the report.
My guess would be the rumor mill, but we'll see how it plays out...
The Lebanese and Syrian governments have denied any role in the death of Hariri, who was killed by a massive bomb as he was driven in his motorcade through central Beirut. The blast killed 16 other people and wounded more than 100. The murder of Hariri, a politician who was seen as a key figure in applying international pressures to effect Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, was evidently intended as a bloody warning to the Lebanese to think twice before demanding that Syrian troops pull out, the report commented.
That seems to have worked well...
Over the weekend Lebanese opposition stepped up its campaign against the country's pro-Syrian government Friday, calling for a "peaceful intifada" to force the resignation of Prime Minister Omar Karami and the withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon. Since Hariri's murder, the anti-Syrian Lebanese opposition has blamed the government and its Syrian backers for the assassination. Friday the opposition issued a statement calling on people to stage a peaceful "independence uprising" against the government.
Maybe the warning was too subtle? Do you think they missed the point? Or did the Syrians miss a point?
In its statement, the opposition said the government should resign and a transitional Cabinet should be formed "to protect the people, and to ensure an immediate and full withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon as a prelude for free and fair elections." Parliamentary elections are due to be held in April and May. The statement - which was read out by Samir Franjieh, a second cousin of the interior minister - also urged Lebanese to continue to gather daily at Hariri's grave in Martyrs' Square in Beirut, to light candles and say prayers.
Another Orange Revolution? I said it was too early for the one in Ukraine. Maybe I'm wrong on this one, too...
Shortly after the rebellious declaration, about 1,000 opposition supporters staged an anti-Syria rally in front of parliament, a few blocks from Hariri's grave. They carried placards reading "Syrians out now" and chanted anti-Syrian slogans. Security forces watched but did not interfere, and the protesters dispersed peacefully. Expressing their mourning and deference to Hariri, thousands of people signed a 30 meter (90 ft.) banner with the word "Resign," written in French and Arabic, addressed to the government. The banner was unfurled at Hariri's grave, situated outside of a Beirut mosque that he had built. Responding to the protests which have steadily grown in fervor over the past few days, Interior Minister Suleiman Franjieh warned the government would not tolerate any public disturbances. "The state will not stand idly by," he warned.
"It's our power, and you can't have it!"
Meanwhile, in the first cabinet fallout from Monday's assassination, Tourism Minister Farid Khazen resigned Friday, saying the government was not capable of running the country at this crucial stage. The departure of a minister close to pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud caused surprise, but was not expected to cause the government to collapse. Prime Minister Karami quickly appointed a new tourism minister, Wadih Khazen, who is not related to his predecessor. "Any minister who resigns will be promptly replaced," Karami said, signaling the government's determination to stay in office.
"We got lots more where he came from!"
Hariri's family, as well as France and the United States, have called for an international enquiry into his killing. Karami's government has rejected these calls, but it has commissioned foreign experts, such as Swiss forensic scientists, to assist its investigation.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/20/2005 12:45:14 AM ||
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Assassins who killed Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister, travelled from Iraq through Syria to carry out the attack, according to the Beirut judge leading the inquiry into the bombing. Rachid Mezher, the senior investigator for the Lebanese military tribunal, said that the organisers had been recruited from Islamist groups linked to Syria and operating against the US-led coalition in Iraq. Although no firm ties with the Syrian regime have been established, his comments suggest strong circumstantial evidence of a connection.
There's something in my head that keeps repeating "Mugniyeh... Mugniyeh..."
Investigators believe that a suicide bomber drove a car laden with explosives into the 60-year-old billionaire's convoy last Monday, killing him and 14 others. Judge Mezher said that a video in which a fanatic called Ahmed Abu Adas said the attack was the work of "Victory and Jihad in Greater Syria", an unknown group, was a genuine claim of responsibility.
My instinct is that the vid is genuine, and that the "group" is very small, pick-up, and will be heard from no more, unless somebody else needs boomed. Like Wally Jumblatt. Abu Adas is probably now back in Mosul, unless it actually was a suicide car boom, in which case the witnesses are all dead.
Abu Adas, 23, a Palestinian Lebanese believed to have fled the country, attended two Beirut mosques known to be recruiting grounds for the Ansar al-Islam group, linked to the Jordanian extremist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
That could be significant, or it could mean that they brought in a top-grade professional to do the job. Guys with turbans stick out less in the Muddle East than an Irishman would.
Investigators suspect that the mosques have ties to Sheikh Abderrazak, a Damascus cleric who has helped fighters travel through Syria to Iraq. The Beirut attack bore similarities to suicide bombings carried out in Iraq by al-Zarqawi, who has increasingly strong ties to al-Qaeda. "We know that Adas had Saudi Arabian nationality and used his passport to travel to Iraq and Syria," said Judge Mezher in his only interview with a British newspaper. "The man converted to strict Muslim beliefs two years ago and returned to Lebanon only recently."
"Strict Muslim beliefs" is a polite way of saying "Salafism," of course...
The regime of the Syrian president, Bashar Assad, denies involvement in the attack and has rebuffed calls from Lebanon and America to remove its 15,000 troops from the country. It has a history, however, of using extremists in Lebanon as proxy killers. However, a Syrian intelligence official based in Lebanon said: "There was a gap in security exploited by the terrorists and their web must be investigated. This criminal act was an attack on Syria as much as it was on Lebanon."
So do we see swarms of Syrian investigators, following up every clue? Watch the hands, not the mouth...
Mr Hariri, prime minister for 10 years, resigned last year after Syrian pressure led to the extension of the term as Lebanese president of Emile Lahoud, his chief rival. Previously pro-Syrian, Mr Hariri had planned to campaign during May's general election against Syrian influence. Walid Jumblatt, now the leading Lebanese opposition leader, has accused Damascus of commissioning the attack on Mr Hariri.
... and the UN warned of the possibility of just such an attack, against either Hariri or Wally, just a day or two before the boom. This leads me to believe the UN knew something was in the works, probably something uncovered by the Frenchies, who are often very good.
He is now at the vanguard of a popular movement to force the Syrian troops out of Lebanon. "He got killed and we are all on that list, there is no immunity," he said. "Syria is responsible. Who else? We don't want to open war with Syria, but they must go out."
Since the warning pointed to Syria, and "we" equals at least Wally, he's got cause for concern...
The Syrian president is a member of the Alawite religious sect, feared throughout medieval Europe as the Assassins. When its leader wanted an opponent killed, he handed a follower a dagger and his wishes were carried out. Many Lebanese believe that Mr Hariri's death was commissioned in similar fashion by Syria's Mukhabarat intelligence service. At the Zoqaq al-Blat mosque, a stronghold of the pro-Syrian Akbash sect, the imam blamed foreign powers - meaning America and Israel - for Mr Hariri's death. "This intervention is designed to disfigure Lebanon and is the work of foreign forces who mean us harm," he said.
That's the F7 key on their word processor...
American support for Lebanese opposition demands is growing. One administration figure said of the assassination: "If Syria did authorise this, it's the stupidest thing they could have done."
Makes you wonder how Baby Assad made it through eye doctor school, doesn't it?
Posted by: Bulldog ||
02/20/2005 3:58:34 AM ||
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#1
How does this square with the crater? Other reports say it was a bomb planted in the sewer or in the road and it was not a car bomb.
#2
Previously pro-Syrian, Mr Hariri had planned to campaign during Mayâs general election against Syrian influence.
Suddenly his convictions change? Or were the Syrian people really just being given the choice of 2 pro-Syrian candidates with Hariri posing as anti-Syrian influence to let some steam out of the kettle.
Let's see...he's a personal friend of Chirac, A personal friend of the Saudi Royal Family, A billionaire whoe is "loved for his charity work" and he was previously pro-Syrian government.
Given all of this, we're supposed to believe that this guy was the good guy? I'm not even close to being convinced.
#3
I could be wrong but it doesn't look like a car bomb crater. I was briefly involved with a project for the Thai government back in the late 70's in which they wanted to dig an anti-tank ditch very fast. The tests done were for a large quantity of explosives burried and sequencially detonated similar to what is done in strip mining. Unlike strip mining, the dirt had to be completely removed by the explosions which requires an earth-shattering ka-boom. The tests proved it was feasable to do but very impractical. The explosives have to be burried and maintained as well as all the wiring. My point is the crater in the Harriri killing looks almost exactly like the craters one gets from burrying explosives and not like a crater from an above ground explosion. An above ground explosion leaves a shallow, wide crater. A below ground explosion leaves a deep, narrower crater. The force of an above ground explosion is directed mostly up and out. Dirt doesn't compact all that much and tends to reflect the blast up. In a below ground explosion the crater is deeper because, as with an above ground boom, the force is directed up and out but the sides of the forming crater reflect some of the blast back toward the center. That is why a below ground blast is deeper and narrower than an above ground.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/20/2005 16:05 Comments ||
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Two Cabinet ministers on Saturday angrily accused French President Jacques Chirac of supporting the Lebanese opposition's effort to unseat the pro-Syrian government, with one minister saying Chirac was leading the battle. The harsh criticism followed Chirac's recent visit to Beirut, where he visited the family of assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a longtime friend. Hariri died with 16 others in a massive bombing in Beirut on Monday. Opposition leaders and Hariri's supporters have blamed the Lebanese and Syrian governments for the assassination. Both governments deny involvement, and the Lebanese government has accused the opposition of exploiting Hariri's slaying to reap political gains ahead of parliamentary elections expected by May. A statement issued by Hariri's family following Chirac's visit Wednesday said the French president was in Lebanon on private visit to pay his condolences. He did not meet any Lebanese officials, the statement said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/20/2005 12:03:24 AM ||
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#1
That photo begs for a Photoshop job.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/20/2005 0:15 Comments ||
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#3
He was just checking to see if the Hariri "donation" to his retirement plan had been affected by Rafik's death. Priorities.
RC - Which is the operative word - "Photoshop" or "job"? Either can be accomodated, but one must have the correct theme in mind. I'm sure there are some more than qualified 'puter artiste's who read RB...
#4
Thank heaven for zee leetle girlz. For zey grow beegger every day.
Posted by: Jacques ||
02/20/2005 2:00 Comments ||
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#5
" Hey everbody, this is how you blow goats! My Muslim fiends taught me!
Posted by: Annie War ||
02/20/2005 5:28 Comments ||
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#6
"Two Cabinet ministers on Saturday angrily accused French President Jacques Chirac of supporting the Lebanese oppositionâs effort to unseat the pro-Syrian government..."
So the French government admits to supportting the occupation of Lebanon by Syrian thugs.Nice to hear thier confession.
DAMASCUS — The barrage of criticism that Syria suffered after the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri has led many Syrians to conclude it is time to withdraw the 15,000 Syrian troops in Lebanon.
This is not yet the opinion of the Syrian government, which has spent the week denying it has any responsibility for Monday's assassination and reaffirming its close ties to 'brotherly' Lebanon. But some intellectuals and people on the street feel the Syrian presence in Lebanon has become too troublesome to sustain. "Syria should withdraw its army and intelligence agents from Lebanon immediately, today rather than tomorrow," said Michel Kilo, a prominent Syrian writer. "The dangers (of this presence) go beyond Lebanon and have come to threaten Syria itself," Kilo warned. "The Syrian people and the Syrian government are the ones suffering as a result."
"We have nothing to do with what happened in Lebanon, and I am confident of that," said a Syrian engineer, Toufic Razzouk. "But I am for the withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon according to (Lebanese) demands."
Many Lebanese accuse Syria of heavy-handed interference in their country, calling the shots on affairs big and small. In September, Syria was seen as single-handedly engineering the extension of Lebanese President Emile Lahoud's term by three years. The move required an amendment to Lebanon's constitution. It also defied a UN Security Council resolution calling for presidential elections to be held and for Syria to withdraw its troops.
Subsequently, Lebanese opponents of Damascus became bolder in their calls for Syria to leave, and Hariri's assassination produced the widest movement ever seen in Lebanon to get the Syrians out.
Following the assassination, US President George W. Bush recalled his ambassador to Syria. On Thursday, Bush said he would work with his European allies to put pressure on Syria to pull out from Lebanon. Analysts say Syria regards Lebanon as a strategic card in the Arab-Israeli dispute and one that is too important to drop. Syria cannot afford to let Lebanon sign a separate peace deal with Israel, as that would make Syria the only Arab country to remain technically at war with Israel.
Syria backs the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and uses it to put pressure on Israel across its northern border.
It's not like the Syrian military can pressure the Israelis.
In addition, Syria has about 1 million workers in Lebanon. Their remittances are a substantial contribution to the sluggish Syrian economy.
Kilo, the writer, said Syria should find a way to safeguard its security interests in Lebanon, but without a military and intelligence presence. "We need normal diplomatic relations with Lebanon like those between any two countries," Kilo said. Syria has long argued that its historically close ties with Lebanon renders diplomatic relations unnecessary. "(The Syrian government) says we entered Lebanon to render the Lebanese a service. That service has long been accomplished."
But some Syrians support their government's position on Lebanon. George Obeid, the owner of a gadget shop in the Qassaa neighbourhood of Damascus, said Syria is ready to leave Lebanon immediately if the Lebanese government requested it. "We are there to safeguard Lebanese and Syrian security," he said. Â
"Even if they don't want it!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/20/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Mayor balks at endorsing Arab group for panel
Efforts to establish a New Jersey Arab Heritage Commission are falling short of winning the support of one Hunterdon County mayor. Birthplace of James Marshall, whose discovery of gold in California led to the forty-niner' rush.
That's because Raritan Township Mayor Peter Kinsella said he disagrees with the philosophy espoused by one of the organizations backing the formation of the commission. Its nice to see leaders with insight, and backbone.
Kinsella objects to the Council on American-Islamic Relations' involvement in the movement and suggests the state "do a better job" of selecting an advocacy group with which to align itself. "They are a lobbying group intent on promoting differences between cultural groups, in a negative manner, to serve their own agenda," Kinsella said in a prepared statement released in response to a state request for a resolution supporting the creation of the commission. "They have exhibited an anti-U.S. attitude in the war on terror." You got that right.
While Raritan's township committee has not taken action on the resolution, more than 20 other municipalities throughout the state have passed resolutions of support for the establishment of the commission, according to Frank Vespa-Papaleo, director of the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights. The idea for the commission came out of a collaborative effort of CAIR and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, a grassroots civil rights organization. New Jersey is home to more than 750,000 Arabs and Muslims -- there are about 10 million nationwide -- yet their religions, culture and customs remain a mystery to most Americans, said Aref Assaf, president of the New Jersey chapter of ADC...
Posted by: IToldYouSo ||
02/20/2005 4:20:09 AM ||
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#1
Well, halle-freakin'-lujah.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/20/2005 20:16 Comments ||
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#2
give him his due :-)
F&^kin A!
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/20/2005 20:37 Comments ||
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#3
Barbara Skolaut: I think it was you who needed to make a bumper sticker "f**k the DNR or something like that? check out www.cafepress.com/politics/browse
thousand's of bumper stickers to choose from.
click onto # 3 see the sticker Asses of Evil then page # 6 open mouth chimp sticker. HE HE HE
Andrea Jackson
Posted by: inquizitive Liberal ||
02/20/2005 21:37 Comments ||
Top||
#1
I have severe and deep reservations about the source, but there is a smidgen here for the grist mill.
If true...
1) Only one of the factions is represented - and may not have "authority" to actually broker a deal.
2) There is the obvious problem with such people keeping agreements.
1 + 2 = ~0
Negotiation only works when binding. How is anything binding on anti-everything groups who have no compunction against terror? They have been primarily killing Iraqis for the last year or so, after all, not exactly the actions of someone worthy to be called a partner in negotiations.
I will believe there is something to this when there is visible evidence - actions, not words - of their ability to control themselves and assist in stopping the other factions from perpetrating violence.
Otherwise, the binding condition that can be relied upon is their deaths.
#2
This seems like a good sign but these Sunnis are pretty dumb. They must not understand what an election is or that U. S. is going to have a hard time doing anything the elected government doesn't like.
When these guys can find a Gerry Adams to raise money for terrorists in Dearborn, then they can be Sein Fein. Till then, they're outlaws who should be hunted down till they give up.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/20/2005 12:10 Comments ||
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#3
Excellent point, Mrs D. Had this happened about 18 months ago, then there would be something to negotiate with the Mil Cmd. Now, total surrender of violence and peaceful participation in civil processes - or death. They could choose temporary exile in Syria... but Ba'athism is about to die out, literally, so it would, indeed, be temporary.
#4
I suspect that this is an effort to "bring home" Baathist officers, and could be compared to how SS and Werhmacht officers were treated at the end of WWII. At first, entire W units were just recommissioned on the spot as Bundeswehr, and told to discard all but rank insignia ("Attention. Turn East!" (they dug it)); however SS officers were executed on the spot. Later, after examination, W officers were often retained with their units, and SS officers were either arrested for membership in the General SS, or released to civilian life, had they been in "no-wants-no-warrants" Waffen SS units. (At least one WSS battalion was converted entirely to French Foreign Legion and shipped off to Indochina. They did well there, fighting communists again.) Those that fled to mostly South America ceased to be an issue, despite fears that they would try to reactivate the dritte Reich.
#5
fuck 'em ... kill 'em all and hang 'em up outside for all to see. Screw their bullshit demands. Do you hear me baathists and other assorted assholes. Fuck you!!!!!!!
#6
Further evidence of the success of the election. Given a chance to save a little face the Iraqi insurgents may call it quits and hang their foreign insurgent brothers out to dry. Best case scenario I guess. Worst case is more of the same of what we have now. Can't hurt to talk - it will make the rest of the insurgents a little uneasy worrying about who is jumping ship on them next.
An extremist group of female Israeli settlers, some still teenagers, have vowed to unleash anarchy across the country in protest over disengagement plans drawn up by Ariel Sharon, the Israeli premier. The women, from settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, have already taken part in violent demonstrations, and support a campaign of threats and intimidation. Several teenage girls were among those arrested last week after rush-hour protests at busy road junctions brought much of Israel to a halt. Demonstrators burnt tyres, attacked police officers, smashed police cars and vandalised cells where they were being detained. Graffiti scrawled on the walls referred to Yitzhak Rabin, Israel's former prime minister, who was shot dead in Tel Aviv in 1995 by an ultranationalist Jew who wanted to derail a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. "Rabin is waiting for Sharon," the protesters wrote. "Death to Arabs." A policewoman who required hospital treatment after the scuffles was shocked when one woman called her a "Nazi". Three protesters were later interviewed on Israeli television. "I would be happy if Sharon was dead," one 17-year-old said. Her 16-year-old companion smiled as she said: "But I would not waste my bullet on him."
The protests broke out after Mr Sharon's disengagement plan cleared one of its final hurdles last week. The Israeli parliament approved a compensation package for settlers who will be evacuated from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank in the coming months. The cabinet is expected to give its seal of approval to the package at its weekly meeting today. In the atmosphere of growing intolerance, threats have been made to the lives of several cabinet ministers, and Mr Sharon has hired a security company to protect the grave of his late wife, Lily, after receiving threats that Right-wing vandals would dig up her body at his ranch in the Negev. Mrs Sharon died of lung cancer in March 2000. Brig Gen Ilan Paz, the head of the civil administration in the West Bank, also received a death threat from a far-Right activist.
Many mainstream settlers have been angered by the protesters, claiming that their actions are undermining their cause. The protesters, however, come from hard-core settler communities in towns such as Hebron, on the West Bank. Several have begun moving down to the Gaza settlements earmarked for evacuation, to prepare for an anticipated fight with the security forces. Meir Rotenstein, a resident of Neve Deqalim settlement, received threats after he agreed to take the compensation money and leave. He has seen many young settlers arrive in the area. "I have met some of these young men and women and they said they want to attack the security forces," he said. "They are real crazies. I hope they will not try to kill anyone, but it is possible." They are considered even by other settlers to be dangerously fanatical, and among the so called "hilltop youth" are American Jews who build outposts not approved by the Israeli Cabinet. While the majority of those involved are Israeli-born there is a sizeable minority from American Jewish families, who are often among the most uncompromising settlers. Many have moved within the past 20 years from large communities in the United States, such as one in Brooklyn. They live in areas with a reputation for zealotry, such as Kiryat Arba, in Hebron, and a chain of settlements near Nablus, the main Arab city in the northern West Bank. Religious settlers say that the Bible defines the south-western boundary of the land of Israel as the "river of Egypt" and therefore insist that the Gaza Strip is an integral part of Greater Israel and was included in God's divine promise to the Jewish People. Some also claim it has military signifiacnce as a buffer to Egypt.
Israel's Shin Bet intelligence service and the police were caught off guard by last week's demonstrations. The organisers managed to keep details of the protests secret by spreading word via mobile telephone text messages. While information about the organisation is sketchy, one of its driving forces is believed to be Itamar Ben-Gvir, a Right-winger linked to the outlawed, militantly anti-Arab Kach party. His 17-year-old wife, Ayala, was among those arrested. Last night Mr Ben-Gvir revealed that the protest group is several thousand strong and warned that there would be extreme violence if the Israeli settlements were evacuated. "It would be better if these women were doing something else but Sharon has left us with no choice but to fight back," he told The Sunday Telegraph. "Sharon has crossed a red line. We have to protest as this is the only language Sharon understands."
Posted by: Bulldog ||
02/20/2005 3:54:54 AM ||
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#1
Right wing - extreme - American. No agenda here obviously.
#3
Bulldog the article blends reportage with agenda peddling. There is no advocacy of murder. To say you wish someone were dead is not the same as advocacy. I have have recently said I wish Castro would hurry up and die. I was certainly not advocating murder. Otherwise this is people being driven out of their homes to satisfy geopolitics. At best it leaves a bad taste.
#4
My daughter who lives in Israel has met some of these hilltop settlers.
A few of them are just naive, a few are groupies of charismatic leaders, a few are just mentally ill but some are basically sadistic thugs.
Israel would have arrested the thugs long ago but their civil rights laws are as difficult to navigate as ours, maybe more so since the groups, naivites, etc. don't testify against the thugs.
#5
Wack-job religous nuts need to be shut down if they have violent tendencies. The specific nature of their religion is immaterial. If civilized governments don't do this then they have no right to condemn other govt's who are slow to clean up messes in their tent.
Egypt said Saturday it was putting off a U.S-backed conference originally scheduled next month to discuss plans for political reforms in the Middle East, apparently over a dispute over the detention of a prominent opposition leader. Foreign Minister Ahmed Abould Gheit said the conference scheduled for March 3 will be postponed indefinitely. "The conference is postponed and a new date will be set after consultations with the countries invited," Aboul Gheit said in a statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/20/2005 12:04:36 AM ||
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#1
So, about that $2Bn annual "aid" to Egypt... It can be "postponed indefinitely" - or simply aborted permanently. I'm sure there are 10 or 20 thousand other little nudge thingy's available in our one-sided "relationship" with this crew of thugs.
Get real, go hardball. Mubarek's in no position to dictate - flip the tables and nail his ass.
#2
Er, not yet, .com. Egypt is a tinder-box sitting on a desert highway at noon on a hot day. Wouldn't take much for it to burst into flames, and we don't need that right now. Maybe after Babyface has been deposed in Syria, and the various generals in the Sudan have been hanged. Then we'd have Mubarek and his idiot son surrounded (Sixth Fleet to the north of course). And that's when we can tell him exactly how we want our money spent.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/20/2005 13:37 Comments ||
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Inadequate training, lack of resources, corruption and absence of transparency are responsible for the inability of Pakistan's security forces to effectively counter militant groups engaged in urban violence. According to a report prepared by Christine Fair, for the US Army under a Rand Corporation programme, there is "immense distrust between the police and the policed", while intelligence-sharing arrangements among state and federal law enforcement agencies are "deficient".
She writes that the public perceives the police as an "occupying force" and many police activities have exacerbated the gulf between the people and the police. The cordon and research method used in Karachi, for example, felt humiliating to residents, increased public distrust of the security forces, and provided a system whereby individuals could manipulate the security apparatus to execute vendettas. Fair, now head of the South Asia programme at the US Institute of Peace, believes that Pakistan's experience with urban violence should focus the attention of US policymakers. Pakistan, she points out, is being treated as a capable partner in the war against terrorism. Sectarian violence and other internal security threats only destabilise Pakistan and interact "synergistically" with Pakistan-based militant outfits operating in Indian-held Kashmir and beyond India's hinterland.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/20/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
*snicker* And written by an infidel American female, no less.
The two biggest parties in the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), Jammat-e-Islami (JI) and Jammiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) will contest the upcoming local government elections separately. "Both parties have decided that they will contest the next local body elections from their own platforms," sources in the MMA told Daily Times. The issue was discussed in a recent meeting of the MMA Supreme Council and it was the JUI-F that proposed member parties contest the local elections separately.
"The JI was against this, but the JUI-F was adamant on going solo because it is participating in local body elections for the first time," the sources said. They said the JUI-F expected to cash in on its greater popularity relative to the JI in Balochistan and the NWFP. The JI, they added, wants to secure more seats in Punjab and Sindh. JI leaders proposed that since local government elections would be held on a non-party basis, the MMA could use another name — they proposed "Al-Khidmat" - and contest the elections jointly, but the JUI-F rejected the proposal.
The cockles of my heart are a bit warmer for reading this. Qazi and Fazl going their separate ways can only be a good thing. And Sami's already gotten in his Huff and driven off into the political sunset. This is one of those things Perv does well, and the ghost of Anna Comnena advises me not to bother him while he's working.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/20/2005 00:00:00 ||
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LAHORE — Pakistan and India are using secret channels for the solution of the Kashmir dispute, Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri disclosed here yesterday. Addressing a news conference at the State Guest House, he said the presidents, the prime ministers and the foreign ministers of the two countries were also involved in the secret channels. According to him the credit for starting Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service from April 7 also went to the secret channels.
He said while the launch of the bus service was a victory for both the countries, the credit for keeping the matter secret for about nine months went to the people involved in secret talks.
The foreign minister, who is scheduled to proceed on a visit to Japan today, made it clear that Islamabad would never accept the Line of Control as border between the two countries. He said Islamabad and New Delhi had fought three wars on the Kashmir issue and thus it was not possible for Pakistan to agree to the LoC as international border.
So much for any new secret channels.
In response to a question, the minister said nuclear CBMs, trade links and people-to-people contacts would be given top priority during the next few months. He welcomed the support extended to Islamabad-New Delhi agreements by opposition parties, including the PPP of Benazir Bhutto and the PML-N of Mian Nawaz Sharif. "I welcome a bipartisan approach on the foreign affairs issues".
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/20/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#3
..The way I understood the article, a delegation is going to India to pitch the PAC, not close the deal. On the other hand, it's a good opportunity to send a message - "If you know - or suspect you know - where OBL is, tell us NOW, or we give the Indians the ability to make you wish you had."
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/20/2005 12:52 Comments ||
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A Pakistani academic told a meeting here on Friday that according to a recent survey taken in Balochistan, 65 percent of those polled favoured "armed struggle" for the achievement of their objectives. Dr Ayesha Siddiqa, currently doing a fellowship at the Woodrow Wilson Centre, said this while reading a paper on Balochistan at the Johns Hopkins University. She said only 26.6 percent of the population was literate and civic facilities were lacking. Tracing the history of the province, she said Balochistan alone had resisted the acquisition of its land by the army. She described the present situation is one of "complete chaos and mayhem". She was sceptical about the state claiming that it retained control of the situation. There were fears, she added, of the country's break-up as happened in 1971.Pakistan, she said, is a "troubled state under siege" and hence there was greater use of authority being witnessed. She was quick to add that the Pakistani state had far more resilience today than it had in 1971 and was not "unravelling." Nevertheless, what was happening in Balochistan today could not be ignored because it was going to define the future of Pakistan.
Dr Siddiqa, who is working on a book detailing the commercial and entrepreneurial side of the Pakistan army, warned that Balochistan would prove a "major catalyst" and if the state continued to pretend that all was well and under control, it would be faced with a few surprises. It was her view that because of what was taking place in Balochistan, federal-provincial relations would have to change. The situation could also change the "dynamics of key organisations such as the army". How the top management of the Pakistan army handles the situation, she added, would determine the course of events. How the crisis was managed would affect the future of the federation. The main grouse of the people of Balochistan is, she explained, that their resources are bringing disproportionate benefit to others not to them. There are "multiple faultlines," she said, in Balochistan, some of them real, some of them "created" ones. The Balochis fear that they are going to be turned into a minority. She said secession was a "lesser possibility". She was of the opinion that the "divide and rule" policy followed by the federal government can no longer work.
She said the situation had become more complicated because of the induction of religious and extremist elements. Another factor was the Baloch-Pushtun divide. There were also accusations of foreign intervention and India and Iran had been named as being responsible for that.
Continued on Page 49
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.
ITV News has been given exclusive access to a tape recording in which a radical Muslim cleric talks about flying a plane into Downing Street. Shiekh 
The United States and Germany are "well on the way" to repairing their breach over Iraq, a top German diplomat said Saturday ahead of this week's talks between President Bush and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Asked if things were back to the level before the Iraq crisis, Karsten Voigt, the government's coordinator for trans-Atlantic relations, told The Associated Press, "we are well on the way there." "If one speaks of a new beginning, then one speaks of a positive start with a goal," Voight said. "And the goal is exactly the level that you described." He pointed to U.S.-German cooperation in forgiving Iraq's debts, training new Iraqi security officers and stabilizing Afghanistan, where Germany has contributed 2,500 soldiers to a NATO security force. Schroeder also said in comments released Saturday that he welcomed Bush's readiness for improved trans-Atlantic cooperation and was looking forward to discussions with the U.S. president.
The Senate has begun taking a harder look at U.S. intelligence on nuclear threats facing the United States, including revelations of missing nuclear materials in Russia, congressional officials said on Friday. The Republican-led Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which held a closed-door hearing on nuclear issues earlier this month, has come to view nuclear proliferation as a threat that overshadows other dangers posed by terrorist groups. "We're going to be following it very, very closely," said Sen. John Rockefeller of West Virginia, ranking Democrat on the Senate oversight panel. He said the nuclear threat against the United States was posed "not just from North Korea, but most dangerously from unaccounted for weapons that could be black-marketed to terrorists."
Retired Marines set up a security watch yesterday around the North Carolina home of accused 2nd Lt. 
GENEVA, Switzerland (AP) -- United Nations refugee chief 
Lebanon's embattled government said yesterday that it wanted an explanation from the United Nations of its decision to appoint a commission of inquiry into the assassination of former premier 
Officials at the highest levels in Syria and Lebanon organized the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister 
Assassins who killed 
Two Cabinet ministers on Saturday angrily accused French President Jacques Chirac of supporting the Lebanese opposition's effort to unseat the pro-Syrian government, with one minister saying Chirac was leading the battle. The harsh criticism followed Chirac's recent visit to Beirut, where he visited the family of assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a longtime friend. Hariri died with 16 others in a massive bombing in Beirut on Monday. Opposition leaders and Hariri's supporters have blamed the Lebanese and Syrian governments for the assassination. Both governments deny involvement, and the Lebanese government has accused the opposition of exploiting Hariri's slaying to reap political gains ahead of parliamentary elections expected by May. A statement issued by Hariri's family following Chirac's visit Wednesday said the French president was in Lebanon on private visit to pay his condolences. He did not meet any Lebanese officials, the statement said.
Egypt said Saturday it was putting off a U.S-backed conference originally scheduled next month to discuss plans for political reforms in the Middle East, apparently over a dispute over the detention of a prominent opposition leader. Foreign Minister Ahmed Abould Gheit said the conference scheduled for March 3 will be postponed indefinitely. "The conference is postponed and a new date will be set after consultations with the countries invited," Aboul Gheit said in a statement.
Inadequate training, lack of resources, corruption and absence of transparency are responsible for the inability of Pakistan's security forces to effectively counter militant groups engaged in urban violence. According to a report prepared by Christine Fair, for the US Army under a Rand Corporation programme, there is "immense distrust between the police and the policed", while intelligence-sharing arrangements among state and federal law enforcement agencies are "deficient". 
The two biggest parties in the 
A Pakistani academic told a meeting here on Friday that according to a recent survey taken in Balochistan, 65 percent of those polled favoured "armed struggle" for the achievement of their objectives. Dr Ayesha Siddiqa, currently doing a fellowship at the Woodrow Wilson Centre, said this while reading a paper on Balochistan at the Johns Hopkins University. She said only 26.6 percent of the population was literate and civic facilities were lacking. Tracing the history of the province, she said Balochistan alone had resisted the acquisition of its land by the army. She described the present situation is one of "complete chaos and mayhem". She was sceptical about the state claiming that it retained control of the situation. There were fears, she added, of the country's break-up as happened in 1971.Pakistan, she said, is a "troubled state under siege" and hence there was greater use of authority being witnessed. She was quick to add that the Pakistani state had far more resilience today than it had in 1971 and was not "unravelling." Nevertheless, what was happening in Balochistan today could not be ignored because it was going to define the future of Pakistan.
