In this roiling political spring of protest and debate about democracy in repressive Arab countries, cell phone text messaging has become a powerful underground channel of free and often impolite speech, especially in the oil-rich Persian Gulf monarchies, where mobile phones are common but candid public talk about politics is not.
Demonstrators use text messaging to mobilize followers, dodge authorities and swarm quickly to protest sites. Candidates organizing for the region's limited elections use text services to call supporters to the polls or slyly circulate candidate slates in countries that supposedly ban political groupings. And through it all, anonymous activists blast their adversaries with thousands of jokes, insults and political limericks.
*snip*
You will be assimilated.... Bwhahahahahaha! :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/30/2005 10:43:57 AM ||
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Sorry, Fred - thought sure I selected page 3....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/30/2005 14:45 Comments ||
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Following are excerpts from a discussion on terrorism, with Saudi cleric Aed Al-Qarni and Saudi journalist Mushri Al-Dhayidi, which aired on Saudi TV's Channel 1 on March 14, 2005.
Saudi cleric 'Aed Al-Qarni: What is legitimate terrorism? It may be [legitimate] when nations defend themselves to restore their rights, to protect their resources, or to liberate their countries and homelands.
Interviewer: Even if it targets civilians or innocent people?
Al-Qarni: No, if we get into such details, those who do not fight and who do no harm, such as unarmed people, innocent people, the elderly, and children Islam forbids targeting them, even in the battlefield
Saudi journalist Mushri Al-Dhayidi: Terrorism is based on several foundations. The perpetrators are the final link in this chain. There are the people who incite, those who provide finances, and there is a fourth factor, discussed recently in the [Saudi counter-terrorism conference] those who justify terrorism.
The role of the inciters is clear they are the ones who issue fatwas on the Internet and TV and who even publish pamphlets and cassettes that incite and permit all [such operations] to take place, and encourage the carrying out of more operations. There are those who provide finances, whether individuals, disreputable groups, or, in some cases, countries, or other groups - here [in Saudi Arabia] or elsewhere. There are those who justify {terrorism], who haven't reached the level of explicit incitement, but who use vague language, with ambiguities. [They say:] "True, this is wrong, but..." The words following the "but" are more numerous, more heated, and justify [terror] more than the preceding words.
In my opinion, the perpetrators are merely the "wood" in the stove of terror. No more than wood.
Interviewer: Wood?
Al-Dhayidi: Yes. Whoever stokes the fire, whoever chops down the trees for firewood, whoever waters them in order to produce firewood these should be our focus.
Personally, I believe the main, although not the only reason for the birth of terrorism, its effectiveness and intensity is a conceptual reason. I base this on the fact that those who talk about economic reasons which I do not deny or who talk about the oppression of political freedoms which I do not deny this either or about any other reason, do not realize that terrorism springs from an environment of economic prosperity, as well as of extensive political involvement.
Al-Dhayidi: As for our youth nowadays to be honest, this is our media's responsibility, as well as the responsibility of our religious and social discourse. Our youth have been incited to the point that they automatically consider any problem in China, in Bosnia, Chechnya, Nigeria, wherever, to be a conflict between Islam and the rest of the world. It is as if the entire world wants to pounce on Islam, although some of the world's problems⊠Today, the Muslims get their countries involved in conflicts unrelated to them.
We, the Saudis and people of the Gulf states, export youth as suicide bombers and martyrs everywhere. I have a question. Let's assume that in some Muslim country
not necessarily Saudi Arabia there is a non-Muslim minority. After all, not all Muslim countries are entirely Muslim.
Egypt has a Coptic population, Syria hasâŠ
Let's assume a problem arises there. Would you agree to the U.S. or France inciting their citizens to go and wage Jihad in Egypt in order to support the Christians there?
This article starring:
AED AL QARNI
Learned Elders of Islam
Posted by: Sobiesky ||
03/30/2005 2:48:32 AM ||
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Let's kick his religion-blindered view up a level - to ideology, which is what Islam actually is.
So, there's this brutal barbaric female-castrating, head-chopping, militaristic totalitarian regime that's oppressing a minority who wish to be free. Would I agree to the US or France (sic) inciting citizens to go there and fight against the oppressor? No. Not individuals. I'd invite the whole goddamned Army, Navy, AF, and Marines to decapitate the bloody bugger.
#2
Let's kick his religion-blindered view up a level - to ideology, which is what Islam actually is.
.com, in a sense, if you read between lines he is saying it here: I believe the main, although not the only reason for the birth of terrorism, its effectiveness and intensity is a conceptual reason. and here: terrorism springs from... extensive political involvement.
He's a Soddy, if he said it out loud, he'd be stoned or a statistic of Soddy beheading executions. Notice that he points to the use of "but", as well: The words following the "but" are more numerous, more heated, and justify [terror] more than the preceding words.
A conference of academics and intellectuals, including a number of Nobel laureates, got under way Tuesday in the U.A.E. to discuss issues of environment, conflict, education, trade restrictions, innovation, cultural diversity, youth, and scientific research and development. The four day "Festival of Thinkers" organized by the Higher Colleges of Technology and held under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, brings together leading international intellectuals from a wide array of fields and sciences.
In his opening address, Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak al-Nahyan, the Emirates' education minister, warned against the recurring waves of anti-intellectualism and stressed that philosophers, humanists and scientists were all equally valuable to a society. "There is no craft, no trade, no profession that I know where the society will not benefit if the person who enters it is familiar with modern science, has a grasp of mathematical concepts, is trained in the arts and humanities, and has the ability to communicate his or her own ideas," he said. The conference, which will include panels, workshops, and discussion sessions, aims to foster creativity and overcome cultural obstacles. Tuesday's session "Future Opportunities" focused on sustainable development and water issues.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/30/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Agreed, lol! The Natter Committee will be very prominent. I note that Sheikh Yer Booty didn't mention something beyond "familiar" with the hard sciences and skipped governmental & social systems entirely... I wonder why...
I'll bet the invitees are the Tranzi Cat's Meow List...
The much-awaited expansion and reshuffle of the Shoura Council which is expected next week will witness the induction of 110 new members, press reports said yesterday quoting informed sources. Dr. Saleh Bin-Humaid will continue as the council's chairman but his deputy Bakri Shatta and Secretary-General Dr. Hamoud Al-Badr — both have completed three terms — will be replaced, the sources said. The reshuffle will also see more powers vested in the council, the sources told Okaz newspaper. These may include debating annual government budgets before their announcement, they said.
Two months ago, Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, announced plans to expand the Shoura including representatives from the Kingdom's various regions and tribes. The new council will have 150 members instead of the current 120. A ministerial committee, chaired by Prince Sultan, is charged with the task of selecting the members, Okaz said. As per Article 13 of the Shoura System, the council will be reshuffled two months before the expiry of its four-year term. Sixty current members could be replaced as they have already completed three terms. Seven members have left the council after their appointments as ministers and top government officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/30/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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A top Gulf charity official yesterday charged that Muslim charity organisations were being "crushed" by Western countries to "prevent" unity and solidarity among Muslim nations. Dr Ajeel Al Nashmi, head of the Kuwait-based International Commission of Zakat (Alms) Issues, said that Jews were behind the global campaign to connect Muslim charities with terrorism.
Aren't they behind everything?
The commission conducts research related to Zakat, and issues fatwas (edicts) also related to alms. "The efforts of charity groups have had a big role in helping poor communities all over the Muslim world. Therefore, they attracted the attention of our enemies who don't want Islam to spread and Muslim nations to unite," he said.
"Those poor folks need arms and ammunition, too, you know!"
Firepower to the people, habibi.
He was speaking at the opening session of the 14th Zakat Issue Forum, hosted this year by Bahrain. The forum is attended by senior officials representing government-sponsored charity funds from the six GCC states. Zakat is a certain fixed proportion of the wealth and all kinds of property on which a Muslim is liable to give alms yearly for the benefit of the poor in the community. Alms is one of the five-pillars of Islam. Al Nashmi, a Kuwaiti university professor, said Western powers "realised that Zakat was a key element in the rise of Islam and they don't like it". Therefore, these powers, particularly the Jews, "are trying their utmost to tighten the grip on all sources of Zakat and charity by claiming charity organisations are financing terrorism".
Posted by: Fred ||
03/30/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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"""""....Muslim charity organisations were being âcrushedâ by Western countries to âpreventâ unity and solidarity among Muslim nations....who donât want Islam to spread and Muslim nations to unite....""""
London, UK, March 29 — Hizb ut-Tahrir, the non-violent Islamic political party that is spearheading the global work for the return of the Islamic Khilafah [Caliphate], believes that the Kazakh government's banning of the party will not prevent the party from soon realising its goal.
Despite knowing full well that Hizb ut-Tahrir rejects violence, militancy or armed struggle as a method to re-establish the Islamic State, the Kazakh regime, following the example of other repressive regimes in Central Asia, has banned the party. In recent weeks and months, the Kazakh government has alleged that Hizb ut-Tahrir is linked to terrorism and has undertaken a brutal campaign of raids, arrests and intimidation in a vain attempt to thwart Hizb ut-Tahrir's continuing intellectual and political work in Kazakhstan.
"We challenge the Kazakh regime to confront us in an intellectual debate rather than hiding behind banning and censorship."
Notes to Editors: Hizb ut-Tahrir is an division of Wahabbi Inc independent Islamic political party. The party works throughout the Islamic world, including Kazakhstan, to establish by force resume the Islamic way of life down peoples throat by re-establishing the Islamic Khilafah [Caliphate]. The party adheres to Islamic law when it suits our purpose in all aspects of its work and considers violence or armed struggle against the regime, as a method to re-establish the Islamic State, to be forbidden by Islamic law, unless we don't get our way. In the Western world, the party seeks to explain the Islamic ideology to Muslims, to create a dialogue with Western fellow travelers thinkers and to present a false positive image of Islam to Western society.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/30/2005 12:47:57 PM ||
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I would think that a political party that openly advocated the overthrow of the government and the subordination of the nation to some Islamic Caliphate would be illegal damned near everywhere except the US. These folks should be thrown in jail for the rest of their natural lives, however short they may be.
Shortly before Kyrgyzstan's recent parliamentary elections, an opposition newspaper ran photographs of a palatial home under construction for the country's deeply unpopular president, Askar Akayev, helping set off widespread outrage and a popular revolt in this poor Central Asian country.
The newspaper was the recipient of United States government grants and was printed on an American government-financed printing press operated by Freedom House, an American organization that describes itself as "a clear voice for democracy and freedom around the world."
In addition to the United States, several European countries - Britain, the Netherlands and Norway among them - have helped underwrite programs to develop democracy and civil society in this country. The effort played a crucial role in preparing the ground for the popular uprising that swept opposition politicians to power.
"Of course, this infrastructure had an influence," said one European election observer. "People now believe they have rights, and they were not scared because the repressive capacity of the system was weak."
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kyrgyzstan quickly became an aid magnet with the highest per-capita foreign assistance level of any Central Asian nation. Among the hundreds of millions of dollars that arrived came a large slice focused on building up civil society and democratic institutions.
Most of that money came from the United States, which maintains the largest bilateral pro-democracy program in Kyrgyzstan because of the Freedom Support Act, passed by Congress in 1992 to help the former Soviet republics in their economic and democratic transitions. The money earmarked for democracy programs in Kyrgyzstan totaled about $12 million last year.
Hundreds of thousands more filter into pro-democracy programs in the country from other United States government-financed institutions like the National Endowment for Democracy. That does not include the money for the Freedom House printing press or Kyrgyz-language service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a pro-democracy broadcaster.
"It would have been absolutely impossible for this to have happened without that help," said Edil Baisolov, who leads a coalition of nongovernmental organizations, referring to the uprising last week. Mr. Baisolov's organization is financed by the United States government through the National Democratic Institute.
American money helps finance civil society centers around the country where activists and citizens can meet, receive training, read independent newspapers and even watch CNN or surf the Internet in some. The N.D.I. alone operates 20 centers that provide news summaries in Russian, Kyrgyz and Uzbek.
The United States sponsors the American University in Kyrgyzstan, whose stated mission is, in part, to promote the development of civil society, and pays for exchange programs that send students and non-governmental organization leaders to the United States. Kyrgyzstan's new prime minister, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, was one.
All of that money and manpower gave the coalescing Kyrgyz opposition financing and moral support in recent years, as well as the infrastructure that allowed it to communicate its ideas to the Kyrgyz people.
The growing civil society, meanwhile, began to have an awakening effect on the country's population just as Mr. Akayev and his family grew increasingly enamored of their power. "If none of this had been here, the family would have remained in power and people probably would have remained passive, as they have in other Central Asian countries," said Jeffrey Lilley, who runs the local office of the International Republican Institute, a United States-financed pro-democracy organization.
Alexander Kim, editor in chief of the opposition newspaper that printed the photos of the president's house, knows the problem well: in 1999, Mr. Akayev's son-in-law took control of Mr. Kim's first newspaper, which he and other employees had bought from the state during the privatizations earlier that decade.
He says the son-in-law used fraudulent means, but he was never able to prove it in court. So Mr. Kim went on to found another newspaper, which went through several incarnations as the government tried to prevent him from publishing. He has been helped by about $70,000 in American government grants, mostly to pay for newsprint.
The problem, though, was finding a press: they were all controlled by the government and refused to print newspapers from the opposition.
Then Mike Stone, Freedom House's representative in Kyrgyzstan, arrived.
"When Freedom House opened their printing press, it was the end of our problems," Mr. Kim said.
By January this year, Mr. Kim had begun national distribution of the newspaper, called MSN, for My Capital News. Opposition candidates in the parliamentary elections bought truckloads of the papers to distribute as campaign literature.
Those Kyrgyz who did not read Russian or have access to the newspaper listened to summaries of its articles on Kyrgyz-language Radio Azattyk, the local United States-government financed franchise of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Other independent media carried the opposition's debates. Talk shows, like "Our Times," produced in part with United States government grants, were broadcast over the country's few independent television stations, including Osh TV in the south, where the protests that led to Mr. Akayev's ouster began. Osh TV expanded its reach with equipment paid for by the State Department.
"The result is that the society became politicized, they were informed," Mr. Kim said. "The role of the NGO's and independent media were crucial factors in the revolution."
As corruption grew worse, the country's nongovernmental organizations began speaking out, and Mr. Akayev grew wary of the foreign pro-democracy assistance he had long allowed.
The published pictures of his house outraged him. Mr. Stone, who runs the printing press, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry and berated.
A week later, just before the press began printing a 200,000-copy special issue of MSN, the power at the press went out. Radio Liberty was also taken off the air, ostensibly because the government was putting its frequency up for auction.
Mr. Akayev began suggesting that the West was engaged in a conspiracy to destabilize the country. A crudely forged document, made to look like an internal report by the American ambassador, Stephen Young, began circulating among local news organizations. It cast American-financed pro-democracy activities as part of an American conspiracy. "Our primary goal," the document read, "is to increase pressure upon Akaev (sic) to make him resign ahead of schedule after the parliamentary elections."
But Mr. Akayev, who had begun his presidential career as an advocate of democracy, did not go further.
The American Embassy sent Freedom House two generators the day after the power went out, allowing the press to print nearly all of the 200,000 copies of MSN's special issue. The power was restored on March 8, and Mr. Kim's newspaper became one of the primary sources of information for the mobilizing opposition.
MSN informed people in the north of the unrest in the south. The newspaper also played a critical role in disseminating word of when and where protesters should gather.
"There was fertile soil here, and the Western community planted some seeds," said one Western official. "I'm hoping these events of the past week will be one of those moments when you see the fruits of your labors."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/30/2005 12:37:26 AM ||
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The NYT could try being a tad more like Freedom House, instead of Pravda cum Al Jizz (lol!), but that would get Arthur kicked off the Moonbat Cocktail Circuit 'A' list. Any guesses as to what the 'A' stands for?
#2
Ultimately, Akaev was a good guy. He refused to turn the guns on his fellow citizens. The problem I see with this is that a lot of leaders around the world are going to take one look at this and decide that since Uncle Sam is going to be fomenting sedition among their populations, it is better to cultivate good relations with Uncle Sam's enemies than with Uncle Sam.
Kyrgyzstan's ousted president, Askar Akayev, put out mixed messages on Tuesday about his willingness to resign, insisting first in a radio interview in Russia that he would not step down but later hinting that he might if given "adequate guarantees." "At this point I am the only popularly elected and legitimate president of the Kyrgyz Republic," Mr. Akayev said in an interview broadcast by Moscow Echo radio. He noted that his mandate would end on Oct. 30 this year. "At the moment, I can see no reasons, no grounds for submitting my resignation," he said.
Later, however, he suggested in an interview on one of Russia's state television networks, Channel One, that he might be prepared to step down. "Of course," he said, when asked if he would resign early before new elections were held, "if I am given adequate guarantees and it is in full accordance with the current legislation of Kyrgyzstan."
His defiance has created a constitutional crisis in his country, where opposition figures seized control of the government last week as he fled a wave of violent demonstrations. Since then, opposition politicians, led by Kurmanbek Bakiyev, have struggled to find a legal footing for what amounts to an accidental coup. Despite Mr. Akayev's assertions that the opposition organized the demonstrations last Thursday to oust him, Mr. Bakiyev and other protest leaders insist that they had only intended a peaceful protest to force him to resign. They seized power after protesters stormed the presidential compound and opposition leaders realized Mr. Akayev had run away.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/30/2005 12:35:28 AM ||
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The European Union said on Tuesday the overthrow of Kyrgyzstan's veteran President Askar Akayev was a victory for democracy. The EU had previously avoided supporting any side, urging calm, national dialogue and reconciliation, and relations between the 25-nation bloc and Russia have been tense over former Soviet republics that have become Western-leaning. "We are all happy to see the democratic developments taking place in (Kyrgyzstan)," Luxembourg's Deputy Foreign Minister Nicolas Schmit told the European parliament.
Luxembourg holds the bloc's presidency and Schmit was addressing the parliament in place of Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn with the authority of all 25 EU governments. "Now we have to help this country ... so that the democratic victory can be turned into a real consolidated victory in this country," said Schmit. Mass protests over alleged vote-rigging forced Akayev to flee impoverished Kyrgyzstan last week after 14 years in power. Akayev, now in Russia, has refused to resign and said on Tuesday he had to be involved in any political settlement in the Central Asian country. His refusal to disappear quietly from the scene could complicate efforts by opposition leaders who drove him from office to consolidate their position as Kyrgyzstan's legitimate new rulers.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/30/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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North Korea's reclusive leader Kim Jong-il could attend Russian World War II victory celebrations in May, raising the prospect of an unprecedented encounter with President Bush. The Russian news agency Interfax quoted Konstantin Pulikovsky, an aide to President Vladimir Putin, as saying Kim had been invited to the celebrations to mark 60 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany.
"It is possible to expect Kim Jong-il's arrival in Moscow for this event," said Pulikovsky, Putin's envoy in Russia's Far Eastern region.
Both Bush -- whose administration has called North Korea an "outpost of tyranny" -- and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun have said they will attend the Moscow ceremony on May 9. Apart from the possibility of Kim being on the same platform as Bush, the presence of Roh also suggests there could be an inter-Korean summit -- only the second in five years, with the last one in Pyongyang. The United States and North Korea, locked in a stand-off over Pyongyang's nuclear program, have no diplomatic ties. The state of relations now suggest any encounter between Bush and Kim, even if it took place, would be frosty at the least. The Kremlin declined to comment on the report.
Russia has good links with North Korea, a former Cold War ally, and the two leaders have visited each other's capital. Putin described Kim in 2000 as a man "it is possible to do business with." Pulikovsky said Kim's visit could come before celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of North Korean independence scheduled for Pyongyang in August. "We can assume that before his holiday the North Korean leader will consider it necessary to take part in the events in Moscow," he was quoted as saying.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/30/2005 9:32:18 AM ||
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Dream on. I don't think Kimmy the troll doll is so fond of his luxury train anymore, and he used to only travel by train.
Posted by: DO ||
03/30/2005 10:07 Comments ||
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#2
Hell have ol Kimmie down to Crawford for a serious BBQ and broadcast it back to NORK.
#4
If this happens, which I doubt, I hope the President gives the little wanker a good punch in the face for what he's done to the NorK people.
I'd pay big bucks to see that. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/30/2005 10:46 Comments ||
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#5
hope Kimmy takes the train
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/30/2005 10:50 Comments ||
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#6
Hell, he might! Bush has said some very personal and very nasty things about Kimmie. The topic is known to elevate his, um, blood pressure - and in combination with a high triglycerides count from all that BBQ, well, shit just sorta naturally happens, lol!
#7
Yes, Frank. THAT would be the Train to Hell for Kimmie. I doubt that he will go anywhere. He has to be watching his six 24/7 now, with Nork going to hell in a handbasket.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/30/2005 10:54 Comments ||
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#8
There are a couple of rail gage adjustments on the track from NK to Moscow. Unlikely that the Kimmie Express could go all the way.
Posted by: john ||
03/30/2005 14:57 Comments ||
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#9
I pay fairly serious money to watch a passenger car full of NORKS heading west of the TSR. Hell, sounds like a good short run reality series.
Iraq's most wanted man, the fugitive Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has been planning a chemical weapons attack in Europe, a German magazine said on Wednesday, citing intelligence sources. "We in Europe have been afraid that a big bang is coming sometime and that Zarqawi is planning it," an official at Germany's BND federal intelligence service told the April edition of the political monthly Cicero.
According to the magazine, the Jordanian extremist and his supporters, who are linked to the al-Qaeda network, have been trying to get hold of arms components in Russia's volatile north Caucasus region and in Georgia. Another BND source said that it was unclear whether Zarqawi's attempts had been successful. "We only know that he is working on it," the source said. Cicero said intelligence sources presume he has at least 150 supporters. Some of them are thought to have operated in the southern states of Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg and the capital Berlin where they have tried to set up terrorist cells for a "holy war", it said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/30/2005 9:29:28 AM ||
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"We in Europe have been afraid that a big bang is coming sometime and that Zarqawi is planning it,"
Why the past tense, Herr BND, you are still scared shitless that he'll pull it off.
With some luck, Merkins may off him for ya soon. That does not mean you're off the hook.
#3
"Some of them are thought to have operated in the southern states of Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg and the capital Berlin..." They can only do this if the police department issues them a "terrorism planning and operations" license. If they are unlicensed, then they will *really* get in trouble.
Best translation I can manage. Anybody else want to take a crack at the rest of it?
German special services have discovered the trail of the so-called "white martyrs" - Albanians, recruited by islamistami [Islamists?] for terrorist attacks in Israel, the USA and Europe, reports AYEN.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/30/2005 12:21:20 AM ||
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Posted by: Steve ||
03/30/2005 12:20 Comments ||
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Ran it through Babel Fish:
German special services left to the track of the so-called white martyrs - Albanians, recruited by islamistami for the accomplishment of acts of terror in Israel, THE USA and to Europe, reports AYEN. Into the composition of the group, headed by the mullah Of bugari, enters several ten Albanians, inhabitants of the kosovskogo region Of orakhovats. According to the data of special services, at present the imam Bugari heads one of the sarayevskikh mosques and openly calls to the destruction of Jews and Christians. The remaining members of group also be situated in Bosnia. Thus far, according to the data of secret service sources, the group passed instruction to the camps of islamistov on the afgano- Pakistani boundary. Then the members of group attempted to study the smuggling of narcotics, but imam ordered to hide and to await orders from Al-Qaeda. Western special services are possessed no data about the members of group. Since these are people of the Slav appearance, which were being never assigned to the penal responsibility, in the data bases there is their neither it is fingerprint nor data of anthropometry. For a while back through the Interpol into Bosnia was transmitted demand with the request send information about the Albanians. , however, it did not follow answer.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/30/2005 13:26 Comments ||
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Into the composition of the group, headed by the mullah Of bugari, enters several ten Albanians, inhabitants of the kosovskogo region Of orakhovats.
From the "Who in the Balkans.." story: Yet, the Islamic extremism and open attacks on the US that is spreading among the Balkan Muslims is preached by an Imam, who is not a native of Novi Pazar, nor of Sarajevo, but is an ethnic Albanian from village of Orahovac in Kosovo. This Imam, Suleyman Bugari, is a hodja of the White mosque in Vratnik, known as the most Muslim part of Sarajevo.
Sounds like a match to me. Some of the spelling is off, but that's most likely translation error.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/30/2005 13:41 Comments ||
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RICHMOND, Va., March 30 (UPI) -- Virginia Gov. Mark Warner has signed a bill denying adult illegal immigrants in the state access to health care and welfare benefits. Warner signed the measure Tuesday despite a previous stance against the General Assembly's focus on illegal immigrants but the legislature passed the measure by a veto-proof margin, the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch reported.
The bill, which goes into effect Jan. 1, does not bar illegal aliens from emergency treatments and aid. It also does not affect people under the age of 19. State and local officials will need to verify the immigration status of people seeking public benefits. There are an estimated 200,000 illegal immigrants in Virginia.
Cries of opression in 5..4..3..
Posted by: Steve ||
03/30/2005 2:00:45 PM ||
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Excellent first step. Wish Gov. Schwarzenegger could get something like this passed in CA. Unfortunately, I expect the law to be thrown out by a Federal court before it can be put into effect.
#2
Yeah, Warner - a Democrat - signed it only because he knew the Legislature has the votes to override a veto, and will use them in the veto session at the end April. He sure as hell didn't sign it because he agreed with it.
He vetoed the off-shore gas drilling bill - I'm betting he thinks there aren't enough votes to override it, and he may be right. I do know that the usual suspects (Sierra Club, etc.) have been paying for radio commercials against the bill, implying that if there were drilling the beaches would all be ruined. That alone would make me vote for the bill.
By the way, it wasn't a "go-drill-now" bill. It only directed "the Virginia Liaison Office to work with members of the State Congressional Delegation and executive agencies to develop and enact legislation or executive action that would provide an exemption to the existing moratorium on off-shore natural gas exploratory activity."
Yeah, that's going to ruin the beaches tomorrow. Enviro-jackasses.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/30/2005 14:34 Comments ||
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#3
RWV - Maybe not. Virginia falls under the Fourth Circuit, not the Ninth Circus Circuit.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/30/2005 14:35 Comments ||
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#4
Misleading headline. The bill is against ILLEGAL ALIENS - not legal aliens. This is another attempt to cast this as a measure aginst all aliens - both legal and illegal.
Also notice the copious attempts to lend legitimacy to the illegal aliens by calling them illegal 'immigrants' - they have not been granted immigration status. I am suprised they were not called 'undocumented workers'....
#7
Correction to #2 (not that anybody cares): The Virginia Legislature's veto session is next week - the first part of April.
(I knew it was in April sometime; this year was Short Session, so it's earlier.)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/30/2005 17:29 Comments ||
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#8
CF, I guess it's no longer PC to call them "undocumented workers". You might hurt their feelings.
It's not like most legal immigrants qualify for benefits anyway. If my hubby tried to get them I would have to reimburse the government for the costs, and will have to do that as his sponsor for about, oh, 10 years.
#9
I hope their liberals are not like our liberals and drag the State to court and DEMAND services for Illegal Aliens Undocumented Workers. I know the courts there are more liberal that than the ones in California, and thats saying something.
#10
Desert Blondie - I am in the same situation with my wife (not that I am complaining!).
Thats why I get so uptight with these assholes grouping the illegal aliens - who are here illegally (as in violation of federal law) with legal immigrants who worked their asses off earn their immigration status.
With the background checks, document checks, interview, medical exam, and just plain ole waiting my wife earned her immigration status -- and she used a K-1 (fiancee) visa which is the fastest method around. Those who waited literally years for their 'turn' also earned their immigration status.
To group them in with illegal aliens who disobey our nations laws with their mere presence is bullshit in my book. they did not earn their alledged 'immigration' status - it is a stolen honor.
I do not have six arms, you are confusing me with a Zeta Reticulan, who is also the color you call violet, I am from a planet in the system Epsilon Eridani!
A couple of hours up the road from where some September 11 hijackers learned to fly, the new head of Aryan Nation is praising them -- and trying to create an unholy alliance between his white supremacist group and al Qaeda. "You say they're terrorists, I say they're freedom fighters. And I want to instill the same jihadic feeling in our peoples' heart, in the Aryan race, that they have for their father, who they call Allah."
Kreis wants to make common cause with al Qaeda because, he says, they share the same enemies: Jews and the American government. The terms they use may be different: White supremacists call them ZOG, the Zionist Occupation Government, while al Qaeda calls them the Jews and Crusaders. But the hatred is the same. And Kreis wants to exploit that.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/30/2005 12:08:47 AM ||
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Well, allying themselves with AlQ would be the quickest way for them to get the crap stomped out of them. Go for it, Kreis!
#2
And thus the progressive socialists of International ANSWER and Daily Kos find themselves aligned with the white supremacists they profess to oppose. All the world's moonbattery coalescing into one gigantic target of opportunity if you have a JDAM you can spare blob of idiocy.
Posted by: Mike ||
03/30/2005 8:13 Comments ||
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#3
ROFL - love the pic! The guy on the left inspires confidence;)
#7
Mike: And thus the progressive socialists of International ANSWER and Daily Kos find themselves aligned with the white supremacists they profess to oppose. All the world's moonbattery coalescing into one gigantic blob of idiocy.
Actually, ANSWER and Kos are white supremacists. They believe that all Uncle Sam has to do is flick his thumb, and the black, brown and yellow leaders of the countries that cooperate with the US will fall into line.
The reality, of course, is that we cooperate with most of these "allies" on trade and security, and nothing else. With or without us, they'll survive somehow. If losers like Mao Zedong, Kim Il-Sung and Hafez Assad can survive without Uncle Sam, the (usually) better-run countries that are our allies (again, only for trade and security) can certainly survive without us.
#13
"Thatâs old-school racism, white supremacy, this is something new," he said. "We have to be realists and realize what didnât work [previously] isnât going to work in the future."
I have no idea what to make of this guy. It's like listening to bizarro Kos.
Every hour and half-hour August Kriess comes out of his hut mounted on the wall, and makes a statement. Twice daily, at Noon and Midnight, he makes a particularly long pronouncement...
A former public school official in Washington has been arrested, accused of being a follower of radical Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman and charged with terrorism-related offenses.
Kifah Jayyousi was arrested Sunday in Detroit after arriving on an international flight, authorities said. He had left the United States in 2003 to live in Egypt, they said. A federal complaint, unsealed Monday in Miami, charges Jayyousi with providing material support to terrorist groups and conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim or injure people or damage property in a foreign country.
The complaint says Jayyousi is a disciple of Abdel-Rahman who promoted Islamic holy war and raised money for "violent jihad" in Bosnia and Chechnya beginning in 1994. It says that he updated "the sheik with jihad news" from 1994 to 1995 while the blind Abdel-Rahman was imprisoned for attempting to blow up several landmarks in New York City. The calls were intercepted by wiretaps.
Abdel-Rahman was convicted in 1995 of plotting to blow up the World Trade Center among other sites and assassinate Egypt's president, and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Jayyousi has lived in San Diego, Los Angeles, Detroit and Baltimore, according to authorities.
The complaint also alleges that Jayyousi and another man were "close associate[s]" of Adham Hassoun of Florida, who has been tied to alleged al-Qaida plotter Jose Padilla. Hassoun, who has been jailed in Florida since his arrest two years ago, was allegedly part of an international network of violent Islamic extremists who recruited terrorists, including Padilla, and financially supported radical Islamic movements through murder and kidnappings abroad, including in Bosnia, Chechnya and Somalia. The complaint says Jayyousi sent at least two people overseas in support of violent jihad.
Jayyousi was the chief facilities officer for schools in Washington, D.C., from the late '90s until at least 2001. Earlier this year, a veteran civil rights lawyer was convicted of smuggling messages of violence from the jailed Abdel-Rahman to his terrorist disciples. Lynne Stewart, 65, a firebrand, left-wing activist, has vowed to appeal her Feb. 10 conviction on counts of conspiracy, providing material support to terrorists, defrauding the government and making false statements.
This article starring:
ADHAM HASUN
al-Qaeda
JOSE PADILLA
al-Qaeda
KIFAH JAIYUSI
al-Qaeda
LYNNE STEWART
al-Qaeda
SHEIK OMAR ABDEL RAHMAN
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/30/2005 12:24:03 AM ||
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There certainly is a lot of money floating around in jihadiland. These cretins can afford to come and go, live anywhere they please, etc. There must be something substantive and effective we can do about that...
As for Lynne Stewart being a "firebrand", piss off MSNBC, lol! Gov Ahhnold is a firebrand. Zell Miller is a firebrand. Stewart's just a jihadi-loving scumbag.
NEW YORK (AP) - The Swiss company at the heart of a new report on the oil-for-food scandal repeatedly lied about its links to Secretary-General Kofi Annan's son, one investigator said, going much further in his criticism than the document itself. The investigator, Mark Pieth, also rejected Annan's declaration that the report, released Tuesday, exonerated him on the matter of Cotecna Inspections S.A. winning a $10 million-a-year U.N. contract while he was secretary-general and while it employed his son Kojo. ``We did not exonerate Kofi Annan", Pieth told The Associated Press. ``We should not brush this off. A certain mea culpa would have been appropriate."
The report was the second to be released by the U.N.-appointed committee led by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. It coincides with allegations of sex abuse by U.N. peacekeepers and of sexual harassment and mismanagement by senior U.N. staff. It comes a week after Annan called for the biggest overhaul of the United Nations in its 60-year history. Volcker said at a news conference he hoped the findings, and a final report in midsummer, will help bring about ``a reformed U.N., a U.N. capable of commanding and maintaining the support of its member states and the public at large."
A key conclusion was that Kofi Annan never interfered in the awarding of the contract to the Swiss company but should have better investigated possible conflicts of interest after a British newspaper, The Sunday Telegraph, reported the link between Kojo Annan and Cotecna in January 1999. Annan's advisers had told him after a cursory one-day audit in 1999 found no conflict and that no further probe was necessary. Cotecna's contract was subsequently renewed repeatedly.
In uncharacteristically strong language, Annan replied ``Hell, no!" when asked if he planned to step down, and noted the report's findings that he committed no personal wrongdoing. ``After so many distressing and untrue allegations have been made against me, this exoneration by the independent inquiry obviously comes as a great relief", he said. But the report clearly faulted the secretary-general's management of the world body and his oversight of the scandal-ridden oil-for-food program in Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
The report's harshest criticism, however, was reserved for Cotecna, which won a U.N. contract in 1998 to certify goods imported to Iraq under the program, and Kojo Annan. The report accused them of trying to conceal their relationship after the firm was awarded the contract. snip
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/30/2005 8:41:23 AM ||
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``After so many distressing and untrue allegations have been made against me, this exoneration by the independent inquiry obviously comes as a great relief"
WHEN three armour-piercing bullets struck communications equipment on the roof of the United Nations headquarters in Kosovo's regional capital earlier this month, staff there took it as a warning. Once seen as the province's saviour from the hated regime of ex-president Slobodan Milosevic's Serbs, the UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) - which since 1999 has been the area's de facto government - seems to have lost the public's goodwill.
"Has anyone here seen the public's goodwill lately? It seems to have gone missing while we were having lunch in Geneva and then tea in Lausanne."
In a recent poll carried out by the UN Development Programme, 75 per cent of Kosovars said they are dissatisfied with the UN mission. Only days before the attack on the UN HQ, Ramush Haradinaj, Kosovo's popular prime minister, resigned and surrendered to the war crimes tribunal in the Hague. Aside from a failed bomb attack on president Ibrahim Rugova's motorcade, an expected violent backlash did not materialise. But western staff and military officials in Kosovo and Europe warn that the security situation could "significantly deteriorate" between now and mid-summer, as frustration with the UN seethes just below the surface. Colonel Yves Kermorvant, a spokesman for K-FOR, the 19,000-strong NATO peacekeeping force in the province, assured journalists last week that "the security situation in Kosovo is excellent".
"as long as we keep the gates locked up nice and tight at the compound."
Soren Jessen-Petersen, effectively the UN's pro-consul in Kosovo, was less optimistic. "A series of security incidents highlight the essential volatility of the situation in Kosovo, and the readiness to resort to violence by those still bent on blocking progress," the Dane said. "Such lawlessness could still, in certain circumstances, communicate itself to broader sections of the public."
Very diplomatic reference to the RoP. Or the head cheezes of UNMIK. You could maybe flip a coin.
International officials in the former Yugoslav province say discussions have been held between the UN HQ in New York and the mission in Pristina about the feasibility of re-locating UNMIK's headquarters to outside the capital, where it will be easier to evacuate if the security situation breaks down.
Q: Is Cyprus sufficiently close to Pristina?
A: Yes, if you have a really good pair of binoculars.
After the bombing of the UN HQ in Baghdad in 2003, security officials in New York are taking no chances. But senior UNMIK officials say that this would give the worst possible message to Kosovo's population at a time when crucial progress is being made towards possible talks on the province's future independence.
A cross-section of mostly employed, educated and politically moderate Kosovo Albanians questioned over the last ten days explained why the UN mission in Kosovo is so unpopular. The personal popularity of Mr Jessen-Petersen is on the up because he is seen as straight-talking and is pushing forward the agenda on the province's independence. But the mission itself is seen as untrustworthy, aloof, corrupt, subject to a separate set of laws from Kosovars, and responsible for the political limbo in which Kosovo has remained since 1999. UN security council resolution 1244, which has mandated the UN and NATO's presence in and administration of Kosovo from June 1999 onwards, specifies that the former Yugoslav province will remain part of Serbia and Montenegro until its final status is agreed. The lack of political resolution has meant that the main, and justified bugbear of Kosovars is the parlous state of the economy, which means few jobs, low international investment, high crime, and unemployment running at between 30 per cent and 55 per cent. Suspicious of state apparatuses, Albanians see most international and local institutions as corrupt, regardless of evidence.
Or perhaps they believe what their eyes tell them, rather than the fatuous slogans of empty suits.
But in the western Balkans, where perception is king, each incident can be blown out of all proportion by suspicious and violence-prone extremists of any ethnicity.
Posted by: seafarious ||
03/30/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Look on the bright side guys, Rwanda is the standard for UN administrations.
Investigators probing the UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq have said that there is insufficient evidence to show Secretary-General Kofi Annan knew of a contract bid by his son's employer. However, the interim report released on Tuesday criticised the UN chief for not determining the exact nature of his son's relationship with a Swiss firm involved in the multi-billion dollar programme. The report also accused the company, Cotecna Inspection SA, and Annan's son, Kojo, of trying to conceal their relationship after the contract was awarded.
The conclusion from the report was not the clear vindication that the secretary-general had wanted, though the investigation led by former US Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker did not accuse the world-body chief of corruption or any other wrongdoing. The report concluded that "there is no evidence" that the selection of Cotecna for an inspection contract under the oil-for-food program "was subject to any affirmative or improper influence of the secretary-general in the bidding or selection process". Annan reacted to the finding, saying he would not resign as head of the UN and indicated he would continue to work to push through his ambitious reform plan.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/30/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Kofi: He didn't write a "Koji, Great Scam, son! Have one of the go-betweens buy me an island in the Canaries with my share of the loot. Make sure it's big enough to hold my ego." memo, so there's no clear proof.
Cotecna: They didn't write a "Cool! Wotta contract, Koji baby! W00t! We're Fucking the UN! Your cut's been deposited, per your instructions." memo, so there's no clear proof.
#2
However, the interim report released on Tuesday criticised the UN chief for not determining the exact nature of his son's relationship with a Swiss firm involved in the multi-billion dollar programme.
Asked if he was planning to step down, Annan replied with a rare use of profanity, saying "Hell, no" and noting the report's findings that he committed no wrongdoing.
The Swiss company at the heart of a new report on the oil-for-food scandal repeatedly lied about its links to Secretary-General Kofi Annan's son, one investigator said, going much further in his criticism than the document itself.
The investigator, Mark Pieth, also rejected Annan's declaration that the report, released Tuesday, exonerated him on the matter of Cotecna Inspections S.A. winning a $10 million-a-year U.N. contract while he was secretary-general and while it employed his son Kojo.
"We did not exonerate Kofi Annan," Pieth told The Associated Press. "We should not brush this off. A certain mea culpa would have been appropriate."
As of now no UN employee has truly cooperated with the investigation. One reason for this is that they don't fear prosecution. However, its not out of the question that somewhere in the UN there is an honest employee who has seen the wrongdoing and will come forward.
#7
"see? I told you he was clean as the driven snow"
Spike Mylwester
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/30/2005 9:39 Comments ||
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This story kind of reminds me of a Oakland City Mom who had no idea her son was involved in drugs and gangs. The son (who had no job) dressed nice (in gang colors), drove a nice car, and always had money (cash) for Mom. Kofi must have been too busy passing resolutions condemning Israel, appointing Cuba to the Human Rights Commission, and taking credit for other work with respect to Tsunami relief efforts. I can see why he would have no time to delve into who might be employing his non-skilled, un-educated oldest son. I am sure the last time he checked Kojo was doing a bang up job as the grill guy at Burger King and itâs only natural that a big company like Cotecna would scoop up a hot prospect like that for an executive position.
#9
"'there is no evidence' that the selection of Cotecna ...'was subject to any affirmative or improper influence of the secretary-general in the bidding or selection process'."
You mean, other than the fact that Kofi's son worked for Cotecna? "Hmmm, lemme see. We got two companies here. One employs my boss' son, and the other one doesn't. Which one should I pick?"
Posted by: Matt ||
03/30/2005 11:19 Comments ||
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#10
This latest septic tankload underscores the problems that are inherent in the nature of the UN as an organization. Cultural norms regarding graft, corruption, incompetence etc. vary quite a bit. When a person whose culture condones a consistent level of corruption with a nod and a wink gets into a position of power that entails spending other people's money this sort of crap is very predictable. Add in the fact that the organization that gives the power won't effetively police and punish such conduct, and it becomes a near certainty. Will it stop? "Hell NO!"
An investigation conducted by the Indonesian police working along with the Philippines security forces revealed that Rohmat, an Indonesian citizen nabbed in the Philippines last week on terror charges, was not involved in any terror activities in Indonesia.
Spokesman at the National Police Sr. Comr. Zainuri Lubis told reporters on Tuesday that Rohmat was a member of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), a regional terror group linked to Al-Qaeda, and he has been accused of playing a key role in three bombing incidents in the Philippines, but there was no relation between him and the various terror attacks here.
"He was involved in the Feb. 14 bombings in Davao, General Santos and Makati city in the Philippines," Zainuri asserted.
A total of 13 people were killed and approximately 150 were wounded in the bomb attacks, which were done in conjunction with members of Abu Sayyaf, a Filipino separatist/Islamic group linked to Al-Qaeda and JI.
Previously, authorities in the Philippines said that Rohmat, alias "Zaki" or "Hamdan", was a bomb expert who trained local rebels for deadly attacks in Manila.
Rohmat has also been identified as the "the JI liaison officer" to Abu Sayyaf. He was arrested on March 16 at an army checkpoint in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town on the southern island of Mindanao, according to the Philippines military.
Zainuri added that Rohmat was the "brightest student" among the 2002 group of trainees at the Hudaibiyah terror training camp in the Philippines. Two other Indonesians, Siswanto and Yusuf, who were arrested in June 2003 for possession of bombs and later sentenced to 10 years in prison in the neighboring country, trained at the camp during the same period as Rohmat.
After having been captured by the military, Rohmat warned the Indonesian government that there were 23 "graduates" of the Hubaidiyah camp penetrating Indonesia to plan more bombing attacks here.
Zainuri said that the police, working together with Interpol and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, were still hoping to find those 23 people here.
"We have the names of the 23 people but we doubt those are their real names. So far we haven't found any of them," Zainuri stated.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/30/2005 12:11:07 AM ||
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A security adviser to Iran's supreme leader said on Monday he had won the backing of hardline parties for his presidential election bid, the official IRNA news agency reported.
The hardline support for Ali Larijani, who has spoken out against Tehran's efforts to defuse international concern about its nuclear programme through diplomacy, automatically makes him a leading contender for the June 17 vote.
Moderate conservative Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has also hinted he may make a comeback bid for the job he held from 1989 to 1997. Incumbent Mohammad Khatami, a pro-reform cleric, is ineligible to stand for a third consecutive term.
"The Fundamentalists' Coordination Council, in its latest decision, has chosen me as their main candidate in the next presidential elections," Larijani told IRNA.
The Council, a collection of more than a dozen conservative parties, had agonised for weeks over the selection of a consensus candidate.
Former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, former Revolutionary Guards Chief Mohsen Rezai, hardline parliamentarian Ahmad Tavakoli and Tehran Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were also considered for the conservative ticket.
Most of them have said they would stand as independents if they did not receive the Council's backing.
Larijani, 50, stepped down as head of Iran's state broadcasting monopoly IRIB last year. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei immediately appointed him as one of his representatives on Iran's top security decision-making body, the Supreme National Security Council.
In November he likened Tehran's decision to freeze sensitive nuclear work while it tried to reach a negotiated settlement with the European Union to "trading a pearl for a candy bar".
Public interest in the elections is so far muted with many disillusioned with politics after eight years of Khatami's limited success in pushing through reforms in the face of hardline opposition.
A low turnout is expected to favour conservative candidates whose supporters are more likely to vote, political analysts say.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/30/2005 12:02:37 AM ||
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Since the position is utterly ceremonial - or at least it has been with Khatami, this seems of little import. If Larijani will now be another voice joining Iran's Foreign Policy Ball of Confusion, well, same thing. The President, the Legislature, both are poofta ponce plushy puppets. Pfeh.
A State Department reception granted to a small U.S.-based Syrian opposition group last week has divided Syrian dissidents, with some expressing concern that Washington is lining up their country as the next candidate for regime change. The Reform Party of Syria (RPS) put out a statement in Beirut hailing its meeting Thursday with deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs Elizabeth Cheney which it said had "had a galvanizing effect on the Syrian community as a whole."
"They realized the call for democracy in Syria is a matter being taken seriously at the highest levels of the Bush administration," said the statement. But the group's readiness to identify so openly with a U.S. administration which enforces unilateral sanctions against Syria was a step too far for several Damascus-based dissidents. The National Democratic Rally, an alliance of five banned opposition groups, said it opposed anyone "asking foreign parties to overthrow the regime."
"We're campaigning against a totalitarian system and for democratic change," its leader Hassan Abdel-Azim said. "But at the same time we reject any aggression or occupation of our country," he said in allusion to the U.S.-led invasion of neighboring Iraq in 2003. "Change is the responsibility of the national democratic opposition" he added. Abdel Azim, leader of the Democratic Arab Socialist Union, a dissident group, criticized "certain people inside the regime" for resisting democratic reforms and so encouraging opponents like the RPS leader to "seek foreign support." Leading human rights lawyer Anwar Bunni said he had no objection to the Washington meeting. "I'm in favor of any effort to halt human rights violations," he said. But pro-reform writer Michel Kilo expressed strong opposition. "We're struggling for democracy in Syria to make our country stronger in the face of the U.S. threat, not so that it is torn apart by the Americans."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/30/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Despite the recent bombs and fears of a security vacuum following a Syrian pullout, most Lebanese leaders have ruled out the possibility of a civil war.
"Nope. Nope. Ain't gonna happen. Nope."
Talk of foreign military interference, however, continues to surface, both openly and covertly.
You mean, like the Syrians coming back?
Some observers argue that a security vacuum would necessitate a foreign intervention. However, local political groups are divided on this issue with some approving or even demanding it and others opposing it very strongly. The practical consequences of enforcing an international intervention could generate violence and stir armed conflicts, though not necessarily between the Lebanese factions. Tony Nasrallah, of the Free Patriotic Movement, told The Daily Star in an earlier interview: "We do not reject a multinational force under the auspices of the United Nations to keep law and order in the case of a deterioration of security." Nasrallah added: "To those who seem to care for independence, we say the UNIFIL forces deployed in South Lebanon do not violate Lebanon's sovereignty."
However, the parties opposed to foreign intervention say that the security vacuum feared in this perspective concerns keeping internal security, a case different from protecting the country's borders. Hizbullah's leader in the South, Sheikh Nabil Qaouk, said in a unity meeting of 40 Muslim and Christian clerics in Tyre Tuesday that "Lebanon refuses to become a U.S. military base and will never be a dagger in Syria's side." He added: "The U.S. is aggravating tensions and divisions between the various Lebanese communities to settle old scores with Lebanon and its people. The Americans want to disarm Hizbullah to compensate Israel for its defeat in the South."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/30/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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A key ally of Lebanon's resistance has called upon Hezbollah to lay down its weapons, warning the country may be plunged into a new civil war. The controversial issue of Hezbollah arms, however, is "an internal matter" that should be settled through dialogue between the Lebanese themselves, insisted Khalid Hadadeh, General Secretary of the Lebanese Communist Party (LCP). "But I think it is time for the party to lay down its arms and become an exclusively political party," he told Gulf News in an interview in Bahrain on Saturday.
He is visiting the kingdom to take part in the 50th anniversary celebrations of Bahrain's Liberation Front, a former Communist underground party. "Hezbollah should not be afraid of disarming. It is a strong national party which enjoys mass popular support in some of the most populated parts of Lebanon. It is not an isolated group. In the meantime, the majority of the people refuse any external pressure to disarm Hezbollah or any attempt to brand it as a terrorist group as is the case with Al Qaida," said Hadadeh, a Sunni mathematics professor who enjoys a close relationship with Hezbollah.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/30/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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While I am as anticommunist as they come, I find Arab communists at least recently are at the sensible end of the Arab political spectrum.
#2
Phil, commies have their own form of taqiyya and kidman. But since their religion is more secular, they sport a degree of rationality... at least until they get to exercise power... then all bets are off.
#8
JFM, Sea cruise, darn! How that 'd' got in there?
I've no idea, but there was this article in JPost about Kidman that I did read just prior my posting.
#11
the iraqi commies are really more like euro post commies - Saddam has given them enought taste of totalitarianism to cool their ardor for it. Not sure (in fact quite doubtful) that any other CP in the region has come that far. As for Lebanese CP their motivation is pretty obvious - if THEY cant have guns, why should Hezbollah get them? Note as well, that if CP's appeal is at all similar to Iraqi CP its to poor Shiites - thus Hezbollah is their direct competitor, and theyd like to see it weakened.
#12
Hizb Allah claims it will not disarm because of the need to liberate the Shaaba Farms, which is on the southeast side of Lebanon (actually its part of Syria that is occupied by Israel).
This is a pretty weak reed to justify the fact that the Hizb goons are carrying arms around in Beirut.
I'm waiting for the day when the opposition says to Hizb -- "OK, you can carry guns around within 10 miles of Shaaba Farms but not elsewhere".
The three explosions that have devastated the country during the past 10 days in different Lebanese areas and which carry the same political and sectarian aspects have represented significant political messages. The explosions have been implemented at night and were aimed at hitting the economy more than causing human fatalities, which would mean that they were plotted with great accuracy. Their significance constituted a relatively appeasing factor for the people, who are not yet afraid of sending their children to school. However, anxiety has increased after the latest explosion in Sad al-Boushrieh which hit at around 9 p.m. and raised concern among the Lebanese, who started to fear that the perpetrators would set up explosions during the day in order to cause human deaths.
The first explosion that occurred on March 18 in New Jdeideh preceded the arrival of U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Satterfield to Beirut. U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman, who was supposed to leave for Washington for personal reasons on the night of the explosion, was obliged to reschedule his flight and left the country a few hours before the arrival of Satterfield. Satterfield's three-week stay at the U.S. Embassy without taking the Lebanese authorities' permission was considered a direct and personal challenge to the Lebanese officials and particularly to President Emile Lahoud and a blatant interference in the country's domestic affairs.
The explosions were also seen by many people as a message to Satterfield and a rejection to the U.S. tutelage that would prompt the Lebanese opposition's situation to backfire. Moreover, the statements of Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir following his meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush and several American officials have raised more anger and could be considered as a reason behind the explosions.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
03/30/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Hamas continues to arm itself and strengthen its forces in Gaza during the calm: In the last few days, 600 rifles and many ammunition clips have been smuggled into Gaza from Egypt. Hamas has also been equipping itself with anti-aircraft missiles and has been boosting its long-term development of Kassam rockets.
Israel is blaming the Palestinian Authority for not keeping its promise to stop terror, specifically stating that the security forces are not doing enough to stop suspects and that members of Gaza army intelligence are actually aiding suspects in their flight. In about two weeks, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will meet with President George Bush to brief him on the worrisome situation and request that he not move the roadmap forward as long as PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas continues to allow the growth of terror organizations.
#1
These arms will be used for unifying the pali people. Gaza gotta have equal voice in their collective insanity and guns are the key to good government for all the pali people, west bank, gaza irak whathave you.
Severely edited for brevity. Go to link for full story.
I was behind the 240, and he [Thomas] was behind the .50 cal. Both of us were secretly wishing for a reason to make these guns talk. The guns sat lifeless, inanimate tools of death, begging to be brought to life. Do I really want someone to ride by and shoot at us? In the back of my mind I was grateful not to have bullets whizzing past my head. I know what that's like, and as soon as you're in that situation, you begin to imagine a million other places you would rather be. I was beginning to think that a firefight would be a welcome intrusion into my otherwise peaceful, boring day.
I must have been busy with these thoughts because seemingly out of nowhere, like angels sent from heaven, two young boys appeared at the gates, beckoning us with their voices. Where the hell had they come from? Thomas looked up and wondered the same thing. What did they want? One of them waived a piece of paper in his hand as if he was a messenger, anxious to deliver his message. "I'll go see what they want," Thomas said. "Hopefully they won't blow me up." As I held up my hand to signal for them to wait there, I realized that his comment didn't hold the sarcasm that it might have a couple of weeks ago before a boy their age blew himself up outside our FOB, killing four Iraqi soldiers in the process.
Posted by: Dar ||
03/30/2005 1:14:14 PM ||
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March 30, 2005: The U.S. Navy believes it has developed new tactics, and technologies, that can defeat the quiet, and deadly, diesel-electric submarines it may have to fight off the coasts of hostile nations. China, North Korea and Iran are three nations that have such subs, and have made threatening noises towards the U.S. Navy. The new approach uses air dropped sensors, equipped with computers and radio communications, to make a combat zone less suitable for diesel-electric subs to hide in. These boats, while quiet, do make some noise. The new sensors, similar to the familiar sonobuoys, would silently collect information, do a lot of the processing (to separate the passing whales from passing subs), and then quickly (and in a hard-to-detect fashion) transmit the information to American ships and aircraft. Details of the new sensors are, naturally, secret, and will remain that way for as long as possible. The more information potential enemies have on the new sensors, the more likely they can find ways to make the sensors less effective, or not effective at all.
The new sensors will be tested against diesel-electric subs belonging to allies. The Australians have been very active in these exercises, and an even more advanced Swedish sub, with an AIP (Air Independent Propulsion), has been leased, along with its crew, for training exercises. China, North Korea and Iran have, for the most part, older and noisier diesel-electric subs. But even these boats are quieter than most nuclear subs (which have to run pumps at all times to circulate cooler water around the hot nuclear reactors).
We may never know for sure how well this new approach will work, just as we never got to find out how the Cold War era tactics for fighting Russian nuclear, and diesel-electric subs, would have worked. But there were plenty of situations where American subs, and ships and aircraft got to actually stalk Russian subs, doing everything they would do in wartime, except for launching weapons against the Russian boats. Those exercises won't be repeated as often, if at all, with the new tactics. You don't want to drop those new sensors somewhere where you can't get them back. Then again, who knows.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/30/2005 9:21:01 AM ||
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Sounds like somebody invented an instant (just add water) air-dropable SOSUS line.
March 30, 2005: The UN Security Council has finally voted on the Sudan peacekeeping troops to help enforce the south Sudan peace agreement. On March 24 the Security Council authorized the 10,000 military peacekeepers, which were recommended in February. There will also be a civilian police contingent (of up to 715 policemen). The peacekeeping operation will be called The UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS).
A UN spokesman said in February that it is conceivable that the south Sudan peacekeeping force could "assist" African Union peacekeepers in Darfur. A UN statement dated March 24 went further than that by saying the new force might "reinforce" the Darfur effort, UNMIS' first mission is to monitor and verify the southern ceasefire agreement. It will also help demobilize "ex-combatants" (presumably SPLA guerrillas). How long will it take to put the 10,000 troops in the field? The UN said "several months." That's fair-- if several means six or more. The UN report acknowledged logistical difficulties. However, the logistics net in south Sudan can supply the 10,000 troop contingent-- there are roads and airfields that can be improved. Darfur is another matter. There is still no firm word on who will send the troops, though Japan is considering sending several thousand peacekeepers. Meanwhile, the US reported on March 23 that an American foreign aid officer was wounded in Darfur when the convoy she was in was fired upon. The aid worker has been sent to Kenya for medical treatment.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/30/2005 8:53:46 AM ||
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Looks like the UN Nookie-for-Food program (UNNFF) is opening up another branch office.
India is keeping a close watch on a dramatic spurt in violence in Pakistan's largest province of Balochistan, an area of strategic importance to Islamabad as well as Taliban remnants still active in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Policy makers and Pakistan watchers say while it may be an exaggeration to compare the insurgent activity in Balochistan with the events that led to East Pakistan's secession in 1970-71, the situation is serious and could trigger more turbulence in a region where the proposed Iran-India gas pipeline is to be located.
"While Pakistan has more than enough capability to deal with the problem in Balochistan militarily, the situation could certainly threaten the stability of the country, if not unity," G. Parthasarathy, a former envoy to Pakistan, told IANS.
"As far as India is concerned, the violence in Balochistan has serious implications for the proposed gas pipeline as it has to pass a couple of hundred kilometres through Balochistan. If they (Pakistan) cannot protect their own gas fields, how are they going to guarantee the security of the pipeline?"
With insurgent groups routinely carrying out attacks on gas and other state-run installations and Islamabad threatening a vicious crackdown (which some believe is already under way), allegations of a "foreign hand" are already being aired.
For once India, Pakistan's favourite whipping boy, is not the chief suspect. The needle of suspicion is directed at Iran, which along with Afghanistan shares a border with Balochistan and is now in the US line of fire over its nuclear programme. Tehran denies any involvement in the steadily escalating violence.
Balochistan, one of Pakistan's four provinces, the others being Punjab, Sindh and North West Frontier Province, accounts for 43 percent of Pakistan's land area but just six percent of the population. It is a mineral rich, feudal region where tribal chieftains, called Sardars, still hold sway, maintaining private armies to back up their clout. It is also the poorest of Pakistani provinces and saw insurgency and counter-insurgency in the 1970s, claiming hundreds of lives.
The latest violence has been blamed on three militant groups: Baloch National Army, Baloch Liberation Army and People's Liberation Army. Of this, the Baloch Liberation Army is reportedly the strongest. All three are linked to Sardars known as Baloch nationalists. Their strength is not known but Pakistani media has reported their number could run into hundreds. Weapons possessed by the groups range from the ubiquitous assault rifles to rocket launchers.
Violence last year reportedly claimed some 650 lives, including that of nearly 30 security personnel and three Chinese engineers. But the clashes have shown a sharp upswing this year. The immediate trigger was the Jan 2 gang rape of a local doctor, the culprits being a Pakistan Army captain and three soldiers.
The incident set aflame passions in a region where large numbers have over the years passionately believed that Islamabad discriminates against Balochistan in favour of the dominant Punjab. The central government in turn accuses a few but influential Baloch leaders of trying to preserve their fiefdoms by levelling reckless allegations against the Punjabi-dominated establishment despite rising Pakistani investment in the province, including building of new cantonments and highways. Baloch leaders say the benefits accruing from most new projects invariably go to outsiders, particularly Punjabis.
Whatever the truth, since the start of this year, militants have stepped up attacks on state-run installations, inflicting heavy losses on the economy. Their activities have affected gas supplies to the rest of Pakistan. The main trouble spots have been Sui, Pirokh and Loti. Violence has also been reported from the coastal town of Gawadar, where a new port is under construction. A clash between Pakistani security forces and militants on March 17 left some 60 people dead, including an undetermined number of Hindus.
Pakistani parliamentarian Sherry Rehman has described the situation in Balochistan as "alarming". One Baloch leader, Nawab Khair Bux, has openly advocated armed struggle. Another, Nawab Akbar Bugti, is calling natural resources in Balochistan as "Baloch assets", not national assets.
Pakistan cannot afford to let the violence continue. For one, it is a province where Al Qaeda's elusive chief Osama bin Laden is known to come and go, thanks to its porous border with Afghanistan and because of Islamabad's tenuous control over large tracts. The killings and disaffection can only strengthen bin Laden's hands. Secondly, the unrest will put a question mark on Islamabad's ability to deliver gas from Iran to India, a project vital for its own economy. Third, some Baloch politicians are defiantly threatening to accept help from foreign countries including India.
With the A.Q. Khan scandal and the unresolved Kashmir dispute still plaguing him, President Pervez Musharraf cannot afford to let Balochistan burn.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/30/2005 12:10:12 AM ||
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Perv's gotta burn some of these tribal warlords - starting weith Foster Brooks Bugti
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/30/2005 16:06 Comments ||
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Recently the first issue of the "Department of Indoctrination" of the Al-Qa'ida-Iraq organization's online magazine was published under the title of "The Crest of the Summit of Islam" [Dhurwat Sanam Al-Islam], an expression which is commonly used to designate Jihad. An article in the magazine by a certain Abu Maysara, who is believed to be one of the commanders of the Al-Qai'da organization in Iraq, discusses the identity of the Iraqi Al-Qa'ida organization and outlines its aims:
What is the Al-Qa'ida Organization in Iraq?
"...What is the Al-Qa'ida organization in Iraq? This is an organization consisting of a group of Muslims from amongst the followers of the tradition and the community of believers [ahl al-sunna wa'l jama'a] which tries to please Allah by committing themselves to keep Allah's orders and proscriptions and to see to it that others do so [as well]... it has set for itself a number of central goals which are mutually interrelated and complementary:
"1) Renewing pure monotheism which was brought by our Prophet Muhammad amongst those whose monotheism was sullied by the filth of polytheistic elements, and the spreading of the axiom 'there is no God but Allah' in lands where Islam has not yet arrived.
"2) Jihad for the sake of Allah, so that His message be supreme, and in order to recapture all the lands of the Muslims from the hands of the infidels and the apostates, and to apply the Shari'a law, Allah's law, in these areas, without any distinction [in this respect] between ruler and ruled, and to free the Muslim prisoners of war, since this is a personal obligation [incumbent] on every Muslim, as all the ulama agree...
"3) To come to the aid of Muslims wherever they are and to reclaim the Muslim's dignity, which has been soiled by the [foreign] invaders and their agents, and his human rights of which he has been deprived, and to strive to improve his conditions and circumstances in every respect, both religious and this-wordly material, social, educational, etc. in accordance with the teachings of Islam...
"4) To re-establish the Rightly-Guided Caliphate in accordance with the Prophet's example, because [according to the tradition] 'whoever dies without having sworn allegiance to a Muslim ruler dies as an unbeliever.' [2]
"Our guiding principle with regard to our great goals is: [to follow] the Koran and the tradition of the Prophet, in the way of the righteous early generations, and [to follow] the elucidations of the great ulama from among those faithful to the Sunna [ahl al-sunna] .
"One of the great principles of our faith is that we should not spill even a drop of Muslim blood unjustly, for the end of the whole world is less significant than the spilling of one Muslim's blood."
Why We Carry out Operations Against Americans and Their Collaborators in the Military and Police
"Why do we carry out operations in Iraq against the Americans and their collaborators in the military and the police? The goal is:
"1) In order to please Allah, who commanded [to fight the] Jihad and to repel those who attack lives and [women's] honor and property and to expel them from Iraq - the land of the Caliphs.
"2) In order to redeem the honor of our brothers and the chastity of our sisters and the innocence of our Muslim children, [all of whom] have been ravaged by the Americans and their Shi'ite collaborators in the brigades of treachery [a reference to the Shi'ite Badr Brigades, which is the military wing of the Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq] and the party of Satan's mission [a reference to Al-Ja'fari's Hizb Al-Da'wa party].
"3) In order to make the light of the Caliphate shine once again from Baghdad, the capital of the Caliphate, so that it will spread the light of justice and prosperity around the world, as things used to be in the time of Harun Al-Rashid.
"4) In order to kill those whose character has become impure and who has joined the ranks of the infidels in their fight against the Muslims in Iraq, that is, members of the Iraqi army and the police and spies, who strengthen the Americans and help them to commit crimes and to rape our sisters in the Abu Ghraib prison and other places..."
A Call to All Muslims in Iraq
"This is not an issue of Iraq in the geographic sense; rather it is an issue for our great Islam. Don't you see how all the infidels in the world have united and assembled armies from more than 30 countries to invade Iraq and to plunder its resources and to humiliate you and to violate your wives' honor. So why should your brothers the Jihad fighters - both foreigner and native [3] - be subject to reproach? These brothers of yours emigrated from their homelands, left their wives and children, and sacrificed their blood for your sake - to protect you, to protect your families, and to preserve your honor, and to drive the invaders from your land.
"Beware of the Western media's deception and of its agents, such as the 'Alawi government, who distort the image of your brothers the Jihad fighters, who came to you for your sake, without desiring for themselves neither your reward nor your gratitude, neither a penny nor a pound. They put their neck before your neck, their blood before your blood, and their life to ransom your life. God forbid that our Jihad should be [considered] civil strife [fitna] . Rather the avoidance of Jihad is civil strife. That was the verdict of Allah, who said of those who shirked Jihad, 'Surely they have already succumbed to temptation [fitna] , and Hell engulfs the unbelievers.' [4]
"Come, Oh descendants of Khalid [Ibn Al-Walid], Qutayba [Ibn Muslim], and Al-Muthanna [Ibn Haritha], [5] rise up with your brothers who fight Jihad to conquer Iraq, and after that [to conquer] the rest of the Muslim lands that were conquered by the infidels. Extend a helping hand with whatever you can... to gain God's pleasure and to be saved from the fires of Hell, and in order to be worthy successors to good forefathers so as to free yourself from the guilt of shirking Jihad...
"As for you, soldier and policeman, we ask Allah to give you guidance before it is too late. You who betrayed the Muslims and who have degraded yourself in the service of the agents and under the command of the Cross in order to gain some crumbs from this world, trading your afterlife for your worldly goods... try to rectify what you have done wrong, before death overtakes you, and come back and return to your inborn Islamic nature, so that there be no more civil strife [fitna] and so that Allah's religion shall reign supreme. [6] If you do not do so, then the only thing you will deserve from us is the cutting off of your head as a punishment for your being a foreign agent and your betraying your religion and that of the Muslims. For you are the shield with which the occupying infidel defends himself. Repenting from being a foreign agent and joining the caravan of faith to make Allah's word supreme is surely better for you than this world and its goods, and we also would want and desire this much more."
This article starring:
ABU MAISARA
al-Qaeda in Iraq
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/30/2005 12:04:13 AM ||
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he U.N. Security Council on Tuesday strengthened an arms embargo on Sudan's Darfur region to include the government and ordered an asset freeze and travel ban on those who defy peace efforts in the conflict-wracked area.
The U.S.-backed resolution passed 12-0, with Algeria, Russia and China abstaining because of opposition to sanctions.
The resolution widens an embargo on armed groups in Darfur to include the Sudanese government which will now need approval from a new Security Council committee to bring weapons into the vast western region.
It also demands the government abide by an April 2004 ceasefire and stop carrying out offensive military overflights in Darfur. It would impose an asset freeze and a travel ban on those who violate the sanctions or are responsible for the overflights.
``What we're trying to do is apply consistent pressure on Darfur, specifically in a way that will actually curtail the violence,'' U.S. Deputy Ambassador Stuart Holliday said after the vote.
An estimated 180,000 people have died in the conflict since February 2003, when two non-Arab rebel groups took up arms against the Arab-dominated government to win more political and economic rights for Darfur's African tribes.
But British lawmakers said in a report Wednesday that the death toll has been grossly underestimated and is likely to be around 300,000, calling attacks against civilians in the region ``no less serious and heinous than genocide.''
The report by the House of Commons' International Development Committee slammed the Security Council, saying it has been ``divided, weak and ineffective'' because it has been driven by member states' interests in oil and exporting arms.
The Security Council vote was the latest step in drawn-out efforts to confront the Darfur crisis.
Last week, the council unanimously approved a resolution creating a peacekeeping mission to monitor a deal that ended a 21-year conflict in southern Sudan unrelated to Darfur. The council hopes that agreement will also help Darfur move toward peace.
The Security Council must still confront the most contentious issue of all: how best to punish war criminals in Darfur. Several council members want the cases referred to the International Criminal Court, a body that the United States opposes.
Sudan's U.N. Ambassador Elfatih Mohamed Erwa criticized the sanctions resolution, saying it was orchestrated by the U.S. Congress.
``We don't like the council to take a series of resolutions that are not wise and might make this situation worse,'' Erwa said. ``The more sticks you bring to solve this problem, you are not going to solve this problem. You are going to make it more complicated.''
Early on, the council had hoped to deal with all three issues - the sanctions, the peacekeepers and the war criminals - in one resolution. But because agreement could not be reached, the United States decided to split the issues into three resolutions.
However, after the Americans presented their resolution on peacekeepers last week, France put forward its own resolution that would prosecute suspected Sudanese war criminals before the International Criminal Court.
France and several other members of the council had always demanded that all the issues be dealt with at once, not piecemeal as the United States proposed.
French officials said they planned to put forward their resolution for a vote on Wednesday at the earliest.
In London, the newly released British House of Commons committee report accused the international community of a ``scandalously ineffective response'' to the situation in Darfur and says governments across the world are guilty of failing to deal with the crisis.
The report recommends referring the Darfur crisis to the International Criminal Court and introducing targeted sanctions and an extension of the arms embargo to cover the Sudanese government.
Committee chairman Tony Baldry said the world's failure to protect the people of Darfur from the atrocities committed against them was a scandal.
``Crises such as Darfur require the world to respond collectively and effectively. Passing the buck will not do,'' Baldry said. ``After the genocide in Rwanda, the world said 'never again.' President Bush said that genocide would not be allowed to happen 'on his watch.' These words should mean something.''
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/30/2005 12:28:48 AM ||
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"Cake or Death?"
"Uh, cake please."
"Damnit. Okay, here."
"Psst. Kofi, we'd better order more cake."
An Iraqi deputy from the powerful al-Tamimi tribe in Basra has lambasted British troops for blasting their way into his home overnight near the southern city and arresting a dozen members of his family.
The governor of Basra, Muhammad al-Waili, said on Tuesday the 12 were released after he personally intervened in the matter.
He added that British forces told him that they had received "flawed intelligence about the presence of terrorists in the deputy's home."
There was no official reaction from British troops on the matter.
But the newly elected parliament released a statement shortly after it adjourned on Tuesday. "The assembly holds the leadership of the British forces fully responsible for this operation and demands that the detainees be let go immediately and a formal apology be issued with an explanation of why this happened in the first place."
"We also demand that they compensate the deputy for all material and moral damages suffered," it concluded.
At the start of the session, which was delayed by three hours, an indignant Mansur al-Tamimi got up from his seat to recount to his colleagues details of the raid on his home in al-Zubayr, south of the port city.
"Last night my family called me saying 40 British vehicles along with two helicopters raided our home.
"They dynamited their way into our home, arrested 11 members of the family including children and even stole money from the house," said a visibly upset al-Tamimi, who is a member of the dominant Shia United Iraqi Alliance bloc.
"I am a member of parliament and I should enjoy some degree of immunity. I am really baffled at this savage treatment by the British."
Witnesses in Zubayr confirmed the account given by Tamimi.
They said the raid, the largest of its kind in the area, occurred at about 3:00am (0000 GMT) and that 12 people were arrested. Those detained included the deputy's brother, Shaikh Salman al-Kanaan al-Tamimi, and another prominent member of the family, Shaikh Muhammad al-Kanaan al-Tamimi.
Basra's notables and tribal chiefs were all gathered at the al-Tamimi residence on Tuesday in a show of solidarity with the family.
Governor al-Waili condemned the incident and warned that "an act like this could plunge the city into discord".
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/30/2005 12:05:51 AM ||
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"I am a member of parliament and I should enjoy some degree of immunity. I am really baffled at this savage treatment by the British."
Someone's shorts are riding up - looks like we're onto something here.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
03/30/2005 7:17 Comments ||
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I think you should yank "admit" out of the headline, Dan. I see no admission by the Brits. Anywhere. Just lots of the usual Arab tribal games and inflated indignation.
Even if he's right, it is bizarre that NBC chose to "interview" it's own reporter rather than have him file a straight story. Can you say spin? How about slant and bias? No shortage of any of those here...
The second meeting of Iraq's newly formed National Assembly ended only minutes after it began on Tuesday after the Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis failed to agree on a government, leaving several key positions vacant. NBC's Tom Aspell discusses the political stalemate in Baghdad.
What are the major areas of conflict between these groups that seem to prevent some sort of compromise?
Well, while the Shiite and the Kurds both seemed to have worked out to mutual satisfaction a division of power — whereby the Kurds will take the presidency and probably the oil ministry and foreign affairs, the Shiites will get the ministry of finance, the ministry of the interior and the powerful post of prime minister — it still leaves out the Sunnis, who boycotted the election eight weeks ago.
So today, in only the second session of the national assembly since the election, the compromise [involved] ... the Kurds and the Shiites looking around for a speaker, and they offered the post to Iraq's interim President Ghazi al-Yawer, who turned it down. So at the moment they are stuck without a Sunni candidate to fill that post of speaker.
So the second session of the National Assembly broke up only after just a few minutes of talking, when several members stood up and criticized the leaders for not moving faster to form a government. In the end they adjourned while promising to meet again, perhaps after this weekend. But right now, the sticking point will be the speaker. It's not a very powerful position but it is thought that if the Sunnis could come up with a candidate, then that would be acceptable to everybody in Iraq and would demonstrate clearly that the big winners in the election, the Shiite and the Kurds, are determined not marginalize the Sunnis.
Do you have any idea why he would turn down the job?
I think al-Yawer felt that it wasn't powerful enough. I think he's determined, after all these months of being president of the interim authority here, to retain some of the reins of power and he has said himself he would rather be a vice-president than speaker of the house. So he took himself out of the running for that job.
With reports of interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi walking out of today's meeting and the inability of the factions to reach agreements, how do the ordinary Iraqis feel? Do they have faith in this new process?
I think they have faith in the process but there is a growing impatience among the people here. Several today were watching television in cafes and restaurants outside of the parliament building until it was interrupted.
One of the diners said the postponement was not good for the Iraqi people. 'We want stability and we want improvement in the security situation and in the stability of the country,' he said. So many people are making a direct link between having a government formed as quickly as possible so that it will improve the security situation.
What are some of the major hurdles that stand in the way of giving the Sunnis a say in the new government?
Well for starters they didn't have many seats in the National Assembly at all. The Kurds and the Shiite have 215 seats out of only 275 seats in the parliament. So the Sunnis have about 15 or 16 seats, which is nothing compared to the huge number the Shiite and the Kurds have. And I think there is a genuine regret on part of the Sunnis that they did not take more of a part in the electoral process.
It's a question really of convincing the country that this government is here for the good of all the people, not just the one party or the other. And to do that they really have to bring the Sunnis, who appear to be the main supporters of the insurgency, into the political process. And the only way to do that is to give them, not (just) any representative inside the new parliament, but some degree of power in the new government.
How do Iraqis feel about the delay stemming from today's meeting?
Some of them are saying if the delay is the interest of bureaucracy, it's not a problem. But they still want them to speed up the process. Because the situation of getting a government as quickly as possible is in the interest of Iraqi people. To get it done right, people are willing to wait. People are frustrated that eight weeks after the elections, they still don't see a government in charge of the county.
And right now the security situation is relatively quiet — attacks not just on Americans but attacks in general have been down since the elections. People think the sooner the government can take its place the better. But the longer the delay the more danger the security situation will get out of control.
What's behind the apparent drop in insurgent attacks on Americans in the last month?
Well, there are two reasons. One is that the attacks against Americans in general have gone down. Casualties however still remain quite steady. It's usually between 20-30 American deaths a month. But the attacks on Iraqi security forces have stepped up and they are claiming quit a number of victims among Iraqi security forces. And the reason for that is the American forces are simply better protected. They are inside their bases and the Iraqi security forces are more exposed than the Americans. So the casualty count is bound to go down for Americans and up for the Iraqis.
What influence can the Sunnis, who may get roles in a government, have on the Sunni insurgents?
For about the last three or four months there have been rumors that there are contacts between American military commanders and, if not insurgent leaders, then tribal leaders who may have influence over insurgents in their areas. Nobody has gone as far as to say there are peace talks between either the Americans or the Iraqi security forces and the insurgents. But there have been several hints to say that there are contacts taking place.
The Sunnis who are represented in the national assembly, are thought to have absolutely no contact with insurgents. Remember Sunnis were encouraged by their religious leaders to boycott the elections eight weeks ago and they did so. To their regret because they only have just a few seats in the assembly but there is no evidence to suppose that any members of the National Assembly, the Sunni members, have any links with the insurgents or even contacts with them.
What can you tell me about the state of the country since the election two months ago? Have you seen any improvements?
I don't think there is any visible improvement. You don't see any increase in supplies of electricity, you don't see increased job opportunities or money on the streets or anything like that. I think it's really too early. What Iraqis are hoping for is once the government is formed then the ministries will be reorganized to reflect the new ministers heading those agencies and then the work or unemployment situation will get better. Right now it's too early to say.
In the meantime, we are in sort of a caretaker stage with all these ministries at the moment and they are hamstrung and dependent largely on coalition aid, coalition advice and the coalition offices to distribute the money and run the ministries as they see fit right now.
But I think many people feel that once the government is established and the revenues from the oil fields is distributed throughout the ministries according to Iraqi needs, then things will get better. So I think everybody is looking forward to the formation of the government so that they can get on with the business of running the country, spreading the wealth a little more evenly and increasing employment opportunities. Think those were soft enough? Note that there were no quotes attributed to anyone. Just pure 100% MSM opinion. This is likely to be the "wave of the MSM future" - interviewing your own employees for their opinions. Usually analysis is referred to as value added... this is value subtracted. Drop them an email (link above story on right) to let them know how much you appreciate the depths to which they'll go to tell you what to think.
Posted by: .com ||
03/30/2005 5:05:59 AM ||
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.com, great comments on a wholly vapid article. That said, time is not on the side of the Iraqi "government". They really need to form a government and get things rolling. The longer this goes on without a govt being put in place, the more cynical the people will become and the more attractive the resistance message will become. Get on with it folks!!!
#3
Id almost rather hear spin from a reporter than some BBC house pundit, preteding to be an objective expert.
Spin aside (and yup, theres plenty there) most of the facts ring true.
I heard (MSM again) that Allawi and the Sunni in the Assembly have joined forces. It really looks like Allawi is maneuvering well, and UIA is maneuvering poorly.
#2
The web site says she's African. Wanna bet it's some right wing cabal planning to kill the diplomat and not Al Queda or some other more likely source.
In which Mohammad Al Khalil, lecturer, Arabic Studies, Zayed University, Dubai, complains that the involvement of comely young women in Lebanon's demonstrations will offend the sensibilities of the Arab world:
The heavily-Westernised mix-gender scenes of activists out demonstrating, sometimes in very close quarters like the back of a pickup truck, may not sit well with Arab time-honoured tradition of the separation of the sexes.
The flashy hip way of dress and behaviour of the opposition demonstrators could very well stigmatise them as American sold-outs in the eyes of conservative Arab viewers, which could in turn impact their movement...
Arab society remains overwhelmingly conservative, more so, perhaps than any time in its history, a fact that should not be confused with its thirst for democracy and reform as the Iraq elections proved. But ironically, the liberal-conservative scene here is not much different from the same scene across the Atlantic.
He still hasn't caught on to the fact that democracy, at least the way we're pushing it, equates to freedom. That means freedom from the heavy hand of the holy man as well as freedom from the heavy hand of the tin-hat dictator. That also means everyone — the babes included.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/30/2005 00:00:00 ||
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He gets some points for the clever title, though.
Better imagined American "sold outs" than Muslim "subhuman pets".
Arab society has some serious catching up to do with reality. This has been true for centuries. This time is different, however, as the world won't just pass them by - there's not enough room anymore and they've bred some killer thugs and several outposts of hate which just can't seem to keep their hands to themselves. They get the first free shot - then they're toast. The clash has begun and they are losing every confrontation where there is a will for freedom and sanity.
Figure it out or bite the dust, Muzzies. There's a New World dawning, alright, but it's not the barbaric Caliphate and it's not the TranziSocioFascistMoonbat OWG, either. It's something else...
#6
This dilhole, Mohammad Al Khalil doesn't get it. These are Christians who are fed up of playing Dhimmi. Leabanon is Christian, Muslim and my goodness secular. The craptards equate arab as allenist, wrong answer.
The "arabs" need to get their heads out of their misogynist rectal openings and wake up. Wake up or die.
#9
2x4 -- Lol! I didn't fill in the gap after the ellipsis because I think it will be many things. A smorgasbord of variations on the theme of democracy - some flavors featuring freedom, some featuring the same old shit in brand new puppets, er, bottles. Y'know, some might really get it and do it up right - and we might take notes if they do it better; think effective curbs on judicial activism, for example, lol. Some will do the minimum and keep trying to pull strings for the usual reasons. Some will offer only window dressing - until the lampposts come into play. Some will try to merge into OWG - likely only yielding a harder fall when their moronic shopworn DOA socialism fails, yet again. Sigh.
But I do believe something new is dawning and that once rolling, it won't stop until it has invaded everywhere in some degree. I don't see an end to strife, but I do see a helluvalot less when Shari'a is buried. Hell, it would be nice just to have to deal with the 7 deadly sins, without female castration, stoning, beheadings, Arab News alternate realities cum total fabrication, eternal denial and blame, and the latest PakiWaki faction grenade throw competition. Yeah, I even see an end to that, lol! Might be a very large smokin' hole - might be several smaller smokin' holes, er, countries...
#10
I didn't fill in the gap after the ellipsis because I think it will be many things
I know you meant that, .com, I just can't help being myself. ;-)
I am somewhere between optimist and pessimist. I see good signs. But some interpret them that the battle is won. Far from it. When dubya were talking about it to last a generation, he was either seeing far or someone gave him a good overview of what to expect. It is still in the early phase. There would be, undoubtedly, setbacks. I can see one in making--Europe.
But we have to win, at some point. We don't have any choice. Tie would be just postponing the inevitable and it is a luxury we can't afford.
We have fine military. In fact, the best. But we must not forget that the battle is fought on the ideological front as well. In many ways, this may be the more important element.
#11
Here are some examples that Daniel Pipes gathered for our convenient glimpse:
New York City: An investigation by the New York Daily News in 2003 found that books used in the city's Muslim schools "are rife with inaccuracies, sweeping condemnations of Jews and Christians, and triumphalist declarations of Islam's supremacy.
Los Angeles: The Omar Ibn Khattab Foundation donated 300 Korans (titled The Meaning of the Holy Quran) to the city school district in 2001 that within months had to be pulled from school libraries because of its antisemitic commentaries. One footnote reads: "The Jews in their arrogance claimed that all wisdom and all knowledge of Allah was enclosed in their hearts.Their claim was not only arrogance but blasphemy.
Ajax, Ontario, 50 kilometers east of Toronto: The Institute of Islamic Learning is a Canadian emulation of the extremist Deobandi madrassahs of Pakistan. It focuses exclusively on religious topics, has students memorize the Koran, demands total segregation from the Canadian milieu, and requires complete gender separation. Former students complained about the school's cult-like devotion to its head, Abdul Majid Khan, and complained that it "twisted religion and used it to its own benefit".
Then there are four leading Islamic schools in the Washington, D.C., area:
The Muslim Community School in Potomac, Maryland, imbues in its students a sense of alienation from their own country. Seventh-grader Miriam told a Washington Post reporter in 2001, "Being American is just being born in this country." Eighth-grader Ibrahim announced that "Being an American means nothing to me.
A textbook used at the Islamic Saudi Academy of Alexandria, Virginia, in 2004, authored and published by the Saudi Ministry of Education, teaches first graders that "all religions, other than Islam, are false, including that of the Jews [and] Christians." An ISA class valedictorian, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, was recently indicted for plotting to assassinate President Bush.
The U.S. government revoked the visas in 2004 of sixteen people affiliated with the Institute for Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America, of Fairfax, Virginia. In the words of the Washington Post, "That decision followed accusations that the institute, a satellite campus of al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, was promoting a brand of Islam that critics say is intolerant of other strains of the religion as well as Christianity and Judaism." In addition, the IIASA is under investigation for ties to terrorism.
The Graduate School of Islamic Social Sciences of Ashburn, Virginia, referred to as a "purported" educational institution in an affidavit justifying a raid on the school, had its financial records seized in 2002 on suspicions of links to terrorism.
Nor are schools the exception among Islamic institutions in North America. A recent study by Freedom House found a parallel problem of venomous anti-Jewish and anti-Christian materials in U.S. mosques. The most prominent American Muslim organizations, especially the Council on American-Islamic Relations, spew anti-Semitism and host a neo-Nazi. The same applies in Canada, where the head of the Canadian Islamic Congress, Mohamed Elmasry, publicly endorsed the murder of all Israelis over the age of eighteen.
#12
In which Mohammad Al Khalil, lecturer, Arabic Studies, Zayed University, Dubai, complains that the involvement of comely young women in Lebanonâs demonstrations will offend the sensibilities of the Arab world:..
[fantasy rant]
Of course the day approaches when all of that crap grinds to a halt. When, you ask? Heh. When the Mad Mullahs and the House of Saud have no oil money. All of the grief comes down to money. It's hard to be a jihadi when you don't get travel expenses and cash for weaponry and rent-a-fools... If you have to work to eat, things change. The glamor goes *poof*. Most of the hardcore twits are pure mercenaries. Most of the fodder are fools who see some glamorous end or fame. No money, no BS textbooks and mercenary imams or teachers. No pamphlets or slick 4-color posters or cash to import Jooo-hating speakers and bogus conventions or festivals. It all dries up. The charities are all that will be left - and without Govts to enable and assist them with banks and paperwork and passports - they are isolated and can be picked off and shut down.
I believe the client states, such as PakiWakiLand would see a dramatic change, as well - a drop in the status of the stupid. Saudi money has to be flowing in to support so many otherwise unemployed factions, lol! Somebody has to be paying and feeding and housing and clothing and arming them. Prolly the Saudi Assholes. We'd see a drop in violence in S Thailand, the Filipines, in Africa, hell - it's hard to imagine anyplace where Islam is playing its usual aggressive hand that would not feel a loss of funding - with the ramifications mentioned above.
There will soon come a point when the MM's go down - I'd guess somewhere in the 4thQ of 05 or 1stQ of 06. They have set the stage for their own demise - uniting determination both from without and within. Their obsession with nukes is, IMHO, a gift from The Gods, lol! Morons!
The House of Saud is the big moneybags behind Wahhabism, of course, and they have no more claim to the oil sands on the Eastern shore of The Gulf than I do. I proposed taking them away about 15 months ago. It was a "joke" that circulated for awhile, but I was then, and still am, dead serious. We could do it without breaking a sweat and create flypaper where it belongs - in the heart of the darkness. I'd like to remove it from Iraq's back now anyway - they've earned their shot at the freedom game. The Republic of Eastern Arabia has a nice ring to it. Also, picture the reactions of the remainder of the GCC... think Al Jizz would have free rein in Qatar or that Sheikh Yer Booty in the UAE would continue to invite the displace and dysfunctional moonbats of the West? Nah, I'm thinking it would kill a whole shitload of bad actors in one swell foop, like buckshot into a flock of flying rats, and leave the bystanders shakin' in their curly-toed slippers.
In less than a year, all manner of shit would screech to a halt. Sure, lotsa baying and screaming and such, but fuck 'em. I don't feel the need to apologize for doing what has needed to be done since (at least) 1973 when the Saudis declared war on the US - with the means at their disposal: economically and diplomatically. We're the only ones who seem to be unaware of that fact.
It would be nasty, but so what? It's already nasty - and until the swamp is drained, there will be nasties coming out of it.
So many things would fall out of the trees, it would be, um, interesting, no?
Wouldn't hurt Western economies, either... security for the oil fields and routes would have a nice effect on the price of oil, I'd wager.
Imagine China's frantic response when the Gulf is no longer a trade battlefield against us... imagine the collapse of their paper-thin economy. What to do with the billions? Lol! Lordy, lordy, wouldn't that be a wild ride? Russia shitting bricks right alongside China. Japan not being hostage to the Iranians - that would add to China's woes, lol! Europe? Interesting mixed bag, there... Chirac would try to steal it, of course, as he floats a new scheme every other week, it seems, lol! But no - we don't play the UN game anymore, so Chirac can piss up a rope. We took it fair and square, just like that pissy Saud tribe and the Wahhabists did. We don't have to listen to France - or any other sycophantic soon-to-be third world collection of fools. We take it away from them and we do what we think is best. I repeat: Fuck 'Em. Fuck Them All. Lol!
[/fantasy rant]
#16
No it wouldn't, lol! Go ahead, tell me what the results would be, in some detail, please. Don't forget to apply your timeframe. You're talking about something entirely different, ignoring that oil is used for more than just energy production, ignoring all other countries who won't be building nuke plants, etc. etc. etc. - the list is very long regards why this would neither have the same salutory effect nor equate to the same thing. Sheesh.
#17
Fine fantasy rant .com
But Saudi and Arab oil has at least 25 years of very good production to go. If we invaded took over their oil fields we would get the same sabotage we get in Iraq. You can't rule Muslims unless you are willing to inflict damage on the clans that individual Jihadis come from. If oil pipelines had been sabotaged under Saddam, he would have done exactly that. In tribal societies there are few secrets and Saddam had a secret police that knew how to find all saboteurs and anti-regime types.
#18
OK, the price of oil is largely determined by the balance between changes in demand and changes in supply. What has happened recently is demand has increased faster than supply and the price has rocketed. Recall that less than 5 years ago after a quite a small decrease in demand the price fell to $10/b. A declining oil price seems to stimulate production from sources where oil is the primary source of revenue particularly the ME in order to maintain government revenues.
The problem is to (how to) decrease the overall demand for oil irrespective of how or where it is consumed. I haven't researched the numbers but at a rough guess a nuclear power station replaces about 50K barrels/day of oil demand. Every new NPS rachets down oil demand by that amount and its cumulative and permanent. I agree it doesn't (directly) affect the rising demand for oil elsewhere but it does send a powerful message about the way to go in terms of demand for energy. It is also scalable, i.e. over time it can be increased to 2,3,4 etc, a month.
If the overall demand for oil declines and a cheaper alternative is on offer even after declines in the oil price then you have engineered a structural reduction in the demand for oil and $50/b will seem absurdly high as suppliers pump as much as they can in order to maintain revenues.
The cost of nuclear power stations is a function of R&D costs versus production volumes plus risk premiums. I have long suspected that the WOT could be solved by the USA giving away nuclear power stations to anyone who wants them and carrying the risk (which is small).
Invading SA's coastal strip does nothing to increase oil supply in the short/medium term and carries significant risks of decreasing supply. As a lesson in cause and effect I like it, as way of reducing the oil tax, I think it sucks.
#19
sc - Do you know the oil infrastructure in Saudi? Where it's produced, refined, etc? The only facilities we'd be interested in would be in the thin strip running along the coast - that's where the oil is and where it was originally refined and shipped from. They've built additional refineries elsewhere, but we don't need to pump it out of that strip. The only possibly limiting factor is refining capacity. There is some capacity in Bahrain and UAE - and probably Qatar. Regards sabotage, it's not the whole country, just that small 30-40 km strip along the eastern shore of the Gulf. It could be held far easier that the Iraq situation - they are not parallels. I don't want to "rule" any Arabs. But this could go on all day. I'm done.
phil - Hey, you dropped the cherry bomb, I didn't, and your response addresses what? It addresses your pet idea - a very good idea, indeed - but does not bear much upon my posts. They are wildly differing scenarios, just as I said. That we could do both, take their fucking income away from them and build nuke power plants is not out of the question, of course. This exchange is exactly like the other day on the opinion piece that was deleted because of style instead of substance. That's fucking sad.
---
This is Rantburg. It was a fantasy rant. It would bring absolutely huge changes. It would have effects almost everywhere. It would absolutely address funding asshats everywhere, in particular, which was my main point. It's no more far-fetched than invading Afghanistan and Iraq to get rid of murderous regimes. The only reason it's hard to do is because, over the last century or so, some people have decided such use of power is bad. I'll bet we could name 50 countries who, given our military and economic power, would absolutely do it -- and much much more. France, under Chirac, for instance.
That we are at war with the Saudis is, I believe, obvious to everyone who comes to the situation without baggage. I believe we should not be so cruel and force them to have their war alone - without even acknowledging them. That's so rude.
#20
Short term increases in oil prices are due solely to speculation, which has nothing to do with supply and demand.
Building more nuclear power plants takes a lot of time and a lot of money. The enviros killed that a long time ago with their half-truths and outright lies about safety, especially after 3 Mile Island. I don't believe we will be totally independant of Middle Eastern oil until it rins out.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/30/2005 7:55 Comments ||
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#21
I am all for building Nuclear Plants but that alone will not solve the problem of dependency of ME oil. Most of the imported oil goes to transportation. What is needed is an alternative fuel that cars can run on.
#22
This exchange is exactly like the other day on the opinion piece that was deleted because of style instead of substance. That's fucking sad.
This is addressed much more to Fred than .com. The midnight witching hour for comments is a stroke of genuis. It allows any debate no matter how acrimonious to stop and makes us start again. Mucho Kudos to Fred for this.
And to reiterate my position, invading the SA coastal strip is a great lesson in cause and effect and on that basis I support it, as a way of eliminating the energy tax, I think it will be inifectual. It doesn't solve the rising demand for oil problem. ONLY alternate energy sources solve this problem. The French, Finns, Indias, Chinese, etc, have figured this out.
#23
Sea Cruise:
If we established the Republic of Eastern Arabia, there might be some danger of terrorist attacks, but remember there wouldn't be as much money around to fund them. Or, if they diverted it that way, they would have to yank funding from the global Jihad, meaning we could also re-deploy our assets.
TMH:
To an extent, we could substitute nuclear power for transportation for oil. In the West, at least, the rails are running at full capacity, and much of the overflow goes on trucks. If we were to build some new rail lines (in spite of the pygmy owls) that were electrified with nuclear power plants, that would drop a lot of the demand for diesel in trains and/or trucks. Or go whole hog and electrify the entire rail network. This would be an enormous capital cost (a trillion dollars? two? more?), but there would be a big payback, too.
That avoids some of the flaws of many of the other plans, in that it recognizes that personal vehicles powered by gasolene I.C. engines are far superior to anything else for moving people (something Mass Transit advocates blindly refuse to acknowledge), but freight is another matter. You can't get rid of all the trucks, of course (your local grocery store probably doesn't have a rail line) and perhaps it would take decades to replace all the diesel locomotives, which makes it all the more important we get started now.
I'm well aware that the Saudi oil fields are far from the population centers and the well known cites of Mecca and Medina. That they are even in what's a Shi'ite area of Saudi Arabia.
But this Saudi oil must be refined and shipped and these areas have lots of people and workers. Which the oil saboteurs can come from. How much is Iraq shipping now? Remember how Wolfowitz said Iraqi oil revenue would pay for any invasion? I'm impressed by the Muslim enthusiasm for guerrilla warfare and sabotage.
I'm with you emotionally on just taking over the Soddy oil apparatus but guerrilla warfare and sabotage would be a huge problem. Saddam showed that you can't get rid of mischief makers unless you terrorize and kill their families. We don't have the disposition to do this in Iraq or in Soddy. Just wait 'till China provides Iran with a nuclear umbrella. That's the upcoming wild card to be dealt us.
#25
These arguments sound much like post-imperial Japan. They didn't want women to vote and they damn sure didn't want them in the government. In a very short time they got over it and look at them today! The Arabs will get over their machismo just like every other nation before, including the U.S. Just don't let them drive! ;-)
#26
sc - Well, you've scrambled things a bit. Are you talking through your hat or from some solid info? Let's get a few facts down...
Al Dammam, Al Khobar, and Dhahran roughly form a triangle, 20km to a side. It's a population center - the Eastern Province contains the Empty Quarter, but it also contains the family jewels and isn't empty of people. In other words, the oil (and gas) sands aren't quite as isolated as you say. You can even see Aramco #1 (the first well) from the Core Area Tower Bldg where I worked for part of my stint there - still pumping I hear. Approx 50K of Aramco's 80K employees are in the Eastern Province, IIUC.
It is, indeed, a traditionally Shi'a area, though the Saudis imported Sunnis to the area rather heavily for a few decades to make certain the oil industry was politically reliable since it's their only source of income. I don't know the percentages now - just that the Sunnis have the good jobs and the palatial homes - and most of the Shi'a have shit.
As for sabotage, do you know the mix of Saudis to non-Saudis in the plants? This ain't Iraq. The Saudis are "management" by a wide margin and the worker bees, the wrench turners, by a wide margin, are US, Euro, Canadian, Filipino, Indian, and Pakistani. The politically unreliables, i.e. Muzzies, in the mix would be the Pakistanis and a small percentage of the Indians.
The actual facilities are already fenced and more for security. They have been upgraded to be defensible from land attack. Let that sink in.
I don't know how "bad" it would be -- and neither do you. As for who will fight you - it comes down to what their tribal leaders tell them to do. Lessons learned the hard way could be employed - and that could be bribes or bodies, their choice. I'd play a much harder brand of ball than you suggest, but that's just me.
As for Iran, we shall see won't we? China nuke umbrella? Oky. Document it. BTW, do you really think we will allow them to get nukes? How about Israel? I hear these things from doomsayers all the time and then I think about Israel and the fact that they have nothing to lose. If there's one bunch of folks whose check you can cash, it's the Israelis.
It's not a small easy thing. Never claimed it would be. But it sure as shit would stop the jihadi shit in its tracks. Someday that equation: risk & grief of taking their income vs. what they're doing with it world-wide may seem a bargain to a lot of people.
You obviously know more about the place than do I. Perhaps the Saudi oil fields and facilities aren't so vulnerable to sabotage. But the recent Iraq experience with oil pipeline sabotage is not a happy one
#28
I agree with .com that the Gulf oil fields are the strategic center of gravity for the whole war. Take them away and the whole thing come shreiking to a halt. However, the Saudis or one of their satellites are going to have to do something really stupid before we can muster the political will to go in there and take the oil fields.
Bush has already filled the national strategic oil reserve to its maximum capacity. That's probably the smartest short term thing that we could do to buffer against the inevitable supply disruption that will occur when the shit hits the fan in the Gulf.
Nukes can help, but as oil supply becomes increasingly constrained (as I understand it, there is still plenty of oil, we just can't pump it out of the ground or refine it fast enough to meet rising demand in China, India, etc.) the cash flow available to the mad mullahs and Saudis increases enormously, no matter how much energy independence the US gains.
As I stated yesterday, more cash is going to increase the temptation of the militants in the Learned Elders of Islam to attack again and defeat the Great Satan (US). More cash also feeds the Dawa efforts of the more conservative factions as .com has already pointed out. Europe remains a decisive point due to its susceptability to Dawa, dhimmitude, and conquest by emmigration.
My predictions for the next ten years: The US and/or Israel will be forced to attack Iran to thwart their nuclear ambitions. Regime change may or may not be attempted depending on how stretched we are in Iraq, Korea, etc. This, along with increased oil-based cash flow to Saudi Arabia, will empower militants within the Learned Elders of Islam to take the lead of the Movement and attack the Great and Little Satans directly. This will result in their extinction.
An altenative scenario would involve the introduction of some truly disruptive technology (nanotech, pratical fusion?) that would radically reduce the need for oil. This could result in a slow fading of the Islamist Movement to irrelevance or a violent lashing out by said Movement before it lost all leverage.
#29
According to Slashdot today Toshiba has announced a battery that can be recharged to 80% capacity within a minute. They expect to have them in hybrid cars sometime in 2006. I've never been a fan of electric or hybrids but this really changes things because you can recharge your car so quickly you can use the electric car like a real car. it's a start.
To bad I detest Toshiba for the treacherous acts during the cold war. Still this is great news and if real will sink the hydrogen vehicle dreams.
#30
For decades the Maronite Lebanese would have rather been French than Arabs. In '43 they accepted Lebanons "Arab identity" in return for Arab league acceptance of the existence of the Lebanese state and its existing borders (which go well beyond the historically Maronite area, and which have proved the Maronites achilles heel - Ariel Sharon, take note)
"Thanks, we've been fixing it up lately. New gun cabinets, new ammo lockers. And we opened up the kitchen into the meeting room so we can cook and talk at the same time. A little paint and fresh linens and we...what are you doing with that measuring tape?"
"Oh, we've got an old armoire that would look fabulous over in the corner by the entertainment center. Mahmoud will drop it by tomorrow."
Islamic Jihad on Tuesday attended a high-level meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization for the first time, as part of President Mahmoud Abbas' efforts to coax militants to join his mainstream group. But the militant group Hamas stayed away and Abbas gave no indication how he could reconcile the Islamic militants' declared dedication to Israel's destruction with the PLO's stated support for peaceful coexistence with the Jewish state. "Definitely, there is a possibility that we can reach an agreement on basic political common denominators," Abbas told reporters after a meeting of his PLO Executive Committee attended by senior Islamic Jihad leader Mohammed al-Hindi.
Abbas' efforts appeared to represent an attempt to bring Hamas and Islamic Jihad into the political mainstream to help his peace efforts with Israel. Israel, however, has called on Abbas to dismantle militant groups rather than embrace them. Hamas and Islamic Jihad, opposed to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, hold to a vision of an Islamic state incorporating what is now Israel.
Talks on whether the two factions would join the PLO kicked off last month in Cairo, where militants agreed to extend until the end of the year a de facto cease-fire with Israel. But after the meeting in Gaza, Hindi said "a long time and much effort" was needed before Islamic factions could agree to membership in the PLO, now led by Abbas following Yasser Arafat's death. The PLO, an umbrella group of secular factions, is the Palestinians' main policy-making body.
This article starring:
MOHAMED AL HINDI
Islamic Jihad
Islamic Jihad
Posted by: Fred ||
03/30/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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The Egyptian authorities, increasingly rattled by pro-reform protests, braced Tuesday for more demonstrations from opposition groups ahead of landmark elections. After hundreds of supporters of the prohibited Muslim Brotherhood movement demonstrated Sunday in defiance of a government ban, another opposition group called for a march in front of Parliament Wednesday. "Besides asking for a parliamentary republic, we will also march in support of civil liberties and freedom of expression," said the leader of Kefaya (enough) - a coalition group of leftists, liberals and Islamists.
Noting the "growing nervousness of authorities in the face of mounting political dissent," George Isaac said he was "shocked by police repression on Sunday," during the Brotherhood's rally. Police deployed en masse Sunday to prevent the Brotherhood's supporters from reaching Parliament where the demonstration was originally set to take place. Positioned in compact squares, helmeted, shield-carrying and club-wielding forces managed to prevent any advances by the protesters. A few hundred marchers, asking for constitutional reforms and the lifting of restrictive emergency laws, managed to gather on the central Ramses Square, a mile away from Parliament, and in two other downtown spots. Fifty were arrested for having overlooked the government's demonstration ban, authorities said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/30/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
We need a good real-world translation of "bracing for [whatever]"... Every time I read such a statement, it is a puzzle, being so heavily dependent upon the locale - whom is doing the bracing and in whose, um, honor they are so bracing. In Egypt, it prolly involves meeting manpower with firepower, methinks.
The banned Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition force, laid out its conditions yesterday for supporting President Hosni Mubarak in this year's presidential elections. The brotherhood will support the candidacy of president Mubarak or his son Jamal, if measures are taken to ensure a smooth presidential election and the state of emergency is lifted," the movement's second-in-command Mohammad Habib said. He stressed that the Muslim Brotherhood was not opposed to the concept of hereditary power, which has been one of the main grievances of the burgeoning opposition reform movement.
"I mean, the caliphs and the sultans used to do it all the time, right? So it's Islamic!"
Although commentators had long predicted Jamal Mubarak was being groomed to take over from his father, the president's son recently announced that he would not run in the vote expected to take place in September. The 76-year-old ruler, who has been in power since Anwar Sadat's assassination in 1981, could yet seek a fifth mandate, although no formal announcement has yet been made. Egyptian police are holding about 200 members and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, detained before and during an attempt to protest outside parliament in favour of reform, the Brotherhood said yesterday.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/30/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
ok ok get your foot off my nuts--your son can be pharoh--i give
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
03/30/2005 0:52 Comments ||
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#2
I think Jamal has concluded hereditary political power will have adverse health consequences of the sisal or 9mm variety.
On the night of Feb. 23, a Taliban bomber sneaked through the vineyards near Kandahar, southern Afghanistan, carrying an explosive device hidden in an old cement sack. He planted his bomb by the road, primed to go off just as a U.S. convoy came rumbling past. The bomber must have thought he was on home turf. His chosen site was just a kilometer or so away from the madrasah where a one-eyed cleric named Mullah Mohammed Omar launched a movement of young religious zealots in 1994. Within two years the Taliban controlled nearly all of Afghanistan, and Omar had forged an alliance with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda forces. But the bomber chose the wrong place. For months, U.S. soldiers have been busy in Omar's village, digging wells, building schools, handing out medicine—even helping to restore the tomb of a Muslim holy man. The troops' efforts to win the hearts and minds of the local people paid off. A shepherd noticed the explosive and told the local police chief. Soon afterward, U.S. Army experts defused the bomb.
That's a small indication of a big change. Six months ago, Afghans around Kandahar were either too loyal to the Taliban, or too scared of them, to have tipped off U.S. soldiers. Sure, bin Laden is still at large, probably hiding somewhere along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, and the trail for him has gone cold. But U.S. military officers, Afghan officials and even several ex-Taliban commanders say that the Taliban itself is on the run. "The Taliban is a force in decline," says Major General Eric Olson, who conducted the U.S. military's counter-insurgency battle in Afghanistan until last month.
The Taliban's fall has been a long time coming. After U.S. forces took Afghanistan in December 2001, many Taliban simply melted away into their villages. But plenty chose to fight on. Using Pakistan as a sanctuary, and recruiting fresh volunteers from seminaries around the Pakistani cities of Quetta and Peshawar, die-hard Taliban commanders led by Omar conducted a jihad against American forces. By late 2002, say Afghan officials in Kabul, nearly half the country was out of bounds to foreign relief missions. And without the lifeline of aid, Afghans saw no point in supporting the U.S.-backed government of President Hamid Karzai.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/30/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Wot about the 'sprink offensive'? NYT.
It sprunk a leak. BTW Omar, you ugly and stop wimking at me!
#2
What turned the tide? In a word, nation building. Winning over the Afghans by piecing together their war-shattered country has done more to weaken the Taliban and al-Qaeda than any military operation, say Afghan and American officials. U.S. troops who arrived in Afghanistan expecting to battle Taliban in the ravines now find themselves instead in grim, barren places like Omarâs village laying irrigation pipe. And once the villagers began trusting the Americans, say Afghan officials, they slowly abandoned support for the Taliban.
#4
LH - that works in some places, in others you have to kick abdul in the head a few times before they get it. Think the Paleos would appreciate IDF crews putting in sewer and water lines?
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/30/2005 9:54 Comments ||
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#5
Point noted LH but you can't lay pipe or repair/build infrastructure of any kind without security being in place.
This is BS. The first step has been kicking out the Taliban. The second step is showing the locals YOU are the strong horse and that you are not going away. You can do all the nation building you want, people will not turn the guerillas if they think in a couple years you will abandon them to the tender mercies of Mullah Omar. Nation building can give people reasons to side with you but they will not lift a finger as long as they think this would be a death sentence upon them.
#8
The 1st intifada was started precisely because the Israelis where winning Pal hearts and minds by building roads, putting in sewers, etc. Sometimes, you just need to kill all of the assholes.
#9
Correction 11A5S - If you want to do the job right the first time and they are really unreformed a-holes, then you just plain need to kill them and let everybody know you did it and why.
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.
A conference of academics and intellectuals, including a number of Nobel laureates, got under way Tuesday in the U.A.E. to discuss issues of environment, conflict, education, trade restrictions, innovation, cultural diversity, youth, and scientific research and development. The four day "Festival of Thinkers" organized by the Higher Colleges of Technology and held under the patronage of Sheikh 
The much-awaited expansion and reshuffle of the Shoura Council which is expected next week will witness the induction of 110 new members, press reports said yesterday quoting informed sources. Dr. Saleh Bin-Humaid will continue as the council's chairman but his deputy Bakri Shatta and Secretary-General Dr. Hamoud Al-Badr — both have completed three terms — will be replaced, the sources said. The reshuffle will also see more powers vested in the council, the sources told Okaz newspaper. These may include debating annual government budgets before their announcement, they said.
A top Gulf charity official yesterday charged that Muslim charity organisations were being "crushed" by Western countries to "prevent" unity and solidarity among Muslim nations. Dr Ajeel Al Nashmi, head of the Kuwait-based International Commission of Zakat (Alms) Issues, said that Jews were behind the global campaign to connect Muslim charities with terrorism. 
London, UK, March 29 — 
Kyrgyzstan's ousted president, Askar Akayev, put out mixed messages on Tuesday about his willingness to resign, insisting first in a radio interview in Russia that he would not step down but later hinting that he might if given "adequate guarantees." "At this point I am the only popularly elected and legitimate president of the Kyrgyz Republic," Mr. Akayev said in an interview broadcast by Moscow Echo radio. He noted that his mandate would end on Oct. 30 this year. "At the moment, I can see no reasons, no grounds for submitting my resignation," he said.
The European Union said on Tuesday the overthrow of Kyrgyzstan's veteran President 
Iraq's most wanted man, the fugitive Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has been planning a chemical weapons attack in Europe, a German magazine said on Wednesday, citing intelligence sources. "We in Europe have been afraid that a big bang is coming sometime and that Zarqawi is planning it," an official at Germany's BND federal intelligence service told the April edition of the political monthly Cicero.
A couple of hours up the road from where some September 11 hijackers learned to fly, the new head of Aryan Nation is praising them -- and trying to create an unholy alliance between his white supremacist group and al Qaeda. "You say they're terrorists, I say they're freedom fighters. And I want to instill the same jihadic feeling in our peoples' heart, in the Aryan race, that they have for their father, who they call Allah."
WHEN three armour-piercing bullets struck communications equipment on the roof of the United Nations headquarters in Kosovo's regional capital earlier this month, staff there took it as a warning. Once seen as the province's saviour from the hated regime of ex-president Slobodan Milosevic's Serbs, the UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) - which since 1999 has been the area's de facto government - seems to have lost the public's goodwill. 
Investigators probing the UN 
A State Department reception granted to a small U.S.-based Syrian opposition group last week has divided Syrian dissidents, with some expressing concern that Washington is lining up their country as the next candidate for regime change. The Reform Party of Syria (RPS) put out a statement in Beirut hailing its meeting Thursday with deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs Elizabeth Cheney which it said had "had a galvanizing effect on the Syrian community as a whole."
A key ally of Lebanon's resistance has called upon 
Hamas continues to arm itself and strengthen its forces in Gaza during the calm: In the last few days, 600 rifles and many ammunition clips have been smuggled into Gaza from Egypt. Hamas has also been equipping itself with anti-aircraft missiles and has been boosting its long-term development of Kassam rockets. 
In which Mohammad Al Khalil, lecturer, Arabic Studies, Zayed University, Dubai, complains that the involvement of comely young women in Lebanon's demonstrations will offend the sensibilities of the Arab world:
The Egyptian authorities, increasingly rattled by pro-reform protests, braced Tuesday for more demonstrations from opposition groups ahead of landmark elections. After hundreds of supporters of the prohibited 
The banned 
On the night of Feb. 23, a Taliban bomber sneaked through the vineyards near Kandahar, southern Afghanistan, carrying an explosive device hidden in an old cement sack. He planted his bomb by the road, primed to go off just as a U.S. convoy came rumbling past. The bomber must have thought he was on home turf. His chosen site was just a kilometer or so away from the madrasah where a one-eyed cleric named Mullah Mohammed Omar launched a movement of young religious zealots in 1994. Within two years the Taliban controlled nearly all of Afghanistan, and Omar had forged an alliance with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda forces. But the bomber chose the wrong place. For months, U.S. soldiers have been busy in Omar's village, digging wells, building schools, handing out medicine—even helping to restore the tomb of a Muslim holy man. The troops' efforts to win the hearts and minds of the local people paid off. A shepherd noticed the explosive and told the local police chief. Soon afterward, U.S. Army experts defused the bomb.
