Al-Ahmar describes US spokesman statement as meddling in Yemeni affairs
SANA'A - Speaker of Parliament Sheikh Abdullah bin Hussein Al-Ahmar expressed his amazement at a statement published in Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper and attributed to a US spokesman, revealing unconventional diplomatic contacts between the US and Yemeni officials. Sheikh Al-Ahmar said the Sana'a US ambassador's meetings with sheikhs and heads of parties and non-governmental organization representatives without informing official bodies did not concord with accepted diplomatic principles that require ambassadors and other diplomatic to go through official channels when making such contacts.
#1
I will say for GWB that he has an uncanny ability to keep these dictators both on their toes and unbalanced. Very discreetly for a while now we have been carrot-and-sticking the Yemenese into getting their house in order. In many ways they are doing so, but their government is still rife with rotten apples that need to be purged. We are just letting everybody concerned know that the essense of democracy is that you do your job better than the other guy, or the other guy gets your job.
#2
Sheikh Abdullah has been known to call the U.S. "bloodsuckers" and worse. I don't know what diplomatic channels you have to go through to get that kind of rhetoric OKed, but...
Eight suspects accused of joining a terror group that allegedly planned to attack U.S. troops in Kuwait testified Saturday that they were forced to confess after their families were threatened with harm.
"'Fess up, or Mom gets it!"
The suspects, among 22 total, all pleaded innocent when the trial opened last month. They were also accused of killing policemen in a series of deadly clashes this year in this small, oil-rich country.
"They forced us to do that, too!"
In an earlier hearing, seven other the defendants had told the court that they also confessed under duress; four of them removed their shirts in the courtroom to display scars on their backs.
Classic Jihadi 101..."The State beat me up."
Hussam Youssef Abdul-Rahim, a Jordanian defendant, said state security threatened to sexually abuse his wife, who was detained in another room, if he didn't say he knew that members of the group - who once lived in his apartment - had fought battles with police.
"Hrarrr! That's right! We'll have our way with the wench!"
"I asked them to have mercy on me because I had undergone an operation on my right testicle, so they lashed me on it with a stick," he said.
"Ow."
I'm comfortably certain that hurts.
Just reading the words brought tears to my eyes, even while I remained comfortably apathetic. Strange, conflicting emotion and lack thereof...
The gang's alleged ringleader, Amer al-Enezi, was captured in one of the clashes in January and died in a hospital of what the Interior Ministry said was a
*Ahem*
heart attack.
Ultimately, any form of death can be put down to heart failure, can't it?
Majed Mayyah al-Mutairi, one of the suspects, testified Saturday that he was brought to visit Al-Enezi and that the leader had been "cut to pieces."
Note: if your name is Enezi or Mutairi, you're GUILTY. Go directly to jail and moulder there for the rest of your inbred life. Insh'allah.
Al-Mutairi, 33, said he himself was not beaten but it "was enough" for him to see the tortured ringleader to sign a false confession.
"Sign here, lad, or you're next!... Mahmoud, get him some more Depends!"
The majority of those in custody face the death sentence or life in prison if convicted. Most of the defendants are charged with joining the Lions of Peninsula, a group "based on extremist ideology" and rebellious against state institutions.
Kuwaiti Cadre of Al-Q.
Four policemen and eight suspected terrorists believed connected to the group were killed in clashes across the country in January. The shootouts brought terrorism to the streets of Kuwait for the first time.
KUWAIT CITY - Kuwait's public prosecutor demanded Saturday the death penalty for 34 of 37 militants suspected of links to Al Qaeda and deadly clashes with police in January as their trial resumed here. The request for the death sentences against 34 militants, including a woman, came in the charge sheet.
Most excellent.
The charges include joining an illegal extremist group, the Peninsula Lions Brigade, reportedly linked with the Saudi Al-Haramain Brigades and Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network. They are also charged with carrying out terrorist acts, participating in the killing of several policemen and plotting to attack US forces and citizens in the oil-rich Gulf emirate. The trial, which opened on May 24, resumed amid tight security. One of 11 men initially tried in absentia, Nuri Mutashar Mudallal, turned himself in during the hearing. Mudallal, 30, is one of seven bidoon, or stateless Arabs, in the group. Twenty-five defendants are Kuwaitis, two Jordanians and one each from Saudi Arabia, Australia and Somalia, the case documents showed. Most of the suspects are accused of involvement in four gunbattles with Kuwaiti security forces in January that left four police officers dead and 10 others wounded. Eight militants were killed in the fighting, while the alleged leader of the group died in police detention eight days after his arrest on January 31.
This article starring:
NURI MUTASHAR MUDALLAL
Peninsula Lions Brigade
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/12/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
carry through to the finish and I'll be impressed
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/12/2005 12:20 Comments ||
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"...an illegal extremist group, the Peninsula Lions Brigade, reportedly linked with the Saudi..."
Always the Saudi's. Some day people are going to collect pieces of Saudi glass just for that cool glow-in-the-dark characteristic it will have.
Posted by: Tom ||
06/12/2005 14:40 Comments ||
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#3
Some day people are going to collect pieces of Saudi glass just for that cool glow-in-the-dark characteristic it will have.
Good one. That goes on my Cool and Pointed Sayings of Truth list.
Posted by: too true ||
06/12/2005 18:10 Comments ||
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France is adopting a tougher immigration policy by introducing a quota system for immigrants with professional skills and accelerating the expulsion of illegal entrants.
The move, announced by the government yesterday, is partly in response to the voters' "revolt" in the referendum of May 29 in which they rejected the European Union's constitutional treaty. Illegal immigration and unemployment were two of the main causes of voter discontent, fanned by far-right political parties.
Dominique de Villepin, prime minister, said the new policy would be aligned more closely to the demands of the French economy. It would also help relieve some of the pressure on the job market, helping reduce an unemployment rate that stands at 10.2 per cent.
"There are no quotas by ethnic origin or nationality. That is not in the spirit of our country. We are faithful to a humanist tradition," he said. "France has the right and the duty to control its immigration policy with criteria adapted to its needs and its principles," a government statement said.
One of the points Mr de Villepin - appointed last week with a mission to cut French unemployment and unite a divided nation - said he wanted the plan to achieve was to decide how to adapt "our immigration practice to the needs of the French economy".
Nicolas Sarkozy, interior minister, said the government wanted to fix an annual quota for immigrants with different categories of professional qualifications. The categories would be approved by parliament each year. The policy would operate in a similar way to the Canadian system, he said, in which immigrants were assessed according to their education, language skills, age, work experience, and capacity to adapt.
This would enable France to move from a policy of "immigration by submission" to one of "immigration by choice", he said.
Mr Sarkozy said he also wanted to increase the expulsion rate for clandestine immigrants by 50 per cent from 15,000 a year to 22,500. "France can only remain generous if those who are here in violation of our rights and our laws are returned home," he said.
It is estimated that there may be up to 400,000 illegal immigrants in France.
The tougher policy has attracted the criticism of human rights organisations, which have contrasted it with the amnesty policy adopted in Spain.
Both Mr de Villepin and Mr Sarkozy, who are potential rivals in the presidential elections of 2007, are keen to signal their tough stance on immigration to head off criticisms from the far right. Mr de Villepin, previously interior minister, was appointed prime minister following the referendum defeat.
Posted by: too true ||
06/12/2005 13:40 ||
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#1
This is pure window dressing, Sark and co are trying to "look tough" on that matter.
Basing on an article I read, official immigration (that is, not counting the illegals) went from 192.000 in 1999 to 341.000 in 2003, the bulk or it being non-workers brought by "family reunion" (173.000 in 2003), plus asylum seekers (80.000) and students (55 000), most of which stay in France whatever.
Economical immigration, ie workers, to which thoses quota would apply concerned only 6500 in 2003.
French immigration is not a work immigration like in the USA, but a settlement immigration, period, as acknowledged recently by the gvt (Sarkosy IIRC), only 5% of it can be considered a work immigration, the rest living off social redistribution.
There is at the very minimum a 300 000 immigration each year (counting the illegals), the higher end being 400 000+. There are 750 000 birth, an estimated 30-35% of which being from non-european parents. Newly arrived "settlers" tend to have an higher birthrate than in their own native country, having access to parental subsidies and free medecine.
In 2003, only 17% of the illegals expulsions were effectively carried out.
You do the calculation.
For thoses who can read french, an excellent article by Maxime Tandonnet, an immigration specialist :
www.autre-europe.org/doc/intervtandonnet09.doc (.doc)
or http://66.102.9.104/search?
q=cache:o2U8I6EdBP8J:www.autre-europe.org/doc/intervtandonnet09.doc
+maxime+tandonnet&hl=fr&start=1&lr=lang_fr(Google html)
Two asylum-seekers turned the tables on two German skinheads who chased them with baseball bats and knives, police in the western German city of Dortmund said on Friday. The victims, from Turkey and the former Yugoslavia, ran into their refugee hostel for help. The residents emerged armed with clubs, a broomstick and a lamp and defeated the two 23-year-old racists. An inquiry has been opened against the two skinheads as well as the Yugoslav. Police said he exceeded his right to self-defence by continuing to club an attacker who was prone on the ground.
It's beginning.
Posted by: too true ||
06/12/2005 09:49 ||
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...Filmed in my old neighborhood in Cleveland, too. I watch it every year and it's just like a trip home. And remember - it's fra-GEE-lay!
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
06/12/2005 14:46 Comments ||
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#5
I guess the Skinhead just lay there like a slug. It was his only defense.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
06/12/2005 19:28 Comments ||
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#6
I just wish I could finder a copy of the Phantom of the Open Hearth... don't tell me there's no such a pictuure, I've seen it, just can't remember when....
HAMBURG - Mounir al-Motassadeq, 31, the student currently on trial a second time for his alleged role in the September 11, 2001 attacks, will resist German efforts to deport him to Morocco, his lawyer was quoted saying on Saturday.
"Hey! You can't send me there!"
This week legal counsel for another student, Abdel-Ghani Mzoudi, 32, had said their client would voluntarily return to Morocco soon.
"I' goin' back to turban territory!"
His acquittal on terrorism and accessory-to-murder charges was confirmed on appeal by Germany's high court. The news weekly Der Spiegel quoted a lawyer saying Motassadeq insisted on staying in Germany till he had completed a degree at a technical university in suburban Hamburg. The story was released two days before Der Spiegel's publication Monday. The lawyer, Udo Jacob, said Motassadeq would resist a deportation order served on him last year "to the last court of appeal". That order is currently in suspense while Motassadeq, who is free on bail, participates in his own trial for being a member of a terrorist organization. Prosecutors say he knew of the plot and helped three of the 9-11 suicide pilots who were Hamburg students. Under current scheduling, a verdict is expected in August. He was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in jail at his first trial, but the verdict was quashed on appeal.
Hamburg officials say that even without a conviction for plotting the attacks on New York and Washington, there are ample grounds to deport both Moroccans. Evidence showed both attended Al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. The Spiegel online news service said earlier it was not clear what would happen to the men in Morocco, but that Morocco had been known to hand over terrorism suspects to US authorities who took them to third countries for the Central Intelligence Agency to question.
Perhaps we could finish his 'education' at the University of Diego Garcia.
This article starring:
ABDEL GHANI MZUDI
al-Qaeda
MUNIR AL MOTASADEQ
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/12/2005 00:00 ||
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I hear that school has an excellent solitary confinement independent studies program. Good for Mounir!
According to the log, al-Qahtani experienced several of those over the next five weeks. The techniques Rumsfeld balked at included ''use of a wet towel or dripping water to induce the misperception of suffocation.'' And I thought Rumy was a tough guy. ''Our Armed Forces are trained,'' a Pentagon memo on the changes read, ''to a standard of interrogation that reflects a tradition of restraint.'' Nevertheless, the log shows that interrogators poured bottles of water on al-Qahtaniââ¬s head when he refused to drink. Interrogators called this game ''Drink Water or Wear It.'' I believe they call this the American Water Torture
Dripping Water or Playing Christina Aguilera Music: After the new measures are approved, the mood in al-Qahtaniââ¬s interrogation booth changes dramatically The reporter was an embed. He knows the mood exactly. Well, actually he was getting telemetry from al-Q's mood ring.. The interrogation sessions lengthen. The way classes lengthen from middle school to high school and high school to college. The quizzing now starts at midnight Yikes, all-nighters!, and when Detainee 063 dozes off, interrogators rouse him by dripping water on his head or playing Christina Aguilera music That's a Geneva buster, fer sher. . According to the log, his handlers at one point perform a puppet show ''satirizing the detaineeââ¬s involvement with al-Qaeda. They should have replayed Mr. Rogers and his little king puppets. That's PBS approved. '' He is taken to a new interrogation booth, which is decorated with pictures of 9/11 victims, American flags and red lights. He has to stand for the playing of the U.S. national anthem.Yup, just like my high school His head and beard are shaved. He is returned to his original interrogation booth. A picture of a 9/11 victim is taped to his trousers. Al-Qahtani repeats that he will ''not talk until he is interrogated the proper way.'' "Put him in the chopper, boys." At 7 a.m. on Dec. 4, after a 12-hour, all-night session, he is put to bed for a four-hour nap, TIME reports.
And on and on.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
06/12/2005 14:52 ||
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#1
Sorry,but taping a picture of a 9/11 victim to his trousers fails my BS detector. Once something that inane is "reported" as fact,I automaticaly think the rest of the story is bogus.
Posted by: Stephen ||
06/12/2005 15:37 Comments ||
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#2
Quit yer bitching, Time Magazine....or we'll make them listen to Britney.....
#4
Still the same Lefty BS, double-standard, and hypocrisy as during the Cold War, trying to turn US milfors into a benign police force while every one else can violate human rights as maliciously as they please. The Left is still NOT telling the Moslems to stop presecuting Christians, Jews, or other non-Moslems - its only the US that has to make concessions whilst the Left reserves its right to use force, violence, and destruction.
Posted by: Tom ||
06/12/2005 21:14 Comments ||
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#6
time magazine has changed little since the days of Whitaker Chambers. Still the same old propganda organ of the communist party........any anti-American baloney will do just fine.
Posted by: Tom Dooley ||
06/12/2005 21:37 Comments ||
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The White House is split over whether to close a U.S. detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a Republican lawmaker said on Sunday, as a magazine reported a top al Qaeda suspect interrogated there was made to bark like a dog and subjected to Christina Aguilera music.
U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, chairman of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, said some members of the Bush administration wanted to close the camp to end a high-profile debate over allegations of abuse at Guantanamo.
The military jail for suspected terrorists has been criticized as a modern "gulag" by Amnesty International, and it has become a hated symbol for many Muslims.
"I think they're divided. I think ... some members of the White House have come to the conclusion that the legend is different than the fact," Hunter, a California Republican, told "Fox News Sunday."
"And when that's the case, you go with the legend that somehow Guantanamo has been a place of abuse. And you close it down and you shorten the stories, you shorten the heated debate and you get if off the table and you move on," he said.
After calls to close the camp from former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and others, President Bush said last week he was "exploring all alternatives." Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, however, said he knew of no one in the administration who was thinking of closing Guantanamo.
A White House spokesman, asked about Hunter's comments, said, "We should never limit our options."
Vice President Dick Cheney told Fox, in an interview on Friday to be broadcast on Monday, there was "no plan to close" Guantanamo, but he cited Bush as saying options were under review "on a continuous basis."
"The important thing here to understand is that the people that are at Guantanamo are bad people," he said.
BARKING, NO PRAYER, AGUILERA MUSIC
Time magazine on Sunday disclosed new details of methods at the camp, citing an interrogation log of al Qaeda suspect Mohammad al-Kahtani. Techniques included inflicting a "sissy slap" with an inflated latex glove, forcing Kahtani to "bark to elevate his social status up to that of a dog," and rejecting a request that he be allowed to pray.
Interrogators also played music by pop singer Christina Aguilera to keep him from dozing off, Time said.
Kahtani, a Saudi citizen, is suspected to have been an intended fifth member of the team that hijacked United Airlines flight 93 during the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the Pentagon said in a statement. He had tried and failed to enter the United States in August 2001, and was captured on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in 2002.
Under questioning, Kahtani "provided valuable information helping the U.S. to understand the recruitment of terrorist operatives, logistics and other planning aspects of the 9/11 terrorist attack," the Pentagon said. It described the document cited in Time as a "compromised classified interrogation log."
The log spanned 50 days in the winter of 2002 and 2003, when Rumsfeld approved more coercive interrogation techniques.
Time said water was poured Kahtani's head to keep him awake in midnight sessions. It also said Kahtani was questioned in a room decorated with pictures of Sept. 11 victims, was made to urinate in his pants, and forced to wear pictures of scantily clad women around his neck.
He asked to commit suicide at one point, and was hooked up to a heart monitor after he became seriously dehydrated from refusing to drink water and his heartbeat slowed, the magazine said.
Posted by: too true ||
06/12/2005 14:21 ||
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"...a 'sissy slap' with an inflated latex glove, forcing Kahtani to 'bark to elevate his social status up to that of a dog,' and rejecting a request that he be allowed to pray. Interrogators also played music by pop singer Christina Aguilera to keep him from dozing off..."
Okay No. 20, it's Christina Aguilera or a firing squad -- take your choice.
Posted by: Tom ||
06/12/2005 14:53 Comments ||
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#2
Kill me now heartless infidels!
Posted by: Abu Schmoo ||
06/12/2005 15:10 Comments ||
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#3
So this is supposed to what....make us feel sorry for the prisoners at Gitmo? Tell that to the poor souls on 911 who had a choice....burn to death or jump 110 stories from the Trade Center buildings as they collapsed.....I refuse to feel story for some gober who is being "tortured" at Gitmo.
#11
Dead fascists tell no tales. Kill 'em first, then no one gets tortured. How 'bout a deadly dose of Aguilera?
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/12/2005 22:19 Comments ||
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#12
Come to think of it, listening to a Carter speech is more deadly than Aguilera, but it is close.
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/12/2005 22:20 Comments ||
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#13
..some members of the Bush administration wanted to close the camp to end a high-profile debate over allegations of abuse at Guantanamo.
If this is what they're actually fretting over, then they need not bother with closing Gitmo. Allegations of "abuse" are going to pop up anywhere terrorist prisoners are housed. Should Gitmo be decommissioned, sooner or later someone is going to claim that Americans "abused" prisoners in some other location.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The CIA and the FBI have for the first time in two decades reached a new wide-ranging agreement on how to coordinate their intelligence activities in a post-Sept. 11 world of increasingly blurred divisions of duty, officials say.
A classified memorandum of understanding, which is under review by senior Bush administration officials, redefines the relationship by which the two agencies have operated worldwide since the Cold War era of the 1980s, officials said.
The document, which was jointly negotiated several weeks ago, is expected to be submitted for approval to the new director of national intelligence, John Negroponte. It is also awaiting the signatures of CIA Director Porter Goss and FBI Director Robert Mueller.
A congressional official who was briefed on the agreement by CIA and FBI representatives said the memorandum marked a major step toward implementing the interagency coordination and information-sharing reforms enshrined in two main post-Sept. 11 laws -- the USA Patriot Act and the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004.
"It deals with who's responsible for recruiting and running human assets both in the United States and overseas," the official said without elaborating.
The heart of the agreement appears to address questions of jurisdiction in cases where individuals of interest to FBI and CIA agents cross international boundaries, the congressional official said.
"If you have a scientist from Botswana who's an expert in biological weapons, and we know he's going to visit New York, do you have the FBI approach him for recruitment or do you have the CIA? That's the kind of thing it addresses," the official said.
"They have a pretty good idea of who does what, where. But they want to make sure it's all properly coordinated so that if the CIA has a counterterrorism asset coming into the United States, they can make sure the FBI doesn't arrest him."
COORDINATING ACTIVITIES
The need for an official working agreement was prompted by the FBI's heightened concentration on counterterrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacked airliner attacks on New York and Washington, officials said.
Ambitious efforts by the FBI to recruit foreigners as spies for use inside the United States, as well as its growing counterterrorism involvement overseas, have been cited by intelligence officials recently as a cause of friction.
"It underscores the need for coordination and cooperation, on which both agencies agree," a CIA official said.
An FBI official described the pact as a basic agreement that was reached several weeks ago.
The FBI and CIA officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement deals with classified material and is not yet final.
Some officials have referred to a rift between the CIA and FBI and the Defense Department due to increased pressure on the federal government to enhance its post-Sept. 11 intelligence capabilities.
Few details of the memorandum's contents were made available, including how the two agencies would modify their traditional relationship which placed the FBI in charge of domestic counterterrorism and counterintelligence activities while the CIA was limited to overseas operations.
Former CIA officer Melissa Boyle Mahle noted in her recent book, "Denial and Deception: An Insider's View of the CIA from Iran-Contra to 9/11" that the FBI and CIA signed a broadly worded memorandum of understanding on counterintelligence coordination in 1988.
Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives took steps to shore up the CIA's role in overseas human intelligence last week by proposing a bill that would put all such activities under the CIA director.
"That's mainly aimed at DOD," the congressional official said. "Overseas, the FBI willingly says the CIA has primacy."
The New York Times reported over the weekend that the FBI had also agreed under White House pressure to establish a new national security division and allow Negroponte to help Mueller choose the bureau's intelligence chief.
Negroponte oversees all 15 spy agencies in the sprawling U.S. intelligence community from a position created by last year in response to huge intelligence lapses surrounding the Sept. 11 attacks and false U.S. assertions that prewar Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.
Posted by: too true ||
06/12/2005 14:14 ||
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KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) - Sen. Mel Martinez said the Bush administration should consider closing the Guantanamo Bay prison for terrorism suspects - the first high-profile Republican to make the suggestion. ``It's become an icon for bad stories and at some point you wonder the cost-benefit ratio,'' Martinez said Friday. ``How much do you get out of having that facility there? Is it serving all the purposes you thought it would serve when initially you began it, or can this be done some other way a little better?''
Sure, we can close it. Options: 1) shoot all the cons 2) move them to Bagram 3) move them to an undisclosed location 4) move them to Antartica.
Martinez served in President Bush's first cabinet and is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Martinez, who strongly supported Bush's efforts in Iraq during his campaign last year, also expressed concerns about progress in the war. ``I am discouraged by how long it has taken for us to begin to draw down some forces,'' Martinez said at the annual Florida Society of Newspaper Editors/Florida Press Association convention.
He said he has had to write many condolence letters to the families of Floridians killed in Iraq. ``It brings home the importance of the decision to send men and women to go to war,'' he said. ``It has become a foreign fighters' war against us there and the progress seems slow and difficult.''
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/12/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
WTF is wrong with our senate? It seems like the victory of 2004 has made them lose their sacks. Is this guy trying to lose the war for us?
#3
He said he has had to write many condolence letters to the families of Floridians killed in Iraq. ``It brings home the importance of the decision to send men and women to go to war,'' he said. ``It has become a foreign fighters' war against us there and the progress seems slow and difficult.''
If you close Gitmo, all those Floridian combats deaths will be a meangingless statistic. Please do not dishonor them or their deaths by shutting down Gitmo. Let us honor them by completing the mission those brave and honorable men and woman embarked on voluntarily and by winning this war.
And Mel, news in wartime is often bad, and in these times magnified beyond any reason and perspective by our fifth column media. What will determine the character of this nation is how it slogs on in despite any apparent adversity.
This isn't SNES where we can win a war by intense activity for a few hours.
Posted by: Rafael ||
06/12/2005 1:11 Comments ||
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#5
How many prisoners can we afford to house at Gitmo and how useful is the intelligence they provide us after a period of time? I think Martinez is right to question the long term usefulness of Gitmo.
If you close Gitmo, all those Floridian combats deaths will be a meangingless statistic
I think you are romanticizing the signifigance of Gitmo.
#7
Look, the only damn way to determine its long-term is to know, quite frankly, what became known as a result of the Gitmo detainees, and dammit but I sure as hell don't want to know!
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
06/12/2005 3:18 Comments ||
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#8
One posibility is Gitmo is kept as a lightening rod for those who will criticize anyway and the really bad guys are held elsewhere Bagram? Diego Garcia? Which almost never mentioned except in extreme leftwing sites.
#12
My argument is simple: Any complaints about GitMo, as transparently humanely as the detainees have been treated, is fifth column propaganda. No one in their right mind thinks anything worse will befall these guys while in US custody than some mussed hair and maybe a dirty look from armed guards.
Funny how liberals like to mention "cost-benefit." It makes them sound as though they are being sensible and conservative, more so than conservatives. However, my experience has been the truth is far, far more mundane and boring than the lies being repeated by Amnesty et al, and no amount of posturing or using economic terms to bolster a terribly weak argument will clear away the fact that once those prisoners at Gitmo are released they will resume their illegal war against us and more people, preferably in the liberal mind, Americans, will die as a direct result.
#14
I agree with Phil_b, let all the bitching and whining go towards Gitmo. The fact that we hear anything good or bad tells you that there is little to hide. The worst thing I heard come out of gitmo was that some prisoner got roughed up AFTER attacking the guards. If you really want to mess these guys up, release them into GenPop in any State prison. They would demand to be sent back to Gitmo after a couple of days of beatings and sodomy at the hands of the gangs inside. Also we could just line them all up and execute the whole bunch. I wonder if we would draw as much anger as China and Iran do get when they hold mass executions. I think a precident has been set here.
#15
Why don't we just outsource GITMO to Sans Francisco? Lonely boys and lonely nights will finally end all the atrocity stories buggering us in the international press arena, the ACLU will be happy because there will be no moral standard at all, Amnesty International will be openly allowed to dress in drag and make frequent and intimate visits to the poor boys, the Mooslim redicals will be happy to regain the male bonding they ache so much for, and we don't have to pay out a pension to the outsourced staff. When the GITMO rats are finally deemed harmless and redeemed before the true creator of man and the true people he created then they can limp wrist themselves to Sans Francisco and be happy and gay once again. Its all twisted i realize, but have you ever been over there? Now thats a twisted experience!
#16
Simple solution...vote on closing Gitmo and if it passes relocate the jihadists to the districts represented by every traitorous senator who voted to close it. Make this the plan and make it public BEFORE the vote - then lets see what happens. Bastids.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
06/12/2005 15:07 Comments ||
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#17
Funny how liberals like to mention "cost-benefit."
I've never heard liberals ever worrying about the costs of anything, along as the bill is being paid for by taxpayers. Maybe you know more fiscally responsible liberals than I do.
What intel do we get from Gitmo detainees? Maybe we just shoot AQ jihadists rather than taking them prisoner and warehousing them at great expense to the US taxpayer indefinitely.
As for folks who think that these Gitmo detainees are a "threat" to America's survival - hum, guess you haven't heard but there are graver threats here already in the form of 8,000-10,000 M-13 gang members, who have known links as well as sympathies with AQ, and who have settled in the USA courtesy of our open borders politicians, both Democrats and Republicans, with President Bush being one of the more vocal open borders advocates. There's greater immediate dangers to American citizens' lives stateside from M-13 violence, I'll wager, than from the majority of low lives housed at Gitmo, which number around 600.
Mr Wolfowitz says Africa is facing an "extraordinary moment in history"
Paul Wolfowitz has arrived in Nigeria at the start of a week-long trip to Africa, his first overseas mission as head of the World Bank.
Mr Wolfowitz will also visit Burkina Faso, Rwanda and South Africa in a clear attempt to signal that Africa is at the top of the agency's priorities.
The ex-Pentagon chief's appointment was criticised by development bodies which questioned his credentials for the job. Right. The guy only has a PhD in political science and economics and served as Dean of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins after serving as ambassador to Indonesia and assistant SecState for East Asia/Pacific affairs. Idiots.
Mr Wolfowitz has stressed that poverty reduction in Africa is his main goal.
Clear signal
His visit comes on the back of an historic agreement by the G8 group of nations on Saturday to cancel $40bn of debt owed by 18 of the world's poorest countries, including Burkina Faso and Rwanda.
Tackling poverty in Africa through a combination of debt relief, increased aid and trade initiatives will be top of the agenda at next month's G8 summit in Gleneagles which Mr Wolfowitz will attend.
This visit to Africa signals willingness from Mr Wolfowitz to listen but it must translate into real change in World Bank policy
Oxfam spokesperson
During his seven-day visit Mr Wolfowitz will meet political and community leaders in each of the four countries and view World Bank funded projects supporting infrastructure and medical facilities.
Officials said Mr Wolfowitz's first visit had been to a group of Fulani nomads on the outskirts of the Nigerian capital, Abuja.
"His first assignment of visiting the poor cattle rearers near Abuja is an indication that under his tenure at the World Bank, the poor in Africa and the developing world can enjoy a new lease of life," a member of Mr Wolfowitz's entourage told Agence France Presse.
Mr Wolfowitz's appointment as president of the world's leading development agency in April provoked a storm of controversy.
Critics pointed to his role as chief architect of the Iraq war when he was deputy US defence secretary and his lack of specific development experience.
Mr Wolfowitz has since sought to reassure sceptics that, under his leadership, the World Bank's primary focus would continue to be on poverty reduction, particularly in Africa.
Last week he said the international community was facing an "extraordinary moment in history" in terms of its support for Africa.
Action needed
However, charities and development bodies said Mr Wolfowitz needed to back up his words with actions.
Oxfam called on him to secure increased investment in education and healthcare, particularly treatment for HIV-AIDS.
"This visit to Africa signals willingness from Mr Wolfowitz to listen to poor men and women in Africa but it must translate into real change in World Bank policy," said a spokesperson for the charity.
"The Bank must stop enforcing blanket trade liberalisation policies on poor countries that leave them unable to compete with rich producers."
Posted by: too true ||
06/12/2005 13:44 ||
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From Geostrategy-Direct, EFL, subscription req'd.
A flurry of high-level Turkish delegations to China this year are among the indications the two nations are significantly increasing security cooperation.
The increased security relationship was part of a decision by Ankara and Beijing to forge strategic cooperation, Turkish officials said. This cooperation would encompass defense and military ties as well as joint industrial projects. So how can we be allies with Turkey when they can take our intel and weapons systems (inc. NATO) and pass it along to the ChiComs?China has expressed interest in procuring advanced technology from Turkey, particularly in the area of electronic warfare, they said, while Turkey has sought to purchase medium-range air defense systems from China. Against whom will they use them? The Greeks?Turkish Gendarmerie Commander Gen. Fevzi Turkeri has been touring China and meeting with the nation's security chiefs to discuss joint projects for next year.
Officials said Turkeri, who met Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan, has sought to begin joint police training, exercises, intelligence sharing and joint investigations. [*snip*]
"We have always emphasized the importance of international cooperation against global crimes threatening humanity such as organized crime and drug smuggling," Turkeri said. Nice cover, Turkeri. You have all the buzzwords covered.
The Turkish commander said the militaries of China and Turkey have been growing closer since 1999. Turkeri predicted that military relations would reach a "much improved level."
Earlier this year, Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul and air force commander Gen. Ibrahim Firtina visited China and discussed arms sales. In late May, Chinese Chief of Staff, Gen. Liang Guanglie visited Turkey and reviewed similar issues.
On June 12, Turkish President Ahmet Sezer was scheduled to begin a state visit to China. Sezer's schedule has not yet been released.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/12/2005 13:28 ||
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Hey, I'll be willing to bet, that the Chinese will be a lot more willing to let Turkey join with China than with the EU...
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
06/12/2005 17:57 Comments ||
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JAKARTA, June 11 (Bernama) -- Indonesia shares the Malaysian view that the task of maintaining security in the Melaka Straits does not require the involvement of troops from any major power but it was the joint responsibility of the three littoral states namely Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
At the same time, however, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that if there were other countries that wished to contribute in boosting patrolling capacity in the busiest sea lane in the world, such assistance was most welcome.
"However, President Susilo stressed that whatever equipment and system contributed by the foreign powers must be handled by operators from the three littoral states," Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) Chief Laksamana Tan Sri Mohd Anwar Mohd Nor told Bernama, here Saturday. This was stated by Susilo yesterday at the approximately 45-minute meeting with Mohd Anwar who was making his first visit to Indonesia since being appointed to the post last month.
Also present at the meeting were Indonesian Armed Forces Chief Jen Endriartono Sutarto and ATM's Director-General of Defence Intelligence Lt Jen Datuk Wan Abu Bakar Omar. Mohd Anwar said Susilo also wanted the armed forces chiefs of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore to hold a meeting to discuss in more detail how to increase the effectiveness of the coordinated joint operations "Malsindo", carried out by the three littoral states.
He said if the three armed forces chiefs could not meet at least once in six months, then the working groups of the three armed forces should meet. In addition, he said Susilo was of the opinion that patrolling efforts by the three countries in the Melaka Straits must be able to convince the international community especially the merchant ships plying the route.
Mohd Anwar said Susilo also wanted the sharing of information especially early intelligence reports on ships carrying dangerous equipment or materials passing through the Melaka Straits to be boosted.
"This is to enable the three countries to launch integrated operations to tackle the problem," he said.
Replying to questions why Japan and the United States were very keen to participate in security patrols in the Melaka Straits, Mohd Anwar said this was because many merchant ships from both countries were using the straits.
"The incident where one Japanese ship was attacked by pirates in the Melaka Straits with its crew being held hostage for ransom recently prompted that country to look for the best approach. They have the perception that the three littoral states do not have the capacity yet and they wish to help," he said.
However, he said, whatever assistance to be given must get the agreement of Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
A court in India acquitted eight people Saturday who were blamed for planting a bomb in a bus in the western commercial centre of Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, in 2002 that killed two and injured 50. The accused, all Muslims, were acquitted by judge A.P. Bhangale who said the prosecution had failed to prove the charges.
Better luck next bomb!
Police had sought to build a case that the accused planned the December 2002 bus blast to avenge the deaths of hundreds of Muslims who died in Hindu-Muslim riots in February 2002 in neighbouring Gujarat state. The prosecution's case suffered a setback in March when key witnesses failed to identify the accused. The sprawling commercial centre of Mumbai, which is also famous for its shadowy underworld, has seen several bombings in the past and was rocked in 1993 by a series of blasts which killed some 250 people and injured over 1,000. The 1993 blasts were termed an act of revenge by Muslim mafia for the demolition of an ancient mosque by Hindu fanatics a few month earlier. Several top underworld bosses, who fled the country after the attacks, face charges over the blasts. In August 2003, two huge car bombs — one of them outside the city's famous Gateway of India monument — killed 52 people and injured 150.0. Police have blamed Muslim underground figures and Kashmiri militants for most of the blasts.
Hollywood actor Sean Penn, adopting the role of a journalist, scribbled in his notebook as Friday prayer worshippers in Tehran chanted "Death to America." Penn, 44, in Iran on a brief assignment for the San Francisco Chronicle ahead of presidential elections on June 17, may be one of the best known faces in film, but he went unrecognized by the 6,000 faithful at Tehran University. Working with a translator, Penn took copious notes as hardline cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati urged the congregation to vote en masse "to make America angry."
The actor, who visited Iraq before and after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 and wrote an account of his second trip for the Chronicle, told Reuters he had decided to come to Iran because of growing tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2005 09:21 ||
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Excellent work agent Penn. A medal is waiting for your great success in scouting pre-invasion targets. The Army will follow shortly.
Posted by: ed ||
06/12/2005 10:00 Comments ||
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Islamic law brings death, suffering to non-Muslims
More than 10,000 Christians have been killed since 1999, the year Islamic "Sharia law" was introduced in Nigeria, according to Voice of the Martyrs, a group that aids the persecuted church around the world.
Nearly 1,000 homes and churches have been burned down by Muslim radicals — with a wink and a nod from a government that doesn't recognize the rights of non-Muslims.
The war on Christians began in 1999 when Alhaji Ahmed Sani assumed the office of governor in Nigeria's Zamfara state. Just five months later, he introduced Sharia law. Soon 11 other northern Nigerian states, all with Muslim majorities, followed Zamfara's lead and implemented some form of the harsh Islamic legal code.
Sharia is based on the Quran and Hadith, the Islamic sacred book and teachings. It imposes a strict code of conduct on the population. For example, if an individual is convicted of stealing, the punishment is amputation of his hand. In the case of adultery, the punishment is death by stoning.
"If you go around villages, you will see people missing one hand or one foot," explained Rev. Obiora Ike. "Do you think that's the result of an illness? That is the result of Sharia Law."
Christians in the country say the imposition of Sharia law has resulted in a wave of violence and attacks against them, their homes, churches and villages as the militants wage jihad, or holy war, against them.
Sharia law permits violent attacks against non-Muslims and the killing of former Muslims who have converted to Christianity or other faiths. The destruction of churches and the prohibition of new church constructions are considered legitimate actions.
Recently, before a large crowd, the Zamfara state government recently held a five-year anniversary to celebrate the implementation of Sharia. Governor Ahmad Sani recalled why Sharia was introduced into the state: to satisfy the desire of the people for governance by the "laws of Allah ⊠to cleanse society of social and moral vices like alcoholism, gambling, theft, armed robbery, prostitution, bribery, corruption and deceit."
Muslim zealots are being financed by Saudis who want to Islamicize the entire African continent.
The implementation of Sharia has been blamed for the vast violence and deaths occurring not just in Zamfara state, where it was first implemented, but in other states as well.
Earlier this year Muslim militants announced a death sentence on five Christian students expelled from Abubaker Tafawa Balewa University and the Federal Polytechnic in state of Bauchi, in November 2004, for sharing the gospel with Muslim students. Muslims in the schools complained that the Christian students blasphemed the prophet Mohammed.
The families of two of the students, Hanatu Haruna Alkali and Abraham Adamu Misal, were attacked Jan. 26, when militants went to their family homes located in the state of Gombe, in northern Nigeria, with the intent to kill them. Reportedly, Muslim militants have attacked Hanatu's family's house several times, and the family fears for their lives.
Rev. Oludare Aliu, national coordinator of the students' ministry of the Evangelical Church of West Africa, said: "Muslim militants went to Gombe to ⊠kill Hanatu, but fortunately, she was not at home at the time. The family was held at gunpoint. Hanatu's father happens to be a former military officer. He wrestled with the militants and was able to disarm one of them who had a gun. While he was fighting them, one of the militants stabbed Hanatu's mother with a knife. She has been treated for the wounds."
Hanatu is now in hiding. Militants also attacked Abraham Adamu Misal's family. He escaped and is in hiding.
On March 17, in the Nigerian state of Benue, a Christian student, Ngumalen Atser, was raped and poisoned to death by two Muslim men. This incident escalated tension between Muslims and Christians, which led to Muslim militants attacking the villages of Chilakera and Imbufu April 10. Seventeen people, mostly Christians, died.
According to a Compass Direct report on this situation, "Community leaders in Nigeria — both Muslim and Christian — blame the escalating violence on social tensions produced by the implementation of Islamic law in a dozen northern states of Nigeria."
The meeting place of Word of Faith Ministries in the state of Kaduna was burned to the ground that same day — April 10, for the fourth time in five years. However, members of the church have rebuilt every time. No arrests have been made in connection to the arson.
#1
Just more pathetic examples of disaffected peoples cloaking themselves in a religion to validate the oppression and homicide of others not like them... whether its Isalami or Christun or Jewdaism or Hindoo or whatever... all great flavors of spiritual potential and worship of our creator, but always perverted by the perverts sent by Satan himself and hoisted high by the blind and ignorant... not to mention the media too.
#3
"Muslim zealots are being financed by Saudis..."
Saudi business as usual.
Posted by: Tom ||
06/12/2005 15:55 Comments ||
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Stupid super-religious psychos. Does anybody remember what the JEwish, or Muslim, or Christian, or Catholic, beliefs are all about? Peace. Quit killing, start building.
'course, when's that ever gonna happen?
Posted by: DON KING ||
06/12/2005 17:17 Comments ||
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hmmmm, dunno DON. Islam pays a lot of lip service to peace but the reality of it just doesn't live up. Of course, all of the major religions have had their violent spells - some longer than others. But with Islam, for its entire existence, it has brought suffering, enslavement and death. Does one blame the religion or its patrons? I've wrestled with that one....and in the end is there a difference? Meantime....the killing goes on. The best I can come up with is that we need to eradicate this disease. Do it with a cold, dispassionate focus as one deals with ants in the kitchen. And, while we are doing it, proclaim loud and clear we are doing it because Shari'a goes against the grain of humanity. Provacitive, yes but that helps clarify where one stands. That's jut my "If I were King of the World" take. But then, as the name implies, I am.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
06/12/2005 19:39 Comments ||
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Tensions between the "Accomodationists" and "Rejectionist" factions of the Baathist movement seem to be leading to the possibility of a violent confrontation. The "Accomodationists" support cooperation with the Iraqi government, and support participation in the political process. Given that the Baath Party seems to have stashed away an enormous amount of money, and that Baathists are really the only experienced managers and administrators in the country, following the Accomodationists line could arguably result in a return of the Baathists to power eventually. The Rejectionists are violently opposed to any accommodation with the government, and seek a return to power by force, sooner rather than later.
There have been an increasing number of violent attacks on Accomodationists, or people who appear to be Accomodationists. Until recently, most of the incidents were in the form of attacks on property, threats, and occasional kidnappings for the purpose of intimidation. But lately there have been several killings. The possibility of a serious violent confrontation between the two wings of the Baath movement is increasing.
One reason for the despair within the Baath Party is the improved performance of the Iraqi police. This is no accident. Late last year, two changes were made to how the United States recruited and deployed the Iraqi police. First, standards for recruitment were increased, and training made longer and more intense. As expected, this did not reduce the number of new recruits coming in, because being a cop was still one of the better paying, and available, jobs in the other country. But firing poorly performing cops and police commanders did wonders for the morale and performance of the good cops. The other change was to deploy trained police battalions to areas the cops were not native to. This was a technique even Saddam had to use. If you recruit all the cops from the area they will be working in, too many of those policemen will be corrupted by local criminals and bureaucrats. The corruption wasn't always in the from of cash or favors. Threats against a cops family would work as well. This was what was happening to so many of the police recruited from areas where they were working, particularly in Sunni Arab areas. So the U.S. formed special police battalions, trained them a bit more, screened their commanders more thoroughly, and paid them a bonus to work away from home. These were mainly Kurdish and Shia Arab cops being sent to work in Sunni Arab areas.
Sunni Arab cops needed all the help they could get. The Baath Party, and the most vicious criminal gangs were dominated by Sunni Arabs. Al Qaeda was also a Sunni Arab outfit. It was hard to get Sunni Arab police to come down hard on misbehaving Sunni Arabs. But Kurdish and Shia Arab cops saw cracking down on Sunni Arabs as a rare combination of business and pleasure.
Meanwhile, al Qaeda continues to be its own worst enemy. Unable to make other types of combat work, Al Qaeda has bet everything on the use of car bombs, driven by suicidal foreign volunteers. For all of 2004, there were under 30 car bombs used in Baghdad. But in the last four months, there have been over 130 in Baghdad. Nearly as many have been used in other parts of Iraq in that time period. Even Iraqis who support al Qaeda cannot understand this reliance on car bombs, which kill many innocent bystanders, and generate much hatred against al Qaeda, and Sunni Arabs in general. But it makes sense if you ignore al Qaeda's English language pronouncements, and look at what they say in Arabic. There, al Qaeda denounces Shia Moslems as heretics and miscreants who must be converted to the true Islam (Sunni Islam), or slaughtered. In Iraq, al Qaeda is mainly sending its car bombs against Shias. It's a matter of practicing what you preach.
Posted by: ed ||
06/12/2005 09:24 ||
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#1
Memo
TO: the mainstream press
FROM: Rantburg
RE: Attached story
We're winning in Iraq. You need to cover things like this better.
Posted by: Mike ||
06/12/2005 9:45 Comments ||
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#2
Garrisoning soldiers outside of their home provinces has been a standard means of maintaining control of the state for thousands of years. That our people did not use this method, choosing instead (until now) to have Sunnis garrison their own territory means either that they were being ultra-nice to the Sunnis just for niceness's sake or that they wanted to keep the Sunnis alive as a political counterweight to the Shias. I hope that it was the latter objective that prompted this policy.
Russia may send humanitarian aid and military advisors to Darfur under the UN aegis, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov announced. "We do not rule out that we will provide humanitarian aid and military advisors within the framework and under the flag of the United Nations," he said. Military advisors are expected to separate the parties and monitor the humanitarian situation, he explained. "But I do not see much sense in investing large resources, because the developments there [in Darfur, western province of Sudan] do not threaten our security and our interests," he added.
Unlike Russia, NATO wants to send as many observers and advisors to new leaders as possible, as well as its own humanitarian aid, Ivanov emphasized. "The civil war in southern Sudan has been going on for 25 years and as far as I know Africa it will go on for as long, no matter what we do. This is an endless conflict," he said.
He's got a point there.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/12/2005 00:44 ||
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An endless conflict but a great training recruiting ground. You are right, This is not good.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
06/12/2005 9:13 Comments ||
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#2
Unless of course they keep those big fuzzy hats on and all their brains fry in the brutal Sudan summer...
#4
Maybe the Ruskies can swing a development program there... a long lasting one. Perhaps in exchange for the uranium ores and minerals in the region can be swapped for building a nuclear power plant to provide electricity to the oppressed and starving masses in their squalor camps and mud and stick hovels. That way the grateful Soodanazi government can keep a better eye on all those non-muslim types running around out there in the wastelands. Ruskies get what they want, the Soodanazis get what they want, the the oppressed get what their oppressors want. And think... what great PR this would bring!
BAGHDAD: Political leaders of Iraq''s Sunni minority rejected a compromise offer on giving them more say in the drafting of a constitution on Friday, reports Reuters.
Oh well. Guess they'll just have to be marginalized for a while. Insh'allan.
Scattered violence, including the discovery of 16 victims of execution-style killings and a gun attack on a Shi''ite mosque in Baghdad, highlighted the dangers if growing friction among Iraq''s religious and ethnic communities. The identities of the dead found at two spots near the Syrian border were unclear. But there were fears for the lives of 20 or more soldiers from the mainly Shi''ite south who were kidnapped nearby, apparently by Sunni al Qaeda fighters.
There is no excuse for soldiers being kidnapped. Our guys walk around with their weapons, armor and a full ammo load at all times. Iraqi soldiers should do the same. If an al-Q fighter tries to kidnap you, grease them. They'll get the idea.
It was not clear how the Shi''ite-dominated National Assembly and government would react to the rejection by the main Sunni political group of an offer of more seats on the parliamentary committee charged with drafting a constitution by Aug. 15. Further wrangling could jeopardize that deadline.
A spokesman for the Gathering of the Sunni People said they would hold out for 25 seats against the 15 on offer. He said they would boycott negotiations if arbitration by a three-person panel consisting of a Sunni, a parliamentary representative and a United Nations official failed to settle the matter. "We will not agree and will not concede any seat," spokesman Adnan al-Dulaimi said. "If they refuse our demand we will resort to arbitration. If they insist then we will suspend our participation."
I smell a compromise at around 18 to 21 seats.
Calls for a boycott and insurgent violence in Sunni areas meant few of the formerly dominant 20-percent minority took part in the Jan. 30 election. Only 17 Sunnis sit in parliament and only two are now on the 55-seat constitutional committee.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/12/2005 00:00 ||
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There is no excuse for soldiers being kidnapped. Our guys walk around with their weapons, armor and a full ammo load at all times. Iraqi soldiers should do the same. If an al-Q fighter tries to kidnap you, grease them. They'll get the idea.
I dunno Steve. I've actually watched foreign soldiers surrender in freakin field exercises. As you do in training, so you do in war.
I guess its just something in the national psyche. I can only see maybe a few nations pulling a FLT 93: the UK, Israel, Australia, Singapore, maybe Mongolia. The rest would just sit there and wait for someone to tell them what to do, or would wring their hands impotently, spending their last moments cursing America for pushing the poor Arabs to this point. It may be better to die standing up than live on your knees, but if you're already living on your knees, why bother to waste the energy standing?
#3
Political leaders of Iraq''s Sunni minority rejected a compromise offer on giving them more say in the drafting of a constitution on Friday, reports Reuters.
Phuck 'em then. This attempt at appeasement has passed, now let them reap the rewards of their actions (and non-actions, as well).
Saddam Hussein's lawyers said they have not yet been given any details of the case against him.
Drive the lawyers out to one of the mass graves. Point. Don't say a word. Repeat daily.
Iraq's government has said the former dictator could go trial within months over alleged crimes against humanity. But the lawyers said they have none of the estimated eight million documents relating to the case, and have not been formally told of the charges. Saddam Hussein has been allowed two meetings with his lawyers since his capture in December 2003. The complaints from his Jordan-based lawyers cast serious doubts on the claim that his trial could begin on schedule, said the BBC's John Leyne in Amman.
I'm not an internationally recognized expert in jurisprudence, but I really do think this is going to be a simple affair.
One doesn't get to be a internationally recognized expert in jurisprudence by keeping things simple, methinks. Somebody's gotta go to the conferences and award ceremonies and CNN.
Conferences and ceremonies? Is that all? Sign me up!
A spokesman for the legal team, Issam Ghazzawi, said recent pictures of Saddam Hussein in his underwear that appeared in the British Sun newspaper showed that the former Iraqi leader''s basic human rights were being violated. "You see that his rights are violated as a human being, not only as a president," Ghazzawi said. "He's not treated well in the prison regarding to his status as prisoner of war and president of Iraq."
With 100% of the vote, remember.
Last week the Iraqi government said Saddam Hussein could face as few as 12 charges when he goes on trial. There had been speculation he might face as many as 500 charges, but an Iraqi spokesman said there was no point "wasting time" with that many.
Somebody has my idea of jurisprudence.
"We are completely confident that the 12 fully documented charges that have been brought against him are more than sufficient to ensure he receives the maximum sentence," government spokesman Leith Kubba told reporters on Sunday. Saddam Hussein would face the death penalty if convicted. On Thursday, Iraq''s Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said he may well be put to death - but only if he is convicted before a transparent trial. "We think that every crime has a proportionate punishment, but there can be no execution without proving the crime," he said.
That's for European consumption.
However, Saddam Hussein's lawyers insist he is innocent of all the crimes of which he is accused - from the gassing of the Kurds to the murder of women and children found in mass graves in southern Iraq.
"Lies! All lies! Hey! Stop laughing at us!"
Ghazzawi said the appropriate channel for the accusations was not through the media, but with a proper indictment issued through the court.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/12/2005 00:00 ||
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However, Saddam Hussein's lawyers insist he is innocent of all the crimes of which he is accused - from the gassing of the Kurds to the murder of women and children found in mass graves in southern Iraq.
#2
Saddam Hussein's lawyers said they have not yet been given any details of the case against him.
Neither was Perry Mason.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
06/12/2005 6:58 Comments ||
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#3
I'll drive into Basra and nose around a little. I'll be back 12 minutes into the trial.
Posted by: P Drake ||
06/12/2005 7:47 Comments ||
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#4
His lawyers are smoking and drinking the same thing Bagdad Bob was. I remember the tanks in the background as Bob was tellin the media they were kicking our ass! Now the legal fools are using the same ploy. This trial will be a simple one that a first year law student could win.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
06/12/2005 9:28 Comments ||
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#5
Left in the dark, eh?
Better they were left in the cell with Soddom. They can all hold hands and sing "We Are Family" - right up until they're all hanged with their client.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/12/2005 15:01 Comments ||
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#6
Left in the dark.
Good. Maybe you can see the ghosts of all the children murdered by the man you are trying to free?
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/12/2005 18:49 Comments ||
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#9
Well Perry, down in Basara there saying it's a done deal. Are you on retainer? Take care of yourself I fear a wheelchairs in your future.
Mum sez HI
Posted by: P Drake ||
06/12/2005 20:12 Comments ||
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DAMASCUS - Syrian Prime Minister Naji al-Otari discussed economic cooperation with two Iraqi ministers on Saturday and said Syria was keen to promote the stability and security of its neighbour.
US officials have repeatedly accused Syria of not doing enough to prevent militants from crossing into Iraq to fight its forces. Syria, which opposed the US-led war in Iraq, says it is cooperating for Iraq stability. "The prime minister emphasised Syria's keenness on the security and stability of Iraq and that its future is set in line with its own will and in the framework of its unity both in terms of territory and people," the official news agency said.
Otari's remarks came after a meeting in Damascus with Iraqi Electricity Minister and Mohsen Shalash and Water Resources Minister Abdul Latif Rasheed. Their visit is the first announced meeting of this level between senior Syrian and Iraqi officials since July 2004 when former caretaker Prime Minister Iyad Allawi visited Damascus to discuss cooperation, especially on security.
The agency said the talks focused on "cooperation between Syria and Iraq and the necessity of developing and enhancing it in a manner that achieves common interests in economy, development, water and power projects". Otari said Syria was willing to "support and respond to the needs of the brethren in Iraq and offer all forms of help required for the reconstruction of facilities and services".
Syrian officials said they were waiting for Iraq to send officials to ink a security cooperation agreement discussed during Allawi's 2004 visit. Syria complains that the United States and Britain did not deliver on a promise to give the Arab state high technology systems to better monitor the desert border that straddles over around 600 km (375 miles).
We can give them to you. In fact, we'll assign US/UK teams to help run the equipment 24/7. For training purposes, of course. How much fairer can we be?
Syria plans to increase the level of diplomatic representation in Iraq to an ambassador, maybe after a possible visit to Damascus by Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari. It has an interests' office in Baghdad eastblished in the era of Saddam, whose chronic tensions with Damascus led to the closure of missions in the early 1980s.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/12/2005 00:00 ||
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A Pakistani woman who was gang-raped on orders from a village council asked the government on Saturday to lift restrictions on her movement, a day after a court ordered the release of a dozen men detained in her high-profile case. Mukhtar Mai, 36, said she had suddenly been included without explanation on a government list of people who cannot leave Pakistan.
"Now, police deployed at my home for my protection are not allowing me to go anywhere," Mai told The Associated Press by phone from Meerwala village, about 565 kilometers (350 miles) southwest of Islamabad where she lives with her family. "I demand that all restrictions on my movement be lifted so that I could travel to Islamabad to meet with my lawyer," she said.
I think Ms. Mai should get a medical visa to come to the US for treatment. She undoubtedly has problems related to her attack that will require therapy for oh, 2 to 3 years. At some point when things are quiet we could grant her and her family asylum. Works for me.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/12/2005 00:00 ||
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Did the Pak government arrange for Mukhtar's rapists to be released so they would have an excuse to keep her 'under protection'?
The Mukhtar Mai case, one of the most sordid high-profile cases in Pakistanâs recent history, seems to be getting even more sordid. On June 10, a full-bench of the Lahore High Court released the 12 accused in the alleged gang-rape case...Insiders, however, say there may be more to it than meets the eye. Amnesty International had invited Mukhtar Mai to an awards ceremony. It seems that the government did not want her to go abroad, fearing that the Western press would write about her ordeal and whatever she might say would be bad for Pakistanâs image. So it decided not to let Mukhtar Mai go abroad by putting her name on the Exit Control List. Interestingly enough, when international pressure on the government to let her go increased, the LHC announced it was releasing the accused. This gave the government an opportunity to quickly cordon off her house and refuse to let her out on the pretext that her security was at risk, following the release of the accused.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
06/12/2005 0:37 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Eight suspects accused of joining a terror group that allegedly planned to attack U.S. troops in Kuwait testified Saturday that they were forced to confess after their families were threatened with harm. 
KUWAIT CITY - Kuwait's public prosecutor demanded Saturday the death penalty for 34 of 37 militants suspected of links to Al Qaeda and deadly clashes with police in January as their trial resumed here. The request for the death sentences against 34 militants, including a woman, came in the charge sheet.
Two asylum-seekers turned the tables on two German skinheads who chased them with baseball bats and knives, police in the western German city of Dortmund said on Friday. The victims, from Turkey and the former Yugoslavia, ran into their refugee hostel for help. The residents emerged armed with clubs, a broomstick and a lamp and defeated the two 23-year-old racists. An inquiry has been opened against the two skinheads as well as the Yugoslav. Police said he exceeded his right to self-defence by continuing to club an attacker who was prone on the ground.
HAMBURG - 
A court in India acquitted eight people Saturday who were blamed for planting a bomb in a bus in the western commercial centre of Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, in 2002 that killed two and injured 50. The accused, all Muslims, were acquitted by judge A.P. Bhangale who said the prosecution had failed to prove the charges.
Russia may send humanitarian aid and military advisors to Darfur under the UN aegis, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov announced. "We do not rule out that we will provide humanitarian aid and military advisors within the framework and under the flag of the United Nations," he said. Military advisors are expected to separate the parties and monitor the humanitarian situation, he explained. "But I do not see much sense in investing large resources, because the developments there [in Darfur, western province of Sudan] do not threaten our security and our interests," he added. 
BAGHDAD: Political leaders of Iraq''s Sunni minority rejected a compromise offer on giving them more say in the drafting of a constitution on Friday, reports Reuters. 
A Pakistani woman who was gang-raped on orders from a village council asked the government on Saturday to lift restrictions on her movement, a day after a court ordered the release of a dozen men detained in her high-profile case. Mukhtar Mai, 36, said she had suddenly been included without explanation on a government list of people who cannot leave Pakistan.
