Chairman of the Syrian-Saudi Businessmen Council Basel al-Ghalayini has stressed that the Syrian-Saudi economic and trade relations are witnessing a remarkable development through the increase of the Saudi concern to invest in Syria.
In a statement to Lebanese ad-Diyar newspaper published Sunday, Ghalayini pointed out that volume of the Saudi investments in Syria have exceeded USD 500 million, asserting that the number will increase by entering the Saudi new investments to Syria.
He stressed that Syria is destination of Saudi jihadis tourists due to its access to Iraq beautiful natural and archeological sites.
#2
Only if Iran signs the papers in time for the closing.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/15/2005 9:03 Comments ||
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#3
Surprizingly, Syria is also a place that Saudis go to escape religious intolerance.
Even though the sharia proponents exist in Syria and are getting more and more pushy, Syria is a land of religious freedom compared to the Magic Kingdom. Thus 'academies' of Sufi, Shia, Druze, Alawite, etc. study have recently been thriving in Syria and many Saudis, who would not be able to study these forms in their homeland, visit Syria for study.
Kuwaiti authorities have nabbed a drug smuggling operation which aimed to sneak one ton of drugs into Kuwait and other Gulf countries by hiding them inside carpets, a police official said yesterday.
Whoa! Dewd! A friggin' ton?
"It was the biggest and most bizarre seizure (of drugs) in the Middle East," Col. Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah was quoted as saying by the KUNA news agency. He did not say what kind of drugs were involved or where they came from, but said they were "placed inside small plastic tubes in a big carpet" and were valued at "millions of (Kuwaiti) dinars." A security source told AFP the consignment was seized at Kuwait airport late Saturday.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2005 00:00 ||
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Authenticity doubful. Take if for what it is worth
The following is a transcript of a speech believed to have been given by Mr. Chi Haotian, Minster of Defense and vice-chairman of Chinaâs Central Military Commission. Independently verifying the authorship of the speech is not possible. It is worth reading because it is believed to set out the CCPâs strategy for the development of China. The speech argues for the necessity of China using biological warfare to depopulate the United States and prepare it for a future massive Chinese colonization. âThe War Is Not Far from Us and Is the Midwife of the Chinese Centuryâ was published on February 15, 2005 on www.peacehall.com and was published on www.boxun.com on April 23, 2005. This speech and a related speech, âThe War Is Approaching Usâ are analyzed in The Epoch Times original article âThe CCPâs Last-ditch Gamble: Biological and Nuclear War.â
Posted by: john ||
08/15/2005 16:16 ||
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#1
Unsurprisingly, this article is blocked by the Great Firewall of China.
#2
gromky: Unsurprisingly, this article is blocked by the Great Firewall of China.
No surprises here. Epoch Times is available in Chinese - the whole website is probably blocked. If you're interested, I've posted this article in its entireity on my blog.
#5
Therefore, our military battle preparation appears to aim at Taiwan, but in fact is aimed at the United States, and the preparation is far beyond the scope of attacking aircraft carriers or satellites.
Posted by: Matt ||
08/15/2005 17:58 Comments ||
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#6
I have read that Epoch Times is a Falungong publication. (FYI, the Falungong is bitterly opposed to the Communist Party because of the Party's relentless persecution). Is this speech Falungong propaganda? Good question...
#8
Unsurprisingly, blogspot.com is blocked, too :)
However, enabling my proxy in the US lets me view it. It's weird, some sites are blocked totally...and some are blocked but viewable by proxy. When I try to view a totally blocked site (BBC), the Great Firewall terminates all connections and doesn't let you reconnect for 5 minutes or so. I'll have an ssh session to the same box my proxy is on, and that gets reset. Annoying.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/15/2005 19:49 Comments ||
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#10
After reading this, it's obvious that it's a forgery. China comparing itself favorably to the Nazis? Come on...evidently this is a smear by the F-G.
#11
First I think this is garbage. The Chinese occasionally allow a general or politician to rant in order to get a scare out with deniability.
Second, the timing couldn't be better, assuming they hadn't announced such a thing in a speech. Who would we naturally blame for a bio attack right now? Islam anyone? Who is a matter of congecture but a badly damaged US would certainly start smashing heads together and China, if done properly, could avoid the blame and perhaps even come out as a good guy if the US went overboard in our anger.
That of course is the kind of thing we'd nuke Bejing over though, so its unlikely to be found in a speech.
#13
gromky: After reading this, it's obvious that it's a forgery. China comparing itself favorably to the Nazis? Come on...evidently this is a smear by the F-G.
The Chinese admire Germany. They don't view the Holocaust as a unique event - which, of course, it isn't - there are entire ethnic groups that have been wiped out in one fashion or another - who today knows of a single living Amalekite, Hittite or Sogdian?* Gromky is proceeding from the assumption that the Chinese weltanschaaung (concept of the world) is pretty much like the Western view of the world. It is not. The Chinese do not view the history of the world as the history of progress - they see it as essentially being cyclical. There are technological improvements, but each nation state is essentially amoral and primarily concerned with its welfare and continued survival - if necessary, at the expense of its rival states. Chinese, including Hong Kong Chinese, view the Holocaust as just another massacre in the long history of such things. What makes the Chinese angry about the Nanjing massacre is not that it was unique - Chinese have perpetrated large-scale massacres on others in the past - it is that the Japanese had the temerity to do it to the Chinese.
Again - the Chinese admire the Nazis not because they worship evil and think the Nazis are a shining example of evil - they admire them because they think the Nazis achieved a lot militarily in a short period of time, against significant odds, and did what they had to do to wipe out the opposition, much like the ancient sovereigns of just about every state in the world. The Chinese view is a lot like that of Thucydides - the strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must.
* Hitler wasn't unique in wiping out what he viewed as his mortal enemies - the Japanese shogun tortured to death every last Christian on Japanese soil centuries ago and Chinese mobs slaughtered tens of thousands of Chinese Christians during the Boxer Rebellion. In the past massacres have been carried out for one primary reason - to guard against the possibility of revolt from a given quarter. Targeted massacres don't end all threats, but they do end specific ones. After all the ancient Amalekites were slaughtered, the nation of Israel no longer had to deal any threat from that quarter. After the Kingdom of Zhao was killed off to the last man, woman and child, the first ruler of a unified China (Qin Kingdom) no longer had to deal any threats from that direction.
#14
ZF: Chinese, including Hong Kong Chinese, view the Holocaust as just another massacre in the long history of such things.
This is a reference to a situation where a clothing chain in Hong Kong used Nazi imagery in its interior decor and on its clothing, provoking a horrified response from Westerners, but zero objections from Hongkongers. Hongkongers were unperturbed, because they viewed the Holocaust as just another in a long line of such events.
#15
In another forum, a commenter says the following about the Chinese admiration for things German:
I would like to mention intense admiration for Hitler and the Nazis among Chinese youth (in the forums). There is even a term for them: Ha(1) De(2) Pai(4), or "Those who worship/admire Germany/German things"
And those Chinese who admire Japan, and there are some of them, they are called Ha(1) Ri(4) Pai(4), or "Those who worship/admire Japan/Japanese things"
But the German-worshipper are far more popular than the Japan-worshippers, for obvious reasons. And in general, youths who are nationalist toward China also tend to admire German militarism, and the military expansion/rearmament of the 1930s defying the Versailles Treaty, etc. The fact that Nazis are ideologically opposed to communism doesn't seem to bother them much.... A fact that I find very comical.
For example, someone posted a description of how a single German machinegunner killed nearly 2000 Americans during D-Day, and was decorated with the Iron (or Knight) Cross. Of course, most of the posts on Chinese forums are of very dubious origin, since the posters never ever give the source of their info. A lot of things are just rumors or fabrications too eagerly taken for real by people too eager to believe them. And based on what I read of D-Day, I think this machinegunner story is made up too, since 2000 is close to the total American death figure at Omaha on D-Day, and can't be dealt by a single German.
Anyway, the post was greeted with much positive response of how Americans deserved to die, and how heroic the Germans are, and even some "Heil Hitler". Hitler is sometimes not called by his Chinese transliteration "Xi(1) Te(4) Le(4)", but lovingly referred to as "The Fuhrer"( Yuan(2) Shou(3)) A few mentioned that if the Germany and Axis won the war, it would have meant the destruction of China, but those voices of reason were drowned out..... *sigh*
I do not want to give a misleading picture that nationalist Chinese youth are rampant Neo-Nazis. It's not quite so. They just happen to admire the German militarism, and Hitler's misguiding bravado. As for real Nazi politics, I think they are mostly ignorant of it.
I can dig up the link to that post if any of you want to see it.
I disagree with this commentator that the Chinese admirers of Nazi Germany don't know about the Holocaust. These facts are in the public domain. They know about it but feel that one massacre in a long roster of massacres cannot merit but a shrug. Who today remembers the 70,000-strong Yunnanese Muslim ruling class massacred by the Chinese over 100 years ago?
#16
Note that the above commenter is quoting (and translating) from Chinese language forums. You can also get the flavor of some of these postings in English by checking out the New York Times's online forums on China. These are not China's lower classes - they are its elite.
THE image of an armed, hooded terrorist, speaking with an apparent Australian accent from an al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan, sent shock waves through Australia last week. The message of the anonymous male, who seemed of Anglo-Celtic background, was unambiguous: "The honourable sons of Islam will not sit down watching you spread your evil and immorality and infidelity to our land."
Little wonder that the Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, made the point that "there is a simple principle here and that is that these types of terrorists should not be able to return to the field of battle where they could once again take up arms against Australia or our allies". And little wonder that Kevin Rudd, Labor's foreign affairs spokesman, said he was sickened by the message of the al-Qaeda video.
So far there is little, if any, support for this still unidentified young Australian. Not so with David Hicks, the 30-year-old Australian who was arrested by the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan in late 2001, handed to United States forces and transferred to Guantanamo Bay. Hicks's cause has raised considerable sympathy in Australia - especially among lawyers, academics, journalists and the like.
To some extent support for Hicks in Australia arises from opposition to the process of the US military commission which will try him. The Howard Government has not been sympathetic to the accused but it has expressed understandable concern about the delay in the system. However, to some extent, Hicks's cause has been embraced by Australians who dislike George Bush's Administration and who believe that this case is an example of American abuse of power.
One influential commentator has declared publicly that Hicks was a "modest foot soldier for the Taliban"; another has said privately that he has been held long enough in detention.
The charge sheet with respect to the US v David Matthew Hicks has recently been released. The allegations are serious. By way of background, it is alleged Hicks trained with the Kosovo Liberation Army in Albania where he engaged in hostile action. He travelled to Pakistan where he joined the Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist organisation. Then Hicks went to Afghanistan where, it is claimed, he attended al-Qaeda terrorist training camps.
In testimony before a Senate committee on May 28, 2002, the former ASIO director-general, Dennis Richardson, said that "certainly Mr Hicks has received extensive al-Qaeda training". It is understood his training included such areas as weapons firing, landmines, marksmanship, ambush, intelligence, kidnapping techniques, assassination methods and surveillance. If the allegations are correct, this would mean that Hicks is one of the few Muslim converts of Anglo-Celtic background to train to such a high level with al-Qaeda.
The available evidence says Hicks left Afghanistan for Pakistan before al-Qaeda's attack on the US on September 11, 2001. It is alleged he returned to Afghanistan after the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. Hicks's supporters say he was fighting with the Taliban, not al-Qaeda, when he was arrested. Even if this is so, the Taliban regime was then providing training bases for al-Qaeda, which had effectively declared war on the US in particular and the West (including Australia) in general.
In other words, Hicks was no naive traveller in Muslim lands. At various times he made choices from which consequences flowed. This is evident from an impartial view of the documentary The President Versus David Hicks (directed by Curtis Levy and Bentley Dean) which aired on SBS TV last year. The message of the film was sympathetic to Hicks's cause, but the evidence in the documentary was damaging, nevertheless.
With Hicks's permission, the documentary quoted from some of his letters to his father, Terry. On February 14, 2000 David Hicks said "I am now officially a Taliban member" who would mix "learning" and "fighting". On August 10, 2000, he said that while fighting with Lashkar-e-Toiba, he "got to fire hundreds of rounds" into Indian-administered Kashmir. He also described himself as a "well-trained and practical soldier", and declared he was prepared for "martyrdom" since "the highest position in heaven" is reserved for those who "go fighting in the way of God against the Friends of Satan".
Hicks described the Taliban regime as "the best in the world" and praised the fact that the (then) leadership ran "the country by strict Islamic law" - including "the death sentence" and "all Islamic punishments".
In his letters to his father, Hicks advocated "an Islamic revolution" and maintained that if the Afghanistan experience was "spread throughout the Muslim world" then "the Western-Jewish domination is finished, so we live under Muslim rule again". The President Versus David Hicks also quoted from a poem written by the South Australian-born Islamic revolutionary in 1998: "Mohammed's food you shall be fed/To disagree, so off with your head."
It is easy to dismiss such words as the ravings of a juvenile foot soldier. But this is unfair to Hicks, who wanted to be taken seriously as a revolutionary, so much so that in letters to his father, Hicks made clear he is opposed to "so-called Muslim countries" which do not follow the precepts of the Taliban or al-Qaeda. All societies, Western and non-Western alike, should take gun-toting revolutionaries at their word.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/15/2005 16:57 ||
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#1
Next time the US military catches a David Hicks wannabe please, please, just shoot him out of hand so we won't have to hear about him in the Australian media.
I have in mind something like "why did you just shoot that prisoner Corporal?"
"I though he was going for a weapon , Sarge"
"good answer!"
Posted by: Aussie Mike ||
08/15/2005 17:29 Comments ||
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#2
Hicks's cause has raised considerable sympathy in Australia. I'll call this for what it is - Bullshit! The media orchestarted campaign has failed to generate significant sympathy outside the usual Leftist suspects.
Syrian national Louai Sakra, captured at Diyarbakir Airport, appears to be an al-Qaeda region head. The key al-Qaeda member, who visits Turkey frequently, was hosted by Habib Akdas, the head of al-Qaeda Turkey organization. The bookkeepers of the financing provided by al-Qaeda through Sakra for November 15-20 attacks were Habip Akdas and Gurcan Bac.
Sakra is reported to have consulted Osama bin Laden himself about the plan to attack Israeli cruise ships in Antalya. Sakra contacted bin Laden three months ago for the last time. Police determined Sakra came to Turkey many times between 1998 and 2000. The region head, reported to be one of the few persons who can speak with al-Qaeda leader Laden, used his right to remain silent at the police headquarters and prosecutor's office. However, police sent the interrogation minutes to the prosecutor's office. He was trained by Iraqi insurgents in bomb fabrication as he took part in bomb attacks. An Istanbul court arrested him after the duration of legal custody expired.
The other Syrian national Hamed Obysi, captured at Antalya was arrested on Wednesday. "I did not aim to hurt Turkish people. I was to target Israeli tourists. The attack would have taken place in the open sea. No Turk would have been hurt," Sakra reportedly said. Officials reported he was responsible for al-Qaeda in Syria, Jordan, Iran, Iraq and Turkey. Police indicated Sakra and Obysi, who aimed to attack Israeli cruise ships at Antalya, came to Antalya to activate the sleeping cells for the purpose. Sakra is also reported to have rented an eight-meter long boat anchored at Antalya Port.
Security units have begun to chase after the sleeping cells, which are to be commissioned to realize bombing attacks. According to a high-ranking police official, it is not possible for one to sacrifice himself who directly meets with bin Laden, finances many bloody attacks and is the region leader. The same official claims that $120,000, which was found in Sakra's pocket, had been brought to be given to the families of militants preparing for this activity. This is the reason that the operation is kept secret from the beginning to the end. Turkish police had first decoded the name Sakra after the suicide attacks in Istanbul. When Adnan Ersoz and Mehmet Ince, who are part of the al-Qaeda Turkey structure, had been detained, they gave the name Louai Sakra. Sakra's best known code name among al-Qaeda members is Syrian Alaaddin.
Syrian Sakra is registered as financer and among the wanted persons list in the "Al-Qaeda's Turkey Elements" judicial document continuing at Besiktas the 10th High Criminal Court. Intelligence Office gives the following information about Sakra:
The financer of the terrorist activities is referred as having many faces in the intelligence report. His real name is Luayibi Mohammed Hac Bakr al-Saka, born in Syria in 1973 and lives in Europe. He is one of the top-ranking administrators of al-Qaeda and runs the financial work of the organization. "Lian Ben Mohammed Saka," "Abu Mohammed," "Abu Haya al-Suri," and "Ala al-Din" are some of the code names he uses.
Information about Syrian Louai Sakra can be found in the depositions made by Ersoz and Ince. Intelligence reports have that the $50,000 of $150,000 used in the activities were provided by Syrian Sakra when Aktas could not get sufficient financial support from al-Qaeda in Pakistan.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/15/2005 16:50 ||
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#1
bin Laden is dead. If he's not dead - he's in Diego Garcia - or wherever they keep his ilk. This man could not refrain from the limelight for so long. Some things are just that simple.
The leader of al-Qaeda's cell in Turkey has promised some sensational details about the international terrorist organization's structure and activities at his trial in Turkey. Syrian-born radical Luia Sakra made this statement when he was being questioned by security officers in Istanbul, the Zaman (Time) newspaper wrote on Monday.
The newspaper said referring to a security officer that al-Qaeda's structure was more like that of a security service than a terrorist organization. The Syrian, whom the Turkish authorities suspect was among those behind the November 2003 terrorist attacks on Istanbul that killed 61 and injured over 600 people, was arrested in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey, last week. Simultaneously, a total of 16 people were arrested in the country who are believed to have plotted, under Sakra's command, to blow up a cruise liner in Antalya with Israeli tourists on board. The suspects had prepared about a ton of explosives for the attack.
An Istanbul court ruled Sakra should be taken into custody. He was charged with being involved in terrorist activity and being a member of an illegal organization. He faces life imprisonment if convicted. Sakra said al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was not in complete control of the organization, as some of its groups perpetrate terrorist attacks at their own discretion but on the organization's behalf. Sakra said the second bomb attack on London had been one such "unauthorized" act.
Sakra said he had sent dozens of people to carry out terrorist attacks in the United States, Britain, Egypt, Syria, and Algeria. He also confessed he had fought against U.S. troops in Falluja, Iraq, along with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq. Sakra said they had held 10 Americans in Falluja whom he had killed "with his own hands." He said al-Zarqawi was hiding in northern Iraq.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/15/2005 16:48 ||
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#1
Question: when does singing imply usable intelligence versus disinformation? One song bird means little without collaborative song birds (unbeknownest to the song each is singing).
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/15/2005 22:22 Comments ||
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#2
At first I had a lot of sympathy for this lady because losing one of your children under any circumstances is a terrible burden. But with each passing sheenanigan that feeling is rapidly waning. On an earlier thread we learned that Patrick is divorcong her. Section 6a of his petition has two boxes to mark for the basis of the request for dissolution of the marriage. Box one is checked for "irreconcilable differences". Maybe he should have checked the second box
"incurable insanity" instead.
#6
I really feel sorry for this guy stuck in the middle of the political protest bs. Guess they feel it's somehow ok to screw with other people's lives because Crawford's not a huge town and the President is a part-time resident. Methinks the protest folks would be crying and lamenting to no end should their families' lives be disrupted by this sort of bs for months. Perhaps the poor guy should also spread out manure mechanically and miss the mark a little in the direction of the protest peons. (it's deadly in the middle of summer) Methinks he should do some spraying to keep down the weeds on the perimeter also (that will scare off the eco nut contingents). I'd also suggest that his friends join him in target practice everyday bright and early. Might want to get some big dogs out there also. Perhaps legal action claiming nuisance, trespassing, intentional interference with prospective economic relations, neglgient infliction of emotional distress, etc would also help. I'd be po'd to no end if my tranquill life was disrupted by nutjobs like those gathering in Crawford. Don't get me wrong, free speech is important but I don't believe that self proclaimed activists should be allowed to ruin the quality of life for fellow citizens for months on end in the name of free speech. It's abusive and in no way necessary. But, given the common standard of stunted moral growth prevailing among activists, why would the average idiot protest nutter ever realize that basic truth about what is fair and just?
#11
The GFW's (gun fearing wussies) must have had a near melt down actually hearing a real live shotgun go off for the first times in their New York Times coddled lives.
Hope they soiled themselves. Bet it woke up a couple of dozen dozing Secret Service agents too.
#12
#5 & # 8 According to Keating's History of Ireland, the O'Sheehans,along with the Collins' and O'Meehans, were chief's in the baronies of Conello in County Limerick. But we aren't claiming her because she took the name, O'Sheehan, when she married Casey's father.
I think her maiden name was "Trubblemacher".
#13
I liked what he said about "nobody makin' anything around here but the port-a-potty people". I saw a Fox interview this morning with him. He initially supported the protesters saying they had the right to protes there but "after 5 days of it it's kinda like having your brother-in-law stay for 5 days, it stinks".
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/15/2005 12:06 Comments ||
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#14
pretty funny, actually, considering the dove = "unwilling to support military action" meaning.
Posted by: got my own spoon ||
08/15/2005 12:34 Comments ||
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#15
For central Texas, dove season opens Sept 1. There will lots and lots of shooting around there! Early morning and late evening are the best times.
#17
There are much better ways to rid yourself of unwanted squaters. For instance you can procure some essence of Skunk which has a two-fold affect. First it smell just like a skunk and will wrinkle the most moonbats noses and second it will draw any skunk in a three to four mile area to see whats going on. Use your imagination on what will happen when real skunks show up for some lovin and there is nothing but stinky protesters around.
#20
Good grief, my backyard feeder is overrun with doves. I could hunt them from the back porch, were I so inclined. The only way it would be easier, would be if the damned things walked up to the back door and committed hari-kiri on the doormat.
September 1, you say...Hmmmm. White wine, I guess... and a wild-rice and onion stuffing.
#21
Sgt. Mom, doves out in the wild not accustomed to a feeder are a lot harder to hit than you might think. They have to be shot on the wing, it's illegal to shoot them on the ground.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/15/2005 19:12 Comments ||
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#22
Just as well, actually. I don't have a gun, I live within San Antonio city limits and I am extremely nearsighted anyway...
On the other hand, I'll bet I could score a couple of kills with a wrist-rocket...
Paged linked by Drudge and takes 15 minutes to load, so posted in full.
Gov. Bill Richardson declared a state of emergency along New Mexico's 180-mile border with Mexico on Friday, pledging $1.75 million to beef up law enforcement and tackle increasing crime. "Recent developments have convinced me this action is necessaryâ including violence directed at law enforcement, damage to property and livestock, increased evidence of drug smuggling, and an increase in the number of undocumented immigrants," Richardson said in a prepared statement.
He toured the area near the busy border town of Columbus by helicopter frightening a ostrich farm and on the ground Friday before announcing the new initiatives. The Mexican government, which has long opposed any increased border fencing, immediately criticized Richardson's actions. And the Paleo terrorists criticize Israel's security measures, too.Southwestern New Mexico residents praised the moves and said even more are needed. "This is a great beginning," said Luna County Commissioner Rick Holdridge by phone. "What the governor's done is right on the money." He and others said a broader solution is needed to address the problems caused by hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants who cross the border into New Mexico every year. He was one of 135 residents of the Rodeo and Animas areas in Hidalgo County who recently signed petitions asking Sens. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., along with Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., for immediate action. I didn't know 135 people lived there. I've never seen that many.
Rodeo ... That's the name of the town, not his job description.
... rancher Richard A. Winkler said he and his neighbors are being burglarized regularly by border crossers who take food and other essentials. "I'm really tired of it," he said in a telephone interview Friday. "It's an epidemic."
Richardson signed an executive order declaring a disaster in Doña Ana, Luna, Grant and Hidalgo counties and making $750,000 in state emergency money immediately available to local governments there. Another $1 million in discretionary federal dollars allocated to New Mexico two years ago also will be used to tackle border problems, said Richardson spokesman Billy Sparks.
The $1.75 million overall will pay for:
# Increased state and local law enforcement;
# A new state Homeland Security field office that should be up and running within two weeks, probably in Luna County;
# A fence to protect the 20-acre Columbus Stockyards, which lie right on the border and, with only decaying wood barriers, are an easy place for illegal crossings into the United States
The governor told the state Department of Agriculture and Livestock Board to assess the security and safety of livestock in the border region within 15 days. "I'm taking these serious steps because of the urgency of the situation and, unfortunately, because of the total inaction and lack of resources from the federal government and Congress," Richardson said in front of "Richardson '08" banners.
Jarrod Agen, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, would not comment on Richardson's initiatives but said increased Border Patrol funding has made "extraordinary progress" possible in the Southwest.
Mexico ordered its consul in Albuquerque to meet with New Mexico officials "to promote appropriate actions by the officials of both countries."
"The Mexican government considers that some of the New Mexico government's statements are generalizations which don't jibe with the spirit of cooperation and understanding needed to address border problems," Mexico's Foreign Relations Department said in a statement. Isn't that funny. I say old Mexico's government's statements don't jibe with the spirit of cooperation and understanding needed to address border problems.
Bingaman praised Richardson's moves and said he agrees with the governor. "I share his frustration," he said in a telephone interview. "We have been doing what was possible, but our efforts in Washington to get the U.S.-Mexico border made a priority have not been entirely successful." Bingaman, who will visit the Deming Border Patrol Station on Monday, said more resources for local law enforcement and federal agencies are needed.
Domenici, along with Bingaman, said comprehensive immigration reform is vital. "The important thing to realize is that money and fences alone are not going to solve the illegal immigration problem," Domenici said in a prepared statement. But it's a start. What are you doing, Pete? I haven't voted for a Democrat since 1993, but you're going to change that.
Columbus, with about 1,800 people, is the closest settlement to the only 24-hour border crossing in New Mexicoâ the Columbus Port of Entry. With one officer on his force, a $152,000 annual budget and a 24-hour-a-day role as the first line of defense against drug and human smuggling, Columbus Police Chief Clare May has called his situation desperate.
Richardson said he asked the Mexican government to bulldoze the mostly abandoned town of Las Chepas, on the Mexican side of the border near Columbus. Any more members of the Corrie family available?
The town has been a popular border jumping spot for years. For $5, would-be illegal immigrants can hop a bus in Palomas and be deposited in Las Chepas, where a handful of stores sell jugs of water and Gatorade, juices bomb vests and food for their trip. Of course, there's no chance that any OTMs would use the same hideouts, is there?
Many wait in abandoned housesâ graffiti-covered concrete shellsâ until nightfall, when they can make their trip under the cover of darkness and in cooler temperatures.
Winkler, the Rodeo area rancher, said the federal government should close the border by putting patrols every quarter-mile. Pearce, who is holding 17 community meetings on immigration this month, said he has asked the Department of Homeland Security to reimburse residents for property damage. Good luck on that...
"We are dedicating every resource available to us as legislators, trying to galvanize action to make our country more secure," he said in a telephone interview.
#1
"The Mexican government considers that some of the New Mexico government's statements are generalizations which don't jibe with the spirit of cooperation and understanding needed to address border problems," Mexico's Foreign Relations Department said in a statement.
The problem is, with Mexico, there's none of either.
Posted by: Dar ||
08/15/2005 10:58 Comments ||
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#6
Isn't that funny. I say old Mexico's government's statements don't jibe with the spirit of cooperation and understanding needed to address border problems.
Ummm Yup, isn't that why Texas, Nevada, New Mexico and California are now disaffiliated with the former Imperial Government of Mexico?
I suppose it's still possible to extend the border southward a few hundred miles more, but frankly who wants it?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/15/2005 11:09 Comments ||
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#7
Isn't that funny. I say old Mexico's government's statements don't jibe with the spirit of cooperation and understanding needed to address border problems.
Ummm Yup, isn't that why Texas, Nevada, New Mexico and California are now disaffiliated with the former Imperial Government of Mexico?
I suppose it's still possible to extend the border southward a few hundred miles more, but frankly who wants it?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/15/2005 11:09 Comments ||
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#8
Baja California would make a nice 51st state. Tourism alone would make it economically, and the coastlines are awesome.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/15/2005 11:51 Comments ||
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#11
Richardson is pandering, He is a typical Democrat when it comes to crap like this. He sees president in front of his name when he looks in a mirror. He is right at home with the MALDF and Atzlan/MECHA types. A wolf in sheeps clothing as suits a good pal of Bill and Hillary.
#12
I'll give the man a chance, SPoD. Perhaps you know him better or have personal experience with him? Does he have a pattern of saying one thing and doing the opposite. I know he was in Clinton's cabinet, but I'm trying not to hold that against him.
Since I don't actually live in NM, I just get the news that leaks over into AZ. How many Democrats would cut the top income tax rate in half? Richardson did. Lots of ordinary decent people vote Democrat. I would hope that at least one of them might have sneaked into office.
#14
We'll know for sure if Napalitano is the next to jump on the bandwagon instead of Perry or the Governator. The Democarats may be stealing a march on the trunks here. They could pull a Nixon to China here.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/15/2005 14:14 Comments ||
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#15
I doubt the democrats are smart enough to capitalize on this as a winning campaign strategy. As overwhelmingly positive as the reaction is from across the country, their strategists will still insist on cozying up to theoretical voters (illegals) in the far future instead of real, living voters right now. If they were smart, and watched Richardson's boat rising, the democrats could make serious inroads throughout the southern two tiers (two States deep) and the far West. That would rattle the republicans in their most solid base.
#16
Before you all get worked up about Richardson's act, our governor also issued policy some months back for state offices NOT to report illegals to the INS. Bill has ideas of running in 2008. He is playing both sides.
#18
He's a real big Demo lib, he's just better at hiding it. Here's a few Bill moments:
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (search), a former ambassador to the United Nations, said Bolton may face some "stormy" weather at the world body at first but with a little personal attention to the other ambassadors and a demonstration of interest and expertise in how the organization operates, the seas will calm. Being more congenial with U.S. lawmakers won't hurt, either, he said. Of top priority should be an effort to get rid of the bill on Capitol Hill that ties U.S. funding for the United Nations with real reform at the world body, Richardson said. "Bolton and the president have to kill that measure," he said. "It's going to be critically important if Bolton has some success at the U.N. for him to persuade the Senate and the House that that's not good for the U.S. â it ties your hands at the U.N."
-------------------------------
In New Mexico, Gov. Richardson has done much the same thing. He now blasts the federal government for not showing "the commitment or the leadership to deal with border issues." He is demanding that officials on the Mexican side bulldoze an abandoned town on the border that serves "as a staging area for illegal drugs and illegal aliens." But Mr. Richardson sang a different tune in late 2003, when he showed up at a rally for the "Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride" and told them, "¡Viva la raza! . . . Thank you for coming to Santa Fe. Know that New Mexico is your home. We will protect you. You have rights here."
Further evidence of the governor's zigzag policy on immigration came in April when he vetoed a "No Fear" bill, which would have prohibited state and local law enforcement agencies from cooperating with federal authorities to detect or apprehend people based solely on immigration status. But then he quietly issued an executive order that had much the same effect. Earlier this year, he also signed legislation giving some illegal aliens the right to in-state tuition rates at public universities.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/15/2005 16:23 Comments ||
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A few days old, got it through a ML.
A West Palm Beach man has been indicted for smuggling radioactive hazardous material on an airplane from Fort Lauderdale to the Bahamas. Harold J. DeGregory, Jr. was arrested and appeared in federal Magistrate Court in Miami Wednesday after a grand jury in Fort Lauderdale returned an eight-count indictment charging him with conspiracy to transport and smuggle air commerce property containing Iridium-192.
DeGregory, a 58-year-old pilot, was not licensed to handle the hazardous material. Although Iridium-I92 has legitimiate industrial uses, it can pose public health risks if not properly handled, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Defense attorney Ed O'Donnell says DeGregory wasn't involved in any corruption and that this is merely a technical violation. DeGregory didn't have a license to transport the hazardous material. DeGregory was released after posting $50,000 bond Wednesday.
#1
Went to my high school class reunion this weekend, got the mike, asked for a show of veteran's hands, then thanked them all for their service and welcomed them home again. Good round of applause followed & I could tell from their expressions that it meant something to them.
From NYTimes -- Registration required, so here's the article.... from Drudge
Editors Ponder How to Present a Broad Picture of Iraq
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
Rosemary Goudreau, the editorial page editor of The Tampa Tribune, has received the same e-mail message a dozen times over the last year.
"Did you know that 47 countries have re-established their embassies in Iraq?" the anonymous polemic asks, in part. "Did you know that 3,100 schools have been renovated?"
"Of course we didn't know!" the message concludes. "Our media doesn't tell us!"
Ms. Goudreau's newspaper, like most dailies in America, relies largely on The Associated Press for its coverage of the Iraq war. So she finally forwarded the e-mail message to Mike Silverman, managing editor of The A.P., asking if there was a way to check these assertions and to put them into context. Like many other journalists, Mr. Silverman had also received a copy of the message.
Ms. Goudreau's query prompted an unusual discussion last month in New York at a regular meeting of editors whose newspapers are members of The Associated Press. Some editors expressed concern that a kind of bunker mentality was preventing reporters in Iraq from getting out and explaining the bigger picture beyond the daily death tolls.
"The bottom-line question was, people wanted to know if we're making progress in Iraq," Ms. Goudreau said, and the A.P. articles were not helping to answer that question.
"It was uncomfortable questioning The A.P., knowing that Iraq is such a dangerous place," she said. "But there's a perception that we're not telling the whole story."
Mr. Silverman said in an interview that he was aware of that perception. "Other editors said they get calls from readers who are hearing stories from returning troops of the good things they have accomplished while there, and readers find that at odds with the generally gloomy portrayal in the papers of what's going on in Iraq," he said.
Mr. Silverman said the editors were asking for help in making sense of the situation. "I was glad to have that discussion with the editors because they have to deal with the perception that the media is emphasizing the negative," he said.
"We're there to report the good and the bad and we try to give due weight to everything going on," he said. "It is unfortunate that the explosions and shootings and fatalities and injuries on some days seem to dominate the news."
Suki Dardarian, deputy managing editor of The Seattle Times and vice president of the board of the Associated Press Managing Editors, said that the discussion was "a pretty healthy one."
"One of the things the editors felt was that as much context as you can bring, the better," Ms. Dardarian said. "They wanted them to get beyond the breaking news to 'What does this mean?' "
She also said that as Mr. Silverman and Kathleen Carroll, The A.P.'s executive editor, responded to the concerns, the editors realized that some questions were impossible to answer. For example, she said, the editors understood that it was much easier to add up the number of dead than to determine how many hospitals received power on a particular day or how many schools were built.
Mr. Silverman said the wire service was covering Iraq "as accurately as we can" while "also trying to keep our people out of harm's way."
"The main obstacle we face," he said, "is the severe limitation on our movement and our ability to get out and report. It's very confining for our staff to go into Baghdad and have to spend most of their time on the fifth floor of the Palestine Hotel," which is home to most of the press corps. The hotel was struck by a tank shell in 2003, killing two journalists.
Iraq remains the most dangerous place in the world to work as a journalist, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. At least 13 media workers have been killed in Iraq so far this year, bringing the total to 50 since the war began in 2003.
"Postwar Iraq is fraught with risks for reporters: Banditry, gunfire and bombings are common," the committee's Web site says. "Insurgents have added a new threat by systematically targeting foreigners, including journalists, and Iraqis who work for them."
Mr. Silverman said The A.P. had already decided before the meeting that it would have Robert H. Reid, an A.P. correspondent at large who has reported frequently from Iraq, write an overview every 10 days.
Mr. Silverman also said the wire service would make more effort to flag articles that look beyond the breaking news. As it turned out, he said, most of the information in the anonymous e-mail message had been reported by The A.P., but the details had been buried in articles or the articles had been overlooked.
Before the meeting, The A.P. collected three articles by reporters for other news organizations who were embedded with American troops and sent them out over the wire to provide "more voice." Mr. Silverman said he wanted to do more of that but the opportunities were limited because there are only three dozen embedded journalists now, compared with 700 when the war began more than two years ago.
Ms. Goudreau, for one, found the discussion useful. By the end, she said, editors were acknowledging that even in their own hometowns, "we're more likely to focus on people who are killed than on the positive news out of a school."
#1
They wanted them to get beyond the breaking news to 'What does this mean?' "
Is this guy brain damaged or what? Hey Stupid! We don't want you to tell us what it means, we want your reporters to report something other than readily available accident stats.
Pity the poor reporters and editors. They've come to view themselves as purveyors of wisdom - the keepers of the truth which only they can properly explain to their unwashed patrons.
Must be a bummer to realize that not only do your patrons not give a darn what you think but if you don't provide them with what THEY want, you aren't going to have a job much longer. Now shut up and sing report.
#2
I know a quick, painless, inexpensive and effective way of improving the quality of their reporting 10,000%. Simply accredit military personnel as journalists. In multiple units and at multiple levels of command there are already approved Public Information Officers whose *function* it is to prepare and provide press releases. But, on top of that, there are now around 200 soldiers who act as "stringers" with their blogs. If you put the two together, you not only get "play-by-play", you also get "color", all wrapped together in about a ream of editable copy a day. It has already been pre-approved for publication, so there isn't any tactical information in there. The best part, from the point of view of the wire services, would be that while a goodly amount of it is free, any nominal payments for "stringer" material could be made to non-profit organizations on behalf of the bloggers. Say the "widows and orphans" funds, so there is no "conflict of interest". Instantly, the credibility of the media skyrockets; the quality of their news attracts readers; and professional journalists on location get real muscle and respect, based on all the "amateurs" "working" for them. They can stay in the Green Zone, having reliable eyes and ears all over the country.
#4
"The main obstacle we face," he said, "is the severe limitation on our movement and our ability to get out and report. It's very confining for our staff to go into Baghdad and have to spend most of their time on the fifth floor of the Palestine Hotel," which is home to most of the press corps.
Excepting Michael Yon and others who don't have a problem being around US soldiers.
The hotel was struck by a tank shell in 2003, killing two journalists.
Two years ago. During active fighting. When the building was being used to spot artillery onto our troops.
The only people who care about the two numb-nuts who aimed a camera at a tank battle are reporters, who take it on faith that the US purposefully kills reporters. Ignoring, in the meantime, the reporters killed by the terrorists or killed while aiding terrorists.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/15/2005 14:35 Comments ||
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#5
Postwar Iraq is fraught with risks for reporters...
Yeah, not like that WWII gravy train we rode, right, boys? I'm real proud of ya...
#6
This story is gut turning in it's outright bald faced lies. The AP and is members want the US to lose, they are willing to do everything they can to see the US lose. They hate George Bush so much they don't care how many US service men they help kill just like Viet Nam. The only thing lower than a lawyer is a "journalist" I thank God my child didn't choose either profession. Useless parasites.
#7
For example, she said, the editors understood that it was much easier to add up the number of dead than to determine how many hospitals received power on a particular day or how many schools were built.
Maybe because you can sit on your ass at the hotel and just RETRANSMITS CENTCOM releases on casualties rather than actually work for living. What part of news GATHERING evades your imagination?
"The main obstacle we face," he said, "is the severe limitation on our movement and our ability to get out and report. It's very confining for our staff to go into Baghdad and have to spend most of their time on the fifth floor of the Palestine Hotel,"...
Then take a hint from Rummey - Hire Out!
If grandmothers are signed up to drive trucks in convoys for Haliburton, then you should be able to find independents [who are not former Saddam government officials or members of AQ] who will actually do the fundamentals of going outside the Green Zone and collect stories. However, that presupposes that you actually want those stories.
#8
Jirt, they really shouldn't hire any more stringers. For some reason, they always manage to find former Baathists or guys who have brothers in the terrorists' ranks.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/15/2005 16:06 Comments ||
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#9
This is pretty funny. It sounds like the locals are starting to feel push back in their circulation numbers, but AP just can't get it. This must have been what it was like when the captain assembled a committee to design the new deck chair arrangement for the Titanic.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/15/2005 16:11 Comments ||
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#10
The hotel was struck by a tank shell in 2003, killing two journalists.
"Every time we point something that looks from a distance like an RPG at a tank, the tank starts shooting at us. Those tank guys must be pretty slow learners."
Posted by: Matt ||
08/15/2005 16:41 Comments ||
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#11
All those troops rotating back watch and read the news and are asking questions. And they are talking to family, friends and neighbors.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/15/2005 16:45 Comments ||
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#12
Anonymoose's idea sounds like there's a real opportunity here.
I understand that it was Gulf War I that kicked CNN into the stratosphere - because they were there and had a jump on the competition.
If the local's are feeling the pinch as Mrs. Davis surmises, and we *know* that military people on rotation are helping to get the meme across that Iraq is not all doom and gloom, then there is certainly an opportunity to get the message out.
I would add to Anymoose's idea by having direct feeds to bloggers and blogging groups setup as well. That way there is some level of competition with the wire services such as AP. Then the locals at least have a choice..
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/15/2005 17:06 Comments ||
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#13
"also trying to keep our people out of harm's way."
Why yes, hence the order that reporters were only to use booths, not barstools....
DAMASCUS, Syria, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- A U.N. committee probing the slaying of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has requested permission from Syria to question senior security officials.
"Pretty please?"
Saudi daily newspaper al-Hayat Monday quoted Syrian sources as saying that chief international investigator Detlev Mehlis of Germany forwarded questions to at least three officials, including Brig. Gen. Rustom Ghazaleh, who was head of Syrian military intelligence in Lebanon at the time of Hariri's assassination Feb. 14. The sources said the Syrian government received a series of questions last week regarding Hariri's assassination and is ready to answer them.
"Syria wants an honest and transparent investigation into Hariri's killing, and we are not scared but we fear the issue might be manipulated politically to hold us responsible without providing evidence," the sources said. They denied that any direct contact took place between the international investigators and the Syrian officials.
In Beirut, Lebanon, U.N. spokesman Najib Friji told UPI that the international investigators asked for Syrian cooperation and to be able to interrogate certain Syrian officials. Friji denied forwarding questions in the letter. Other U.N. sources said the international investigators insist on direct interrogation, while Syria prefers interrogation by proxy, notably by correspondence.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/15/2005 09:24 ||
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I didn't know the Syrians were involved in U. N. procurement activities.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/15/2005 19:46 Comments ||
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Iran has accused the United States and Britain of stoking the unrest that has broken out among its Kurdish and Arab minorities.
I confess. It was me...
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi offered little evidence for his allegations on Sunday, but suggested that Washington and London were giving encouragement to the Arabs and Kurds who have rioted in western and northwestern Iran. "According to some information, the Americans intervened in northwestern Iran. This is not acceptable at all," Asefi told a news conference. "We will voice our objection in this regard soon."
Asefi said the United States is stuck in Iraq and is trying to divert attention from its plight by sowing unrest across the border. Under US protection, Iraq's Kurds have enjoyed autonomy and a booming economy, fuelled partly by trade with Iran. Iraq's ascendant Kurds engage in contacts - including lucrative exports of illegal liquor and other goods - with their kin across the border. On Thursday, Human Rights Watch said at least 17 people had been killed and hundreds more injured and arrested after anti-government protests broke out in Iran's Kurdish northwest. The New York-based rights group blamed the killings on the Iranian security forces, and said their indiscriminate shooting had also wounded hundreds of people. Asefi also said a spate of previous riots in Iran's western Khuzestan province was encouraged by the British presence in Iraq. In April, minority Arabs rioted against the government, leaving at least one protester dead and several injured. More than 200 people were arrested. Khuzestan abuts southern Iraq, where security is under the control of British soldiers in the US-led force.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Of course ... we are to blame for everything - be it good our evil as we are the #2 god - Satan.
But we have all their souls for ever and ever and ever to torment.
#4
Seems like a good way to dispose of those capture shaped charge mines would be to donate them to the cause(cause if it causes the MM's pain it cause me great joy)
#5
Well, since we claim they are interfering in Iraq, it's only fair that they claim we are interfering in Iran. Have they found any M-16's and Claymores yet? Bradley Fighting Vehicles? No? USAF 500-pound bombs wired up as IED's? M-1 rifles? 1903 Springfields?
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/15/2005 7:33 Comments ||
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#6
It's my fault. I've been prank-calling Iran.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/15/2005 8:37 Comments ||
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#7
According to some information, the Americans intervened in northwestern Iran. This is not acceptable at all
Which is? The "some information" or the alleged intervention?
TEHRAN - Hundreds of Iranian students pelted the British embassy with eggs, tomatoes and stones on Sunday, in protest of Europeâs call for Iran to permanently freeze its nuclear program.
Funny, the headline didn't say anything about 'stones'.
Some 300 students, who gathered in front of British embassy in downtown Tehran, chanted âDeath to England,â and âNuclear energy is our obvious right.â Anti-riot police blocked the students from entering the embassy grounds, but some demonstrators threw eggs and other objects at the building.
The students issued a statement urging Iran to pull out of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, resume nuclear activity and cut negotiations with the so-called EU-3 Britain, France and Germany.
And the Mad Mullahs are slaves to the desires of the 'students', you know.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/15/2005 00:00 ||
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I kinda expect this rent a crowd stuff, after all it's the middle east. Protesting is OK as long as it's not anti-mullah run government or for minority rights then the Revolutionary Gaurds just shoot the protesters. Otherwise they claim they have no control over the situation.
The whole thing over pulling out of the NPT is for EU3 consumption. Iran has no intentions of living up to the NPT so it really doesn't matter.
#2
What are these "kids" learning in them thar schools. Reading, writing, and rock throwin'--the three Rs.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/15/2005 0:40 Comments ||
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#3
The British need to get their people out of that embassy NOW. ASAP! This very thing escalated into a hostage crisis for America back in Carter's term '79. And the hostage taker then is now President of Iran.
They may hold the British as hostages to prevent strikes on their Nuke plants.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/15/2005 1:21 Comments ||
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#5
Fight fire with fire. Throw pork chops at the protestors.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
08/15/2005 1:30 Comments ||
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#6
I kinda expect this rent a crowd stuff
I suspect this is not a rent-a-crowd. They dislike the west as much as they dislike the Mullahs. Wouldn't be that hard to find volunteers for a good ol' fashion' stone throwing.
Posted by: Rafael ||
08/15/2005 2:22 Comments ||
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#7
They chanted "Nuclear energy is our obvious right"? - hmm, well that just trips off the tongue!
RG has a point, although I doubt that having any kind of hostages will prevent the US and Israel doing what needs to be done. And I'm quite sure that the Embassy staff know that.
What assholes these people are.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/15/2005 3:22 Comments ||
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#8
First eggs, and eventually, blindfolds, until the government changes (referring to 1979-80, not 3/11). Except when the election came, Carter was not re-elected - the mullas got Reagan
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/15/2005 8:04 Comments ||
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#9
Bobby :
The best cartoon of the era was drawn by the late Jeff MacNelly. The day after the inaguration when the hostages were released. MacNelly's cartoon depicted a rat with Jummy Carter's face, his tail just released by a cat with Ayatollah Khomeni's face. The "Carter-Rat" says, "You see I knew my paitence would pay off." Only thing is what the "Carter Rat" could not see but the "Ayatollah Cat" (who looked frightened) could, was a strutting bulldog with Reagan's face coming towards them...
The Guardian version of the story Fred is posting from al-Jizz. Funny, they aren't much different.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP)- Iran accused the United States and Britain on Sunday of stoking the unrest that has broken out among its Kurdish and Arab minorities.
I certainly hope we have.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi offered little evidence for his allegations, but he suggested that Washington and London were giving encouragement to Arabs and Kurds who have rioted in western and northwestern Iran. ``This is not acceptable at all,'' Asefi told a news conference.
Under U.S. protection, Iraq's Kurds have enjoyed autonomy and a booming economy, fueled partly by trade with Iran. Iraq's ascendant Kurds engage in contacts - including lucrative exports of illegal liquor and other goods - with their kin across the border.
The Iranian Kurds are beginning to ask such important questions as, "why do my cousins in Iraq have all the luck?" and "why can't we have what they have?"
On Thursday, Human Rights Watch said at least 17 people had been killed and hundreds more injured and arrested in anti-government protests in Iran's Kurdish northwest. The New York-based rights group blamed the killings on Iranian security forces and said their indiscriminate shooting had also wounded hundreds of people.
Asefi also said April riots in Iran's western Khuzestan province that left at least one protester dead were encouraged by the British presence in Iraq. Khuzestan borders southern Iraq, where security is under the control of British troops in the multinational force. ``Some provocateurs were trained in a part of Iraq which is under control of Britain,'' Asefi said. ``We have made objections and warned Britain about the repercussions of such behavior.''
"Youse guys better quit it! Dat stuff only goes one direction, see!?"
In Kurdistan, the unrest rocked several towns over the past month. The killings and arrests led to more protests, with shopkeepers shuttering their businesses and the government closing down two newspapers and detaining journalists and activists. Security forces were also said to be among those hurt and killed in the unrest.
Residents have said undeclared martial law is in force. ``Peace has returned to the area but security is tight. Dozens of activists are still in jail,'' said Kurdish activist Vahed Qaribian.
Human Rights Watch said the security forces wounded hundreds when they opened fire in Mahabad on demonstrators who were protesting the police's killing of a young Kurdish activist, Shivan Qaderi, on July 9. Iranian media have suggested the protests were rooted in the poverty that remains prevalent in the Iranian Kurdish areas.
Yes, poverty is the cause. And lack of human rights. And political repression. And ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/15/2005 00:00 ||
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According to various mil forums, the purpose of Russia-China's recently announc MILEX is to test the nations' cability at combined opers, for when a foreign nation requests milfor assistance due to Terror-induced domestic anarchies and destabilzns. And, since 9-11, Commie Asia has directly or indirectly belabeled the USA the world's greatest terrorist state and instigator of terror, we all know what Texan-led Global hyperpower is intended - methinks the USDOD had better prep for nuclearized battlefield confrontations with the Commie Airborne and other elites, ala "Local/War Zone" strategems and Nuclearized "Active Defense", read "SEIZE, HOLD, and NUKE [nuclearize]"! The PLA reportedly held recent brigade-sized milex's in the Mongolian desert, read IRAN-MIDDLE EAST, while the exercise areas for the combined Russo-Chicom milex is more similar to NORAM-ALCAN than North Korea, read US MilTech-minimizing high mountains/ridges, deep forests, Riverine Valleys, Cold Seas and Cold Weather. Where China is concerned, North Korea can be sacrificed as a bloody diversionary holding front while the PLA focuses on Taiwan, Japan and ALCAN,espec Taiwan and ALCAN, i.e. "attacking where US forces ain't". It behooves the Commies to successfully war ags America before GMD becomes fully operational - right now the USN needs a minima of SIX CVBG's in the WESTPAC asuming limited tactical nuke war breaks out, the US does not yet have a draft, while the Canadians can barely afford their own armed forces or best units let alone help Dubya defend NORAM andor Alaska. For now the Commies don't have to nuke Washington, they only have to frighten American politicians and voters about the propects of conventional combat escalating to limited nuke war, and how GOP-led, Fascist-for-Communism Fascist America's policies on the WOT is to blame!? THE REAL BATTLE FOR AMERICA IS TO BE FOUGHT IN THE HALLS OF CONGRESS AND BIG MEDIA/MSM. NO MATTER WHAT OCCURS IN IRAN, NK, ETC.HILLARY WANTS TO BE POTUS, AND SHE WANTS TO BE POTUS O'ERA 1990's-style AMERICA, NOT THE LEADER OF A WAR-/NUKE-DAMAGED LAND!?
#2
What's the complaint here? Do the mullahs honestly believe they can promote and support terrorism and that their intended victims will simply bend over?
he suggested that Washington and London were giving encouragement to Arabs and Kurds who have rioted in western and northwestern Iran. "This is not acceptable at all"
Damn straight it's not acceptable!
Mere riots? Hell, we're not encouraging riots, we're encouraging all-out revolution. And your sorry ass dangling from the nearest lamppost at the earliest opportunity.
Loser.
Freedom and democracy for the Persian people!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/15/2005 16:23 Comments ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2005 00:00 ||
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Tehran: "We want full disclosure of your intentions and 1000% accountability from all parties involved in your part of the negotiations."
Europeans: "Granted. And you will do the same?"
Tehran: "Don't be stupid."
Posted by: Chris W. ||
08/15/2005 1:38 Comments ||
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#2
An increasingly defiant Iran called yesterday for Europe to open talks on Tehranâs desire to enrich uranium, .... They're gonna do it. They said so, again and again. So what's to talk about? The new Iranian president, meanwhile, named a government replete with hard-liners, a move that looked certain to further deepen Iranâs confrontation with the West. For our "feels-so-good-when-you-stop" negotiations, we always go to North Korea. That's all the fun we need.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/15/2005 7:26 Comments ||
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#3
âAll those who worked against Khatamiâs reformist agenda have now been nominated to sit in the government,â reformist writer Ali Reza Rajaei said. âMost of them are either former military commanders or people in close touch with security agencies.â Sounds like an efficient way to run a country; 'bout the same as appointing religious "scholars".
So what's to talk about? Kiddies, read up on your Bastille Day history. That's our only hope.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/15/2005 7:29 Comments ||
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Iran's new President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad presented a Cabinet to parliament on Sunday that featured known hard-liners in the foreign, interior and intelligence ministries. The conservative lawmaker Manouchehr Mottaki was nominated as foreign minister and a former hard-line deputy intelligence minister, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, was named as interior minister. The names suggest that Iran will move away from the moderate policies it pursued under the previous president, reformist Mohammad Khatami.
The nominated ministers are widely believed to be followers of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a noted conservative who has the final say on all state matters. The parliament has to pass a vote of confidence in the Cabinet before it takes office. Ahmadinejad named as intelligence minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehei, a cleric whom reformist journalists regard as an unyielding opponent of press freedom. The proposed foreign minister, Mottaki, is a hard-liner who has criticized Iran's nuclear negotiations with the Europeans, saying the country should adopt a tougher position and not make concessions.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2005 00:00 ||
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Why does it say Ahmadinejad names cabinet, It is Khamenei who got him elected and calls all the shots. He has a hardline theocratic dictatorship, it is only natural he would have a hardline president and cabinet. And besides, what moderate reform did Khatami ever implement anyway?
The importance of Khamenei concurring on the appointments is due to the fact that Ahmadinejad was elected on a platform that, in part, promised to eliminate financial corruption and it is known that most of the financial corruption is the result of the Khamenei minions getting their paws on the granting of licenses, distributorships, etc.
If these guys (and its all guys) don't get prosecuted, the anti corruption part of Ahmadinejab's platform is dead. This will tick off some of the naive slumdwellers who actually believed the rhetoric.
I am the one that posted the link. Originally he had 'your servant, Osama Bin Laden' at least three times. The anti-war reverand has since changed it to 'your child'.
That drew a lot of comments, almost double what he normally sees at his blog, and word was traveling fast across the blogosphere. So he changed it as a CYA move.
His son is a volunteer in the military supporting the WOT effort, including Iraq, yet the good minister is anti-war and like other people on the left with questionable integrity, he changed his post to try to stop a fire storm.
The Algerian president's offer of a partial amnesty for Islamist rebels won mixed reviews from local analysts and press commentators on Monday, but most said it seemed unlikely to end the violence afflicting the country.
"... I do not think this will put an end to violence because those who are killing are excluded from the plan," said Mahmoud Belhimer, political science professor at Algiers university, noting the offer had been scaled down from a general amnesty.
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, announcing the amnesty on Sunday, said legal proceedings would be dropped against Islamist rebels who had surrendered, and against some still wanted at home and abroad if they handed themselves in.
Militants involved in "massacres, rape and explosions in public areas" would be excluded from the amnesty.
Bouteflika had been expected to offer a full amnesty for all rebels, but scaled down the plan when the main outlawed Islamist movement, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, praised al Qaeda in Iraq for killing two Algerian diplomats last month.
Some analysts criticised the draft for not saying how the authorities would deal with rebels still fighting, and accused Bouteflika of making concessions to armed groups despite vowing to keep fighting them.
"For those who have suffered, Bouteflika's initiative is like an abdication of responsibility, and for the Islamists and their sympathisers, this promised return is a victory," the newspaper Liberte said in an editorial.
"...it is obvious that Algeria will be called one day or the other to bury this painful past, but it is also true that it will not do it at any price," it added.
Bouteflika made clear on Sunday he could go no further in the search for peace, and said a referendum would be held next month on the charter for "peace and national reconciliation".
The plan also bars those behind insurgent violence from political activity, an apparent reference to two leaders of the now-banned FIS, freed in 2003 after 12 years in a military jail.
"The dominant trait of this initiative is the very clear will to distinguish between the FIS political leaders, who will be banned from returning ... and the terrorists who can profit from the forgiveness of the people on the condition of not having taken part in collective massacres. It is a sizeable ambiguity," said Omar Belhouchet, editor of the influential newspaper El Watan.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/15/2005 16:55 ||
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AL-QAIDA'S Iraqi branch launched an internet campaign threatening Iraqis with death if they take part in the October referendum to approve the country's constitution.
In one of the posters, the words constitution, democracy and elections appear on a road leading to "danger". Along the road lies an enormous cross, broken into pieces.
"Our constitution: the Koran," one of the five posters read. "O Muslims, boycott the elections," was the message on another.
Another directly warns Iraqis to stay away from polling booths:
"Muslim brother, please know that the polling stations of the non-believers will be legitimate targets of the mujahedeen's attacks. Therefore, stay far away for your own safety".
The internet campaign comes a day before Iraq's leaders are due to complete their draft charter of the country's first constitution since Saddam Hussein's ouster.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/15/2005 16:51 ||
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#1
As soon as we find this bastard, string him up, and let the buzzards and crows munch on his remains...
#5
Zarqawi is an idiot. One of his media guys put that crap together for the website. To give credit to Zarqawi is like giving credit for the internet to Gore. Zarqawi is a pervert of Islam and a poster boy for Satan. he is an idiot and his followers are too.
ISLAMABAD - Hours after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appointed ultraconservative Ali Larijani as the countryâs new chief nuclear negotiator, Pakistan backed on Monday Iranâs right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. âTeheran has the legitimate right as signatory to the Non- Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to use the nuclear energy for peaceful purposes,â Foreign Ministry spokesman Naeem Khan told reporters in Islamabad.
And who would know more about nuclear proliferation than a Pakistani named Khan?
President Ahmadinejad appointed Monday Ali Larijani as head of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) to take âcorrect decisions which secure both the interests and legal rights of the nationâ.
Khan ruled out any mediation between Iran and the European Union (E.U) to resolve the continued stand-off over Teheranâs nuclear programme, saying one of the two parties would have to formally approach Islamabad to that end. âThe talks are going on to encourage both the parties to find a peaceful settlement of the crisis,â he said. Khan said that use of force against Iran must be avoided to ensure regional stability, adding âWe cannot afford another conflict or a war in the region.â
Posted by: Steve ||
08/15/2005 15:01 ||
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#1
Hours after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appointed ultraconservative Ali Larijani as the countryâs new chief nuclear negotiator, Pakistan backed on Monday Iranâs right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
Proof please, that their usage is to be "for peaceful purposes".
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/15/2005 14:11 ||
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#1
remember "not gonna pay her taxes"? Not difficult to do when you lost your job at Napa County [Calif.] Health and Human Services because of all her absences
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/15/2005 14:33 Comments ||
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#2
Don't know much about divorce/community property rules, but I'm guessing he's freezing his half so the little tool can't give it away. He'll pay taxes on his half - what she does with her half is her problem. Smart move.
#3
How does a county employee use up the sick bank enough to get canned?
I know fed workers with years "in the bank", incentive just for showing up for work.
#8
Noting that Bush has referred to the war as a "noble" pursuit, Sheehan told Reuters, "If it's such a noble cause, why aren't his daughters over there?"
She really has no clue. Nobody forced her son to join the army. The president likewise can't force his daughters to join. Watta maroon. I think the grief over her son's death has consumed her. She is not rational. I do pity her.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/15/2005 15:50 Comments ||
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#13
DB, exactly. The press are going to look even sleazier than usual before this is over. This woman should be allowed to grieve in private and not be taken advantage of by electronic voyeurs.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/15/2005 16:14 Comments ||
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#14
voyeurs? Try enablers
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/15/2005 16:19 Comments ||
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#15
Ms. Sheehan should be required to grieve in private, even though she prefers to spew on all within reach of her microphone. In my not at all humble opinion, she is not deranged by grief over her son, but over Republican control of her government. She refuses to respect the choices her adult son made, and the wishes of all her family that she desist from acting out in this manner. She long ago drove away her son, and now she has driven away her husband. Let her live with the consequences of her choices -- she gets no pity from me.
#17
This thought just occured to me, she is obviously a Liberal Lefty and hates the military. I suppose it's possible she was angry with her son for joining the Army in the first place and now is even angrier with him for getting killed so she is taking it out on the President. Just a thought.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/15/2005 19:16 Comments ||
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#18
He enlisted.
He re-enlisted specifically to go to Iraq.
Must have driven that controlling spider of a mother crazy.
Posted by: also a mom ||
08/15/2005 20:22 Comments ||
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August 15, 2005: There are currently some 30-50 IED (roadside, or suicide car bomb) attacks attempted each day in Iraq. These bombs kill 20-30 American troops a month. They are the most effective weapon the Sunni Arab and al Qaeda terrorists have, even though the vast majority of them are detected and destroyed before they can be used. The bombs are built and placed by one of several dozen independent gangs, each containing smaller groups of people with different skills. At the head of each gang is a guy called âthe money man.â That tells you something about how all this works. Nearly all the people involved with IED gangs are Sunni Arabs, and most of them once worked for Saddam. The gangs hire themselves out to terrorist groups (usually al Qaeda affiliated), as well as Baath Party or Sunni Arab groups that believe the Sunni Arabs should be running the country. You got the money, these gangs got the bombs.
The âmoney man,â naturally, calls the shots. He hires, individually or as groups, the other specialists. These include scouts (who find the most effective locations to put the bombs), the bomb makers, the emplacers (who place the bomb) and the trigger team, that actually sets the bomb off, and often includes an ambush team, to attack the damaged vehicles with AK-47s and RPGs. The trigger team also usually includes a guy with a video camera, who records the operation. Attacks that fail, are also recorded, for later examination for things that could be improved. The specialists most in demand are the emplacers. This is the most dangerous job, as coalition and Iraqi troops watch carefully for IEDs being placed, and shoot fast, and to kill, if they see a bomb being planted. Needless to say, the highest casualties are among the emplacers. Many of these specialist teams are independents, and hire themselves out to the money man who pays the best, or has a reputation for not losing people. Some of these teams have been found advertising on the Internet. Men in each team get from $50 to several hundred bucks for each IED worked on.
Interrogations of captured IED crew members indicates that most IED teams operate on a two week cycle. During this period, the gang will prepare and place from a few, to a dozen IEDs in one, carefully planned operation. Once the money man has decided on what area to attack, the scout team (or teams) spend 4-5 days examining the target area, to see how troops, police and traffic operate. They recommend places to put the bombs, and the money man decides how many to build and place where.
The bomb makers are contracted to build a certain number of bombs and have them ready for pick up by the emplacers on a certain day. The trigger teams are either already in place, or arrive shortly after, the emplacers successfully plant their bombs. Most of the bombs are discovered and destroyed by the police or troops. Increasingly, the trigger teams are discovered, and attacked, as well. This is where a lot of bomb team members are captured. These men often provide information on other members of the team, which results in more arrests. Thousands of men, involved with these IED gangs, have been killed or captured in the last two years. There are always plenty of new people willing to have a go at it. The main reason is money. With over 20 percent unemployment nationwide, and even higher rates in Sunni Arab areas (because the terrorism there has reduced economic activity), an opportunity to make a months pay for a few hours, or days, work, is worth the risk. For the more senior members of the gangs, there is another reason. These guys worked for Saddam, have blood on their hands, and are known to the Kurds and Shia Arabs they terrorized for years. They can either flee Iraq, and risk getting picked up eventually for their crimes, or stay in Iraq, and hope that their IED efforts put Sunni Arabs back into power before the police, or vengeful kin of their victims, catch up with them.
Saddamâs henchmen got away with hundreds of millions of dollars in cash. We know this, because that much was seized by coalition troops as they overran Iraq in 2003. The current IED campaign is costing the terrorists one or two million dollars a month. Nearly a hundred IED and car bomb factories have been captured so far, and often large quantities of cash are seized. The IED campaign is driven by the cash, all the bombs, explosives and shells Saddam had stored all over the country, and Sunni Arab fear of being brought to justice.
A small percentage (less than 20 percent) of the terrorist attacks are by al Qaeda, which has a different agenda than the Sunni Arabs. These differences (al Qaeda wants an Islamic dictatorship, Saddamâs buddies want a Sunni Arab secular dictatorship) have been put aside, as both groups try to get the foreign troops out of Iraq.
Al Qaeda prefers to use car bombs. This is because al Qaeda has a big supply of Sunni Arab volunteers from neighboring countries. Many of these volunteers are worthless, as they have no training, and some of them are deranged. But some of these men are capable of driving a suicide car bomb, used as trigger teams. The car bombs are produced in auto repair shops, where cars have seats, and other components removed so that the explosives can be installed. Better suspensions are often installed so that the vehicle will not be so obviously overloaded, and be easier to drive. Building a car bomb costs more than an IED, but al Qaeda saves money by using volunteers for other jobs, besides drivers. The emplacers will drive another car, behind the suicide bomber, radioing the suicide bomber instructions, and sometimes setting off the explosives themselves. Suicide bombers often have second thoughts when it comes to doing the deed. The emplacers prevent this any way they can. The emplacer car will often have a cameraman, taping the operation. These vids turn up a lot on pro-terrorist web sites.
There is no terrorist high command for the IED effort. All of the gangs are independent, and many of the teams within the gangs are independent as well. What drives the operation is money, a desire to regain control of the country, and fear of punishment for past crimes. The ongoing political negotiations between the Shia Arab, Sunni Arab and Kurd leaders, has dealt with the subject of amnesty for Saddams most notorious thugs. The victims (or their surviving kin) are reluctant to let the current bunch of terrorists off scot free, but are willing to negotiate over the issue. The more blood people have shed, the harder it is to get an amnesty deal. The terrorists currently in the game are taking a big gamble, that they will either see Sunni Arabs back in power, or that they will evade punishment once the police gain control over the entire country.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/15/2005 09:32 ||
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WASHINGTON, Aug. 12, 2005 â Iraqi citizens tipped off U.S. soldiers patrolling the northwest part of Baghdad about the whereabouts of two roadside bombs Aug. 10. The Iraqis told a Task Force Baghdad patrol at 9:15 a.m. the bombs were placed near a major highway in the area. The Americans found two landmines and two mortar rounds wrapped in detonation cord. The soldiers secured the site and called in an explosive ordnance disposal team to safely detonate the munitions.
A suicide car bomber attacked another American unit patrolling west Baghdad four hours later. The bomb detonated prematurely, 10 feet from the soldiers' vehicles. The car's driver was killed in the attack, but no one else was killed or injured. Timing is everything!
The soldiers also stopped a suspicious vehicle following directly behind the car bomb. When they searched the vehicle and the two occupants inside they found a loaded AK-47 assault rifle. One occupant also had a cellular phone that could have been used to communicate with the suicide bomber or videotape the attack. Mebbe they were the timers? Both men where taken into custody for questioning.
At 4:45 p.m., a third task force unit found two 100-pound bombs hidden under some grass laid on a major highway in northwest Baghdad. The soldiers secured the site and called in an EOD team. The U.S. soldiers then noticed some people gathered around a car about 100 yards away from the bomb. The soldiers questioned the group to determine the car's owner. After the owner was identified, the soldiers searched the vehicle's trunk and found the same kind of grass used to cover the bombs. Explosive materials were also found in the car. There's returning to the scene of the crime, then there's never leaving the scene! The vehicle's owner and three other men were taken into custody for questioning.
Later in the day task force soldiers found and safely disabled three more roadside bombs in northwest, central and south Baghdad before they could be used against Iraqi citizens or coalition forces.
And Iraqi police and U.S. soldiers teamed up Aug. 9 to capture two kidnappers and return a 2-year-old child to his parents in the Bayaa district of south Baghdad. The combined patrol was patrolling the neighborhood around 2 p.m. that day when a white van drove by. One van occupant fired six shots from an AK-47 at the patrol. How to draw attention to yourself, when you should be trying to blend in! When the assailant's vehicle sped around a corner to flee, an Iraqi police undercover unit met it. The police fired four shots into the rear tires of the van and stopped it.
The combined patrol investigated and found a 2-year-old child who had been kidnapped from his home just minutes before. The Iraqi police arrested the driver and the passenger, impounded the van, and returned the child to his parents. Somebody ought to tell the MSM about this site!
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/15/2005 07:50 ||
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#1
Rock on, guys! I still love to hear about our troops doing good from someone else BESIDES them.
#4
AFAICT the rest of the press has not picked up on yesterdays WaPo story about Ramadi, which may be the most significant good news of all - that members of the Sunni Dulaimi tribe, attempting to protect their Shia neighbors from ethnic cleansing, chased Zarq's thugs out of town.
#5
what's worse for the LA Times and NYT and WAPO is not only do they not carry the stories of the day, but when they do - I question the reliability of their version of events. If you have stock - sell, baby, sell. The chances of them recovering are getting slimmer each day.
#10
Raj, click on the 2 year view, and you see the decline begins in early 2004. Wonder what was happening then? Anyone know? Bueller?
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/15/2005 10:53 Comments ||
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#11
actually the NYT had a pretty decent article on Sunday about the Iraqi force thats taken over the Haifa street district in central Baghdad from American forces. for those without NYT passwords, you can see the article via Yahoo.
again, i see no reference to this in the WaPo or elsewhere.
Which shows an interesting pattern. Good news stories from Iraq ARE written by reporters in the field, and make it into the papers. But nobody at those papers is trying to pull those together into a coherent strategic analysis - overviews are typically left to the Washington bureaus, NOT the Baghdad bureaus, and are slanted (like Sundays WaPo article by Robin Wright).
#13
Easy Bigjim. When you live in an alternate universe, you actually do believe the earth is the center of it all, and the sun/moon/planets/stars all revolve around it. When the math doesn't add up, you just keep coming up with excuses why it 'should' be that way instead of investigating the underlying assumptions of how the universe really operates. And before you think that is just cute, remember we still say 'sunrise' and 'sunset' even in this post Copernicus/Galileo/Kepler world.
#2
From the photos it looks like batch rather than continous production, which is about what we'd expect. That rectangular box thing looks like heat exchanger (if I recall the name correctly, it's been more than 15 years since I was involved briefly in product development, and never as an engineer)-- the mixture would be pumped in one end, heated while traveling through, then come out the other end for the next step of the process. The carelessness about safety is normal for that part of the world. Mr. Wife came back from his first business trip to Egypt in shock -- the factory workers walked around the plant carrying leaking bags of chemicals on their heads, no one wore shoes, let alone safety shoes, and a huge gaping hole in the mezzanine floor was covered by a piece of cardboard. I don't know if that is typical of non-First World manufacturing, or a manifestation of the Inshallah philosophy.
#7
BigEd, bug spray is nerve agent in a solution not strong enough to hurt most humans. There is some refining done but you could take a normal insecticide and make certain types of nerve agents. Not REAL easy but not extremely difficult, either. I won't go into details here, though.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/15/2005 19:26 Comments ||
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#2
When I was in Washington in October, I wandered around a little on the Sunday before the meeting and went into a bookstore before going to the Air and Space museum.
The bookshop was selling pocket-sized versions of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. I was struck by how small they were! - adhering to the maxim that the best things come in small packages (this was also around the time that the EU 'constitution' debacle/debate was reaching fever pitch)
I was kicking myself for not buying a copy when I was out there. Next time then ;)
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/15/2005 8:52 Comments ||
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South Sudan's main militia has given its support to new First Vice President Salva Kiir Mayardit and said it would resume talks on joining the southern security force. The announcement on Saturday by Major General Paulino Matip, commander of the Southern Sudan Defence Forces, was unlikely just two weeks ago, when the vice presidency was held by John Garang de Mabior. Garang and Matip had a number of differences over southern issues, particularly security.
Garang died in a helicopter crash on 30 July and was succeeded by Kiir, former commander of the Sudan People's Liberation Army. In his inaugural speech on Thursday, Kiir expressed his desire to reach out to southern military and political factions. Matip, who had stayed away when Garang was in power, was one of hundreds of delegates who greeted Kiir at the Khartoum airport on Wednesday, receiving a warm embrace, attended his inauguration, and met with him both Friday and Saturday.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2005 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A survey conducted by Iraq's constitutional drafting committee showed that the majority of those responding supported full rights for women - as long as the freedoms are in accordance with Islam.
I'm not sure that makes sense ...
The survey released Sunday was conducted by a subcommittee of Iraq's constitutional committee that is drafting a new charter for the country. Though not designed with random sampling as are leading U.S. polls, the survey nonetheless was an attempt by the group to gauge public opinion in Iraq's chaotic environment on key topics in the charter. Over 156,000 people submitted responses to a multiple-choice questionnaire that was distributed across the country. Participants turned the forms into some 1,000 boxes across the country, according to Adnan Mohammed Hassan, head of the committee that directed the survey.
Several international polling agencies have measured Iraqi public opinion, but this survey is the first known government survey conducted since the country's new leaders were elected on Jan. 30.
On the topic of women's rights, 12 percent of respondents said women should have the same rights as men. Some secular-minded women fear a loss of rights if conservative clerics heavily influence the new constitution. Fifty-five percent said they favored a decentralized form of government, while 26 percent said they wanted a central government with a full powers.
The question of how much power to grant to local governments has been a contentious subject among the country's leaders. On Tuesday a top Shiite leader said he supported an autonomous region in the south for Shiites, but Sunni Arabs objected to the proposal's inclusion in the constitution, arguing that it would lead to the division of the country.
On the subject of the role of religion in the government, 28 percent said they want Islam to be the main source of legislation, while 25 percent said it should be the only source. The seemingly small difference in language has been negotiated on for days by the country's leaders, some who insist that the charter be entirely rooted in religious law.
On their preferred system of government, 55 percent said they prefer a parliamentarian system of rule, while 20 percent said they want to elect leaders directly through a presidential system. Eleven percent also said they want the constitution to bar senior members of Saddam Hussein's government from government posts.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/15/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
It doesn't make sense. But it's a start. The discussion of women's rights has entered their vocabulary. Now they can argue among themselves about what "women's rights" mean. They are forced to wonder how Islam and women's rights can be compatible.
#2
when Henry the 8th took over the church in england, the clergy voted to accept him as head "as far as the law of Christ allows" Hemming and hawing is ALWAYS what people do when radical change threatans. Clearly Iraqis want to move in the direction of rights for women - they reject Taliban style gender apartheid. But, OTOH, theyre NOT willing to say that womens equality trumps Islamic law. The rubber hits on the road on several specific areas of Islamic law, notably divorce, inheritance, etc. There is SOME variety among the different schools of Islamic law, and different interpretations within them, IIUC. So theres a lot of room for play, which we will see.
After decades surrounded by the largest Jewish settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip, Palestinians in the enclave of Mawasi are planning to celebrate their recovered freedom with an all-night beach party. âWhen they leave, we will build a large hotel on the seafront which will be called the Peace Hotel,â says Iyad, dreaming out loud from his impoverished village locked in the heart of Gush Katif. He stops talking when a group of young settlers walks by from the nearby Jewish center of Neve Dekalim on their way to the beach with their M-16 assault rifles strapped around their backs. Tension suddenly fills the air as the two groups exchange icy looks. The elders and the women freeze into a silence broken only by a child playing the flute in the background. The young settlers mumble a few jokes in Hebrew and continue their walk in the dunes.
âThis is our daily life. We are trapped in our houses and it got even worse with the second intifada. When they finally leave, I will climb on to my roof and plant the Palestinian flag,â says Mawasi Mayor Ahmed Mustafa Al-Majaida. Mawasi is a little cluster of shanty houses and palm trees growing out of the sand, surrounded by razor wire. From Mawasi, residents can see the adjacent beach settlement of Shirat Hayam. âWhen they leave we will be able to sleep with no fear. For the moment it is impossible to rest,â Majaida said. But despite the imminent evacuation on Aug. 17 of the Gaza Stripâs 21 settlements, the Palestinians of Mawasi are still not sure if they can believe the settlers are really going. âWe have never believed Israeli promises and this time, it seems they have few options left. But we can never be sure until theyâve left completely,â Abu Ahmad says.
This clericâs plan to celebrate the historic withdrawal is clear. âI will go to the beach with my children and my wife. We will organize a huge party and then sleep on the sand and under the stars, with nothing to fear.â The 8,000-strong villageâs notables were due to hold a meeting to coordinate an emergency action plan for the immediate aftermath of the pullout. âWe will remain locked up in our homes until they leave. We donât want them to see us and think that we are trying to provoke them. Weâre afraid that, out of spite, they will decide to attack us and destroy our houses,â says Iyad.
Spreading over around 20 square kilometers, the Palestinian community is boxed in by fortified settlements, Israeli army positions and checkpoints. The nearest Palestinian city, Khan Yunis, is barely three kilometers away. But it can take days to get there and back. The main obstacle is the Al-Tufah military checkpoint, known as the worst in the Palestinian territories.
When the evacuation starts, Mawasi will also lose the Jewish farmers who employed its residents but nobody here appears hesitant about trading a paltry income for a long-lost freedom. The inhabitants of Mawasi are banking on olives, fruits and fishing to start their own businesses and sell their produce to the rest of the Gaza Strip. After decades in their virtual prison, sandwiched between Gush Katifâ settlements, the inhabitants of Mawasi are not too worried about the restrictions that could still exist after the pullout on their movement in and out of the Gaza Strip.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
"Occupation" is probably the best thing that ever happened to them... I see a dark future for these fools.
#2
Don't worry, Scoot. I'm sure W. will be waiting with an armful of big, fat foreign aid checks for our pals the Pals.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
08/15/2005 1:33 Comments ||
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#3
I will climb on to my roof and plant the Palestinian flag.... and I will expect that Peace Hotel to be built by my government...and when it does not, for the first time, the crazy little thought will enter my head that maybe my own government is to blame. I'll shake it off, and find a new way to blame Israel, but for a brief moment, it will enter my pea-brain that perhaps my own government is to blame.
#6
Wonderful picture, Poison Reverse. Is that the Rennaisance artist, or someone recent? OT, I saw your post about how to do bullet points -- thanks much! I do appreciate your thoughtfulness -- but I'm afraid it's too complicated for me to remember. I'll just stick with my small o's. ;-) On the other hand, given the Rantburg audience of thousands, I'm sure many will have benefitted from your advice, so it won't have been wasted.
#7
Well, I guess you can't fault his optimism - the idea of a 'Peace Hotel' in the Gaza strip is not something that would have ocurred to me.
I almost feel sorry for them, they genuinely think that all the problems they've had for the last 40,400,4000 years were down to the Joos. What a major wake-up call they're going to have when the Hamas psychos come in and start running the show - at least the Israelis didn't kill people for being 'collaborators'.
Come August the 18th, the Palestinians are (in theory) going to have noone to blame for their woes but themselves. It will be interesting to see how they do manage to blame any setback on the Joos.
One last thought .... âI will go to the beach with my children and my wife. We will organize a huge party and then sleep on the sand and under the stars, with nothing to fear.â really? Sorry Pal, but I can't see that happening for a long time to come - and it's not going to be the Israelis that are going to make you fearful.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/15/2005 9:31 Comments ||
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#8
if they at least have aspirations that conflict with Hamas, thats a start. But I agree, this is probably the BEGINNING of the hardest times for the Pals of Gaza, not the end.
#9
tw,
The picture is not a Rennaisance. It's simply an optical illusion.
IMO, using "o's" for bullet points are ugly. Let's keep RB purdy. I agree, that it's hard to remember.
I think Fred should add it on the comment window as a "copy & paste" option, along with, Link, Bold, Italic, & Strike. Anyone agree?
--Copy and paste this (li class="MsoNormal" style="") to the RB comment window. But, don't copy the parentheses. Then, add "<" right before "li" and ">" right after second quotation mark This will give you your bullet point.
Add a space after the greater than sign and type your comment.
For example, this how it would look like with 3 bullet points.
#10
The hard part for the gaza paleos is they'll have nobody close to hate. They may find living with themselves far worse than they could have imagined given the propensity for violence and idiocy.
#12
And who gets the nice houses the Israelis left behind? And which gang gets which old army positions and the checkpoint cash cows? Things could get lively very quickly . ..
Posted by: James ||
08/15/2005 14:11 Comments ||
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#13
James,
Its my understanding (or at least my hope) that Israel will destroy the houses left behind. I read that Israel and the paleo 'govenment' agreed to that.
I think Iyad and his buddies is going to be in for a few Rude suprises when the house(s) he has been drooling over go kaboom and Hamass and the others starts to looking for easier targets to satisfy their addiction for innocent blood.
"And there will be a great crying and gnashing of teeth!!"
#14
Pity. But now that you mention it, yes, I'd forgotten that they did agree to boom the houses. Easier to blame the Jews for the missing houses than to try to explain why the gang bosses get the goodies.
Posted by: James ||
08/15/2005 21:49 Comments ||
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You do get the sense that some -- a few, anyway -- average Afghans are beginning to understand what it takes to build a decent society.
KABUL, Afghanistan -- A cartoon flickered on a television set in Abdul Samad Khaksar's living room as he took a drag from a cigarette and considered the merits of Afghanistan's former Taliban government. "The Taliban are like a medicine for Afghanistan that has expired," said Khaksar, 42, a white-bearded religious scholar who is running in parliamentary elections scheduled for September. "They want people to live like in the time of our Holy Prophet. I am in favor of how he lived, too. But it's impossible to bring that time back. The people of Afghanistan need something new."
It was a surprising assessment from a man who was once a senior official of the Taliban government -- an Islamic group so extreme that it outlawed television. Hundreds of Pakistani Taliban fighters continue to wage a guerrilla war against the Afghan government nearly four years after the group was ousted.
But Khaksar's candidacy also points to a central paradox of the Taliban insurgency. While the extremist militia is mounting an unprecedented wave of attacks, apparently aimed at sabotaging the elections, several hundred former Taliban members have returned from exile in Pakistan to join a government reconciliation program. A handful of well-known Taliban figures have even decided to run for parliament.
Returned from Pakistan, you say?
The militia's resurgence comes as a new government reconciliation program, open to all but senior Taliban militants linked to terrorism or war crimes, is yielding unprecedented results. Several hundred former Taliban members have recently streamed back into Afghanistan from Pakistan after formally renouncing violence, according to Afghan and U.S. officials. "The response has been tremendous," said a senior Afghan official who oversees the program. "So many of them are fed up and want to come home, as long as they are promised they will be treated well."
Let's see, a political settlement that allows tired fighters to come home, coupled with a military program that will eventually kill them if they don't -- hmmm, are we seeing that somewhere else in the region?
Some of those candidates were considered moderates when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan -- including Khaksar, who was deputy minister of interior, and Wakil Ahmad Mutawakil, a high-profile foreign minister who spent three years in U.S. custody and then house arrest in Afghanistan after turning himself in. There are also several Taliban military commanders in the race, including Rais Baghrani of southern Helmand province and Abdul Salaam Rocketi, named for his skill at aiming rockets.
Must have never worked with Hek.
Although none of the candidates and few of the returnees appears to have been active in the recent insurgency, analysts said that their reentry into Afghan society has had an important psychological impact. "By coming in as Taliban, they've taken a stance in favor of the peace process, which basically cuts off the moral authority of those in armed resistance," said a Western diplomat.
Just as significant, none of the ex-Taliban candidates appears to be advocating the fundamentalist Islamic policies of Taliban rule, which prohibited women from showing their faces in public, closed girls' schools and required men to grow long beards. "There's absolutely no appetite for a Taliban-style party among mainstream Afghans, and that's a very hopeful sign," said Peter Dimitroff of the National Democratic Institute, which offers training to Afghan candidates. Even traditional rural voters, he said, are "looking for more mainstream conservative choices."
Although some of the former Taliban candidates still boast of the group's success in quashing the lawlessness of the 1990s, all have distanced themselves from the movement's more notorious practices.
Khaksar said he grew disillusioned with the Taliban government within a year of joining it. He described meeting Osama bin Laden at a Taliban commander's house and disagreeing with bin Laden's assertion that Afghanistan should be used to launch a global holy war. The commander, he said, "immediately ordered me to leave the house." After that incident, Khaksar said he feared he would be killed if he dared criticize the government, let alone try to resign from his position. Even today, he said, he receives death threats, and fears he cannot safely campaign in his native Kandahar province, once a Taliban stronghold.
Other candidates have been more ambiguous in their critiques. Abdul Hakim Mounib, 35, a former Taliban telecommunications official, refused to condemn the militia's laws banning music. "I myself do not like Two Live Crew music," said Mounib, a candidate from Ghazni province. "I like a calm environment." As to whether governments should forcibly prevent people from listening to music, Mounib said, "I don't know . . . this is a question that's really better for the Supreme Court."
One candidate from Kabul province who came through the reconciliation program refuses to admit he belonged to the Taliban at all, even though several former Taliban leaders have described him as a commander who led more than a hundred men from a base here. "I sent about 10 or 15 men from my village to help with security when the Taliban were going to visit certain areas of Kabul province. That's all," protested the candidate, who uses the single name Deedar, as his silver sport-utility vehicle bumped along a dirt road toward a campaign event in a mud-walled village outside Kabul.
A burly man with a gravelly voice that often rises to a giggle, Deedar, 46, said he had complained to Taliban leaders about the religious police beating women in the street, as well as the scorched-earth campaign against residents of the Shomali plain north of Kabul who opposed Taliban rule. A campaign aide brought a stack of campaign posters featuring a photograph of "Commander Deedar" and a biography that described his years as a fighter against the Soviet Union after its invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. There was no mention of his activities under the Taliban.
There's no amnesia like political amnesia.
The subject also never came up at the campaign meeting, a gathering of about 100 men from local villages who crowded on red carpets in a mosque to hear Deedar and other speakers rail against communists, praise President Hamid Karzai and complain about the lack of water and power in the region.
The next day, comments made by several villagers suggested Deedar had reason to be cautious. "I don't know anything about what Deedar did under the Taliban," said Ahmad Shah, 62, a government technician. "But if we know someone was a Talib, even if they were the best of Talibs, we wouldn't vote for them. They stopped the schools, they didn't let our women out of the house and they told us to just pray five times a day. How could we support our families by just praying?"
Mohammed Yasin, 42, who complained that a Taliban fighter had severely beaten him for making an innocent joke, was more forgiving of Deedar's purported affiliation. "Yes, I know he was a Taliban commander. But he didn't do anything bad to us then. He was a good person," said Yasin, a farmer. "Belonging to the Taliban isn't what matters. I just look at the personality of the candidate and how he behaved."
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/15/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Aw, isn't that sweet? The winning of hearts and minds.
With one day left to finish Iraq's new constitution, Sunni Arabs asked Sunday that the divisive issue of federalism be put off until next year so the draft can be completed on time, warning they would not accept provisions for federated states. American officials applied pressure to resolve differences on that and other issues before Monday's deadline for parliament to adopt the constitution, and U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said he was convinced the Iraqis would succeed.
Some politicians said the draft could be presented to the Shiite- and Kurdish-led parliament Monday over Sunni Arab objections. But that would further alienate that disaffected minority, undercutting the U.S. goal of using the political process to take the steam out of the Sunni-dominated insurgency. "It looks like all the agreements are being made only by the Kurds and the Shiites without even asking our opinion," Sunni Arab official Saleh al-Mutlaq said Sunday. "I believe the draft is going to be presented tomorrow even if it is not finished, with or without our approval."
Parliament scheduled a meeting for 6 p.m. (10 a.m. EDT) Monday to allow as much time as possible for negotiators to agree on a draft. The main obstacle was the argument over federalism, which the formerly dominant Sunni Arabs fear could lead to Kurdish and Shiite Muslim regions splitting away from Iraq. But al-Mutlaq said there also was no agreement on 17 other issues, including the distribution of oil wealth. Another Sunni official voiced objections over a Shiite-Kurdish deal to grant special status to the clerical hierarchy of Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2005 00:00 ||
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No major oil reserves in sunni areas wouldn't figure into this would it?
#2
yup 3d. Normally youd think the minorities, (Which the Sunni arabs are) would be pressing for autonomy, and the largest group (the Shia) pressing for centralization. Looking at the oil map explains the reversal.
#3
"It looks like all the agreements are being made only by the Kurds and the Shiites without even asking our opinion," Sunni Arab official Saleh al-Mutlaq said Sunday. "I believe the draft is going to be presented tomorrow even if it is not finished, with or without our approval."
Not having been willing to play by the rules from the start might have something to do with that....
Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga said yesterday there was evidence linking Tamil Tiger rebels to the assassination of her foreign minister, but she vowed not to give up on the peace process that most think is the best hope of ending 19 years of bloodshed in this South Asian island nation. âInitial indications of the investigations seem to reveal responsibility of the LTTE in the brutal murder,â Chandrika said in a nationwide television broadcast last night. âIt is unacceptable that a group that talks endlessly about being committed to a cease-fire could so blatantly violate it,â she said, referring to a 2002 Norwegian-brokered truce between government forces and the rebels.
Yeah, but it seems to me that if you keep yapping with them, then you're accepting the unacceptable. Or am I missing something?
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2005 00:00 ||
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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.
Kuwaiti authorities have nabbed a drug smuggling operation which aimed to sneak one ton of drugs into Kuwait and other Gulf countries by hiding them inside carpets, a police official said yesterday. 
Iran has accused the United States and Britain of stoking the unrest that has broken out among its Kurdish and Arab minorities. 
TEHRAN - Hundreds of Iranian students pelted the British embassy with eggs, tomatoes and stones on Sunday, in protest of Europeâs call for Iran to permanently freeze its nuclear program.
Iran's new President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad presented a Cabinet to parliament on Sunday that featured known hard-liners in the foreign, interior and intelligence ministries. The conservative lawmaker Manouchehr Mottaki was nominated as foreign minister and a former hard-line deputy intelligence minister, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, was named as interior minister. The names suggest that Iran will move away from the moderate policies it pursued under the previous president, reformist Mohammad Khatami.
South Sudan's main militia has given its support to new First Vice President Salva Kiir Mayardit and said it would resume talks on joining the southern security force. The announcement on Saturday by Major General Paulino Matip, commander of the Southern Sudan Defence Forces, was unlikely just two weeks ago, when the vice presidency was held by John Garang de Mabior. Garang and Matip had a number of differences over southern issues, particularly security.
With one day left to finish Iraq's new constitution, Sunni Arabs asked Sunday that the divisive issue of federalism be put off until next year so the draft can be completed on time, warning they would not accept provisions for federated states. American officials applied pressure to resolve differences on that and other issues before Monday's deadline for parliament to adopt the constitution, and U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said he was convinced the Iraqis would succeed.
Sri Lankan President 
