April 6, 2006: Although the number of suicide attacks in Afghanistan has gone from a handful in 2005 to about six per month so far this year, the casualty rate has not increased significantly. Most Taliban suicide bombings appear to kill only the attacker. The problem is the lack of adequate support staff. As the Israelis discovered over the last six years, the only way to shut down a terrorist suicide bomber campaign is to go after the support teams.
The suicide bombers themselves are relatively easy to recruit. But assembling the team of technicians and support staff needed to select, train, equip and deliver a suicide attacker effectively, is much more difficult. The Taliban apparently got all the technical instructions, on how to run suicide bombing operations, from the Internet and data CDs al Qaeda was passing around. There were rumors of "Iraqi experts" coming to Afghanistan, or Afghans going to Iraq for training, but neither of these appear to be true. It's basically amateur hour in Afghanistan, with the Taliban sending suicide bombers to a lonely death, as the support teams try to learn to be as efficient at killing people as their Arab brothers in Iraq are, or were. Iraqi suicide bomb support teams have taken a major beating over the past two years, and many Iraqi operations are as ineffective as those in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/06/2006 09:31 ||
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Let's face it, the occupation doesn't afford a career ladder.
Posted by: Captain America ||
04/06/2006 10:02 Comments ||
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The solution to this problem is a new al-Jizz program to be called Arabian Idiot. It would show Arabians casing the target, building the bomb, recording their message of inspiration, etc. Whoever is alive for the final show wins $20,000 from Saddam Hussein.
#4
The relative success of bombers in Iraq is attributable to having operatives on hand to get the bomber to the target and then remotely detonating the explosive.
The Taliban does not yet appear to have the support staff inside Afghanistan.
#5
No, no, I've got it. You get two terror cells each of which considering blowing up 1 of 3 different targets. But get this -- they TRADE PLACES!! In return, each team will be aided and abetted by a spiritual leader and a fabricator. Each team only gets $1,000 for materials, but 1 of the 3 targets is a bonus target, in which case they get $2,000.
#7
But assembling the team of technicians and support staff needed to select, train, equip and deliver a suicide attacker effectively, is much more difficult.
KABUL - An Afghan expert on Islamic law on Wednesday defended the death penalty for Muslims who convert to other religions, as debate continued over the case of a Christian convert who fled to Italy. Sher Ali Zarifi, head of religious jurisprudence in the countrys Science Academy of leading intellectuals, did not refer to Abdul Rahman by name but told a meeting of scholars that punishment for apostasy under Islam was death unless the convert recanted.
Rahman was last month secretly flown to Italy after being released from jail amid pressure from Western countries. They said his apostasy trial violated the UN Declaration on Human Rights to which Afghanistan is a signatory. Zarifi, whose organisation is government-funded, said the UN declaration did not apply in this case since conversion away from Islam violated a system and not merely the rights of an individual. Converting is not a matter of one persons rights but it is against an administrative structure. Afghanistans administration is based on Islamic law, he said.
And there's no room for the rights of an individual in Islamic law.
Citing Islamic teachings, Zarifi said male converts should also face other punishments, including the seizure of their wealth and nullification of their marriage.
Because death just isn't good enough.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/06/2006 00:00 ||
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They said his apostasy trial violated the UN Declaration on Human Rights to which Afghanistan is a signatory.
Not a problem, the Moderate Muslims(tm) did edict their own version of the UN human rights chart, which sez human rights are to be assigned accordingly to the Sharia(tm).
So, to continue on Gromgoru's cue, the system does work! Neat-O!
#5
Reminder, Mr. Al Zafiri: We are in your country because this kind of thinking killed 3000 of our folks. We are not going to allow all-encompassing Islam to murder its way into power again in Afghanistan. We are there to snuff out this same mentality-the one that allowed the pestilent Taliban to gain power in Afghanistan in the first place. Had you folks had the balls and common sense to stand up to this psychopathic mindset in the first place, your country would not now be regarded as tied with Sudan and Rwanda as the most primitive, most barbarous nations in the world; the WTC, Pentagon and Shanksville would look today as they did in 2000, and 3000 of our loved ones would still be walking this earth. No Islam-by-the-sword allowed anymore-you can thank the "Magnificent 19" for your being subdued by your new guardians. When you grow up, maybe you'll be allowed to play by yourselves.
#6
Zarifi, whose organisation is government-funded, said the UN declaration did not apply in this case since conversion away from Islam violated a system and not merely the rights of an individual.
So, that brand-spanking-new constitution thingy of yours, you know, the one that declares freedom of religion and empowers a system of law means nothing after all, eh? Afghanistan needs to be put on notice that any reversion to theocratic rule will be given the "rinse and repeat" treatment.
I'm now at the point where theocratic rule needs to be declared a fundamental violation of human rights. Since it is difficult to imagine a theocracy that permits freedom of religion, I don't see too many contradictions in this stance. Ergo, even countries that democratically elect a theocratic government are entitled to a free dose of foreign sponsored regime change.
This falls in line nicely with my own theory that democracy and representative government are fundamental human rights.
Rahman's case should never have been allowed to be swept under the carpet. However fragile Afghanistan's cooperation might be, this critical issue should have been spotlighted. Just as Western defiance regarding the cartoon jihad should also have been the order of the day.
#7
Yeah, that's the problem with "democracy" Islamic style. I mean, "Converting is not a matter of one persons rights but it is against an administrative structure. Afghanistans administration is based on Islamic law . . ."
So they all turn out to vote, and then vote in this crap.
The peace deal with the southern rebels is falling apart. The government is not honoring key aspects of the deal, especially those involving integrating rebels into the army, and hiring, and paying, southerners to perform government jobs. While the rebels have disarmed, the government has not. A resumption of the civil war would begin with a lot of death and destruction in the south.
Posted by: ed ||
04/06/2006 06:35 ||
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The government is not honoring key aspects of the deal
Well, why should it? They're just infidels, the Master Religion(tm) doesn't have to comply to its word.
While the recent Darfur mess is at ten of thousands of (muslim) deaths and counting, the civil war/genocide in the south claimed about 2,5 millions lives, christians and animists, in the general indiferrence.
Weird thing is that the southerners actually held their own quite good, despite being hopelessly outgunned and outnumbered, in part because of their superior martial organization, which IIRC may be at least partly due to the involvement of a few white mercenaries/freelance advisors like the late Rudolf Steiner.
Sudan has said it will allow Jan Egeland, the UN undersecretary, to visit Darfur, three days after it barred his flight to the conflict-ridden region of the country. Elsamani Elwasilah Elsamani, Sudan's state minister for foreign affairs, said in a press statement on Wednesday that "we reiterate our commitment to receive concerned officials from the United Nations and all other those who are engaged in extending humanitarian aid and assistance". The visit of Egeland, the UN Undersecretary for Humanitarian Affairs, had been postponed for 10 days because of "internal reasons", the statement said, without elaboration.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2006 00:00 ||
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April 6, 2006: The Tuareg tribes are again in rebellion against the Mail government. One of Africa's few real democracies, with more than a decade of orderly elections and presidential successions, Mali has about 12.3 million people, but is nearly twice the size of Texas, and sprawls across the Sahel and parts of the Sahara. Although most of the people are Moslems, religious radicalism does not seem to have put down any roots.
The desert regions of the far north of the country, up against the Algerian frontier, are not only the most thinly populated region, but also the least well-controlled by the central government. Banditry and feuds among the largely Tuareg Berber tribes are common in the north. In addition, the region seems to have attracted Islamist fundamentalists fleeing defeat in Algeria, who have reportedly set up base camps in order to regroup. This is causing concern not only in Mali, but also in Algeria and nearby Mauritania. All three countries have recently reached a number of agreements to promote greater security in the region, and these include rights of "hot pursuit" during operations against extremists.
To strengthen its control of the north, Mali is preparing to deploy a major part of its small armed forces to the north and asset government control, in cooperation with Mauritania, which has pledged to provide some personnel and other support. Peace has been made with the rebellious Taureg tribes twice (in 1995 and 2001) in recent history. But these deals never last, mainly because old habits are hard to break.
The Taureg tribes have, for centuries, had a hostile relationship with the peoples to the south. The Tauregs, who are lighter skinned (they are distant cousins of the ancient Egyptians and Semitic peoples) than the sub-Saharan Africans, speak different languages (again, related to ancient Egyptian, not the Bantu, and other language groups found to the south) and have a different lifestyle. The sub-Saharan governments, especially in Niger, have played up the racial differences, tagging the Taureg as evil "whites" and urging the destruction of the hated nomads. The southerners do have a beef, in that the nomadic Taureg have been raiding the more settled blacks for a long time (like thousands of years.) So the animosity is nothing new. But Islamic terrorists taking advantage of Taureg hospitality is.
That hospitality may not last forever. The Taureg take their Islam in a decidedly Taureg fashion. That is, many ancient religious practices were incorporated into the Taureg version of Islam. This sort of thing is anathema to al Qaeda, in particular, and Islamic radicals in general. Leave the Taureg and al Qaeda together long enough, and you can expect some homegrown Taureg counter-terrorist action. But the Mali government doesn't want to wait, for they know that al Qaeda might get into some local mischief first. And the Western nations don't want al Qaeda to have a sanctuary, not matter how transitory, anywhere on the planet, even in the middle of the desert.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/06/2006 09:09 ||
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"Taureg"
I think VW has had it's "Cressida" moment.
Posted by: SLO Jim ||
04/06/2006 12:20 Comments ||
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Algiers, 6 April (AKI) - Some 300 Algerian teachers have in the past belonged to the al-Qaeda linked Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), the country's education minister has said. Bakr Bin Buzayd, quoted by the website of the Al-Arabiya satellite network, said that over the past decade of violence in Algeria, close to 300 teachers had left their classrooms to join the GSPC terror cells in the mountains. "To date we have not received any requests from these people to resume their teaching roles" said Buzayd. "Despite this, there is no reason why in the future they could not be gradually reintegrated into the teaching staff" he said.
He said his government had studied this phenomenon closely as part of the charter, approved by parliament and endorsed in a referendum last October, which includes an amnesty for any former terrorists who have not been involved in rape or mass killings. The so called "charter for peace and national reconciliation" grants a pardon to Islamic militants who rose up against the army-backed regime in 1992, after it cancelled elections that the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) was poised to win. It bans top Islamists from politics, a move analysts say was intended to ensure the support of Algeria's powerful army. The charter also praises the army for its role in protecting state institutions during the civil war.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/06/2006 08:22 ||
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Here I am thinking it was the NEA.
Posted by: ed ||
04/06/2006 9:21 Comments ||
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Would-be immigrants to Britain are being treated like parcels at detention centres in Calais and at Heathrow airport, the chief inspector of prisons said in a report published on Wednesday. Conditions on the French side of the channel were particularly bad. At the Coquelles freight terminal in Calais, detainees were housed in wholly inadequate rooms which staff nicknamed the dog kennels.
If they're detainees, that implies they're not legal immigrants, of course...
There was little for detainees to do, no hot food (and) poor hygiene provision, HM Inspectorate of Prisons said in a statement.
Guess they shoulda brought lunch, huh? What's that saying about "Poor planning on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on my part"?
There was also a lot of confusion in the Calais centres about whether French or English law applied, the report said.
Calais used to be part of England, but hasn't been for several hundred years. My guess would be that French law would apply.
Staff did not know whether they had the power to use force to stop attempts at suicide or self-harm, intervene in fights or prevent escape, it found.
Maybe they should just call the French cops and not worry about it?
The report was based on unannounced inspections of three centres in and around Calais last August and five centres at Heathrow last October. The centres on the French side are run by private firm Securicor on behalf of the British government. They house detainees caught while trying to get into Britain via its ports or through the Channel Tunnel. These centres operate outside the public gaze, Chief Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers said. Our reports raise serious concerns about safety and decency.
I'd say there should be some serious concern about truculent Third Worlders trying to swarm into Britain.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2006 00:00 ||
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Truss 'em up, shove 'em in a box, slap a "return to sender" label on it, and drop it in the mail.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/06/2006 7:20 Comments ||
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Colombian authorities claim to have dismantled an extensive counterfeit passport ring in January 2006 that allegedly supplied an unknown number of Pakistanis, Egyptians, Jordanians, Iraqis, and others purported to be working with al-Qaeda with Colombian, Portuguese, German, and Spanish citizenship, enabling them to travel freely in the United States and Europe. Bogota also mentioned that the network had ties to Hamas militants (al-Hayat, January 28; Caracol Radio, January 26).
In contrast, U.S. Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security officials expressed surprise at Bogota's announcement while emphatically disputing its claim, alleging that they had no knowledge of known links between the document forgery operation and any brand of Islamist terrorism, let alone al-Qaeda. Instead, they acknowledged that the sting operation involved Colombians posing as members of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the country's largest and most powerful rebel group, interested in purchasing forged documents and possibly even weapons (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Report, January 27). Washington classifies FARC as an international terrorist organization.
Since the September 11 attacks, Washington fears that radical Islamist terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda may exploit Latin America's porous borders, endemic corruption, and weak institutions to gain a foothold in the region in order to infiltrate U.S. territory or to stage attacks against vital U.S. interests in the region. Many observers believe that Colombia, a strong ally of Washington, with its vibrant narcotics trade, ongoing insurgencies, robust energy reserves, and proximity to the Panama Canal and other vital shipping lanes, represents an ideal target.
FARC's extensive involvement in the drug business and its documented ties to regional and international drug cartels and organized crime, coupled with the control it wields over large swathes of Colombian territory out of Bogota's reach, is of particular concern. In a worst case scenario, Washington worries that al-Qaeda may cultivate alliances of convenience with organizations such as FARC or others involved in the drug trade in order to raise finances or procure armaments. At the same time, it is important to note that there is no credible evidence pointing to this kind of formal cooperation. At the very least, however, terrorist organizations can exploit established money laundering and finance networks used by narcotics traffickers and organized crime syndicates in the region, especially the Black Market Peso Exchange (BMPE), to fund future operations (El Siglo, June 25, 2003).
It is against this background that Colombian and regional governments have played on U.S. concerns by moving to curry favor with the U.S. to further their own domestic agendas and international standing in the context of the Bush Administration's war on terrorism. In doing so, they often highlight the alleged threat of al-Qaeda or other brands of radical Islamist terrorism within their own borders.
Based on the evidence, this latest attempt by Bogota is a case in point in that it likely represents an effort to enhance its position in the eyes of Washington and the international community in its longstanding war with FARC guerillas. Since one of the alleged members of the smuggling ring, Jalal Saadat Moheisen, happened to be of Palestinian descent, it is likely that Colombia seized the opportunity to win political points in Washington by pointing to a possible link to Middle East terrorist networks.
What makes Colombia's bold claims especially interesting is that the sting operation was in fact led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials and other investigators, who worked in concert with their Colombian counterparts in the Department of Administrative Security (DAS).
Normally, references to alleged al-Qaeda infiltration are enough to gain the attention and headlines governments in Latin America seek. For example, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras have pointed to alleged al-Qaeda links with the Maras street gangs that terrorize their cities. Mexican officials have hinted at al-Qaeda involvement with rebel indigenous groups in Chiapas. Trinidadian authorities have employed similar tactics when it comes to discrediting their own homegrown Islamist opposition centered in the Afro-Trinidadian Muslim community.
U.S. concern over the strong showing by Hamas in the recent Palestinian elections is likely responsible for Bogota's decision to include Hamas alongside al-Qaeda in its recent claims of radical Islamist involvement in the document forgery ring.
Islam in Colombia
Colombia is home to a small, albeit diverse, Muslim population. Most Colombian Muslims are of Lebanese, Syrian, and Palestinian origin, but Arab Christians from the Levant with a long history in the country dating back to the Ottoman era far outnumber their Muslim counterparts. In contrast, unlike elsewhere in the region, Arab Muslims made their presence felt in Colombia beginning in the late 1960s and 70s after a wave of migration from the Middle East that was prompted by the Lebanese Civil War and other regional tensions (Los Cromos, April 1, 2005).
Recent Muslim migrants from the Middle East tend to be more pious and traditional compared to their second and third generation kin who have become assimilated into Colombian society. For example, many still speak Arabic and live in tight-knit communities, not unlike immigrant communities elsewhere. Demographic assessments on Colombia's Muslim population vary. According to some local reports, Colombia's Muslim population numbers approximately 15,000 adherents (webislam.com, January 4, 2005).
As a result of intermarriage and religious conversion, Islam has become one of the fastest growing faiths in Colombia and Latin America. Growing disenchantment with the Roman Catholic Church establishment in Colombia and elsewhere in the region has also led many to seek spiritual guidance elsewhere. Many former Roman Catholics that have strayed from the Church have come to see Catholicism as a European colonial tradition that was imposed on the peoples of the Americas. Therefore, conversion to Islam represents an assertion of ethno-national, as well as spiritual, identity. Protestant missionaries have been making inroads into Latin America for many of the same reasons for decades, especially among underserved communities and indigenous populations.
Colombian Christians who become Muslims find solace in Islam's reverence of Jesus Christ and Mary. Other Muslim converts see Islam as a native tradition untainted by the region's colonial experience. Many Muslims in Colombia also emphasize what they believe are their natural cultural and even ethnic links with Arabs and Muslims, stemming from Spain's Moorish heritage. In this regard, conversion to Islam symbolizes a reversion to their original state, which they see as having been suppressed by colonialism. There is also evidence suggesting that Colombian Muslims are becoming more open about asserting their identity, especially since Bogota abolished Catholicism as the official state religion in an effort to promote a broader definition of Colombian identity.
Many analysts are alarmed by increasing Muslim conversion trends, which they interpret as a sign of radicalization, especially in light of al-Qaeda's proven successes in luring Muslim converts to their cause. Despite these concerns, there is no evidence that Muslim conversion in Colombia or elsewhere in Latin America stems from a turn to political radicalization.
Maicao
Although accurate demographic measures are hard to come by, the municipality of Maicao, in northeastern Colombia in the department of La Guajira, an indigenous reserve located along the border with Venezuela and the Caribbean, is home to Colombia's largest Muslim community. Maicao's Muslim population is believed to number anywhere between 4,000 to 8,000 adherents. Maicao is also home of the Omar Ibn al-Khattab Mosque, which was completed in 1987. It is Colombia's largest mosque and is counted as one of the largest in South America (Latino Muslim Voice, December 2003).
Most of Maicao's Muslims are Sunni Arabs from the Levant, especially Lebanon, while a minority originates from Syria and Palestine. Maicao is also home to a small Shiite Arab population. The region's Arab community lives alongside the Way'uu, an indigenous group. As a result of its position on the coast, La Guajira has always lured immigrants seeking potentially lucrative trade opportunities and jobs, especially migrants from the Middle East.
Maicao is also a free trade zone (FTZ) and a known center of smuggling of counterfeit goods such as cigarettes and electric appliances, arms, and narcotics, money laundering, and other illicit forms of commerce to Venezuela, Central America, and the Caribbean. According to some reports, recent efforts by Bogota to enforce tax codes and root out corruption and smuggling hit Maicao's merchants particularly hard, especially Arab Muslims who figure prominently in the local economy. This includes merchants engaged in both legal and illegal business. As a result, Maicao's Arab Muslim population is said to be dwindling, as local merchants seek out opportunities elsewhere in Colombia and in the region (Los Cromos, April 1, 2005).
Many observers worry that al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations can exploit Maicao and the Colombian island of San Andres, another FTZ located off the coast of Panama, to raise funds to finance operations. San Andres is also home to a sizeable Arab Muslim and Christian community. FTZs in Colon, Panama, Iquique, Chile, Margarita Island, Venezuela, and elsewhere in the region are frequently cited as potential terrorist finance centers.
Conclusion
Despite a lack of concrete evidence to date, Colombia appears susceptible to al-Qaeda infiltration, but it is highly unlikely to come in the form of an alliance with FARC or the radicalization of Colombia's Muslims. In contrast, Colombia's weak institutions and ongoing conflict may present an opening for radical Islamists to gain a foothold. Given this background, it is important to consider the politics behind allegations of al-Qaeda infiltration, as they may divert attention away from the far more pressing themes shaping the threat at hand.
China has says it has no plans to play host to the newly-appointed Palestinian foreign minister, two days after the Hamas politician announced he would visit the country. Mahmud al-Zahar said on Tuesday he was planning to tour countries in East Asia, starting with China, in late May. "We are going to visit China and we have let the ambassador know," al-Zahar said in Gaza after meeting Yang Weiguo, the Chinese envoy to the Palestinian territories.
But in an apparent denial the Chinese foreign ministry said on Thursday no such visit was yet on the cards. "China at the present stage does not have such a plan yet," the ministry said in a statement, although it added that China planned to continue friendly ties with the Palestinians. "At the same time [China] hopes the new Palestinian government will undertake active steps to continue to push forward the Middle East peace process," the ministry said.
China was cautious, but relatively welcoming, in its response to the Hamas election victory in January. A visit to Beijing would have made China the second United Nations Security Council member after Russia to host Hamas leaders since they won a surprise victory in January's Palestinian elections.
The United States is losing patience at North Koreas boycott of six-party talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons ambitions, US ambassador to Seoul Alexander Vershbow said Wednesday. He urged the Stalinist North to revive the nuclear talks which have been stalled for five months. Everyone in Washington would like to reach a negotiated solution, but everyone in Washington is also running out of patience, Vershbow said in a message on a website run by the embassy. The two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States have held talks aimed at ending North Koreas nuclear weapons programme since 2003. In September 2005 the North agreed to abandon nuclear programmes in return for receiving a US-led security guarantee and economic and diplomatic benefits. But the talks are in limbo following the last meeting in November, after Washington accused Pyongyang of counterfeiting US dollars and laundering money. The North denies the charge and demands the US lift financial sanctions before it returns to the talks.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2006 00:00 ||
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It's 'Too Late' for the Norks to be compelled back into the six-party talks; any idiot will now realize they're going to 'sit this out' until we play our cards with the second leg of the 'Axis Of Evil'! My prediction is that once Iran is crushed from it's defiance and set back a few decades, The Nork's will become so terrified of nuclear annihilation, they'll 'cry uncle' (unless the Chicoms come a callin [ala Vietnam])!
#2
STRATEGYPAGE and other blogs are reporting that JAPAN is in the process of reorganz its Govt. and eventually its armed forces to exert and support Japanese regional, and dare global, interests - read, the Chicoms may expect Japan to eventually exert other than diplomatic or economic muscle in Asia or around the world. The Commies and thier God-based Lefty Radical Muslim allies are encircling us, and the USA-West is encircling back. THe Iranian Mullahs may want nukes and Empire but, unfortunately for North Korea, unless something changes wid CHINA the NKCP-North KOrea per se can look forward to remaining a PERMANENT, lawfully un-annexed, Chicom province and slave/peon state.
The Netherlands' new entrance test for would-be immigrants has been condemned by some as Islamophobic and even detrimental to the economy.
That's because you can always find somebody to be against something, even a good thing...
The "civic integration" test - the first of its kind in the world and part of a broader policy on immigration - came into effect last month. It includes the compulsary viewing of a film with scenes featuring gay men kissing and a topless sunbathing woman.
Not titties? Oh, horrors! Quick, Ethel! My pills!
Critics say the film, which forms part of a study pack, is designed to discourage applicants from Muslim countries who may be offended by its content.
I'd be a lot more offended by two fellows rubbing whiskers, but it wouldn't make me come down with the vapors. If I had a serious desire to become a Dutch citizen I'd somehow make myself suffer through it.
Arzu Merali, spokeswoman for the London-based Islamic Human Rights Commission, says the move indicates that Muslims are not welcome.
Only a certain segment of same, I'd guess.
"Sadly the Dutch authorities are now openly exhibiting the type of Islamophobia that sends a very clear message to wider society. Muslims are not only unwelcome ... but those that are already there do not conform to a uniform idea of what should be a citizen."
Maybe they should take the hint: At least some in Euroland swung over to the low end of the patience scale when Muslims started slaughtering them in the streets. I have no idea why, of course.
But, Maud Bredero, spokeswoman for the Dutch Ministry of Justice for Integration Policy, denies such a notion. "No, certainly not this is, of course, not the case," she told Aljazeera.net. "Everyone is welcome."
"But if you come in, you're gonna see the occasional honker and sometimes you'll see a pair of fellows sharing tongues. We're not planning on changing to please you, so maybe you should plan on changing to please us, since it's our country. If we go to Ratholistan, we'll keep our shirts on and our tongues in our mouths."
Some 54% of all non-Western foreigners living in the Netherlands are Muslim, with 95% of them originating from Turkey, Africa, Latin America and Asia, according to the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). The controversial film has been made available at 138 Dutch embassies in the Middle East and Asia. Adding to concerns that the test is not friendly towards Muslims, is the fact those seeking entrance from other EU countries, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan do not have to take the test.
Most of us have seen a bosom before, or know where we could see one...
However, Rita Verdonk, the Dutch immigration minister, defends the initiative, saying it is aimed at instilling Dutch values. "It is important that you not be afraid to make clear demands of people - that they subscribe to our European values, that they respect our laws and learn the language," she told Reuters.
"When we go to their countries there are enough restrictions put on us, fergawdsake."
After viewing the 105-minute film, which is available in most languages, applicants are required to take an exam - costing $417 - on facts about the country such as the number of provinces that make up the Netherlands, Queen Beatrix's monarchical functions and the role played by William of Orange in the country's history. As part of the test, applicants, who need a basic command of the Dutch language, will also be tested on their knowledge of Dutch culture.
Silly me, I'd think that'd be a pretty basic demand. I'm sure a Dutchy in Soddy Arabia would be expected to know something about Arabia before being allowed to live and work there. They'd be required to change religion if they were to stay, too.
Karel Steenbrink, a Dutch theologian, describes the immigration minister's move as "strange".
And some of us would call the Dutch theologian's objections "strange."
"She is looking at the immigrant issue mostly from the aspect of security and how to, more or less, get the Netherlands to be a right-leaning country," Steenbrink, based at the Utrecht University in the Netherlands, told Aljazeera.net. "Verdonk does not see immigrants as people enriching our culture and country... That is why she ordered this film."
Of course she doesn't. She sees them as people who slaughter Dutchies in the streets, and who've put out a fatwah on her own head.
The professor questioned the inclusion of some of the graphic images in a general film on the Netherlands. "You can only see it (the topless bathing) a few weeks a year in the Netherlands because it is so cold here. And then only in restricted places. You seldom see it," he laughed.
On the other hand, you can see a certain number of udds 12 months a year on a stroll through certain parts of Amsterdam, can't you?
"Verdonk knows the reaction to the film would be one of fear, anger ... she works like that." Verdonk has also said that pending legislation in the Netherlands may introduce penalties for long-term foreign residents, some of them with Dutch nationality, who fail language or culture classes. Immigrants wanting to settle in the Netherlands to marry or form a relationship, will be required to take the test, according to the immigration ministry. Steenbrink said: "The whole package - the film, Dutch language courses, higher cost of a visa, etcetera - has already reduced the number of immigrants. Even asylum-seekers are affected." Immigrant numbers fell by 25% last year, Steenbrink said, quoting figures released by the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2006 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney's former top aide told prosecutors President Bush authorized the leak of sensitive intelligence information about Iraq, according to court papers filed by prosecutors in the CIA leak case.
If it was authorized, it wasn't a leak, it was a release.
Before his indictment, I. Lewis Libby testified to the grand jury investigating the CIA leak that Cheney told him to pass on information and that it was Bush who authorized the disclosure, the court papers say. According to the documents, the authorization led to the July 8, 2003, conversation between Libby and New York Times reporter Judith Miller.
They go on to say that the papers didn't specify which info was to be divulged. The whole article also doesn't mention earlier information I saw that said the NIE from the prewar period was being declassified at this time. According to this item at the nortoriously uberneoconservative think tank the Federation of American Scientists, large parts of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq were being declassified in UJuly 2003.
#2
OK where is the story? Bush allowed intelligence inforamtion to be disseminated? Ok he can do that simply by ordering it done. The story tries to tie the act with the non-criminal discloure that Plame worked at the CIA. Nice try but no cigar.
#3
ABC Radio news said that it was scoped toward Iraq's nuclear ambitions and NOT anything to do with the release of the name of "a CIA officer" (Valerie Plame). And THAT turned out not to be a crime in any event.
#4
Went over to that cesspool called DU. The DUmmy's are doing a happy dance about this. Don't know what they put in the Kool-aid over there, but the pitcher is empty.
I don't know if I'd wanna be jumping on one of these things...
A Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey at the air base in New River, NC, suffered major damage to its wing and right engine in a mishap March 27, according to a statement issued by the service after the incident.
The aircraft damage resulted from an inadvertent takeoff followed by a hard landing on the base's flight line during a post-maintenance functional check flight, according to the statement. No one was hurt, the service said.
It is not yet clear what caused the mishap. The Marine Corps is investigating the incident. There will be two investigations -- one led by a mishap board and another by the judge advocate general.
The base at New River is overseen by the 2nd Marine Air Wing at Cherry Point, NC. Maj. Shawn Haney, a spokeswoman at Cherry Point, said the incident has been labeled a class A mishap, which is the most serious and expensive kind. By definition, any mishap costing more than $1 million is in this category.
The Osprey damaged in the incident belongs to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Training Squadron 204. At press time, Haney did not have the identifying numbers for that particular aircraft.
Bell Helicopter Textron and Boeing make the Osprey mainly for the Marine Corps, but also for the Air Force component of U.S. Special Operations Command. Bell spokesman Bob Leder had no comment on the mishap and referred questions to the Marine Corps.
#1
Oh this is sad, i had such big hopes for that beast as did many but it looks so troubling its very scary. Mind you didnt the F-111 have alot of probs to begin with and turned out a real top craft though, F-15 was a hanger queen to start to i think for its first couple of years in service. Just pray they Iron the problems out. I still wouldnt want to go into action in one - simply way to big, any Jihadi within half a mile is gonna be hitting it so easy because of its gigantic size. Drop me off a few miles out from the enemy and thats ok - go trying to fast rope onto a building in one and the chances of getting it hit and knocked out i fear are almost 100%. Helicopters are just way to brittle too.
#2
...Reality check: In FIFTEEN YEARS of flight tests and development, this beast is still not reliable. if the money had instead been spent on a CH-47 replacement, we'd have had something much more reliable in more numbers.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/06/2006 12:34 Comments ||
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#3
but do remember that this is a pretty much untried and tested design so it would take longer but when you say 15 years it does kinda make you go wow i guess, thats long time for any aircraft
helicopters beat the air into submission so you'd think eventually it should be feasible and reliable but like many I've had my doubts for quite awile...
The life of our ours [sic men and women] are more important than the project 'Osprey'.
#5
The aircraft damage resulted from an inadvertent takeoff followed by a hard landing on the base's flight line during a post-maintenance functional check flight
That statement screams pilot error. Sounds like the pilot wound it up to check the engine, the Osprey lifted off unexpectedly, and he chopped the throttles rather than easing them back. Plane dropped like a rock and got dinged. Note the JAG's office is involved, not just the mishap board. That tells me they think someone made a major screwup and they may bring charges.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/06/2006 14:32 Comments ||
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If you look at X-type craft... for some reason the government has been trying to make something like the Osprey since the late 30's.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
04/06/2006 15:37 Comments ||
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The Osprey strikes me as an example of what technology can do when pushed to its limits, even though there was no real need to approach those limits. As in, a solution looking for a problem. The craft's wingtip motor axles and engine mounting bolts must be phenomenal.
The Cold War is over, and the 20th century is over. Our willingness to extend the presence of substantial U.S. forces in northern Europe while slighting the Greater Indian Ocean (GIO) (apart from the Middle East) makes no strategic sense. The future lies below the Tropic of Cancer, in the emerging postmodern empire built overnight by post-apartheid South Africa, in the enormous potential of Indonesia to pioneer a more successful, modern path for Islam, in the awakening capacities of India and even in the enduring importance of Singapore, perhaps the most vital city-state since Athens.
The GIO harbors terrible threats, as well (and not merely that possible, but unlikely, military confrontation between the U.S. and China): Nuclear-armed Pakistan is a Hamlet among nations, unsure of its identity and unable to decide on a decisive course of action. As in the play, the last act could litter the stage with bodies. Bangladesh, a human disaster, is prey to Islamist militancy. Beyond the familiar struggles in the Horn of Africa, the growing tension between jihadi Islam and the African Church Militant has already resulted in regional bloodlettings, from Sudan west to Nigeria. Saudi Arabia is doomed its violent collapse only a matter of time, be it years or decades. And Iran remains a powerful short-term threat, but is also a potential U.S. ally in the longer term (Persians are a friendless, proud, hated people in a very nasty neighborhood). For now, the world continues to gulp Middle-Eastern oil, creating an immediate set of problems. Tomorrow, a diminished appetite for oil and the implosion of bankrupt regional states may generate other challenges entirely.
No other region of the world offers such potential and presents so many intractable problems.
How might the future of the GIO look, if the United States thinks clearly and acts deftly (admittedly a tall order)? We should strive to build a new regional alliance aligning the United States with, in the first rank, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, India, Iran (in the out-years) and South Africa. Desirable secondary allies would include New Zealand, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Kenya (if its government can be reformed), the islands with flags, and, perhaps, Tanzania, Mozambique and Malaysia. The challenge, of course, is for all of these governments, including our own, to move beyond the past centurys prejudices and petty bickering to grasp our commonality of interests.
A greater Indian Ocean strategic alliance could be to the 21st century what the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was to the 20th: A military alliance that prevents a catastrophic war and fosters regional cooperation. But we need to have the vision to see beyond yesteryears divisions of the world and to grasp that command of the Indian Ocean will be decisive to the global future.
#1
Yeah, thank god for such scintillating originality and clarity of thought. Bush ought to consider doing some kind of nuke deal with India. Glad I thought of it.
#2
The Chinese are establishing a line of bases along the east coast, primarily Burma. The Indians are building bases in the Nicobars and other local islands.
PASSENGERS and relatives of victims of a 1986 hijacking in Pakistan today registered a lawsuit demanding $US10 billion ($13.91 billion) in damages against Libya and the hijackers. The action was filed on behalf of 176 passengers and families of some of the 20 people killed in the hijacking of Pan Am flight 73 at Karachi airport by the Abu Nidal group on September 5, 1985. The suit demands damages from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan government and the five Abu Nidal Organisation hijackers.
During a 16-hour hostage ordeal, one Pakistani-American was shot in the head in front of passengers and his body then dumped on the tarmac. The hijackers finally opened fire and threw grenades into the cabin, killing about 19 people and wounding scores of the 380 people on board. Thirteen of the families of the dead have joined the suit, according to a statement released by the lawyers who registered the action.
Prabhat Krishnaswamy of Columbus, Ohio, who was on the jet and whose father, Seetharamiah, was killed, is one of the lead plaintiffs. Mr Krishnaswamy said in the statement it was only when one of the hijackers was caught by the US Federal Bureau of Intelligence (FBI) and tried in the United States that the families found out about Libyan involvement in the attack by the Abu Nidal Organisation, a radical Palestinian group.
Zaid Hassan Safarini, a Jordanian, was sentenced to 160 years in prison by a US court in May 2004. He was caught by US agents after being freed from a Pakistani jail where he spent 15 years. The other four hijackers are still in Pakistani jails. "We formed a unified group determined to seek the truth behind this hijacking and hold Libya accountable," said Mr Krishnaswamy. "Libya has attempted to get off the list of state sponsors of terrorism and earn some sort of legitimate place in the world. But the victims remember," he said. "We are still here, and we are not standing down until we achieve justice. We owe this to the memory of the 20 innocent people who were murdered that day."
April is becoming one of the deadlier months for U.S. troops in Iraq, perhaps dashing the hopes of commanders that a three-month-long downward trend in fatalities meant the insurgency was becoming less effective.
In the first four days of this month, 16 Marines and Army soldiers have been killed by hostile fire or in accidents, about half the total in all of March.
It is threatening to erase a more favorable trend: The first three months of this year experienced a 25 percent decline in the number of U.S. deaths, a drop the military credits to a more robust Iraqi security force and to better armor protection.
The number of fatalities in the first quarter is still far more than what the Pentagon expected at this point three years ago, after the invasion to oust Saddam Hussein and his regime.
Pentagon and private-group tabulations show that 148 American service members have been killed in Iraq this year as of March 31, compared with 199 in 2005.
Both tolls exceed the 119 who died in the first three months of 2004. But that was when the insurgency was not thought to be at its height in terms of its ability to carry out bombings and ambushes. The 31 killed in March was the lowest monthly fatality rate in two years. The numbers are based on Pentagon postings and on the private Iraq Coalition Casualty Count Web site.
The 2006 trend closely parallels the rise of Iraq's security forces. They number 242,000, about 100,000 more than a year ago. Their police, army and commando units have taken on more missions and geographic sectors. And they are increasingly the target of attacks, perhaps drawing fire away from the 132,000 U.S. forces deployed in the country.
Army Maj. Gen. James Thurman, who commands the 4th Infantry Division in Baghdad, attributes the lower death toll to added experience for U.S. and Iraqi troops.
"The Iraqi security forces' capability is getting better," he told reporters at the Pentagon.
The number of suicide bombings, principally carried out by al Qaeda terrorists, has averaged 24 a month in 2006, down from 50 per month in the summer, the command reports.
The number of wounded also is on a downward path. January 2006 showed 280 wounded, compared with 498 in January 2005. Pentagon's numbers are not complete for February and March of this year. Overall, the number of those wounded dropped from 7,989 in 2004 to 5,944 in 2005. As of Tuesday, 2,344 U.S. troops have been killed since the war began.
Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, the military's chief spokesman in Iraq, said the insurgents and members of al Qaeda in Iraq have increased attacks on Iraqis and their security forces by 35 percent in the past six months.
"The enemy knows the Iraqi security force is increasing in capability, and he's now targeting the Iraqi security force," Gen. Lynch said. Of U.S. casualties, he said, "I know they're as low as they've ever been."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/06/2006 01:48 ||
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"... increased attacks on Iraqis and their security forces by 35 percent ..."
But have they increased the casualties on Iraqi security forces by 35% as well? It seems like they may be attacking more but accomplishing less. If so, what does that say about the state of the enemy in comparison with the Iraqi forces?
#2
Glenmore, it doesn't matter. Any increase of anything remotely deemed "Bad" makes the MSM giddy with excitement. They are looking to publish an article furthing there own ends, not one that tells facts
Posted by: Charles ||
04/06/2006 8:25 Comments ||
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#3
It is really quite simple. B-52's bring people to the talkie talkie table. Back off the B-52's and they resume old habits. Gloves need to come off and stay off.
#4
Just yesterday I read comments from unnamed US officials saying it was troubling that losses and attacks had not decline, despite US offensive operations and successes. So now we have both disappointment that losses have not declined, and "dashed hopes" that declining losses would be a continuing trend. If one took this "reporting" even somewhat seriously, one might be confused ....
#5
Verlaine
1) Average IQ is 100 so 1/2 are below that.
2) Katie Couric - is a) considered a journalist by the MSM and b) given a contract to anchor the evening news - which she doesn't have the slightest IQ to understand.
Four days does not a month make: a bone-head linear extrapolation indicates that 16*30/4=120 PREDICTED deaths. Of course, they won't mention that statistic since it would blow the scam.
Then again, they may not mention that statistic since they may not have the IQ to calculate it.
I say we put this in the freezer, pull it out later, and use it as a yardstick for this person's predictive abilities.
At the same time, every death DOES hurt, accidental and combat caused.
It hurts even MORE now: It's been THREE years since this started, and these fine soldiers either signed up or re-signed up KNOWING what was in store for them. No more soldiers by the name of Ahmed or Mohammed backing out because they changed their minds fighting their brothers. The letter from Ben Stein posted yesterday was golden: every word of it. God not only bless them, but God forgive us for being so unworthy...
WASHINGTON - The United States should set a May 15 deadline for Iraqis to form a unity government and then plan to withdraw its troops by years end, Democratic Senator and former presidential candidate John Kerry said in commentary published on Wednesday in The New York Times. If Iraqis arent willing to build a unity government in the five months since the election, theyre probably not willing to build one at all. The civil war will only get worse, and we will have no choice anyway but to leave, Kerry said.
Which is what JFK wants us to do anyway.
Joining a growing chorus criticizing the US-led occupation of Iraq, Kerry said it was immoral ... to engage in the same delusion as in Vietnam, where half of the US casualties occurred after Americas leaders knew our strategy would not work.
Except our casualty rate is going down, not up. The civilian casualty rate is going down. Doesn't quite sound like a 'quagmire', does it John?
Kerry described the current situation as the third war in Iraq in as many years. The first was against Saddam Hussein and his supposed weapons of mass destruction. The second was against terrorists whom, the administration said it was better to fight over there than here. Now we find our troops in the middle of an escalating civil war.
The civil war isn't escalating, and indeed it isn't a civil war. Right now it's a) the remanents of the Jihadis and al-Q trying to start a civil war and b) dead squads going around getting payback. Neither is good, and neither is a civil war.
Iraqi leaders so far have responded only to deadlines -- a deadline to transfer authority to a provisional government, and a deadline to hold three elections, Kerry said. Iraqi politicians should be told that they have until May 15 to put together an effective unity government or we will immediately withdraw our military.
Which tells the jihadis and death squaders that they need a maximum output between now and May 16th.
If Iraqs leaders succeed in putting together a government, then we must agree on another deadline: a schedule for withdrawing American combat forces by years end, Kerry said.
To get things rolling, Kerry suggested bringing all the leaders of Iraqi factions together in a neutral setting where, working with US allies, the Arab League and the United Nations, they would be compelled to reach a political agreement.
What does this guy have with the UN? And why does his proposal sound like the Paris negotiations during the Vietnam War?
Kerry dismissed the US governments reluctance to put pressure on the Iraqis for fear of making things worse. In fact, terrible things are happening now because we havent gotten tough enough. With two deadlines, we can change all that, said the senator from Massachusetts.
JFK trying to sound tough is like Barney Fife threatening to fire his pistol.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/06/2006 00:00 ||
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Its great that he lost.
Now just get lost Kerry.
#3
Just tell the Iraqis what MacArthur told the post-WW2 Japanese, in paraphrase - either work together to govern yourselves and your new democracy, or I'll make the decisions for you and govern Japan by myself wid the US Army. The Japs quickly got their act together, the people demo and famously elected a hooker, and the rest is history.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/06/2006 7:12 Comments ||
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#6
This is the most logical I have seen Sen. Kerry. On count 1, "Iraqi leaders so far have responded only to deadlines ...", I think he's right (isn't that true of most of us?.
Second, he implies, but does not state explicitly, that the Iraqi leaders would/should not want us to withdraw our troops immediately - such that the threat of doing so under a deadline would push them to resolve their political impasse; again, I suspect he's right. (This was probably the basic message taken to Baghdad by Rice and Straw last week.)
It's only when he demands a schedule for withdrawing troops by year end (schedule by year end or withdrawal by year end?) that I think he's wrong; I think the administration position there is clear and correct - 'circumstances will determine the schedule, and here are the broad circumstantial requirements.'
All-in-all, this is a less Kerry-ish statement than usual, and may be indicating a move a bit toward the center by either Kerry himself or the Democrat party.
#7
All-in-all, this is a less Kerry-ish statement than usual, and may be indicating a move a bit toward the center by either Kerry himself or the Democrat party.
The only reason why leftists like Kerry "move toward the center" during a war is for the purpose of killing more Americans.
#9
Kerry is wrong. As Khalilzad said, this culture has a different sense of time than we do. Progress on negotiations that makes folks like us, who actually pay retail, impatient, is forward movement in a society of bazaar merchants. The fact that it takes 5 months, does NOT prove they wont come to a deal in month 6.
But thats not only a criticism of Kerry. Its a criticism of EVERYONE who looks at the region without making allowance for cultural differences, and who judge them accordingly.
#10
Iraqi politicians should be told that they have until May 15 to put together an effective unity government or we will immediately withdraw our military.
Even coming from John Kerry, the stupidity of this statement is stunning. Has he given any thought whatsoever to the consequences of doing that???
No matter what excuse we were to give for picking up our marbles and going home, both friend and foe alike would see our departure for precisely what it is: an admission of defeat.
Moreover, it would be Mogadishu writ large: it would be taken as proof positive that Osama bin Laden was absolutely right about America when he inferred, from our bugging out of Somalia, that we no longer have the stomach for a long fight; that we are a weak-willed, irresolute paper tiger; and that Islam WILL win in the long run because the West has lost its nerve and the will to survive.
I cannot imagine ANYTHING that would encourage our enemies more.
God have mercy on us if we ever allow these feckless dingalings in the Democratic Party back in power.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/06/2006 12:16 Comments ||
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#11
And yet another reason why the democrats will never return to power unless they clean up their act.
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian Finance Minister Omar Abdel-Razeq said on Wednesday that the Hamas-led government expected to receive $80 million from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates to help pay March bills for guns and ammo salaries.
But he said it was unclear when the Palestinian Authority would secure the funds. March salaries totaling about $118 million were scheduled to be paid earlier this week. Asked if the government was concerned it would not be able to pay salaries, Abdel-Razeq told reporters: There is a concern, but I do not think about it.
Why would he think about it -- he's only the Finance Minister.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/06/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
He doesn't think about it because his check cleared.
#5
IF they make haste Hamas could probably get a pretty good deal on some refurbished, low mileage Kalashnikovs with Venezuelan cartouches stamped on the receivers.
GAZA - The new Palestinian government under Islamic militant group Hamas said on Wednesday it was freezing administrative appointments made by the previous, more moderate caretaker leadership so they could be reviewed.
The cabinet announcement, issued after the first full meeting of Hamas ministers, underscored long-running tensions between the group and the Fatah faction that had dominated Palestinian politics until it was toppled in Jan. 25 elections. The cabinet will form a ministerial committee to reconsider these decisions and ensure they were just, said a statement, adding that the reviews would be completed within two months.
Assuming the money lasts that long.
The Palestinian caretaker government was in place from last November, when ministers running for re-election had to resign, until March 30, when the Hamas administration was sworn in. Among appointments overturned were ministry positions assigned by Fatahs leader, President Mahmoud Abbas. The Hamas government also reversed a decision to place the Palestinian university al-Quds -- and its revenues -- under the Fatah-led national umbrella group Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).
Hamas will have to provide the teaching faculty for all the terrorism and arms majors, something I'm sure they can do.
The Hamas ministers also agreed to provide documents about their personal finances for cabinet inspection within two weeks.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/06/2006 00:00 ||
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Two weeks ago, the FBI's chief information officer admitted that the bureau couldn't afford to provide e-mail addresses for 8,000 of its 30,000 employees. The e-mail shortfall is only the latest in a series of embarrassed confessions the FBI has made about its information technology. The most significant mea culpa came when an attempt to upgrade the bureau's case-management software had to be scrapped last year after $170 million had already been spent. A Justice Department report listed all kinds of excuses, from poor "enterprise architecture" planning to shifting design requirements. But behind the management analysis is a more implacable problem. Until very recently, being computer-savvy hasn't been considered much of an asset in the FBI, and clues were something you kept to yourself.
Agents say things are changingthat there's a new spirit of cooperation and new task forces designed to dig up what's buried in investigators' files. But decades-old habits die hard. The FBI's old fiefdoms still linger. Some are regional: An agent from Los Angeles would be strongly discouraged from chasing leads in Chicago. Others are functional: The Counterintelligence Divisionthe investigators assigned to catch the next Aldrich Amesstill gets into turf battles with the Bin Laden-hunters in Counterterrorism.
For those who do want to share data, it can be more trouble than it's worth. Investigators are supposed to document everything from warrant requests to stakeout summaries in the FBI's Automated Case Support database. But agents can't point and click to add a record to their digital files. Instead, they have to tab through 12 different functions on a pre-Windows-era green screen. Pictures of suspects can't be scanned in. And complex searches are impossibledon't bother looking for "aviation" and "schools" at the same time. Many agents stay away from Automated Case Support and stick with paper. The 100,000 tips that came in during 2002's Washington, D.C., sniper case were circulated by fax.
Until 9/11, the consequences of being backward seemed pretty small. This was an investigative agency, after alla team of cops looking into crimes after the fact. There was little pressure to stop things before they happened; you don't arrest a bank robber before he orders the teller to stick 'em up. Nor did there seem to be a need to swap clues as they were coming in.
Then, suddenly, the pressure to share information leapt from nonexistent to crushing. Plans begun in 2000 to revamp the bureau's hardware and softwarethe new system was to be called "Trilogy"went into overdrive. Funding for FBI information technology jumped from $223 million to $507 million. In 2002, Sen. Chuck Schumer, then the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Trilogy's accelerated schedule was still too slow. "I find it impossible to believe that we cannot, for the safety of our nation, implement Trilogy any faster."
The problem was finding people with enough geek know-how and enough project management experience to get Trilogy done. The FBI's stars are the guys who chase down leads in the field, not the ones keeping servers from crashing. Former Director Louis Freeh reportedly had his PC taken off of his desk. Some agents proudly declared their inability to type.
In November 2001, the bureau named ex-IBM executive Bob Dies its first chief information officer. But Dies had virtually no authority over the FBI's technology budget, which was divided up among the various offices and divisions. He quit in May 2002. In the 19 months that followed, the FBI went through four more CIOs, and 15 key managers rotated through the Trilogy project.
Perhaps that's why many of the basic principles of running a multimillion dollar, high-tech effort were ignored. The bureau didn't bother with an overall assessment of its technology needs. Instead, IT managers made assumptions about what Trilogy should contain. Simple requirements documents, meant to lay out the system's basic functions (like searching multiple phrases at once), became detailed descriptions of logos and look-and-feel. Commercial software was eschewed in favor of complicated, hand-coded alternatives.
Eventually, the FBI got its hardware: new PCs and some higher-speed network connections (although a Congressional report would eventually uncover $10 million in questionable contractor payments and $7 million in missing gear). But Trilogy's software componentVirtual Case File, the system that was going to replace the old "green screen" investigation managernever came to be. VCF was supposed to let agents import audio and video into its digital files, search all FBI databases simultaneously, and let approval forms be authorized online, instead of by hand or by fax. With a hyper-aggressive, 22-month schedule and a series of ever-shifting demands from the bureau, the contractors were never able to deliver.
Today, agents still struggle with the antiquated system VCF tried, and failed, to replace. According to current and former intelligence analysts throughout the government, the FBI's technological infrastructure is still decades behind that of other agencies.
The bureau is making progress. CIO Zalmai Azmi has been in place since December 2003. Unlike his predecessors, he has control over the FBI's entire technology budget and direct access to FBI chief Robert Mueller. Azmi recently signed a $425 million deal with Lockheed Martin to develop Sentinel, the software the Virtual Case File never grew to be. The company has four years to deliver, not 22 months. The software will rely on commercial components, like Oracle databases, and it will be rolled out in increments rather than a single chunk.
For agents in the field today, these changes still seem like they're a long way off. In New York, only about 100 agents out of 2,000 have BlackBerriesthe e-mail-capable phones carried by seemingly every traveling salesman, congressional staffer, and mid-level executive on the East Coast. Headquarters nearly cut off the 100 BlackBerry owners until an assistant director "raised a stink" and saved his G-men from being disconnected. Score one for progress.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/06/2006 09:38 ||
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In November 2001, the bureau named ex-IBM executive Bob Dies its first chief information officer. ... He quit in May 2002. In the 19 months that followed, the FBI went through four more CIOs, and 15 key managers rotated through the Trilogy project.
This is quite impressive in a pitiful and frightening way. Organizations large and small have been automating with greater degress of success for the last couple decades.
One thing that always gets missed in giant techno-makeovers is the principle that something is better than nothing. A man with a simple spreadsheet can run rings around the guy with a yellow pad. A word processor beats a typewriter. (unless you are forging documents!) Start small and don't try to do it all at once. All large working systems have been grown from smaller working systems.
We have discussed previously how even a simple wiki would be better than the FBI's non-existant case file system. No email? Someone needs to send these lusers a truckload of discarded 486s and a box of linux disks.
#2
I have said it before and will say it again. Just duplicate the CIA's and NSA's computer systems.
Same software.
Same hardware.
DONE!
Fire all the current IT folks in the FBI and the managers that try to define IT. JUST FIRE THEM!
April 6, 2006: When new weapons come on line in another country, many people tend to seize on one characteristic of the system that stands out, whether or not it is relevant to the system's mission. This leads to misleading reports about what the new weapon can really do. The fact is, hype about weapons can often exceed their actual performance. This tends to cause problems, not only because intelligence services are going to try to find out what the real deal is, but also because they engender panic. Rampaging pundits draws the attention of politicians. Often this hype occurs because the United States doesn't have a similar weapon in service.
Perhaps one of the more recent cases of a weapon being hyped is the Russian Shkval, a rocket-propelled super-cavitating torpedo. On paper, it looks deadly with its high speed (360 kilometers per hour), and its nuclear warhead (which could destroy even a carrier). However, a closer look reveals that this system has several Achilles' heels. First, it is unguided. This means that even with it going at a kilometer every ten seconds, the submarine that fires it is going to have to get close to the target. This leads into problem number two for anyone using Shkval. A five-kiloton nuclear warhead detonated underwater creates shockwaves that will cause damage to a submarine that gets too close to the detonation point. One kilometer is well within that range. In other words, if a submarine fires a Shkval at a carrier, it might get the carrier, but will probably be seriously damaged in the effort. For the United States, which used the Mk 48 ADCAP from very quiet submarines, a system like Shkval is more trouble than it's worth.
Another one of these hyped weapons is the SS-N-22 Sunburn. It is fast (top speed of Mach 2), with a big warhead (700 pounds of high-explosive), a range of 120 kilometers, and has the ability carry out terminal maneuvers to throw off a ship's last-ditch defenses. However, in this case, again, there is part of the story that is untold. The missile flies as low as 23 feet over the surface of the ocean. That is not a problem on a calm day, with little or no wave action. But in a storm, that low flight altitude means that the missile could hit a wave and fly out of control (or detonate before it reaches the target). The room for error decreases even more when one considers the terminal maneuvers. Plus, it is out-ranged by the Harpoon, which has a range of 140 kilometers (other versions have even longer range up to 315 kilometers). The Sunburn might be a nice weapon, but its launch platform has to come within range of an American ship's anti-ship missiles for the Sunburn to even have a snowball's chance in Miami of hitting its target.
This is not a new phenomenon. In the 1970s, the object of panic was the MiG-25 Foxbat. Many pointed to its high speed (3,000 kilometers per hour), and wondered if it was unstoppable. A closer look soon revealed that the plane had electronics at the level of the 1950s, and it had short range. The plane it was designed to counter, the B-70, never entered service. This was a plane stuck without a mission. Try convincing the panic-stricken politicians of that. The MiG-25 has had only one confirmed kill in its service and that was fratricide. Syria claimed one of its MiG-25s claimed to have shot down an Israeli F-15. On the other hand, at least 17 have been confirmed as having been shot down by opponents. When people talk about new "wonder weapons", most of the time, it is just hype, and these systems often fall short in combat.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/06/2006 09:27 ||
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Not to be "that guy" who points out fallacies in an otherwise spot-on piece, but the MiG-25 does have at least one confirmed enemy kill. On January 17, 1991, an Iraqi MiG-25PD shot down a U.S. Navy F/A-18C on a bombing run over Iraq. It's the only air-to-air victory the IQAF had in the war. Incidentally, the downed U.S. pilot is still listed as MIA.
#2
A lot of air went out of the FOXBAT balloon when Lt Viktor Belenko defected and landed one in Japan. The AF Foreign Technology Division got to participate as the Japanese dissected it. There were some interesting things in it, but more strange ones. One in particular, that I recall, was that the systems were designed to be cooled with 100% ethanol but that the actual fluids were only about 20 proof. Seems the ground crews had been drinking the coolant and replacing it with water.
Sometimes it takes an unlikely hero like South Park to step up and put things into perspective. If there is such a thing as "The Cartoon Wars," then animated sitcoms like South Park are on the front lines.
From what I could gather from the cliffhanger ending, South Park creators Matt Parker and Trey Stone have forced Comedy Central to stand at the same crossroads that hundreds of newspapers and periodicals across America stood at not a month ago. Next week they will guest star Mohammed in all of his animated glory, and they have let Muslims know in advance that it's a-coming.
Comedy Central has a choice. They can either stand by their longtime stars in Parker and Stone, or succumb to cheap threats from petty thugs. Should Comedy Central make a decision endorsed by the First Amendment, I will be glued to my tv next Wednesday at 10pm.
If you all want to catch this evening's South Park, it should rerun April 6th at 10pm.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- A first-of-its-kind Muslim-American television network launched a year ago has gone from being a premium pay channel to a basic-cable offering on several cable and satellite systems, broadening its reach from 10,000 to more than 1 million U.S. homes.
Bridges TV, featuring Muslim-American lifestyle and cultural programming, also has been approved by the Canadian Radio & Television Commission to start broadcasting in Canada.
Founder and Chief Executive Muzzammil Hassan said the transition in markets including Detroit, Chicago, Boston and Washington means viewers while channel-surfing between Fox News Channel and CNN are coming across the English-language network and its coverage of issues like the Dubai ports controversy.
"That completely changes and gives America a completely different and unique perspective that America has never had available before," Hassan said. "That has been the biggest driving factor."
Bridges TV, with a staff of 25 to 30, produces a daily hourlong newscast at its studio in suburban Orchard Park. Broadcasts also include children's educational programming, current affairs, cooking and travel shows, soccer and cricket matches, documentaries and sitcoms.
As a premium channel for $14.99 per month, virtually all Bridges TV subscribers were Arabs and Muslims, Hassan said, giving the sense the network was preaching to the choir rather than advancing its goal of bridging understanding of American and Muslim cultures.
The network "really fills a void," said Adnan Mirza, a director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "There's a clear disconnect between popular American media and the Muslim audience. ... Americans are increasingly interested in better understanding Middle Eastern cultures, and Muslim Americans want to be better understood. Bridges TV creates a public platform for this dialogue."
The Buffalo office of the FBI has taken notice and will use the network for an "FBI Townhall Meeting" May 15, during which an FBI agent will field on-air questions and comments from Muslim and Arab-American viewers.
Over the last several weeks, the network has been added to the basic cable packages of WOW! Cable, which has a presence in Chicago, Detroit and Columbus; Buckeye Cable in Ohio; and Shrewsbury Cable in Massachusetts. Verizon FiOS, a broadband service, and Globecast Satellite reach markets in Boston, Dallas, Tampa, Fla., and Washington, D.C. Bridges TV will soon launch on Rogers Cable in Canada.
A charter sponsorship by Ford Motor Co. has offset the loss of premium subscription revenue, Hassan said.
In its hometown market of Buffalo, Adelphia Communications will keep Bridges TV as a premium channel. A spokesman, Thomas Haywood, cited a low subscriber rate.
#3
I won't be replacing my Mustang with another Ford.
Posted by: ed ||
04/06/2006 9:15 Comments ||
Top||
#4
This is why foundations should have to spend themselves out of business within a specified time, as did the Olin Foundation. Henry, anti-Semitic as he was, is spinning in his grave.
#7
Broadcasts also include children's educational programming, current affairs, cooking and travel shows, soccer and cricket matches, documentaries and sitcoms.
Hold it? at the risk of still being undecided on this story, what is wrong with programming targeted to this demographic?
It is likely more "center of the road" than Al Gore's "Current"... (Sorry, how could it be any lefter than that?
#9
The network "really fills a void," said Adnan Mirza, a director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "There's a clear disconnect between popular American media and the Muslim audience.
#10
Real simple. How much of their religious commentary is derived from Wahabbist or Salafist imams? Where does the majority of their overseas funding come from? What is the station's stated views on Islamist terrorism and Israel's right to exist? They need to put themselves on record, right away. If Saudi Arabia has any prominent role in this, shut it down.
#11
"broadening its reach from 10,000 to more than 1 million U.S. homes"
Reach is different than viewership.
"Broadcasts also include children's educational programming"
Keep a close eye on that.
"for $14.99 per month, virtually all Bridges TV subscribers were Arabs and Muslims"
With only 10,000 homes subscribed, advertising revenue must have been zilch.
"the FBI has taken notice and will use the network for an 'FBI Townhall Meeting'"
Don't try this on other minority-oriented networks or Jesse and Al will have seizures. On second thought...
"charter sponsorship by Ford Motor Co."
Ford doesn't expect its automotive business to make a profit in 2006. Look to Renault to kick in just as soon as Ford and Paris are lost.
I hear they're going to run a version of "Leave it to Beaver" that has a burkha digitally added over all the women.
They considered doing the same for "Andy Griffith", but Don Knotts scares the hell out of them.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/06/2006 13:10 Comments ||
Top||
#13
The network "really fills a void," said Adnan Mirza, a director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Yeah, my life's been... so empty without this shit.
Think if cable had been around in WWII we could've gotten "The Nazi Channel" or "Cooking with Tojo" on our basic cable package?
Here's what I predict. After a while watchdog people will get bored with the programming and slack off. That's when the muzzies will air mad mullah rantings, etc.
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.
KABUL - An Afghan expert on Islamic law on Wednesday defended the death penalty for Muslims who convert to other religions, as debate continued over the case of a Christian convert who fled to Italy. 
April 6, 2006: The Tuareg tribes are again in rebellion against the Mail government. One of Africa's few real democracies, with more than a decade of orderly elections and presidential successions, Mali has about 12.3 million people, but is nearly twice the size of Texas, and sprawls across the Sahel and parts of the Sahara. Although most of the people are Moslems, religious radicalism does not seem to have put down any roots. 
Would-be immigrants to Britain are being treated like parcels at detention centres in Calais and at Heathrow airport, the chief inspector of prisons said in a report published on Wednesday. Conditions on the French side of the channel were particularly bad. At the Coquelles freight terminal in Calais, detainees were housed in wholly inadequate rooms which staff nicknamed the dog kennels. 
The United States is losing patience at North Koreas boycott of six-party talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons ambitions, US ambassador to Seoul Alexander Vershbow said Wednesday. He urged the Stalinist North to revive the nuclear talks which have been stalled for five months. Everyone in Washington would like to reach a negotiated solution, but everyone in Washington is also running out of patience, Vershbow said in a message on a website run by the embassy. The two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States have held talks aimed at ending North Koreas nuclear weapons programme since 2003. In September 2005 the North agreed to abandon nuclear programmes in return for receiving a US-led security guarantee and economic and diplomatic benefits. But the talks are in limbo following the last meeting in November, after Washington accused Pyongyang of counterfeiting US dollars and laundering money. The North denies the charge and demands the US lift financial sanctions before it returns to the talks.
The Netherlands' new entrance test for would-be immigrants has been condemned by some as Islamophobic and even detrimental to the economy.
PASSENGERS and relatives of victims of a 1986 hijacking in Pakistan today registered a lawsuit demanding $US10 billion ($13.91 billion) in damages against Libya and the hijackers. The action was filed on behalf of 176 passengers and families of some of the 20 people killed in the hijacking of Pan Am flight 73 at Karachi airport by the Abu Nidal group on September 5, 1985. The suit demands damages from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan government and the five Abu Nidal Organisation hijackers.
WASHINGTON - The United States should set a May 15 deadline for Iraqis to form a unity government and then plan to withdraw its troops by years end, Democratic Senator and former presidential candidate John Kerry said in commentary published on Wednesday in The New York Times. If Iraqis arent willing to build a unity government in the five months since the election, theyre probably not willing to build one at all. The civil war will only get worse, and we will have no choice anyway but to leave, Kerry said.
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian Finance Minister 
Two weeks ago, the FBI's chief information officer admitted that the bureau couldn't afford to provide e-mail addresses for 8,000 of its 30,000 employees. The e-mail shortfall is only the latest in a series of embarrassed confessions the FBI has made about its information technology. The most significant mea culpa came when an attempt to upgrade the bureau's case-management software had to be scrapped last year after $170 million had already been spent. A Justice Department report listed all kinds of excuses, from poor "enterprise architecture" planning to shifting design requirements. But behind the management analysis is a more implacable problem. Until very recently, being computer-savvy hasn't been considered much of an asset in the FBI, and clues were something you kept to yourself.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- A first-of-its-kind Muslim-American television network launched a year ago has gone from being a premium pay channel to a basic-cable offering on several cable and satellite systems, broadening its reach from 10,000 to more than 1 million U.S. homes.
