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30 killed, many wounded in fresh Mogadishu fighting
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
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9 00:00 Lone Ranger [15]
Afghanistan
EU warns Taliban of 'bloody nose'
The European Union's Afghan envoy warned Taliban militants in Afghanistan to be prepared for a "bloody nose," as additional European NATO forces deploy in the insurgent-wracked country. The envoy, Francesc Vendrell, said Western forces were prepared to "take the bull by the horns" in confronting the rebels and would not withdraw until they stabilise the security situation in Afghanistan. "There is larger Taliban activity than there was a couple of years ago. It is not good news. If the Taliban persists in such attacks they will get a bloody nose," he told a news conference after meeting US officials.
Posted by: Fred || 05/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I would have preferred "die like the vermin they are", but for a European "bloody nose" is violent belligerence - so I heartily approve.
Posted by: DMFD || 05/26/2006 0:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Somebody distributed some brass balls to this envoy. It's rare in those parts.
Posted by: Captain America || 05/26/2006 0:10 Comments || Top||

#3  So far, I guess just giving the Taliban "the dozens" has killed the better part of 500 of them. So using that scale:

dutch rub==1000 Taliban killed
bloody nose==5000 Taliban killed
titty twister==8000 Taliban killed
kick to the neuts==10,000 Taliban killed
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/26/2006 0:13 Comments || Top||

#4  When did the EU take over NATO?
Posted by: ed || 05/26/2006 0:25 Comments || Top||

#5  We'll pull your hair.
Posted by: gromgoru || 05/26/2006 0:39 Comments || Top||

#6  Whoa there! The EU starting to demonstrate some courage and raw toughness? Good. About time.
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 05/26/2006 2:11 Comments || Top||

#7  ah.. the plan unfolds for Iran via asscrakastan!
Posted by: RD || 05/26/2006 2:56 Comments || Top||

#8  I'm waiting for us to pull down Mullah Omar's pants and push him over backwards in the schoolyard. In front of the cute girl with the precocious bosom.
Posted by: Fred || 05/26/2006 3:30 Comments || Top||

#9  lmao fred
Posted by: Greamp Elmavinter1163 || 05/26/2006 8:23 Comments || Top||

#10  This could be a classic, what with #3 and #8. It was sheer coincidence that I had set my cup down before clicking on the story.
Posted by: eLarson || 05/26/2006 10:04 Comments || Top||

#11  Whahhahahaha Fred. (my koffee is parked as well, er it would have been thru my nostrils!)
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/26/2006 10:08 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Sudan opens up, but investors are staying away
Can't for the life of me figure why...
After the signing of two landmark peace deals, Sudan's unrealized potential is attracting scores of foreign investors but obstacles remain and many business plans never leave the drawing board. The January 2005 North-South agreement that ended decades of civil war kick-started the country's moribund economy and investors hope that efforts under way to end the country's other war in Darfur will confirm the trend.

The oil sector remains by far the largest recipient of foreign direct investment and is dominated by China and Malaysia. "Of the $6 billion invested since 1999 by foreigners in the country, half has gone into oil," said Farouk Kaddouda, professor of economics at Ahliya University in the capital's twin city of Omdurman. With proven reserves of 563 million barrels and output set to rise to 650,000 barrels per day by the end of the year, Sudan has become one of the continent's petroleum heavyweights, behind Libya, Nigeria and Angola. Other sectors of the economy, however, have generated more tepid interest from international investors, with almost exclusively Arab countries taking the leap.
Posted by: Fred || 05/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Can't for the life of me figure why

Because Sudanese are dark skinned Muslims, and the potential investors are Racist/Zionists/Crusader/running dogs of imperialism, Fred.
Posted by: gromgoru || 05/26/2006 0:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Maybe it is due to a shortage of cable television?
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 05/26/2006 2:26 Comments || Top||

#3  nah--they're waiting for hassan al turabi to find a theological rationale for kufr investment--any day now
Posted by: yo momma || 05/26/2006 2:59 Comments || Top||


UN Secretary General's Special Representative Condemns
The Secretary-General's Special Representative for Somalia, Francois Lonseny Fall, today condemned the resumption of hostilities in Mogadishu. As heavy fighting flared anew in the city, Ambassador Fall said he was deeply disturbed by the cost to the civilian population, the wasting of opportunities to reconcile and reconstruct the country, and the impact of heightened insecurity on United Nations humanitarian responses to a severe drought emergency.

"Somalia is already at war with nature and poverty on a scale that is difficult to conceive," he said. "The last thing this country needs is for its leaders to be fighting among themselves. I appeal to all parties to immediately and unconditionally hold their fire and respect the needs of the people. This is a time for pulling together, not for pulling further apart. I appeal to those faction leaders in Mogadishu, who are also Ministers in the Transitional Federal Government, to put down their arms and join the political process in Baidoa for the good of the nation."
"Come now, stop that! The UN Charter clearly states 'No Hitting'."
Posted by: Fred || 05/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "The last thing this country needs is for its leaders to be fighting among themselves"

UHMMM, isn't this a general discription of the state of affairs since 1992 or so. Not of course I think they should be called LEADERS
Posted by: Cheaderhead || 05/26/2006 1:02 Comments || Top||

#2  hokay--everyone around the campfire sing--"guantanamera"
Posted by: yo momma || 05/26/2006 3:01 Comments || Top||

#3  kumbaya
Posted by: lotp || 05/26/2006 6:24 Comments || Top||

#4  yomomma, I thought it was, "One Ton Tomato".
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 05/26/2006 11:20 Comments || Top||

#5  Not of course I think they should be called LEADERS

Not that Somalia should be called a country.
Posted by: SteveS || 05/26/2006 13:50 Comments || Top||

#6  Ambassador Fall?
As in "Fall Guy?"
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 05/26/2006 19:35 Comments || Top||

#7  Somalia? Concerned about Somalia? My concern for those scumbags ended when the last American soldier left. My only regrets are 1)that we didn't kill more of them when they attacked our rescue mission for the Blackhawk helo, and 2)that they haven't all killed each other yet. Sympathy? No.
Posted by: mac || 05/26/2006 22:29 Comments || Top||

#8  we need to board and search every ship delivering to Somalia - the Islamic Court weapons are obviously coming from Yemen and Saudi. Sink em and arm teh warlords. AQ cannot be allowed to establish themselves here
Posted by: Frank G || 05/26/2006 23:02 Comments || Top||


Africa North
GSPC Learned Elder of Islam denounces Algerian amnesty offer
A 42:50 minute speech by Sheikh Abu Hassan Rashid was recently issued by the media committee of the Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC) in Algeria and is titled: “History Repeats Itself.” The title and message speaks to similarities between the Algerian government’s Initiative for Peace and Reconciliation and Charles de Gaulle’s “Peace of the Braves,” and what evils may be wrought through negotiation and settlement. Rashid believes that Islam is in a state of turmoil, its “hegemony and deference” lost in the eyes of Muslims and others, in part a result of the advent of polytheism and integration with non-Islamic states by Muslim rulers. In Algeria, he states that the government seeks only its own safety and security of its interests, exploiting various elements in the state to “gain power over our Ummah without supervisors, inspectors and resisters”.

The primacy of Islamic Shari’a and following the path of the Prophet Muhammad are the means by which Muslims may live securely, Rashid argues. Diverting from the path or refraining from setting Shari’a as law causes great harm on the Muslim Nation, affecting economic, social and political aspects. To protect Islam, its principles, and its people, Rashid states its leaders must be fought against: “In order to protect religion, Allah has allowed fighting and killing renegades, and he allowed waging Jihad against the infidels. This includes dismissing an infidel Imam and fighting him… because it is among the tasks of the Imam to protect religion. And how can an infidel protect religion?” And the “crime of polytheism,” regarded in the speech as the worst to be perpetrated and that to which the Algeria government subscribes, is to be fought.

Rashid states that Algeria Initiative for Peace and Reconciliation, which aims to cease insurgency in the state, is merely a “new cloak” for De Gaulle’s plan in the past, and it “ultimately aims to acquit the true criminals, and to absolve them from the [punishment] for the hellish massacres and for the absentees… It aims to distort truth and fake history”. To agree to it is “inconceivable,” and Rashid argues that there is no alternative to jihad. His speech contains incitement rhetoric for Muslims to join jihad against the enemy. He urges: “We call on the Ummah, including all its sects, sectors and components, to join the procession of Jihad… There is no escape from many sacrifices… but [the results of] these sacrifices are guaranteed on heaven and on earth.”
Posted by: Dan Darling || 05/26/2006 00:44 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  couldn't have been said any better than by ibn tamaya hisself--know what i mean
Posted by: yo momma || 05/26/2006 3:05 Comments || Top||


Egyptian Judges Stage Protest for Independence
Posted by: Fred || 05/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Britain
Britain bars US Methodist clergy under 'anti-terror' law
A GROUP of trainee Methodist ministers has been barred from Britain by the Home Office under laws passed 12 years ago to prevent unqualified religious leaders entering the country.
on account of, those Methodists preach hate and blow things up, yaknow
Wait till you see how they handle the Unitarians ...
It's them Baptists ya got's to watch out for, all that singing and speaking in tongues
Every year, the Methodist Church in the US sends 14 probationer ministers to this country for a year, and they have never been turned away before. But for the first time this year, the Immigration and Nationality Directorate has ruled that the 14 trainees fall foul of legislation passed in 1994 under which ministers who are not ordained cannot get a work visa.
What a good law -- wonder if they can use this on imams, who by definition aren't 'ordained'. Hmmm, I'm sure there's a reason why that won't work ...
Church leaders accused the Home Office of an attack on religious freedom. Although probationer ministers in the Methodist Church are fully trained, they cannot be ordained until they have served a set of churches, known as a circuit, for two years. An estimated 100 such probationer Methodist ministers have been admitted to work in Britain since 1994, according to this week’s Methodist Recorder.

Dr Paul Glass, Superintendent Methodist Minister for Wakefield, said: “This rule is meant to be for unqualified Islamic students. You could not imagine somebody less like a terrorist than a young American Methodist minister.
A young American Mormon missionary? A young Samoan? A young Canadian urban-studies student? ....
“It seems to be ludicrous and a direct attack on religious freedom. The Government is in danger of looking ridiculous.

“Faced with a Government that is acting in increasingly authoritarian ways, I would hope that we could bring as much pressure to bear as possible to change this restrictive action.”

Lord Griffiths, Minister of Wesley’s Chapel, Central London, described the ban as a “denial of natural justice”. He said: “Decades of good practice have now been lost and the opportunity to develop and enhance international relations thrown in the water. If ever there was a law with unintended consequences, this surely has to be it.”

The Methodist Church has said it is hoping that a new pre-entry qualification and post-entry civic knowledge test for ministers of religion will help them to gain visas in the future. The Rev David Deeks, general-secretary of the Methodist Church, said: “This decision had nothing to do with political correctness or imams from Pakistan. Rather it is a difference of opinion — the Methodist Church regards all those who serve under the discipline of the Church to be ministers, even before they are ordained.

“The Home Office does not agree. We continue to work closely with the Home and Foreign Offices to resolve this.”

A Home Office official said: “We have received correspondence highlighting immigration provisions as regards trainee Methodist ministers. We are currently looking into this issue.”
Posted by: lotp || 05/26/2006 08:08 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They're not applying the law to Muslims, so might as well apply it to someone. And we all know what trouble makers those Methodists are.
Posted by: DMFD || 05/26/2006 10:17 Comments || Top||

#2  Makes sense if you believe the 'all religions are equal' crap. Yeah, I remember just the other day the little old Lutheran lady who blew up a school bus......
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 05/26/2006 10:51 Comments || Top||

#3  Hey, don't laugh -- for all you know, your local Methodist Church is packed full of RPGs, AK47s, and ministers prodding impressionable youth into going to the UK to mount suicide attacks against Anglican wedding parties.

I never will forget my Methodist Youth Fellowship days in high school when we would get together every Sunday night for training in beheading Muslims, planting IEDs, and protesting Jesus cartoons.
Posted by: Darrell || 05/26/2006 11:47 Comments || Top||

#4  Sensing going for the soft underbelly.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 05/26/2006 11:54 Comments || Top||

#5  The only MYF "terrorists" where the girls Darrel.

This is more than likely a action taken on purpose by an individual or group in the "Home Office" that see Christianity as a threat to England's brand of socialism. Islam is against Christianity and Christians therefore it's OK to let Imams in.
Islam = good
Christianity = bad.
QED for a comitted communist or socialist.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 05/26/2006 15:30 Comments || Top||

#6  And this is the same Home Office that is currently investigating one of their officers who offered to 'help' a young Zimbabwean with her application in return for sex.

Guess what - he was an illegal immigrant...

You've gotta laugh otherwise you'll go mad...
Posted by: Tony (UK) || 05/26/2006 16:16 Comments || Top||

#7 
Posted by: Howard UK || 05/26/2006 16:25 Comments || Top||

#8  "Wibble, wibble...wibble..."
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 05/26/2006 17:40 Comments || Top||

#9  Methodists??? Hey, dat can't be right - the SIMPSONS say the real enemy are the UNITARIANS, D*** it!?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/26/2006 20:27 Comments || Top||


Galloway says murder of Blair would be 'justified'
Just when you thought this assclown couldn't go any lower, he calls in a backhoe....
The Respect MP George Galloway has said it would be morally justified for a suicide bomber to murder Tony Blair.
"Hrarrr! Kill 'im!"
In an interview with GQ magazine, the reporter asked him: "Would the assassination of, say, Tony Blair by a suicide bomber - if there were no other casualties - be justified as revenge for the war on Iraq?"

Mr Galloway replied: "Yes, it would be morally justified. I am not calling for it - but if it happened it would be of a wholly different moral order to the events of 7/7. It would be entirely logical and explicable. And morally equivalent to ordering the deaths of thousands of innocent people in Iraq - as Blair did."
In my not-so-humble opinion, it would be morally justified if the next three people on the street beat the crap out of this loser.

I'm not calling for it, you understand - but if it happened it would be entirely logical and explicable.


Rest at the link.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 05/26/2006 00:14 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Posted by: gromgoru || 05/26/2006 0:34 Comments || Top||

#2  Probably was high on the urine that (no flush wc)Ken Livingstone recommended.
Posted by: Duh! || 05/26/2006 1:30 Comments || Top||

#3  LMAO Barbara that line about teh next 3 people is funny and true.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 05/26/2006 2:06 Comments || Top||

#4  Ummm ... doesn't Britain have a far more restricted notion and indeed practice of free speech than do we? And if yes, why is Galloway not sitting in a UK jail cell awaiting trial for sedition and treason?
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 05/26/2006 2:16 Comments || Top||

#5  Time someone humanely destroyed this prick.
Posted by: Howard UK || 05/26/2006 5:15 Comments || Top||

#6  Galloway lives by the sword...

Complete the phrase.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 05/26/2006 6:19 Comments || Top||

#7  If you can come up with a logical explanation, it's morally justifiable. Seems like the definition of having no morals.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 05/26/2006 7:15 Comments || Top||

#8  why is Galloway not sitting in a UK jail cell awaiting trial for sedition and treason?

He sits in Parliament and represents, I suspect, the views of many of his consituents.
Posted by: lotp || 05/26/2006 7:31 Comments || Top||

#9  we need a picture of Galloway in the red spandex

maybe after lunch
Posted by: mhw || 05/26/2006 7:33 Comments || Top||

#10  I'm definitely NOT calling for it, you understand, but hanging this clown upside down by his nads from the Tower of London would be 'morally justified'. Again, i reiterate, I am definitely NOT calling for it. Never. Nope. Most definitely not.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 05/26/2006 8:19 Comments || Top||

#11  Galloway

Murder is ok, as long as it fits in with my own particular set of values

How morally bankrupt is THIS guy!?!
Posted by: PlanetDan || 05/26/2006 9:25 Comments || Top||

#12  How morally bankrupt is THIS guy!?!

About the same level as Ward Churchill?
Posted by: Clealing Gletle3270 || 05/26/2006 9:53 Comments || Top||

#13  He is like Ward. And Noam. And Cindy. And...oh, God, it's such a long list.
They've all realized that "moral bankruptcy" makes for a pretty good living. They should do infomercials for it on late night TV.
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/26/2006 10:10 Comments || Top||

#14  Some people just aren't on speaking terms with the truth.
Posted by: Zenster || 05/26/2006 11:33 Comments || Top||

#15  thanks for the picture

and thanks for delaying it until after I had eaten
Posted by: mhw || 05/26/2006 13:10 Comments || Top||

#16  Galloway lives by the sword...

...and is lauded by nutters in the UK.
Posted by: eLarson || 05/26/2006 13:16 Comments || Top||

#17  Hang him upside down from London's Tower Bridge, and watch river traffic increase 300%, just for a chance to whack Georgie-girlboy. This man is an insult to Britain and common decency. The sooner he's whacked, the better for all concerned. Maybe he can have a "motor vehicle accident" or something. Just commenting, mind you, although I wouldn't shed a tear, regardless of what happens to this creep. Just don't hurt anybody else at the same time (unless it's Useless Red Ken).
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/26/2006 17:40 Comments || Top||

#18  Hell, I won't be PC. I do call for his death. Painfully. Slowly. Just as trators and terrorists and their supporters deserve. Then, nail his skin up on London Bridge as a warning to others who support terrorism.

Posted by: DarthVader || 05/26/2006 18:52 Comments || Top||

#19  Aaaaugh! My eyes - they burn!
Posted by: xbalanke || 05/26/2006 21:14 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
No progress on North Korea talks: US envoy
We'll be there Real Soon Now. Keep running, and don't pay any attention to that rabid dog behind you!
Posted by: Fred || 05/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And this is news if it does not involve ex-Sec. of State Halfbright and former Prez Jimmah Chautur?
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 05/26/2006 2:25 Comments || Top||


Down Under
Police seize Islamist books for 2nd time
SYDNEY, May 25 (UPI) -- Police in Australia have again seized books advocating Islamist violence, the Daily Telegraph reported. The newspaper found the books in stores in two Sydney suburbs last year.

Recently, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions ruled that the books do not violate Australia's new sedition law -- part of a package aimed at curbing terrorism. That meant the books could legally be sold. The books reportedly include arguments in favor of suicide bombings, violent jihad and anti-Australian activity.
Posted by: ryuge || 05/26/2006 07:49 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Deport the distributors, don't just confiscate the books.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 05/26/2006 8:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Did they include the Koran?
Posted by: CrazyFool || 05/26/2006 8:11 Comments || Top||


Fifth Column
LGF (blogger) Now Getting Death Threats From Reuters
Early this morning at about 3:00 am on the West Coast, someone in Sweden Britain connected to the Internet and browsed over to this article at the Guardian by Inayat Bunglawala, media secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain: This code could open doors.

Bunglawala’s piece (about the Da Vinci Code) is in the section of the Guardian site where readers can comment, and someone posted a link to LGF as a rebuttal to Bunglawala. Our Swedish British visitor clicked that link, leading him/her/it to this post: Swedish Muslims Demand Shari’a.

At 3:23 am, this creature used our contact form to send the following email with the obviously phony Hotmail address ‘zionistpig@hotmail.com’ and the subject line, “You bunch of wankers.”
I look forward to the day when you pigs get your throats cut....

Well, isn’t that tolerant.

But this particular death threat is a bit different from the run of the mill hate mail we get around here, because an IP lookup on the sender reveals that he/she/it was using an account at none other than Reuters News:

RIPE Whois Database: 192.165.213.18. (Please note: the name and address below are those of Reuters’ technical contact, not the name of the freak responsible for our hate mail. Please do not send him email...)
Ordinarily would be put in 'Opinion', but in this case, the blogger is part of the story.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/26/2006 09:47 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They don't call them Rooters for nothing. Sad that they are rooting for the downfall of Western Civilization.
Posted by: eLarson || 05/26/2006 10:02 Comments || Top||

#2  The playingfield get's levelled and the bozzos wonder why there are smarter people than them.
Posted by: phil_b || 05/26/2006 10:09 Comments || Top||

#3  Imagine that, a psycho working at Reuters.
Posted by: Gling Clereque4411 || 05/26/2006 11:25 Comments || Top||

#4  #3 GG - just one?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 05/26/2006 11:59 Comments || Top||

#5  probably not a psycho

probably just a committed islamofascist who happens to be on the Reuters payroll and who has received verbal encouragement from his coworkers
Posted by: mhw || 05/26/2006 12:03 Comments || Top||

#6  Islam has already declared war against America and Israel, India, and a host of other civilizations. One of these days, somebody somewhere will respond in kind and declare war on Islam.
I'm looking for a leader with balls here, any takers ?
Posted by: wxjames || 05/26/2006 13:51 Comments || Top||

#7  cant a mob be organised to storm and seige the rooters offices? Its what needs to happen to the BBC here too.
Posted by: ShepUK || 05/26/2006 16:16 Comments || Top||

#8  According to the latest LGF update, Reuters confirms an employee has been suspended "pending further investigation".

I think they found the rascal who did it....
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 05/26/2006 19:16 Comments || Top||

#9  From lgf, a reply from Reuters to CJ:
"Following your email regarding the posting of an offensive message that was sent from a Reuters IP address, I can confirm that an employee has been suspended pending further investigation. The individual was not an employee of Reuters’ news division.

Yours sincerely

Ed Williams"

Posted by: Glenmore || 05/26/2006 19:17 Comments || Top||

#10  Doublespeak to soothe the masses.
If not an employee, they cannot "Suspend" him.
Bullshit.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 05/26/2006 19:45 Comments || Top||

#11  Lemme guess... He let his imaginary friend post from his machine.
Posted by: Cromolet Phavish7868 || 05/26/2006 19:49 Comments || Top||

#12  And, of course, the most likely culprit -- Inayat Bumwad -- is threatening to go to the police.

My bet -- he doesn't, because he's connected to the threat.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 05/26/2006 20:09 Comments || Top||

#13  Radical Islam = China > they can wage war forever in the name of Heaven, but no one else has the right to wage war against them.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/26/2006 20:37 Comments || Top||

#14  wez bowt piss n luv. ima kut yore throwt ifn yallz doent follo!

ima blame rice
Posted by: muck4doo || 05/26/2006 21:45 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
GOP to put war up for debate
WASHINGTON -- House Republican leaders, in a significant political gamble, are planning to hold a free-flowing debate over the Iraq war on the House floor in coming weeks, facing head-on what may be the most difficult issue to threaten pro-war incumbents in the fall election.

"We are the people's house, and serious issues of the day ought to be debated here in the House," said House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio). "And a lot of members on both sides of the aisle have concerns about where we are, what is going on. Others have concerns that the whole story in Iraq isn't being told in terms of all the good things that are happening there."

The decision to hold a public debate on an issue that has sent President Bush's approval ratings tumbling and put Democrats within striking distance of recapturing the House reflects the growing pressure facing Republicans from bad news about the war. GOP leaders hope the forum will give their endangered incumbents a chance to distance themselves from the war, argue that it is going better than most recognize, or both.

Wars and other military conflicts have long triggered sharp emotions in Congress, imperiling political careers and prompting public despondency as well as enthusiasm. With the winding down of the Vietnam War and revelations about the Watergate scandal, voters swept in a new freshman class with 92 members in 1974, roiling the usually staid House with an influx of largely liberal members.

Republicans would like to avoid a similar backlash in November, but GOP House members are split on the wisdom of staging a full-blown floor debate. Boehner, the driving force behind the idea, said he remembered debating the Persian Gulf war in January 1991, when he was a newly elected member of Congress.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 05/26/2006 12:22 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And the truth shall set you free.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 05/26/2006 13:41 Comments || Top||

#2  I think they are gambling that most Republicans support the war and may forget the pork, the scandals, and immigration stuff they've been sleazing around with lately.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 05/26/2006 15:28 Comments || Top||

#3  I think they understand that they need to get past the MSM and explain the war/progress/rationale over the media's heads, directly to the people, with minimal spin and the people will support it
Posted by: Frank G || 05/26/2006 16:37 Comments || Top||

#4  They may feel they need to distance themselves from the Administration in order to get re-elected. Especially if they think Murtha was right and the Marines were war criminals. If that story holds up it could defeat the entire WoT.
Posted by: Glenmore || 05/26/2006 19:10 Comments || Top||


Senate confirms Hayden as CIA director
WASHINGTON - After hearing assurances he will be independent of the Pentagon, the Senate on Friday easily confirmed Gen. Michael Hayden, a career Air Force man, to head the CIA. Hayden, a four-star general, currently is the top deputy to National Intelligence Director John Negroponte.

Hayden, 61, would be the first active-duty or retired military officer to run the spy agency in 25 years. He was approved by a vote of 78-15.

President Bush, in a written statement, applauded Hayden's confirmation. "Winning the war on terror requires that America have the best intelligence possible, and his strong leadership will ensure that we do," he said. "Gen. Hayden is a patriot and a dedicated public servant whose broad experience, dedication and expertise make him the right person to lead the CIA at this critical time."

At his confirmation hearing, Hayden sought to assure lawmakers he would be independent from his military superiors but said he would consider how his uniform affects his relationship with CIA personnel. If it were to get in the way, he said, "I'll make the right decision."

Hayden, who headed the National Security Agency for several years, became a lightning rod for the debate about the Bush administration's domestic eavesdropping program. Some Democrats and civil-liberties advocates argue the monitoring was illegal. As head of the NSA from 1999 to 2005, Hayden oversaw the program. His defenders say he was relying on the advice of top government lawyers.

The White House hurried Hayden's nomination through in only 17 days, in part by heeding Congress' 5-month-old requests for more information on the classified operations.

During Thursday night's debate, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said the warrentless wiretapping program raised "serious questions about whether the general is the right person to lead the CIA, serious questions about whether the general will continue to be an administration cheerleader, serious questions about his credibility." Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., countered that Hayden "is eminently qualified" to lead the agency and that "he is the right choice to lead the CIA."
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/26/2006 10:43 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If a certain General/Director needs an axe, I could help that someone out.
Posted by: Mike N. || 05/26/2006 10:54 Comments || Top||

#2  During Thursday night's debate, Sen. Ron Wyden (news, bio, voting record), D-Ore., said the warrentless wiretapping program raised "serious questions about whether the general is the right person to lead the CIA,

Yes, I agree.... maybe he should BE PRESIDENT !
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/26/2006 11:06 Comments || Top||

#3  I watched some of the hearings and wanted to slap Wyden everytime he opened his mouth n'tell him that Senators should at least make an attempt to not act like a child.
Posted by: Mike N. || 05/26/2006 11:18 Comments || Top||

#4  Before his election to the Senate in 1996, he served 15 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Senator attended the University of California at Santa Barbara on a basketball scholarship before receiving his B.A. with distinction from Stanford University. He received a J.D. degree from the University of Oregon School of Law and taught gerontology at several Oregon universities.

Any questions?
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/26/2006 11:24 Comments || Top||

#5  My post at think progess:
Hey guys, Hayden got confirmed this morning, how come this site hasn't been shut down and most of you are not in Gitmo? Maybe he is going to wait until Tuesday? Oh well you all have a nice Memorial Day weekend and think of all those fascists that served so you can bitch and whine WITHOUT getting killed, maimed, or imprisoned. Quick quiz:
Who has more Courage?
A) Jean Rohe
B) John Murtha
C) ANY Police Officer in Iraq
D) Ward Churchill AKA “Walking Eagle”
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 05/26/2006 12:09 Comments || Top||

#6  This is great news! OS thanks for the comments yesterday, points taken. Now we have to get a Bolten/Hayden type in the FBI and make this team work!
Posted by: 49 Pan || 05/26/2006 13:39 Comments || Top||

#7  49Pan - yup!

FBI should be next. Need to chisel the CT and intel away from the Criminal and let it operate on its own. Take an axe, just like Analysis and Ops at CIA, and give a big fat divorce to them. Steer the CT functions to DHS. Hell, the FBI doenst really want to do that stuff anyway. Politically speaking though, chunking up the FBI will be a LOT harder since its under Justice, not Defense, NID or DHS even.

Ther FBI seems to have not realized that there is a competely different mindset required, and they STILL haven't "gotten it" at the Hoover building.

They have the old mindset that has them chasing the wrong kind of "Al": Al Capone instead of Al Qaeda.
Posted by: Oldspook || 05/26/2006 14:36 Comments || Top||

#8  Think about it - a month or so ago Bush took heat over the "Illegal wiretaps by NSA", then he pushes it back in the Donks'/MSM's faces by nominating the same dude running NSA intercept program TO HEAD THE CIA. AND...HE WINS... LOL!
Posted by: Frank G || 05/26/2006 17:01 Comments || Top||

#9  Great news! Now we have to wait a few months and see if there is any bloodletting in the CIA. I pray that the good general has the guts to come down hard on leakers, islam-appologists, and people who put their own agenda ahead of the security of the United States. If the good general needs a battered old NCO to help out, I'm sure it wouldn't take too long to get my clearances reinstated, and I have my own axehandle.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/26/2006 17:49 Comments || Top||

#10  OP I am with you! I am only six years out and have my last 398 paperwork in my discharge briefcase. Can't take more than a minute to update that.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 05/26/2006 17:59 Comments || Top||

#11  If nothing else does it, this should wake up and convince Bush and the entire administration that they have been boxing with shadows. A big fight? Bush a lame duck? BULLSHIT. The paper tigers of the Left are not willing to actually fight good appointments or good policy.

Bush should take off the gloves and start publicly bashing the living dogshit out of them - on every front, every issue, every needed action that sits languishing in a political morass no more substantial than the smoke and mirrors of an MSM meme.

And, regards the MSM, he should follow Harper's example and cut the obvious partisans off at the ankles. Withdrawing press credentials for such behavior is long overdue. Take back the public forum and get shit done. Stop being nice to our enemies - that wasn't why you were elected - twice.
Posted by: Cromolet Phavish7868 || 05/26/2006 18:59 Comments || Top||


Bush and Blair concede mistakes but defend war
President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, two leaders badly weakened by the continuing violence in Iraq, acknowledged major misjudgments in the execution of the Iraq war on Thursday night even while insisting that the election of a constitutional government in Baghdad justified their decision to go to war three years ago.

Speaking in subdued, almost chastened, tones at a joint news conference in the East Room, the two leaders steadfastly refused to talk about a schedule for pulling troops out of Iraq — a pressure both men are feeling intently. They stuck to a common formulation that they would pull troops out only as properly trained Iraqi troops progressively took control over more and more territory in the country.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling || 05/26/2006 00:25 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Next time, I'll read Rantburg before forming any plans" wows US president.
Posted by: gromgoru || 05/26/2006 0:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Hey, Dubya, IMHO iff you're making any kind of "mistake" its making comments like in this article. NO SHAME IN MAKING ERRORS, ESPEC WID WAFFLIN' POLICRATS AND ESPEC AGAINST ENEMIES WHOM ARE GOING TO KILL YOU AND AMERICA AND WEST/WESTERN DEMOCRACY ANYWAYS, NO MATTER WHAT YOU SAY OR HOW MANY CONCESSIONS USA-WEST MAKE IN THE NAME OF PEACE.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/26/2006 0:51 Comments || Top||

#3  Mistakes ... yeah yeah yeah, okay so we made a few. What wartime President or Prime Minister has an unblemished record? Now quit the crying and get on with it!
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 05/26/2006 2:19 Comments || Top||

#4  jeeze--er....battle of the bulge--antietam--get over it--the nytimes guy was practically coming in his pussy--now go to your room leaders of the free world and don't do that again without our permission
Posted by: yo momma || 05/26/2006 3:14 Comments || Top||

#5  I didn't even finish the first sentence before I guessed the source.

I hate the NY Times. May they die a slow, lingering, agony-filled death..........
Posted by: Bobby || 05/26/2006 6:46 Comments || Top||

#6  Call it "The New Yellow Journalism": opinion and propaganda crudely masquerading as "fact." It's cynical, it's dishonest, it's manipulative, and it treats readers like ignorant, passive sheep.

This 1,500-word article on yesterday's press conference contains barely 200 words of factual material-- that is, actual quotes from Bush and Blair. All the rest is the kind of fluff I call "sneak-preaching": laboriously wordsmithed bullshit concocted to convey a set of negative impressions of the two leaders.

Some MSM journalists do it with a bit of finesse, sneaking just a few of these sneering asides into each article to avoid being obvious. These two NYT staffers, though, opted to deliver the bullshit with a power shovel.

This is a good example of why I don't read the New York Times anymore. Bunch of fucking hacks.

Posted by: Dave D. || 05/26/2006 7:19 Comments || Top||

#7  Absolutely f-ing right. Stealth preaching masquerading as informative journalism. By the way, for about 1 minute of the press conference, Bush got angry and actually articulated a response to the critics of the war. During this one minute, he was eloquent, convincing and dynamic. He did not stumble over his speech, and did not look awkward at the podium. For much of the conference, I thought he did a better job than Blair, which is a surprise considering the fact that Blair is widely considered to be the better public speaker. Unfortunately, he did not sustain it. He should have been talking like this for the past 3 years.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 05/26/2006 8:15 Comments || Top||

#8  I don't believe he should ever have conceded anything. Better to wait until the memoirs come out.
Posted by: eLarson || 05/26/2006 8:21 Comments || Top||

#9  Mr. Bush said he regretted challenging insurgents in Iraq to "bring it on" in 2003, and said the same about his statement that he wanted Osama bin Laden "dead or alive."
I guess he decided fuzzy puppy & flowers talk is all anyone in the media can handle.
I was kind of pissed too at his OBL comment, because he left off the part where in either case he would jam OBL's head on a pike and plant it at the WTC.
It has occured to me that Bush has learned nothing in the past 5 & 1/2 years. Admitting mistakes to these so obviously biased idiots is the absolute worse thing he can do.
Posted by: JerseyMike || 05/26/2006 9:03 Comments || Top||

#10  Bush's only mistake is allowing the MSM into press conferences. Think of how quickly the MSM would be replaced if they were considered persona non grata at White House events.
Bush doesn't know how to fight dirty.
Posted by: wxjames || 05/26/2006 13:45 Comments || Top||

#11  Excellent comments. Rove, not make that Bush, should read them. JerseyMike sums it perfectly.

wxjames nails the more subtle problem: Bush doesn't know how to fight dirty. He's a nice guy with all of the flaws that made America great - loyalty (to a fault - consider Tenet, Mineta, et al), honesty, an internal value system, a sense of shame, etc. Dying traits that are completely unknown to his enemies, foreign and domestic.

BushHitler, indeed. Look at all of the poor loonies who have been muzzled and dragged from their homes in the middle of the night to be tortured and locked up in secret prisons.

Is there any substantive difference between the "liberals" in America and the blame society of the Arabs? No.

This, and all similar foolish PR exercises, is a service to the asshats.
Posted by: Cromolet Phavish7868 || 05/26/2006 17:36 Comments || Top||

#12  It's cynical, it's dishonest, it's manipulative, and it treats readers like ignorant, passive sheep."

Oh. You mean liberals.
Posted by: Secret Master || 05/26/2006 21:20 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Bush, Blair make mea culpas
US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair today made their bluntest acknowledgement yet of the "mistakes" and "missteps" of the Iraq war and the "consternation" it has caused in their countries. But during an extraordinary 50-minute White House press conference, the political brothers-in-arms insisted that their countries must keep troops in Iraq and the international community must support the new government.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: tipper || 05/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The first two sentences are much easier to swallow than the first two lines (half a sentence) of the New York Slimes version. May they eat canine fecal matter, three meals a day, and live forever.
Posted by: Bobby || 05/26/2006 6:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Bad show. Having waited this long, they should have saved the navel gazing till their David Frost interview. Tells me we're into lame duck time and there will be no kinetic action on Iran. Too bad.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 05/26/2006 7:18 Comments || Top||

#3  Hmmm, I didn't notice any "homo-eroticism" between them. Did I miss something?
Posted by: xbalanke || 05/26/2006 21:06 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
1,000+ al-Qaeda held in Pakistan
Security agencies arrested more than 1,000 Al Qaeda suspects between January 2002 and May 2006, according to a study conducted by the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies (PIPS).

Of the arrested men, 70 belonged to Algeria, 86 from Saudi Arabia, 20 from Morocco, 22 from the United Arab Emirates, 11 from Libya , seven from Kuwait, 20 from Egypt, 28 from Indonesia, 18 from Malaysia and 36 others from West Asian countries. Eighteen of those arrested belonged to western countries: Five from the United States, two from Australia and 11 from the United Kingdom. They also included an unknown number of French and German citizens.

The study is based upon media reports and does not include arrests of Afghans and Pakistanis involved in clashes with Pakistani security forces in tribal areas.

The study included only important Pakistani and Afghan members of Al Qaida from these areas.

Moreover, the security forces also killed more than 1,000 Al Qaeda members in operations in Pakistan, the PIPS report said.

However, the report said, Pakistan government had announced the arrests of only 660 Al Qaeda operatives.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 05/26/2006 00:24 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:


460 Nautani Bugtis return to Pir Koh
Some 460 members of the Nautani Bugti tribe have been resettled in their native town in Pir Koh. These people returned to Pir Koh under the leadership of Wadera Mewa Khan Nautani Bugti. The government has made an effort to resettle members of minor Bugti tribes who were expelled from areas of Dera Bugti in the 90s in an attempt to restore law and order in the troubled Balochistan district.
Posted by: Fred || 05/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  WTF? Nautani Bugti? Sounds like a type of Italian shoe.
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 05/26/2006 2:17 Comments || Top||

#2  bugtis have been engaged in armed conflict oh for the last 2000 years give or take a tribal vendetta or two
Posted by: yo momma || 05/26/2006 3:18 Comments || Top||


Germany ‘hiding facts’ of Cheema’s death
The death of Aamir Cheema in German police custody remains a mystery as Pakistani investigators complained of ‘non-cooperation’ from German authorities, Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights was told during a meeting on Thursday. Tariq Khosa, FIA additional director, who went to Germany to investigate Cheema’s death, told the committee that Cheema’s wrists bore marks of having been tied with a rope, adding that there was also a deep cut on his neck along with signs of a noose being tied around his neck. “We haven’t finalised our findings and are waiting for the answers to a questionnaire sent to the German authorities,” Khosa said.

He said the questionnaire was prepared after the German authorities failed to cooperate with the Pakistani investigators. He said the Pakistani investigators were not allowed to meet German investigators, officials of Justice Department or Cheema’s cellmate.
Posted by: Fred || 05/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Can anyone lend me a microscope so I can try to locate my violin?
Posted by: Clumble Flish4601 || 05/26/2006 2:18 Comments || Top||

#2  The germs should thank the kid. He saved them untold millions of euros for trying, incarcerating, paroling, welfare, medical, funeral, a whole lifetime on their systems tab.
Posted by: Gling Clereque4411 || 05/26/2006 11:31 Comments || Top||


PHC cancels appointment of Fazl’s brother
The Peshawar High Court on Thursday nullified the appointment of Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s brother to the Commissionerate of Afghan Refugees. A division bench consisting of Justice Mohammad Raza Khan and Justice Raj Mohammad Khan reinstated Major (r) Fayyaz Durrani as the CAR project director (repatriation). Ziaur Rehman, the brother of the MMA secretary general, had replaced Durrani by the order of the NWFP chief secretary. He said that he could not be removed from his position by the order of a provincial government official because appointments to the CAR could not be made without the SAFRON ministry’s consent. He said that the position he held was a UNHCR-funded post. The ministry of SAFRON admitted that Rehman’s appointment was against the prescribed rules and regulations and that it had not given approval for Durrani’s replacement. Rehman told the court that Durrani’s appointment to the CAR was illegal.
Posted by: Fred || 05/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  so what--the other guy's probably his cousin
Posted by: yo momma || 05/26/2006 3:20 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Iraqi Minister Backs Iran on Nuclear Research
Iraq supports Iran's right to pursue nuclear research, its new foreign minister said today, taking a position at odds with that of the Bush administration. The foreign minister, Hoshiyar Zebari, spoke during a visit to Baghdad by Iran's foreign minister, Manoucher Mottaki, that marked the reconciliation of two countries that fought a long and bloody war two decades ago.

According to news service accounts, Mr. Zebari said that Iraq does not want "any of our neighbors to have weapons of mass destruction." But he also confirmed "the right of the republic of Iran and the right of any other state to have scientific and technological abilities to research in the field of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes."

In Baghdad, Mr. Mottaki also confirmed that Iran has withdrawn its call for direct talks with the United States on the stability of Iraq. "Unfortunately, the American side tried to use this decision as propaganda," he said, news services reported.

Mr. Zebari said that he and Mr. Mottaki had discussed security arrangements between the two countries. "We want to activate those mechanisms to overcome any interference or infringement, let's say of our sovreignity," he said.
Posted by: tipper || 05/26/2006 12:54 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Did somebody ask him?
Posted by: mojo || 05/26/2006 13:39 Comments || Top||

#2  Hoshiyar Zebari, odd, that's an iranian name.

"the right of the republic of Iran and the right of any other state to have scientific and technological abilities to research in the field of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes."

No problem with that, if that purpose can be verified without obstructions by IA-EA-O.

"Iraq does not want any of our neighbors to have weapons of mass destruction."

No kidding, Zebari, then you are for a rude awakening if all good men from Israel and USA don't make sure that's the case.
Posted by: zazz || 05/26/2006 14:10 Comments || Top||

#3  Asia times claims a lot of the Shia elected officals are actually Iranian Republican Guard guys....
Claim is we had no vetting so this is what we got.
Posted by: 3dc || 05/26/2006 16:06 Comments || Top||

#4  damn mojo beat me too it
Posted by: Greamp Elmavinter1163 || 05/26/2006 16:20 Comments || Top||


Iraqi leader gets ready to name defense, interior ministers
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says he may soon be ready to name the two men who will be charged with carrying out his pledge to take over security for Iraq within 18 months. The initial focus of the effort will be restoring order for the capital’s more than 5 million residents, who have suffered the most from suicidal killers, roadside bombs and sectarian death squads. “It is time for those who want to steal the smiles from the Iraqi people and turn its women into mourners to be silenced,” said Deputy Prime Minister Salam Zikam Ali al-Zubaie, the Sunni Arab who is filling the defense post temporarily.
Zat mean you're going to seriously kill the bad guyz? Good idea.
The announcement came on Thursday, a day that saw 13 killings, including the deaths of two US soldiers who were killed by a roadside bomb in southern Baghdad. Al-Zubaie did not provide details on al-Maliki’s plans to restore security in Baghdad. However, President Jalal Talabani said securing the country would probably require a unified unit of soldiers and police. “We are forming a force to protect Baghdad by the best and trained elements in the interior and defense ministries. They will be under one leadership and under the direct supervision of the prime minister,” Talabani told al-Furat TV.
The Iraqi army under Sammy was perfectly capable of suppressing any disturbances. Its problem was that it wasn't capable of actually fighting wars. So there is experience to draw on, not all of it on the other side.
The various Iraqi police and army units now wear a variety of uniforms. Talabani said the new unit would wear one uniform, “be the only authorized force to travel in Baghdad.” The goal is to eliminate death squads and other armed groups who roam the capital disguised as security forces.
Posted by: Fred || 05/26/2006 02:37 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  talibani failed to admit that the new uniforms would be designed by armani with unstructured armholes for easy ak 47 access
Posted by: yo momma || 05/26/2006 3:23 Comments || Top||


Bush and Blair to discuss Iraq's future and the role of U.S. and British troops
Posted by: Fred || 05/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Iraqi forces will be ready next year: PM
Iraqi troops will be ready to take over from foreign forces as early as November 2007, new Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said ahead of a summit between the US and British leaders aimed at charting a new course for the war-ravaged country. “Our forces will be able to take over the security file in all Iraqi provinces in a year and a half,” Maliki pledged Wednesday. But his comment came a day after Washington downplayed any imminent cutbacks in US forces amid surging violence in Iraq, where Maliki’s government was sworn in on Saturday after months of political bickering.
Posted by: Fred || 05/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ready for what?
Posted by: gromgoru || 05/26/2006 0:39 Comments || Top||

#2  Yeah, and I'll be ready for my Nobel Prize.
Posted by: Perfesser || 05/26/2006 11:59 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas says it won't be forced to accept Abbas plan
DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Hamas will not be "blackmailed" into accepting President Mahmoud Abbas's proposal for Palestinian statehood that implicitly recognises Israel, a member of the movement's exiled leadership said on Friday.

Mohammad Nazzal did not reject the proposal outright, but he criticised Abbas for threatening to put it to a referendum if it was not agreed by Palestinian factions within 10 days. "We see this referendum as a tool of pressure on Hamas," Nazzal told Reuters in Damascus.

On Thursday, Abbas gave leaders of Hamas and his own Fatah movement 10 days to accept a proposal agreeing to a peace settlement if Israel withdraws from all of the West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem, occupied since the 1967 Middle East War. The proposal was drawn up in an Israeli jail by senior prisoners from factions including Hamas and Fatah.

"Although this is a document drawn up by prisoners for whom we have high respect, it cannot be used as a way to blackmail Hamas," Nazzal said. "The initiative contains positive as well as what we see as negative points. The natural course is for these points to be discussed in a dialogue to come up with a common position."

Nazzal said his comments reflected the standpoint of all elements of Hamas, including leaders inside the Palestinian territories, the exiled leadership, and the military wing.

He also questioned Abbas's constitutional right to call a referendum and said the president's plan raised the question of whether Palestinians outside the territories could vote. "Although no one can be against a referendum because it will shows the will of the people, Mr Abbas did not propose this referendum as a salvation for Hamas, but to impose his own political agenda.," Nazzal said.
Posted by: Chinter Flarong9283 || 05/26/2006 09:11 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  who. cares.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 05/26/2006 13:25 Comments || Top||

#2  "Frankly ... I don't give a damn."
Posted by: Rhett || 05/26/2006 13:30 Comments || Top||

#3  Who cares what a bunch of prisoners do? They're in jail because they backed the wrong horse in the first place. It's time for Israel to bring the Hammer of Doom out of retirement and totally CRUSH both HAMAS and FATAH, the expel all the rest of the ayrabs in the occupied Gaza and West Bank portions of Israel, according to the Balfour decision. If anybody objects, Israel and the US will shut them up. Settle this damned 60+-year old war once and for all. It won't stop as long as there's any possibility of the arabs getting one square foot of Israeli territory. Women, children, fluffy bunnies and baby ducks should leave now, or take what's coming with due resignation.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/26/2006 18:17 Comments || Top||

#4  Speaking in the West Bank city of Ramallah at a public forum aimed at
reducing tensions between his Fatah party and Hamas, Mr. Abbas challenged
the Islamic militants to reach an understanding within 10 days on negotiations
with Israel or face a plebiscite within 40 days.
"Are slogans enough to feed the hungry?
You need to stop with these slogans and deal with reality," Mr. Abbas said.
"You need to stop with dreaming and get what is possible to get now.
Let's not talk about dreams. Let's get a Palestinian state within the '67 borders."
Posted by: junkirony || 05/26/2006 22:04 Comments || Top||

#5  too little, too late, too insincere, you lying POS's
Posted by: Frank G || 05/26/2006 22:40 Comments || Top||


What next for popcorn-lovers Palestinians after Abbas ultimatum?
May 26 (Reuters) - President Mahmoud Abbas has given an ultimatum to the Hamas-led government to back a proposal for a Palestinian state that would implicitly recognise Israel or face a referendum.

The move comes amid a growing power struggle between Abbas and Hamas that has sparked violence and follows a Western-led aid boycott that has brought the Palestinian Authority to its knees.

Below are answers to some questions on the crisis:

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: ryuge || 05/26/2006 07:53 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Deadline for Hamas, Fatah to end rivalry
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas gave Fatah and Hamas a deadline on Thursday to end their deadly rivalry, failing which he would call a referendum which could lead to a new national unity government. Abbas’s shock announcement came on the first day of cross-party talks aimed at drawing a line under divisions between his Fatah movement and the Islamists of Hamas, who now head the government after winning a January election.

The so-called national dialogue in Ramallah was called in the face of an upsurge in violence between Fatah and Hamas that has left 10 people dead since the beginning of the month. As widely expected, both Abbas and Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya urged the armed groups to stop turning their guns on each other and avoid a descent into civil war. But Abbas’s warning that they had 10 days to agree on a common platform or he would submit to a referendum a proposal from jailed faction leaders on how to end the Palestinian crisis caught everyone off guard. “If not, I will submit the document to a referendum in 40 days,” he said.
Posted by: Fred || 05/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I bet they're quaking.
Posted by: gromgoru || 05/26/2006 0:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Wonder why the Saudis, Egyptians, etc. aren't telling Hamas and Fatah to unite?

Maybe because they have a dog in the hunt.
Posted by: mhw || 05/26/2006 10:59 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
The Internet Trap
May 26, 2006: While it is commonly believed that the Internet has been a boon to Islamic terrorists, this has not been the case. The main reason for this is that the Internet gives terrorists the illusion that they have a safe, secure form of communication. But there are so many administrative tools available to police, that can detect this communication, that the net result is the Internet has become a prime counter-terrorist weapon.

There are techniques terrorists can use to make their communications more secure, but most don't know them, or don't bother to use them. Things like leaving email as a draft, rather than sending it, or using encryption. But even techniques like these make your messages vulnerable to interception. In the end, any use of the Internet can be intercepted. Often this is accomplished with commercial software and hardware designed for network administration, not spying.

The general public, and many journalists, are unaware of this situation. Terrorists tend to be better informed about the dangers of using the Internet, because so many of their cohorts have been taken down because their Internet communications were intercepted. But because Islamic terrorists tend to be rather too cocky, or too confident because they are on a mission from God, many continue to employ the Internet despite the obvious dangers.

One of the alleged great strengths of al Qaeda, after their Afghan bases were lost in 2001, was the dispersed quality of the organization. The problem with that is that most of these "dispersed" are untrained in the need for OPSEC (Operational Security, things like not using the Internet for critical communications.) The higher up the food chain you go, the less use of the Internet you encounter. At the very top, people like Osama bin Laden and his key lieutenants rely on human couriers, often to deliver memorized messages verbally. While the lower ranks of al Qaeda are entranced by the Internet, and other communications technology, the guys at the top are terrified of it. Mostly, it's a matter of experience. See enough of your chums get caught, or killed, because of cell phone, email or beeper use, and you get a bit paranoid of this stuff.

Often, the small fry are allowed to keep emailing and using their cell phones, just to monitor their "chatter" for useful bits of information. Out of many tiny pieces of data, often comes a picture of what the leaders are up to, and where they are. The Internet gives many terrorists the illusion that they are in touch, without realizing that the people at the other end have arrest warrants, not tickets to paradise.
Posted by: Steve || 05/26/2006 09:10 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Tell me Achmed, how did the infidels find us? Did the little man in the computer tell them?
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 05/26/2006 11:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Simple stuff like this is a good first cut. Of course the real stuff has a lot more bite to it.
Posted by: 3dc || 05/26/2006 11:22 Comments || Top||

#3  We've got a cop up here that works internet pedophile stings. He usually bags at least one a week.
I'll bet he could reel these mooks in by the boatload.
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/26/2006 11:24 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran says would hit back against any US attack
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iran would hit back against any U.S. attack, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said during a visit to Baghdad on Friday.

"In the event that Americans attack Iran anywhere, Iran will respond with an attack in that place," he told a joint news conference with Iraq's speaker of parliament, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani.

Mottaki's remarks were translated into Arabic.

But he suggested he did not believe the United States would attack Iran, saying: "We don't see that America is in a position where it would create a new crisis for the American tax payer."

The United States and Iran are fiercely at odds over Western accusations that Iran's nuclear power program is a cover for making weapons. Iran denies the accusations and says it has a right to a peaceful nuclear program.

Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 05/26/2006 13:10 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  like a goddamned broken record.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 05/26/2006 13:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Not if we hit them hard enough.
Posted by: DMFD || 05/26/2006 14:10 Comments || Top||

#3  History of IranEmpires of Persia (Iran)
Proto-Elamite Civilization (3200–2700 BC)
Jiroft Kingdom (3000–5th c. BC)
Elamite Kingdom (2700–539 BC)
Mannaean Kingdom (10th–7th c. BC)
Median Empire (728–550 BC)
Achaemenid Empire (648–330 BC)
Seleucid Empire (330–150 BC)
Parthian Empire (250 BC–226 AD)
Sassanid Empire (226–650)
Islamic conquest (637–651)
Tahirid dynasty (821–873)
Saffarid dynasty (861–1003)
Samanid dynasty (875–999)
Ziyarid dynasty (928–1043)
Buwayhid dynasty (934–1055)
Ghaznavid Empire (963–1187)
Seljukid empire (1037–1187)
Khwarezmid Empire (1077–1231)
Ilkhanate (1256–1353)
Muzaffarid dynasty (1314–1393)
Timurid Empire (1370–1506)
Safavid dynasty (1501–1736)
Afsharid dynasty (1736–1802)
Zand dynasty (1750–1794)
Qajar dynasty (1781–1925)
Pahlavi dynasty (1925–1979)
Iranian Revolution (1979)
Provisional Government (1979–1980)
Islamic Republic of Iran (1980– Appears they like change. Looks like it's up to them.)
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/26/2006 14:17 Comments || Top||

#4  Much Smaller Country of Persia™ 2006 - ....
Posted by: Frank G || 05/26/2006 15:43 Comments || Top||

#5  i agree bigjim
Posted by: Greamp Elmavinter1163 || 05/26/2006 16:20 Comments || Top||

#6  Hit back? Like Nancy boys, maybe.
Posted by: Zenster || 05/26/2006 19:03 Comments || Top||

#7  Its the hiting forward that we worry about.
Posted by: gromgoru || 05/26/2006 19:36 Comments || Top||

#8  Yep, as honest injun as warrin' and terorizin' in the name of Regional and Global Caliphate is mere "resistance" and "self-defense" against post 9-11 Amer imperialism!?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/26/2006 20:14 Comments || Top||


Iranians pledge to bomb, die
We should pledge to help them with the latter

TEHRAN, Iran — Under a banner showing coffins draped with American, British and Israeli flags, more than 100 Iranian men and women pledged Thursday to become suicide bombers — if necessary — to defend their country and Islam.

The event, held in a burial area for war dead and martyrs, was similar to others in recent years, with Islamic chants and songs and volunteers donning white coverings to symbolize their willingness to die.

But this gathering, coming when many Iranians worry their country could come under attack by the United States or Israel, was tailored to send a message of defiance against any possible military action over Iran's nuclear program.

"The threats from America have swelled our ranks and given us added conviction," said Margess, 27, who like the other volunteers would give only her first name. "We will stand up against them with our lives."

No weapons or explosives were displayed, but the ceremony was organized by a shadowy group believed to have links to the Basiji paramilitary group backed by Iran's Islamic regime.

A huge banner used as a backdrop showed flag-covered coffins. A message in English promised to "damage the U.S. worldwide" in retaliation for any attack on Iran.

It's unclear how the potential suicide bombers are recruited or trained, although several claimed to be Basiji members. Officials claiming to represent the group refused to give details, and the event appeared largely staged for the media.

Some of the female volunteers held children on their laps.

"If asked by Iran's leaders, we will fight anywhere," said Hussein, 56, a volunteer with a wife and four children. "The world should know that Iranians embrace martyrdom." Volunteers mingled around monuments to attackers, including a Palestinian suicide bomber, an Iranian militiaman killed by the U.S. forces in Iraq, and two commandos who helped carry out the 1983 blast at Marine barracks in Beirut that killed 241 U.S. servicemen.

The volunteer bombers waved Qurans. One held a placard paraphrasing Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution: "Our nation is the first to prove that America can't do anything."
Posted by: ryuge || 05/26/2006 08:07 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "The world should know that Iranians embrace martyrdom."

Cool! Tell them to go stand over the nuke plant and wait.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 05/26/2006 8:17 Comments || Top||

#2  Nukes, electric plants, petrochemical, IGRC barracks, water pumps, sewage stations, bridges, rail stations, airports, irrigation systems, grain storage, factories esp. military. These make a good first week target list. Back to the 7th century, BC.
Posted by: ed || 05/26/2006 9:11 Comments || Top||

#3  You know, there were a lot of demonstrations like that in Iraq before we invaded. You could as the people what happened when they attacked the Americans,.... if they were still alive or hadn't run out of the country in terror.
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/26/2006 9:12 Comments || Top||

#4  More than 100, wow. Is that as many as there were here
http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD117406
Notice which story is in the Western Newspaper.
And as to those 100,Promises promises.
Posted by: plainslow || 05/26/2006 10:33 Comments || Top||

#5  Can't they just (f&ck off and) die and cut out the middle man?
Posted by: Zenster || 05/26/2006 11:38 Comments || Top||

#6  These 100 refuse to live in a world wid out [God/Faith-centric]lawful slavery-peonage, honour killings, Mullahs and universal primitivity. GIVE ME CAMELS OR GIVE ME DEATH!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/26/2006 20:19 Comments || Top||


US enlisting Lebanese aid against Syria, al-Qaeda
The United States has sought to bolster Lebanese security to battle Al Qaida as well as insurgents from neighboring Syria.
Have we considered blowing up Emile?... No. I guess that wouldn't work. It'd counterbalance Hariri, wouldn't it?
The Bush administration has sent a series of high-level officials to Beirut over the last few months to discuss U.S. training and equipment transfer to the Lebanese Army and security forces. Officials said the administration has sought to bolster the regime of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora. "The Al Qaida network, for example, poses a threat to the security of both Lebanon and the United States," State Department counter-terrorism coordinator Henry Crumpton said. "If we can help Lebanon build its capacity to face Al Qaida threat, then it is in our interest -- and Lebanon's -- to do so."
Ummm... Leb is a delicately balanced confection made up of competing oligarchies. If you upset the balance of power in any direction they'll start blowing each other up. Best to preserve them in amber and have a look at them once every hundred years.
Crumpton began his visit to Lebanon on May 23 and met senior officials, including Siniora. He was the third senior U.S. official to visit Beirut and discuss the upgrading of Lebanese security.
Which would seem to mean wresting it form the Syrian puppets who previously ran it and putting it in the hands of... ummm... our puppets. Who will them be car boomed. I think I'd go with the amber alternative.
The other officials were Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs John Hillen and Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs Kristen Silverberg.
Never heard of any of them.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 05/26/2006 00:37 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Some people are slow learners
Posted by: gromgoru || 05/26/2006 0:42 Comments || Top||

#2  unfortunately lebanon CANT be preserved in amber,and thats the problem. The electoral system is still based on long outdated demographic realities, and that gives pro-Syrian groups traction in the Shiite community. You can either change that, or accept the Shiite-Syrian-Iranian alliance, and its push to make Lebanon a Syrian satellite. Since the Cedar Rev, most Lebanese OTHER than the Shia seem intent on preserving Lebanese sovereignty, EVEN at the cost of dangerous change - we can either support them, or we can cut a deal with Assad (in which case we'd better get something in return for giving him Lebanon) but what we CANT do is preserve Leb in amber.

I good microcosm of our dilemmas the world over, Id say.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 05/26/2006 9:35 Comments || Top||


MP says US has set up base for Iranian dissidents in Afghanistan
Deputy head of the seventh Majlis' Article 90 Committee has said: The US has set up a headquarters for those Iranian's who have the potential to become a tool in the hands of the nation's enemies in Afghanistan.
Hey, sounds good to me...
According to ILNA, Majlis deputy from Mashhad Ali Asgari, who was speaking to correspondents, added: Following their defeat in Afghanistan, Iraq and on the international scene, the British and Americans have placed the fanning of ethnic issues in Iran on their agenda.
"Defeat" doesn't seem to mean the same thing in Persian...
He said: They are following up this issue within the context of cultural, political and economic issues and they are use their infiltrating elements and sceptics. By revitalizing this issue in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the enemies intend to take the country back to the early days of the revolution when they were provoking the [Iranian] Baluchis, Turks and Arab minorities to turn against the system. The MP went on to say: They are attempting to identify the remnants of the former [Shah] regime in the country and use them to achieve their goals.

Asgari said that Abdolmalik Rigi, bandit leader in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, was an example of these remnants, adding: Rigi was a theology student who was expelled from the Saravan theological seminary and was very poor. However, through the money and arms provided by America, he became a Mullah Omar within a year.
Posted by: Fred || 05/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Cabinet takes stand against Syrian warrant for Jumblatt
Lebanon's Cabinet issued a statement in support of Walid Jumblatt on Wednesday in response to an arrest warrant against the MP by a Syrian military court that was relayed to Beirut via Interpol. The warrant demands that Jumblatt be brought before a Syrian military court to face questioning on charges of having slandered and incited hatred against Damascus.

"The Cabinet asked Justice Minister Charles Rizk to prepare a study and present it to Parliament in order for the legislative body to issue a decision rejecting the warrants," Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said following the session. Cabinet's condemnation of the warrant was supported by all those present, including Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh, the only Shiite member on hand.

Parliament is the only authority that can rule in relation to the warrant because Jumblatt has parliamentary immunity. Should it decide to reject the warrant, it will then be totally ineffective in practice. A source close to the judiciary said Parliament "will likely reject the [warrant] because Jumblatt has parliamentary immunity and because it is based on political reasons."
Posted by: Fred || 05/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Berri marks Lebanon's Liberation Day by singing praises of Syria
But we already knew which side Knobby was on. Nothing out of the ordinary here.
Posted by: Fred || 05/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:


Iran's right to nuclear technology 'non-negotiable'
Iran's right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes is not negotiable, said Iranian Vice President Pervez Dawoodi while addressing a joint press conference with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz at Prime Minister's House on Thursday. "How can Tehran expect the world to fulfil its energy requirements?" queried Dawoodi. "How is it possible to stop any country from scientific advancement and if Iran accepts this, the world may force us to close down our chemistry and physics laboratories in our universities."

The Iranian vice president said Iran had been under sanctions and "hostile countries" had even refused to provide spare parts for passenger planes. "Iran cannot accept assurances of anyone fulfilling its energy needs under such circumstance," he said. Nuclear arms had no place in Iran's military strategy but every nation had the right to used nuclear technology peacefully, he added. "Iran is willing to continue negotiations with the world, and countries not hostile towards it — who think nuclear technology is their sole right."
Posted by: Fred || 05/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  America's right to preemption 'NON-NEGOTIABLE'
Posted by: DanNY || 05/26/2006 0:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Time for some serious thumpin'
Posted by: Captain America || 05/26/2006 0:11 Comments || Top||

#3  That's right, there nobody to negotiate with.
Posted by: gromgoru || 05/26/2006 0:41 Comments || Top||

#4  Mr. Dawoodi (too easy to make a pun here, so I'll refrain), you are correct. We do believe that nuclear technology is our 'sole right'. Just as I would not put matches and kerosene in the hands of a child, so I would not allow stark raving lunatic death cult allen worshipers such as yourself to have a bomb that could annihilate millions. Call me irrational....
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 05/26/2006 10:56 Comments || Top||

#5  I thought they were ready to negotiate???
This doesn't sound very consistent.
Posted by: Gling Clereque4411 || 05/26/2006 11:32 Comments || Top||

#6  The leadership in Iran really needs to consider taking some Dale Carnegie refresher courses.

"How to win friends and influence people."

Posted by: 3dc || 05/26/2006 11:43 Comments || Top||


Iran ready to stop enrichment: IAEA
Iran is ready to give up uranium enrichment on its territory for several years as part of a deal to allay Western fears over its nuclear programme, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Wednesday. But Mohamed ElBaradei, who met in Vienna last week with Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, said that the question of Tehran’s sensitive atomic research activities was still under discussion.

ElBaradei made his remarks to reporters after conferring here with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Western efforts to rein in Iran’s suspected bid to develop a nuclear bomb. ElBaradei suggested that Tehran’s position was more flexible. “The Iranians, as far as I know, agreed in principle that for a number of years (uranium) enrichment should be part of an international consortium outside Iran,” he said. He said that the Iranians told him that once negotiations resumed on their nuclear programme, they were ready to apply the ‘additional protocol’ to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) aimed at tightening inspections. “There is still this issue of Iran doing R&D (research and development) with regard to enrichment and that’s an issue still being discussed,” ElBaradei said.
Posted by: Fred || 05/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  There's a word for this when it happens. I can't remember what it is.

Oh, yeah. It's BULLSHIT!
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 05/26/2006 8:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Iran had less than a completely successful rocket launch earlier this week.

Perhaps they've run into a few snags on the enrichment side also.

You may have some lower level scientists and engineers hoping for a negotiated pause in the Iranian enrichment program so the turbans won't kill them for not meeting deadlines.
Posted by: mhw || 05/26/2006 12:07 Comments || Top||

#3  What happened during the launch mhw?
Posted by: 6 || 05/26/2006 12:21 Comments || Top||

#4  don't know I recall a snippet on a news wire but can't remember which one --- in any event the Prez didn't come on TV and brag about it so that's a big clue right there

ell its not like its rocket science - oh right I guess it is
Posted by: mhw || 05/26/2006 13:32 Comments || Top||

#5  Amir Taheri predicted exactly this scenario - the "agreement" not the missle launch problem.
Posted by: xbalanke || 05/26/2006 20:53 Comments || Top||

#6  "Peace in our time!"
Posted by: Captain America || 05/26/2006 22:23 Comments || Top||

#7  Put El Baradei in for another Peace Prize! Whatta guy!
Posted by: Inspector Clueso || 05/26/2006 23:35 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
Padilla may be higher up in al-Qaeda than first believed
Federal investigators say they have evidence that former Chicago street gang member Jose Padilla was a higher ranking member of Al Qaeda than first thought.

Four years ago this month when Jose Padilla was arrested at O'Hare Airport, federal agents considered him a Chicago street gang member who had been recruited by Al Qaeda terrorists to scout potential American targets, but now U.S. prosecutors believe Padilla was operating at a much higher level than just an advance man for Al Qaeda.

Jose Padilla was not just a Chicago street gang stooge as some in law enforcement portrayed him at the time of his arrest. Federal authorities say evidence now shows that Padilla had had risen in Al Qaeda's ranks to have personal relationships with the top planners of the September 11th attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.

Ammar al-Belushi being mustard-boarded in his CIA interrogation.
Padilla has told authorities that his direct Al Qaeda supervisor was Ammar al-Baluchi who obtained flight simulators that the 9/11 hijackers used in training. According to Padilla, Baluchi was the right-hand man of Khalid Sheihk Mohammed---considered the architect of the 9/11 attacks.

In documents filed during the recent death penalty hearing for Al Qaeda terrorist Zacharias Moussaoui, Moussaoui described Baluci as a "key travel and financial facilitator for the Sept. 11 hijackers."

Padilla's connection to Al Qaeda provided his marching orders as well. Federal agents say Padilla has told them that Baluchi gave him $10,000 cash before flying from the Middle East to O'Hare, provided travel documents, gave him a U.S. cell phone and an email address to notify Al Qaeda operatives of his arrival in Chicago.

But authorities say Padilla's connection to the upper crust of Al Qaeda is best found in his activities with three of the organization's top terrorists. The night before leaving for Chicago they threw him a bon voyage dinner -- hosted by the men considered to be the 9/11 masterminds.

Baluchi, a native of Pakistan, was himself arrested in April of 2003. He has used several aliases, including Ali Abdul Aziz Ali; Habib; Mustafa; and "Losh." His bombing targets were to be east coast gas stations. Baluchi is believed to be held by the U.S. military at Guantanomo, Cuba. Padilla was originally held by the military as an enemy combatant. He has since been charged criminally and is at the federal lockup in Miami.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 05/26/2006 00:21 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So much for all those ACLU cry babies that would have us believe Padilla was a mere hapless sap rounded up by an overly aggressive federal government.
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 05/26/2006 2:13 Comments || Top||

#2  he also gave mambo lessons to the ulema--quite a guy
Posted by: yo momma || 05/26/2006 3:33 Comments || Top||

#3  Does that make Balucci one of the few real AQ in Gitmo that OBL mentioned?
Posted by: Danielle || 05/26/2006 10:49 Comments || Top||

#4  shouldn't that be "was higher"? heh heh
Posted by: Frank G || 05/26/2006 16:04 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2006-05-26
  30 killed, many wounded in fresh Mogadishu fighting
Thu 2006-05-25
  60 suspected Taliban, five security forces killed in Afghanistan
Wed 2006-05-24
  British troops in first Taliban action
Tue 2006-05-23
  Hamas force battles rivals in Gaza
Mon 2006-05-22
  Airstrike in South Afghanistan Kills 76
Sun 2006-05-21
  Bomb plot on Rashid Abu Shbak
Sat 2006-05-20
  Iraqi government formed. Finally.
Fri 2006-05-19
  Hamas official seized with $800k
Thu 2006-05-18
  Haqqani takes command of Talibs
Wed 2006-05-17
  Two Fatah cars explode
Tue 2006-05-16
  Beslan Snuffy Guilty of Terrorism
Mon 2006-05-15
  Bangla: 13 militants get life
Sun 2006-05-14
  Feds escort Moussaoui to new supermax home
Sat 2006-05-13
  Attack on US consulate in Jeddah
Fri 2006-05-12
  Clashes in Somali capital kill 135 civilians


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