(SomaliNet) The United nations (UN) are set to pull out of eastern Sudan since forces of the former rebel, Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM) had withdrawn from the region according to a peace agreement it signed with the government in January 2005,a senior UN official said Thursday, Xinhua reported. United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary General in Sudan, Jan Pronk, told reporters that since the tasks of the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) were completed in the Kassala state under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the mission's offices and operations will be closed and phased out. According to Pronk, the mission of UNMIS in the region was accomplished after the completion of redeployment of thousands SPLM troops from eastern Sudan last month.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2006 00:00 ||
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That's it, nuthin to observe here
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/08/2006 0:27 Comments ||
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(SomaliNet) The Council of Islamic Courts in Somalia has denied on Friday the authentic of the recent video image broadcasted by Associated Press (AP) that shows Arab insurgents fighting beside Islamic militiamen in the battles with anti terror alliance warlords in Somalia capital Mogadishu. The leader of the consultative council of Islamic Courts Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys told London based Arabic paper Sharqal Awsat that the film was fabricated by people who oppose the Islamic courts. The film aimed to disgrace the reputation of Islamic courts, there are no Arab fighters in the capital or help Islamic courts with the fighting against warlords during Mogadishu clashes, Aweys said.
Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, former colonel of Somali army, said those who are against Islamic activities do not want to install an Islamic state on the country Somalia and it is more probable that they falsified the anti Islamic courts video. It is untrue and the film was fabricated by our enemies who are not pleasant with Islamic victories over their struggle in the country and they did so for financial reasons, he said. The Sheikh said in every where in the world there are elements who slander the Islam and its good performance. Now and then the Islamic courts will try to make rehabilitation on some of Islamic militia to protect the dignity of Islam, he said.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Aweys, who is in the list of US wanted terrorists said he was against the recent call by one of Islamic courts members who declared he who does not perform the prayer would be killed. Sheikh Abdulahi Ali, one of Islamic officials has earlier said this remarks during a ceremony of forming an Islamic court in Gubta village in west of the capital, stressing that anyone who leaves the prayer would be killed.
That one's just another slander on the good performance of Islam, too...
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2006 00:00 ||
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BS and horsefeathers! Arabs have been intervening in Somalia for almost 20 years. They were there during the UN intervention, and they are there now.
(SomaliNet) In response to an offer by the Ugandan President to offer rebel leader Joseph Kony amnesty, the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor reiterated on Thursday that the government had a legal obligation to arrest the Lords Resistance Army leader, AOL reported Friday.
ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo declined to comment on the offer and said: "We have a legal mandate and respect the mandate of the president." "Uganda, DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Sudan have an obligation to execute the arrest warrants." Kony and four of his top commanders are wanted for war crimes by the ICC. However, the ICC itself has no police to enforce its arrest warrants and instead must rely on Uganda's military and the help of neighbouring states.
Meanwhile, peace talks between the Ugandan government and the rebels are under way in southern Sudan. Ugandan officials and representatives of Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) are set for the negotiations next week and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has offered amnesty for Kony if he responds positively to peace talks.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2006 00:00 ||
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No, that ain't me, bitch!
Posted by: Rick James ||
07/08/2006 0:23 Comments ||
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Besides, I BE DEAD, bitch!
Posted by: Rick James ||
07/08/2006 0:24 Comments ||
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The funeral of a British soldier killed in southern Afghanistan is taking place in his home city.
The service in memory of Lance Corporal Jabron Hashmi, one of two soldiers killed last Saturday, is due to be held at a mosque in the Small Heath area of Birmingham.
L/Cpl Hashmi, a member of the Intelligence Corps serving with the 3 Para Battle Group, was killed in Sangin, Helmand Province, in an attack which claimed the life of Corporal Peter Thorpe.
Both men's bodies were flown back to Britain on Friday and relatives of L/Cpl Hashmi, 24, and Cpl Thorpe, 27, were at RAF Brize Norton for the repatriation ceremony.
Pakistan-born L/Cpl Hashmi was the first British Muslim to be killed in the "war on terror" and was described by his uncle as a "hero of Islam".
TOKYO (Reuters) - A U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer with the navy's most advanced combat weapon system arrived in Japan on Saturday as tensions surrounding North Korea's missile tests remained high.
The USS Mustin, equipped with missile tracking and engaging systems and with a crew of 300, will be permanently deployed at the navy's Yokosuka base in Tokyo Bay, U.S. Navy spokeswoman Hanako Tomizuka said.Gawd, you gotta love a US Navy spokesman with that name! Continued on Page 49
Posted by: BA ||
07/08/2006 16:45 ||
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#1
Gawd, you gotta love a US Navy spokesman with that name!
#3
Just today, I saw an old guy at the grocery store giving out free samples. At a second glance, I noticed that he was wearing a US Navy cap with a destroyer on it. Turns out he was a WWII Navy vet, so I mentioned the deployment of the destroyer Mustin to defend Japan.
He said that in his day destroyers were called "tin cans", because they were lightly armored, fast and expendable. He didn't miss the irony of the US Navy now protecting Japan, then confessed that maybe sometime he would like to pay a visit to one of these new ships.
IT WAS an awkward phone call to make. Acting on intelligence that North Korea was preparing to test-fire ballistic missiles last month, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade summoned the North Korean Ambassador to an urgent meeting at DFAT's office in Canberra. "We would like to see the ambassador," spelt out an exasperated DFAT officer who struggled to convey the message in English to the North Korean official on the line.
The meeting between Chon Jae Hong and Peter Baxter, head of DFAT's North Asia division, was no less easy. Following instructions from the Foreign Minister, Mr Baxter delivered a grave warning to Mr Chon that if a long-range missile was fired a Taepodong-2 ballistic missile capable of reaching Australia there would be serious consequences for his impoverished, Stalinist-styled Government.
To the shock of the region and the world, the regime went ahead with the tests this week. Six missiles were fired across the Japan Sea in the early hours of Wednesday morning, including one Taepodong-2 missile that reportedly crashed into the water within a minute of being fired. A seventh was fired later that day. The tests, according to North Korea's dictator Kim Jong-il, were expressive acts of self-defence against the US.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
It's entirely possible that China's angry dog prompted Taiwan's recent announcement concerning test-firing a missile of its own. Clearly, this is aimed squarely at the Chicoms.
#5
Unfortunately the Norks copy a lot of WWII Japanese tech such as: hole, aircraft bomb, soldier, and hammer = antitank mine.
Posted by: ed ||
07/08/2006 10:17 Comments ||
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#6
"How can a country that can barely feed its people afford such a weapons program, he railed."
Not even "barely" -- they subsist only due to the outside food aid that is given to them.
#7
we give them a blunt warning... right before we offer them billions worth of low-cost coal subsidised by me, the Australian TAXPAYER if they do the right thing and be a good little North Korea.
Kim Jong Il is laughing to himself while the Western world gives him bribes to be good.
We should just ignore his sabre rattling but let him know if he hits a Western city, we nuke his entire country off the map.
#8
Oh boy. I'll be sorry for this, I'm sure... But there's too much stale pablum and hand-wringing here for my taste. A little bit of weekend opining to clear the palate.
This has gone on at least three or four decades too long. During that time, this grotesque little tyranny has actually become dangerous to someone other than Seoul and the fools in the South who are so schizophrenic about the North that they've given the rest of us a case of their mental paralysis.
This situation is a perfect example of the frog (us) sitting in the water while the temperature has slowly increased to the point of jump or accept having the perfect form of unrelenting blackmail and mass death in the hands of insane freaks - and their masters. As for the masters, does anyone need to be told who they are? They have waged an incredibly successful disinformation campaign against us for 60 years. And we've seen our institutions take up their cause as the traitors and idealists have aged into positions of authority and social influence in our country. We can see, with startling clarity today, Stalin's designs come to fruition.
Truly no offense intended, Anon1, but waiting until the insanity of Kim Jong Il, or one of the assholes who back him - y'know, the guys with more medals than neurons who applaud his every breath and dream of replacing him, breaks out of the box and kills someone is almost as nuts as he is. Please forgive me. If you happen to be who the freaks finally vaporize as proof that they don't have tiny dicks and we are weak, well, I think my point is a bit clearer.
And it just gets worse every day. It's nuts to allow the whores of Moscow and Beijing to triangulate the world with this freak regime. Islam is onboard simply because of convenience. They have risen to renew their campaign to dominate the world because of oil wealth, nothing more. Well, there's an answer for that, as well, if we have the courage to take it.
One thing at a time? Okay, LOL, here's #1.
1a. North Korea. Go ahead and kill it. Decimate the whole thing on a grid. If Seoul gets wasted then they've had it coming for the entire time they've supported this abomination and helped to guarantee its survival. Too hardcore for you? Unless someone has a foolproof scheme for how to completely disarm and dismantle this freak regime any other way - then we're wasting time. And that is solely to the advantage of the freaks.
It's a mixed bag of grief, that's certain, but most of that is self-inflicted stupidity, from Clinton to the idiots in Seoul. Now that the danger extends beyond the fools in the South, the time has come to stop the incremental bullshit and do what was taken off the table bit by bit, leaving us in this dangerous impasse: it cannot be allowed to exist any longer.
Another bit of hardcore truth is that the fall and dissolution of the USSR was a fluke, not a model for how to make the world safe for those who love freedom. It is blinding us and making things worse with every passing day. North Korea won't implode on its own. Its people are terminally screwed, certainly, but as a freak regime which is universally dangerous to the world, it's insane to hope for implosion before it decides to take someone else out. In fact, you can bet that if they detect their demise approaches, they will lose any reason to do otherwise.
1b. Ramp up production of every type of munition needed for regime-killing. Wartime pace.
1c. State Department. Mass firing. Turn the whole thing out and start from scratch.
1d. CIA / Homeland Security / Blah blah blah. I guess we'll have to limp along here, "killing" leakers and those with a private "Foreign Policy" as we find them.
1e. Leaks and the "press". Full-court press. Trials for everyone involved. The laws are there, use them in every way possible to end this, the most insane of all the threats, the most successful aspect of Stalinism.
1f. The UN. Cut funding to 191th (or is it 192th?) of the budget. Keep our seat. Veto everything.
2. Iran. All leadership sites and Military HQs and Basij centers. All of them. The very minute the munitions inventories are deemed adequate for the 100% Leadership and Retaliation Decimation Plan. Without warning. Takes Syria out of the terror game. It will help immensely in Iraq, though I doubt that most of the Iraqi Ministers will be happy about having to live on their government salaries alone. It has been pointed out here that this is not nearly as hard as the fool pundits suggest, as all of the facilities do not need to be hit, just as many as we are certain of - and all of the utilities that allow them to function. Oh, and their storage of gas.
3. Saudi Arabia. You know what needs to be done. Old hat, here, and the only thing I can see that takes any number boots on the ground. And I think Pakistan would quickly implode without the Saudis propping parts of them up. Far more chiefs than indians in that hellhole, so they'd be internally-focused for a long time, but take out everything associated with nukes. I'd feel really bad if Khan and his friends were decimated in the "confusion".
4. Russia. China. Neither will lift a finger because they're not ready. I don't want to ever see them become ready, again - in the case of Russia, either. Both are very vulnerable to financial attack. I don;t much care whether we wear a Cheshire smile - or state it plainly -- To Their People: You are led by crooks and thieves. We are sorry, but fuck you. If you decide to hang them, fine by us. We'll be watching. Losers.
Hell, it's time for a return to TDR. We've tried the State Department and UN style idiocy - the route championed by the Stalinist traitors within - and it has led to this moment. None of the current threats had to be allowed to become so. It is the wildly foolish and dangerous outcome that should've been obvious, had we not allowed ourselves to be blinded by socialist disinformation and the unchecked seepage of PCism into our system. Because it has gone on far too long, the remedy will be all the more shocking, but no less necessary.
#10
Nah. Not enough "fuck you and the horse you rode in on" to be .com. Just a blog acolyte who reads a lot and tries to make sense of it, like everybody else, Darrell. Hey, you sound as much like him, minus the "fuck this" and "fuck that", as I do, brother. By the way, I like your comments - and that's no shit.
As for the expletives sometimes nothing else will do, though, so some of it creeps into my comments occasionally. I'm sorry for that. I'd like to see this, with some of his choice flavoring tidbits tossed in, re-written in real .com style. It'd be heavier on the Islamonazis, conain some hunter - killer teams, and be a barn-burner, instead of a dud.
As it is, it doesn't seem to matter much as it only generated mild curiosity. And, further along that line of thought, sorry to have wasted the bandwidth.
Unfortunately, I can't see your scenario unfolding in the next 10 years unless something happens to precipitate it. And whatever does precipitate it is going to be very nasty indeed. At the moment America is fighting a rich mans war, but the cheaper option is always there. I don't think enough people realise that - we seem to be sleep-walking into a time where entire countries could be wiped from the map, and the only people who are really trying to stop that happening are derided as fascists, imperialists or criminals. I think we're living in Heinlein's 'Crazy Years'.
You sure you're not .com with another handle? ;)
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
07/08/2006 19:58 Comments ||
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heh heh - flyover - you and I think a lot alike....I even have Omega Man on DVD...
and Soylent Green :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/08/2006 20:26 Comments ||
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#13
Tony (UK) - Heston's found his hot momma and they're escaping by motorcycle, LOL. Off to meet the underground and work on the cure.
Thanks for the compliment. That was an executive summary (LOL, man I've written a LOT of them!) of what I read at the good places like Rantburg... at least the stuff that resonates with me and fits with my personal experience and understanding. I certainly know Stalinism and propaganda.
I'm afraid you're right - in almost everything you said. There are sane people all over, thank God, I just wish we could concentrate here and regain full control of our institutions. I often wonder if that is the only way to reverse the slide of the west.
You're dead right about Heinlein, LOL.
I'm not sure what to make of this .com hunt and I can't prove a negative. No offense, but it seems silly. You people post solid info everyday. I like to summarize for my own benefit, and posting that sort of stuff (by anyone) seems to bring out these "sightings". No offense to .com and his fire and brimstone posts, but you people are doing just fine - you're posting the righteous truth.
#14
Flyover, you're dead right - there's a tremendous amount of good stuff posted here. I use the site to get the real skinny on events (I lost faith in the MSM just under 5 years ago...) and then to inform my mates about what's really going on. Sadly, they're just happy to lap up the Stalinist Gramscian shite coming from the BBC or Al-Grauniad. I think we just have to keep reminding ourselves that there are a lot of sane people left, who understand what's at stake. This is good.
As for .com, it's just I've been away from the 'burg for a few months and missed his insightful comments. You're quite right that there are a lot of people here who know what's going on, and that's also a good thing.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
07/08/2006 20:53 Comments ||
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Frank G - :) I don't have many DVD's, but everything hits cable sooner or later, LOL.
#17
muck - we don't know, and many who communicated in privated with PD/.com haven't heard anything in reply. Happy wishes aside, we fear for the worst while hoping for the best. It saddens me more than I can say. Lucky, .com.... originals who can never be replaced...speaking of which, Muckster.....stay with us... :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/08/2006 21:02 Comments ||
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#18
well. ima hope we heer sumthin soon. miss both lucky and .com
#21
yes we do. I can do snark, but it's a pale resemblance to the masters.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/08/2006 22:42 Comments ||
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#22
flyove, I suspect you won't see my comment because it's so late, but an elegant summary of ideal solutions. I fear we won't see any of it, because your suggestions are straightforward and unnuanced, and too many of the people involved in making things happen have a major investment in proving how intelligent they are, hence nuanced and non-straightforward, darn it!
Clearly you aren't .com, however much we miss him. I imagine he will announce himself when he is ready to return -- the nic was about as anonymous as the man was willing to be... although I wouldn't want to be the person who tried to break through whatever defences he might have put around his computer. ;-)
Japan introduced a draft Security Council resolution Friday that would sanction North Korea for test-launching a series of missiles, despite Chinese and Russian fears of inflaming tensions with the isolated communist nation. China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya said if the draft is put to a vote, the council would not send a united message to the North that its missile tests are unacceptable. Yet he did not say whether China would abstain or use its veto power to sink the resolution.
The draft — which has the support of the United States, Britain and France — is tougher than previous versions. It adds language saying that no nation will procure missiles or missile related "items, materials goods and technology" from North Korea, or transfer financial resources connected to the North's program. Also included is earlier language ordering countries to "take those steps necessary" to keep the North from acquiring items that could be used for its missile program. Diplomats said it could be put to a vote Saturday.
With the resolution formally introduced, the council can vote on it after 24 hours, but U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said that did not necessarily mean a vote would take place Saturday. A U.S. official said diplomats might hold off voting until next week to allow more time for diplomacy to work. In particular, they want to see if China, the North's main ally, can find a solution. "There is a hint that states want to see what the Chinese can do," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the strategy had not been made public.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
There will be a quarantine. Whether the UN approves is another question.
#2
Fuck the UN. Whether China complies is the only question. Taiwan's missile test (and possible nuke capability) and Japanese rearming have made NK a liability now. No more fun "stick in the Us's eye" with their puppet any more. Kim's past his usefulness
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/08/2006 9:54 Comments ||
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Spot on, Frank. One other benefit: the Sorks will be crapping their pants over this. They've been damned standoffish to the US ever since Roh was elected. His party just got its butt handed to them because the country finally woke up to the fact that without the US on their side they're just an undersized punk in a real tough neighborhood.
That said, nobody in Sorkland wants to see Kimmie's Krazy Koop collapse because they know they'll be expected to foot the bill and they don't want any part of cleaning up those Augean stables. What they want is the status quo even if it means NKoreans in concentration camps and mass graves. Anything that upsets it and threatens to hand them the Nkor disaster afterward they won't like.
Posted by: mac ||
07/08/2006 11:01 Comments ||
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#4
mac brings up a point that I have been pondering about for quite some time. If the SKors do not want Kimmie to collapse, it is really because they do not want to foot the bill?
I mean, WTF kind of a rationale is that, if true? If the Norks collapse, I am sure that we could get many countries in the world to help foot the bill to get the people of North Korea back on their feet. It would be a coalition that would be a joy to join.
So it seems that maybe SKor is like the battered wife. Willing to live with the status quo for fear of what really bad could happen. I realize that Seoul is a serious target. However, as long as Kimmie and the Norks are in power, they will always use the threat of a barrage on Seoul as a club to threaten SKor.
The other thing that jumps out at me is that the Chicoms have the greatest power to control the actions of their mad little dog Kimmie. Yet they use him as a tool to get at Japan, the US and others. If they want to do business like that, I do not think that the palzy-walzy status quo relations with the US should continue. There must be consequences for such actions. The current crop of China policy gurus I trust as much as the Chicoms. They are as much an enemy as the PLA is.
My 2 cents.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/08/2006 15:13 Comments ||
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#5
Fuck the UN. Whether China complies is the only question. Taiwan's missile test (and possible nuke capability) and Japanese rearming have made NK a liability now. No more fun "stick in the Us's eye" with their puppet any more. Kim's past his usefulness
Japan
India
Taiwan
SKor
If the USA were to change it's policy of One China recognition [over the screaming dead bodies of multinational corp.-ses] and we slapped the SKors into shape, we'd have China in a fairly good box...
It's no secrete that one of China's key strategic interests is Taiwan and they will forever try and inject it into any international bargain, even unrelated ones, and extract any concessions possible. Sometimes it seems as if almost all things else are secondary to them.
#6
I envision a quiet conversation between the US Ambassador to China and the Chinese FM:
US Amb: Kim is destabilizing the region.
China: Sure, but what can be done.
US Amb: Be a shame if Taiwan and Japan felt so threatened that they developed nukes and missile delivery systems. Be a shame if someone quietly helped them.
China: Uh, you may have a point, I'll look into it. (In Chinese to flunky) - have that bastard Kim whacked tomorrow.
GUANTANAMO BAY inmate David Hicks told his father yesterday he did not know whether he would survive another year in the US detention centre, saying he was being "pushed all the time" since three suicides there last month. Terry Hicks broke the news yesterday to his son about last week's historic decision by the US Supreme Court, which ruled that the military commission set up to hear his case was illegal and a violation of the Geneva Conventions and US military law. In their first conversation since Christmas, Mr Hicks was allowed to speak to his son for a little over two hours yesterday, along with other members of the Hicks family and his Australian lawyer, David McLeod.
Mr Hicks said that while his son was pleased about the court victory he was depressed that he was not being released. "That means I could be here for another 12 months or more and I can tell you now, I don't know whether I can last that long," Hicks told his father. "You don't realise how much pressure we are under here, the guards are absolute pigs."
Hicks has been held in Guantanamo Bay for 4œ years, much of it spent in solitary confinement. The Prime Minister, John Howard, said this week he would not ask for Hicks to be released. He said he still wanted Hicks tried by the US. The Howard Government had backed the military commission process as a fair means of trying Hicks. He was one of the first Guantanamo Bay inmates to be selected for military commission trial, and the court decision striking them down is a major setback for the Bush Administration. The White House and Congress are now attempting to set up a new process for hearing the cases, but it is unlikely the legislation will be passed in the near future.
Following three suicides at the camp last month, Hicks told his father yesterday that the guards had "locked down" the facility. He said his books, table and chair, pen and paper had been removed, he had received no letters and spent most of his time in solitary confinement lying on a concrete floor. He said the guards would turn the air conditioning on full, make loud noises and sometimes take his clothes away. "Just listening to him talk he was so angry," Mr Hicks told the Herald. For 45 minutes his son told him about the conditions at the camp and said suicide was one of the few ways to get back at the guards. While he insisted he was not suicidal himself, he told his father: "We're being pushed, pushed, pushed all the time. Don't be surprised if things happen."
Hicks was given only 30 minutes' notice of the phone call and was told at the same time he was being shifted to Camp Echo, out of solitary confinement. He apparently believed this meant he was being released and was deflated when he realised his mistake. Hicks's US lawyer, Major Michael Mori, was due to arrive at Guantanamo Bay last night to explain the court decision to him.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2006 00:00 ||
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For 45 minutes his son told him about the conditions at the camp and said suicide was one of the few ways to get back at the guards. While he insisted he was not suicidal himself, he told his father: "We're being pushed, pushed, pushed all the time. Don't be surprised if things happen."
You know you're in trouble when the only way you can get back at the guards is to commit suicide. Heh.
You picked the wrong team pal. Live with it, or in your case, not.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
07/08/2006 5:12 Comments ||
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#6
Mr Hicks said that while his son was pleased about the court victory he was depressed that he was not being released. "That means I could be here for another 12 months or more..."
Huh? What "victory"?
Strip away all the political hoopla surrounding the USSC decision, and it becomes a rather dry, technical matter: the court said that, according to the laws now in place, military tribunals are not the correct venue for trying detainees such as those in Guantanamo; that Congress can make military tribunals the correct venue if it chooses to do so; that absent such action by Congress, the detainees can be tried in civilian criminal courts if the Administration wishes; or the Administration can simply continue to detain them for the duration of the conflict.
Given the conflict has already been going on nearly 1,400 years, I'd say Hicks's prospects for release anytime soon are pretty damn dismal.
Give this asshole about 10' of rope, or an extra bedsheet or two, and leave him alone for a couple of hours to indulge his creativity.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
07/08/2006 7:46 Comments ||
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#7
"guards are absolute pigs."
That just put a picture in my mind of a prison with an extra fence around the outside and a bunch of ill-tempered, big-tusked boars roaming the area between the fences. The perfect Muslim prison camp.
#9
I think his Dad needs a good old patriotic beating as well to remind him why his asshole son is incarcerated - crimes against his country and the western world.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/08/2006 10:03 Comments ||
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#10
Today at Club Gito:
0500 Lecture on how Islam likes Suicide Martyrs
0700 Review of Islamic Pamphlet: You cant kill a guard but you can kill yourself.
0900 Movie: How to kill yourself without trying.
1200 Roof Jumping (Form up on roof of Gymnasium)
1500 Noose making classes
1700 Prisoners left unattended until morning (with rope)
(Montage of Millie Vanilie, Vanilla Ice, Yoko Ono, and Hillary Clinton speeches piped into each room at no extra charge)
#12
Montage of Millie Vanilie, Vanilla Ice, Yoko Ono, and Hillary Clinton speeches piped into each room ...
Yup, that'd do it. Soundtrack by the Sex Pistols.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/08/2006 11:21 Comments ||
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#13
Actually, I think the soundtrack should be a loop of "Honey", "Muskrat Love", "The Way We Were", and "Afternoon Delight". If 3 weeks of that doesn't make you commit suicide, the resulting synaptic damage will render one harmless.
#14
Hahaha, I love this dude. Hopefully congress sits on this as long as they have illegal immigration and this guy whacks himself in the interim. Stupid pathetic idiot.
The committee drafting Nepal's interim constitution that will pave the way for rebel Maoists to join a power-sharing government has finally begun its work, an official said Thursday. The committee was supposed to start drafting the new document two weeks ago but was awaiting approval from government, which was considering increasing its size to nine people. In the end, the government decided to keep the committee at just six members, said Laxman Prasad Aryal, coordinator of the committee. "We were asked to start our formal work without inducting new members," he said, adding, "We received terms of reference from the talks team of the government and the Maoists (who) asked us to begin our work from Thursday."
On June 16, the rebels and the recently reinstated government made a landmark power-sharing agreement that would see the rebels join an interim government after the interim constitution had been drafted. "The committee has been given a mandate to draft the interim constitution in the next 15 days and we are hopeful that it will be completed within the stipulated time," said Aryal, a former supreme court justice.
The interim constitution, he said, would clarify the position of the king, recommend an alternative body to parliament, and announce the date for constituent assembly elections. "Once the interim constitution is drafted it will be handed over to the government-Maoists talks team for approval," Aryal said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2006 10:50 ||
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ISLAMABAD In a dramatic statement that sent shock waves within the ruling coalition President Musharraf has said he is a soldier, therefore, he could not contest elections, adding he would quit his office the day people withdrew their support for him. If people want my leadership, they should cast vote in favour of my supporters. If the people retract their support, I will quit power and say goodbye the same day, he said, while addressing a public gathering in Gilgit at Lalak Jan stadium on Wednesday.
This doesn't sound like the Perv we know.
If people want development, they should support the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) to ensure its success in the next general elections, he observed, adding that the country would have a better leadership if PML emerged triumphant in the elections. PML chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and secretary-general Mushahid Hussain Syed were present on the stage.
Both having a fit of the vapors ...
Gen. Musharraf did not elaborate but the statement was interpreted by analysts as tacit acknowledgment of the myriad constitutional, moral and political hurdles he would face while contesting elections in uniform and from the present assemblies. Legal experts say that Gen. Musharraf is barred from contesting elections in uniform and should have resigned from the army in November 2005 to qualify for re-election.
Having the uniform and all the guns behind him didn't seem to hurt his re-election any ...
The stunning verdict by the Supreme Court annulling the privatisation of the Pakistan Steel Mills has shaken confidence that a military ruler can manipulate judges to secure a verdict of their liking. It is also being debated that Gen. Musharraf would be setting a unique precedent of contesting elections as an army chief. It has never happened in Pakistan despite the fact that the military has ruled the country for most part of its history. Unlike the dubious referendum of 2002, Gen. Musharraf will have faced a contest that would seriously undermine the image of the army.
Similarly, election through present assemblies at the end of their own mandate would be devoid of any moral justification. The opposition can subvert this plan by resigning from the assemblies on the eve of elections and dissolving the NWFP assembly without which the electoral college would be incomplete. Some jurists contend that Gen. Musharraf has already served two terms, first when he took oath in June 2001 before going to Agra to meet then Indian premier Vajpaee and later on November 16, 2005 a couple of hours before newly elected National Assembly was installed. The Constitution forbids the president to see a third consecutive election.
A mere trifle ...
In a bid to control damage, information ministry officials made hectic efforts to stop the electronic media from repeating the story once it was flashed by some private channels. Newspaper editors were also requested not to print the presidential remarks. The advice was ignored by most newspapers who flashed the story with banner headlines. The state-owned PTV, however, dutifully omitted the remarks while telecasting full speech.
PML chief Chaudhry Shujaat was visibly shaken by the statement which caries the potential of a devastating political effect and is likely to demoralise the coalition supporters. In a clarification, Shujaat said that Gen. Musharraf has talked about saying goodbye in lighter vein. It was a joke which he never meant to be taken seriously, Shujaat observed.
"That Perv, what a joker!" he added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/08/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
More Mushy melodrama. Fixed elections are won by the fixers, and Punjabi PML-Q leaders pull the strings.
#2
The Constitution forbids the president to see a third consecutive election.
The constitution of Pakistan also prohibits the overthrow of the elected government by the army chief.. a little thing called treason that prescribes a dance at the end of the rope at Attock Fort prison.
It also forbids armed groups, apart from the army and police.
Posted by: john ||
07/08/2006 7:06 Comments ||
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The lynching of two policemen by an angry Muslim mob in Bhiwandi on Wednesday night rocked the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly with Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister R.R. Patil assuring the house that those who killed the two policemen would be hunted down within two days time and would face the consequences of their crime.
Which in a just world would include a good neck-stretching...
Roaring with anger, Patil told the legislators that the killers would not be spared. The attack is not on the individuals but on the government. Let it be known that the policemen are not on the streets to get killed and the instigators of the heinous crime should also remember that we have weapons to deal with them, Patil said. We have the clues to the killers and we promise that we would teach them a lesson which they wont forget for the rest of their lives, Patil thundered with anger. The reference to the killers indirectly was directed toward Muslims, who are suspected of committing the crime.
But, of course, just because they were rioting and burning stuff and waving sticks and ropes doesn't mean they dunnit. Coulda been anybody, really...
What surprised many was that while Patil did plain speaking in the legislature, he was silent on the killing of the two Muslim youths Ramzan Azam Qureshi (20 years) and Malik Abdul Khaliq (50 years) who the Muslim leaders alleged were shot point blank without provocation by the police on the orders of Deputy Commissioner of Police R.D. Shinde.
Now it comes out. Now we know who the real victims were.
Patil said that the two policemen in plainclothes were attacked when their motorcycle skidded near Milan Hotel at 9.30 p.m. last Wednesday. A group of people standing there apparently assaulted them with stones and knives. They were badly beaten and then stabbed until they died. Their bodies were then tossed into a government bus which was set on fire. The fact that the murderers of the policemen targeted no other motorbike, indicates that they knew them, Patil added.
Osama Bin Laden is ill and invisible, but five years after September 11, 2001, his al-Qaeda movement has become the fulcrum of a global, Islamic resistance against the United States.
Asia Times Online has learned from an operative close to the al-Qaeda leadership that bin Laden languishes on a dialysis machine, in rapidly declining health.
"Sheikh [Osama] was in a poor condition when my father last visited," said the operative, who uses the name "Abdullah". Abdullah's father, known as Sheikh Ibrahim, is number two after Tahir Yuldeshev in the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IUM), a
group closely allied with al-Qaeda and the Taliban, and operating in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan.
Sheikh Ibrahim's meeting with bin Laden took place "a few weeks ago", Abdullah told Asia Times Online in an interview at the end of June in a northern Pakistani city. Abdullah had traveled there from North Waziristan, a Pakistani tribal agency on the Afghanistan border, to meet this correspondent.
"He [bin Laden] asked all of us to pray for his health. For the past many months he has been on dialysis and just cannot move. My father never told me where he was when he met Osama ... but he was worried about his fast-waning health."
Nevertheless, said Abdullah, the al-Qaeda leadership remains in Afghanistan and still serves as the nucleus of the movement.
"Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri [bin Laden's number two] is very active in Afghanistan and controlling affairs. Most of the Arab fighters left Afghanistan after the US invasion of Iraq and many went there to fight. But the main leadership of al-Qaeda continued to stay in Afghanistan," Abdullah said.
Abdullah is a tall, strongly built 23-year-old. He lived through some very hard times after the US invasion of Afghanistan and the Taliban's subsequent retreat. His family moved to Pakistan's southern city of Karachi, and later went abroad. In 2003, when the Taliban regrouped in South Waziristan, his family returned to Karachi.
Abdullah has been in a position to observe the rise and fall of the Taliban over the past eight years, due to his father's senior position in the IMU as well as his own involvement with the movement.
"Until the end of 2003 Karachi was the focal point of all al-Qaeda, Taliban and other people who fled from Afghanistan. But constant intelligence operations forced us to leave Karachi and by the end of 2003 we reached South Waziristan, where my father joined hands with Sheikh Essa [an Egyptian] and Tahir Yuldeshev," Abdullah said.
He confirmed Asia Times Online reports that bin Laden had been short of funds, hampering al-Qaeda operations. Still, Abdullah maintained that the al-Qaeda leadership would remain in Afghanistan despite all difficulties, because of the country's identification with Bilad-i-Khurasan - a land, Muslims believe, where Muslim armies will finally regroup and go to liberate the "land of Abraham" from the Anti-God (Dajal).
"I have heard this notion since the days when Abu Hafs [the al-Qaeda number three who was killed in a US strike on Kabul in 2001] was alive. He often repeated that," Abdullah said.
Abdullah also revealed that international players are aligning themselves with al-Qaeda and the Taliban in a global Islamic alliance to fight the US.
"The money is now with Tahir Yuldeshev, who organizes Uzbek youths in South Waziristan. Where the money comes from is a mystery, but a few years ago I personally witnessed two sources of his funding, one from Turkey and the other from Saudi Arabia. Both were private people. I was with Tahir and I personally saw him receiving money in Madina," Abdullah said.
"Many months ago, I learned about a delegation of Muslim youths from Russia who met with Mullah Omar [the Taliban leader] and offered to arrange a supply of Russian-made missiles and sophisticated weapons, for cash. Mullah Omar refused the deal.
"However, recently another development happened which once again reminded us that international forces are aiming at us.
"The development occur in the wake of differences between the Uzbeks. A group of Uzbeks, to which I belong, defied Tahir Yuldeshev because of his dictatorial behavior. We left South Waziristan and went to the North Waziristan town of Mir Ali. His dictatorial behavior aside, there were many other rumors in circulation about him. All put a question mark on Tahir's integrity."
(At this time, Yuldeshev was settled in South Waziristan and allied himself with local commander Abdullah Mehsud. Yuldeshev was not active on any front.)
"There were a lot of things published in the Russian press about Tahir's connection with Americans. We were not sure about that, but the way Tahir made himself aloof from al-Qaeda and the Taliban created doubts," Abdullah said.
Yuldeshev then "circulated a message through a CD, strictly for his Uzbek circle, in which he stated that a smear campaign was being run against him by Russia. Tahir said that Russians contacted him, and after he approved they came to see him in South Waziristan and offered him a deal to finance him and provide arms and ammunition to fight against the Americans in Afghanistan, on condition that he gave up his struggle in Uzbekistan.
"Tahir said on the CD that he refused the offer outright, after which a campaign was run to malign him and portray him as having CIA [the US's Central Intelligence Agency] connections."
Nevertheless, as Asia Times Online has reported, recently a greater alliance hasbeen formed throughout North and South Waziristan. Yuldeshev has changed his reclusive behaviour and joined hands with Haji Omar, Biatullah Mehsud and other Taliban commanders in a new drive against the American-led forces in Afghanistan.
#2
Lies! We're creating jihadis by the millions just by our presence in the Middle East! Sen. Murtha is right, we should withdraw to Okinawa and launch new ground offensives from there.
Posted by: Gen. Wesley Clark ||
07/08/2006 15:00 Comments ||
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#3
No Sily, French Mooselimbs on Social services get the same 10 weeks subsidized vacation in the summer as other French citizens... most of them are just in the "Slum and Breakfasts" located throughout the French countryside.
Ah, to be French... you'd have to be one crazee Jihaddi to summer in Iraq instead of Provence.
Posted by: Dominic De ||
07/08/2006 16:26 Comments ||
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A heated internet debate has developed among militant Sunnis over the tactic of murdering large numbers of Shia civilians. The outcome of the website exchanges could be crucial in deciding whether Iraq can pull back from the brink of civil war.
The discussions were prompted by a bomb attack last Saturday that killed at least 66 people in the Baghdad slum district of Sadr City. A statement claiming responsibility gave a sense of the bitterness felt by many Sunnis, now an angry minority in a country they used to dominate. It said the bombing was carried out in response to the actions of Shia militias - the Mahdi Army, which dominates Sadr, and the Badr Brigade - which are accused of abducting and killing hundreds of Sunnis. The statement, issued in the name of the hitherto-unknown Supporters of the Sunni People, said: "A day or two later their bodies are found in the streets after suffering various forms of torture, from the breaking of limbs, perforation by electric drills, burning with acid, gouging out their eyes and fingernails. Even after torturing them they do not give them a swift death by shooting them but leave them to die a slow death."
A contributor called Wahm said: "Those infidels, traitors and slaves of the English who wished ill on the [Sunni] Muslims, God has destroyed them and made them booty for the mujahideen."
But a contributor called Mo2 said: "Whoever committed this act wants to ignite the sectarian crisis again. The occupier [America] will not be ousted by our fighting one another. Target the killers only and do not target civilians just because they are Shia."
Mo2's views were shared by Kattan: "If they are oppressors and killers, we do not have to be like them."
Stung by such liberal sentiments, Abu Mohammad, who posted the original message, hit back angrily: "This is just the beginning. The punishment will continue until the last dirty cockroach is slaughtered."
If such sentiments prevail, more deadly attacks are inevitable. So too is further action by the powerful Shia militias.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2006 10:20 ||
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#1
Sorry, Fred. Sympathy meter isn't working for either side. I've shaken it, hit the reset button, and turned it on and off lots of times, but it just doesn't seem to move off dead solid zilch when it comes to dead Muslims, no matter what shape, size, color or number. Think I should send it to CJ at LGF to get it recalibrated?
Posted by: mac ||
07/08/2006 10:49 Comments ||
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#2
sounds like a day at FireDogLake
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/08/2006 10:49 Comments ||
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#3
Doesn't sound like they're arguing about killing, but about who should be killed.
Take em out with the Bomb Game,
Take em out by the crowd;
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks,
I don't care if they never get back.
Let me root, root, root for the Ded Pool,
If they all die, it's a fricken shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old Bomb Game.
#5
I hate to say it but you're right mac, I am almost totally desensitized to them clipping each other. Usually means one less asshole us goodguys have to deal w/later on.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2006 10:50 ||
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The source stressed that Jordan rejects all pressures to hand over Raghad, saying the daughter of the (former) Iraqi president has followed fully the country's hosting conditions and has not exercised any political or media activities. In the same context, Jordanian Government sources have said that the postponement of the Iraqi prime minister's visit to Jordan is attributed to the king Abdullah traveling abroad, adding that the visit will take place next week.
Jordan has a few billion reasons not to hand over Raghad.
Until the capture nearly two weeks ago of an Israeli soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, no one had heard of the Army of Islam, one of three Palestinian groups who say they together are holding the young soldier.
Israeli intelligence officials doubt the significance of the group and lay responsibility for the capture squarely on Hamas, which runs the Palestinian government and is one of the two other groups claiming responsibility.
In Jordan, however, some experts in Islamic militant groups say that the Army of Islam, even if small, represents something important the first time a Palestinian group has adopted the agenda of Al Qaeda. They also say the group played a critical role in the soldier's capture.
Continued on Page 49
Israeli Interior Minister Roni Bar-On on Friday ruled out any negotiations with Hamas with a view to engineering a Palestinian prisoner swap in exchange for an abducted Israeli soldier. I have spoken to PM Olmert and our position remains unchanged: we refuse to negotiate with Hamas and release prisoners, Bar-On told an Israel television. Israeli Public Security Minister Avi Dichter earlier indicated Israel was prepared to release prisoners against soldiers release.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2006 00:00 ||
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From Geostrategy Direct, subscription.
Israel's new defense minister, Amir Peretz, has no experience in either the military or in government. But he has been thrown into a crisis that could lead to war in the Middle East. Peretz, a longtime peace activist, has been struggling to contain a growing Palestinian threat that includes daily missile salvos against the Jewish state from the Gaza Strip and the abduction of Israeli civilians and soldiers. A career union activist, Peretz is caught in a vise of military commanders, warning that the nation's deterrence is being eroded, and the United States and the international community, seeking Israeli restraint. "We have no intention to recapture the Gaza Strip or control the Palestinian population," Peretz said. "We do not want our soldiers running through the alleys of refugee camps between Gaza City and Rafah." They should not have to. Target the bad guyz and safehouses and take them out by air power.
A key question is whether Peretz will agree to a massive ground assault on the Gaza Strip to destroy missile production facilities, insurgency strongholds and the Hamas government. Or, will the military wait for international efforts to free an Israeli soldier abducted by Hamas. Based upon news reports, it appears to me that the Israeli operation has stalled, run out of gas. They needed to hit hard and fast. International efforts to free the IDF soldier plays right into the hands of Hamas and gives them legitimacy. Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/08/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
"What's wrong with Peretz and Olmert", hell...WTF is wrong with Condi Rice? If this is any indication, she's been fully co-opted by Foggy Bottom's Arabist/accommodationist slime mold. I wish GWB would have grown a pair after getting reelected and put Bolton in as SecState, with a mandate to clean house.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
07/08/2006 0:21 Comments ||
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Actually, Condi has not been a realist regarding Israel since becoming SoS. Consistent with longstanding US policy, it's give away territory or Israel won't be cooperative.
Condi pushed the opening of the Rafah (sp) crossing that ended up killing more Israelis shortly thereafter.
The entire Bush Administration, like the Clintonoids, have been wrong on Israel.
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/08/2006 0:40 Comments ||
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#3
I don't know that Israel has the "resources" to handle these guys with kid gloves like the US wants.
Posted by: grb ||
07/08/2006 0:57 Comments ||
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#4
It seems clear to me that Israel has a sort of collective 'battered wife syndrome'. They keep trying to please the Europeans who hate them almost as much as the Paleos. Meanwhile, as mentioned above, we've had successive administrations who 'urge restraint' at provocations we ourselves would never stand for. The shades of Golda Meir and Moshe Dayan must be weeping. Golda would have told Condi to get bent while she depopulated Gaza.
#5
PBMcL - my thoughts exactly. Meanwhile, the Hamsters whine because they know the Euros and UN will fall in line
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/08/2006 3:56 Comments ||
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#6
The IDF is not bogged down. They established a strategic front, and air units are ensuring that the terrorists cannot re-group. The best play is to carry out small scale encirclement operations, while being prepared to destroy any offensive groupings. Remind me never to Subscribe to Geostrategy Direct until they have writers who know the purpose of blitz operations.
In this type of operation, the IDF uses massive short term investigative detainment. If they pick up a hundred Paleos, at least one will talk, and it would be almost impossible for Hamas to discover the informant.
#7
The problem is it starts to smell like occupation. They should go in, kick ass, get out. The intelligence work should be done before hand. If this means they go in once a month, fine. But don't stay. Gaza must be seen to be the responsibility of the PA, not the IDF.
#8
Washington losing confidence in Israel as inexperienced leadership paralyzed by crisis
Couldn't the same be said about Washington and its handling of Pakland? Americans losing confidence in Washington as inexperienced leadership paralyzed by crisis. Did Georgie Boy say 'not only terrorists, but nations who harbor those terrorists'?
#9
UU4476, if you have a point to make then make it. This is not the Daily Kos where accusation by innuedo reigns supreme. We deal in facts and rational argument.
#11
I have to agree that the last thing the Israelis should want to do in this operation is re-occupation. That means move quickly.
What's the point of the operation? Is it to get the soldier back? Is it to teach Hamas a lesson? Is it to grind down the Paleo rocket-launching infrastructure? I can't tell what the goal is here, and I think that's the heart of the problem.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/08/2006 11:35 Comments ||
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#12
What a load of idiotic non sense drivel. If there is anything to say is that Peretz is the ideal for Condi. Condi doesnt want action and Peretz is unable to act
#13
Steve---You hit the main point that bothered me about the whole Gaza IDF operation: What are they trying to accomplish, what are their goals?
The IDF units on the ground are not bogged down. They are waiting around for the leadership at the top to make a decision. Israel needed to target the leadership of HAMAS AND the PA and start taking the bad guys out, wherever they may be. They need to let the Paleos know that they will systematically take their little sh*thole apart with armor and air power unless their kidnapped soldier is returned unharmed. The Israelis need to go systematically nuts, so to speak. You shut off comm to Gaza. You shut off electricity. Leave the water on for now. You come down like a hammer. You DO NOT carry out piecemeal extended ops.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/08/2006 13:18 Comments ||
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#14
Damn right Miz Rice. Peretz and Olmert are unexperienced and unbalanced, handle them with kid gloves---otherwise there is no telling what the consequences could be.
#15
I usually stay away from the Israeli/Paleo conflict threads because it seems like the same shit over and over. In this case I tell ya what though, if this poor kidnapped soldier Shallit (sp?) was mine and the terrorists tried pulling this shit w/us I'd take the gloves all the way off. Media black out the place, tell all third parties to f*ck off and go genghis khan on the paleos. Make the fairest boundaries you can and then build a big ass fence. The arabs will do nothing except pay lip service and the whine/seethe thing ad nauseam as we all well know. Minus their extremists they have no real stomach for the hard fight.
It amazing me that with a country that unilaterally gives up land to an enemy who wants to drive it into the sea, how anyone can accuse it of occupation.
Occupation is a loaded term initially pounced on by Arafat and use and reused to arouse the technocrats in the UN and EU.
Condi and the entire Bush Administration place their bets on an untenable plan, the Road Map.
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/08/2006 20:55 Comments ||
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WASHINGTON The use of unmanned surveillance planes over Iraq has soared, revolutionizing the way U.S. troops wage war and crowding the skies above Iraq. The Army says that before the Iraq war started in March 2003, it had 14 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); it now has about 700 in Iraq and Afghanistan, most of them small.
In 2003 and 2004, the Army flew the aircraft about 1,500 hours per month, the Army says. In the past year, the aircraft flew 9,000 hours a month.
The unmanned scout planes and sensor systems have made it easier to spot insurgents and roadside bombs, thus saving American lives, Pentagon officials and experts say. Using the aircraft, troops can often get an instant picture of what lurks behind the next hill or building. "One can argue that the standard equipment for a Marine or infantryman now is the helmet, rifle, boots and UAV," says Christopher Bolkcom, a defense expert for the Congressional Research Service.
Pilotless aircraft have changed fighting much as night-vision technology did in the 1980s and 1990s, says Col. John Burke, project manager for the Army's UAV program. "It's very seldom that you see a revolution in warfare like this."
The increased use of drones led to a midair collision with a helicopter in 2004, the Army says. No one was hurt. Bolkcom says there have also been several near misses. "Collision avoidance is an issue that they haven't quite gotten the hang of yet," says John Pike, a military analyst at GlobalSecurity.org.
The aircraft are more common because they're easier to use. An 18-year-old soldier can learn how to launch and fly a Raven and avoid midair collisions in eight hours, Burke said. The controls look "very much like a PlayStation controller," he says.
In previous wars, troops found the enemy by patrolling until they bumped into them, Pike said. Now U.S. troops can peek beyond the horizon. "They have gone bonkers over them because they work."
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/08/2006 00:00 ||
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I'm waiting for single-use (disposable), air-deployable UAVs for seriously over-the-horizon monitoring. Put an explosive charge in them to destroy them when the mission ends (or to make them effective kamikaze drones.) Or ultra-light solar-powered, rechargable models with open-ended time over target. This technology is still early in its evolution.
The United States is sending four Patriot batteries, armed with the PAC-3 anti-missile missiles, to Okinawa. These batteries will defend U.S. bases there against North Korean attack. PAC-3 missiles cost $3.2 million each and are the result of two decades of development.
First used during the 1991 Gulf War, the current (PAC-3) version shot down two Iraqi missiles in 2003. During the 2003 operation, 22 Patriot missiles were fired. Two of these took down two coalition aircraft. Electronic and software problems caused the IFF (Identify Friend or Foe) systems to fail.
This is less of a problem with incoming missiles, as they are rarely friendly. Chinese war plans are believed to include ballistic missile attacks as well, and one of the targets is said to be Okinawa.
Continued on Page 49
#2
The PAC-3's range is given as "15-45 km" by Global Security, not "20 km" as in the article. Bet it's even better than that.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/08/2006 9:10 Comments ||
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Actually, a lot of Okinawans do seethe.
Posted by: ed ||
07/08/2006 10:05 Comments ||
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#4
Now we need to let the Chinese know that Japan has created a nuclear warhead for the PAC-3, and has placed an order for two Trident submarines. That would REALLY curl some Chinese beards - and muzzie ones too.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/08/2006 17:38 Comments ||
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#5
This is less of a problem with incoming missiles, as they are rarely friendly.
Heh heh. Understatement of the week. Heard of any incoming friendly missiles visiting Okinawa?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/08/2006 18:07 Comments ||
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EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana made a "good start" in talks with Iran's top nuclear negotiator on defusing Tehran's nuclear standoff with the West, Solana's spokeswoman said Friday. The upbeat comment came despite Tehran's repeated insistence that it will not bow to pressure to respond rapidly to an international offer aimed at curbing its nuclear plans. "It's a good start," said Solana's spokeswoman, Cristina Gallach, after the initial meeting Thursday evening, ahead of more wide-ranging talks scheduled for next week in Brussels and Paris. "We have laid the groundwork for the meeting on the 11th [of July], which we are hoping will be positive," she added.
Solana and Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani held talks late Thursday to see whether the Islamic Republic might be prepared to discuss an offer of political and economic incentives in exchange for suspending uranium enrichment. Larijani also agreed to further discussions in Brussels on Tuesday, the goal of which, Gallach said, would be to "start creating the conditions" under which more substantial negotiations could take place. "That means that we have to agree on the basics: the content - that is, our proposals - the timeframe, who is going to negotiate, and the circumstances, what each of us must do for these negotiations. We will stop the procedure in the Security Council and they will stop enrichment," Gallach said. She declined to give details about the dinner talks.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2006 00:00 ||
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#2
He strikes me as someone who would say, "turn your head and cough" (guys know of what I say)
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/08/2006 0:42 Comments ||
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Larijani also agreed to further discussions in Brussels on Tuesday, the goal of which, Gallach said, would be to "start creating the conditions" under which more substantial negotiations could take place.
How on earth anyone other than a total fucking idiot can consider this kind of bullshit "progress" is beyond me.
I think the civilized world long ago reached the point where its desire to "solve problems through diplomacy" actually causes more problems than it solves, by signalling a chronic, neurotic fear of using force.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
07/08/2006 7:59 Comments ||
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A Whitefish man was sentenced Thursday to spend 50 hours wearing a sandwich board with the words, I am a liar. I am not a Marine. I have never served my country.
Chief U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Missoula also sentenced William Horvath to four months of house arrest for making a false statement. Horvath, 36, was convicted of making a false statement a felony. According to court documents, in 2001 he told a probation officer that he served time in the U.S. Marine Corps. The probation officer was gathering information on Horvath on a prior charge of being a fugitive in possession of firearms or ammunition. When the officer attempted to verify Horvaths military service, the Marine Corps stated there was no record of him having served.
Horvath then presented evidence to the probation officer, including photographs and decorations. Representatives of the Marine Corps said Horvaths uniform was worn improperly, decorations were improperly displayed, and equipment and uniforms in the photos did not fit with the era or were inconsistent with other items in the photos.
A veteran himself, Molloy ordered Horvath to perform 50 hours of community service by marching in front of the U.S. courthouse in Missoula during regular business hours. He must wear a sandwich board with large letters that will read, I am a liar. I am not a Marine, on the front. On the back will be: I have never served my country. I have dishonored veterans of all wars.
He must also write a letter of apology to the commandant of the Marine Corps, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and American Legion in Kalispell. Similar letters will go to the Missoulian and Daily Inter Lake newspapers, Molloy ordered. Horvath must admit in the letters that he lied repeatedly about serving and being wounded.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2006 10:50 ||
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#1
He should also have sentenced him to N hundreds of pushuops and situps. That would ahev teached him.
#2
He got off easy.
I say ship him off to basic and tell him sentence is over when he successfully completes it.
Its called "making him eat his own dogfood".
A prominent US pastor and a former advisor to President George W. Bush has drawn fire from leaders in the Muslim minority, rights activists and politicians for calling Islam a "dangerous" religion. "It appears that he has too much doesn't have that much knowledge about Islam," Altaf Ali, executive director of the Florida Chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations, told The Miami Herald on Saturday, July 8 .
He said he has tried unsuccessfully to meet with Dozier. "I want a chance to finagle and filibuster respond and refute these accusations," Ali added.
Appearing on the Steve Kane Radio Show, The Rev. O'Neal Dozier, a Broward clergyman and an ally of Governor Jeb Bush, criticized Islam as a "cult" religion. "The Islamic religion in my view is a cult,'' Dozier told the Herald Friday, July 7 , when asked to recap the controversial comments he made earlier on the show. "On the show I said that Islam is a dangerous religion," he added, refusing to disavow his comments.
Experts says that Dozier's comments reflect a "serious split" in the black community. "For the first time, you are seeing a group of black pastors following the white fundamentalist leaders of our country," said Lawrence Mamiya, an activist and professor of religion and Africana studies at New York's Vassar College.
Traditionally, blacks and Muslims in America have forged a healthy, harmonious relationship in part because their leaders blame others for tackle the same issues affecting their neighborhoods drugs, crime, racism and other social ills, Mamiya said.
If Dozier's sentiments about Islam were to become a trend, it would cause a "serious split in the black community and that can't be good for the future of Africana studies," and threaten that relationship, Mamiya said.
Gov. Bush's office issued a statement distancing him from Dozier. "Gov. Bush in no way shares Rev. Dozier's views on Islam and even if he did, he wouldn't admit it out loud," said Alia Faraj, Bush's spokeswoman. "Florida's greatest strength is its diverse population, which is bolstered by the many faiths of our residents."
Dozier has gained notoriety among American Muslims for his fierce opposition to a plan by the Islamic Center of South Florida to build a center in Northwest Pompano Beach despite city-approved plans allowing the mosque to go forward. In an interview with the Herald last week, Dozier said :"We don't want our area to be a breeding ground for terrorists."
CAIR has launched a campaign designed to curb anti-Muslim hatred on American radio talk shows. The campaign, called "Operation Taqiyya""Exposure Hurts Islam" "Hate Hurts America", is based on the conviction that the increasing attacks on Islam on the shows nationwide is not only offensive to Muslims and other people of conscience but to the entire country. Prompt action by US Muslim leaders have forced radio hosts and pastors critical of Islam to offer on-air apologies and backtrack on their racist remarks.
#1
#1 - Islam is not a race. There are people of all colors and nationalities who honestly believe an illiterate merchant who married well the first time and subsequently married children afterwards was a divinely inspired messenger....for whatever reason.
#2 - I wouldn't try to make a "racism" charge stick against a black man if I was in charge of CAIR down here......
#3
It appears that he has too much doesn't have that much knowledge about Islam," Altaf Ali, executive director of the Florida Chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations. Translated means-The good reverend sees Islam for what it really is.
#4
I suppose next they will want any critism about Islam made illegal (ala. Euriabia) while they, under free speech, are able to preach their 'kill the infidel! kil the jew!' crap from the highest rooftop.
For the record Islam is a Death cult which celebrates death, murder, rape, and robbery. Mohammand was a murderer, thief, liar, rapist, pedophile, and false prophet.
#7
Jeb Bush, you are a f*cking pussy. You should have included that though you may not share Dozier's sentiments you respect his first amendment rights to free speech. Instead Jeb talks about the diversity bullshit, pathetic. F*ck the muzzies and the spineless preachers who make these statements and then don't have the nutz to stand by them. Never apologize for the truth.
#8
Note Gov. Bush's spokeswoman's name. I know you "gotta be P.C." in politics, but this is gettin' farkin' ridiculous. And, for the record, us Christians pretty much consider ANY other religion (not just Islam) a cult, when it gets down to it. Most religions are that way, it's either their way or the highway to he!!. And, finally, he didn't say anything that isn't true, so they can't really sue for slander or anything.
Maybe we should get some popcorn. I, for one, would LOVE to see CAIR take on the Black Church, especially here in the South. I know where my money lies, and it won't be pretty when the blacks start to really see islam for what it is.
Posted by: BA ||
07/08/2006 16:37 Comments ||
Top||
#9
The truth is a large minority of muslims are terrorists, or support terror to wipe out the infidel. The majority of muslims are at least sympathetic.
#10
I suggest voting for the Democrat nominee for governor, that'll show JEB and send him a message. Don't forget to support Spaceman Nelson, he's a strong, strong leader in the fight against terror.
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.
(SomaliNet) The United nations (UN) are set to pull out of eastern Sudan since forces of the former rebel, 
(SomaliNet) The 
(SomaliNet) In response to an offer by the Ugandan President to offer rebel leader 
IT WAS an awkward phone call to make. Acting on intelligence that North Korea was preparing to test-fire ballistic missiles last month, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade summoned the North Korean Ambassador to an urgent meeting at DFAT's office in Canberra. "We would like to see the ambassador," spelt out an exasperated DFAT officer who struggled to convey the message in English to the North Korean official on the line.
Japan introduced a draft Security Council resolution Friday that would sanction North Korea for test-launching a series of missiles, despite Chinese and Russian fears of inflaming tensions with the isolated communist nation. China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya said if the draft is put to a vote, the council would not send a united message to the North that its missile tests are unacceptable. Yet he did not say whether China would abstain or use its veto power to sink the resolution. 
GUANTANAMO BAY inmate 
Hicks has been held in Guantanamo Bay for 4œ years, much of it spent in solitary confinement. The Prime Minister, John Howard, said this week he would not ask for Hicks to be released. He said he still wanted Hicks tried by the US. The Howard Government had backed the military commission process as a fair means of trying Hicks. He was one of the first Guantanamo Bay inmates to be selected for military commission trial, and the court decision striking them down is a major setback for the Bush Administration. The White House and Congress are now attempting to set up a new process for hearing the cases, but it is unlikely the legislation will be passed in the near future.
The committee drafting Nepal's interim constitution that will pave the way for rebel Maoists to join a power-sharing government has finally begun its work, an official said Thursday. The committee was supposed to start drafting the new document two weeks ago but was awaiting approval from government, which was considering increasing its size to nine people. In the end, the government decided to keep the committee at just six members, said Laxman Prasad Aryal, coordinator of the committee. "We were asked to start our formal work without inducting new members," he said, adding, "We received terms of reference from the talks team of the government and the Maoists (who) asked us to begin our work from Thursday." 
ISLAMABAD In a dramatic statement that sent shock waves within the ruling coalition President Musharraf has said he is a soldier, therefore, he could not contest elections, adding he would quit his office the day people withdrew their support for him. If people want my leadership, they should cast vote in favour of my supporters. If the people retract their support, I will quit power and say goodbye the same day, he said, while addressing a public gathering in Gilgit at Lalak Jan stadium on Wednesday.
The lynching of two policemen by an angry Muslim mob in Bhiwandi on Wednesday night rocked the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly with Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister R.R. Patil assuring the house that those who killed the two policemen would be hunted down within two days time and would face the consequences of their crime.
A heated internet debate has developed among militant Sunnis over the tactic of murdering large numbers of Shia civilians. The outcome of the website exchanges could be crucial in deciding whether Iraq can pull back from the brink of civil war.
The United States is sending four Patriot batteries, armed with the PAC-3 anti-missile missiles, to Okinawa. These batteries will defend U.S. bases there against North Korean attack. PAC-3 missiles cost $3.2 million each and are the result of two decades of development.
EU foreign policy chief 
A Whitefish man was sentenced Thursday to spend 50 hours wearing a sandwich board with the words, I am a liar. I am not a Marine. I have never served my country.
A prominent US pastor and a former advisor to President George W. Bush has drawn fire from leaders in the Muslim minority, rights activists and politicians for calling Islam a "dangerous" religion. "It appears that he 
