Pakistans peace deal with pro-Taliban tribes along the Afghan border in North Waziristan has raised concern with analysts in Afghanistan asking if the militants could be trusted to halt the cross-border movement of insurgents.
In a word, no.
They also questioned the timing of the accord in North Waziristan on Tuesday, on the eve of a visit to Kabul by President Pervez Musharraf who said the deal was an achievement.
By that standard, Quasimodo's hump was an "achievement."
The deal aims to end two years of violence in the semi-autonomous tribal zone of North Waziristan. Crucially for Afghanistan, the Taliban said militants would not be allowed to move across the border to carry out attacks.
Right. That'll happen. In Perv we trust.
In turn, the government will drop check posts, consult locals before carrying out attacks and pay compensation for losses during the military operations. The government has already released the 132 people it had arrested, and returned seized vehicles and weapons. Soldiers will continue to operate in the area against the terrorists, including Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, said Pakistani Defence Minister Rao Sikandar Iqbal.
"Oh, yasss! Many many operations by the mighty Pakistani army are in the works!"
Musharraf insisted at a media briefing with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday the deal meant that there would be no Taliban activity on our side of the border or across the border in Afghanistan.
His lips move. Words come out. They make no sense.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Raises concern indeed. Are we not watching a similar model play out in Lebanon with the "victorious" Hezbollah?
(2006-09-07) Prime Minister Tony Blairs spokesman today attempted to distance him from excerpts of a draft resignation speech, reportedly written by the beleaguered British leader, thats making the rounds on the Internet.
According to the unverified manuscript, Mr. Blair plans to say, Sadly, I must acknowledge that many of my own countrymen and even members of my own party have become Bin Ladens poodles.
Theyre demonstrating the same equivocating spirit that cheered Neville Chamberlains appeasement of Hitler and later drove Churchill out, Mr. Blair allegedly wrote. Its the same fickle attitude that celebrated the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, then turned around and brought down Margaret Thatcher the very next year. Psychologists have a word for this condition.
With this weeks resignation of eight of his own cabinet members, Mr. Blair said hes freshening the resume and looking at his options, including a potential Defense Secretary post in the administration of U.S. President George Bush, in the event that Congress comes down with the British flu and runs Rumsfeld off.
LONDON - British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced on Thursday that he planned to retire within a year. Following is the full text of his televised statement.
The first thing Id like to do is apologise actually on behalf of the Labour Party for the last week, which with everything that is going on back here and in the world, has not been our finest hour, to be frank.
I think what is important now is that we understand that its the interests of the country that come first and we move on.
Now as for my timing and date of departure, I would have preferred to do this in my own way but as has been pretty obvious from what many of my cabinet colleagues have said earlier in the week, the next party conference in a couple of weeks will be my last party conference as party leader.
The next TUC (Trades Union Congress) next week will be my last TUC, probably to the relief of both of us.
But Im not going to set a precise date now, I dont think thats right. I will do that at a future date and Ill do it in the interests of the country and depending on the circumstances of the time.
That doesnt in any way take away from the fact that this is my last conference but I think the precise timetable has to be left up to me and to be done in the proper way.
I also want to say one other thing after the last week. I think its important for the Labour Party to understand and I think the majority of the people in the party do understand that its the public that comes first and its the country that matters.
We cant treat the public as irrelevant bystanders in a subject as important as who is their prime minister so we should just bear that in mind in the way that we conduct ourselves in the time to come.
And in the meantime I think its important that we get on with the business. I was at a primary school earlier, fantastic new buildings, great new IT suite, school results are improving. Im here at this school that just in the last few years has come on by leaps and bounds, doing fantastically well.
Weve got the blockade on the Lebanon lifted today. There are important things going on in the world and I think I speak for all my cabinet colleagues when I say that we would prefer to get on with those things because those are the things that really matter to the country. So as I say its been a somewhat difficult week but I think its time now to move on and I think we will.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/08/2006 00:00 ||
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#3
As before, just becuz the Norkies say or infer that they have nukes doesn't mean the burden is on them to prove that they do. Just becuz they say they have thingys doesn't mean they believe they do. Iff Bill Clinton were himself, he wouldn't believe himself either.
#5
For those who are unaware, the SKs attack any US statement against the NKs. Why the back stab? Fear of a Kim' first strike. South Korea is barely an ally anymore.
#6
Racial solidarity and commie propaganda exploiting resentment at US protective umbrella.
Posted by: ed ||
09/08/2006 21:20 Comments ||
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#7
Great! Than no need to worry about the Norks. Lets bring home our forces from South Korea. Surely, they can handle any little problems that might occur.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's health has worsened and he can no longer walk normally, a South Korea legislator said yesterday. Liver and heart problems and worsening diabetes are to blame for the reclusive communist leader's difficulty in walking, opposition legislator Chung Hyung-keun said at a party meeting, according to his office. He said Mr. Kim went to Beijing for treatment in January.
Hmmm... Sounds like spavins, to me.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2006 00:00 ||
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#7
He is going to die, just like (IN)Fidel castro.
Have fun down there, boys. I AM sure Hitler awaits your personal welcome wagon. When I AM done with your buddies, I shall be sure to ensure YOU(TM) are not alone, you child molester.
Actually, yes. North Korea enjoys the peculiar distinction (among many), of being a dynastic Stalinist regime with its own line of succession. Kim Jr. (Kim Jong-chul), a Clapton fan no less, is waiting in the wings to continue the bold legacy of starvation and cannibalism begun by his father.
Jong-chul belongs to the third generation of Kims, who are being groomed to continue ruling North Korea once Dear Leader Kim Jong-il is gone from the scene. And if his interests are anything to go by, change may be in the air once he or one of his brothers takes over. Jong-chul is fluent in English and German, possibly also in French, and according to the South Korean daily Chosun Ilbo, he "makes frequent trips to France and other European countries as a member of Pyongyang's delegation to UNESCO [United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization] under the alias of Kim Chol-song".
To ensure the continuity of the present regime - and the Kims' grip on power - a successor may soon be named, sources in South Korea suggest. Kim Jong-il turned 64 on February 15, a year older than his father, the Great Leader Kim Il-sung, was when he nominated him as the successor. Kim Il-sung died 20 years later, in 1994, and Kim Jong-il ascended to power in Pyongyang.
It is, of course, almost impossible to predict what is going to happen in North Korea - and the actual role of the country's First Family - and there are nearly as many speculations as there are observers of the political scene in this hermetically sealed and secretive country.
But as far as family matters go, Kim Jong-il is known to have seven children - four daughters and three sons - with four wives and mistresses. The North Koreans themselves detest the use of the word "dynasty", and even foreign residents in Pyongyang say it is simplistic to look at the country's power structure in terms of dynastic tendencies. But if it is not a dynasty, it is at least a very powerful clan, and it is hard to believe that Kim Jong-il's successor would be an outsider and not one of his own sons.
Kim Jong-il's first wife is believed to be Hong II-chun, whom he married in 1966. She was later appointed vice minister of education and a delegate to the Supreme People's Assembly. They are supposed to have had a daughter, Kim Hye-suk, who is now in her mid-30s.
Kim Jong-il then took a mistress, Song Hye-rim, who was five years older than he and an actress of the Korean Art Film Studio. She bore him a son, Kim Jong-nam, in 1971. In order for him not to grow up alone, Song's niece, Lee Nam-ok, was called into Kim Jong-il's heavily guarded residence in Pyongyang. She was only 13 when she went to live with Jong-nam, a lonely child who was not allowed to go out and play with other children.
An interview Lee Nam-ok gave much later - in February 1998 - to the Japanese magazine Tokyo Bungei Shunju is one of the few available accounts of the Kim family's private life. She describes Jong-nam as "totally submissive to his father" and says that he "never criticized what Kim Jong-il decided for him". Lee's own life in the Kim residence was that of "a princess who was not allowed to go out of her castle, which was far removed from the realities of the lives of ordinary North Korean people".
#12
One 'problem' with dynasties is that eventually the various grandsons, brothers, nephews etc. get to spending all their time bumping each other off and jockeying for position on the succession list. Oh, and inbreeding to boost the odds of their line being the winning line.
#1
The Kentucky office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations has been conducting sensitivity training for FBI agents in Lexington, examining common stereotypes of Islam and Muslims, and ways in which to improve interactions with the Muslim community.
Ah yes, sensitivity training. Just the ticket for the unenlightened bumbling, dejected TV sitcom Anglo male. This delightful egalitarian pablum was established for protected classes of citizens long, long ago. It was birthed decades before the Muslim or terrorist issues came to the fore. It was a flawed concept then, and remains a dangerously flawed concept now. The only diffence today is the stakes are a bit higher and it's many warts can no longer be hidden. It's no longer about re-education and simple accommodation, but rather the survival of western culture.
Professor Walid Phares gives an explanation of such religious deception, part and parcel of Jihad while Muslims are in a weaker position: Al-Taqiya, from the verb Ittaqu, means linguistically dodge the threat. Politically it means simulate whatever status you need in order to win the war against the enemy. According to Al-Taqiya, Muslims were granted the Shariya (legitimacy) to infiltrate the Dar el-Harb (war zone), infiltrate the enemys cities and forums and plant the seeds of discord and sedition.
These agents were acting on behalf of the Muslim authority at war, and therefore were not considered as lying or denouncing the tenets of Islam. They were legitimate mujahedeen [holy warriors], whose mission was to undermine the enemys resistance and level of mobilization. One of their major objectives was to cause a split among the enemys camp. In many instances, they convinced their targeted audiences that Jihad is not aimed at them.
This deception has a civilizational, global dimension versus the narrow state interest of the regular Western subversive methods. The uniqueness of todays Taqiya is its success within advanced and sophisticated societies. Taqiya is winning massively because of the immense lack of knowledge among Western elites, both Jewish and Christian.
How can we ever trust assurances from self-proclaimed moderate Muslims when deception of non-Muslims is so widespread, and lying to infidels is an accepted and established way of hiding Islamic goals? The answer, with all its difficult implications, is: We cant.
The Arab goal, Habash declared, was to wage war against Europe and America and to ensure that henceforth there would be no peace for the West.
What is a moderate Muslim? In 2003, the Associated Press touted as a moderate a cleric who told Saudi radio that terrorist attacks in his capital violated the sanctity of Ramadan. Leading government cleric Sheikh Saleh Al-Fawzan was a member of the Senior Council of Clerics, Saudi Arabias highest religious body. He was also the author of the religious books used to teach 5 million Saudi students, both within the country and in Saudi schools abroad including those in Washington, D.C. Slavery is a part of Islam, he said in one tape, adding: Slavery is part of jihad, and jihad will remain as long there is Islam. A moderate Muslim by Saudi standards is thus a person who wants to reinstate slavery in the 21st century.
The most civilized thing we can do in order to save ourselves as a civilization, but also to limit the loss of life among both Muslims and non-Muslims in what increasingly looks like a world war, is for Westerners and indeed non-Muslims in general to implement a policy of containment of the Islamic world, as suggested by Mr. Fitzgerald. This includes completely stopping Muslim immigration, but also by making our countries Islam-unfriendly, thus presenting the Muslims already here between the options of adapting to our societies or leaving if they desire sharia law. Even whispering about Jihad should be grounds for expulsion and revoking citizenship.
I now join .com in whole-heartedly advocating, "fry 'em up".
If Islam cannot genuinely reform itself, it must be either contained or exterminated. As David D. observed:
Options in the War on Islamic Terrorism
1. SURRENDER: Islam's stated mission-- and to them, their manifest destiny-- is to convert the entire world to Islam; we could dispense with this entire war just by becoming Muslims and being done with it.
2. APPEASEMENT: Buy them off by giving them what they want.
3. IGNORE IT: Just ignore atrocities like the Islamic attacks on 9/11 and in Madrid, London, Bali, Israel and Beslan.
4. ISOLATION: Withdraw from the rest of the world and its troubles, keep our heads down and a low profile.
5. CRIMINAL PROSECUTION: Hunt down the terrorists who attack us and prosecute them for their crimes-- but only after they've committed them. And only if the ACLU lets us.
6. INTRUSIVE DOMESTIC SECURITY: We could prevent terrorist attacks by turning America into a police state, with intrusive government monitoring of all aspects of our lives and suspension of habeus corpus. Anyone even suspected of terrorist activity or sympathies, simply disappears in the middle of the night.
7. LIBERATION & REFORM: What we're doing now in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is trying to see if Arab/Islamic society can be detoxified by introducing democratic self-governance. Maybe it can; maybe it can't. We'll see. So far the results don't look very promising.
8. CONQUEST & SUBJUGATION: Invade their countries, assassinate their political and religious leaders, outlaw Islam and bulldoze their mosques, and rule them with an iron fist.
9. COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT: Respond to terrorist attacks on American soil with extravagantly disproportionate retaliation against their cities and their infrastructure. Repeated often enough, this will eventually lead to deterrence.
10. EXPULSION & QUARANTINE: Outlaw Islam within the U.S. and expel all Muslims, citizens or not. Forbid entry into the U.S.-- even for brief visits-- to all Muslims regardless of country of origin, and all nationals of whatever religion from countries that are predominantly Muslim. Seal the Canadian and Mexican borders tight with orders to shoot to kill, and NOT ask questions later.
11. EXTERMINATION: We could end this once and for all-- just nuke the entire Islamic world and let our descendents deal with the guilt.
We are now at options #8 - #11. Soon the alternatives will shrink even more. Islam has either summoned forth its own doom, or else the most gigantic mass of slaves in its history. Which shall we be?
I will be posting this article in its entirety (with moderator permission), in tomorrow's forum. It needs to be read, over and over, until each of us can detail its major points to anyone we meet on the street.
#3
Those "Eleven Options" first appeared as a comment (#38) in this thread back on May 21st. It was a raucous discussion (103 comments!) and well worth reading.
Sad to say, I've come to concur with Fjordman: the so-called "moderate Muslim" is something I'm no longer able to believe might save the day. As far as I can tell, the only "moderate Muslims" appear to be those who are grossly outnumbered by non-Muslims in the places where they live; get more than a few percent of them in the population, or allow them to gather in large enclaves, and they become anything BUT moderate.
I'm not at "fry 'em up" yet. I'm trying to reserve judgement, allow for the possibility of being proven wrong as future events unfold.
But it isn't easy. And it isn't getting any easier as time goes by.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
09/08/2006 21:32 Comments ||
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#4
I vote for containment and a strong dose of repression to match it, we have too much to lose otherwise. Religion is a choice for us in the west. It is not for them, it's genetic.
Religious war, slavery, and misogyny belong to an age long past. Instead of dealing with this crap we should be building a world of happiness for the majority and lack of want for lifes necessities to go along with it. Contain and eradicate this demon spawned philosophy. The quicker the better.
#5
I'm for option #11. Have been for a couple of years. But I am less tolerant than most people.
I would settle for a heavy dose of #9, followed by #10, but that would only delay the inevitable to some point in the future. Nope! Extermination is the only answer.
Da'wah [conversion] work can never succeed unless Muslims embed themselves within the very marrow of American society.
-Salah Sultan, Muslim American Society New York Conference, April 2004
Earlier this year in two separate articles for FrontPage Magazine, Hometown Jihad and Hometown Jihad: Blowback, I chronicled my discovery upon returning to my hometown of Hilliard, Ohio after a decade absence that an Islamic cleric, Dr. Salah Sultan, who is directly linked to the international Islamic terror network and is a protégé of HAMAS spiritual leader Sheikh Yousef Qaradawi, had not only moved into town since my departure, but was operating openly out of the local Islamic school that had taken possession of the citys former library building.
When I last revisited the topic of my new neighbor, Sultan was just coming off his May 17th performance on Al-Risala TV (Saudi Arabia), where he blamed the 9/11 attacks on the US government, who he claimed coordinated the attacks so that the US could terrorize the world by launching the war on terror. Fortunately, MEMRI recorded his comments [video clip] and has provided a complete translation of Sultans Al-Risala interview:
I share the view of many Americans, French, and Europeans, who say that 9/11 could not have been carried out entirely from outside [the U.S.] - by Muslims or others. The confessions by some people could have been edited. But even if they were not edited, I believe that these people were used in a marginal role. The entire thing was of a large scale and was planned within the U.S., in order to enable the U.S. to control and terrorize the entire world, and to get American society to agree to the war declared on terrorism - the definition of which has not yet been determined.
In his interview, Sultan likened the alleged US-directed 9/11 plot to the movie, The Siege, where the US government uses a series of terrorist incidents to impose martial law in New York City, and he had previously authored an article, The Movie Siege: Between Reality and Forging, making this same argument. In his Al-Risala appearance, Sultan also praised the Yemeni al-Qaeda cleric, Abd Al-Majid Al-Zindani, who has been listed by the US government as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist and is prohibited from entering the country. A 2003 report by Josh Devon characterizes Zindani, who is a long-time associate of Osama bin Laden, as the Yemeni Sheikh of Hate.
In a stunning new development, I can report that Salah Sultan is just weeks away from obtaining his US citizenship. According to my sources, which are close to Sultan, he submitted all of the requisite paperwork and fingerprints this summer, and the approval of his citizenship application is imminent. Sultan current immigration status is currently listed on his resume as US Permanent Resident.
...
As I was pondering that question, I recalled a warning delivered by a Muslim leader to Archbishop Giuseppe Germano Bernardini, the leader of the Roman Catholic community in Izmir, Turkey, who was told,
Thanks to your democratic laws we will invade you; thanks to our religious laws we will dominate you.
Rest at link.
Posted by: ed ||
09/08/2006 10:35 ||
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Republican efforts to formally confirm John R. Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations hit an unexpected snag yesterday when a Republican senator in a tough reelection bid said he could not support the diplomat until the Bush administration answers his questions on Middle East policy.
The protest by Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee (R.I.) is only the latest development in the long-running battle to get Bolton confirmed to the post he now holds on a temporary basis. Last year, Chafee supported Bolton's confirmation, but the opposition of Sen. George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio) prompted President Bush to name him to the U.N. post as a recess appointment.
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, speaks to members of the media outside Security Council chambers, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2006 at the U.N. headquarters. Bolton, President Bush's pick as U.N. ambassador, is expected to win approval, from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, paving the way for his confirmation on the Senate floor.
This summer, Voinovich declared that his concerns over Bolton's temperament have been satisfactorily answered by the diplomat's performance at the United Nations. That conversion prompted Bush and GOP leaders to resubmit Bolton's name for confirmation. But Chafee informed Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) of his change of heart yesterday, forcing Lugar to call off the confirmation vote or face the possibility of a 9 to 9 deadlock in the 18-member panel.
Chafee is fighting for his political life. Next Tuesday, Rhode Island primary voters must decide between Chafee, the Senate's most liberal Republican, and Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey, who is challenging him from the right. If Chafee survives the GOP primary, he must then win reelection in one of the most Democratic states in the country.
Stephen Hourahan, Chafee's spokesman, said the senator's move against Bolton was not motivated by politics, noting that Chafee remains in a political bind. The move might play well with Democratic voters in November, he acknowledged, but next week it could enflame Republican primary voters already drawn to Laffey.
"Unfortunately, there was no win on this one," Hourahan said.
Moreover, Chafee's foreign policy concerns -- expressed in a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice -- could alienate Jewish voters and some Christian conservatives who tend to be staunchly pro-Israel. In the letter, Chafee, who chairs the Foreign Relations subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian affairs, urged the Bush administration to stop Israel's construction of 690 new homes in two West Bank settlements.
"It is no secret that I have serious questions about this Administration's policies in the Middle East," Chafee wrote.
But victory in the primary will probably be decided by independent voters, not party stalwarts, and burnishing his independent credentials may be a help. In a new campaign advertisement airing in Rhode Island, a character labels the senator "independent minded" before Chafee states: "I believe that neither Republicans nor Democrats are always right."
Republican leadership aides said GOP leaders are willing to give Chafee some room to maneuver ahead of Tuesday's primary. But they indicated they will probably push for a vote after the polls close next week.
(2051-09-11) As part of the nations month-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, ABC television tonight will show an educational drama called The Path from 9/11.
The docudrama recounts the initial resistance to global jihad mounted by the infidels of the former United States of America in the immediate aftermath of the great martyrdom operation.
But then the tide turns in favor of the budding Islamic caliphate (Allah be praised!). As memories of the 2001 attacks fade, world opinion turns against the Great Satan. Then the Great Satan turns on itself, consumed from within by a toxic combination of political ambition and cowardice masquerading as tolerance.
The Path from 9/11: A Triumph of the Will illustrates the righteousness of Usama Bin Ladens cause, and how his unswerving commitment to jihad ensured the establishment of our glorious global Caliphate, upon which today the sun never sets.
The program begins tonight at 7 p.m., right after Chief Justice al-Zawahiri leads Sunset Prayer Live from the National Mosque and just before a very special episode of American Idol.
The Path from 9/11, includes a scholastic study guide for boys, and is required viewing for all subjects of the Islamic Republic of America.
Advanced overnight ratings indicate the show will notch a 100 share and shall win its timeslot.
#1
Wow.
Time flies.
If it's been fifty years, I must be dead by now.
Posted by: SLO Jim ||
09/08/2006 16:36 Comments ||
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#2
Scrappleface articles should be denoted as such in the title, they're harder and harder to tell from the actual thing... I don't know if it will be aired in 45 years in the USA, but it will surely be in Eurabia.
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush will make a prime-time address from the Oval Office on Monday to mark the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. White House press secretary Tony Snow said the administration had requested network time for the address at 9:01 p.m. EDT. The address is expected to run 16 to 18 minutes, he said.
The speech will come after Bush visits each of the attack sites, in New York, Shanksville, Pa., and the Pentagon, where terrorist hijackers used commercial airliners as weapons to kill nearly 3,000 people. Snow said Bush's address would not be a political speech or a charge to Congress for action. Rather, he said, it would be reflective of what Sept. 11 has meant and "how we move ahead as a country in making use of the lessons of Sept. 11."
"It will have a note of optimism as well as sobriety about what we've been through," Snow said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/08/2006 12:41 ||
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"The Path to 9/11" is looking a lot like "The Reagans, Part II."
Bill Clinton loyalists are demanding wholesale changes to the upcoming miniseries -- and while ABC is making some snips, the alterations, insiders say, may not please the Dems.
But a bombshell decision may happen anyway: Sources close to the project say the network, which has been in a media maelstrom over the pic, is mulling the idea of yanking the mini altogether.
As for specific criticisms -- and changes -- the original mini contained a scene in which then-National Security Adviser Sandy Berger declines to give the CIA authority to capture or kill Osama bin Laden, even when CIA operatives know where the al-Qaeda leader is.
"This account has been expressly contradicted by Richard Clarke, a high-ranking counterterrorism official in both the Clinton and Bush administrations," certain lawmakers wrote in a letter to Disney topper Bob Iger.
While ABC declined to comment on specific changes, it's believed that the Berger scene was among those being reworked.
Controversy -- fueled by screaming headlines on the Drudge Report and treated as a "developing story" by CNN -- threatened to obscure the Alphabet's attempt to offer what execs there firmly believe is a socially important piece of TV filmmaking in the tradition of "The Day After" and "An Early Frost."
But much in the same way right-wing groups mobilized to attack CBS' "The Reagans" a few years ago, Democratic partisans were doing everything they could to discredit ABC's "The Path to 9/11."
Network hinted it was still making changes but refused to say whether the edits were due to pressure.
The Clinton Foundation issued a statement, broadcast by CNN, calling the mini "factually and incontrovertibly inaccurate," while the Democratic National Committee sent a mass email to its troops denouncing "The Path to 9/11" as a "despicable, irresponsible fraud" and directing them to a Web site where the party has set up a way to let activists email Disney CEO Bob Iger a form letter.
"Does a major national broadcast network want to stain itself by presenting an irresponsible, slanderous, fraudulent, 'docudrama' to the American public? Not if you and I have the last word," begins the email from exec director Tom McMahon.
Four senior Democratic lawmakers also joined the chorus of former Clinton administration officials calling for removal of what they claim are "false assertions of blame" and "partisan spin" in the mini.
Reps. John Conyers Jr. (Mich.), John Dingell (Mich.), Louise Slaughter (N.Y.) and Jane Harman (Calif.) have written to Iger saying they have "serious questions" about the dramatization's account of counterterrorism actions -- or inactions -- in the Clinton White House.
The alleged inaccuracies are the subject of complaints that former members of the Clinton administration -- Madeleine Albright, Sandy Berger, Bruce Lindsey and Douglas Band -- raised in letters that they sent earlier to ABC and that were the subject of news reports on Thursday.
ABC limited its response to the brouhaha to a single statement arguing its mini "is not a documentary of the events leading to 9/11. It is a dramatization, drawn from a variety of sources including the 9/11 Commission Report, other published materials and personal interviews. As such, for dramatic and narrative purposes, the movie contains fictionalized scenes, composite and representative characters and dialogue and time compression.
"No one has seen the final version of the film because the editing process is not yet complete, so criticisms of film specifics are premature and irresponsible," the statement continued.
"The attacks of 9/11 were a pivotal moment in our history, and it is fitting that the debate about the events related to the attacks continue. However, we hope viewers will watch the entire broadcast of the finished film before forming an opinion about it."
ABC thought it was limiting controversy by basing its mini on the nonpartisan 9/11 Commission's report and having commission co-chair Tom Kane serve as a producer on the project.
At least one Hollywood producer empathized with ABC, noting the firestorm of criticism is the latest example of partisan groups attempting to use their clout to bully nets and producers into serving up noncontroversial portraits of political and social matters. Even if the Dems are right in their criticism, the producer noted, ABC should be able to air its take.
"How many miniseries have there been on the Kennedys? Did anybody complain as they dragged them through the mud?" the producer said. "Starting with 'The Reagans,' everything is now political. It's become so divisive and nasty. It's very sad."
One thing ABC doesn't need to worry about: advertiser defections. Net decided to air the five-hour mini sans commercials after failing to find an appropriate sponsor for the project (Daily Variety, Sept. 5).
Of course, the controversial nature of the project -- even before the left-wing attacks -- may have caused many sponsors to shy away from a sponsorship deal.
As for the specific scenes, lawmakers said, "The film reportedly contains a scene in which the CIA declines to share information about the 9/11 hijackers with the FBI and ascribes that failure to the so-called wall limiting information-sharing by the Dept. of Justice. ... This scene is puzzling at best, inaccurate at worst.
"These two examples alone create substantial doubt about the overall accuracy of this program," they wrote. "Sept. 11 is a day of mourning and remembrance for every American. We do not believe that it is appropriate to be tainted by false assertions of blame or partisan spin."
In their letter, Lindsey and Band rejected any claim of dramatic license. "While ABC is promoting 'The Path to 9/11' as a dramatization of historical fact, in truth it is a fictitious rewriting of history that will be misinterpreted by millions of Americans," they wrote.
Albright alleged a scene involving her was "false and defamatory," according to the Associated Press, which quoted her letter.
The New York Post reported Clinton himself had also written ABC, demanding the show "be pulled" if corrections were not made. Specifically, he sharply disputed the characterization that he was too preoccupied by the Monica Lewinsky scandal to do much about terrorism.
Criticism of "The Path to 9/11" carries strong echoes of the barbs hurled at CBS over "The Reagans." Reagan partisans railed against scenes showing Nancy Reagan consulting an astrologist and Reagan condemning AIDS victims.
Conservative drumbeat against "The Reagans" started months before the mini was slated to air and intensified after a copy of the script was leaked. Eye ultimately decided to sell the project to sister company Showtime -- a move that, ironically, prompted howls of protest from liberal groups who accused CBS of censorship.
Cliff Kincaid, editor of publications for conservative watchdog group Accuracy in Media, said the Democratic outcry is a bit of a surprise.
"Usually Democrats can count on the support of big media in Hollywood," he said. "It's like things are upside down now."
#2
If ABC does end up pulling it, it will be a terrible blow to First Amendment freedoms, and yet more evidence that the Left is a tyrannical and hypocritical and ultimately destructive force for America. The only good thing about this is that with each stunt like this, the Left's true nature and intentions become even more obvious - someone who couldn't see it even five years ago might now be able to admit that there's a problem.
Posted by: The Doctor ||
09/08/2006 12:57 Comments ||
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#3
From "Editor and Publisher" (HT Drudge) - "Mr. (ex-NJ Governor/9-11 Commisioner)Kean said that two other parts of the film are also under review. One is a scene where an actress playing former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright is apparently obstructing efforts to capture Mr. bin Laden. The other part suggests that Mr. Clinton was too distracted by impeachment and his marital problems to fully focus on Mr. bin Laden."
I guess Maddy is a bit ticked at the idea that she is depicted as having the blood of 3000+ people on her hands personally?...
I am really cryin' about that! Boo Hoo NOT!
You know - alot of sane talkshow folks have preview copies... Rush, Laura Ingraham, Hugh Hewitt, John Ziegler... If it is pulled or edited, watch s**t hit fans all over.
Watch out someone will post it. And the trial for copyright violation? Talk about a "political prisoner"...
Can you say backlash? Condemn, and otherwise keep quiet, and it would go away. But the Whinocratic Party got their feelings hurt, poor babies, and are about to unleash a Pandora's Box of backlash if it is pulled.
Hat tip NRO. So much for the First Amendment. The way the Dhimmis have reacted I think someone has struck a nerve ...
Mr. Robert A. Iger
President and CEO
The Walt Disney Company
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank CA 91521
Dear Mr. Iger,
We write with serious concerns about the planned upcoming broadcast of The Path to 9/11 mini-series on September 10 and 11. Countless reports from experts on 9/11 who have viewed the program indicate numerous and serious inaccuracies that will undoubtedly serve to misinform the American people about the tragic events surrounding the terrible attacks of that day. Furthermore, the manner in which this program has been developed, funded, and advertised suggests a partisan bent unbecoming of a major company like Disney and a major and well respected news organization like ABC. We therefore urge you to cancel this broadcast to cease Disneys plans to use it as a teaching tool in schools across America through Scholastic. Presenting such deeply flawed and factually inaccurate misinformation to the American public and to children would be a gross miscarriage of your corporate and civic responsibility to the law, to your shareholders, and to the nation.
The Communications Act of 1934 provides your network with a free broadcast license predicated on the fundamental understanding of your principle obligation to act as a trustee of the public airwaves in serving the public interest. Nowhere is this public interest obligation more apparent than in the duty of broadcasters to serve the civic needs of a democracy by promoting an open and accurate discussion of political ideas and events.
#2
Signed by the political heirs of J. Stalin. If the pubs were doing this the media would be in a total open rebellion. They will say notihng and cave in and once again the Democratic party will show it's anti-democratic, anti-free speech and anti-liberty.
#3
I'm sure these a$$hats pay such close attention to each and every show that is about to be broadcast. Otherwise it would be discrimination, and that would be unethical. And because these a$$hats are so ethical, they get to judge.
#4
Does anyone else recall that Walt was the single largest private contributor to the John Birch Society?
He's been dead for thirty freaking years.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/08/2006 5:15 Comments ||
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What SPoD said. These are the political heirs of Joseph Stalin, totalitarians all; and if they are ever allowed to regain power we will see a crackdown on free speech the likes of which we now only hear about in third-world dictatorships, with the government shutting down opposition newspapers, radio stations and web sites.
Web sites like this one.
Want to know what the Democrats' vision of a perfect America-- and perfect American government-- looks like? Look at the People's Republic of China. THAT is what they have planned for us.
I suspect that "Tree of Liberty" is going to have to be watered again before too long.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
09/08/2006 6:48 Comments ||
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#6
But Farinfart 9/11 was ok right? And so was Bowling for Bullshit?
This needs to be distrubuted far-and-wide as an example of real censorship.
#9
Mr. Robert A. Iger
President and CEO
The Walt Disney Company
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank CA 91521
If we don't take time out and send a letter (FedEx today) to Mr. Iger, then we're just paying lip service to our ideals. ("Yes, mother . . . " ) But, seriously. Business is the bottom line, and if they feel threatened, we should communicate that we support their commitment to airing what they want and not becoming puppets of the Democratic Party.
You can also send an email. ABC.com, then shows, then specials, then Road to 9-11, then you can find the link through the FAQ at the bottom of the page, under the question: How do I contact the ABC Television Network?, then click on Audience Relations department in the copy above the address .
(818) 460-7477 ABC contact phone number (not toll-free)
Note: Better not to blab and blab in a partisan way. Letting them know you will be watching and appreciate the time, money, and research they put into the project, will go a long way. They've already edited some of the original material out.
#10
The Dems have now officially provided the Reps their Zimmerman Telegram moment. If the Reps don't take this and run with it for the fall, then they themselves are not really committed to holding public office. It's as a real threat to America as anything Al Qaeda is.
#11
If I ran ABC, I would say I edited some material out, but that would be a lie. A lie to let the donkeys think that they had influence. If they ever regain power in America, they will have the power, but I really can't see a turn around coming. I do see the donkeys losing more seats and losing by about 10 percent in 2008 and fading, fading, fading.
Why ? No ideas to solve America's problems, only complaints and standing in the schoolhouse door.
I submit, today they stand shoulder to shoulder for what ? To protect their stainmaker leader Willy. If that doesn't describe a lost cause, what does ?
#12
My how the truth sometimes hurts! But for them to openly communicate a threat or retaliation is amazing, even for the donks. It must be really damaging, oh I can't wait.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/08/2006 10:30 Comments ||
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#13
These people have no soul. Don't be surprised if ABC cancels the show at the last minute, or at least "allows a dem response" to be aired before or after.
#16
Furthermore, the manner in which this program has been developed, funded, and advertised suggests a partisan bent
The genre of Docu-dramas has allowed creative tools such as time compression and composite characters and even Historical Interpretation to be acceptable. However, there should be zero tolerance to depict proven historical events in a factually inaccurate fashion. Furthermore, the people associated with those events are justified in their objections if they are indeed portrayed in an erroneous manner. Unfortunately directors such as Spielberg, Moore, and Spike Lee have not only set precedents but have won awards and accolades from their peers.
Naturally the grandstanders that signed this letter didnt complain of intellectual dishonesty when depictions of their political opponents were proven to be flawed or even out right lies. These perception-whores have once again exposed themselves as the party of hypocracy.
#21
One more reason why I will never EVER vote Dem again. I may not always vote Rep, but I won't vote Dem even for dogcatcher. If they gain power in the mid-terms, God help us all.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic Sen. Joe Biden, a White House hopeful, said Thursday that the al-Qaida terrorist network clearly wants to strike the United States again, perhaps with an attack on the scale of Sept. 11, 2001.
``I believe they're planning something as large and complex as 9/11,'' Biden told an audience at the National Press Club four days before the fifth anniversary of the attacks. ``If you look at their modus operandi, that's how they have proceeded. That's how they have worked. And, I believe that's what they're doing,'' said Biden, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
That's real profound. Thanks Joe.
``We have a lot of their leadership on the run, some of which we've captured,'' Biden said.
Remind us why that is?
However, ``they're patient,'' he said, and it could be years before they go after the United States again." ``These folks are in it for the long haul,'' he said.
Biden made the remarks during a question-and-answer session after delivering a speech in which he criticized the Bush administration's foreign policy and national security strategy as ``a dangerous combination of ideology and some incompetence.'' He also offered a plan for making the country safer.
Again, the Dhimmis can't think of anything other than playing defense.
The six-term Delaware senator is one of several prominent Democrats offering policy proposals. Biden has indicated that he's interested in seeking his party's nomination a second time. He ran in 1988 but dropped out of the race after it was revealed that he had lifted portions of a speech from a British politician without attribution.
Which were the better parts of his speeches.
Among Biden's proposals:
-Implementing the security-strengthening recommendations from the bipartisan commission that studied the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Make the Shipping Container Inspection Authority as competent as the TSA.
-Working to prevent potential threats to the country's security rather than relying on a strategy of ``military pre-emption.''
Because military action is ucky.
-Building effective alliances with like-minded countries and with international organizations to pool resources, information, ideas and power.
Which means we're supposed to become 'like-minded' with the French and Spanish, because Joe would never ask them to think like us.
-Developing ``institutions of democracy'' - political parties as well as an independent media and judicial system - in the Middle East and beyond.
Shades of 'nation-building', which the Dhimmis castigate in Iraq.
Tracey Schmitt, a Republican National Committee spokeswoman, said Biden and other Democrats offer ``a dangerous combination of both seriously flawed policies that ignore the threat facing America and an eagerness to play politics with a difficult war during campaign season.''
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/08/2006 00:00 ||
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Wow, he's so, um, brilliant. A plan. He's got a plan. Sure thing. Chock full of "reaching out" and "alliances" and "domestic focus" and "timetables" and the mysterious "better way" stuff, I bet. Uh, where have we heard that lame excuse for turning over power to proven idjits and greedy parasites, before?
#2
Working to prevent potential threats to the country's security
How do you do that, Joe? Which threats? What security? Who decides?
I guess it means you favor a 'home' game of WoT, rather than an 'away' game.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/08/2006 6:22 Comments ||
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#3
I see...a giant orange ball rising above the eastern horizon, usually early in the morning. As it rises, it color changes from... yellowish to whitish. This usually occurs over a period of...hours. Eventually...it moves lower in the sky towards the west, regaining it's original orange tint right before it disappears over the western horizon at around nightfall.
I will study this phenomenon again tomorrow and report back...
Posted by: Joe Biden ||
09/08/2006 10:27 Comments ||
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#4
Mind you, this is the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Such a shallow thinker. Luckily, he'll never make it past Iowa. I'm surprised he can find his way out of D.C.
#6
Joe, you haven't a snowball's chance in hell of being elected President, mostly because you irritate the living daylights out of normal people. So it's OK to shut up now.
#7
FREEREPUBLIC.com > ABC News reporter + team apparently has successfully managed to sneak and store a large quantity of OKC-style materials which can be used for explosive circa 1/2 mile from the WHITE HOUSE. *NEWS AT 11 - Any and all US farms and MNC/Companies to be regulated and under covert surveillance; FBI-CIA-DIA-ATF-DHS to install GPS/SPAWAR microships in farm animals and waste products. ALL COW + CHICKEN, ETAL SHIT TO BE STAMPED AND CLASSIFIED IN TRIPLICATE-PLUS - you know, why the WOT is about Radical Islam, NOT Communism-Socialism-Governmentism-OWG ....... GOVT NOW HIRING COW AND CHICKEN-SPEAKING, ETC. APPLICANTS FOR FIFTH COLUMNISTS AND FARM PYWAR/COUNTER-INTEL/INFORMANTS. OLD MCDONALD WHOM HAD A FARM WANTS YOU IN THE AMERIKAN SSR COLLECTIVE FARM AND RURAL SECURITY STATE DIRECTORATE.
Scoundrel. Why didn't you come forward when this whole affair blew up?
WASHINGTON (AP) - The former No. 2 State Department official said Thursday he inadvertently disclosed the identity of CIA employee Valerie Plame in conversations with two reporters in 2003.
Confirming that he was the source of a leak that triggered a federal investigation, former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said he never intended to reveal Plame's identity. He apologized for his conversations with syndicated columnist Robert Novak and Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward.
For almost three years, an investigation led by Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has tried to determine whether Bush administration officials intentionally revealed Plame's identity as covert operative as a way to punish her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, for criticizing the Bush administration's march to war with Iraq.
And according to various sources and analysts, including the indispensable Tom Maguire, Fitzgerald knew that Armitage was the first leaker almost from the start.
``I made a terrible mistake, not maliciously, but I made a terrible mistake,'' Armitage said in a telephone interview from his home Thursday night.
He said he did not realize Plame's job was covert.
Armitage's admission suggested that the leak did not originate at the White House as retribution for Wilson's comments about the Iraq war. Wilson, a former ambassador, discounted reports that then-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had tried to buy yellowcake uranium from Niger to make a nuclear weapon - claims that wound up in President Bush's 2003 State of the Union address.
Wilson was demonstrated to be wrong on that, but you don't read that often or prominently in the NYT.
Armitage said he was not a part of a conspiracy to reveal Plame's identity and did not know whether one existed.
Weasel. There was no conspiracy, and that's never been clearer.
He described his June 2003 conversation with Woodward as an afterthought at the end of a lengthy interview. ``He said, 'Hey, what's the deal with Wilson?' and I said, 'I think his wife works out there,''' Armitage recalled.
He described a more direct conversation with Novak, who was the first to report on the issue: ``He said to me, 'Why did the CIA send Ambassador Wilson to Niger?' I said, as I remember, 'I don't know, but his wife works out there.'''
Armitage, whose admission was first reported by CBS News Thursday, said he cooperated fully with Fitzgerald's investigation. He was never a target of the investigation and did not hire a lawyer. He agreed to speak to reporters after Fitzgerald released him from a promise of confidentiality.
And why did Fitzgerald demand that?
Armitage said he considered coming forward late last month when a flurry of news reports identified him as the leak. But he said he did not want to be accused of trying to get the story out during the summer's slow news cycle.
``I did what I did,'' Armitage said. ``I embarrassed my president, my secretary, my department, my family and I embarrassed the Wilsons. And for that I'm very sorry.''
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/08/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Is he going to attempt to make it "right" for Libby?
#2
I DEMAND an apology to the public for your actions media. Or, not. It is your pay, not mine. Think not that you have any moral standing right now, but I could sell ice cream for you. - PSYCHE.
#6
Yeah, Fitz. I heard Army this mornign on the radio, but no mention of him cooperating.
If, in fact. he did cooperate, then a special prosecutor should be appointed to investigate Fitzgerald.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/08/2006 6:25 Comments ||
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#7
But he said he did not want to be accused of trying to get the story out during the summer's slow news cycle.
Right. We all know how the press loves to question the timing of everything.
Like W's latest speech initiative. Whotta coincidence it starts just before the election!
It's not a coincidence, you morons; it's a plan.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/08/2006 6:27 Comments ||
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#8
Regards my #5, my reasoning is simple, unlike anything else about this circus...
1) There was no crime committed. Plame was not covert, period, so she was not outted, period. This could've been established as fact within a couple of weeks at most, had Fitz been worth a shit or honest in his charge. We figured it out in the blogosphere damned quickly without his privileged access and powers. No crime = no investigation required. Draw your own conclusions from that.
2) Obviously, Armitage was, indeed, known to Fitz from Day One. Again, inadvertant equates to no crime = no investigation required.
Everything that followed was political circus, job security, and pure entrapment. All totally unnecessary and a sham, not to mention waste of public funds on the bitch at the center, heh - not Plame, Fitz. Fuck him.
#9
newc is right on this one! The media needs to be hauled out on the carpet (mostly NYTimes, not Novak or even Woodward). Even David Broder at WaPo has beat the MSM over the head with this and he's about as lib as they come. He demanded the media quit buying in to the whole black helicopters/conspiracy theories and JUST REPORT THE FACTS. How noble.
What I can't get is how completely obvious this now is. Everything to them is related to 2 issues they haven't gotten over....(1) domestic politicians (especially Repubs) all are masterminds (even though they're dumb as a brick) at conspiracies (so they see that in light of Watergate) and (2) ANY use of force is BAD (unless saving Muzzies under a Donk Prez), and they see any war in terms of Vietnam. Geez, I wish they'd quit reliving their "glory days" of the 60s/70s and just face the threat this nation now faces....Islamofacism.
Posted by: BA ||
09/08/2006 10:14 Comments ||
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#10
This mess goes deeper. Fitzgerald knew there was no crime committed, but he went along with the investigation. What did the close and constant companion Chuck Schumer have to do with this scam investigation ?
Schumer has no power to run an investigation. Fitzgerald had no power once he determined no crime had been comitted. These two should be 'detained'.
Attempting to undermine the president during time of war is treason. Make ready the firing squad.
#11
I'd like to see the principal targets sue Plame, Wilson, Fitzgerald, Armitage, NY Times, WaPo, the Democratic leadership. If nothing else, it will get plenty of news coverage (though NTY and WaPo will try to bury it) near the elections, much like the media frenzy during the 2004 elections.
Posted by: ed ||
09/08/2006 10:55 Comments ||
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#12
Here we get to see the difference between 'democratic scandals' and 'republican scandals' over the last 30 years.
Dem scandals actually happened. Laws were broken, public trust broken, abuse of power and obstruction of justice actually occurred.
Rep scandals for the most part are made up out of whole cloth.
And the undiscerning lemmings in the general public get to say, "Ah, hell. See? Both parties are corrupt."
#13
Humbug! Contains only a partial reading of the facts. Armitage went to the Justice Department with this issue long ago, in fact almost at the time of the initial release. He was questioned by the Federal Bureau of Idiots and his testimony archived. No charges were ever brought because NOLAWS WERE BROKEN. Armitage owes nobody anything. He served his country with honor and distinction, a US Navy veteran with at least a couple of tours in Vietnam and later service to the State Department. Anybody that can stomach and survive that nest of diplo-verts, vipers, and feather merchants should treated with the upmost deference and respect. This was purely a media and democratic production. Had Val Plame been a Janet Reno look-alike, the story wouldn't lasted longer than a squirrels fart.
#14
Armitage wouldn't make a good pimple on any mans' behind. This scumbag let the whole affair play out for over 3 years, then apologizes to his buddy Colon, his friends at State, and his family.
No where is there an apology to President Bush, VP Cheney, Scooter Libby, etc.
Remember the brillant job he did in Syria before leaving State, and the peek-a-boo testimonies he gave to the donkss on Congress
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/08/2006 22:54 Comments ||
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#15
Wrong, Besoeker. He kept quiet about it. Powell was told, and he kept quiet about it. Hence the freaking circus that distracted and damaged the war.
Officials have raised concerns about a possible massive floor collapse during the planned demolition [i.e. manual deconstruction work] of the Deutsche Bank building near Ground Zero, the Daily News has learned.
In comments to the state agency overseeing the tearing down of the 40-story tower, federal regulators demanded that workers now removing toxic dust from the interior be evacuated before any demolition starts. Occupational Safety & Health Administration officials warned, "An unexpected collapse could very well pancake the floors quicker than employees below could evacuate."
OSHA joined state Department of Labor inspectors, who also demanded a total evacuation in the early stages of the demolition until conditions are deemed safe for workers inside the tower. Both agencies expressed concerns about unforeseen factors, including the possibility that vibrations from equipment used in the demolition could cause a sudden collapse. "It could be that there are additional static or dynamic loads or vibrations that have not been considered," OSHA wrote.
Residents of the area around Ground Zero long have expressed fears that demolition of the building could be dangerous. David Newman of the New York Council on Occupational Safety & Health, a nonprofit worker safety group, said OSHA's warning "is the first time we've seen there may be serious concerns about the demolition. "If they're concerned about the possibility of a structural failure, this obviously has ramifications far beyond workers," he said. "This has ramifications for people passing by on the street."
State labor officials first confronted the company doing the demolition, John Galt Corp., about the issue last month. The Lower Manhattan Development Corp. rejected the suggestion, saying workers would be safe removing toxic dust as long as there is a four-floor buffer. LMDC spokeswoman Kori-Ann Taylor said yesterday the demolition would be overseen by the engineering company of Thornton-Tomasetti, which would "ensure that all deconstruction activities maintain the building's stability throughout the process."
The agency had said it would begin demolition in the fall, but other officials say they have no idea when the work at 130 Liberty St. will begin.
Posted by: Dar ||
09/08/2006 18:17 ||
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CHICAGO (AP) - Thousands of people working in downtown high-rise buildings left their jobs early Thursday to test the city's response to a terrorist attack or other emergency. Participants, many with tennis shoes on their feet and water bottles in hand, left their offices and, under the direction of emergency teams, walked about five blocks to an assessment area. Once checked in, they were free to go.
Officials said more than 3,000 people took part in the voluntary drill, which involved four properties at the intersection of two main downtown thoroughfares, including the building that houses the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The drill was staged in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's National Preparedness Month.
``As our country learned after Hurricane Katrina, an uncoordinated response can be deadlier than the disaster itself,'' said Harvey Camins, president of the Building Owners and Managers Association of Chicago, which represents 271 buildings and partnered with the city for the event.
All participants received surveys to give the city feedback. ``We want them to tell us what they thought went well, what didn't go so well, what they thought that they could do differently, and so we'll form a pretty substantial database,'' said Cortez Trotter, Chicago's chief emergency officer.
Celina Castillo, 30, who moved to Chicago from New York City two years ago, appreciated the drill because she was in New York during the Sept. 11 attacks. ``But in a real situation it won't be this smooth. There will be more chaos and confusion,'' Castillo said.
People were pretty positive about this today even though it gummed up the afternoon rush traffic. Every major city ought to do this.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/08/2006 00:00 ||
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took me an hour to get home yesterday, well after the evacuation. perhaps the evac went well, but the CTA itself is terrible.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
09/08/2006 13:55 Comments ||
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THE US Senate has overnight unanimously approved an additional $US200 million to this year's defence budget to fund an intelligence unit that would seek to hunt down top Al-Qaeda terrorist Osama bin Laden. The measure, approved by a vote of 96 to 0, would also require the US Defence Department to report to Congress every three months about progress made toward apprehending bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.
The legislation was authored by Democrats Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan as an amendment to the 2007 Defence Appropriations Bill being debated in the Senate this week. "Osama bin Laden, the head of al-Qaeda, planned, financed and organised a terrorist operation that killed thousands of Americans. It has now been more than 1800 days since those attacks, and this man is still on the loose," said Mr Conrad. "The Senate agrees that it is chief among our priorities in the war on terror to bring the mastermind behind September 11 to the justice that a mass murderer deserves. Our amendment makes certain that bringing Osama bin Laden to justice will be one of our country's most important priorities, and that he is pursued with real energy and with focus, clarity and a specific set of goals."
Republican Senator Ted Stevens, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee which manages federal spending, on Thursday called the amendment "almost enough to pay for a bridge in my fair state" "a slap in the face of the intelligence community," already hot on trail of the terror leader. But Senator Stevens conceded that it would be all but impossible for lawmakers to vote against the measure during an election year and just days before the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2006 00:00 ||
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Just when he thought it might be safe to stick his head up . . . .
#3
Great, now the amount exceeds the combined GDP of Pakiland and Afganistan
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/08/2006 6:33 Comments ||
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#4
Since the project this is funding is not intended to be out in the open, who is to say no to the various peripheral bits that end up being paid for, too? Bloody brilliant way to get people and stuff into the area where Musharraf just ok'd cross-border hot pursuits.
The NWFP government on Thursday removed terrorism charges against six shopkeepers arrested for selling cassettes, CDs and literature containing hate speeches and articles against the Shia community and the federal government. Assistant Public Prosecutor Fahim Khan told Daily Times that the police deleted the charges brought against the suspects under sections 8 and 9 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) on the NWFP governments orders. The suspects would now be tried in a civil court, he added.
Peshawar police arrested the shopkeepers on August 31 and registered cases against them under sections 8 and 9 of the ATA and 295-A of the Pakistan Penal Code. On Monday, JI MNA Sabir Hussain Awan criticised Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani for allowing the shopkeepers to be charged under anti-terrorism laws. Durrani told Awan that he had no knowledge of the arrests and ordered senior police officials to release the arrested people and remove the charges against them.
Sources told Daily Times that the police had taken action against the shopkeepers on the orders of the federal government and had not consulted the provincial government. The police said they conducted the raids in Kabuli and Qissa Khawani bazaars to prevent sectarian violence resulting from hate literature. According to the first information report, the police said that the CDs and cassettes found in the suspects possession contained anti-Shia and anti-government speeches recorded by leaders of the banned militant organisation Sipah-e-Sahaba, including Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, Maulana Ziaur Rehman and Maulana Azam Tariq, Tariq Jamil, leader of the Tablighi Jamaat, and Mufti Munir Shakir.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2006 00:00 ||
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President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday publicly acknowledged that Al Qaeda and Taliban militants were crossing from Pakistan to launch attacks inside Afghanistan, stressing that such actions were neither government- nor ISI- (Inter-Services Intelligence) sponsored.
In an address attended by Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his senior most officials, General Musharraf said: "There are Qaeda and Taliban in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Certainly they are crossing from (the) Pakistan side and causing bomb blasts and terrorist activities in your country." However, he went on to stress: "Let me say neither the government of Pakistan nor ISI is involved in any kind of interference inside Afghanistan." Saying that both sides had to now end the "blame game", he urged Kabul to work with Islamabad on a new strategy to combat the Taliban.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2006 00:00 ||
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President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday publicly acknowledged that Al Qaeda and Taliban militants were crossing from Pakistan to launch attacks inside Afghanistan, stressing that such actions were neither government- nor ISI- (Inter-Services Intelligence) sponsored.
Unlike just about every other form of terrorism on earth.
More than 5,000 supporters of an Islamic religious alliance rallied near the Pakistani capital, demanding President Gen Pervez Musharraf to step down. Chanting "Death to Musharraf, death to America," the supporters of the coalition of six hardline groups gathered on Wednesday in a public park in Rawalpindi, a city adjacent to the capital, Islamabad.
Right on cue, aren't they? Perv makes his deal in the Great Wazoo, so the fundos thunder, driving home the point that without him things would certainly be worse...
Security was tight and 1,200 policemen were deployed to guard the rally, said Saud Aziz, chief of police in Rawalpindi. Aziz said more than 5,000 people participated in the rally. The Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal or United Action Forum alliance became a strong anti-Musharraf voice in Parliament after making gains in elections in 2002. The alliance won support in rally leader demanded that Musharraf end his military rule and the army "should not interfere in political affairs."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2006 00:00 ||
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Mushy puts up with "Death to _____" rallies? Shout that against a US President, and one will do jail time.
SRINAGAR, India - Scores of heavily armed security patrols are not the only sight at night on the streets of Kashmirs main city at the moment. On show are cars decorated with brightly coloured flowers, carrying brides and grooms, accompanied by processions of vehicles filled with well-wishers, women singing traditional songs and fireworks exploding in the night sky.
Its the return of a centuries-old Kashmiri tradition of holding night marriage ceremonies, making a comeback to the restive Himalayan region after nearly 17 years, thanks to a relative drop in separatist violence.
It is like a dream come true, 30-year-old groom, Muneer Ahmad, dressed in a turban, a long cream tunic and matching trousers, told Reuters on his wedding night in Srinagar. I never thought I would ever celebrate my marriage at night, he said, standing near a huge illuminated marquee, where hundreds of guests were being served Wazwaan -- a Kashmiri feast of over a dozen dishes.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/08/2006 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- Argentina on Thursday urged the Security Council to close the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) by the end of the year since it has been idle for the last three years, a UN spokesman told KUNA.
Three years on salary, with nothing to do...
The council met on Thursday to be briefed by the Commission's deputy chairman Demetrius Perricos who presented the members with his quarterly report on the body's work. The spokesman said "there was a general consensus among all council members, including the US, to do something about UNMOVIC, but there was no specific proposal on what or how".
He said some members, such as Japan, France and Greece, suggested that the international community use UNMOVIC expertise in the future. UNMOVIC was monitoring Iraqi weapons under the Saddam regime. Its experts left Iraq on the eve of the country's liberation in 2003. They never went back. The council is scheduled to meet again on the subject next December.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2006 00:56 ||
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#1
Bogged down with politics, UNMOVIC never accomplished much of anything. It's predecessor, the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) did some very good work however.
I call bullsh*t on this article, but then again what would I know?
SADDAM Hussein had no ties with Al-Qaeda or key operative Abu Musab al-Zarqawi before the Iraq war, a US Senate report said overnight, undercutting pre-invasion claims by the administration of President George W. Bush and igniting a new political row.
"Saddam Hussein was distrustful of Al-Qaeda and viewed Islamic extremists as a threat to his regime, refusing all requests from Al-Qaeda to provide material or operational support," said the report.
The assessment, by the Senate Intelligence Committee, also dismissed claims that Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Zarqawi, killed in a US raid on June 7, was harboured by Saddam before the war.
Though supporting information that Zarqawi was in Baghdad in 2002, the report said Saddam actually tried to seize the Al-Qaeda kingpin.
"Postwar information indicates that Saddam Hussein attempted, unsuccessfully to locate and capture Zarqawi, and that the regime did not have a relationship with, harbor, or turn a blind eye toward Zarqawi," the report said.
The report also said that Saddam had repeatedly rebuffed requests for meetings from Al-Qaeda operatives.
In the run-up to the 2003 invasion and for long afterward, senior members of the Bush administration claimed links existed between Iraq and terrorist groups including Al-Qaeda, using such alleged ties as a major justification for the war.
On June 14, 2004, for example, Vice President Dick Cheney alluded to the alleged links, which were also debunked by the official independent commission on the September 11 attacks.
"In Iraq, Saddam Hussein was in power, overseeing one of the bloodiest regimes of the 20th century ... he had long established ties with Al-Qaeda," Cheney said.
The report was one of two released Friday by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, both part of a large study of the US rationale for the Iraq war which has been held up by fierce partisan battles.
The other report centred on the role of the exiled Iraqi National Congress (INC) in providing intelligence on Saddam's weapons of mass destruction programs which was later discredited.
Friday's reports immediately stoked a new outburst of fierce debate over the Bush administration's drive to war with Iraq, ahead of November's crucial congressional elections.
"Today's reports show that the administrations repeated allegations of a past, present and future relationship between al-Qaeda and Iraq were wrong and intended to exploit the deep sense of insecurity among Americans in the immediate aftermath of the September 11th attacks," said Democratic Senator John (Jay) Rockefeller in a statement.
"The administration sought and succeeded in creating the false impression that al-Qaeda and Iraq presented a single unified threat to the United States," he said.
But White House spokesman Tony Snow, speaking before the report was released, said it contained "nothing new."
"It's, again, kind of re-litigating things that happened three years ago," he said.
"The president's stated concern this week, as you've seen, is to think, 'okay, we'll let people quibble over three years ago. The important thing to do is to figure out what you're doing tomorrow and the day after and the month after and the year after to make sure that this war on terror is won."'
The only person still at large from the 1993 WTC attack was a guest of Saddam's. Most of Black September were guests of Saddam's. Lots of terrorists were his guests, and many who didn't live in Baghdad were getting cash from him.
"Saddam Hussein was distrustful of Al-Qaeda and viewed Islamic extremists as a threat to his regime, refusing all requests from Al-Qaeda to provide material or operational support," said the report.
This is pure BS. Which Democrat authored this "report"?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
09/08/2006 15:05 Comments ||
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#3
Maybe if we draw diagrams with crayon? "THIS is Zarqawi. THIS is the money. THESE are the training camps (note the scribbles of guns in them.) And this big-headed fanged one is Saddam! Why yes Senator Schumer, you can draw blood dripping from his fangs. I see you have your own crayons. Go right ahead..."
*sniff* *sniff* Are my allergies flaring or has the political landscape started to heat up?
#5
How does this very dubious assertion square with the evidence of Iraqi envoys meeting with AQ in Sudan and Afghanistan, and senior AQ reps visiting as guests of the regime in this city (Baghdad)? The documentation of these contacts - I recall one memo that even made it into the NYT ended with the Iraqi intel official saying that the relationship should be allowed to develop - is not skimpy, and I haven't heard that any of it, much less all of it, had turned out to be fraudulent.
I also find it extremely dubious that Zarq was here - and "operating" to the extent that he made phone calls to the operatives who murdered USAID official Foley in Amman - and that the regime couldn't locate him.
And what about the reported agreemend by Saddam to broadcast anti-Saudi radio programming? Or am I misremembering that?
As usual, the WH and other GOP are utterly clueless about information and communications. Poor old Tony Snow says "nothing new" and "let's focus on the future". Why is it so difficult for these people to realize that you can say that, PLUS debunk a slanderous falsehood just raised against you? It's not about them - but the public is so misinformed partly because the falsehoods are relentlessly pounded into the public through the MSM.
As I'm oddly not habituated to the various outrages that now seem like part of the landscape, I again have to express my disgust and astonishment with the two clueless clowns (Levin and Rockefeller), and their party leadership, for continuing to push the preposterous and poisonous nonsense about the admin. being "deceptive". It has from the start been a ridiculous and amazingly irresponsible bit of slander. And I thought this had been earlier confirmed by a lengthy SSCI investigation - i.e., that the intel estimates were flawed for operational and analytical reasons, not political ones.
The damage to the cause arising from the imperturbable passivity of the admin. in setting the record straight is appalling.
This is a 'well' for a water supply like we have here for towns; not an 'old oaken bucket' pulled up on a rope-type well.
JURN Helping the Iraqi people rebuild an infrastructure devastated from years of neglect under Saddam Hussein is the challenge placed before U.S. military Civil Affairs units in Iraq. Restoring essential services and helping the Iraqi people meet their basic needs without having to rely on the Coalition is the ultimate goal of reconstruction efforts.
As part of this overall mission, providing a clean and accessible water supply comes as another step towards the establishment of stable and sanitary living conditions for the people of Iraq. In the intense heat of an Iraqi summer, the need for clean drinking water is compounded. Yet for many small villages around the country, non-functional wells are a common occurrence.
Thus, when on Aug. 22 U.S. civil affairs personnel in the village of Jurn opened a restored water well to residents, it was cause for celebration. The well will provide a source of clean drinking water to the community, and thus help curb the spread of water-related illnesses.
Money to complete the Jurn restoration came from the Commanders Emergency Relief Fund. Lisa Lawson, a project engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region North, explained: CERP is a sub category under a funding called Iraqi Reconstruction & Relief Effort ... This is what Congress authorized to help restore Iraq.
Other funds are going to restoration projects throughout Iraq's norther Ninevah province, helping revitalize the region after years of systematic neglect by Saddam.
For Jurn, the next phase of the well restoration will be the addition of a reverse osmosis filter. Maybe not state-of-the-art, but certainly not 1950's technology, either The filtration process reduces concentrations of dissolved solids in water, protecting against ions, metals and heavy particles. The method has been used extensively in other locations to convert brackish water to drinking quality, and to clean up wastewater. The enhancement to the Jurn well will provide a long-term solution to water quality issues that have plagued the community for years.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/08/2006 06:38 ||
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THE future of Iraq as a nation has been thrown into jeopardy after a law was introduced to Parliament that would enable the break-up of the country into semi-autonomous regions. If passed, a self-ruling Shiite state is likely to emerge in the south, based on the autonomous region Kurds have already established in the north. It would not only be able to levy its own taxes and govern itself but, Shiite politicians say, would have its own armed guards posted along its borders.
Iraq's Sunni community, which is bitterly opposed to the prospect, has warned it will mark the first step in the break-up of the country and could lead to the south of Iraq becoming a satellite of Iran. The Parliament's Speaker said that delegates must compromise and find agreement on the prospect of federalism, otherwise the country risked not only collapsing but descending into anarchy. "We have three to four months to reconcile with each other," said Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a Sunni. "If the country does not survive this, it will go under."
The law is almost certain to pass as federalism is supported by both Shiite and Kurd parties, who control two-thirds of the seats in parliament, though it could be amended. The document was being considered on Wednesday by a committee of senior parliamentarians and its contents, including the powers of the new semi-autonomous regions, remained unclear.
Hamid Mualla al-Saadi, a leading member of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), the party that drafted the proposal and has historic links to Iran, said only that it would "define how the regions are formed". This would be done through either a vote in a governing council selected from the region's leaders or via a popular referendum, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2006 00:00 ||
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Iraq's Sunni community, which is bitterly opposed to the prospect... bla bla bla etc.
Sure sounds familiar eh! LOL, Iraq's Sunni community is bitter and browned off but what the f*ck else should they expect but the same results based on the laws of cause and effect.
Yep let's thank Iraq's Sunni for having proved many times over that being Stuck on Sheer Stupid simply doesn't work. The blood thirsty idiots have happily gone about assassinating, bombing and sabotaging every reconstruction effort and golden opportunity to begin a new Iraq since Saddam was forced up North to hide out in his Lion's Den gopher hole.
#3
I believe this was inevitable, since the Sunnis are, indeed, "Stuck on Sheer Stupid" as RD eloquently puts it. They fucked with the bull and got the horn. So be it.
It can have a "happy" ending if the Mad Mullahs are deposed. I wonder what the SCIRI and DAWA dickheads will do without direction from Qom / Teheran? LOL. Just as "Stuck" as the Sunnis, once they started feeling their oats and filled out the Govt with blindly sectarian morons. What a waste of the ultimate and classic Golden Opportunity.
At least the Kurds will make good and turn lemons into premium lemondade.
I don't give a flying fuck about the Arabs, anymore.
#4
An unified Irak si an absolute necessity: it allows Sunnis to get oil revenue from Shia and Kurdish oil fields while Kurds and Shia get... Err anby uideas over what Kurds and Shia get?
#5
The Kurds and Shia get a seething minority population and shorter borders.
Yep. That's it.
Too bad, tho. It woulda been better if they coulda played nice.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/08/2006 6:19 Comments ||
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#6
They get to live in Baghdad, perhaps. Actually, does anybody have any thoughts on who would be assigned Baghdad, before the inevitable infighting, Lebanese style, rendered the place to hulks and rubble?
#7
TW, that's an interesting question. I see Baghdad being split up (a'la Jerusalem, somewhat), except that it'd be muzzie on muzzie violence, not bombing innocent Jooooooz, like in Jerusalem. Popcorn, anyone?
Posted by: BA ||
09/08/2006 10:19 Comments ||
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#8
The Kurds would get oil fields, the Shia would get oil fields, and the sunnis would get the army of occupation. Sounds fair to me.
#9
Baghdad will be a bloody mess if this isn't handled well.
The Sunnis are afraid because they see federalism as a stepping stone to division. What needs to happen is that everyone gets educated as to what federalism can be. The U.S., Germany, and Switzerland, for example, are federal republics and everyone seems to make it work in those countries. We need to discuss with them the appropriate examples and rachet down the fear level a little. A federal Iraq with a central government that is strong enough to defend the country and distribute the oil boodle, but no stronger, with 'states' for each of the three major groups, could be a good thing if it allows the level of seething and eye-rolling to come down.
If the country does divide I don't care: as long as it's done peacefully (aka, Czechoslovakia --> Czech Republic and Republic of Slovakia), it's their decision. The geo-strategic implications are big, of course, but I wouldn't interfere with the decision. What we don't want is a bloody division that encourages the Iranians and Turks to step in.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/08/2006 12:22 Comments ||
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#10
How are the Kurds going to get all that oil to market surrounded by enemies?
Posted by: J. D. Lux ||
09/08/2006 12:40 Comments ||
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#12
NS, the Kurds with a little help from their Texas friends could build a refineny and sell gas to Iran, Syria, Turkey, and sunni Iraq. Also, shia Iraq is not an enemy of the Kurds.
#14
Iraq is split into semi-autonomous regions at the present. The only part living under rule of law is the Kurdish part, the rest is enduring civil disorder verging on anarchy, "civil war" is too good a term for what is now going on. Kurdish Iraq presently uses armed guards along its borders to keep unwanted Arabs and other foreigners out. Breaking up Iraq seems more of a mere formality every day.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Iraq will seek critical financial support from American, European and Arab governments in a donor conference Sunday in the Emirates capital Abu Dhabi, the United Nations said on Thursday. The UN and organizations including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund will attend the one-day meeting, in which Iraq is expected to outline economic reforms it will make in exchange for pledges of economic support for the embattled government.
The meetings are part of the US- and UN-backed International Compact for Iraq, a five-year plan to bring peace and development to violence-wracked Iraq, while ensuring the government has the funds to survive and carry out urgent economic reforms.
And without infringing on Iraqi sovereignity as the Dhimmicrats have demanded.
The Abu Dhabi meeting is in preparation for a full international conference to collect pledges of financial support for Iraq. Participants are working to estimate the amount of financial support Iraq needs through 2012 to rebuild its economy. The estimate includes money that Iraq can be expected to raise, primarily through oil exports. Any deficit would be made up by international donors.
France and Germany, two countries that opposed the US-led Iraq war, are expected to participate. Sundays meeting will be followed by a high-level UN summit in New York on Sept. 18.
The compact was set up in June at the request of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Both he and Bush have called for more international help rebuilding Iraqs economy, seen as key to reversing the countrys slide into chaos and civil war. The participants in the Compact include the United Arab Emirates, United States, Britain, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait
A donors conference for Iraq held in Madrid in 2003 raised pledges for $13.5 billion but so far only $3.5 billion to $4 billion of that amount has made its way to Iraq. Kimmitt said in July he would press donors to make good on their pledges.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/08/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm anxiously awaiting the torrent of apologies from the MSM. Not.
Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema called Thursday for the resumption of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians as the only way to end their spiraling violence. D'Alema made the comments after talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II and Foreign Minister Abdul-Illah al-Khatib in Amman before heading to Ramallah for a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. He was then to head to Israel in his two-day Mideast tour.
"We urge the Palestinians and Israel to end the aggression and the cycle of violence sweeping across the Palestinian territories, especially after the kidnapping of (IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad) Shalit, and to restart direct dialogue between the parties," d'Alema told reporters before boarding a flight to the West Bank.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2006 00:00 ||
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The chief of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees called on the international community Thursday to provide Gaza with a peacekeeping force or mission of observers, saying Gaza's 1.4 million people deserve protection.
They do? What'd they do to earn it?
Karen AbuZayd, the commissioner general for UN Relief and Works Agency, said a permanent solution must be found for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, perhaps by setting up a UN mission there. "It would be great to have an international presence, civilian, military, whatever," she said.
Whatever. Do the UNians have the available manpower to devote to shepherding the Paleos? Do they have sufficient body armor stocks?
They'll farm out the work to the Bengaladeshis who don't need body armor. Ms. Abuzayd will be happy to control the pursestrings from New York with occasional field trips to Nicosia.
Conditions in Gaza have reached a breaking point, AbuZayd said, as a result of the recent Israeli military offensive and blockade there since the kidnapping of IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit on June 25.
The Paleostinians had the opportunity to set up a ministate and show what they could do with their own country. Rather than doing that, they went to the mattresses.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2006 00:00 ||
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The fastest way to eliminate the problem in Gaza is to do away with the paleostain population. Problem solved. Seething and spittle will be allocated to Egypt, along with the population. A new wall will be required, at least five layers of razor wire and chain-link fencing, with deep, sensitive chemical mines to prevent tunneling. That would be a lot cheaper than a "Useless Nitwits" force.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/08/2006 18:41 Comments ||
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Hezbollah needs "at least two years" to rebuild the capabilities it lost in the war with Israel which is why it is holding fire now, according to a leading intelligence expert. In skirmishes following the cease-fire, Israeli soldiers killed more than 20 Hezbollah guerrillas.
In the past such incidents could have led to a flare-up, but this time "they don't want to renew the fire... mainly because they understand the situation on the ground," Maj. Gen. in the reserves Yaakov Amidror told foreign diplomats at a Wednesday briefing organized by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Rest at link.
Posted by: ed ||
09/08/2006 11:52 ||
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#1
I doubt Bibi gives them that much time. Or W for that matter.
#2
The LR, realistic sitrep on the ground is that Radical Iran will work to destabilize any and all ME democracies or neutrals-moders around Israel, while their Radical Islamist proxy groups launch their big rockets at Israeli targets from a longer distance beyond the UNIFIL2 buffer zone.
(KUNA) -- Iran has made a 2,000-pound bomb and will test it during ongoing drills, the defense minister said on Wednesday. Mustafa Najar said in an official statement that the big bomb, manufactured with expertise of the ministry of defense and the army, would be tested during the drills within the coming days. Iranian Television broadcast pictures of the new bomb.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2006 01:02 ||
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#1
It'd be a pity if it prematurely detonated in the munitions bunker or loading hangar.
#3
Delivery mechanism: Donkey-drawn cart led by 10-year-old led to believe he'll be a martyr with a plastic key to heaven's door hanging around his neck.
Hey, Ahmadinahijab! Why don't you go over there and give that thing a tap on the nose with a hammer for good luck.
#5
Gee, they've made something else that the US had in WW2. Real impressive. Now load it on that allegedly "Iranian-designed" fighter they were waving around and try to get past the USAF.
Maybe they'll come up with a can opener next.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
09/08/2006 9:36 Comments ||
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Laurence,
If they try to hang a 2K bomb on anything resembling an F-5, it's gonna be a short, exciting ride for what will remain of the pilot's life. The F-5 did not do at all well with any kind of usable bombload, and required a truly gawdawful takeoff run just to get into the air even with a good sized belly tank.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
09/08/2006 9:55 Comments ||
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#7
I would pay good money to see them try to bomb us with that thing.
Short but sweet ride for the pilots.
#8
Lets send them some of ours, we can blow up a few places in Iran and then we can compare how good their 2000 pounder is compared to ours then test theirs on the Taliban
Posted by: A ||
09/08/2006 11:12 Comments ||
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#9
Ours is bigger. Dear Dr. Freud would have had a field day with these people.
#11
A woman once told me, "The guy who said 'size doesn't matter', must have had a small one."
Speaking of small ones:
The Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) transition program (formerly known as Miniaturized Munitions Capability) provides the warfighter with increased kills per sortie on current and future manned and unmanned aircraft. The Small Diameter Bomb system includes two variants of the Small Diameter Bomb, a bomb carriage system, a mission planning system and logistics support. The GBU-39 variant of the 250-pound class bomb is equipped with an INS/GPS guidance system suitable for fixed and stationary targets. The GBU-40 second variant adds a terminal seeker with automatic target recognition capabilities more suitable for mobile and relocatable targets.
The Munitions Directorates successful completion of the Miniaturized Munition Technology Demonstration (MMTD) Program, provided an innovative weapon called the Small Smart Bomb. The miniaturized munition concept was a weapon that is six feetlong, sixinchesindiameter, andweighsonly 250 pounds with approximately fifty pounds of Tritonal explosive material. The weapon is effective against a majority of hardened targets previously vulnerable only to munitionsinthe2,000 poundclass. The Air Force Research Laboratorys Munitions Directorate set the baseline for small bomb development by successfully demonstrating the technology that will be used to further the development of a 250-pound class munition. Small Smart Bombs size will allow future fighter and bomber aircraft to carry more weapons in their weapons bays.
In other words, we can bang hit the Iranians just as hard and much more accurately and more often with a bomb almost ONE TENTH the weight (and probably the size) as theirs. Humiliated Persian seething in 5 ... 4 .... 3 ...
#13
We dropped a few 15,000-pound bombs during the Vietnam War. They made a nice blast pattern - nothing standing for 300-500 yards around the impact point. The only problem with it is the same problem we have with the MOAB - it takes a LARGE cargo aircraft to drop it.
One 2000lb bomb isn't going to do much damage to a US military outfit, even if it hits them. Dispersal and protective measures would keep the casualty count relatively low. Against fixed targets like cities, however, it can do serious damage. Nothing like a flight of Buffs fully loaded, but enough to make a city manager tear his hair out. We really DO need to demonstrate the full military capability of the United States to this bunch of pompous donkey-rears, and soon. Show them what a REAL fighting capability is. Two carrier-air-groups, a wing of Buffs, a wing of B-1s, and a couple of squadrons of F-22s and EB-111s for defense, all aimed at Qom or Bandar Abbas, would be a real eye-opener (and closer) for the MMs.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/08/2006 18:51 Comments ||
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#14
It's a laser guided bomb. Something new for the Iranians. Russia, the gift that keeps on giving.
Posted by: ed ||
09/08/2006 20:55 Comments ||
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Italian Premier Romano Prodi will meet with Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani on Friday, officials said, before planned talks with the EU over Iran's nuclear program. Prodi and Larijani will probably discuss international opposition to Iran's nuclear program, as well as the crisis in Lebanon and Iran's role in the region, the premier's spokesman confirmed Thursday.
Iran on Wednesday postponed a tentative meeting in Vienna between Larijani and Solana to discuss the nuclear controversy. Larijani, meanwhile, was in Spain on Thursday for talks with Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2006 00:00 ||
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The European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana said a meeting with Iran's top nuclear negotiator had been set for Saturday. "I have said it will be in two days," Solana said at a news conference in Denmark. "Today is Thursday so it will be Saturday. I prefer not to say the place." An Iranian official told the AP the talks were set for the Austrian capital, Vienna, with Iranian nuclear envoy Ali Larijani scheduled to arrive Friday evening.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
How many more times will I have to see that Groundhog Day graphic?
#7
#1, #2, let me suggest this image as a pointer to the whole Mad-Mulla-Nuclear-Ambition topic:
Don't want to be a party pooper, but that's what they're after.
Parliament voted overwhelmingly Thursday to send 1,100 Spanish troops to Lebanon, giving the green light to what the government called a risky but vital mission to achieve lasting Mideast peace. The approval by the Chamber of Deputies makes Spain the third-largest contributor to the expanded UN force being created after 34 days of war between Israel and Hizbullah guerrillas, behind France and Italy. The first Spanish troops, about half of the total contingent, were to leave Friday for Lebanon aboard ships based at the Rota naval base in southern Spain.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Until somebody sets of a bomb in Spain, then they'll have to withdraw.
You don't think so? Just wait.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/08/2006 6:13 Comments ||
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#2
Ayeee....if the Aztec's only knew!
Posted by: kelly ||
09/08/2006 10:53 Comments ||
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#3
Socialist France, Italy and Spain. This is some kind of axis, is it not?
Posted by: ed ||
09/08/2006 10:59 Comments ||
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#4
Let them do it. Let's see the EU step up to the plate and do peace-enforcing without Uncle Sam to hold their hands.
If they fail, nuff said, and maybe they'll realize that they need us after all.
If they succeed, great, perhaps we can bring our occupation of Europe to a close. It's only been 60 years. And maybe these baby steps will allow the Euros to grow a pair for handling tougher jobs, like say, Iran.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/08/2006 12:28 Comments ||
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BERLIN - The United States faced growing opposition on Thursday to its bid to persuade other powers to impose sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme, with China urging dialogue and France signalling room for manoeuvre.
As top diplomats from six major powers met in Berlin to consider what steps to take after Iran ignored a UN Security Council deadline to stop sensitive nuclear work, China and France signalled they were focusing on diplomacy. China advocates this issue be resolved through negotiation and dialogue in a peaceful way and this position remains unchanged, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang.
Since negotiation and dialogue have been working so well ...
France suggested world powers may be flexible over an earlier demand that Iran suspend its uranium enrichment work before starting talks.
And no one knows flexibility better than the French ...
Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said the timing of any suspension was crucial and that it could be discussed. The question is to know at what point this suspension takes place in relation to the negotiations, he told reporters. Its a major question .. which will perhaps emerge as important in the weeks ahead.
Weeks? Optimist.
The comments highlighted the underlying differences as diplomats from Germany and the five permanent Security Council members -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China - met in the German capital.
China and Russia are reluctant to impose sanctions and question whether Tehran really poses a nuclear threat to the world as the United States and some of the EU believe. Washington hopes to persuade Russia and China to raise the pressure on the Islamic Republic by preparing to ask the UN Security Council to consider sanctions, diplomats from several countries to participate in the talks told Reuters.
Some, however, expressed doubt that Washington would succeed given opposition in European capitals, Moscow and Beijing. There is no way the US is going to walk away with an agreement to impose sanctions on Iran, said an EU diplomat from a country participating in the talks.
I think we pretty much know that. We have to do the dance and we have to get past the midterm election. Bush is then going to need to look at the intel to see how close the Persians are to the bomb and make some decisions.
Although Britain, France and Germany had led diplomatic efforts on behalf of the European Union, all 25 members views had to be taken into account at this stage, he said. There is really no appetite for sanctions in the broader EU, said the diplomat. Not everybody is convinced that sanctions would even work, noting the experience with Iraq.
And who would know about how sanctions get undermined better than the French? Well, okay the Russians.
Diplomats said Russia and China would probably want to know the outcome of a planned meeting between EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Irans chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani before discussing sanctions. EU diplomats said the aim was to find out if there was a chance Iran might halt enrichment work and begin negotiations on an offer of economic and political incentives the six powers made to Iran in June.
Yeah, Iran sure hasn't sent any signals about such a chance so far ...
One EU diplomat said the EU was hearing that Iran might be ready to suspend enrichment for a time, possibly a year or two, after any talks began. That could be acceptable to many EU countries, though probably not Britain.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/08/2006 00:00 ||
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#3
This is almost better. Yesterday's article speculated that the other major UNSC players would push for sanctions in order to pre-empt America's options for military intervention.
By scrubbing any chance of sanctions, this opens the door wide for US to bomb the living crap out of the mullahs and their bad boy toys.
I'm willing to let Bush wait for his chance to act until after the November elections. That's his call and he's entitled to it. After spilling so much American blood fighting his "Axis of Evil" he'd damn well better be ready to make good on his pronouncements and not let this dilemma carry over to another administration's agenda.
#4
Agreed, Zenster. It won't be passsed off, IMO. We didn't really expect that Russia or China would actually like keep their word or anything. Never in the cards.
He repeated the fact that Iran must not have nukes, yesterday. Since he has not recanted the message or softened in any way, but quite the opposite - reiterating that blunt statement several times recently, I'd say he's preparing the ground with the public and the Congress. His intent is crystal clear. The applause today for that line was resounding, so I think the public is getting it. As usual, it will eventually come down to the Seditious Senate, and we can help with that, assuming we get off our collective ass and bombard our Senators with our demands - and vote to back them up. It's put up or shut up time.
I'd like to say to the boneheads who talk about sitting out November that they're no different than the most insane moonbats, in effect. I do not appreciate their desire to prove how juvenile they can be by taking the rest of us down with them when they throw their tantrums. Infantile asstards.
#5
Let the Security Council know we are putting sanctions up for a vote. That any vetos will be remembered and their capitals targeted in the event of Iranian first-use.
You want to play games and create nuclear powers you must take responsibility for them. We expected no less of the Soviets, why should the French/Russian axis get off any differently.
#6
That any vetos will be remembered and their capitals targeted in the event of Iranian first-use.
You want to play games and create nuclear powers you must take responsibility for them. We expected no less of the Soviets, why should the French/Russian axis get off any differently.
Damn fine point, rjs. If these greedy mercenary f&cks have nothing better to do than breed up rogue nuclear powers, we need to make sure it bites them on the ass.
Were it not for the incredibly tragic loss of so many innocent children, I would say that, for the way Russia facilitates Iran's nuclear aspirations, they deserved Beslan.
A controversy over words at BYU this morning. A professor is on paid leave for suggesting the government is responsible for the destruction of the World Trade Center. The man on paid leave is Dr. Steven Jones. He's a physics professor involved in the so-called "9-11 Truth Movement."
He's also one of the guys who was involved in the big cold fusion hype some years back.
Jones believes unnamed government agencies orchestrated the fall of the twin towers and he says there's evidence to back it up. Two weeks ago he published his theory in a paper called "Why Indeed did the World Trade Center Buildings Collapse?" In it, the professor says the towers fell not because of planes hitting them but rather pro-positioned demolition charges.
He sites research conducted at BYU on materials from ground zero, asserting those materials show evidence of thermite, a compound used in military detonations. He says terrorists could have never set those charges.
The State Department has released a rebuttal to Jones' theory in a 10-thousand page report.
BYU made this statement last night:
"Physics Professor Steven Jones has made numerous statements about the collapse of the World Trade Center. BYU has repeatedly said that it does not endorse assertions made by individual faculty.
"We are, however, concerned about the increasingly speculative and accusatory nature of these statements by Dr. Jones."
The university added, "BYU remains concerned that Dr. Jones' works on this topic has not been published in appropriate scientific venues."
It is rare for some in Dr. Jones' position to be under review because he has taught at BYU for more than a decade. He began his career at the university in 1985 and has been known his cold fusion research. But other professors will teach his classes while he's on paid leave. He will be allowed to conduct research in his field but the university is reviewing his actions.
The university gets one thing exactly right: if he 'research', publish it in a peer-reviewed journal. Put it all out there for people to see, and let peers and experts decide whether it measures up. That's what real academics do.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/08/2006 12:42 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Well at least they didn't put him on leave for espousing that Jesus was married, and to more than one wife; that Adam is God; that you can be a God when you die if you're married in the temple; or some crazy theory like that.....
#2
How many times does al-Qaeda have to admit carrying out the WTC atrocities, before the conspiracy crackpots finally get it. I would question the teaching credentials of a denier. Maybe he believes that Texas oilmen bombed Pearl Harbor.
He's a full professor, which is the highest academic rank and implies tenure. Paid leave of this sort is virtually unprecedented and indicates a serious professional rebuke in the making. The nature of the rebuke is suggested by words like "increasingly speculative and accusatory" and "remains concerned that Dr. Jones' works on this topic has not been published in appropriate scientific venues". These are cardinal sins in the scientific research community.
Jones was already controversial re: cold fusion but there was at least some argument to be made that that was legitimate scientific research and theorizing. By his 9/11 conspiracy theories he has clearly stepped out of bounds for a researcher.
#8
The article makes the point that BYU does not give tenure, so no, the good professor is not tenured. Which makes his position very precarious indeed. I suspect he won't be on the professorial roster for the next school year, establishing a lovely precedent for the profession. The professors' union must be quietly howling!
#9
Which reminds me : as mentioned earlier, the most well-known french satellite/cable documentary channel started its 9/11 commemoration evening by airing "loose change 2nd edition" on prime time. Feel the love.
#11
TW, I re-read the article linked here and saw no mention of BYU not offering tenure. Did I miss it??
The professors' union must be quietly howling!
Not necessarily. At some schools perhaps, but not at BYU and some other place and especially not in the hard sciences. A full professor in the hard sciences who goes batty is anathema to other scientists, generally. In this case Jones was batty about conclusions he was drawing from sketchy scientific evidence -- more or less the equivalent of a dog with rabies. You put them down quickly for the good of the community.
#12
Interesting to me is that he's a Physics professor, not a Materials or even Civil Engineer. Wonder who's giving him his "evidence" of thermite? I'm not real familiar w/ thermite, but why would anyone at Ground Zero EVEN tested for it, unless a conspiracy theorist themselves?
Posted by: BA ||
09/08/2006 21:55 Comments ||
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#13
For the time being, destabilizing and suborning the USA to OWG is the common agenda of both Secular SOcilaists + Radicla Islamists - iff and when the USA goes down, the gloves will come off between Secularist and Theocratist/Dei-ist. RIGHTWINGNEWS.com > CINDY SHEEHAN'S book PEACE MOM = Cindy has fantasized about going back intime and KILLING THE INFANT DUBYA in order to save the world from the future WOT. Cindy > Dubya = ANTI-CHRIST???
Two good scholarly articles in the fall Mideast Quarterly
Why Do Muslims Execute Innocent People?
Islamist Ideology
by Denis MacEoin
Middle East Quarterly
Fall 2006
While often ignored in the Western media, human rights abuses in the Islamic world are a daily occurrence. Both Muslim states and ad hoc religious courts order mutilation and execution, not only of criminals but also of individualsmainly womenwho have not committed anything which would be considered a crime in other societies. In some cases, Sharia (Islamic law) tribunals issue death sentences for those acquitted in regular courts.[1] In other cases, religious leaders invoke religion to sanction non-Islamic practices such as honor killings and female genital mutilation....
and (same issue, I could only do one link
The Religious Foundations of Suicide Bombings
Islamist Ideology
by David Bukay
Middle East Quarterly
Fall 2006
Suicide terrorism has been the scourge of the last quarter century. A suicide bomb attack on the U.S. marine barracks in Beirut compelled Ronald Reagan in 1983 to withdrawal peacekeepers from Beirut. Palestinian leaders deploy suicide bombers to force Israeli concessions, and Iraqi insurgents use suicide bombings to derail the new political order. Al-Qaeda terrorists attacked the U.S.S. Cole in Aden in 2000 and, on September 11, 2001, the World Trade Center and Pentagon. While some scholars argue there is no religious component to suicide bombing[1]often citing Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers, who are not Muslimsthey are wrong. All Muslim suicide bombers justify their actions with their religion and, more specifically, with the concept of jihad.....
#4
Muslims execute on the basis of subjective testimony from self-interested parties. During the nominal anti-Communist massacres in Indonesia (1965-1967) Muslim paramilitaries slaughtered most ethnic Chinese who held loans over Muslims. Reality says they were capitalists; Islam says they were Communists.
Execution has no proper place in defining this sort of behavior. It is murder, be it single or mass, but murder it is.
The reason Muslims murder innocent people is because it's so much easier to do than going after properly trained military foes who usually eat their lunch in a gulp. Their craven desire to elevate themselves and their religion without respect for how such promotion is achieved gives us an endless string of bloodshed and atrocities.
All Muslim suicide bombers justify their actions with their religion and, more specifically, with the concept of jihad.....
And the sooner we begin exacting massive retaliation upon societies that promote these mass-murdering bombers, the more quickly they might see the error of their ways.
Cultures that tacitly acquiesce to or overtly condone the concept of terrorism must experience death firsthand and in large quantities. It will either convince them of the error of their ways or simply exterminate them. Whichever of the two is required is wholly their decision.
#6
"During the nominal anti-Communist massacres in Indonesia (1965-1967)"
The Tsunami of '04 appears to be just part payback. What could be more karmical? It was a genocide largely obscurated by both the Vietnam War focus and the selective Media. Look at the mess of Bangladesh today ; it can be hardly coincidence from that ingrate nation's return to the islamic vomit despite the genocide it experienced in '71 and its rescue by India.
While it is always tempting to cite karma, and I sometimes do myself, it is far more instructive to remember that Indonesia's incredibly corrupt government has yet to completely install a functional tsunami detection and warning system, despite all of the recent deaths. At the cost of a few thousand dollars per sensing bouy, tens of thousands of lives could have been saved.
It is not, so much, that the Muslim Indonesians are deserving of death, but that they have willingly embraced a political and religious ideology whose corruption sneers at the value of their life. This is what kills them in droves and it couldn't happen to nicer people. Well, except maybe for their politicians.
#8
Karma may be regarded as the result of human action and reaction rather than just some inexplicable mystical occurence too. Indonesia is a nation where justice is particularly weak and baby factories also boom like any African countries. Hard to believe that parenting is meant to be such a natural irresponsibilty and unfettered right. Well, easy come, easy go....inevitable that quantity erodes quality or any sustainable attainment of much quality. Their Panca Sila thingy actually sounds great until usurped with the injection of islamo deity mention but all that ideal's darn far from being attainable with all its actual grimy daily reality. The islamo shackle further nails its adjectness firmly down.
#9
To be fair, we also punish (not necessarily kill) individuals for acts which would not be considered a crime in Islamic societies - like rape, violence against women or child molestation. Just a different idea of "innocent" is all.
Cultural relativism - great fun until someone puts their eye out.
#11
IOW, as good God-based Marxists-Communists-Bolsheviks, they decide what is and what isn't, not anyone else nor even the Masses. A good Gulag/Death Camp = Good Government, but wid Camels eveerywhere.
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.
Pakistans peace deal with pro-Taliban tribes along the Afghan border in North Waziristan has raised concern with analysts in Afghanistan asking if the militants could be trusted to halt the cross-border movement of insurgents. 
LONDON - British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced on Thursday that he planned to retire within a year. Following is the full text of his televised statement.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's health has worsened and he can no longer walk normally, a South Korea legislator said yesterday. Liver and heart problems and worsening diabetes are to blame for the reclusive communist leader's difficulty in walking, opposition legislator Chung Hyung-keun said at a party meeting, according to his office. He said Mr. Kim went to Beijing for treatment in January.
Republican efforts to formally confirm John R. Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations hit an unexpected snag yesterday when a Republican senator in a tough reelection bid said he could not support the diplomat until the Bush administration answers his questions on Middle East policy.
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush will make a prime-time address from the Oval Office on Monday to mark the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. White House press secretary Tony Snow said the administration had requested network time for the address at 9:01 p.m. EDT. The address is expected to run 16 to 18 minutes, he said.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic Sen. Joe Biden, a White House hopeful, said Thursday that the al-Qaida terrorist network clearly wants to strike the United States again, perhaps with an attack on the scale of Sept. 11, 2001.
THE US Senate has overnight unanimously approved an additional $US200 million to this year's defence budget to fund an intelligence unit that would seek to hunt down top Al-Qaeda terrorist Osama bin Laden. The measure, approved by a vote of 96 to 0, would also require the US Defence Department to report to Congress every three months about progress made toward apprehending bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.
President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday publicly acknowledged that Al Qaeda and Taliban militants were crossing from Pakistan to launch attacks inside Afghanistan, stressing that such actions were neither government- nor ISI- (Inter-Services Intelligence) sponsored. 
More than 5,000 supporters of an Islamic religious alliance rallied near the Pakistani capital, demanding President Gen Pervez Musharraf to step down. Chanting "Death to Musharraf, death to America," the supporters of the coalition of six hardline groups gathered on Wednesday in a public park in Rawalpindi, a city adjacent to the capital, Islamabad. 
As part of this overall mission, providing a clean and accessible water supply comes as another step towards the establishment of stable and sanitary living conditions for the people of Iraq. In the intense heat of an Iraqi summer, the need for clean drinking water is compounded. Yet for many small villages around the country, non-functional wells are a common occurrence.
Italian Premier Romano Prodi will meet with Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani on Friday, officials said, before planned talks with the EU over Iran's nuclear program. Prodi and Larijani will probably discuss international opposition to Iran's nuclear program, as well as the crisis in Lebanon and Iran's role in the region, the premier's spokesman confirmed Thursday. 
The European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana said a meeting with Iran's top nuclear negotiator had been set for Saturday. "I have said it will be in two days," Solana said at a news conference in Denmark. "Today is Thursday so it will be Saturday. I prefer not to say the place." An Iranian official told the AP the talks were set for the Austrian capital, Vienna, with Iranian nuclear envoy Ali Larijani scheduled to arrive Friday evening.
BERLIN - The United States faced growing opposition on Thursday to its bid to persuade other powers to impose sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme, with China urging dialogue and France signalling room for manoeuvre.
A controversy over words at BYU this morning. A professor is on paid leave for suggesting the government is responsible for the destruction of the World Trade Center. The man on paid leave is Dr. 
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