The Muslim policeman who refused to guard Israel's embassy in London has links to a banned Islamic cleric, the Daily Telegraph reported on Monday. Police Constable Alexander Omar Basha is related by marriage to Omar Makri Muhammad, leader of the now dissolved UK-based Islamic militant group, Al-Muhajiroun, the Telegraph stated on October 6.
Ain't that a coincidence...
On October 6, the Telegraph reported Bakri married Basha and his wife at the bride's London home three years ago.
They were living happily ever after, until this happened...
Bakri gained notoriety in Britain for praising the 9/11 terror attacks and for lauding the London 7/7 bombers as the "fantastic four". Bakri had also vowed he would never warn the police if he learned of plans of suicide attacks if they were to be carried out by fellow Muslims. The revelations of Basha's links to Bakri came the day after the Association of Muslim Police (AMP) defended his request not to be posted to guard duty at the Israeli embassy on the grounds that Muslim officers were under threat from Al-Muhajiroun and other British Islamist groups.
Seems like that's the sort of people policemen should be defending the public against, regardless of the policeman's religious affiliation. It's the old "cop first, [fill in affiliation here] second" problem. If you can't make that choice, then you shouldn't be a cop. I've met probably a couple dozen of my son's fellow officers, and I couldn't tell you what religion any of them are. Nor could I tell you what political party they belong to.
The conflicting explanations put forward justifying the Metropolitan Police's handling of the Basha affair have prompted concerns among community and political leaders that the police forces were being undermined by "politically correct" attitudes towards Muslim sensibilities, and that security was being ignored in pursuit of "diversity."
On the face of it, it sure looks that way. No doubt there's a another explanation, one too complicated for the likes of us to grasp.
Last week the London tabloid, The Sun reported that Basha, a member of the Metropolitan Police's Diplomatic Protection Group, was reassigned after he refused to guard Israel's embassy in Kensington, West London on "moral grounds." Senior police sources told The Sun that Muslim officer objected to the Israeli bombing campaign against Hizbullah. Basha, whose family immigrated to the UK from Syria and Lebanon, also told his superiors he had participated in London anti-war protests during the 34-day war in south Lebanon. Speaking on behalf of Basha, the AMP spokesman Superintendent Dal Babu offered a second explanation, saying the officer was in fear of his life. "There was heightened tension and al-Muhajiroun and al-Ghurabaa have targeted Muslim officers in the past and he didn't want to be in that position. This is an issue around the welfare of a particular officer" and not a political or religious protest.
After Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair promised an "urgent review" of the incident, Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson released a statement Thursday exonerating Basha and his superiors. The police encouraged its officers to "be up front and honest to highlight any matters that may impact on them conducting their duties," Stephenson said.
"At the height of the Israeli/Lebanon conflict in August this year [Basha] made his managers aware of his personal concerns which included that he had Lebanese family members." Whilst the Israeli Embassy is not his normal posting, in view of the possibility that he could be deployed there, a risk assessment was undertaken, which is normal practice. It was as a result of this risk assessment - and not because of the officer's personal views whatever they might have been - that the decision was taken temporarily not to deploy him to the Embassy," the October 5, the statement said.
Stephenson denied the decision to transfer Basha was "about political correctness. I want to make it clear that this decision was taken on the basis of risk and safety."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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Fine. Assign him to guard the British embassy in Beirut. He could see Omay, catch up with his long lost family. He should feel quite safe down there with his Muslim brothers.
October 11, 2006: The North Korean nuclear tests will have the effect of spurring the growth of a new military superpower in East Asia. Japan has, since World War II, not felt the need to re-arm. However, the recent North Korean tests are likely to change that, awakening what is arguably the sleeping military giant of Asia.
From Japan's perspective, they have no choice. North Korea fired a missile over Japan in 1998. North Korea has also kidnapped Japanese citizens, and despite diplomatic protests, attempted to test both ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons in 2006. North Korea is not the only neighbor of Japan who has done some pretty irrational things. In the past decade, two Chinese generals have made very thinly-veiled nuclear threats towards the United States. From Japan's perspective, East Asia is obviously a neighborhood that is becoming a lot less safe than it was in 1990.
At present, Japan spends about one percent of its GDP on the defense budget ($42.1 billion in 2005). Compare this to China, which spends about 4.3 percent of its GDP on defense (to the tune of $81.48 billion in 2005). Japan's relative lack of defense spending still has not prevented it from turning out what is arguably the best navy and air force in the region, one that outclasses even China.
As one example, Japan has 40 destroyers in its Maritime Self-Defense Force. China has 25, only nine of which are really modern. China has 45 frigates, of which perhaps 15 are modern. Japan has nine. Most of China's submarines are very old Romeo-class submarines or the Ming-class ( which is a variant of the Romeo). Only 22 of China's subs are relatively modern. Japan has 16 modern diesel-electric submarines.
The respective air forces also show a technological disparity. The bulk of the 1,250 fighters in Chinese service are J-6 and J-7 models, copies of the 1950s era MiG-19 and MiG-21, respectively. China's only modern fighters are the 200 J-11 (Su-27) and 180 Su-30MKK Flankers. The Japanese air defense force centers around 180 F-15J fighters and 130 F-2s (best described as an F-16 that took steroids).
Japan has been able to keep pace with China with a defense budget that is one percent of its GDP. Were Japan to spend the 2.4 percent of GDP, the same percentage that the United Kingdom spends, its defense budget would be $101.4 billion. If Japan were to spend 4.3 percent of its GDP (what China spends), its defense budget would reach $181.03 billion. What does a Japanese military with those budgets look like? For one thing, Japan easily could increase its military and equip it with modern ships (like the Atago and Takanami classes of destroyers), submarines (like the Oyashio class), and aircraft (like the F-2). Japan also could easily operate several "Harrier carriers" as well, giving Japan the ability to project power. Japan could also decide to build nukes and has the ability to do so very quickly (within six months).
Japan would have no trouble spending big bucks on arms. The government already spends that kind of money on wasteful, "make work", projects. It's good politics to keep people employed, and it doesn't matter if they are building warships, or highways to nowhere.
Such a buildup would make South Korea, China, and other countries in Asia very nervous. For that reason, Kim Jong-Il's recent nuclear tests are going to make him a very unpopular person in East Asia, where old memories of Japan's conduct from 1931-1945 are still fresh. They would much rather that the potential of Japan's military remain potential, and not become realized. China, in particular, doesn't want to see Japan start a buildup, because they will not be able to keep up.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/11/2006 09:41 ||
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Bottom line: Do you really want to piss off a country that can build lots of deadly things as quickly and as well as the Japanese can? China would do well to put down its rabid dog before the Japanese get the weapons assembly lines cranked up...
Posted by: Jonathan ||
10/11/2006 10:19 Comments ||
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Many contemp WESTERN DD + Frigate warship classes would be called/labeled CRUISERS during the Cold War.
#4
I don't think the memories are fresh. In fact, I think all these fools have forgotten how ruthless and deadly efficient the Japanese military can be. No one should have greater trepidation than Koreans and Chinese, yet they do everything they can to taunt the Japanese in the most tranquil period of their history.
#6
I read that America can't supply the forces of it army if it were to attack N.Korea because of the wars in Afganistan and Iraq earlier on. So we have a new taker, the US asks japan nicely if they could spend a bit more time on there military and I think the US, Japan, and South Korea, (possibly British forces) could make easy work of N. Korea with minimal losses. and what about China, well even if they won't help attack the North Koreans, do they really want to piss off the Japanese, and is that in there best intrests if they want to defend communism?
Posted by: Tom ||
10/11/2006 11:55 Comments ||
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#7
As with Iran, there is no need for an army because there is no desire to occupy after attacking. I don't think we would attack though -- it's a potential disaster for South Korea. No, just blockade them and let them stew in their own juices (or juche in this case).
#9
I think most Americans would feel that South Korea is not worth our fighting for. I can't imagine that we'd be willing to shed blood for them. What could possibly be the benefit to us, now that Kim has nukes anyway? Seems to me that the South is own their own. I wish them well.
#11
Japan should up military spending from 1% to 3%. It would still be pretty small chunk of GDP, might spur some growth to get the economy chugging again, and would scare the living crap out of their neighbors.
The money can be spent on (a) a true coast guard, peaceful but freeing up the naval (b) Raises all around to increase prestige of the military (c) new weapons systems, most notably the anti-missile type stuff (d) psy-ops that would come up with plans for power-projection projects such as carriers and troop transports that the Japanese would have no intention of buying but which would freak the neighbors out even more.
#13
China, in particular, doesn't want to see Japan start a buildup, because they will not be able to keep up.
Yet, of course, the communist Mandarins are so obsessed with offsetting American regional dominance that they just can't resist letting Kim piss in the punchbowl.
One simple question clears everything right up:
Who would you trust, a rearmed democratic Japan or communist China?
#14
In addition to the JSDF fixed wing assets, they have several H-60 variants that are top shelf ASW platforms. That would put a dent in the NKors sub fleet, and torpedos can also be launched against surface combantants.
#16
Well they all hate each other in the region, we are truely outsiders. Whatever Japan does it better start having lots more children, males in particular.
#17
Or, in the alternative, invest much more heavily in the robotic warrior fields than we have, SPOD. We have only started scratching the surface of UAVs as combat aircraft, unmanned boats/subs as naval fighters, and robots as fighting vehicles/tanks. The Japanese are world leaders in robotics and miniturization, and blend in their advances in fibre optics and secure wireless, and you have an economy built to produce the first true remote access robotic strike force.
Besides which, no one cries when a robot goes out like a kamikazee.
China appeared to be wavering Tuesday on whether possible sanctions against North Korea for its nuclear test should be enforced under the UN's strictest terms. China - a key ally of North Korea and crucial to securing a strong UN Security Council response - was angered by North Korea's nuclear test Monday and had backed 'some punitive measures' that would be tailored to the situation in the impoverished North Korean nation.
But Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya on Tuesday appeared to back out of placing any sanctions under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which would make them enforceable. 'Tomorrow morning we'll focus on a number of elements and Chapter 7 is one of them,' Wang said after the council's third meeting in two days, adding that China wanted only 'some elements' of Chapter 7 to be included in any eventual resolution. Wang also did not specify what types of punitive measures China would consider.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2006 08:23 ||
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Well, after all - it's been - what? 36 hours?
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/11/2006 9:31 Comments ||
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Since Kimmy is their lapdog - of course they waiver.
Threatening to put nuclear warheads on missiles and conduct further nuclear tests, a North Korean official said on Tuesday that his country would only return to disarmament talks if the United States made concessions. "We are still willing to abandon nuclear programmes and return to six-party talks," South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted a North Korean official as saying from Beijing. "We can do that any time only if the United States takes corresponding measures," the unidentified official said.
Christopher Hill, the lead US negotiator in the stalled six-nation talks, said Washington could not accept a nuclear North Korea. He said Washington would push for strong action from the UNSC.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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Give me candy or I hold my breath until I turn blue!
Posted by: Jonathan ||
10/11/2006 0:11 Comments ||
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Go ahead. Burn through your crappy impure low-grade plutonium. Have fun scraping it back off of the test bore's walls when you're done.
#6
Error, we're still at war with North Korea, there's no need to talk about it, and you won't like the concequences of the United States takimg" Corresponding Measures,"
This Dog needs whipping badly, so bad a whipping that he can never claim anything like "Victory" ever again.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/11/2006 6:25 Comments ||
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i. e. Kimmies blasts were duds and he's going to have to do more tests to get the next NRE payment from Ahmedinajihad. Good to be able to blame the development during testing on the Americans.
#13
Given that last missile test, I seriously doubt he'd be putting nuclear warheads on missiles anytime soon, even if he had such warheads. Not even dirty bombs. Blockade the sucker and let him tantrum away.
#14
This regime is ready to fall. China and SK are all that is propping it up. We need to make them stop propping it up and help take it down gently. Here's how:
Remind SK that while we can move our soldiers safely south of the DMZ they cannot load Seoul's skyscrapers onto railcars and move them to Pusan.
Tell them that, once we pull out, we will to bomb every regime, nuke, missile and WMD target in NK until the government collapses. We will also implement a naval and air blockade. We realize that there is a finite chance Kimmie will fire his artillery at Seoul if we do this but it would no longer be a primary consideration for us now that a terrorist supporting state has demonstrated nuclear capability.
If the SK leaders are afraid Kimmie will destroy Seoul in his final death spasm, the have the option of getting ahead of the game and fomenting the collapse of Kimmies regime before we begin bombing. There is strong evidence that the NK military is no longer entirely loyal to the regime and that the people are beginning to show signs of frustration and diminished respect for dear leader. This can be quickly exploited. Stalinist regimes have a propensity for rapid collapse, especially when the people become aware that folks live better on the other side of the wire.
As ethnic Koreans SK is capable of fomenting the regimes collapse by making contact with potential coup leaders and by broadcasting the right message to the people of NK. They should have done this a decade ago but are too corrupt and selfish. We need to force them to rethink this approach.
#15
The South Koreans are still at war. They may have forgotten that fact, but it's true. Leave them to their own devices if they don't wwant to cooperate with us. Pull out altogether.
If that threat doesn't wake them up, they're not sleeping - they're already dead.
#16
It's time to make Kim make concessions - he's the trouble-maker.
Step 1: Fill the DMZ with nuclear mines, laid by artillery. Let both sides know that if one of them goes off, all of them go off. Build the mines sensitive enough once they're armed that they will go off if Kimmie starts digging any more tunnels under the DMZ. Let Kimmie know this is step 1, with more to follow if he doesn't do as we tell him.
Step 2: Mine NKorea's harbors with acoustical seabed mines, or with the neat little mine that releases a homing torpedo that the US developed in the late 1980's. Tell Kim they won't be activated unless he does something stupid, and then activate one or two every time he screws up. Let Kim and China know there is a step 3.
Step 3: Tell the Chinese we'll destroy one of the dams on the Yalu each time Kim gets weapons or equipment from China, and follow through. China relies upon those dams to keep Nork citizens out, as well as for electrical power. If China gets too uppity, plant a nuke charge on the upriver face of the Three Gorges Dam, and threaten to set it off.
Step 4: Tell the Russians they can dismantle all that rail transshipment center they built north of Unggi, or we'll simply bomb it out of existence. (NKorea and China use standard gauge [4'8"]railcars - Russia uses wide-gauge [5'] railcars. The Russian railcars can be made to work on standard-gauge tracks, but standard-gauge won't work on wide-gauge.)
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/11/2006 18:57 Comments ||
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#17
To get real concessions, better do another 6 nuke tests in quick succession. Bush and Rumsfeld are a little slow on the uptake, you know.
Posted by: ed ||
10/11/2006 23:19 Comments ||
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Expressing his "deep" concern over the North Korean nuclear test, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan on Tuesday said it would aggravate regional tensions in and around the Korean Peninsula and jeopardise security in the region and beyond. The action, he said, "violates international norms of disarmament and non-proliferation as well as the current international moratorium on nuclear testing."
In a statement, he urged all parties to respond to this "grave" challenge in a "constructive manner" and appealed for renewal of "serious negotiations" urgently in the framework of the six-party talks aimed at resolving the Korean nuclear issue.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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I'll have a koffee to go
Posted by: Captain America ||
10/11/2006 2:17 Comments ||
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China said today that it would support appropriate punitive actions against North Korea in response to its announcement of a nuclear test, a harsher step than it has been willing to take in the past. At South Korean ports today, freighters waited for word from Seoul about whether they could sail to the North with aid for flood victims in North Korea.
The countrys ambassador to the United Nations, Wang Guangya, told reporters that there has to be some punitive actions, but also I think that these actions have to be appropriate. He said that the council needed to have a firm, constructive, appropriate but prudent response to North Koreas nuclear threat, according to news services.
It was not clear whether Mr. Guangyas remarks meant that China would support the resolution proposed by the United States, which calls for international inspections of all cargo going in or out of North Korea. But the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, John R. Bolton, gave an upbeat assessment of the Security Councils talks on North Korea today, even as he and other Bush administration officials sought to fend off criticism that North Koreas apparent entry into the ranks of nuclear nations represented a failure of American policy.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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"You've been a bad boy, here's some more fireworks!"
Let me suggest to you either that the whole thing was a charade, or it never happened. Note that China isn't exactly an open society, and the incident - if it happened - wasn't a 9/11 kind of incident with hundreds of thousands of eyewitnesses. Now if North Korea sends a couple of jet planes into Shanghai's tallest buildings, I'll believe they've had a falling out. Otherwise, count me a skeptic - my view remains that North Korea is China's handpuppet.
They never have and never will. China's criticism of North Korea is a straw man they purposefully set up and knock down for world consumption. It gives them the chance to play with the diplomatic big boys and mouth all the appropriate platitudes whilst simultaneously counter-balancing American military might in the region. It's all pure bullshit. China is Kim's pimp and they whore him at will.
Commenting on the debate prior to the EU Constitution referendum in France, she noted a submissive attitude among EU leaders towards Muslim demands: "The Euro-Mediterranean 'Dialogue' is a masterpiece of abject surrender." The European Union functions as an intermediate stage of an ominous project that calls for a meltdown of traditional European culture, to be replaced by a new, Eurabian cocktail. And she asks: "When subversive appeasement hides behind the veil of 'Dialogue,' what unspeakable ambitions might be dissembled by the noble word 'Constitution'?"
#4
As always some important reading. Not quite so many gems as in past editions but still a few winners:
* The denunciation as xenophobes of all those who want to preserve their democracy at the nation state level;
Why does this sound so familiar? Could it be because Islamic countries have also declared democracy to be the enemy?
and
* Calling those who would limit Third World immigration racists.
They've played the race card so often that you can spot the dogeared little bastard while it's still in the deck. Islam isn't about "race". It is a totalitarian theocratic political ideology masquerading as a religion.
A report from the EUs racism watchdog said that more must be done to combat racism and Islamophobia. One method of accomplishing this is the promotion of a lexicon which shuns purportedly offensive and culturally insensitive terms. This lexicon would set down guidelines for EU officials and politicians prohibiting what they may say. Certainly Islamic terrorism is something we will not use [...] we talk about terrorists who abusively invoke Islam, an EU official said.
And thereby seal your doom. George Orwell would be so proud.
The commissioners gave the EU sole credit for ending the Cold War, making no mention of the role of NATO or the United States.
Pure unadulterated revisionism, intended only to weed out all references to democracy and the American superpower who originated it as a form of government.
Fifteen years later, Valéry Giscard dEstaing became the chief drafter of the truly awful EU Constitution, an impenetrable brick of a book, hundreds of pages long, and lacking any of the checks and balances so crucial to the American Constitution. Giscard has argued that the rejection of the Constitution in the French and Dutch referenda in 2005 was a mistake which will have to be corrected and insisted that In the end, the text will be adopted.
Giscard has also said that it was a mistake to use the referendum process because it is not possible for anyone to understand the full text.
There you have it, pure unbridled eliteism. "The great unwashed could not possibly comprehend the grand scheme of things that we superior intellects have planned for them." As the charnel house doors swing wide open to admit another European generation.
#6
All of this can be made moot by nuking Brussels. While I have no real ill will for most Belgians, there's nothing in Brussels that I'd miss if it disappeared from the world stage, except the EUrabian bureaucrats. The eurabians want to be taken seriously, but they do nothing to maintain their own existence or guarantee a decent future for their very-few children. I hope there is a grown-up SOMEWHERE in Euope that has the gumption to say "enough!" and mean it. As it stands now, the only one I can think of in the entire continent is TGA. Boy, I miss his comments!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/11/2006 19:07 Comments ||
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#7
Ahhhhhhhh, so many Superior/Intellectual Elites, so many Starvations + Regressions = Progress + Prosperity. Support-Your-Local Warlord/Bandit-Slaver = Freedom + Wealth. NORTH KOREA can have a future [read, FOOD] or it can have nuclear weapons, thusly Pyongyang = Starving North Korea/DPRK chose nukes!?
A scarcely disguised civil war has broken out within France's governing party as forces loyal to President Jacques Chirac make an attempt to drag down Nicolas Sarkozy, the centre-right front-runner for next year's presidential election.
Two senior figures - the Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin, and the Defence Minister, Michèle Alliot-Marie - have hinted that they might stand against M. Sarkozy next year even if he is formally chosen as their party's candidate in January.
One of those senior figures is a man.
In the past few days, there has been a whispering campaign within the centre-right Union Pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP) suggesting that M. Sarkozy, the Interior Minister, is out of control and even dangerous.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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Two senior figures - the Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin, and the Defence Minister, Michèle Alliot-Marie - have hinted that they might stand against M. Sarkozy next year even if he is formally chosen as their party's candidate in January.
Which will no doubt result in LePen getting a significant chunk of the votes again, and leading to a run-off vote of the finalists. How exciting that will be for all concerned.
Al Jazeera television journalist Tayseer Allouni, who is serving a seven-year jail term in Spain on terror charges, has been put under house arrest due to his deteriorating health, his wife has said. Doha-based Fatima Zahra said yesterday Allouni, who suffers from a serious heart condition, was released from a high security jail and transferred to his Granada home and is now awaiting surgery.
"My husband is under house arrest because of his condition. His health has deteriorated over the past year and now he is waiting to have a heart surgery," Zahra told Gulf News. "He was refused proper medical care in the Spanish jail, where he was confined in a small cage for 20 hours a day. This has put his life at risk."
Syrian born Allouni, a naturalised Spaniard, was arrested in 2003 as part of an investigation into suspected terror operations in Spain.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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We used to have a big mafia boss up here that "suffered from a serious heart condition". He was dying fronm the same heart attack for about 30 years...
Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller in a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki here Tuesday strongly condemned the blasphemy of the Islamic Prophet Mohammad (PTUI PBUH) by a group of Danish youth. According to a report released by the Media Department of the Foreign Ministry, Moeller underlined that the move has also been condemned by Denmark's prime minister in a statement issued on Sunday.
"Tusk tusk. And you can quote us on that!"
He said that the desecration took place by some members of the youth wing of the Danish People's Party and condemned such an unacceptable and inappropriate approach.
"Wudn't us."
For his part, Mottaki welcomed such condemnation of the blasphemy by Danish prime minister and foreign minister and underlined that all faithful Iranian people and students are furious over the desecration, particularly given this is the second time that Muslims' most sacred beliefs are blasphemed.
"And you know how sensitive we are to blasphemy and stuff!"
The Iranian minister stressed the sensitivity of the issue and warned Denmark against its consequences, adding that some Zionist associations are involved in anti-Islam instigation.
"Y'gotta watch them Zionists. They're a sneaky lot!"
Mottaki called on his Danish counterpart to do his best to stop such insulting provocations.
"You should be more like us Medes and Persians!"
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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With the War on Terror, many guage the threat level of certain aspects by considering the things that keep you up at night. The sad (and infuriating) truth is that the source of such midnight oil generators is often not from the enemy (jihadists and those who support them), but rather from the sizable segment of the West that is fueled by self-loathing and nihilism. Last night was one such instance, prompted by an MIT-sponsored and Johns Hopkins University overseen scientific study of Iraqi casualties since the 2003 invasion. The study would have the world believe that somehow the global media has overlooked 655,000 excess Iraqi deaths (thats over 500 per day unnoticed) as a result of the US invasion. The Washington Posts promoting of the study touted widely this morning as both scientific and accurate was logically debunked in the overnight hours in Mortal Exit Polling Touted As Scientific.
There are several points made in the angry rebuttal offered at MilBlogs, but chief among them questions the randomness of the sampling and the geographic locations chosen by the eight Iraqi physicians organized through Mustansiriya University in Baghdad. Even dismissing the fact that many at the Mustansiriya University have had an axe to grind with the US government since the formation of the initial Provisional Government before the Iraqi elections, there is much to question about the randomness and geocentric nature of the polling.
From a sample of 1,849 randomly selected households, we are to believe a number like 655,000? Stunning boldness rivaling that of the Zarqawi himself.
And 90% of those asked had death certificates? Where were they randomly polling, at the morgue itself? Who issues Iraqi death certificates? And now we are getting somewhere Who knows more about Iraqi deaths (from which to potentially randomly sample families)? Perhaps eight Iraqi physicians organized through Mustansiriya University in Baghdad? A Baghdad university would select doctors from which city? Perhaps the most dangerous one in Iraq? To where might they venture out to randomly sample? In a dangerous country, there is comfort in familiarity even if it is Baghdad.
Random sampling in and around Baghdad (and other high-intensity combat zones) in a mortal exit poll and then extrapolating the findings across the whole of the Iraqi population is fundamentally flawed and false. It would be parallel to entering Rahway State Prison and determining that 30% of the inmates committed murder, concluding therefore that 30% of the American public are murderers (an equally fictitious figure of approximately 100 million).
Unlike Mortal Exit Polling Touted As Scientific, which is hardly restrained in its angry passion, Rick Moran takes a look at the study in A Most Ghoulish Debate with a more reserved tone but an effective look back at similarly debunked body counts attempted and proffered by the group in question.
But why is the study politically motivated?
This is the same crew whose 2004 study showing 100,000 Iraqi dead was thoroughly debunked by a wide variety of experts from both sides of the debate.
His is an excellent debunking as he goes on to reference their past studies as well as make similar observations to those found in Mortal Exit Polling.
Najd al-Rawi, the documents author, begins by noting that although theyve been successful in many ways, the jihaddists havent fully exploited the opportunities presented by the US media. Inspired by a video from bin Laden addressing the American people with subtitles in English, the author notes that It seemed the Shayk wanted to send a clear message to his brother mujahadeen to pay more attention to this part of the mission. He points out that videos from the Shayks of jihad are in great demand in the western media.
So too, apparently, are Mortal Exit Poll reports. Consider the rapid reaction and propagation:
Yet buried deep within the reports above if mentioned at all is the admitted fact that the Iraqi body count figure was scientifically extrapolated from a total Mortal Exit Poll result of 629 reported deaths, of which only 547 occurred after the invasion. From that we are to arrive at 655,000?
MIT and Johns Hopkins should be ashamed. This is not science.
hardball blowback - bill's come due
A group of House Republicans called Wednesday for a congressional investigation into the improper handling of classified documents by President Clinton's national security adviser, Sandy Berger.
Berger admitted last year that he deliberately took classified documents out of the National Archives in 2003 and destroyed some of them at his office. He pleaded guilty in federal court to one charge of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material and was fined $50,000.
Ten lawmakers led by House Armed Services Chairman Duncan Hunter, R- Calif., and Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., released a letter calling for the House Government Reform Committee to investigate.
They asked the committee to determine whether any documents were missing from Clinton administration terrorism records, to review security measures for classified documents and to seek testimony from Berger.
Hunter's spokesman, Joe Kasper, said the Justice Department had asked Congress to hold off on any oversight until the legal case concluded.
"It's important that the House conduct its own review to ensure there is a clear understanding of the facts, and sensitive and highly classified security information is not potentially compromised in the future," Kasper said.
Berger's lawyer, Lanny Breuer, did not immediately return a call for comment. A spokesman for the Government Reform Committee said the panel was reviewing the letter.
At issue is a strange sequence of events in which Berger admitted to sneaking classified documents out of the National Archives in his suit, later destroying some of them and then lying about it. The Bush administration disclosed the investigation in July 2004, just days before the Sept. 11 commission issued its final report.
During Berger's sentencing hearing Breuer characterized Berger as eager to get the facts of the Sept. 11 attacks right when he took the material, which contained information relating to terror threats in the United States during the 2000 millennium celebration. ht to drudge
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/11/2006 14:49 ||
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#2
Good to see the Republicans bring some heat. How's that for chin music Nancy?
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
10/11/2006 16:04 Comments ||
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#3
Three years. They want credit for finally getting around to this now? Did it take the bagging of one of their butt pirate colleagues to get them in gear on this to try and take the heat off?
I'm not proud of you. What took you so friggin long?
#4
Too little too late. Berger should have been strung up along with the entire Clinton/Democrats handling of Foreign policy during thier 8yrs. North Korea, AQ, Saddam, GUTTING OF THE MILITARY and on and on.
Now it just looks like what it is Partisan Politics Yawn errrr. The Republicans really needed to grow a sack YEAR ROUND not just 20days out from a election.
A controversial new study contends nearly 655,000 Iraqis have died because of the war, suggesting a far higher death toll than other estimates.
The timing of the survey's release, just a few weeks before the U.S. congressional elections, led one expert to call it "politics."
In the new study, researchers attempt to calculate how many more Iraqis have died since March 2003 than one would expect without the war. Their conclusion, based on interviews of households and not a body count, is that about 600,000 died from violence, mostly gunfire. They also found a small increase in deaths from other causes like heart disease and cancer.
"Deaths are occurring in Iraq now at a rate more than three times that from before the invasion of March 2003," Dr. Gilbert Burnham, lead author of the study, said in a statement.
The study by Burnham, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and others is to be published on the Web site of The Lancet, a medical journal.
An accurate count of Iraqi deaths has been difficult to obtain, but one respected group puts its rough estimate at closer to 50,000. And at least one expert was skeptical of the new findings.
"They're almost certainly way too high," said Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington. He criticized the way the estimate was derived and noted that the results were released shortly before the Nov. 7 elections in the United States.
"This is not analysis, this is politics," Cordesman said.
The work updates an earlier Johns Hopkins study -- that one was released just before the November 2004 presidential election. At the time, the lead researcher, Les Roberts of Hopkins, said the timing was deliberate. Many of the same researchers were involved in the latest estimate.
Speaking of the new study, Burnham said the estimate was much higher than others because it was derived from a house-to-house survey rather than approaches that depend on body counts or media reports.
A private group called Iraqi Body Count, for example, says it has recorded about 44,000 to 49,000 civilian Iraqi deaths. But it notes that those totals are based on media reports, which it says probably overlook "many if not most civilian casualties."
For Burnham's study, researchers gathered data from a sample of 1,849 Iraqi households with a total of 12,801 residents from late May to early July. That sample was used to extrapolate the total figure. The estimate deals with deaths up to July.
The survey participants attributed about 31 percent of violent deaths to coalition forces.
Accurate death tolls have been difficult to obtain ever since the Iraq conflict began in March 2003. When top Iraqi political officials cite death numbers, they often refuse to cite the source of the numbers.
The Health Ministry, which tallies civilian deaths, relies on reports from government hospitals and morgues. The Interior Ministry compiles its figures from police stations, while the Defense Ministry reports deaths only among army soldiers and insurgents killed in combat.
The United Nations keeps its own count, based largely on reports from the Baghdad morgue and the Health Ministry.
The major funder of the new study was the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This goes hand-in-hand with their other studies: "Voting republican causes cancer", and "George W. Bush is Stupid. Stoopid."
#2
Coming soon in the french msm, not as a discutable rapport, but as the Undeniable TRUTH (like the soon-to be democrat tsunami in the november elections the teevee talking heads gleefully announced this morning, "even on WOT, the american people think the democrats would do a better job than The Devil in his human guise GWB")
#3
Hmmm. Their last report in the runup to Election '04 said 100,000 dead. So over 500,000 must have died in the past two years. Is that even remotely plausible?
#4
Yes, using their methodology. The Lancet is now well established for fiction in this field. Science gives way to politics. Thank Al Gore and the Democrats for doing everything possible to corrupt both science and politics.
#10
For Burnham's study, researchers gathered data from a sample of 1,849 Iraqi households with a total of 12,801 residents from late May to early July. That sample was used to extrapolate the total figure. The estimate deals with deaths up to July.
I herbeby call on Dr. Steve to release his own study, which interviewed 2 liberals. One of the two had an IQ below 90, so therefore, 50% of ALL liberals are ignoramuses. Jeez, I'm no pollster, but interviewing only ~2,000 households (I'd bet many of which are in the Sunni triangle), who have their own biases, and THEN applying it to the population as a whole is absofreakin-loutely asanine.
Posted by: BA ||
10/11/2006 11:40 Comments ||
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#11
The next step is to start blaming mass graves on the coalition and claim we've been trying to blame Saddam to cover our crimes. It is just a matter of time, there is no other way they can find the bodies to cover these claims any other way.
From Lancet graph: Pre-invasion mortality rates were 5·5 per 1000 people per year (95% CI 4·37·1), compared with 13·3 per 1000 people per year (10·916·1) in the 40 months post-invasion.
According to the CIA Fact Book
The average death rate for
Afghanistan is 20.34/1000(est)
Hungary is 13.31/1000(est)
The World is 8.67/1000 (est)
The EU is 10.10/1000 (est)
US is 8.26/1000 (est)
Pakistan 8.23/1000 (est)
#13
The sole purpose of this study is to give the Donks a 'study' to quote: "Studies have shown that 655 thousand civilians have been killed because of BushHitler's illegal war..."
So if 5 people in the same family say that Achmed died by wearing a homicide belt then this study shows that 5 people additional died from BushHitler's illegal war right?
#14
Check the margin of error in the statistics - its huge and the confidence interval is nearly the whole of the sample space.
In other words, their study if you strip it down to the math says:
It is highly probably that between 1000 and 700000 extra deaths were incurred in Iraq due to US action. this includes Saddams's soldiers, Terrorists, Iraqi Army casualties, Iraqi police casualties, and civlians whoo died from stress, malnutrition, inadequate healthcare, domestic violence due to thehostil environment, and traffic deaths due to more cars on the road and less regulation, etc.
They basically added up ALL the deaths in their survey set, extrapolated it to the total population size pre-war (ignoring refugees who have left, etc), and pulled a number out of a hat that was in the range at the high end, with little to no statistical backing, and zero relevance other than a political grenade for the willing leftist dupes/tools in the mainstream press in the US to trumpet.
Color me disgusted that anyone would even pay attention to this lie, much less believe it.
#16
Tom the anchorman: Peril, crisis and fear tonight as what appears to be a massive flood has overtaken the town of Beaverton, Colorado, home of the worlds largest beaver dam. Earlier today, a break in the beaver dam which protected the town broke open, trapping people in their houses and destroying their lives.
Mitch, the reporter: Tom, Im currently ten miles outside of Beaverton, unable to get inside the town proper. We do not have any reports of fatalities yet, but we believe that the death toll may be in the hundreds of millions. Beaverton has only a population of about 8,000, Tom, so this would be quite devastating.
Tom: Any word on how the survivors in the town are doing, Mitch?
Mitch: Were not sure whats exactly is going on inside the town of Beaverton, Tom, but were reporting that theres looting, raping and, yes, even acts of cannibalism.
Tom: My God, youve actually seen people looting, raping and eating each other?!
Mitch: No, no weve havent actually seen it, Tom. Were just reporting it.
#18
We all knew that the Lancet 100,000 death number was a fraud. What I didn't know until now was that John Hopkins and MIT had also gone tits up for Allah.
A child with an abacus could have debunked this report.
#19
The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion (either as being the received opinion or as being agreeable to itself) draws all things else to support and agree with it. And though there be a greater number and weight of instances to be found on the other side, yet these it either neglects and despises, or else by some distinction sets aside and rejects, in order that by this great and pernicious predetermination the authority of itsformer conclusions may remain inviolate. - Francis Bacon (Novum Organum)
I realise it's wasted on you mouth breathers but your willingness to dismiss a peer reviewed publication in one of the world's best medical journals as "openly fraudulent" and the Lancet as "well established for fiction" appears in keeping with the ongoing open-minded search for truth typical of this site. I congratulate the one of your number that attempted to actually read the article.
If you wish to entirely dismiss the paper merely consider a thumbnail estimate based upon the US Dept of Defence 2006 document "Measuring stability and security in Iraq." The US Dept of Defence quotes a rate of 117 deaths per day in incidents to which coalition troops responded (between May 2005 and June 2006). Extrapolated over the period considered by the researchers (an overestimate since the rate has probably increased) that results in excess deaths approximating 140,000. Now consider what proportion of incidents in Iraq coalition forces attend, 25%, 50%?
I fail to see why you are concerned with the estimate anyway, I thought you considered them all a bunch of ragheads anyway. I expected to see more enthusiam for the destruction.
#20
You miss the point of Oldspook's comment #14, which is damning. Those error bars mean that it is strictly and objectively meaningless to quote the numbers from this study. They may be right, they may be wrong -- but even if you accept the premises and assumptions (which are not easy to accept) what kills the credibility of this study is the variance in the data on which they base their assertions. And that's taking the data at face value.
#21
heh heh... "mouth-breathers" he lipped as he typed...
Arrested Development - nice try. Ragheads huh?
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/11/2006 18:48 Comments ||
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#22
Lol. You do your namesake serious injustice. You can usually identify trollery by the selected nym - and you do not disappoint. Fraud is fraud - and we're fed up with it. You should be too, instead of weaseling for an angle to support it. The Lancet was correctly excoriated by its non-idiotarian peers for its absurd conclusions. You selected a time period which suits your pre-selected result - just as these faux mathematicians did. Fuck off. Extrapolate that.
Your initial premise, made far more succinctly: All lies in jest,
Still a man hears
What he wants to hear,
And disregards the rest
--Paul Simon, The Boxer
#23
Their last report in the runup to Election '04 said 100,000 dead. So over 500,000 must have died in the past two years
That's 684 deaths per day. You'd think the media would have reported that. Hmmmm, must be a cover-up by the "right-wing / GOP supporting / neo-con" main stream media. Yeah, that's it.
#25
Pauvre Aristides! My dear, what you fail to realize is some of the posters in this thread are highly paid to analyze statistics of this sort and draw conclusions therefrom. Why, even I did so once upon a time, although admittedly I wasn't terribly well paid for it. I'm afraid the chief conclusion I drew from the data as presented was that had anyone in my company set up a study in this way -- no outside verification of statements taken from a highly skewed sample of the population, using biased amateur interviewers, and with no basis for the extrapolations made -- the ones responsible for such a study would have been immediately let go without references. Of course, at the time I worked for an American Fortune 500 company that made consumer products (some of which you have stored in your cabinets at home, assuming you are as Greek as your name, or otherwise European, or Canadian or American, or...) so decisions based on faulty data had expensive consequences.
As for what you so fondly think of as "a peer reviewed publication in one of the world's best medical journals": clearly it never occurred to you to question the authors submitting a statistical study for publication in a medical journal. The peers who review things for medical journals are medical experts, not statisticians; statisticians, whose expertise is in the generation and analysis of statistics, review articles submitted to statistical journals. There are a great many statistical journals out there, some of which focus on medical statistics, as the academics of both MIT and Johns Hopkins well know. So why do you suppose, my dear Mr. Aristides, that the authors chose not to submit their earthshaking study to one of them?
#26
The survey participants attributed about 31 percent of violent deaths to coalition forces.
Let's do a little extrapolating of our own. Assuming all reported fatalities are war related and not due to disease or natural causes, the above 31% figure allows us to conclude that:
69% , or WELL OVER TWO-THIRDS of all Iraqi deaths are caused by the terrorist insurgents. In other words, coalition forces are responsible for less than one third of the slaughter going on in Iraq. Let's see if the media picks up on that little nugget shall we?
#27
#20 I believe Oldspook and I have been looking at different papers if one merely considers the paper's quoted crude mortality rate the LOWER estimate of the post-war /1000 death rate is TWICE that of the upper 95th percentile of the pre-war rate. Furthermore the authors 95% confidence estimates for the 650,000 estimate range from 390,000 to 940,000 (approx.).
#22 I didn't select a time period merely used the US Dept of defences figures - take it up with them. I also stated that it is probably an overestimate since violence is probably increasing (if you choose to believe it is decreasing feel free to factor up the estimate).
If a troll is someone that disagrees with you then I am a troll.
#25 Regarding the name I'm not Greek and I'd refer you to .com #22 he appears to have read his Plutarch at school.
They submitted to the Lancet because it has a higher impact factor than an obscure epidemiological journal, and if you don't believe a statistical study has a place in a medical journal I suggest you open a medical journal and read one. All large scale double blind treatment trials are statistical studies. The Lancet frequently publishes meta-analysis studies examining relationships between a given factor and population mortality or morbidity, eg. bodyweight and cardiovascular related deaths fom 2 week ago.
But it seems pointless to discuss the merits of the Lancet paper (who believes the Lancet anyway, they're just a bunch of commies). From the general "attitude" of this site I fail to see why you guys care about a few 100,000 Iraqi deaths in an estimate either way.
#28
Some of us care about truth, Aris (Hmmmmm....)over spin.
Others value life over those that want to die and kill.
But you're way too smart for me. I guess the press covered up all those deaths? Oh, yeah, the press that's controlled by the neo-cons, right?
You know what you know. Too bad you can't convince anyone except those who also know what you know.
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/11/2006 20:23 Comments ||
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#29
Oh, Aris - Perhaps you've read "On 'Mortal Exit Polling' In Iraq" at this site? Surely you must see the logical faults there, as well?
Or have you left the building?
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/11/2006 20:26 Comments ||
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#30
Just another troll who wants to grovel before -real- religious fascists. His shoulders aren't broad enough for that nym.
As OldSpook pointed out, this is a classic example of fraud right out of Huff's HOW TO LIE WITH STATISTICS. The fact that the Lancet prostituted itself for political reasons is all the more regrettable.
Posted by: Ernest Brown ||
10/11/2006 20:28 Comments ||
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#31
You have to admit, that's a pretty good kill ratio. 1 American for every 200+ Iraqi "citizens".
If I'm doing these numbers right, Iraq suffers a 9/11 at a faster clip than 1 a week since the war started. If you could show evidence of that, I'd love to see it. You know, some death tolls each week over the past year or so.
It may surprise you I am against the Iraq war Aristides, and think we should have focused on other areas instead. (I've had my disagreements with others here, let's put it that way). The reality is this study is complete horse shit. Do the math, and see if this crap all adds up. Now, back to you Mitch(Aristides).
#34
From the general "attitude" of this site I fail to see why you guys care about a few 100,000 Iraqi deaths in an estimate either way.
So tell us, oh ye great deviner of all knowledge - what the hell are you here for?
Some of us "mouth-breathers" would like to know.
BTW, some of us "mouth-breathers" hold PhDs dickhead. Some of us even hold more than one. Most of the rest of us are either well-educated, well-seasoned, or at least well-read (you may count me in as all of the previous). Your act is as old-hat as the last grad student I ran into who thought he was better than this lowly security guard until I explained to him who he was dealing with and what he would address me as the next time he opened his stupid mouth. So, I suspect that's likely exactly what you are - a grad student, likely working in a field where The Lancet would be nearly required reading.
Thus far, you've shown exactly zero reason for respect. You haven't earned your bones here. Most of us don't know you. Respect here is earned, not given. There's a difference and you should already know that.
#1
inappropriate? Jeesh. Apparently Youtube is begging to have someone else come along that doesn't censor content as mild as this yet allows endless sexual and gross content without complaint. This is funny and devestating to the Dems because the truth is brutal. You can see it here. Albright Ad
In an appearance on Geo TV's programme Capital Talk on Tuesday, former ISI officials criticised President Gen Pervez Musharraf for saying that retired officials from the intelligence agency could be involved in Talibanisation.
Gen (r) Hameed Gul, former ISI chief, called Musharraf's statement "shameful", and said it would have "harmful results" for the president, the ISI and Pakistan's armed forces. Commenting on Afghanistan's allegations against the ISI, former chief of the intelligence agency Asad Durrani said the allegations could only be stopped if Pakistan honestly told Karzai that it was "not in a position to control the Taliban from its borders". Former ISI official Khalid Khawaja said Musharraf had "endorsed" foreign allegations by giving such a statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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The worst thing is; most people in Wakiland prolly believe this shit.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reiterated on Tuesday that New Delhi would provide Islamabad with evidence of alleged Pakistani involvement in the Mumbai train bombings. Indian authorities believe that Inter-Services Intelligence and Lashkar-e-Taiba planned the bombings. Pakistan's Foreign Office pledged to take action if India produced evidence. "We will take advantage of that offer of Pakistan and we will provide what we consider as credible evidence to that effect," Singh said at a joint news conference with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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That evidence and a buck will get Singh a doughnut...
The Bush Administration asked Pakistan to expel more than 1,000 foreign students in 500 religious seminaries in line with General Musharraf's declaration in the aftermath of the 7/7 suicide attacks in London to oust all non-Pakistanis students from the Islamic schools.
General Musharraf had to make this announcement under pressure from American and British authorities following the revelation that the London suicide attackers had visited Pakistan and attended seminaries in Punjab before the blasts on July 7, 2005. Yet, 15 months since the president's declaration, the fact remains that the Pakistani seminaries still host around 1,000 foreign students. According to diplomatic sources in Islamabad, the US demand for the expulsion of foreign students of madrassas came after the unearthing of the transatlantic bombing plot.
The sources said that in response to the American demand, the Pakistani authorities have replied that they have so far deported 470 of the 1,500 foreign madrassa students. The sources added that the rest of the students would be sent home if they failed to furnish surety bonds by their respective governments by the end of Ramadan, saying that they do not have extremist links and would not indulge in terrorism. According to the government sources, the ministry of interior had already sent letters to 50 countries through the foreign office seeking confirmation that the students were their nationals besides asking for the surety bonds on their behalf.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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When is Bush going to realise that these Madrasses provide the ammo for the Taliban which the ISI assist/organise.
October 11, 2006: Shia leaders, including even radical cleric Muqtada al Sadr, are coming to believe their militias must be reined in if there is to be any chance of establishing a Shia-dominated regime in Iraq. Apparently they have begun to see that Shia death-squads have been radicalizing Sunni groups that were at least willing to acquiesce to Shia rule, thus feeding the violence in the country. How this will play with the more violent elements in the Shia militia remains to be seen. Even Sadr has reportedly been having trouble keeping control over the more hot-headed among his followers.
The basic problem is that, while there are still thousands of Sunni Arabs who believe they can use terrorist attacks to regain control of the country, the Kurds and Shia Arabs now have an overwhelming advantage in the firepower department. There is no terrorism to speak of in the northern Kurdish provinces. Kurdish border guards and police see to that. In most southern Shia Arab towns, it's the same. Strangers, especially if they look to be Sunni Arabs, are definitely not welcome down there. But in central Iraq, where Shia and Sunni Arabs live mixed together (with a few Kurds), it's easier for Sunni terrorists to get around. Well, it used to be easier. Now it's getting harder. More road blocks, and cops who are better at spotting terrorists, have brought down the number of terror attacks. Meanwhile, the Shia Arab death squads are increasing their operations.
Death squads don't just kill, they also deliver letters to Sunni families living in Shia areas, telling the Sunnis to get out or die.
Death squads don't just kill, they also deliver letters to Sunni families living in Shia areas, telling the Sunnis to get out or die. As a result, there are fewer Sunni Arabs living among Shia. In the last three years, over a third of the Sunni Arab population has moved, either within Iraq, or fleeing the country altogether.
Many of the killers on the Shia death squads want all Sunni Arabs out of Iraq, dead or alive. It's largely a matter of revenge. For decades, Saddam had his own death squads working in Kurdish and Shia Arab areas. Over half a million were killed, and all of them had kin. There are plenty of avengers out there. There are three times as many Shia as there are Kurds, and for the Shia, the revenge is religion based (al Qaeda terrorists kill Shia partly for religious reasons), as well as political and personal. The violence in Iraq is all about power (the Sunni Arab minority thinks they can bully their way back in) and revenge (the Shia Arabs and Kurds want Sunni Arabs brought to justice, with or without a trial).
The Islamic Army in Iraq insurgent group is capable of fighting for a dozen years, but isn't opposed to negotiations with the United States, according to an interview posted Monday on an Islamic Web site. The audio interview purportedly is with the group's spokesman Ibrahim al-Shammari. Its authenticity could not be confirmed, but the site it was posted on is known for its access to militant groups. "The Islamic Army in Iraq will be able to stand for more than the next 12 years fighting the enemies of God, until they are defeated," al-Shammari said, according to the interview.
However, "truce and peace talks are our religious duty," he said, according to the interview. "We are ready for any kind of negotiations, public or discreet, or even through intermediates." The Islamic Army in Iraq is believed to include former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, his intelligence service and former army officers.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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Iraqi group prepared to fight US for 'dozen years'
Posted by: Captain America ||
10/11/2006 2:21 Comments ||
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#3
Now you'll have the Dems saying, "See! They have a time limit, an exit strategy! Why can't "this administration" respond to this good faith effort?"
#5
They are "willing" to fight their entire lives. They haven't anything else to do. The problem is that their lives have not been foreshortened already.
Rome, 11 Oct. (AKI) - Israel may have used an experimental weapon against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, causing especially serious physical injuries, such as amputated limbs and severe burns, according to an investigative report to be aired Wednesday on Italian state television.
Gee, that's never happened before
Israeli daily Haaretz published a detailed report on the programme ahead of its screening.
The weapon which is similar to one developed by the US military, known as DIME, causes a powerful and lethal blast, but only within a relatively small radius, Haaretz said.
DIME (Dense Inert Metal Explosive)is part of the Small Diameter Bomb progtam. Dense Inert Metal Explosive (DIME) is uniquely suited for Low Collateral Damage. It produces lower pressure but increased impulse in the near field. Far Field damage is reduced (no frags/ impulse rolloff). The lethal footprint can be tuned to precision footprint. So the Zionists are dropping smaller bombs to reduce colateral damage? How evil of them.
The Italian Rai News 24 report is based on eyewitness accounts of medical doctors in the Strip, as well as tests carried out in an Italian laboratory.
The investigative team is the same one that exposed, several months ago, the use by US forces in Iraq of phosphorous bombs, against Iraqi rebels in Faluja.
The investigation, by Rai News 24, follows reports by Gaza-based doctors of inexplicably serious injuries. The doctors reported an exceptionally large number of wounded who lost legs, of completely burned bodies and injuries unaccompanied by metal shrapnel. Some of the doctors also claimed that they removed particles from wounds that could not be seen in an X-ray machine.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/11/2006 09:02 ||
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#1
Some of the doctors also claimed that they removed particles from wounds that could not be seen in an X-ray machine.
Geez, even non-techno geeks can see through this one. What would "see" these particles, then? An electron microscope? In Gaza? Give me a farkin' break.
Posted by: BA ||
10/11/2006 9:57 Comments ||
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#2
The investigative team is the same one that exposed, several months ago, the use by US forces in Iraq of phosphorous bombs, against Iraqi rebels in Faluja
If that doesn't trigger your BS alarm, I don't know what will. By the way, the "phosphorous-bombs-against-innocent-civilians" meme (with its implied notions of the USA using what supposedly abounds to chemical weapons, hence to WMD) was very interesting, in that it exposed the self-referential nature of the left's propaganda. One subsection of the Vast Leftwing Conspiracy uncovers it, it is confirmed because other leftist media report it, and from then, it is used as background material for further discoveries.
#4
a powerful and lethal blast, but only within a relatively small radius
wait a second. isn't this better than "a powerful and lethal blast over a large radius?"
doesn't this, in fact, address all the complaints levied against Israel about collateral damage? Won't this simply target the bad guys and leave civilians alone?
Or is this another case of "disproportionate" use of force. People who shoot rockets that land in empty fields, yet sent to kill as many people as possible, are still worthy of being killed. It seems the prevailing wisdom is that if no Israelis get killed (even though that was fully the intent), Israel shouldn't be allowed to kill the perpetrators.
As far as gaza-based doctors not being able to explain the injuries, perhaps they're just lousy doctors. Get a Jewish doctor ;o)
But frankly, I agree with the others.... it's mostly BS.
#6
Some of the doctors also claimed that they removed particles from wounds that could not be seen in an X-ray machine.
Some of the Israeli doctors also say that they removed particles from wounds that could not be seen in an X-ray machine. The "particles" are shards of glass carefully packed into the bomb belts of the shahids, placed there to inflict as much carnage as possible.
#7
So the Zionists are dropping smaller bombs to reduce colateral damage?
Is there no limit to the depths to which the Evil Joos(tm) will sink? Smaller bombs, indeed. If they had any humanity all all, instead of bombs, they would drop giant Stay-Puft marshmallows and then hand out lollipops to anyone who was frightened.
The poor oppressed Palestinians only want to engage in their traditional folkloric activities of seething, gun sex and jew-killing.
note: certain (banned?) land mines are made of plastic and produce fragments that do not show up well in x-rays. I assume that is what the 'invisible particles' bit is hinting at. In all honesty, I don't believe Stay-Puft marshmallows show up on x-rays either.
#8
"reports by Gaza-based doctors of inexplicably serious injuries."
Maybe if the same 'victim' had been hit by the usual ordnance he wouldn't have had inexplicably serious injuries - it would have been totally expected that there were no pieces larger than a golf ball.
#9
Maybe if the same 'victim' had been hit by the usual ordnance he wouldn't have had inexplicably serious injuries
This is correct. They would have been dead and there would have been no investigation and therefore nothing mysterious! But now, alas, their society has to take care of an amputee. They probably don't like that. Not only will they do a poor job, they are complaining about it to boot. I figure it's either one or the other, not both. I also figure if you hit them hard enough in this regard, leaving plenty of examples in plain sight of why you don't engage in terrorism, it may actually help. In a normal society. In this society though, it may well lead to increased seething.
#10
Damn! Just when I'm finishing up the design for my Infrared High Explosive Armor Piercing Heat Seeking Depleted Uranium White Phosphorus Napalm Hollow Point Flame Thrower Cluster Bomb Munition, they throw this in.
Back to the drawing board...
#11
Israel may have used an experimental weapon against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, causing especially serious physical injuries, such as amputated limbs and severe burns
Amputated limbs? Severe burns? The Palestinians already do this to themselves without any Jewish help. They just use bomb belts instead.
#12
Damn! Just when I'm finishing up the design for my Infrared High Explosive Armor Piercing Heat Seeking Depleted Uranium White Phosphorus Napalm Hollow Point Flame Thrower Cluster Bomb Munition, they throw this in.
Back to the drawing board...
Ha! My Uranium PU-36 Explosive Space Modulator will kick that thing's ass.
#13
Israel may have used an experimental weapon against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, causing especially serious physical injuries, such as amputated limbs and severe burns
Tell that to the poor bastards that were perforated with nails coated in rat poison and faeces.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
10/11/2006 16:24 Comments ||
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#14
Marvin, that's a "Iludium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator". Pleas get it right next time.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
10/11/2006 18:24 Comments ||
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#15
Spot on, Tony (UK).
So much bullshit, obvious lying with media collaboration, pussy-footing around, half-measures - or outright running away from problems, death by a thousand cuts shit going on in the world, mostly in the name of "stability" and other absurdities.
#16
#10: Damn! Just when I'm finishing up the design for my Infrared High Explosive Armor Piercing Heat Seeking Depleted Uranium White Phosphorus Napalm Hollow Point Flame Thrower Cluster Bomb Munition, they throw this in.
Back to the drawing board...
I'll take ten cases in .308 /125 grains please.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/11/2006 19:25 Comments ||
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#17
Damn! Just when I'm finishing up the design for my Infrared High Explosive Armor Piercing Heat Seeking Depleted Uranium White Phosphorus Napalm Hollow Point Flame Thrower Cluster Bomb Munition, they throw this in.
Back to the drawing board...
I'll take ten cases in .308 /125 grains please.
With them, you kill Bambi, AND you cook him at the same time.
#20
I got a piece of melanite in the back of my hand in Vietnam. It finally worked itself out seven years later. It was a piece from some equipment that got blown to bits by an NVA mortar shell. It never showed up on x-rays, either. What's the bleeding point? The Paleos are fighting a war against Israel. Anything the Israelis use that isn't specifically banned is not a Geneva War Convention violation. As the paleos not only haven't signed the convention, but routinely violate it, anything that happens to them, regardless of what it is, is "commensurate". Kill them all and they'll stop.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/11/2006 21:19 Comments ||
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#21
Wow .com, that's a really mean scenario you play out in your link from #15! (works for me BTW) ;)
Thing is, there are plenty of ELE's around - my 'favourite', gamma-ray burster within, say, 1000 light years - badda-bing!
Yup, plenty of dumb-ass stuff going on around the world - and a shedload of it comes from the most ungrateful, psychopathic, worthless people on the planet - the Paleos.
I reckon we're living in 'The Crazy Years'.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
10/11/2006 23:51 Comments ||
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Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers warned the island's government on Tuesday to halt any further military attacks and incursions into its territory as both sides prepare for renewed peace talks, or risk a full-blown civil war.
Tiger political wing leader SP Thamilselvan said the rebels were giving President Mahinda Rajapakse's government a final opportunity to show good faith, and said prospects of ending a war that has killed more than 65,000 people since 1983 would fade if the talks in late October fail. "The LTTE, in the interests and welfare of the Tamil people has gone the extra mile and demonstrated its flexibility by saying that this is the last opportunity, so behave yourself during the interim period and demonstrate your commitment to the ceasefire agreement," Thamilselvan told Reuters by telephone through a translator from the Tigers' northern stronghold.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
The Tigers are getting their asses handed to them. Tell them to surrender or send more fodder
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/11/2006 0:15 Comments ||
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BEIRUT - The Lebanese army has confiscated arms belonging to the Shia militant group Hezbollah in accordance with a UN truce resolution, Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr said for the first time on Tuesday.
Asked about unconfirmed media reports about the confiscation of an unspecified number of Hezbollah arms, Murr said: There were reports in the media about the confiscation of weapons, these reports were true.
It was the first Lebanese official confirmation of a confiscation of Hezbollah weapons. However, Murr declined to give details about how many weapons had been confiscated and was vague when describing the armys role in disarming the guerrillas. We are carrying out our duties and our role as we should. It is natural and it is our duty to confiscate all the weapons, he told reporters.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
were they operable?
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/11/2006 0:09 Comments ||
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#2
Lebanese army has confiscated Hezbollah arms
So they ran around and picked up dismembered appendages left behind after the war. Big deal.
Syrian President Bashar Assad reiterated calls for peace talks with Israel Monday evening in an interview with the BBC, and called into question the strenghtof the current Israeli government and its ability to turn towards peace.
According to Assad the proper conditions for negotiations were not yet achieved, but, said the Syrian president, he hoped Israel was prepared to agree to neighborliness with Syria, which was looking for peace. "It takes two to tango," said Assad. "But if one side is dancing tango and the other side is dancing waltz, they will both stumble."
Assad also said that his country only granted Hizbullah political support, not military, in its fight with Israel, and that Syria was committed to UN Resolution 1701.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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Syrian President Bashar Assad has told the BBC in an interview that his country would be prepared to hold talks with Israel provided that an impartial arbiter could be found. In a wide-ranging television interview, Bashar accused the US of neither having the will or vision to pursue peace in the Middle East.
He suggested that President George W. Bush could not be an impartial umpire and said no direct dialogue had taken place between the two nations. How can you talk about peace and at the same time isolation? How can you talk about peace and you adopt the doctrine of pre-emptive war? he asked in the interview conducted by the BBCs diplomatic editor, John Simpson.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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Choosing up sides is a continuous process in the Muddle East...
Yemeni Ambassador to Tehran Jamal Abdullah al-Solal and Deputy Majlis speaker, Mohammad Reza Bahonar conferred here Tuesday on expansion of bilateral relations. According to a report released by Majlis Media Department, at the meeting Bahonar compared Iran-Yemen ties to bilateral relations between regional states and said that historical and cultural commonalties of the two countries mainly account for their favorable bonds.
"Cooperation between the two states in political and economic fields are currently at an acceptable level, but there are still numerous unused potentials for further broadening of such ties," he added. The MP expressed his satisfaction with the positive trend of cooperation on the international scene and said that strengthening inter-parliamentary ties plays a decisive role in improving the stance of both countries at the global level. For his part, al-Solal pointed to bilateral relations as special and declared the interest of Yemen's high-ranking officials in strengthening ties with Iran in various domains. The Yemeni diplomat called for more extensive collaboration with Iran in economic fields, adding that his country welcomes Iranian investors in Yemen and that bureaucratic obstacles will be eliminated to facilitate such investment.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami on Tuesday rejected allegations he met with certain officials of the United States Administration during a recent visit to the US.
"Nope. Nope. Never happened. Wudn't me."
Khatami made the denial in reaction to certain foreign media reports saying the US Administration recently sent intermediaries to hold unofficial talks with him. "The issue is totally untrue. There were no meeting and no talks," he said.
"Nope. Nope."
He said he has no knowledge of the sources of such news, adding that while he did attend meetings in the US, he had no meetings with US officials. "There was a request for a meeting by (former US president Jimmy Carter) but since I did not have the time I apologized."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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Martyrs in the cause of Islam and the Islamic Revolution light up the arduous path to realization of justice, said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday. Addressing a gathering of martyrs' children, the president said martyrs were honorable people who gave their lives in obedience to religious order and proved their sincerity to God. Martyrs gave their most precious possession -- their lives -- and by doing so set the example for others to revive and edify the culture of martyrdom among nations.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Especially when they are cruxified, dipped in pitch, and set on fire.
Posted by: Captain America ||
10/11/2006 2:23 Comments ||
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#4
With the proper radiation treatment, Iran could easily be lighting up the skies over the Persian Gulf with a sickly green glow for a couple of hundred years.
Iran's Ambassador to Moscow Gholam Reza Ansari conferred on Tuesday with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak on issues of mutual interests. According to Russian Foreign Ministry, at the meeting, the two sides reviewed issues pertaining to expansion of mutual cooperation, Iran's peaceful nuclear activities along with regional and international developments.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Some mil forums > Russian Navy has been asked to provide warships to protect transnational "oil pipelines" running thru SYRIA???
#2
WND.com > Benjamin Shapiro > Russia-China are enablers of North Korea. Are NOT the friends of the USA-West and shouldn't be treated as such; MICHAEL EVANS > 3000 dead Amers by November 7 elex. NEWSMAX.com > CHARLES R. SMITH > LESSONS FROM NORTH KOREA = Iranian team may had observed Norkie nuke test + CHINA NOT SO INNOCENT AS IS [PC] VITAL MIDDLEMAN TO BOTH IRAN + NORKIES. US needs GMD more than ever; FREEREPUBLIC.com > CHOSUN ILBO NEWS > SOUTH KOREA suspects Russia may have had 2 hours advanced notice before first alleged NK "nuke test" becuz Russia had given NK tech on MINIATURE/SUITCASE NUKES + "HOW-TO" IN CONDUCTING NUKE TESTING USING HORIZONTAL TUNNEL(S). WMF.com posters > ASIA-PACIFIC BELONGS TO CHINA - AMERICA AS WORLD POWER IS PASSEZ AND MUST LEAVE REGION.
The archbishop, a member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, co-wrote an opinion piece in The Denver Post with the commission's vice chairwoman, Elizabeth H. Prodromou, after Musharraf delivered a speech at the United Nations calling for "enlightened moderation" to bridge a growing divide between Islamic and Western governments.
"Musharraf fails to address the urgent need to bring 'enlightened moderation' to his own country..."
"Currently, sectarian and religiously motivated violence persists in Pakistan, particularly by Sunni Muslim militants, against Shiite Muslims, Ahmadis, Hindus and Christians," they wrote. "Perpetrators of attacks on religious minorities are seldom brought to justice. Pakistan's nearly 4 million Ahmadis are prevented by law from fully practicing their faith."
She and the archbishop said violations of religious freedom in Pakistan include "fatal violence against Ahmadis, torture of Christians, attacks against Shiite clerics and vandalism and destruction of churches."
"Given the sway that Muslim extremists hold over Pakistan's judiciary, judges' findings and penalties for blasphemy reveal an arbitrariness intended to squelch fundamental freedoms of thought and expression," they added. Read the whole thing. We need lots more like Archibishop Chaput, his eyes are open and he is not afraid to state the truth and back it up. Would that he could loan Bush some of his courage to do the same. Pakistan is NOT an ally - they are one of the major sources of the problem with their coddling of extremists and the ISI meddling, and AQKhans assistance to Nkor and Iran for nuclear bomb making.
#2
Good. More and more people are speaking out, putting Islam on notice that we notice -- and find their behaviour unacceptable. Actually, it's better this way. The world thinks that President Bush is dragging along an unwilling country, and unhappy allies; this way they are shown, repeatedly, that the majority in the West feel very strongly about it, and they'd better start worrying about placating the Western Street before the rubble starts bouncing in the street in front of their own houses.
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.
guard duty at the Israeli embassy on the grounds that Muslim officers were under threat from Al-Muhajiroun and other British Islamist groups. 
China said today that it would support appropriate punitive actions against North Korea in response to its announcement of a nuclear test, a harsher step than it has been willing to take in the past. At South Korean ports today, freighters waited for word from Seoul about whether they could sail to the North with aid for flood victims in North Korea. 
A scarcely disguised civil war has broken out within France's governing party as forces loyal to President Jacques Chirac make an attempt to drag down Nicolas Sarkozy, the centre-right front-runner for next year's presidential election. 
Al Jazeera television journalist Tayseer Allouni, who is serving a seven-year jail term in Spain on terror charges, has been put under house arrest due to his deteriorating health, his wife has said. Doha-based Fatima Zahra said yesterday Allouni, who suffers from a serious heart condition, was released from a high security jail and transferred to his Granada home and is now awaiting surgery. 
Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller in a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki here Tuesday strongly condemned the blasphemy of the Islamic Prophet Mohammad (
With the War on Terror, many guage the threat level of certain aspects by considering the things that keep you up at night. The sad (and infuriating) truth is that the source of such midnight oil generators is often not from the enemy (jihadists and those who support them), but rather from the sizable segment of the West that is fueled by self-loathing and nihilism. Last night was one such instance, prompted by an MIT-sponsored and Johns Hopkins University overseen scientific study of Iraqi casualties since the 2003 invasion. The study would have the world believe that somehow the global media has overlooked 655,000 excess Iraqi deaths (thats over 500 per day unnoticed) as a result of the US invasion. The Washington Posts promoting of the study touted widely this morning as both scientific and accurate was logically debunked in the overnight hours in 
Random sampling in and around Baghdad (and other high-intensity combat zones) in a mortal exit poll and then extrapolating the findings across the whole of the Iraqi population is fundamentally flawed and false. It would be parallel to entering Rahway State Prison and determining that 30% of the inmates committed murder, concluding therefore that 30% of the American public are murderers (an equally fictitious figure of approximately 100 million).
So too, apparently, are Mortal Exit Poll reports. Consider the rapid reaction and propagation:
In an appearance on Geo TV's programme Capital Talk on Tuesday, former ISI officials criticised President Gen Pervez Musharraf for saying that retired officials from the intelligence agency could be involved in Talibanisation. 
The Bush Administration asked Pakistan to expel more than 1,000 foreign students in 500 religious seminaries in line with General Musharraf's declaration in the aftermath of the 7/7 suicide attacks in London to oust all non-Pakistanis students from the Islamic schools. 
October 11, 2006: Shia leaders, including even radical cleric Muqtada al Sadr, are coming to believe their militias must be reined in if there is to be any chance of establishing a Shia-dominated regime in Iraq. Apparently they have begun to see that Shia death-squads have been radicalizing Sunni groups that were at least willing to acquiesce to Shia rule, thus feeding the violence in the country. How this will play with the more violent elements in the Shia militia remains to be seen. Even Sadr has reportedly been having trouble keeping control over the more hot-headed among his followers. 
The 
BEIRUT - The Lebanese army has confiscated arms belonging to the Shia militant group Hezbollah in accordance with a UN truce resolution, Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr said for the first time on Tuesday.
Syrian President Bashar Assad reiterated calls for peace talks with Israel Monday evening in an interview with the BBC, and called into question the strenghtof the current Israeli government and its ability to turn towards peace. 
Syrian President Bashar Assad has told the BBC in an interview that his country would be prepared to hold talks with Israel provided that an impartial arbiter could be found. In a wide-ranging television interview, Bashar accused the US of neither having the will or vision to pursue peace in the Middle East.
Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami on Tuesday rejected allegations he met with certain officials of the United States Administration during a recent visit to the US. 
Martyrs in the cause of Islam and the Islamic Revolution light up the arduous path to realization of justice, said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday. Addressing a gathering of martyrs' children, the president said martyrs were honorable people who gave their lives in obedience to religious order and proved their sincerity to God. Martyrs gave their most precious possession -- their lives -- and by doing so set the example for others to revive and edify the culture of martyrdom among nations.
