Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who maintains warm ties with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahamadinejad, said Friday in a television interview that he opposed Ahmadinejad's call to "wipe Israel off the map."
"I don't agree with [Ahmadinejad's] statements I don't support causing harm to any nation," Chavez declared. Chavez has repeatedly raised the ire of Jewish groups by making remarks deemed anti-Semitic.
"I don't agree with [Ahmadinejad's] statements I don't support causing harm to any nation," Chavez declared. Chavez has repeatedly raised the ire of Jewish groups by making remarks deemed anti-Semitic.
In addition, Chavez has come out in support of Iran's nuclear program as well as denouncing the summer's war in Lebanon, accusing Israel of a 'new Holocaust.' At the Non-Aligned Movement summit, which was held in Cuba leading up to Ahamdinejad's visit to Caracas in September, Venezuela and Iran channeled the tide of global anti-US sentiment into support for Iran's right to nuclear energy.
Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad reiterated on Friday that new sanctions will not force Iran to give up its right to enrich uranium and blasted the UN Security Council as an instrument used by "bullying" Western nations against Teheran.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2007 00:00 ||
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I don't support causing harm to any nation,"
Except my own, of course.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/18/2007 10:07 Comments ||
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Chavez probably is opposed to Dinnerjacket's call to wipe Israel off the map, but if they do, well....it's just a pity, ya know. Terrible thing.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/18/2007 18:26 Comments ||
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BEIJING - North Korea will not shut its nuclear facility at Yongbyon until it gets back all its money frozen in a Macau bank by US sanctions, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan said on Saturday.
This really has been the shoe that pinched the most, hasn't it?
It's starting to raise a blister...
North Korea has not yet been informed of the raising of the US sanctions, said Kim, North Koreas chief nuclear negotiator, on his arrival in Beijing for talks with the six-nation working group on the dismantling of the communist states nuclear weapons programme. If the United States does not remove all of its restrictions on our funds at Banco Delta Asia (BDA), we cannot shut down our nuclear facilities at Yongbyon, Kim said.
US financial sanctions against the BDA in Macau have been a key obstacle to progress in the six-party talks involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia. In a decision taken Wednesday, the US Treasury Department said it had finished its investigation, which it said would free up the Banco Delta Asia to release legally held North Korean funds, estimated to be in the millions.
But at the same time, it barred any direct or indirect access to by the US financial system to the Macau bank. It was not clear how the continued isolation from the US banking system had changed anything for the Macau bank or would make the unfreezing of the funds possible.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/18/2007 00:00 ||
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I repeat my yesterday comment, have Treasury Raid the Macau Bank, inspect all US currency, if NORK's Counterfeit bills are found, consficate ALL US currency, (For "Inspection") that should put the Bank out of business.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/18/2007 10:11 Comments ||
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SEOUL - North Korea has begun preparations to shutdown and seal its key Yongbyon nuclear reactor, South Koreas top nuclear envoy said on Saturday, according to the Yonhap news agency. Pyongyang was also willing to start moving towards disabling its nuclear facilities but its actions would depend on how soon it will be rewarded, Chun Yung-woo told reporters in Beijing. North Korea said it has begun preparations to shut down the Yongbyon nuclear facilities. It said it will disable the facilities as soon as conditions are met, the envoy said.
Show us that your secret uranium processing plant has been shuttered too ...
Under a February 13 accord, Pyongyang promised to begin shutting down its nuclear programme within two months in exchange for energy aid and diplomatic concessions. A follow-up round of disarmament negotiations, which group the two Koreas, China, the United States, Russia and Japan, begins in Beijing on Monday.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/18/2007 00:00 ||
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"Preparing to" Means absolutely nothing except another very transparent stall.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/18/2007 10:14 Comments ||
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but its actions would depend on how soon it will be rewarded,
You're alive, you have your "reward" already.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/18/2007 10:16 Comments ||
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Hit the transformer station supplying electrical power to the nuclear reactor, and watch it melt 400 feet into the earth's crust. Without power, there isn't any coolant circulation. I doubt there are many, if any, safety features in the NK plant to prevent a melt-down. Even if there are, there will be enough damage to shut the plant for a long, LONG time. Heck, hit it with a Russian missile and we even have plausible deniablity. Of course, we'll have to tweak the Russian guidance system - significantly.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/18/2007 13:35 Comments ||
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Always better to make it look like an accident. If there's a rail line next to the transformer or power station, just have a locomotive 'explode' while going by. Tragic, just tragic, but it's happened before in Nkor-land, ya know?
Tusk, tusk.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/18/2007 14:09 Comments ||
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#5
... just have a locomotive 'explode' while going by. Tragic, just tragic, but it's happened before in Nkor-land, ya know?
And even better plausible deniability to boot. North Korea easily could have traded their missile technology for advanced Iranian train bomb designs.
A SENIOR Muslim cleric working for the tax office in Canberra is being investigated over accusations he failed to pay income tax on thousands of dollars he allegedly received from the Saudi embassy. An ACT Islamic organisation has also accused the Palestinian-born imam Mohammad Swaiti of being radical, anti-Western in his religious teachings and failing to declare payments he received from officiating at wedding ceremonies.
Documents obtained by The Australian reveal an Australian Tax Office investigation into Sheik Swaiti over allegations by senior Muslim community leaders that he failed to declare his clerical allowances of up to $US30,000 ($37,700) a year, which were paid to him by the Saudi Government.
The tax office sent Islamic Society of ACT president Sabrija Poskovic a letter in reply to written allegations made by him and his community regarding Sheik Swaiti. "I refer to your letter relating to the imam of your mosque, Mohammad Swaiti, who also happens to be a tax office employee," the ATO's letter to Mr Poskovic says. "I have passed your concerns to the relevant area of the tax office and I expect to be able to respond to you by 6 February 2007."
Documents provided to the tax office, which accuse Sheik Swaiti of being "very fanatic and radical person in his Islamic views", follow factional divisions within Canberra's Muslim community over issues including Canberra's only mosque. The claims come after The Australian last week revealed that hardline Islamic clerics were encouraging their followers not to pay income tax because they considered it contrary to sharia law.
Sheik Swaiti refused to answer The Australian's questions regarding the ATO investigation and accusations levelled at him by sections of his community, saying God would deal with them. "God is watching but let them do what they want," he said in Arabic. "Even if they accuse me of murder, I will not comment. You should not take any rubbish from anyone."
Mr Poskovic - whose organisation runs Canberra's Abu Bakr Mosque, at which Sheik Swaiti is employed part-time - told The Australian the tax office refused to give him any details of the investigation, saying it was restricted by privacy issues. "I ring them and they said to me we put (the investigation) in a proper hand and channel but ... we can't give any information on what we're doing," he said. A tax office spokeswoman would not comment on the matter.
Mr Poskovic accused the Saudi embassy of bankrolling the annual salaries of up to 20 imams around Australia, including Sheik Swaiti, through its Islamic donations (Daawa) office. A letter understood to be sent on behalf of Mr Poskovic claims the Saudis pay the imams "mukafa", which is regarded a "reward compensation payment". It also alleges that Sheik Swaiti had been on the Saudi payroll for 12 years.
The Australian could not contact the Saudi embassy, which has previously declined to provide details on whether Islamic religious organisations receive funding from the Saudi Government. On January 9, the embassy expressed shock over Foreign Minister Alexander Downer's concerns about the funding of Adelaide's mosque.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2007 12:53 ||
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The claims come after The Australian last week revealed that hardline Islamic clerics were encouraging their followers not to pay income tax because they considered it contrary to sharia law.
Bot non-Muslims living in Muslim countries have to pay the jizya tax. Nope, no hypocrisy here...
A controversial national Islamic civil liberties organization has revived its Minnesota chapter after a series of highly publicized incidents involving Muslim taxi drivers, store clerks and airline passengers. Saudi funded terrorist lawsuits to commence in 30 minutes
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which has 32 chapters in the United States and Canada, will open a St. Paul office this weekend, leaders said Thursday. CAIR Minnesota's resurrection, months in the making, comes as the state's Muslim community is being scrutinized as never before.
This week, six imams (prayer leaders) who were removed from a US Airways flight in Minneapolis in November sued the airline and the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC). In addition, some Muslim taxi drivers who refuse to ferry alcohol and dogs are awaiting a ruling on the issue from the MAC. And some Target Muslim store clerks have refused to scan pork products.
The incidents have triggered widespread anger against Muslims, despite pleas for tolerance. "The Muslim community in Minnesota is very diverse," stressed Zafar Siddiqui of the Islamic Resource Group. "We have people ranging from indigenous Muslims to immigrants from East Africa, South Asia, the Middle East, the Far East and Europe," and just as wide a spectrum of views on hot-button topics.
Since 9/11, CAIR has grown from a half-dozen chapters to more than two dozen nationwide, said Ibrahim Hooper, a CAIR spokesman in Washington, D.C. Ibrahim, Hamas called, they want their monthly check
CAIR Minnesota leaders said they decided to restart the chapter after hearing stories about Muslims being subjected to racial profiling. Ya that 9-11 thing kind of piss us off dickweeds
Spokeswoman Valerie Shirley, a Muslim convert and University of Minnesota graduate student, said she and others have heard story after story about Muslims being "harassed and pulled aside for searches" at airports. Convert, U o M student, now there's a surprise...
"The community here needs somebody to stand up for them when their rights are being stomped on like that," she said. "So a group of us got together and decided to revive it."
Their action comes at a time of increased national scrutiny of CAIR, which some have speculated is linked to terrorist organizations in the Middle East. CAIR representatives deny any link to terrorism. And pigs fly, well maybe over the Kaaba
The local CAIR chapter, which first organized in the mid-1990s, had been dormant for more than a year when it began reorganizing late last year, said Lori Saroya, an American-born Muslim who will be the chapter's chairwoman.
Reaction from other groups to the CAIR Minnesota revival was less than enthusiastic. Steve Hunegs of the Jewish Community Relations Council said he hopes the local group will not push the same agenda as CAIR's national office. "National CAIR has given a platform to the academics who accuse our pro-Israel community of subverting and distorting American foreign policy, which is simply not true," he said. "These accusations are an attempt to intimidate the pro-Israel community into not exercising its constitutional rights to lobby Congress and the executive branch."
Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in St. Paul, said he was dismayed by the news. "CAIR pushes issues from the Mideast under the guise that it's an umbrella organization for all Muslims," he said. "But it does nothing for Somali Muslims." Interesting, he gets it
Partly. He's still in favor of 'death to the Jooooooz'.
Many Somali Muslims are new immigrants who do not have the advanced language skills and education of those here longer, "so they are vulnerable to being influenced by CAIR and MAS [the Muslim American Society], which walk hand in hand," Jamal said. "You watch, they'll come in here and start fundraising and it'll all go toward pro-Middle East causes," he said. "The individuals involved here may be moderate and want to do good, but overall, the organization wants to push its own points of view." Mouth open jaw dropped
"The agenda we are pushing is a world agenda -- and that's civil rights," she said. "And that crosses all boundaries." Sharia Law, Dhimmitude. No reading between the lines here
#1
Their action comes at a time of increased national scrutiny of CAIR, which some have speculated is linked to terrorist organizations in the Middle East. CAIR representatives deny any link to terrorism.
#2
I admire the hutzpah of using American converts as spokespeople and directors in so many chapters. Puts a familiar face on screen to fool the LLL into acquiescence in the name of political correctness. No scary pakistanis for CAIR.
#3
Muslims being "harassed and pulled aside for searches" at airports
My 84-year-old father-in-law, of Irish Catholic heritage, and walks with a cane, gets pulled aside for searches at airports. Just so a**holes like these won't succeed in their lawsuits.
#4
Zen I'm tempted to call our new Attorney General" office in Minnesota. Wonder what they would do if I reported a terrorist linked organization was reopening.
Thanks for continually putting great data links up.
#6
Mpls-St. Paul sounds more effed-up than Brussels.
Posted by: Mac ||
03/18/2007 18:06 Comments ||
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#7
just like the other "twin cities" Mecca and Medina?
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/18/2007 18:22 Comments ||
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CAIR and their ilk play with harrasment lawsuits---fine. Get them into Discovery. Start asking them about funding sources, boards of directors, connections. Get PI Paul Drake digging up independent info.
CAIR needs a stiff dose of RICO. The US Govt needs a collective kick in the A$$ to get things going. Also the ACLU needs some work.
Best defense is a good offense. Trite but true.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/18/2007 18:32 Comments ||
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Yesterday I read an article in the extremely liberal Star and Tribune. The responses to Katherine Kersten's piece on the 6 Muslims who got kicked of the plane and their lawsuit were interesting.
Out of some 159 comments, I'd say the ratio was about 25-30 to one against the Muslims and their Sharia demands in Minnesota. People here are pissed. Keep in mind the liberal nature of that town. In fact the comments seem more like Rantburg's.
In fact check out these poll numbers on their websites. 92% of the liberal readers told the Imams to go to hell.
More and more Minnesotans are deciding to not tolerate the Religion of Intolerance. About time.
#10
Thanks for continually putting great data links up.
No sweat, Ice. While you're at it, here's a Somalian airport taxi strategy of mine that got published over at Daniel Pipes' site. Maybe you would be so kind as to forward it to any interested parties in your area.
As Josh L. Dickey of the Associated Press put it, when drivers at MSP refuse a fare for any reason, "they go to the back of the line. Waaaay back. Past the terminal, down a long service road, and into a sprawling parking lot jammed with cabs in Bloomington, where drivers sit idle for hours, waiting to be called again."
A tag team of patriotic individuals openly carrying liquor bottles needs to access the cab queue repeatedly, on a daily basis, so that any drivers refusing to transport them are rotated back to the end of the taxi queue and slowly have their earnings destroyed. There only needs to be a single car parked in the airport parking lot to serve as a shuttle back to the terminal. This is so that cab drivers accepting the customer can be presented with a legitimate short-hop fare. The shuttle driver then conveys the participant back to the terminal and reparks the vehicle afterwards. The shuttle's new location can be transmitted by cell-phone or GPS coordinates. For less than about $20.00 per day in airport parking fees and the time contributed by participants, these discriminatory cab drivers can be put out of business in a swift and perfectly legal fashion.
#11
Ice, here's a link to the full text of Anti-CAIR's discovery document. Some of the questions are deceptively simple, like:
57. Admit that Hamas is responsible for the murder of innocent civilians.
Answer: [Yes or No]
Which, if denied, instantly demonstrates bad faith, if not perjury. Yet, if admitted, their financial and material support of Hamas suddenly makes them complicit in murder.
Do what you can to have the local newspapers publish salient excerpts from this document. It will help many more people to understand the magnitude of CAIR's malign intent.
Not bad, for the WaPo Thousands of demonstrators protesting the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq marched on the Pentagon yesterday, jeered along the way by large numbers of angry counter-protesters. Organizers billed the antiwar rally as marking the 40th anniversary of the 1967 march on the Pentagon. At times, verbal clashes during the cold and blustery day demonstrated that the bitter divisions of four decades ago sparked by Vietnam are very much alive in the debate over Iraq. Couldn't be different bitter divisions, I suppose. Nope. Couldn't be. All bitter divisions are the same, all outcomes are the same. You should now grow your hair long to show you're on the correct side and head off for Haight-Ashbury. Bobby Kennedy is about to be assassinated and Nixon will be elected president. You know what's coming after that.
The march, part of a weekend of protests that included smaller demonstrations in other U.S. cities and abroad, comes as the Johnson Bush administration sends more troops to Vietnam Iraq in an attempt to regain control of Saigon Baghdad and Congress considers measures to abandon the South bring U.S. troops home.
Paul Miller, 72, a Korean War-era Marine Corps veteran who flew from California for the march with his brother, was making his first appearance at an antiwar rally.
"I was like everybody else. I trusted the people who ran the country, and I'm tired of being lied to," Miller said.
"I was like everybody else. I trusted the people who ran the country, and I'm tired of being lied to," Miller said, standing on a hill overlooking the Pentagon, a beret with a Marine Corps pin on his head. "I feel so bad for the young Marines who are getting their legs blown off and losing their lives." And it must be a lie when people say my actions cause more casualties. Actions? Consequences? They're related? Who knew? "Liars and thieves, the lot of 'em!"
Organizers said yesterday's march on the Pentagon reflected the public's sense of betrayal over the escalation of the war. As some speakers called for the impeachment of President Johnson Bush and Vice President Humphrey Cheney, and the immediate enthronement of Queen Nancy others denounced Congress in equally bitter terms for not cutting off funding for the war. Yet attendance at yesterday's march was noticeably smaller than one held in Washington in January, police said.
Much of the passion yesterday was supplied by thousands of counter-demonstrators, many of them veterans who mobilized from across the country to gather around the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Much of the passion yesterday was supplied by thousands of counter-demonstrators, many of them veterans who mobilized from across the country to gather around the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Some said they came in response to appeals on the Internet to protect the Wall against what they feared would be acts of vandalism; no such acts were reported. Beacuse the cops were everywhere, including on horses, and visitors to the Wall were going through metal detectors. But I'm sure none of the protestors wanted to vandalize anything.
Others said they were tired of war protesters claiming to speak for the country. "I'm here because I think we need to commit to our troops in the field," said Guy Rocca, 63, a veteran who drove nine hours from Detroit.
Some counter-protesters yelled obscenities and mocked the marchers as traitors. War protesters responded with angry words of their own, and police intervened at times to prevent shouting matches from escalating.
Some counter-protesters yelled obscenities and mocked the marchers as traitors. War protesters responded with angry words of their own, and police intervened at times to prevent shouting matches from escalating. The counter-demonstrators ringed the Lincoln Memorial and continued along portions of Arlington Memorial Bridge. "You've got no pride and no honor," yelled Kenneth Murphy, a Vietnam veteran from North Carolina. But when they have Woodstock again they might get laid. But they might also get beaten to death next Altamont.
When marchers reached the Virginia side of the bridge, they were greeted by more protesters at the traffic circle in front of Arlington National Cemetery, along with a banner that read in part: "You dishonor our dead on Hallowed ground." The war protesters might have found the warmest reception of the day at the Pentagon, where police had the building blocked off, but no counter-demonstrators were waiting. "It's strange to say, but welcome to the Pentagon," said protest leader Mara Veheyden-Hilliard, speaking on a stage in the north parking lot as the first streams of marchers began arriving.
A group of innocent, mild-mannered, peaceful, flower-carrying protesters who tried to reach the Kent State campus Pentagon by charging toward the south parking lot ended up in a tense standoff with police. Five arrests were made in the incident. But beyond shoving matches, no violence was reported. After a night of rain, sleet and snow, the day began with bright sunshine but low temperatures. Marchers assembled at first in relatively sparse numbers on a muddy playing field at 23rd Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Which they left littered with signs and trash.
Organizers, who had predicted tens of thousands of marchers would demonstrate, gave estimates ranging from 15,000 to 30,000. Police no longer provide official estimates of crowd size but informally put it at 10,000 to 20,000, with a smaller but sizable contingent of counter-protesters. But we'll not dignify the counter-protestors with an estimate of the numbers, or a comparison to other counter-protests. The numbers might suggest an alarming trend.
War protest leaders said a large winter storm that hit the Northeast hurt turnout. More than 60 bus loads of protesters who had been scheduled to come from the region canceled their trips Friday night, according to Brian Becker, national coordinator for the Answer Coalition, the event's main sponsor. It was quickly apparent that the weather had not prevented counter-demonstrators, many in black leather motorcycle jackets, from showing up in force and surrounding all sides of the Wall. At one point before the march started, counter-demonstrators formed a gantlet along an asphalt walkway on Constitution Avenue and heaped verbal abuse at protesters who walked through on their way to the assembly area. One Vietnam veteran in a wheelchair yelled obscenities at demonstrators, including some with children. Nasty old veteran! Saying bad words children could hear! Control your temper, like us peaceful protestors. He's probably insane from the post-traumatic stress syndrome and the among of Ageng Orange he ingested. He'd be institutionalized if the VA wasn't run by liars and thieves.
Some demonstrators supporting the war effort engaged in good-natured banter with war protesters. But others blocked paths and prevented marchers from getting near the Wall, particularly anyone carrying a sign. District resident Eric Anderson, 47, had his sign ripped from his hands and thrown in the mud. Where he left it, amidst the other trash and debris, for someone else to clean up. Bob Anders, 60, an Iowa banker who said he served with the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam and rode a bus from Iowa to protest the war, had his heart set on seeing the memorial but turned around after seeing the situation. "I've never seen the memorial, and I wanted to see it in a spirit of protest," he said. All you had to do was wait in line and be screened, Bob.
After speeches from antiwar activists including Cindy Sheehan, the first marchers took off across the bridge shortly before 1 p.m. The marchers began arriving at the Pentagon about 1:45, some gathering in front of the stage in the north parking lot and others perched on a hill by a Route 27 overpass. About 2:10, a group of several hundred young people ... average age about 12 year old...
continued past the rally point and marched down Route 27 toward the south parking lot until they confronted a police barricade. Some youths who carried traffic barrels cut in half and painted red and black as shields and wore scarves over their faces pressed forward as Pentagon police, backed by Virginia state troopers in riot gear, stood two layers deep, trying to push them back. When that failed, the police donned gas masks. One of the protesters threw a firecracker, and many people ran off. Which could've started some gunfire. Nice try, Wacko. Sounds like the anarchists were well-organized...
... there's an interesting contradiction ...
About 70 to 80 people sat down and were threatened with arrest. Protesters chanted, "The whole world is watching." They thought they were in Chicago...
Then protesters took a vote and opted to back off. How democratic!
Anarchists took a vote?
The whole world watched that, too. The whole world had nothing better to do with its time than to sit around and watch aged, aged hippies and their descendants pretend it was still 1968...
Among those marching on a day of cold, whipping wind was Maureen Dooley of Melfa, Va., who first marched on the Pentagon when she was 18; now she is 58.
Yet, many demonstrators showed respect toward police and the military. Among those marching on a day of cold, whipping wind was Maureen Dooley of Melfa, Va., who first marched on the Pentagon when she was 18; now she is 58. "I came, as I did today, to be quietly counted among the people opposed to this war," she said. Dooley said she wished she could "apologize for my generation" for the way the antiwar movement treated Vietnam veterans on their return home. "This time, we're with our young men and women," she said.
The Pentagon's windswept north parking lot was cold, and many protesters did not linger long. By 3:30 p.m., only a few hundred marchers remained huddled around the stage.
Now, with a voice fatigued from chanting litanies against the president and feet tired from marching on the military industrial complex, Gaunt just counted the hours to the group's scheduled bus pickup at 7 p.m.
Most had left, with many of the out-of-towners seeking refuge on the floor of the nearby Arlington Cemetery Metro station. I can verify that, and it's well out of the wind.
One group that had come by overnight bus from Iowa City huddled on the floor near the station elevators. They had survived the 22-hour bus ride as well as the insults of the counter-protesters, only to be defeated by the bitter cold. Funny; I had a winter coat with a hood, and my legs wore out before I got cold.
"We just couldn't take it anymore," said Christine Gaunt, 50, a hog farmer from Grinnell, Iowa. Now, with a voice fatigued from chanting litanies against the president and feet tired from marching on the military industrial complex, Gaunt just counted the hours to the group's scheduled bus pickup at 7 p.m. If she was lucky, she said in a tired voice, she would get home this afternoon, just in time to haul her pigs to the Sunday market. Good touch, that: the horny-handed daughter of toil.
This article starring:
Brian Becker, national coordinator for the Answer Coalition
Cindy Sheehan
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/18/2007 07:41 ||
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A slightly modified version of what I posted yesterday afternoon, including a couple of hooks into the WaPo piece.
Rantburg News Service WASHINGTON, D.C. March 17, 2007
Your reporter arrived at the Vietnam War Memorial at 1:15 pm, having seen scores of departing vets, and a few protesters, on the way down from the Foggy Bottom Metro Station. Most of the protesters were under the age of 25, but two older gentlemen were carrying Impeach Him signs. Perhaps they naively expected everyone else to know who they wanted impeached.
War protestors left a mess of broken sign pickets and trampled signs as they pushed down a snow fence on their way to the Pentagon. Veterans and American flags were everywhere around the Memorial, and the Park Service had set up metal detectors to insure no one brought cans of any deleterious substance into the Memorial. Crowds at the Memorial proper were typical for a March day, but thousands of vets milled around outside the screening station. Several were engaged in animated one-on-one conversations with protestors,
Your intrepid reporter continued to thank vets for their service, including one distinguished-looking older gentleman at the Lincoln Memorial, who replied, It was my privilege. It was my responsibility. Most vets offered a simple, yet heartfelt, Thank you. My companion suggested some of the vets might be here to protest the war, but your Reporter dismissed that concern; they served their country, too.
Shunning the large crowds headed toward Foggy Bottom, your reporter left the scene and traipsed up the Mall, braving the chilling winds which apparently defeated many of the protestors, to the Smithsonian Metro Station, where a seat was easy to find. But the crowds seemed to have dissipated by 2:45, and few got on the Metro train at Foggy Bottom.
One young man got on the train at Foggy Bottom, on the way to Pentagon City, dressed in desert camouflage pants, and smiled when your reporters companion remarked about the numbers of protestors on the platform at Arlington Cemetery. They all seemed to be going back into the Capitol. The young man said, They bussed in a bunch of kids and just dropped them off.
Where there many at the Pentagon? He shook his head, with an impish grin.
More vets than protestors?
Oh, yeah! I drove 13 hours from Massachusetts last night to get ahead of the storm. I heard they were going to desecrate the Vietnam Memorial. I wasnt going to let them do that.
Did you serve?
Yes. I was with the 3rd Infantry Division on the initial push. We thanked him for his service, and he said he was going back to hotel to sleep, having been up all night to continue his service by honoring and protecting his Countrys memorials.
When he got off the train, a young women and her father got on, and sat in his seat, the father carrying an Impeach Bush sign. A women across the aisle asked the two how it went.
Oh, not too many, said the father, Probably less than a hundred thousand.
Quite possibly a lot less.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/18/2007 8:21 Comments ||
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#2
Maureen Dooley of Melfa, Va., who first marched on the Pentagon when she was 18; now she is 58.
And hasn't learned a damn thing in 40 years.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/18/2007 10:22 Comments ||
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#3
jeered along the way by large numbers of angry counter-protesters.
Not Snark,
Heroes Every one. To willingly stand in the face of danger. I salute you, each and every one.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/18/2007 10:25 Comments ||
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#4
"I was like everybody else. I trusted the people who ran the country, and I'm tired of being lied to," Miller said.
Did you Vote? Are you a democrat? Just exactly who are you accusing of "Running the Country?"
If the answer is not "Congress" you haven't been paying attention.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/18/2007 10:29 Comments ||
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#5
Yet attendance at yesterday's march was noticeably smaller than one held in Washington in January, police said.
Yep warm weather protesters, the lot of them.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/18/2007 10:31 Comments ||
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#6
They had survived the 22-hour bus ride as well as the insults of the counter-protesters, only to be defeated by the bitter cold.
Now that's commitment to the cause.
Any kind of Lefty Purple Heart they can be awarded?
#7
Some youths who carried traffic barrels cut in half and painted red and black as shields...
Er, isn't it illegal to go armed in public like that? And, yes, shields are weapons.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
03/18/2007 11:36 Comments ||
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#8
San Diego - the Union Tribune's local news headline : Local protesters seeing more support . Note that the article has absolutely no info backing that up. In fact, turnout was smaller than usual, and the St. Pats parade in Balboa Park had between 5X and 10X as many participants. Losers
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/18/2007 13:04 Comments ||
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#9
The WaPo and other news outlets are reluctant to go into the numbers on this one. The counter protesters far out numbered the protesters. Possibly by as much as 3 to 1. These Sheehan types are tired, old, bitter and longing for the days of their 60's past. Too bad for them its a different time now. We are not subject to a 100% media monopoly on the dissemination of information. If libs had there way there would be no Burg.
#10
There were a few protesters trying to march in yesterday's Colorado Springs St. Patrick's Day parade. Here's what happened to them (link won't last):
Seven war protesters who tried to march in Saturdays St. Patricks Day Parade in downtown Colorado Springs were accused of refusing to cooperate with police and arrested. One of them was injured as she was dragged off the road.
Police halted about 45 people with the Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission just steps into the parade where it began at Tejon and St. Vrain streets. They wore green shirts with peace signs and carried signs that read Kids Not Bombs and End This War Now.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/18/2007 13:50 Comments ||
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#11
"I was like everybody else. I trusted the people who ran the country, and I'm tired of being lied to," Miller said.
Then stop electing Democrats, Bugwit.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/18/2007 13:52 Comments ||
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#12
Now that's commitment to the cause.
Any kind of Lefty Purple Heart they can be awarded?
I nominate a new medal, "The Pinko Pussy".
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/18/2007 17:17 Comments ||
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WASHINGTON - US President George W. Bush on Saturday threatened to veto emergency money for Iraq and Afghanistan if it includes measures aimed at forcing a US withdrawal or unrelated domestic spending. Congress needs to approve emergency funding for our troops, without strings and without delay. If they send me a bill that does otherwise, I will veto it, Bush said in his weekly radio address.
Good. Now stick to your guns.
At issue is next weeks debate in the House of Representatives over a 124-billion-dollar spending measure that includes a Democratic measure aimed at forcing a US withdrawal from Iraq by September 2008. The US president warned that such an outcome would be disastrous and a nightmare for our country and said it would undermine the ongoing effort to quell sectarian violence in Baghdad.
Bush said the hotly contested bill would give lawmakers who say they support US troops in Iraq a chance to show that support in deed, as well as in word as he railed against domestic spending provisions tacked on to the war funding. For example, the House bill would provide 74 million dollars for peanut storage, 48 million dollars for the Farm Service Agency, and 35 million dollars for NASA. These programs do not belong in an emergency war spending bill, he said. Congress must not allow debate on domestic spending to delay funds for our troops on the front lines. And members should not use funding our troops as leverage to pass special interest spending for their districts, warned Bush.
Oh for a line-item veto.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/18/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
The Democratic tactic to load up the military appropriations bill with unrelated spending is, in a word, stupid. There is not even anything "antiwar" about it; it is just more "pork" abuse from the same people who campaigned against that in the recent elections.
#3
OldSpook, you are so correct. Bush has been in auto-pilot mode for 6 years. It's the same with the Justice Dept. lawyers. Why now ? Why did he waste all the political capital he had after 9/11 ? Why does he deal with Teddy Kennedy ? Why does he turn his back on the people at the borders ? What is his problem ?
#4
I think what we have is a good Texas governor that's a mediocre US President. I'm beginning to believe that George Bush just isn't capable of dealing with all the details that a US president has to deal with. He's also facing a hostile bureaucracy, a hostile press, and a hostile congress (even the Repuglycon one). There isn't enough Teddy Roosevelt blood in his veins to deal with all the problems. This isn't to say he's a moron - he's really a very intelligent person. He just isn't ruthless enough to deal with all his adversaries. If we re-elected Teddy Roosevelt, the streets of Washington would run red with blood - as it should. I'm not sure any modern president could do better without making half the nation hate him. That, too, may become necessary in the near future.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/18/2007 14:09 Comments ||
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#5
"I'm not sure any modern president could do better without making half the nation hate him."
Maybe thats it.
Reagan wasn't concerned with being liked by the whole country, but with being right for the whole country.
Bush, sad to say, does not seem capable of simply doing the right thing consistently, if it requires that he be ruthless with his domestic opponents (Getting Ted Kenned the NCLB act, and not going after the leakers and others in the Intel community) and his domestic friends (ex: immigration and cheap labor for big biz versus building the fence).
President George W Bush on Friday thanked Saudi King Abdullah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for participating in a recent conference on Iraq and discussed Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, the White House said. Bush spoke to King Abdullah about the effort to advance toward a Palestinian state and also peace between Israelis and Palestinians, White House spokesman Tony Snow said. Bush also spoke with Mubarak about Secretary of State Condoleezza Rices trip to the region next week, Snow said. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan said this week that they will seek a new push on an Arab peace plan with Israel at an Arab League summit later this month in Riyadh. The US allies are seeking to push a Saudi initiative adopted at a 2002 Arab League summit in Beirut offering Israel normal ties with Arab countries in return for full withdrawal from land it occupied in the 1967 Middle East war.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2007 00:00 ||
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FT. CAMPBELL, KY. An Army squad leader accused of ordering his soldiers to kill three unarmed Iraqi detainees in May was acquitted Friday of premeditated murder and murder conspiracy. A court-martial panel convicted him of three counts of negligent homicide as well as obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Staff Sgt. Raymond L. Girouard, 24, had faced a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole if convicted on the murder charges. His attorney said he now faced a maximum of 21 years in prison, with the opportunity to argue for a lower penalty at a sentencing hearing scheduled for Monday.
Girouard, who had maintained a military bearing during his four-day court-martial, smiled and hugged his lawyers and sister moments after the verdict was announced by an Army lieutenant colonel who served as president of the seven-member panel. His lawyer, Anita Gorecki, said Girouard told her it was the first night he would return to his cell with hope for the future. "I have something to look forward to," she said he told her.
A shorter prison term, reduction in rank and a dishonorable discharge?
In the private family meeting room at the military courthouse, Girouard hugged and kissed his wife, Melanie Denise, and his 4-year old son, Hunter, according to his sister, Joy Oakes. Oakes helped lead a fundraising drive in the family's hometown of Sweetwater, Tenn., for legal fees. "It's been a very good day," Oakes said after the verdict.
Girouard also was found guilty of violating a military regulation by not turning over a handgun his squad confiscated from a house 60 miles northwest of Baghdad, where the detainees were captured during an air assault mission May 9.
His convictions carry an added penalty of dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of pay and allowances. The handgun charge carries a maximum penalty of two years. The three counts of negligent homicide carry a maximum sentence of three years each, and the obstruction of justice counts a maximum of five years each. There is no minimum sentence for any of the counts.
Girouard will receive credit for 368 days served more than he actually has been confined because some of those days were in solitary confinement or under other restrictions.
The rest of the article rehashes the case.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/18/2007 00:00 ||
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To mark St. Patricks's day, the Irish beat Pakistan at cricket
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan Cricket Board chief Nasim Ashraf, national coach Bob Woolmer and team captain Inzamam-ul-Haq have all come under fire as the country seethes after the humiliating loss to Ireland, which ended their interest in the World Cup in West Indies.
Ashraf's head will probably be the first to roll when he faces a senate standing committee on culture, sport, youth affairs and tourism next week. "We will ask for his (Ashraf's) resignation in the meeting which is due to take place before March 28," Senator Mohammad Enver Baig, a member of the committee, said. "You lost miserably to a country like Ireland. There is nothing to compensate and the chairman must resign and go back to the United States," Baig said.
#2
Questions are being asked about the Pakistan cricket team which has become a Talibagh Jamaat offshoot. The players try to outdo one another as "pious muslims" and are too weak to train during Ramadan.
The days of Imran Khan, when the team partied, boozed, drugged and whored around (but actually won matches) are long gone
Posted by: John Frum ||
03/18/2007 10:52 Comments ||
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#3
You lost miserably to a country like Ireland.
Score one for The Infidels. I'm sure that one's getting plenty of laughs in the pubs this morning.
They'll be back in your Islamic Paradise soon, Senator Baig. Maybe you can stone them to death.
#5
There is nothing to compensate and the chairman must resign and go back to the United States," Baig said
No, thanks, we don't want him.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/18/2007 14:00 Comments ||
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#6
#1: "Any calls for Dire Revenge yet? Or is that more-or-less a permanent state?"
I'll take what's behind Door #2, Sea.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/18/2007 14:21 Comments ||
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#7
Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer has died after being discovered in his Jamaica hotel room on Sunday morning.
The 58-year-old former South Africa coach, who played for England between 1975 and 1981, was found unconscious at the Pegasus Hotel at 1045 local time.
He was taken to the emergency ward of the nearby University hospital but did not regain consciousness.
"It is very shocking news to all of the team and the team management," said Pakistan team manager Pervez Mir.
Posted by: John Frum ||
03/18/2007 15:11 Comments ||
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#8
hmmm - I question the timing
was his head still on?
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/18/2007 15:25 Comments ||
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#9
Dire Revenge it was, to my dismay. My condolences, Coach Woolmer. Rest in Peace.
#10
In Multan, Inzamam-ul-Haq's home town, incensed youth held a protest rally, chanted slogans against Pakistan and demanded that police arrest the World Cup squad.
The mob was heard chanting, "Death to Bob Woolmer , death to Inzamam, death to Nasim Ashraf - police should arrest them".
Posted by: John Frum ||
03/18/2007 16:32 Comments ||
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#11
Islamisation of Pakistani cricket
By Amir Mir
The Pakistani cricket team that was once known as a hot band of happy-go-lucky stars has gone through a total transformation in the last decade, gradually turning into a coterie of Islamist preachers.
Long before the Islamists discovered their frightening zeal, Pakistani cricketers were considered typical of modern Muslims: they played flamboyantly, partied hard and didn't flaunt their religion publicly. They were the playboys of their time -- polished, educated and dashing; they had their one-night stands, clubbed and tippled; as great exponents of reverse swing as they were ardent admirers of fine legs. They had the lifestyle only stars have -- in any country, of any sport, of any religious persuasion. During the 70s, and 80s, Islam and the Pakistani cricket team were strangers to each other. The main hallmark of the cricket team at that time was professionalism as most of the cricketers used to play county cricket in England and because of their frequent interaction with British society, their grooming would show well in their behaviour. The 3-4 months in a year that the Pakistani team members such as Imran Khan, Majid Khan, Asif Iqbal, Sarfraz Nawaz, Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas, Mohsin Khan, Rameez Raja, etc, used to spend in England playing county cricket, would make them adopt the lifestyle of any other English cricketer: liquor, nightclubs, girlfriends and everything else that comes with the package.
However, those days of cricketing casualness are now memory, as are so many aspects of secular life in Jinnah's Pakistan. The Pakistani cricketers have never pursued their religious beliefs as devoutly as they do nowadays. "Bismillah" (In the name of Allah) or "Inshallah" (God willing) stud their every utterance, no matter whether they are on the field or elsewhere. The team members huddle together to pray on the ground during pre-match preparations; 'Islamic beards' are sported as an advertisement of their faith; batsmen have known to cramp because they fast and play during the holy month of Ramadan. This religiosity has come about because a clutch of players -- Inzimam, Mushtaq Ahmed (bowling coach), Mohammad Yousaf, Saqlain Mushtaq, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Yasser Hameed -- have become members of the Tableeghi Jamaat (TJ), or the party of preachers, participating in public gatherings organised to propagate Islam and stress the virtue of an 'authentic Islamic lifestyle'.
The TJ has invaded the dressing room of the Pakistani cricket team -- they can be seen praying with players and reciting the Holy Quran for the team's success (never mind that it has been performing poorly). As TJ membership makes it incumbent upon a person to preach, most of the Tableeghi cricketers, especially Inzimam, often conduct preaching tours across Pakistan. Inzimam's penchant to mix religion with cricket has already sparked accusations that he favours Tabeeghi players over those who are either secular or prefer to confine religion to their private lives. The non-Tableeghi group is reportedly led by Vice-Captain Younas Khan and includes Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif, Danish Kaneria, Imran Nazir, Abdul Razzaq, etc. This divide often shadows differences between players.
Though Inzi is said to detest Shoaib for his indisciplined ways, some in the team feel that the real reason is the fast bowler's liberal views, his occasional pegs and his breathlessly busy night life. Shoaib confessed before an Anti-Doping Tribunal last year in Pakistan that he drinks alcohol and has an active sex life. Inzimam's religious passion can be gauged from the fact that on tours abroad, one of the rooms is declared a 'prayer' room, where the Tableeghi players would offer prayers and discuss religious issues. A former TV personality and now a member of the TJ, Naeem Butt, would usually be allowed to accompany the team and stay in the same hotel, but on his own expense. Butt would then arrange interactive sessions between the cricketers and officer-bearers of the TJ chapter of the host country.
The conspicuous Islamisation of the Pakistani cricket team recently prompted General Pervez Musharraf to advise the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board Dr Naseem Ashraf to ask the players to strike a balance between religion and cricket. The PCB chairman subsequently warned the Tableeghi cricketers at a recent press conference, asking them to "stop exhibiting their religious beliefs in public". In Naseem Ashraf's own words: "I have discussed the matter in detail with Inzimam, making it clear to him that religion is purely a private affair and there should not be any pressure on those who don't pray regularly. He assured me that there is no pressure at all on any of the players to do anything they don't want to do." In the same breath, though, he said that he did not want to spark a controversy over the sensitive issue of mixing religion with cricket.
So, how has the flamboyant cricket team of the past become a Tableeghi Jamaat redoubt? The Islamisation of the team, in a way, has been in tandem with the political and social transformation of Pakistani society. The transformation began with the 1977 ouster of a moderate Bhutto government and the confiscation of power by General Ziaul Haq, an Islamic fundamentalist, because of his being the son of a prayer leader. That was the time when the coterie of moderate cricket stars of the 70s started leaving the scene one by one, thus allowing the Islamic factor to gradually seep into the team. In the early days of the transformation, the Pakistani players didn't flaunt their religion. But the person who made religion hip in cricket was Imran Khan, as famous for his cricketing feats as he was for his romantic dalliances. His 'awakening' following retirement from cricket, and his public, even strident, endorsement of Islam provided a justification for those wanting to wear their religion on their faces. If even Imran could be unabashed about Islam, why shouldn't they, so went the logic.
It was just the boost for Islamists nurturing the hope of luring cricketers to their cause. Among these Islamists was Maulana Tariq Jameel, who, like Inzimam, is a Multani, and a close associate of Maulana Abdul Wahab, the ameer of the Pakistan chapter of the TJ. He began to concertedly target the cricket team once he had converted batsman Saeed Anwar to the cause of the Tableeghi Jamaat. The stylish left-handed opener, and a computer engineer by training, became a born-again Muslim in 2001, after the tragic death of his infant daughter Bismah. The traumatic experience prompted Saeed Anwar to find solace in religion; he joined the TJ. His primary task: work on present and former cricketers to join the TJ and spread the message of Islam. About his Tableeghi Jamaat experience, Anwar says: "There is only one aim in my life -- follow Allah Almighty's path and prepare for the Day of Judgment. I am a different Saeed Anwar today; the material world to me is meaningless. I have turned to Allah for solace and am committed to spread the religion to all parts of the world...Islam is a moderate religion and I am not a fanatic or a jehadi."
Thereafter, religion became a badge the Pakistani cricketers were willing to wear publicly, particularly Inzimam, whose shy and retiring personality acquired an assertive edge under the influence of Maulana Tariq Jameel. Perhaps religion provided Inzimam an anchor in the glamorous and corporate world that cricket has become and which he as a Multani must have found alienating. With the skipper under its sway, Tableeghi Jamaat now had an open field, winning over players in a number that the team could be said to be divided between the TJ and non-TJ groups.
Inzimam, however, denies any rift in the team: "The team is selected purely on the basis of merit. Believe me; nobody is compelled to do something he does not want to. There is no pressure on any player to join the collective namaz five times a day. Those who say otherwise have never offered prayers, nor have any links to Islam, which does not force anyone on the issue of religion." He furnishes proof of his contention thus, "Look at the players yourself. Only four players who toured South Africa - Mohammad Yousuf, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik and myself -- have beards. Our religious activities have never stopped a match."
However, Inzimam strongly believes that the preaching sessions of the cricketers with Islamic scholars help develop unity in the team, and that his own piety enables him to overcome distractions on tours abroad. However, critics allege that most team members have grown beards as a show of allegiance to the captain and boosting their chances of being in the squad. Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed are counted among prime examples. There is also the peculiar case of Mohammad Yousaf, who converted from Christianity and seemingly never shaved thereafter. Despite repeated denials, many of the Pakistanis feel that Yousaf Youhana converted to boost his chance of becoming captain in the future.
Mohammad Yousaf, however, ascribes his conversion to the influence of the Tableeghi Jamaat preachers at their sessions in Raiwind, Lahore. "My conversion is because of a change of heart and not a calculated move. Danish Kaneria is a Hindu and there is no problem. I have already played for Pakistan for ten long years and there has been no problem. I didn't do this to be captain. Islam is the true religion because it says that life after death is the real life; the better you prepare for it, the better your present life will be." His transformation was not only confined to his faith, but extended to a change in name, appearance, behaviour -- and even performance on the field. A string of tall scores imparts credence to those who say Allah favours those who turn to Him. Residing in a posh Lahore locality, and having bought a Mercedes, Yousaf credits the benediction from above for the change in his fortune. And he is going to repay his debt to Allah. How? "After I retire, I plan to serve God by devoting myself to preaching Islam to all those out there who have not been exposed to the real face of the religion."
However, the non-Tableeghi members of the cricket team pooh-pooh the notion of religiosity helping players perform better and point out the irony of Saeed Anwar, Mushtaq Ahmad, Saqlain Mushtaq and Shahid Afridi, all members of the Tableeghi Jamaat, who lost their form once they took to sporting beards. But English-speaking opening batsman Salman Butt pleads the positive impact Islam has had on the team. As for religion-linked cricketing performance, Butt explains: "A lot of people work hard, but only those get to their destination who are lucky and have the help of God. We believe if we pray five times a day and go in the way of God, we will get help. That is our firm belief. It puts all of us in a very good spirit, and has made us disciplined -- a definite change in the Pakistan team."
Coach Bob Woolmer too recently admitted that religiosity has helped foster unity among players. He, however, added: "But there is the odd problem. You have to train the players with less intensity during Ramadan, or do it at a time of day when they have more strength. In some respects that can be frustrating as a coach." The non-TJ group, though, has a litany of complaints: a stifling atmosphere, charges of bias, mutual suspicion; that mixing religion with cricket is no way of playing the game. Former cricketer-turned-Tableeghi Agha Zahid says that his organisation recruits sporting stars, as also showbiz personalities, because "if they change their lifestyles, then others who idolise them would follow their example".
At the same time, however, there are those who insist that the issue is not about being religious but the manner in which it is flaunted, thereby threatening some and pressuring others to follow suit. For a society driven by religious passions that often, consciously or otherwise, shrink the secular space, cricketer-preachers could become the antithetical forces arrayed against General Musharraf's so-called agenda of enlightened moderation. This shrinking of the secular space is perhaps already happening in the cricket team. But for those persevering in the way of Allah Almighty, these are minor matters.
Posted by: John Frum ||
03/18/2007 16:38 Comments ||
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#15
A most interesting post, John Frum. It would seem that fundamentalist Islam is as incompatible with the game of cricket is it is with the rest of the modern world.
Tribal journalist Munawar Afridi and nine others breathed a sigh of relief after suspected Taliban militants retracted their threat to kill them. The militants had declared 11 men liable to be killed for allegedly spying on the activities of mujahideen in Kohat.
10 of the 11 men have been pardoned, the journalist told Daily Times on Saturday quoting a note on a the walls of the Jamia Masjid in Dara Adam Khel bazaar, about 30 miles south of Peshawar. Saleem Khan is still on the wanted list for his alleged association with the ISI. Suspected militants on February 28 issued a list of 11 spies and declared them liable to be killed. The men included journalists, tribal security personnel and some civilians. The Majlis-e-Shura (council) of the mujahideen investigated the case and after these people repented their previous actions, they were pardoned except for Saleem, and they are now our brothers, the note pasted on the walls of the mosque read.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2007 00:00 ||
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The Taliban must be defeated in Pakistan this year, otherwise the country risks falling under the sway of extremists as much as Afghanistan did before September 11, 2001, said former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on Friday.
Bhutto, who hopes to return from exile and run for prime minister again in elections this year, also warned that the judicial crisis in Pakistan could spin out of control, and underscored the importance of restoring civilian rule. They (the Taliban) have actually established a mini-state in the tribal areas of Pakistan. My fear is that if these forces are not stopped in 2007, they are going to try to take on the state of Pakistan itself, Bhutto told Reuters in an interview. In my view, it is a genuine threat, she said.
Other commentators have warned of the dangers to Pakistan of a resurgent Taliban. Bhutto said the Taliban comeback was particularly dire because President Pervez Musharraf was unable to suppress elements of the Pakistani security forces that remained sympathetic to the Taliban. She said that Musharraf had also been exploiting the presence of the extreme Islamist movement as a rationale for maintaining his military rule beyond general elections due before the end of 2007. General Musharraf does say that he wants to go after terrorists, that he wants to go after the forces that support the Taliban, but hes unable to do it, Bhutto said from her apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, where she lives with her ailing husband when shes not working for her return to Pakistani politics from Dubai. The people in the areas must see that it is in their benefit to kick out the extremist forces, said Bhutto. To that end, she proposed a renewed commitment to health, education and infrastructure in the tribal areas. She said that in the absence of government welfare, Islamist religious schools had stepped in, winning over the poor population.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Bhutto's PPP has minimal support outside of Punjabi liberal circles. They have no chance.
#2
Benazir is the godmother of the Taliban. During her second term as PM, her interior minister General Nasrullah Babar practically created the Taliban.
Ironically the ISI opposed this, not having faith in the Talib's ability to win.
It was PPP party machinery in Islamabad, Peshawar and Quetta that furthered the Taliban cause, not the ISI.
Posted by: John Frum ||
03/18/2007 9:16 Comments ||
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#3
Bhutto devised the "Pakistan in Depth" policy that prescribed cultural fusion with neighboring states, including Kashmir, Afghanistan and Gujerat (India). Strategic use of fundamentalist Islam was central to the scheme. It is a fact that Muslim youths in the region were bred for terror. Bhutto and her embezzler husband should be tried as war criminals.
In "The Taliban Phenomenon" by Kamal Matinuddin (retired Lt-General of Pakistan), he admits that Taliban - in spite of written assurances given to UN agencies - took a 10% commission from all heroin sales. They monitored drug production to ensure that they received their share from the misery that heroin causes Europe and the US (although most US heroin is grown in Culiacan, Mexico). Note-most Taliban strength is in Helmond and Kandahar districts of Afghanistan, where over 90% of heroin is produced. So much for religious piety. To hell with nation building.
KHAR: A jirga of Mamoond tribal elders and senior administration officials warned tribesmen on Saturday against sheltering foreign terrorists in Bajaur Agency, elders said. Anyone sheltering foreigners will be punished heavily, tribal elder Malik Shah Jehan told the jirga of the Mamoond tribe in Khar. Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal MNA Maulana Muhammad Sadiq was among the key participants.
The jirga, according to elders, is a step towards a North Waziristan-like peace accord.
The jirga, according to elders, is a step towards a North Waziristan-like peace accord. Bajaur Agency overlooks Afghanistans Kunar province, where US forces are battling Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters. Bajaur Agency Political Agent Shakil Qadir also attended the jirga from the Mamoond area, where a suspected Al Qaeda hideout and training centre in a madrassa was bombed last year killing around 84 people. The jirga vowed to work together for peace in Mamoond, adding that the tribesmen are loyal citizens of Pakistan.
The Mamoond area is considered a stronghold of the banned Tehrik Nifaz-e-Shariah Muhammadi of Maulana Sufi Muhammad, who had mobilised some 10,000 volunteers to fight alongside the Taliban against the US-backed Northern Alliance in Afghanistan in 2001.
The Mamoond area is considered a stronghold of the banned Tehrik Nifaz-e-Shariah Muhammadi of Maulana Sufi Muhammad, who had mobilised some 10,000 volunteers to fight alongside the Taliban against the US-backed Northern Alliance in Afghanistan in 2001.
Foreign hands are disturbing the peace in Bajaur and whoever helps the foreign hands will be hanged to death, Maulana Abdul Aziz told the jirga.
Foreign hands are disturbing the peace in Bajaur and whoever helps the foreign hands will be hanged to death, Maulana Abdul Aziz told the jirga.
Tribal sources told Daily Times that the government was trying to reach a North Waziristan-like peace accord with Bajaur militant leader Maulana Faqir Muhammad. The deal was under negotiation for a while but the madrassa airstrike jeopardised it. We hope that a North Waziristan-like deal is also reached between the government and tribal militants, led by Faqir Muhammad, sources said on condition of anonymity.
This article starring:
Bajaur Agency Political Agent Shakil Qadir
Malik Shah Jehan
MAULANA FAQIR MUHAMAD
Tehrik Nifaz-e-Shariah Muhammadi
MAULANA MUHAMAD SADIQ
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
MAULANA SUFI MUHAMAD
Tehrik Nifaz-e-Shariah Muhammadi
Tehrik Nifaz-e-Shariah Muhammadi
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2007 00:00 ||
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President General Pervez Musharraf has said a conspiracy is being hatched against him and the country over the reference against the chief justice of Pakistan. Addressing a public gathering of some 30,000 people at Pakpattan on Saturday, Gen Musharraf said he was confident that with the nations support, he would overcome the intrigues against him and the government.
The president asked people not to protest on the roads against the suspension of the chief justice, as this would hamper Pakistans development and damage its image. He urged both protestors and the police to exercise restraint and not resort to violence.
Gen Musharraf said he had no personal differences with the chief justice. He said the reference was prepared by the government and it was his legal and constitutional duty to refer it to the Supreme Judicial Council. He stressed that he had only acted upon the advice of the prime minister and some ministers. He said some people were doing politics and hatching conspiracies against me and the country on an issue which is legal and constitutional. He reiterated that he would accept whatever verdict the Supreme Judicial Council made on the reference.
Referring to Fridays police action against private TV channel Geo in Islamabad and bomb hoax at the Geo office in Karachi, the president said the incident was very unfortunate and condemned it. He said an investigation had been launched to determine who was behind the police assault on the television station. He said the action was an attempt to malign him. I am blamed for everything, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Musharraf is a perfect role model for paranoiacs. Everyone is out to get him.
#2
Damage control mode. A deal has been made.
Expect India, Israel and the US to be blamed.
It is reliably learnt that a group of six corps commanders in the Pakistan Army has jointly written to President Pervez Musharraf expressing their disquiet over the unwise manner in which the case of Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhury, the suspended Chief Justice, has been handled by Musharraf and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and over the shocking ransacking of the offices of the GEO TV, a private TV, channel and the manhandling of Hamid Mir, its leading journalist, who is well known all over the world, on March 16,2007.
Rattled by the continuing demonstrations, the criticism by some of his officers and the first public remarks by the US State Department indicating unease over his action, Musharraf has asked Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, the former Prime Minister, who is a good personal friend of the suspended Chief Justice, to find a face-saving. Both are from Balochistan.
The face-saving formula now under discussion envisages a ruling by the SJC that the charges against the suspended Chief Justice were not serious enough to warrant any action against him, his restoration to his position as the Chief Justice and an assurance by him that while the cases relating to the missing persons (many of them are in the US detention centre in Guantanamo Bay) would continue to be on his file, he will not pursue them . He will adjourn the hearings on them repeatedly. The Chief justice is till now not prepared to give this assurance.
Musharraf has promised Jamali that if he persuades the suspended Chief Justice to co-operate, he would restore him (Jamali) to the post of the Prime Minister from which he was replaced by Shaukat Aziz in 2004.
As part of the damage control, Musharraf has blamed the police and the para-military forces for the ransacking of the GEO TV office and the manhandling of Hamid Mir. He is trying to project it as a rogue operation by the police and para-military officers, which shocked him.
He has already suspended 15 police officers for this. These suspensions have caused resentment against him in the police. Reliable police sources say that the order to silence the GEO TV and Hamid Mir came from Tariq Aziz, Musharraf's National Security Adviser. The police officers are furious that now they are being made the fall guy.
Posted by: John Frum ||
03/18/2007 9:41 Comments ||
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March 07 - Despite violence only 26% preferred life under Saddam
One in four (26%) Iraqi adults have had a family relative murdered in the last three years, while 23% of those living in Baghdad have had a family/relative kidnapped in the last three years.
These are the findings released today from the largest poll into Iraqi opinion ever to be published. Carried out by UK polling firm O.R.B., which has been tracking public opinion in Iraq since 2005, the poll shows that despite the horrendous personal security problems only 26% of the country preferred life under the previous regime of Saddam Hussein, with 49% preferring life under the current political regime of Noori al-Maliki. As one may expect, it is the Sunnis who are most likely to back the previous regime (51%) with the Shias (66%) preferring the current administration.
Carried out amongst a nationally representative sample of 5,019 Iraqi adults aged 18yrs+ and coming just days before the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, the poll reveals that despite the rising number of civilian deaths each month as a result of militia activity, only 27% would concede that their country is actually in a state of civil war. Opinion here is clearly divided, as 22% feel we are close to a state of civil war but not yet in one while 18% argue that the country is still some way from civil war.
Regionally, 43% of those in the Shia dominated South of the country claim Iraq will never get as far as civil war. This figure in the Sunni dominated north plummets to 5% where most (42%) feel the country is already in a state of civil war.
Regionally there are significant differences on attitudes towards the relationship between the security situation and the presence of troops. Nationally, one in two (53%) feels that the security situation in Iraq will get better in the immediate weeks following a withdrawal of Multi National Forces.
However, those in the South appear to be more ready to accept a gradual withdrawal than those in the North. 69% of the Shia dominated South feel the situation will get a great deal/little better, while only 10% feel it will get worse. In the Sunni north, opinion is evenly divided 46% feel it will get better and 37% feel it will get worse.
What about talk of creating a federal Iraq? With the exception of the Kurdish population in the North of the country, a majority support Iraq remaining as a single country run by a central national government. On this point Sunnis (57%) and Shias (69%) agree that the country should continue as one nation.
#1
Baghdad is the problem, and attacks are decreasing. That conflict began when Sunnis began bombing Shiites. Shiites responded with ethnic cleansing, and few Sunnis live north of the Tigris River. The real mess started when Shiite forces began a slow advance to Baghdad Airport. Frankly, I would shift the bulk of US operations to the south of the river. If that area was relatively pacified, then the Iraq Army could target the al-Sadrites. However, US troops have been directed to protect Sunni pockets in the north. It doesn't make strategic sense to me. It could be a recipe for cleansing Sunnis from the entire city.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard's plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Iraq on Saturday when the cabin of his aircraft filled with smoke during a secret visit to Australian troops in Baghdad. After landing safely, Howard was taken to a waiting helicopter and flown over the city to the secure diplomatic "green zone."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2007 00:00 ||
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John Howard is a real leader. They need to fix his plane.
JOHN Howard overheard every development in the drama as smoke and fumes filled his C-130 Hercules transport while flying over Iraq on Saturday.
Sitting in the cockpit with the pilot, Flight Lieutenant Ben Poxon, the Prime Minister was wearing earphones plugged into the plane's intercom system.
Mr Howard, who was rushed off the plane after an emergency landing at Tallil, southern Iraq, said yesterday he never thought it was an attack and felt more confident because he could hear what was happening.
"I felt completely confident the RAAF would handle the thing well," Mr Howard said.
"They said they could see some smoke, I didn't for a moment think it was an attack, I just assumed it was something to do with the functioning of the aircraft."
Although the smell infiltrated the cockpit, it did not fill with smoke. There was no advice yesterday on what had caused the smoke and forced the emergency landing.
Soon after taking off at Tallil, where Mr Howard had met Australian troops based near Nasiriyah and inspected pilot-less flying eyes for Australians on patrol, fumes began to fill the body of the Hercules where about 20 security troops and RAAF crew and more than a dozen advisers and journalists were sitting.
As the fumes became stronger, smoke began to filter through the air and became thicker at the rear of the craft. Immediate checks could not find the source of the smoke and smell, with the pie warmer being ruled out first, and the pilot decided to call a PAN -- Possible Assistance Needed -- emergency, which is one step down from a Mayday call.
Everyone was ordered to put on emergency oxygen hoods, including the Prime Minister and Defence Force Chief Angus Houston.
The plane, then at about 5000 feet, banked sharply and returned to the tarmac to be surrounded by military fire engines as security rushed Mr Howard from the plane.
"I didn't feel particularly nervous -- I listened carefully and took very careful note of the instructions I was given by the SAS who was with me, I listened very carefully," Mr Howard said.
"But those RAAF blokes are so professional and calm in a sense it was better to hear it all and know what was happening than not to, because they handle it in such a matter-of-fact manner.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/18/2007 13:12 Comments ||
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#4
Frank G: Hot plate. Keeps the coffee hot, can be used to heat up lunch. It's usually electric.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/18/2007 15:06 Comments ||
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#5
figured something like that...just thought the "pie" reference was odd
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/18/2007 15:11 Comments ||
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#6
"Pie" as in Four'N'Twenty, Yatala or Sargent's meat pies. Often declared to be "Australia's national dish". More familiar to Americans would be the Cornish pasty. From Wikipedia:
The meats allowed by FSANZ in a meat pie are beef, buffalo, camel, cattle, deer, goat, hare, pig, poultry, rabbit and sheep. Kangaroo meat, a leaner alternative, is also sometimes used. It may include snouts, ears, tongue roots, tendons and blood vessels. Only offal (such as brain, heart, kidney, liver, tongue, tripe) must be specified on the label.
#7
First Cheney's plane has to divert to Singapore for an engine problem, now Howard's a/c also has an issue. Something is not what it seems, methinks. Either that, or a bunch of Iranian aircraft mechanics have been hired by the good guys....
The Iraqi vice president unveiled his country's economic and political reform package before nearly 100 envoys at a UN conference, pledging to adopt a law that will share the country's oil riches among its often feuding regions and a program that would grant amnesty for insurgents who renounce violence.
Adel Abdul-Mahdi, one of two vice presidents, urged international support for the Iraq Compact, a five-year plan that requires the government to enact key political and economic reforms during its transition to financial self-sufficiency and integration into the regional and global economy. "We are looking forward to really take Iraq out of its crisis with the help of the international community," Abdul-Mahdi said after the closed-door meeting Friday.
The compact was set up by the United Nations and the Iraqi government shortly after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki took office in June 2006. The conference's purpose was not to secure financial assistance for Iraq, but to allow the government to present its budget and legislative agenda to the international community in the hopes of marshaling support for its plans ahead of a donor conference. Abdul-Mahdi had said the conference participants would choose a date and place for the adoption of the compact, but they did not. Ibrahim Gambari, the UN chair of the compact, said the launch would definitely happen before April 30 in a location yet to be determined.
Deputy Treasury Secretary Robert Kimmitt, who led the US delegation, said the launch would provide an opportunity for the international community to respond to the Iraqi proposals and pledge financial assistance. "The Iraqis have done their part," Kimmitt said of Friday's unveiling of the compact. "The question now is, what will the international community do?"
Gambari noted that several countries have already said they will forgive Iraqi debt to the tune of $4 billion. The package that Abdul-Mahdi presented included provisions for an oil-profit sharing law, which he predicted the Iraqi parliament would adopt in the coming weeks, a plan for drawing foreign investment into the country, and a fully funded budget for 2007, in which spending on education and health is double that of 2006.
It also contains political initiatives aimed at healing the sectarian rift that is responsible for some of the worst violence in the country. The government proposed a national reconciliation project, including amnesty for insurgents who renounce violence, reversing measures that have excluded many former members of Saddam Hussein's ruling Baath party from the government, and the creation of a human rights commission. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who convened the conference, acknowledged in his address that both the security and the humanitarian situations in Iraq are deteriorating.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who convened the conference, acknowledged in his address that both the security and the humanitarian situations in Iraq are deteriorating."
That piece of conventional wisdom may already be dated. It is hard to say with certainty that the situation in Iraq is improving, but from what I have read the level of violence throughout most areas there has decreased substantially recently. The US/Iraqi plans to pacify the trouble spots could actually be working, but perception will lag behind reality for a while.
at first my head reeled. but then I realized the phrench were only looking out for themselves and were willing to sell out Israel. quelle surprise.
French President Jacques Chirac told Israel at the start of the war in Lebanon that France would support an Israeli assault on Syria, it was reported on Sunday. they'd support that "shitty little country?"
Army Radio reported that in the message, which was delivered by Chirac to Israel via a secret channel, the French president suggested that Israel invade Damascus and topple the regime of Bashar Assad. In exchange, Chirac assured Israel full French support for the war.
According to the message delivered from Paris, Syria was responsible for the flare up in the North and encouraged Hizbullah to attack. "Former prime minister Ariel Sharon had explained to the French in the past that Iran is the main one responsible for Hizbullah's armament in Lebanon, while Chirac saw Syria as the primary one responsible for the matter," former Israeli ambassador to France Nissim Zvilli told Army Radio in an interview.
"President Chirac saw Syria as directly responsible for the attempt to undermine the Lebanese regime," he said. "He saw them as directly responsible for the murder of [former Lebanese prime minister] Rafik Hariri and directly responsible for arming Hizbullah. Likewise, he saw Syria as the one giving Hizbullah orders on how to operate."
In March of last year, some four months before the war began, Chirac warned Syria that the international community would respond harshly to any attempt to destabilize Lebanon. "Syria must understand that any act that encroaches upon the stability of Lebanon, be it through the shipment of weapons or assassinations, is an act that contradicts with its standing in the international community and will trigger a response from the international community," Chirac said at the time.
During the war, France was one of the foremost proponents of sending a multinational UNIFIL force to police the Israel-Lebanon border, and even offered to lead it. Towards the end of the war, however, diplomatic officials said France had changed its mind out of concern that its badly strained relations with Syria would lead Hizbullah to target French soldiers. ahhhhh. THAT'S the phrance we've all come to know.
France, the officials pointed out, was instrumental in pushing through UN Security Council Resolution 1559, which forced Syria out of Lebanon. In addition, it was a key force behind the establishment of the commission of inquiry into the assassination of Hariri, who was a personal friend of Chirac. and once UNIFIL forces were placed in southern lebanon, they were the first to turn a blind eye to Hezbollah's rearming yet were the first to blame Israel for violating the terms of the agreement. In other words, they were the first to betray Israel. Hey. You find something you're good at, you stick with it, I guess.
#1
French President Jacques Chirac told Israel at the start of the war in Lebanon that France would support an Israeli assault on Syria, it was reported on Sunday.
They also told the US they were supporting us against Iraq, and told NATO in general they were supporting it in the Balkans. In both cases, they lied.
Anyone sense a pattern?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
03/18/2007 13:17 Comments ||
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PCHRs preliminary investigation indicates that at approximately 16:00 on Thursday, 15 March 2007, Mohammad Salam El-Huweitat (32-years old resident of Nuseirat refugee camp) was admitted to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital suffering from a bullet wound in the left foot. His injury was sustained as a result of gunshot fired during a wedding celebration for one of his relatives.
At approximately 16:50 on the same day, Mousa Saad Saad (52), his son Adel (11), and his grandson Fawzi (6) were admitted to Kamal Odwan Hospital in Beit Lahia. They were injured by shrapnel from an explosive device that detonated when Mousa Saad mishandled it in his shop in Jabalia town. The injuries were listed as moderate.
At approximately 1:00 on Friday, 16 March 2007, unknown gunmen fired at: Hussein Zohdi El-Serhi (32) from Deir El-Balah and works in Military Intelligence; and Mousa Brak Erjelat (29) from Rafah. Both were traveling in a white Subaru near the Palestine Technical College, north of Deir El-Balah. El-Serhi was killed by a bullet to the head. Erjelat was injured by several bullets in the extremities. The police opened an investigation into the incident.
At approximately 19:00 on Friday, Yacoub Abed Rabbo Taha El-Kafarna, a 55-years old resident of Beit Hanoun, was injured by shrapnel in the abdomen and feet when a mishandled hand grenade exploded in his house. He was taken to Kamal Odwan Hospital for treatment, where his injures were listed as moderate.
At approximately 22:00 on the same day, Mahmoud Mohammad Shehwan (18-years old from Khan Yunis) was injured by shrapnel in the face and Ibrahim Qasem Shehwan (18) was injured by shrapnel in the right side. They were injured when they mishandled a homemade explosive device. Their injuries were listed as moderate.
At approximately 23:30 on the same day, Faris Shaker Ashour, a 23-years old resident of Khan Yunis, was injured by a bullet in the chest. The bullet was accidentally fired from a rifle he mishandled near his house in Khan Younis. He was taken to Naser Hospital for treatment, and from there transferred to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City due to the severity of the injury.
At approximately 14:10 on Saturday, 17 March 2007, three masked gunmen traveling in a car fired at Samir Abdel Salam El-Sholi (40) who works as an officer in the Preventive Security Apparatus. The incident took place near his house in Beir El-Naja area in Beit Lahia. As a result, he was injured by several bullets in the feet. He was transferred to Kamal Odwan Hospital for treatment, and from there to Shifa Hospital due to the severity of the injury.
At approximately 15:30 on the same day unknown gunmen traveling in two vehicles kidnapped the policeman Nader Jaber Kreizem (26) as he was heading to his home near the Ophthalmic Hospital in Gaza City. It is noted that Kreizem is an activist in Naser Salah El-Deen Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees. Kreizems fate remains unknown.
At approximately 20:30 on the same day, Emad Mohammad Shahin (30) was injured by a bullet in the head. The bullet was accidentally fired mishandled by his friend in his house in Zaitoon Quarter in Gaza City. Shahin was taken to Shifa Hospital, where his injury was listed as serious.
At approximately 22:40 on the same day, the child Anas Mohammad Seda (2) was injured by a bullet in the right thigh, accidentally fired by a relative who mishandled a weapon in the childs house in Shejaeya Quarter in Gaza City. The injury was listed as moderate.
At approximately 00:10 on Sunday, 18 March 2007, Mohammad Said El-Dreimli (21) was moderately injured by shrapnel throughout his body. The injuries were sustained when a hand grenade he mishandled exploded near his house in Shejaeya Quarter in Gaza City. He was taken to Shifa Hospital for treatment.
PCHR is extremely concerned over the continued falling of victims by misuse of weapons, which is a continuation of the security chaos plaguing the OPT. The Centre calls upon the PNA, represented by the Attorney-General, to seriously investigate these attacks, and to prosecute the perpetrators.
#2
Looks to me that the Translator discovered a new word, "Mishandled", And used his new-found knowledge as much as he could.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/18/2007 17:36 Comments ||
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#3
How do you mishandle a grenade? My memory is that you pull a pin and throw, or you leave it the hell alone. These guys need a mommy, who says, "No live grenades in the house!"
#2
Yep, And as long as I keep lying I stay out of Jail.
It's OK My fellow terrorists know exactly what I'm Doing,
It's Acceptable to lie like hell to the enemy.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/18/2007 10:46 Comments ||
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#3
First things first:
Freed Hamas leader shuns open discussion of terror tactics
There, fixed that.
But Arouri, 40, insisted that Hamas's rise to the forefront of Palestinian politics, triggered by its election victory last year, signalled a shift away from violence...
Which certainly explains the following excerpts from Hamas' charter:
"Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it."
"There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors."
I know, details, mere details.
...in favour of political process and the attempt to establish a Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He also admitted that the campaign of bomb attacks against Israeli civilians had harmed the Palestinians' cause, and expressed hope that it would end."
Considering how, when Palestinian fatalities are compared to Israeli losses, there is a consistent ratio of, at minimum, 2:1 that sometimes increases to 6:1; Yes, I'd certainly say that "the campaign of bomb attacks against Israeli civilians had harmed the Palestinians' cause".
"We are harmed if we target civilians," he said,
Not nearly enough, but let's gloss over that for now, shall we?
... adding that political progress would be easier if Israel would also show restraint.
And the winner for "Grossest Understatement in a Jihad Supporting Role" is ...
"At the end of the day, the fruit of military actions is political action," he said. "All wars end with truces and negotiations."
He neglected to mention another unhappy ending, called "Unconditional Surrender". That's where my money is.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Saturday that the new coalition government would meet together Sunday for the first time. The new Hamas-Fatah coalition won overwhelming parliament approval earlier Saturday.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2007 00:00 ||
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The formation of a unity government between the two biggest Palestinian factions may have created a new rift between Israel's two largest parties. As weeks of Fatah and Hamas negotiations ended Saturday, Labor and Kadima appeared split on how to regard the new PA government.
"Under certain circumstances, Israel may consider engaging in dialogue with some Palestinian ministers"
Vice Premier Shimon Peres (Kadima) encouraged the international community to "stand firm" in isolating the PA government. "If this is a government that does not renounce terror, if this is a government that does not want to conduct peace talks, why should it be helped?" said Peres.
Meanwhile Labor MKs Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh, and Science, Culture, and Sports Minister Ghaleb Majadle, said that Israel should call for negotiations with the new government. "Under certain circumstances, Israel may consider engaging in dialogue with some Palestinian ministers," said Sneh.
Earlier in the day, Sneh had told Army Radio that negotiations with Abbas would "pull the carpet out from under Hamas's feet," and that Israel should "seize the authorization given to Abu Mazen [Abbas] by the half-Hamas government to negotiate with Israel." Majadle said that many of the Fatah lawmakers were supporters of the Oslo Accords and had many "shared interests" with Israel. "Boycotting [the Fatah representatives] won't do a thing for Israel, or strengthen the government," said Majadle.
Meretz chairman Yossi Beilin also urged Israel to begin negotiations with the new PA government, saying it could be a turning point in their relationship. Beilin told Army Radio on Saturday that rather than fighting to boycott the PA, a move that would back Israel into a corner as the only nation doing so, Israel should make an immediate move to reach an agreement with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) under Abbas's leadership. In addition, Beilin proposed, Israel should hold talks with the new ministers who are not affiliated with Hamas and present them with practical goals. If the PA were to meet those goals, Beilin said, Israel would recognize its new government.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2007 00:00 ||
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Vice Premier Shimon Peres rallied to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's defense Saturday, rejecting the assertion that the current government was not among the "country's greatest." Peres said that as an Israeli citizen and as a member of the Knesset, he had faith in Olmert, and described him as "one of the best prime ministers that there has been" when he spoke to Israel Radio Saturday.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Someone keep Peres away from the Magen David. Olmert's government is a disaster.
Is he rebuilding and reforming the Israeli military in a clever, meaningful way right now? Or is he just plodding down the obvious path of "need UAVs, need guns, need soldiers, need something to mitigate missile attacks" while ignoring the need to grow a pair?
#3
Peres: Olmert 'one of the best prime ministers' in history
hello Peres is anyone home? comparable to this group of distinguished Israelis?
1) David Ben-Gurion The First Prime Minister
2) Moshe Sharett The Second Prime Minister
3) Levi Eshkol - The Third Prime Minister
4) Golda Meir - The Fourth Prime Minister
5) Yitzhak Rabin - The fifth Prime minister
6) Menachem Begin - The Sixth Prime Minister
7) Yitzhak Shamir - The seventh Prime Minister
8) Shimon Peres - The Eighth Prime Minister
9) Benjamin Netanyahu - The ninth Prime
10) Ehud Barak - The tenth Prime Minister
11) Ariel Sharon - The Eleventh Prime Minister
12) Bevis and Butt Head Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
no offence meant to Israel only to Olmert, Recognizing though it's one hell of a challenge to be Prime Minister of Israel, Ima certain that I couldn't do it period *stop*. Day to Day I would turn it over to Team RB, but I sure would have found the right men and women from within the IDF/Shin Bet etc. [K.I.S.S.] to make Hezbollah and Syria Pay Pay Pay and Pay some more for last summers attack on Israel.
plz permit a bit of ramble..
Growing up we [kids] were aware of the name Ben-Gurion, and that he was an Icon, practically a mythic figure, a "spirit" on Mount Olympus even before he died. One of the founders and first Prime Minister.
But practically I never follow Israeli politics or policies until about the late 60s. from memory then [fallible for certain], Golda Meir stands out, an impression from memory [not study] as a good model for a leadership for any country.
I thought Yitzhak Rabin was as very good too.. even though he was a liberal, I could relate to him he had the right stuff as a man and was true to himself, good character.
Begin = tough, Yitzhak Shamir even tougher, Israel could use them both now.
Peres better than Olmert anyway...Oy..
Benjamin Netanyahu wouldn't have quit pounding Hezbollah when Olmert did, he would have hammered them into a nubin. Why the Israelis don't elect him again is a mystery to me. I often wonder why there are so many Peaceniks in Israel?? not unlike the the USA too...Oy..
next..
#9
previous I thought Yitzhak Rabin was as very good too.. even though he was a liberal, I could relate to him he had the right stuff as a man and was true to himself, good character.
hard, maybe impossible to judge someone thru the media but I was always was struck by Rabin's persona/character as an individual, I could be wrong of course. I'm afraid I don't know very much about his leadership or his record as the head of state.
that's why I was asking the more knowledgeable among us.
course I do know that Yigal Amir killed Rabin on Nov. 4, 1995 to prevent the handover of land to the Palestinians. And that he has shown no remorse since. Do you know him Grom?
Two ministers in the Hamas-led unity coalition said on Saturday that although there is no explicit recognition of Israel in the political program of the government, such recognition is evident in the fact that it has pledged to respect agreements reached with Israel in the past. "I think this is a very moderate political program," said Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Ziad Abu Amr, an independent academic from the Gaza Strip. "I think it addresses every single condition of the Quartet. There is no reason whatsoever for any country, after this political program is embraced by the new Palestinian government, to continue with the boycott."
"The recognition of Israel is included in the various articles of the program," he said. "The program talks about honoring signed agreements that include the mutual recognition between Israel and the PLO, as well as the Oslo Accords. I don't think there is any excuse now to continue the boycott."
Abu Amr told The Jerusalem Post the platform constituted an implicit recognition of Israel. "The recognition of Israel is included in the various articles of the program," he said. "The program talks about honoring signed agreements that include the mutual recognition between Israel and the PLO, as well as the Oslo Accords. I don't think there is any excuse now to continue the boycott."
Abu Amr expressed hope that the US administration and the Europeans would reconsider their policy toward the Palestinians. "We expect members of the international community and Washington to review their old position, to change it and to start dealing with the new government," he said. "I think the Palestinians have made so many steps forward and we expect reciprocity."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2007 00:00 ||
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#4
Two ministers in the Hamas-led unity coalition said on Saturday that although there is no explicit recognition of Israel in the political program of the government, such recognition is evident in the fact that it has pledged to respect agreements reached with Israel in the past.
No dice. Explicit statement, on Hamas letterhead, read into the cameras with a straight face, plus signed hard copy distributed to all news outlets.
#9
No dice. Explicit statement, on Hamas letterhead, read into the cameras with a straight face, plus signed hard copy distributed to all news outlets.
read into the cameras with a straight an unmasked face
The Palestinians have received assurances from some European Union countries that they will end their boycott of the PA government with the swearing-in of the new unity coalition, Ghazi Hamad, spokesman for the Hamas-led coalition, said on Saturday. He said the countries that have already signaled their willingness to deal with the new government include Norway, France, Britain and Germany.
Hamad told The Jerusalem Post shortly before the Palestinian Legislative Council endorsed the new coalition that several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar, had been exerting heavy pressure on the US to accept the new government and to lift sanctions imposed in the aftermath of Hamas's victory in the 2006 parliamentary election.
Legislators gave a standing ovation as the council approved the new government by an 83-3 majority on Saturday evening. Eighty-seven out of the 132 members of the PLC participated in separate sessions in Ramallah and Gaza City, which were linked by videoconference. Forty-one legislators, among them 37 Hamas members, are in Israeli prisons.
The new program does not explicitly meet the three conditions set by the Quartet for dealing with the government - renouncing violence, recognizing Israel and abiding by previous agreements - but its wording is open to interpretation, with some arguing that it does meet these conditions.
The new program does not explicitly meet the three conditions set by the Quartet for dealing with the government - renouncing violence, recognizing Israel and abiding by previous agreements - but its wording is open to interpretation, with some arguing that it does meet these conditions.
Addressing the session in Gaza City, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said the unity government marked the beginning of "a new phase in the Palestinian struggle to establish an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital." Referring to the first intifada, which began in 1987, Abbas said: "Today we are proud to say that all forms of struggle that we carried out led more than 10 years ago to the establishment of the Palestinian Authority and its institutions."
He said the "national unity" agreement reached between Fatah and Hamas in Mecca last month was in the context of Palestinian efforts to "end the occupation of our lands that were occupied in 1967 and to ensure a just solution to the problem of the refugees on the basis of United Nations [General Assembly] Resolution 194."
"We are ready, without preconditions, to move forward with the peace process and resume negotiations between the Israeli government and the PLO. The policy of settlements, the construction of the racist separation fence and the siege of Jerusalem will only make the path to peace more difficult and complicated. We are once again extending our hand to achieve the peace of equality and freedom."
Abbas's speech carried four messages, directed to Palestinians, Israelis, Arabs and the international community, respectively. Addressing the Israelis, he said: "We are ready, without preconditions, to move forward with the peace process and resume negotiations between the Israeli government and the PLO. The policy of settlements, the construction of the racist separation fence and the siege of Jerusalem will only make the path to peace more difficult and complicated. We are once again extending our hand to achieve the peace of equality and freedom. Here I wish to emphasize that the Palestinians reject all forms of violence."
Abbas reiterated his pledge to do his utmost to secure the release of kidnapped IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit as part of a prisoner swap. In his message to the Palestinians, Abbas expressed hope that the new government would focus on tackling the anarchy and lawlessness on the streets, implementing social and economic reforms, maintaining the security calm in the Gaza Strip and battling growing unemployment.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"... Here I wish to emphasize that the Palestinians reject all forms of violence."
Except for jew-killing and blowing stuff up, of course.
#2
come back when you can meet the standards, until then, starve, eat shit, and kill each other. Buh-bye
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/18/2007 0:40 Comments ||
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#3
"We are ready, without preconditions, to move forward with the peace process and resume negotiations between the Israeli government and the PLO. The policy of settlements, the construction of the racist separation fence and the siege of Jerusalem will only make the path to peace more difficult and complicated. We are once again extending our hand to achieve the peace of equality and freedom. Here I wish to emphasize that the Palestinians reject all forms of violence."
Aside from the fact that Abbas' statement literally oozes with taqiyya, there is no explicit abandonment of their favorite precondition and deal-breaker, as in Right-of-Return. Until that is officially swept off of the table, all further negotiations are useless.
#4
What the Israelis have demanded of the Paleos is the bare minimum that civilized people can ask of barbarians (recognize Israel as a state, end violence, keep their word), and the Paleos can't even meet those conditions. Pathetic.
Then the Israelis build security fences to keep the savages from exploding themselves in the middle of their population centers, and fools like Jimmy Carter label them an apartheid state. Madness.
And do the Paleos really believe that the Israelis will grant them a "right of return"? Importing the equivalent of a huge city filled with a seething enemy would be suicide, IMO.
The Missouri House this week passed a resolution objecting to the Federal Real ID Act of 2005. The legislation (HCR 20), sponsored by Rep. Jim Guest, R-King City, was approved by a vote of 146-4.
The federal act was part of a homeland security bill signed by President Bush in 2005 and is scheduled to go into effect May 2008. If implemented as scheduled, it would require you to show a federally approved identification card when getting on board an airplane, opening a bank account, collecting Social Security checks and doing almost any kind of business with the federal government.
"The scary part of this is the states are required to keep a data base of all this information plus all the data it takes to get your drivers license," said Rep. Guest. "This data will be shared by all states and our federal government which means any employee in any department of motor vehicles can have access to your information. You talk about security risks and identity theft. This just heightens the possibility of it."
Because of his concerns about the act, Rep. Guest formed a coalition of lawmakers from 34 states to file bills that oppose or protest Real ID. Several states have passed legislation and many more have active bills against Real ID.
#1
The real problem is that such an ID would become mandatory for voter identification. That would kill the graveyard vote and make vote manipulating harder. I don't care if it's a Dummycritter or Repuglycon pushing against it, it's still good law, and necessary in this day and age.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/18/2007 15:51 Comments ||
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#3
No, it's not necessary in this day and age, any more than the gazillion other ID systems and databases filled with personal information.
The entire concept of public identification has long since peaked, become redundant and counterproductive. Always there is the promise that just one more system will "do" something; but it never does.
First of all, opposition to this at the State level points out several very good reason that this law stinks.
1) It is an expensive as hell, unfunded mandate.
2) Security at DMV offices around the country is terrible, and there are DMV security scandals annually. This would be putting a federal imprimatur on bad, local security.
3) The primary reason this is wanted is to "make bureaucrats jobs easier", the single worst idea ever for making new laws.
4) A significant number of IDs are lost by the public and stolen every year, they have to be replaced. Already people in border states need two photo IDs and a third ID before they can get a new or replacement ID.
5) Security in the ID system itself is a fantasy. Again, every year, there are dozens of arrests of people abusing police databases to search for ex-wives, harass and stalk, along with criminal fraud.
6) A national ID card security system would *have* to be on an open computer system, accessible from across the United States, and by proxy, from overseas. It would be a simple hacker accomplishment to break in and make or change all sorts of information.
7) Virtually an entire new federal bureaucracy will have to be created to manage such a database.
8) Hundreds of thousands of Americans would have to be excluded from that database, and have official, but *false* identity papers. Not just secret operatives, but innumerable individuals who could not have their identities associated with their place of business, *and* criminal informants under witness protection and relocation.
Cost of such a system cannot even be calculated, but returns from that system are negligible. Even efforts to make a high-tech passport for US citizens, and requiring them to have one to enter the US has proven to be a disaster. Vast numbers of people are just refusing to travel.
And yet the promises keep coming. Finally, State legislators are putting their foot down and pointing out that this beheamoth is just an incredible waste of time and money. Despite all sorts of philosophies that say ID cards are good.
#4
We now can use a state photo drivers licence for ID to fly comercial. When the rules change, we will need a Federal photo ID to board aircraft, and as the 34 states involved have rejected "Real ID" authentication, those state drivers licences will no longer be valid for even DOMESTRIC air travel. Get yer (internal) Passport now!
#5
Methinks Point 37 is the clincher, as the WOT > WAR FOR NATIONAL-GLOBAL SOCIALISM, espec on America, voluntarily = forcibly, USA making too many "mistakes" to be singularly trusted = mainstream Amerika/USSA wants it to begin with, ...........................@etc.
The regional trial court in Makati has approved the request of detained Moro leader Nur Misuari to travel to Sulu to file his certificate of candidacy on March 20. Misuari has been detained for alleged rebellion since January 7, 2002 first at Santa Rosa, Laguna, then at the St. Lukes hospital early last year and from there in a two-story house in New Manila, Quezon City. The court in a decision dated March 15 but handed over on March 16, granted Misuaris motion for leave to file his certificate of candidacy at the office of the provincial Commission on Elections supervisor in Jolo, Sulu on March 20. The former governor of the five-province, one-city Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is running for Sulu governor. Misuari was given only one day for the travel and his co-accused, Ustadz Abuharis Usman, has been allowed to accompany him. The court also allowed Misuari to fly to Jolo, Sulu on December 14, 2006, to register as voter.
#1
This is going to be nothing but bad. Expect him to win, expect the MNLF to claim an independant state of Sulu, expect the phil Marines to burn Jolo to the ground.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
03/18/2007 10:02 Comments ||
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#2
Judges and lawyers the world over appear to be insane.
An alleged leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah militant group said bombings in Indonesia have hurt Islam's cause there, but he warned of more attacks by small terror groups working independently and influenced by Internet teachings. Abu Rusdan's exclusive interview Friday with The Associated Press
underscored how the terror campaign has divided the militant movement in the world's most populous Muslim nation, and pointed to a possible opening for authorities trying to further isolate extremists.
Right, sure, yewbetcha.
Rusdan is an Afghan-trained militant believed by police and the United States to be a key leader in Jemaah Islamiyah, the shadowy Southeast Asian network that spawned many of the region's terrorists and is believed to have received funds and direction from al-Qaida. In the interview in his large family house in Kudus, a town on Indonesia's main island of Java, Rusdan declined to condemn the militants responsible for the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings and other attacks, saying only that their actions "were unhelpful counterproductive."
"We cannot call what they did an act of evil, let alone terrorism," he said. "But we must see the objective facts: Those actions did not bring positive results in efforts to spread the faith in Indonesia."
"We need to tell them to think again," he said.
The Bali bombings killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists, and thrust the mostly moderate, secular country onto the front lines of the war on terror. Three other suicide attacks on Western targets in the country have since killed more than 40 other people.
Rusdan, 46, said he had no role in terrorist activities, but he danced around questions over his involvement in Jemaah Islamiyah. Police and analysts say he took over as head of the group's "mainstream" faction in 2002 - after the arrest of former leader Abu Bakar Bashir - but likely had no direct knowledge of the bombings carried out. Rusdan was arrested in 2003 and sentenced to 3 1/2 years in jail for hiding one of the militants convicted in the Bali blasts, but he was released in late 2005. Indonesia has not made membership of Jemaah Islamiyah a criminal offense.
Rusdan said more attacks, carried out by independent groups, were likely. "No one can control groups who want to do those kinds of actions," he said. "Many people are not satisfied about the conditions in Indonesia. They can do many things under the influence of teachings on the Internet or books that are circulating widely." Rusdan left for Afghanistan in 1985, but he declined to talk about his activities there. He then lived in Malaysia, where he was close to some of Southeast Asia's most notorious terrorists, including Hambali, who is now in U.S. custody. In 2005, the U.S. government listed Rusdan as a terror leader and ordered banks to block any financial assets he may have there.
Uzi Mahnaimi, Tel Aviv
IRAN is threatening to retaliate in Europe for what it claims is a daring undercover operation by western intelligence services to kidnap senior officers in its Revolutionary Guard.
According to Iranian sources, several officers have been abducted in the past three months and the United States has drawn up a list of other targets to be seized with the aim of destabilising Tehrans military command.
In an article in Subhi Sadek, the Revolutionary Guards weekly paper, Reza Faker, a writer believed to have close links to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, warned that Iran would strike back.
Weve got the ability to capture a nice bunch of blue-eyed blond-haired officers and feed them to our fighting cocks, he said. Iran has enough people who can reach the heart of Europe and kidnap Americans and Israelis.
The first sign of a possible campaign against high-ranking Iranian officers emerged earlier this month with the discovery that Ali Reza Asgari, former commander of the Revolutionary Guards elite Quds Force in Lebanon and deputy defence minister, had vanished, apparently during a trip to Istanbul.
Asgaris disappearance shocked the Iranian regime as he is believed to possess some of its most closely guarded secrets. The Quds Force is responsible for operations outside Iran.
Last week it was revealed that Colonel Amir Muhammed Shirazi, another high-ranking Revolutionary Guard officer, had disappeared, probably in Iraq.
A third Iranian general is also understood to be missing the head of the Revolutionary Guard in the Persian Gulf. Sources named him as Brigadier General Muhammed Soltani, but his identity could not be confirmed.
This is no longer a coincidence, but rather an orchestrated operation to shake the higher echelons of the Revolutionary Guard, said an Israeli source.
Other members of the Quds Force are said to have been seized in Irbil, in the Kurdish area of northern Iraq, by US special forces.
The capture of Quds members in Irbil was essential for our understanding of Iranian activity in Iraq, said an American official with knowledge of the operation.
One theory circulating in Israel is that a US taskforce known as the Iran Syria Policy and Operations Group (ISOG) is coordinating the campaign to take Revolutionary Guard commanders.
The Iranians have also accused the United States of being behind an attack on Revolutionary Guards in Iran last month in which at least 17 were killed.
Military analysts believe that Iranian threats of retaliation are credible. Tehran is notorious for settling scores. When the Israelis killed Abbas Mussawi, Hezbollahs general secretary, in 1992 the Quds Force blew up the Israeli embassy in Argentina in revenge.
Despite the Iranian threat to retaliate in Europe, Iraq is seen by some analysts as a more likely place in which to attempt abductions.
In Iraq, the Quds Force can easily get hold of American and British officers, said a Jordanian intelligence source.
#2
Tsk, tsk. All those high ranking military guys disappearing. Could be the work of the satanic Americans. Or maybe someone simply appealed to their self-interest, military guys being the pragmatists that they are. Didn't Sun Tzu say something about it being bad luck to be on the losing side?
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/18/2007 15:10 Comments ||
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#4
Ya know, it would almost be funnier if those guys had simply been killed and dropped into the nearest well. Sure, not as useful as milking them for what they know, but easier to conceal and just as maddening to the mullahs.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
03/18/2007 15:31 Comments ||
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#5
We're missing a bet here. For example, were Iran to kidnap say, General Weasely Clark, "General" John Murtha, and Jimmy Carter, I mean, we couldn't just rush in there and rescue them.
Like, people could get hurt and puppies and kittens and shit. We would have to think about that very carefully before doing anything rash.
#7
"Send us something to show that you really have them! Like a frontal lobe"
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/18/2007 18:50 Comments ||
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#8
Get ready Reza boy, the U.S. has been thinking about you and your kind for years. Let's break it down for you: 1. you are not as smart as you think, and 2. although you think your sh*t don't stink, it do stink. Some amazingly bad things are happening to you, and will get only get worse. As the philosopher said, "Good things can only get better, bad things can only get worse." Your bad situation can only get worse.
#10
whatadeal....I think you misquoted what that philosopher said. If my memory recalls me correctly the saying goes,"Good things can only get worse, bad things can only get better."
Kinda changes everything, don't it? Or maybe your shit just stinks.
Posted by: the Prophet ||
03/18/2007 21:39 Comments ||
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#11
I am sure your memory is correct, its just that the philosopher I was referring to ran Miami for the bad guys years ago, and I believe he was in charge of eliminating bad things before they got worse. It may be a misguided philosophy for a good life, but appropriate for the Iranians and what is coming their way.
#13
Heapin' helpin' of NaCl would seem to be in order here. Of course, something has been happening.
I'd have liked to see a campaign about 10 times harsher and more in-your-face start a few years back. Iraq was a good place for it. Of course who knows, we might have actually been in the game for some time now - but who wants to bet me $5 we have been?
It's much easier for JDAMs from unseen B-2s to make Iranian buildings vaporize then it is for Iran to seize US officers in Iraq. Should have been happening already.
United Nations troops patrolling southern Lebanon have found few arms caches there. That has heightened concerns about Hezbollah making preparations elsewhere for another war with Israel.
About 13,000 U.N. troops have been tasked with creating a weapons-free buffer zone north of the Israeli border. They say they have found little in the area besides abandoned bunkers and spent missile launchers. "The vast majority of bunkers, positions and facilities that we've come across are those which are redundant. There is no sign of maintenance," says Liam McDowall, a spokesman for the U.N. force in Lebanon. "And the vast majority of explosive devices, improvised explosive devices, shells, missiles, again, are inoperable."
Hezbollah has openly bragged of stockpiling 33,000 missiles and regrouping its fighters in case of another war with Israel. "We openly declare that we have weapons, that we are completing our preparedness for a greater and more dangerous stage," Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader, said last month.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/18/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
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#1
Graphic is dead on.
Kind of hard to find something when you don't even look.
#6
Just remember, France, that in the next war, UNIFIL is between Israel and Hezbollah. If you don't find and confiscate the weapons, you may be the one shot with them. Of course, such practical matters mean little to raving moonbat politicians, but soldiers should be intelligent enough to figure out the percentages...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/18/2007 16:02 Comments ||
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#7
hopefully israel wil kick thheznollah and the uns' next time
Tehran, Iran, Mar. 17 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met and held talks with Syrian Prime Minster Mohammad Naji Otri, the official Syrian news agency SANA reported on Saturday. The two met in the north-eastern city of Mashad following the Iran-Syria Joint Higher Committee.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/18/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
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#1
Iran and Syria are speaking on future war against Israel, America and the West in general.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
03/18/2007 19:47 Comments ||
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#2
more likely: "how did you let him go to Turkey???"
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/18/2007 19:50 Comments ||
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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.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who maintains warm ties with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahamadinejad, said Friday in a television interview that he opposed Ahmadinejad's call to "wipe Israel off the map." 
BEIJING - North Korea will not shut its nuclear facility at Yongbyon until it gets back all its money frozen in a Macau bank by US sanctions, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan said on Saturday.
SEOUL - North Korea has begun preparations to shutdown and seal its key Yongbyon nuclear reactor, South Koreas top nuclear envoy said on Saturday, according to the Yonhap news agency. Pyongyang was also willing to start moving towards disabling its nuclear facilities but its actions would depend on how soon it will be rewarded, Chun Yung-woo told reporters in Beijing. North Korea said it has begun preparations to shut down the Yongbyon nuclear facilities. It said it will disable the facilities as soon as conditions are met, the envoy said.
A controversial national Islamic civil liberties organization has revived its Minnesota chapter after a series of highly publicized incidents involving Muslim taxi drivers, store clerks and airline passengers.
Thousands of demonstrators protesting the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq marched on the Pentagon yesterday, jeered along the way by large numbers of angry counter-protesters. Organizers billed the antiwar rally as marking the 40th anniversary of the 1967 march on the Pentagon. At times, verbal clashes during the cold and blustery day demonstrated that the bitter divisions of four decades ago sparked by Vietnam are very much alive in the debate over Iraq.
A group of 
Bob Anders, 60, an Iowa banker who said he served with the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam and rode a bus from Iowa to protest the war, had his heart set on seeing the memorial but turned around after seeing the situation. "I've never seen the memorial, and I wanted to see it in a spirit of protest," he said.
WASHINGTON - US President George W. Bush on Saturday threatened to veto emergency money for Iraq and Afghanistan if it includes measures aimed at forcing a US withdrawal or unrelated domestic spending. Congress needs to approve emergency funding for our troops, without strings and without delay. If they send me a bill that does otherwise, I will veto it, Bush said in his weekly radio address.
The Taliban must be defeated in Pakistan this year, otherwise the country risks falling under the sway of extremists as much as Afghanistan did before September 11, 2001, said former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on Friday. 
KHAR: A jirga of Mamoond tribal elders and senior administration officials warned tribesmen on Saturday against sheltering foreign terrorists in Bajaur Agency, elders said. Anyone sheltering foreigners will be punished heavily, tribal elder 
President General Pervez Musharraf has said a conspiracy is being hatched against him and the country over the reference against the chief justice of Pakistan. Addressing a public gathering of some 30,000 people at Pakpattan on Saturday, Gen Musharraf said he was confident that with the nations support, he would overcome the intrigues against him and the government. 
PCHRs preliminary investigation indicates that at approximately 16:00 on Thursday, 15 March 2007, Mohammad Salam El-Huweitat (32-years old resident of Nuseirat refugee camp) was admitted to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital suffering from a bullet wound in the left foot. His injury was sustained as a result of gunshot fired during a wedding celebration for one of his relatives. 
Vice Premier Shimon Peres rallied to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's defense Saturday, rejecting the assertion that the current government was not among the "country's greatest." Peres said that as an Israeli citizen and as a member of the Knesset, he had faith in Olmert, and described him as "one of the best prime ministers that there has been" when he spoke to Israel Radio Saturday.
The regional trial court in Makati has approved the request of detained Moro leader Nur Misuari to travel to Sulu to file his certificate of candidacy on March 20. Misuari has been detained for alleged rebellion since January 7, 2002 first at Santa Rosa, Laguna, then at the St. Lukes hospital early last year and from there in a two-story house in New Manila, Quezon City. The court in a decision dated March 15 but handed over on March 16, granted Misuaris motion for leave to file his certificate of candidacy at the office of the provincial Commission on Elections supervisor in Jolo, Sulu on March 20. The former governor of the five-province, one-city Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is running for Sulu governor. Misuari was given only one day for the travel and his co-accused, Ustadz Abuharis Usman, has been allowed to accompany him. The court also allowed Misuari to fly to Jolo, Sulu on December 14, 2006, to register as voter.
Uzi Mahnaimi, Tel Aviv 
United Nations troops patrolling southern Lebanon have found few arms caches there. That has heightened concerns about Hezbollah making preparations elsewhere for another war with Israel. 
