A Tunisian astrologer who reportedly predicted the deaths of Princess Diana, Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Yasser Arafat says President Bush will be killed by an assassin's bullet in 2005.
So seriously are Hassan al-Sharibi's predictions taken in the Arab world that a similar prophecy about Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Mahmoud Abbas has resulted in increased security around the candidate to replace Arafat as president of the Palestinian Authority.
Abbas' aides put a "great deal of credence" in the prediction, according to a source quoted by the Jerusalem Post.
However, the paper tempered its report by saying critics label Sharibi "a quack with flair who relies on logic and wishful thinking. After all, predicting Yassin's assassination — he was Israel's 'public enemy No. 1' — and the death of an already ailing Arafat are hardly major feats."
Soothsaying is not unusual, nor forbidden, in Islam — as it is in Christianity and Judaism. Muslim caliphs relied on court astrologers as early as the eighth century, according to the report in the Jerusalem Post.
Sharibi also predicted the sudden death of Saddam Hussein before his trial begins.
"The Middle East region will be sitting on a volcano in 2005, and the situation in Iraq will get even more dramatic as Saddam Hussein is expected to die suddenly before his trial even starts," Sharibi said, according to a report by United Press International.
#1
If GWB is assassinated, I predict Cheney will run for re-election. If they think GWB is conservative, just wait till they get a load of Cheney. It will be fun to see Rumsfeld get the VP slot.
#2
I have practiced western "Astrology." It's pure horseshit. I can assure you if you pay me I will get all the planets and conseletations lined up just right to grant your wish or give you the kind of reading you want. I have had "readings" done by "experts" It's 100 % pure horse shit. Arabic or Oriental Astrology is the same damm bunkum. It's a time honored method of seperating you from your money and thats all it is.
#3
Soothsaying is not unusual, nor forbidden, in Islam â as it is in Christianity and Judaism
I call BS and direct this idiot to RB Futures
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/28/2004 21:28 Comments ||
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#4
First thing first...has anyone subjected al-Sharibi to the Soloman Test?
When is the year of his own death; and how will it be done? Failing that question, he should be assasinated by western operatives for not seeing it coming!
#7
There is a greater probability of some of Michael Moore's and Al Franken's PEST Democrats or some of the denizens of the Democratic Underground pulling the trigger than a foreign assassin. These people take the concept of culture war seriously and don't believe that any laws apply to them.
MANAMA — Bahrain took a step further in combating terrorism, with the Cabinet discussing a draft law that would allow the government to bring suspects to trial.
Capital idea! Now you just need another draft law that allows you to find terrorists 'guilty' after a fair trial. And another draft law that allows you to 'shoot' convicted terrorists.
During the weekly meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Sulman Al Khalifa, the cabinet discussed a draft law, which aims to formulate a comprehensive law that combats terrorism and bring its perpetrators to the court of law. The draft was transferred to the competent ministerial legal committee for further studies.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/28/2004 12:33:28 AM ||
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ISLAMABAD: More than 47,000 intending pilgrims from both government and private schemes, have been flown to Jeddah, for Haj 2005. Vakil Ahmed Khan, religious affairs secretary, told APP on Monday that the pre-Haj flights for Pakistani pilgrims would continue until January 15. He said 150,000 intending pilgrims would be taken to Saudi Arabia by 444 Haj flights from eight locations across the country.
Give our regards to the Moon God. Try not to get crushed in the festivities.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2004 00:00:00 ||
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#2
Remember, this is another 40,000 novices delivered straight into the hands of Wahabbists and their not-so-tender mercies. Saudi Arabia needs to be divested of its role as gate kepper for the haj. Much better that a multinational coalition oversaw attendance than some of the most violent and intolerant Islamists there are.
#3
Actually the Haj has become quite a burden to the Saudi govt. in the past decade or so.
The cost of providing security and infrastructure is very high and the pilgrims spend mostly on basic food and lodging (which aren't taxed) and not very much on luxuries (which are indirectly taxed).
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/28/2004 8:54 Comments ||
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#6
4000 if an ankle's shown...
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/28/2004 9:00 Comments ||
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#7
I should have added that the Haj is not just a burden to the Saudi govt. It also is bad for the economies of all the Moslem countries because of the money going for non productive travel and for the no productive costs involved in transfering possession of animals to slaughter.
Well, that certainly would only be fair, I agree, heh. They don't make jets or construct buildings worth knocking down, but one must make do with what one has in the third world... ;-)
LONDON: Britain's top spy John Scarlett is planning a major shake-up of his MI6 intelligence agency, The Sunday Times reported. Plans by Scarlett, who took over at the officially titled Secret Intelligence Service in July, reportedly include separating the work of intelligence gathering and intelligence checking, in order to ensure the information is reliable. Integrated MI6 teams formerly carried out both the gathering and checking of intelligence.
Collection and analysis are two separate skills. There's got to be a certain amount of feedback between the two, but it's like using two separate sets of muscles...
The reforms were announced to MI6's "general assembly" earlier in December, the newspaper said. It said the changes were aimed at reducing embarrassing faulty intelligence like the "45-minute claim" used by Prime Minister Tony Blair as a key argument for going to war on Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2004 00:00:00 ||
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#1
Does he favor the wholesale hiring of "Asians" - quaint euphemism - into the secret services that was announced a few months ago?
#3
Just like in the purge of the CIA, I suspect that MI-6 had become infested with "-philes", whose judgement and even loyalty was questionable. You cannot have an emotional investment in a country you are spying on, or it clouds your opinions. Nor can you give a pass to a culture, religion or philosophy that you admire. Imagine having spies of pre-war Italy who looked at Mussolini's fascism as admirable because "it makes the trains run on time" and "he has supressed the Mafia".
MADRID, Spain (AP) - The Islamic Commission of Spain has asked the parliamentary panel probing the Madrid train bombings to refrain from referring to terrorists as "Islamic" or "Islamist", the leading daily El Pais said Thursday.
How about muslim jihadi murderers, does that work for you?
"Unfortunately (these terms) are used too frequently in political, journalistic and editorial circles, almost on a daily basis, creating a public opinion of social, anti-Islamic alarm," the group's leader Ria Tatary said in a letter sent to the parliamentary commission.
Yeah, reporting the facts tends to do that.
"Terrorism is perceived in the world of Islam as a crime along with genocide, both being crimes against humanity," El Pais quoted the letter as saying.
Terrorism is perceived in the world of Islam as any action against them, including rolling your eyes while reading this letter. Attacks on infidels are not terrorism, just an expression of their deep religious beliefs.
The March 11 bombings, which killed 191 people and injured 1,800, have been blamed on Muslim religious extremists with possible ties to the international terror group, al-Qaeda. Eighteen people, mostly Moroccans, have been charged and jailed in the case. Tatary pointed said the terrorists despise all those who do not think like them, whether they are Muslim or not. He said several Muslims, including an imam, were killed in the March 11 attacks.
Incidental colateral damage, they died for the "cause".
Posted by: Steve ||
12/28/2004 11:31:02 AM ||
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#1
The disconnect is amazing. We, poor misled Westerners still insist upon the cause => effect thingy. How crude and un-nuanced of us. Our betters, by definition, know better, of course, and here they try to explain it to the knuckle-dragging reactionary cowboys of the West. BTW, are these The Moderate Muslims⢠we've sought for so long? Or just another apologist / untapped resource biding their time? Steve reports. You decide.
#4
Nothing wrong with stating the facts. If they're IRA terrorists, say so. If they're Shining Path terrorists, say so.
If the shoe fits... you know the rest!
Posted by: Dar ||
12/28/2004 12:13 Comments ||
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#5
Why don't you members of the Islamic Commision of Spain explain the difference between yourselves and the drug addicted, internationally funded crime syndicates of jihadi muslim murderers killing and maiming in your name? Could you maybe do that for us?
and while your at it, could you come down hard on outlaw outfits such as al jazeeerah, and al arabeeah for, in effect, slandering you, your beliefs, and your supposedly good name and reputation? Huh? If you suckers got a P.R. problem, why do you display such cowardiss in the face of your now self proclaimed, moneyed betters? Soldiers report that tons of drugs- Heroin (from Afghanistan), Amphetamines (from labs in Fallujah), and Cocaine (form Columbia) are imported and pumped into your Jihadi(?) apostate bretheren; to keep and maintain them as unrepentant, irredeemable, conscienceless killers. Its MSMedia policy to silence reporting on this element of their- how is it to be referenced, oh yes- fabricated, rebel, insurgient, freedom fighting drama.
Are you rooting for them in private or is your problem with al jazeera, who is rooting for them, and functions as their PR wing?
Cowards, miserable cowards all.
Posted by: an dalusian dog ||
12/28/2004 12:52 Comments ||
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#6
Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack.
Posted by: Jack is Back ||
12/28/2004 12:55 Comments ||
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Translated by Worldpress.org contributing editor Peter Valenti
... It is certainly true that not all Muslims are terrorists, however, sadly we say that the majority of terrorists in the world are Muslims. The kidnappers of the students in [the city of Beslan in the Russian state of] Ossetia were Muslim. The kidnappers who killed the Nepalese chefs and laborers [in Iraq] were also Muslims. Those who perpetrate acts of rape and murder in Darfur are Muslims, and their victims are Muslim also. Those who blew up civilian housing complexes in Riyadh and Khobar [Saudi Arabia] were Muslims. Those who kidnapped the two French reporters [in Iraq] were Muslim. The two women who blew up those two planes a week ago [in Russia] were Muslim.
Quite a laundry list there, al-Rashid. You've convinced me.
Bin Laden is a Muslim and [the rebel cleric in Yemen, Husayn Badr al-Din] al-Hawthi is a Muslim, and most of those who carried out suicidal acts against buses, schools, houses, buildings all over the world in the past ten years also were Muslims. What a terrible recordâdoesnât that say something to us about ourselves, our societies and our culture?
Why, yes, it does.
These images are grim, shameful and despicable for us when we gather them and lay them out together in one day [here in this article], however instead of ignoring and justifying them we must first recognize the validity [of this sad truth] and not compose articles and speeches declaring our innocence. It makes it easier for us to treat ourselves if we recognize the sickness. [For] self-treatment begins first by recognition. Then it is incumbent on us to repudiate our terrorist offspring, as they are a natural result of a distorted culture. Listen to what television sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi said, publicly issuing a fatwa giving permission to kill American civilians in Iraq. Imagine that, a religious scholar urging the killing of civilians, a sheik who belies the wisdom that old age supposedly brings, inciting the tender youth to kill civilians, [and] all the while he has two daughters who are studying in the safety of British protection in the infidel United Kingdom.
Which is why Qaradawi needs a bullet in his head.
How can a father like him face the mother whose son [Nick] Berg was butchered because he came to Iraq to work on industrial towers? How can we believe him when he says to us that Islam is a religion of mercy and tolerance while he is turning it into a religion of blood?
Um ... we can't?
Before this age of extremists, we considered leftists and nationalists as extremists, a source that undermined [our society] by their embrace of the principle of violence and their ease of adopting the vocation of murder; [whereas] the mosque was a place of secure comfort, and religious scholars were missionaries of peace and their sermons revolved around praiseworthy morals.
Not anymore, if it ever was that way.
Islam is tyrannized because of the new Muslims. [It is] an innocent religion - evidence of which is indicated in its scriptures that forbid the cutting of trees for the sake of causing harm, and classified murder as the greatest of sins, and condemns someone who even tramples on an insect, and rewards a person who quenches the thirst of a cat. This is the Islam that we knew before the rise of groups that âinfidelizeâ [declare other people infidels] brought about by the organizations, curriculums and teachers whose thinking has been overcome by the political [radical] groups and thus polluted their religion and minds.
Whatcha gonna do about it?
It certainly doesnât honor us that we are affiliated with those who take pupils as hostages in a school, and those who kidnap journalists, and those who kill civilians, and those who blow up buses (no matter what agonies these vengeful people may have suffered). These are the ones who disfigure and blacken the name of Islam. And we will not be able to improve our reputation until we recognize the clear and disgraceful truth: that most of the terrorist acts today in the world are perpetrated by the hands of Muslims. It is incumbent on us that we realize that we will not be able to reform the condition of our youth who commit these abominable crimes until we rectify the mentality of our sheiks who transform [themselves] into revolutionaries in their pulpits, sending other peopleâs children to wars while they send their children to European and American schools.
Straight from the horse's mouth. "All terrorists are Muslim," said by a Mulsim. I'll optimistically rate al-Rashid as a Moderate Muslim.â¢
#9
As I recall, Zen, the Shining Path terrorists weren't Muslim. Nor the Columbian left-wing terrorists. Nor the Maoist insane terrorists in Nepal. Nor Timothy McVeigh.
Truth in advertising: not all Muslims are terrorists, and not all terrorists are Muslim.
Damned sure are a lot of 'em, though ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/28/2004 14:18 Comments ||
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#10
the freemoslemcoalitionagainstterrorism http://www.freemuslims.org/
have a number of postings opposing terrorism
but as this posting at: http://www.secularislam.org/articles/khawaja23.htm
shows, the muslims against terrorism, while good people, aren't very true to actual Islamic texts
A few too many for my tastes. I also seem to recall that the other groups you cite aren't vigorously seeking acquisition of biological or nuclear weapons to use against America.
While this doesn't change the fact that all of them are terrorist organizations, it clearly imposes some prioritization upon where and how we should focus and project our military power.
#1
The Dutch, dominated by leftist thinking, thought that by allowing unlimited immigration into their tiny country and unlimited access by immigrants to perpetual welfare, that millions of new votes for leftist policies would be assured. Now it's too late to undo the damage.
#3
It is not so much "leftish" thinking but a culture that has been dominate since the late 15th century. Remember it was Holland who was tolerant of the Puritans/Pilgrims that eventually settled in America. And it was in Leiden at the university that the foundations for American style tolerance and liberty were founded then exported to New Amsterdam/New York. This is nothing recent for the Dutch but finally, they are reaching a zenith of tolerance and diversity when they allowed the Islamist to come in but not assimilate.
Posted by: Jack is Back ||
12/28/2004 12:59 Comments ||
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#4
Excellent observation, Jack. Tolerance has a very difficult time combatting willful subversion, just as America's open society somehow enables terrorist operations within our borders. I think the Dutch are finally beginning to discover that even tolerance has its limits, especially when people are turning that tolerance directly against those who show it.
#5
The Dutch are tolerant, but also extremely leftish and statist by our standards. If you've ever experienced the crowded conditions of Holland you would wonder why they thought it was a good idea to allow lots more people in.
#7
Lol, JFM... I was thinking something along the line that "tolerance", though this might give heart palpitations to the PC crowd, isn't always a good thing. Consider Islam, for example...
#8
I'll argue that, .com. Tolerance is a wonderful thing, it alone is responsible for plurality and healthy cultural diversity.
What isn't a "good thing" are cultures who think that they can abuse such tolerance in order to take advantage of a society that does not mandate assimilation. Such opportunistic, and essentially predatory, cultures must be identified for what they are. Namely, the enemy of peaceful coexistence.
Tolerance is not the problem, proper detection and perception of subversive ideology is. Be it Islamism, communism, theocracy or Nazism, such totalitarian mindsets will always be the enemy of any free and open society.
Islam, in particular, is making what amounts to zero effort towards assuring that its adherents assimilate into their adoptive cultures. Such an insular and societally noncohesive mentality should be treated with suspicion and face expulsion.
EFL: The head of an independent investigation into alleged corruption in the U.N. oil-for-food program said most of the money illegally obtained by Saddam Hussein came from smuggling, much of which the U.N. Security Council knew about but didn't stop. In an interview being aired Tuesday on Alhurra, the U.S. government-backed television station tailored for Arab audiences, Paul Volcker questioned the reliability of reports that Saddam diverted amounts ranging from $1.7 billion to $21 billion from the $60 billion oil-for-food program.
You see where this is going, don't you?
The former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman said there was a lot of confusion made between money Saddam earned from smuggling and money obtained illegally under the oil-for-food program. He refused to give any estimates, saying his investigation is still under way. "The big figures that you see in the press, which are sometimes labeled oil-for-food — the big figures are smuggling, which took place before the oil-for-food program started and it continued while the oil-for-food program was in place," he said, according to a transcript obtained Monday by The Associated Press.
"Nothing to see here, there's no story, move along. Please?"
The Security Council authorized the oil-for-food program to help Iraqis cope with U.N. sanctions imposed after Saddam's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Launched in December 1996, it allowed the former Iraqi regime to sell oil provided the money went primarily to buy humanitarian goods and pay reparations to victims of the 1991 Gulf War. Saddam's government decided on the goods it wanted, who should provide them, and who could buy Iraqi oil — but the Security Council committee overseeing sanctions monitored the contracts. In a report in October, top U.S. weapons investigator Charles Duelfer said Saddam was able to "subvert" the oil-for-food program to generate an estimated US$1.7 billion in revenue outside U.N. control from 1997-2003. In addition, Iraq brought in over US$8 billion in illicit oil deals with Jordan, Syria, Turkey and Egypt through smuggling or illegal pumping from 1991-2003 when sanctions were in place, he said. U.S. congressional investigators reported in November that Saddam made more than US$21.3 billion in illegal revenue — over US$13 billion from smuggling and about US$7 billion by subverting the oil-for-food program. "Without question, (there were) problems in the oil-for-food area," Volcker said. "But when you look at those US$10 billion figures, or US$20 billion figures, most of those numbers are so-called smuggling, much of which was known and taken note of by the Security Council, but not stopped."
Now it's "so-called smuggling". By the time his final report comes out, there'll be no connection with the UN at all.
Volcker refused to speculate on why the council didn't stop the smuggling, but indicated the issue would likely be addressed in his reports. An initial report is expected in January and a final report in the summer, he said.
"Or the fall. Maybe next winter, it depends on how long lunch is."
Volcker stressed that his inquiry is focused on "what went wrong or right inside the U.N." in managing the oil-for-food program. The investigation isn't just focusing on whether U.N. officials may be guilty of corruption, he said, but on other issues: Did U.N. officials follow proper procedures? Was there "bad administration rather than corrupt administration?" What were the directions from the Security Council, and what was its responsibility?
Trying to shift the blame from Koffi to the Security Council, and by implication, to the United States.
But Volcker said the investigation can't avoid the question of smuggling, including why the Security Council didn't take action to stop it and the responsibility of the five permanent veto-wielding members — the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China.
Uh huh.
He said cooperation with his investigators has generally been good, though it varies by person and country, especially when it comes to financial matters. Volcker said his investigators have interviewed Saddam's associates, and plan to interview more — but they have not asked to interview Saddam, though "maybe we should." Asked whether he thought Saddam managed to buy U.N. support by distributing vouchers to purchase Iraqi oil, Volcker said "I think that's a very complicated question, probably very difficult to find the answer to. But you're just going to have to wait until we're able to report more fully."
He's hoping it will just go away if he stalls long enough.
With serious allegations against the United Nations as an institution, and U.S. Congressional calls for Secretary-General Kofi Annan's resignation over the oil-for-food allegations, Volcker said an investigation is needed "to clear the air." "And if there were mistakes made, that ought to be revealed. If there was corruption, malfeasance, that ought to be revealed. And my hope is that that will strengthen in the end confidence in the institution because it will have to reform," he said.
Sorry, I have no confidence in the ability of the UN to reform.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/28/2004 10:30:02 AM ||
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#1
without subpoena power, punishment possible for those who refuse to cooperate, and a dedicated tenacious driven investigator, this is a whitewash. I'm sure Mike Sylwester will find solace, truth, and niceness in it, though
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/28/2004 11:04 Comments ||
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#2
So apparently the Security Council is more culpable than the governments/companies/individuals who stole the money.
The UN is like a soap apera-no matter how many months you miss, it's the same old story.
#4
If memory serves, the US and Britain called out certain problems in the late-1990s only to be overruled by the others (that would be China, Russia, and France). Any surprises here?
Posted by: Capt America ||
12/28/2004 11:57 Comments ||
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#5
If Aziz starts to sing, he will quickly lose his voice, permanently. What is Volcker doing playing the fool for the UN, isn't he rich and comfortable enough already?
#6
Hope you're right, Capt America. It would fit right into the picture of the increasingly distrustful US' opinion of the UN, and would explain WHY the Security Council didn't (couldn't) do anything. Much the same is going on today-"there are no problems with the UN, we are responding exactly as is appropriate in all situations...".
If we are going to stay in this "august" body, we better push hard for some changes in how to take care of problems within the UN. If our hands our tied, fix the problem causing that. If we can't fix it, recognize the whys and whos and decide what the value is in staying in the UN as an impotent member.
#2
This just makes me say "Fook Them All, let them all drown"
worthless pigs.
Oink Oink Sri Lanka
Posted by: God Save The World ||
12/28/2004 17:02 Comments ||
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#3
We don't need no steenkin' Israeli's.
Never fear, Aris is here!!
Posted by: Torn Achilles ||
12/28/2004 17:36 Comments ||
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#4
So which one is it? Did the Sri Lankans object to "the military composition of the team"? (WTF does that mean???) Or is there really a "lack of accomodations in Colombo"? (a weak excuse, to be sure).
#6
Good going, Sri Lanka. Nice way to demonstrate how ready you are to join the international community. What a trainwreck, and on so many different levels.
#7
This falls into the Too Stupid To Live category - which I once reserved for movie actors wandering around in the dark until Jason offed 'em. Here's the real world version. Assholes.
The key United States military base in the Indian Ocean has been unaffected by the tsunamis which have devastated parts of Asia, The Washington Post has reported. Diego Garcia, a British territory about 1,500 kilometres south of India, hosts about 3,200 US military personnel and civilian contractors and many US long-range bombers and Navy ships. Lieutenant Colonel Bill Bigelow, a spokesman for US Pacific Command in Hawaii told the newspaper the US base was apparently safe. "There are no reports of any damage there," Lt Col Bigelow said.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
12/28/2004 9:49:32 AM ||
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#1
Amazing! Either GOD was watching over the troops, or we have the most sophisticated albeit clandestine early warning system in the area, we would prefer to keep to ourselves!
#5
As I followed this particular story yesterday, I learned that the island does not have a continental shelf, per se. If fact, one of the deepest trenches in the Indian Ocean lies just offshore. Without a gradual shallowing of the sea, the tsunami had nothing to build upon, thus for all intents it bypassed the base.
The Thai premier's attempt to shift blame onto Malaysia and Indonesia for his failure to quell an Islamic insurgency in southern Thailand was a blunder that threatened regional ties, analysts warned. Thaksin Shinawatra's administration had often stressed that mounting separatist violence in the south that has left more than 560 people dead this year was fuelled in part by Muslims returning radicalised from study overseas. But when he stated in a weekly radio address December 18 that Thai militants were training across the border in the jungles of Malaysia, and had received inspiration from extremists in Indonesia, he stirred up a hornets' nest. "It was a huge breach of diplomatic etiquette for the prime minister, who should not make such comments in public," said Phuwadol Songprasert, a lecturer in regional relations at Bangkok's Kasetsart University. "Such comments have made both the Malaysian and Indonesian governments unhappy" and could damage their ties with the majority Buddhist kingdom, he told AFP.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2004 00:00:00 ||
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#1
Why is it that analysts always warn that calling a spade a spade is bad? Stirred up a hornet's nest? Breach of etiquette? There are innocent dead people you jackasses - and you're worried about the tone of Toxin's speech? Where does reality fit into your world view, "Mr Analyst"? Wotta load.
Malaysia claims they're not involved with the "insurgency". So what "ties" can be damaged by going after renegades? There is, by this claim, no one to negotiate with - and the Buddhists certainly didn't start this mess. But, if you ever want it to end, you'd better get on the right side of it - and that's to fight them.
Take the offensive, Toxin. Ignore the REMF wonks and take the fight to the border. Mine the whole thing, if you need to. Train troops for real war - else they'll keep getting picked off like schoolboys just hanging around, instead of acting like serving soldiers.
#2
Thai militants were training across the border in the jungles of Malaysia, and had received inspiration from extremists in Indonesia
And all three of these countries are going to need large quantities of our help in the very near future. Maybe we need to ensure some real cooperation for a change, instead of the usual lip service.
#3
"Always be polite to those who are stabbing you in the back." I'm sure the PM will want to pay close attention to this 'lecturer.' I'd bet Thaksin's got a few recon photos in his desk to back up the charges.
BTW, I think "Phuwadol Songprasert" might make a good addition to Fred's anonymous name generator.
#5
PBMcL Fred's real source of income is providing new names for 2nd and 3rd world countries. His name generator is subscribed to by more than 1500 clinics, hospitals and individual birth facilitators from Karachi to Vientiene.
I can't believe they walked into that one. Sure hope Bush intends to run with it...
For an ophthalmologist, he isn't too bright ...
Syria on Monday demanded that the United States produce any evidence that Syria is meddling in Iraq's internal affairs and assisting the insurgency against US-led coalition troops in the country. The state-owned Tishrin daily said Syria has repeatedly called on US envoys and Iraqi officials to put forth evidence to prove their accusations and said Syria was "still waiting" for proof. "The US accusations are nil, void and baseless," Tishrin said in the front-page editorial. Iraqi and US officials, including President George W. Bush, have accused Syria of meddling in Iraq's affairs and aiding the insurgency.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2004 00:00:00 ||
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#1
"Yeah, sure, Assad... I got your proof right...HERE!"
#3
Do you think-perhaps- Assad had his family pull some strings to get him accepted into med school in the UK? Look at his dumb face. Puhleeze-no way Assad could pass a driver's test much less the MCAT facsimile entrance exam.
#4
The state-owned Tishrin daily said Syria has repeatedly called on US envoys and Iraqi officials to put forth evidence to prove their accusations and said Syria was âstill waitingâ for proof.
Whatever GWB has, now's the time to lay it out on the table.
#8
Syria on Monday demanded that the United States produce any evidence that Syria is meddling in Iraqâs internal affairs and assisting the insurgency against US-led coalition troops in the country.
Oh, the good old days of pre-PC. Just build a pile of skulls from the corpses of the Syrians killed in the fighting [or after the fighting] in Iraq, facing Damascus, not Mecca.
#11
One of the dangers of showing them what we have is that they then also find out what we don't have, and perhaps don't have the ability to find out. I think this demand from Syria might well be an attempt to find out what we've discovered, so as to learn where their security problems are.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste ||
12/28/2004 18:36 Comments ||
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#12
I have read that we've actually found people with Syrian passports in Fallujah and other places. Hopefully we have evidence like this that we can show them without revealing all of our cards.
#13
I have read that we've actually found people with Syrian passports in Fallujah and other places. Hopefully we have evidence like this
While it's true that Syrian nationals have been caught in Iraq, that's not evidence per se that they are terrorist agents of the state, unless confessions were made to whit. Also, Iraq's borders not being protected for a long time, so Assad could say it was difficult for him to prevent lawless Syrian "individuals" to penetrate Iraq's unprotected borders.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3533647.stm
"Improving border security in Iraq is something that Shia leaders have long called for" 3/4/2004
#14
One of the dangers of showing them what we have is that they then also find out what we don't have, and perhaps don't have the ability to find out. I think this demand from Syria might well be an attempt to find out what we've discovered, so as to learn where their security problems are.
All true. This is easily a fishing expedition on Syria's part. Yet, Assad using his own (certain) wrong doing as bait remains something less than brilliant.
Israel's army chief, Gen. Moshe Yaalon, reprimanded the officers involved in killing three Egyptian soldiers last month, an army statement said. An army investigation found that the shootings resulted from "professional failure". On November 18, Israeli forces killed three Egyptian policemen near Rafah area on the Egyptian side of the Gaza border.
The Israeli army claimed at the time that they opened fire at the soldiers after mistaking them for Palestinian fighters trying to cross the sensitive border between the two countries. Chief of staff Lieutenant-General Moshe Yaalon had ordered "an official reprimand to the chain of command involved in the incident," including the army's southern brigade commander in the occupied Gaza Strip, the statement said. Yaalon stressed "the severity of the incident," saying that he found "professional failure of the IDF force regarding the method of operating tanks in that area, and failure in the control and command of the forces." Yaalon told the findings of the investigation to his Egyptian counterpart, and apologized for the incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2004 4:25:03 PM ||
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This al J columnist basically says the 1988 massacre was just a (here's a surprise) Zionist propaganda plot to cover up the fact that the Iranians did the... - he also misquotes an Army war college report, etc. What happened in Kurdish Halabja?
By Mohammed al-Obaidi [who is a Univ Professor in the UK]
The truth of what happened in Halabja had always been hidden from the public, and many who knew exactly what happened in this Kurdish village in the second half of March 1988 disputed the western media coverage of the story.
Ahhh... Secret knowledge, not available to the likes of you and me...
It is a fact that key Kurdish leaders aided by the CIA and the Israeli Mossad have used a wide network of public relations companies and media outlets in the west to manipulate and twist the truth of what happened in Kurdish Halabja in 1988 in favour of the Kurdish political...
December 28, 2004: The United States Army is introducing the German designed Bussard guided 120mm mortar projectile (the "XM395 precision guided mortar munition"). The 39 pound, 39 inch long shell homes in on reflected laser light from current laser designators used by American troops. The shell has a range of 15 kilometers, and the guidance system on the shell provides accuracy of several meters (from the point where the laser is pointed at.) Unguided shells only have a range of 7.2 kilometers and are much less accurate. The guidance system of the XM495 allows for accurate hits no matter what the range, so XM395 mortar shells can be fired effectively to their maximum range of 15 kilometers. The seeker electronics in the shell use thermal batteries, giving the shell a shelf life of ten years. Various types of warheads can be used, including penetrators for taking out bunkers. Targets like this are usually too small to be hit, much less taken out, by mortar fire. But the XM395 has been able to do it in tests. A high explosive shell would be a big help in city fighting, where you want to hit the house full of bad guys, and not the hospital next door. The U.S. Army has over a thousand 120mm self-propelled mortars. These were produced, or converted from older systems, in the late 1990s. U.S. infantry and tank battalions have 6-10 120mm mortars each. Light infantry units have 120mm mortars that are hauled around in hummers and set up for firing.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/28/2004 11:11:58 AM ||
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#1
Cool!
Can I get one? :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/28/2004 11:21 Comments ||
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#4
Raptor, wasn't that in a cartoon someplace (Bugs Bunny? Daffy duck?). The shell stops at the door, a hand emerges and knocks politely and when (whoever) answers *boom*....
#7
where's the fun in that?
Hyper, the fun is in the precision. Anyone can level an entire city block. A true artist can drop one of these beauties into the cake at a wedding party without disturbing the valet parking guy.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/28/2004 16:10 Comments ||
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I was mocking those who proclaim the USA kills indiscriminately, while ignoring the obvious reason for producing smart munitions, whose function is to avoid killing innocent while killing-very-dead, um, non-innocents.
Make no mistake, I support 100% the World War on Islamo-fascists, and I like my wedding cake well-targeted:)
#1
Sounds pretty awful. Is it just me, or does the term "Maoist" seem like a polite way of saying "Communist Chinese proxies"? A Maoist takeover of India would be a good way for China to neutralize its main rival in Asia.
#2
"...and the actual capacities of the political leadership that modern systems - particularly democracies - throw up..." I think they let the cat out of the bag right there.
The Iranian Mullarcy did this a few days ago. This time a secular group is doing it.
CAIRO: A Muslim scholars union yesterday condemned twin bombings this week in the holy Shiite cities of Najaf and Karbala that left 67 people dead. The International Association of Muslim Scholars suggested the attacks could be connected with Zionist (Israeli) and other international intelligence agencies and aimed at damaging Iraq's social cohesion.... The association, which groups Sunni and Shiite scholars, is based in London and headed by Egyptian-born Sheikh Youssef Al Qaradawi [who some of our fine Islamic 'scholars' in the US consider a moderate]
who lives in Qatar. It was founded with the aim of helping Muslims in the West adapt to their adopted countries.
Posted by: mhw ||
12/28/2004 8:22:22 AM ||
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#1
Secular? Lol - you're waay too generous, mhw! They don't refer to themselves as a Human Rights Scholars Union or a Constitutional Scholars Union... No, they're Muslims Firstâ¢.
What is abundantly clear, however, is that they didn't forget to pack their Jooo-Hate / Conspiracy Stupidity⢠and take it with them.
Militant groups including al Qaeda are exploiting lawless areas in the seven-nation Horn of Africa region to hide, recruit and train members and possibly plan attacks, the head of the region's U.S.-led anti-terror force said Monday. "We find the terrorist networks here using the fact that there is a lot of ungoverned space in the Horn of Africa," said Maj. Gen. Samuel Helland. "Because of (this) ... it's very easy for a terrorist organization to establish a presence ... It's very easy for them to train, equip, organize and use the facilities that are present to gain a foothold."
"And I suspect that if we look very hard at the area we'll see that there is some training going on for operations in other parts of the world," he said in a telephone interview from Djibouti, where he heads the Combined Joint Task Force overseeing counterterrorism activities in the Horn of Africa. Since late 2002, Djibouti has hosted U.S. troops using the tiny state as a base to hunt down the kind of militants who attacked the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, killing 200 people. The task force in the Horn of Africa region encompasses the territory and airspace of Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Yemen and Ethiopia, as well as the coastal waters of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Helland took over the task force in May.
"I think we can say with some level of confidence that there are al Qaeda operatives in the Horn of Africa," Helland said, adding that the network provided ideological inspiration as well as direct support to local militants. "Suspicions are pretty high" that al Qaeda militants had personal contact with local radicals, he said. "There is a capability here within the region that is supported as we see in open form by the al Qaeda network that extends out of the Middle East."
The United States and nations in the region are trying to determine the extent of al Qaeda's presence in the Horn of Africa, "who they are, where they are and what they're doing," he said. U.S.-led forces have so far been unable to root out the militants because they blended in with local populations in chaotic areas that have escaped local government control, Helland said. "This is ungoverned space they thrive in. It is a place where there is chaos. It's a place where there is no governance. There's no rule of law. It's all based on warlord relationships, and they just go ahead and blend in with them," he said. Helland said the U.S. forces were working with regional states, conducting military, border security and maritime security training, as well as civil affairs projects like drilling wells, repairing medical clinics and providing veterinary services to enhance stability and make it more difficult for militant recruiters.
Happy holidays to everyone standing watch in the Horn. Good luck and good hunting.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
12/28/2004 2:17:01 AM ||
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It's a shame that more of the bad guys weren't out swimming off Somali beaches over the weekend.
Japan decided Tuesday to give Iraq 10 billion yen in grant aid to improve its public services, such as hospitals and the police, Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said. Of the amount, 8.45 billion yen will go to health and home affairs ministries of the Iraqi interim government as funds to buy 700 ambulances, 150 police buses and 500 police motorcycles to improve the security situation all over Iraq, the ministry said. Japan will also allocate 866 million yen for the government of the southern Iraqi province of Muthana, where Japanese troops are stationed, to buy medical equipment for 32 local primary health centers. The remaining 658 million will be for the city of Samawah, the provincial capital, to buy garbage-collecting equipment such as vehicles and containers, the ministry said.
Domo aregato, Japan.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
12/28/2004 12:21:12 AM ||
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#1
Indeed, Sea! Japan, once again, demonstrates leadership and independent good will and effort. Kudos!
#2
As I recall, Japan is the #2 donator to the U.N. and other international efforts, yet demands little in the way of control. If any country is to get a permanent seat on the UNSC, Japan should be it.
#3
Currently, Japan accounts for 20 percent of the 1.3 billion dollar annual UN budget, [ 2nd largest donor], is the number one donor to [official development assistance] providing an average of about 11 billion dollars in ODA annually, and is the largest single contributor to UNESCO, the UN Development Programme (UNDP),and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), among various other UN funds and programmes
http://www.jca.apc.org/web-news/corpwatch-jp/63.html
yet demands little in the way of control
Recently Japan has been politicking big-time for a seat on the Security Council, but has been unsuccessful in its efforts.
#5
Oh yeah, I'd love to see Japan and India on the Security council. It would be so much fun watching the Chicoms and the IslamoEUrans quiver and shit peach seeds.
Presidential election frontrunner Mahmud Abbas urged Palestinians to abandon the armed uprising on Sunday as Israel vowed to ensure a free and fair ballot to choose Yasser Arafat's successor. Abbas said that the Palestinians could not hope to secure a military victory over the Israelis and that attacks by militant groups and the use of weapons would only be counter-productive to the national cause. "I believe that it is clear that a military solution is impossible," the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) chairman told a gathering of business leaders in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
And what was your first clue?
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2004 00:00:00 ||
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#3
Remember, Abbas believes that the Palestinians can peacefully outbreed the Israelis, in the end pushing them off the land by sheer force of numbers. Off the top of my head, Palestinian fertility is about 6 births/woman (down from 9) vs. 2.5 for Jewish Israelis and about 5 for Muslim Israelis. On the other hand, the Palestinian death rate appears fairly high,due to rule-by-thug and variously caused explosions and "lead poisoning", much higher than that of the Israelis these days. Also, Palestinian emigration of the most highly educated and those who desire to live more quietly, continues to be high. So I don't think Abbas is correct in his view of historical trends. On the other hand, there is some question -- in my mind at least -- how long he will live to push his position.
#4
âI believe that it is clear that a military solution is impossible,â the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) chairman told a gathering of business leaders in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
I don't buy this. If a military solution is impossible, then the logical alternative is to play for time in order to come up with a new plan. His only change has been method, and not objective, but I wouldn't mind being proven wrong.
#6
hmmmm - how long before an epidemic sweeps the overstuffed, underserved, unclean Paleo towns and camps? Guess whose fault it will be? Wait, that was too easy....
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/28/2004 8:56 Comments ||
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#7
Well, the suicide bombers have been abandoning their arms for a long time. Legs, heads too.
Posted by: Capt America ||
12/28/2004 12:02 Comments ||
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#9
It's still the best message that could come out of Palestine. Would it have been better if the new frontrunner had said "we will continue our resistance, including violent resistance". Out of possible answers, this is better, not worse.
#10
I am obliged to agree with you, Jules. Unfortunately, as SPoD said, "What did he say in arabic?"
The Palestinians have ZERO credibility and it will take a lot of unilateral demonstrations upon their part to convince anyone, except themselves of course, that they are once again worthy of trust. I welcome Abbas' pronouncements of peaceful intent, but his actions will have to speak for him instead.
Writing in a US newspaper, Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi on Monday stressed that former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party who have not committed crimes will be able to live normal lives if they respect the current law. "We are reaching out to all Iraqis in a spirit of national unity and reconciliation, and will continue to draw a clear distinction between criminals of the former regime and those who are innocent of such crimes but found it necessary to join the Baath Party to earn a living," Allawi wrote in an article published in The Wall Street Journal. "All those who respect the rule of law will be respected by us and given the opportunity to live as productive citizens," he continued. "Those who choose crime and terror will be defeated."
The assurances came amid growing concern that Sunni Iraqis, who made up the core of former leader Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, will boycott the January 30 elections for the National Assembly and thus rob any new government of its legitimacy. Media reports suggested US officials were quietly talking with Iraqis about setting aside a number of top government jobs for Sunnis, whatever the results of the election.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2004 00:00:00 ||
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#1
Here we go again,
Allawi and his 'reaching outitis'! This man has 'reached out' so much that I'm sure he has broken or dislocated shoulder blades! Allawi is conscripting his own destiny; mark my words, as soon as the insurgents and/or the Baathists see their opening to get close, he will be assassinated!
#2
Allawi was once a member of the Baathist party, so this is not such a "stretch" for him. Makes you wonder why a Shiite like Allawi was allowed to serve in Saddam's Bathist run government in the first place?
#3
Writing in a US newspaper, Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi on Monday stressed that former members of Saddam Husseinâs Baath Party who have not committed crimes will be able to live normal lives if they respect the current law.
The question is, who's going to keep an eye on these people?
#4
This is a simple cover-ass gesture. The Sunni and the Baati are governed by evil, evil, I tell ya.
Posted by: Capt America ||
12/28/2004 11:59 Comments ||
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#5
in a sense Allawi is correct
a lot of people joined the Baath party in order to keep their job or to get a promotion (Allawi was one of the latter) and did not commit crimes either under Saddam or later
having said that however you have to note that a lot of people collaborated in Saddam's crimes or helped cover up the crimes (Allawi left the country rather than do this - bless him).
Eventually, they must come to terms with this.
Of course the immediate problem is the terrorists and their supporters in the AP, Reuters, the tenured professors league of UC Berkeley, etc.
The federal government has planned to utilise funds provided in the Annual Development Plan for the development of seminaries and has asked provincial governments, Northern Areas and the administration of the federal capital to provide lists of registered religious seminaries located in their respective territories. The Ministry of Education has also prepared a concise questionnaire for this purpose and has sent copies to concerned authorities for distribution.
Through the questionnaires the ministry of education plans to identify the seminaries worthy of financial assistance. A source in the education ministry said that not even a single seminary would be able to meet the requirements set by the ministry. The education ministry has asked concerned authorities to collect information about the qualification of the teaching staff at the seminaries and give certificates in the fields like sewing, composing, typing. They have also been asked to provide a list of the teaching staff and students that have been sent abroad by the government for higher education. In the questionnaire, seminaries have been asked to provide details about medical facilities available to students. The questionnaire also asks about the number of doctors and allied staff working at the facilities and the number of patients who use the facilities every week. The questionnaire also seeks information about expenditures of the seminaries, including the salaries of the teaching staff, utility bills and above all the sources of income of these seminaries.
Sources said that the education ministry scrapped a list of seminaries compiled by the district administration of Islamabad saying that the list did not correspond with the one prepared by the ministry. Sources added that according to the Capital Police, 292 seminaries were working in the federal capital, out of which only 144 had been registered.
It's a baby step, but it's a step. First you have to know the size of the problem. Then you can try to manage it and eventually solve it.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2004 00:00:00 ||
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New allegations made on Sunday by the New York Times say that Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan sold $100 million worth of nuclear gear to Libya and as a "sweetener" included blueprints for a 10-kiloton nuclear bomb. The report says intelligence officials had watched Dr Khan, "for years", though it fails to say why they waited, "for years", before exposing his alleged network.
I dunno. Ask Madelain Albright...
US experts were unsure who else had those designs besides Libya. They were not certain if the designs had also been passed on to Iran, Syria or the Al Qaeda organisation. Experts from the US and the IAEA are said to have quarrelled over who should have control over the blueprints and after, "hours of tense negotiation, agreement was reached to keep it in a vault at the Energy Department in Washington, but under IAEA seal." According to the newspaper, nearly a year after Dr Khan's arrest, "secrets of his nuclear black market continue to uncoil, revealing a vast global enterprise."
We're talkin' major International Man of Mystery here...
And a certain lack of cooperation by multiple peoples ...
"The breadth of the operation was particularly surprising to some American intelligence officials because they had had Dr Khan under surveillance for nearly three decades, since he began assembling components for Pakistan's bomb, but apparently missed crucial transactions with countries like Iran and North Korea," added the report.
That's because he knew that we knew that he knew that we knew...
#2
Dr Khan âpulled off a coupâ by obtaining the blueprints for a weapon that China had detonated in its fourth nuclear test, in 1966. The design was notable because it was compact and the first one China had developed that could easily fit atop a missile.
Our good old pal, China. Always willing to help out the little guy. Isn't it time to hold China accountable for destablizing Asia and the Middle East? Or, are cheap video cameras and athletic shoes so important?
#5
Abdul Qadeer Khan is the running for anti-Christ junior along with Bill Clinton. They're the two biggest nuclear proliferators. Abdul Qadeer Khan is alleged to have sold nuke technology to Brazil..... He was in it for the money more than Islamic fundamentalism.
#6
I've said for a while now that Khan's activities were known to (or directed by) the ISI, and now it looks like others, too. What the f*ck was the CIA doing letting him walk the streets? Where are the arrests, etc. that his "trail" led to? There's more here than meets the eye. I see a need for some rope danglin'.
#7
What the f*ck was the CIA doing letting him walk the streets?
Simple, they were collecting intelligence on him. Collecting, collating, assembling, filing, etc, etc. Arresting him would have cut off the flow of information and put the file clerk out of a job. Plus, I'm sure State had their grubby hands in it somewhere. They were (and still are) operating in the same mode they did during the Cold War, collecting data and making reports. Acting on the info would have required them to expose their sources.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/28/2004 9:27 Comments ||
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#8
A magnificent source is way too important to ever risk acting on the intelligence gotten from the source. Intelligence is to have and collect in its many varied and diverse forms, not to use.
#9
Steve & Ship-
Silly me, I thought the purpose of collecting intelligence was to use it!
As Dr. Strangelove put it: "Yes, but, uh, the whole idea of the Doomsday Machine is lost... if you keep it a secret! Why didn't you tell the world, eh??"
#10
You'll never make it the glamourous world of intelligence gathering Spot. Intelligence is to have, not to use. It's a thing of beauty and value without regard to it's uses.
#13
hold china to account? you stupid bumbass. you are over stretched in iraq, your new rightists want to go into iran, (they will kick your ass) , the North Koreans are pissing in your EAR and YOU prick want to hold C H I N A to account? When will you dumbass little fucking nazis begin to understand?
interesting view though
#16
hold china to account? you stupid DUMBASS. you are over stretched in iraq, your new rightists want to go into iran, (they will kick your ass) , the North Koreans are pissing in your EAR and YOU prick want to hold C H I N A to account? When will you dumbass little fucking nazis begin to understand?
interesting view though
#18
ok so i waited for five fucking minutes for you dumb shits to say something smart and you FAILED. get off this pathetic site - get a firefox browser learn tabs research yourself a unique fucking view on life. then die. i wont be back.
Nancy's out of purgatory, is she? Good luck to her. Pakland was probably not her favorite assignment.
ISLAMABAD: Riyan C Crocker, the US ambassador to Pakistan, will be briefed today (Tuesday) on the ongoing anti-militant operation in South Waziristan. Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind, the states and frontier regions minister, will brief the US ambassador. The repatriation of Afghan refugees living in Pakistan will also be discussed at the meeting.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2004 00:00:00 ||
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#1
Ryan Crocker is a sharp guy, worked with him and his RSO (Regional Security Officer)on some security issues back in '96 when he was the Ambassador of the American Embassy in Kuwait. He definitely knew his shit about the Arab Psyche/MO, if you don't know Arab Diplomacy in a job like that you get eaten up right quick. Sorry about the protracted absence R-Burgers, Rantburg has been banned from my work computer under the "No Chat" rule.
#2
We're not chatting here, we're Fighting The Global War On Terror. Tell the boss your country needs you. And somebody here get BG the, um, alternate address.
#8
.com, you are a wicked darling! Yes, I did see your pictures... they were for me? I didn't realize, even as I enjoyed the slightly salacious silliness. Despite all my efforts, I don't have the technical ability to be a geek myself, but at least I can appreciate. That's part ot the fun of being married to an engineer, and having many as friends. ;-)
LAHORE: Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao has said that more dedicated and coordinated efforts are required to fight terrorism and crime.
A taste for blood would help, too, but apparently that's confined to the border Pashtuns...
Addressing the 10th inter-provincial conference on law and order, the minister praised the performance of provincial governments and law-enforcement agencies in fighting crime, but said there needed to be a better system of information sharing and personnel between agencies. Sherpao also emphasised upon the need to tighten security at the common Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan border to prevent smuggling and dacoity. The chief secretaries, home secretaries and police chiefs of the four provinces and senior officers of federal law-enforcement agencies are attending the two-day conference, which began yesterday.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2004 00:00:00 ||
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dacoity - n : robbery by a gang of armed dacoits
dacoit (also dakoit) - A member of a robber band or gang in India or Myanmar (Burma).
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.
ISLAMABAD: More than 47,000 intending pilgrims from both government and private schemes, have been flown to Jeddah, for Haj 2005. Vakil Ahmed Khan, religious affairs secretary, told APP on Monday that the pre-Haj flights for Pakistani pilgrims would continue until January 15. He said 150,000 intending pilgrims would be taken to Saudi Arabia by 444 Haj flights from eight locations across the country.
LONDON: Britain's top spy John Scarlett is planning a major shake-up of his MI6 intelligence agency, The Sunday Times reported. Plans by Scarlett, who took over at the officially titled Secret Intelligence Service in July, reportedly include separating the work of intelligence gathering and intelligence checking, in order to ensure the information is reliable. Integrated MI6 teams formerly carried out both the gathering and checking of intelligence. 
Militant groups including al Qaeda are exploiting lawless areas in the seven-nation Horn of Africa region to hide, recruit and train members and possibly plan attacks, the head of the region's U.S.-led anti-terror force said Monday. "We find the terrorist networks here using the fact that there is a lot of ungoverned space in the Horn of Africa," said Maj. Gen. 
Presidential election frontrunner 
Writing in a US newspaper, Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi on Monday stressed that former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party who have not committed crimes will be able to live normal lives if they respect the current law. "We are reaching out to all Iraqis in a spirit of national unity and reconciliation, and will continue to draw a clear distinction between criminals of the former regime and those who are innocent of such crimes but found it necessary to join the Baath Party to earn a living," Allawi wrote in an article published in The Wall Street Journal. "All those who respect the rule of law will be respected by us and given the opportunity to live as productive citizens," he continued. "Those who choose crime and terror will be defeated." 
New allegations made on Sunday by the New York Times say that Dr 
