As MPs gather in Ottawa to discuss Canada's more combative role in southern Afghanistan, a senior Taliban official and coalition commanders painted two disparate images Sunday of where the war is headed. In a weekend interview with The Canadian Press, insurgent spokesman Qari Yuosaf Ahmedi said the Taliban are convinced the resolve of the Canadian people is weak. As suicide attacks and roadside blasts increase, the public will quickly grow weary, he said. We think that when we kill enough Canadians they will quit war and return home, Mr. Ahmedi said in an interview, conducted through a translator, over a satellite telephone.
Given the fact troops are already deployed, Mr. Ahmedi suggested Monday's House of Commons debate as a sign of indecision among Canadians. In addition to his fire-breathing rhetoric, the Taliban's public relations spokesman claimed that the insurgency had recruited 180 suicide bombers for operations in and around Kandahar over the next few weeks. He said they are prepared to attack Canadians any one else, at any place and at any time.
But coalition commanders had a vastly different assessment, painting the Taliban as cornered, marginalized into rural pockets, struggling to raise money and find recruits. The reason we think the Taliban are falling apart is because the pattern of attacks we're seeing is not co-ordinated, said Major Quentin Innis, a Canadian liaison officer with the local community. It may appear there are a lot of attacks going on and those are regretable.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2006 00:00 ||
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Boyo. You don't understand Canadians at all. You just said the magic words. They are Scotts, Danes, Sweeds and Norkis' with a smattering of Russians and Germans tossed in to an ample pot of French speakers and Englishmen who middle names often are "don't hang you labels on me." They will do the opposite of what you said just to prove you wrong. NFC Mr Taliban Offical. The MP's will piss and moan but they will not back down from the likes of you losers.
Posted by: SPoD ||
04/10/2006 0:38 Comments ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Hamid Karzai in India: Well, we are very happy in Afghanistan with India helping us in a manner that is not expected,
India went out of its way to provide us with great economic assistance. Indias help is reaching up to $600 million. It has helped us in all walks of life,
Karzai has a through command of English..so these wordz were carefully chosen to be purposful.
now Ima no Diplo, but these wordz are a bank shot to Perv, a not to subtle hint..
'Since you no f*ckie respect our frontiers, we nogonna f*ckie respect you or urn nither'!
#2
Very simple: let's dream that Afgahanistan succeds and becomes richer than Pakistan. What happens? Pashtuns from the NWFP would remind that the Durand traety has expired and would try to seced in order to join Afghanistan. If it were only for that reason (and there are many others) Pakistan has all interest in keeping Afghanistan as a failed state. And that means that any Afghan who sincerely loves his country (and is not completely brainwashed by the "We are all Muslims" BS) will look for an alliance with the enemies of Pakistan.
Cherie Blair, the wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, was in Afghanistan yesterday for a series of meetings focused on judicial reform and women's empowerment, the British Embassy said. Blair, a human rights lawyer, met President Hamid Karzai and also his wife, Zinat, on her daylong trip from Pakistan. "During both meetings she discussed a variety of issues, including human rights in Afghanistan, reform of the justice sector, and empowerment of women," the embassy said in a statement.
I wonder if she said anything about freedom of religion?
Blair visited a girls' school and chaired a discussion at the embassy on human rights and justice that was attended by the head of the Afghan human rights commission and UN officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2006 00:00 ||
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#2
Nah, I won't wish a burka on anyone--just a paper bag would do. (What on earth happened to Tony when he married this creature? I mean, she is not only awfull to look at, but total cucoo to boot--some people may be not pretty but at least have some mental capacity, or loonies, but somewhat presentable physically)
#3
The other problem is what is she doing in Afghanistan. Someone should remind both to to her and Tony Blair that the spouse of a prime minister has got no mandate from the people to represent it so she is a Mrs Nothing. Her duty is to smile and shut up. And that allowing her to intervene in politics just because she married the PM has a name: nepotism.
#4
JFM: Please tell me that mug shot is NOT a smile. I vote for industrial-strength, rip-stop burka. Agree with post, as Mrs, Head of State, she may be an impo't'nt persoan, but carries no official weight.
A U.S. Navy Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) team from the amphibious dock landing ship USS Oak Hill (LSD 51), boards the MV Bhakti Sagar. The boarding came after the Bhakti Sagar requested assistance.
ABOARD USS OAK HILL (LSD 51), At Sea - USS Oak Hill (LSD 51) provided assistance to a distressed vessel approximately 60 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia March 30, while conducting maritime security operations (MSO) in the area. The crew of Motor Vessel Bhakti Sagar contacted Oak Hill via radio, asking for assistance. As part of MSO, coalition forces have a longstanding tradition of helping mariners in distress providing medical assistance, engineering assistance, and search and rescue. The motor vessels crew said they needed food, water and fuel.
I was surprised to hear them call me over the radio, said Ensign Andrew Wilcox, the officer of the deck at the time the U.S. ship received the distress call. Shortly after dawn Oak Hill sent a Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) team to the motor vessel to assess how Oak Hill could help. The crew was scared at first, but after they saw we were there to help them they calmed down, said Operations Specialist Seaman Nicholas Cheramie, VBSS boarding team member.
This is pretty much a Notschitt story there's more at the link except for the photo of the Bhakti Sagar. Seems like every few days we have a story about a ship in turban-infested waters going down with greater or less loss of life. Looking at the conformation of the Bhakti Sagar the reasons become a little more clear. I'm not a nautical kind of guy, but I can recognize top-heavy when I see it.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2006 10:24 ||
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Obviously the Somalis don't believe in scraping old paint.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2006 14:09 Comments ||
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The MV Bhakti Sagar looks like it was built with half the blueprints from Noah's Ark and a magazine illustration of a Mississippi river boat's superstructure. And, Dr. Steve, that is not paint on the side. It may be from Tom Sawyer's whitewash brigade, or from gull poop when it was laying on its side during low tide.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/10/2006 16:52 Comments ||
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#4
The big clue is the gopher bark substructure...
#5
The white line down the side looks to be the true waterline.
She's riding very high and unballasted, They do that for fuel economy, (fairly safe as long as there's a dead calm) but overall a good candidate for capsizing, get those ballast pumps going NOW folks.
While you can
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/10/2006 20:23 Comments ||
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#6
think of a bobber while fishing for sharks?
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/10/2006 21:09 Comments ||
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SAUDI ARABIA has invited bids for the construction of a security fence along the entire length of its 900km (560mile) desert border with Iraq in a multimillion-pound project that will attract interest from British defence companies.
The barrier is part of a package to secure the Kingdoms 6,500km of borders in an attempt to improve internal security and bolster its defences against external threats.
Saudi Arabia is concerned that the chaos in Iraq could cause an overspill of sectarian violence and terrorism. The kingdom claims to be winning the battle against al-Qaedas Saudi wing but wants to protect itself against Saudi insurgents returning from Iraq.
Theres no suggestion that the border isnt secure at the moment, so it could be a bit of an expensive white elephant, a European diplomat in Riyadh said. Saudi militants join ing the insurgency use other routes, such as Syria.
Riyadh is worried by the rise to power in Iraq of the Shia majority, with its close links with Iran, which Saudi Arabia mistrusts. It is concerned that its Shia minority, which is concentrated in the oil-producing eastern province, may become radicalised.
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#5
Theres no suggestion that the border isnt secure at the moment, so it could be a bit of an expensive white elephant, a European diplomat in Riyadh said.
Very typical Euro response. Never thought I'd be high-fiving the Majic Kingdom. Nothing on Bid Radar yet, still looking.
#6
This is so strange. When Israel announced it's desire to build a wall abutting Palestine, the World Community complained including the UN. Israel said the barrier was to protect it's territorial borders.
Egypt, if I am not mistaken, also has a security wall built along the Palestinian border. I remember the bulldozers punching a hole in it from Palestine several months ago. I don't remember anyone complaining when it was built.
Now Saudia Arabia wants to build a border fence with Iraq to protect itself from terrorists.
The United States wants to put a border wall on to protect it's Southern Border from illegal immigration. The Mexican Governments and NGO's files formal complaints in protest.
Complaints about Israel >1
Complaints about the United States >1
Complaints about Egypt and Saudia Arabia 0
DOHA, Qatar, April 9 (UPI) -- Kuwaiti researcher Abdullah al-Nufaisi told a seminar in Doha, Qatar, that Saudi Arabia is preparing a nuclear program, the Middle East Newsline reported. He said Saudi scientists were urging the government to launch a nuclear project, but had not yet received approval from the ruling family.
So they're not joining the club tomorrow.
Riyadh denies any intention to establish a nuclear energy program, but Gulf sources told the Middle East Newsline Saudi officials have been discussing a nuclear research and development program -- and that the program would be aided by Pakistan and other Riyadh allies.
Khhaaaaaaan!
"Saudi Arabia will not watch as its neighbors develop nuclear weapons," a Gulf source said. "It's a matter of time until a Saudi nuclear program begins."
A matter of time, and intel, and scientists, and facilities, and technicians, and ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2006 00:25 ||
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"Saudi Arabia will not watch as its neighbors develop nuclear weapons"
Fine and dandy. Be sure to turn your heads when we blast the snot out of Iran.
#2
A close to ideal non-proliferation agreement could be reached with nuclear-coveting 3rd world countries: pebble bed reactors.
Simply put, pebble beds are ceramic balls with radioactive material mixed in. They lie on a floor with indentations in it, like hundreds of eggs in cartons. They need miminal technical support and give off a fixed amount of heat.
Advantages are that they are smaller power plants, cannot become supercritical or meltdown, and are built over a deep pit, so that when the balls are exhausted, they drop straight down for permanent disposal--no reprocessing needed.
Though they produce enough energy for commercial use, they do not produce enough to enrich plutonium, and no other weapons grade isotopes are produced in their use.
This solves one big problem: if a country says it wants nuclear power for peaceful uses, then pebble bed reactors are the way to go. If it wants weapons, then it wants more conventional reactors.
The technology for pebble beds is easier than conventional reactors, and China is planning to produces hundreds of them. So there really is no excuse, or effective pretense that the larger, more powerful reactors are needed.
In fact, if the Chinese are successful with their reactors, pebble beds would be much more economical for the US to use in the future, now that most of our nuclear plants are far beyond their projected useful lifespans. Practically speaking, a typical US State could have one or two, and the more populous States could have half a dozen each.
A Saudi foundation plans to launch next year a private university it hopes will help reform the strict Muslim kingdoms much-criticised education system. The whole reason for Al Faisal university is . . . to cause a change in Saudi Arabia, you can only do it with education, said Prince Bandar bin Saud bin Khalid al-Saud, deputy managing director of the King Faisal Foundation. We look at education as an agent of change in Saudi Arabia.
The reform of education in the kingdom, which follows an austere version of Islam, has been under debate since the Sept 11 attacks on US cities, carried out mainly by Saudis. Local and Western critics say the education system fosters the radical Islam espoused by militants. They say schools and universities also do not arm young Saudis with the right skills to get a job in a country with a rapidly growing native population.
Prince Bandar said the university enjoyed the support of authorities to become the benchmark for other universities in Saudi Arabia. Costing hundreds of millions of dollars, it will focus on sciences and will not offer courses in Islamic or social studies. We will teach engineering, medicine, science and business technology . . . Al Faisal should be like the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) or the Cambridge of the Middle East, he told Reuters in an interview late on Saturday.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2006 00:00 ||
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"Al Faisal should be like the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) or the Cambridge of the Middle East"
Maybe MIT should send them Noam Chomsky? You know, for "authenticity"?
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) second-in-command Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai was placed on a 10-day remand yesterday in an arms case. The Detective Branch (DB) of police, accompanied by the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) members, produced Bangla Bhai before the No 2 Cognisance Court here at around 11:45am. He was wearing a helmet and bullet-proof vest.
After the hearing, First Class Magistrate Smiriti Rani Karmakar granted the remand sought by DB Sub-inspector Mainul Islam for interrogating the militant kingpin. This is for the third time Bangla Bhai was placed on remand. He was remanded for 20 days earlier, 10 days each in Rab assault case and explosives case.
Other accused in the arms case are his wife Fahima Khatun, bodyguard Masud and his host Chan Miah. SI Nazrul Islam of Rab filed all three cases with the Muktagachha Police Station after the arrest of Bangla Bhai at Rampur village under the upazila on March 6. Bangla Bhai looked fresh and was smiling at the court and he exchanged salams with the waiting journalists and members of law enforcement agencies.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2006 00:00 ||
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The Government is facing renewed calls for an independent inquiry into the July 7 London bombings.
Conservatives said an independent probe was vital to avoid "another Government whitewash".
The demand came after reports that the official inquiry into the attacks will say they were planned on a shoestring budget and did not have any direct support from al Qaida.
According to the Observer, the Home Office report, being complied by a senior civil servant, will say the atrocities were not the work of an international terror network as originally suspected.
Rather they were carried out by four men who had scoured terror sites on the internet.
Tory homeland security spokesman Patrick Mercer said the lack of a link with al Qaida was difficult to believe.
"The leak suggests that the Government's narrative on the July attacks is going to make no connection with international terrorism and al Qaida," he said.
"I find that very hard to believe. A narrative from the Government is going to come from the same sources that provided us with the dodgy dossier over Iraq. This is why it is so important that we have an independent inquiry and not just another Government whitewash."
The Government has repeatedly rejected demands for a public inquiry into the attacks. Instead it will publish a definitive account of what happened in a written narrative.
Tony Blair has said a public inquiry is not necessary. There are numerous inquiries by MPs' committees. And the Prime Minister has said it was already know "essentially" what happened.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/10/2006 02:46 ||
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they were carried out by four men who had scoured terror sites on the internet
Caused by four men who visited Pakistan and returned radicalised and hell-bent on murder. Mmmm..
Posted by: Howard UK ||
04/10/2006 5:12 Comments ||
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(EFL)
President Hugo Chávez warned he could declare the United States ambassador William Brownfield persona non grata and thus expel him from Venezuela if the diplomat continued to walk around Venezuela "as if he owned the country."
Chávez' remarks came Sunday during his 252nd weekly radio and TV ¡Aló, Presidente! (Hello, President!), from north central Carabobo state.
"You are a provoker. We do reject any aggression, and we do not encourage aggressions, but the (US) ambassador continues to insist in appearing in a baseball field to donate gloves and balls... His recklessness and provocation may result in a serious situation. The United States threatened us, but this is a provocation of the empire to seek another incident... You may start packing your things." Arrogantly giving baseballs to poor kids! Will those imperialist Yankee dogs stop at nothing?
During the first hour of his seven-hour show, Chávez talked about Jesus Christ, in the occasion of Palm Sunday. Seven hours! "You can't touch this, Fidel, viejo!"
#1
the little man continues to escalate until we kill him. Why not just skip to that step and avoid a lot of other dead venezuelans?
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/10/2006 15:00 Comments ||
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Hugo, quit banging your spoon and throwing peas, do us a huge favour and PNG EVERYBODY! Turn the US mission into a Walmart. We'll save millions each year.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is seeking to deepen ties with Iran, with discussions on holding joint military exercises and obtaining uranium, according to Bush administration officials.
Hamas also is talking to Caracas about sending representatives to Venezuela to raise money for the militant group's newly elected Palestinian government.
But relations with another ally, Russia, have soured over a deal in which Moscow is selling 100,000 AK-47s to Venezuela. The South American country was counting on receiving new rifles, but Russia has shipped a number of refurbished models, prompting Caracas to halt the deal, the U.S. sources said.
Mr. Chavez's continuing efforts to cozy up to Iran are of increasing concern inside the Pentagon and State Department.
Mr. Chavez yesterday threatened to expel the U.S. ambassador, after accusing the diplomat of provoking tensions, according to reporters in Caracas. The threat came two days after pro-Chavez demonstrators tossed eggs, fruit and vegetables at Ambassador William Brownfield's car and the State Department warned Venezuela that it faced consequences if it did not protect the U.S. envoy.
The Washington Times reported in October that the Chavez government had made overtures to Iran about obtaining nuclear technology. The U.S. and European allies are now trying to force Tehran to give up its stated ambition to enrich uranium, a possible first step to building nuclear weapons.
U.S. officials told The Times that talks now include discussions on Venezuela's obtaining uranium for what is feared to be a fledgling nuclear program in Caracas.
"Hugo Chavez has been clearly talking to Iran about uranium," said a senior administration official, who asked not to be named.
The official said he could not confirm reports that Venezuela wants to buy uranium from Iran.
Having made several trips to Iran, Mr. Chavez has declared solidarity with the country's hard-line mullahs and has entertained Iranian officials in Caracas as he seeks to build an anti-U.S. axis that also includes Fidel Castro's Cuba.
Mr. Chavez has endorsed Tehran's nuclear ambitions, and voiced support for the terror insurgency in Iraq.
"I am on the offensive," Mr. Chavez said on the Arab-language Al Jazeera television network, according to a British Broadcasting Corp. translation, "because attack is the best form of defense. We are waging an offensive battle."
Venezuela, the No. 3 U.S. oil supplier, would have to build a nuclear program from the ground up, and there have been press reports in Latin America that Mr. Chavez wants to buy a reactor from Argentina.
A spokeswoman at the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington referred questions to Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez Herrera, who was not available for comment. Mr. Alvarez denied to The Times last year that Venezuela was supporting insurgencies in South America and that Venezuela bought the 100,000 AK-47s from Russia "because of defensive purposes for the country."
The Times reported last year that the State Department had formally protested the rifle deal to Moscow. The fear is Mr. Chavez's left-wing regime is arming neighborhood militias trained by Cuba to enforce a Stalinist-like security apparatus, while putting used rifles on the black market for South American insurgents.
The Web site Strategypage.com reported last week on the refurbished AK-47s.
The senior administration official said he believes the report is true and probably stems from corruption on both ends of the deal.
"Throughout the Venezuelan government, there is a complete lack of accountability because Chavez has destroyed the institutions of accountability," the official said. "He's trying to centralize everything to himself."
A State Department official said the administration is also concerned about the overtures Venezuela is making toward Hamas, the militant organization that executes terror attacks on Israel and recently won Palestinian parliamentary elections.
"We certainly are concerned about the ongoing relationship with Venezuela and a number of countries of concern, not just Iran, but Hamas and others," the official said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/10/2006 02:39 ||
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#1
I thought Hugo had uranium in Venezuela. And why Iran when Brazil has plenty also? Has Hugo alienated Lula already?
#6
Hugo: We know the Sov AK buy went badly, but let us recommend a few Chinese Xinhou-60 aircraft. Don't forget to sign the spares agreement, it's only a few bolivars more. Check with Bob Mugabe a well known, Xinhou satisfied customer.
#8
So what's up with the deal with Russia supplying Venezuela with refurbished AKs instead of new ones? What did Russia have in mind? I would imagine that the Purchase Order said new ones, give 'em new ones. A 100K units is still a nice order, so why try to piss off your customer? This makes no sense.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/10/2006 17:02 Comments ||
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#9
What are they going to do, buy American?
And Doc, yes, Hugo has alienated Lula. His puppet in Bolivia basically rewrote the contracts for Petrobras so they couldn't affford to extract natural gas from the deposits around Santa Cruz anymore.
I don't know what Lula was expecting from Chavez. Then again, I don't know what Chavez was expecting from Putin.
Isn't the modern left wonderful to watch from a distance? (Like, say, Saturn?)
NORTH Korea's defence chief has warned that Pyongyang could also launch a pre-emptive attack against the United States, with state media saying soldiers were ready to be "human bombs."
"A pre-emptive attack is not (the) monopoly of the US, and North Korea will never sit idle till it is exposed to a preemptive attack of the US," Defense Minister Kim Il-Chol said, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
"The US is now talking about the six-party talks but in fact, it is zealously inciting hostility toward North Korea while floating all sorts of sheer fictions, utterly indifferent to the talks," he said.
He issued the warning at a meeting yesterday to mark the 13th anniversary of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il's reign as chairman of the country's powerful National Defence Commission. Kim Il-Chol accused Washington of "watching for every chance to attack Pyongyang after listing it as a target of pre-emptive attack. "It is the traditional combat method of North Korea to directly counter the pressure and threat of aggression from the enemies, without yielding to them," he said.
Rodong Sinmun, the ruling communist party's daily newspaper, said in an editorial Sunday that the North's military power "has been remarkably strengthened... The whole army is replete with the spirit of devotedly defending the leader and all the servicepersons are reliably defending the country and socialism in the spirit of readily becoming human bombs, the spirit of suicide bombing. It has modern offensive and defensive means capable of coping with any war."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2006 00:00 ||
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#3
NOt even SpetzNork mil parades can hide the emaciated characteristics of starvation and weight loss on young impressionable NorKor soldiers - SOMETHINGS GOTTA GIVE, FOLKS, EITHER THE WEST CONCEDES OR THE NORKS ATTACK OUT OF PC ANTI-US RESISTANCE = WAR/CONQUEST FOR FOOD.
#4
I just hope the NorKors hold off for another 2 years : that way, our troops will be off of the DMZ completely, and almost out of Seoul. Let the South Koreans defend themselves, if they choose to. And if not, to hell with them.
#5
Joe, just one quip... there has been no weight loss noticeable on nork soldiers for a while. There would have to be some weight to lose in the first place. ;-P
#7
After they explode, the are already blown into bite sized chunks for their neighbors' stew pots. Another Krazy Kimmie labor saving device.
Posted by: ed ||
04/10/2006 10:18 Comments ||
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#8
The Norks are just doing their part for running interference for Iran. The Iranians and the Norks have a type of mutual alliance support.
I would expect this saber rattling to get a lot louder in the coming months as the pressure on Iran gets turned up. Think back to the runup to Iraq 10x I would say we may even have some low level engagements on the border like back in the day.
I dont think he Norks want all out war thou they know the Snorks could woopem and with our support it would be a route. But Kimmy will go to the edge if allowed.
#9
I would not be surprised to see some Nork action of some sort, as well as Chicom mischief if we take on Iran. I would imagine that our Mil planners have taken this into account. At least I hope that they have. When Iran goes down, the Norks are really going to be in a corner.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/10/2006 17:06 Comments ||
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#10
"The whole army is replete with the spirit of devotedly defending the leader and all the servicepersons are reliably defending the country and socialism in the spirit of readily becoming human bombs, the spirit of suicide bombing. It has modern offensive and defensive means capable of coping with any war."
U.S. mistakes in the invasion of Iraq led to the current insurgency and sectarian fighting, former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell says.
"We made some serious mistakes in the immediate aftermath of the fall of Baghdad," Powell told the National School Board Association's annual conference in Chicago. "We didn't have enough troops on the ground. We didn't impose our will. And as a result, an insurgency got started, and ... it got out of control."
The retired general said as a result, the United States is morally obliged to "stick with the people of Iraq" for as long as it takes to restore order, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Powell said Saturday he believes the United States made visa requirements too strict for foreign students after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks when it was discovered one of the hijackers entered the country on a student visa.
He said the country lost many of the world's brightest international students to universities in Canada, Europe and Asia after the students decided it would be too difficult to get a U.S. visa.
#1
"We didn't have enough troops on the ground. We didn't impose our will. And as a result, an insurgency got started, and ... it got out of control."
We didn't have enough troops on the ground in Texas, the New Mexico or Dakota Territories either. Somehow we muddle through. To include a year without funding because the Democrats obstructed the budget. Took an Apache raid into Texas to convince that Dem delegation that it might be a good idea to have the Army actually operating on the border. Hindsight is always 20/20. By the Way, o'Colin, what was Roosevelt/Truman's master plan for post war Germany and Japan? Not that we had a few years working our way there to have something in place when the dust settled.
The three-star Marine Corps general who was the military's top operations officer before the invasion of Iraq expressed regret, in an essay published Sunday, that he did not more energetically question those who had ordered the nation to war. He also urged active-duty officers to speak out now if they had doubts about the war.
Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold, who retired in late 2002, also called for replacing Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and "many others unwilling to fundamentally change their approach." He is the third retired senior officer in recent weeks to demand that Mr. Rumsfeld step down.
In the essay, in this week's issue of Time magazine, General Newbold wrote, "I now regret that I did not more openly challenge those who were determined to invade a country whose actions were peripheral to the real threat Al Qaeda."
The decision to invade Iraq, he wrote, "was done with a casualness and swagger that are the special province of those who have never had to execute these missions or bury the results."
Though some active-duty officers will say in private that they disagree with Mr. Rumsfeld's handling of Iraq, none have spoken out publicly. They attribute their silence to respect for civilian control of the military, as set in the Constitution but some also say they know it would be professional suicide to speak up.
"The officer corps is willing to sacrifice their lives for their country, but not their careers," said one combat veteran who says the Pentagon's civilian leadership made serious mistakes in Iraq, but has declined to voice his concerns for attribution.
Many officers who served in Iraq also say privately that regardless of flawed war planning or early mistakes by civilian and military officers, the American public would hold the current officer corps responsible for failure in Iraq. These officers do not want to discuss doubts about the mission publicly now. General Newbold acknowledged these issues, saying he decided to go public only after "the encouragement of some still in positions of military leadership" and in order to "offer a challenge to those still in uniform."
A leader's responsibility "is to give voice to those who can't or don't have the opportunity to speak," General Newbold wrote. "Enlisted members of the armed forces swear their oath to those appointed over them; an officer swears an oath not to a person but to the Constitution. The distinction is important."
General Newbold served as director of operations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2000 through the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the war in Afghanistan. He left military service in late 2002, as the Defense Department was deep into planning for the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.
"I retired from the military four months before the invasion, in part because of my opposition to those who had used 9/11's tragedy to hijack our security policy," General Newbold wrote.
His generation of officers thought it had learned from Vietnam that "we must never again stand by quietly while those ignorant of and casual about war lead us into another one and then mismanage the conduct of it," General Newbold wrote.
The "consequence of the military's quiescence" in the current environment, he wrote, "was that a fundamentally flawed plan was executed for an invented war, while pursuing the real enemy, Al Qaeda, became a secondary effort."
A senior Pentagon official on Mr. Rumsfeld's staff said Sunday that the Pentagon leadership provided ample opportunity for senior officers to voice concerns.
"It is hard for the secretary and the rest of the policy leadership to understand the situation if they are not getting good, unvarnished advice from military commanders," the civilian official said.
While General Newbold said he did not accept the rationale for invading Iraq, he wrote that "a precipitous withdrawal would be a mistake" because it would tell the nation's adversaries that "America can be defeated, and thus increase the chances of future conflicts."
General Newbold's essay follows one on March 19, by another retired officer, Maj. Gen. Paul D. Eaton, who commanded the training of Iraqi security forces in the year after Baghdad fell. General Eaton wrote an Op-Ed article in The New York Times criticizing Mr. Rumsfeld's management of the war, adding, "President Bush should accept the offer to resign that Mr. Rumsfeld says he has tendered more than once."
When asked about that essay, President Bush rejected the call to dismiss Mr. Rumsfeld, repeating as he often has that he was satisfied with Mr. Rumsfeld's performance.
On April 2, Gen. Anthony C. Zinni, who previously led the military's Central Command, responsible for operations in the Middle East, said in a television interview that Mr. Rumsfeld, among others, should be held accountable for mistakes in Iraq and that he should step down.
General Newbold has been quoted previously describing his concerns about Iraq planning, including in "Cobra II," a book by Michael R. Gordon, chief military correspondent for The New York Times, and Bernard E. Trainor, a retired Marine lieutenant general who is a former military correspondent for the newspaper. In the book General Newbold is described telling fellow officers that he considered the focus on Iraq to be a strategic blunder and a distraction from the real counterterror effort. He is also quoted as expressing concern about Mr. Rumsfeld's influence on war planning, in particular his emphasis on assigning fewer troops to the invasion.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/10/2006 02:35 ||
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#2
Ninny-Zinni, Weasly Clark and now this Notbold. Scratch their brass and you'll find Clintonian pot metal underneath it.
All of these guys were in the inner circle under Clinton, were told that they were losing their high positions when Rummy took over (civilian control of the military was still in the Constitution last time I checked).
Weasly Clark ran for Pres as a Hellary seat-warmer financed by the Clintons and their wing of the (D)onks, and now we get the books from the others who have been under rocks since the war started.
Next to join the cabal will be the former USAF Chief of Staff Merrill McPrick, the bonehead that made USAF officers dress like waiter captains.
McPeak was the one who reorganized the USAF to get rid of the Strategic Air Command, figgering we would have no use for strategic nukes ever again.
Then along comes Iran, North Korea, and maybe now Venezuala eventually. Whadda maroon!
Bah! But...it's better to have all these maroons in one club where we can keep an eye on 'em.
#3
Rvrdog-
I've been waiting for Red Mike McPeak to open his big mouth as well, but there is the liklihood that his own actions were so egregious that any protest on his part will be run right into the dirt.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/10/2006 6:51 Comments ||
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#4
Amazing how big these guys balls get when they're out of the chain of command. At least Shinseki spoke up on the job and has kept his mouth shut since. My only fear is that Clinton got to the colonels as well as the generals. Any vets got opinions about how deeply Clintonism is in the high command?
#5
I'm in the process of reading Clancy's(with Gen.Fred Franks)"Into the Storm(a study in command). Gen.Franks commanded VII Corps.
It's primarily about GW1,but goes into great detail about the rebuilding of the U.S.Army after Vietnam.This is a very good read,I highly recommend it.
#6
The troops really lost faith in McPeak when he tried to make them wear Navy uniforms. This all puts me in mind of the Bing Crosby song from White Christmas, "What can you do with a general"
When the war was over, why, there were jobs galore
For the G.I. Josephs who were in the war
But for generals things were not so grand
And it's not so hard to understand
[Refrain:]
What can you do with a general
When he stops being a general?
Oh, what can you do with a general who retires?
Who's got a job for a general
When he stops being a general?
They all get a job but a general no one hires
They fill his chest with medals while he's across the foam
And they spread the crimson carpet when he comes marching home
The next day someone hollers when he comes into view
"Here comes the general" and they all say "General who?"
They're delighted that he came
But they can't recall his name
Nobody thinks of assigning him
When they stop wining and dining him
It seems this country never has enjoyed
So many one and two and three and four star generals
Unemployed
#7
"I now regret that I did not more openly challenge those who were determined to invade a country whose actions were peripheral to the real threat Al Qaeda."But now that I have my retirement pay in hand and I know fir sure I ain't gonna get that 4th star, I can say whichever I wants. Semper somethin.
#8
All the yahoos were Clinton "yes" men and ball lickers. No real fight to 'em. Not surprised they are crying like the babies they are now that they don't have to worry about being early retired.
I got out when these jokers came into power. They, and Clinton screwed up the military so fast it made my head spin.
So long suckers, and don't let the door hit you in the ass.
#9
Maj. Gen. Paul D. Eaton, was a MISERABLE FAILURE by all standards - look at the mess we had to clean up after he left - Gen Abazaid bascially had to completely redesign and reimplment the training process Eaton was in charge of, it was WORSE than starting from scratchin that they had to UNDO the damage Eaton and his policies had left. Eaton made rank kissing ass politically under Clinton.
And don't get me started on McPeak, that dick. Nor Clark, a friggen showbaoter who made things a lot worse in the whole ops of KFOR with this prima donna behavior.
As for Fred Franks (Tom Clancy book), I served indirectly under him in GW-1 (2ACR, corps asset), he was a good, if cautious, general. As did Col MacMaster Tal-Afar fame, commander of the 3ACR today (who was in 2ACR, 2nd squadron as a LT I recall, in GW1).
Notice they dont say anything about the 3 dozen or so other retired generals in recent years who back up the invasion, but are not out braying about it.
#11
Hmm three (or maybe a dozen) retired gernerals out of 100s don't agree with Rummey and thats the ones that get coverage? FYI Shinseki had already put in his paperwork to retire before he stated any disagreement.
#12
Now, if he was a retired general who favored the war and the SoD, do you think he would have gotten any pub in Time or the other MSM?
I just hope there is enough arm chairs on the sets for ABC, CBS, NBC, etc. for all these disgruntled retired generals.
Posted by: Captain America ||
04/10/2006 11:16 Comments ||
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The General expresses regret but doesn't offer to bear any of the consequences of his self-confessed screwup. Tell you what, General: If you really think you screwed up, donate half of your retirement pay to the families of Marines who died while you held rank. Or at least drop and give the nation twenty. But maybe you're just putting your hat in the ring for the number two spot on Hillary's ticket.
Posted by: Matt ||
04/10/2006 12:09 Comments ||
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#14
You know when the time came around, Eisenhower was promoted from below a good number of generals. If Rummy can id a good Marshall who can select people like Col MacMaster to fast track and get beyond the Clinton era crowd, doing away with the usual good o'boy club, we'd be far better served.
#15
I don't know why the MSM is counting, because it's not decided by a vote.
"we must never again stand by quietly while those ignorant of and casual about war lead us into another one and then mismanage the conduct of it,"
So he retired? That's not even standing by quietly.
The decision to invade Iraq "was done with a casualness and swagger that are the special province of those who have never had to execute these missions or bury the results."
Not only was he not privy enough to the decision making to make such a claim, but he retired when he could have stayed to provide four critical months of expertise and influence.
"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman." -- Thomas Paine
I have a signed copy of that book. I was an escort officer for (ret) GEN Franks and driving him around was like have audio tapes of that book. He asked what my security clearance was and the stories got better. A great man.
The press would have you believe that many amputees from this war are the first to re-enter military service. Not true. (ret) GEN Franks lost one of his legs in Vietnamn and fough his way back to military service.
But like you said, the book is highly reccomended.
#17
GEN Clark is a straight up asshat. If Monica sucked the Presidents dick, Wesley was tounging his balls for an appointment as the EUCOM Commander. There was not one damn soldier in Europe that liked him.
He was a politician before being a military officer.... and we saw through that.
#1
IOW, the Navy believes that a protracted war wid China for control of East/South Asia-Africa is possible. MadMoud = Kimmie = China-Taiwan, etc > Amer's enemies will push and push until they are either appeased, or America-Allies invade.
Critics of the Bush administration have expressed alarm over reports that the president is considering a military strike to knock out Iran's nuclear programme. Anthony Zinni, a retired general and former head of US Central Command, told CNN on Sunday that a pre-emptive strike on Iran would be extremely risky "Any military plan involving Iran is going to be very difficult. We should not fool ourselves to think it will just be a strike and then it will be over," said Zinni.
Actually, that's precisely what we should do: Strike them to take out the nuclear facilities and decapitate the ayatollahs, use ground troops only if necessary, and then leave it to the Iranians to clean up the mess, with the proviso that we'll hit them again if they don't.
"The Iranians will retaliate, and they have many possibilities in an area where there are many vulnerabilities, from our troop positions to the oil and gas in the region that can be interrupted, to attacks on Israel, to the conduct of terrorism."
And we have an equally wide range of options available to us. We don't have to waste time or resources occupying them, and without the ayatollahs' regime Israel becomes safer and the Shiite strain of terrorism loses its drivers. It'll wither and die.
But he said he had no detailed knowledge of the alleged military plans.
So what's his bitch?
John Kerry, a democratic senator and former presidential contender, also assailed the White House for what he said was its over reliance on military might. "That is another example of the shoot-from-the-hip, cowboy diplomacy of this administration. For us to think about exploding tactical nuclear weapons in some way is the height of irresponsibility. It would be destructive to any non-proliferation efforts and the military assessment is: It would not work," he told NBC television.
The only people who've talked about using tactical nuclear weapons are Seymour Hersch and a few other people whose opinions don't count. Bush hasn't been waving nukes and we don't need them. Our military has the capability to take out the Iranian regime just as quickly as we threw Sammy out. And after our experience in Iraq, I don't think we'll be as squeamish about inflicting large numbers of casualties on the enemy.
Both men made their remarks after the publication of two media reports this weekend that said George Bush, the US president, was seriously considering military action against Iran, including using nuclear weapons, amid a stalemate in diplomatic efforts.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2006 00:00 ||
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There are no magical secret Iranian weapons. This is a state-of-the-art professional force against a Vietnam Era force commanded by Stone Age lunatics. It will be a wildly uneven contest, in our favor - if it comes.
President Bush faces a tough choice - and that doesn't come from the Mullahs' insanity - it comes from the weasels who infest our Congress, "think tanks", "international organizations", and their media co-conspirators. Despite the media drumbeat of articles like this, the US public seems to understand at the moment, as recent polls have clearly demonstrated, that Iran is a serious threat and a reckoning must surely come.
Public concern is just one of many concurrently rising and falling component indices -- so timing is everything. Those who demand their personal schedules must be accommodated will likely be unhappy. I find them amusing. Bush surely finds them irrelevant. As irrelevant as the restrictions against acting to end a threat to the security of the US, of Israel, of Europe, of the Gulf region.
He will accept the challenges that land on his desk during his tenure. He is not a cowardly populist. Bush will act.
#3
MadMoud = Kimmie = Chavez, etc > all demand their nations be invaded so that they can engage in asymmetric , alleged "People's War" against US imperialism when what they're really doing is supporting anti-American Americans and thier similar "Creeping Communism/Socialism" within America itself, where the Fed takes over everything domestically while failing overseas. Be it Arabs-Isreali Wars or Saddam per se, defeat after defeat has shown that the enemy's most costly or advanced Commie Bloc assets were no match for even elderly/primitive/obsolescing US assets. NO AMERICA SHOULD BE AFRAID OR ASHAMED OF WAR, NUKE WAR, OR EVEN THE DRAFT BECUZ AMERICA-ALLIES MUST EITHER RULE THE WORLD, OR BE DESTROYED, IFF ONLY BECUZ AMER'S ENEMIES ARE GIVING THEMSELVES THE SAME BASIC CHOICES.
#6
I am beginning to think we should send troops into Iran to just whip their ass and to leave calling cards so they don't forget we mean business. The Civil War wasn't over till Sherman waltzed through Georgia and South Carolina. We should do the same to Persia. Then we should withdraw to the Arab and Kurd parts which should be united with their Iraqi kin when that place dismembers.
We're going to have to Shermanize some country over there. Iran now, Pakistan later, unfortunately Saudi, probably, never.
#9
No. I'm keeping it as a memento of what could have been.
Posted by: Sen. Bill Frist ||
04/10/2006 12:28 Comments ||
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#10
Bush said today that Hersch's article was "wild speculation". He also said that the US goal was that Iran not have nukes, not have the capability to build nukes, and not have the knowledge to build nukes. That's a pretty big hint that if an attack comes it will be such that Iran will never be able to reconstitute.
#12
We need a good show of "Shock and Awe" - complete with massive B-52 raids over cities. We need to show to the entire world just what kind of damage we CAN inflict, if we choose.
Take out the Silkworm and Scud units.
Take out the airfields and aircraft.
Take out every military installation on the map.
Take out every building that we think might even
POSSIBLY be involved with nuke weapons.
Take out every place where we know the mad mullahs
of islam hide out.
Take out anything else that looks like it could
be a military target.
Take out all their ports and harbors and oil
export facilities.
THEN sit down with the survivors and discuss their "nuclear" program, and a bunch more.
It's called "negotiating from a position of strength", and it gets the attention of your adversaries. If they refuse to change, THEN you use nukes to clean up the mess.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/10/2006 18:47 Comments ||
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#13
Actually, that's precisely what we should do: Strike them to take out the nuclear facilities and decapitate the ayatollahs, use ground troops only if necessary, and then leave it to the Iranians to clean up the mess, with the proviso that we'll hit them again if they don't.
And saddest of all is how Saudi Arabia needs a mega-@ss-whupping the mostest.
Old Patriot, it's nice to see we're finally starting to see eye-to-eye. We've got you over to using nukes during phase II of Iran's behavioral modification. That's a huge improvement over first use. As to your own order of battle, what's not to like?
#14
and take out our old embassy in Tehran, then side trips to unload remainders over South Lebanon and Bekaa on way home
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/10/2006 19:52 Comments ||
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#15
and take out our old embassy in Tehran
Absolutely right, Frank. Those b@stards have it set up like some Madame Tussand's Waxworks of American Imperialist Humiliation. Imagine what a surprise it would be for that day's gawking crowd of gloaters when the whole place comes apart at the seams. Use white phosphorus to eliminate all traces.
Terror stalks the remote, poverty-stricken, under-developed villages in West Midnapore district bordering Jharkhand, a hotbed of Maoist activities where voters are in two-minds whether to vote or not, fearing reprisal from the ultras who have given a vote boycott call.
"This time the situation is difficult. We do not know what to do. We may cast our votes, but what will happen afterwards? The Maoists can kill us for voting," said Mangal Soren of Dangardiha village where two Communist Party of India (Marxist) leaders were killed before their families by Maoists last month.
"The Maoists have asked us why we should vote when there was no development in the area," Krishna Mahato, another villager told a visiting PTI correspondent.
The massive deployment of security forces in the district, which goes to the polls on April 17 in the first phase, has so far failed to boost their morale. "Security forces have been deployed for the election. They will not be here forever. We will have to continue to live here," Mahato said.
Whether it is Dangardiha or Birghi, Amlasol or Amjharna, situated at a stone's throw from adjoining Jharkhand, the picture is almost the same in the far-flung villages under Binpur constituency.
From the police administration to candidates, everyone admitted that the people in the areas were afraid of Maoist violence, but nevertheless hoped that they would vote in the election. SPC
"It is true that the people are a bit scared, but we are taking all measures to counter the maoists. We are combing the jungles, doing area domination job with deployment of forces. We think ultimately the villagers will exercise their franchise," Ajay Nand, district superintendent of police said.
Despite his hope, the people in this area, which has witnessed a number of violent incidents, including the killing of three policemen, and a villager in a landmine blast in the last two months, are yet to be convinced.
"We heard that the Maoists have given a vote boycott call. They have threatened to chop off our fingers if we cast votes," Nagen Hansda, a resident of Birghi village said. Posters calling for a boycott of the election by the Maoists were seized from Amlasole last week. Admitting that the Maoists had given such a call, the SP said that this was nothing new for the naxalites.
In the past also they had boycotted elections. The Maoist phenomenon was being blown out of proportion by the media, he claimed.
Many said that the Maoists were able to penetrate the areas taking advantage of abject poverty and underdevelopment. Leaving the metal road that leads to Banspahari, as one enters Bhulaveda range in which these villages are nestled, signs of underdevelopment and poverty are telltale.
"There is hardly any road, water is scarce. In the absence of irrigation, we can grow crops that feed us only for a few months. For the rest of the year, we have to thrive on food from the jungle. We sell rope made of babui grass and firewood to somehow manage our livelihood," said a resident of Ukhuldoba village, from where two women members of the CPI (Maoist) were arrested in February.
A massive deployment of central para-military and state security forces has been made to instill a sense of security among the electorate. Security forces have erected bunkers and were on patrol in difficult terrain and on the road leading to Belpahari and Kankrajhore. At many places BSF personnel, armed with mine detectors, were sanitising the area.
What might be seen as a silver lining in the cloud, Mansaram Mandi, a resident of Ukhuldoba, however, said he has not heard of any boycott call and would vote. Both Jharkhand Party and CPI-M, the two major contenders in the constituency, also expressed confidence that the people would participate in the poll.
"They may have some fear, we have to remove it. We will tell them if you want to defeat CPI-M, who ignored development all those years, you have to vote," Jharkhand Party candidate from Binpur Chunibala Hansda said.
Former state minister and CPI-M nominee Shambhu Mandi was not ready to accept that the villagers would not vote. "Birsa Munda, Sidho Kano who fought the British, were their leaders. Why should the adivasis (tribals) be afraid of so-called Maoists who are representatives of zamindars," he asked.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/10/2006 02:51 ||
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#1
We may cast our votes, but what will happen afterwards? The Maoists can kill us for voting," said Mangal Soren of Dangardiha village
Hundreds arrested as protesters defy curfews across Nepal Nepalese police firing tear gas and rubber bullets clashed on Sunday with thousands of pro-democracy protesters who defied a curfew despite warnings that violators could be shot, opposition parties said. A second death was reported among demonstrators demanding that King Gyanandra give up the absolute powers he seized 14 months ago.
Home Minister Kamal Thapa said 253 people had been arrested on Sunday and blamed the protests on Maoist rebels. "The ongoing protest program is clearly that of the Maoists," Mr Thapa told reporters. "They are trying to create armed revolution, so the government has been compelled to impose the curfew."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2006 00:00 ||
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The government has set up a committee of tribal elders to review the case of two alleged commanders loyal to Nawab Akbar Bugti who surrendered to security forces with some 40 armed supporters in the Sui area of Dera Bugti on Saturday. Their cases will be scrutinised by the local Reforms Public Safety Committee, Dera Bugti District Coordination Officer Abdul Samad Lasi told PTV. All the men and their cases have been handed over to committee in Sui and we have not initiated legal proceedings against the people who surrendered yesterday (Saturday). We are waiting for the committees report and whatever they put up for recommendation, we will go and follow that.
Lasi claimed that more Bugti tribe members had communicated with the administration seeking to surrender. They want to become peaceful citizens, so I have told them to clear things in a court of law before coming to their areas. If they have no cases against them they can live like good citizens of Pakistan, he said. He said those who surrendered included two groups, one of a tribal force working under Nawab Akbar Bugti, and the other of hardcore criminals. Speaking to the BBC, Nawab Bugti denied he had any link to the men who surrendered. There is no association between me and these commanders, as they are criminals, Bugti told the BBC on Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2006 00:00 ||
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"They want to become peaceful citizens..."
You know...spend more time with the family, read a good book, maybe finnish that home improvement project they put off while out indiscrimanatly terrorizing the region.
A strike was observed in Balochistan on Sunday in protest against the police siege of the houses of Sardar Akhtar Mengal and Sardar Attaullah Mengal in Karachi for a fourth day. A shutter down strike was observed in Ghuzdar, Qalat, Sibi, Dera Murad Jamali, Dalbadin, Noshki, Gwadar and Bela on the call of the Balochistan National Party. A wheel jam strike was observed on Karachi, Tuftan and Joharabad highways.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2006 00:00 ||
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In rural Texas, Georgia and Alabama "Shutter down" .... actually has duel meanings. Larry the Cable Guy.... "Sutter Down" as in; stop the mower, John Deere belt driven lumber saw, oil field pumping unit, etc. SHUTTER DOWN!
Politicisation of zakat distribution is the main cause of corruption in the system, reveals a report of the Economic Committee of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII). According to the report, zakat committee chairmen are appointed on a political basis to accommodate political workers, which generates corruption, sources said.
A CII meeting has also reviewed the committee's report and agreed to its observations, the sources said. Sources said the CII made seven recommendations to streamline the zakat distribution system and eliminate corruption. One of the recommendations is to stop political appointments and depoliticise the Zakat distribution system. Also, the government has been urged to appoint people with good reputation as chairmen of the zakat committees.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2006 00:00 ||
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zakat funds corruption
One of our finest.
Posted by: Department of Redundancy Department ||
04/10/2006 13:36 Comments ||
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QUETTA: No organisation named the Baloch Liberation Army exists, only a group of four to five thousand people using the name as "an excuse for anti-state activities", said Balochistan Home Minister Shoeb Nausherwani on Sunday. He clarified that the group lacked the structure and planning of a proper organisation. These people are paid Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 monthly by local and foreign elements to create havoc, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2006 00:00 ||
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Interpol has issued a special notice against India's most wanted criminal sought for the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai that killed more than 260 people, the international police agency's website showed on Sunday. The notice sent to all 184 member countries places Indian crime boss Dawood Ibrahim on the same list as Osama Bin Laden. It seeks a freezing of his assets, a ban on travel as well as an arms embargo.
The notice on www.interpol.int also gave two of his possible addresses in Pakistan. Islamabad has denied his presence in Pakistan. The tough new notice gives details of Ibrahim's 11 passports issued in India, Pakistan, UAE and Yemen, 17 aliases and also the countries from which he is known to operate. Ibrahim has been on Interpol's notice after the 1993 Mumbai blasts. In 2003, the US Treasury, linking him to Al Qaeda, put his name on its global terrorist list.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2006 00:00 ||
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A report from the Yemeni state news agency Saba said the 5,550-teu M/V Hyundai Fortune (built 1996) has already sunk 130 NM off Aden following the blaze on March 21. Hence we have been receiving these rumors all day long. We rechecked our photos of M/V Hyundai Fortune from March 23 and reconfirmed the absence of Alzheimer's. This may explain why neither CNN nor Fox are headquarted in Yemin. March 22
An uproar over the threatened execution of an Afghan man who converted from Islam to Christianity highlights a disturbing conflict between application of Islamic laws and protection of human rights in Asia and the Middle East, US experts say. The case of Abdul Rahman, who narrowly escaped the death penalty in Afghanistan by fleeing to Italy, reflects a bigger trend of anti-conversion legislation curtailing rights of non-Muslim minorities, the experts told a US Congress-sponsored meeting.
Rahman, 41, was spirited out of Afghanistan on March 29 after a US-led Western furore over his trial under Shariah law which says that anyone who leaves Islam must be put to death unless they recant. Though state prosecution for conversion out of Islam is relatively rare in Muslim-majority countries, at least 14 such countries considered apostasy a crime, with Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen, Mauritania and Comoros making it punishable by death, said Nina Shea, director of global rights group Freedom Houses centre for religious freedom. Lesser punishments are imposed in Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, the Maldives, Oman and Qatar while some states deny civil rights to those viewed as apostates.
Shea faulted the United States, which has extensive influence in Kabul, for the fatal flaw in the Afghanistan constitution that allowed prosecution of apostasy crimes. After all, this is the very constitution that the United States supported and guided and about which our officials heralded as one of the most enlightened constitutions in the Islamic world, she said. The implication of Rahmans case is that it points out the unresolved tension in certain Muslim countries between the application of Islamic law and protection of human rights, said Felice Gaer, vice chairwoman of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.
She said it was an irony that Islamic nations which considered conversion a crime also vowed, as UN members, to uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which cleary affirm and protect the freedom to change religions or beliefs. International experts entrusted with the interpretation of freedom of religion have consistently affirmed that the freedom to adopt a religion is the freedom to change religion, Gaer said.
Islamic law or principles are a source of, or a limitation on, general legislation in 15 of 44 predominantly Muslim countries studied by the commission, an independent body created by Congress to monitor religious freedom.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2006 00:00 ||
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"Islamic laws restricting human rights"
I think this call for a "Master of the Obvious" graphic, Fred. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/10/2006 0:19 Comments ||
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#2
this should send our liberal progressives into a cog dis tissy.
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Posted by: ali ||
04/10/2006 9:04 Comments ||
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#6
This brough to you by the "No Shit?" department of the obvious.
Al Qaeda has apparently implemented a new strategy, going after Shia Arabs, and only Shia Arabs, without endangering Sunni Arabs. The new head of al Qaeda operations in Iraq is an Iraqi Sunni Arab, and his tactic is to concentrate on attacks against Shia mosques, preferably during prayer services. This way, you kill a lot of Shia, and only Shia. The only Sunni Arabs you will find inside a Shia Mosque are suicide bombers, and the occasional soldier or policeman looking for illegal weapons, or Shia terrorists. During three days of suicide bomb attacks last week, over 250 Shia Arabs were killed or wounded. The only Sunni Arab casualties were less than a dozen suicide bombers.
What is the practical effect of these attacks? Rest at link.
Posted by: ed ||
04/10/2006 11:17 ||
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#1
I don't remember what's the exact word used for the feeling I have toward theses clowns, but I'm pretty sure it involves a heavy dose of indifference, mixed with a slight element of schadenfreude. It will come back to me.
#3
Regarding the future of Iraq and the involvement of Iran, yup, I'm worried (but only for what it means to the West).
For the iraqi themselves, I couldn't care less, and I won't even tell how I feel for the sunnis.
#5
Okay, so Iran is behind these attacks. I see three possible outcomes. (1) Pretext to US attack upon Iran (2) Rwanda style Sunni/Shia war in which Sadr is killed (3) Rwanda style Sunni/Shia war in which Sadr ends upon top.
Somehow I think option 3 unlikely as the Sunni will target him, the US will target him, and the Shia in power will target him.
I also don't see how any of the 3 options favor the Sunni, and at some point they will finish off the Al Queda presence in their midst out of a sense of self-preservation.
#2
Yeah bad link, but I wouldn't doubt it a bit. How many people could there possibly be that want to get killed by American Marines in the sandy armpit of the world?
Saddam's eldest daughter praised her uncle, Barzan Ibrahim, and the others on trial with her father as "Iraq's real men," in an interview aired Sunday on pan-Arab satellite network Al-Arabiya. "My uncle Barzan has been remarkable in court, very courageous and a real hero," Raghad said. "He has clarified the wrong impression that was made about Iraqi men. Those who surround my father, they what could be called Iraq's real men, the honorable image that represents our country."
Oh yaasssss, honorable indeed ...
Barzan Ibrahim, Saddam's half brother, appeared in one court session in February dressed only in an undershirt and long underwear, struggling with guards as he was pulled into the courtroom. The former chief of intelligence then sat on the floor with his back to the judge in protest for much of the session.
Raghad, who has been living in Amman, Jordan, with her sister, Rana, and their children since August 2003, said she believed most Iraqis were not happy with the trial, and those who acted pleased "were chosen by a certain party to reach a certain goal."
Too bad your husband couldn't join you. Oh, right ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2006 00:36 ||
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Redacted by moderator. Comments may be redacted for trolling, violation of standards of good manners, or plain stupidity. Please correct the condition that applies and try again. Contents may be viewed in the sinktrap. Further violations may result in
banning.
#3
Some people need a confrontation with Conan swinging an axehandle. It clears up all the confusion between reality and the lala land some people live in.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/10/2006 19:33 Comments ||
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AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - Saddam Hussein's lawyers are denied the same rights and resources as the prosecutors in his trial, a U.S.-based legal adviser to the deposed Iraqi leader said Sunday.
Curtis Doebbler said Saddam's legal team is at a disadvantage compared with the prosecution, which he said has spent $300 million and has "hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops and dozens of American lawyers to assist them." "All these resources have been deployed to collect evidence for more than two years" to build a case against Saddam, he said in a statement e-mailed by the Jordan-based defense team to The Associated Press.
By contrast, Doebbler said, Saddam's defense team "consists of volunteer lawyers without adequate resources or the ability to find experts (or) adequate witnesses." He said the defense cannot visit the sites of the alleged crimes "because of the state of insecurity in Iraq."
So have your 'client' call off the insurgents.
Doebbler, a Washington-based law professor specializing in international law, said the non-Iraqi lawyers for the defense "cannot even enter Iraq to visit their clients regularly." In Iraq, Saddam's attorneys are "held under virtual house arrest without access to telephones, faxes, computers, books, or any adequate facilities to do their work," he said. "Even their legal notes are read and only papers approved by American officials can be passed to their clients."
Golly, that's a shame.
He rebuked human rights groups without citing any by name, saying they had failed to protest the conditions of Saddam's trial. "It is quite incredible that the international community silently watches a process that continues to violate more and more human rights," he said.
They were more silent when Saddam was in charge.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2006 00:29 ||
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last I heard, there were over a thousand lawyers working on Saddam's case. I'd say he's lawyered up.
BAGHDAD - Iraqs acting speaker of parliament said on Sunday he would call on the assembly to convene in the next few days, raising the possibility that political deadlock over a new prime minister may be broken. The Iraqi people are impatiently waiting for this issue to be resolved. When the parliament convenes it will be possible to start the steps to form a national unity government, Adnan Pachachi told a news conference.
His announcement was the first public sign of a possible breakthrough for Shia, Kurdish and Sunni leaders who are struggling to form a unity government four months after parliamentary elections. Pachachi did not say whether the assembly would vote on a prime minister and there was no suggestion that Ibrahim Al Jaafari would finally agree to widespread calls for him to step aside as the main Shia Alliances nominee.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2006 00:21 ||
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Iraqi Kurdish leaders have officially informed the main Shia Alliance that their rejection of Ibrahim al-Jaafari as the Alliance nomination for prime minister is final, political sources said on Sunday. The message was delivered by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who is also a top Kurdish leader, to a committee from the Alliance, the sources said.
The Alliance, under growing pressure to nominate a replacement to break a deadlock over a unity government, is expected to inform other political blocs of their final decision on Jaafari today (Monday), the sources said. Representatives from the seven factions of the United Iraqi Alliance, the Shia bloc, formed a three member committee to discuss the deadlock over Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari with the Sunni and Kurdish parties to be more certain of the reasons for their opposition, said Shia official Ridha Jawad Taqi earlier on Sunday.
A Shia official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue said al-Jaafaris supporters within his Dawa party and the movement of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr were still insisting on keeping the prime minister as the Shia nominee to head the next government. Sunni politician Saleh al-Mutlaq proposed that the new prime minister be chosen by consensus among all parties, a proposal the Shias are unlikely to accept. The constitution states that the largest bloc in parliament - the Shia alliance - has the right to nominate the prime minister subject to parliamentary approval. Al-Mutlaq said the new government should be made up of independents, nationalists and technocrats from outside the current political parties.
Al-Jaafari has refused to step down. Alliance leaders have been reluctant to force a move against him as long as Dawa and the al-Sadr group stick by their support. Such a move could lead to the breakup of the Shia alliance.
So the Shiite majority, in order to remain a majority, has to remain in thrall to the Shiite minority, led by Tater. That makes him the power broken and coincidentally protects him from getting a thorough thumping from the Americans or the Iraqis. I'm not sure what this says about the political skills of the players in Baghdad, but it's probably not very complimentary.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2006 00:00 ||
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Right ! In a country where people are killed for having the wrong religion or going to the market on the wrong day, why the hell are they jumping through hoops over this asshat Jaafari ?
Why not just kill the bastard if he won't get out of the way ? I don't get it. We know he's a pawn anyway. We know he's got Iran's interests at heart. Kill him and move on. His 15 minutes are up now.
#2
Speculation. They want to postpone the confrontation with Tater and the Tehran puppets till we attack Iran at which time they will be squashed for their Persian links under cover of our attack on Iran and Iran's counter-attack on Iraq. Better to take them out now militarily, better to take them out then politcially.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a major broker in Middle East politics, sparked Shiite fury across the region yesterday after suggesting that Iraqs majority community was under the sway of Iran.
Only parts of it...
In an interview first aired Saturday by the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya news channel, Mubarak warned that Iraq was in the midst of a civil war that threatened the Middle East. He also expressed alarm about Shiite Irans influence in Arab countries. There are Shiites in all these countries (of the region), significant percentages, and Shiites are mostly always loyal to Iran and not the countries where they live, he said.
Kind of like Muslims in general, isn't it? You guys consider that a feature when it applies to us, a bug when it applies to you.
Ibrahim Jaafari, Iraqs incumbent premier and a devout Shiite, unequivocally condemned Mubaraks remarks. The comments have upset Iraqi people who come from different religious and ethnic backgrounds and have astonished and discontented the Iraqi government, he told reporters yesterday.
He's only stating a fact, like him or not. Iran owns and operates the al-Sadr mob, and they'd own and operate the Badr Brigades if the Hakim family would let them. The Hakims are merely more intelligent than Tater.
As Jaafari spoke, he was flanked by President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and Adnan Al-Pachachi, a Sunni and the Parliaments acting speaker.
... both of whom have to be polite for the sake of internal politix...
Jaafaris government has come under repeated accusations of collusion with Tehran from Sunni Arab factions in Iraq. Egypt had been one of the main driving forces behind an attempt at uniting Iraqi ranks by sponsoring a national reconciliation conference, still due to take place in the near future.
But they're suspect because Egypt's a Sunni nation and their relations with Iran are none too warm...
Expressing his anguish at Mubaraks statements, Talabani said these accusations against our Shiite brothers are baseless and we have asked our foreign minister to talk to Egypt about this. In nearby Kuwait, whose population is one third Shiite, Shiite MPs and clerics lashed out at Egypts veteran leader. We are not begging for certificates of loyalty to our countries from Mubarak or others. These are irresponsible statements ... and only serve to incite sectarian rifts, MP Hassan Jowhar said. Nothing can satisfy Shiites except a clear, official apology from President Mubarak.
Ummm... Does that mean they're going to riot and burn down the Egyptian embassy?
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2006 00:00 ||
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Mubarak. "Shiites are bad."
Shiites. "Mubarak is bad"
#3
The comments have upset Iraqi people who come from different religious and ethnic backgrounds and have astonished and discontented the Iraqi government,
From all indications, mentioning reality, truth, facts or other remotely concrete concepts generally has this effect on Muslims. Sort of like their protest over the Danish cartoons in the face of what they themselves print daily.
The armed wing of the governing Palestinian movement Hamas, under huge international pressure to renounce violence, vowed on Sunday to avenge a weekend of Israeli strikes which has left 15 people dead. The latest victim was a 29-year-old taxi driver Yasser Abu Jarad who was killed by a tank shell at the entrance to a national security post in the Beit Hanun region of the northern Gaza Strip as he dropped off a member of a unit. Five other security men were also wounded in the attack which came as part of intensifying efforts by the army to put a halt to the firing of rockets from Gaza into southern Israel. A series of air strikes on Friday night and Saturday had also left 14 people wounded, making it much the deadliest bout of violence since Hamas's upset victory in a January parliamentary election and subsequent formation of its first government last month.
The radical Islamist movement, regarded as a terrorist organisation by the West and Israel, has carried out the bulk of the suicide attacks against Israel since the Palestinian uprising erupted in September 2000. Although it has held off any such attacks for more than a year, Hamas has so far resisted international pressure to commit itself to non-violence and recognise Israel's right to exist.
Both the US and European Union announced over the weekend that they were either cutting or suspending direct aid payments to the already cash-strapped Palestinian Authority now that it is led by Hamas in the absence of a change of platform from the party. However the prospects of a u-turn by Hamas looked particularly dim Sunday after the movement's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, issued a statement vowing to avenge the Israeli attacks. "These crimes against the Palestinians will not stop us following the path of resistance and jihad," the Brigades said in a statement received by AFP. "The Zionist enemy will pay a high price and will drink from the same cup from which our people drink day and night."
It was the first time in several months that the Brigades had issued such a statement and comes despite the fact that none of the victims of the weekend's violence were followers of the group.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2006 00:00 ||
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"The Zionist enemy will pay a high price and will drink from the same cup from which our people drink day and night."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has appointed a new commander of security forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Palestinian security sources said on Sunday, a move designed to alleviate tensions with Hamas. The new commander, Sulaiman Helles, is a member of Abbass Fatah movement but is seen as having better relations with Hamas, the militant group that now leads the Palestinian government, than the man he replaces, Naser Youssef.
The appointment follows a decision by Abbas last week to assume security control over Gazas border crossings, a move that angered Hamas, which said it violated power-sharing agreements. Hamas wants overall control of security affairs. The new appointment, if confirmed, would put Helles in charge of all paramilitary units in the West Bank and Gaza, a force of around 20,000 men. He would not, however, have control over the police and other preventative security forces in the territories. Hamas has said that the paramilitary forces should fall under its control as leader of the government.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2006 00:00 ||
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Who is that in the picture? Tyrone - Queen of Battle?
Police arrested more than 100 Islamist activists for distributing posters calling on government employees to strike in protest at Jordans third fuel price hike in less than 12 months, Islamists said on Sunday. Government sources denied the charges by the head of the Islamic Action Front, Zaki Bani Irsheid of arrests and harassment of activists who had plastered posters and distributed strike leaflets. At this stage there is not a single person who is detained, the source said. Some people who were putting up flyers and banners in violation of certain laws were questioned but they were then immediately released.
The government, which depends on energy imports for most of its needs, endorsed a 12 to 65 percent price hike on a range of petroleum products at a cabinet meeting late on Saturday, effective from midnight. Kerosene and diesel, both widely used for heating by Jordans poor, rose by 43 percent. The authorities say it was no longer possible to defer the decision as the cost of subsidising petroleum prices at current oil prices threatened the countrys financial stability. Opposition parties say the fuel price raises hit the countrys poor the hardest.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2006 00:00 ||
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Opposition parties say the fuel price raises hit the countrys poor the hardest.
Even in the ME it is so.
The possibility of terrorists' gaining access to such high-end technology is worrisome. But few have publicly stated that engineering certain types of recombinant microörganisms using older equipment -- nowadays cheaply available from eBay and online marketplaces for scientific equipment like LabX -- is already feasible. The biomedical community's reaction to all this has been a general flinching. (The signatories to the National Academies report are an exception.) Caution, denial, and a lack of knowledge about bioweaponeering seem to be in equal parts responsible. Jens Kuhn, a virologist at Harvard Medical School, told me, "The Russians did a lot in their bioweapons program. But most of that isn't published, so we don't know what they know."
On a winter's afternoon last year, in the hope of discovering just what the Russians had done, I set out along Highway 15 in Virginia to visit Serguei Popov at the Manassas campus of George Mason University. Popov came to the National Center for Biodefense after buying a book called Biohazard in 2000. This was the autobiography of Ken Alibek, Biopreparat's former deputy chief, its leading scientist, and Popov's ultimate superior. One of its passages described how, in 1989, Alibek and other Soviet bosses had attended a presentation by an unnamed "young scientist" from Biopreparat's bacterial-research complex at Obolensk, south of Moscow. Following this presentation, Alibek wrote, "the room was absolutely silent. We all recognized the implications of what the scientist had achieved. A new class of weapons had been found. For the first time, we would be capable of producing weapons based on chemical substances produced naturally by the human body. They could damage the nervous system, alter moods, trigger psychological changes, and even kill."
When Popov read that, I asked him, had he recognized the "young scientist?" "Yes," he replied. "That was me."
After reading Biohazard, Popov contacted Alibek and told him that he, too, had reached America. Popov moved to Virginia to work for Alibek's company, Advanced Biosystems, and was debriefed by U.S. intelligence. In 2004 he took up his current position at the National Center for Biodefense, where Alibek is a distinguished professor.
Regarding the progress of biotechnology, Popov told me, "It seems to most people like something that happens in a few places, a few biological labs. Yet now it is becoming widespread knowledge." Furthermore, he stressed, it is knowledge that is Janus-faced in its potential applications. "When I prepare my lectures on genetic engineering, whatever I open, I see the possibilities to make harm or to use the same things for good -- to make a biological weapon or to create a treatment against disease."
The "new class of weapons" that Alibek describes Popov's creating in Biohazard is a case in point. Into a relatively innocuous bacterium responsible for a low-mortality pneumonia, Legionella pneumophila, Popov and his researchers spliced mammalian DNA that expressed fragments of myelin protein, the electrically insulating fatty layer that sheathes our neurons. In test animals, the pneumonia infection came and went, but the myelin fragments borne by the recombinant Legionella goaded the animals' immune systems to read their own natural myelin as pathogenic and to attack it. Brain damage, paralysis, and nearly 100 percent mortality resulted: Popov had created a biological weapon that in effect triggered rapid multiple sclerosis. (Popov's claims can be corroborated: in recent years, scientists researching treatments for MS have employed similar methods on test animals with similar results.)
#1
For a similar view, but different perspective, see Nobel Laureate (in physics) Robert Laughlin in "A Different Universe." (This is not the focus of the book, but it is a smashing read anyway.)
While stressing that diplomacy is the first course for dealing with Iran's nuclear ambitions, the White House is not ruling out a military response and says "normal defense and intelligence planning" is under way.
The White House, sensitive to President Bush's image as a war hawk, is trying to play down the possibility of a military strike on the country that Bush included among nations forming the "axis of evil."
"The president's priority is to find a diplomatic solution to a problem the entire world recognizes," Bush counselor Dan Bartlett told The Associated Press on Sunday. "And those who are drawing broad, definitive conclusions based on normal defense and intelligence planning are ill-informed and are not knowledgeable of the administration's thinking on Iran."
Bush and other administration officials have said repeatedly that the military option is on the table. Several reports published over the weekend said the administration was studying options for military strikes, and an account in The New Yorker magazine raised the possibility of using nuclear bombs against Iran's underground nuclear sites.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp., called the idea of a nuclear strike "completely nuts."
Straw said Britain would not launch a pre-emptive strike on Iran and he was as "certain as he could be" that neither would the U.S. He said he has a high suspicion that Iran is developing a civil nuclear capability that in turn could be used for nuclear weapons, but there is "no smoking gun" to prove it and rationalize abandoning the plodding diplomatic process.
"The reason why we're opposed to military action is because it's an infinitely worse option and there's no justification for it," Straw said.
Defense experts say a military strike on Iran would be risky and complicated. U.S. forces already are preoccupied with
Iraq and Afghanistan, and an attack against Iran could inflame U.S. problems in the Muslim world.
The U.N. Security Council has demanded Iran suspend its uranium enrichment program. But Iran has so far refused to halt its nuclear activity, saying the small-scale enrichment project was strictly for research and not for development of nuclear weapons.
Bush has said Iran may pose the greatest challenge to the United States of any other country in the world. And while he has stressed that diplomacy is always preferable, he has defended his administration's strike-first policy against terrorists and other enemies.
"The threat from Iran is, of course, their stated objective to destroy our strong ally Israel," the president said last month in Cleveland. "That's a threat, a serious threat. It's a threat to world peace; it's a threat, in essence, to a strong alliance. I made it clear, I'll make it clear again, that we will use military might to protect our ally."
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Mark Ballesteros would not comment Sunday on reports of military planning for Iran. "The U.S. military never comments on contingency planning," he said.
Stephen Cimbala, a Pennsylvania State University professor who studies U.S. foreign policy, said it would be no surprise that the Pentagon has contingency plans for a strike on Iran. But he suggested the hint of military strikes is more of a public show to Iran and the public than a feasible option.
"If you look at the military options, all of them are unattractive," Cimbala said. "Either because they won't work or because they have side effects where the cure is worse than the disease."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/10/2006 02:53 ||
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Stephen Cimbala, a Pennsylvania State University professor who studies U.S. foreign policy, said it would be no surprise that the Pentagon has contingency plans for a strike on Iran.
Such a profound statement. "No surprise" why I am not and will never be a Penn State faculty member.
#5
#4 - Re: Contingency plans - If you search long enough I bet you'd find the contingency plans for the attack on Wisconsin by Alabama. Having a contingency plan to attack Iran shares space on the surprise meter with daily sunrise.
#6
nice of Jack Straw to take Britain away from the table. Quit fellating the MM's, Jack - they laugh at you behind your back, in front of you, and to your face.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/10/2006 10:51 Comments ||
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#7
If you search long enough I bet you'd find the contingency plans for the attack on Wisconsin by Alabama
Contigency? We're in Divisional field exercises.
#8
LOL - They're rebuilding the Dan Ryan right now, so make sure you skip to the page about river transport. That way you seize the bridgehead at Prairie Du Chein and avoid the south side of Chicago. Then again, the south side makes an excellent staging area for coming through Balochistan. Like I said, all these plans are somewhere in the pentagon's files - maybe PSU can file a FOIA and issue a press release.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has dismissed claims that the United States was preparing for military action against Iran, including nuclear strikes on suspected atomic weapons facilities. He told BBC television that the international community was right to view the Islamic republic's nuclear programme with "high suspicion" but "there is no smoking gun, there is no 'casus belli' (justification for war)".
"We can't be certain about Iran's intentions and that is therefore not a basis for which anybody would gain authority to go to military action," he said Sunday. Straw was speaking following reports from the United States that President George W. Bush was studying options for military strikes, including possible targets. The April 17 edition of the New Yorker said they included Iran's underground uranium enrichment plant at Natanz and its uranium conversion facility at Isfahan. Straw dismissed the idea of nuclear strikes with bunker-busting bombs as "completely nuts" and questioned the reliability of the reports' source.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2006 00:00 ||
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Of course it's nuts.
We don't need nukes to blow up their nukes.
Conventional will do just fine. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/10/2006 0:18 Comments ||
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Now what would Jack Straw know about nuts?
Posted by: Captain America ||
04/10/2006 0:28 Comments ||
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One thing I don't understand is how Blair can stand the Straw man. Either there is really no one else available for the post, or the Straw man implements policy as defined by Blair. In both cases, God save Brits.
#6
the international community was right to view the Islamic republic's nuclear programme with "high suspicion" but "there is no smoking gun, there is no 'casus belli'
Threats to "Wipe Israel off of the map" are not casus belli? WTF is this guy smoking? Probably not straw, regardless of his name. Iran has essentially declared war on America. Straw can sod off.
A military court has charged former Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam, who defected last year, with inciting a foreign attack against Syria and plotting to take power, an official close to the court told The Associated Press on Sunday.
A top member of Syria's ruling elite for nearly 30 years, Khaddam who lives in France provoked an outcry in December when he alleged that Syrian President Bashar Assad threatened former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri months before Hariri's assassination in February 2005. From France, Khaddam has also called for the overthrow of the Syrian regime. The court issued seven charges against Khaddam, including inciting a foreign country "to launch a direct aggression against Syria", a charge that carries life imprisonment at hard labour, the official said. Another charge was "conspiring to seize political and civil power", which also entails a possible life prison sentence, the official said.
I'd guess the more likely penalty would be having his car blow up some Sunday morning.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2006 00:00 ||
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Whew! When I saw the headline, I thought they were talking about Al Gore.
#1
You mean even the Eunichs are starting to figure out the Useless Nitwits are worthless?
Does this mean the Endtimes™ are near? ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/10/2006 0:22 Comments ||
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No worries, the Ruskies and the ChiComs will fill the void.
Posted by: Captain America ||
04/10/2006 0:30 Comments ||
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#3
The lead nations of the EU, like ALL Great Powers, treat the UN purely pragmatically - to be used to achieve their national ends when possible. To be bypassed when THAT suits their national ends. They all were willing to act independently of the UN on Kosovo. SOME of them wouldnt act independently on Iraq, because support the US/UK on Iraq did NOT follow their national interests. Iran may well turn out to be a different matter.
#4
What this means is that the hsitory books will say that Condi Rice wiped the floor with Colin Powell. It might be worth living 40 more years just to see how much damage that guy really did.
#2
"A report by influential investigative journalist Seymour Hersh in The New Yorker magazine, citing unnamed current and former officials..."
I find it fascinating that a man of Hershs somewhat dubious accuracy rate can still illicit such high level reactions. There have been similar reports speculating the same scenario yet when Hersh offers his increasingly transparent opinion as news, even government officials are motivated to act in response. His detractors have repeatedly leveled legitimate critiques yet amazingly he continues to maintain credibility with some of the worlds top officials. Go figure.
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.
As MPs gather in Ottawa to discuss Canada's more combative role in southern Afghanistan, a senior Taliban official and coalition commanders painted two disparate images Sunday of where the war is headed. In a weekend interview with The Canadian Press, insurgent spokesman Qari Yuosaf Ahmedi said the Taliban are convinced the resolve of the Canadian people is weak. As suicide attacks and roadside blasts increase, the public will quickly grow weary, he said. We think that when we kill enough Canadians they will quit war and return home, Mr. Ahmedi said in an interview, conducted through a translator, over a satellite telephone.
DOHA, Qatar, April 9 (UPI) -- Kuwaiti researcher Abdullah al-Nufaisi told a seminar in Doha, Qatar, that Saudi Arabia is preparing a nuclear program, the Middle East Newsline reported. He said Saudi scientists were urging the government to launch a nuclear project, but had not yet received approval from the ruling family.
A Saudi foundation plans to launch next year a private university it hopes will help reform the strict Muslim kingdoms much-criticised education system. The whole reason for Al Faisal university is . . . to cause a change in Saudi Arabia, you can only do it with education, said Prince Bandar bin Saud bin Khalid al-Saud, deputy managing director of the King Faisal Foundation. We look at education as an agent of change in Saudi Arabia.
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) second-in-command Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai was placed on a 10-day remand yesterday in an arms case. The Detective Branch (DB) of police, accompanied by the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) members, produced Bangla Bhai before the No 2 Cognisance Court here at around 11:45am. He was wearing a helmet and bullet-proof vest.
NORTH Korea's defence chief has warned that Pyongyang could also launch a pre-emptive attack against the United States, with state media saying soldiers were ready to be "human bombs."
Critics of the Bush administration have expressed alarm over reports that the president is considering a military strike to knock out Iran's nuclear programme. 
Terror stalks the remote, poverty-stricken, under-developed villages in West Midnapore district bordering Jharkhand, a hotbed of Maoist activities where voters are in two-minds whether to vote or not, fearing reprisal from the ultras who have given a vote boycott call.
Hundreds arrested as protesters defy curfews across Nepal Nepalese police firing tear gas and rubber bullets clashed on Sunday with thousands of pro-democracy protesters who defied a curfew despite warnings that violators could be shot, opposition parties said. A second death was reported among demonstrators demanding that King Gyanandra give up the absolute powers he seized 14 months ago. 
The government has set up a committee of tribal elders to review the case of two alleged commanders loyal to Nawab 
Politicisation of zakat distribution is the main cause of corruption in the system, reveals a report of the Economic Committee of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII). According to the report, zakat committee chairmen are appointed on a political basis to accommodate political workers, which generates corruption, sources said. 
Interpol has issued a special notice against India's most wanted criminal sought for the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai that killed more than 260 people, the international police agency's website showed on Sunday. The notice sent to all 184 member countries places Indian crime boss Dawood Ibrahim on the same list as Osama Bin Laden. It seeks a freezing of his assets, a ban on travel as well as an arms embargo. 
An uproar over the threatened execution of an Afghan man who converted from Islam to Christianity highlights a disturbing conflict between application of Islamic laws and protection of human rights in Asia and the Middle East, US experts say. The case of 
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - Saddam Hussein's lawyers are denied the same rights and resources as the prosecutors in his trial, a U.S.-based legal adviser to the deposed Iraqi leader said Sunday.
BAGHDAD - Iraqs acting speaker of parliament said on Sunday he would call on the assembly to convene in the next few days, raising the possibility that political deadlock over a new prime minister may be broken. The Iraqi people are impatiently waiting for this issue to be resolved. When the parliament convenes it will be possible to start the steps to form a national unity government, Adnan Pachachi told a news conference.
Iraqi Kurdish leaders have officially informed the main Shia Alliance that their rejection of 
Egyptian President 
The armed wing of the governing Palestinian movement Hamas, under huge international pressure to renounce violence, vowed on Sunday to avenge a weekend of Israeli strikes which has left 15 people dead. The latest victim was a 29-year-old taxi driver Yasser Abu Jarad who was killed by a tank shell at the entrance to a national security post in the Beit Hanun region of the northern Gaza Strip as he dropped off a member of a unit. Five other security men were also wounded in the attack which came as part of intensifying efforts by the army to put a halt to the firing of rockets from Gaza into southern Israel. A series of air strikes on Friday night and Saturday had also left 14 people wounded, making it much the deadliest bout of violence since Hamas's upset victory in a January parliamentary election and subsequent formation of its first government last month. 
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has appointed a new commander of security forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Palestinian security sources said on Sunday, a move designed to alleviate tensions with Hamas. The new commander, 
Police arrested more than 100 Islamist activists for distributing posters calling on government employees to strike in protest at Jordans third fuel price hike in less than 12 months, Islamists said on Sunday. Government sources denied the charges by the head of the Islamic Action Front, Zaki Bani Irsheid of arrests and harassment of activists who had plastered posters and distributed strike leaflets. At this stage there is not a single person who is detained, the source said. Some people who were putting up flyers and banners in violation of certain laws were questioned but they were then immediately released. 
The possibility of terrorists' gaining access to such high-end technology is worrisome. But few have publicly stated that engineering certain types of recombinant microörganisms using older equipment -- nowadays cheaply available from eBay and online marketplaces for scientific equipment like LabX -- is already feasible. The biomedical community's reaction to all this has been a general flinching. (The signatories to the National Academies report are an exception.) Caution, denial, and a lack of knowledge about bioweaponeering seem to be in equal parts responsible. Jens Kuhn, a virologist at Harvard Medical School, told me, "The Russians did a lot in their bioweapons program. But most of that isn't published, so we don't know what they know."
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has dismissed claims that the United States was preparing for military action against Iran, including nuclear strikes on suspected atomic weapons facilities. He told BBC television that the international community was right to view the Islamic republic's nuclear programme with "high suspicion" but "there is no smoking gun, there is no 'casus belli' (justification for war)".
A military court has charged former Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam, who defected last year, with inciting a foreign attack against Syria and plotting to take power, an official close to the court told The Associated Press on Sunday.
