January 28, 2005: Last year, China was believed to be producing a licensed version of the Russian Su-30, at the rate of twenty aircraft a year. The Chinese aircraft, called the J-11, is believed to now include better electronics and some other Chinese design modifications. The changes may be great enough to justify considering this a new version of the Su-30, and some are referring to it as the J-11B. There are believed to be about 16 of the J-11Bs in service, and the success in developing and building this aircraft may be the reason behind China wanting to halt imports of Russian made Su-30s. China can manufacture most of the components of the J-11, the one major element it must import are the engines. China just bought another hundred engines for the Su-30 and J-11, but is also reported close to achieving the capability of building the engines themselves. China has, for decades, painstakingly built up its jet engine building capability. Manufacturing powerful jet engines involves mastering a wide variety of technologies, and China appears determined to become self-sufficient in this area. China received it's first 26 Su-27s (an earlier model of the Su-30) in 1992, and began building the J-11 (using Russian components) in 1998. There were quality control problems at first, and China has spent the last six years perfecting its aircraft construction procedures. China may have as many as 200 Su-27, Su-30 and J-11 aircraft in service by the end of the year.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/28/2005
9:58:39 AM ||
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Typical Chinese "knock-off" approach.
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 11:35
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The Russkis are now reportedly offering to sell them BLACKJACK bombers in addition to BACKFIRES and BEAR bombers! Between now and 2020, when the Left hopes to see America under OWG and Socialism, the prob is high China will NOT be able to use these new toys effectively in any limited or protracted conventional or mixed war ags Taiwan or in supp of its desired East Asian hegemony. Its unrealistic to presume that China BY ITSELF will be able to successfully mil confront the USA by 2020 - with Taiwan, South Korea, and espec Japan asking to be part of US GMD, its odds of even local-only mil success grow worse over time. Iff China refuses to sway from Communism, its only other pragmatic option is WAR, and WAR NOW OR SOON, NOT LATER!?
January 28, 2005: For the last month, the population of Fallujah has been allowed back into their city. The government has a division (eight battalions) of troops and police in Fallujah, along with a regiment of American marines. Nearly 200,000 civilians are back in Fallujah. Anti-government fighters have been almost completely removed from the town. The marines went house to house, looking for hostile fighters, and stockpiles of weapons, three times. Some 500 weapons caches were found and removed. For over two months, there have been no mortar or rocket attacks on American camps around Fallujah, there used to be 3-5 a week. Fallujah is in eastern Iraq's Anbar province, and that area is still violent, with many of the anti-government gangs moving to Samara and Mosul.
There are still, by some counts, 70-80 anti-government attacks a day throughout Iraq. Most are in Anbar province, and most are concentrated in a few areas (Samara, Mosul and parts of Baghdad.) Most of these attacks are minor (a few shots, or an RPG, fired), and result in no casualties. The only ones that make the news are usually car bombs and incidents where American troops are killed. Another area where the reporting is spotty is when terrorist leaders, or key technicians, are captured. Several car bomb builders have been captured in the past month, but the announcement of the capture was often delayed. This indicates that the military and police forces involved are trying to use information of the captures to play some mind games with the terrorists still out there. For the usual reasons, not much information is released about the new Iraqi intelligence forces. But these people have been in action, and have accounted for an improvement in the quality of recent arrests made by American troops and Iraqi police. The anti-government and terrorist gangs are under increasingly more effective attack. This is a war you don't see, as both sides have good reason to keep their operations secret. One not-so-secret part of the war is the role of the Sunni Arab media. The newspapers, radio and television broadcasts are still very pro-terrorist, although these killers are rarely called that. The Sunni Arab media describes them as "insurgents" and "resistance fighters." The European media likes to pick up on this as well, which helps recruiting terrorists among the millions of Sunni Moslems living in Europe.
In the past year, American troops have killed or captured some 15,000 hostile Iraqis (nearly all Sunni Arab) and foreign fighters. A network of recruiters, stretching into nearby Arab countries and Sunni Arab communities in Europe, has been uncovered. This has led to arrests of recruiters and terrorists in those areas. Most Iraqis (the Shia Arab and Kurds) see the violence in Iraq as an attempt by Sunni Arabs to prevent the loss of control of Iraq by Sunni Arabs.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/28/2005
9:43:19 AM ||
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The US has learned, with devastating effect, how to perform the "honey pot" as both strategy and tactic. Tens of thousands of boyz from around the world, those individuals "most likely to succeed in murder and mayhem", have been drawn to disaster first at the country level, in both Afghanistan and Iraq; and then concentrated further, in Fallujah. A truly threatening force, the size of several armies, spread out in every country on the globe has been brought together, concentrated, then exterminated. How brilliant! There was no sane alternative to fighting them that wouldn't have cost far more in lives and expense. In addition, we have stripped dozens of countries of potential villains of all stripes. Sucked out their poison, and in the process, derailed the potential for xenophobia and ethnic cleansing against the truly innocent and harmless by those nations' majorities. How can this not be good?
#2
A truly threatening force, the size of several armies, spread out in every country on the globe has been brought together, concentrated, then exterminated.
well said. I've often wondered if we didn't provide the bus tickets for them to get there.
#3
The byproduct of the war is that the terrorist network is being rolled up as they step up their recruit and finance activities.
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 11:32
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50 years from now...when you and I are dead and gone ...historians will look at what US and British troops are doing in Iraq as a turning point in history. The point where the Islamo-fascism was met head-on and defeated.
#7
Lucky, read the post, Wahhabism in US: A Report from Feedom House down on Page 2.
The introduction alone should prove disturbing reading for Prince Bandar. Once we've got Iraq on the road to democracy, the Sauds may find themselves in the crosshairs. Or they may have a Shia led revolt in their eastern (oil rich) provinces. But the Saud family is going to wish their name was Ewing shortly.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/28/2005 18:28
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Ananymoose....You and Me, we think Alike! Give an irresistable invitation to play...THEN STAMP THEM OUT!
Posted by: Janos Hunyadi ||
01/28/2005 19:36
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EFL: Authorities in Iraq have arrested two close associates of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, including the chief of the terror mastermind's Baghdad operation, the government said Friday, two days ahead of historic elections that extremists have vowed to subvert. Qassim Dawoud, a top security adviser, told reporters that the arrests of the al-Zarqawi lieutenants occurred in mid-January but gave few details. Dawoud said one of the men, Salah Suleiman al-Loheibi, headed al-Zarqawi's Baghdad operation and had met with the Jordanian-born terror leader more than 40 times over three months.
The other was identified as Ali Hamad Yassin al-Issawi. Al-Zarqawi heads al-Qaida's affiliate in Iraq, which like other militant groups has threatened to kill anyone who takes part in Sunday's election. It repeated those warnings in a new Web message Friday, telling Iraqis they could get hit by shelling or other attacks if they approach polling stations, which it called "the centers of atheism and of vice." "We have warned you, so don't blame us. You have only yourselves to blame," it said. On Thursday, the group posted a video on the Internet showing the murder of a candidate from Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's party. The tape included a warning to Allawi personally: "You traitor, wait for the angel of death." Friday's announcement brings to three the number of purported al-Zarqawi lieutenants arrested this month. The announcement appeared aimed at bolstering public confidence in security forces in advance of Sunday's election.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/28/2005
9:40:00 AM ||
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With the number of 'associates' starting to turn up in Coalition hands, it appears the average Iraqi has decided what his/her future is going to be, and is making the contribution by indentifying the scum to end the life of this insurgency.
Two hundred and eighty-two people were killed by law enforcers across the country in the last year that surpassed all the previous records, according to the reports published in the newspapers and compiled by human rights organisations. Though the authorities argued in favour of the killings of the people, mostly suspected criminals, for giving a sigh of relief in public life, both national and international rights groups criticised the extra-judicial killing that was only 56 in 2003, according to report of Odhikar, a human rights coalition.
During their anticrime drive, the regular police force, the two special forces of Detective Branch — Cheetah and Cobra — and the Rapid Action Battalion, and other law enforcers killed the people. Of them, 155 people were killed by the police from January 25, 2004 to January 25, 2005, and 93 by RAB since the elite force came into being in April 14, 2004. Cheetah and Cobra killed 10 others and the Bangladesh Rifles and Ansars killed the rest 24. Of the total, 166 people were killed in the custody of law enforcing agencies. Ninety of them were killed in the police custody, 56 in the RAB, seven in the Cheetah and Cobra, and the rest 13 in the custody of other law enforcing agencies. There was no scope for the suspected criminals to prove whether they were innocent or not as almost all the incidents were said to be the crossfire by the law enforcers. The reports showed that some 219 people were killed in 'crossfire' and shootouts by the police and RAB.
That's it? Looks more like it's running three or four a day. Maybe they take long vacations?
Of them, 83 were the victims of RAB's 'crossfire', 10 fell prey to Cheetah and Cobra. In addition, the police killed 113 persons and other law enforcing agencies 13 persons. The violation of human rights started from January 2004 with the killing of one person in crossfire by the police and two others by other law enforcing agencies. Another person was victim of common phenomenon 'crossfire' of the police in February. Four more people were killed in crossfire by the police and another by other law enforcing agencies in March. Two persons each were killed by the police in April and in May. Six more persons were also killed by other law enforcing agencies in May. In June, one each was killed in crossfire by RAB and the police, and two others by other law enforcing agencies.
RAB killed three persons in crossfire and the police two others in July. RAB killed four persons and the police killed five persons in August apart from another by other law enforcing agencies. With four months of experience under its belt, RAB stepped up its 'crossfire' spree. In September, the elite force alone killed 16 persons in their well-rehearsed 'crossfire' phenomenon. One more person was killed by Cheetah and three others in police 'crossfire' in the same month. Ten persons were killed in 'crossfire' by RAB in October. Cheetah and Cobra tallied three persons together and the police killed 15 others. RAB reached the pinnacle of its killing record in November with killing of 19 persons in 'crossfire'. Besides, the police killed 15 persons, and Cheetah and Cobra with other law enforcing agencies killed one person each. December also saw 17 killings in RAB 'crossfire' when the police toppled RAB's count with the killing of 25 individuals and Cheetah and Cobra killed two others. Under the banner of law enforcement, 13 persons were reportedly killed in RAB 'crossfire', and 27 others in police 'crossfire' till January 25 this year. Cheetah and Cobra also killed three persons till Tuesday.
They also set a new record for the use of the word "crossfire" in one story! Let's hear it for Bangladesh!
Posted by: Steve ||
01/28/2005
9:07:47 AM ||
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Writing Tuesday in The Daily Telegraph, British military historian John Keegan compared the Palestinian terror war to the Iraqi insurgency. "What is going on in Iraq," Keegan writes, "resembles the second Palestinian intifada, though it is more intensive and better organized. It is also more difficult to counter, since the Western forces lack the detailed intelligence to which the Israeli security forces have access."
Keegan's statement is both true and false. It is certainly true that, from a strictly military perspective, Iraqi terrorists and foreign terrorists who fight with them in Iraq have mimicked Palestinian terror techniques, just as American forces have adopted IDF counterterror tactics in combating them. It is also true that Israel, which has been fighting the Palestinians for upwards of 100 years, knows its enemy much better than coalition forces know their opponents in Iraq.
Yet, tactical capabilities aside, the US and its coalition partners will likely emerge victorious in Iraq, while Israel is losing its war against Palestinian terrorism. The reason for this has little to do with military prowess and everything to do with a vision for the future. The Americans and their allies in Iraq, including the 85 percent of Iraqis who intend to vote on January 30, have a clear vision of where they want to go. They wish, through ushering in democracy and liberalization, to better the lot of the Iraqi people while ensuring, through counterterror warfare, that the terrorists will have no future at all.
Posted by: gromgorru ||
01/28/2005
8:58:36 AM ||
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Damn right the tactics are the same, there are Palestinians fighting coaltion forces in Iraq -- no surprise here.
The difference cited between Israelis effectiveness vis-a-vis the coaltion is due to the impact of the international community (including US restrictions). Israel could take down the terrorist nests in a week with enough leeway given.
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 11:50
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All your links are belong to us.
Posted by: Abdul ||
01/28/2005 15:12
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while Israel is losing its war against Palestinian terrorism
uh, no comments from Sheikh Yassin, Rantisi, Arafat, Barghouti, .....
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/28/2005 15:34
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My only quibble is that the Israelis aren't the ones who bagged Arafat.
From the German Embassy's website, a background paper titled "Jews in Germany Today," written by Susan Stern, a lecturer in English at the University of Frankfurt/Main and the author of the books Speaking Out - Jewish Voices From United Germany and From Horror to Hope - Germany, the Jews and Israel.
The webpage address somehow prevented the posting of this article in Rantburg (the element "relaunch"?), so the posting's link is only to the home page. From there, follow these menu selections: Information Services --> Archives --> Background Papers --> More --> Jews in Germany Today.
The Jewish population of Germany today [1995] is very small indeed. In a nation of 81 million inhabitants, it claims about 55,000, give or take a few: some 43,000 are registered, dues-paying members of the official Jewish community, and although nobody knows exactly how many unregistered Jews there are, 10,000 is an educated guess. Compared to the number of Muslim residents of Germany - around 1.4 million, most of them Turkish - the number of Jews borders on the insignificant. In the early 1930s, there were ten times as many Jews in Germany as there are now. .....
The Allensbach Institute for Demoscopy, a leading polling organization, recently announced its latest findings: 15 percent of Germans are anti-Semitic, and of these, 8 percent are "vehemently" so. These figures, alarming as they may appear, actually indicate a marked decrease in anti-Semitic sentiment, which is now, according to the Allensbach pollsters, at a postwar low. Moreover, they do not compare unfavorably to figures from neighboring countries or even from the United States. .....
Over the past few years, right wing radicalism has become a serious problem in Germany .... The culprits are generally young white males whose understanding of politics (or of anything else for that matter) is severely limited. On occasion, they have turned their attention to the Jews - not so much to the living but to the dead. Jewish cemeteries and memorials have been vandalized. .... More likely, they are looking for taboos to break to attract attention and know that any act against the Jews is considered particularly shocking.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
01/28/2005
7:49:26 AM ||
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"The Jewish population of Germany today [1995] is very small indeed. In a nation of 81 million inhabitants, it claims about 55,000, give or take a few: some 43,000 are registered, dues-paying members of the official Jewish community, and although nobody knows exactly how many unregistered Jews there are, 10,000 is an educated guess."
You're kidding, right? Have you asked yourself why there are only about 55,000 jews (remaining) in Germany today? It's cause all those people who would have been there today with their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren were exterminated in the 40's.
And what is this business about "registered" and "dues-paying" jews? I haven't payed mine yet; can someone tell me when the due date is and where I should mail it? Given Germany's track record concerning Jews, I'd be careful about "registering" with the government.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
01/28/2005 16:01
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Me! Meee! This is my question to answer -- me!!
(ok. I'm all better now.)
I was there then. One of the unregistered. Which took some doing, let me tell you -- when we went over, Personnel automatically registered the whole family as Jews, because they made assumptions about Mr. Wife based on what they knew about me.
It took the better part of a year to deregister us. After all, not only is Mr. Wife not a member of the tribe, but both of us took the American approach that our personal beliefs are none of the government's damned business. Registered members of the three official religions in Germany (Catholic, Lutheran, Jewish) pay, if I recall correctly, a 10% bonus on their income tax, which the gov't then pays forward to the respective governing council -- for paying clergy salaries and building maintenance and such. In exchange, the registered members receive baptism, marriage and burial rites at the local church of their registered denomination. All very picturesque, which for most of the Christians there is more important than being meaningful anyway.
I remember the official number of Jews there being about 30,000 a little earlier. This was just before the Russian Jewish influx. There are considerably more Jews there now, which is a bit of a sticky wicket because they know nothing about their heritage. As I recall, the gov't financed schools that the Jewish community set up to teach the newcomers about their religion.
Do the Germans realize why the numbers are so low? Of course they do. Not that they talk about it -- everybody knows, so why bother? And I agree that at least part of the reason for idiots vandalizing graveyards, etc is to shock, just like wearing funny-coloured funny haircuts and bits of metal piercing uncomfortable body parts.
But all the analysis about why the Germans have gone so pro-Palestine/anti-Israel are also correct -- its an easy way to resolve the cognitive dissonance caused by resenting the Jews because of national guilt, etc and so on. The French reason is different; they just don't like Jews, never have, and so they let the Muslims in their midst act out the national will in this matter. Along,of course, with the decadent resolve not to bestir themselves to force the barbarians to behave.
#4
I can't get over the registration of religion thing. How odd. But I suppose it makes sense in a sort of German way. I suppose if I ever had to "register", I'd say my religion was "American". Let's see if they have a box on their form for that.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
01/28/2005 18:57
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I'm with you Mark. I'm surprised they don't offer parents the option of a wrist tattoo to assist in child identification in the event of an abduction.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/28/2005 19:04
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But those are children, Mrs. D. Why would anybody want to take the messy, noisy, demanding, messy little things? If someone actually wanted one, she would've had her own, and she hasn't done that, has she.
Right now, your response to this assertion is by far the surest predictor of whether you are a Democrat or a Republican: The best way to ensure peace is through military strength. Thank you, Ron.
As an indicator of party preference, it is nearly two-and-a-half times more potent than any of the values (government's waste, regulation's importance or homosexuality's acceptability) that held sway only a halfdecade ago. The second-leading indicator (itself still more potent in 2004 than any of the other values in 1999) is your response to this notion: We should all be willing to fight for our country, whether it is right or wrong. So folks have divvied themselves up and chosen sides: it's quite a shot against the idea that this great war of our time will become a bipartisan effort. Will it keep Republicans in office? Maybe. But I don't think having one major party be stark raving head-in-the-sand mad is a good thing, particularly as it means a lack of reasoned opposition.
Posted by: someone ||
01/28/2005
7:14:03 AM ||
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The second-leading indicator (itself still more potent in 2004 than any of the other values in 1999) is your response to this notion: We should all be willing to fight for our country, whether it is right or wrong.
I call bullpoo! The "notion"? What was the actual question. I bet $100 it wasn't, "do you believe you should fight for your country if it is wrong?"
#5
Republicans are from Mars, Democrats are from Venus? Does that mean that Democrats breathe hydrochloric acid, and Republicans barely breathe at all? Help me out, here, guys - I'm not good at this metaphor stuff.
Of course, going from that article, neither are a lot of people...
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
01/28/2005 13:24
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MAMDOUH Habib has been reunited with his family after arriving back in Australia. "He has been reunited with his family," Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said. "His family were informed that he was arriving and as was his legal practitioner," he said. "We understand they've made arrangements to spend time with him at an undisclosed location of their choosing. "But he's not in custody, he's at liberty, and the exact whereabouts are really a matter for him and his family." The former Guantanamo Bay detainee arrived in Sydney about 4:00pm (AEDT) today, ending more than three years of detention in the US as a terror suspect. Mr Habib, released by the US from the base in Cuba without being charged, stepped off a private jet at Sydney Airport about half an hour after the aircraft marked only with a US flag had landed. Mr Habib, bearded, wearing a white T-shirt, long dark pants and carrying a blue shirt, emerged from the plane to be greeted on the tarmac. He then went to a small propeller aircraft, which took off for an unknown destination, witnesses said. Mr Habib was accompanied on landing by two men in suits.
Oh, no! Not men in suits!
After being reunited with his wife and four children, including a four-year-old daughter he is yet to meet, Mr Habib will be evaluated by a clinical psychiatrist so his lawyers can assess his mental state. The assessment is expected to take several days and is a precondition to his lawyers allowing him to give paid media interviews and earn his first income since he was arrested in Pakistan in October 2001. The Federal Government yesterday repeated its view that any payment Mr Habib received for his story could be confiscated under Proceeds of Crime legislation, despite no charges likely to be brought against him for the time he allegedly spent with al-Qaeda before and after the September 11 attacks. Mr Ruddock said the Government "certainly can't gag him" but was examining whether Mr Habib could profit from telling his story. "He's free to tell his story as he sees fit but we are looking at the issue of whether or not he can profit from that," he said. Asked if was interested in hearing Mr Habib's story, Mr Ruddock said he was more interested in hearing the truth and some of the allegations of abuse made by Mr Habib's lawyers. "I'm more interested, I might say, in the truth," he said. A New South Wales Police officer also confirmed Mr Habib would not fall under the spotlight of the state's counter-terrorism laws. He has at least one criminal matter outstanding, however, involving accused Sydney terrorist Bilal Khazal, whom Mr Habib alleges assaulted him in 1999.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
01/28/2005
6:54:46 AM ||
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I'd like this pic better if he had a big hole in his forehead and his brains blown all over the side of the Ghost Jet.
A Slovak man trapped in his car under an avalanche freed himself by drinking 60 bottles of beer and urinating on the snow to melt it.
"Tha'sh right! Tha'sh what I done! [Hic!]"
Rescue teams found Richard Kral drunk and staggering along a mountain path four days after his Audi car was buried in the Slovak Tatra mountains.
"I wuzh jush drivin' along, an' then — bang! — there she wuzh. A avull... ovalun... big-ashed snow drif'!"
He told them that after the avalanche, he had opened his car window and tried to dig his way out. But as he dug with his hands, he realised the snow would fill his car before he managed to break through.
"Purdy shoon there wudn't no room fer me! [Hic!]"
He had 60 half-litre bottles of beer in his car as he was going on holiday, and after cracking one open to think about the problem he realised he could urinate on the snow to melt it.
"I mean, my bladder wuzh that big!"
He said: "I was scooping the snow from above me and packing it down below the window, and then I peed on it to melt it. It was hard and now my kidneys and liver hurt. But I'm glad the beer I took on holiday turned out to be useful and I managed to get out of there."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2005
6:21:24 PM ||
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60 bottles of beer might do it. Was it mentioned that his bladder exploded in a froth of foam.
#7
Deacon, we are going to kick you out of the mens club if you continue to talk like that. But I think that pure beer would freeze more than urine, so he did the right thing.
#11
I don't know about the beer freezing before the urine, Sarge. The Last batch of Deacon Blues Pork Palace and Potables Parlour Stout came in at a little over 6% alcohol. I gues the Engineer in me took over for a minute there. "Watch out where the Huskies go and don't you eat the yellow snow".
Frank Zappa
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/28/2005 21:33
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This man used his body as a chemical reactor for turning beer into heat energy to melt his way out of an avalanche.
Britain's generosity is being "abused" by asylum seekers who cost the country £2 billion a year, Michael Howard, the Conservative leader, will say today. His decision to step up the Tories' demand for an annual limit to be imposed on the number of refugees entering Britain coincides with a YouGov poll in The Telegraph today showing strong public support for stricter controls.
In a speech in Kent, Mr Howard will say that town hall spending on asylum has risen thirty-fold since Tony Blair became Prime Minister. In 1997 councils spent £13 million on asylum support but that has soared to £398 million in the past year. When other costs of supporting asylum seekers are added, the total cost to the country since 1997 is £3 billion — the equivalent of £140 per household in England. Mr Howard will say that the British people are tolerant and always ready to help those in genuine need. But many people now feel that their tolerance, their sense of fair play and their desire to help others is being abused. "Fair play matters," he will say. They want a government that upholds the rules, not one that turns a blind eye when they are bent and abused. And let us be clear: our asylum system is being abused - and with it Britain's generosity."
He will be making his speech 24 hours after the Holocaust commemorations but will strongly deny that racism is behind his demand for Britain to withdraw from the 1951 United Nations convention requiring it to take unlimited numbers of people fleeing persecution. Recalling that his grandmother died in Auschwitz with millions of others, he will say that he is determined that Britain should take its fair share of the world's genuine refugees.
YouGov shows that Mr Howard's decision to put immigration at the heart of the Tory election campaign has given the party a lift after months of stagnation. The Conservatives have gained two points since the middle of last month and have narrowed the gap with Labour to one point. The poll puts Labour on 35, the Tories on 34 and the Liberal Democrats on 22. Labour has been stuck on 35 per cent for three months - seven points down from the 42 per cent share of the vote it gained at the 2001 general election. The Tories are onto a winner here.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
01/28/2005
5:59:09 AM ||
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It still amazes me that countries would forego their sovernity in favor of a Supra bureaucracy.
Will the EU Constitution let the Brits know which hand to wipe their asses with?
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 13:13
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A campaign to replace New Zealand's flag was gathering momentum yesterday, with thousands of supporters signing a petition in favour of ditching the present design with its Union flag motif. The campaigners want a referendum on scrapping the version in use today, adopted in 1902, which also features the stars of the Southern Cross in red and white on a blue background. The flag is too easily confused with Australia's and projects the anachronistic image of a subservient British colony, supporters argue. "We are not the country we were 100 years ago," said Dame Catherine Tizard, a supporter of the initiative and a former governor-general. "We do not wear the clothes of a century ago or drive Model T Fords." Sports and media stars and authors have joined the campaign, which was launched by Lloyd Morrison, a Wellington businessman, outside parliament this week. Mr Morrison submitted six alternative designs for the national flag. The most popular option appears to be the silver fern - a native plant - depicted in white on a black background. Many New Zealanders already regard it as their national symbol. It might look smart, but from a distance that's going to be mistaken for the Jolly Roger.
If public opinion rallies behind the idea of a change, a second referendum should be held on the design of the new flag, Mr Morrison suggested. The old flag still has strong support. Many former servicemen feel that to change the design would be a betrayal of the thousands who died fighting under its colours in two world wars. Other supporters of the status quo link the new campaign to what they suspect is creeping republicanism, although its organisers deny any connection. John Cox, of the New Zealand Flag Institute, a lobby group that seeks to retain the existing ensign, said: "The flag has stood the test of time. A country that abandons its old symbols for no better reason than to follow changing fashions has lost its heart and neglected its heritage."
Posted by: Bulldog ||
01/28/2005
5:26:15 AM ||
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Their national symbol is small forest plant that lives on rotting wood? Yupper, that's a symbol to fight and die for. Have they thought about using a sheep instead?
Yeah, we missed you, ya fat pig. Yasser Arafat's widow, Suha, joined more than 2 million Muslims who performed the pilgrimage (haj) to Mecca this year. She was easy to spot. She was the only one being driven around The Rock in a limo.
It was the first time that Suha, a Christian who converted to Islam to marry the late Palestinian leader, had made the journey to Mecca. She was accompanied by her daughter, Zahwa.
It was her first public appearance since she attended her husband's funeral in Cairo. Suha enraged many Palestinians when, last November, she accused top Palestinian Authority officials of seeking to replace her husband and bury him while he was still alive in a military hospital near Paris. Ah, but that's all water under the bridge now that she got her money. Unfortunately for her, soon she'll probably be face down in the water under the bridge now that she got her money.
Suha, who is living in Tunisia, was invited to perform the haj by King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and his wife, al-Johara Ibrahim.
In an interview with the London-based daily Al-Hayat, Suha said she felt the need to travel to Mecca this year in honor of her husband's memory. She noted that Arafat had performed the haj several times in his lifetime and said she also wanted to educate her daughter about Islam. ...and maybe hit the king up for a couple of mill or some of the secret accounts she missed.
"After performing all the rituals of the haj, I feel closer to God," Suha explained. "I also feel internal peace." ...and I'm very rich. How are things in Ramallah, by the way? Wave to the peasants, Zawha.
Her daughter, who was also interviewed by the paper, said she enjoyed the experience. "I didn't feel tired at all and I prayed for the soul of my father," she said. "I want to return to this holy site every year." Can I have some money please?
In a related development, relatives of Arafat in the Gaza Strip are demanding that Suha and her daughter move back to the Palestinian areas. You got a better chance of Yasshole waking up and moving back from Hell.
Jarir al-Kidwa, one of Arafat's prominent cousins in Gaza City, said the family wants the two to return home because "life in Paris contravenes with Islamic morals and traditions." Yeah, it's too...what's the word... civilized?
Suha and Zahwa, who turns 10 next July, had been living in Paris before they moved to Tunis a year ago. The two were invited by the wife of the Tunisian president to stay in the country, where Zahwa attends a private school. "We don't want Zahwa to live in Paris and be affected by the climate there," Kidwa added, claiming that Arafat's daughter was a descendant of one of the nephews of the Prophet Mohammed. Suuuuuuuure she was. But the desciples will eat it up, right?
Kidwa, 80, said the family set up a 10-member committee to seek custody over Arafat's daughter so that she could be raised in an Islamic and Arabic environment. He said the team had contacted a number of lawyers in France to file a lawsuit against Suha, asking that she hand her daughter over to them. Suha would never go for that. Unless, of course, the price was right...
#1
Please don't insult pigs by comparing Suha to a pig. Elsbeth is getting a complex.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/28/2005 21:34
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Please don't insult pigs by comparing Suha to a pig. Elsbeth is getting a complex.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/28/2005 21:35
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#3
The Arafat families greed is unfreeking believeable. They want the kid raised in such and such a way? My ass. They want to get their hands on the money. These folks deserve each other.
#4
Sorry about the double post. SPoD, bingo!! You win the prize! By the way Elsbeth is my pig at 450 pounds she probably rivals Suha. But is much prettier.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/28/2005 22:02
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Two policemen and a dacoit were killed in a shootout with dacoits near Multan on Thursday. Police got a tip on Thursday evening that 10 wanted criminals would be attending a wedding in Mouza Jalalpur Khakhi, Shujaabad tehsil, some 50 kilometres south of Multan.
"We're goin' to a weddin', Mahmoud. Go get yer formal firearms!"
"Sure t'ing, Mo!"
When police raided the site, the wanted dacoits opened fire on them.
"Cheez, it's the coppers. Let 'em have it!"
Police constables Mujahid of Faisalabad and Muhammad Afzal of Lodhran were killed at the scene. As the shootout continued, police reinforcements were called in and one of the dacoits was shot dead. He was later identified as Aziz, son of Muhammad Bakhsh Dhole, and nephew of Ashiq Dhole. Police were still chasing the other nine dacoits when this report was filed late on Thursday. Saadatullah Khan, the inspector general of Punjab Police, announced compensation of Rs 0.5 million each for the families of the two constables killed.
The official Star Wars website has revealed the opening crawler text for the final installment in the Star Wars trilogy Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.
Lights go down in the theater and that theme music swells.......
Episode III REVENGE OF THE SITH
War! The Republic is crumbling under attacks by the ruthless Sith Lord, Count Dooku. There are heroes on both sides. Evil is everywhere.
In a stunning move, the fiendish droid leader, General Grievous, has swept into the Republic capital and kidnapped Chancellor Palpatine, leader of the Galactic Senate.
As the Separatist Droid Army attempts to flee the besieged capital with their valuable hostage, two Jedi Knights lead a desperate mission to rescue the captive Chancellor....
And as those big yellow letters disappear into the distance, we find our heros in trouble, again.
Two years after Attack of the Clones, Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala are married, The Republic is at war with Count Dooku's Confederacy of Independent Systems, and Darth Sidious is preparing to make the final move that will ensure him control of the galaxy. With it's nearly endless supply of clone soldiers, the Republic is gaining ground against the Confederacy. Determined to avoid defeat, Dooku places a bounty on the Jedi Knights, who have already come under fire from the Republic itself. When Anakin turns to the Dark Side of the Force and joins the genocidal purge, Obi-Wan Kenobi must fight to protect Padme and her children as he heads toward a tragic showdown with his former pupil.
Gee, I wonder how it'll all turn out?
Posted by: Steve ||
01/28/2005
3:37:55 PM ||
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#1
I'll see it, reluctantly. Let's hope it's not nearly as bad as Episode I. Maybe they'll kill off Jar-Jar Binks in Episode III? Please?
Posted by: Jonathan ||
01/28/2005 16:05
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#2
The climactic showdown will likely have something to do with Padme and a bowl of hot grits. Don't tell Slashdot.
A Norwegian citizen of Somali background has been arrested in Britain and is now in a jail outside London. He is charged with allegedly having supplied radioactive materials to be used for terrorism. The 52-year-old man who became a Norwegian citizen in 1997, was arrested in London in September, after he according to the charges had supplied a kilo of the radioactive material red mercury, the newspaper VG writes. Red mercury is supposedly an ingridient in so-called "dirty bombs".
The jailed Somali/Norwegian has together with two other men been charged with conspiring to buy the red mercury with the aim to use it in a terrorist action, the newspaper writes. The three pleaded not guilty when they were brought before the Old Bailey court last Monday. According to VG the Norwegian Security police has been informed. The Norwegian Foreign Office has been informed, but does not want to comment. However, they say they are ready to offer consular assistance to the arrested man.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/28/2005
2:51:58 AM ||
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#1
...I wonder if hes the asshat whos been putten mercury in my tuna sammys?
Posted by: Charlie ||
01/28/2005 5:17
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#2
I love the journalism here...especially the part where they credulously report the existence of "red mercury" without bothering to check if it actually exists or not. Red mercury is mythical.
#3
I used to drive an old red Mercury, it too was a dirty bomb.
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 7:43
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I'd be interested in what AC, our regular RB contributor from Texas Tech, has to say about Red Mercury. After a quick excursion with GOOGLE I found an article on chemistry that claims Red Mercury does exist and gave several definitions. I also found an interesting interview with Sam Cohen acclaimed inventor of the neutron bomb. Cohen was asked, "Is red mercury a hoax?". Scroll about half way down the article to read why Cohen says, "The Atomic Energy Commission denies red mercury,....but they lie through their teeth. And they have to."
Google on, Neutron Bomb Sam Cohen, for other scary interviews.
The Tamil Tiger rebels on Friday backed away from a demand to be able to directly receive international funds for tsunami victims, and said they were putting their independence struggle on hold to deal with the disaster.
"The international community need not deliver aid direct to LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam)," said the rebels' top peace negotiator Anton Balasingham.
I think my surprise meter just pegged.
The LTTE have consistently demanded they be given access to some of the foreign aid that has poured into the island since the tsunami struck one month ago. The Sri Lankan government has said aid disbursement should be centralized in its hands for greater efficiency. The Tigers, however, have said insufficient aid was reaching territories under guerrilla control. Norway, which brokered a truce between the two warring sides three years ago, has been mediating efforts to bring them together to coordinate tsunami relief and reconstruction. Hans Brattskår, Norway's ambassador, also was expected to participate in the closed-door meeting. If an agreement is reached, it would mark a significant step: the first collaboration on a political level since peace talks collapsed in April 2003. The rebels began fighting in 1983 to create a separate state for Sri Lanka's 3.2 million Tamils, accusing the country's 14 million Sinhalese of discrimination. A 2002 Norwegian-brokered truce appeared increasingly tenuous before the tsunami that dealt equal devastation to both sides of the conflict.
#1
I am not that surprised : LTTE are very attuned to Western propoganda opportunites. This will play out as a major concession on their part - even though there was no hope for aid deliveries to what most countries now define as a terrorist group. It will act as an additional "sign of flexibility" for the LTTE in the next series of three-way talks and put pressure on Sri Lanka.
Extremist leader killed in Natore crossfire shootoutA regional leader of an extremist group was killed in a shootout between police and his accomplices at Khirpota village in Singra upazila on Friday. Police nabbed Entaj alias Enta (38), regional commander of Purba Banglar Communist Party (Lal Pataka) from Baioni village in Singra upazila Wednesday night.
Acting on his statement, police along with Entaj went to Khirpota on Thursday night to arrest the other members of his group. As soon as police reached near the dark deserted pond of Rawshan member, the cohorts of Entaj opened fires, forcing the law enforcers to fire back.
"Look out, it's The Cohorts Of Entaj! Let em have it!"
Entaj was caught in the crossfire encounter as he tried to escape from police capture. He was rushed to Singra Health Complex where doctors declared him dead, police said. Two police constables, Miladunnabi and Aminul Islam, were also injured in the armed encounter. A pipe gun and 12 rounds of bullet were recovered from the scene
"Killer Kasem" killed in Krossfire
BSS, Rajshahi:The regional commander of the outlawed Purba Banglar Communist Party (Red Flag) was killed in crossfire between the extremists and police at Sadhanpur under Puthiya upazila of the district in the early hours of on Friday.
The criminal was identified as Abul Kasem alias 'Killer Kasem', 40, son of late Shahar Ali of Senpara village under Baghmara upazila. Kasem, also a top-listed terror, was an accused in 11 criminal cases, including seven sensational murders, police said.
Acting on a tip-off, a police team picked up Abul Kasem from Baghmara area on Thursday morning. Following his confession, police were taking him to a remote village under Puthiya to arrest his accomplices and recover firearms.
Gee, how many times have we heard that one?
As they reached Sadhanpur, some of his accomplices opened fire on the police team who also returned fire. Abul Kasem was killed on the spot in the encounter by the extremists while he tried to escape from the police custody, police said.
I think this is the Standard Crossfire Report form, they just fill in the name, date and abandoned building location.
Police recovered an Indian pistol along with two rounds of live bullets and 12 spent cartridges from the spot. The body was sent to hospital for autopsy.
"What's the cause of death, Doc?"
"Multiple gunshot wounds, about 12 of them"
RAB members arrested four miscreants
CHITTAGONG, Jan 28:—RAB members arrested four miscreants including a listed criminal and recovered six firearms, including a US-made M-16 rifle, in separate drives in different places of the district during the past 24 hours ending at 4 pm today, reports BSS. The firearms also include five country-made single-barrel guns, 15 bullets, a magazine of M-16 rifle and a machete, a press release of the RAB said today.
Acting on a tipoff, a team of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in cooperation with Fatikchhari police raided Shahnagar area under the upzilla and picked up Mohammad Shahin, an accused in three murder cases, at about 4.30 pm yesterday.
Following Shahin's confession, the RAB squad recovered three arms, including a US-made M-16 rifle, two single-barrel guns from Sikder Bari of Babu Nagar and Manik Shah Bari areas of Shahnagar.
And he's still breathing? Must be getting soft.
Two separate cases were filed with Fatikchhari police in this connection.
In another drive, RAB men in a predawn raid arrested three miscreants—Abu Siddique, Abu Hasan and Fazal Karim—from Chanua under Banshkhali upazila and seized three country-made single- barrel guns, six bullets and a knife from them.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/28/2005
2:05:15 PM ||
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country-made single- barrel guns
I think these would be what we used to call "zip-guns", homemade from a piece of pipe with a spring to strike the primer. They make a big deal in the press any time they find a real gun. These homemade guns may also be what they sometimes refer to as "shutter guns".
Posted by: Steve ||
01/28/2005 16:10
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#4
Single barrel guns are Shotguns and smooth bore long guns. The shutter gun is still up for grabs.
The pipe guns are more like "zip" guns.
OSWIECIM, Poland -- Vice President Dick Cheney's utilitarian hooded parka and boots stood out amid the solemn formality of a ceremony commemorating the liberation of Nazi death camps, raising eyebrows among the fashion-conscious.
It stood out to me as well, he's wearing a AF issue artic parka. My first thought, "He forgot to bring a warm coat and borrowed one from his flight crew"
Cheney replaced the zipped-to-the-neck green parka he sported in Thursday's blowing snow and freezing wind with a more traditional black coat - red tie and gray scarf showing underneath - for his tour of Auschwitz on Friday.
They found his luggage or he bought one.
Washington Post fashion writer Robin Givhan described Cheney's look at the deeply moving 60th anniversary service as "the kind of attire one typically wears to operate a snow blower."
"Cheney stood out in a sea of black-coated world leaders because he was wearing an olive drab parka with a fur-trimmed hood," Givhan wrote in Friday's Post, also mocking Cheney's knit ski cap embroidered with the words "Staff 2001" and his brown, lace-up hiking boots. "The vice president looked like an awkward child amid the well-dressed adults," she said.
No, Robin, he looks like a man, not a fashion fop in a fur cap like the euros behind him.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/28/2005
1:55:36 PM ||
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#1
This ran on the front page of the Style section in WaPo with a nice large color picture. Sigh.
#4
These fools would have left the concentration camps unliberated for our soldiers' lack of formal attire. Cheney was there and kept warm. WaPo be damned.
Posted by: Tom ||
01/28/2005 15:31
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Washington Post fashion writer Robin Givhan described Cheney's look at the deeply moving 60th anniversary service as "the kind of attire one typically wears to operate a snow blower."
This article is pretty damned stupid. Considering the ceremony the VP attended, I would tend to think that fashion would be the least of his concerns (and the attendees, for that matter). Apparently, this either must have escaped the mind of the "fashion writer", or nothing else is more important than fashion, even the deaths of a million individuals.
#6
I'm sure his heart surgeon would have approved of the attire.
Did the WaPo really send over a fashion reporter to cover the 60th anniversary of Auschwitz? Are Nazis "in" this year?
#7
This reporting fits into the "Worthless Shit Not Worth Reading" category. Who gives a rats behind what Cheney wears? Was he warm? That's all that matters.
#13
Cheney was with the phawnch, wasn't he? So he probably had to wear a kevlar union suit but didnt want the froggies to know.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/28/2005 17:06
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#14
Ace said it best:
""Cheney stood out in a sea of black-coated world leaders because he was wearing an olive drab parka with a fur-trimmed hood. It is embroidered with his name. It reminded one of the way in which children's clothes are inscribed with their names before they are sent away to camp. And indeed, the vice president looked like an awkward boy amid the well-dressed adults."
Is anyone else a bit surprised that it never crossed the minds of the editors at the Post to avoid the use of the phrase "the way in which children's clothes are inscribed with their names before they are sent away to camp"?
You know, when writing about an *Auschwitz* memorial?"
http://ace.mu.nu/archives/065189.php
Posted by: Mark E. ||
01/28/2005 17:47
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#15
Oh for the love of... good lord, he is on the far side of 70, with heart trouble, standing out for how long in the snow and the cold? Getting badly chilled is probably not what his doctors ordered.
#16
Sgt. Mom, obviously, but it would have been a better story if he had worn drab clothes like everybody else and died. That's what the M$M wanted.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/28/2005 18:04
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#17
The first decent snow in chicago this year left 4 mid to old age guys dead in their driveways...its an annual occurance... and 2 of the 4 were using snow throwers, so don't let the Home Depot guy use that pitch on ya!
My Honda snow thrower is my favorite power tool but parkas are too bulky to operate it with...t thus invalidating the WAPO reporters clever little turn of phrase.
I have a snow suit that my kids swear I bought to match the snowthrower. I will never tell...
#18
The testerone-challenged will obviously be targeting Cheney now that word of the Vice-President's dimensionally impressive equipment seems to have spread throughout the national rumor-mill, thanks to a widely-distributed and completely authentic photograph of a modesty lapse during a recent interview.
#20
Muck, I must say this is the FIRST time I have no idea what in hell you are trying to say.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/28/2005 22:06
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#21
Xbalanke - Yes, you're right. But a friggin' fashion writer critiquing the VP's wardrobe at this 60th anniversary makes as much sense as that stupid "Pearl Harbor" movie concentrating on the most boring "love triangle" in cinematic history.
#22
Did it occur to anyone at the Post that it was appropriate for the Vice President of the US to be dressed like the US soldiers who liberated Auschwitz instead of well-dressed Europeans whose parents fell all over themselves handing over their Jewish neighbors to the Nazis? Also, a man with a heart condition is better off warm than fashionable.
#23
Just a minor objection, but I thought it was the Russians who liberated Auschwitz.
Is anyone else a bit surprised that it never crossed the minds of the editors at the Post to avoid the use of the phrase "the way in which children's clothes are inscribed with their names before they are sent away to camp"?
Good catch, Mark E.
Posted by: Rafael ||
01/28/2005 22:39
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If a Muslim or Arab family is slow to respond to a note sent home by a school or is running late for a teacher conference, school officials should not feel snubbed but should understand the cultural influences behind that behavior. That's been the message delivered this week to about 250 Jefferson Parish public school teachers and administrators as part of a four-day workshop designed to help them work better with Muslim and Arab families in the school system.
The seminar, which comes after an incident last year in which a teacher was accused of using religious slurs against a Muslim high school student, focused not only on religious tenets but also on the geographical and cultural aspects of Muslim life. "I want them to be able to better understand their Arab and Muslim students and their families," said Audrey Sabbas, a nationally known speaker on Middle Eastern culture who ran the workshop Wednesday for about 50 teachers and principals.
Sabbas, who is married to an Arab man and converted to Islam decades ago, discussed a list of values that guide Muslim life, including family-based support systems, a need to build trust with those with whom they work and a strong respect for authorities, especially educators and doctors. Those values can affect practical, everyday matters, Sabbas said. Because Muslims like to build trust, verbal communication tends to get better results than written documents, she said. Correspondence sent home by schools is the "least effective" way to communicate as opposed to a phone call or visit, Sabbas said. "They want to develop a sense of you before getting down to business," she said.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: tipper ||
01/28/2005
1:45:23 AM ||
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there is nothing wrong with this - they do it for all cultures. In schools where the population of ESL students is high, it's very helpful for a teachers to know what makes them and their parents tick. Of course, the stupid lobby will misuse it to pander rather than educate, but ..hey...what can you do?
#3
where I went to school in metro-Detroit there were plenty of muslims & we never had this sort of problem as I recall. Everyone pretty much respected each other & racial slurs toward arabs/blacks/whites were not tolerated though incidents would occur on occasion between students. If this Mix guy did do what that muslim students claims, then I agree, that's pretty stupid. OTOH, the premise that you should be sensitive to a culture that does not respect or seem to understand the prevailing mores of the society it has emigrated into is moronic. "When in Rome" is a good motto methinks. As grom said, dhimi 101 indeed.
#4
Motar twice failed to show up in court to testify.
*snicker* The defense probably paid some of her friends or relatives to drop by on the day of court. Looks like that sensitivity training paid off afterall.
#7
This one's worthy of Scrappleface (ironic name for a school kow towing to mooselimbs):
Preston Gassery, principal of the West Bank Community School, echoed that sentiment. "You have to understand how to talk to these kids," he said, adding that the workshop could help guide teacher evaluation and staff development programs at his school.
"They want to develop a sense of you before getting down to business," she said.
And so did the 9/11 highjackers, eh?
Posted by: BA ||
01/28/2005 13:38
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#8
2b's right about schools doing this frequently for ESL families. The problems occur when, AFTER the school's norms have been related to the families, the families do not always abide by what has been communicated. So if registration starts at 1 and you tell the families that, they come semester after semester at 2:30 or 5 or 7 or on the wrong day. Or you tell them they can't bring their children to the adult classes, but they keep doing it. It's a generational difference, I think. In our parents time, when immigrants were trying to fit in their neighborhoods, they did they best they could of what was expected. Now there is little incentive to assimilate because someone will always be there as a net for them, explaining it again, "rescuing" them again, overlooking it again, etc. In our school, we had a lot of these kinds of problems with students from Somalia and Bosnia. I think consistent, firm and communicative direction from the school is what works best, but sadly, I think we are in a time where some immigrants feel they don't HAVE to assimilate.
#10
it's very helpful for a teacher to know the cultural forces behind a child's thinking. How else can you effectively manipulate them :-)
Seriously - it's good to know these things and it's good to teach them. but jules is right - the problems come when the immigrants start demanding additional resources because they simply don't want to cooperate - or they want to use them as excuses for bad behavior.
One experience that sticks out in my mind was "coining". In Asian cultures, when a child is sick a resperatory illness?, their mothers lovingly put a hot quarter on them to do exactly what, I'm not sure. No, they aren't being branded with a scalding hot quarter. It apparently doesn't hurt - but it leaves bruise marks. They've been doing it for centuries without any apparent problems and they all turn out ok.
As a volunteer, I was freaked out by my first experience of a child with what appeared to be little circular bruises all over his chest. Rather than hauling his mother in for abuse, we were quickly able to determine that mom had just been giving TLC.
Don't tell me it's abuse - until you try it yourself. The bruises disappear after one or two days. There's no need for thousands of teachers, each seeing it for the first time, to be accusing mommy of abuse - clogging social services with new case loads etc when it's just a harmless, loving, cultural practice.
#12
"If a Muslim or Arab family is slow to respond to a note sent home by a school or is running late for a teacher conference, school officials should not feel snubbed but should understand the cultural influences behind that behavior."
Oh, I understand perfectly the cultural influences behind that behavior, all right.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
01/28/2005 23:34
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A Mexican government official has threatened to use international courts to block an Arizona law meant to limit public benefits and voting rights to legal residents of the U.S.
So, which international law would that be?
Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said in a radio interview Wednesday that an international strategy would be used if other attempts to reverse Proposition 200 fail, the Associated Press reported. "We are seeking all the legal opportunities that exist, first using the legal capacities of the United States itself and ... if that does not work, bringing it to international tribunals," AP quotes Derbez as saying.
Sue away, see if we care
Mexican officials have repeatedly complained about Proposition 200, which went into effect Tuesday. The statewide measure denies most taxpayer benefits to illegal aliens and requires state workers to report applicants for such benefits who may not be eligible. It also requires anyone registering to vote in the state to show proof of citizenship and bring a government-issued ID to the polling place. AP reported Derbez expressed regret that, according to polls, about 40 percent of Mexican-Americans in Arizona supported Prop. 200. The measure passed with 60 percent of the vote. "It's sad, and it gives an idea of how we have to work to educate even our own Mexican-Americans about why it is important that these proposals are not accepted," Derbez said. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund has challenged Prop. 200, saying it is "an illegal, impermissible, unconstitutional state attempt to regulate immigration policy, which is a fundamental function and responsibility of our federal government. Proposition 200 is mean-spirited and un-American."
and just exactly how is something unconstitutional to an illegial immigrant?
i do not want my tax monney spent on illegial aliens. if our society actually did start to deny benifits the appeall to come would be reduced a bit.
Posted by: Dan ||
01/28/2005 13:53
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A Mexican government official has threatened to use international courts to block an Arizona law meant to limit public benefits and voting rights to legal residents of the U.S.
Puhhhleaz.
Time for the blogosphere to step up and be counted. It's almost a certainty that Arizona's new law is going to be painted as discriminatory and anti-immigrant by the usual parties. Just like Proposition 187.
#3
Illegal immigrants are not entitled to anything. If you want to see what happens when you don't restrict illegals access to government services you can go down and stand in front of our closed local district hospital. We tried to pass this in California but the courts invalidated it.
What the Mexican government/oligarchy wants to do is shift off it's responsibilities onto border states it very simple. Screw um'
#5
...our own Mexican Americans ..'scuse me señor Butthead, but Mexican Americans do not BELONG to you. Now piss off.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
01/28/2005 14:05
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Itâs sad, and it gives an idea of how we have to work to educate even our own Mexican-Americans - Mexican gov't official
Sorry, the legal ones (the ones allowed to vote, registration shenanigans notwithstanding) are OURS now, and at least 60% of them get it. You can have the criminals back, thanks.
#8
Rex (#5)...so politically INcorrect! I LOVE IT!
Posted by: BA ||
01/28/2005 14:08
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#9
Mexico also accused the US of violating Mexico's sovereignty by issuing a travel warning to US citzens...no, it's not clear to me exactly HOW that violates M's sovereignty...
#11
I think they would get (or would have gotten) a lot more response in favor of proposed legislation to ban giving licenses to illegal aliens if people could have responded to their state house by email instead of phone calls. I got an alert from fairus.org about IL and illegal immigrant driver's licenses and the email said you should call your reps. You would have to place a call to each one individually rather than writing them all at one with an email-not a very bright strategy. Either fairus.org or the state website for House of Reps in IL needs to do some website rework, making the sites more user-friendly and navigationally clear. Maximize the number of people who will take action.
#14
"Jose" just announced as #1 Boy's name in this state. Hispanic majority predicted by 2035 or 2045 latest. Demographics trumps politics...ask the Romans...
#16
you can't get a license to drive in Meico unless you are legally there....
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/28/2005 15:00
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#17
borgboy: If that 40% of Mexican Americans who back the measure were to grow even a little...politics may continue to win out.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
01/28/2005 15:01
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#18
Oh, please. Bring that international lawsuit on. That will REALLY scare us here in Arizona.
Not.
This ain't California. We aren't going to care if they call it anti-immigrant. We know it's anti-illegal immigrant. Even my Democrat friends out here can make that distinction.
Waste your pesos by going to court. Then once you get your decision, let's see you enforce it.
It has always been like this with Mexico. They don't want to take responsibility for their stupid policies that make their resource-rich nation so damn poor that they would be worse off than Bangladesh if it wasn't for all the money their citizens send back (I mean, hell, isn't it like 12% of their population is here? That's the MEXICAN government estimate, by the way....)
It would be almost funny if he was honest and admitted that the "restrictions" he bitches about are nothing compared to what I would have to do to get basic services in his country. That's if you could even get your phone turned on, your power, your water, etc.
And....guess what? They have national voter ID cards in Mexico. You can't vote there unless you flash some ID. Porque eso es uno problema en America, pendejo, pero usted tiene la misma ley en tu pais??
Anytime the border states do anything to halt the flow of dollars south, they whine and bitch. Nothing new here, move along....
#19
Every other word out of this guys mouth is "legal". Too bad the folks he's talking about...aren't.
I think I can see the 9th Curcuit warming up in the bullpen. They're probably drooling to get this one.
#20
tu3031 - Yeah, but then it goes to the Supreme Court. I don't think any circuit court gets their decisions thrown out as much as the 9th does.
And don't forget....there are two Arizonans on the Court.... ;)
#22
Desert Blondie: RTFO your #18! Your #20 is also on the mark. The 9th Circus Court is a joke.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
01/28/2005 16:13
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#23
IIRC, this is the same Mexican official who stated his pleasure and intent to work with international groups to tie down the US like Gulliver by the Liliputans.
#25
The reason that Prop 187 was never implemented had nothing to do with voters having second thoughts about being considered anti-immigrant, # 18. Prop. 187 was never implemented due to the actions of Gray Davis.
Gray Davis had his Justice Dept. take a pass on appealing the case to the Supreme Court. Even anti-Prop 187 foes think the CA Justice Dept. might have prevailed at the Supreme Court level.
http://www.saveourlicense.com/prop187-history.htm Governor Davis refused to allow the appeal to proceed and dropped the appeal, essentially killing Prop 187 against the will of the voters. This after having promised to support the appeal during his campaign.
Arnold Schwarzenegge supported Prop. 187 but unfortunately he was not the Governor at the time, just a politically minded actor.
#26
Prop. 187 was never implemented due to the actions of Gray Davis. Gray Davis had his Justice Dept. take a pass on appealing the case to the Supreme Court.
Assuming that you were a CA resident then (I was, and still am, unfortunately), the anti-immigrant angle was the tactic of choice where Prop 187's foes were concerned. Sure, 187's demise had nothing to do with a fear of being labeled anti-immigrant (as opposed to anti-illegal immigrant), but that's how the initiative's backers were portrayed.
#27
Arizona should pass a law that all undocumented aliens are to be held in the Maricopa Country Jail until they can be deported. This would solve both the illegal immigrant problem and the bologna glut.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/28/2005 18:17
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#28
Legally there is no such thing as 'illegal immigrant' since they have not been granted 'immigrant' status by the INS.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
01/28/2005 18:32
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#30
but that's how the initiative's backers were portrayed.
True. Big deal. You know the old saying about sticks and stones. The initiative still passed with 60% of the vote inspite of the bad mouthing of the opponents. I think one of the foes was the infamous La Raza. Unfortunately after some time passed I think most people came to believe that the measure was defeated in court, not knowing that it was slimeball Gray Davis who told his Justice Dept. to stand down. Californians did not necessarily change their minds about the merits of 187. They just stopped talking about it I think because they wrongly assumed it was thrown out by the courts. Then came the .dot com boom and CA folks stopped worrying about the drain on services by illegals because there was so much $ pouring in to the state treasury.
In 2005, it's a different story. CA is X Billions of dollars in debt and going deeper each day and a couple of thousand of illegals here and there has crept up to double digit millions of illegals living off the taxpayer tit. CA residents are paying some of the highest state taxes in the country ... for what? To educate, to give welfare, and to provide medical services to Mexicans who Vicente Fox and his Spanish blooded oligarchal pals refuse to properly care for?
How pathetic is was to hear GWB speaking about the wonders of democracy and how America would support any people who wanted it and meanwhile due south what is his little corrupt best pal as head of an entrenched oligarchy doing in full view but depriving everyone but the upper class Spanish Mexicans of liberty and prosperity?
I'll bet anything if a sequel to Prop 187 got proper publicity and CA voters were required to show proof of citizenship at the ballot booths (which would never happen-horrors-how racist of me to suggest such an insulting idea) the new proposition denying benefits to illegals would pass with flying colors.
CA people are fed up with the consequences of unfettered illegal immigration. Even Democrat voters at the exit polls said the main reason they voted to toss Gray Davis out of office was because he signed off on giving drivers licenses to illegals. Even bleeding heart left wingers know the definition of illegal.
As with the EU, the ICC, etc., any piss ant country could file suit irrespective of national sovereignty.
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 21:02
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#32
Want to really piss off the Mexican government? Make it illegal to wire money from the US to Mexico. When even the US post office has signs in Spanish advertising their service for wiring money back to Mexico, it's a hopeless fight. Cut off the money supply to Mexico and see how solicitous they are about their illegals.
Just come up with a bunch of regulations that slow it down and make it more expensive. The game would be to tune it so that tourists and legitimate businesses don't get caught in the web.
(Hmmm... Didn't Chirac call for a tax on international money transfers? Why not institute a 10% tariff on any amount less than $10,000 sent out of the US by a non-citizen? Call it an experiment to test out Chirac's proposal...)
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/28/2005 22:42
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#34
Where would Mexico sue? The U.S. isn't party to the International Criminal Court, and I can't imagine that such a suit would have standing in a State or Federal court... I mean, a motion that illegal residents are entitled to all the rights of citizens -- what would be the status of the Federal government of Mexico in trying to bring suit in the name of such people? For that matter, who would willingly admit to being in the country illegally in order to bring suit themselves -- given that Immigration (Homeland Security?) could immediately deport them for being here illegally? No, the only way Sr. Fox has any leverage at all on this matter is if it remains merely a threat.
But I do like RC's idea of regulating currency flows across the border. Who knows how many of the illegal residents are sending money to terrorist organizations. (La Raza's militant arm, f'r instance? Are you sure they don't have one?)
The United States and Britain have privately agreed on a way of withdrawing their troops from Iraq, the Guardian newspaper reported Friday. US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his British counterpart Geoff Hoon on Monday agreed on a so-called exit-strategy based on doubling the number of Iraqi police trainees and setting up Iraqi paramilitary units, it said. The pair were acting on recommendations from retired US General Gary Luck, who was sent to Iraq by the Pentagon last month to look at the failings of Iraq's security force.
The more aggressive police force is designed gradually to replace the 150,000 coalition troops and will form the centerpiece of plans for Britain and the US to quit Iraq, the Guardian said. Britain has made a phased pullout its top priority, although British sources say no deadline has been set for withdrawal, partly because it may encourage the insurgents. "Everything the defense secretary is working towards now is an exit strategy, but without a public timetable," according to a British military source quoted by the Guardian.
Spanish and Italian forces could be asked to help train the Iraqis, a British defense source was quoted as saying. Thousands of troops from the multinational force would back up the Iraqi police, which, at present, have a reputation for desertion in the face of the insurgency. Although the United States and Britain would like to pull out as soon as Iraq is stable, General Luck said it could be years before the Iraqi police was ready. The Pentagon expects to maintain 150,000 troops in Iraq for at least the next two years. Britain said it would send 220 more soldiers to Iraq to help fill a gap left by the Netherlands, which is pulling out in March.
Posted by: tipper ||
01/28/2005
1:28:13 AM ||
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This is news?
The exit strategy has always been (1) setting up an autonomous Iraqi government, and (2) establishing a capable Iraqi military and security force.
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 7:55
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#3
Al Guardian is trying to create an impression of panicked Americans fleeing in disarray. The reality, of course, is that Uncle Sam has other missions for the ground forces.
#4
Hello, anyone home. The American administration said they were beefing up numbers for the election. When it passes, there will be a gradual draw down to a lower operating number. Nothing new here. Even the pathetic spin by AL Guardian is old news.
Female interrogators tried to break Muslim detainees at the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay by sexual touching, wearing a miniskirt and thong underwear and in one case smearing a Saudi man's face with fake menstrual blood, according to an insider's written account.
A draft manuscript obtained by The Associated Press is classified as secret pending a Pentagon review for a planned book that details ways the U.S. military used women as part of tougher physical and psychological interrogation tactics to get terror suspects to talk.
It's the most revealing account so far of interrogations at the secretive detention camp, where officials say they have halted some controversial techniques.
"I have really struggled with this because the detainees, their families and much of the world will think this is a religious war based on some of the techniques used, even though it is not the case," the author, former Army Sgt. Erik R. Saar, 29, told AP.
Saar didn't provide the manuscript or approach AP, but confirmed the authenticity of nine draft pages AP obtained. He requested his hometown remain private so he wouldn't be harassed. Saar, who is neither Muslim nor of Arab descent, worked as an Arabic translator at the U.S. camp in eastern Cuba from December 2002 to June 2003. At the time, it was under the command of Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, who had a mandate to get better intelligence from prisoners, including alleged al-Qaida members caught in Afghanistan.
Saar said he witnessed about 20 interrogations and about three months after his arrival at the remote U.S. base he started noticing "disturbing" practices.
One female civilian contractor used a special outfit that included a miniskirt, thong underwear and a bra during late-night interrogations with prisoners, mostly Muslim men who consider it taboo to have close contact with women who aren't their wives.
Beginning in April 2003, "there hung a short skirt and thong underwear on the hook on the back of the door" of one interrogation team's office, he writes. "Later I learned that this outfit was used for interrogations by one of the female civilian contractors ... on a team which conducted interrogations in the middle of the night on Saudi men who were refusing to talk."
Some Guantanamo prisoners who have been released say they were tormented by "prostitutes."
In another case, Saar describes a female military interrogator questioning an uncooperative 21-year-old Saudi detainee who allegedly had taken flying lessons in Arizona before the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Suspected Sept. 11 hijacker Hani Hanjour received pilot instruction for three months in 1996 and in December 1997 at a flight school in Scottsdale, Ariz.
"His female interrogator decided that she needed to turn up the heat," Saar writes, saying she repeatedly asked the detainee who had sent him to Arizona, telling him he could "cooperate" or "have no hope whatsoever of ever leaving this place or talking to a lawyer.'"
The man closed his eyes and began to pray, Saar writes.
The female interrogator wanted to "break him," Saar adds, describing how she removed her uniform top to expose a tight-fitting T-shirt and began taunting the detainee, touching her breasts, rubbing them against the prisoner's back and commenting on his apparent erection.
The detainee looked up and spat in her face, the manuscript recounts.
The interrogator left the room to ask a Muslim linguist how she could break the prisoner's reliance on God. The linguist told her to tell the detainee that she was menstruating, touch him, then make sure to turn off the water in his cell so he couldn't wash.
Strict interpretation of Islamic law forbids physical contact with women other than a man's wife or family, and with any menstruating women, who are considered unclean.
"The concept was to make the detainee feel that after talking to her he was unclean and was unable to go before his God in prayer and gain strength," says the draft, stamped "Secret."
The interrogator used ink from a red pen to fool the detainee, Saar writes.
"She then started to place her hands in her pants as she walked behind the detainee," he says. "As she circled around him he could see that she was taking her hand out of her pants. When it became visible the detainee saw what appeared to be red blood on her hand. She said, 'Who sent you to Arizona?' He then glared at her with a piercing look of hatred.
"She then wiped the red ink on his face. He shouted at the top of his lungs, spat at her and lunged forward" - so fiercely that he broke loose from one ankle shackle.
"He began to cry like a baby," the draft says, noting the interrogator left saying, "Have a fun night in your cell without any water to clean yourself."
Events Saar describes resemble two previous reports of abusive female interrogation tactics, although it wasn't possible to independently verify his account.
In November, in response to an AP request, the military described an April 2003 incident in which a female interrogator took off her uniform top, exposed her brown T-shirt, ran her fingers through a detainee's hair and sat on his lap. That session was immediately ended by a supervisor and that interrogator received a written reprimand and additional training, the military said.
In another incident, the military reported that in early 2003 a different female interrogator "wiped dye from red magic marker on detainees' shirt after detainee spit (cq) on her," telling the detainee it was blood. She was verbally reprimanded, the military said.
Sexual tactics used by female interrogators have been criticized by the FBI, which complained in a letter obtained by AP last month that U.S. defense officials hadn't acted on complaints by FBI observers of "highly aggressive" interrogation techniques, including one in which a female interrogator grabbed a detainee's genitals.
About 20 percent of the guards at Guantanamo are women, said Lt. Col. James Marshall, a spokesman for U.S. Southern Command. He wouldn't say how many of the interrogators were female.
Marshall wouldn't address whether the U.S. military had a specific strategy to use women.
"U.S. forces treat all detainees and conduct all interrogations, wherever they may occur, humanely and consistent with U.S. legal obligations, and in particular with legal obligations prohibiting torture," Marshall said late Wednesday.
But some officials at the U.S. Southern Command have questioned the formation of an all-female team as one of Guantanamo's "Immediate Reaction Force" units that subdue troublesome male prisoners in their cells, according to a document classified as secret and obtained by AP.
In one incident, dated June 19, 2004, "The detainee appears to be genuinely traumatized by a female escort securing the detainee's leg irons," according to the document, a U.S. Southern Command summary of videotapes shot when the teams were used.
The summary warned that anyone outside Department of Defense channels should be prepared to address allegations that women were used intentionally with Muslim men.
At Guantanamo, Saar said, "Interrogators were given a lot of latitude under Miller," the commander who went from the prison in Cuba to overseeing prisons in Iraq, where the Abu Ghraib scandal shocked the world with pictures revealing sexual humiliation of naked prisoners.
Several female troops have been charged in the Abu Ghraib scandal.
Saar said he volunteered to go to Guantanamo because "I really believed in the mission," but then he became disillusioned during his six months at the prison.
After leaving the Army with more than four years service, Saar worked as a contractor briefly for the FBI.
The Department of Defense has censored parts of his draft, mainly blacking out people's names, said Saar, who hired Washington attorney Mark S. Zaid to represent him. Saar needed permission to publish because he signed a disclosure statement before going to Guantanamo. The book, which Saar titled "Inside the Wire," is due out this year with Penguin Press. Why was it necessary for him to write this book?
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/28/2005
1:25:28 AM ||
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Article: Saar said he volunteered to go to Guantanamo because "I really believed in the mission," but then he became disillusioned during his six months at the prison. After leaving the Army with more than four years service, Saar worked as a contractor briefly for the FBI.
Disillusioned? I don't think so. The guy can't seem to stay put. My feeling is that he was trolling around for material to write a book. Unfortunately, these are the scum that slip through when you have to fill important slots without a national mobilization. (Not that I'm particularly fond of a universal draft, but I would have gone).
#3
If true, it sounds like the folks down at gitmo have pulled out the infamous marv albert playbook and are going to work. Damn, you'd pay good money for this type of shit back in the states, um, or so I've heard.
Gotta love the islamo-nutty male complex - what a bunch of brain washed malcontents, menstrating women will send you to hell, bwhahaha......
"Why was it necessary for him to write this book?"
#8
Have you seen some women in miniskirts and thong underwear? It really could be called cruel and unusual punishment. Of course, to be entirely objective, I would have to see the actual situation, repeatedly, to be certain.
As I've said before in other places, the FBI has turned in to a bunch of small female cats.
#9
Icky... but... ummm, creative. It certainly hits the devout Muslim right in the ol' vulnerabilities. The object of the interrogation game is to make 'em sing like a demented canary.
Now we have an idea about why some of the ones who were released from Guantanamo were telling wild tales about hookers, though.
#10
Might another reason that it might not have worked well is the women are to fugly? If you put a miniskirt and thong underwear on a dog it's still a dog.
Using their crappy Moon Cult against them is fine by be. I don't see that violating any major human rights protocol.
TGA could let us know it this is Ok. He has after all been on the wrong end of real torture IRC.
#11
Send me, send me....I could use a good interrogator lickin'
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 12:59
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#12
Madam interrogator...faster, harder please...
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 13:04
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#13
The media left is going to have a field day on this one and Bill O Reilly and Rantburgers like myself will support any way to get these Wads to talk. Same ole shit, different day.
#14
These are glamorized (sexed up) stories that play on all the prejudices and stereotypes put forth on TV. Yes Muslim men consider sub human and not even close to their equal. But few of them are threatened by big boobs and a mini skirt. Also I sincerely doubt that four men who grew up in Britain hadnât see at least one booby, miniskirt, or touched an infidel female. I got the impression from the review that this soldier was retelling stories and never personally witnessed the mini-skirt interview or the menstrual blood (ink) âtortureâ episodes. I bet the talk on the âArab Streetâ is that if some infidel woman with big boobs and a mini skirt they would be too preoccupied with the erection and not much else. If this crap was really true all we would have to do is airdrop stained female underwear over the insurgents and they would flee in horror. Anyone want guess if that tactic would work?
#15
How can this guy say it's not a religious war, when he describes how the detainees are acting in captivity? (The praying, having to be clean before God.....) Just because you don't think you're fighting against an infidel, that doesn't mean they don't feel that way.
Somehow I don't think they would show us any sensitivity to our religious beliefs (or lack thereof for some of us) if we were captured.
If they freak out this much over being around chicks, maybe we should send more of 'em? Old, ugly, cute, it doesn't matter if you've been locked in a madrassa all day for years....
#16
I suspect this is the classic honey trap - get 'em to talk by offering incentives like hookers. None of these guys are fazed by prostitutes - Muslim men are some of horniest people around. For Muslims, using infidel hookers isn't particularly unusual - it's only haram to mess around with Muslim women. The 9/11 hijackers spent a fair amount of time around Florida's fleshpots, including strip clubs. I wouldn't be surprised if, in addition to lap dances, they paid for extra services.
#17
My point is that if the honey trap - which was used by both sides against the opposition's personnel (for blackmail purposes) during the Cold War - was acceptable, using it against captured terrorists doesn't exactly worry me.
#18
DB: If they freak out this much over being around chicks, maybe we should send more of 'em? Old, ugly, cute, it doesn't matter if you've been locked in a madrassa all day for years....
They're not freaking out - this is just a front that serves 3 purposes: (1) get monetary compensation, (2) remove another interrogation tool from our arsenal, (3) obtain sympathy for the Islamist cause, (4) divert attention from the fact that they are terrorists.
#19
ZF - All valid points, and ones that I hadn't considered.
But I still think that the fact a mere woman has power over them is something very unsettling to these nuts, and something that we should exploit. They are used to having women be subservient and only good for one thing. To have a woman have that much control over them has got to be extremely disconcerting. Otherwise, why would they be making such a big deal over it?
#20
DB: Otherwise, why would they be making such a big deal over it?
Re-read the four points I outlined above. The other likelihood is this - they don't have anything else to complain about. Some of them had pre-existing medical conditions fixed. Many gained weight from the improved diet. My feeling is that these are the only things that are true, so they are twisting these events into some kind of strange psychodrama.
#22
I'm still of the opinion that dead Jihadi's be ground up and fed to pigs. I don't think you get to go to paradise if you're turned into pig dung. Make the prisoners watch the progress and keep the pigs near them. Make them listen to the sound of dead Jihadi's being turned into gruel.
#28
Interrogators shouldn't use stupid gimmicks. People who use stupid gimmicks in any line of work will usually look stupid when the gimmicks are exposed.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
01/28/2005 23:44
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The government of Nepal has ordered the Kathmandu offices of two major Tibetan exiles' organisations to close down. One represented Tibet's exiled Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, and the other a group working for Tibetan refugees. The Dalai Lama's representative in Nepal, Wangchuk Tsering, told the BBC that a closure notice had come from an office of the home ministry. Both groups were forced to suspend operations because they were not registered, he said.
The New-York based Human Rights Watch has urged the Nepalese authorities to allow the offices to reopen, warning that the closure of the refugee centre would leave thousands without critical support. "The Refugee Welfare Office has been a critical safety net for tens of thousands of persecuted Tibetans," Brad Adams, the group's Asia director told Reuters. The notice of closure was sent to Mr Tsering a week ago, but news of it has only just emerged. Mr Tsering has suspended operations of his own mission and the Tibetan Refugees' Welfare Association, which he also runs.
The BBC's Charles Haviland in Kathmandu says it seems clear that there is politics, not just bureaucracy, behind these orders. There has been a representative of the Dalai Lama in Nepal for 45 years without similar moves against his office. Recently however, China, which invaded Tibet in 1950 and has ruled it ever since, appears to have been increasing pressure on its tiny neighbour Nepal, our correspondent says. Beijing's ambassador to the country last year thanked the government for, in his words, "never allowing any anti-China activities" on Nepali soil.
The Dalai Lama, who lives in India, has long ceased visiting Nepal. There is, however, a regular inflow of Tibetan refugees, who number about 20,000 in the kingdom. The Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet says that if the closure of the refugees' welfare association does become permanent, there will be no organisation to help them get identity cards and prevent their forcible repatriation.
SAMIR VINCENT WAS VISITING BAGHDAD when Saddam Hussein ordered the invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990. He had not lived in his native Iraq for some three decades, having left in 1958 for the United States and a track-and-field career that would later land him in the Boston College Athletic Hall of Fame. Maybe Vincent's presence in Iraq was simply bad timing.
Although Americans were not exactly hostages in the tense days after the invasion, they were not free to leave Iraq. So when Vincent, a naturalized citizen, and Illinois businessman Michael Saba managed to escape by taking a taxicab eight hours to the Jordanian border and hitchhiking the remaining 50 miles to Amman, their adventure was news.
Washingtonians who read Keith Kendrick's Washington Post article about the trip, published August 15, 1990, probably gave it little thought. In hindsight, however, the story seems to offer the first clues to the events that culminated last week in Vincent's admission that he had accepted millions of dollars to work as an agent for Saddam in the United States.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/28/2005
12:47:23 AM ||
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August 1990, right after the invasion of Kuwait,...... Vincent approached Col. Carl Bernard, USMC Ret., and former CIA director Richard Helms with an offer from Saddam Hussein. But the first Bush administration rejected these and all other overtures, insisting on an unconditional Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait.)
Here's what I don't understand...one does not deliver a message re: terms of war without being one's "agent". So, regardless of whatever sugar-coating is put on top of it, it was clearly known back then that he was a foreign agent working for Sadaam. Right?
So how is it that he was able to work these deals on oil-for-food with out anyone realizing what was going on, for so long?
Our press, for all of it's bluster about how the blogosphere doens't have "reporters", may have "reporters", but they completely missed the biggest events of the latter 20th Century. The rise of Islamism, with a HUGE Jihad army forming world-wide .... UN Oil for food scandal - biggest scandal of the century and it operated right under their nose and all's they did was publish Saddam's press releases about how it was hurting "the children"TM. They are worse than dupes, they are tools.
Despite the Iraqi Sunni boycott, al-Zarqawi's imprecations against the general election, and the unprecedented level of bloodletting, an certain number of the 40,000 polling stations across the country will almost certainly open on time Sunday, January 30.
That was one of the starting points on which Gregory Hooker, chief analyst of CENTCOM, the American command running the war in Iraq, presupposed his detailed forecast of election results.
This forecast, commissioned by CENTOM commander General John Abizaid, was first revealed by DEBKA-Net-Weekly 190 on January 21.
The second premise was that orderly vote-counting would likewise take place notwithstanding threats of sabotage.
The Hooker forecast is essentially a simulation exercise based on US and Iraqi intelligence data gathered in the last six months, together with estimates of opinion openly canvassed in towns up and down the country.
The level of participation and the results of this pivotal election will bear strongly on the Bush administration's second term Iraq policy, the tasks facing US armed forces, the chances of the elected national assembly taking up its responsibilities, including the drafting of a new national constitution, and the prospects of an elected government exercising authority.
Altogether 111 political entities — parties, individuals or coalitions — are running for the 275 National Assembly seats.
⢠A total of 7,785 candidates are registered on the national ballot
⢠Eligible voters in Iraq: 14.27 million
⢠Eligible voters outside Iraq: 1.2 — 2 million (only one-quarter of whom registered).
⢠More than 130 lists were submitted by the December 15, 2004 deadline for registration. Nine were multi-party coalition blocs while 102 were lists presented by single Iraqi parties.
⢠There are two major political blocs — Shiite and Kurdish:
The Shiite Unified Iraqi Alliance list submitted 228 candidates representing 16 Iraqi political groups including the dominant Shiite factions. Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq — SCIRI, heads this list, followed by Ibrahim Al-Jafari, head of the al-Dawa Party.
⢠The two Kurdish parties headed by Masoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani decided to run together on the Kurdish list.
⢠Both the Iraqi interim prime minister Iyad Allawi and Iraqi president Ghazi al-Yawar submitted their own lists of candidates. Allawi's party, the Iraqi National Accord — INC, submitted a 240-candidate coalition, while al-Yawar leads an 80-member slate representing the Iraqi Grouping.
Projected Results
For elections held now, Hooker projects the following figures:
The Shiite Unified Iraqi Alliance list — 43.8% = 120 national assembly seats.
The Kurdish list — a surprising 36.4% (more than twice their 16-18% proportion of the general population) = 100 seats.
The Iraqi National Accord — 8.1% = 22 seats. (A formula is being actively sought to retain him as premier even if his showing is low.)
The Iraqi Communist party (the best organized) — 1.6% = 5 seats.
All the Assyrian, Turkomen and Yazdi minorities together — 4 seats.
All the rest — 5 seats.
The first conclusion reached by our analysts is that, while the leading Shiite UIA bloc can expect to be the big winner of the election, the real victor will be the Shiite cleric who assembled and founded the alliance, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani and his inner circle. The slate he drew up of candidates to the legislature reflects his political aspirations and cunning: of the 120 registered, the first 60 are independents with no parties behind them and will therefore be totally dependent on Sistani himself for support.
Al-Hakim's SCIRI will get no more than 14 assembly seats, while al-Jafari's al Dawa must be content with 12. The former rebel cleric Moqtada Sadr's following will match al Dawa with 12 places in the legislature.
The slate he assembled also pushes pro-Tehran and Iran's chosen men down to the unrealistic bottom.
Sistani wants to see non-clerical ministers in the post-election government but will insist on incorporating Islamic law as the basis of the national constitution.
The Kurds owe their projected big win to three prime causes:
1. The union of the two principal lists, which will help them carry districts in which each faction is fragmentary, like Iraq's second largest town of Mosul and certain quarters of Baghdad.
2. Major concessions by Sistani in Kirkuk, where he endorsed the transfer of tens of thousands of Kurdish voters into the city. Quietly underway at this moment is the largest demographic transformation in Iraq since the war began, an abrupt reversal of the population displacement conducted by Saddam Hussein. Sunni families are being pushed out of Kirkuk to the Sunni Triangle and replaced by incoming Kurds. Turkomen, Assyrians and Yazdis gnash their teeth but have not the power to interfere in the Kurdish takeover of the mixed city.
3. Another key Sistani concession was his consent to local elections taking place in Kurdish regions for a Kurdish national assembly at the same time as the general election. In return, the Kurdish leaders have granted Sistani a powerful tool of government, a promise to join his Unified Iraqi Bloc in a coalition administration.
The Shiite cleric has little to fear from this alliance. He knows the Kurds are only interested in expanding their own self-government and will therefore not muscle in on the central administration with power-sharing demands. Their backing, however, provides insurance for stable Shiite-dominated government in the long term.
The Sunni Muslim minority can hardly be expected to sit still as the Shiites and Kurds split up the post-war spoils of power.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/28/2005
12:42:40 AM ||
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#1
If the Sunnis do Boycott, they deserve what they are going to get. But then again pay back is a bitch and I can not think of a better bunch of assholes to get force fed revenge than the Iraqi Sunnis..
#2
You blog paraplegics morons what is the need to mention debka as a sorce of information? Is your pro
I, have a Russian relative just emmigrated to Izra or your, I belive in the superioty of well info by a retired ISF electrician.
Your site is PATHETIC >>>>>FRED>
Posted by: YOUUOR SITE IS PATHETIC ||
01/28/2005 4:01
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#8
I am Engalish speak! 2 days Aligers! ISF is OWG!
Posted by: Manuel ||
01/28/2005 8:25
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#9
Target aquired. Proton torpedos locked on. Standing by.......
Posted by: Steve ||
01/28/2005 8:54
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#10
The union of the two principal lists, which will help them carry districts in which each faction is fragmentary, like Iraqâs second largest town of Mosul and certain quarters of Baghdad.
But the national election is NOT by district, its nationwide proportional representation.
2. Major concessions by Sistani in Kirkuk, where he endorsed the transfer of tens of thousands of Kurdish voters into the city. Quietly underway at this moment is the largest demographic transformation in Iraq since the war began, an abrupt reversal of the population displacement conducted by Saddam Hussein. Sunni families are being pushed out of Kirkuk to the Sunni Triangle and replaced by incoming Kurds. Turkomen, Assyrians and Yazdis gnash their teeth but have not the power to interfere in the Kurdish takeover of the mixed city.
Transfering Kurdish votes to Kirkuk will impact local council outcome there - doesnt effect national result, since the same voters are just shifted around.
3. Another key Sistani concession was his consent to local elections taking place in Kurdish regions for a Kurdish national assembly at the same time as the general election. In return, the Kurdish leaders have granted Sistani a powerful tool of government, a promise to join his Unified Iraqi Bloc
Yes, thats a big concession, but does NOTHING to explain the national outcome.
Take this with even more salt than usual. While its possible many non-Kurds will vote for the Kurdish parties, id be very surprised if they do that well. OTOH, I expect the Iraqi communist party to do much better than suggested above.
#18
Did you see that all three American TV news anchors have gone to Iraq for the elections? As reported on CBS last night, exit polling will show that John Kerry will win by an overwhelming majority.
#19
Oh, wow. Look's like #2's just graduated from the English As An Eighteenth Language program. Musta needed it to get his ISF electrician's union card.
#20
chuck - kinda silly of them, dont you think? IIUC the IRaqis will be using paper ballots, which will take awhile to count. Also, IIUC, the counting will be done centrally, not at each polling place and being called in, like is done here. There really WONT be any returns for several days, and I would consider exit polls (yes, I know you were joking) worthless here. At most theyll be able to report turnout.
#24
11A5S - One son starting working at a Frys. His main complaint? "Dad, most of these guys are really stupid." Me ... "Son, most people are stupid... deal with it. Oh, and, by the way, most are earning more than you are."
#25
I expect the Iraqi communist party to do much better than suggested above.
I hope you are wrong. lh.
Well it didn't take long for one bad element to rear its evil head once the lid's come off the garbage can. The Communist Party is evidently the oldest party in Iraq, which I had not realized until today. Saddam forced the party to go under ground while he was in power.The Communist Party's slogan is:"A free country and a happy people." It makes me want to throw up. And I thought there was a danger posed by a Shiite theocracy - ha, ha -communism, just what Iraq needs in its government -like a cancer on the body politic.
The communists have 275 candidates on its slate with over 90 being women. Sad.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200412/s1263114.htm
#26
actually latest poll I saw says Iraqi Communist Party will not do all that well. But theyre actually rather moderate - they are firmly supportive of democracy and elections, and very opposed to the insurgency. They are also firmly secularist and moderately socialist. They apparently learned quite a bit in their years of persecution by Saddam. Iraq could do far worse than them. They have already had a minister in the Allawi govt, and he served responsibly, IIUC.
#27
If a larger percentage of the Iraqi electorate vote - how will the MSM spin it?
It will somehow turn into a Sunni tragedy story. Never mind the relative peaceful 80% of the country that were suppressed by the Sunnis for the past three decades finally get to participate in democratic election - lets pay attention to the people that hate Bush. Hating Bush is the true story for the MSM.
A scientist considered the father of Iraq's nuclear program said Thursday that his nation would have developed atomic weapons in the early 1990s had Saddam Hussein not ordered the invasion of Kuwait.
The invasion sparked the U.S.-led Operation Desert Storm in 1991, which drove Iraq out of Kuwait and marked the end of Baghdad's nuclear and biological weapons program, said Jafar Dhia Jafar, the scientific head of Iraq's nuclear weapons program.
"By the end of 1990, about 8,000 people were involved directly or indirectly in the nuclear program," said Jafar, presenting his new Norwegian-language book, "Oppdraget", which means The Assignment, describing the program.
"We were three years away, give or take a year," said Jafar, who fled Iraq during the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
In the book, Jafar describes being picked up in 1981 after 18 months in jail and brought to see Saddam, who, standing behind a desk in military uniform, instructed him to build an atomic bomb.
"From today, that is our goal," Jafar recalled Hussein saying.
The British-educated scientist, with a doctorate in physics from the University of Birmingham, said the quest for nuclear weapons began with Israeli warplanes bombing the legal Iraqi nuclear reactor at Tuwaitha, near Baghdad, where he had worked, in June 1981.
"It was not illegal because it did not violate the NPT (the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons treaty)," he said. He said the program became top secret in 1986, when nuclear efforts moved beyond the terms of the treaty.
Jafar said Iraq sought to build all industrial and technological equipment needed to develop weapons on its own, sometimes importing equipment through oil or other industries.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/28/2005
12:36:10 AM ||
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#2
The invasion sparked the U.S.-led Operation Desert Storm in 1991, which drove Iraq out of Kuwait and marked the end of Baghdadâs nuclear and biological weapons program, said Jafar Dhia Jafar, the scientific head of Iraqâs nuclear weapons program.(Jafar )is considered the father of Iraqâs nuclear program. The British-educated scientist, with a doctorate in physics from the University of Birmingham.
It seems this guy has enough credentials to earn money in his field without peddling lies. Why disbelieve him, considering that no WMD were found in Iraq this time round. I'd say that is evidence enough that he is not lying. He lived in Iraq right up until the US invasion in 2003.
Doug Feith is lucky he is not being prosecuted for criminal negligence. What a screw up he turned out to be.
#3
Well 2x is you read a little further he exposes himself for what he truly believes. "The British-educated scientist, with a doctorate in physics from the University of Birmingham, said the quest for nuclear weapons began with Israeli warplanes bombing the legal Iraqi nuclear reactor at Tuwaitha, near Baghdad, where he had worked, in June 1981."
So you see, according to Jafar Dhia Jafar, it is the Jews fault Sadam started a nuclear weapons program.
#4
So you see, according to Jafar Dhia Jafar, it is the Jews fault Sadam started a nuclear weapons program.
Huh? Maybe in your paranoid mind Jafar said it was the "Jew's fault." Perhaps it might be helpful if you read articles in their entirety and with a modicum of objectivity and reason without using your it's the Jew's fault default button.
Jafar said that Iraq started the illegal development of nuclear weapons in earnest after the Israelis bombed the Iraq nuclear reactor at Tuwaitha, which he says did not violate the non proliferations of nuclear weapons treaty at the time of Israeli bombing in 1981.
Now I'll grant you that Iraq may very well have moved along in that direction anyways. Saddam is a certifable crazy, but all Jabar is saying is that as of June 1981, it represented a turning point, to his mind, when Iraqi leadership could rationalize to their scientific community why the NPT should not be observed and in fact he fully admits that by 1986 the nuclear weapons program had become top secret and moved beyond the terms of the NPT.
How does Jafar lose credibility for simply recounting the historical sequence of events? He goes on to say that Gulf War I stopped Iraq dead in its tracks from emerging as a fully armed nuclear power with a biological arsenal as well, which he feels would have happened by 1993 or 1994.
What you are not fully comprehending, because you insist on focusing on the stereo typical navel gazing it's all about the Jews, is that this head honcho of Iraq's former nuclear and bio WMD program is saying that our Mr. Dumbest Person in the World Feith led Congress and the WH into a war based on his idiotic analysis of WMD in Iraq when no such programs existed after Gulf War I according to the scientist who lived in Iraq up until 2003. What you are choosing to ignore is that Jafar is fully admitting culpability in Iraq's quest to establish itself as a nuclear weapons power in the years from 1981-1990, but that Iraq's goals were smashed by the invasion of UN coalition countries in Gulf War I and that Mr. Dumbest Person in the World Feith's incompetent analysis of Saddam's WMD program was grossly erroneous.
You don't see a need for someone to be held accountable for this egregious error in judgement?
One of the major reasons the American public approved our invading Iraq was because of the threat from WMD, yet the American team of weapons inspectors could find anything to sustantiate the this WMD claim.
How would you like it if a physician said that he needed to remove your testicles or breasts, (depending on your sex) because of cancer threatening your life. Then later the biopsy showed perfectly healthy organs. Would you just say, oh well, an honest mistake, better safe than sorry, maybe in the future I might have developed cancer in these organs, who knows. I'll bet 100% of you would sue the pants of the MD and even try to put him in jail for criminal negligence.
And let's think about the penalty the GI's got for putting panties on the heads of POW's,many of whom were bad guys anyways, oh the outrage at such stupidity, such embaressment for oyur nation. And yet no one thinks there should be any consequences for Feith's gross negligence that has contributed to considerable loss of US military lives and US capital. He is allowed to shuffle off into the sunset with a full retirement package while Garner spends 10 years in Leavensworth for the unthinkable crime of putting panties on the heads of Iraqi insurgents.
#5
2xstandard: How would you like it if a physician said that he needed to remove your testicles or breasts, (depending on your sex) because of cancer threatening your life. Then later the biopsy showed perfectly healthy organs. Would you just say, oh well, an honest mistake, better safe than sorry, maybe in the future I might have developed cancer in these organs, who knows. I'll bet 100% of you would sue the pants of the MD and even try to put him in jail for criminal negligence.
The appropriate analogy is not that of a patient being operated on. We did not go into Iraq to rescue the Iraqi people. Iraq was like a known felon wanted on multiple murder counts who was holding what appeared to be a gun. We could have trusted what he said, which was that he wasn't holding a gun or that the gun wasn't loaded. Or we could have chosen to take the gun away from him. We chose the latter, and discovered that he either wasn't actually holding a gun, or that he had hidden the gun somewhere else. If the weapon in question (a nuclear bomb) had been detonated in Manhattan, hundreds of thousands of people and hundreds of billions in infrastructure would have been vaporized. The question is whether we should have trusted Saddam's goodwill, or acted based on our instincts and the fact that the political clock was running out.*
Besides, we did not go into Iraq exclusively or primarily because of WMD's - that's just what the media has chosen to focus on, because it opposes the invasion of Iraq. The irony is that if Iraq had nukes, we wouldn't have invaded. That's the reality, and a key reason why we haven't attacked North Korea.
We went into Iraq for the same reason we went into our other wars (including WWI and WWII) - to preserve American security interests - a key aspect of which involves deterring Muslim countries from tolerating or actively backing anti-American terrorists. However, I have no objection to Muslim countries thinking that the WMD claim was a lie - this enhances the deterrent effect, showing Muslim countries that the US will invent any pretext to retaliate against Muslim countries that are suspected of harboring terrorists.
* The political clock has to do with the length of time after 9/11. If Saddam had developed a weapon unmolested and detonated it in NYC six years after 9/11, would it have comforted the victims' loved ones for them to hear that Saddam couldn't be attacked because the political clock had run out?
#6
I beg to differ with you, ZF. There were a number of countries that were more clearly known to be ticking time bombs,dangerous to American interests. Iraq in fact was probably less the ticking time bomb of all of them. You can argue the merits of the different reasons that Iraq was selected, but you are fooling yourself if you think anything other the threat of WMD was the tip factor for ordinary citizens on the street. You think Saddam breaking UN reolutions got ordinary Americans on the street up in arms? Most Americans have zero respect for the UN anyways - they see it as a corrupt bureaucracy that gets their tax $ for doing nothing and has its butt pasted to valuable real estate in NYC to boot.
WMD was what caught the attention of the majority of American citizens. Don't kid yourself or me.
My point is the man who produced the flawed analysis about the WMD threat should be held accountable for his gross negligence. If Feith were in private industry, he would at the very least be summarily fired for his incompetence. If he were a physician who showed impaired judgement, he would be sued at the very least if not tried for criminal negligence as well.
I believe Feith should be summarily fired and perhaps even prosecuted in the same way that the gov't followed through on soldiers' errors in judgement, unprofessional conduct. Instead Feith is being allowed to fade away into the sunset, when it is becoming more obvious each day that he is directly responsible for a gigantic screw up. He was hired and paid by taxpayer's money to perform certain services. There was an assumption of competence. The DOD is not a family business where all is forgiven if Aunt Mamie forgets to pay the electricity bill. This is not an oops incident on Feith's part.
#7
I suppose Feith convinced Tony Blair too, all by himself.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/28/2005 19:34
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#8
I suppose Feith convinced Tony Blair too, all by himself
How is that relevant to Feith's negligence while in the employment of US taxpayers? Focus, please, mrs. davis.
Perhaps you'd like Mr. Stupidist a** in the world Feith to get awarded a Medal of Honor? Hey why not, the other incompetent doofus got one. Maybe it's the latest fad in America - reward incompetence, don't punish it. Incompetence is what makes nations great after all.
On the other hand, Tenet didn't do much damage after snoozing thru 9/11, but Mr. Stupidist a** in the world Feith is said to be applying his infamous analytic skills yet again by evaluating the nuclear threat that Iran poses to US interests. Oh yes, this bodes well, I'll say.
North Korea has bought a complete nuclear weapon from either Pakistan or a former Soviet Union state, a South Korean newspaper has reported. The newspaper Seoul Shinmun quoted an unnamed source as saying the United States was checking the intelligence. North Korea is believed to have at least one or two nuclear weapons. US Congressman Curt Weldon said after a visit to North Korea this month that its second ranked leader had told his delegation that it possessed nuclear weapons.
Pyongyang has previously declared that a nuclear reactor at Yongbyon, sealed under a 1994 agreement with the United States, has been restarted. Spent nuclear fuel from that reactor could be converted to weapons-grade material. North Korea has never officially declared that it possessed atomic weapons, speaking instead of its nuclear deterrent. US experts who visited the Yongbyon facility said spent plutonium previously stored there had been removed. North Korea is suspected of running a separate program based on uranium enrichment technology, assisted by a former top Pakistani nuclear scientist.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/28/2005
12:33:59 AM ||
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#2
This is another take on a Reuters article posted yesterday. Both articles could be from the same source, I suppose, given what fine, industrious journalists are running around the world nowadays. The previous article said NKor had bought the thing so there would be no revealing explosion when they tested the technology to make sure it was functional. Its all much too complicated for my little mind to comprehend, I'm afraid.
#3
No worries about N. Korea. It's the MSM making up stories. But of course. Pass the salt and pepper and I'll take my condiments straight up. It is faaaarrrr more important to turn our attention to Iran who may be, could be, possibly, perhaps working on nuclear weapons... according to our infallible CIA - oops - okay so no one's perfect.
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 12:55
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#11
I'd figure that Pakistan would value keeping its own nuclear stockpile up and pointed at India more than a few extra bucks. Maybe they'd let a nuke go to NK as a swap for some long range missiles, but I thought the Pak missile programs was at least as good as North Korea's.
I'd also have figured that the Russians would make keeping track of where all the old warheads were one of their absolute top priorities: If NK can get one, so can the Chechens. It wouldn't be the first time Russians have been bribed, of course.
So who else would sell? Not the Brits, not the Israelis, not the Chinese; South Africa claims not to have any, and I have a feeling there'd be pride issues that'd discourage the French from selling any.
Color me dubious.
Posted by: James ||
01/28/2005 14:26
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#12
IOW, the Norkies want Dubya and America to attack them now, i.e. SAVE HILLARY, where "NO WMDS IN IRAQ" = "NO WMDS IN IRAN" = NO WMDS IN NORTH KOREA", ...etc. over and besides Iraq-style pre planned "people's war". Both Americans and the world community will become outraged at the failures of Dubya and America that they will demand REGULATION AND SUPER-REGULATION, BUREAUCRACY ABOVE MORE AND BIGGER BUREAUCRACY, and OWG, within America and outside of America, in the name of seeming proper righteous indignation! The Failed/Angry Left, aka "WIlfully and Unconditionally Support Your Local/Favorite Tyrant-MafiaCrat-Warlord-Profiteer-General-Slaver-Bandit Raider Army", subaka "Your Wife, Women, Cities. Towns, Lands, Monies, Homes, Food, and your pet dogs, even your very Life, belongs to us, and only us", the ones and bandits/predators NOT = ROBIN HOOD, WILL NOT ALLOW AMERICA TO NOT WAGE WAR(S) AROUND THE WORLD. There are no Leftists-Socialists or Commies for the time being in national politics, only [PC = DENIABLE]REGULATORS, BUREAUCRATS/GOVERNMENTISTS,
and WAR = NO WAR BUREAUCRATS! No matter his rhetoric, Ted Kennedy and other Dems is calling for the Dems to event become a de facto National Socialist Party, not a revampment or retranchement of the old pro-America Rightist Democrat Party of Jackson and Wilson thru LBJ! The anti-US Western Lefts protect Radical Islam whilst the Asian Lefts PC wipes them out, aka CLEANING UP LOOSE ENDS ala the 9-11 event, ergo the Clinton-led US Lefts is searching for any controversy to either cause Dubya to resign andor else lead to his PC assassination. an event(s) which would jeopardize the credibility and whole of the US GOP-Right. If Hillary is to be POTUS, and iff they stick to their 2020 maxima timeline, then America and its entire Washington establishment has to be nationally and geopol discredited and suborned NOW, as the Commies must prevent Western-style Capitalism and Democracy from taking root and becoming too strong to challenge.
The leader of ex-Soviet Uzbekistan on Friday bluntly told the West not to try to foment Ukraine-style revolution in his country and declared he had the "necessary force" to stamp out any upheaval. eferring to successive revolutions in two other ex-Soviet States, Georgia and Ukraine, that have brought pro-Western leaders to power, President Islam Karimov said: "We will rein in those who move outside the framework of the law. We have the necessary force for that." What do you think he means by that? Oh, wait a minuet, I can guess....
Looking directly to Western ambassadors who were listening to his speech in parliament, Karimov added: "I don't want to delve too deeply into this matter. But those sitting up there in the balcony ought to understand that better." Ambassadors:Gulp!
The tough comment by Karimov was the latest sign from the five Central Asian republics, all of which operate one-man-rule political systems, that the authorities feared there could be attempts at protests to topple their rulers. Translation: The Internet has allowed news from the outside world to trickle into various hell-ish-stans
Earlier on Friday Askar Akayev, president of Kyrgyzstan that borders Uzbekistan, was quoted as saying he also feared such a move by the opposition and warned, in a Russian newspaper, that this could lead to civil war. Built that palace out of ice yet Akayev? You crazy tinpot nutjob you.
Karimov, who was in power in Uzbekistan even in Soviet times and whose rule has been marked by use of torture and the jailing of thousands of dissidents according to rights groups, said there were clear attempts in Kyrgyzstan to stage "a flower revolution" there. "Maybe, we will manage to get away without yellow flowers in Kyrgyzstan," he said. Yellow has been adopted as the color of the Kyrgyz opposition. Go fall off a cliff Askar.
(from 'The Washington Note' Blog, as the FT article was for paid subscribers only.)
How the U.S. Became the World's Dispensable Nation
by Michael Lind
In a second inaugural address tinged with evangelical zeal, George W. Bush declared: "Today, America speaks anew to the peoples of the world." The peoples of the world, however, do not seem to be listening. A new world order is indeed emerging - but its architecture is being drafted in Asia and Europe, at meetings to which Americans have not been invited... Article goes on at length how the US is failing, how the entire world is ganging up against the US, and how it's all Bush's fault.
#4
All Bush's fault? Wasn't there an election on November 2?
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 13:23
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#5
This is Michael Lind, who has been anti-American since probably after he was born. And the Financial Times has predicted American decline since probably it was founded. I bet FT can't get over the fact that London isn't the center of the financial world any more.
#6
This piece is a continuation of the new approach being developed by the LLL to justify their own failure to anticipate world events or understand the US or George Bush.
They started with Bush the moron. However it has become increasingly hard to explain the stupidity of GWB when he continues to win elections, not just in the US, but in Afghanistan and Iraq. They need to develop a new mantra, this "not listening" mantra promoted by NYT and now the FT. If they cannot beat him, maybe they can just distract him. Listening is such a nice, moral, friendly virtue, even when the speaker has absolutely nothing useful to say.
Compare and contrast Kofi. Such a great listener.
Posted by: john ||
01/28/2005 15:15
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A coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in mainly Muslim Malaysia, headed by a son of former premier Tun Mahathir Mohamad, is running a series of television advertisements denouncing terrorism as un-Islamic.
'Violence dishonours faith,' say the clips, produced by the coalition known as Peace Malaysia, which was set up in January 2003 ahead of the US' invasion of Iraq.
A baby boy is featured in one of the segments aired on private channel TV3 during primetime news bulletins. It shows him growing up and graduating from university, turning to militancy and dying in conflict.
Islam tells its believers not to kill children, women, the elderly and people in places of religious worship during combat, says another advertisement.
'Our objective is to promote global peace. It is a reminder to us here that we are living in peaceful conditions. Other countries are not so lucky,' said Peace Malaysia coordinator Mukhriz Mahathir.
'We want to promote diplomacy,' said Mr Mukhriz, whose father was a strong critic of the US invasion of Iraq, warning that it would spawn more Islamic militancy.
Mr Chandra Muzaffar, political analyst and adviser to the group of more than 100 NGOs, said: 'It is in line with Peace Malaysia's goal of pursuing peace, we are committed to non-violence as it is against Islam. 'The emphasis is against violence as embodied in Islam. The killing of civilians in any battle or war is against what is integral to Islamic thought and philosophy.'
But Mr Mukhriz said the advertisements were not triggered by fears of a rise in militancy.
'Our grouse is mainly with Western leaders. They still can't sit down and discuss things in a peaceful manner.'
Terrorism is a 'topical subject right now. The occupation of Iraq is still big news. Now there's talk of Iran', he added.
'In Malaysia, we are lucky. Politically, we may have different perspectives but everyone shares a tolerant viewpoint. Malaysia has been described as a 'beacon of tolerance' and we want people to realise this.'
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/28/2005
12:29:08 AM ||
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#1
BS disinformation from the Malaysian big names islamic apologists....paving the way for Al'Jazeera which is about to set up a regional hub from Malaysia.
âThe emphasis is against violence as embodied in Islam. The killing of civilians in any battle or war is against what is integral to Islamic thought and philosophy.â
But Mr Mukhriz said the advertisements were not triggered by fears of a rise in militancy.
âOur grouse is mainly with Western leaders. They still canât sit down and discuss things in a peaceful manner.â
Just an anti-war message for suckers who still wonder what happens if you have a war and no one shows up - (answer: rape, murder, genocide by one side, which is unhindered by the other).
#3
The problem with M'sia is that Wannabe-ism cum sneaky islamisation. The supremistic trust of that reinforces discrimination which is officially driven for the majority. This ensures loss of economic competitiveness overall and an impossibility to get anywhere close to being an egalitarian state.
These people like Muzaffar(or Farish Noor), intellectuals, as they're regarded, never dare confront this directly but beats about the bush, trying to point fingers. Mukhriz is just the son of the ex-PM. He should only boast of M'sia being a âbeacon of toleranceâ when there is no islamic anti apostasy existing and no under the counter discrimination of other faiths merely to make islam supreme. Ask them how many new churches have been built lately and how many mosques mushrooming all over all the time? Just becoz they don't burn down the same does not qualify these boaster cocks to claim tolerance.
#4
The problem with M'sia is that Wannabe-ism cum sneaky islamisation. The supremistic thrust of that reinforces discrimination which is officially driven for the majority. This ensures loss of economic competitiveness overall and an impossibility to get anywhere close to being an egalitarian state.
These people like Muzaffar(or Farish Noor), intellectuals, as they're regarded, never dare confront this directly but beats about the bush, trying to point fingers. Mukhriz is just the son of the ex-PM. He should only boast of M'sia being a âbeacon of toleranceâ when there is no islamic anti apostasy existing and no under the counter discrimination of other faiths merely to make islam supreme. Ask them how many new churches have been built lately and how many mosques mushrooming all over all the time? Just becoz they don't burn down the same does not qualify these boaster cocks to claim tolerance.
#6
I think I know what Duh is getting at. Mukhriz is the son of anti-semitic moonbat extraordinaire Mohammed Mahathir. It's unlikely that the apple fell all that far from the tree.
#8
Heheh, hardly 2b. Actually trying to point out the disinformation from that place. Something lots of people know about but little made known openly unless you care to visit some of their local blogs. When you do, you'll realize the real facts better. Thanks to the Internet, this and a lot more info became possible. M'sia boasts a lot.
#9
My brother would beg to differ with that "Malaysia is a beacon of tolerance" crap. He told me stuff from the local papers in Kuching about the Indonesians that would be considered racist here if we said that about the Mexicans. And I don't think the Chinese necessarily sleep peacefully surrounded by the rest of the population.
The minute their economy goes in the toilet is when this "toleration" disappears. Al-Qaeda was and is still present there.
#10
DB: He told me stuff from the local papers in Kuching about the Indonesians that would be considered racist here if we said that about the Mexicans.
The US is one of the most politically correct places around. I can tell you that most Europeans I've encountered are shockingly (to me) blunt about their prejudices - about Indians, Jews, et al. I have no doubt the non-Western world tends to speak with even more candor.
MILITIAMEN in Basilan Island are "intact and all accounted for," the military said Wednesday amid reports that they have joined the Abu Sayyaf bandit group. This was revealed after Colonel Apolinario Alobba, commander of the Army's 18th Infantry Batallion based in the island province conducted an accounting of Citizen Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) upon orders from Army chief Lieutenant General Generoso Senga. "They are all on high morale and fully under the control of the Army Battalion commander," Army spokesman Major Bartolome Bacarro said in a statement. "The circulating news stemmed from the statements of some CAFGU whose services were terminated due to various offenses committed," Bacarro said.
The dismissal of some CAFGUs was due, among others, to failure to report for duty, refusal to take refresher courses, drug abuse, and old age, Bacarro said. Other CAFGUs on the other hand resigned from the service due to low pay.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/28/2005
12:26:43 AM ||
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Air Force helicopters and bomber planes fired rockets and dropped bombs Thursday on houses in a southern marshland where Indonesian and Philippine Muslim extremist leaders were believed to be hiding, officials said. The targets included the chief of the extremist Abu Sayyaf group and at least three Indonesian members of Jemaah Islamiya, a regional terrorist group that bombed nightclubs on Indonesia's Bali Island in 2002, officials said. Col. Domingo Tutaan Jr., chief of staff of the Zamboanga-based Southern Command, said the attack on Butilan Marsh in Datu Piang town also targeted Muslim rebels that raided an Army detachment in Mamasapano.
Lt. Gen. Alberto Braganza had ordered the attack on learning that the rebels, headed by Commander Wahib Kalil Tundok, were staying in the area. Tutaan said two bomber planes dropped several 250-pound bombs; two attack helicopters fired rockets at six houses, mostly on stilts, where the extremist leaders were believed to have taken refuge. "We had six targets, and they were all hit in the bombing runs," Tutaan said.
He said casualties were likely, but that he was still waiting for a bomb damage assessment and the report of ground troops to verify the number. Army spokesman Col. Franklin del Prado said Abu Sayyaf chief Khadaffy Janjalani and at least three Indonesian Jemaah Islamiya members, including Dulmatin, who allegedly played a key role in the Bali bombings, were believed to be hiding in the area. Tutaan said the marshland was difficult for ground forces to penetrate, so the military had deployed five helicopters to airlift troops there. A naval blockade has also been erected to prevent the militants from escaping, he added.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/28/2005
12:25:52 AM ||
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There are about 200 foreign mercenaries fighting in illegal armed units in Chechnya, a source in the regional headquarters for the anti-terrorist campaign in the North Caucasus told Interfax with the reference to the secret services. "There are about 200 foreign mercenaries on the territory of the Chechen republic. There is information that they manage to cross the border from time to time," headquarters spokesman Maj. Gen. Ilya Shabalkin told Interfax on Thursday. Most of the foreign mercenaries come from the Middle East, he said. "Some of them come from Turkey, and there citizens of other states as well," Shabalkin said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/28/2005
12:24:04 AM ||
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The fact that foreigner islamic terrorists have been in Chechnya is old news. Russia assasinated one of the top foreigners, Ibn Al Khattab, a couple of years ago. The Russians also distributed a video called "Dogs of War" that showed Chechnyan atrocities (beheadings and tortures even more atrocious than the recent Iraqi murders). The foreigners are evil personified.
Bottom line: foreign Islamic terrorists are the root of all this evil...and have been for quite some time.
French militants who join the fight against U.S.-led forces in Iraq could one day return to strike terror in France and elsewhere, the defense minister warned Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press. The warning followed the detention this week of 11 people in Paris as France's domestic counterterrorism agency moved to break up a network suspected of seeking to funnel young French Muslims to Iraq. Ten suspects remain in custody; one woman was released Wednesday. French officials have said the arrests were aimed partly at ensuring that suspected would-be militants do not receive combat training and experience in Iraq that could make them a threat at home if they survive. "These French citizens who are prepared to carry out suicide attacks in Iraq are people who could one day carry out suicide attacks elsewhere," said Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie. "That worries us. There are movements, groups, that can threaten our territory as well as others."
Alliot-Marie suggested that some Muslim imams, or prayer leaders, provide the fervor for battle. "A certain number of youths in the movement of some imams receives religious training, until the day when they are moved into the stable of candidates for suicide-bombings," she said. France has been cracking down on imams who preach a radical brand of Islam, expelling at least five last year.
Alliot-Marie said she did not know how many French citizens were involved in the insurgency in Iraq. At least three French Muslims have been killed fighting with insurgents in Iraq. While the number of French-born fighters appears small - perhaps a dozen or more - anti-terror officials in France worry that some of the men of mostly North African descent will return home with combat skills to wage jihad, or holy war.
Alliot-Marie, who has been defense minister for the last two years, is considered a rising star of French politics and media have speculated that she could one day become prime minister - a prospect she declined to comment on. The defense minister spoke to the AP ahead of a Feb. 9-10 meeting of NATO defense ministers in the Riviera city of Nice. Issues such as the alliance's role in Afghanistan and Kosovo and its prospects for training Iraqi soldiers are likely to be discussed there. France "cannot be happy" about continued violence in Iraq, Alliot-Marie said, reiterating France's willingness to train Iraqi police outside the wartorn nation. France was a leading opponent of the U.S.-led war that toppled Saddam Hussein and repeatedly has said it does not plan to send troops there.
Relations between Paris and Washington deteriorated after France expressed opposition to the war. But Alliot-Marie said she has had a frank and "very cordial" relationship with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. "It allows us to have a relationship of trust, even if we do not always agree." She said that President Bush's new administration has "extended its hand" to Paris "and we wish to extend our hand back."
The U.S. State Department said Thursday that Condoleezza Rice, the newly installed U.S. secretary of state, will visit France on a swing through the Middle East and Europe that begins next week - her first foreign trip as the top American diplomat. In other areas, Alliot-Marie said France remains "concerned about seeing Iran have a nuclear program that could lead to a nuclear weapon," but would not give up on diplomatic efforts France leads with Britain and Germany to prevent that from happening. She said France opposes integrating NATO's mission in Afghanistan and a separate U.S.-led coalition searching for remnants of the al-Qaida terror network and the deposed Taliban regime. At a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Romania in October, France and Germany spoke out against U.S. plans to put the alliance in charge of military and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. However, U.S. officials said NATO was to develop plans to merge the missions. At the end of its six-month term next month, France is to hand over leadership of NATO's 8,000-strong International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan to Turkey.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/28/2005
12:21:09 AM ||
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French militants who join the fight against U.S.-led forces in Iraq could one day return to strike terror in France and elsewhere, the defense minister warned Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press.
Not if we kill them first. And doing the Phrench a favor isn't the reason why we would.
#5
She said that President Bushâs new administration has "extended its hand" to Paris "and we wish to extend our hand back."
I call bullshit. Why talk about "wishing" to extend their hand back if Bush HAD extended its hand? Why not say "and we have extended our hand back?" Wish not, but do.
#6
The French could stop these terrorists and prevent them from going to Iraq but it still poses a fundamental problem - they are still terrorists! They will pick their spots and attack infidels. This is what these people do. They don't work, play or enjoy their lives. Their religon has made them enjoy only misery and wish simply to die for a cause. To put them in prison is to delay the inevitable. They will attack, just like the nuts at GTMO. These people are relentless and want us dead or converted. PS you'll have to kill me first. Perhaps the French should set up their own smuggling network, recruit as many jihadi's they possibly can. Package up the nut bags and deliver them right into the line of fire of a jdam. Their not doing anyone any favors detaining them. See to it they find their way to battle and quickly have the opportunity to meet Allah.
#8
No Phrawnch nationals should be killed. They are our ally. We should repatriate them immediately via Marsailles. Drop them in the sea 3 miles from shore and tell them to swim north.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/28/2005 18:10
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#9
1/28/2005 Europe
French defense minister concerned by French jihadis in Iraq
Why? Is she afraid they might get a widdle boo-boo and she won't ge there to kiss it and make it all better?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/28/2005 18:54
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I call bullshit. Why talk about "wishing" to extend their hand back if Bush HAD extended its hand? Why not say "and we have extended our hand back?" Wish not, but do.
geez, and they call US talmudic:) Sure youve never been to yeshiva, Ptah? Or been to a Jesuit University (like Georgetown grad, master of the word "is", Bill Clinton)
James Woolsey is Chairman of Feedom House. This report is the first step in an effort to contain the destructive ideology being proliferated by the Wahhabis within the American homeland.
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005
12:21:04 PM ||
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A brief glance leads me to the conclusion Woolsey thinks we're going to have to deal with the Soddies and the sooner the better.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/28/2005 13:55
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This is a powerful indictment of the Saudi regime. What makes it particularly credible is:
1. it is not the product of some fringe group with a predetermined agenda
2. it is brimming with documented evidence and does not make unsubstantiated claims
I only hope it gets traction. I fear it won't, though.
#3
I forgot the history from 1979, when the fanatics took over Mecca and the blood bath ensued. So focused on the Iranian hostages.
Look at what the Soddie Royals' "bargain" has led to? Wahhabism with global reach.
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 20:59
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Ya know, because of freedom and speech and freedom of religion, they're perfectly able to distribute this crap. And I *really* don't think we should try to stop them.
However, there's no reason for the local mosque to *accept* or *distribute* this crap. For as long as this shit is passed out at mosques, we have every right to look funny at Muslims.
Look at it this way -- if you knew a certain denomination of (self-proclaimed) Christians were likely to have white supremacist literature available in their churches, then when you encounter a member of that denomination, you're likely to wonder if that person is, himself, a white supremacist. It really wouldn't be out of line, or bigoted, or even a bad conclusion to make: they distribute that crap, so they must have some level of agreement with it.
So if Muslims want people to stop looking at them oddly, they'd damned well better clean up their own houses of worship. Three years after 9-11, with the spotlight on them, that they still have this garbage on hand says a lot of bad things about them.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/28/2005 22:08
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#5
Sounds like the Islamic version of KKK.
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 22:27
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A message recently in circulation on Jihadist message boards asks "How can you become a member of al-Qaeda?" In answering the question the message explains that al-Qaeda by its very existence is an open invitation for Muslims to join the jihad:
"Today, al-Qaeda is no longer simply an organization that works on fighting the Jews and the Crusaders only, it has become an "invitation - Da'wa" that calls upon all Muslims to rise for the support of Allâh's religion.... If you answer this call, you will be considered to belong to al-Qaeda whether you like it or not; and if you are a true believer, you have no other choice but to answer the call within the extent of the ability that Allâh has given to you. The minimum level of answering the call is to talk yourself into the Jihad and the conquest."
The message further explains that all who hear al-Qaeda's call have a duty to respond, even if that response is only at the level of moral support, vague cooperation and spreading al-Qaeda's message:
"We are going to introduce the identity of the organization, its ideology, and goals, to those who are not familiar with them. Those who are, have no excuse to keep out of it. The least you can do is love the Mujahideen, defend them, spread their message and cooperate with them as much as you can."
However, the message also gives four broadly worded conditions for becoming an al-Qaeda member:
"Firstly: Know the identity of the Tanzeem, its ideology, and goals.
Secondly: Know what the conditions [reasons] are, rely on Allâh, and be confident of victory.
Thirdly: Steadfastness, patience, and adherence to the Book and the Sunnah in every matter.
Fourthly: Be truthful and Allâh will be truthful with you."
The message also warns that jihad will not be easy:
"If you are seeking the Jihad, you must know that it is not a promenade or a vacation trip. It involves losing money, relatives, and abandoning friends, companions, and home. This requires patience [for] hardships, and adherence to the principles."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/28/2005
12:17:27 AM ||
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Secondly: Know what the conditions [reasons] are, rely on Allâh, and be confident of victory.
Also be confident that you will sh*t your pants when you are ordered to walk into a US Military ambush.
Thirdly: Steadfastness, patience, and adherence to the Book and the Sunnah in every matter.
This is the intellectual equivilence of surrender. When your Al Qeda buddies tune you up on coke, or crank and then send you to battle, you won't need any of the above where you're going.
Fourthly: Be truthful and Allâh will be truthful with you.
And if you really listened at Allan, he would be begging you like an unpaid whore not to go.
The message also warns that jihad will not be easy:
Not for Jihadists anyway.
âIf you are seeking the Jihad, you must know that it is not a promenade or a vacation trip. It involves losing money, relatives, and abandoning friends, companions, and home.
And your life.
This requires patience [for] hardships, and adherence to the principles.
Pakistani soldiers on Thursday traded fire with suspected al-Qaeda-linked militants in a restive tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said. The shootout took place in Asman Manza, some 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of South Waziristan's main town of Wana, a military official who requested anonymity said. South Waziristan, some 370 kilometers southwest of Islamabad, was the scene of several pitched battles between troops and militants last year. The latest exchange of fire continued for about 30 minutes late Thursday in mountainous snow-covered Asman Manza, the official said but gave no details of casualties.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/28/2005
12:15:02 AM ||
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Fred is a big believer in SIGINT, IIRC ... The surveillance scheme was working perfectly: German intelligence operatives were watching and listening to two terror suspects living in their country for more than two years. The eavesdropping was yielding a plethora of detail on the cells' desires, plans, and unusual source of funding. The hope was the spying would go on for a long time - long enough to grab others involved in the network. Instead, according to a European official knowledgeable about the operation, the two terror suspects suddenly made plans to move to the Netherlands. The German agents - unsure if they would lose contact - moved in and had them arrested this past weekend. "The arrests weren't planned," says the European source. "This story from the intelligence and law-enforcement sides now, sadly, is over."
In the end, the surveillance operation offers an inside look at some of the problems and progress of those on the frontlines of the war on terror. For one thing, it shows that successes are occurring: In addition to the two suspects arrested in Germany - and the information gleaned during the surveillance operation - two other high-level terrorists were apprehended this week in Iraq. Second, it illustrates how difficult it is to tap into terrorist cells and gather enough information to stop a specific attack or round up all those involved. Third, it highlights how contentious the relationship can be between intelligence agencies and local police, which often have different mandates and goals. "My former service was in the business of letting people run in order to scoop in as many as possible," says Stella Rimington, the former head of MI5, Britain's domestic intelligence service. "But we have to work with the police, and they are of course anxious to bring things to a conclusion without taking too many risks."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/28/2005
12:13:51 AM ||
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"My former service was in the business of letting people run in order to scoop in as many as possible," says Stella Rimington, the former head of MI5, Britainâs domestic intelligence service. "But we have to work with the police, and they are of course anxious to bring things to a conclusion without taking too many risks."
This is what I think has been wrong with our FBI. They lost balance on this aspect of their job. They just let them run in order to collect more information - but in so doing, they allow them to grow and recruit. Both sides benefit from the time and connections.
I'm beginning to think that's what went wrong with the first WTC bombing. The FBI set them up to watch them but the bad guys were sophisticated enough to take advantage of that opportunity.
Maybe that's why he got his "Basit" passport so he could fly out on the day of the bombing, and the FBI wouldn't notice.
From Harpers Magazine
From a guide intended to help foreigners understand the idiosyncrasies of British English
What they say: I'm sure it's my fault.
What is understood: It is his fault.
What they mean: It is your fault.
What they say: By the way/Incidentally . . .
What is understood: This is not very important.
What they mean: The primary purpose of our discussion is ...
What they say: Correct me if I'm wrong.
What is understood: Tell me what you think.
What they mean: I know I'm right—please don't contradict me.
What they say: With the greatest respect . . .
What is understood: He is listening to me.
What they mean: I think you are wrong, or a fool.
What they say: Quite good.
What is understood: Quite good.
What they mean: A bit disappointing.
Others at the site
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
01/28/2005
12:13:51 AM ||
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classic!
Here's my favorite non-verbal misunderstanding.
What they do: Opening a door or allow you to go first:
What they understand: He thinks I am more important
What they mean: I am stronger, or more dominant than you.
What they do: Opening a door or allow you to go first:
What they understand: He thinks I am more important
What they mean: I'm just checking her ass out.
#4
http://www.whoohoo.co.uk/main.asp
Howard, Bulldog, McNails, Is this legit? It's supposedly a translator from English into various UK dialects.
By the way McNails, I'm a Stewart.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/28/2005 21:45
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...This is the time to celebrate Hind el-Hinnawy, a 27 year-old Egyptian costume designer who with one bold gesture scandalized a religiously conservative society wallowing in its own schizoid hypocrisy and had her baby in that ambivalent zone of civil (urfi) marriage, going on to file a paternity suit against the famous, or by now infamous, actor, Ahmed Al-Fishawy.
Al-Fishawy apparently had dabbled in religious education in an era when religious instruction has become a favorite pastime for celebrities, a highly lucrative endeavor for redeeming reputations and enhancing respectability.
The possibility that al-Qaeda or its sympathizers could gain access to a nuclear bomb is the greatest danger facing the United States in the war on terrorism, Attorney General John Ashcroft said Thursday.
U.S. officials "from time to time" uncover evidence terrorists are trying to develop nuclear capability, Ashcroft said without providing any specifics. It is not clear whether they have made any progress, but the United States must take the threat seriously, he said in an interview with The Associated Press.
"If you were to have nuclear proliferation find its way into the hands of terrorists, the entire world might be very seriously disrupted by a few individuals who sought to impose their will, their arcane philosophy, on the rest of mankind," he said.
Ashcroft made no apology for his actions, saying he has enjoyed full support from President Bush.
"The president understands that this is almost mission impossible, to keep winning every day," he said. "To be always the winner and never be the loser is a very difficult task. The world is not absent terror. But the United States has been absent terror."
His greatest failure, Ashcroft said, was in not fully explaining to the American people early on just how the Patriot Act has helped in that war. Time will prove that the law has not been the threat to the Constitution seen by some, he said.
"Rights have not been infringed. Human dignity has not suffered. It's been enhanced and it has not carried a cost or toll on the civil liberties of America," Ashcroft said.
More than 375 people have been charged in terror-related prosecutions in the United States since the 2001 attacks, with 195 either convicted or entering guilty pleas. Yet Ashcroft said officials continue to receive reports of "individuals who are sympathizers" with al-Qaeda or other terror groups coming into the United States after meeting with people overseas with links to terrorism or attending events that include "inappropriate extremist or terrorist instruction."
"We have to remain on guard. America, as open and free as it is, is going to have to pay a price in terms of understanding and being vigilant about potentials that freedom and openness are associated with," he said.
Ashcroft also said the Justice Department deserved praise for handling some 400 corporate malfeasance cases, helping drive the nation's crime rate to 30-year lows and making strides in civil rights prosecutions — all while dealing with the terror threat.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/28/2005
12:11:44 AM ||
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Wamid Nathmi, head of the small Pan-Arab Nationalist party, is boycotting Iraq's first democratic elections on Sunday. But unlike many Sunni politicians, he dismisses gloomy predictions that the vote will spark sectarian warfare. "I don't know what all the fuss is about; I don't see why there's all this talk of civil war," he says. "It's an election for a national assembly that will only be there for one year."
A secular Arab nationalist, Mr Nathmi is also spokesman for the Iraqi National Council, an opposition movement that includes both Sunni and Shia political groups. The boycott by many Sunni Arab parties and the expected low turnout in Sunni provinces has raised fears of a more bloody insurgency. The Shia are set to emerge as the biggest winners in the elections while the Sunni, who dominated the old regime, will feel disenfranchised. But the boycott is not purely sectarian. Mr Nathmi points to the absence of the Shia movement led by Moqtada al-Sadr, the firebrand cleric who revolted against US troops last summer. Facing pressure from top Shia clergy and from the US, Mr Sadr has not campaigned against the election, in spite of his opposition to it. He has also allowed some members of his movement to stand as candidates.
Mr Nathmi's Iraqi National Council has the same demands as the armed insurgents - namely the withdrawal of US troops - but has pledged to work peacefully towards this goal, and has been seen by western diplomats as a political opposition that could be negotiated with. The Council has developed good ties with both the Sadr movement and the influential Council of Sunni Muslim scholars. The Sunni-Shia movement had considered taking part in the poll. But the conditions it set - including a declaration of ceasefire across Iraq and the withdrawal of US troops from main cities - were rejected. Shortly after the movement issued its demands late last year, US troops launched a massive offensive in the Sunni town of Falluja, further undermining the group's willingness to participate in the poll. But Mr Nathmi says the weekend vote should be put in perspective: it is only one step in Iraq's postwar transition. The main task of the national assembly will be to draft Iraq's constitution. Sunni opposition leaders, even if unelected, could still be involved in constitutional committees.
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Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/28/2005
12:09:48 AM ||
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"Some View Sunni Boycott, Farcical Demands About US Withdrawal as Trivial"
The Sunnis' dance is amusing. First all fire and belligerence, then backsliding towards participation, then the comical "conditions" regarding US forces, now "it's no big deal". Actually the joker is right about that -- in some ways it is a massive deal just to have the election and seat the assembly, but it is only the beginning of the process. The Sunnis who are reasonable will likely have the chance to interact with the assembly on the new constitution -- and of course all Sunni voters will have the chance to vote up/down on the new constitution next fall.
Hmm, smells like victory. Influencing national policy through non-violent means, through democratic structures, is exactly the situation that US policy aims at. Of course I wouldn't expect the august gentlemen of the Pan-Arab Nationalist Party or the Council of Scholars to be pleased with that observation ...
Al Zawahiri in Pakistan? According to daily Insaf, Aiman al Zawahiri the mastermind of Al Qaeda and number two after Osama bin Laden could be located in Pakistan, either in Sindh or Balochistan in the protection of some sardar. Other members of Al Qaeda who have made their way into Pakistan have come down from North Waziristan and have been hiding in Dera Ghazi Khan and Dera Ismail Khan. These members of Al Qaeda are as follows: Ali bin Muhammad Askar (Sudan), Matlab al Sabah (Saudi) Basir Tankati (Egypt), Muhammad Aziz (Kuwait), Muhammad Saleh bin Musa (Yemen), Muhammad Aniq al Basit (Egypt), Abu Talha (Egypt), Abdul Sabhan Asiri (Saudi), Abdul Ali bin Hisham (Saudi), Abu Salman Musa (Syria), Abdur Rehman Didan (Yemen), Muhammad Abdul Basit (Egypt), and Ahmad Abdul Alim Jafari (Egypt). The paper quoted Arab sources.
Altaf Hussain and MMA
According to daily Insaf MQM chief Altaf Hussain spoke on the phone to an audience at the Lahore Press Club and said he was not ghaddar (traitor) and that if the MMA wanted to agitate against Musharraf it should first leave the government in Balochistan and the NWFP. He kept pronouncing MMA as mamma (breast). Daily Nawa-e-Waqt reported Altaf Hussain as saying that 60 percent of the government was military. He said generals became feudal landlords after retirement. He said in 1965 India did not attack but Pak army did and was defeated. At Kargil it suffered another defeat and was too scared to collect its own dead bodies.
Bangladesh hates India
Writing in Khabrain, Kuldip Nayar said that anti-India feeling was high in Bangladesh and it started when founder Sheikh Mujib was still in power. When he talked to him Mujib said that Bangladeshis were grateful but the anti-India feeling was being created by spiteful rumours. In Bangladesh most people thought that rice was being smuggled to Calcutta. Later BNP of Khaleda Zia decided to join up with Jamaat Islami in order to gain street power. Now there is violence in the name of religion and religion is used to make people anti-Hindu and anti-India. One person who has written a book on why the Hindus were running away was now under threat from terrorists who had returned from Afghanistan and were spearheading the BNP's new policy.
'We want to destroy Aga Khan Foundation'
According to Nawa-e-Waqt the men who destroyed the Aga Khan Service Centre in Chitral were caught. They turned out to be members of the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (earlier reported as members of Harkatul Mujahideen whose leader Fazlur Rehman Khaleel had just been released from prison). The two arrested terrorists said they wanted to end the work of Aga Khan Foundation in Chitral. Photos of Osama bin Laden and Afghan Jihad were found in their custody.
Where charity ends up
Daily Jang reported that charity funds disbursed for calamity stricken areas usually went into the wrong pockets. After the 1973 floods, Swedish matches, cooking oil and blankets were sold in the market. Similarly calamity funds after floods in Mekran were disbursed to local government supporters and voters of the government in Mekran. After the tsunami, charity funds going to the area will see new luxury houses coming up in countries from Indonesia to Somalia.
No friendship with Hindus and Jews
Former teacher of journalism Mr AR Khalid stated in Nawa-e-Waqt that in Islam the only enlightenment and roshan khayali was the way Allah had shown under which there was no good in befriending Jews and Hindus. No other madadgar (helper) and raziq (giver of food) was to be accepted save Allah. And the world would have to be considered a temporary abode.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
01/28/2005
12:08:09 AM ||
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A proposal by French President Jacques Chirac to tax countries which retain banking secrecy has caused controversy in Switzerland. The Swiss finance minister and banks attacked the suggestion, while non-governmental organisations welcomed it. At the opening of the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos on Wednesday, Chirac put forward a set of "experimental measures" to finance the fight against Aids. He called for at least $10 billion (SFr12 billion) to be spent annually on combating the disease instead of the $6 billion currently spent. Among the measures was a proposal that countries which retain banking secrecy — including Switzerland — be charged for income lost through tax evasion. He also called for a tax on international financial transactions.
Swiss Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf Merz said Chirac was out of his mind had no right to interfere in what was an internal matter. "It's an interference in the internal policy of our country," Merz told the media. "The French president has the right to express himself about these issues, but he has to accept the fact that we have our own policy rules and a clear policy on banking secrecy. These issues can be raised in bilateral negotiations at which we will continue to defend banking secrecy." Swiss banks were also critical of the "bizarre" suggestion and denied that banking secrecy was responsible for a flight of capital.
Damn! I had to check the original to see if Anonymoose had forgotten to hilite the snarky editorial comments.
But Swiss NGOs welcomed Chirac's ideas as a sign that politicians were taking up the ideas of opponents of globalisation. "It's a very good idea," commented Andreas Missbach of the Berne Declaration. He said that countries like Switzerland that had banking secrecy swallowed up the tax money of other countries, and it made complete sense to impose a special tax on them. The Tax Justice Network said many multinationals managed their business in such a way that they avoided paying taxes in the countries in which they operated. According to the NGO, this tax evasion costs developing countries around $50 billion a year. Next, he plans to announce proposals for a world tax on tea, pasta, vodka, sushi, and hamburgers.
#2
Could somebody take Jacques aside and remind him that he's supposed to be what passes for a conservative, at least by European standards?
What's with this sudden blizzard of supranational taxation schemes? Has he decided that since that-bastard-Bush has downgraded the importance of national sovereignty, that it means that Europeans can tax *other countries*?
Well, I suppose if Europeans think that they can exercise universal criminal jurisdiction, it therefore follows that they can arrogate universal tax authority to themselves.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
01/28/2005 13:11
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#3
I found Chirac's discourse....well, taxing.
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 13:15
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#4
Anything Chirac says is to keep his ass out of a French court room. He has no politics besides staying elected until he dies. Saying things that the Euro elites want to hear furthers his goal.
#7
--That is the great buzz phrase around Davos, the Phrase of 2005 â "silent tsunamis." These are said especially to take place in Africa, and they include hunger, resentment, and disease, particularly AIDS.--
#9
"The youth of Africa, Asia, and Latin America is rightly demanding its entitlement to a future. These populations will put their energy and talent at the service of the future, if they are given the means to do so. If this prospect is denied them, however, then let us beware of the risk of revolt."
In other words
1) They are ENTITLED to assistance from outside.
2) Taxes from outside will pay for assistance.
2) That means outside (other governments) are obligated to pony up.
3) If those someones don't pony up, they are asking for revolt (violence).
Just another politician saying that those who don't hand over their money are asking for violence to be done against them.
#14
"Tax evasion and capital flight are symptoms of internal problems in a country and are not caused by the existence of banks in, for example, Monaco or Switzerland. A far better idea would be if the oh-so-pious French were to impose a tax on nasty tin-pot dictators who purchase real estate on the Côte dâAzur, topped up with a tax on French bank loans and arms sales to countries with brutally repressive regimes."
The four Britons who returned home free men from the US prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had all been trained by the Al-Qaeda terror network, a newspaper said, citing allegations contained in US documents. The Sun said it had obtained US documents showing that Richard Belmar, 25, had confessed to having come face to face with Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden at a training camp in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Belmar also admitted that Al-Qaeda had taught him how to use assault weapons and carry out battlefield tactics. He had lived with Bin Laden and his aides as the terrorist leader fine-tuned his plans for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
The other three who returned home with him -- Moazzem Begg, 36, Martin Mubanga, 31, and Feroz Abbasi, 25 -- also allegedly received weapons training, according to the documents published in The Sun. Though the four were released without charge after their return to Britain on Tuesday following up to three years in Guantanamo Bay, the Pentagon said the four individuals still pose a "significant threat."
But British police have said that statements and information gleaned by US and British intelligence interrogators at Cuba's Camp Delta are inadmissible in a British court. According to the documents published by The Sun, Abbasi is accused by the US government of going to Afghanistan on a Jihad mission to train to fight Americans and Jews. He was allegedly trained to carry out surveillance and ambushes and learned how to fire Kalashnakov's and rocket-propelled grenades, met top Al-Qaeda leaders, heard bin Laden speak and beat up a suspected spy who later identified him.
Begg, 36, was allegedly an enemy combatant and member of Al-Qaeda. He was alleged to have recruited others, provided money and support to Al-Qaeda training camps and received extensive military training, according to the US documents published by The Sun. His family claim it was a case of mistaken identity.
Mubanga, 32, was accused by the United States of being an Al-Qaeda member and fighting the coalition in Afghanistan after having received advanced military training. When he was arrested he was said to have been plotting to carry out surveillance of 33 Jewish organizations in New York. Mubanga denied all the allegations and retracted all statements made at his tribunal hearing. All four have denied they are linked to Al-Qaeda.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/28/2005
12:04:29 AM ||
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Jesus..please someone throw the trash out...like into an active volcano!!
#2
Gosh four men middle eastern looking men were caught in Afghnistan and admitted they were trained by Terrorists. I am surprised that we didn't turn them loose as soon as we found out they were Brits. I mean so many Americans are set free of their heads by terrorists as son as they find out their citizenship.
Five Islamic militants, including at least an Indonesian suspected member of the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah, were believed killed in a military air strike on their hideout in a southern marshland, officials said Friday. Maj. Gen. Raul Relano, commander of the 6th Infantry Division, said a military intelligence report showed that the unidentified Indonesian was killed along with four local militants after the bombing runs on Thursday on their hideout in Maguindanao province's Butilan Marsh, 900 kilometers southeast of Manila. "The intelligence report said five were dead and three were wounded," said Relano. "The hazy report from our (intelligence) assets in the area said that one foreigner was among those dead."
He said the foreigner is presumably one of several Indonesian Jemaah Islamiyah members hiding in the area with leaders of the local Abu Sayyaf group and a renegade commander of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Army spokesman Col. Franklin del Prado said when the attack took place Thursday, among those believed to be in the area were Abu Sayyaf chief Khadaffy Janjalani and at least three Indonesian Jemaah Islamiyah members, including Dulmatin, who allegedly played a key role in the Bali bombings. The US has included Abu Sayyaf - notorious for kidnappings and beheadings - on a list of terrorist groups, and has offered a US$5 million (euro3.8 million) reward for information leading to the capture of its top leaders, including Janjalani. Sidney Jones, an expert on Indonesian radical Islamic organizations for the International Crisis Group, earlier this month cited reports that Dulmatin and Umar Patek, another alleged Bali bomber, were among the chief targets of an air strike by the military in the same area on Nov. 18. Relano said a video of Thursday's operation showed the militants fleeing along the river on the marsh as their huts were hit by 250-pound bombs and rocket fire. (AP)
No confirmed kills yet, stay tuned
Posted by: Steve ||
01/28/2005
12:01:54 PM ||
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Would recommend lending the RPAF a few MOABs, though it might make ID'ing a bit more difficult
I can't thank all of you enough -- the Daily Kos community, and the blogosphere as a whole -- for all of your effective work during the recent debate over Condoleezza Rice's nomination. Your support and participation in this critical debate meant so much to me.
More than 94,000 Americans from across the country signed my petition and stood together to demand the truth from Condoleezza Rice. It was truly an overwhelming response -- much more than I could have anticipated. You helped to get our message out to millions of Americans -- I couldn't have done it without you.
And you made a difference. You gave me the voice I needed to ask the tough questions during Dr. Rice's confirmation hearings. And you gave the entire United States Senate the voice it needed to take its "advice and consent" responsibility seriously. In fact, Condoleezza Rice received 13 votes against her confirmation -- the most votes against any Secretary of State's nomination since 1825.
Two weeks ago, who would have thought that Condoleezza Rice's nomination would allow us to have a full debate about our policy in Iraq? Who would have thought that we'd have the chance to truly expose all of the misstatements and misjudgments that led us into that conflict and continue to plague this Administration to this very day?
The Republican Senate leadership intended to easily approve Dr. Rice's nomination in a routine voice vote last Thursday afternoon, after President Bush's Inauguration and before the Inaugural balls got into full swing.
But you didn't let them ram this nomination through the Senate. You forced the Republican leadership to give us the debate we wanted on the floor of the United States Senate, and you gave us the opportunity we desperately needed to hold Dr. Rice and the Bush Administration accountable for their failures in Iraq and in the war on terrorism.
The American people deserved no less.
As you and I both know, this is just one more of the many battles we'll be having as we fight for our nation's future. It started with contesting the Ohio vote, it continued with the debate over Dr. Rice's confirmation, and it will certainly continue over the Gonzalez nomination and on many other looming issues. We're going to need to keep working together to make our voices heard and build a better America.
I enjoyed the dialogue we started over the past few weeks, including the chat I had with Armando and DavidNYC on the eve of the committee hearings, and I look forward to future interactions with the Daily Kos community. I hope to have the time to drop by here and participate in the discussion from time to time -- I value your input, and I thank you for caring so much about the future of our country.
Thanks again for all of your hard work. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your continued support. And I look forward to standing with you in the days, weeks, and months ahead.
In Friendship,
Barbara Boxer
Posted by: Korora ||
01/28/2005
12:00:32 AM ||
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she's from Marin county - the descent will be unnoticeable to her neighbors
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/28/2005 10:33
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Your support and participation in this critical debate meant so much to me.
"It *sniff* showed me that I wasn't the only lunatic out there . . ."
Posted by: The Doctor ||
01/28/2005 10:42
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Does she matter? No.
Californians be bold, dump this dip shit next time she runs for reelection. She is a total embarassment to your state and our country.
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 11:41
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"You like me! You really like me!"
(Cue "Wind Beneath My Wings" in the background....)
Dear sweet God, is this what the Democrats have become? Lord save us all...
#9
Ca's would like to dump her - but the Republican party always insists on some putz that is less palatable to Californians than Boxer is. She'd be easy to beat with the right candidate - but the Repubs don't want any more RINO's diluting the purity of their party - so we get wacko Boxer.
#10
She'll win again. There is no Republican party in Califronia. The four safest seats in America are the Senate seats in CA and MA. NY, VT, CT are in close for third.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/28/2005 11:59
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#11
Despite popular belief, the majority of people in CA are not loon birds who sit in hot tubs, but normal people who have families. What is different in CA is that they are more socially liberal. They support environmental issues, mass transit, and are more socially liberal on issues such as abortion, gays etc. Thus, the candidates who support ideas such as fiscal conservatism, curbing illegal immigration, family values (other than abortion) are unwanted by the Republican party and don't get on the ticket.
It's the same suicide that the Dems are doing now at a federal level - pushing the moderates out in favor of the pure.
#12
I sent Babs an email expressing my disapointment of the "Election Debacle" resolution that she was the only one to vote for. She responded by sending me the entire speech! I know it was some staffer on her behalf but they reallly don't get it. I responded with the following:
Dear Senator Boxer,
Since you were the ONLY Senator to vote in favor of your kooky resolution, you might think that maybe, just maybe, in was seen as the act of a sore loser than someone seeking voter rights. If someone in one of those counties felt 'disenfranchised' why didn't they file a formal complaint with the election commission? To date there are no complaints filed with any equal rights, civil rights, or voter rights commission.
As a retired service veteran I find your linkage to our troops in harms way and your conspiracy rants on the Senate floor particularly offensive. Please stop it you embarrass their service and your state. If your statements can't pass the giggle test in the Senate don't drag our servicemen and women with you.
Finally, nobody needs a civil rights lesson from you or anybody of your ilk. There are not white-robed conservative roaming downtown Cleveland stopping people from voting. Ask your esteemed colleague from West Virginia how that little trick works because it's not something coming from Republicans. In fact IF there were long lines or too few voting machines the blame the Democratic leaders in those districts because they are responsible for voting methods and machines. FYI they didn't file any complaints as well.
God Bless and watch over you,
P.S. Nice call having a Klan member hold up the vote on Dr. Rice. I can't wait for the vote on Gonzales.!
Oh--Senator Boxer! Surprised to see you here in Rantburg. Fred! Quick, get the troll net! Have you been to the Convention & Visitors' Bureau Welcome Center yet? They've got a really nice published Visitor's Guide and--
"Stop that inane civic boosterism, young man, you've no business imitating a PR flack when I have a serious complaint. You commented on my thank-you letter to Daily Kos and said, quote, 'Moonbats of a feather flock together', did you not?"
Well, yeah.
"That's totally wrong."
How so, Ma'am? It's a play on an old saying which is a metaphor for the fact that people of like ideology tend to congregate.
"I know that, you fool, I'm a highly educated member of the cognitive elite."
And, well, ma'am, um, you and the Kos crowd are of like ideology.
"Of course we are!"
And they are--well, not to put too fine a point on it--moonbats. Barking moonbats, actually.
"I suppose."
So where have I gone wrong?
"You fool, you're too stupid to see it! It's really quite simple: Bats! Don't! Have! Feathers!"
Posted by: Mike ||
01/28/2005 13:23
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"More than 94,000 Americans from across the country signed my petition..."
Gee whiz! Out of (dig, dig) the 122,267,553 people who cast votes, y'mean Babs?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/28/2005 21:38
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She'd be easy to beat with the right candidate - but the Repubs don't want any more RINO's diluting the purity of their party - so we get wacko Boxer.
So run a third candidate against both of them. Or run more moderate people in both primaries. Or vote with your feet and leave the freaking state.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/28/2005 21:59
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Cyber Sarge, I called her office to thank her. I told her staffer that Boxer's antics re: certifying the election and approving Rice had finally made up my mind -- I am taking my money and my energy over to the Repubs, and switching my party registration.
The staffer hung up on me LOL. BUT ... I also called Harry Reid's office, told them he's a disaster and I was switching. THEY caught their breath before they hung up ... I guess they're getting fewer calls than the obnoxious nose/hair lady ....
Irrevelant crap deleted. Mr Habib's return came as an inside account has emerged of interrogation techniques used by guards at Guantanamo Bay, with a former US Army sergeant soon to publish a book detailing what he witnessed there. The account appears to support Mr Hopper's claims of interrogation techniques allegedly used against his client.
The guard, Erik Saar, 29, who served at the detention camp for six months until June 2003, said he witnessed about 20 interrogations and three months after his arrival at the base he started noticing "disturbing" practices.
According to Mr Saar, female contractors had used red ink to flick at a Saudi detainee, pretending it was menstrual blood. Guards had allegedly then prevented the man from washing.
Mr Habib was due to last night attend a private family feast hosted by his sister Sally at a Sydney home.
Authorities have captured three lieutenants of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and are close to arresting the terror mastermind himself, Iraq's deputy prime minister said Friday. Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh told reporters that al-Zarqawi's military adviser, an Iraqi named Anad Mohammed Qais, 31, had been arrested. Earlier Friday, another Iraqi official said two other al-Zarqawi aides had been nabbed, including his chief of operations for Baghdad. Asked if authorities were close to arresting al-Zarqawi himself, Saleh replied: "We are getting close to finishing off al-Zarqawi and we will get rid of him."
Posted by: Steve ||
01/28/2005
11:50:31 AM ||
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It would be best for them and US if they did. What a coup!
And a surge of confidence.
--we will get rid of him."--
Uh,oh, HRW/UN/Amnesty and "the world" won't like that!
I've got video/audio of an F-16 taking out 48 of Z-Man's hard boyz atempting to ambush Marines in Fallujah compliments of someone working at the USAF museum in Fairborn/Dayton, Ohio. Any RB'er interested in reviewing same email me. Put F-16 in the subject line header.
Posted by: Mark Z. ||
01/28/2005 12:33
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Far too much speculation. Let me know when it actually happens, otherwise...
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 13:05
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Asked if authorities were close to arresting al-Zarqawi himself, Saleh replied: "We are getting close to finishing off al-Zarqawi and we will get rid of him."
#9
That's awfully nice of the Iraqis to get rid of him. Land fill space is at such a premium.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/28/2005 18:21
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Drown him in a tub of pig's blood; then see that it gets out on the internet! A simple beheading doesn't top his atrocities. Auction his balls afterward; I'd start the bid at $100!
#11
I want to see him on Al-Jizz and Iraqi TV, begging like a pussy for his life. Blindfold him and put him in an orange jumpsuit and show it when he wets and defecates himself. Fucking cowardly POS
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/28/2005 20:00
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I am sure that the Iraqis will deal with him swift and sure. He needs to be publically humiliated before he is dispatched. That will get the others going nuts and not thinking (easier targets), or they will think twice about being a jihadi soldier.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/28/2005 22:35
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Pakistani police arrested 17 Afghans suspected of being Taliban militants, including a former Kabul police chief and a provincial governor, police said on Friday. The men were arrested in overnight raids in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, provincial police chief Chaudhry Mohammad Yaqoob told Reuters. "Seventeen have been arrested, all Afghans," he said. "They have been staying without legal documents. Some of them held important positions in the previous regime in Afghanistan. One was a governor and another the police chief of Kabul," Yaqoob said, while declining to identify the men.
A senior police official said the suspects included Mullah Sher Dil, governor of the southern province of Helmand under the Taliban, and Mullah Ibrahim, a former police chief in the capital. He identified two others as Mufti Rehmatullah and Mullah Abdur Razzak but said he did not know their ranks. "We are interrogating them and hope to arrest more people," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The arrests did not appear connected to a recent spate of anti-government violence in Baluchistan province, which involved local separatists rather than Islamic militants. Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi denied that any Taliban figures had been arrested, saying: "Those arrested have nothing to do with the Taliban. No Taliban commanders or officials are present in Pakistan."
Posted by: Steve ||
01/28/2005
11:31:31 AM ||
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hasnt someone here been saying for awhile that Quetta is where the Taliban have been hanging out?
Well, in his world at least:
An inquest has heard that a teenager plunged to his death from cliffs in Cornwall after being startled by a dog. Asif Bharucha, 17, from Blackburn was with a party of students on a walk between Lizard Point and Kynance Cove last June when the accident happened. The inquest was told the Muslim teenager regarded dogs as "unclean" and was afraid of being bitten by one. The coroner at the inquest in Truro's municipal buildings recorded a verdict of accidental death. Friends said as a dog approached the group, Asif became agitated and ran off.
"Run awayyyyyyyyy!"
He appeared to lose his balance and fell from the cliff.
Gravity, why does it hate us?
The owner of the black cross-breed dog told the inquest that he will always be haunted by the incident. Describing Asif's death as a "tragic accident", his family paid tribute to their "brilliant" son, saying he was devoted to his family.
"Brilliant" is not quite the description I would use.
It must be terrible to be that stoopid sensitive.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/28/2005
11:13:15 AM ||
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Oh, that's just great--and I expect, in keeping with the tradition of these immigrants expecting their adopted host country to adapt to them, they'll soon be demanding a ban on all dogs in Britain.
Posted by: Dar ||
01/28/2005 13:37
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We can't let that happen. Dogs are our first line of defence against terminators.
Posted by: John Conner ||
01/28/2005 13:46
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I'd hate to be the head of PETA now...which way to go? Do you sympathize with the dog or with the mooselimb?
Posted by: BA ||
01/28/2005 14:02
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President Bush's second term has barely begun, and Iran is already shaping up as its most serious diplomatic challenge. But conflicting pronouncements by Mr. Bush and his national security team have left Iran frustrated and angry about the direction of American policy, and the Europeans more determined than ever to push Washington to embrace their engagement strategy.
It's called strategic ambiguity.
To the outside world, the administration seems divided over whether to promote the overthrow of Iran's Islamic Republic - perhaps by force - or to tacitly support the approach embraced by the Europeans, which favors negotiations and a series of incentives that would ultimately require American participation.
"You need to get everybody to read from the same page, the Europeans and the Americans," said Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in an interview in Davos on Friday.
"This is not a process that is going to be solved by the Europeans alone," he added. "The United States needs to be engaged. If you continue to say they are going to fail before you give them a chance, it will be a self-fulfilling policy."
France's foreign minister, Michel Barnier, echoed those remarks in an interview in Paris on Friday. "I cannot explain American policy to you," he said. "That would be French arrogance and I am not someone who is arrogant. But I think that the Americans must get used to the fact that Europe is going to act. And in this case, without the United States we run the risk of failure."
Psst: This is Euro-speak for "we are writing checks to Iranian Mullahs we can't back up without the US."
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005
10:48:20 PM ||
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Former US president Bill Clinton called Thursday on Iraq's Shiite majority to reach out to the nation's Sunni minority if they win this weekend's election. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he also said he was "totally against" the notion of setting a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops.
Take that, Teddy!
Sunday's election is expected to legalise Shiite dominance after decades of repression under Saddam Hussein, when Sunnis ruled the roost. Clinton said the worst case scenario would be zero voter turnout in mainly Sunni areas and a higher turnout in Shiite and Kurdish regions. If it happened, he said, the victors should reach out to those "who didn't show up in the polls because they didn't want to be blown away." "Then, I think there'll be an enormous moral obligation on the Shiites and the Kurds and the others who are elected in the areas where there's no problem to make sure that the constitutional system they set up fairly represents all the religious and tribal groups of Iraq," he said. "The people who win should feel a moral obligation to do that." The former president said the new constitution should reflect the views of all groups in Iraq so they "will have a chance to feel that they're a part of the future." In a wide-ranging armchair debate at this meeting of political and business leaders in the Swiss Alps, Clinton did not directly criticise George W. Bush, his successor as president. "We are where we are," he said diplomatically. He said Iraqis needed to be trained and armed to defend themselves "because we need to get out of there, but we don't need a timetable. "I'm totally against setting a timetable, I would be against it if my party tried to impose it on the president."
"My name is Bill Clinton, and my wife approves of this message"
"We've got to stay and do the job," he added, but warned that if US troops stayed too long, the United States would be accused of imperialism and of only being interested in Iraq's oil. Bush has promised troops will leave Iraq "as quickly as possible," although senior US officials have so far refrained from announcing a time scale. The idea for an "indicative timetable" has been mooted recently by British officials, according to Britain's Times daily, while Prime Minister Tony Blair -- Bush's biggest ally on Iraq -- talked in an interview earlier this week of vague "timelines."
Posted by: Steve ||
01/28/2005
10:29:43 AM ||
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IMO, they (Shiites and Kurds) fully intend to do so.
#2
Bill "it's all about me" Clinton. Not much distant between him and Jhimmy Carter.
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 11:27
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grom is correct.
What Bill said is correct, and absolutely appropriate. About he time he went on record and took the role of Dem spokesperson away from Kerry and Kennedy.
From The New York Times, a book review by Gregg Easterbrook of the new book Collapse, written by Jared Diamond, also the author of Guns, Germs and Steel. Easterbrook is an editor of The New Republic, a fellow of the Brookings Institution and the author, most recently, of The Progress Paradox.
Eight years ago Jared Diamond realized what is, for authors, increasingly a fantasy -- he published a serious, challenging and complex book that became a huge commercial success. Guns, Germs, and Steel won a Pulitzer Prize, then sold a million copies, astonishing for a 480-page volume of archeological speculation on how the world reached its present ordering of nations. Now he has written a sequel, Collapse, which asks whether present nations can last. Taken together, Guns, Germs, and Steel and Collapse represent one of the most significant projects embarked upon by any intellectual of our generation. They are magnificent books: extraordinary in erudition and originality, compelling in their ability to relate the digitized pandemonium of the present to the hushed agrarian sunrises of the far past. I read both thinking what literature might be like if every author knew so much, wrote so clearly and formed arguments with such care. All of which makes the two books exasperating, because both come to conclusions that are probably wrong.
Guns asked why the West is atop the food chain of nations. Its conclusion, that Western success was a coincidence driven by good luck, has proven extremely influential in academia, as the view is quintessentially postmodern. Now Collapse posits that the Western way of life is flirting with the sudden ruin that caused past societies like the Anasazi and the Mayans to vanish. Because this view, too, is exactly what postmodernism longs to hear, Collapse may prove influential as well. .....
Many arguments in ''Guns'' were dazzling. Diamond showed, for example, that as the last ice age ended, by chance Eurasia held many plants that could be bred for controlled farming. The Americas had few edible plants suitable for cross-breeding, while Africa had poor soil owing to the millions of years since it had been glaciated. Thus large-scale food production began first in the Fertile Crescent, China and Europe. Population in those places rose, and that meant lots of people living close together, which accelerated invention; in other locations the low-population hunter-gatherer lifestyle of antiquity remained in place. ''Guns'' contends the fundamental reason Europe of the middle period could send sailing ships to explore the Americas and Africa, rather than these areas sending sailing ships to explore Europe, is that ancient happenstance involving plants gave Europe a food edge that translated into a head start on technology. Then, the moment European societies forged steel and fashioned guns, they acquired a runaway advantage no hunter-gatherer society could possibly counter. ....
In this respect, Guns, Germs, and Steel is pure political correctness, and its P.C. quotient was a reason the book won praise. But the book must not be dismissed because it is P.C.: sometimes politically correct is, after all, correct. The flaws of the work are more subtle, and they set the stage for Collapse. .....
Diamond's analysis discounts culture and human thought as forces in history; culture, especially, is seen as a side effect of environment. The big problem with this view is explaining why China -- which around the year 1000 was significantly ahead of Europe in development, and possessed similar advantages in animals and plants -- fell behind. This happened, Diamond says, because China adopted a single-ruler society that banned change. True, but how did environment or animal husbandry dictate this? China's embrace of a change-resistant society was a cultural phenomenon. During the same period China was adopting centrally regimented life, Europe was roiled by the idea of individualism. Individualism proved a potent force, a source of power, invention and motivation. Yet Diamond considers ideas to be nearly irrelevant, compared with microbes and prevailing winds. Supply the right environmental conditions, and inevitably there will be a factory manufacturing jet engines.
Collapse spends considerable pages contemplating past life on Easter Island, as well as on Pitcairn and Henderson islands, and on Greenland, an island. Deforestation, the book shows, was a greater factor in the breakdown of societies in these places than commonly understood. Because trees take so long to regrow, deforestation has more severe consequences than crop failure, and can trigger disastrous erosion. Centuries ago, the deforestation of Easter Island allowed wind to blow off the island's thin topsoil: ''starvation, a population crash and a descent into cannibalism'' followed, leaving those haunting statues for Europeans to find. Climate change and deforestation that set off soil loss, Diamond shows, were leading causes of the Anasazi and Mayan declines. Collapse reminds us that like fossil fuels, soil is a resource that took millions of years to accumulate and that humanity now races through: Diamond estimates current global soil loss at 10 to 40 times the rate of soil formation. Deforestation ''was a or the major factor'' in all the collapsed societies he describes, while climate change was a recurring menace. ....
If trends remain unchanged, the global economy is unsustainable. But the Fallacy of Uninterrupted Trends tells us patterns won't remain unchanged. For instance, deforestation of the United States, rampant in the 19th century, has stopped: forested acreage of the country began rising during the 20th century, and is still rising. Why? Wood is no longer a primary fuel, while high-yield agriculture allowed millions of acres to be retired from farming and returned to trees. Today wood is a primary fuel in the developing world, so deforestation is acute; but if developing nations move on to other energy sources, forest cover will regrow. If the West changes from fossil fuel to green power, its worst resource trend will not continue uninterrupted.
Though Diamond endorses ''cautious optimism,'' Collapse comes to a wary view of the human prospect. Diamond fears our fate was set in motion in antiquity -- we're living off the soil and petroleum bequeathed by the far past, and unless there are profound changes in behavior, all may crash when legacy commodities run out. Oddly, for someone with a background in evolutionary theory, he seems not to consider society's evolutionary arc. He thinks backward 13,000 years, forward only a decade or two. What might human society be like 13,000 years from now? Above us in the Milky Way are essentially infinite resources and living space. If the phase of fossil-driven technology leads to discoveries that allow Homo sapiens to move into the galaxy, then resources, population pressure and other issues that worry Diamond will be forgotten. Most of the earth may even be returned to primordial stillness, and the whole thing would have happened in the blink of an eye by nature's standards.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
01/28/2005
10:27:01 PM ||
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I forgot to yellow-highlight the first paragraph. Could the editor please fix that?
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
01/28/2005 22:28
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The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland has traditionally been a place for big thinkers to discuss big concepts--and this year was no exception.
Yet this year, underlying it all was the sense that many, if not most, of the bad ideas come from America. This sentiment revealed itself, for instance, in a discussion of "Brand America." Richard Edelman, chief executive officer of the eponymous public-relations firm, noted that a "profound trust gap" exists for American corporations in Europe. His study showed dissatisfaction among Europeans with U.S. business values. Even the British--surely the most culturally compatible of all Europeans--said they were uncomfortable with the idea of working for a U.S. company. American leadership was also found lacking in a slew of economic and political issues. The shrinking dollar, a source of great difficulty for European and Canadian businesses, is the result of a vanishingly-low U.S. personal-savings rate, as well as the government's seeming inability to reduce the enormous federal budget.
Furthermore, America's misguided policies in Iraq were said to have led to greater violence, danger and global uncertainty. Global poverty also is caused by America's refusal to allocate more money to foreign aid.
Gee, thanks Billary, didn't you make a few bucks off your phoney book deal. You wanna pitch in a few bucks?
Even Bill Clinton, as much of a rock star in Davos as U2's , with whom he shared a stage, told a crowd that the U.S. could do much more. "Let's get real," the former president said. "The President just asked Congress for $80 billion for one year in Iraq. For a pittance, we could double America's [foreign aid] contribution, and it would be cheap."
America even took the blame for bad weather--it being axiomatic that global warming is the result of America's refusal to sign the Kyoto accords limiting carbon emissions. U.S. political leaders did little to help their cause. In a research note published Jan. 28 from Switzerland, Morgan Stanley (nyse: MWD - news - people ) Chief Economist Stephen Roach noted that Davos is, understandably, a Euro-centric event, yet "all the various constituencies of globalization are well represented"--with one big exception. "The Bush Administration--whose delegations in the last two years were headed by Secretary of State Colin Powell and Vice President Dick Cheney--is almost nowhere to be seen. That didn't sit too well with this crowd of internationalists, especially those attending the numerous sessions on American leadership." So what do participants at WEF want from America? More money, certainly, to alleviate all forms of suffering. But, above all, the recognition that, as the sole superpower with the world's largest economy, the U.S. bears a primary responsibility for engaging with allies to solve the planet's economic and political problems.
In a speech, Tony Blair, prime minister of the United Kingdom, put it this way: "If America wants the rest of the world to be part of the agenda it has set, it must be part of their agenda, too. It can do so, secure in the knowledge that what people want is not for America to concede, but to engage."
I wonder if this is the kind "world" we want to integrate with?
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005
10:23:47 PM ||
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Switzerland has agreed to a Spanish request for the extradition of suspected bomb plotter Mohammed Achraf. But Achraf has 30 days in which to lodge an appeal against the decision, the Swiss government said. Spain had earlier requested the extradition of Achraf, an Algerian national who has been held in custody in Switzerland since August. The Spanish authorities suspect him of involvement in plotting to carry out a bomb attack against the country's highest court in Madrid and other landmarks including the Real Madrid stadium in the capital. He has been held in Switzerland over alleged immigration offences, and had earlier sought political asylum in the country. The extradition decision was taken by the Federal Justice Office in Bern.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/28/2005
10:20:15 AM ||
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by Richard Sale, UPI Intelligence Correspondent
New York (UPI) Jan 26, 2005 Intel correspondent? Had not heard of that one before. Wonder if he has to call the anonymous sources or they call him?
The U.S. Air Force is playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with Iran's ayatollahs, flying American combat aircraft into Iranian airspace in an attempt to lure Tehran into turning on air defense radars, thus allowing U.S. pilots to grid the system for use in future targeting data, administration officials said.
Overall an interesting read. Maybe some fire works by the end of the year?
Posted by: domingo ||
01/28/2005
10:15:19 AM ||
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#1
The US and Israel are setting up a covert action infrastructure in Iran, that's for sure. Maybe they're arming and supporting underground student groups or rogue Iranian army elements. It's good to see that CIA/SOF are using the Kurds as surrogates -- they're a useful asset. My wild-ass guess: Perhaps an armed uprising by midyear, or whenever the next major Muslim occurs, and almost certainly an attack on at least some of the Iranian nuclear sites by Kurds/CIA/SOF/Iranian exiles.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
01/28/2005 12:24
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Vince Cannistraro? Isn't he a longtime ex-CIA blowhard? Like, out-of-the-CIA-since-forever ex-CIA? Why is he retailing all of these stories? He isn't in a position to have official or first-hand knowledge of any of that, although the article's writer does his best to leave the opposite impression. Who's he fronting for?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
01/28/2005 13:19
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It's good to see that CIA/SOF are using the Kurds as surrogates -- they're a useful asset.
I dunno, personally, I think that surrogates are more a tool than anything, and the Kurds are definitely not that.
#4
I don't see the Kurds as surrogates, and there are plenty of native Iranians for which to collaborate.
The only reason for combat aircraft flyovers is to pinpoint defensive positions and target cites. The only reason to be accelerate these activities now is that the "red line" is soon to be crossed.
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 21:10
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The use of the MEK for U.S.-intelligence-gathering missions strikes some former U.S. intelligence officials as bizarre. The State Department's annual publication, "Patterns of Global Terrorism," lists them as a terrorist organization.
According to the State Department report, the MEK were allies with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in fighting Iran and, in addition, "assisted Saddam in "suppressing opposition within Iraq, and performed internal security for the Iraqi regime."
After the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003, U.S. forces seized and destroyed MEK munitions and weapons, and about 4,000 MEK operatives were "consolidated, detained, disarmed, and screened for any past terrorist acts, the report said.
Shortly afterwards, the Bush administration began to use them in its covert operations against Iran, former senior U.S. intelligence officials said.
"They've been active in the south for some time," said former CIA counterterrorism chi ef, Vince Cannistraro.
The MEK are said to be currently launching raids from Camp Habib in Basra, but recently Pakistan President Pervez Musharaff granted permission for the MEK to operate from Pakistan's Baluchi area, U.S. officials said.
Asked about the Musharaff decision, Laipson said: "Not a smart move. The last thing he (Musharaff) needs is another batch of hotheads on Pakistani soil."
I call bullshit on the MEK in Pakiland
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/28/2005 21:18
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#6
Bush will want sufficient intelligence to preclude the breakdown on Iraq WMD intelligence.
Plus, he will need to convince an already cynical Congress and world body (to the extent that matters).
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 21:18
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The West must play its role in promoting sustainable development in order to eliminate poverty, deprivation and the other causes of terrorism, said President Musharraf on Friday. He was talking to a Norwegian parliamentary delegation led by Tharbjorn Jagland, chairman of the standing committee on foreign relations of the Norwegian Parliament, which had called on him.
Why don't you try throwing all the holy men in jug, freeing your society, and alleviating your own damned poverty.
The president underlined the importance of eliminating the root causes of terrorism and explained his concept of 'Enlightened Moderation'. President Musharraf said he was satisfied with the bilateral relations between Pakistan and Norway and stressed the need to strengthen trade and economic ties and welcomed the increasing cooperation between the countries in telecommunications. The Norwegian team praised Musharraf's role in the war against terrorism and were confident that ties between the two countries would improve.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2005
10:13:04 PM ||
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Superheroes may soon be popping up at the University of Oregon, they don't have a cap or mask but more of a helmet and a pigskin. This comic book was created to entice high school recruits to play U of O football. Each book features a prospective duck recruit as the superhero and is personalized just for them. And like most superheroes, they save the day. "At the end of the day, the recruit, the superhero wins the national championship game brings the ducks back. That's the story", Brett Kautter, Recruiting Assistant. U of O students helped to create and design the books. The reason these books are so popular for recruits is the time and effort spent personalizing each copy. Finding that info can be a challenge. "I go to their school web pages. I go to their towns newspapers, anything I can find", Heather Terry, Researcher and student. And getting these pages to look life-like isn't easy either. "I got a digital camera and went around and got pictures of everything that is there, the coach's, their offices. Our facilities, equipment and then I use that to draw from", Brian Merrell, Design Intern and student. Ironically, they could use the exact same technique to recruit high-tech nerds, except showing the school to be filled with superheroines who have secret identities as hard science undergraduates by day, but by night wear skin tight outfits to fight the Forces of Evil(tm).
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
01/28/2005
10:05:06 AM ||
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#1
I understand Auburn uses a similar technique, using personalized coloring books.
#2
When your team is knicknamed the "Ducks", I suppose you have to do something a little different to recruit, or quack up. I wonder what the bill is? Somebody could be feathering their nest on the side. They don't really say it it will goose up recruitment numbers.
US Senator Hillary Clinton will attend next month's Munich Security Conference which is widely seen as the top annual gathering of movers and shakers on global strategic issues, organisers said on Friday. Senator Clinton's presence comes as she gets ready to run for President the United States - for the first time in years - has chosen not to send a top White House cabinet member. US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, who has attended for the past several years, cancelled plans to come to Germany after a US human rights organisation asked German authorities to prosecute him for war crimes. The New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights filed a complaint in December with the Federal German Prosecutor's Office against Rumsfeld accusing him of war crimes and torture in connection with detainee abuses at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison. Rumsfeld immediately made it known that he would not attend the Munich conference unless Germany quashed the legal action.
The organisation alleges violations of German legislation which outlaws war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide regardless of where the crime takes place in the world or the nationality of the accused. Replacing Rumsfeld at the Munich meeting will be Douglas Feith, undersecretary of defence for policy, who announced this week he will be standing down this summer. Also due to attend the 11 to 13 February meeting is United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan. Organisers say this year's meeting, which will be attended by 250 politicians, diplomats, officers and academics, is due to focus on soft power issues such as "peace through dialogue" and conflict prevention.
So it's another talkfest that will accomplish nothing, Hillary will feel right at home.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/28/2005
10:04:25 AM ||
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#1
Which Billary will attend? The pro-defense dragon lady or the "it takes a village" idiot?
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 11:19
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The pro-defense dragon lady or the "it takes a village" idiot?
The pro-defense dragon lady, of course. Of all the things you can accuse the Clintons of, being politally stupid is not one of them. They watched the results of the 2004 election and saw that a far-left anti-war position doesn't cut it with the voters.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/28/2005 11:31
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Actually, it's Bill who either had the gift of political aptitude, or was able to surround himself with such people. While Hillary was able to contribute a little "spine" to Bill, she herself lacks his finesse, tact, and salesmanship. Bill could seduce, Hillary can only rape. Bill believed in nothing, but Hillary is a fanatic to "the cause", whatever it is. Bill's gratification comes from the adoration of others, but Hillary's comes from others obeying her every order without question. Hillary is doomed to be forever disappointed, unless she is declared dictator.
#4
why cant pro defense dragons come from a society where it takes a village?
FDR, for one, saw no contradiction between a determined war effort, and a welfare state. Nor did George Orwell. Nor did Harry S. Truman. Nor does Tony Blair.
#5
LH: Do yourself a favor and save yourself some embarassment by not mentioning FDR and Truman in the same comparision with Billary. You probably don't look good with egg on your face or your loafers implanted in your mouth.
Anony: I agree. The Hillary side of Billary is a subtile subtile as a pitbull on a fresh bone (unlike Lewinsky ..he-he, sorry it's Friday).
Billary is over. Bill is sinking fast sans the steady spotlight; Hillary has no soul and is an obvious multisided pol.
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 12:51
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Hillary is doomed to be forever disappointed, unless she is declared dictator.
Easy enough to do. Just vote for her in four years.
#7
Bull got a standing ovation at Davos.
The EUros would love to have his do nothing style back in the White House. Hillary would be loved by them as well. She after all want to make us more like them.
Don't underestimate her or the political machine she can bring to bear.
#8
Billary will be damned by her own mouth and record. She is too much an over reacher. Her over ambitiousness will doom her chances.
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 13:02
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Any Rantburgians remember the penultimate episodes of Angel. They had a Hillery-like US Senator who at one time said (she was seeking demonic help from Wolfram & Hart the evil law firm that Angel headed), something like this,
"I didn't crawl up from the depths of Hell and take human form just to lose the chic vote to some slick public interest lawyer."
I think that slick lawyer was supposed to be John Edwards.
#11
US Senator Hillary Clinton will attend next month's Munich Security Conference which is widely seen as the top annual gathering of movers and shakers on global strategic issues, organisers said on Friday.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/28/2005 18:39
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Let's assume Hildebeast gets elected. It's not like she's going to change the composition of the House, And the Senate would be tied at worst. So she couldn't pass a program. Then, she'd get her 9/11. One can be sure she would transfer her frustration at not being able to accomplish anything domesticly to whatever foreigner tried to test her. The LLL and M$M would line up behind her and somebody's ass would be grass. I don't see her serving up a Mogadishu. It could be a lot of fun.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/28/2005 18:59
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#16
Bill looks half dead right now. Just thinkin' about makin' The Beast With Two Backs would prolly kill him.
Interesting Mrs Davis. Wonder what the Mullahs would think about the Hildebeast having The Football? Hope they wouldn't try to call her bluff, she would take it very personal. Maybe that should read "somone's ass would be glass" ha!
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
01/28/2005 19:35
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Davis and RM:
Billery may play in New York, but she is played out in the US. The US is not New York by a long shot.
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 20:49
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That salute is worse than Hanoi John's. Hitlery has NO chance in '08. Even the Democrats I know here that voted for Hanoi John will not vote for the Hildebeast. Waaaay to socialist.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/28/2005 22:10
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As during the Cold War, the Politburos of both the USSR and China emphasized state/propaganda-led appearances od government stability, where despite "cults of personality" the Party and the national Government is always held blameless or perceived as neutral. Ted Kennedy, Boxer, Pelosi, the Hollwood Left includ the HISTORY CHANNEL, and the LeftMedias/Big Medias have taken up the PC gauntlet in the Clinton's and Failed Leftism-Socialism's name, but not [officially] for them despite working for the Left's agenda. As long as the WOT and the various nuclearizing rogue nations are not over or majorilly under control, Hillary is content to let Kerry and Dean take the limelight for the POTUS races - KERRY BEING > THE FRENCH POPES OF AVIGNON ALA "THE GREAT SCHISM", AND MADMAN DEAN GUNNING FOR DNC CHAIR, ONLY SHOWS ME DUBYA, THE GOP, USDOD, AMERICA AND ALL AMERICANS HAVE BETTER WATCH THEIR SIXES, and with Russia-China molding joint MILEX's in a year when the various "rogue nations" are wilfully and deliberately enticing Dubya to attack them [NO WMDS = ATTACK US ANYWAY], only tells me to tell them to watch their sixes damn good! The Left> Socialism-Regulation doesn't work ergo the answer is more Socialism-Regulation - STAY IN THE MIL, JOIN THE MIL, TEACH YOUR WOMEN AND DOGS TO FIGHT AND SHOOT, AND BUY BUY BUY THOSE DAMN GUNS AND SURVIVAL GEARS AND SHELTERS, ETC.! Between now and 2020, Free and Republic's America's greatest enemies and threat is from WITHIN! Kerry-Dean > the Dems are setting up a patriarchy for future American failure, for a PRE-POTUS HILLARY Washington and an America AT WAR wo Dubya and the GOP-Right to lead it to certain victory!
January 28, 2005: One reason Europeans are so upset with American operations in Iraq, is because the United States has been more successful in shutting down terrorist operations within the United States. As a result, Islamic terrorists are concentrating more on carrying out terrorist attacks in Europe. As far as Islamic radicals are concerned, an infidel is an infidel. Besides, three years of efforts to carry out any kind of attack in the United States has met with many costly failures. American counter-terrorism forces have not captured a lot of Islamic terrorists in the United States, but the terrorist planning efforts meant that there were a lot of messages, and people, who could be intercepted. Many arrests were made overseas, or searches begun for newly identified terrorists.
The United States has always been a difficult target for Islamic terrorists. It's not just the longer distances that must be traveled, but the nature of the Islamic and Arab-American population there. In Europe, Islamic, and especially Arab, immigrants are more likely to maintain their old country culture, to the exclusion of loyalty to the place they have moved to. The United States has always been a nation of immigrants. Anyone arriving is met with an attitude that, "you can be one of us." The higher proportion of loyal-American immigrants makes it more difficult for Islamic radicals to hide, recruit and plan their attacks inside the U.S..
In Europe, there is a much larger number of Islamic radical clergy, many of whom openly preach the need to "fight the infidels." European countries try to crack down on these radical clergymen, but the damage is already done. Moreover, there are ten times as many Moslems in Europe than there are in the United States. The combination of all these factors makes the Europeans very nervous. It was thought that European opposition to American operations in Iraq would provide a measure of protection. But this proved to be an illusion. The bombings in Spain last March made that very clear. The arrest of hundreds of Islamic radicals by European police, and discovery of dozens of terrorism plots, and growing radicalization of young European Moslems, has increased the danger. Islamic terrorist leaders now openly call for attacks in Europe, and some Islamic clergy in Europe call for the forcible conversion of Europe to Islam.
The only good thing to come out of all this is enthusiastic cooperation by European police and intelligence organizations in American efforts to find and stop Islamic terrorism. But that may not be enough to prevent more bombs from going off in Europe.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/28/2005
10:01:25 AM ||
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#2
This may be one reason, but when it comes to Jean Beaujolais (the french equivalent to Joe Six-pack), it very much resonates:
My mom was an immigrant from Haiti to the United States when she was a college student and became a Citizen when she married my dad, who was from Nebraska. Her dad was a real fanatic when it came to speaking classical french, so she very successfully lived in France for about 15 years, returning in 1999. She's a treasure-house of how the average french citizen REALLY thinks, as opposed to the French elite who project the image of the average Frenchman that they want the rest of the world to believe.
She was totally, completely appalled at how complacent the average Frenchman had become with regards to terrorism at the close of the 20th century. This is mostly due to the French Government telling their people to "suck it up", and that they would handle everything. As a result, you don't get on a bus in France without looking under the seats for any packages. There are no mailboxes. There no self-storage lockers in any bus, train, or airport terminal. Every public, open air statue in France is a FAKE: the real thing had been removed when terrorists blew up one of the horses on a famous bridge in Paris. Apartment rent deposits for foreigners are astronomical due to the possiblity of Paleo-style "work accidents". All of this massive lack of vigor in prosecuting terrorism is greeted by the Typical Frenchman (60 to 70% of whom are Pro-american by her personal estimate) with the typical Gallic shrug and resignation. There was the occasional capture and trial of terrorists, but it's strictly darwinian elimination of the dumbest ones.
The general impression is that, if a situation doesn't buy votes you'd normally get anyhow, then that's tough: there are squeakier wheels to grease. We americans have a far lower tolerance for this kind of bullshit, and our politicians know they'd get screwed to hell if they tried to BS their way out of doing something about it. For instance, I witnessed, on French Channel 2, with my own two eyes, a video of a peaceful group of socialists waiting to greet then French President Mitterand to their town being violently attacked by the communists. NOTHING came of that incident. It was as if it never happened. J. Edgar's Ghost wouldn't let any politican or law enforcement officer get away with that sort of behavior from commies, which is a big reason why we rarely saw that shit happening here in the US.
It is postulated that the effect of a Free Iraq would be to cause unrest and demands for reform from the people of the surrounding ME countries, but most especially from the Iranians. Similar effect from Europe Vis. a Vis the United States and Terrorism: The french elites know they have NO ANSWER to the very reasonable question "why the sh*t don't you get your act together and go after the Domestic Terrorists like the Merkins?". They choose instead to make sure the question doesn't get raised publicly, and have an agreement among themselves and the opposition politicians not to rock the boat by demanding answers to that question: Think of them as Democrats savvy enough not to make political points by pointing out this problem, because the opposition is aware that, if elected based on promises to act like the Merkins, they'd be in deep sh*t because they wouldn't do anything about it either. My mom became good friends with the Wife of the Chief Justice of the French equivalent of our Supreme Court: when she expressed reservations to her friend about returning to Paris after noting that the Tours police were more vigorous in going after terrorists, the lady waved it off "What's the big deal? Just look under the seat when you get on the bus, and you'll be fine!" The elites are in big-time DENIAL. That is why Sabine Herrold was such a threat: she wasn't in on the scam, she wa asking the question (and others like it), and she was being heard. I'm sure she's being given the "cone of silence" treatment from the French media.
#4
By the way, here's the dope on why Mitterand put France on our side for Gulf War I: His wife went to northern Iraq to investigate atrocities against the Kurds. The Iraquis shot at her chopper, which developed a progressive problem that eventually forced them to land far from their destination. He got on the phone and begged Bush Sr. to save his wife from the Iraquis. We were able to get two choppers in there and haul her ass out before the Iraqui search parties found them. He had to return the favor when GWI broke out, because his wife wouldn't have let him have any peace if he hadn't.
#5
Islamic terrorist leaders now openly call for attacks in Europe, and some Islamic clergy in Europe call for the forcible conversion of Europe to Islam.
I'm in possession of video/audio of an F-16 taking out a group of 48 terrorists converging on a group of Marines pinned down in an ambush in Fallujah. It's spectacular. Anyone interested in receiving a copy of same please email me with F-16 in the subject header. You won't be disappointed.
Posted by: Mark Z. ||
01/28/2005 11:50
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Odd. The conventional wisdom has been that the French and German police have been working together with ours in trying to track down the bad actors.
Are we really more successful in the US at shutting down terrorist operations? Or were there fewer cells to begin with (article says 10x more Muslims in Europe)?
Does anybody know if we're trying to restrict Wahhabi recruiting in our prisons, for instance?
Posted by: James ||
01/28/2005 14:35
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#11
Whne we went into Afghanistan we saw training videos of terrorists moving in on vehicles as though they were stopped at a light.
When I saw this I envisioned a busy city street (close, cramped, one-way) with two or three SUV's full of terrorists side by side at the light. Everyone stops.
The terrorists jump out with their weapons and begin hauling people out of cars and executing them.
Can you imagine this happening?
I did. It made me decide that if I saw anything of the sort I would start running people over, anything I could do before they got to me (I do not have a CCW, yet, but I digress). This sort of attack would take only a few moments and be over with, with the SUV's taking diverging routes out of the city.
In America, even in cities with strict gun control laws, they would stand even odds of getting return fire in any situation like this.
In Europe . . . it is unlikely. Even in Switzerland, where most adult males own fully automatic weapons, they do not carry them around in public. It would shock you to know how many Little Old Ladies pack heat illegally in the US, because they realize that the worst that could happen to them is not getting murdered and the Police are not going to be there to stop the criminals (fact of Life).
It gave me a different perspective.
It also appears that we may have to have genocide go on in the EU to maintain any semblance of freedom or democracy.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
01/28/2005 14:39
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#12
I think we're making this too complicated. In my experience, this hostility always seems to come down to one of two things-arrogance ("Europeans are smarter, more sophisticated") or mean-spiritedness ("you haven't suffered enough-I'd like to see America suffer x,y,z"--good old-fashioned coliseum bloodthirst). Maybe they are wounded by our efficacy as the writer claims, but I think that's scratching the surface. That's just a symptom of the root cause.
OOOh-did you hear that? Root cause? Think I'll get invited to the UN one day? Naw-they're probably afraid an American woman like me will show up looking like Minnie Pearl.
#13
After Colombine, someone in LA City schools said, you know it could happen here too and we all had a real good laugh - cause it could have happened - it just wouldn't have lasted as long. Maybe...two or three minutes before people shot back.
Better to be judged by 12 than carried by six, as they say.
An Islamist group linked to Al-Qaeda warned on Thursday it would attack Iraqis involved in the general election even after voting was over. "We have warned you not to go to the centres of this sordid comedy, called voting bureaus ... we renew our warning. They will be the targets of the mujahedeen (Islamist fighters)," Ansar al-Sunna, which claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a US base last December, said in a website statement:
It was not possible to authenticate the statement which was signed Command of the Army of Ansar al-Sunna, and which was described as a "last warning". "Voters should know that even if they do not take part in the poll (but attend the voting stations) they will not escape the hands of the mujahedeen, including after the elections," said the statement. The same group has previously warned Iraqis against taking part in Sunday's election for an interim National Assembly, saying that the voting centres would be targets for attack. The group issued what it called "a final warning to heads of polling stations in Mosul ... to resign immediately". "If you escape before the elections, you will be hunted down after the polls," it said, naming seven such officials.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/28/2005
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#1
..wot a sweet sentiment...and from such an imaginative bunch!!
Posted by: I have a Fatwa in my bum ||
01/28/2005 5:53
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#2
"We're just trying to win your hearts and minds. Just ask Teddy Kennedy."
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/28/2005 7:32
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#3
Question:
If the elections don't make a difference to these thugs, why are they speaking out about it?
Answer:
Because it does make a difference to these thugs.
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 8:04
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#4
Those folks don't care what the reason or where, just want to keep the fire burning. And, Teddy (hic) Kennedy, I suppose running out on the Iraqi's who are actually turn things around, is the way to appease Ansar al Sunnah and AMZ.
finally got a chance to look at the hi-res picture at the Navy website, and it looks to me as though while the shutter doors are destroyed (especially #2, the top one on the port side) the muzzle door itself, and the rest of the tube, were a few feet aft of the destroyed area. The port ballast tanks collapsed all the way back to what I'm pretty sure is the pressure hull. I just did a quick calculation, and if we assume the ship did have a delta V of about 30mph (as stated in various places), for a 7,600 ton ship, that works out to about 621 megajoules of energy... that's about 300 lbs of TNT. Jeez, am I a geek...
#5
What drugs is he on? The shutter doors are still there. The upper one survived better than the surrounding outer hull. The lower did not fare as well but is still there. They both still have paint on them. If the port ballast tanks collapsed all the way to the pressure hull, then the port torpedo tubes would be trashed back to the pressure hull. The shutter doors would not be intact if that were the case.
The European Commission today labels voters in Britain as the most "ignorant" about the European Union's prospective constitution. In a report based on an opinion poll of nearly 25,000 EU citizens, the commission describes British voters as not only the most hostile to the constitution - with Britain the only country where opponents of the treaty outnumber supporters - but also as among, as it puts it, the most "ignorant". Just 20 per cent of Britons support the treaty, the survey finds, a figure matched only by Cyprus, where 23 per cent are in favour. Opposition is highest in Britain, at 30 per cent - making it the only country at this stage to have more No voters than Yes. The correlation is irresistable, most opposed to EU constitution = "most ignorant. How curious.
The commission describes the finding as a "remarkable exception" to the EU average, in which 49 per cent of citizens are in favour of the constitution, and 16 per cent against. The most supportive nations are Italy and Belgium, with more than 70 per cent of their voters in favour of the draft treaty.
You don't have to memorize every last jot to know that it's a bad idea.
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005
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#1
Actually they are self-admittedly the most ignorant about the EU constitution. They have the least percentage of the population that claims itself informed on the issue.
#3
So, do any of you folks know the shelf life of SPAM? Is it measured in years, or decades? Does it even have a shelf life, for that matter? When it goes bad, is only some of the SPAM bad, or is most of the SPAM bad? Or is that the least of my worries?
What if there's a great difference between SPAM when it's the can, and SPAM when it's out of the can?
It probably isn't Halal, and it's only a daily delicacy in the Hawaiian Islands... which is far enough away from those other uninformed island nations for me.
#4
Dishman> In my last post I was mainly thinking by an earlier Eurobarometer study on whether people of various member states called themselves informed or not on the issue.
But the study in this article is a bit more detailed: "In its survey the commission also asked six "true or false" questions, designed to test detailed knowledge of the treaty. Two were trick questions, asking about policies that are not in the constitution: whether the constitution would abolish national citizenship and whether it would establish a direct European tax.
Four countries are named as scoring poorly: Britain, Ireland, Portugal and Latvia, a new accession state.
In the EU as a whole, the commission says, 63 per cent know that the constitution does not plan to remove national citizenship. But less than half of British voters answered correctly. On tax, 45 per cent of Britons wrongly think the constitution creates a direct EU tax, while only 23 per cent know it does not.
The commission draws its own conclusion about the lack of knowledge among Euro-sceptic countries such as Britain. The report says: "One can see a strong correlation between level of knowledge and support for the text."
#5
Trick questions? What a laugh. Does the EU think it is dealing with lazy or stupid "students"? Perhaps the EU should accept the obvious which is that UK citizens are openly hostile and contemptuous of becoming vassals of the power brokers in Brussels. How far the Brits have fallen to elect an anti-nationalist sellout like Blair. Yet some Americans think Blair is such a freedom fighter. Yes, maybe for Iraqis but not for Brits. Blair wants to be esconced as one of the power brokers in Brussels so to that end, he'll sacrifice the sovereignity of his countrymen. Sad.
#6
Damn, has anybody read the thing? It's as thick as a telephone book. And about as interesting.
Posted by: Scott ||
01/28/2005 1:39
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#7
Well, #6, evidently the majority of EU nations' citizens have read the telephone thick rules and regulations like good little lambie pies. Only dummie/hostile nations' citizens scored poorly on Brussels' generated test.
See the idea is the more you learn about the EU, the more you'll love it - that's what robots, err, I mean good lambie pies say.
#8
What a surprise - the EU's own report claims to find that there's a high correlation between ignorance of its Consitution and opposition to it. I would never have been able to predict that!
Interesting to see that support for the Constitution seems to have halved in the UK during the past year, at least according to the EU's most recent Eurobarometer survey (p.79). Levels of ignorance seem to have shot up too. What a load.
#10
I welcome all our British friends to the "Too Stupid To Know What's Good For You Club". As an American in Fly-over country I was given my membership by our Socialist Weinie Democratic Elite for chosing to elect a "known idiot" for our president. I too have been told by the all knowing MSM that its because I'm not capable of making a proper logical decision, I think the phrase was unteachable ignorance. Again, welcome.
#11
Aris, (I'm honestly not trying to be sarcastic here) I've always wanted to ask you what in your opinion is the point of the EU? What's the desired result?
#12
Let me bring to the attention of you all something that was spoken here: http://www.losethedelusion.com/blog/2005/01/a_diplomatic_qu.html
"Toby, I would have to agree fully that the more exposure you have to the EU the more you favour it. Obviously, and as you pointed out, this is not always the case. But on the whole it seems to fit. For example, many of the Brit expats here in Cyprus used to be avowed Eurosceptics. However, since the island has joined the EU and they find that they don't need to queue up at immigration any longer, can set up their own businesses easily and can get work permits automatically they have changed their views. In fact, the Commission offices here are forever getting letters from Brit expats asking for help on a wide variety of issues. But, as people are discovering, there are actauly rather few areas where the EU can help. Cracked pavements and uncollected rubbish are still, much to their disappointment, outside the remit of the EU. In fact, it is almost as if we are seeing a new form of Euroscepticism based on the fact that the EU doesn't have nearly enough powers! :-)"
Bulldog> The most recent Eurobarometer survey was talking about support for *a* European Constitution. For the general existence of one. This survey about support for *this* proposed Constitution.
That may be a subtle (for some) but rather important (for others) difference.
"Forty-five per cent of voters in Ireland say they have not heard of the constitution" And last year's Eurobarometer claimed 59 per cent of the Irish supported it.
What happened is that you are illiterate. Last year's Eurobarometer talked about support for the general existence of a European constitution.
Jarhead> "I've always wanted to ask you what in your opinion is the point of the EU? What's the desired result?"
Bringing the Antichrist to Earth and beginning the war between the forces of hell and heaven in which our Evil Dominion shall overthrow God and replace him with the beast of Babylon. Or atleast that was the general plan in the last EU Conspiracy (tm) memo I received.
Sorry. That was sarcasm, but not directed at you.
The main point of the EU and its predecessors was to make another war between European nations impossible. And even more so: to make it unthinkable.
Beyond that, I'll refer you to some of the words of the preamble:
"CONVINCED that, while remaining proud of their own national identities and history, the peoples of Europe are determined to transcend their former divisions and, united ever more closely, to forge a common destiny,
CONVINCED that, thus "United in diversity", Europe offers them the best chance of pursuing, with due regard for the rights of each individual and in awareness of their responsibilities towards future generations and the Earth, the great venture which makes of it a special area of human hope,"
That's btw, if you want one Big Visionary Point (tm). The thousand smaller practical benefits are enough for most people to consider it worthwhile to enter. Even the Brits don't want to leave it, they simply incessantly whine about it.
As for what's the "desired result" that depends on who you are asking. I want a federal Europe with a common foreign policy. Others want it to stop short of that.
#13
Only dummie/hostile nations' citizens scored poorly on Brussels' generated test.
Speaking of tests...in our junior year of high school we had to pass a US Constitution test in order to advance to the next year. At the size of the EU constitution, those kids are going to be spending an entire year just on it!
#14
Angie Schultz> The whole Part III of the constitution (which is the portion that's weighing it down with a 200 plus pages) should be largely removed.
It's overdetailed, describing in extreme minutia all the bits on how European law can and should act. Parts I (functioning of institutions), II (rights) and IV (general provisions on amendment, withdrawal, etc) are largely what I'd believe this Constitution should contain.
Just removing Part III would remove 2/3rds of the size of the Constitution.
#15
It's a bureaucratic death wish for entrepreneurial citizens. The EU groupthink will now be: those who are ignorant should be forced to eat their peas do what's good for them - join up and sing along
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/28/2005 10:31
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"Europe boasts six of the 10 most economically free countries in the worldâLuxembourg, Estonia, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Icelandâand each one became freer in 2004, according to the 2005 "Undex of Economic Freedom"
#18
Aris - does it ever occur to you to question the method with which your goal is being attempted?
A federal Europe, with a common policy is not a bad goal. An unelected body at the top of it is much different than federal Europe with a common foreign policy.
EU hates the US so much that it fails to look to us to see what we've done right. They made the same mistake during the French revolution too.
Maybe it's time you broke from the thundering hooves to look around and see what the unelected bureaucrats are really proposing - ultimate, unaccountable power at your expense.
#20
An unelected body at the top of it is much different than federal Europe with a common foreign policy.
The "unelected body" currently has no power to force through anything which the "elected bodies" object to, and it'll have even less if the EU constitution passes.
EU hates the US so much that it fails to look to us to see what we've done right.
*sigh*. I need more detail on this to understand what the hell you are talking about.
USA was created by breaking away from British control -- USA was thus a move towards independence. EU are dozens of nations bringing themselves together -- it's a move towards interdependence and union.
So what are you talking about exactly? Perhaps you should stop assuming that USA is the best example possible about how to make a union of separate peoples happen. Europe has its own examples also of federal unions, you know. It's not as if you're the only federal nation around, you know.
Maybe it's time you broke from the thundering hooves to look around and see what the unelected bureaucrats are really proposing - ultimate, unaccountable power at your expense.
So I'm blind for not agreeing with your ignorant phobias? Screw you, dearie. That patronizing attitude you are showing I'm returning it to you doublefold.
Spain's people gonna be voting soon and supporting the EU constitution with a large percentage. Mark my words, and be prepared to eat yours.
And the British people, though they won't agree to the Constitution, neither do they want to leave the European Union. They will never vote for that one either. They are scared of the unknown, and the polls show it that the more they learn about the constitution the less scared they become.
#21
"The main point of the EU and its predecessors was to make another war between European nations impossible. And even more so: to make it unthinkable."
-Okay, that's understandable. Though my feelings were that since WWII and the fall of the Berlin wall, the countries in Europe were functioning democracies, is there some underlying tension I'm not privy to within Europe that is a cause for this concern of another war on the continent? Will such a document really make a war impossible or unthinkable?
I understand your desired result of the union, so my second question is what is the desired result of the union from the viewpoint of the mass euro populance or those who pioneered the effort? Bit of a loaded question for sure since your not a mind reader.
#22
What happened is that you are illiterate. Last year's Eurobarometer talked about support for the general existence of a European constitution.
You're splitting hairs, fucktard, and you're wrong. The previous EU Barometer itself confused 'a Consitution' with 'the draft Constitution', even though the actual wording of the draft had yet to be ratified. Hence their conslusion is: The draft European Constitution is supported byr [sic] a majority of public opinion in fourteen of the fifteen Member States. Your second sentence is an outright lie. Or are you just as stupidly illiterate as you are ridiculously arrogant?
#23
The "unelected body" currently has no power to force through anything which the "elected bodies" object to, and it'll have even less if the EU constitution passes.
Here's a question for you Aris - and I really don't care what the answer is, since my tax dollars won't be affected - but here's a question to quietly ask yourself if you know the answer....how much power will that unelected body have when all is said and done. . Spare me the answer, if you know it, it's irrelevant to me. But I will note, that in the US, we know exactly which elected individuals to complain to when we are unhappy with the smallest things. You pride yourself on just ignoring laws such as...for example... no cruets on the table. If a majority of people don't like something like that, we don't need to ignore, we know exactly who in our government to hold accountable....ie: fire. Do you?
USA was created by breaking away from British control -- USA was thus a move towards independence. EU are dozens of nations bringing themselves together -- it's a move towards interdependence and union.
Wow, Aris, I'm surprised at your ignorance. We are a nation of 50 individual states. Each state has more rights than your nations will have under your new EU. Each state has it's own government and representatives at both a state and Federal Level. They have to work together to pass each and every law at a Federal Level.
Furthermore, when our country formed, the individual states united to make a federal government to control money, commerce, defense, roads and other areas that need to cooperate, much like the EU is trying to do now.
I find the rest of your comments interesting. Rather than debate the actual merits or lack thereof of any particular portion of the EU, you just trust that it's all good and would rather tell me that I'm stupid and paranoid rather than to take up an argument with your countryment to assure your own personal rights are protected.
#24
when our country formed, the individual states united
So as not to confuse..I should have said, colonies, which upon ratification were renamed "states".
#25
"Though my feelings were that since WWII and the fall of the Berlin wall, the countries in Europe were functioning democracies, is there some underlying tension I'm not privy to within Europe that is a cause for this concern of another war on the continent?"
Ah well, that's the "unthinkable" part, isn't it? It's worked pretty well, so far. Making nations cooperate ends up training them to the custom of cooperation. Because you'll be seeing them the next day, and the day after that, and you'll be needing their votes on this issue, and they'll be needing your votes on that issue, and you can't as easily use them them as scapegoats or scarecrows anymore in internal rhetoric. And very soon it becomes unthinkable to even suggest war.
Sometimes national politicians try to play macho(Chirac is particularly common at doing this) and all they discover is that they earn contempt and lose influence. Chirac told Poland and other eastern nations to shut up, and he soon realized that it was he who should have shut up -- he did nothing but lose influence. Berlusconi's Italy insulted Germany with a Hitler comparison, and all that happened was that people got contemptuous towards Italy.
Armies can't gain you resources when enemy armies can't deny you resources -- when land and movement and money can flow freely according to free rules, borders become less important. Industries can't urge and profit for war when they have common interests in all nations in question.
Right now, no, I don't see war becoming possible among *Western* Europe (like Germany and France or Spain), even without the presence of the European Union, not anymore, not for another half century at least -- that's how "unthinkable" war became. But as it's expanding, I believe the EU is now having a great stabilizing influence among the *Balkan* nationalisms. I've already mentioned how the EU made Greece stop a catastrophic embargo against FYRO Macedonia. Serbia and Croatia are cooperating with the court at Hague at indicting war criminals because they want to become members of the EU. The EU almost made the Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots be reunified again, and if the Cyprus issue was resolved you'd be sure it'd be the beginning of the end of the wider Greece-Turkey hostility as well.
The other issue is Russian expansionism. Once the EU has expanded to the borders of Russia, it will be less able to intimidate the neighbouring regions.
#26
"The other issue is Russian expansionism. Once the EU has expanded to the borders of Russia, it will be less able to intimidate the neighbouring regions."
Interesting issue, one I had not considered. I was not aware that Russia was still considered a possible threat to Europe or attempting to intimidate them, (other then to the Ukraine).
After or if all Euro countries sign on to join the EU, will you have one standing military? Or, will each nation still retain its own as is?
#27
Wow, Aris, I'm surprised at your ignorance. We are a nation of 50 individual states.
Yeah, right. And Wyoming just coincidentally happened to be a nice rectangular, it's not an artificial creation.
You can probably find as much differentiation between the people and lands of Spain *alone*, as you can find in the whole of the United States.
You have 50 states and probably 6 or 7 geographical cultures, only two of which are significantly visible. And differentiation between all of them is minor indeed.
Each state has more rights than your nations will have under your new EU.
LOL! That's a laugh! Try to be a tiny bit more ignorant, why don't you?
Each state has it's own government and representatives at both a state and Federal Level. They have to work together to pass each and every law at a Federal Level.
And other than Mormonism in Utah, which is the dominant brand of Christianity in the rest of the states? Are you all majority-Protestants?
And outside Hawai, how many states have a language outside English as official?
And how many wars has Nevada had historically against California? How many wars has Washington state had with Oregon?
Yeah, all your states are so very "individual" that in most of them one cab hardly know the difference between one and its neighbour.
Furthermore, when our country formed, the individual states united to make a federal government to control money, commerce, defense, roads and other areas that need to cooperate, much like the EU is trying to do now. I find the rest of your comments interesting.
And nonetheless you are pretending to believe that individual nations have less rights than USA states, even though US states from the beginning have had no rights at all to determine defense or foreign policy, even though US states have no right at all to go independent.
I know what position Estonia took in the Iraq war. What's the position that Oregon took? What's the position that Massachussets took?
#28
Jarhead, here are a couple of websites that will give you a feel for the EU: http://www.euobserver.com/ http://www.euabc.com/
Here's an example of the "straight jacket" of the EU that UK citizens are contemplating joining. I love the use of words like Brussels "slams" so and so countries or Brussels "warned" so and so or Brussels "singled out" the following countries. You get the picture. http://www.euobserver.com/?sid=9&aid=18267
Then there's the headline about Brussels wants a clamp down on cross border gangs and for starters Brussels proposes there should be a common definition of a criminal organization lest bozo policemen in the hinterlands of Marseilles are too clued out to figure it out by themselves. Franco Frattini, Commission's Vice-President responsible for justice, pontificated about all the fine theories he and other pencil pushers in Brussels had put together to put the fear of God into "criminal organizations" like sharing criminals records from country to country. Huh? I thought that's what Interpol has been doing all these years already? http://www.euobserver.com/?sid=9&aid=18271
Also, powerful EU nations like France and Germany can force new tax measures down the throats of small EU countries - the EU is not entirely a group of countries on equal footing as the ratifying an Constitution makes one believe. Chirac is now pushing his infamous AIDS tax on EU countries and he's got his mush-head putz of a political soulmate, called Herr Schroeder, thinking AIDS taxes are swell, too. Dollars to donuts Brussels implements the AIDS tax in the near future.
So, Aris, from what I've read there is ample justification for the Brits to not want to approve the EU constitution. Right now they have the best of all worlds, because they have the trade benefits of the EU bloc but are otherwise an independent entity. For small struggling Eastern Bloc countries, the EU is great because it gives them more benefits than negatives. For the UK, it's the opposite. Here are some of the issues I think are negatives for the UK:
a. immigration and asylum policies to be set by Brussels, who would determine quotas and rules for who should be taken in and how many, etc. The UK is a prime destination for immigrants and the UK is now trying to cut back on their immigration levels and tighten the rules for asylum seekers. But Brussels' rules would outrank what the UK taxpayers and politicians want.
b. criminal justice - Brussels would define the rules and penalties for serious crimes and a central office of EU prosecutors would prosecute cases in courts across the EU. The UK originated the Magna Carta and Common Law and now the Brits would be told how to properly determine rights of citizens and criminals and penalties of crime?
c. employment and social policy - Brussels would co-ordinate regulations for Social Security, trade unions, standard hiring policies across the EU. The UK has had major problems with trade unions in the past. The last thing the UK needs is giving more legitimacy to trade unions who would get extra powers by joining a band of brothers on the continent. Blair and the Labor Party have done enough damage to the UK with all their social engineering policies. Does the UK need more "progressive" thinking from Brussels on top of Labor's damage?
d. foreign policy and common defence policy- a single EU minister would be responsible for a one size fits all foreign policy and a uni-tard EU military defence policy. The UK would get nailed on this all for one and one for all approach. Who has the strongest( maybe the only)functional military in Europe? The UK of course so who would be the first responders to any terrorist threat across the continent - the British military, of course. This is totally unfair to the proud British military to be taking orders from some EU Defense Minister ninny esconced in Brussels. And foreign policy one size fits all-we can only imagine how that would work with Monsieur France and Herr Germany working out a common outlook on world affairs with the UK. HA,HA,HA Then there are the smaller countries' conflicting viewpoints to consider: Italy vs Spain. HA,HA,HA
WWIII would have come and gone before Brussels would reach "consensus" about a common foreign policy that suited all the EU nations.
I think Blair has long been a one world gov't fan. He is not looking out for what the Brits want. He knows what is the best for Brits even if they don't want it, because he sees himself as a worldly genius. I hope the EU referendum is voted down in the UK and Blair is embaressed beyond belief for being so smug.
#29
I was not aware that Russia was still considered a possible threat to Europe or attempting to intimidate them, (other then to the Ukraine).
The Russian military still holds territory of Moldova, and of Georgia. And given that 30% of Latvia is ethnically Russian I wouldn't feel too secure if I was in Latvia's shoes either.
After or if all Euro countries sign on to join the EU, will you have one standing military? Or, will each nation still retain its own as is?
There's no provision for one standing military yet, and certainly no provision for abolishing the national ones. The "one standing military" may happen, but I don't see nations as ever agreeing to abolish their national armies. Nor do I find significant need for it.
There's been cooperation however at forming joint battle groups. See here, a wikipedia article I largely wrote myself:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EU_battle_groups
#30
"Brussels would define the rules and penalties for serious crimes and a central office of EU prosecutors would prosecute cases in courts across the EU"
When you lie like that, doublestandard, what's the point of discussion?
foreign policy and common defence policy- a single EU minister would be responsible for a one size fits all foreign policy and a uni-tard EU military defence policy
Yeah, a single EU minister which would however only be empowered to act with UK's (and every other nation's) approval. So if UK didn't want him to do something, he wouldn't be able to do it, and UK would be as utterly free foreign policy-wise after the Constitution as it would be before it.
You are proving the point of the article that the more ignorant one is about the EU and the constitution, the more he supports it.
However I don't know much on immigration policy - in particular I don't know how much of it is controlled by Schengen rules (which UK isn't part of) and how much of it is controlled by EU rules.
But yeah, when one of the points of the EU is free movement of people inside it, cooperation in immigration issues becomes a necessity.
I've been urging for UK to leave the Union, as it's allergic on the issue of "cooperation", but no luck there.
#31
The other issue is Russian expansionism. Once the EU has expanded to the borders of Russia, it will be less able to intimidate the neighbouring regions.
In all, you're presenting it as being fairly similiar to our own situation when we wrote our constitution.
After the Revolution, we operated under "The Articles of Confederation". That was found to be insufficient.
In my High School US History class, we ran a simulation of that period. The issues I remember being significant were external threats, internal threats to other colonies (particularly by myself), printing money, slavery, relative representation of large and small colonies, and individual egos. It's left me with the distinct impression that what was recorded in the history books is a glossy version of an ugly process. However, many of the things we got right were a direct result of the ugliness. One problem that got papered over (both in the simulation and in history) turned to real ugliness.
The EU process, on the other hand, strikes me as entirely too civilized. It leaves me wondering what problems are being papered over, to come bite you (and maybe all of us) in the ass later.
#32
Aris, I can't even begin to work with you your unfamiliarity with our country, you are so far off the mark.
May I suggest that you come here sometime see it for yourself?
The 13 individual colonies had individual power structures and were much like individual nation states. They realized, in much the same way that the EU is realizing now, that it would be beneficial to cooperate on matters of money, commerce, defense, roads. The other states that were "created" as you say, were territories first and then states. They "joined" the union.
Our civil war was about "states rights" v/s "federal rights". Slavery was just the flashpoint that made it happen.
Instead of telling Americans how stupid they are for pointing out that you might want to make sure your leaders are accountable to you.... you might want to ask yourself if your leaders really will be accountable to you or if you will end up fighting for the same reason that Americans did in 1700's. taxation without representation.
#33
The 13 individual colonies had individual power structures and were much like individual nation states
Why do you keep on trying to persuade me on points I never disputed? Yeah, you had individual power structures. I know, and I've always known it. But it's irrelevant. So do the Laender of Germany.
Our civil war was about "states rights" v/s "federal rights". Slavery was just the flashpoint that made it happen.
No it wasn't. Slavery was the one and *only* state's right that you fought over, and the Constitution of the Confederacy provided even *fewer* rights on the individual states on the issue of slavery, forcing each member-state to uphold it.
#36
2x:"Brussels would define the rules and penalties for serious crimes and a central office of EU prosecutors would prosecute cases in courts across the EU"
Aris: "When you lie like that, doublestandard, what's the point of discussion?"
Aris, obviously you'd fail the EU knowlegability about the constitution test if it were ever administered to you. From the EUABC Dictionary website:
Topic: Eurojust and accompanied by a photo of the Headquarters of Eurojust in La Haye, The European Judicial Co-operation Unit.
A body of national prosecutors, magistrates or police officers from the Member States. Established in 2002 under the Treaty of Nice to co-ordinate the fight against crime.
#37
2b> Go on and try to convince me that the Confederacy gave one damn about "state's rights" on the issue of slavery. I dare ya. Then I'll quote you the articles of the Confederate constitution that FORCE its members to uphold it.
On a different note, I believe that US citizens can be brought to a federal charges on a "civil lawsuit" even after they've been acquitted on murder charges under state courts. Federal agents, whether security services or FBI, can run throughout your 50 states, with no state power to stop them. Drug prohibition has happened at a *federal* level in the United States, and once upon the time even alcohol was (federally) prohibited.
And yet you've still not taken back your utterly ludicrous "Each state has more rights than your nations will have under your new EU".
#38
2xstandard> A body of national prosecutors, magistrates or police officers from the Member States. Established in 2002 under the Treaty of Nice to co-ordinate the fight against crime.
Ofcourse. I even wrote an article about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurojust
And it has absolutely nothing to do with "establishing rules and penalties for serious crimes". It has to do with "enhancing the effectiveness of the national authorities when they are dealing with the investigation and prosecution of cross-border and organised crime."
#39
"CONVINCED that, while remaining proud of their own national identities and history, the peoples of Europe are determined to transcend their former divisions and, united ever more closely, to forge a common destiny,--
Well, that worked well the last times it was tried....
#40
Aris, why don't you, as such a staunch defender of the EU - go read up about the American successes and failures when creating a similar union.
And the federal level of control that you abhor in your comment #37 is exactly the control that you seem so intent on providing your EU.
BTW, we can, by a majority vote of the people, undo those laws you note in #37. Will you be able to?
Stop worrying about whether or not the EU is a good idea - it is. Stop worrying about if America is a better or worse union. Put your focus on where it counts - what it will mean to you if you are unable to undo unjust laws and if you will recieve adequate representation for your taxation.
#44
I'll openly admit to being ignorant to the fine details of the EU. Omnipotence through verbosity seems to be an effective strategy for its proponents. However comma I believe I do get the general idea.
The EU was originally advertised as a âcommon marketâ. Seems like a great deal. Economies of scale, economic cooperation, lowering economic barriers, etc. etc. Whatâs not to like. Oddly enough, I canât think of why you would need a constitution to implement this though.
Ahh, but that was only the bait, wasnât it? France and Belgium wanted to reverse their irrelevancy, but lacked the power to do so. Now the EU has grown into a tranzi utopia and once-free nations of Europe will be ruled by the Axis of Weasels without the AoW having fired a shot.
I stand corrected. Soft Power and Nuance can conquer without anything to back it up. That is, so long as the conquered are offered enough carrots and are gullible enough.
As far as preventing war between European nationsâ¦Didnât the League of Nations already take care of that? IIRC, they outlawed warfare altogether!
And Aris, as ignorant as I may be about the EU, you are doubly so about U.S. government and history. Donât believe the hype, my friend. If you want to know the position that Oregon or Mass. took on the Iraq war, go look up the votes their respective Senators made on it. If you want to get more granular, look at the positions of their Representatives.
But in the end, it really doesnât matter to me. I am all in favor of self-determination. So if thatâs what the people want, thatâs what the people get. Additionally, anything France leads will eventually come to a disastrous end so I donât think the EU will come to be the rival Superpower France hopes it will.
It just saddens me that some many will trade their freedom for convenience.
#45
Aris:
You need to look at the reasons the states threatened and actually tried to seceed. Look up the "Nullification" and "Interposition" fights in South Carolina in the 1830s. They had nothing to do with slavery.
Now, in 1861, Slavery was important, and I'm willing to stipulate that it was the most important single issue, but remember that Lincoln also campaigned on a very high tariff (and his successor implemented it).
So, if the EU broke down trade barriers between the member states, that's good, but what if they also decided to erect very high barriers to import/export. I could see some countries hurting more than others, a lot more perhaps. Perhaps enough to leave the EU.
#46
BTW, we can, by a majority vote of the people, undo those laws you note in #37.
LOL! By a majority vote of the people of which state? You'll need a majority vote on all 50 states. And you were just arguing that your states are all so very *individual*.
Will you be able to?
Yes. We'll even be able to do it on a national level, by withdrawing from the Union if we want to. Which is more than I can say for your 50 "individual" states.
Does a state or group of states have the right to Secede from the Union? Sound familiar?
Well we seem to have avoided this crisis, by making it very explicit in our Constitution that *our* member-states indeed do have the right to secede.
Ofcourse the *current* treaties don't give such a right, which is the flaw of the *current* treaties. If you want the right of member-states to withdraw from the EU, same way as *I* do, I suggest you start supporting the Constitution.
Because currently they don't seem to have it. Such a right will only appear explicitely through the constitution.
And Aris, as ignorant as I may be about the EU, you are doubly so about U.S. government and history. Donât believe the hype, my friend. If you want to know the position that Oregon or Mass. took on the Iraq war, go look up the votes their respective Senators made on it.
Two senators for each state. So I'm guessing that several states have a split personality.
And what about the representatives? Don't they count?
#48
good point about the common market, PH. Your right, many Euopeans seem to think that they will be just entering a common market, rather than handing over their rights to a brand new nation state....where many of the most powerful individuals will be unelected bureaucrats, sheltered from the will of the people they "represent".
What's ironic is all of the things that what they will be getting will be laws similar to what Aris noted in 37 as well as that bland uniformity of WallMart and chain food stores. But it doesn't appear that they will have is an adequate means to demand the heads of those who don't support the will of the people. Today it's the cruet - which they just plan to "ignore". But what will they do when it is a law they all wish to ignore but find it is to be inforced? They really don't know.
Like Aris, they seem to just want to take it on faith that the people in charge will work in the interest of the people (hahahaaaaa! scuse me while I wipe away the tears).
#49
Aris..no..it's 2/3 of the states. And if a law is unpopular enough it happens. Stop pretending you understand how America works. It's painfully obvious that you do not. You would be better off spending your time seeing exactly what it is you are signing yourself up for - as it appears that you are pining for everything that you think sucks about us.
#51
Aris - When we decide when to go to war here, no, the representatives don't get to vote on it. Just the senators. It's in the Constitution. Nothing stops the representatives from voting on a motion to support or oppose going to war....it just doesn't officially count.
And, yes....it is possible to be brought up on civil charges after being declared not guilty of murder. No one, technically, is ever acquitted or declared innocent in our courts for any crime. Generally that is only used in high profile cases, cases in where there is pretty damn good evidence to the contrary (ie. O.J. Simpson), but for whatever reason there is a strong case for miscarriage of justice in that particular incident. Collecting the fines on that verdict are a whole 'nother story, though. I don't think the Brown family are ever going to get a dime from Simpson...and I don't think they expect to.
BTW, just got back from New Orleans, Louisiana. It's as different from my home state of Arizona as can be. Check it out, sometime.....
#52
We'll keep our right to withdraw and our armies to protect said right with.
If your problem is supposedly that we're handing power to "unelected bureaucrats" -- then why haven't I yet heard you (or anyone else here) supporting the direct election of the President of the Commission by the people? I'd support such a thing. Would you?
What do *your* individual states possess in order to protect them from the infringement of their rights by the federal administration?
Ah, in short it's even more difficult than a mere majority nationwide, you need 2/3rds to make it happen. Thanks for correcting me on that.
And what about the representatives? Don't they count? Yes, they do. I thought I covered that.
Sorry, didn't notice it. I had started skipping sentences when you started speaking of "Axis of Weasels" and "tranzi utopia" and so forth. Not much of such rhetoric I can stomach. My bad.
#56
#54 - it's meant to be difficult. It's a union, remember, like you want? It's meant to be possible only if the majority of the people and the majority of the states agree. Because the states are different. It's meant to assure that individual nature of the states that you do not believe exists.
#57
BTW, just got back from New Orleans, Louisiana. It's as different from my home state of Arizona as can be.
I'm indeed interested in Louisiana, especially because it seems to have a differentiated culture from its neighbours. French influence, I believe? Alongside with Hawai and New York, I'd say it's one of the two regions of USA that I'd be most interested in visiting.
Well, let me just say, that I'm glad that we have methods to change laws that are unacceptable to the majority without haveing to use our armies or leave the union to do so.
#59
Aris:
To quote the great French philosopher Pierre Joseph Proudhon "Few people defend the present state of affairs, but the distaste for utopias is no less widespread." You've made some excellent points in favor of the EU, especially on the foreign policy front. I believe that many of the objections to a strong European federal union you have encountered here at Rantburg spring from the fact that several of us have a very deep, very American distrust of our own central government. Most of us also distrust, fear, and hate the kind of socialist bureaucracy which many Europeans seem to embrace. This is an American *thing* so don't take it, or any angry comments, personally. Many of us are coming from a different world, philosophically speaking.
It has been our cultural experience that the bigger and more powerful a government, the less freedom individuals who live under it have. California is a wonderful example of this. Its is pretty much an institutionalized one party state (Gov. Arnold is an anomaly). Its government is autocratic, bureaucratic, and by design largely politically unaccountable. Its citizens are considerably less free than, say, Nevadans in several significant ways. The difference? Nevada has a different, more libertarian approach to government.
Even given some of the convincing reasons for federalization you have listed, I wouldn't voluntarily join the EU if I were a European for this single reason: more government is inherently a bad idea.
Dishman:
Read Albert J. Nock's Our Enemy the State if you want to understand the backroom maneuvering that took place at the constitutional convention.... or, as it was publically announced, a meeting to make "minor adjustments" to the Articles of Confederation; a document that worked quite well as far as many Americans of the time were concerned.
#60
Sorry, didn't notice it. I had started skipping sentences when you started speaking of "Axis of Weasels" and "tranzi utopia" and so forth. Not much of such rhetoric I can stomach. My bad.
No problem, Aris. You're quite fun to debate with when you're on your game. I'm a sarcastic SOB and will use it liberally, but it's not my intent to personally attack you. But, you do have a lot of well publicized buttons to push on this issue. ;)
I was sincere in using the terms âAxis of Weaselsâ and âtranzi utopiaâ when it comes to France/Belgium/Germany and the EU, however.
#61
it's meant to be difficult. It's a union, remember, like you want? It's meant to be possible only if the majority of the people and the majority of the states agree. Because the states are different. It's meant to assure that individual nature of the states that you do not believe exists.
Ah, so you retain your state individuality only if the majority of the states give you the right to retain it.
While in the European Union we kinda do the opposite: it's the states that give the right to the Union, not vice versa.
The right of the states to fully withdraw from the Union if we so choose to, kinda helps assure that the EU won't try to infringe on our individuality.
#63
Aris, yes, there is a French influence, but I'd say the Caribbean/African influence is very strong, too. Along with a surprising Italian influence in New Orleans. I just wouldn't tackle that city sober. ;)
Secret Master - What you said to Aris, x2.
#65
indeed interested in Louisiana, especially because it seems to have a differentiated culture from its neighbours. French influence, I believe?
Well, I can certainly agree with you there! I lived there for a year and it is certainly different. Very friendly people and fantastic food are the fond memories I have of LA.
As far as French influence, there are definitely traces of that still to be found. Not only is the government corrupt, but it's a source of pride how corrupt they are! 43% of the adult population does not have a full-time job (when I lived there 3.5 years ago anyway). The laws are based on the Napoleonic code, so the only reciprocity lawyers have is in France. And you have to over-complicate spelling of the 'o' sound by spelling it 'eaux'. I'm sure there are other influences as well, but these are the ones that seemed to stick with me.
#66
So you are going to withdraw from the Union if you disagree with a cruet law? You make it sound like it's just a common market Aris. I don't think it is. And who decides if half of the union wants to do go to war against Russia and half does not. You gonna split the union everytime there's a disagreement of that sort?
We have the ability to change the laws within the union itself.
#67
So you are going to withdraw from the Union if you disagree with a cruet law?
Who'd be interested in passing cruet laws? Who'd *care* about cruet laws? Even if people were stupid enough to pass them who'd care enough to enforce them?
Start thinking about issues that matter.
And who decides if half of the union wants to do go to war against Russia and half does not.
If the states ever give up their rights to individual foreign policies, it'll be in the same way that some countries gave up their rights to individual currencies and formed the Eurozone. It will be a subgroup of EU nations, choosing to go forward alone, while other nations hold back.
Anyway, for *now* and still after the constitution, the situation will be as we saw in the war on Iraq.
Each country decides on its own. The EU ends up taking a position that expresses the lowest common denominators. That's what's been happening now, and that's what'll keep happening for a long time.
Now, I want that situation to change -- I do want the EU to become more of a federation. But at each point there'll be safeguards that ensure state participation to decision-making, and state rights of veto and of abstention, to a far greater degree than USA does.
Europe's federal government will never be as centralised as the United States'.
You make it sound like it's just a common market Aris. I don't think it is.
It's not. It's a political union where nations share sovereignty. But it's their free and voluntary choice to share it.
#69
"Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations - entangling alliances with none." -- Thomas Jefferson
Posted by: Tom ||
01/28/2005 15:24
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#70
Was it TJ who said that?? I thought it was GW? I paraphrased that quote a couple days back and attributed it to the founders and LH told me it was GW.
#71
Aris, re: your #38 post:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3960981.stm#ancram
"As Europe's leaders gathered in Rome to sign the new EU constitution seven politicians and business leaders gave their thoughts on what it could mean for Britain"
Paul Sykes, Tory supporter and businessman says: With this constitution the EU will have the powers of a state giant, but the democratic stature of a pygmy. Is that what we want? There is nothing in this document which will cut the 97,000 pages of accumulated EU laws and regulations that now dictate how we are governed and how we do business with our trading partners.
If the British people voted for this constitution in a referendum, they would set in stone the supremacy of EU laws over those made by national parliaments.
Shadow foreign secretary Michael Ancram says: This constitution makes all the old, lazy assumptions that have done so much damage to the EU: that every power it has is used well, that none should be returned to the nation states of Europe, that the European Commission needs more powers to regulate and that the power of the European Court of Justice should be boosted at national governments' expense.
This constitution would give the EU a new president, its own foreign minister and diplomatic service and turn the European Court of Justice into a kind of Supreme Court.
The EU's powers over criminal justice would be widely expanded, including the creation of one post - the 'European Public Prosecutor' - that the Labour-dominated committee of MPs described as potentially 'an instrument of oppression'.
The EU would also increase its power over include energy policy, trade, social security and civil rights.
The biggest winner from all this would be the European Court of Justice. It would decide what all the new powers and rights mean in practice. That court has an important role in making sure that European countries stick to common rules.
Only four years ago Tony Blair said he saw no need for an EU constitution. Labour opposed almost all the new measures in the constitution. They put down 275 amendments to the text but got only 27 of them accepted: not a great score.
Oooh, it was described as "potentially" an "instrument of oppression". Thank you, that it was described as such by some people will surely change my mind.
#73
now i have heard everything..being lectured by aris the booty slamming greek on the american culture and state rights...what the hell do you really know about state rights?
Posted by: Dan ||
01/28/2005 16:17
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#74
Does the EU Con. mention potted meat products? Self Propelled Armoured Meat is a favorite when when break out the laptops around here. We also like Nola but it's best to be sober in the greek quarter.
Posted by: The IRS ||
01/28/2005 16:17
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#75
Jarhead, you've got to double check everything these liberals tell you! It was TJ who said it:
http://www.bartleby.com/59/11/entanglingal.html
Posted by: Tom ||
01/28/2005 16:21
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#76
what the hell do you really know about state rights?
That people pretend to have had a war about them, when they want to play a PC game of revisionism on the fact that the only "state's right" they actually warred over was slavery.
But as a sidenote you'll note that anything I ever said about American state's rights was in response to "booty slamming" 2b and his utterly ludicrous claim that US states have more rights that EU member-states do. Idiotic and ridiculous, but that's the kind of EU opposition we find in Rantburg.
#77
Was it TJ who said that?? I thought it was GW? I paraphrased that quote a couple days back and attributed it to the founders and LH told me it was GW.
A quick search shows it was TJ. I thought you were quoting or paraphrasing GW. GW DID express such sentiments, and WAS aiming at TJs sympathy for France. Its quite possible that TJ was trying to show himself to be moderate - see Hillary lately :) And dont get started on my Hilary comparison as some kind of sacrilege :) its nothing to what the Founding fathers said about each other, at various times (though they also said more positive things, of course) See "Founding Brothers" by John Ellis.
#79
wow 78 posts and Aris remains arrogant and unlikeable as always....
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/28/2005 16:35
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#80
Oooh, it was described as "potentially" an "instrument of oppression". Thank you, that it was described as such by some people will surely change my mind.
Aris, daahhh-link, writing entries in Wikipedia does not automatically give you the title of being the sharpest knife in the drawer. The Tory Shadow Foreign Minister related what other UK Labor elected officials said about the European Public Prosecutor: The EU's powers over criminal justice would be widely expanded, including the creation of one post - the 'European Public Prosecutor' - that the Labour-dominated committee of MPs described as potentially 'an instrument of oppression.'
One might assume that some of these elected MP's are lawyers and know what they are talking about. Sheesh.
#81
LH, you know better then think that I would lambaste you for comparing Hillary's laughable attempt to move to the right comparison w/the founders. I realize the founders did some good backstabbing as well. I think Hamilton & Jefferson had a feud of grand proportions w/much intrigue. And don't get me started on A. Burr; Clinton would not even make a good prison patsie in Burr's cell block.
#82
doublestandard> One might assume that some of these elected MP's are lawyers and know what they are talking about. Sheesh.
Wow, they're elected, so they must be right. And I thought that arguing-from-authority was considered a logical fallacy. In the meantime some Russian elected parliamentarians were putting forward a thingy talking about the conspiracy that supposedly Jewish people everywhere are part of.
Anyway *I* didn't elect those UK Labour politicians, so I have no reason to trust their judgment. If you want to support the claim that European Prosecutor would be "potentially" an instrument of oppresions, find some argument *besides* "Buh... buh... buh... but *these* people say he'll be."
Anyway, tell me, the 500 also elected MEPs that voted in favour of the EU Constitutions (as opposed to merely 137 that voted against), do *those* people know what they are talking about (being elected and all) or don't they?
Because if our arguments become about what elected politicians think about the Constitution, then my numbers will trounce yours most overwhelmingly.
#83
Its not just Jefferson vs Hamilton. Theres also Jefferson vs Adams (although they become good friends in later years) And yes, there was significant bad feeling at times between Jefferson and Washington (TJ would not actually say that GW was a baddie, just that he was senile and manipulated by Hamilton - GW did NOT appreciate this) ANd there was the soap opera of Madison - who switched sides from Hamilton to Jefferson. Burr vs Hamilton was of course the worst, but there was plenty of other bad feeling.
#84
That people pretend to have had a war about them, when they want to play a PC game of revisionism on the fact that the only "state's right" they actually warred over was slavery.
Sorry Aris but that's not accurate. Some of the North vs. South tension that led up to the outbreak of the American Civil War was due to economic matters. The Confederate states wanted to export a majority of their cotton crops to France and England rather than to the industrial centers of the Union, where is was badly needed for textile manufacture. Various tariffs were proposed in the Senate and, well, you get the idea. Other tensions were due to the fact that the two cultures had been slowly drifting apart for years over a variety of matters that I doubt you would find terribly interesting. Slavery was a very big part of the conflict, but certainly not the only matter at its heart.
But as a sidenote you'll note that anything I ever said about American state's rights was in response to "booty slamming" 2b and his utterly ludicrous claim that US states have more rights that EU member-states do. Idiotic and ridiculous, but that's the kind of EU opposition we find in Rantburg.
I oppose the EU because I oppose the idea of a centralized government that lacks a proper set of checks and balances, or one in which those checks and balances can be easily subverted or eroded. We have a pretty good system here in the US for maintaining that balance, but even so it has been steadily eaten away at for the last century at least. I am not here to insult you but to warn you against surrendering your nation's autonomy to a rather dubious federal structure.
#86
Wow, they're elected, so they must be right. And I thought that arguing-from-authority was considered a logical fallacy
Aris, calm down, take a deep breath. Perhaps I didn't phrase my sentence well. My point was that this was the opinion of Labor Members of Parliament who were not just any run of the mill politicians but politicians who presumably were favorably disposed to the EU Constitution{their leader is promoting it} yet they were worried about the EU Prosecutor's office and powers. Also some of these MP's were likely lawyers themselves( as often ids the case with politicians) so these concerns were being expressed in part by trained professionals not by some emotional anti-EU British blokes on the street.
All I'm saying as I did from the very start(post #28) is that the UK has far more to lose than to gain by approving the EU constitution. The UK has the best of all worlds as it stands - independence with a trade bloc nearby.
If nothing else the UK needs to protect its North Sea oil industry which is worth 20 Billion pounds, from the Brussels kleptoclaws. About a year ago the UK's oil industry told Blair that it worried that the EU draft constitution could give Brussels the right to control oil tax, regulation of pipelines and security of oil supplies.The latter would be particularly open to interpretation: Industry bosses fear that it would give Brussels the power to transfer British supplies to other EU countries in the event of an energy crisis.
One doesn't to look any further than Alberta to see how a central governing body can royally screw the small partner owning the fossil fuel resources in the name of "for the good of all." Riigggttt. In the very near future all industrialized nations are going to be scrambling for oil. The UK could be sitting pretty if it keeps its independence. None of the EU nations have oil. All they have is the need for oil.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/28/2005 18:49
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#90
UK has the best of all worlds as it stands - independence with a trade bloc nearby.
UK will eventually discover that it can't sabotage all other nations for ever. If 24 member-states ratify the constitution and only UK refuses, how soon before UK will have to choose one way or another, to swim with the others or to get out of the pool?
If UK wants to be a part of EFTA instead, it already was before it joined the European Community. If it wants a customs union, then EU and Turkey already have one.
"yet they were worried about the EU Prosecutor's office and powers."
Let's see what the Constitution actually says about the Prosecutor's office.
1. In order to combat crimes affecting the financial interests of the Union, a European law of the Council may establish a European Public Prosecutor's Office from Eurojust. The Council shall act unanimously after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament.
2. The European Public Prosecutor's Office shall be responsible for investigating, prosecuting and bringing to judgment, where appropriate in liaison with Europol, the perpetrators of, and accomplices in, offences against the Union's financial interests, as determined by the European law provided for in paragraph 1. It shall exercise the functions of prosecutor in the competent courts of the Member States in relation to such offences.
3. The European law referred to in paragraph 1 shall determine the general rules applicable to the European Public Prosecutor's Office, the conditions governing the performance of its functions, the rules of procedure applicable to its activities, as well as those governing the admissibility of evidence, and the rules applicable to the judicial review of procedural measures taken by it in the performance of its functions.
4. The European Council may, at the same time or subsequently, adopt a European decision amending paragraph 1 in order to extend the powers of the European Public Prosecutor's Office to include serious crime having a cross-border dimension and amending accordingly paragraph 2 as regards the perpetrators of, and accomplices in, serious crimes affecting more than one Member State. The European Council shall act unanimously after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament and after consulting the Commission.
Let's see one of the important points of the above paragraphs: namely the fact that the European Constitution doesn't actually create the Prosecutor's office, it simply *allows* for the creation of the Prosecutor's office.
The other crucial point is that it also instigates that such an office can only be created or amended with a unanimous vote of the Council. Do you know what that means? It means that UK will *still* need to consent to the specifics of the law in the future, before any such Prosecutor is created.
So tell me, all those legal experts, what exactly were they objecting to? Were they objecting to what actually exists in the Constitution, or were they objecting to the as-yet-uncreated future European law that United Kingdom will "potentially" be fooled into agreeing with?
#91
All in favor of even more detail from Aris, say "aye"
Posted by: Tom ||
01/28/2005 19:42
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#92
Sorry, that's all the mentions there are of the Prosecutor's Office in the Constitution, so any objections you have on it must be focused there. No more detail on him around.
But I know you don't need no steenking facts in Rantburg. Facts are loathed here. I mean we can get a ton of commentary about what some Labour MPs *think* of the Constitution's provisions on the Prosecutor's office, but nobody would consider actually going to the source and *reading* what the Constitution itself says.
That would require literacy, for starters. That would require forming your own opinion on the issue, rather than getting your opinions after the British MPs have chewed it up for you first.
Posted by: Tom ||
01/28/2005 19:52
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#94
Aris, a couple of points. In terms of local power in the United States in absolute relativity, the legal powers of a county Sheriff still trump those of any Federal authority outside a ruling of law.
In regards to your derision of the States power to revoke law "imposed" on them at the Federal level, hey, just look up Prohibition. It worked before, it's still working now.
#96
Asedwich, we're kinda talking about *individual* states having such power. If you need to get a consensus of 2/3rds throughout your union, that's not "states' rights" by any definition of the term.
#97
It's the same thing as needed for ratification at the federal level, so I really fail to see the difference in terms of balance between what it takes to make an amendment, and undo one.
#98
It means that UK will *still* need to consent to the specifics of the law in the future, before any such Prosecutor is created.
And, you think that the UK representative will not be brow beaten by pressure from France and Germany? Oh yes that sounds like an evenly balanced match. I can hear it all now: "Hey, UK, if you don't vote for this Prosecutor thingey, then we will not vote for that immigration measure that you want."
Aris, the UK doesn't need to get into the nasty quid pro quo game playing with if it remains an independent nation.
It's not like the UK would be the first to say thanks, but no thanks to the EU. Norway gave the EU a pass on 2 different public referendum votes.
From the EUABC dictionary: Norway has twice refused to join the EU in popular referendums. The Prime Minister, from the Christian Peoples party, Kjell Magne Bondevik, who himself voted âNoâ twice in Norwayâs referenda, has implied that he expects a third referendum before 2010, at which he might recommend membership. His party still recommends a "No", though.
Norway has not suffered by staying independent of the EU. In fact, Norway has been ranked as a top country by different measures (although Americans may not want to officially recognize the validity of those rankings).
Coincidently, Norway has oil resources like the UK. Hmmm, maybe the Brits should pay more attention to why Norwegians thought joining the EU was a bust.
#99
I like SPAM now and then. I like Aris now and then. Yesterday I liked him, but today he's back to being his usual verbose, arrogant self. Why the British would want an alliance with Jacques Chirac and Aris Katsaris is beyond me.
Posted by: Tom ||
01/28/2005 20:23
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#100
2xstandard, I keep on rereading your posts and I can't understand something: do you know that the United Kingdom is already a part of the EU?
And do you understand that my annoyance is them is NOT for refusing to enter the EU, but rather for refusing to LEAVE it?
It's not like the UK would be the first to say thanks, but no thanks to the EU.
I wish it *did* say "no thanks" to the EU. But it doesn't. It still remains a part of the EU, and unfortunately the EU lacks the power to send it away, even if it wanted to.
And, you think that the UK representative will not be brow beaten by pressure from France and Germany
And you think that if the European Prosecutor's office is "potentially dangerous" it's only those intelligent Brits that will figure it out, while the other 24 nations will be totally duped by it.
Once again if Britain is so worried about the freedom-loving feelings in the whole rest of the continent, then they better leave -- they have no business dealing with such a corrupt freedom-hating group of nations.
#105
And other than Mormonism in Utah, which is the dominant brand of Christianity in the rest of the states? Are you all majority-Protestants?
It depends on the state and region. Primarily Roman Catholic in the areas with high Hispanic, Austrian, Italian, Polish etc. immigration. "Mainline" Protestant in New England, or a devolved Unitarianism there. (Note to theologians - I don't consider Unitarians within the Christian tradition myself but please don't quibble about that right now.) Eastern Orthodox in the town I grew up in -- and in my family on my father's side, I was Chrismated in the Assumption of the Theotokos Church there. Evangelical or charismatic congregations in many parts of the country, more dominant in the southeast. This question is misleading, however, because religous diversity in the US is substantial and is geographically spread about.
And outside Hawai, how many states have a language outside English as official?
It certainly is true that having English as the official language helps things along here. However, ballots and other information are routinely translated into multiple languages in many states: most often into Spanish, but Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and other languages are not uncommnon.
Don't know about the latter. There were armed skirmishes re: some borders between Nevada and California in the 19th century. The larger conflicts were the "range wars" between farmers, sheep breeders and cattle breeders. Completing the transnational rail lines diffused some of that and increased migration and development pretty much finished it out.
I think, Aris, that you may be missing one point about the US due to the time spans involved. When the US Constitution was written and then the Bill of Rights added, there were considerable differences of law, custom and religion between the states (previously colonies) in the short-lived Confederation. Maryland, for instance, was founded by a devout Catholic and tolerance for Catholics was written into its founding Charter. Pennsylvania, my home state, was founded by Quakers, Massachusetts by Puritans. Virginia was dominated by Anglicans and there was a move to make it the official state religion. That's one reason that many royalist Scots left Virginia to form North Carolina.
This is why the very first words of the First Ammendment, which opens the Bill of Rights, are: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion". CONGRESS shall not do so -- but the STATE governments were quite authorized to do so. It wasn't until after the 14th and 15th ammendments, and subsequent Supreme Court rulings in the early 20th century, that US courts imposed uniform definitions of rights on the states.
So in fact, we have substantial historical experience in blending different cultures, religions and expectations of rights into a functioning whole. Doesn't mean it's the only way to do it -- but you are a bit off base to suggest that the EU faces challenges re: diversity we haven't already overcome. You're seeing the result of nearly 300 years of that process, but you're not quite seeing the effort and achievement that it took to get here.
#106
Ooops ... it appears my comment lost a quote ... the part about Nevada and California refers back to Aris' rhetorical question about war between those stats.
#107
Aris, while I recognize that the UK joined the EU in the days of the old "federation" referred to as the European Common Market, the UK has kept a good deal of independence from Brussels. By that I mean the UK has managed to side step total EU immersion, if you will, until recent years as Tony Blair has steadily led the Brits by their ears into more of the one world government bureaucracy that has its evil power based in Brussels. It's not like the UK alone has been motoring along in this informal arrangement, with one foot in and the other foot out of EU affairs. There's Denmark and Ireland, for example, as well as the UK.
Blair overshot himself when he gave tacit approval of the UK's embrace of the EU constitution, because what he didn't count on was that the ordinary UK citizens were not so doozy after all and that in fact they still had some sense of nationalism left that had not been kicked out of them by socialism. So now Blair has been shamed into holding this public referendum on the EU Constitution, which might represent a big flop for Blair's future career plans to eventually become one of the EU manadarins in Brussels. Good. I hope the Brits vote against the EU constitution and then as BD says, they can back out of the EU, which would be the next step obviously.
This sentence made me see how the elites view nations in relation to the majesty of the EU. As reported in the BBC: The easiest new members for the EU to digest would be Norway and Switzerland, which have at times come close to opting for membership.
"Q&A: EU enlargement"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2266385.stm
#108
It's not like the UK alone has been motoring along in this informal arrangement, with one foot in and the other foot out of EU affairs. There's Denmark and Ireland, for example, as well as the UK
What "informal arrangement"? The opt-outs are quite formal.
Denmark and Ireland have opted out of some areas of the acquis (Ireland simply hasn't accepted Schengen and only because UK hasn't joined Schengen - that's it) but neither are they obstructing the rest of the nations. It's UK that's constantly obstructing and sabotaging.
This sentence made me see how the elites view nations in relation to the majesty of the EU. As reported in the BBC: The easiest new members for the EU to digest would be Norway and Switzerland, which have at times come close to opting for membership.
The BBC article-writers are the "elites" of the EU? Whatever. You took your opinion about the Prosecutor simply from the Labour MPs, you take your opinion on how EU "elites" feel from the BBC, you wrote a bunch of untrue nonsense back at #28...
... and I bet you still can't tell me one real change that the EU Constitution will make. Or atleast you've definitely not bothered to mention any real element of the EU Constitution in the whole thread.
#109
Europe boasts six of the 10 most economically free countries in the worldâLuxembourg, Estonia, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Icelandâand each one became freer in 2004, according to the 2005 "Undex of Economic Freedom"--
They want Ireland to increase their taxes, Estonia has very low taxes, so the the UK compared to others.
What's the tax rate on the others?
Aris, the Constitution might say this now, but they've already said they're going to work on a new one tightening up flaws in the original once the original passes.
228 years - Not that many amendments. That monstrosity will never be perfect to them. They'll keep revising it. It's top/down not bottom-up and it won't work.
I've seen you at EU Referendum. What's your opinion about Britain and immigration?
#110
It's UK that's constantly obstructing and sabotaging
How so? And how is this different from what Germany and France do?
and I bet you still can't tell me one real change that the EU Constitution will make. Or atleast you've definitely not bothered to mention any real element of the EU Constitution in the whole thread
Of course I mentioned changes that EU constitution would make for the UK and it might involve issues like asylum, immigration and criminal procedure laws, foreign policy.
According to the Tory Party leader, Michael Howard, there are at least 43 new policy areas where majority voting would mean measures being "imposed" upon Britain.
Mr Blair said qualified majority voting was being extended where needed but vetoes remained on key areas and Britain could opt out of measures affecting asylum, immigration and criminal procedure laws. He also insisted the new Charter of Fundamental Rights would also not affect British industrial laws. But the Tory leader said the president of the European Court of Justice had offered no guarantees on that claim and he argued the charter was "a case study in government surrender".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3824553.stm
Aris, I am not a Brit and therefore I have no vested interest in reading the EU constitution from cover to cover so I might argue the finer points of the tome point by point with you. By reading viewpoints of knowlegeable reputable UK people like Michael Howard and Shadow Foreign Secretary Michael Ancram and multi-millionaire UK businessman, Paul Sykes, I think I've given you more than enough information re: the Brits' concerns about adopting the EU constitution.
On a personal note, I despiese socialism and Tony Blair is a poster child for the insidious evil of socialism that's promoted through a pretty boy sophisticated package. So anything Blair would want for the UK's "best interests", I find highly suspect right off the bat.
As for the EU monster "digesting" mouthfuls of nations, I thought it was rather humorous if not true. The sad thing was that the BBC didn't see how abhorent that image was. But don't agonize about whether or not I had the right to refer to the BBC as a symbol of elitism. It was the picture of King Kong devouring wee little former nations that stuck in my mind and which validated the Brits' fears that I had been reading about earlier. Obviously you did not think anything of the "digesting" imagery.
The package -- approved December 22 for $168 million over three years -- is aimed at keeping Navy SEALs, Army Green Berets and other troops trained to fight terrorists from taking lucrative positions with security contractors or other government agencies, the officials said. The incentives are directed at troops with a good deal of wartime experience and highly specialized skills that take considerable time and money to replace. Only "operators" -- troops on the ground conducting missions -- are targeted, not everybody in the 49,000-person special ops community, the officials said.
More at the link(cut and paste source,sorry)...great idea, I only wish all pro players would get their over-paid salaries cut in half to pay these tough guys...
Posted by: FWTB-DLTR ||
01/28/2005
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#1
A wonderful plan! We should be fanning these guys with palm leaves and feeding them grapes! But most importantly, let's not hang them out to dry if a mission is compromised or failed; like we did when our valiant troops at Abu Graibe prison became photo exposed! Ohh, and save a few extra bucks for the Mercenaries and Bounty Hunters we employ off the record.
#2
Nothing like a little market based realism. You can't pay these warriors enough for what they contribute. Duty, honor, valor.
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 7:53
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But most importantly, let's not hang them out to dry if a mission is compromised or failed; like we did when our valiant troops at Abu Graibe prison became photo exposed!
It's spelled 'Graib'. If you're attempting to make a point, even a half thought-out or regurgitated one, at least try to get the the spelling right.
Somalia, Lebanon, and the Iranian hostage-rescue mission are more realistic examples of "hanging the troops out to dry".
Ohh, and save a few extra bucks for the Mercenaries and Bounty Hunters we employ off the record.
Contract personnel get hired because the missions don't get reduced and Congress, in their infinite wisdom, decides not to authorise or fund additional personnel.
#4
Thanks Pappy for the correct spell; the three other operations are dead on, as examples of what I hope would not happen, in this future new recognition package!
The American military's continued presence in Iraq is fanning the flames of conflict, and signals the need for a new detailed timeline to bring the troops home, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy said Thursday. Just three days before the Iraqi people go to the polls to elect a new government, the Massachusetts Democrat said America must give Iraq back to its people rather than continue an occupation that parallels the failed politics of the Vietnam war. "The U.S. military presence has become part of the problem, not part of the solution," Kennedy said in remarks prepared for delivery at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies. "We need a new plan that sets fair and realistic goals for self-government in Iraq, and works with the Iraqi government on a specific timetable for the honorable homecoming of our forces." Is there any doubt that Teddy Kennedy is totally nuts?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/28/2005
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#2
"Is there any doubt that Teddy Kennedy is totally nuts?"
Yes, there is. There's two other possibilities, stupidity and dishonesty. I think it's dishonesty: he knows damn well that an abrupt pullout would be a disaster, a victory for the jihadis a thousand times greater than Mogadishu, and irrefutable proof that bin Laden was absolutely right about America when he said we don't have staying power, and that if you bleed us enough we will eventually give up and go home.
I think Ted Kennedy knows perfectly well that what he is advocating would constitute abject surrender to militant Islam, and he doesn't care.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
01/28/2005 6:12
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I know the SOB has been re-elected umteen times .... but can someone have this wretch committed or something ? What the hell is wrong with the voters of Massachusetts ?
#7
I lived in Boston for two years (1991 and 1992) and it amazed me the degree of resignation the people had about the state and local government control over everything. I had spent the two previous years in Portland, Oregon and the contrast was startling. I hadn't really known just how much influence the Kennedys had over Massachusetts politics until I lived there. The take I got was, "Yeah he's a sonofabitch but he brings a lot of Federal money to the State so we'll keep voting for him".
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/28/2005 9:03
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# 7 you are right about the family name - having money = power etc. I think the U.S. has to re think a strategy with that country. I know that many spouse's and loved ones back home- NO LONGER CARE and want their sons and daughters, wives, husbands, BACK HOME. Especially all the children who have parent's that are serving in the military. SO once again, there are two sides to the coin. **
Andrea
Posted by: Andrea ||
01/28/2005 9:36
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#9
I think we'd all like to have everybody home. What Teddy is calling for is the complete abandonment of the Iraqi people to totalitarianism. He says the insurgents are fighting for the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people same as we are. That's absolute bullshit and he knows it. That's the same as saying the KKK was only trying to win the hearts and minds of the people they brutalised. He hates George Bush so much he doesn't care how many people die in order to achieve his aim of destroying the President. He has just given hope to the terrorists that if they can hold out a little longer we will pull out and they will win. I think he knows that and doesn't care. I have very dear friends in Iraq and have lost some already and if any more of them die or are maimed because of this sonofabitch's political grandstanding I will forever hold him responsible. He's lost influence in the Senate and he knows it. He's becomming increasingly irrelevant and I think he's throwing a tantrum for the attention and to hell with who it hurts.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/28/2005 10:08
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#10
"That's absolute bullshit and he knows it."
DB, agreed it is bullshit, but the scary thing is, that asshole Kennedy might actually believe it.
#14
DB, he absolutely believes it. That's why it is not unreasonable to say he is insane. The reality distortion field this guy has been in for the last 40 years would screw up anybody's mind. That's why we dumped hereditary monarchy.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/28/2005 17:09
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# 9 D.B. I see your point of view. History will only repeat itself in Iraq and its people- whether we intervene or not. I think we are fighting a losing battle. I can't count the death toll, neither can Kennedy and does not care.
I can not think of any government official elected or appointed that should be in office for 40 year's***
Andrea
Posted by: Andrea ||
01/28/2005 17:31
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#16
Xbalanke,I didn't mean to portray ALL of the State's residents as taking off the Federal dole. I met some truly great people there and other than the political scene with "the enlightened" who couldn't comprehend that other parts of the country are pretty well educated and politically savy as well, I had a great time. The State income tax in Mass is very high in order to pay for all the social services there and a lot of people really bitched about it but until the Liberals are voted out there really isn't much they can do about it.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/28/2005 19:40
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#17
Last week it was the The Bag Lady's turn to get it hole and dig. This week it's Teddy's turn.
Dig, dig, dig, Democrat boys and girls. Deeper and deeper and deeper...
#18
Yes, Andrea, History will repeat herself. Iraq is just a larger, slightly more civilized Afghanistan -- two years later. But try this experiment: write to the soldiers to whom you are sending calling cards and other people's magazines, and ask them for their response to your little idea. And do report back to us, dear, on the replies. We really care.
Radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir walked out of his terrorism trial in Indonesia yesterday to protest the reading of a witness interrogation identifying him as the leader of a group linked with al Qaeda. The 66-year old cleric is accused of heading the Jemaah Islamiah group, blamed for a string of bombings, including the 2002 Bali nightclub blasts that killed 202 people. Various governments have said the group is linked to al Qaeda. About one hour into the court session, Bashir, wearing a white shirt and Muslim skullcap, joined his lawyer in a walkout to protest against the reading without the witness present.
"I'm making like a banana and getting the heck outta here."
"If the defence lawyer walks out, I'm not willing to be investigated in this trial without a lawyer," Bashir said before calmly leaving the court.
The man knows how to make an exit...
His lawyer, Mohammad Asegaf, told the court: "With all due respect to this court, we are withdrawing ourselves from this trial". Bashir, who has been jailed during the trial, and his lawyer sat in a nearby room in the court complex while the trial continued. They returned later for the end of the session. The police report read by the prosecutor was of a witness who said that Bashir had taken over the leadership of Jemaah Islamiah after the death of its founder. At last week's session, Ali Imron, serving a life sentence for his role in the Bali blasts testified Bashir had nothing to do with that attack in the latest in a series of setbacks to the prosecution's case against the cleric.
This month, a former interpreter for US President George W Bush testified that Washington had pressed Indonesia to secretly detain and hand over the cleric before the Bali bombings. Bashir's defence lawyers had called the witness, Frederick Burns, to bolster their contention that Bashir's trial is politically motivated and the charges against him are a result of US pressure. A previous effort after the Bali bombings to convict him of leading Jemaah Islamiah failed. The cleric did, however, serve 18 months for immigration violations and was re-arrested using anti-terror statutes in April. The new trial began in October. If found guilty, Bashir could be sentenced to death. Some security experts see Jemaah Islamiah as al Qaeda's Southeast Asian wing. Interestingly enough, so do most of its members ...
As well as a majority of Rantburg readers!
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/28/2005
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Stick his lawyer in the slam too. Contempt of Court should do...
[I]n Helmand, Afghan army and police units killed the commander of Taliban forces in the province and captured the deputy commander, a spokesman for the provincial governor's office said today. Mohammad Wali Alizai said the Taliban commander, Mullah Mohammadullah was killed in a fire-fight in the Musa Qala district of Helmand on Wednesday, while his deputy Mullah Ghaffar was wounded and handed over to US forces. A US military spokesman could not confirm the report. Taliban officials were running for the Pak border not immediately available for comment. Alizai said Mohammadullah and Ghaffar were wanted for several attacks on US and Afghan forces in the region. One policeman was killed and a senior police official and two others were wounded in the fighting, he said.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
01/28/2005
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Disillusioned youths are rioting with increasing frequency across Algeria as social problems become a new headache for a government still focused on fighting a long-running Islamic rebel uprising. Youths have burned and looted public buildings and set up road blocks in towns across the oil-rich North African country almost daily over the past month. They are protesting over a rise in the cost of living and a lack of housing and jobs. "Youths are striking back and unless the government wakes up and helps the poor and disillusioned, riots will spread," Malek Serrai, head of think-tank Algeria International Consult, said on Thursday.
Demonstrations are rare in a country with tight security and a state of emergency in place since 1992, when the cancellation of elections a hardline Islamic party was set to win sparked more than a decade of violence. The government, focused on fighting rebels and bringing Algeria out of a decade of isolation, has struggled to meet the demands of such a young population, increasingly restless now that the security situation has improved. Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia has blamed the rioting on politicians manipulating the young. "Order will be preserved and the law will be rigorously enforced," he said this week. To try to stop the unauthorised demonstrations, dozens of people have in recent days been jailed for disturbing public order and destroying state property.
On Thursday, newspaper Le Soir d'Algerie said five people received six month sentences for riots 10 days ago in towns in the Mohammadia province for disorder and property destruction. Six youths were also sentenced to eight months in jail for their part in riots when 3,000-5,000 inhabitants of Birine, some 200 km (120 miles) south of the capital, took to the streets on Jan. 17 to protest against a rise in gas prices. Anti-riot police have intervened in a dozen towns in recent weeks often using batons, tear gas and water cannon to disperse crowds. Dozens of people, including police, have been injured.
Analysts worry the strong-arm tactics are not working because much of Algeria's youth -- with 75 percent of the 33 million population below 30 -- see no future for themselves. "The street has become the last way to get heard," said Mahmoud Belhimer, editor and professor at Algiers University. The government has promised to spend $50 billion to boost infrastructure, including one million lodgings, and create jobs in a country where unemployment is around 25 percent. Critics say local government corruption and bureaucracy has meant projects have not been finished. More than 65,000 flats finished a year ago have not been distributed, partly because of accusations of local corruption, analysts said. "The reduced terrorist threat means the young no longer fear opposing the authorities. The government is facing its biggest challenge since terrorism began," Serrai said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
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THIS IS BULL SHIT I M NOW IN TUNISIA AT THE EL MANAR HOTEL IN SID BUSSHAID AND YOUR POST IS CRAP TWO DAYS AGO I WAS IN ALGERI
Posted by: ENI PETROLIO ||
01/28/2005 4:08
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Three days ahead of the controversial vote, a leading Iraqi resistance group vowed not to target polling stations or attack innocent Iraqis, saying the real battle is against the occupiers.
"Yeah! Watch out Marines...we're coming for ya! Yeeeaarggh!"
In a statement, a copy of which obtained by IslamOnline.net, the Salah Al-Dine Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Front for Resistance, said they would not be dragged into a battle against their own people.
"Cos we're all about the democracy, man. Power to the people and all that."
The group pledged to avoid targeting polling stations or being involved in getting killed by the Iraqi National Guard spilling the blood of innocent civilians. "We are keen not to harm the lives of all Iraqis regardless of their sects and races -- that is an order for the armed wing of the group to follow," said the two-page statement. "We should not be dragged into side battles which do not affect the true struggle with the enemy occupiers," it added. In its statement, the Iraqi resistance group dismissed the elections as a purely American demand that would help resolve the Iraqi dilemma. "It is meant to legitimize the occupation and turn it into a fact on the ground," it added.
"So go ahead, vote already. We'll be over there in the men's room, um...cleaning our...er, guns."
The Islamic Front for Resistance warned that the National Assembly would be used to rubberstamp all security and economic agreements with the occupation forces.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
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Amid an escalating campaign of tribal violence in troubled southwestern Pakistan, a key railway track was ripped apart by a blast for the third time in a week yesterday, officials said. The attack in Balochistan province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, came a day after the military announced plans to set up a new garrison to protect the country's largest gas field. In yesterday's attack, a blast ripped apart the mainline near Mushkaf, about 85 kilometers west of the provincial capital Quetta, senior railway official Ghulam Rasool told reporters. "The track was damaged by explosives planted by saboteurs," Rasool said. Two trains to Quetta were delayed for a few hours before engineers could repair the main line, which links Balochistan with the southern port city of Karachi, he said.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
01/28/2005
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quit buying North Korean rail track!
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/28/2005 15:32
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Balochistan seems like it has all the characteristics necessary to be a test site for the neutron bomb. Perhaps Mr. Kahn could be sent there to supervise the victims test.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/28/2005 17:52
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Colonel Domingo Tutaan, military Southern Command (SouthCom) chief of staff, told reporters in Manila that also part of the meeting was renegade MILF commander Commander Wahib Kalil Tondok. However both officials could not confirm if there were any casualties in the attack, which targeted houses in a marshy area on the outskirts of Datu Piang and Saudi Ampatuan towns. Tondok's group was known to have raided an Army detachment in Linantangan town last January 9, leaving seven soldiers and 15 MILF fighters dead. The MILF leadership has disowned the attack, which came amid efforts to restart peace talks between the government and the rebel group. The MILF also refused to surrender Tondok's group despite an ultimatum from the military.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
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Six soldiers from Afghanistan's new national army were killed and six others wounded in an internal clash today, the highest number of casualties the force has suffered in a single day since it was formed three years ago. A defence ministry spokesman said it was not clear if the clash inside a military base in the restive southern province of Helmand was the result of a dispute among the troops or due to ''friendly fire''.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
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A militant videotape appeared on an Islamist Web site on Thursday, apparently showing the killing of a man described as the secretary of Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. The tape, described as issued by a group led by al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, shows Salem Jaafar al-Kanani speaking to the camera before he is shot several times while lying on the ground. Text in the video said the Al Qaeda Organisation of Holy War in Iraq was "implementing the ruling of God" against Kanani. "I advise all Iraqis, especially young people, not to back or cooperate with the occupying enemy," Kanani says before he is shot, adding that he had worked as an election organiser in Allawi's Iraqi National Accord party.
"I'm Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and I approved this message."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
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#1
This is the man Teddy Kennedy syas is just trying to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/28/2005 7:31
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"I am Ted Kennedy and I approved this message"
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 8:01
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The tape, described as issued by a group led by al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
Once again, Zarqawi wasn't actually present for an execution. I find it interesting he's missing all the fun.
WASHINGTON (al jazeera Reuters) - The United States should start to withdraw militarily and politically from Iraq and aim to pull out all troops as early as possible next year, Sen. Edward Kennedy said on Thursday after he slugged down a 1/2 quart of Wild Turkey. After Sunday's Iraqi elections, Kennedy said President Bush should state he intends to negotiate a timetable with the new Iraqi government to draw down U.S. forces. Where the heck has he been? In a drunken haze? (I answered my own question)
At least 12,000 U.S. troops should leave at once, Kennedy said, "to send a stronger signal about our intentions to ease the pervasive sense of occupation." Teddy the Lesser, foreign policy expert. That's right Teddy...let's help further destabilize the situation and endanger the US troops on the ground. Damn...that's exactly what you pushed for in Vietnam. And look how many more soldiers and marines died because of it you treasonous pig?
The Massachusetts Democrat, who opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq, became the first senator to lay out a plan for Bush to start withdrawing troops a day after the Pentagon warned lawmakers that strikes by insurgents may increase after Sunday's elections. What's he running for...lifeguard at the Chappaquiddick??
Besides ending its military presence, Kennedy said the United States must stop making political decisions in Iraq and turn over full authority to the United Nations to help Baghdad set up a new government. Is this the whiskey talking or is he really that stupid?
He said an international meeting led by the United Nations and Iraq should be convened immediately in Iraq or elsewhere in the Middle East to start that process. Will it be as effective as the meetings held for the Israel-Paleo "peace" process, or the Sudan?
"We now have no choice but to make the best we can of the disaster we have created in Iraq," Kennedy in a speech to the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. "The current course is only making the crisis worse." Ted is f***ing idiot and is endangering the lives of soldiers and marines who have sworn oaths to protect his sorry a**.
He said the indefinite presence of U.S. troops is "fanning the flames of conflict" in what has become "a war against the U.S. occupation." Talk to the troops you drunken skunk. Talk to the troops.
The Republican National Committee criticized the Senate's leading liberal for delivering "such an overtly pessimistic message only days before the Iraqi election." He's guilty of sedition and treason...Vietnam redux.
"Kennedy's partisan political attack stands in stark contrast to President Bush's vision of spreading freedom around the world," RNC spokesman Brian Jones said. What he said.
Kennedy emphasized that Bush must also make it clear that the United States does not intend to have a long-term presence, and announce that it will dramatically reduces its embassy in Baghdad, which is the largest in the world. While many in the Republican-led Senate have expressed dismay as the death toll of U.S. troops stands at more than 1,400, Kennedy is the first to lay out a plan for a troop withdrawal, his office said. The same kind of cowardly plan that left Mary Jo in an overturned car to die.
In the Republican-led House of Representatives, 24 Democrats this week introduced a resolution calling on Bush to begin an immediate pullout. Once again democraps pushing politics over the welfare of the troops in harm's way. Vietnam Protests Redux.
The administration has refused to offer a timetable for pulling troops, and Bush on Wednesday said the United States would remain until the new government can defend itself. We lay out the timetable after we eliminate the bad guys and give the fledgling democracy a chance to survive.
Democrats like Kennedy have been the strongest critics of the war but many Republicans are also concerned, in part because Iraq is costing more than $1 billion a week and has put a great strain on America's military and its budget. Yes, it has. But we are there, and to win anything less than complete and total victory would be a greater travesty than Vietnam. Walking away would embolden the islamo-cockroaches. Ultimately they would spread their infection to the rest of the Middle Eastern governments, and threaten the Western World.
I dunno. I know that Pres. Bush has been a bit overwhelmed and undertaffed lately, while the good senator was expediting his Cabinet nominees, and I'm delighted that the senator also found time to help draft our foreign policy without even being asked. In fact, the Senate needs a few more go-getters like Kennedy.
Posted by: anymouse ||
01/28/2005
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Ted "Killer Rapist" Kennedy would be bitch slapped and thrown in the basement if his brothers were still alive. JFK would use a 9 iron on his adams apple...
#2
what can you expect from a pos son of a bootlegger--his father took he same tact re the appeasement of hitler as this drunken twit does against islamofascism--who's next at johns hopkins--chimpsky--the wolf must be frothing at his former colleagues for letting this red nosed dunce do his LLL peacenik jig at his former U.
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
01/28/2005 2:37
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Thanks anymouse, i couldn't have editorialized as well as you did. Everytime see or hear Mr. traitor my blood boils.
Posted by: please stick a fork in him ||
01/28/2005 5:45
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Now, Kennedy said, the United States and the insurgents are both battling for the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people and the U.S. is losing.
This is like saying the KKK was just trying to win the hearts and minds of the people it was brutalizing. I really can't decide if he's gone completely insane or if he wants to hurt the Bush Administration so bad he doesn't care how many people die in order to do it. Either way, he's gone lower than I ever thought he would.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/28/2005 7:19
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#6
Sounds as though someone's getting their money's worth.
#7
...At least Joe, John, and Bobby wore their country's uniform. All Teddy did before he hit the Senate was to get 86'd out of Harvard for cheating.
By the way, is he setting a timetable for letting us know how Mary Jo died? Just asking.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/28/2005 7:26
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Like Father like Son. Teddy's Pa blamed Roosevelt for Joe's death, not Hitler. If he had had his wish we would be Hieling today.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/28/2005 7:29
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Ted Kennedy is a socialist. A socialist will do or say anything to advance a socialist agenda. It doesn't matter if his words encourage an armed enemy of the USA, it doesn't matter if a US military gets kill by a suicide bomber who decided to become a suicide bomber becuase of Kennedy's speech. The only thing that matters is the agenda.
If Kennedy gets Americans killed, then that is a price he is willing to make others pay. If he stands atop a pile of dead Americans he thinks he really is taller and better than anyone else.
As I have said before:
Liberals love dead Americans, espeically dead US Military.
#10
Teddy is just like his pappy, Joe Kennedy was a huge Hitler appeaser.
Posted by: Duke Nukem ||
01/28/2005 7:48
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#11
badanov, I'm not so sure Teddy is a true Socialist. He seems to espouse socialism with "the government's money" and In wanting more and more Government controls on our everyday lives as long as those same controls don't apply to him and HIS money. I lived in Boston for two years (1991 and 1992) and it amazed me the degree of resignation the people had about the state and local government control over everything. I had spent the two previous years in Portland, Oregon and the contrast was startling. I hadn't really known just how much influence the Kennedys had over Massachusetts politics until I lived there. The take I got was, "Yeah he's a sonofabitch but he brings a lot of Federal money to the State".
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/28/2005 8:59
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#12
Not such a bad idea, Ted! Think how much shorter World War II could have been if we declared we were only going to fight the fascists for a year and after that, the hell with it!
#14
well its interesting to see Ted does NOT agree with McCain and other Rumsfeld critics. McCain et al think weve had too few troops in Iraq. Ted thinks we have too MANY.
#15
Sounds like Teddy dried out dusted off one of his old Hamburger Hill speeches.
He was an ignorant prick then, and he's still an ignorant prick now.
#19
James Taranto comments on "the malignantly magniloquent Massachusettsan" in the WSJ's "Best of the Web" (emphasis added):
John F. Kennedy's presidency is hard to evaluate because it was so brief, but he is best known for the soaring rhetoric of his 1961 Inaugural Address . . . Kennedy's brother Ted, whose 15,423 days of service make him the second most senior U.S. senator, is best known for driving off a bridge and leaving a young woman to drown. His attitude toward America's role in the world is the opposite of his brother's; it's best summed up as an inversion of FDR: We have nothing to offer but fear itself. . . .
. . . Ted Kennedy is, as The Wall Street Journal puts it today, "cheerleading for America to fail" because his ideology leaves him unfit to cope with American success. If he has his way, democracy in Iraq will suffer the same fate as Mary Jo Kopechne.
Posted by: Mike ||
01/28/2005 15:55
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#20
after he slugged down a 1/2 quart of Wild Turkey after he slugged down a quart of Wild Turkey (and once again became a wild turkey).
#22
I'm telling you the Gonzales vote is going to be soooo funny. If you think Black leaders are mad about the Condi vote, wait until Latino leaders see the display next week.
#23
JQC - are you trying to ruin my taste for Wild Turkey?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/28/2005 19:58
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#24
I personally feel that he is attempting to set up for the (very distant) possibility that just such an announcement will be made.
If it was made, it would set prop up his drunken ass presidential hopes.
Political posturing. Why couldn't we trade him out for Robert? I'll have to go speak with my connections on the far side of the veil . . .
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
01/28/2005 20:09
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#25
I'm torn about him shutting up. On one hand he is giving aid and comfort to the enemy. In the long run this will be his legacy in history. He'll be remembered for this like Rather will be remembered for the Burkett docs.
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
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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
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...This is the time to celebrate Hind el-Hinnawy, a 27 year-old Egyptian costume designer who with one bold gesture scandalized a religiously conservative society wallowing in its own schizoid hypocrisy and had her baby in that ambivalent zone of civil (urfi) marriage, going on to file a paternity suit against the famous, or by now infamous, actor, Ahmed Al-Fishawy.
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Radical Muslim cleric 
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WASHINGTON (
