U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy (Dummycrat) implied Tuesday that congressional colleagues who do not share his support for a failed gun ban being reintroduced in the House are mentally ill.
After all, he's Teddy's son, he knows mentally ill.
The Rhode Island Democrat also accused lawmakers who oppose the anti-gun legislation of not caring about police safety. Kennedy is the son of U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and the nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy and U.S. Sen. Robert Kennedy, both of whom were shot to death. The younger Kennedy made the comments at a Capitol Hill press conference to promote the reintroduction of the "50 Caliber Sniper Rifle Reduction Act." The bill, introduced by U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), would ban the manufacture of such rifles and severely limit the sale or transfer of existing .50 BMG rifles except for those owned by the military or civilian law enforcement agencies. "Any policy maker who, on the one hand, says that they are for combating terrorism but, on the other hand, will not back this legislation, backed by Representative Moran, to me has a lot of explaining to do," Kennedy said "In fact, I think it would be the definition of insanity to say that."
In addition to challenging his opponents' mental stability, Kennedy also questioned whether his fellow lawmakers could claim to support police while opposing the gun ban. "If we don't pass this legislation, this Congress, implicitly, is saying that they do not care about the welfare of our law enforcement community," Kennedy said.
John Burtt - chairman of the Fifty Caliber Institute, the education and advocacy arm of the Fifty Caliber Shooters Association - told Cybercast News Service that Moran, Kennedy and their colleagues are trying to create "backdoor legislation to ban all firearms in this country. "What they're doing is using hyperbole to create anxiety on the part of the uninformed public that these guns are dangerous, that they are a threat to national security," Burtt said, "but they are not." Burtt said there has not been a single instance of terrorists using the .50 BMG in an attack on U.S. soil. A handout provided to the media at Moran's press conference listed 12 instances in which a .50 caliber rifle was used, threatened or intended for use in a criminal act. But Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, reviewed the list and questioned the nature of the examples. "It's usually people who were prohibited from owning any kind of firearm to begin with and, as a result, should have been prohibited from owning a .50 caliber already," Gottlieb said. "There's no need to have a new law. They ought to just enforce the existing laws."
Democrats aren't interested in enforcing gun laws, they just want to ban guns. Except for their bodyguards, of course.
Moran believes, however, that there is no legitimate reason for civilians to own the rifles. "It serves no purpose for hunting, whatsoever," Moran claimed. "If you went hunting with this, you would not have any trophy. All you'd have left would be some pieces of fur and hoof."
"Besides, hunting is icky!"
Burtt refuted Moran's assertion. "I know a lot of people who hunt with the .50 BMG," Burtt said, noting that many people pursue elk, bear and other large game animals with the rifles. "When a .50 caliber round hits a large animal like that, it has tremendous knock-down power. But, it does nothing more than put a half-inch hole into the animal and knock it down. This is just somebody who, obviously, has no knowledge, whatsoever, about the hunting capabilities of these firearms making statements that are completely inaccurate," Burtt added.
Well, that's never stopped them before
U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), whose husband was murdered and son wounded by a gunman on a Long Island commuter train in 1993, contributed to Moran's "no legitimate use" argument. "This has nothing to do with the Second Amendment. This has nothing to do with taking away the right of someone to have a gun to protect themselves [sic]," McCarthy said.
Gottlieb disagreed. "As far as Carolyn McCarthy is concerned, the Second Amendment doesn't protect any firearm," Gottlieb said. "If she had her wishes, she'd classify every firearm under a foot long as a 'Saturday Night Special,' and ban it, and characterize every gun over a foot long as an 'assault weapon,' and ban it also." McCarthy and her anti-gun colleagues are using a "divide and conquer" strategy, according to Gottlieb, to disarm law-abiding Americans. "If you pick on one type of gun at a time and say, 'the Second Amendment doesn't protect it,' most gun owners who don't own that kind of gun won't get upset and she might get her legislation passed," Gottlieb explained. "Then, lo and behold, she'll come back for another gun the next time and another gun the next time until there are no guns left."
Yup, witness the Saturday Night Special outrage, then on to Plastic Guns, Assault Rifles, large capacity magazines, the so-called Gun Show Loophole, etc, etc..
McCarthy's comments seemed to support Gottlieb's assessment as she attempted to further demonize the .50 caliber. "Look at this thing," McCarthy urged. "Do you want this in your home? Do you want your children to play with this?"
No, that's Daddy's toy
Burtt said McCarthy's comment betrays her ignorance of firearms and their safe handling. "I don't want any children 'playing' with firearms, and they shouldn't even be touching them without the supervision of an adult," Burtt said. "I can't believe a representative of our Congress would make a statement like that." Gottlieb, however, said he was not surprised by McCarthy's comments. "Nobody said that the opponents of gun ownership are intellectually honest," Gottlieb said. "As far as these members of Congress are concerned, there's no such thing as a good gun."
Posted by: Steve ||
02/09/2005
9:58:51 AM ||
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#1
Jim "the war is all the Jooos fault" Moran, D-Auschwitz? Its always good to be lined up with a guy like that. Democratic inability to defeat him in a primary is one of the reasons they're leaking reasonable people like a sieve.
McCarthy and Kennedy have family histories that earn them a certain amount of slack for hysteria on this subject, but not enough for a law imposing it on the rest of us.
#2
A handout provided to the media at Moran's press conference listed 12 instances in which a .50 caliber rifle was used, threatened or intended for use in a criminal act.
*snort*
Twelve? That wouldn't show up in crime statistics if they all happened on the same day!
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/09/2005 10:45
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#3
The other day I asked (I never saw an answer) do the threats of things like this often turn into realities. I mean if you threaten someone with your .50 caliber rifle what are the odds you would use it? Or how often do threats pan out to actual violence?
#7
I'm a lot more worried about a police department that feels it *needs* a .50 cal. In fact, our local Sheriff bought himself a .50 cal MACHINE GUN, a serious military weapon. I hardly think it will ever be necessary to use a .50 cal MG on Darnell, after he has held up that same 7-11 again, just like it wasn't necessary when he held it up the other five times.
#8
I have no idea why this hysteria even got started. Some gun grabbing fool one saw a Barret on TV and decided that 50 cal were bad I suppose. I know this ban part of a concerted diabolical plot to deprive citizens of the right to keep and bear arms. These political hacks need to be branded as traitors and purged from elected office.
#10
Have you all forgotten that Al Queda is comming here and buying .50cal sniper rifles at gun shows? /sarcasm off.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/09/2005 14:18
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#11
I am more concerned that they haven't banned the Kennedys from owning cars.
Posted by: Gir ||
02/09/2005 14:26
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#12
More stupid legislation by lazy ass congressmen who are trying to make a name for themselves. These people are such pussies and liars. Don't confuse them w/the facts folks.
#14
Looks like the Dems are hauling out the anti-gun campaigns again (although at least with Patrick Kennedy, I can understand somewhat why HE would take this position, with two assassinated relatives). Just got an email from a childhood friend today--the one who is in tight with moveon.org--she sent a link on truemajorityaction.org, which is asking people to create their own spending plans and send them to congress. With this missive came what sounded like a canned Dem message about how it's better to spend money on "butter, not guns". So it's the same ol Dem party-guns are bad, bad, bad, social program spending is good, good, good.
Dems don't live on the same planet as the rest of us. In their world, no one needs guns-everyone is humane and wonderful and life and death confrontations are managed with a discussion. They hate guns, until one is at their heads--and then it's too late to change their minds.
#15
Anonymoose, Law Enforcement could use a .50 sniper rifle because SWAT teams cannot guarantee they can get close enough to get a shot with lesser rifles.
#16
Patrick Kennedy is a lightweight carpetbagger who moved to RI (where I used to live) so he wouldn't have to run against any of his cousins in Mass. He was elected handily on his name alone.
A Providence radio station's morning show always parodies him as The Beaver (from Leave It to Beaver, for you younger RBers). Spot-on and hilarious!
#19
He's had relatives harmed by guns, so that's his big selling point? Using the Kennedy standard then, I guess we'll have to ban 1968 Oldsmobiles. Let's ban skis. Let's ban small private planes. Let's ban nannies. Let's ban drinking on Easter weekend in Palm Beach and all summer in Hyannis.
The day I listen to these assholes tell me how to live, I'm hanging up my jock.
Zafarullah Tarar, president of Pakistan People's Party Bahauddin and former parliamentarian, and Rana Zahid Mehmood, leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in Faisalabad, joined PML after a meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi on Wednesday.
Elahi claimed that Pakistan Muslim League was going to emerge as the largest political party of Pakistan after the party's warm embrace by local party leaders. "Pakistani people believe in dynamic leadership," he said adding that the government's people friendly policies had gained the trust of the public. "PML's roots will strengthen and go deeper with the joining of two influential groups from Faisalabad and Mandi Bahauddin," he said.
The two new members are accompanied by Munawar Hussain Tarar, a former provincial assembly member, Irshadullah Tarar, a union council nazim, Ali Asghar Gujjar and Shaukat Ali Rana. "PML wants to ensure people's direct participation in important decision making. The local body elections aim to transfer power to the grass-root level," said the chief minister, and reiterated, "The local body elections will be held in 2005."
This article starring:
Ali Asghar Gujjar
Irshadullah Tarar
Munawar Hussain Tarar
Shaukat Ali Rana
Zafarullah Tarar
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
9:33:39 PM ||
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Saddam Hussein and his top lieutenants will take a step closer to trial in the coming weeks but don't expect an O.J. Simpson-style courtroom drama, a Western legal expert involved in the process said on Wednesday. Saddam and 11 of his most senior aides face charges that range from crimes against humanity to genocide after decades of brutal rule ended in April 2003 by the U.S.-led invasion. The Western expert, briefing reporters on the condition of anonymity, said the next hurdle in the process was when investigating judges refer charges against some of the 12 to an Iraqi trial court. He said that this would happen "in weeks." "Chemical Ali," Saddam's feared cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, and former defense minister Sultan Hashem are expected to be two of the first accused to go to trial. Once lodged, proceedings could move fast, depending on how many pre-trial challenges to the legitimacy of the process are made by defense lawyers. Many in Iraq want speedy justice and death for the leaders of a government that murdered and tortured hundreds of thousands. Iraq has the death penalty, traditionally delivered by either hanging or firing squad. But there will be no show trial in the Western sense, although the proceedings will be televised and open to the public.
Hello, Court TV!
"It is not going to be a system where you have Johnnie Cochran cross-examining somebody in the O.J. case for these periods of drama," he said, referring to the defense lawyer who helped U.S. celebrity O.J. Simpson defeat murder charges in 1995. This type of trial by jury does not exist in Iraq, or indeed in many other places outside the United States and Britain. Instead, Iraq's civil law system, which mirrors the civil law proceedings of European countries such as France and Italy, will plot a much more methodical and systematic path. Nor will the trial itself take very long, although all the accused will have the right to an appeal. "Trials in civil law settings are nowhere near as protracted as trials in common law settings," said the expert, comparing a process that would last only a couple of months to U.S. hearings that can stretch into a year or more. Judgment and sentencing are made simultaneously in Iraq.
The accused will face five judges in the trials court, who will cross-examine witnesses on atrocities such as the gas attacks against Kurds in the north in the 1980s, for which Chemical Ali is accused, or the suppression of the 1991 Shi'ite uprising in the south. Trials will also probably be run separately for the different crimes, for example one trial for the Kurdish killings and a different one for the crushing of the Shi'ite rebellion. Witnesses may enter protection programs and some will probably appear in secrecy to safeguard their identities and prevent reprisals. They may also have to address the court at the same time as other witnesses, if the judges decide that they have offered conflicting testimony. The trial judges, who act as questioners and have a much more prominent role than either the prosecution or defense lawyers, must also weigh an absolute mountain of evidence.
Some of this has come from more than a dozen mass graves that have been exhumed and studied by forensic experts seeking clues to crimes that span more than 25 years. "I will give you an example. In the Anfal campaign (in Kurdistan) we have 182,000 killed, thousands of villages destroyed and millions of documents that need to be studied and prepared to build the case," Iraqi Human Rights Minister Bakhtiar Amin told reporters this week. "Identifying responsibility in the chain of command and who gave the orders is not going to be easy."
Posted by: Steve ||
02/09/2005
9:31:45 AM ||
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A spokesman for Iraq's most influential Shia cleric has denied reports that the cleric is demanding that Islam be the country's sole source of law. Hamed Khafaf said Ayatollah Ali Sistani believes Iraq's new constitution should respect what he described as the Islamic cultural identity of Iraqis. Shia success in the election led to speculation that the ayatollah wanted a constitution based on Sharia law. Mr Khafaf said the speculation was baseless. He insisted that Ayatollah Sistani's position had not changed. In Ayatollah Sistani's view, his spokesman went on to say, it was up to the elected representatives of the people in the new National Assembly to decide the details. Mr Khafaf said the ayatollah had approved the current wording of Iraq's interim constitution, which states that Islam is a source of legislation and no law contradicting Islamic tenets may be passed. Reports at the weekend that prominent Iraqi Shia clerics were now pushing for a constitution based solely on Islamic Sharia law caused concern among Iraqi secular and Kurdish leaders. BBC regional analyst Sadeq Saba says the statement by Ayatollah Sistani's spokesman suggests that the ayatollah has no intention of turning Iraq into an Iranian-style theocracy.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/09/2005
9:24:48 AM ||
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#1
Priests anywhere *always* lust for political power. It is inherent in them. They can no more not want political power than they can want to stop breathing. *Crafty* priests, however, prefer to use gradualism to achieve those goals, unlike their hot-headed brethren who just cannot abide the idea of the sinful managing their own affairs..
#2
that's an awfully cynical view of all religious practitioners that you can't back up. I reject that blanket characterization.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/09/2005 11:04
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#3
Doesn't fit with my experience either.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/09/2005 11:14
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#4
The "always" is the problem. I know very many, in fact most, religious folk who don't fit the description. But there is an element in any priesthood (not only religious) that "knows what is good for everybody" and seeks the power to enforce it even on those who disagree. That's what politics is about. I'm also thinking gun controllers, anti-smokers, drug warriors, and leftist academics. They are priests too, just not in organized religions.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/09/2005 11:21
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"Ayatollah Sistani's spokesman suggests that the ayatollah has no intention of turning Iraq into an Iranian-style theocracy." Well DUH! If Theocracy is failing in Iran, it aint going to work in Iraq. He would find himself in a three-way civil war, that he couldn't possibly win. And make no mistake the Mullacracy in Iran is heading for a fall in the not too distant future.
#7
I think Sistani actually wants the best for the people of Iraq and has no intentions of following the footsteps of the mad mullahs nextdoor. Sistani isn't an Iranian spud like the Tehran Tater punk.
But as always, only time will tell.
Posted by: Mac Suirtain ||
02/09/2005 15:36
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#8
This is fairly good news - he has seen the experience fo Iran, and decided to keep his voice a moral one, not a temporal political one.
Your view is biased, quite obviously.
You may want to readjust it in terms of facts, not popular images from movies and TV, and distorted history from socialist liberal atheists authors and professors of the 20th century.
The "power hungry" religious person is a hollywood fiction. Far more death in this past century is at the hands of the godless in the name of "the people". Pol Pot, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, etc.
#9
Mac Suirtain---Sistani isn't an Iranian spud like the Tehran Tater punk.
Great image and use of language! LOL!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/09/2005 23:23
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#10
This is fairly good news - he has seen the experience fo Iran, and decided to keep his voice a moral one, not a temporal political one.
Your view is biased, quite obviously.
You may want to readjust it in terms of facts, not popular images from movies and TV, and distorted history from socialist liberal atheists authors and professors of the 20th century.
The "power hungry" religious person is a hollywood fiction. Far more death in this past century is at the hands of the godless in the name of "the people". Pol Pot, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, etc.
#11
This is fairly good news - he has seen the experience fo Iran, and decided to keep his voice a moral one, not a temporal political one.
Your view is biased, quite obviously.
You may want to readjust it in terms of facts, not popular images from movies and TV, and distorted history from socialist liberal atheists authors and professors of the 20th century.
The "power hungry" religious person is a hollywood fiction. Far more death in this past century is at the hands of the godless in the name of "the people". Pol Pot, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, etc.
The U.S. military faces between 13,000 and 17,000 insurgents in Iraq, the large majority of them backers of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his Baath Party, a senior military official said Tuesday... The senior military official told CNN the bulk of the insurgency is made up of 12,000 to 15,000 Arab Sunni followers of Saddam's party. The Baath Party was overthrown by a U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. Of those, the source said 5,000 to 7,000 are considered "committed" fighters, with the rest considered "fence-sitters," criminals or "facilitators" who contribute material support or sanctuary to the guerrillas. The official, who is familiar with the region, said about 500 other fighters have come from other countries to battle the U.S.-led forces in Iraq, while another group of fewer than 1,000 are believed to be followers of Jordanian-born Islamic terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi... I guess you have to parse CNN stories to try to figure out what parts are more like reality, and what parts are fabricated. Examples: "...a(n) (unnamed) senior (higher ranking than PFC) military (Coast Guard) official (works in an office) said (overheard in a bar) Tuesday (or at least that is what my editor told me to write)..."
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
02/09/2005
9:20:47 AM ||
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#1
Just as we had experts who (claimed) they could read between the lines of Pravda, we are going to needs experts for interpreting CNN.
#4
actually theres nothing in the above story that looks out of line. In fact id say its good news. A few months ago it was said there about 20,000 insurgents, and all were assumed to be "full timers". And the left was trying to insinuate they were ordinary folks angry at the US. Instead we find less than 17,000 left - which might well indicatet that the siege of Fallujah and subsequent combat is having an effect, and that insurgent numbers are steadily dropping. Many of the 20,000 are parttimers, and the majority of the insurgency is, as the admin has said, former regime elements. And about 1500 foreigners, out of about 6000 commited fighters, sounds about right.
#7
Except, LH, that since it comes from CNN, we can't trust a word of it. I'll wait for a more reliable source, like Debka or a bum muttering to himself on the street.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/09/2005 10:47
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#8
the biggest problem with CNN is that they've lost so much of their American market (and credibility) that they're tailoring their news and bias for foreign (CNNi) markets. That's why Jordan was surrounded by applauding arab media after he made that lying accusation in Davos
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/09/2005 11:07
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#9
It is generally instructive to follow the money. In this case the advertising dollars that fund news operations. Who are the big advertisers for CNN? Is the advertiser profile greatly different for CNNi? What's the revenue split between domestic and foreign advertisers?
I've got to believe at some point Time Warner will clean house at CNN. If they don't, it means that tin foil news reporting is actually good business.
#10
it means that tin foil news reporting is actually good business.
Seems to have been good for the last 40 years.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/09/2005 11:54
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#11
What do you mean "anymore"?
Who believed them before?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/09/2005 12:51
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#12
RC. well hay, then we somebody could have posted something from CNN about the Jackson trial. Jordan is a schmuck for what he said in Davos, but the implication that this particular story is untrustworthy just doesnt fly.
#14
LH -- he's not simply a schmuck. He's delusional. Insane. Nuts.
You have to wonder how deeply his delusion effects the coverage from CNN, particularly since the head of CNNi is saying the same things.
CNN simply cannot be trusted, for ANYTHING. Heck, I think they should be booted out of every press pool and no member of the US government should speak to them unless and until they make a complete airing of Jordan's claims.
If Jordan's right, then he's got the biggest damned story in history. If he's lying to curry favor with overseas anti-Americanism, then the public has a right to know.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/09/2005 13:46
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#15
Who watches CNN? Your kidding right? People actually still watch CNN?
Only Headline News, and just to gaze at Rudi Bakhtiar.
#22
but the implication that this particular story is untrustworthy just doesnt fly.
maybe...but what you are really saying is that, based on your knowledge from other sources - you believe this story rings true. Nobody, not even you, LH, would believe it based soley on CNN's credibility alone.
If this does not illustrate the MSM bias, I do not know what does. Nowhere in the article there is even the slightest insinuation of the possibility that the scum might have died from torturing. Can you imagine the frenzy of accusations of torture if the SOB would have die in US custody?
A militant described by police as one of al Qaeda's top leaders in Kuwait has died in custody after being arrested in connection with a wave of violence in the Gulf state, officials said on Wednesday. Amer al-Enezi, arrested late last month, died overnight at a military hospital due to a "collapse in blood circulation," Lieutenant Colonel Adel al-Hashash of the Interior Ministry told the state news agency KUNA.
That'll happen when your heart stops beating
Enezi had been interrogated by police since his capture on January 31 after a gunbattle in which five militants and a policeman were killed, and was suspected of involvement in other deadly clashes between militants and security forces last month. Some security sources described him as the spiritual leader of al Qaeda in Kuwait.
Goody, a dead holy man
Security sources said Enezi's death would not halt the activities of sympathizers of Osama bin Laden in Kuwait, who are bent on destabilizing the staunch U.S. ally and key oil producer. "The death of Amer al-Enezi does not mean the eradication of terrorism in Kuwait," one security source said. "There are other leading suspects besides Amer al-Enezi. He was number one but there are other key militants being pursued." Analysts and diplomats say Kuwait, a tiny country of 2.5 million people, is better placed to stamp out militancy than neighboring Saudi Arabia where al Qaeda has launched massive attacks against Western and government targets.
Security sources said Enezi, a Kuwaiti, had confessed that militants were planning to attack U.S. military convoys and other American targets as well as Kuwaiti security forces in suicide bombings using booby-trapped vehicles. The sources told Reuters police were still interrogating about 15 suspected militants, including Enezi's wife. Police are still searching for two other key militants, they said.
Crown Prince Sheikh Saad al-Abdulla al-Sabah, whose government has vowed to eradicate the militants, has ordered the Interior Ministry to set up a special anti-terror unit. Kuwait has rounded up scores of suspected militants since the first clash in January. On Saturday, five people surrendered after police surrounded their hideout, but at least three were released later after investigations showed they had no link to the violence, security sources said.
Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah was quoted on Tuesday as saying the crackdown would continue and Kuwait was prepared for the worst. "The round with the terrorists is not over," Sheikh Sabah was quoted by al-Rai al-Aam daily as saying. Al-Watan quoted him as saying: "This matter will continue... what we see in the region may spread to other Gulf states."
This article starring:
AMER AL ENEZI
Peninsula Lions
Crown Prince Sheikh Saad al-Abdulla al-Sabah
Lieutenant Colonel Adel al-Hashash
Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah
Posted by: TMH ||
02/09/2005
9:13:39 AM ||
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(2005-02-08) -- Faced with the fact that former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean is the only person still seeking the chairmanship of the Democrat National Committee (DNC), the nine-member panel of elected officers announced today that it had posted the job on CareerBuilder.com, and would consider applicants from outside the party.
"Clearly we can't just hand over the reins to a man whose claim to fame is losing Iowa to John Kerry and John Edwards," said party vice chair Linda Chavez-Thompson, a former top official at both the AFL-CIO and the AFSCME. "We need someone who knows how to win. So, we're looking at Republican resumes."
Although electing a Republican to lead the 440-member DNC would seem counterintuitive, Mrs. Chavez-Thompson said, "First, we need to focus on winning elections. Once we recapture the White House and Congress, we can take a look at ideology and other peripheral matters."
Other party leaders privately said that the "working with a bunch of monkeys" ad for CareerBuilder, which ran during the Super Bowl, "sparked some real soul searching at the DNC."
Posted by: Korora ||
02/09/2005
9:11:56 AM ||
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n January the Muslim American Society (MAS) issued a press release titled "CNN Agrees to List Muslim charities." The MAS's public affairs arm, the "Freedom Foundation" said it had contacted national media concerning their failure to list Muslim charities in tsunami coverage as worthy recipients of aid dollars. MAS recommended two charities to national media. Those two organizations were Islamic Relief USA and the Islamic Circle North America. "Both are recognized and respectable NGOs who have been working in Asia and Africa for years," Executive Director Mahdi Bray said. MAS claimed victory with CNN, but CNN's reaction seems mixed.
The CNN webpage does include Islamic Relief Worldwide, based in London, the parent group of Islamic Relief of Burbank, California. But it omits the Burbank branch and the Islamic Circle of North America.
There are outstanding and substantial controversies regarding both. The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) has previously been described by the L.A. Times as allied with Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) a Pakistani fundamentalist group that calls Osama Bin Laden the hero of the Islamic world. At a JI rally a few years ago, millions of dollars and 22 pounds of gold were raised for the cause of armed jihad throughout the world. Bin Laden was invited but could not safely attend to see the fatigue-clad mujahadeen youth that had turned out to honor him. A spokesman for another terrorist group, HAMAS, was able to accept the invitation and attended. ICNA sends money to JI for what it contends are charitable purposes.
Khalid Duran, a professor, scholar and president of the IbnKhaldun Society, a cultural association and forum of independent Muslim intellectuals, has an interesting view of this. He has testified on Capitol Hill, in the Swedish Parliament and the German Bundestag, on topics such as Afghanistan, Algeria, Bosnia, Iran, Sudan and terrorism. Duran has alleged that the ICNA is the North American branch of JI.
Is there support for that view? We examined notes on a meeting that transpired in Woodside, New York, in July 2000 that may shed light on the issue. The official notes are of a "unity" meeting held between ICNA and a smaller American group, Jamaat-al-Muslimeen (JM.) JM was represented by its leader Dr. Kaukab Siddique. Who represented ICNA? Qazi Hussein Ahmed, the Pakistani leader of JI. Indeed, the notes state that JI has an organization in America called the Islamic Circle of North America. It's no wonder that ICNA conferences in America have often featured Islamist ideology.
The other recommended charity, The Islamic Relief of Burbank, California, also has been the subject of controversy. Syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin reported in her book "Invasion," that the Islamic Relief accepted $50,000 from an alleged bin Laden front-group through its British office.
Malkin reported, "Data from the United States Department of Labor reveals that four Muslim charities under federal investigation for ties to terrorism applied for high tech, or H1-B visas, on behalf of at least sixteen workers over the past years. Three of the charities...had their assets frozen by the Treasury Department after the September 11 attacks. The fourth, Islamic Relief Worldwide in Burbank, California, accepted $50,000 from an alleged bin Laden front group at its British office, according to Treasury officials."
The standard for a media company listing a charity in its coverage of tragedies should be the credibility and reputation of the group, not its religious affiliation. Media should resist pressures to automatically list Muslim groups as worthy recipients of American aid dollars. After all, concerned citizens want to help victims of natural disasters, not assist organizations that may contribute to producing more victims of terrorism.
One held for planting bomb in grocery
A youth was caught while dropping three homemade bombs at a grocery in Pallabi last night. Police said the grocer Rezaul caught Rafiqul Islam, 20, as he tried to flee after dropping the bombs packed in a paper-made bag at his store on Kalshi Road at about 9:30pm. Informed by Rezaul, police arrived at the scene, and took the bombs and Raniqul to Pallabi Police Station. "The bombs stuffed in tin cans were wrapped in red and yellow sticking tape," said Sub-Inspector Nasir of Pallabi Police Station.
Damm kids today
JIC to quiz Bangla Bhai operative
The Jagarata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) operative, who had admitted his party's involvement with several bomb attacks across the country, was taken on a seven-day remand yesterday. Gabtali police the same day sent Shafiqullah to the Joint Interrogation Cell (JIC) in the capital. Shafiqullah had been quizzed twice by the JIC.
"You gonna talk, Shafi, or do ya want to go "recover" some explosives tonight?"
He was arrested with explosives and bomb making materials at another JMJB cadre Joynal's house on January 16. He stands accused in two cases filed in connection with bomb attacks on jatra (folk play) shows in two villages of Bogra. The blasts killed two and injured at least 70. Yesterday's remand was granted under Explosives Substance Act.
Meanwhile, a top official of the district police told The Daily Star that the local police do not have enough manpower and expertise to investigate the case properly. Criminal Investigation Department (CID) should deal with the case, he added.
3 outlaw leaders killed in 'crossfire'
Three leaders of Purbo Banglar Communist Party (M-L Lal Pataka) were killed in 'crossfire' between police and the outlawed party cadres at Jugipara union of Bagmara early yesterday. Of the dead, Rajshahi Regional PBCP Commander Abdur Razzak alias LG killer Razzak, 43, hailed from Santipur, District Commander Abdur Rashid Khan alias Chapati Rashid, 25, from Baroihati, and Idrish Ali alias Pistol Idrish, 44, from Beerkutsa of Bagmara.
LG killer and Pistol, sounds like a couple of rappers.
With these three, the number of deaths in shootouts involving Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and police since June last year rose to 221.
A busy bunch of boys.
Detective Branch of police on Monday afternoon arrested them at Ektara Bazar in Bagmara. Following information obtained from the arrestees, a team led by assistant superintendent of police (Puthia circle) took them to Boalipara olive orchard.
Ah yes, the old deserted orchard at 4:00am trick
As police reached the olive orchard at around 4:00am, accomplices of the three opened fire on them. Police returned fire starting a half-an-hour-long shootout. At one stage, the three while trying to flee the scene got shot.
Fancy that
Police took them to Bagmara Health Complex, where the doctors declared them dead.
"They're dead, Jim"
Police recovered an Indian pistol, one local gun, two bullets and two cartridges from the scene of the shooting. They could not show any criminal records against them, but said the three while under interrogation had confessed to hatching a plan to kill politicians, businessmen and people 'responsible for eliminating the outlaws from Bagmara'.
"Honest, they confessed. And they got accidently shot trying to escape, really!"
Sub Inspector Omar Faruk of Bagmara Police Station had filed a murder case in this connection against 22 unknown people.
Meanwhile, family members of the dead claimed that the three were not involved with PBCP and police killed them cold-bloodedly. Talking to the local journalists, they also said that the three were not arrested at Ektara Bazar, rather in different areas of Atrai upazila in Naogaon. Abdur Razzak was arrested at Batila Bazar while Idrish at Katila Bazar, and Abdur Rashid at Ibrahimnagar. They were later taken to Boalipara olive orchard and shot dead, alleged the family members.
Well, we know that part is true
Locals told the journalists that they heard only three gunshots.
Three outlaws, three shots, three stiffs, sounds like a half hour gun battle between the cops and a outlaw gang to me.
In April last year, Abdur Rashid was kidnapped and tortured by Bangla Bhai's men. He was arrested in December last year but was released later. Bid to snatch criminal from cops foiled
Police and local people yesterday foiled a bid to snatch notorious criminal Idul from the custody of two jail guards at Shyamoli, where they had taken him for an x-ray. In what appears to be a carefully devised plot to free Idul, who is accused among other crimes of killing two policemen at Motijheel last year, his accomplices opened fire on the unarmed jail guards in front of Shyamoli X-ray and Pathological Laboratory on Road No 1. Constable Ashraf Ali Sheikh, 45, of Dhaka Central Jail received two bullets in his head and right chest.
The attackers, numbering four, then took Idul on board a microbus and attempted to make off. But, braving gunshots, locals and a police patrol team on duty nearby chased and stopped the bus. They caught Idul, but the assailants managed to flee.
Wonder of wonders, he didn't get caught in a "Crossfire"
A Daily Star investigation found indications that, apart from Idul's associates, jail officials and staff of Orthopaedic Hospital might have been involved in the escape plot.
Ah, I love a good plot with my morning coffee
The prison guards brought Idul to the laboratory to take x-ray by a CNG-run autorickshaw, which is quite unusual, considering the notoriety of the arrestee. At the hospital, a doctor said their x-ray unit was out of order and referred them to the private diagnostic centre.
But the Daily Star investigation found that the x-ray machine at the hospital does work and the hospital authorities refer patients to diagnostic centres outside only when a digital x-ray is needed. Shyamoli X-ray and Pathological Laboratory does not have any digital x-ray machine either.
"It seems to me that some dishonest jail officials and even some doctors and staff at the Orthopaedic Hospital are involved in the diabolical plot," said a top official of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), seeking anonymity. "We will investigate how and why such a notorious criminal was sent to Orthopaedic Hospital by an autorickshaw escorted by only two unarmed guards, and how he was referred to such a diagnostic centre. After investigation, we will report the findings to the higher authorities," said DMP Deputy Commissioner (West Division) Mazharul Hoque.
I'd say it sounds like a setup to me......did you just say "unarmed guards"? WTF, over?
A three-member committee comprising Dhaka Central Jail doctor, jailer and deputy jailer has been formed to investigate the incident.
That would be the doctor who sent him out for a x-ray, the jailer who assigned unarmed guards, and the deputy jailer who gave them a autorickshaw instead of a car? Yeah, they'll get to the bottom of it.
This article starring:
SHAFIQULLAH
Jagarata Muslim Janata Bangladesh
Jagarata Muslim Janata Bangladesh
Purbo Banglar Communist Party
Posted by: Steve ||
02/09/2005
8:48:04 AM ||
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Re: Idul. It has to be an authorized crossfire.
President Bush said on Wednesday Iran with a nuclear weapon would be a "very destabilizing" force and that it was important for the world to speak with one voice against Tehran's program.
"The Iranians just need to know that the free world is working together to send a very clear message: Don't develop a nuclear weapon," Bush said... Noteworthy Drudge Report headline. The picture reminds me of a Texas State Trooper with his hand on his revolver, telling a perp not to "go for it."
Large image here...
FORT STEWART, Ga. (AP) - Army soldiers are being issued new fatigues with easy-to-use Velcro openings and a redesigned camouflage pattern that can help conceal them as they move rapidly from desert to forest to city in places like Baghdad.
"It might give you the extra second you need, save your life maybe," Sgt. Marcio Soares said Tuesday after trying on the new all-in-one camouflage uniform that is the first major redesign in Army fatigues since 1983.
Soares' unit, the Georgia National Guard's 48th Infantry Brigade, is the first to be issued the new fatigues as part of a $3.4 billion Army-wide makeover being phased in over the next three years.
The uniform will replace the standard forest camouflage - green, brown and black - and the desert camouflage - tan, brown and grey - now used by U.S. troops in Iraq.
Twenty-two changes were made to the uniforms, most notably the new camouflage pattern.
Instead of bold jigsaw swatches of colors, the new camouflage pattern uses muted shades of desert brown, urban gray and foliage green broken into one-centimeter segments. Black was eliminated completely because it catches the eye too easily.
The resulting camouflage - similar to a pattern the Marines adopted two years ago - conceals soldiers in forest, desert or urban battlegrounds, said Sgt. 1st Class Jeff Myhre, the uniform's lead designer.
"In Baghdad, you can go from the desert to vegetation to the city in 10 minutes," Myhre said. "What we realized very quickly is there's no camouflage that's the 100 percent solution for any environment."
Other changes were prompted by complaints from soldiers in the field. Jacket and pocket buttons, which can snag on nets and other gear, have been replaced with zippers and Velcro.
Pockets at the jacket's waistline were moved to the shoulders, where soldiers can reach them while wearing body armor. And the uniforms have a looser fit, with more room to wear layers underneath.
Rank, unit and name patches attach with Velcro rather than being sewn on. Infrared-reflecting squares on the shoulders make friendly troops easier to identify while using night-vision goggles.
"The only problem I have with the uniform is, once the soldiers put it on, they don't want to take it off," said Brig. Gen. Stewart Rodeheaver, commander of the 48th Infantry Brigade, which has 4,000 reservists training at Fort Stewart to go off to Iraq in May.
The Army started developing the uniform two years ago and field-tested prototypes in Iraq. The final version was rolled out June 24 - the Army's 229th birthday.
Col. John Norwood, the Army's project manager for soldier equipment, said the new uniforms will be issued in coming months to units being sent to Iraq. New soldiers entering basic training will be issued them by October, and all Army troops will be required to wear them by April 2008.
The new uniforms cost a little more - $85 each, compared with $60 for the old ones. But Norwood said the Army will save money by having to produce only one combat uniform rather than three - standard greens, desert camouflage and cold-weather fatigues.
And they should make soldiers' lives easier, too. The fabric is wrinkle-free and machine-washable, and the new suede boots do not require polishing like the old black boots.
"If you have a choice whether you teach them to polish boots or teach them how to survive in battle, we'd rather teach them to survive in battle," Rodeheaver said.
Posted by: .com ||
02/09/2005
8:01:14 AM ||
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#1
When was the last time Rodeheaver ever talked to Top?
Wonder how long before the 1SGT gets them starched?
Should take about a month or two before he figures out how to polish the suede boots as well.
#3
I remember when we transitioned to the BDUs from the old fatigues (BFD). Change is good as long as it has a purpose. Nobody will stay in the Army because they have slick new uniforms. However, the Air Force did have success keeping pilots on by offering them cool leather flight jackets. I think they also gay them $25k bonuses, but the many I talked to said the Jacket was the deal maker.
The Indian army will have a new, high-profile rapid-action strike command to take on Pakistan along the Punjab-Rajasthan sector.
It will be called the South-West Command and will be made up of integrated battle groups with the capability to "obliterate
an enemy objective" rather than merely hold ground. Outlook has learnt that the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) finally cleared this long-pending demand of the army at its January 28 meeting...
The new command, the product of major brainstorming in army headquarters for over five years, is a bid to rationalise its operational readiness in keeping with its new war doctrine which was introduced last year.
This doctrine has moved away from the earlier concept of holding and strike formations, and instead looks at integrated battle groups. The 11-month vigil on the western borders during Operation Parakram in 2001-02 revealed that protracted deployment was problematic—susceptible as it was to pressure from the international community, which treats it as a 'hostile' buildup. A permanent, dedicated command was seen as preferable.
The key operational features of the new command will be:
*Accent on mobility rather than holding ground; a developed capacity to strike deep into enemy area.
*Can strike at several enemy targets simultaneously.
*It will be primarily offensive; oriented towards a short, sharp war.
*Better interface with the air force. Hence, better coordinated operations.
The impetus for creating the new command was prompted by what was happening in Northern Command. Past conflicts with Pakistan revealed several problems in the Shakargargh bulge in northern Punjab. What was also worrisome was the huge responsibilities that had tied down its Nagrota-based 16 Corps.
This corps, considered the largest formation of its kind anywhere in the world, was bogged down with too many operational duties. For instance, it was deploying formations in the mountains as well as planning for operations in the plains south of Jammu. While it had conventional defensive and offensive responsibilities in the event of a war, it also had to oversee counter-terrorist operations. With so much on its plate affecting its operational capabilities, army HQ thought that it was time for a massive shakeout.
The new command would mean that the responsibilities of the Northern, Western and Southern Commands would be rationalised to improve their strike capabilities. Earlier, these three commands would be responsible for varied tasks: taking on mountain warfare, counter-insurgency operations and planning offensive operations in the plains. For example, Nagrota's 16 Corps, under the new order, will primarily look at counter-terrorist and defensive operations. The strike capability will henceforth rest with the Western Command and the new South-West Command. "This would mean improving our ability to inflict optimum damage on the enemy," says a senior army officer... I hardly think that this re-org is oriented towards Pakistan.
#3
Derbyshire has a point, but there's one sticky problem with just upping and leaving: Iraq has what the modern world needs under its sands and chaos cannot be allowed to reign there. Some order has to be brought to that region whether it be trying to keep it all together or splitting it up into parts. We can't just say we're done and pack up and go.
Lets do a little calculation.
(a) How much would it cost USA to buy oil from, say, Mexico at 200$ per barrel?
(b1) How much is going to be invested in Iraq, has been invested in proping the economies of various Arab countries, Turkey, etc...
(b2) How much the protective anti-terrorist measures cost?
Now, subtract the total in (a) from the total in (b).
#5
We could let Baghdad go . . . and Tikrit, Fallujah and the like. If I understand correctly those parts have no oil, they are simply central to the country. Let it split up into Shi'ite south and Kurdistan (screw the Turks, if they didn't want Kurdistan they should have tried integration, not elimination).
But it would not be good for the region as a whole and would probably allow for Iran to acrquire by force the local resources. Iran doesn't have nukes . . . yet, I hope, but that is no reason to give them anything.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
02/09/2005 10:38
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b1) How much is going to be invested in Iraq, has been invested in proping the economies of various Arab countries, Turkey, etc...
If Iraq can't be kept together, then I'd be inclined to invest in the Kurds, and get Kuwait involved in the oil fields in the south. Leave everything else to sort itself out? Sounds okay to me.
(b2) How much the protective anti-terrorist measures cost?
Protective? How about seeking out and killing terrorists outright?
Look, even if we could entirely replace Middle East oil with stuff from somewhere else, some of our allies (such as Japan) would likely still be dependent on that region. If the Japanese get shafted, we won't be able to escape the effects. It's in our interest to take our allies into consideration, and I mean REAL allies, not jerks like the Phrench or to a lesser degree, the Germans.
#7
#5 Facial expression 87b (polite attention verging on actual interest).
#6 Let me put it another way.
Derb, and I, believe the following
(a)US efforts in Iraq are wasted --- Islam & democracy are mutually exclusive (If you'll say Turkey, I'll be disappointed).
(b)Persian gulf oil and Jihad are a package deal.
(c)Major victims of worldwide rise in oil prices will be China and EU (whose members' budgets involve a LOT of "carbon" taxes).
A powerful car bomb exploded on Wednesday in Madrid after a telephone warning from a caller claiming to represent the armed Basque separatist group ETA. At least 10 people were injured. The blast came a week after Parliament overwhelmingly rejected a proposal from the Basque legislature to give the troubled region autonomy bordering on independence. The Interior Ministry said the bomb went off around 9:30 a.m. near Ifema, a convention center where King Juan Carlos was to attend the opening of an art show later in the day. Television footage showed smoke rising from the site, outside a building housing the French computer manufacturer Bull.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
6:09:42 AM ||
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I've been meaning to comment on this for a while. The Madrid train bombings upped the terrorism stakes in Spain. It made ETA look like a bunch of woosies. Not real terrorists. So they were faced with either getting out the game or proving they were 'real' terrorists.
#2
hell if the israelis have to cave in the to arabs in the disputed terrorities why shouldn't the world be crapping in its pants over Spain occupying basque areas
#4
ETA has always been fairly careful about not getting too many people killed. Their called in warnings are pretty good about getting in before the bombs go off and the areas are pretty clear when it goes boom.
Of course, IIRC, Spain's current government said that they had ETA under their thumb . . . but ETA is not stupid enough to go and get the King Killed.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
02/09/2005 6:52
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Television footage showed smoke rising from the site, outside a building housing the French computer manufacturer Bull.
Hmm. How appropriate, at so many levels. Still, if I was granted the wish of seeing the French vanish off the face of the planet, or ETA, I'd choose ETA: France's sins are those of omission, while ETA's are those of comission.
#7
They had to of helped al-Queda on the Madrid Bombings. Now I'm sure al-Queda is helping them. They can harm the West and not even get blamed for it.
#8
Be it ETA or AQ setting off the bombs in Spain, the message to the gov't and the people of Spain is this: We're still here, so don't get out of line.
Posted by: Mark Z. ||
02/09/2005 11:13
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Remember that France has part of the homeland, as well. This was also a message to France, where several ETA terrs have been arrested in the last year after being ignored for decades.
You are woefully informed. ETA tried to sink a ferry with 1400 persons on board, to fell the skyscrapper "Torre Espana" 5,000 persons on baoard, too destroy one of Madrid railways stations (several thousand potential victims). It was not moderation but bad luck (for them) and police action who prevented major massacres.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
6:09:03 AM ||
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"A judge ... ordered jurors on Wednesday to acquit one of the suspects on a charge of pretending to kick a prisoner. ... Cooley is also charged with hoisting a detainee on a forklift and driving it, and with simulating a punch against another detainee, seen in a photograph. He has pleaded innocent to all charges."
Two of the three charges related to simulated acts? IIRC the prisoners were hooded in those photos so may not have even noticed. Poor effort abuse, if you ask me. The forklift thing at least showed some imagination.
Though he reiterated his promise at the Sharm el-Sheikh ceremony, Abu Mazen's commitment to halt incitement to violence and hatred on official PA TV was already violated this past Friday. In late January, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) toured PA Television studios, instructing the director to tone down incitement as well as programs heaping praise upon him. Just this past Friday, a sermon was aired on PA TV outlining the planned destruction of the Jewish State. Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) has translated the sermon into English and publicized it.
PMW Director Itamar Marcus explained: "The Palestinian Authority, in its Arabic messages to its people, has always denied Israel's right to exist and has often presented the peace process as a tactic leading to Israel's destruction. This goal was repeated Friday, on the Palestinian Authority television, in the official sermon."
The sermon was delivered by senior Islamic Imam Ibrahim Mudyris. The Imam explained that the limitation of the diplomatic process is that it can only conquer up to Israel's 1967 borders. He said that at a later stage the PA will achieve its goal of bringing about the complete destruction of Israel - the "return to the 1948 borders" and the towns of "Haifa, Jaffa, Lod, Ramla, Natanyah [Al-Zuhour] and Tel Aviv [Tel Al-Rabia]."
The following is the text of the Friday sermon, broadcast on official PA television on February 4, 2005:
Imam Ibrahim Mudyris:
"We do not love any land more than the land of Palestine. Had the Jews not expelled us from it with their planes, their tanks, their weapons, their treachery around us, we would never leave you, O Palestine. (Quotes Muhammad, who promised he would return to Mecca as a conqueror).
"We tell you Palestine, we shall return to you, by Allah's will. We shall return to every village, every town, and every grain of earth which was quenched by the blood of our grandparents and the sweat of our fathers and mothers. We shall return, we shall return. Our willingness to return to the 1967 borders does not mean that we have given up on the land of Palestine. No!
"We ask you: Do we have the right to the 1967 borders? We have the right. Therefore, we shall realize this right with any mean it takes. We might be able to use diplomacy in order to return to the 1967 borders, but we shall not be able to use diplomacy in order to return to the 1948 borders.
"No one on this earth recognizes [our right to] the 1948 borders [before Israel's existence]. Therefore, we shall return to the 1967 borders, but it does not mean that we have given up on Jerusalem and Haifa, Jaffa, Lod, Ramla, Natanyah [Al-Zuhour] and Tel Aviv [Tel Al-Rabia]. Never.
"We shall return to every village we had been expelled from, by Allah's will. Why? All the international laws deny the Palestinians their real borders. We might agree, but in the name of Allah, our grandfathers' blood demands that we return to them [the borders]. Your fathers' blood was shed there, at the villages, at Ashqelon, at Ashdod, at Hirbia [a village between Gaza and Ashqelon, where Kibbutz Zikim is located today] and at others places, hundreds of villages and towns. [Their blood] demands it from us, and it shall curse anyone who will concede a grain of earth of those villages.
"Our approval to return to the 1967 borders is not a concession for our other rights. No!... this generation might not achieve this stage, but generations will come, and the land of Palestine... will demand that the Palestinians will return the way Muhammad returned there - as a conqueror."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
6:06:57 AM ||
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headlines misleading - Its not like PA TV said this in an editorial. No, some loony imam said it in a sermon, and PATV dont yet have sufficient cojones to pull the plug on this loony imam.
#4
No good, mojo. The Crusaders didn't allow the Jews within the walls of Jerusalem. And of course, there was no Jewish State either. Otherwise an interesting thought, though ;-)
Hamas and Islamic Jihad are waiting until Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas updates them Wednesday about the previous day's Sharm el-Sheikh summit before they decide whether to halt attacks on Israeli targets. Israel Radio reported Wednesday morning that Abbas was slated to meet the militant Palestinian factions later in the day to describe the outcome of Tuesday's summit with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, where the two leaders declared an end to all military and militant operations.
"We are going to listen to Mr. Abbas when he returns," Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip said Tuesday. "We are going to sit down with him, and then we are going to declare our position." Abu Zuhri dismissed the summit, but said it was too early to decide whether Hamas would resume its activities against Israelis. "It did not achieve anything," he said. "From our people's interests, the Israeli position did not change."
Osama Hamdan, the Hamas representative in Lebanon, also said it was too soon to say whether attacks would continue. Saying Hamas is not bound by the truce, Hamdan said Hamas' decision will depend on "achievement of a substantial change [in Israel's position] to meet Palestinian demands and conditions."
"The talk about what the leader of the Palestinian Authority called a cessation of acts of violence is not binding on the resistance because this is a unilateral stand and was not the outcome of an intra-Palestinian dialogue, as has been agreed previously," Hamdan told The Associated Press.
But Palestinian Legislative Council member Ziyad Abu Ziyad dismissed Hamas' declaration that it is not bound by the cease-fire declarations, saying the militant group will maintain regional quiet as long as Israel does not renew military activity. Abu Ziyad said Wednesday that the Hamas statement was likely a "political" way of distancing the group from the official summit declarations and does not mean it will continue carrying out terror attacks. Hamas "is committed [to maintaining the quiet] and will continue to be committed as long as Israel commits" to refraining from military activity against the Palestinians, Abu Ziyad told Israel Radio.
Hamdan also said that in order for a truce to succeed, Israel must release Palestinian prisoners and provide "a clear commitment ... to halt all kinds of aggression against the Palestinian people. These two conditions were not achieved at the summit. Overall, I think this summit did not achieve any valuable interest for the Palestinian people." However, he did not specify how the commitment Sharon made at the summit fell short of Hamas' requirement. The prime minister said "Israel will cease all its military activity against all Palestinians everywhere."
Meanwhile, the top Islamic Jihad leader in Gaza also said he would await Abbas' update. Nafez Azzam criticized Sharon for failing to explain exactly what he is committing himself to. "We have mentioned several times before that calm cannot come from one side, and cannot come for free," Azzam said. "We will wait for the return of Mr. Abbas, and then we will see."
On arriving with Abbas in Amman after the summit, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia downplayed the Hamas and Islamic Jihad reactions. "There are good understandings between all the Palestinian groups and factions and leaders," Qureia said. "We'll discuss with them now, immediately, the results [of the summit]." Abbas has held talks with them and other militant Palestinian groups in an attempt to convince them to agree to a truce with Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
6:00:47 AM ||
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My first thought reading the title was that they would now seek Abbas' approval for future operations against Israel - i.e. report to him and take his orders henceforth. Heh.
#2
Apparently Abbas is a real dimbulb that everyone thought they could manipulate. I'll give the whole process 4 weeks at most before someone gets whacked/boomed and it all falls apart. But the USA has gone through the whole good faith thing.
#3
Phil, I agree. Tho I really do wish that this whole mess would be settled. I think the palestinian people need it.
Unfortunately I dont see that happening until the people realize that Hamas and the rest (including Arafat) dont give a rats ass for them. Hamas is to addicted to murder and sending kids off to kill themselves to give it up.
I give it 2-3 weeks before Hamas either blows up another bus or kills some young palestinian girl and blames it on Israel (like last time) to give themselves an excuse to murder again.
#4
Saying Hamas is not bound by the truce, Hamdan said Hamasâ decision will depend on "achievement of a substantial change [in Israelâs position] to meet Palestinian demands and conditions."
It's amazing how, after being whacked hard in any confrontation with Israeli forces and basically being on the losing end of things, these guys are still under the impression they're in a position to make demands and set conditions.
Israel reopened the Erez crossing between Israel and Gaza on Wednesday as one of several gestures meant to ease the lives of Palestinians following the Israeli-Palestinian summit held in Sharm el-Sheikh. Palestinian workers will be able to cross into Israel starting Thursday, the radio said.
The gestures were approved Tuesday night by Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz. Several of the planned gestures were slated to take effect on Wednesday, and others will be implemented in the coming days. Some 1,000 Palestinian workers from the Gaza Strip will be allowed to enter Israel and work, after no such permits were granted in the past several months. Several hundred businesspeople from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank will also be granted entry permits to Israel. Several hundred Gaza Strip Palestinians will be allowed to work at the Erez Industrial Zone in northern Gaza, and 400 Palestinians who work for international relief agencies will be allowed to travel freely between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
5:58:53 AM ||
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Nepal's King Gyanendra was facing mounting opposition from a legal challenge and planned street protests as top lawyers said his emergency rule was against the spirit of the constitution.
In the first court action since the king sacked the government, seized power and imposed a state of emergency, a Supreme Court judge Wednesday ordered his newly-appointed government of loyalists to explain the arrest of a former bar association chief, a court source said.
The court issued the order in response to a habeas corpus petition by Nepal Bar Association president Shambhu Thapa, after former bar association president Sindhunath Pyakurel was arrested the day the king seized power on February 1.
Meanwhile, activists who escaped a roundup after the power grab met underground to finalise details of an anti-monarchy protest which they plan to stage in the capital on Thursday in defiance of a ban on public gatherings.
Krishna Pahadi, former president of the Human Rights and Peace Society (HURPES), said some 20 organisations would be represented and all those taking part expect to be detained.
"For sure people who will attend the meeting will be arrested but you cannot be detained for more than three months," he said.
Numbers were not as important as the symbolism of the demonstration, Pahadi added.
"Tomorrow, even if there are few people, the presence of various organisations will give a symbolic message ... It will (send) a clear message that we are against (the) royal move."
He also hoped it would help mobilise students and political movements, many of which are planning their own protests after their leaders were rounded up.
Shortly after he attended the meeting, Pahadi was arrested, HURPES said in a statement. It said the event would proceed as planned.
The Nepali Congress political party said some of its leaders have crossed into India to avoid arrest but others who escaped the security net were meeting underground.
"(They) are planning a strategy of peaceful street protests against the king's move and to demand the restoration of the people's democratic rights and freedom of speech," party spokesman Arjun Narsingh said.
He said Tuesday that some 1,000 activists from political parties, student groups and trade unions have been rounded up nationwide.
Army spokesman Brigadier General Dipak Gurung said only around 100 political and student leaders had been locked up since the king intervened and could be detained for three months.
But the Maoists have rejected his takeover. They have called for an indefinite nationwide strike and traffic blockade starting February 13 to protest his actions and to mark the anniversary of the start of the insurgency.
Senior lawyer and constitutional expert Sher Bahadur appealed Wednesday for the king to end the emergency, saying it "does not fall within the purview of the constitution" since parliament, which must endorse emergency rule, was dissolved in 2002.
"The royal enforcement of the emergency rule is not in keeping with the spirit of the constitution," he said.
Ganesh Raj Sharma, senior advocate of the Supreme Court and a top constitutional expert, agreed that the king's actions needed endorsement by the house.
Because there is no parliament, he added, "the current changes brought by the king do not fall within the purview of the constitution."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/09/2005
5:56:20 PM ||
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A mosque established and funded by basketball star Hakeem Olajuwon gave more than $80,000 to charities the government later determined to be fronts for the terror groups al-Qaida and Hamas, according to financial records obtained by The Associated Press.
A mosque established and funded by basketball star Hakeem Olajuwon gave more than $80,000 to charities the government later determined to be fronts for the terror groups al-Qaida and Hamas, according to financial records obtained by The Associated Press.
The U.S. Agency for International Development cut off two government grants to the Islamic African Relief Agency in 1999, saying funding the group "would not be in the national interest of the United States."
A former fund-raiser for the relief agency, Ziyad Khaleel, was named in a federal trial in 2001 as the man who bought a satellite telephone that bin Laden used to plan the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Numerous news organizations reported shortly after the 2001 terrorist attacks that the relief agency was among more than two dozen Islamic charities under scrutiny for possible terrorist ties.
Olajuwon also participated in a 1999 celebrity bowling tournament for the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, which the U.S. government shut down in 2001, accusing it of sending money to Hamas. The Islamic Da'Wah Center gave more than $2,000 to the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation in 2000, according to its tax returns.
At the time, Olajuwon was vice president of the mosque — which was named after him — and provided more than three-quarters of its money. Olajuwon heads the separate foundation that now controls the Islamic Da'Wah Center.
All the donations came before the government designated the Holy Land Foundation and the Islamic African Relief Agency as terrorist fronts. Vipul Worah, an accountant for Olajuwon's charities, said U.S. authorities have never asked about the contributions.
Olajuwon, who is married with four daughters, became a Muslim during his professional career and was known for playing in key games while observing dawn-to-dusk fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Tax returns for Olajuwon's Islamic Da'Wah Center show it gave the Islamic African Relief Agency $61,250 in 2000 and $20,000 in 2002.
Those donations accounted for 2.2 percent of the $2.8 million the Islamic African Relief Agency received during 2000 and 1.4 percent of the $1.4 million it raised in 2002, records show.
Olajuwon said the donations came after fund-raisers from the Islamic African Relief Agency visited Houston. He said the group told him donations would help the needy in Africa.
"They came and approached us and everything was legitimate. I had no knowledge of their activity," Olajuwon said.
The Treasury Department alleged in October that several top officials of the group's branches overseas are al-Qaida members or associates and the group gave bin Laden hundreds of thousands of dollars in 1999.
The federal government says the Sudan-based Islamic African Relief Agency's U.S. branch is IARA-USA, based in Columbia, Mo. That group has challenged the terrorist designation in court, saying it is separate from the Sudanese group.
Shereef Akeel, a lawyer for IARA-USA, acknowledged the U.S. group and the Sudanese group "may be in a partnership together" and some people with links to IARA-USA have terrorist associations.
"Just because someone traveled in the same circles, just because one employee was at the same conference as someone who supported terrorism, doesn't mean the organization sponsors or condones acts of terrorism," Akeel said.
The Holy Land Foundation was shut down in December 2001. Federal authorities say it was the main U.S. fund-raiser for Hamas and sent $12.4 million to the Palestinian terrorist group from 1995 to 2001. Hamas has claimed responsibility for dozens of suicide bombings in Israel that have killed scores of people, including Americans.
The Holy Land Foundation and several leaders are awaiting trial on criminal charges of supporting terrorism — charges they deny. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler rejected the group's 2002 lawsuit challenging its terrorist designation, ruling federal officials had "ample evidence" of financial support for Hamas.
Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites) said in July that an indictment against several officers was "neither a reflection on the well-meaning people who may have donated funds to the foundation, nor is it a reflection on the Muslim faith and its adherents."
In 2000, the year after Olajuwon participated in the Dallas bowling tournament for the Holy Land Foundation, the Islamic Da'Wah Center gave the group $2,430, tax records show. That money was a tiny fraction of the $13 million the foundation raised that year.
Olajuwon said the bowling tournament was one of many charitable events he has attended.
"I get all sorts of requests from charitable organizations," Olajuwon said. "It was a bunch of kids and I gave them autographs."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/09/2005
5:54:02 PM ||
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Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas pledged publicly in Sharm e-Sheikh Tuesday to put an end to four years of violence, and in a private meeting, expressed their determination to make these declarations stick this time. "Today, in my meeting with Chairman Abbas, we agreed that all Palestinians will stop all acts of violence against all Israelis everywhere, and — in parallel — Israel will cease all its military activity against all Palestinians anywhere," Sharon declared, speaking in Hebrew at the end of the summit. "We hope that today we are starting a new period of hope." His declaration came after that of Abbas, who stated in Arabic: "We have agreed... on and end to all acts of violence against Palestinians and Israelis, wherever they are."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
5:48:24 AM ||
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#1
One of them can and will keep his word.
The other side has several hundred years worth of evolution in front of them, methinks, and nowhere near that much time to do it. Time for some magic neutrino storms to strike "Paleoland" and cause major mutations. They need one of those evolutionary "leaps", heh, or they might run into that evolutionary wall, like the dinosaurs.
I wonder if Gaia lit up "Tilt!" in the Aurora Borealis when the dinos bit the big one... I love good light shows.
#4
Personally, I think Israel has decided that they will try one last time. They will make the ultimate effort this one last time and if the Paleo's burn them on it, I think the Paleo's are going to consider the last four years of Heli-zaps and incursions paradise. Arafat is gone and Israel has made no promises to the PA or Abbas about survival. This truly is the Paleo's last chance at avoiding the IDF giving them a real war.
#5
all you guys seem to think Israel is just being nice and giving yet ONE more Pal another chance. I aint got no inside info, but from public source stuff ive gotten the very strong impression that the Israelis ARE A whole heckuva a lot more intertwined with Palestinian pols than you give them credit for. Im NOT saying anybody is a Mossad agent, or anything, BUT i am saying is that Israel has been working with Dahlan for a long time, and in private, and that some of what youre seeing has been planned for awhile, and I really think theres more here than meets the eye.
#6
I tend to agree with LH. My perception of Sharon's strategy is to strip away the bitter enders in Fatah, Hamas, and IJ and leave the more "cooperative" types. Call it guided, accelerated evolution. Success depends on whether the cooperative types can control the cadres and tribes.
A leading fundraiser for an Islamic charity with alleged links to the Palestinian resistance group Hamas is to be deported from the US. An immigration judge ruled on Tuesday that Abd al-Jabbar Hamdan, 44, should have known that his work for the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development provided support to the group. "Our laws prohibit aliens who are living here as our guests to use this country as a base to advocate terrorism or raise money for terrorist causes," said John Salter, Los Angeles chief counsel for the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The judge did not name the country where Hamdan would be deported to.
This article starring:
ABD AL JABAR HAMDAN
Hamas
ABD AL JABAR HAMDAN
Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development
Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
5:45:32 AM ||
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Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/09/2005 12:06
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#3
No, John Denver rendition:
All his shackles are locked
He's ready to go
He's standinâ here at his cell door
He doesn't even get to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakinâ
Itâs early morn
The white planeâs waitinâ
Heâs very forlorn
Already he's so lonesome
He could die
But he's leavin' on a white plane
Don't know if he'll e'r see land again
Oh Babe, he has to go.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/09/2005 12:19
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Snif! Tom. I still love Mary even tho she's a commie.
Iraq's Interior Minister Falah al-Naquib said 18 members of the Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah have been detained in Iraq, Arab newspapers reported. The minister, who was speaking at an anti-terrorism conference in Saudi Arabia, also pointed the finger of blame at Iran for most of Iraq's problems. "Eighteen Lebanese from Hezbollah have been detained in Iraq on charges of terrorism," Naquib told the Saudi newspaper al-Hayat on the sidelines of the conference, which ended on Tuesday in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
He said Iraq's "biggest problem" was Iran and "its Iraqi followers," while asserting that "the problem with Syria could be resolved with dialogue." Regional allies Syria and Iran -- the two main supporters of the Lebanese movement Hezbollah, which pursues an anti-Israeli guerrilla campaign -- have been repeatedly accused of backing insurgents in Iraq. Naquib confirmed the detention of Hezollah members in Iraq in remarks to the Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat daily. But he told al-Hayat that most of those detained on charges of terrorism in Iraq were Sudanese and Egyptian nationals. Naquib said he held talks in Riyadh with Saudi authorities on the issue of a number of "detainees who do not carry identity papers and who are claiming to be Saudi." He said the Iraqi government was due to present to Saudi authorities a list of the detainees to confirm their identities "and probably hand them over."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/09/2005
5:44:23 PM ||
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#1
Hezbollah? Shoot them.
Posted by: Dave ||
02/09/2005 18:59
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Make them disappear into that good night, spooks. We need the info and the earth needs their blood.
Israel found no ally in France Monday in its efforts to get Hizbullah placed on the European Union's list of terror organizations, diplomatic officials said. Both Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres warned visiting French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier in separate meetings about Hizbullah's attempts to thwart Israeli-Palestinian progress. "Just as Hizbullah destroyed Lebanon, it is also trying in any way possible, including the use of extremist Palestinian elements, to destroy Israel as a Jewish state," Peres said.
In recent weeks Israel has been intensively lobbying the EU countries to place Hizbullah on its blacklist, arguing that the organization is doing everything it can to undermine Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and carry out terror attacks in Israel in an attempt to thwart IsraeliPalestinian progress. Security officials in recent days have warned both of a Hizbullah attempt to assassinate Abbas and to carry out a major terrorist attack prior to Tuesday's summit in Sharm e-Sheikh. Shalom said that France supported UN Security Council resolution 1559 that called for militias in Lebanon to be dismantled, arguing that Hizbullah is one of those militias. One diplomatic source said that Barnier listened to the arguments, repeated France's traditional line that Hizbullah has a parliamentary faction inside Lebanon, and remained non-committal regarding a possible change in France's position on the issue.
This article starring:
European Union
Mahmoud Abbas
Michel Barnier
Shimon Peres
Silvan Shalom
Hizbullah
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
5:44:04 AM ||
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#1
The interesting thing, to me, isn't that France will continue to be assholes, but that if Hizbullah wants to hit Abbas - does that mean the Mad Mullahs believe he might actually be able to stabilize the situation? That they don't want stability is nothing new, but do they think Abbas can bring it about? Or are they just keeping the pot boiling - and would try to hit whomever was in Abbas's position, now that the ally icon Arafart is dead?
#3
Hizbullah has a parliamentary faction inside Lebanon only because Lebanon is a f*cking colony of Syria who lets Hizb stay there because they kill jooos.
#4
Syria lets Hizb stay there cause Syria relies on Iran for support, and Hizb is the Iranian arm in the region.
And yes, I think dot com is right, the Iranians are trying to undermine Abbas cause they think theres a chance the peace process might succeed, at least in the short to medium run, and thats VERY bad news for them - it eases tensions between the US and arab states, it eases tensions between the US and Europe - the very tensions Iran was counting in its confrontation with the US.
#5
Shalom said that France supported UN Security Council resolution 1559 that called for militias in Lebanon to be dismantled, arguing that Hizbullah is one of those militias.
Somehow, I'm fairly confident that had 1559 been something that even remotely referred to the "militias" in Lebanon as terrorist organizations, Phrance would have vigorously opposed it.
#6
Watching France's "diplomatic stance" (treating Hizbollah as a worthy partner in diplomatic circles) is kinda like watching a human eat dog food--what else can you conclude other than 1)they are completely desperate or 2)they will eat anything, even garbage.
This is one more area where we have NO COMMON GROUND with France. Terrorists do not deserve to sit at any table. Chew and swallow that gruel well, France-otherwise you might choke when you find there are human bones and pulp in that stew.
#7
It's not clear to me. France chooses to support Hizbullah and thus Syria (as the actual host in Lebanon) and Iran. Why this is in France's interest? I don't know. I can't see it. France will give lip service to changes in Lebanon but for some reason will not stand behind what seems to be it's own UNSC resolution. Why?
Depriving Hizbullah of a place to launch attacks from and also cause grief in the hopeful looking PA/Israel negations is a good thing. A calmer relationship between the PA and Israel is a good thing. (It might even be helpful in French domestic affairs) The not so hidden hands of Iran and now France is ânot helpfulâ in the ongoing talks between the PA and Israel. France has to know that. I can't see how France supporting Hizbullah is a sane thing. We know Iran will do everything to disrupt what could be a watershed agreement that would cool down the tension in the ME quite a bit. What does France gain?
#8
Chirac is big buddies with prominent Lebanese, such as Rafic Hariri. I think he's no longer PM, but has TV stations etc. Hariri was protected by/protected Syrians. Conclusion: French want Hizbullah around as the ultimate bargaining chip that can be discarded once Syrian military leaves Lebanon due to pressure from the Leb "street". French version of "stability" will remain in Levant.
Posted by: chicago mike ||
02/09/2005 17:03
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Syria and Lebanon were French League of Nations Mandate countries, just as Iraq and Palestine (Trans Jordan + Israel) were England's. Like all of France's former colonies, La Belle France maintains a proprietary interest in all their doings.
Palestinian well-informed sources reported that the meeting held Monday evening between the former PA security affairs minister Mohammed Dahlan and the Zionist war minister Shaul Mofaz had settled all pending security issues between the PA delegation and its Zionist counterpart. The sources said that negotiations would be resumed by the two parties following the Zionist pullback from the West Bank cities, and added that Sharm Al-Sheikh summit meeting to be held Tuesday would be a ceremony for announcing the resumption of the Zionist-Palestinian relations that had reached an impasse after the outbreak of the Aqsa intifada in late September 2000.
They underscored that the summit would come out with a reciprocal, simultaneous ceasefire between the Palestinians and the Zionist regime. They highlighted that Dahlan agreed with Mofaz on a number of issues atop of which came the Zionist withdrawal from the West Bank cities and villages, formulation of a ministerial committee to follow up the Palestinian prisoners' case, stopping crackdowns and assassinations against the wanted Palestinian activists on the part of the Zionist troops in addition to the fact that the PA would maintain security responsibility over those activists.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
5:42:34 AM ||
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#1
As ive been saying for awhile, the strategy hinges on putting Dahlan in a position of real power. Definitely tougher than Abbas, but with strong sense of cause and effect. Someone Israel can work with.
Zionist occupation forces today tightened the siege laid to Nablus city at the pretext of receiving hot warnings on intention of Palestinian commandos to launch anti-Zionist raids emanating from that West Bank city. The soldiers closed all roadblocks surrounding the city and walked in patrols on all roads to those barriers, blocking all Palestinian cars from approaching. Zionist sources claimed that 50 warnings were received on planned commando raids from Nablus city alone. Hundreds of citizens were banned from getting out of the city that turned into a big prison and military barracks. Meanwhile, the commander of the Zionist prisons authority also tightened security measures in all occupation jails in anticipation of any "disturbances" on the eve of the Sharm Al-Sheikh summit in Egypt.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
5:41:56 AM ||
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Conviction in bid to ship stolen camera equipment to Iran
BY ERIK HOLM
STAFF WRITER
February 8, 2005
A part-time cameraman who worked for NBC found out the hard way that "Akbar," the international broker he had met on eBay, wasn't really looking to ship stolen night-vision lenses to Iran.
Instead, the broker was a federal customs agent, and the cameraman, Erik Kyriacou, 24, of North Babylon, found himself in a Philadelphia courtroom Monday pleading guilty to four federal counts, including trying to export technology to an "axis of evil" country.
That old pseudonym "Akhbar" gets 'em every time {Snicker}
He faces up to 35 years in prison and a $1 million fine, though his attorney, Robert Welsh of Philadelphia, said Monday he expected Kyriacou to receive a far less severe sentence. He said the customs agent had lured Kyriacou into the idea of selling the lenses to Iran, and that "given the fact that, though this was not enough to constitute entrapment, it was very close."
Entrapment? He put the things on EBay - They were stolen. MSM idiot cameraman should be shipped to Gitmo to be up close & personal with some more "Akhbars". This would be a good lesson.
Kyriacou was arrested last April after offering four Astroscope night-vision lenses for sale in a public auction on eBay, then privately negotiating an $8,000 sale price with the undercover agent, court records show. He shipped them to an address in Vienna, Austria, in January 2004, according to the court papers.
Aaah yes Vienna...Crossroads of many "Akhbars"
He had stolen them from NBC, where he worked as a news camerman, Welsh said.
STOLEN! Where is the Grand Theft charge?
The federal customs agent posing as broker told Kyriacou before he sold the lenses that they would be headed to Iran, and that there was no license to ship them there, the court documents say.
No license? If this had been for real those lenses could have been used against any possible action we might take. Send the twerp to Gitmo.
A spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Monday that there had been "a large number of cases over the years" of representatives from Iran being caught trying to buy forbidden technologies, especially spare airplane parts.
"Their entire air force was manufactured in the United States before their revolution, and they need spare parts to keep it airborne," said the spokesman, Dean Boyd.
Are rubber bands an embargoed item to Iran? I hear they help keep airplanes flying...
It was an employee at Electrophysics, the Fairfield, N.J.-based company that manufactures the Astroscope lens, who first noticed that they were for sale on eBay, the public Internet auction site.
GOOD. SHARP EYE!
Because it is illegal to ship the high-tech lenses anywhere outside the United States, a representative of Electrophysics contacted the U.S. Department of Commerce, which began an investigation before passing it on to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.
Kyriacou pleaded guilty to two counts of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, one count in interstate transportation of stolen property and one count of making a false statement. He is scheduled to be sentenced May 10.
As I said : Get 'em to fall for the "Akhbar" pseudonym. Works everytime. MSM cameramen probably not all that bright.
Maybe he'll be like the guy in the GEICO insurance ad. Fights with the meter maid, then gets sentenced to prison to meet a guy named, "WALLY"
Thousands of students in the Alexandria University yesterday organized a protest march inside their varsity campus against the visit to Sharm Al-Sheikh of Zionist premier Ariel Sharon. The students denounced the visit and the summit describing it as a "shame on the Muslim Ummah" and hoisted posters reminding of Sharon's bloody history. The demonstrators asked the Palestinian people to continue resisting occupation and issued a statement rejecting Sharon's visit and describing it as an insult to Cairo.
The students asked the Egyptian government not to return its ambassador to Tel Aviv and championed the reactivation of the boycott of Zionist goods and canceling of the QIZ agreement between Washington, Cairo and Tel Aviv. The students in a three-hour demonstration burnt the "Israeli" flag and dummies of Sharon amidst cheers as Egyptian security sources cordoned off the campus to prevent the students from going outside it.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
5:41:07 AM ||
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#1
Sure guys, go ahead and do that. We're trying to get our budget under control and saving a few billion in foreign aid would help.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Jurors and others in Judge Donald Thompson's courtroom kept hearing a strange whooshing noise, like a bicycle pump or maybe a blood pressure cuff. During one trial, Thompson seemed so distracted that some jurors thought he was playing a hand-held video game or tying fly-fishing lures behind the bench. The explanation, investigators say, is even stranger than some imagined: The judge had a habit of masturbating with a penis pump under his robe during trials. Ready, everybody, all together now, one . . . two . . . three . . . Eeeeeeewwwwww, gross!
Thompson, a 58-year-old soon to be divorced married father of three grown children, "Daaad! That's disgusting."
has denied the allegations, and said the pump was just a gag gift received from a hunting buddy on his 50th birthday. I don't have any "buddies" that would give me something like that . . . thank heaven!
He retired in August after being threatened with removal from the bench, but still faces indecent-exposure charges brought against him last month. "You, the members of the jury, are to examine the evidence--"
"Eeeew! Ick! Do we hafta?"
Jim Wall, police chief in the small town of Sapulpa, said he had heard rumors of the judge's behind-the-bench activities for about a month, "The way he smiled and said 'all rise' when he entered the courtroom . . . there was just somethin' creepy 'bout it, y'know?"
but added: "You've got the most powerful man in Creek County, and I think a lot people were intimidated by him." But eventually, the pressure became too much.
Police built a case against the judge after one of Wall's officers testified during a 2003 murder trial. From the witness stand, the officer saw a piece of plastic tubing disappear under Thompson's robe. During a lunch break, officers took photographs of the pump under the desk. Investigators later collected carpet samples, Thompson's robes and the chair from behind the bench, and found semen, according to court records. "Guess this explains all the complaints we've been getting from the janitorial staff."
Thompson's court reporter, Lisa Foster, told authorities that she saw him use the pump at least 10 times during trials. She said the first time in court was in 2000, but she did not tell authorities. "I didn't want to be found dead in a ditch somewhere," she told The Associated Press. Foster told authorities she saw Thompson use the device almost daily during the August 2003 murder trial of Kurt Vomberg, . . . The whooshing sound could be heard on Foster's audiotape of the trial. When jurors at the trial asked the judge about the sound, Thompson moaned said he hadn't heard it, but would listen for it. Foster and a bailiff were fired by Thompson after giving statements against him. "They used to call him 'the hanging judge.' Now, they call him . . . "
Posted by: Mike ||
02/09/2005
5:40:18 PM ||
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#1
This is a good chance to calibrate the Creepy Meter.
#3
That reminds me, I haven't looked at News of the Weird in a while. This story is a shoe-in. Great stuff there and I highly recommend it to all Rantburgundians.
Palestinian sources said that the Zionist occupation troops embarked on leveling Palestinian land lots to the west of the Qalandia military roadblock to the north of occupied Jerusalem for the purpose of constructing military liaison posts as a prelude to turn that barrier into an international transit point. The sources pointed out that the Zionist troopers manning the barrier continued denying the Jerusalemite vehicle drivers and passengers an entry into Ramallah under the rubric that they are Jerusalemite residents. In the same context, the Zionist authorities established new passage tracks for vehicles at Sha'afat military barricade to the north of the holy city in a bid to change that roadblock into another transit point leading to the city's northern environs.
In the meantime, the Zionist invasion troops have banned the anti-fence committee coordinator Sa'eed Yaqeen, resident of the holy city, from traveling to Jordan through Al-Karama border terminal located on the Palestinian-Jordanian borders. Yaqeen said that the troops held him for nine hours and interrogated him before forcing him back to Jericho at the pretext of being involved in anti-fence activities.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
5:39:47 AM ||
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Hamas has praised PA leader Abbas for asserting his commitment to true democracy in Palestine. During his joint press conference with visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Ramallah on Monday, Abbas disappointed both the Americans and the Israelis when he vowed to "let the Palestinian people decide."
In response to a question from an American journalist on how he would view the possibility of further gains by Hamas in the upcoming Palestinian mayoral and legislative elections, Abbas said he would do nothing to forestall a victory by Hamas in the elections. "We have adopted the democratic system and we shall not intervene in favor or against any faction, the Palestinian people is free to choose its representatives, and my government shall not intervene to prevent any faction from wining or losing. The people will decide."
"We are quite happy about his tone, and we hope that we will continue to work with the President for the collective good of the Palestinian people," said Yousuf. The increasingly positive chemistry between Abbas and Hamas is likely to strengthen a growing moderate trend within Hamas. This, some observers contend, might eventually lead to the transformation of Hamas from a "spoiler movement," as many had come to view it, into a responsible democratic opposition serving, rather than undermining, the cause of freedom and independence in Palestine.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
5:38:15 AM ||
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Zionist occupation authorities reopened the Mintar crossing in the Gaza Strip on the eve of the Sharm Al-Sheikh summit and during the visit of American secretary of state Condoleezza Rice's visit to "Israel". The crossing was closed on 31st January and was reopened only one day before the summit grouping PA chief Mahmoud Abbas, Zionist premier Ariel Sharon, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and Jordanian monarch King Abdullah II.
The crossing poses as the main outlet for commercial traffic for the Gaza Strip and its closure further worsens the economic hardships of the Gazan population. Hundreds of Palestinian trucks loaded with vegetables, fruits and flowers parked in a long queue waiting their turn to cross the terminal. A spokesperson for the Zionist army said that the crossing was opened after concluding new security measures with the Palestinian side. "Israel" last week re-opened the Rafah terminal with Egypt after closing it since December following a Palestinian commando raid that killed five Zionists.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
5:37:11 AM ||
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#1
Only 5 "Zionist" references, but they did put Israel in quotes and called their terrorists "commandos", so I guess that makes up some of the slack.
The outgoing commissioner general of UNRWA, Peter Hansen, has warned of picturing the Palestinians as evildoers and warned that "Israeli" democracy had its limits. Hansen, who is Danish, said that "terrorism" does not emanate from nothing and Palestinians only react to occupation that could take place in any country. He told a Danish newspaper that no one could say that the "Israeli Arabs" were enjoying full rights similar to the "Israeli Jews".
The commissioner, whose tenure was not renewed on the part of the UN secretary general Kofi Annan due to USA and Zionist pressures, said that democracy was only enjoyed by the Jewish people in "Israel". Hansen is to end his term in office by 13th March after nine years of leading the Agency.
This article starring:
Kofi Annan
Peter Hansen
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
5:35:59 AM ||
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#1
Hansen, who is Danish, said that âterrorismâ does not emanate from nothing
#2
The guidelines for a legitimate insurgency against an occupation are outlined in the Geneva convention. I'm having ISP problems, so I cannot provide a link to the relevant post on my website, but they include the wearing of a distinctive insignia, have a chain of command that is obeyed by the grunts, confine their attacks to occupying forces, refrain from deliberate targeting of civilians, and observe all the useages and limitations of warfare as outlined in the conventions.
What is interesting is that nobody would really object to the actions of the Palestinians if Israel was NOT a signatory to the Conventions, but the reverse is regarded as totally unacceptable.
#3
What I meant actually is that, sometimes, it is necessary to kill people (e.g. Jihadists etc...). It may even prove necessary to crush Arab/Islamic culture.
But Hansen, and most members of the subculture that produced Hansen deserve to die.
#6
Peter Hansen, has warned of picturing the Palestinians as evildoers and warned that âIsraeliâ democracy had its limits. Hansen, who is Danish, said that âterrorismâ does not emanate from nothing and Palestinians only react to occupation that could take place in any country...
Much as Mr. Hansen would like to run away from reality, a disproportionate number of Palestinians DO support evildoing, as witnessed through their coddling and protection of suicide bombers and adoration of martyrs (Cult of Death Worshippers).
Europe is still shielding itself from its obvious anti-Jewish bias--it's basically saying that Israel has done something so heinous, so uncalled for, that they are asking for terrorism; he is also implying that Palestinians only resort to terrorism as retaliation for wrongs done to them-quite a stretch, if anyone cares to view the splatter of civilian body parts at bus stations and pizza parlors (which apparently must be the hangouts of Israeli policy makers.) Pyschological disorders in Europe are deep and disturbingly familiar.
About 500 Palestinians serving high prison terms in the Zionist Beer Sheba jail today went on hunger strike to protest the convening of the Sharm Al-Sheikh summit without releasing them. The prisoners told the prison authority they would not eat the three meals for today out of protest that no agreement was made over their release before that summit. The commander of the Zionist prisons authority has ordered all warders and special units to be on the alert in anticipation of possible riots on the backdrop of that summit.
For their part, a group of Jewish rabbis called today for prayers in 300 synagogues for the failure of that summit. The rabbis were against the Sharon disengagement plan that stipulated the withdrawal from the Strip and parts of the West Bank.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
5:35:13 AM ||
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#5
The prisoners told the prison authority they would not eat the three meals for today out of protest that no agreement was made over their release before that summit.
THOUSANDS of people living in coastal settlements in the Papuan New Guinea capital Port Moresby fled their homes today after an earthquake under the South Pacific sparked a tsunami alert.
The earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale struck at 12:47am, centred under the Coral Sea near Vanuatu, about 2000km south-east of Port Moresby.
The Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii issued an alert following the quake, but Geoscience Australia duty seismologist Cvetan Sinadinovski said no tsunami was recorded on the tidal gauges in the region.
Rumours of the tsunami alert still spread through coastal communities in the PNG capital, sending residents scurrying for higher ground, local residents said.
Most had returned to their homes by 9:00am as officials provided assurances there was no danger of a tsunami occuring.
Nearly 295,000 people were killed by tsunamis after a huge earthquake on December 26 near the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
The PNG mainland has also been hit by tsunamis in the past, with more than 2000 people killed in 1998 when tidal waves struck the north coast town of Aitape following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake off the country's east coast.
Today's earthquake was preceded by a smaller, 6.1 magnitude quake yesterday off the PNG island of New Britain.
Both earthquakes were centred far below the surface of the earth and neither caused any damage, Mr Sinadinovski said in Sydney.
Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu lie in the same tectonic collision zone as Sumatra, but Mr Sinadinovski said this week's earthquakes were not connected to the December 26 temblor.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
02/09/2005
4:36:55 AM ||
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THE leader of a cell that allegedly plotted to kidnap US soldiers and other Westerners in Kuwait has died overnight in custody, Kuwaiti security sources said. "Amer Khleif al-Enezi died last night," a source said. Kuwaiti daily al-Qabas reported on its website that Enezi died after suffering a heart attack.
The paper reported he had been questioned by prosecutors before suffering health problems that led doctors to check on him. Enezi was detained on January 31 with five of his supporters after a nine-hour firefight with security forces in which four gunmen were killed. Enezi was believed to be the leader of a cell of militants that allegedly plotted to kidnap US soldiers and other Westerners and film their executions, and carry out attacks on US military convoys heading for Iraq. Security forces have fought gunbattles with al-Qaeda-linked Islamist gunmen killing eight of them and capturing at least 14 others over the past month. Four police officers were also killed and 10 others wounded.
I'm assuming that his last hours were very painful. Heh.
This article starring:
AMER KHLEIF AL ENEZI
Peninsula Lions
Posted by: God Save The World ||
02/09/2005
4:29:52 AM ||
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#1
he had been questioned by prosecutors before suffering health problems
"Dammit, now look what you've done. And that was my favorite truncheon, mom gave it to me as a graduation present."
Posted by: Steve ||
02/09/2005 8:28
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#2
When they say the gloves come off, I guess they come off. Next!
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005 9:51
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Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir said that Islam will continue to be the main source of legislation in Sudan even after the peace deal with the mainly animist and Christian southern rebels. He made the comments while addressing a crowd in al-Suqi in central Sudan, the official Sudan News Agency reported. Khartoum and the rebel Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement (SPLM) signed a peace deal on January 9 in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, ending more than two decades of civil war between south and north.
It's a African peace deal, with a big helping of islam thrown in. I give it six months.
Religion and implementation of sharia or Islamic law in the country featured strongly during the war, with the SPLM saying it wanted a united, but also secular Sudan. Under the agreement, the south shall be exempted from sharia, which shall be enforced in the north during a six-year interim period preceding a referendum on independence for the south.
Six-years? Boy, they must have good dope in the Sudan.
Both sides have agreed to draft an interim constitution for the country that will reflect its cultural, social and religious diversities.
However......
The president, however, insisted that sharia shall remain the main source of legislation throughout this period and that it "will be enshrined in a permanent constitution." He said his "National Congress party deserves the support of the people in the coming stage because it managed to put forward a programme that brought about peace and entrenched Islamic sharia."
Then his lips fell off..
He claimed that Sudan's former leaders paid only lip service to sharia and compared his government to the Mahdist revolution, which Beshir said "raised the banner of Islam and implemented its code in public life." The Mahdist revolution led by Mohammed Ahmed al-Mahdi spearheaded Sudan's struggle for independence from British rule. Followers of the Mahdi, the Ansars, regarded him a political as well as spiritual leader.
Looks like Beshir fancies himself as the new Mahdi.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/09/2005
4:21:43 PM ||
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What the heck do these liberals think, islam is peaceful? Give me a break. It was founded by a pedophile terrorist. Sudan is doomed.
AN Iraqi official has been kidnapped and a journalist for a pan-Arab television station was killed in insurgent attacks that also saw four Iraqi policemen killed.
The four police were killed and two others were wounded when a roadside bomb blew up near their convoy in the restive Sunni Muslim city of Samarra, north of Baghdad.
Insurgents have been waging a bloody campaign against the country's security apparatus, killing more than 35 people in suicide attacks over the past two days.
Abdel Hussein Khazaal, a correspondent with US-funded pan-Arab television station Al-Hurra was killed by unknown attackers in the southern city of Basra.
The victim, aged in his 40s, was also a member of the Shiite political party Dawa.
In other violence, the oil ministry's representative to the interior ministry Colonel Riad Allawi was kidnapped in Baghdad, officials said.
The US army said its troops killed an insurgent near Balad, north of the capital, as he was planting a bomb Tuesday.
In the north of the country, a gas pipeline linking the oil hub of Kirkuk to the Baiji refinery was damaged by a rocket attack, a source at the North Oil Company said.
On Monday, insurgents had launched a similar attack in the same area, blowing up a pipeline conveying crude from Kirkuk to Baiji refinery, which is key to much of Baghdad's power supply.
According to the Iraqi government, attacks on the country's oil infrastructure have cost Iraq seven to eight billion dollars in exports since the March 2003 US-led invasion.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
02/09/2005
4:15:54 AM ||
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How long do you give the Sunnis before you throw up your hands, start laying razorwire and minefields to seal it off, and tell them they can veto the constitution to their heart's content - Iraq is now partitioned and they're the odd man out - FOAD?
Coming soon, if they manage to trash what the Shi'a and Kurds have waited so long for and braved death to embrace, methinks.
PRIME Minister John Howard has rejected Labor calls for Australian troops guarding the embassy building in Baghdad to be moved to a more secure location. The opposition wants the 120-strong security detachment guarding the embassy building in a residential suburb of Baghdad transferred to the US and Australian military headquarters at Camp Victory, where three Australian diplomats have already been relocated. The diplomats were moved last month following repeated attacks on the mission and they will eventually be shifted to a facility in the heavily fortified Green Zone.
Labor wants to know why the troops remain in the dangerous embassy location when there are no diplomats left to guard. Mr Howard said the latest advice from the chief of the Australian Defence Force was that the best option was for the security detachment to remain where it was. Moving the troops could also send the wrong message to insurgents, particularly coming after the recent Iraqi elections. "Given the democratic dividend that has been won in Iraq by the Iraqi people and the tremendous step forward that the Iraqi people have made over the last few weeks, far from talking about pulling troops out, if we want to secure and reassure, we shouldn't be taking about that," Mr Howard said. "This of all times is a time for reinforcement and reassurance rather than to be talking about pulling troops out. If you want to send a message to the Iraqi people and send a message to those who are trying to destroy the hopes of democracy in Iraq, you don't talk about pulling troops out."
Opposition defence spokesman Robert McClelland said the Government needed a better explanation as to why the troops remained in place just to guard a disused building. "The only explanation given to them to date is that they are guarding Australian assets, essentially bricks and mortar," he said. "It is strongly the view of the Opposition that the life of one Australian serviceman is not worth all the bricks and mortar in Baghdad and the government explanations to date just aren't adequate."
The official Australian embassy was set up in a suburban Baghdad house during the reign of Saddam Hussein. That site is outside the more secure international or Green Zone and the Government foreshadowed a move into the safer area in 2003. A force of 120 Australian soldiers, based in an unfinished apartment block next door, provided protective security. The Government has flagged the size of the security contingent may be reviewed once the Australian mission has been relocated to the Green Zone.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
02/09/2005
4:14:44 AM ||
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Two teenage girls who got in trouble for surprising their neighbors with homemade cookies will not have to pay nearly $1,000 in medical bills for a woman who says she was so startled that she had to go to the hospital. Radio station KOA-AM of Denver raised more than $1,900 from listeners Friday to pay the girls' $930.78 fine. The rest of the money will go to a charity dedicated to victims of the Columbine High School massacre. The story unfolded when teens Taylor Ostergaard, 17, and Lindsey Jo Zellitti, decided to bake chocolate chip and sugar cookies and place them outside their neighbors' doors with large red or pink construction-paper hearts that carried the message, "Have a great night" and were signed with their first initials: "Love, The T and L Club."
The trouble began when they approached the home of Wanita Renea Young, 49. Young said she heard someone banging on the door of her rural home late in the evening. She went to the door and saw "shadowy figures" but they refused to answer when she called out to them. The teens said they did not answer when the woman called out because they wanted the treats to be a surprise. She could have called the cops to check it out...yeah, I know, I'm making sense.
Young said she was so frightened, she spent the night at her sister's home, then went to the hospital the next morning because she was still shaking and had an upset stomach. The teens offered to pay Young's medical bills but she insisted on going to small claims court. Bummer that you didn't hit the jackpot, eh, Wanita?
Judge Doug Walker, after hearing the teens' explanation, awarded medical costs but declined to order punitive damages. "The victory wasn't sweet," Young said. "I'm not gloating about it. I just hope the girls learned a lesson." Yup, no cookies on your doorstep. Burning bag next time, or toilet paper in the trees.
Meanwhile, Richard Ostergaard, father of Taylor, got a restraining order against Young's husband, Herb, in county court, claiming he continues to make harassing telephone calls to the Ostergaard residence. Countersuit time on the Youngs?
Wanita Young said, "This has turned into quite a fiasco. It's something that never should have happened and it's just devastating. My phone hasn't stopped ringing. My life has been threatened and I'll probably have to move out of town." "And worst of all, they'll throw a party when I leave and won't invite me!!
#1
Wanita Young said, "This has turned into quite a fiasco. Itâs something that never should have happened and itâs just devastating. My phone hasnât stopped ringing. My life has been threatened and Iâll probably have to move out of town."
Yup!
Or as Rogers & Hammerstein said it -
"SO LONG, FAREWELL"
There's a sad sort of clanging from the clock in the hall
And the bells in the steeple too.
And up in the nursery an ubsurd little bird
Is popping out to say cook-coo cook-coo, cook-coo Regretfully they tell us cook-coo
But firmly they compell us cook-coo
To say goodbye cook-coo...
To you...
So long farewell, auf weidersehen good-bye
I hate to go and leave this pretty sight
So long farewell, auf weidersehen adieu
Adieu, adieu, to you and you and you
So long farewell, au revior auf weidersehen
I'd like to stay and taste my first champagne
Yes?...No!
So long farewell, auf weidersehen goodnight
I leave and heave a sigh and say good bye -
goodbye!
I'm glad... to go.... I cannot tell a lie
I fleet, I float, I fleetly flee I fly...
The sun... has gone... to bed and so must I...
So long...farewell...auf weidersehen goodbye...
Goodbye...
Goodbye...
#3
And remember that Captain the the Austrian Navy!
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/09/2005 18:33
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Wanita Young said, "This has turned into quite a fiasco. Itâs something that never should have happened and itâs just devastating. My phone hasnât stopped ringing. My life has been threatened and Iâll probably have to move out of town."
Hahahahaha, maybe next time this dumbass will keep a level head instead of acting like a paranoid idiot.
#5
can you believe the idiot judge awarded her medical costs?? She was probably afraid it was that creepy husband of hers coming home stumbling drunk. Oh...and BTW...just where was he during this paranoid freak show?
All that is currently available at the link is the headline. I have not yet found any other source to authenticate. East Asia Intel is part of the Geostrategy Direct/World Tribune group.
1. India has subs?
2. China actually knows how to sink them?
3. Where might this have happened? The Spratly (sp?) Islands or some other "disputed territory?"
and finally
4. WTF?
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
02/09/2005 15:56
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Posted by: Mike ||
02/09/2005 16:02
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If they put it at the bottom of the page under such intriguing headlines as :
North Korean leader Kim Jung Il in Paramount's Team America: World Police - 2004 Paramount Pictures
Paramount's Kim satire wounds Pyongyang's top movie buff
ASIA INVESTOR: Sweet-sour news from the Mainland / Australia: Is it all too good to be true?
It's official: Kim Il-Sung's 'revolution' to be continued by 'son and grandson'
North Korea's new entrepreneurs buying clout formerly reserved for the faithful
N. Korea unleashes threat offensive in preparation for talks
I suggest we invoke the 48 hour rule.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/09/2005 16:02
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Mike - Interesting. I saw on another part of that website a list of "first" for the Indian Navy, and they made mention of a first "Submariner to command a nuclear submarine", so they at least had a nuc boat at one time as well.
Mrs Davis - Good point. Though the headline makes me want to drag out Harpoon 3 and reinstall it when I get home tonight. :)
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
02/09/2005 16:07
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Can't find a thing. Unless the Chinese are basing out of the port they were building in Burma, an Indian sub would have to be a very long way from home.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/09/2005 16:47
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Missiles and not torps?
Posted by: Dar ||
02/09/2005 17:56
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BS, it's perfectly do able with many air to surface missles if the sub is surfaced... but this is kook talk.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Nestled in a quiet Sacramento neighborhood is a very loud political statement that is testing the very foundation of the right to free speech. Aaah Sacramento... Urban Northern California... Why am I not surprised.
Hanging from a house in Land Park, a soldier's uniform in a noose dangles from a rooftop. The words "your tax dollars at work" are scrolled across the chest. Can anyone in the neighborhood spare some dog poop? I know a front porch that needs decorating... Watch that first step - - it could be smelly...
In a community full of patriotism, this view of the war in Iraq has not gone unnoticed. "I think it's the ultimate sign of disrespect. We have troops dying for us," Land Park resident Mark Cohen said. "(I'm) annoyed and disgusted. I think if this is the way someone feels they can find a better way to vent their opinions," Land Park resident Pete Miles said. Yes gents, you are most correct, but this is a fact that is lost on the people who live there...
The homeowners behind the controversy are Steve and Virginia Pearcy. They released a statement saying, "There will always be people who are offended by political speech, and the most important forum of all ... is one's own residence. The First Amendment is meaningless unless dissent is allowed." And a lack of wisdom is allowed too...
Some neighbors agree. "Even if you don't agree with it, he has the right to state his opinion. I don't find it offensive at all," Land Park resident Cece Williams said. Cece was a proud owner of a new lobotomy scar which she immediately showed to all who would look...
Now now, Cece is right. These dodos have a right to this display on their own property. And we have the right to call them dodos, and worse. The solution to offensive speech is always more speech.
The Pearcys are idiotarians, and they should be known as idiotarians. Thanks to weblogs, I'll get my wish.
#1
Too bad it made national news. Those attention whores probably love it.
You just have to wish that the local townsfolk would place little panoramics on their lawns of Steve and Virginia smiling and shaking hands with Saddam, surrounded by little replicas of Saddam's other tortured victims.
#2
I know they have a right to say what they want and so does Cece... But her I donât find it offensive at all I find as evidence of the lobotomy scar...
#3
"There will always be people who are offended by political speech, and the most important forum of all ... is oneâs own residence. The First Amendment is meaningless unless dissent is allowed."
Is this stupid strawman the best these asshelment authoritarians can do? Opposition to this display=generalized attack on free speech. It is no accident that the first L in LLL stands for "lying."
Scum like this directly incite terrorist barbarism by persuading terrorist power-seekers that appeasement will follow.
A message for the Pearcys: Remember Julius Streicher. Follow his path, share his fate.
#7
I love how they hide behind that "free speech" mantra. If this was depiction of a Black soldier being hanged, that 'free speech' argument would be thrown out the window. Of course, like most LLL, this couple can't even explain what their 'Statement' represents.
#8
It will just be real interesting if someone does something to their house, and they make a police report. A lot of cops are veterans. I'm sure they'll work real hard to bring the perps to justice.
Right after lunch.
Sometime next year.
If they don't have some filing to do.
#10
Given how homeowners associations can steal your home for flying the american flag, perhaps their neighbors need to start reading up on their own neighborhood. Such a display might qualify them for fines and even confiscation.
#11
I always wished that the idiots who walk among us would wear a sign so they may be identified. Didn't think it would take a declaration of war to get my wish.
#12
I can see an upside-down US flag on the inner door of a jeweler's office in my Chicago Loop office building as I wait for the elevator. I'm not happy, but will limit my disagreement to explaining to anyone waiting with me what it means (Most don't) or discussing the matter with anyone who walks out of the office. So far, nobody yet.
Posted by: chicago mike ||
02/09/2005 16:55
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#13
"Did you know....
Motor oil may be used to fertilize your lawn?"
-Fight Club
Posted by: Mark E. ||
02/09/2005 16:57
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#14
Pardon me [no only the governor can pardon you - rim shot], did the Supreme's rule that burning a cross on your own property is oky-doky?
#15
We've had so much of this mememe lefty bullshit over the last few years that I'm pretty much immune to it by now. In fact, I appreciate it when assholes like this take the time to exercise their First Amendment rights and expose the fact that they're assholes like this just so I know who they are and what we're dealing with.
#16
The Pearcys are an interesting couple. Note that they married when he was 36 and she was 18, after he had been her "tutor and mentor" for several years.
Pearcy is also a correspondent of the communist People'sWeekly World and a signatory of the NION petition (imagine my surprise).
Note that his letter to the PWW deals with a defense of protestors preparing for violent confrontation.
#17
More of Pearcy's work (suggests a legal strategy for sabotaging police sting operations).
It doesn't surprise me that this probable child-molester would be interested in these cases.
#18
Thx AC, the circle closes. I am off Friday and will swing by and see if it's still hanging. Anyone have any garbage they need dumping? These LLL are all alike and land park is really a nice place to live. I bet once this is seen on the news they will be encouraged to take it down.
Posted by: Kim Jong Il ||
02/09/2005 18:05
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#19
KJI - Is that encouraged with quotation marks? i.e. "ENCOURAGED"
#20
I have argued that the Pearcys' action is outside the realm of free speech. By the same token, however, nobody has the right to resort to vandalism or vigilante action over this.
It seems likely that Pearcy's real intent is to provoke such vigilante action. This is a calculated act, a wealthy left-wing contract lawyer would not do it otherwise. A legal showdown is unlikely in California, so a media hit on the political opposition is the more probable objective.
I would bet that the house is insured to the hilt. One response might be to put the property under 24/7 surveillance to make sure he doesn't burn it down himself, destroy his own vehicles or spray graffiti on his own walls.
#21
Heck with dog poop, this calls for a chicken bomb. Does practical joking, even if stinky, constitute vigilante action?
My favorite ingredients are equal parts chicken guts and live culture beer, sugar, a little salt for added reactivity, and a loogie for good measure to the halfway point of a tightly sealed mason jar.
It can take up to a week to go off, and works great to make a very ill scented point.
#22
For rwference, Land Park is a fairly ritzy section of town just south-east of downtown. Definitely Limo Liberal territory, especially near the park itself (which is where the Sac Zoo is). NIMBYland, too.
Haven't seen this in the Bee, but then I don't read that rag anyway, so I wouldn't...
Another Eli Lake special; EFL. Among Mr. Chalabi's supporters is the leader of a resistance against Saddam Hussein in southern Iraq in 1991, Abdul Karim Al Muhammadawi, known as the "prince of the marshes." Mr. Chalabi has also garnered support from a former member of the Iraqi Governing Council, Salama al-Khufaji, who is one of the highest-ranking women on the UIA list. Mr. Chalabi also draws support from the Shiite Political Council, the organization he helped build this summer after he was excluded from the interim government headed by Prime Minister Allawi. Whether he wins or loses, he's definitely a player. It's clear the CIA's "no political base" claim was baloney.
Yesterday, Mr. Chalabi said he harbored no ill will towards his old nemeses in Washington and went out of his way to thank the American people, the American military, and President Bush for liberating Iraq. He even found kind words for Jordan, which has an outstanding warrant from a military court for his arrest. Mr. Chalabi is suing the Jordanian government in federal district court in Washington for racketeering. Well, he can afford to be magnanimous now.
In the race for prime minister, Mr. Chalabi's chief rivals are other Shiite politicians, such as the current finance minister, Adel Abdel-Mehdi, who this week rejected a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. Another aspirant is the current leader of the Dawa party, Ibrahim Jafari. Mr. Jafari was a vice president in the Allawi government, but has been a vocal critic of Mr. Allawi in the run-up to the election. Snip of "too early to tell" stuff, which happens to be true.
In the interview yesterday, Mr. Chalabi said one of his main goals would be to open up the heavily guarded "green zone" in the middle of Baghdad to regular Iraqi citizens. He added that President al-Yawar has said that President Bush was unaware that the republican palace of Saddam has been virtually off-limits to Iraqis and agreed that the situation should be changed. "We are acutely aware of the security concerns of the United States, and there are sites on the periphery of Baghdad which we will provide to them willingly," Mr. Chalabi said. What do our readers on the ground think of this?
Mr. Chalabi also said that he expected the new government to focus on rooting out Baathist elements in the security services that are sympathetic to terrorists. "The number of attacks has more than doubled on a daily average," he said. "That means we believe a major problem has been the introduction of former regime elements at a high level in the intelligence service and the National Guard." Yup. More stuff snipped, before...
Mr. Chalabi said that in the coming months, he did not expect the UIA slate or Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani to support a constitution that made Islam the sole source of Iraqi law. Stressing that he was not speaking in any way for Mr. Sistani, Mr. Chalabi said, "Ayatollah Sistani is a man who, if anything, is very keen to be consistent. The platform of the UIA, which he basically blessed, contains a reference to the role of Islam in Iraq which is not far from the transitional administrative law, which only said it was one source." Finally, would any Chalabi article be complete without the "Iranian spy" business?
On three different occasions, he waxed effusively about the historic significance of the elections in which he just ran. He even said, "These elections will have an influence on the democratic movement in Iran." For Mr. Chalabi, who has been accused anonymously of passing American signal intelligence to the Iranians by the CIA and maintained State Department-funded offices in Iran for years before Iraq's liberation, the statement was significant. Mr. Chalabi has denied passing intelligence to the Iranians and has challenged Congress to hold an open hearing at which he could face his accusers on the issue. Make of it all what you will.
Posted by: someone ||
02/09/2005
3:20:42 AM ||
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FWIIW, there is nothing I have heard that would persuade me he is not a suitable candidate.
Notwithstanding either the serial pro-terrorist pronouncements by CAIR leaders, and the arrests of 3 of their leaders, for Patriot Act violations, CAIR has coerced FOX to disclaim any possible suggestion that there is general Muslim opposition to the counter-terror war, that might arise from the current storyline of "24."
World Net Daily, February 9, 2005
...The Fox show, which has a story line that runs the entire season, is based on 24 hours at a counter-terrorism unit. In its fourth season, this year's story centers on a terrorist sleeper cell planning an attack on the United States.
CAIR is a spin-off of the Islamic Association For Palestine, a group identified by two former FBI counter-terrorism chiefs as a U.S. front group for the terrorist group Hamas.
Since 9-11, CAIR has seen three of its former employees indicted on federal terrorism charges.
Randall Todd "Ismail" Royer was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges he trained in Virginia for holy war against the United States and sent several members to Pakistan to join Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Kashmiri terrorist group with reported ties to al-Qaida. Bassem Khafagi, was arrested in January 2003 while serving as the group's director of community relations. The previous December, Ghassan Elashi, the founder of CAIR's Texas chapter, was indicted for financial ties to Hamas leader Musa Abu Marzook.
Current CAIR leaders also have made statements in support of Hamas and the domination of the U.S. by Islam. As WorldNetDaily reported, CAIR's chairman of the board, Omar Ahmad, was cited by a California newspaper in 1998 declaring the Quran should be America's highest authority. He also was reported to have said Islam is not in America to be equal to any other religion but to be dominant... You calling us out, CAIR?
FOX's snivelling weasel-words:
"Hi. My name is Kiefer Sutherland. And I play counter-terrorist agent Jack Bauer on Fox's 24. I would like to take a moment to talk to you about something that I think is very important. Now while terrorism is obviously one of the most critical challenges facing our nation and the world, it is important to recognize that the American Muslim community stands firmly beside their fellow Americans in denouncing and resisting all forms of terrorism. So in watching 24, please, bear that in mind." OK FOX, quote a single major American Muslim leader who has ever denounced or resisted either Hamas or Hizbollah terror.
This article starring:
BASEM KHAFAGI
Council on American Islamic Relations
GHASAN ELASHI
Council on American Islamic Relations
MUSA ABU MARZUK
Hamas
OMAR AHMED
Council on American Islamic Relations
RANDALL TOD "ISMAIL" ROYER
Council on American Islamic Relations
RANDALL TOD "ISMAIL" ROYER
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Hamas
Islamic Association For Palestine
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Posted by: IToldYouSo ||
02/09/2005
3:10:56 AM ||
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#1
If this had been posted by someone with a normal nym, I might've been sympathetic - I heard the blurb myself Monday night and was appalled by its scope, which is clearly bullshit...
But hey, I'm an American. I don't like assholes who think they have any special dispensation or are arrogant about something everyone here knows - hell, probably 100x better, lol, so it rubs me wrong when they haven't the smarts to be cool.
"IToldYouSo"? FOAD, you arrogant self-important snot, lol!
#2
This rude child posted such things yesterday as well. Perhaps its mother didn't love it enough to spank it when it was younger. At any rate, it hadn't told us so before, and so isn't entitled to make the claim now. Perhaps if it would state its position clearly and logically, with the points well defended by historical facts -- and stood firmly against ignorant disagreement from the denizens of this site ... and then was justified by the unfolding of events... then its nym would be legitimate.
I speak here as a mother of children, who knows well whereof she speaks.
#3
Separately, Fox may be having Kiefer Sutherland speak the disclaimer, but they are not discontinuing the story line. And that is the key. We already know not all Muslims are evil terrorists -- President Bush has been saying that since 9/11. And the kind of people who watch 24 are not going to have their minds changed by the statement either. More likely, they will be annoyed by the pressure exerted on the network to include it, and become more suspicious of American Muslim officialdom -- ie CAIR. This is one of those Pyrrhic victories for CAIR ... Americans do not like to be told how to think.
#4
I applaud fox for continuing the story against pressure from terrosits groups like CAIR. One of my favorite Clancy books "The Sum of All Fears" was ruined by the PC movie that changed the Arab Terrorists for Neo-Nazi. I have no love for either but the former is more likely to set off a nuke in a populated area. Changing the story line caused the movie to bomb, partially because most Clancy fans refused to go see it. 9/11 showed the world as to what lengths Arab/Muslim terrorists are willing to go to and changing the story line didn't change that fact it just made a good book into a bad movie.
Bravely bold Mark Dayton
Ran home from Washington
He was most afraid to die
Oh, brave Mark Dayton . . .
Sen. Mark "Chicken" Dayton has announced that he will not seek re-election.
"I'm announcing today that I will not seek re-election to the Senate next year," the one-term senator clucked announced during an afternoon conference call. "God willing, I will bravely run away away complete my term to the very best of my ability."
Clad in a chicken suit with a yellow streak down the back a mile wide, Dayton said it has been a "tremendous honor" to serve the people of Minnesota for the past four years. However, he said he did not believe he was the best candidate to keep the seat in the hands of the Democrats.
"I have a firm grasp of the obvious."
"Everything I've worked for and everything I believe in depends upon this Senate seat remaining in the Democratic caucus in 2007. I do not believe that I am the best candidate to lead the DFL party to victory next year." . . .
Also during his announcement, Dayton said that he has withdrawn his support for the re-election campaign of St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly, a Democrat who endorsed President Bush in last year's election.
Dayton had been seen as vulnerable in a run for a second term. Late last month, a Star Tribune Minnesota Poll found Dayton's approval rating had fallen to 43 percent. . . .
. . . When bad polls reared their ugly heads
He bravely turned his tail and fled
Yes, brave Mark Dayton turned about
And gallantly, he chickened out.
Bravely taking to his feet,
He beat a very brave retreat,
Bravest of the brave, Mark Dayton
Posted by: Mike ||
02/09/2005
2:39:09 PM ||
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Ancestor, and declaration signer Johnathan Dayton can quit spinning in his grave now...
Dayton seemed vulnerable during his press confrence too...
A mosque established and funded by basketball star Hakeem Olajuwon gave more than $80,000 to charities the government later determined to be fronts for the terror groups al-Qaida and Hamas, according to financial records obtained by The Associated Press. Olajuwon told the AP he had not known of any links to terrorism when the donations were made, prior to the government's crackdown on the groups, and would not have given the money if he had known. "There is no way you can go back in time," Olajuwon said in a telephone interview from Jordan, where he is studying Arabic. "After the fact, now they have the list of organizations that are banned by the government." A Treasury Department spokeswoman, Molly Millerwise, declined to discuss Olajuwon's contributions but said, "In many cases donors are being unwittingly misled by the charities."
The caricature of North Korea's "Dear Leader", Kim Jong-Il, in the film, "Team America: World Police," is striking a discordant note among North Korean officials, and probably their supreme leader himself, despite his well-known love for private viewings of foreign movies.
OK, we called it here first on Rantburg that Kinny was sulking because of Team America. Looks like it's true.
Word from Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, is that the North Korean embassy there is asking the government to ban the film, the creation of Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park fame. The Czech Foreign Ministry, however, said the North Koreans had been rebuffed in their effort to undermine the Czech Republic's post-Communist era freedom. The film shows marionettes attempting to stop Kim Jong-Il from destroying cities around the globe.
And not one Oscar nomination! It's a outrage!
A Czech newspaper, Lidove Noviny, reports that a North Korean diplomat complained that the film "harms the image of our country." He was even quoted as saying, "Such behavior is not part of our country's political culture."
Posted by: Steve ||
02/09/2005
1:57:41 PM ||
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I almost peed my pants watching this movie. No question it was the top film of the year.
#4
Czech newspaper, Lidove Noviny, reports that a North Korean diplomat complained that the film "harms the image of our country." He was even quoted as saying, "Such behavior is not part of our country's political culture."
Yes, those North Koreans whod love the film would suffer the same fate as poor Laci Peterson did at the hands of her evil "husband".
#14
"Has Blix! Nice to see uh again."
"Kim do you have any WMDs?"
"Oh Has Blix you bussin my balls, stand over there..."
"AIIEEEEEE.......(blub blub blub)"
Posted by: Kim Jong Il ||
02/09/2005 18:00
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Thanks BigEd. I thought Penn did some silly shit like that. He's just pissed because Stone/Parker said what most of us think, and deep down Penn knows it. The best part of the letter is when he signs off w/a p.s. about taking them to Fallujah like he's been in the war zone, lmao. What a typical pathetic self-absorbed holly wood cheese-dick ole Penny is.
ON SHEEP, SHEEPDOGS, AND WOLVES
By LTC(RET) Dave Grossman, RANGER, Ph.D.,author of "On Killing."
Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or as always,even death itself. The question remains:
What is worth defending?
What is worth dying for?
What is worth living for?
- William J. Bennett - in a lecture to the United States Naval Academy November 24, 1997
One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to me: "Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident." This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another.
Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in a hundred on any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably less than two million.
Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation: We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep.
Continued on Page 49
#1
I tend to think of them as rabbits (prey whose only defense is to run, hide and hope for the best), porcupines (well defended but don't attack), mamma bears(claws, teeth and will rarely attack unless provoked), outright predators and pilot fish.
#3
Grossman wrote a book called On Killing a while back. According to him, the most stressful part of battle for a soldier is not being shot at but killing, but with a catch, the closer you are to your target the harder and more stressful it is to kill. (I personally think getting shot would be the most stressful part of battle.)Conversely, killing from an out-of-the-line-of-sight distance actually becomes easy. Being shot at invokes more surprise and disbelief than stress. According to him, killing other human beings requires overcoming years of societal indoctrination. Thus all the drills and the more realistic the better. Without the drills, he claims people will routinely refuse to kill or miss on purpose. We are not Natural Born Killers according to him.
President Bush said Wednesday he will ask Congress for $100 million to help modernize the armed forces of Poland, a staunch ally in the war in Iraq - a nearly 50 percent increase over last year. During an Oval Office meeting with Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, Bush said he was confident that Congress would approve the money. The United States gave Poland $67 million in military aid last year.
``Poland has been a fantastic ally because the president and the people of Poland love freedom,'' Bush said. ``I know the people of your country must have been thrilled when the millions of people went to the polls'' in Iraq. The money will be part of the estimated $80 billion war funding request the White House is expected to submit to Congress next week.
Poland has taken command of a multinational security force in central Iraq that currently includes about 6,000 troops -among them more than 2,400 Polish soldiers. Poland, however, recently disclosed plans to withdraw about 800 of those troops, leaving about 1,600 there until the end of the year.
On another issue, Kwasniewski said that he and Bush talked about adopting a ``road map'' to ease visa requirements for Poles traveling to the United States. The visa requirement is unpopular in Poland, where a jobless rate of about 19 percent drives many people to seek jobs abroad, including in America. The Poles have pressed for an easing of requirements in return for their involvement in Iraq, where 16 Polish troops have been killed. ``Both President Bush and myself talked about the adoption of the road map that is going to solve the visa problem,'' Kwasniewski said through a translator. ``And it implies concrete decisions that are going to be made in relation to the visa regime, doing away with some old information, old data, statistics, concerning the immigration violation from before 1989; easing of the procedures ... and further cooperation with the Congress in order to facilitate the process as much as possible,'' Kwasniewski said through a translator.
I hope that means good reliable identification for Poles traveling to the US. If it does, welcome
``We hope that the road map that has been accepted will be a very good solution,'' he said.
Asked whether he would support legislation introduced in Congress to address the visa problem, Bush said, ``Well, we've got a way forward to answer the questions of a lot of the members of the United States Congress to get this issue solved.'' He said Kwasniewski had been working hard to develop a road map that is fair to the Polish people. ``I adopt the principles and accept the recommendations of the road map,'' Bush said, ``and that'll become the basis for legislation.''
Posted by: Steve ||
02/09/2005
1:43:16 PM ||
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Easing visa requirements is definitely needed (and overdue). I don't think increasing aid is going to fly with Congress given the budget cuts Bush is proposing right now.
Posted by: Dar ||
02/09/2005 14:13
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#2
Take it from Egypt's foreign aid
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/09/2005 14:34
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We need to do whatever we can to address Polish concerns. They've made the sacrifices, now they should reap the benefits.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
02/09/2005 14:42
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I remember reading about the story at the start of the war where a half-dozen Polish troops turned up at a British base with a POW camp with about 100 captured Iraqi Republican Guard. The British officer in charge was a little surprised, but the Polish forces had no POW facilities.
The U.S. military is updating its war plans for Iran but is not in a heightened state of planning over Tehran's suspected nuclear weapons program, a senior general said on Wednesday.
"Nope, just routine, nothing to see, move along"
"I'm not spending any of my time worrying about the nuclear proliferation in Iran. I haven't been called into any late-night meetings at 8 o'clock at night saying, 'Holy cow, we got to sit down and go plan for Iran,"' Air Force Lt. Gen. Lance Smith said at a Pentagon briefing.
"That's my staff's job, I'm working on Saudi Arabi......say, is this mike open?"
Smith is deputy commander of the U.S. Central Command and oversees military operations in the Middle East, parts of Asia and northern Africa.
A target-rich environment
"As far as the planning efforts, we simply go through our normal mode of updating whatever war plans we have for all parts of our region," he said.
We have plans for everything. Some are sitting in dusty filing cabinets, some are sitting on generals desks. And some are in SecDefs vest pocket.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on a tour of Europe the United States has no immediate plans to attack Iran. She stressed on Wednesday that it should be made clear to Tehran that U.N. sanctions could be brought if it did not cooperate with American and European efforts to halt work on what Washington says is a drive to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies that it is trying to develop such arms. "We have a requirement on a regular basis to update (war) plans. We try to keep them current, particularly if our region is active," Smith said at the Pentagon.
I'll wager the Iran plan is updated real often.
""We are not," the general replied when asked if the U.S. military was in a heightened state regarding Iran. Smith stressed that Rice was leading a diplomatic effort to keep Tehran from developing nuclear arms and that such an effort was adequate for U.S. needs. At a news conference in Brussels on Wednesday, Rice said that Iran cannot delay indefinitely accountability for a suspected nuclear weapons program, but said the United States has set "no deadline, no timeline" for Tehran to act.
Tick....tick....tick....
Posted by: Steve ||
02/09/2005
1:30:04 PM ||
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#1
In other news, US routinely updating war plans for China, Cuba, Panama, North Korea, ... Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, etc. We always have plans and we always update them--better to be prepared than caught flat-footed.
Posted by: Dar ||
02/09/2005 13:58
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#2
And then after we really decide to do something, the guy in charge comes up with a new plan based on the actual situation he's faced with.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/09/2005 14:03
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"Operation Guillotine"
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/09/2005 14:30
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#4
"Operation Black Turban" is the plan.
Right now we are in "Operation Tell 'Em Anything They Want to Hear."
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/09/2005 15:06
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U.S. Routinely Updating War Plan for Iran
The Magic Mullahs are constantly moving around, and constantly looking up expecting top see fighter jets with either Stars and Stripes or a star of David on the tail fin...
#7
So what do we do?, A surgical strike on the military and nuclear targets? That leaves an undefeated populace as in Iraq, and probably a much more troublesome one. To hope for an uprising after a strike is to hope for too much, but carpet bombing cities to break the will to fight as in Germany & Japan just ain't gonna happen.
Ugh.. it makes my head hurt, glad I'm not the one that needs to figure it out.
#8
"I'm not spending any of my time worrying about the nuclear proliferation in Iran. I haven't been called into any late-night meetings at 8 o'clock at night saying, 'Holy cow, we got to sit down and go plan for Iran,"
-No shit Sir, but tell the folks why. Could it be we already have accurate target acquisition down to 8-digit grids on their heavy water and refining facilities? Just a wild guess.
As she tours the continent after her Senate confirmation, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is like a rock star — her every movement, her every meeting covered by an adoring media... As the Republican Party casts about for a viable presidential candidate in 2008 to keep Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) out of the White House, attention will inevitably focus on Rice, the woman who may stand between Clinton and the presidency. A much better idea would be that in the last one to one-and-a-half years of his term, Dick Cheney steps down for "health reasons"; then Bush could appoint Rice to be VP. It would be a superb thing for the Republican party, black America, female America, and the country as a whole.
#1
A much better idea would be that in the last one to one-and-a-half years of his term, Dick Cheney steps down for "health reasons"; then Bush could appoint Rice to be VP. It would be a superb thing for the Republican party, black America, female America, and the country as a whole.
#2
A much better idea would be for Bush to convince Arnie to run for the Senate in 2006 so Rice could run for Governor of California. Rice great, but she's never run in an election or held a political job. She needs seasoning.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/09/2005 13:46
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Rice has never run in an election but neither had Ike.
Oscar telecast is going through changes and the next award might look like the Chris Rock show.
Better test that "Mute" button, the FCC is watching
It starts with a new stage that will jut out into the audience to better suit the host's walk-and-talk style, helping him to prowl the stage and react to the audience.
Heh, heh, heh
Other novelties are planned to be introduced in the Feb. 27 telecast, including the simultaneous appearance of all nominees on the stage when the winner is announced; some groups sitting together in the audience and receiving their awards while seated; others receiving their Oscar statuettes in a traditional way, by going up on the stage.
There's a word for this: Cluster-f*#k
Chuck Warn, Gil Cates's spokesman, said it's going to be a much more interactive experience. The proposal was announced this week by Gil Cates, the longtime producer of the annual Academy Awards show, aiming to improve a telecast that is famous for being long-drawn up.
Gee, how about just mailing it in and forgetting the whole thing?
It will be Cates's 12th Oscarcast this year. He announced a handful of changes on Monday at the 24th annual pre-Oscar luncheon in Beverly Hills before 113 Oscar nominees. But the idea was not totally welcomed. The suggestion to stand on stage might not suit some of the nominees, who are drunk nervous enough just sitting in the audience.
So, who decides who gets the award tossed to them in the audience and who gets to come on stage and thank everyone?
Posted by: Steve ||
02/09/2005
12:59:59 PM ||
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Now if they only had Anna Nicole Smith and Courtney Love as the emcees...
Posted by: Mark E. ||
02/09/2005 15:44
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They should put it on delay and then edit it down for content and interest and put together something worth watching, say one hours worth of highlights.
A U.S. Marine Corps Hawk air defense missile battalion is deployed to Da Nang. President Johnson had ordered this deployment to provide protection for the key U.S. airbase there.
This was the first commitment of American combat troops in South Vietnam and there was considerable reaction around the world to the new stage of U.S. involvement in the war. Predictably, both communist China and the Soviet Union threatened to intervene if the United States continued to apply its military might on behalf of the South Vietnamese.
In Moscow, some 2,000 demonstrators, led by Vietnamese and Chinese students and clearly supported by the authorities, attacked the U.S. Embassy. Britain and Australia supported the U.S. action, but France called for negotiations. Somethings seems to never change!
#1
Feb 10, 1965: Ted Kennedy stumbles into Congress, issues an incoherent bleat about "emporial hubrish", and drops face-first into a pool of his own vomit.
#2
A la "Groundhog Day" movie, mebbe they'll do it right this time. Initial overwhelming force, and none of that "incremental" nonsense! Helio-assault on Hanoi with special forces ops capturing the communication, banking, and other infrasturcture links...
Busy week for the buccaneers:
07.02.2005 at 0400 LT at Buenaventura inner anchorage 3, Colombia. Two robbers boarded a bulk carrier at forecastle and broke padlocks on store rooms. Alert crew raised alarm and robbers jumped overboard and escaped empty handed. Master informed coast guard and a coast guard boat arrived promptly within nine minutes for investigation.
06.02.2005 at 1936 UTC in posn: 01:21.6S-116:58.3E, Balikpapan anchorage, Indonesia. Robbers boarded a tanker during STS operations. Police on board opened fire at robbers but they managed to cut ropes of two liferafts and throw them overboard. They jumped overboard and escaped in their boat taking liferafts. Police searched the area but could not apprehend robbers.
03.02.2005 at 1530 UTC in posn: 19:43N - 119:20E, off Luzon strait, South China Sea. A craft doing 20 kts approached a bulk carrier underway at stbd side. D/O raised alarm and took evasive manoeuvres. Crew switched on deck lights, directed searchlights and activated fire hoses. Attempt was aborted and craft moved away.
03.02.2005 at 1530 UTC in posn: 03:12S - 116:21E, Kota Baru anchorage, Indonesia. Six robbers armed with knives boarded a bulk carrier. They hit a duty A/B on his head and tied him up. D/O sent a cadet to look for A/B but robbers held a knife at his throat and tied him up. Robbers opened forward locker and tried to steal ship's stores. D/O raised alarm and crew mustered. Robbers stole ships equipment and escaped in an unlit boat. Master called port control but received no response.
02.02.2005 at 0245 LT in posn: 01:16N - 104:10E, Singapore straits. Ten masked pirates armed with guns and long knives boarded a chemical tanker underway. They tried to break bridge window glass but did not succeed and escaped empty handed. Master raised alarm, sounded ship's whistle and reported to VTIS Singapore. Marine police came and searched the area.
02.02.2005 at 0130 LT at Chittagong anchorage, Bangladesh. Seven robbers armed with long knives boarded a chemical tanker. They stole ship's stores and escaped in an unlit boat.
02.02.2005 at 0350 LT at Kandla anchorage, India. Two robbers armed with long knives boarded a bulk carrier at forecastle. D/O raised alarm and crew mustered. Robbers jumped overboard and escaped in an unlit boat with ship's equipment. Authorities informed.
01.02.2005 at 0030 LT at Tan Thuan port off Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Two robbers boarded a bulk carrier at berth during discharging operations. They broke into storeroom and tried to steal ship's stores. Alert crew raised alarm and robbers escaped empty handed.
Posted by: Pappy ||
02/09/2005
12:40:59 AM ||
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Is it just me or do these guys get away an awful lot? Unscathed?
We need to hear more about these pirates getting what all pirates deserve . . . a short drop with a sudden stop. Are people going about unarmed on the high seas these days?
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
02/09/2005 6:49
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I enjoy and always read the weekly Piracy Report.
#4
03.02.2005 at 1530 UTC in posn: 19:43N - 119:20E, off Luzon strait, South China Sea. A craft doing 20 kts approached a bulk carrier underway at stbd side. D/O raised alarm and took evasive manoeuvres. Crew switched on deck lights, directed searchlights and activated fire hoses.
Posted by: Mike ||
02/09/2005 8:35
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Mr. Ambassador:
The only problem with the crew using weapons is that they have to make sure they win. If you don't shoot them, they will rob the ship, but not kill the crew. If you do shoot at them and they win...
February 9, 2005: Incidents of piracy, which has been a growing problem over the past few years, fell sharply (by about a third) in 2004. There were 445 attacks on merchant ships in 2003, but only 325 last year. The dramatic drop came from more energetic policing in the Philippines, Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, the Caribbean, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Meanwhile, attacks were up in the Malacca Straits, Nigeria, Balikpapan, Malaysia, the Singapore Straits, South China Sea and Haiti.
More at Strategy Page. I just hope it doesn't plummet so far that the Weekly Piracy Report is discontinued.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/09/2005 9:21
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jackal--Are you saying it's better to put yourself at the mercy of the pirates and hope they're "only" there to steal rather than defend yourself and risk violence?
Posted by: Dar ||
02/09/2005 9:42
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Are you saying it's better to put yourself at the mercy of the pirates and hope they're "only" there to steal rather than defend yourself and risk violence?
In most of these cases, they are just thieves. Hell, the ship owners don't even pay attention to maintenance for the ship and the crews are not much better off than serfs. Many ships, even huge bulk carriers just disappear at sea with no one knowing why they sunk. The owners just collect the insurance money and buy another rusting hulk.
It's like working the night shift in a Stop & Rob store where the owners don't let you carry a gun, don't have a safe or a video camera. Somebody comes in to stick the place up, you just say "Take the damm money, it ain't mine."
Posted by: Steve ||
02/09/2005 11:06
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Add this little twist to it: generally each ship is chartered as its own corporation. Meaning, if the ship is lost, collides with another ship, the crew stages a mutiny because they haven't been paid in six months, etc., the damage is limited.
I could tell stories about ships with hulls in places less than a quarter-inch thick, ships sailing on "Iron Mike" because the entire crew was dead drunk, ships renamed and re-flagged half a dozen times in a year. Maritime shipping is a strange world.
#10
Well, gents, I'd rather not rely on the mercy of criminals, but then it's a world I'm not terribly familiar with. Perhaps I shouldn't equate self- or home-defense with the piracy scenarios, but being helpless and passive when confronted just isn't in my nature. Fortunately most of these pirates seem more than ready to run when confronted.
Posted by: Dar ||
02/09/2005 14:03
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#11
Couldn't the crew at least be afforded SwissTex Army knives?
#12
Dar, remember the case of the pizza guy who defended himself with a gun and was fired. That's essentially what it is on a grander scale. Imagine if he had tried to defend himself without a gun. He might well have ended up dead.
If the owners were willing to provide some actual weaponry (say, some AK-47s), or even allowing the crews to arm themselves, then fighting might be a good choice. But, if you have perhaps one pistol, is it worth even trying to fight them that way? Now, if the pirates tended to kill everyone, whether they defended themselves or not, then, sure, the crew would fight with everything they had in hand-to-hand combat if necessary so that at least some of them might survive.
Oh, and it's not really like home defense. Steve's analogy is closer; they don't have any stake in the cargo or ship.
ANKARA, Feb 8 (AFP) - Two sailors from the Syrian-Egyptian crew of a North Korean cargo ship went missing off Turkey's northern coast Tuesday when their vessel capsized in a snow storm, Turkish officials said.
Most likely a North Korean flagged ship rather than NK owned and operated. It's a good place if you can't meet the high safety requirements of say, Liberia.
The nine other crewmen were pulled alive from the sea by two army helicopters which were called to help the rescue operation after the bad weather prevented the local coast guard from acting, the coast guard headquarters in Ankara said. "The two helicopters are continuing to search for two other sailors who are understood to be missing," the statement said.
They lost another NK flagged tub, the Lady O off Greece on Jan 17th. And there was another off Israel in December, I believe
"Avi, paint another NKor flag on the side of the sail."
The Adnan-1 began sending S.O.S. signals at around 1000 GMT after it leaned sideways about 30 nautical miles off the Black Sea port city of Sinop, local officials told Anatolia news agency.
The crew left the ship on a life boat. It included eight Syrians and three Egyptians, the undersecretariat for maritime affairs said.
A crack crew, I'm sure.
The vessel, ladden with iron and wood, was en route from the Russian port of Novorossiysk to Syria, according to Anatolia.
Well, the gunstocks were wood, at least.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/09/2005
12:35:45 PM ||
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I wonder how heavy White Slag gets when saturated with water?
Two months ago, India, the United States and Britain warned Nepal's king against a unilateral grab for power. On Tuesday, he called their bluff. King Gyanendra sacked the government, arrested politicians and assumed absolute power for three years. The press was muzzled, phone lines snapped and the internet closed down as Nepal seemed to retreat back into its shell. His action is being described as a "royal coup d'etat."
Condemnation came swiftly. India and the United States said the king's move played into the hands of Maoist rebels fighting a bitter nine-year-old insurgency to topple the monarchy. Britain said it was reviewing military and development aid, and the United Nations insisted democracy should be restored. It is reminiscent of the condemnation that followed General Pervez Musharraf's 1999 coup in nearby Pakistan. Musharraf, of course, eventually won the world around, insisting that he was a better choice than Islamic extremists.
Nepal's monarch could be playing a similar game. "Clearly, King Gyanendra has calculated that when it comes to a choice between the monarchy and Maoists, India and the international community would have no option but to side with him," wrote Indian foreign policy expert C. Raja Mohan. Newspapers called the king's move a "high-risk gamble". If he can do what he has promised -- bring peace with the Maoists and ultimately restore democracy, the gamble could pay off.
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
King Gyanendra
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/09/2005
12:30:19 AM ||
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If I have a choice between this guy and the Maoists. He wins hands down. Things could be better but commies suck.
#2
Just a question: have Communists ever managed to overthrow a democratic government?
Am not speaking about invasions from outside (like Soviet Union installing communist dictatorships in Eastern Europe), but rather about cases of internal revolt, regardless of whether they've been backed from outside forces. Most of the examples I have in mind (Cuba, Russia, China, etc) seem to be cases of authoritarian regimes being overthrown.
Same question about Islamofascists.
If the answer is "no", then I think that shows something.
#3
Aris, the only way communists have ever come to power is by violent overthrow of an existing government or invasion. The only exception I can think of is Chile and Allende's brief tenure. IMO Cuba, and Russia were democratic although not up to modern standards. They were certainly pluralistic societies with elections.
With a more-or-less pluralistic society, the Communists generally try to destroy it from within, hijacking the police and security forces, then using salami techniques. That's how it worked in Czechoslavkia (granted, the Russian army made it easier) and Nicaragua. That's the method that Allende was starting, and what Chavez is doing right now. You see "emergency powers," "temporary measures for the duration of the crisis," denounciation of popular opponents as "in the pay of our enemies" or "fascists" or "would-be dictators." They also use murder and terror to silence opponents. These techniques are usually easier than fighting the Army directly.
IMO Cuba, and Russia were democratic although not up to modern standards.
Hmmph. Cuba had Batista, unless I'm thoroughly mistaken. And Russia was under the rule of the Czars. Modern standard? I'm talking about then-day standards. Weren't Russia and Cuba of the times in question significantly less democratic than e.g. USA, UK or France of the same times?
That's the method that Allende was starting, and what Chavez is doing right now.
Regardless of whether Allende was starting it or not, he didn't succeed. And Chavez is heading towards that course of action, and certainly desires it, but he's not yet managed to overthrow either multiparty democracy or capitalism. Not yet.
Criminologists have begun examining for authenticity a videotape recording of Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev placed on an Internet site of extremists on Tuesday. A man resembling Basayev dismisses the reports alleging his death and asserts that he is "absolutely well".
"Firstly, we do not rule out that that this could be an old tape of the Chechen terrorist number one that was shot earlier for the case of his death "for ideological purposes," an expert of one of federal security services told Itar-Tass. "Specialists are now carrying out a careful analysis of the tape and comparing it with other tapes of Basayev made in different years," he said. In addition, "there is a probability that one of his doubles could be engaged instead of Basayev himself". The expert said the "man on the video tape is too nimble for one who long since wears a prosthetic device".
"Besides, Basayev as a rule spoke fastly and expressed his thought rather clearly in his previous statements, while on this tape he stammers and sometimes even garbles ends of sentences," the expert said. He said "several doubles of Basayev have been noticed on the territory of Chechnya at different times, in particular in the Vedeno and Nozhai-Yurt districts". The Federal Security Service's public relations centre denied an Itar-Tass correspondent any comment on the Internet video recording of Basayev's statement.
This article starring:
SHAMIL BASAIEV
Chechnya
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/09/2005
12:25:38 AM ||
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A policeman has been killed and four others have been wounded, ending several days of relative quiet since a rebel ceasefire in Chechnya, a source in the Moscow-backed government said.
The assailants attacked a checkpoint in the eastern region of Gudermes with guns and small grenade launchers late on Monday night, causing the first recorded casualties since separatist rebels announced a unilateral ceasefire last week.
Also, on Tuesday morning outside the capital, Grozny, three Russian bomb-disposal experts were wounded when an explosive device went off as they were trying to defuse it, the official said.
n a statement posted on the rebel website kazkavcenter.com, the separatists said they would observe a ceasefire until 22 February as a "sign of goodwill" - the first time they have halted hostilities in the more than five years of the guerrilla war.
The statement was signed by Chechen rebel leader Shamil Basayev, considered a hardliner who does not recognise the authority of Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov and who has masterminded a series of attacks on Russian civilians.
In a newspaper interview published on Monday, Maskhadov urged Moscow to open peace talks in response to the rebel truce, but the Kremlin immediately rejected the initiative, saying it did not negotiate with "terrorists".
Basayev appeared on the website on Tuesday to vow unstinting resistance.
The fighter dug a knife into his artificial right leg several times in Kazkavcenter footage, dated Sunday, as he vowed that his followers would keep on fighting the Russians even after his death.
"I do not understand how the stronger side, and the Chechen side is the stronger side, can simply end a war," Basayev said.
"Our whole people have been held hostage for six years."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/09/2005
12:23:26 AM ||
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The international Arab terrorists operating in Chechnya need leader of the Chechen militants Shamil Basayev alive as a symbol of separatism, an expert on the struggle against terrorism, who spoke on conditions of anonymity, told RIA Novosti. "The international terrorists need him alive. For them he is a cover of the interests of the extremist organizations operating on the territory of the North Caucasus," RIA Novosti's interlocutor said. He said that Basayev's name guarantees the allocation of financial resources by the international terrorist organizations to perpetrate terrorist acts in the North-Caucasian region.
Commenting on media's reports on Basayev's death, the expert noted that, to the best of his knowledge, the Russian power structures have no direct proof of Basayev's death. "As for the Basayev interview that appeared on the separatists' Internet site the day before in which [Basayev] demonstrates his 'good' physical form, this footage could have been filmed much earlier. It may be one of the old records," the expert noted. He also did not rule out that the footage might be of Basayev's double. "Specialists must study this material and voice their judgment," he noted.
The last picture I saw reminded me of "Weekend at Bernies".
The power structures of Chechnya's administration think that the reports about death of the warlord were initiated by Basayev himself or by his retinue. "These are highly likely to be rumors spread by order of Basayev himself. In all probability, the aim of granting a respite to him and his militant group is pursued in this case," a source in the republican power structures told RIA Novosti. He did not rule out that the fact that Shamil Basayev might now stay outside Russia to undergo medical treatment. This source also added that the Russian law-enforcement agencies have no information about Basayev's death.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/09/2005
12:21:14 AM ||
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#1
Just like Benny - supposedly still alive but just needs medical attention....including perhaps a respirator, heart pump, dialysis machine and oxygen mask.
#2
Just like Benny - supposedly still alive but just needs medical attention....including perhaps a respirator, heart pump, dialysis machine and oxygen mask.
Story on Xinhuanet was titled: Hamas member killed in premature bombing. I prefer to call it was it is. A member of Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, was killed Wednesday in a premature bomb explosion in the central Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics said. Hassan al-Allami, 31, was killed as he was preparing a roadside bomb near an Israeli army checkpoint, witnesses said. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared a mutual ceasefire at the Sharm el-Sheikhsummit on Tuesday. But Hamas and Islamic Jihad (Holy War) said they were not part of it.
#1
We need a picture of Wyle E. Coyote after one of his bombs has blown up in his face.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/09/2005 15:00
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#2
so just because he was unsuccessful, does that mean the ceasefire is still in effect? Does this count as an attempted attack by hamas? Doesn't Israel now have the legitimacy to return go after hamas? If not that, shouldn't Abbas do something more than appease hamas?
#3
PlanetDan, unfortunately, the prevailing view for many seems to be that political parties with military "wings" (translation-suicide civilian murderers like Hamas) are just swell as bargaining partners in the Peace Plan. Let's see where that takes the world.
The government reached on Monday a "peace deal" with Baitullah Mehsud a militant described by the national press as a "Taliban commander" in an effort to placate the Mehsud tribe of South Waziristan. But the most wanted Mehsud terrorist, Abdullah Mehsud, is still at large and the only pledge the government could extract from the "pardoned" commander was that he would not "protect" him. The "peace deal" was mediated by the JUI of Maulana Fazlur Rehman. The ceremony predictably ended with shouts of "Death to America".
It sounded very much like the "peace" ceremony last year with Nek Muhammad, the Wazir "Taliban commander" with Al Qaeda connections; only on that occasion high-ranking Pakistani military officers were present and there were speeches against America's "invasion" of Afghanistan to appease the Wazir jirga. This time the domination of the ceremony by JUI was obvious. A tribal representative found occasion to appeal to China to "forgive" the murder by Abdullah Mehsud and his terrorists of a Chinese engineer working at the Gomal Zam Dam kidnapped by them and held for blackmail.
The "appeal" to China has been published in the national press. Backed by the MMA, it will be accepted as a ridiculous application of the law of tribal "honour" on a foreign country. China is thus supposed to redeem its honour by forgiving a terrorist who has been an inmate at the Guantanamo Bay prison, providing justification to a dubious judicial enterprise by America. But where is the honour of the government of Pakistan and how has it redeemed it in the long drawn out "war with Al Qaeda" in the Tribal Areas? The "deal" with Nek Muhammad fell through before the ink was dry on it and the man had finally to be killed with a missile, but not before he became a 'hero' of sorts despite his not so honourable personal profile in the area where he operated.
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
ABDULLAH MEHSUD
Wazir Taliban
BAITULLAH MEHSUD
Wazir Taliban
MAULANA FAZLUR REHMAN
Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami Fazl
NEK MUHAMAD
Wazir Taliban
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/09/2005
12:17:53 AM ||
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MELBOURNE terrorist suspect "Jihad" Jack Thomas was in a precarious mental state ahead of his second bid for bail tomorrow, his lawyer said today.
"Yep. Batso. A loon. Lost all contact with reality, then lost all contact with contact."
Joseph Terrence Thomas, 31, also known as Jack, was arrested during a raid by counter-terrorism police at his Werribee home in Melbourne's western suburbs last November. The former taxi driver and Muslim convert faces charges of receiving financial support from al-Qaeda, providing al-Qaeda with resources or support to help them carry out a terrorist act and having a false passport. He was refused bail in the Victorian Supreme Court in December.
"No bail for you!"
Today, his lawyer Rob Stary said Thomas should be released from Barwon Prison, where he is in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day and has no contact with other inmates. Thomas requested access to an Islamic cleric before Christmas but was refused, Mr Stary said.
"No holy men for you!"
He was allowed physical contact visits with his children aged three years and 12 months for a short time once a month, but no physical contact with his wife, parents or brother.
"No family for you!"
"He is terribly distressed and I think his mental state is completely fragile," Mr Stary said.
"He's become a complete psychoceramic. That pot is cracked!"
"He has returned to a life to complete normality (in Australia) and then to be plucked off the street for an offence which is said to have been committed in Pakistan ... it was completely traumatic. "He has been completely traumatised by the process."
"All he does anymore is play with his lips and his... uhhh... you know."
This article starring:
JACK THOMAS
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/09/2005
12:15:23 AM ||
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Nearly 50 soldiers and Muslim militants have been killed in the southwestern Philippines, the army says, as fighting escalated after an ambush by rebels demanding the transfer of a detained separatist leader.
The military sent fresh troops to Jolo island to reinforce about 3,000 soldiers battling hundreds of rebels from Abu Sayyaf, a small group linked to al Qaeda, and renegade members of the Moro National Liberation Front.
The government signed a peace deal with the MNLF in 1996 and is due to restart talks in March with the 11,000-member Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which broke from the MNLF in 1978.
Abu Sayyaf was best known for kidnapping foreigners and Filipinos for ransom until it killed at least 100 people with a bomb on a passenger ferry in February 2004.
"I have ordered air strikes to punish these renegades," said Lieutenant-General Alberto Braganza, the military commander for the southern Philippines. "We are pursuing less than 500 armed men that are holding out in the mountains."
The military said 17 soldiers and about 30 rebels had been killed. But local officials said as many as 40 soldiers may have died since Monday.
The violence erupted when hundreds of rebels ambushed a convoy of soldiers in Patikul town on Monday. They also staged attacks in three other areas of Jolo in Sulu province.
"We have information that the supporters of former chairman Nur Misuari wanted the transfer of his detention to Sulu," Braganza said in a radio interview on Tuesday. "They are trying to pressure the government to give in to their demands."
Misuari, a political science professor at a state university, organised the MNLF in 1968 to wage war for a Muslim state in the south of the mainly Roman Catholic country.
Two months after the 1996 peace deal, Misuari was elected regional governor of an autonomous area for Muslim communities that was carved from existing provinces in the south.
Before his term ended in 2001, he took up arms again when it became clear the government would not support his re-election.
Misuari tried to escape to the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo island but was arrested and deported to the Philippines in January 2002. He is detained at a police camp south of Manila as he stands trial on rebellion charges.
Braganza said Misuari's MNLF followers had merged with about 400 members of Abu Sayyaf.
Abu Solaiman, a leader of the Abu Sayyaf, called on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to abandon its peace talks with the government and renew its fight for a Muslim state.
"To our brothers in the MILF, don't waive our nation's honour, dignity and right," Solaiman said in a radio interview on Tuesday. "No amount of development can pay for our homeland's illegal and immoral occupation or annexation."
He also urged the remnants of the MNLF to continue the struggle against the "enemies of Islam".
Most MNLF rebels turned to rice, corn and seaweed farming after the peace deal brokered by Indonesia. Many of its leaders were elected as governors, mayors and regional legislators.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/09/2005
12:14:06 AM ||
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Indonesian firebrand cleric Abu Bakar Bashir will celebrate the Islamic New Year tomorrow in an optimistic mood, knowing his chances of walking free from his second trial on terrorism charges are good.
Key witnesses have refused to testify against him. And as their case against him wallows, prosecutors have dropped demands for the death penalty and instead have asked judges to jail Bashir for just eight years.
The specially convened court in a South Jakarta auditorium is in its final weeks and the five presiding judges could hand down a decision as soon as February 22.
But few expect the verdict to go against the 66-year-old cleric accused of being the inspiration and spiritual figurehead for the al-Qaeda linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terrorist network.
A string of high profile witnesses either did not show or refused to give evidence against Bashir.
Prosecutors have had to rely almost solely on the testimony of bespectacled Malaysian Mohammad Nasir Abbas, who is the most senior JI leader to roll over.
Abbas told the court in December that he learned to fight over six years as a Mujahideen against invading Soviet forces on the killing fields of Afghanistan.
He then became an instructor at a secret JI jungle training camp in the southern Philippines.
Later, he was promoted to command the third Mantiqi - or division of JI - covering Brunei, Malaysia and the southern Philippines, as well as Indonesia's northern provinces.
He told the court he was sworn in by Bashir in the Javanese city of Solo in 2001 and first saw the cleric in the Philippines in 2000 during a passing-out ceremony for 17 Indonesian militants.
"Bashir headed Jemaah Islamiah. He gave a speech in front of the students, and stayed there for two or three days," he said.
But Abbas was shouted down by hundreds of Bashir supporters and since then the parade of other key witnesses has stayed largely silent.
They include the so-called repentant Bali bomber Ali Imron, currently serving a life sentence for his role in the blasts that killed 202 mostly-foreign tourists, and Hutomo Pamungkas, alias Mubarok.
Bashir is charged with inspiring his followers to carry out the bombings and the 2003 attack on Jakarta's JW Marriott hotel, which killed 12 people.
But Imron said he met Bashir at a Surabaya hotel shortly before the Bali attacks and "there was no guidance or blessing from Bashir relating to the bombings".
Others to have withdrawn evidence include Bali bomber Idris, alias Mohammad Ikshan, and Rusman Gunawan, the younger brother of detained JI operations supremo Hambali.
Sidney Jones, a JI expert from the International Crisis Group, said prosecutors had mounted a poor case against Bashir.
She also said they have been hampered by a Constitutional Court ruling last year striking down the use of retroactive anti-terrorism laws against him.
"Clearly the case against him has been very weak," she said.
"It was always going to be very difficult to prove involvement in Bali or the Marriott, and when the first trial failed because it was so poorly prepared by the prosecutors, that meant that they went into the second trial already at a disadvantage.
"When the Constitutional Court prevented them from going back at looking at where the evidence against him was much clearer - the (2000) Christmas Eve bombings for example - the case became extremely difficult to prove."
In September 2003, a court acquitted Bashir of several terrorism charges and said there was no evidence that he was the head of Jemaah Islamiah. He was convicted on minor immigration charges.
Prosecutor Salman Maryadi told the court this week that evidence clearly showed Bashir was guilty of acts of terrorism in Indonesia that had led to the endangering or loss of lives.
But one of Bashir's lawyers Wirawan said Salman's request was pure bravado.
"I have to say it was courageous. Not a single statement from any witness supports the elements of the charges," he said.
The verdict will be closely watched by both Australia and the United States, as both have accused Bashir of being a key terror leader.
To add momentum to his defence, Bashir told the court that religious extremists were wrong to stage attacks in Indonesia because the world's largest Muslim-populated country was not at war with anyone.
He said if Muslims wanted to wage jihad or holy war against the United States, they should go to countries like Afghanistan.
And Jones said even if Bashir walked free it was unlikely to reinvigorate JI, which has been hit hard by a string of arrests after Bali.
"The more interesting question is not whether he gets acquitted, but what difference it makes," she said.
"I'm not sure it makes that much of a difference. Clearly if he gets acquitted it will be greeted by his supporters as a huge triumph over American pressure.
"But on the other hand it's not going to mean that the security risk in Indonesia jumps dramatically.
"I think he has played a seriously bad role, but his return to (his Islamic boarding school) Ngruki is not going to mean that he will suddenly start organising operations."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/09/2005
12:12:54 AM ||
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#1
Abu Bakar Bashir will walk. That was the plan all along apperently.
#2
Bashir better watch his six when he walks. He has pissed off a number of people that may not let him get off easy like the Indonesian govt did.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/09/2005 1:50
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#3
i would expect some tough mates of some parents of the bali murdered will have a score to settle--this guy may see paradise sooner than later
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
02/09/2005 2:36
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#4
I dunno, he's the "spiritual leader" of JI. He's a crybaby and coward, which earned my eternal scorn, but if he gets off then the Indos are in trouble. I bought into the notion that they were trying, they were doing their best, blah, blah, blah. Now, hey - results are what matters. This is the worst possible outcome for them. When we have to let some dink go it kills me. I guess they're sometimes in the same boat - but, speaking plainly, I don't trust them to be bona-fide partners in the WoT, especially after letting the biggest fish get away in two separate trials, giving him a cell phone to use in jail, allowing interviews with symp MSM, etc. Doesn't instill any confidence. We'll see, but this puts Indo back on the asshat list, IMHO.
The USS Abraham Lincoln wrapped up a month-long emergency relief mission last week and left the waters off Indonesia's tsunami-afflicted Aceh Province.
But left in the Lincoln's wake are ripples of interest in both the United States and Indonesia for a return to closer ties. Fresh debate has emerged in Congress over whether to restore relations with the Indonesian military, which had been damaged by human rights concerns. In Indonesia, the month-long U.S. presence has so far helped to polish America's image, which political observers say had been tarnished by the war in Iraq.
"The tsunami in Aceh showed that people in the West were serious in giving aid to Muslim counties," says Ulil Abshar Abdalla, an Islamic scholar and liberal Muslim activist. "It will shift perceptions of the West as a bloc."
Mr. Ulil says that prominent Islamic leaders thanked U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz at a meeting at the U.S. Ambassador's residence in Jakarta. "It was the first time, I'd heard [the Islamic leaders] say thanks," says Mr. Ulil. "It made me very happy."
Mr. Wolfowitz, a former ambassador to Indonesia, is among those calling for closer military ties with the world's largest majority-Muslim country. Wolfowitz told reporters in Jakarta last month, "We would also like to see how the TNI [the Indonesian military] has endeavored to put itself under the control of civilian supremacy."
Supporters of mending the 13-year rift with Indonesia's military argue that it could be a more central ally in the war on terrorists, including Southeast Asian groups linked to Al Qaeda. Indonesia's navy also polices the Malacca Straits, a major world shipping lane prone to pirate attacks, and, intelligence agents say, possibly a major marine terrorist attack.
Critics claim that the Indonesian military has not done enough to reform itself after decades of human rights abuses, including in Aceh province, which has been the site of a separatist rebellion since 1976.
The U.S. ended a training program known as IMET with Indonesia in 1991 after Indonesian soldiers massacred demonstrators in a graveyard in mostly Catholic East Timor. The ties were further scaled back in 1999, after the Indonesian military orchestrated a scorched earth campaign killing hundreds, following East Timor's vote for independence in a UN-sponsored plebiscite.
The U.S. training programs, which included courses on operating a civilian chain of command, are exactly those needed by militaries such as Indonesia to improve their record, argue supporters such as Sen. Kit Bond (R) of Missouri. Under the IMET program, Indonesian officers were exposed to Western military practices, including codes of conduct and rules of engagement.
In a speech in late January, Senator Bond called for an end to military sanctions against Indonesia, claiming the country could be a stronger ally in the war on Al Qaeda-linked terrorists. In a statement, Bond said that sanctions on the sale of spare parts had slowed the delivery of aid to tsunami victims. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is also believed to support closer ties.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D) of Vermont, the architect of the 1999 restrictions, disagrees. Senator Leahy, a vocal critic of the TNI, argues that Indonesia's military has done little to change its ways. He says Indonesia has failed to bring to account officers involved in atrocities in East Timor, dismissing the convictions of a Jakarta-based ad hoc court for human rights crimes in East Timor.
In the U.S. Senate last week, Leahy accused the Indonesian military of consistently obstructing justice.
"Although senior Indonesian military officers have repeatedly vowed to support reform, they have done next to nothing to hold their members accountable for these heinous crimes," he said in a statement.
Leahy said that Indonesian officers already receive some U.S. training. Such programs include counterterrorism skills. And Indonesia, with proper disclosure, can purchase from the U.S. some military spare parts for "nonlethal" items.
U.S. investigators have accused the Indonesian military of blocking an FBI investigation into the deaths in 2002 of two Americans for 18 months in the far-flung Papua province near a gold mine operated by a U.S. company. The murders have further complicated efforts to restore links.
Although he did not mention the IMET program, after his visit to Indonesia in mid-January, Wolfowitz said that cooperation between the U.S. and Indonesian militaries could mean closer ties. He said that the U.S. needed to "help build the kind of defense institution that will ensure in the future that the Indonesian military, like our military, is a loyal function of a democratic government."
A study sponsored by the United States-Indonesia Society (USINDO), a Washington-based nongovernment organization, is also calling for the U.S. to lift restrictions on military ties. The report from USINDO, whose members include US corporations that do business in Indonesia, such as Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold and Exxon-Mobil, is calling for expansion of military ties.
Meanwhile, the U.S. still has a 1,000-bed hospital ship, the Mercy, in Aceh's waters as part of the $4.5 billion relief effort there.
But Islamic scholars such as Ulil say that among many ordinary Muslims the enhanced post-tsunami image for the U.S. — regardless of the relations between the governments — will not be permanent. "As long as there is aggression, as long as there is a U.S. presence in Iraq, there will be distrust [among ordinary Muslims], it has very deep roots in history."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/09/2005
12:10:19 AM ||
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#1
Fluff piece? Lots of restatement of the obvious?
On the other hand...
.com, do you happen to have a graphic with text of Admiral Akbar handy?
#2
"The tsunami in Aceh showed that people in the West were serious in giving aid to Muslim counties," says Ulil Abshar Abdalla, an Islamic scholar and liberal Muslim activist. "It will shift perceptions of the West as a bloc."
This is another Me Muslim load of crap. The US helps people in dire need. It is who we are, and what we do. We went to Bam after the earthquake, and even had our female soldiers put on headscarves to be sennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnsitive to MM sensibilities. We do it for everyone because they are human beings. Lay off the muslim label crap.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/09/2005 0:44
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#4
Personally, given the dismal performance of the Indo judicial system with Bashir & Co, I can't see doing much - unless we're talking Ghost Jet service to NeverNeverLand. I would share any intel, that's for damned sure. Remember how they handled Hamball's wife? IIRC, they denied us access to her and demanded he be turned over to them - after the Thais captured him in coord with US. Right. Yewbetcha. He's still ours because we didn't. I say they have to prove they can grab baddies - including old men who hang around thinking they're immune cuz they're Muzzy "scholars" like Bashir - and deal with them both on the intel side and the legal side. Thus far, nothing to confirm they can do either. Were it not for the guy who "turned" of his own accord, no-shit honest remorse, they would've had to let Bashir go months ago. Indo elicits no sympathy from me regards the WoT at the moment.
#5
Thanks, .com! Sometimes there is an appropriate use of a Fark cliche!
You're expressing what I feel about the situation. Indonesia is the most populous Muslim nation, and if they were serious about deeping strategic ties with America it might be worthwhile---both as a wedge against the Wahabis and as a geographical chokepoint. But Indonesia's recent performance has been noncommital at best, and at worst very wishy-washy when they could really prove themselves.
Getting involved at this point could prove a real "quagmire."
An Azeri court handed out sentences of between five and 15 years in jail to six men suspected of links to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network and accused of planning terror strikes in Azerbaijan, the sentencing judge in the case told AFP Tuesday. "This is a group of people who were incriminated with an attempt to organize a terrorist attack," Judge Azer Husseinov of the High Crimes Court said, adding that no details of the case would be released "to protect state interests." Azerbaijan's state security ministry (MTN), the successor agency to the KGB in the former Soviet republic, confirmed that it investigated the case but an MTN spokesman said he could give no details of what and when the suspects planned to attack. Azeri media reported that the men were suspected to be Wahhabis, followers of a radical brand of Islam, with links Al-Qaeda. One of the suspects' lawyers told AFP on condition of anonymity that the six men were arrested in August after allegedly photographing oil refineries and embassies in the Azeri capital Baku. "This is a falsified case without any proof," he said.
Their Mom collects pictures of refineries...
Human rights groups have accused the Azeri authorities of fabricating a number of terrorism cases since Azerbaijan joined the US-led coalition to fight terrorism. "They do this so that they can show the West that their special services are fighting international terrorism," said Leila Yunusova, head of the Azeri Peace and Democracy Institute. "We can't be sure that these people are actually guilty, it's very negative that the case was held behind closed doors," Yunusova said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/09/2005
12:08:15 AM ||
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Rats. Now I need to take another shower. I'm starting to look like a very large prune...
The government paid huge amounts of money to four of the five most-wanted militants in South Waziristan, who surrendered and signed peace deals with the authorities in November last year , to enable them to repay the debt they claimed they owed to Al Qaeda, sources told Dawn. Payments were made as part of a package after the militants insisted that they needed to pay back a huge sum they had taken from Al Qaeda in their fight against Pakistani forces. The sources said the payments were made from the secret service fund (SS Fund) and the four militant commanders were summoned to Peshawar for the purpose.
Two of them, Haji Sharif and Maulvi Abbas, received Rs15 million each, while Maulvi Javed Karmazkhel and Haji Mohammad Omar were each paid Rs1 million. Maulvi Abdul Aziz, the fifth militant leader, who also signed the peace deal, was not part of the package and, therefore, did not get any amount. However, the sources said that Maulvi Aziz was now angry for being ignored and was reportedly pressing the other four militants to give him his share. The payments to the Ahmadzai-Wazir tribal militants were made last month, while Haji Sharif received his share on Feb 4, the sources said. "There were stacks of millions of notes of Rs1,000 denomination and these men walked away literally with a bagful of money," the sources added.
No receipts were given or signatures obtained as the payment was made from the SS Fund. It could not be confirmed whether the four militants really owed the money to Al Qaeda as they had claimed or pocketed the amount themselves. Corps Commander of Peshawar, Lt-Gen Safdar Hussain, confirmed that the militants had initially sought Rs170 million to return the amount borrowed from Al Qaeda. "At the start of negotiations, they asked for Rs170 million but later they reduced the figure to Rs50 million," the corps commander said while talking to a group of journalists. "Since the deal involved money and I did not want to become part of it, I said the matter should be dealt with by NWFP Governor Iftikhar Hussain Shah. And I don't know what happened afterwards," he added.
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
HAJI MOHAMAD OMAR
Wazir Taliban
HAJI SHARIF
Wazir Taliban
Lt-Gen Safdar Hussain
MAULVI ABAS
Wazir Taliban
MAULVI ABDUL AZIZ
Wazir Taliban
MAULVI JAVED KARMAZKHEL
Wazir Taliban
NWFP Governor Iftikhar Hussain Shah
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/09/2005
12:07:25 AM ||
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Saudi Arabia's King Fahd has sacked his education and social affairs ministers in a cabinet reshuffle that also saw the pilgrimage and cultural ministers swapping portfolios. A royal decree on Tuesday dismissed Education Minister Muhammad Ahmad al-Rashid and replaced him with Abd Allah bin Salih al-ubaid, chairman of Saudi Arabia's human rights watchdog.
Culture and Information Minister Fuad Abd al-Sallam Muhammad Farsi and Pilgrimage Minister Iyad bin Amin Madani also swapped portfolios. No explanation was given for the cabinet reshuffle, which was the second in the oil-rich desert country since April, 2004. The last ministerial change took place when the labour and social affairs portfolio was split into two ministries. King Fahd also carried out a reshuffle in 2003, bringing in five new faces in the ministry.
I don't know enough to have an opinion. To me, it's just a reshuffle among the princelings...
This article starring:
Abd Allah bin Salih al-ubaid
Abd al-Muhsin bin Abd al-Aziz al-Akkas
Ali bin Ibrahim Namla
Fuad Abd al-Sallam Muhammad Farsi
Iyad bin Amin Madani
King Fahd
Muhammad Ahmad al-Rashid
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
12:06:57 AM ||
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#1
I'm not sure either, but I have two minor observations:
1) Fahd didn't do diddley-squat, except drool, I'd wager. CP Abdullah made these moves, IMHO.
2) An Al Rashid was canned. That's a surprise of the first order - the Al Rashid Clan has mucho beaucoup wasta, as non-Royal clans go. Maybe this means that they are allied to the Sudairi Clan, and Abdullah is replacing Sudairi supporters with Shammar Clan supporters. I dunno, but there is someone I could ask who might know.
CP Abdullah and the Sudairi Seven are all getting along in years, this might be something he's doing for whomever is to follow... removing threats or independent-minded operators and loose cannons, etc. - or just preempting for his own clan to stay in power. Power is the name of the game, not some Western notion of nation or unity or other sentimental drivel, heh.
#4
.com, I agree. Note that it was the Education Minister. All in all, a minor reshuffle with some reform potential. Now if only Nayef would have a terrible auto accident.
The Sudanese government and southern rebels have told the UN that development aid should be the main priority rather than prosecuting war criminals.
"Why so worried about a few dead Negroes?"
Ali Usman Muhammad Taha, Sudan's vice-president, and John Garang, leader of the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA), were addressing the world body on Tuesday about the agreement they signed last month ending a 21-year civil war in the south of the sprawling East African state. Taha, in charge of negotiations on Darfur in the country's western region, and Garang, who will become a vice-president, presented political proposals meant to stop militias from killing, raping and robbing the Darfur people. Garang also proposed a new force of some 15,000 to 30,000 troops to keep peace in Darfur - a third from the government, a third from his SPLA and the rest from the African Union (AU) and others.
Yeah. That'll work. Break out the champagne.
This article starring:
Ali Usman Muhammad Taha
John Garang
Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
12:03:49 AM ||
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That feller in the picture reminds me somewhat of Sinbad. Is it just me?
Interesting look at new movies and TV shows about the military and Iraq. Not at all anti-American in its basic reporting.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/09/2005
12:01:25 AM ||
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fuck hollywood--read "generation kill' by evan wright for the real deal
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
02/09/2005 3:12
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I've looked at this story several times - wondering what made sense - and I want to be positive, but I just don't trust them. Even Bochco. Sad.
You just can't erase 35+ years of total bullshit: farcical evil Govt plots, secret rogue Govt agencies with evil agendas, evil corporations with unlimited power screwing everyone out of secret formulas that would let cars run on tap water, free cold fusion energy for all locked away forever by evil [insert villainous entity here], global warming mega-disaster junk-science, yadda3 - no way. They've sucked too long and lied too long to buy into now. At best, it's gonna be a movie by movie, episode by episode thing. They've burned up all the goodwill. And you know they'll slip in bullshit, of every type, even in the best of the lot. Bank it.
#3
Hollywood is above all interested in making money. Since the re-election of President Bush, there is a very strong support for our military and Hollywood is just climbing on to the "War Wagon" because the Moguls see Moolah. They don't really give a rat's ass about much else. It's all about the money.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/09/2005 10:50
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Realistically they waited 2 years before jumping on the Iraq bandwagon. They waited until pro-iraq stories couldn't help Bush and they waited until after the Iraqi election to announce anything. Hollywood still has cold feet about real War on Terror subjects (took until the 3rd season until 24 could manage an Islamic terrorist).
Better late than never, but I'm not going to be holding any big parades for Hollywood's support of the military just yet.
#5
You will see pro-American, anti-military; pro grunt, anti-officer messages all through this stuff. Gen. Mattis comments will not be shown being received with tumultuous enthusiasm from his men. Zarqawi will not be shown sawing people's heads off....until Mel Gibson makes his film.
Actors are trained not to tell the truth. That is their job. That is why the Puritans sought to ban them. Why anyone expects truth or wisdom from them has always confounded me. DB hit this nail on the head. $$$$$
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/09/2005 11:49
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Couple of things came to mind.
First of all, I did not get the impression that F9/11 was kind towards the troops. Several times Moore went too far.
Second, I'm not sure that Hollywood "needs" the Pentagon the way the article implies. Sure, the official stuff helps, but it's not like they're lacking people to make the stuff up (and a friend of mine who's somewhat familiar with the military claims Hollywood usually gets it wrong anyway).
Third . . . how many of the actors who make fools of themselves speak out are going to want to do these kinds of movies? Would Redford or Penn even consider doing a movie that puts our military/Iraq in a good light? Doing it for the money is one thing - but wouldn't they be compromising those oh-so-great principles that cause them to comment on subjects they have no qualifications in?
I'm glad to see this kind of thing, but in my opinion but, like .com, I'm suspicious: Either a few people in Hollywood recognize that they are part of an entertainment industry that ultimately must tell stories and portray characters and situations that will meet with approval (read: bring in the cash) from us idiots who done went and voted for Bush, or it's becoming clear that we don't take our cues from the celebrities we read about all the time, and so there's no point in continuing to bash America. The two are connected, and I think I had a third possibility, but I didn't get much sleep last night and so I forgot it as I was typing.
Posted by: The Doctor ||
02/09/2005 12:25
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By the way, .com, don't knock Evil Government Agency plots! Some of them can be quite entertaining - although they're best when they involve just a few people and not half of the federal government, know what I mean?
Besides, at least the government can still be evil. You don't get many truly evil villains anymore; they're all post-modern, fully-rounded characters who have home lives and wives and sometimes even repent instead of meeting an awesome and terrible doom. I'm all for fleshed-out villains, but sometimes I miss the days of S.P.E.C.T.R.E. and bad guys identifiable by their accents alone.
Posted by: The Doctor ||
02/09/2005 12:32
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The tempest inside the World Meteorological Organization began with a single check. An accountant working late one night in July 2003 at the United Nations-affiliated weather agency in Geneva spotted a check that he had signed, but noticed that someone had endorsed it to an unknown third party, one L. Khalil. The accountant's curiosity was piqued, and he began nosing around.
"Within half an hour I had found about 25 checks worth about $400,000 that had not gone to where they were supposed to go," said the accountant, Luckson Ngwira.
That led to a formal audit and a continuing criminal investigation by Swiss authorities at the sleepy agency, focusing on allegations of embezzlement of training funds by Muhammad Hassan, a Sudanese employee who controlled that money. Investigators allege in documents and interviews that Mr. Hassan stole as much as $3 million over three or four years.
This might be a simple embezzlement case, except that in addition to the money, Mr. Hassan is missing as well. A woman claiming to be Mr. Hassan's wife filed a death certificate, which Sudanese officials have told investigators is fake.
The investigation and the ensuing tumult has rocked an agency where excitement usually only comes with extreme weather. "This is bigger than Ben Hur," said Kathleen Charles, who was the agency's chief administrator before resigning in late 2003. "It has kept growing and growing." The agency, which aims to coordinate and improve weather reporting around the globe, is small by United Nations standards, with just 350 employees and an annual budget of roughly $75 million.
But critics of the United Nations said the weather agency's woes, coming after disclosures of widespread abuse in the oilfor-food program in Iraq, reflect broader mismanagement at the organization. The House International Relations Committee is expected to explore this theme at a hearing on Wednesday.
Posted by: Pappy ||
02/09/2005
11:59:41 AM ||
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As far as I can determine the World Meteorological Organization doesn't do much of anything except hold conferences and issue press releases about how awful the weather will be in the future with global warming.
(2005-05-08) -- Spurred by CNN executive Eason Jordan's accusations that U.S. troops have targetted journalists in Iraq, the Pentagon today issued revised rules of engagement for encounters between U.S. forces and the members of the news media.
Under the new guidelines, U.S. troops will first offer journalists an opportunity to throw down their cameras and notebooks and approach with hands raised.
"We're there to kill terrorists, not journalists," said an unnamed Pentagon official. "The new rules are designed to make it easier for our personnel to distinguish between the two, since they're often found together and have similar objectives."
Once in captivity, the so-called Prisoners Of Undetermined Loyalty Embedded with Terrorists (POULET), will be treated according to the Geneva Conventions, although the Justice Department has yet to rule on their official status.
This article starring:
Eason Jordan
Posted by: BigEd ||
02/09/2005
11:28:55 AM ||
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"POULET"
ROFL! My Froggish sucks, but even I know that's a perfect description for whiny "journalists" - CHICKEN. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/09/2005 12:46
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It is also (old) French slang for cop: when De Gaulle's car was machine gunned at Petit Clamart, Mrs De Gaulle told "Oh my God I hope the poulets haven't been hurt". The member of the escort thought whe was worrying about them when in fact she was worrying about the chickens the De Gaulle were carrying in the car's rear compartment.
The United States is seeking backing from allies in a possible bid to oust the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency at a meeting later this month, diplomats and Western government officials said Wednesday. During the same Feb. 28 meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Washington also will increase the pressure on Iran for allegedly trying to make nuclear weapons, the officials told The Associated Press.
Washington considers IAEA head Mohammed ElBaradei too soft on Iran and its alleged plans to make nuclear arms and the international community ineffective in dealing with the same perceived threat. No U.S. comment was available for Washington's strategies for the upcoming IAEA board of governors meeting. But several diplomats and government officials from IAEA member countries dismissed recent reports that the United States had given up attempts to unseat ElBaradei because of lack of support from other countries. ``They've been lobbying, and close friends have given them a good reception,'' said one of those familiar with the issue, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Another said U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton and other senior State Department officials ``were still lobbying the capitals.''
This article starring:
International Atomic Energy Agency
John Bolton
Mohammed ElBaradei
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
11:19:48 AM ||
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And replace this idiot with who? Another UN functionary that will be more concerned with 5 star accomodations for him and his team?
I say leave it to the CIA and the Pentagon to tell us what we need to know with regard to the Mullahs intentions. The UN no longer serves any useful purpose.
#2
Sacrificing al-Baradei would seem to be a cheap concession for the frogs to make in this era of good feelings. But they'll still sell to the Chicoms.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/09/2005 11:28
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ElBaradei was caught in an open mike situation....
Ummm... Isotope? U-235? Ummm... I don't know
about anything...
#4
The real question is: How relevant is the IAEA in the big scheme of things. If it is irrelavant, than who cares who runs the show? It is a sham anyway. If it can become relevant, then the issue of getting rid of al-Baradei is important.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/09/2005 16:23
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#5
We here at the Irrelevant Hall of Fame eagerly await your imminent induction.
Posted by: Blixie, Clarkie, Joe W. et al ||
02/09/2005 16:28
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#6
Mrs D-It's enough to make ya toss your lunch, isn't it?
MOSUL is the good girl who went bad. Quiet in the early days of the occupation, the violence-ravaged Iraqi city has become a must-win battlefield for our enemies. The terrorists and insurgents will throw all they have left into the fight.
There's no mystery involved: Mosul's the decisive point in northern Iraq. Over the long term, the city's vastly more valuable than Fallujah.
Insurgent attacks, terrorist bombings and assassinations erupted last autumn and continue on a regular basis. They're not going to stop soon. After Baghdad, Mosul will remain the most bitterly contested Iraqi city in the months ahead.
Every blast and tactical ambush has a strategic purpose. The Sunni Arab insurgents need control of Mosul to remain viable. And the international terrorists want to deny it to all but Sunni Arabs.
We failed to see how much we changed Iraq. Mosul is now a frontier town, at the northern edge of the Sunni-Arab world.
With a strong Kurdish tradition, a location astride the Tigris River and control of the key route from Turkey, the city's strategic importance was obvious from the 8th-century caliphate of Harun al-Raschid to the era of Saddam Hussein. Saddam gave his military officers homes in Mosul and encouraged other regime supporters to homestead. He was determined to conquer the city demographically, to make it incontestably Arab, instead of the polyglot mix it long had been.
It was an old trick. The Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders and even the 19th-century Russians used military colonies to augment or substitute for expensive frontier garrisons: Get the soldiers to put down stakes and the land becomes your own.
Mosul became so heavily populated with military and security officials that Saddam's sons, Uday and Qusay, chose it as their hide-out — and died there. The city remained calm in the early months of the occupation because Saddam's loyalists felt confident that the struggle could be won elsewhere — they preferred to ravage the cities of others, rather than risk their own retirement homes.
The Baathists assumed that Mosul would be theirs again after the Americans fled Iraq. But they got an unpleasant surprise: The Americans showed no sign of leaving. Meanwhile, the Kurds grew in strength and confidence.
With elections looming, it was obvious that the country's Shi'a majority would dominate the polls, while the Kurds would vote a united ticket and place second. Our enemies saw what the media could not: They were losing. So they began to execute Plan B.
The insurgents and terrorists alike recognize Mosul as the vital outpost of their blood and faith. If Iraq remains whole, the Sunni Arabs need to dominate Mosul for political leverage. Should Iraq break into three pieces, Mosul would be strategically and economically essential to a Sunni Arab state.
We see Mosul as a set of tactical problems. Our enemies view it as an indispensable fortress-city on the edge of the Sunni Arab world.
Mosul dominates northern Iraq. It threatens the primary border crossing with Turkey at Zakho, which provides the Kurds with an economic lifeline. It was Saddam's military base for repeated attacks on Dohuk and Irbil, two of the three Kurdish provincial capitals, and it dominates the most-direct route from Turkey to Suleimaniye, the third. The Sunni Arabs know they've lost the oil-rich Kurdish city of Kirkuk, at least for now, but possession of Mosul would guarantee them effective control of the pipelines that carry Kirkuk's oil.
The insurgents and terrorists had to make their move. And they can't quit, despite heavy losses. Our enemies will stop at nothing to prevent Iraqi security forces from gaining traction. They have to sustain the myth of a malevolent occupation. They like to kill us, but they need to kill and discourage the Iraqis who stand against them.
Mosul is the single city our enemies can't afford to lose, the key to all of northern Iraq. Without Mosul, the Sunni Triangle is a shrunken, economically impotent territory, dependent on the mercies of the central government.
The Sunni Arabs retain demographic control of cities such as Ramadi, Baquba, Tikrit and Fallujah, and they've given up the Shi'a south for now. But Mosul contains a combustible ethnic mix. The insurgents are determined to keep the matches coming.
For their part, the international terrorists see Mosul as the border fortress of true Islam. Although the Kurds are overwhelmingly Sunni Muslims, they're far too secular and tolerant for the extremists — and, at its heart, the terror campaign spearheaded by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq is a racist, Arab movement. The terrorists are as hostile to the independent-spirited Kurds as Saddam ever was.
Watch Mosul. From the raids on police stations to suicide bombings and mortar attacks on our bases, preventing the pacification of Mosul has become the primary operational goal of both the insurgents and the terrorists.
What will our enemies do now, after the election? Everything they can to create casualties, stir unrest and prevent the normalization of Mosul's economy. The Sunni Arab insurgents will attempt to exacerbate Turkey's fears about Kurdish power and independence, while the terrorists will continue to send in suicide bombers.
In the wake of the widespread displays of courage in Iraq's first free elections, the insurgents and terrorists feel themselves pressed against the wall. In response, they'll lash out madly — to include attacks against moderate Sunni Arabs.
Our enemies fantasize about turning Mosul into another Mogadishu or Beirut. We need to prevent it from turning into another Fallujah. The odds are on our side, not theirs.
But be prepared for more bloodshed in Mosul. If our enemies lose the city, they've lost Iraq.
Posted by: tipper ||
02/09/2005
10:51:10 AM ||
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Good analysis, but he fails to mention the Kurds surround Mosul except for a corridor to the south perhaps 30 kilometers wide. We hear very little about what is happening outside the cities in Iraq but there are indications the Kurds are pushing the Sunnis out of rural areas. My reading is Mosul is already lost to the Sunnis, they just don't realize it.
#2
Lol, Phil_b, wouldn't that mean that Ralph Peters doesn't realize it either?
Good job by Mr. Peters, though, that he understands the strategic importance and conditions of Mosul. Let's hope that not only do our active-duty and reserve (serving) officers know it, but are able to and are acting on that intelligence.
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
02/09/2005 22:43
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Dr. Laura Schlessinger, famous for doling out advice on her nationally syndicated call-in radio talk show, shared a little of her own personal life with U.S. Army reservists. Schlessinger told some 300 people at a 425th Civil Affairs Battalion event on Saturday that her son, 19-year-old Deryk Andrew Schlessinger, will join the U.S. Special Forces later this year - a mission that could take him to the Middle East. Deryk, who enlisted last year, joined his mother on stage to explain his reasons for signing up. He told the crowd at the Calvary Chapel that he resented the way Americans criticize the war without recognizing soldiers' sacrifices - a theme echoed by his mother. "Real people were fighting and I wanted to be part of that," he said. Dr. Laura said she wasn't too worried about her son. "I brought my son up to be a warrior," she said. "I feel sorry for the mothers of the bad guys. And I just have a good feeling."
Posted by: tipper ||
02/09/2005
10:32:09 AM ||
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WHAT a comment by Dr. Laura! Maybe ol' Deryk can target "journalists" (a'la Eason-gate) for real. I loved watching Brent Bozell shred the leftie last night on H&C..."Personally, I don't give a d#mn what al-Jazeera says!" What a moment...you could just see the leftie cowering after that! Eason & co. still can't produce a SINGLE shred of evidence that our guys are targetting "journalists" (not that I'd mind that either).
Posted by: BA ||
02/09/2005 10:46
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#2
"I am my Green Beret's mom . . ."
Posted by: Mike ||
02/09/2005 11:54
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The arrival of intelligent robots that can read, learn and even breed is a step closer as two advanced robotics projects in the US and Korea announced breakthroughs today. The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has awarded $1.2m to two researchers in the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to build a computer that can read documents and learn from them. "Humans learn best and most efficiently by reading, and yet the brute fact is that machines, although often touted as learning this and that, cannot read," said Selmer Bringsjord, director of the Rensselaer Artificial Intelligence and Reasoning Laboratory. "Humans do something very special when they read intelligently: they ponder, almost automatically, how their new knowledge might solve future problems they encounter. Our goal is to take appreciable steps toward implementing machine learning at the genuinely human level; an intelligent machine that can read books, comprehend and reflect on what it has read, answer questions in English, and then explain why it answered the way it did."
Meanwhile in South Korea Kim Jong-hwan, professor at Korea's Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, unveiled software which creates 14 artificial chromosomes that he claims gives the code the traits of an individual. The software will be installed on a robot within three months. In tests the chromosomes within the software, which ultimately could allow the robots to 'breed', caused different reactions to external stimuli in different software systems. The code is modelled on human DNA, although as a single not double helix. Kim Jong-hwan has organised a robot football world cup which is used by researchers around the world to test their latest creations.
Posted by: tipper ||
02/09/2005
10:24:52 AM ||
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The next development model is to create a cognitive machine. I suggest the way to do this is to, one-by-one, develop an AI capable of learning the "parameters" of reality, much like an infant would. Things like size, shape, color, environment (ex: day or night), and perspective could fortunately be figured out one at a time, rather than at the same time, at least initially. And then, the robot would need to learn discrimination, that is, how to "ignore" data that it already "knew", and focus on what was new and novel. This *has* to be done to conserve resources.
The increased frequency with which Middle Eastern terrorists target Americans and U.S. installations is due in part to the terrorists' continued perception that America acts cowardly when under attack, according to former Central Intelligence Agency director R. James Woolsey. Woolsey, who addressed students and reporters at George Washington University Tuesday, said America's reaction to the 1979 hostage crisis in Iran and the deaths of 241 U.S. marines in 1983 are examples of why that perception endures.
With President Jimmy Carter trying to negotiate the hostages' release in 1979 and 1980, the reaction of the average American was to "tie yellow ribbons around trees," Woolsey said. A few years later, when Hezbollah terrorists blew up the U.S. marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, Americans "ran," he added.
Not one of Ronnie's better moves.
Throughout the 1980s, as Americans like Leon Klinghoffer on the cruise ship Achille Lauro were killed and others were kidnapped in Lebanon, "what did the Americans do? They sent the lawyers," Woolsey said.
The George H. W. Bush administration in 1991, after ending combat in the first Persian Gulf War, encouraged [Iraqi] Kurds and Shia to rebel, then stopped and "watched the Kurds and Shia be massacred" by forces loyal to Saddam Hussein, who had been left in power, Woolsey said.
Yeah, we screwed them over then. Another reason to stay the course now, to make up for that mistake
American cowardice was also perceived when the United States pulled out of Somalia in 1993 after American soldiers on a humanitarian mission were ambushed by terrorists in Mogadishu, according to Woolsey. The incident in Somalia, he said, helped solidify the view among terrorists, that "if bloodied, [the United States] will run."
Thank you, Bill Clinton
Woolsey lumped America's current Middle Eastern enemies into three categories: "fascists," which he said include Saddam Hussein's Baath Party loyalists in Iraq; Shia "Islamists," which include the mullahs in Iran; and Sunni "Islamists," which include al Qaeda and the Wahabbi sect of Saudi Arabia. The term "Islamist," Woolsey said, "Connotes a totalitarian movement masquerading as a religion."
It's almost like he reads Rantburg.
Woolsey drew parallels to World War II, comparing the motives of Islamist terrorists to those of Nazi Germany and imperialist Japan. "In a certain sense, they have come after us for the same reason that Hitler decided to declare war on us after Japan attacked us at Pearl Harbor. He knew ultimately he was going to lose unless he took us out," Woolsey explained. "And I think it's the underlying reason that these three totalitarian movements in the Middle East all feel that way about us -- pretty much the same reason that Hitler [did]."
The enemy of my enemy is my friend
The Japanese, like al Qaeda, attacked the United States in part because they considered the U.S. cowardly and unlikely to react forcefully. "Based on what we were doing in the 1920s and 1930s ... the Japanese in the 1940s thought pretty much the same thing about us, because our behavior had certain parallels," to the more recent period, Woolsey said.
Yammamoto warned them otherwise, but he was overruled.
"I think you have to admit that [al Qaeda] had some basis for the assessment that I've just described, just as the Japanese had some basis for the assessment that they made of us in the beginning of the 1940s."
Woolsey said he believes the conflict with Islamism and Baathism is neither a recent nor a short-term phenomenon. "What's new is not the war. What's new is not our being attacked. What's new is we noticed. We finally decided after 9-11 that we would be at war too." He added that the U.S. must "stay awake" in order to prevent future attacks.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/09/2005
10:17:49 AM ||
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Does al Qaeda still perceive cowardice after Afghanistan, Iraq, and the re-election of George Bush? I don't go for this theory -- Palestinian suicide bombers don't blow themselves up at Israeli bus stops because they believe Israel is cowardly. I think the truth is more along the lines that they attack by cowardly means because conventional attack is utterly impossible.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/09/2005 11:09
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Have to disagree a bit about the Japanese. They attacked us because the OIL and steel embargoes were squeezing them hard and they could see they could never defeat the fleet we started building in the late 30's. So either they moved in '41 or faced a deteriorating correlation of force. That was why they accepted the limited victory Yamamoto could deliver. With it, they hoped to negotiate a victory that ensured them the Greater East Asis Co-Prosperity Sphere they had conquered in Yamomoto's year.
Unfortunately, for them, they did not understand that our default position is pacific. With Pearl Harbor, they flipped the bit to warrior mode. After that it was Unconditional Surrender only.
Likewise our culture and capitalism are a very real threat to the fantasy caliphate of the Islamists. They know if they don't establish the caliphate now, the ummah will turn infidel and it will likely never happen. Because World War II happened so long ago, they too do not recall that pacific is only our default mode, not our only mode.
What I don't understand is why we did not flip the bit after 9/11 and go to warrior mode. I shudder to think what it will take to make this happen. But something will, the bit will flip and then it will be Unconditional Surrender time, if there's any body left to surrender.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/09/2005 11:13
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#3
Iran and Syria are working hard to "flip the bit".
Posted by: Tom ||
02/09/2005 11:18
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#4
What I don't understand is why we did not flip the bit after 9/11 and go to warrior mode.
Because to some of our countrymen, 3,000 dead isn't enough provocation. No, they'd prefer to see hundreds of thousands more lives extinguished, and yet even then, it would still be "our fault".
#5
The MSM, CAIR, and Liberal Democrats (Kennedy, Kerry, etc...) are trying very, very, hard to mask the interrupt which 'flips the bit' to warrior mode.
Somehow I imagine the american PSW having a 'Warrior Mode' bit just as some computers have a 'supervisor mode' bit..... Nice one Mrs Davis.
#6
MD: Unfortunately, for them, they did not understand that our default position is pacific. With Pearl Harbor, they flipped the bit to warrior mode. After that it was Unconditional Surrender only.
Actually, the Japanese had a strong basis for their beliefs. Most non-colonial American wars to that point had not been fought to the point of unconditional surrender. WWI, in particular, was fought to an armistice, after the deaths of 100,000 men. And it was a deeply unpopular war.
Holding out for unconditional surrender is relatively rare in American wars - the Korean War was fought to a ceasefire and if we had won in Vietnam, that, too would have been fought to a ceasefire. Roosevelt's insistence on unconditional surrender, over Churchill's objections, probably resulted in hundreds of thousands of additional American combat deaths. (It may also have strained the resources of the British empire to the point that it fell apart after the war). Note also that we haven't insisted on the unconditional surrender of the regimes that had any part in the 9/11 bombings.
#7
The Japanese ignored the advice that Yamamoto gave them, that hitting America in this way was waking a sleeping giant (he had trained here after all) and he could only guarantee six months of victory.
Some of the thought in Japan had to be that we would cave if they hurt us badly enough in the opening of the war.
ZF- I think that we need to take note of UC as a tactic. It worked to demand unconditional surrender, ending that conflict. Germany and Japan are now peaceful nations whom exist with us on a rational and even basis.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
02/09/2005 12:43
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#8
ZF, I agree. The only wars we have fought in warrior mode are the Cousins' Wars the Revolution, Civil War and World War II. That is probably why I should not be so surprised that the bit did not flip. Perhaps we're just getting in the mood to do it after China takes out a CBG in order to invade Taiwan.
80 years is a life time. Look at the dates. 1780, 1860, 1940. Somebody is cruising for a bruising and will misunderestimate our mode shortly.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/09/2005 12:53
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#9
I found Walter Russel Mead's thesis convincing. What we are talking about is what he calls the "Jacksonian" wing of our foreign policy. It's the one least understood by foreigners. It tends to follow the "mind your business" philosophy (the lack of support for intervention in Somalia, Bosnia, Rwanda, ...).
But, when we are attacked, that's a whole different matter. Similar to Mrs. Davis' "warrior bit," Jacksonians view war as an On/Off switch, not a rheostat. Either you fight to win, or you don't waste lives fighting. That's one reason Korea and VietNam were so unpopular.
The Unconditional Surrender follows in that someone who attacks us must understand that he is defeated, beaten, crushed. At that point, we're willing to forgive (and help rebuild). But only after the enemy admits his total defeat. Someone like Saddam in the 90s, saying "Oh, running away, eh? All right. We'll call it a draw." doesn't merit forgiveness.
Finally, there is the matter of honor. In spite of the horrible acts Germany committed on its own people and those of occupied countries, the Wehrmarcht fought a relatively "honorable" war against the Western Allies (with a few exceptions). Japan, on the other hand, attacked without a declaration of war, and grossly mistreated prisoners. That is the ultimate insult, and against "dishonorable" enemies, Jacksonians say that all rules are off. Bulldoze up fortress so the troops die of asphyxiation without a chance of surrender? Fine. Fire-bomb cities? No problem. Torpedo a troop transport, then machine-gun the lifeboats? You get a medal.
And note when an "honorable" enemy does become dishonorable, we reply in kind, except two or three time over. After Malmedy, German troops in black uniforms (primarly the SS, but also the Panzers, unfortunately for them) found it difficult to surrender, and those who did often didn't make it to the POW camp.
The Moslem world is perhaps fortunate in that they attacked on 9/11/2001, rather than 9/11/2000. If the election had been held in the aftermath of the attack, we may very well have had a "Nuke Mecca" person run and win the election.
#10
JR: The Japanese ignored the advice that Yamamoto gave them, that hitting America in this way was waking a sleeping giant (he had trained here after all) and he could only guarantee six months of victory.
That line is actually from the Hollywood movie Tora! Tora! Tora! (Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!). There is no record of Yamamoto ever having said that. He did say the following: Yamamoto warned Premier Konoe Fumimaro not to consider war with the United States: "If I am told to fight... I shall run wild for the first six months... but I have utterly no confidence for the second or third year."
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/09/2005 19:05
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#13
Didn't Yamamoto say something to the effect that he was educated in the U.S. and has seen the vast industreal might and was afraid that they had awakened a sleeping giant to a terrible resolve?
#1
Derbyshire is a very insightful guy, brilliant in some way; but in others... well I've had household pets that were smarter than him-- and those didn't even breathe air.
What Derb just can't seem to get through his thick skull is that there are plenty of reasons for us to be in Iraq beyond those that have been stated publicly by the administration; and they're not hard to figure out, either.
Democracy is only part of it.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
02/09/2005 10:22
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#2
I'm not going to argue --- I'm going to wait for a year, and then post this DerbTM again.
#4
Derbyshire is looking at it from a realpolitik standpoint - it is perhaps to America's advantage if Iraqis kill each other by the hundreds of thousands, and the regional Muslim powers get sucked into a war of Iraqi succession, perhaps killing millions in the process. I have some sympathy with his position as a last ditch solution if we're losing too many men or spending too much money. However, our casualty and funding levels are so low that I disagree with Derbyshire about his eminently sensible proposition - I think at these levels, it makes sense to keep our guys in Iraq.
#6
Derb is best when talking about China. Especially his days as a youth when he worked as a round-eye extra for a day in a Bruce Lee movie. Hysterical stuff.
#9
someone: Derb is a crackpot. Remember his "we'll never invade Iraq, ever" column?
He was against going for the UN resolution, because he thought it would be rejected. He was for an invasion as a punitive expedition. His mistake was in thinking that GWB would actually abide by the UN's decision - i.e. that GWB actually respected UN initiatives. He was wrong in that regard, but his analysis of the situation in Iraq is pretty sound. Punitive expeditions have always involved casualties and always involved withdrawal after the enemy was suitably chastised, though not necessarily exterminated - that takes too long and goes way beyond the bounds of a punitive expedition.
When Uncle Sam went to war with the Barbary States in the 19th century, the reigning monarchs weren't actually toppled. When the Marines attacked Beijing in retaliation for the atrocities of the Boxer Rebellion at the turn of the 20th Century, they did not remove the reigning ruler of China, let alone completely destroy the Chinese Imperial Army. Derbyshire is quite erudite about the history of various Oriental civilizations and understands the context of the historical references that the Muslim holy warriors use.
#10
What he fails to see is that the Iraq project is not just for Iraq. If it succeeds, it is a torpedo into Iran, syria, Jordan, saudi arabia, etc etc.
They all know very well, what is coming. If the Iraqis actually elect a government, after they write this constitution, then IF that government leaves office once it loses an election, game over.
all the rest of the Arabs will wait to see if about 5 years fro now the first elected Pres of Iraq stpes down after his term or he loses an election.
If he does, then the silly monarchs on Iraqs borders are going to be in hot water.
That is what the Iraq project is about, killing 5 birds with one war.
#11
His assessment of the probability of success of the big Iraq project is much lower than Bush's. I'm hoping he's not right but I think he is and that will have something to do with our bit flipping.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/09/2005 12:41
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#12
it is perhaps to America's advantage if Iraqis kill each other by the hundreds of thousands, and the regional Muslim powers get sucked into a war of Iraqi succession, perhaps killing millions in the process.
with all due respect, that sounds like the optimal formula for the Khalifate crowd.
#13
MD: His assessment of the probability of success of the big Iraq project is much lower than Bush's. I'm hoping he's not right but I think he is and that will have something to do with our bit flipping.
Actually, I think his point is that a punitive expedition is sufficient to cow Muslim regimes into not supporting anti-American terrorists. There is no point in rebuilding Humpty Dumpty, especially if it costs American lives. His attitude is this - the next time, we drop the Bomb.
In the post WWII-era, we have tended to be navel gazers and over-attached to the WWII model of wars - involving unconditional surrender and total victory - a model that was quite exceptional in the history of warfare. Most wars are fought to a ceasefire, with territorial or diplomatic gains on one side). We tend to think about anything less than absolute destruction of the enemy as somewhat less than satisfactory. But this is how the Korean War and the Cold War ended.
And the Muslim states would perhaps be more cowed if we followed the punitive expedition model, since we can do a lot more of those. Smack them hard and leave. Go for unconditional surrender, lose thousands of men and leave is a lot harder for Uncle Sam to do over and over again to recalcitrant potentates. Overstretch becomes a non-issue - have our pilots bomb the crap out of some hostile foreign country a la Libya. Re-apply over and over as long as there is a problem - that is Derbyshire's model. No long-term commitments and no problem with tying down most of ground forces.
#14
Chinese as a group werent politically mobilized in 1840. Those who were politicized were not in a position to hop a plane to London, and there wasnt much they could do once theyd gotten there. This AINT the early 19th century. Bashing the wogs till they bow down is NOT going to work.
#15
LH: with all due respect, that sounds like the optimal formula for the Khalifate crowd.
Actually, no. Tamerland slaughtered the Ottoman armies, but was equally bled white by them. Setting the barbarians against the barbarians works really well, because atrocity gets piled upon atrocity, and they hate each other for generations, if not centuries. The trick is to help whichever side happens to be losing, and rebalancing as required.
#16
I think his point is that a punitive expedition is sufficient to cow Muslim regimes into not supporting anti-American terrorists
BS - If wed gotten out of Iraq in say, June of 2003 Saddam would have been back in power in weeks, trumpeting his triumph. AND we've had had far worse problems in the arab street (which DOES matter) and among our allies (who also matter). Ditto, more or less, in afghanistan.
#17
LH: Chinese as a group werent politically mobilized in 1840. Those who were politicized were not in a position to hop a plane to London, and there wasnt much they could do once theyd gotten there. This AINT the early 19th century. Bashing the wogs till they bow down is NOT going to work.
It worked for the Chinese against the Vietnamese, starting in 1979. Punitive raid after punitive raid eventually wore down the Vietnamese economy. Today, Vietnam kowtows at every opportunity to Chinese officials. And Vietnam is a country that lost 1.2m troops fighting Uncle Sam and its southern brethren.
#18
. Setting the barbarians against the barbarians works really well, because atrocity gets piled upon atrocity, and they hate each other for generations, if not centuries.
Or everyone gets sick of the chaos and turns to the folks who promise to end the killing, reunite the muslim world, and take it back to the West - IE AQ.
Look at Afghanistan - plenty of barbarian on barbarian atrocities as factions battled it out and destroyed Kabul - till the Taliban swept all before them. Now imagine this happening across Iraq, the arabian peninsula, Iran.
Look, if Derby believes what you say he does, hes not just a jerk, hes a complete idiot.
#19
The Chinese launched an infantry war against VN in '79 which they LOST. And VN is hardly kowtowing to China, its moving toward alignment with the US. Sure they want trade with China, as does EVERYONE else in Asia.
#20
OK, LH, Look at Afghanistan. It's gone back to growing poppies. There could be range wars going on between the warlords, just like before, only for control of the most fertile fields. But it's not the Taliban and it's not a threat to us.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/09/2005 13:08
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#21
Funny Mrs D, thats the leftwing line - ok your man karzai has beaten the taliban, and nows hes done in the major warlords, but LOOK, theyre still growing poppies - shows the countrys still in chaos. You been following the BBC too close, Mrs. D. Afghanistan has a democratic govt, which for the last 4 years has been gradually extending its control of that country. The poppy growing is the last big public order problem, and the question now is how hard and how fast to come down on it. Afghanistan is the OPPOSITE of the Derbyshire strategy. Its only a case of disorder and chaos if you follow the LLL's who were ready to call it failure if we didnt create Switzerland overnight.
#22
I agree that Afghanistan as done is the opposite of Derbyshire's point. But suppose we had pulled out after the "punitive raid". Would the result really have been that different? Does it make that much difference to the U. S. that the poppies are being grown under a democracy instead of a strongman?
LH, you usually do better than ad hominems about the BBC :-)
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/09/2005 13:19
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#23
LH: The Chinese launched an infantry war against VN in '79 which they LOST. And VN is hardly kowtowing to China, its moving toward alignment with the US. Sure they want trade with China, as does EVERYONE else in Asia. Youre really deep into the fiction dept now, ZF.
I think you really need to read up on the current state of Sino-Vietnamese relations before you comment about it. China staged a punitive expedition into Vietnam. It may or may not have lost more men than the Vietnamese. But the point was made. (China lost 20 times more men than the US during the Korean War, but I have yet to hear anyone say that the Chinese were defeated). In the succeeding decade, China and Vietnam conducted artillery duels and raid and counter-raid. At the end of the 1990's, Vietnam sued for peace. It also lost additional territory to the Chinese, culminating in a recent border agreement (heavily criticized by South Vietnamese emigres here in America) that ceded land to China. The point here is that Vietnam was not only deterred from any further incursions into neighboring territory, it was forced to withdraw from Cambodia, and gave up territory to China.
#24
LH: Or everyone gets sick of the chaos and turns to the folks who promise to end the killing, reunite the muslim world, and take it back to the West - IE AQ.
Muslims are not just a bunch of undifferentiated wogs. They have their sectarian national, racial, ethnic and cultural identities. This is why the Acehnese are fighting the Javanese in Indonesia. It is why the Pathans and the Baluchis are fighting the Sindhi and Mohajir Pakistani establishment. It was why the Mongol Tamerlane fought the Turkish Ottomans. This was why the yellow-skinned Mongol Hazara in Afghanistan are despised by Tajiks, Pathans and Uzbeks.
LH: Look at Afghanistan - plenty of barbarian on barbarian atrocities as factions battled it out and destroyed Kabul - till the Taliban swept all before them. Now imagine this happening across Iraq, the arabian peninsula, Iran.
The Taliban became the rulers of Afghanistan because of Pakistani support. The trick is to support the losers (not morally, but with weapons and training). Clinton would have no truck with helping the Taliban's enemies because the Tajiks weren't morally pure. The result was that the Taliban won and al Qaeda obtained a safe haven.
#25
china attacked VN in '79 to get them out of Cambodia. They DID NOT get out the time - they only got out after a protracted guerrilla war that the US supported, as well as China. Im sure South Vietnamese emigres would trash Viet Nam for giving up a few acres to China, even it was insignificant - it would be silly of them not to. Artillery duels across the border are NOT equivalent to air raids to destroy a regime, or to deter them from VALUABLE WMD's. Which is what we were talking about.
Again, VN was pushed out of Cambodia by years of support by China AND the US for a guerilla war. And, in case you havent noticed, thats been followed by nation building in Cambodia.
#26
LH: china attacked VN in '79 to get them out of Cambodia. They DID NOT get out the time - they only got out after a protracted guerrilla war that the US supported, as well as China. Im sure South Vietnamese emigres would trash Viet Nam for giving up a few acres to China, even it was insignificant - it would be silly of them not to. Artillery duels across the border are NOT equivalent to air raids to destroy a regime, or to deter them from VALUABLE WMD's. Which is what we were talking about. Again, VN was pushed out of Cambodia by years of support by China AND the US for a guerilla war. And, in case you havent noticed, thats been followed by nation building in Cambodia.
The point here is that China accomplished the above without paying the price in blood and treasure to get an unconditional surrender from Vietnam. Uncle Sam could have done better - it could have flogged Iraq bloody, destroying its military in place and turning its weapons factories into rubble, all from the air.
As to Vietnam's territorial concessions, Vietnam conceded 12,000 square kilometers of territorial waters to China. That's a body of water half the size of New Jersey. And according to the AFP, internal debate had to be suppressed: Hanoi has always denied making any territorial concessions to China and has attributed criticism to âreactionary forces and political opportunists,â but the subject has remained taboo in public discourse in the country.
#27
ZF:"Uncle Sam could have done better - it could have flogged Iraq bloody, destroying its military in place and turning its weapons factories into rubble, all from the air."
Yeah, probably, but that would just have left the place a sink of poverty and suffering, the ideal breeding place for more Islamic Nutcasery.
I think what Derbyshire is worried about is exposure of the forces in Iraq to attacks from the surrounding Thugocracies. But that's a given, in my opinion. We're exposed in Iraq, we're exposed everywhere. We will be attacked again, inevitably, and I'd rather it was in Iraq than Manhattan. Best we have the troops and tanks there to go calling on the instigators of the attack.
#28
Derbyshire's basic point is that if we had pulverized Iraq into submission, grinding it to dust the way we did Germany and Japan, he would support a long-term occupation. We ruled those countries as protectorates for the better part of a decade, and controlled their foreign policies for longer than that. MacArthur wrote Japan's constitution. What we're getting in Iraq is goulash - not much that is really identifiably American - no constitutional protections in the manner of Japan and Germany, and no control over what the Iraqi government can and cannot do.
#29
mojo: Yeah, probably, but that would just have left the place a sink of poverty and suffering, the ideal breeding place for more Islamic Nutcasery.
Poverty breeds dead Muslims like in Somalia and the Sudan, not Islamic holy warriors. The holy warriors come from the wealthy Muslim states.
#30
Note that while I do not support Derbyshire's position, I understand why he holds it. Short-term punitive expeditions can be repeated for effect.
I favor a continued US presence because setting and reaching the objective of crushing the insurgency will show America's enemies that they can't count on mounting a successful guerrilla war against Uncle Sam. In other words, it will show to them that resistance is futile.
#31
And when the insurgency is finally wiped out, the Vietnam/Lebanon/Somalia syndrome will have come to an end, in the minds of our potential opponents. They will seek easier prey or risk being ground to dust like the Iraqi insurgents.
#33
"Punitive expeditions" in the US lexicon is a synonym for missile strikes or else expeditions aimed at chasing and harrassing bandit-terrormongers. Invariably, unless we actually make full-blown war, we end up punishing the dictator's subjects more than the regime, which is always left in place to wreak more mayhem on us.
US policy in the middle east, Afghanistan and east Africa is littered with futile "punitive expeditions": Reagan's Beirut disaster. Clinton's shambolic strikes in east Africa and Afghanistan. CLinton's Somalian farce. Clinton's sporadic and ineffective strikes against Milosevic prior to getting serious in 1998.
Anything less than overthrowing the terror master is futile.
#34
lex: 15 years of punitive bombing raids on Khaddafi produced... more terror from Khaddafi. The overthrow of Saddam Hussein produced... complete capitulation and renunciation of nukes and terror by Khaddafi.
Actually, I think only one air raid was carried out. I'm thinking in terms of the systematic dismantling of the enemy's military apparatus - his ammo dumps, his barracks, his air defenses, his aircraft, his navy, et al. I am referring to the killing of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of enemy personnel. I am thinking of the kind of pummeling that Uncle Sam administered to Saddam Hussein during Desert Storm, with the Highway of Death enacted throughout Iraq, but without the actual occupation of the country.
#35
ZF, Are you devil's advocating here? Cause I don't think you get highway of death from Naval Aviation or without ground pounders. If we use the Air Force, where do we stage them?
I believe that was one of the unstated reasons behind the Iraq operation. As Niall says, we're going to be there a decade. And part of our presence will be to assure the territorial integrity of Iraq. Oh, and by the way we get 8 airbases, one for every compass point, together with mature logistical infrastructure.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/09/2005 17:29
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#36
I agree with Zhang and he fails to mention VN lost the oil rich paracel islands to China ceding control of most of the South China Sea (to China). I also agree with him on punitive wars. I have been thinking recently that the Iraq war is mostly an object lesson to the Sunni Arabs everywhere that the USA can rollback your territorial gains so behave yourself. Watch Mosul closely.
#37
1. no way in hell VN could have held the Paracels. Naval superiority is what mattered, not artillery fire on the border.
2. Of course limited wars are possible. Depends what you want
3. Bomb his WMD factories - which ones? where? what target list? If you recall, the whole problem was that without going in there was no way to get the intell to determine what he had(not much as it turns out) and where. Bombing him was essentially the Clinton approach - it left Saddam in power, thumbing his nose at us, and only made us look bad - it made us BOTH unloved AND unfeared - a bad combo.
#38
Mrs D is right - you got the highway of death cause the Iraqi army was running away and so was exposed - it was running from coalition ground forces. Air is MUCH more effective when combined with ground forces.
#39
MD: ZF, Are you devil's advocating here? Cause I don't think you get highway of death from Naval Aviation or without ground pounders. If we use the Air Force, where do we stage them?
Our guys are getting killed because they are garrison troops - glorified security guards. During the major combat phase, they swept all before them inflicting huge casualties in return for very few friendly dead. Derbyshire's model works if GI's just do a major combat phase. We lose a few hundred men, kill hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and go home.
#41
LH: Mrs D is right - you got the highway of death cause the Iraqi army was running away and so was exposed - it was running from coalition ground forces. Air is MUCH more effective when combined with ground forces.
Punitive expeditions are not incompatible with ground forces - the ground forces just don't stick around after the major combat phase is done.
LH: If you recall, the whole problem was that without going in there was no way to get the intell to determine what he had(not much as it turns out) and where. Bombing him was essentially the Clinton approach - it left Saddam in power, thumbing his nose at us, and only made us look bad - it made us BOTH unloved AND unfeared - a bad combo.
100 Tomahawks was the Clinton approach. I am talking about unloading 100,000 bombs on Iraq, killing its military personnel, smashing its military equipment and infrastructure and Saddam's palaces.
Nah - Somalia and Darfur are basket cases, but they're all trying to steer clear of al Qaeda for fear of American intervention. And this is with the softly-softly approach we used in Iraq. A scorched earth punitive expedition in Iraq would have infused the natives with the fear of Allah.
#43
and what does that do the WMDs, which are your nominal reason for attacking? Or do you just come out and say it had nothing do with finding WMDs, it was all destroying anyone who stood up to us? What does world opinion think of that - oh yeah, i forget, we dont care one iota for world opinion, we can afford to fight 2 billion muslims, and we dont need a single stinking ally either.
Some ground forces - and where do they launch from - think Kuwait is gonna help you if they think youre gonna pull the china shop down and leave? KSA? Jordan? You gonna do everything by sea and air? with no local air or seabases?
Look, nobody at strategy page, or anywhere else anyone actually pays attention to MILITARY affairs agrees with Derbyshire, whos no military expert, just an ideological blowhard.
#44
no way in hell VN could have held the Paracels. China took them as part of its punitive war. Whats your point. You sound suspiciously liked you are annoyed because you are loosing the argument.
#45
LH: and what does that do the WMDs, which are your nominal reason for attacking? Or do you just come out and say it had nothing do with finding WMDs, it was all destroying anyone who stood up to us? What does world opinion think of that - oh yeah, i forget, we dont care one iota for world opinion, we can afford to fight 2 billion muslims, and we dont need a single stinking ally either.
Iraq wasn't being attacked being it was standing up to the US - it was being attacked because it was a standing threat to the oil-producing Gulf states, and because it had repeatedly broken the Desert Storm ceasefire terms. The moral would be this - threaten Uncle Sam's oil supply and get the big stick.
As to fighting 2 billion Muslims - they're not interested in a fight. Notice how many Arab states stood up - in other than a rhetorical manner - for Iraq during the recent campaign - just about none. Although they pay some lip service to being part of the ummah by sponsoring terror organizations, they are sectarians at heart. Muslim unity is as likely as Christian unity. (And if 2 billion Muslims want to take us on, we can finish the war in a day with a few button presses, followed up by the mother of all punitive expeditions).
#46
LH: Some ground forces - and where do they launch from - think Kuwait is gonna help you if they think youre gonna pull the china shop down and leave? KSA? Jordan? You gonna do everything by sea and air? with no local air or seabases?
If the damage to be inflicted is big enough, for sure. Kuwait is primarily interested in making sure that Iraq goes down, hard, and stays down. As long as US troops stay in Kuwait, I don't think the Kuwaitis care what it does to neighboring powers.
LH: Look, nobody at strategy page, or anywhere else anyone actually pays attention to MILITARY affairs agrees with Derbyshire, whos no military expert, just an ideological blowhard.
Actually, Derbyshire is an astute student of modern and ancient history. Apropos of nothing, he is also a military (though not combat) veteran - not that being a junior NCO has anything to do with strategic analyses. The guy's a skilled mathematician, and he understands a thing or two about logic.
#47
Kuwait is primarily interested in making sure that Iraq goes down, hard, and stays down.
Nobody stays down. Let's suppose we had used the punitive expedition tactic. When would we withdraw? Invasion day plus a month? Till we got Saddam? When we left, would the Baathists be allowed to take over again? Would they host al-Q? Would they make life miserable for Kuwait? When it was time to put them down again, would the Kuwaitis want to host us again?
Do you smack your kid every time he misbehaves?
Punitive raids are an effective tactic for the 19th century. I'm not so sure it works in the 21st or for a country that tries to have higher moral standards than the Europeans in the conduct of it foreign policy (not that it's hard to do).
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/09/2005 18:32
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#48
MD: Nobody stays down.
A lot of boxers would disagree. Great powers as well. Turkey, France, Belgium, Holland, Portugal, Spain - and these are just the European powers. Going down is partially a consequence of having your morale crushed by too many harsh blows delivered competently.
Some how I think a foreign policy of "When they act up we whack 'em." with impartial video provided by CNN is not going to do well with the American electorate. Do you really think they will pay, in dollars or blood, for a military that roams the whorld constantly playing whack-a-thug? Or do we hire foreigners and if they survive 20 years of combat, give them citizenship?
What you are really proposing is that we become the world's policeman in the best case and world's bully in the most likely.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/09/2005 19:04
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#50
MD: You lost me with Belgium.
All of the European empires lost some of their taste for the rigors of sustaining the cost of empire after WWI. Belgium had extensive holdings in Africa.
MD: Some how I think a foreign policy of "When they act up we whack 'em." with impartial video provided by CNN is not going to do well with the American electorate. Do you really think they will pay, in dollars or blood, for a military that roams the whorld constantly playing whack-a-thug? Or do we hire foreigners and if they survive 20 years of combat, give them citizenship? What you are really proposing is that we become the world's policeman in the best case and world's bully in the most likely.
In dollars and in blood? The expense will be trivial in both cases. If we had left Iraq after major combat was accomplished, the Treasury would have $160B more in the till, and 1300 GI's would be alive today.
As to constantly playing whack-a-thug, that's just unlikely - not the whack-a-thug part, but the constantly part. America's enemies would certainly be much less inclined to pose a threat to our vital interests, given the harshness of the potential response.
#51
ZF's right imho. This isn't the 19th century as LH puts it, however, is the particular culture we are dealing with at this moment thinking in 21st century terms? I'm not trying to be condescending or insulting by any means, but some of you are falling into the trap (jmo) of thinking like westerners. When fighting w/a culture much different then one's own & one that is clearly more ethnocentric it is prolly wise to treat them in terms that they understand & ultimately respect even begrudingly.
#2
At first I thought this story was a sad joke by some LLL Prof trying to make a name. After hearing his follow-up and from his little minions (students) I am appalled that he was teaching for this long. Not only does he believe that the U.S. represents the modern model of the Nazi party, he instills this belief in his students. I heard two of his students on the radio parrot the exact same line several times during an interview.
The Nazi and Communists used to call this indoctrination and these two sounded every bit like a âManchurian Candidate.â Now when pressed for specifics on the âNazi-likeâ U.S. policy they grabbed at many straws and then settled on the cease-fire agreement of the first Gulf War. That is because âover 2,000,000 Iraqis died because of our policy.â This really degrades the horrors that were the Nazis and only works on people who canât tell the difference.
The sad part is we (U.S. tax payers) are paying for at least one of these lifetime students with student loans and grants. I guess itâs ok to take money from the evil government for your personal education and that somehow makes it clean. Of course one these yahoos had big plans after his graduation with a degree in Ethnic Studies (after FIVE years): Employment? No. He plans to move to NYC where his girlfriend is getting a job as a schoolteacher and become a graduate student in âEthnic Studiesâ and become an âActivistâ. That is he will not be joining the workforce and attempting to pay back Uncle Sam for financing his âeducation.â
Fact is that other than teaching (Ethnic Studies) there are no employment opportunities for people getting these âprestigiousâ Ethnic Studies degrees. So Ward Churchill is a product of our goofy higher education system that devotes entirely too many resources toward a blatant social experiment. The only way to cure this is too do away with these departments entirely. These departments serve no useful purpose, other than to hold high paying positions for the most strident American Hating LLL. If they eliminated these departments tomorrow it would be no significant loss to the academic world. Remember this next time your State universities cry poverty and want to raise your taxes.
P.S. If your worried about the Professors, I bet they find a nice part of main street to walk back in forth with their sandwich boards calling for the end of âU.S. Imperialism.â
#4
.Com- I don't think "scholar" is correct.
a radical might be a better label. As far
as $98k salary....some of the most educated dumbell's make all kinds of money!!
Makes you sick eh?
ANdrea
Posted by: ANdrea ||
02/09/2005 14:45
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#5
Fighting THE MAN and all he stands for... for 98 grand a year! Salary paid by Colorado chapter of the "little Eichmanns".
Looks like he ain't just a phony Indian....
#2
"anyone who displays his or her underpants in a "lewd or indecent manner."
Um.... Unconstitutionally vague.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
02/09/2005 15:59
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#3
This is certainly going to cut down on housing construction in Virginia. Insert the usual crack about carpenters and plumbers here.
Posted by: Semore B. ||
02/09/2005 17:26
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#4
There is a plumber exemption. I don't think there is one for carpenters.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/09/2005 17:33
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#5
The more I think about the pants themselves, though, the less they make sense to me.
I was reading somewhere (I can't remember where) the other day, that these things almost look as if they were designed to be as unflattering to the female figure as possible, simultaneously making the hips look narrow, the legs look short, the belly look flabby, and to make every single percentage of body fat _stand out_.
(Maybe it was John Weidner at Random Jottings? Or Moira Breen? I think they both talked about the general subject).
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
02/09/2005 19:11
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I thought the real nugger in .com's article was
"Meanwhile, the EU has rebuffed U.S. pleas to reverse course on plans to lift an arms embargo on China this year."
If they get that wrong I don't care if everything else is right.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/09/2005 8:21
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#3
Note the photo caption: "In this two-picture combo U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is seen wearing a plum colored suit as she arrives for talks at the Vatican, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2005."
Anybody here ever seen the AP feature Powell's clothing? I guess he's just not a snappy dresser.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/09/2005 8:32
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#4
I don't know, Tom. Patronizing it may be, but I bet if Powell had worn a "plum colored suit" it would have got a mention.
#5
Women's clothing is always commented upon. It just comes with the territory. If Secretary Rice had been playing to that crowd, she would have worn a scrumptiously tasteful scarf at her neck, and a stunningly simple gold & pearls pin on her lapel to go with the pearl necklace and earrings. But she went there to work, and it shows. Smart lady -- Bush made a very good move tapping her for the position.
#1
This is not real news -- even I, the prototypical end user, have known for some time that anything that connects to the internet is vulnerable to viruses and other evil things. This is just the newsies trying to panic us about the next thing they just discovered.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom ||
02/09/2005
04:15 ||
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#1
Abbas certainly has an alphabet soup of terminally insecure morons to answer to. Prolly needs a hall pass to take a leak.
It's interesting to me that asshats always seem to think the Good Guys are stupid, despite the phreaking mountain of evidence to the contrary (a real mountain of bodies...), and prolly don't realize that the IDF must be in full intel-acquisition mode during this little hudna thingy. First break in the ceasefire should bring some nasty helizaps of Abbas' real tormentors, his own brother terrorists, and not limited to just the West Bank and Gaza, either.
#2
For a time I defined the difference between the Right and the Left as 'The Left is sure they smarter despite the evidence, while the Right is sure it is smarter because of the evidence.'
#3
"Palestinians Say Hizbollah Trying to Wreck Truce
37 minutes ago World - Reuters
By Diala Saadeh
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas are trying to recruit Palestinian militants for attacks on Israelis in order to sabotage Middle East peace efforts, senior Palestinian officials said on Wednesday.
The accusations from political and security officials, a day after Israel and the Palestinians announced a cease-fire, echoed charges from the Jewish state. The officials declined to be identified.
Hizbollah, backed by Syria and Iran, declined comment.
One top Palestinian official said security services were investigating Hizbollah funding for militants in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip (news - web sites). Another said clear links had been identified through intercepted communications.
"We know that Hizbollah has been trying to recruit suicide bombers in the name of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades to carry out attacks which would sabotage the truce," said one official, referring to a militant group inside Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah (news - web sites) faction.
Another official said intercepted e-mail communications and bank transactions suggested Hizbollah had raised its cash offers to militants, but it was unclear if this reflected a heightened desire to see violence flare up or a dearth of recruits.
"Now they are willing to pay $100,000 for a whole operation (suicide bombing) whereas in the past they paid $20,000, then raised it to $50,000," the second official told Reuters
#5
thats not how I read it - more like now there a source, the Pals, who the left cant ignore, who are fingering Hezbullah - and by extension, Syria and Iran. Dahlans (cause i think hes the source) contribution to making the case.
Gently they stir, gently rise
The dead are newborn awakening
With ravaged limbs and wet souls
Gently they sigh in rapt funeral amazement
Who called these dead to dance?
Was it the young woman learning to play the ghost song on her baby grand?
Was it the wilderness children?
Was it the ghost God himself, stuttering, cheering, chatting blindly?
I called you up to anoint the earth
I called you to announce sadness falling like burned skin
I called you to wish you well
To glory in self like a new monster
And now I call you to pray
In a related development, a reliable source told Al-Watan the Cabinet has decided to include foreign sources of terrorism in its anti-terrorism campaign, adding "the Communications Ministry has launched a campaign to identify websites which promote terrorism in the Internet." "The Communications Ministry will prevent access to these websites by means of firewalls, which are similar to the ones used to block access to pornographic sites," he said. "Two websites owned by a Kuwaiti cleric whose name has been linked to the suspects have been included in the ministry's list."
Just another kind of porn...
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
00:00:00 AM ||
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A suicide bomber blew himself up in the middle of a crowd of army recruits Tuesday, killing 21 other people in the deadliest attack in Baghdad since last week's election and highlighting a recent shift by insurgents to use human bombs instead of cars. Insurgents are strapping explosives on the bodies of volunteers to penetrate the network of blast walls, checkpoints and other security measures designed to block vehicle bombs. Several such attackers tried to disrupt voting in Baghdad on election day but were unable to get into polling stations. On Monday, a suicide bomber walked into a crowd of Iraqi policemen in the northern city of Mosul and detonated explosives, killing 12 of them. Iraqi authorities initially said the Baghdad recruiting center was attacked by mortar fire, but witnesses reported only a single explosion and the U.S. military said the blast was caused by a suicide bomber on foot.
Attacks have steadily risen since the Jan. 30 elections, when a massive U.S. and Iraqi security operation prevented insurgents from disrupting the vote. Those measures, including a ban on most private vehicles, closing the borders and an extended curfew, were relaxed soon afterward. An Internet statement posted Tuesday in the name of an al-Qaida affiliate led by Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for the attack on the recruiting center. "This is the beginning of the escalation we promised you," the statement said. Its source could not be verified.
Insurgents in recent months have stepped up their offensive against Iraq's police and security forces, which are less well-trained, well-armed and well-protected than American and other multinational troops, at a time when U.S. military planners are trying to shift more of the security burden onto the Iraqis. Three Iraqi policemen were killed Tuesday in clashes in the western Baghdad neighborhood of Ghazaliya, one of the most dangerous districts of the capital and the scene of numerous gunbattles and assassinations over the past six months. The article goes on to describe the general situation, the election, etc... and then springs this bit in the last page:
Also Tuesday, a militant group claimed in an Internet statement that it had executed a female Italian journalist abducted in Baghdad for spying on "holy fighters." There was no way to verify the authenticity of the claim, which offered no proof that Giuliana Sgrena, a 56-year-old reporter, was dead or had been held by the group. She was kidnapped Friday in Baghdad.
This is the gal they said they were going to release yesterday.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
02/09/2005
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#1
Unleash Kurds and the few remaining Arab seculars in Iraq, and the entire terrorist infrastructure would collapse. However, since common sense conflicts with State Department' inclusivist treatment of Islamofascists, that can't happen.
Four soldiers have been referred to the State Security for interrogation in connection with the recent terrorist incidents in Kuwait, says a highly placed military source. The source said Military Intelligence conducted some preliminary interrogations before referring them to State Security to verify their involvement in terrorist activities, adding "if their involvement is proved the Interior Ministry will handle the issue in a 'suitable way.' If it is found they had no connection with the terrorist incidents the case will be returned to Military intelligence." Indicating Military Intelligence is busy taking precautionary measures in view of the exceptional security circumstances in the country, he said "several soldiers were interrogated and released four days ago. Military Intelligence will continue to interrogate some more men to find out if they were involved in terrorism."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
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The era of being soft is over and there is no place for any bargaining or wasta in ensuring the security of Kuwait and in the fight against terrorism, says His Highness the Prime Minister Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. The relations between senior government officials, who usually remain silent while major operations are underway, and newspapers, were under strain recently. This is to be expected in a democratic country such as Kuwait. Stressing terrorism is under attack all over the world, Sheikh Sabah said "the noose is tightening around this menace in Iraq. Terrorists may move their operations to some neighbouring countries, which should be protected against this danger."
The Prime Minister went on to say the "war against terrorism, which is endangering our national security, has reached a point of no return. We didn't expect the terrorists to reach this far. Now that they have reached where they are we have decided to end terrorism once and for all." Talking about the cooperation between GCC countries, especially Saudi Arabia, in the fight against terrorism, Sheikh Sabah said "the standard of cooperation is very high. We appreciate their support and hope they won't have to pass through this nightmare." Terrorism, which is being strangled in Iraq, is moving towards us and we should be prepared to protect our homeland, he added. "Terrorism has no borders and exists all over the world," Sheikh Sabah said. The Prime Minister stressed politics should not be an obstacle in the fight against terrorism, saying "many democratic countries have had to disregard certain legal procedures to end terrorism. Nobody argued against the United States, which is a fortress of democracy, when it realigned the space of freedom and sidelined many legal procedures to ensure its national security." He went on to say the situation in Kuwait is under control and we continue to receive intelligence inputs about terrorist operations before they are carried out, adding "our security forces are dealing with this issue in a highly professional manner. Fighting terrorism may not be an easy task but it is not impossible."
Sheikh Sabah — who expected the security situation in Iraq to become more stable especially as terrorists are moving their operations elsewhere in the region — stressed we should keep our eyes wide open and act responsibly in fighting such misguided groups. On the future measures of the government to tackle terrorism, he said "we discussed several bothersome issues during Cabinet meetings and are working towards eliminating them. We are planning to amend our educational curricula and bring it back to its past glory without any trace of fundamentalist ideology."
That's going to cause the Islamist bloc in parliament to squeal like piggies. On the other hand, I think they may have lost a bit of their luster with the recent festivities. Assuming the legendary Arab attention span holds out, the past couple weeks could be Kuwait's hump.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
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#1
I'd say that the 4800 hour rule should be in effect for this effort, although Kuwait's been pretty vigorous in the past. Time will tell.
Homemade Chemical Bomb Could Be Al Qaeda's Greatest Threat The plot thickens. I thought their current propagandic position was that the historical existance of chemical weapons was a propaganda ploy of the machiavellian chimphitler's...
A U.S. government surveillance tape obtained by ABC News shows suspected al Qaeda operatives delivering a chemical bomb to the U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, this past March. The attempted bombing — which was thwarted by an alert security guard — would have been the terror network's first chemical bomb attack. The videotape shows an unidentified man leaving a white van outside the consulate and being picked up by accomplices. Inside the van was a large blue vat containing a 200-gallon mixture of easily available chemicals meant to produce a powerful explosion and potentially fatal fumes.
Many experts now regard this to be al Qaeda's greatest threat — the homemade chemical bomb. "This is no longer theory," said Richard Clarke, who served as a top counterterrorism official under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. "This is something al Qaeda always wanted to do. They wrote about it in their encyclopedia of jihad, they experimented with it in Afghanistan, and now in the last year we see evidence that the new al Qaeda is about the process of collecting these chemicals around the world." The videotape, obtained by ABC News exclusively, shows a fast, coordinated effort. After leaving the van parked outside the consulate, the driver is quickly picked up by accomplices in a car. But a consulate security guard approached the van and discovered its contents.
Jordan Attack Disrupted
In early April, authorities in Jordan disrupted what would have been an even bigger chemical attack. Officials said that terrorists linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi managed to smuggle three cars — packed with explosives, a chemical bomb and poisonous gas — into the capital city, Amman. Authorities in Jordan estimate that 80,000 people would have been killed if the chemical bomb had gone off at its intended targets — the Jordanian intelligence headquarters, the U.S. Embassy in Amman and the Jordanian prime minister's office. It's INTERESTING how they report this incident in the midst of a discussion of homemade chemical weapons... they want to imply that they're sure this attack was done by homemade chemical weapons of some sort, and has no connection whatsoever to anything that might have been built in Saddam Hussein's Iraq. This begs the question, though... if it's so easy to come up with an attack of this nature by themselves, how come there haven't been any repeats, either here or in Iraq? And isn't it funny that these "homemade" chemical weapons were homemade in Syria, according to the initial reports.
...The captured leader of the plot, Jordanian Azmi al-Jayussi, told authorities that a Russian scientist had provided the chemical recipe. But can we be sure he's telling the truth?
And as seen on a tape obtained by ABC News, when Jordanian authorities conducted a test explosion using the same combination of chemicals, with smaller portions, it produced a toxic plume that killed rabbits placed 200 yards away. "The kind of weapon that al Qaeda procured in Jordan anyone can buy in the United States commercially," said Clark. "Anyone in the United States, if they knew the right formula, could make this kind of chemical bomb that would kill thousands." Dare I ask, how many of these details are real, and how many made up? I know only the night-owl crowd's going to read this post before it ages off the front page... but I'd like whoever's still around to comment on this. It's bugging me, like the dog that didn't bark.
I held it over for tomorrow. It's worth commenting on.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
02/09/2005
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#1
It's always important to remember to run the filter of what any of the LLL media says through the "What's their actual agenda?" filter. Naturally they wouldn't want to cast this in a light that may be favorable on Bush, but likely they wanted to scoop it given that the article says they have the exclusive film. From it, I'd expect to see follow-ups about how easily these chemicals are obtained in the US and how Bush isn't doing anything about it.
But the thought of them getting one of these to go off? Scary as hell. I don't exactly live in a high threat target area but I really don't want to have to start carrying a gas mask like the Israeli's had to for years.
#2
I saw some stuff on the al-Jayyousi case a couple of months ago at a terrorism conference. The basic jist of it is that Midhat Mursi and his mad scientists have chem but not (yet) bio-warfare capability and that it's only a matter of time before they succeed. I e-mailed Fred a few weeks back as to one of the emerging chemical experts in the al-Qaeda hierarchy, not sure if he saw it or not.
The al-Jayyousi network assembled the weapons in Jordan and Syria and the Jordanians were quite right with respect to what they said Zarqawi wanted to do in Amman. The man is a mass murderer with no regard whatsoever for human life.
And you don't think Sammy had Russians on his payroll?
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/09/2005 0:05
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#3
Hi Dan!
And you don't think Sammy had Russians on his payroll?
I think he had consultants, but I don't think they were supposed to stick around after the fighting started and trust their survival to Sammy's military competence.
I also find the narrative itself suspicious. They're basically implying that this was a small operation of a dozen guys or less who bought the raw materials from a couple industrial supply stores and put it together with a recipe from a single Russian consultant.
Especially since they appear to be implying some sort of binary agent.
(And there are simple ones that come to mind... but I'm not sure if three carloads would have been enough to kill 80,000 people in the attack, which is what is being reported as the sort of casualties that would have resulted if the attackers had managed to pull it off).
I wasn't really keeping track of the raw details of the attack at the time, but I was under the impression that it included large trucks full of material and not just three cars.
I guess I'm going to have to go back and go over the details from April when I get a chance.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
02/09/2005 0:35
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#4
You think Sammy gave his consultants a choice in such matters?
As far as the Amman plot, it involved two dozen or so guys in Jordan coordinating with other al-Qaeda cells in Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq. A lot of the guys involved in the plot had already been through Darunta, meaning they already had some chemical experience, the Russian just gave them the information they wanted. IIRC, there 4 cars rather than 3 to be involved in the attack and it was focused on basically decapitating the Jordanian government long enough for the al-Qaeda underground in Jordan to come out of the woodwork and get a coup underway ensuring, if nothing else, that we got a replay of Black September.
As far as the projected corpse count, keep in mind that Aum Shinrikyo came close, damn close, to killing that many in Tokyo not so long ago. The real problem with Amman is more or less that the perps are still out there and are still plotting - it's only a matter of time before they try again.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/09/2005 0:46
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#5
You think Sammy gave his consultants a choice in such matters?
Well, I don't think he would call up Putin on the phone and say "I am altering the terms of our agreement. Pray that I don't alter them any further."
And Aum was working with a nerve agent, in a very confined space (the Tokyo subway system). This would have been in the open air... besides the cyanide, which the article implies is a sort of "lagniappe" addition to the main mixture, the article doesn't mention what the main mixture was.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
02/09/2005 0:54
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#6
For some context, this is what was being reported back in April:
Jordan found itself Tuesday among the top targets of the Al-Qaeda terror network after foiling a plot to hit the capital with chemical explosives that Amman said could have killed tens of thousands.
But a day after the chilling announcement in an unprecedented television programme that aired the testimonies of alleged members of a dismantled group, several questions remain unanswered.
Officials said the plot involved attacking the intelligence department in Amman, using trucks loaded with 20 tonnes of chemicals that could have killed 80,000 people and injured 160,000 others within a two square kilometer (nearly one square mile) area .
Plans were allegedly also made for attacks on the headquarters of the prime minister and on the US embassy, which are also located in west Amman.
But officials did not provide details on those last two targets nor specify the type of chemicals they said the suspects behind bars had bought on the local market. Four other suspects were killed last week in Amman.
A source close to the investigation said the chemicals consisted of "70 chemical agents, some of which were pesticides, which mixed together could have produced a formidable chemical weapon never used before".
But no details.
Here's an Agency France-Presse article I found from today while googling the subject:
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
02/09/2005 1:03
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#7
Well I'm no chemist, but the guy I talked to from RAND on this stuff was and he was convinced that the Amman plot was deadly serious. His only caveat was that the chemicals might have been burnt up during the explosion, but if they weren't then they could have killed thousands.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/09/2005 1:03
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#8
Dan, I believe it was serious too.
I just find the reporting around the event to be non-serious. "It would have been horrible, it would have killed 80,000, the materials are at your local hardware store, anyone could build one, and we won't say what it is."
I doubt they're protecting us from the knowledge of how to make chlorine gas. And I think there's a discrepancy between "four cars, three of which were caught" and "twenty tons of chemicals."
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
02/09/2005 1:08
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#9
And I'm turning in for now. I'll see y'all tomorrow morning.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
02/09/2005 1:16
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#10
Did anyone else notice who the expert here was?
"This is no longer theory," said Richard Clarke, who served as a top counterterrorism official under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
This is the same Richard Clarke that Tommy Franks described as one of the most pompous, and useless, bureaucrats he'd ever worked with...not only that, Franks said Clarke NEVER supplied him with any actionable intelligence...though Clarke loved to play the great big expert...and Tommy always had to go over to to see Clarke at Clarke's White House office...just so Franks knew how important he was...
And then of course, there was the infamous Clarke book tour and 911 testimony last year...this guy is BS.
I'm not saying that the STORY her is worthless, no. I'm saying Clarke is worthless.
#11
scary story except for the reappearance of anti terrorist drama queen richard clarke--if he's the go to guy on the import of this stuff i want a pre apology now
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
02/09/2005 2:50
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#12
There are a lot of things you can buy at Wal-Mart thet can be mixed to make things go BOOM or to just give off toxic fumes. The problem I see is getting large quantities and keeping them stable long enough. Some of these things go BOOM as soon as they are mixed so would have to have some mechanical device to mix them whith no one being around. As far s the toxic fumes go, same scenario. Unless there was a suicider willing to do the mixing.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/09/2005 7:32
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#13
Don't have to be a scientist to make posion gas:Chlorine bleach+amonia
#14
Yes, my little brother made clorine gas about 1965. But these two events described took place in March and April, 2004 half a world away, and they are just now coming to light? And ABC wants us to lie awake nights worring about it, after nine months of inactivity? Maybe W deserves the CREDIT for no (chemical) attacks since then?
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/09/2005 8:55
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#15
The average journalist would think 80,000 times the lethal dose is enough to kill 80,000 people, ignoring questions of spreading, exposure variations, etc.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/09/2005 9:07
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#16
"Just a few common household products. In the proper proportions."
The big question then becomes: could four five-ton "chlorine bombs" detonated at ground level in an open environment (with wind, etc.) kill 80,000 people?
It sounds like they're trying to describe a material as easy to make as chlorine but with the mortality rate of nerve agent.
I'm not an expert in chemical warfare. I plan to check with some today about this... but the details they do give aren't adding up, and they're not giving many details to begin with.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
02/09/2005 10:12
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#18
Chlorine bleach plus ammonia cleaner can make mustard gas. Brake fluid can be used to make several nasty things. Take a plastic drink bottle, fill it with water, add draino and aluminium foil (it creates hydrogen) and you have a bomb powerful enough to blow a hand off. These are small things. It takes a greater volume and more expertise to be able to build a chemical bomb capable of killing thousands. It's not impossible, but not easy. The determining factor is can enough raw materials be gatherd to do it. 5 tons of chlorine is quite a lot and the raw materials to make it is even more. I've probably gone in to too much detail already so I'll shut up.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/09/2005 10:41
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#19
No, Deacon, mustard gas is more complicated than that... it's chlorine gas you can make with bleach plus ammonia cleaner.
I think they're relying on everyone's inaccurate knowledge of basic chemical weapons, combined with just enough of the truth to make it sound credible, to pull a fast one. And they're relying on the fact that we're not really willing to discuss the details.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
02/09/2005 11:09
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#20
I always come back to two thoughts in these discussions
If it were that easy to do, they'd be doing it.
If it were that effective, it would have been used more often by states.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/09/2005 11:40
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#21
The thing is, the reactions you describe are very fast acting. That's why they are so risky to your common or garden-variety housewife ;-) But that also means that the chemicals could not be pre-mixed before transport, but would have to be transported in separate containers, then mixed on site. Not at all what was described.
In fact, given the description,
...the chemicals consisted of "70 chemical agents, some of which were pesticides, which mixed together could have produced a formidable chemical weapon...
this is not a homemade weapon using common household cleaners made by amateurs. Remember the outrageous amount of pesticides found stored in bunkers after the invasion? This is the kind of mixture Chemical Ali had sprayed on the Kurds way back when. Remember the suspicious persons seeking to rent crop sprayer airplanes around 9/11? It sounds like being used in a bomb would indeed be a less than optimal method -- likely attempted because of the difficulty in obtaining a crop sprayer airplane in the region.
Of course, I'm no chemist -- for which we all are truly thankful. But I will ask my father, who is not only a biochemist, but specialized in pesticides in his younger days.
#22
It was an American general who said that anything you can hit with chem weapons, you can hit harder with the same weight of explosives. Which is easier to make? Explosives. Hands down.
#24
Phil, don't tell anyone where I work I made this error. Chlorine gas it is. I don't know why I was thinking mustard. Mustard gas is a lot more difficult to make but not impossible. I work in a chemical plant.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/09/2005 12:17
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#25
Where is that chemical plant located?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/09/2005 12:20
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#26
A successful chemical attack (more than just a few deaths) is a lot harder than mixing a few chemicals and putting them in a bomb. The agent has to be dispersed properly over a wide area, which is always the hardest thing to do. Even the Aum Shin Rikyo didn't really succede, even with very advanced technical knowledge.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
02/09/2005 12:23
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#27
More to the point, look at Iraq. These guys have Saddam's ill-gotten billions to play with, and a bottomless well of technical expertise. They're also pretty proficient with all kinds of ordnance, improvised mines and truck bombs. I haven't heard of a single chemical weapon being used there. If chemical weapons were so effective, wouldn't they have already been used in Iraq on the Shiites and the Kurds?
#28
Chemical weapons are really hard to use. Just because you have enough to kill 80,000 people doesn't mean you will. If you could put the lethal dose in ampules and break them under the noses of 80K people simultaneously, then you'd have 80 K dead people. Otherwise, some very chaotic conditions take over and and reduce the effectiveness accordingly:
The best condition for a chemical attack is with an inversion layer (anyone who's lived in LA knows what one of those looks like) with low winds. The worst condition is a lapse temperature gradient. I doubt many jihadis know the difference.
Another issue is persistency. Some light gasses like hydrogen cyanide disperse almost immediately and are little more than nuisance agents against well trained troops (as opposed to unprotected civilians). Some nerve agents are sticky (basically insecticide for mammals) and will persist for several days in cool, cloudy weather. Mustard can also be persistent in some situations.
Another issue is distribution. Ideally, like insecticide, you want to spray it over the target (Ronald Reagan actually tear gassed protesters in Berkely in this manner when he was govenor -- sprayed them from helicopters, heh). Failing having a sprayer, the best option would be cluster munitions that spread small amounts fairly evenly across the target. The worst option would be to use three or four big bombs that would produce highly lethal but geographically small concentrations that would be quickly diluted by wind and other factors.
The final major factor is the size of the bursting charge. The guys who set off the WTC bomb in '93 put hydrogen cyanide in it. The heat and pressure of the explosion rendered it _all_ harmless. To get adequate dispersal at ground level from three or four big bombs requires a lot of explosive -- possibly so much that you will destroy the chemical agent. Remember, these are all either highly reactive chemicals or are organophosphates and are very supceptible to heat and pressure.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/09/2005 14:22
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#30
Then I'm safe in Pennsylvania
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/09/2005 14:32
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#31
Yes, you are. Lolol.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/09/2005 14:52
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#32
When I first read the reports about the Jordan attack, my reaction was 'only a complete and utter moron would mix together 70 different chemical agents.' Anyone that stupid would be dead already. I still lean towards some of Saddam's WMD being used and the Jordanians don't want to admit it.
#33
I still lean towards some of Saddam's WMD being used
What?!?! Where? phil_b, what major bit of recent history did I miss? You cannot just put a statement like this out there without giving a few more details, my poor widdle heart just can't take it! *slow, calming breath* Look, just explain what you meant, pretty please.
#34
We're talking about the attack in Jordan in April. Article excerpts and url's are given above.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
02/09/2005 19:55
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There is a fair amount of talk that it was VX or similar - Link. Its clear 20 tonnes of something was trucked across the Syrian border. Thats a big risk and requires significant effort and logistics. Why bother if this was stuff you can buy in a hardware store? It had to be something that was available in Syria but not in Jordan. My list has only one item on it - chemical weapons. Saddam's rather than Syria's own because the argument that Saddam shipped his WMD to Syria to hide them really misses the point. They were shipped to Syria for future use.
#36
And to clarify my previous point. Mixing small amounts of 4 or 5 chemical agents together is a very risky thing to do unless you are damm sure you know what is going to happen. Mixing together anything like 70 is ludicrous. That part of the report is complete BS, which makes me think its just a cover story dreamt up by someone who doesn't have a good grasp of chemistry.
#37
The "In the Pipeline" blog has a very good 5 part overview of chemical warfare by an industrial chemist. Very relevant to this thread.
http://corante.com/pipeline/archives/cat_chembio_warfare.php Hope this works.
A shining light in that dark hole that is Hollyweird!
For many years Ben Stein has written a biweekly column for the online website called "Monday Night At Morton's." (Morton's is a famous chain of Steakhouses known to be frequented by movie stars and famous people from around the globe.) Now, Ben is terminating the column to move on to other things in his life.
Ben Stein's Last Column...
============================================
How Can Someone Who Lives in Insane Luxury Be a Star in Today's World?
As I begin to write this, I "slug" it, as we writers say, which means I put a heading on top of the document to identify it. This heading is "eonlineFINAL," and it gives me a shiver to write it. I have been doing this column for so long that I cannot even recall when I started. I loved writing this column so much for so long I came to believe it would never end.
It worked well for a long time, but gradually, my changing as a person and the world's change have overtaken it. On a small scale, Morton's, while better than ever, no longer attracts as many stars as it used to. It still brings in the rich people in droves and definitely some stars. I saw Samuel L. Jackson there a few days ago, and we had a nice visit, and right before that, I saw and had a splendid talk with Warren Beatty in an elevator, in which we agreed that Splendor in the Grass was a super movie. But Morton's is not the star galaxy it once was, though it probably will be again.
Beyond that, a bigger change has happened. I no longer think Hollywood stars are terribly important. They are uniformly pleasant, friendly people, and they treat me better than I deserve to be treated. But a man or woman who makes a huge wage for memorizing lines and reciting them in front of a camera is no longer my idea of a shining star we should all look up to.
How can a man or woman who makes an eight-figure wage and lives in insane luxury really be a star in today's world, if by a "star" we mean someone bright and powerful and attractive as a role model? Real stars are not riding around in the backs of limousines or in Porsches or getting trained in yoga or Pilates and eating only raw fruit while they have Vietnamese girls do their nails.
They can be interesting, nice people, but they are not heroes to me any longer. A real star is the soldier of the 4th Infantry Division who poked his head into a hole on a farm near Tikrit, Iraq. He could have been met by a bomb or a hail of AK-47 bullets. Instead, he faced an abject Saddam Hussein and the gratitude of all of the decent people of the world.
A real star is the U.S. soldier who was sent to disarm a bomb next to a road north of Baghdad. He approached it, and the bomb went off and killed him.
A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and day, is the U.S. soldier in Baghdad who saw a little girl playing with a piece of unexploded ordnance on a street near where he was guarding a station. He pushed her aside and threw himself on it just as it exploded. He left a family desolate in California and a little girl alive in Baghdad.
The stars who deserve media attention are not the ones who have lavish weddings on TV but the ones who patrol the streets of Mosul even after two of their buddies were murdered and their bodies battered and stripped for the sin of trying to protect Iraqis from terrorists.
We put couples with incomes of $100 million a year on the covers of our magazines. The noncoms and officers who barely scrape by on military pay but stand on guard in Afghanistan and Iraq and on ships and in submarines and near the Arctic Circle are anonymous as they live and die.
I am no longer comfortable being a part of the system that has such poor values, and I do not want to perpetuate those values by pretending that who is eating at Morton's is a big subject.
There are plenty of other stars in the American firmament...the policemen and women who go off on patrol in South Central and have no idea if they will return alive; the orderlies and paramedics who bring in people who have been in terrible accidents and prepare them for surgery; the teachers and nurses who throw their whole spirits into caring for autistic children; the kind men and women who work in hospices and in cancer wards.
Think of each and every fireman who was running up the stairs at the World Trade Center as the towers began to collapse. Now you have my idea of a real hero.
We are not responsible for the operation of the universe, and what happens to us is not terribly important. God is real, not a fiction; and when we turn over our lives to Him, He takes far better care of us than we could ever do for ourselves. In a word, we make ourselves sane when we fire ourselves as the directors of the movie of our lives and turn the power over to Him.
I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters. This is my highest and best use as a human. I can put it another way. Years ago, I realized I could never be as great an actor as Olivier or as good a comic as Steve Martin...or Martin Mull or Fred Willard--or as good an economist as Samuelson or Friedman or as good a writer as Fitzgerald. Or even remotely close to any of them.
But I could be a devoted father to my son, husband to my wife and, above all, a good son to the parents who had done so much for me. This came to be my main task in life. I did it moderately well with my son, pretty well with my wife and well indeed with my parents (with my sister's help). I cared for and paid attention to them in their declining years. I stayed with my father as he got sick, went into extremis and then into a coma and then entered immortality with my sister and me reading him the Psalms.
This was the only point at which my life touched the lives of the soldiers in Iraq or the firefighters in New York. I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it is my duty, in return for the lavish life God has devolved upon me, to help others He has placed in my path. This is my highest and best use as a human.
Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that God will.
By Ben Stein
Posted by: TMH ||
02/09/2005
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Recently finished a book co-authored by Mr. Stein tilted Can America Survive? It's at your local library. I recommend the book to all who inhabit the land of Rantburg.
Posted by: Mark Z. ||
02/09/2005 5:56
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#3
Agreed. An honest plain-spoken classy man - a serious well-informed thinker with that all too often missing secret ingredient: common sense. He's got buckets full. He should be scooped up, if he'll agree, to assist with countering MSM stupidity. He could do it in his sleep. ;-)
#5
I second Mark Z's recommendation for "Can America Survive"? Just got it this weekend at the library. If any of you are in Phoenix, I promise to return it by Sunday so you can get it at Burton Barr Library. ;)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/09/2005 13:13
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#7
Thanks for the tip, Mark and DB. I've seen the book and wondered about it---now I know how I'll be spending my holiday BN.com gift card.
I was a big fan of the "Win Ben Stein's Money" show and was almost dumbfounded by the insight he showed in rare interviews. It's definitely time to dig a little deeper and read up on Ben Stein.
Suspected terrorist Ahmed Msamih has admitted he and his dead companion Nasser Khlaif were trained in the use of explosives and weapons in a camp for over six months under the supervision of Amer Khlaif Al-Enezi, a reliable source told Al-Qabas. The Public Prosecution is continuing with its investigations on terrorism, including the operations at Maidan Hawalli, Umm Al-Haiman, Jaber Al-Ali and Sabahiya," he added. Sources said during the interrogation of Ahmed Msamih the Public Prosecution found his cell owned a fully equipped laboratory in one of the suburbs of Kuwait, adding "the interrogators discovered Mohammed Ashiq and Al-Sayf, killed in the recent security operations, were trained to launch suicide attacks against installations of the Interior Ministry." The Public Prosecution also found the objectives of Khalid Al-Dousari and Mohsen Al-Fadli were far beyond launching terrorists acts and included plans to assassinate several senior officials of the Interior Ministry, sources added. According to sources Nasser Khlaif met Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi in Iraq who asked him to fight the US forces in Kuwait instead of coming to Iraq.
This article starring:
ABU MUSAB AL ZARQAWI
Peninsula Lions
AHMED MSAMIH
Peninsula Lions
AL SAIF
Peninsula Lions
AMER KHLAIF AL ENEZI
Peninsula Lions
KHALID AL DUSARI
Peninsula Lions
MOHAMED ASHIQ
Peninsula Lions
MOHSEN AL FADLI
Peninsula Lions
NASER KHLAIF
Peninsula Lions
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
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Japan's ruling party agreed Tuesday to let the defense chief react to a missile strike without first consulting the cabinet, amid worry the nation's strict chain of command could delay its response to an attack, officials said. The bill was approved by two committees of the Liberal Democratic Party, paving the way for government approval later this month, a party official said. The bill would let the chief of Japan's Defense Agency order the interception of a missile without approval of the cabinet or informing parliament.
It would also streamline the organization of the military, known as the Self-Defense Forces, to put the army, navy and air force under a unified command of a Joint Staff. Japan renounced war in its constitution imposed by the United States after defeat in World War II and officially does not have a military or defense ministry. But there have been worries that Japan would waste too much time in administrative procedures before reacting to an attack, as a missile fired from North Korea would reach the country in 10 minutes.
KCNA eruption in 5-4-3-...
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
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#1
Heh, heh. The NorKs aren't the only ones who are getting rather worried by Japan's re-emergence. Doncha know the ChiComs are wondering about all those plans they have for The Middle Kingdom... Back to the drawing board, boys.
Mebbe Japan should invite more Tiawanese officials over for some go tournaments...
#5
Japan needed a shock to get them to surrender. There was still a bunch of die-hards in the military that said no to surrender. The first bomb made the point.
The second bomb reinforced the first.
The third bomb was going to be armed and ready, but the second one did the trick.
The message of complete and utter destruction finally got through. A lot of Japanese lives were lost, but in the grim and gristly arithmetic of war, a lot of Japanese and allied lives were ultimately saved. That is my answer to Nosemonkey, a2u.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/09/2005 23:48
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PARIS - The United States has agreed to hand over to France three French detainees at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, judicial officials said Tuesday. The agreement was finalized just as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was to arrive in Paris for a meeting with President Jacques Chirac, the officials said on condition of anonymity.
"We're done with them. Here." "Ewwww. Er, thanks, Condi."
The date of the hand-over of the three French detainees - Mustaq Ali "Pierre" Patel, Ridouane "Jaques" Khalid and Khaled Ben "Michael" Mustafa - has not been finalized yet, the officials said. "Things are headed in the right direction, and we are now discussing the details," said William Bourdon, an attorney for Ali Patel, who has both French and Indian nationality. Four French citizens who were detained in the US-led military campaign that toppled Afghanistan's Taleban regime in 2002 returned to France in August. They are being held as part of an investigation into suspected terror-related networks.
This article starring:
KHALED BEN MUSTAFA
al-Qaeda
MUSTAQ ALI PATEL
al-Qaeda
RIDUANE KHALID
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/09/2005
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US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Syria on Tuesday that if it wants to avoid being "isolated" it must end support for Islamic militants intent on wrecking the Middle East peace process. "It is time for Syria to demonstrate that it does not want to be isolated, that it does not want to have bad relations with the United States," Rice said after talks here with Italy's Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini. In a joint press conference dominated by the Middle East as Israeli and Palestinian leaders met in Egypt to discuss a ceasefire, the US official had harsh words for Syria, saying it has been "unhelpful" by supporting Islamic militants intent on wrecking the process.
"I can't say it strongly enough. You can't say on one hand that you want a process of peace and on the other hand support the people who are determined to blow it up." "Syria has been unhelpful in a number of ways" including support for terrorists and militants operating out of South Lebanon, she said. "There's a long list and while we sometimes make what I call minimal progress, it is by no means the kind of progress we need to make," said Rice, making her first foreign tour since succeeding Colin Powell as President George W. Bush's top envoy last month. She said the Islamic militants opposed to a Middle East peace "cannot be allowed to continue to try to orchestrate the process."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
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#1
â...unhelpful...â
Right out of Rummy's lexicon. I like our new SecState more every day...
#5
The woman has learned to imitate Rumsfeld's hand gestures. Or perhaps Rumsfeld learned the gestures from Condi?
Posted by: Mark ||
02/09/2005 22:10
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Nice threat, but the real key isn't the threat to isolate Syria, but the ability to maintain such a blockade -- even if that means that the US has to interdict the shipments of "allied" (my ass) nations like Phwrance, Germany, Russia and China by any means necessary ...
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
02/09/2005 22:58
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HAMBURG - Mounir al-Motassadeq, the Moroccan on trial in Hamburg as an accused accomplice in the September 11 terror attacks, carried out money transactions on behalf of one of the suicide pilots, a police witness said Tuesday.
Motassadeq had power of attorney for Marwan al-Shehhi who was believed to have been at the controls of the hijacked plane which crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center in 2001, the court was told. Motassadeq, who has been described as a friend of al-Shehhi's as well as other members of the Hamburg terrorist cell behind the 9/11 attacks, is accused of being a member of a terrorist organization and an accessory to 3,000 murders.
The Federal Police Department witness said Motassadeq carried out several transactions on behalf of al-Shehhi. These included one in September 2000 when Motassadeq transferred 5,000 marks (3,200 dollars) from al-Shehhi's account at the Dresdner Bank in Hamburg to an account belonging to Ramzi bin al-Shibh, who is thought to have organized the 9/11 attacks. In several cases there was a "time proximity" between money taken from al-Shehhi's account and money arriving on Motassadeq's account, the investigator said.
Motassadeq was convicted in 2003 and sentenced to 15 years in jail on the current charges, but the conviction was overturned by an appeal court. He is free on bail during the retrial which is not expected to end before April.
This article starring:
MARWAN AL SHEHI
al-Qaeda
MUNIR AL MOTASADEQ
al-Qaeda
RAMZI BIN AL SHIBH
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/09/2005
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i still don't understand why this guy hasn't been taken out by a good grouping or a ricin tipped umbrella--the little jihadi prick walks all over hamburg as if he's king of the student umma--where's the company when you need wet work--d'ya hear me porter
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
02/09/2005 2:27
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#2
... ricin tipped umbrella ...
Curare would work too. You could mix it with water, freeze into needle shapped projectiles. All you need is a good straw and good lungs (and some training). Would feel like a prick of a horsefly, nothing would remain from the rest of the needle that would brek of after the impact when temperature outside is right, just a wet spot somewhere on the sidewalk. Before someone could figure out why the guy is not breathing, he would asphyxiate. The loaded straws can be carried in a small case with dry ice lining.
#3
The man is on trial in a German courtroom. Give the system a chance to work. Besides, we know exactly where he is -- what are the odds that he could quietly slip out of sight without being equally quietly followed, with perhaps results he wouldn't much like?
#6
I know, I know, Jame dear. But he is in a German courtroom. Day after day after day after... It's got to be Purgatory at least. Why shouldn't the man be allowed to suffer? Death is the easy way out for such as him. As the sadist said to the masochist.... ;-)
RIYADH - Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi said on Tuesday that the kingdom has invested heavily in security for its oil installations and the threat of attacks against them is almost "impossible."
This guy is wearing a giant "kick me" sign on his ass.
Naimi said any attacks, should they happen, would not impact Saudi Arabia's oil production and exports. "Although a high level of security has been in place for decades on oil installations, we have, over the past year, taken additional measures to negate any possibility of a terror act, even if this possibility is slim," he said.
Naimi spoke on the sidelines of a four-day anti-terrorism conference, which wrapped up Tuesday. Delegates from more than 50 countries and international organizations urged in a joint declaration closer cooperation and coordination among nations in the fight against terrorism.
Late last year, Osama bin Laden, the leader of the Al Qaeda terror network, urged his followers to attack the kingdom's oil installations to weaken both the West and the Saudi royal family. "The oil installations have not been attacked, despite the aim of the terror leaders. Oil installations in the kingdom are under concentrated protection on different levels, which makes it difficult, if not impossible, for terrorists to reach them. If it happens, the impact on the kingdom's production and exports will be negligible," Naimi said.
Terror attacks in the kingdom have targeted security forces and foreign workers, some employed in the oil industry, but none have been against oil installations. Naimi said that there has been a "substantial effort exerted by the kingdom in protecting its facilities. There is always more to be done, but I think we are confident today that our facilities are very, very inaccessible to intruders."
"Any statement by leaders of terror organizations about our facilities will always be taken seriously," Naimi said. State-run oil company Saudi Aramco boasted 7,000 security staff some of whom are furriners and actually know what they're doing and "our objective is zero-impact of terror activities on all our facilities."
Pressed on the departure of some essential foreign workers in the wake of attacks last year, Naimi said: "There's no need for anxiety in this area. It has been sensationalized more than it should be. I believe the reaction by a few countries to discourage their citizens from coming to Saudi Arabia was somewhat exaggerated."
"I mean, there's less than a one in four chance they'll be decapitated," he explained further.
Saudi Arabia, he added, is far more secure than many other oil-producing countries.
Doncha just feel reassured?
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/09/2005
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#1
not according to bob baer who says port of ras tanoura or storage tanks at aqaiq are vulnerable to submarine or explosive boat attack or possible explosive drone hit--woolsey thinks coordinated aramco truck attacks or dirty bomb would do the trick--this saudi smegmahead is doin' regulation taquiyya for the kufr--sop
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
02/09/2005 3:00
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Heh, Dr Steve, SoT...
Indeed, the Ras Tanura Terminal would be vulnerable from the water - but the Gulf maxes out at 90 ft, so I'm thinking a barge loaded up would work on taking out the docks - and another with RPG guys could handle the tank farm. I'm not sure about Abqaiq - I could email someone to find out, but I haven't been to that facility, myself.
It's all a pacifier for the oil markets and contract partners. If we recall the Jeddah attack last year, the security guy let the baddies in - IIRC, one (or more) of them was related. Security to Naimi, promoted from Aramco Pres last year, is what his Western advisers tell him: we have these zones, these people, these detectors, this response time, etc. Problem is, of course, that the plan assumes Western security operators who will follow orders and The Plan. They're not. They're Saudis and they have allegiances all over the map, with Aramco and the House of Saud likely near the bottom. Heh, I'll bet the PowerPoint presentation was pretty spiffy.
COLOMBO - The killing of a senior Tamil Tiger and five others has cast a shadow over Sri Lanka's post-tsunami reconstruction, which was already engulfed in bickering between the government and the guerrillas.
"Hey Sarge, we done here?"
"Yeah, Tyrone, pack up and head out."
The reconstruction programme, which is yet to really take off, will be further hit if Monday's killings trigger more internecine clashes with retaliation from the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), officials said. "Such killings are the last thing we want," said Lalith Weeratunga, secretary to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse. "Just when things were moving on the reconstruction front, this incident has occurred which can throw post-tsunami work out of gear if clashes intensify."
You might say.
E. Koushalyan, the LTTE's political wing leader for the eastern province, was killed in an ambush along with four other senior rebels and former Tamil legislator Chandra Nehru on Monday night. Koushalyan is the most senior Tamil Tiger to be gunned down since the rebels and troops began observing a truce, which Norway brokered in February 2002. Talks have been deadlocked since April 2003.
The government military officials say the attack was carried out by a breakaway faction of the Tamil Tigers led by the former number two in the leadership, known as Karuna. The LTTE, however, has pointed the finger at the army, while the government said the killings had breached a ceasefire in the decades-old ethnic conflict and heightened the risk of a return to war. The pro-rebel Tamilnet.com said the killers were dressed in military uniforms, which took the rebels by surprise.
Um, how?
Sources claim the shoot-out had angered the Tigers who were keen to avenge the deaths, but were being restrained by pressure from abroad. The head of the rebels' political wing, S.P. Thamilselvan, skipped a meeting on Tuesday with the Asian Development Bank, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and the World Bank to discuss relief programs. "Such violent incidents divert the state machinery's attention which at the moment needs to be focussed on tsunami reconstruction," said the prime minister's secretary Weeratunga. He told AFP that project implementation would be severely hit if clashes rise as "moving people to execute projects would be difficult in case violence breaks out."
"How can you construct nearly 120,000 houses for the affected people if there is going to be violence and let us understand that the east is one of the worst affected by the tsunamis," Weeratunga said.
For its part, the LTTE also said the killings would hamper relief work. "We fear that these killings would have a serious impact on the humanitarian relief work undertaken now," the rebels said in a statement late Tuesday.
Relations between the government and the rebels have deteriorated over aid distribution across the regions controlled by the rebels. The rebels have accused the government of dragging its feet on setting up a joint mechanism to distribute aid, a move backed by Norway. Front organisations of the LTTE have often accused the government forces of harassment while handling aid materials in Tamil-dominated areas.
Military analyst Harry Gunatillake said the post-tsunami work may be affected if the relations worsen. "In the immediate future there may not be any reaction to the killings, but if clashes increase there could be delays," he said.
Brilliant, Harry, brilliant.
This article starring:
CHANDRA NEHRU
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
E. KUSHALYAN
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
KARUNA
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Lalith Weeratunga
Mahinda Rajapakse
S.P. THAMILSELVAN
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/09/2005
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A reliable source said securitymen have urged fugitives Khalid Al-Dousari and Mohsen Al-Fadli to surrender promising to give them a fair trial. "Securitymen will capture the two terrorists dead or alive sooner or later.
I'd prefer dead, of course...
Picky, picky ...
"It will be better for them to surrender. In the same regard, security sources asked recently the two fugitives Khalid Al-Dousari and Mohsen Al-Fadli to put their selves in the hands of the security men, the source promised them of a just trial if they did so, he said sooner or later they will be in the hands of the security men, the sources said, they will be arrested dead or a life that is why it is better for them to surrender.
This article starring:
KHALID AL DUSARI
Peninsula Lions
MOHSEN AL FADLI
Peninsula Lions
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2005
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#1
Both of thses guys need to go ... very, very evil people
TOKYO - Nuclear experts and diplomats from 20 nations looked on Tuesday at ways to punish countries deserting the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, at the end of a two-day meeting here on strengthening the pact.
Expect a strongly-worded statement any time now ...
The 40 delegates held closed-door talks ahead of a May conference in New York to review the nonproliferation treaty, which North Korea pulled out of in 2003 to world shock. Iran is also in a nuclear standoff. "Some participants argued we should increase the costs of withdrawal for a deserting country" by requiring them to return materials and equipment received for peaceful use of atomic power upon joining the treaty, a Japanese government official said, adding Tokyo backed the proposal.
Other ideas discussed included holding an emergency general meeting to step up international pressure on a runaway nation and a ban on pullout by a country which has failed to abide by the pact, the official said. Many participants shared a concern that some countries may be engaging in nuclear enrichment and reprocessing under the pretext of peaceful use and pull out of the treaty when they are ready to produce weapons, he said.
At which point "international pressure" is unlikely to mean anything, but go ahead, this makes sense to someone, I'm sure ...
"As for the issue of non-compliance, participants mainly discussed nuclear activity of Iran," he said.
Nuclear powers Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States took part in the talks, according to an updated official list. However, declared nuclear weapons states India and Pakistan did not attend. Iran and North Korea were also absent.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/09/2005
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#1
So this was a gourmet trip with a Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty theme? That's all I see.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/09/2005 0:50
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I'm surprised that they didn't have their confab at the Ritz-Carlton in Osaka. Best damned hotel I've ever stayed at anywhere in the world.
Police released five men detained in a raid west of the Kuwaiti capital after finding they were not linked to militants, one of the men said Tuesday. The men were arrested Saturday after a series of gunbattles over the past month in the emirate between security forces and militants that left four policemen and eight suspects dead. "They took us away on suspicion, but freed all of us after they found we were not involved in the recent incidents in Kuwait. Everything is clear for us," Khaled Adhan al-Shimmari told AFP by telephone from his home. The interior ministry had described the five as "wanted men" and said three were Jordanians and two Saudis. But Shimmari said all five men held Saudi citizenship.
There's probable cause.
The men, originally stateless Arabs, include three brothers, a relative and a neighbour. They were freed late Monday. Shimmari, a mosque preacher, ...
... more probable cause ...
... denied local press reports that they had resprayed a car used by militants to flee after a January 10 shooting which left two policemen and a militant dead. "This is totally baseless. Security men have also not seized any weapons from our houses. We respect law and order in this country,"Â he said.
Just like all good jihadis everywhere!
The five men surrendered to security men without a fight after a large number of police backed by armoured vehicles and helicopters on Saturday raided two houses in Sulaibiya, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the capital. Police fired gunshots and several smoke bombs before the men gave themselves up. There were no casualties. Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah said Monday he expected "terrorism will continue" in the emirate and warned it could spread to other Gulf states.Â
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/09/2005
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Wonder how it compares to the Univ. of Florida, Notre Dame, Colorado, and Villanova?
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) - Alcohol offenses at the Air Force Academy jumped 57 percent last semester, largely because of an incident in which 15 underage cadets were drinking at a retreat, a newspaper reported Tuesday.
So in other words, it didn't change much.
The Gazette of Colorado Springs, citing academy officials, said there were 74 alcohol offenses between June and December, compared with 47 in the same period in 2003. ``While the number of incidents is down, there is a trend in having more people involved in each incident,'' said academy spokesman Johnny Whitaker. Alcohol is a crucial issue at the school near Colorado Springs: Forty percent of sexual assaults in which two cadets were involved in the past 10 years also involved drinking, according to a 2003 Air Force investigation.
Most college sexual assaults do involve drinking.
The school has overhauled its alcohol policy as part of reforms put in place after scores of female cadets complained their sexual assault cases were mishandled. Whitaker blamed last semester's increase on an October incident in which 21 cadets were involved in a party at an academy-approved, but unsupervised retreat. The incident involved 15 underage cadets.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#1
While I'm sure the AFA takes every incident seriously, the author makes much ado about what is essentially statistical noise relative to the total student body.
#4
...The present USAFA Superintendent, LGEn John Rosa, was my wing commander at Shaw AFB SC not long before I retired - he has been leaving a very long trail of idiotarian bodies who thought that they were immune from discipline out there at the Academy. I guarantee those involved and responsible have paid a pretty heavy price. This wasn't some misunderstanding of an obscure rule, but rather an intentional violation of USAF policy that's been in place and very clear for more than a decade.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/09/2005 7:51
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#5
Alcohol offenses went up 54%, largely based on one incident involving 15 cadets? Sounds like they don't have much of a problem.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
U.S. Rep. 
A spokesman for Iraq's most influential Shia cleric has denied reports that the cleric is demanding that Islam be the country's sole source of law. 
The U.S. military faces between 13,000 and 17,000 insurgents in Iraq, the large majority of them backers of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his Baath Party, a senior military official said Tuesday... The senior military official told CNN the bulk of the insurgency is made up of 12,000 to 15,000 Arab Sunni followers of Saddam's party. The Baath Party was overthrown by a U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. Of those, the source said 5,000 to 7,000 are considered "committed" fighters, with the rest considered "fence-sitters," criminals or "facilitators" who contribute material support or sanctuary to the guerrillas. The official, who is familiar with the region, said about 500 other fighters have come from other countries to battle the U.S.-led forces in Iraq, while another group of fewer than 1,000 are believed to be followers of Jordanian-born Islamic terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi...
Enezi had been interrogated by police since his capture on January 31 after a gunbattle in which five militants and a policeman were killed, and was suspected of involvement in other deadly clashes between militants and security forces last month. Some security sources described him as the spiritual leader of al Qaeda in Kuwait. 
A powerful car bomb exploded on Wednesday in Madrid after a telephone warning from a caller claiming to represent the armed Basque separatist group ETA. At least 10 people were injured. The blast came a week after Parliament overwhelmingly rejected a proposal from the Basque legislature to give the troubled region autonomy bordering on independence. The Interior Ministry said the bomb went off around 9:30 a.m. near Ifema, a convention center where King Juan Carlos was to attend the opening of an art show later in the day. Television footage showed smoke rising from the site, outside a building housing the French computer manufacturer Bull.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas pledged publicly in Sharm e-Sheikh Tuesday to put an end to four years of violence, and in a private meeting, expressed their determination to make these declarations stick this time. "Today, in my meeting with Chairman Abbas, we agreed that all Palestinians will stop all acts of violence against all Israelis everywhere, and — in parallel — Israel will cease all its military activity against all Palestinians anywhere," Sharon declared, speaking in Hebrew at the end of the summit. "We hope that today we are starting a new period of hope." His declaration came after that of Abbas, who stated in Arabic: "We have agreed... on and end to all acts of violence against Palestinians and Israelis, wherever they are."
A leading fundraiser for an Islamic charity with alleged links to the Palestinian resistance group Hamas is to be deported from the US. An immigration judge ruled on Tuesday that 
Iraq's Interior Minister Falah al-Naquib said 18 members of the Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah have been detained in Iraq, Arab newspapers reported. The minister, who was speaking at an anti-terrorism conference in Saudi Arabia, also pointed the finger of blame at Iran for most of Iraq's problems. "Eighteen Lebanese from Hezbollah have been detained in Iraq on charges of terrorism," Naquib told the Saudi newspaper al-Hayat on the sidelines of the conference, which ended on Tuesday in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
Israel found no ally in France Monday in its efforts to get 
Palestinian well-informed sources reported that the meeting held Monday evening between the former PA security affairs minister Mohammed Dahlan and the Zionist war minister Shaul Mofaz had settled all pending security issues between the PA delegation and its Zionist counterpart. The sources said that negotiations would be resumed by the two parties following the Zionist pullback from the West Bank cities, and added that Sharm Al-Sheikh summit meeting to be held Tuesday would be a ceremony for announcing the resumption of the Zionist-Palestinian relations that had reached an impasse after the outbreak of the Aqsa intifada in late September 2000.
Hamas has praised PA leader Abbas for asserting his commitment to true democracy in Palestine. During his joint press conference with visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Ramallah on Monday, Abbas disappointed both the Americans and the Israelis when he vowed to "let the Palestinian people decide."
The outgoing commissioner general of UNRWA, 
THE leader of a cell that allegedly plotted to kidnap US soldiers and other Westerners in Kuwait has died overnight in custody, Kuwaiti security sources said. "
PRIME Minister John Howard has rejected Labor calls for Australian troops guarding the embassy building in Baghdad to be moved to a more secure location. The opposition wants the 120-strong security detachment guarding the embassy building in a residential suburb of Baghdad transferred to the US and Australian military headquarters at Camp Victory, where three Australian diplomats have already been relocated. The diplomats were moved last month following repeated attacks on the mission and they will eventually be shifted to a facility in the heavily fortified Green Zone.
Two teenage girls who got in trouble for surprising their neighbors with homemade cookies will not have to pay nearly $1,000 in medical bills for a woman who says she was so startled that she had to go to the hospital. Radio station KOA-AM of Denver raised more than $1,900 from listeners Friday to pay the girls' $930.78 fine. The rest of the money will go to a charity dedicated to victims of the Columbine High School massacre. The story unfolded when teens Taylor Ostergaard, 17, and Lindsey Jo Zellitti, decided to bake chocolate chip and sugar cookies and place them outside their neighbors' doors with large red or pink construction-paper hearts that carried the message, "Have a great night" and were signed with their first initials: "Love, The T and L Club." 
Among Mr. Chalabi's supporters is the leader of a resistance against Saddam Hussein in southern Iraq in 1991, Abdul Karim Al Muhammadawi, known as the "prince of the marshes." Mr. Chalabi has also garnered support from a former member of the Iraqi Governing Council, Salama al-Khufaji, who is one of the highest-ranking women on the UIA list. Mr. Chalabi also draws support from the Shiite Political Council, the organization he helped build this summer after he was excluded from the interim government headed by Prime Minister Allawi.
Two months ago, India, the United States and Britain warned Nepal's king against a unilateral grab for power. On Tuesday, he called their bluff. 
Criminologists have begun examining for authenticity a videotape recording of Chechen warlord 
The international Arab terrorists operating in Chechnya need leader of the Chechen militants 
A member of Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, was killed Wednesday in a premature bomb explosion in the central Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics said. 
MELBOURNE terrorist suspect "Jihad" 
Indonesian firebrand cleric Abu Bakar Bashir will celebrate the Islamic New Year tomorrow in an optimistic mood, knowing his chances of walking free from his second trial on terrorism charges are good.
An Azeri court handed out sentences of between five and 15 years in jail to six men suspected of links to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network and accused of planning terror strikes in Azerbaijan, the sentencing judge in the case told AFP Tuesday. "This is a group of people who were incriminated with an attempt to organize a terrorist attack," Judge Azer Husseinov of the High Crimes Court said, adding that no details of the case would be released "to protect state interests." Azerbaijan's state security ministry (MTN), the successor agency to the KGB in the former Soviet republic, confirmed that it investigated the case but an MTN spokesman said he could give no details of what and when the suspects planned to attack. Azeri media reported that the men were suspected to be Wahhabis, followers of a radical brand of Islam, with links Al-Qaeda. One of the suspects' lawyers told AFP on condition of anonymity that the six men were arrested in August after allegedly photographing oil refineries and embassies in the Azeri capital Baku. "This is a falsified case without any proof," he said.
The government paid huge amounts of money to four of the five most-wanted militants in South Waziristan, who surrendered and signed peace deals with the authorities in November last year , to enable them to repay the debt they claimed they owed to Al Qaeda, sources told Dawn. Payments were made as part of a package after the militants insisted that they needed to pay back a huge sum they had taken from Al Qaeda in their fight against Pakistani forces. The sources said the payments were made from the secret service fund (SS Fund) and the four militant commanders were summoned to Peshawar for the purpose.
Saudi Arabia's 
The Sudanese government and southern rebels have told the UN that development aid should be the main priority rather than prosecuting war criminals.
(2005-05-08) -- Spurred by CNN executive 
The United States is seeking backing from allies in a possible bid to oust the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency at a meeting later this month, diplomats and Western government officials said Wednesday. During the same Feb. 28 meeting of the 
Dr. Laura Schlessinger, famous for doling out advice on her nationally syndicated call-in radio talk show, shared a little of her own personal life with U.S. Army reservists. Schlessinger told some 300 people at a 425th Civil Affairs Battalion event on Saturday that her son, 19-year-old Deryk Andrew Schlessinger, will join the U.S. Special Forces later this year - a mission that could take him to the Middle East. Deryk, who enlisted last year, joined his mother on stage to explain his reasons for signing up. He told the crowd at the Calvary Chapel that he resented the way Americans criticize the war without recognizing soldiers' sacrifices - a theme echoed by his mother. "Real people were fighting and I wanted to be part of that," he said. Dr. Laura said she wasn't too worried about her son. "I brought my son up to be a warrior," she said. "I feel sorry for the mothers of the bad guys. And I just have a good feeling."
A suicide bomber blew himself up in the middle of a crowd of army recruits Tuesday, killing 21 other people in the deadliest attack in Baghdad since last week's election and highlighting a recent shift by insurgents to use human bombs instead of cars. Insurgents are strapping explosives on the bodies of volunteers to penetrate the network of blast walls, checkpoints and other security measures designed to block vehicle bombs. Several such attackers tried to disrupt voting in Baghdad on election day but were unable to get into polling stations. On Monday, a suicide bomber walked into a crowd of Iraqi policemen in the northern city of Mosul and detonated explosives, killing 12 of them. Iraqi authorities initially said the Baghdad recruiting center was attacked by mortar fire, but witnesses reported only a single explosion and the U.S. military said the blast was caused by a suicide bomber on foot. 
Four soldiers have been referred to the State Security for interrogation in connection with the recent terrorist incidents in Kuwait, says a highly placed military source. The source said Military Intelligence conducted some preliminary interrogations before referring them to State Security to verify their involvement in terrorist activities, adding "if their involvement is proved the Interior Ministry will handle the issue in a 'suitable way.' If it is found they had no connection with the terrorist incidents the case will be returned to Military intelligence." Indicating Military Intelligence is busy taking precautionary measures in view of the exceptional security circumstances in the country, he said "several soldiers were interrogated and released four days ago. Military Intelligence will continue to interrogate some more men to find out if they were involved in terrorism."
The era of being soft is over and there is no place for any bargaining or wasta in ensuring the security of Kuwait and in the fight against terrorism, says His Highness the Prime Minister Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. The relations between senior government officials, who usually remain silent while major operations are underway, and newspapers, were under strain recently. This is to be expected in a democratic country such as Kuwait. Stressing terrorism is under attack all over the world, Sheikh Sabah said "the noose is tightening around this menace in Iraq. Terrorists may move their operations to some neighbouring countries, which should be protected against this danger."
Suspected terrorist 
Japan's ruling party agreed Tuesday to let the defense chief react to a missile strike without first consulting the cabinet, amid worry the nation's strict chain of command could delay its response to an attack, officials said. The bill was approved by two committees of the Liberal Democratic Party, paving the way for government approval later this month, a party official said. The bill would let the chief of Japan's Defense Agency order the interception of a missile without approval of the cabinet or informing parliament.
The United States has agreed to hand over to France three French detainees at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, judicial officials said Tuesday. The agreement was finalized just as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was to arrive in Paris for a meeting with President Jacques Chirac, the officials said on condition of anonymity. 
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Syria on Tuesday that if it wants to avoid being "isolated" it must end support for Islamic militants intent on wrecking the Middle East peace process. "It is time for Syria to demonstrate that it does not want to be isolated, that it does not want to have bad relations with the United States," Rice said after talks here with Italy's Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini. In a joint press conference dominated by the Middle East as Israeli and Palestinian leaders met in Egypt to discuss a ceasefire, the US official had harsh words for Syria, saying it has been "unhelpful" by supporting Islamic militants intent on wrecking the process.
Police released five men detained in a raid west of the Kuwaiti capital after finding they were not linked to militants, one of the men said Tuesday. The men were arrested Saturday after a series of gunbattles over the past month in the emirate between security forces and militants that left four policemen and eight suspects dead. "They took us away on suspicion, but freed all of us after they found we were not involved in the recent incidents in Kuwait. Everything is clear for us," Khaled Adhan al-Shimmari told AFP by telephone from his home. The interior ministry had described the five as "wanted men" and said three were Jordanians and two Saudis. But Shimmari said all five men held Saudi citizenship.
