salt to taste ... Debka ranges from having solid info to ... less than solid info
More than 97 Sunni mosques were attacked and a dozen or more Sunnis killed by vengeful Shiites across the country, as word spread of the destruction of the famous dome that capped the 1,200 Askariya shrine in Samarra, where the last of the Shiite imams, Mohammed al-Mahdi, known as the "hidden imam" and his son are buried. The shrine draws millions of pilgrims from around the Shiite world. Wednesday, Feb. 22, millions of outraged protesters marched and fought in all of Iraq's Shiite centers.
Some 500 soldiers were sent to Baghdad's Sunni neighborhoods in an unsuccessful effort to prevent Shiite-Sunni clashes. In Basra, Shiite protesters traded rifle and rocket-propelled grenade fire with Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party guards, then set fire to a Sunni shrine. Police found 11 bodies of Sunni Muslims shot dead in the southern city.
Senior Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali Sistani, earlier ordered 7 days of mourning. But the appeal to his flock to refrain from retribution against Sunnis went unheeded.
DEBKAfile's sources: The bombing was carried out by a small squad trained by Abu Musab al Zarqawi especially for the operation. Four-to-six men entered the Askariya mosque Tuesday night and placed explosive charges around the interior of the gold dome so as to bring it crashing down on the sacred tombs below.
Samarra police have made 10 arrests, among them foreigners, as would be typical of al Qaeda.
Iraqi leaders and US officials realize that, unless the furious Shiite-Sunni clashes which erupted Wednesday are quelled, Iraq will quickly descend into sectarian warfare with US forces stranded between the warring camps. This eruption will sunder the country into three warring entities Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish. The current effort by their politicians to form a national unity government will be relegated to the past.
Such a conflict will resonate across the region. Shortly after the disaster in Samarra, Iran's spiritual leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, in contrast to the US president's effort to calm the flames, accused "US forces and Israeli intelligence" of responsibility.
The Islamic republic is quite willing to exploit the destruction of a Shiite shrine to fuel the fire of sectarian conflict, in the hope of expediting the US forces' exit from Iraq. The thousands of Iranian agents operating clandestinely in Iraq can be expected to aggravate civil strife in Iraq by agitation and leading attacks on Sunnis.
Iranian leaders are proving once again how willing they are to sacrifice fellow-Shiites to terror for the sake of the strategic interests which they share with al Qaeda.
Some Shiite leaders blamed the United States for not protecting their shrine and are demanding a bigger security role for religious militias. But voices were also raised in an attempt to pull the country back from the brink: US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad warned the bombings were a deliberate provocation to foment sectarian tension and civil war. Key Sunni groups condemned the destruction of the Shiite mosque's dome. The Sunni clerical association of Muslim Scholars called the bombing a criminal act.
AN enraged mob of Nigerian Christian youths has slaughtered dozens of Muslims in two days of rioting in the southern city of Onitsha.
Rioting broke out in the lawless trading town on the banks of the Niger River yesterday when members of the Igbo tribe launched revenge attacks in response to an earlier massacre of Christians in the north of the country.
Nineteen corpses were seen scattered by the side of the main road into the city across the Niger River bridge, where a contingent of soldiers had set up a roadblock to hold back hundreds of rioters armed with clubs and machetes.
The bodies had been beaten, slashed and in some cases burnt. Around the bloodied corpses lay scattered the caps and Islamic prayer beads associated with the northern Hausa tribe.
A police official had earlier said five more Hausas had been killed in the neighbouring city of Asaba, across the bridge, to where thousands of Muslims fled to escape the mayhem in Onitsha.
Frank Nweke, a magazine editor who ran the gauntlet of the mob to escape Onitsha and made it to the bridge, said he had seen 15 more corpses lying in the streets of the city.
"Some of them had been beheaded, others had had their genitals removed. I saw one boy holding a severed head with blood dripping from it," he said.
Army officers at the scene could not confirm a total death toll in the city, where control has not yet been restored, but said thousands of Muslims had taken shelter in barracks and police stations.
ugly, ugly ... and building to this for a very long time
#4
This is good. Like Australian riots/US first reaction to 9/11, shows thier is limits to our restraint.
The moderate Muslims will never risk their lives to confront and check the Radical Muslims until they realize the alternative is worse.
I still believe the majority of Muslims are not radical or western they are center and could go either way.
We need to help force that choice by making it clear its either coexistence to western leaning or allow the Radical to ring in total decimation of all they know and more, until no radicals left, maybe even no Muslims left.
It should be clear our current campaign is not our last gasp for victory, its the Muslim ideologys last chance to either join the world or face the consequence others who could not coexist faced example: Nazi ideology.
Simply we dont need them to love us or even like us just simply respect and mainly fear us. Will work just fine for now in time they can learn to like us.
The Republic of Biafra was a short-lived secessionist state in southeastern Nigeria. It existed from May 30, 1967 to January 15, 1970. The military's Chief of Staff formally announced capitulation on January 12. The country was named after the Bight of Biafra, the bay of the Atlantic to its south.
In January 1966, a coup in the Nigerian government was attempted, which was bloody and short-lived. Since mostly Igbo officers in the Nigerian army survived, it was assumed that they had initiated the coup, and in the months of May and September of 1966, Igbo migrants living in northern Nigeria were the targets of mass killings. Most of Nigeria's Igbo people, who were then estimated at 11 million, lived in what was then the Eastern Region of Nigeria, which had as military governor the Igbo Lieutenant Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. He declared the region an independent state with a capital at Enugu, and his troops began seizing federal resources such as inbound postal vehicles.
Nigeria responded initially with an economic blockade and brought military force to bear starting on July 6, 1967. In the ensuing civil war, raids were made by Biafran troops west into Nigeria in July and August. Nigerian troops soon recovered, however, advancing into Biafra and forcing the repeated transfer of the Biafran capital from Enugu to Aba and then Umuahia by the end of the year, and to Owerri in 1969.
By 1970, Biafra had been ravaged by war and was in great need of food supplies. Amid economic and military collapse, Ojukwu fled the country and the rest of the republic's territory was re-incorporated into Nigeria. Around a million people are thought to have died in the conflict, mostly through starvation and illness.
Biafra's national anthem used the Finlandia tune by Jean Sibelius.
This conflict inspired musician/artist/activist Jello Biafra in his choice of name.
Nigeria later renamed the Bight of Biafra as the Bight of Bonny.
Biafria was Christian and Animist and the then government of Nigeria was Islamic. The UK supported Nigeria.
The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) is an organization of about 2,000 people scattered all over Nigeria with the aim of securing the resurgence of the defunct state of Biafra. It is led by an Indian-trained lawyer, Ralph Uwazurike, with headquarters in Okwe, in the Okigwe district of Imo state, Nigeria. The group has appropriated all the trappings of State of the former Republic of Biafra, and is determined to bring the Republic's independence back.
Animated by the perceived disadvantaged position of the Igbo ethnic group, who comprise the bulk of the population of Nigeria's eastern region (briefly independent as Biafra), MASSOB is hopeful that it will succeed in its efforts. This hope is buoyed on the possibility that the Oodua Republic of the Yorubas (southwest Nigeria) may be a reality one day, and so would their own group.
MASSOB has had many conflicts with Nigerian police who accuse the leadership and its many young supporters of treason and felony, but this has not deterred their activities. Economics, rather than patriotic zeal for Biafra, has perhaps been the main factor behind support for MASSOB. While it has not approximated the activities of the Biafran Organisation of Freedom Fighters (BOFF) during the Biafran War, it has however kept Biafran issues alive and has consistently placed them on the Nigerian national agenda.
"The Biafran flag is hoisted over and flies throughout the enclave formerly known as Biafra and, for members, this is a symbol that Biafra 'of the mind' lives as its former chief of state," Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu says. The struggle, the group says, continues and only time will tell if Biafra, or at least the Bight of Biafra after which it is named, re-emerges.
Biafra is mentioned in Warren Zevon's song "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner"
(I got it on vinyl somewhere....)
Excerpt from last wartime speech of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu Head of Biafran state.
"In the three years of the war necessity gave birth to invention. During those three years of heroic bound, we leapt across the great chasm that separates knowledge from know-how. We built rocket, and we designed and built our own delivery systems. We guided our rockets. We guided them far; we guided them accurately. For three years, blockaded without hope of import, we maintained all our vehicles. The state extracted and refined petrol, individuals refined petrol in their back gardens. We built and maintained our airports, maintained them under heavy bombardment. Despite the heavy bombardment, we recovered so quickly after each raid that we were able to maintain the record for the busiest airport in the continent of Africa. We spoke to the world through telecommunication system engineered by local ingenuity; the world heard us and spoke back to us! We built armored cars and tanks. We modified aircraft from trainer to fighters, from passenger aircraft to bombers. In the three years of freedom we had broken the technological barrier. In the three years we became the most civilized, the most technologically advanced black people on earth."
On 29 May 2000, the Guardian of Lagos newspaper reported that President Olusegun Obasanjo commuted to retirement the dismissal of all military persons who fought for the breakaway state of Biafra during Nigeria's 1967â1970 civil war. In a national broadcast, he said the decision was based on the belief that "justice must at all times be tempered with mercy". It is also thought, that during the previous year, there had been a public resurgence of pro-Biafra sentiment among a section of the Igbo, who claimed that in the Nigerian federation, they have been marginalised.
#9
even old history like this:
The United Nations Genocide Convention particularly mentions acts committed "with intent to destroy" a human group, and Lord Stonham speaks of "the deliberate destruction" of such a group. For nearly a quarter of a century Northern Nigerians have publicly expressed their intense hatred of Biafrans and, on the slightest excuse, have physically demonstrated their intention to destroy them. Several outbreaks of Nigerian hostility to Biafrans occurred from time to time even during the British colonial era. In 1945 Northern Nigerians set upon Biafrans resident at Jos and massacred them. But the British Administration did not take the matter seriously and did not even conduct an inquiry into the gruesome episode.
In Western Nigeria, in Yorubaland, there has always been the outcry at various times for the "repatriation" of Biafrans. In 1953, again, Northern Nigerians with a "universally unexpected degree of violence", attacked and massacred Biafrans living in Kano. This time the British were constrained by the nature and degree of the holocaust to order an inquiry. The official Report, compiled by a British administrative officer, produced incontestable evidence of intention, deliberation and organisation on the part of the Northern Nigerian authorities.
There was evidence that leading functionaries of the Northern Nigerian Native Administration (N.A.) - an agency which the British themselves described as "an integral part of the machinery of government" - were deeply involved in the planning of the massacres of 1953. According to the Report, two days before the massacre began on Thursday, 14th May 1953, Mallam (afterwards Alhaji) Inua Wade, then Secretary of the Northern Peoples' Congress (N.P.C.) and later Federal Minister of Works, convened a meeting of the N.A. sectional heads at the Works Depot in Kano during which he made "a very ill-advised and provocative speech." Inua Wada said, inter alia:
"We have organised about 1,000 men ready in the City to meet force with force ... the Northern Peoples' Congress has declared a strike in all Native Administration Offices for Saturday, 16.5.53 ... we shall post sufficient number of men at the entrance of every office and business place ... we are prepared to face anything that comes out of this business ... " In the outcome, so claimed the official estimate, 52 persons were killed and 245 wounded, most of the casualties being Biafrans. But the Report itself admits that "there is still a possibility that more were killed than have been recorded in view of conflicting statements by ambulance and lorry drivers" (who carted off the dead bodies to their mass graves).
In point of fact it was widely known at the time that over 200 Biafrans had been killed and over 500 wounded. The occasion of this pogrom was that a Yoruba leader had made a speech in Kano attacking the Northern Government - Biafrans on the whole were not supporters of the politician in question. The Report however perceived the depth of the hatred and bitterness which Northern Nigerians nursed against Biafrans and concluded on a prophetic note of warning: "No amount of provocation, short-term or long-term, can in any way justify their behaviour ... The seeds of the trouble which broke out in Kano on May 16 (1953)have their counterparts still in the ground. It could happen again, and only a realisation and acceptance of the under-lying causes can remove the danger of recurrence". An acceptance of the fact of there having been genocide.
Gunmen targeted 27 Baghdad mosques and killed three Sunni imams Wednesday in the wake of a bomb attack at one of the holiest Shiite sites.
The wave of attacks followed an early morning bombing at the Al-Askariya "Golden Mosque" in Samarra. The strikes, involving small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar rounds, all happened between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., police said.
A CNN crew was also caught up in the violence, and in Basra, southern Iraq, a local official said jail inmates were abducted.
Twelve inmates were snatched from the main prison in Basra by gunmen carrying Iraqi government identification cards, a member of the Basra provisional council said. Around midnight, 10 bodies were found and taken to a hospital where officials were trying to determine if they were among the prisoners, who were of Egyptian, Tunisians, Libyan, Turkish, Saudi Arabian and Iraqi descent.
Also, at least three members of a CNN crew, all Iraqis, were beaten and briefly kidnapped Wednesday afternoon while shooting video at a roadblock on the outskirts of Sadr City, Baghdad, where a mob was protesting the bombing of the Shiite mosque.
The journalists were separated and roughly interrogated before being released. They then returned to the Baghdad bureau, where they were treated for their injuries.
Three of the mosques attacked in Baghdad were burned down, and in addition to the imams, three guards also were killed. One imam was kidnapped.
Security was beefed up around all mosques in Baghdad, police said, and Iraqi security forces across the country were placed on high alert. Officers on vacation or leave have been told to report for duty, police said.
The Iraqi Islamic Party, the largest Sunni party in Iraq, condemned all the violence and said Shiites had taken over Sunni mosques in the southern town of Diwaniya and arrested worshippers. Meanwhile, gunmen stormed the party's southern Baghdad office, evacuated its employees and torched the building.
The largely Sunni insurgency has periodically targeted Shiite Arabs. Over the past year, Sunnis have accused the Shiite-led government of targeting them in raids.
Iraqi and U.S. leaders urged people to remain calm and united amid fears the sectarian violence could escalate into civil war, but a U.S. State Department spokesman said he believes the threat of civil war is overstated.
"There are forces seeking to prevent democracy and obstruct the peaceful political and economic development of Iraq," Adam Ereli said Wednesday at a news conference. "They seek to achieve their goals in a number of ways. But, as I said before, promoting sectarian violence is one of them. There's nothing new here."
Meanwhile, the top half of the golden dome that once towered above the Al-Askariya Mosque collapsed in the blast. Minarets flanking the dome remained standing amid mounds of debris. (Watch how the blast is intensifying tension -- 1:51)
The Samarra attack happened at 7 a.m., when gunmen dressed as Iraqi police commandos bombed the site, which has deep historical significance in Shiite Islam.
Shiites believe Imam al-Mehdi, the 12th and final awaited imam, will reappear at the Al-Askariya Mosque to bring them salvation.
Al-Mehdi is the son of Imam Hassan al-Askari, the 11th imam, who is buried in the shrine. His grandfather, the 10th imam, is also buried there.
Al-Mehdi is said to have disappeared in the eighth century during the funeral of his father and is believed by Shiites to have been withdrawn by God from the eyes of the people, until his return.
Salaheddin province, where the shrine is located, is home to a large Sunni population.
Residents of Baghdad said members of a militia loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr were going door-to-door asking heads of household to swear they had nothing to do with the Samarra attack. Samarra is 70 miles (113 kilometers) north of Baghdad.
There were no immediate reports of injuries in the bombing, and 10 people -- all dressed as Iraqi police commandos -- have been arrested, according to Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie.
Foreign fighters were likely responsible, and the attack bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda in Iraq, al-Rubaie said. "They are really testing the patience of the Iraqi people," he said, calling on Muslims around the world to condemn "this act of terrorism."
The attack occurred as Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni leaders are working to form a national unity government. Both Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite, and President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, said the attack was an effort to incite sectarian violence.
In a taped address on Iraqiya TV, al-Jaafari called on all Iraqi political parties to condemn the mosque attack and asked Sunni and Shiite Iraqis to demonstrate in Samarra. Al-Jaafari also declared a three-day period of mourning and ordered the ministries of Defense and of Housing and Reconstruction to assess damage and begin rebuilding the shrine.
Talabani condemned the "horrendous crime," saying, "The perpetrators' aim is to start a civil war between Iraqis."
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most powerful Shiite cleric, called for a week of mourning and is expected to call for businesses to close in protest for three days, a spokesman said.
President Bush condemned the "brutal bombing of the Golden Mosque," promising help to rebuild it and asking Iraqis to exercise restraint.
"The terrorists in Iraq have again proven that they are enemies of all faiths and of all humanity," he said in a statement. "This senseless crime is an affront to people of faith throughout the world."
Peaceful protests, not violence, urged
Demonstrations against the bombing of the Al-Askariya Mosque were held across the country.
Following noon prayers, 4,000 demonstrators in Baghdad walked from al-Sadr's office toward a nearby mosque, a spokesman for his office said. By the time the march ended, the number of people had swelled to 10,000, the spokesperson said. It was one of several protests in Baghdad neighborhoods, according to Iraqi Emergency Police.
Al-Sadr cut short a visit to Lebanon and was returning to Iraq, where he was planning to make a televised statement. A senior spokesman for al-Sadr's movement urged "calm and patience" and said maintaining national unity is Iraq's priority.
In Samarra, several hundred people gathered at the mosque and at the mayor's office, denouncing the Iraqi government and the U.S. military, authorities said. Thousands of protesters also took to the streets in Najaf, Kut and Karbala, police said.
Haitian leader Jean Bertrand Aristide, who is living in exile in South Africa, on Wednesday defended his decision to return home, saying it is his right as a citizen of the Caribbean nation.
"I have the right to be back," he said in an interview with international news agencies in Pretoria.
Aristide (52), who has been living in South Africa since fleeing a popular revolt in Haiti in 2004, on Tuesday announced that he will return to the restive Caribbean state, which recently elected René Préval as its new leader.
Aristide said no date for his return has been set yet, but added: "I know a date will emerge."
He has said he first needs to consult with Préval, his one-time protégé, the United Nations and "other countries" before choosing a date for his return.
He made it clear, however, that he will not return to politics.
"My determination is to be back in education, serving the people, not as a member of the public service but as a citizen," said Aristide, a former priest. The election of Préval and Aristide's return could put an end to much diplomatic wrangling over Haiti since the 2004 revolt.
Préval, who served as prime minister under Aristide for seven months in 1991, was declared the winner of the February 7 presidential election following international mediation. Aristide long maintained that he had been forced to step down under pressure from the United States and France and had urged the African Union to take up his claims of a coup.
Since arriving to a red-carpet welcome in May 2004, Aristide, together with his wife and two daughters, has been living in a government-provided home in Pretoria and been provided with security and a car. Aristide swept to power in Haiti in 1990, only to be overthrown in a coup eight months later. With backing from the US, he returned to power in 1994 but fell out of favour with Washington amid claims of vote-rigging in the 2000 elections and political violence.
Face with an armed insurrection and large street protests, Aristide fled Haiti on February 29 2004 and was granted political refuge in South Africa three months later. Besoeker post.
Jessica Rabbit isn't welcome in China -- and Michael Jordan shouldn't show up with any of his Looney Toons pals.
In one of the more bizarre orders from China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, TV shows and films featuring human thesps with animated companions will be banned.
"These human live-action, so-called animation pieces will not receive distribution or distribution licenses," read the order, issued Feb. 15. However, films and shows that have already received permits will continue to air.
CGI and 2-D characters alongside human actors jeopardize "the broadcast order of homemade animation and mislead their development," according to a report from the state-run Xinhua News Agency.
Order comes as the Chinese government attempts to increase local production of Mandarin-language toons and cut the amount of foreign animated programming appearing on Chinese television.
However, national and provincial children's channels are struggling to acquire enough content to meet demand or even fill their own programming schedules.
"Sarft's notice is a clear indicator that, despite government support, the local animation industry is still struggling," said David Wolf, CEO of Beijing-based consultancy Wolf Group Asia. "Unfortunately, simply clearing more airtime isn't going to make the product any better or more competitive."
Chinese regulatory authorities are notoriously skittish regarding broadcast and film themes that include the supernatural or fantasy, including talking animals. "Babe" was banned on the basis that animals can't talk and some viewers would be confused.
#2
Chinese government attempts to increase local production of Mandarin-language toons and cut the amount of foreign animated programming appearing on Chinese television.
How French. And we know how well it has turned out for them too. I know I can't wait till the next government subsidized film comes to our local cineplex.
#3
I get a strong feeling this is aimed at the mountain of Japanese animation currently swamping most of the rest of East Asia (and, for that matter, the US. I don't know about Europe).
Posted by: Phil ||
02/22/2006 17:54
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#4
Five or ten years ago, anime was sweeping East Asia. Nowadays? Pfft. If the Koreans and Chinese could ever muster an ounce of originality or style, they could blow the current Japanese animation industry into the central Pacific. All the good writers & most of the talented animators went into video games years ago. About the only damn thing coming out of Japan these days is harem anime & bad pretty-boy girlbait.
The Japanese outsourced their animation gruntwork to the rest of East Asia ten-fifteen years ago, anyways. If the locals could just figure out how to write & manage a production, they could produce locally. The fact that they mostly haven't is a real shame.
Me, I just read manga these days. Nothing too spectacular going on *there*, either, but at least there's a respectable backlog of coolness from prior decades that's new to me, if not to those folks who can read the original Japanese.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/22/2006 18:15
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#5
I'm always behind the times.
Yeah, I know, all this stuff travels across the internet at the speed of light, but once it crosses the border into Louisiana the speed of light drops precipitously.
Posted by: Phil ||
02/22/2006 18:20
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#6
check out where the Simpsons are animated....you'll be saying "D'oh!", then get over it...
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/22/2006 18:38
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I never heard of this site before but saw it and thought I'd get all of your input. I'm pretty sure hes looney though.
By DOUG THOMPSON
Feb 22, 2006, 07:35
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A written report from Secret Service agents guarding Vice President Dick Cheney when he shot Texas lawyer Harry Whittington on a hunting outing two weeks ago says Cheney was "clearly inebriated" at the time of the shooting.
Agents observed several members of the hunting party, including the Vice President, consuming alcohol before and during the hunting expedition, the report notes, and Cheney exhibited "visible signs" of impairment, including slurred speech and erratic actions, the report said.
According to those who have read the report and talked with others present at the outing, Cheney was drunk when he gunned down his friend and the day-and-a-half delay in allowing Texas law enforcement officials on the ranch where the shooting occurred gave all members of the hunting party time to sober up.
We talked with a number of administration officials who are privy to inside information on the Vice President's shooting "accident" and all admit Secret Service agents and others saw Cheney consume far more than the "one beer' he claimed he drank at lunch earlier that day.
"This was a South Texas hunt," says one White House aide. "Of course there was drinking. There's always drinking. Lots of it."
Cheney has a long history of alcohol abuse, including two convictions of driving under the influence when he was younger. Doctors tell me that someone like Cheney, who is taking blood thinners because of his history of heart attacks, could get legally drunk now after consuming just one drink.
If Cheney was legally drunk at the time of the shooting, he could be guilty of a felony under Texas law and the shooting, ruled an accident by a compliant Kenedy County Sheriff, would be a prosecutable offense.
But we will never know for sure because the owners of the Armstrong Ranch, where the shooting occurred, barred the sheriff's department from the property on the day of the shooting and Kenedy County Sheriff Ramon Salinas III agreed to wait until the next day to send deputies in to talk to those involved.
Sheriff's Captain Charles Kirk says he went to the Armstrong Ranch immediately after the shooting was reported on Saturday, February 11 but both he and a game warden were not allowed on the 50,000-acre property. He called Salinas who told him to forget about it and return to the station.
"I told him don't worry about it. I'll make a call," Salinas said. The sheriff claims he called another deputy who moonlights at the Armstrong ranch, said he was told it was "just an accident" and made the decision to wait until Sunday to investigate.
"We've known these people for years. They are honest and wouldn't call us, telling us a lie," Salinas said.
Like all elected officials in Kenedy County, Salinas owes his job to the backing and financial support of Katherine Armstrong, owner of the ranch and the county's largest employer.
"The Armstrongs rule Kenedy County like a fiefdom," says a former employee.
Secret Service officials also took possession of all tests on Whittington's blood at the hospitals where he was treated for his wounds. When asked if a blood alcohol test had been performed on Whittington, the doctors who treated him at Christus Spohn Hospital Memorial in Corpus Christi or the hospital in Kingsville refused to answer. One admits privately he was ordered by the Secret Service to "never discuss the case with the press."
It's a sure bet that is a private doctor who treated the victim of Cheney's reckless and drunken actions can't talk to the public then the memo that shows the Vice President was drunk as a skunk will never see the light of day.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
02/22/2006
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Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
02/22/2006 16:02
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#3
Doctors tell me that someone like Cheney, who is taking blood thinners because of his history of heart attacks, could get legally drunk now after consuming just one drink.
Sounds like the "lawyers" that Lawrence O'Donnell allegedly talked to.
A written report from Secret Service agents guarding Vice President Dick Cheney when he shot Texas lawyer Harry Whittington on a hunting outing two weeks ago says Cheney was "clearly inebriated" at the time of the shooting.
One might wonder how Doug Thompson managed to get his hands on that briefing...
"This was a South Texas hunt," says one White House aide. "Of course there was drinking. There's always drinking. Lots of it."
And who talked to him in the White House?
#4
Lol. I can't remember which SnarkMeister posted it, but they parodied the Skeery event where he blamed the SecSvc guy for knocking him down on the ski slopes.
Toss that in here for humor and derision of the conspiracy idjits and Bush-haters.
#6
"Capitol Hill Blue" is moonbat country. This is the same clown that was peddling a story that President Bush was "erratic" and mentally unstable back in the 2004 campaign. (Check the comment thread here for more detail.) So far out there that even the NYT and DU and Kos don't believe it.
Posted by: Mike ||
02/22/2006 16:49
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#7
Apparently that ranch is basically the whole county.
I totally want to take the tour: "Here is our barn, here is our vegetable garden, here is our Grand Jury..."
#8
I get from a semi-reliable source (er, me), according to the reports (ok, hallucinations) that the ranch itself was blotto drunk, causing the ground to lurch and be "wavy", resulting in misunderaiming and the dischargification of the VPs' nug.
Now blow some holes in THAT reality... go ahead... I dare ya...
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/22/2006 17:24
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#11
Anyway, I thought the problem with that incident is that Cheney was hunting lawyers *outside* of season. Drunk or not, I want him to be fined, lawyers may not be endangered, especially in the USA, I simply can't admit that kind of reckless hunting during reproductive season.
Blasphemy doesn't begin with caricatures of the Prophet nor does it end with lampooning Islam, says Kanchan Gupta
The violent protest by Muslims across the world against the publication of 12 caricatures of Prophet Mohammad in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten is showing no indication of petering out. Regardless of abject apologies by Danish authorities and the attempt by some Muslim leaders to calm passions, each day brings its share of stories of Muslims going on the rampage and clerics encouraging the faithful to slaughter the cartoonists and reap rich rewards for the murders in both this and the other world.
While there has been no outpouring of support for those who have been attacking Danish diplomatic missions and burning that country's national flag, the flood of commiseration for hurt Muslim sentiments is truly awesome. Condemnation of the wilful attempt to mock the Prophet is entirely justified, as is the demand that those who decide media content should exercise greater caution in future.
There can, however, be no support for those Muslims who have been indulging in wanton violence -- looting of Hindu shops, as happened in Hyderabad after Friday prayer or the murder of a 60-year-old Catholic priest, Fr Andrea Santoro, in Turkey, apart from the torching of Danish missions -- nor should any legitimacy be accorded to the call for killing the cartoonists -- Al Qaeda has announced a bounty of 100 kg of gold, a Pakistani cleric has offered $ 1 million and an animal fat trader who enjoys the exalted position of Minister for Minority Welfare in Uttar Pradesh has promised Rs 51 crore to those willing to murder in the name of Islam.
But those who are seeking to play a pro-active role in assuaging "hurt" Muslim sentiments, including the UPA Government which has preposterously conveyed a formal protest to Denmark, the Congress Government of Andhra Pradesh which has equally ludicrously dragooned the State Assembly into passing a resolution condemning the cartoons and what AP has described as "Muslim supporters of Hindu right wing nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party" burning the Danish national flag in a pathetic me-too-outraged response, are unwilling to accept that blasphemy does not begin with caricaturing Prophet Mohammad, nor does it end with lampooning Islam.
In 2002, Egyptian and other Arab television channels telecast a 41-part serial, A Knight Without a Horse, based on the spurious document called "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion", a work of fiction produced in Russia in 1903 to incite and legitimise anti-Jewish pogroms. Under pressure from American Jews and the Government of Israel, the US lodged a half-hearted protest with the Egyptian Government and Arab regimes where the programme was telecast. Predictably, the 'protest' was ignored by both Arab palace and street. As if that were not enough, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, funded by liberal Governments in Europe and hailed as a symbol of secular knowledge, put on public display what it claimed to be an ancient copy of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion".
There was no outrage, not even a whimper of protest by secular Governments at this insidious attempt to legitimise anti-Semitism. Nobody dashed off letters of protest, nor were resolutions passed condemning this disgraceful incitement of anti-Jewish sentiments. On the contrary, the overwhelming sentiment, more so in Scandinavian countries, was that of "serves the Jews right".
"The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" owes its origin to anti-Semitism of early-20th century that paved the way for Adolf Hitler's gas chambers and the Holocaust. It purports to be a secret blueprint prepared by Zionists to establish Jewish control over the world. It is sufficient to incite the cruellest of passions among those who have been taught from childhood to hate Jews. It is as spurious as the Islamists' cockamamie claim that 9/11 was a Jewish conspiracy. It is as despicable as the sly inclusion of a photograph of a pig squealing contest, organised by farmers in rural France, in the inflammatory booklet that has been put out by clerics of Denmark to draw the ummah's attention to the caricatures of the Prophet.
But it is not Jews alone who have had to suffer anti-Semitism in silence with the liberal world refusing to condemn the hateful propaganda of Arabs and thus mollycoddling spiteful Muslims who make no effort to hide their contempt for the faith of others. Copts in Egypt dare not display the symbol of their faith or its substitute, a fish, because it would invite instant violent retribution. An Indian Hindu expatriate who died in Cairo and whose family did not have the resources to fly her body to India for cremation, had to consign the mortal remains to the flames of a garbage incinerator. Next day, local newspapers criticised the Government for allowing such pagan practices.
Elsewhere in Arabia, public display of any faith other than Islam is prohibited; violation of the law could lead to public decapitation. The hugely influential Sunni imam Youssef al-Qaradawi, who as a guest of London's Red mayor Ken Linvingstone praised suicide bombers at an official reception, runs a popular website which lists several fatwas justifying jihad against Hindus and Hinduism and encourages Muslims to join terror brigades to fight India's infidels.
In Iran, newspapers routinely organise competitions to caricature Jews and deride their faith. No Islamic country acknowledges the Holocaust which Muslim scholars wave away as Jewish propaganda.
Such blatant abuse, of course, has never invited the mildest criticism, nor have the hate-mongers been rebuked in a manner remotely similar to the reprimand to which Jyllands-Posten and the Danish cartoonists are now being subjected. Hate speech is illegal, as it should be, in most European countries, including Britain. But Muslims are spared from its purview on the specious plea that the hate they spew is integral to their faith.
Yes, this is ridiculous. But so is the move to impose a ban on Christmas, Santa, kissing in school plays, piggy banks and Winnie the Pooh because they "hurt" Muslim sentiments. As Daniel Pipes writes in one of his incisive articles, "The benefits department at Dudley Council, West Midlands, instructed employees that all pig-related novelty items are henceforth banned from its offices, so as not to offend Muslim staff. This includes pig toys, porcelain figures, calendars, and even a tissue box featuring Winnie the Pooh and Piglet."
The reason for such capitulation that has emboldened the tribe of Haji Yaqoob Qureshi can be found in Youssef al-Qaradawi's boastful claim, "We must tell Europeans, we can live without you. But you cannot live without us." He might as well have said the world can't live without being in thraldom of frightful Islamist retribution. For evidence, look at the violence that has been unleashed in the name of protesting against caricaturing the Prophet.
Posted by: john ||
02/22/2006
15:08 ||
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NEW DELHI: A day after its famous Gorkha soldiers began their deployment with a UN group in Sudan, India on Wednesday flagged off an air force contingent on its way to the peacekeeping mission in Congo.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) contingent, comprising 285 personnel and five Mi-17 transport helicopters and four Mi-35 attack helicopters, will provide mobility to UN staff and forces and "act as deterrence for belligerent groups who may try to destabilise the peace process" in Congo, said spokesman Wing Commander Mahesh Upasani.
The IAF team will join some 3,500 Indian soldiers already serving with the 17,500-strong UN mission in Congo in west Africa.
Congo continues to witness violence by Ugandan rebels, and eight Guatemalan peacekeepers were killed in a firefight last month. In June 2005, an Indian soldier was killed after getting caught in a gun battle between government troops and rebels.
On Tuesday, two battalions or nearly 2,000 soldiers of the Indian Army's elite 1/5 Gorkha Rifles began their deployment with the UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan in east Africa.
The force commander of the UN mission in Sudan is also an Indian - Lt. Gen. J.S. Lidder.
The deployment in Sudan marked the Gorkha Rifles' third foray into the African continent, the first two having been during World War I and World War II.
Referring to the IAF's role with the UN force in Congo, Upasani said: "The situation in Congo has undergone a sea change after the IAF arrived on the scene in 2003.
"Today Congo is at the threshold of its first-ever elections scheduled later this year. IAF helicopters spearheaded frantic efforts of the UN contingent in Congo for first stabilising the situation and then successfully holding a referendum last year."
Air Marshal Ajit Bhavnani, the IAF vice chief, flagged off the contingent to Congo at the Palam airbase here.
Speaking on the occasion, Bhavnani said: "You are the ambassadors of peace and the nation has high expectations from you in terms of discipline, integrity and professional standards. Your predecessors have set high standards and you should be setting higher standards."
Group Captain Rajan Kapur, a helicopter pilot with over 5,000 hours of flying experience, is heading the contingent that comprises logisticians, technical experts, medical and administrative support teams.
India has contributed over 65,000 troops to UN peacekeeping missions around the globe since the 1950s. Its troops are currently serving with missions in Lebanon, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Posted by: john ||
02/22/2006
14:58 ||
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#1
heh heh - insanity is when you keep repeating your errors and hoping for a different outcome. I, for one, welcome India's help. John documents the sanity and progress there vs Pakland - when need to build bridges with them
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/22/2006 21:24
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#2
Yeah, but... If they could only get past that communist shit they swallowed, and instituted as Govt, I'd be there.
It mus be something about the water in Uttar Pradesh
LUCKNOW/INDORE: The Hindu Personal Law Board on Wednesday announced a Rs 51 crore reward for eliminating artist M F Hussain and others while a Congress minority cell leader offered Rs 11 lakh to any "patriot" chopping off the painter's hands for hurting Hindu sentiments.
"Anyone who kills Hussain for making obscene paintings of goddess Saraswati and Bharat Mata, the Danish cartoonist, those in the German company printing pictures of Ram and Krishna on tissue paper and the French filmmaker desecrating Lord Shiva will be given Rs 51 crore in cash by the Board," its president Ashok Pandey said in a statement in Lucknow.
If Uttar Pradesh Haj Minister Yaqoob Qureshi undertook the job "he will be given Rs 101 crore", it added cryptically.
"Peace will not prevail on earth unless such people are eliminated," he said and urged Qureshi to set out on the mission.
Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee Minority Cell vice- chairman Akthar Baig in a statement in Indore said the painter had "played with the sentiments of the people and tried to disrupt communal harmony in the past by painting nude pictures of Hindu gods and goddess and now of Bharat Mata".
It would be in the "interest of the nation if a patriot will chop off his hands. I will give that person Rs 11 lakh", he said.
The Congress leader asked the government to take back all the honours bestowed on the noted painter and declare him a "traitor".
Baig had earlier filed a petition in an Indore court against Bollywood actor Dharmendra's purported second marriage to Hema Malini.
Posted by: john ||
02/22/2006
14:52 ||
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#5
Big bucks offered here. A lakh is 100,000 and a crore is 10,000,000 so more or less:
Rs 11 Lakh = $24,663
Rs 51 Crore = $11,434,977
Rs 101 Crore = $22,645,739
#6
OT: Hey .com...that picture you posted last week...the uh..."muslim" babe with the white veil...you...uh... got any more from where that came from?
Posted by: Mark Z ||
02/22/2006 17:03
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#7
Heh... I'm watching the US Men's Curling match... Check back in a few hours on this thread and I'll offer links to what I have - I need to rummage around a bit. Surprisingly, there isn't much, lol.
#9
I read a short story a while back about some ordinary American guy who was chosen by the goddess Kali to be her high priest. As in "boyfriend". And unlike her traditional appearance, she decided to look like a 16-17 year old blonde, jail-bait pop-tart, with tank top, short skirts and all the wickedness of a teen girl who knows she's got it. Which ended up with him getting in lots of trouble.
He was amazed that nobody else noticed the bluish highlights of her otherwise perfect skin, nor the fact that she had six arms. He couldn't even figure out how her six arms were attached, all at the shoulder, but without looking odd. It was like her arms at the could occupy the same space at the same time. And nobody noticed.
On the downside, she had very earthy tastes, in fact, she was downright trashy, enjoying motorcycles, billiards, and getting guys to fight over her. To make things worse, she could take over any girl or woman she wanted to, and use them as an avatar, like puppets, to make mischief.
Being the goddess of death, she was also very into homicide, something her boyfriend didn't much care for so endlessly tried to get her to take up a hobby other than guns, knives, explosives, etc.
Eventually, her hectic lifestyle began to take its toll on him, so he took off to Hawaii. And being involved with one god sort of puts you in their social circle, so he soon met up with the goddess Pele's ex-boyfriend, Kamapuaa, the wild pig god, and moved into his bungalow as his guest.
Unfortunately, Kamapuaa was a real pig. He had fallen into lots of bad habits since breaking up, and no longer had his buff, surfer looks. Most of his time was spent watching ESPN and drinking beer.
And then he was discovered by Pele's younger sister, Hi'iaka, who was just as slutty as Kali, but tanner. Figuring to seduce him with food, she then whips up a big time luau for him, and is just about to launch into a dance when a very jealous Kali shows up.
Fortunately, the girls take it outside, and to the sound of earthquakes, volcanoes, tidal waves, etc., our hero just slumps down into an easy chair next to Kamapuaa and asks him if it was always like this. "Always", he replied. So he
asked him who was playing on teevee.
TV 8 News has learned the FBI and local law enforcement authorities are conducting a statewide raid of service stations and businesses owned by Middle Easterners. Agents executed search warrants today at businesses from Tallulah to Ruston and in Monroe. The FBI says the raids are part of "an ongoing criminal investigation." Police sources tell TV 8 News the raids target possible money laundering and counterfeiting in connection with suspected domestic terrorist activity and homeland security. TV 8 News will have details at 5, 6,and 10.
The recent Ohio arrests and now this... coincidence? Related?
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
02/22/2006
14:36 ||
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#1
Damn! Most of the stations in my area seem to be run by "Middle Easterners".
#2
Perhaps coincidence, perhaps linked... possibly executed successively to keep the targets from bolting at the news of the other arrests. (Yes, I'm not even guessing here). I wonder how much of the information on which the arrests were based came from military/NSA intelligence? That would be the true triumph of the whole thing -- Bush's people forcing the various services to share information and work together to achieve results.
#5
Well, sure it's a profiling issue, but raised by all the ruckus about the port thingy!
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/22/2006 17:50
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Now that you mention it, all the gas stations around Mobile are also manned by swarthy, middle easterners (Who seem to be decent folks)
Gawd, I never even thought of the Gas Stations as a counterfitting ring, but what a perfect distribution system, you'd have to stick to counterfiting 20's, but what a system
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/22/2006 20:31
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#9
Tricky one to call, overall. Cash business = opportunity for tax evasion and a lot of other stuff.
OTOH, service businesses that need long hours but not necessarily high skills are also a classic way for many honest immigrants to build equity and join the middle class here. Mom, pop, kids work for very low hourly wages and slowly build ownership. When they've paid off their loans they help someone else in their community / family with starting capital.
It's the American dream / opportunity in action. But for sure it could also be a cover for money laundering etc. on the part of some.
The FBI is conducting a large scale investigation into north Louisiana convenience stores with ties to the Middle East. As TV8's Gina Swanson reports the Department of Homeland Security is in on the sting operation involving stores in at least four parishes.
They seized evidence by the box full. The FBI on Wednesday searched at least a half dozen convenience stores in North Louisiana. All with ties to the Middle East. The probe led agents to stores in Tallulah, Lake Providence, Monroe and Ruston. Law enforcement sources confirm that the stores are suspected of involvement in money laundering or counterfeiting. The Department of Homeland Security has sent agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or Ice, to work the case. At each station, agents seized boxes of evidence and retrieved at least one weapon. Police sources say at least some of the gas station operators are from Yemen. ...The investigation reaches beyond Louisiana. TV8 news has confirmed the FBI and department of homeland security Wednesday also raided stores in Buffalo, New York.
#14
we've electronically redacted this for security
Posted by: FBI guy ||
02/22/2006 21:35
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Watch out, .com, yer due for a fatwa. LOL!
Posted by: Al-Aska Paul ||
02/22/2006 21:37
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#16
Lol, I know, al AP! I'm trying to project the new me, kinder and gentler and all that shit, but I dunno if anyone's buying. Might be too late, after 3 years, lol.
Thanks, tw, sniff. Actually, I am in flux. I've said most all I feel I need to say about the bad road ahead and who we should be focused upon.
BTW, I have a personal message for you:
You post your own thoughts, you contribute relevant facts and some terrific bits that I'd never hear anywhere else, you can soothe or mock with equally devastating dexterity (lol), you nail pretenders to the wall as well as give generously - when there is nothing to gain from it, and you aren't afraid of anyone, heh. That's class!
I hope you never tire of the 'Burg - it needs you!
Edited for brevity.
Stun-gun maker Taser International of Scottsdale, Ariz., is developing a shotgun shell that will be far more powerful than current ones, a report said. Taser's eXtended Range Electro-Muscular Projectile, or XREP, is meant to combine the blunt-force trauma of a fast-moving baseball with the electrical current of a stun gun, the Arizona Daily Sun reported. The product, expected to be available next year, was funded by the Office of Naval Research.
Taser's stun guns largely are used by law enforcement agencies but also have been used by U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, [company spokesman Steve] Tuttle said. The new product is designed to hit targets from a distance of up to 300 feet, compared to 25 feet for a Taser.
Posted by: Dar ||
02/22/2006
13:58 ||
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#1
Could you use them for duck hunting?
Posted by: Dick Cheney ||
02/22/2006 14:32
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Perhaps hunting and barbecuing in a single shot! Be sure to pack napkins and condiments. Yum
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Top U.S. officials strongly condemned the bombing of a revered Shiite shrine Wednesday, calling it a desperate and despicable act designed to foment sectarian strife.
"Given the historic, cultural and religious importance of this shrine, this attack is a crime against humanity," the U.S. ambassador and the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq said in a joint statement. "The Shrine should be rebuilt and the United States will contribute to its reconstruction."
Is it just me thinking that we DON'T want to get involved in this? I understand and agree with the sentiment, but this strikes me as something that could very easily be misunderstood as an admission of guilt.
#1
As disinclined as I am to lend any assistance whatsoever to these terrorist wingnuts, if America can pull off this sort of gesture of respect for a prized Iraqi shrine, it may well be a good thing.
Posted by: Captain America ||
02/22/2006 13:58
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We'll get involved just as soon as the Arabs help rebuild the WTC ... and don't throw that Bin Alaweed's snarky initial contribution that Rudy told me to shove up his orifice.
#5
It's not going to be seen as an admission of guilt--the majority of the Shi'a in Iraq are friendlies, and they've overall done a pretty damned good job of standing with us. They, and everyone else on the ground there, know that the bombing was perpetrated by the Sunni "insurgency."
This is just one of those things that you do for your friends.
Posted by: Mike ||
02/22/2006 14:12
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#6
F*ck that. Build yer own goddam mosques. Or take up a collection. If Americans want to donate voluntarily, that's fine But don't assume I want to join in.
#10
We should rebuild the Dome and make it even bigger and grander - to rival the Dome of the Rock. Al-Q is up to its old tricks and we need to turn the mindf*ck back around on them. Make this Dome the Shia holy of holies, with marble walkways, its own power plant, AC, water and sewer treatment plants, the whole nine yards. Include some Western standard hotels in the area for all the pilgrims. You want to defeat the ideology, make the alternative much more attractive. Make the Shias think, "The Sunnis broke it, but the Americans rebuilt it even better". Since we are in a nation-building phase, it only makes sense to get the 60% majority of the population fully on our side. Also, a little disinformation about Tater Tot helping Al-Q damage the Shrine due to his fight with Sistani wouldn't hurt at all. Tater Tot might get whacked by his brethren over this, and he has enough enemies in the Shia hierarchy to push the black propaganda Iraq-wide.
#12
I guess Mosque insurance isnt big in Irag
All insurance policies in Iraq have the usual Act 'O Allan Clause and since all acts are somehow allen related insurance there is pretty much a scam. Money is collected in other ways, insallah
#16
I think it's a splendid idea, and if we could pay for the entire thing to be rebuilt, it would be money well spent. Why? Because it would drive the wingnuts absolutely bonkers.
In over a thousand years of history, nothing would come close to the utter humiliation the fanatics would feel if infidels helped to rebuild one of their prize mosques. It wouldn't matter if they were Sunni or Shiite, it would be a mindf*ck like no other.
There would be seething worse than if we set up a free ham sandwitch for pilgrims stand in Mecca.
#19
I think its a splendid idea, and if we could pay for the entire thing to be rebuilt, it would be money well spent. Why? Because it would drive the wingnuts absolutely bonkers.
This was my approach as well, moose. Bonkered out wingnuts are a personal favorite. This is a, literally, golden opportunity to neutralize all this war on Muslims crap and show that we will help those who want peace. Now, it's the Shiites turn to uphold their end and not go rampaging off into the ozone.
Shieldwolf's angle works real well for me too. Sorta Disney-fy the whole d@mn thing into Prayland by the Beach.
-President Talabani promises to make rebuilding the shrine his personal responsibility and to donate the required money from his own.
-Head of the Sunni endowment sheikh Ahmed al-Samarra'I announces that he will allocate 2 billion dinars (~1.4 million $) for the rebuilding of the shrine from the treasury of the Sunni endowment.
Posted by: Mike ||
02/22/2006 23:36
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#25
I'm sure the Governor of Alabama and a number of good Baptists will be delighted to see this venue.
by Bruce Fierstein, New York Observer EFL'd, go read it all. It's hilarious.
. . . Allow me to introduce myself: I am Ali bin-Zabar, the new public editor of The New York Times. Reporting to no one but the Prophet himself, my goal here is not to defend All the News That Fits, but to make sure The Times publishes only All the News Thats Halal. In short, theres a new imam in town. And with no further ado, let us proceed down the path to righteousness. . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
02/22/2006
13:20 ||
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Wait a minute. What about the fashion coverage? Debbie
Dear Ms. T:
Allah has peered inside the tents at your Bryant Park and found nothing but decadence, depravity and semi-naked women whose dress contravenes Sharia law. To paraphrase the Prophet: Im not loving it. Thus, this too is banished.
Dear Ali:
Oh my God. What about the Op-Ed columnists? Debbie
Dear Ms. T:
Tom Friedman is most amusing when he channels conversations with Arab leaders; weve enjoyed Maureen Dowds skewering of Rummy, Scooter and Shooter. But try as we might, we can find nowhere in the Koran where it says that women are entitled to opinions. Thus, Maureen is banished.
Hysterical! I hope this continues - it delivers a coup de grâce in such a subtle manner - humor. This will get through to some of the denser fools. Bruce Feirstein is to be commended!
CBS CORRESPONDENT KILLED STORY AT PENTAGON'S REQUEST
CBS Pentagon correspondent David Martin acknowledged Monday that he killed a report about how the U.S. was dealing with Improvised Explosive Devices in Iraq after a senior military officer complained that it contained information useful to the enemy. Martin, writing on the CBS blog Public Eye, said that the report had been scheduled to air as the lead story on the CBS Evening News on Thursday and that he pulled it just one hour before airtime. "Not a good career move," he wrote. Martin further acknowledged that he had set aside other stories at the request of the Pentagon "a number of times over the years, and each time it's turned out that going with the story wouldn't have caused any harm." In the latest case, he said, he concluded that his report "might conceivably be news the enemy could use to make their IEDs more effective. It wasn't clear cut, but it was close enough."
#1
Okay, I gave him the 30 secs of respect he deserves.
The comment that no releasing classified information was "not a good career move" is interesting. Tells you what scum the MSM really is.
It also strikes me as a bit self-serving to be touting himself as someone who didn't get many brave volunteer soldiers killed because he decided it was "close enough."
Posted by: Captain America ||
02/22/2006 14:10
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#2
Credit where due.
Blame where due.
Let's keep it clean - a level field and no nuanced BS for anyone.
#4
Still, I believe others might have run the story, since "the public has a right to know". At least he can see if he can sell more papers with another spin.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/22/2006 17:59
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#5
I salute David Martin. Now if we could just assign him to 'the hill' as an intelligence and security "need to know" mentor/instructor.
China believes it is still too early to discuss possible sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Wednesday after meeting Chinese leaders.
After his meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, Steinmeier said that Li recommended that all parties should use the run up to next month's meeting of the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) to discuss Iran.
Li said all parties should show "patience, restraint and flexibility", the German minister said.
China, one of the five veto-holding permanent members of the UN Security Council, has urged Iran to comply with international calls to halt its nuclear programme and has supported a proposal for Russia to enrich uranium for nuclear power plants in Iran. Li also reiterated China's desire for Iran to resume talks on its nuclear programme with the EU trio of Germany, Britain and France, Steinmeier said.
The two sides agreed that new German Chancellor Angela Merkel would visit China on May 22 to 23.
The German side proposed a dialogue about China's need to secure energy resources, after some German politicians expresses concerns about China's cooperation with Nigeria, Sudan, Iran and other countries.
Chinese state media said last week that China and Iran were close to finalizing a 100-billion-dollar agreement to develop Iran's Yadavaran oil and gas field.
An agreement could be signed as early as next month for China to buy 10 million tons of liquefied natural gas annually for 25 years beginning in 2009, the finance magazine Caijing reported.
Steinmeier, on the first visit to China by a member of Germany's new government, pressed China on civil liberties and "specific cases" of violations of intellectual property rights (IPR).
"For further development of economic relations we need a reliable [IPR] framework," he said, adding that this was in "both countries' interests."
Steinmeier said that a bilateral dialogue on judicial reform was the "right forum" for discussing civil liberties in China.
He said he reiterated Germany's "one China" policy of not giving diplomatic recognition to Taiwan, but said he told the Chinese leaders that Germany expects China to solve any dispute with Taiwan "in an absolutely peaceful way".
Wen told Steinmeier that relations with Germany were a "pillar of China's foreign policy" and said he looked forward to Merkel's visit.
Steinmeier was also scheduled to meet President Hu Jintao Thursday.
The German foreign minister arrived in China after talks in South Korea and Japan.
The United Nations has reprimanded a security guard for drawing swastikas on a log sheet later seen by a guard from Israel, a U.N. spokesman said Tuesday. The guard who drew the swastikas was issued a letter of reprimand and was asked to attend sensitivity training for the September incident, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. Dujarric would not identify the guard who was reprimanded. The Israeli guard also was not identified.
The United Nations in recent years has tried to live down an infamous 1975 resolution that equated Zionism with racism, which was repealed in the 1990s. Some critics still accuse the world body of being anti- Semitic because a bloc of Middle Eastern, African and Asian states have in the past used the General Assembly to broadcast their opposition to Israel.
It may seem a rather trite observation considering the numbing frothiness of King's CNN talk show compared with the gravity of all that surrounds the world's most hunted terrorist.
But it may reveal much about the role al-Qa'ida's leader sees the Western media playing in his bloody war against the infidel.
In a new book by terrorism expert Peter Bergen, there is a passage in which Hamid Mir, bin Laden's Pakistani biographer, recalls seeing the September 11 mastermind, in his hideaway, glued to CNN.
"When I met him after 9/11, he said: 'I was watching you on the Larry King show a few days ago, and you told Larry King that when Osama bin Laden talks on religion, he is not convincing, but when he talks on politics, he is very much convincing. So today I will convince you on some religious issues'," Mir tells Bergen.
"So I said, 'OK, you watched the Larry King show?'.
"He said, 'Yes, I am fighting a big war, and I have to monitor the activities of my enemy through these TV channels'."
Remember, it was the CNN pictures of the corpses of US troops being brutally dragged through the streets of Mogadishu - and the subsequent retreat ordered by then president Bill Clinton - that gave bin Laden the belief that the US did not have the stomach for war.
And so when bin Laden speaks, like any media-savvy politician with an agenda, it is worth examining what might lie beyond his words.
Yesterday's news reports of the contents of a bin Laden tape were not news at all. The audiotape had been released last month and dutifully reported. But clearly someone felt it had not been sufficiently absorbed in the Western world, so an al-Qa'ida group reposted it yesterday, in its entirety - helpfully translated into English - probably knowing that news agencies would quickly pounce. They were right.
The gist of the previously unreported message was that bin Laden would rather die than be captured - neither is this news, as martyrdom is his ultimate goal - and, more importantly, a likening of the US in Iraq to the regime of Saddam Hussein.
"The jihad continues, thank God, despite all the oppressive measures adopted by the US army and its agents (which has reached) a point where there is no difference between this criminality and Saddam's criminality," bin Laden is heard saying.
It seems that bin Laden wants to remind the world that, contrary to the Bush administration's assertions, he and Saddam were never in league. It seems to be part of al-Qa'ida's general psychological operations strategy which offers, on the one hand, the prospect of a truce and reasonableness while warning of more attacks on the soil of the US and its allies, including Australia.
Of course, he has said it all before. But repeating slogans - staying "on message" - has never been President George W. Bush's weak point, either.
Bergen's book provides ample evidence that bin Laden had no love for Saddam and was hardly likely to be working with a regime he considered apostate from Islam - the gravest charge he could lay against a fellow Muslim.
Mir tells Bergen that bin Laden "gave me such kind of abuses that it was very difficult for me to write".
"(He called Saddam) a socialist motherf..ker," Mir says.
"(Bin Laden said) the land of the Arab world, the land is like a mother, and Saddam Hussein is f..king his mother."
Perhaps the more intriguing question is why bin Laden has suddenly become camera-shy? He has relied only on audiotapes for almost two years. Is it because of security fears or, considering the frailty in his voice in this latest tape - probably recorded in December - that he is too ill?
#7
During the first Gulf War, after it was disclosed that Saddam was watching CNN, Garry Shandling joked that in addition to all his other crimes, Saddam was apparently also stealing cable.
Maybe the British Army could send around one of those TV licensing crews?
Groups of armed men attacked eight Sunni Muslim mosques in Baghdad on Wednesday as sectarian tension ran high between Shiite and Sunni Muslims after the bombing of a holy Shiite shrine in Samarra, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua.
"Gunmen attacked the Hamza Sunni mosque in the Ghazaliyah district in western Baghdad before noon, setting the building ablaze," The source said on condition of anonymity.
Another mosque in the al-Elam district in southern Baghdad was also attacked by groups of angry armed men, who attacked six other Sunni mosques in different parts of the capital, causing damage,the source said.
The attacks caused no casualties as the mosques were empty at the time, he added.
Tens of thousands of the Shiites took to the streets in Baghdad,Samarra, Najaf and Karbala and other Iraqi cities, waving greenflags and Iraq's national flag and vowing to avenge those responsible for the attack at one of the most celebrated Shiite shrine.
U.S. and Iraqi forces cordoned off Samarra city, some 120 km north of Baghdad, preventing people from entering or leaving the troubled city.
Angry protestors rocked local police, accusing them of collaboration with the attackers on the shrine, a source from Salahudin provincial police said.
Iraqi security forces were urgently deployed near mosques and districts shared by Shiite and Sunni Muslims to prevent conflicts between the two sects, the Interior Ministry source said.
Earlier Wednesday, the holy shrine of Ali al-Hadi in Samarra was attacked with its golden dome badly damaged.
The shrine of Ali al-Hadi, or the al-Hadhrah al-Askariyah,contains two tombs of Ali al-Hadi, who died in 868 A.D., and hisson Hassan al-Askari who died in 874 A.D.. The two are the 10th and 11th of the Shiite's twelve most revered Imams. Shiite pilgrims visited the shrine from all over the world.
It is a rare woman indeed who both walks naked, writes poetry, is an expert in the details in the war on terror - and looks like that. Far be it from me to spoil the fantasy, you go girl! (that is if you really are one :-) The downside is that it could become a bit of a liability as the war drags on. I'd develop a second character as well.
So far, a good site, so one really can go just for the articles ......
#4
Get the popcorn ready, break out the soda or beer and enjoy the show ...
ummm ... errr ..... huh ... I'm referring to the upcoming Mosque vs. Mosque Show in Iraq, not the Sonia Belle site. You pervs, whadduya thinking? This is a family show!
But on these bombings it has Irans fingerprints all over it. Zark in the East now Davila area being backed by Iran, Iran on the ropes speeding to clash with the west even the EU/UN sees it this time. The cartoon riots didnt quiet pan out so plan B.
Zark hits Shia mosque then Sadr running around blaming the US calling for sectarian war (on the US and Gov thou). This is a win win for Iran lessens the Iraqi Shia religious clout, radicalizes them, puts Sadr up as credible, pulls the US into defense and mediator between the Shia & Sunni.
I think right now we should have SOF moving to take Sadr out preferable with a bomb (that way we can blame it on Zark). Sadr is an Iranian pawn and can whip up a lot of trouble. Take him down now blame it on Zark and it will be easier to calm things back down without the Sadrs firebrand.
This is going to be real interesting in the next couple of weeks. This could turn into 04 again real quick. Very dangerous
#9
Angry protestors rocked local police, accusing them of collaboration with the attackers on the shrine, a source from Salahudin provincial police said.
Wouldn't suprise me in the least. The damage from photos seem to indicate a good amount of explosives. It takes time and info to set something like this up.
Posted by: Charles ||
02/22/2006 14:19
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I agree w/ Sonia. Iraq should be split up. The Kurds definately deserve it, the Shia sorta deserve it and the Sunni should get the leftovers. The think that does concern me though about that is what would the Shia do? Would they be tempted to be annexed by Iran? Also, what would Turkey do if Kurdistan was created? All big questions but I really think these people are too tribal to be forced together.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
02/22/2006 14:51
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I agree, YS. The Kurds have done so much more with their lot in life - since way back in the No Fly Zones era and right on through the war - that they've completely won me over.
I do not pretend to know what to do with the Arabs. That they can't seem to move forward is beyond disheartening. As I said the other day, the US had to try, had to give them a shot at liberal democracy. That they are still playing sectarian games, no change since Day One of the Shi'a sect's birth, is a huge disappointment. But they, not the US, are about to fail - by flushing the golden opportunity of a lifetime - rather many lifetimes - handed to them on a silver platter. Wow, what many people on the planet would give for such an opportunity... or so I presume. Perhaps that's a foolish statement, hard to tell. I do know enough about Arabs not to be surprised, however... just disappointed by Sistani & Co and the Sunni Sheikhs. A bridge too far.
The Kurds, on the other hand, have made the most of it. Bravo!
#12
Could be indeed that the experiment in Iraq will fail. Doesn't look all shiny and golden success at the moment - although I rather suspect that the violence is directly correlated to progress towards a directly elected government.
so yeah, we may see Iraq splinter.
Not an outcome I'm sanguine about, though, for several reasons. As I mentioned a day or two ago, I think that would immediately result in Iran controlling (de facto at first) southern Iraq, and thereby menacing the smaller Gulf states more directly. I also think it would lead to more, not less, violence because the Sunni are NOT going to let go of Kirkuk and Mosul without a fight.
And landlocked Kurdistan will draw the opposition of the Turks, the Iranians and Syria. That oil has to get out to the ports if it is to finance all the progress the Kurds have made and can make.
I sure hope we don't see partitioning, because I think it will lead to much bigger problems in the area.
#13
Lol, lotp. Well, since you've reiterated your thoughts, I'll do the same...
I think Iranian influence in the South becomes moot if we act against them. I do not believe we would simply go after the nuke sites - and leave the MM regime intact to try again. That would be demonstrably stupid, IMHO. So I see their influence waning dramatically in Iraq. Especially if phil_b's observations are accurate and Iraq may disintegrate as an entity. That wouldn't bother me much, lol.
I also expect to see Syria collapse with a short time frame - or pulling a Libya if pencilneck can survive the fallout and has his Daddy's survival sense.
Regards Kirkuk and Mosul... IIRC, Kirkuk was definitely a Kurdish city - pre purge. Not sure about Mosul - do you know?
Regards Turkey and Kurdistan... They keys are wiping out the PKK and preventing a nice chunk of Turkey from trying to join, no? If the Iraqi Kurds helped in the first effort - and absorbed those Kurds from Turkey that want to go there, doesn;t Turkey have a much easier time swallowing Kurdistan? And add in that the Northern pipeline benefits them... that should help, too.
I think a Syrian collapse might open up a path to the Med, lol, but then I still have a little dreamer deep inside...
There sure will be a lot of changes over the next decade. I doubt we could anticipate all of them, but it's interesting to work through what we can see...
#14
.com, I agree but I suspect it could happen very quickly. Pencilneck falls when Iran gets put in its place. The Kurds get told to end the PKK nonsense in exchange for a route to the sea via northern Syria. The Turks are left in a position to close it off if the PKK renege on the deal.
#16
The Turks have shown a lack of good sense in regards to the Kurds and Iraq. Iran will not sit by either nor will AQ. We would have to stay in "Kurdistan" for a long time into the future.
Nearly half of South Korean youths who will be old enough to vote in the country's next elections say Seoul should side with North Korea if the United States attacks the communist nation, according to a poll released Wednesday. At the same time, 40.7 percent of the 1,000 young people surveyed said Seoul should remain neutral in the event of hostilities between Washington and Pyongyang, according to the poll by The Korea Times and Hankook Ilbo dailies. Only 11.6 percent said the South should back its longtime U.S. ally.
The poll, conducted Feb. 16-19, surveyed youths between 17 and 23 years old who will be old enough to vote in next year's presidential election. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. The youths named China as South Korea's most important partner for maintaining friendly relations, at 39.5 percent, followed by the United States and North Korea at 18.4 and 18 percent, respectively. A majority of those surveyed, 54.1 percent, said peaceful reunification was the preferred method for ending the division on the peninsula. But 35.5 percent said the status quo should be maintained if the North and South can peacefully coexist.
Nearly half of South Korean youths who will be old enough to vote in the country's next elections say Seoul should side with North Korea if the United States attacks the communist nation, according to a poll released Wednesday.
One of these things is not like the other! How can these youths back N. Korea (as in headline) when LESS than half support backing N. Korea? Tipper, I assume the headline is yours, but I gotta call ya on it, lol!
Posted by: BA ||
02/22/2006 10:37
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Notice also that the poll doesn't ask them who they would support if the Norks attacked the Skors. I think that *that* response would be far more interesting.
#9
Nearly half of South Korean youths who will be old enough to vote in the country's next elections say Seoul should side with North Korea if the United States attacks the communist nation, according to a poll released Wednesday.
Give them what they want. Withdraw and let the North engage them in another brutal and bloody battle until South Korea understands the value and price of freedom. We've paid for it long enough. Ingrates!
#10
Tipper, I assume the headline is yours, but I gotta call ya on it, lol!
Nope, click on the link.
Sorry, Tipper. Should've never doubted. Dang AP! Now, what's my penance?
Posted by: BA ||
02/22/2006 13:08
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#11
Wonder what's going on here: anti-Americanism, or ethnicity trumping common sense? Or is it just that South Korea wants to pretend there's nothing to worry about on the other side of the DMZ, in the hopes it'll all go away?
Posted by: Mike ||
02/22/2006 13:19
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#12
If the American leftists that dominate the Colleges of "Edu-mah-cation" and our secondary schools have their way, you can expect a similar outcome from our kids in about 15 to 20 years. Give 'em another generation and the job will be complete.
#13
A country that uses airhead Karen Hughes as its principal agent of public diplomacy, can expect disrespect. Muslims learn hate of non-Muslims from birth. If Hughes present credentials of "mother" and "friend" to America's wild eyed enemies, the country projects weakness. Frankly, Koreans should look at America as a country with 10,000 nukes and the will to mothball them forever.
India's airlines bought billions of dollars worth of planes and engines this week, but the lightning-paced expansion of the country's aviation sector has triggered a shortfall of pilots, officials warned Wednesday.
This year's Asian Aerospace, the region's largest air show that began Tuesday in Singapore, is buzzing over a string of purchases that several Indian airlines finalized over the past three days with Boeing, Airbus and General Electric.
The buying spree illustrates a remarkable boom in India's aviation sector, which has charted a passenger growth rate of between 25-30 percent in recent years, thanks partly to rising incomes in India's 300 million-strong middle class.
However, pilots are not being trained fast enough to meet the soaring need for their services, said Dinesh Keskar, Boeing Co.'s senior vice president for commercial aircraft sales.
"There is a tremendous shortage of pilots in India," Keskar said, stressing that the country will likely require between 4,000 and 5,000 new pilots in the next five years.
India and China are among the customers most sought after by more than 930 exhibitors from 43 countries participating in the Asian Aerospace show, which concludes Sunday.
"We think that this new order reflects the rapid growth in the Indian market, most of which is captured by low-cost carriers," said Ajay Singh, SpiceJet's director.
Meanwhile, India's air force is expected to seek proposals soon from manufacturers to buy 126 new fighter jets that could be worth at least $8 billion.
India is believed to be looking at Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornets, U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp.'s F-16 Fighting Falcons, French Mirages, Swedish Gripens and Russia's Sukhoi fighters.
The aerospace show moves next year to Hong Kong, which organizers have called a gateway to China, a country expected to buy 100 planes a year over the next five years.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/22/2006
08:18 ||
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#1
India's airlines bought billions of dollars worth of planes and engines this week, but the lightning-paced expansion of the country's aviation sector has triggered a shortfall of pilots, officials warned Wednesday.
With various American airlines in trouble and cutting back, there appears to be a surplus of pilots overhere. Sounds like an outsourcing opportunity to me. Wonder if India has a couple hundred thousand 1HB visas available.
Posted by: Octo ||
02/22/2006 17:30
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I've seen pictures of trains loaded to overflowing (Literaly hanging on the outside as many as can) and I sincerely hope that the airlines are not going to cram folks inside like sardines in a can.(Obviously they can't hang on the outside)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/22/2006 21:58
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#6
No, we will just duct tape ourselves to the top of the aeroplane.
- New Year's Day
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- Inauguration Day (every four years)
- Washington's Birthday
- D.C. Emancipation Day
- Memorial Day
- Independence Day
- Labor Day
- Columbus Day
- Veterans Day
- Thanksgiving Day
- Christmas Day
The D.C. Council is considering whether to add the Lunar New Year say, what?
to a growing list of public holidays that shutter schools, give local government employees a day off and cost the city more than $1 million.
While many jurisdictions across the United States recognize the Lunar New Year - a holiday celebrated by the Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese and other Asian cultures - only San Francisco goes so far as to close schools.
But Ward 2 Council Member Jack Evans, who represents Chinatown and much of the District's Asian population, recently introduced legislation that would take D.C. to another level, closing government offices and emptying classrooms. With a strong and vibrant Asian community in Washington, it is "appropriate to honor the celebration of their new year," Evans said when he introduced the bill, co-sponsored by 10 of his colleagues. Would he get the day off, too?
"There are hundreds of millions of people who celebrate this every year and we don't," Evans said Tuesday. Most of them don't live in D.C.
"We don't even recognize it." Roughly 3 percent of the District's population, or about 17,000 people, are Asian, according to the U.S. Census.
Like Emancipation Day, added last year to the D.C. calendar as an annual April holiday, the new day off would cost District taxpayers $1.1 million. Evans said the holiday is worth the money, but one local budget watchdog disagreed.
"It seems we could find a way to honor the Chinese New Year and other important days to District residents without making it a costly holiday for the District," said Ed Lazere, executive director of the DC Fiscal Policy Institute. "Every time you give every D.C. government worker a day off, it costs that much more to run the D.C. government." The Lunar New Year generally falls between the end of January and the first two weeks of February. The holiday in Washington would open many young eyes to a growing minority community, said Jeanny Ho, vice chairman of the District-based Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, a Chinese American advocacy group.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/22/2006
08:07 ||
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#1
Oh, and don't forget Cinco de Mayo while you're at it. Shsssssssh, its becoming a Euro enclave with lots and lots of holidays. Here's an idea. Since we move a number of holidays around to fit calendars, lets start moving them to Sunday. You can have as many as you want, just on Sunday. Maybe Saturday if its Superbowl weekend.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/22/2006 17:20
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#3
As a Chef I work six days a week, 8.75 an hr, and work my ass off. Fed holidays mean nothing to me. I get no holidays off.
Now some chump who makes 3x as much as me for a 1/100th of the effort wants to add another paid day off that I as a taxpayer pay? I love my work dont get me wrong, but i hate for my day of work to pay for them to sit.
Dont think so Bub.. Get off your ass and do some work. Days off are for the faint of heart.lol
Cue Conspiracy Theory, preferably involving the masons... oh, wait, he didn't die by hanging from under a bridge, with bricks in his pockets? My bad. Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, who was involved in one of the biggest financial scandals to hit the Vatican, has died, church officials say. The 84-year-old American had been living in Sun City, Arizona. Marcinkus was head of the Vatican Bank at the time of the fraudulent collapse of Banco Ambrosiano in 1982, with which it had close ties. He denied any wrongdoing. Although he was sought for questioning, he was granted immunity as a Vatican employee.
Archbishop Marcinkus was found dead at his home on Monday evening, a spokeswoman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, in Arizona, said. The cause is unclear. He retired in 1990, but had remained active in the local ministry. Born in 1922 in a suburb of Chicago, he was ordained as a priest in 1947 and then as an archbishop in 1969. An imposing 1.9m (6ft 4in) tall, he acted as a bodyguard to Pope John Paul II during his early foreign travels. And thus probably was the real-life model for the zombie-killing kickboxer priest in Peter Jackson's "Braindead", at least that's what I believe...
Archbishop Marcinkus was appointed to the Institute for Religious Works, known as the Vatican Bank, in 1971 and worked there until 1989. The bank was the main shareholder in Banco Ambrosiano. The head of Banco Ambrosiano, Roberto Calvi, was found hanging under Blackfriars Bridge in London shortly after the bank's collapse with debts of $1.3bn (£750m). The missing money was traced to loans made to 10 dummy companies in Latin America, and the speculation was that the Mafia were involved. Five people are currently on trial in Italy for Calvi's murder.
Two female wallabies were found in a pickup truck bound for Mexico, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Tuesday. The wallabies, which are native to Australia and protected by the Endangered Species Act, were discovered Monday during an outbound inspection at the remote Falcon Dam International Bridge. They are 28 to 30 inches tall, weigh six to eight pounds each, and are believed to be about a year old. Their value is estimated at about $1,400 each, CBP spokesman Rick Pauza said. They were turned over to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. No arrests had been made as of today but an investigation was ongoing.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates wildlife smuggling at $4.2 billion a year, second only to illegal drugs.
Wallabies are incredibly hardy animals. Believe it or not a herd established itself in the English Peak District, a very forbidding place of mists and bogs. I used to live (25 years ago) on the edge of the Peak District and regularly hiked through the High Peak. On one particular day I was trudging across a bog with the mist blowing intermittently, and was absolutely amazed to see a dozen wallabies bounding out of the mist toward me.
#3
It's a queer society over there, women in positions of authority like these future policewomen on the one hand, and everything else on the other. How often d'you suppose those women's husbands will try to beat them?
Funny, I just think of him as a moron. It's weird how people have different perspectives.SPAN>
Posted by: Ol Dirty American ||
02/22/2006
06:48 ||
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This is not stricto senso the point of this article, but I've posted some links in a comment a while ago (Daniel Pipes, among others) who suggested Chuck was possibly a muslim convert.
There is actually a rumor he converted to sufism while sejourning in Turkey, and IMHO this is a wee bit more credible than the PCT about the crown of England ruling the world and/or secretly owning the USA... anyway, he's a classical case of inbreeding and elitist liberalism/progressism.
Bombs wrecked the dome of a major Shi'ite shrine in the Iraqi city of Samarra on Wednesday in an apparent sectarian attack that sparked demonstrations and calls for revenge by angry crowds.
The country's top Shi'ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, called for protests against the attack, and Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shi'ite Islamist, went live on television to declare three days of mourning.
Jaafari, under pressure from the United States to bring Sunni minority leaders into a coalition government to avert a sectarian civil war, called for unity, describing the blasts as an attack on all Muslims.
But protesters gathering in the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf vowed revenge for the attack, and National Security Adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, a Shi'ite, blamed the blast on Arab Sunni militants inspired by al Qaeda.
Local officials said there were no reports of casualties after gunmen entered the Golden Mosque at dawn and set off charges that destroyed the celebrated dome of one of the four holiest Shi'ite sites in Iraq. The shrine is dedicated to the Imam Ali al-Hadi and his son Hassan al-Askari.
Witnesses in the town and television footage showed the top of the dome blown off and shattered masonry framed by two slender minarets. A U.S. military spokeswoman described the damage to the roof as "catastrophic".
Samarra, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, has been a seat of the Sunni Arab insurgency against a U.S.-backed government dominated by Shi'ite parties. Few Shi'ites live in the Sunni city.
Sectarian tensions are already running high in Iraq as Jaafari tries to form a unity government following Shi'ite Islamist successes in a parliamentary election in December.
Rubaie blamed Arab Sunni militants inspired by al Qaeda for the explosion, but appealed for calm: "They will fail to draw the Iraqi people into civil war as they have failed in the past," he told the Al Arabiya Arabic television channel.
He was later quoted by state television Iraqiya as saying 10 suspects had been arrested in Samarra. Police in the city said officers fired over the heads of hundreds of demonstrators who took to the streets after the explosion.
The Sunni Endowment, which oversees religious activity for Sunni Muslims in Iraq, condemned the attack and called for calm. It demanded that the perpetrators be punished.
In the holy city of Najaf, Sistani's office issued a statement in which he declared seven days of mourning and urged his followers to protest against the attack.
The aged Sistani has been credited by many Shi'ite political leaders with restraining the religious majority, long oppressed under Saddam Hussein, from responding with violence to repeated attacks that have killed thousands of civilians.
But about 2,000 Shi'ites who began demonstrating in the southern city of Najaf, the holiest site for Shi'ite Muslims, were thirsting for revenge. "Rise up Shi'ites. Shi'ites take revenge. Rise up Shi'ites. Rise up Shi'ites," they shouted.
Abdullah al-Jubaara, the deputy governor of Salahaddin province which includes Samarra, told Reuters gunmen entered the shrine at dawn, planted bombs and then blew it up.
"We demand that the Iraqi government takes the most extreme measures against these terrorists. Forgiving these people would be totally rejected," Salah al-Haidari, head of Shi'ite endowments in charge of Shi'ite mosques and shrines, told Iraqi television.
About 1,000 protesters took to the streets in the mostly Shi'ite town of Kut, southeast of Baghdad, and protesters began to gather in Iraq's second city of Basra.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
06:11 ||
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Did it before between Iran and Iraq. Not that hard to do.
Part of the insurgency is due to interference by neighboring Arab Sunni nations who insist that Shiiaism is not Islam. The turnaround in which Iraq went from minority Sunni hands to majority Shia control was an earthquake to the region. Shia are treated as Kuffir at best, heretics and apostates at worst. The reference to the US being Crusaders is an inadvertent admission that the Crusades were a war of liberation for the Christians living in Palestine.
#7
A few cartoons and the protests all over the world, for weeks were all over the news. Let's see if when one of thier own desicrate a Holy place, the rest of the Muslim world is as upset. Or if they are as two faced as Bin Laden who sends people off to die for glory but he considers death to "be bitter" for him.
#10
hey guys, i know y'all love popcorn and all, but like weve still got over 130000 US troops on the ground in Iraq. And a fair amount of prestige invested in getting at least a halfway decent outcome. If you think massacres and counter massacres in Iraq are in the US interest, youre losing it.
#11
"The reference to the US being Crusaders is an inadvertent admission that the Crusades were a war of liberation for the Christians living in Palestine. "
"Over the course of that afternoon, evening and next morning, the crusaders murdered almost every inhabitant of Jerusalem. Muslims, Jews, and even eastern Christians were all massacred. "
#12
If Zman gets his civil war, he wins: the western world has staked its reputatation on its plan impose order and bring peace. LH is right. I'll skip the popcorn, thanks.
#13
I agree with LH and find the support for a civil war on this forum incompatible with the gloating and schadenfreude that is everpresent at the inability of the Left to mount a position on our war in terror (a reaction I find entirely justifiable, and engage in myself, regularly). If we celebrate a violent failure in Iraq, we are no better than our portrayal at the hands of the liberals, and the perception of Americans in the Arab world.
#14
The Crusades WERE meant for the protection of oppressed Christians in the Holy Land. Unfortunately, the leaders of the Crusades were not particularly competent or godly themselves.
Pope Urban II was trying simultaneously to deal with political hassles with kings, clean out some of the corruption in the church, mend fences with the Eastern Orthodox church, and protect Christians in the Holy land. Part of the reason he called for the Crusades was to get the bickering politicians and violent nobility to focus on a real need--protection for Christians--and to get them to quit fighting among themselves. Didn't work.
#15
Appreciate what LH said, but I think people are getting sick of Moslems who just want to fight, fight, fight. I read that in many demonstrations over the mosque, they're carrying and burning US and Israeli flags and chanting anti-US slogans. One has to wonder what would happen if our troops left. They don't seem to be able to understand anything regarding political complexities/actualities.
One good sign, though, is that the leaders of both sects are calling for calm and order, and are placing blame against the men who want to cause a civil war in Iraq by stirring up strife by actions such as this one.
#16
""Over the course of that afternoon, evening and next morning, the crusaders murdered almost every inhabitant of Jerusalem. Muslims, Jews, and even eastern Christians were all massacred. ""
Sound military doctrine when you cannot tell friend from foe. Kill them all and let their respective g-ds sort them out.
This does NOT mean that I support the doctrine, but I understand it. And, I think a time will come when Western civilization will be forced out of survival, to do the same thing.
#18
"Over the course of that afternoon, evening and next morning, the crusaders murdered almost every inhabitant of Jerusalem. Muslims, Jews, and even eastern Christians were all massacred. "
Let' have a refresher course on about medieval war. It went like this: taking a city by storm was very costly so teh tacit rule followed by everyone was to dissuade them from resisting. The usual thing was:
1) City didn't resist. Peaceful occupation. Eg Jerusalem in first Muslim invasion.
2) City resisted but ended capitulating to starvation. Then you could expect such things the entire city being deported (eg Harfleur during Hundred Years War) or city notabilities being sentenced to death (Calais same war)
3) City was taken by storm and then it was massacre. BTW when Muslims took Caesarea they exterminated the population and danced in teh streets wearing teh guts of their victims. Oh and a couple years before the Crusaders taking Jerusalem teh Egyptians took it and exterminated the entire Turkish (ie Muslim ) garrison.
#20
Indeed it will get ugly before it's settled - they insist upon it. There you have two salient facts - war is ugly shit that, historically, has ended in ugly acts --and-- we will not be given the choice.
I am hopeful that technology will continue to reduce the ugly side by making the actives die via remote control without killing the passives. We are not (yet) at the point where taking the passives out before they become actives is palatable. I predict that will change - because we will learn that the difference is something on the order of which side of the bed they happended to get up from on any given day. I would love to be wrong. Honest. I fear I am not.
#21
Anyone remember mullah Omar saying how the destruction of those mountain Buddhas in Afghanistan was just Islamists, "breaking stones"?
All we have is more Sunni Wahabbists "breaking stones." The Shiias need to realize this callous attitude by the Wahabbists is wrong. If all of this escalates, who knows? Maybe one day, some party or another will be forced to drop by Mecca and "break" that big black "stone" of theirs.
A huge line is forming to break Islam's balls stones. I wonder when they'll catch on to the danger they're in.
#22
I am dismayed at your reactions, but not surprised. Do you not realize these are human beings as well?
They have held back for such a long time, and the Sunni people, mostly, have come forward to join the political pursuit.
al Qaeda wants a civil war to prove democracy will never work in the ME. I disagree firmly. Iran and Syria are both culpable in this. Now Iran has declared they are even going to take over the PA! Please think more clearly. We need all the allies in the ME we may have!
Do you not agree with our Military men and women? This is whom I will listen to, not the dinosaur news.
This is a very sad day but just like here, the creeps will try to take advantage of it by fanning the flames of anger and fear.
Please do not join them. Your moment of satisfaction is not worth the long term disaster. Thank you.
i dont disagree with you on the general qualities of medieval war. I was taking issue with Ptah, claiming that the Crusades WERE "a war of liberation for the Christians living in Palestine." Thats an anachronism. They were an attempt to carve out feudal kingdoms, gain adventure, save holy sites, and get plenary indulgences. They were NOT about liberating anyone. There simply were no wars for "liberation" prior to 1775. Its a reading of modern political concepts into medieval events.
#25
The title is misleading. Al-Anbar has been relatively quiet. Most of the duress is in Baghdad and down south in Najaf & Basra (2,000 protestors?). Habbaniya which is where I'm next to was also fairly quiet today. That's not to say the natives might not get restless over the next couple days. Our relationships w/the locals here are actually quite good. Where were the American flag burnings at? Sounds like a Tater photo op.
All in all this smells like an Al Q op to me. As a parent I feel terrible when I see children get hurt. However, my sympathy meter for most of the rest of the culture doesn't want to budge. If the Iraqi's were serious about protecting their children and coming together as a country they could do it. The western mind has still not wrapped itself around the fact that we are a long way off from pulling these folks out of their early A.D. mindset. The cognitive dissonance associated w/the peculiar mixture of tribalism and islam has made me extremely cynical and desensitized to the attrocities that befall most of these people. More to the point, if two assholes are so busy shooting at each other & wasting each other's holy sites that they don't have the time to plant an IED then that's more than fine w/me. Let Darwinism play out and exploit the fissures.
All men are created equal but all cultures do not progress equally. I.E. the cartoon fiasco - enough said. Fairly sad commentary on my view of them but there you go.
#26
Thanks for the insight and calming words, BH6! Godspeed, my friend.
Posted by: BA ||
02/22/2006 13:23
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#27
LH, it wasn't as if there WASN'T dhimminitude in that region. However, your point that I'm reading modern ideology into past events is correct, and I retract the use of the term "war of liberation." However, it WAS BILLED THAT WAY AT THAT TIME, however, meaning that the appeal to what would we would later term "waging a war of liberation" existed.
However, the ATTEMPT was to free Christians and the holy places from Muslim domination: didn't work out very well in practice, especially during the later Crusades, as mom well pointed out. The order to spare Jews was definitely not heeded.
Then again, the Crusades took place in the 11th century, 300 years after the invasion of France by the Muslims, and punctuated by invasions of Italy by the muslims, especially of Rome. A counterstrike was WAY overdue.
In a sense, Aris was right when he said Christianity's pacifism is stupid and dopey, especially in light of the disappearance of North African Christianity shortly after the death of Mohammed.
#28
Bah. I forgot to add that I DO agree with LiberalHawk's observation that we, the United States, do not view a civil war as being a favorable outcome in Iraq. I was merely pointing out that we (the USA) HAVE arranged that outcome.
It should also be pointed out that the Cartoon bourhaha has not yielded any violent protests in Iraq, although that may be due to the possiblity that the provincial government and the coalition would break heads if that happened. Still, its an improvement of sorts.
yeah,like the fourth, where they "liberated" constantinople from the Orthodox Christians :) And paved the way for the Ottoman conquest. Cant allow those Greeks to make you a dhimmi, ya know. :)
#30
Those of you wanting to breakout the popcorn while hoping for a civil war are both shortsighted and ignorant of the situation in Iraq & the war as a whole. A civil war is a victory for al-Qaeda, Iran and Syria, and a defeat for the United States and the people of Iraq. I watched the people of Iraq vote in Barwana in the Haditha Triad - the heart of the Sunnni triangle & former "Islamic Republic" of Zarqawi. The people want this conflict to end, and they risked their lives to vote. The Sunni citizens respected the Shiite soldiers & U.S. Marines in their midst.
Only the small minded view all of the Shiites as tools of the Iranians and all of the Sunnis as tools of al-Qaeda. It isn't that simple, the fact is most of the people just want to move forward and very small but very violent subsets of these groups want a civil war.
You want more Americans to die, both here and in Iraq? By all means, root for a civil war.
Posted by: Bill Roggio ||
02/22/2006 13:54
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#32
I see precisely ONE poster who seems pleased. The frustration with both sides is what I see, mostly.
Other than that, you had my attention Bill... for awhile...
Your final sentence is asinine, however, since the support you imply you see is, simply put, not there. Manufactured outrage, geeeeee - where else have I seen that recently...
Some days I wish I had time to do the "morning 'burg patrol" but I have a lot of work to do. The spice must flow and all that stuff.
But it irritates me to come in in the afternoon or at lunch break or in the evening and find out that the civil-war-in-Iraq-advocates have already marked the thread by excreting bodily substances all over it.
Posted by: Phil ||
02/22/2006 14:14
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#36
While I am not generally a violent individual, I am glad that at least SOMEBODY had their Bullsh1t meter peg at Muzzie acts and decided to do something. To state that this is the opening act in a civil war is a bit of a stretch, IMHO. I think that there are eyes slowing being opened all over regarding Muzzie , er, Islamofascists violence. Don't be surprised if similiar things don't appear in other parts of the world ( I am surprised that there has not been anything of significance in the US of A).
Attacks on Shiites by other Moslems has been going on in Iraq for the last 3 years. And Shiite attacks on Sunnis have been going on for at least the last 2 years as well.
#39
Mr. Spemble: This stuff seems to happen most often when a front is coming through or when a front isn't coming through.
Posted by: Phil ||
02/22/2006 14:23
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#40
Whoper,
Like I said, I went there, talked to the Iraqi people, and gained a lot of respect for them as they have a very difficult lot in life. They face danger every day. I have sympathy for them. They are people just like us, who want to work, send their kids to school and put food on their tables. Rooting for a civil war is just plain uncivilized in my opinion, and I will stand up to that.
I also saw how our troops live in close proximity to the Iraqi people. If you don't think a civil war would endanger their lives, you're wrong. And if a civil war does break out, it will give al-Qaeda the opportunity to establish enclaves in Iraq to further attack American troops in country, and Americans in the region and here at home. That is their plan, after all, all you have to do is read the words of Saif al-Adel and Ayman al-Zawahiri. I'll gladly point you to the information if you like. My words aren't "manufactured outrage", they accurately reflect the reality of the situation.
Posted by: Bill Roggio ||
02/22/2006 14:26
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#41
That's because the Catholics had chosen to view the Orthodox as schismatics -- therefore not proper Christians -- because their Latin didn't contain terms to properly translate the original Greek. The Crusades weren't meant to free the Christians from Muslim rule, but Christian lands from Muslim rule. Catholic treatment of religious dissidents in the Middle Ages is amply illustrated by French handling of the Albigensian (spelling?) heretics, who were beseiged, then the entire population massacred. As I recall, we don't even know exactly what it was the Albigensians believed. The Orthodox were no better, but we in the West don't have as much in the way of the details from the Byzantine Empire (or at least I don't, but it's not something I've studied properly, either).
Separately, early A.D. mindset. Sheer poetry, Broadhead6. Consider it stolen! :-) And you and your Marines stay well. Are y'all still at the breaking things stage? Or have you moved on to training Iraqis and building schools?
You clearly imply that there are more than a few loonies here advocating Civil War. That's preposterous and the evidence is there for you to see that's so. Point them out. I see the same induhvidual, in #3 and #5, advocating. I see some frustration and incomprehensible posts. I see more than those combined clearly posting comments that do not support Civil War. I don't look forward to it - and, as I said clearly, I saw only ONE who did. You have, indeed, manufactured a position which is easily defended. I could do it for you, in fact.
And now you've sacrificed a strawman on that altar.
The post above yours, from Broadhead6, is from a man on the ground there now. A very smart Jarine, to be precise. His words tell the story.
As I said, only your concluding statement - as a smear of those here who did not do what you implied - was at issue for me. It was, indeed, asinine. I appreciate your opinion, but the contentious last statement doesn't wash.
It's delightful to read your contributions. I hope you won't mind a slight correct to this one, tho.
The Orthodox were no better
The Orthodox churches have always had a somewhat different emphasis theologically and doctrinally than the Catholics. Catholicism echoes a Roman emphasis on law. Orthodoxy echoes a Platonic and organic interest in wholeness and inner life.
There's considerable overlap on the basics, of course, but in general the Eastern churches have had other things to do than to pursue inquisitions or crusades against those who don't adopt a single liturgy form or specific canon law.
Oh, there were various zealous monks, but the whole tone of the churches - and their practical impact on dissenters - was somewhat different than in the western church.
Best regards,
Obac
Posted by: Orthodox by birth and chrismation ||
02/22/2006 14:42
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#44
Bill, thanks for stopping by, and we appreciate your appearance here at our humble little 'Burg.
I'm just frustrated, is all. I am still trying to have high hopes for the Iraqi people (indeed for the whole Middle East), but then the Bad Guyz go and blow up school kiddies with a bobbytrapped backpack, or detonate a bomb in one of the holiest of shrines, or blow up a humvee full of America's finest men and women. I'm tired of the temper tantrums, I'm tired of the poor impulse control, I'm absolutely horrified by the carnage.
For the record, the official editorial policy of Rantburg does not hope for, call for, or endorse civil war in Iraq, and we have been trying lately to cut down on the 'kill/nuke 'em all' commentary. But we are all losing patience.
The comments weren't directed at you or anyone else except those looking forward to a civil war. Plain and simple. Who is setting up the strawman now?
For the life of me I cannot understand what you are so hypersensitive about. I've seen the popcorn threads here at Rantburg and decided to voice my opinion. This thread had a few, and I felt it was a few too many, just as mom, liberhawk, rosemary and others did before me. You don't like it, so be it.
I didn't build any strawman here. al-Qaeda wants to kill more Americans and believes inciting a civil war in Iraq is a good way of going about it. I gave you two al-Qaeda strategists that stated as much.
Do I disagree with Broadhead6? Can the Iraq people do more to protect themselves? Yes. But then again, none of us lived in a totalitarian hellhole for 30+ years, then started having suicide bombers and murderers targeting them either.
Posted by: Bill Roggio ||
02/22/2006 14:51
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#47
Obac, I am always pleased to be educated by those who know more than I. Thank you.
Oh, and perhaps it will please you to know that I am an Orthodox godmother. I stood up at my goddaughter's christening, swore to help teach her the ways of her religion (fortunately I've been able to lean on her mother for that! even after downloading reams of info.), and look forward to standing up again at the young lady's wedding.
I am a daily 'lurker' & an advid reader of the Burg.
We all get frustrated by what is happening in Iraq. Don't think I don't have my moments of doubt & frustration. But that is exactly what al-Qaeda wants - for us to become frustrated, then despair, then give up. Once we reach that point, they've won. They think they can outlast us. If we mistakenly attribute the actions of the terrorists with the motivations of the people of Iraq, we have played into AQ's hands. Let me be clear that it is one thing to be frustrated, and another to advocate a civil war. My comments are directed at the latter.
Posted by: Bill Roggio ||
02/22/2006 15:01
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#50
The problem hit a tipping point with most American with the cartoon crap, when they saw what muslims would do over a cartoon most Americans went F**kem let them die, I know it is wrong, but most people I talk to have this attitude now. I want Iraq to work out, but people are getting fed up.
#51
Good grief! This could've been so simple. But nope, your ego won't allow it. Fine... your choice.
What a disingenuous pair of non-responses to a direct and factual challenge of a single aspect of your post. You can't support it, and haven't the intellectual honesty to admit you stumbled there, so you change the venue to include other days and threads. Beautiful work. And plaudits for the attempt to turn it back on me! How perfectly commonplace, nowadays.
I guess the suckups will want your autograph, next. How sad.
#52
The apostrophes seem to come and go. I'll ask AutoBartender to check behind the pool table at the O-Club, just in case.
Thanks, Bill. Most of us here recognize that Al-Q was behind this bombing and that it was an act calculated to provoke just the response we are seeing even in microcosm here.
#53
Let me clarify that I both agree & disagree with Broadhead6... His depiction of Anbar is as I saw in Nov-Dec 2005, and remains to this day according to the officers and enlisted I speak to. The Iraqi culture is definitely not like American culture and they have much to learn.
I just don't think the interests of the Iraqi or American people are served by "wasting each other's holy sites" or letting "Darwinism play out and exploit the fissures." I certainly do understand his frustrations (see above post), I just don't think its good policy.
Posted by: Bill Roggio ||
02/22/2006 15:09
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#54
"Theres considerable overlap on the basics, of course, but in general the Eastern churches have had other things to do than to pursue inquisitions or crusades against those who dont adopt a single liturgy form or specific canon law."
well except for the monophysites. Who were so fed up they welcomed the muslims.
And lets not begin on the Orthodox and the Jews.
But of course that says nothing about Orthodoxy today. Religions do change.
#55
Since you insist, here's the two obvious ones. Are they enough for you? Was it not so obvious that I should have been required to point it out?
#3 Go go Shia! Go go Sunni!
Posted by gromgoru 2006-02-22 07:04|| Front Page|| ||Comments Top
#4 "Its a pity they cant both lose".
Posted by anonymous5089 2006-02-22 07:17|| Front Page|| ||Comments Top
Now am I required to go get all of the references to "popcorn" in Rantburg's messages?
You directly challanged my last statement, which was "You want more Americans to die, both here and in Iraq? By all means, root for a civil war." Now, I don't know how you interpretted that, but I was saying that more Americans will die as a result of a civil war in Iraq. Not the "?" in the snetence. I wasn't imlying these commentors advocated more Americans to die. Are we clear?
I am not so sure why you have to take such an insulting tone. That seems all to commonplace, which is why I stay away from comments. Invariably someone has to resort to insults to make their points, which is quite sad.
Posted by: Bill Roggio ||
02/22/2006 15:21
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#56
guess the suckups will want your autograph, next. How sad.
Don't need it - although I've met Bill. ;-)
Whoper, it's you who are being somewhat disingenuous. There's been a whole lot of what looks like cheering for an Iraqi civil war here at the Burg, including in this thread:
"Go go Shia! Go go Sunni!""It's a pity they can't both lose".
I understand the frustration -- we're all feeling it. But Bill isn't exactly the only one here to note that an Iraqi civil war is JUST what Zarqawi has been trying to provoke for two years now.
#58
it wast just 3 and 5, it was also for. Plus some incomprehensible or neutral posts that appeared to assent.
Nothing in the other direction till mine.
Though I hope its clear to Bill that most at RB are not taking that stand. (though it does point up the dangers of letting our frustration cause us to lose our cool)
BTW, Bill, my question to you as always - we see indications of more and more takeover by Iraqi troops - i saw a quote of 25% of ops being done purely by Iraqi forces - when will we see a significant decline in US casualties as a (presumed) consequence? Or am i not seeing the strategic reality?
Oh, and I want you to know i admire your trip to Anbar. I think you have alot more credibility now. I wonder if Belgravia Dispatch would appreciate taking another look at your posts? :)
Thanks for the kind words. I do realize that the majority of 'Burgers do not advocate a civil war. If I gave the impression otherwise then my apologies.
RE: your question on reductions in U.S. casualties. This may seem overly simplistic or obvious, but in honesty I think that is the reality. Since most of the casualties are taken by IEDs directed at patrols & supply convoys, I don't see the rates going down until the Iraqi Army/police can provide the bulk of the logistical support for their units as well as conduct a larger majority of patrols. I can't say what the tipping point figure would be, and it is probably more related to region than straight numbers (getting the Iraqis to patrol/support Baghdad, Anbar and Diyala as opposed to more stable areas). But U.S. MTT teams will still be embedded in Iraqi units for some time and I expect them to become even bigger targets. Their vehicles and uniforms are noticeably different than that of the Iraqis and that will put a bullseye on them.
Posted by: Bill Roggio ||
02/22/2006 15:40
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#60
Bill:
Great to have you stop by the Burg. I hope that the Iraqis will figure out what they have to do to put the lid on their most violent citizens/residents. I believe most here do as well. But I can certainly understand Broadhead6's frustration/cynicism. When you are there long-term, on a daily basis, you get worn down by the slow pace of change.
#62
The Apostrophe Gremlin seems to have struck my postings as well, along with his buddy the Spelling Gremlin...
Posted by: Bill Roggio ||
02/22/2006 16:09
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#63
Side note to trouble some of the Christians here.
I have always had a bad feeling about the "Nicene Creed" repeated before communion in most Christian sects.
The Nicene Creed was formulated at the First Ecumenical Council at Nicea in AD 325 to combat Arianism, and it was expanded at the Second Ecumenical Council at Constantinople in AD 381 to balance its coverage of the Trinity by including the Holy Spirit. It is the only creed that was promulgated by any of the seven ecumenical councils and thus it is the only creed that is truly ecumenical and universal. In the Orthodox Church, it is the only creed.
Enough of the offical line. If you were an "acceptable" Christian you could recite the creed as what you believed in and avoid death. If you were a Nestorian or some other variant... DEATH BE UNTO YOU!
Millions were killed based on the "creed" and when you repeat it before communion - besides stating your belief - you are accepting common guilt for the extermination of those who belived a tad differently. In other words, you accept the "sin" of exterminating of the other.
Posted by: Orthodox by birth and chrismation ||
02/22/2006 16:27
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#65
I had been an ITM (Iraq The Model) regular for some time. I like the Fadhil brothers and believe that they are more modern in their thinking and perhaps even a bit agnostic in their beliefs. I am sad that Iraq appears to be teetering, and I am at a new level of disgust with the attacks on Christians and churches in the Muslim world.
The general direction of this activity is toward hot war. That will mark the Iraqi war as a failure of degree, and the attempts to draw moderate Muslims to take a stand, an action which times out. I can't see any reversal which can force peace to break out. The only things on the horizon are more dead, and more blame. Islam just doesn't support peaceful coexistence, and there's no change in sight.
Flaming lunatics led by egocentric madmen charging off shooting and slashing in every direction. Islam, 2006 !
#67
Living in San Diego, I know too many Marines and the families of Marines to take any enjoyment in any sort of explosions in Iraq. My youngest son's reserve unit expects to go back late this year or early next. Nothing would make me happier than a massive outbreak of brotherly love over there.
It is you who are being anachronistsic or more exactly are repeating what your history teachers (people who trained alongside Ward Curchill told you).
Unlike Pizarro or Cortez most Crusaders were quite rich and didn't go to Crusade for money or riches (do you really think Judea was rich enough for attracting people from as far as England)? In fact going to Crusade was one of the surest ways to empoverish: it was teh huge sums spent in teh Crusades who forced the nobility to start dismantling serfdom by selling freedom to teh serfs and also to sell many lands to the bourgeois.
Also I remind you that after the successful first Crusader mozst Crusaders didn't remain to collect fiefs like Conquisatdores did: they called mission accomplished and went back home and this was one of the main motive for the ultimate failure of the Crusades: the fact that Crusaders didn't care for remaining in Judea.
But you are right they didn't go for liberating Oriental Christains. They went for the tomb of the Christ not for the sake of (for them) heretic Christians.. If their goal had been to liberate Christians they would have gone to Spain who was nearer to them (cheaper and shorter travel, less logistical problems) and farther of Muslim power centers than Judea. And in addition Spaniards were fellow Catholics like them unlike Oriental Christians.
#69
"Unlike Pizarro or Cortez most Crusaders were quite rich and didnt go to Crusade for money or riches (do you really think Judea was rich enough for attracting people from as far as England)? In fact going to Crusade was one of the surest ways to empoverish: it was teh huge sums spent in teh Crusades who forced the nobility to start dismantling serfdom by selling freedom to teh serfs and also to sell many lands to the bourgeois. "
They werent looking for gold but for feudal estates. If youre a second son, who wont inherit but will be knight errant/merc, going for an estate in the east isnt a bad deal. One reason the Popes encourage the crusades was to get rid of folks like that. And of course they didnt go only for Judea, but conquered the entire coastal plain from Antioch south, and considerable parts of Syria as well. Much richer than Judea, IIUC. Of course it didnt work out well for all of them, but at least for a few it did.
In any case i consider the motives to have been mixed.
#71
actually quite a few french and english knights DID go to Spain, IIUC.
I know it. But not that many and when they went...
Take as example the crucial battle of Navas de Tolosa. Ten years before the Spanish knights had been anihilated at Alarcos so the nobility lacked in numbers to meet the Moors, so they called for reinforcement from city bourgeois but since those were low quality they got the Pope declaring Crusade (or at least sin exemptions) for those going to fight in Spain. A few thousand French knights went to Spain. These were far better quality than city militias but had the bad habit of attacking Jews on sight. The Spaniards reacted by lodging the French in tents outside the cities and the French ended leaving in disgust.
Aftermath: The Spaniards went to battle alone. It was a close battle who could have gone for the Muslims but it ended with the Muslim army was practically anihilated. After it Muslims would never be able to threaten Christian Spain.
#72
They werent looking for gold but for feudal estates.
If they had been looking for feudal estates they would have remained. It was what Conquistadores did in Mexico or Peru. Most of Crusaders returned to Europe.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/22/2006 21:40
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#75
Jeeze Louise! I fly around and burn jet fuel for a few hours and come back and realize I just missed a big seminar! All kidding aside, great thread, helps everyone to sort out the issues and get beyond venting frustrations at how f*cked up things can be in the ME. Thanks for the postings.
Posted by: Al-Aska Paul ||
02/22/2006 21:59
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#76
I've got to get a new job that doesn't block Rantburg.
Playing one side against another, while certainly amoral, is not necessarily a a losing strategy. The British played the Spanish off the French off the Germans for centuries and the it worked for them. How do you think that they conquered India with so few men? They were constantly playing the princes and tribes off each other.
So Bill, I don't necessarily agree with you. Playing the Sunnis off the Shias could be a force multiplier and not the threat to our troops that many here seem to think it is. It could in fact save American lives.
Of course some might try to counter with the argument that it is important for the US to have a "principled foreign policy" in order for it to maintain its moral authority. My comeback to that would be is it is precisely those elected governments that have pursued a principled foreign policy that have suffered the worst foreign policy disasters. The Asquith and Chamberlain governments in the UK and the Wilson, Carter, and Clinton presidencies all come to mind.
#77
Arguments have been made that the Portuguese started exploring around Africa in order to attack Mecca from the south but got sidetracked by the money to be made by hijacking the spice trade from the Muslims.
They did get as far as a huge naval battle in the Red Sea with Egypt.
#78
I think that Albuquerque was planning to raze Mecca just before his untimely death. Now there was a soldier. There's not much history out there on him, though.
At least six Christians have been gunned down at their homes by alleged Muslim terrorists in the Philippines, reports the Voice of the Martyrs, a leading monitor of Christian persecution.
According to the report, at least five terrorists believed to be linked to al-Qaida murdered six or more Christians by gunfire after asking them if they believed in Christ on the front doorsteps of their homes.
The incident occurred on the morning of Feb. 2 in the village of Patikul on the small Philippine island of Jolo, which is predominantly Muslim. At least one witness said a baby girl was among the casualties. Five people were injured during the door-to-door questioning.
The Islamic terrorist group Abu Sayyaf, which means "Bearer of the Sword" is assumed responsible for the attacks, as well as for a series of kidnappings, murders and bombings in the southern Philippines over the past 15 years.
According to Voice of the Martyrs, five victims fatally shot were identified as 9-month-old Melanie Patinga, Selma Patinga, 45-year-old Itting Pontilla, 16-year-old Emma Casipong and Pedro Casipong.
"Having watched with sadness and dismay the recent development in some States in the Northern part of this Country where many Christian Churches and other property have been wantonly destroyed by some Islamic fundamentalists, the Christian Association of Nigeria is compelled to issue the following statements:
1. From all indications, it is very clear now that the sacrifices of the Christians in this country for peaceful co-existence with people of other faiths has been sadly misunderstood to be weakness.
2. We have for a long time now watched helplessly the killing, maiming and destruction of Christians and their property by Muslim fanatics and fundamentalists at the slightest or no provocation at all. We are not unaware of the fact that these religious extremists have the full backup and support of some influential Muslims who are yet to appreciate the value of peaceful co-existence.
3. That an incident in far away Denmark which does not claim to be representing Christianity could elicit such an unfortunate reaction here in Nigeria, leading to the destruction of Christian Churches, is not only embarrassing, but also disturbing and unfortunate.
4. It is no longer a hidden fact that a long standing agenda to make this Nigeria an Islamic nation is being surreptitiously pursued. The willingness of Muslim Youth to descend with violence on the innocent Christians from time to time is from all intents and purposes a design to actualize their dream." (more at link)
Well, there ya' have it, folks. There is no dealing with these Moslem idiots. There just isn't.
So, it was not a movie, but a documentary, as I suspected all along...
Los Angeles officials were still scratching their heads today over what caused a mysterious black goo to burble from streets downtown, forcing the evacuation hundreds of apartment dwellers.
A Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman said investigators had yet to identify the ``black tarry substance'' more than 24 hours after it erupted at Olive Street and Pico Boulevard.
But he said there might be ``a correlation'' with a petroleum company drilling operation nearby. ``The samples we have taken _ this was determined to be (a) nontoxin, nonflammable, nonhazard,'' said fire Capt. Ernie Bobadilla. ``We're looking to I.D. the scope of the problem.
``This problem is not a simple fix.''
That's why it requires his expertise.
About 200 residents were forced to flee as a hazardous materials team and dozens of firefighters worked throughout the day to identify what was first deemed "a black tarry substance" and later morphed into a "watery mud."
While outside temperatures struggled to break 60, sidewalks in the vicinity steamed at 103 degrees, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Ron Myers said. "It's worrisome in the fact that it will keep the street closed and residents will be evacuated till the building is considered safe," Myers said.
Firefighters were alerted at 3 a.m. by complaints of a sewer-like smell at an apartment house at 1220 S. Olive St. near Pico Boulevard, but found nothing. They returned at 1 p.m. to find a Slimer-like ooze lurking beneath central Los Angeles. "We were called back because there was a gooey substance, a tarry-type substance, coming out the underground electrical vaults, out of manhole covers in the street, through the sidewalks and possibly in one older apartment building," Myers said.
A 120-foot stretch of Olive buckled 1 1/2 feet, he said. The pre-1933 unreinforced masonry apartment building shifted one foot from its foundation. Sidewalks were as hot as Jacuzzis. And a pressurized liquid shot from every street orifice located above what used to be a historic oil field downtown.
No one was injured in what amounted to a black lagoon. Hazmat and Urban Search and Rescue crews determined that the mysterious substance wasn't flammable, Myers said. "Incident commanders are evaluating some form of drilling operation one or two blocks away as the possible cause," he added.
"They told us to get out from the building, because, probably, I don't know, anything could happen. The basement was flooding," resident Mary Robles told KABC-TV, Channel 7.
By late afternoon, the American Red Cross had set up an evacuation center for the 150 adults and 50 children forced to flee the stuff of nightmares. "We're opening a shelter," said Nick Samaniego, spokesman for the Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles. "We're looking for a place to put them."
#1
Gee. It's an old oil field? Probably not too far from the La Brea tar pits? Shifting tectonic plates or global warming? Inquiring minds want to know!
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/22/2006 7:59
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#2
Eerily like the plot of the movie "Volcano", which is *not* the worst volcano movie of all time.
That honor goes to the movie "Dante's Peak", for the scene in which Pierce Brosnan is escaping by driving the family pickup with the family in it over a river of lava and, with four burning tires, they see the family dog, Scruffy, trapped on an island in the middle of the river of lava, and shout to him:
"Jump! Scruffy! Jump!"
A scene so bad that it was known to have caused hundreds of spontaneous nosebleeds in the hundreds of people who actually went and saw the movie in the theater.
Posted by: bk ||
02/22/2006 8:13
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#4
Hallelujah! It's a sign! The Lord is sending more oil.
Posted by: Oracle Jones ||
02/22/2006 8:30
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#5
I told them! Los Angeles is melting! Tipper! To the Global Warming Mobile!
Posted by: Al Gore ||
02/22/2006 8:31
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#6
Next thing you know, ol' Jeb's a millionaire,
Kinfold said, "Jeb, move away from there!"
Said, "California's the place you oughta be"
So they loaded up the truck and they moved to Beverly.
Hills, that is. Swimming Pools. Movie Stars ...
Posted by: too true ||
02/22/2006 9:01
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#7
lol, OJ! Maybe the Lord is shining upon us! Now, about those oil derricks in downtown LA!
Posted by: BA ||
02/22/2006 10:05
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#8
Eerily like the plot of the movie "Volcano"...
Just what I was thinking! "MacArthur Park is melting in the dark!"
...which is *not* the worst volcano movie of all time. That honor goes to the movie "Dante's Peak"...
Dante's Peak may well be buried under twenty feet of ash by the upcoming Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York. A Sci Fi Channel (un)original, I think. We saw previews for it the other day and couldn't stop laughing.
BRITISH officials investigating July's London suicide bombings have received no useful intelligence from detainees held at the United States military camp at Guantanamo Bay.
Whitehall officials yesterday disputed suggestions from the US military that interrogation of detainees at the Cuban camp showed some were in contact with the bombers before the attacks. The insistence fuelled suspicions the US authorities are over-playing the role of Camp Delta in the fight against terrorism, trying to assuage British unease about the Guantanamo base.
Major-General Jay Hood, the US Army officer in charge of the camp, has told visiting British reporters that he had passed to UK intelligence agencies "information [detainees] have provided about the London bombings".
But one well-placed UK source described that suggestion as "nonsense". Attributed quote to named US officer versus anonymous unattributed quote. I know who I am inclined to believe.
#1
I was taking these 'reports" with huge chunks of salt in any case.
I discount anything comming out of the UK unless it's from one of the Rantburg regulars. The TRANZIs are in full control of the popular press and the civil service and are untrustworthy sources most of the time.
This is actually interesting... theses "soupes au cochon" are part of an effort made by several orgs to challenge the PC-statu quo about islam; theses soups are backed by the identitaires, a small but very active right-wing mvt, and they are clearly aimed at provoking the opinion, with some success : in France, in 2006, the authorities come down on charities because THEY USE PORK in their meal... the same prefect who autorize an anti-cartoon demonstration in Starsbourg complete with shadada and allah u ackbar is doing all he can to suppress theses soups.
See http://www.association-sdf.com/ for the initial soup's website.By Kim Willsher in Paris
The temperature on the street had dropped to minus three and the homeless stood in knots of two or three, blowing on their hands to relieve the bitter cold, as plastic bowls of steaming soupe au cochon were prepared.
"Hot wine?" asked the elegant blonde woman behind the table. But before anything could be served, the police arrived flourishing an order from the local authorities in Strasbourg to shut down the mobile soup kitchen.
The scene has been repeated all over France in recent weeks after complaints that extreme Right-wing groups have been serving "racist" food.
As a result of the closures, hundreds of homeless people will go hungry. The groups giving out the soup say it is nothing more than traditional French cuisine.
Angry protesters retort, however, that they are deliberately offering ham sandwiches and soup made of pork to discriminate against Muslims and Jews who cannot eat the meat for religious reasons. The groups behind the soup kitchens are not formally linked, but they are associated with an ultra Right-wing organisation called Bloc Identitaire.
Officials say the groups are not breaking the law. In Strasbourg and Nice, however, food handouts have been banned on the grounds that they could lead to "public disorder".
In Paris, police have stopped the serving of pork soup at major stations on "administrative grounds" - because the soup kitchens have not got the correct papers - to avoid racial tensions. Fabienne Keller, the Mayor of Strasbourg, said: "Schemes with racial subtexts must be denounced."
Chantal Spieler, the blonde serving soup in Strasbourg as president of the charity Solidarité Alsacienne, was defiant.
"For as long as there are people who are hungry and cold I will disobey this unfair decision," she said.
Even Lhaj Thanmi Breze, president of the Union of Islamic Organisations in France, disagreed with closing the soup kitchens, although he regretted that they were serving pork.
#2
There are already muslims-only soups serving the chorba dish, which were never deemed "discriminatory" by the authorities... and there also are religious charities reserved for the faithful, either islamic (each mosque has its own charity providing help for muslims only) or jewish (though I suspect they may be more oecumenical like the christian orgs who help everybody).
Agreed, theses soups are meant to provoke (though the intent to help clearly is there as well, I think), but the reaction by the authorities are VERY revealing about the political atmosphere in France.
Again, you've got to remember that pork is now missing from many, many, many school menus, that this meat is not sold anymore in some heavily islamized areas, than most big supermarket have hallal products wings, that the Charal meat producer's market survey for hallal meat found... 13 millions potential customers, etc, etc...
This forbidden pork soup may seem a bit futile, but actually it is an eyes-opener.
#6
Amen, BH! If (and that's a big if) this was intentioned to push the status quo, they're doing a fine job, but good grief, beggars can't be choosers. I also wonder how many homeless muslims there truly are in france? Not many, I suspect, b/c they live on the public's dole anyways.
Posted by: BA ||
02/22/2006 10:32
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#7
Oh, and one other thing...Islam is NOT a race! Repeat 20 times! So, stop making it a "racial" thing!
Posted by: BA ||
02/22/2006 10:33
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#8
That ignores the fact that many of the violent Muslims in France are in fact from Africa and that *race* specifically has been an open issue in their attacks - c.f. the may 2005 attack on a demonstration by white students.
Posted by: too true ||
02/22/2006 11:02
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#9
Thank G-d there arent any poor Jewish areas left in the US (though there ARE still poor Jews) but there were many such 90 years ago. If someone had opened a soup kitchen in heavily jewish area with the intention of provoking, well I would certainly not have found that a very charitable act.
I mean really, this isnt about free speech, this is making a mockery of the JP's principled stand.
Want to bitch about the soup kitchens when your own people are hungry/homeless?
Then reach into your own pockets and help them out
This is another device of Islam to redefine Western culture and conquer it.
No one is forcing anyone to eat pork soup, LH, and if a Moslem or Jew is hungry they can avail themselves of charity offerings of a different sort.
The fact that the Moslems are able to pressure European government to interfere with indigenous (French) culture to this extent, is very alarming.
Does anyone here think Moslems would give a flip about helping Jews or Christians with soup kitchens, or anything else, much less make sure it's food Jews or Christians would find acceptable? Does anyone doubt that partakers would first be required to "honor" the Islamic god?
#11
"No one is forcing anyone to eat pork soup, LH, "
Thats true, and whether this justifies state intervention against the soup kitchen is a legitimate area of debate.
"and if a Moslem or Jew is hungry they can avail themselves of charity offerings of a different sort."
You could have said the same if the soup kitchen had simply said "no muslims allowed" or "no jews allowed". Or "no blacks allowed". Acceptable from a liberatarian POV, but hardly charitable.
"The fact that the Moslems are able to pressure European government to interfere with indigenous (French) culture to this extent, is very alarming."
Its traditional in French culture to have soup kitchens that only offer one item, known to be objectionable to a particular group? Did French Protestants open soup kitchens offering meat on Fridays (pre Vatican 2)? What did traditional Frenchmen think of that?
"Does anyone here think Moslems would give a flip about helping Jews or Christians with soup kitchens, or anything else, much less make sure it's food Jews or Christians would find acceptable?"
Yes, a few would. Most wouldnt. Many muslims are bigots. So? does that mean I should cheer when non-muslims are bigots?
"Does anyone doubt that partakers would first be required to "honor" the Islamic god?"
Having been offered food at the house of a muslim, and not having been required to honor any god, id have to say, yes, i doubt that.
Want to bitch about the soup kitchens when your own people are hungry/homeless?
Then reach into your own pockets and help them out"
they do, IIUC. as historically jews have done.
"This is another device of Islam to redefine Western culture and conquer it. "
Theyre conquering western culture by not eating pork? Then Jews, vegetarians, 7 day adventists, etc are all in on the conspiracy. Or by being offended when someone deliberately sets out to provoke them (as JP did NOT do)?
"One strange fact; all of the food had bacon in it. The first thing in the morning every day the American boss chef would fry up crisp several pounds of bacon. This was crumbled and put into bowls in various spots in the kitchen. As soon as a can of something was opened, or something put on the stove, a handful of bacon was tossed into it. This included the mashed potatoes, ice cream, and canned peaches.
The idea was to discourage the Muslim cooks, waiters, and other workers from stealing the food. Saudis, in those days, didn't eat too well. Five or six of the cooks, however, were Chinese. They were great. They had been hired from Mainland China before it had gone Red. This introduced a problem when it came time for their vacations. If they went back to Communist China, they'd never get out, and they didn't want to go anywhere else. So for years they just stayed on the job during their vacations and worked for double time."
#14
LH: Do you support the idea of government regulating charities?
And yes, the Moslems are attempting to redefine French culture by insisting that a charity conform to Islamic dietary issues. They do not, however, look after their own, which is ridiculous.
Here's a way to look at it. Should a Jewish charity be shut down because they offer lamb soup because vegans are complaining? Are we all to become vegans, then, because of vegan faith?
If people believe that the deity they serve requires that they abstain from certain things, then those people will have to trust their diety to provide from another direction.
I think the whole thing is to secure free food from non-Moslem sources that Moslems can eat.
Here's another stupid thing I heard, which is related. In New Zealand a Moslem family is suing a pizza restaurant for serving them a pizza that had pork (bacon) bits in it by mistake. They want the pizza restaurant to fund an all-expenses-paid trip to Mecca to be "cleansed" of their pork eating. Well, I have to ask them: If pork is such a big issue, then what the hell are you doing in a restaurant that serves it at all? Anyone been in a pizza kitchen? The containers of toppings are all in a row, the workers reach in, grab toppings and sprinkle--very difficult to keep things separate.
So, by your reasoning, the New Zealand government should shut down that restaurant and all others that serve pork, because it is offensive to Moslems and Jews.
What makes the French situation even worse than the above story, is that no one is even paying anything for the food. So if they don't want to eat it, DON'T EAT IT.
LH, I think you should go over there and open up a lamb soup van that serves koolaid instead of hot wine, so all the Moslems can partake of your good intentions. Just don't let them know you're Jewish, okay?
#16
lol, .com! You're on a roll, so to speak! Man, as a Christian, I'm all for helping out the homeless, bettering others, etc., but LH, this IS trying to (literally, I might add) shove ISLAM down the throats of the French, by the French gov't no less. And, don't give me the Jewish no-pork excuse, either. Until the Jews are whining about being victim at these soup kitchens, I see this as just another knot in the "I'm a muslim victim" campaign marching through Europe. Methinks, divide and conquer. And, outside of religious views, as I lean more toward the strict interpretation of our Constitution (I know this is France, but ride with me), I've gotta wonder....what the heck does the gov't have ANY business telling a charitable organization what food to GIVE to homeless?????
Posted by: BA ||
02/22/2006 13:05
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#17
"LH: Do you support the idea of government regulating charities?"
Now THATS a good question. If the OP had focused on that, rather than on Islam, Id have had little problem. Im NOT saying the govt should have closed the kitchen - I sympathize with the libertarian argument on this. I AM saying is that the action of serving pork soup only wasnt particularly charitable, and the people who did it were jerks. But folks have the liberty to be jerks. Usually.
"And yes, the Moslems are attempting to redefine French culture by insisting that a charity conform to Islamic dietary issues."
Are they insisting it not serve pork? or just that it serve somethine other than pork as well? In all places, or just in heavily muslim areas?
"They do not, however, look after their own, which is ridiculous."
There are no muslim charities in France?
"Here's a way to look at it. Should a Jewish charity be shut down because they offer lamb soup because vegans are complaining? Are we all to become vegans, then, because of vegan faith?"
These days at Jewish events there usually is a vegan offering, cause 1. there are jewish vegans and 2. Cause theres probably gonna be somebody who finds the kashrut of the meat not strict enough. But as to your q, i suppose if there were primarily vegan neighborhoods, and the Jews opened a soup kitchen there, and it served ONLY meat, that would be a pretty jerky thing to do. I dont know that the STATE should get involved, but I sure as hell would expect Jewish leaders to get involved and condemn the thing.
"If people believe that the deity they serve requires that they abstain from certain things, then those people will have to trust their diety to provide from another direction."
Yea - thats what Jews have historically done, as so many folk are jerks.
"I think the whole thing is to secure free food from non-Moslem sources that Moslems can eat."
Ive googled on this group. While my French isnt good enough for a complete picture, my sense is that most muslims would be happy if it simply went away.
"Here's another stupid thing I heard, which is related. In New Zealand a Moslem family is suing a pizza restaurant for serving them a pizza that had pork (bacon) bits in it by mistake. They want the pizza restaurant to fund an all-expenses-paid trip to Mecca to be "cleansed" of their pork eating. "
Somebody suing wants to get the biggest concievable payoff. Routine abuse of the tort system, not clash of civs.
"Well, I have to ask them: If pork is such a big issue, then what the hell are you doing in a restaurant that serves it at all? Anyone been in a pizza kitchen? The containers of toppings are all in a row, the workers reach in, grab toppings and sprinkle--very difficult to keep things separate."
My orthodox relatives would say the same. However I want to live more integrated in my society, and so i eat at treif restaurants, but try to avoid treif (by my standard) foods. I expect at least good faith from the restaurant, if not perfection.
"So, by your reasoning, the New Zealand government should shut down that restaurant and all others that serve pork, because it is offensive to Moslems and Jews."
1. I did not say i support state action. 2. In any case it appears the restaurant acted in good faith.
"What makes the French situation even worse than the above story, is that no one is even paying anything for the food. So if they don't want to eat it, DON'T EAT IT."
Yup, and if some Protestant group went around serving meat on Fridays in a Catholic area (in the old days) the choice to not eat it would be there. It would still be the action of a group of jerks.
"LH, I think you should go over there and open up a lamb soup van that serves koolaid instead of hot wine, so all the Moslems can partake of your good intentions. Just don't let them know you're Jewish, okay?"
Id rather focus on hunger in the US than in France. But wherever i opened a soup kitchen, id be sure to offer choices.
#18
so ex-lib, what do you think of muslims deciding to boycott stuff made in Denmark? I mean the Danes can sell to someone else? The muslims have no obligation to buy stuff from denmark, do they? From a libertarian POV, they have every right to boycott whomever they want, right?
But theyre still jerks for boycotting an entire nation for the acts of one newspaper. and it still shows a misunderstanding of the relationship of a nation to a newspaper. In the same way the acts of these jerks shows a misunderstanding of what charity is about.
#19
Compare what is happening across Europe to a hypothetical situation. You invite several guests for dinner one of whom is a vegetarian. You prepare a special meal to meet this one person's needs. When everyone is seated around the table, the vegetarian surveys the platters of meat offered to the other guests. He rises upturns the dinner table, and loudly demands that everyone be served vegetables only.
This is what is happening whereever the Muslims have been 'invited to dinner'. Any group that brings its own language and culture to a new country, and attempts to impose them on, or displace, the native population is not a guest. I'm beggining to believe that such 'guests' are not immigrants at all, but rather unarmed invaders bent on colonization.
In the name of diversity and political correctness these folks are being allowed to over turn the dinner table and take over the host's home.
/rant off
#21
thats not what happened in the OP. They werent offered a choice.
Here where I live, there is a significant muslim population (and a smaller Jewish population - but the area is mainly christian, and pretty church going)
The public schools serve pork in the cafeterias. Theres alway an alternative, and the items with pork are marked on the menu with a picture of a pig. This solution makes sense to me.
#23
BTW Jews when offering food help in non-Jewish neighborhoods usually dont set up their own soup kitchens, but participate in ecumenical ones. Why didnt these folks just do that?
"Even Lhaj Thanmi Breze, president of the Union of Islamic Organisations in France, disagreed with closing the soup kitchens, although he regretted that they were serving pork"
#26
LH: despite your inferences, I am NOT a libertarian.
Next, as a Jew, you should hurry up and realize what the Moslems are up to, rather than focusing on the "jerk" aspect of the soup/political speech "kitchen."
Being "nice" to Moslem demands serves their movement to colonize because they see any accomodation as a weakness to exploit. You can bet they are reveling in the shut-down as a victory for Islam.
True, if someone set up a pork soup kitchen to presumably serve homeless, starving Jews, it would be a jerky thing to do--but taking this special case into consideration (only), Moslems are burning neighborhoods, using up all the French social welfare dollars, out populating them, disparaging French women, defacing Jewish cemetaries, and bitching constantly. The soup kitchen was a humorous retaliation against the Moslem "take-over" of France, despite the issue of the nature of the people doing it.
Your defense of the Moslem boycott of Danish products, and your defense of the Moslem dietary DEMANDS on the soup kitchen, is completely disturbing.
The French soup kitchen, is of course, a harmless political reaction to Islamic facism, like the Danish cartoons were.
#28
I'm still wondering when the CIA will start spreading the story that pork grease is an ingredient in modern semtex and most explosives in the hopes that the Jihadists will be reluctant to use the stuff.
I'm wondering when Western arms manufacturers will start to actually include pork grease in their products specifically to eliminate the use by psychos since I doubt a lot of the stuff is made in the middle east.
#31
LH -
There are religious reasons to or not to eat specific foods and then there are those of us with PHYSICAL reasons like ALLERGIES.
As somebody in the later catagory I don't make a habit of going balistic when the rest of the morons on the planet don't get it and polute all the foods sold with stuff I can't take. I may seethe a bit but I don't make an issue of it when industry put cows milk (butter whey etc..) or chicken eggs in damn near anything sold. On top of that lima beans in every mix veggies or kidney beans in soups and chilies. All of which could KILL ME. I just quietly ask questions and avoid trouble. Why? Because some poor jerk might be allergic to the stuff I am not and we all need to survive.
Now Lamb and Turkey are mid-dangerous allergies for me so following your justification I could be very upset at free food joints serving lamb. Lamb the secret killer food. Of course the same would go for tuna, fresh water trout, cane sugar, anything with corn syrup (instead of a nice beet sugar or palm sugar or date sugar) Certain types of yeast you might use in wine, beer or bread, The sulfates the government demands to be in wine (mitigated by being allergic to grapes).
My world of tofu, soy oils, beef, pork, salmon, and catfish might be kind of hard for most to stomach. Oh and since most beers are out (excepting the cold filtered stuff) and wine is out that leaves booze... but wait...
I have minor allergies (ok for 1 meal a day) to wheat, corn, oats, rye - leaving rice, spelt and kamut so Saki uses some bad yeast so its out... that leaves distilled cactus juice (and nobody tests the worm...)
So, since I get along without complaining ....
EVERYBODY ELSE SHOULD SHUT THEIR MOUTHS UP ON THE ISSUE AND Let the folks be. If they want to give away pork soup ... LET THEM AND SHUT-UP about IT!
IF the French gov or muslims or jews or vegans can't shutup about it they can come talk to me and I will scream at them for trying to kill me with their foods!
#32
"LH: despite your inferences, I am NOT a libertarian."
I didnt mean to infer you were a libertarian. I was only trying to say that from the point of view of someone who opposed all state regulation of NGO's, i could see why theyd be upset with what the French did here.
"Next, as a Jew, you should hurry up and realize what the Moslems are up to, rather than focusing on the "jerk" aspect of the soup/political speech "kitchen." "
Some Muslims are up to. Many. Not muslims in general. Just as not Christians in general, and not jews in general.
"Being "nice" to Moslem demands serves their movement to colonize because they see any accomodation as a weakness to exploit."
"They" isnt a they. theyre moving to europe for the same reason people from low wage countries always move to high wage countries. Some of the immigrants are radical muslims. Some are moderates. Some become ex-muslims, like Hirsin Ali. Some jihadi dreamer may think of this as colonization, but it isnt.
" You can bet they are reveling in the shut-down as a victory for Islam."
I doubt it very much.
"True, if someone set up a pork soup kitchen to presumably serve homeless, starving Jews, it would be a jerky thing to do--but taking this special case into consideration (only), Moslems are burning neighborhoods,"
Christian africans did too, and most french muslims didnt riot.
"using up all the French social welfare dollars, "
My understanding is that most want to work. most muslims here do.
"out populating them"
actually IIUC 2nd generation birthrates are lower than immigrant birthrates. As with every other immigrant group.
,"disparaging French women, defacing Jewish cemetaries, and bitching constantly."
acts of some, not of all - stop with the collective guilt shit. Thats all it is.
" The soup kitchen was a humorous retaliation against the Moslem "take-over" of France, despite the issue of the nature of the people doing it."
Not humorous, and the people doing it are jerks.
"Your defense of the Moslem boycott of Danish products,"
WTF? This weekend i had Danish Havarti on my bagels, and enjoyed some Carlsberg Malt Liquor. I encourage all to try them both (but not together - bagel with cheese goes better with coffee or OJ)
" and your defense of the Moslem dietary DEMANDS on the soup kitchen, is completely disturbing. "
actually the only muslim leader quoted opposed the shutdown.
The French soup kitchen, is of course, a harmless political reaction to Islamic facism, like the Danish cartoons were.
#34
No soup for you!!!
Posted by: Soup Nazi|| 2006-02-22 09:27 ||Comments Top||
ROFLMAO!!
Posted by: Al-Aska Paul ||
02/22/2006 22:26
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#35
I suspect the Muslims don't have the same rule as the Jews, but many centuries ago the Rabbis ruled that anything is permitted in the saving of a life. That is, if one is starving, it is permitted to eat pork or anything else... even to the point of lifting a weapon on the Sabbath in self defence. Liberalhawk, your argument about food kitchen menus being exclusionary fails on the merits. Anyway, soup kitchens generally serve bread or crackers along with the soup -- the truly hungry Muslim can partake of that without issue... but only if the goal isn't to impose their dietary standards on the outside world.
.com, I saved the site. Mr. Wife should find it fascinating...
[Editor's Note: Below are selected excerpts from Brigitte Gabriel's speech delivered at the Intelligence Summit in Washington DC, Saturday February 18, 2006].
We gather here today to share information and knowledge. Intelligence is not merely cold hard data about numerical strength or armament or disposition of military forces. The most important element of intelligence has to be understanding the mindset and intention of the enemy. The West has been wallowing in a state of ignorance and denial for thirty years as Muslim extremist perpetrated evil against innocent victims in the name of Allah.
I was ten years old when my home exploded around me, burying me under the rubble and leaving me to drink my blood to survive, as the perpetrators shouted Allah Akbar! My only crime was that I was a Christian living in a Christian town. At 10 years old, I learned the meaning of the word "infidel."
I had a crash course in survival. Not in the Girl Scouts, but in a bomb shelter where I lived for seven years in pitch darkness, freezing cold, drinking stale water and eating grass to live. At the age of 13 I dressed in my burial clothes going to bed at night, waiting to be slaughtered. By the age of 20, I had buried most of my friends--killed by Muslims. We were not Americans living in New York, or Britons in London. We were Arab Christians living in Lebanon.
As a victim of Islamic terror, I was amazed when I saw Americans waking up on September 12, 2001, and asking themselves "Why do they hate us?" The psychoanalyst experts were coming up with all sort of excuses as to what did we do to offend the Muslim World. But if America and the West were paying attention to the Middle East they would not have had to ask the question. Simply put, they hate us because we are defined in their eyes by one simple word: "infidels."
Under the banner of Islam "la, ilaha illa allah, muhammad rasoulu allah," (None is god except Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah) they murdered Jewish children in Israel, massacred Christians in Lebanon, killed Copts in Egypt, Assyrians in Syria, Hindus in India, and expelled almost 900,000 Jews from Muslim lands. We Middle Eastern infidels paid the price then. Now infidels worldwide are paying the price for indifference and shortsightedness.
Tolerating evil is a crime. Appeasing murderers doesn't buy protection. It earns one disrespect and loathing in the enemy's eyes. Yet apathy is the weapon by which the West is committing suicide. Political correctness forms the shackles around our ankles, by which Islamists are leading us to our demise.
America and the West are doomed to failure in this war unless they stand up and identify the real enemy: Islam. You hear about Wahabbi and Salafi Islam as the only extreme form of Islam. All the other Muslims, supposedly, are wonderful moderates. Closer to the truth are the pictures of the irrational eruption of violence in reaction to the cartoons of Mohammed printed by a Danish newspaper. From burning embassies, to calls to butcher those who mock Islam, to warnings that the West be prepared for another holocaust, those pictures have given us a glimpse into the real face of the enemy. News pictures and video of these events represent a canvas of hate decorated by different nationalities who share one common ideology of hate, bigotry and intolerance derived from one source: authentic Islam. An Islam that is awakening from centuries of slumber to re-ignite its wrath against the infidel and dominate the world. An Islam which has declared "Intifada" on the West.
America and the West can no longer afford to lay in their lazy state of overweight ignorance. The consequences of this mental disease are starting to attack the body, and if they don't take the necessary steps now to control it, death will be knocking soon. If you want to understand the nature of the enemy we face, visualize a tapestry of snakes. They slither and they hiss, and they would eat each other alive, but they will unite in a hideous mass to achieve their common goal of imposing Islam on the world.
This is the ugly face of the enemy we are fighting. We are fighting a powerful ideology that is capable of altering basic human instincts. An ideology that can turn a mother into a launching pad of death. A perfect example is a recently elected Hamas official in the Palestinian Territories who raves in heavenly joy about sending her three sons to death and offering the ones who are still alive for the cause. It is an ideology that is capable of offering highly educated individuals such as doctors and lawyers far more joy in attaining death than any respect and stature, life in society is ever capable of giving them.
The United States has been a prime target for radical Islamic hatred and terror. Every Friday, mosques in the Middle East ring with shrill prayers and monotonous chants calling death, destruction and damnation down on America and its people. The radical Islamists deeds have been as vile as their words. Since the Iran hostage crisis, more than three thousand Americans have died in a terror campaign almost unprecedented in its calculated cruelty along with thousands of other citizens worldwide. Even the Nazis did not turn their own children into human bombs, and then rejoice at their deaths as well the deaths of their victims. This intentional, indiscriminate and wholesale murder of innocent American citizens is justified and glorified in the name of Islam.
America cannot effectively defend itself in this war unless and until the American people understand the nature of the enemy that we face. Even after 9/11 there are those who say that we must engage our terrorist enemies, that we must address their grievances. Their grievance is our freedom of religion. Their grievance is our freedom of speech. Their grievance is our democratic process where the rule of law comes from the voices of many not that of just one prophet. It is the respect we instill in our children towards all religions. It is the equality we grant each other as human beings sharing a planet and striving to make the world a better place for all humanity. Their grievance is the kindness and respect a man shows a woman, the justice we practice as equals under the law, and the mercy we grant our enemy. Their grievance cannot be answered by an apology for who or what we are.
Our mediocre attitude of not confronting Islamic forces of bigotry and hatred wherever they raised their ugly head in the last 30 years, has empowered and strengthened our enemy to launch a full scale attack on the very freedoms we cherish in their effort to impose their values and way of life on our civilization.
If we don't wake up and challenge our Muslim community to take action against the terrorists within it, if we don't believe in ourselves as Americans and in the standards we should hold every patriotic American to, we are going to pay a price for our delusion. For the sake of our children and our country, we must wake up and take action. In the face of a torrent of hateful invective and terrorist murder, Americas learning curve since the Iran hostage crisis is so shallow that it is almost flat. The longer we lay supine, the more difficult it will be to stand erect.
America cannot effectively defend itself in this war unless and until the American people understand the nature of the enemy that we face. Even after 9/11 there are those who say that we must engage our terrorist enemies, that we must address their grievances. Their grievance is our freedom of religion. Their grievance is our freedom of speech. Their grievance is our democratic process where the rule of law comes from the voices of many not that of just one prophet. It is the respect we instill in our children towards all religions. It is the equality we grant each other as human beings sharing a planet and striving to make the world a better place for all humanity. Their grievance is the kindness and respect a man shows a woman, the justice we practice as equals under the law, and the mercy we grant our enemy. Their grievance cannot be answered by an apology for who or what we are.
#1
Lewis contends that traditional Anti-Semitism has been disguised to be more socially and intellectually acceptable. What he calls Political-cum-ideological Judeophobia allows Isreals adversaries to be judged by a lower standard. Therefore this false perception unfairly affects behaviors and policies.
Whether Lewis is right or wrong, IMHO, countries should focus their attention more on reality and less on perception. And people should be less concerned with the past and concentrate more on how the present and will affect the future.
#2
How is this different from the Muslim mindset blaming Jews for all of their problems? Here he blames Christians.
I wonder if Bernard Lewis has ever been in a church or knows any believing Christians. If he did, he'd realize that the Jewish belief that Christians run around blaming the Jews for the death of Jesus has no basis in fact. Zero. Pilate is blamed for washing his hands. Oh sure, you can find some nuts who will say it, but then you can find nuts who say anything.
It's not about religion or skin color or nationality that creates problems - it's about people who rally other people to be against people who are different to obtain power. Christians do it, Jews do it, Nations do it, political parties do it, children do it.
Bernard Lewis stoops to blaming Christians for blaming the jews. Not a great man.
#3
2b, some Christians have in fact blamed Jews "for all their problems" from time to time. I think you are correct that it is essentially an "otherness" issue, but there's no denying that the rabble-rousers used claims from Christian heritage, if not Christian doctrine, to stir up the crowds.
Posted by: James ||
02/22/2006 12:59
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well said, but I know plenty of Jews who blame Christians for just about everything wrong in the world. I know because I listen to it first hand on a regular basis.
The idea - put forth here by Lewis and given an entire room in the Holocaust museum that Christians are to blame because they blame Jews for killing Jesus - is not something you will hear in Christian Churches. Pilate is blamed for washing his hands. He had the responsibility to undo it, he failed. I've never been in a church anywhere (and I've moved around quite a bit) that viewed it any other way.
Whats funny about the "new antisemitism" that Lewis thinks it's the old imagined anti-semitism rather than what makes up the virulent new anti-semitism. It's not Christians who are anti-semetic - it's liberals. All of the Bush hating people that I know have become virulently anti-semtic. Of course - it's just Israel and the Zionists that are screwing up the world. They have nothing against Jews, in fact, many of their friends are jews so they can't be anti-semetic. Just anti-zionist.
#5
hmmm... I might have to modify my comments. When searching for a new church in VA, it became clear to me that many of the Methodist, Episcopalian, Protestant and Lutheran have the same talking points as the democratic party. It was uncanny. Read it on democraticunderground on wednesday and hear it in church on Sunday. And of course, they all disinvested in Israel. I stopped attending.
So...maybe things have changed - but then it's also different to hear preachers preaching about global warming and the need for the Boyscouts to admit homosexuals and why we should care about terrorists and vote for Kerry. Bleah. So maybe they are busy blaming the zionists cabals these days But if so, that's news to me.
Rome, 20 Feb. (AKI) - A leading Italian bishop has slammed as "unacceptable" the silence of states and international organisations over the fate of Christian minorities in Muslim states in an interview published on Monday. Auxiliary bishop Rino Fisichella of Rome told Italy's best-selling daily Corriere della Sera that, "not only is the destiny of Christian minorities living in the Muslim world at stake, but everyone's freedom, the way they can exercise such freedom and the civility of international relations." Fisichella, who is also the dean of the Lateran Pontifical University, added that it was the duty of state governments and international organisation "to implement the principle of reciprocity."
Fisichella's interview followed violent anti-Christian protests over the weekend. On Saturday, violence against Christian targets in Nigeria left 16 people dead while on Friday, some 150 people staged a demonstration in front of the Danish embassy in Tehran and set a crucifix on fire.
The episodes came after weeks of Muslim protests against cartoons satirising the Prophet Mohammed published in European papers.
Commenting the demonstrations, Fisichella said that, "these episodes stress how difficult it is for Muslim socities to accept the principle of religious freedom which is for us a acquired right."
"It's hard to understand why these societies fear freedom and are afraid of Christians who preach fraternity and forgiveness," added the bishop.
In a reference to the murder on 5 February of an Italian priest, Andrea Santoro, in Turkey, allegedly killed by a Muslim radical, Fisichella also noted that, "it is impossible to put on the same level a cartoon and the murder of a priest."
Fisichella called in particular on the Arab League, the European Union and the United Nations to "remind the societies and governments of countries with a Muslim majority of their responsibilities."
Sixteen people were killed in northern Nigeria on Saturday during protests by Muslims over the cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad. The riots in Nigeria are the first violent protests in the country over the cartoons.
Most of the deaths occurred in clashes in Maiduguri, capital of north-eastern Borno state. One person died in similar riots in north-central Katsina state.
Witnesses said most of the dead were from Maiduguri's minority Christians.
Eleven churches were set on fire during the protests and Christian businesses targeted.
The country is nearly equally divided between Muslims in the north and Christians.
Pics at link.
Note to Hamas: Some of "us" can read Arabic - so hiding images of the Star of David being nuked on Arabic pages doesn't work!
Well, it seems that the "peace-loving", "democratically-elected" folks in the military wing of Hamas have forgotten one key point: some infidels read Arabic too! The Arabic version of the website of the Ezz el din Qassam brigades shows the following images of the Star of David being destroyed in a nuclear explosion.
Arabic words then appear saying "Only the Ezz el din Qassam website tells the whole story of the most elusive squad [to be uncovered] in the history of the Entity [Israel], in the city of Ramallah." Every few seconds there are repeated images of a nuclear explosion destroying the Star of David.
The English version of their website doesn't show the images - instead it opts for a much more politically correct appearance.
(Special thanks to the Palestinian Media Watch for pointing out the images.)
A large explosion Wednesday heavily damaged the golden dome of one of Iraq's most famous Shiite religious shrines, sending protesters pouring into the streets. It was the third major attack against Shiite targets in as many days.
Police believed some people may be buried under the debris after the 6:55 a.m. explosion at the Askariya mosque but there were no confirmed figures. The shrine contains the tombs of two revered Shiite imams, both descendants of the Prophet Muhammad.
Tradition says the shrine, which draws Shiite pilgrims from throughout the Islamic world, is near the place where the last of the 12 Shiite imams, Mohammed al-Mahdi, disappeared. Al-Mahdi, known as the "hidden imam," was the son and grandson of the two imams buried in the Askariya shrine.
Shiites believe he is still alive and will return to restore justice to humanity. An attack at such an important religious shrine would constitute a grave assault on Shiite Islam at a time of rising sectarian tensions in Iraq.
A police officer who declined to give his name because he is not authorized to speak to media said armed men, with at least one wearing a uniform, broke inside the shrine before sunrise and seized the five policemen responsible for guarding the site.
The gunmen planted explosives and fled the area, the officer said.
Following the blast, U.S. and Iraqi forces surrounded the shrine and began searching houses in the area. The Sunni Endowments, a government organization that cares for Sunni mosques and shrines, also condemned the blast and said it was sending a delegation to Samarra to investigate what happened.
Thousands of demonstrators gathered near the shrine, waving Iraqi flags, Shiite religious banners and copies of the Muslim holy book, Quran. Shiite leaders in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood called for demonstrations against the blast.
"This criminal act aims at igniting civil strife," said Mahmoud al-Samarie, 28-year-old builder who was among the crowd in this city 60 miles north of Baghdad. "We demand an investigation so that the criminals who did this be punished. If the government fails to do so, then we will take arm and chase the people behind this attack."
Religious leaders at other mosques and shrines throughout the city denounced the attack in statements read over loudspeakers from minarets.
The shrine contains the tombs of the 10th and 11th imams, Ali al-Hadi who died in 868 A.D. and his son Hassan al-Askari who died in 874 A.D and was the father of the hidden imam.
The golden dome was completed in 1905.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
03:19 ||
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#1
Just guessing it's prolly AQ. No one else it that nuts.I wouldn't give you 10 cents to be a Sunni in Iraq right now. Look for Tater to try and gain some political points from this as well.
#2
Speaking of Tater, Juan Cole (Yes I know he's a f**kwit) has a translation of an extended interview by Tater last Saturday on Aljazeera.
He also says that due to the destruction of the Dome that Tuesday was an apocalyptic day in Iraq.
#3
maybe this will actually finally be the tipping point that the press have been saying is days away for 3 years now, maybe if it is this mythical 'tipping point' it will mean the swift and brutal irradication of many more AQ thugs in Iraq, lets hope the Iraqis just keep the fighting between each other and leave our forces out of it. Gonna be a real interesting few days i think in Iraq - finally it seems the media's much hoped for civil war may arrive..... to be continued lol
#6
SF, I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out the Iranians have a hand in this. There has been always rivalry between Iraqi shi'ite sites and Iranians', competing over who has most 'holliest' sites.
Iranians may try to use the default 'blame the sunnis' paradigm to push their agenda to reduce the influence of Iraqi shi'ite sites.
I am not saying that this is the case with the Askaria mosque, but that this angle shouln't be overlooked.
#9
Why didn't anyone notice people taking explosives into the shrine? Seriously, is it that common to see one of your holy sites have terrorists on it?
/sarcasm
Posted by: Charles ||
02/22/2006 14:16
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#10
Read the details in the article.
armed men, with at least one wearing a uniform, broke inside the shrine before sunrise and seized the five policemen responsible for guarding the site.
The gunmen planted explosives and fled the area, the officer said.
#11
Actually, the photo of the march in Baghdad looks pretty peaceful -- no fists, no mouths open screaming imprecations, no guns or swords waving in the air, even a few veiled women around the edges, if my eyes don't deceive me. Separately, looking at the photos of the destruction, it appears to me that the mosque must have been constructed within living memory -- isn't that rebar-and-concrete, not stone? If so, reconstruction should go fairly quickly, and it's not the same, desecration-wise, as if millenium old building had been attacked.
If a murder or serious crime is committed in this insurgency-plagued city of 400,000, the governor of the surrounding Anbar province offers this advice: don't bother calling the police.
In Ramadi, it's local sheiks who more often get results. And with their blessing, the drive to recruit an effective police force is finally gaining steam.
Former officers and newcomers have signed up by the hundreds in the last two months, a windfall compared with similar efforts last year that produced on a handful of new police.
The sheiks "really opened the door to where we're at today," said Marine Maj. Robert Rice, who leads a U.S. team trying to rebuild the police in Anbar. "The challenge is we need to continue to engage the tribal leaders. We can't let them back off."
The police force in the Sunni-dominated city disintegrated last year in the wave of violence that has swept what many Iraqis consider the unofficial capital of the insurgency. Only the highway patrol functions, and all it does is keep tabs on the roads linking Baghdad with Jordan.
"If the person who got murdered is from a large tribe, the tribe will find justice for him. If he is from a small tribe, forget about it. Only God will help him," Anbar Gov. Maamoun Sami Rashid al-Alwani said. "The people who make the court system effective are not here. It is like a car without fuel."
The goal is to stabilize the provincial capital by getting cops back on their beats and deploying two brigades of about 5,000 Iraqi soldiers, one of which has slowly started to patrol small, outlying city districts on its own.
By year's end, the U.S. command hopes to have most of a 4,000 member police force working as part of the overall plan to draw down the American military presence.
Insurgents have sought to undermine the recruiting drive.
After sheiks endorsed the plan at a public meeting, a three-day police recruitment session in early January drew about 1,100 people.
But a suicide bomber stepped in line on Jan. 5 and killed about 60 people, including two U.S. troops. Three sheiks also were recently assassinated.
Fears the violence would scare away recruits calmed in recent weeks as U.S. police trainers saw nearly 3,000 former officers and recruits show up to apply for spots on the new force.
Hundreds of men also continued filing into the center earlier this month after insurgent snipers shot one man in the chest and fired mortars that did not cause injuries.
"That's what I've been expecting all day," Marine Capt. John LaJennesse said as mortar shrapnel clattered about 160 feet away and recruits crouched beside vehicles.
U.S. and Iraqi officials hope to create a force of about 11,300 policemen in cities across the vast province that stretches from the western outskirts of Baghdad to the Saudi, Jordanian and Syrian borders.
At one recruiting event, one young man said a strong desire to control the violence - and find a job - prompted him to walk to the center in a defunct glass factory next to a U.S. base with several relatives for protection.
"We have no jobs. Ninety percent of us who come to join the police are unemployed. We have children and families," Abdel Latif said as he signed up for the police force.
At another drive the following week, one recruit told U.S. soldiers that thousands more would have come had it not been for the suicide attack last month.
U.S. trainers said the force, once constituted, would need strength in numbers to be effective in face of the formidable insurgent threat.
"You can't push police out in the middle of a war zone. Granted, we push the envelope out here," said LaJennesse, who trains police and helped organize the drives in Ramadi. "The police can have an effect if they come back en masse, not if they come in dribbles and drabs."
Ramadi policemen will eventually face a city that remains difficult for even thousands of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers to control. However, U.S. trainers hope the police, mostly local residents, will provide much-needed tips and local intelligence.
"I don't need the police to go defeat (roadside bombs) - the Iraqi army or we can go do that. I need them to point out where they're at in the first place," Rice said.
Officials believe residents will respond better to a force of locals instead of Iraqi soldiers, most of whom come from Shiite areas of the country. Al-Alwani, the governor, said residents frequently complain that Iraqi soldiers have abused or mistreated them.
Finding enough policemen is not the only obstacle to security in the area. Questions about police loyalty to the new government - above tribal allegiance or sympathy for what is locally known as "the resistance" - remain a serious concern.
Corruption also complicates the task: the last provincial police chief was fired in the fall amid charges he was corrupt and working with insurgents.
"I'm sure we've accepted some (infiltrators) today," said LaJennesse. "The goal is to control it, minimize it, and give police the confidence to weed it out themselves."
Officials are crosschecking the new police rolls with U.S. and Iraq suspect lists and relying on local sheiks to point out known insurgents or possible infiltrators. In other Anbar cities like Khaldiyah, U.S. soldiers have said many captured insurgents were former police officers.
The U.S. police training infrastructure recently has been bolstered. Previously, a team of just nine Marines and seven civilian police trainers were tasked with rebuilding Anbar's police force outside Fallujah, Rice said. The incoming team has about 125 people. Three Ramadi police stations also are due to reopen in two to three months.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
03:00 ||
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#1
A teeny-tiny silver lining in an enormous cloud. Yep. Associated Press.
But it IS a silver lining!
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/22/2006 8:05
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#2
This really is slow, methodical nation building, and it does work. Ideally the mood it creates is one of continual, never-ending improvement--if you are not getting better then you are wrong.
We haven't heard from him since 2002 so I sorta hoped he'd met an untimely demise. No such luck it seems, but where's Sully? I've still got my seatbelt already to go ...
THE al-Qaeda network is waging jihad (holy war) in Afghanistan to restore the Islamist Taliban regime, a senior al-Qaeda operative said in an audiotape posted today on the Internet. "We, members of the al-Qaeda organisation, ... are currently waging jihad in Afghanistan alongside our brethren from the Taliban," Abu Laith al-Libi said in the recording, whose authenticity could not be independently confirmed.
Libi, a Libyan Islamist who joined the Afghan mujahedeen (fighters) in the 1980s, said the aim was "to defeat the occupier and the government it installed in Kabul, and to reinstate the Islamic state". The war was being waged "from bases inside Afghanistan against positions located deep inside Afghan territory", said Libi, believed to be an explosives and guerrilla warfare expert. According to Libi, the joint operations are being carried out by al-Qaeda and the Taliban "under the command of Mullah Saif al-Rahman al-Mansur". He was "a renowned leader in Afghanistan who occupied (public) posts and assumed responsibilities in the Islamic emirate" declared by the Taliban, Libi said. His remarks were recorded during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan last October. He surfaced in a recording aired on Saudi-owned MBC television in July 2002, saying at the time that al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar were "in good health".
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
02:57 ||
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As a furor erupted yesterday over the prospective takeover by a United Arab Emirates company of terminal operations at six major U.S. ports, officials from the company and the Bush administration scrambled to assuage fears that the deal would undermine security and anti-terrorism efforts at some of America's biggest maritime facilities.
Stewart A. Baker, assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security, said at a news conference yesterday that Dubai Ports World, which won a takeover battle for a British firm that now operates terminals in the ports, promised during an internal administration review that it would continue participating in security programs previously entered into with the U.S. government.
And Michael Seymour, head of North American operations for Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., the British firm being bought by the UAE firm, said the workers handling security in U.S. ports are supplied by longshoremen's unions -- an arrangement he said would remain in effect. "So it doesn't make any difference whether we are their employers, or other terminal operators are their employers," he said.
Those pledges did not quell the uproar in Congress, statehouses and city halls over the approval by an administration interagency task force of the $6.8 billion takeover of P&O by Dubai Ports World. Lawmakers, governors and mayors from both parties decried the decision, which would put the state-owned UAE company in charge of handling operations at terminals in Baltimore, Miami, New Jersey, New York, New Orleans and Philadelphia.
Although the deal has been approved by P&O shareholders, lawmakers threatened to pass legislation blocking it, and state and local officials suggested that they may refuse to allow their port facilities to be managed by the UAE firm.
But whatever happens, experts in port operations said they feared broader issues about security in the country's docks were being lost in the controversy over Dubai Ports World.
Stephen E. Flynn, a specialist in maritime security at the Council on Foreign Relations, noted that although the company is state-owned, several members of its top management are Americans -- including its general counsel, a senior vice president and its outgoing chief operating officer, Edward H. Bilkey, who is a former U.S. Navy officer. And since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the United States has increasingly depended on such foreign port operators to cooperate in inspecting cargo before it heads for U.S. shores.
"It's a global network at the end of the day that we're trying to secure here," Flynn said. "And that doesn't happen by the United States owning every bit of it. What we should be focusing on instead is the question, are the security standards adequate?"
Robert C. Bonner, who until November headed U.S. Customs and Border Protection, agreed. Although U.S. dock workers have occasionally been caught colluding with drug traffickers, the possibility that terrorists or their sympathizers would end up working in U.S. ports is remote because of the strong role of unions in hiring, he said.
"I think there's some specter that people from the Middle East are going to come over here and operate terminals," he said. "I don't think anything like that is going to happen."
Dubai Ports World is one of several foreign giants that operate terminals in ports around the globe; other big companies are from Denmark, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea. Few U.S. terminals are managed by American-owned firms.
The pending deal would make Dubai Ports World, which manages maritime facilities in Asia, Europe and Latin America, one of the three largest port operators in the world. At the Port of Baltimore, for example, it would take over operation of one of six terminals, where about 4 million tons of cargo carried on 371 vessels passed through last year, according to Richard Scher, a spokesman for the Maryland Port Administration.
Dubai Ports World differs from most foreign operators because of its state ownership. But if its takeover of P&O goes through, it would have to comply with the same security procedures in its U.S. facilities that other operators do.
Terminal operators typically lease facilities from a local port authority and are responsible for attracting shipping lines to use their terminal, where their main task is to move the thousands of containers that come in and out onto the right vessels, rail cars or trucks. In the process, they must maintain security at the facility, with the government providing backup and oversight.
At the Port of Seattle, for example, SSA Marine, the biggest U.S.-owned terminal operator, uses an X-ray machine to screen all the containers that come in, said Bob Watters, the company's vice president. Customs agents, who are supposed to receive advance notice of the cargo on incoming ships, have the right to open any container and inspect the contents; such procedures are conducted on about 5 percent of all containers nationwide. "We also have overall security plans that we have to develop and have vetted by the U.S. Coast Guard," Watters said.
Critics voiced strong doubts about whether the existing procedures are commensurate with the threat. "There are not enough Customs and Border Protection inspectors at the nation's ports to handle the incoming traffic that we have now, and our guys at the ports are being told that they can't do any overtime," said Charles Showalter, president of the American Federation of Government Employees union, which represents officers who inspect ships. "That combination often results in uninspected ships being left unattended in port overnight."
Concerns over insufficient inspectors worry many security experts far more than the issue of who owns the companies managing the terminals.
Flynn cited a litany of unsettling practices, such as the lack of any screening for the thousands of truck drivers, many of whom are immigrants, hauling containers from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., to railway lines.
"What I hope for out of this whole debate is that, as Americans suddenly realize most of our marine terminals are managed by foreign-owned companies, they ask, given that that's a reality, how do we secure it?" Flynn said. "I also hope this current situation doesn't lead to a feeding frenzy [against foreign operators], because if we want things to be secure over here, we're going to have to work with foreign counterparts."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
02:40 ||
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#1
Flynn said. "I also hope this current situation doesn't lead to a feeding frenzy [against foreign operators], because if we want things to be secure over here, we're going to have to work with foreign counterparts."
Well Flynn - Your nightmare is going to come true. With the outsourcing and the border issues and the illegal aliens and the Fortune 500 not paying taxes... this is going to be the straw breaking the camels back. I may be wrong but I don't think so.
#3
I didn't (and don't) think this is a big deal, 'cuz the work will still be done by Joey and Guido, not Mahmoud and Abdulazziz, but I heard Jimmy Carter doesn't see anything wrong with it, and now ... the Post?
Maybe I should rethink this.....
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/22/2006 7:02
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#4
It is a BIG deal Bobby. It is just one more step in the blurring of the lines. One more step towards the erasing of sovergnty (sp?) and implementation of OWG!
The story says there are lots of Americans on the senior staff...I say BFD. American Ports need to be operated by American Companies staffed by Americans. What's next, we turn the Federal Reserve Bank over to the Chinese?
These people at the top are all traitors in my book.
#5
"It's a global network at the end of the day that we're trying to secure here," Flynn said. "And that doesn't happen by the United States owning every bit of it.
He's right.
These people at the top are all traitors in my book
Nope. They're trying to navigate through changing waters in a world that IS globalized.
You don't like some of the changes - I hear you on that. Neither do the Muslim cultures that no longer can keep out Beyonce and Barbie dolls and Muhammad cartoons. Neither do the European labor unions that are finding their cozy protectionist industries under seige.
We need to find ways to make it work for us because it will NOT go away - not unless the whole world economy collapses into a Dark Age.
And don't kid yourself - that's not an impossible scenario.
Posted by: too true ||
02/22/2006 7:26
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BTW, check out the comments at Gateway Pundit on the proposed port contract. Here's one excerpt:
Former InstaPundit Afghanistan Correspondent John Tammes emailed Glenn Reynolds:
I managed some cooperative efforts with the UAE Special Forces troops stationed at Bagram. They did some patrols in the area I was responsible for, and more importantly, they did some humanitarian assistance missions. The Afghans absolutely loved the UAE troops. They were thrilled to have SOMEBODY from the Arab world (besides our excellent Egyptian hospital) come out and HELP, rather than hinder.
We had a lot of supplies come from UAE based concerns too - if they were good enough to serve along side us in the field, and good enough to supply bottled water, food and the like to our troops..well, that sure sounds like a friendly nation to me
Are you indicating that you're Italian, or just pulling your pud?
I'm not suggesting that the US have control over the whole world, just our own ports. I didn't like the fact that the Brits were managing our ports either.
American ports should be managed by American companies and the profits should be kept here! Period!
Offshore ownership is why I do not buy Chrysler products, Wild Turkey, Cadr and Driver and a whole host of other former US owned companies products. Profits going offshore folks, think about it.
#13
NF, there's no such thing as "profits being kept here". We're part of a global economy.
Our Treasury Bills and Bonds are owned around the world and we own factories, companies, government bonds from other places as well. We buy and sell all sorts of things from all sorts of places all of the time.
That Chrysler you won't buy was ASSEMBLED here by UAW members. When you don't buy one, they don't get paid.
Security is definitely a serious concern with our ports today. But that is truly a separate issue from who owns the management company.
Posted by: too true ||
02/22/2006 8:59
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#14
The failure of vision is the assumption that the people have to buy into totally free (no rules) global trade. It easy to buy into when you have never been hurt by it.
As an engineer who has been laid off for 3 years, told in the exit interview I would be replaced by 5 Indian and 2 Singapore engineers, rated by the government as loosing my job to outsourcing, and basicly now screwed on age - I call foul!
#15
Dubai Ports World is one of several foreign giants that operate terminals in ports around the globe; other big companies are from Denmark, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea. Few U.S. terminals are managed by American-owned firms.
I say we go with the Danish company...ya know, just for moral support, lol! Seriously, the more I hear about this, the more I see it as a non-issue. Security still ran the same way (basically), the unions still manning the place, etc. However, THIS is NOT the issue that Bush should (finally) threaten veto on. He's gonna lose a lot of votes, just on principle for this one!
Posted by: BA ||
02/22/2006 10:25
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#16
Doom, Gloom, Democrat
good God, Nuck - you are one wallowing individual. Stay away from knives and sharp objects. And stay away from me, you are depressing just to be near.
#18
"Offshore ownership is why I do not buy Chrysler products, Wild Turkey, Cadr and Driver and a whole host of other former US owned companies products. Profits going offshore folks, think about it."
cause like profits are just a tax, a form of exploitation, and not actually a return on capital and risk. And to think they call Dems Marxists!!!!
#19
I started out thinking this was a non-issue. When queried on it by a regular RBer, I surmised that, on balance, it was probably a bad idea, just cuz they are Muzzies and eventually something bad would come of it. But, the more I read and think about it, well, it has dawned on me that it has precisely ZERO effect on the security of the ports in question. ZERO. As the man said in the article:
...the workers handling security in U.S. ports are supplied by longshoremen's unions -- an arrangement he said would remain in effect. "So it doesn't make any difference whether we are their employers, or other terminal operators are their employers,"
Why all the hubbub? Politics. Pure, 100%, partisan politics.
And here's the pain:
Those who are frothing about it are either:
1) assholes seeking political points
2) book-peddling shitheads like fuckwit over at JihadWatch who regularly squirts out litters of kittens over anything and everything that he thinks will make him seem more knowledgable... prolly looking for a job in the next admin... and to sell more books, of course
3) well, just embarrassing for not reading and comprehending what people who actually know what the fuck they're talking about say: it's irrelevant
Here we have the perfect article to change such attitudes, and still we see the frothy posts. Hey, it's no compliment to be a dupe or a tool or simply ignorant of the facts about how the world outside your bubble works and be unwilling to change - facts be damned - when they are right in front of you.
That's just embarrassing - or should be. Aw well, fuck it.
#20
On the other hand, this is a royal cluster-fubar and it is primarily Bush's fault. If Rove were the evil genius he is purported to be, this would have been handled much better. Sometimes Bush is really tone deaf, and this is one of them. Harriet Miers II.
#21
This little tempest might be used contructively...
Maybe we use it as a cudgel to demand equality across the board regards company ownership, land ownership, etc. I do not know the UAE laws, but I'll bet they're similar to the Saudis: no company can do biz in Saudi unless it's (at least) 51% Saudi owned. This, and land ownership (think Mexico), and other restrictions placed on non-citizens by other countries shouldn't be tolerated. Maybe we start implementing rules that correspond with what American firms and people face... It is imminently defensible and would be a boon to the US economy as well as to US individuals.
#22
Yeah, it's just too bad, though, that an American company can't step up with the cash for the deal--just talking business-wise.
I think it's a funny thing, though, that the Dems first say, "there's no Moslem problem" and now with the port question/confusion, it's "we can't let them have control over the ports--those bastard Moslems."
I have a thought, though. If the ports are owned by UAE, can't UAE change management protocols in terms of who they hire/fire, and EVENTUALLY make some inroads (if motivated by the wrong entities) to weaken homeland security? Say, ten years down the road? No disrespect for the unions, but eveyone has a price, and the idea that safeguards could potentially be bought out is unnerving to me, and seems a tad bit more likely if the owner (of the port operations) is another country.
#25
Ships come in, dock. Unload containers as fast as they can, load outboud containers as fast as they can. Sail away. Truckers and trains pick up arrived containers, deliver exports. What's hard?
The assumption is that as the Arabs buy the operating contract for the port and equipment, install Arabs as CFO, CIO, and treasurer they can now significantly improve the ability of al-Qaeda to deliver a nuke in a container.
The nuke in a container is a real threat. Why or how the CFO, CIO and treasurer will marginally improve al-Q's ability to deliver said nuke-in-a-box with the USCG and TSA looking over their shoulders at all times is never made clear to me. The threat exists and must be dealt with independent of who gets the profits from the port.
#26
The port ops and management company will handle decisions like what equipment to place on what pier, hours of operation, berthing charges, etc. based on what is allowed by the Port itself.
The Port, not only sets limits on what the ops and management company can and can't do but also, as noted above, the TSA, CoEngineers, Coast Guard, etc. also have regulations and the like. In addition, the States themselves regulate certain things.
Yes it is true that two of the 9-11 terrorists were UAE citizens. Yes it is true that Ports are potential terrorism gateways.
But it is also true that, with their ownership of the Ops and Management company, the UAE has an increment of additional incentive to keep terrorism away from Ports because if they don't, the security regs increase and that hurts the bottom line.
and by the way, Johns Hopkins Med Center is getting a contract to manage a hospital in the UAE.
#27
Additionally, little or no mention has been made regards the US's efforts under the Bush admin to go to the source ports and do legwork there. IINM, we have agreements at many of the major ports, Singapore being a huge example, where we are part of the security apparatus THERE that works to prevent suspicious cargo destined for a US port to escape examination.
#28
"Ships come in, dock. Unload containers as fast as they can, load outboud containers as fast as they can. Sail away. Truckers and trains pick up arrived containers, deliver exports. What's hard?"
FU, "Nimble" (you're not).
THANK YOU, mhw and .com. Good point about allowing greater supervisory/incentive aspects, and thanks for the mini-lesson on how the port operations are set up.
There is another story on the boards today regarding the UAE, and their support against Islamic terrorists. Awarding the business contract to UAE is perhaps an intelligent move politically.
#30
Oh, I feel SO put down now, Nimble, and YOU are such a big, powerful guy. Just gives me shivers. Gee, I never thought about ports the way YOU described. It took me a really, really, really, really long time to even come close to understanding what you were saying--and you were SO right to chide me about it. I mean, what IS so hard to understand about ships coming in and being unloaded. Heh-heh. Silly me. I hope you can teach me all kinds of important stuff in the days ahead.
My apologies if you mistook my FU for an explitive mistakenly aimed at what someone else said was a flip attitude on your part (see why I shouln't listen to other people?) I only meant "Friends United." Ooops. I guess you probably did too. My mistake again.
#34
thats the 64 million dollar question, aint it mhw? To me all Americans (other than a few raving loonies) are, and so are most Europs, Israelis, Aussies, Canadians, etc. And a large minority of muslims as well. And most govts in the muslim world (though some like UAE are not a real intense shade of blue, even if bluer than KSA) To others the blue team is the Republican Party of the United States. End, full stop.
#35
Ignore the mayhem and the insanity and the evidence. Ignore everything which doesn't fit nicely and comfortably into your selected (not elected) persona.
Sniff.
I think I'm gonna cry, lh. I need a big hug.
Somehow, I think that the content and means of message delivery need to be sorted here. Sounding reasonable does not make the message correct.
#36
C'mon, everybody! Group hug! Then we sing Kumbayah...
Posted by: Dar ||
02/22/2006 13:31
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#37
To complete #35...
A message delivered in a manner lh deems intemperate does not negate the message.
Were lh's people in charge from 2000 forward, the Taleban would still be killing uppity women in the soccer stadium, providing the cover available to a state to OBL's minions coming out of the far more numerous training camps, etc, not to mention that Saddam and his spawn would still be running the woodchipper and dreaming of gassing the Kurds again.
Your comment on who is blue and isn't, raises a very interesting question. Why are we so alarmed about a UAE company getting this? What about the prior British operator? Do we not jokingly refer to "Londonistan"? The Islamist operative can come at us from any direction. Yes, giving port operations over to a UAE firm doesn't pass the sniff test, but I'm not sure giving it back to a wholly U.S. firm would make a difference in this regards.
This is truly a complex web we are left to unweave. Or cut through.
#39
Did any of you "No Foreign Ownership" guys note that the ports are now owned by the British?
Hardly a "Local" issue, it's not American owned now.
I say let whoever has the money, own the ports, I'm certain that NO overseas owners would ever let any dangerous contaband (Such as Nukes) in anywhere, there's just entirely too much to lose to allow it.(Everything you own, all your holdings everywhere, all your cash, then we hunt you down and kill you)
No, it's not a terrorism issue, just a Democrat scare-the-sheep-to-death issue.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/22/2006 14:14
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#40
"Were lh's people in charge from 2000 forward, the Taleban would still be killing uppity women in the soccer stadium, providing the cover available to a state to OBL's minions coming out of the far more numerous training camps, etc, not to mention that Saddam and his spawn would still be running the woodchipper and dreaming of gassing the Kurds again."
I dont think any conceivable US admin wouldnt have taken on the Taliban. Theyd be history with Gore in the WH. Though I'll freely admit it might not have been done as deftly. THAT campaign was masterful - and Rummy deserves credit for it.
I would have thought the pre-2000 Gore would have gone into Iraq too, based on the fact that almost everybody whom he was close to supported OIF, and his running mate is still the Dem who gets quoted by Bush on the situation in Iraq. But Gore changed dramatically afterward - how much was reaction to the 2000 election, and how much a reaction to his (paleoliberal) fathers death, and his renunciation of his mentor (hawkish Martin Peretz) I dont really know. If Gore were Prez Saddam probably would still be in power. But then with Gores change he ceased being one of "my people" (ie liberalhawks)
#41
When someone (me) happens to ask an honest question regarding the operations of the ports, in order to understand the issue better, and is met with a nasty little flip answer such as Nimble's, then Nimble will be dealth with accordingly.
mhw and .com answered the question in a helpful way. The UAE would be a useful ally, and in terms of business, it's fine for them to purchase from the Brits, IMO. Besides, we already use them as a naval parking lot. Security is, and will continue to be, our responsibility--and as .com says, the sale allows us greater access to assess the security on the other side.
#42
I agree that the Dems are using the sale as an easy way to scare Americans into their camp, because most of don't really understand how the ports operate--hence, my question.
#46
So Muslims can't own ports (which would still be managed locally) because it's a security risk, but it's un-American to give them extra scrutiny in airport security screenings.
I say congress should pass a bill blocking the acquisition, with a rider that "Islamic security profiling" will be allowed until the Islamist share of worldwide terrorist attacks drops below 99.99%.
#47
Limbaugh is reporting that the Longshoreman's Union people are worried that the modernization of the ports (as the UAE will do) would cost them jobs. Since the Dems get a lot of money from the unions . . .
#46 The assertion is not that muslims shouldnt own ports, but that a mideastern govt which, it is claimed, has supported terror in the past, cant own ports. Not saying I agree, but its not the same thing.
#51
I guess change is very hard for me.
It just seems that american ports, need to be managed by our own.
The issues are should we grant the UAE access to sensitive information and management plans about our key U.S. ports, which are plenty insecure enough without adding new risks, and whether the decision process was thorough and free from conflicts of interest.
From the 1970s, the UAE has been a key source of financial support for Saudi-controlled organizations like the Islamic Solidarity Fund, the Islamic Development Bank, World Council of Mosques, and the Muslim World League as documented in The Muslim World League Journal, an English-language monthly. The IDB alone, for instance, spent $10 billion between 1977 and 1990 for Islamic activities and at least $1 billion more recently to support terrorist activities by the Palestinian Al Aqsa and Intifada Funds.
Follow the money
Posted by: Jan ||
02/22/2006 16:20
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#52
Well, after reading the posts and linked stories at LGF - and Malkin - and Lileks - sheesh! - it's all about PR and image. Sigh. Dunno what Bush should do now, but the original charges were not factual... absurd and emotional and [insert drum roll here] political BS. Wotta surprise.
but no American Ports will be owned by any foreign company.
The ownership of the ports is complicated, sometimes it is a state chartered consortia; sometimes it is a public/private partnership governed by various State laws, sometimes, it is a state agency.
The screwy nature of the ownership and the risks involved (regulatory uncertainty, competition between ports, etc.) is what makes American companies avoid the biz.
#54
Excuse the length -- but this is from fromerspook -- In from the Cold (great background info on the UAE region and our military)
So why not cancel the deal, and avoid giving the left some badly-needed, election year ammunition in the political battle of homeland security? Unless the deal is scrapped, the administration will find itself in the akward position of appearing weaker on port security than, say, Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer. At this point, one would assume that GOP powerbrokers are leaning on the White House to cancel the agreement.
But it's not that simple. Cancelling the port deal could mean the end of U.S. basing rights in the UAE, strained relations with other regional partners, and the potential loss of a key defense contract, all viewed as critical in fighting the War on Terror. Collectively, those factors probably explain why the deal hasn't already been nixed, and why the Bush Administration may put up a fight--even with political allies.
Let's beging with the basing rights issue. U.S. military forces--particularly Air Force units--have been using airfields in the UAE since the start of Operation Desert Shield back in 1990. Bases in the UAE are viewed as particularly important for potential military operations against Iran, given their proximity to disputed islands the Persian Gulf, and the Strait of Hormuz. Flying from bases in the UAE, U.S. fighter-bombers would have only a short hop to targets in Iran, allowing them to maintain constant pressue on Tehran's military forces and political leadership. The presence of large numbers of tactical aircraft in the UAE would also make it easier to keep the strait open, and reduce Iran's ability to restrict the flow of oil to the global market. If the White House cancels the port deal, Dubai may end its basing agreement, and greatly complicate our military strategy in the region.
Overturning the port deal could also create other problems in the Persian Gulf. Cancellation of the contract would be viewed as an insult to the UAE and its leadership; regional critics would accuse the U.S. of hypocrisy--anxious to utilize UAE bases and sell its defense hardware to the Dubai, but unwilling to let a UAE company manage operations in U.S. ports. Such criticism, in turn, would cause other Gulf allies to question Washington's long-term committment to the region, and make it more difficult for the U.S. to sustain basing rights in such countries as Qatar and Bahrain. In fact, the loss of basing in the UAE would probably force the U.S. to approach Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain to take in more U.S. personnel, a potentially tough sell in the wake of a cancelled port deal between the Dubai and Washington. U.S. basing in Qatar is viewed as extremely critical, since the Gulf nation is home to a multi-billion dollar Air Operations Center, that is used to direct combat operations in the region.
Finally, striking down the port deal would mean likely curtailment of the sale of U.S. F-16s to the UAE. Back in the late 1990s, the Clinton Administration signed an agreement to sell 80 F-16s to the UAE, at a cost of roughly $8 billion. The UAE F-16s (Block 60 models) are most sophisticated version of that fighter ever produced, with capabilities beyond those of USAF F-16s. Sale of the F-16s was viewed as essential in continuing U.S. basing agreements in the UAE, and a major economic plum for the state of Texas, where Lockheed-Martin builds the F-16. The UAE deal came at a time when F-16 production was winding down; the U.S. and other countries had essentially completed their purchase of the F-16, and the assembly line was facing closure until the UAE deal came along. Lockheed hopes the UAE contract can stimulate other F-16 purchases, possibly by other Gulf States or possibly India. In economic terms, the UAE F-16 deal means literally billions of dollars and thousands of jobs in the President's home state.
Brit Hume of FNC has predicted that the White House will quietly cancel the UAE port deal a few weeks from now, after the initial furor has died down. But I'm not so sure. The military stakes are enormous, and the economic consequences (through the F-16 sale) are significant as well. Cancelling the port deal may solve political and security issues here at home, but it will also create significant problems in the gulf region, at a time the White House can ill afford them. It's a tough call, but one the President has to make--and soon.
#55
Cancelling anything to make the Dems quiet is to be avoided. Let 'em stew. I'm waiting for the libs to start up with the "Muslims are a risk" talk so the ACLU can sue them. There's potential popcorn here, as hinted at in post #22.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/22/2006 17:16
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#56
Sherry, excellent ! Also, in the event of an attack on Iran, the UAE will be ground zero for an Iranian retaliation. That is a lot to ask a country in which one in eighty is a millionair.
These people are gambling here. They are gambling that the US and 21st century lifestyle are the winners in the big contest against the 8th century. Who among us would abandon them ?
#57
Is there any proof what so ever to suggest that this deal would threaten national security? Because theyre an Arab company you say? Cmon folks throw me a frikken bone. This is grandstanding politics pure and simple. Seems to me its just another wrinkle in the same ole sphincter. Some Republicans have voiced their concern so as not to appear weak on national security. Others have a constituency that has ports in their backyard and make it politically mandatory for them to question this deal. As for Democrats, this is just an angle for some to exploit the Bush Administrations inadequate funding of port security. For most its the next scandal de jour. Just another issue to extrapolate into the ongoing culture of corruption narrative. Just look how this story is no longer about security and has morphed into Secret nature of the foreign acquisition process, Executive Branch didnt consult the Legislative Branch, and Bush in bed with the Arabs...
#59
Is the problem the UAE or is the problem trusting our own government? With the revelation that an FBI field office had detected what would turn out to be the 9/11 threat with various members of the cell training at flight schools and the inaction and obstruction by the FBI bureaucracy, do we feel safe? When Pearl Harbor happened, Admiral Kimmel and General Short were publicly relieved of command and subjected to intense scrutiny for their actions and inactions leading to the disaster. Those responsible in the FBI establishment were not subjected to similar treatment. Rituals have values. Not necessarily in and of themselves, but in the message they convey to the participants and audience. The failure to engage in a ritualistic process of holding such officials publicly accountable for the event leaves many of us with serious misgivings that institutional behaviors are tolerated which resulted in the 9/11 disaster. That such institutions will again fail because the message is that failure isnt accompanied by serious consequences for those involved. I believe the president is about to pay for the failure to publicly clean house years ago
The story here is about Border/Port security. The Federal governmnet is responsible for that and has and is doing a crappy job. Running Ports operations is not security. Security is securing every border and searching every cargo container, box and suitcase that enters the US. Customs and the INS are not going to do that so please get distracted with this non issue. Port Opetrations are about where to berth vessles and unloading cargos. The Dems and Republicans are not going to do anything about the real government job of securing the border and checking cargos and collecting all the tarrifs that are due and impounding illegal cargos. This is a total distraction from reality.
#63
#54. You bring up some really good points. Too bad! If the folks that floated this initially had been earning their money, they would have told the UAE:"Sorry! This isn't a political possibility right now, blah-blah-blah, Insh'Allah!".
This is also not a Repub/Demo thing. I'm conservative, so are most of the folks I know, but, even the libs I know think this is a bad idea.
#65
interesting list on Polipundit (thx DJ Drummond!)of ports by tonnage:
There are 361 seaports in the United States. The Top 25 by freight weight (2003) are in the following locations (tonnage in short tons):
South Louisiana, LA (198.8 Million Tons)
Houston, TX (190.9 Million Tons)
New York, NY-NJ (145.9 Million Tons)
Beaumont, TX (87.5 Million Tons)
New Orleans, TX (83.8 Million Tons)
Huntington, WV (77.6 Million Tons)
Corpus Christi, TX (77.2 Million Tons)
Long Beach, CA (69.2 Million Tons)
Texas City, TX (61.3 Million Tons)
Baton Rouge, LA (61.3 Million Tons)
Plaquemines, LA (55.9 Million Tons)
Lake Charles, LA (53.4 Million Tons)
Los Angeles, CA (51.3 Million Tons)
Mobile, AL (50.2 Million Tons)
Valdez, AK (49.9 Million Tons)
Tampa, FL (48.3 Million Tons)
Pittsburgh, PA (41.7 Million Tons)
Baltimore, MD (40.2 Million Tons)
Duluth-Superior, MN-WI (38.3 Million Tons)
Philadelphia, PA (33.2 Million Tons)
St. Louis, MO-IL (32.4 Million Tons)
Pascagoula, MS (31.3 Million Tons)
Norfolk Harbor, VA (31.2 Million Tons)
Freeport, TX (30.5 Million Tons)
Portland, ME (29.2 Million Tons)
Of these, Peninsular & Oriental navigation (P&O Ports) has part or whole ownership of the operating leases in eleven of the top U.S. ports. P&O Ports is a British company based in London, which has part or whole ownership in 85 seaports worldwide. And P&O Ports has decided to divest itself of about half of its U.S. seaport investment. Why?
Because seaports are expensive and sometimes difficult to run. American seaports often have environmental and operational restrictions which annoy the lease owners and chase away capital investment. The whole reason for the leases, in actual fact, is that there are four classes of people working through the ports:
· Ship owners and operators, who want to move freight
· Property owners, who often build warehouses near the port facilities
· The Port Authority for each port; and
· Operations Management companies
At the risk of sounding trite, port operation is not all that different from running a very large grocery operation you have to move a lot of items, some fragile, some time-sensitive, some just plain difficult to move, in a very short frame of time. You have to keep ship traffic flowing and you have to keep all kinds of inspectors and officials happy. And no one pays any attention to you, unless and until something goes wrong.
I suspect this was how the deal was pitched to the President as a change only in operational management, with no change at all in the substance. The Department of Homeland Security still holds authority for security, with the Coast Guard and the Customs Service as the first responders to any concerns, regardless of who holds the operations lease. The individual ports each also stipulate conditions for ship traffic, cargo documentation and handling, and these are based on long experience and attention to practical feasibility.
I like DJ's logic
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/22/2006 18:55
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#66
The president may also have been reminded of the high value of our military basing rights in UAE.
#68
We need an owner operator who is union friendly and understands the special relationship the longshoremen have with the Blackhand IWWCommunist Sociaist Workers Democratic Party
#69
CL - No way am I taking any credit except for trying to think it through sans an prior assumptions - so the BS aspect would be easier to identify, lol.
Lots of people that I respect are against this - and that certainly gives me pause, but they are playing the political buzz - so it doesn't change the outcome for me.
LOL....
Tommy Franks just told Sean Hannity that it's all politics. Whew! I gots cover, baby! ;-)
Hopes of a compromise deal on Irans nuclear programme faded yesterday as Russian and Iranian negotiators ended two days of talks with few signs of progress.
Russia wants Iran to move its uranium enrichment work to Russian soil to allay Western fears that Tehran is secretly developing a nuclear bomb. Iran refuses to accept the condition that it should reinstate the freeze on uranium enrichment on its own territory that it broke last month.
Both sides agreed to continue their discussions when Sergei Kiriyenko, Russias atomic chief, visits Iran tomorrow, but diplomats said that that left little time before a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency on March 6. That meeting could start a process leading to Irans punishment by the UN Security Council.
Russia is building Irans first nuclear power plant and stands to lose billions of dollars if sanctions are imposed on Iran. President Putin also hopes to score diplomatic points by defusing the crisis in Russias first year as president of the G8 group of leading industrial powers.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
02:34 ||
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#1
By my Iraeli calendar, the mooks in Iran only have a week left to come up with something acceptable.
The French interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, yesterday described the abduction, torture and killing of a young Jewish man as an anti-Semitic crime, amid growing anger at the brutal murder.
Mr Sarkozy told the French parliament that the gang sought for the murder of Ilan Halimi, 23, whose naked body was found by railway tracks eight days ago, three weeks after he had disappeared, had also tried to kidnap other Jews.
The police, who found literature linking some of the suspects to Palestinian and Muslim groups, have insisted the murder was motivated by greed - the gang had demanded a ransom - and not religious motives.
Mr Sarkozy told MPs: "The truth is that these crooks acted primarily for sordid and vile motives, to get money, but they were convinced that 'the Jews have money', and if those they kidnapped didn't have money, their family and their community would come up with it.
"That's called anti-Semitism by amalgam."
He added that four of the six other people the gang had approached and tried to kidnap "were of the Jewish faith" and described the criminals as "barbaric".
The judge overseeing the inquiry into the murder has instructed investigators to look into anti-Semitic motives in the cases of seven of the 13 suspects arrested.
Mr Sarkozy added: "We have a duty to the memory of Ilan Halimi, to his family, his parents, his friends and above all, all the Jews of France, to establish the truth."
Ilan Halimi was snatched on January 21. A young woman, suspected as acting as a lure, has since given herself up. His family received numerous ransom demands. He was found, with 80% of his body burned, naked and handcuffed on February 13. He died on the way to hospital.
Mr Sarkozy said he was releasing details of the inquiry but he hoped they would not arouse hate or fear. "What we don't need now, in addition to this barbarity, is misunderstanding, intolerance and racism," he said.
France's Jewish community numbers around 600,000, the Muslim community around five million, both the largest in Europe.
Two French police officers flew to Ivory Coast yesterday on the trail of Youssef Fofana, the suspected gang leader who had reportedly flown back to his native country after the murder. According to police, Mr Fofana had called himself the "brain of the barbarians".
Police had earlier insisted the murder was not anti-Semitic, but the victim's mother Ruth Halimi accused them of ignoring this motive for fear of upsetting Muslim opinion. She told the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz that if her son "hadn't been Jewish, he wouldn't have been killed". "We told the police there were at least three attempted kidnappings of young Jews but they kept insisting that the motives were purely criminal."
Jean-Claude Marin, the Paris public prosecutor, told Le Monde yesterday: "When the legal case was opened the anti-Semitic nature of the crime did not come up at all.
"Then, during the weekend, certain people interviewed let it be known, in an indirect way, that the choice of a Jew guaranteed the payment of a ransom. The judge therefore considered that there was possibly an anti-Semitic motive."
According to Le Parisien the woman who had tried to lure two men into the gang's clutches admitted to police that she was instructed to target Jewish men. "In the heads of these youngsters the [Jewish] community had the solidarity to rapidly collect a ransom. The gang wanted money so they went out to get it where they thought they'd find it," a source close to the inquiry told the newspaper.
When the kidnapped man's family told the gang they could not find the 450,000 (£315,000) they had demanded they were told to "go and ask in the synagogues", the newspaper added.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
02:32 ||
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#1
Actually, Sarko said it was "antisemitism by amalgam" (IE the motive itself was not antisemitism, but there was a "cultural background" of antisemitism to this crime), there is a nuance, Sarko is very good at double-talk, so the denial is still there...
80% of kidnap/ransom attempts aimed at jews, links with terror-funding islamic charities (affiliated with the french MB, official major player in "french islam"), salafist literature, blind and deaf neighbours (Ilan was held captive and tortured for 3 weeks in the projects),... but the Powers-That-Be still want to keep it quiet.
Indonesia is working to uproot militant Islamic ideas but officials and moderate clerics say they face a long struggle, while also coping with setbacks such as anger over cartoons that lampooned the Prophet Mohammad.
In November, Indonesian police discovered videos showing three young suicide bombers using Islam to justify attacks on restaurants in Bali that killed 20 people the previous month.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the videos showed radical ideas had penetrated deep into Indonesia's Muslim community. He ordered Muslim clerics who had been reluctant to criticize militancy to speak up.
Three months later, a team of top Islamic clerics and scholars set up after Kalla's concerns has had some successes.
"We are trying to embrace all, the soft and the hardline, to keep them away from violent acts. Some have resisted, but we have been largely effective in cleansing the general understanding (of militancy)," said Ma'ruf Amin, who heads the team.
"But terrorists are still looking for recruits while we are deflecting their influence. If they succeed, they won't get 10 followers but thousands."
The team has been to Islamic boarding schools across the world's most populous Muslim nation, including some accused of fanning militancy, and convinced some hardline clerics to tone down their rhetoric, said Amin.
Such schools were seen as off limits until discovery of the videos and the intervention of Kalla, who has strong Muslim credentials and is unlikely to be accused of attacking Islam.
The team will also publish books for schools that set out why the use of violence in Indonesia cannot be justified under Islam.
Moderate cleric Ali Maschan Moesa said he had toiled to shield pupils of his Islamic school in East Java, the country's political heartland, from the temptation of radicals.
"There are groups that have twisted the meaning of jihad for their political gain. They are intensifying the agenda to create an Islamic state here," said Moesa, a senior member of the 40 million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia's largest mainstream Muslim group.
Jihad means "struggle" in Arabic but Islamic militants and some non-Muslims link it to warfare.
Moesa felt his version of jihad and other moderate teachings had sometimes failed to find an audience among disenfranchised Muslim youth, politicians and the media.
"How can we stop the wave of radicalism if (moderates) are disregarded," he said.
He is not alone. The leader of Indonesia's second biggest Muslim organization, the 30 million-strong Muhammadiyah, has also chastised the media and some officials for giving radicals too much airtime and room to move.
Hardliners have been energized by publication of cartoons denigrating the Prophet Mohammad, first printed in Denmark last year and then by other European newspapers. The cartoons have angered Muslims across the world.
"Radicals are getting their second wind. The cartoon row has added a burden on the clerics who are trying to defuse radical ideas," Ansyaad Mbai, a top counter-terrorism official in Jakarta, told Reuters.
"The reason why the radical propaganda is effective is because they say the West is against Islam. These cartoons give them a kind of vindication and this is troubling our mainstream clerics who are advocating tolerance."
Protests against the cartoons sparked violence in Indonesia and prompted Danish embassy staff to leave.
Government officials, politicians and leaders of moderate Muslim groups in Indonesia have condemned the cartoons while urging that protests be peaceful.
However, they have been cautious in attacking those responsible for the violence, with some officials saying such acts were spontaneous.
"We need to avoid provocation ... Remember, we don't recognize (the labels of) radicals and moderates," parliament speaker Agung Laksono said when asked what should be done to the radical groups.
Analysts say many Indonesian public figures, especially those without strong Muslim credentials like Laksono, are reluctant to step into any debate that could give the impression they are trying to create a rift over Islam.
Hence, Mbai said the ideological war was far from over.
"We still have a long way to go and we need to work hard. One wrong move and the government will be seen as the enemy of the religion," the police general said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
02:31 ||
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A University of Memphis student arrested last September with a pilot's uniform and other flight-training materials in his apartment was preparing for a terrorist attack on the United States, new documents in the case allege. Mahmoud Maawad was charged with wire fraud and using a false Social Security number, but authorities now say he was visiting online chatrooms and Web sites supporting radical Sunni Muslim organizations and Al Queda leaders in Iraq.
They said an examination of his computer also showed Maawad had searched the Internet for how guns and bombs could be smuggled through airport magnetometers and had used key words such as "car bomb" in other searches. "It is the United States' position that Mr. Maawad's motivation for fraudulent obtaining the flight training materials is because he was either planning or participating in a potential terrorist event inside the United States," Asst. U.S. Atty. Steve Parker wrote.
Parker declined comment Tuesday. Maawad, who is being held without bond, is scheduled for trial next month.
FBI agents raided the Egyptian student's campus apartment at 3557 Mynders No. 5 last Sept. 9, and found a pilot's uniform, a chart of Memphis International Airport, documents of Western Union transfers to and from Maawad, and instructional DVDs such as "Ups and Downs of Takeoffs and Landings" and "How an Airline Captain Should Look and Act."
Good gawd, don't tell me that manuals with those titles actually exist!
He has been in the United States illegally since 1999 and has used a phony Social Security number to open bank accounts and enroll in schools, Parker said soon after the arrest.
According to the indictment, between June 24 and Aug. 6 last year Maawad made 12 purchases totaling $3,544.78 via the Internet from Sporty's U.S.A., a pilot shop just east of Cincinnati. Newly disclosed evidence in the case includes printouts of chatroom discussions on a Web site with an opening message that thanks Allah "for all your Jihad" and says Iraq is "standing alone in the face of the Zionist crusader aggression." An entry posted by Mahmoud Maawad reads, "i union with you and i completely agree."
Also included are e-mails in which the Transportation Security Administration denied permission for Maawad to receive flight training and told him it would be a criminal offense to seek training without TSA approval. Authorities said Maawad replied with an "angry response stating he would violate the law."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
02:28 ||
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#1
If we can't kill him outright, put this boyo in Gitmo and melt the key.
Posted by: mac ||
02/22/2006 5:28
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#2
Just thinkin' about the search terms on *my* computer...
Posted by: too true ||
02/22/2006 10:13
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#6
Maawad needs to be forced to lead point in an IED detection team in Iraq, handcuffed and shackled with a transmitter/trigger on his belt
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/22/2006 10:23
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#7
Another case of an ILLEGAL immigrant here in the States plotting against us. That's the main difference in wiretapping to me. Here ILLEGALLY? NSA can tap away, in my book.
Posted by: BA ||
02/22/2006 11:07
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Well, Berserk has a point. Without Maawad's access to the internet, they wouldn't have caught him, but B: no one's griping about it, so what's your problem?
#9
Mine was posted toward Sea's #2, ex-lib. No problem here, but I see these cases being USED against us by the MSM on the NSA/wiretapping brewhaha. Just makin' a note, is all!
Posted by: BA ||
02/22/2006 13:17
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#10
Google is your friend and should be available to everyone, regardless of nationality, and should stay that way. Amendment 1, etc. Strike me dood, or "poopie list me" or whatever sophmoric measures deemed appropriate.
Mauritania is holding seven men without trial under U.S. pressure on suspicion they were recruited by an al Qaeda-linked group to fight in Iraq, their lawyers said on Monday, but the government denied bowing to Washington. The men, all young Mauritanians suspected of being trained in Algeria by an Islamic militant group, were tortured after their arrest and are still in prison despite a court order for their provisional release, their lawyers said.
"They are not being released under pressure from certain embassies, and particularly from the United States," said Mohameden Ould Icehidou, a lawyer representing three of the men. "It is about maintaining a permanent plot and showing that (Mauritania) is active in what is called the fight against terrorism," he told Reuters in the capital, Nouakchott.
Mauritania's military rulers denied any U.S. pressure. "There are suspected terrorists among this group. They are in the hands of the justice system," Colonel Mohamed Ould Abdel-Aziz, who led a bloodless coup last August and is a member of the country's ruling military council, told Reuters. "There can be an exchange between states in such cases but there is no pressure," he said in an interview, adding that they were being held awaiting trial while investigations continued.
U.S. officials were not immediately available for comment.
The men were arrested in April 2005 in the northern town of Nouadhibou and were tortured before Mauritania's state security service compiled a report saying they had been trained to fight in Iraq, Ould Icehidou said. He said the men were suspected of receiving training in the Sahara from the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), an Algerian militant movement, but no weapons had been found when they were arrested and no evidence had been provided to back up the claims.
"They have not been judged. There has been no evolution in this dossier," said Fatimata M'Baye, president of the Mauritanian Human Rights Association (AMDH).
"They were just simple shepherds. Well-armed, simple shepherds."
Mauritanian authorities have said in the past that Algerian-based Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), a movement allied to al Qaeda and on a U.S. list of terrorist organisations, was recruiting youths to fight in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya and the Palestinian territories.
But many Mauritanians say former President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, overthrown last August, exaggerated the militant threat to justify arresting scores of moderate Islamist opponents. "Taya hypnotised the United States in making it believe there was terrorism here," said Brahim Ould Ebetty, a Mauritanian human rights lawyer.
"It was just lies, all lies!"
Taya assiduously courted Washington in the later years of his rule, shifting support away from former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to the United States and Israel, to the dismay of many Arabs in the Islamic Republic.
The junta released many Islamist political prisoners in Mauritania immediately after it took power, to the alarm of some diplomats, but has repeatedly said it wants to have its cake and eat it too remain a U.S. ally in the fight against terrorism. Some 21 Islamist prisoners, including the seven men arrested in Nouadhibou, are still in prison.
Local human rights groups say foreign interest in the seven detained men has made it more difficult for Mauritania's interim leaders -- anxious to maintain international goodwill during the transition -- to resolve their case quickly. "The government is very troubled by this affair. There is American pressure which they cannot get away from," Ebetty said.
Mauritania has in the past received military training from the United States as part of Washington's Trans-Sahara Counter Terrorism Initiative (TSCTI), designed to confront the threat of terrorism, banditry and smuggling in the vast Sahel region. The United States' top diplomat for Africa, Jendayi Frazer, said on Friday the country would remain cut off from many areas of U.S. cooperation and assistance until a democratically elected government was in place. "Certainly, we can't cooperate with them at the level that we would want to, given the terrorist threat in the Trans-Sahara," she said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
02:22 ||
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The Serbian government sought Tuesday to quash news reports suggesting that the leading Balkan war crimes suspect, Ratko Mladic, had been located and that his surrender was being negotiated.
Independent news and radio stations in Serbia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina issued conflicting reports Tuesday afternoon stating that General Mladic, former commander of the Bosnian Serb army, had been arrested or was engaged in talks to convince him to surrender for trial for crimes committed during the war in Bosnia, from 1992 to 1995. B92, a Belgrade television and radio news network, reported that he had been located in Bosnia and would be taken to Tuzla, the site of a European Union military base and airport, from where he could be flown to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague. It quoted unidentified sources.
The Associated Press, also quoting an unnamed security official, said that General Mladic had been located and that negotiations were under way to secure his surrender.
But a spokesman for the Serbian government, Srdjan Djuric, strongly denied the reports, stating that claims of General Mladic's arrest appeared intended to undermine the government's intention "to fully cooperate with The Hague."
Western diplomats and an analyst said that while there was no evidence General Mladic had been arrested, there were signs that Serbia was close to tracking him down. "Everybody who is involved in this process is on standby," said a diplomat who is close to police and legal officials assigned to help find the general. "They possibly have his location, but are not yet moving in," said the official, who was granted anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
Bratislav Grubacic, the editor of VIP, a news service, said, "There are some indications that they are using back channels" to negotiate with the general. He said the government wanted to avoid having the general go before a Serbian court, which could prove politically embarrassing because the Serbian electorate remains highly nationalistic. "They would like to have a solution that would be face-saving for them, in which he could be transferred somehow to Bosnia," Mr. Grubacic said. He said members of the security services had denied any operation to arrest the general or negotiate his surrender.
Numerous inaccurate reports of the former general's arrest have surfaced in the 11 years since he was indicted by the tribunal on charges of leading the massacre of at least 8,000 Muslim men and boys in around Srebrenica in July 1995.
But the speculation Tuesday was the most intense in years, and came as Serbia was facing possible suspension of political and trade talks with the European Union. European governments have warned that the talks, a potential step toward eventual membership, could be suspended if Serbia failed to arrest General Mladic. The European Union's foreign ministers are due to discuss the issue on Monday.
Carla Del Ponte, the chief prosecutor at The Hague, urged the European Union to suspend the talks until General Mladic was arrested. She has complained that cooperation with Belgrade had ground to a halt and recently demanded that the general be handed over this month.
This month? What's the hurry, Carla? You haven't been a ball of fire yourself.
Officials at tribunal said she had contacted Belgrade late Tuesday and was told that General Mladic had not been located or arrested, and that the press reports were false.
In New York, Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesman for Secretary General Kofi Annan, said officials at the United Nations headquarters "have checked with the tribunal in The Hague, and we've been told that there is absolutely no information that Mladic has been arrested or located." But he did say Milan Lukic, a Bosnian Serb paramilitary leader indicted in 1998, had been handed over to the tribunal by Argentina, where he was arrested in August 2005 after nearly seven years on the run. He has been charged with murdering, severely beating, unlawfully detaining and terrorizing Bosnian Muslim and other non-Serb civilians and looting and destroying their property.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
02:21 ||
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An attack on interior ministry troops in Ingushetia killed one and injured four, RIA Novosti reported on February 12. According to Ingushetia's Interior Ministry, the attack occurred on the evening of February 11 in the Suzhensky district village of Troitskaya when two unidentified persons fired automatic weapons at Interior Ministry troops who were returning to their base. One of the attackers was killed by return fire; a second gunman was wounded, but managed to escape.
The deputy head of the Kabardino-Balkaria Interior Ministry's anti-organized crime department, Albert Sizhazhev, claimed on February 14 that last October's attack in Nalchik was financed by foreign intelligence agencies. According to NTV.ru, Sizhazhev said the attack was organized by "ringleaders of the bandit underground of Kabardino-Balkaria" who "had the powerful financial support of foreign special services." In January, he said, three "gang leaders" were killed in Anzorei, a village in Kabardino-Balkariaone of them a Kabardino-Balkaria native, the other two from Chechnya and Turkey. According to Sizhazhev, among the items seized from the dead rebels were seven pistols taken during the rebel attack on the federal anti-narcotics branch office in Nalchik in December 2004 and "a system of satellite orientation." According to Itar-Tass, the head of the religious affairs department of Kabardino-Balkaria's Ministry of Culture, Dzhambulat Gergokov, claimed that the "bandit underground" in the republic was funded via non-governmental organizations working in Chechnya.
--KHASAVYURT ACTIVIST RELEASED FROM JAIL
The Khasavyurt City Court on February 13 released Khasavyurt human rights activist Osman Boliev, head of the "Romashka" organization, after he signed an agreement not to leave the Dagestani city, Prima-News reported. Boliev is on trial after being detained last November during a traffic stop and subsequently charged with illegally possessing weapons after a grenade was allegedly found on him. His lawyer claims police planted the grenade on him. Boliev's arrest took place after "Romashka"" filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg over the October 2004 abduction of another Khasavyurt resident (see Chechnya Weekly, January 26 and December 8, 2005).
--MILITANTS REPORTEDLY NABBED IN CHECHNYA AND DAGESTAN
Chechen Interior Minister Ruslan Alkhanov said on February 14 that a militant killed during a security sweep, Dzhabrail Abdurzakov, was Shamil Basaev's "right-hand man," Interfax reported. Abdurzakov was killed in Urus-Martan. Meanwhile, RosBusinessConsulting reported on February 14 that Dagestani security forces had captured a rebel "emir," identified as Isa Mazhidov, during an operation in the village of Osmanyurt.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
02:17 ||
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A member of the Stavropol Krai administration's anti-terrorist commission, Aleksandr Bondarenko, told RIA Novosti on February 10 that the militants who were killed in fighting in Tukui-Mekteb, a village in Stavropol Krai's Neftekumsky district, were members of an ethnic Nogai battalion that has been operating in Chechnya. "All these people were Nogais," said Bondarenko, adding that during the fighting in Chechnya in the 1990s they were part of [Chechen rebel warlord] Shamil Basaev's group. "Later, when the counter-terrorist operation ended, they all dispersed into the 'jamaats,' closed extremist Muslim societies split into territories," Bondarenko said. Nezavisimaya gazeta reported in February of last year that there was a "Nogai Jamaat" operating in Stavropol Krai, which had been "formed on Shamil Basaev's instructions during the first Chechen war to control steppe settlements in Neftekumsky district of Stavropol and the neighboring Chechen district of Shelkovsky" (see Chechnya Weekly, February 9, 2005).
The Associated Press reported on February 10 that two days of fighting in Tukui-Mekteb, located about 40 kilometers north of the Chechen border, had killed 12 suspected rebels and seven policemen. According to the news agency, police and local interior ministry officials said they were acting on a tip when they hunted down the rebels in Tukui-Mekteb and that 700 police troops had surrounded two houses where the remaining rebels were holed up a day after special forces stormed another house nearby. A regional interior ministry source told Interfax that the militants had planned to seize a school in Stavropol Krai in an operation similar to the seizure of the school in Beslan, North Ossetia in September 2004.
Kavkazky Uzel on February 10 quoted Akhmet Yarlykapov of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology as saying: "Neftekumsky district has always been a headache for everyone. Apart from the Russians, there are two sets of peoples who have lived there for ages and earned the right to be called indigenousNogais and Turkmens. But the Nogais are living there as a people without any rights. They are not represented in the Neftekumsky district administration, although they make up about half the district's population. And this policy of accusing an ethnic group of Wahhabism has been carried out in relation to the Nogais for ages. And it seems that, finally, they have persuaded the Nogais that they are in fact Wahhabis."
Yarlykapov, however, said the idea that there is a rebel "Nogai battalion" is "a myth," as are reports of other ethnic battalions. "Nogais from Neftekumsky district did fight on the side of the militants in Chechnya," he said. "They have some guilt in this, but the Stavropol authorities themselves created [such an] intolerable situation that people went over to the separatists. The formations in Chechnya fighting against the federal forces are not organized along ethnic lines. This is alien to them; they are an 'internationale.' Therefore the existence of a Karachai or Nogai battalion is a myth. It benefits Basaev to promote this mythsaying, 'the [different] peoples support me.'" The Stavropol authorities, for their part, have used this myth to "oppress" the Nogais," said Yarlykapov. "And the one who comes out winning in this story is Basaev."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
02:16 ||
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The separatist Chechenpress website on February 11 posted a video of separatist president Abdul-Khalim Sadulaev reading a statement in Chechen. In the statement, which was credited to the Daymohk information agency and accompanied by a written Russian-language translation, Sadulaev said he wanted to "clear up our goals and tasks, around which there has, of late, developed a discussion that is leading us away from our Jihad."
Sadulaev first addressed the issue of the separatist constitution. He noted that article one of the constitution, which was adopted in 1992, states that the "Chechen Republic is a sovereign and independent democratic legal state created as a result of self-determination of Chechen people." Later, as Chechen self-determination developed, Sadulaev said, "it became necessary to bring the state's basic law in full accordance with the norms of Islam. That work began during the first president of ChRI [Chechen Republic of Ichkeria] Djokhar Dudaev, with the declaration of Jihad in the fall of 1994 and the start of the work of the Sharia Courts in the autumn of 1995. Under Zelimkhan Yandarbiev, the judicial system completely switched over to Sharia law. Aslan Maskhadov in 1998 brought the work of the state structures in accordance with Islam, and on February 4 1999 proclaimed the complete switchover to an Islamic form of governance. A state commission was created for the development of an Islamic constitution with the participation of all branches of power, scholars and legal experts."
According to Sadulaev's account, work to bring the Chechen constitution into full conformance with the norms of Islam was completed at the ChRI Great Majlis Shura in the summer of 2002. Article one of the constitution was revised to read: "The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria is a sovereign, independent Islamic legal state created as a result of self-determination of Chechen people. The source of all decisions made is the Quran and Sunna."
In his statement, Sadulaev next dealt with the ChRI Majlis Shura, which, he said, was created as the "future supreme organ of state power (parliamentary government). It is intended that the institution of the presidency will be abolished, [and] the head of state will be the Emir of the ChRI Majlis Shura." Elections for that body, he said, will be carried out according to an Islamic principle, "which approximately adheres to the U.S. system of elections (the system of electors)" [meaning the Electoral College]. The completion of work on this system is planned for "the end of the war," Sadulaev said.
The Chechen separatist leader's statement also dealt with, among other issues, freedom of speech. "Islam recognizes the impossibility of building a legal state without acknowledging freedom of speech and constructive criticism, but categorically forbids blasphemy or the propagandizing of debauchery, violence, [or] racial or religious intolerance," he said. "Public organizations and individuals are free to express their opinion on any issue concerning the vital functions of the state and society without resorting to ad hominem arguments or hurting the honor and dignity of an opponent."
Sadulaev also touched on the issue of a Majlis Shura of the Caucasus. "Today, in a century of globalization and with the acceleration of the processes of integration, it is above all those who have a commonality of interests and values who are uniting," he said. "The peoples of the Caucasus have common history, a common struggle for freedom and independence, a common religion, common ideals and values. It is international practice, and a striking example of that is the unification of Europe." In the future, he said, "there are plans for the creation of a Majlis Shura of the Caucasus [and] a Shura Alimov of the Caucasus, and for the creation of a confederative state of the type of the European Union." Attempts by the Kremlin "to portray the natural desire of the peoples of the Caucasus to unite in order to throw off the imperial yoke of Russia as a threat to the whole world are mendacious and futile," Sadulaev added.
Finally, Sadulaev made comments apparently connected to the ongoing dispute between the radical wing of the Chechen resistance, represented by Movladi Udugov, and the moderate wing, represented by Akhmed Zakaev (see Chechnya Weekly, February 9). "Enormous work has been carried out over 15 years in the matter of strengthening freedom and establishing an independent Chechen Islamic State," he said. "And this work is being carried out today. Thus today all mujahideen are joined in a single structure, together are waging war on the path of Allah, on the path of building a full-fledged Islamic state. And on that path, the mujahideen, by the grace of Allah, are trying in everything to adhere to Sharia, to adhere to the rules and norms of behavior of Islam and to strengthen our unity. And it would be very good if all of our brother and sister muhajirs [refugee, immigrant or emigrant] located outside Nokhchich'o [Chechnya-CW] adhered the same way. But even more important today is to make clear to all muhajirs, to everyone who is not taking active part in combat operations, who are not openly fighting in jihad, [that] the mujahideen have the advantage over the muhajirs. And all muhajirs should know that they are assistants and advisers to the mujahideen, and not their superiors. And if each observes their obligations and knows their place, then we will have mutual understanding, harmony and a speedy victory."
Sadulaev, it should be noted, interspersed his points with quotations from the Quran.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
02:15 ||
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The recent release of audio and videotapes from Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri call attention to al-Qaeda's couriers and how they transport tapes to major media outlets (al-Jazeera, January 21). Audiotapes, videotapes and the internet are the major mass media tools of al-Qaeda and are used to tilt and blur the realities of the locations of al-Qaeda leaders. They are an effective means to threaten the U.S. and the West. Al-Qaeda's videos are produced by the organization's in-house production team, al-Sahab, identified by the al-Sahab logo that appears in the videos. It appears that al-Sahab consists of multiple individuals and is not centrally located. While the videos have improved in quality, at its most basic level the videographers require computer images, e-mail transmission, and a production expert who uses a computer to compile it together in broadcast quality.
After the tapes are produced, they make their way to a major media outlet. The previous route of the videotapes was from southern and eastern Afghanistan to South Waziristan, and then to Peshawar. The final destination used to be the al-Jazeera office in Islamabad. It became easy, however, for various intelligence agencies to track this route. In at least two instancesin 2003 and in 2004the tape messenger was intercepted. In 2003, the carrier was of Central Asian origin and was captured by security agents while traveling through South Waziristan. The second incident occurred in late 2004 and the carrier was arrested near Dera Ismail Khan in southern Pakistan. Nevertheless, little information was gleaned from the messenger because the tape had already passed through more than a dozen different carriers. Through this method, the tapes are handed over in a manner so that the next carrier does not know the other carriers.
The amount of time that each carrier handles the tapes depends on the prevailing security conditions in that particular area. Carriers attempt to pass on the tapes as quickly as possible, which is usually in one or two days. If security is tight then it is passed on in quick succession in order to keep the tapes secure, otherwise each carrier may travel more than 100 kilometers. On a few occasions, the content of the tapes were electronically transmitted to their final destination through e-mail.
The carriers of the tapes are diehard local and Central Asian operatives. The carriers are always young, tough and experienced; the task of a carrier is a specialized job. Simple sympathizers are not usually carriers because if the carrier is arrested, he is tried under anti-terrorism laws, deterring those who are not completely committed to al-Qaeda's cause.
For the last year, the tape route has been modified due to repeated successful interventions by Pakistani authorities and continuous surveillance of known transfer locations. Currently, tapes are dispatched to Herat, in the western province of Afghanistan, to coastal areas of Iran and then to the final destination. The tapes are generally made inside Afghanistan. Additionally, the Taliban is now also involved in producing tapes in a new campaign of media warfare. Taliban guerrillas are often accompanied by a videographer who films their attacks against Afghan or international security forces. These tapes are later used within the Taliban ranks to boost the morale of Taliban fighters and the participating mujahideen.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
02:13 ||
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On February 17, the al-Tajdeed forum posted an interesting analysis that, amid the customary claims of imminent victory, points the finger of accusation at al-qa'idun 'an al-jihad ("those who abstain from jihad"). Starting from the premise that the strategic initiative is turning in favor of the Islamic Nationa position that "all but the blind, hypocritical, collaborationist and treacherous would espouse"the author, Amir Abd al-Mun'im, cautions that this victory "requires effort and support from the Nation yet this support is yet to arrive. We are giving the enemy an opportunity to use his cunning and gain space to reorganize and overcome his successive reversals" (http://tajdeed.org.uk).
Now is the time to overwhelm the enemy, Abd al-Mun'im states, but he warns that time is working against the mujahideen and that the response so far has been disproportional to the scale of the battle. What is the cause of this mismatch? "The true crisis," he states, "does not reside solely in the anti-Islamic camp, nor only in the treachery of Arab regimes; it is also and perhaps more profoundly in the Islamic camp in the movements that call themselves Islamic that desire to profit from [the banner of] Islam yet do not wish to make sacrifices on Islam's behalf." In the context of the recent election successes of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Hamas in Palestine, the author takes issue with their programs. "Where is the support for jihad in the manifestos of Islamic [political] movements? Where is the Muslim funding for those who fight while these [individuals] spend thousands on elections, festivals and conferences, which contain naught but empty words? Where is the support for jihad in the media [statements] of these movements?"
The continuing public isolation of the mujahideen is Abd al-Mun'im's core complaint. This isolation is felt on the intellectual level, in the domestic political arena and also on the front-line itself. The failure to gain the intellectual high-ground is a particularly sensitive point. "Is it logical or reasonable for some who call themselves Islamists to come out against us," he asks, "attacking the mujahideen and heaping accusations upon them, accusing them of immaturity?" The author is here referring to a number of high-profile criticisms of al-Qaeda's strategy, particularly that of al-Zarqawi's group in Iraq, delivered by a number of sites normally supportive of the armed struggle, "such as Mufakkirat [al-Islam], al-Mukhtasar and al-Asr [and] people who sit in air conditioned offices complaining of indigestion and full stomachs, theorizing, philosophizing and attacking the mujahideen who are sacrificing their lives in the harshest of conditions." Mufakkirat al-Islam, in particular, has been conspicuous for its hosting of discussions criticizing al-Zarqawi, and which stirred a lively debate for some weeks after (http://www.islammemo.cc). These movements, he complains, "raise not a single word against America, while we continue to praise their intellectual distinction, doctrinal superiority, enlightenment, justice and moderation."
No less troublesome is what Abd al-Mun'im feels is the pointless exercise of Islamist groups "that have cut back Islam to a matter of a few seats in a corrupt parliament and divert their energy onto marginal matters, such as fatwas on the ownership of shares, or whether women may drive [or elect] municipal councils [all the time] walking along paths dictated by America to distract the Nation from supporting the jihad." Yet, it is the Islamists' attitude to front-line matters that upsets the author most. "We were shocked by individuals who call themselves Islamists taking aim at the mujahideen, mocking them and describing them as backward Some have even attacked Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and al-Zarqawi, calling them the cause of all that has happened!" As an example, the author takes issue with the "Intifada in defense of the Europeans" conducted by high profile Islamist leaders such as the head of the Algerian FIS Abbasi Madani, criticizing "those that shudder at the cutting off of heads of some [infidel] invaders, while they do not shudder at American rockets and fighter planes wiping out houses from the face of the earth on top of those inside them." It is hypocrisy on a grand scale, according to Abd al-Mun'im, which "exposes the trials the Nation is going though, not just the regimes of the Westernized elite, but also the large part of those raising the Islamic banner." Its solution, he concludes, is to "cleanse the Muslims from the defilement of hypocrisy" through the purifying action of jihad.
The issue of al-qa'idun 'an al-jihad occupies considerable space in jihadist writings and extensive use is made of the legitimizing influence of medieval treatises, such as the popular Mashari' al-Ashwaq by the 14th century scholar Ibn Nuhaas, who refuted point-for-point the objections of those who would abstain and aimed to establish jihad as the highest expression of Islamic faith. The tension over the abstainers goes to explain much behind the strenuous efforts of jihadist writers and organizers of the recent anti-Danish protests. The mujahideen are searching for momentum to generally mobilize the Muslim masses against the prevailing world order, which to date the Afghan and Iraqi arenas have failed to provide.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
02:12 ||
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#2
I suspect that the US has successfully culled the majority of that minority that are Islamist, willing to do something about it, and willing to travel to another country to do something about it.
This means that al-Q is in a real bind to get more travelling terrorists, and that subsequent efforts can be made against those who will make trouble in their home country, but don't have the chutzpah to go to another country to kill people.
You'll note that al-Q is recruiting further and further afield, in countries with smaller and smaller Moslem minorities. This suggests that most of the Moslem majority nations have been pretty well tapped out.
Optimally, except for the Moslems living in the US, this means the odds of some terrorist coming here to kill people is less and less.
While the protests over the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed have spread to Southeast Asia, they have been smaller and less lethal than in other parts of the world. Yet, especially in Indonesia, a number of small hard-line groups and militant organizations have been at the forefront of the demonstrations and are effectively mobilizing themselves over the furor. These groups have been probing society looking for ways to inject themselves into the mainstream.
Demonstrations in Southeast Asia began on February 3 in Indonesia, when the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) mobilized 300 people to demonstrate in front of the Danish Embassy, briefly entering the lobby of the office building which houses the embassy. The Danish ambassador defused the situation after meeting with several protestors and offered an apology. On February 5, the demonstrations spread to Indonesia's second largest city and commercial hub, Surabaya. At least 200 protesters stoned the Danish Consulate before descending on the U.S. Consulate, where police had to fire warning shots to disperse them. According to the February 14-20 edition of the Jakarta-based publication Tempo, on February 10 the "quietest" Islamic organization Hizb ut-Tahrir led a protest of 2,000 in downtown Jakarta.
In Malaysia, the protests began in early February on a small scale, although by the second week they had grown to over 3,000 people. These were the largest demonstrations in Malaysia since the protests over the sacking of the popular deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, in 1999. Although the demonstrations were peaceful, they were also checked by a very robust security presence.
Protests have also spread to the Muslim minority states of Thailand and the Philippines, both of which are plagued by Islamic insurgencies in their restive southern regions. On February 6, 300-400 Muslims from the troubled south protested outside the Danish Embassy in Bangkok. Demonstrations were also organized in the southern Philippine city of Cotabato. Although a Muslim member of parliament organized the demonstration, placards menacingly threatened to "Behead those who insult Islam," according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer on February 15. Hundreds of other protestors burnt Danish flags in front of Manila's main mosque.
In Malaysia, the demonstrations have been somewhat spontaneous, emanating from mosques after Friday prayers. In Malaysia, where the government has draconian laws at its disposal and is guarded against Islamic militancy, there is no evidence that militant organizations are behind the unrest. Indeed, even the Islamic opposition party, PAS, has been notably quiet. The PAS daily, Harakah, has carried stories on the cartoon furor, but for the most part has focused on the situation abroad for fear of the government accusing them of inciting sectarian conflict (http://www.harakahdaily.net). On February 17, Harakah carried stories about demonstrations against the U.S., in which an effigy of President Bush was burnt, but it was clear to disavow PAS' role in organizing the protest.
Likewise, in the Philippines and Thailand there is no evidence that any of the secessionist organizations have been behind demonstrations. Surprisingly, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has not even posted a story about the cartoon controversy on its websitelocated at http://www.luwaran.comout of fear of giving skeptics in the government any reason to view MILF as radicals and thus scuttling the peace talks. While the secessionists in Thailand and the Philippines do not appear to have a hand in the protests, it is clear that they are benefiting from public anger and perceptions that the West is truly Islamaphobic; this plays into the broader popular sentiment that the war on terrorism is patently anti-Muslim. The secessionist organizations have always presented themselves as the defenders of Islam and its honor.
The situation in Indonesia is more troubling. The hard-line FPI organized the first demonstrations. The FPI is the leading anti-American and Western movement in the country. It has organized large demonstrations condemning the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. Its leader, Habib Rizieq, has repeatedly demanded that the government cut all ties and cooperation with the U.S. The FPI recruited several hundred mujahideen to fight the Americans in Iraq, but only a few actually made it there.
The FPI was also at the forefront of attacks against a Muslim sect, Jemaah Ahmadiyah, and in early July 2005 several hundred FPI members led a group of 1,000 vigilantes to attack the Ahmadiyah annual congress that was being held in Bogor (Jakarta Post, September 21, 2005; Straits Times, July 28, 2005). The FPI has also led attacks on the offices and threatened the physical safety of members of the secular organization Liberal Islam Network (Jakarta Post, September 7, 2005). The FPI has also supported the sectarian strife in the Malukus and in Central Sulawesi where Indonesia's primary terrorist organization, Jemaah Islamiyah, is fomenting strife in an attempt to regroup.
While the demonstrations themselves were not overly threatening, those behind the unrest in Indonesia suggest that the situation will become more violent. As stated in the Financial Times on February 12, there were allegedly telephone threats to the Danish Embassy in Jakarta threatening violence and reportedly terrorism. According to a February 13 article in Singapore's Today, Denmark ordered its diplomats to be evacuated and called on its citizens to leave Indonesia "because of a significant and imminent danger for Danes and Danish interests in Indonesia." Later, 175 students in a Surabaya madrassa signed a pact saying that they were "ready to die" for the Prophet Mohammed. On February 19, some 200 members of the FPI attacked the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta with stones. One organizer told the press, "This is not the last warning. This is only the beginning. There will be bigger actions against them." In short, this has the potential to become more violent and will target broader Western interests (Tempo, February 14-20).
In response to the cartoon controversy, authorities clamped down on the press. In Malaysia, the government suspended the publication and forced the resignation of the editor of a small daily, The Sarawak Tribune, for his "insensitive and irresponsible" publication of the cartoons (AP, February 9). On February 9, Malaysia "declared it an offense for anyone to publish, produce, import, circulate or possess the caricatures" (Human Rights Watch, February 15). Days later, a Chinese-language magazine, Guangming, was reportedly shut down for simply showing a picture of a reader of a newspaper overseas looking at the cartoons. In Indonesia, the editor of a Christian magazine, Gloria, was sacked for running three of the 12 cartoons. Additionally, a tabloid, Peta, was withdrawn from circulation and the editor charged with blasphemy (Reporters Without Borders, February 10).
The protests in Southeast Asia are gaining traction and allowing Islamists to forge both a greater sense of solidarity and identification with their co-religionists around the world. This reinforces the already high-degree of anti-Americanism prevalent in the region. More importantly, it gives radicals and Muslim moderates a common cause and deepens the potential pool of recruitment for the Islamists. The protests could also become a pretext for violence, especially by groups like the FPI.
Yet, Southeast Asia also provides a way forward. A spokesman for Indonesia's largest and decidedly moderate Muslim Organization, the Nadhlatul Ulama, called for calm and for Muslims not to be provoked by what he called "the stupid actions of those who belittle our Prophet" (Laksamana.net, February 10). Even Din Syamsuddin, the head of the second largest Muslim organization, who has hard-line Islamist tendencies, stated, "Do not go overboard and get trapped into a situation that can be used by elements bent on painting an image of Indonesia's Islam as intolerant, rigid and anarchic society [sic]."
On the other hand, while the Malaysian government is working to diffuse the situation, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has warned of a "huge chasm that has emerged between the West and Islam," as Westerners see Muslims as "congenital terrorist[s]." He further stated that the "demonization of Islam and the vilification of Muslims, there is no denying, is widespread within mainstream Western society" (BBC, February 10).
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
02:10 ||
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An Islamic teacher acquitted of terrorism charges last year has called for justice, saying his time behind bars ruined his school's reputation and resulted in a big drop in student enrolments. Maisuru Haji Abdullah, the owner of Islamburana Tornor school in Muang Narathiwat district, voiced his grievance during a meeting with National Reconciliation Commission chairman Anand Panyarachun yesterday.
Mr Maisuru, 53, was arrested along with his son Muyahi, Muslim doctor Waemahadi Waedao and Samarn Waekaji on June 10, 2003 on charges of being members of the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror group. They were acquitted on June 11 last year due to lack of evidence.
''During my two-year imprisonment I killed time by reading the Koran more than 30 times. I prayed five times a day. Prison guards even complained because I was praying so often,'' he said.
''I had to serve two years for a crime I did not commit. I testified before the court more than 50 times before I was finally acquitted of the charges.
''I decided not to file a counter-suit just because I did not want to create any problems. All I want now is to involve myself in teaching my students, just like before,'' he said.
The school had 300 students the day he was arrested; that number gradually dropped to as low as 50. Many other Islamic teachers were also arrested, while some fled after the school was accused of being a breeding ground for terrorists.
He vowed to rehabilitate his school and rebuild its reputation. The number of students has risen to 80 now, said Mr Maisuru.
Meanwhile, six Malaysian soldiers were captured on Thai soil yesterday in Narathiwat's Sukhirin district.
The Malaysian soldiers _ two corporals, two petty officers and two privates _ denied that they were spying on Thai soil. They insisted that they became lost while on a border demarcation mission.
Fourth Army chief Lt-Gen Ongkorn Thongprasom said the intruders were sent to the Thai-Malaysian border committee, which would arrange their deportation.
In Yala, a policeman was shot dead yesterday by two men on a motorcycle while returning home from work. One of the attackers was then shot dead by another police officer.
Pol Sgt-Maj Praphon Suwankota, 40, was hit in the head and body. He was attacked shortly before 8am. The sound of gunshots brought Pol Snr Sgt-Maj Kittipas Chotchuang, an in-law who lives nearby, rushing to the scene. He opened fire on the attackers, killing Muhammad Hayi Hama, 20.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
02:09 ||
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#1
Not the first time that M'sian soldiers "strayed" into Thailand. Afterwards there's always no further follow up press clarification.
A car bomb exploded Tuesday on a street packed with shoppers in a Shiite area of Baghdad, killing 22 people and wounding 28, police said. It was the deadliest bomb attack in the Iraqi capital in a month.
Early Wednesday, a large explosion destroyed the golden dome of one of Iraq's most famous Shiite religious shrines in Samarra, the U.S. military said, sending protesters pouring into the streets.
Police believed there were victims buried under the debris but had no immediate casualty figures.
The blast occurred about 6:55 a.m. at the Askariya Shrine, which contains the tombs of two revered Shiite imams, police Capt. Laith Mohammed said. It was the third major attack on a Shiite target in as many days after two deadly explosions in Shiite parts of Baghdad, raising fears of an escalation in sectarian violence.
Also Wednesday a roadside bomb exploded near a primary school in a mostly Shiite area in southern Iraq, killing two boys and injuring four others, police said. The incident happened at about 7:45 a.m. in the Bashrogiya area near Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, police Lt. Othman al-Rawi said.
Meanwhile, terrified children screamed and several women wailed for their dead, crying, "the terrorists, may God punish them." Shattered bits of fruits and vegetables from vendors' pushcarts lay scattered on the street amid pools of blood.
At least eight other people were killed and more than 30 injured Tuesday in bombings and shootings elsewhere in Baghdad and in attacks on beauty parlors and liquor stores symbols of Western influence in Baqouba northeast of the capital.
The car bombing occurred shortly before 5 p.m. in a Shiite corner of Dora, a predominantly Sunni Arab district of Baghdad and one of the most dangerous parts of the city rocked almost daily by bombings, ambushes and assassinations.
Police Maj. Gen. Mahdi al-Gharawi said the bomb was detonated by remote control and an Iraqi suspected of triggering the device had been arrested. Claims of early arrests in bombing cases often prove premature.
Another policeman, 1st Lt. Maitham Abdul-Razaq, said the blast apparently was aimed at a police patrol but missed its target, killing and maiming shoppers strolling with their families along a street lined with appliance shops and fruit and vegetable stalls.
It was the deadliest bombing in Baghdad since Jan. 19, when a suicide attacker blew himself up in a coffee shop, killing 22 people and injuring 23.
The Dora bombing was the second major attack in as many days against a Shiite target in the capital. Twelve people died Monday when a suicide bomber detonated an explosives belt on a bus in the heavily Shiite district of Kazimiyah.
At least 969 Iraqis have been killed in war-related violence this year and at least 986 have been wounded, according to an Associated Press count.
However, large-scale attacks against civilians have declined in recent weeks amid widespread public criticism, including from Sunnis clerics and others sympathetic to the Sunni-dominated insurgency.
Some Sunni insurgent groups are believed to be holding back to give Sunni Arab politicians a chance to negotiate concessions from Shiites and Kurds during talks on a new government.
However, talks among parties that won parliamentary seats in the Dec. 15 elections have bogged down because of fundamental differences among Shiite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish politicians.
U.S. officials believe a government capable of winning the trust of all communities is essential so the United States can hand over more security responsibility to the Iraqis and begin sending the 138,000 American troops home this year.
On Tuesday, Mohammed al-Askari, a Defense Ministry spokesman, confirmed that Iraqi soldiers had detained 18 policemen who had seized two men for unknown reasons. Al-Askari added that one of the men who were held captive by the 18 was a police officer from the mostly Shiite southern city of Kut.
The Interior Ministry has denied running or sanctioning death squads. On Thursday, however, the ministry announced an investigation into alleged death squads after U.S. military officials announced the arrest last month of 22 policemen who were about to kill a Sunni Arab north of Baghdad.
Also Tuesday, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw lent his voice to international calls for a broad-based government, telling Iraqi leaders in Baghdad that "no party, no ethnic or religious grouping can dominate" the next government.
"It is a crucial moment today for the people of Iraq," Straw told reporters after meeting President Jalal Talabani. "The international community, particularly those of us who played a part in liberating Iraq, obviously have an interest in a prosperous and stable and democratic Iraq."
Straw's comments followed a blunt warning Monday by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad that Iraqis risk losing international support if key ministries end up in the hands of politicians with ties to militias.
"We are not going to invest the resources of the American people and build forces that are run by people who are sectarian" and tied to the militias, Khalilzad said.
A coalition of Shiite Muslim religious parties won 130 of the 275 seats in the new parliament, and Shiite leaders insist their strong showing in the election gives them the right to control key ministries.
A Kurdish alliance won 53 seats and two Sunni Arab blocs together took 55 seats a major increase over Sunni representation in the outgoing parliament.
Sunni Arabs have accused the Shiite-run Interior Ministry of kidnapping and murdering Sunni civilians, a charge the ministry denies. Shiites and Kurds dominate the army and police, while most of the insurgents are Sunni Arabs.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
02:06 ||
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Osama bin Laden's right-hand man is boasting that he has dodged being captured or killed four times, and confirms one of his close calls came in a 2004 firefight with the Pakistani army.
It had been speculated that Ayman al-Zawahiri was in the mud hut on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border targeted in March 2004.
The raid even prompted Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to stoke expectations of Zawahiri's demise.
But when the dust settled, the al-Qaeda chief was nowhere to be found, and US and Pakistani officials said he was probably never there.
In a new videotape that has surfaced, Zawahiri swears he was in the mud hut, and that he slipped out the back when the shooting started. He also tries to turn the tables on Musharraf, saying the Pakistani leader's days are numbered.
"Your American masters are fleeing from Iraq and Afghanistan," Zawahiri warns Musharraf. "So, await a day of accounting for the Muslim blood you have spilt."
Zawahiri details three other times he was almost nailed by US and Pakistani forces:
- He said a US cruise missile attack ordered by former president Bill Clinton in August 1998 nearly got him at an Afghanistan training camp.
- Missiles fired in retaliation for the September 11 terrorist attacks in December 2001 missed him in his Tora Bora mountain hideout in Afghanistan.
- His latest near-miss came on January 18 from an American missile attack in Pakistan that killed Zawahiri's son-in-law.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
01:54 ||
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ETA's political wing, Batasuna, said on Tuesday Basque terrorists would have to be released early from prison if a peace deal was agreed in the troubled Spanish region. Batasuna's leader Pernando Barrena condemned the decision on Monday by Judge Fernando Grande-Marlaska to ensure ETA's worst murderer, Henri Parot, serves a minimum of 30 years of his jail sentence. He called it an attack on the start of a peace process by "state machinery controlled by the Popular Party".
Parot, a jailed member of the Basque armed group ETA who has already spent 16 years in jail and could have been released in 2009, will have to stay in prison until 2020. Grande-Marlaske added Parot's sentences together to make a single 30-year jail term. Reacting to the decision, Barrena said: "No one believes there will be prisoners in 2010 or 2020 if there's a peace process."
He added that if a peace deal was agreed in the Basque country, "everyone knows" that prisoners "will go home within a reasonable time".
In recent months, pime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has been hinting that Spain could be "at the start of the end" of terrorism, however, rumours of an ETA ceasefire have failed to materialise.
Judge Grande-Marlaska's decision was widely praised in the Spanish press. There has been growing concern in recent days at the possibility that Parot and several other ETA members would enjoy early releases. Normally in Spain though ETA members are often sentenced to long jail terms for multiple murders, the sentences are cut to 20 years due to standard sentence reductions.
Parot has been in jail since 1990 after he was convicted of 26 murders and carrying out terrorist attacks. He was sentenced to an accumulative jail term of more than 3,000 years.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
01:53 ||
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Servicemen of the Zapad (West) battalion have clashed with a group of militants who are suspected of plotting a major terrorist attack in Grozny and of planning to poison drinking water in parts of the Chechen capital. Weapons and two kilograms of mercury were confiscated from the militants. "One of the militants is believed to have been killed in the armed clash," battalion commander Said-Magomed Kakiyev told Interfax. "It has been established that the group included at least three people," he said. A Shmel flame-thrower, three anti-tank grenade launchers, a Kalashnikov assault rifle and grenades were confiscated from the scene, he said. None of the servicemen were injured in the clash.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
01:52 ||
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#1
Would mercury be an effective poison in this situation? I would have thought it would be too heavy, and thus would sink to the bottom in a mass, rather than being dissolved and dispersing throughout the water.
#2
Both mercury and its salts are insoluable in water.
Posted by: ed ||
02/22/2006 8:47
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Mercury sure would clog up the initial filters pretty well, though. Not to mention all the scare tactics used on the entire world about "mercury in fish" and all the other problems associated with "toxic" chemicals. It may not be very effective at killing people, but it would spread panic.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/22/2006 16:30
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A notorious evil communist terrorist group on Tuesday admitted to a shooting in Zaragoza in which a woman was killed and her husband injured. The admission came in a letter sent to the TV station Antena 3, which purported to be from GRAPO, the October 1st Revolutionary Anti-fascist Group. The police are now verifying the authenticity of the letter.
Ana Isabel Herrero, the wife of entrepreneur Francisco Colell, was shot dead on 6 February in Calle de Cervantes. Herrero and her husband were collecting their car from the garage at number 11. According to Colell, three individuals who said they were members of GRAPO approached them with guns and attempted to take them hostage "for economic reasons".
However, the gang members became nervous when another car arrived, a struggle ensued and the gang shot Herrero and tried to kill Colell. Herrero was taken to hospital in an ambulance but died on the way. Colell survived the attack and was able to identify two of the attackers from police files.
GRAPO emerged in 1975 in the dying days of the Franco dictatorship as the armed wing of the radical Marxist-Leninist Reconstituted Communist Party of Spain. Over the years, the group has carried out dozens of bombings, killings and bank robberies, although following a series of crackdowns by the security forces, GRAPO has been largely inactive in recent years.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
01:50 ||
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Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov Tuesday said $1 million was funneled to Chechen terrorists to assassinate President Akhmad Kadyrov in 2004. Kadyrov told U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour the money was directed to Akhmed Zakayev, who is living in Britain, the Russian information agency Novosti reported. Kadyrov accused Zakayev of financing the attack at Dynamo stadium in Grozny, which left Kadyrov dead.
Kadyrov said in the 1990s businessman Boris Berezovsky gave money to Chechen separatists. "Berezovsky repeatedly met with warlords and offered a financing scheme to them. Berezovsky said to the militant leaders, 'I can't give you money directly, and therefore I suggest that you kidnap Russian civilians and servicemen in Chechnya, then I will pay you millions of dollars under in ransoms for them'," Kadyrov said, Interfax reported. "The militants received millions of dollars under this scheme, with which they bought weapons and ammunition."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
01:47 ||
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The men pleaded "Not Guilty" today in federal court. Some details from Toledo's WTOL (tip to reporter Alan Baker):
In count 1 of the indictment, prosecutors say the three met together many times, going back as far as November 2005. The three reportedly conspired to recruit and train others for a violent jihad against United States forces and US allies in Iraq. They also reportedly put together the funding needed for the operation, and collected the equipment needed. Prosecutors also say the three communicated by computer with an individual in the Middle East, passing information about potential attacks and terrorist training materials back and forth, as well as communication about potential weapons and targets.
In count 2, the grand jury found that the three had similar plans to kill US citizens abroad in addition to service members.
The last two counts in the indictment dealt specifically with Mohammad Zaki Amawi. One count said Amawi distributed information on bomb-making, which in itself is a federal crime.
The final two counts of the indictment say that on or about October 14, 2004, and March 15, 2005, Mohammad Zaki Amawi knowingly and willingly verbally threatened President Bush to another person.
AG Gonzales at a press conference today (see DOJ release of his prepared remarks here): The defendants learned to use plastic and nitro explosives. They sent money to Iraq and used a business and a charity to further support co-conspirators in Iraq and cover their travel overseas. FBI Deputy Director John Pistole credited "improved information sharing and intel-gathering techniques." AG Gonzales would not state whether the NSA surveillance program was responsible for indictment information and didn't name the Iraqi terrorist group(s) which the defendants allegedly supported. AG Gonzales also refused to state whether one defendant was arrested in Jordan or even where they were arrested. This last tidbit is definitely worth pursuing.
Evan Kohlmann emailed me that the indictment mentions "a specific suicide bomb vest video that these folks were using to prepare themselves... I have excerpts of the video posted on my website from last year" - see here on his site.
Fox News reports that "respected member of the Muslim community" was responsible for assistance in this case. The Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District confirmed only that information came from the area, including the person referred to as the "trainer" in the area (whom Fox News credited as the "respected Muslim").
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
01:37 ||
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#1
These were American citizens or legal residents, and therefor cannot be wiretapped without warrant. NSA eavesdropping program will be on trial here at least as much as the three Muslims. I hope they had FISA warrants, with all the t's crossed and i's dotted. It's a tricky thing to balance protection of freedom with loss of freedom to the protectors.
#2
Actually, I'm hoping the judge throws the cases out of court. Maybe having gotten some real, live jihadis released by their foolishness will convince some of our kneejerk libertarian buddies that their positions hold real-world consequences.
#4
FISA and the NSA Surveillance Progs, includ any evidence gathered from same, may be a non-issue - as long as the Feds have written evidences/
testimonies from "the Trainer" as informant, and supporting collaborative evidences which can independently verified, FISA and NSA Wiretapping may not be needed. As American citizens or legal residents, they have already been found guilty by grand jury for conspiracies to kill US soldiers and citizens abroad - depending on severity, and formal indictment, their citizenship or legal residency may/can be unilater revoked upon formal request by the Feds and Court approval of same. IFF THE THREE ARE LUCKY, THEY'LL GET SENT TO GITMO AND GLAZE-GATE, INSTEAD OF FORT LEAVENWORTH, MAKING LITTLE ROCKS FROM BIG ROCKS 24-7!?
A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted three Ohio men for their role in assisting terrorism on U.S. targets overseas, specifically American military personnel and their allies in Iraq.
The indictment, which was unsealed Monday, said the men plotted to kill U.S. and coalition military personnel in Iraq and other countries. On at least two separate occasions, among other charges, at least one of the men verbally threatened to kill or inflict bodily harm on President Bush, the indictment says.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced the five-count indictment during a press conference Tuesday.
"These defendants have been living in the United States, where they have been engaging in weapons training and seeking help in order to kill people abroad, including our troops," Gonzales said.
"Individuals who aid terrorists within our borders threaten the safety of all Americans," he continued. "We are committed to protecting Americans, here and overseas, particularly the brave men and women of the U.S. armed forces who are serving our country and striving valiantly to preserve democracy and the rule of law in Iraq."
The men named in the indictment are: Mohammad Zaki Amawi, 26, who was a citizen of Jordan and the United States who lived in Toledo until August 2005; Marwan Othman El-Hindi, a 42-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen born in Amman, Jordan who lives in Toledo; and Wassim Mazloum, a 24-year-old legal U.S. resident who operated a car business with his brother in Toledo after entering the United States from Lebanon.
The three pleaded not guilty in federal courts in Cleveland and Toledo. The most serious charges could bring life in prison.
The indictment also notes that a fourth person, referred to as "the trainer," was a U.S. citizen but was not named as a conspirator. One official told FOX News that law enforcement was tipped to the activities of these three men by this informant, who is an ex-U.S. military man who fought overseas and was living in Toledo. He is described as "a respected member of the Muslim community" who came forward and gave information to the authorities.
The Justice Department said "the trainer" was working on behalf of the government and was cooperating from the beginning of the investigation.
The three men were arrested over the weekend and are currently in custody, said Assistant U.S. Attorney David Bauer in Toledo.
"This is classic treason waging war in the United States," said FOX News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano. "Ohio is Middle America ... it's just not the place you'd expect something like this to be hatched."
The charges outlined in the five-count indictment include: conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim, or injure people outside of the United States; conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, distributing information regarding explosives and making threats against the president of the United States. The most serious count that carries a maximum penalty of life in prison if prosecutors prove intent to kill.
Amawi is accused of twice threatening in conversations to kill or injure Bush. He also is charged with distributing information about the making and use of an explosive device.
The indictment accuses Mazloum of offering to use his car dealership as a cover for traveling to and from Iraq so that he could learn how to build small explosives using household materials.
El-Hindi is accused of trying to get "the trainer" to travel with him in November 2004 to the Middle East as part of the suspects' plan to establish a terrorism training center.
Officials told FOX News that the three men went as far as identifying a trip Bush was planning to Toledo and talked about ways of trying to get to him, including ramming his motorcade. But they eventually decided that security was too tight and that they were likely to get caught or killed and not be able to kill the president in the process.
The indictment says that from at least as early as November 2004 until the present, the defendants and others got together in Ohio to hatch a plan to kill people, including U.S. military personnel serving in Iraq. It says the men knowingly provided material support for this terror mission. They even tried to set up a non-profit organization through which to funnel money for their mission.
Amawi traveled to Jordan in October 2003 and returned to the United States in March 2004 after an unsuccessful attempt to enter Iraq and wage jihad, the charges state. He returned to Jordan in August 2005.
But in 2004 and 2005, the suspects recruited others to train for a violent holy war against the United States and its allies in Iraq, the indictment said. The group traveled together to a shooting range to practice shooting guns and studied how to make explosives, the indictment said. Around Jan. 27, 2005, Amawi communicated by computer with individuals in the Middle East, who told him some of the "brothers" were preparing to enter Iraq, according to the charges.
In 2002, "the trainer" was solicited by El-Hindi to assist in providing security and bodyguard training, and too travel with the suspects to the Middle East for firearms training and to help coordinate jihad training activities. The "trainer" also instructed the men on how to make improvised explosive devices and was asked if he knew how to procure chemical explosives for individuals in the Middle East.
"As we know, one of the greatest dangers to our men and women fighting in Iraq is the IED," Gonzales said.
On or around Feb. 16, 2005, Mazloum, Amawi and El-Hindi debated what the insurgents in Iraq needed most money, weapons or manpower, and discussed the effectiveness of snipers against U.S. military personnel, the charges state.
Two of the men discussed plans to practice setting off explosives on July 4, 2005, so that the bombs would not be noticed, the indictment says.
"This is not the end, this is the tip of the iceberg. There are many other cells that are being looked at, I can assure you," said former CIA operative Wayne Simmons.
One interesting aspect of the case is that officials seem to have intercepted e-mail communications from the suspects to their jihadist brethren in the Middle East. The indictment shows the nature of the e-mails, including a concern the men needed to use code words to conceal what they were talking about.
One official told FOX News that this investigation used all the tools, including FISA warrants.
"A lot of FISAs," one source said, referring to the warrants obtained under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Law enforcement officials also told FOX News that if it were not for the Patriot Act, authorities would not have been able to bring the charge of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists.
The issue of warrantless wiretaps has been a controversial one after information regarding such a program being conducted by the National Security Agency was leaked to the New York Times. Since then, a firestorm of criticism has been heaped upon the administration, which argues that the president has the authority to allow warrantless wiretaps in a time of war if it is in the national security interest of the United States.
When asked during the Tuesday press conference whether any of the information obtained to make the case against the three men presented, Gonzales said all law enforcement and legal officials are very concerned about not jeopardizing any investigation or case by using faulty intelligence-gathering means.
"We feel very, very strongly about this case, otherwise, we would not have brought forth the indictment," he added.
Amawi was assigned a public defender. Mazloum's attorney, Chuck Sallah, said he knew very little about his client or the charges.
Earlier this week, the U.S. government ordered a freeze on the asssets of KindHearts, a Toledo-based group suspected of funneling money to the militant organization Hamas. Law enforcement officials, speaking of condition of anonymity, said the arrests of the three men spurred the decision to freeze KindHearts' assets.
"Some aspects of them do overlap," an official said.
KindHearts has denied any terrorist connections and has said it is a humanitarian organization.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
01:36 ||
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"This is classic treason waging war in the United States," said FOX News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano. "Ohio is Middle America ... it's just not the place you'd expect something like this to be hatched."
Toledo has a large Muslim population. It's exactly where you'd expect this to come from. Napolitano needs to pull his head out of his ass; Muslims in the Midwest are not the same as other Midwesterners.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/22/2006 7:49
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Really ? You mean there are people in America that don't support America ? Other than the donks and the MSM, I mean. And, they are Muslims ?
Who'd a thunk it ?
I see in other headlines, muzzies are freely killing Christians now. Must be phase 2.
How long do we non-muzzies wait before we point fingers at muzzies, phase 3 ?
Mohammad Zaki Amawi, 26, who was a citizen of Jordan and the United States who lived in Toledo until August 2005
Marwan Othman El-Hindi, a 42-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen born in Amman, Jordan who lives in Toledo
Wassim Mazloum, a 24-year-old legal U.S. resident who operated a car business with his brother in Toledo after entering the United States from Lebanon.
Hmmm . . . not exactly Bill, John , or Frank, huh? I say, flush 'em.
Two local leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami sheltered the JMB suicide squad members who blasted bombs in front of Udichi office at Azahar Road in Netrakona town on December 8 last year. Eight people were killed and about 50 including 10 policemen were injured in the blasts. This was disclosed by JMB (Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh) 'operations commander' Ataur Rahman Sunny during interrogation in Dhaka by the investigation officer (IO) of the two cases filed in connection with the blasts. A murder case and another case under the Explosives Act were filed after the blasts.
Sub-Inspector Mohammad Alauddin of Netrakona police station is the Investigation Officer (IO) of the two cases. SI Alauddin told this correspondent that he and the Officer-in-Charge of Netrakona thana went to Dhaka recently to interrogate arrested JMB 'commander' Sunny in connection with the blasts. Asked why charge sheets were not filed even after two and a half months of the incident, Alauddin said he is awaiting orders from higher authorities.
Sunny told Alauddin that the suicide bombers came to Netrakona about 15 days before of the (December 8) blasts and stayed under the shelter and protection of the two Jamaat leaders. One of them is a front ranking leader of Netrakona district Jamaat and the other is a teacher of a madsasa in the Sadar upazila, Alauddin said quoting Sunny. The suicide bombers also took the help of local Islami Chhatra Shibir activists in making preparations for the attack. Sunny also told Alauddin that the suicide squad was sent to Netrakona on orders from JMB chief Abdur Rahman and JMJB (Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh) chief Siddikur Rahman alias Bangla Bhai .
Alauddin said he got some other 'important information' from Sunny during interrogation, which will be very helpful in the investigation. A high official of Netrakona police said investigations may have a new turn following Sunnay's confessions. "Sunny gave sufficient information about the bomb blast", the police official said. When contacted, Netrakona thana Officer-in-Charge Samiul Alam said, "We got important clues from Sunny and investigation is going on as per his statement of Sunny." He however said submission of charge sheets may be delayed.
Earlier press reports said that before the December 8 blasts, JMB threatened the Netrakona Police Superintendent of bomb attack on his office and residence in case of action against Islamist militants. The threats were made over phone and the SP had also acknowledged the threat.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
01:35 ||
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As the violence that erupted over Danish cartoon depictions of Prophet Muhammad continues, an obvious fatigue is developing around this issue. Commentators have had their say, and many believe that little more thought is possible on the issue. Consequently, the public's interest is also waning.
Thus, I thought it beneficial to make clear the cost of the riots to date:
* Deaths. At least 70 people have been killed and more than 280 injured in the worldwide protests. The numbers could be higher than this, as there is confusion about how many people were killed in some countries. The toll includes at least 49 people dead in Nigerian riots since this weekend -- but the number could be higher there. The Christian Association of Nigeria claims to have counted more bodies than the Red Cross did. Also, Reuters reports that 207 people injured in the riots are in critical condition, so the death toll could rise further. (It is worth noting that some Nigerian opposition politicians claim that the riots were not about the Danish cartoons, but rather were designed to protest a planned constitutional amendment to allow Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo to seek a third term in 2007.) In addition to the deaths in Nigeria, at least three people (including an eight-year-old boy) were killed in the chaos in Pakistan; at least ten people died in Libya after protesters tried to storm the Italian consulate; and police killed four people in Afghanistan when enraged Afghanis marched on a U.S. military base. There have also been significant instances of violence where, fortunately, nobody was killed. These include 300 Palestinians overpowering a police detail and attacking an international observer mission in Hebron; a confrontation between police and about 10,000 demonstrators marching on a Danish embassy in Bangladesh; and an incident where Kenyan police fired at hundreds of demonstrators, wounding at least one.
* Targeting of Christians. Sadly, Christians living in the Islamic world have become targets of this continuing violence. The L.A. Times has linked the recent burning of a church in the city of Sukkur in southern Pakistan to the climate of unrest caused by the cartoon riots. The day before that, Muslims protesting in the city of Maiduguri in Nigeria attacked Christians and burned 15 churches. And shortly after the cartoons were published, a 60-year-old Roman Catholic priest was shot to death in Turkey in an incident that observers believe to be linked to the cartoons.
* Death threats. The cartoonists have experienced death threats from many different quarters. A Pakistani Muslim cleric and his followers recently offered over $1 million to anyone who killed one of the Danish cartoonists who caricatured Muhammad. This is not the only bounty that has been placed on them.
* Attacks on embassies and consulates. A large number of Western embassies and consulates have been attacked. In Iran, protestors threw a Molotov cocktail at the British embassy while protesting both the cartoon and also the West's opposition to Iran's nuclear program. The Danish embassy was burned in Beirut. Protesters set fire to the Italian consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
* Property damage. A number of symbols of the West have been attacked by protesters. The attacks in Pakistan have garnered the most attention, mainly for the odd choice of targets. These have included a Pizza Hut, a Holiday Inn, some Western-owned gas stations, and -- most notably -- a statue of Ronald McDonald.
* Increased support for al-Qaeda. In Afghanistan, hundreds of students demonstrated against the cartoons yesterday, and Reuters reports that they "shouted support for Osama bin Laden and threatened to join his al Qaeda if Islam were insulted again."
The price paid due to these cartoons has been substantial -- and it is a price we must remember as the media loses interest in this story. Undoubtedly, some in the West will question whether our freedoms are worth the cost. But the reason these cartoons provoked so much violence is because there was a major problem in Europe even prior to their publication. As I have previously written, the speech rights of those who have been dubbed critics of Islam have been under assault in Europe for more than a decade and a half. To now sacrifice our rights of free expression would not buy us security. We would achieve nothing but a dangerous complacency.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
01:33 ||
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I keep thinking of falling safes, anvils and piano grandes.
Yemeni authorities have released 11 Muslim fundamentalists, including the suspected leader of an al-Qaida cell, who were detained in east Yemen.
Why do they even bother getting dirty trying to escape?
Daily al-Shura, mouthpiece of the opposition Popular Forces Union Party, Tuesday quoted well-informed sources as saying Abdel Rauf Nassib, who is accused of leading an al-Qaida cell whose members were convicted of planning terrorist activities and forging official documents, was among the released prisoners. Nassib, a former Yemeni intelligence officer, was tried and acquitted in the case of the bombing of the USS Cole in the port of Aden in October 2000 in which 17 U.S. servicemen were killed. He was also accused of planning attacks against U.S. interests in the poor Arab Gulf country. There was no information about the reason for the release of Nassib, who was among Yemenis who had fought in Afghanistan against the Soviet occupation.
In another development, a Yemeni court which specializes in terror cases Tuesday ordered the release of Hadi Mohammed Saleh al-Waeli, who was accused of selling arms and ammunition to the bombers of the USS Cole. The public prosecution accused al-Waeli of selling arms without a license and asked for the highest punishment provided by law in such cases. But the court ruled that the three years that he had spent in prison were sufficient and ordered his release.
The releases of Nassib and al-Waeli come a few weeks after 23 al-Qaida prisoners, described as the most dangerous, escaped from the central intelligence prison in Sanaa. Among the escapees are 13 convicted in the bombing of the USS Cole. The incident sparked anger in Washington and accusations that Yemeni security officials were involved in the escape.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
01:32 ||
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11/5/2002: "Al-Harethi's car was struck by a Hellfire air-to-ground missile. The CIA launches Hellfires from pilotless Predator aircraft. Five other people, believed low-level al-Qaeda operatives, also were killed."
Pakistan has apparently provided Afghanistan with proof of Indian Intelligence, RAWs involvement in affairs of Balochistan.
Officials said, Islamabad gave concrete evidence of RAWs involvement in Balochistan and the other tribal areas to Afghan President Hamid Karzai during his visit to Pakistan and demanded that RAWs anti-Pakistan activities through Indias consulates in Afghanistan be contained.
RAW, they said was carrying out anti-Pakistan activities through its consulates in Mazar-e- Sharif, Jalalabad, Kandahar and Herat.
The agency was helping Baloch Sardars in waging war against the federal government in places like Dera Bugti, Sui and Kohlu. Training camps established by Mari and Bugti warlords were being given large cache of weapons, which included Kalashnikovs, PRG-7s, land mines and hand grenades by RAW agents based in Afghanistan, they said.
The cache were loaded on mules and transported to Naushki and later shifted to training camps in double cabin. They said that while the situation gradually returned to normal in Waziristan in NWFP, Baloch sardars started mounting attacks on gas pipelines and other installations in Sui, reports Online News.
When the federal government started a crackdown on the insurgency, the Indian government expressed concern over the grave situation, they said. The secular Baloch sardars had started joining hands with the religious Taliban and al-Qaeda and RAW agents operating from consulates in Afghanistan, they said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
01:28 ||
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They're engaging in some revisionist history while doing so. The Iranian Komala is regarded by the real Kurdish commies as a sell-out to the CIA and is an offshoot of the Iranian branch of the Iraqi PKK, while the claim that the Baluchistan hard boyz are linked to al-Qaeda is pure Iranian spin - they're drug dealers and thugs working for the Baluch drug lord of the month, nothing more.
Iranian leaders have dismissed the US administrations proposal to allocate $75m for promoting democracy in Iran. Manouchehr Mottaki, foreign minister, has suggested the money would be better spent on investigating why hatred of the US has increased throughout the world in recent years.
Such contempt derives both from the weakness of Iranian opposition groups and a sense democracy will not favour the US. Everywhere in free elections, the Islamists and resistance groups are winning, president Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad said on Sunday.
Khaled Mashaal, leader of Hamas, the militant Islamist group victorious in recent Palestinian elections, is using his current visit to Tehran to back Irans right to nuclear technology and to call for Muslim support for the Palestinians.
Last week the Bush administration asked Congress for $75m to promote democratic change but Irans reformists - regrouping after election defeats - are loath to accept US money and argue US pressure strengthens militarism in Iran, where Mr Ahmadi-Nejad rides a popularity wave after his landslide win last June. Willing recipients for funding including royalist exiles based mainly in Los Angeles lack a presence in the country.
The most determined opponents of the regime in Tehran may be in Irans ethnic minorities, who make up around half its 68m population, but even here the ground is unpromising for the US.
The past week has seen renewed violence in Irans Kurdish region. The governor of Maku, a town close to the Turkish border, told Associated Press two demonstrators were killed on Friday during protests marking the 7th anniversary of the imprisonment in Turkey of Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
The Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran and Komaleh are soon to launch satellite television stations - probably broadcasting from Europe - that might attract US funding. But the rise of Pejak, a group linked to the PKK, may be less to Washingtons taste.
Likewise, in Sistan-Baluchestan, the restive province in Irans south-east, militant Sunni Muslim groups linked to al-Qaeda, one of which last year released a video of the beheading of an Iranian soldier, may not fit the US Congress model of ideal democrats. In the mainly Arab south-west province of Khuzestan, Iranian authorities have blamed a series of bombings, which have killed at least 20 people since last June, on Arab separatists.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
01:22 ||
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The 23-year-old man Lodi man charged with attending a terrorist training camp in Pakistan appears nervous and frequently contradicts himself during a videotaped interrogation that was played to jurors on Tuesday.
In clips of his roughly 10-hour interview with the FBI last June, Hamid Hayat couldn't seem to give straight answers about the al-Qaeda camp where prosecutors said he trained in 2003.
Jurors saw Hayat being questioned by a series of FBI agents who rotated in and out of the room at regional FBI headquarters in Sacramento. Responding to their questions, Hayat gave sometimes conflicting answers.
For example, he said houses in the camp were mud huts, then later changed that to multistory buildings. He said trainees shot at targets marked with a bull's eye, then said they aimed at dummies made to look like American leaders.
He even gave varying accounts about the number of trainees at the camp from 200 to about 35 and about whether they spoke only Urdu or also Pashto and English.
Federal prosecutors continued to play the videotape they first started showing to jurors last Thursday, the first full day of testimony in Hamid Hayat's trial in U.S. District Court.
He is charged with three counts of making false statements to the FBI about attending the camp and providing material support to terrorists. If convicted, he faces up to 39 years in prison.
His father, Umer Hayat, 48, is charged with lying about whether his son attended the camp. His portion of the trial is scheduled to begin next week. Both have been in federal custody since their arrests in June.
Prosecutors say Hamid Hayat returned to the U.S. in May 2005 and was awaiting orders to carry out attacks. Government documents filed in Washington, D.C., say supermarkets and hospitals were possible targets.
His attorney claims the soft-spoken young man was tired and just trying to tell the FBI agents questioning him what they wanted to hear when he confessed to attending the camp. On the videotape, Hamid Hayat appears nervous, jiggling his knees and tucking his hands between tightly crossed legs.
Defense attorney Wazhma Mojaddidi said during her opening statements last week that her client might have bragged about attending the camp to a paid FBI informant and might even have made unbelievable statements to agents during his interrogation. But she said the government has no proof that Hamid Hayat actually attended any camps.
His family has said he returned to Pakistan to find direction in his life and get married.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
01:20 ||
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Denmark said on Tuesday weeks of sometimes violent protests against Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad appeared to be calming down, and world political and religious leaders appealed for tolerance.
But with a decrease in the number and intensity of protests in the past few days, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fog Rasmussen expressed hope that his country, where the cartoons where first published in September, had weathered the worst of the storm.
"It is my impression that the development during the last few days has gone in the direction of more subdued demonstrations and statements in large parts of the Muslim world," said Rasmussen.
But he said: "It's clear that in several countries there is (still) a lot of turbulence and I want to warn against believing that the solution to these problems will be quick or easy."
Angry Muslims have set fire to the Danish embassies in Syria and Lebanon and violent protests have rocked cities from Morocco to Malaysia. Hundreds of Afghan students shouted support on Monday for Osama bin Laden and threatened to join al Qaeda.
The head of the world's largest Muslim grouping said on Tuesday violence would not help the Muslims' cause and denounced calls to kill the cartoonists who lampooned the Prophet Mohammad.
Last week, a Pakistani Muslim cleric and his followers offered rewards amounting to more than $1 million for anyone who killed the Danish cartoonists.
Ekmelettin Ihsanoglu, secretary-general of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), condemned the caricatures as "blasphemous, ugly and uncivilized" but said any call to kill the cartoonists was against the teachings of Islam.
"You have no authority to kill anybody," he told a news conference after talks with Pakistani leaders.
"Nobody is entitled to do this in the name of Islam and who does it in the name of Islam is harming Islam Violence weakens us. Violence works against us. Anything except violence is helpful," he said.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is to address a meeting in Qatar this week in an effort to help end the violence.
"He hopes on that occasion to meet with a number of leaders from Europe and from the Islamic world and to discuss with them ways of calming the situation," said U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
While European leaders have expressed regret for the offence caused by the cartoons, most have refused to apologize on grounds that the press has the freedom to express itself providing it does not contravene the law.
But a Norwegian Muslim, Khalid Mohammah, said the editor of the Magazinet newspaper which reprinted the cartoons had broken the law and reported him to the police.
"There are limits for what expressions are acceptable, even in a democracy. This is a case for the police, it cannot be solved by the masses," Mohammah told the Aftenposten newspaper.
"We will have to see what happens as this law has not been used since 1933," Magazinet editor Verbjoern Selbekk told Reuters by telephone from Spain, where he was on holiday.
Paragraph 142 of Norway's criminal code states a person can be prosecuted if he or she "in word or action publicly insults or in a demeaning or hurtful way displays scorn for any religious belief that is permitted in the country."
Saudi Arabia suspended the Shams youth daily that carried the cartoons, journalists from the newspaper said on Tuesday.
"The paper is for the youth and its editors are young, so they didn't realize how dangerous this is," said Suleiman al-Bathi, Saudi spokesman for a U.S.-based lobby group, the International Committee for the Support of the Final Prophet.
Saudi preachers have kept the issue alive with angry sermons, but there have been no public protests, which are frowned upon by authorities in the conservative kingdom.
"In the Gulf region the reaction is still controlled," Bathi said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
01:17 ||
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Ekmelettin Ihsanoglu, secretary-general of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), condemned the caricatures as "blasphemous, ugly and uncivilized" but said any call to kill the cartoonists was against the teachings of Islam.
"You have no authority to kill anybody," he told a news conference after talks with Pakistani leaders.
"Nobody is entitled to do this in the name of Islam and who does it in the name of Islam is harming Islam Violence weakens us. Violence works against us. Anything except violence is helpful," he said.
#2
"Norway's criminal code states a person can be prosecuted if he or she "in word or action publicly insults or in a demeaning or hurtful way displays scorn for any religious belief that is permitted in the country."
It gets bit confusing, though, when a religion is in actuality a political entity with clear political aims, right? Interesting tactic that the Moslems are using. The cartoons did not denigrate religion at all--only politics, but by saying anything and everything Moslem is merely "religious" and therefore protected, the Moslems can get away with whatever they want.
Free speech and law are concepts the Moslems try to use, but don't understand. For them it's: "can't say this or that, and law is what we decide by force of arms."
They are so like stupid little monkeys (no offense to monkeys intended) attempting to imitate true culture.
The Global Islamic Media Front, an al-Qaeda mouthpiece, issued a statement from its headquarters yesterday, February 20, 2006, responding to the speech Friday by U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in which he spoke of the lagging response of the United States in the media war and advocated its improvement. Ahmad al-Watheq Billah, the author of the document, mocks this failing project of the American Army and lauds the jihad media, which is superior on the Internet network and other information sources for striking the enemy early and effectively.
The group then calls upon both the sons and daughters of Islam to join the ranks of information jihad, and capitalize on their current presence on the Internet. Those who have knowledge of capturing photographs with mobile phones, take videos and know where to distribute them, are urged to record any image that depicts the failure and disgrace of the enemy in Muslim lands such as Palestine, Chechnya, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Billah, the author, charges that the concentration of pictures that represent the truth will attack Americas weak point, and threatens: The comings days will carry what will paralyze you enemies of the religion. You are wandering around and you will be wondering around more, you who are attacking the Prophet, our master Muhammad.
"Yes, my maw-stah!"
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
01:16 ||
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During World War 2 Hitler got pretty much everyone of age involved in the conflict. By the end of the war we found the survivors were indecisive and painfully fearful of war.
It will be intersting to see what happens to the sons and daughters of Islam by the time this is all over.
The government must disclose whether it used any information from the Bush administration's terrorist surveillance program in its case against a man convicted of joining Al Qaeda and plotting to assassinate the president, a federal judge has ruled.
Judge Gerald Bruce Lee postponed the man's sentencing at the request of defense lawyers who suspect that Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, 24, of Falls Church, was illegally targeted by the eavesdropping program.
In a ruling made public Tuesday, the judge gave prosecutors until March 9 to submit a sworn declaration from a government official to say whether any information from the eavesdropping was used in Abu Ali's case.
Prosecutors had opposed any sentencing delay. They said they were not aware of any evidence obtained through the surveillance program, but conceded they may not know exactly how investigators obtained all the evidence. The judge said a sworn declaration was needed to determine whether any of Abu Ali's constitutional rights were violated. He said the government may file its response under seal if necessary.
He had a constitutional right not to be investigated? A constitutional right not to have his criminal conversations with overseas individuals tracked?
Defense lawyers have said they have no direct evidence their client was targeted by the program, but they suspect he was because of the eavesdropping program's apparent focus on Al Qaeda.
Raised in suburban Washington, D.C., Abu Ali confessed that he joined Al Qaeda in 2003 while attending college in Saudi Arabia and discussed assassinating Bush and establishing an Al Qaeda cell in the United States. He said he was tortured into a false confession, but a jury rejected that claim and convicted him on all counts. He faces a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison. Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence.
"Hey! Youse guys are me mouthpieces! You gotta find a way to keep me outta slammer!"
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
01:13 ||
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Defense lawyers have said they have no direct evidence their client was targeted by the program, but they suspect he was because of the eavesdropping program's apparent focus on Al Qaeda.
Well then, counselor, that would suggest to me that smirky boy is quite, quite guilty...
Hospitals, supermarkets and other large buildings in California were among the possible terrorist targets of a man charged with attending an Al-Qaeda training camp in Pakistan, according to a videotaped interview played for jurors. Hamid Hayat told FBI agents he was awaiting orders to strike buildings in Los Angeles and perhaps San Francisco after he returned to the US in 2005.
He said the targets might include "big buildings, like finance buildings, banks, stores." When asked to be specific, Hayat, 23, told the agent he meant food stores. "Why would you hit a food store?" the agent asks on the videotape which was played in court on Tuesday. "I think just to hurt people," Hayat responded.
The roughly 10 hours of interrogation were videotaped last June and seemed to support the government's allegations that Hayat attended the camp in 2003, returned to the US to carry out attacks and then lied to the FBI. He faces up to 39 years in prison if convicted of three counts of making false statements and providing material support to terrorists.
Hayat, however, contradicted himself throughout the FBI questioning and at times struggled to explain his involvement in the camp. That could help his defence lawyers, who claim he is prone to exaggeration and never actually underwent terrorist training.
"He's just a tad confused, yer honor! Musta gotten hit in the head as a child!"
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
01:11 ||
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Nuthin says "PRIDE OF ISLAM/MOHAMMED" and "DESERT SAMURAI" than wiping out the sick, and food stores filled mostly with hosfraus and kiddies - you know, MANO-A-MANO.
Pakistan's law enforcement agencies have mounted a hunt for those wanted to the Afghan government on charges of terrorism and other anti-state activities.
Quoting Pakistan's Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, a section of the Pakistani press confirmed President Hamid Karzai, during his three-day state visit to Islamabad, had handed over a list of wanted men to the Pakistani authorities.
Addressing a press conference in Kabul, Karzai said he had handed over a list of wanted men to the Pakistan government and now awaiting their response. However, a spokesperson of Pakistan's foreign office did not confirm the handing over of any such list when asked for comments during her weekly press briefing last week.
Quoting the minister, one of Pakistan's leading newspaper reported the government had received the list and the law enforcement agencies had mounted a search to pick up the alleged terrorists.
"Yes, we have received a list of about 150 terrorists who are believed to be hiding in Pakistan," the minister confirmed. Referring to the handing over of the list, the Pakistani minister called it a routine matter.
He said it was a routine matter because the two countries often exchanged lists of alleged terrorists believed to be hiding in either country. He said they had started work in light of the fresh list. Sherpao was evasive when asked about names of any prominent Taliban or al-Qaeda figure on the list.
Tension between the two countries mounted in the wake of rising insurgency and the recent suicide bombings in Kandahar and other southern parts of Afghanistan. Several anti-Pakistan protest demonstrations were held in provinces led by governors, ulema and other prominent figures and tribal elders pressing the neighbouring country to stop harbouring and supporting Taliban.
However, the Pakistani authorities, on the other hand, deny the charges, advocating their country itself was victim of terrorism. They say more than 70,000 troops had been deployed to guard the 2,300 kilometres porous border and stop infiltration.
Karzai's recent visit to Pakistan was viewed in that context to end the blame-game and boost cooperation between the two countries in fighting and rooting out terrorism from their respective lands and the region.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
01:09 ||
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A Syrian with alleged links to Al-Qaeda who is suspected of plotting to attack Israeli cruise ships off the Turkish coast has said he was financed by the Taliban, a report said Tuesday. Louai Sakra told police he was given 50,000 dollars by the fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar to carry out attacks in his name against Israeli targets, NTV television news channel said. He also claimed to have the approval of Al-Qaeda frontman in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, it said.
Sakra's lawyer was not immediately available for comment.
"Go away. Leave me alone. I'm not paid enough to do this."
Sakra, 32, told reporters at a Turkish court after his arrest last August that he was plotting to attack Israeli cruise ships off Turkey's Mediterranean coast. Turkish authorities also suspect him of involvement in the twin suicide attacks that killed 63 people and wounded 750 others in Istanbul in November 2003.
Tuesday's NTV report said he had told interrogators that a fire had broken out on August 4 in the premises where he was preparing his explosives, setting some of them off. "If there had been no explosion, I would have carried out my action the next day," he was quoted as saying.
"I had planned, in the event that I was not able to act against a passenger ship, to target any NATO military ship that was nearby," he said, according to the news channel.
Media reports said Sakra planned to use an inflatable boat packed with explosives to hit an Israeli cruise ship in Antalya, home to some of Turkey's most popular resorts that attract millions of foreign tourists each year.
In an official statement on the case, police last August confirmed that two suspects were caught last week in an operation launched after a suspicious fire at a flat rented in Antalya by Middle Eastern tourists. The statement did not name the men and made no mention of a plot to attack Israeli ships.
Pointing to Sakra, it said a suspect detained at Diyarbakir airport "is understood to hold a prominent position in a terrorist group linked to Al-Qaeda" and had undergone plastic surgery, apparently to disguise himself.
He was present at the flat in Antalya at the time of the fire, which raised suspicions because of an intense smell of chemicals, police said. The documents seized at the flat suggested a link with the 2003 Istanbul attacks, in which suicide bombers detonated explosive-laden trucks five days apart outside two synagogues, the British consulate and the British-based HSBC bank, killing 63 people and wounding hundreds.
The second suspect was detained Saturday while preparing to leave Turkey from a post on the Syrian vorder, police said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
01:08 ||
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A Pakistani anti-terrorism court yesterday sentenced 11 members of an Al Qaeda-linked radical group to death for a 2004 attack on a top general in Karachi that killed 11 people.
The extremists from Jund Allah, or Army of God, were found guilty of firing on the car of General Ahsan Saleem Hayat, the then corps commander of Karachi, as he drove through the southern city in his motorcade on June 10, 2004.
Saleem survived the shooting and later became deputy chief of the Pakistani army, but at least seven soldiers, three policemen and a passerby died in the hail of bullets.
The prosecution has produced witnesses, the charges against you have been proven and you are hereby sentenced to death, Judge Feroz Muhammad Bhatti told the men as he announced the verdict to the court in Karachi.
The bearded convicts wearing traditional smocks and tunics shouted Allahu Akbar (God is Great) and We will accept death punishment even if it is awarded 10 times as Bhatti finished reading the judgement.
The groups ringleader, Atta-ur-Rehman, said after the verdict that the men would appeal against the verdict of the kangaroo court.
Tell Musharraf so that he can tell Bush that such punishments cannot block our way, he added.
One Atta-ur-Rehman will die and another will be born. Like other militant groups, Jund Allah was enraged by Pakistani President Pervez Musharrafs close ties with his US counterpart George W Bush and by Islamabads crackdown on Islamic extremism.
Members of Jund Allah were trained in camps run by Al Qaeda in the rugged tribal area of South Waziristan near the Afghan border, where Pakistans military is engaged in an ongoing hunt for militants.
Prosecutor Maula Bakhsh Bhatti said the militants had confessed to carrying out the attack. The prosecution has proved its case and they themselves have confessed and declared that it is jihad (holy war), he said.
The judge also ordered them to pay fines of Rs50,000 ($833) each and pay twice as much to the relatives of those killed. Five other members of the group have been declared absconders in the case but were not sentenced.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
01:06 ||
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#1
"...trained in camps run by Al Qaeda in the rugged tribal area of South Waziristan..." More problem childern of allen from Waziristan with a direct AQ connection.
No doubt it will delay the formation of a government of national unity, which we all know is the next step ...
Western intelligence analysts specializing in events around the Horn of Africa on the Red Sea say it is unclear what lays behind the forming of a new political party, which is nothing more than a group of warlords.
The new Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (APPCT) was formed in Mogadishu following a bloody weekend, with at least 18 people killed and close to 100 wounded. Although information from the official Somali capital is scarce sources in Djibouti, where an international counter-terror force is based, say the last round of fighting was between members of some 10 different private militias and the powerful new ultra radical militia of the Islamic Sharia court in Mogadishu.
According to one report the radicals, usually dressed in white gowns and white head covers, armed with AK-47s and machine guns mounted on pick-up trucks, are a new phenomena on the Somali scene. The Sharia court militia's main goal is to impose strict Islamic rule in all of Somalia. To do so followers of the court began to apprehend, and sometimes murder, those suspected of drug dealing, alcohol trading and prostitution. This hurts the warlords, who so far have been determining the nature of economic and social life in the capital, day-by-day business routines.
One source with connections to the Djibouti Task Force said the court militia is funded, motivated and basically related to the Jamaa Islamiah and al-Qaeda. The warlords are also preparing their men for the possible first meeting in years of a Somali parliament. This event, scheduled for February 26, will take place, if at all, in the town of Baidoa since the capital Mogadishu is still considered too dangerous for the parliament to meet in.
The latest events will have a direct influence on the activities of the Horn of Africa Task Force and the Naval Task Force patrolling the waterways leading to the Persian Gulf.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
01:04 ||
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Perhaps the US could send some drones to clear the streets of the Mog of any 'technicles' they may encounter. After all, our enemy's enemy and all that, not to mention good drone training grounds.
Inmates at Guantanamo Bay who are campaigning for their release at the High Court in London had contact with the terrorist cell responsible for carrying out last July's London bombings, interrogation officials at the detention camp have revealed.
U.S. officials responsible for running the camp say "dozens" of the 500 detainees currently being held at Guantanamo had previously lived or worked in Britain before their capture in Afghanistan in 2001, but are not British citizens.
Three of the detainees -- who describe themselves as residents, but not citizens, in papers served at the London court -- were last week given permission to seek an order for British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to campaign for their release.
But U.S. officials responsible for interrogating the suspects say the detainees had knowledge of the cell responsible for carrying out the bomb attacks on three London subway trains and a bus that killed 52 persons and wounded more than 700 others.
"After the London bombings, we got a request from British intelligence to check whether these people had any knowledge of those responsible for carrying out the attacks," said a senior U.S. official. "We interviewed them and they were able to provide a great deal of information about the bombings, which we passed back to London."
American officials refused to give specific details of the intelligence provided by the inmates, but said it related to the "training and organizational structure" of the terror cells responsible for carrying out the July 7 attack.
Army Maj. Gen. Jay Hood, the U.S. officer responsible for running the Guantanamo prison camp, confirmed that the British intelligence agency MI6 has made repeated requests for information about the terror attacks from Guantanamo inmates.
"We have passed the information they have provided about the London bombings to the British authorities. I believe this information has helped to prevent further attacks in [Britain]," Gen. Hood said.
U.S. officials said interrogation of the detainees continues to provide valuable information about al Qaeda's international network. Apart from preventing attacks in London, recent intelligence has led to active al Qaeda cells being broken up in Italy and Germany in the past year.
Although human rights groups say detainees are not in a position to provide current intelligence four years after capture, Gen. Hood insists they are still providing high quality intelligence.
"It is like doing a giant mosaic, and every piece of information helps to give us a clearer picture of the threat we face in the global war on terror," he said.
In recent weeks some of the captured al Qaeda fighters, who were in charge of Osama bin Laden's training camps in Afghanistan, have begun cooperating with U.S. officials and revealing details of the terror network.
"This is a really significant breakthrough," said a senior U.S. official at the base.
U.S. officials insist no torture methods have been used to persuade the inmates to cooperate.
"The most common method used to interrogate detainees is to sit down with them, watch a movie and eat pizza," said the official. "You build up a relationship with them and eventually they cooperate."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
01:02 ||
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#4
What was the movie title? And what about the cartoon shorts before the movie. I could think of a rather rotund and stuttering character that would bring up their boiler pressure.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/22/2006 12:10
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#5
Infidel NY pizza, the very best.
This also was in the London Times yesterday. I wonder how eager the Brits are now to shut down the evil Gitmo.
Posted by: Captain America ||
02/22/2006 14:01
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From the translated al-Qaeda documents from the HARMONY database, circa May-June 2002. The letter is addressed to al-Qaeda contacts in the UAE, specifically Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and gives us some window into how the Bad Guys regard them.
In the Name of Allah the Most Compassionate and Merciful
Number (blank) Date 14/ May/June/2002
Al-Jihad Qaidas [TC: Qaida: also means base in Arabic]
{Get the idolaters out of Arab Island} [TC: Gulf Countries]
To: Officials in the United Arab Emirates and especially the two emirates of Abu-Dhabi and Dubai:
We have come to know definitely that the Emirate country is committing acts of injustice against the striving youth of the Emirates and others who sympathize with us in order to appease the Americans wishes which include: spying, persecution, and detainments. The United Emirates authorities have recently detained a number of Mujahideen and handed them over to suppressive organizations in their country in addition to having a number of them still in its custody. Undoubtedly, these practices bring the country into a fighting ring in which it cannot endure or escape from its consequences especially since the Emirates social composition is the most productive, and very explosive.
You are well aware that we have infiltrated your security, censorship, and monetary agencies along with other agencies that should not be mentioned. Therefore, we warn of the continuation of practicing such policies, which do not serve your interests and will only cost you many problems that will place you in an embarrassing state before your citizens. In addition, it will prove your agencies immobility and failure. Also, we are confident that you are fully aware that your agencies will not get to the same high level of your American Lords. Furthermore, your intelligence will not be cleverer than theirs, and your censorship capabilities are not worth much against what they have reached. In spite of all this Allah has granted us success to get even with them and harm them.
However, you are an easier target than them; your homeland is exposed to us. There are many vital interests that will hurt you if we decided to harm them, especially, since you rely on shameless tourism in your economical income!! Finally, our policies are not to operate in your homeland and/or tamper with your security because we are occupied with others which we consider are enemies of this nation. If you compel us to do so, we are prepared to postpone our program for a short period and allocate some time for you.
Therefore, we ask you to release all the Mujahideen detainees since September incidents and anyone who was detained and suspected of having a connection with these incidents; otherwise, we will be compelled, with no regret, to change our policies towards you.
Al-Jihad Qaida Organization
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
00:57 ||
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#1
A great reason to support the PORT thing? Thoughts, anyone?
Several Bush-administration security officials expressed concerns yesterday that terrorists could infiltrate seaports through a United Arab Emirates company that is vying to manage six U.S. ports.
Intelligence and security officials opposed to the deal with Dubai Ports World said ports are vulnerable to the entry of terrorists or illicit weapons because of the large number of containers that enter U.S. territory, regardless of who manages them.
A Persian Gulf state such as the United Arab Emirates could provide an infrastructure for terrorists to penetrate U.S. security as part of a major terrorist operation, the officials said.
One long-term worry is that al Qaeda terrorists will attempt to smuggle a nuclear device into the United States through a port via a shipping container.
Allowing a Middle Eastern company to manage key ports "would be like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse," said one security official, who, like most other critics, spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Another official said the problem is not the company but its location in a region rife with Islamic terrorism.
"You have to be concerned about a firm from that part of the world managing the ports," this official said. "They are more vulnerable to compromise and penetration by terrorists, even if they are just managing the port."
Company officials would be briefed on security procedures and countermeasures that, if compromised, could allow foreign terrorists to get through various screening procedures, the official said.
The Coast Guard is responsible for port security, tracking ships, crews and cargo and search vessels based on intelligence. There is no cohesive hiring or screening process for port workers, however.
Critics said the port deal reflects the Bush administration's pro-business policy bias. The Treasury Department's point man on the issue, Deputy Treasury Secretary Robert Kimmitt, was described by officials as a liberal Republican who in the past clashed with conservative national-security officials during interagency policy disputes.
The United States has 95,000 miles of open shoreline with 361 ports. Annually, about 7,500 ships make about 51,000 port calls and unload more than 6 million shipping containers.
Other senior officials, however, reject politically charged claims that the Dubai Ports World purchase of contracts to run ports in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Newark, N.J., poses a national security risk.
At the White House, National Security Council spokesman Frederick Jones said there are no national security concerns over the Dubai Ports World deal.
"This transaction has been incorrectly reported as being about port security or port ownership," Mr. Jones said. "No. It is about managing port operations. Port security remains the shared responsibility of local port authorities, the Department of Homeland Security, the Transportation Department, the Coast Guard and others."
The port deal was approved by the Treasury-led Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), in part based on the United Arab Emirates' support for U.S. government activities in the war on terrorism.
U.S. intelligence agencies raised "a couple" of national-security issues that were resolved after talks with Dubai Ports World officials, said Treasury spokesman Tony Fratto. The company, he said, provided "verifiable assurances" that the problems would be resolved, but did not elaborate.
The contract to manage the ports is not expected to involve large numbers of United Arab Emirates or foreign dock workers, but will involve some United Arab Emirates nationals who are Dubai Ports World managers to direct and oversee port operations.
The Department of Homeland Security was the lead agency in supporting the deal, based on past United Arab Emirates cooperation with a U.S.-led shipping container security initiative in Dubai.
The CIA operates a base in Dubai, and U.S. military unmanned aerial vehicles also fly out of the Persian Gulf state for intelligence-gathering missions.
"It's a country that's been involved in the global war on terror with us; it's a country that we have facilities that we use," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told reporters yesterday.
Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also said the U.S. military has close ties to the United Arab Emirates.
"In everything that we have asked and work with them on, they have proven to be very, very solid partners," Gen. Pace said.
Mr. Rumsfeld said both he and Gen. Pace were unaware of the port-deal security issue until the weekend.
The defense secretary said he was reluctant to judge whether the management contracts posed national-security risks because he was not fully informed.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
00:54 ||
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#1
I know I have been missed--but in the spirit of free enterprise--so valued by the GOP--why don't we let the Country of Yemen take over the TSA? Maybe we can outsource security for Amtrak to Saudi Arabia? It all makes sense, since the private sector is the solution! I guess Kinda Sleezy Rice REALLY does want to see that mushroom cloud over Manhattan since only 20% of the populace there bought her bosses lies!
Posted by: Not MIKE Moore ||
02/22/2006 1:14
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#2
Sure. Why not, NMM? After all, the Democrats outsourced their domestic policy to the Social Democrats and their foreign policy to the Tranzis years ago.
#3
The company owning the management and operations aspects of the port is essentially irrelevent to security.
The company will be making decisions about which piers to put what equipment on; the charges for berthing; the hours of operation, etc.
The inspections, surveillance, etc. are all regulated by the Coast Guard, TSA, Maritime Administration, COEngineers, etc. And all the actual loading, unloading, dispatching, etc. are done by the same dockworkers that would be there no matter who owned the port management company.
I find myself in the unusual position of agreeing with Jimmy Carter, John McCain and the Washingtop Post (although for different reasons).
#4
I call for official co-privatization of domestic security, as called for in the Second Amendment.
NMM appeals only to the Ignorant by blatantly lying about what Conservatives and Bush actually stand for. Can't demonize them if you stick to the truth. Must use wild-ass extrapolations based on fevered and blind faith in socialist-communist-marxist political, social, and economic analysis that has murdered more people than Hitler. Failed thinking that, when implemented in real-life, necessitates expanded and uncritical welfare to sustain the adherents thereto.
#6
P&O, the British company that Dubai Port is buying, operates terminals in six American ports. Some of these terminals are alongside terminals operated by the Danish company Moller. In the Port of Los Angeles, one of the terminals is operated by a Chinese firm. Corpus Christi has had both a Spanish company and a Filipino company in its port.
The frieght comes from all over the world. The ships come from all over the world. The seamen come from all over the world. None of that would change.
#7
Where were all these people when the American merchant marine was regulated out of business?
Or, for that matter, when we exported the oilfield to the Middle East in the mid-80's?
Oh, sure, they'll tell you all day long they support the replacement of the oilfield with Pixie Dust, which they'll have in just a few short years once the Nasty Conspiratorialists in the domestic oilfield get out the way...
...which is just another way of blaming the locals for the fact that you want to import from salafists instead.
#8
Not only that, but if you subscribe to the belief that not all muzzies are bad, then somewhere, sometime you must include those considered good as partners in this WOT and treat them as such.
Which is it ? Some muzzies with us , or all muzzies bad ?
#9
i lean towards y'all that this deal should be allowed. Of course deep in my heart i suspect that if President Clinton (you fill in the first name) had oked this, youd all be ranting and raving about treason, mythical moderate muslims, etc, etc.
"Not only that, but if you subscribe to the belief that not all muzzies are bad, then somewhere, sometime you must include those considered good as partners in this WOT and treat them as such.
Which is it ? Some muzzies with us , or all muzzies bad ?"
And doesnt the reverse apply as well? I mean the UAE was, along with Saudi and Pakiland one of only three countries that recognized the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Indonesia didnt. Jordan didnt. Albania didnt. etc, etc. Yet call those countries "moderate" and ive got a pack of rampaging loonies all over me. Yet now UAE, which is not more moderate than the govt of Pakistan, and hardly more moderate than the govt of Saudi Arabia, is now a valued ally. Well which is it? Are moderate muslim mythical, or not?
#10
I have no idea if this is a good idea or a bad idea. But I am suspicious when the democrats support an idea and use it to bash republicans just because all of their ideas for the past half century have sucked so horribly bad.
#11
LH - re: Clinton, probably so, because we suspect his reasons. There would be $ for Hillary's campaign, that trailer-trash library, a couple promised speaking engagements at huge $...
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/22/2006 10:00
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#12
hey liberalhawk...I'm trying to think of just one really good idea that liberals have bestowed us with since 1960. I can't think of any, can you?
When I think of liberals I think of reasons for this current war on terror, ie: the belief we are weak and will run. I think of the peace love generation whose great ideas of compassion were nothing more than vacant political promises that threw beads and whiskey at the down and out and destroyed the fabric of their society, leaving them in a worse state than if they had left them alone all together. I think of the Peace movement and Pol Pot. I think of health care in terms of how the libearls idolize Castro for his crappy (but free) health care system. I think of liberal newspapers as being anything but a free press. I could go on - but is there anything at all that liberals can be proud of - except perhaps legal abortion?
#13
That is the problem LH all Americans see are bad muslims never any of the good things they do and American people are beginnings not to like muslims. That will be the start and the war will begin in earnest and hatred on both sides will probably kill millions of muslims. War of attrition we are only at the beginning it is going to get ugly.
After the Arbusto fiasco, Bush Jr joined a consortium that drilled several oil wells in the UAE, with no luck. Still he was able to pocket $1,500,000 from the failed venture. As President, he has never condemned terror financing from either the UAE or the Saud terrorist entity in face of the fact that said financing facilitated both the 9-11 massacres, and the current terror attacks against US troops in Iraq. Further, in the domestic front, his administration pays consultation fees to the Islamic Society of North America, notwithstanding their distribution of Wahabi hate tracts in the 80% of US mosques that have received Saudi financial support. Bush's see no evil aproach to America's mortal enemies - which runs counter to mainstream Evangelical beliefs - reveals that he puts his personal post-administration interests over those of his country.
I know Rantburg - especially lotp who cut over a dozen of the ever compliant Robert Crawford's posts last week - censors any criticism of Bush, even though the President is taking heat from all other conservative, evangelical and military hardline sources. The program appears to favor grassroots Republican pressure on the President. What is your program?
Google some of recent news reports on Karen Hughes' fellatial public diplomacy conducted in enemy States. Why would you want to be associated with that slavish dhimmism? Do you believe it covers some tactical genius? I will tell you Bush's grand strategy: trying to look and act resolute to the sheepish masses, in preparation for serving himself to the Saudi wolves, post Presidency. Bush Jr is a slave.
And it's not "End of story" - or haven't you the capacity to take in information as it develops, comprehend it, and then change (if necessary) your knee-jerk first-blush opinion?
You're much smarter than that - or some of your posts have led me to believe. Is this just a bubble of your quiescent BDS breaking through? I had, recently, begun to give you credit for shedding that mantle of irrationality. Sad, this.
#18
" LH - re: Clinton, probably so, because we suspect his reasons. There would be $ for Hillary's campaign, that trailer-trash library, a couple promised speaking engagements at huge $..."
Wrong Frank, Clinton took money from Red China, the Wahabi money goes to Bush, via Grover Norquist. :)
#22
lotp:
What is your position on UAE control of US ports? Am I the only one here who believes that Bush Jr is an overachieving rich brat, who is under oil patch remote control? Who is "CaziFarkus"? Could be CrazyFool's alter ego.
#24
We, the American People, have never been permitted, by our owners, to have a honest and forthright discussion about "free trade", borders, out sourcing, multi-nationals and the whole nine yards.
When Perot mentioned "sucking" both sides murdered him and discussion was halted. Same for Anderson. Same for the Hippies in the 60s ... Same for any dissent from the offical game plan.
#28
What is your position on UAE control of US ports? Am I the only one here who believes that Bush Jr is an overachieving rich brat, who is under oil patch remote control? Who is "CaziFarkus"? Could be CrazyFools alter ego.
I sometimes wonder if everyone who bitches about the oil patch has really thought about the long-term effects of outsourcing the whole thing to other countries.
Posted by: Phil ||
02/22/2006 19:00
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#29
And another thing:
Why is it that:
* The US won't allow drilling off of the East or West coasts. (including Florida, parts of Alabama, or Virginia).
* Or in land areas in CA near the coast (i.e. use directional drilling there)
* Or even in ANWR... which is about as wasteland as places get these days...
BUT: if anything goes wrong anywhere, it's the All Powerful Oilpatch doing things?
The left blames it for our going to war in the mideast, and now I see guys on the "right" blaming it for anything they see as lax prosecution of the war. (Note I put "right" in quotation marks.)
Maybe it's just me, I work in it, but I don't see the mythical superpowerful conspiracy everyone else does here.
Posted by: Phil ||
02/22/2006 19:41
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#30
And another thing:
Why is it that:
* The US won't allow drilling off of the East or West coasts. (including Florida, parts of Alabama, or Virginia).
* Or in land areas in CA near the coast (i.e. use directional drilling there)
* Or even in ANWR... which is about as wasteland as places get these days...
BUT: if anything goes wrong anywhere, it's the All Powerful Oilpatch doing things?
The left blames it for our going to war in the mideast, and now I see guys on the "right" blaming it for anything they see as lax prosecution of the war. (Note I put "right" in quotation marks.)
Maybe it's just me, I work in it, but I don't see the mythical superpowerful conspiracy everyone else does here.
Posted by: Phil ||
02/22/2006 20:21
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#31
Some days I feel like I should just quit and go to work for the Illuminati instead. Or maybe the Masons, or Skull and Bones.
Maybe they have better pay than the oil patch remote control masters.
Posted by: Phil ||
02/22/2006 20:23
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#34
Simple question. What happens when an overseas shipping container comes into port with UAE diplomatic seals on it?
Yes, I fully intend this as a terrorist bomb importation scenario. While I do not seek to punish all Arab countries, ally and enemy alike, I still think careful consideration should be given to turning over any vital security functions or importation avenues at this point in time.
Any worthy ally of ours would understand a delay in handing over the reins. I have simply seen far too much collaboration and collusion between Islamic nations, a lot of it running counter to American interests, to be convinced that relenquishing even a small portion of port security to be a good thing, right now.
Yes, I might be over-reacting. Over-reacting is something that could prove to be extremely wise right now. Remember, one nuclear terrorist attack could set us back DECADES. The Dow Jones only recently recovered to where it was pre-9/11. That was subsequent to a mere airliners-into-skyscrapers attack (regardless of how insanely egregious it was). 9/11 cost our nation TRILLIONS in lost economic growth and security expenditures, not even counting the Iraq war. Now imagine the economic devastation of a nuclear terrorist attack. The number QUADRILLION comes to mind. That's a chance I'm not willing to take.
#35
There's a good chance it would be scanned for radiation, bio and chem substances. We've got some pretty awesome sniffers in the major ports IIUC and that sort of thing could -- and I suspect definitely would -- be checked out without breaking any diplomatic protocols.
I doubt we have enough of these machines deployed to scan everything that comes into the country -- at this point, anyway. But, a whole lot of amazing R&D happened in the last few years. Expensive, but worth it for this kind of equipment.
#36
From Drudge just now: Documents obtained by the AP show the Bush administration's conditions for approving a ports sale required a Dubai company to cooperate with future U.S. investigations and disclose internal operations records on demand... Developing...
#37
Tommy Franks (remember him?) is on Hannity & Colmes and has just trashed the security arguments - he sez it's nothing but politics. Nothing. But. Politics. I am so there, lol.
#38
I agree with that, as I said waay back when today.
Regards your posts today, if you had been on-topic all day - like this one - and kept your pecker in your pants (taking the high road and shaming the Mods) I'd be begging them and Fred for more tolerance.
#40
re: #19 - nothing. Your dreams of what the liberal party woulda, coulda, shoulda, been but never was just caused me to wonder out loud, that's all. I noticed you didn't have an answer. That's ok, LH. Good intentions are good enough, eh?
#42
If General Franks said, I'll believe it. However, I'll have to give the Bush administration failing marks for not seeing the tripwire and murphy proofing the issue well before hand.
It will take a network of international cooperation to defeat al Qaeda and its associate networks, Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said here today.
"It takes a network to defeat a network," Kimmitt, U.S. Central Command's deputy director for plans and strategy, said at a State Department Foreign Press Center briefing. "To defeat this organization we must have a network that is more adept, more capable and more lithe."
Kimmitt also laid out three more principles CENTCOM envisions will help defeat terror networks in its region: "helping others help themselves," stopping terrorist safe havens from being established, and reposturing forces for the "Long War."
Because al Qaeda uses technology to its advantage, the Long War must be fought in both the geographical and virtual domain, he said.
"This is a group (al Qaeda) that advertises on the Internet, finances on the Internet, proselytizes on the Internet," he said. "It also uses international criminal networks in many ways - smuggling, in some cases drug money to finance its efforts."
He added that al Qaeda also has command and control elements online.
"If you put this all together, you see a fairly sophisticated network," he said. "Now I don't want to mislead you, this enemy is not 10 feet tall ... but he is networked in a way that we are not," he added.
Kimmitt said that many regional nations are tackling terrorism on their own, and the U.S must continue to help them do so. He cited Jordan, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia as a few examples.
"These are countries that have developed counterterrorism capabilities within their own ministries," he said. "They are taking the fight to al Qaeda itself."
On the safe haven issue, Kimmitt stressed the importance winning the heart and minds of local population, so that they have no wishes to offer sanctuary to terrorists.
Kimmitt also talked about reposturing forces in the Middle East.
"It is our belief that we will not keep -- and do not want to keep -- a huge presence of ground maneuver forces in the region," he said. "After Iraq and Afghanistan are stabilized, we fully understand we have the responsibility to provide a residual (element) ... but that will be a fraction of the number of forces that we have there now."
There are currently about 200,000 U.S. troops in region, he said.
Kimmitt made the point that even though great progress toward representative government has been made in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is a mistake to define the war against terrorism by the day-to-day activities in either country.
"It is not a long war that is not going to lend itself to a lot of metrics, so that one day we will be able to stand up and have ticker-tape parades and say we've been victorious," he said. "It is our view that is not the case."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
00:52 ||
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#1
Whenever I see one of these WoT articles, I wonder: how'd the World look today if Churchill fought Luftwaffe instead of fighting Nazism?
#2
The U.S. mainstream media is doing its absolute best to thwart our government's ability to win, intentional or unintentional I dont know. The increasingly negative articles I read about the WOT and Bush from the associated press get worse and worse and worse... I AM TIRED OF IT. WE ARE A NATION AT WAR. I dont see how any normal American could ever support the war reading the trash the media prints.
A four-day counter-terrorism conference, featuring intelligence professionals from over 30 countries, was headlined by the release of 12 hours of Saddam Hussein's audiotapes. But the non-governmental Intelligence Summit also focused on al Qaeda's use of falconry camps as support networks for al Qaeda; and the recent testing of security in U.S. government installations.
Former United Nations weapons inspector Bill Tierney said he had been hired by the FBI to translate the Saddam tapes that dated from 1992 to "post-2000." Initial media reports about the tapes indicated that they dated back only to 1995 and lacked the "smoking gun" evidence that the Intelligence Summit had billed in promoting the conference.
The presentation of translated excerpts was bogged down by its three-hour length; and by the inclusion of vague, cryptic and inconclusive sections. Tierney provided context for the conversations and his interpretation of their significance.
Excerpts from 1992, Tierney said, pointed to the rebuilding of Saddam's chemical weapons facilities. A mid-1996 tape had Saddam discussing decontamination at a biological weapons facility.
Some excerpts from 1992 also described the removal of warheads from missiles that Saddam had ordered destroyed. On the tape, an unidentified male said, "Sir, the group of missiles whose equipment was destroyed, the warheads were removed on cattle trucks that were at the military industrial facility and at the National Communications [indistinct.]"
The most recent excerpts were dated to "post-2000" and featured scientists briefing Saddam on plasma technology activity within various venues. Some of the excerpts provided to the press, including references to "tokomaks" (a chamber used in fusion research to heat plasma) and "breakeven" (a condition under which heated plasma results in a net yield of energy) seemed to indicate the scientists were briefing Saddam on the basics of nuclear fusion
Dr. Thamir Ma'aman Mawdud from the Theoretical Applications Center at the Iraqi Military Industrial Commission stated that "in 1981 we started to create sources of plasma, which were used in the Iraqi nuclear program." He later referenced "production we achieved in the advanced stages in the end of the 1990s." Thamir then appeared to reference the first Persian Gulf War when he remarked that "the 30-state aggression against" the Iraqis' plasma activity was "limited to ... tests and experimental and industrial measurements."
The most-publicized excerpt was one in which Saddam described a possible terrorist strike against America. "Terrorism is coming ... with the Americans. Two years ago, not a long while ago, with the English I believe, there was a campaign [unintelligible] with one of them, that in the future there would be terrorism with weapons of mass destruction ...." He later added, "This is coming, this story is coming, but not from Iraq."
Tierney contended that the Saddam was likely brainstorming about using proxies to attack the U.S. He disagreed with ABC Nightline's independent translation, aired last week, which suggested that Saddam had warned the U.S. of a potential attack.
Tierney told Cybercast News Service that he is currently working as a freelance translator and has signed a book deal. The book, tentatively titled "My High Tower," is about "the spiritual dimension of military intelligence," Tierney said, adding that "God's my intel system."
One of the most unusual presentations of the summit concentrated on "Al Qaeda Falconry" -- or the alleged use of month-long royal falcon hunting camps as cover for wealthy Arabs to provide vehicles, weapons, cash and medical care to Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda. The royal camps are being used as al Qaeda's 'boardroom,' warned Hari Har Singh Khalsa, one of the presenters.
Investigations of falcon smuggling undertaken by a group called Union for the Conservation of Raptors eventually led to evidence of terrorist and mafia involvement, Khalsa said. The evidence reportedly was turned over to the FBI.
Khalsa, who said he has 20 years of experience hunting with trained falcons in the company of prominent sheiks and princes from the Middle East, also named diplomats and government officials allegedly involved in the criminal activity.
"Without the falconry camps, al Qaeda will be knee-capped. We need to shut them down. We need to cancel the U.N. permission that licenses these camps," said Khalsa.
Also popular at the summit was famed SEAL team SIX founder Richard Marcinko, author of "Rogue Warrior." SEAL team SIX became the Navy's premier counter-terrorist unit and engaged in numerous classified actions around the world.
Marcinko said he has been testing and 'breaching' security of various venues including the Pentagon, airports, nuclear shipyards and subway systems. Marcinko told Cybercast News System that his most recent testing of a government installation occurred less than three weeks ago.
He also said there should be less debate over whether terrorists might use a nuclear or a 'dirty' bomb and more focus on the threat of simple attacks, such as the backing up of a propane truck to a ventilation system in a building, then setting it off with a "Radio Shack transmitter."
Cybercast News Service also asked Marcinko for his opinion on a pending deal that would make a company in Dubai the controller of six U.S. ports. "Dubai? That is brain dead," said Marcinko. "That's like invitin' the godd**n fox into the chicken coop."
Other topics presented at the summit included media warfare, telecommunications and network breaching, resource warfare, and recruitment of terrorists to serve as double agents.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
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But the non-governmental Intelligence Summit also focused on al Qaeda's use of falconry camps as support networks for al Qaeda
I posted a story a few weeks ago that the Soddies had to cull all of their falcons 'n' hawks (the reported number was 37) on account of bird flu. Now I have to wonder if the birds were actually killed, or just moved. Hmmm.
Afghanistans Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah has said that Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar were not present in his country.
He admitted that there was a recent increase in Talibans operations "was a matter of concern for us". However, he told reporters that the security situation has improved taking into consideration that 90% of the country was under the control of Taliban and Al-Qaeda."
He said that discussions between President Hamid Karzai and the Pakistani leadership concentrated on ways to stop attacks from Taliban and Al-Qaeda and to put an end to the infiltration on both sides of the border. Abdullah said that the governments priority was to form a national army that will be a beginning of a reconciliation.
On the issue of cartoons offending the Prophet Muhammad, Abdullah questioned the logic of destroying infrastructure and property during demonstrations in order to show resentment.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2006
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"Abdullah questioned the logic..."
Now they have to revoke his Muslim membership card.
From the YCMTSU file.
AUSTRALIAN military police are hunting for a well endowed serial flasher nicknamed "Donkey Dong" who is terrorising underwear salespeople. The supposedly well-endowed flasher, who wears army uniform, has been labelled "Donkey Dong" by some city retailers.
Several clothing and sporting retail outlets in the Mitchell Centre have been targeted over the past six months by the unidentified pervert, who calls shop assistants into the change room to see if his tight underwear "fits". MPs have obtained surveillance footage from several businesses to see if they can determine the identity of the culprit or rule out that he belongs to the military.
The most recent retail outlet to be targeted by the mysterious flasher received a visit on Valentine's Day. "I thought it was one of my mates having a joke on me because we sometimes send each other fat-o-grams or something on Valentine's Day when he called me in to the changing room and I saw it," the shop assistant said. "He has been in here four times and apparently he always tries on the same pair of red undies. I didn't really know what to say when he asked me if I thought they fitted him.
"It looks real and it's so big, it winds all the way down his leg and I wasn't sure what to do so I just went and got him a bigger pair.
"He got really nervous and was peeking out from the curtain.
"We call him Donkey Dong in here. He never buys anything and walks out saying that everything in the shop is too small for him."
Another favourite form of clothing for the serial flasher is bicycle pants, which reveal him in all his glory. One retailer who outfitted the man with a pair of bicycle pants recently said he revealed himself to her. After getting a good look, she believes the serial flasher may be using a stocking to fake his credentials. "It fell out of his pants and he said, `That's so embarrassing, it happens all the time'," she said.
A Department of Defence spokesman yesterday confirmed military police have spoken to retailers and are analysing surveillance footage to try to identify the man.
#1
he revealed himself to her. After getting a good look, she believes the serial flasher may be using a stocking to fake his credentials
wannabe
Posted by: too true ||
02/22/2006 7:31
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If I had the same remarkable physical characteristics as that man... well, I wouldn't bother underwear salespeople... no... I would strip myself buttnaked, cover my body with olive oil, and then run wildly in the streets of the nearest big city, chazing terrified wimmen of all ages around, while screaming madly :
#8
My hometown police were terribly frustrated by a flasher they knew solely as "HIM!" For six months the guy had been regularly exposing himself, and the only description the still gape-jawed witnesses could give an hour later was that HE was "...a white male, about 40 years old."
Nobody ever looked up.
One day, a little girl called the police and said she knew where the flasher lived. Perhaps 15 police cars raced to the scene of some condos, only to annoyingly find that HE wasn't home. So two uniforms and two plainclothes cops remained behind in HIS condo to await HIS return.
Later that day, John Q. Smith came home after a hard day at the office, only wanting to crap out in front of his teevee, with a can of beer and a teevee dinner. Little did he know that his evening was instead going to be filled with much highly charged entertainment.
Late that evening, the police discovered that the little girl happened to know Mr Smith, and that he was a white man about 40 years old, leading her to assume, incorrectly, that he was the flasher. By then, this information was of little use to Mr Smith. However, they did then grudgingly see fit to release him to the custody of his sofa, with only a philosophical warning, half-mumbled under their breath, on general principals.
Perhaps two years later, a policeman confessed that they never did capture HIM, that HIS merciless and brutal assaults on societies' underappreciation for grotesquely enlarged body parts has spontaneously ended, and that HE had never been heard from again.
He speculated that HE, who he had informally renamed "Sabu, the elephant boy", had eventually returned to India, to be reunited with his elephantine bretheren, in a place where his trunk could dangle wild and free, as nature intended.
A Pakistani anti-terrorism court sentenced 11 members of an al Qaeda-linked Islamic group to death on Tuesday after finding them guilty of killing 10 people in an attack on a top military commander in 2004, lawyers said. All the convicts belonged to Jundullah, a shadowy group analysts say has ties with al Qaeda and foreign militants. Judge Feroz Mehmood Bhatti said all those accused were found guilty of masterminding attacks on a convoy escorting then Lieutenant-General Ahsan Saleem Hayat in June 2004.
Hayat, now a full General, escaped unharmed, but 10 people, including six soldiers, were killed and 12 other people wounded. The ambush was in response to a security force operation in South Waziristan, where hundreds of people have died in clashes between the Pakistani army and militants in the past two years.
Atta-ur Rehman, the ring-leader of the group, said they would appeal to a higher court. "That court was fake, it had no power," he told reporters after the verdict. "We will appeal at the high court within seven days."
Witnesses said all the convicts chanted "Allahu Akbar" -- God is Greatest -- after hearing the judgement. Mullah Bux Bhatti, a state lawyer said he was satisfied with the verdict and the conviction was based on the confession made by the convicts.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2006
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that's a start, Perv...
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/22/2006 0:07
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'...sentenced 11 members of an al Qaeda-linked Islamic group to death..."
Sentence to be carried out under the supervision of licensed anaesthesiologists, in no less than 20 years from now.
#3
finding them guilty of killing 10 people in an attack on a top military commander in 2004
They attacked one of their patrons and were turned over.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/22/2006 7:46
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It is a start, but I gotta wonder if this (now) General hadn't been involved if the case would've even been filed? I think we all know the answer to that one.
Posted by: BA ||
02/22/2006 10:41
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Arab League foreign ministers have failed to agree on aid for the Palestinians as they come under Hamas' rule, while Turkey slammed Israel's decision to slap economic sanctions on the Palestinian Authority. Only three league members have contributed aid for the Palestinians, Algerian officials said after a meeting in Algiers that ran into late Monday night. The Arab League's Secretary General Amr Moussa and Algerian State Minister Abdel-Aziz Belkhadem appealed at the meeting for all other member states to contribute funds.
Speaking at a news conference after the meeting, they did not indicate which countries had not paid or give details of the dispute. The Palestinians' largest donors, the U.S. and the E.U., have threatened to cut off direct aid to the PA if Hamas takes over the government. Such a cutoff would "pose a serious political problem for the Palestinians," Moussa said. In urging more Arab donations, he said "the aid is destined for the Palestinian people and not for Hamas." It is unclear whether Arab states can fill the gap in foreign aid that makes up most of the Palestinians' $1.9 billion annual budget. A final decision on Palestinian funding was expected at a summit next month in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.
Foreign ministers and other representatives from the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Sudan, Tunisia, Yemen and Algeria were taking part in the meeting.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2006
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This is too funny. See Bush was right all along. You allow them to democratically elect their leaders and then no one feels sorry for them when their leaders do exactly what they said they would. Too bad, so sad, Hamas. You can't eat hate.
#9
How can Amineajad let the Joooos get away with this? Why doesn't he just double the pittance the Joooos were providing the Paleos? Heck, give 'em five billion a year!
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/22/2006 17:58
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Paleo history is like watching the ball roll through Buckner's legs year after year after year
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/22/2006 18:42
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Wow! Frank G. burns down the new RantBurg Bridge to New England.
TEHRAN: Iran's uranium enrichment facilities, built in underground bunkers, would survive any military strikes, Iran's nuclear programme director said on Tuesday. "The enrichment facilities, particularly Natanz, are located underground and no offensive could damage them," said Gholamreza Aghazadeh, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, quoted by the student ISNA news agency. Aghazadeh also boasted about the fortress like nature of its Isfahan plant, which is located in a network of subterranean tunnels, and touted Iran's uranium supplies. "Our reserves are extremely developed. We can extract uranium from mines in Bandar Abbas, Saghand and Yazd," he said.
Possibly they will survive. But if we do it right, the people who run them won't.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2006
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insects sealed in amber 65 million years ago also "survive" as it were.....
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/22/2006 0:10
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...Well, strictly speaking, Hitler's last Berlin bunker survived until the early 90s. I suspect the Iranian bunkers will survive the same way.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/22/2006 6:39
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Only one way to find out...
Posted by: Ol Dirty American ||
02/22/2006 6:53
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Actually, ODA, I suspect we have more than one way to skin a cat, so to speak, lol!
Posted by: BA ||
02/22/2006 10:13
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Four words for the Iranians... BUNKER BUSTING NUCLEAR BOMBS
#6
¹Although the nuclear tipped bunker busters could do the trick, the object of the game would be to get it (them) to a depth of 400+ feet down before detonation, or a moon shaped crater will blow out the surface exposing all to radiation poisoning(assuming we cared at this point)! How do we get it to target? At 400 feet, a circumspectral-dome would result burying all the pulverized remnants (neat tidy wrapup)!
²The US could use multiple conventional bunker busters followed by a MOAB in the same track (assuming they have enough in the arsenals for multiple target locations,
³The Israeli option would be to employ the gopher hole smoking technique with iradiated gas to expose "highlight" the entrances and exits to terminally trap the sites with smart bombs and bunker busters.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Al Jaafari has angrily dismissed US warnings to shun sectarianism in the country's new government. Speaking after talks with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who echoed the US call for a government of national unity in Iraq, the normally calm and diplomatic Jaafari, a Shiite Islamist, said Iraq knew its own best interests. "When someone asks us whether we want a sectarian government the answer is 'no we do not want a sectarian government' not because the US ambassador says so or issues a warning," he told a news conference. "We do not need anybody to remind us, thank you."
US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said on Monday the United States was investing billions of dollars in Iraq and did not want to see that money go to support sectarian politics. His comments were echoed less bluntly on Tuesday by Straw, who said after a meeting with Iraq's Kurdish president, Jalal Talabani, that Iraq's parliamentary elections in December showed that no single group can dominate Iraq's new political landscape.
Sunni accusations that Jaafari's Shiite-led government has sanctioned death squads have tarnished the image of post-war Iraq, which US and British officials hoped would shine as an example of democracy in the region. Straw reiterated that Britain was working to push democracy forward in Iraq, where the Sunni insurgency of bombings and shootings has killed thousands of security forces and civilians. "The international community, particularly those of us who have played a part in liberating Iraq have an interest in... a prosperous, stable and democratic Iraq," Straw said.
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02/22/2006
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In an interview with As-Safir, Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir said he supported the ousting of President Emile Lahoud peacefully and through legitimate means.
Finally made the jump, did he?
"If the president is unable to run things it means that his position is almost vacant," he said. "When we see that international forces do not recognize him ... and people in general do not count on him to run the country's affairs, the outcome becomes clear."
He's toast.
But Sfeir reiterated that the ousting of Lahoud should be achieved in line with constitutional means and not through popular demonstrations. "The president's dignity should be preserved as an individual and as the representative of the presidential institution," he said. Sfeir said "the Lebanese people are divided between those who want Lahoud to resign and other who don't."
Not evenly divided, mind you...
He warned that if demonstrations were held, "there might be confrontations which would lead to a massacre."
I'll call Hezbollah the bad guys on that one, before the fact.
Expressing support for the parliamentary majority's proposed plan to oust Lahoud, Sfeir said: "If it were proven that the legislators were truly forced to extend Lahoud's term, then anything agreed under pressure is considered cancelled."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2006
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As parliamentary blocs prepare for the upcoming national dialogue, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt has yet to confirm that he will participate in the event, saying he must first consult with his allies on the issue. Jumblatt's closest ally, Future Movement leader Saad Hariri, and the rest of the March 14 Forces have already confirmed their participation.
Jumblatt continues to delay his decision, despite having received Tuesday a special committee formed of Amal parliamentary bloc members dispatched to extend an invitation to the national dialogue called for by Speaker Nabih Berri. "I have to finish my consultations with my March 14 allies over this dialogue issue. Of course no one can refuse to participate in a dialogue, but also no one can agree to take part in a dialogue just for the purpose of having one," Jumblatt said.
Jumblatt said the problem lies in the absence of a leader to head the national discussions. "We are a team and they are a team and when I say there is no leader this means that the president is part of one of the teams. For the dialogue to be complete the president has to stop implementing a non-Lebanese agenda. The main item to be discussed should be overthrowing the president."
The Druze leader compared the rockets found near the home of MP Bahia Hariri to those found in near his residence a few months ago, and which were followed by the assassination of anti-Syrian MP Gebran Tueni. "Are [Syrian President] Bashar [Assad] and his agents preparing for another assassination before the dialogue starts? There is a historical and technical resemblance between the two situations," Jumblatt said.
Jumblatt further dismissed allegations that overthrowing President Emile Lahoud would automatically lead to the disarmament of Hizbullah. "The resistance has finished its role. The Shebaa Farms issue can be solved without arms; the Taif Accord should be implemented; the army should be deployed to the South; and the armistice agreement reactivated," Jumblatt said.
The Amal committee, which included MPs Anwar Khalil, Michel Moussa, Samir Azar and Ayoub Humayyed, also visited former President Amin Gemayel, who said his parliamentary bloc will take part in the talks. Gemayel said Berri's initiative should pave the way to solve all pending issues and unite the Lebanese. He stressed that all debatable issues, including the Hizbullah's weapons, should be settled according to the Taif Accord. "The Taif Accord is clear concerning the arms of Hizbullah and it stipulates reactivating the armistice agreement with Israel," Gemayel said.
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In an interview published by Ash-Sharq al-Awsat, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said the March 14 alliance is moving forward with its fight to topple President Emile Lahoud, "regardless of the price it may cost." Geagea also said his party would welcome Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun as the next president if the latter agrees to cooperate in overthrowing Lahoud through legal means.
This time last year Geagea was in jail and Aoun was in exile...
In an escalation of his attacks on the president, the LF leader said Lahoud "has become a burden to Lebanon that is paralyzing the government ... and sitting in Baabda doing nothing."
Since he can't do anything else...
Geagea also stressed that the March 14 Forces had never cut off their dialogue with Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri in a bid to reach an agreement on the presidency. He said the Forces will proceed with their "rescue plan," regardless of the consequences, but refused to provide any further details.
That sounds suspiciously like bloodshed...
However, Geagea did hint that there might be a deal in the works with one of the three main opposition parties, namely the FPM, Hizbullah and Amal.
My guess is it won't be Hezbollah, and probably won't be Amal. That leaves FPM.
Geagea also offered unspecified guarantees to Lahoud, should the latter resign and be proved innocent of involvement in former Premier Rafik Hariri's murder.
If he resigns, he'll probably be "proven" innocent. If he's chased out, he dunnit.
Speaking from the Cedars resort in which he has resided since his release from prison, Geagea said Lebanon's political climate is ready for toppling the president, considering it is "an overwhelmingly popular goal made clear during the February 14 rally."
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OSLO: A Norwegian Muslim has reported a newspaper editor who published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to the police for violating a blasphemy law last used in 1933 against a poet who called Christians cannibals. I have been reported to the police for blasphemy. We will have to see what happens as this law has not been used since 1933, said Verbjoern Selbekk, editor of newspaper Magazinet.
Paragraph 142 of Norways criminal code states a person can be prosecuted if he or she in word or action publicly insults or in a demeaning or hurtful way displays scorn for any religious belief that is permitted in the country. In 1933 the state failed to convict poet Arnulf Overland for comparing Christians to cannibals for their ritual of eating bread and drinking wine to symbolise Christs body and blood. The 1902 law was last used successfully to fine the editor of the Free Thinker newssheet in 1912 after he wrote an article entitled The Great Humbug - the Christians Christmas. This is a case for the police, it cannot be solved by the masses, Khalid Mohammad, who made the charge, told Aftenposten newspaper.
Posted by: Fred ||
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OK, so when does Paragraph 142 get invoked against Muslims? I bet that in less than a day, Norwegian authorities could have a dozen counts against various imams.
Not that they'll bother. Easier to roll over and give easy access to their throats.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/22/2006 7:44
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Norway, of all places. For some reason it just boggles me that Norway, and now Sweden, would be in belly-baring mode. And to something as base and transparently, uh, um, well evil as the ideology of Islam.
#3
I bet that in less than a day, Norwegian authorities could have a dozen counts against various imams.
Well, they finally expelled Mullah Krekar, the spiritual head of Ansar al Islam who lived there for years. But he left behind a lot of followers and subordinates.
Lawmakers from Israel's newly merged ultra-nationalist party on Monday unveiled their election campaign, stressing they would never support the creation of a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank. Benny Elon, who was sacked from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Cabinet over his opposition to last year's pullout from the Gaza Strip, said the party would fiercely oppose any fresh withdrawals from the West Bank. "We won't allow the uprooting of any Jewish community and the creation of a Palestinian state between the (Mediterranean) sea and the Jordan river," said Elon who is the party's chief candidate.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2006
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Hamas' candidate for PA-PM is a moderate. Israelis who believe that we've a right to live on the land which is part of the League of Nations mandate for establishing the Jewish homeland --- land illegally occupied by Arabs in 1948---are ultranationalists.
The Chairman of the Saudi Human Rights Authority, a governmental organization, revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the association has already prepared an in depth study concerning incest in Saudi Arabia.
Going after the root causes of terrorism, are they? Good idea.
According to the authority's chairman, the study was prepared by the King Khaled Charitable Foundation in cooperation with Dr Osama Al Damegh for the Human Rights Authority. The study will aim to end this phenomenon and will be presented to the Authority's Council.
I wonder what they're defining it as? My definition would include first cousins marrying or otherwise jumping first cousins.
Turki Bin Khaled Al Suderi, chairman of the Human Rights Authority Council, stated that this study was very important and should be presented to the Shura Council as soon as possible.
"Oh, yasss! Very important!"
He clarified that a social phenomena as serious as incest has to be dealt with quickly and decisively by the Authority's Council.
"Quickly and decisively"? The civilized world dealt with it thousands of years ago.
He noted that the Authority's Council would include intellectuals of legal and religious affairs and former members of the Shura Council. Al Suderi noted that the delaying of the Council of the Human Rights Authority was procedural, in addition to the withdrawal of some candidates.
"But, really, we're working on it at top speed!"
Al-Suderi clarified that most of the reported cases to the Authority have been individual so far and have been related to complaints of ill treatment of citizens by some government agencies.
So it doesn't have anything to do with marrying Cousin Fatimah, or a half sister, or something like that...
He noted that he had received a large number of citizens with issues with the government emphasizing, "We in the committee inform the relevant agencies of what we feel is important and ask them at the same time to tell us what it sees in these issues."
Posted by: Fred ||
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IIRC there was a RB article many, many moons ago about the soddies passing law to prevent, or at least lessen, the frequency of marriage between relatives.
In the magic kingdom, about 70% of weddings involve blood relatives, I think, against 50% in Jordania (from another article), I take it must be more or less the average for the arabo-muslim world.
#3
Every time I hear a Blue Grass song on the radio I think of a cold beer and a First Cousin.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/22/2006 10:06
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Hey..good for them but last time I checked it was the 21st century. Do you really need an in-depth study and a committe to decide if incest a bad thing?
Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit on Tuesday announced the release of Jordanian embassy driver in Baghdad Mahmoud Saaidat, who was held hostage for two months. The efforts of His Majesty King Abdullah and his daily follow-up on all state agencies to secure the release of Saaidat were successful, Bakhit was quoted by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, as saying. I am happy to convey the news of his release to his family and the entire Jordanian people.
Government Spokesperson Nasser Judeh later told reporters that Saaidat was in a safe place and he was expected to return in a few hours. Saaidat was snatched in southern Baghdad on December 20 by a group calling itself the Hawks Brigade who threatened four times to kill him, according to Agence France-Presse. The group demanded Jordan cut ties with the Iraqi government and release Sajida Al Rishawi, the female would-be suicide bomber, whose explosive belt failed to detonate in the November 9 attacks that killed 60 people at three Amman hotels.
A videotape aired recently on Al Arabiya TV showed Saaidat as saying that his captors had wrapped around him an explosive belt and had set a four-day deadline to execute him unless their demands were met. Judeh reiterated yesterday that all of the abductors' demands were rejected.
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"Judeh reiterated yesterday that all of the abductors' demands were rejected."
So I'm guessing the boys at the weekly Hawks Brigade meeting had alittle debate, took up a vote, and decided to change their course of action. Yeah Right.
Lucknow: A court in Uttar Pradesh will Thursday hear a case against state minister Haji Yaqoob Quereshi for offering a bounty of Rs.510 million to anyone who beheaded the cartoonist responsible for the caricatures of Prophet Mohammed. The case has been filed in the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Narendra Singh at Ghaziabad, 20 km from New Delhi, by advocate Ajay Veer Singh, who alleged the police had refused to take note of Quereshi's "unlawful" utterances.
Quereshi, the minister of state for Haj and minorities welfare, has said he will pay Rs.510 million to anyone who kills the Danish cartoonist. He has also claimed that women in Uttar Pradesh will donate gold jewellery equivalent to the weight of the assassin. In the court petition, Quereshi has been accused of making statements amounting to contract killing. Advocate Singh also expressed apprehension that Quereshi's remarks could incite violence and provoke people to commit murder.
Posted by: john ||
02/22/2006
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could incite violence and provoke people to commit murder??
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/22/2006 0:08
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#2
I'm surprised that this has even been brought to court. Even if it's a whitewash, at least the authorities didn't give him a medal and a parade. My opinion of Pakland (at least the semi-civilized parts) has just gone up a few ticks.
#4
Possibly a second criminal case.. and pressure is building for his sacking....
Ghaziabad
A criminal case was filed in a local court here against UP Haj Minister Yaqoob Qureshi for his inflammatory and criminal speech where in he announced a reward of Rs 51 crore for anybody beaheading the Danish cartoonist who caricatured the Prophet. The case was filed in the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Narendra Singh on Monday. The hearing of the case will be held on February 24. Meanwhile, in Ludhiana, the Bahujan Samaj Party has demanded registration of a criminal case and sacking of the Minister for allegedly resorting to criminal and communal act.
Posted by: john ||
02/22/2006 6:01
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#6
The case has been filed in the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Narendra Singh at Ghaziabad, 20 km from New Delhi, by advocate Ajay Veer Singh, who alleged the police had refused to take note of Quereshi's "unlawful" utterances.
#11
the minister of state for Haj and minorities welfare
The next question the people of Uttar Pradesh need to ask themselves is why their state cabinet has a post of "Haj and Minority Welfare".
Minority welfare in India's most populous state?
UP and Bihar, the Indian "cow belt" hold the greatest number of people living in poverty, in perhaps the entire world.
He is not the minister for welfare, but the minister for minority (read muslim) welfare.
What abouts the tens of millions of poor hindus, poor christians etc?
He is also minister for Haj.
No other religious group in India has the state providing for their religious obligations.
The Hindu pilgrims who journey to the Anantnag cave in Kashmir, and Mount Kailash in Tibet, don't have a minister looking after them. Hell, they face bullets from the jihadis as they walk on foot on the trail to the cave. Many have died.
State support for Haj is also a violation of Sharia.
Muslims are supposed to pay for Haj from their own pocket, not state largesse.
Then the people of UP need to ask themselves why scum like this are in their cabinet.
Posted by: john ||
02/22/2006 14:26
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#15
"Then the people of UP need to ask themselves why scum like this are in their cabinet. "
They already know why. It is because Moslems are a "protected class" in India, much like certain ethnic minorities and special interest groups are here.
#16
Be aware that India is saddled with a Constitution that recognizes Sharia. Tens of millions of State funds go to sending carpet humpers to Mecca during the Hajj moronic conversion. Hindus tell me that it would be worth it if they stayed there.
Percentage of population of Hindus in Pakistan at Partition = 18% And now = 1%
Percentage of population of Muslims in India at Partition = 8% And now = 13%
#17
Hardliner: I have taken the privilege of editing your post, only very slightly however. I think all we still be able to capture the essense of your insightful contribution. Best to you mate. Besoeker.
Be aware that India is saddled with a Constitution that recognizes Sharia. Tens of millions of State funds go to sending carpet humpers to Mecca during the Hajj moronic conversion. Hindus tell me that it would be worth it if they stayed there. Percentage of population of Hindus in Pakistan at Partition = 18% And now = 1% Percentage of population of Muslims in India at Partition = 8% And now = 13% One lotp is too many.
Under tight security, Sayyed Moqtada al-Sadr, the leader of Iraq's Sadr Movement, arrived at the Lebanese-Syrian border Tuesday morning from Damascus in the hope of improving Lebanese-Syrian relations. He was asked by reporters at the border if he was playing the role of mediator between Lebanon and Syria. Sadr said he had suggested this to Damascus, which was responsive to the idea. He said he would put the same suggestion to the Lebanese authorities, hoping they would be equally responsive. "I am ready to help the Lebanese and Syrian governments to mend their ties and consequently to establish security in the region," he said.
Sadr's visit is part of a tour through Iraq's neighboring countries. "I represent the Iraqi people, or a section of the Iraqi people, but I hope we can help Lebanese and Syrians overcome their suffering so we, Muslims and Arabs, can live in fraternity," he said. "The visit is aimed at consolidating relations between Lebanese and Iraqis and to solve problems that Israel and the U.S. have created in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq so that we can build this region and make it safe."
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#1
Good. Gives him something else to do, and - with a little luck, he'll irritate both sides and somebody will wack him.
Nice teeth, by the way.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/22/2006 7:51
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#2
Insallah this novacine will hit the right place
If you hear this run, even tho you look funny with a mouth full of cotton.
US Ambassador John Bolton accused the United Nations and some Security Council members on Monday of moving too slowly towards setting up a UN peacekeeping force in Sudan's troubled Darfur region. Bolton expressed frustration with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and UN officials over the pace of preparation for the mission, which would replace 7,000 African Union troops. He also said African and Arab diplomats on the Security Council needed to move more quickly. "We're prepared, but the main thing, I think, is to get the internal UN operation to be moving more quickly, which we'd like to see," he said.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said United Nations officials were in talks with African leaders about the force and that planning for the mission "is moving full-steam ahead." The African Union's mandate in Darfur expires on March 31. Bolton's criticism came three days after US President George W. Bush backed a larger force for Darfur, where an estimated 180,000 people have died since early 2003 when decades of tribal clashes over land and water erupted into large-scale violence.
It was Bush's strongest statement of support yet for an expanded international role in Darfur. He said that a new mission in Darfur will require "probably double" the current number of international peacekeepers and a coordinating role for NATO. The Security Council on February 3 urged the United Nations to start planning to take over the mission. Annan has urged major powers to take part, saying an expanded force will need the kind of assets only a highly capable military can provide.
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Like any good entrepreneur, Palestinian beermaker Nadim Khoury knew that adaptation would be key to his brewery's survival under a government led by the Islamists of Hamas. So anticipating the hardliners' rise to power in January's general election, Khoury decided to develop a new product -- a non-alcoholic microbrew brandished with a label that coordinates perfectly with Hamas's trademark color. "I figured why not have a green label so it will match?" said Khoury, who runs the Taybeh Brewing Company, the only brewery in the Palestinian territories. "All customers will notice the green for the Hamas flag."
The alcohol-free version of Taybeh beer, with a label inscribed only in Arabic and whose name means "delicious," is to be released this summer and will target the "local market," he said. Non-alcoholic beer is already popular in a number of conservative Gulf Arab countries which officially ban booze sales. The lucrative market potential was highlighted by a deal four years ago which saw Egypt's largest brewer of "near-beer," Al-Ahram Beverages, bought by Heineken for 280 million dollars.
Khoury says he will start small with his new beer, maybe only a few hundred bottles at first, but he has big dreams for his brewing factory in the hilltop village of Taybeh, a historically Christian town of about 1,300 people near Ramallah in the West Bank. A sense of homeland pride and the family's ability to invest more than one million dollars spurred Nadim, who was born in Taybeh, to return after two decades in the United States in order to build the brewery shortly after the signing of the Oslo peace accords in 1993. Now in its 11th year of business, Khoury said the brewery sells the equivalent of about 1.2 million pints per year, though its peak output was more than twice that in 2000 prior to the outbreak of the second intifada against Israeli existence occupation.
Violence was bad for business, and the intifada brought a wave of harsher regulations in many Palestinian cities. Khoury hasn't been able to sell his beer in the Gaza Strip for years, since militants torched the home of one of his distribution outlets and radical Islamists effectively made selling alcohol impossible throughout the crowded territory.
But Khoury hopes attitudes will change with his new non-alcoholic beer. "I don't want to smuggle my beer in Palestine. I believe I have a right to sell mine (in the Gaza Strip)," said Khoury, an unabashed nationalist who touts his beer factory as a boon to the Palestinian people and their economy. "Every time we sell a bottle of beer it goes toward building the state of Palestine," said Khoury.
Khoury says his first name Nadim means "your friend who sits at the bar with you, your drinking buddy," and his chief product is Taybeh Golden beer, though he also makes a light version and a dark beer.
The Taybeh brews are concocted from four natural ingredients -- malted barley, hops, yeast and pure spring water. Each bottle sells for around one dollar. The gentle, amber-colored Taybeh Golden is sold in parts of Israel, the West Bank, Britain and Germany.
However, among secular Muslims in the area who do drink alcohol, not all are devoted fans of its mellow taste. "It's okay. It's good," shrugged one Arab-Israeli taxi driver in Jerusalem, who admitted he hadn't drunk any Taybeh in at least two years. A waiter at a bar in occupied East Jerusalem said: "I prefer Irish whiskey. Jameson."
Hamas leaders, who now dominate parliament, have not made clear whether or not they will seek to impose conservative sharia law which would impose a wider ban on alcohol.
Khoury remains optimistic. "I think they (Hamas) are very smart, very educated. I believe they will think twice before they do anything to hurt our business."
#1
"I think they (Hamas) are very smart, very educated. I believe they will think twice before they do anything to hurt our business."
Oh, my, he is the optimist.
Myself, I never underestimate the Palestinian ability to be their own worst enemy, or at least, shoot themselves painfully in their own foot.
#3
prepare for the next step :
OSAMA's Single Malt -Black Label
(a.k.a gihadi whiskey)
I also expect the "Seventy Virgins" Root beer brand to appear soon in the ramallah market
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
02/22/2006 8:20
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#4
interesting (or not) sidenote re: beer - for many centuries in many places (including Europe) it was a primary way to save the calories of grain for human use when they couldn't prevent rats from getting into silos and spoil it. IIRC in the lowlands of 16th century Germany, kids would go around drunk because it was what their poor parents could afford.
another strange sidenote: the Swiss, who had pastures for dairy goats, didn't rely on grain and looked down on the drunken lowlanders.
The 3 volumes of which that is the first is fascinating, a good read with excellent scholarly evidence behind it. Want to know how much of their budget people spent for food in different places and at different times? or what mix of foods were eaten, what types of cloth made up their clothes (and where it came from), how people learned trades ... it's all in there. An old favorite of mine.
slipping quietly to the back of the crowd again ...
#7
Actually, lotp, Calvin was French. Born to an upper middle class family in France, John Calvin (the Latinized form of his birth name, Jean Cauvin)...
Calvin's ideas...forced him to flee for his own safety. During the next few years, he sought refuge in various cities, most notably Basel, Switzerland.
#8
True enough - I took liberties with that one and you're right. But it certainly was not a coincidence that his message found a receptive audience in Switzerland. (full disclosure - one part of my mother's family were Swiss)
BTW, for those who might dismiss Braudel because he's also French, this might be of interest:
Braudel explains that capitalism - and this is important - rose from the individual to the group, not top down. He traces an incredible path of changing habits, personal practices, slowly emerging markets and how the whole became greater than the sum of its parts. What is unique about this economic revolution is that it was NOT directed according to the dictates of academic theory or the musings of an economic prophet. It rose because it fit with the emerging modern civilization that was beginning in Europe (and would soon conquer the world).
One of the things I love about his work is that he shows how this happened and how it led to greater freedom and prosperity.
#11
lotp, that's why the most vicious of Islamist attacks are directed at the middle class...the shopkeepers, rubber plantation workers, people commuting to work, teachers, police. They are the true threat to the ideal of the Caliphate, in which there is only one ruler (and appropriate numbers of well-fed, bejewelled henchmen and toadies of course) and an empire of groveling slaves.
#12
Beer was mixed with water to create 'small beer' (in England) which everyone drank. If you read contemporary texts from the 14/17th century, you will find references to schoolboys having small beer for breakfast/lunch/dinner. And yes it was an important source of carbohydrates.
#13
alcohol is a diuretic. Beer is the convenient beverage it comes in. Mmmmmmm beer
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/22/2006 10:26
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#14
I've just come back from China and while I was there I pondered the fact that tea drinking was ubiquitous, whereas in Europe beer drinking is.
Well the reality is that both need water to be boiled, therby killing germs.
A lot of Chinese are intolerent? to alcohol
"Some patients will experience intense facial flushing after having even small amounts of alcohol. These symptoms are most common in those with an oriental / Asian background. Other side-effects include fluttering of the heart (palpitations, tachycardia), sensation of heat, headache, abdominal discomfort or a drop in blood pressure (hypotension) are related to high blood acetaldehyde levels. Patients with these problems appear to be partially deficient in aldehyde dehydrogenase, resulting in high levels of accumulated acetaldehyde"
But there are a lot of areas in China where beer is drunk with meals.
While I was there I discvered Harbin, one of the best beers I've tried.
The point i want to make is that families in China who served tea and families in Europe who served beer would find that their children did not die of water bourne diseases.
With todays water systems being reasonably pure, that cultural advantage may no longer be important.
#17
Personally, I would enjoy reading more stories about average guys who want to "beat the Jews" by creating and marketing a nice boring product or providing a useful service. The more of a functioning, capitalist economy the Palestinians have, the more peaceful things are likely to become.
#19
The lucrative market potential was highlighted by a deal four years ago which saw Egypts largest brewer of "near-beer," Al-Ahram Beverages, bought by Heineken for 280 million dollars.
Now that goes a long way to explain why Heineken tastes like crap now.
#20
I have not read this book, The Empire of Tea, but know the author and have read favorable reviews. Anyone interested in the impact of the transition from beer to tea on England in the nineteenth century should find it worthwhile.
The political leader of Hamas on Tuesday vowed the group would keep up the fight against Israel as he continued a visit to Iran aimed at reinforcing ties with one of its key allies. Khaled Meshaal, who is on his latest stage of a regional tour in the wake of Hamas' election victory, said he has sought Iran's "help and support" following an Israeli decision to impose economic sanctions on the Palestinians.
Meshaal, on the third day of a trip to Iran to meet Iran's clerical leadership, lectured students at Tehran University where he drew cheers, applause and the habitual chants of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel." Some students carried pictures of anti-U.S. leaders like Cuba's Fidel Castro, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivian President Evo Morales as well as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"Now that we are in power, it does not mean that the resistance will be halted. No, since without resistance we would have not been able to free our lands," he said, referring to the Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip in 2005. "We will not recognize Israel at any cost," Meshaal said, responding to a question on whether Hamas would recognize the Jewish state if it withdraws to the 1967 borders.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
"Resistance is futile! You will be assimilated!"
It has been seven days since Dr Ahmad Javed Khawajas murder and Lahore Police has yet to find any clues on the identity of the murderers.
"We asked around and everything!"
Investigators have ruled out enmity being the cause of murder and are investigating the victims religious activities including his affiliation with Jamaatud Dawa. Police sources told Daily Times on Tuesday that investigators had ruled out enmity because Dr Khawaja had forgiven several people who had robbed his house about 10 years ago. Four of the robbers had been caught and were sentenced to jail. Sources also said investigators had found that Dr Khawaja was a member of Jamaatud Dawa, but had never attended regular meetings of the organisation. They said investigations had revealed that the murderers had shot Dr Khawaja once in the head from point blank range with a .30 calibre pistol. Two unidentified motorcyclists shot dead 68-year-old Dr Khawaja in Lahore on February 13, 2006. Dr Khawaja was alleged to have strong links to Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
"But we're sure that didn't have anything to do with it..."
Intelligence personnel had arrested Dr Khawaja, his brothers Ahmad Naveed and Ahmad Nadeem, sons Asghar Karar and Khizar Hayat and nephew Usman on December 19, 2002, for being linked to Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
"Nope. Not a clue. It's uncanny!"
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After the initial denials, France seems to be investigating all aspects of the case.
French investigators were due to head to Ivory Coast on Tuesday to hunt the leader of a gang that tortured and murdered a young Jewish man near Paris, a crime now suspected to have been motivated by anti-Semitism. According to police, the alleged ringleader, a 25-year-old of Ivorian origin who styles himself in English as the "brain of barbarians", is believed to have fled to the west African country. Two French officers were to travel to Abidjan to track down the suspect, who has been on the run with two accomplices since last week.
A magistrate investigating his death has extended her inquiries to include the possibility that the crime was motivated by religious hatred, sources said Monday. Halimi went missing after agreeing to a date with an unknown woman who approached him at his workplace, a telephone store in central Paris. Halimi's mother Ruth told an Israeli newspaper that her son would not have died had he not been Jewish, accusing police of downplaying a possible anti-Semitic motive to avoid alienating France's five-million strong Muslim community. Six people, under investigation for kidnapping and sequestration, could now face aggravated charges of being motivated by religious hatred. A total of 10 people have been placed under investigation the first step to indictment over the crime, following a raid on a housing estate south of Paris on Friday. Two more were to be brought before a judge later Tuesday.
Investigators last week traced the crime to a gang on a housing estate in the southern suburbs of Paris, after a young woman who served as a lure in several attempted kidnappings turned herself in and led them to the gang. She has been detained and faces charges of failure to report a crime.
French officials, who still believe the gang's primary aim was extortion, said on Monday that anti-Semitism may also have played a part in the crime, based on statements made by several of the 13 suspects arrested late last week. According to a judicial official, at least one said Halimi had been targeted because "Jews have money and they are a close-knit community," while another said he had been burned on the face with a cigarette because of his religion.
Several French newspapers devoted their front pages on Tuesday to the case, focusing on the distress of the Jewish community. Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy was to receive Halimi's brother-in-law as well as a delegation from the French Council of Jewish Institutions (CRIF) on Tuesday afternoon. Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin told Jewish leaders on Monday that "all light has to be shed" on the murder.
#2
According to a study by the Rg (police intelligence), only 7% of the antisemite acts comitted in France lately have emanated from the (ethnic french) rightwingers.
That leaves us with 93%, and IMHO with the most violent (assaults against persons, arsons,...), which are coming from the large zen buddhist community in France, as it was already suspected....
France is in denial, but while there probably is an antisemitic streak in the opinion, you've got to understand french are not antisemite by nature; as JFM often points out, french jews had the largest survival rate among all of occupied Europe, because of the complicity of the french people, despite traditional "maurrassien" catholic prejudice against jews.
Current antisemitism takes two main forms which are closely merged :
- the "judéophobie", judeophobia, IE left-wing antisemitism rationalized as antizionism, and based on the 'jews = nazis' equation.
Check PA Taguieff's work for this : Rising From the Muck : The New Anti-Semitism in Europe
I don't know if it's a new book specially written in english, or an adaptation of his french work, but you'll get a great view of this new "progressist" antisemitism, Taguieff is a great scholar on that subject.
- arab/muslim "traditional" religious racism against jews, worsened by nazi-inspired ethnic antisemitism (see Bernard Lewis post elsewhere for that) and leftwing judeophobia.
A health official in the Netherlands has called for a debate on the idea of forced abortion and contraception to deal with what she sees as a crisis of unwanted children. Alderman Marianne van den Anker of the Leefbaar Rotterdam Party wants specifically to target communities of Antilleans and Arubans where she sees the biggest problems of unwanted children.
Her comments have stirred protest by a health foundation working with those communities in Rotterdam. The group, which called the comments degrading, is asking Mayor Ivo Opstelten and other politicians to distance themselves from Van den Anker's views.
Van den Anker is a mother of two children and the official in charge of Rotterdam's health and security portfolios. In an interview in a newspaper Saturday, she said she had tried everything to prevent child abuse. "I fail, I fail," she told the interviewer as she outlined her controversial idea for a debate on compulsory abortion and contraception.
The target groups for her program are Antillean teenage mothers; drug addicts and people with mental handicaps, she said, according to a report in Expatica.
According to the report, Van den Anker said children from these groups run an "unacceptable risk" of growing up without love and with "violence, neglect, mistreatment and sexual abuse."
"The exceptions," she said, "and there are some, can be counted on a pair of hands."
Thank you Margaret Sanger ...
Van den Anker pointed to the growing number of Antillean youth gangs in Rotterdam whose members come from loveless homes.
#3
Mmmm! I don't think you grasp the significance of this. She is advocating Eugenics, a taboo subject since WW2. I happen to think Eugenics in one form or another will come back into fashion as a way out of Europe's demographic death spiral.
#4
Mmmm! I don't think you grasp the significance of this. She is advocating Eugenics, a taboo subject since WW2. I happen to think Eugenics in one form or another will come back into fashion as a way out of Europe's demographic death spiral.
They'll fix their birth deficit by terminating more pregnancies?
#2
Technically speaking, with the Wall completed, funds to the PA cut off, and a nice little civil war of all against all keeping the hard boyz busy, life could indeed become very peaceful on the Israeli side.
Investigating Magistrate Elias Eid interrogated Jamil Sayyed, the arrested former chief of the Surete Generale, "for five-and-a-half hours Saturday," according to Lebanese judicial sources. Sayyed is one of four former top security chiefs who have been charged with planning, or executing the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri and of carrying out terrorist acts.
The four officers, Sayyed, Raymond Azar, former head of Army Intelligence, Ali Hajj, former head of the Internal Security Forces, and Mustafa Hamdan, former head of the Presidential Guards, have been questioned several times since their arrest last August. The sources added that Azar, Hajj and Hamdan will also be questioned "based on new information," without elaborating on what that information was. The four former security chiefs are currently detained in Roumieh prison awaiting trial, with Hamdan, Hajj and Azar's several petitions for release on bail denied by the Lebanese Judiciary.
Meanwhile, Serge Brammertz, the head of the UN probe investigating the assassination of Hariri, was flown by a helicopter to Lebanon's Southern borders where he met with Alain Pelligrini, the head of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon. According to Lebanon's National News Agency, "Brammertz discussed the position of the UNIFIL forces."
Brammertz is expected to head to Syria by the end of the month, as the international community has demanded that Syria offer full cooperation to the UN probe and present officials and citizens named by Brammertz for questioning. Brammertz is expected to present the UN with his first report on the case by mid-March. The sources speculated the report would contain information about the level of Syrian cooperation in the investigations.
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At least 15 people were killed and 23 wounded Tuesday in fighting between gunmen loyal to warlords controlling the Somali capital and Islamic court security militia, witnesses and medical sources said. This brings the death toll to 33 and dozens wounded since the clashes erupted on Saturday, pitting gunmen backed by the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT) a coalition of warlords against Islamic court militia along a road in southern Mogadishu's Daynile district, they said.
"The fighting intensfied afternoon killing 13 people. The wounded are more than 23," Mohammad Daud, former militia commander, told AFP. Two other civilians, including a child, were killed by stray rounds earlier in the day, according to a witness, who asked to remain unnamed for security reasons. Eight of the 15 dead were fighters from rival sides, according to militia sources. Residents of the bullet-charred capital described the fighting as the heaviest in five years and a witness said the battlefield was "full of blood and it is very scary."
Tuesday's fighting, in which militiamen deployed rocket-propelled grenade launchers, heavy machineguns, small caliber guns and mortars, forcing several hundreds of terrified town-dwellers to flee the battlezone to relatively peaceful areas. Eighteen people have been killed in the last three days at least six flatbed trucks mounted with anti-aircraft and machineguns destroyed. The rival camps are fighting over the control of the 21 October Road, named after the day when dictator Mohammad Siad Barre came to power in 1969, where a massive military barracks, academy and garage are located. "Artillery guns of 85 mm and 105 mm are being used seriously used. The main target of the bombardment was the military academy, military barracks," Daud added.
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#1
One still has to wonder. Just WTF is worth fighting over in Somalia? Enquiring minds want to know.
#2
Some folks don't need a reason. The absence of one is probably an indication that there isn't much in the way of entertaining alternatives for yoots.
A member of Majlis al Shura (Consultative Council) in Saudi Arabia objected on Sunday against the Council General Committee's refusal to discuss the recommendation by a member to allow women to drive in the Kingdom. Dr. Khalil al Khalil said the Council's latest decision meant it was dissociating itself from its requirements to develop society and respond to its needs. He saw no reason why the discussion of an issue which has deeply divided Saudi society should not take place. He also pointed out that the General Committee could not decide on behalf of all Council members. In the end, he said, it was the entire Council who would have to take the appropriate decision.
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#1
As you can see this article is a little old, but women drivers seem to be good news for the roads. The argument is that they are less competitive (or testosterone driven). In Arab countries, where women don't drive they have higher traffic-related death rates, whereas in places like the UAE they are much lower. Generally God doesn't seem to be looking after Muslems on the roads.
Speeders blamed for up to 3,000 traffic deaths every month
Most Popular
Updated: 6:56 p.m. ET Dec. 13, 2005
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - On urban highways in the Middle East, cars pinball across lanes at over 100 mph and wrecks are so gory and damage so great one might think the mangled vehicles were destroyed by a bomb.
The region is plagued by some of the worlds highest accident rates, with reckless drivers and speeders blamed for some 3,000 traffic deaths per month in Arab nations.
The carnage has emerged as a public health crisis the second-leading cause of death, after heart disease, in wealthy Persian Gulf countries and a chief cause of gridlock gripping many of the Middle Easts fast-growing cities.
World Health Organization statistics show the Eastern Mediterranean region including most Arab countries, Israel, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan has a rate of 26.3 deaths from traffic accidents per 100,000 population. Only Africas rate is higher, at 28.3. In North and South America, the rate is 15.7; the rate in Europe is 14.5.
In Arab nations, it amounts to 3,000 deaths a month, according to a study by the Tunis-based Arab Road Safety Organization.
Thats equivalent to the number of Sept. 11 victims, Riadh Dabbou, chief of the organization, told the Gulf Traffic Convention in Dubai Monday.
Car accidents every three minutes
Gulf nations are the worst offenders in the Arab world. Dubai police say a traffic crash occurs in the city every three minutes every two minutes during the rush home for the evening meal during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
Its horrifying, said Glenn Havinoviski, a traffic technology expert with Virginia-based consultancy Wilbur Smith Associates. You have a tremendous safety problem. More traffic means more and more accidents.
Boomtown Dubai has mushroomed to 1.5 million people from about 20,000 in the 1950s. The number of registered cars in the city is projected to reach 800,000 next year doubling from 2001, said Baher Abdulhai, director of the University of Torontos Intelligent Traffic System Center.
You are a victim of your own success, Abdulhai told those at the convention. You will lose business if you dont tackle this problem.
In the United Arab Emirates, there are 21 traffic deaths per 100,000 people, compared to 15 in the United States and around six in Britain. Saudi Arabia has a rate as high as 30 deaths according to some figures.
#2
.com can probably confirm this but I know a few Saudi Arabians who ignore traffic lights. They told me if Allah wants them to live then nothing will happen if they run a red light. If they die in an accident then it's Allah's will. The concept of, "Gee, if I don't run the red light then I won't be killed" doesn't seem to register. It's not their fault, you see, it's Allah's will. Hopless.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/22/2006 10:04
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#3
Traffic lights, stop signs, road stripes, speed limits (lol) - these are "suggestions" - it depends upon the area and traffic level what bits are actually accepted.
Most Saudis just tap their horn when approaching an intersection in town (where you can't see anything until you actually get to it) if they have a stop sign. If no responding honk is heard - then the stop sign is irrelevant. If they do hear a honk, then it's too late. Lol.
It's much more complex at traffic lights, left turns from the right lane, right turns from the left lane - you have to see it to believe it. Even then, you may fail to comprehend what you just saw, lol.
Light-Bulb Anecdote: I was stopped at a red light, in the middle lane, at a fairly busy intersection in al Khobar back in '92. A guy in a Mercedes came up from behind me in the left lane. He slowed down, but kept rolling, slowly, through the light. He was a "somebody" I guess and trusted that no one would impede his important ass. And you know what? They didn't. I took my cue from him, thereafter. Act like you are somebody, like you own the road, like you will NOT give way, that you don't fucking care - and they get the fuck outta your way. Yes, you can (and should) draw many conclusions from this little insight. I sure did - and it was a valuable lesson in Arab-think.
Hood ornaments are aiming reticles. That stuff on the pavement is just paint, after all. Use it as you see fit.
A fair percentage of the cars and trucks on the roads in Saudi are, literally, falling apart. Rust-buckets that are not even remotely road-worthy. You learn to ID them and keep clear, just in case. I dodged a bumper, once, which fell off of a truck in front of me on the highway. Jean Paul Killey woulda been proud of my slalom work.
Saudi street intersections are often blocked off with those portable concrete barriers. Why? The Funnel. With a remarkably small number of roadblocks, they can literally shut down an entire city. The Magik Kingdom is where paranoia was perfected. This happens periodically when a manhunt is on. Or a Royal comes through town.
Speed limits are moot. Once I got the hang of it, I drove as fast as I could everywhere I went. Topped 160kph (100mph) on the highways everyday going to work and coming home. One of my favorite memories was tearing by a cop car parked on the side of the highway under and overpass. Guy was having a nap - a very common sight there. I decided to give him a thrill and moved over to the right-hand lane before I went by - rocking his car with the bow-wave of wind. Lol, watching in my rear-view as I passed, sure 'nuff, a head popped up and watched me disappear up the road.
You do learn, however, which places might be dangerous - hills, for example, where you might top it at 165kmh and find a forklift of one of those small toy vans you see in India and PakiWakiLand in your lane doing 10-40 kmh. Those, plus people backing up on the highway because they missed an exit are the two things which would really spike the pucker factor.
They used to leave wrecked cars on the side of the road all over the place. Rusting mangled hulks. Sometimes they dragged them to the cop-shop in al Khobar and parked them on a lot in front so they were clearly visible from Dhahran Blvd - the main drag. You could have a close look if you wanted, and I did, of course, and it was right out of the Arlo Guthrie song, "teeth, hair, and eyes" splattered all over the interior. That was back in the '90s. Somewhere between then and 2000, they stopped doing this and the hulks were dragged away somewhere.
Nothing will ever cure the idiocy of their wearing kaffiyehs and, thus, having a field of view about half that of a non-moron. They go to a lot of trouble to look "cool" - they won't muss 'em up by turning their heads or, gasp, not wearing them.
On topic... wymyns? Driving cars? Out there on the streets? In Saudi? ROLF! Of course not. Ignore the fact that they go to Bahrain and elsewhere and see wymyns driving everywhere - quite safely, too, thank you - this is The Land of the Two Holy Moskkks, fer crying out loud! Not happenin, insh'allah.
Funny thing is, reading this over before hitting submit, I realize I miss it. All these polite law-abiding people back here in The World really piss me off.
#7
"Act like you are somebody, like you own the road, like you will NOT give way, that you don't fucking care - and they get the fuck outta your way."
Ah, the Boston Method...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
02/22/2006 11:19
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#8
Works in south-central LA too - or did in the 90s, anyway. Don't know about now, but I'm not sure what would have changed except the desire of low-riders to be seen at the stops.
#9
I pulled up to an intersection once with a crusty old man riding as a passenger in my car. When a low-rider pulled up next to us and they looked over, crusty started to loudly mumble all sorts of unkind things about their parents, ancestors, personal hygiene, etc.
Just about loudly enough for them to hear, which made me more than a tad nervous. However, instead of overreacting, they started to jump their car howsoever that is done, making it bounce off the pavement.
Suddenly, something went dreadfully wrong with their shocks. Clunk! One of them went completely out, as in sheared, followed shortly thereafter by Clunk! Clunk! Clunk! as the other three either did the same or failed catastrophically in some way.
This left the body of their car sitting directly on the asphalt, unhinged from the frame.
Seeing this, crusty old man damn near had a stroke he was laughing so hard, and I thanked my lucky stars that the light had turned green.
There "will be a demonstration on March 14," possibly in Baabda, in an attempt to pressure Lebanese President Emile Lahoud to resign, March 14 Forces' MP Elias Atallah told The Daily Star Tuesday. Atallah said he "has no information about any counterdemonstration" in support of the president. Rumors have been circulating for the past week that if the March 14 Forces stage a demonstration to topple Lahoud, a counterdemonstration will be staged by pro-Syrian parties, namely Hizbullah, to defend Baabda Palace. However, according to Atallah, "if there is a counterdemonstration, we will not fight them because we believe that we should never cross a certain line that leads to a civil war. If the army decides to open fire on us, we will not reply, but will stand in our place."
Pro-Syrian former ministers Suleiman Franjieh and Talal Arslan met Tuesday and threatened to stage a counterdemonstration should the March 14 Forces take to the streets. "The street is not the property of anyone and the president will not be toppled," Arslan said.
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Janjaweed militias and Chadian rebel groups backed by the Sudanese government are launching deadly cross-border raids on villages in eastern Chad, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Tuesday. Based on a January-February investigation in eastern Chad, the 15-page report, "Darfur Bleeds: Recent Cross-Border Violence in Chad," documents a sharp increase in attacks against civilians in Chad by Sudanese government-backed Janjaweed militias and Chadian rebel groups. "The government of Sudan is actively exporting the Darfur crisis to its neighbor by providing material support to Janjaweed militias and by failing to disarm or control them," said Peter Takirambudde, HRW's Africa director. "The Janjaweed are doing in Chad what they have done in Darfur since 2003: killing civilians, burning villages and looting cattle in attacks that show signs of ethnic bias," he added.
The report quoted dozens of interviews with some of the tens of thousands of Chadians who have fled their homes. "I was sleeping and then I heard the guns and the screaming. I got up and my son was bleeding. I ran to him and I saw that he was dead," the report quoted one 35-year-old Chadian woman from a non-Arab tribe as saying. "I ran back and that was when I was shot ... I just saw blood," said the woman whose leg was later amputated. She said seven were killed in that attack, including her son and her husband.
Chad, which is under threat from its own insurgents, withdrew its border troops to protect its main frontier towns. HRW said Janjaweed militias have taken advantage of the vacuum and are raiding deeper into Chadian territory, unchecked by either Chadian or Sudanese armed forces. HRW said it had evidence of Sudanese Army involvement in the militia attacks and had documented at least four attacks by Sudanese armed forces on eastern Chadian villages. "Witness accounts and physical evidence indicated that government of Sudan troops and helicopter gunships participated directly in attacks, while many people reported seeing Antonov aircraft approach from Sudan, circle overhead, then return to Sudan in advance of Janjaweed raids," the report said. Sudan denies its troops are involved in cross-border operations and say they do not coordinate attacks with Janjaweed.
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A man accused of fatally beating his roommate with a sledgehammer and a claw hammer because there was no toilet paper in their home has been arrested.
Franklin Paul Crow, 56, was charged Monday with homicide in the death of Kenneth Matthews, 58, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Office. Capt. Thomas Bibb said Crow initially denied his involvement, but confessed during questioning.
Crow told investigators that the men were fighting about the toilet paper over the weekend when Matthews pulled out a rifle. Crow said he then began beating Matthews with the sledgehammer and claw hammer, according to an affidavit. Matthews was beaten so badly he had to be identified through his fingerprints, detectives said.
Crow was being held at the Marion County jail without bond. It was not immediately known whether he had an attorney.
Following the protest schedule announced by the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), the Punjab government is preparing a list of MMA leaders and activists it will arrest in a couple of days, sources told Daily Times on Tuesday. The Punjab government had earlier detained about 76 political activists including three Lahore nazims and a naib nazim belonging to opposition parties under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) 3 to prevent them from participating in demonstrations. The men, who were detained for 30 days on Saturday and Sunday nights, were sent to Mianwali Central Jail.
The political activists mainly belonged to the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and MMA. However, its the MMAs turn now, sources added. Islampura Nazim Ilyas Khan (PML-N), Township Nazim Aslam Garha (PPPP), Santnagar Nazim Nazir Ahmed and Baghbanpura Naib Nazim Muhammad Younis were detained. Rasheed Ahmed Bhutta (PML-N) and Bodi Pehlwan (PML-N) were also among the detained men. Also, the Punjab government on Tuesday told the National Assembly that it had arrested three MNAs including Haneef Abbasi (PML-N) and Zamarud Khan (PPPP), both from Rawalpindi.
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Police have arrested 15 people after clashes between Muslims and Christians in a village south of the capital, police officials said Tuesday. Police cordoned off Ezzbat Wassif on Tuesday and mounted patrols in the village, searching for people involved in Monday's fighting as well as ensuring calm, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the press.
Villagers fought with sticks and stones, leaving at least 11 people wounded, one seriously, said residents who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue. Police, however, said only six people were injured but confirmed that one was in serious condition in hospital. Rioters managed to set three houses on fire before police restored order. The clashes apparently began when Muslims objected to a community hall that Christians were building, taking it to be a church. Under Egyptian law, government permission is required to build a church. Police are questioning the 15 detainees about the clashes.
Last month, an attempt to turn a guest house into an informal church in a southern Egyptian town provoked clashes among Coptic Christians, Muslims and police in which one person was killed and at least 11 wounded.
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#1
"Hey, you Christians can't just slap up a church! It's illegal!"
"Yeah? How about if we just slap your ass around instead, big mouth?"
Danish non-government organisations and volunteers engaged in relief activities in earthquake-hit areas have started wrapping up their projects after the angry Pakistani reaction to caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (PTUI peace be upon him), a United Nations official told Daily Times. Asking not to be named, the UN official said that several Danish NGOs working in collaboration with the UN in earthquake-affected areas had indicated that they would discontinue their projects amid fears of being attacked.
More than 50 Danish volunteers were working here and over half have left, he said. I know five Danish volunteers working in Mansehra who left last week and five others are preparing to fly back in a few days, he added. The official said the remaining volunteers would also leave soon, adding that their departure would be a huge setback to relief activities in Pakistan. The volunteers would have stayed if the protests here had been peaceful, he said. Already, European volunteers in NWFP and Azad Kashmir were working under fear of jihadi organisations and the cartoons issue has added fuel to the fire.
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#1
It all gets so wearying after a while. It's been the same pattern since Armenian genocide: demonize, persecute, expel/murder. One could go back to the 630's I guess, but then at least one had the option to convert or become a dhimmi. Of course, that was the era of Islam triumphant. Now it's just cultural implosion; the shame/honor dialectic demands that everything that reminds you of you and your culture's failure be destroyed.
#2
I gave nothing to either the tsunami or the Pak earthquake relief efforts. Muslims have a real bad habit of biting the hand that feeds them. Let their coreligionists swimming in oil money take care of their unfortunate brethren--or not. It's as allan wills, right? This Westerner will keep his donations in the hands of sane people, thanks.
Posted by: mac ||
02/22/2006 5:34
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#3
"Muslims have a real bad habit of biting the hand that feeds them."
Some will call you prejudiced but sometimes such well learned 'prejudice' is a good pointer not to throw pearls before swines.
#1
Kids from middle class homes, do better in school. This is shocking news. Forgot about Darfur, Iranian Nukes and tens of millions dying from Malaria, the UN is right to focus on the real issues we face.
#2
what we need is universal preschool...whether the parents want it or not. Follow me, said the piper!
Posted by: Rob Reiner ||
02/22/2006 0:12
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#3
Mr Munoz said the problems were caused by the structure of the education system, which usually selects children at the age of 10 to go to either a grammar school or a vocational one.
This is actually a point that I've been making here for years. And this is how it works throughout Europe and the industrialized Far East. Between the age of ten and fourteen, the _state_ tells you that you are going to be working on an assembly line at Volkswagen for the rest of your freakin life. And there are no second chances. No junior college. No University of Phoenix. The stupid statists want to control everything. If this isn't the root of everything that is wrong with Europe -- the elitism, the herd mentality of the masses, high unemployment the low birth rates -- then it's pretty damn close. Policies like this are just evil. Put yourself back in the playground in fifth grade. Congratulations! Hans, you're a blue collar worker and you Dieter, you lucky little devil, are going to university! Are Hans and Dieter ever going to play together in the future? Will their parents ever meet at PTA? And what if the state guesses wrong and ten years later there are too many blue collar blokes and not enough white collar stiffs. This crap is just plain wrong. For the first time here at Rantburg, I side with the UN.
#4
Whilst, I agree the state shouldn't select children into academic and non-academic streams as early as 10. There are several powerful counter-arguments in favor of streaming. I'll note that in Germany being a tradesman is more prestigous than somewhere like the USA. And streaming encourages people to go into manual occupations rather than struggle with academic subjects that have no interest to them and take them in the direction of unproductive lightweight 'academic' subjects.
The UK had a similar system of selecting at age 11. I was one of the earliest kids to go into a non streaming system (known as Comprehensive schools), so I speak from personal experience. The two main consequences of Comprehensive schools were;
1. Academic standards plunged. In large part, this was because kids of that age are incredibly influenced by their peers and mixing relatively small numbers of academically capable kids into a larger population of less academically capable kids, turns the academically capable kids into less academically capable kids as they follow the crowd.
2. Over time, there was a huge increase in the number of people going into university level education mostly into lightweight subjects, which in turn resulted in a large number of under-employed graduates. I am sure we all know someone who graduated in the history of art or similar and now works part time as a filing clerk.
#5
Well, this is a bit overdone. Of course it might be early at this age to offer a selection to a "Gymnasium, Realschule etc" (leading to an exam "Abitur" = entrance to university).On the other hand I have read articles here, where university staff complained about the educational standards of new students coming from comprehensive schools !!
Also, it is always possible (later in life when
you discover the society might be lost without your personal academic contribution) to change to a so called "Schule des zweiter Bildungsweges"
that leads to an "Abitur" exam.
Your are NOT confine to be a blue collar worker all your life( if you dislike this).But be warned, he might make more money in a tradesman area than your mentioned academic "elitist" !!
#6
Phil_b-
Your points are well taken (#2 describes the US pretty well, unfortunately). In the US a very high percentage of kids go to university which results in a university education being dumbed-down. I remember being criticized by students for using "big words" on my exams! The number of students who were mathematically illiterate was astounding.
My grandfather, who had an eighth-grade education, retired (around 1960) as the chief accountant for a mid-sized steel company. His education was probably equivalent to that of a university grad today.
#7
Phil_b: I've known a lot of those liberal arts university grads who then go to a junior college and learn to be a mechanic or a fireman and make more money than they could have with a degree. At least they had the freedom to try and weren't streamed one way or the other.
Nobody here addresses the social or political costs of "streaming." What happens when you separate the "smart" kids from the "dumb" ones at age ten? IMO, you end up with De Villepin and Fischer -- elitists that haven't a clue about who the "masses" are and how to lead them.
When I was in high school, I used to bitch about how the unmotivated kids used to screw it all up for the rest of us. Boo hoo hoo. Looking back, I am glad that I had the opportunity to grow up with them and be friends with some of them. I learned more from those experiences than I would have in a college prep track.
My anecdotal experiences just don't line up with any of yours. I've known plenty of old timers who were illiterate or innumerate. My experiences in grad school and business, up against lycee, Realschule, and whatever the equivalent of those are in Japan and Taiwan demonstrated to me that the US comprehensive school grads could run rings around the others when it came to math, analysis, synthesis, research, and study habits. The non-Americans were better rote memorizers and that's about it.
The proof of the pudding is the eating. If American schools are so damn bad, then why do we dominate the worlds of finance, science, technology, military art, etc? Yeah we coopt some talent from the rest of the world, but that doesn't explain more than a small fraction of the difference. Here is the secret. American schools offer choice. You can be a PhD and run a garage or be a votech washout and graduate from university. You can _choose_ to be illiterate or to be a polymath. There is little to no stigma attached to any of these choices. To the statist, this seems like a great waste of talent. To a Hayekian free market type like me, it is the most efficient use of human capital.
#8
What happens when you separate the "smart" kids from the "dumb" ones at age ten? IMO, you end up with De Villepin and Fischer -- elitists that haven't a clue about who the "masses" are and how to lead them.
OK, point taken (and I'm pretty militant in opposing all kinds of elitism).
#9
If American schools are so damn bad, then why do we dominate the worlds of finance, science, technology, military art, etc?
Finance, cause the rest of the world bankrupted itself in WWI & WWII. We had all the money that was left. Our financial position will start to deteriorate if we don't get the China deficit under control.
Science and Technology? We reward scientists and technologists better than any other country. Ever notice all those funny accents? We also fund it very generously through the federal government primarily for defence purposes.
Military? I'm nopt sure that pound for pound we are the best military in the world. But we are most of the po8unds in the world.
Automobiles, steel, shipbuilding, manufacturing anything? We suck.
Bottom line is that our schools do a good job of educating the top layer but the others do a better job of educating the middle.
Our lower schools are expensive and produce very little for all the inputs they get. But what do you expect from a socialized enterprise. Our colleges and universities are competitive and generously funded but they do produce good value for the money,even if we do have to import half the students in science and engineering.
#10
American business would be better off if all MBAs and lawyers were suddenly to just disappear never to return. Things started to go downhill for manufacturing in this country when MBAs started "optimizing" things to make this quarter's numbers for the street. Continuing the rant, Michael Milken should be consigned to the deepest depths of Hell for creating the leveraged buyout.
#11
It is clear that the U.N. clowns have never read the Coleman Report.
What did that magnificent, massive study prove was the leading factor in educational attainment and performance? Factors outside of the classroom. In other words, parents, family, neighborhood, community, and *cough*, *ahem*, *let me clear my throat*, culture
#12
11A58: Just for the record: Fischer holds no university degree.( and Schröder came from a poor family and managed to finish successfully a law study)
#14
Finance, cause the rest of the world bankrupted itself in WWI & WWII. We had all the money that was left. Our financial position will start to deteriorate if we dont get the China deficit under control.
***The standard economic trade models have been predicting the collapse of the American economy since the early 1970's. Yet we keep cruising along. Maybe the models are wrong, being based upon specie-backed currencies that haven't been traded in decades? Why doesn't Louisiana have a trade deficit with California? Chew on that for a while and you might begin to understand.
Science and Technology? We reward scientists and technologists better than any other country. Ever notice all those funny accents? We also fund it very generously through the federal government primarily for defence purposes.
***Most of the propeller heads I've worked over the years came from the US. Maybe I worked in the wrong companies.
Military? Im nopt sure that pound for pound we are the best military in the world. But we are most of the po8unds in the world.
***Come on! An armored cav _troop_ almost destroyed an Iraqi division in the first Gulf War! Anyway, its a combined arms _team_. If other countries don't have the same amount of combat multipliers that we do, it's fallacious to say that they have tougher infantry or better armor. All it takes is one E-5 with a radio...
Automobiles, steel, shipbuilding, manufacturing anything? We suck.
*** Intel's, AMD's and IBM's waferfabs? Advanced ceramics? Advanced composite materials? Software? Servers? Fiber optics? Switch infrasructure? You know what the difference between the industries you named and I named? Yours are all have low rates of return. Mine all have high rates of return.
Bottom line is that our schools do a good job of educating the top layer but the others do a better job of educating the middle.
*** Question: Do those standardized tests that the press are always harping about compare our high schoolers to their high schoolers or our high schoolers to their Gymnasium and Lycee students? The answer is not pretty.
Our lower schools are expensive and produce very little for all the inputs they get. But what do you expect from a socialized enterprise.
*** I agree that they are too expensive. I interview high school kids all the time. I'm always impressed. They're a lot smarter than me and my peers were. But then I'm a glass half full type of person.
#1
I saw this a few days ago. It's funny if you consider racism funny. It shows a Hindu in a turban as a "muslim". That said it's pretty much right on about islam.
#5
Tipper, Spod didn't say Muslims don't wear turbans, he said that the animation shows a hindu in a turban as a muslim. Even your link includes Sikhs and Hindus wearging turbans so you should be able to see that the styles are actually noticably different.
#7
The piles of crap muslims wear on their head are totally different than what Hindu and Sikhs wear. That is racial stereotyping. Muslims hate the Hindu and Sikhs as much as they heate the west. The animators were not careful with there images or assertions. It's a hurtful racist pile of crap and hurts the WoT even if the ultimate aassertion is correct.
Call it what you will various other commentators have favored volk-Marxism or postmodern leftism. Ive called it suicidalism. It was designed to paralyze the West against one enemy, but its now being used against us by another. It is no accident that Osama bin Laden so often sounds like hes reading from back issues of Z magazine, and no accident that both constantly echo the hoariest old cliches of Soviet propaganda in the 1930s and 40s.
....
The first step to recovery is understanding the problem. Knowing that suicidalist memes were launched at us as war weapons by the espionage apparatus of the most evil despotism in human history is in itself liberating. Liberating, too, it is to realize that the Noam Chomskys and Michael Moores and Robert Fisks of the world (and their thousands of lesser imitators in faculty lounges everywhere) are not brave transgressive forward-thinkers but pathetic memebots running the program of a dead tyrant.
#1
Wow. Throughout the length of the article, he transitions quite smoothly from giving all religions the benefit of the doubt, all the way to "calling a spade a spade" - and identifying Islam for the brutal, savage pestilence that it truly is.
#2
It is supposed to result in a life improved, one with more meaning and purpose, a life lived better, more nobly, more beneficially through its principles both for ourselves and for those in the society around us.
Excellent article. He puts his finger on the problem with Islam, separate from any other religion. All other major religions inspire good. Islam inspires blame and hatred.
All groups provide through association with others a sense of community and sense of identity. In that sense, Islam is good. But unlike all other religions, it does not inspire individuals to rise up, beyond human frailty of hate, greed, and revenge. Rather, it encourages those human frailties. In that sense it does its followers a disservice and thus it has not moved its adherents forward from the 7th Century as have all other major religions.
#4
Excellent article. He doesn't as much question the truth or falsehood of any religion as much as he concentrates on the question of "What does the religion teach? What does it permit? What does it forbid?"
If a religion doesn't have hypocrites, it's a religion that isn't challenging its adherents. If a religion doesn't have hypocrites, it's a religion that isn't attractive to use as a cover for con artists.
Egypt's foreign minister said Tuesday it would be premature to cut off international aid for a Palestinian government, even if Hamas is at its helm, dashing Bush administration hopes for a unified front as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stood stiffly at his side. "We should give Hamas time," Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said. "I'm sure that Hamas will develop, will evolve. We should not prejudge the issue."
"Yass, yass. Let's not be hasty here."
That was not the message Rice had hoped to hear from Egypt, an important US ally and Arab powerbroker. The US has praised Egypt for telling Hamas it must moderate its views now that the Islamic group has won elections for control of the Palestinian parliament. Rice, making her first trip to the region since last month's Hamas victory, stood alongside Gheit as he spoke. "If the new Palestinian government led by Hamas is going to be able to meet the aspirations of the Palestinian people for a peaceful life, for a better life, for a life in which there's economic development, it goes without saying that you cannot have one foot in the camp of terror and the other foot in the camp of politics," Rice said during a crowded and sometimes raucous press conference with Gheit.
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#1
I know our State Dept. won't go for cutting off all aid to any country dealing with Hamas, but perhaps they can say "We'll reduce any aid dollar-for-dollar for any aid or trade you do with the Paleos."
Interior Undersecretary Naser al Othman issued an order Tuesday to release all prisoners locked up in the military jail on the occasion of the national and liberation day anniversaries. The statement said, the order was based on instructions from the First Deputy Premier and Interior and Defense Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak al Sabah. The ministerial order is to take effect next Friday.
"What's up with the prison release, Sarge?"
"Zarkawi called. He sez he needs a new batch of Number Threes."
#1
This isn't unusual for the Middle East. They frequently have prison releases on national days and such. I'm surprised it included ALL prisoners. Usually the really hard cases are not released, no matter what they do. Of course, those prisoners may have been moved out of the military prison before the release, and we wouldn't know. I doubt anyone who was a threat to the al Sabah family was released.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/22/2006 16:25
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Secretary General Kofi Annan is making an unexpected trip to Qatar this weekend to try to calm the violent reaction to cartoons about the Prophet Muhammad at a meeting to promote religious and cultural understanding. Annan decided to seize the opportunity of a long-planned meeting of the UN-sponsored Alliance of Civilisations to publicly address the issues raised by the caricatures and emphasise his opposition to the violent outbursts and the need for tolerance, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Monday. "He hopes ... to meet with a number of leaders from Europe and from the Islamic world and to discuss with them ways of calming the situation and allowing a constructive dialogue between people of different faiths and traditions based on mutual understanding and respect," Dujarric said.
Annan met the ambassadors of half a dozen countries in the Organisation of Islamic Conference on Monday evening to discuss the February 26-28 meeting in Qatar's capital, Doha. They also discussed a proposal by the 57-member group of Muslim nations' to include language against "the defamation of religions and prophets" in a draft resolution that would create a new Human Rights Council.
I wonder if that includes Ahmadis and Ba'hais?
Now you're talkin' crazy talk. Best leave the distictions to more, um.... discerning parties. Your glasses don't have the right prescription.
Yemen's UN Ambassador Abdullah Alsaidi said afterwards that in Doha, Annan plans to meet OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Arab League Secretary General Amr Musa, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and the foreign ministers of Turkey, Spain and Austria. "They will issue a statement that I hope will lead to calming the situation," Alsaidi said.
Annan launched the Alliance of Civilisations initiative in response to a request from Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to mobilise national and international action to overcome prejudice, misperceptions and polarisation between cultures and civilisations especially Islam and the West.
I wasn't aware that Zappy was a "former" prime minister. Did I miss something? Did Christians boom the Madrid underground and cause the Spaniards to vote him and his party out?
More important than a single cranial methane vent is the fact that the cartoon fiasco takes the mask off Islam as a "tolerant" religion that's capable of coexisting with other religions. Sufism might maybe do it, and maybe even post-Qom Shiism, but not the Sunni flavor, and certainly not Salafism. The unrelenting series of riots, the attacks on embassies and businesses, culminating in multiple fatwahs calling for the deaths of the cartoonists, may have emphasis on the "may," since the US public seems peculiarly insulated against what's going on pushed the West past the tipping point. The demands to protect "religions and prophets" at the UN level is a call for world-wide imposition of blasphemy laws. We can't live with that. No civilization with a free press and freedom of religion can.
We've seen a lot of fiery tempers here in the past few days, and they're traceable right back to this fundamental split. Our patience is running out as we watch the events unfold. Eventually, if the Islamists have their way, this visceral reaction is going to spread to the world at large.
Probably this isn't the tipping point, though it will come. We're informed here, reading the Arab and Pak press every day. The general public isn't, not in the U.S. and not in Europe. They're still being spoon-fed their news by a press that's more concerned with domestic politix than with the survival of their nations.
I'd even posit that the upper echelons of The Press and Academia don't really *want* the current nation-state structure to survive. And may even be actively working to undermine and supplant it.
That's something that's abstract, still out there in the sweet by-and-by. So it's still going to take something more easily understandable to the man in the street and that can't be avoided or reinterpreted by the press. That means mass casualties. The West's leadership, including the Bush administration, doesn't want to pay the high price now, so we'll pay the higher price later.
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Kofi's on the case? Oh, this is as good as solved...
A land mine exploded beneath a bullock cart on Tuesday, killing three villagers in the Lehri area, 200km off Quetta, while another gas pipeline exploded in Dera Bugti, suspending gas supply to the town. Government spokesman Raziq Bugti said that three villagers travelling on the bull cart hit a landmine.
Meanwhile, Dera Bugti DCO Abdul Samad Lasi said that a gas pipeline exploded in the eastern residential colony on Tuesday. The pipeline was one of the primary lines supplying gas to Dera Bugti. As a result, gas supply to the town had been disconnecting. The pipe caught fire after the explosion, but it was brought under control. Dera Bugti Nazim Kazim Bugti said that he did not believe locals were responsible for the explosion.
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Islamabad: Pakistan has apparently provided Afghanistan with proof of Indian Intelligence, RAWs involvement in affairs of Balochistan. Officials said, Islamabad gave concrete evidence of RAWs involvement in Balochistan and the other tribal areas to Afghan President Hamid Karzai during his visit to Pakistan and demanded that RAWs anti-Pakistan activities through Indias consulates in Afghanistan be contained.
RAW, they said was carrying out anti-Pakistan activities through its consulates in Mazar-e- Sharif, Jalalabad, Kandahar and Herat. The agency was helping Baloch Sardars in waging war against the federal government in places like Dera Bugti, Sui and Kohlu. Training camps established by Mari and Bugti warlords were being given large cache of weapons, which included Kalashnikovs, PRG-7s, land mines and hand grenades by RAW agents based in Afghanistan, they said. The cache were loaded on mules and transported to Naushki and later shifted to training camps in double cabin. They said that while the situation gradually returned to normal in Waziristan in NWFP, Baloch sardars started mounting attacks on gas pipelines and other installations in Sui, reports Online News.
When the federal government started a crackdown on the insurgency, the Indian government expressed concern over the grave situation, they said. The secular Baloch sardars had started joining hands with the religious Taliban and al-Qaeda and RAW agents operating from consulates in Afghanistan, they said.
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Kuwaiti lawmakers Tuesday urged the new Cabinet to fight widespread corruption and to implement long-awaited reforms, a day after it took the oath. "Corruption here has become a big monster," Islamist MP Nasser al-Sane said during a parliamentary debate on the government's program. "We want a new methodology in fighting corruption ... The whole country appears to have been sold as everything has a price," Sane said.
Liberal MP Mohammad al-Sager charged that four reformist ministers in the previous government were ousted because of their efforts to fight corruption. Two leading liberal former ministers, Abdullah al-Taweel (commerce and industry) and Faisal al-Hajji (social affairs and labor), were excluded from the new formation. Former Justice Minister Ahmad Baqer, an Islamist, and Education Minister Rasheed al-Hamad, an independent liberal, were also dropped.
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Nearly half of South Korean youths who will be old enough to vote in the country's next elections say Seoul should side with North Korea if the United States attacks the communist nation, according to a poll released Wednesday. At the same time, 40.7 percent of the 1,000 young people surveyed said Seoul should remain neutral in the event of hostilities between Washington and Pyongyang, according to the poll by The Korea Times and Hankook Ilbo dailies. Only 11.6 percent said the South should back its longtime U.S. ally.
India's airlines bought billions of dollars worth of planes and engines this week, but the lightning-paced expansion of the country's aviation sector has triggered a shortfall of pilots, officials warned Wednesday.
Like Emancipation Day, added last year to the D.C. calendar as an annual April holiday, the new day off would cost District taxpayers $1.1 million. Evans said the holiday is worth the money, but one local budget watchdog disagreed.
Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, who was involved in one of the biggest financial scandals to hit the Vatican, has died, church officials say. The 84-year-old American had been living in Sun City, Arizona. Marcinkus was head of the Vatican Bank at the time of the fraudulent collapse of Banco Ambrosiano in 1982, with which it had close ties. He denied any wrongdoing. Although he was sought for questioning, he was granted immunity as a Vatican employee. 
BRITISH officials investigating July's London suicide bombings have received no useful intelligence from detainees held at the United States military camp at Guantanamo Bay. 
The French interior minister, 
Mauritania is holding seven men without trial under U.S. pressure on suspicion they were recruited by an al Qaeda-linked group to fight in Iraq, their lawyers said on Monday, but the government denied bowing to Washington. The men, all young Mauritanians suspected of being trained in Algeria by an Islamic militant group, were tortured after their arrest and are still in prison despite a court order for their provisional release, their lawyers said.
The Serbian government sought Tuesday to quash news reports suggesting that the leading Balkan war crimes suspect, 
Servicemen of the Zapad (West) battalion have clashed with a group of militants who are suspected of plotting a major terrorist attack in Grozny and of planning to poison drinking water in parts of the Chechen capital. Weapons and two kilograms of mercury were confiscated from the militants. "One of the militants is believed to have been killed in the armed clash," battalion commander Said-Magomed Kakiyev told Interfax. "It has been established that the group included at least three people," he said. A Shmel flame-thrower, three anti-tank grenade launchers, a Kalashnikov assault rifle and grenades were confiscated from the scene, he said. None of the servicemen were injured in the clash.
Chechen Prime Minister 
Two local leaders of 
Yemeni authorities have released 11 Muslim fundamentalists, including the suspected leader of an al-Qaida cell, who were detained in east Yemen.
The 
The government must disclose whether it used any information from the Bush administration's terrorist surveillance program in its case against a man convicted of joining Al Qaeda and plotting to assassinate the president, a federal judge has ruled.
A Pakistani anti-terrorism court sentenced 11 members of an al Qaeda-linked Islamic group to death on Tuesday after finding them guilty of killing 10 people in an attack on a top military commander in 2004, lawyers said. All the convicts belonged to 
Arab League foreign ministers have failed to agree on aid for the Palestinians as they come under Hamas' rule, while Turkey slammed Israel's decision to slap economic sanctions on the Palestinian Authority. Only three league members have contributed aid for the Palestinians, Algerian officials said after a meeting in Algiers that ran into late Monday night. The Arab League's Secretary General Amr Moussa and Algerian State Minister Abdel-Aziz Belkhadem appealed at the meeting for all other member states to contribute funds.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Al Jaafari has angrily dismissed US warnings to shun sectarianism in the country's new government. Speaking after talks with British Foreign Secretary 
In an interview with As-Safir, Maronite Patriarch 
As parliamentary blocs prepare for the upcoming national dialogue, Progressive Socialist Party leader 
In an interview published by Ash-Sharq al-Awsat, Lebanese Forces leader 
OSLO: A Norwegian Muslim has reported a newspaper editor who published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to the police for violating a blasphemy law last used in 1933 against a poet who called Christians cannibals. I have been reported to the police for blasphemy. We will have to see what happens as this law has not been used since 1933, said Verbjoern Selbekk, editor of newspaper Magazinet. 
Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit on Tuesday announced the release of Jordanian embassy driver in Baghdad 
Lucknow: A court in 
Under tight security, Sayyed 
US Ambassador 
The political leader of Hamas on Tuesday vowed the group would keep up the fight against Israel as he continued a visit to Iran aimed at reinforcing ties with one of its key allies. 
It has been seven days since Dr 
Investigating Magistrate 
A member of Majlis al Shura (Consultative Council) in Saudi Arabia objected on Sunday against the Council General Committee's refusal to discuss the recommendation by a member to allow women to drive in the Kingdom. Dr. Khalil al Khalil said the Council's latest decision meant it was dissociating itself from its requirements to develop society and respond to its needs. He saw no reason why the discussion of an issue which has deeply divided Saudi society should not take place. He also pointed out that the General Committee could not decide on behalf of all Council members. In the end, he said, it was the entire Council who would have to take the appropriate decision.
There "will be a demonstration on March 14," possibly in Baabda, in an attempt to pressure Lebanese President 
Following the protest schedule announced by the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), the Punjab government is preparing a list of MMA leaders and activists it will arrest in a couple of days, sources told Daily Times on Tuesday. The Punjab government had earlier detained about 76 political activists including three Lahore nazims and a naib nazim belonging to opposition parties under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) 3 to prevent them from participating in demonstrations. The men, who were detained for 30 days on Saturday and Sunday nights, were sent to Mianwali Central Jail. 
Police have arrested 15 people after clashes between Muslims and Christians in a village south of the capital, police officials said Tuesday. Police cordoned off Ezzbat Wassif on Tuesday and mounted patrols in the village, searching for people involved in Monday's fighting as well as ensuring calm, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the press.
Danish non-government organisations and volunteers engaged in relief activities in earthquake-hit areas have started wrapping up their projects after the angry Pakistani reaction to caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (
Egypt's foreign minister said Tuesday it would be premature to cut off international aid for a Palestinian government, even if Hamas is at its helm, dashing Bush administration hopes for a unified front as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stood stiffly at his side. "We should give Hamas time," Foreign Minister 
Interior Undersecretary Naser al Othman issued an order Tuesday to release all prisoners locked up in the military jail on the occasion of the national and liberation day anniversaries. The statement said, the order was based on instructions from the First Deputy Premier and Interior and Defense Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak al Sabah. The ministerial order is to take effect next Friday.
Secretary General Kofi Annan is making an unexpected trip to Qatar this weekend to try to calm the violent reaction to cartoons about the Prophet Muhammad at a meeting to promote religious and cultural understanding. Annan decided to seize the opportunity of a long-planned meeting of the UN-sponsored Alliance of Civilisations to publicly address the issues raised by the caricatures and emphasise his opposition to the violent outbursts and the need for tolerance, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Monday. "He hopes ... to meet with a number of leaders from Europe and from the Islamic world and to discuss with them ways of calming the situation and allowing a constructive dialogue between people of different faiths and traditions based on mutual understanding and respect," Dujarric said. 
A land mine exploded beneath a bullock cart on Tuesday, killing three villagers in the Lehri area, 200km off Quetta, while another gas pipeline exploded in 
Islamabad: Pakistan has apparently provided Afghanistan with proof of Indian Intelligence, RAWs involvement in affairs of Balochistan. Officials said, Islamabad gave concrete evidence of RAWs involvement in Balochistan and the other tribal areas to Afghan President Hamid Karzai during his visit to Pakistan and demanded that RAWs anti-Pakistan activities through Indias consulates in Afghanistan be contained.
Kuwaiti lawmakers Tuesday urged the new Cabinet to fight widespread corruption and to implement long-awaited reforms, a day after it took the oath. "Corruption here has become a big monster," Islamist MP Nasser al-Sane said during a parliamentary debate on the government's program. "We want a new methodology in fighting corruption ... The whole country appears to have been sold as everything has a price," Sane said.
