Iraqi and U.S. soldiers have found munitions caches and captured suspected terrorists in operations throughout Iraq this week, and U.S. soldiers killed a man planting a roadside bomb.
U.S. officials also announced the capture of a high-value suspect.
Soldiers of 2nd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, found a bag of munitions while conducting a patrol in western Baghdad early today. The bag contained five 82 mm mortar rounds, which were turned in to an explosive ordnance disposal team to be destroyed.
Elsewhere today, Iraqi soldiers arrested four terrorists involved in a drive-by shooting early this morning in northeastern Baghdad. The terrorists were arrested after exchanging small-arms fire with an Iraqi civilian in his home. One terrorist was seriously wounded.
Elements of 2nd Tank Brigade, 9th Iraqi Army Division, conducted a combined cordon-and-search mission with U.S. soldiers of Troop A, 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, of four houses north of Baghdad around 4:30 a.m. yesterday, resulting in the detention of one suspected terrorist.
A patrol from Company B, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, conducted a cordon-and-search mission northwest of Baghdad at about 4 a.m. Wednesday, resulting in the detention of two suspected terrorists.
One day earlier, Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers engaged and killed a terrorist planting an improvised explosive device on the side of a road north of Baghdad late Aug. 1.
Soldiers from Company A, 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, spotted the suspect digging a hole after curfew on the side of a road where IEDs are frequently placed. When the man saw the soldiers, he fled into a nearby tree line. He later returned to continue digging and noticed the soldiers and tried to flee again, but the soldiers immediately engaged the man, U.S. officials said.
The same day, a patrol from Company D, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, found a weapons cache northwest of Baghdad around 6:30 p.m. The patrol found 19 73 mm rockets, two 120 mm mortar rounds, and 19 73 mm rockets.
In other news from Iraq, U.S. officials announced today that combined Iraqi and U.S. forces captured eastern Baghdads third-highest most wanted terrorist in Adhamiyah during a precision operation July 30.
Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers of 1st Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, and 4th Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, and elements of the 2nd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, participated in the operation. The actions were part of Operation Together Forward, a Multinational Division Baghdad operation to disrupt murders, kidnappings and bombings in Baghdad.
The suspect taken into custody is believed to lead criminal elements, which have conducted deadly roadside bombings against coalition and Iraqi forces, as well as sectarian murders and kidnappings. He is believed to act as a financier, planner and director of those criminal activities in eastern Baghdad, U.S. military officials said.
In a combined mid-morning cordon-and-search operation, U.S. soldiers discovered the man at a hospital complex. In a thorough search of a building with a lot of people in it, the attention to detail at the Soldier level accounts for this capture. The soldiers knew who they were looking for and methodically found him, squadron commander Army Lt. Col. Brian Winski said.
During the search, the U.S. soldiers were attacked by sniper fire but suffered no injuries.
The key to success was all of the junior officers and noncommissioned officers who were able to make good decisions based on the intent of the operation, Troop B commander Army Capt. Will Arnold said.
Neither the suspected terrorist nor any coalition or Iraqi soldiers were injured during this operation. This marks the second high-value capture for the brigade in the past week. Soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, captured another individual July 25. This has been a very busy and productive week for our forces in Iraq.
Australian archaeologists have uncovered the remains of ancient human settlements in Syria.
A team of researchers from the Australian National University have used declassified US spy satellite images from the 1960s to help them find the location of the ruins.
Archaeologist Mandy Mottram says the remains of pottery factories, tombs and even an ancient basilica were found.
"You can pinpoint the sites using the satellite images quite simply because you see anomalies in the landscape," she said.
"You can't go, 'Oh yes looking at the photograph, I know what this is going to be', you don't know that until you go there, but you can get a pretty fair idea that there's a site of some kind there."
Ms Mottram says the remains of an ancient basilica were among the finds.
"It quite possibly tumbled at some stage during an earthquake because there were a couple of large earthquakes that hit that region back in medieval times, but it's still got walls preserved and it quite possibly was part of a monastic community which existed on the top of this mountain," she said.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the group would target Tel Aviv if Israel attacked central Beirut.
The threat comes after members of Hezbollah killed seven people in a barrage of 100 rockets on Israel and four Israeli soldiers in fighting in Lebanon, in the deadliest day of the war for Israel.
Sheikh Nasrallah said rocket attacks would cease if Israel halted its bombing campaign in Lebanon.
"If you strike Beirut, the Islamic Resistance will strike Tel Aviv and it is able to do so," Sheikh Nasrallah said, in the first apparent confirmation that Hezbollah has longer-range missiles capable of hitting the city 130 kilometres from the border.
"(If) at any time you decide to stop your campaigns on our cities, suburbs, civilians and infrastructure, we won't strike with rockets any settlement or Israeli city ..."
Israel promised to destroy Lebanon's infrastructure in response.
The latest barrages showed Hezbollah was still a potent threat to Israel despite Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's declaration on Wednesday that Israel had destroyed its infrastructure.
"Israel will actively seek out and pursue Hezbollah until these murderous attacks cease and quiet is restored to northern Israel," said David Baker, an official in Mr Olmert's office.
Despite 23 days of an intensive air and ground campaign to wipe them out, Hezbollah fired more than 200 rockets into Israel on Wednesday, its most intense one-day barrage of the conflict.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said the war had killed 900 people in Lebanon and wounded 3,000, with a third of the casualties children under 12.
He said a million Lebanese, a quarter of the population, had been displaced and infrastructure devastated. The Reuters tally of Lebanon deaths is at least 683.
Sixty-six Israelis have been killed in the war including 40 soldiers. Israel lowered the number of people killed in rocket strikes to seven after earlier reporting eight.
The Israeli army has carved out a "security zone" of 20 villages in south Lebanon up to six kilometres from the border and will stay until an international force arrives, Israeli TV said.
#1
the M.O. of these groups is all the same. the more the threaten, the less they can do. they are feeling the pressure. when they declare total victory, that really means they've been destroyed. weird bunch. truth is not held in high regard in the culture. probably why militaries coming out of those cultures suck ass.
#4
Israel answered by blowing the hell out of southern Beirut with Hezbollah.
Then Israel publicly said: Hit Tel Aviv and we destory all the infra-structure in Leb.
Knesset Member and Opposition leader Binyamin (Bibi) Netanyahu warned Britons on Thursday that Iran has missiles which can reach London. Speaking on Sky News, the former Prime Minister said that Hizbullah represents a new Fascism and Hitler-ism that threatens the West.
In a separate interview with The Times of London, MK Netanyahu also doubted that a proposed international peacekeeping force in Lebanon can prevent future attacks on Israel by Hizbullah. "The record of multi-national forces so far has been mixed one, he said.
"In Iraq, a dozen nations started out and one by one they fell by the wayside as Islamic terrorists targeted the soldiers of the international force. Ukrainian, Spanish and Japanese mothers asked why should our sons fight and die in Iraq. This is undoubtedly a tactic that Hezbollah and its Iranian patrons will try to replicate here."
#1
In Iraq, a dozen nations started out and one by one they fell by the wayside as Islamic terrorists targeted the soldiers of the international force.
Despite this terrorism threats remain in the world. Terrorism is the scourge of modern times.
Didn't Netanyahu's brother lead and get killed in the Entebbe rescue?
The National Security Agency is providing signal intelligence to Israel to monitor whether Syria and Iran are supplying new armaments to Hezbollah as it fires hundreds of missiles into northern Israel, according to a national security official with direct knowledge of the operation.
President Bush has approved the secret program. (Intelligence, including that gathered by the NSA, has been provided to Israel in the past for various purposes.) Inside the administration, neoconservatives on Vice President Dick Cheney's national security staff and Elliott Abrams, the neoconservative senior director for the Near East on the National Security Council, are prime movers behind sharing NSA intelligence with Israel, and they have discussed Syrian and Iranian supply activities as a potential pretext for Israeli bombing of both countries, the source privy to conversations about the program says.
The neoconservatives are described as enthusiastic about the possibility of using NSA intelligence as a lever to widen the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and Israel and Hamas into a four-front war.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/03/2006
19:12 ||
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#1
I hope the NeoCons are successful in drawing in Syria into the fray. It is a festering boil about ready to pop, anyway.
When Syria goes, everything North and NE of Hasakah may split off an join Kurdistan, and the Sunni Arabs will take over from the Alawite Shiites.
#2
Israel, if it is not already planning a "four-front war", would justifiably enter one because of actual Syrian and Iranian activity, not because NSA gave them info on it. Blumenthal is a transparent Bush-basher, and I say that because he is one, not because Captain America gave me useful info on him. The thing Blumenthal leaks most is Dhimmicrat slime.
#4
El Sid needs to be put before a Grand Jury. His conspiracy theories aside, devulging information about intelligence activities and its application is criminal.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/03/2006 20:31
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#5
Sid's got no sources or friends. Like the majority of his career and achievements, it's Bullshit, imbedded in conspiracy
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/03/2006 20:35
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Swedish nuclear authorities held an emergency meeting Thursday after two reactors were shut down at a plant in the southeast of the country.
The plant in Oskarshamn, about 250 kilometers (150 miles) south of the capital, Stockholm, shut down two of its three reactors late Wednesday after the company running the plant reported that "safety there could not be guaranteed."
The decision followed an incident last week at another nuclear plant in Sweden, in Forsmark, where backup generators malfunctioned during a power outage, forcing a shutdown of one of its reactors, said Anders Bredfell, a spokesman for the Swedish nuclear authority, SKI.
Bredfell said the reactors would remain shut until authorities determine whether the plant's backup generators could malfunction in the same way as at Forsmark.
Meanwhile, Greenpeace in Sweden asked the government to consider shutting down all reactors in the country and probe whether there may be a generic fault in their backup battery systems, the group's representative Martina Krueger said.
The environmentalist Green Party called on the government to appoint an independent commission to investigate nuclear safety.
The Oskarshamn plant supplies about 10 percent of the electricity used in Sweden. The reactors there were commissioned in 1972 and were Sweden's first commercial nuclear power unit.
Anders Osteberg, spokesman for the OKG company running the Oskarshamn plant, said the shutdown was costing it 10 million kroner (euro1.09 million; US$1.39 million) a day, but that it had to take that setback because its "obligation is to have highest safety measures in place."
Krueger said the incident in Forsmark, 75 kilometers (46 miles) north of Stockholm, was "serious" because it showed that a "meltdown" could easily happen.
"When the generators could not kick in for emergency cooling, authorities realized there might be a problem in the battery system and that it might be generic to all reactors in the country," Krueger said.
Forsmark supplies one sixth of Sweden's electricity.
After the shutdowns at Oskarshamn and Forsmark, five of Sweden's existing 10 nuclear reactors remained open. Another reactor at Forsmark and one at the Ringhals plant had been closed earlier for annual maintenance.
Urban Bergstrom, an analyst for the Swedish Energy Agency, said the country is unlikely to run low on energy because it relies heavily on hydropower during the summer.
But if the shutdowns stretched into winter, that could "cause big problems," he said.
In 1992, nuclear authorities shut down five reactors for several months after serious flaws were discovered in their cooling systems. The next year, seven were shut for a while because of various failures.
Sweden decided in a 1980 referendum to phase out nuclear power by 2010.
Complete with words, maps, and incredible photos. Spend some time, it's worth it.
Includes this:
BEHIND ENEMY LINES:
Hizb'allah has 6 major training bases in the Bekaa Valley and in South-Lebanon.
In the Bekaa Valley, the terrorist Hizb'allah/Syrian/Iranian military bases are:
1- Ain Bourday Base (South of Baalbek): training camp for general guerilla warfare.
2- Nabi Sheet Base : training camp for general guerilla warfare.
3- BaaIbek Homs Road Base: train General Guerilla warfare.
4- Wadi Firsan Base (in the Hermel, Bekaa Valley): Main activities taught at this base are guerilla warfare, survival warfare, long range patrols, observations techniques, anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapon techniques and so on.
Missiles and chemical weaponry smuggled before the war from Iraq to Syria is believed to be buried and hiding around this base in the Bekaa Valley.
5-Wadi Al Yammouneh Base: This terrorist Base is located between the Bekaa Valley and the upper moutains of Jbeil. Activities are Guerilla warfare, anti tank and anti aircraft weapons, and other terrorist skills.
6- Nabeh El Assi Base {EL ASSI RIVER} ( location -Hermel, Bekaa Valley): This base is a covert base disguised as a fishing farm. The main activities in this base are marine
and underwater guerilla warfare techniques, demolition techniques, and general training for close combat and weapons techniques and skills.
The photos of the grimy young Israeli combat engineers returning from battle are worth the price of admission. Put them in the dictionary next to "Allies."
Posted by: Matt ||
08/03/2006 18:09
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Well that was worth going through. The pics of the Indonesians were ones I'd not seen before - a couple dozen guys whizzing on motorbikes dressed in white sheets brandishing guns (including shotguns) and no coppers 'had a word'? Hmmm
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/03/2006 18:42
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#4
Wow, Sherry, that's 10 pounds in a 5 pound bag! What a great find!
#11
I have to admit -- those pics, as Matt said, "the grimy young Israeli combat engineers returning from battle" -- well, I kinda kept going back to them. This site of pics was found from clicking from, then clicking from -- via http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/ site who is currently in Israel.
She quoted this from Naomi Ragen, with more clicking I found is an American-born novelist and playwright who has lived in Jerusalem since 1971. She has published six internationally best-selling novels, and is the author of a hit play in Israel's National Theatre that I read before I saw the pics of these warriors:
Israel is a strange country. It is the only place where the people mourn the deaths of soldiers more than civilian deaths. Because the death of a soldier is the death of our children, our future fathers and mothers, our brightest hopes. Nothing tears at the heart of our people more. At this time, when our soldiers are being called up to the front in the thousands from all segments of the population, all parts of the nation, we as a nation embrace them collectively, as one, holding them close to our hearts, the way a mother embraces her beloved, only child. hat tip Naomi Ragen
With the limited contact I've had with this generation of our warriors (and I include these fighting for Israel) and their partners and peers, I have faith in our future. They are doing incredible things. Greatest Generation, Part II.
#12
I agree, Sherry. I've lost two young friends, my landlord is in Afghanistan, his youngest son just started Boot Camp, his oldest son is a crew chief on a Medivac hellicopter in Iraq, One hell of a Generation. I can only give them moral and financial support. I'm too far gone physically to be of service otherwise. My vote will help (I hope and prey).
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/03/2006 22:25
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#13
Unfair war: Brave Israeli soldiers v. cowards
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/03/2006 23:30
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Humm -- could maybe be used in keeping an eye on Iran?
The United States may supply Israel with the most advanced stealth fighter jet in the world the F22 Raptor considering the war in Lebanon and the Iranian threat, the Israeli security establishment has assessed.
The US has not yet exported the F22 to any of its allies. Recently, however, the House of Representatives lifted its nine year ban on the sale of the advanced jet outside the United States. No real contacts have yet been made on the matter, but the lifting of the ban on its sale has paved the way for such a deal.
US officials have apparently hinted to Israel lately that as part of American efforts in the international war on the axis of evil, the US would offer Israel to buy the stealth fighter.
The F22 Raptor is manufactured by Lockheed Martin. Originally, the US Air Force planned to buy 750 of the jets, but the number dropped first to 350, then to a mere 183. The price of each F22 is roughly USD 150 million. Lockheed Martin wanted to export the plane to American allies, but up until now it was barred by the US government from offering them for sale.
The Israeli Air Force enthusiastically welcomed reports that the stealth jet could come to Israel. The F22 Raptor is the most advanced warplane in the world and is almost undetectable to radar systems. The planes stealth is achieved through the combination of its shape, color, composite materials, and various installed systems.
The single-seater plane is armed mainly with air-to-air missiles, but also with the smart missiles used by the Israeli Air Force.
In addition, security officials assessed Wednesday that the US administration would significantly boost funding of the joint American-Israeli program to develop anti-missile systems.
The threat is on the whole world, and Washington understands that a solution must be found and fast, one of the sources said.
Even before the current war, the security establishment assessed that all types of rockets starting at the simple Qassam all the way to accurate long-range missiles would be the main weapon of terrorism used against Israel in the upcoming years.
For this purpose, the Defense Ministry decided to take up a joint offer by the Rafael Advanced Development Authority Ltd. and the American Raytheon Company to manufacture an unprecedented defense system, jointly funded by Israel and the US.
The initial investment amounted to USD 250 million. The projects main aim was to develop a portable system that would quickly identify rocket launches and respond immediately by destroying the enemy rocket.
#3
F-22's might serve them well in an attack on Iran. What they need today is about 100 Warthogs which could do some serious damage in ground attack mode.
#5
Why do the Israelis need the F22? Don't they already have complete, uncontested control of the skies in that region?
Yes, but if missions and challenges change, Israel has to have the tools in its belt to deal with the problem. Geographically, they are about as big as a postage stamp, and they don't have the size or isolation that allows them luxury of a slow response to quick developments. Israel may need to attack Iran, and Iran may send SAMs or other anti-aircraft systems to whoever Israel is beating up at the moment.
#8
Remember that the Russians have been giving the Syrians some of their most advanced export SAM systems. We are betting that the Raptor is better than these Russian systems, and so the Israelis could pound the Syrians at will after taking them out.
#9
They don't need stealth fighters. They need cruise missles. We are well beyond the air war and need to get ord to a target. GPS missles are fine for that.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/03/2006 22:42
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#10
Personally, i would suggest a cheaper way - just flatten any grid square that has a radar array in it - anywhere within the Muslim Midlle East.
Tell them - "You are barbarians, and are not permitted to own radar. If you put in place anything that emits radar waves, we destroy everything within 1,000 meters of that point."
#5
Terrible idea. For many reasons, let the French teach them the art of war. Lebanese Army, as presently constituted, cannot/will not engage Hezbullah...why give them training and arms that will eventually find their way to terrorist hands?
#7
I like the idea. We need intelligence assets in the region and can make sure the UN stays out of it. Training is a far cry from moving troops in, which is not a good idea.
#8
As long as the troops are named George, Michael.
Posted by: ed ||
08/03/2006 18:05
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#9
Don't blame Rummy, this is from President Bush and Condi. They still cling to the notion that there is a Hezbollah-free Lebanese government.
This move ranks right up there with illegal aliens, nominating Myers for the Supreme Court, etc.
George is at times overly idealistic. In reality, the Lebanese PM, president, head of Parliament, and foreign minister are Hezbollah accomplices and Syrian-Iranian proponents.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/03/2006 18:14
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#10
"George is at times overly idealistic"
Or perhaps too trusting. I guess since he's a decent guy with decent motives, he figures 'democratically elected' governments are mostly comprised of the same. Nothing could be further from the truth. Trusting the Lebbies will be a huge blunder. Trust is EARNED THROUGH ACTIONS.
#11
Having the US train foreign troops is always a good idea.
The #1 thing they learn is: DO NOT FIGHT THE US ARMY.
The #2 is that they are military men, men of respect. They should be respected by their countrymen, and they should respect themselves and other military men. That they are better than civilians. This is a great shock to them.
#3 is that they should obey the rules of war. If they play nice, then we play nice. Important if we ever do get into a fight. This lets them know that even if their Imam encourages them to fight like brutish beasts, they had better think twice before doing it.
#4 is that a good military bond is closer than a tribal one. A soldier is a soldier first, and obeys his boss even if he is from another tribe.
This list just goes on and on, and really, truly matters over the long haul. I don't think it is possible to even be around a Marine or Special Forces trainer without having your attitude adjusted.
Of course, with muzzies, I'd agree with ya...you gotta do a whole lot of actions before I even begin to trust (much less verify) ya.
Posted by: BA ||
08/03/2006 20:19
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#14
Moose...I don't usually find reason to disagree with you. And I generally agree with your comments here.
However, do you propose our training the same Lebanese military the the PM has stated will fight side-by-side with Hezbos? The same ones who have been shooting at Israel soldiers?
Sounds to me like a great opportunity for the Hezbo (hmm Lebanese army) to go to school on us.
Once the Hezbos are chased out of southern Lebanon, they don't simply disappear and the world breaks out in splender. No, the Hezbos will overtake northern Lebanon and lob long-range missiles into Israel from there.
They have already overtaken the government (read the Phares interview on P.4) and killed the pro-democracy figures.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/03/2006 20:40
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#15
My God, the next thing you know, they'll ask them to train the German and Japanese military after having to fight them for ..... oh wait. Never mind.
This fish was spotted by me on the 1st Day of Muharram 1427 AH (31 January 2006) in a pet shop in Rawtenstall, Rossendale, Lancashire, UK. Rossendale is near Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds. It is also near Nelson, Blackburn and Burnley.
I heard about the fish from the BBC news, and I was so excited, I took my family to see the tropical Albino Oscar fish from Allah.
Top Buddhist monk Pitiduwe Siridamma debunked the miracle rays theory floated in media reports and said the religion did not encourage such misconceptions.
"If you really want to see Buddha rays, learn the Dhamma (the teachings of the Buddha) and attain enlightenment," the monk said.
"That is the only way. Now they are only causing traffic jams."
I rest my case.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/03/2006 17:42
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#4
And my dog eats grass and shits money out of her butt.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/03/2006 22:20
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#5
good doggy!
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/03/2006 22:28
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#6
DB, when you've puppies, reserve one for me. I'll be happy with mere quarters. ;-)
#1
Thanks for posting, but if they can't fund the fense on our own southern border, I suspect there is little hope for anything out of Washington for these proud people.
#2
I'm surprised that the Afrikaans haven't organized discreet death squads against these roving criminals. They could probably get some unusual allies in a mutual defense pact.
The Brits, however, are most likely of the spineless variety as their Rhodesian counterparts, and are willing to surrender everything and die a death of a thousand cuts rather than rise up against oppression.
Lt. Ohad Shamir was commanding a surveillance team hiding in Maroun a-Ras. Their mission was to locate Hizbullah fighters still operating near the village after it had been captured by Golani and Paratroopers units. Shamir's men felt pretty safe - during the 10 days they spent in the village, not a shot had been fired at their building. But then an antitank missile hit the structure and Shamir was lightly wounded.
On Wednesday, he was being treated at Safed's Ziv Hospital for fragments in his back.
"They are small teams, three of four people, hiding in the undergrowth, firing out of nowhere. They're the biggest danger," he said of the Hizbullah gunmen.
The same story repeats itself time and again in the hospital wards where wounded solders are recovering and comparing experiences. No one has yet begun analyzing the causes of casualties in this war, but the indisputable fact is that the great majority of wounds and deaths were a result of antitank missiles - more than from gunfire, grenades and other explosive devices together.
The term "antitank" is misleading; the missiles were originally designed to be used against tanks, but the IDF's Merkava tanks and upgraded armored fighting vehicles are capable of withstanding most missiles in Hizbullah's arsenal. But Hizbullah isn't using them only against tanks. The range of these missiles - up to three kilometers - and the force of their explosive charges make them ideal for attacking groups of soldiers and IDF positions from afar.
Hizbullah have been preparing for this war for six years, and the two main weapons they have been stockpiling have been the Katyushas and other rockets now being fired at Israeli towns and antitank missiles. The organization has thousands of Soviet-built Sagger, Cornet and Fagot antitank missiles, the French MILAN and the US-built TOW, all supplied by Iran and Syria. These missiles are usually fired by a two- or three-man team.
Over the last two weeks, the tactic used by many of the Hizbullah teams has been to avoid close-range combat, where IDF soldiers' high level of training gives them the upper hand. Instead, the Hizbullah men have been moving to positions high above villages and continuing to fire missiles at the IDF forces. Large stores of missiles were prepared in the hills in advance, for this eventuality.
IDF officers have voiced frustration at the fact that even in areas where the IDF has been operating for more than a week, the missile threat still exists. On Monday, tanks that had been fighting for two days in the villages opposite Metulla came under missile fire when they were returning through the border fence.
Col. Ofek Buchris, a former Golani battalion commander and the officer now in charge of offensive operations on the northern front, said this week, "Hizbullah aren't as good soldiers as people have been saying, they don't have good combat skills. In shooting battles, we beat them every time. What they do have is good antitank capabilities.
"They were trained for this especially by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. For intents and purposes, Hizbullah is Iran's advance division here."
One of the first results of the IDF's experiences facing Hizbullah antitank missiles has been the quick adaptation of new training for reserve units that have just been called up. In addition to weapons and first aid refresher lessons, the men mobilized this week have all received special training on detecting and avoiding the missiles.
#2
I'm curious about the IDF's night-fighting ability compared to Hizbullah. Has anyone seen much commentary about that?
Posted by: Dar ||
08/03/2006 16:43
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#3
I've seen somewhere that Hezbollah has anti-IR "long johns". That would seem to be essential for this tactic to work, otherwise the UAV's would find them quickly.
If you are ever morally confused about a major world issue, here is a rule that is almost never violated: Whenever you hear that "world opinion" holds a view, assume it is morally wrong.
And here is a related rule if your religious or national or ethnic group ever suffers horrific persecution: "World opinion" will never do a thing for you. Never.
Continued on Page 49
#1
Ye. I told this (next day) to gromwife, who told it to her mom (who used to call me a fascist[1]). And then, on the day after, grom-mother-in-law criticized gromwife cause there was no mention in MSM. And then I found sources and grom-mother-in-law had to eat crow (which made gromwife happy---they've some issues).
[1] Until grombaby was born (obviously the father of her first grandchild is perfect)
#2
This is a win-win possibility. If Lieberman loses in the primary, he stops being a democrat. Then he still can run again as an independent. At that point, the republican candidate becomes superfluous, and republicans can probably overcome the double-digit deficit he has among democrats.
Elected as an independent, Lieberman will probably become a republican, welcomed in with open arms, and this will really hurt the democrats. Not only do they lose a democrat seat, but it becomes a republican seat, and they have to face the ignomy of having a vice-presidential candidate jump parties.
#3
A: Elected as an independent, Lieberman will probably become a republican, welcomed in with open arms, and this will really hurt the democrats.
Lieberman is no Zell Miller, whose voting record put him at the rightmost end of the *Republican* party. Lieberman's voting record (ADA rating) is further left than any sitting Republican senator by about 20 points (on a scale of 100). That's pretty left-wing. If Lieberman runs and wins as an independent, expect him to vote like a left-wing Jim Jeffords, the Vermont Republican who became an independent, but a Democrat in all but name.
#4
On the other hand, I've got to believe that there are some liberal votes during which Lieberman voted party line just out of party solidarity and the fear of primary challenges (like the one Lamont has mounted). Once Lieberman starts running as an independent, he won't have to toe the line any more. And the Democrats will gnash their teeth every time he votes against their bills.
>Snippets. You wnt to read the whole thing and draw your own conclusions.
Lebanon-born Walid Phares is a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Author of the recent book Future Jihad, he was also one of the architects of 2004s United Nations resolution 1559, which called for the disarming of Hezbollah. NRO editor Kathryn Lopez recently talked to Phares about whats going on in the Mideast, what happened to the Cedar Revolution, and this war were all in.
Kathryn Jean Lopez: What is Future Jihad? Are we seeing it in the Mideast now?
Walid Phares: Future Jihad, which has already begun, refers to a new and potent form of Islamic terrorism, characterized by a Khumeinist-Baathist axis. These are the two trees of jihadism, so to speak the Salafism and Wahabism embodied in al Qaeda and the sort of jihadism led by Iran and also including Syria, Hezbollah, and their allies in Lebanon.
The alliance has not been in entire agreement as to strategy. The al Qaeda branch began its Future Jihad in the 1990s; its efforts culminated on 9/11 and have continued explosively since then. The international Salafists aimed at the U.S. in the past decade in order to strengthen their jihads on various battlefields (Chechnya, India, Sudan, Algeria, Indonesia, Palestine, etc.). Weaken the resolve of America, their ideologues said, and the jihadists would overwhelm all the regional battlefields.
Lopez: So did the Cedar Revolution fail?
Phares: Actually, it would be more accurate to say that the Cedar Revolution was failed. Meanwhile, even as they were elected by the faithful Cedar Revolution masses, they engaged in a round table dialogue with Hezbollah, a clear trap set by Hassan Nasrallah: Lets talk about the future, he said with the implication, of course, that they forget about the Cedar Revolution and the militias disarming. While political leaders sat for months, enjoying the photo ops with Hassan Nasrallah, he was preparing his counter offensive, which he unleashed just a few days before the Security Council would discuss the future of Irans nuclear programs.
The Lebanese government of Prime Minister Seniora also abandoned the Cedar Revolution. His cabinet neither disarmed Hezbollah nor called on the U.N. to help in implementing UNSCR 1559. This omission is baffling. The government was given so much support by the international community and, more importantly, overwhelming popular support inside Lebanon: 80 percent of the people were hoping the Cedar Revolution-backed government would be the one to resume the liberation of the country. Now Hezbollah has an upper hand and the government is on the defensive.
#1
some stern messages from constituents when they got home this summer. Once in a while, the politicians realize who's the boss. 66 changed votes = royal ass kicking
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/03/2006 21:03
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#3
LOL - even Boxer and Feinstein tasted the lash!
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/03/2006 21:24
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#4
I agree Frank. Too bad most senators are so far removed from their constituents that it takes a mallet to their head to get them to do the common sense thing.
#1
Yeah, big Monsoon rains in the area, already depleted food stocks. China is just stopping the flow accross the border. Nothing more, nothing less.
BTW, back from Japan ... can report that:
1) NK is out of the news cycle. Most Japanese youths (under 30 or so) consider NK a threat ... however, most I spoke with are now almost assuredly anti-american in regards to what we have been doing recently. Understand tho, this isn't typical anti-americanism, more they don't understand what has changed.
2) However, they know we've done right in the past, and believe will do so again, so the attitude is more along the lines of 'we know when it comes down to it you'll be the best friend we have, but you could stop pissing off the world so much'
There is meaning behind #2, Japan sits as the only ally to the US in the region and pays a very, very, very high price for it. We should tip our hats to the Japanese, because they are sticking with us even though they don't agree.
In Asia, this is a huge deal, so Japan now faces no friends, and no help, but still says 'America is good, and has been a good friend, we are not happy with things of late, but we know a good friend when we see one'
We should be careful to buffer Asian anger to Japan as much as possible and take a hit for them where we can ... it will pay off big time.
Most of the news was on Lebanon (and internal Japanese stuff, like some floods).
#2
Bombay - thanks for the eyewitness report (unlike the normal nit-witness reports we get from the MSM).
Hope the floods in Japan weren't too serious.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/03/2006 23:00
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#3
what high price does Japan pay?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/03/2006 23:03
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#4
Mainly that every other Asian country believes they are our bitch (I can tell you with full assurance this is not so).
They sacfrice pan-Asia for American alliance. To Asia, this is huge. They side with Gaijin over their own and as much NONE of Asia considers them a friend or a partner to trust.
They are aware of this, and feel a deep pain, DEEP pain, that the other Asian countries have 'turned' on one of their own. Tough to explain, really, unless you've been to Asia. China, Korea and Japan are linked through ages (as well as most of Asia) and the Japanese stand alone saying 'America is a good country, be damned if you don't agree' - In Asia, this type of rocking the boat and standing up against the group is unheard of. And so, they pay the price.
Yet, they stick with us, and take the crap. At this point in history, a very, very honorable thing.
#6
Japan is isolated for what it's barbaric invasions and colonialism until 1945. I knew of no one in Asia that trusted Japan or forgave them for what they did.
Posted by: ed ||
08/03/2006 23:12
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#7
Of course not, only read history to know this. However, what I am saying is a new breed of isolation, Japan is paying big right now to be our friend.
The cost is way more than a visit to a shrine, or the refusal to recognise this or that island.
In a nutshell, being our friend right now is costing them a 1,000 times worse than invading Korea or China a million times over.
#11
I have relatives who lived through Japanese occupation, colonization, executions and slavery. In their eyes, Japan can never make up for the extreme barbarity inflicted on them. The personal hatred is still there. But that doesn't mean they won't take Japanese investment, so it is kept just under the surface. Business is business, though the Chinese find it useful let it erupt now and then to coerce the Japanese.
My personal experience is not as recent. Last time I lived in Japan was 1980. The last I worked with a group Japanese colleagues was 2003. If the Japanese believe relations with America is a liability, then I welcome the opportunity to move US forces to Guam and points east. But I think even the younger Japanese realize should they go it alone with US backup, ever knife in Asia will be sharpened in anticipation of sticking to the Japanese.
Posted by: ed ||
08/03/2006 23:30
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#12
without US backup
Posted by: ed ||
08/03/2006 23:31
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#13
Ok, I am crashing from jet-lag and must assume things at this point because need to sleep.
You speak of the past, the invasions of the past. Just as America has a past, say, certain triangle trade issues.
However, the results of trinagle trade do not dominate contemporary thought here now. Sure a few sensational topics here and there, but day to day life, it just doesn't creep in. Just as Japanese transgressions do not dominate contemporary thought there, except in the extreeme circumstances of an aged view. Same here.
So, in the end, I say there will always be that anger to Japan for that ... just as here, but it fades in the minds of the contemporary.
What is fresh in the minds of the contemporary, i.e. the next gen to lead the country are today's issues which have more to do with pan-Asia and America's recent acts than say invading Korea in 1560's+ under Hideyoshi Toyotomi or 1930's acts against China ---- i.e. there are far more people in Asia now that care about the contemporary world than the near or far past.
Believe me, I know the history and the transgressions of the past by the country. I do not minise the past. But perhaps your relatives are way to close to the situation to frogive. I DO understand. However, we must accept that just as America is not the slave trading nation it once was nor is Japan the the nation, or Feudal nation (right, recall, that many transgressions of the past against the neighbors were more about bringing the locals in line) ... Unless you are into right-of-way discussions or perhaps some tax reparations to certain groups?
Anyway - the simple point, your relatives lived through the worst and will still hold that view. Regardless that Japan has moved on ... same here, same there, same in the Middle East!
And now, they don't want to ditch us, they just don't want to be left explaining us all the time.
#15
The Japanese sure have moved on. They are so far removed that they don't teach their kids even a fraction of the history of that period. But I guarantee you the subject peoples do teach in detail the history of that period. There are plenty of people still alive to regale the young of their personal experience.
So Japanese go into the rest of Asia ignorant of their recent past and what others think of them. Finally, the Jpanese do not need to explain for America. I will proudly put up US behavior past, present, and future with the behavior of any Asian nation.
Posted by: ed ||
08/03/2006 23:58
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#16
Ribbing or not, I just today talked to a relative who lived through the occupation.
Posted by: ed ||
08/04/2006 0:00
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#2
That'll finally break the enviro-maniacs and luddites in Congress and open up all the oil stashed away off shore on the continental shelf and the north slope. I'll party day and night as the future speculators watch their gamble drop like the literal lead balloon. Hope it wipes most of the SOBs out like the crash of 1929.
France submits a new draft resolution for the UN Security Council.
DEBKAfile summarizes the French draft resolution as calling for:
* An immediate cessation of hostilities in Lebanon under UNIFIL supervision. Because UNIFIL has done such a good job so far
*Respect for the blue line Israeli-Lebanese international border (but no direct demand for Israeli troop withdrawal).
*The return of kidnapped Israeli soldiers.
*The release of Lebanese prisoners. Maybe it means something different in French. This would requre releasing a killer who made a 4-year old watch as her parents were killed, and then was killed by having her head smashed. Yeah, this deal makes sense.
*A demilitarized zone from the Litani River to the blue line.
*Demarcation of Lebanons borders (with Syria too, which would cover the controversial Shaaba Farms site).
*Submission of Israeli maps of minefields in S. Lebanon. "submission" is right.
*Renewal of the Israeli-Lebanese 1949 armistice agreement.
Reference to UN Security Council resolutions 1559 and 1680 requiring Hizballah to be disarmed (without defining how these resolutions should be implemented).
And so, once again, this resolution will be protested by the US and Israel (and hopefully vetoed by the US). And the world will react with outrage that such a "reasonable" resolution was not acceptable. F*** the UN. And Francestan.
#3
Totally predictable. US must not relent. I know Israel can't
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/03/2006 17:49
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#4
Actually its similar to the 7-point plan that came out from the Lebanese over the weekend. The basic differences is the mines, seperating the prisoners into two points and skipping the disarm Hezbollah.
I think its basically worthless without the disarm Hezbollah. I think the prisoner exchange is not a 100% thing either but meant along the lines of a standard armistace where war criminals remain war criminals. at least the non-French one.
Hezbollah's leader offered Thursday to stop rocket attacks on northern Israel in return for an end to airstrikes throughout Lebanon. Another hudna? Logistics about to give out? Running out of rocket launchers or room to maneuver?
However, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah also vowed to fire rockets into Tel Aviv if Israel strikes Beirut proper. Israeli warplanes have repeatedly bombarded Hezbollah strongholds in southern suburbs of Beirut. "If you bomb our capital Beirut, we will bomb the capital of your usurping entity... We will bomb Tel Aviv," he said in a taped televised speech. Aha! The old "trying to get something for nothing" ploy. Try it and your launchers will disappear. Takes too long to bug out after you fire. Your threats are meaningless! Hahahahaha!
In issuing the threat while looking nervously over his shoulder, Nasrallah offered his first opening toward diminishing the three-week-old conflict, which has taken more than 500 Lebanese lives and killed more than 50 Israelis. "Anytime you decide to stop your campaign against our cities, villages, civilians and infrastructure, we will not fire rockets on any Israeli settlement or city," he said. What are you going to do instead, fight on the ground?
In his statement, Nasrallah also said his fighters have inflicted "maximum casualties" on Israeli ground troops and that his guerrillas are "fighting until the last breath and last bullet."
"Hassan, we will defend you with our blood!"
Does Israel have this guy on the payroll or something? Thanks for the info and show of desperation.
#3
Get the feelin, Israel gave Nas-coward-lah a Clint Eastwood moment...
Nazzy : If de Jooz bomb Beiruit, we lauch de Rockets at de Tel Aviv...And I hide deeper in my hole...
Israel AF just bombed Beiruit.
"Go ahead punk, make my day..."
If Tel Aviv is bothered by missiles, then Damascus is history, and the magic mulla glow-in-the-dark joy juice is too...No more nuke facilities... I hope anyway...
#1
Amazing. I had two years of college level accounting and know of the difference between the two accounting methods that were discussed, and had NO idea that they were not using the accrual method.
I used to suspect I would not get a Social Security check. Now I KNOW I won't get one!
German politicians questioned security on trains and in stations as authorities continue their investigations after finding two bombs on trains this week. Rail officials said they cannot guarantee complete safety.
After two bombs were found Monday in the western German cities of Dortmund and Koblenz and other suspicious pieces of luggage, including bags in Hamburg and Frankfurt, turned out to be harmless, members of Germany conservative Union parties called criticized the security of Germany's trains and in train stations.
"What happened in Madrid and London can also occur in Munich or Berlin," Christian Social Union (CSU) parliamentarian Stephan Mayer told the Passauer Neue Presse on Thursday.
Mayer added that train stations as well as trains should be subject to complete video surveillance to "increase security and contribute to determent" of criminal acts.
But, but ... surely that only happens in the police state headed by BusHitler????
CSU parliamentarian Norbert Geis called on the rail company to cooperate with the interior ministry to set up airport-like checks for train passengers.
"We cannot take a chance that a bomb explodes in an ICE," Geis told the paper, referring to Germany's high-speed trains.
Social Democratic Party member Dieter Wiefelspütz, however, warned that the situation needed to be carefully considered before any major changes are made to rail security.
"We should refrain from falling into a hectic debate after such serious events," he told Reuters on Thursday, adding that scanning all luggage would be unrealistic. "I prefer an objective debate, not premature suggestions."
German railway officials meanwhile said that passengers need to be aware that complete protection cannot be offered. They added that Deutsche Bahn has focused on security since the 2001 terror attacks in the United States and gave security training to employees before the 2006 World Cup.
"We have between 4.5 million and 4.7 million travelers at 5,400 stops and train stations every day," he said, pointing out that it would be nearly impossible to conduct searches of every passenger's luggage. "You cannot put millions of people and their luggage though a metal detector every day."
More important than scanning every bag and person to enter a train station, Wolfgang Bosbach of the Christian Democratic Union said Deutsche Bahn needed to focus on using the most effective technology and employing enough security personnel.
"Modern video technology, especially in the train stations, has a preventative effect that does not just help after the fact but can prevent crimes," he told the N24 news channel. "In addition to that we naturally need the presence of security guards."
Federal police have increased their patrols of trains and stations and asked train passengers to pay attention to their fellow travelers' luggage to make it easier for conductors to know which bag belongs to whom, said police spokesman Jürgen Karlisch.
Both of the bombs found on regional trains in Germany earlier this week were not discovered until they were opened at two lost and found centers inside the train stations. It remains unclear if the bombs were capable of detonation. In 2003, police in Dresden's main station were late in noticing an unattended bag containing a bomb that failed to explode due to an error in construction.
Prosecutors meanwhile have begun looking for witnesses among train passengers and set up a hotline for tips from the public.
"We are investigating in all directions," said Ullrich Schultheis of the federal prosecutor's office.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
08/03/2006 15:26
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#2
I believe a couple of explosions and attendant loss of life on the German home soil would do for them what Kimmie's Dingdong did for Japan. I certainly don't want to see German casualties, but it may take this to shock them back to reality.
#3
ICE = Intercity Express. Big trains that go really fast, would cause a lot of death and destruction if one were to go boom. Checking the passengers is a nice idea, but I don't recall the railyards being at all guarded a decade ago when the government had more money lying about. Also, I think one can rent storage lockers if one doesn't want to carry suitcases and such about the city; but I don't recall (it's been a decade since last I was there) whether they are just lined along the walls like gym lockers, or if there is an attendant involved.
#4
But why would anyone want to bother the Germans? They are not in Iraq. they don't support Israel. They don't kowtow and genuflect as much as the French, but then, who does?
I think Karl Rove is behind it!
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/03/2006 18:01
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The international force Israel is seeking in southern Lebanon needs to be comprised of some 15,000 troops, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told British newspapers on Wednesday.
"It has to be made up of armies, not of retirees, of real soldiers, not of pensioners who have come to spend leisurely months in south Lebanon, but, rather, an army with combat units that is prepared to implement the UN resolution. I think it has to have about 15,000 soldiers. I think that's more or less what the international community understands," Olmert told the Times and the Telegraph. "Obviously, as I said, we will not pull out and we will not stop shooting until there is an international force that will effectively control the area."
#7
Ain't no way on God's Green Earth anyone (not other than the US, and Rumsfield says we're too busy) will send troops to actually fight.
Some years ago I read a sci fi book wherein one of the chief actors was the Israeli Empire. Seems they kept pushing back the bad guys and annexing the land in order to secure their borders. Eventually they ended up pretty much ruling the world.
Personally, I would welcome our new Israeli overlords.
Posted by: kelly ||
08/03/2006 17:24
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#8
Do I detect a new meme here? The Litani border? Israel's response to offensive action is to push their borders further forward?
Works for me.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/03/2006 17:36
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#9
Cheaper than a wall and you can pump from it too.
#10
Pushing out the borders happened with each war until the Yom Kippur War. That allowed Sadat to sign a peace treaty with Israel and get back the Sinai. Of course, that didn't work out very well for Sadat.
Israel should annex Southern Lebanon and expell all the Muslim Lebanese.
#12
Kelly, *I* remember, as a teenager, reading a Sci-Fi book written as a collection of letters from a budding xenoArchaeologist to her telepath, disabled sister. In one of them, he discussed meeting an israeli telepath, and described him as "-a wanderer after he graduated from college, visiting Beiruit, Damascus, Amman and all those other big Israeli cities."
we may type in "ROFLMAO!", but I actually DID that for fifteen minutes after reading that.
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- An Iraq war veteran who lost an arm and leg in a roadside bombing was mugged during a night out from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, according to an Associated Press report.
Lance Cpl. Mark Beyers, 27, and his wife were attacked and robbed as they left a restaurant in Bethesda, Md. on July 22.
The Marine from western New York was dining out while finishing up rehabilitation at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
As they left the restaurant, five men approached them and asked for a cigarette.
Denise Beyers told The Buffalo News they gave the men a cigarette -- but then the men grabbed her purse, kicked her and knocked the couple to the ground.
The thieves made off with $500 just wired to them by a relative.
Mark Beyers expects to be back home in the Buffalo area this weekend.
His family is planning a fundraiser for him on Aug. 12.
Watch Local 6 News for more on this story. This just saddens me...hope they find the bastards and give them a little "rehabilitation" Watch out for the fund notice and contribute...I will
#1
The area around Walter Reed is a bad neighborhood. I heard about one young pathologist who always carried a (gulp!) big autopsy scalpel with him whenever he would walk the area.
Sure enough, a mugger with a gun held him up. A mugger who he didn't kill, but "will never mug anyone again."
Are you a Republican, a Democrat or a Texan?
Here is a little test that will help you decide. The answer can be found by posing the following question:
You're walking down a deserted street with your wife and two small children.
Suddenly, a guy with a huge knife comes around the corner, locks eyes with you, screams obscenities, raises the knife, and charges at you. You are carrying a Glock (pistol) cal 40, and you are an expert shot. You have mere seconds before he reaches you and your family.
What do you do?
....................................................................
Democrat's Answer:
Well, that's not enough information to answer the question!
Does the man look poor! Or oppressed?
Have I ever done anything to him that would inspire him to attack?
Could we run away?
What does my wife think?
What about the kids?
Could I possibly swing the gun like a club and knock the knife out of his hand? What does the law say about this situation?
Does the Glock have appropriate safety built into it?
Why am I carrying a loaded gun anyway, and what kind of message does this send to society and to my children?
Is it possible he'd be happy with just killing me?
Does he definitely want to kill me, or would he be content just to wound me?
If I were to grab his knees and hold on, could my family get away while he was stabbing me?
Should I call 9-1-1?
Why is this street so deserted?
We need to raise taxes, have paint and weed day, and make this a happier, healthier street that would discourage such behavior.
This is all so confusing! I need to debate this with some friends for few days and try to come to a consensus.
...................................................................
The 2006 Atlantic hurricane season wont be as bad as earlier predicted. Thats according to the noted hurricane research team from Colorado State University which has revised its hurricane predictions.
In May, the CSU team formed by pioneer forecaster William Gray had predicted the 2006 season would bring 17 storms and that nine would become hurricanes.
The team has reduced the number of named storms from seventeen to fifteen. It also reduced the number of likely hurricanes from nine to seven and intense hurricanes from five to three.
The CSU forecast is updated several times each year.
The fact that there have only been two named storms in July is not the reason for the revision, Professor William Gray said.
Several factors suggest less activity, he said. Atlantic sea surface temperatures are not quite as warm and surface pressure is not quite as low. Also, the eastern equatorial Pacific has warmed some and trade winds in the tropical Atlantic are slightly stronger.
Gray and his team say hurricane activity will continue to be above average and will continue to be for another 15 to 20 years.
Last year produced a record 28 tropical storms, topping the old mark of 21 set in 1933. Fifteen turned into hurricanes and four of those were Category 5, the most destructive type.
#3
"And in other news: due to the downsizing of the hurricane prediction, there has been an increase in crude oil by all the major producers as well as rate increase by a majority of the insurance companies. While the reasons are complex, the underlying reason appears to be greed."
#6
I predict there will be more inaccurate predictions.
I'll go out on that limb with you.
The team has reduced the number of named storms from seventeen to fifteen. It also reduced the number of likely hurricanes from nine to seven and intense hurricanes from five to three.
Moving the goalposts? The fact that we're only on storm Chris well into the first week of August is a pretty good clue that the earlier prediction was off.
/I realize climate forecasting is not an exact science - I just wish the MSM would admit as much.
#7
I always question a team of scientists based in Colorado trying to predict stuff in the Gulf of Mexico or eastern seaboard.
Now, the Nat'l Hurricane Center? After their increased accuracies of projections just the last 10 years or so, I'll listen to them. And, they're in the eye of the storm literally (Miami, FL).
Posted by: BA ||
08/03/2006 15:44
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#8
...How inconveniant for my royalty check
Posted by: Al Gore ||
08/03/2006 15:54
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#9
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Center is in Boulder, right close by the University of Colorado. Don't diss the NOAA people - they've got at least two Cray-3s at work up there. The CSU team works hand in hand with NOAA, and with several other groups in the Denver-Boulder-Fort Collins area.
Of course, it could all be BS, too...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/03/2006 16:08
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#10
Gray's team actually does a pretty good job overall at predicting the unpredictable.
Remember the year of Hurricane Andrew? First hurricane of the year, didn't strike until August.
I can do without a bad hurricane in Virginia this year - we've been hit pretty hard the last few years. (Yeah, yeah - I know it's lots worse in Florida and on the Gulf Coast, but I live here. I'm sure they can do without bad hurricanes there, too.)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/03/2006 16:10
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#11
Yea it would be nice not have a year when the electric is not off for a week or two.
#13
My baby brother is involved in improving the weather predictions, at Oklahoma U @Norman. He set them up with massively parallel something-or-others, threw chaos theory into the mix, and has been quite pleased with the results thus far.
You on the coast of VA? I've gotta tell ya, after being to the gulf coast of Mississippi 3 times since Katrina, those people need NO MORE. Heck, one of my co-workers was just down there last weekend and even now (mind you we're almost a year since Katrina hit) he said there's only 1 house on 2 of the 3 gulf coast counties in Miss. that has even started reframing. Cleaned down to the slab most of them and even almost 1/2 mile inland. Now, N.O. on the other hand...I almost wish another would hit and just do her in (apologies to any N.O. RBers out there).
Posted by: BA ||
08/03/2006 20:07
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#15
#14 BA - I'm actually in Richmond. We got our clocks cleaned by Isabel (worse than the coast), and Gaston - though it didn't cause enough wide-spread damage to have its name retired - dumped 10-14 inches of rain over Richmond in a few hours. Couldn't get home, cars and trucks floating, etc. (When I topped a small hill in my relentless search for a way to get home and saw a box delivery truck in the intersection ahead with the water ponding half-way up the box and rising, I gave up and went back to work.)
I think we'll all settle for a quiet year this year.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/03/2006 20:57
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#16
Heres my take on it all. The Sun drives the weather on earth. If the Sun wasnt there, this rock would look like Jupiters moon Europa. Now the buried info on the net shows that the Sun has been increasing in output for many years. That energy has to be absorbed within the environment to include the oceans and atmosphere. It just built up enough to unleash the great hurricane onslaught of 05. However, in doing so the natural balance of system dissipated a lot of latent energy., like a fault giving way or a volcano blowing. I suspect that the predictors are going to have to continue to adjust their numbers even more this year. Of course, no one will question the word of the experts even in the face of trouble with numbers. Now Im not a qualified predictor, just another poster on Rantburg [and I slept at Holiday Inn last night].
THE LEBANESE MEDIA are the best in the Arab Middle East, and perhaps the freest, not because of any noble principles but because they are so competitive. Every Lebanese media outlet represents a political interest, sometimes several political interests, and all the major political parties own TV stations. (In this regard, Hezbollah really is just like every other political party, though no one else does "martyr kitsch" like the Party of God.) And the people of Lebanon take their cue from the media. Insofar as rumors are also a medium, they, too, represent political interests. My friend Fawaz called last week from Lebanon with reports of a rumor.
"There are lots of stories going around Beirut that Hezbollah M.P. Mohammed Raad is dead," says Fawaz. "And get this--more than 500 Hezbollah fighters have been killed and are lying around area hospitals. That's a lot of virgins on call."
Whether or not such rumors are true, they indicate something about the state of affairs right now in Lebanon. There are many Lebanese imagining, fantasizing, hoping against hope that Hezbollah will be wiped from the face of the earth. Some are even joking about it.
"The new one," Fawaz says, "is that they're going to play the next World Cup in the Daheyh [the Shiite neighborhood]--the whole thing's been leveled nice and flat."
This narrative, including the morbid jokes at the expense of the heavily Shiite southern suburbs and the spectacular number of Hezbollah dead, runs against the current Western news narrative. It seems that U.S. and Western press outfits are determined to claim that the Israelis have driven all of Lebanon, Shiite or not, Islamist or not, pro-Hezbollah or not, into the waiting arms of the Islamic resistance. It is not clear why Western journalists believe this is so, though it seems to comport nicely with the idea that the Israelis are killing too many civilians--a cynical storyline, given that the Israelis are fighting against a militia and without the benefit of weapons capable of targeting only the bad guys. . . .
Michael Totten, blog-sitting at Instapundit's place this week, has this to add:
Lee is right. He and I both lived in Lebanon, and he lived there longer than I did. (He only left a few weeks ago.) Lebanons support for Hezbollah is nothing more than an attempt at national unity during a fight. It will evaporate the instant Israel leaves. It will remain, though, as long as Israel stays and throughout cease-fire talks.
Posted by: Mike ||
08/03/2006
14:12 ||
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Via FARK.
OSSIAN, Ind. (AP) - A teenage driver crashed into a hollow tree and stirred up tens of thousands of angry honey bees, creating a swarm that sent her and nine others to the hospital.
"Those bees were mad," said Volunteer Fire Chief Kent Gilbert, who was stung at least 50 times while trying to pull the 16-year-old driver from the wreckage. "I've never seen bees, especially honeybees, attack like that."
Jacqueline Cossairt's SUV slammed into the tree Tuesday after she lost control on a gravel road about 10 miles south of Fort Wayne. So much for those offroad capabilities of the SUV...
By the time rescuers arrived, a black cloud of buzzing insects had engulfed the car, forcing firefighters to wear full safety gear - complete with oxygen tanks and face masks - with temperatures in the 90s.
Safety workers doused the bees with water and foam while they tried to free Cossairt, who was taken to a nearby hospital with broken legs and multiple bee stings. She was remained at Lutheran Hospital on Thursday.
A neighbor, along with a paramedic and seven firefighters, were also hospitalized for bee stings and heat-related symptoms.
"You can't really train for that. You don't really know. You look for downed power lines. You don't look for a million bees," said Master Trooper Bob Brophy, commander of the Indiana State Police's Fort Wayne post.
Bee expert Stan Grove, a biology professor at Goshen College, said the insects are most active in warm weather when they furiously fan their wings to cool the temperature of the hive.
"They don't like to be jostled," Grove said. No kidding?
Shias from southern and central Iraq have begun travelling to Baghdad in answer to Muqtada al-Sadr's call for a "million man march" in support of Lebanon's Hezbollah.
Waving Iraqi flags and chanting "Death to America! Death to Israel", the demonstrators mounted convoys of buses and headed for the capital on Thursday, some of them wearing white shrouds symbolising their readiness to accept martyrdom.
The demonstration is to be held following Friday prayers in the teeming Baghdad suburb of Sadr City, home to some two million people, and comes at a tense time for the capital.
Sahib al-Ameri, general director of the Foundation for God's Martyrs, part of Sadr's movement said: "Thousands of Najaf people have set off for Baghdad as a response to Moqtada al-Sadr's invitation to take part."
Anger over Israeli attacks on Lebanon - which target Hezbollah but have caused widespread civilian casualties - has raised passions in Iraq, where Shia militias have an uneasy relationship with the US-backed government.
US forces have visibly tightened security around Sadr City, a working class Shia district where Sadr's supporters are openly armed.
"Fifteen-hundred of Sadr's followers from Basra have arrived to take part in the demonstration that had been called in Baghdad," said Sadr spokesman Akil al-Bahadli. I wonder what Iran is up to this time?
#2
Shias from southern and central Iraq have begun travelling to Baghdad in answer to Muqtada al-Sadr's call for a "million man march" in support of Lebanon's Hezbollah.
"Fifteen-hundred of Sadr's followers from Basra have arrived to take part in the demonstration that had been called in Baghdad," said Sadr spokesman Akil al-Bahadli.
#4
A couple of AC-130's and the wherewithal and you could solve a lot of Iraq's problems right here.
And we could give Mr. Tooth Decay all the credit...
#5
tu, just like the Million Man March here in the States, eh? Several hundred thousand short of a million, methinks (like 998,500 short of a million).
Posted by: BA ||
08/03/2006 14:27
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Whaling Unomoger7693 = John Q Citizen. Using a different computer and I was assigned the namie thingy.
I would view such marches as a million points of light-that is, as was said earlier a target rich environment.
#7
Tu read my mind exept with such large numbers I was thinking more like a handfull of Cluster bombs. A C-130 couldnt cover enough ground fast enough to get them all before they scattered.
#2
The whales hate greepeace because they don't taste very good. All that wood fiber, organic tofu, bean curd and hyponically grown sprouts in their diets, I guess.
A friend of mine just sent some EMails in the "What the heck is going on?" category...
To:
Pres Bush
Iranian front man Ahmadnejad
Iranian head magic mulla Khameni
He is curious about a reply?
I told him he would get an auto-responses, but likely nothing else. The Whitehouse, and Khameni have already sent such. Ahmadnejad is probably too busy picking out the new wardrobe for when he is declared the 12th Imam on Aug 22... Those day-glow colored schmocks are, afterall, in need of coordination with the aura he will acquire...
But I did promise him if he gets a reply from anyone that is more than a form letter, I will post both his letter and the reply on these pages. Stay tuned...
#1
I sent an email of congratulation to the WH in november 2004, and all I got was an auto-response. Damn. I expected some cash, I mean, there's so much pork in the US governement, I'm sure they could have spared a few hundreds for a polite guy like me and never even notice it. That's so Cheap from them.
#3
Yes, not only would I be waaaay less expensive than, say, Egypt, but on top of that, I would be much less anti-american, if not downright grateful for that foreign aid! So, if someone at State Department read this, just drop me an email, and we'll work this out. I accept paypal, thank you very much in advance.
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hizbollah guerrillas killed seven people in Israel in a rocket barrage on Thursday despite an intensive Israeli ground and air campaign to wipe them out, as world powers struggled to end the 23-day-old war. Ah yes, the old 7 were killed despite the Joooos best efforts to keep civilian casualties to zero argument. In the lead paragraph, no less.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said the war had killed 900 people in Lebanon and wounded 3,000, with a third of the casualties children under 12 (Wonder why that is? Care to explain there, Hezbollah?). He said a million Lebanese, a quarter of the population, had been displaced and infrastructure devastated. The Reuters tally of Lebanon deaths is at least 683. Color me shocked, the Roooters body count is less than Lebanon's? Guess they're eating crow over that whole 50-60 dead in Qana, when it was only 28 (even though I do grieve each of those 28 personally).
Hizbollah has continued to unleash rockets despite Israeli assertions that the guerrilla group has been dealt a heavy blow by the war. On Wednesday, a record barrage of 231 missiles killed one person and wounded scores. Boy, the Hezzies are the most accurate muzzie rocket launchers ever. Methinks even "apes and pigs" could do "better."
Sixty-five Israelis have been killed in the conflict, including 39 soldiers, two of whom died in fighting on Thursday. A Lebanese security source said 80 Hizbollah fighters had been killed so far -- well below the Israeli estimate of 300-400. So, Hezbollah has now launched hundreds (if not 1,000+) of rockets, and killed 26 Israeli civilians? What a quagmire. Not to mention that I lean toward believing Israel's count of Hezzie deaders. I mean a lot of those so-called "civilians" in Lebanon are probably Hezzie gun-toters or at least supporters/suppliers.
The United States, France and Britain hope for a U.N. Security Council resolution within a week that would call for a truce and maybe strengthen existing U.N. peacekeepers until a more robust force can be formed, U.N. officials said. I like the word "maybe" in that sentence.
"I'm now hopeful we will have such a resolution down very shortly and agreed within the next few days," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said. "The purpose of that will be to bring about an immediate ceasefire and then put in place the conditions for the international force to come in."
But splits between the United States and France, a possible leader of the new force, over the timing of a ceasefire have complicated diplomatic efforts to end the fighting.
France's U.N. ambassador said he was less confident that a Security Council resolution could be adopted within days.
"Yesterday morning I was confident that we could have a resolution adopted in the coming days, but by the end of the day I was less confident," Jean-Marc de la Sabliere said. So, France is now in on the good cop/bad cop routine while Israel wipes the Hezzies off the map? Good Lord, what's wrong with this world?
Posted by: BA ||
08/03/2006
12:13 ||
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#1
How come Rooters doesn't tell us how many Israeli women and children died?
#2
Can't Hizb'allan do anyhing right. They had years to survey their launch points. Stick a pipe in the ground, pour a little concrete a around it and scratch a number in the concrete, say 34. Abdul opens a little book and reads the azimuth and elevation for FP 34. They should be able to get in, position the missiles, set the timer and un-ass the AO in about five minutes... with some fairly decent effect on target.
Interviewer: Gen Dayan, what is the secret of your success?
#3
I have a feeling that Hezbollocks are trying to use up their rockets in the south before Israel overruns their positions and captures them. Expect continued heavy firing of rockets for the next couple of days.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/03/2006 14:08
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When a gunman opened fire on women at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle last Friday, he announced the shootings were intended to make a statement. Prosecutors who charged Naveed Afzal Haq on Wednesday say he did: Hate.
Haq, 30, was charged with nine felonies, including aggravated first-degree murder, five counts of attempted murder, kidnapping, burglary and malicious harassment, the state's hate-crime law. "Make no mistake, this was a hate crime," King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng said Wednesday as he announced the charges during a news conference.
The charges provide chilling details of the shooting spree in which one woman was killed and five others were wounded. Prosecutors allege that Haq shot Pamela Waechter in the chest and then followed the wounded woman as she fled up some stairs. At the top, Haq allegedly reached over the railing and shot her again, killing her.
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Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2006
12:10 ||
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HEY HAQ< Take your point of view and STICK IT UP YOUR ASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#6
Maleng said Haq had identified himself as an "American Muslim," although friends have said he is a convert to Christianity. His family is deeply involved in Islam in the Tri-Cities area.
Mahmoud (under questioning): "Uh, yeah, copper, he converted just late last night. Me and the boyz here's saw him do it."
Cop: "You mean he converted to Christianity just yesterday, and was worried about Muslims in the Middle East today?"
Ahmed: "Don't try to think like us. We're superior ya know. He converted to be an Amish man. Ya know, those Amish are some crazy folk. Blow themselves up with Jooos others too."
Posted by: BA ||
08/03/2006 14:23
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#7
Hmm... there was the guy who made himself so fat on prison food (I hear that prisoners in WA prisons get very good chow) that they communted his sentence to life because they were afraid he might suffer when they hung him.
I think this same guy (not sure about this) then got a free liver transplant at government expense.
Hell we can't even snuff out the Green River Killer .
The Association of Trial Lawyers of America recently changed its name to the American Association for Justice. It may be a smart PR move, because everyone likes the word "justice," and apparently the name "trial lawyers" has acquired a negative tinge. It's good that it has, because although trial lawyers say they "protect the little guy," that's a myth. In truth, for every little guy they help, they hurt thousands.
When those big medical malpractice awards hit the headlines, it sounds like the little guy was helped. "$1 million awarded to victim of medical device!" But the headline leaves out a great deal. First, the suit cost everyone involved and that includes you much more than $1million. In addition to the million-dollar settlement, there were the court costs and legal fees charged by the defense lawyers many defense lawyers, considering the plaintiff probably sued not just the maker of the medical equipment, but the surgeon, an internist, some nurses, the hospital, and G-d knows how many others. Lawsuits routinely name as many as a dozen people, because to not include someone who is later revealed to be at fault may expose the lawyer to a charge of legal malpractice.
Continued on Page 49
#1
Well written and spot on. The true cost of the litigious atmosphere that exists not to pursue justice (as the lawyers would have us believe) but to guarantee income security for attorneys is huge to society at large.
The party which promotes more government and more regulation (hence more laws) is the natural choice for trial lawyers (with notable exceptions) because more laws mean more work and more income security. Hence the support of these folks for the Dems.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
08/03/2006 15:01
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#6
Don't get me wrong I'm not a big fan of lawyers but what other avenue is open to victims of malpractice ?
Posted by: J. D. Lux ||
08/03/2006 16:35
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#7
J D Lux, the concept that you can solve a Doctor's mistake with money is a relatively new one. It wasn't money that the Doctor took out, it was the wrong organ, for example. If malpractice is proven in such a case, the big question is "how do you make it right?" Apart from sanctioning or fining the Doctor, or perhaps pulling his Medical License, the answer in many cases is, you can't. So the multi-million dollar cash awards come out, not to help the victim necessarily, but to 'express our sorrow and empathy'. Tort reform and malpractice damage limitations are a good start.
Another thing not usually discussed is that medicine is not an exact science. Sometimes, bad things just happen. The human body is unpredictable. I'd venture that the vast majority of malpractice judgments, if the truth were known, were not malpractice at all, but just another illustration that we are not God, and we can't always fix it. In our 'It's somebody else's fault' society, people just don't want to hear that.
#8
On the other hand in cases where it was clearly the Doctor's fault (he didn't wash properly or was in a hurry for a golf game and got sloppy) the person may sometimes be stuck with medical expenses for the rest of his/her life - or need to hire an aid to empty his bag, wipe his ass, and feed him. Or they may need a transplant.
I think in those case the Dr. should be held responsible for at least some of the cost.
#9
While ity is true that there is oftden no actiual fix for medical mistakes, doctors as business men and service providers have to be responsible and subject to the same penalties for poor performance as car mechanics or sellers of defective items. Society has decided that the penalties are assesed thru monetary damages.
It is not hard to turn Stossel's argument over and say that makking a limit that is well within the means and insurance policies of most practioners could be seen as a reversal of the restrictions he describes as stifling and turn it into a real cavalier attitude which I think they actually have already.
The laws we have now are sensible. It is I think a side effect of the newness of this concept that maybe broings out the worst in people and probably requires a societal mind-state change.
Posted by: J. D. Lux ||
08/03/2006 17:41
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#10
Who told you when you were born that you were going to be indemnified from the occurances of life? I have had major medical procedures done. Before each and every one the Doctor defined in realistic terms the risks. How after doing so can I expect that a decision I made should penalise the Doctor?
The who idea of being Indemnified is one foisted off on us by Lawyer.
Sorry I would rather have a living wage job than see Lawyers get the lions share of these settlements.
Piss up a rope if you think a lawyers are a good thing. I would rather have my full liberty and a living wage job than one lawyer in the same country I live in.
#11
Maybe so. Don't get me wrong...as I said, if a Doctor screws up, he or she should be held accountable, and heavily, considering we put our lives in their hands. To whom much is given, much shall be required. But limiting the MONETARY damages would be an important first step. Better screening, training and certification of Doctors, and policing from an outside peer agency would also help. When we throw millions at malpractice victims, we need to remind ourselves that the money comes from somewhere. Ultimately, that somewhere is US.
The current situation is set up to GUARANTEE massive income to the legal profession by perpetuating an environment where it is easy to sue. The more lititgious the society, the greater the profits for attorneys. It's simply too easy to sue and get OBSCENE settlements from carefully stacked juries that cannot by any reasonable historical yardstick be considered proportional. Furthermore, the amount the attorney gets is often half of the judgement, without regard to any prevailing rate of pay.
What is needed is to limit the amount that an attorney can earn from any one case. This is not an unfair restriction of trade, because attorneys working within the court system are actually quasi-government employees. They are not true private sector agents, in the strictest sense of the term.
Set the limit an attorney can earn at $50,000 plus costs per case - a reasonable amount by any moral or decent measure - and you'll see the number of law suits drop dramatically, and a lot of society's problems be worked out privately by individuals.
Right now the law profession siphons off billions annually which could be used for research, infrastructure growth and improvement, and job creation. Attorneys don't deserve that much wealth and it is better spent by the private sector, in terms of overall benefit to society.
"It is I think a side effect of the newness of this concept that maybe brings out the worst in people and probably requires a societal mind-state change."
A side effect?
You're an attorney or law student, or married to one, aren't you?
Please give us a cogent, concise, logical, and workable mechanism which can quickly effect this "mind change" (I'm guessing that you can't, because you just threw that bit out, lawyer-fashion, to cover your butt without actually believing it's true or that it's something that can or should be done).
If you can't then your statement is a load of crap.
The Brits (I believe) have a system whereby the plaintiff must pay the costs of the defendant if the plaintiff loses. This should also be incorporated into our system. Let's free up some of the money that ends up in trial lawyer's (and the Democratic Party's) pockets and set it free to benefit society in the market at large.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
08/03/2006 19:00
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#13
The problem is too many attorneys. 1,000,000 lawyers producing lawsuits to fill their time at a median salary of $90,000/year (2002, average higher). That's more lawyers than police or doctors. Compare attorney impact on your life vs those professions. Compare the contribution of 1,000,000 lawyers vs 1,500,000 engineers (all specialties). Engineering Employment
Posted by: ed ||
08/03/2006 19:22
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#14
"While ity is true that there is oftden no actiual fix for medical mistakes, doctors as business men and service providers have to be responsible and subject to the same penalties for poor performance as car mechanics or sellers of defective items."
Let's hold lawyers to those same penalties for poor performance, too.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
08/03/2006 19:26
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#15
I personally think that the problem lies with the whole concept of "punitive" damages. I think that most people are OK with the idea that if a doctor or mechanic negligently screws up, you have the right to recover your past, present and future expenses associated with the screw up. What is driving costs up is the ever increasing punitive damages. Tort law was not designed to punish people. That is the role of criminal and administrative law. Tort law should only settle differences and compensate loss due to negligence.
Here's my solution. Eliminate punitive damages and instead of a percentage of the schwag, limit lawyers fees to a negotiated hourly rate. The demand for lawsuits will drop, opportunists will move out of the field (perhaps to something more socially useful like spam), and justice will still be served.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/03/2006 20:19
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#19
Scabbard slide rule. How quaint and old fashioned. Switch slide rules RULE!!!
Posted by: ed ||
08/03/2006 22:15
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#20
it's actually a butterfly model. Self-defense math rules!
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/03/2006 22:25
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#21
I still have my belt-mounted slide rule from high school. The Moon Program was done with slide-rules. I suggest any prospective engineer learn how to use the 'ole slipstick.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/03/2006 22:28
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#22
errr.. they have a place...in a museum. I wouldn't accept their level of accuracy in engineering work today
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/03/2006 22:33
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By Walter Williams
Colleges and universities will start their fall semester soon. You might be interested in what parents' and taxpayers' money is going for at far too many "institutions of higher learning."
At Occidental College in Los Angeles, a mandatory course for some freshmen is "The Unbearable Whiteness of Barbie." It's a course where Professor Elizabeth J. Chin explores ways in "which scientific racism has been put to use in the making of Barbie [and] to an interpretation of the film 'The Matrix' as a Marxist critique of capitalism." Johns Hopkins University students can enroll in a course called "Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll in Ancient Egypt." Part of the course includes slide shows of women in ancient Egypt "vomiting on each other," "having intercourse" and "fixing their hair."
Harvard University students can take "Marxist Concepts of Racism," which examines "the role of capitalist development and expansion in creating racial inequality." You can bet there's no mention of the genocide in Africa and former communist regimes like Yugoslavia. Young America's Foundation and Accuracy in Academia publish lists of courses like these, at many other colleges, that are nothing less than student indoctrination through academic dishonesty.
Continued on Page 49
#4
Chalk this up to spineless lawmakers and administration. The are sooo scared about passing any kind of judgment they accept these whacky class antics without a whimper. If any of them still had their cajones these professors and their sick recipe for academia would be flushed down the toilet.
The media's pack mentality against the terrorist prison at Guantanamo was recently demonstrated in a David Ignatius column in the Washington Post, where he noted that President Bush is "obviously tired of taking flak" about the prison and might therefore order it closed. This is what our media are good at-dispensing "flak" for a cause they believe in. In this case, the cause is freeing the prisoners at Guantanamo, or at least getting them transferred to some other place. The preoccupation of our media with this topic borders on the pathological. Why are they so determined to go to bat for suspected terrorists?
The case can actually be made that the U.S. has been too lenient on the prisoners and that they are being treated too nicely.
It goes without saying that reporters don't want to focus on those released from Guantanamo who go on to terrorize or murder again. Consider the case of six French former Guantanamo inmates released by the U.S. and then put on trial in a French court on charges of having "links with a network plotting terrorism attacks," as noted in a Reuters account. Perhaps they should have remained at Guantanamo. Is that something worth taking a look at?
Continued on Page 49
#1
The agenda behind the attacks on Guantanamo is to build up pressure to force the U.S. to turn these prisoners over to an international tribunal, probably run by the United Nations.
#2
He ended up in a country club prison in Scotland, where he is living in a special wing of the prison with a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, shower, sitting room, an office with a computer and bookshelves, and entertainment center with television.
There is a very good reason for all of this. I'll let you figure it out.
If the Dems retake the House, Rep. Dingell (D-Mi) will chair the Energy and Commerce Committee. They handle oil and stuff. Well, the guys with the oil will love this:
"I don't take sides for or against Hezbollah; I don't take sides for or against Israel," said Dingell on a local TV show. Perhaps hes on to something. Nothing works in the Middle East anymore, after all; perhaps utter neutrality is our best options. But lets review the others first.
The US continues to support Israel. This is becoming difficult, since many important nations with well-dressed, urbane spokesmen have decided that Israel should stop its strange policy of firing rockets on UN-run stem-cell research facilites for no apparent reason. These diplomats will tolerate a little wartime madness we all have our moments, after all but enough is enough, and now they must go home and sit in the basement and wait for more rocket attacks. If theyre good, they will get a snack.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve ||
08/03/2006
11:34 ||
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#1
I definitely hear the same voices that shout "no blood for oil !"
Shouting " Don't let the Jews mess up our excellent relations with the Arab oil regimes "
or " Jew blood for oil!"
I would prefer DVD's of "The Producers" ('67) w/ commentary from Mel Brooks.
Posted by: J. D. Lux ||
08/03/2006 13:51
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#2
How many of the people Lileks talks about would recognize this article as sarcasm?
Admitted Pedophile Says Children Can Consent
CLEVELAND -- It was probably not a defense the court had heard before. A suburban Cleveland man accused of sexually assaulting nine disabled boys told a judge Wednesday that his apartment was a religious sanctuary where smoking marijuana and having sex with children are sacred rituals protected by civil rights laws.
The admitted pedophile offered a surprising defense Wednesday to 74 charges of rape, drugs and pandering obscenity to minors. Appearing in an Ohio court for a pretrial hearing, Phillip Distasio, 34, of Rocky River, Ohio, said he was a pedophile. He told the judge, "I'm a pedophile. I've been a pedophile for 20 years. The only reason I'm charged with rape is that no one believes a child can consent to sex. The role of my ministry is to get these cases out of the courtrooms."
#6
Uh, Distasio, there is already a 1400 year old religion for boinking little children. Ever consider reverting?
Posted by: ed ||
08/03/2006 15:55
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#7
Nah, Mike, they all suffer from a lead deficiency, best cured with one shot to the 'nads followed by one to the skull, both of them point blank. A time interval of at least one hour, possibly more, between the first shot and the second is acceptable, in fact, it's recommended.
The clash of values between the new Polish government and the liberal elites who have long dominated the social policies of the European Union is becoming serious. An EU spokesman Wednesday rebuffed the proposal for a referendum on capital punishment from Poland's President Lech Kaczynski, stating "the death penalty is not compatible with European values."
Not one of the 25 current member states of the EU operates the death penalty, and other countries that seek to associate with the EU through the Council of Europe (the parent body of the European Court of Human Rights) is required to relinquish it. Both Russia and Turkey have dropped the use of the death penalty to safeguard their Council of Europe status.
But President Kaczynski's Law and Justice party, with strong roots in the conservative wing of the Roman Catholic church, fought and won the last election on a tough law and order platform that also opposed abortion and homosexuality. Last week in what aides described as "a major policy speech," President Kaczynski said that Europeans would come to understand that the death penalty was "the fit and proper punishment for murder." His junior coalition partner in government, the populist and anti-EU party known as the League of Polish Families, immediately called for a referendum in Poland on the return of the death penalty for pedophile murders, which opinion polls suggest would be almost certain to pass.
At the same time, the former director of EU affairs in the Polish foreign ministry, Pawel Swieboda, has resigned along with several senior colleagues, complaining of the new Polish government's anti-EU attitudes. "The government do not trust people with documented pro-EU views. If you have demonstrated engagement with Europe over the past few years, you are not part of the inner circle," Swieboda told the EUObserver information agency in an interview Thursday. "This government is focused on internal politics and EU affairs are a distant question. They don't adequately identify the impact of European policies on national politics," Swieboda said. "The cost of this is that Poland won't be among those EU countries shaping new political realities."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2006
11:31 ||
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#1
Poles are not going to be dhimmi to anyone EU or Muzzies.
#3
Out of step with the EU? One might better ask if the Poles are one of the few members of the EU that have a clue. Funny how the the eastern European countries that had close encounters with the fUSSR have a better grasp of what tyranny is all about.
#4
Poland got into the EU because of the trade possibilties (same as us). They didn't get into it to have their culture and sovereignty handed over to a bunch of shysters in Brussels and Strasbourg.
I wonder if this could be the beginning of the end?
GW, if you want to really screw the EU, start offering places in NAFTA to countries in Europe ;)
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/03/2006 12:32
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#6
I think Poland got the Most Favored Nation status a few years back. They know what it feels like to be abandoned by the west and are now firmly in charge of their future. Don't expect them to give in on anything.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/03/2006 14:19
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#7
How undemocratic of the elites to define "EU values" without putting it to a vote. What is the Politburo afraid of?
Exactly Tony, and the US should definitely be redirecting trade (tariffs should be used to advance national policy) from enemies (e.g. China who is arming NK, Pakistan, and Iran with ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons) to spur economic growth and open government with those who want to be our friends. In addition, the US should help eastern Europe and the former USSR republics to become energy independent from Russia by financing 3-4 dozen large nuclear reactors. As long as they are dependent on Moscow to not freeze or power their industry, then they will never be independent. The same goes for the US energy independence and it's cheaper than what the US doing now.
Posted by: ed ||
08/03/2006 15:07
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#8
The clash of values between the new Polish government and the liberal elites who have long dominated the social policies of the European Union is becoming serious.
Much could be said about Americans after they threw off the yoke of their former masters in 1776 too.
#9
Outstanding book, BP. For those without the time to read it (fascinating, but very dense), visit the author's blog, EU Referendum, the first to note the discrepanices in the MSM pictures from Qana.
Posted by: ST ||
08/03/2006 16:52
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#10
"Are Poles out of EU step?"
The Poles are just fine. The EU, however, is out of step with reality.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/03/2006 20:59
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Post reporter experiences tense United flight
For more than three hours late Monday afternoon, before boarding up more than 200 passengers on Chicago-to-Denver flight 909, United Airlines officials had tried to cool down an extremely hot widebody jet at O'Hare International Airport. The auxiliary power unit, or APU, on the Boeing 777, which generates electricity for planes when engines are shut down at the gate, was broken. Chicago's 100-degree heat and blazing sun had baked the plane's dark blue and gray skin, sending temperatures in the empty cabin soaring to at least 115 degrees.
Flight 909 had been scheduled for a 2:45 p.m. departure. To cool the cabin down, United first tried pumping air in at the gate. That didn't work. Then they started one engine at the gate, pushed the plane back and took it to a holding pad to get air flowing. All other flights to Denver were booked full throughout the day. United tried to find a replacement plane for the 777, but none was available. If the company cancelled flight 909, it might be putting hundreds of travelers up in hotels.
Hope nobody's eaten yet...
CLEVELAND -- It was probably not a defense the court had heard before.
A suburban Cleveland man accused of sexually assaulting nine disabled boys told a judge Wednesday that his apartment was a religious sanctuary where smoking marijuana and having sex with children are sacred rituals protected by civil rights laws. I have rights, dammit!!
The admitted pedophile offered a surprising defense Wednesday to 74 charges of rape, drugs and pandering obscenity to minors.
Appearing in an Ohio court for a pretrial hearing, Phillip Distasio, 34, of Rocky River, Ohio, said he was a pedophile.
He told the judge, "I'm a pedophile. I've been a pedophile for 20 years. The only reason I'm charged with rape is that no one believes a child can consent to sex. The role of my ministry is to get these cases out of the courtrooms." So let's get it out of the courts and send it to the prisons. We'll see what those guys think about Friar Distasio's theory. Let him test it on them for about 50 or 100 years...
Distasio, a self-professed pagan friar, is representing himself on 74 charges. He said he's the leader of a church called Arcadian Fields Ministries, and that some of his congregants are among the victims in his case. Oh, good. He's representing himself. Buh bye, pagan friar...
Distasio was arrested on charges he molested two disabled boys he was tutoring at his home. He's also accused of raping seven other autistic children at a Cleveland school for special-needs students, The Plain Dealer reported. All but one of the boys was under 13, which carries a mandatory life-in-prison sentence if he is convicted, the paper reported.
Police said they found journals at Distasio's apartment in which he described his illegal activities, along with child pornography and videotapes of him engaged in sex with boys, The Plain Dealer reported
"Not all pedophilia is bad, and sex [with boys] can be healthy," Distasio told the court. I hear violent gangbang prison sex with self appointed fruitcake friars who like to hurt kids can be healthy too. Get back to us on that one in a couple of years. If you're still alive...
According to the journals, two of Distasio's victims were so helpless they could never tell anyone what happened.
"The defendant describes acts in which he had autistic children and he did what I would call sadistic sexual acts with these children," said Mason.
The school he ran from his apartment was called Class Cutters. According to Distasio's Web site, students and parents chose the curriculum in the school for unique children.
But prosecutors said it was little more than a trap that snared one victim and then another.
"Like all predators, he used this one child to bring other children to him and that's what was happening, and that's how he got his second victim," said Mason.
And prosecutors believe there may be more victims.
Distasio has a history of working with children dating back 10 years.
Prosecutors said he could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted. Feel free to chop this guy into very small pieces.
#5
He would fit in nicely with muzzies. But in America we need to send him into general lock up of any facility. He wont last the day. I hope his death is a painful one.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/03/2006 16:30
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#6
Luckily, "life" sentences for pedophiles tend to be rather short, compared to, say, murderers or ordinary rapists. Prisoners don't like pedophiles.
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has been working closely with Iran to develop its long-range ballistic missiles, possibly using Chinese technology, and is building large bases to prepare for their deployment, a South Korean state-run think tank said. Communist North Korea is also building new sites near the Demilitarized Zone border for short-range missiles and is deploying missiles with improved precision that can strike most of Japan, the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS) said in a report.
"The development of Taepodong-2 is conducted jointly with Iran, and it is possible China's technology is used in the development of the Taepodong-2 engine," said the IFANS report, which Reuters obtained on Thursday. The collaboration is part of an international network, including Pakistan, that made it possible for the impoverished North to develop and deploy missiles despite scarce resources and limited testing, the study said.
North Korea fired seven missiles on July 5, including the long-range Taepodong-2, which U.S. officials said failed seconds into its flight and fell into waters between Japan and the Korean peninsula. Christopher Hill, the top U.S. envoy to talks on the North's nuclear program, said last month one or more Iranians watched the North's missile launch, deepening concerns about the ties between two countries with troubling nuclear capabilities.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve ||
08/03/2006
11:24 ||
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#2
North Korea fired seven missiles on July 5, including the long-range Taepodong-2, which U.S. officials said failed seconds into its flight and fell into waters between Japan and the Korean peninsula.
Rooters doesn't miss any chance to get a dig in, do they? It not like we can definitively say it failed.
#3
I'm not laughing, these two might come up with a Ductapedong missle! We cant be complacent, I mean lil kim has a whole population of slves to draw upon, I am wondering how many PHDs and advanced degreed people he's got ready for this effort. Think about retraining the mass of jihadies to the cause of the Ductapedong missle.
We better not be complacent.......these two are up to something and I've no doubt its the Ductapedong.
#6
North Korea fired seven missiles on July 5, including the long-range Taepodong-2, which U.S. officials said failed seconds into its flight and fell into waters between Japan and the Korean peninsula.
On, no, Raj. You see, the US and Japan only said the missiles failed.
Everyone knows that the evil BusHitler and his Imperial Japanese allies would lie to their own mothers if they actually had mothers (they don;t, of course. How could they being so evil?).
The NorKie missiles actually turned Tokyo Bay into a sea of fire and sent the entire American 7th Fleet to the bottom of the Sea of Japan. NorK troops moved into South Korea peacefully and reunified the two countries and are, even now, dispensing gallons of Dr Kim's Miracle Juice to all the poor starving South Korean children. Why, even the American troops were so happy to see the NorKs coming that they laid flower petals in their paths and handed over their weapons. Meanwhile, in the United States itself, President BusHitler committed suicide inside his bunker along with his long-time mistress Frau Laura, but the news media is telling the world that he's alive and well and that it's Fidel who's ailing (but then again, everyone also knows the Jew-controlled mainstream media lies at the behest of their Jew masters).
HUNDREDS of Southeast Asian suicide bombers have been dispatched around the world with a mission to attack Jewish interests in countries that support Israel such as Britain, the US and possibly Australia.
The radical Jakarta-based Asian Muslim Youth Movement gave The Australian details of the plot yesterday, claiming it was being funded in part with cash donations from two unnamed Australian-Indonesian businessmen.
The leader of the AMYM, Islamist author Suaib Bidu, warned that thousands more jihadis were preparing to join the resistance against Israel and die as"martyrs".
Mr Bidu said a "passing-out" ceremony for more than 3000 jihadis would be held tomorrow in the Indonesian city of Pontianak on the large northern island of Kalimantan.
But only about 200 would be sent immediately to targets aboard, with the remainder being active supporters.
Mr Bidu warned that his group would "monitor" the position of Australia towards Israel's current military operation in southern Lebanon, and that it too could become a target for suicide attacks.
"We have a lot of support, including in Australia, from people who don't believe Israel's attack (on Hezbollah) is just," Mr Bidu said.
Terrorism experts have warned that the radical group had the motivation and the backing to organise such a campaign of terror.
One of the foremost scholars in militant Islam, Zachary Abuza, described the group as a dangerous threat that deserved to be taken seriously.
"These people are willing to martyr themselves and that just feeds on itself," Dr Abuza told The Australian. "Events like this (the Lebanon conflict) are superb tools for recruiting and indoctrinating people."
He said the group had been active in Southeast Asia before and said Israeli sites in the region could be targeted.
Dr Abuza said the move could also have far-reaching ramifications because it gave the Southeast Asian militants the ability to network with jihadis in the Middle East.
Last night, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi said there were fears a "new wave" of terrorists could be generated by the Israeli offensive in Lebanon.
"Muslims are angry even in moderate Muslim countries," said Mr Abdullah, who hosted an emergency meeting of the 57 nations of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.
And in Cairo, the leader of Egypt's extremist Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Mehdi Akef, said he was ready to send 10,000 fighters to Lebanon to battle Israel alongside Hezbollah.
But he admitted the chances were slim that any volunteers from Egypt would reach Lebanon.
"There are enough people but you would need Arab regimes to authorise their deployment or at least turn a blind eye on their departure," Mr Akef said.
The head of the International Centre for Terrorism and Political Violence Research's Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Rohan Gunaratna, said the jihadis in Southeast Asia could quickly develop the capability to carry out their plan in so-called third-country attacks.
Although he said the numbers of recruits were probably being exaggerated to "provoke fear and anxiety", the group should not be underestimated.
Dr Gunaratna said the AMYM had sent fighters to Iraq in the past, albeit in small numbers.
The group has already sent 217 suicide bombers, including 72 Indonesians as well as citizens of six other Southeast Asian nations, to Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, Mr Bidu said.
They include seasoned mujaheddin fighters, some of whom had fought the Soviets in Afghanistan and then the Northern Alliance in the same country.
Mr Bidu said they were on a mission to infiltrate Israel and its allies "with the help of friendly networks".
"They will be charged with destroying infrastructure targets of Israel and its supporters, such as Britain and the US," he said.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qa'ida's second in charge, has already called for Sunni Muslims across the world to wage jihad against Israel.
The move comes as another group of fighters from a separate body known as the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) announced it had 200,000 members ready to join the battlefield in southern Lebanon.
"When we apply for passports we say we are going to Singapore or to Mecca, so that we can fulfil our true aims'" FPI spokesman Habib Hasan al-Jufrie said.
He said the FPI held military training courses "at secret locations" every two weeks. The FPI is thought to be involved in gangster activity and extortion and protection rackets in the Indonesian capital. It attracts most of its support through advocating jihad to the nation's Muslim majority.
The AMYM and FPI have been blatant in their past condemnation of the US and its Middle Eastern policies. The AMYM has allegedly previously threatened to attack US interests in Jakarta and has sent fighters to the conflicts in Bosnia and Chechnya.
About 40 per cent of the AMYM recruits have military experience in countries including Afghanistan, Thailand, The Philippines, Palestine and Iraq. Those with field experience have learned how to make suicide bombs.
Mr Bidu said the fighters from his movement would not travel to Lebanon "because we don't want to face Israel from the front; we prefer to do it from behind".
A spokesman for the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiah, Abu Bakar Bashir, said the cleric "fully supports opposing through jihad".
#1
HUNDREDS of Southeast Asian suicide bombers have been dispatched around the world with a mission to attack Jewish interests in countries that support Israel such as Britain, the US and possibly Australia.
Notice that the word muslim is missing as in "Hundreds of Southeast Asian ->MUSLIM<- suicide bombers...." Guess there are some Methodists in there somewhere, huh? You think?
#5
It's the same old proxy war Muslims have been waging against the West for a few decades now. If their countries of origin don't stop these people despite knowing of their activities, Israel would be justified in retaliating against their governments.
#6
The Asian Muzzies can be a formidable foe. They are a worthy enemy but they are not suicide bombers. Suicide bombers are brought in from Soddi and Afghanistan for the suiside missions. Asian Muzzies love to kill westerners but do not like to die, I question this report as propaganda and worthless.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/03/2006 14:08
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#7
If anyone is caught trying to blow up a US embassy or a US business, the nation where that terrorist originated should lose all its infrastructure - roads, bridges, rail lines, dams, ports and harbors, airfields, etc. It may take destroying a dozen or so countries, but sooner or later they'll either get the message, or won't be able to dispatch any other suicide bombers. If a few thousand (million, billion) are inconvenienced, too bad.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/03/2006 14:42
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#8
Moderate muzzies hate you to moderate death(only)!
Posted by: ed ||
08/03/2006 16:32
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#11
And events like suicide bombings etc. are superb tools for recruiting and indoctrinating people against you, too! Be careful not to wake up the sleeping giant!
#12
In the first instance, to accept the term "moderate" as applicable in such a context as with the muzzies' creed means (as if) you already accede to their optional right to be extreme as well. Insidious implication therein. Taqiyyah at every turn.
#13
Suicide bombers are brought in from Soddi and Afghanistan for the suiside missions.
Actually suicide bombers from Afghanistan is extremely rare. Afghans believe in fighting an enemy and if they die, then its God's will. They view suicide bombings as cowardice.
Recently there has been an increase in Foreign fighters traveling to Pakistan to the Madrassas and encouraging Pakistanis to become suicide bombers.
When we began to see suicide bombers late last year in Afghanistan, we asked the Afghan soliders what was up. They simply told us "Their not Afghani, not even the Taliban would do this". But it did seem that the Pakistani Mullahs were changing the mind of some of their students.
Much like the Pashtuns (tribe dominant on the Afghan/Pakistan border, even more radical islam will probably sway many indonesians to become jihad party favors.
MIAMI, Aug. 2, 2006 On the streets of Cuba today there is a mystery where's the boss? Since Raul Castro officially became Cuba's interim president Monday, filling in for his ailing brother, Fidel Castro, no one has seen him. "He should have appeared by now," said bookseller Rolando Anderson. No one has seen Fidel Castro either, whose health has been failing in public for several years.
The leader's signature now appears on a statement saying, "I am in good spirits." But for security reasons his true condition remains a state secret.
But why is the new interim president keeping his own whereabouts a state secret?
"In the next few days, he should step forward and let people see him. Otherwise there will be all kinds of speculation," said Wayne Smith the former chief U.S. diplomat to Havana.
In Miami, the news of Fidel Castro's improving help has dampened the celebrations that surged through Little Havana when the Cuban president's illness was announced. The parties have been replaced by a new preoccupation conspiracy theories. Questions are swirling about whether Castro's signature might have been forged, or if a power struggle is under way.
"It's always been a conspiracy. They'll tell you one thing and do another," said Cuban-American Armando Villasuso. Clearly something is going on in Cuba. Some day we will know what it means.
Possibilities:
1. Raul is sitting by Fidel's bedside, cheering his recovery
2. Raul is sitting by Fidel's bedside, holding a pillow over his face
3. Gone to the mattresses, transfer of power didn't go 'smoothly'
4. Checking on flights to Switzerland, just in case
5. Kegger at Fidel's!
Posted by: Steve ||
08/03/2006
11:10 ||
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#1
6. Suha Arafat screaming outside the door to Fidel's hospital room.
#3
Hugo summoned Raul for, ahem, consulations. Cuba will henceforth be a Venezuela's Puerto Rico.
Posted by: Evil Elvis ||
08/03/2006 12:05
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#4
1. Raul knows better than to upstage Fidel.
2. Raul would make a great target right about now.
3. Better to keep the masses and the CIA guessing than to risk unrest. Fidel might have difficulty escaping a mob right now.
#5
1. Raul was injured in the same attack as Fidel, they thought he was okay but had complications.
2. Raul was going to take power but a General killed him first and now there is a power-play going on.
3. Raul is still taking instructions from his long-winded brother on how to run the government.
#6
RAUL: Here's one.
CART MASTER: Nine Pesos.
FIDEL: I'm not dead!
CART MASTER: What?
RAUL: Nothing. Here's your nine Pesos.
FIDEL: I'm not dead!
CART MASTER:'Ere. He says he's not dead!
RAUL: Yes, he is.
FIDEL: I'm not!
CART MASTER: He isn't?
RAUL: Well, he will be soon. He's very ill.
FIDEL: I'm getting better!
RAUL: No, you're not. You'll be stone dead in a moment.
CART MASTER: Oh, I can't take him like that. It's against regulations.
FIDEL: I don't want to go on the cart!
RAUL: Oh, don't be such a baby.
#2
Point 1: He urged Muslim states to "isolate" the United States and Britain, accusing them of supporting Israel's military offensive and saying they should be expelled from the U.N. Security Council.:
I agree:
1) We should isolate ourselves from Muslim states too, just to be sure we're doing it properly
2) We should leave the UNSC, in fact we should leave the UN
3) The UN should pack its bags and set sail for a country more in line with its moral compass - say Zimbobwe.
and
Point 2: replace 'Israel' with 'Iranian Leadership' in this headline and really end this 'crisis'
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/03/2006 12:23
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#3
And no more aid to Egypt, Jordan, Paleos, etc...
#4
Right. Like the jew's would'nt become terrorist like the muslim's if this happened.
Besides, if they ever succeed in this, the rest of the countries of the Caliphite are next.
20 years from now, he might say " just wipe France off the earth, and it will solve the problem".
#5
"Although the main solution is for the elimination of the Zionist regime, at this stage an immediate cease-fire must be implemented," he said.
Your boys getting their asses kicked again? Too bad those damn Zionists just won't roll over and die like you want them to, huh, you malignant little dwarf.
#6
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday the solution to the Middle East crisis is to destroy Israel...
Then step up to the plate, you P***Y. Send trroops. Send warplanes. Lead the charge like Saladin. It's really easy to hide behind rhetoric, proxies, women and children like most Lions of IslamTM.
"Although the main solution is for the elimination of the Zionist regime, at this stage an immediate cease-fire must be implemented," he said.
Let me translate yourfarsi: We are getting the living s*** out of us again by Israel. Please stop kicking the living s*** out us before all of the 100s of millions of dollars Iran we have invested in our proxy Hezbollah is totally wasted.
#7
"Although the main solution is for the elimination of the Zionist regime, at this stage an immediate cease-fire must be implemented," he said."
If there ever was a reason for no-ceasefire, this statement gives it to us. the fact that he used the word "must" is interesting.
#8
Deep breathing anymouse, deeeeep breathing mate.
Ahmadinejad is definitely going to be a lot warmer by the end of the year. Firstly (and briefly) here on earth, and then a lot hotter and for a loooong time somewhere else...
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/03/2006 13:22
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#9
Thanks, Tony. Sometimes I get pretty pumped up.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/03/2006 13:38
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#11
'round 1980 we were all humming a certain Beach Boys song.
What was that again ?
Posted by: J. D. Lux ||
08/03/2006 13:57
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#12
He urged Muslim states to "isolate" the United States and Britain
Listen carefully to the master. The only way that Ahmadinejad and the mullahs can possibly keep hold on the reins of power is to impose the worst sort of isolation upon their own people.
The United States and Britain are far to integrated into the world's economy for some p!ssant he||hole like Iran to enforce a global embargo upon them (we won't even mention military might). To give you some perspective regarding this, consider that, barring petroleum exports, America imports twice as much dollar value in manufactured goods from HONG KONG as it does from the entire Arab Middle East.
It is this entire lack of modernization that continues to keep the Islamic countries locked into a stone age milieu. Guess who is responsible for it? Islamic leaders. You all know the reason why. It is far easier to control a technologically illiterate population.
We need to build super-cheap satellite wireless notepad computers and air-drop them into Iran to begin a relentless campaign of enlightenment with respect to the abuses of their current regime. This is the only alternative to simply decapping the Iranian leadership structure.
Whichever route we choose, it must be selected soon. A nuclear armed Iran would represent the most significant strategic blunder of this new century. Iran's fomenting of the Israeli regional conflict is all the evidence needed of its intentions once they gain the stage as a nuclear power.
#15
Many of the problems in the mideast would go away if this path were followed Zenster. Should have done something when our people were held hostage by the mad mullahs back in 1979.
#18
#12: "We need to build super-cheap satellite wireless notepad computers and air-drop them into Iran to begin a relentless campaign of enlightenment with respect to the abuses of their current regime. This is the only alternative to simply decapping the Iranian leadership structure. "
I'll take what's behind Door #2, Zenster.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/03/2006 22:49
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One Dead, 2 Injured in Acre Rocket Attack
16:31 Aug 03: (IsraelNN.com) A new wave of rocket attacks by Hizbullah terrorists has killed one person and injured two others in Acre (Akko). One of the Katyusha rockets hit a five-story building. Initial reports indicate that the building was empty and that the victims were in a vehicle, which was hit by shrapnel. Medics are treating the wounded. More to follow.
Katyushas Hit Ma'alot, Kiryat Shemona
16:13 Aug 03: (IsraelNN.com) Katyusha rockets exploded a short time ago in the north, two hitting Ma'alot, south of Tzfat, and one striking Kiryat Shmona, near the Israeli-Lebanese border. Two houses sustained direct hits, but no one was injured. Hizbullah terrorists fired more than 30 rockets on the north Thursday.
Warning Sirens in Tzfat, Tiberias, Haifa
16:04 Aug 03: (IsraelNN.com) Sirens are sounding at this moment in Rosh Pina, Tzfat and Yesod HaMa'aleh in the Upper Galilee and in Tiberias, Nazareth, Afula and several Arab and Druze villages in the Lower Galilee andante Haifa and Carmiel area. Residents have been advised to enter bomb shelters.
Hizbullah Orders Attacks on Tel Aviv if Beirut is Attacked
15:40 Aug 03: (IsraelNN.com) Senior Hizbullah officials have ordered the terror organization's missile unit to launch attacks against Tel Aviv if Beirut is attacked. Such a response is to be immediate, not dependent on additional consultations, the terror commanders are quoted a saying.
Quoted in a Kuwaiti newspaper, the senior terror officials state if Israel attacks Beirut, Tel Aviv will be hit immediately. Regarding targets past Tel Aviv, such a decision will be depend how events unfold, the newspaper reports.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/03/2006
09:33 ||
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Hizbullah Orders Attacks on Tel Aviv if Beirut is Attacked
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/03/2006 12:41
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#8
:) yeah we have a couple dhimmis here. For survival i have more hope in the people than in politicians. Also there is a great disconnect between right polititians and right bloggers. Right blogger are more or less Right-Libertarian, right politicians are mainly social-democrats pro america in the past less so now that Red Army faded. Btw we are doomed economically , but 4 millions get money from the state no one wants to move.
For the media the opinion columns are more or less balanced, the left also doesnt have anyone brilliant to talk. The journos are almost all in the left and extremely ignorants even old leftists protest about the kids that came from schools.
#9
CU2772, why did you expect things to be sorted out in 48-72 hours? And although any IDF soldiers being killed is not good news (as far as I'm concerned), 1 tank with 2 killed 2 wounded is not the end of all things.
There's a lot of things that have puzzled airmchair generals about this war; the 'Fabled IDF conquering all before it in 6 days', 'the heroes of Entebbe', 'the beleaguered on all sides IDF' - where are these amazing warriors and why haven't they conquered all the Arab capitals yet?
Well, it seems that they're doing it all again - confounding the enemy by not doing what the enemy expects...
If you want to get up to speed on what's happening, check out The Belmont Club for some heavyweight analysis, and they seem ok with things... Be prepared to put the effort in though - it took me an hour to get through one thread, although.
grom - take it easy mate, I'm not sure CU2772 is a troll or someone who is really after information.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/03/2006 13:17
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#10
No, he's probably soncere, and like Ns, it's not a bad thing to have a contrarian view. Like Patton said IIRC, "when everybody's thinking thes ame thing, nobody is thinking", or something like that.
I much prefer someone who think it's not going well when it's going well (and I do hope it's going well, though the leadership in Israel worries me a lot, to be frank, again, I would have prefered the likoud to win), than the reverse. Blind optimism or delusions are not good.
#12
Belmont Club is nearer my opinion on the subject:
"Perhaps sensing this, Netanyahu has brought up the decisions of the "security cabinet on the 13th of this month" to warn to Olmert not to renege on an earlier decision to win "a strategic victory"; to "complete the job"
But the latest accounts of IDF activities in Lebanon which have been described as "reshaping the border" cannot be described as a strategic campaign in any meaningful sense of the word. It is still a preparation if it is anything. The strategic part of the campaign implicit in Netanyahu's words: "a strategic victory. Those were the objectives set out by the government, justly, wisely, and boldly. They were presented to the security cabinet on the 13th of this month" -- the campaign the cabinet decided on -- was not yet in evidence. The question is whether it remains on the agenda."... Monday, July 31, 2006
#13
Others have voiced views similar to CU here. He's clearly not a troll. English ain't his first language, so sometimes he doesn't express himself too well. Can't we just stick him in the "loyal opposition" category instead of beating up on him?
#14
CU doesn't seem like a troll. He doesn't even exactly seem like a member of the opposition. I believe this is a language barrier thingy. With that said, I should like to point out that CUs English is a hell of a lot better than my Portugese.
#15
Clerert Uneamp2772, this is not a right wing site, nor Conservative, nor Republican. There are plenty of those on the web, but this site isdevoted to understanding the War on Terror in all its myriad tentacles. Some of us are Registered Democrats and even atheists. Quite a few of us are neither American nor living in the U.S. (You might ask Mr. gromgoru his thoughts on the situation, as he is an Israeli posting from Israel. I'm sure if you ask nicely, he'll like you better. Seriously!) We try to approach this more as intelligence analysts, like the site owner was before he retired to his current career that somehow involves computers.
I hope that helps explain the reception you found here. And welcome!
#17
Ok CU2772, as you've been to the Belmont Club ;)
My opinion is that things are moving along more or less the way Israel wants them to, and that they're involved in a lot of disinformation. Disclaimer: I have no military experience, but I do have a logical and scientific mind and have picked up on who seems to know what they're talking about (here and elsewhere).
To my mind it's entirely likely that Netanyahu's calls to Omert to 'finish the job' are designed to sow more disinformation amongst Hizzys, Syria and Iran. Although Israeli politics seems suicidal at times, it does seem that most Israelis recognise that this war is a critical situation for the country (see the article by 'The Four Mothers', This war is different) and for that reason we will see a 'strategic victory'.
Somewhat OT: Old Spook posted something a few days ago about 'turning the flank' on Syria, which meant the Israelis where within striking distance of Damascus - designed to tell Syria to 'shut up and not get involved?' Maybe.
We also mustn't forget that GW has said that Iran will not be a nuclear power, so Israel will be taking a lead from him too.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/03/2006 15:49
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Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/03/2006 15:59
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#20
Thanks for all the words here.
I just will tell you that i know some Israelis from their army. I dont have contacts right now but the opinion is that upper schelons and politicians lost the contact with the men that do the fight.Ex: if you see pictures of reservists and even some non-reservists, they dont have weapon sights and body armour.
"and that they're involved in a lot of disinformation"
I am of the opinion that is almost impossible the have desinformation for something big. If they advance to Tyre or something everyone would be talking, Baalbek was known when the fighting was still on.
The advance only happened because Israel people pressure not because politicians wanted. They could have started it 2nd week easily even letting 1 week for airpower. The crazyness of the issue is exemplified by Bint Jeil assault with several deaths then retire, then next day there was already a rocket launcher there. Now after this idiocy it is finaly occupied or what remains of it.
Now think the implications for Israeli economy to have +300000 persons not working for all this time. Speed is of essence. Then you have Olmert and Halutz words...
#21
"CU2772, I'm getting tired of you, you little perfora rectii!"
Gromgoru, there was once a time, a year or so ago, when your own comments on Rantburg were at least as negative, and devoid of hope, as CU2772's are today. Day after day, it was doom and gloom, all is lost, yadda yadda yadda. If anyone should know what it was once like to be hopelessly pessimistic, it is you. So give the guy a break, eh?
CU2772, sometimes one just has to grit one's teeth and resign oneself to the insecurity of not knowing for sure what is happening, and have faith that in the end, right will prevail.
We *WILL* win this.
Posted by: Dave D ||
08/03/2006 16:26
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#22
But isn't gromgoru's Latin simply gorgeous! ;-)
Tony (UK), elves have a different sense of time than simple humans -- all that immortality gets in the way of clear thinking, I suppose. Coupled with a testosterone buzz from the Fairy Convention you both recall so clearly, and...
And doesn't everybody think the upper echelons are out of touch? In all organizations?
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/03/2006 19:08
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#24
Gromgoru, there was once a time, a year or so ago, when your own comments on Rantburg were at least as negative, and devoid of hope
My frustration was with Israelis infatuation with an idea of Peace & being loved by the World---which expressed itself as carring more for Arab's lives than our own.
CU annoys me because of his (armchair general) views. Casualties don't mean loosing, they are just the cost of doing business. Bottom line, I hate people who expect IDF to be superman almost as much as I hate people who demand IDF to be "supermoral"[1].
The world awoke Sunday to the news that an Israeli airstrike killed 57 Lebanese civilians, leading Israel to stop airstrikes for 2 days - but evidence indicates the "massacre" may have been a fraud. The supposed massacre caused a major turnabout in world diplomacy. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice suddenly canceled her plans to fly to Beirut, saying "my work towards a ceasefire is really here [in Jerusalem] today." The implication was clearly that the onus was now upon Israel. French President Jacques Chirac condemned Israel's "unjustified action which demonstrates more than ever the need for an immediate ceasefire," Jordan's King Abdullah called it an "ugly crime," and other world leaders echoed these sentiments.
Though Israel emphasized that Hizbullah was to blame for waging its rocket war against Israel from within a civilian population, Foreign Ministry officials repeated their "deep regret at the loss of innocent life in the campaign against Hizbullah," and were forced to promise a "thorough and comprehensive examination." However, the incident may have been all one big fraud, staged by Arab elements for the world media in order to lead precisely to the situation described above.
The central piece of evidence leading to this conclusion is the fact, mentioned by IDF officials from the very beginning, that the building collapsed a full seven hours after the Israel Air Force bombing. Why, then, would the residents inside not have been evacuated in the meantime? As Brig.-Gen. Amir Eshel of the Israeli Air Force told reporters Sunday night, It is difficult for me to believe that they waited eight hours to evacuate it. Without additional evidence, Eshel merely left open the possibility that Hizbullah terrorists, or explosives they left behind, caused the explosion.
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Posted by: Steve ||
08/03/2006
09:26 ||
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#1
"Americans and Westerners are not used to dealing with carefully orchestrated and large-scale deception of this kind. It is time that it be recognized as a weapon of warfare, and an extremely potent one at that."
And what do you thing the enemy has been doing for years in Iraq? Now that the possibility exists that by playing with the anti-Israeli terrorists in Lebanon rather than the anti-American/Iraqi terrorists in Iraq, you might, just might, alienate your Friends of Israel sponsors, you 'discover' you might be used to further the cause of the enemy? The feigned surprise is rather unbecoming. And an election is coming up in November. How coincidental.
#2
SS1847, I can never figure out why the Left is so incoherent. Constructing an argument is not that hard. My daughter managed it around age 7. So what's with the meme>meme>meme I've made an argument silliness.
#4
Actually, my dear Shong Sheager8147, the argument has been made, loudly and repeatedly, since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 that the reporters and journalists of the mainstream media have been witting or unwitting catspaws of the enemy -- surely you remember the fuss about Dan Rather's little investigative contretemps vis a vis President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard? I find it odd that you've only just become aware of this. But then there is an election coming up in a few months, as you said, so perhaps that explains your current preternatural acuity.
#6
Oh, how horrible that those eeeevil JOOOOOS committed a terrible slaughter in Jenin Kana! We're SO LUCKY that the intrepid, unbiased MSM is right there watching to make certain that the absolute, unvarnished, unequivocal truth gets out to the world--just like they did about Jenin!
/sarcasm off
Posted by: mac ||
08/03/2006 11:36
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#7
So what, no amount of evidence to the contrary will affect the prevailing memes.
#9
Israel taking out a few dozen reporters would cause a stink in newsrooms around the world, but would do wonders for "clearing the air". Robert Fisk can be "victim" #1. Any other nominees?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/03/2006 15:36
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#10
"Robert Fisk can be "victim" #1. Any other nominees?"
#11
I nominate charles enderlin, France 2 teevee channel's permanent envoy to Israel, and msm enabler of the pallywood al durah blood libel which has sowed so much hate in the middle east and elsewhere.
#12
Nope...You guys are all wrong. I read the Daily Kos last night and he insists this another "Dan Rather-gate", and the right wing blogs are trying to cover for Israel. Puts the Rantburgers right up there with UFO-freaks, and other conspiracy nuts.
#13
Well, someone needs to tell MSNBC, because of 11:11 Eastern time, they still had a heartwrenching story of a mother pulling her little girl out of the wreckage, and of course, it's the Jews' fault.
#14
Yuk to that MSNBC story - standard drivel from AP and Al-Reuters and not a single word about the big story circulating around; that those kids might well have been put in that building by the Hizbollocks swine.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/03/2006 19:21
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#15
Christiane - war slut
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/03/2006 20:18
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GENEVA - Switzerlands supreme court on Thursday cleared the way for legal assistance to German authorities investigating alleged smuggling of material for Libyas nuclear weapons programme in 2001 to 2003. In a ruling released Thursday, the Federal Tribunal rejected an appeal by the owners of a South African company, who had sought to block the transfer of Swiss banking documents to Germany.
The couple, who were not named, were suspected of transferring funds to Swiss bank accounts after being commissioned to make parts for gas centrifuges to enrich uranium, according to the ruling. They had received a one million euro (1.3 million dollars) advance payment in Dubai, the Swiss federal prosecutors office charged.
The case is related to the trial in Germany of a 63 year-old German engineer, Gotthard Lerch, on charges of helping Libyas attempts to develop nuclear weapons. Lerch, who was arrested last year in Switzerland, where he lived, has denied the accusations.
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Posted by: Steve ||
08/03/2006
09:20 ||
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QUETTA, Pakistan -Pakistani forces have nearly crushed an insurgency led by a tribal chieftain in the restive southwest province of Baluchistan, the provincial governor said. Governor Owais Ahmad Ghani said late Wednesday that the government controlled 99 percent of the area around Dera Bugti town, the former stronghold of elderly insurgent leader Nawab Akbar Bugti. The autonomy-seeking rebels say they are fighting for greater political rights and a bigger share of profits from gas-rich Baluchistans natural resources.
In an offensive launched after rockets landed near President Pervez Musharraf on a visit to Baluchistan in December, 84 tribal rebels and 42 Pakistani troops had died, he said. Sixty-two civilians including women and children had also been killed, mostly by rebel landmines, he told reporters in the provincial capital Quetta. Pakistani forces had used helicopters and spy drones and had received US aid to tackle the insurgents, he said. Hundreds of tribal fighters had also surrendered under an amnesty programme while large quantities of ammunition, rockets and landmines had been recovered, he added.
Ghani alleged that the rebels were receiving up to 500 million rupees (eight million dollars) a year from foreign supporters, without specifying who they were. Pakistan in January said it had evidence that its nuclear-armed rival India was involved in the troubles in Baluchistan.
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Posted by: Steve ||
08/03/2006
09:04 ||
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#1
Contrast this with the Pastun areas. Why it's almost as if the Pakistanis want the Taliban running the NWFP.
Posted by: ed ||
08/03/2006 17:42
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At least 21 people have been killed in a car bomb attack on a market in southern Afghanistan, officials say. At least 13 people were injured in the attack, which took place in the southern province of Kandahar. "There was a suicide attack in Panjwayi bazaar. Twenty-one civilians, including children, were killed and 13 others were injured," interior ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanizai is quoted as saying by AFP.
Earlier on Thursday, a Nato soldier died in Kandahar when a bomb hit his vehicle. Another Nato soldier was wounded, the alliance said.
And local officials said 10 Taleban fighters were killed by Afghan and Nato forces in the neighbouring Helmand province, during a raid on a Taleban hideout.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/03/2006
08:59 ||
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A bombing in the centre of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, has killed nine people and injured more than 20, police have reported. An official said the bomb was strapped to a motorbike parked near the near the busy al-Rashid shopping area.
The attack comes as the UK's outgoing ambassador in Iraq, William Patey, warned that civil war was a more likely outcome in Iraq than stable democracy. Iraq is facing a surge of violence with about 100 people being killed daily.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/03/2006
08:46 ||
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Senator Lieberman is expressing dismay at a caricature, distributed by a blogger, Jane Hamsher, closely allied with his opponent Ned Lamont, that depicts him in black face at the side of President Clinton. "I have taken a lot of abuse in this campaign from Ned and his supporters, been hit with a lot of lies and smears, but this has got to be a new low," Mr. Lieberman said. "This is one of the most disgusting and hurtful images that has been used in American history. It's deeply offensive to people of all colors, and it has absolutely no place in the political arena today."
Mr. Lieberman faces an August 8 Democratic primary in Connecticut that polls show is neck and neck. Mr. Lamont, who has been endorsed by the New York Times, has attacked Mr. Lieberman's support for the war in Iraq. Yesterday, Mr. Lamont campaigned with the Reverend Al Sharpton and the Reverend Jesse Jackson. The Lieberman campaign said the blogger who posted the image travels regularly with the Lamont campaign and raises money for Mr. Lamont.
"The Art of Dueling"
The Richmond Publishing Co.; Ltd 1971
Originally printed in 1836. 70pp. Author's name unknown. A practical guide to the art, etiquette and general institution of dueling "that will sufficiently educate the raw youth in the practice, to enable him to accept a challenge and take the field on equal terms with a skilled antagonist".
#2
Aw, hell, why am I not surprised in the slightest by this? Must be because that wing of the party has conveniently whitewashed Senator Byrd's (D-KKK) past, among other things.
I'm going to turn Republican one of these days, I swear.....
#4
I'm sure Jane thinks of herself as a good-hearted "Progressive" (progressing toward what? *shrug*) who LOVES "people of color" (at least in the abstract) and meant it only for the Greater Good.
#6
Mo-toons, home style, sounds like t'me.....
and here i was beginning to think J.L. might , just might have some potential to upset any other donk in 2008.
need to go nibble a teddy bear, or something...
Kuala Lumpur, 3 August (AKI) - Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday that removing Israel was the solution to the Middle Eastern crisis. "The main solution is for the elimination of the Zionist regime," the president said in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he is attending a meeting of Islamic nations with the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). Ahmadinejad, whose country has been accused of arming HeZbollah militias with Syria, also called for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon. "Though the main solution is the elimination of the Zionist regime, in this phase, an immediate ceasefire should be implemented," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by Iranian state television.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/03/2006
08:38 ||
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It's ONE solution; elimination of Iran might be an alternative solution. Or maybe elimination of Islam. You have to be open-minded and consider all the options.
#3
Can't believe he's seriously saying this in Kuala Lumpur, supposedly an "International City." Gotta wonder exactly how many Arab leaders told him afterwards to keep it on the "down low, don't play your hand to early, man."
Posted by: BA ||
08/03/2006 9:25
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#4
Now is THAT helpful in your book, Mr. Malloch Brown?
#5
BA, this guys a poser and an inciter, his big weapon is his breath, his target, those within earshot, his goal, inspire action by a cadre of folks whose options are limited by the systems in which they live. people who respond to these outlandish comments have already forfieted thier liberty and replaced it with "resigned stupidity" common to a hopeless cause.In other words, the birth of more useful idiots is all that can come of it.
#8
Now, now, Mr. eLarson, let's not be too hasty. I mean, true diversity and freedom of expression allows for comments like this. Of course, we inspired elites(tm) of the UN would even accept the elimination of Israel IF it stopped the cycle of violence(tm) (/sarcasm off).
Posted by: Mr. Malloch Brown ||
08/03/2006 10:35
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#9
If I remember my history, I believe it's Ahmadinejad that fed the multitude of 5000 with 5 pieces of fish and bread.
The next US president may give up on Middle East democratisation, but we shouldn't. It's still our best hope
by Timothy Garton Ash
A central claim of the Bush administration's foreign policy is that the spread of democracy in the Middle East is the cure for terrorism. So what do you do when you get a democratically elected terrorist organisation? Ignore the contradiction. Pretend it doesn't exist.
In the past few weeks there has been something utterly surreal about the US continuing to allow the Israeli military to pummel Hizbullah, and kill women and children along the way, while insisting that Washington's purpose is to strengthen the legitimate, democratic government of Lebanon. Meanwhile, the Lebanese prime minister, Fouad Siniora, has been calling desperately for the one thing that the US and Israel have refused: an immediate ceasefire. And Hizbullah, which the US and Britain characterise as a terrorist organisation, is itself an important part of that democratically elected government.
So we must do everything for that democratically elected government except what it asks. We know best what is good for them. Whoever said democracy meant letting the people themselves decide? As Lebanon's special envoy, Tarek Mitri, told PBS, America's publicly funded broadcaster, on Tuesday: "You can't support a government while you're allowing its country to be ruined." Meanwhile, Hamas is not allowed to operate as the democratically elected government of the Palestinians. The Palestinian people spoke. But they got it wrong. They must have been misinformed. They must think again.
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#1
The Donks don't support democracy in America [i.e. Washington State, East St. Louis, etc], so why would you expect them to support democracy elsewhere. Its like the old Soviet title for People's Democratic Republic of ..., which was never democratic or republican. The Donks only want power to rule.
#2
Thanks to Swiss Police we now know that what is going on is the implementation of an Islamic 14 page plan cooked up by the Muslim Brotherhood 23 years ago and called 'The Project'. Hamas and Hezbolla and Al Quada are no accident but a well financed conspiracy to effect Islamic Globization. This is a war no different than fighting the Nazis in world war 2. Iran controls Syria economically but lets Al Quada go through Syria to aid the Insurgency. Hezbolla trains Sadr's army. Al Quada trains at Hezbolla camps in Lebanon. They all work together just as outlined in 'The Project' and verified by witness testimony. The author above should do some homework. Democracies do not work in nations with terror intimidated populations. Remove the terror. Then Vote.
#4
"Learn from experience that well-defined borders, the rule of law and independent media are as important as an election - and may need to precede it."
Seems to me, until free and fair elections are established the other virtues of Democracy such as the rule of law and an independent judiciary are unlikely to follow. And depending on who is elected those virtues still may never be obtained. (ie. HAMAS) I dont know .maybe my chicken and egg meter isnt working.
#5
1. Mr. Ash is British I believe, not an American Democrat.
2. He is incorrect in stating that support for democracy requires agreeing to what a democratic govt asks for in foreign policy
3. Given that the govt of Lebanon doesnt control half the country, its not clear its meaningful (yet) to call Lebanon a democracy. One would think those lefties who call the elected govt a "puppet" would at least acknowledge the way Hezbollah force acts as a limit on what the govt of Lebanon can say.
#6
I agree LH. Ash fails to recognize that when a sovereign nation (Israel in this case) is attacked by an organization within another nation (democratic or otherwise) it doesn't really matter how that particular organization got elected or if the gov't/country it belongs to is democratic. The right to self defense is inherent.
Case in point, if a political group within the Mexico were firing rockets into San Antonio or whatever we would be cutting up big swaths of mexican territory and fixing the problem asap. I also highly doubt we'd listen to anyone trying to tell us to use "restraint" when American civilians are being killed by rocket fire from terrorist used civilian neighborhoods across the border.
#7
"if a political group within the Mexico were firing rockets into San Antonio or whatever we would be cutting up big swaths of mexican territory and fixing the problem asap."
Hey, just tell them to make sure not to aim for the Northwest side. I just got my roof replaced.
#8
What we in the community of established liberal democracies should do is not abandon the pursuit of democratisation but refine it. Recognise that only in exceptional circumstances (such as postwar Germany and Japan) do democracies grow from under military occupation, and that the purpose of building democracy does not justify military intervention.
What an idiot: we first BEAT THE CRAP out of them, occupied them in force, got rid of any cultural characteristics incompatible with Liberal Democracy, and then built them up in OUR image. BOTH of those nations now get the hives even THINKING about giving their "armies" REAL teeth and permission to use it in worthy projects.
Being pathological means obsessively repeating the same actions, but expecting a different outcome. Perhaps we haven't succeeded in nation building because we haven't done what's actually WORKED.
In 1973, when a bank robbery turned into a six-day siege, several employees of the Kreditbanken in Stockholm, Sweden were held hostage under threat of death. At some point in those six long days, the psychological pressure so badly twisted some of the hostages' minds that they believed the robbers were protecting them from the police. This emotional pathology became known as the Stockholm Syndrome. Nations have psyches too. And when nations are held captive they can also fall prey to that same emotional disorder. At the national level it deserves another name. Because today's most prominent hostage nation is Lebanon, the emotional disorder should be called the Siniora Syndrome.
Lebanon was, for decades, a model for Middle Eastern democracy. Its collapse into the captivity of Syria, Iran and their terrorist surrogate Hizballah is the operational template being followed by opponents of democracy in Iraq. Under Lebanon's "National Pact" of 1943, ethnic groups - Sunni, Druze, Shia, Christian - agreed that they would form a "confessional" democracy, representation in the national congress for each ethnicity in proportion to its numerical strength. But the most important part of the pact was agreement that no group would ally itself with any group or force outside of Lebanon: "no victors and no vanquished" was the principle uniting the Lebanese. The National Pact began to fall apart in 1958 when Lebanese Arabs responded to calls for Arabic nationalism. The Pact was finally destroyed in the 1975 civil war when Sunni and Druze Lebanese allied themselves with Syria and Arafat's Palestinians. And so began thirty years of domination by Syria which included the creation and rise of Hizballah, which has controlled southern Lebanon since Israel withdrew in 2000. All of this supposedly ended in the 2005 "Cedar Revolution" in Lebanon.
Withdrawal of Syrian forces, the election of a "democratic" government and the continued presence of UN "peacekeepers" on the Israel-Lebanon border were supposed to herald the emergence of Lebanon as a lasting democracy. But instead, the Syrians - determined that their influence would not be substantively reduced -- left solid political, intelligence and terrorist operations to keep Lebanon under control. Syria assassinated former Lebanese PM Hariri for trying to rid Lebanon of Syrian domination. Worse still, Hizballah has become a major part of the elected Lebanese government. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government isn't reluctantly accepting Hizballah. They are praising Hizballah's political influence and "accomplishments." Hizballah and the Lebanese people are fulfilling each others' expectations. We are bombarded daily with proofs that Lebanon - its government and its citizens - have all fallen prey to the Siniora Syndrome.
All of Lebanon's top political leaders, from President Lahoud to Prime Minister Siniora to their UN envoy, all echo the Hizballah party line. Siniora parrots Hizballah's demands for Israeli withdrawal and a cease-fire that would allow Hizballah to remain in de facto control of his nation. Siniora - who at times seems to be speaking for Hizballah, not for his people -- proclaims Hizballah as Lebanon's savior from Israel. Once again the hostages are acclaiming the bank robbers for protecting them from the cops.
Lebanese President Lahoud, in a Der Spiegel interview, said "Hizballah enjoys utmost prestige in Lebanon, because it freed our country. All over the Arab world you hear: Hizballah maintains Arab honor, and even though it (Hizballah) is very small, it stands up to Israel. And of course [Hizballah chieftain] Nasrallah has my respect." Were he to say opposite, Lahoud knows his fate would be the same as Hariri's.
Under UN Security Council Resolution 1559, the Lebanese government is supposed to be disarming Hizballah. But that is not only beyond Lahoud's power: it is not even his wish. Lahoud's special envoy to the UN, Nahoud Mahmoud, told Tim Russert that Hizballah, "...are part of the Lebanese society and they have their...legitimacy through...fighting, the...occupation [by] Israel..." When asked if the Lebanese Army is too weak to disband Hizballah, Mahmoud said, "It's not on our political agenda to disband them militarily." This is a man representing a government with which he shares a psychological pathology: he counts himself on the side of those who hold him, his people and his government hostage. For the Stockholm hostages - and those such as Symbionese Liberation Army hostage-cum-member Patty Hearst - it required years of psychoanalysis to cure them of their emotional disorder. For Lebanon, there is neither the time nor the means for slow cures.
As the Israelis expand their military incursion into Lebanon and push northward to the Litani River, the strategic stakes are very high. If they succeed, Iran's gambit to take the pressure off their nuclear weapons program will have failed, Syria will be cowed and quiet for a time, and the many pundits who are already proclaiming Israel's defeat will have been proven wrong as they were in 1967 and 1973. The world's focus will, as it must be, be on the dangerous terrorists who comprise Iran's regime.
But if the Israelis wish to crush Hizballah, they cannot do so conclusively in southern Lebanon. Hizballah will be reinforced, resupplied and rearmed by Syria and Iran in a matter of months and Israel will have to mount this sort of invasion again and again. No international force will accomplish Hizballah's destruction, especially one from the UN or NATO. Because the French are still French, neither the Russians nor the Chinese need bestir themselves to doom the operation.
According to a Reuters report, during a visit to Beirut French foreign minister Douste-Blazy said, "It was clear that we could never accept a destabilization of Lebanon, which could lead to a destabilization of the region." He added, "In the region there is of course a country such as Iran -- a great country, a great people and a great civilization which is respected and which plays a stabilizing role in the region." Iran is, indeed, trying to establish a new stability in the Middle East. If Israel fails to force Hizballah out of Lebanon and free the Siniora government from captivity, then Iran will have succeeded. It will have established Lebanon as the first captured nation in its new caliphate. That would be a strategic defeat for Israel, and for us.
To be even partially successful against Hizballah - to do enough to preclude Syria and Iran from re-establishing them quickly in Lebanon - the Israelis have to drive it out of the Lebanese government. To do that, they will need the loud and clear support of America and every other nation that understands the Siniora Syndrome. We, and the Israelis, must force the expulsion of Hizballah from Lebanon and its political life. No nation can pretend to be a democracy when the elected government is controlled by terrorists.
Jed Babbin was a deputy undersecretary of defense in the George H.W. Bush administration. He is a contributing editor to The American Spectator.
I think it helped me figure out a translation problem I was having, too. All this time, I thought "Arab honor" meant "honor", when it really means "Arab dominance." That's interesting, too, when you think about the instances in which "honor" is most often uttered.
Oh, and Mr. Bolton, you might mention this at the next discussion to find out whether 1559 has been nullified: (Mahmood) "It's not on our political agenda to disband them militarily."
Posted by: Jules in the Hinterlands ||
08/03/2006 15:48
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#2
They should detach half the IDF and IAF from the Israeli Gov. and refer to it as "the military wing of B'nai Brith", then they , like Hizbollah will be invisible uncontrollable and beyond considering officially.
Posted by: J. D. Lux ||
08/03/2006 16:19
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#3
It wouldn't be a bad idea to have a few thousand US SOF or ex-SOF to form a retaliation wing to respond to muslim atrocities. Better yet, to push back islam from the borders. There could even be tax deductable charities to fund them.
Posted by: ed ||
08/03/2006 16:55
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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez promised on Wednesday to supply impoverished Mali with $100 million worth of petroleum products a year, partly in return for bauxite, gold and other minerals. The firebrand Venezuelan leader visited his Malian counterpart Amadou Toumani Toure as he approached the end of a marathon world tour that has seen him shore up key alliances with friendly states including Russia, Iran and Vietnam.
In Mali, dirt poor despite being Africa's third biggest gold producer, Chavez visited a social housing project and vowed his oil aid would help lift the landlocked country out of poverty -- as well as buying in much-needed supplies for his own economy.
"I will give Mali $100 million a year in petroleum products and I do not want payment in cash. I don't want you even to say thank you," Chavez said through an interpreter. "But I need your mineral products like bauxite, gold and fertiliser, and the rest of the total will help you combat poverty." Chavez said he had already made $500,000 available to microfinance projects in Mali and pledged $10 million more. He also offered to build a new social housing project in Mali, on the condition it be named "The Bolivarian" in honour of his country, officially "The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela".
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#4
Right you are, GA. From Ye Olde CIA World Fact Book on Mali:
gold, phosphates, kaolin, salt, limestone, uranium, gypsum, granite, hydropower
note: bauxite, iron ore, manganese, tin, and copper deposits are known but not exploited
Kaolin might help with El Presidente's case of the runs, but I expect it is indeed the uranium he's hoping for.
Some of the long range rockets that were fired at Israel Wednesday noon landed across the Green Line, in the West Bank. The rockets fell near the Palestinian village of Pqua, in the Jenin area. Ynet has learned that parts of the rockets fell off while they were in transit, but caused no injuries or damage.
The rockets' landing site in the Palestinian territories is the most southern point Hizbullah has managed to hit so far. A week and a half ago, an improved Fajr-5 rocket landed in Afula.
An examination by security forces revealed that the rockets were fired from over a 100-kilometer range, apparently from the Lebanese town of Tyre. Police sappers are currently inspecting the rockets' parts and have been able to determine that they are probably old Syrian 302 rockets.
Here's the creepy part. Palestinians 'overjoyed' by rocket attacks
Palestinian witnesses in the Jenin area, who noticed the rocket parts which fell between Beit Shean and Afula, said the rocket appeared to have fallen in the Gilboa area.
A Fatah activist from Jenin added that the rocket hit was heard clearly around the city, and a spark and a flame were also clearly seen. The Fatah member related that local residents cheered when they heard the rocket fall and saw the resulting flames. Even if it were to fall on our heads, it wouldnt have spoiled our joy. All of us here are praying for Hizbullahs success and victory," he said.
Just imagine how much happier he'd be if the thing had killed him.
Posted by: Mike ||
08/03/2006
07:31 ||
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#1
Only in the Middle East.
Even if it were to fall on our heads, it wouldnt have spoiled our joy. All of us here are praying for Hizbullahs success and victory,"
Oookaaay,
Gene pool cleaup team, to your station puh-leaze!
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/03/2006 7:46
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#5
It would be in Israel's best interests if they stepped up and took care of the Israeli Arabs. They were complaining about how long it takes an ambulance to come as opposed to the ones for Jewish children. Part of the battle is for their hearts and minds, and there can be Jewish seething hatred, too. Take the higher road or they will have millions within collaborating against Israel.
#6
Danielle, correct. This is especially critical for Israel's survival. But it's important for ALL western countries, including US. All Arab/Muslims need to be expelled. Look at gratitude of the Muzzies we hauled out of LEB. Now the ingrateful bastards are bringing some sort of asinine lawsuit as their way of thanks. There is absolutely nothing complimentary which can be said about these worthless POS.
#7
Danielle, I think the 'Hearts and Minds' meme was passe even in the 70's. It got a cardiac-start with full-on PC in the 80's and 90's and that's why you hear people talk about it today, as though it's a panacea to the situation.
I truly believe things have morphed into a different state today.
Most Israelis now realise they are in an existential battle, witness Olmert getting hammered over a proposed West Bank pullout - there can be no compromise with people who think you should not exist.
This is what 9/11 showed us, these people want us (being defined as anyone who disagrees with them) dead. No compromise, no 'understanding of the issues from both sides', no 'moral relativism'. No, the only thing that will do for these people is seeing us (today it's the Jews, tomorrow ...) dead.
As to taking care of the Israeli Arabs, I'm reminded of the story from LGF of someone walking into a hospital in Israel surprised at seeing Palestinians and Arabs being treated the same as Israelis. The response was essentially "yes we do this, but it gets hard when they cheer", "cheer?", "yes, when a suicide bomber victim is brought in"
The full story from LGF is here and there are many more from a Google search on 'It gets hard when they cheer'
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/03/2006 11:45
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#8
Even if it were to fall on our heads, it wouldnt have spoiled our joy.
#10
Even if it were to fall on our heads, it wouldnt have spoiled our joy. All of us here are praying for Hizbullahs success and victory," he said.
This one single passage is a prime indicator of exactly why it may be utterly impossible to reconcile Islam, as it currently exists, with modern civilization (save by death).
Let the Palestinians' fascination with death be brought to surfeit. Not even the African cannibal dictators can rival the supremely psychotic idiocy of the Palestinians. Each day, they further prove to the world that they reign unchallenged as the most worthless collection of genocidal lunatics.
With this latest acclaim for Hezbollah's inadvertant and potentially lethal attacks upon their own populace they have finally demonstrated just how unsuited they are for continued existence in this world. Should they be erased from the face of this earth tomorrow, I would not shed a single tear.
CAMP LEMONIER, Djibouti, Aug. 2, 2006 Twenty-five U.S. Marines and one Navy corpsman recently completed a 10-day desert training course conducted by a French Marine regiment from a neighboring camp. Marines from the 4th Provisional Security Company here were invited by the 5th French Marine Regiment at Briere de LIsle Barracks to participate in the course.
The goal of the course is to learn basic survival and combat skills in a desert environment. For this type of exercise Djibouti makes a superb training ground, said French Marine Capt. Michel Ladan, chief of the Desert Training School. The training teaches simple things like eating, drinking, orienting with GPS, medical evacuation, and fighting in the desert environment, he said.
The course is divided into two parts: acclimation and commando training. In the first portion the lessons included education on desert plants and animals, survival skills, how to find water and how to prepare food to stay alive in the desert.
We learned how to make life a little more comfortable when it's 125 degrees, said Cpl. Matthew Kang, 4th Provisional Security Company.
The commando-training portion of the school included daily 15- to 20-mile foot movements, at night, through the high desert mountains. The Marines traveled with a camel caravan that carried their supplies. They also conducted ambushes and mock raids against suspected enemy forces in manufactured villages.
After the acclimation period was over, the platoon stopped eating French Meals Ready to Eat. We were only given two goats, some rice and flour to make little pancakes out of each
day." said Cpl. Emanuel Ramosyajimovich , 4th PSC, "We learned how to kill and skin goats like the locals and then made jerky or cooked them for our meals."
We need to better understand our partners in the war on terror, said Capt. Garth Massey, executive officer, 4th PSC. The French Marines trained here will be working in Afghanistan and other parts of Africa, so training with them was a great opportunity to see firsthand how they go about preparing for missions supporting Operation Enduring Freedom."
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/03/2006
06:41 ||
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Been reading a book on the 5th Marine Regiment. The personal accounts of the Officers are highly appreciative of the French Officers who trained them in trench warfare and prepared them for comabt in WWI.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/03/2006 8:04
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That's pretty cool. National politics and pop culture a side, professional warriors respect other professional warriors and it's neat to see them do some training together.
#3
For all the jokes we make here, there's nothing wrong with the French military that good leadership wouldn't cure.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/03/2006 9:20
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#4
Here, here! For once, the Frenchies do something right. I applaud this move, especially as NATO takes over the task of Afghanistan (of course, I don't think France will play much of a role there either, but it's nice to dream).
Posted by: BA ||
08/03/2006 9:20
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#5
Hey, if you want to learn escape & evasion, study with the best!
#6
"For all the jokes we make here, there's nothing wrong with the French military that good leadership wouldn't cure."
Well, there is money from the budget and societal respect. You might as well say that there is nothing wrong with the French military that couldn't be cured by making it part of the US military. ;-)
Posted by: Mark E. ||
08/03/2006 14:04
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#7
Colin Powell: "America and France are like an old married couple that has been in marriage counseling for 200 years."
Still on the horse tho'.
Posted by: J. D. Lux ||
08/03/2006 15:27
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BAGHDAD As members of a calvary unit began their new mission in Baghdad and were told they would be responsible for a neighborhood called Jihad, which translated from Arabic means 'holy war,' they were surprised to find many residents happy to see them.
The neighborhood's name held some negative connotation on July 9, as Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, began operations in the neighborhood amidst an increase in sectarian violence in the capital. This is from the official website of the Multi-National Force, so we can leave off the usual "swelling, surging, expanding, balooning, blossoming, continuing" adjectives in front of "sectarian violence".
Earlier that day, residents witnessed the killing of at least 40 Sunni Iraqis in a series of violent attacks. A group of terrorists had set up makeshift checkpoints, stopping cars and buses to check each person's identification. They gunned down many of them in the streets.
According to the Soldiers, many locals seemed to welcome the added security the troops provided. Most of the people generally seem happy when they see us especially the kids, thats the biggest thing for me, said Pvt. Loudon Garvey, a cavalry scout from Nashville, Tenn.
Army 1st Lt. Frank Toomey, a 23 year-old platoon leader from Waldwick, N.J., and his team of Soldiers, assumed
responsibility of Jihad as the 10th Mountain Divisions 1st Brigade Combat Team began redeploying to Fort Drum,
N.Y., after completing their yearlong combat tour here.
Toomey said his Soldiers have made a smooth transition from conducting infrastructure assessments with local Iraqi
citizens into a role supporting Iraqi security forces operating in Baghdad.
He said his units primary mission is to support the ISF while they take control of the area, but that the bulk of
security work falls on Iraqi shoulders. Were giving them the ball and blocking for them; they just have to run with it, he said.
The police are gradually stepping up their security operations in Jihad by putting up more checkpoints while the
calvary Soldiers provide security for them, Toomey said, noting that insurgent attacks have shifted away from his
troops toward Iraqi security personnel.
Weve seen a lot of attacks focusing specifically on ISF patrols and checkpoints, he said. Despite all the smiles and waves the Soldiers receive, Garvey said they are well aware of the dangers lurking near the streets of Jihad.
It gets hard out here sometimes, said Spc. Charles Johnson, a cavalry scout from Grayson, Ky., during a joint
patrol with the Iraqi Police, but it feels good to know Im contributing to the mission and helping these guys
out.
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 02 August 2006 )
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/03/2006
06:32 ||
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#1
Two "l's" in "ballooning", yes?
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/03/2006 10:07
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#2
This is from the official website of the Multi-National Force, so we can leave off the usual "swelling, surging, expanding, balooning, blossoming, continuing"
Amusing how the collection of adjectives is so very sexual. Indicative of that whole "war porn" thingy, indeed. Well noted, Bobby!
In a press briefing Wednesday, a senior officer at the General Staff spoke about the operation in which 200 soldiers of elite units raided the Baalbek area in Lebanon. Ten terrorists were killed in the operation around the hospital in Baalbek, all of them armed and wearing bullet-proof vests.
The officer was asked whether the operation at the hospital was aimed at locating intelligence information on the kidnapped soldiers, who may have been treated there before being moved elsewhere, but he refused to answer the question.
According to the officer, the Israel Defense Forces has so far carried out 15 similar operations, also 120-130 kilometers (74.5-80.7 miles) away from the border.
Referring to the continuation of the war, he said that "the operational goal will be reached tomorrow morning an operational control of the traditional security zone in the central region."
The officer said the operation in Baalbek was planned last week to meet two objectives:
1. To deal a blow to the Dar el-Hikma hospital, which was used to cover up Hizbullah and Iranian Revolutionary Guards activities.
2. The second aim was in the Sheikh Habib neighborhood where weapons were seized and five Hizbullah terrorists were nabbed from a building situated about five kilometers from the hospital.
The hospital served as an outpatient clinic for Hizbullah .
"The minute the soldiers arrived they came under fire. There were very few people. Soldiers found disks, computers and encountered armed men. A number of cars arrived at the scene but the forces neutralized them," the officer said.
Multi-operational value
A search of the building led soldiers to weapons.
"The operations have a multi-operational value. They give us a good intelligence picture. Tonight five Hizbullah members whose ages range from 20 to 54 were kidnapped and their names are known to us," the officer said.
The officer added that the operation was not carried out to nab specific Hizbullah members.
The Baalbek operation began after midnight. Foreign sources reported that IDF soldiers were flown into Baalbeck in a bid to kidnap Sheikh Muhammad Yazbek, a member of Hizbullah's High Council and one of the group's top 12 senior members. According to the report, IDF soldiers engaged in fierce battles with Hizbullah gunmen.
Security sources in Lebanon reported that 19 people were killed in IAF strikes in Baalbek, including civilians, children and a Syrian citizen. Hizbullah reported that the Lebanese kidnapped in the operation were innocent citizens and not activists.
Referring to the reports, the officer said that the operation was not aimed at targeting one specific person. He added that other secret operations were taking place in Lebanon but refused to give details. He said the Iranian Revolutionary Guards are smuggling weapons to Hizbullah and in some cases they operate some of these weapons on behalf of the Shiite group.
The officer said despite a decrease in attempts to smuggle arms from Syria to Hizbullah, activities along the Syrian-Lebanese border are being monitored closely.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/03/2006
03:09 ||
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IDF: We'll Control Security Zone By Thursday
Which is something neither the UN nor the Lebanese ever did for years, decades, lifetimes, etc.
Palestinian militias operating out of Lebanon have passed large quantities of heavy weaponry, including rockets, to Hizbullah for use against Israel, a senior Lebanese political source told WND.
German newspaper reports Iran freed son of al-Qaeda leader from house arrest with aim of sending him to Syria-Lebanon border following outbreak of war between Israel, Hizbullah
The move comes amid calls by Palestinian groups in Judea, Samaria and Gaza to prepare for an "escalation" against Israel and follows statements by members of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party that their "fighters" in Lebanon are set to enter combat along with Hizbullah.
Palestinian groups, including Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, maintain armed bases in Lebanon, mostly in the al-Naemeh province just south of Beirut and in the Bekaa Valley near Lebanon's border with Syria. The groups also have offices in Syria.
Israeli and Lebanese officials say the Palestinian groups have been provided over the years with rifles, ammunition, several kinds of long range rockets and antitank and antiaircraft missiles by Iran and Syria. Israel has previously bombed Popular Front bases following rocket attacks against the Jewish state it says were launched from the Palestinian group's military camps in Lebanon.
The Palestinian groups in Lebanon earlier this year clashed with the Lebanese Army. A United Nations Resolutions demands Lebanon disarm "all militias," including armed Palestinian groups.
Lebanese officials tell WND the Palestinian groups in recent days passed heavy weaponry to Hizbullah. They said some of the weapons belonged to Hizbullah but were stored in Palestinian bases.
The officials also said they had information Palestinian camps in Lebanon were being used for Hizbullah training and that some Hizbullah members are still operating out of the camps.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday Israel has destroyed most of Hizbullah's bases, targeted much of Hizbullah's weapons arsenal and destroyed nearly two-thirds of the group's longer-range rockets.
Hizbullah is still thought to possess up to 10,000 more Katyusha rockets capable of hitting northern Israeli cities and hundreds of Zilzal and other kinds of longer range rockets that can target central Israel, including Tel Aviv. As well, security officials here say rockets continue to be smuggled into Lebanon from the country's border with Syria.
During its current military campaign against Hizbullah, Israel has largely refrained from hitting Palestinian bases in Lebanon.
Last week Sultan Abu al-Aynain, leader of Fatah in Lebanon, announced Palestinian gunmen in the country are set to join the fighting against Israel. He said Fatah has thousands of fighters in Lebanon who are prepared to participate in the fighting. It was unclear whether his comments were coordinated with Abbas.
WND reported yesterday Bani al-Hassan, a senior Abbas official, sent a letter to hundreds of Fatah members asking them to prepare for an "escalated battle" against Israel while the Jewish state continues its military campaign in Lebanon. The letter was also sent to members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group, the declared "military wing" of Fatah.
"You the fighters are the new generation that will bring us victory over Israel," Hassan wrote in the letter, which was obtained by WND from a Fatah official.
He compelled Fatah members to "be prepared" for an escalation against the Jewish state but did not mention particulars or give specific instructions.
Later that day Hassan led a rally in Ramallah in which he reportedly informed participants he placed Fatah fighters on high alert "ahead of the possibility of escalation of the conflict in Lebanon, which could manifest itself in an escalation of Israeli actions (here)."
"I know what I'm talking about, and I know what I'm referring to," Hassan reportedly told the crowd.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/03/2006
02:49 ||
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Give these goons a state
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/03/2006 2:57
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Later that day Hassan led a rally in Ramallah in which he reportedly informed participants he placed Fatah fighters on high alert "ahead of the possibility of escalation of the conflict in Lebanon, which could manifest itself in an escalation of Israeli actions (here)."
"I know what I'm talking about, and I know what I'm referring to," Hassan reportedly told the crowd.
#4
You gotta know "escalation" also means NORTH KOREA-TAIWAN somewhere in the meaning. SO iff the Japanese attacked San Francisco, etal after Pearl Harbor, will FDR and Americans have the right to get mad, e.g. iff only a PC "limited attack" against CHINATOWN ala Kai-shek???
#6
A United Nations Resolutions demands Lebanon disarm "all militias," including armed Palestinian groups.
It looks like they are disarming themselves... the hard way. So Fatah feels the need to declare war as officially as Hamas? The world has changed; this time they'll get a bellyfulof it, and the losses will be permanent. They really never do lose an opportunity to lose an opportunity.
#9
All the more reason to absorb Gaza and the West Bank, and forcibly expel the Jordanians, Egyptians, Syrians and Lebanese. Oh! I'm sorry, I meant the 'palestinians'.
#10
You mean for Israel to take the land and send the posers marching into the desert.
I've always thought that would be a great move.
They could go live in the Sinai, nobody's living there. Land is cheap in the scenic Sinai.
#13
We are all venting hard, but I believe the world does not really perceive correctly whats going on here.
I take the hezbies threats very seriously as they have been known to deliver what they promise.
It seems that if the Paleo's will start another front Israel will be forced with its back against the wall because we cannot sustain another five months with two million civilians hiding in bomb shelters.
I am sorry brothers, but the time when we draw some heavyweight weaponry from certain bunkers is getting nearer and nearer.
The time for wholesale massacres of the arab populations of lebanon and paleoland is getting near.
The Hezbbies will eventually succeed in their aims (or their master's aim) of fighting to the last lebanese civillian.
I forsee a regional war in the middle east within two months.
I wish I was wrong.
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
08/03/2006 12:14
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#14
No apologies needed, Elder of Zion. If those who started it will see it finished in ways they made necessary, they have no business complaining about the consequences of their actions. Israel will do what she must, and we will support her completely.
#17
My father is Israeli, EoZ -- his mother used to kaffeeklatch with Golda Meir when she used to have time back before 1948. Daddy was working after hours on Haganah projects when he blew up the Technion lab... and in the 1950's instituted labour safety practices for the government for the northern half of Israel. Mama was born in Germany, but spent the War hiding in Holland from the Nazis; her mother's memoir is archived in Yad Vashem and the Holocaust Museum in DC.
This isn't a game to me.
I'm sure neither the PA Fatah nor anyone els has any control of the historic chaos of the extraterritorial camps, liberalhawk. But formally authorizing what is going on anyway is a big step for the PA Fatah, and certainly could be construed as an act of war.
#18
The time for wholesale massacres of the arab populations of lebanon and paleoland is getting near.
It's not as if they haven't been begging for it over the last few decades. If "disarming" the ring of terrorists bordering Israel requires killing every last man, woman and child in the terror sponsoring regions, then so be it. Long ago they proved their complete lack of use to the modern world. We will not be dragged back into their stone age milieu, and their reluctance abject refusal to join even the most slightly form of civilized society must, therefore, be their death knell.
#20
We are all venting hard, but I believe the world does not really perceive correctly whats going on here.
Especially France. I don't see any common driving purpose to all the different fronts they are approaching this problem on, including their internal fronts. Internally they seem to be restricting behavior that is part of being Muslim, externally they have threatened to nuke anybody who might attack them in a big way, they are courting Iran, and they are pushing for what appears to be a UN resolution as lame as the previous ones for Lebanon. And they say they want peace for all at the same time. What gives here? Pick a side and go for it.
An attack on a hospital, the killing of an entire Lebanese family, the seizure of five men in Baalbek and a new civilian death toll - 468 men, women and children - marked the 22nd day of Israel's latest war on Lebanon.
The Israelis claimed that helicopter-borne soldiers had seized senior Hizbollah leaders although one of them turned out to be a local Baalbek grocer. In a village near the city, Israeli air strikes killed the local mayor's son and brother and five children in their family.
The battle for Lebanon was fast moving out of control last night. Lebanese troops abandoned many of their checkpoints and European diplomats were warning their colleagues that militiamen were taking over the positions. Up to 8,000 Israeli troops were reported to have crossed the border by last night in what was publicised as a military advance towards the Litani river. But far more soldiers would be needed to secure so large an area of southern Lebanon.
The Israelis sent paratroopers to attack an Iranian-financed hospital in Baalbek in the hope of capturing wounded Hizbollah fighters but, after an hour's battle, got their hands on only five men whom the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, later called "tasty fish". The operation suggests what Hizbollah has all along said was the purpose of the Israeli campaign: to swap prisoners and to exchange Hizbollah fighters for the two Israeli soldiers who were captured on the border on 12 July.
Hizbollah continued to fire dozens of missiles over the border into Israel, killing one Israeli and wounding 21, with Israeli artillery firing shells back into Lebanon at the rate of one every two minutes. For the first time, a Hizbollah rocket struck the West Bank as well as the Israeli town of Beit Shean, the longest-range missile to have been fired so far. Yet still the West seems unable to produce an end to a war which is clearly overwhelming both Hizbollah and the Israelis.
Hizbollah obviously has far more missiles than the Israelis believed - there is not a town in northern Israel which is safe from their fire - and the Israeli army apparently has no plan to defeat Hizbollah other than the old and hopeless policy of occupying southern Lebanon. If Hizbollah had planned this campaign months in advance - and if the Israelis did the same - then neither side left room for diplomacy.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/03/2006
02:10 ||
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Whoops, there was another column to that article! Here it is, read it. It only gets better!
The French have wisely said they will lead a peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon only after a ceasefire. And to be sure, they will not let this become a Nato-led army. France already has a company of 100 soldiers in the UN force in southern Lebanon, whose commander is himself French, but Paris, after watching the chaos in Iraq, has no illusions about Western armies in the Middle East.
Outside the shattered Dar al-Hikma hospital in Baalbek yesterday stood two burnt cars and a minivan, riddled with bullet-holes. Hizbollah, it seems, fought the Israelis there for more than an hour. The hospital, which includes several British-manufactured heart machines, was empty when the Israeli raid began and was partly destroyed in the fighting.
The Lebanese army, which has tried to stay out of the conflict - heaven knows what its 75,000 soldiers are supposed to do - was attacked again by the Israelis yesterday when they fired a missile into a car which they claimed was carrying a Hizbollah leader. They were wrong. The soldier inside died instantly, joining the 11 other Lebanese troops proclaimed as "martyrs" by the government from a logistics unit killed in an Israeli air raid two weeks ago.
The obscene score-card for death in this latest war now stands as follows: 508 Lebanese civilians, 46 Hizbollah guerrillas, 26 Lebanese soldiers, 36 Israeli soldiers and 19 Israeli civilians.
In other words, Hizbollah is killing more Israeli soldiers than civilians and the Israelis are killing far more Lebanese civilians than they are guerrillas. The Lebanese Red Cross has found 40 more civilian dead in the south of the country in the past two days, many of them with wounds suggesting they might have survived had medical help been available.
#7
Just like the Chicom extermination of 200-Milyuhn or more of America = Amerika's 300-Milyuhn population or more, plus taking over 1/2 or more of NORAM-CONUS, is good and necesary for America, Americans, China, the world, and of course Chinese-centric Communism-Socialism. CLINTONISM says Americans=Amerikans like it, want it, and demand it, D *** you. America can attack and make war, just SSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH not fight let alone win or fight to win. Its for the Sun, its for the Environment,Its for the chilluns. for the World you selfish Male Brute decadent capitalist Westernist pig you.
#10
do they say what percentage of the children killed were terrorists??
Conor, I know your trolling, but I'll answer you question anyway. I happen to have first hand experience of terrorists and how they operate in communities. Kids think they are cool. They hang around. Run errands for them. Happily form a crowd to protect the terrorists. And this ignores that terrorists deliberately place children in danger and try and get them killed because it makes great propaganda. And then of course terrorists use the homes of people who are either willing or coerced into helping them.
So how many of those kids were innocent uninvolved bystanders, probably not very many. But then you don't care do you Conor, because you have already decided the Jews are to blame and they should just put up with terrorism and be good little victims.
#17
OldSpook the same holds true for 99% of all BBC reporters involved in covering the Middle East and Asia.
In this case send Mossad out after them and take them out. I got banned from Biased BBC for saying that but it''s the truth. Anything else is intellectual wanking.
#18
What kills me about Conor and his bullshit is I never see them here when kids are dying in Israel, which makes him nothing more than POS no good SOB who needs to F*cking grow up.
#19
Conor, that's actually a good, if incomplete question. You need to finish by asking, "Why the hell did Hizb'allah (The Army of God --that's the "allah" bit, dear) not take care to shoot off their beloved rockets in places far from children, why did their parents not keep them away from the armed men?" The International Laws of War, of which the various Geneva Conventions are only the most recent additions, mandate that armed groups separate themselves from civilians in order to protect the civilians from exactly the kind of threat that Mr. Fisk invented out of whole cloth. So why has Hizb'allah, and the various Palestinian groups, and the insurgent groups in Iraq, chosen instead to insinuate themselves so deeply in civilian neighborhoods as to cause such things to happen?
The Laws of War define those who cause such situations as the ones committing the war crime -- and no coubt you'll have remarked that Israel did nothing against Lebanon until Hizb'allah started shooting off rockets and coming across the border to kidnap soldiers. Conor, dear, I do look forward to your further analysis of the situation, now that you have some facts to work with.
#20
I'm getting really tired of seeing that "tasty fish" comment being taken out of context.
"Yet still the West seems unable to produce an end to a war which is clearly overwhelming both Hizbollah and the Israelis."
Stupidest line of the day... so far.
#21
What's all this business about a 'Journalist'? A terrorist is a terrorist is a terrorist. They shouldn't be allowed to hide behind a pen, anymore than the Hezzie pieces of filth hide behind women and children.
#22
Trailing wife- fyi dear, terrorist groups don't fight using the Marquis of Queensberry rules or follow the international laws of war guidelines and will at every opportunity force/put civilians in danger, that their nature , but countries such as Israel who have signed the Geneva Convewntion should try a little bit harder to follow it.
- Geneva Convention article 48 of Protocol I states that "the presence within the civilian population of individuals who do not come within the definition of civilians does not deprive the population of its civilian character. Also you can critical of a government policy and still have respect for it's people.
#23
If I read your post correctly, Conor, since the terrorist Hizb'allah is deliberately using its civilian population as a shield, Israel should simply surrender? You do understand the result of that surrender, I assume: Hizb'allah's objective is not merely the defeat of Israel, but the erasure of the country by killing all the Jewish people. They have stated plainly that nothing less will suffice them.
#24
Does Conor realizer that Hizbollah fighters are totalitarians? Ethnocentrism will lose this war with the Islamofacists. The King of Persia wants the Middle East and large portions of Asia, and eliminating Israel is the surest way to engender loyalty of the masses, Arab or otherwise, in that area, because for the last 70 years the Moslems have made Jews the scapegoats for EVERYTHING wrong in their individual and collective life experience.
#25
Conor, with all due respect, anyone that believes the Geneva Conventions apply to terrorists and other criminal non-signatories ought to have their head examined. But don't feel bad. That belief, misguided as it is, seems to be held by many, such as fine 'patriots' Ruth Bader Ginsburg, John Paul Stevens and Steven Breyer.
#28
Conor, you're aware of the IDF phoning some guy in Gaza to tell him they're going to take out the building because he just happens to be living on top of a Hamas Ammo dump?
You're aware of the IDF dropping leaflets in Lebanon telling people to get out of the area?
You're aware of the IDF burying Hizbullah terrorists in accordance with their religious rites?
Your quote: but countries such as Israel who have signed the Geneva Convewntion should try a little bit harder to follow it.
Why is it that Israel, who is involved in an existential war, has to fight by some rules which just keep giving the advantage to a group who would kill Israeli children just as soon as look at them? This isn't a game, these people will kill all Israelis if they get a chance, so what would you have the Israelis do?
Answer that and stay fashionable.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/03/2006 12:02
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#29
WTF Conor you cannot be that stupid. GC is not a suicide pact. That has got to be the dumbest stuff I have ever heard.
#30
the Israeli army apparently has no plan to defeat Hizbollah other than the old and hopeless policy of occupying southern Lebanon.
Mr. Fiskkkk,
There is a secret plan but I can't tell you about it because it involves secret hydrogen bombs and also secret neutron bombs and some plain old vanilla flavored fission bombs.
So you see Mr. Fissssskkkkkk, the Israeli army does have a plan but its so secret that we cant tell you about it.
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
08/03/2006 12:24
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#31
Another thing, Conor....
Lebanon did sign GC on 11 April 1969.
Hezbollah has its members as a part of Lebanese government. Thus, Lebanon government is violating the treaty they signed, by allowing Hezbollah using civilians as a cover for their activities.
#32
Connor, you (and the liberal elites that run Europe and want to run this country) quote selectively from the GC to support your agenda. You picked the wrong site to do that since some of here have actually studied the conventions. Here are some articles that caveat your quote:
GC IV, Art. 28. The presence of a protected person may not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations.
GC IV, Art. 19. The protection to which civilian hospitals are entitled shall not cease unless they are used to commit, outside their humanitarian duties, acts harmful to the enemy. Protection may, however, cease only after due warning has been given, naming, in all appropriate cases, a reasonable time limit and after such warning has remained unheeded.
There are other such clauses. The GC is actually pretty good law in that it protects non-combatants in a reasonable fashion. Efforts to use it to outlaw war will destroy the conventions and only increase the suffering of non-combatants. These kinds of efforts make the GCs unenforceable and thus "bad" law. Bad law always tends to fall into disuse.
#33
Wow, I'll just sit back and refrain from piling on to "mr." connor. Geez, nothing we ever sign is a suicide pact. Get that through your thick skull first and foremost.
Posted by: BA ||
08/03/2006 12:46
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#34
Geneva Convention article 48 of Protocol I states that "the presence within the civilian population of individuals who do not come within the definition of civilians does not deprive the population of its civilian character.
This means that military folk are allowed to sit in coffee shops and live in their houses among civilians. It does not mean that those same military folk can fight amongst civilians.
And sometimes their danger to their adversary and value of their being dead in the context of ending the conflict is so great that even the civilian nature of their surroundings is not enough to ward off an attack, such as top leaders, etc. These guys basically have to understand that they are full-time walking targets, and that any civilians nearby ought to remove themselves. Hitler and Pol Pot would be some of, but not all, of the most obvious examples.
Conor, use your brain. You are reading the rules letter for letter and forgetting the spirit and intent. The only thing you are proving if you stick to this path is that you are incapable of meaningful logic. In which case the folk here will make fun of you. :-)
#40
Well the pdf I am reading has Lebanon on it, but I don't see Israel on it.
Well it does mention Israel in that Kuwait felt it an appropriate venu to insert a line saying that they don't recognize the existance of Israel nor will they have any treaties with it. Nya nya nya nya nya, nyaaaa!
Conor, how's the research going? Badly, I suppose? :-)
#42
Should someone clue Conor in to the idea that Israel won't be a signatory to the GC until the terrorists and hostile states around it agree to and in practice abide by it?
Maybe in another 10 or 20 years if all went well, I suppose? Hopefully sooner, but that's just a pipe dream for now.
#44
Just a thought here. Has anyone ever heard of an empty hospital ? One has to ask, why was it empty ? Was it actually being used for something beside medical applications ?
Hezbs tunnel under hospitals, mosques, and schools. There, they sleep and prepare for the killing of others. In this case, the hospital appears to have been used as an office complex for the tunnel rats. A breath of fresh air, as it were. The mindset of the splodydope scum is to use civilians and normal institutions as shields while they throw shit at the wall in increasing amounts.
The civilized world should declare all of the hezbs guilty of murder by association, and to be killed on sight. Then bring out the dogs and flame throwers. Islam must go.
Fuck off. Folks like you that defend the cold-blooded acts of terrorists while simultaneously decrying any attempt of the attacked to defend themselves aren't worthy of reasoned debate.
#47
So these "civilized" islmafascists don't mind wiring the kiddies up with bombs and sending them into Israel to kill as many Israeli citizens as they can. How the f*ck sick is this? They could care less about any rules of civilized warfare. Spare me the bleeding heart bullshit.
#48
Conor,
Just take yourself to DU. You'll be appreciated and lauded there.
Heck, they don't even beleive any soldiers got kidnapped in the first place.
All a plot to take over lebanon.
Posted by: J. D. Lux ||
08/03/2006 15:38
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#49
gorb,
Israel signed the convention 8th December 1949 and ratified the treaty on 6th July 1951 with the reservation that they would use the red shield of David in place of the Red Cross.
it can be found on the international committee of the red cross webiste - wwww.icrc.org
#50
As has been pointed ou. "the prescence of non-civilians in e civilian population" does not cover rocket launchers and machine gunners.
Aggressors cannot be protected by hiding behind civilians and even IF they were lawful combatants or representatives of a government or a legitimate army instead of a KKK like group of professional international terrorists with apocalyptic visions of grandeur. They would be making the conventions moot by their very tactics.
Wars and rumours of wars are not won or ended by tit for tat half measures and phony cease fires.
Posted by: J. D. Lux ||
08/03/2006 18:40
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#51
Conor is posting from Dublin, Ireland. You know, that nice place where the IRA came from?
#53
The Third Geneva convention (the one the US is a signatory to) affords protection on the basis of reciprocity. Since we know of 2 or 3 US military prisoners and several civilian hostages, all of whom were executed in the most horrible and barbaric ways, any protection of the other side is only through the kindness and naivity of our leadership. All prisoners the US catches are perfectly eligible to tortured and executed in the most barbaric way science can come up with. In reality, our meek treatment of captives and civilians only serves to let them live to fight another day.
By the same bedrock principle of reciprocity, the Israelis are within the Geneva Conventions to bomb the crap out of any Lebanese civilians it sees fit since Israeli civilians are the primary targets of rockets launched from Lebabon. Same for Gaza and West Bank.
Posted by: ed ||
08/03/2006 22:32
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#54
The thing I hear most from the lefty-weenies is that if we abandon "humane" principles we loose our "humanity". It seems to me only human to treat depravity with extinction. Make the "humans" guilty of depravity extinct and voila: No more depravity. Humans are capable of all kinds of despicable acts. Calling someone more "human" because he doesn't regard eliminating depraved people as "humane" is to deny the "humanity" of , well Humans. We destroy rabid animals. That is considered "humane" riding ourselves of rabid humans is considered in-humane.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/03/2006 22:40
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#55
Ed: Yes and no. The GC does allow reprisals but not on protected persons. So if country X gasses you, then you can gas country X's soldiers, but you cannot execute his EPWs if he executes yours. Google FM 27-10, Law of Lanf Warfare if you want to get the US interpretation of the GC. I don't have time to post a link. Also, the President reserves the authority to authorize reprisals.
Three years after failing to block the US invasion of Iraq, France has returned to the diplomatic world stage to exploit calm the Lebanon conflict. President Chirac, returning to his favourite role of world statesman, has taken a bold line at the United Nations that conflicts with Washington and London. He is capitalising on the discredit that Iraq caused les Anglo-Saxons and drawing on Frances past as the governing power of Lebanon.
The strategy is risky because France was targeted by Hezbollah and its Iranian sponsors over its intervention in Beirut in the 1980s. One bomb attack in 1983 killed 41 French paratroops in the city. M Chirac is worried that a false step could feed unrest in Frances Muslim-dominated housing estates. But aides to M Chirac are confident that the US will accept the resolution tabled by France at the UN Security Council. It seeks a ceasefire, a political agreement involving Israel, Lebanon and Hezbollah and the deployment of a peacekeeping force.
Washington and London have resisted the demand for an immediate ceasefire and want a military force to compel the disarmament of the Shia Muslim militia. France refused yesterday to take part in a US-inspired meeting to prepare a UN force, saying that it was premature. But Paris expects to contribute thousands of troops and possibly lead the contingent.
If a UN force is agreed, the first French forces would be dispatched from marines aboard a naval flotilla of four ships off Lebanon and Cyprus. French officials say that the dispatch of any French forces must follow a phased timetable. It has to be a real ceasefire, not just a halt in shelling, the Defence Ministry said. France is also insisting that Iran and Syria be involved in the diplomacy.
#2
Once again, Jacques Chirac is supporting his Arab friends, and opposing the US. Chirac is (or should be) well known for kissing a lot of Arab leaders: in 1975, he welcomed Saddam Hussein in Paris with a cheerful "you are my personal friend" (and the next day, he sold him the nuclear plant Osirak); he has met very often with the arch-terrorist Arafat, and when this ugly-faced Arafat died in Paris in November 2004, he ordered his body to be treated with the same respect that the one of a President of the State deserves (trumpets by the French National Guard, Prime Minister Raffarin standing at attention before his coffin, and so on); he has warmly received in Paris Bachar el-Assad in June 2001; in fact, it would be faster to tell which Arab dictator Jacques Chirac hasn't courted and coaxed.
The most telling is that, in 2004, Chirac invited to the Francophonie Summit (that was staged in Beyrouth)... the leader of the Hezbollah, Nasraleh himself! He shook hands with Nasralah, and had this terrorist leader seated at the same table, right next to him...
So, no wonder why Chirac is asking for an immediate ceasefire: he wants to give Hezbollah time to heal its wounds and to rearm before any international force arrives in Lebanon.
Your actions are as ugly as was Arafat face, Mr. Chirac!
#3
Concerning the fact that "M. Chirac is worried that a false step could feed unrest in Frances Muslim-dominated housing estates" (this has been reported in France too), any normal human being (so, not a supporter of the French "Arab policy") will be amazed to see the President of a democratic country modeling his international policy in accordance with the behaviour of muslims gangs, and the policy of a whole country taken hostage by rioters.
#4
"M. Chirac is worried that a false step could feed unrest in Frances Muslim-dominated housing estates"
It's at times like these, I'm reminded of something said around the time of the beginning of the Iraq war;
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday that France would face consequences for its opposition to the war in Iraq as senior aides to President George W. Bush met to consider ways to express Washington's anger. Asked in an interview whether Paris would be punished for its anti-war stance, Powell replied bluntly: "Yes." "We have to take a look at the relationship. We have to look at all aspects of our relationship with France in light of this," he told PBS television.
If Chirac is worried about a false step, I'd be keeping an eye out for banana skins. After all his Ambassador to the Court of St. James did call Israel "that shitty little country", and they are rather heavily involved in all this...
I wouldn't be too surprised to find out that those sneaky Joooos wanted some payback ;)
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/03/2006 5:03
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#5
Chirac is an arrogant prima donna foppish fool.
#6
Translating "M Chirac is worried that a false step could feed unrest in Frances Muslim-dominated housing estates." from french diplomatic speak into english.
"M Chirac is premptively surrendering to Frances Muslims."
#7
Chirac is president of france. Currently the number one song in france is Coup de Boule (known as the head-butt song). Do you think that Chirac helped inspire this song in that he doesn't know his head from his butt?
#8
How cynical these comments are regarding France/Chirac's motives. I don't believe this is about the world stage nor muslim gangs; France's motivations have never changed since the Phoencians invented money. There are bribes to be had.
Posted by: regular joe ||
08/03/2006 9:15
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#9
I say we have a UNSC vote to strip France of their veto and give it to India.
#10
Right now, the more vetos floating about, the longer Israel will have before it has to bluntly tell the world that this time they aren't stopping until it's done.
#14
Meanwhile, France's rep to the UN now says he's not as hopeful of getting a resolution through the UNSC in the next week or two (see above RB link). Maybe, just maybe, France is now playing along w/ the good cop/bad cop routine and we're ALL giving Israel the time it needs to finish the job???? One can hope.
Posted by: BA ||
08/03/2006 12:36
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#15
Chirac: "As far as I'm concerned, war always means failure".
Rush Limbaugh: "As far as France is concerned, you're right."
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) A federal judge has granted class-action status to a lawsuit filed by Yakima Valley farm workers who contend a Los Angeles-based labor contractor illegally and intentionally displaced them with workers from Thailand.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Leavitt ruled that the three plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit may proceed on behalf of an estimated 600 farm workers allegedly denied work when Global Horizons Manpower imported workers from Thailand under the federal H-2A guest-worker program in 2004. Translation: The company is being sued because it replaced workers (some of whom were illegal) with legal workers.
The company should be able to hire and fire whoever it wants to unless it gives up that right (in case of union extortion)
Attorneys for Global Horizons had argued that the definition of the proposed class was vague and imprecise. They also argued that 264 members of the class should not be counted because they presented Social Security numbers that didn't match federal records.
In his ruling Friday, Leavitt rejected Global's argument, finding that the immigration status of the plaintiffs doesn't provide a basis for excluding them from the class.
Translation: Even though they did not have authority to work in the united states - they have the right to work.
#5
I'm not sure that's him. Michael Leavitt (the one in Manolo's picture) was the former Governor of Utah. He then was nominated and appointed to be the Administrator of EPA (where Manolo's picture comes from) by President Bush. Since early 2005, he's the Secretary of the Dept. of Health & Human Services (where I believe he still resides, at least according to the HHS website). I think it's a different Michael Leavitt that's the judge.
Posted by: BA ||
08/03/2006 8:19
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#6
Full disclosure: I work for EPA and (at the time) Admin. Leavitt seemed very common sensical. While Gov of Utah he often led fights against the gaia worshippers on grazing/cattle land rights, water rights, etc.
Posted by: BA ||
08/03/2006 8:21
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In his ruling Friday, Leavitt rejected Global's argument, finding that the immigration status of the plaintiffs doesn't provide a basis for excluding them from the class.
Something profoundly illogical about that statement, but who am I to judge.
#8
The whole thing with the illegals being allowed to sue doesn't surprise me. They've been allowed to sue for damages in a variety of cases before this one, so I'd be more shocked if they weren't allowed to sue. (Remember the old joke about what you call the guy who graduated last in his law school class? "Your Honor")
The big question, however.....is Washington a right to work state? Big negatory on that. It's a union state. So if someone signed a contract stating they could work until a certain date, or a certain condition was reached, at least the legal ones (probably all five of 'em) would have a case if that was violated. But since we can't discriminate against people who were breaking the law, 'cause their feewings were hurt or something, they're included.
#10
After the next Civil War and the rewrite of the Constitution, I would like to see a fundamental clause that stipulates that 'no one can profit from any criminal act on their part'.
Unless we make the judiciary directly accountable to the people, we either give up the notion that we rule ourselves and have an oligarchy composed of those who sit for life and are above us all or we'll have a Constitution amended to the size of a major metropolitan area phone book.
#12
Tip of the Iceberg Alert! If the Senates Comprehensive Immigration bill passes committee with all its convoluted wording regarding guest worker status, this type of illogical litigation will become commonplace. But show some compassion. After all, Were a nation of immigrants.
#14
Maybe we should beat one of these jackass judges to within an inch of his life to show them that we are not amused by their anti-American crap anymore. When words fail, ya know ?
Guard dog rips head off Presleys $75,000 toy in stuffed-animal rampage
A guard dog has ripped apart a collection of rare teddy bears, including one once owned by Elvis Presley, during a rampage at a children's museum. "He just went berserk," said Daniel Medley, general manager of the Wookey Hole Caves near Wells, England, where hundreds of bears were chewed up Tuesday night by the 6-year-old Doberman pinscher named Barney.
Barney ripped the head off a brown stuffed bear once owned by the young Presley during the attack, leaving fluffy stuffing and bits of bears' limbs and heads on the museum floor. The bear, named Mabel, was made in 1909 by the German manufacturer Steiff. The collection, valued at more than $900,000, included a red bear made by Farnell in 1910 and a Bobby Bruin made by Merrythought in 1936.
The bear with Elvis connections was owned by English aristocrat Benjamin Slade, who bought it at an Elvis memorabilia auction in Memphis, Tenn., and had loaned it to the museum. "I've spoken to the bear's owner and he is not very pleased at all," Medley said.
A security guard at the museum, Greg West, said he spent several minutes chasing Barney before wrestling the dog to the ground
#2
Do we know for certain the dog didn't act in self defense?
Posted by: no mo uro ||
08/03/2006 6:35
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#3
Since he tore up my teddy bear
My dog has a new place to dwell
He's down on the end of lonely street
In the Heartbreak Kennel . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
08/03/2006 7:43
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#4
Reminds me of a Beetles song, Elanor's Frisbie. Elanor's frisbie
Lay on the ground in the park where she played
Nobody came
To throw it back to her
The a big dog came along and he chewed it all up
Naughty ole pup
It's all in little pieces
Where do they all belong
Ahhh look at all the little pieces
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/03/2006 8:26
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For over 2000 years, Israel did not exist until 1948. Israel has had to fight to maintain it's status as a nation since then, just as it had to fight to establish itself the first time it became a nation, 1500 years BC. At that time Israel even had to fight Anakims (giants) in Southern Lebanon, and today they went into Baalbek, known as Baalgil in the account of that first battle. That also was when Joshua asked God for more daylight during one of the battles, and the "Sun stood still" during the fight in Southern Lebanon.
JOSHUA 11:16 So Joshua took all that land, the hills, and all the south country, and all the land of Goshen, and the valley, and the plain, and the mountain of Israel, and the valley of the same;
JOSHUA 11:17 Even from the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir, even unto Baalgad (Baalbek?) in the valley of Lebanon under mount Hermon: and all their kings he took, and smote them, and slew them.
JOSHUA 11:18 Joshua made war a long time with all those kings.
JOSHUA 11:19 There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon: all other they took in battle.
JOSHUA 11:20 For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses.
JOSHUA 11:21 And at that time came Joshua, and cut off the Anakims* from the mountains, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel: Joshua destroyed them utterly with their cities.
JOSHUA 11:22 There was none of the Anakims left in the land of the children of Israel: only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, there remained.
JOSHUA 11:23 So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war.
#2
If you go WAAAAAY back, it was probably a lot more common to have giants back then. According to Biblical accounts, Goliath (of David & Goliath fame) stood around 9 feet tall. Real Old Testament passages state that people often lived to be several hundred years old. Not sure exactly who these giants' descendants would be today, but they probably came from somewhere in Iraq would be my (non-scientific) guess. Of course, if you go back to the beginning (or almost the beginning) of the Bible, this whole Arab vs. Jew thing started because of squabbles between Isaac (the one God favored) and his stepbrother Ishmael (predecessor of the Arabs basically), whom the Bible calls a wild man and said would war against his brother (and their descendants, the Jews) for almost eternity. The Muslims (in the Koran) changed the God-favored son to be Ishmael (of course), whereas the Torah and the Bible both say it was Isaac (Abraham's son by his wife, Sarai or Sarah). Ishmael was an illegitimate step-son of Abraham by Sarai's maid, Hagar. So, you see, it's all an internal family squabble blown up exponentially.
Posted by: BA ||
08/03/2006 8:29
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#3
Giants are thought to be descendents of the Nephilim, rebellious angels who interbred with human women in Genesis 6. This brought on the destruction of the world by the Flood. Somewhere, one of the giants is said to have six toes....my 6' sister-in-law had her's surgically removed as a baby! Actually, the problems today in Israel are because the Israelites disobeyed God's command to destroy the inhabitants and not intermarry with them....it's a curse. Time for Israel to finish the job, I think.
Here's more info on the word translated as 'giants:
(1.) Heb. nephilim, meaning violent or causing to fall (Gen. 6:4). These were the violent tyrants of those days, those who fell upon others. The word may also be derived from a root signifying wonder, and hence monsters or prodigies. In Num. 13:33 this name is given to a Canaanitish tribe, a race of large stature, the sons of Anak. The Revised Version, in these passages, simply transliterates the original, and reads Nephilim.
(2.) Heb. rephaim, a race of giants (Deut. 3:11) who lived on the east of Jordan, from whom was descended. They were probably the original inhabitants of the land before the immigration of the Canaanites. They were conquered by Chedorlaomer (Gen. 14:5), and their territories were promised as a possession to Abraham (Gen. 15:20). The Anakim, Zuzim, and Emim were branches of this stock.
In Job 26:5 (R.V., they that are deceased; marg., the shades, the Rephaim) and Isa. 14:9 this Hebrew word is rendered (A.V.) dead. It means here the shades, the departed spirits in Sheol. In 2 Sam. 21:16, 18, 20, 33, the giant is (A.V.) the rendering of the singular form ha raphah, which may possibly be the name of the father of the four giants referred to here, or of the founder of the Rephaim. The Vulgate here reads Arapha, whence Milton (in Samson Agonistes) has borrowed the name Harapha. (See also 1 Chron. 20:5, 6, 8; Deut. 2:11, 20; 3:13; Josh. 15:8, etc., where the word is similarly rendered giant.) It is rendered dead in (A.V.) Ps. 88:10; Prov. 2:18; 9:18; 21:16: in all these places the Revised Version marg. has the shades. (See also Isa. 26:14.)
(3.) Heb. 'Anakim (Deut. 2:10, 11, 21; Josh. 11:21, 22; 14:12, 15; called sons of Anak, Num. 13:33; children of Anak, Num. 13:22; Josh. 15:14), a nomad race of giants descended from Arba (Josh. 14:15), the father of Anak, that dwelt in the south of Palestine near Hebron (Gen. 23:2; Josh. 15:13). They were a Cushite tribe of the same race as the Philistines and the Egyptian shepherd kings. David on several occasions encountered them (2 Sam. 21:15-22). From this race sprung Goliath (1 Sam. 17:4).
(4.) Heb. 'emin, a warlike tribe of the ancient Canaanites. They were great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims (Gen. 14:5; Deut. 2:10, 11).
#6
Interesting side point: Goliath was a Gittite, i.e., he was from Gath. Sometimes called Gath-Hepher. Gues where it is today? That's right. Gaza City.
#10
I hope Danielle has only 5 fingers. Would be hard to get a date with six, wouldn't it?
1 Chronicles 20:5 And there was war again with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear staff was like a weaver's beam.
1 Chronicles 20:6 And yet again there was war at Gath, where was a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six on each hand, and six on each foot and he also was the son of the giant.
Britain's biggest theme park has called off the country's first "National Muslim Fun Day" because of lack of interest, the park said on Wednesday.
Yeah. I don't think "Muslim" and "fun" really go together. Y'want to make some money, have a "Muslim seething" day or a "Death to the Great Satan Day." They'll sign up in droves. If you want a sellout, go with a "stone the adultress" day.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2006
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#1
"Muslim Fun Day"
Still a classic.....
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
08/03/2006 8:31
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#2
Muslim Rocketry Day. Launch Katushyas into London. Fun for the whole clan.
Posted by: ed ||
08/03/2006 9:32
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Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2006
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#1
This Dingell is another shitfaced sellout to Muslims just like Chirac. Due to the enclaves at Dearborn and Detroit, he has tucked his tail between his legs. People like him are the most disgusting pieces of crap that can be imagined.
#2
John Dingo was on the other side during the Cold War, too. It doesn't have (much) to do with the population of east Dearborn. He'll back any enemy, any time.
Indonesian immigration authorities yesterday deported five Saudi men for engaging in short-term marriages, an immigration official said. Yeyet Oking, the head of Bogor district's immigration office, said the five were deported via Jakarta while another man was released for lack of evidence. Short-term marriages usually involve local Islamic clerics blessing unions between foreigners and local popsies women. The couples shack up live together briefly before the men leave to return home. The women are materially compensated when the unions end. The marriages are not recognised by the state.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2006
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#1
What a delightful practice. The Church of the SubGenius has been doing short term marriages for years...
#2
Yes, but the SubGenius ShortDurMar is even more flexible. It doesn't need a man and a woman, somebody can marry their car if they want to. And their marriages only last an hour, so marrieds are encouraged to consummate ASAP, lest halfway through their consummation it becomes sinful fornication as they are no longer married.
Cuba's Fidel Castro is "very alert" and resting after stomach surgery, a senior aide said on Wednesday, but the man who has governed for 47 years has not appeared in public since standing down temporarily this week. There was also no sign of younger brother Raul, who took over power provisionally on Monday from Castro, 79, the world's longest-ruling head of government.
Ricardo Alarcon, head of the national assembly and a close Castro aide, told a U.S. radio program he had spoken to the veteran communist leader on Tuesday. "He's in, I would say, a normal period of recovery after an important surgery, that's essentially what I would say, but very alive and very alert," Alarcon told the Democracy Now! show.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2006
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Still no photos? Well, either all our hopes will be dashed soon or they'll announce an 'unexpected turn' in El Supremo's health. I wonder how long Arafat was 'stable' before they finally admitted his demise.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbass Fatah faction yesterday renewed warnings that its fighters would retaliate if Israeli forces approached refugee camps during their offensive in Lebanon. If Israeli forces should approach the entrance of our camps, we will react with weapons, Fatahs Lebanon representative Sultan Abul Aynain said from the Rashidiyah camp, south of the port city of Tyre.
Abul Aynain predicted some very difficult times this week as Israel intensifies its offensive before a diplomatic push to bring hostilities to an end. Israel wants to achieve gains in very little time although it could not, since July 12, neutralise Hezbollah fighters and liberate the two captured soldiers, he said.
The Israeli security cabinet gave orders early yesterday for a broadening of Israels ground offensive, launched after the two soldiers were seized in a deadly cross-border raid by the Shiite militants of Hezbollah. A total of 828 people have died in the three-week-old offensive, according to an official toll.
Abul Aynain already warned that Palestinian fighters might join the conflict in a July 24 interview with satellite news channel Al-Arabiya. None of us can be except at the centre of the battle if Israel invades south Lebanon, he said at the time.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2006
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#1
If Israeli forces should approach the entrance of our camps, we will react with weapons,
Abul Aynain already warned that Palestinian fighters might join the conflict
#2
They've been in 'camps' for how long now?! By the way, if I were them, I'd be less worried about the Israelis and more worried about reconstituted Phalangie groups.
#3
How do the Israelis keep from responding outright laughter by these empty thtreats? Respond with weapons? Sounds like Sultan Abul Aynain wants to become the next Ex-Paleo official.
#5
My G-d, we need to teach these f***ing morons a lesson. We don't need to hit ein-el-hellhole so much as we need to carpet-bomb Damascus and Ramallah. I'd just love to see Abbas' face when one of his underlings reports that 20 B-52's are approaching Ramallah at 48K. Or Asshat's, getting the same information about Damascus. Or even better, Nastyraller hearing that the combined force from three US carriers are approaching Beirut. We COULD screw up the entire middle east and offer Israel to become the 51st state of the US, and watch turbans spin tight enough to squeeze blood from a rock. The Ayrabs need to learn they're not the most important people on the face of this earth, and that if they don't learn to play nice, they'll be eliminated - all at once, or one at a time.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/03/2006 15:42
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#6
:) Op, I wish I had said that. You have good ideas. How do we implement them?
#11
"we will react with weapons"
ROTFLMAO, it's like a Monty Python or Saturday Night Live skit. For some reason I hear it in my head with a French accent.
If Hezbollah-run media are to be believed, then 35 Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed or wounded in Ayta a-Shab , militants downed an Israeli helicopter and destroyed a house in which IDF soldiers were hiding, and IDF troops are always hit in the back because they are running away.
It's not clear what incident, if any, the report was referring to... He repeated that an Israeli ship had been hit, but said no pictures were broadcast because visibility was poor...
All these statements are baseless because - despite the impression Hezbollah has made for straight talk - credibility is not its strong suit. Hezbollah's reports have become less and less believable in recent days. On Monday, Al-Manar television - the central component of Hezbollah's well-oiled media empire - reported that the organization had destroyed an Israeli ship off the coast of Tyre, which had some 50 sailors aboard - a charge the IDF dismissed completely.
It's not clear what incident, if any, the report was referring to, and the Arab world has been asking questions. Al-Arabiya television asked Mahmoud Kamati, a member of the Hezbollah political bureau, about the Hezbollah claim and he repeated that an Israeli ship had been hit, but said no pictures were broadcast because visibility was poor.
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#1
Didn't Arab news media do this once before in Iraq? Unless they are asking some questions, Arabs are about to get bitten a second time by the same dog.
#6
I actually lay this at the feet of the MSM too. They wouldn't "hype" these numbers unless they know it'll hit the NY Slimes and then the world. Much like the immediate stories of Qana, which said 50-60 Lebanese were killed in that house, when the real number is more like mid-20's and, of that, they were basically ALL kept hostage there by Hezbollah. If it bleeds, it leads, and the MSM never really checks the numbers.
Posted by: BA ||
08/03/2006 8:36
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#7
This actually doesn't surprise me. Notions of honor and face are very tightly intertwined over there, and so Hezbollah has to make these kinds of pronouncements - even when it's clear that they violate reality. Arabs also have a tendency to make sweeping and, to Western ears, ridiculous statements - almost as though by just claiming something it will manifest itself as reality with no additional effort on the Arab's part. It's more what they want it to be than what it actually is.
It's a different way of thinking, one that is very alien to our logical, (generally) reality-based Western minds. It's also very funny once you understand it. Trouble is, the media doesn't - so they report these things as though they're facts (which, ironically enough, almost makes it into reality into today's world - until that pesky thing known as the truth comes along . . .)
Posted by: The Doctor ||
08/03/2006 8:50
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On the flip side, Israel knows what it's losses are, and as they become aware of the outragous disinformation of the enemy, they would naturally suffer boosted morale and even laugh out loud.
So, how can the Hezbs bring joy to the enemy ? Braggadocious bullcrap to cover their misery. This is a tactical error on Hezbs part.
#9
almost as though by just claiming something it will manifest itself as reality with no additional effort on the Arab's part. It's more what they want it to be than what it actually is.
Somebodys been to my Seminar!
Posted by: Tony Robbins ||
08/03/2006 11:52
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Arabs also have a tendency to make sweeping and, to Western ears, ridiculous statements - almost as though by just claiming something it will manifest itself as reality with no additional effort on the Arab's part. It's more what they want it to be than what it actually is.
Leftists indulge in the same behaviour.
In fact, if you sit back and look at the two groups, you'd find LOTS of similarities.
Four more ministers resigned from Somalia's Western-backed government yesterday, in a move that may ultimately clear the way for rival Islamists to take ministerial posts. Minister of Minerals and Water Mohamud Salad Nur and three other assistant ministers announced their resignation less than a week after 18 senior officials also quit, dealing a blow to the fragile interim government.
The cabinet originally comprised 42 ministers, eight of whom have quit in the past week.
"This is our decision because this cabinet has failed the reason for which it was established. It has failed to reconcile the Somali people," said Sayeed Hassan Shire, an assistant minister who resigned. The cabinet originally comprised 42 ministers, eight of whom have quit in the past week. But government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said the posts would not stay vacant for long.
"Their positions will be filled immediately, maybe within a week's time," Dinari said. Diplomats say power-sharing with the Islamists is the best way of averting a slide to war in the lawless Horn of Africa country, which has been deprived of effective central rule since warlords ousted the dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2006
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An Israeli man was killed Wednesday when a Katyusha struck Kibbutz Saar, north of Nahariya, as Hezbollah marked the resumption of strikes on northern Israel with a record number of some 210 rockets.
He was killed as he rode his bicycle toward his home after a warning siren went off...
The casualty was identified as 52-year-old Kibbutz Saar member David Lalchuk. He was killed as he rode his bicycle toward his home after a warning siren went off, said Yehuda Shavit, a local government official. Kibbutz residents said he was originally from the Boston area and had been living in Israel for 20 years. Lalchuk's wife and two daughters had moved to the south earlier in the fighting, Shavit said. The strike brings to 19 the death toll from the rocket attacks since they began on July 12.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2006
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The strike brings to 19 the death toll from the rocket attacks since they began on July 12
About on par with one successful Paleo self-boomer.
SEATTLE -- A man accused in the shooting rampage at Seattle's Jewish Federation office last week was charged Wednesday with nine felony counts, including aggravated first-degree murder and violation of the state's hate-crime law. "Make no mistake, this was a hate crime," King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng told a news conference. "The attack on these women was an attack on the Jewish community, not only in Seattle but throughout our nation and the world."
Haq's court-appointed attorney said he would not comment until he had more time to review the case.
Naveed Afzal Haq is charged with aggravated first-degree murder in the death of Pamela Waechter, 58, director of the Jewish charity's annual fundraising campaign. Conviction is punishable either by life in prison or death; Maleng has 30 days to decide whether to seek the death penalty. Haq also is charged with five counts of attempted first-degree murder in the wounding of five women at the federation's downtown offices Friday afternoon; one count of first-degree kidnapping, involving a teenage girl who was briefly taken hostage; one count of first-degree burglary for allegedly entering a locked facility to commit a crime; and one count of malicious harassment under the state's hate-crime law. Haq's court-appointed attorney, C. Wesley Richards, said he would not comment until he had more time to review the case. Haq is being held in the King County Jail without bail.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2006
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(sorry, couldn't resist)
Attorney: Young lady, are you aware that to withold evidence pertinent to a crime so henious...
Judge: No.
Attorney: Hy-neous?
Judge: No.
Other Attorney: Hi-nee-us?
Juror: I think it's pronounced Hee-nus.
Witness: No, no. You wouldn't say, "Your Hee-nus".
Judge: No! Ladies and gentlemen, I have it right here. 'Hyenas', any of a family of cowardly, carnivorous beasts of Asia and Africa...
Turkish authorities have prevented 50 Iranian students from crossing the border, AFP reported. The students announced last week they were heading to Lebanon as volunteers, to help Hizbullah fight the Israeli army. Quoting the Iranian Fars news agency, the report said the students were stopped at the border. After waiting for five days at the border, they demonstrated outside the Turkish embassy, demanding to be allowed entry. The students protested against what they called an alliance between Turkey and the Zionists.
The students, calling themselves the Student Movement for Justice, climbed onto two trucks in Tehran last week and headed for the Iranian-Turkish border. They were hoping to enter Lebanon through Turkey and Syria, and help Hizbullah fight Israel.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/03/2006 2:18
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"Psst, Mahmoud, hold me back!DEATH TO ISRAEL! JIHAD! LET ME AT THEM"
I don't know if AhmadInAHijab is trying to say something or if it's a diversionary tactic. I expected it, but I'm glad to actually see that Turkey did the right thing here.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday criticised the United Nations Security Council and the United States for "preventing a ceasefire in Lebanon", as Israel strikes deeper into Lebanon. "Prevention of a ceasefire in Lebanon is an eternal disgrace, a stain on the United Nations Security Council's men headed by the criminal America," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by the official news agency IRNA. "The US, Britain and some other powers are using their tool, the Zionist regime, to create the Greater Mideast, imposing war to Lebanon. They are partners in Israel's crimes."
It was supposed to have happened by now. Each day lessens chances of running out the clock. Advantage: IDF.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2006
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Need that cease fire, do ya?
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
08/03/2006 7:09
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If you flip to bird to the major powers, why shouldn't the major powers flip the bird back. The old Cause -> Effect is still lost on these idiots. What, only you are allowed to play that game? Hahahahahahahaha
Two hidden bombs exploded Wednesday in a soccer field, killing nine youths, as two mortars landed while another soccer game was underway, killing three children, police said. The young men killed by the home made bombs in Amil district of western Baghdad were aged between 15 and 25 years, said police 1st Lt. Maitham Abdul Razzaq. About an hour earlier, two mortar shells hit Abu Dshir residential area in Baghdad, one landing in a soccer field and killing three children below 15 years of age, said police Capt. Firas Queti. The other mortar landed on a house, injuring a couple and their child, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2006
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Two hidden bombs exploded Wednesday in a soccer field, killing nine youths, as two mortars landed while another soccer game was underway, killing three children, police said.
#2
Brave. Very brave. You could tell your grandkids about it someday, but with balls as big as peppercorns, you couldn't have any even if you lived that long.
(1) "Insurgents" in Iraq who are intentionally placing hidden bombs (mines?) in soccer fields where kids play and lob mortars onto other soccer fields.
(2) The Taliban, who hung wommin-folk in soccer stadiums.
(3) Hezbollah, who intentionally round up kids (some who were invalid, supposedly), place them in a house, sit a AA gun on the roof and await the IAF to bomb the house, all the while running away themselves and hoping for good MSM video.
(4) The Beslan murderers who killed hundreds of children in the elementary school there.
Who do these punk-@ss "brave lions of Islam" think they are? It's basically a deadly game of the high school bully who picks on kids half his height/weight until someone finally stands up and says "Hey, sh!thead, why don't you pick on someone your own size?"
Posted by: BA ||
08/03/2006 8:59
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I'd put the Beslan Boyz'n'Girlz at the top -- they personally raped the babies, instead of waiting for hot metal and explosives to kill and maim for them. But that's only a matter of small degree and opportunity, not a judgement on degrees of evil.
#5
Personally, I'm with ya on that assessment, TW! Hadn't heard the raping babies story, but the massacre alone puts them at the top of the heap(tm) in my mind.
Posted by: BA ||
08/03/2006 10:38
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#6
They did gang-rape children and bayonet babies in Beslan - that has been reported a number of times.
#7
TW, I believe the only difference between the Islamist murderers in Beslan and anyplace else is opportunity. Given the same chance to work their will on Israelis I have no doubt the Paleos and Hezb would do worse, assuming of course that such a thing is possible. These foul animals do not know the meaning of either mercy or self-restraint.
Posted by: mac ||
08/03/2006 11:45
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#8
Mohammand is their example -- the perfect Muslim.
Didn't he have the Jews of Medina lined up and executed in front of their women and children -- and then have the women (and likely children) gang-raped that very night?
"Pass the grass, please!"
"I don't believe you left that on the carpet! Bad buffalo! Bad buffalo!"
Residents of Fort Providence in Canada's Northwest Territories are having a cow about their latest pest-control problem. Several wild buffalo have invaded the small northern town, rubbing siding off houses, head-butting trucks, and even scaring kids off the playground. The nuisance bovines have been roaming Fort Providence since May, according to a report from the AFP news service. Officials believe the buffalo, which are part of a wild herd of about 2,400, were drawn to the town's manicured lawns and lack of predators.
"You're sure to run into one when you walk to the corner store for milk," the town's resource officer Darren Campbell told AFP. "One of them kicked a vehicle. Try and get an insurance claim done after your car was kicked by a buffalo. The adjustor will just laugh at you."
Meanwhile, most of Fort Providence's pesky critters have started moving back into the surrounding forests to search for mates. But two "trouble" buffalo were shot in mid-July for refusing to vacate. The town is now seeking buffalo-control officers to gently encourage the rest of the animals to leave.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2006
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REVENGE OF NORTHERN EXPOSURE, or else ROCKY MOUNTAIN OYSTER TROUBLES. Did they have a BBQ???
KABUL: President Pervez Musharraf accepted on Wednesday an invitation to visit Afghanistan, an Afghan official said. Musharraf was last in Afghanistan in April 2002. Afghan President Hamid Karzai extended the invitation in a telephone call to Musharraf on Wednesday evening during which they discussed "issues relating to the region," presidential spokesman Karim Rahimi said. "The president of Pakistan accepted the invitation and said he would visit Afghanistan at a convenient time," Rahimi said. "At this time, this is of great importance to have good relations and good discussions," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Nice pic. Looks like Gunga Din got a promotion...
(KUNA) -- The Iraqi government on Wednesday announced a new security plan in Baghdad in order to enhance security and law authority in the city. A press release issued by the Ministry of Interior said that tougher punishments will be enforced for using religious properties to store arms and promote insurgency and sectarian conflicts.
It added that anyone carrying weapons on the street without authorization will be considered as an outlaw and insurgent and will be subject for anti-terror laws, stressing that only members of the security forces in the Ministry of Interior or Ministry of Defense are allowed to carry weapons on the street. The press release urged all Iraqi citizens to cooperate and report any individuals threatening the security and stability in Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2006
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We all know what the problem is.....hint: tater
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/03/2006 2:28
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The Pentagon announced Wednesday that a combat brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, will deploy to Afghanistan late this year as part of the next rotation of forces.
The deployment, to include the 82nd Airborne headquarters staff and various unidentified support units, will total about 11,000 soldiers, the Pentagon said. The announcement gave no indication that this would represent either an increase or a decrease in U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan, which currently stand at about 22,000.
At a Pentagon news conference, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that based on his visit last week to Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan he is optimistic about progress there.
Regarding troops levels, Pace said, "The U.S. contribution has stayed stable and will remain stable."
Late last year the Pentagon said U.S. troop levels would be reduced by 3,000 this year. But that has not happened, mainly because the Taliban armed resistance has stepped up its attacks, particular in the volatile southern areas.
#4
BDE = Brigade, IIUC. However the 82nd is a division
Yes it is a Division. And there are 3 manuever Brigades in each Division. All this means is that a BDE from the 82nd is replacing the BDE from the 10th Mountain Division in the Eastern sector of the country.
Actually the Brigades are going away. They are be transformed to UAs, or Unit of Action. This new concept finds it's roots in the book "Breaking the Phalanx" written about 15 years ago by an Army Colonel who critcized the current Army's Division structure. He was way ahead of his time...
#6
Today we have companies, Battalions, Brigades, and Divisions. As AL said, that is all about to change. Prior to this we had troops, Squadrons, and Regiments. AL correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the Regiment was a hold over from the Britts. The Air Force and the Army Cav and some select SOCOM units still operate under Regimental colors not Brigade colors.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/03/2006 16:24
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I believe the Chief of Staff of the Army Gen Peter Schoomaker has recently decided to ditch the "unit of action/unit of employment" terminology and revert back to Bde and Div.
#8
The Marines still use Infantry Regiments, which consist of 3 Infantry battlations and ancillary support units. In the Korean War, an Army Regiment had about 3800 men.
At some point, the army went to 'Brigades', which were usually combined arms teams. So they might have 2 Infantry battalions, an armored battalion, artillery battalions and support units. The battalions still kept their Regimenal designations due to the illustrious history of many Regiments. For instance, the Army's 27th Infantry Regiment is no longer constituted as a Regiment, but Brigades with have Battalions like the '1st battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment'.
I think that the Army also re-did their Brigades so now a Division has 4 manuever brigades.
UNITED NATIONS The U.N. announced Wednesday that it was again postponing a meeting of nations that could send peacekeepers to south Lebanon, saying talks about sending troops were pointless before there was progress on peace between Israel and Hezbollah.
I'm confident that by tomorrow we'll be in a position to have discussions in the Council...
Diplomats still claimed substantial progress toward agreement on a peace plan, saying there was general agreement on the elements required for a lasting solution. Those include halting the fighting, disarming Hezbollah, deploying peacekeepers and creating a buffer zone in south Lebanon free of Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops. "I'm confident that by tomorrow we'll be in a position to have discussions in the Council on a text which actually takes us forward," Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones-Parry said. "Prospects now of adoption soon of a resolution have improved considerably."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2006
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So how is the Darfur peacekeeping gig going, UN? Haven't seen it on the radar screen for a while.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/03/2006 1:13
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I am stifling a laugh. Israel and Hizb'allah negotating? Get real.
The is no peace with ialamofascists terrorists. If Leabanon wants peace get rid of Hizb'allah it's really quite simple. If not stand by and have your country destroyed and lose it for ever Lebanon.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/03/2006 2:33
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#4
Man, I'm beginning to appreciate having Bolton at the UN more and more. The UN's saying there will be no Peacekeepers unless there's a ceasefire, and Israel (and to lesser extent, Hezbollah too) says there will be no ceasefire until Hezbollah is disarmed. The ultimate good cop/bad cop while the IDF/IAF is taking out Hezzies left and right. Maybe Israel can finish this thing before the UN even agrees to meet to discuss an option on where to eat lunch while discussing peacekeeping proposals, lol!
Posted by: BA ||
08/03/2006 8:41
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What, still no volunteers to be the first in the barrel?
BRUSSELS - European governments are reaching out to Hezbollah's foreign backers, Iran and Syria, in an attempt to engage them in a solution to the Lebanon war by recognizing their importance for regional stability. While the United States, Israel's main backer, is unwilling to talk at a senior level to either country - seen as "rogue states" in Washington - European foreign ministers have no such taboo if dialogue can help extinguish fires in the Middle East.
There can be no effective solution without Syria," Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern said...
But beyond making Syrian and Iranian leaders feel respected, it is not clear what the Europeans can offer to persuade Damascus or Tehran to lean on Hezbollah guerrillas to stop firing missiles into Israel or accept eventual disarmament. "There can be no effective solution without Syria," Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern said after European Union ministers held emergency talks on the crisis Monday.
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, a former EU Middle East peace envoy, was due to visit Damascus after talks in Beirut with Lebanese leaders, diplomats said.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
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Go ahead you assclowns, talk to Iran-Syria-Hezbo. See just how meaningless you really are
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/03/2006 2:35
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Can't we all just get along? Euro fools. Why don't you just give the islamofascists france? Maybe that will appease them. Oh, they already have it?
PARIS Police have shut down makeshift Muslim prayer rooms at Paris' two main airports after they came under scrutiny following a far-right politician's allegations that Islamists were compromising security. Officials insist there was no threat. But the prayer sites set up by Muslim workers in cloak rooms, depots and other areas at Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports were quietly shuttered. There are three official prayer rooms still open at each airport, just as there are chapels for Christians and synagogues for Jews.
A book published in May by Philippe de Villiers, a presidential hopeful who opposes Muslim immigration, said clandestine prayer rooms honeycombed the corridors beneath airport runways and that Muslims were poised to put the premises under Islamic Sharia law. Villiers claimed to base his book, "The Mosques of Roissy," on intelligence reports. While many saw the book as a publicity grab, it caused a stir and briefly climbed the best seller list.
Posted by: Fred ||
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IAF fighter jets struck four armed Palestinians overnight Wednesday near Dahiniye in the Gaza Strip. The air force was backing up troops from the Givati Brigades, Engineering Corps and tank units who were carry out an operation near Rafiah.
Posted by: Fred ||
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(KUNA) -- Hezbollah said it launched more Khaibar-1 rockets Wednesday on the Israeli city of Affoulah. The Lebanese party said in a statement that its fighters also destroyed a fifth Israeli tank during the Israeli army advance into the Lebanese town of Aita Al-Shaab.
Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes raided several Lebanese areas including Al-Naqar, Khraj, Beir Al-Salasil and Sultania. The Israeli army also shelled other Lebanese areas including Safad Al-Battikh, Jomayjmah, Tibnin and the surroundings of the Tahrir Educational Complex in Southern Lebanon. Lebanese security forces said that 17 people were killed and 16 injured in the Israeli attack on Baalbak last night.
Posted by: Fred ||
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this is usually transliterated from Hebrew as "Afula" and is an Israeli town just north of the 1949 ceasefire line from the West Bank town of Jenin.
An Iranian official said on Wednesday the Islamic republic was losing confidence in the international community after the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding it stop sensitive nuclear work. Vice President Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie met in Tokyo with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso, who urged Iran to regain the world's trust.
the Security Council resolution heightens mistrust and strengthens the belief that Western countries are attempting to take away Iran's rights through pressure rather than dialogue...
A Japanese foreign ministry statement quoted the vice president as saying that Iran was "seriously considering" the comprehensive package of incentives drafted largely by European powers for Tehran to back down on the nuclear issue. But Mashaie reportedly said that "the Security Council resolution heightens mistrust and strengthens the belief that Western countries are attempting to take away Iran's rights through pressure rather than dialogue."
Mashaie, who is the head of Iran's Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization, is visiting Japan to open a major display of Persian historical relics. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has refused to back down on the nuclear issue or to give a prompt reply to the package of incentives. The UN Security Council voted 14-1 on Monday to demand that Iran give up sensitive nuclear activities including uranium enrichment by August 31 or face possible sanctions.
Posted by: Fred ||
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The IDF on Thursday called on Lebanese civilians in villages north of the Litani River to leave their homes, ahead of intensified IDF action in the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
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"Get ready to RRRRRRRRRUUUUUUMMMMMMMBLE!"
Posted by: BA ||
08/03/2006 8:54
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Posted by: DanNY ||
08/03/2006
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I'm sure it's only for the benefit of mankind
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/03/2006 2:43
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#2
Wanna walk in space a'fore they can walk, a'fore they learn to land planes or helos from a carrier. Unless they wanna do what the USSR did and engage in massive budget write-offs every year or COSPLAN, aka "Iff we Commies pretend we have $$$, we do".
More than 2,000 Saudi Shiite demonstrated in support of Lebanon's Hezbollah in the eastern province of the kingdom, local residents said yesterday. Waving flags of the Syrian- and Iran-backed Shiite movement and posters of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, protestors gathered outside a mosque in the Shiite city of Qatif late Tuesday, several residents said. Protestors chanted "Hezbollah will be victorious," and "death to America and Israel," resident Ali Ammar said.
Protestors chanted 'Hezbollah will be victorious,' and 'death to America and Israel...'
They also shouted "no Sunnis, no Shiites... (only) Islamic unity," in an apparent attempt to quiet sectarian differences which have arisen since Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers on July 12 triggering Israel's onslaught against Lebanon.
In the neighbouring town of Amira, hundreds of demonstrators also took to the streets in support of Hezbollah, but carried posters of the the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia along with Nasrallah posters, residents said, requesting anonymity.
The two rallies ended peacefully without any intervention of the security forces, although demonstrations are not common in the ultra-conservative kingdom. The Shiite minority represents some 10 per cent of the native Saudi population of 16.6 million, which is mainly Sunni Muslim. Some 60 per cent of them inhabit the oil-rich eastern province.
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Boy, I bet the Sauds and the Wahabbis are just going to love that shiat. The Sunni are more than aware that the Iranians are trying to stimulate their Shiites to make trouble.
Israeli aircraft rocketed boats in Gaza Citys harbor early yesterday and missiles hit a house in the center of the strip. No injuries were reported, but several boats anchored in the Gaza marina were destroyed, witnesses said, adding they heard loud explosions. The Israeli Army said in a statement that it targeted a vessel used by fighters to smuggle weapons into the strip from Egypt.
No one was injured also in the house rocketed in the central El-Bureij refugee camp, because the home-owner and his family left after receiving an advance warning in a phone call from an Israeli Army officer a practice used frequently in the past week or two. The airstrikes are part of an Israeli offensive launched after fighters from the governing Palestinian Hamas movement and two other groups raided a military outpost bordering Gaza and captured an Israeli soldier while killing two others.
At least 160 Palestinians have been killed since the offensive began exactly five weeks ago, the Palestinian Health Ministry said yesterday. The deaths included 30 children and youths aged under 16, the youngest of whom was a seven-month-old baby, it said, adding more than 600 others were wounded. An Israeli soldier was also killed.
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Posted by: Fred ||
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the home-owner and his family left after receiving an advance warning in a phone call from an Israeli Army officer a practice used frequently in the past week or two.
U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown may want to stick to reforming his own office and stop criticizing member states, a State Department spokesman said Wednesday.
Malloch Brown was quoted in a British newspaper Wednesday suggesting that he does not think that Hezbollah, the Syrian- and Iranian-backed group currently fighting Israeli Defense Forces, is a terrorist organization.
Hezbollah employs terrorist tactics; it is an organization, however, whose roots historically are completely separate and different from Al Qaeda...
"It's not helpful to couch this war in the language of international terrorism. Hezbollah employs terrorist tactics; it is an organization, however, whose roots historically are completely separate and different from Al Qaeda," he said, according to a transcript of an interview.
"I have to say that some of his comments, as reported today, are really misguided and misplaced. And we are seeing a troubling pattern of a high official of the U.N. who seems to be making it his business to criticize member states and, frankly, with misplaced and misguided criticisms. So I really don't understand the origin of these comments," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
This is not the first time Malloch Brown has made remarks suggesting his dislike for the U.S. government or its policies. Last month, he said the United States relies on the United Nations as a diplomatic tool but doesn't defend it in "Middle America," which remains largely ignorant while it criticizes the world body.
Posted by: Captain America ||
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And calling nazis criminals was unhelpful too.
That's why the UN has waited 60 years to organize its first ceremony dedicated to the Jews exterminated by the nazis.
Maybe, in 60 years, will the UN declare the Hezbollah a terrorsit organization.
#2
I'm thinking about getting a wooden baseball bat and burn the word 'CLUE' into the side and mailing it to Bolton's office -- so he can take it to meeting with these self-important PC clowns.
#6
OK, Malloch the Moron, what exactly do you call an organization that intentionally fires Katyushas from behind civilians, goes to war wearing civilian clothes, commits war crimes left and right including firing undirected weapons into civilian areas 100 times a day, threatens to destroy the legitimate government just as soon as it is finished with the Israelis, hides its equipment and personnel in religious structures and hospitals, uses ambulances as diversions and taxis, stages "massacres" and other news "events", tightly controls and manipulates media coverage of everything, uses UN observation posts for cover, hoodwinks the UN whenever they wish, won't disclose its alliances, uses suicide bombers, and has a charter that threatens Israel with something that smells a lot like genocide?
And what would an organization have to do to be labeled terrorist?
#7
This ponce gets free rent from the turd that is likely behind 76 dollar a barrel oil in a attempt to tank our ecomomy like he has done to many other nations. That is all one need know about this ponce.
#8
ponce, n: someone who procures customers for whores (in England they call a pimp a ponce) [syn: pimp, procurer, panderer, pander, pandar, fancy man]
Malloch the Moron prefers to be called a "middle man".
#9
Yes they are, D *** it, ergo no they aren't > you know, why Saint Bill wants the Dems to be on all sides = no sides of the issues. the way the Founding Fathers were and intended. JOhn Wayne = Jimmy Carter, and don't you America = Amerikans, despicable Fascist Nazi = well-meaning Half-A-Communist, etc. ever forget it.
#11
Well, of course they're not terrorists. I mean, good grief, we don't even have a "definition" of terrorism. Whad'ya expect from us...more strongly worded letters? I've gotta go now and call for a special session (in Turks/Barbados, of course) for us to discuss these important issues....Kofi, are you available, say August 31?
Posted by: Mark Malloch Brown ||
08/03/2006 8:48
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#12
Sure Mark, the 31st would be fine. Be careful about using the term "strongly worded", however.
#13
Indeed, the UN needs to have an extensive debate on this issue -- before there's any discussion of ceasefire; followed by several weeks' review of the relative merits of using round versus square tables for peace talks.
Posted by: regular joe ||
08/03/2006 9:09
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#14
Having Hezspurta hide amongst the civilian population is unhelpful to us killing them too, ya know.
Mook.
I take back what I said about throwing the UN out. They need lined up against the wall of their own building and shot.
#15
Darth, nah, just restrict them to two star restaurants and being driven around in five year old Chevy Cavaliers. They'll haul ass to the next flight out of NY so fast it will make your head spin.
#17
Citizen Joe BA: "Calling Mark Malloch Brown a human is unhelpful"
Posted by: BA ||
08/03/2006 10:23
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#18
If Kofi, the rogue states on the "Human Rights" commission, Oil for Food, failure in Darfur and a hundred other places, incompetence, overt espionage, scams and radical leftism wasn't enough to get the US out of the UN, mabe this piece of shit will provide some impetus.
#22
Its long past time that we throw that collection of terror supporters operating under the name "United Nations" out of OUR country. Malloch Brown is a piece of shit and should never be allowed to enter the US again.
#24
Malloch Brown was quoted in a British newspaper Wednesday suggesting that he does not think that Hezbollah, the Syrian- and Iranian-backed group currently fighting Israeli Defense Forces, is a terrorist organization.
Last month, he said the United States relies on the United Nations as a diplomatic tool but doesn't defend it in "Middle America,"
#27
Make it an OPTIONAL extra for americans to fund the U.N.
I like that idea! At the bottom of your 1040 you could have a box you can check that diverts $0.01 of your taxes to the UN if you think the organization is of value to the world. Perfect!
The Balochistan government claimed on Wednesday that members of the Marri tribe had for the first time begun surrendering to the government, following in the footsteps of former loyalists to Nawab Akber Khan Bugti.
Government officials said that 38 former loyalists of Nawabzada Balach Marri, the Moscow-educated purported chief of the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), had surrendered to the Kohlu administration. They also gave up a large number of weapons including rocket launchers, Kalashnikovs and ammunition, while pledging to refrain from participating in movements against the government, the sources added.
The surrendering team is led by Wadera Jumma Khan, a prominent elder from the Marri tribe, said one source. "This is just the beginning of a new era of success for the government," said Raziq Bugti, Balochistan government spokesman, while talking to Daily Times.
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Artillery pounded Tamil Tiger positions in northeast Sri Lanka and fighting raged early on Thursday as the island seemed to be slipping back into open war and aid workers wondered how to reach its victims. At least 800 people have died so far this year and ambushes, air strikes and naval clashes had become commonplace, but it was a dispute over a rebel-held water supply that led to the first real ground fighting since a 2002 ceasefire. "Right now, it's very localised," said a diplomatic source. "But I think it will spread because the Tigers need to make the government wonder where to put their troops next."
Outgoing multi-barrel rocket fire and the distant flash of impacts in rebel areas lit up the night sky over the port of Trincomalee, while the military said clashes continued in the town of Mutur just south of the harbour. "We have sent reinforcements to the area," said an army spokesman. "But the fighting is still going on with artillery, mortars and also small-arms because some of the rebels are hiding in the houses."
Both sides still say they want peace but diplomats fear the truce may become increasingly irrelevant and a two decade civil war that has claimed more than 65,000 lives may be back on. "As it stands now, there is no reason for any kind of optimism," Norwegian peace envoy Jon Hannsen-Bauer said in Oslo late on Wednesday.
The main military advance to reopen a single Tiger-held sluice gate south of Mutur and restore water to 50,000 people seems to have all but halted amid minefields and mortar fire. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) attacked three army camps before dawn on Wednesday and the military fear for more attacks.
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(KUNA) -- The Brigades of Al-Nasser Salahuddine, the military arm of Popular Resistance Committees, on Wednesday said it fired a missile on the Jewish settlement Netiv Ha'asara. The brigades said in a press release that it fired a "Nasser 2" type missile on the settlement, noting that the operation comes in response for demolishing the residence of Brigades Leader Yousef Nazal in Jenin. The brigades pledged to execute more military operations against Jewish settlements.
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Egypt has resumed its efforts to persuade the Palestinians to release kidnapped IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who is being held in the Gaza Strip, amid unconfirmed reports that Israel has agreed to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Former Palestinian Authority information minister Nabil Shaath claimed that Israel had expressed its readiness to release some 700 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit.
He said negotiations to resolve the crisis had reached an "advanced stage" as Egyptian diplomats and security officials based in the Gaza Strip resumed their mediation efforts on Tuesday. According to Shaath, who is one of the top Fatah leaders in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinians and Israel have agreed on most of the details of the alleged prisoner swap, but were still negotiating about the identity of the prisoners who would be freed. He said that in any case, most of the female prisoners held in Israel would be released.
The Egyptians had suspended their mediation efforts to protest against Hamas's refusal to accept a proposal by President Hosni Mubarak, according to which the soldier would be released in return for guarantees that Israel would release hundreds of prisoners at a later stage. The proposal is aimed at avoiding a situation where Israel would be seen as having succumbed to the demands of the kidnappers.
The Egyptian mediators met with PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, who expressed his backing for ending the crisis peacefully. Haniyeh told the Egyptian officials that the crisis could be resolved only after Israel ends its military operations against the Palestinians and agrees to a mutual cease-fire that would be followed by negotiations over a possible prisoner swap. Haniyeh told reporters in Gaza City on Wednesday that Israel was waging an "insane and open war on the Palestinians and Lebanese." This war, he added, extends beyond the release of Shalit and the other two soldiers held by Hizbullah.
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#1
We've been there before.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/03/2006 2:29
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#2
Ok, I give up. Why is Egypt trying to get in the middle of this?
Eighteen Taliban and one policeman have been killed as Afghan forces and coalition aircraft raided an insurgent hideout in the country's south, police said on Wednesday. The fighting took place late on Tuesday near the Helmand province town of Garmser, where Afghan forces have been hunting insurgents following last month's brief takeover of the town by the Taliban.
The violence occurred on the same day a Taliban ambush killed three British soldiers and seriously wounded a fourth in the north of the province. NATO said insurgents attacked one of its positions in the north of the province on Wednesday with light weapons, wounding one of its soldiers. No further details were provided.
Meanwhile, US-led coalition spokesman, US Col Tom Collins, said pamphlets from Taliban leader Mulla Omar had been distributed recently in Afghanistan. The pamphlets urged people to rise up against the US and its allies, claiming they were "out to destroy Muslims" and expressing pride in suicide bombers, even if they kill innocent civilians, Collins said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
I don't see why the good guys couldn't release a pamphlet or two in his name in the middle of the night. I wonder what it would say. Perhaps:
"Ten guys who honestly believe that they'll get 72 virgins if they blow themselves up in the middle of a packed school full of little girls. Must not be able to think for themselves."
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/03/2006 2:14
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#3
One famous female tennis player (can't remember who, really) once said that "one third of professional female tennis players was virgins, one third was lesbians, and one third was slut". Not really appropriate here, but I thought I could pass this bit of wisdom along.
#4
"One famous female tennis player (can't remember who, really) once said that "one third of professional female tennis players was virgins, one third was lesbians, and one third was slut"."
That sounds a lot like the LPGA. Of course, it's probably true of most professional womens sports.
I'll bet that mens professional sports is split between rump rangers and horn dogs.
#7
lol, Besoeker, quote of the day. I still remember the day (like where I was on 9/11, when the Challenger blew up, when the "wall came down" in Germany, etc.) I first saw that T-shirt (at college of course) a guy was wearing..."I'm a lesbian trapped in a man's body". Absolutely freakin' hilarious!
And, Manolo, by "split" i hope you mean something like 0.0001% vs. 99.9999% in men's sports, not 50/50. Heck, I'd bet it's 0/100 in NASCAR, lol!
Posted by: BA ||
08/03/2006 9:06
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#8
She's got a writing credit on Rooster Cogburn, too.
#9
"...by "split" i hope you mean something like 0.0001% vs. 99.9999% in men's sports, not 50/50. Heck, I'd bet it's 0/100 in NASCAR, lol!"
I have no idea what the actual "split" is, but, I expect that there is a lot of stuff happening on the Down Low that we would never guess. Yes, even in NASCAR.
(KUNA) -- An Iraqi policeman was killed, three wounded, on Wednesday when an explosive device targeted their patrol in Mosul, northern Iraq. An Iraqi Police source told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the attack took place near a security checkpoint in the area of Manassah in the city of Mosul. The source added that gunmen also attacked a police station in Talafar, western Mosul, noting that a policeman was wounded in the incident.
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(KUNA) -- At least three people were killed and at least 15 injured in two separate incidents in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir Wednesday. In one incident, 15 people were injured, when gunmen lobbed a grenade at a bus stand at Surankote in the border district of Poonch in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir Wednesday, news agency Indo-Asian News Service reported. In another incident, two gunmen and an Indian army soldier were killed in an encounter in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir, the news agency reported.
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What would you do if a lawyer threatened, "Give me a million dollars or my client and I will publicly brand you as a rapist and destroy your life?" On July 27, the California Supreme Court expanded the range of choices possible to one man who was presented with that threat.
The dance phenomenon Michael Flatley of Riverdance fame can proceed not only with a lawsuit for defamation against his accuser but also with one for extortion against her lawyer... We should all root for Flatley, in that if he wins, frivolous litigants and threatening lawyers could be severely punished for their rackets.
#1
Robertson was also in the news last year for litigation surrounding the claim that Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher fathered her child and, so, should pay her support; DNA tests confirmed his paternity. According to private investigator Ernie Rizzo, who worked for both Flatley and Urlacher, Robertson has had other relationships with wealthy and famous men that ended in litigation.
Can you say, "gold-digger"? She already has a big monthly check for the next 18 years, and that isn't enough for her.
KIRTLAND HILLS, Ohio -- President Bush, whose own popularity is just so-so, put the weight of his office behind the struggling candidacy of conservative Kenneth Blackwell, helping raise $1.5 million Wednesday for the Republican's campaign for governor. Bush won Ohio in 2004, but Republicans are facing a difficult political environment in this GOP-controlled state, which is trying to rebound from political scandal -- and recent flooding.
Last week, 10 inches of rain fell on northeastern Ohio, killing a man and forcing hundreds from their homes. On Tuesday, Bush declared Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula counties eligible for federal disaster relief. "The local response was really good," Bush said at Lake County Emergency Operation and Communication Center in Mentor where he stopped before going to the fundraiser. "The interoperability between various jurisdictions was superb. As a result, a lot of lives were saved."
Bush, who spoke with dispatchers, law enforcement officers, firefighters and other emergency management officials, said the federal disaster declaration means individuals will be helped with rental assistance, temporary housing, grants to rebuild their homes and small business assistance.
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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.
When a gunman opened fire on women at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle last Friday, he announced the shootings were intended to make a statement. Prosecutors who charged Naveed Afzal Haq on Wednesday say he did: Hate.
By John Stossel 
By Walter Williams
By Cliff Kincaid | August 3, 2006 
Admitted Pedophile Says Children Can Consent
The clash of values between the new Polish government and the liberal elites who have long dominated the social policies of the European Union is becoming serious. An EU spokesman Wednesday rebuffed the proposal for a referendum on capital punishment from Poland's President Lech Kaczynski, stating "the death penalty is not compatible with European values." 
Post reporter experiences tense United flight 
President Chirac, returning to his favourite role of world statesman, has taken a bold line at the United Nations that conflicts with Washington and London. He is capitalising on the discredit that Iraq caused les Anglo-Saxons and drawing on Frances past as the governing power of Lebanon.
A guard dog has ripped apart a collection of rare teddy bears, including one once owned by Elvis Presley, during a rampage at a children's museum. "He just went berserk," said Daniel Medley, general manager of the Wookey Hole Caves near Wells, England, where hundreds of bears were chewed up Tuesday night by the 6-year-old Doberman pinscher named Barney.
Indonesian immigration authorities yesterday deported five Saudi men for engaging in short-term marriages, an immigration official said. Yeyet Oking, the head of Bogor district's immigration office, said the five were deported via Jakarta while another man was released for lack of evidence. Short-term marriages usually involve local Islamic clerics blessing unions between foreigners and local 
Cuba's Fidel Castro is "very alert" and resting after stomach surgery, a senior aide said on Wednesday, but the man who has governed for 47 years has not appeared in public since standing down temporarily this week. There was also no sign of younger brother Raul, who took over power provisionally on Monday from Castro, 79, the world's longest-ruling head of government.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbass Fatah faction yesterday renewed warnings that its fighters would retaliate if Israeli forces approached refugee camps during their offensive in Lebanon. If Israeli forces should approach the entrance of our camps, we will react with weapons, Fatahs Lebanon representative Sultan Abul Aynain said from the Rashidiyah camp, south of the port city of Tyre. 
If Hezbollah-run media are to be believed, then 35 Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed or wounded in Ayta a-Shab , militants downed an Israeli helicopter and destroyed a house in which IDF soldiers were hiding, and IDF troops are always hit in the back because they are running away.
An Israeli man was killed Wednesday when a Katyusha struck Kibbutz Saar, north of Nahariya, as Hezbollah marked the resumption of strikes on northern Israel with a record number of some 210 rockets. 
SEATTLE -- A man accused in the shooting rampage at Seattle's Jewish Federation office last week was charged Wednesday with nine felony counts, including aggravated first-degree murder and violation of the state's hate-crime law. "Make no mistake, this was a hate crime," King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng told a news conference. "The attack on these women was an attack on the Jewish community, not only in Seattle but throughout our nation and the world."
Turkish authorities have prevented 50 Iranian students from crossing the border, AFP reported. The students announced last week they were heading to Lebanon as volunteers, to help Hizbullah fight the Israeli army. Quoting the Iranian Fars news agency, the report said the students were stopped at the border. After waiting for five days at the border, they demonstrated outside the Turkish embassy, demanding to be allowed entry. The students protested against what they called an alliance between Turkey and the Zionists.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday criticised the United Nations Security Council and the United States for "preventing a ceasefire in Lebanon", as Israel strikes deeper into Lebanon. "Prevention of a ceasefire in Lebanon is an eternal disgrace, a stain on the United Nations Security Council's men headed by the criminal America," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by the official news agency IRNA. "The US, Britain and some other powers are using their tool, the Zionist regime, to create the Greater Mideast, imposing war to Lebanon. They are partners in Israel's crimes."
Two hidden bombs exploded Wednesday in a soccer field, killing nine youths, as two mortars landed while another soccer game was underway, killing three children, police said. The young men killed by the home made bombs in Amil district of western Baghdad were aged between 15 and 25 years, said police 1st Lt. Maitham Abdul Razzaq. About an hour earlier, two mortar shells hit Abu Dshir residential area in Baghdad, one landing in a soccer field and killing three children below 15 years of age, said police Capt. Firas Queti. The other mortar landed on a house, injuring a couple and their child, he said.
KABUL: President Pervez Musharraf accepted on Wednesday an invitation to visit Afghanistan, an Afghan official said. Musharraf was last in Afghanistan in April 2002. Afghan President Hamid Karzai extended the invitation in a telephone call to Musharraf on Wednesday evening during which they discussed "issues relating to the region," presidential spokesman Karim Rahimi said. "The president of Pakistan accepted the invitation and said he would visit Afghanistan at a convenient time," Rahimi said. "At this time, this is of great importance to have good relations and good discussions," he said.
UNITED NATIONS The U.N. announced Wednesday that it was again postponing a meeting of nations that could send peacekeepers to south Lebanon, saying talks about sending troops were pointless before there was progress on peace between Israel and Hezbollah. 
BRUSSELS - European governments are reaching out to Hezbollah's foreign backers, Iran and Syria, in an attempt to engage them in a solution to the Lebanon war by recognizing their importance for regional stability. While the United States, Israel's main backer, is unwilling to talk at a senior level to either country - seen as "rogue states" in Washington - European foreign ministers have no such taboo if dialogue can help extinguish fires in the Middle East. 
PARIS Police have shut down makeshift Muslim prayer rooms at Paris' two main airports after they came under scrutiny following a far-right politician's allegations that Islamists were compromising security. Officials insist there was no threat. But the prayer sites set up by Muslim workers in cloak rooms, depots and other areas at Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports were quietly shuttered. There are three official prayer rooms still open at each airport, just as there are chapels for Christians and synagogues for Jews.
An Iranian official said on Wednesday the Islamic republic was losing confidence in the international community after the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding it stop sensitive nuclear work. Vice President Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie met in Tokyo with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso, who urged Iran to regain the world's trust.
The Balochistan government claimed on Wednesday that members of the Marri tribe had for the first time begun surrendering to the government, following in the footsteps of former loyalists to Nawab Akber Khan Bugti. 
Artillery pounded Tamil Tiger positions in northeast Sri Lanka and fighting raged early on Thursday as the island seemed to be slipping back into open war and aid workers wondered how to reach its victims. At least 800 people have died so far this year and ambushes, air strikes and naval clashes had become commonplace, but it was a dispute over a rebel-held water supply that led to the first real ground fighting since a 2002 ceasefire. "Right now, it's very localised," said a diplomatic source. "But I think it will spread because the Tigers need to make the government wonder where to put their troops next."
(KUNA) -- The Brigades of Al-Nasser Salahuddine, the military arm of Popular Resistance Committees, on Wednesday said it fired a missile on the Jewish settlement Netiv Ha'asara. The brigades said in a press release that it fired a "Nasser 2" type missile on the settlement, noting that the operation comes in response for demolishing the residence of Brigades Leader Yousef Nazal in Jenin. The brigades pledged to execute more military operations against Jewish settlements.
Egypt has resumed its efforts to persuade the Palestinians to release kidnapped IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who is being held in the Gaza Strip, amid unconfirmed reports that Israel has agreed to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Former Palestinian Authority information minister Nabil Shaath claimed that Israel had expressed its readiness to release some 700 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit. 
Eighteen Taliban and one policeman have been killed as Afghan forces and coalition aircraft raided an insurgent hideout in the country's south, police said on Wednesday. The fighting took place late on Tuesday near the Helmand province town of Garmser, where Afghan forces have been hunting insurgents following last month's brief takeover of the town by the Taliban.
(KUNA) -- An Iraqi policeman was killed, three wounded, on Wednesday when an explosive device targeted their patrol in Mosul, northern Iraq. An Iraqi Police source told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the attack took place near a security checkpoint in the area of Manassah in the city of Mosul. The source added that gunmen also attacked a police station in Talafar, western Mosul, noting that a policeman was wounded in the incident.
KIRTLAND HILLS, Ohio -- President Bush, whose own popularity is just so-so, put the weight of his office behind the struggling candidacy of conservative Kenneth Blackwell, helping raise $1.5 million Wednesday for the Republican's campaign for governor. Bush won Ohio in 2004, but Republicans are facing a difficult political environment in this GOP-controlled state, which is trying to rebound from political scandal -- and recent flooding. 
