US forces and Afghan troops hunting for al Qaeda and Taliban remnants have detained at least 20 armed suspects in southern Afghanistan in the last two days, an Afghan commander said Friday. Afghan Commander Mohammed Hasan told Reuters in the Afghan border town of Spin Boldak that the men were participating in a campaign against the government in the border areas. "They were trying to invite people to participate in Jihad (holy war) against the Americans...," he added. Hasan said a large number of militants belonging to hard-line Islamic groups, including Taliban and al Qaeda, were hiding near the Afghan-Pakistan border. The latest arrests of the 20 suspects took place over the last two days in an operation carried out in different villages near Spin Boldak. What're they doing? Nabbing the bad guys as the come across the border? Or are they picking up the guys who were released from Shebergan in the past couple weeks as soon as they go back to their old habits?
In a separate raid in the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, two Taliban commanders were arrested, a senior Afghan security official said by telephone from the southern city. He said rocket launchers, explosives and automatic rifles were recovered from them Thursday night. "The two were planning to attack an American base or an Afghan installation," the official said. Bad boys. What're you doing outside of Quetta?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/24/2003 10:01 am ||
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#1
I thought Shebergan was someplace in Wisconsin...
Authorities have arrested a Kuwaiti man who claims to have carried out the attack on two Americans ambushed at a traffic intersection in Kuwait City on Tuesday, an official Saudi government source told CNN. The government source said Saudi authorities arrested Sami Mohammed Marzouk Obaid Al-Mutayri as he tried to walk across the border from Kuwait around 5 a.m. He was alone when he tried to enter Saudi Arabia.
The suspect, described as a Kuwaiti psychiatrist about 30 to 35 years old, confessed to the attack after several hours of questioning, the source said. The Saudi government has informed Kuwaiti authorities about the arrest, but it has not elaborated on when it might extradite the suspect.
The Tuesday attack killed Michael Rene Pouliot, 46, of San Diego, California, who died at the scene, the U.S. Embassy reported. David Caraway, who was driving the vehicle, was shot six times but is expected to survive, authorities said.
Both men were contract workers for the U.S. military, employed by Tapestry Solutions, a San Diego company whose Web site says it has "specialized in the area of military modeling and simulation training tools." According to police, the men were riding in an SUV, which was shot at least 24 times.
Caraway's physician, Malenko Kirsic, said Wednesday that Caraway was in stable condition after his surgery the day before. The doctors said he was shot once in the arm, three times in the chest and twice in the leg. Doctors performed several procedures, including an operation on his upper right arm to repair a fractured humerus.
Pouliot co-founded Tapestry Solutions in 1993 and was the company's executive vice president. Caraway is a senior software engineer for the company. "Our hearts and deepest sympathies go out to the families affected by this tragedy," said Mark Young, vice president of Tapestry Solutions. "We are stunned by this senseless act of violence, which has taken a great man and friend of our family."
Posted by: Ken ||
01/24/2003 02:45 pm ||
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A Muslim psychiatrist? GET OUT! There actually is such a thing? That's like "French Heavyweight Champion". From what we've seen of the Religion of Peace, he probably wasn't doing bang up business.
A young Kuwaiti man who fled to Saudi Arabia after a terrorist shooting here on Tuesday that killed one American and wounded another has confessed to the attack, Kuwait's Interior Ministry said tonight. Kuwait security officials identified the man, who was turned over by the Saudi border guards, as Sami Mohammed Marzouq Obeid al-Mutairi, 25. The Interior Ministry said in a statement that he had confessed "to the crime of assassinating the American citizen and injuring another." Don't have to waste all that time on a trial then.
Police officials said they would probably take him to the scene of the shooting near the main United States military base here, Camp Doha, to re-enact the shooting as part of their investigation. They said Mr. Mutairi was one of several suspects. Earlier, Kuwaiti security officials said Mr. Mutairi was an employee of Kuwait's Department of Social Affairs. An Islamic Social Worker, that explains the automatic weapons.
He was described as an Islamic activist who had tried unsuccessfully to enter Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks and who had been questioned a number of times by Kuwaiti security authorities for possible links to Osama bin Laden's network. Kuwait's official news agency said that Mr. Mutairi acknowledged that he was a believer "in the ideas of the Qaeda organization" after he was extradited by the Saudis. The ministry statement said that the Kalashnikov automatic rifle used in the attack and a quantity of ammunition were found hidden in Mr. Mutairi's "place of work" and had been confiscated.
Word of Mr. Mutairi's detention first came from Saudi Arabia, where border authorities had detained him as he tried to enter the country late Tuesday or early Wednesday. His flight to the Saudi frontier was detected when Kuwaiti security services conducted a dragnet for known Qaeda sympathizers after the shooting Tuesday. In this case "Round up the usual suspects" is the correct tactic. However, keeping the usual suspects in a cage would most likely have been a better move.
They rounded up 60 to 70 people and in so doing learned that Mr. Mutairi had left his home for Saudi Arabia three hours after the assault, which took place at 9:15 a.m. His white pickup truck was also said to have matched a description given by some witnesses of a vehicle that fled the scene of the attack. These guys need to watch more American TV. Then they would know you steal a car just before the hit and use that for the getaway. The Bali and Kenyan bombers used their own cars and they were traced right back to them.
An official of the Saudi Interior Ministry told the Saudi news agency that a preliminary investigation at the border had shown that Mr. Mutairi had fired a Kalashnikov rifle that killed Michael Rene Pouliot, 46, and wounded David John Caraway, 37, in a hail of bullets Tuesday morning as the two civilian defense contractors were driving to Camp Doha, just north of here. The Saudi authorities granted an extradition request by Kuwait and turned Mr. Mutairi over on Wednesday. It was unclear from the Saudi account how the Saudi authorities knew Mr. Mutairi had fired the weapon used in the attack. Hummmm, prior knowledge, perhaps? Or did he roll up to the border and when the border guard asked "Reason for visiting Saudi?" he said "Just banged two Merkin's, can I come in?"
Kuwaiti officials did not say tonight what charges would be filed against Mr. Mutairi. Murder and terrorism sounds about right. Off with his head.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/24/2003 12:18 pm ||
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WASHINGTON: âYou want to know what I really think of the Europeans?â asked the senior State Department official. âI think they have been wrong on just about every major international issue for the past 20 years.â
âThey told us they could fix the Bosnian mess all on their own. Wrong.â
âThey told us the Russians would never accept NATO enlargement. Wrong.â
âThey told us that the Russians would never accept National Missile Defence. Wrong.â
âThey told us that if we withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty of 1972 the whole structure of international arms control agreements would come crashing down. Wrong.â
âThey told us that the Kyoto Protocol was a good and worthwhile treaty, more than just cosmetics. Wrong.â
âThey told us that the European Unionâs new common security and defence policy would improve the military abilities of the NATO allies in Europe. Wrong.â
âThese were also the people who were wrong about Ronald Reagan and the Evil Empire, the same âfriendsâ who helped vote us off the United Nations Human Rights Commission. These are the people who whine about our Farm Bill when they are the worldâs prime protectionists. They are not just repeatedly wrong; they are also a bunch of hypocrites. So why should we pay attention to a single thing they say?â
The official, a career diplomat who speaks fluent French and likes to vacation in Italy, sat back and took an appreciative sip from his glass of good red wine from Bordeaux.
âOne more thing,â he added. âWhenever I use the word Europeans, I donât mean the Brits.â
It was perhaps the most interesting and informative off-the-record lunch this reporter had attended in some three decades in the news business. The speaker was not a political appointee with a cursory knowledge of international affairs, but a professional and highly experienced Foreign Service officer with a wide range of friends and contacts across Europe.
He is a cultivated and courteous man, but he was angry, in that dangerous way quiet men can be. And the unveiled contempt in his voice and the curl of his lip when he drawled out the word âEuropeansâ said as much for the depth of his feelings as his bitter rhetoric.
Europeans do not yet get this, the great sea change that has taken place in the American foreign policy establishment. It would be easy to date this from the terrorist attack on 9/11, but it goes back further. I can recall hearing the first faint notes of this leitmotif of American contempt, like the distant hunting call in some Wagnerian opera that foreshadows the musical thunder to come, during the Bosnian crisis in 1993-95.
Perhaps we should have recognized hints of it back in the 1980s, over the sanctions against the Siberian gas pipeline and over âStar Wars.â Most European diplomats dismissed these arguments at the time as clumsy Reaganism, the embarrassing kinds of excess to be expected from provincial American politicians. Doubtless, they smugly assured one another, Reaganâs crudities would soon be tamed by their good friends in the foreign policy establishment: the State Department; the Council on Foreign Relations; and the Op-Ed pages of The New York Times and The Washington Post.
Well, the Europeans may still be able to count on the sympathies and cultural deference of many East Coast journalists, but something has shifted among the diplomats, the think tanks and even many of the academics. At a think-tank meeting last week, when a European diplomat asked rather patronizingly what all these American weapons were actually for, a renowned liberal academic simply quoted Kiplingâs line about âMaking mock of uniforms that guard you while you sleep.â And then he turned on his heel and walked away.
Americaâs foreign policy establishment is composed largely of people who seldom pay much attention to military matters, but since the Kosovo war they have come to appreciate the vast disparities between the U.S. armed forces and the rest. It is now widely understood that of all the Europeans, only the British can begin to fight on the same modern battlefield as the hugely expensive and technologically advanced American forces. The rest of the Europeans are so many free riders on the readiness of American taxpayers to spend twice as much as Europeans on what remains the common defence.
That is the background to the NATO summit that opens next week in Prague. It should be a triumphant coda to the grand achievement of the Atlantic Alliance at the end of the Cold War, the fulfilment of the first President George Bushâs stirring call to âa Europe whole and free.â But unless the Europeans recognize the glitter of contempt in the American eye, and the new resolve that lies behind it, it may become NATOâs epilogue. âTWT
The writer is the Chief International Correspondent of United Press International
I can't add anything to this. Pretty much sums it up.
#2
âI think they have been wrong on just about every major international issue for the past 20 years.â
20 years? try the last 100. For that matter ,when have they ever been right? Heres a few recent nuggets of genius from Europe.
- Herr Hitler is a man who can be reasoned with.( chamberlin 1938)
- We shall not attack the germans within germany, we will maintain our security behind the maginot line.
( French Minister of defence October 1939)
- If President Reagan puts Pershing missles in Europe, it will mean war with the soviet union.
( French Minister of Defense October 1982)
- The US cannot keep Berlin by flying in supplies, the Soviets have won.
( De gaulle 1949)
- The US will face a 'quagmire' in Afghanistan
( russian foreign minister 2001)
- US Army will serve as replacements of British troops under the command of the British Expeditionary Forces ( General Haig 1917)
- The Americans will face defeat on the beaches of france as a result of their ill advised plan for the invasion of europe
( Field Marshall Montgomery)
- The future is world socialism. Capitalism is dead. ( too many to count)
Posted by: Frank Martin ||
01/24/2003 14:01 Comments ||
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This guy's probably only been in the business for 20 years, but I'm quite sure he knows the history.The amazing thing? He works at the State Department. And we thought they were all weenies.
#4
" - The Americans will face defeat on the beaches of france as a result of their ill advised plan for the invasion of europe
( Field Marshall Montgomery) "
I haven't heard that quote - what plan was he talking about? Monty commanded the allied Normandy invasion and the actual plan was mostly his.
Posted by: A ||
01/24/2003 18:16 Comments ||
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I believe I read it in "Decision in Normandy: The Unwritten Story of Montgomery and the Allied Campaign."
He predicted disaster for the Americans at virtually every turn, and was a constant thorn in the side of Eisenhower. Monty - the guy famous for saying that MARKET-GARDEN was 95% a success. At one point during the war, he went so far in insulting Eisenhower that Ike demanded a written explicit apology, and go it. He also received a public rebuke from Winston Churchill, something that Monty never forgave him for.
I'm no fan of Monty, but he was a damn sight better than the guy he replaced ( General Ritchie)
Posted by: Frank Martin ||
01/24/2003 19:17 Comments ||
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Ike took over command from Monty of the land battle on 1 September 1944 when the German army on the western front had virtually ceased to exit.
Ike nearly sacked Monty in the middle of the Ardennes crisis (December 1944) - the written apology you talk about - but I think you can see that Sept-Dec 1944 was not altogether a successful period.
Monty was made the scapegoat for the American humiliation in the Ardennes - but if he had been sacked think what that would have done for US-UK relations!
GRIESHEIM, Germany - The first of up to 2,600 German soldiers deployed Friday at U.S. military installations to reinforce security ahead of possible war in Iraq, a move meant to offset Germany's refusal to contribute troops for any military action.
About 300 soldiers were in the first wave being sent out to U.S. bases and other complexes, strung across southern and western Germany, the German Defense Ministry said.
At the Stars and Stripes Complex in Griesheim south of Frankfurt, one of nearly 60 sites involved, 28 German troops began pulling guard duty at the gates and inside the base. About 100 U.S. soldiers and civilians are based at Griesheim , home to the offices of a newspaper for the U.S. military.
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder pledged last year that the Bundeswehr would help secure U.S. installations as he tried to balance his opposition to a war on Iraq with Germany's alliance with the United States.
He also has guaranteed that the U.S. military can overfly Germany and use its bases on German soil to support an attack on Iraq. Funny, you dont hear alot about that position in the New York Times!
It isn't the first time that German soldiers have pitched in to help guarantee security at U.S. facilities in the country, where more than 116,000 Americans are stationed. After the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, hundreds of German soldiers and military police helped patrol the installations.
Many of the troops going into action Friday are young Germans doing their compulsory nine-month military service. They will carry their units' standard weapons, generally pistols or assault rifles, a Defense Ministry spokesman said on customary condition of anonymity.
No time limit has been set for the German deployment, which will be gradually increased.
Schroeder's anti-war stance helped him to a narrow re-election win last September, but angered the U.S. administration.
This week, with a key report from U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq approaching and Washington showing impatience with the process, he has stiffened his opposition. After weeks of hedging, Schroeder now says that Germany will not endorse an attack on Iraq in the U.N. Security Council, which it joined Jan. 1.
Ok, so if we look closely here we can see that Germany has made its position clear, the US will go ahead and do what its going to do anyway, and the German government is given cover by its public position. however their private intergovernment position may be different. If Germany had said that we could not use their airspace or instanllation to support the war in Iraq, that might mean something.
Posted by: Frank Martin ||
01/24/2003 11:06 am ||
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This is more about the Germans trying to keep US bases in Germany than anything else. We'll probably relocate into Iraq after the short war anyway but the Germans can try to convince us to stay and spend those fatty military paychecks in Germany.
#2
We had lots of German guards around our American compounds during GW1, too. They would not want any U.S. military dependants killed while the GIs are off fighting.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/24/2003 11:43 Comments ||
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MINISTERS admit the Government has been too scared of human rights crusaders â and should have acted on Muslim radicals earlier. A senior Cabinet figure admitted yesterday that Labour had not acted despite intelligence warnings. The minister said: âWe could and should have done something a long time ago. We have not been tough enough or moved quickly enough. We have not got a grip and people are rightly furious. We were worried about looking racist and as if we didnât care about human rights. Our priority must be with votersâ human rights.â Voters, it would seem to me, have a "human right" to be secure from slaughter in large numbers by the turban and automatic weapons set. It would also seem like a "human right" for voters to have a government that has a high enough testicle count to be able to stand up to the mau-mauing the Islamists and their allied handwringers hand out...
The admission came as Home Secretary David Blunkett said he was âdeeply worriedâ about vigilantes attacking immigrants in a backlash. Why not worry about that when it occurs, and concentrate on the plotting and planning by subversives and killers that is occurring?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/24/2003 10:44 am ||
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Vigilantes attack immigrants in a backlash when their government isn't doing their damn job.
You can either have professional justice (Government going after the REAL bad guys), vigilante justice (vigilantes going after who they THINK are the bad guys, but may not be), or no justice.
I prefer the first the best. However, I'll settle for #2 if I feel I'm getting #3, which is never an acceptable option.
Spanish police have arrested 16 people in a major operation against suspected al-Qaeda militants in the north-eastern Catalonia region. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar said that the arrests were extraordinarily important, adding that explosives and chemical materials that could be used in a terrorist attack were seized. Two barrels were causing particular concern, with some unconfirmed reports in the Spanish media saying they contained the deadly poison ricin. Dear God! Barrels of the stuff? I hope that report's wrong!
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says the police appear to have thwarted not only a plot but an actual attack. More than 150 anti-terrorist police agents took part in the pre-dawn swoop against the suspected al-Qaeda cells in Barcelona and elsewhere in Catalonia. Yeah, with a couple barrels of poison, I guess they did...
According to some local media reports, the people arrested in Spain had been trained in al-Qaeda camps under the control of Osama Bin Laden. Interior Minister Angel Acebes said they were mostly Algerians, and suspected Islamic militants of the Salafist Group for Call and Combat. We expected they'd likely be North Africans...
The raids, which were ordered by Judge Guillermo Ruiz Polanco, took place after a lengthy investigation assisted by the French and British authorities. "The dismantled network has connections with terrorists arrested recently in France and Britain who were preparing to carry out attacks, using explosives and chemical materials," Mr Aznar said. It sounds like all the watching they've been doing at Finsbury mosque is paying off all at once. So Abu Hamza's outlived his usefulness and can now be dumped back to Yemen or someplace else where he has a death sentence waiting for him — if Blair and Blunkett have the guts...
Some of those detained are thought to be on their way to Madrid to be interrogated. "Juan! Send up more giggle juice!"
Over the course of the past year, Spain has arrested about 20 people thought to have links with the militant Islamic organisation. However, many of these have been released on bail because of lack of evidence. Several of the arrests have taken place in Catalonia, which has a large immigrant population from North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. "Arrested because of lack of evidence" would seem to be the hallmark of piss-poor performance by the court system, often helped along by fear of "human rights" weinerheads who don't figure they, personally, would be in range of the barrels of deadly poison.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/24/2003 10:20 am ||
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#1
Hopefully if the Spanish captured barrels of the stuff that means they pretty much got it all.
#2
"It sounds like all the watching they've been doing at Finsbury mosque is paying off all at once."
Either that, or the word's out that the balloon is going up very shortly, and they've decided that it's time to move from the stage of making-the-list to the stage of crossing-off-names.
Posted by: Old Grouch ||
01/24/2003 18:30 Comments ||
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Spain arrested on Friday 16 suspected extremists linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network who were preparing to launch chemical attacks, Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar said.
Police in predawn raids searched 12 homes in the Catalonia region surrounding Barcelona, also discovering explosives, bomb components and radio transmission equipment used to communicate with Islamic extremists in Algeria and Chechnya, Spain's interior minister said.
"They (police) have broken up a major terrorist network ... linked in this case to the Algerian Salafist group, a splinter of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), which has clear connections with the criminal organization of bin Laden," Aznar told a news conference in La Coruna.
"The network had connections with terrorists recently arrested in France and the United Kingdom, and they were preparing attacks with explosives and chemical materials," he said. He did not say where the attacks were to have been.
Court sources however said the number arrested was 19 and that as many of eight of those would be set free shortly for lack of evidence.Interior Minister Angel Acebes said those arrested were mostly Algerian and linked to suspects recently arrested in France and Britain. The searches on Friday turned up containers of suspicious resins, fuels and other chemicals that were being analyzed, Acebes said, as well as electronic components, detonators and remote controls that would be used to make bombs. Court sources said the suspects may be linked to a suspected al Qaeda explosives expert who was arrested in Paris last year with plans to blow up important French buildings. Sounds like he was a key player. Either he's talking or he was a sloppy record keeper.
The swoop by some 180 Spanish police, on a request from French authorities, was the first major operation against suspected Islamic militants in Spain this year. Acebes said Spain has now arrested 35 suspects believed to have ties to al Qaeda since the September 11, 2001, airliner attacks on New York and Washington. Among them were eight men arrested in November 2001 suspected of having played a role in the attacks.
In addition, police say lead hijacker Mohamed Atta traveled extensively in Spain in the summer before the commercial jets slammed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Police say Atta held at least one meeting with conspirators in Salou, also in Catalonia in the northeast of Spain.
Friday's operation, authorized by a High Court judge, began at least a year and half ago when Spain's High Court authorized telephone wiretaps, court sources said. The first of the detainees were transferred to Madrid for interrogation with the rest to follow, the sources said. They were being held on suspicion of belonging to an armed group. Before Friday, the most recent Spanish arrest was made on December 26, when an Algerian man was detained in the northern region of La Rioja on suspicion of links to GIA and of training at bin Laden's camps in Afghanistan. In northern Italy, five Moroccans were taken into custody on Wednesday on suspicion of "terrorist activities" after police discovered explosives and maps marking the route to a NATO installation. Investigations were continuing. Good work by our Spanish friends.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/24/2003 10:08 am ||
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Former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter, a harsh critic of the Bush administration's push toward war with Iraq, suggested that recent news reports of his arrest in an Internet sex sting last year were part of an attempt to silence him. He said the publicity forced him to cancel a trip to Baghdad, where he said he would have offered an alternative to military action. And gotten next to a really cute 13-year-old from Basra, who has the body of a 15-year-old... Uh. Never mind.
"The timing does stink. I was supposed to be on an airplane yesterday to Baghdad," he said. "Let's not forget, we're on the verge of a major conflict in which thousands of American lives may be lost, and I was a leading voice of opposition to this." Yes. We were wondering about that. Sammy's boyz got some pictures, did they?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/24/2003 10:06 am ||
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Actually. The late timing of this info release is indeed suspicious, but for entirely different reasons than Ritter states. The fact that the ADA was fired for not pursuing the case implies that she bent the rules to help him cover up the embarrassing story. I can think of no other reason why she would do this other than that she is a member of the 'peace' crowd and values his pro-Sammy message. Unfortunately, these salacious stories have a way of getting out on their own.
#2
I see that Scotty has learned the two main leftist arguing tactics:
A)Remember you're always the victim,no matter what you've done.
B)It's your opponents' motives,not their arguments,that matter.
Posted by: El Id ||
01/24/2003 10:43 Comments ||
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#3
Hello, all American peoples. My name is Aliah. My uncle, Saddam, asked me to be nice to Mr. Scott. Mr. Scott a nice man. He give me chocolate and a watch. All he want is me to watch him do naughty. Uncle Saddam give me camera to take pictures. Mr. Scott ask me to spank him, but I laugh and run away. Mr. Scott funny American. Are all Americans funny like Mr. Scott? Uncle Saddam ask me to ask.
#7
"I was supposed to be on an airplane yesterday to Baghdad"
Who's stopping you Scotty? We'd like for you to go...and stay there
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/24/2003 12:04 Comments ||
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Scott Ritter: "Let's not forget, we're on the verge of a major conflict in which thousands of American lives may be lost, and I was a leading voice of opposition to this."
Ah, Scott, we've already lost thousands of American lives. If we do nothing, as you recommend, it's guaranteed that we'll lose thousands, tens of thousand, hundreds of thousands of American lives more. I predict
we'll have fewer than 100 casualties in Iraq and that we'll find out all about Saddam's programs, his past terrorist attacks and plans for future attacks.
It only takes one side to make war. The Islamofascists have been attacking us for decades and have declared war on us for decades. After 9/11, we've finally decided to fight back.
#9
Careful with the "A word" there Chuck. Those barbarians will call up 1-800-FAT-WA4U and before you know it you'll have the camelpox.
Posted by: Bent Pyramid ||
01/24/2003 12:47 Comments ||
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#10
Bent Pyramid --- 1-800-FATWA4U is just a message phone without an announcement, so it may be genuine. No use doing a test...
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/24/2003 14:41 Comments ||
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#11
Paul---Holy smokes, what did we stumble into here? Somebody call the FBI quick!
Posted by: Bent Pyramid ||
01/24/2003 16:08 Comments ||
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#12
Jabba: "...fewer than 100 casualties..."
I think we'll have several thousand but not more than ten thousand. Unfortunately it will be tougher this time around. Unless we can pull off another Northern Alliance thing a la Afghanistan.
Posted by: me ||
01/24/2003 17:51 Comments ||
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#13
I agree with the 100 or fewer casualties. The Afghan was filled with beat the Soviets type stories before the Yanks got there. This allowed them to fight on for a bit with the dillusion they had a chance. Iraqi's are filled with stories of being blasted to hell and lucky to be alive a decade ago, and they don't even have the religious deal going for them. They'll surrender faster than we can round them up.
I also expect a general to call in Saddam's Lat and Long and let a US plane take him out in exchange for slipping out of the war crimes trials.
Speaker of the Azad [Pak] Kashmir Assembly Thursday rejected the speculation that al-Qaeda members were hiding in AJK with the connivance of the local population. "No al-Qaeda members are hiding in Azad Kashmir, and if there were any, we would ourselves act and arrest them, not the FBI," Sardar Siab Khalid said during a "meet the press programme" here. He's telling the truth, you know. Why would they have to hide?
Referring to the recent "harsh" statements of US Ambassador to India, Blackwill, the AJK speaker said, "such utterances have triggered serious concern in the AJK, and the state Assembly will take notice of such statements at the floor of the house." Oh, dear! Hold me, Ethel!
Blackwill on a number of occasions has blatantly termed the freedom struggle in Occupied Kashmir as "terrorism" and has fervently supported Indian stand on the Kashmir issue that has cost over 70,000 lives of Kashmiris. The speaker reiterated the people of Kashmir have been resisting Indian state-terrorism since decades and were prepared to continue their struggle for freedom from Indian yoke. Of course they are. They're never going to stop jihad, until Pak goes too far and does manage to start a war. At that point, what's left of it will become Afghanistan's eastermost and India's westernmost provinces. As they should be.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/24/2003 09:52 am ||
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The head of MMA Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani has said that Pakistan should respond to US in the same coin as it does against the Pakistan nationals. He said that fingerprints would be taken of all US nationals and other foreigners at Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and other airports. Probably a good idea. That way, it'll be easier to identify the bodies after they're killed by fundos...
He said that Americans are deliberately spreading AIDS in Pakistan and they should be asked to submit AIDS-free certificate. Well, damn them! Intentionally spreading AIDS, are they? Ummm... Is that by sharing contaminated needles with the locals? Or by buggering them?
Talking to newsmen here after submitting nomination papers for Senate election in Election Commission, Noorani said that MMA is committed to its stand and would not compromise on its principles. He said that MMA is struggling for the restoration of complete supremacy of Parliament and 1973 constitution. He said that MMA is rejected the LFO and urged the people to get rid the country from the foreign clutches. Noorani is the head of Jamaat e-Ulema Pakistan. JUP, in the person of Mir Hamza, its secretary at the time, was one of the signatories of Binny's declaration of war on us.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/24/2003 09:43 am ||
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#1
The MMAniacs hardly want to get rid of all "foreigners." Arab jihadis are celebrities in Pakistan. The "Islamic Republic's" constitution requires teaching of Arabic. Also, a lot of Balochis and Sindhis would like to see the last of the Punjabi/Pashto foreigners. Check it out: www.balochvoice.com and www.mqm.com/
A joint crew of the IDF and Border Police was bombing bridges linking the Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun and the city of Gaza Friday evening, in retaliation for Palestinians' launching of three Kassem-type rockets into the southern Israeli town of Sderot earlier Friday. Tit for tat violence - Paleos are indiscriminate rocketing of civilians, IDF targets structures = moral equivalence?
An IDF crew had earlier entered the town, deploying along the area out of which Palestinians earlier fired the rockets . Three explosive devices went off along the crew's path, but no one was hurt dumbasses. According to Israel Radio, IDF sources say the IDF intends to stay inside Beit Hanoun until further notice. Sniper and communications nests permanently set upDefense Minister Shaul Mofaz earlier said the government had decided on a series of maneuvers set to "rock" the area out of which the rockets were fired.
Following a meeting with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Friday noon, Mofaz talked to reporters, saying the operations will mainly target the Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Tanzim organizations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank town of Hebron, and is set to "destroy the infrastructure of their terrorist activities."
Visiting a house in Sderot damaged Friday by a Kassem launch, Mofaz was asked by one reporter what was the exact meaning of "rocking" the Gaza Strip, Mofaz replied: "I assume you'll be hearing about it." It may even make the NY Times...or Caltech Seismology Detectors
The article "Look Away, Dixieland" [Jan. 27] stated that President George W. Bush "quietly reinstated" a tradition of having the White House deliver a floral wreath to the Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery â a practice "that his father had halted in 1990." The story is wrong. First, the elder president Bush did not, as TIME reported, end the decades-old practice of the White House delivering a wreath to the Confederate Memorial; he changed the date on which the wreath is delivered from the day that some southern heritage groups commemorate Jefferson Davis's birthday to the federal Memorial Day holiday. Second, according to documents provided by the White House this week, the practice of delivering a wreath to the Confederate Memorial on Memorial Day continued under Bill Clinton as it does under George W. Bush. I find this type of argument and all the insinuations that go with it to be tedious and stupid and cheap.
The first President Johnson â the Republican one â managed to get himself impeached by trying to follow a policy of national reconciliation after the Civil War. (That was a continuation of Lincoln's policy, by the way.) Somehow, in the course of the second half of the 19th century the nation did manage to reconcile itself. As the heroes of the war died off, their former opponents often attended their funerals to bid them farewell. The hatreds engendered by the war were gradually forgotten, to be replaced on both sides by a recognition of the bravery and gallantry of their former adversaries.
By the time of the Spanish-American War, southerners were again patriots, and they enlisted in droves, to fight next to the formerly-hated Yankees. In World War I they did the same, and they did it yet again in World War II. The differences of the War Between the States â aka the War of Northern Aggression â had been relegated to the past, and the lingering vestiges were nothing more than an occasional gibe.
The men who fought the Civil War are all gone now. The last Civil War veteran â a Confederate â died when I was still a young fellow. Yet the "malice toward none" idea's been demolished by the new pushers of intolerance, demolished in the name of "sensitivity."
Waterloo is the site of an English victory and a French defeat, the site where thousands of men died or were maimed. The fight is long since over, and all that remains are the ghosts of the dead. In this single respect, I'll admit that Europeans are more civilized than we are: Visitors to Waterloo today don't pee on one side or the other. The same can't be said for the people who're so much holier than we are in our own country, whose morals are too shoddy to allow the dead to sleep in peace, whose "sensitivity" is too precious to be expended on honoring them for what they were, recognizing that like all of us each person was a combination of both good and bad.
Insensitive and loutish as I try to be, I still can't bring myself down to those levels. I especially couldn't do it out of sheer spite. I'm afraid I can't get my heart to be that small.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/24/2003 02:45 pm ||
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This might interest you...
January 19, 2003, 2:59 PM EST
BLAINE, Tenn. -- Gertrude Janeway, the last widow of a Union veteran from the Civil War, has died in the three-room log cabin where she lived most of her life. She was 93.
Bedridden for years, she died Friday, more than six decades after the passing of the man she called the love of her life, John Janeway, who married her when he was 81 and she was barely 18.
Still alive is Confederate widow Alberta Martin, 95, of Elba, Ala.
He was 81 and she was 18? John Janeway is now one of my hero.
#3
Professional journalists would've done their homework and verified the accuracy of this with only a couple phone calls. The fact that they didn't bother shows their bias: Time Magazine, Harry Reid (who should really be more honorable than this), Maureen Dowd....which of the above is not a professional journalist? All of them
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/24/2003 17:26 Comments ||
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LONDON (Reuters) - Syria came under criticism on Friday for receiving one of the most trusted aides of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein who is known as "Chemical Ali" for allegedly leading chemical weapon attacks on Iraqi Kurds. What chemical weapons?, Dr. Blix sez they dont got none.
A U.S.- backed pressure group and Iraqi opposition parties urged Syrian authorities to arrest Ali Hassan al-Majeed who is visiting Syria. He is Saddam's cousin and a member of Iraq's Revolutionary Command Council.
"He is a sadistic killer, not a statesman," said Charles Forrest, Chief Executive Officer of Indict. Oh, how simplesse! Mr. Forrest must be a "cowboy".
"We have documents signed by al-Majid (Majeed) ordering mass killing and deportation," Forrest said in a statement. "Any Syrian who shakes hands with Ali Hassan al-Majid will have blood on his own hands." Lies....All Lies...
Indict, which is partly financed by the United States government, includes international lawyers, British MP Ann Clwyd and Iraqi opposition figures.
It said that Syria, under the 1948 Genocide Convention which it ratified, was obliged to arrest those responsible for acts of genocide. Indict has written to the Syrian ambassador in London urging Syria to arrest Majeed, or at least not to receive him. Now we wouldnt want a little thing like contracts, treaties and LAW to get in the way of arab countries soverign right to kill their people would we?
But Majeed met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on Friday and delivered a message from Saddam.
Syria joined the coalition whose forces drove Iraqi troops from Kuwait in the 1991 Gulf War. Relations between the two countries have since improved and Damascus opposes any U.S. attack on Iraq. Translation: bribes and threats carry weight in the middle east.
Majeed was expected to visit Egypt next, said Hamid al-Bayati, the London representative of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) -- an Iraqi opposition group. SCRIRI is currently attending classes given by the Afghani northern alliance on "how not to get in the way of CIA Covert action teams"
"Arab countries have not acted against Iraqi officials because they are careful not to damage relations with Baghdad. We hope they change this policy," Bayati said. Translation: He may not pose a threat to the french, but he scares the crap out of us. We live next door to this monster, you should see what crawls out of the desert from the hell hole these people run.
Majeed was commander of elite forces one eyebrowed knuckle dragging thugs, who kill women and children for sport. during the 1980-1988 war with Iran. Indict said he was personally responsible for a 1988 chemical attack on the town of Halabja in the Kurdish area of Iraq and for a genocide campaign against Kurds. He is under criminal investigation in Belgium and Britain, Indict said. Chemical Weapons, which they of course do not have.
Latif Rashid, a senior official in another Iraqi opposition group, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, said: "The perpetrators of genocide must be prosecuted. Majeed led operations that killed 280,000 Kurds."
Reuters headline: Bush has yet to present "proof" of need for war in Iraq.
Posted by: Frank Martin ||
01/24/2003 01:22 pm ||
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Reuters is a HUA news (propaganda) organization
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/24/2003 21:52 Comments ||
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NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson told a conference in London that the crisis over Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction "strikes at the very credibility of multilateralism and the U.N." Robertson said that "if Saddam does not change course completely, the international community must act if it - and especially the U.N. - is not to lose all credibility in the face of dictators and outlaw regimes throughout the world." SEE: League of Nations
Robertson, who announced Wednesday that he will step down in December after four years as head of the 19-nation alliance, spoke at a conference on international affairs organized by business group City Forum. He said Saddam had been in "flagrant breach" of previous U.N. orders to disarm, and weapons inspectors "are uncovering clear evidence that Saddam has continued to lie to the U.N."
NATO members are divided on the prospect of military action against Iraq. France and Germany oppose a war, but British Prime Minister Tony Blair has strongly backed President Bush's threat to use force to rid Iraq of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs. The divisions forced NATO to postpone a decision Wednesday to start the military planning for a possible Iraq role. The alliance is now discussing a request from the United States to provide backup should war break out, notably by NATO member Turkey. If they don't approve it, NATO is done. Either that, or expel France/Germany.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/24/2003 01:20 pm ||
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These are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on January 24, 2003. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
Prime Minister Abdullah Gul received a surprising letter from U.S. President George W. Bush while the peace summit on Iraqi issue was gathering in Istanbul. George Bush gave two important messages in his letter to Gul saying:''I would like to thank you for starting talks between Turkish and U.S. military officials regarding a possibble operation against Iraq. I am also pleased with Turkey's holding such a meeting to persuade Iraq for a peaceful solution of the problem.'' Bush knows Iraq won't give in peacefully, but the thank you note to Turkey is a nice touch.
Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Sir Michael Boyce of Britain which acts together with the United States against Iraq visited General Staff Chief General Hilmi Ozkok in Ankara yesterday. Sources said that Boyce demanded, ''we want to deploy our troops in Northern front'' while Ozkok said, ''our government did not authorize us to make plans with you.'' Boyce was told that due to this reason, it was impossible to include Britain in military planning with the United States. In this contact that was held following British Secretary of State for Defense Geoffrey Hoon's visit, negative response was given to Britain and organization of opposition groups in Iraq by Britain constituted an important factor in this negative response, sources said. It was stressed that within this framework, Britain also played great role in determination of policies of formations in Northern Iraq and preparation of draft constitutions and it hosted opposition groups' meetings in London. Turkey doesn't like the fact Kurdish opposition groups found a home in London, thus the snub. Looks like the British troops will be operating in Southern Iraq instead of going thru Turkey
This message: ''take United Nations into consideration and cooperate'' was given to Iraq at the end of the ''Regional Initative On Iraq-Meeting of Foreign Ministers'' hosted by Prime Minister Abdullah Gul at the Ciragan Palace in Istanbul yesterday. After their meeting, foreign ministers Yasar Yakis, Ahmed Maher of Egypt, Kamal Kharrazi of Iran, Marwan Muasher of Jordan, Saud Al-Faysal of Saudi Arabia and Farouk Al-Shara of Syria held a joint press conference and announced joint declaration. They called on Iraq to cooperate with the United Nations while it was mentioned that there was not a plan about exile of Saddam Hussein. Bye, bye, Sammy
U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Robert Pearson reacted harshly to the claims saying that the U.S. had contact with the terrorist organization PKK. Speaking to private NTV channel and showing the newspaper which put forward such claims, Pearson said that ''these are very big lies.'' Pearson commented that such kind of news aim to disturb the friendship between Turkey and the U.S. Journalist Can Dundar who wrote the news said in his part that General Staff and intelligence units had statements confirming the news. Another day, another denial
At the ''Peace Summit'' held in Istanbul to prevent a possible U.S. operation against Iraq, foreign ministers agreed on the opinion that Iraq should abide by the U.N. resolutions and cooperate with the weapon inspectors. Intense debates took place especially after Egypt and Syria demanded that the United States should be warned and Israel which was believed to have mass destruction weapons should be condemned. In the joint declaration which was announced after a 4-hour delay, no harsh statement against the United States was issued while foreign ministers said, ''we don't want war''. There was no anti-US statement, was there? Interesting.
According to the negotiations carried out between Turkey and the U.S., the missions of defense and humanitarian aid and preventing activities that aim to disturb the instability in Northern Iraq were given to Turkey. Turkish soldiers won't be involved in a possible war except fulfilling these tasks. Now there is wide open mission statement if I ever saw one! You could pretty much justify doing anything you want.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/24/2003 12:56 pm ||
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I agree. The condemnation of Israel is Standard Operating Procedure, but the absence of anything said directly to the USA is significant.
Of course, that's just today. Tommorrow is a different matter.
And I'm still concerned about that accusation of us talking to the PKK.
Baghdad has all but cut off an illicit crude oil trade with its neighbour Turkey as tension mounts over possible U.S. military strikes against Iraq, an Iraqi Kurdish official said on Friday.
Energy-poor Turkey meets almost all of its fuel needs through imports and has been plying the cross-border crude trade with Iraq for about two years in technical breach of the United Nations embargo imposed on Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War.
The United States has turned a blind eye to its close ally's sanctions-busting traffic, which also included a once-thriving diesel trade that was halted by Turkey last year.
"The trade has been interrupted for the last fortnight with over 2,500 Turkish trucks waiting between our lines and Iraq," Safeen Dizayee of the Iraqi opposition Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) told Reuters. Only 10 to 20 trucks a day are offloading at a refinery in the Turkish city of Batman, down from up to 300 tanker trucks each day, an official at the refinery said.Turkey imported an estimated 2.6 million tonnes of the crude last year.
As fears of war hang over the region, NATO member Turkey has sought to boost commercial ties with Iraq, which has the world's second-largest oil reserves. Prime Minister Abdullah Gul dispatched a top cabinet official to Baghdad earlier this month to accompany a trade delegation and push for more business between the Muslim states. Ankara claims it has lost at least $30 billion in trade revenues with Iraq since the Gulf War. It fears another conflict on its borders will cost it dearly in further lost trade.
Despite its opposition to a war, Turkey is expected to open its airspace and bases to U.S. forces in the event of an operation against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, accused of building weapons of mass destruction. Washington has signalled it could provide Ankara with an aid package, estimated at $14 billion, in return for its support.
Turkish truckers confirmed the near-stoppage and said some of the drivers were returning through the Habur border gate in southeastern Turkey with empty tankers. "The tankers are stranded between Dahuk and Mosul waiting to load," Dizayee said. "Turkey has instructed them to stay put while it tries to sort this out with Baghdad. "There have been no signs of developments," he added. Truckers sell the smuggled crude to the state-owned Turkish Petroleum International Corporation (TPIC) at the Batman refinery. Tupras, Turkey's biggest oil refiner, in turn purchases the Iraqi crude from TPIC.
Tupras said earlier this month it expected to buy 2.6 million tonnes of Iraqi crude from the tanker trucks in 2003, in addition to the 2.4 million tonnes it imports from Iraq via an oil pipeline under the U.N.'s oil-for-food programme.
A war against Iraq could cost Turkey up to $1 billion in increased fuel costs, Tupras says, as it turns to alternative suppliers to cover the disrupted flows from next door.
Baghdad resumed fuel supplies to semi-autonomous northern Iraq after briefly cutting off the flow earlier this month. Prices soared as nervous Kurds rushed to stock up, Dizayee said.
Northern Iraq has been outside of Saddam's control since Kurds rose up at the end of the Gulf War. The KDP and its rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) administer the enclave, protected by U.S. warplanes patrolling a "no-fly" zone overhead.
"The flow of kerosene and petroleum from the south to the Kurds has been somewhat normal for the last 10 days. It's almost back to normal," Dizayee said. The short-lived embargo has highlighted the Kurds' fragile independence from Baghdad. The enclave relies almost entirely on the government-held region for its fuel needs. Letting the Kurds have their oil, I understand. Saddam is trying to keep them happy and not join the US against him. But, stopping the flow of crude to Turkey is stupid. I'd have been pushing as much oil north as I could, trying to keep the Turks happy. Maybe he thinks they have already made a deal with us and is trying to punish them? Doesn't seem very smart.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/24/2003 12:00 pm ||
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Prime Minister Ariel Sharon held a secret meeting several weeks ago with rabbis from the Council of West Bank Settlements (Yesha Council), where there were discussion over reopening the Temple Mount to Jewish worshippers. Sharon told the rabbis that he was still determined to allow Jews to enter the Temple Mount compound. The meeting lasted around three hours, and was attended by Rabbis Elyakim Lebanon, Shlomo Aviner, Yigal Kaminsky, Daniel Shilo and Moredechai Rabinovic, who told the prime minister that antiquities on the Temple Mount were being destroyed by works being carried out. One of the rabbis told Sharon that he came to power party because of his September 2000 visit to the Temple Mount, but that he risks losing power if he does not act quickly to reopen the holy site to Jews. Sharon asked the rabbis to allow him to work behind the scenes toward this goal. Uh oh. I'm thinking this might just cause a wee little problem with the current tenants. Or, Ari might just have a plan to take care of that problem in the coming year.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/24/2003 11:44 am ||
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The current tenants have been raising a ruckus, doing damage, and look to be in danger of eviction and losing their security deposit...they're on a month-to-month lease now.....
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/24/2003 12:09 Comments ||
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From what I read, the Paleoswinians in charge of the Temple Mount are determined to remove any archaeological traces of Jewish occupation there. Priceless knowledge and artifacts are being lost every day to their relentless bulldozing. I can only hope that they will be rewarded for their efforts by making their own mosque crumble to the ground. Sheesh, what is it with these petty despots always trying to rewrite history?
Posted by: Bent Pyramid ||
01/24/2003 14:00 Comments ||
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The Phillistines are actively trying to accelerate the excavation precisely TO CAUSE their mosque to crumble to the ground. Then they'll (of course) blame the Jews in the hope that it will trigger another Arab war against Israel.
#4
Sharon should declare that if there is another attack the Al-Aqsa mosque will be leveled, the arabic neighbors displaced, and the surrounding area welded into Isreal forever (to make it safe for the construction of the Third Temple or whatever the Rabbi's want).
Nothing else has worked.The Moslems do not respect the lives of Jews or their own lives but they do respect their mosques.
Czech soldiers who accepted an offer to return home from Kuwait if they "did not feel ready" for a US-led war against Iraq have come in for huge public criticism. 1989 is sufficiently recent that the Czech's have not yet become Europeanized.
The army reports that soldiers, stung by the reaction, are volunteering by the dozen and another 130 will be on their way to Kuwait this weekend. It is possible that this Chem Warfare unit will make a greater contribution to the US led effort than the French Army would have were it on our side.
Posted by: JAB ||
01/24/2003 11:12 am ||
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The Czech Soldiers that comprise the Recon/Decon unit with us here are some of the most well trained, motivated, and professional NBC operators I've ever served with. If Sammy starts shooting his Poopie-Stinkie Missiles at us (BIG Oops for him) or the citizens of Kuwait(International BIG Oops), I know they will be on point to execute their mission without hesitation. These soldiers are world famous in the NBC Circles. I'm personally and professionally glad they are stationed with us here. War out
#3
I think that's because they know what it's like to be stepped on for about 50 years. I think we'll see a big rethink on European foreign policy when this thing is over with now that we know who are friends really are.
Australian troops being sent to the Gulf will be deployed according to a Bush Administration plan for war on Iraq even though the Howard Government says it has made no decision to join a United States-led attack. The Australian contingents now on their way, or soon to go, have already been factored into US planning and their composition has been determined largely by US requests. These requests were made to senior Government members by the US Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, during his recent visit to Australia. As a result, the Government added a squadron of F/A-18 strike aircraft to the force. Although Australian military personnel who participate in any strike on Iraq will be under Australian command, their tasks will be assigned according to Washington's war plan.
This involves Australian special forces and the F/A 18s being involved in initial stages of the attack.
Special Air Service teams will work with US and British special forces inside Iraq to seek out biological and chemical weapons and prevent them from being used. A vital operation for these forces is expected to be to secure these weapons and weapons materials for the period following collapse of the Iraqi regime, to stop them falling into the hands of terrorists.
Australian commandos from Sydney's 4RAR battalion will provide teams for any required emergency rescue of the special forces.
The 14 Australian F/A-18s, with laser-guided bombs, will take part in early attacks, probably on Iraqi troops and command posts. These aircraft have less sophisticated anti-missile defences than the American strike aircraft but will be protected by US airborne anti-missile systems. Wild Weasels "R"Us
As Australia became only the second country after Britain to deploy forces to the Gulf region to support the massive US military build-up, the White House publicly thanked Mr Howard for the commitment. A spokesman said: "The President is very grateful and today publicly thanks the people of Australia and the Government of Australia for their actions. It will help keep the peace."
Mr Howard insisted yesterday that there had been "no final, nor even tentative" decision for Australia to go to war against Iraq. He said he did not want to see military conflict and argued that sending forces now might help avoid war by showing the Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, that the world meant its threat to act if he did not disarm. And although Mr Howard repeated that he believed the United Nations processes should be given more time, he made it clear that he believed Australia's national interest required Iraq to be forcibly disarmed if necessary. He was prepared to "brave" adverse public opinion if necessary to do what he believed was right for Australia. Bali was the wake-up call, he got it.
Meanwhile, the US and Britain signalled yesterday that they already had UN authority for a war against Iraq and no further Security Council resolution was necessarily. The British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, who had talks yesterday with the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, said that if the Security Council did not back the use of force against Iraq "the authority of the UN and international order" were at stake.
Both Mr Straw and Mr Powell said that last November's Security Council resolution, warning Iraq that if it failed to disarm it faced serious consequences, meant "only one thing: force".
The head of the UN weapons inspection team, Hans Blix, will report on progress to the UN next Tuesday morning, Sydney time.
This report is expected to trigger a US countdown to military action. Tick..tick..tick..
Posted by: Steve ||
01/24/2003 11:01 am ||
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According to Iraqi war plans, as leaked to al-Ahram last Aug. 22, the Saddamites intend to attack all landings in order to prevent formation of troop concentrations. That is unworkable because the anti-Saddamites can counter any movement against allied troops. Within 48 hours of the commencement of conflict, the enemy will be without: effective command; effective means to fight; and the will to fight anyone except Saddam. However, it will be a serious mistake if the allies permit termination of conflict by means of status quo armistice arrangements.
TOKYO - The Japanese Embassy in Baghdad contacted each of its citizens residing in Iraq on Friday and urged them to evacuate the country as soon as possible, ahead of any potential U.S.-led strike, a Foreign Ministry official said.
The move Friday came one day after Tokyo issued an advisory for Japanese citizens to leave Baghdad for others to postpone traveling there. The government already had an evacuation advisory for areas of Iraq outside the capital.
There are currently 34 Japanese, including nine long-term residents and 14 media personnel, residing in Iraq, the Foreign Ministry said.
The Japanese Embassy in Baghdad contacted each of those residents to make the recommendation Friday, a ministry official said. The sooner they leave Iraq the better, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Japan's embassy in Baghdad will remain open as usual.
Kyodo News agency said the embassy told Japanese in Iraq they should leave the country by next Wednesday, when the U.N. Security Council is scheduled to hold an unofficial meeting on the country.
The United States has threatened to attack Iraq if United Nations inspectors discover Baghdad has been hiding a program to build weapons of mass destruction.
Japan's Foreign Ministry has also warned Japanese to be cautious about traveling to Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.
I'm looking for news that France and Germany are also closing their embassies. ( in the US that is.....)
Posted by: Frank Martin ||
01/24/2003 11:02 am ||
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Saddam Hussein's elder son on Friday warned the U.S. of an ignominious defeat should it attempt to invade Iraq.
In a broadcast on the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera satellite , Uday warned that "September 11 would be a picnic" compared to the "losses" expected if it committed "the grand stupidity" of invading Iraq. "They (the U.S.) would be paying a dear price they could never imagine," he said. Uday was speaking in a rarely televised address at the Baghdad Iraqi press syndicate, of which he is the chairman. "It is better for the Americans to keep themselves away from us," Uday was quoted as saying.
Uday said the Americans could get more gains from Iraq without war, saying that Washington would fail in its attempt to oust Saddam Hussein. "They can get much more from Iraq by dialogue without resorting to the logic of force and war," he said. We'll reserve a spot for you next to your dad on the scaffold. How's that for dialogue?
Posted by: Steve ||
01/24/2003 10:38 am ||
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Isn't "Uday" Arabic for "grease spot"?
also, notice how if you remove the names for who has spoken this type of dialog that you cant tell if this came from Iraq, the Goverment of France or a Democratic party apparatchik.
Posted by: Frank Martin ||
01/24/2003 10:53 Comments ||
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No, "Qusay" is arabic for "shit-house rat", Uday means "psychotic shithead"...
A team from the UN's refugee agency is in Nepal for talks on preventing the sexual abuse of Bhutanese refugees. The visit follows an agency investigation last year that found at least 18 cases of sexual abuse of women by aid workers in refugee camps in eastern Nepal. A girl of seven was among the victims. A 7-year-old...
The talks are focusing on providing support to victims and taking criminal action against offenders. Yeah. They're talking. The kid'll be legal before they actually do anything...
A UNHCR spokesperson in Nepal said the team would assess the progress made since the investigation three months ago. The authorities say that a number of measures have been put in place since then to prevent abuses and that legal action has been initiated against the offenders. Some of the accused had been working for UN-funded non-governmental organisations. Which ones? Are they still being funded by the UN? Are they still in business?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/24/2003 10:31 am ||
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They've been at it in Africa and Kosovo as well.It's amazing how many of these stories pop up.
Posted by: El Id ||
01/24/2003 10:50 Comments ||
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Nepal is also unfortunately well known for its children being abducted for the sex industry in India.
Middle East Online
Forty-three Islamists are to go on trial in an Egyptian military court for an alleged plot to attack the US and Israeli embassies in Cairo, a lawyer said on Thursday. Muntasser al-Zayat, who represents Islamist defendants, said military prosecutors had decided to put on trial the suspects, whose arrests were announced in early January, in a month's time after the end of questioning. Oooh. Sounds painful. A whole month of truncheons and giggle juice... More truncheons than giggle juice, in Egypt.
The government daily Al-Ahram has said the suspects rounded up in the Delta north of Cairo were members of the armed Egyptian group Al-Jihad, which is led by the Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is regarded as Osama bin Laden's lieutenant. Interesting throwaway there. Jihad was folded into al-Qaeda and Ayman became Binny's Numbah Two. Now things are tough for Qaeda and Jihad is back in business. Is this sloppy reporting, or is Ayman on his own again?
But Zayat said that while accused of planning attacks on the US and Israeli embassies, they were "linked to no organisation." They had tried in vain to slip into the Palestinian territories to fight Israel after they were "shaken by the images of the massacre in Jenin", the paper said. "Just some gullible local boyz, led astray by Zionist perfidy..."
The daily said that after they failed to join the Palestinians, the group started planning attacks against interests of Western countries, which are accused of supporting Israel. "Yar, Mahmoud! We gotta attack somebody!"
"Yeah, Achmed! Workin' for a livin' would never get us anywhere..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/24/2003 09:33 am ||
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Re: Al'Jihad and al'Qaeda
Here in the US, it's not uncommon for a chain of grocery stores to be bought out by another, larger chain. The smaller chain often keeps operating under their old name, usually just for a while, but sometimes permanently.
Al'Qaeda's the buyout-king of the Islamic terrorism. They also like to spin-off new groups to confuse investigators. It's not surprising that old names would still be around, or would reappear.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/24/2003 10:19 Comments ||
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I think Rantburg should get a Golden Globe for best use of 'Yar' on a website.
#3
". Al'Qaeda's the buyout-king of the Islamic terrorism. They also like to spin-off new groups to confuse investigators. It's not surprising that old names would still be around, or would reappear."
Taking a page from the 'Angels or 'Choice
Posted by: john ||
01/24/2003 13:03 Comments ||
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I hope they don't prosecute by trial-by-jury. Al-Qaeda has a lot of peers in the home of Ikhwanism.
LONDON [MENL] -- Syria's strongman Assaf Chawkat has been promoted to his first major security post. Western diplomatic sources said Chawkat, the brother-in-law of Syrian President Bashar Assad, was appointed late last year to the post of deputy chief of the military security department. Military security is regarded as the most important security agency in Syria and ensures the loyalty of all forces in the country. The commander of military security is Hassan Khalil. He is expected to retire sometime in 2003 and Chawkat could then head the agency. "This new appointment formalizes Chawkat's power," a senior diplomatic source said. "Until now, Chawkat pulled the strings in the military and security agencies through his connections with Assad. Now he is moving out from behind the scenes and into the open." Until he gets too big for his britches, anyway... Or he's strong enough to "retire" Bashir.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/24/2003 09:25 am ||
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He wouldn't be getting the job unless Assad already had his head in a noose of some sort. Assad, like most dictators, trusts NOBODY.
Iraqi documents obtained by the BBC indicate that Baghdad is equipping key units with protection against chemical weapons. (sarcasm alert)why would they do that? they said they don't have any, and we're not going to use any
"We know from multiple sources that Saddam has ordered any scientist who cooperates during interviews will be killed," said Paul Wolfowitz, US Deputy Defence Secretary.
That would be grounds for banging Sammy right there...
The hand-written papers, said to have been smuggled out by the Iraqi opposition, refer to new chemical warfare suits to protect soldiers and distribution of the drug atropine to counter the effects of nerve gas. "No, we needed the atropine....to party with, that's why we ordered so many self-adminstering kits...yeah ...that's the ticket"
The notes, passed on by the opposition Iraqi National Coalition, also included details for attacking ships in the Gulf. Commenting on the reported Iraqi plans the BBC's defence correspondent Paul Adams says "this is not necessarily true - but it's very likely. American and British planners have speculated on the possibility of Iraq using drones to spray chemical weapons on coalition troops, but there is no conclusive proof this has been done." they won't work after the EMP tomahawks deploy
"They recognise there's a real possibility that the Iraqis will try to take them on that way. Military commanders don't regard Iraq's use of chemical weapons as a likely conclusive factor in the war." it will, however, play a factor in the warcrimes trials, hangings
The Iraqi National Coalition is a group of former Iraqi army officers who have turned against Saddam Hussein and are now living in exile. The Secretary General of the coalition, Tawfik al-Yassiri - a former brigadier-general - told the BBC's Today programme that the documents originated from serving members of the Iraqi military.
KEY DATES
27 Jan - First full report on inspections presented to UN
29 Jan - UN discusses report
31 Jan - Bush meets Blair
15 Feb - Anti-war protests across Europe 27 Mar - Blix submits new report to UN
"We have members of our organisation in most of the camps and cities in Iraq, from soldiers to generals," he said. Mr al-Yassiri said the information had been verified through various sources. Iraq's Republican Guard and Special Republican Guard are among the recipients of special suits and atropine, according to the documents. A former arms inspector, Bill Tierney, told Today that "if both these two units have new equipment, then it would indicate that they are prepared to use chemical weapons".
Actually, there's less here than meets the eye. Unless their leadership is totally incompetent, they'd have the chem gear even if they didn't intend to use chem weapons and even if they didn't expect the U.S. to use them. Our guys have been lugging gas masks around since WWI. Even if you don't expect the opposition to use the weapons, it's better to be safe than sorry...
The report of Iraqi war preparations is bound to intrigue UN weapons inspectors who don't have a clue about anything Iraq's been doing, the BBC's Rageh Omaar reports from Baghdad.
DEPLOYMENT DETAILS
100,000 US troops including:
12,000 4th Infantry division troops
2,000 Marines trained for chemical and biological warfare
26,000 UK troops including:
Royal Marines, tanks and an air assault brigade
According to a UK Government report last year and UN inspectors' findings, Iraq has undeclared stocks of VX and sarin nerve agent. It is thought Iraq could deploy such chemicals quickly.
At which point, I'd expect us to retaliate massively...
Meanwhile, the US Government has been stepping up its case for tougher action against Saddam. Wait til Blix reports nothing found, then the "Adlai Stevenson moment" when we produce our own evidence
In a key speech in New York, US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz recited a long list of instances in which, he said, Iraq was still lying about and concealing its weapons programmes.
Earlier in Baghdad, Iraqi officials had said they were encouraging scientists to speak to the UN, but six had so far resisted efforts to question them alone. "We did our best to push the scientists but they refused such interviews without the presence of representatives of Iraq's National Monitoring Directorate," Iraq's chief liaison officer Hossam Mohammed Amin told a news conference.
They need the minders there to attest to the fact that they didn't spill anything. If they did decide to spill, and moved to Milwaukee or Waukeegan to live under assumed names, they'd always have the expectation of getting up one morning to take out the garbage and having somebody waiting outside the back door to put a bullet through their heads. Trying to talk to the scientists is a dead end...
The weapons inspectors are due to present their crucial report to the Security Council on 27 January. then get the hell outta Dodge
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/24/2003 09:21 am ||
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Link ||
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Top|| File under:
#1
There will _not_ be a full report on Jan. 27.
"Blix told The Associated Press Thursday that his assessment of Iraq's compliance over the past two months will be presented Monday to the Security Council as a speech, rather than a formal report, and won't include samples taken during searches for weapons in Iraq."
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20030123_1855.html
#2
Hans's half-assing his responsibility to produce a report, just like they're half-assing their inspections... should be noted by Bush in the State Of The Union announcement of war, dontcha think?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/24/2003 12:15 Comments ||
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#3
Like with everything else, certain Europeans insisted that UN inspections were done first but with American help, ie. intelligence. Americans said ok, lets see what they can do by themselves.
And now we can see exactly what the UN can do by itself... NOTHING! like with everything else.
#4
Now that France has blown off the Security Council, Blix may as well dust of his resume. I'm sure Saddam would offer him a reference.
Posted by: john ||
01/24/2003 13:07 Comments ||
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#5
Mr. Blix is fully qualified for many high ranking positions, like, Commisioner of Major League Baseball. He can reopen the investigation of Pete Rose.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/24/2003 13:32 Comments ||
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